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P • .. 4/./^
TccV^ THE ^<.^
BUILDING NEWS
-r
A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED RECORD
OF
THE PROGRESS OF ARCHITECTURE,
SCULPTUKE, PANITINTG, EJ^GINEEEING,
METROPOLITAN IMPROVEMENTS, SANITARY REFORM,
Sea., Sec, <fec.
VOLUME THE SEVENTH.
LONDON !
PUBLISHED BY THE PROPRIETORS OF THE "BUILDING NEWS,"
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I 1
I
INDEX TO VOL. VII.
ABBEY, Chcrteef, Excavations
at, 740 ; Furnesd, 11) ; SS. Peter
anrtraul, SliroTsbury, 157.
Aberdeen, Earl of, Memorial to,
830.
Academy of Sdences, French, 70.
Accidents to Workmen, 809 ; Fall
of Four Men from Scaffold, 6W ;
Tall of a Uousc, 58'J ; Fall of
Houses in Blackfriars-road,
744 ; Fall of a Scaifold, 5U2.
Action on an Arcliltect's Bill,
am.
Adamaufiuc Clinker, 4frt'»,
Addisfombe Colleofe, Sale of, 755.
Aldersliot Camp, (»30.
Almsliousee, Old Buckenliam,
C79, 774, 765.
AUom, A., On the Battle of the
Stj'les, 74.
Alpine Railway Tunnel, 306.
All Saints', Bradford, 1009;
Husband's Bosworth, 1009;
Kensington, 338 ; Newmarket,
871 ; Stamford, 752.
Ampleforth College, 924.
Amsterdam, Society of Archi-
tecture, 244.
Andrews andDelamiay,3Iessrs.,
71.
Andrews, J., Coni>rejjational
Chapel, liusliall, 284.
Annual Prizes of the Architec-
tural A.ssociation, 353.
Annual Report of the Royal
Institute of British Architects,
796.
Ansted, Professor, on the Preser-
vation of Stone, 967.
Answers to Correspondents, 22,
40, CO, 84, 106, 128, 130, 172, 194,
216, 23s 260, 280, 298, 318, .340,
362, 379, 402, 424, 440, 468, 489,
612, 3.34, 556, 578, 596, 614, 6:i2,
650, 668, 686, 704, 722, 740, 776,
758, "94, 812, S50, 848, 860, 884,
902, 920, 9:i8, 930, 974, 4010, 1028.
Ansford Parish Church, 712.
Antimony Paint, 820.
Aguitaine, Architectural Journey
in, 272, 288.
Arab, Architecture in Egypt, 168.
Arbitration Cases, Sneifleld
Worlshouse, 15.
Arcades of Horticultural Garden,
301.
Archeology, 47 ; in Connexion
with Northampton, 692 ;
French, 110.
Archaiological Institute of Great
Britain and Ireland, 074,1025;
Institute of Sulfolk, 690; Re-
mains at Uunlcarn, 09S.
Arches, .Jointing of Elliptic, 593.
Arch Joints, 018.
Architect's Audience, An, 165 ;
Amateur Ecclesiastical, 927 ;
Benevolent Society, 234; and
Builders', Legal Liabilities of.
Oil, 027 ; Commission, Cost of
Saving, 957 ; Fees, 214 ;— for
Abandoned Designs, 972 ; and
their Clients, 012 ; and their
Detractors, 213; Organisation
and Representation of, 195 ; in
Practice and tlie Proposed
Examination, KM; Quantities
and tlie Assize Courts, Reading,
795; and Royal Academicians,
Architectural AlUance, 19,5, .325,
480,491; Accessories of Sculp-
ture, 350; Amalgamation, 2.33 •
Antiquities of Guildhall, 154 ■
Art in the Exhibition of 1862'
468 ; Association, 20, :«, M, 73,
87, 124, 105, 204, 248, 313, .3:!0, 353
.394, 400, 484, 525, ri08, (H7, 87.3,
904, 908. 951, 974, 979, 988, 1001,
1021, 1023 ; Doings in the Isle of
Man, 705 ; Drawings in the
Royal Hibernian Academy, 520;
Composition, An, 293 ; Effect ol
Engineering Works, 15 ; Eti-
quette, 1 ; Examinations, 79,81,
188, 233, 303, 337, 338, .•)58, 378,
649, 3.-,8, 572, 0.34, 903, 919 ; Exhi-
bition, Conversazione, 293, 300 ■
—Lectures at, 4.38, 453, 439, 481 ;
—Report, 88, 242, 320, 365, 370,
419, 427; Museum, 70, 88, 114,
154, 1.S9, 198, 242. 272, 288, 311,
3:11, 420, 790, 926, 989, 1006 :
~ Distribution of PrizeB,
231 ; — Report of Council,
487 ; Old Fogoyism, 213 ;
Pedestrianism, 90 ; Photo-
graphic Association, 78, 100,188,
231, 257, 509 (New), 940 ; Photo-
grapliic Exhibition, 134, 1(H,
234, 251 ; Progression, 188 ;
Proportion, 360 ; Publication
Society, 94, 493; Questions to
Settle, 015 ; and Sanitary Ques-
tions, Notes on, 230; Scraps,
9;)7 ; Societies of Loudon, Past
Season of, 579.
Architectural Societies : Amster-
dam, 244; Chester, 952, 988;
Edinburgh, 824 ; Exeter, 90 ;
Glasgow, 877; Leicester, 823,
986; Lincoln, 505 ; Liverpool,
19, 44, 87, 143, 187, 230, 276, 332,
397, 492, 648, 824, 931; Man-
chester, 102, 180, 234, 398, 447, 453,
548, 572,697, 1010; Northern
Association, 731 ; Northampton,
860; Oxford, 538; Institute of
Scotland, 234, 333; Worcester,
824, 842 ; Yorkshire and
Lincolnshire, 87S ; Proposed
Amalgamation of, 173 ; Um-
pires, 381 ; Union Company,
970.
Architecture; Dictionary of, 94;
of the Eleventh Century, 311,
a31 ; France and, 182 ; and the
Fine Arts in the Exhibition of
1862, 261; Lectures on, bv S.
Smirke, R.A., 92, 119, 120,' 141,
103 ; in 'the Isle of Man, 835 ;
in London, 376 ; in Manchester,
425, 473 ; and Poetry, 593 ;
Remarks on Modern Street and
Villa, 101, 155; of Stroud, 817,
836, 854 ; Scraps of Modern, 94 ;
and Turkish Baths, 452.
Armor Plates, 818.
Army and Navy, Building Enter-
prises of, 174.
Arrangement of Churches, 05.
Arsenical Greens, 916.
Artesian "Wells, 882 ; at Colches-
ter, 792 ; and Rainwater Tanks,
.347.
Art Copyright, 404, 429 ; Govern-
ment Alisraanagement in
Matters of, 403 ; "Art Journal,"
389, 808 ; Catalogue of the Ex-
hibition of 1862, 798; Patrons
and Public Monuments, 471 ;
The .Sympathies and Uses of,
240 ; Union of England, 990.
Artiilcial Light, 945.
Ashford Corn Exchange, 918.
Ashpitel, Mr., Ripple Church,
1009.
Ashworth, Mr., St. Mary Jlag-
daleu, Exeter, 810.
Assembly-rooms, Great Yar-
mouth, 754.
Assessorship of St. George's,
Hanover-square, 012.
Assize Courts, Guildford, 515 ;
Reading, 789, 795.
Association of Foremen En-
gineers, 079.
Asylum, Dorset, 864; Lunatic,
Surrey, 804 ; Staffordshire,
804,
Athensenm, Westbonrne, 818, 920.
Athlone, St. Mary, 913.
Auriferous Steel, 098.
Austin, T.. Slonkwearmouth
Schools, 771.
Australian Copper Ore, 974.
B
BACON, C, Statue of Sir J.
Franklin, 700.
Baker, H., OfBces, Comhjll, 360.
Bank of England,Decay of Stone-
work at, 344.
Banking House, Robartes, Lub-
bock, and Co., 359, 499.
Bankrupts, Insolvents, &c., 22,
40, 84, 721.
Barking, Outfall Sewer at, 097.
Barnes, F., Chapel, Stowmarket,
930.
Barnett, J., St. Stephen's, Clan-
ham, 925.
Barton Church, Carlisle, 752.
Barrack Construction, 086, 707,
725, 742, 760, 779, 801, 810, 829,
843, 851, Cn.
Barfacks, Cavalry, Colchester,
8-28 ; Militia, Chester, ,328 ; New,
989 ; Warley, 812 ; York, 881.
Barry, Sir C, Memorial Fund,
-053.
Bateinan, Mr., St. Barnabas
Schools, Birmingham, 701.
Bath Markets, Prize Design for,
718 ; Masons' Strike at, 2:18 ;
New Church at, 570, 700; Roman
Catholic Chm-ch, 8'«.
Baths, Liverpool, 834 ; Remains
of Roman, in England, 368;
and Washhouses, Saltaire, 924.
Batley Wesleyan Chapel. 935.
Battlefield Church, Shropshire,
787,
Battv's Atmospheric Firegrate,
CVi.
Bajues. C. Lancaster, 19.
Beautiful, The, On the AppUca-
tion of, to Building Details, 246.
Beauty of Construction, Notes
on, 1012.
Bedford, Drainage of, 962.
Belfast, Propssed Cathedral, 880.
Belgium, 849; and the Exhibi-
tion of 1862, 493.
Bell, John, On Color round Sta-
tues, and Painting and Sculp ■
ture arranged together, .354 ;
The Four Sisters ; or. Some
Notes on the Relationship of
the Fine Arts, 114, 136; On
Gilt Statues, 366; Guards'
Memorial, Pall-mall, 21'!, 780;
Gurney Memorial, 828; On
Patronage of Sculpture, 660;
Statue of Cromwell, 26 ; On a
Universal Museum of Archi-
tecture, 282.
Bellamy and Hardy, Messrs.,
Middle Rasen Church, 827;
Town lIall,Great Grimsby, 809.
Bellamy, Mr., lung's College
Hospital, 264.
Bells, St. Michael's, Paddington,
812.
Benevolent Institution,Buildcrs',
171, 834, 872, 953.
Bcresford - Hope, A. J. B., On
Architecture in London, 370.
Bidlake, Mr., Rugby Cemetery,
972.
Bigbury Church, 915.
Billing and Newman, Messrs.,
Westbonrne Athensenm, 818.
Billing, Mr., Seaford Church,
862.
Billings, R. W., On Many Sub-
jects, 33.
Bills of Quantities and Extras,
NciU V. Leatham, 972.
Bird, Messrs. E. and J., 18.
Birkenhead, Canada Works at,
981 ; Docks, 7, 73.5, 709, 800, 80.3.
Birmingham, Building Opera-
tions in, 720 ; People's Hall
Works, 370.
Birth and Mutations of Styles,
.385,407, 469, 495, 597, 070, 723,
759, 871, 887.
Bistree Cliurch, 1009.
Blackfriavs (New) Bridge, 600,
650, 0,50, 960 ; Tramway, 802.
Blaclcwell and Son, St.aleybridge
Mechanics' Institution, 711.
Bland, Mr., Stroud Church, 292.
Blandford, H., St. John's, Maid-
stone, 4.
Blashill, T., On Originality, 400,
440 ; A Few Days at Chartres,
1015.
Bhiwith Church, Ulverston, 771.
Bicssley, It. K., St. Luke's, Hull,
494.
Block Walls, Hollow Cement, 387.
BlomHeld, A. W., Address at the
Architectural Association, 873 ;
New Mission Chapel, St. Mar-
tin's-in-the-Fields,220; Church,
Hornsey, 763; Locock Church,
1009.
Bloomsbury-square, New Houses
in, 18.
Blowpipe, New, 69.
Bioxham, Mr., On the Wyckliffe
Relics, 823.
Bloxwjch Schools, 791.
Blue P'*,8 Wesleyan Chapel, 791.
Blytli Presbyterian Chapel, 810.
Board-room and Offices, York,
203.
Bodclwyddan Church,' 264, 673.
Bodlchon Uadamc, DnHrings
by 334. ^'
Bond, Mr., Drinking Fountain,
Tunbl :dgc Wells, TOO, 764.
Borough Branch of the London
and Westminster Bank, 798.
Bonomi, J., on the Egyptian
Photographs of the Archltec-
tui al Photograpliic Association,
78.
Boulevard Malesherbes, Opening
of, 698. "
Boult, ilr.. On the Education of
the Student, 188. '
Bouike, J., Mater Hisoricordiae,
788 ; St. JIary, Athlone, 80,3, 913.
Botliwell Free Church, 278.
Boutell, Rev. C, On the Exhi-
bition of 1862, with especial Re-
ference to the Metal Manufac-
tures of England, 333.
Braccbridge, Mr , Church Mission
House, 335, 798.
Bradford Barracks, 989; Wes-
leyan Chapel, 429.
Brandon. K., Datchet Church,
774; Klngstone Church, 898;
St. Peter's, Great Windmill-
street, 592.
Branston, Mr., Schools, Blox-
wicli, 791.
Bratton Fleming Church, 900.
Breadsall Priory, 800, 881.
Brecon Wesleyan Chapel, 791.
Brest, Great Swing Bridge at,
000.
Brick Architecture and its Treat-
ment, 433, 473, 519 ; Paving, Bh"-
mingham, 7.55.
Bricks, Strength of, 97.
Brickwork, 201, 313; Decorative,
299.
Bridges, Blackfriars, 600, 650, 656,
900 ; Boscawen, Truro, 775, 864 ;
Bristol, 774, 913 ; Charing Cross
Railway, 000, 758 ; Carhslc,
Dublin, 1010; Clifton Suspen-
sion, 662 ; Fall of a Railway,
701 ; Great Swing, Brest, 600 ;
Great Railway, over the Shine,
245; New Lambeth, OOO, 080,
703, 900; Lendal, York, 910;
Railway, over the Rhine, 306,
347; across the Ribblc, near
Preston, 098 ; Westminster, 010,
022 ; Waterloo, 1O20.
BridUngton, Improvements at,
828.
Brighton, Value of Property at,
792,
Bristol Bridge, 774, 913; Cathe-
dral, 690; Railway Extension,
820.
"British Almanac and Com-
panion," 982.
British Archieological Asso-
ciation, 080, 711, 733; Associa-
tion, 737, 740, 784, 800, 801 ;
Institution, 181, 942; and the
Royal Academy, 160 ; Museum,
625 ; Approaches to, 902 ;
and the Electric Light, 53«.
Brittany, Gossip from, 907, 961.
Bromley, Church at, 771.
Brodrick, C, Me>;hanics' Insti-
tute 904.
Brussels, 047, 682; Competition
for the New Palais de Justice,
647, 082.
Bryce, Mr., Fotheringham Castle,
710.
Buckingham Palace Chapel, 700.
Buckland, Mr., St. John s, Maid-
stone, 4.
Builders' Ball, 26, 171 ; Benevo-
lent Institution, 400, 028. A14,
85i, 872; Excursion, 614, ftiO;
Foremen and Clerks of Works
Institution of. -'40 ; Tenders,
053, 083; Opening of, 74.3,
Building Act, Infringement of,
811 ; Cases under, 9.5.3 ; and the
Medical Officers of Health, 102.3 ;
"Opinion" under, 699; Pro-
jections beyond the Line of
Frontage, 099 ; Company, Hull,
755; Contracts, 422; Enter-
prises of the Army and Navy,
174 ; Improvements, 722, 932 ;
Operations in Edinburgh,
7fKJ; Progress, 80, 135, 324;
Bridlmgton, 828: in the City.
•308 ; in Gloucester, 781 ; Isle of
Wight, 755 ; in New South
Wales, 855; Oxford, 87»; In
Paris, 200, 203, 324, 403 ; Picca-
dilly, 388; In Portland, 828; of
the International Kxhibition,
220; Societies, KflVa, '238; Stonc,
Vletorinn, 704, 792.
Buhner. .Mr., Com Market, Ash-
ford, 8W.
Buives, Mr., On the Pliotognpbs
of the Arcbit<«tural I'hotogn-
phic Exhibition, '251.
Bumell, G. K.. On the AppUes-
tlon of the IfaauUfU to the De-
tails of Buildings, 246 ; On
Works n^enUy executed at
Bayenx and Chichester Cathe-
drals, 401.
Bury, T., Chorch, Burgess HIU,
910 ; St GUes, KiLnlngtoii,
774 ; St. James's, Dover, 771.
Butterlield, Mr., New Chnroh,
Baldwin's - gardena, 46 ; St.
Mildred's, Csnterbory, ia09i
CAEN, Six Weeks In, 80, 177.
Calcutta, Dalhousie Institute, 92.
Calder Marshall, K.A., Monu-
ment, RawsUy Churoli, 731.
Cambcrwell, Church Bates at,
594.
Cambridge Guildhall, 754.
Campbell and Co., St. Peter's
Mission Church, Glasgow, 081.
Canada, Government Buildings
at Ottawa, 190 ; Works, Birken-
head, 981.
Canal, Isthmus of Suez, 246 ;
Works, llindostan, 903.
Canalization in France, 2tS.
Carlton Club House, 87.
Carter, T. W., Chapel Orchard,
719.
Carton Pierre, 15.
Carving in Wainscot at Compton
Wvnniatts. 510.
Castle, Sudden Destmction of a,
169.
Castle Fotheringham, 710.
Catacombs at Alexandria, 168.
Cathedrals: Baycux and Chi-
chester, 4«1 ; Bristol. 574i aHOi
Chichester, 292, 314, 662, 718;
Ely, 791 ; Exeter, 27o ; Mona-
ment in, 185 ; Frankfort, Dis-
covery of Fresco- Painting In,
927 ; Glasgow, £66 ; Goulbonm,
New South Wales, 323 ; Here-
ford, 191, 4»3, 769: Llehfleld,
625, 769, 889, 928, 055 ; Lincohi.
689, 607, 694, 775, 792 ; LlandsC
698, 7S4, 780; Norwich, 744;
Oxford, 968; Ripon, 820; St.
Patrick's, Dublin, I0I8 ; Salis-
bury, '270. 2?2 ; Wells. 267, 2*8,
269; Wimborne, 771: Win-
chester, ■i(ii\ 271. 1009, Worees-
ter, 327, 718 ; York, 751, 8<B.
Cattle Market, Ludlow, 776 ;
Norwich, 8<H.
Cavah7 Depot, Maidstone, 1084.
Cemeteries : Croydon, 026 ;
Ford, near Liverpool, 771 ;
Kettering, 936 ; Liverpool. 39;
Paris, \m; Rugby, 705, 972,
990; Ryde, 780, 810; Walton,
near Liverpool, 126.
Cemetery Chapel, Alecster, 918 ;
Ford, 791.
Cenotaph, \^niitby, 69a
Chapels: Baptist, Driflleld, 846 ;
Batley (AVesleyan), 935; Blyth
(Presbyterian), 810; Bradford
(Baptist), 916; Brindley Ford.
898 ; Buckingham Palace, 700 ;
Burslem (Wesleyan), 916 ; Carl-
ton (Weslevan), 916 ; '.Congre-
gational, Biimley, 700 ; Hoae-
ley, 734 ; Redhill, 752 ; Malpas,
718; Oakham, 880: Sheemess,
719 ; Southampton, 971 ; Stow-
market, 930; Conlston (Bap-
tist), 771 ; Crouch End. 472 ; ibr
Converted Jews, 344 ; Darting-
ton (Independent), 810 ; Dayn-
ton, 771 ; Ford Cemetery.
Liverpool, 791; Gaelic, Glas-
gow, 791; Harrogate, 700;
Independent, Great Grimsby,
840 ; Liverpool, 1009 ; John's
College, Hurtspicrpoint, 791 ;
Kettering (BapUsf, 810 ;
IV
INDEX TO BUILDINt
vir\rc
VOLUME VII.
. udi'd December ~'7, ISM.
KIMIM I iValtuiuk 7i» ;
ZSUL, Tork, ;»: LiTCr-
■aaL W» ■• Loacport
JWtilnu). :«1 : MiMmfctyl.
nti Mrthodbt. KiwMrtle.
lH»i New Voofttotkmtl.
a— Mill, m ! Urtkwd.
LmmiUk. 1 rrwIwteriM.
Owt. »t; Lhrcrpool. ec!7;
WaMftMrar (iron. M« ;
FMIM iW«»le3rMi)t 71»; Prta-
Mn IMkodki. Oo^iglMm.
(0; r«ltali.o( tfc»
81.
■naa fMd^ I.MaklBctoa.
•Mt BHiMiL SM: St. Aa-
drav-a. aiMUaa. 71* : St.
Jaka% Buvaa. »l« : St.
JakB't.LtaH»a,«l«: Skiptoa.
YackaUn,7ai Sonthport (In-
lianlmi. SWs Stoke a (run
■aaA. IhMal. 771 : Tbomt-
rWotema). 71*: I'aloo Church,
Patatr. SH; rnitarUa. I'ud.
MT. Mi: Vtctorta Stra.-!.
Ocrtv. «»i We*lc7aB. Blao
FMa, m ; Undford. <:.>» :
Bnaaavr. 7M i CburhroMl,
TiMiii M6 ; t'ktehcr-
■met, Manebcatcr. Ml : Gate
BdBulcj.Mi: HaiTanta,4:>»,
n>iLceSook.HotaiEth.8aB:
imn — T ; Baaltfc. SM : Soath.
Bart.atS t Tlatcn. 7VI ; Win-
•aa OmmM* I Yanaoath, Mj ;
WaadaMa.*SS.
Ei^ltA Chardi at.
Chamuu) Salt on t Kuildins^
CWitnet. 3:3 i Decrw, the Utv.
Ml.
Laat,(M.
auc. Ulaacov Calhe-
7M ; Wertaiaattf Abbejr.
•U.
Ckariac Ciom Baawar, 218:
BMcc. aM: CaM oT Con-
anMitlna, 738, 811, lOM :
I IN. Thoaa*-> H<Mpilal.ft«.
torn ntqnine Chareh. 7IH.
CkartKj AMxfT, Exraratlon* at,
?Ml
Architertoral Rodety,
I : MSttia Uanvkt. -.t^s : New
Maikaia, ft». lO); nmuix
Tawai, aW: .hl Man-'n, :i^
CWatmaa. J., Iran IfouK, Lei-
ctatcr. TM.
CUtketct Catbrdnl, iC6; Fall
«rilMl)flR.SI4.a«!.
~"-" — Otatt, Soawrwt-
CWBBCjra aad Faniaeca lur
Blam KMiaea, 91, US,
CkiMiaOlr., Oa Briekw«rk.2M.
Ckardwa : All Balau*. Bradford,
100*1 — Hiuband't Bonrorth,
lOOO: — KesatoKton-park, 300 1
— KewaMrkel, Wl ; Alton. M :
Aaaftad I'ariib. 712 : ArTanKc-
■••t oC Ci : Baldwia't Gar-
*m»,U: Barton, CarUalc, 7K ;
llttliailil. ShraiMUrc 7)C:
Balk. •»( BittarT. «1S; lib,-
lraa,lrBBtaklrc, lOM : BUwIlh.
Chrcntoae, 771 s Bodelwrddan,
XM, I7»t Bfwncoate, NolU,
aWt Bratlon ncnUag, son;
BnckwOTth, 14: Brovastoue,
It; Boliriek. TMt Carmelite,
llaala,W«ifiiat>,Wl> : Catbo-
Bc Baaliel—i. a<0 : Cbrint-
MKk, LaacMr. roatrpuf.l,
7M ; narhfer. 472 : York,
tm, 719. 7.14. - Saadoim,
(71: Cltr, i>!«: Clerdoo, 20U;
BalcaUlC VIA ; Combe, 731 ;
CMMB. X<ii«>lk. ;-il : Cran-
tCMk. «M: r rirkhowrll. gSO;
CfMk Bonun caihoUr, K<CI:
arapoaed, at Uanren, 7X; ;
baubet, Backa. ;ri ; Uui,
CMtaUad. 341 ; OebtllDK.
lH*t I>talHua, 710: Dnloe.
Canirail, aS7i Katon C-barrh,
aafMkTte s Kdltliweaton, 733;
■ncbak. at ChaaManl. 7V>:
Ttamy OnjUm, ii i rordbam.
7*1 s ratbertnr, LlBmbublre.
m : rn«, BotbweU. -ip, ;
Oaartc Brtdtce, UiBbnrKh.
«Mi ta Gla<«aw. ml ; Great
~ "~l I Great Cheater
Mb. MI( Great Mapleatnul,
171: Banirld, n7. 7%; ilard-
wteitt. lOOs ilafarard'a Ilralh,
MO: Ho()ri;rOM.TraDorc, '/.••;
tUtr Ttiaity. Hall. 7!fi; llorn-
aty. 7«: Iron, at rialko, 07":
Laactoa. 771 : Larbam. von -.
Lwda, Parteb.JTR: of l>e
Far «a Velar, a£ M i Leren
(X. BIX M*; LiaMm. Wor-
tnta, to, UttloBiBfbrd,
Wl; Loeoek, WUia. 10»i9;
Lualer, »3S: Uaaton, <.>70i
Marked Orerton, «K». s«;
Market KaM^n. 710: Memo-
rial, Tottcohani I'ark, 809 ;
Merriott. trewkerue. Til ;
Memorial, I.lawr-y.Bcttws,
Middle l!a.«cn. X-T ; Mission
Houae, jMilisbury-itquare. 33J ;
Modburr, ir : Monkabcrbomc,
S80; Mbreton Valence, 112;
Kantwicb, r-Jl ; New, at Bath,
TOO; New Metropolitan, "GO;
New at Qaemmore, 10 ; Now, a
Iteadinc, 003 ; Normanton, 454,
(Si ; Offenham,!*0,W)6; Orcop,
Herefordshire, Hi; Orretl,
Litlierlaud. 8'ir ; l*ortsmoath,
«.>;: lUwsley 734; KedhiU,
Koman Catholic, 75'.! ;
Ribworth, 81K> ; Uingmore, 001,
9IC: Rinsstone, 72, t>US; Komau
Calholie. Ilath, S-.^ ; Kadston,
JM; liuitlip, 7tr ; Knshmerc,
'.lOii ; Kuskint^ou, uro ; Kussian.
I'aria, 771 ; St. Andrew's, Char-
mouth,7i:.'; —Denton, 41'.>; —
Leicester, 710 ; — Kushmcre,
(Vii SL Aun'ti, Stamford-hill,
(i7«; SL Benedict's, Wood
Knderbjr, 771 ; St. Uotolpli, Lin-
coln, lOOV ; St. Clement
Dane*, 2ni, iOi ; St. Cnthbcrfs,
Darlington, .-rt.'!, W5, M3; St.
Giles, Kllmington, 774; —
Iteadinf:, 880 ; St. James's
Dover. 771 ; St. .lames the Less,
Westminsler, um, C(U ; St. John
the Itaptist. Itedminster.Somer-
M't. 4 ; St. John's, Copenha^n,
75'* : — Krankley. 4','4 — Hawk-
chiurh, K7: — Market ISos-
worth, 700; St. Leonard's, Chal-
wood, 791 ; — Bromley, 734 ;
St. Luke's, Hull, 4(M ; — Iley-
wood, 3K) ; — Wolverhampton,
IH4: St. Marv, Atldone, SOS,
lOld: — Bisdophill, 8M: —
Cambridge. N^o, k08; — Ches-
ter, 7.)'.^ 8<?.* ; — Low Duns-
forth, «?;— Dallon Holme. 079;
U.ms^-y. Cambridgeshire, 75'.! :
— Soiilh LulTenham. 880; —
South .■i|iield.«.8><(; — Wilsford,
90t.;— Whlttersley, S15; St.Mary
Mai^dalen, K.veter, SIO; —St.
Hariniret's, Loohce, 1009; St.
Martin's, Waith, K80: St. Mat-
thew's. Oakley-square. 931 ; St.
Michael and All An;;els, I'ad-
diUKton, r-.'O, )•!■.' ; St. Jllchael
ana All Saints, Bromley,
734,771; SL Michael's, Corn-
bill. 'Jj ; — Dundrv, bfa ; —
JLarahoume, S02 : — reasenholl,
SnlTolk, 75'i; — Tlpperary, 935 ;
St. Hlldrcd's,Canterbury,1009:
SL Nicholas. Bristol (R.C.), 935;
— Nca-castic, «7; St. I'aul's,
Cambridi^, U35; — Newton Ab-
bott. ;5fA fW; — Westmlnstcr-
roa<l,t<U; St. I'eter'B, Draycot,
(»4i— I'hlbsboro', DubUn, 744;—
Westminster, 41 ; — Worcester,
734 ; SS. I'et' r and I'aul, 3Ioatc,
101ft;— Wolvirhainpton,9:«l; SS.
Philip and James. Oxford. 700 ;
St. Sepulchre's, Northampton.
«74, 770; St. Stephen's, Clap-
ham, Ki: — South Lsinbeth,
374: St. Thonus'a, Anneflcid
Ilain, 734: — Bristol, 910;
St. Timothy, Ererton, .VM ;
Sandy Church, 8M); Scaford,
Htl : Shiptou Gon,i', fWt ;
Shkldfleld, ai5 : Sblrc Oaks,
MO; Sbufold, 910; Southporl,
771 : South Dalton, r,tl ; South-
port, ».'7 ; Stoilt'hton, 719 ;
Stroud.'.W ; Subt.rranian, 053 ;
Terra-cotta, at Manchester,
.'ifll : Thn'eklneham, Lin-
colnshire, 700; 'rTceliurnt, Sus-
•ex, r.'t4 ; Trinity, Troubrldge,
•71 : Tlnwell. 710 ; Cppin:,'liam.
WiO, 900; Wellingborough, 971 i
West <r«tlns, KS*; We»t
Hatch, Somerset, 700 ; Wilton,
731 ; Warkin;.ton. < umber and.
ttlO; Woolslon. Hampshire.N>!0;
Wyrardisbury, near WIndeor,
7.'i.' ; Zion, Kathgar, 913, 1010.
Churches. Color In, ^10.
Churrli Kcstoratlon, sec
" I'hnrchea," kc.
City llulldin^rs. 3SH. W7: Cliurchcs,
»C ; Commission of Scwers,.337;
Court of Sewers, IM7; Hall,
Dublin, 001 ; Improrementh,
131 ; of London, Works In, 80 ;
•'ompW'atcr, 791 ; Sewers Uf-
Clrll KoKlncera, Inatitullon of.
230, .B7, fli.T, 919, 9M, 978, 1020,
Clark, Jimyh. K.».A.,SLiuke'»,
HcyKood,:no.
Clarke. Cliatfeild, Houses, Great
Tower-street, 8t>.
Classical I'rinciple In Architec-
ture, a I'lea for, '->82.
Clayton, John, Schools, Klnncrs-
lev, 40t>.
Clevdon Church, 200.
Clifton Suspension Bridge, 00'.'.
Clocks, 15.
(lock Dials, 310, .•W7.
Clock Tower, Tynemouth, 7il.
Clubhouses, Carlton, 87 ; Kildarc-
Btreet, Dublin, 1010; Design
for, 570.
Coal-ta-x and the Metropolitan
Imprtivements, 150.
Coast Churches in Devon iind
Cornwall, 17, 001, 915.
Cockerell, F. I'., On Ai'chitec-
tura! Aeeessories of Monu-
mental Sculpture, I'lO; I'ro-
fessor, Portrsit of, 55;i.
Colchester, Artesian Well at, 79'2.
Colchester, Cavalry liarrncks,
79-J, 810.8-28.
Colchester Survevorship. 810.
Colleges, Amplel'orth, '.f-'l ; Bap-
tist,Sherwood-rise,R'<l;Chri8t'8,
Kinchlev, 472; Kton,810; Ko-
therhani, 702 ; University, 820.
Coleahill Chureh, 910.
Collieries, Ventilation of, 958.
Cologne Cathedral, 80-2.
Cologne Syuagofiuc, 771.
Colored Glass Columns, 73.
Color iu Churches, 349.
Colson, J., Winchester Cathedral,
1000.
Coming Debate at the Institution,
23.
Commissions to Architects, fl:tf>.
Commission l^uestion (the), .593.
Communication between Guard
and Driver on Railways, 400.
Competitions : Christehurch, Sur-
rey, 81 ; Durham, 192 ; Dur-
ham Fountain, 170; Lincoln
Sleehanics' Institute, 790; Li-
verixxd Cemetery, 30 ; National,
i.'it ; New Church, Bradford,
216; Palais de Justice, 0.(7; York-
shire Agricultural Society, 14.
Competitions Awarded, 21, 00,
171, 244, 280, 'iO?, 317, :t39, .'tfll,
3n), 440, 511, 555, 595, 607, 703,
7:!9.
Competitions Open, 21, 39, flfl, e.%
105, 127, 19.3, 215, '2.37, '2.59, 280,
'297, 317, 3:19, 301, .379, 401, 423,
489, 511, 43-2, 577, .595, 013, 0:11,
018, 007, WW, 703, 721, 739, 7.57,
77.5, 7U:i, W8. 800, 88:), SK)1, 920,
937, 9.M, 973, 992, 1010, 1027.
Complon Wynnlatts, Carving at,
510.
Concentration of Law Courts, 151.
Conduit, Trinity College, Cam-
bridge, -i'iO.
Coniston Baptist Chapel, 771.
Consecratiou of SL John's, Maid-
stone, 4.
Conservative Land Society, 278,
477, 48)1, 810.
Consecration of Jewish Syna-
gogue at Leeds, 700.
Construction of Floating Bea-
cons, 2.10.
Construction of Hospitals, 939,
'.J.)9, 1005.
Contest, recent, at the Institute,
4'.'fl.
ContraeU Open, 21, 40, 00, 8.1, 10.5,
128, 149, 171, 193, 21.5, 237, 2.59,
280, 297, 317, .'tlO, 379, 401, 4'2:i,
440, 407, 489, S95, 013, Ml, 611,
532, 5.5.5, 577, .595, ffll. 048, fl«7,
085, 70.1, 721, 739, 7.57, 775, 793,
81',', 8.10, 848, 800, 88.'), 901, O^^O,
'.07, 973. 992, 1010, 1027.
Conveiilt-nt Arrangement of
Buildings, Notes on, ;142, 375.
Conversazione of the Architec-
tural Association, X30, 3.53; at
the Architectural Museum. 108;
at Ironmongers' Hall, 3ii9, 410 ;
Lambeth School of Alt. 02 ; at
SL Slartiu's School of Art. 488;
Koyal Institute of British Ar-
chitects, .593.
Cooking Apparatus. .5.50, 64.5.
Cook Joseph, Monument to Llfc-
boatimen, Whitby, (V90,
Co-operallon, 751.
Co-operative Stores," Edinburgh,
88«: Leeds, &lfl. '
Cope Cbesta In York Cathedral,
115.
Copyright In Art, 101, 429.
Cork, New Church at, 0,54.
Corn Exchanges ; Ashford, 918;
Bury St. Edmund's, 914 : Ox-
ford. 801, 888 ; Norwich, 914 ;
Wakefield, 810; Welling-
borough, 14; WoIvcrbamptoD,
Comiab Uinei, M4.
Coruhill, Building Progress in
359.
Corn Market, Ashbourne, 804.
Corn Warehouses, Liverpool, 828.
Correspondence, W, 81, 104, 127,
143, 109, y.rl, 213, 235, 259, '279,
aWl, 310, 3:!7, 30O, 377, 400, 42J,
444, 4('ki, ,53'2, 67.5, 593, Cl'2, 030,
018, (500, Ci<-i, 720, 775, 793, 829,
847, .8.'*2, IKK), 919, 937, 955, 973,
1.191,1010.
Cottiuglinm, New Primitive
Methodist (Chapel, 537.
Cotton Clmrch, Norfolk, 752.
County Court, Tliaine, 717.
Courts of Law, 303.
CJourtyard of Drapers' Company,
Threadnecdle-strcet, 19.
Courts of Justice. Site for, (HO.
Cranbrook I'arlsh Church, 9,50.
Cromwell, Statue of, 20.
Crystal Palace, 3S9, 088 ; School
of Art, Science, and Literature,
438.
Cubltt. Sir wmiam, death of, 844.
Culshaw, Mr,, Savings Bank,
Liverpool, 840.
Curatorship of the Soanc
Museum, 148.
Currcy II., London Bridge Kail-
way Termintis Hotel, 241.
Curriculum (Architectural), 305,
358, 378,
D
DALEY, Gmhiim, Church at
Quernmore, 19.
Dalhousle Institute, Calontta, 92.
Dangerous Structures, Stu'vey of,
187.
Darlington Independent Chapel,
SIO.
Dartmouth Improvements. 881.
Darwen . New Church at, 752.
Davis 5Ir., Memorial to Wedge-
wood, o.'>3.
Dawson, Mr., Houses, Fcnchurch-
strceL 359.
Dean, W. W., Shop Front, INew
liond-street, 370.
Deane and Woodward, Kildare-
8tri>et Club House, Dublin,
1010.
Debiting Chureh, 1009.
Decay of Stone hi the Houses of
Parliament, 547 ; Keport of
Committee on, 805. {See also
"Stone, Decay of,*' &c.)
Decorative Art in the Exhibition
of 1802, 779 ; Design In Brick-
work, -299.
Decorations In the New Louvre,
185.
Decisions in the Courts, 953, 972,
1020.
Defective Drainage, Results of,
327.
Denbigh Railway Station, 185.
Denham Church, 710.
l>cnnis, Lee, and Welsh, 3Ionu-
ment iu St. George's, Leeds,
792.
Dcodorisation Scheme, Exotcr,
735.
Depositories for Parish Docu-
ments, 098.
Derby. Sanitary Works at. 951.
" Design but not Superinten-
dence," 304.
Designs for the Sydney Houses of
Parliament, OlS, Mb.
" Dictionary of Architecture," 94.
Diploma (Question, '23, 09, 81, 188.
{See "Architectural Examina-
tion.")
Dispensary, Newbury. 755.
Distinctions, Simplicity and Con-
trast, 745.
District Surveyors' I'ees, 494.
DistrlctSurveyorship of Hackney,
971.
Docks, Birkenhead, 13, 735, 709 ;
Briton Ferry, 7'22. 7.'iO ; Liver-
pool, 75^5, 828 ; Sunderland, .10.
Dockyard, Architectural Works,
320; Chatham, 812.
Do<ld, J. S., Schools, Wallingford,
1022.
Donaldson (Professor), 820; On
the Catacombs at Alexandria.
108 ; On the Excavations at
Gbizeh and Saccara, 107 ; On
the Fellah Arab Architecture,
In Egypt, 108 ; Lectures at
University College, 818.
Domestic Architecture, 477.
Donatello, Genius of, 20'2.
Doorway of SL .Mary's, Clapham,
94 ; in Church of the Vrari,
Venice, 115.
Doublet, T. and H., Mechanical
Instruments, 917.
Dover, St. James's, 771.
Doynton, Chapel at, JJi.
Drainal ■ and Drainpipes, 125.
Drainna Defective, i327, 2(H ;
the KiV ppleian System, 402.
Drapers'V ompany.|(Court Yard).
19 ; Sch», 1, Tottenham. 72.
Drawing, ^i.
Drawings or Madame Bodichou.
:B4.
Drawing School, (Hill's), 84.
Dresser, Dr., On the Art of
Decorative D >sign, Oil?.
Drill Sheds for '.'olunteers, 19.
Drinking Fountain, Broadway,
8'28 ; Islingtou, '22 ; Reading,
093: Ludlow, 775; Tun-
bridge AA'ells, 70tj, 754.
Drucc Randall, On an Architect's
Audience, 10.5.
Dublin Exhibition, 831, 853;
Mater MisericordiiC Hospital.
788 : New Roman Catholic
Church, 809 ; Works in, 091,
Duloe Chureh, 771.
Dundry, St. Michaels' 802.
Durham Competition, 192 .
Dutch Engineers. 1010.
DyakB, (The), 1022.
Dyke, T., Almshouses,* Old
Buckenham, 097, 755.
E V
EAST INDIA HOUSE, 514, 5,<18.-
493,•.(10■^, 954.
Eaton' Chureh, Norfolk, 802.
Ecclesiologieal Society, 227, 470,
527.
Economic Cooking Apparatus,
550.
Economy of Construction, Notes
on, 8.50.
Edinburgh, AccidenJ at, 094;
Architectural Association, 8'^4;
Art Treasures Exhibition, 967 ;
Dangerous Structures in. 1012;
Destructive Fire in, 820 ; Photo-
graphic Society, 907.
Edwards and Burke, 125.
Election of President Koyal Insti-
tute British Architects, 420.
Electric Light and the British
Museum, 5;t6.
Electro Bronzing, 110.
Elementary Geometrical Draw-
ing, 750.
Elliptic Arches, Jointing of, .393.
(H8.
Ely Cathedral, 791 ; Local Board
of Health, '21'2,
Knibankment of the Thames, sc^
Thames Embankment.
Emblematical Device for Trade
Card, 571.
Enamel Pictures on Glass, 537.
Engineers, South Wales Institute
of, 793.
English Architecture of the Nine-
teenth Century, 503; Ship-
builders in France, 954 ; Work-
men, French Admiration of,
3'«.
Entrance to the Great Float,
Liverpool, 756; to the Hall of
the Two Sisters, from the Lion' s
(Jourt, 154; to Horticultural
Society's Gardens, 010.
Estimates, Use and Abuse of, 382,
453.
Euston and Hainpstead roads,
obstruction at, 944.
Excavations at Ghizeli and
Saccara, ](''7 ; at Ludlow, 775.
Excursion Trains to the Great
Exhibition. 793.
Exeter Cathedral, Slonumcnts
in, 185
Exhibition of 1S02, 20, 1C>9, 18,5,
2'20, 201, 20:i, 341, :ilH, 4'28, 408,
485, 493, 494, 500, .500, 513, 515,
521, 047, 779, 79'l, 797, 798, 1027 :
and the American War, 975;
Building for, 139 ; Progress of,
]8(i, 192, 510, 610, 70.5, 797,
905, lull ; in Danger, 400 ;
and the District Surveyor,
■442, 447 ; Guarantee Fund, 02 ;
and Music, 109; What Should
be Sent to, 921 ; Prizes, 51.1.
Exhibitions, Architectural, 293,
242, .100, 320,: 313, 305, 370, 393,
419, 427 ; of Architectural and
Mechanical Drawings, 18 :
Of the Architectural Photo-
graphic Association, 02, 134.
IM, 170, 2.'!4; Art, Falmouth,
788 ; Art Treasures, Edinburgh,
907; British Institution, Pall
Mall, 942 ; Of Building
Materials, 71'2, 987 ; Of Decora-
tive Art, 1.12; Dublin, 8,11, 8,53 ;
Ethnographic, 87 ; Female
School of Art. '205, 279;
Flatou's. 809 ; Florence. 931 ;
Free. 416; Of General Sculp-
ture, Expediency oi Founding
VOLUME ATI.
Concluded Docember -T,
18C1.
INDEX TO BUILDING NEWS.
5 ; Of rudustriiil and Dcco-
riitivo Ar^. Kdinburfjli, 7.">7;
Srodorn Works of Art, :tsy, 4:il,
477 ; <;)f raintcrs' Work, 111,
an ; Uoyal Academy, :iS5, 4rj ;
Of .Sculpture, Proposed, :!il,
04 ; Society of Female Artists,
120 ; Suffolk street (iallcry, :!0,
373; Victoria Cross (liillery,
282; Water Color I'alutin'f,
349, 49ii ; Winter, 9-'2.
F
FACTS from the Great Fire, 573.
Kalkcner, E., 407, on the Hy-
picthron of Greek Temples, 070.
Fall of Hou.sc in Edinburj^h, 0.>j,
tm.
Falmoutli Art Exhibition, 788.
Female .-Vrtists, Exhibition of,
12'.); .School of Art, 488.
Fenchurch-street, Building I'ro-
^ess in, 3-")'.*.
Fergussou J., F.K.A.S., on the
Indian I'hotographs of the
Arcliitcctural Photographic
Association, 1/0; On the Mode
in which Light was Introduced
into Greek Temples, 881, 932.
Ferries and Waterworks Walla-
sey, 6.50.
Ferrey B., Church, Shufold, 910;
Merriott Church, 752.
Finch Hill and Paraire, "The
Oxford," 241.
Fine Arts. Academy of, Man-
cheater, M2.
Fine Arts Commission and the
E.xhibition of 1802, 494.
Fine Arts in the House of Com-
mons, u:39.
Fine Arts (The), Seen from a New
Point of View. 27, 42, 111, 177,
221, 283, 34.3, 409, 540, .58:J, 019,
07.
Fine Arts, Society for tlic Eu-
couMgemcnt of, 337.
Fire ! Fire ! S84.
Fire in lidinburgh, 820 ; in Lin-
coln's-inn-fields, 20 ; at St.
Matthew's, Oakley-square, 931 ;
in Southwajk, (VSO; Sowerby's
3Iuseuin, t^trand, 810.
Fireplace and Doorway, Paris,
905.
Fireproof Buildings, .59-1; Con-
struction, .057, 031 ; Doors, 7tHi,
S29 ; Dress, 1000.
Fire Escape, 860.
Firn, J., Restoration of Stonghton
Church, 719.
Fish, C, House, Threadneedle-
street. 81.
Fitzhardinge, Lord, Visit of to
Bristol Cathedral, 090.
Flatou"s Exhibition, 809.
Floating Beacons, Construction
of, 230.
Florence, Podesta Palace. 949.
Foliage, the Cliarm of Natural,
180.
Font in Lichfield Cathedral, .52.-,.
Ford Church, Littlchaninton, 770.
P^ord, G., Chapel, Brindley Ford,
809: We.sleyan Chapel, Long-
l>ort, 701.
Fordhani Church, 791.
Foreign Notes, 44.
Foreign Office, 2.38, 580.
Foremen Engineers, Association
of, u;o.
Forest of Dean, St. Briavel's, 770,
Forsyth. J., Monument, Uawslcy
Chm-ch, 734.
Fortillcations, 924; Portland, 9*1.
I'N t r t Picljlecombc, Moimt
Edijcumbe, 700.
Fossil Tree, 701.
Foster, .T. and J., Bristol, 771,
Foster and Wood, Schools,
Stapleton, 880.
Fotheringham Castle, 710.
Fotherby Church, Lincolnsliire,
700.
Foundations, Mr. Bunker on, 125.
Fountains, Competition Designs
for, 170; Paris, Electro Bronz-
ing of, 110.
Four Courts, Dublin, 091.
Four .Sisters, (The) or, some Notes
on the Kelationship of the Fine
Art, 114, 130.
Fowke, Capt., Exhibition of 1862,
220 ; Horticultural Society
Grounds, 241 ; Industrial
Museum, Edinburgh, 879.
Fowler, J., St. Martin's Waith,
880 ; Fotherby Church, Lincolu-
Bhire, 700 ; Church, Market
Uasen, 719; Louth Parish
Church, 001.
France, Arclia;ology in, 110 ; and
Architecture, 182 ; Canaliza-
tion in, 245 ; Komanesquc Art
in the South of, 207.
Frankfort Cathedral, Discovery
of Frescoes in, 927.
Franklin, Sir .lohn, Slemorial to,
828.
Frederick the Great, Works of,
931.
Free Exhibitions. 410.
Free library .and Museum, Liver-
pool, 817.
Free Libraries, 942.
Freedom of Labor, 28:1.
Freehold Houses for Workmen,
098.
Freeman, E. A., Architectural
Journey in Aquitaine, 242, 272,
288.
Freeman, K. K., on Domestic
Architecture. 477'.
French jVcademy of Sciences, 70 ;
Admiration of English Work-
men, 322; Antiquarian Ke-
scarches in the East, 000, 029 ;
Domestic Architecture, 518;
Gallery, 205; Notes, 92.>.
Frescoes at the Westminster
Palace, 927.
Frith, Mr., " Life at a Railway
Station," 110.
Fuller Baptist Chapel, Kettering,
810.
Furnaces for Steam Engines, 91.
Furness Abbey, Pastand Present.
19.
G
GABRIEL, S. B., St. Michael's,
Dundry, 802.
Garden, Itristol, 775.
Gas in the City, 954; at Great
SV'estern Station, 9.55.
Gate of [Loggia, Piazza of St.
Slark, 4.
Gates, Messrs., Blackburn Work-
house, 455.
Guishoro' ilechanics' Institute,
771.
Gee, W. II., Orrell Church, 827,
St. Timothy, Everton, 034.
Genius of Donatello, 2()2.
<;ermttu Academy of Arts, 513,
543.
Ghiberti, on the Genius of, 0.37.
Giles and Jirookhouse, Washing-
ley-hall, 'MW.
Giles, Jtr., Anaford Parish
Church, 712.
Giles, Mr. C. E., New Church at
Bath, 570.
Giles, J., Town Hall, Great
Grimsby, 800.
Gill, W., On Cornish Mines,
944.
Gille, M., Statue of Palissy, 470.
Gilt Statues, .100,
Glasgow Architectural .Society,
877 ; G.ielic Chapel at, 791.
Glass Columns, 73.
Gloucester Court of Probate, 375 ;
Progress of Building in, 781.
Glover, W., On Gothic Archi-
tecture, 'i)<'X
Gold Const, Church at 752.
Gould, 3Ir., Goulbourn Cathedral,
323.
Gossip from Brittany, 961, 907.
Gothic : Is it Adapted for Eccle-
siastical and General Building
Purposes, 589.
Gough, Ml., MiUtary Works,
Chatham, 802.
Gould, 5rr., West Buckland
Schools, 840; K., Christ Church,
York, 890 ; I!. D., Town Hall,
Torrington, 828.
Goulty, H. N., Schools, Saffron
Walden, 80:(.
Gorton's Veneer Cutting Ma-
chinery, 20O.
Government Architect (The), 8C« ;
Building for the Year, 451 ;
Buildings, C)ttawa, Canada, It'tO ;
Buildings, New South Wales,
794; ^iismanagement in
Matters of Art, 403; Offices,
802.
Grainger, K., Obituary of, 001,
048.
Gravcsend Hut Barracks, 810.
Great Osterton Church, 900.
Great Eastern, 9.34.
Great Grimsby, Independent
Chapel, 8W; Town Hall, 755,
809.
Great 51aplestead Church, 971.
Greek Art at the Palace of In-
dustry, 2.
Greek Temples, Introduction of
Light into, 881, 93-2.
(ireen and Do Ville, Hartley In-
stitution, Southampton, 708.
Gribble, U., Union Chmxh,
Putney, 324.
Grifflu, Mr., Great Barr Church,
Griffiths and Thomas, Schools,
Llanarth, '232.
Grimes, ,7., Fordham Church,
Essex, 791.
Grotesque (The) in Art, 212, 225.
Guardians and Parish Work, 7.35.
Guards' Jlemonal, Waterloo-
place, 780.
Guildhall, Cambridge, 754 ; New
City Sewers' Office, 940.
Gwilt, A., House, Threaduccdlc-
street, 8.
H
HABERRHON, E., Congrega-
tional Chapel, Oakham. 880 ; VV.
(4.. ^lansion for Lord Kollo, at
Duncrub, ',80; Westbourne-
grovo Presbyterian Chapel,
914.
Hackford, Mr., St. Benedict's,
Wood, Enderby, 771.
Hallebury College, Sale of, 755.
Haines's lilonumental Brass, 191.
Hakewell,3Ir., ItushmereChurch,
900.
llaleyandlSon, Wesleyan Chapel,
Southport, .525.
Hall, S. C, on Engraving and
Printing Plates, 70.
Halls : Congleton, 001 ; Islington,
901 ; .lersey, U.S. , 010 ; Kelliam.
Notts, 542, 570; Proposed
Music, 949; Washingley, iiiiO.
Hallam, Statue of, in St. Paul's,
187.
Hammersmith, District Surveyor-
ship of, 047.
Hancorn, Samuel, Tintem
Chapel, 701.
Hansom, C, St. Nicholas,
Bristol, 9:i5.
Hansom, J., Ampleforth College,
9J4.
Harbors and Docks of Marseilles,
539.
Harbor Works, 801 ; Penarth, 854.
Hardwick, P. ('., Banking-house,
I,ombard-street, 80, 359, 499.
Hareiield Church. 717; Manor
and Church of, 728.
Harris, 1!. O., on Carpentry. 484.
Harris, 3fr., Brixworth Schools,
80:).
Harrogate, Wesleyan Chapel, 420.
Harrison, Mr., St. Mary's,
Chester, 802.
Hartley Institution, Southamp-
ton, 708, 830.
Ilawes, AV., on the Exhibition of
1802, 485, 500, 621.
Hawkes, Mr., on the Strength of
Bricks, 97.
Hawkesley, Mr., C.E., 18.
Hawkins. Sir., St. Michael's and
All Angel's, Paddington, 720.
Hawkshaw. ^Ir., Charing-cross
Kailway-bridge, OOO.
Haworth, J., on Street Railways,
,801.
Hay, Messrs., Bothwell Free
Church, 278; Church, Edin-
burgh, 016 ; Markets, Chester,
800; St. John, Frankby, 424;
J. M., Inaugural Address at
LlverpoolArcnitectural Society,
824; Mr., Leven Free Church,
lOUO; W. IL, on the Con-
struction of Turkish Baths, 143.
Ilayward, J., Bralton Fleming,
900.
Hayward's Heath, Proposed
Church, aso.
Ilayward, Mr., New City Sewers'
Office. 040.
Healthful and Interesting Labor,
599.
Heidelberg Castle. 054.
Hereford Cathedral Restoration,
101,49:i, 709.
Hesketh, Mr., St. Clement's
Danes' School, 109.
Hicks, Mr., Combe Church, 7.34 ;
St. John's, Hawkchurcb, 827 ;
Shipton Gorge Church, 828.
High I'ulpits, 835.
Highani. A. B., Shieldfield
Church, y:!5 ; G. and F.,
Residence, Albrighton, 4:17.
Hill's (Jlr.) Exhibition of Draw-
ings. 18.
Hill, W., Chopel, Pudsey, 930.
Hindostan Canal Wot-ks, 9(j:j.
Hine and Evans, Victoria-street,
Derby, 089.
Hincs, 5lr., Congregational
Chapel, Southampton, 971.
Hirst, .L Memoir of, 400.
Historians and Students, 310.
Hogg, J. Sowerby, Congrega-
tional Church, 771.
Hollow Cement Block Walls
:i87.
Hol^ Cross Church, Tramore,
598.
Holmes, Mr., (Jcmetery Chapel,
Alccstcr, 918: Chapel. Mose-
Icy, 7:M ; St. Mary's, Selly Oak,
770.
Holy Trinity Church, Hull, 752.
Hooker and Wheeler, Mauton
Church. 970.
Hooper, Monument to Bishop,
088, 775, 702.
Homes and Railways in the
Metropolis, 222.
Hopkins, W. J. St. I'etcr's, Wor-
cester, 734 ; .Schools, Crowie,
752.
llornsey. New Church at, 7M.
Horticultural Society's Gardens,
&c.. 187. 240, :iOO, 510, 016,
Hospital Construction, 939, 059,
077.
Hospitals. Bath Mineral Water,
Wi ; Herbert Convalescent,
810; King's College, 201;
JIater Miserlcordisc, Dublin,
788; Reading, 881; .St. liar-
tholomcw's, 845: Saint Bar-
tholomew's, (.'hatham, 708 ; St.
Thomas's and the Charing
Cross Railway, 742, 8(S,
987; Samaritan Free, 20;
Suffolk. General, 7.39.
Hotel, Liverpool, 881 ; London
Bridge Railway Terminus, 241,
798, 1027.
House Building in Hull 20.
Houses. Offices, Stc. 18, 80, .338,
350, 300, :!88, 951; Iron, Lei-
cester, 720.
Houses of Parliament, 373;
Decay of Stone at, 55.
House-top Telegraphy, 365, 422,
428, 403.
How arc Architects to be Edu-
cated, 83.
Howbridge. Mr., On Wheels for
Lifting Mater, ic, 07'.i.
Howison, Mr., Mechanics' Insti-
tute, 911.
Hugall, Mr., St. Briavel's, 770.
Huggins, S., On the Birth and
Sfutations of Styles, 3.^5, 407,
4C9, 6'J5, 070, 723, 7.50, 871, 887 ;
On the Origin and Relationship
of the Styles, 054.
Hull Building Company, 755 ;
House Building in, 20 ; St.
Luke's. 494 ; Surveyorship,
755; Town Hall Competi-
tion, 1008.
Hunter H., Tasmanian Museum,
300.
Husaey, R. C, Linton Parish
Church, 601 ; Mr. St. John's
ter, 730.
Hyde I'ark, Proposed Road
acres, 942, 489, 1014.
I'ANSON, E., on Photographs of
the French Renaissance, 100.
Improvements in Buildings, 900,
089 ; in the City of London, 131.
(See also " Houses," Ac, &c.)
Impure I'unip Water, 701.
Impending Struggle (The), 863.
Inaugural Address, Society of
Arts, 023.
Incorporated Society for Pro-
moting the Enlargement, &c.,
of Churches and Chapels. 938.
Industrial Jfuseuin, Edinburgh.
870.
Infirmary, East Grinstead, 755,
7C:!.
Inundations, System for Prevent-
ing, 09.
Institute of Architects (The) and
the Locked-out Reporters and
Surveyors, 07 ; Coming Debate
at, 23 ; Medals, etc., for 1802.
2:)3; Why do not Architects
Join the, 2:)9.
Institution of Builders' Foremen
and Clerks of Works, 240, 4*6,
370, 589; of Civil Engineers, 2:»,
:)37, 043, 919, 9i4, 07^ lO-.'O.
Inventions and Improvements,
2'2, 40, 84. 703. 721.
Internal Decoration, New Ma-
terial for, 100.
Irish Government Officials,
Serious Charge against, 684 ;
News. SCJ, 913; Landed Pro-
perty, 072.
Ireland, Notes from, 1016.
Iron Construction, 3:F2 ; Cylinders
for Foundations. 1000; Doors
in Warehouses, 648; Houses.
Leicester. 720; Trade. 094,
724, 79-2, 930.
Ironmongers* Association, 3.3.3.
4('4 ; — Hall, Conversazione at,
. 390, 410.
Ironwork : Cope-ChestB in York
Cathedral, 113.
Isle of Man, AreU: jztun\ Doings
In, 7U5. KU.
Isthmus of Sou Canal. 245.
JACKSf)N, W., Fenny Drayton
Church. ;j.\
Jeckell. T., Eaton Church, 863.
.lenkins, Mr., Breakwater. I'ol-
perro, 773.
.lersev. City Hall at. 100.
John's Collr^ Chapel, Hurts-
plerpolnt, 791.
Jolinson. K. W., (.'eroetery.
Kettering. 9.36 ; Church, Uram-
coate. '280.
Jones, F., Kudston Church, 3.16.
K
KELHAM HALL, Carrtoif at.
576.
Kensington Gsrdens, New works
in. IH.
Kent ArchEological Society, 6«*.
Kerr, R. Assurance Office, Grsce-
church-strcet. ho : On Sir C.
Wren and his Times. 393. 417 ;
On a Plan for a Country Uousc.
248.
Kew Gardens. 447, 4»l,
Keyless Lock, C'rl.
Klidare-strectClubboose, Dub In.
1016
King's College Hospital, 2M.
KingsfleidCongri-galloualCbapel.
»7L
Kingtwood Unitarian Chap«l,
75;i.
Kinipple's Drainage System. 374.
Kirk, C, Kuskington Church.
070.
Kit's Coty House, fif/4.
Knight, Mr.. St. John's, Market
Boswortb, 700.
Kyle, G., Methodist Chapel, Kcw-
castle, 1009.
LABORERS' Dwellings. ««.
Labor. Freedom of. 283 ; On
Healthful and Interesting. Sm.
Lamb. E. B.. On Architectural
Progression. 1^8; R.. Presby-
terian ( hapel. Hlyth, 810.
Lambeth liridge. W'lO ; Company,
680; School of Art, 02.
Land Company, Parts. 914.
Landseer's Latest Productions.
844.
Langton. Proposal Church, 771.
Law, E.F..AirSaints', Husband's
Bosworlh, 1000.
Law Courts, Concentration of,
1.31.
Law Intelligence : — Bamett v.
Glenn, 301,:tl9; lluilders'Slrike,
735; Collins v. tireen and Reed.
310 ; Hey v. Kitcllin. 701 ; re
Dalton. 720; Hughes v. Vig-
noles, 3.32 ; Important Decisions
under the Iluilding Act. 421,
901 ; Alleged Infraction of th«
Building Act. 7.30 : Intimidating
Workmen, 3:17 ; Troublesomu
Workmen, 729 ; Toplis r.
Jl'Clure. 701 ; Tumbuli v. Hey,
373 : WyUe v. Willnicr, 39, 792,
811, 864, 918.
Lavers and Barrand, Stained
Glass. Little Cawthorpe. 214.
Layham Church. 9ii6.
Lectures at the Architectural Kx-
llibition, 376, 303, 435, 481, 3W,
SSI.
Lectures, Papers, Ac. : Appiic*-
tion of the Beautiful to Details
of Ituildings, '.^40; Application
of Workshop tt«>ls to the Con-
struction of Steam Engines and
other JIachinery. 781. 800; Arab
Architecture in Egypt, lO** ; An
Architect's Audience, 103; On
Architecture, by S. Smirke,
R.A., l>2, 119, 120. 141. 163 :
Architectural Antiquities of
Guildhall, 134 ; Architectural
Accessories of Monumental
Sculpture. 350 : Arcliitecture of
the Eleventh Century, 311, 331 ;
Architectural .Journey in Aqui-
taine, 242, 2r2, 288; Architec-
ture in London, 376 ; Armotir
Plates, 818 ; the Art of Decora-
tive Design, iW ; Battle of the
Styles, 74 ; Brickwork. 2IH. 313 ;
Bayeux and Chichester Cathe-
drals, on Works at, 461 ; Car-
pentery, 484 ; the Catacombs *t
Alexandria, 108; Chartres, a
few Days at, 1015; Church
INDEX TO BUILDlNv, Ht.^S.
[<
VOLUME VII.
'onclndod Deromlier '^7, ISfil.
Arrhiimsre of Ibc IMh <Vn
tarr. «04i Ita ChwelM* of Lc
r«r«a VttarlB Aavnfm. 30,
«i Oalor nod SlataM, SMs
*• ClMimlii wtd atUMLoo-
tm Dotk*. W, (W; OB Co-
DfMoa. TSlt Dark Asm of
JMMrftarr. &o;. SM I Daar~
HaArclili-'t-tarv. 477; Dnwli
1M\ Ub Kuir l-rialed BoolEi,
or Ik* Irahltoataral
T8;
PrinUne
»>; Oa Balcrl^ AreU-
' rnrtlee, »7», loa :
■■ at GhlMh Old
l«; Exhibition of
; MlMQt, »1 1 KxhiMUoa or
UK, wn f«pwi«l rrferrnre to
t>« iUM Umtweiaifn of Kog-
Itad. 5X1 i Fall or Chichester
"r«l Spira.SM ; On Koun-
^nSt TlieFoar Sisters;
•r.aaawKotaaoii tbv lUUtion-
•1^ or Ifea Piiie Arts. 1 1 1. 1% :
Ob Ih* rmch tiothir rhoio-
gliyfc^ IM I(H ; Karneaa Ab-
i^ nat and Pnaeot. 19;
I : b it adapted for Keel«-
■laad Gaoeral Balldlag
■•a, H*i tiM Grotcmne
Ib Alt. Cl^^ttS s the Hrpctbron
at Ofatk T— plait IPO; Inaoi;-
«nlAddnaaaitheRo7«l IbsU-
tntc or Britiah Arrhlti-eu. mi -,
IndlaB I'ttotoi^phgi of the
Ankltaataral lHioto<n-aphle
, 150i Iron Cylinders
luH ; Iron
i Lutterworth
aad the W;rrlire Kelics. 823;
Ob Manx Subjeeta, 3S ; the
■oda in which I^t waa ia-
tiodaeed iato Grade Teaplaa.
Ml. «9li tka lfB»iifloBi
aaaHarr QwiatiOB. 8W| Ob
llorwM in the Fifteenth Cen-
tmr, M*; Noica OB Architec-
tanlB Rnaala, 87; On Origin-
alltr. ¥r,. 440; Orizin and
KeUUontlilp of the Strles, OH ;
Ob the niotaKratilu in the
AKhltaetaial Fbotoaraphic
KtMMHob. »i ; PalnUar and
8«Blptw» arraagcd tomthcr,
■Ml plaaAraCoaalrrHoaae,
MB; FlaaOoa FoljrcliiaBT.Iti
Oa ft* rt«a«rratlo* or SCoaf ,
M7; BcelamaliOB oT the
ihanit, I^ith, 1007 ;
altoa or Ancient
aiiMian.4at.ttl : BartTal or
Bl7lc*.&i,4«: Dcftetaln the
FrjTWoe* or the
Act, KB ; Oa 8an-
hltcat«n,2a3; On the
Bataaee of AichMMtara, 2M ;
~ " rt n«r, LaaeaaUn,
the 8lTCa«th cT Brieka,
. Oa Strikca, 74«! Soper-
fatendenls oT XBgUall Bnild-
iaci In the Xlddl* Acaa. WJ :
Ob Tnrliiiih Ratha, 143: Wheel
tor IJfilnz PlaM*, ««: Wren,
Sir r and hia Till. MS, 417.
nhani Chnreh. tn,
MeehaBlea' iBstltote. W4 ;
FteiahChnreh, 7Si.
' LiablUtle* or ArehliceU
■■■ Baildera. CI 1, 017.
fill Chapel. York. TSi, »1A.
ItlamUnUn AraUtestaral 8o-
LMMk J. oa tk* BartonttoB or
OH BaiUtaga. at.
1«*«B Ctafcb (H. &X low.
tlklMI. Kiddle Teaple, 138.
Ubcanea rFrw). 942.
I Cathr^ral. 7M. «t, MB,
Mr., on Dr/ceta la tha
' ProTliriaaa or the
OHMBwAet. loo.
Uft at a KaOwar Matiaa, 1 10.
UMi( CmI ^Uaaa br Hee-
VHMl^a
8l Soaiatr,
■Bf ; CalkiBral. am, M», tA,
Tn^mtM. B*«riDh'a. TWi «:
Joka** Wiwaia 0*aHlieCk*Ml.
BM; OaMaataa Ckapel, 7»».
1 llBaard. Tcnprruin- Htll, MO.
IrlM* CawtbortK Church, Lhi-
Mfciklra. 144
Urcraoal AraWtaatafil Badatj,
H,^4^4BLMBbatl.m.
»I7; Xav Cora TTarrhOMM.
77S; Sank Skon. W«rkla>
lf«a-*Ckank,n«. ^
UaBaMwChank. 770l
IMLWWaaw.aadt
WiBiiiai. OaillftiMia. 7»l.
Locoek Chnreh. 1009.
LoekwoodandCo.. Bath. Stltairv.
DM; Church, Bradford. 918;
ladepeudent Chnpel. llarro-
nte, TOO; Theatre, l^eds. 793 ;
WaajayaB Cbapel, Harrogate,
Lodn, Wexham, 4)v
LomBaid-street, Improvements
la, SatL
London AsaociatloB or Foremen
Eagiiieera, aM ; Bridge Railway
Termhitta Hotel, 798; Chatham
and Dover Kxtenslon Rallwav,
7i«; and County Bank, .')ri5;
Docks, on the Concrete Vsed at,
1185, tW; Improvements, »t<.i,
W8|BBd Middlesex Arohieo-
lo^eal Society, 701, 71i r«;
Main Dralnase nnd the Thames.
833 ; and Piiris. >»^7 ; Sewage
and the Thames KMibnQkment,
73fi; Slatuex, a-Hi; Upwards.
470, 497; and Westminster
Bank, Borouirh Branch of, 79R
LoB;jporl Wesleyan Chapel. 791.
I^tt il^putv). on the Architec-
tural Aatfquities of Guildhall,
IM.
Lowe, J., 8t Luke's Schools,
Haoehester, 771.
Lndlow, Drinking Fountain, 775 ;
Monastic Kuins at, K>2. 878, 9(13 ;
New Cattle Market. 775.
Lunatic Asylums, Planning of,
I9«; Worcester, 755; York,
Ttri
Lynn and Bunstanton Railway,
924.
Lyster, G. F., Appointment as
Epgine.-r by Mersey Dock
Board, W7.
M
MACADAM. Mr.. Death of, 744.
Maidstone, Cavalry Uepol, 1024.
Main Drainage Works, l'ro;,Tert8
of, 'M. 141, 21.1, 395, 5R5, 0«2. Il;i7,
717, 823, l>.-i4 ; Visit of the .<Ic-
tropolltan Vestries to, 814.
UalUnson and Healy, All Saints',
BradTord, 1009.
Ualpa* Congrc^Uonal Chapel
Xaaehestcr Academy of Fine
Arts, 832; Architecture In,
425, 473; Architectural Asso-
ciation, 453, 477, 548, fti7, 097,
1010; St. Luke's Schools,
771; Terra Cotta Church,
561 ; New Wesleyan Chapel,
Fletcher-street, 541.
Mansions : Baron Itotbschild's in
Flccadilly, 753 ; Cowley
Uouse, 6iZ; Duncrub, ircrth-
ahlre, 588 ; Galltfaenan, 751 ;
Montague House, 044; Stowc,
m.
Manton Cbnrch, 970.
Markets, i Chester, 828, 880;
I'rize DcsiL'ns for, at Bath, 711.
Market Hall, Ashbourne, 8(H ;
Henley-m-Arden, 7.')6.
Market Overton Church, tm. 880.
Market Rasen ( hurch, 719.
Marlborough House, Discovery
or I'alntlngs In, 820.
" Marmarold" 971.
Marrable, Mr., Resignation of,
145, 148.
Marseilles, New Harbors and
Docks, S.-K.
Maasachusctts, Villa at, OtO.
Maatcr's Conrt, Trinity College,
Cambridge, 328.
Matheaon, Mr., Poat-OOoe, Perth
234.
lfaBdalay,J.. C. K.,817.
Maaaolenm ol the Duchess oT
KeBt,«44.
Maxims and Memoranda relating
to the arraBgemcBt or Farm-
konaea and (Stages ror Agri-
ealtoral Laborers, e, 150, '203,
SW.
Meat Market, gmlthfleld, 924.
Mechanical Kngineers' Society,
1004. ■'
Maehanics' Institutes: Gnisboro'
W», 771; Haltwhlstle, 916;
I'Wtds, «64; Leek, SUITord-
•htre, W7 ; Lincoln, 790 ;
etaleyMdge, OIW, 711 ; Stock-
IMmI OOecn oT Health and
^BaUdiaff Act, loss.
Mjdhad aaa Maberly, Monn-
„■•■' •• *»bop Hooper, 792.
MedwM deftncea. 744.
MemorlalB, MoBomenU, *c. :
Jarl or Aberdeen, 833; Dean
2L ■*!?'•?• *"i '" Balley,
m; Sir. C. Barry, 411, «k), «,!,
luuA; laambard Bnuel, 691
5|
the Bruce, 590; Bunyan, 091
Count Cavour, 001 ; Captain
(."roiier, 913; Lord Dalhou.sie,
at Calcutta, 091 ; J. Daly, 1'25 ;
Sir Humphrey Davy, 1000 ;
Karl of Kiiliiitou and Wiutou,
913; Klphinatonc. «<.ll ; Field-
ing, 881, l^i ; Sir.lohu Fraukllu,
8^ 790, 838, 907; Goldsmith,
1000; Sir Hope Grant, OUi ;
Guards, Pall-mall, 212, 780; .S.
Gnrncy. '23, S.'S ; Uallam, in St.
I'aul's, 187 ; Havelock, 279, 346,
flOl; Lord Herbert, 717, 810;
Archdeacon Hodson, 890 ;
MiOor Hodson, in Lichfield
Cathedral, 890 ; Lord Holland.
908; Bishop Uooner, 088, 775,
792; U. lu^ara, '2'2; Monument
to Lifeboat Men, Whitby, IWO ;
Locke, O'Jl ; Londonderry
(Durham), 1000"; Luoknow.
loot) ; Lord Macaulay, at
CambridOT, 091 ; Lord Jlel-
bonrne. In St. Paul's, 091 ; Sir
U. Myddolton, '252 ; to the Men
and onicera of the ;i2nd Lijjht
Infantry, 185 ; Montgomery,
Sheffield, 030, 091; Sir Hugh
Myddelton, 091,800; Sir James
Outram, 091 ; Sir William Peel,
880; Sir H. Pottinger, 809;
Pugin, 091 ; Schelliujf, 1006;
Sir Harry Smith, 22, 047; -in
St. • George's, Leeds, 792 ;
George Stephenson, at New-
castle, 653, 091 ; Ifobert
Stephenson, in the Palace-
yard, 091 ; Duke of Sutherland,
908; Bishop Villiers, 753, 792;
Wallace Monnroent, .556, 828;
Dr. Watts, 091 ; Wedgewood,
Stoke-upon-Trcnt, 149, 853 ;
Duke of Wellington, at Liver-
pool, 091, 7U-.' ; Colonel Wood, 15.
Memorial Church near Corweu,
771 ; Tottenham-p.irk, 809.
Slersey Docks, liesiguation of the
Engineer, 775.
>Ii-tropolitan Association of the
Medical Officers of Health, fl.'ii.
Melrojiolitail Board of Works,
26, 145, 154, 176, 198, 244, 442,
448, 027, 646, 654, 08'2, 711, 705,
772, 806, 8-26, 837, 850, 899,
917, 9'27, 950, 990, 1016; and
their Archileets. 154; Con-
tractors and the Building Act,
711 ; and the Kxhibliion of 18<i2,
442; Election of Architect,244;
New Offices of, 20; and the
Thames Embankment, 772.
Metropolitan Building Act, De-
cisions under, 421.
Metropolitan Churches (New), 769,
Metropolitan Improvements, 324,
050, (MO, 900 ; ami the Coal-tax.
156 ; Meat Market, 924.
Jletropollun itailway, 189, 033,
773, 1100, ;954, 1027 ; (.'ompensa-
tion Cases, OIH, 9.>3, 972.
Metropolitan Thoroughfares, 885.
Middle Temple.KlO; Library, 138.
Militia Barracks, Cliester, ;i28.
Mines (Cornish). 914.
Minima Organ (The), 899,
Mission House, Salisbury-square,
SIS, 798.
Mission Cbapcl, St. Martin's-ln-
the-Ficlds, '220.
Moate. Carmelite Church, 809.
Modelllnfr, Advantages of a Power
of, for Arcbit4!Ct8, 474.
Modem Architecture, Scraps of,
04.
Modern French Restoration, 629.
Modem Paris, 80, i:!.'t,'2O0.
Mo<lern Street and Villa Archi-
tecture, Remarks on, 108, 1.55.
Modem Works of Art, Paris
Exhibition of, 431,498.
Monastic Remains at Ludlow,
852 ; Ruins. Ludlow, 878.
Monkshcrborni' Church, 880.
Monuments in Kxeter Cathedral,
185.
Monument to J. Daly, Esq., 125 ;
Sir Harry Smith, 047 ; Mont-
gomery, at Sheffield, 0.')6 ;
Shakespeare, 378. See alto
" Memorials. '*
Slont Cenis Tunnel. 720.
Moreton Valence Cliureh, 112.
Morris's Solar Greenhouse, 187.
Morton Ollege Library, 538.
Mullln's Diagrams of Steam-
struck Mouldings, 756.
Murray. .}., 135
M iiseum (British) Reading-room.
lies.
Museum, Sanitary, 040.
Museum, Proposed ror South
London, .593, 002.
Music in the Exhibition of 1802.
Music Halls, 241; Birmingham,
848,
N
NAAS, Building l^rogress at, 003.
Xantwich Church, 791, SflO.
National Competitions, 584, 009.
National Gallery, 532; Altera-
tions of, 311; New Room in,
(i9a
" Natural Color in Religious Art,"
104.
Natural Foliage, Charm of, 180.
Nelson and Inues, Baron Roths-
child's Mansion, 754 ; House,
Threadneedle-street, 80.
Netlev Abbey, 881.
New Bond-street, Shop Front in,
370.
Newbury Dispensary, 755.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Contlition
of, 300, 478, 499, 515.
New Church Mission Honse, 335.
New City Buildings, 807.
Newgate, Alterations at, 110.
New Louvre, Decoration in, 185.
New, Mr., On Brickwork, 313.
New Mode of Preserving Impres-
sions in Sand, 109.
New Society of Water Color
Painters, 348.
Newsroom and Library, AUonby,
New South Wales, Building Pro-
gress in, 855; Itailway Works
in, <>45.
New Street Sweeping Machine,
li»l.
New streets, 870; Borough, 194 ;
Southwark and Westminster,
•241.
Newton, Mr., Scheme for Em-
bankment of the Thames, 537.
Now York, Bay and City of, 477.
New Zealand Woods, 393.
Nine Hours' Movement, 214, 278,
296.
Normanton Church, ,5.54, 621.
North LulTenhara Church, 226.
Northampton, Town, 030; Ar-
chffioiogy in Connexion with,
mi; old, U2?.
Nortliern Architectural Associa-
tion, :Vii, 751, 850, 8fK), 922.
Norton, >Ir., St. Leonard's, Cbel-
wood, 791.
Norwegiana, 908.
Norwich in the Fifteenth Century,
949,
Notes on Architectural and Sani-
tary Questions, 230.
Notes on Beauty of Construction,
1012.
Notes on Coast Churches in
Devon and Cornwall, 17, 72,
091, 915.
Notes on the Convenient Arrange-
ment of Buildings, 375.
Notes on Economy of Construc-
tion, 850.
Notes from the Provinces, 708,
736, 754, 792, 810, 828, 840, 804.
Notes on Safety of Construction,
890, 943, 978.
Notes ou the Sanitary Arrange-
ment of Buildings, 777, 813.
Notes on Strength and Durability
of Construction, 033, (iliO.
Notes Without Text, 175, 219, 203,
»;:), XiT, 380, 4:iO, 465, 517, SOI,
591, 0.39, 089, 727, 703, 814.
Nottingham, Barracks, 989.
o
OFFKNHAM Church, 880.
Old Bailey, Sessions' House, 125.
Oliver and Lamb, Drinking
Fountain, Lyncmouth, 754.
Opera House, I'arls, 16, 220, 336,
493.
Operative Builders' Society's
Trade Circular, 7.57.
Operative l*ainters,Dublin, meet-
ing of, 740.
Organisation and Representation
of Architects, 195.
Originalityof Education, Thought
and Design, 7lty.
Ottawa, Government Buildings
at, 191.
Our Artists' in Stained Glass, 190.
Outfall Sewer at Barking, 097.
"Outre Mer:" Six Weeks in
Caen, 89, 171.
Overhouse Telegraphy, 816.
Overhouse Telegraphs and Light-
ning, 422, 428.
Oxford Architectural Society,
«:i8; Building Progress at, 879;
City Survcyorshlp, 828; Corn
Exchange, 888; Music Hall,
241 ; Viindalisiu at, 538.
PAGE, Mr., C.E., BOO;
Bridge, 910.
Lendal
Painters' Hall, Exhibition at, 133,
411.
Palace of Justice, 363 ; Podesta,
Florence, 949 ; of Westminster,
New Frescoes at, 927.
Palaces, Parks, and Public
Buildings, Sfrf.
Palais de Justice, Brussels, (M7,
('J«.
Palissy, Parian Statue of, 476.
Paper from Wood, 976.
i'upwortli, .1. W., on Romanesque
Art in the South of France,
907 ; W. on the Superintendents
of English Buildings in the
Middle Ages, !W9.
Paraire, Mr. on Construction, 951.
I'aris, Building Improvements In,
80; Builtling and Hotel Com-
pany, 431; Cemeteries of, 186;
Exhibition of Modern Works
of Art, 389, 477, 498 ; Fountains,
Electro Bronzing of, 110; Im-
£rovements, cost of, 431, 493 ;
>and Company, 914 ; New
Opera Uouse, 10, 2-20, ;i36; Re-
construction of, 203, 324.
Parish Document Depositaries,
098.
l*ark Chapel. Crouch End, 472.
Parker, .1. H., F.S.A., on the
Architecture of the Eleventh
Century, 311, 331.
Parks, Palaces, and Public Build-
ings, 5tV4.
Parliamentary Proceedings, 145,
5(H, 680, 023, 025, 0:!U, 061, 936.
Parsons, H., Ui)pingham Church,
900.
Passenger Traffic and the
Tliames, 15,3,
Passports, France, and Archi
tecture, 0, 24, 45.
Past Season of the Architectural
Societies of London, 579.
Patent Laws, 748.
Paton Noel, Monument to the
Bruce, 5iH).
Patron.age of Sculpture, 006, 084.
Payments to Architects, 1024.
Pearson, J. L., St. Mary Dalton
Holme, 079.
Peck and Stephens, Hall, Isling-
ton, 901.
Pedestals of Statues, 360.
IVdestrianism, Architectural, 90.
Pedley, W., llighworth Church,
935.
Pennethome, J., Alterations at
the National Gallery, 211.
Peoples' Hall Works, Birming-
ham, 370.
Percentage to Architects, 5.35, 575.
I'erkin and Backhouse, Hospital,
Leeds, 881.
Perkins, Mr., Worcester Cathe-
dral, 327, 718.
Perth, I'ost Office, 234.
I'ettit, Rev. J. L., ou the Revival
of Styles, 438, 455
Phillips, T., Inaugural Address
of, 923.
Photography and Architecture,
280, 900; and the Exhibition
of, 802, 942.
Photographic Association (New
Architectural), 941.
Photographic JJxhibitlon, 62, 134,
IIH, 1711, 234.
Photo-Sculpture, 655.
I'iazza of .'5t. 31ark, Venice, Gate
of Loggia at, 4.
Picton, ,1. A., ou Russian Archi-
tecture, 87; W. U.,on Furness
Abbey, Past and Present, 19.
Picturesque, On the, 072.
Pier, Bournemouth, 792 ; St, Ives,
755 ; Southport, Lancaskirc,
230; Vcutnor, 881; Weston-
super-Mare, 7.>5.
Pierce's i,aundry Apparatus ,981.
Pimlico, Iron Cliurch at, 978.
Plan for a llountry House, 348.
Planning of Lunatic Asylums,
190.
I'lastic Woods, 36, 09.
i'lea for the Classical Principle
in Arcliitecture, 282 ; for Poly-
ehromy, 109.
Police Station, Derby, 804 ; Wor-
cester, 838.
l*olperro. Breakwater, 775.
I'olyehromy, A i'lea for, 39, 50,
11)9.
Polytechnic Institution, 515, 08d,
712.
Poor Law Offices, Leeds, 730.
I'ope and Bindou, Bristol Bridge,
774.
I'opulation of the United King-
dom, 01'2.
I'ope, Mr., St. Bartholomew's
Hospital, Chatham, 78 ; Bristol
Cathedral, 574.
i'ortlaud. Building Progress In
830 ; Forliflcatious, 963.
•J,
VOLUME vir. 1
Concluded December '47, 1861. J
INDEX TO BUILDING NEWS.
VII
rortsmouth Docks, lOar.
Portsea Island Workhouse, 775.
Post Oflico, Kdillbuvijh, 87>J ;
Perth, 2:>1 J York.twi.
Poultoii. Mr., SIniilcnhcad, Con-
gregational Chapel, 710.
Poultou and Woodman, Messrs.,
Wesleyan Chanel, Preston, 719.
Preedy, Mr., Onenham Church,
880, 8118.
Preservation of Stono, 82, 101,
105, 12S, 1','7, 140, 170, 192.
Presidency of the Institute, 3W,
420.
Price on Gunpowder - proof
Locks, 191.
Prince Consort, Dcatli of the,
993.
Pritchard and Seddon, LlandalT
Cathedral. 780 ; Llandogo
Churcli, 770.
Pritchett, J. I*., Darlington In-
dependent Cliapel, 810.
Private Chapel of t-lie Emperor,
St. Petersburgh, 989.
Prize Essay on Street Architec-
ture, 908.
Prizes, Additional, at the Archi-
tectural Museum, 920; Adjudi-
cation of, at tho Architectural
Museum, 88 ; to Artist Work-
men, 420; Distribution of, at
the ArchitecturalMuseum, 231.
Professional Charges, 814.
Progress of Harbor Works, 861.
Pi-oposed Anijil^^aniation of the
Architectural .^ocictic.^, 173.
Proposed Areliiteetural Alliance,
395.
Provident Institution of Builders'
Foremen, 410, 01.!
Public Uall, Wc8tl)0urne-gT0TC,
449.
Public Offices E.xtensioD, 048 ; Site
for, 640 ; Site Bill, 001 ; Im-
Srovements in .Sydney, 701 ;
[onuments and Art Patrons,
471 ; and Private Building
Operations in the Colonies,
783.
Pugin, Ford Cemetery Chapel,
791; "Uecol lections of," 0(i4,
681, 808 ; and his Biographers,
741.
Pullan, P., "On the French Go-
thic Photographs of the Archi-
tectural Photographic Associa-
tion," 1.54, 101; K. P., "Unchurch
Architecture of the Kinetcentb
Century," 604.
Pulpits, 835, 805.
Q
I
QUEENSLAND. BuUdine: Oper-
ations in, 783.
R
HAKE, Jlr., Portsca Island
Workhouse, 775.
Hallway to Bristol Harbor, 9i5 ;
Bridge, fall of, 924 : Over the
Hhlnc, 306, 347 ; Carriages,
Warming of, by Steam, 09 ;
Charing-cross, 2."i8 ; Items, 788;
Metropolitan Underground, 189;
Notes, 644 ; Progress In India,
1004; Station, Darlington, 80;
Station, Denbigh, 180; West-
field Mass, 88 ; Travelling, 998 ;
Tunnels, 257; Tunnel (Alpine),
300 ; Works iu New South
Wales, 943.
Hansomo's Stone Preservntion
Process, 20.
Eawlinson, K. (C.E.), Notes on
Architectural and Sanitary
Questions, 230 ; Wallasey
Ferries and Waterworks, 050.
Heading ; Assize Courts, 789, 795 ;
Dispute at, .594 ; Drinking
Fountains at 093 ; New Church
at, 003.
" Recollectiona" of Pngln, 664,
702, 741, 88a
Heclaiming Land, 991.
Reconstruction of I'aris, 203.
Redland Park (Jhapel, 7.')3.
HedhiU New Congregational
Church, 732 ; new Roman
Catholic Church, 732.
Remarks on Street and Villa
Architecture, 108, 15.5, 199, 243.
Researches in the East, 000, 020.
Residences, St. Cuthbert's, Al-
brighton, 434 ; at Waterloo,
near Liverpool, 455.
Restoration, Slodern French 329.
Restoration of Old Buildings, on
the Principles which should
Guide the,3.3.S.
Reviews : Agricultural Statistics,
936; the Architectural Associa-
, tion. Rules, 236 ; The Art of
• Illuminating, 103 ; Art Jownal,
37, 120, 489, 918, 991 ; Art Union,
Annual Report of the, 64 ;
Art Union Almanac, 64 ;
Artimrtt 991 ; Association for
Promoting Improvement in the
Dwellings of Agricultural
Laborers in Scotland, Report
of, U91 ; Beeton*8 l*ublications,
1027 ; Builders' and Con-
tractors' Price Book, 103 ; Bum
on the Construction of Horse
Railways, 20; Cassell's Hand-
books, 238; Catalogue of Stained
Glass (Ueatouand Butler), 918 ;
Church and Conventual Ar-
rangements, 029 ; Colliery Ex-
plosions and How to Prevent
them, 7.38 ; Companion to the
Writing Desk, 258; The Convict
Service, 233 ; Dictionary of
Architecture, 37 ; JMtblin
Bui/tier; 509 ; Ecclesiologist, 126,
489, 083, 991; Electrician, the,
936; Economy of Steam Power
onComnxon Koads, 236; Engi-
neers', . Archilects', and Con-
tractors' I'ocket Book, 103;
English Cathedral of the
Nineteenth Cenlury.530 ; Essay
on Military Architecture, 509 ;
Fairbairn's Useful Information
for Engineers, :iS ; Familiar and
Useful Guide to the Royal
Academy K.xhihition, .031 ; Few
Examples of Jletal Work, 64;
Francis and Co. 'a Trade I*rice
Lists, 82 ; Free Trade in Gold,
991 : Gas Legislation, 736 ;
General Remarks on Stables,
&c., 63 ; Gleanings from West-
minster Abbey, 918 ; Guide to
Illuminating and Mural Paint-
ing, 390 ; Half- hour Lectures on
the History of Fine and Orna-
mental Arts, 422; Handbook of
the Civil Service, 489 ; Hand-
book of English Cathedrals,
200 ; Handbook of Farm Build-
ings, 882 ; Handbook of the
Slide Rule, 1027; High Speeds,
600; History of Masonry, 882 ;
History and Restoration of St.
Mary's, Callington, Cornwall,
2!)8; History of St. Mary's
Abbey,;Melro8e,847; Introduc-
tion to tho Study of Gothic
Architecture, 590 ; Inventors'
Almanac, 1027 ; Isbister's
Euclid, 20; Jerusalem, a Sketch
of the City and Temple from
the Earliest Time, 918;
Justen on Romanesque Archi-
tecture in Germany, 20;
Laws ot the Land, 931 ; Lax-
ton's Price Book, 03; Lever's
Illustrated Year Book— The
Railway and the Mine, 24;
Letter on the Bank Charter,
991; Lifeboat, (The), 20;
Lyra Gernianica, 03; The
Modern Egyptians, 404 ;
Manual ot Monumental
Brasses 191 ; Mills and Jlill-
work, 443 ; Miscellaneous
Papers on Scientilic Subjects,
489; Nuisances Removal Act,
20; On Heat, its relation to
steam, 4tc., 314 ; "Oriental
Budget,"793; Oxford Almanac,
04 ; Pictorial Handbook of
Geography, 103; "Practical
Mechanic's Journal," 991; Rc-
mins of Roman Baths in Eng-
land, 738 ; Report of the Vestry
of Chelsea, 937 ; Revue Generale
de I'Architecture, 082; Rudi-
mentary Treatise on Acoustics
in Public Buildings, 010 ; Some-
thing for Everbody, (M> ; Some
Ace junt of St. Mary Stone, 991 ;
Smith on S:eam Boilers, 847;
Specimens of Early French
Architecture, 930 ; The " Tech-
nologist," 20,738, 930; Testing
Submarine Cables, 882; Thames
Embankment, and Low Level
Drainage, 373 ; Thames Em-
bankment, 029 ; The Thames
Embankment and the Wharf-
holders, 230; Tovcy'B Tables
for the Assistance of Archi-
tects, &c.,82 ; Treatise on Gun-
powder-proof Locke, 191 ;
Weale's Statistical Notices,
847 ; Workmen's Earnings,
Strikes, and Savings, 283.
Rhine Railway, Bridge over the,
241, 300, .147.
Ridge, L. W., on Street Archi-
tecture, 908.
Ripon Cathedral, 820.
Roberts, Mr., Houses, Piccadilly,
388; F.S.A., Christ'8 College,
Finchley, 472.
Robins, C.E., Croydon Cemetery
0-20.
Robinson, G.T., St. Luke's, Wol-
verhampton, 613; J., on tile
Application (>f Workshop Tools
to llie Construction of Steam-
engines and other Machinery,
784, 800.
Robson W., Schools, Chilmark,771.
Romau Baths in England, 3(Vs.
Romanesque Art In the South of
France, 207.
Roslin Chapel, 500.
Rothschild (Baron), Mansion, Pic-
cadilly, 753.
Royal Acad, my, 160, .3a3, 412, 426,
448,"
Royal Academicians and Archi-
tects, 217.
Royal Coliseum, 701.
Royal Engineers, 82, 103, 170, 192,
214, 267, 296, 317, 3.38, 510, 653,
570, 08.3, 882.
Royal Exchange, Hoofing of, 360,
734.
Royal Horticultural Society's
Gardens, 337, 4.37 ; Inauguration
of, 48<i.
Royal Institute of British Archi-
tects, 30, 56, 76, 97, 101, 12-2, 314,
146, 160, 191, 207, 233, 253. 277,
350, 384, 399, 420, 426, 460, 507,
526, 549, 674, 59.3, 628, 633,
790, 881. 891, 919, 932, 950, 969,
996 i Special Meeting of, 41 ;
Prize Medals for 1861, 807;
Rules of l^ractice Adopted by,
107 ; and the Architectural Al-
liance, 481 ; Election of Presi-
dent, 400.
Royal Scottish Society of Arts,
083, 999.
Rugby Cemetery, 705, 972 ; Com-
petition, 996.
Rules of Practice adopted by the
Institute, 107.
Rumble, T. W., C.E., on Armor
Plates, 818.
Russian Architecture, Notes on,
87.
Rutland Churches, 60, 226, 434,
021, 710,73.3, 900.
Rydc, Cemetery, 780.
SAFETY of Construction, Notes
on, 890, 943,978.
St. Andrew's, Charmouth, 762 ; —
Leicester, 719 ; — Rushmere,
898; St. Bartholomew's, South-
sea, 770 ; St. Benedict's, Wood
Enderby, 771; St. Botolph's,
Lincoln, 752,1009 ; St.Briaver8,
Forest of Dean, 770; St. Cuth-
bert's, Darlington, 543 ; St.
Giles', Kilmington, 774 ; —
Reading, 880 ; St. George's
Chapel, Windsor, 733 ; St.
George, Soutliwark, Vestry of
and the County rate, 242 : St.
James the Less, Westminster,
602 ; St. John the Baptist, Bed-
minster, 4; St. John's, Chester,
770; — Copenhagen, 752; —
Devizes, 045 ; — Frankley, 424 ;
— Leicester, 700 ; — Maidstone,
Consecration of, 4 ; — Market
Bosworth, 700; St. Leonard's,
Chelwood, 791 ; St. Luke's,
Heywood, 340 ; — Hull, 494 ; —
National School, Manchester,
771 ; — Wolverhampton, 043 ;
St. Margaret's, Lochee, 1099 ; St.
Martin's. Waith, 880 ; St. Mary
Athlone,;913, 1010; —Bishop-,
hill. Junior, 890; — Chester,
752, 802 ; — Clapham, 94 ; —
Dalton Holme, 679; — Nant-
wlch, 860; — Ramsey, Cam-
bridgeshire, 752 ; — Selly Oak,
770; — South shields, 880; —
South Luffenham, 880; — Wey-
mouth, 752 ; — Wilsford, 706 ;
St. Mary Magdalen, Exeter,
810; St. Matthew's, Oakley-
square, 931 ; St. Michael and
All Angels. Paddington, 726.
812 ; St. Michael's, Cornhill,
25 ; — Dundry, 862 ; — Lang-
bourne, 802 ; — Peasenhall,
732 ; — Tipperary, 9*5 ; St.
Mildred, Canterbury, 1009 ; St.
Patrick's Cathedral, DubUn,
1016 ; St. I'aul's, Newton
Abbot, 752, 898 ; — West-
minster, 802 ; St. Peter's,
Draycot, 684 ; — Great Wind-
mill-street, 592, 612 ; —Mission
Church, Glasgow, 981 ; SS.
Peter and Paul, Moate, 913,
1016 ; SS. Philip and James,
Oxford, 706 ; St. Raphael's,
Bristol, 752; St. Sepulchre's,
Northampton, 674, 770 ; St.
Stephen's, Clapham, 925 ; —
South Lambeth, 374; St.
Thomas's, Bradford, 916. j
St. Aubyn, Mr., Buildings in
Inner Temple-lane, 780 ; —
Dulse Church, 771.
St. Thomas'H Hospital, Compen-
sation case, 987.
Sale of Curiosities and Works of
Art, 870.
Sale of Property, 093.
Sales at Qarraway's, 238, S09, &«,
665, 878, 6«5, 014, 6.%, 64a, 667,
686, 704, T-ffl, 739, 747, 776. 7M,
812, 8.30, 848, WW, 884. 9(W, 920,
937, 93«, 974, 992, lO'.'ll.
Salisbury, Health of, 1027.
Salter, 8., Cowley House, 622.
Saltaire Baths and Wash-houses,
9-24.
Salvia, A., Jun., MoDumcst,
Hawsley tliurch, 734.
Sand, New mode of preserving
impressions in, 109.
Sanitary Arrangements of Buiid-
li gs, Notes on, 777, 813; Denbigh
and Corwen Ftailway, 751.
Sanitary Mum um, (>49.
Sardinian Littoral Kailway, 671.
Saturday Half Holiday, .«(.
Saving's Bank, Liverpool, 846.
Scale of Profession al Charges,
814.
Scamping Railway Works, 279.
Schools : Ashford, Kent, 908;
Banbury, 9:16 ; Birmingham,
755 ; Bloxwich, 791 ; lirad-
ford, 703 ; Braughin, 880 ;
Brighton, 86:!; Bristol, 863;
Brixworth, 80) ; Bromley,
771; C:hilmark, 771; Cluttou,
810; Crowle, Worcester 762;
Drapers', 72 ; Godolphin, Ham-
mersmith, 525; Handsworth,
698 ; Hardlngham, Nortblk. 82 ;
Isiip, 903 ; Kianersiey, 402 ;
Lianarth, 282 ; Llanvrechva,
Monmouthshire, 7:14 ; Marlow,
753 ; Monkwearmouth, 771 ;
Pillg\venHy, 846 ; SafTr onWal-
den, 80:i; St. Bamnbas, Bir-
mingham, 791; St. Clement's
Danes, 109; St. George's. Xew-
ca8tle-on-Tyne,668; St. James'
Marylebone, 316 ; St. Jude's,
Birmingham, 719 ; St. Marga-
ret's, Tothill, l:12; St. Paul's,
Clerkenwell, 081 ; St. Thomas',
Exeter, 899 ; Scarborough, 916 ;
Seal, Kent, 733 ; Skipton, Wes-
leyan Chapel, 75:1 ; Stambounie.
936 ; Stepleton, 8S0 ; Stationers"
Bolt-court, :J:J3; Swannington,
Leicestershire, 050 ; Tipton,
48-2, 971 ; Wallingford, I0-22 ;
West Buckland, 840 ; Wickwar,
New Parochial, 84; Wolston,
803 ; Woodside, 332 ; Upping-
ham, 971.
School of Art, Science, and Lite-
rature, Crystal Palace, 4;J8 ; of
Art, Durham, 830 ; of Art,
Lambeth, 02.
Science Instruction to the XnduB-
triai Classes, (>53.
Scotch Masons in London, 644.
Scotland Architectural Institute
of, -234.
Scott, W., Wesleyan Chapel,
Tranmere, 899.
Scott, G. G., 576 ; Bristol Cathe-
dral, 574; On the Chichester
Cathedral Restoration, 292; El
Cathedral, 791 ; Kelham Hall
542; St. Cuthbert's, Darling-
ton. W;! ; St. Margaret 8,
Locheo, 1009 ; St. Slargarefs
Schools, l:!2 ; St. Mary's, Nant-
wich, 791, 800 ; St. Mary's, Cam-
bridge, 880 ; St. Mary's, Wliit-
tesley, 815 ; St. Sepulchre's,
Northampton, 074; St. Sepul-
chre's, 770.
Scraps of Modem Architecture,
94.
Screen, Lichfield Cathedral, 928.
Scrivener, Jlr., Bn'adsall Priory,
881 ; Chapel, Hanky, 910.
Sculpture, Patronage .of, 017;
Exhibition of, :i9, 64.
Seckham, Jlr., Com Exchange,
Oxford, 888. , ^ .
Seddon, J. P., "On tho Dark
Ages of Architecture," 507,
.520 ; " On the Grotesque in Art,
212, 2-23.
Serpentine, Purification of, 18.
Sewage (Juestion, The. 7'20.
Sewer, New Main, Bayswatcr-
road, 717.
Sewers, City Commission of, 3,37.
Shakespeare, Proposed Monu-
ment to, 378.
Shakeeperian Fund, 900, 1000.
Sharmau, E., Bajptist Chapel,
Kettering, SIO.
Sheerness, Congregational
Church, 719; Defences, 7Vi.
Sbirvoaks, 880.
Shop Front Ui New Bottd-Mceei.
370.
Simpson Jnmes.WealrytnChapel,
Klpon, 828.
Six Weeks in C«CD, 89, 177.
Slater, W., St. John's Coll(»,
Hortsplerpolnt, 791.
Smirke, .H., K.A., Uortieultarml
Society's Groonda, 241 ; Lec-
tnres on Architecture, br, VI,
119,120,141,163.
Smith, S. I'.. SS. Peter and Paul,
Shrewsbury, 1.57 ; T. U., St.
I'aul's Sciiools. ClerkenwelL
681 ; On Entering Architeetonl
Practice, 979, 1001 , lO-.'l ; WlUtam,
Gllmorton Parish Churcli, 601.
Snow Boards, 424.
Soane Museum, 17, 26, 66, 8S,14e.
211, 21.->, 2.30, 277, -293,974.
.Society of Arts, 486, 500, 5Z1, 364,
.WI, 92:1, 1005.
Society, for the EacaoTage-
mentofthe Fine Arts, 41. KM.
460, 774. 8 1 11, 927.
Solar Green honse, 187.
Soldiers, New Quarters for, «t
Sheerness, 306.
Southampton, the Hartley Isstl-
tntr, m).
South Kensington Museom, 2t,44.
165, 245, 204, 406, 00-2, 040, 860,
878, 897, 9<J8, 960, 924,
South London MuM^um, 50.3.
South Wales Institute of En-
gineers, 79:1.
Southport Pier. Lancashire, 230
Southern Embankment Com-
mission, 1024.
Southwark, Great Fire in, 066:
Homes of, 8.38.
Southwark and Westminster Im-
pn)vemcnta. 648.
StnlTord, A»p<ct of, 197.
Stained Glass, Ansford Parish
Church, 712; Chapter House,
Glasgow Cathedral, TM;
Chcddon FItzpaine, 718 ; Coles-
hill Church, 916; Cranbrook
I'arish Church, 956; Denton
Church, 449; Gainsboroogh.
068; Glasgow Cathedral, 988;
Pewsey Church, 1009; Holy
Trinity Church, Hull, 752 ; for
India, 899 ; Llndrldge.
Worcester, 845; Little Caw-
thorpe, 244 ; Llandalf Cathedral,
7MI ; Louth, I'arish Church, 661;
Memorial Church, Tottenham
Park, 809; Merriolt Church,
Crewkeme, 751 ; Oxford Cathe-
dral, 968; St. Andrew's, Char-
mouth, 752 ; St. Bartholomew.
Hyde, 863 ; St. Benedict, 771 ;
St. Botolph, Lincoln, 1000; Sr.
ilohn. Leicester, 700; St.
Leonard's, Chelwood. 791 ; St.
Mary, Blshopshiil Junior, 898;
St. Mary's, Chester, 732; St.
Mary's, Duuloc, 827; St.
Michael's, Tipperary, 9:ii; St.
Nicholas, Newcastle, 827; St,
Paul's, Newton Abbot. 898 ; St.
I'eter's, Worcester, 7H4 ; St.
Raphael, Bristol. 7.i2 : Stain-
drop, Durham, 810 ; Wimbomc
Minster, 771; Wisbech, 863;
Worcester Cathedral, 327;
WckkI Enderby Church, 916;
Wrockwardilie, 863.
Staleybridge .'Mechanic's Inati-
tute, 690 ; New Church, 719.
Stationers' Schools, Bolt Court,
335.
Steam Engines, Chimneys and
I'umaces for, 136.
Steel Girders, 422 ; Uachhiery,
046 ; Surfaced Rails, 99a
Stewart, Mr., Selioola, Scar-
borough, 916.
Stockport, Mechanics* Institute,
316.
Stone, Decay of, 8ai ; at Houses of
Parliament. 53, 347 ; at the Bank
of England, 344 ; Induration
of, 66, 106 ; on its Natural bed
vtrtus Bedwny up, 149 ; I*re«er-
vation of. 82. lul. 105, 122, IW,
146, 1 70, 192, 907 ; Victorian, TM.
Strand Improvements. 192; Ke-
paving of. 098, 7'22, 730.
Stroud, Architecture of, 817, 8S0w
864
Street Architecture. Prize Esiay
on, 908.
Street, G. E., Church. Coleshlll,
916 ; Pewsey Church. 1009 ;
tm tho Churches of Le Puy en
\'elay, 30, .W; On the Resto-
ration of^ Ancient Building*.
439, 481 ; St. J«mes-thc-Le«»,
Westminster, «:w ; St.
Uichacl's Lambourne. 862 ;
SS. Philip aud .lames. Oxford.
700 ; South Luffenham Church.
880; Stone Church, 509.
ViII
INDEX TO BUILDING NEWS.
r VOLUME vrt.
LCoucludod Dt-ccmbor '47,
l-i.jl.
8ll«ct LiKhtint;, Improirvmfnt in.
«S ; uid VUU Arehitrctiuv, I'M,
ta : lUUwara, «;«, aM, 801.
JMTC^ltk tad Dv^dlltTof Coa-
itlXlwi. Note* OD, SB. MV.
as. 4H, 4Sei 488, 4M. &M. us,
sit.mn,«».»o.m» «m.«w, 717,
7J8. 7«, 77*. 7M, 7«, «0. 8».
M*. i^'l. Oul. 917: Thrt-aleaed,
Sit ; of Maao-is at Bath, 23S.
SMkM. Oa, 74<v.
ttraad Aickitwlure, »il7, isH.
miMato, the Impending. S!<5.
StrlM, BMi and Mutal Ions or&S5,
M'JMM«7,<i:oj»3. :«>.<«7i . >*r.
SMbM,1f.,0aInn(.'onalructiun,
sat
Dibwirtiif Tdesraph Cable*. 'M6 ;
Ballway between Kn^land and
Krmnee. 903.
Subtrrrancan Charebe*. C*m.
Suirolk->tr\.i't (ialltry, Siu. 373.
SaAdk Inaliiuta of 'Arrliamlotn^,
«N; and Norfolk Institute of
Atmm nlogy. 8as.
goBnen II., Marine RcsldcQcva,
Dt-ar Liverpool, 4a.v
rundirland Docka. KatinK of, 30.
Sarrcjr Arctueoloj^ical Sodi'tr,
7W, KKI.
9«rreT of Dangcrona Stmcturrii.
187 ; Xew TrVoi><»u<-'ti'><^al, 7U1.
Swrejroi'a Qoutitkii, 31tf.
Jiaaaex ArduMdogieal .<acirt.v..S7$.
STdaer Hoiiaea of I'arliauvut,
Deatgna for, SI8, 6iX
SrapatblnaBd Uaea of Art. 2M.
fifjiucocae, Cologne. 771 ;
Birmiugham, 7i3 ; Lecdf, 70a
TABERNACLE, Clmrch of St
Leonard, 6j8.
Taaauiia, Tabllc ImpioTcmeuta
ia.«a!.
Taawanlan Timber, Value of. .10.
Tarlor, E , Wealeyao CUapil,
Tort, Ml.
TaT, Viadncl over the, 773.
TeHKTaphjr, OTer-bouae, 412, iiS,
Timpcranci' Hall, Liskcard, 8ia
Torapli' Church, 779.
Temple. New Entrance to the,
75S ; Library, 1.1S
Tenders, -.'I. :Ri. fti, Ni, 105, I>7, 140,
171, IW, iii, 231, a.'9, 279, 297,
S17, 3(11, 3:iS, 379, 401, 4iJ, 444,
4«7, 4S9, .Ml, .Vii, 5.V4, 470, 61:1,
630, OlS. 007, (VM, 702, 721, 739,
;j7, 77J, 7W), 811, S29, S47, 8O.1,
(iN2, WI, 919, 937, 9ii, 973, 992,
1010. 1027.
Terra Cotla, Works, 501.
Thames KmbankmenI, 170, 2:1.) ;
2SI, :17,", :pjs, and lUilway,
4011; 4H, 4*), ,V17, .Ml, (12S, C.l:),
(V)<",, 0.",l, COJ, 7ri, .'<tK">, 9.W, 9SS,
lOOK lull, lu2Ji Kortiflcatious.
7*; (The), and rasseiiper
Traffic 10:1 i rile Brldg'es, 947.
Theatre, Constauttuoplc, 7:W;
IK'structioD of, 194; Leeds, 792.
Theatrical Scenery, ,^), 47. 11:1,
l.jr, 223, :!:M, 373, 413 ; Work-
shops, io2ri,
Tlioumson, Y.. Synasofuc, Bir-
luiiiKliam. 7^3; Mr., Church,
Lunili-r, 9;!.i.
Timber Trade, the, 744 ; Value of
Ta$maniau, :tO.
Tiploii. .Schools at, 4>2, 971
Tisbury Stone tiuarries, 721>.
Tite,.MT..OB Karly I'riuted Hooks,
10'.*4 ; Inau^niral Addresjj Koyal
Inslilute of llritish Architects,
91; ( In the II ull Towu-hall Com-
petition, 1003; Offices. Ware-
houses, Ac, Greshani-street,
H ; Ou the rrocesses for the
rresenatiou of stone, 100.
Tl»erlon Town-hall Competition,
1010.
TowQ-halls : Ashborne. 881 ;
FolkestowT;, 122 ; Grimsby,
7i5; Great Grimsbv, 809; Hull,
279. 510, 736, 1008 ; Kidder-
minster. 730 ; Xorthamptou,
8S1 ; Yarmouth, 881 ; North-
ampton, 901 ; Northampton,
926 : Plan for at Hull, 37 ; St.
Andrews (N. IV), 447; Tiverton,
792, 1010; Torrington, K28.
J Trade Card, Device for, S71.
Tradesmen's Commissions to
Architects, 5:V>, r,7i, 59:t, 610.
Traiulujj School, Lincoln, 7o5.
Train's, Mr., Street Railways, 278,
275.
Tramway, Blackfrinrs. SOJ.
Tramways in the MclropoUtan
Districts. CIS.
Trigonometrical Survey, 791.
Trinity Church, Uipon, 752; Col-
lege, Cambridgv', :128.
Troublesome Workmen, 729.
Tunnel, Mont Ceuis, 720. •
Turkey, March of Intellect in,
8S4.
Tunbridgc Wells, Drinking
Fountains, 754.
Turkish Baths. 2:15, 257, 279; and
Architecture, 452 ; Construction
of. 14:).
Tyue Kiver Works, 954.
u.
UNDEKGUOUND Railway 74* ;
Excavations, 989 ; Itailway.
Dangerous Conditions of
Houses near, 888.
Union Church, Tutney, .324.
United Society of Ironmongers,
593, 0U8.
Uppiogham Church, 80, 000, 924 ;
.Schools, 971.
Ur'conium, Excavations, 411, 828.
Uxbridge, Antiquities of, 715 ;
Treaty of, 712.
VANDALISJI at Oxford, S38.
Veneer Cutting Machinery, 260.
Vciitilalion of Collieries, 95S ;
Cooke's System of, 5:17 ; Of
Dwellings, 204 ; rElfects of
Negleclmg, 9.»2; Quantity and
Quality of; 062 ; of Underground
Vaults. 829.
Vcrboeckhovcu's Last Ticture,
3.14.
Viaduct over the Tay, 775.
Victoria lluildtng .Stone in, 764 ;
Engineering Appointment in,
408.
Victoria Cross Gallery, 282.
Victorian Architecture, 218, 310 ;
Building Stones, 71)9.
Village Churches, 14, 112, iM.
Villa, Massachusetts, r»45 ; New-
burgh, New York, 8:!8.
Volunteers', Drill-sheds for, 19 ;
Kennington, 48; Drill Uooriti,
Bradford, 71.
Vysc and Sons, Messrs., 135.
w
WALLASEY Ferries and W.iter-
works, 0.50.
Wallace Monument, 550.
Walls, Ceilings, &e.. New Ma-
terial i'or the Decoration of, Itux
Waltham Cross, 1000.
Walton Cemetery, 1'2G.
Warehouses, Liverpool, 775.
Wanning lUilway Carriages, 00.
Warren, F,, Shops, Clieapside
951.
Warrington, Public Hal', 840.
Water Colors, Society of I'aiutrrs
in, 270 ; New Society of
Painters in, 401.
Water Color Paintings, Historical
Exhibition of, 490.
Waterhouse. A., Newsroom,
Allonby, 881.
Waterloo-bridge, 1020.
Waterpipes, Ancient, t027.
Water I'uriiicr, 880.
Wat<^rworks, Bridgenortli, 730 ;
Buildings, Oxford, 713.
Watis, Dr., On Strikes, 740, 775.
Weller, ,1., Schools, Tipton, 4.'.)2.
Wellingborough Church, 971.
Westbourne Athenajuni, 87S ;
Hall, 449 ; Grove, Presbyterian
Chapel, 914.
Wcstlake, Mr., St. Thomas's
Schools, E.xeter, 8119.
Westminster-bridge, GIO ; Palace,
Decay of Stone at, 517, 875;
Palace Hotel Company, (H7.
"Westward Ho!" 519.
What is an Architect ? 1005.
Whitby, Slonument to Lifeboats-
men, IV.K).
White, Mr., All Saints', Kensing-
ton-park, 300^ Cleydon Church,
200 On Polychromy, 39, 50 i
School, Wolston, 803.
Why do not Architects Joia the
Institute ? 239.
Wilkinson, Sir G., on Saracenic
Architecture, 2.5:1 ; W., House,
Bisiiopsgatc-street, 81.
Williams, H., Draper's School, 72.
Willis, Professor, on the Fall of
Ch ichester Cathedral Spire, 314.
Wilson, F. It., on the Momentous
Sanitary (Juestiou, 8.>J ; B.,
Town Hall, Ashborne, s^^l.
Window Sashes, Improvements
in, :!iH.
Window, St. Michaels, CornhlU
25.
Windsor, Drainage of. 1020 ; .St.
George's Ciinpel, 753.
Winter Exhibition, 922.
Wood Endcrby, St. Benedict's,
771.
Woodhouse, G.,We8leyan Chapel,
Manchester, 541 ; and Potts,
Wesleyan Chnpel, Blue Pits,
791.
Woodward, on Norwich in the
Fifteenth Century, 11411.
Worcester Architectural Society,
824, 838 ; Cathedral Itestoration,
327, 71H ; and lleretord Uailway,
717 ; Police Station, 82'i.
Works In Dublin, ODl ; in Terra
Cotta, 501.
Workhouses ; Blackburn, 455 ;
Portsea, Island, 775 ; Sheffield,
15 ; AVisbech, 828.
Working Men's Church, Liver-
pool, 719.
AVyatt, M. D., on Drawing, 410;
Barracks, Nottingham, 988 ;
Designs for Wainscot ('arving
at Compton Wyaniatts, 510 ; 'r.
II. Barracks, Nottingham. 988.
Wroxetel', Excavations at, 828,
840.
Y'AKMOL'TH, Wesleyan Chapel,
845.
Yorkshire Agricultural Society,
192; and Lincolnshire Archi-
tectural Society, 878.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. VII.
Page.
Alhambra. Hall of the Two Sisters 161
Arcbllectuml ComposiUon (An) 289
AtbeiueaiD. Wt.iitbourDe 875
BuTKka, Cheater 308
Banttkt, (Plans. Ae); Beggar's Bosh, Dublin,
M; Bliellton (Infantry). 72.'> ; Burv, 7'2.'>. 701;
OuBp. fol. s.'i2; Chelsea (Barrack tlousc),702;
Clarmee. PiTrtaraontli, 7(p< ; Dundalk, 762 ;
■dhibargh Caalle. r25; Fort tieorge, Guernsey,
«7;Galway, 71JX ; llounslow (East Wing), 720;
Hat Arrangement, M:i ; Hyde Park Cavalry,
707; Linen Hall, Dublin, 707; Naas, 701; Par-
MBStowii, 761 ; Prealon, Married Soldiers'
Qaartrn, 743 ; Koyal, l>ubliD, 707 ; Tenplemore,
7«0; Willlnaton. 725 ; York (Cavalry), 702.
Blsbop itubwfth's. Chantry Wells Cathedral Sr«
Koard^ Ihiom, Milropoliuu Board of Works).... Sfl7
IhMlelwyddau ( hnrch 077
Brradsall Priory, l*crbysblre K>7
Bronze Gates, SL Mark's, Venice 11
Camp llarracka 851, 8,52
Carlton Club • 95
Carved Door, Comptoa Wvnniatea, Warwickshire. WH
Cathedral, Exeter (West f'roni) 270
Winrlii.«l(T(W<.st Front) 266
— — WelU(We«t Kroot) 267
Ceaaeirry Chapel, Oaweatry 2'27
Chantry, BUhop Uubwltb's, Wells Cathedral .... -268
William of Wykoham'B, Wincliestcr .... "271
Chapel for <x>Dverted. lews, Camberwell .351
of the Kmp<Tor, SI. Petersburgh 983
Ht. John's, Lincoln « 622
VIctoria-ilrecl. Derby (M
Chapter House, Salisbury, Cathedral 272
Wells Cathedral 260
Chtaweys, Venice lOirt
I. 'hrtsl's College, Fioeblev 470
Cbareb, Coagrrgatlonal, Edinburgh 78S
— — f>atehet 767
— ^ Kngliah, at Cliauouni 730
Ilolyrr««i fl03
St. Cnthberfs, AlbHghton (with Plan) .. 43iS
St John the Itaplnl, Ifadininstcr 10
IW. Mar.(aret's, lf<Hl..|wyddan(U<rUils) .. 2«5
St Wiehails. <>)rnhill 31
Ht |vii>r'i, Dublin fwith Plan) 7:)|
88. Ptdllp and Janwtf. Oxford 713
.<<t Htepbea's, Alben-sqoare, Clapham .. 929
Clifton t 'olli-ge H56
C^dait Trinity f^oll^e, CajDbridire 413
Cosvregattonsl ChoreC, George I V. Bridge, Edin.
bwgh 785
Cailtge, Cimoo bit
Page.
College, Christ's, Finchley 479
Trinity, Masters' Court 329
Conduit 413
Cope Chests, York Cathedral (with Details) ...... 116
Cottages for Farm Laborers (Plans) 7, 202, 570
Datchet Church 767
Denbigh lUilway Station 18.3
Details, of Shops In Clieapside 946
Device for Trade Card 500
Doorhead, Fiesolc 1001
Doorway, Church of the Frarl, Venice 110
St. Clary's, Clapham IH
and Fireplace, Kuc de Victoire, Palis.. 211
Dormer, Essover 1001
Drapers' School, Tottenham, High Cross 73
Drill Shed (Volunteer), Bradford 71
South Kensington 49
English Church, ChamounI 7:10
Exeter Cathedral (West Front) 270
Exhibition Building 1018, 1019
. — • — ■ View of the Nave 27:1
Foreign Architectural Scraps 1001
<fOvernment Buildings. Ottawa *205
(irosveiior Hotel, Piinlico 982
Hall and Staircase. Cowh'y House 0*23
Hereford Cathedral North I'orch, Central Tower
and North Transept 601
Hinge, Amiens Cathedral 1001
llolhiw Cement Block Walla :187, ;188
llolycross Church 603
Horticultural Society's Garden (Arcades of) 309
li4>Mpllal8 (Plans, &c.) : Aberdeen Barrack, 959;
Arbour Hill, Dublin, 077; Aston, 959; Chatham
Garrison, 959; Improved Plans for, 1005; Pres-
ton, 9.'>9 ; Sheffield, 9.<9 ; Stoke, Devon, 900.
Hotel, tjrosvenor, Pimlico 982
■ — — New Kailway, London Bridge 248
lA-eds Mechanics' lliBtitute.(with IMan) 905
Lodge, Wexham, near Slough (with Plans) 52
Marine Kesiilences, Waterloo, near Liverpool .... 457
Master's Court, Trinity College, Cambridge 329
Meclianlcs' Institute. Leeds (with Plan) oi'u
Messrs. Philips and .Sons' Premises, Liverpool.... 803
National Gallery, New Room 001
New Library, Inner Temple i:J9
Offices, BIsliopBgate-street 982
Opera House. Paris ]o
People's Hull Works, Birmingham 370
Picture A nalyser ^37
l*lans. Barrack sec " Barracks "
.— ^— Farm Laborer's Cottages 7, 202, 570
Hydrograpliic Basin 70
Leeds -Mechanics' Institute . . 90I
Page.
Plans, Marseilles Harbor and Docks 539
Militia Barracks, Chester 3*28
Opera House. I'aris 16
Ketaining Willi, Metropolitan Railway .... G:t.i
New Raiuvay Hotel, London-bridge 248
St. Cuthberfs, Albrightou 4.34
St. Peter's, Dublin 730
— Town Hall, Northampton 892
Villa, Newburgh, New York 838
Villa, Worcester, Massachusetts (HO
. Volunteer Drill-shed, South Kensington .. 49
Wexham Lodge, near Slough 52
Private Cliapel of the Emperor, St. Petersburgh.. 983
Prize Design, Royal Academy 821
for a Clubhouse 545
Probate Court, Gloucester 371
I'riory, Breadsall, Derbyshire 857
Railw'ay Hotel, London-bridge (with Plan) 249
Station, Denbigh 183
St. (Juthbcrt's Albrighton (with Plan) 43S
St. George's Schools, Newcastle-under-Lymc ..,. 659
St John's Lincoln 622
Hey wood 391
St John the Baptist, Bedminster 10
St. Jacques, Liege 070
St, I'eter's, Dubliu (with Plan) 731
SS. Philip and JaineH, Oxford 713
St Margaret's, Bodehvyddan (Details) 205
St. M Ichael's, Coruiiill 31
St. Stephen's, Albert Square, Clapham Road 9'27
Salisbury Cathedral, Entrance to the Chaptcr-
H ouse 270
Schools, Drapers', Tottenham High Cross 73
.St. George's, Newcastle-nuder-Lyme ... 659
Screen, Llchlleld Cathedral 9'28
Sewage Tanks 720
Shakespeare, Design for ilonumeut to .507
Shops, Clieapside (with Det.tils) 947
.Staircase Hall, Galltfaenan, near Denbigh 748
Turret, Troves 1004
Tabernacle, Church of St Leonard's, Leau C58
Town Hall, Northampton (with Plan) 893
Turret, Lausanne (Cathedral , 1001
Wells Cathedral, West Front 267
William ot Wykchams Chantry, Winchester
Cathedral 271
Winchester Cathedral, West Front 2C0
Vane,Amii-ns 1001
Viiloria Street Chapel, Derby 094
Villa, Worcester, Massachusetts (with Plan) 641
■ Newburgh, New York (with Plan) 839
Volunteer Drill Shed, llradliird 71
— — • .South Kensiuglou (Plan) .. 4C-
January 4, 1861.
TPIE BUILDING XEWS.
ARCHITECTURAL ETIQUETTE.
HERE arc few of our readers to whom
the title prefixed to this article will
suffice to indicate a subject, in the
consideration of which they are, any
of them, especially interested. The
Capitalist, who is just about to build,
the Builder, who has just undertaken
a contract, the Architect, who aspires
to succeed in some vast competition,
into which ho has just thrown his
energies, and the Student, who [only
aspires to be an architect at all, will
all, doubtless, glance at our title —
"Architectural Etiquette," and ex-
claim, "Who cares about architec-
tural etiquette — it is really nothing to
me?"
Now, we hope to show on the contrary,
that the subject we have chosen to write
about has really very much to do with each
and all of the four classes of readers wo have enumerated. The
practice of an architect is a very peculiar thing ; for, although in 1861
the operation of building is pretty much the same as it was when men
set about the construction of the Tower of Babel, and we moreover
know that the function of an architect is " as old the hills," the method
of remunerating an architect has undergone very many variations ; and
is, indeed, down to the very year on which we have entered, an open
question, so ticklish and ricketty as to compromise alike the capitalist
jind his contractor, the architect and his pupil.
When the only considerable architect to be had in these kingdoms
was " Master Inigo Jones," with his stated wage per diem, his new
■cloak /ler amwm, and " his horse, when he rideth abroad," there was
no superinducing cause for the condition we are insisting on — no
xlifficulty with the adjustment of architects' charges, on which hangs
the gravamen of the general question of professional etiquette.
But, for the protection of the architect's patron, the system of
remunerating architects by a commission or percentage has been for
some period m vogue, and many are the questions it has given birth to.
AVe rejoice to see that the lloyal Institute of Architects has esta-
lilished within its own body a standing committee of its members, to
consider and give advice touching questions of this sort. We have
never yet heard of its issuing, or of its intending to issue, any report
or code of regulations for architects' charges ; but, should the Institute
succeed in dealing successiiilly with the examination or diploma ques-
tion, it is not unlikely some such document may be issued for the
guidance of those very many architects who may then be induced to
join its ranks.
W^e said just now that on the question of architects' charges hung
in great measure that of architectural etiquette ; and this will, we
conceive, be found to be so. In nine cases out of ten, where it has
■been assumed that one architect has behaved unhandsomely to another,
it will be found that the question of architects' charges has been at the
bottom of them. Let us assume a case. Mr. A. has an uncle, who —
being, say, the patron of a living — desires to employ that gentleman as
architect to a new church about to be built in his neighbourhood. Mr.
A. and his uncle talk the matter over, and from time to time the former
prepares sundry studies and sketches for the proposed edifice, Mr. A.
all the while rejoicing in the anticipation of becoming its architect,
with a commission of five per cent, on whatever sum is laid out.
Presently in steps Mr. B., the son-in-law of the churchwarden, who,
finding Mr. A. in possession of a job which, but for the fact he might
•Lave had_ through his father-in-law, the churchwarden, straightway
takes advice with his relative, and benevolently offers — such is his love
for religion— to design and superintend the church /or nothing. Here-
upon poor_ Mr. A., who is young, ardent, and unversed in the ways of
the world, is constrained to stand aside, and to give place to the self-
denying Mr. B., who, happening to procrastinate with his gratuitous
plans, unluckily allows the church-building project to become so airily
ventilated, that it gets to the ears of the well-known competing archi-
tect Mr, C, who, entering the lists, not only offers to officiate
gratuitously as architect, but utterly routs Mr. B. by subscribing ^50
to the funds, and engaging to provide the edifice with a font " at his
own proper cost and charges."
Now the unarchitectural public will say, there is in this little history
nothmg, but the fact, made plain and patent, that Mr, C. must be an
architect with a very big heart, burning with an intense love of the
Church ; but the architectural public will think otherwise : ite attention
will be fixed on the discarded Mr. A., whom it will persist in con-
sidering a very ill-used person indeed. As to the case itself, there is
nothing very fabulous about it ; it is a very common case— too commen;
and (we are sorry to say it) it is quite within the verge of possibility
that, Mr. A., Mr. B., and the superlative Mr. C. may all three be at the
time enroHed members of the Koyal Institute of Architects. Of
course, we are far from asserting that, this kind of thing symbolises
the miWi of the Institute : it does not si/mbolimit; but, go few arc,
comparatively speaking, the members of that body that, were such
cases to arise, and were it to enunciate the dictum that, pranks like
these of Messrs. B. and C. are to be tabooed as unprofessional, the
Institute could not at present afford to render its diclum /actum by
expelling two of its recognised members at once. Two expelled
members, practising actively in London, would be too dangerous
enemies for so small a body as the Institute to make ; and she would
shrink from the experiment. We hope to see the day when it will not
be so : when the Institute of Architects will have on her muster roll so
vast a proportion of the practising architects of Great Britain, that
her decision in all grave matters of offence against professional
etiquette, will have weight enough to consign the offending members
to a Limbo of architectural insignificance, that will purge us of these
scandals, which are fast rendering the honest practice of architecture
almost an impracticability.
Did our space permit, it would be an easy matter to adduce other
examples of what may be deemed violations of architectural etiquette.
The imaginary one we have given is a fair specimen of the rest ; and
its source may readily be referred to the lax condition of the question
•of architects' charges.
It is not enough that the Institute should decide, as it did the other
day, that five per cent, is the only proper architectural commission ; it
becomes necessary to say how, in fairness to the client, to the architect,
and the contractor, that commission ought to be apportioned. Whilst
this is left to doubt or to chance, there will exist great scandaLi, and a
daily increasing confusion about how a gentleman shall retain an archi-
tect, how an architect shall offer his services to a committee or single
client in special cases, and how a contractor shall make up his esti-
mates ; for it amounts to that.
Exempli gratia : let us ])ut a series of questions that may with
reason be supposed to arise from that last enunciated proposition of the
Institute, viz., that five per cent, is the only proper architectural claim.
We will sunpose that the first question is —
1 . What is the ordinary or proper commission to be paid to an archi-
tect ? The Institute's answer to this question is, five per cent. ; but a
solution of the questions which follow would do much to explain (to,
at least, young architects) what is and what is not " professional,'' in
doubtful cases.
2. Is this five per cent, justly applicable to small works, however
simple or however complicated, of^ less amount in outlay than, say,
£500 ? ' .
3. Is this same percentage to be claimed on all works, however vast
or simple ; say of amounts exceeding £50,000 ?
4. On what basis is this percentage to be computed : — say in the
case of a contract — is it to be computed on the architect's own esti-
mate of the cost, on the average amount of the tenders received, or,
on the amount of the lowest tender ? This is an interesting question;
as good authority may be adduced for each of these three systems.
5. Should the client lessen the cost of his building by providing his
own materials, new or old, is not the architect entitled to claim the
percentage on their value over and above the amount of the contract ?
G. And to claim the percentage on all additional labor, however
defraved ?
7. Does the 5 per cent, commission include the detailed admeasure-
ment and valuation of any of the works ?
8. Is the 5 per cent, wholly or partially claimable on reduced or
abandoned portions of a contract, once commenced according to the
architect's prepared design ; and if it be partially claimable, in what
proportion of the whole ?
9. As it very frequently happens that an architect's fuft're services,
involving the whole 5 percentage, are not required, into how many
portions"'is it advisable to divide these services for the convenience of
clients requiring, say designs without superintendence or vice versa, or .
again, designs without details and specification ? , . ,
10. What proportion of the 5 per cent, is it proper to claim for such
portions of the entire usual service ? . .•
1 1 . Supposing a work definitively entered on, when is the architect
entitled to receive the whole or any portion of his commission; and
what portion ? . tl^ » i i
12. Assuming a negative answer to Question 2>o. 7, does not the
5 per cent, include the general adjustment of extras and omissions ;
and are architects agreed on any rough method of effecting that
adjustment with the tradesmen employed under them ?
13. Does the negative to Question No. 7 extend to cases of death,
bankruptcy, or otherwise during a contract : that is to say, in such
events, should it become necessary to ascertain by detailed measure-
ment the precise value of the extras or deductions, does the 5 per cent,
provide for such services? , „.
14. If it does not, by ■whom is such adjustment to be effected:"
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 4, 1861.
\i. Bj whom is the cost of sach adjustment to be borne ?
16. Do»» the 5 per cent, include the provision of a clerk of the
txkt; and ii' not, what is the miniinum of contract, for which archi-
I we osoallj willing to proceed without calling on their clients to
pffOTide such an assistant ?
17. 'NN'hose province is it to control, retain, or dismiss the clerk of the
works; — the client's, or the architect's?
18. To whom are the original and duplicate copies of the drawings
•ad specifications supposed in professional etiquette to belong ?
19. Should a third set of these documents be needed, for deposit or
otherwise, ai« architects agreed to include the preparation of them In their
S per cent, commission, and if not, to whom and in what manner are
therto be charged ?
With this last (|uestion (No. 19) we will conclude our string of in-
terrogations. Question No. 20 would carry the reader into the vexed
topic of Qmmtilies, touching which there is a sad want of uniformity
in architectural practice, and as a necessary consequence a sad confusion
in architectural etinuettc ; one set of architects adopting one course
in dealing with these documents, which another set of architects, not a
whit more considerable than the former, is prepared to denounce as
** noprofessional," and so on ; till it becomes very difficult for
architects (especially young ones) to know when they are, and when
they are not, acting eomme il /out. A remarkable instance of this
occurred only a short time ago, when a young architect, on his being
commissioned to design and superintend the construction of a certain
public edifice, gave grave offence to his brethren by so engaging himself
with the building committee, for an increased stipend, as to occupy
the place of both architect and clerk of the works — in other words, to
become resident as well as consulting architect, devoting his whole time
«m1 energies to the carrying out of the work, while it lasted. The act,
which really seemed to oar own plain comprehension rather commend-
able than tlie rererae, and to be at all events quite in harmony with
ancient precedents, drew down on the luckless perpetrator of it a
ahower of paper protests ; and at the time one could not forbear re-
gretting that, some competent authority — say the Institute of Archi-
tect!— had not taken a lesson from the dancing masters, and compiled
an approved treatise on Architectural Etiquette.
GREEK ART AT TIIE PALACE OP INDUSTRY. •
A SPECTACLE anything but devoid of interest, is, at the present
moment, presented to us at the Paris University. One of our
brightest spirits, the excellent author of the "Essay on the Metaphysics
of Aristotle," has tume<i artist. M. Ravaisson is engaged in forming a
gallery to consist of the noblest works of Greek statuary. A taste
nr lerioos and elevated study has not banished from his soul its
lore fi* the arto, for he is one of that small number who can easily
paM from the contemplation of divine or philosophic beauty to that
rf homan beauty in the creations of the sculptor and painter, and
who only abandons Plato to pursue Phidias.
Some years ago (185;l), the Alinister of Public Education took the
trouble to form a Commission, composed of several men eminent in
the arts, and_ charged to propose a plan on which the system of instruc-
tion in drawing in our higher schools could be based.
M. Havaiafon, appointed President, addressed to the Minister a
mwrt which is well worthy of the most serious attention. In language
ot great beauty the writer justifies the decisions at which his colleagues
ana himself have arrived ; sometimes doing so by practical observations,
sometiniei by considerations of a higher order.
Tint writine, embwlying the conclusions of contemporary authorities,
nwed upon the experience of the authorities of a past age, deserves to
bebettcr known. When art is drifting at hazard, precepts emanating
from high quarters, and theories drawn from the most lucid sources,
wmj prove able to guide and to save her.
Among the questions upon which the members of the Commission
were called to arrive at a decision, there was one of fundamental
unpoilance in a matter tff this sort ; that of ascertaining what solid
models ought to be made use of in the teaching of drawing.
Two classes of models are pointed out by the commission, first the
d^ft-danvre of antiquity, where the human form is represented in its
hishMt abctract perfection; secondly those where art has rendered
indiyidual type*, with their own special beauty and even their
Mguhintj . As to those models which have been for so many years
Moed befiire the eyes of pupils, the Commission earnestly demands
war removal from the course of study.
Aatiqne tUtnes, it is true, but copies or imitations only of celebrated
work^ these modeU indicate for the most part a Roman origin ; the
tone, mdividuality, and life that sparkled in the originals, are notrepro-
daeed m them. Under a frigid regularity of form all fire has been
It u but too well-known ! This false ideal it is, this abstract
I baselen art, that has accumulated against the iintique a mass of
• TraiuUlcd Irom tJu MmU, of tbc 28th November, !()«.
prejudices ; and very excusable prejudices, when one remembers the
insipid works that are produced in imitation of this second-hand
statuary.
The statues where the life throbs and the skin seems ready to
tremble under the touch, where tlie true and the beautiful form an
harmonious alliance these great models called for by the Commission
of June, 1853 — these has Sl. Ravaisson undertaken to select, and upon
this selection follows, as the next step, the formation of a gallery in
which should be seen, reproduced by casts, a large number of com-
paratively unknown marbles. This step has been taken by M. Ravaisson,
and all the more readily that the idea had been for a long time formed
in his mind. Such is the origin of the collection to be seen in the
Palais de Flndustrie, a modest but precious instalment of what ought
to be in this respect, and I desire to say a few words relative to it.
Greek art retained the plenitude of its power during four hundred
years — its productions were innumerable. The City of Rhodes itself
alone contained, it is said, three hundred statues! Judge of the re-
mainder. In spite of our scanty means of information we have collected
the names of more than six hundred artists. And yet, notwitlistanding
that this art is like a little world for extent, it is as yet little known.
Whence comes tliis ? The reason is that it is only since the commence-
ment of this century that monumental works of ascertained date and
capable of being attributed to the greatest names — works that we can
each one of us appreciate — have been brought to enrich the museums
of Europe. Blessed be the rapacious hands of Lord Elgin ! Before
the day when his sailors transported the marbles of the Parthenon from,
the shores of Piraeus to the precincts of Great Russell-street, what did
we know of Phidias ? AVinckelmann himself, what did he know of real
Greek art? — albeit he wrote its history with so much genius !
The bas-reliefs of the Temple of the Wingless Victory, the pediments
of Egina, the Frieze of Phigaleia, and quite lately the Sculptures of
Halicarnassus, have allowed a very bright light here and there to pene-
trate the cloud.
And yet how profound is our ignorance still as to certain parts of
Greek art ! Olympiads accumulate on olympiads ; the world goes on :
Greek genius stores up masterpieces, and this contest of human industry
with that nature which it attempts to equal in its creations — this marvel-
lous combat waged under the fairest sky, by the most richly endowed
race of mankind — passes before us unnoticed ! From Phidias to the
Augustan age the veil seems to thicken. Prom Praxiteles till Lysippus
what remains have we ? Imitations only, and such that as yet we can
place but small faith in their authenticity. Scopas, the Euripides of
sculpture, would remain entirely unknown to us but for a celebrated
reproduction of the group of the Children of Niobe.* Let us hope that
the bas-reliefs of Halicarnassus will reveal him better to us.
Our knowledge of antiquity (observes the "History of the Academy of Inscrip-
tions") would acquire more extent and exactness were it possible to bring before
one's eyes the moKuments scattered through the various galleries of Europe ! How
much Instruction would flow from so largo a number of contrasted works placed side
by Hide. Thiy would supplement one another, would interpret one another; their
variety would extend our knowledge their harmony would confirm it. t
These sound reflections seem to have inspired M. Ravaisson in that
ardent studjr of Greek art to which he has now devoted many years.
He has neither omitted nor forgotten palaces, villas, gardens, or
museums, in Italy, Germany, and the remainder of Europe. To collect
those contrasted works that his old colleagues refer to, and to throw a
li<jht upon them through their similarity or their diversity, by the most
minute observations on the manner in which the hair, the ears, the
mouths, and a hundred other portions had been treated, such has been
his constant and earnest endeavor. If the most delicate feeling for
Greek art, and all the resources of a mind accustomed to grasp in
philosophical speculation the general scope of facts, can avail in such
researches, then the completest success ought to crown the labors of
M. Ravaisson.
Assisted when in Italy by a dispatch from the Minister oi State, the
former president of the Commission of 18S3 took care to cause casts to
be taken of a certain number of statues.
Those especially which bore the marks of antiquity, and where the
chisel has shown itself true, powerful, and impetuous, attracted his
attention. Of these interesting marbles many nave been overlooked.
Curators, artists and antiquaries have only treated them with disdain..
Of this I will quote only one example : there are two draped torsos,
two torsos where the marble has all the play of flesh, and over which
spread those wonderful folds that one sees playing over the bosom and
tne shoulders of the Fates of Phidias, — in a word, two masterpieces ;
and these have remained for centuries forgotten in that little garden of
the Vatican styled della pii^rta, while, by one of the caprices of fortune,
who shows herself as unjust towards men's works as towards them-
selves, one sees Roman sculpture — and that of the most mediocre
auality — displaying itself in triumph under the vaults of the Pontifical
Museum !
Further, among the principal causes that militate against the appre-
• Also attributed to Praxiteles.
j "History and Memoirs of the Academy of Inscriptions," vol. XXTII., p.
1C7.
January 4, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
ciation of antiques, the deplorable attempts of the restoring of statues
must be prominently noticed. We know how they treat chejTs-dmuvre,
and how 'they and the restorers of pictures set about " repairing the
irreparable outrages of time."
If pliysical beauty, the gift of God cannot be repsured, is not the
same true of beauty created by genius. You can mend a machine ; a
picture or a statue are not to be mended. Ah ! do not crush in your
mercenary fingers the divine flower of talent ! Beware of causing the
bieath of Psyche, by which the work was animated, to vanish at your
approach !
M. Kavaisson, more than any other, has understood the danger of
these restorations. Consequently he was not long in causing all
modern additions to disappear from the reproduction of these_ works
by casts, endeavouring to restore the statue to the appearance it must
have presented when first discovered. Disencumbered of their
borrowed heads, and legs, and arms, many of these statues, formerly
second - rate enough, now present torsos of enchanting beauty. I
appeal to all those who have seen the casts in the I'alace of Industry.
I am sure they will have approved these happy mutilations.
It is, indeed, high time that this enlightened purism, should inter-
fere to put a period to the arbitrary restorations that sometimes change
the action of a figure, place a common-place head on magnificent
shoulders, or remove that charming surface that one could style the
skin of the marble. It is high time that it should destroy those modern
accessories added by the caprice of an ignorant sculptor, and which
often have been a source of serious errors to those antiquaries whose
remoteness compelled them to make use of incorrect engravings.
If ever (at least in reproductions in plaster) we succeed in extri-
cating antique statuary from all heterogeneous and incongruous accom-
paniments, the scientific study of Greek art will receive a most noble
impulse.
From that moment persons of taste and information, when they
visit a collection thus purified, will enjoy a sensation, charming, indeed,
and similar to that which takes possession of those who read Homer
fluently in the original, after having made him out through the veil of
a translation, or among the fastidious emendations of his commentators.
From one hundred and fifteen to one hundred and twenty casts,
without reckoning those that have yet to come, are now assembled in
tlie I'alace of Industry. There they bear witness in favor of one of
those efforts unhappily too rare in tiiis business age. Two rows of
planks hastily fixed in the western gallery, and some rough props,
comprise the architectural portion of this embryo museum.
On the right are the statues, on the left the busts and some bas-reliefs
Many groups of great proportions, and of great value, occupy the centre
Among the latter I will name Hercules strangling Anta;us, an im-
portant monument, fi-om the gallery of Florence, and the famous Pas-
quin, several repetitions of which "exist in the Vatican and elsewhere.
That Menelaus carrying away the dead body of Patroclus, that poor
mutilated torso, exiled to the streets, and to which discontented
Romans once used to affix their stinging satires, it is worthy of Phidias !
How broad, and yet faithful an imitation of nature ! — whose burning
bands were those by which this marble has been wrought ? Bernini, a
man greater far than his works, reckoned as the finest antique in Kome
this group, which as yet Paris knows nothing of.
To attempt a description of the casts at the Palace of Industry would
be out of place here. Our attention is fixed on something else ;
only I think I ought to insist on the general significance of the collection.
Amoi.g these ill-planed planks an e.xperienced eye sees the three
principal periods of ancient statuary displaying themselves — Archaic art,
the Grand Style, and Art arrived at its Maturity.
Among the archaic monuments I will only cite a single one : an
Apollo from a marble found near Corinth, in the ruins of Tenea. I
believe it impossible to find, anywhere, a stiffer statue (not excepting
■Egypt)' o'' ■with a countenance more befooled by that laugh that grins
on all the faces in primitive sculpture, and especially in the school of
Egina. Strange to say, this arid form will reappear after the lapse of
sixteen or seventeen centuries in the heart of Italy, under the pencil of
the predecessors of Kaffaelle ; or forsooth the pious artists of some
monkish fraternity will attach a figure pretty nearly similar to the
porch of a German or Norman Cathedral. So remarkable an example
of the cycles of art recalls to us the metamorphoses wi-ought by nature
in her secret laboratory, the transformations of certain living creatures
and their death-like swoon, which is always the precursor of a glorious
revivification.
The Pasquin group, one superb statue from the villa Ludovisi, five or
hi torsos of Bacchus and Apollo, belong to that exalted school of
''^■ich Phidias was chief. The one statue represents a young warrior
seaod on the earth, his legs carelessly crossed, and holding a sword in
his Hnd. ^ little more melancholy in his features, and this heroic
persoi y,\^\^ i\^q powerful limbs, would represent to me Achilles
lament,g Bngeis " on the shore of the whitening ocean."*
* ^°"''^ have been raised as to the licaii of this statue, whicli may have been
An athlete of a powerful individuality recalls to me what a Greek
journalist, the younger Philostratus, said somewhere of the pictures of
Meleager. " He is young, he is firm, he is full of health and of nerve,
his flanks are broad, his breast moderately rounded, his arms muscular."
I have already indicated the two beautiful torsos from the garden " della
Pigna."
Hounded outlines, lines more and more swelling, announce to tu a
new art ; beauty's bosom is no longer so chaste ; sensuality blunts the
chisel. Two small master-pieces here indicate the presence of the new
Attic school. A torso of Venus, and an Aphrodite playing with Eros.
The torso is admirable ; it comes up to the idea one forms to one's
self of the talent of Praxiteles, that prodigious artist, said to be without
an equal in the art of softening marble, and transferring to it, so to
speak, the suppleness of life. At the sight of those pale goddesses of
Praxiteles, the ancients exclaimed " Happy Mars ! " All the blandish-
ments of youth embellish this Aphrodite. What art can approach Greek
art, even when it ceases to soar in the highest regions I
I know not whether this very feeble expression of a very lively
emotion occasioned by the presence of a few admirable and little-
known works of art, — whether this modest but sincere enthusiasm
reaching the friends of grand sculpture, will decide some of them to
pay a visit to the casts exhibited in the Palace of Industry. I ardently
wish it may. It seems to me that they would go away from them aa con-
vinced as I am of the germ wrapped up in this enteri)rise. To carry it
further would undoubtedly be to serve the dearest mterests of study,
of good taste, and of French art.
Let me imagine for an instant this collection placed in the Louvre or
elsewhere, and gradually added to by casts, some ofhigh interest to art,
and others more closely alhed to its history. I presume, too, that it
would enrich itself by all the best discoveries of new excavations ;
clearly, in that case, it will one day be called to become, if not the
most showy, at least the most important portion of our museums.
Very latterly, the course pointed out, as has been already shown by
the Academy of Inscriptions, has been taken up by the fortunate and
skilful antiquai-y to whom England is indebted for the marvellous
discovery of the tomb of Mausolus. Mr. Newton* has well pointed
out what hus been the obstacle which, up till now, had stopped our
progress in the study of Greek art. This obstacle is the_ impossibility
of comprehending with one glance all that which the various museums
of Europe furnish to our observation ; and without some means of
prompt comparison, this will remain unattainable. The memory of the
traveller is not equal to retaining those slight shades, those delicate
distinctions, upon which, however, the knowledge of styles, and the
distinctions between schools arc based, distinctions that vanish under
the pencil or the graver of the copyist. This is the evil : what remedy is
there for it? The remedy, according to Mr. Newton, l!es in the
creation of a museum of reproductions by means of casts, which shall
be, so to speak, a synopsis of all museums ; an economicaland inexpen-
sive museum, but the most precious of all to him who desires to acquire
a knowledge both of the art itself, and of the history of the art.
The longer we contemplate so sound an idea, and one so radically
important that almost at the same time it presents itself to two men of the
highest order of taste, the more we feel incUned to applaud everything
that promises to hasten the realisation of it. We fancy we can, m
imagination, see this museum of the future, where all the finest
examples will be found in chronological order. Roman copies of
Greek statues would group round the type to which they belong.
Movable pedestals would enable the curators of this progressive
museum to reform a classification that must always depend upon the
conquests of science. A label would denote the subject, and, so fiur as
possible, the school and the locality from whence brought. A caUlogue,
preceded by a short introduction, unfolding the principal features of
the history of Greek art, would be distributed free to aU young artists
permitted to study, and would shed some light on their minds.
Seek not that the scientific arrangement here pointed out should be
applied to our splendid galleries, the obstacles there are insurmount-
able. The highly praiseworthy attempt hazarded by M. de Long-
perier in one of the halls of the Louvre does not seem as if it was to be
carried further. Everything in these old and great museums stands m
the way of those arrangements that study demands ; tradition, the
architect, the desire of pleasing the multitude, and what not. In pomt
of fact, it seems as if it were not the museum that appears to have
been made for the statues, but the statues that seem made for the
museum. u • r »
Europe has aflbrded us an example : among the collection »* cafU
from antique statuary, that of Munich enjoys a legitimate celebrity.
To imitate our trans-Rhenish neighbors— nay, even to surpass them
with the vast resources of our budgets-would be an easy task to hnn
who seriously took it in hand. Paris already presents smiUar cstabL^-
ments. I do not now speak of the casts at the Louvre; this beautiful
•See "The Museum of Classical Antiquities,-' .edited by Edward FiUcoier.
ondOD, 1855. I'age220.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 4, 1861.
is now bromibt down to a few fragments, but we have at
tih* fine-art school casts In very great numbers.
Inu^ine this collection classified in chronological arrangement;
would not the iaterest tliat it possesses singularly increase ? But under
jay circumstances the collection at the Fine-Art School, notwithstand-
ing its richness, can only imperfectly accomplish the views that one
MMtsek before one's-self. Connected with a special foundation, en-
tlnenii in k eonlined building, almost inaccessible to the public, it is not,
awl cannot become (at least, at present) the gallery we have spoken of
— • xallery open to all foreigners as well as natives, and placed in a
taJMing arranged for its reception.* lio, this certainly cannot be the
hiiliik museum of high art, which must necessarily be completed by
CMis, and by models of all tlie most famous monuments of ancient
aicldtccture.
llow the fashionables, so happily scornful of all that does not jump
with their whim at the moment ; how the false amateurs, of whom there
■re such numbers, and in whose eyes a bedizened pastoral scene by
BoMcher sums up the total of fine art ; how these dangerous friends to
wtista, who turn them out of the right path, exclaim at the outlandish-
seas of a museum of plaster casts ! 'UTiat matters it? There are true
'•onnoMseurs enough, enough of sculptors and painters brought up to
renect the great old masters for the use of these establishments to be
■aderstood, and for a public voice to call for them.
In watching the progress of French art, one may tremble for its
iiiture. Talent is plentiful if talent lies in skill of hand, for this,
indeed, is astonishing. Unhappy skill ! Pliny was not mistaken when
■benid, "In the decline of the arts mechanical execution is infinitely
■ore prized than high and legitimate excellence." But what will
bring us this high, this legitimate, excellence unless it be the study of
the ancients ? Yes, the deep study of tliat art which showed itself
to the world witli its head in the sky, but yet solidly established on
reality — that study ought to form the base of instruction.
Would yon deal a powerful blow to mannered painting, to the con-
fitaion of styles, sign, as it is, of lifclessness, to the forgetfulness of
forai, and the exclusive ' devotion to the charms of color, to the vices
(hat flaunt themselves in our exhibitions ? would you diminish the
mflaence of that eclecticism that adopts evcr\-thing, and, by this
oivenal tolerance, brings ailer it deplorable indifference in matters of
taste t Open to our youths a gallery where the remains of an immortal
art shall crowd upon one another in a fine arrangement ! Tell them
that one of the noblest spirits of modern times offered his daily prayer
before a bust of Jupiter Olympus !
Let but a man of genius grow up in the midst of these youths, and
let this spectacle "of unmixed beauty touch his soul powerfully, and we
ihoald one dajr see a counterpart of the apotheosis of Homer. To
what was Italy, m the thirteenth century, indebted for her Nicolas of Pisa,
ber earliest sculptor, but to a fine sarcophagus till then quite unknown !
The conversion in the last century of the painter of the Horatii, at
Ibe period of the decline of taste, is known to us. The eyes of that
B<eat artist opened before the light of Roman antiquity, like those of
ue Apostle b<Bfore a purer light, on his journey to Damascus.
But the history of Ilcllenic art, is not that alone a precious and a
philoaophic teaching ? You will see how closely the destinies of this
art are Knit with those of Greece.
FkxMt its origin down to the period of Solon, is it at all an art truly
■0 eaOed ? Xot at all, it is ratner a trade. From Solon to Pericles it
Js a magnificent fountain ; it corresponds with the heroism of the time.
In this period the Persian war breaks out, that is to say, the struggle
between human freedom, young and intelligent, and the old and inane
Oriental despotism. _ Art under Pericles reaches an unheard of pitch ;
^ •oan into the region of the sublime. Athens is ulorious, Greece is
ker own mistress, rericles dies, and the Cleons, vile flatterers of the
crowd, attain to power only to abuse it. With them vulgarity creeps
mto Athenian manners. With them domestic luxury strikes root, and
tbeneed of those emotions and enjoyments which herald the degradation
•f men's Mnils.
^Art ripens and reaches perfection, but like everything else that
BMM it reaches the verge of corruption. Thus it goes on under
Alaander and his bombastic successors. Swallowed up in Roman
OTiEMtJon, all disonlered by the rude caresses of the countrymen of
Mmmns, it does not yet perish ; its vitality is too vigorous.
_ It rerives to serve new masters, and in the days of Adrian it is that
A iMt flame shines out — a dying flash and soon extinguished.
P» l«*ring the nuddle ages— that dreary labyrinth in which the
*y«» mincf found itself so fatally entangled — modem art, trying its
w^g^ pcroeiTed ancient art showing it the road to follow. From that
■o«eB*6reece has been with the modems the polar star of high art.
As It Mpproaehet this tutelary star it becomes powerful, and gains
nobleness : as it draws back it grows enfeebled and becomes dim. Two
hundred years it is from now to the time when the profound inspira-
tion of the elder Poussin — that grave admirer of the ancients — re-
consolidated shattered art. J
Later, our David and M. Ingres brought about another revival. I
Since then, by the ebb and flow common to human affairs, and not-
withstanding the efforts of some highly talented men, especially in
religious painting — isolated efforts, but extremely praiseworthy — these
fine hopes have vanished. Let us then study these sublime works;
let us study this Greek art, which astonishes and carries us away by
the power of its impulse, — which charms us with the poetry of the
true, and it may be that at the end of this century a revival like to
that which marked its conmiencement will come and shed around us a
living and pure brilliancy.
Some weeks before his journey to the South of France, the Emperor
inspected the casts exhibited in the Palace of Industry. The high
approbation of our sovereign, so unequivocally testified in this visit ;
the support afforded by the Minister of State to the first attempts to
forai this gallery, all lead us to hope that it will be possible for an
undertaking so useful soon to be brought to a conclusion, with a
liberality corresponding at once to the elevated goal that must be
aimed at, and to the national position held by France.
(Signed) Eenest Viket.
♦
GATE OF THE LOGGIA, PIAZZA OF ST. MARK, VENICE.*
WE this week engrave a drawing of the magnificent Gates to the Loggia,
wliicli lies at the base of tiie Great Tower in St. Mark's-square,
at Venice. Rich as the square is in architectural works, with splendid
specimens of the genius of Palladio, San Michele, and Sansovino on one
side or the otlier, and the brilliant fa(;ade of tlie Basilica occupying almost
its entire breadtli, the famous Campanile still claims and deserves a large
share of admiration. It is something like 300 feet in height and 50 feet
square. It answers strictly, even to the requirements put forth by the
rigid critic Mr. Ruskin, " it stands verily, and seems to stand in its own
strength, not by help of buttresses or artful balancings on this side or on
that; it is like a stern sentinel, not like a child held up in its nurse's
arms." It rises from a massive foundation in grand unbroken surface, its
summit only being pierced by four arclies on each side to a gallery which
surrounds the tower, and from which, as well as from tlie balustraded
terrace, still higher up, splendid views are obtained of the ''city of
the sea."
The Loggia at its base is faced with rich and varied marbles ; it is the
work of Sansovino, and in the time of the republic was occupied by the
" Procurali," who kept guard during the sittings of the grand Council.
The gates are, as may be seen by our engraving, splendid examples of
Renaissance metal-work. The figures and military trophies are modelled
in a most artistic manner. The Lion of St. Mark is seated at the
extremity of either gate. We have engraved the drawing to a large scale
so that its many beauties may bo laid before our readers.
0
''••^ »'•'•«>' PrCTldent de Hroaxi : "OpiKMlte tblt buJIdlni; 1 would
S.Miotaw wbcft I nnlu In ordtr, model* from CMt* taken from the most
SSl^ r^rtilmX^mlK^'^ MTthlng conld be Imagined bc-tttrfor the honor
CHURCH OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, BEDMINSTEE,
SOMERSET.!
WE give this week the interior of this fine church'; but aa we intend
giving in an early Number a view of the elaborate Reredos, and
which is now in the engraver's hand, we reserve our description until that
time. The architect is Mr. John Norton, No. 24, Old Bond-street,
London, W.
♦
CONSECRATION OF ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, MAIDSTONE.
N Thursday last (St. John's day), this church, which is situate in the Mote
Park, the seat of the Earl of Romncy, was consecrated by his Grace the
Archbishop of Canterbury. It consists of nave, chancel, vestry, organ chamber,
north porch, and bell-turret at west end for tliree bells. The style of architecture
adopted is Early English, slijrhtly approaching the Decorated period, and the
principal materials employed m its construction are Kentish rag stone for the
outer walls, with dressings of Bath stone— the interior face of the walls being
entirely of fair hassock in regular courses, relieved by dressings of Bath stone.
The roofs are open timbered, that to the nave having six pair of curved principals
with trncericd spandrels, and that to the chancel, being groined throughout. The
curved ribs, both in the nave and chancel, spring from stone columns with carved
capitals and bases, and the whole surface of roof is simply varnished, the
principals and carved ribs alone being stained. The windows of the
nave are glazed with amber-tinted glass, and fitted with patent venti-
lators instead of the ordinary opcnin"; casements; and the chancel
windows are filled with polished plate glass. The floors are laid with
Maw's encaustic tiles of appropriate pattern. The seats are unusually large and
commodious, and are arranged to give accoramodatioa for upwardu of 200
people. The communion rail is of poTi.xhcd brass, with foliated standards. The
pulpit and font are of Caen stone, with carved panels in the sides, while the eight
columns to the font arc of red serpentine marble. The church is warmed very
effectively by a simple apparatus, consisting of several small fire-holes in the
floor, with horizontal flues from each, meeting at the c.ist end in one upright flue,
which is carried up in the wall to the apex of the gable, where the products e
combustion (for the smoke is consumed) escape without any chimney be^T
visible. The sacred edifice has altogether a very neat and elegant appeara-J^j
and will add to the reputation of its architect, Henry Blandford, Esq., of }^°-
atone, who has, moreover, not failed to pay attention to acoustic require'*"*')
the faintest sounds being distinctlv heard in all parts of the buildin- *''■•
lluckland, of Loose, was the buililerr His Grace arrived at the church ' eleven
o'clock, when the usual consecration service was proceeded with.
• See page 11.
t See page 10.
January 4, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
ON THE EXPEDIGNCr OF FOUNDING A NEW ANNUAL
EXHIBITION OF GENERAL SCULPTURE.
TTTHILE Painting has four or five independent exhibitions, and Archi-
W lecture, which once was fain to be content with a much begrudged
corner of a room, by name her own, now has a large and convenient gallery
to herself. Sculpture — poor Cinderella that she is ! — is thrust by her more
showy and to many more attractive sister into the cellars of the palace
where Painting, more favored, holds her annual levees, and receives the
first fresh devotions of her admirers, who, if they turn at all into the
dreary and repelling apartments of the neglected sister, have, at best, but
their second thoughts to give, and can, at best, but turn over-strained and
weary eyes to an art which, depending on the nicest proportions, most
correct knowledge and greatest possible exorcise of taste, demands, almost
more than any of the arts, the untaxed attention of the clearest minds to
appreciate the less palpable and less evident beauties set before tiiem. It
always seems to me that the sculptor is necessarily the most self-denying
of all artists; he seems to me to do more unappreciated work; the merest
general effect is frequently all that is noticed by most observers, although
every part has to be designed, modelled, and finished in the strictest ac-
cordance with the divinely designed and created original, or the educated
enthusiastic and beauty and nature-loving mind of the artist, and the
sharply critical mind of the competent and discerning few will not be
satisfied.
It is a curious thing at first sight, but I think none the less true, that
although many talk a good deal about the works of a few great sculptors
few persons seem really to care about them; scarcely any love to look
at them again and again as they do a favorite picture; you rarely see a
crowd round a work of Gibson, Calder, Marshal, or Bell, as you do up-stairs
round Maclise, Millais, Frith, or Landseer, and I do not think this accounted
for by the extra charm of the painter's resources, but, at least, in part by
two things :
1. The inconvenience and unnecessary competition with painting arising
from the circumstances of the only sculpture exhibition at present, which
it will be at once seen it is my object to remedy by founding an additional
exhibition,
2. A mode of practice, whether regulated by patronage or not, I know
not, nor does it matter for my object — namely, the constant practice of
sculptors, of embodying the most subtile thoughts and deep poetic feeling
under the refined, and to the ordinary public scarcely discernible, difler-
ences of form and expression of a single figure, and that with mere beauty
of feeling and form without sufiicient definite aim and teaching.
This, although without explanation it may not be so readily seen, it is
my object to remedy by making the proposed additional exhibition also a
different exhibition.
To my mind at the present time sculpture is, in vitality and progress,
behind both painting and architecture, not in excellence in a peculiar
walk, but because of the narrowness of that walk. Painting has thrown
ofl much of her conventionality, Architecture much of its measured
proportions, regulation capitals, and its cry of precedent. But Sculpture
still clings to its heathen mythology, its sameness of subject, its single
figure, and want of aim.
The enthusiastic rush of painters to nature herself, and also to her
humbler forms, does not seem to have roused it. The change in archi-
tecture, great as it has been, does not seem to have aflected it. Mere
poetical, or classical subjects, are still all that occupy the great sculptors,
while religious art is left to men that, with every respect and honor to
them, can but be called superior architectural carvers ; while I may be
permitted to ask which branch of sculpture niiglit be made the highest
art. Is the one less noble than the other because it is to stand above the
doorway of a church ? Now, let me not be misunderstood, I do not expect,
or wish that sculpture should confine herself to religious subjects ; nay, I
would wish to see her, at the same time that she aspires to excellence in
that, the highest branch of art, and at the same time that some of her
most gifted sons devote themselves to it, to see her more human than
she is at present ; what I do wish is that she had more aim, more
purpose, to teach good wherever she has the opportunity. Knowing full
well that to teach she must interest at the same time, and that the public
which passes with a hasty glance a figure which has cost months of
labor, will turn to a group or bas-relief, with some story in it, with a
curiosity and wish to find out its meaning, and if its meaning be both easily
read and yet deep, the attention will be fixed, and yet the moral of the
story treasured up, though it will be visited again and again, because the
visitor has a secret thought that he has not yet fully mastered the all
that was meant to be taught; so different parts of the lesson will be taught.
Sculpture, is to my mind at present too liigh and too low either to
interest or to teach to its fullest power — aye, and a power great and
beautiful. No human mind can know, not knowing the human heart, how
great a power is trusted to man when gifts in art are given ; it is a power
that makes every professor of the art deeply responsible for his gift, and
for the manner in which he uses it.
Is it nothing, my brother artists, whether you put into a form of almost
indestructible marble or bronze a meaning and thoughts capable of
ennobling or not the minds and thoughts of the many thousands who now
look at it, pass on and to-morrow look again? Thousands who are now
too young to understand it, will look on it and talk about it, when they
are grey headed, and when those limbs, once similar in roundness and
beauty to those that you have modelled with so much care, refuse to do
their accustomed work they will pass away, and cliildren come agsin,
grow old and die, and yet your statue will still raise its hands and teach •,
ifi it nothing to you, its designer, what is says? Shall it teach right, or shall
it teach wrong, or shall it idly teach nothing ? shall it teach cousolatian
to the despairing, perseverance to the wavering? shall it portray frivolity
or purity ?
Shall it put before the aspirim; mechanic, George Stephenson, the nerer
tired, the*always working? Shall the expression chosen be that most
calculated for the classical effuct and beauty of the statue, or for iniprera-
ing the passers by and all who visit it with the peculiar character of the
man, so as to sink into the hearts of those that need it? shall the pedesMi
be merely beautiful, or merely massive, shall it contain nothing of hii
history, his struggles, his success, and that not merely because you know
that such things belong to that statue, but to teach "all that the associa-
tions of that man enable it to teach? Can you not make it say like
Charles Mackay's verse,
"Take courage you that wander here.
Lonely uud sad. and be of nhcer.
This man that liad no aids to climb.
But his truclieart and soul sublime,
Lives In the annals of his time ?"
Oh, the art in its variety, its numberless applications, may teach and cry
aloud at every turning of the streets. Nothing past is forbiilden to it,
nothing present may not be bent to it; future aspirations within certain
limits are open to it : but, then, to do this, brother artists, you must " stoop
to conquer;" stoop did I say; hardly is it stooping to do what Donatello,
Ghiberti and Nieholo Pisano thought their proper work. Is it stooping to
do what Michel Angelo did? Is it stooping to do work with the same
beauty of finish, but a higher aim, for the church door or pulpit, for the
fountain or the market cross, or the nitch or panel of a public building, aa
that which you do for the library or the ball-room? And why must you do
this? because if you do not you will ever continue to have the same
limited field of labor, the same limited opportunity of doing good with
your art. Oh, brother artist,
" Hast thou in lands supreraelv blest.
With thy refinements done thy best
To ease the ills thou eaust not eure
To teach the wretched to endure.
And shower thy blessing on the poor'* 1
It may be doubtless said that patronsige has the most to do with this,
but if the aim of the art was higher and yet more universal and human ia
interest, patronage would grow, for a larger class would be interested is H.
I believe it is generally admitted that the general public are now the best
patrons of everything, whether of art, amusement, or instruction; certainly
municipalities, and boards, and associations, and subscription committees
are not among the worst supporters of art of all kinds; well, then, first
teach, by exhibitions, the great things to be done by the association of the
arts and you will soon have the opportunity of teaching greater things by
your works.
Now the lessons that I would teach by the proposed Annual Exhibition
are —
1. The many opportdnities that architecture constantly gives for the
embodiment and incorporation of first-class sculpture.
2. That sculptors of the very highest rank should not think it beneath
them to work on such associated sculpture.
3. That sculptors may learn much from the study of architecture and
architectural carving, and may learn much that they now lack, lo enable
them to work in harmony and unison with architecture, by seeing
architectural carving and their own figure sculpture, placed side by side
in the same room.
4. That architectural art-workmen and carvers should have extended
opportunity of studying, and seeing the necessity of perfect figur*
sculpture, and have a goal more clearly shown to belong to their own aK
to strive to attain to.
5. That architects should see architectural carving and perfect soulptur©
combined, and therefore both wish to, and learu how best to make use of
them in combination.
6. That the public should see the two combined, and wish to produce the
utmost effects of the combination.
My proposition, therefore, is that there should be an Annual Exhibition
of all Sculpture at the Gallery at Conduit-street ; with, of course, the
usual powers of selection and refusal, and that special invitation be given
to^
1. All sculptors, viz., such as usually exhibit at the Boyal Academy.
2. All professed architectural sculptors or carvers, and other orna-
mental carvers.
3. Architects to exhibit casts of sculpture or carving of all kinds
executed, proposed, or about to be executed on the works of the year, or
the works themselves if possible under circumstances where delay is neces-
sary, and therefore the work can be spared.
I throw these few remarks to the public ear. More influential men may
take them up. I trust they will : I am sure that nothing but good would
be produced. It surely needs little more from me. It is not for me or
any to prove to you how much progress is produced by showing annual
progress— it is an established principle that few will deny that the founding
of such an exhibition would conduce greatly to the twofold object that I
have in view in proposing it. A wider field for sculptors, and the
consequent increase of the glory of architecture, but let neither sculptor
nor architect forget that the aim is still higher, we are deeply responsible,
brother artists that read these columns, for our gifts which arc given to us
for the teaching of men.
Randall Dbcob.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 4, 1861.
PASSPORTS, FRANCE, AND ARCHITECTURE.
"TITHAT particular connection there may be between passports and
Yf architecture is not, perhaps, at once obrious to every one; but we
hope to be able to show that a relation does exist between thcni. At any
rate, since a good many persons are likely to be at the present moment
mminMing on the negative, but welcome, New Tear's Gift of the Emperor
of the French to this nation, we are disposed to say our say about it too.
aad, looking at it from our own point of view, to see if the abolition of
pMiports fur Englishmen travelling in the empire of France may not be
expected to prodace some results on English architecture and English
buildings.
Englishmen have always been fond of travelling, and one of the greatest
relazatioiu that an overworked Briton can enjoy is to transport himself,
during the few day* or weeks that he is able to snatch from business, to
■one land where the climate, the country, the manners, the familiar
otjeets, everything, are novel. The drawbacks upon this pleasure have
Uuerto been the want of that cleanliness and domestic luxury which we
dU " English comfort," the languages, the customs' regulations and the pass-
ffi(7•tem. The two first of these disadvantages press lightly now;
Ut comforts are to be met with in most Continental towns, and the
MMMily te knowing foreign languages has grown less, while at the same-
time onr fiMniliarity with them has become more general every year. The
paMports have certainly been a little improved, but, on the whole, they
rave remained pretty much as they were — a uniform obstruction, and an
inevitable cause of disgust and annoyance even to Continental travellers,
much more to English. Under these circumstances, many persons have
been deterred from visiting the Continent for a short holiday, and, when
they have retolved uj>on a Continental trip, have " gone in for " the thing
on m great scale, and made a tour of it.
Now, we have never entertained a doubt that should any country within
cuy reach of England hold out an inducement to travellers in the shape
of a relief from the obnoxious passport and customs regulations, a very
considerable addition to the number of English tourists in that country
vonld be the consequence, and a very decided prepossession in the
mind* of those tourists in favour of the country they so visit, and the
o^jeeti and persons they meet with on a footing so like that of our own
country.
France, onr nearest neighbour and onr most easily-reached resort, has
taken the initiative; and we do not hesitate to say, that frequent as have
been the pleasure trips and the business journeys of the English in that
flur country, they will be twice as frequent, while a certain latent hostility
of feeUng that exista between most Englishmen and most of these our
polite neighbours — a hostility as old as Agincourt and Cressy, and renewed
to activity in the Peninsula and at Waterloo, and not yet allayed either
hf Sebastopol, China, or the Commercial Treaty — this hostility, this sort
of armed peace, will be most wonderfully smoothed down and allayed,
etpecially on our side, by the new terms on which we are to travel ; none
the leti ao, perhaps, because at present it is to Englishmen only that the
privilege has been accorded of being able, on and after the 1st of January,
1861, to enter France at any of her frontiers, and to traverse the country
in any direction without producing or possessing a passport, and with
great relaxations as to customs' regulations.
We might enlarge upon the very great importance of this step, not so
much in regard to ourselves — for we look upon it as a slight, but very con-
venient, improvement — but in regard to the French nation, to whom it
nepreaents an innovation of great magnitude, and a subversion of ideas
that have survived all the dynastic vicissitudes of that country. But others
•will take up this view of the question, we, however, having tried to show
that a very much larger number of the British public and of British archi-
tecU may be expected to visit France for the future than have hitherto
<ione 10, and that the larger part of those doing so, being less put out of
temper than they have been used to be, will, it may be fairly presumed,
look more favorably than heretofore upon all that they see there, propose
to take these facts as our foundation, audio proceed to argue from them as
totbe possibility of French plans, modes of construction, and style of
decoration being introduced into this country to greater extent than
before.
The general tendency of the last half-century has been to introduce
continental forms into our architecture. It began witli the importation,
direct from Greece, of that taste for Greek art which has left us among so
many dreary imitations of Greek temples in unsuitable materials, and
deroted to the most incongruous purposes — witneis our plaster Parthenons,
oar oonpo Coliseums, our Portland cement porticos, and the like— a few
noble works, and a germ of good taste in these matters that may in time
■work itaelf to the surface.
How we escaped a Chinese, an Indian, and an Arabesque phase is not
ouite clear; bat though Kew Gardens and the I'avilion at Brighton show
that the escape was not complete, we were never so Oriental-mad as we
once were Greek-mad.
Daring the time that immediately followed the Greek period, English
architecture was very dUigcntly and very successfully studied and revived,
but hardly bad the revival gained a fair position before the importation of
continental features commenced ; this arose partly, no doubt, in conse-
quence of the different conditions under which we arc placed in respect of
"""^^ '''''"" '''°'' ^"'^" "^'"^^ ""' ""-'dieval builders in Great Britain
worked, but it is mainly traceable to the increase of our communications
with the Continent, and to the growing habit of foreign travel both among
architects and their clients.
.SV. P^'Illf.'?* •**" enriched by importations from France, Germany,
and Italy, but far more markedly by the contributions gained from the
north of Italy, than by those from any other source. The great Lombard
plain full of busy cities, with a variable climate, not unlike our own, and
with a universal use of brick, almost rivalling the prevalence of that
material in England at the present day, presents in its medieval buildings
many features that a thoughtful architect could not fail to perceive were
peculiarly adapted to the wants of this country, particularly in our towns
and cities; and accordingly, the majority of our newest and best suburban
churches, schools, and public buildings, where they possess a Gothic type,
show that the architect has gone to school (at least as a "finishing
school ") in Lombardy.
Without pretending to hint that in this there is cause for anything but
the most sincere and hearty praise, we must be permitted to observe that
Gothic in Italy has characteristics— especially in its ornamental features,
which however suitable to marble, (and even in that material some of the
Italian mouldings are poor and tame) will not bear to be transferred to
stone. A brick and stone architecture must in England replace the " brick
and marble architecture of Italy " so well described by Mr. Street, and
though bricks are bricks all the world over, so that if the Italians worked
with them well, we cannot do better than follow them, it does not
follow that there is not a better school both for our stone buildings, and
for those portions of the brick ones to be executed in stone.
For all this, and for the best modes of picturesquely employing another
material familiar to us, namely slate, it is unquestionable that if we are
not satisfied with English examples, our'best school, in fact the best school
is among the Medieval buildings of France. In enumerating, then, those
things to which it is desirable attention should be directed in visiting that
country, we give the first place undoubtedly to French Gothic.
Not to modern French Gothic — of that as a whole the less said the
better— but to the numberless examples of the fertile genius, the con-
structive skill, and the matchless good taste of the middle age architects
which await the traveller in France at every turn, from the gorgeous
cathedrals in the great to\rns to the modest churches, solitary chapels,
and quaint remains in the country villages. The more of that feeling
for art which breathes through these buildings that we bring back witli us
the better. No greater boon could have been given to English students of
architecture than to induce and encourage them to extend their familiarity
with Beauvais and Chartres, Kouen and Caen, Paris and Rheims, and the
hundred other places of interest to the lover of good Gothic that lie within
so few hours' journey of us.
We have in this country nothing approaching to the number of remains
of Medieval domestic architecture that France presents, and the great
majority of our examples do not go back to at afi so good a period of the
art as that from which many of the French ones date, so that here a
field lies open which can be worked with peculiar advantage. The lovers
of our own beautiful Gothic may feel pained, not always, perhaps, without
some reason, at the introduction of some foreign features into our arclii-
tecture, considering, as sometimes they have reason to do, that their recom-
mendation is not that they are better than, but that they are different
from those presented by native examples ; but the same objection does
not hold to numberless characteristics of Domestic Gothic which are not
to be met with at all in England, not always because they never existed
here, but often only because the French climate, more merciful than our
own to perishable materials, and demanding a less constant use of fuel,
has preserved for our admiration many early examples, the companions to
which did once exist in England, but have perished either by decay or by
fire.
After all, however, we may be told that this is but one aspect of the
architectural attractions of the sister kingdom, aud it is quite true. In a
subsequent notice we hope to refer to the influence which a greater
familiarity with the modern practice of French architects may have on
our work, and to the probable bearing upon our studies of antiquity and
on Classical and Renaissance works, our decorations and our construction,
of a more extended acquaintance with the work, ancient and modern,
of the French, their Roman remains, their vast Renaissance buildings,
the structural peculiarities of their ediflcee, the nature of their ground
plans, and the system of education undergone by their architects.* R. S.
MAXIMS AND MEMORANDA RELATING TO THE ARRANGE-
MENT OF FARM HOUSES, AND COTTAGES FOR AGRICUL-
TURAL LABORS.— No. in.
47. Having in No. II. of the present series, gone pretty fully into the
question of site and the accomodation required for the cottages of agricul-
tural laborers ; we are now prepared to discuss the question of arrange-
ment, and the connexion of one apartment with another. The first point
to which we direct attention is —
48. The Form of the cottage. This is doubtless a matter of considerable
importance, so fur as economical considerations are concerned ; yet it is a
point which has not been often or generally urged by writers on the subject.
The square form, while undoubtedly the most economical — enclo.^ing the
most space with the least amount of outside wall— is not certainly the
most picturesque or^pleasing in the outline. Hence, in a large majority of
instances, plans have been prepared, presenting varied and brokiii out-
lines, architectural cflTect being striven after rather through the medium of
pleasing outline than by the addition of external ornament. On the sub-
ject of form Dr. Watson, the author of a pamphlet on dwellings for
the agricultural laborerst has the following: "It admits of mathematical
• Tobccontinned
t _
tural , „j
Denbrac, I'lfcshire.
To becoDtinned.
The Economic and Sanitary Improvement of Dwelling Houses for Agrlcul-
»1 haborcrs, by Alexander Watson Wcmyss, M.D. .r.R.C.S.E., of I'ltkinny and
ibrflf. Fifpshiw
January 4, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
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8
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 4, 1861.
demon smtioo that a rectangular building, formed by four equal sides (or
aquare form) encloses a larger space than any other rectangular form ;
-mad that, as the square form is deviated from, a loss of space enclosed, or
iDperficial area, is the consequence in rapid proportion as the length
exceeds the breadth. Thus a line 100 feet in length made to form a square
of 25 feet in length by 25 feet in breadth, will contain or enclose a super-
ficial area of 625 iqaare feet But if the same line be unequally divided, so
as to form a rectangle, such ax 35 feet long by 15 feet broad, the area thus
enckxed will only be 525 square feet ; hence, by simply altering the form
of the space or area (not the extent of the walls) 1 10 square feet of it are
iMt. Now. in the case of a house enclosed by any length of wall, and in a
similar manner, the loss of space would be in the same proportion ; which
lost space might hare been saved by being enclosed by the same length
of wall, and for the same cost, if a different form (the square) for the
building had been adopted.
•49. " This circumstance is obviously one of great importance in the
economical construction of houses, although it does not seem to have been
attended to as it deserves. It forms a rule, however, to be kept in view
where the greatest extent of space is desired at least cost."
M. Where the square form is deviated from, a question is opened up of
ooMiderable Importance; this is, in the words of Dr. Watson, "When two
lioases are built contiguously, i.e., so that one wall is to be common to both,
to find the most economical length and breadth of the two ? This will be
found to be as .3 to 2. But it is not expedient to apply this rule universally
to the houses under consideration ; for when they are above a certain size,
its application might not suit so well for several of the details (such as the
foundation of the roof, the division of the house into apartments, the
dtuation of the windows, fire-places, and offices) as a modification of it
does. As a general rule, however, each house should either be of a square
form, or as near an approach to this as possible ; or, if two are built
together, their form should be, as nearly as possible, in the proportions
abore ipedfied.'*
51. In accordance with the aim of our papers, we shall precede our own
plana by sketches of those which have been given from time to time by
varioiu authorities.
52. In Rg. 2, Plate U, we give a sketch of an arrangement of a single-
roomed cottage capable of accommodating a man and his wife and a female
field worker. This and the following plan are given by Mr. Stephens, in his
'■Book of the Farm," 1st edition, pp. 1,369, 1,371. The cottage measures
inside 22 feet in length and 15 feet in width, and the accommodation on the
floor is 15 feet by llj feet; a is the entrance-door, b the porch, c the door
into the principal apartment, d the principal apartment, which is provided
with a fireplace e, window /, plate-rack g, and dresser A. Two
box beds i *, are so placed as to form partitions between the principal
apartment </, and store-room /, the bed i being entered from the
store-room /, which is provided with a door m, and lighted by a
part of the window n, which also lights a sort of small apartment
for entering to the bed *." In Fig. 1a we give a sketch showing
the arrangement of cottages as designed by Mr. Cunningham, sur-
Teyor, Berwickshire, and given in his work, "Designs for Farm Cot-
tages and Steadings," published by Blackwood, of Edinburgh: o is the
porch, 4 the scullery, c the coal place, d stairs, e atti« bed-room,/bed-
cioaet, g bed, A pantry, i the privy.
53. In Fig. 2. Plate II., we give the half ground-plan of a double cottage,
as recommended by Mr. Stephens — (sec preceding paragraph)—" capable
of aflbrding ample accommodation for an ordinary family. Each of the
apartments is 22 feet in length by 15 feet in width, with a projection
behind to serve as an additional apartment: a is the entrance-door, b the
porch, c the inner door, d the principal apartment, e the fireplace, /the
window, g the plate-rack, A the dresser; one bed is entered from the
apartment *, with a door, and, though dark, light may occasionally be
borrowed from the window / close by; another bed / is entered from
the apartment, which is lighted by the window m, shut in by the door r,
and serve* as a store-room ; the projection behind contains the bed n, is
lighted by the window o, and shut in by the door p. By enlarging the
plan of this bonie to 24 feet in length, an additional bed could be placed
in length at i, lighted by the window m; and in this case, in order to give
the bed /, a separate entrance, its face should be turned into the principal
apartment d, and the plate - rack g removed to where the dresser n,
and the dresser placed at t. Such a house would accommodate eight
persona, and have a store-room besides."
groand plan, in which a is the porch, 5 feet by 3 feet 3 inches ; b the
Uring room, U feet by 13 feet ; c the scullery, 7 feet by 8 feet C inches ;
rf the sUiri; e the nuitry. 5 feet by 4 feet. In Fig. 4, Plate II, the chamber
plan— a is the landing ; i a closet ; c a bed room, 1 1 feet by 7 feet 6 inches ;
"aJ ' teethyioteet; e ditto, 7 feet by 8 feet 6 inches.
55. The following remarks on the " interior arrangements " of the
desi^ are by the author :— " As the surest preventive of the house be-
conung a reaideocc for two families, and as being more consonant with the
waau and meant of the laborer, one living room only is provided, which is
•pproacfaed by • nnaU porch for the sake of privacy and warmth. The
■'••P*««J«««««e<l "> the wall, and leaves an available space for house-
hold pnrpOMS of 13 feet by 1 1 feet in the clear (being equivalent to 13 feet
bpr 12 feet 6 inchea, where the chimney-breast and cupboard project into
the room. The window it designed with a small recess on each side, to
ttcelTe fall-back thnttert. The only door (except the outer one) in the
living room communicates immediately with the staircase, scullery, pantry,
and coal place. The scullery is 8 feet 6 inches by 7 feet in the clear, and
is fitted up with a boiling copper and small stone sink. Another external,
or ' back door,' and a second fire-place are purposely omitted, for the
reason before mentioned. If it is deemed advisable to have either the one
or the other, the former may be placed betw^een the pantry and the coal
place, and the latter beside the copper in the scullery. Neither of these
alterations are recommended ; another door would make the room much
colder, and, under any circumstances, the cooking required for a laborer's
family is never of such magnitude as to require two fire-places, or to
render the living room even in summer (when the fire is seldom used ex-
cept morning and evening) so hot as to be unhealthy. Immediately con-
tiguous to, but apart from the living room and scullery, is a convenient
pantry, the floor of which is intended to be 16 inches below the level of the
others, leaving sufficient height for suspending bacon and other provisions
from the joists above, and permitting a bench to be placed at the end
nearest the porch, to receive milk and other articles requiring a cool tem-
perature. In addition to a sufficiency of shelves, a cupboard is proposed to
be fixed at a height of 3 feet above the bench, for the safe custody of such
articles as are usually deposited in a similar convenience beside the fire-
place in living rooms of cottages. The upper story is divided into three
separate bed-rooms, and from tlie mode of construction adopted, a larger
amount of space is secured to these rooms than low walls and hi!»li- pitch
roofs would permit. The heiglit of each room is S feet, and the dimen-
sions are, No. 1, 11 feet by 10 feet ; No. 2, 11 feet by 7 feet 6 inches ; and
No. 3, 8 feet 6 inches by 7 feet — containing 860, 645, and 469 feet respec-
tively. One room only (the largest) is provided with a fire-place, which
will be found quite sufficient both for ordinary and extraordinary occa-
sions. One might be placed in every room if required, without deranging
the plan. A convenient closet is obtained at the top of the stairs, and
another in a recess adjoining the fire-place in bed-room No. 1 " {d, Fig. 4,
Plate II).
56. In the same vol. of the Journal of theEoyal Agricultural Society,
already alluded to 54 plans are given of the cottages erected by His Grace
the Duke of Bedford. As these have attracted consideftible attention, we
give sketches in Plate II. illustrative of their arrangements.
57. In Figs. 5 and 6, Plate II., we illustrate the arrangement of semi-
detached cottages, with one bed-room in second story each. In Fig 5,
ground plan, a is the entrance door, b the living-room 1 1 feet square, c a,
dresser, d the wash-house 10 feet by 6 feet, e the wood and coal place
10 feet by 6 feet, /the privy, g the pump, A the well, t the rain-water
tank. Fig. 6 the chamber plan, a the bed-room 11 feet square, 6 the fire-
place, c the staircase well-hole.
58. Figs. 7 and 8 Plate II., illustrate the arrangement of three cottages of
which two have three bed-rooms, and the third two bed-rooms in second
story. In Fig. 7, the ground plan, aaa are the kitchens, 10 feet by 1 1 feet, of
three houses, A 6 i the wash-houses 1 5 by 1 1 , c c c the stairs in upper fioors.
In Fig. 8 the chamber plan, a a a are the stairs, bed the three bed-rooms
of the two outside houses, ef the two bed-rooms of the central house.
59. Figs. 9 and 10, Plate 11., illustrate the arrangements of four cottages,
two of which have three bed-rooms and two of which have two bed-rooms
in each chamber floor. In Fig. 9, ground plan, a a a a are the kitchens, 11
by 11, of the four cottages, the two end ones being entered by porches
b b,c c c c the wash-houses, the end ones being 15 feet 1 inch by 12 feet,
the central ones being 12 feet by 8 feet 6 inches. In these, coppers rf rf,
sinks e e, dressers / /, pantries g jr, are provided. In Fig. 10, chamber
plan, a 6 c are the three bed-rooms of the two outer houses, d e the two
bed-rooms of the two central houses, the rooms a a are 1 1 feet square, b b
12 feet by 7 feet 6 inches, c c 9 feet 6 inches by 7 feet 6 inches, d d\\ feet
square, e e 12 feet by 8 feet 6 inches. In bed-rooms e e, closets//, are
placed.
60. In Figs. 1 1 and 12, Plate II., we give sketches illustrative of the ar-
rangement of the pair of cottages for which the Society of Arts' first prize
was awarded to Mr. Hone, of Nottingham. In Fig. 1 1 , ground plan, a is the
outside, A the inside porch, c outside seat, d the larder, e the living-room,
with its flre-place/, and hot air chamber g, closet A, and book-shelves i.
In the scullery n, is the oven A, the copper /, fire-place m, pump o, and
sink stone p. In Fig. 12, Plate 11, chamber plan, a is the staircase, bb
shelves, c closet, d the landing, e,f, and g, bed-rooms.
61. In Figs. 13 and 14, Plate II., we illustrate the arrangements of the
Society of Arts' second prize plan, awarded to Mr. S. J. NichoU. In Fig.
13, the ground plan, a is the porch, 5 feet 9 inches by 3 feet; b the living-
room, 16 feet 6 inches by 12 feet, with fire-place c, closet d, and
dresser e. The stairs are at/, a coal closet is shut off" by the door g. The
scullery is at A, 12 feet 7i inches by 7 feet, with fire-place :, copper j, and
sink with pump at one end A; / is a pantry, 7 feet by 3 feet 6 inches. In
Fig. 14, the chamber plan, a the stairs, b, c, and d, the bed-rooms. Speci-
fications and a variety of details connected with these cottages will be
found in a work devoted to their description, entitled " Prize Model Cot-
tages," published by Thomas Dean and Son, Threadneedle-street, London.
62. In Fig. 1 5, Plate II., we illustrate the arrangement of a single story
cottage, given Mr. Stevenson, in his work, the " Cottage Homes of England," .
Houlston and Stoneman, London ; in which a is the entrance porch, 10 feet 6
inches by 4 feet ; A the living room, 23 feet 6 inches by 1 7 feet ; c a bed-room,
10 feet 6 inches square ; da. pantry 6 feet 6 inches by 4 feet 6 inches; e a
closet 6 feet 6 inches by 3 feet 3 inches; /and g bed-rooms, 1 1 feet 6 inches
square each.
63. In Figs. 16 and 17, Plate II., we illustrate the arrangements of the
cottages which obtained the prize of the Bath and West of England
Society's Journal, Vol. 4th, new series, p. 104. In Fig. 16, ground floor,
10
THE BUILDING NEWS.
jANUARy4, 1861.
W.AY OK
CH OF ST. JOHN THE BAl'TIST. BKDMINSTEK. SOMEESET.-Me. Jchx Norton, Abohitect.
January 4, 1861.
IITIIE BUILDING NEWS,
January 4, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
13
I
a is the outer porch, 4 feet by 3 feet 6 inclies; b inner porch, same size;
c living-room, 13 feet by 11 feet 4 inches; d pantry, 4 feet by 4 feet
Cinches; c stairs, 3 feet wide; /scullery, 14 feet by 6 feet. In Fig. 17.
chamber floor, a is the landing, l> the parents' bed-room, c the girls' bed-
room, d tlie boys' bed-room.
-^
BIRKENHEAD DOCKS.
Til E great Importance of these docks, and of Birkenhead as a terminus on the
network of railways now in operation in the north-west of England, tempts
lis to preface a short description of them with a few remarks. What they might
have been by this time, had a more extended and liberal policy actuated tlie first
management of the Liverpool Dock Trust, or Iiad more funds been at the disposal
of the Birkenhead commissioners, into whose hands the management fell after
those of the former, we must not pause to inquire ; but to note the causes of
delay in development proceeding irom certain disadvantages peculiar to locality,
we consider part of our duty and inclination. The progressive state of Liverpool
itself, and the increasing accommodation, has been in rivalry with tliat of
Birkenhead. Anticipations formed in the year 1844 by sanguine promoters
led to laying out streets, and speculations in property generally accompanying
pet-schemes, so that a large town in embryo has been "lying on the shelf,"
complete as far as projected plans could make il, but lacking the reality.
The consequence has been that while Liverpool flourished, Birkenhead Docks, in
spite of many natural advantages, have been stationary, till within about two
years back, when they passed from the hands of the Birkenhead Commissioners
into those of the Mersey Dock and Harbor Board. Then the opposition of the
latter liody ceased, which had continued since their sale of them formerly. Tlie
pecuniary interests of private individuals possessing infl uence in a great body,
are often sufficient to counterbalance and outweigh even, the majority, but
in the end their views become too transparent for the weakest sophistry to
conceal.
The first mention almost of Birkenhead (or as it was then called Byrkeheved),
was as a monastic establishment, having a ferry for the conveyance of pas-
sengers across the Mersey, from whicli the present name of " Monk's Ferry " is
derived. The first mention of the priory in connexion with Liverpool is in the
lltii Edward II., when the monks obtained permission from the King to build
houses for the accommodation of travellers detained by stress of weather. The
charters of this time recognise a ferry, hut it was not formally granted until the
reign of Edward III., and a lease of the same was granted by Richard III. to a
Richard Cook. In 1753 there were five ferry-boat houses on the Birkenhead or
Cheshire side, viz., Ince, Eastham, Rock, Woodside, and Seacombe. The Sea-
combe ferry is thus described as in 1826* "At that time Seacombe was the only
ferry below Wallasey Pool, and the fine ranje of country, extending from Sea-
combe to the Sandhills of Wallasey, contained only two or three small villages,
inhabited by a primitive race, engaged either in farming or fishing, with an
occasional turn at unuggling and wrecking."
Such was the Cheshire side of the river, and Birkenhead itself, the population
in 1818 not being more than 50 inhabitants ; but in the census of 1851, 24,285 ;
and in 1861, probably will be above 50,000 inhabitants. The opening of the
Chester and Birkenhead Railway in 1840 gave an impetus to the place, and con-
nected it ultimately with the north and west, as also the midland counties and
London, as well as the mineral districts of South Wales. In 1843 the sale of the
land on the brink of Wallasey Pool was debated at the Liverpool Dock Board —
and after much opposition was carried by a small majority, and the commissioners
of Birkenhead, having obtained possession, applied for powers to construct docks,
to which in 1844 the Royal assent was given. But previous to the sale of the
land, and we believe in the year 1836, Mr. Jesse Hartley had proposed a scheme
whicli, had it been carried out, would have speedily placed Birkenhead in a very
high position. The Great Float, or as it was then called, the Wallasey Pool, con-
nected the Mersey (between Seacombe and Woodside ferries) with the Rock
Channel, near where Leasowe Castle now stands, though by a narrow udal stream
scarcely perceptible at the Rock Channel side. This would have been widened
throughout so as to admit two or three vessels abreast, and a ship-canal being
thus formed, docks could have been constructed leading from it on either side.
This would have enabled vessels to avoid the bar, but subsequent improvements
have rendered this partly unnecessary, although at that time it would liave proved
a great desideratum.
In 1847 Morpeth Dock was opened, and in 1850 the final opening took place,
at that time embracing Morpeth Dock, containing a water area of 3 acres
1,030 yards, and Egerton Dock, containing 3 acres 1,141 yards. The width of
Morpeth east gates are 50 feet, and of west gates 70 feet; level of sills, 5 feet
below datum of Old Dock sill, and level of coping, 30 feet above same. The width
of Egerton Dock west passage is 70 feet ; level of sill, 5 feet 6 inches below Old
Dock sill, level of coping 28 feet 6 inches above Old Dock sill. The Great Float,
extending from the north end of Egerton Dock to the Wallasey-bridge, and now
near completion, will contain 120 acres. South of Woodside Ferry are Clay and
McKeverigan's docks— three in number; No. 1 being 400 feet long, having an
85 feet entrance; No. 2, 300 feet long, with 45 feet entrance, and No. 3, 200 feet
long, with 35 feet entrance. They are situated between the Woodside and
Monk's Ferries, out of the tide, well piotected from the winds, and can be used
either as wet or dry docks. The Great Float will be amply provided with ware-
houses, which lie on the west side, surrounded by railway and turntable accom-
modation in connexion with the Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire Junction
Railway, part [of the warehouses having been [converted into a Government
Emigration Depot, the Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire Junction Railway
Company having the use of these warehouses, to whom they belong. The Great
Float has two or three important works and manufactories in the vicinity, and,
among others, the Canada Works, belonging to Messrs. Peto, Brassey, and
Betts, where the Victoria Tubular Bride, spanning the St. Lavfrence, on the
Grand Trunk Railway, was constructed ; besides other large home and ibreign
engineering undertakings. Connecting these works with the main railway is a
single line running alongside what will be Corporation -road. On the Birkenhead
side of the Canada Works, Mr. Logan, a large importer of copper and silver ore
from South America, is erecting large crushing-mills; the importance of such a
branch being established here will be obvious. Adjoining these mills is a large
plot of ground appropriated for the timber trade, and the quays will be lowered
and adapted similar to the Brunswick and Canada Docks on the Liverpool side.
Below tills a 60-ton crane is being erected for heavy machinery. A piece of Jand
• Baine's " History of Liverpool."
is also set apart below this for the coal trade, and below this again a public chain
and anchor-testing apparatus is being erected. At this point a dam erosws the
float with an inner gate 100 feet wide, and a wrought-iron bridge. Between the
chain and anchor-testing establishment and the present warebouwi a large nutge
of warehouse sheds are in the course of construction, calculated tocontain 12,000
yards of superficial storage.
The Great Float was cummenced contemporaneously with the other docks, and
the walling of the south side built up, as also a portion at the east end of the
north side, under the direction of J. M. Hendel, Esq., C.E. These walls, having
no water in tlie float to resist the straining effect of the weight at backing, have
here and there given way, and previous to the opening of the float in November
of this year, had been restored under the sujwrinlendence of J. H. Hartley, Esq.,
C.E., the present engineer of the works. 'Tlie river wall has been shariiigtlie
same fate, and has had to undergo a similar procese of restoration. 'This was
laid by Mr. Rendel 9 fi;et below Old Dock sill, and 5 feet below the surface of
shore, resting upon timber cross pieces, in their turn supported by three rows of
piling, this being protected tiy cast-iron sheet piling against river UkI. The
thickness of wall at foundations is 12 feet, at coping 8 feet (nearly), and height of
coping 27 feet above Old Dock sill, in some portions, owing to a verv evident
defect, wall plates and tie rods were introduced, 2 inches diameter, the plate*
being 12 feet long, 2 feet wide and 2J to 3 inches thick laid vertically, secured
by 2-inch rods passing through entire thickness of wall and screwed iiito washers
and nuts at back. But the greater portion has been entirely restored, which will
be hereafter specified. To proceed with the Great Float and works in connection,
it is necessary to mention that the proposed outer works (which comprise
entrances, &c.,from the river'to the float) will consist of the embankment of one-
half the woodside basin, whilst the other half will be deepened, and a new pas-
sage, 85 feet wide, lead into the Morpeth dock which will, when enlarged, contain
above 11 acres. Three hundred yanls to the northward a low-water basin,
forming the central entrance to the float, and containing 14 acres of water area,
having an inner entrance 50 feet in width, sluicing passages also provided. Still
northward, a dock 74 acres area, having three locks— 100, 50, and 30 feet wide
respectively. Adjoining these docks lie the north and south reserves, plots of
land reserved for additional accommodation wlien found necessary. The depth
of sills of these docks will be 12 feet below Old Dock sill, the average high water
of spring tides bein" 18 feet 3 inches above Old Dock sill, and tlie average of neap
tides 11 feet 3 inches, giving a depth of water on sills of 30 feet 3 inches at
springs, and at neaps 23 feet 3 inches. These points give Birkenhead an immense
advantage over the Liverpool side, the depth of water at the latter being only
16 feet at neaps; and it has been estimated that such a depth not allowing ves-
sels to enter always when they arrive in port causes a delay which costs the port
of Liverpool more than £150,000 annually. The whole of the Birkenhead docks
when completed will have cost about £2,000,000 o( which £200,000 must be debited
to the excavations and alterations of the Great Float, in the excavation of which two
million yards jf eartliwork have been removed, and this in deejiening alone. The
year fixed upon for the completion of the whole is 1803. A landing stage will be
erected at Woodside Ferry 800 feet long and 80 feet wide, giving every accommo-
dation to riding and walking traffic, and is now in the hands of Messrs. Vernon
and Son, at their extensive Tranmere works. We must not forget to notice a
new road 75 feet in width, being constructed across the inner locks, and con-
necting Seacombe with Birkenhead. Mr. James Holme, of Liverpool, is con-
structing an establishment tor the manufacture of bricks by an improved method,
halfway between Seacombe and Wallasey-bridge. On the south side of the
Great Float three graving docks are being constructed 700 feet long, one 85 feet
entrance, the remaining two 50 feet. Tlie whole of the excavations have been
made by Messrs. Thompson and McCormick, contractors, under the direction of
Mr. John B. Hartley, chief engineer, ably assisted by Mr. John Ellacott, the
whole bearing that substantial appearance for which all the work in the Mersey
is so remarkable. The stone for internal work, footings, and backings, is
procured at Flaybrick-hill, and from Runcorn, the granite being brought from
Scotland. .
These works are being rapidly proceeded with, many improvements having
been brought to bear on them, fa\ orably comparing with those on the Liverpool
side. By means of travelling jennies, by which large blocks of stone are placed
in position, the old method of two-wheeled guys is superseded, and the excava-
tions are in a forward state. The masonry is being executed at one-third the
cost le.=s, and with a more efficient staff the results must be ultimately more
satisfactory. This improvement of the docks must improve the ferries generally
on the Cheshire side which is much needed. Competitions for the Egremont and
New Brighton ferries have been lately eutered into, which we may hereafter
notice, with their relative advantages, the difficulty being to obtain a scheme of
efficient service, leaving the water-way unimpeded, an object never to be lost
sight of in accordance with the frequent surveys and advice of competent
authorities. ,,.,,., ,
The average rate of spring tides on the Birkenhead side is ,->J miles per liour.
At present, Mr. Train's system is in operation from the \\ oodsule-fcrry to
Birkenhead-park, the street railway following a circuitous course through the
nrincipal streets of Birkenhead. Four omnibuses run backwards and forwards
during the summer months, and two during the winter, each of these oninibuses
accommodating 25 passengers. A limited portion of the inhabilants are inimical
to the system, on account of an alleged interference with the ordinary traffic, but
it must remain a matter of comment, whether the heavy traffic so dimgerously
troublesome in the crowded thoroughfares on the Liverpool side of tlie water,
does not require speedier removal. ■■,- j .j , ,.%. .. .»
The advantages of a single line of railway from Woodside along the coast to
Hoy lake, mav subsequently become a matter of consideration; and in the
present hLnds," and with the energetic spirit discernible in one or two of t
leading men of Birkenhead, such schemes may be earned out, which may have
great and beneficial effects on the port and trade. We wish Bf ^"hen'i f '..^
nrosneritv and in doing so no sentiment of rivalry to the mother port can be
Krgeffl'nst us, for to qLte the valuable historian of the district : 'The not,„„
of making Birkenhead a rival port to Liverpool is altogether idle, but it u
capable of being made a very useful auxiliary." «•
capable of being i
We are clad to hear that the Lecture on " Church and Conventual
\rrnnffements " read by the Rev. Mackenzie Walcott, at a recent meeting of
the Royal Institute of British Architects, will be immediately repnuted, with
considerable additions, copious references, index, illustrations, and ground plans,
by Messrs. Atchley and Co., 106, Great HusseU-street, Bedford-square.
14
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 4, 1861.
VILLAGE CHURCHES.— Part 2, No. L— Bhockworth CnrRCH.
ABOl'T four miles to the east ofCilouoester,uiduear the tumpikc-road, stands
Brockworth Church. The name aroeara to be derived from two Saxon
«ord> Srt or Btveo. which signifies a Saxon proprietor of the manor, and
H'vrfk, tbe Saxoki for mansion. It is situated in the famous Vale of Gloucester,
Ike view of which bota any of the surroundin); bills is fine in the extreme.
TWan h perbaps no more favorable spot from which to survey this broad land-
■ca|^ of Whly eeltivaled iceneiy than Cooper's Hill, which is not far from
Brodnrorai, and which is a steep' promontory extending some little distance in
the Tale, bat connected with the rauire of hills which enclose the Severn Valley
on theioath. It was here that John Theyer, the learned antiquary, was bom.
He wa« afiniMipporter of Charles I., and died A.D. 1673. It is said that he
waa buried is Brockworth Church, but there we find no monument erected to his
■MMtrr, aor tablet to mark his resting-place. The church, which is dedicated to
8t. Geoif;*! i* ■""'O*"'''''' ^ trees, and when approached from the road possesses
that tang and dieltered appearance so ohser%'able in most of the village churches
oftkedajrigDne by. Its tower, rising above the dense foliage and the other
^T» concealed by'*) "<*P'''*'*''''<1 there an opening tiirough which may
I the oM doorway! or a portion of a window, giving it an indescribable
1, which BWke* at even love the venerable pile as it stands guarded as it
«(M tn tboae lea^r sentinels which have grown and flourished around its time-
eoloreu waU*. There, too, round one side of the old churchyard, winds u clear
fitreain, whose waters are ever flowing past this sacred spot, and re-
in oftbat otlierstreara of life which, too, is ever rolling onwards to its ocean
ttiabitj. There is something indescribably beautiful in a scene like this, which
aukea oi fed it« grandeor and religious majesty, and fills us with lofty feelings
abOTC tbe power of language to define. \Ve are melted with the poetry of
thowfat, aiid, as we gaze in silence on the solemn scene, we forget the toils and
tairalts of the busy world, and dwell only in the adytum of imagination.
It is not till we enter tlie churchyard that we gain an unobstructed view of
the church. It consists of a nave, cliancel, small south transept, north aisle,
Teatry.aad ioatb porch. The tower stands at the intersection of the nave,
chanea, and tranaept, and, like the other portions of external work, is of the Per-
peadienlar character. The porch is large and possesses no beauty. The tower is
niaadve, and lighted with Perpendicular windows. The east window of chancel
i> a kind of three-light Flamboyant, not uncommon in churches of this period,
bat the west appear* to belong 'to the Decorated period ; all the other windows
■re Perpendicular, and are not interesting. Entering the church we 6nd por-
tioai acre worthy of examination. The arches which divide the nave from the
I are of the Decorated character, and consist of two-faced arches with the
_ e* splayed ; these splays are stopped by octangular masonry rising a little
■hifc tae cap. These arches are three in number, and are the same on both
aUta,na distinction being made tetween the nave and aisle sides, which was not
■nemunon in small churches, especially in the earlier styles. The columns are
octangular, and have moulded caps and bases of good design, the former being
ornamented with a ball flower on each side of the octagon, between the lower
mooldingofcap and the neck moulding. These ball flowers have three leaves, and
produce a good effect. The bases are 23i inches high, and consist of a fillet and
roand of a somewhat Classic character, resting on t n octngonal block 10 inches
high, also raised on an under plinth, which is splayed and of a rectangular
^^e, rising 9) inches from tbe floor line. The neck moulding of the column is
fiNmd of a quarter-round' projecting over an under round, a moulding much
■sed in tliis as in the preceding style, but more especially in the Decorated. On
the west of entrance is a circular font, which does not possess much beauty, and
'•i •© Stan ; the base mouldings are somewhat told, and are the best part of it.
Wabtsfa la S feet in diameter, and the bowl 1 foot 6 inches diameter, 14 inches
deap, and has a flat bottom. The total height from the floor is something over
3feet 6 inches. The plinth on whichit stands is octagonal, and is 14 inches from
the floor line.
The two arches that support the east and west walls of the tower are in the
Noman style. The one on the west side appears to have been restored at no
pmod, in accordance with the original design. The wall is
^^ ' feet 8 inches thick. The arch is semicircular, and on the west
liMMMists of a hood moulding, a broad zigzag formed of three mouldings,
•♦•ffs' afcw inches above the abacus, and anotlier zigzag recessed and formed
oftwo ■onhHngB somewliat larger than the others, and also stopped a little
•bora the aboeas; then another recessed face with a bold, round moulding cut
attattbe angle of the soffit. This moulding is also repeated on the eastern
' > of tbe soffit, together with tlie plain, recessed face, and an outer face with
■— H nncut. Thus this arch on the east side is much more simple and has
■Mnt than on the west side. The zigzags point inwards to the centre,
' »hieh the arch is struck, and not outwards from the face of wall, as is
I done. The hood moulding consists of the usual projecting face, with
the aagalar channel and cavetto, or hollow, under. This, however, does not die
™» *• *«U, but hi kept slightly from it. The abacus consists of a flat projecting
Mb with an angular channel and cavetto under, teingthe same in profile as the
MMBmUding. It is not carried further than tlie outside of hood moulding.
» i*?****" measures 4 inches, and the upper part 4} inches, making »i inches its
*<••■•■«*»'• The pien are formed of three sliafts, separated from each other by
rJ?i ^°'*' **** ""'*' °^^ °^ '*"" furthest from the ojtening, being 3 J inches, and
™» *■■« «»• * inches. The tops of the caps are in a line with tlusc faces, and
the shafts reeessed aboet an inch, to allow for the spreading of the cap and base.
na neck mouldings are ronnd. The caps arc all different, but each one presents
tha some amwaraoce on both iu sides. The outer one is formed of only one
**i "lit **'* '"'^*'**'* tmncated cone, with a kcel-shnped projection at tbe
angle. Tbe second or middle oneconsistsoftliree escallops and three inverted, trun-
ealedjnmes, with an angular projection between them. The third and inner one is
nrned of only two escallops and inverted truncated cones, separated hv the same
kindof angular proieclion as the others. The shafts are not detached. Th'e outer one
ik"i- *•'"'■"*'*'' ''*"''''<'1« *>'"-■ t»in.,and the inner one onlv G in. In aline
with this last, on tbe east side of arch, and separated from tlie 'one on the west
'Jj '?"'"' **"'*' "'"" <=°P"*' ""<' ■»"« of » similar size and design. The flat
part rf tbe cap is flush, with a recessed face 7 inches from the outer wall line.
The bases of these inner shafts are different from the others; the mouldings are
not deep, and rest on a block which is flush with the flat face that separates
them ; this also rests on a splayed plinth, 5 inches in height. The base of the
outer column consisto of two round mouldings, with a flat' face between them,
another small moulding underneath, and then a flat face, 5i inches in height,
resting on a splayed plinth 5 inches high, out of which the splays take 3 inches.
These bases, like the majority of others in the Norman style, have but little pro-
jection and are not deeply cut ; they are so worn in many instances that it is
hard to get the exact profile, and we sometimes find them entirely concealed by
the successive layers of whitewash that have been applied from time to time.
The arch under the east wall of tower next claims our attention. Its thickness
is about 3 feel C inches. It consists of a hood moulding of a flat projecting face,
with an angular channel, a small bead, and cavetto under. Then come a
hollow and a round without any fillet between them, next a small fillet, and
then a recessed zigzag composed of three mouldings, separated by fillets; this
zigzag lies flat on the wall, and projects towards the centre of the arch. It is
stopped a few inches above tlie abacus, as are also the two mouldings which are
above it. On the east this arch is much plainer, consisting only of one recessed
face with rectangular angles. The pier is formed of a massive half-column,
whose diameter is about 3 feet 5 inches. Tlie base is exceedingly plain, consist-
ing of only a small slope, that in Classic would be termed tlie apopliyge, and a
flat face 1 foot liish. The cap may be said to consist of several small caps, each
having two escallops on the face, and two inverted truncated cones with angular
{irojcctions between them. There are three of these irregular caps on the west
lalt^ but on the east side a plain square-edged block and another projecting slope
nearer the wall compose the cap. It has a most irregular and confused look.
The abacus consists of the usual face, channel, and cavetto, and measures
GJ iuches. The neck moulding is round, and measures IJ inch. The height of
cap is 10 inches, and that of pier 4 feet 9 inches. The arch before described is
semicircular, like the one to the west.
The chancel is entered by two steps, and another near the altar. In the east
wall are two moulded corbels or brackets; but it does not appear for what pur-
pose they are intended, unless it be to receive the articles used in the adminis-
tering of the sacrament. In the south wail of the small south transept is a
piscina of plain design, consisting of only a splayed arch of 1 foot 4 inches open-
ing ; the splay, which is partially stopped just above the sill line, is 3J inches
wide; the back of the opening is 1 foot from the face of wall. The diain is
composed of eight channels, the portion between them being of an oval form,
and a small flower in the centre, through which is cut the drain-hole. There is
another piscina in the north wall of chancel, the projecting portion of which is
supported by a column reaching to the ground. Neither of the designs is very
good, and both were done late in the style. There does not appear to be much
else of interest in the way of art connected with this church. The exterior, as
has been before remarked, is Perpendicular. The tower is not very high in pro-
portion to its size, but has rather a massive appearance. The walls are free from
whitewash, and seem to have been repaired and pointed.
About two miles from here is another small church, situated in the parish of
Great Witcombe. It is dedicated to St. Mary, and consists of a nave, chancel,
north aisle, south porch, and tower, which latter stands at the west end. It is
of extremely poor design, and not of very great height. The north aisle is sepa-
rated from the nave by three arches, which, together with the aisle itself, are in
the Perpendicular style, but of very questionable design. The chancel arch
is the principal object of attraction. It is in the Nonuan style, and is
not very large, the opening between the piers being only 7 feet 6 inches wide,
The arch is segmental, but is not far from being semicircular. It is
composed 'on the west side of a hood moulding, broad zigzag and then a
recessed face 9 inches wide. This is finished square at "the angles, and
is 8J inches from the face of wall ; its sofiit is perfectly plain, I foot 10 inches wide,
and finished flush with the wall on the eastern or chancel side ; this angle is also
uncut. The hood-moulding, which is continued to the impost or abacus, is very
plain, having only a flat projecting face of 2J inches, and an under splay to face
of wall of 3^ inches; between this and the zigzag is a space of 2i inches. The
zigzag is composed of two round mouldings, separated by a small projecting
angle, and having a similar one on each side ; it points outwards, and is stopped a
few inches above the abacus. The two round mouldings are each 2 inches wide,
and the total width of zigzag is 9i inclies. The abacus whicli is not continued
round the pier, but is stopped against the inner and reces.sed face, is composed^of
the same mouldings as the hood-mould, but of different dimensions — the flat face
being 2 J inches and the under splay being only ,1 J inch ; it extends 1 foot 6 J inches
along the wall. The pier consists of a column with cap and base, standing in a
nook formed of two flat faces at right angles, and is not detached, and the inner
recessed face 9 inches wide, as before described. The cap of this column is com-
posed of two inverted truncated cones, forming two escallops on the face; this face
measures Gfi inches in width ; the neck moulding is round, and is 1 inch iu height.
The shaft is 5 inches in diameter, and 4 feet 4 inches liigh, and is as usual
TCces8<^d a little to allow for the spreading of the cap. The base is composed oftwo
mouldings separated by a very narrow sloping face ; the upper one is a slight
hollow much used in Norman bases, and the under one is an oval moulding not
rounded on the under side like a tower ; each moulding measures 2 inches ; they
stand on a plinth, which is flush with the wall and 1 foot high. It is also in a
line with one of the two steps which lead to the chancel. These steps are only 4^
inclies high. The altar is placed on a third. It may be remarked tliat the centre
tooth or projection of zigzag in the arch is not so wide as the others, a peculiarity
found in many arches. In fact the zigzags in some of our largest churches and
cathedrals are cut very irregularly, and do not appear to have been properly set
out by the workmen; there is an instance of this in the horizontal zigzag a little
above the nave arches in Gloucester Cathedral.
Over the east end of nave is a curved boarded ceiling, with intersecting
ribs and carved bosses of Perpendicular design ; the other ceilings are formed of
plaster. There are two jilain round-headed windows in south wall of nave ; and
in the chancel there are three small single lights, a south door, and an archway
on the north side leading into north aisle. There is but little colored glass. In
the south wall of chan(S on the outside we find a fragment of a kind of star
moulding, which seems to have been a portion of the more ancient part of tills
church, which was probably standing before the Perpendicular work was done.
The chancel arch which we have described is the principal feature of interest,
and is the most important portion remaining of the old Norman edifice which
once stood here. It was probably of the same date as Brockworth Church.
Wellijigborough. — The Corn Exchange is now beginninj; to show
itself, and is bidding fair to prove a very handsome building, and reflects (as far
as we can at present see) the highest credit upon the Architects, Messrs.
Bellamy and Hardy, Lincoln, and the builder, Mr. John Walkin, Northampton.
Lastly, not least, we will not Ibrget the spirited directors who seem determined
to have a building not only a credit to themselves, but an ornament to the town.
January 4, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
15
THE ARCHITECTURAL EFFECT OF ENGINEERING WORKS.
CIVIL engineers generally neglect architectural effect j why, appears
enigmatical ; and were such not the case, they would bestow upon
the world a double benefit, for science and symmetry would go hand in
hand. The effect produced by beholding a great work would be far
greater, and whilst the eye could linger upon the massive, yet graceful,
outline, it would transmit to the mind a distinct and pleasing impression.
Our great bridges are devoid, unfortunately, of architectural character;
the mere use is presumed to swallow up every other consideration, and the
appearance is thus often left to take care of itself. How little expense
would be incurred by making a few ornamental additions may be
proved in a nice disposition of light work, which, in the matter of
expense, may be trifling when well arranged.
A few years back, the architect was the only bridge-builder, until a
railway era raised up a new one in the person of the civil engineer, who
had to deal principally with strength and weight, so shelved effect, and
thereby lost one of the great elements wliereby the present generation and
posterity may be fascinated. In iron bridges, there is a great deal of scope
for the use of color, which would lighten and vary the monotonous appear-
ance. In the new Westminster-bridge, a light or sap-green color will be
used, which will have the effect, at least, of relieving the sombre cast which
is so apparent in Southwark-bridge. In the tubular wrought-iron bridges,
where panelling is produced by T and angle irons, paint may be used to
advantage, and at a moderate cost.
In iron bridges usually, and those on railways in particular, the mere
preservation of the work by means of paint seems ouly desirable of
attainment, whilst the leaden hue is invariably used, creating that
heaviness which it should be the study of every engineer to avoid. In the
Britannia and Victoria bridges, as also all our great examples, this fault is
perceptible, and it becomes a matter of serious suggestion that those colors,
equally cheap in price, and which come under Itlie head of" common colors,"
for instance, chocolate and stone colors, should be used. We have frequently
noticed solid iron parapets on canal and railway bridges, with panels produced
by false railing; if, therefore, it is worth the trouble of doing this to gain
lightness in effect, and after all but a partial accomplishment, why not in
tubular construction, should not color be used to advantage for such a
purpose? — for instance, the panels in stone color, the T and angle irons in
chocolate. Seen at a distance, the tubular bridges present the appearance
of thin lines, but on a near observation become heavy and monotonous;
this is what we wish to obviate. Again, where paint cannot be used
ornamental castings may be introduced; and these remarks are not confined
to bridges alone, but also to iron churches and buildings generally, scores
of whicli have been dispatched from our engineering works to Australia
and elsewhere, many having been used at home. These mostly appear
cold and spiritless: a warmer tint is necessary; for though religious edifices
may be equally venerated, whatever garb they may be made to wear; still,
we must acknowledge that, with the more lukewarm devotees, we may be
allowed to appeal, through the external senses, to those feelings which
would otherwise be unapproachable.
And now to deal with the universal argument against us — "Why in-
troduce a sham to disguise the real material ?" Is it not done continually 1
Is not brickwork smothered in cement facing, in imitation of stone ? Are
not false windows introduced ? Are internal flues never concealed within
columns of support ? Are not chandeliers imitations of wax-lights, and
vice versa ? Iron mantelpieces marbled, and doors cak grained ? And
we must not forget the cast-iron minarets and finials sprinkled with paint
and stone dust ! We may multiply examples, and our little sham, if we
must call it so, is one which would have the effect of introducing a new
feature into engineering works. We are like a flock of sheep, and one bold
example would be followed by others, and that of Westminster-bridge may
lead to a general adoption. R.
LIVERPOOL.
THE vast improvements of late years in the manufacture of exterior and in-
terior decoration of an architectural character in cement, papier mache
and carton-pierre have rendered these available in shops and private residences
at a nuKlerate rate. The two latter, contrary to original expectation, have been
found to fulfil all that is required, and whilst resisting the alternations of climate,
present a clean finish, and attbrd every facility for the exercise of artistic talent.
Equally susceptible of manual skill with ordinary plaster, their fibrous adhesion
is calculated to ensure their permanency, whilst carton-pierre can be carved with
equal facility with woodwork, and what is termed the ''under-cut" given so as
to vie in appearance with plaster. But material alone is useless unless in the
hands ot an artistic workman, who must also be a designer, and this is emi-
nently shown in some works which have recently come under our observation,
for we have in our provincial towns occasionallv an opportunity of this kind,
and m this instance we would call particular attention to the works executed in
papier mache and carton-pierre by Mr. W. Goodhall, of Hope-street, Liverpool,
under professional supervision as also from original designs. In the latter,
whilst Mr Goodhall adheres to the Classic treatment, he stilldeparts sufliciently
from the ancient school to evince original and artistic conception, nnd whether
carrying out his own or architects' designs produces effects novel and striking.
This is eminently displayed in a frieze 18 feet long by 10 inches deep he has now
m his studio, which he is designing and executing for Mr. Oxley of Liverpool,
for his seat in Westmoreland, as also figures of the Four .Seasons, on separate
medallions about half life-size. In the frieze a central shield, supported on either
side by ornate mermaids, is connected by scroll-work with volant birds introduced,
whicli impart animation to the whole composition, whilst the medallions carry
the figures of the Four Seasons with their characteristic accessories. In ^me
liquor v.iult decorations, both external and internal, designed by Mr. Edward
Davies, architect, 9, Temple-court, Liverpool, he has had an opportunity of dis-
playing his skill. Tliese premises are situated,— one opposite the Sailors' Hume
in Hanover-street, in the occupation of Mr. Hayes ; Mr. I'reston's, cornrr o
Hackin's Hey, in Dale-street; Mr. Martin's, corner of Vanxhall-road.Tithebum-
street ; Mr. Adkin's, comer of Great Homer-street, Scotland-road. Tlie»e are
quite elaborate in design, both internally and extenially, and quite in competition
with the general run of this description of buildings, and though the dituUy
resorted to as most attraclive may not always Im; designated refineil or claHtcal,
still the inventive and decorative qualities are drawn forth largely ia thdr
erection.
^_ , , CLOCKS.
TT has long been our opinion that very great improvement might be made in the
X designing of the framework by which clocks and timepieces on a small scale
are surrounded.
Those used internally, and placed on sideboards, entrance-hall tables, chimnev-
pieces, and other situations, are now generally encaseil in gaudy bnuswork, or
molu, vulgarly painted china-work, and tawdry compositions.
In the place of such flimsy materials, we should strongly recommend the use
of choice woods, as ebony, &c., and marble— black, white, and veined. In tliif
latter material, in the studio of Mr. William Thomas, Clipstone-strect, we
recently had much pleasure in examining the casework of two clocks, now fixed
on chimney-pieces in one of the principal apartments -of the Carlton Club-house,
which for simplicity and appropriateness of design are unrivalled. The marble
employed is a superb and beautiful variety of what is called Sienna, with all its
rich and glowing colors and beautiful veins. The works are uniform in design,
each 4 feet 2 inches long, having a square plinth at bottom, and at top in the
centre, a circular panel, in which the dial of the clock is placed. This panel ia
16 inches in diameter, and is supported on each side l)y a reversed ogee formed
face, underneath which a hollow traverses the whole length, and ends over the
plinth. The height is 2 feet 2 inches from the shelf of the chimney-piece to the
top of the circular panel, and in designing the work much care appears to have
been taken to acquire as much plain flat surface as possible, so that the beautiful
veinings of the marble should not be cut up, and their general effect disturbed.
The works have been carried out under the special superintemlencc of Mr.
Phillips, Cockspur-slreet, who has supplied the clocks, whicli are all of English
manufacture of the first-rate description.
While upon this subject, and for the information of our general readers, we
may also state that a small clock has just been fixed by Mr. Fordsham, of the
Strand, over the principal entrance in tlii^ western front of Somerset House. This
front was completed some two years ago, from tlie designs of Mr. Pennetliorne,
architect, and of which we had an illustration and description in our pages at the
time.
In addition to its ornamental character, the clock adverted to will he of very
great use to the public, more particularly to travellers who may be hastening to
start with the railway trains from the Waterloo-station, as it will indicate the
correct time at the northern end of W.iterloo-bridge. The circular panel in
which the dial of the clock is inserted is supported by a recumbent female figure
on each side, executed by Mr. Theed the sculptor.
MURAL MEMORIAL.
WHILE at the studio of Mr. Thomas, ;as alluded to in the article on
" Clocks," we examined an excellent example of the sculptor's and en-
graver's art, which consists of a monument erected to the memory of Colonel
Wood.
The work consists of a marble framework of an enriched character, 5 feet
G inches high and 3 feet wide, having a large brass plate, with a pointed arch-
head, on which the arras of the famify of the deceased are engraved, the lower
portion being used for the inscription, in which the proper names are illuminated
in red with the other parts in black-letter.
'The ground-work of the outer edging of the memorial is of dove marble, the
spandrels on eacli side of the arch being tastefully carved to resemble oak
branches, leaves, and acorns.
The framework that comes immediately in contact with the brass plate is of
statuary marble, the plainness of which is relieved by enriched dots, worked at
intervals in a hollow.
Mr. William Thomas has carefully executed all the marble work of this unique
monument ; and Mr. Wyon, engraver, Regent-street, .has executed the brass
plate.
SHEFFIELD WORKHOUSE.
THE dispute between the guardians of the Sheftield nnion and one of the con-
tractors for the recent additions to the workhouse, to which we referred a
few weeks ago, has now been decided by the umpire. We should have presented
our readers with the circumstances of the case at an earlier stage, but thought
it better to postpone doing so until the arbitration was ended. Even now we
only give a bare outline of the facts, as we decline entering into any minute par-
ticulars, which we assure our readere would be as " interesting and instructive "
as such affaire usually are. Mr. T. F. Cashin was the arelutect for the altera-
tions, and Mr. J. Harrison, the contractor for the joiners' work. On the com-
pletion of the works, failing to obt.iin a .settlement, or even a proper adjustment
of his account, iMr. Harrison called upon the guardians to carry out that part ot
the agreement, providing a reference in case of misunderstanding. Mr. John
Frith was appointed on behalf of the guardians, and Mr. C. Unwin for the con-
tractor, Mr. T. J. Flockton architect (of the firm of Flockton and Sons) acting
as umpire. Mr. Cashin also attended the meetings of the arbitration. After
several lengthv sittings, the award has been made, and taken up by the
guardians who had to pay £100 10s. the expenses of the arbitration before doing
so The sum decided as due to Mr. Harrison is .£313 Us. lOd., in addition
to' £800 before paid, making a total of £1,113 14s. lOd. as conipw^
with Mr. Harrison's claim of 1,020, and the guardians' offer of £820, and being
in fact .£93 14s. lOd. in excess of the contractors' claim.
So that the guardians (doubtless acting under advice) have by this proceeding,
thrown away £I9i. ■!'• lOd. of the public money, in addition to a good round
sum for their own (solicitors', &c.,) expenses of the reference.
THE BOILDING NEWS. I
January 4, 1 860.
SITK AND PLAN OF THE NEW OPEEa HOUSE, PAEIS.
COMPETITION FOB THE PARIS OPERA HOUSE.
rE French GoTernment hat decided, after all, on throwing this im-
portant work open to public competition; and has published the par-
ticiiUrs of the requirements, and also an outline plan, wliich I enclose, and
whicb differs from those that have appeared before. As will be perceived
bj a glance at the sketch in question, the new theatre will stand in the
centre of a large irregular space, and will present its face to the Boule-
Tards, &om which it will not hie more than about 150 feet distant. The
nearest boildiogs will be about 65 feet from the theatre. The com-
petitors are not to send in fully detailed plans, but designs sufficiently
elaborated to explain the author's ideas, both as regards the general
arrangement of the edifice and its external appearance. These are to be
delivered to the Minister of State on or before the end of January.
The pieces to be sent in are a general plan, a geometrical elevation of
the principal fa^'ade, a section on the longitudinal axis of tlie interior, and
an estimate and descriptive summary. But each person is at liberty to
add thereto whatever he may think useful for the fuU understanding of
bis design.
The plan is to be on a scale of four millimetres, that is, 1 to 250, and the
other drawings double that proiKirtion. Each applicant is to put a motto
on his drawings, and also on a sealed letter containing liis name and
addreii.
The jury is to consist of the Minister of State and of members of the
architectural section of the Academy of the Fine Arts, and of the Council
General of Civil Conitruction.
Should the best set of plans be considered by the jury worthy, both in
an artistic and constructive point of view, of the intention of the adminis-
tration, then the successful competitor is to be entrusted with the produc-
tion of the actual plan to be adopted, and also with the direction of the
work. The author of the second best project is to receive 6,000 francs as
a prize, and tliat of the third, 4,000. No first prize will be given except
upon the conditions stated above ; and tlie administration reserves to
itaelf fall liberty of action as regards the ultimate plans.
The preliminary plans arc to be sent to the Bureau des Batiments Civils
at the Ministry of State. Nothing is said about foreigners, so that the
competition would seem to be open to all the world ; but this may not,
however, be the case.
The conditions issued only include general arrangements and not exact
details, but the knowledge of what is consider, d necessary for a complete
Temple of the Lyrical Drama cannot fail to be interesting to all connected
with the constructive art as well as to those who study the subject of
disposition, and safety of great urban institutions. The plot marked out
for, the new building is 150 metres by 70 metres, and contains 10,000
square metres, or about 10,900 yards, English.
Tlie requirements are as follow : —
Porticos or peristyles, under which the pubUc]may descend from vehicles
under cover from the weather.
Vestibules in which the tickets may be distributed, and the public
received before the opening of the doors of the theatre itself.
Staircases affording easy access to every part of the house.
Accommodation for the service of the police, and for sanitary purposes,
and also for a military post.
The audience portion is to furnish accommodation for 1,800 to 2,000.
The baignoires or boxes on the pit tier, and the enclosed boxes of the first
and second circles to have ante-rooms. A note is appended stating that
the present opera-house has 1,700 places, and that its diameter from the
back of the boxes is 19 metres, or about 62 feet, English.
The Imperial box is to have a separate entrance ; a vestibule is to be
provided so that the Emperor may not have to descend in the street, and
a place for the Imperial carriages and escort during the performance.
A separate entrance is also recommended to be provided for subscribers.
The stage is to be capable of containing about 400 persons ; its width
not less than 14 metres, about 46 feet, English, and its depth from the
footlights to the back of the stage, 32 metres, or 105 feet.
The scene-room must be near the stage, and must contain about 150
square metres.
The performers are described as being divided into two sections — viz.,
singers and dancers, and again into three subdivisions of men, women, and
children. The access from the dressing and oilier rooms to the two great
salons for singers and dancers, or green-rooms, as well as to the stage
must be easy, and those last must all be in close proximity.
Wardrobes and dressers'-rooms are to be attached to each of the artistic
subdivisions above described.
The direction of the theatre requires accommodation provided for the
concierge, booking-office, directors' rooms, secretary's office, and room for
a cashier and several assistants, tailors' and dressmakers' workshops,
warerooms for dresses and materials, and a station for the firemen whose
duty it is to watcli over the whole of the establishment.
Such are the wants and demands of a great musical temple for Paris or
elsewhere, and it is to be hoped that the new edifice wilt be a pattern for
January 4, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
17
Europe, both before and behind the curtain. It will be observed, pcrliaps,
by those wlio liave seen the plans of tlieatres recently exhibited at the
Beaux Arts liere, that the proposition for including a cafe and other
refreshment rooms in the plan has not been adopted by the administration.
An angular plot of ground marked on the plan, and containing about
8,000 square metres, is appropriated for the erection of a gigantic esta-
blishment, to be called the Grand Hotel de la Paix. In addition to dining,
•withdrawing, and all other public rooms, this new building is to contain
600 bed-rooms. Another huge hotel, to be called the Grand Hotel du
Commerce, is now being built in the Boulevard de Sebastopol. The
carcase of the latter is approaching completion.
NOTES ON COAST CHURCHES IN DEVON AND CORNWAXL.
Part II. — Devon. Ciiattek I. — MoDEunY.
FITLY connected with such a wild district as Tintagel and Boscastle, by
the tender, richly-dressed river scenery of St. German, is the grand
coast of Bighury Bay, which possesses all the mildness of the south with a
very full share of the wiMness of the north.
H lltself is an architectural scene of no small interest and instruction, for
its cliff, broken into a thousand fantastic forms, and richly colored with a
glorious mixture of bright Devonsliire red, green, blue, grey, white, and
black, looms like a fortress over the sea everywhere, with battlements in-
numerable and endless machicolations. Near a fine cove called " AVest-
combe " the cliffs might easily be mistaken for the ruins of a castle, such
as Castle Treryn,* by the Logan Rock in the Far West once was, and their
base is pierced in three places with natural arches of great height and
depth, and well worthy of the conspicuous place they liold in nature's
cathedral.
But we must turn inland and, taking a point some four miles from the
sea, visit Modbury, an ancient market town of great antiquity and singular
pioturesqueness, lying under Dartmoor. There is scarcely any point of
view from which this town does not look well, especially from the hills
which rise opposite the town on the south. Its three chief streets are
built upon absolute precipices, and the church, on the crown of one of them,
presides grandly over all.
It is a fine old structure, though it has been at various periods added to
and restored in very bad taste.
Originally it was cruciform, of the end of the thirteenth century or the
beginning of the fourteenth. Now it consists of nave and chancel,
both having aisles, projecting sacrarium, south porch, and western tower
and spire.
The latter is said to have been rebuilt in some measure about two
centuries ago ; the old materials, however, must have been scrupulously
re-used, for there is nothing about the work now to indicate that it does
not come down to us from the thirteenth century. Possibly only the spire
was rebuilt. It is a perfectly plain broach spire of great height, pierced
with simple lancets of the plainest and earliest character, and opening
into 'the church within by a tall and well proportioned arch, which is
Badly disguised by a gallery. The whole of this fabric is covered from the
plinth to the vane with rough cast, or " slap-dash," as the Devonians
appropriately call it. This abominable disfigurement, which is peeling off
in all directions, cost but a few years ago — we were assured by an old man
on the spot, who had shared in the operation — no less than eighty pounds,
so strangely did our ancestors throw away their money on what was worse
than nothing.
The use of " rough-cast " was very popular in this part of Devonshire ;
there is scarcely a good stone wall to be seen anywhere, which is not
daubed over witli it. It is gradually, however, yielding to good taste, and
the mason's tool, which have proved such destructive enemies to white-
wash et hoc genus omne. Soon may the last flake perish ! Anything
uglier than the black inky grey which exposure to the atmosphere event-
ually imparts to it cannot be conceived.
As we have already said, the church was cruciform when originally
built, without aisles ; at least the chancel had no aisles. The nave
probably had ; indeed there can he no doubt that the fine and massive
arcades in this part of the church are of very early date, probably con-
temporaneous with the spire. They are composed simply of common
arch masonry stone, simply chamfered, and the piers supporting them are
in like manner merely square blocks of masonry chamfered under quasi-
capjtals into an octagonal form. A well-meant but most mistaken attempt
has) been made to restore these arcades, which has resulted in a great
measure, in the destruction of their effect. Instead of cleaning and point-
ing the stones as they stand, for which process they were admirably
adapted, the entire work has been smudged over with a thin coloring
matter imitative of the cold dark grey of the stone, and on this sham joints
have been drawn everywhere but where the real joints occur, with a white
fluid, laid on by a brush. The same ridiculous trick has been played with
the rear arches of the nave windows. Fortunately this mistake admits of
an easy remedy ; the nuisance is that it has been made but recently— such
blunders are really quite out of date in these days.
The attempts at restoration have been made in the nave, likewise well
meant and ill executed. The transepts for instance have had their gables
coped anew with cement, and even the crosses which crown them are run
in cement ! The seats within, which are also of recent construction, are
decent and tolerable, but behind their day, and somewhat awkward.
Indeed this epithet may be applied fairly to most of the internal wood-
work. The stairs leading to the pulpit, for example, are the most disgrace-
fully ill-contrived affairs that we have seen for a long time, and positively
dangerous through the sheer stupidity of their design.
In the transepts we observed some very elegant sepulchral receuet of the
fourteenth century, with ctligies— the latter sorely mutilated. There i> a
good piscina in the south transept, and an early bcnatura near the south
porch. This porch itself is a noticeable feature. It was erected in the
fifteenth century against the fine old doorway of the preceding century,
and is of two stages, though the floor of the parvise has been destroyed.
There is a picturesque staircase turret in the angle.
The font is an abomination pure and simple, and the procoring of a
better one should be the next work of restoration attempted.
It would be a better one, we say it with confidence ; for Mr. Compo has
been dismissed, and this year a new era of restoration has been com-
menced. Through the exertions of the Rev. F. W. Pulling, curate of the
parish, the entire east-end of the chancel has been splendidly restored ia
memory of the late most worthy and widely esteemed vicar, the Rev.
Prebendary Oxenham. The money was contributed by his admirers and
friends throughout England, and the works have been executed under the
superintendence of Mr. William AVhite, of Wimpole-street, London.
They consist of a newly raised sacrarium, handsomely tiled, and
supported over the large vestry, which is beneath, by an immense arch,
nearly flat, of hollow bricks fitting one into the other ; altar rails, a very
handsome reredos, and an east window filled with stained glass (we
believe) by Lavers.
Wliile generally according our high approbatio'n to this restoration we
must take exception to the design of the east window. It is of five lights,
each light rising towards the middle, and the centre light being the
highest of all, but none reach the head of the window ; the intervening
space is filled in with trefoils, one over each light. The whole effect is
unusual, which is no fault ; but it is also ungraceful, which is a fault.
We are glad, however, to see our architects departing a little from their,
in general, very "rule of thumb " way of going on, and are not surprised
that their doing so is sometimes attended with failure. The quality and
tone of the glass is good, but the details are all too small for their position,
and are utterly lost in so large a church. By the way, why will our
artists persist in drawing poor Moses in such a guise that all the simple
folk take him for the Devil ? The rays of light at Modbury are like
nothing in creation but horns. The faces in this window are not well
drawn: a poor little Bishop in the north corner, with wizeny features,
is like Lord John Kussell in Punch. The reredos of Caen stone, arcaded
and inlaid, is a creditable work in every way. But Modbury Church
requires a further outlay of at least one thousand pounds. It is a very
capable structure, and would well repay its restorers.
THE SOANE MUSEUM.
AS the trustees of this institution will now for the very first time have
to discharge one of their functions— that of electing a curator of the
museum — it is to be hoped their choice will be such as to refiect credit on
themselves. The appointment is one that ought not to be lightly bestowed
on any one just competently qualified to discharge its mere routine duties,
which cannot be very onerous. Rather ought it to be conferred, as the
reward of his actual services, on some one who has promoted — at any rate
has zealously endeavoured to promote — the study of architecture, and of
the arts connected with it, by his writings. One such we could name, but
his position is such that even were he pressed to become curator of the
Museum in Lincoln's-inn-fields, he would be likely to look upon the offer
almost as an offence. The curatorship ought to be given to one to whom
it would be a welcome premium for what he already has done, and who,
instead of making it a cushion to loll upon comfortably, would rather avail
himself of its quiet and leisure to pursue his studies, and also employ his
pen in the cheering tranquillity and invigorative repose of modest " lettered
ease."
After expressing the above opinion, we take this opportunity of asking
whether it be not in the power of the trustees to render their Museum
more accessible than it now is, .if not to the general public, at least to
artists and architectural students ? As the house was not at all intended
for more than a private residence, subsequently enlarged by an additional
building in the rear of it, it is so ill-adapted for its present purpose that
only a few visitors can be admitted at one time ; which being the case, it
surely ought to be open two days in the week throughout the year, or else
every day in the week during the tlu-ee months when admittance can be
obtained.
The Museum in Lincoln's-inn-flelds possesses, however, some advantage
over the one in Great Russell-street, inasmuch as its contents have ceased
growing, consequently additional space will never be required for their
accommodation ; this house was Sir John Soane's hobby, and he accord-
ingly adopted every possible precaution for proservmg that, as well as Ins
collection of works of art, intact ; no doubt with the view of seciuing a
permanent monument, and so long as the buildmg cnn be made to last, it
will certainly testify to his professional merits and faihngs alike— and
hardly ever was anyone so unequal in taste. It has, indeed, been said of
liim, and not untruly, that although he was gifted with fertility of imagi-
nation, and occasionally put forth some admirable original idea, he some-
times sunk below mediocrity. » .J. 1
The exterior of his own house— one of the subjects held up to ridicule
by Pugin, in his " Contrasts "—is by no means an exemplar of archi-
tecture ; and yet there is something suggestive m it, and some good hints
may be derived from it. We ought also to bear in mind that it was only an
alteration— an addition to the original front erected by way of screen to
it By taking in the adjoining house on either side, both of which were
his property, not only would a rather important extent of frontage have
18
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 4, 1861.
been obtained, but the addition of another gallery, east and west, would
hsTe afforded that accommodation required for any museum or other
institution which professes to be open to the public; whereas the present
house was never intended for any such purpose.
Had it not been that, when he determined on bequeathing his house and
collections to the public. Sir John was too far advanced in years to think
of remodelling and enlarging the building, in order to adapt it to its
altered and tiitare destination, very probably he might have done so, if
only because the expense wouli not have been worth a moment's con-
sideration to hira — in fact, have been no more than a little wholesome
blood-letting of a plethoric purse.
Ere long we shall, perhaps, have occasion to return to the subject, as
regards the appointment of the curatorship. In the meanwhile we beg
our readers to accept and be satisfied with these desultory remarks.
MR. HILL'S EXHIBITION OF ARCHITECTURAL ANB
MECHANICAL DRAWINGS.
rE fifth biennial exhibition of architectural, rarchanical. ornamental, and
perspective drawings, by studento of Mr. Thomas J. Hill, architect, lias
been open during the week al the class-room of his establishment, Old-street,
Cit}--road. The drawiiiffs shown have been executed during the last two years
by the pupils in Mr. Hill's architects', builders', civil engineers', and machinists'
drawing classes in Old-street, and by students under his charge at the City
companies' schools and institutions. "The iii.<j)lny of artistic ability, natural and
ac<^uired— unpretending though it be— is wortliy of the high culogiums which
emmcnt practical men and skilled amateurs have heaped upon it, and would, we
doubt not, were it exhibited under more genial circumstances in the West-end,
command a generous echo of panegyric. We had much pleasure the other
evening in viewing the drawings, about seven hundred in number. They may
be divided into four classes, of which we may say that the first consists of
architectiu^ drawings in color and outline; the" second of ornamental drawings,
I 1 J :_ ,: .1. .ir J ,. , .^^j drawings, both in color and
colored and in outline; the third of mechanical uiamuj^s, uum m coior auu
outline ; and the fourth embracing perspective in great variety. A peculiar
feature of the exhibition is the number and excellency of pen-and-ink productions,
some ot which possess great merit. One of the most prominent of this class
is a copy or imitation of the testimonial presented to each of the premiated
competitors at the Great Exhibition of 1851, executed by Mr. Thomas
Carwardine, now a decorator. This pen-and-ink drawing, which is
elegantly bordered, occupied the author's evenings for about seven months.
The productions in architectare and mechanics proper are suitably
accompanied by working drawings, to which greatattention has been given. The
architectural drawings embrace churches, town-halls, mansions, villas, and copies
of some of the larger Gothic edifices erected under the superintendence of emi-
nent architects of the day, and accompanied by sets of plans, elevations, sections,
and detailed drawings. The ornamental specimens shown range from the first
examples of outline ornament to highly finished capitals, vases, tru.sscs, &;c.
The mechanical drawings consist of elevations, in outline and color, of marine,
jocomotive, and stationary engines, with details of screws, bevelled wheels, &c.
The perspective riews embrace simple objects in the angular and parallel, with
intenors and exteriors of public and private buildings. Among the pen-and-ink
dcetches we would mention as worthy of particular notice a drawing of a cathe-
dral church, and one of a Gothic building, in which the details, especially of the
windows, are most efi'ectively brought out ; both the production of Mr. Bailey.
Tbrae drawings in pen and ink resemble well-executed engravings, and are
creditable aUke to the preceptor and the pupil. Amongst other contributions of
this class we noticed a sketch of a building in Bread-street, Cheapside, as well
as an outline drawing, baeklaid, of a doorwav, full of curiously prepared orna-
ments and decorations ; both the production of Mr. Albert Brown. A colored
perspeetiTe interior of Lady Owen's School, St. John's-street-road, is a very
aare^le prodnction, and does (jreat credit to a promising youth, Mr. J. Walton.
Mr. W. Rritlain shows a carefully drawn and admirably etched elevation, in
pen and ink, of Titchraarsh church, Northamptonshire : the drawing is full of
detail, and very effective.
In the ornamental department the best drawings are by Messrs. Pipe, Wotton
(the author of an excellent Corinthian capital shaded), and E. Walton (who like-
wise exhibited a capital). In the perspective department the drawings of
**■"•• "fpe, Seamen, and J. Walton are highly commendable'. .Vmongst the
1^5^ "'"^ ""* ""*' effective, and perhaps it should be designated the
e*<f-<raBut>rcof the exhibition, is the elevation of a marine engine by Mr. Hill
hmuelt All the parts, even to the most minute detail, are brought out with
gr»t eSect, and the plans and sections of the particular engine were had recourse
to dorlDg the progress of the drawmg.in order that the shadows might be ob-
tained and prated with the greatest accuracy. In the same department the
productions of Messrs. Fawcett and Ellis are creditable. The pupils who seem
to /lave made the greatest prepress in detailed construction are Messrs. Ilertogs,
Kivett, w ebb. Winter, Law, and Shamian. A colored distigu for a public
iraurting, by Mr. Willever, shows considerable skill, the treatment being broad
u K '«"■ ,'^ one of the tables we noticed some finely executed copies in
COJOT, by Mr. W. S. Hoare, of comic sketches by I..eech; and two original de-
iffVT' "!^»"«""' in color and gold by Mr. W. S. Henderson. The exhibition,
wwcfc U tie most successful that has been held, both in the number and quality
2j»*-m iJl"*"' J'T* "^ (I'n''»y) evening, when a prize for general excel-
cneewffl be awarded to one of the pupils. "' '^ "
T THE NEW WORKS IN KENSINGTON GARDENS.
-5*^ TL Kensington Gardens are intended to purify the Serpentine,
aaa at tte same Ume to form an ornamental adjunct to it. They are situated
»5«?S"4.i^*."?u'*"/"8lc, where the gardens join the western extremity
2ii.'!2f-> k' ? .L "^ formeriy appropriated to the filtering-beds, about the
rS25^'r •'•5™ "■^»«'>'« tirae since, so keen a controversy. Theyoccupy
a^jeeof 300 feet from north to south, and 170 feet from east to west. A con-
^^^TZJ:,V . ^ °°.* »"PP''"' '■■'"" " well, by means of a steam-engine,
Z^l^^A°""J?i!:^, '" «';'=''*«'7>*:n"nt'- The Various fountains and bwins
M^S^ by dwarf balustrad^, wfth ornamental ironraiUng and piers bearing
tt^!^'^,^l'yT''.I"^.-K Tl'^-'P-'^-l-o-sei" situated at the north end, ii.
tlie centre, and facing it at the oppoBte end the pruicipal fountain is placed in
an apsidal proieclion, with steps leading to the river. On each side of this break
in the south balustrade a water nymph holding an urn is fi.ved, from which water
flows into the bnsin of the large fountain. This fountain is composed of four
fish-tailed lads, who support massive shells. Bullrushes rise up between the
figures and twine amongst their hair. The shells are of marble, the rest of the
composition of stone. It rests on four circular sculptured bases. The balus-
trade facing the river is of stone, with incised balusters. The sloping sides of the
river give additional height to this end wall, and from dolphins' heads in the
lower panels water pours continuously into the stream. The wings of this front
have also more highly enriched vases on the piers, and the royal arms surmounted
by cro>vns fill the panels. At the back of the royal arms is, on one side, the
head of the Queen in white marble surrounded by a laurel wreath, and on the
other a ineiiallion of Prince Albert enclosed by a wreath of oak leaves. The
panels in the return of wings are filled with bas-reliefs representing Spring,
Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Spring is represented by two boys and a girl
holding a bird's nest, fife and drum, and flowers ; Summer, by two boys in a boat
and another bathing; Autumn, by similar youngsters indulging in the grown-
up pastime of pheasant-shooting; and Winter, by a beautiful little group of
skating boys sleighing their girl companion. The base of the balustrade facing
the stream is rusticated to the height of the shelving banks of the river. The in-
side of this enclosure is divided into four large basins, each 100 feet by CO feet,
with canted angles and fountains in the centres of them. Each basin is fringed
with grass 2 feet 6 inches wide. Wide gravel walks divide them, and a fountain
stands at the point of intersection. On eitlier side of the boiler-house there are
smaller fountains, mth ornamental patches of grass.
The basins are lined with ragstone, and are 4 feet C inches deep to the top of
coping. The fountains are made of copper, with glass and brass jets. The
central fountain has a beautiful disposition of water-lily leaves in a wlute marble
basin, carved into arabesgues on a " picked " ground.
The boiler-house is 37 leet square. The entrances to it arc on the east, west,
and south sides. Tlie south entrance, from the walks which separate the
fountains, is the principal one. The builer-room is on the north side, and con-
tains two boilers, each 20 feet by 4 feet 6 inches. The engine-room is 14 feet
high, on the south of it. The chimney-shaft forms the central feature of the
building, and has the appearance of an Italian campanile. There are three
openings on each side of the structure, divided by panelled pilasters with carved
caps. The panels are " picked," and the angles of the building rusticated. The
spandrils are carved with representations of the rose, shamrock, and thistle,
most tastefully designed, and the keystones are vigorously and artistically
modelled. Small dolphins' heads are, with good eftect, introduced into the upper
moulding of the pilaster caps. The windows are divided into two lights by orna-
mental iron columnj, and the arch-heads above them are pierced. A similar
arrangement occurs at the doorways. The doors are divided into eight panels,
with studs upon the stiles. A consoled cornice and roof covered with Italian
tiles surmount the building. There is an iron railing upon it, with standards at
the angles. The tower rises in the centre from a base decorated with panels
bearing the royal initials between projecting trusses. The upper portion of
the tower — or rather, tower-shaped clumney-shaft — has an archetf panel on either
side in which are carved panels referring to the purpose of the structure. There
is a shell in the head of the arch, and another finely carved head forms the key-
stone to it. An elaborate and beautiful piece of ironwork stands on the cornice,^
and uniting in the middle of the campanile, supports as a crowning feature " the
round and top of sovereignty." The whole of the building, piers, and balus-
trades are executed in Portland stone. The carving is of a very high order.
'The design of the vases is skilfully varied : in seme cases swans are twined with
foliage to form the handles, in others rains' heads, and again in places we see
representations of river plants grouped with singular felicity. The carving on
the building is equally satisfactory, and, like thaton the vases, bears Mr. Thomas's
well-known mark.
Messrs. J. and E. Bird, of Hammersmith, have executed the whole of the
works ; Mr. John Beagiey has been employed as their clerk of the works; and
Mr. James Simpson as the clerk of the works of Mr. llawkesley, the engineer, of
30, Great George-street, under whose superintendence tliis great improvement to
Kensington-gardens and the Sei-pentine has been effected.
BLOOMSBURY SQUARE.
THE squares in the centre of the metropolis are becoming less and less the
abode of the great families who built and formerly lived in them. Pro-
fessional men find the large rooms which the houses in them contain very
convenient, and for tiiat consideration consent to pay a rent whicli as private
residences they would be unable to command. For them the embellishment of
the fronts is a matter of little moment, and hence the squares have assumed that
sober, dingy appiarauce which seems the prevailing character of everything
legal and professional. Men with young children— to whom the central gardens
afford a good playj^round— and of ea.sy habits, which disincline them for a five
miles' journey morning and evening to and from business, still, however, linger
here and there in these once aristocratic quarters. But their transition from
dwelling-houses to offices is none the less certain, and hence our surprise at
noticing any attemnt made to enrich, by stucco, the declining fortunes of the old
brick houses. Such an attempt has, notwithstanding, recently been, on several
occasions, made in the well-known square of Bloomsbury.
Like each of its companions, it occupies a few paragraphs in the history of
London during the last century. The house No. 5, at the corner of Hart-street,
is lamous for having been the residence of the elder Disraeli, and the interior
shows, in the handsome stone staircase and elegant plaster enrichments, the quality
of the tenant for whom it was constructed. The house is now occupied as offices by
some half-<lozen architects and solicitors, and a board in the spacious hall of the
distinguished author records the names, callings, and situations of business
men. Along the whole of the south side the houses have been almost
entirely rccompocd, and at the north-west corner Nos. 74, 75, 7C are being
refiu^ed with plaster to correspond with that recently done at the comer of Mon-
tague-place. Similar projecting rusticated piers have been added to the old
houses. The cornice and balustrade has been continued on them instead of the
plain coping ; the cornice and trusses supporting them to first-floor windows, and
the moulded architraves to the second and third-floor windows, are likewise con-
. - ^^
Lord
more
January 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
19
I
original and bolder style of decoration has been adopted. The old brick fronts of
bom houses have been covered with Portland cement. The square-headed
openincjs have been preserved, but those of the first floor seem to Iiave been cut
down to the level of the floor, and will apparently be furnished with iron
railings. The dressings of ground floor are vermiculated rustications. Pilasters
rise from the ground floor to the top of second floor, and the line of tliem is con-
tinued in the upper story by projecting mouldoil panels. There are three windows
on a floor to each Iiouse, and all tlie arcliitraves jut boldly forward with moulded
arrises on either side. The first floor windows have curved pediments, with
trusses to support them resting on the architraves. Tlie cornices over these
windows exhibit a striking peculiarity in the adoption of an unusually small
corona, and in the substitution of a large cavetto for the ordinary bal-mould.
There is a small trussed cornice over second floor, and a deeper and a more im-
portant one to form tlie crowning feature of the front. In this latter the convex
or bolster frieze has been blended with the design and it, together witli the
necking under it, breaks round the pilasters.
THE COURT- YARD OF THE DRAPERS' COMPANY, THREAD-
NEEDLE STREET.
LOOKING through the wid<! portals which lead to the court-yard of the
Drapers' Company, we can almost fancy ourselves in one of those old
foreign towns which retain their ancient architecture because a diminution of
trade checks their building propensities, or that we liave stepped back 150 years
into the history of our own metropolis. Tiie space would not lie spared in Lon-
don now-a-days for that large court-yard. The heavy looking architecture,
with its rade columns and coarse mouldings and ornament, and the low sur-
rounding corridor, belong altogether to men who sleep in peace in closed-up
churchyards. Yet the building has a solid, well-to-do appearance, and seems
more in character with all kinds of city companies than our modem edifices can
possibly do. The venerable old place is now being decked up, rather snobbishly,
with imitations of difl'erent materials, but the general arrangement of the various
colors is cheerful and good. A colonnade runs round tlie whole of the court,
the arches of which are jiartially filled to form square openings in them and over
them is reared, in red brick, the main walls of the building. The painting has
been done in the following manner; — The columns are in imitation of red granite,
with stone caps, bronzed bases, and stone plinths. The portions of wall at the
sides of columns are an imitation of grey granite. The leaves on caps and the
lions' heads which form the keystones, and the stops for archivolts (over the
columns) are bronzed. The filling in of the arch over the square openings is
painted stone color. The back of the colonnade is in imitation of grey granite,
with red skirting. The brickwork of the upper stories is of a rich brownish red
tint, and the dressings of the openings are painted stone color. The blending of
these various colors makes the sturdy court-yard look quite pleasant and pic-
turesque.
♦
NEW CHURCH AT QUERNMORE, LANCASTER.
THE new church which has just been built at Quernmore, near Lancaster, was
consecrated a few days ago. The building has been erected at the sole ex-
pense of W. Garnett, Esq., of Quernmore Park (father of the M.P. for Lancas-
ter), and in solidity and interior fittings will stand comparison with any church
in the county. The total cost is about £3,000. Mr. Graham Daley was
the architect. With regard to the architectural character of the new church
(the foundation-stone of which was laid in February last), it may be described as
of the early part of the fourteenth century, and consists of nave, 48 feet long
by 22 feet wide^ divided by an arcade of three richly moulded stone arches from a
north aisle 18 feet by 48 feet. A massive tower, 23 feet square and GO feet high,
is placed at the west end, and opens into the nave through a remarkably bold and
efiective archway. Tiie church, 24 feet by 18 feet, is separated from the nave by
an elegantly designed and highly ornamented arch, having the capitals carved
with foliage, &c. The east window, of geometric pattern, is placed a considerable
height above the floor, so as to give room for a stone "reredos," on each side of
which are placed the Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Ten Commanilments, illuminated
on tablets. In the centre compartment is a rich relief hanging. The arches,
windows, door-frames — every part excepting the plain surface of the walls — are
done in hewn stone; and instead of plaster, smooth red brick is used, and by its
color adds considerably to the ensemble of the interior. The masonry work was
executed by Mr. C. Baynes, of Lancaster. The woad work has been executed
by Mr. Sandhain, of Quernmore, who has ably seconded the architect in pro-
ducing a fine open-work roof, all made from English oak. The interior fittings
of the church have been executed by Mr. C. Blades, of Lancaster, and consist
of reading-desk, chancel stalls with carved finial heads, and benches for seating
300 persons, all made from the best Dantzic oak. The massive doors of the
church, made of the same material, are also the workmanship of Mr. Blades.
The pulpit, wliich is also of oak, octagonal in shape, with carved panels of the
ribbon or tracery pattern, is the workmanship of Messrs. Bell and Coupland.
Messrs. Cross and Sons had the slating and plastering ; the painting and var-
nishing were executed by Mr. J. Shrigley ; the plumbing and glazing by Mr. J.
Parkinson ; and the apparatus for heating the church was supplied by Mr. A.
Seward. We may here add that the brick lining (in its natural color) seems success-
ful, though no judgment can be arrived at until everything has got well
dried. The oak, stone, and brick seem to harmonise, and with colored glass
(not too dai-k) the effect of color might be still better.
T DRILL SHEDS FOR VOLUNTEERS.
HIi want oflarge covered spaces for the drilling of volunteers in the evening
IS much felt. It is difficult to find buildings sufliciently spacious, and the
cost of erecting them has been beyond the means of most corps.
Captain Fowke, R.E., has lately constructed a shed at South Kensington, for
tlie use of the 1st Middlesex Engineer Volunteers, which seems to have solved
the problem of economy. The shed is 00 feet long by 40 feet wide and about
J,""" ' '' '■'' """^'^ "'' ^™'"'' without framing, covered with felt and oil can-
vas. The cost has been only £82, which has been paid by the Volunteer Engi-
neers out of their own subscriptions.
A large meeting is to take place on the 12th January at the South Kensington
Jauseum, in aid of the building fund of the Lambeth School of Art, and it is pro-
posed that this occasion shall be used to exhibit this drill shed to the public, in
order to show volunteers at what a trifling cost they may be provided with covered
■paces.
liv?;ri'ooi. akciiitectl'kai. socikty
TIIK seventh meeting of the tliirtccntli scKnion of tliin Society wu held >t the
Koyal Institution, Colqultt-street, on Wednuday cvcnloif. llr J M Hat
presldentof the Society, in the chair. ^ • "*i.
WHO j« niciiT?
>tr. BoiXT said that nt the lant meeting it would lie rFmembered that. In (»■" "— -
road by Mr. F. Howard, It was stated thnt Sir lOdwin Landsof r and Mr. An-
in the habit of anointing dogs with bears' gnnse for the purpoM of pollHli
to be painted from. He (Mr. Itoult) expressed bis doubt of the correctii. , ;.,.
story at the time, but .Mr. Howard aft.rwards riitcratiKl it, and said he knew it tolw
the fact He had written to Jfr. Ansdell shire then, and mentioned th<' mailer to
that gentleman. Ho .would read the reply, and then leave the matter la the bands
of the meeting:—
" 7, VIctorla-road, Kensington, 3«h D«., IMO.
"My nr.AR &in,-l had heard of what BIr. Howard had sahl relatirc to the uae of
'bears grease ' in polishing up dogs to be painted from ; of course, coidd only laugh
at It— It's simply ridiculous, and f.el surprifLcl that any man could aay such athlDe.
much less behove it. In haste, wltli tlie eompliimnts of the icaaon,
, „ , " Your's very truly,
".r. Boult, Esq." ..jj AwgDElJ..
He (Mr. Boult) suspected that. In other respects, Mr. Howard's facta were aa falU-
cious as the opinions and the arguments he sometimes made use of— (i^angbter).
Jlr. GoODAtl..- You'll be getting Into a hornet's nest
Jlr. BoL'LT.— I have got into a good many in my llfitimc— (Ilenewcd laughter).
Sir. Grithtli's jiaper was "On the resources of design In the natural kingdom for
architectural decorations," which was fully reported In our .lournal last week.
The Chairman moved the thanks of the Society to Mr. Grlffllh, for his admirable
paper, in which there were several points touched upon very well worthy of ooD-
sideration.
Mr. .1. A. rrcTon thought tlie paper an extremely auggcstivc one— more Talnablc-
for what it suggested than what it actually described.
rURNESH ABBEY— l».V8T AND PRESENT.
Ifr. W. H. Ptcton, secretary, read bis paper, entitled "NotMon Fumcss Abbey."
The paper was an able topographical description of the celebrated Abliey of Pur-
ness, and the pressure on our space alone necessitates the publication of only a brief
abstract. Having alluded to the aifectlng sight picsented by an old ruin of thi*
description, Mr. I'icton proceeded to discuss the origin of this celebrated eccle«la«-
tical pile. It was founded in July, Wll^ by Stephen Earl of Morton, by whom It was
richly endowed, and dedicated to the Virgin ilary. It was occupied by the Bene-
dictine order of monks in the first instanee, and subsequently by the t'lsterclans, aa
order which flourished exceedingly in England. Fanning, of which there are abun-
dant proofs yet in existence, appeared to be their favorite occupation; but thej
were not remiss in the occupation of literature, for two sacred books— written
on vellum — belonging to the monks of Conishead are sldl preserved at the Priory.
The dress was picturesque. The wealth of the Abtiey was second only to that
of Fountains Abbey, in Yorkshire j and m magnitude the establishment w»»
second, of the order, in the kingdom. It held sway over nine other monasteriee
in Lancashire, Cumberland, Irelaud, the Isle of Man, Lincolnshire, and elsewhere.
The gentry and nobility vied with each other in heaping riches and favors npon it.
Few abbeys could boast of more royal protection than that of Fumeas. The time
came, however, when the fact was revealed that what one king had raised in a spirit
of pious zeal, another could destroy : and so, after having flourished for more than
400 years, the monastery was dissolved. Mr. I*Icton did not doubt that the sentence
was well deserved, but condemned the impiety that desecrated the walls of the
sacred building. At Fumess the custom obtained of registering only the names oT
the abbots w-ho had presided ten years, and the result is that in 2"T years the names
of only ten are recorded. The custom was a singular one, and posterity had lost the
full authentic chronicle of the superiors of this great monastery. Roger Tile was
the last abbot who ruled Fumess. He was a man evidently who considered that
discretion was the better part of valor, and who estimated rightly the Icind of man
he had to deal with in Henry VIII. Making a virtue of necessity, he, of his own
accord, on the 9th of April, 1S37, surrendered the abbey, with all its treasures, to the
greed of the royal tyrant: In the commencement of his written proposal to Henry
he made a clean breast of the disorderly conduct of the monks, -^9 in number : —
"I, Kogcr, abbot of monasterie of Fumes, knowing the mysorder and cvyll UtTs,.
both unto God and our prynce. of the Iircdern of the said monasterie, in discharging
of my conscience doo frelie and hollies surrender, gilf and grant, &c." Whatever the
motives of the king might have been, Mr. Ticton thought his audience could not
help feeling that it was high time that a community exhibiting such corruption and
crawling obsequeucy should be rooted out from a plocc so hallowed by the sanctity
of their forefathers. Roger I'ile, in consideration of his dutiful conduct, having
given so little trouble, was rewarded with the rectory of Dalton, which was then
valued at .£:13 OS. 8d. per annum, equivalent to £141 13s. 4d. of the present currency.
The site and the remains of the Abbey were next commented upon. Unlike
other ruins of the same date, it is not in a good state of preservation, and
this was attributed by Mr. Picton to the fact that it had been a quarry of foryeara,
tor material for building purposes. In the situation of the dltrerent buildings, Furnes
varies from the rule of most other monasteries in having the church on the north side,
and the chapter-liouse on the south side. Having described the various buildings, sir.
I'icton went on to observe that one of the most striking views presented by the ruin
was that of the arches which open into the cloisters. The centre arch leads to tbe
chapter-house, and the other two into square recesses, the object of which was not
very obvious, but probably might have been intended as places for meditation. 'In*
paper concluded thus :— " After all that has been written, and all the researches that
have been made, little really is known of these old buildings, and many things must
ever remain a mystery. As Sir Thomas Brown says :-• There is no antidote agaJnat
the opium of time, which temporally considereth all things; our fathers and tneir
graves m our short memories, and sadlv tell us how we may be buried In our anr-
vivors. Grave-stones tell truth scarce forty years; gencraUons pass wMle some
trees stand, and old families last not three oaks.'
" ' The sacred tapers' lights are gone.
Grey moss has clad the altar stone.
The holy image is o'erthrown.
The bell has ceased to toll.
The long-ribbed aisles are burst and snTtink.
The holy shrines to ruin sunk.
Departed is the pious monk,
God's blessing on his soul."'
The conclusion of the paper was received with loud appUase. The meeting then
separated.
The PERrECTiON of Mechanism.-" In short, all the '>nP™Tf,"f° ' ,f"' ,""
convenience and comfort, dating from a s ate of barbarity to one "^ Wg"^ '='^"''»*!??'
are but the cumulative results of inventive ■nK«nuity ; and n no instMCc is tl>«
more clearly seen than in the history of those h,.autiful inventions «■•*»' h»" "J?"
time to time been brought to bear upon the science of Horology. Trace its histog
from the time of the llSmans with their clepsydra or «"> f;'''"''^' fP^/"^'^^',',^
his candles, from hour-glasses and sun-dials, do>vu to hat '""^i'L'^,''^, '?R^t°ig;
' Tlie Watch,' and see how improvement has succeeded improvement, until atiaai;
those now manufactured by Benson, of Ludgate-hiU, London have been character-
istieallv described as ' the perfection of mechanism.' —Stamiara. „_»__
Ben L's Illustrated Pa'mphlet, post-free for two »t»»P'- Ifd/'t^et-Xriob^Z
construction of watch now made, batches safe by post to aU parts of the RloDe.
Adv.
20
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 4, 1861.
GLASGOW AliCHITKCTrUAL ASSOCIATION SOIREE.
THE ninth annual soint' of the «l>ovi' Association wae licld on Wednesday evening;
week, in the lower hall of the Bath-street Exhlbitlou Kooms. Charles U.
WiuxoN, Esq., R.I.A.. in the chair.
The CuAiKMAS. in an able introductory address, congratulated the Association
upon it< ooDtloued prosperity, and enlarjfcd ujwn the necessity of such societies
receiTlng tbe as«i<tanc« and co-operation of Government. Hi.- said— The great
rewards so liberally bestowed on students abroad arc not imitated in this country,
either by the State or by private munilieeuee ; you arc left to fiirht your own
battles w best you may, and you meet them zealously and manfully. Hut I am
BtroDf^r of opinion that In this country, as abroad, we oupfht to have academics in
which the sister arts of architecture, painting', and sculpture might be taught syste-
matically with the various branches of science and literalure necessary to the successful
careerof artists. OurKoyal Academies do not supply this want, for in them painting is
iuwoitlally represented to the disadvantage of the sister arts. He proceeded to sliow
fm»dnatages which had accrui-d to France from the collections of standard
work* Of art and musenms, to be found in her large towns, instancing the collection
ta the Hotel de Cluny at I'aris, the influence of which on modern French design has
boen ImiBfiise. and is to be obscr^•ed in every class of French manutaclure. This has
reacted upon tu. and the so-calbKl Uenaissancc style has tiecome the fashion in this
country also. Thus the establishment of a mnseum in I'aria influences the taste of
this country, and shows that we are content to take at second hand that which love
of art, intelligence, and even the more vulgar motive, the promotion of our commer-
cial interests, ought to induce us to si-cure at first hand. It seems, however, to be
generally accepted that it is a suiHTior aptitude for design on the part of the French
which has led to the relative positions which they and we hold, and to the immense
influence which they exert over us. It is nothing of the sort. I assert from an ex-
?erience, not of yesterday, that there is as much aptitude in our own people as in
he French to excel in the arts of design— it is a mere question of judicious training,
and we have only within a comparatively short lime adopted those means long since
prevalent in France, for the education of artists of every degree.
Correspondence.
»
AN ANSWER WANTED BY D. E. G.
Sir,— Could any of your readers explain the cause ofthe following phenomenon?
I dissolved some Bath stone by nitric acid, and then dried the mixture thoroughly
tv a fire, when it formed a hard eake. I took it away from the fire, and found
that in two or three hours it was full of watCT, condensed from the atmosphere
I then repeated the experiment twice, with two other pieces of Bath, with
-exactly the same result ; though it condensed the moisture while on a mantel-
piece over a large fire, touching it with my finger, was sufticient to make it
damp and wet. I am, &c.,
* D P f
P.S.— I dried each mixture a third time by the fire, and it again got wet.
HANSOME'S STONE PRESERVATION PROCESS.
°J">— Having read with much interest the correspondence which recently ap-
peared in your valuable journal on the subject of the " Preservation of Stone,"
one of the most important in my opinion which can engage the attention of the
architect and builder, I am induced to request your insertion of a few remarks on
the past and present state of a building in this neighbourhood, whieli I have had
frequent opportunities of inspecting, both before and since the application of Mr.
Kansome'f- fiuid for iu preservation. The case to which I refer is that of the
Custom-house of Greenock, a building of considerable extent and entirely of
polished freestone, which has stood, I believe, about half a century, and has of late
years exhibited in a. great degree the marks of " decay's effiicing fingers " in
many parts, particularly in the projections and mouldings, whicli had begun to
crumble and give way under the action of the weather. In the summer of 1S49
if- *? L 'P™'"* ■""! surmounting parapet were covered with a coating of paint,
which has been repeated from time to time much to the disadvantage of the
general effect of the building, the contrast of color marring the harmony
of Its proportions. In the year 1858, Mr. Uansome's preparation was applied to
the iront, and in 1850 to the remaining portions of the building, and it is to the
oenelteud effect of this that I wish to draw attention. As already mentioned, the
stone had given w-ay and was rapidly decaying in many places, but thU decay
s«mstobe effectually arrested, and. although subjected to the test of very
changeable and severe weather for some time past, no indication of
cracking or exfoliaUon is perceptible in the uniformly indurated and impervious
surface now presented, which appears calculated to resist the corroding influence
of time for ages to come.
Mithout entering apon the nuestion whether the ancients used this or similar
roeaiM of securing their works from decay, the object in the present day is to as-
certain the most effectual method of preserving our own, and, as thU can only be
arrived at by careful oljservation of facts and practical results, I have to request
i-°*7^ °,- w *..' communication, as recording an instance of the successful
■ppluatioii of .Mr. Ransome's patent ; and I have only, in conclusion, to express the
Bope that Its use may soon become universal, which it cannot fail to do when its
Z^. "? I'?''" <?'""«'^'y known, as every thing exceUent in its kind wUl sooner
or later find its way to public favor.
I am.&c,
-, - D. MacFakla»b,
Glasgow, January 1, 1801. Architect and Ciril Engineer.
i^^Si . , ■^''«^<''»''-'»«->W..— On Wednesday night a serious fire
S^nnfrtnJL^? extensive premises belonging to t(ie eminent patentees and
U^l^^M."'^"'^ sriutter. Messrs. cTark and Co., of l.:i, Gate-street,
»h^?rfil« «T^L1fll J^u-*""* °^^r confloKration is atpfesent unknown; the
Sw^rfnSl^ m,^"r'^ T "'.' P™"*^' together with a machine worth
conllto3!ii -^^5^' ?"'' ■°.""": P™P<^y. «"» destroyed, ere the fire
^^^A^'tL 1^™^V'^'" "'"' *" t'"" '"""nenced in onc'of the engineer's
SiwvSSf^l, ?Sf . =»"''?'«' pfe^nt be estimated, hut it is fe.ired that it will
Slo diS^. "' "' "^ """""'ce. Tlie Catholic Schools next door were
I/oute B^ngiH //«//.— The following is the number of dwellimr-
te.','^^ rf'Z.,''."'" '■■J.'^'l^.flve years, taken from the Boarf If
48?; 1860*586?^ ^ »PproTed:-18WJ, m-, 1857, 174 ; 1808, 304 ; 1859,
On the Construction of Horse Railways for Branch Lines and for Street
Traffic. By Ch.irles BuKN, Civil Engineer. Second Edition, revised and
enlarged, pp. 81 ; and 8 jilates. 8vo. John Weale, 5!), High Holborn.
WE noticed the first edition of this pamphlet iu our number for ajtli May last ;
since that time the subject of horse rnilways has obtained some favor with
the public, and the author now finds it expedient to issue a second edition, which
chiefly differs with its predecessor in directing attention more particularly to the
subject of sti'eet railways. We are told that the number of passengers conveyed
per mile of double trafiic in New York was last year 700,000, the gross receipts
being £8,000 per mile, or three times more than the receipts per mile on the
Eastern Counties Railway, twice as ranch as on the Great Western, and half as
much again as on the London and North Western Railway. The working ex-
penses are said to amount to about 00 per cent, of the receipts. A statement of
the earnings, cost of operating and maintaining the five city railroads of New
Y'ork and Brooklyn, the number of passengers carried by each, the number of ac-
cidents occurring on each, and the dividend paid by each for the fiscal year
ending October 1st, 1858, is extracted from W. G. F. Train's pamphlet, lately re-
viewed by us, and deserves attentive study. The pamphlet is likely to have an
increased circulation among vesti-ies and parish officers generally.
Romanesque Architecture in Germany, with an Especial Reference to the
Monuments on the Lower Rhine. By J. Jusien, 8vo., pp. 16. Smith, Watts
and Co., Liverpool.
THE contents of this little pamphlet formed the subject of a paper read before
the Liverpool Architectural andArchfeologieal Society in the present year.
The author briefly traces the history of architecture in Europe from the year 375,
and the development of Roman Architecture in Germany, and then notices par-
ticular buildings of the periods referred to, mostly in the country of the Lower
Rhine, as being those with which he is most familiar. Contrary to the generally
received opinion that St. Pantaleon, at Cologne, was finished in 980, the writer
thinks it more likely to have been built in the early part of the 11th century.
We shall most probably return to the paper in noticing the Transactions of the
Society.
The Nuisances Removal and DLteases Prevontion^cts of Wm, 18 and 10
Vict. cc. 116 and 121 ; with Introductions, Notes, and Index. Second
Edition, in which is comprised the Amending Act, 23 and 24 Vict. c. 77, and
the Ofticial Documents issued thereon. By Wilj.iam Golden Lumley,
Esq., of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-law, Assistant-Secretary of the Poor
Law Board. London : Knight and Co., 90, Eieet-street, 1860.
MR. LUMLEY'S Edition of the Nuisances Removal and Diseases Prevention
Acts is remark.ible for the elaborate Introductions prefixed to it. The one.
which serves as a preface to the second editionjust issued by Mes.srs. Knight and
Co., does not, indeed, exceed a dozen pages in length; but that, which
accompanied the first edition of the work which appeared in 1855, extends over a
very considerable portion of the work, and constitutes a very useful professional
treatise by way of commentary on the enactment.
The Amendment Act of 23 and 24 Victoria restores in great measure the status
quo. that obtained before the passing of the Act of 183.5, in such matters as relate
to the investing with power the then existing local authorities. The Act of 1855
seems to have failed, by its creating a division of duty that will now be obviated,
for by the present Act, Boards of Guardians, wliose exclusive province it is to
relieve destitution, and oftentimes become thereby aware of tlie presence of
epidemics, will be vested with full powers for taking steps for" obviating them and
preventing nuisances.
The work is well printed in large clear type on very strong paper, and
will doubtless become a popular Handbook on the subject of which it treats.
Euclid arranged for Examinations; or, the Geometrical Copy-book. By
A. K. IsmsTER, M.A. London : Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts,
1860. '
THIS little work of Mr. Isbister's is merely a suggestion for a useful form o
the ordinary school copy-book, and " an attempt by means of a new
arrangement of the figures and demonstrations to simplify and fix in the memory
the propositions of Euclid, and to impart the habit of writing them out logically
and rapidly for examinations, in the abbreviated and symbolical form, adopted in
the universities and public schools." It is mainly intended for the use of
candidates for.the military and civil service, London University, College of Pre-
ceptors, Oxford and Cambridge Middle Class, and other examinations; but,
from what we have seen of it, would be a useful educational book for any private
student or any academy. The object of its £ditor is to render tlie mental opera-
tion of working out and demonstrating the several propositions as brief and
simple as possible. With this view he has arranged them in letter-press on the
left-hand side of the book, using in one line only for each mental operation the
symbols and abbreviations adopted in the universities and public schools, a list or
table of which he prefixes to the cover of the book. By this means the student
is enabled to write down each operation in the most simple form possible, and to
afterwards read it ofi' and comprehend at a glance what he has done. It is
evident that this process must have the effect of fixing the result permanently
in the mind of the operator ; whilst the adoption of the usual more tedious pro-
cess is apt to dissipate the result in a cloud of mere verbiage, hitherto quite
necessary, but no less distressing to the mind of the student.
N
The Technologist: a Monthly Record of Science applied to Art and Manu-
facture. Edited by P. L. SI-MMOnds, F.S.S. London. Kent and Co.,
Paternoster-row.
0. C, for January, has many points of interest in its pages. As of special
1 interest to merchants and manufacturers we might specify the articles on
Rattans and their Uses" (by A. Robottoin), "New Edible Roots" (by the
Editor), and "Products of New Granada" (by W. BoUaert). But it is rather
difficult to select any one as of special interest from the seven extremely readable
papers, which form the contents of this cheap and well got-iip " monthly." The
publishers are obtaining some celebrity for the class ot works they continue to
issue ; the one now before us will decidedly add to their reputation.
January 4, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
Thi' Lifchnat ; or the Journal of the National Lifeboat Institution. No.
r>!(. for January.
TIII.S little qimrteriy, on its own merits, is well worth tlie twopence charged
for it. All the contents are readable— some of them very much so. It is
not. however, the value of the journal in n literary point of view to which we
look; it is the object, which undoubtedly commends it to the attention of every
man in the kingdom who can spare even the veriest trifle to assist the Lifeboat
Institution. At this season of the year, when many wrecks strew our coasts, the
cry of the shipwrecked mariner is often uttered in vain, there being an insuffi-
ciency of lifelmats for their unfortunate requirements. We venture to place this
deserving institution before our readers, as one well deserving both their sym-
pathy and support. The head-quarters of the Institution are at 14, John-street,
London — and there is an old-fashioned saying that it is more blessed to give
than to'receive. We also recommend the Lifeboat Journal to tlie patronage of
our readers.
The Railway and the Mine. Lever's Illustrated Year Booh, 1861.
London : Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.
THE title, in a manner, is an index to the contents of this well jjot-up work,
and from what we liave seen of its contents, we are certainly ot opinion thai
no one interested in either railw.iys or mines can well do without it in his in-r
quiries and calculations. The interest of the book, liowever, is not confined to
the business section of the community ; there is a very great deal in it of exceed-
ing interest to the general reader, "who selects works from which knowledge,
fiven in an attractive form, may be derived. For instance, we may quote the
istory of coaching and the formation of railways, tlie invention of the loco-
motive, the coal measures of Great Britain, the sections on the coal-fields, the
fossils of the coal-bed (with the illustrations), the ventilation of coal-mines, and
fifty other subjects, or divisions in two great subjects. The illustrations given in
the "coal" section are very clear, and explain themselves at a glance. Much
are we tempted to give extracts, but the inexorable " quite full " of the printer
debars us from that pleasure. The " Year Book," however, is very cheap, and
those investing in its purchase will, we fancy, be tempted to the conclusion that,
even in these days of cheap literature, they have made a bargain.
TENDERS.
CiiLRCir, liRAUFOnn.
For the works in the erection of ISroomiiL-ld Church, Bradford, Yorkshire. Messrs.
Mallinson and Healey, architects, liradford. The tender for the whole of the
works, by Messrs. lilrkby and Iloldsworth, has been accepted.
Paksonage. Bradford, Yorkshire.
For the works in the erection of St. Andrew's parsonage-house, Bradford York-
shire. Messrs. MalUnson and Healey, architects, Bradford,
General Tenders.
.7. Wilson and Sons £1,414 j Tlirackwray and Holliday £1,150
A.^dU 1,280 I IsraelThornton 1,000
Masons' Work.
David Monlson £758 0 | Thomas Peel £658 0
J.Prieatley 677 0 | Farnish and Bell 612 11
Carpenters' and .Joiners' Work.
Thackwray and HoUiday £305 | Wm. Crabtrce £299
Plumbers' and Glaziers' Work.
K. Mitchell £70 0 | John SchoBeld 57 10
■flaters' Work.
Joshua Hill and Sons £68 10 I Hill and Sutcllffc £61 15
James Smithies 66 oi
Plasterers' Work.
C. Howroyd £45 0 0
W'm. Bolton and Sons 44 0 0
G. Kastrick 43 18 6
T. Cordingley £57 0 0
J. Bolton 49 0 0
J.Duckworth 48 10 0
L. and W. Bolton 48 0 0
Painters' Work.
G.Hird £20 0 0 I J. Pickard £14 12 6
E.Haley 18 10 0 | H. L. Byron 13 10 0
The tender, for the whole of the works, of Mr. Israel Thornton has been accepted.
HOTEI., CnE.STER.
For additional wing to the Queen Railway Hotel, Chester. Mr. J. M. Pe nson
architect.
Stone £4,093 2 3
Leatham 4,199 0 0
Roberts .3,423 0 0
Hitchen 3,395 0 0
Lockwood 3,380 0 0
Hughes (accepted) 3,159 0 0
_ ^ Schools, Exeteb.
For the erection ot the Episcopal Charity Schools, Exeter. Sir. G. W. Camming',
Kenshole £4.120 0 0
Moore. 4,075 18 8
btaflbrd a,9g5 o 0
Woodman 3,1154 0 0
WareandSon 3,5S4 0 0
HUl .- .3,433 15 7
Moass and Son (accepted) 3,J25 0 0
EOADS A.VD Sewers, Stoke Xewincton.
For the formation of the roads and sewers on the Gordon Estate, Stoke Newincr-
ton. Mr. J. H. Kowley, architect, 17, St. llelcn's-place, City.
With Ur.Tel To Purclwee
on the E.tat«, GmTcl.
Gamer £0SO 00 .. £703 0
Ley ,507 OU .. _
EUiss 495 10 0 .. 045 10
Freebody 437 0 0 ., 4S5 0
Pound 373 0 0 .. 433 0
Sharon ,300 0 0 .. 400 0
Mann 359 0 0 .. 490 0
Staccy 330 0 0 .. 5U0 0
Bilton and Clarke 328 14 0 .. 470 18
Potter 290 0 0 .. _
Uarthmdand BloomHeld .. 273 7 0 .. 390 7 '
Howktt 260 0 0 .. 325 0
Hawkes y58 0 0 ..
Symes 230 0 0 .. 307 0
Cabcaseo. Ac, Nunappletoji.
For the carcase of additions to Nunappleton, near TadcMtcr, for Mr.WUUam
Mllner, Bart. Jlr. E. B. Laml), Architect. Quantities supplied.
Ski^ht and Holmes, Bradford £.3,775 0 0
Varvill, York 3,748 0 0
Keswick, York 3,5W 0 0
Shafto, York .3,490 0 0
Bcllerby, York ;t,472 0 0
Simpson. York 3,407 0 0
Oeaser, York 3,35:t « 0
I.awson, York 3,289 0 0
Weathcrby, York 3,2*4 0 0
Megtrinson and Co., West Hartlepool 3,222 0 0
Booth Illlngworth, Bradford 3,124 3 4
Painting, Cannon- street. Cut.
For Painter's work to be done at Messrs. Kerr and Scott's premises, Caonon-
street. Mr. Henry Jarvis, architect. Quantities supplied.
Inuriur. £xt.rior. Total.
Knight ^350 .. £146 .. £496
Lawrence — ,, _- ,. ;J7a
Hcnshaw 240 .. 125 .. .'iflS
Fisher 237 .. J27 .. 3fl9
Maelaclan 140 . , "8 , . 224
COMPETITIONS AIVARDED.
Gram.mar School, Lincoln.
The plans of Messrs. Bellamy and Hardy, of Lincoln, have been accepted, for a
new house for the master of the above school. There were ten competitors.
Bov's Orphanage, Liverpool.
In the recent competition held in Liverpool for the Boy's Orphanage of that town
the committee have chosen the designs submitted by Mr. Pugin. The other com-
petitors were Mr. Charles Hansom and 5Ir. Hughes.
Bramley New Church, near Leeds.
The Committee invited Messrs. Lockwood and Mawson, Messrs. Mallinson and
Healey, and Messrs. Perkin and Backhouse, Leeds, to compete for the above church,
to scat 1,000 persons. The design sent in by the latter firm has t)ecn chosen, and they
have received the appointment of architects. The style is Geometric Gothic.
COMPETITIONS OPEN,
DISPENSAUY.
Leeds.— For plans for a new building, calculated to afford accommodation for tho
business of the Leeds Public Dispensary, to be erected on the site of the present
building (Xo. 171, North-street). Applications for conditions and other particulars
to be made at the Institution from one to three o'clock p.m., up to Jan. 3. The
plans to be deposited with the secretary before Feb. 1.
LAYING-OUT LAND.
Pltmocth.— For plans for the laying out for building abont four acres of land In
Plymouth, for Mr. W. Derry. Three premiums will be given to competitors— jfSO
for the best plan, £25 for the second, and £10 for the third, he reserving to hhn-
self the right of decision thereon. The plans to which the premiums are awarded
are to become the property of Mr. Derry, who does not guarantee employing tho
successful candidate for the future carrying out the work. Each plan to have a
distinguishing motto or sign, accompaniea with a sealed envelope, endorsed with
motto, and containing name and address of sender. Plans, sent free of all cost, to
Mr. William Derry, Houndiscombe House, Plymouth, by March 1.
HOTEL.
Saltbitrn-by-the-Sea.— For designs, with estimates, for a commodious hotel
at Saltburn-by-the-Sea, in Clevoland, for the Stockton and Darlington Railway
Company. I'remiums will be awarded by the directors for the most approved
plan. No. 1. £50, second ditto. No. 2. £30. A sketch of the ground may be
obtained by application at the railway office, Darlington. It is recommended that
the designs be sent in, under device, accompanied by sealed estimate. Designs and
estimates by January 31.
CORN EXCHANGE, *c.
Bury St. Edmund's.— For plans and estimates for the erection of a new coin ex-
change, with butchers' shambles at the north end thereof, as shown by the ground
plan of the site, for the Town Council of the borough of Bury St. Edmund's. The
materials to be iron and glass, as far as may be considered practiiable for such a
building. A ground plan of the site may be obtained on application at the town
clerk's. Plans and estimates to be sent at the risk and cost of the sender, ad-
dressed to William Salmon, town clerk, at his office, by January 10, 1861. A
premium, not exceeding 25 guineas, will be given for the best plan, and another,
not exceeding 10 guineas, for the second-best plan. The plan and esthnate
for which the highest premium shall be paid shall become the property of tho
Council.
TOWN-HALL. , , .
Northampton.— The Municipal Council has extended the time for rccelvlnf
designs tor the new Town-hail and other buddings to the 1st February next.
INFIRMARY. . x. 1, . .
Leeds.— The time for sending to designs, plans, &c, is extended from Feb. 1 to
March 1, 1801.
^_
CONTRACTS OPEN.
CHAPEL. „ ...
PUDBET.— For the whole or any part of tlic works required in the •wt'on or tho
Unitarian Chapel, Pudsey. Drawings, &c., at tho office of W IlI.amHdl, architect.
71, Albion-street, Leeds, from Jan. 2, 1S61, to whom tenders, properly endorsed.not
later than 5 p.m. Jan. 8.
SCHOOLS, *c. ^ „ . .t
DoNiNGTON.— For the erection of a new infants' school, kitchen, and offices, togetlier
with two teachers' residences, at Donington, Lincoln, for the rrustees ot Rowley a
Charity. Plans. &c., at the offices of JIes?rs. Kirk and Parry, architects, Sleaford.
Sealed tenders to be delivered at the office of George Wiles, clerk to Cowley »
Charity Trustees, Horbling, Folkingham, by January 7, 186L
BATHS.
Birmingham.- Forthcexecutionoftheworks required in the erection and eom-
pletion of the new baths, in Northwood-streel, Birmingham. Drawings, *c.. at
the offices of Mr. W. Martin, architect, Christchurch-buildings, BhmlnKham.
Tenders to be addressed to the Baths and Parks Committee. «n|o"ed 'Tenders
for Baths, Northwood-street," and sent, under cover, to Thomas StandDrtdge,i!.sq.,
Towu Clerk, Temple-street Birmingham, by .lanuary 11, ISCl.
WAKEHOlJSES. , , .
LEEDs.—Forthe mason and brickwork, carpenters' and joiners' work, slaters,
plumber and glaziers', plasterers', painters', and iroufountlers work •'"l"'';^'' '"
the erection of a warehouse in Wellfngton-strcct, Leeds. Plans »nd specllications
at the offices of Dobson and Chorley, architects, 19, Park-row, Leeds, until lltn
inst : to whom tenders not later than ten a.m. of January 12. r .^a
Leicester —For the erection of a new warehouse, new glass and Iron rooi, ana
sundry alterations. Drawings, Ac, at the office of Francis Drake, architect, *c.,
30, Market- street, Leicester. Tenders to be delivered by twelve noon, January 14.
CEMETERY. ,
Ealing.— For the erection of the necessary chapels, entrance lodge, and boundary
wall, and other works upon the land purchased for the new bunal-grouna in
22
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 4, 1861.
Eallng-Une. rUn, &c., nuky be »eea, nod fiirni6hi.'d by Mr. Charles Jones, arclU-
tort. firoTe-<ott«Be (near the old churoli. K«liDg). Scali-d tenders to be forwarded
to WUluun Henry :<auder8. clerk to the Burial Board, Old Brentford, by 11 a.m.
(^ January 9:
KESTOKATION.
Beadisg.— For the repair and restoration of the Abbey catcway. Kcadinj;, according:
to plans and speeifloation ivrepantl by G. U. Scott, Kso., of io, SpriiiK-frardens,
London, llan and spi'cifleation at the office of Mr. ■\Villiam Carter, the surv< yor
to the Local Hoard of llrallli, •-*!>, West-stn'et. Iteadinf. Sealed tenders, endorsed
"Tentlerfor Kestoration of Abbev (iatenay," must be sent t© Tliomiis Kosfcrs,
clerk, 9, Friar-etreet, Beading^. bv.Innuarv In.
W'ATKinv t>KKS.
Fakehas— The Fareham Ix>cal Ikmrd of Hialth invite tenders for such parts of
the private walcrworkf at Fareham as the Local Board of Health may decide
. upon executing. Specifications, &c., with Mr. T. Buclvhara. enfrineer to the Board,
<3«ay-street, Fareham. Tenders, endorsed " Tender for Waterworks," to be ad-
draaaed to *■ U. Porter, Esq., chairman of the Local Board of Health, Fareham, by
Janmarr 10.
BRKWEKY WORKS.
BmmfT.— For the erection of new buildinga in connexion with Bridse" End
Brewery, Burnley. Urawincs, &c., at the brewery. Sealed tenders to be de-
■rcnd at the office of U. J. I'auU, architect, 57, Market-street, Buniley, by
10 o'eloek ajn,, of January S. Treference will be given to tenders for the entire
woriES.
DWELLLNG-HOUSES.
BsxmcK (X. B.)— For the several works in the erection of a residence and offices on
a site near the old Abbey of Dundrennan, in Berwick, for ,Tohn M'Dowall, E*tq., of
GirsteDwood. ]*lans, &c., at the office of Messrs. D. and J. Sproat, merchants,
Kirkcudbrt;,'ht. W. K. Corson, of 20, Cooper-street, Manchester, is the architect.
Tenders, addressed to Mr. Corson, to be delivered to Messrs. Sproat by 4 p.m. of
January 10.
PAVING.
WniTECHAPEi,.— For the execution of the several paving works connected with the
Whiiechanel District, described in the specification or schedule of contract pre-
pared by direction of the Board ; such t4tnder to particularise the variation of price
<if any) for the resi>eciive terms of one, two, or three years, Ihe Ik)ard reserving to
themselves the risht to determine therefrom the period of the duration of the con-
tract. Specification and form of tender may be obtained at the office of the Board
npon p-iyment of 10s. Tenders (on printed form only) to be deUvered at the
office of the Board Ix-fore 4 p.m. of Januarv 7.
REWEUAGE.
Sbeebxeks.— For any or all of the followinu contracts, according to plana and
apecifieations by Mr. Wm. Burns, C.E., Ely :— Contract A.— For the supply of
about nine miles of stoneware sewer-pipes. Note.— No fire-clay pipes> can be
accepted under any condition. Contract B.— For the supply of about nme miles of
caat-iron water-pipes. Contract C— For sinking and borlner a welL Contract D.—
for layinfr and Jointinfr sower and water pipes. Contract E.— For providing sluice
TalTca and hydrants. Contract F.— For makin^.and flxinj; a malleable Iron tanji,
46 feet diameter and 16 feet deep ; and two small tanks. 111 feet diameter. Contract
<»•— For Ihe supply of cast-iron pillars, girders and other eastings. Contract H.—
For providing and fixing a pair of duplicate horizontal steam-engines of about 10-
borac power, with duplicate sewage pumps, a scoop-wheel, and duplicate boilers,
alao a pair of duplicate vertical engines, with ituplicatc pumps and boilers of about
♦0-JK»»e power each. Contract K.— For building manure tanks, shed, boiler-
bmuea, chimneys, water-tower, public baths, board-room, manager's house, and
workiuen*t houaea. Duplicate copies of the specifications, with forms of tender,
■cheduleaofquantitiea, AC, may bchad on application to Mr. E. Felkin, clerk to
the Local Board, Mlle-I own, Shecmcss, on payment of 6s. for each contract.
I'iriNG.
Bm*iCK-CPO»-TwXEi>.— For supplying and laying about two hundred yards of
•-Inch cast-iron pipes between the acr^-ice resoirvoir and the second settling well.
Specification Ac, at the surveyor's office, Kavensdowne. Sealed tenders to be
delivered at the surveyor's office before twelve noon of January 10.
. DRAINAGE.
Favebax. — For such parts of the private drainage works at Fareham. as the
Local Board of Health, may decide upon executing. Specifications, Ac, with Mr. T
Baakfaaa, en^necr to the Board. Quay-atreet, Fareham. Tenders, endorsed
'ToMer for Drainage Works," to be addreaaed to " K. I'orter, Esq.,lChairman of
ike Local Board of Health, Fareham," by January 10.
KIVER WORKS.
SrALDnca.— For the repair and restoration, and the maintenance and keeping In
wpah", of the fascine work, banks and piers on each side of the river Wclland, from
Fosdyke-bridge to the extremity of the present confined channel seawards, for
the term of five years. Plan and specifications of the works as they now exist,
and of the state in which they are to be kept, can be seen at the office, in
Spaldtncr. of C. T. Bonner, clerk to the Trusteee. Tenders, to be marked " Tender
for Wetland Outfall Works," to be sent to him before 12 noon of January 9, 1861.
Memoriah. — The tender of Messrs. Tre<jelles and Taylor has been
accepted for the erection at Stratford of an obelisk fountain, 40 feet high, in
memoir of the late Mr. .Samuel Gumey. The works, which will involve an out-
^^of £400, are to be commenced forthwith. Mr. Ourney, whose name will be
icmembered in connexion with tlic great house of Ovcrend, Gumey, and Co.,
•W» a great benefactar to Stratford.— Upwards of £1,200 has been subscribed at
Barton for the erfjction of a memorial in honor of the late Mr. Herbert Ingram,
JI.P., who, during his active life, proved himselfa warm friend of hi.s native
town. Mr. Stanilanri, M.P., who wa» returned for Boston in conjunction witli
Mr. Ingram, has sulxscribod £S2 10s., and Mr. Malcolm, M.P., who succeeded
toUieTacMit ieat,ha» given £2.5.— At Whittlesey an effort is being made to
25* •">>« "^*W incmorial of the late Sir Harry Smith. The Eiirl of Hard-
wine baa rit^nlBed his cordial approval of the enterprise by subscribing £iiO, and
the noble Earl s example has been followed by several of the gallant deceased's
compuions in anna. The amount at present raised is about £400.
MyddeUon Statue and Fountain for lalinglon.— Sir S. Morton Peto,
Bwt, H.P., baa preaented a statue of Sir Hugh Myddelton for erection in
^^Jjji—iL!?! "'^'^ marble, 8 feet C inches high, tlie figure being in an
«jpr taadikpMed attitiide, and in the picturesque costume of the period when
y°ff*.*?*.'"^'^'°*° t° 8" to Clerkenwell and Islington to "take the air."
Jt to erected on a peAstal, with sculptured dolphins and nautilus-shells,
rapportedon bold-shaped trewei at the angl.a, which are intended for fountains.
Oneacta ftee of tlie pedeatal ia a marble panel, with festoons of shells, water
nowei»,lec. TTiejiateital atandi in tlie centre as a baain for water, with a bold
OfMiiirilUlcurt, 3 feet C inches high, in the Italian stvle. On each side of the
MM are aralptonid bava, with cla»«ical bases, from wliich jete issue, falling into
maiHe sbella. The deaign u that of Mr. John 'Ihomas the sculptor, whose
yy **H knoini a» being connected witli the New Palace at Westminster, and
■■KtaMDUjr with tbe reoovation of St. George'a Chapel, Windsor.
INVENTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS OF THE WEEK.
rrorisiotmUi/ Protected for Six Months.
Mr. G. Davies, of 1, Serle-strect, I,lncoln's-inn, Middlesex, and 28, St. Enoch-
aquare, Glasgow, civil engineer and patent agent. " Improvements in the construc-
tion of iron or other metal beams, and In the machinery or apparatus employed for
such purpose." — A communication.
Sir. A. Kinder, of Great George-street, W'estmuister, " Improvements In machinery
■ or apparatus for cutting wood."
Mr. C. P. Jloody, of Corton Denham, Somerset, gentleman, " Improvements in
the construction of gates."
Mr, W. E.Newton, of 0(1, Chancery-lane, civil engineer, "Improved pavement for
streets."— A communication.
Jiesneciing which Notice to Proceed 1ms been given.
Sir .John Scott Lilllc, of 103, Pall-mall, Middlesex, " Improvements in blocks for
building purposes."
On ichich the duty of £.10 is paid.
Mr. J. Long, of Gorleston, Yarmouth, " Improvements in the construction of
sewers and in the means of discharging the contents thereof.
BANKRUPT.
IFrom the London Gazette.]
Noah Miller, Sidmouth, Devonshire, builder, January 16 and February 13, at 12, at
Exeter Court. SoUcitor, Clarke, Exeter ; oflielal assignee, Hirtzel, Exeter.
INSOLVENTS.
F. Squire, Buckingham-road, Kingsland, carpenter.
M'. A. Smith, I'rlncc's-terracc, Prince of Wales-road, Kentish-town, builder.
J. Queloh, Lewlsham, Kent, house decorator.
DIVIDEND DECLARED.
.T. Taylor, Snnburv, builder, 2d., .iny Tuesday, between 11 and 2, at the office of
Mr. Pennell, Guildliall-chambers, Basingliall-street.
PARTNERSHIPS DISSOLVED.
J. Ksdallc and T. J. Margrave, City-road, machine sawyers.
J. P. Pritchelt, C. P. Pritcliett, and J. P. Pritchett, jun., York, Huddersfield, and
Darlington, architects (so far as regards ('. P. Pritchett).
CEllTIFICATE MEETINGS.
T. W. Blofield, Leather-lane, Holborn, and Lcsness Heath, Kent, builder, January
25, at 12.
A. Hammond and J. Nevard, Lee, Kent, builders, January 23, at half past II.
New Post-office for Dundee. — The tender of Messrs. George Ilaggart
and William Robertson, builders, Dundee, for the erection of the new post-office
has been accepted. It amounts to .£3,065. The Parliamentary grant was
£4,800, of whicli £.575 has been paid for the site, and the balance will be ex-
pended in furnishing, &c.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
-\11 letters and communications to be addressed to the Editor of the Building News, 20,
Old Boswell-court, St. Clement's, Strand, London.
The Editor cannot undertake to rotiu'u unused manuscriots.
J. C. J "We drew attention to the phenomenon in a notice of Mr. Piesse's book.
U. P. S.— ^V■c are not aware that anv steps have been taken to preserve all the specimens
collected hy the Commissioners appointed to report on the various kinds of stone for the
new Houses of rarllamont. Yes ; we are well aware of the fate of many specimens.
Mr. W. C, Olillgc lis with detailed description.
Subscriber.— Must conform witli tlie regulations.
('. J — It is better t^ buy traclnpf-paper than to make it.
CuaisTMAS Box Yes ; in the first or second Nunibyr of our new Volume.
A TiiADESMAN Too mucli dcpciids on facts of which wo have no knowledge for tt3 to
advise.
A. U. Newbon — Shall appear. _, .
Clekk atW. A.-There must be individual cases of injustice; we sympathise with you, but
do not see how we can assist.
A. N. E. —If constant supply the pipes may be 2 inches in diameter i if intermittent supply,
3 inches.
W. AND R — Attributed to Stephenson.
An AncniTECT From the level to which the wall was taken down in consequence or Its
dilapidated condition.
B. C, We will refer and see what has beendone under similar circumstances.
■\Y. Phillips — Indicate a means liy which we niav communicate with .vou.
A Constant Reader Dr. Keld considered 1,800 cubic feet of fresh air per hour necessaiy
for each person— lireniioii snys (ioii feet, and LloblB thinks rather over 200 feet sufficient.
Ilreiinan's worit is entitled the " History of Warniinn and Ventllatini,'."
A CofSTnr IluiLDER Heat the nails, and throw thorn white-hot into grease, but copper
nails would lie better.
T. l'iiBLEV._Tho hydraulic ram was Invented by Moutgolflor, in France; it was first
patented in 171*7.
K. Smith Waitlnj? for want of space.
J. Klmerst.— We do not think you could learn tlie art of enamellinj? from Imoks alone.
SUBSCKlBEa (Norwlcli).~l'he volume may be obtained bound through any bookseller.
S. KoBEiiTs,— The machines used in Cornwall are generally considered the best ; we do not
know the latest improvement.
ENQfiHEH.— Cover the pattern with gum-water or size; lay on the gold leaf and burnish
with agate.
K. (Oxford.)— Shall be glad to sec sketch ; cannot pledge ourselves.
A. HoirsEiioLDEK — On what ground is the rebuilding opposed? Yon do not say.
T. Whight — The crushing force of yellow pine is 5,;i70 pounds per square inch, for sound oak
II Is about ajWO.
W. 'fiLLEv — We know of no advantage that iron possesses over gun-metal, except Its
cheapness. ^
li. -X. Z I. A.-necllncd with thanks.
A YorNO AliTlsT.— Try at Kowiiey and Co.'s, Ratiibone-place.
R. A . K A varnish or enamel may be aiiplled to leather by using boiled oil mixed with the
color required. The paste should be rubbed on bv hand and dried In a stove, heated to 140
to I(in degrees Fahr. The operation may lie repeated as often as may be necessary. The
elasticity of the leather will not be aiTerted by this process.
W. Thompson and Co.— Letter has been handed to our publisiicr.
V. K — Notice must be served on the gas company.
L. V. — Several tHioks on Dlaphanlc have been published by the artists' colormcn. Our
fair correspondent ia tliaiikedfur her oUcr, which the nature of our pages compels us to
decline.
R. R. M.— Book has not reached us. We do not know if the American paper is still published.
SuRVETOE I'erliaps the best paving stone Is that lirought fnini I'eiiniaeii-inawr, celebrated
for its toughness. It Is a trap-rocK, and may be obtained In large quantities, its use in
London is limited at present.
T. W Thanks for photograph, shall be engraved. Oblige us with particulars.
It. liRowNiNo.— Send address that we may forward proof.
OasEuvEji Write to the secretaries of the Institute, &, Conduit-street.
W. I* — Tlianks. In type.
Received M. P. ; Thomas W. ; 8. W.; J. I.; A Manufacturer: Set-square; M. O.K.;
B. W.J T. Cartwright; J. M. Hastings; C. B. W.; J. Como; 'f. R. 8. ; Messrs. B. and
T. ; W. and II. ; A Workman ; Non Est ; William Orford ; An Auctioneer; C. Z.
•»• TUADE Price Lists Several correspondents are referred to our last Number.
January 11, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
23
THE COMING DEBATE AT THE INSTITUTE.
T is impossible not to regard
with interest, and some degree of
anxiety, the debate on the Di-
ploma Question by the Royal
Institute of Architects, which is
fixed for next Monday evening.
The task before the Council
is very far from being an
easy one to deal with ; nor
is our sense of its gravity- at
all lessened by a perusal of the
Kesolutions of the Liverpool
Architectural Society with refer-
ence to the question, a copy of
which resolutions will be ibund
in the letter addressed to us by Mr. Joseph
Boult, and which was inserted in the
Building News of 28th December last.
These resolutions of the Liverpool So-
ciety do indeed agree with those of the
Architectural Association, and with those of
the Northern Ai'chitectural Association, in
so far as they decide on the tribunal, before
which the question shall be brought ; but
the confidence they repose in the Institute
is a little embarrassing, and for this reason ;
that whilst, unlike those of the two Asso-
ciations, they contain few suggestions to
assist the Institute in dealing with this
difficult question, they not only throw the whole onus of it on the Insti-
tute, but tack on, by way of appendix, the task of dealing with the
provisions of the Metropolitan and Local Building Acts ; an odious one
at any time, and one which, just at this particular time, would appear
to be not a little unseasonable. This supplementary paragraph of their
resolution runs as follows — oue is somewhat puzzled to divine the object
of it :—
" That this meetinn: is further of opinion, that it is desirable the certificates ^ranted
to gentlemen, who may pass the examinations should ultimately have the value of
diplomas, which shall secure to the architect, upon whom they may be conferred,
full exemption from the special provisions of any MetropoUtan and other Local
Buildiiif,' Act ; and from the bye-laws for regulating- building construction, which
may have been adopted by any Local Board, under the provisions of the Local
Government Act, 18.)8.
" That similar exemption should be conferred upon all architects, who have prac-
tised as principals on their own account for a prescribed minimum period."
What the Institute of Architects will make of this suggestion we
shall perhaps see on Monday evening. It may be replete with wisdom,
for all we know at present ; but just now it must be owned, the precise
connexion between competency to officiate as an architect, and liberty
to ignore Metropolitan and Local Building Acts is rather incompre-
hensible.
Let it therefore suffice for the present to know that, the members of
the Liverpool Architectural Society decide to commit the Examination or
Diploma Question to the Institute ; and that the two other architectural
societies do the same. Let us then turn from them to the Institute,
and ask, Wliat will she do with the question on Monday next ?
To do nothing will be to do irreparable mischief Better far than
that would it be had the Institute never ventured on the question at all.
Why do we assume it as possible that the Institute may do nothing ?
Simply because hitherto the Institute has failed to effect anything in
grave questions bearing on professional practice ; and that this Diploma
question is by far the most difficult matter she has ever engaged in. It
is so difficult a matter that, we freely confess, to fail in dealing with it
•will be no disgrace to the Institute, albeit an injury to individual
architects it will be. These will all do well to regard with indulgence
any steps she may decide on ; if only they come within the category of
reasonable practicability.
What is the object of this Examination or Diploma movement ? It
is the creation in time of a body of efficient architects. AVhat are the
requisites to this end — or in other words, when is an architect efficient ?
We answer, when he is, first, an artist ; secondly, one tolerably versed in
the trades and sciences pertaining to the practice of his art ; and
thirdly, when he has become, by pupilage or otherwise, conversant with
ITie Practice itself. The three things are all quite distinct from each
other : many men possess the first requisite ; some the second also, or
only ; and very many again possess only the third, which we will dignify
by calling " the art, mystery, and trade of an architect " — vei-y many
we say possess only this third requisite, and get on very well in the
world without either the first or the second ; but still the fact remains
that, for the creation of a true architect, all these three requisites. Art,
Science and Practice are indispensable.
Now the programme first issued by the Institute proposed to d6il
with the first of these — The Art of the architect ; but, with wonderful
unanimity, the several contributors to the architectural press, and the
architectural societies, whom the Institute has consulted, have coccurrcd
in s.iying, let the artist go free ; and in all matters relating to the essence
of his art, let him be whoUjr a/iexamined. The suggestion is most
judicious; and the Institute will, we trust, act upon it, and abandon
that part of its original scheme, which had reference to such matters
as " the theory of the Beautiful," the principles of architectural com-
position, and the like.
There would then remain the two other requisites to deal witli, and
these would very well furnish due subjects for a test or examination.
As in an important question of this nature every thoughtful suggestion
may be of use, we venture to advise the Institute to limit its considera-
tion to these two latter recjuisitcs for a duly trained architect ; and
having done this, to restrict its very dealings with those two within the
simplest possible limit — in other words, to avoid undertaking too much
in relation to this very desirable but very delicate measure.
We have supposed the Art ai-ehitect scot free of all test, examination
or interference. We own at once off-hand that, if he be only an art
architect, he has got hold of the best of the three requisites ; but we
deny utterly his right to leap into practice (as such a one often does
now-a-days) by sheer dint of a ready pencil and a fertile mind. Such
a man is not a true architect ; and a well digested examination test will,
in a few short years, have the effect of certifying the fact to his ubiqui-
tous patron, the not always " discerning public." Let it be once under-
stood that the Institute, whilst she meddled not with any man's artistic
power, refused to admit him as a member, without first ascertaining that
he was toler.ably conversant with the sciences and trade practice pecu-
liar to his profession ; let this once be understood by the public, and
wo should see fewer incompetent men employed as architects. This
would, of course, take some years to bring about ; but it would assuredly
in the end result from the measure. The public would endorse the
dictum of the Institute, and decline to employ the uncertificated (young)
architect ; nor would this be all, there would soon be no art-inspired
architects, who would as now rest contented with remaining " un-prac-
tical " men, as they are called. It would be so easy to become " a
practical man," when all who entered the profession were made fairly
acquainted with a plain curriculum of study, that it would not be worth
the artist's while to risk the non-recognition of his actual merit
as a designer, by shirking an examination, which only needed
a little application of the humblest abilities to encounter, and success-
fully pass through. We say " an examination," as all the societies
make mention of one ; but we cannot help thinking that, as few young
men embark in the profession without having first received a tolerable
school education (many of them coming from the High Schools and
Universities), the less the Institute does in the way of becoming a
school-master, and the more she can assimilate herself to a mere Gate
of Honor or Court of Recognition, the easier will be her solution 'of
the difficult problem she is entering on, and the more successful will be
the measure in point of public utility ; for, after all, that is (or ought
to be) the prime motive and end of the scheme.
To simplify the whole question, let us suppose a case, the details of
which will admit of any modification ; but which we will embody in
sotne form, in order to fill up our sketch or position, and make it intel-
ligible as we go on.
1st. Let us suppose the Institute to possess the confidence of our
English architects ; and to be the Court of Recognition through which
all future architects at least must pass, in order to practise with public
credit.
2ndly. As it is necessary to begin somewhere, let us suppose all Fel-
lows of the Institute to remain Fellows to the end of their natural lives :
the title " Fellow " expiring with them— in other words, no more Fellowt
to be created.
Srdlv. Let all present Associates of the Institute remain such ; but
let there be no more Associates elected, as they and the Fellows have
hitherto been. Here let bygones be bygones, and let us say nothing
of how that was ; but go on to define how future Associates are to be
chosen, according to our imaginary scheme (imagined for want of a
better). They should be chosen by their holding some approved
position ; or by some sort of a rudimentary test or examination, as e^. —
A rithmetic or minor mathematics, germane to architecture.
S tudentship of Academy or of Institute ; or pupilage with architect.
S urveying— ic, Scliool Mensuration generally.
0 rnamentation by form and color.
C onstruetion generally, as may be defined hereafter.
1 sometric and other perspective drawing or projection.
A rchitectural drawing, otherwise defined.
i' erminology as to architecture, building, &;c.
E xisting edifices acquaintance with.
4thly. Let a new title of membership be created, to be equivalent to
and to hereafter be substituted for that of "Fellow," on the demise of
all the present Fellows ; the title of Graduate to be held only by such
Associates as might pass muster in some such matters as —
24
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 11, 1861.
ti «)tuetr}', ur major iimtliematics, iic., kc.
R oval Institute of Architects Aaaociatesbip.
A rchitectural antiquities, as defined by examiners.
II ynamics, or strength of materials.
II sage of professional practice and jurisprudence.
A rctitect of edifice approved by examiners.
T rades connected nitii building.
E stimating and valuing of work and property.
5thly. Let no inquiry be instituted as to a man's being a Classic or a
Gothic artist ; or, as to his having or not having any (esthetic muilUy at
all. Let the architect so tar take his chance of success in the world
with the painter and the sculptor.
These live rules would suffice to make the Institute easily accom-
plish the undertaking, to which she is now seriously pledged ; and
(what seems more dilhcult) to assume, without very much grumbling on
the part of the numerous architects not of her ranks, the high central
position amongst English architects, which we should rejoice to see her
attain to. Some oi our readers will perhaps consider the scheme
between this and Monday evening : the perusal of it will at all events
set them a-thinking on the real necessity there is for a scheme of some
tort; and enable them to take (as all true architects shovdd) a hearty
interest in the important discussion of the Diploma Question, which is
to take place on Monday evening.
PASSPORTS : FRANCE AND ARCHITECTURE.'
Four 6rst article under this title we endeavoured to draw attention to
the probable influence upon English architecture of an increase in the
number of travellers visiting France, and consequently in the general
familiarity of the British public with the objects of art that France pre-
sents to the traveller. It is obviously, therefore, our main scope to deal
with the more patent and easily comprehended characteristics of French
art — such, in fact, as a passer-by could recognise with a hasty glance; at
the same time we do not feel at all bound to confine ourselves to them, for
although for ten or a hundred, or even a thousand superficial observers,
only one careful student will, probably, cross the Channel, yet it is to the
students, few as they arc, that we must look for the direction givien to a
movement that can and will gain a general impulse, but not very much
beyond that, from the casual impressions made on the minds of the public
at large.
In commencing, then, to look round, our eye was first caught by the
beauty and refinement of the old Gothic works of France. This is a subject
so attractive that it tempU us to linger, and so important that it, perhaps,
deserves a little further consideration.
Our architects do not all, or in respect of all architectural features,
require to have their attention turned to France more than heretofore.
For example, we have had a great deal of French carving done lately, that
Mto say. a great deal of the feeling and spirit of the French carvers has
been infused into the carved decorations, especially capitals, cornices, and
perhaps bosses, in our own buildings. It may seem a fastidious distinc-
tion to draw, but it really docs seem to us as though the other portions of
a building where sculpture is capable of being introduced had not received
^tention in the same spirit. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the French
flniali, the crockets, the statues, and the mural sculpture— such as, for
«ample, that diaper which enriches the entrance to the south transept at
Bouen. Yet we do not seem in similar features so to have caught the
manner and richness of these old works as in the ones above mentioned.
This observation especially applies to finials. We are far too exclusively
devoted to crosses as the only possible terminal to a gable.
It is undoubtedly right that a church should be surmounted by a cross,
and, perhaps, that iU gables should each of them carry this symbol ; but
architects have persevered in introducing it on the summits of places of
worship for Nonconformists, where the congregations have disliked it ex-
tremely, and where nothing but the assertion of the architect that there
was nothing else but a cross by any possibility applicable to the top of a
Gothic gable, and his promise that the cross should be so wrapped up
in carving that nobody sliould know it was a cross, would have procured its
unwilling toleration.
*'?Ti '"'"l"'^"''°°*hly, one of the great architects of the middle ages
would have blushed to make such a confession of infertility of invention
a» IS here implied; and those who want to be taught what else they can
tu T J" '"'^'' * Po^i'ion had better take their sketch-books to the
cathedrals of Paris, of Rouen, of Carcasonne, and many smaller churches
oli ranee, and see bow well the ancienU got over these little difficulties.
In nothing is it more to be desired, however, that the best type of
V ^^*j »houId be studied than in our window tracery. Much that
naa been done in this way in the present day has, apparently— and some-
«me» even avowedly— been done with no other object than the production
•??e'hing extremely novel ; and, to judge from some examples that
«re "jcely to liave great weight, we are a little in danger of pushing this
•earcb after novel combinations till it leads us altogether wide of the
proper scope for such works. The beauty and finished grace of the finest
examples in Normandy and the Isle de France wiU, if they come into
union, be an excellent antidote to this risk.
i_^\.*'i.''*^^ °^ "" ""'"«'■« of <letail in French architecture has been
brought home to our own doors and within our own reach by the admi-
iwie analyses prepared by various French architects, and illustrated with
mat cleverness of touch in which French draftsmen are so much at home.
* Conltnaed from page ft,
It may be useful to enumerate, as the most valuable of these works- for
general use, the " Moyen-age " of MM. Verdier and Cattois; the " Abece-
dario " of De Caumont; and the dictionaries of M. "VioUet le Due, namely,
the " Dictionary of French Furniture " (woodwork, &c.), completed, and
that magnificent and encyclopaediac work, " The Dictionary of French
Architecture," now publishing. This last work should be in the bands of
every student. The book on French architecture by our well-known
English amateur Mr. Fettit is also worth attention.
There is, however, a warning to the student side by side with almost
every lesson that any of these fine old examples teaches. The modern
Gothic work of the French is so inadequate to stand side by side with the-
old— their restorations are so inharmonious with the original old work —
that it becomes a curious problem to consider whence such a phenomenon
can arise as a people earnest and diligent about the art, with the finest
examples under their eyes, pushing the study of them to the greatest and
most elaborate perfection, and yet failing to catch the spirit of the
originals.
The key to this is no doubt to be found in peculiarities of natural
character and modes of study and working. There is that in the French
mind which is more in harmony with Classic than witli Gothic art, and
more satisfied with close adherence to rules than with that free and inde-
pendent spirit of working upon which seems to depend the spirit of
Gothic work. Perhaps the state of religious feeling in the two countries
may have a good deal to do with this.
In England, Gothic has been taken up by a party whose religious
enthusiasm almost comes up to that of the old monks and Freemasons,
and these men make their Gothic a part of their religion. In France
there is nothing, even in the cloister, of a religious fervour. A cold
formalism, a boasting infidelity, or a philosophical scepticism holds
universal sway ; and, this contrast between the general tone of morals
and feeling in the one and the other country, looked upon in connexion
with the success of modern Gothic on this and the other side of the
Channel, is one of the most significant facts we know of in the art-history
of the present day.
If we examine the works of the moderns to discover in detail where
they fail, we find throughout a classicality of feeling in their plans and
leading forms, a lameness and geometrical precision in their mouldings,
and an abominable glass-papered finish on all their surfaces. No doubt
there are fine modern Gothic works in France, but they are few; no doubt
faithful restorations, but even these are mostly frigid and lifeless, and
may be distinguished from the untouched portions by the possessioa
of those characteristics of detail that have been just pointed out.
The very turn of mind, however, that leads to these defects may be ex-
pected to lead to success in the Classical styles of architecture; and,
accordingly, we have in Paris a city rivalling the magnificence of imperial
Rome, and we behold daily the remnants of the picturesque Paris of the
middle ages swept away to make room for remorselessly straight terraces,
boulevards, and streets of an architecture as remote from ancient Gothic as
possible.
Unquestionably the modern French works in what may be called the
modern French styles will be to most travellers the most prominent ob-
jects, though the medieval remains will make the deeper impression, and
awake the greater interest. We turn, therefore, now to the Classical group
of buildings, including the whole series from the decline of Gothic down to
the present day. Here we shall pursue an opposite course ; the most valu-
able Classic works are probably those of living or lately deceased archi-
tects, and it will be most advantageous to consider them first, and then to
go back up the stream of time, and touch upon the great monuments of
Louis XIV. and his day, upon the graceful French chateaux, the pictu-
resque works of a time that joined on to the age of Pointed architecture,
and such other classes of edifice as seem to claim notice.
In our impression for last week -will be found a remarkable document,
translated from the pages of an influential daily paper published in Paris,
and intended to draw general attention to the attempt to render more
pure the source from which the students of the French Academy draw
their inspirations in the matter of Greek art. Few in the present day
would dream of publishing here, in even a professional journal, anything
breathing so much of enthusiasm for Greek art; fewer still, perhaps,
among us, are the men who could so write; and yet we are quite sure the
essay referred to breathes the genuine feelings of very many among the
artistic and enlightened classes in France, and would, to a great extent,
meet with an echo among general readers. It is strange, but true, that
while among the French the literature of Greece and Rome is less inti-
mately known than here, scholarship not being their strong point, the
fine arts are, without excepting even poetry and the drama, thoroughly
imbued with a Classic spirit. But although we, perhaps on account of
old tradition, have retained our veneration for the Cla.'sic authors, we have
long followed, by preference, in the arts both of painting and architecture,
and to a great extent in our poetry, other types, and have thus cflected a
division, once, perhaps, to be regretted, between our highest art and much
of our best literature.
In the French architecture of the present day the influence of Greek
art is predominant, and nowhere so much so as in their smaller works,
domestic buildings, houses for banks and commercial firms, and similar
establishments. We have nothing in this country that, for these
purposes, takes the place of their style. Such buildings exhibit in Paris a
style not unlike the best examples of Domestic arcliitecture in Pompeii,
and worked out with an inventive fertility of taste that docs great honor
to the architects of France. Here our neighbours are at home —
thoroughly so; the manner is well understood by them, has been
January 11, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
I
thoroughly worked out, is liked by the public, and is in harmony
apparently with the national mind — the " genius " of the people.
Not a single attempt occurs to our recollection as having been yet made
in this metropolis to naturalise a style which possesses the recommenda-
tions of being new to us, being refined, admitting of great elegance and
richness of ornamentation, and suiting entirely the popular view about
tho inappropriateness of Pointed architecture to many of the purposes of
domestic and commercial buildings.
In the refined style chosen, in fact invented, by Professor Cockerell for
his Sun Insurance Office, and the great building he has recently erected in
Liverpool, we have one founded mainly on Greek precedent, and full of
Greek refinement. But this has not found followers any more than
the one we are now pointing out. It is, however, high time that for those
domestic and public buildings, where a Classic character is required, we
should have something in better general taste, and especially better in
detail, than the majority of the buildings for the use of banks, insurance
companies, and private firms, that have been put up within the last few
years. Will no one take up the idea, and m answer to the constant demand
for something new, present us with a carefully studied exterior in the
manner of the best French works of this class ?
The plans of these buildings, and of all French domestic buildings of
every class, are peculiarly skilful. No better supplement could be
brought forward to theadrairable papers on Arrangement of Plan, from the
pen of Mr. Huggins, which we lately gave, than the study of a series of
plans of French dwelling-houses.
The economy of space is wonderful, the variety in shape and size of
apartments is astonishing, and, what is very rarely attended to among us,
the contrast of one room with another in respect of proportions, shape, and
arrangement, is often so piquant as to bring out with great force the
qualities inherent in each. In this respect we have much to learn, and on
this subject a little more remains to be said in a future notice.*
ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, CORNHILL, LONDON.
IN our present Number, page 31, we give an illustration of St. Michael's
church, Cornhill, by an examination of which our readers will be
enabled to form a correct general idea of the effect produced by the internal
decorations that have been so successfully carried out under the direction
of Mr. G. Gilbert Scott.
We have given detailed reports of the progress of the works at page
182 m our Volume for 1860, and it is, therefore, only necessary for us to
append a brief statement as to the present state of the works.
In the materials employed throughout all the details in relief are cut
from the solid, there having been no artificial, make-believe, or sham
materials employed.
In describing the decorations of the church, we may divide them under
four heads: — 1st. Those in marble, alabaster, and stone. 2nd. The color-
ing and gilding of the plain surfaces of the groined roof, &c. 3rd. The
carvings in wood; and 4th. The stained-glass windows.
The first of these have all been admirably executed by Mr. Birnie
Phillip, arcliitectural sculptor, and comprise the traceried windows, the
figures supporting the main supports of the roof in stone, the fine heads of
the Evangelists in alto-relievo, the elaborate reredos, the panelled walls of
the chancel in alabaster, and the chequered floor of the same in black api'
white marble.
The colored decorations of the plain surfaces, as applied to the groined
roof, &c., are by Messrs. George Trollope and Son, Parliament-street.
The carved woodwork is all executed in oak of beautiful color and tex-
ture, effectively rendered by the veteran Rogers, who is one of the most
successful imitators of the renowned Grinling Gibbons. Here, however,
Mr. Rogers has worked in a different style to that of the great pro-
tege of Sir Christopher Wren, and equally successful. The carvings by
Mr. Rogers in the church comprise the upper portion of the hexagonal-
shaped pulpit, the whole of the bench ends, the Royal pew, &c.
The stained-glass windows are by Messrs. Clayton and Bell ; the
works in brass, wliich comprise the altar and pulpit rails, gas standards,
together with the pulpit lights and brackets, are by Potter, of South
Molton-street, the whole of which are of mast excellent workmanship, from
designs expresslyfurnished by the architect.
In reference to the works by Mr. Phillip, the sculptor, we may remark
that the reredos is a highly effective production, and is composed of various
kmds of marble, granite, and alabaster. It is in three compartments,
divided from each other by coupled shafts of Devonshire granite, red in
color and highly polished. The central recess or compartment is the
symbolic representation of Jehovah ; in each of the others a full-length
figure of Moses and Aaron, painted by Stralker, an artist of eminence, who
was what is termed sergeant-painter to Charles IL The reredos is sur-
mounted by an appropriate cornice, and over the centre recess is a head of
the Saviour, cut in alabaster, and on each side heads of the Apostles.
The roofe both of the nave and aisles were originally plain gromed
vaults, and their structural formations have not been disturbed, but now
their general surfaces have been tinted a quiet grey color, relieved by
parti-colored ribs, formed at the intersections of the vaults. Longitudi-
nally, the nave and aisles are in four bays, the soffits of the principal
transverse divisions being enriched with guilloche ornaments in bold
relief, on red, and blue grounds, the bands of the guilloches being a warm
cream-color.
The compartment of the roof of the nave, at the chancel end, is ren-
dered more ornamentally expressive by having the diagonal ribs of its
To be continued.
25
vaulting more elaborately painted, and its spandrels having in their centm
medallion subjects, embodying representations of the "Choir of Anirek "
The ceiling of the chancel has an azure blue gronnd, studded with iraldw
stars, large and small intermingled, and heads emblematic of the ank.
angels.
We regret that the crowded state of our pages will not admit of a mors
lengthened description of the carvings in wood by Mr. Rogers. The chief
of them is, of course, the pulpit; but we may add that the whole diipUr
a considerable amount of talent, as well as Biblical research and vane^Ri
there being no two subjects alike in the embellishments of the bench endT
and although partaking of a Greek character in reference to tho foliage
that surrounds the subjects, the whole are well brought out and carefully
manipulated. The subjects represented, as a general rule, are symbolical,
and amongst them we distinguished " The Star of Bethlehem," " The
Winged Hour-glass," " The Brazen Serpent in the Wilderness," " Thv
Cup and Chalice," " Charity," with groups of pomegranates, lilies, wheat,
&c. To give an idea of the diversity of design displayed in the wood-
carving, we may state that there are, in all, ninety-four standards or bench-
ends distributed over the whole area of the church, all carved is
solid oak.
The pulpit, as we have already observed, is hexagonal in plan, and re«ts
on a dwarf pillar of Devonshire granite, on a Portland stone base. The
panels forming each side of the hexagon have diaper patterns on them,
tour of which are relieved by having symbolic heads of the four Evan-
gelists in their centres, carved in roundels. On the angles of the pulpit
there are twisted shafts, in the manner of Pietro Cavalini, who executed
the shrine for Strawberry-hill, the seat of Horace Walpole.
The low chancel-gates have sixteen panels, carved in subjects one-half
of which are taken from the Old and the other from the New Testament.
The royal pew is highly embellished, having in the centre a doabie
shield, surmounted by the crown, V. R., and the usual motto
"Dieu et mon Droit," together with the monogram of Victoria,
ingeniously disposed in the form of a Greek cross, the letters being
carved with more than usual sharpness and projection. This monogram
is encompassed by the rose, thistle, and shamrock, as the national em-
blems J and the whole embodies an historic and antiquarian interest,
having been suggested by that in the Charlemagne Bible of the ninth cen-
tury, now to be seen in the British Museum.
What are termed the Diocesan, Corporation, and the pew of the Wor-
shipful Company of Drapers, are also elaborately decorated. On thefiront
of the bencli end of the latter is a double enriched shield, with the motto
and date of the company, terminated by the triple crown issuing from the
clouds with rays of light. On the inside is a triple branch of lilies, as an
emblem of the Virgin, the patroness of the company, and below is carved
the shield of Fitzwillan, who was the first Lord Mayor of London, and
served twenty-four years, during the reigns of Richard I. and King John,
and who was a member of the Drapers' Company.
As regards the stained glass windows of the church, it is probable
that they comprise one of the best continuous brief histories of some «{
the principal incidents in the life of the Saviour that we have in England.
Beginning at the western end, on the southern side of the church, the
first couplet window, reading eastward (No. 1), is designed to illustrate
the advent of our Lord, and includes the Annunciation, the Nativity, the
Magi before Herod, and the Journey to Bethlehem. In the canopies ovar
the principal subjects are represented busts of the prophets who foretold
most clearly the coming of the Messiah ; and in each of the circular
openings of the tympanums of the windows are portrayed angels singing
the " Gloria in Excelsis." The stone tracery of these windowt,
five in number, are all uniform in design, and the general arrangements of
the subjects are similar. On No. 2 windows is represented the Baptism of
Christ, and the events connected with it. No. 3 may be styled the mission
or teaching window, on which is displayed the " Prodigal Son," the
" Good Samaritan," and the " Saviour on the Mount." On the fourth is
shown the Passion, including " Judas receiving the 30 pieces of silver,"
and " Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane," with the disciples asleep, &c.
The fifth window embodies the Resurrection, which event appears to be
conveyed by inference rather than actual representation, resulting, we
presume, from technical difficulties, in consequence of which the angels
announcing the Resurrection to the three Maries have been chosen to form
the realization of this difficult subject. On the western window, which is
about IC feet in height, a vigorous picture of the Crucifixion is shown,
and the large circular one, 17 feet in diameter, over the reredos, contains
a representation of the Ascension, the figure of our Lord being surrounded
by a chorus of adoring angels.
Previous to concluding our notice, we should not omit to name that at
the bottom of the western window there is a curious production by
Gibbons, which has been renovated and gilded. It is a large work cut in
wood and represents a Pelican feeding her young, and is executed with an
extraordinary amount of vigor. Opposite to this, standing on the floor, is
another relic of the church, which is a fine marble font, that was
presented in 1672 by Jacobus Paul.
The organ is placed in a recess at the eastern end of nave, on its
northern side near the chancel, and is a fine instrument, built by Mr.
Robson, of St. Martin's-lane. It contains about 4,000 pipes, with all the
new improvements. The original organ of the church was made iij
Runatus Harris, who was a contemporary of the noted Smitz.
Mr. John IVillson, builder. Great Suffolk-street, Borough, was the
general contractor for the plainer description of the works in stone, &C.,
and the whole, from the most simple to the most artistic, in all their
varieties, have been carried out in the most creditable manner.
26
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 11, 1861.
STATUE OF CROMWELL.
XTTE rejoice to hear that Mr. Bell is prepjiriug for the E.xhibition of '62
W astatue of Cromwell 10 feet high. Trom the preUminary half-sized
statue, this promises to be finer than any of this gentleman's works of this
kind— better CTen than the justly admired Falkland in the Houses of
Parliament The attitude is strikingly original and characteristic, and
fully embodies the vigorous ruler of the Common wealtli, of whom
Macaulay so justly says : — "Such was his genius and resolution that he
w»s able to orerpower and crush everything that crossed his path, and to
make himself more absolute master of his country, more dreaded and re-
spected, than she had been during many generations under the rule of her
more legitimate kings." ^
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF 1862.
EVERYTHING is now in readiness for the commencement of the struc-
ture in which the 1862 Exhibition is to be held, and we have every
reason to believe in a most successful issue. The designs and plans of
Qiptain Fowke will be carried out, and it is announced that arrangements
for the contract have already been entered into.
The Cape of Good Hope Gazelle announces that his Excellency the
Governor of that colony is desirous that the products of the Cape of
Good Hope should be properly exhibited at the ensuing International
Exhibition to be held in London in 1862, feeling convinced that great
benefit will result from a knowledge of the natural resources of the
colony being extensively disseminated. His Excellency has therefore
appointed the under-named gentlemen to form a commission to deliberate
upon the best means of carrying out this design, and trusts that they
will meet with the support and co-operation of all classes of Her
Majesty's subjects in Soulh Africa: — The Hon. R. Southy, Acting
Colonial Secretary ; the Hon. W. Porter, Attorney-General ; the Hon.
W. S. Field, Acting Collector of Customs ; Sir Thomas Maclear, Astro-
nomer Royal ; L. Pape, Esq., M.D., Colonial Botanist ; Sir W. Hodges,
Knight ; and Messrs. P. B. Borcherds, T. B. Bayley, E. Laidesberg, J. R.
Marquard, C. Mnmick, E. J. Jerram, S. Van Reenen, R. II. Arderne, R.
Hare (Grocnefontein), J. C. Gie, and R. W. Slurray. Committee of the
Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Society — Messrs. F. TV. Reitz (Swel-
lendam), T. C. Bourhill (Caledon), J. C. Molteno (Beaufort), J. Rainier
(Malmesbury), J. J. Proctor (Paarl), J. H. Memnick (Tulbagh), J. Brand
(Cluiirilliam), W. Walters (George), C. Manuel (Bredasdorp), R. Le Sueur
S Worcester), delegates of the Western Districts named after each ; and
essrs. T. AnsdeU, J. Eustace, J. Sbcppard, R. Clarence, and £. Mac-
gibbon.
SIR JOHN SOANE'S MUSEUM.
IT may not be uninteresting to many of our readers lo know what will be the
course of proceeding, under the Act of Farlinment settUng Sir John Soane's
Museum, in regard to the new curator, the oftice of which is now vacant by the
death of Mr. Georga Bailey. He is to be "an English architect who may have
dktinguished himself or gained any academical prize, being, at the least, of the
»gt of twenty-five years," who may be deemed " must competent to discharge
t£e duties of the said office" by " the President and Council of the Royal Aca-
demy for the time being " within three months of a vacancy occurring." And
" upon such appointment being duly certified to the trustees of the said Museum,"
he "(ball be instituted into the said office of curator." " During all such time
M the Mid o6Sce or appointment of curator shall be vacant, the trustees of the
Mid Mnaenm shall place a proper person in temporary charge," paying reason-
able compensation for such services. The salary provided Is £300 per annum.
Sec 3. And be It enacted that every curator of the said Mu.seum, for tlie time being,
shall (subject to the Inspection and control of the t«aid truvteeH) have tlic immediate
can, ehai^ and custody of the said house, being Xo. i:s, in Lincoln'.s-inQ-field8,
' ', and of the offices osed therewith, and of the said Museum, library, books,
_ i, manoserfpts, drswintrs, pictures, plans, and works of art, and other efifects
Taad shall keep the said house, offices, and Museum, at all times, as nearly as
llwiwi will admit, in the state and condition in which the same shall be h'ft at
tke dceease of the said Sir John .Soane; and the said curator shall reside in the said
boaae,for which purpose the said trustees shall assign and appropriate to the said
eorator one sitting-room and one bed-room, in order that he may the more con-
TCDlently and effttctaally perform the duties of his said office ; and the said curator
shall always be in attendance at the said house and Museum on such days as the
•aid home and Mnscum shall be open for public inspection, or persons shall be
admitted thereto by the said trustees, and at all other times necessary for the due
preservation of the said honse, offices, and Museum : and the said curator shall take
care that the boose, officer. Museum, and premises, be kept properly cleaned,
ed, ventilated, and in thorouf^h repair ; and In order thereto shall report to the
•aid trustees yearly, or oflener if re*iuisite or expedient, what is necessary to be done
for the due keeping up and preserving the said house, offices. Museum, and premises,
together with the estimated expense thereof, to the end that the said trustees may
"■■■• whatever repairs they may. in consequence of such report or otherwise,
ler neecsaary and expedient to be done ; and the said curator shall collect the
of th« aald bouse, being No. 1^, in Lincoln's-inn-fields aforesaid, and shall,
)at least in every year, pay the amount so received by him iuto the hands of the
I troateca. or to the account to be kept at the Hank of England in their names as
rteea of the said fund.
Sec 4, And be it enacted, that every person who shall be appointed the curator of
the said Museum shall, withm one month from his nomination and appointment
thereto, and belore he shall enter upon the said office of curator, -five satisfactory
to the said trustees, by a joint and several bond from himself and two
-g^^^ sureties, in the sum of one thousand pounds, that no part of the said
luatvn. or any of the books manuscripts, paintings, drawing's, pictures, models,
WOrica ocart, or effects, in the said >Iuseum or offices, shall be taken away from the
tald llnacum, or lost or embezzled ; and shall upon being admitted into the said
oflca of curator, make out and subscribe with his own name a full and complete
ett^ogne or •cbedule of all such books, manuscripts, prints, drawint;s, pictures,
modeB, and various works of aH, and other things, as shall \k placed under his
cbaigc as soeh curator as aforesaid, and shall deliver the same to the said trustees, or
ooe of tbem, and shall keep one other copy thereof, likewise subscribed by him, in the
pnadpal room of tbe said H nseum, for general reference.
8ee, 5. And be It ftirtbcr enacted, {that every such curator shall be removable from
bis office of curator by the said trustees at pleasure, except the person who shall be
appointed curator by the said .Sir John Soauc us hereinafter mentioned, who
•ball lie remorable by tbe said trustees with the consent of tbe President of the Itoyal
Academy."
PROGRESS OF THE MAIN DRAINAGE WORKS.
MR. BAZALGETTE, their engineer-in-chief, at. the last meeting of the Me-
tropolitan Board of Works, presented a report on the Progress of the Main
Drainage of the Metropolis during tbi! preceding month. It appeared from the
report, that the bulk of the Main Drainage Works had of necessity been stopped
for a considerable portion of the month on account of the frost. The Northern
Higli Level Sewer Works would probably be re-commenced and rapidly finished-
oif as soon as tbe weather permitted. The Middle Level Sewer, which has been
re-let to Messrs. Brassey and Co., also awaited a change in the weather. The
arrangements for placing Mr. Furncss in possession of the land along the whole
line of the Northern Outfnll Sewer were nearly completed, and those works would
be commenced in the course of the present month. The Kanelngh Storm Over-
flow Sewer across Hyde-park, progresses satisfactorily, works of the amount
of £5,700 having been completed, in addition to the under-pinning-
of the old sewer, of the value of £2,088. The Soutliern High
Level Sewer is how in progress at five difl'erent points, three
on the main line, and two on the Dulwicb or Effi'a branch, the value of the works
done being about £5,800, and the total lengtli completed was 3 miles 1,812 feet.
The Soutliern Outfall Sewer continues to be carried on in a very business-like
and satisfactory manner. The tunnel under Woolwich is about one mile in length,
and varies from 45 to 75 feet in depth. Four shafts have been sunk, and 2,253 feet
of tunnel completed ; the rest of the work is, wi th trifling exceptions, being con-
structed in open cutting ; and about 6,527 feet have been completed, making
8,510 feet in tunnel and open cutting ; the value of the work done being about
£80,000. The work for the Low-level Sewer under the SuiTcy Consumers' Gas
Company's property now progresses satisfactorily ; the water having been sub-
dued the excavations are nearly completed. The old Earl Outlet, which was in
a very dilapidated condition, is now being re-constructed, and the sewage con-
veyed through pipes to low water. This will form a storm overflow in connexion
with the Low-level Sewer.
THE NEW OFFICES OF THE METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS
riUIE new offices of the Metropolitan Board of Works are so far advanced
X towards completion, that it has been arranged the Board shall meet in them
for the transaction of business, on Friday, the second of March next.
THE BUILDERS' BALL.
EVENTS come round with each succeeding year, and the notice of the Builders*
Ball in aid of the funds of the Builders' Benevolent Institution, [which
appears in our advertisement pages, warns us that St. Valentine's day is again
drawinji nigh^ and with it the Builders' Ball. We have so often expressed our
admiration of the Builders' Benevolent Institution, and of its mnngement, that
our readers are pretty well versed in our opinions. Tlie Builders' Ball renders
great aid to the Institution, and is looked forward to by hundreds as a pleasant
reunion. It is warmly encouraged by the ladies, who are, we have been told,
apt to look somewhat coldly and suspiciously upon annual dinners and clubs,
where the gentlemen have it all to themselves; but with St. Valentine's Ball the
case is difl'erent. The ladies accompany their husbands, fathers, or brothers, and
how can we tell who some of the fair daughters or sisters may meet by the
merest chance in that gay throng, on St. Valentine's night ? How can we de-
scribe the delightful dance and conversation, and the merry glances and smiles
that may come of that mere chance meeting ? Or what right have we even to
hint about " partners for life " — or to picture to ourselves the number of young
couples that may soon require a snug villa, and furniture, and decorations, and
many other things to be found in the advertising columns of professional jour-
nals ? We are aware that we have no business to think, let alone whisper, any-
thing of the sort ; and by way of getting clear of the subject, we advise every
one of our subscribers to secure tickets at once, and not to leave a grown-up
son or daughter without one. The tickets are not expensive ; the Ball is but
annual ; and the funds derived from it, let all remember, are devoted to the
succour of the aged and infirm.
Darlington. — Opening of the New Station. — The new station on the
North Eastern Railway, which has been in course of erection during the past
twelve months or more, was opened on New year's Day. The station, which
may fairly be classed amongst the very best on the company's line, may be said
to be divisible into three compartments, the north wing being composed of
splendid refreshment-rooms, a smoke-room, dining-room, second-class refresh-
ment-room, kitchen and three bed-rooms, and other conveniences. The centre
wing, which recedes 30 feet from the rest of the building, comprises first-class
ladies' and gentlemen's and general waiting-rooms, anil booking and parcels
oftices. The south wing, in a line with the north, is occupied by the telegraph
and station-master's offices, the porter's lodge, public conveniences, and two
other rooms which as yet have not been appropriated to any specific purpose, but
one of which, it is thought, will be used as a consulting-room by the directors or
any other gentlemen connected with the line. The entire length of platform is
aliout 560 feet. The contractors were — for the excavation, brickwork, masonry,
and idastcring, Mr. Wcatherley, of York; carpenter and joiner work, Mr.
Kirby, of Scarbro' ; slating, Mr. Sanderson, of York ; plumbing, glazing, and
gas fitting, Mr. Walsh, of Halifax ; and painting, papering, and decoration, Mr.
Moore, oi York. The clerk of works was Mr. J . Edwards, of York.
A Note and Query for King Thwaites. — We want to know (and the
bearer waits for an answer) it your Subterranean and Serene Majesty could
inform us whether a Sewer derives any particular gratification, when it is being
divert edl
Samaritan Free Hospital. — The number of patients treated at the
Samaritan Free Hospital for Women and Children, Edwards-street, Portman
square during the week ending January 5th, was 881, of which 154 were new
cases.
Birstall. — Opening of the New National Schools. — The new school-
room at Birstall, whicli has been built at the expense of about £500, was opened
on Monday last. The building is a handsome one, of Gothic design, after the
Plans of Mr. Millican, and the funds have been most liberally contributed by all
classes of the parishioners.
Jatjuarv 11, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
27
THE FINE ARTS SEEN FROM A NEW POINT OF VIEW.*
No. 5. — Gothic Art.
ABOUT the period of the rise of Christianity a Tiolation of the princi-
ples of art analogous to that described at the close of the preceding
article was exhibited. The debris of Classic architecture was piled hetero-
geneously to form churches for the new faith, the Roman basilicie being
frequently adopted for this purpose. Design and appropriateness
were ignored in the production of a medley antagonistic to the spirit to be
expressed.
But a system of art, truly reflective of the ideas of the times, was slowly
evolved in the Byzantine and Lombard styles. During the first two or
three centuries decoration and ornament were quite subsidiary to sym-
bolism. This was gradually enlarged in scope, attaining in Gothic archi-
tecture a development concurrent with aesthetic advancement, although
the aim after beauty was always subordinated to religious purport.
Almost every description of natural imagery was adopted, Gothic thus
presenting a striking contrast to Mahometan art, in which human and
animal figures were generally excluded, geometrical patterns and inscrip-
tions being chiefly introduced: the last were not used extensively in Eng-
land until after the thirteenth century.
Symbolism being, then, the most prominent characteristic of Gothic art,
it is desirable to enter somewhat minutely into the subject.
At first symbolism was adopted very cautiously, the votaries of Chris-
tianity being persecuted, and regarded much as their successors now look
on the Mormons. But as the primitive Christians were freed from the
terror of extermination, and increased in prosperity and power, images
were openly adopted. There were not two languages— esoteric and
exoteric — but all understood the emblems, which Kugler remarks were
" the first attempts at an independent artistic development of a Christian
character, the creations of a free popular conformity, not the hieroglyphics
of a passive obedience." Many of the Pagans converted to Christianity
could not escape from the influence of their former creed ; and a fierce
contest ultimately arose between two rival parties as to the legitimacy of
images. Some abhorred them, regarding carvers as emissaries of Satan, Ter-
tullian even describing artists as "persons of iniquitous occupations."
But the Imageours triumphed over the Iconoclasts ; and Gothic art was
the ultimate result of the victory. " Christianity had conquered
Paganism, but Paganism had infected Christianity. The Church was now
victorious and corrupt. The rites of the Pantheon had passed into her
worship, the subtilties of the Academy into her creed. "f Many of the
Pagan customs { were also adopted as prominent parts of the new creed ;
and dissimilar meanings were attached to the old symbols.
Thus, the vine, which appertained to the worship of Bacchus, was ren-
dered symbolical of the cup of wine that Christ presented his disciples as
a type of his blood ; or it signified the laborers in the vineyard of the new
faith. The corn of Ceres was introduced as emblematic of the body of
Christ, in allusion to the bread used at the Last Supper. Venus's dove,
sometimes bearing the olive branch, the token of meekness and charity,
typified the Holy Ghost. Cupids and genii, with the wings of Psyche,
were converted into angels and cherubs. On account of her miraculous
conception, the Virgin received the crescent of the Egyptian Isis and the
Grecian Diana. In the form of the pheenix, Juno's peacock represented
eternity, or the soul after the resurrection ; the Christian soul seeking the
living waters being personified by Diana's stag. Cybele's lion was given
to one Evangelist, Jupiter's eagle to another ; and Apollo's lyre indicated
the worship of God. The sphynx, griffin, and chimera were often intro-
duced ; and the ancient practice of placing animals at the feet of statues
was continued in the effigies on Medieval tombs : a dog, for instance, at
the feet of a married woman indicating fidelity, as a lion at those of a
knight declared his courage. From the triades of Egypt the tangible re-
presentation of the Christian Trinity is traceable. According to Caylus,
the Greek cross was used on coins by the Egyptians as a symbol of future
life ; and we observe the cross surmounting the ball on some of their
tombs, and the " mother and child " in their zodiac. The bee, as an emblem
of royal power, the globe symbolising the universe, the sun and moon typi-
fying the course of human life, and the serpent, were derived from Egypt:
humanity trampling on the serpent has long been pictured by the Hindoos.
From Greece came the use of the lion on tombs, together with that of
Cupid and Psyche, indicating eternal love ; and the representation of
Paradise as a mountain was doubtless suggested by Mount Olympus.
Again, the palm branch, indicating in Classic times wordly victory, marked
'The rtijht of republication aud of translation of this ucries of articles is reserved
by the author.
t M.icaulay'8 review of Montapi's edition of Bacon's works.
I As m.stances :— The Medieval Christians followed the example of the ancients in
consecrating ground ; sprinliliiig holy water at religious rites, and providing- tazzas
or stoups ; propitiating the gods, or saints, by offenngs : preserving the virginity of
females devoted to hoFy purposes ; burning perfumes at the altar, and lighting lamps
and torches, or tapers, in honor of the Deity. As the ancients placed lamps in the
sepulchreB of their departed friends, employing persons to watch them, the
deceased sometimes freeing slaves on condition of their attending occasionally to his
sepulchral lamp i so the Christians bequeathed money for the erection of chapels in
which masses were to be celebrated periodically for the repose of their sotilsf The
S''f'?i' .,.''.'""'?''■'' *'"''■' 'i""sc-8 witli lamps, and placed candelabra within and
outsiae the temples ; so the Christians used lights to signify the shining forth of the
gospel, and as emblems of good examples guiding others. Polytheism suggested
tne worship of saints and martyrs. Gothic orientation was derived from the Pagan
lasnioii of turning eastward. The Saturnalia was continued in the Carnival, the
Jormer also originating the Medieval "fool;" and the festival with offerings to the
goaaess btrcnia was continued in that of the new year with the gifts called in
I'fi"'"'. v"'lu"'?:v ?'''.'' practice of erecting maypoles at the arrival of spring was
atrived by the Christians from the Komans, as was also that of sprinkling flowers on
..wi.Pf.''''.™","'' """^ ''""^"S K"'*'"l* on.the walls and altars of churches, together
wiin their deposition on tombs. Compare "An Historical Essay on Architecture "
oy 1. Hope.
that of the Christian over death ; or, in the hands of saints and martyn,
the triumplis of Christianity. The nimbus, or glory of the head, a* the
vesica pUcis was that of the entire form, followed the practice of crown-
mg gods and emperors. The mode of representing the devil was either
derived from Pan with his cloven foot, profligate rites appertaining to him,
or from Pluto, a rough sketch at Pompeii of this deity being similar to the
form adopted by the Medievalists for tlieir evil one. Christian altars were
suggested by those of the Jews or Pagans, for sacrifices and solemnisa-
tions of war, peace, friendship, marriage, &c The asylum afforded by
flying to the altar dates back from before the siege of Troy. A river waa
typified by a river god, a mountain by a mountain god, a city by a figure
with a mural crown, heaven by a male figure throwing a veil in an arched
form over his head and night by a female figure with a torcli and a star-
bespangled robe, all copied from the ancients. Even the Pagan priest*
tunic, the augur's lituus, and the flamen's cap, were repeated in the Dal-
matic, mitre, stafl", and crozier.
But Medieval Christianity difiered so widely from Paganism that new
emblems were absolutely necessary. The best authority on the subject of
Gothic symbolism states that the great doctrines sought to be portrayed
were — 1. The Redemption of man by the sacrifice of our Lord on the cross,
seen, as the foundation of the religion, in the plans of cathedrals and large
churches, and the crosses at spires, gables, altars, &c.; 2. The three equal
persons united in the Godhead, observable in t he three gable ends and doors,
and numerous figures based on the principle of the triangle — trefoils, tracery,
&c. I 3. The resurrection of the dead, signified by the vertical lines pre-
dominating, the height and soaring character of the masses, — " The lofty
nave and choir, with still loftier towers, crowned by clusters of pinnacles
and spires, all directed towards Heaven, beautiful tmblems of the
Christian's brightest hope, the shame of the Pagan ; the cross, raised high
in glory, — a token of mercy and forgiveness, crowning the sacred edifice,
and placed between the anger of God and the sins of the city."*
As the last development of symbolism, that of the Middle Ages is very
remarkable. It often spoke in most touching and beautiful language to
the meek and humble follower of Christ. In the darkness of the Medieval
night it appeared, either as a bright light dawning on the ignorant soul,
or as a terrible vision, Jrightening him into Heaven. Its alternations from
the tender and pathetic — almost melting into tears and lacerating terribly
the sorrowing heart— to the awful and the horrible, have never been
approached with such wonderful power and force of contrast.
" How reverend is the face of this tall pile,
Whose ancient pillars rear their marble heads
To bear aloft its arched and ponderous roof.
By its own weight made steadfast and immovable.
Looking tranquillity. It strikes an awe
And terror on my aching aiqtit; the tombs
And monumental caves of death look cold.
And shoot a chitlness through my trembling heart.**
On one side are glimpses of that Heaven, in whose calm and happy regions
the blessed tune the lyre, and joyfully sing the praises of the Most High.
On the other are visions of those overwhelming fields, all parched up,
where are eternal torments, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.
It is sufficiently distressing to examine some of these deplorable works
even now, when their imaginary character is comprehended ; and we can
thus conceive how deep an impression was made on the minds of those
who firmly believed in their reality, and were taught to —
— " love the high embowcd roof.
With antique pillars massy proof.
And storied windows richly dight,
Ca£ting a. dim retigiotts light."
The dreadful system long fostered conformity in religious belief. Of
all men, the Medieval priests best understood this power of art. In
Egyptian and Hindoo architecture we perceive striking exemplifications
of similar aims. The Greek sculptors also occasionally sought to over-
come the understanding. Speaking of the statue of Zeus Olympius by
Phidias, Quintilian observes:—" Ejus pulchritudo adjecisse aliquid etiam
receptae religioni videtur, adeo majestas operis deum aequavit." Sp in
Gothic art, the object invariably present was so to inspire terror, wither
freedom of intellect, and humble the heart, as to render men helpless
tools in the priesthood's hands. History confirms the fact, which is also
acknowledged by the modern Medievalists. " The purpose of a cathedral,'
says Ruskin, "is not so much to shelter the congregation as to awe
them." t J J . jf
Returning to Gothic symbolism, much was, as before noted, derived from
Paganism ; but original allegories peculiarly appropriate to the Medieval
phase of Christianity were soon devised. u t • •»
Thus, God was typified by a hand issuing from a globe (I) ; the Irinity
by a three-colored rainbow, Christ being sometimes seated on it (2);
Eternal Life by the river Jordan (3) ; and a ship entering port signified
admission into Heaven, to which last the ark of Noah and the ship of bt.
Peter also alluded (4). Christ was represented by a Iamb (o), twelve in
procession being the twelve apostles, while a thirteenth more exalted than
the rest and with a nimbus stood for himself j by a vine (6), his disciples
being the branches ; by a pelican (7); by a rock (8) ; by a lamp or
candle, as " the light of the world " (9), seven bemg placed at the altar to
to signify the gifts of the Spirit (10) ; and by water^n the form of a
fountain, or issuing from the beak of a dove (11). The Faithful were
emblematised by sheep (12) ; stags (13) ; and fishes (14). The Virgm
•"Contrasts." By A. W. Pngin.
t " Lectures on Architecture and I'ainting. _ . , „ . „„
(1) Ezek. ii. 9; viii. 3. (2) Ezek. i. 28 ; Rev. V 3 (3) Ezek. xlv i, Ker.
xxi. 1, 2. (4)1. Peter ill. 20, 21, 22. (S) Isaiah liii. 7. 6) 2 John xv. 1.
(7) Psilm cii. 6. (8) 1. Cor. x. 4; Exod. xvii 6. (9) John 'fi 'u ^, (^OiH-
L12- iv 5 (11) John' V. 1*. (12) John x. 14 ; xxl. lo. (13) Psalm xlU. i.
(14) Math. xiii.
2S
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 11, 1861.
"tiamplei on the dragon," or serpent; and, with the crescent under her
flHt, appc*rs as " a great sign in Heaven, n woman clothed with the sun,
aad the mooo under her feet." "The seed of the woman bruises the
snpent's head ;" " the humble and meek are exalted ;" the " angels stand
about the throiw j" and the kings " tread down their enemies."
Fanages from the Old Testament were adopted as foreshadowing events
and dootrines of the new disi>cnsation. The affliction of Job thus em-
lilcinnliw il the Saviour, "despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief." Klijah mounting to heaven typified the
AMeation ; and the entrance into Jerusalem signified the second coming
of Christ. Mows striking the rock, with figures drinking the water, in-
dicated Christ's miraculous origin, the " Well of Salvation," or " the
ipiiitual rock from which we drink." Jonah, cast into the moutli of the
whale and thrown up upon land, emblematised the death and resurrection
oif the Saviour ; and Daniel in the lion's den alluded to Clirist's passage
through the valley of the shadow of death .
The strong feeling of veneration for the dramatis persona of Christianity
led to the devisil of symbols by which they might be distinguished: in
Byzantine art each saint had certain colors and proportions. Besides the
flgmes before cited, Christ * was represented under the form of a fish, or
vetieapiscis, bom the circumstance of the Greek name for a fish, contain-
ing the initials of the words, " Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour."
The instruments of the Passion, Scourging, and Crucifixion were
frequently delineated, together with five crosses, indicating the five
wounds. Protestantism still retains the Agnus Dei, or Lamb bearing the
Cioaa.
The Virgin had also her peculiar emblems, of which the lily, often con-
ventionalised into the Jleur de lit was one of the chief, it being repeated in
Gothic art as frequently as the Egyptians used the lotus, or water-lily. A
white rose was sometimes appropriated to the Virgin.
Angels, as messengers, liavc wings, flaming swords to indicate the
wrath of God, trumpets his voice, sceptres his power, musical instruments
expressive of their happiness, and thuribles, or censers, indicating the
prayers of the saints they convey. Archangels have often a cross on
their forehead, a dart in one hand, and a banner, hanging from a cross, in
the other, denoting victory. Cherubim, typifying fulness of knowledge,
or wisdom, have four wings : their occasional bright red color was a sign
of the intensity of the Divine love. The wings of seraphim signified
their spiritual motion ; and a fiaming heart their ardent afi'ection.
The Evangelists, seated and writing on scrolls, are accompanied by the
four mystic creatures — the angel, or lion, appertaining to Matthew, tlie
lion to Mark aUo, the calf, nr winged ox, to Luke, and the eagle to John,
who soared to contemplate the mystery of Christ's divinity, as the bird
faces the sun. St. Mattliew is likewise represented with a spear, or with
a carpenter's square or axe ; St. Paul, with a sword or book ; St. Simon,
with a saw ; St. Peter, with keys ; St. John the Baptist, dressed in camel's
hair and with a leathern girdle, and with a lamb and banner. Apostles
are usually standing, with the emblems of their martyrdom ; bishops,
tither standing and blessing, or seated and instructing ; and martyrs have
the instruments of their suffering, palm branches and crowns : the last of
flowers, were given to virgins. An ox represented the priesthood. The
light comes figuratively through the saints in stained glass windows.
Both animal and vegetable forms were introduced to typify qualities and
mysteries. A hen and chickens, and also ravens, signified Providence ;
and fruit, God's bounty ; a heart, Christ's love ; ears of corn, or loaves,
and grapes or vases of wine, the Last Supper ; a dove, the Holy Ghost or
Spirit, sometimes also meaning meekness and charity. The olive indi-
cated peace ; the palm, victory ; the ivy, eternal life ; and the oak, virtue
or strength. A goat was often put under seats as a mark of dishonor or
lust ; the boar signified ferocity or sensuality ; and the serpent, as the
instrument of the fall, evil, or Satan ; The owl typified darkness or soli-
tude ; the horse saliant, war ; the dragon, pestilence ; the cock, watchful-
ness ; the fox, cimning and rapacity ; and the peacock, in early times the
resurrection, and ultimately vain-glory. Together with the eagle, the lion
signified dominion and royal power.
Among the miscellaneous signs, the anchor was the emblem of hope,
trust, and fortitude; and it was often entwined with a dolphin or two
fishes. A lyre indicated the worship of God ; a vessel in full sail, or a
temale figure with hands raised in prayer, the church militant ; quartre-
foils or 8<iuarc-8, the four Evangelists ; trefoils, triangles, and sometimes
three rays emanating from the head of Christ, the Trinity ; a wheel within
a wheel, the two Covenants of the Old and New Testaments ; and a floriated
cross, triumph and glory. White, as the color of innocence, was often
adopted for the garb of holy persons, and blue and red were usually ap-
propriated to Christ. Heaven was denoted by a dome, a starry vault, a
spherical apse, or by a segment of a circle, frequently pure blue, and oc-
casionally having the colors of the rainbow, while a globe or sphere, some-
times of a deep blue color, indicated the universe. An orb, surmounted
by a cross, signified temporal power or sovereignty. Fonts were often
made in the form of an octagon, this figure symbolising regeneration, as
the cross did redemption. The pelican, emblematising Christ's shedding his
blood, was appropriated to sacramental vessels, t
• Tliere stlU remain historical representations of Christ performing miracles, or
Mated ttatmg liin dlwipk-B. so anelcnt as the time of ConsUnUne the Great.
^"efer tayt the earliest wirYrniVn of Christ were ma/le about A.D. 230. Hope
raurk* that It was not till the sixth century that the body of Christ was exhibited
2i?" ?S!*i °"' ** ■*• '••■ ''"'■' "■"' suptrsedlng alleiforical by distinct representations
WMsUotncd : while I'nifln awerti that HijnreB of Christ on the cross do not exist
ff ■*"''*? °«tg '"«" the tenth c.ntury. Tlie oldest portrait of Christ is that in the
vmmimiKA Wt. Callxius on the Appian Way.
J,J^JS^^J'*^$<*>"^JO"'^rminutKly Into the subject of Symbolism gene-
auy, H rccnred to the works, on which I have chiefly relied, or U. I'. Knight,
It is very curious that, at this time of day, it should be necessary to
repeat the preceding lore otherwise than for merely antiquarian purposes, or
to illustrate the progress of civilisation ; but I have ventured to risk the
imputation of tediousness in detailing a few features of Medieval
symbolism in order that the general reader may form some idea of its
extent, and of the tendency of the present Gothic revival. In spite of the
lesson taught by ancient artistic remains of rendering art peculiarly
reflective of the characteristics of the times, in spite of the folly of the
attempts to revive Classic architecture, and in spite of the fact that the
civilisation of Medievalism was so degraded that its exponents should no
more be recalled tangibly than abstractly, any more than feudalism and
chivalry should be restored, Pugin speaks of the eflbrts of the
modern Medievalists as marking a jieriod in ■which we are "just
emerging from a state which may be termed the dark ages of architec-
ture."* But we shall soon see clearly that in this matter we are only
exchanging one dark age for another still darker, considering the enlighten-
ment of the present century.
I know that many eminent antiquarian draughtsmen and eloquent
archaeological writers object to these views, and that their sentiments have
been accepted by a section of the public. It is precisely on this account
that it is desirable to state the opinions of their opponents more plainly
than has hitherto been done.
Edwabd L. Taebdok.
No. 2.
VILLAGE CHURCHES.— Part II.,
BADGEWORTH CHTTRCH.
BADGEWORTH is a large parish situated about five miles to the north-east of
Gloucester, and nearly the same distance from Cheltenham. It is
approached by a long, flat winding road, which is somewhat monotonous, and
possesses no striking feature interesting to the tourist, being very like other roads
that wind througli cultivated plains. After branching from the turnpike-road,
aiidjsome distance from it, it leads partly round the toot of Chosen Hill, which
rises abruptly from the vale, and is quite isolated. On the summit of this hill is
Chosen or Churchdown Church, which from its elevated position commands an
extensive view of the level country around, and of Gloucester, Clieltenham, and
Malvern, the latter place lying at the foot of the Malvern Hills, which terminate
the landscape on the north. It is chiefly in the Perpendicular style, though we
find fragments there of other and earlier styles. In some portions of the external
walls on the north side are built remnants of carved and moulded work, which
belonged to some ancient church, either standing here or at the foot of the hill.
It has a tower at the west end, of poor design and rather low — a south aisle, nave,
ehanoel, and north porch. l)n the inside wall of the tower is written " This belhous
was buylded in the yeere of our Lorde God 1601." The whole of the interior is
whitewashed, the nave arches are apparently late Decorated, having round
columns with moulded caps and bases. This church in its high situation is seen
from a great distance, and forms a good finish to the bold outline of the hill.
Why it was built there does not seem at all clear, tradition says that it was
originally intended that it should be built at tlie base of the hill, but when the
works were in pregress, what was done in the day was taken up at night by some
invisible power and placed on the summit : these removals were so incessant and
regular that the builders at length found it necessary to comply with the will of
the unseen, and hence its position. This legendary explanation is scarcely suited
for the nineteenth century, and therefore conjecture must supply the deficiency of
recorded fact. It may be mentioned that it was in the parish of Churchdown
that John Harmar, the Greek professor, was born.
Leaving the hill to the south-west, the road takes a north-east direction, and
winds round the north and west sides of Badgcworth Church, from which it is
separated by a gorge, through which a small stream flows. This stream is
crossed by a bridge, and on each side the road is inclined, and lined with trees,
forming a beautiful spot, even in winter. The church stands on an eminence,
and has a goo<l sprinkling of trees around it, appearing from a little distance to
be closely surrounded by them. It is dedicated to St. Mary or Holy Trinity, and
consists of a nave, north aisle, chancel, and tower at the west end of nave. The
chancel is very large in proportion to the nave, and is of the same width. The
chancel aicli is a plain, two-laced arch, with the angles splayed. The outer splay
on each side is carried down the pier, the one on the nave side to the floor, and
the other about half-way down. The inner splay is stopped by the flat-face of
the pier. A corbel, the top of which is level with the spring-Une, projects from
the inside of the pier, but does not support anything, neither does it appear to
be of any present use. There are two three-light Perpendicular windows in the
south wall of chancel, and two of the same style in the north wall; the one a two-
light window and the other a single light. ITiere is also a door on the north side,
with the outer angle splayed ; the splay on the one side being stopped some
distance above the other. 'This doorway is well pointed, and appears to be of
earlier date than the windows. The east window is a three-light, and is in the
Decorated style ; it is very plain. The centre light is much wider than the others,
being alwut 2 feet 4 inches at bottom, and more at the top, as it spreads out-
wards as it rises. The side lights are only 1 foot !)J inelies, and together with the
centre one are filled up with masonry for some distance from the top of the sill.
The iambs externally are not moulded, but simply splfiyed. In the arrangement
of the mullions this window is not unlike those in the south aisle of Gloucester
Cathedral, but they have not the slightest enrichment, while those of the
cathedral are richly ornamented mth tlie ball flower, and well moulded. It is
hidden on the inside by a large piece of tapestry which is placed over the altar,
representing Christ and another flgure larger than life-size ; the colors are very
subdued, and the workmanship is very curious. Against the north wall of the
chancel is a plain wooden tablet of rather large dimensions, on which are burnt
with a hot iron the ten commandments. At the bottom we read : " God save the
Queen, I.Wl. James Elbridge, William Bub," which seems rather a curious
finish to what is written above. On a monumental tablet on the south wall of
the chancel, is the following curious inscription. — It appears to be erected to
tlie memory of some worthy couple who died in the latter part of the eighteenth
century: —
A. ^Y.-.l'agia, T. Hope, Lord Lindsay, S. Birch; Kugler, and Sir Gardner Wilkin-
son. ^
* "An Apology for the Revival of Christian Archltectiu-e in England."
January 11, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
29
(
"Sleepe in Beath'H chamber, happy payre, and have
Ab heretofore one bed, so now one tjrave
JJy death rejoyned, and by it freed from care,
And greife to which tlitr livinge subject are.
T eares from yor (^yea are wept whilst we weepc O'er
Our loape, and by recounting nialce it more;
Cliastity and love onet; crown'd y marriage bed.
Here truth and liope us l'r;i;;rant ilours are spred.
Sleepe in Death's chambers, happy payre, and when
The trunipe shall sound youle wake and rise agen."
The nave, as before remarked, is small compared vfith^the chancel, it is separated
from the nortli aisle by three arches consisting of two faced arches with the
angles splayed, and the same on both sides ; these are supported by octagonal
columns having moulded caps and bases, there is no half-column at the piers on
the east and west ends, but the outer splay of arch is continued nearly to the
ground and then stopped, and the recessed one dies against the flat face of the
piers. These arches are not equilateral, but seem to be struck from a centre be-
low the line of springing;, and rest on octagonal masonry above the cap. The
wall is 2 feet 0 inches thick, and the inner soffit of arch measures OJS inches. The
caps are nicely moulded and are also octagonal. The mouldings which compose
them are first a quarter-round projecting over an under quarter-round with a
small round mouUling under, then a flat face, a hollow and quarter-round in one
sweep, a small fillet, an under quarter-round, another small fillet, and then the
large hollow under the cap with a neck moulding of a keel shape. The moulded
part measures about 7 inches, the neck ]| inch, and the space between 4| inches.
The shaft is 5 feet 6 inches high, and its sides measure 9 inches. The bases con-
sist of a quarter-round, with its underside flat and an inverted cavetto to its
outer line, then a flat face, and under this is a splayed plinth G inches in height,
the total height of the base is about 1 foot, and the projection about 4^ inches.
The mouldings of caps appear somewhat small, but are well cut. The ceiling of
nave is in the form of a Tudor ai'ch with longitudinal and transverse ribs dividing
it into rectangular compartments. There are also three large tie beams moulded,
and having wall pieces under them at each end, supported by curved stone
corbels. The ribs of the two compartments at the east end are much lousier than
the others, and appear to be more elaborate, the spaces between them are
colored red without any attempt at design, and have a rathei- gloomy effect; at
every intersection of the ribs throughout the ceiling a boss is carved in the Per-
pendicular style, this being the period in which the entire roof was probably
executed.
The vestry stands on the south of nave, and is entered by a door in the south
wall, opposite to the entrance in the north wall of aisle. At the extreme east of
the south wall of the nave is what appears to have been a piscina. It is an
opening 1 foot wide with a trefoil head, and measures 2 feet 1 inch from the top
of the sill to the under apex of arch. A splay is carried round it and also down
the side, but stopped just above the sill or drain stone. It is 1 foot deep from
the face of wall, and is in the Perpendicular style. There is another opening in
the north side of the east pier of nave arches, apparently for a similar purpose.
The sill projects and is moulded, and the arch, which is foiled or cusped, is equi-
lateral in shape, 1 foot U inches wide, 2 feet 2 inches from floor, and 1 foot
3 inches from the top of drainstone to the apex of arch. There is only one window
in the south wall of nave ; it is situated at the east end, has two lights and is of
Perpendicular design. The west window, which is built in the wall of tower, is
a three-light window of that style of Perpendicular which somewhat resembles
the Continental Flamboyant. There is a doorway immediately under it, but it
possesses nothing worthy of notice. We now come to the most interesting
portion of the church— the north aisle. It is in the best style of art, and is the
work of the fourteenth century, except the east window, which is an insertion
of the style that followed. In the north wall is a doorway with two two-light
windows on the east and one on the west. Another, of the same design but a
little different in detail, stands in the west wall. The whole of these windows
are decorated with a profusion of ball -flowers both inside and out; the
mouldings are very numerous, and exceedinKly beautiful, and the efl'ect
produced by the entire combination is rarely, if ever, surpassed, even in our best
cathedrals. For a country church it seeius surprising that such rich and
elaborate workmanship should have been bestowed upon it, but it appears that
neither labor nor money was spared to make this part what it is— a beautiful
monunicnt of the skill and pure taste of the medieval architects, who, however
small or unimportant may have been their work, brought their whole energies
and talent to bear upon it ; and thus we find their productions of whatever size
or magnitude, unexceptionable examples of the rich and magnificent style that
then prevailed. As our description of this church has been confined to the
interior, we will first describe the inside of these windows and door, and leave
the exterior till after.
■ iT'l? '^""^^^yy internally, has a depressed segmental arch, the angle of which
13 hollowed and ornamented with ball-flowers of oj inches diameter, this being
the width of the hollow. These ball-flowers are placed closer to each other in
the jambs than in the wch ; being in the one case only 4i inches apart, while in
the other, they are about 8 inches, though they are not placed quite regular ; the
two flowers in the middle being a little closer than the others. There are seventeen
remaining, but some have been broken off; they have three leaves, and are
boldly cut. The thickness of this, the north wall, is about 4 feet, giving a good
opportunity for great depth of moulding, both inside and out. It is in this that
the modern architects fail, in some cases from ignorance, in others from want of
power to enable them to follow in the footsteps of the old masters. The maioritv
ofour new works are so shallow and superficial that they lack that grand and
imposing look which is apparent, even in every portion of detail which the works
of the Gothic architects 0 the imddle ages contained. Our doors and windows
are not recessed sufficiently froni the face of wall-tho.se opportunities for a fine
cluster of mouldings are lost sight of and neglected, and this accounts, to a great
extent, for the flatness of our fa(;ades before spoken of. But to resume our de-
scription.
The west window is finished, on the inside, different from the others, having a
splay round the head the same width as that of the sides, while the other windows
are not splayed, either at the sides or head. It is finished on the outside by a
moulding o inches wide, stopped 3 inches above the sill; the lights are 1 foot 11
inches wide, and the mullions of all the windows are the same size and same
mouldings, measuring 9 inches by 14 inches, and consisting of the outer fillet
with the angles chamfered, then two hollows separated by a plain fillet, and lastly,
the plain lace that receives the ginss, having the angle also slightly chamfered
these mouldings are repeated on the outside, the one to the extreme eaat o^
north wall, having ball-flowers in both hollows in the head u well u down the
centre mullion and half mullioiis in the jamb ; tlienext window has only one row
of ball-flowers down the mullion and half mullion. In the window on west of
door, and at the west of north wall of aisle the ball-flowers are only fonml in the
half mollions in the jamb and in the head, and tlie window in the wed end of
aisle has no ball-flowers below tlie springing line, but the h<ad is enriched by
them the same as in all the others. The mulliona on the outside are arnuLnd in
the same manner.
At the angle of jamb on the inside of the north windows, around, fluted
moulding, vyith a base but no cap, is continued up the vertical portion and round
the arch, neither of wliich is splayed ; this inouliling appears to be of a later atvle
than the otlier portions of window, and was probably inserted sometime after the
windows had been built. The angle itself has been hollowed and contains ball-
flowers, which are continued ail round tlie arch. The inside sill is 13inchei
lower than the upper line of the outer one in the west window, hut in the north
window it is 19 inches below the splay in the one raeasuring 9 inches, in the
the other 10 inches. The top of sill is ."> feet 4 inches from the floor line, and
about the same from the ground line on the outside, there being no step. The
mullions in the heads of these windows are not arranged in the geometrical form,
but on the two arches of the two lights a carved triangle. If it may be so termed,
is placed, [each curve has two cusps— an arrangement which is adopted in the
arched heads of the two lights.
We now come to the external work of this aisle. Over every arch is a large and
elaborate hood moulding, ornamented witli hall-floweis, and measuring TJ iiicha
wide, and projecting 5 inches from the face of wall. They consist on the upper
side of a small quarter-round next the wall and a mnch largtT one outside; under
tliis is a cavetto, then a keel-shaped moulding with a fillet on the under side, a
hollow in which the ball-flowers are cut ; and lastly, the fillet and keel moulding
repeated, and connected with the face of wall by a small curve. The base mould-
ing which runs along the wall between the sill and ground line is similarly
moulded but is much larger and has no ball-flower ; being rather low, the effect
of these mouldings Ls nearly lost, especially when a person stands near the
church. This moulded base projects one foot from the &ceofwaII. It is not
continued round the east and west ends of aisle but fini.shes at the angles.
The arch of the doorway is round, but the few mouldings furthest from the
outside line of wall are terminated at the centre by a very small ogee, which docs
not add to its beauty. There aiii four hollows filled with ball-flowers in the
jamb, besides that in the hood-moulding. The mouldings extend 20 inches on
each side of the doorway, and the same distance in depth from the fice of wall
outside ; they consist of three-quarter rounds with fillets at the fiace and sidea,
and others with a fillet on one side only, and a rounded point down the face, tbeae
are separated by hollows and quarter hollows, and the jamb is divided as it were
into two parts, by two small flat faces at right angles in the centre ; on each side
of this centre the mouldnigs are the same. The whole ofthemouldings are stopped
on a squaie plinth 8 inches in height. The ball-flowers are 2 inches in diameter,
are placed 3J inches apart, and as in the windows they are placed in horizontal
rows. Over the hood-moulding is carved a large head, and also one at each end,
the bottom of which is level with tlie line of spring. Between the door and
windows, on either side, there is a space of 2 feet (i inches in vridth, and between
the two windows at the north end the face measures 2 feet 8 inches. The sills of
these windows are deeply splayed, the under luie of splay being only 3 feet from
the ground line. The arches are equilaterial, and the hood mouldings as before
described ; at the apex, however, instead of a head as in the door, we find a kind
of finial, resting on the upper side, and formed of three leaves of good design.
In the window at the west end of aisle a head is carved some distance above
the hood-moulding and quite distinct from it. The headsat the ends of the hood-
mouldings over the windows are well carved and of good design, especially thoae
at the west-end window. The jamb mouldings are as follows : first a quarter
hollow from the outside face of wall, then a three-quarter round with rounded
angle on the face, and a fillet on tlie under side separating it from a bold hollow
containing ball-flowers ; next comes a three-quarter round with a fillet on each
side and one down the face, and then the hollow witli ball-flowers, fillet, three-
quarter round and quarter hollow as on other side repeated. This is separated
from the half mullion with its two hollows filled with ball-flower, by a small flat
face, the glass is about 19 inches from the face of wall, and the mouldinp on
each side of window extend 14 inches. The ball-flowers have only three leaves
each, arc 2 inches in diameter, and about 3 inches apart. They are not placed
so near together in the two west windows, but about double the distance apart,
except in the head, where, as before stated, no distinction is made between one
win(fow and the other. They are found in the hollow of hood-moulding the same
as in that of the door. In a rather large hollow in the eaves-mouldings 'hey are
placed alternately with flat four-leoved flowers, and have a good effect. The
external appearance of this aisle on the north and west side* is exceeduiBly
beautiful, and must excite the admiration of all who see it. Without careful
drawings it is liard to convey an idea of the effect of the whole, the detail is of a
bold and artistic character, and well worth the notice of all those whom it may
interest, and who have an opportunity of visiting this old example of medieval
workmanship. Space will not admit of our giving a desmption of the other
few remaining portions which we have not touched on, but they for the most part
belong to the Perpendicular style and do not possess much interest. The ceiling
of aisle has moulded transverse and longitudinal ribs, the l.itter much larger than
the former, and tie beams with moulded wall pieces, and plates similar to those
of nave, and the two eastern compartments have designs of white outline on a rai
ground, there is also a new font with a flat lid and large iron scroll-work^
some old seating of poor design, several marble tablets, old and modem, and
painted Scriptural inscriptions on various parts of the church. The tower is
divided into three stages by moulded string-courses, has pannelled battlements
and two gargoyles on each side, and a door in the west wall with a stonp on the
right-hand side. In the churcliynrd east of the church is the base of a cross,
the shaft of which is gone, its side at the base appears to have been 13 inches
wide, but no portion of it remains.
South Kensington Museum. — ^During the week endln<5 5tli January,
1861, the visitors have been as follows :— On Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday,
free days, 3,(i0y ; on Monday and Tuesday, free evenings, 1,884. On the three
students' days (admission to the public 6d.), 1,387 ; one students' evening
Wednesday, 183. Total 7,123. From the opening of the Museum, 1,815,&49.
30
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 11, 1861.
A=
EOYAL IXSTITVTK OF ISIUTISH AUCHITECTS.
N OrdiiMUT Meetlnt: of tbi» body was luld ou Mondav oveniujr iu the Rooms, 9,
- Condiiit-Vtrwt, Kegcnt-ftrcet ; C.eob«e Godwin. Esq., V.l\ in the chair.
Mr. T. IIAYTER Lewis (Uou. Sec.) read the minutes of proccedmgrs at the last
meetins, which, after a sli^rht amendmont, were agreed to. ^^ „ , ^ . *
Xjonfllit^H*.— The followins: donations were announced :—!■ rem the Royal Society,
Prooeedinjn of the Koval Society, Vol. X., No. 41; from the Art Union. Report ot
tbeODUncU of the Art Vnion of "l.ondon. with list of members ; from the Canadian
Institute **Thv Canadian Journal of Industry, Science, and Art," No. XXX., New
Scfkt, Toronto. November, 1»V>: iVom Mr. Arthur Cates, "A History of the
Orisln and tUtablishment of Gothic Architecture, compreh ending,' also an
AreOMtftom his own Writings of C»sarCsesarianus. Ac. &c.," and "An Inquiry into
the Mode of I'atDting upon and Suiningr iJlass," by John Sidney Hawkins, F.A.S.,
London- 1813- from M. Ce«ar l>alv, "L'Architecturv Price an dix Neuvienne
l^eck »ou« Napoleon III., Nourellcs Maisons de Paris et des Knvirous," Parts (i
and 7* ftt>m >ir C K. Robins, "Lambeth-bridfre." designed to connect Clmrch-
sticet Lambeth, with Market -street. Westmiuster (Mr. P. W. Barlow, engineer), at
an catimaU-d cost ot less than £40,000 ; from Mr. G. R. llurnell. " The Builders'
and Cootractora' Price Book for ISiU."— A vote of thanks was passed to the.donors.
DtaSh of Mr. 0€t>rtfe itan'/cv-— The Chairman announced tlie death of one of
tbeir Fellowa, Mr. George Bailey, which took place on the day of their last meeting.
The deottaed was one of the earliest members of the Institute, and acted as hou.
aeo. Ibr Bome time, taking considerable interest iu the affairs of the lustitute, and
emedaUv in the arrangement of the library, which was now euga<^ing the attention
off the Council. He was an assistant for some considerable time of the late Sir John
Soane, and to him was entrusted the mana^nient of the provincial branches of the
Bank <tf England. Sir John Soane by his will appointed him tirst curator ot the
Soane Moseara, and his deatti left a vae^ncy iu that ofBce. It seemed that the
election did not rest with the Trustees but with the President and C'ouncil of the
Boyal Aeademy. And he was sure that all present would a":ree with him in tlie
expreaaion of a hope that when the new curator was appointed the Mu&eum would be
made more accessible to the meiulters of the profession. The mere permission to
walk through it was not what was wanted. There were some members who knew
that there were many books of drawings which had not been opened, perhaps, for
■ereraljreara, at all events many months.
Mr. Fenrose stated that in answer to a letter addressed by the hon. secretary to
the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln on the subject of the restoration goinfjr on at the
Cathedral, a courteous communication had been received from the L>eau informing
the Institate that the restoration was being carried out under the superintendence
of an ardiitect.
A>ir Member.— Mx. G. K Pritchett, of 4. Great St. Helen's. Bishopsgate, was
elected an Associate.
ArckUeduml I-:xfiminatioji.— The special general meeting for discussing the ques-
tkm of Architectural Examination will be held on Monday, January 14th.
Committee*.— TUc following Committees have been appointed by the Council :—
For Prqfasional Practice.— The l*re8ident and Council for the time being— Messrs.
A. Ashpitcl. F.S.A. ; E. I'Anson ; J. Penncthorne ; G. G. Scott, R. A. ; S. Smirke,
B.A.; T. H. Wyatt; T. Haytcr Lewis and James Bell, hon. secretaries; F. C.
Fenroae, M.A., hon. secretary foreien correspondence.
For the i»frrar«.— Messrs. C. C. Nelson, chairman; W. Burges ; B. Ferrey ; G.
Godwin, F.K.S. ; J. M. Lockver; J. Norton; F. C. Penrose, 3LA.; G. G. Scott,
K.A. ; M. D. Wyatt, F.S.A. ; T. H. Lewis and James Bell, ex-offich. ; Wyatt Pap-
worth, hon. secretary to the Committee.
On Construction and Materials.— M^cean. S. Smirke. R.A., chairman ; C. Barry ;
J. Edmeston; C. Fowler, jun.; E. TAnson ; J. T. Knowles ; G. 3Iair, F.S.A. ;
T. M. Rickman; T. H. Lewis and James Bell, ex-cfficio; H. H. Burnell, hon. sec-
retary to the Committee.
Mr. G. E. Street then read the following paper:—
ON THE CHUBCHES OF LE PUT EN VELAT, IN AUVEBGNE.
F' the course of last autumn, after having spent three weeks in climbing Swiss
moon tains, I was able to devote a few davs, on my way home, to a district which,
as far as I had been able to gather from books, appeared to contain a mine of interest
for the architect, not less than for the geologist, and the lover of natural scenery.
From Lyons I went by Monistrol to Le Puy, which was the grand object of mv
toor; and from thence into Auvergne, and by Brioude, Issoire, Clermont Ferrand,
and Kevers, to Boorges and I'aris. I was so much struck by what J saw that, though
lam well aware that my visit was too hurried to be at all exhaustive, I think I
cannot do better than give you the results of my journey, in the trust that what was
fall of interest, novelty, ana instruction for myself, may be of some use, also, to others
who bare not yet been able to make this journey for themselves. The Gothic archl-
teetnre of Velay and Auvei^nit* is not, it is true, to be compared to the best work in
the NOTth of France ; I am not, liowever, going to tell you about it, but about an
emrlier style, which, as I hope to show, has special value aH illustrating, among otiier
thtnffs. the way in which French Gothic was developed from Romanesque and Ity-
xanraie buildings ; and our attention will, therefore, be almost entirely devoted to
bnlldlngB which are either Romanesque or Itomo- Byzantine in their character, or
in the period of transition from those styles to first-Pointed. The complete Gothic
boUdii^pi are comparatively few, and have no special value; and I shall, probably,
not hare time, to-night, to refer to them, even in the most cursory manner.
The most convement course will probably be to describe snortly some of the
pnncipal features of these buJIding.", and then, if I have succeeded in giving you an
accurate impression of their charactt^r, it will be the more easy to enter on some of
the very interesting questions which they appear to suggest, and on which I specially
deaire not to dt^^atise. because 1 trust that there are those among you who will be
able to throw much light on any questions which may be suggested, and, if necessary,
to correct the conclusjons to which I may have come too tiastily, or from insufficient
knowledge of discussions which have already taken place.
I will begin with Le l*uy. On the wall you will find some photographs which will
■how rou now eminently picturesque is the site of this ancient capital of V^lay.
The city Is crowded up the side of a volcanic rock, one end of which is crowned by
the pictarcsf|ue mass of its Eastern-looking cathedral. ItconslHts of a network of
narrow streets not oassablc by carriages, and reminds one forcibly of some such city
aa Genoa. Above the rock on which the cathedral is perched rises another, called
the ComefUe, on which are uome old fortificatjons.and which have just been crowned
by a monstrous image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, made of the metal of guns
taken at Sebastopol. and to whose charge I may fairly lay much of the imperfection
of my account of the buildings beneath her feet; for^I had the ill-luck to arrive at
Le Puy only three days before the inauguration of tins statue, and I found the whole
eifj ao entirely (occupied with preparations for the fC*te, that it was with the greatest
dlihcnlty that I examined the ratnedral at alt, and into some portions of it I was
qoiteimable to penetrate; whiUt the only condition on which I could obtain rooms
at aa inn was that I should not stop for more than two days, and should make room
for fome Bishop, Prince, or Cardinal (of whom there were a legion on the road),
before the gr^Atf&te-day. I had to work very hard, therefore, to do as much an I
did. and I make no doubt that a more leisurely and uninterrupted examination
would have inabled me to discover and do much more. Separated from the gr(?at
volcanic rock I have already mentioned by one or two furlongs only, is the Hmaller.
but ercn more striking rock, called the Aiguille de St. Michel, and crowned with a
little chapel dedicated to tliat A rchangel. It rises, in the most abrupt and precipitous
manner, to a height of about '4C<t feet. The distant background includes a series of
tmncated conical htlls, evidently ancient volcanoes, and from almost every point of
Tiew a luidacape of the most picturesque and extensive description Is seen. Nor
hare I often enjoyed a more charming ride than that whicli, for the last twenty
miles into Le Puy on the road from St. Ktienne, made me generally ac(|uainted with
the remarkable physical formation of this mountain district, and was in all ways
most beautiful. Just when, some twelve or Ufteen miles before 1 reached the city, I
first saw the " angelic " church, as it is styled, standing up boldly ou its rock, the
centre of an almost matchless landscape.
The story of its claim to this style of " angelic " is this :— " Bishop Kvodius, at the
end of the sixth century, on bein^ made first Bishop of Le I'uy, wished to construct
a eluirch. The Virgin, who had before shown to St. (ieorge the place where she
wished one to bo built, appeared to a sick woman on the Slount Burrounded by a
crowd of angels, and desired her to tell Evodius to proceed at once with his work.
After niuch prayer, he went to Rome, and the Pope sent back with him an architect
and senator named Sentarius, under whose auspiees the church was soon built, and
whose tombstone is still to be seen near the transept door. Kvodius and Seutarius
then started for Rome again ; but ou the way met two old men, who gave them two
boxes of relics, and desired them to return to Le Puy, saying that as soon us they
arrived with the relies before the church the door would open, the bells would ring
of themselves, the wOiole interior would be bright with torches and candles, and they
should hear divine melodies, and smell the sweet perfume of the heavenly oil which
had served tor the consecration of the church by the angels. Kverythiug happened
just as had been foretold, and Kvodius lelt it imnecessary again to consecrate his
church, which from that time to the present day has been called the "angeHc"
church. Ko doubt you all know how curious a parallel to this legend the history of
our own abbey of St. ]*eter at Westminster affords. But, in searching the information
about the church of Auvergne, I came upon a continuation of the Le Puy legend, to
which the AVestminsfer story bears no likeness. '1 he k'gend tells how that, when
till' *' seraphic basilica" of Le Puy had been thus dedicated, St. Anne descended
from heaven to visit tlie palace of her daughter. Not content with this human work,
she seized the hammer of the master mason, and, taking wing, descended on the
summit of a hill, and, turning towards Auvergne, which to her mind ollered no
church w^orthy of the Queen of Heaven, she threw the hammer, saying as she threw
it, " On the place where the hammer falls a church shall rise." The hammer fell on
the right bank of the Allier, and immediately there rose from the soil like a flower
the church of Les Chases, which was dedicated forthwith to St. Mary ! The moral
of the legend seems to be — 1st, tliat architects are not always wanted, and 2nd, that,
as it is curtain Les Chases was not a Gothic church, it may be argued by any one
hard up for an argument against Gothic that St. Anne and the angels evidently had
no sympatliy with the style !
Let us now leave legends, and direct our attention to the ground-plan of the cathe-
dral. Its architects have contrived to cover in an ingenious manner the whole of the
Hummit of the rock on which it stands. It consists, as you sec, of a nave with aisles,
transepts, a choir, and choir-aisles, and a steeple at the east end of the north choir-
aisle. To the south of the cathedralis the modern liishop's-palace, whilst to the
north are the cloisters, two grand halls, some ruins, and to the north-east a chapel
dedicated to St. John, and other buildings. There are entrances in the east walls of
each of the transepts, but these were rather inti-nded, 1 suppose, for the exit than
for the entrance of^tlie people ; and the mode in which they were admitted forms one
of the most striking features of the whole scheme. I said that the church was built
on a rock ; and on the western face the slope up to it, forming one of the principal
streets of the city, is so steep as to consist alternately of etep^ and inclines, until
at a short distance in advance of the west front, when it is changed to an
almost intermmable flight of steps. The grand west entrance is an open porch,
like an enormous crypt, beneath tlie three western bays of the nave
and its aisles, planned in tlie way which you will see drawn in the plan below
the ground plan. The steps formerly rose in a straight line, until they came up in
the very centre of the church, in the fifth bay of the nave, and in front of the rood-
loft, and of the miracle-working image of the Blessed Virgin which, brought from
the East and given to the ('hurch by St. I^ouis, was. until its destruction in A.D. 1789,
the Greatest attraction for pilgrims in France.* This singular entrance, and the
motleof exit by the eastern doors of the transepts, gave rise to an old saying, that
" In Notre Dame du Puy one entered by the navel and went out by the ears." Un-
fortunately, however, the central entrance has been diverted, and after ascending 102
steps, and arriving at the Golden Gate, as it was called, the passage branches riglit
and left— to the left ascending into the cloister, and to tlie right winding round the
south side of the church, until the 135th step lands tlie weary pilgrim in the south
aisle, near the transept. This, then, is the general scheme of this most singular
church. Let me now go onto describe it in detail, beginning with the oldest por-
tion. This I have marked on my plan by the brown tint, and it comprises the choir,
the transepts, and "crossing," and the two easternmost bays of tne nave. The
choir is completely modernized, and I am unable to say whether any portion of the
internal arrangement Is old. You will observe that it presents the peculiarity of a square
exterior and a circular interior. This is a not uncommon arrangement in theearliest Ital-
ian examples of theapse, as at St.'Mark's, Venice, and elsewhere. The arches openiuginto
the choir-aisles are old, and 1 believe that we may venture to say that the original plan
must have been very nearly the same as that of the church of St. Martin at Ainay,
at I^yons, in which, as you will see, the choir-aisles are shorter than the choir, and
all are terminated with apses. I shall have other occasion to point out that at a later
date the architects of Ainay and of Le Puy must have been the same. The date of
the foundation of Ainay is some time in the ninth century, and it was carried on
until the end of the eleventh ; but the apse and capitals of the columns of the cross-
ing—for the columns themselves are Koman— cannot, I think, be later than about
A.D. 050 to A.D. loco, which latter should, I think, be the date generally accepted
for this portion of the work at Le Puy. To proceed with my notice. The crossing
is surmounted by a quasi dome, carried up as an octagonal lantern, much of which
has been modernised in restorations, and much is quite new ; though the univer-
sality of the raised central lantern in the churches of the district makes it probable
that it is, to some extent, a proper restoration. t The transepts are covered with
barrel vaults, with transverse ribs of a square section below them; the small apses
in their end walls have semi-domes ; and the tribunes which cross them are groined
with quadripartitic vaults without ribs. The whole of the nave is covered in the
same M'ay as the crossing, each bay bein"' divided from the rest by bold transverse
arches, and having a quasi-dome, supported by arches across the angles of each com-
partment, and all of them, in truth, u(-'ing. not domes, but eight-sided pointed vaults
springing from the octagonal bases thus contrived. There are no pendentives, pro-
perly so called, and the construction is, I should say, that of men who desired to
erect domes, but had no knowledge whatever of the way in which they were con-
structed in the East ; or, to take a more favorable and, perhaps juster view, of men
who, desiring to give a small building the greatest possible efleet of space, to roof it
with stone— not knowing anything yet about flying buttresses— and to light it from
a clerestory, actually solved all these points in a successful way. Where this kind
of roof was first attempted I am quite unable to say. Certainly the central lantern
at Ainay is so identical in character with some of those at Le Puy, that the same
workmen must liave executed both ; but there seems to be no other
example in the same district as Ainay, whereas at Le Puy, and in Velay
and Auvergne everything was more or less roofed on the same principle.
The second portion of the Cathedral at Le Puy consisted of the third and
fourth bays or the nave, and the third portion of the fifth and sixth bays. In my
plan I have colored the earliest work brown (date, from OSO to 10:i0) ; the next gn-y
(lo;H) to 1100); the next red (HOC to 1L'0(») ; and the later works buff. Portions of tiie
building added since the sixteenth century are colored light blue. The division of
the building into work done at various epochs is beyond question, thouffh there may
be much question as to the dates I assign. The latest portion is of Early Pointed
character, and not later In date than circa A.D. 1180 to 1200 ; and It was
• As evidence of the popularity of Notre Dame du l*uy, this may suffice.— In
Amiens <;athedral, until A.D. 1S20, there existt-'d a scries of pictures given by the
" Confrerie of Notre Dame du Puy." A similar confrerie existed at Limoges.
+ Atj)reHent the exterior of the lantern is covered with a domical roof; but an
illustration in the " DIctionnaire Encyclopi^dique " shows it finislied with a low-
pitched tile roof, and without any of the mlald mosaic which Is now seen on it.
January 11, 1861
THE BUILDING NEWS.
'iBiiaifeiiw^ 'IB
iMMiiiiiiwlimiBiiiiiiiiiiiiiitmi^^
VIEW OF THE INTERIOR OF ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, CORNHILL, AS RESTORED BY ME. G. 0. DCUii.
January 11, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
33
at the same time that this was erected that the greater part of the enormous
substructure forming the porch was also undertaken. The aisles throughout the
church arc vault<^d with quadripartite vaults, the tliree western bays alone havin)?
ribs. In the two western bays wc see engaged shafts both in the porch and above it
in the nave, but the rest of the piers arc of the simplest plan, large, and generally
cruciform in tlieir section, save at the crossing, where the arches are carried on
coupled detached sliafts. There is much elaborate sculpture introduced in the
capitals of the pilasters and columns of the nave, but it is nowhere of any very high
merit, and is inferior in delicacy and beauty to tlie sculpture of the same age to be
seen on the banks of the Rhone, that 1 should attribute it to a native school of
sculptors acquainted probably with none but inferior Koman sculpture, from which
they endeavoured to develope a style for themselves. A clerestory of wide and rude
round-headed windows, one in each compartment, lights the series of domes in a
very effective manner.
The arches across the nave are very bold, and above them an opening is pierced
under each of the cupolas. As is generally tlie case, however. In churches covered
in this way, very little is seen of the real vault iu any general view of the church,
these transverse arches, with the quasi pendentives above them only being seen.
The pendentives are true semi-domes, constructed in alternate courses of dark and
light stone, and the difference between their plan and the square angle in which they
are placed, is skilfully concealed by detached shafts with capitals placed under
them.
I think you will agree vrith me, when you examine my sketch of the interior, that
considering its early date (no part probably later than circa A.D. llSOor 1180), it would
be dilficult to find a grander or more nervous scheme, or one which with such small
dimensions, conveys nevertheless so great an impression of size and importance.
The choir aisles were altered at various times. That on the south has been rebuilt
in Second Pointed of poor character, and is now a mere passage-way to the modern
sacristy, .and that on the north was probably interfered with not very long after its
first construction, when the great steeple which now abuts upon it was commenced.
M. Merlmee, * in ;hi3 very interesting description of the church, suggests that the
base of the tower'was originally a baptistery ; but I see no reason whatever for this
suggestion, and it is impossible to doubt, when one carefully examines the whole
design, that though the steeple was long in buildinjj, the main feature in its design
was from the lirst just what we now see it to bo. Moreover the chapel of St. Jean
close by, is said to have been the baptistry for the whole city until within the last
sixty years. You will see from my elevation that the design is very bizarre and
unusual. It consists of a long series of no less than nine stages on the exterior, and
it diminishes rapidly in diameter, and is perhaps, on the whole, more curious
than pleasing.
If you look at the groimd-plan, you will see that its construction is most remark-
able. The internal diameter of the tower at the base is 24 feet 0 inches, but this is
reduced to only 12 feet by four detached piers, 1 foot lOA inches square. These piers
are carried up from the base to the very summit, detached in the three lower stages, and
formmg p.art of the thickness of the wall in the portion above. The highest stage
of the steeple, 12 feet in internal and 16 feet in external diameter, is therefore, as
nearly as possible, carried upon these four piers, and the rapid decrease in the
external dimensions, from 30 feet to 16 feet, was only rendered possible by the very
ingenious mode of construction. So far as I know there is only one other example
of the same scheme— viz., in the steeple of the cathedral of St. Etiennc at Limoges.
Here, however, the base is the only portion remaining of the original work, and the
columns are cylindrical iu place of being squ.are ; but it is evident that the intention
was the same as at Le I*uy. The steeple at Limoges is probably the first in point of
date. M. VioUet le Due dates it at about A.U. 1050, but the Abbt' Arbcllot, in a
learned paper on the cathedral, in the *' Bulletin of the Society Archeologique du
Leindrau," maintains that it was certainly built before A.D. 1012, when the liishop
Amaud de Perigueux, after assisting at the consecration of Bishop Gerald at Poitiers,
accompanied him to Limoges, and put the cords of the bells into his hands. The
lower part of the steeple at Le Puy may, I think, safely be referred to the end of
the eleventh century, and its completion to the end of the twelfth, whilst the
planning appears to me to be thoroughly characteristic of a Byzantine artist, the
construction of the piers being almost identical with that of the main piers under the
domes at St. Mark's, Venice, and St. Front, Perigueux. ;
The arrangement of the belfry stage, with its gjible on each face, is very note-
worthy, .and is, perhaps, one of the earliest examples of a type which was developed
afterwards into the well-known arrangement of the belfry of the south-west tower
at Chartres, and this, combined with the influence of the churches of the'Khine, Into
almost all subsequent modifications of the spire, with its gabled spire-lights ; one of
the windows under this pediment is planned in a most ingenious manner, presenting
externally a semi-dome pierced by two pointed arches ; another window is pierced
with a trefoil head, the diameter of which is much larger than that of the light it
surmounts. This is a favorite form of cusping throughout this district, and I have
collected on one sheet several examples of it. I have seen it in Lyons, at Vienne,
often at Le Puy, at Brionde, at Notre Dame du Port, Clermont, and In the south
jMrch at Bourges ; and there can, I think, be little doubt that it is somewhat Eastern
in its origin, and analogous to the horseshoe form of arch.
The cloister on the north side of the church appears to be in part coeval with the
earliest,t or, perhaps, the second portion of the fabric, and in part with the later
additions to it. It consists of a simple arcade of round arches on rather solid piers,
with a detached shaft on each face. The capitals are all richly sculptured, some with
figures some with foliage, and I have here illustrations of some of the latter. The
spandrels of the arches are filled in with a reticulation of colored stones ; above the
arches runs a band of similar ornament, and above this .again a carved cornice which
iu the later part of the cloister forms a sort of frieze. In this portion the arches have
sculptured key-stones, a peculiarity which I hardly remember to have met with be-
fore in w-orks of the same date. On the south side there is one spiral and two fluted
shafts, all the rest are circular, but noticeable for their very considerable entasis.
The groining IS all quadripartite without ribs, and executed with rough stones set
in concrete on a centering of boards. The cloister was, as you see, surrounded on all
sides by buildings. On the south is the cathedral, on the east, and opening to the
cloister by an arcade of open arches, is a large hall with a pointed barrel vault. This
was originally called the choir of St. Andrew, and in it masses in commemoration of the
dead were said, and services held on the feasts of the Invention and Exaltation of
the Cross, and on the feasts of St. Andrew and .St. Kustachius. It was also called
ciemeterlum, being used for the burial of the clergy, and is now called the chapel
des Morts. On the end wall are still to be seen remains of a painting of the
Crucifixion, with many prophets and angels, St. Mary, and St. John, the sun and
moon, &c. In the northern gable of this building is a fine cylindrical chimney built
'J- .,'*.''?*',S ''""T"'"' "f ,''»'"''. ''"d >'?'»' stone, and of the same date as the hall. M.
Violletle Due gives a drawing of the fire-place, which is of a not uncommon early
tvpe, the head projecting considerably on a semicircular plan. At the north end of
the sallcs des Morts is a passage leading to the cloister, and then along the whole
northern boundary once stood a vast range ol building called the Maitrise. Nothing
novf remains of this save its undercroft, which was spanned by bold pointed
arches of stone, on which the wooden floor rested. The Maitrise was pulled down a
few years since ; ,and not long before, I find that a tower close by it, called the tower
de St. Mayol, was also destroyed. It was standing in A.D. 18.13, but I have been
unable to find any drawinff of it; it is described as an erection of the eleventh
2k"V"''^,o 'i'^'°°'J'i^^' ^t*' w""K>"t .machicoulis.! It seems to have served as part of
the fortification of the church, which was also attended to in an alteration of the
building on the west side of the cloist<>r, in the fourteenth century This building
• "Notes d'un Voyage en Auvcrgne," p. 226.
..!?'■ ^'"'Ji'^U'' ?"^ eonsidcrs the eariicst part of the cloister to date fyom the ioth
century ; JI. MerimiSe thinks the 11th century more likely. .
J Merlmei?, Voyage en Auvcrgne, p. 2.32.
contained below, a hall on a level with the church, which WM the chapel of the Uolr
KehcH ; above was the Salle d«a Ktats du Velay, and my sketch of the lnt--rior «how»
both 01 them m their present state, thrown inloone room. Above th. '.• a-'iiin wn
an open space under the roof, protected on the side towards the i . . " ,
cent overhanging battlemout »nd machicolation of the foorr i
quiteopenon the side towards the cloister save for the stone pi ,..
roof. My drawing shows the peculiar arrangoiucnt of the nuchitjulia, which aro
some of the finest I have ever seen, and project from the buttresses af well u from
the walls. The only access to this stage of the building seems to hare been from
the roof of the cathedral. Le Puy was in the first instance selected ai a Mu- (.. ^ i. ■
cathedral, because it afforded ao secure a refuge from attack; and in later I .
seems to have been not less necessary to provide against daii-rr fir .iiirai • > , ,
enemies the lords of PoUgnac, a magnificent castle visibi ' ,r r,
cathedral, and only some four miles illstant, were the most w i,-
also the most powerful. M. Viollet le Due supposes, iml- .1 ih-
cathedral was meant In part for defence, but I sec no evideiici; ol tlil», aud possibly
he had in his mind the destroyed tower of St. .Wayol ; which, as well as the double wall
of eiiccmte, which formerly surrounded the whole cathedral, was no 'doubt a purely
imlitary construction. Fortified churches are by no means uncommon In thhi part
of Frauce At Brioude is a painting showing the church entirely surrounded by a
crenellated and turreted wall in 1630; and Hoyat near Clermoat, and the abbey
church of Menat .also in Auvcrgne still retain prorlsions for defence. The Salle des
btats contained formerly the archives of ViSlay, and In rcmorlne them
" ., "^S'ears since (about 1830) portions of a hanging of blue wool. »«i»-A
with fleurs - de - lys. aud adorned with the armorial bearimni of Jean de
Bourbon, Bishop of Le Puy, from A.D. 1H3 to H8.i were found. At the same time
a«curiou8 painting on the east wall of the lower chamber was discovered under the
whitewash. It represents four liberal sciences— grammar logic, rhetoric and
music— as females seated, with ancient worthies at their feet. Prlsctan sits below
Grammar, writing, and two boys with open books on her other side. Lo-^c holds a
lizard in one hand and a scorpion in the other, and Aristotle is ar " v The
inscription below is— "Me sine doctores, frustra coluere sorores," . ire has
a corresponding leonine verse inscribed below. Rhetoric holds ah: : r hand,
and Cicero sits at her feet. Music plays an organ, whilst Tubal, wit It two Iiammers'
plays upon an anvil. There used— according to the Chronique de .Hcdicis— to be «
second painting here with figures of young demoiselles gorgeously clothed ; and
from the same chronicle it appears that Messire Pierre Odin, official of the Ulshop
■lean ae Bourbon, who died in 1502, presented both:— "II cstait si grant orateor que
par sou melliftre et suavlloquent langage, fust commls plusieurs fols estrc ambassft-
deur devcrs le Pape a la requette de tres excellent et redontd Prince Louis (XI«)
roy de France, lequel du diet Pape obtint gr.ande louangc, et avoir, ce qn'il cmplora
en divers fagons et moyens en aulmonicr et k la decoration de cette salnctc dglise da
Puy." The picture has very considerable merit; its detail is a mixture of Itenais-
sancc and Gothic, and the Gothic portion, as. for Instance, the chair on which one of
the figures sits, is not Italian, and I should be inclined to suppose that it was the work,
therefore, of a French artist.
The external side elevation of the church is best seen fhim the cloister, and with a
few words upon this, we will leave this portion of the bnildlng. Here, even more
clearly than inside, the division of the building into work of different epochs is seen.
The two bays nearest'thc crossing have large coupled windows in the aisle,
with partl-colored voussoirs and jamb shafts. The clerestory is very peculiar in
its treatment, and undoubtedly very effective ; the windows are of one light in each
bay and round headed, and on each side of them above the springing there is a recess
in the wall, in the centre of which a detached shaft is placed to carry the cornice. A
similar recess and a smaller shaft occur immediately over the arch of the window,
and the window arch bemg built of alternately dart and light stone, and all the
sunk panels being filled in with geometrical patterns, composed iu the same way, an
extremely rich effect is obtained. Recesses of the same kind in the upper part of the
walls occur all along the eastern face of the transept at Le Puy, and between the
clerestory windows of Notre D.ame du Port, Clermont, Si. Paul, Issoire. and com-
monly in Auvcrgne. But as far as I can judge from the portion of the cathedral
in which it occurs, and from the early and simple character of the work itself, t
am inclined to believe that it is earlier here than in any of the other examples. It
would be of great interest to, have some more positive evidence on this and other
similar jjuestions of date. But, so far as I have been able to discover, there is no
such evidence, and we are left in doubt, therefore, whether the architecture of Velay
came from Auvcrgne, or whether the reverse was the case ; as also whether this
external decoration of the fabric is coeval trlth its first erection, or is a subsequent,
addition.*
»
ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCLATIOK.
THE ordinary fortnightly meeting of this Association was held in the rooms, 9,
Conduit-street, Regent-street, on Friday evening ; T. Roger Smitii, Esq., the
President, in the chair.
Mr. Arthur Smith, hon. sec, read the minutes ofprocecdingg at the lastmeetlny,
which were approved of and confirmed.
A LECTURE ON MANY SUBJECTS.
Mr. R. W. Bri,i.rNGs (who was received with loud applause) remarked that he need
hardly say to them that his appearance before them that night was an unexpected
one to him, as he had hoped to be then .at his work in the north, but as he was in the
south and not in the north he presented himself before them to make a few observa-
tions in accordance with the syllabus of the Association for the session. \Vith the
works which he had in hand, it was very difficult for him to fix on any particular
subject, and instead of fixing upon one he should, perhaps, touch on a variety. It
was not a difficult matter to find a subject to talk about in architecture, there were
BO many which readily presented themselves. They had I'ols'chromy up, amongst
other subjects for consideration, and they had also the diploma question up. out of
which he thought nothing would come, and, m his opinion, a very good tninsr too.
Then it was said that they were to have a new style of architecture— the Victorian
style of architecture ! there had been a great deal of talk about it. but why did
they not do it? Now, it appeared to him that each individual architect
could do something towards a new style of architecture if lie pro-
duced new designs — something that had never been seen before.
Now in speaking thus he came boldly before them to show them instances of the
kind which had taken place in his own practice. Everybody knew that In his capa-
city as an illustrator- certainly to a much greater extent than Augustus Welby
Pugin— he had spent a life unrequited ; he had not even had given to him a copper
medal for it, but he did not care for that. He had got an experience which if every-
body adopted his system would enable them to carry their profession m their brain
instead of being obliged to have constant reference to the library. The great mass
of architecture should not be talking, but it should be drawing, and a man should
show his talk by his drawings. They all remembered that he erected a large build-
ingin Glasgowfor the eminent merchant Sir James Campbell, and in a criticism in
the UnUiicr upon it he was told that " he ought to have known better. ' ' Well, there
was another building in Glasgow, a warehouse in Brunswick-street, of which he
had the charge. It might or might not have its merits, but if they ever saw a quainter
elevation he would give way (showing a plan of the elevation). He believed that it
was from top to bottom an original design. Referring to the gateway, doorwav,
the windows, mouldings, and other details, Mr. BrLi.iNGs observed that the mould-
ings were bold and simple, and had their effect in a murky eliniatc. The lecturer
then proceeded to speak of the employment of an architect. If a man
was determined to sit down and expect five per cent, to roll into hlni as long as
he was in his oflSce he was mistaken. His plan was to go to his work and do it
liimself And all the details of the building to which he had just drawn their
To be continued.
34
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 11, 1861.
attention, with the exception of thi> larg* thistles over the doorway (which he
modelledl were earred bv him. Dorinsr the time which It would have occupied him to
nuke working dnwinKs'he could finish the whole work off by himself; and thccon-
Konence was that for many bits of ornament he had no drawings. Well, the Carving
ana Mt-Miellin^ classes of the AssiKiatiou recently formed were, and ought to be, of
great interest to the members. It was a matter of jjreat Importance to carry out the
<)l)}eatt or thoae elaaset, for he had himself found them to be of ^rreat advantage,
aaateaflelaMT in (ueh matters a man was paid entirely iudependeut of his per-
eeotaee, and In tbe prosi'cution of such pursuits a man made himself something
more than an architect— he made himself an artist ; and such a man must study li-'ht
and shade, and in surti an occupation he got a field for thought that a man sitting
down contentedly and continuously in his olRce never arrived at. Then, again, such
oecnpations ftUeuup the spare time of an architect, without the necessity of chiselling
his fellow men out of a job. la all his chlsellings he had aever chiselled a fellow-
creature out of a job. Sir. Billings then sliowed the audience the plan, made by
himself, of an original gate, which was composed of a rai-xture of teak and iron. It
was strutted, strapped, and strutted again, so that it formed a real framing as far as
could be got in a gate. If gentlemen addressed themselves to the spirit of architec-
ture, instead of copying, they would arrive at originality. The lecturer then
placed before the meeting a plan of a gable, stating that he was satisfied they
had never seen such a gable before, as it was entirely original.
Then (said the lecturer), descending from great things to small, he might refer to a
tombstone to a sailor at Ilaslar llospitaJ, which lie designed ; ana the notion
of the sailor suggested the design. The tombstone and the headstone
were bound tt^ether by a representation of a large cable, and broken
anchors formed the cross on the headstone. Xo one could see this with-
out reco^fnismg a sailor's monument. For gentlemen to accustom themselvel
to modelling and carving was of the greatest conseiiuence, because that threw all
sorts of things in the way of an architect which otherwise he might never meet
with. He did not speak of these things boastingly, but he spoke of them for the
enoomagement of those whom he addressed, because they might do similar works.
Heonee worked afloat. He designed the cabin of a steam- ship now running between
Criaagow and Itelfast. and the ornamentation of that cabin came to him through his
having designed a particular bmlding, and it had ended very successfully. The
Girajt was the name of the vessel, and it was the fastest steamer afloat, running
nmeteen miles an hour, pretty near to railway speed. When he was entrusted with
the work he got a carte blanche to do what he liked with the cabin in the shape of
decoration, taking into consideration that it was a Scotch boat. Well, he took
first of all for his subject the thistle, the emblem of Scotland.- then the
shamrock, the emblem of Ireland, as the vessel sailed to Belfast ; and
as he was in_ duty bound, lugged in a bit of England in the shape
of the rose. Even in the thistle there was such a thing as a subject of
design, and so there was in every flower. (The lecturer then showed the working
drawings oi the decorations of the cabin, which he accompanied with explanations,
referring to the looking-glass, the chefSoniere, the cornice, having the Scottish
motto, Acmo rnc impiiiie lacrssll, with the thistle running through it ; another part
of the cornice, with the Irish motto, Xrin ijj brafjh and the shamrock running
through it) These things were beautifully carved, for there were very clever wood-
carvers in Glasgow. Referring to drawings of the decorations referred to, Mr. BiL-
Liycs said he recommended the work as one of the most successful bits of simple
polTchromy it had been his lotto see, though it was his own. The decorations, which
required considerable design, were in oak, dead white and gold, with the exception
of the pilasters, and the whole thing reUcved itself completely. There was supposed
to be a great deal of design in this matter, and he had been paid for it. The lecturer
then exhibited a plan of a chimney-piece, and asked the meeting if they had ever
seen a chimney-piece like it. He had done that chimney-piece seven times, but every
one of them was a totally different design ; as a whole, they were the same, but in
detail they were different. Talking of polychromy, that was a very serious matter,
and one about which he wished to warn them. No one could be fonder of color than
lie was, but his experience, after the closest watching and attention, proved that
they could hardly attempt it in this country externally. Internally color might
stand; but ia this climate, where there was such diflerent action, it was diffi-
cult to get even gold to stand externally. Did any one (and he said it with
all respect to Mr. .Smirke) look at the railings round the British Museum, without
seeing that they were covered with dirt and decay ? [A Member.— They have just
been redone.1 Well, but before that the gold had vanished. Then, look at the top
of the pinnacles of St. Sepulchre's church, which were regllt about two years ago ;
they were now as black as ever they were. If that was the case when gold was laid
on thick, what must it be when there was color ? If they put up a brilliant color
here, in twelve months it would become a dirty brown, black would become the
same, white would become the same ; put up any color they liked it would become a
dirty brown. If they put up a sparrow from the country or a peacock, in three
months it would become a dirty brown. We have so many changes of climate hero, so
many atmospheres to deal with, that color was pulled out and destroyed. In a
country like Egypt you could put up a bright color and it would remain there. It was
all brilliancy together, and every eye was turned to it there, but our sight was not
fit in this country to stand brilliant colors, and they knew the effect of brilliant
colors when they went abroad ; to look at them produced something like ophthalmia.
There was a lecture dcUvered some years ago at Carlisle by an architect, in which the
lecturer very seriously propounded the doctrine that there were traces of color upon
some of the external stones of Carlisle cathedral. The statement was so absurd
that when he heard It he was almost exploding, and indeed it made him seriously ill.
The fact was that in the progress of repairs at the cathedral some stones were
taken from the interior to the outside of the building, and they seemed to have some
paint upon them. But the idea of external color on our buildings being preserved
was an absurd one. Let them have as much as they pleased of color internally,
because by the effects of color combined with good drawing, they arrived at the
highest point of the art. Color rightly applied was as much a pleasure as form ;
but what was tbe use of putting color where It would not stand? He simply
appealed to the common sense of his audience, and advised them to think of the
matter. But to proceed to another matter. He owed it as a duty to himself and to
the profession— to himself as a vindication, and to the profession as a caution— to
express his conviction that they should never design any work with the carrying
out of which they were not entrusU-d. He had done a great deal in his time, and,
generally sixaking, he had succeeded. His engagements had led him to a very
pleasant part of the profession, namely, the artistic portion of it. Though he had
often carried out the details, yet in many cases he had not carried out the internal
constructive parts. leaving them to others whose feelings might lie more that way than
his own. In more than one Instance he had had another architect who had carried
'?L!?*,i'°'*!j''"' '''''* '*'« *•••• J"''" B*!'* »"d he had worked together very
SJf«i' T . succeMfully, the one never Interfering with the other. In the year
<£i 'j ?5 u, Murray, who was a warm patron and a very sincere
V^^Atu ; '"?« *° '''"'• "luf'ting him to make a design for a terrace
in Minburgli After the requisite time had passed he designed a terrace
for his lordship Lord .Murray let him know from the first that he merely
intended to employ him to design the terrace, and he emjiloyed his own superin-
^dlngf architect of the work, and who carried out the work irrespective of him (Mr.
iir^;. .^'*'^ "'"'P'' "■■ "^y- ^''^"- " *»» rather an Important work, but nobody
noocedlt : it was not noticed in the IluUder or any of the periodicals until a disaster
oeenrred. Had this U-rrace, which was called Kamsay-terrace, been the only one
Xf .K ji 5° v"?.!'"' ;"■"'■ P''*"''lplc. he might have had doubt about the cause
of the disaster ; but It so happened that he had built more than one-two or three
on the same principle. And though Ham«ay.t<rrace, the biggest work, had dis-
appaired from the face of the earth within five years of its erection, albeit It was
designed for eternity, yet the others stood firm without a flaw or crack of any kind.
ilSSLZ^ nj • .°*^^H."*it'*'* 'j!"'i'' *'■'■« standing he carried out. but Itamsay-
tcmee lie did not. It bad been bia fortunate lot never to have had in his buildings
a slip or a crack, and he believed that a great complaint against liim was that he
built too solidly. In December, 1854, he received a letter on behalf of Lord Murray,
stating that tliere were sections being drawn of the ground upon which it was
proposed to erect Ramsay-terrace. Tliis was followed by another letter with the sec-
tions of the ground, and pointing out to him certain strata upon which the terrace was
to be built. He was to make his design to suit tlie foundation, wiiich was what was
called till in Scotland, and was amost equal to rock. He had previously built a wall of
3 feet thick, nearly .'iO feet high, not many miles from the site of Ramsay-terrace, on
the same strata, and if employed would do the same again because it stood well.
Ramsay terrace stoo<l for four years without showing any flaw. Well, they would
naturally think that it would have stood longer, but all on a sudden it began to twist
and turu about in the most extraordinary way, and it represented the wave theory
in masonry. The wall subsided and went down quietly, as we say of msn who die,
and it certainly was the funniest thing in the world. The superintendent of the work
who was totally independent of him (Mr. Billings), received just si.x times for
carrying out the works that he did for all his plans and drawings. What a nice thing
that was for a clerk of the works ! C)n the 7th of February last he received a letter
which stated that the terrace had been gradually going throughout the year 18.59.
Well, he had the letter with him; from "My Dear Mr. Billings," "My Dear Sir."
and so on, it came down all at once to "Sir." The letter was from Messrs. Dunn
and Thomson, law agents of Lady Murray " to inform you that the terrace and lodge
at Ramsay-gardens have lately made considerable slips, so much so as
to endanger the neighbouring property. The lodge and gateway have
subsided very much, and the lodge is not expected to stand many days
Lady Murray has placed the matter in the hands of Messrs. Charles and David
McGibbou, of Edinburgh, with instructions to do what is required. This wil
involve considerable expense, and wc think it right to make you this intimation
as a future question of liaDilify may be a serious one." AVell, he wrote back to the ,
agents, requesting them not to Dunn him, and practically to fire away, but they had
never firetl yet, and when in Edinburgh he was told that they had given the matter
up. A question of the highest importance to the profession was this, was an archi-
tect liable in respect of the stability of any work whichhewasnot engaged to carry
out ? And another question of still greater interest to the profession was whether
a professional person who might be liable to a penalty should not be warned to
make good damage, alleged to have been done, before threats of legal pro-
ceedings were held out and before any contractor was employed to do repairs?
Kamsay-terrace ought to have stood. There was a similar terrace at Dalzell
Castle, which had stood for years, and which was built into a bank of clay.
That terrace was standing and it would stand, but he had the entire superintendence
of its erection. He was certain it would stand, and was willing to taxe an annuity
upon it himself sinking the capital. Therefore he said let no one take
in hand any work which he was not engaged to carry out. Mr.
Billings then showed the meeting a perspective view of the terrace
in Ramsay-gardens. The structure was of enormous strength, and he would
presently tell them what was the cause of the failure. In connection with
the disaster his name had been bandied about in Edinburgh for the last
twelve months. "Oh, Billings Is in a mess!" and similar expressions had
been freely used, but really he had as much to do with the disaster as those
he was then addressing. There was nothing uncommon in the construction of the
terrace, but it was a powerful battering wall as strong as that of afortress, and there
was nothing whatever to warrant its going down, supposing it had met with fair
treatment. The terrace rather exceeded 200 feet in length. Towards the western
end there was a huge external bastion in addition to the retaining wall, the bastion
being "0 feet in width. In addition to that, fronting the retaining wall, there were
five huge buttresses, each fi feet wide in the smallest part of the face, and 5 feet deep.
In the back of the wall there were nine colossal spurs connected with it, deeply
bedded in the solid part of the bank. The retaining wall first commenced with foot-
ings 8 feet in thickness, and gradually lessened to the level of the earth to one yard.
The footings across the retaining wall and buttresses presented a section no less
than 14 feet in thickness. The height of the terrace was 34 feet, and from the founda-
tion nearly 40 feet; it was situated on a sloping bank through a considerable
depth of loose earth. He was so convinced of the needless strength of
this terrace, that in building the terrace at Dalzell, which was fully
half the height of the Ramsay-terrace, he reduced the strength to less than a
third, dispensing altogether with the external buttresses. Then, again, the terrace
of Dalzell was on a positive bed of clay. The disaster of Kamsay-terrace arose from
no failure in the masonry, for it was perfectly Cyclopean, consisting of enormous
masses, and there was no excuse lor its going. There shoiUd have been a
complete system of drainage, because there was a distinct provision in the
drawings and specifications for the removal of the water. But tlie water got to the
bottom, which was very hard when dry, got slippy, and the consequence was that the
terrace began to slip down, and was gradually, for twelve months, subsiding. The
packing and the drain were both in the specification ; the cause of the failure was
the slipping of the terrace in consequence of the water not being taken off by
outlets, 'rhe wall .at Dalzell was standing, and would stand, as upright and
firm as possibly could be. After referring to an erroneous account of tlie failure of
the terrace in an Edinburgh publication, which was groundless and inaccurate,
Mr. BiLLiNGfs complained of a paragraph which appeared iu the Builder, of
March 10th, 1800, which he contended exliibitcd ignorance, or something worse,
on the part of the writer, as it was pretended that the paper was established for the
protection of architects, 'to public opinion lie (Mr. Billings) was willing to bow, but
he never would bow toprofessional ignorance. Tlie paragraph of which hecomplained
was as follows :— " 0\\ the 1st inst. the terrace erected by the late Lord Murray, on
the slope of the Castle-hill, at Kamsay-gardens, and which had been gradually
yielding, gave way altogether. It ia about three years since the erection of the ter-
race was completed. At the east end was erected a lodge, and at the west end the
terrace curved outwards, and in the centre of the circle had been placed a pedestal^
which was to receive, as soon as ready, a statue by Mr. Steell, of the poet Allan
Kamsay, from whose patronymic the locality derives its name. The terrace was sup-
ported by a massive buttressed wall, ;to to 40 feet in height, built on a slight inward
angle, and the space between the original slope of the hill and this wall was filled in
with an embankment of earth. The foundation of this artificial mound and wall
would now appear to have been insufficient. The superstructure is, wo are informed,
set upon a stratum of clay, which ought to have been built into and not upon. From
the opposite point of view we see tlie terrace as if it had fallen askew to the west-
ward, t\\(i lines of the masonry, which are to a great extent traceable, being broken
and twisted and set on angles that make the vision giddy. Masses of stone have
been confusedly hurled Into the garden below, while the sloping ground is gaping
with chasms, and seems as If upheaved by some volcanic agency. From the top or
the fallen mass the scene of ruin is still more disastrous to behold. It must be matter
of great regret to the public to view the destruction of this terrace, which cost the
late Lord Murray, we believe, six or seven thousand pounds." If the wall had been
properly built according to his specification it would have been standing to this day
—aye, and would have stood for nundreds of years to come. The disaster to the wall
was a mortifying thing to him, and it was a mortifying thing to every one con-
nected with It, for Lord Murray was a princely man, and the terrace, which cost
him £0,000, was Intended to be a monument to him. Mr. Billings complained
particularly of the total absence of all mention of the spurs in the notice in
the Builder.
The CnAiBMAN Inquired whether Mr. Billlings had taken means to put the
Builder right respecting the fall of the terrace.
Mr.BiLLiNGH said the editor ought in courtesy to have sent to him before he gave
insertion to such a paragraph, for he knew that it was he wlio designed the terrace.
He, Mr. Billings, should never think of writing to the Builder, he had done so before
fruitlessly, and he was not going to repeat the dose. It was the duty of the conductors
of the public press to ascertain the truth of every statement, before it was
published
January 11, 1861-
THE BUILDING NEWS.
35
The Chairman thoiiRlit they were extremely hidcbted to Mr. Billings for his
Address, and if for nothing else for the extremely colloquial character of the
discourse, and he hoped that other gentlemen would i'ollow the examnle whicli had
been set tliat evening. It was an extremely uileresting thing to Iiavc a man of
genius, and a talented workman, coming before them to give an account of his
experience.
Mr. rARAiHE complimented Mr. Billings on the success he had obtained in
carving. Some of the designs which had been shown to the meeting that evening
were remarkably successful.
After a short conversation, in which several gentlemen took part, a vote of thanks
to 5Ir. Billings for lUs excellent address was, on the motion of Mr. .Blasiiill, car-
ried by acclamation'
Mr. Billi.ng.s remarked that ho was self-taught, and that all the hints he had
ever got concerning architecture were given to him by the father of the late Mr.
Welby Pugin.
The meetmg then separated.
THEATRICAL SCENERY.
THE nursery rhyme of "Ladybird, Ladybird," has furnished Mr.
Buckstone with anotlier subject for a Christmas pantomime, which
lie has treated witli a success quite equal to any other production of the
same kind, at the Hayraarket Theatre. It is entitled " Queen Ladybird
and her Children." The first scene represents the cell of Aphis, King of
the Green Flies, where a conspiracy takes place to assassinate Queen
Ladybird and burn her house down. His majesty enjoys the comfort of a
golden toad -stool placed in the centre of the stage as a throne, and the
more subordinate conspirators concoct their plans beneath the shade of an
avenue of larger fungi, wliich reach to the top of the scene. Tliese atten-
dants are, of course, dressed in green, bearing stems as spears and leaves
for shields. The fire-flies are summoned witli their torches to burn the
queen's palace, their red dresses and brighter red lights contrasting
vividly with dark green of the guards, and the whole eflect is brought into
«nity by the retiring tints of the back scene. The green and red spangles
on the respective dresses give much life to the general movements of the
actors. This scene is terminated by the drawing across the stage of a
.gauze, which gradually increases in thickness, and which is afterwards as
gradually diminished, until the view of a distant country is discovered, in
wliich agricultural labors are being proceeded with. An April shower is
passing off; cows going to be milked, and horses drawing waggons, cross
over a bridge in a diagonal line from the back to the middle distance of the
scene, which gives a naturalness to the arrangement, and their motion is
greatly increased and well-balanced by some white ducks moving in the
contrary direction on a dark pool of water in the foreground of the picture.
This is a well-painted and an equally well-managed scene. From the
strictly rural and natural, we pass suddenly to the highly allegorical and
truly poetical, for the next scene is composed to represent the " Palace of
Prince April," and beneath an arch of green marble is seen an imaginary
figure of April, riding on a rearing bull, suggested by the lines from
Spenser:
" Next came fresh April, full of Instyhood
And wanton as a kid.
Whose horn new buds.
Upon a bull he rode, the same which led
Eiu-opa floating through the Argolic floods."
This group — an elegant digression not connected with the story — is
executed in very delicate tints, by which arrangement much light and
breadth are obtained, and whicii is also well suited to the imaginative
style of the subject. On each side and at the bottom of the arch are
terminal busts, painted in pale stone color in the upper parts, while tlie
bases terminate in red deepening as it reaches the stage. Thus the
heads partake of the delicate breadth of the allegory above them, while
the colors of both — the light mass connected with the principal group,
and the dark green of the encircling arch — are disturbed, counterchanged,
and varied by vases of flowers about the bottom of tlie scene. The cold
color of the arch is also connected with the figure of April on the bull by
bemg faintly repeated in a cloudy background in the lower part of the
picture, the whole subject is conceived and executed in excellent taste.
As a striking and an unexpected contrast to the classical style of the
above, the audience is suddenlv introduced to the bed-room of Queen
Ladybird's chUdren, wliile the usually comic effect always produced by a
night on the stage is multiplied by a dozen or so, and the laughttr is
augmented in proportion, and is still further increased wlien the juvenile
beUigerents commence a bolstering match. The painter, however, in so
matter-of-fact a scene does not lose sight of the cliaracter and feeling of
the story, for the bed-room is treated as a large cell, tlie sides and the roof
ot which are covered with foUage suited to ladybirds and the entrance at the
back has Large leaves for curtains. In the same feeling is composed the
scene vrhich lollows, entitled " The Leafy Recesses of Ladybird Bower."
ihe sides of which are nchly embossed with wreaths of hops, intertwined
with bell-flowers. This is painted in dark colors, and is placed rather
forward on the stage, so as to give eff-ect to that which comes next. After
an intervening gauze, the view of an extensive lake is seen terminating at
the back with elegant buildings surrounded and partly hidden by graceful
trees, and closed in on each side with long lines of receding arches, orna-
mented with climbing plants. In the centre of tlie blue lake are handsome
boats with their white sails gently moved by the breeze, and basking as it
were, in the heat of a mid-day sun. On both sides of the stage, and as a
loreground to the subject described, are columns of rich honeysuckles ter-
minating m large scroll-work on llie ground. Here we have a dance by
the corps de ballet. The dancers are dressed in deep red bodices with
skirts of green gauze ornamented with spangles and scrolls, and fringe of
gold. Ihe green of the skirts accords with the cold color of the distant
lake, and the deep red bodices repeat the warm tints of the honeysuckles'
and the whole would have an excellent effect were it not that the red of
the upper part of the dresses is too dark to mass well, being too "spotty,"
and are besides too heavy in color for the light movements of dancers, but
the dull red of the large scrolls at tlie bottom of the " whigs " on each side
of the stage in some degree give support to the more intense color of the
bodices. The dresses of the principal dancers are very elegant.
The variety in the scenery of this pantomime is remarkable, for in the
scene now introduced he has painted a moonlight effect seen through a
stone arch, in a rather rude stylo of architecture, being a kind of
fountain as well, having a large shell to contain water with much scroll-
work besides. Tliis painting is really introduced for tlie purpose of show-
ing the beginning of tlie fire at Queen Ladybird's palace. The distant
country i.s well painted. When the flre-flies and green guards como on
after setting fire to the palace, their red and green dresses in contrast and
combination with the moonlit country behind them, have frequently a
very good effect. A terrace at Prince April's palace shows the further
progress of tlie conflagration. Then we have a dark scene whicli passes
across the stage for some time representing smoke, with occasional
ghmpses of trees, foliage and land, until it comes to a more distinct design,
wlicre we have branches arranged in more regular groups, forming an
opening through wliich is seen a distant country. The whole of this
panoramic scries is executed in a very low tone of color for tlie purpose of
giving effect to the conflagration itself to which It is understood to be the
road. The burning of Queen Ladybird's palace is perhaps the least
effective scene in the piece, considering the display of scenic resources
whicli such an effect might call into play. There are fire engines and
fire escapes on the spot, but the most telling events arc when one of the
children is thrown through the upper part of the scene on to the
stage to save its life, much to the amusement of thejuveuilesia front of
the house.
Tlie transformation scene is a very successful eflfort, and must be seen
to be fully understood, as description must fail to realise the effect. The
back scene is painted nearly white, representing delicately relieved arclii-
tectural forms; in the front of it, but not far advanced on the stage, is a
temple with glass columns supported by silver pedestals, and in three
niches are as many female figures dressed in silver tissue. Beneath this
group and temple are three arches on the stage, from which real water
rushes in plentiful streams and with considerable force. On each side of
the stage is a profusion of rich foliage, and over head are delicately colored
flowers hanging in clusters. Amongst the foliage on either side are other
groups of female figures similarly dressed to those in the centre, and in
the front of all, well advanced on the stage, is a row of brilliantly colored
lights amongst flowers, shrubs, and shells. After the audience has had
time to admire all this, another temple is seen to gradually arise between
the former, whicli retains its position, and the rowof lights just mentioned,
and comes just in time to relieve the monotony of too much whitenes*
and silver by presenting a mass of delicate gold work. It has a handsome
canopy of the same material, and has also three female figures dressed in
tissue of gold. The effect is now complete. The water — the real water—
which at first seemed to occupy too much of the attention, is now greatly-
concealed, and its sound as it rushes down aff"ect3 the bearing, and calls
that sense into play, while the delicately brilliant display of the whole
scene perfectly charms the sight. The canvas at the back is painted to
imitate frosted silver, which gives admirable relief to the glass columns
and burnished silver, from which the pale gold temple and group of female
figures is again relieved by the contrast of its color and the advanced
position it holds on the stage, and before the fall of the curtain the effect
is beautifully changed by the employment of various colored lights.
The whole of the above scenery is painted by Mr. Frederick Fenton, and
is highly creditable to him for the skill with which he has contrasted his
effects, the taste he has displayed in the conception and execution of his
subjects and the manner in which he has sustained throughout the spirit
of the fairy tale.
All the flowers and other parts of the scenes are drawn on a large
scale, intended to be in some proportion to the ladybirds, fireflies, and
greenfly guards ; but as it is impossible for the audience to reduce the
actors to the required araallness in their imagination, the artist has done
all that was possible under the circumstance, and although his intentions
cannot be realised, still an occasional look at the gigantic proportions of
his fruit, flowers and other accessories is suggestive of his purpose, and so
far reminds thoselpresent that the fuU-grown performers before them must
be looked upon as no larger than so many insects.
Considerable praise is also due to Messrs. O'Connor and G. Morris for
the excellent style in which they have painted the scenery for the liarlc-
quinade, but being views of well-known places require no detailed notice
beyond the truthfulness of resemblance and the true painter-like feeling
in which they are executed. The dresses are also deservuig of praise
for tasteful selection, and the liberality of the management must not bo
forgotten.
Ite-opening of Fenny Drayton Church. — The Rev. J. E. Colyer, the
rector, has now carried out his intention of restoring the church to something of
its original character. The old roof has been removed, and replaced bv new
ones of higher pitch. The walls have been cleared of stucco, and partly rebuilt,
with gable copings and crosses, and new east and west windows. Internally, tlie
floor has been relaid with Staffordshire quarries and stone steps. The old pews
have been removed, and replaced with carved stalls in the chancel and open srats
in the body of the cliurch. A new chancel arch supplies the place of the wooden
beam which finished the old ceiling, and a new tower arch that of the old
"singers gallery." Tlie church was re-opened on the 2nd instant. The con-
tractors for the work were Messrs. Haddon and Meredith, of Atherstone, and
the architect Mr. W. Jackson, of Leicester.
36
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 11, 1861.
THE COMMERCIAL VALUE OF TASMANIAN TIMBER.
THE folWwiuK communication, of interest to our readers, is taken from the
Jaumalefthe Society of Arti:—
" In bringing the sabject of our Tasmanian timber under the notice of the
Society of Arts, I haTe not [directed attention to the value of our
timber in the ndKhboniing colonies of Australia, but haye confined myself
to the question of its probable value in the English market, and to the
grounds upon which the estimate of tliat value is based.
".Public attention in Great Britain appears to have been particularly at-
tracted lately to the suWect of timbei^not only in connection with llie re-
uuirv-iuents o'f the shipbuilder, but also to meet tlie extensive demand \vhich is
arising for the supply of railvray sleepers, to replace those which, from decay,
have become unserviceable.
"There are three kinds of gum-trees (Eucalyptus) in Tasmania, the
timber of which has been found, from constant and long experience, to possess
ereal value for the purposes of the shipbuilder, the millwright, the carpenter,
the implement maker, and the engineer. The best kind of gum timber is gene-
rally admitted to be that of the ' blue gum.' {Eucalyptus globulus, Lab.)
The' timber of the 'stringy-bark' (Eucalyptus gigantea, Hook, fil.), and of a
variety of the 'peppermint-tree' (Eucalyptus amyyiUilina, Lab.), is also
ereatiy prized, and extensively used, for the same purposes as the timber of the
hjiie gum.
"All these kinds of timber, especially the two first named, are particularly
adapted for works requiring euorindus span, strength and stability, on account
aftue great size of the beams which they afford. As an instance, I may mention
m plank of blue gum (which wa.s forwarded for the Great Exhibition in 1851,
but arrived too late), the length ot which was 145 feet, its breadth '20 inches, and
its depth 6 inches. Another phink, of the same scantling, has since been cut
160 feet in length. The specifae gravity of all three kinds is greater than that of
ilorung Saul, and, of course, considerably greater than that of English oak and
East Indian teak. The weight of a cubic foot of blue gum is about 55 lbs. ; and
aseasoned piece of it, 2 by ^ and 7 feet long, will not break until loaded with
1,300 lbs. Jliuiy vessels, of various tonnage, have been built of blue gum in Tas-
nania, some of' which trade regularly between this colony and England — the
greater number being employed i!i intercolonial commerce. It is m constant
use in tlie colony for a great variety of purposes, and is held in the highest
repute.
" -Nearly as much may be said of the timber of the siringj-bark and of the
pepperiipint-tree. The stringy-bark abounds in the northern parts ol Tasmania,
while tlie blue gum is confined to the southern side. The peppermint-tree is
more generally dilfused throughout the island.
" It seems to me that it would be our best course to send, in the form of rail-
way sleepers, all the timber which we are prepared to deliver in Enghmd at a
Ion- price, leaving the question of a supply for shipbuilding until there should be
a deuiaod for it.
" Timber merchants here would be able to deliver blue gum railway sleepers,
8 by 4 and 0 feet long, in London, at the price of six shillings to seven shillings a
sleeper, to the extent of about 70,000 sleepers annually. If the price were raised
to eight shillings and sixpence a sleeper, I should think that the quantity ex-
ported might soon be doubled or trebled. About 50,000 railway sleepers of
stringy-bark cuuld be delivered in London at about seven shillings and sixpence a
sleeper. The quantity could be greatly increased if a better price were to be ob-
tained.
" Now, it has been ascertained, beyond a daubt,Ithat the blue arum and stringy-
bark timber, but especially the tbrmer, will remam sound, as planking for ships
and barges, for a period of twenty years, when it has been felled at the proper
time of the year, and thoroughly well seasoned. It will also last quite as long
in the form of sleepers, laid on the ground. It is likewise very durable when in
contact with salt water, as piles for wharves and bridges, as well as in the
planking of ships.
" It is not to be expected that the timber of Tasmania would continue to com-
mand a good price unless great care were taken tiiat none of the inferior quality
should be sent into the market. To prevent fraud it would be necessary that an
inspector of timber should be appointed, who should stamp each end of every
sleeper or other piece of timber with a mark, the imitation of which should be
regarded as felony. A certificate, signed by an authorised officer of the Govern-
ment, should also be given to ever)' exporter of timber, setting forth the quan-
tity and kinds of timber shipped by him for the English market, as reported by
the inspector. Notice of this regulation should be given to an agent of the Tas-
manian Government in London, from whom authentic information might be
obtained by purchasers, in order; to prevent imposition, and to preserve the
character of the timber of Tasmania from the danger of falling in public
estimation.
" Owing to the want of proper attention to the conditions under which timber
is rendered most fit for use, and to the neglect of proper selection, the blue
gum timber, although of excellent quality, has not obtained that rank at Lloyd's
to which we think it entitled. It is confidently assumed that such errors will
not occur in future ; and tliat greater precautions, and a better knowledge of
tbe best varieties of our timber, may enable us to establish for it such a reputa-
tion as it deserves.
"When thecost of sleepers of larch and other soft woods is considered, to-
gether with their tendency to rapid decay, and tlie expense of rendering them
more durable, it is scarcely lieing too sanguine to expect that a demand will
arise in England for Tasmanian timber, seeing that it is a hard, dense wood, and
will last for a very long period, without the necessity of liciiig submitted to any
process for rendering it durable, and that it can be supplied at a moderate
price.
" Under these eircumstances I feel tboronghly justified in commending the
timber of Tasmania to the notice of engineers ana builders in England, and I
do it in accordance with the request of the Council and Fellows of the Royal
Society of Tasmania, to whom the subject of the communication from the
Society of Arts, asking for information relative to the productions of the colony,
has been referred by the Local Government. At a future time I may be in a
position to bring other products of this island under the notice of the Society of
Arts; but in the mean time we shall feel greatly indebted to the .Society, if,
through their support and influence, we are enaliled to obtain a fooling in the
English market for our timber.
"William Abchek, F.L.S.,
" Secretaiy to the Royal Society of Tasmania."
RATING OF SUNDERLAND DOCKS.
THE VEAR RIVEB COMMISSIONEBS, APPELLANTS, AND THE PARISH
OFFICERS OF SUNDERLAND, RESPONDENT?.
MR. BOVILL, Q.C., appeared on behalf of the appellants, at Durham, on
Tuesday, the 1st inst., to support an appeal against a poor-rate imposed by
tlie parish officers of Sunderland upon the Docks at Sunderland, on the ground
of its being excessive, the gross rental being £20,000, and the rateable value
The question of the rateahility of these docks and the amount underwent
consideration in the years 1858 and 1859, before Mr. Welsby, the barrister, and
he made an award, rating the docks as above, on which the parish relied. This,
however, Mr. BovUl contended, could be no guide to the Court when he stated
the particulars upon which it had been made. The transfer of the docks from
the Dock Company to the Commissioners took place in 1859, since which time
the dock dues had been reduced and the trade much increased thereby, and the
revenue also ; but the working expenses had increased Hkewise, so as to amount
to a larger percentage on the receipts than before ; new works liad also been
constructed, and large repairs performed, but these had been carried to the
capital account. , j ,
The Hon. A. Liddcll, who appeared for the respondents, objected to the re-
opening of the whole question of value, which had been decided by Mr. Welsby.
He was quite willing to allow any evidence that could be brought to show if any,
and what, change had taken pUice in the value of the docks since the award was
given. The respondents were, in fact, of opinion that the rateable value had
increased during the interval, which would probably raise the rateable value
from £10,000 to £15,000.
The Court ruled in favor of receiving evidence as to the whole question of
value.
Mr. Bovill then put in a statement of receipts and expenditure, and called Mr.
Henry Arthur Hunt, of Parliament-street, and Mr. Charles Lee, of Golden-
square, London, who had examined the accounts and made estuuates, and they
were examined by him in support of the appellants' case.
After a lengthened sitting, the Court reduced the rateable value from £10,000
to £4,923 in Sunderland parish.
On inquiry by Mr. Bovill the Court stated that they had adopted the
principles of Messrs. Hunt and Lee's valuation throughout, but they had dis-
allowed £300 on the depreciation or renewal fund, and reduced the tenants''
capital from £25,000 to £20,000.
Messrs. Hunt and Lee's ValuatiSs.
Receipts for a year ending June, 1860 £40,859
Working expenses and repairs during same period 25,643
Net receipts £15,210
Eenewal ftrad made up by various percentages on
the ditTcreiit cIiibscs of works, and varying- from
10 to »0 years' duration £5,117
6 per cent, on £^1.000 tenants' capital 1,250
15 per cent, on £25,000 teuanta'profit 3,750
Bateable value of the whole docks £5,099
10417
As only part of the docks are in Sunderland parish, this amount was divided
according to the water area as follows : —
In Sunderland, 40 acres 20 perches £3,92.T
In Bishopwearmouth, 4 acres 4 perches 382
Extra-parochial, 8 acres 8 perches 784
Total rateable value of docks
«
.£5,099
PLASTIC WOODS.
MR. F. STEINITZ, of the London Parquetery Company, Camberwell,ha3 ad-
dressed the editor of the Jouraalofthe Society of Arts, on tliis interesting
subject, as follows : —
" Sir,— Observing, in the last number of your Society's Journal, a short
article on the above subject, extracted from a communication to the Tiviesbyits
Paris correspondent, I venture to offer a few observations, which may prevent
erroneous views from being taken in connection with this invention.
" 1 endeavoured, about ten years ago, to produce ornamental plastic wood, by
the application of pressure and softening the woods, and succeeded to a certain
extent by cold pressure, but without softening the wood ; but, as I had antici-
pated, the ' relief was of very slight depth. Several kinds of wood are capable
of being softened by boiling or steaming (the process adopted for knife-cutting
veneers and bending sticks, shafts, and other carriage and ship-building work),
but very few indeed can be sufficiently softened to replace the carving for furni-
ture making. Those foreign woods which are figured by fibres, or various ex-
crescences, or which have fibres traversing the annual rings, are by no means
adapted for that purpose. Equally unsuitable are dark-colored woods, in which,
even when the impression is successful, the outline of the " relief" is much less
distinct than in light-colored ones. Of the latter, lime-tree, poplar, and willow,
might 1)0 used efl'ectually, so far as regards the sunk parts of the ornaments,
which could easily l)e pressed into the softened wood ; but it is very improljable
that the raised parts, retaining the original soft nature of the wood, would ever
become sufhciently hardened to resist tlie eft'eets of time. To apply a chemical
remedy would not only be costly, but also detrimental to the texture and color
of many woods, especially oak ; the mere application of water or steam to oak
will change the color from an agreeable pale yellow to an unjileasaut reddish
hue.
" Walnut is, indeed, susceptible of being easily softened ; but, although it is
much liked Jin England for some descriptions of furniture when it is richly
figured, theplainer sorts would, on account of their dull color, probably meet
with little favor for the imitation of carving.
" Several liast Indian, Chinese, and Brazilian woods might be named which,
being soft as sponge, and yet fine-grained, are especially suitable for pressure,
but they are all open, and even to a greater degree, to the objection which I
have suggested against the use ol the English light-colored woods. Such delicate
carvings as are exeruted with the chisel by Mr. Rogers and other sculptors, can
certainly not be produced by prwsure ; while if, as we may presume from the list
of articles named by the inventor, only a shallow description of carving is aimed
at, this can be executed with great nicety by the turning lathe on the " guil-
lochc " system, frequently used for portraits in ivory and wood, and now very
January 11, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
37
much applied to straw-colored coach-panels, imitating basket-work. But if the
imitation of carving of a more raised character be wished for, I believe there is
nothing so well adapted as leather ornaments, which have now been brought to
an excellent state, and are not very expensive.
As everything connected with wood is in the highest degree interesting to me,
I am anxious to obtain as much information as possible on any new invention re-
lating to it ; and hope these lines may give occasion to a closer investigation of
the subject, which would be much facilitated if the inventor would forward a few
specimens to your next exhibition. The few whicli accompany this letter are the
results of experiments made ten years ago, and were only intended for book-
sides, but found no favor for that purpose."
PLAN FOR A NEW TOWN-HALL.
AMOVE has been made in the right direction (says the Hull Advertiser) for
the obtaining a new Town-hall for Hull, in the room of the dreary, dingy-
looking place which now has to serve for all municipal purposes. At the
suggestion of Mr. Alderman Bannister, theborough surveyor, Mr. David Thorpe,
has prepared plans and sections for a new " Mansion-house " on the site of the
present one. And we have no hesitation in saying that if these plans be adopted,
Hull will be able to boast a building of great beauty and arcliitectural merit. It
is proposed to take lor frontage the whole of the present Town-hall, and the
property up to Hanover-square. The facade is to be entirely of stone, and will
be 105 feet long by 70 feet high. The basement story is of the Doric order of
architecture ; thejnext story is Ionic, and Italian towers surmount all. On the
side next to Leadenhall-square there is a door for the public way leading through
a covered way to the yard, whence admission is to be gained to the sessions-court,
the county-court, the police-court, and other public offices. The main entrance
is, however, in the middle of the front, under a handsome portico. Through a
wide passage admission is given to a noble hall, 80 feet long by 40 feet wide, witli
an elegant light gallery round it. On the right-hand of the entrance is the Town
Clerk's office, with the necessary record-room. On the left the Town Treasurer is
placed, and a fine room is also provided for the Watch Committee. A waiting-
room and other requisites open into the hall. Across the hall on the right side
there is a suite of offices for the Board of Health. The Council-chamber, the
Sessions-court, and the County-court are not removed, but various alterations
for the better accommodation of the public and the members in the Council-
chamber. The Police-court is removed to the extreme end of the building
adjoining to Hanover-square, from whence and Irora Duke-street entrances, are
provided, besides those tlirough the'yard from Lowgate. Over the front entrance
a splendid reception-room is provided for the Mayor, opening on to a balcony
over the portico, which it is proposed shall be used at general elections in place of
hustings. There is a private room for the Mayor, and rooms for the different
committees. Over these again comes a handsome suite of rooms for the house-
keeper. Thus it will be seen that not only will the outside of the building be an
ornament to the town, but that inside there will be a great increase in the
accommodation provided for our municipal legislators. We have only to add
that the estimate cost is £12,000 ; and to repeat what we have said before, that
the plans do Mr. Thorpe infinite credit.
Icci^ujs.
The Art Journal, January, 1861.
WITH this year the Art Journal commences its Twenty-third volume. If it
were not for the improvements which the proprietors have effected in the pro-
ductions of former years, we should believe that they could not surpass the work
which monthly they now lay before their readers ; but we have seen how the well-
illustrated magazine which formerly bore the title of the Art- Union Journal
has matured into the splendid serial which is now eagerly looked for and gladly
welcomed in the drawing-room of every tasteful home, and we augur from it
that the energy and enterprise which have won for it so proud a position will not
he relaxed, but rather be stimulated by its deserved success. Fully sensible of the
difficulty cf upholding the popularity of such a journal, its conductors have
pressed into their service /experienced and accomplished writers, and they have
retained the aid of valued eontril)utors, wlio for years have steadily and ably
labored to further the art-instruction of the people. To all that relates to "art,''
fine and industrial, the pages of this journal are devoted. We find, in the pre-
sent number, a paper on " The Antiquity of the Likeness of Our Blessed Lord,"
almost immediately followed by an elaborate article on " Paper Staining." We
have a carefully written notice of the life and works of the Quaker-painter, Jacob
Thompson : a clever dramatic sketch of " Murillo and the Beggar Boy ;" and
otlier equally well prcpai-ed fine-art papers, in conjunction with a notice of
Drinking Fountains." Mingled with all these there are notes on all art-
snbjects which have attracted attention during the last month, records of cir-
cumstances connected with art, and reviews. But the enterprise of the pro-
prietors is more strikingly visible in the splendid line engravings, three of which
are monthly issued with the journal, and in the delicate and beautiful woodcuts
seen on almost every page of it. There are upwards of forty of these latter in
this single number. It is scarcely too much to say that to their excellence, in
addition to that of the large steel engravings, the proprietors are indebted for
the permission which has been accorded them to issue engravings of the pictures
in the Royal Collection. A complete collection of the works bequeathed to the
nation by the late Mr. Vernon have been published in former volumes of the
journal ; and we are promised, as soon as the Royal series is brought to a close,
a selection from the pictures in tho private galleries and collections of Great
Britain.
When we reflect that a single engraving similar to those published in the Art
Journal would, when the publication was first commenced, have cost eight or
ten times the price of the number in wliicli tlie proprietors give three such works
in addition to the forty or fifty woodcuts and valuable articles on art topics, the
public can judge how far the journal has been instrumental in improving the
English taste,;and in fostering that love of art of which we now see every where
such abundant evidence. We have an earnest in this number of a deterinination
to maintain its high rlmr.ncter. The news and record of every incident con-
cerning the arts is copious, the engravings are costly and carefully print«l;
nothing seems to be spared to keep it in its position of "a first-class art journal.
The engravings this month consist of a fine impression, beautifully transferred to
steel by Mr. E. Gooilall, of Turner's famous picture, in the Natioiuil GoUety,
" Caligula's Palace;" another of " War," by Drummond, equally well rendered
by Mr. Lightfoot, from tlie original at Osborne; and a third, "The Friends," an
early and interesting work of Landseer. The wood engravings consist of some
delicate reductions from pictures l>^ Jacob Tiiompson, which accompany a notice
of his career and early struggles ; iour exquisite extracts from Hadiw's wivthy
illustrations to the " Princess "; a series of views of the Hudson, attodied to
Mr. Lossing's description of the noble American river; and lost, not leant, the
cuts which explain Mr. Fairholt's " Arcliux>logical Rambles amongst Old Books
and in Old Places." Mr. Thomas Ileapliy opens a scries of articles which be if
writing on the ".Vntiquityof tlie Likeness of Christ," by an introdactionsbowiiig
the difficulties he had to contend with in order to obtain permission to sketch, or
even to see, a portion of the antiquities bearing on his subject in Rome. The
real Circumlocution Office seems to be there situated. In no other city in the
world could checks to inquiry be so ingeniously contrived. Whilst the study to
which he has devoted so mueli time and followed lip with so much (jerseveriDg
labor is highly interesting ; his account is free fi-om all dryness ; and by tlie
happy way he lias of telling his adventures— wandering in the hot sumiKfat
backwards and forwards between Major Duomo and Cardinal, or racing with hie
expiring candle in the dreary catacombs through the midnight hours — he re-
lieves the monotony of an archaeological article, and gratifies with his pen*
pictures those even who read for amusement only.
Mr. Thornbury's dramatic sketch of " Murillo and the Beggar Boy " is struck
off in the same pleasant manner, and M r. Daft'orne's notice of Thompson is given
with an earnest and thorough appreciation of the painter's virtues as a stru^^Ung
lad, and liis devotion, spite of the grocer's shop and the house-painter's appren-
ticeship, to that calling which he now adorns. Tlie article, however, wliico more
directly appeals to us and to the building trade is by Mr. John Stewart, on " French
Paper-staining" (a subsequent paper will be devoted to the productions of
tile English makers). It details tlie practical branch of the snbjtct, and the
causes of French superiority. To ascertain this, the author has visited some of
the most important factories in botli countries, and their fprcMitcf are
mentioned. The first reason given for the French superiority is, that they
conduct their business in a far more liberal and enlightened spirit. " In the
matter of designs a French maker will spend as many pounds as an English
maker will spend pence." " In France the designer is an artist, and treateaand
remunerated as such, and the French paper-stainers will pay him as good prices
for good designs as our good artists get for good pictures." " In England the
designer for paper-hangings ranks with a writer of window show tickets."
Having paid a good price for the design, the French maker spares no expense to
bring it out in the best style, employing another artist who understands the
mecanique of the trade, to convert the pictures into patterns. These translators
are themselves, in the French factories, high-class artists. Another cause of
superiority is, that the Frenchman employs more expensive materials from first to
last than the English makers. The writer subsequently notices the character-
istics of different French factories : the "getting up," at the establishment
of Margeridon, the invention of MM. Jossc, for stamping gold on the surface
without the usual process of printing, whereby great delicacy of form and
brilliancy of metal is attained ; the invention of >I. Genoux and Co., for printing
shades on a flock-ground, and the " borders" of M. Morize.
We have not space to dwell further upon this interesting paper, but we would
direct our readers' attention to it. It is a good sample of the thorough and
efficient manner in which tlie Art Journal treats the practical branches of art.
The same care is bestowed on them to make the book beneficial to the industrial
art-workman as is given to the expensive engravings which tieautify it, and
render it an acceptable ornament to the drawing-room.
The Architectural Publication Soriety. JHcHonary of Architecture.
Part XI.
THERE is no architectural publication which is mere entitled to the support of
the profession than the Dictionary wh'ch is in course of issue by the above
Society. Its excellence as a work of reference is beyond all question, and the
lithographic plates by Mr. Bedford are equal to the best specimens of stone
drawing. It should also be remembered that it is published by a committee of
gentlemensolelyfor the benefit of the suliscribers, and the number of illustra-
tions are, consequently, dependent on the number of architects who appreciate
its value. Unlike most gratuitous labor, the work in this case is most ablv done.
The articles are clearly written, and composed with singular conciseness. H hero
the nature of the subject demands a lengthened notice, it is given, but as briefly
as it is possible to give it ; and appended to each article is a guide to the most
important and trustworthy books which treat exclusively of tlie sulyect ; so that
the student who wishes for general information on any matter connected with
the art or science of architecture can find it in this Dictionary, with its prin-
ciples clearly defined ; and if he wish to pursue his studies further, he leans
therein whither to direct his steps. Let us take a specimen at random. 'Tho
article " Farm Buildings " occupies upwards of eight celumns; the peculianUea
of the three principal svstems arc givert, with plans of each interspersed m the
text ; the principles are tlieii explained which should guide the architect m
placing the farm buildings, and for the detaUs of their construction, cmstrucUve
points? &c., he is referred to other articles in the Dictionary under the sevaal
heads as follows :— Barn, calf-house, cattle-shed, liquid-manure tank, stable,
&c., &c. A list of works to be further consulted is then given, which includes
those published in France and America, as well as in England. ,. . .,
In other articles, after describing tlie meaning of a term and giving a list ot
the best treatises upon it, the finest existing specimens are mentioned : the mfor-
mation for the student is thus quite complete, his time is saveil, and his labor m
hunting-up authorities is curtailed. The practical articles are written very ab y.
Take, for example, that under the head " Expansion." Its equivalent in four
modern languages is first set down; then follows the meMing of the word .—
"The increase of volume which takes place in bodies from the action of "'"tow
force is known by the name of exmnuion, in order to distinguish this modifica-
tion of matter from that produced iiy the acton of externa force, "''"^ 'll^n^j^
bv the name oi extension." The three conditions are then laid down M'"^*,^ "X?
alone the architect has to take the laws of expansion mto account-viz.: l.^wne"
it takes place in consequtnce of the molecular arrangemente accompanying crys-
tallisation ; 2, when in consequence of changes of temperature in the bodi« con-
sidered • and 3, when it takes place in consequence of the absorption of moisture
by building materials. After a full explanation of these conditions, the reader is
referred toother heads— Brickwork, Congelation, DUaUon, Contraction, &c., 4cc. ,
38
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 11, 1861.
and to the result of the exiierience of Ronnie, Edwards, and Bray, as piven in the
" Tnuunctions of the Institution of Civil Engineers," and in the Civil Bngineer's
tnil A rchitfct'f Jotirnnl, as rejfards the allowance to be made for tlie contrac-
timi of ca«t Iron in coolln^r, anu the provision to be made against the etfects of
hnt in iron brid^^cs.
The Uognphies are condensed to the smallest limit, without omitting: anything:
of intereit ; wid, besides a list of the architect's designs and erections, the i-eader
is directed to books where views of them are published. Great pains have
eridentiv been taken to make the letterpress perfect in every respect. Every
wood at all connected with architecture is found in its alphabetical order. We
haTe "Eng-bengastronL? wood of T.tvoy, East Indies, n ca for house carpentry j"
and "Kng-(tyeng, a useful wood of Amherst, but shaky; it is said to be used
«Uefly for posts only." These examples 'show that the eiiitors have not allowed
the most apparently trifJinp terms to escape their attention, and the sin|;le line
■wijich describes each of them is an example of the conciseness with which they
are disposed of.
In addition to the .50 pages of the Dictionary, there arc six larfte lithographed
plates, illu.stratire of font covers, isalleries, griffins, lecterns, and raetfll work,
from sketches by Messrs. Burjtes, Scott, Purday, Cwkerell, Goldie, and Hebb.
The principal plate is a splendid view of the muniraent-roora, Westminster
Akbev, Hthograpbed with wonderful delicacy and skill by Mr. Bedford. In fact
the plates issued with this Dictionary are models of architectural drawin"? and
litboeraphy. There is just enouch work put into them to make the form inirae-
liiately >isible, and no more. The torch-rest from Siena on the last plate is
acareely more than an outline, but the few touches of shade are placed exactly
in a proper position, and the sketch is comprehended at a glance. The same may
be said of Mr. Burges' drawings on the first plate, and of almost all the illus-
trations which the Society have published. Better than they are they cannot be ;
there can be more of them, but only by tlie members of the" profession, who are
not already subscribers, becoming so. Every additional subscriber aids the work.
His sabacription, whilst its publication is in progress, will enrich the book,
which, even without such assistance, is the best of the kind ever issued, and
highly creditable to all connected with it.
Utrful Ir\formation for Engitieert; containing Experimental Researchen
on the Collapse of Sailer Flues and the Strength of Materials, and
Lectures on Papular Education and various subjects connected with
Mechanical Engineering, Iron-ship Building, the Properties of Steam,
*c. By William Faikbaixn, lx,.d., p.h.s. Second Series, 8vo., 1860.
LoDsman and Co.
IN tbe present (the second) series of a well-known and valuable work we find
much that commends itself to our notice, and fully justifies us in bringing it
p rominmtly before our readers. We were prepared, looking at the name of the
author, to find a good Ijook, but hardly expected to find it so diffuse with
information that must be interesting to general readers. It is next to impossible
to give more than a general idea of the scope of a work which, in some 329
pa{^ treats of the resistance of cylindrical wrought-iron vessels to collapse ; of
tlie resistance of glass globes and cylinders to collapse from external pressure ;
on the tensile and compressive strength of various kmds of glass ; the tensile
strength of wrought-iron at various temperatures; the comparative value of
Taiious kinds of stone as exhibited by their powers of resisting compression ;
lectures on popular education ; on the machinery employed in agriculture ; on the
rise of civil and mechanical engineering and its progress to the present century,
also iU progress during the present century; on the construction of iron ships,
and on iron vessels exceeding 300 feet in length; on wrought-iron tubular
cranes, and on the properties of steam, its management and application.
The experiments on the resistance of cylindrical vessels to collapse were under-
taken at the joint request of tlie Royal Society and the British Association for the
Advancement of Science, and will, doubtless, assist the principal object in view—
t^t of proportioning, more accurately than has been the custom, the flues of
boilers for raising steam, " which have hitherto been constructed on merely
empineal data." ■'
It has been considered by engineers that a cylindrical tube, when exposed to a
nniform external pre-sure, was equally strong 'in every part ; but in practice such
i» not tlie case. In some experiments the author found that flues of 35 feet
tong were distorted with considerably less force than others of similar construc-
toon 25 feet long ; hence the present series of experiments, which, it is Ijelieved,
have been attended with very conclusive results. Tlie tubes employed were com-
posed of plates of uniform thickness; the forms assumed on collapse are shown
bv cuts opposite cacli column in the tables, which gives the diameter, length,
thickneas of the tube, and the pressure per square inch at the moment
of collapse. The length varied from 10 inches to 60 inches; and it
if interesting to notice the sectional forms assumed on collapse. In the
shorter length tbe tube is flattened on three sides taking the form of
a triangle, while in the longer lengths two sides only are brought together. In
■Moe cases the sectional form is symmetrical, in others very irregular, showing
that, even for the porpoae of experiment, it is exceedingly difficult to obtain a
KTin iill'""***"*""'' "***""' •" ''o* "Pon- The collapsing pressure varies
from IB lbs to 170 lbs. per squ.ire inch, and the mean of the cxiieriments appears
toi«d to the conclusion that the results approximate closely to the law that the
J?*""?*,'' »."• 'nversely as the lengtljs. A 4-incli tube, 19 inches long, the metal
toeing 04.1 uiohe. in thickness, collapsed on three sides at a pressure of 170 lbs.
per sf|nare ineli; while a tube 00 inches long, but otherwise similar to the
rormer, collapsed on two sides at a pressure of 43 lbs. only. Again, a tube
nmilar to the last, but strengthened by two iron rings soldered on the outside,
dividing It into three equal lengths, bore a pressure of 140 lbs., when the centre
portion alone collapsed on three sides. Similar results were obtained from experi-
racnu on tul«. 8 inches in diameter. The extensive use of the lap-ioiiit in
boilera u well known, but the resulu given in the tables show that the consiquent
^ril^.h " T.S"''"' "''^" ''"^ "fength of a tube so foniie.l to the eitent
fc.n^^.^^.°iTV ■?' I'" ""'° '"''"'? •'"■^ = ''^*' »■■ ^-'"^ "'^a'-'y. comparing the
,LM^m^«- .' ".'*', ""If .">»■"'» tl>e tubes were in precisely the Same
M^ !^^lw tV "' " *"'■'''■' '"'"'■' '™"'«'y «"'=•' »t each end to unyielding
diK., from which fliey were in Mime tew casts torn, b<;ing to some extent in a
A i!^ *" " submitted to severe collapsing pressure
tubes also follow, in their resistance to collapse, some function of tlie length." It
is important to observe that wc cannot in practice inti'oduce long tubes into con-
structions exposed to external pressure without making very considerable
allowance for their loss of strength. A good idea of the superior strength of a
perfcetlv cylindrical tube will lie gathered from the experiments; it is more
strikingly exemplified when we find that a cylindrical and elliptical tube, eacli of
the same length and thickness of plate, and varying only half on inch in sectional
area, collapsed, the former at a pressure of 420 lbs. and the latter at a pressure c€
127-5 lbs. per square inch, showing a loss of about five-sevenths of tlie strength ;
generally, the results of the experiments show that the resistance to collapse
from a uniform external pressure in cylindrical tubes varies in the inverse ratio
of the lengths. It is true that, owing to the necessity for constructing costly
apparatus for tubes of greater length, the experimeiits have been confined to
tubes not exceeding fifteen diameters in length, and that, therefore, the point at
which the law ceases to hold true is as yet undetermined. We do not, however,
wish to underrate their importance on that account ; many lamentable accidents
have taken place owing to ignorance' or a disregard of the law referred to. " If
we take a boiler of the ordinary construction, 30 feet long and 7 feet in diameter,
with one or more flues 3 feet or 3 feet 0 inches in diameter, we find tliat the
cylindrical external shell is from three to four times stronger in its resistance to
the force tending to burst it than the flues are to resist the same force tending
to collapse them. In this practice the elementary maxim, that no construction
is stronger than the weakest part thereof, is lost sight of altogether.
Experiments on glass show that its mean resistance to a crushing force is about
135 '""s to the square inch. Much that is interesting may be learnt in the
pages before us on the strength of glass, and on the properties of wrought iron
at various tenineratures. Table 12 shows that the strength of wrought iron
plates is not ailected by a temperature ranging from zero up to 340 deg., and even
this temperature may probably be increased as high as 500 deg. or COO deg.,
without seriously impairing the strength, as may be seen by reference to table 14,
while the maximum strength of bars appears to be attained at a mean temper-
ature of about 320 deg. This difl'erence between wrought, plate, and bar iron is
probably explained by the fact that in the process of manufacture bars are drawn
by the hammer and rolls to from 20 to 25 times its original lengtji, whilst plates,
such as those selected, never come under the hammer, and seldom exceed 6 or 8
limes the length of the original shingle after pa-ssing through the rolls.
The second part of the volume contains a lecture on Popular Education, in
which, to our mind, the subject is admirably treated, and is well calculated to
C'l rry conviction to the class to whom it may be considered to be more particularly
addressed. The object the author has had iu view ha.s been to direct attention to
certain principles which he holds to be true, and which he considers essential to
the development of the human mind, the formation of character, and the right
exercise of our duties to society. " To rise in the world, three qualifications are
necessary — truthfulness, a sound judgment, and persevering industry."
The machinery employed in agriculture, both in ancient and modern times, is
explained in a lucid style ; and the lectures on the progress ot ineclianical
engineering to and during the present century indicate great research and deep
practical knowledge on the part of the accomplished writer. Credit must be given
to the Marquis of Worcester's invention as the starting-point from which we
derive the developments of steam power. In "The Journal of the Visit to
England of Cosmo de Medicis, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1699," this invention
is referred to ; his secretary writes—" His Highness went again afterdinner to the
other side of the City,extending his excursion as far asVauxliall, beyond the palace
of the Archbishop of Canterbury, to see an hydraulic machine invented by my Lord
Somerset, Marquis of Worcester. It raises water more than forty geometrical
feet by the power of one man only ; and in a very short space of time will draw
up four vessels of water through a tube or cliaimel not more than a span in width,
on which account it is considered to be of greater service to the public than the
other machine, near Somerset House." It was, however, reserved for Captain
Savery to introduce steam generally as a means of raising water. Interesting
and instructive biographical notices are given of Eennie and Telford. We shall
not be expected to agree with the author where he says of iron — " As a material
for street architecture, it is admirably adapted, from its powers of repetition and
security from fire." Stereotyped ornaments at so much per dozen or hundred
will never help to good architecture, and we believe that no building is so soou
totally destroyed by fire as one of iron.
Our space will not allow us to refer at any length to the other subject at the
conclusion of the volume, but we must return to the last lecture ot Part I. — •
" On the Comparative Value of various kinds of Stone, as exhibited by their
Powers of Resisting Compression " — a subject of no small importance to the
architect and builder. The author's investigations have been confined to the
question of strength — that of durability he modestly leaves to other hands. The
results of experiments on stone from North Wales and other places give as
that best adapted to withstand compression — the Grauwacke stone, from the
neighbourhood of Penmiienmawr, a 2-inch cube of which fractured at 40,092
lbs., but crushed only undjr a pressure of 67,572 lbs , whilst granite from
Mount Sorrel fractured and crushed at once under 51,444 lbs. We may mention
that an inch block of Auston stone fractured under 2,154 lbs., and crushed under
a pressure of 3,0-50 lbs., which gives a pressure of 12,200 lbs. to crush a 2-inch
cube. These figures may be compared with the weight required to crush a block
of Grauwacke stone, from Peninaenmawr, of similar size and form. We learn
generally that the crushing weights are as the areas of the surface subjected to
pressure. As is well known, great advantage was found in bedding stone iu its
natural position, the dilluri^iice being as 10:8 in favor of the stone being crushed
upon its bed to the same when crushed in the line of cleavage; and the same may
he said of the limestones. A list of the bearing powers of various materials
employed in building is given, the data being obtained from experiments
instituted by Mr. Latimer Clarke, during the construction of the Britannia and
Conway tubular bridges; the average weight supported by brickwork set in
cement, the average weight of 9-incii cubes being 53 lbs., was 33-5 tons per
square foot, being equal to a column 583-69 feet high of such brickwork. Sand-
stone of an average weight of 130 lbs. 10 oz. per cube foot, or 17 feet per ton,
crushed at an average weight of 134 tons per square foot, equal to a column
3,351 feet high of the material ; while limestone equal to li)5 lbs. 5 oz. per
cubic foot, or 13JXeet per ton, crushed at an average weight of 471-15 tons per
square foot, equal to a column 0,433 feet high of such material.
It was found that brickwork began to show irregular cracks some time
before it gave way ; that sandstone, after fracture, generally took the form of an
January 11, 1861-
THE BUILDING NEWS.
39
inverted pyramid very symmetrical, and tliat tlie limestones formed yc)';)cnrfic«ter
cracks anil splinters a long time before they crushed.
We have extended our notice of Mr. Fairbairn's book far beyond the limits we
orijiiniilly proposed to ourselves; we now leave it, not because we have said all
that we have to say, nor that its pages fail to afford matter for further comment :
our space alone warns us to pause, and we comply, warmly recommendin<; the
volume to " all whom it may concern."
LECTURE AT TUE AKCHITECTCRAL MUSEUJr.
ON Wednesday evening the first of a scries of lectures at this Institution was
delivered by ■\ViM.iAiM White, Esq., nrcliitect, who selected for his subject "A
Flea for I'olyeliromv." Js'otwithstiindinu tlie Inclemency ol the weatlier, tliere was
a numerous attendi'mce. At the close of tlie lecture a vote of thanks was passed by
acclamation to Mr. White for his udminible paper, on the motion of Sir. .JosErii
Clakke. Wc shall q;ivc a full report- of the lecture in our next, but iu meantime
may otjserve that the lecturer insisted upon the necessary existence of I'olychromy
in architecture, and pleaded for a further introduction of color largely for its own
sake in architectural interiors. lie appealed to man's intuitive love for color as
illustrated in a variety of ways, and to tlie analogy of Nature. lie then referred to
thevalue of " unconscious influences," and to the manner in whieb men are alfected
by color, even though unconscious of its presence, and called attention to the
necessity of color in order to the healthy state of the eye and brain, and the con-
sequent cruelty which its withdrawal inflicted upon the sick and the poor. After
answering some popular objections to the use of color, the talented lecturer (whose
discourse was listened to wiih tlie utmost attention, and frequently cheered) concluded
by advising a closer application to the study of chromatic law, appealing to all to
lend their aid to the institution within whose walls they were assembled, whose great
aim was to help forward the artist and the art-student upon their high mission of
contributing: to the health and happiness of their countrymen.
(l[or«spiukncc.
PROPOSED EXHIBITION OF SCULPTURE.
Sir,— I have just read with much interest the letter from Mr. B. Druce, ad-
vocating an Annual E.xhibition of Sculpture. He points to the Conduit-street
Galleries as suitable, and I address you only to say that more than once the same
thing has suggested itself to some of those interested in these galleries. Such an
exhibition might not inaptly be united with the Architectural Exhibition. And,
let me add, that if more space is needed there is no difficulty in obtaining it; it
would be ijuite possible to add another good gallery to those already provided — it
is only a question of finding a suitable tenant and an adequate rent.
I sincerely hope that the matter will not end with the publication of Air.
Druce 's letter. I am, kc,
J.\s. Edmeston,
Hon. Sec. Arch. Exliib. and Arch. Union Companies.
5, Crown-court, Old Broad-street, E.C., Jan.8, 1861.
A HINT OR TWO WANTED.
Sir, — Will any of the correspondents of your valuable Journal inform me the
best and the cheapest method of galvanising iron pipes, and alsoof enamellingcast-
ii'on basins white? I am,&c.,
Darlington, January 8, 1861. John Smith.
LIVERPOOL CEMETERY COMPETITION.
Sir,— Can you inform me what are the proceedings of the Burial Board, con-
nected with tills competition. It is now more than a montli since the plans were
publicly exhibited, and in most cases, the prize designs are then selected, that
tbe public may also see whjch plans, in the judgment of tlie Committee, are con-
sidered most meritorious, and thereby form their own conclusions thereon. For
what Oilier cause can the public exhibition, be than as a guarantee to the
competing architects that justice is done in the selection? whereas if several weeks
are permitted to elapse after the exhibition, the distinctive merits of the several
designs fade from the mind in a certain degree, and it can only be taken for granted
that the best has really been chosen.
In this competition three or four sets of the most elaborately and expensively
got up drawings could not possibly be carried out, for nearly double the amount
allowed in the conditions; lor instance, in some of the designs, each of the chapels
have towers and spire, whicli would alone cost nearly the whole of the money.
..^ confess I should like to see whether any of them receive prizes, because
if so it is most unfair to those who have endeavoured to abide by the instruc-
tions, and have, therefore, not been able to send quite so elaborate designs.
Or are the Committee, following the example of tlie late Competition in Leeds,
endeavouring to find out in what way they may plausibly give all the prizes to
their own townsmen. Now, truly, I like Committees to" prefer their own towns-
men, but if they mean to act honorably they must confine the competition to them
in the first place. I am, &c.,
A Looker- ox.
^-
LAND SURVEYING.
Sir,— It has occurred to me that a satisfactorv solution of a question in
reference to the principle that should be adopted in hind surveying, as to whether
the footpaths, or public right of way, should be included in the measurement of
the land would be beneficial.
It is a question of no very great importance, where the estate is in an agri-
cultural district and is sold as agricultural land, but wliere an estate, near
London, is sold avowedly fur AwiWjnjr purposes it becomes a matter of no slight
moment to know whether such rights ol way should, or should not, be deducted
from the average.
If jou think the letter worth inserting, the question might then possibly ex-
cite the attention of the profession, and should you kindly open your columns,
the practice generally adopted be fully ascertainable. '
I am, kc,
F. B. WiLu.i.Ms.
Lawn House, Greenwich Road. S.E., January 9, 1861.
TENDERS-
TiNBBKv Mineral Water Scheme.
For sinking the wells in connexion with the above scheme. Ur. Thomu Flewett,
C.E.
Warmington £2S0
Wilson 214
I'artoD (accepted) IM
Smith 17»
„ . CnAPEL, I'UDBEV.
For the erection of a Unitarian Chapel, Pudscy, Mr, WUUam HHI, architect,
Leeds.
Kxcavatora' and Masons' ?K)r4.-GreaveB and Jackson £4.10 0
tV/r;)fH(ers'«/irfJoi»cnl'iror».-.— Edward Itoys 270 0
J'lumhers' ami (jtaziert' ttorl-.- Leptou liauiiistcr 28 0
.Starern' «-o,i-.— William Watson , 50 7
i'/nsrcrcrs' icorJ-.— .Tosepb Laycock 30 0
Iron nailing and Fixtures 15 0
Architect's estimate £850 0 £»« 7
KOADWORK, &C., GUEAT GrIMSBT.
For the road-making and drainage works required to be done In forming the new
streets which have been recently laid out In the East Marsh, Great Grimsby. Mr.
,r. Chapman, surveyor.
Hrown, Grimsby £4,092 0 0 I Atkinson, Grimiby £.1,5«« 1 0
Goddard , ■3,8»7 2 5 Picket , 3,304 2 7
Wilkin 3,7«.1 0 0 Kirk and Glover, Grimsby , . 3,155 0 0
Enderby , 3,(j<i5 17 0 | Waller, Grimsby (accepted).. 3.0.M 18 0
The works arc to be set about at once, and completely fiolsaed In four months.
Houses, Leeds.
For the erection of two houses, Burlcy-road, Leeds, for W. E. Walker, Esq. Mr.
William Hill, architect, Leeds.
For Jlrick-layers' IKori'.— Winn and Pickard £20* 0 0
For Masons' Work J', and B. Pounder 125 0 0
ForCarpeniers'and Joiners iyorl\~J.ChtLTleauidSon..., 203 0 0
For Plasterers' (For*.— E. Garlick and .*on 66 0 0
For Plumbers and Qlaziers' IKor/r.— Braithwaltc and
Myers 37 3 0
For Slaters' Work.— JihezVuvion 25 9 0
For Painters' IPor/t.— Frederic Jackson 17 17 0
680 0 0
AS8EMBI.T-HO0.M, AC, ALDEBSHOT. „, r, a uka
For assembly-room and other works to the Aldershot-market Mr. T. Gooaclula.
F.S.A., of Guildford, architect.
J.Martin X1430
HoweandWorth 1,100
W. Duke 963
Rope Factory Works, Siiadwell.
For the rebuilding the factory, warehouse, twine-loft, riggingr-house, and toiring-
house, and for reinstating the engine-house, boiler-house, smithy, Ac., Ac, at the
Kopery, Love-lane, Shadwell, for »fessrs. Louch and Co. Mr. Charles Duncb, archi-
tect. Quantities supplied by Mr. Robert L. Curtis. „ , ^
Munday £4,227 Hedges «,J^
- - Ashby 3.«0
Hrowne ^^Z
Wood HS
Hack *. S.283
Blackburn WW
Willson 3,926
Outhwaite 3,78!)
Brass 3,4ti8
Hill 3,475
Ennor 3,473
Cemeterv Chapels, Ac, Ealing.
For the erection of chapels, lodge, Ac. for cemetery at Ealing.
:. £2,085 HobertMann ,'Si
Samuel Hancock
.Tohn K. Ivey 1,993
T. W.Wright 1,800
Joseph Thompson 1,730
T. H. Adamson and Son 1.^
Thomas Nye (accepted) ISSo
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
DALHOUSIE INSTITCTE.
Calchtta.— The General Committee of the Ualhousie institute invite architects or
others to furnish them with designs and estimate for a building to be erected
on the site on the Maidan. Printed copies of the conditions of the compcution. m
full detail, will be furnished to applicants by Messrs. R. C. Lepage and to. ^o- h
Whitefriars-street, Fleet-street, London, E.C. The author ofthe de.«ign sclectja
as first in merit will receive a prize of three thousand rupees. If required I)y «ne
Committee, he must engage to supply to them, in addition to the plans requirea
for the general competition, such other working plans and sP""";''"*'?' "-"K
be needful to guide contractors desirous of tendering for the construcuon of me
building. (Sucli additional plans and papers must be lodged with tue secretary
on or before the first of July, 1861). Tfie author of the design se ected as secjind In
merit will receive a prize of one thousand rupees, .^he Committee do not bind
tiicmselves to adopt either of the prize designs for the actual b'-'ldlng. nor to em-
ploy the author o? either in the supervision ofthe ""'^"f"™ f i^S^cUve^
But if 60 emploved, he will receive remuneration for the same nrrespecUTCly
of the prize awarded him. Designs will be receited to March JL
NOKTIIAMPTON.-The Municipal Council has ^tended the time for receiving
designs lor the new Town-hall and other buildings to the Ist >ebruary next.
LEEDS.-For plans for a new budtoV^ca'culated toalford acrommodation 1^^
business ofthe Leeds Public Dispensary to be erected on the site otthe^p^
building (No. 171, North-street). Applicallons for conditions and »'"i' P"'"""^™
to be made ot the Institution from one to three o c ock p.m., up to Jau. lo. inc
plans to be deposited with the secretary before March i.
LAYI.NG-OIT LAND. , ., . i j .„
PLVMOuxn -For nlans for the laying out for building about four acres of land in
PIvmout"; for Mn W Derry. Three premiums will be given to compet,tors-£50
for XbestSan £25 for the second, and £10 for the third, he reserving to him-
8?If he ri-ht of dedsion tliereon. The plans to which the premiums are awarded
are trbecome the property of Mr. Derr^. who doe, »ot guarantee .employing the
successful candidate for the future carrying out the ™<>r\„ J'^f? P'S" '"^IftS
distinguishing motto or sign, accompanied with a 8™ «>J"; i^°??' ™.7.^^^^^
motto, and containing name and address "l f^^er Plans, sent free of all cost, to
Mr. William Dcrrv, Houndiscombe House, Plymouth, by March 1.
LBtimatus bv •laauaiv 31.
40
THE BUILDING NEWS.
Januaky 11, 1861.
SCHOOI.. Ac. , ^ ,
MAKKirr Raskn, Li!«coi.TCBniRF..— Kor pUiu andcrtlmatw for a house for master
and Ihlrtv board*™, nchool and ol»«»-room for sixty boys, and play-crounds (Dc
Axon Sihool. Market lUjen. Lincolnshire) The who^ cost not t« exceed
£3,00a PUn» to be forwarded to John Swan, Clerk to the Trostecs of the Spltal
I Charity, by February 1. ^
CONTRACTS OPEN.
ciirRriiKs.
BinRER W *iTOx —For the « rcrtionof a new eliurch. proposed to be built at'Higner
Walton, in the parochial ohapelrv of Walton-lc-Dale. near l*re8ton. Plans. Ac.,
at the National Sihool-room. Wallon-lo-dale. and also at the office of the
arehitert Mr. K. «. Palev. Lancaster, till the 20th Inst. Tenders to be sent, ad-
drewed to Mr. Paley, by" Fehrnarj- 2. ^ , ,.„, _ „.,, , , ,
Kiu-AHE (IREI.AKDV— For repairing the chnrch of Kilfane, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland.
SneeilcatioDS with the resident minister. Tenders, sealed, prepaid, and addressed
ttu-— ■■ Proposal for the Church of , the Ecclesiastical Com-
mliaioners for Ireland. Dnblin." by January IR.
KibCOCK (IHELAXD).— For buildinc the new Catholic church of Kileock, county
Kiidare Ireland Plans. Ac., at the office of Mr. J. .1. McCarthy, architect, 183,
Great Brunswick-street, Dublin. Tenders to be forwarded to the Eev. William
Tmety.P-P.KIIcoek, by January 17.
Dboobboa (Irei.ani>1.— For bulldini; the new chnrch of St. Aujrustine, Droffhcda,
Ftans, fte., with the architect, Mr. M. B. Moran, 3, Castlewood-avenue, Eathmincs.
Tenders by February 16.
nCSPIT.\L.
ATLE8BORT. —For the erection of a new inHrmary or hospital, with all requisite
eonreniences connected therewith, on (jround close to the town of Aylesbtiry, for
tbaGoremorsof the nucklnKham-street Cineral Inflrmary. Plans, Ac, on and
after Januan- 23. at the offices of .Mr. Ravid Brandon, architect, 24, Blerkcley-
aqnare, London, W.. to whom builders desirous of eompetins for the work arc re-
quested to make application, and they will be thereupon informed the name of the
stnreyor, who will be authorised to supply copies of the bills of quantities,
npon payment of Ifis. Od. "per copy. Tenders (free of expense) at the office
ofXr. Henrr llerward. th« secretary. In ,\yle8bury (each tender sealed np and
addroMd ■• To the (ioyomors of the Infirmary," and endorsed " Tender for the
Bocka Ittfinnary,") by February il^-
nOTEL,
lEEDS.— For the erection of an hotel, Ac, near to Smithfleld-market, North-street,
Leeds. Drawinirs, Ac, at the offices of Geonrc Smith, surveyor and architect,
in. Park-lane. Leeds, from the 2Ist till the 2fith January, on which latter day
tenders must Ix' sent to Mr. Smith by twelye noon.
B'KIUGE.
KEADIitc— For re-bnlldlne Yorkpool Bridge, in the parish of Shinfleld, near
Reading, Berks. Plans, Ac.., Ac, at the office of J. B. Clacy, county surveyor, 99,
Broad-street, Beading, to whom tenders endorsed, " Tender for Yorkpool
Bridge," on February Ist.
GASWORKS.
Halitax.— For making, erecting, and completing npon the Halifax Gasworks,
dnplicate annular condensers, three scrubbers, four purifiers, and a 100 feet tele-
scopic <rasholdcr, in two 2n-feet lifts, with iron tank and appendages. Drawings,
Ac, Ac, from Jlr. <i. W. Stevenson, the Engineer, and tenders to Edmd. Mlnson
WareU, Town Clerk, Town Hall, Halifax, by January 17.
WATEUWOUKS.
GoBET (IBEI-AND). -For the construction of waterworks for the Gorey Gas and Water
Company flimllcd). Plans Ac, at the office of the company in Gorey. There arc
two plans, and as the directors have not decided on the point Irom which the
water is to be conveyed, separate tenders for each must be sent in. Tenders sealed
snd addressed to the Gas and Water Company, Gorey, Thomas Wilkinson, secre-
tary, to January 20.
WAREHOUSES.
J^SEDS For the mason and brick work, carpenters' and joiners' work, slaters',
plumber and glaziers', plastereni', painters', and ironfounders' work required in
ibeerection of a warehouse in Wellington-street, Leeds. Plans and specifications
at tbe offlci'S of Dobson and Chorley, architects, 19, Park-row, Leeds, until 11th
taut. ; to whom tenders not later than ten a.m. of January 12.
tncEdTER.— Forthe erection of a new warehouse, new glass and iron roof, and
mndry alterations. Drawings, Ac, at the office of Francis Drake, architect, Ac,
30, Market. street, Leicester. Tenders to be delivered by twelve noon, January 14.
OUTFALL.
Bbiohtos — For the construction of an iron outfall, extending 800 feet or there-
abouts, and a brick stormwater outlet, from the main sewer at Black Rock, Kemp
Town, in Brighton, and also of a Groyne on the west side thereof. Draw-
ings, Ac, at the office of the borough surveyor. Sealed tenders, addressed
to Charles Sharood, town clerk, and endorsed "Tender for Outfall and
Groyne," to be left nt his office, at the Town-hall, before four o'clock,
January 29.
QUAY CRANE.
DrBtra.— For the eonstmctlon and erection of a thirty tons' crane on Sir John
Rocrerson's quay, for the Corporation for preserving and improving the port of
Dublin. Specillcatlons, Ac, at the office of the assistant engineer, B. B. Stoney,
eaq.. Ballast office premises. North wall. Tenders, sealed and post-paid (on prepared
forms only) addressed to W. Lees, esq., secretary to the Ballast office, Westmor-
land-street, Dublin, by 12 noon of Febniary 1.
I'lPING.
BEl»wiCK-rpOH-TwEEf>.— For supplying and laying about two hundred yards of
9-inch cast-iron pipea between the service reservoir and the second settling well.
Specification Ac, at the surveyor's office, Ravensdowne. Sealed tenders to be
delivered at the surveyor's offlee before twelve noon of ilannary 16.
SUPPLY, Ac.
St. Geoboes— For the foUowIn); works and materials, for one year, from the 26th
day of March. 18fll, for the parish of St. George's, Ilanover-snuare, viz ;—
mipply of flints and gravel and Guernsey granite, purchase of^ the cinders
and ashes, carting away the slop and sweepings of the streets, barging
away the slop and sweepings of the streets, furnishing carts and horses
tor day-work, spreading water in the streets, masons' and pavlors' works, supply
of paving materials, Thames ballast sand and hogging, workmen's tools and
hammers for stone-breaking, and repairs of the same, smith's and gasfttters'
works, supply of bass brooms, drain pipes, and also providing a shoot for the slop
and sweepings of thi' streets. Proposals (on printta forms only) scaled up, to be
delivered at the offices at the board-room. Mount-street, Grosvenor-square, or at
the board-rmm, iX Lower Belgrave. place, Pimllco. by January 19. Further par-
ttcalam from Jlr. E. C. Hichman, surveyor, at the office, 43, Lower Belgrave-place,
between 9 and 11 o'clock,
FOTBiTii.- For the supply of aliont 190 tons of cast-iron pipes and other eastings,
for the Penrith I.ocal Board of Health. Specification may be seen, and duplicate
I of t<-nder, schedules and bills of quantities may be had (by payment of^.'iB.) at
flieoBceof the IxiesI lUiard, Pen nth ; and further information on application to
J. F. Bafeman. Esq., C.E. Ifi. Great George-street, Wcatmlnstcr, London; or to
Mr. Watson, of I'enrtth, the Board's Surveyor.— Sealed tenders, addressed to Mr.
C Fairer, clerk to the Local board, by .lannary 26
MlLlTAKl'.
TOBK.— For the erection of a new granary, library, and reading-room, sergeants'
meat, wash-honse, drying-room, and latrmes. Parties desiring to tender must
l««Te their nami-s at the Royal Engineer Office, York, on or before the 15th Inst.,
and pay half-a-gninea for bills of quantities.
INVENTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS OF THE WEEK.
J\itnits rfspt'clinq which Notice to Proceed has been fliven.
Mr.W. Kirrase, of .'i, .Vlbion-place.Vauxhall. ami Mr. A. lllplcy. of tlic same place, Surrey,
" Tlie nnialuamatiou of certain malerials, forinioK a plastic composition, applicable to works
of the line arts, bulldlnj purposes, imitations of marbles, ancient carvings, and various other
Mr. T. W. '\Valkcr,of Poole, Porset, Manascr, " Improvements in the manufacture of orna-
mental bricks, tllos, and other articles of a similar nature, and in tlie macliincry orapparatus
employed Uicroin."
BANKRUPTS.
(From the London Gazette,)
John Richard .\n(lrew8, Ilanovcr-placc, Park-roaii, KeKenl's-park, ironmoni^er, Jan. 18, at
12J, and Feb. 22, at l,at Basingliall-strect. Sol., Itlce, Carlton-chambers, Kegent-strect ; off.
assig., Whitniorc. Haslnghall-strcet.
EuRene Keith. Hamtlton-terraco, Queon's-road, Bays%vnter, builder, Jan. IG, at 2, and Feb.
19, at VU, at Basinghall-street. Sols., Brown and Godwin, Finsbury -place ; off. asslg.,
Graham, Coleman-strcct.
John Mulcastcr Nicholson and Georpo Plummcr, Manchester, cabinet makers. Jan.
2.5 anil Feb. 13, at 12, at Manchester Court. Sol., Boote, Manchester; off. assig.,Frascr,
Manchester.
Edward Rowland, Coleman-strcct, New North-road, builder, Jan. ID, at 11, and Feb. 18, at
121, at Raslnghall-strcet. Sols., Price and Co., Llncolu's-inn ; off. assig., Pennell, Guildhali-
chauibcrs,
DIVIDEND.
Jan. 25, TV. Knapton, irontbnnder, York. ,
Artistic Designs for Watches.— " A number of new and artistic designs for
the embellishment of watches have been invented and exhibited by Mr. J. W.
Benson, of Xi and :i4, Ludgate-hiil, who has exerted himself with commendable suc-
cess to provide, in tliis particular branch of manufacture, the union of taste and
usefulness so striking in the productions of the French artificers. The recent pro-
gress in the art of watchmaking in England is owing to the enterprise and industry
of several gentlemen, who are now reaping a just reward for their ingenuity.
Amongst these Mr. Benson holds a prominent position, and his designs may, there-
fore, be recommended to the notice of the public."— 7)ai(,iy Teler/rri/ih.
Benson's Illustrated Pamphlet, post-free for two stamps, is descriptive of every
construction of watch now made. Watches safe by post to all parts of the globe.—
Adv.
OUR VOLUME FOR 1860.
WITH this Number we give the title-page and index for thelast Volume of the
BuiLDiwo is'Ews. Messrs. Loighton and Hodjje, of Sboe-Ianc, will supply
cases for the Volume at the usual charge. It is not intended that the Chamiiers'
Supplement should be bound in the Volume, as it is, of course, a work in itself.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES,
All letters and communications to be addressed to the Editor of the BmLDlNO News, 20,
Old Boswell-court, St. ('icmeiu's. Strand, London.
The Editor cannot inulcrtake to return unused manuscripts.
PAT.AIS DE Justice, Brussels.— The obliging courtesy of the Secretary of the Belgian
Legation enables us to say, in reply to several correspondents, that the " Miniatre dc la
iJustice " has ordered a public exhibition of all the designs sent in competition for the new
Palais dc Justice at Brussels. The exhibition was opened to the public on Monday, the
7th inst., and tlie drawings will remain open to public inspection for one month from that
date in the rooms of the Palais Ducal, Brussels. It is understood that the prize for the
competition will be decided immediately afterwards. We believe that designs by several
well-known English architects contrast not unfavorably with some native productions.
TnouAs W The editor of the Jievue generate de V Architecture et des Travaux Publics^ is M.
C^sar Daly.
M.P A slip of the pen ; the drawings, most undoubtedly, belong to the architect.
S. W The Stamp Laws provide generally that no writing on which a stamp duty is im-
posed, shall be pleaded or given in evidence In any Court, or admitted In any Court to be
good, useful, or available, in law or equity, until it is miirked or stamped with a lawful
marli or stamp ; but. If It be required to produce an unstamped deed on a trial, the stamp
duty, and £10 penalty, and a fee of one guinea in addition may be paid into Court, and
after such payment the instrument may be received as evidence ; for the rest see 13 and 14
Yict. cap. 97, See. 12.
Set SQUAaE.— Ilawksmoorwas born In ICrfJS and died in 1736. He is said to have assisted
Vanbrugh at Castle Howard and Blenheim, among the works erected by him are St,
George's Church, Bloomsbury ; St. Mary Woolnoth; and St. George's-in-tbe-East.
A Junior Architect —Several printed scales of charges are in existence; we give one by
the late Mr. Bonomi—
" Terms of Joseph Bonomi, No. 76, Great TItchflcld-sttcet, London, January, 1(94.
♦•No. 1 Five per centum commission upon the wht)le expense of the building, labor, and
materials at London prices ; ,.,,,„
" For which B. makes the design, furnishes all the necessary worklngdrawlngs, and four
fair drawings, two plans, one front, and one section; makes the necessary esthnate,
and attends the execution of the work.
" If a clerk of the works Is renulrcd (as he should bo) he Is to be paid by the employer.
" All the Joumcvs, to and from, to be paid at the rate of eighteen pence per mile,
"If It should be 'desired, after the building Is completed, to have It measured and valued,
the expenses attending sucli measurement and valuation are to be paid by the
employer, if the expense of the building exceeds the estimate given, then B. demands
no more than the commission upon the amount of the given estimate ; provided
though, that tlie overplus Is not caused by additions and alterations in thcdcsign.
"Mo. II.— When It Is only desired to have a design, with the necessary drawings for
exccutlen, He, and an estimate, but without any attendance to the execution of the
building, then such design, drawings, and esthnatcs, are to be paid at tho rate of threo
per centum upon the amount of the estimate, at London prices.
"No. 111.- If B. is called to settle some Ijusiness, to give advice, to make additions or
alterations, &c., then 11. demands five guineas per day, besides the journeys, paid as
above ; ana if any drawings are wanted, after B.'s departure from the place, such
drawings, valued at the rate of live guineas per day, are:to be paid extra.
*• After the design has been approved of, If any alterations, additions, or diminutions arc
required to be done, the necessary drawings requisite in making such alterations, &c.,
are to be paid extra at the above rate .
"In case that a design 1ms been made complete and approved of, and another design In
lieu thereof ordered to be made, then ttic former design is to be paid at tiic rate of ihreo
per centum, and the second at live per centum commission, upon the whole cxitensc as
above, when executed by B. If not executed, then such second design also is to be
paidforat the rate of throe per centum, as expressed by No. II." , . , ,
*»• Perhaps some of our readers can oblige us with copies of any printed form of
architects' charges, with which we may not be acquainted.
J. J We engraved one view of the building some time since, it is not our Intention to publish
another. , . , ,
A Masopactdrek Shall be able to comply with your request in a few weeks.
M. O. E.-ln preparation ; some time Is uccessary In order to render the pages as complete
as possible.
W. ANO II.— Excuse brevity ; no.
T. Cahtwrioht.— In type.
J. M. (Hastings).- Yes, and shall lie engraved.
C. B. W._Si •
. „. ... -Such persons do not usually obtain much repute as architects. tVe cannot advise
further than may be gathered from a series of articles on the question, now In course of
preparation. , ,_ . .
AN AicTioNeER As matters stand at present what reason have we to believe either state-
mcnt'i*
Messrs. B. and T. -Must prove dangerous if not attended to at once.
COMO.— The Board of Works have Jurisdiction. Try.
NoN Est.— Never engraved, as we believe ; shall Ijc glad to receive information.
W. AND II The entire specification becomes part of the contract.
Beceived W. B. K., T. Johnson, K. Phillips, Peter Gulncc, J. V., Senex, Engineer, w.,
M.B, J., Thomas B„ M. I. U. A,, B, Mordan.
Januauy 18, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
41
SPECIAL MEETING OE THE INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS.
i 1 liiR mucli postponement of the Question of
the Diploma, and much correspondence
and earnest taking of counsel with the
provincial architectural societies, the
Iloyal Institute of Architects held their
special meeting last Monday evening. It
was, however, a mere private meeting,
from which not merely reporters but
visitors were excluded ; and we can, there-
fore give our country readers no informa-
tion on a matter, touching which they have
so lately been invited by the Institute to
assemble in grave debate.
We would willingly console ourselves with
the adage, oimie ignotum pro magiiifico, and
take it for granted that, something great and
worth having will come of this cosy meeting of
the Institute. But unfortunately small as is
the society itself compared with the members of
the profession it represents, this special meeting
cannot be said to be quite a hona fide meeting of even the Institute of
British Architects ; for we understand the exclusion above referred to
is not confined to reporters and visitors, but e.xtends even to its own
Associates, who make up a very large proportion of the members of the
Institute and, what is worse, are most of them practising architects !
Surely there must be something wrong here : either the Institute
should on this particular occasion have so far relaxed her rules, as to
have afforded these gentlemen of her own body (if not the architects
unattached to it) full liberty of speech on so very public a question, or
she should not have committed what now seems so grave a mistake as
•that of throwing it open to the Architectural Association and the
country societies. As the matter now stands the discerning public will
look on and see in the Eoyal Institute of British Architects — " British "
Architects, let it be remembered, — this startling anomaly, to wit, —
Here is now agitating amongst English architects a question of the
very gravest consequence to themselves personally ; one about which
Mr. Brown of the Architectural Association, Mr. Jones of the Liver-
pool Society, and Mr. Robinson of the Northern Association are not
only at full liberty to prate, but have been actually encouraged and
invited by the Institute so to do, and yet a question about which a
large and influential body of London architects are absolutely debarred
from liberty of speech, and altogether disqualified from giving any
votes, simply because they have allowed themselves to be created
Associates of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Was there
ever a more palpable absurdity ?
Of the proceedings of the meeting on Monday, though we can
report nothing, we may heartily express a hope that we are not before-
hand with the Fellows assembled in becoming aware of this monstrous
condition of things. From inquiries instituted we are unable to report
even that there was a large assemblage of even Fellows, and of Associates
there was but a sorry sprinkling. Still, there were most likely some
twenty Fellows in attendance (the only people qualified to discuss the
question at all), and these were enough to do, what we hope they did —
take measures for " opening the mouths " of the unfortunate Associates,
present and absent. We can scarcely believe that these gentlemen
will deliberately proceed to deal with this public question by them-
selves; but that, making a virtue of necessity, they will throw it open
to be properly ventilated by their brother architects, the bulk of
whom, they must know in their hearts, are in every sense equal to
themselves.
Of course we are assuming all along that, the Eoyal Institute of
British Architects is ambitious of seeing itself rise from being a private
professional club, to being a public Institute and home for the
architects of this island. To bring about this very desirable result
Bome modification of her own system of red-tapeism is imperatively
called for. Let her commence the matter during this inclement
weather wjrtm doors, and make at least this vital question an open
theme of discussion for her own Associates.
[Since receiving the foregoing article from a contributor, we have
been at some pains— pains which we conceive to be always due from
the press to the public— to lay before our readers some account of this
meeting'; and from difliirent sources have gathered tlie foUowino-
particulars. The question at issue is not now a mere Institute question"
but a public one, in which all our readers, without as well "--:n:- 'i~
Institute, have a stake.
. as within the
, . To them we offer our apology for any incom-
pleteness in these notes ; but to the Institute (or rather to the Fellows
of the Institute), we feel strongly that no apology is due. We shall
not be greatly surprised if a debate, commenced on so narrow a
principle as the exclusion of the representatives of the architectural
press, will not end, like the mountain in labor, in the production of a verv
ridiculous mouse.— £d. £. iV,] '
Tlic meetinpt was not very numerously attended. Tile chair wa» occnpted by M
Wvatt r M?T^ ^'l-' 1%. ^^ e""'""™*" P™-"*"' ^^ moy name M^. iS.D
TJ'v' S' ?^''y.'"'^;,' <?,• E- street, J. Jennings, G. Godwin, G. Morcan, Wimtin-
H^d;,^- ^T^'^- ^™y' ^- "• Po™-"", R- Kerr, J. W. PapVorth, K F.
Mr. T. Haytek Lewis read the minutes of the last meetinir held on the
above-named subject, and the communications which had been fecdved from
irSe'lnstTtute. '™"^ ' ""' '"""''^ '" '^'"" '" "'" c'^^ula" -Stent out
„ wf w V*"^^ •''*", ''™"S''' forward and proposed the following resolution,
which had been previously agreed to by tlie ciuncil of the Institute :-" That
the examination be open to ali members of tbe profession, and that candidates
not metnbers of the Royal Institute of British Arcbitects do produce a r^om-
mendation signed by tliree members of tbe Institute, one of them being a FeUow.
InstitSt'e " •'<^'=''^"™ •« t" practice, which is signed by memtcrs of thiJ
T ^rS^"""^ Godwin seconded the motion. Immediately upon this Mr.
J. W. Papworth moved, as an amendment—
„„rt''in''U'''* Institote, by the publication of the resolution of the 25th of Jane. 18«0.
aud In the circulation of the propositions submitted by the Council at tlist time
havms to the utmost of its power a.scertained the views of the i.rofclsion hereon
and having taken into consideration the replies forwarded by iarious societieTto
which the circular of the Institute was seSt, does, in conformu"w"th «Je wLha
expressed m those communications, take upon itself the labor of institut^t S
examination tending to promote a systematic professional education '•
Mr. Robert Kerb seconded the amendment.
After a brief discussion, in which Mr. Godwin stated that the principal object
of the proposed examination was to form a standard for promoting tlie education
of students, the motion proposed by the Cliaii-man, and which liad been framed
by the Council, was, by leave of tlie meeting, withdrawn for a short time, and
the amendment proposed by Mr. Papworth, wliich then became a substantive
motion, was carried all but unanimously, there being but one dissentient.
The Chairman then proposed the resolution framed by the Council above
referred to as having been for a short time withdrawn.
Mr. Godwin seconded the motion.
A long discussion took place upon this, referring both to matters of form and
substance.
Mr. G. E. Street complained that tbe resolution framed by the Cooncil had
not been laid before the meeting in writing.
Mr. C. F. Hay WARD remarked that, if a gentleman was admitted for exami-
nation without the condition that he was going to act according to the rules of
the Institute, all future control over him would be lost.
In the course of a prolonged conversation a number of amendments were pro-
posed, discussed, and withdrawn.
Eventually the motion was, on the proposition of Mr. J. Jen.vings, seconded
by Mr. J. W. Papworth, altered and laid before the meeting in tbe following
shape :— " That the examination be open to any British subject making sucn
declaration of his intention to follow the profession of civil architecture as may
be determined by the Council, on producing a recommendation from three mem-
bers of the Institute, one beiiig a I'ellow."
An amendment was proposed that the further consideration of tbe subject be
adjourned.
The amendment was seconded, and on being put to the vote only lost by a small
majority.
The motion as altered was then agreed to by a small majority.
The Chairman tlien rose to propose the second resolution, framed by the
Council, upon which —
Mr. Robert Kerr rose to stop the proceeding, observing that the Institute
ought not to go further for the present.
The Chairman, however, would not give way to the interruption, and
instead of submitting to be stopped, moved a resolution to the purport — That
the Council be empowered to carry the preceding resolution into effect.
Mr. Penrose seconded the motion.
Another long discussion took place, in the course of which we understand some
rather sharp language was used and exchanged.
At length Mr. Robert Kerr moved as an amendment : — " Tliat the Council
be instructed to proceed towards the preparation of a curriculum and bye-laws,
and be recommended to appoint a committee to this end, and to report to a
general meeting."
Mr. W. Bubges seconded the amendment.
In support of the motion it was urged that the Council wished to have an op-
portunity of completing their scheme ; and that the proposition of an archi-
tectural examination having been affirmed, the Council should be autliorised to
carry it out as an experiment for once, to see how it succeeded.
Mr. Kerr, and other gentlemen, however, objected, and said that the course
of examination— the curriculum— ought to be placed before the members of the
Institute before it was finally settled upon.
We understand that the form of the proposed certificate was once or twice
touched upon in the course of the debate.
Mr. Godwin suggested that the motion should be withdrawn in favor of the
amendment.
This having, by leave of the meeting, been done, the amendment liecame a
substantive motion, and was carried nem. con.
The meeting then separated.
SOCIETY FOR THE ENCOUUAGEMENT OF THE FINE ARTS.
AT the last general meeting of this Society the prize medals wore swarded as
follows — Architecture, toMr. S. J. NicoU ; historical painting, Mr. S. Solomon ;
landscape painting, Mr. Vicat Cole; water-color painting, Mr. Henry Tideyj sctUp-
turo, Mr. J. Durham j poetry, Miss M. i'owcr.
New Church at Westminster. — The new church dedicated to St.
Peter, the foundation stone of which was laid by the Earl of Derby a few months
since, is rapidly progressing, and is expected to" be ready for consecration in July
or August next. The new church, which is situate in M'indmill-street, Hay-
market, will be a spacious and commodious structure.
42
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 18, 1861.
TllE FINE AKTS SEEN FROM A NEW POINT OF VIEW.*
No. 6. — OoTUic AuT — continued.
GOTHIC architecture was a truly wonderful development, and it would,
indeed, be folly not to arail ourselves of all in it that is appropriate to
oar rtqairements ; but this is a very Jifferent thing from trying to infuse
into modem edifices the spirit of Medievalism. Hallam remarks :—•' The
Anglo-Korman cathedrals were, perhaps, as much distinguished above the
other works of man in their own age as the more splendid edifices of a
later period;" and tlsey are thus " naturally apt to lead those antiiiuaries
who are most conversant with tbcni into too partial estimates of the times
wherein they were founded. "f They indicate thought, imagination, and
mechanical skill; and they express intensely the sentiments of the age.
It is this iulenseness which still commands admiration — an admiration
which induces many to shut their eyes to the 7iature of what is depicted,
and to repeat, as appropriate to Modernism, the degrading superstition
which, towering above other elements, is the most striking peculiarity of
Gotliic ecclesiastical edifices. The revival of this superstition in Pro-
teatmnt churclies is one of the anomalies of the day, indicating forcibly
that want of inventive power which has so long characterised architects,
aad marking in some of the clergy who advocate the retrogression so close
an approach to Medieval Boman Catholicism that, as we constantly sec,
only one more slight eflFort is needed to desert the Reformed creed. This,
as Fergusson observes, is too pure and too elevated for representations of
gods and angels with the same means and materials as for an alderman.
Consi<Iering the question of the resuscitation of Gothic on the ground of
its being Christian architecture, we must remember its Mahometan origin ;{
that it endured only about three centuries out of the nineteen during
which Christianity has been establislied; that it represents one phase of
the Roman Catholic religion ; that modern Roman Catholicism differs
widely from Medieval Roman Catholicism; and that to both of these Pro-
testantism is opposed. Although it is conceded that Gothic architecture
reflects the theological dogmas, the doctrinal innovations, and, in the words
of Hallam, " tlie disgusting profaneness" of the monkish legends of Me-
dieval Christianity, it is infinitely more an exponent of idolatry than of the
sublime doctrines which Christ proclaimed. It is because Gotliic art
depicts the civilisation of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries
that it docs not depict that of the nineteenth century. " A new Gothic
building, or a new Missal," says Constable, '• is, in reality, little less absurd
than a new ruin." Whatever may be the reader's religious belief, he has
to consider whether the spirit of the present age is not quite antagonistic
to that of Medievalism, and whether realities rather than allegories ought
not to be preferred, until such of the latter can be devised as shall rise
out of actual requirements and appeal to the convictions and common
cense of the community.
Some of the Protestant supporters of the retrogressive movement may
arer that, although they have hitherto adopted the effete Medieval sym-
bolism, it is their intention to discard it while still adhering to Gothic
principles— as if these were more final than Classic or Chinese. But
emblematic meaning is entwined inextricably with ahnost every detail of
Medieval art. The use of archaic symbols as ornaments, without regard
to meaning, is, as before e.\-plained, ridiculous; and the truly useful and
beautiful consists in the expression of our own sentiments on contemplating
nature, and not of those induced by contemplating man's works. To many
Catholics, the vision described by their modern English architectural
representative may appear extremely attractive ; and it is not a strange
thing that some have been quite beguiled by the dazzling splendor of that
picture which, in wrapt enthusiasm, Pugin sought to realise.
" TluB images of holy martyrs, each bearmgthe instrument of the cruel
death by which I'agan foolishness hoped to exterminate, with their lives
the truths they witnessed, fill every niche that lines the arched recesses of
the doorways. Above them are forms of cherubim and the heavenly
host, mugled with patriarchs and prophets. Over the great entrance is
thedomeor final judgment, the divine majesty, the joys of the blessed
spirits, the despair of the condemned. What subjects for contemplation
Uo not the*e majestic portals present to the Christian, as he approaches
the house of prayer ; and well are they calculated to awaken those senU-
ments of reverence and devotion suited to the holy place! But if the ex-
tenor of the temple be so «ouI-stirring, what a burst of glory meets the
eye on entering a long majestic line' of pilUrs, rising into lofty and fretted
Taultmg! The eye is lost in the intricacies of the aisles and lateral chapels;
each window beams with sacred instructions, and sparkles with glowing
and sacred tints; the pavement is a rich enamel, interspersed with brass
memorialsof departed souU. Every capital and base are fashioned to repre-
Jw »o"'f.''oly mystery; the great rood-loft, with its lights and images,
through the centre arch of which, in distant perspective, may be seen the
ni«h altir blazrng with gold and jewels, surmounted by a golden dove, the
Mrthly tabernacle of the Highest, before which burn three inextinguishable
u«nM. It 11, indeed, a sacred place; the modulated light, the gleaming
UpCTf.the tombs of the faithful, the various altars, the venerable images
uli.V!^'~vy "t^^'Pi^.'" fill the mind with veneration, and to impress
It with the sublimity of Christian worship."^
-i*!!!."^!^'"'^'"^' *"" '* *''« intellect to be thus fettered? Is there
^,^rr.nT,K"T^'""T:''"' °'='"*' belief in the mateWn/ " forms of
Sr ^niri.^^™, , fS'^"'^ *""*• ?"'''8'«'' *">» patriarchs and prophets-
tbc final judgment, thedivme majesty, the joys of the blessed spirits, the
by'ttfsXr."' rcpubllcuon and of tr«..UUon of this series of articles 1. reserved
J" History if Emrope during tlie Middle Aires "
\ ^xSSs^"**"'*'^- *^'"^"' "■""»«'°. and rapmm.
despair of the condemned? " Well may the mind "be lost in the intrica-
cies of the aisles and lateral chapels," confused with the " sacred tints —
lights and images, the high altar blazing with gold and jewels, sur-
mounted by a golden dove, the earthly tabernacle of the Highest."
" The modulated light, the gleaming tapers — the various altars — Si con-
spire to fill the mind," not, certainly, with light, but "to impress it"
with the vanity and absurdity of the whole paraphernalia.
"Pardon it;
The phrase is to the matter."
It indicates to what advanced Protestants are approaching, as we may
see in some of their modern places of worship. But the picture has a
still darker aspect. In many churches, supporting the pillars of the
porch are horrible monsters, " talismans to ward off evil spirits"! There
are " turrets and pinnacles thickly set with monkeys and chimeras," and
loathsome and obscene toads, and other reptiles. There are grossly
indecent gargoyles, and demoniac faces horribly distorted, and writhing,
apparently, under the weight jamming their bodies in the wall. Ordinary
imagination cannot conceive the prurient grossness of fancy realised in
the images carved by some of those artisans who were freed from super-
vision in certain minor matters, and then proved how purifying an
influence the system exercised over their minds. Their superiors had
guided them in delineating the more prominent symbols, illustrative of
morality and doctrines : once released from the iron rod, see the result !
The savages of Otaheite and New Zealand never exceeded the hideousness
of those perversions of the human shape, startling in their fascination,
in which the Gothic artists excelled ; forms at which humanity shudders,
and the repetition of which humanity should forbid. Some delighted to
limn the Saviour's head, crowned with thorns, and streaming with blood ;
or that of John the Baptist, just severed, in the charger full of gore.
Others painted the blood spurting from Christ's hands and feet into
chalices, connecting this exhibition with the Last Supper. Then, there
was to be seen the human body in various stages of decay, every horrible
detail being rendered with an elaborate anguish and gusto, indicating a
cold-blooded delight in such infernal renderings. Horror accumulates on
horror : hat with all is strangely intermingled exquisite faces, as of angels
of light, seraphic virgins, pure in conception, often exquisite in execution,
bending with mournful humility over the figure of the wondrous Child,
and surrounded with serene and benevolent monks and bishops. Never
before or since was such a melc6 brought together. Never before or since
did men so portray their sorrows, and make them predominate over their
joys. Never before or since did they execute such startling and repulsive
shapes, and tell legends so disgusting and so characteristic of an utter
perversion of religious truth. When the light was dim and tapers cast
their fitful glare, then the mind was so agitated by conflicting emotions,
fascinated by such basilisk art, and paralysed by an overwhelming con-
sciousness of agonising woe — a dim idea of something superior to all
below and dreadful in its power — that the poor soul, in its unworthiness,
was fain to abase itself iu the dust, and, exaggerating real sins and
imagining unreal ones, feel a maddening dread of a future unknown woe.
Glad indeed were men to seek comfort from the designing priest ; and
crafty were the arts which caused them to leave his presence, deluded
indeed, but with brightening eyes, and hearts far lighter than when they
entered the sacred shrine.
I cannot quit Gothic art without comparing it with that of the Greeks,
as it is the fashion with a certain sect to depreciate the truthfulness of the
latter, while imduly extolling the former.
The case of the Medievalists has been ably stated by Cockerell: —
" Habituated to the Grecian model, m which the pride of life, the sen-
suality of beauty, a superhuman energy, or an unreal Elysium, are
assumed, deluding with a beau-ideal, and disappointing to all human ex-
perience, we are brought here (Wells Cathedral) to the full admission of
the realities and the true conditions of human existence, — probation by the
sweat of the brow, and the grand achievement of eternal life. Art is here
employed to impress the great lessons of truth, the warfare of the world,
the subjugation of the natural to the spiritual man, the liones t employment
of intellect in the great cause of religion."* I think I have already shown
that if there ever was a system of art which illustrates completely a dis-
honest employment of the intellect in the cause of pure religion, it is the
Ecclesiastical Gothic, whose main aim is evidently to unduly influence the
mind. The Elysium of the Greeks was not " unreal " to them ; and the
view taken by the Medievalists of Heaven and hell, as depicted in their
sculpture and painting, is in many respects similar, and decidedly not
superior to the Classic idea. The character of Christ was misapprehended
completely, as he was represented as the dreadful and inexorable, instead
of as the gracious and merciful judge. In fact, Christianity was made
peculiarly a religion of grief and desolation, the leaning in this direction
being constantly apparent. As to the earthly lot of humanity, it will
probably be ultimately acknowledged that both Classicists and Medievalists
were in the wrong; the former taking too bright, and the latter too sombre
views. These, however, are abstract philosophical questions. Tried by the
standards of their respective times, Greek and Gothic art are about
equally truthful. But, in deciding what is now right, we should
never forget that the old ways are not our ways ; we should not allow
ourselves to be so biased in favor of one style as to fail to do justice to
another ; and we should make allowances for differences in aim, even if,
in our enthusiasm for the revival of the manifestations of archaic civiliza-
tions, we are content to shut our eyes to their unsuitability to the present.
In the best specimens of Gothic sculpture, the conception is rarely
equalled by the execution, which, indeed, with respect to human figures,
•" loouograpby of the West Front of Wells Cathedral."
January 18, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
48
was impossible without knowledge of anatomy and constant modelling from
nude forms, drapery being thus convenient in concealing such deficiencies.
Compared with the Greeks, tlie Freemasons wore tyros in tlio highest
departments of sculpture ; and it was utterly beyond their power to produce
works rivalling the Torso Belvedere, the Discobolus, and tlie Dying
Gladiator ; the first being, as it were the epic of bodily strength ; the
second a defiant exhibition of science, theviolent action precluding a model;
and the third the most wonderful display in existence of the agony of
dissolution, and consummate knowledge of the internal structure of the
human frame. The ideal character of Greek sculpture is singularly
appropriate, considering the accepted notions of the correct mode of
representing the gods. Winckelman observes : — "The shape of beauty is
either individual — that is, confined to an imitation of one individual— or it
is a selection of beautiful parts from many individuals, and their union
into one, which we call ideal, yet with the remark that a thing may be
ideal without being beautiful." The form of the Egyptian figures, in
which neitlier muscles, tendons, nor veins are indicated, is ideal, but
still it shapes forth no beauty in thom ; neither can the drapery of
Egyptian female figures — which can only be imagined, and consequently
is ideal — be termed beautiful."* If the perfectly beautiful — which was
considered by the Greeks as something sacred — is the perfectly good
and true, and if gods, angels, and other «aper-human beings are repre-
sented, they should be made superior to ordinary men, ideal beauty being
thus their sole practical and rational type. The Greeks looked at the
human figure in the abstract as well as in detail, considering the species,
or the universal, or specific, forms of nature, rather than accidental and
individual peculiarities, and concentrated in one figure the beauties scat-
tered in several.
Whatever external appearances in the species marked man's elevation
above the inferior animals was generalised and exaggerated, so as to pro-
duce a result as much beyond man as man is beyond the animals. For instance,
the facial angle of many antique heads of gods is greater than in any
human being, this being one cause of their wonderful dignity, so inex-
plicable formerly that it was supposed mankind had deteriorated. Not
only, however, did the Greeks select from liuman subjects in seeking
the ideal, but peculiar features in animals were modified to assist certain
expressions ; the swollen forehead, full eye, and mane-like hair of Jupiter,
the king of gods, being derived from the lion, the king of beasts ; as in
Hercules the appearance of strength is assisted by his bull-like neck. The
observation and scientific knowledge of the Greek sculptors must have
been truly immense. Truth and nature are thus the foundations of the
ideal, which resulted from studying the many, the exaggeration of
individuals producing caricature. Although it is admitted tliat the ideal
is untrue in comparison with ordinary men and women, yet, regarded as
explained, its truthfulness is wonderful ; while the Medievalists depicted
God, Christ, angels, cherubim, and so forth, as no better than common
beings.
As to sentiment, the Greeks considered that in figures of the gods
human feeling and weakness were incompatible with divinity, ideal eleva-
tion being thus strictly reasonable. Great as was the imagination of the
Greeks, it was subordinated to thought; while the contrary is the case
with the Medievalists, fancy running riot. The startling abstraction of
some of the Grecian statues, unconscious of exhibition, and apparently
lost in meditation, is astounding : their exaltation is as wonderful. I
never before had so high an opinion of the innate dignity of the human
form and the nobility of expression of which it is capable than when
standing before the Apollo lielvedere. Casts and copies give no idea of
the effect produced by the original. On the other hand, the Venus de
Medici has never been equalled as an embodiment of abstract beauty, far
removed from the most distant approach to sensuality. The Venus of
the Capitol and the Townley Venus are of a diflerent school, powerful
forms, yet, in their beauty and grace, addressed to human sympathies.
But we are told of the " spiritual being beyond the soar of Phidias and
Praxiteles," and of their inability to " conceive a spirit." As it has been
truly said, " no Goth ever carved one." But that the Greeks could, when
they chose, express the spiritual is proved by numerous instances. To
name one example, the fragment discovered at Pompeii, and now in the
museum at Naples—" that Parian face before which all the beauty of the
Florentine Venus is poor and earthly ; that aspect so full of harmony, of
youth, of genius, of the soul, which modern critics have supposed the
representation of Psyche," Sir Bulwer Lytton continues, " for sentiment
and for feature is the most beautiful of all which ancient sculpture has
bequeathed to us ;"t and, I may add, for mind and spirituality superior to
any Gothic sculpture.
In fact, whenever the Greeks sought to express intellect and feeling
they far excelled the most thoughtful and touching works of the
Medievalists, although, unlike the latter, they did not delight in the
portrayment of trouble and desolation of heart. " Which," asked Socrates
of Parrhasius, " do you think men behold with the greatest pleasure and
satisfaction, the representations by which good, beautiful, and lovely
manners are expressed, or those which exhibit the base, deformed, corrupt,
and hateful ?" While Gothic sculpture depresses, Grecian elevates. The
latter is also superior to the former in studious preference of the good, the
true, the cheerful, and the beautiful, to the evil, the false, the gloomy,
and the ugly. Traces of grief and melancholy are rare in Greek art.
When expressed they are fearfully intense.
. "iVo heavy ills are ours when tears can flow."
But it has been remarked of the groups of the Laocoon and Niobe tliati
* " The History of Ancient Art among the Greeks."
t " The Last Days of Pompeii."
they represent the yengeance of Heaven rather than the innate pasgioiuof
the human heart. Beauty, calm and majestic, and joy, serene and un-
sullied, was ever the dream of the Greek, whose clastic spirit would not
have tolerated the morose creations of that which was so long falsely de-
lineated as almost exclusively " the religion of sorrow."
Next, with reference to the asserted superiority of Gothic architecture
over Classic in constructive propriety, it will be found, on examination,
that there is far more consistency in the noble efTects obtained by the
simplest means in the latter; and that the former, tried by the principles
defined by its advocates, yields more examples of defects and abuses than
any other style. Pugin lays down two rules, the neglect of which, he
justly intimates, is a fruitful cause of the bad architecture of the present
day: " 1st. That there should be no features about a building which are
not necessary for convenience, construction, or propriety ; 2nd. That all
ornament should consist of enrichment of the essential construction of
the building." Yet, curiously enough, the author of such sensible
remarks continues — " Strange as it may appear at first sight, it is ■*
pointed architecture alone that these great principles have been carried
out." " Moreover, the architects of the Middle Ages were the first who
turned the natural properties oj the various materials to their full account,
and made their mechanism a vehicle Jor their art.V * This mistake has
arisen partly from prejudice, and partly from the supposition that compli-
cated is more meritorious than simple construction; the fact being that a
prominent display of mechanical skill is incompatible with perfectly-
satisfactory architectural efiiect. That the Medievalists disregarded the
properties of materials is sufficiently obvious. In much of their tracery
stone is treated as a flexible, instead of as a rigid material; and, in the
most exposed situations, it is endlessly subdivided into bars and shreds to
form unmeaning niches, canopies, shafts, arches, etc., the whole rapidly
decaying from the material not having a fair chance of durability.
Numerous churches are in ruins from covering stone vaulting with timber,
the problem of an homogeneous roof not being attempted to be solved. Quoina
are continually set alternately on edge ; a practice avoided by the
Romans and Normans, as, to ensure duration, the stones should be laid on
their natural beds. In such work also, from the irregularities of the
bond, the settlement is most unequal. JIuch the same objections apply
to mullions, than which a frailer decoration to windows can scarcely be
conceived: with all their geometric skill, the Freemasons were never able
to connect successfully the circular tracery with the pointed arches at
the sides. It is needless to comment on the deficiency of inventive
power which necessitated the application to wood and iron of forma
suitable only to stonework; arches cut in wood, &c. In no style is a
more glaring structural absurdity to be found than in nearly every
cathedral and church with vaulted aisles; for while massive buttresses
counteract the thrust of the vaulting on one side, on the other it
presses with absolutely no counteraction whatever on the comparatively
slender columns of the nave, which are thus bent inwards ; and too much
downward pressure on a small space of an immense weight, which should
have been more proportionately distributed, is involved. At the cloistera
of Lincoln Cathedral, and at Selby church, the walls were constructed so
feebly that wooden roofs had to be substituted for stone vaulting : timber
vaulting was also sometimes used. Almost every important edifice
exhibits a reproduction of constructive features in small details carried to
the utmost verge of puerility. Minute ornamentation in stone, wood, and
iron is thus manufactured of shafts, arches, buttresses, pinnacles, canopies,
and niches, the last having pscudo- vaulting, with groins, ribs, and bosses,
copied from the immense choirs and naves of cathedrals. The Jledievalists
seem, indeed, to have dehghted in structural deceits— constructing decora-
tion instead of decorating construction — especially in exhibiting that
species cf mechanical, masonic ingenuity which puzzles us to comprehend
how a building is upheld ; or, in the effort to make it appear as frail as it
is actually secure, gives a false idea of the construction, and violates the
capital requirement of apparent as well as real stability. Thus, hanging
tracery suggesting mullions beneath, arcades with capitals suggesting
columns removed, and various pendants are defective ; as whenever a
support is suggested it should be supplied. Arches springing from corbels,
small arches anparently supporting larger ones above, and twisted
columns fail in not aflbrding a satisfactpry feelmg of security. Speaking
of the cathedral of Beauvais, Fergusson remarks that the "choir
looks so frail, requires so many props to keep it up, and is so
evidently an over-strained exercise of mechanical cleverness, that,
though it may excite wonder as an architectural tour de for^
it never can satisfy the mind of the true artist, or please to the
same extent as less ambitious examples." Again, commenting on the
French " mania for clerestories of gigantic height, and which should ap-
pear internally mere walls of painted glass divided by mullions, ' he justly
deprecates the system of buttressing as " eminently suggestive of weak-
ness " rather than of stability : " One cannot help feeling that if one of
these props were removed, the whole would tumble down like a house of
cards."t The vaulting of some chapter-houses and other edifices is con-
structed with such petty ingenuity as to appear to depend on a pillar in
the centre a few inches in diameter. So, in King's College Chapel, Cam-
bridge, vaulting of great solidity seems to rest on slender shafts, which
would be crushed by its weight. In many instances of complicated vault-
ing, a great number of the supports are unnecessary, as they take little or
no part in the construction. Again, the exteriors of many cathedrals and
churches— as, for instance, the masked west front, or mere frontispiece, at
Salisbury — are at variance with the internal arrangements. Such dispo-
• " The True Principles of Christian Architecture."
t " Illustrated Handbook of Architecttu:c."
44
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 18, 1861.
sitions as tbe above are a sufficient reply to Pugin's bold assertion that —
"Poiuted architecture does not conceal her construction, but beautifies
it" la Egyptian, Grecian, and Koman architecture, stability, both appa-
rent and real, a a striking element ; and tlie remains will endure long after
the Gothic cathedral*, constantly requiring repair, are destroyed by the
complicated racking of parts, thrusting and pressing in various directions.
While the Egyptians realised in stone the sublime sentiment of eternity,
the Greeks attained the simplest form of intellectual grandeur, and the
Komans poetised utility, the Medievalists often rested content with the
mechanical and the pretty. Few are more sensible than myself of the im-
pressiveuess and various beauties of Gothic art ; but, while awarding to
these a due meed of praise, I am unable to coincide with those who insist
that the style possesses exclusive excellencies which do not exist.
Edwabd L. Taebuck.
FOREIGN NOTES.
WE have now-a-days, unlike our fathers in fierce war times, little excuse for
being ignorant of the architecture of our French neighbours. To say
nothiug of the number of well-illustrated hooks published within the last few
year* on both sides of tbe Channel, and the facility with which, through our
Eublic libraries, access can be gained to even the most expensive of them, we
ive the advantage, on several routes, of cheap and easy commimication with
the capital of France, and immunity, if we like, when there, from tlie exorbitant
charges of hotel-keepers. We can now spend a month abroad for a less sum
than we could pass the same time away Irom our homes in England ; and the
reason of this is that the French people " lay themselves out " for visitors. The
rapidity, however, with which we can pass from one metropolis to the oUier
carries with it a certain amouut of evil. We are apt to neglect the villages and
hamlets which lie a little wide of the great iron highways ; to be impatient of
the slow, heavy " diligences," of hours' rides in springless carts, and of weary
walks along tiic hot, dusty, shndeless roads which link the villages together.
We whirl away to Paris, happy to be there in eleven hours, or, by taking the
other route, happy to have got there for a little over a pound ; and then set to
work to enjoy the many sights of which we have heard so much and seen
delineated so often. We might profitably linger awhile amongst the old churches
of Normandy, and stay for a few days near tlie rich portals and luxuriant Gothic
work of Rouen ; or, if we take tlie Boulogne line, we should find at Montreuil,
besides the curious social and domestic habits of forty yeai-s ago, some valuable
architectural matter. We could sec there, on a small scale, in the doorways of
the church of St. Saulve and of the Hotel Dieu, simple modifications of those
peculiarities which strike the visitor so forcibly in the vast portals of tlie French
cathedrals. Rows of statuetted and canopied niches take the place of the arch
mouldings we are here accustomed to; the buttresses are faced with statues; the
walls in the Hotel Uieu are placed partly at the outer edge of the buttresses, and
give great soUdity and picturesqueness to the building. But the chief glory of
the churches shiiies in the doorways, amidst the masses of sculptured stone which
are collected there. They show how the Flamboyant style developed itself in the
smaller churches. Adjoining the church there is a house devoted to " Les
Religieuses." The room wherein the nuns sit, unseen, to hear mass, is deco-
rated with that profusion of white musUn and ribands, paper flowers, and Dutch
metal, which the Romish Church so much delights in. A statue of the Virgin
occupies the centre of the square room, and in the south-east comer of it there
is a confesjional. The effect is rather pretty, and we leave it with a hope that
the girls are comfortable there.
In these roadside towns and villages we see, moreover, better specimens of
dormers than even I'aris or, ia fact, any large city can boast of. Abbeville is
particularly rich in them, and a stroll down its narrow, dirty streets will well
repay the student. The forms are very varied, and the contrivances at times
verv" ingenious. In some cases the heads project for^vards seniicircularly ; the
ends of the ridjie are furnished with high knots, and in other cases,]trusse9, boldly
designed, carry the wide-spreading cornices of them. The west front of Abbeville
cathedral has also a vast amount of material for study in its exquisite details,
statme-lined portals, and flowing tracery. The view is very picturesque as the
visitor approaches it through the ruinous disorderly thoroughfare on the south-
west angle of it.
Beauvais likewise, with its " loftiest choir in all the world,"andits magnificent
stained glass, should not be passed unheeded by. Although but a fragment, with
the evidence of repeated failures upon it, there is enough real art sprinkled about
the vast pile, and a grandeur in its colossal proportions to excite our wondering
admiration.
The memomis of the dead in the village churchyards are occasionally very
artistic. We recollect some at Aillet le Haut Clochez, made of iron, with
four scroll feet, and a shield, abou4 half-way up, recording the name of the
deceased.
The top was an elaborate radiated cross, the branches of which were connected
by scroll-work. A small gilt figure of the Saviour was placed at^the intersection.
TTie effect was novel and good.
But even were all else disregarded the glorious Cathedral at Amiens, the " giant
in repose " on tbe banks of the Somme should be examined, and examined care-
fully, by all who would arrive at a fair idea of French Medieval art. It is truly
one of the noblest Gothic buildings in the world, and, as Whewell says, its
interior is "one of the most magnificent spectacles that architccturalskill can ever
have produced." The student will .s-e much there different from what he has
been accustomed to in our English cathedrals — in it? proportions, its vastness, its
massive piers, and in the contrivance of chapels between the buttresses, which
allows an almost endless variety of light and shade throughout the edifice, and
which, by preventing the eye seizing at once upon the utmost limits of the
ouilding, 'increas<'S its appareu't magnitude and diversifies the internal views. The
west front is a mass of splendid stone carving ; the portals are flanked by statues,
and statuettes beneath elaborate canopies are continued as mouldings round the
aicties; the arch-heads are filled with sculptured subjects : the "rose" enrich-
ment outside the arches is very lieantiful. Over them there is a series of statues
of kings. But that which strikirs us so forcibly here, is the immense size of the
building : it dwarfs the largest of our English cathedrals.
For several years a body of workmen have been employed restoring the edifice,
in order to hring it once again to its olden splendor. It has not always been
udiciously done. Tlie work of 30 years ago has now to be replaced by the fruits
of advanced knowledge, whilst the Classic work in the chapels, upon which the
late bishop spent thousands of pounds, will have to be swept entirely away, like
the " properties " of a played-out extravaganza. Fortunately, the' conduct of
the work is now in the hands of an able man— Viollet le Due, the talented
author of the " Dictionary of Architecture." By his direction we shall no
doubt see the modern nltnrs which disfigure the bases of the shafts removed, the
chapel in the ajise cleansed of its vulgar painting, and perhaps— if prejudice can
be overcome— we may be rid also of the Classic pulpit, beautiful in its way, but
out of place here ; of the horrid -looking crucifix on a red ground in the north
transept, and of the stack of gilded jilanks which are intended to represent the
" glory " round the high altar. The interior lias not yet been itouched, if we
except the Lady chapel in the remote east, which is closed for that purpose. All
the blemishes which have been congregated around the shafts have not succeeded
in marring their beauty. The way in which the caps of the engaged columns of
the piers mingle witli those of the central shafts is worthy of especial notice, as
also is the grand effect of the shafts darting upwards in unbroken lines, to hold
the vaulting at the intersection of the nave and transepts. The canopies over
the choir stalls are marvels of patient labor. Wherever we wander over this
stupendous edifice, whether along the triforia which surrounds the nave, choir,
and transepts, or over the vaulting through the "forest of oak and chestnut," to
where the central spire rises from a framework of timber, noticing, at the guide's
instigation, that loose piece which betokens its strength and scientific construc-
tion ; whether we walk bencatii the flying buttresses or pass the statues of the
kings in the west front, and note the table whence Henry IV, posted himself to
watch the retreat of the Spaniards in 1597; whether we mount the spire, and
look out upon the many windings of the several branches of the Somme in the
valley beneath ns, or through tlie aperture in the vaulting see the people moving
like insects along the pavement of the nave, we find something to repay us for
having made Amiens a halting-place in our outward journey.
Returning; to the exterior, we find that the arches over the statues of the kings
in the west front have been restored. Many of the columns and nearly all the
kings' heads are new. The originals iell, through sympathy, when Louis XVi.
lost that ornament to his royal person. Dutoil has carved the new
ones. The pinnacles have also been restored. The scaffolding is
being gradually but slowly lowered to the finiala and crockets, and
to the sculpture of the large portals, which are sadly mutilated. The ugly
hoarding, which masks the approach to them, still remains as it did years ago;
and the custodiau's house, witli that of the gardener Brum — the name is distinctly
painted on it— still cling like limpets on the north-west buttresses. The south
side of the western tower has been renovated, and on the north side of the cathe-
dral the pinnacles of the tower, and the pierced battlement, are finished ; work-
men are now busy upon the second and third bays of the nave on that side. The
turret at the north-east angle, over the stairs, is rebuilt. New statues have been
carved,_ by Caudcron, over the south portal. At the east end the chapel of the
Virgin is being entirely reconstructed. It is a half-octagon projecting from the
apse. There are massive buttresses at each angle surmounted by seated statues.
The little sacristy at the south side of apse is finishtd, and on the opposite side
to it a small chapel has lately been built. The architectural features of it are
very simple. The cross over the east end is disaproportionately large. There is a
gable at each end, and a lower square projection, likewise gabled, at the east end.
The chapel is lit by plain triple lancet windows.
Besides the cathedral, there are several interesting Gothic buildings in Amiens j
amongst them we may mention the church of St. Leu, now being partially re-
stored. It is of later date than the cathedral, and has a rectangular spire ter-
minating in two finials, with a tall iron cross between them. There is also the
square tower of St. Germain, with a beautiful combination of circular turret and
angular diminishing spire. It is best seen fiom the Rue Basses des Tonneurs,
and forms thence a lovely group with the old houses in front of it.
But with all these fine specimens of Gothic work, the French architects do not
seem at home in the style. Tlie new church of St. Pierre, in the faubourg of the
same name, is an instance of this. It is built of red and white stone, with a
diapered slate roof It has nave and aisles, a tower at the west end, and a rose
window at the east end. It shows about the same amount of knowledge as
would have been found generally in England twenty years ago. Other new
works are being spoken of at Amiens, The people talk of a new wide street, to be
formed by pulling down one side of the Rue Cloitre de San Nicolas, opposite the
south porch of the cathedral. It will connect the latter building with the main
street of the town, the Rue des Trois Cailloux, and in it a new Hotel de Ville
will be erected. New barracks are also, as in every town in France, projected.
So the people of Amiens look forward to increased activity in the building trade.
There is sufficient at present to interest the English visitor, who should never
pass it carelessly on his way to Paris.
South Kensington Museum. — During the week ending 12th January
18G1, the visitors have been ns follows ; — On Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday,
free days, 4,044 ; on Monday, and Tuesday, free evenings, 2,951. On the three
Students' days (admission to the public 0d.),9C7; one Students' evening, Wed-
nesday, 279; Saturday evening, Conversazione, Lambeth School of Art, 2,740.
Total, 11,.081. From the opening of the Museum, 1,127,130.
Liverpool Architectural Society. — The eighth meeting of the 13th
session of this Society was held on Wednesday evening last, in the theatre of the
Royal Institution ; Mr. James M. Hay, the president, in the chair. — Mr. Hug-
gins stated that it would be in the recollection of the members that at different
times he had expressed his approbation and admiration of St. Paul's Church, in
Liverpool, ns an excellent example of the application of the dome to a public
building. Mr. Reid and Mr. Doyle, assistants and pupils to Messrs. Hay, had in
consequence executed several beautiful drawings of the work, which reflected
great credit upon their industry and talent as draughtsmen. The drawings were
exhibited, and elicited unmistakable encomiums. The paper for the evening,
" Gleanings from Cologne Cathedral," was read by Mr. J. Justeu. The President
tendered the thanks of the Society to Mr. Justcn for his paper. Certainly,
Cologne Cathedral was the most glorious production of Gotliic art in the world,
and every one would be rejoiced to see it completed. The paper for the next
meeting will be on " Russian Architecture," by Mr. J. A. Picton.
January 18, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
4ff
PASSPORTS, FRANCE, AND ARCHITECTURE.*
IN continuation of tlie remarlcs wliich we have made under this title in
former numbers, and whicli liave been directed to the exliibition of
the most noticeable features of French arcliitecture, and tliose most likely
to be inllucntial in modifying our own works, we resume for a moment the
consideration of plans. . • , ,. .
The peculiarities of plan, and the many excellencies of plan which distm-
guish the works of French architects may fortunately bo very ^yell studied
at home in tlie many jrablications embodying plans of the domestic buildings
of Paris and other cities now accessible. They ought, however, to be borne
in mind when inspectiuR the buildings, and when living in them; and in
fact the architect should, in Paris more than in many places, make it a-rule
to jot down along with other memoranda some note of the plan of what
strikes him as good.
This ruleextends to decorative features, for the horizontal section orplan
of jambs, of recesses, chimney-pieces, shop-fronts, and such smaller por-
tions of architecture will often be found to play an important part in their
effect.
There is a class of practice, of which the mention of smaller architectural
features reminds us, in which the French have more opportunities of in-
dulgiofr than we. Their numerous cafes, handsome shops, and other places
of public resort are an extensive Held for skill and taste in the minor
features of buildings and in decoration, only a small portion of which seems
as yet open to our architects. We have, however, been making progress in
this direction, and the more intercommunication we have the more will
the public look for this class of decorative work.
We have just a few good shop-fronts in London and in provincial towns,
and wo have a good many public rooms with some approach to good work;
but still there is no approach to the same imiform comprehension of what
can be done in decoration among us that is visible in Paris. Above all,
the cafes — there are all sorts, but we refer to the most artistic in treat-
ment, and they are many — show great skill in the use of decoration, in the
introduction of mirrors, and in the employment of woodwork, plaster-
work, and metal-work in various forms. We have no especial wish to see
close imitations, still less exact reproductions of these forms; but wc do
hope that English architects will be induced to do more than they have
done in this direction, and we have no doubt that they will show them-
selves quite equal — in fact, superior — to their rivals in the treatment of
such subjects. We hope, too, that the commercial public, who are always
on the look-out for novelty, will understand thnt nothing can be falser
policy than to commit the design of shop-fronts to unskilful hands. There
has been of late some disposition to employ architects of note in these
works, and Mr. Owen .Tones, Mr. Bigby Wyatt, Mr. Lockyer, Mr. Truefitt,
and some others, have had occasional opportunities of producing works of
this class. But it should not be the exception, it should be the rule,
when a feature of this nature is to be renewed or built, and its orn.amental
character is relied upon to render assistance in the success of the business,
that the best talent available should be employed ; and let us add that, as
in France, the remuneration for this sort of work should be liberal, and
that it should take the form rather of a fee than of commission.
The dreary respectability of the vast public buildings to be found in
every large city in France— the Casernes (barracks), the Mairies, the
Hotels de Ville, and the like, all very similar in their character, and
mostly belonging to the last century — will be better made use of as a
warning than as anything else. In this country our more modern
buildings of this class, taken as a whole, exhibit a variety of character, a
constructional truthfulness, and a healthy appreciation of the value of good
materials rightly employed, far in advance of anything we shall meet with
among the same buildings in France. One or two peculiarities in these
structures seem to claim attention, perhaps the most striking one being
the general proportion of window openings. These are in France almost
invariably taller in relation to their width than with us, and consequently
the advantages are secured of better ventilation, and more mass for the
supporting piers. In King's College Hospital, windows of this sort of pro-
portion are lieing introduced, and for hospitals they are particularly appro-
priate.
The more conspicuous works of French Renaissance architecture, either
of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, or of our own time, are,
however, deserving a more careful attention. It will be noted in them
that a divergence early established itself between the practice of French
.architects and our own. The manner of Vignola was for the most part
followed in France, while Palladio formed the standard of taste iu this
country. The vast piles that form the central feature of the Parisian
capital, commencing at the Hotel de Ville, and extending to the Cliamps
Elysces, embracing the Louvre, the Tuileries,andthe Place de la Concorde,
with the various public buildings that abut upon it, show us the best
employment of Renaissance architecture — viz., its use in large masses to
form combinations of great magnitude and extent.
A most happy innovation was engrafted on the French version of this
style in the shape of those lofty roofs, known commonly by the title of
Mansard roofs. They are sources of great beauty, especially on the Hotel
de Ville, one of the best Classic buildings in Paris, and they have often
figured in this country on p.aper, but less frequently in execution than
their picturesqueness demands. The hotel at Paddington, the work of
Mr. Hardwick, still remains the most picturesque example, though not as
formerly the only example of their introduction in London on a great
scale, and as ornamental features.
Attention cannot fail to be drawn to the vast amount of sculpture, mdst
of it in low relief which modern French works present. This feature our
* Continued from page 25.
climate forbids our imitatiog, for the double reason that we ahould no-
where see it 80 frequently and so distinctly as the bright sky across the
channel renders possible, because in all our great towns it soon would jret
begrimed with smoke, and that, on the other liand, to employ this
carving with any chance of its remaining visible for a longer period than
ii very few years indeed, we should have to execute it in stone so much
harder than that which is quite durable enough for the French climate,
that the expense would ordinarily be a bar to its employment. Still,
although in ordinary structures the profuse employment of sculpture
is, from these causes, out of the question with us, we ought not to bo so
chary as we undoubtedly are of its employment in important works. If
familiarity with such building as the exterior of the new part of the Louvre
begets in the public a desire for more statues, more bas-reliefs, and more
ornamental sculpture in our architecture, and causes the younger of our
sculptors and students of sculpture to turn their attention to that wide
field which the great founders of the modern school of sculpture delighted
in, we shall reap no inconsiderable advantage, from the new passport-law.
even should this be the only gain to the arts.
The distaste of our sculptors to employ themselves on tbescalpturcd deco-
ration of Important buildings is almost incomprehensible, for it is the one
field which, above all others, our present circumstances render a desirable
one for them, A few very skilful chisels will always find employment in
works for galleries, and in portrait busts and statues. A very few will find
employment on the memorial statues which at distant intervals we erect as
monuments ; but there is a vast field, appealing, if properly occupied, to
the sympathy and admiration of not the select few only, but the countless
multitude that pass by and that throng our public buildings. This field
is all but unoccupied, and the dearth of men willing to till it, is the main
cause of no attempt being made to enjoy its fruits. Nearly the whole of
the architectural decorations of a high class, not merely in London but in
all England, that have been required during the last few years for buildings
of Classic design, have come from the studio of one sculptor; admirable
works indeed they are, but there is scope for a score of such men if they
will but devote themselves to the work.
Of the slighter description of modern French architectural works,
many of which show great taste, a large proportion are inapplicable to
our purposes, on account of the considerations of climate. Still, because
we Iiave to be warm and weather-tight, it docs not follow that we need be,
and must be, ugly and commonplace. It would be worth the while of any
architect who has to design suburban works, more especially for
watering-places, to pay a visit to Arcachon, the sea-bathing place
frequented by the inhabitants of Bordeaux. This charming place, a few-
years ago, was nothing but a collection of squalid fishing-huts on the
edge of a long, inland arm of the Hay of Biscay. The admirable
adaptation of it for a bathing -place, on account of the broad, shelving,
sandy beach, and the undisturbed shelter that its waters enjoy having
been pointed out, a very few years sufficed to transform it into the most
picturesque of retreats.
The houses of Arcachon are not— almost everything that our sea-side
houses are. They are not in rows, or crescents, or squares; they are not
ugly; they are not lofty; they are not entirely devoid of gardens: they
are not infested with vermin ; and they are not lodging-houses. What
they are it would require too much space fully to describe, but the general
plan followed has beeu to build little isolated dwellings, single or in pairs,
eacli with its own garden, and in many cases with the kitchen and
servants' rooms in a detached but connected building. The main road
has beeu so traced that as many of these houses as possible shall have an
uninterrupted communication with the sea shore. The style of building
is very simple, and the neighbouring pine-forest has supplied the larger
part of the materials; but a plentiful use of overhanging eaves, often
forming verandahs, and the almost invariable presence in each little house,
of one decorative feature— usually a little tower, or a high roof to part of
the building— render the little dwellings, many of which are only one
story, few more than two stories high, strikingly picturesque.
These houses are let furnished, and the good folks of Bordeaux transport
themselves and their children and part of their servants thither, and cater
for themselves, enjoying the comfort of undisturbed occupancy and an
exclusive control of the contents of the store-room, larder, and cellar,
which is as refreshing a contrast to the customs of Ramsgate or Brighton
as the architecture and the half wild, but luxuriant flower-gardens, are to
the Marine-parades and the Prospect-pl.ices, and the grim bits of frowsy
grass enclosed by chains Snd posts, which denote the development of our
national tastes, as shown by what we consider most conducive to the com-
fortable enjoyment of a holiday.
We are not to be understood as maintaining that the best thing that
could be done for our watering places would be to make them into Arca-
chons, any more than wo wish our houses, our churches, our shops, or
ourselves, to put on French garments at once, as the American travellers
all do the moment thct/ get to Paris.
That ."such a result actually would follow if any miracle brought New
York within easy reach of Paris there seems every reason to believe, but
we, being a grown up nation, have ways of our own, though, most happily,
we are very far, indeed, from being too old to learn. It is, then, that
travellers may be induced to think when they behold these things '' Now
why can we not do something of this sort in our own war/ at home ?" that
we point them out ; and we do so with the certainty that those who cross
the Channel, especially if only with a very limited time to spend, will be
much better able to turn their opportunities for observation to account
when their attention has been previously directed to the salient points
most worth study than if they go quite unprepared.
46
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 18, 1861.
The subject of France is so wide a one that an attempt to describe it
conipletclv would prove interminable. Kven, however, for our present
purpose of indicatin;; notcworthj- points, deserving observation, a further
notice seems requisite, the more so if we add anything about travelling
and sketching in France- subjects which it seems appropriate to intro-
duce into this series of articles, and on which, perhaps, a few hints, the
results of a pretty extensive acquaintance with the country, may be found
advantageous. ^- ^-
T
XEW CHURCH IX BALDWIN'S GARDENS, GRAY'S-INN-LANE.
H ERE i« a peculiar force in nil violent contrasts. We dwell, with interest, on
^ the vicissitudes of RTcnlness. and on the greatness of what was once struggling
and unn'ooCTiised merit. The Christian prayer offi-re<l up in a heathen temple
is something more than the same prayer uttered in a church built especially for
Christian worship. The cross pKinted in the arena, which once was the scene of
gladiatorial combats and of Christian sacrifice, has greater significance than when
it is fixed on a simple Gothic gable. It is the emblem of a trinmph— of a battle
iboght and won— of an era of peace growing amidst the evidence of vanquished
The Joy is less intense as we get further removed from those early days; we
forget the labor and the devotion which carried the day, now that the dust and
turmoil of the strife is cleared away ; but although we cannot realise those scenes
so fully as if we had seen the opposing circunistiinces which were associated with
them,"we may look upon a somewhat similar one now going on in our own city.
We have no Coliseum nor Pantheon, but a villainous congregation of vice and
infamy lies festering in dark comers of Ixjndon. Tliere is no blacker spot upon
the map than that on the east of (Jray's-inn-lane. It is the haunt of the lowest
prostitutcsand of the worst thieves. Filth, squ.ilor, ignorance, and sin are here
huddled together without distinction of age or sex, and with the same compact-
ness as they nestled formerly on the confines of tlie Fleet-ditch. The formation
of the New Victoria-street ploughed them up in that locality. It opened a wide
furrow through the \PTy heart of the district, hut it only turned the materials on
either side of it. It did not destroy them nor did it improve their condition. Let
any man button up his coat, empty his pockets, and walk through the several
allej's or "gardens" which form "the dirty; channels between Gray's-lnn and
I>eather-laue, and he will see work enough for the church which a noble-minded
man has founded there.
He need not enter the hou.scs, tlie very children bear tlic stamp of crime tipon
tliem, and let us also add the markof shrewdness which Englisli rascal-buds alone
possess. It was a noble idea which animated the founder of this church in this
neighbourhood. If the harvest be not gathered therein it must go to the gaol.
The stream may be made to do good service, but, if neglected, it will inundate and
desolate the city.
The simple establishment of a church is, however, of little consequence, for
the little urchins know not its meaning and disregard it. The ministers therein,
and issuing thence, must do the work. God's name is uttered now daily with
awful adjuncts at the gates of that building where we must all hope it will in
fiitun? be uttere<l to his praise and glory. The founder was not content to build
a "poor man's" chnrcfi — a mere whitewashed liousi! to preach in, in harmony
with the sterility of the neighbourhood, but a building for the members of the
National Church of England, no matter what their social position may be— and
bisdesirehas evidently been to make it,ns far as lies in his ])ower, fit for the wor-
ship to l>e done there; a guiding light amidst the stormy passions seething hourly
round it. He has entrusted its design to one of the ablest of our Church archi-
tects (Mr. Butterfield), and, .so far as we can at present judge, that gentleman
has here produced his finest work ; he will embellish it in the same style as All
Saints', Margan^t-street, hut, we think, with even still better taste. The result
of long experience and of longer practice will l)e shown here. How the fashion-
able church-goers will regret that the approaches to it are so filthy, and that
perhaps the finest church in the metrepolis is built on the site of the " thieves'
Kitchen!" And yet where could a grander site be found for it than here where
it is roost requireil ? The ornament is as necessary here as it would be in Bel-
gravia. and tor this simple reason that it is not put for the benefit of the congre-
gation, or for their lieuefit (mly to direct their thoughta to llim to whom it is
cifiered.
The site was given by Lord Leigh, and the'chureli has been built, at a cost of
nearly £20,000, through tlie exertions and liberality of one gentleman, Mr.
Hubl'mnl. The chief entrance will lie through ii court-yard, enclosed by a fence
wall and iron gateway, from Baldwin's-gardens. There is a second entrance
from Hrooke's-market, by a gateway Ix'tween the rectory and porter's-hoiise.
This communicates with a paviil passage which le.ids to the south p"rehwa\ at
the west end of the church, immwiiately opposite the entrance from lialdwin's-
gardens. 'flnae two porchra form transepts to the; western hay of nave, the
piers of which are sloiiter than the others, and carry a deeply moulded arch
supporting the sides of the tower. The lowi-r lias a saddle roof, the springing
of which is at the level of the ridge of n:ive roof, ayd its gables are ilue east
and wist, whilst t\um- of the tran.s<-pt [xirches are at right angles with it. Thi;
hay occupied by the tower is half the width of the nave in depth, thus l)eing, on
plan, a d'>uble s<(uare. Tin- transept porches occupy the corresponding bays of
tlie aisles. In the roof i)f the tower the bells will" be placed, and there is a
Tingen' gallery immedintely lielow it ; the staircase of which, although entered
from the chun'h, is huilt oiityide the western wall, and projects .'i feetjti inches by
0 feet wide. This is in the centre of the west front; on either side of it are
Early Hecor.-iterl Ihren-lizht windows. The .square staircase is tumctl into a half-
octagon at its summit which is coveivd by a stone spire scalloped in courses and
finished .with afinial. Tliere are two double light windows to the ringcrs'-floor,
and over them a single loiivnil window to the belfry. The material of which
the church is built is stock lirick diversified with ri»l and black bricks and Hath-
stone. Bands of all these ni.tterials run along the walls, very artistically
arranged, but the pri'vailing wall dicunitioii— the "burden" of it— is u red
diaper, aometimiw with and sometimes uitliout a lilack centre, which fills all the
gables and spandrels over an'hes.
Tlie various partsof Ihestruiture are most iH'autifiilly linked together by this
repeati;<l urnament, not repeated so oft>-n as to prf>duce monotony, but only suf-
flcienlly to obtain complete harmony. It is most cimsplcuous in the gables of the
towers. Thetransept porches, which are of the same height as the main body of
the church, have gables similarly decorated, with rose windows nestled in the
midst of tliem. They have Inncet windows, forming a middle stace, and below
are lofty, deeply-inou'lded windows. The south transept has an additional smaller
porch facing tlie passage before-mentioned, which lends from Brooke's-market.
Horizontal hands of red brick and of Hath stone, 9 inches deep, are let into the
walls. Tlie wimlows of l)oth aisles and clerestory are single lancet lights, with
ciniiui^foil or treliiiled heads, tlie spandrels filled "in with the diaper of which we
have already spoken, and a richer diaper decorates the external wall of parapet.
Tliere is a goisl mass of plain wall-surface at the base of the building. The roof
is slat(>d witli inland gieen slates, laid ornamentally. The north doorway is flanked
by shafts of Mansfield stone, and is subdivided into two openings with flat
arches, over which there is a quatrefoil stone j>anel, surrounded by black and reil
stripes. The aspect of the church from Baldwiu's-gnrdens is extiinnely grand,
its lofty, good proportions and massive buttresses, its delicate surface-color, and
tile beautiful balance of the ornament is thence seen to advantage. The bricks,
we should mention, have not that violent color which ottiiuds us somewhat at
All .Saints'. The whole tone of the building is more subdued, and betokens
maturer study. Nowhere is the skill of the architect more evinced than in the
east front, where, no window being admissible on account of the rights ofadjoui-
ing owners, or perhaps on account of the architect's wish to have the east end of
the chancel filled with paintings, the whole of the wall had to be decorated. He
has banded it partly with brick and partly with stone, and, to destroy the mono-
tony of this ornament, has introduced with it squares of incised stones and
diapers of brick, until the whole front sparkles with beautiful design. The least
successful portion of die building is the domestic portion— the rectory and the
fiorter's-house in Brooke's-market. The material is the same, brick and stone,
lut the openings have a narrow mona.stic look, which is no part of the Church of
England, and tliere are stone circular frames, with brick backs over the openings,
and blank pointed arch-heads, altogether without meaning. If relieving arches
had been necessary, there was no dpcA to make such prominent features of them.
The gateway is, however, well designed, and in the small top gables and roofs to
these buildings we recognise a good way of increasing the apparent size of the
church rcofs, with their decorated ridges and finials towering high u p behind
them. The alternate I'ed and white voussoirs have also a good eft'ect here, and
they are very judiciously introduced.
On entering the church we are immediately struck by its grand proportions
and its vast height. The entire width is 50 feet 8 inches, ■and the length of the
nave is 87 feet tj inches. The chancel extends 40 feet further east. The width
includes the nave and side aisles. The height of the nave is within a few inches
of 80 feet to the under side of ridge, and 48 feet to the top of the wall-plate,
whence the roofsprings. Thechancelis within 18 inches of the same height. The
height of the aisles is 20 feet to the top of the wall-plate. The roof is of timber,
with tracery between the up])er parts of the braces. Wing braces l.J inch
thick are introduced to stifi'en the principals and improve the appearance of the
roof Plaster is laid between the rafters. The leg's of the roof rest on caps of
Bath stone, and shafts of Garrett's circular red tiles, carried on stone corbels
between the nave arches. The roof of the chancel is a pointed timber arch,
formed of three principals, with slighter arches between them filled in with
plaster. The ends of the principals rest on shafts of tiles similar to those in the
nave, but which in the chancel are continued to the ground. All the passages in
the nave between the seats are to be laid with black and red tiles ; the chancel
will have a i|uantity of rich marbles blended with more elaborate .Minton's tiles.
The .space under the seats will be boarded. The chancel has an aisle on either
side, divided from it by a gateway or iron railing filling a deeply moulded arch-
way. On one side (the south) the organ will be placed, on the other there is a
vestibule to the vestry, which is to the east of it. Of the !>G feet 8 inches which
constitutes the nave, 1!? feet at the western end is taken up by the transept
porches, and the space under the lower where the font is to be situated. The
arch which marks tlie division between this portion of the church and the nave
is 41 feet high. Above this there are one or two small doors to ventilate the
building through the ringers'-floor and belfry, but they are masked,' by the
timh<;rs of the roof. There are four bays thence to the chancel arch spanned by
arches 23 feet high, and springing from the moulded caps of the piers. Over
them, the clerestory windows are seen in couples, lancet-shaped with cusped
arches, divided by the red tile shafts before alluded to. (iuatrefoils are intro-
duced alternately in the spandrels, the space surrounding them being filled in
with red brickwork and stocks. There are strings of stone and diapered brick
over the nave arches. A blank arcade with circular-tiled shafts and moulded
stone caps line the walls of the aisles. They have quatrefoils and red bricks in
the spandrels. I'our pairs of lancet windows rise aliove thein. The chancel arch
is another fine hit of decoration. Over the stone mouldings of the arch there is
a relieving arch of red brick and Bath stone, and jirominently above it a Maltese
cross is displayed in a circle, the lower branch, or ratliej the trunk of it, is
extemled to the outer rim of the circular hand. The whole is lieautifuUy incised,
and filled in with hinck cement, bands of stone and brick very tastefully
arranged, fill the spaces ut the sides.
There arc two ascending steps lieneath the chancel arch, and a low iron
railing on the top of them ; three more steps wcur in the length of the chancel,
and two additional ones immediately in front of the altar. One half the sides of
the chancel is an arehw:iy opening into the aisles, to tlit; organ-room and vestry
vestibule. The I'astern half is to be decorated with alabaster and Minton's tiles
in ornamental pattiims, hands of tiles and diamond-sliaped squares of alabaster,
incis«l and fill<«l in with black cement. Above this ilecoratert wall there are, on
either side, six lancet windows, divided by shafts of Garrett's circular tiles, and
arched with Bath stone. The siiandrels "are filled with brick diap*'rs, and have
stone quartrefoils in the centre of tliem. On the south side of the chancel the
reredos is to be placed under Bath stone arches, supported by Laiigiiedoc marble
shafts. The east end has two arches on either side of the altar, with shafts of
Dove and I.anguedoc marble. The sur-altar is decorated with alabaster, slate,
and Minton's tiles. The whole of the wall above this is divided by alabaster
bands into 10 spaces, filled with smoothed Bath stone. It is intended to cover
these panels with paintings.
We have given but a general notice of this remarkable church — enough,
however, we trust, to give an idea of its character. When the works are more
advanced we shall notice more fully some of the details, and fill up, as it wrere.
the outline of which we have now sketched. We must not, however, omit to
mention that the work is being carried out by Mr. Myei's, and that the clerk of
the works, to whom its supervision is committed, is Mr. Benham.
January 18, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
47
ARCIItEOLOGY.
IT will bo remembered that about two years since a statue of Venus was
found near one of the gates of Rome, in a vineyard belonging to a
person named Bonelli ; since that time excavations have been made on
the same spot, and have brought to light the fact that there existed there
a temple consecrated to the gods of the East. An inscription in tlie
combined languages of Greece and Palmyra declares that certain statues,
of which unfortunately only the feet have yet been discovered, were sacred
to Belus, Jaribolus, and, probably, Astarte ; another, in Greek and Latin,
states that a man of Palmyra had raised a temple to Belus for the wel-
fare of the Emperor (whose name is wanting); a third inscription, in
Greek only, declares that a temple, or a portion of the same temple, is
dedicated to the indigenous God Arius, who, like the planet Mars, is in
relation with Belus, the God of the Sun, in honor of the Emperor Adrien,
« in the year 445 of the Seleuces" era, in use amongst the people of
Palmyra. The existence of the Temple of the Sun is further proved by
the finding of a Latin inscription, in which the public are warned "ex
Imperio Solia " — by order of Belus himself— not to disfigure the walls in
any manner. Fragments of a large vase of black granite have also been
found amongst the ruins, upon which are engraved, in slight intaglio,
Egyptian figures of gods and men ; it is supposed that this vase formed a
portion ofjthe objects with which the temple was decorated. Another
large inscription has been found bearing date the 107th year of the
Christian era, but which is unfortunately in fragments, and it has not yet
been ascertained whether it has any connexion with the temple in ques-
tion, which, however, is considered probable.
An ancient Roman or Gallo-Ronian cella has been discovered in the
Faubourg du Soliel, at Alais, in France; the wall was covered with mortar
of great hardness. There were found three immense earthen jars
arranged in the form of a triangle, the mouths of these vessels being nearly
on a level with the soil, and their bodies sunk in the ground. The largest
and best-preserved of these jars is about 5 feet 6 inches high, and its
mouth is 2 feet in diameter, and furnished with a rim or border 5 or 6
inches wide; the greatest interior diameter of the jar is nearly equal to
its height, and it tapers otTconically to the bottom, which is not so large
as the mouth, and, like it, is furnished with a strong round moulding. The
two other jars are very little smaller than that already described. The
broken portions are found to be very uniform in thickness, averaging
about the sixth of an inch, and, although the ware is not uniformly burnt
as regards color, the material exhibits great regularity, and consists of a
reddish clay mingled with small particles of white quartz. These jars
exhibit a very advanced stage of the potter's art. Unfortunately, they
are all more or less broken, but not so as to render their readjustment
difficult. These vessels were called by the Romans dolia ; they were
generally placed in two lines, those in one row alternating with those in
the other; thus they obtained also the name of seria. Their object was
the preservation of the southern wines, which were rather wanting in
body; and the produce of the same locality in the present day is precisely
of the same character.
The old church of St. Germain des Pres in Paris has been under repair
for a long time, and will not be finished under another year. The barbarous
alterations and decorations that have been superadded to the original
building have all been removed from the exterior, and the inside is now
being cleared in the same manner of its anomalies and anachronisms. The
interior reparations were commenced with the choir, which is now
finished ; the nave is progressing rapidly, and when the latter is done the
transepts are to be taken in hand. The first thing done was to clear away
the Corinthian capitals, garlands, and other impertinences introduced by
the architects of the eighteenth century. In fact, the church will be rid,
as far as possible, of everything which was not consonant with the original
style of the building. Parts of the nave are still covered up, but a fair
idea of the mode of decoration adopted may be obtained. The colors
employed in the decoration are positive, in the style of tlie antique ; the
columns are green, the pilasters red, relieved with arabesques ; the capitals
are gilded, and the archivolts decorated with palm leaves. The w.alls
above tlie ogives are ornamented with subjects drawn from sacred history,
the principal personages of the Bible are represented in medallions placed
between the windows, and the vaultings are painted blue and decorated
with golden stars.
This church formerly belonged to the royal abbey of the same name,
founded in 558 by Cliildebert, King of France, or of Paris as some call him.
It was at first dedicated to St. Croix and St. Vincent, but in 754 was re-
dedicated to St. Germain, Bishop of Paris, whose body, remsved from St.
Symphorien, was buried behind the grand altar of the abbey church.
Pepin le Bref, and his two sons, Charles and Carloman, were present at the
latter ceremony. The church has been the burial-place of many illus-
trious personages, amongst others of Childebert. its founder, his wife, and
two daughters ; Charibert, Childeric IL, Queen Bathilde, and Clotaire IL
Jean Casimer, ex-King of Poland, who died in France in 1672, was abbot
of the establishment, and his heart was deposited in a tomb executed by
Marsy, his body being conveyed to Poland.
A very curious reli«, namely, the Chapel of Richard Cceur de Lion, at
Audelys, in the department of the Seine Inferior, in France, has been
totally destroyed— in fact, it and its site obliterated, by the action of the
frost. This chapel was constructed in the hill which overhung the ruins
of the Chateau-Gaillard, and the other day the whole came down with a
tremendous crash. Nor was this all, for a second slip occurred, and the
portion of the hill that was behind that in which the chapel was Con-
structed fell into the void left by the latter, and completely obliterated
even the spot where the Chapel of Richard of the Lion-heart stood for such
along series of years. Thus has one of the chief attractions of Englijh-
men in Audelys been destroyed in a few seconds. It is estimated that the
mass thrown down must have weighed at least 200 tons, and when it is
mentioned that it fell from a height of more than 150 feet, down an ex-
ceedingly steep incline, some idea may be formed of the force of the slip.
The materials of the fallen cliff, which was of exceedingly hard chiilk
mixed with flints, were thrown upon the road between Petit-Audclyi and
Vernon, and blocked it up for a time. It is miraculous that no lives were
lost by this accident. An old woman inhabited the chapel of our chivalric
king, but she was fortunately absent when the slip took place, and the
whole mass fell on a house in which was, at the moment, only one little
girl, who was occupied in writing. The latter building wa» completely
destroyed, as well as the whole of the furniture it contained, but the
materials arranged themselves in such a manner that the child wat not
injured in any way. Had the rest of the family been present, some lives
must almost inevitably have been lost. The accident is attributed to the
effect, first, of the continual rains which have occurred during the year;
and, secondly, to the late very severe frosts. Thus, the famous Chapel of
Richard Coeur de Lion has been, as it were, swept from the earth, and
Audelys has lost its greatest curiosity.
THEATRICAL SCENERY.
THE extraordinary success of Mr. William Callcott's scenery painted
for the Christmas piece at the Lyceum Theatre last year gave rise
to great expectations respecting the result of his labors for a similar
occasion on the return of the festive season just now passed away. Great
as those expectations were, we think this scenic artist has fully sustained
his fame in this department of painting by his fanciful, elegant, and
brilliant productions in the present extravaganza, entitled •' Clirystabelle ;
or, the Rose without a Thorn." The first scene is a reception or throne-
room in the Palace of the Princess. The characters all enter from a
platform seen beneath an arch at the back. The scene itself has a very
pleasing effect, its general tone being of a golden hue, receiving contrast,
both as regards the cold and warm colors, from some shrubs and flowers
distributed about tlie stage. The prevailing yellow or golden hue is
tastefully varied by the introduction of different tints of the same color,
which are enlivened by being picked out in the cornices with pale green,
and the whole thrown into breadth by two dark niches, having equally
dark figures in them, near, but slightly above, the central archway, and
the general effect is besides enriched by red curtains, also varied in their
tints. Besides the pictorial merits which this scene possesses in itself,
they become, to the critical eye, highly advantageous to the ensemble when
the Princess is seated on her throne, attended by her courtiers, retinue,
and guard of Amazons. These last being dressed in nearly all white,
wearing white helmets and carrying white shields, the whole ornamented
with rich yellow scroll • work as borders, relieve as a mass against
the yellow back-ground formed by the architecture already described.
The Princess and the Prince Lilywhite being still more delicately
attired than the rest, form excellent principals to this mass, and the
extreme nicety of the arrangement receives point and interest from
the dark and light green dresses, the vivid red and white of the
courtiers, and a still more effective contrast from a dark red dress worn
by one of the servants. Tliere is still another cause for the perfect satis-
faction, derived from the general impression produced by this scene ; it is
the visual certainty that the comparatively commanding height of the
lady who plays the Prince Lilywhite, her peculiarly ethereal form and her
elevated proportions when compared with the surrounding figures, render
it impossible to suppose that any other person on the stage can be the
successful hero of the piece. The imagination not being called upon to
believe otherwise, the eye and the mind are both thoroughly in
accord, and hence the fulness of satisfaction with that which is passing
in the presence of the audience.
The second scene is a well-painted and picturesque view of a street,
although not so imaginative as might be, seeing that it is a public
thoroughfare in "Dewdrop-land," but which, besides assisting the pro-
gress of the piece, serves as an excellent introduction to scene the third,
representing " The Ivy Dell," where we have the Princess and her ladies
disguised as fairies. This, we suppose, is a subterranean place of recrea-
tion, because there is another dell, brook, or streamlet above it, from
which the dew-drops— real water— descend in a stream of vivid green.
At the back is the moon, shining forth through a cool and misty atmo-
sphere, its brightness heightened by a dark, rocky arch which intervenes
between it and the warm tones of the more advanced masses of earth,
trees, and foliage. When the fairies come on from the back, in addition to
the real water, we see their real reflections as they pass the lake on their
way to the front. They are all dressed in light blue gauze, which, being
nearly of the same tint with the moonlight behind them, a rather novel
and very charming effect is produced. And we must observe here that
the light and aerial appearance of the figures is greatly ansisted by a
delicately-played accompaniment in the orchestra. Thus, in this instance,
the sight and hearing being both gratified at the same time, the result is
perfection. The upper part of the scene remains of a warm tint, as a
contrast to the cool moonlight below, until some fairies appear there,
when it becomes immediately much cooler in tone; the contrast disappears,
and that part is made to assimilate with the general effect ; we suppose
because the fairies placed there take an interest in the business of the
scene passing beneath them. The vivid green of the dew-drops a°d ot
some other parts of the subject is brought into the foreground by the
48
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 18, 1861.
introduction of branches, foli&ge, and ivy, of the same positive color on
the banks nearest to the spectator.
After a short return to the street scene, which again does the office of
an excellent introduction, by way of contrast we arrive at "Titania's
3ower in Fairy-land." This is a very graceful, refined, and at the same
time picturesque conception. It is painted in extremely cool and light
colors, displaying on one side a cavern of almost endless perspective, arch-
ing over a lake of equal extent ; on the other side is a corresponding
cavern, but not of the same extent; the roof, which is supposed to cover
the whole stage, is supported on natural supports of the same rock as that
of which the cavern is formed, and over the entire surface of which is a
raried tracery, giving great richness and variety to the vaulted roof and
•upporting piers. The banks on which they rest are painted of a light
tand color, contrasting by its warmth with the surrounding cool color, and
by its delicacy of tint falls into the pervading harmony, and partakes of
the general breadth. The side scenes are enlivened by their tracery being
heightened with silver, and the whole is brought into unity by a richly-
tinted bank on the stage, partially covered with vividly green foliage and
groups of gohlen fruit. The dancing in this scene is very elegant and
feiry-like, and we think the effect is at its culminating point when the
light and costly dress of Prince Lilywhite appears in the front of the stage,
throwing back the point of light in the distant perspective, and forming a
key white to all the light portions of the arrangements.
This is followed by another well-painted interior in the Palace of Prin-
cess Chrystabelle. This interior is designed in the same excellent taste
that distinguishes the one with which the piece commences. The arch-
work is also semicircular, the stone color is of a very nicely chosen tint,
and well varied in the gradations ; the architecture is enlivened with gold
ornaments, and the whole effect is rendered full and complete by tlie addi-
tion of rich red curtains hanging in massive folds over head.their color
being repeated and modulated by some of smaller dimensions, and paler
tints distributed about this, " the Hall of Reception," while the strong
opposition between the metallic green on the shafts of the columns and the
rich red of the curtains produces a powerful combination of striking
contrast, distinguishing it from the first scene, which is, as we have stated,
remarkable for its pervading delicacy of tone and nicely-blended harmony.
A darkly-painted canvas now descends, representing clouds, preparatory
to the exhibition of the last scene, the first glimpse of which is obtained
through a dense mass of gauze. At first is dimly seen some golden-
colored banks in the centre foreground, and further off some bright green
waterfalls. Presently a vividly blue light shows a white figure in the
middle distance, which change produces a beautiful effect, particularly
when the real reflection is seen in the supposed water ; the whole of tliis
part of the scene slowly moves forward towards the spectators, and the
flgnrc gradually ascends and finally disappears, leaving a large mass of
bright transparent water in the centre of the stage. Groups of gigantic
tropical leaves, some light and fibrous, rise in the background and increase
the richness of the general effect by causing their reflections to appear in
the water, their color being contrasted by the ideal fruit and foliage
growing on each side of the picture. As a contrast to the bright green
and other cool colors on the ground, there is a large mass of branches and
foliage overhead, painted in a transparent, warm, and luminous manner.
Kow, by a movement on each side the banks, with gorgeous foliage and
■hrubs up them, ascend a short distance, leaving their roots glittering in
brilliant color, like stalactites, which renders the scene very splendid
indeed. Ihrough the centre of the stage a group of Cupids reposing in
flowers next appear, and a dazzling light is thrown upon them, greatly
increasing the brilliancy of the scene. Behind this group one consisting
of three female figures now makes its appearance ; the whole back of the
(cene becomes a mass of pale, cool, and warm color, in the midst of which
a third group ascends and completes that part of the composition. In the
front, on each side of the golden bank in the front of the stage already
mentioned, two figures, hitherto concealed, wearing dresses of gold tissue,
present themselves, lying amidst a profusion of bright red fruit and pale
green foliage. The whole of the back scene now receives a mass of red
light, relieving the cool tints of the group, and powerfully contrasting
with the green roots or stalactites at the sides ; the whole is brought
to a magnificent conclusion by all the colors and objects being reflected,
with their variety, brightness, and harmony, in the large looking-glass
lake, placed on the stage for that purpose. But description is powerless
in conveying the gorgeous beauty of the final effect ; it must be seen
more than once to perceive and appreciate all its merits.
Highly as we thought of Mr. iVilliam Callcott's transformation-scene
last year, we think upon the whole the present production exceeds its
predecessor in breadth and refinement of conception ; and that its effect upon
the audience is, at the least, equal to that produced by the other may be
judge 1, as tlic various changes, which we have attempted to describe,
present themselves to their attention, by the appLiuse with which they
arc successively greeted. They are, besides, throughout the getting up
and ptrformanre of this piece generally a marked delicacy and well-
•ustaincd propriety, which show the presence of a ruling and delicate
mind, well acquainted with stage effect, and yet equally well informed
where the line should be drawn. For these advantages the present
extravaganza, like the former, is, of course, indebted to the supervision of
Madame Celeste. The prevalence of that good taste is particularly
observable in the style of the dancing, which is elegant and vivacious,
wfthout the slightest taint of vulgarity or extravagance. It is scarcely
Trithin our province to notice these matters, except in taking our view of
the whole performance from the artistic point of sight, to see how that
valuable quality— unity of impreasion— in all subjecU addresaed to the
human mind has been maintained throughout. We saw but one disturbing
cause which induced us to regret that the part of " Mephiste " was forced
into a prominence which marred that unity of impression, and the dancing
was that of spasmodic earnestness and worn-out grotesqueness, not suited
to feminine limbs capable of much better things, which would induce us
to change the gender of Tallyrand's celebrated advice, and say, " pas de
zfele ma chere," or, with a far better theatrical authority who, advises
actors to " use all gently." However, our* present purpose is to con-
gratulate Mr. William Callcott on his great success, and to compliment
Madame Celeste upon the spirit, liberality, and exquisite taste which have
so effectually aided the talent, experience, and imagination of the scene-
painter in the execution of his very diflScult undertaking, and to express a
hope that so much combined excellence may not only be, as it is, warmly
applauded, but liberally patronised and rewarded by the play-going
public.
WEXHAM LODGE.*
THE engraving presents a view of an Elizabethan mansion, from tho
designs of Mr. John Barnett, architect, now completing for Joseph
Grote, Esq., on the picturesque site of an older residence, formerly occupied
by Major Bent, standing in a ring-fence of about 120 acres, and finely
wooded, with an artificial lake, and situate in Wexham parish, about two
miles from Slough.
The new mansion and offices have been so designed as to harmonise
with and preserve the beautiful lawn and grounds, and contains, as will
be seen by the accompanying plan, an entrance waiting hall, 15 feet by 15
feet, opening upon an inner hall, 28 feet by 18 feet, forming a billiard-
room giving access to principal staircase, 28 feet by 16 feet, with an open
gallery overlooking the inner hall, from which opens a dining-room, 32
feet by 23 feet; a drawing-room, 33 feet by 22 feet; library, 30 feet by 20
feet; morning-room, 26 feet by 18 feet, with dressing-room adjoining, 20
feet by 13 feet; retiring-room, 12 feet by 8 feet, and convenient offices.
The staircase, of Portland stone, 6 feet wide, is ligjjted by a large orna-
mental window over first landing on servants' corridor level, and from
above by a circular coffered ceiling, which also lights the inner hall.
The one-pair floor is approached by a gallery surrounding the hall, and
contains the principal bed-rooms, with dressing-rooms adjacent, retiring
and bath rooms, wardrobes, and waterclosets, &c., and with easy access
from the servants' apartments by a corridor 6 feet wide, and by the servants'
stairs with the ground-floor corridor, containing servants' hall, 17 feet
by 16 feet; housekeeper's room, 17 feet by 12 feet; kitchen, 23 feet by
18 feet (the full height of two stories); scullery, 16 feet by 16 feet ; larder,
14 feet by 12 feet; housemaid's closet, 12 feet by 6 feet ; dairy, 16 feet by
14 feet ; still-room and store-room, 17 feet by 10 feet each ; with butler's
room, 20 feet by 13 feet, adjacent to dining-room, with bed-room com-
municating, 14 feet by 9 feet, and plate-closet, 9 feet by 5 feet 6 inches.
The principal rooms on ground floor are 15 feet high, chamber floor
12 feet high, and servants' apartments on both floors 10 feet high.
The whole is built of red brick and Bath stone dressings. On the north
are gardens and greenhouses, with stabling and coach-houses. The water
is supplied from an artesian well.
VOLUNTEER DRILL-SHED, SOUTH KENSINGTON.
WE cntjrave a complete set of drawings of a Volunteer Drill-shed,
recently erected at South Kensington for the use of the 1st South
Middlesex Engineers. The shed is well built, wind and weather tight,
efficiently lighted and thoroughly ventilated, at a most trifling cost when
we compare the outlay with that made by other regiments. The dimen-
sions of the shed are 90 feet by 42 feet, and 25 feet 6 inches high, and the
entire cost was only je82, or about £2 3s. per square.
Along the length of the shed there are ten ribs, 10 feet apart from
c ntre to centre. Each rib is formed of three boards, 6 feet long, 9 inches
wide, and J of an inch thick, put together with nails so that each board
breaks joint. When finished it forms a polygonal-arched rib 40 feet in
diameter, with the springing 2 feet above the ground line. The lower
portion, to the height of 10 feet, is strengthened by an additional board
on each side of the rib, as shown in the enlarged section at B. The feet
of the ribs are notched on to a plate, 6 inches by 2 inches, running the
whole length of the shed, and resting upon a course of bricks laid dry as
headers.
The outer surface, to the height of 10 feet above the ground line, is
covered with feather-edged weather-boarding. From this point to the
lower edge of the skylight the covering is roofing-felt, nailed and lapped
over each rafter, and then coated with tar and sand laid on hot.
The skylight is formed of bars 3 inches by 1 inch, over which union or
calico is stretched, and this is subsequently covered with two coats of
boiled oil. This has been found perfectly effectual. The covering is
water-tight and sufficiently transparent for the required purpose.
Tho ends of the shed are filled in with upright quartering, well braced,
and covered with feather-edged weather-boards^and felt. The upper
boards are laid to form louvres for ventilation.
The shed has been erected from the designs and under the superintend-
ence of Captain Fowke, R.E.
The following are the dimensions of the different scantlings : — Foot
plate, 6 inches by 2 inches ; purlins, 6 inches by 2 inches, lower purlin, 3
in(^lle8 by 2 inches (these are placed about 6 feet apart, and rest upon cleats
* For Flan and Illustration see pages 62 and 63.
January 18, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
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THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 18, 1861.
H inches by 6 inches nailed on each side of the rib) ; rafters, 3 inches by
S inches ; ridgc-picce, S inches by 1 incli ; skylight-ridge, 9 inches by 1
inch ; uprights from lower to upper ridge, 9 inches by I inch j diagonal
bracing, 3 inches by 1 inch.
RUTLAND CHURCHES, No. 14.— Lyndon.
rIS Tillage is very sequestered, and around it may be seen almost every
TBriety of landscape. The situation is exceedingly picturesque. Tbesimple
Tillage chureb i* so enclosed with foliage as to appear utterly secluded from the
TTorld — a becoming place of rest, where not only "The ruae forefathers of the
hamlet sleep," but the philosopher and tin: classical scholar also. It is dedicated
to St. Martin. This sauit was bom in Hungary iu 31G, and so charitable was
bii disposition that he is said to have divided his coat with n poor naked creature
diat was perishing with cold. In Callot's images he is represented as giving
kalf his cloak to a beggar. He was brought up to the military profession, fi^mi
Triiiehhems withdrawn by St. Hillary, Uishop of I'oictiers. In 374 he was
deetcd Btihop of Tours, and died at the' age of &t. Martm has been styled the
Apctlf of the Gauls, beinp; the first confessor to whom the Latin Church ofiured
yaUie prayers. He is distinguished as the father of that Church : from his
original profession he is also fiTequently termed the " military saint ;" and his
helmet was formerly worn by the French in their wars, as an incident to courage.
His festival was instituted A.D. CjO, and this anniversary is still one of the " four
eroai quarter days." His anniversary (November 11) is called llartinmas,
whence it baii been corrupted to Martle or Martinalia, a close resemblance of the
Vinalia of the Romans, instituted in honor of Jupiter and Venus. The Oauls
had so high a veneration for St. Martin, that they reckoned their years from
the day of his death. The church here is of one style of architecture — Decorated
or Micidle Pointed (fourteenth century). As a pure specimen of this date is very
rare, and probably the only one we shall meet with in this county, we will give
Rickmnn's description of Decorated work. The pioneer, who attempted to classify
early Romanesque and Pointed architecture in our own day, says, " The most
prominent characteristic of this style is to be found in the windows, the tracery
in the heads of which is cither geometrical, in circles, quartrefoils, &c., as in the
eirlicr instance^, or flowing in wavy lines, as in the later examples : never with
mullions running perpendicularly through the head of the window, as in the
•tyle which succeeded to it. The bead of tlie window itself is generally an equi-
utM«l arch. There are also some very flue circular windows of this style. The
doorways have frequently a close resemblance to those of the Early English
(thirteenth centurj) : they are indeed so much alike that they are chiefly dis-
tinj^isbed by the ornaments. A triangular or an ogee canopy, with crockets and
flnials, is frequently used over the doorways and windows in the richer specimens
of thb style. Sometimes a series of niches, with figures in them, is carried up
the sides and round the head of the doorway ; and sometimes foliated tracery,
hanging free from the outer edge of the arch : these have n very elegant effect,
but occur only in very rich specimens : they are more commonly used in the
French Flamboyant style. Over these doors and windows there is generally a
dripstone, supported by corbel heads ; sometimes foliage or other ornaments are
used, always verj' admirably carved, though the general character of the foliage
and other ornamental work of this style is not so bold as the Early English
work. To the open-work bands of the last style succeeds the flowered moulding ;
and to the toothed ornament succeeds a flower of four leaves in a deep moulding,
with considerable intervals Ixdween : the peculiar ornament called a ball-flower
i< also much used in the mouldings of this style. The arch most commonly used
ia the equilateral one, but this is not an invariable nUe. Another general cha-
racteristic of this style is the arrangement of the shafts in such a manner that
the groundwork of each pier is usually of a diamond or lozenge form : but plain
octagonal or hexagonal and round piers are commonly used in parish
cfaorches. The Decorated style prevailed throughout the greater part of
the 14th century ; it was first introduced in the reign of Edward I., some of the
earliest examples being the celebrated crosses erected to the memory of Queen
Eleanor, who die<l in 1290 ; but it was chiefly in the reign of his successors,
Edward II. and III., that this style was in general use; and us considerable
changes were made almost immediately after the death of Edward III., it has
been oot inappropriately called the Edwardian style." Some of the parish
churdies erected in the Uth century are extremelv plain, and that at Lyndon
throoghont is almost devoid of enrichment*. The fabric, which is small, consists
of naTe, north and lontli aisles, chancel, south porch, and tower at the west end.
The naTe is aeparated from the aisles by two bays on either side, the arches
bong aupported by octagonal pillars having caps and bases of the same
ebaraeter. Each aisle is lighted by a souare domestic window ; the six clerestory
windows are pointed, under luxxlmoulds ; and the east window is of three lights,
its traeery consisting of two oualrefoih) and several segments. The chancel is
•Jso^ghted by two quatrefoils, pierced in the north wall. All the arches are
ebanfered : that at the west end rise's from corbels, and most of them are under
^^^Oulds having head terminations. The font is modern Classic, probably
intiodaeed when the church was re-pewed by the late Sam. Barker, Esq., the
patam. The original nave roof is plain, the wail plates springing from stone
corbels. The chancel roof is also of the original high pitch, but when the church
was restored it was panelled : the old corliel-lieads remain. The chancel walls
fO"tain texts from Scripture, and against the south wall, within the altar rails,
u affixed a I3th century stone eoflin-lid, containing a cross, from which is sus-
pended a leaser synitol. The porch contains two stone seats, and near it in the
^■'"'■^h-yard, in the usual position, is the base of a stone cross. Till the Great
K 11 r" " """" '■'''''*■'' '" every churchyard : thev were seldom destroyed at
K k "'"*''°''' *"."' ''■" ''*'<"■'= "'" ■■"(?« of the PnritiiiiN. The furniture in this
church is very plain, with the exception of two elaborately carved pews and tlie
parish chest (17th century). The north door is blocked. The tower is of three
stages : the first is pierced with a window of two lights, trefoil-headed, and a
quatrefoil in the head, under a hoodmould crowned by a carved head ; the second
stage is pierced with a square light ; and the third has a window of two lights,
transomed. The parapets are enit)attled. The first known interment in a clmrrli
took place at Durham in C87, where the remains of St. Cuthbcrt were deposited :
this custom does not seem to have been adopted at Lyndon, as the interior of tlic
church does not contain a monument to the memory of any individual. There
are numerous monuments (upright slabs) erected in the church-yard to members
of the Barker family, who resided at the adjacent Hall : some of them are erected
in the west wall, and other* in the toil near, altogether forming three rows.
LECTl KK ().\ l'OI.V(Ullt()MY AT THK AUClllTKCTUUAL MUSEUM.
ON Wi'dm-sday 8e'nui;,'lit (as we briefly annouucwl hi our last) a lecture was deli-
vered in llio Locturc-thcatre of the South Kensington Museum, before the
members and friends of the Architectural IMuaeum, bv William White, Esq ,who
selected for his subject " A I'lea for Tolychromy." 'rhe following is a copy of the
lecture: —
It might seem at flrst sight presumptuous and uncalled for, to pretend to lecture an
assembly like this, of which every individual is more or less interested in art-
pursuits, upon thevalueof color,— as though all required convlncins of that which
must be taken for jrrauted as refjards the -.Tcater number of those addri!ssed. But it
is upon no such grounds that I venture to brinj; before you my plea for polychromy,
and for the cultivation of a love of color, at larf;e, with a view to promotin-f its more
universal use. It is, on the contrary, that knowing vour sense of its value, knomng
too the opposition which its introduction oftcu occasions amongst such as have had
but little opportunity of testiuK, much less of experiencinff, its benefits I feel that
it may be acceptable to you, as well as beneficial to myself, to throw together in
order a few of the arguments in its favor, and to answer a few of the ignorant
objections urged against it bjr those whose first impulses have not been tempered by
reason and judKineut, For it is by considerinj; and testing from time to time the
grounds upon which our principles are based, that we may aid each other In
strengthening the hands of those that strive for truth, and in hastening the over-
throw of an unworthy system, or the establishment of aeood and true one.
Our subject resolves itself into three main branches, iu some respects analogous
to what would be called, in domestic economy, the necessaries, the comforts or con-
veniences, and adornments or accomplishments of social life. There is first the
coloring inseparablefrom the use of all materials, natural or artificial, which in any
work whatever, whether exhibiting design or not, exists as matter of necessity
rather than of choice, but constitutes the first element of coloration in the hands of
the designer. There is secondly the coloring designedly introduced into, or the
arbitrary treatment of naturally- colored matirial in anv work exhibiting design—
whether for tlie purpose of reheving or obviating the baldness and bareness of a
monotonous surface ; of bringing into greater prominence or harmony certain por-
tions or points of interest in the design, or of giving effect to form by the heighten-
ing of lights or the deepening of shadows. And lastly there is the employment of
color for its own sake ; the Introduction of a rich glowing profusion of glorious hues,
the art of which is in these days all but lost to us, though much has been done to
recover ft ; the eolorini; with which nature herself, under lier brighte.st aspects melts
ns into forgetfulness and unconsciousness of "self," in the delight and refreshment
which she afforda to those, and to those only, that properly and fully appreciate her
perfections in this respect. It is to the importance chiefly, not entirely, of this
last branch of the subject that I wish to call your attention. The former two
classes of coloring are to a great extent already recognised by the public at large as
necessary or expedient, although very much remains to be done in working out and
establishing a systematic code of coloring, or some practical methods of arrancie-
ment, for ensuring the production of satisfactory results, or rather f should say,"for
the avoidance of gross and painful parodies upou the art; for afliirding guidance
therein for ordinary domestic use; and for advancing the education of the large
class of common house-painters, and of such as can have little or no claim to the
liigber branches of art-education, whilst they have to exercise some of its lower
functions, and freciuently to carry into effect, designs and instructions which, with-
out a more thorough grounding in the art of coloration as distinguished from mere
painting, they are able, but imperfectly, to enter into or understand.
In what way this study is to be most advantageously pursued, or wherein consists
a good system of coloration, it is not my present intention to inquire. My aim Is
not now to illustrate or instruct, but to argue and plead ; and to show from the
reason and nature of the thing the necessity and value of color to architecture.
This becomes the more needful since others have undertaken to show (cliiefly, of
course, from the abuse) that an abundance of color is not simply injurious to archi-
tectural effect, buteven detrimental lo the best interests of man. One theorist puts
forth the absurd notion that the very existence of color in architecture is not an
essential element, thus endeavouriiif; to put it entirely out of the scope of analogy
from Nature, upon the plea that color, which is a necessity in nature, is only accidental
to our art. In some far-fetched sense this may be so; but, practically speaking, so
long as building material is not quite colorless, just so long is color a necessity in art
as well as in nature. Even in subjects whose beauty consists in form, color of some
sort there must be, and the general effect will in some degree depend upon what tliis
color is. And, supposing the artist to be restricted in the material, as to the block
out of which is to come forth his Venus, or tlie quarry out of which is to rise his
cathedral, still the color of his marble, or of his masonry, will exercise a considerable
influence upon the form, or other more general treatnientot the work emanatiugfrom
his hand. In one sense, indeed, color may be called accidental to art— viz., in resrard
of the material which may chance or happen to fall to the lot of the artist in any
particular work, but in this sense its opposition to the relative condition in nature,
goes only to demonstrate the more forcibly the necessary existence of color
in art.
Color Is one of the elements of our art— as much so, indeed, as form, texture, or
proportion. Our houses may be whitewashed from top to bottom, roofs and walla
alike, as in the Bermudas and Newfoundland, or in the coltases nestling in the sides
of the dark grey mountains of North Wales. Hut this again shows the value and
effect which the presence of color existing in all material has in the liumblest archi-
tecture, seeing that the very absence of the ordinary local color, which lies hid
beneath a coat of lime, forces itself upon the most casual observer as an instance of
striking peculiarity— picturesque, perhaps, in its way, but uot commending itself for
universal imitation in other parts of the world ; not that the emplovment of white as
a color is to be deprecated, either in exterior or in interior arcliiteoture, but the
sweeping concealment of all local color is not suggestive of necessity, or of high art,
whereas the smallest artistic, or even systematic selection and arrangement of such
color does display design. There must, I say, be some color, and if the work has any
pretensions to art, selection is made, and other collateral considerations are duly
weighed, as to its treatment.
In the consideration of color for its own sake, and apart from any such accidental
existcnceofcolor in natural material, a great deal nii),'ht be said of the value and
fitness upon the ground of the constitution of human nature, in regard of his
imagination and intellectual parts ; but apart from this, I hope to show that
it 18 not and ought not to be considered a matter of mere fancy gratifica-
tion, or choice, but of absolute and positive riKrlit or wrong. Many of us
are content to live on with a knowledge of but comparatively few of the natural
causes influencing our happiness and n elfare. Throuffli the advancement of science
these are continually being brought out. The beuelicial effects, e. y.. of light and
air in our dwelUngs [are now becoming every day better received and acted upon.
I"he good iflect, even upon the poor and uneducated, of association and companion-
ship with forms good and true, rather than with such as are base and unworthy, are,
through the means of cxmstant philanthropic observation and research, better
understood and valued accordingly. And since color has an inlluence upon us, of
which very many are scarcely aware, let us, in like manner, endeavour next to trace
out a few of the facts and phenomena of nature in order to pursue our study of
natural causes into the territory of tchromalic art, and then let us look at the
bearing of these facts upou the workings of "unconscious influences "—for not-
withstanding all our keen observation of common things, and our pride of inde-
pendence upon anything that we do not perfectly understand, such influences
have a greaier and more iiermanent effect upon us than those of wliicli cause and
effect arc more immediately apparent. And flrst let us consider a few of men's
natural Instincts as to the love of color.
Moat remarkable, perhaps, is the love for color intuitive iu little children. It is
almost the flrst thing thataltracts infantine interest and affords delight. With very
many grown persons tlie home associations connected with the days of tbcu- child-
hood are recalled by the sight of beautifully colored objects, such as flowers, butter-
January 18, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
n
flies, or birds. It Is, indeed, eliiefly to tlie well-traiued, lioine-lovint;', and aelf-
dlBciplined mind that fluch memories of the paRt lire pleasant ; but herein, a^atn, io
shown tliat tlie association iti^t.'lf is ffood and true, and to be encoura^jed as an inno-
cent and beneticial refroslinicnt, whose efTeet does not pass away with the fleeting
moments of early life, but. if we may credit tlie testimony of many an aged man,
remain by one to cheer the loneliness of aiie, as is aj^ain and a|>:ain proved by the
tesrimony of those who have experienced its virtue. I h^ve myself iieard the a^ed
invalid spealc of the preat relief alibrded by the eye restlnp even on the flowlnfj pat-
tern of a common wall-paper, durintr recovery to consciousness from severe attacks
of illness, the eye. at first, but imperfectly taking in either the form or the color, day
by day re^aiuini,^ its power and proper action with increasing^ strenj^th, and finding;
Cleasure in following; the colored lines, which imparted an interest to an otherwise
lank and wearisome ^aze upon apparently vacant space.
Most men have, more or less, an appreciation of, or at any rate some love for,
color, and no one in f^rood health naturally has an abhorrence of color in itself. Very
many show apparently a preat indiflerenee to it, who yet feel the coldness and
discomfort of its being; withdrawn, and who se-em unconsciously to choose the very
works exhibiting- the choicest color, whicli a hig:hly cultivated taste would have
selected as f^ood. They will select the very spots for rest or retirement which present
the stronjjest attractions in respect of color. Good color, in fact, does impart a
finished and ehe**rful etfect, to which but few are wholly insensible, whatever their
ideas or professions may be with respect to its influence. Not that color, irrespec-
tively of its quality and harmony, will afford rest or pleasure, any more than the
jingling:, discordant, harsh, or grating tunes of the street grinders will satisfy the
oar; yet even here one is soinetinies struck with the exuberant, though genuine,
deliglit expressed by the uneducated at the poorest coloring, or the lowest class of
music.
Tills love of color is a natural Instinct common to all, but in some it is stronger,
in others weaker, according to their individual constitution. There is.^nioreover, a
set of optical nerves actively influenced by the presence of color, affecting us in
different ways according to the particular color witli which we come in contact. Our
senses are thus affected by colors as they are by other external influences— such as
light, air, warmth, and the like. This instinctive love for color appears to have very
considerable connexion with tlie structure of the human frame; Inasmuch as it is a
recognised pathological fact, that color of some sort is indispensable to the healthy
condition of the eye itself, and that the condition of the brain again is in a
great measure dependent upon the healthy action of the nerves thus affected.
And these nerves are affected in a way sensibly different by different colors.
Thus they are excited by the presence of red, soothed by the presence of green, and
deadened or benumbed by the presence of blue. To yellow the eye is drawn as to
light. White and black, again, affect people in the same sort of way as light and
darkness affect them, but in a less degree. Now, light in moderation induces wake-
fulness and alertness ; in excess it produces restlessness and languor by weakening
and dissipating the powers of attention. Darkness in moderation induces a frame
of mind favorable to attention, contemplation, and repose. In excess it produces
melancholy and depression. It is a recognised fact that the system is thus affected,
and generally, yet not always, in the same way ; and hence it is that when, from
want of proper coloring, the optic nerves have not been dulv exercised, red is the
color most acceptable to the eye : it excites the most quickly into a healthy action
the organs that had become torpid. It is this that accounts for the admiration
which people have for the old woman's red cloak when the ground is covered witli
snow. Hence also it is that in a grey or gloomy building a fragment of orange or
yellow, or, still better, gold, delights the eye more than any other color. On this
account, again, it is that after close application indoors we can gaze for hours
without weariness upon the sea or upon the soft blue sky. The focus of the eye is
in a manner changed, and becomes satisfied quietly to rest itself in its extension
upon this cool and, as it were, more distant color— this most perfect combination of
white with black, of light with darkness.
Upon the same account, once more, it is that perfect repose is found in the shady
depths of the green forest. It is upon such accounts as these that color becomes
indispensable to man's well-being and happiness, and cannot be banished from his
presence without rendering him liable to physical deterioration and mental derange-
ment. And one can hardly conceive that with all the popular outcry for light and
for cheerfulness of eft'ect, in our hospitals, in our workhouses, in our schools, m our
churches, in our homes for the poor, the outcry for a moderate amount of color has
never, or hardly ever, been heard at all, or if heard, not listened to as it deserves to
be. For the criminal in the condemned cell we do not expect to have to provide all
the appliances available for the amelioration of the condition of suffering humanity.
The Increase of punishment Involved in the painful absence of all approximation to
color may possibly sometimes have a morally beneficial effect upon a refined and
highly-cultivated mind. But the uneducated and semi-barbarian criminal, although
perhaps equally affected by, would not be so conscious of the actual effect of the
withdrawal of that which has ever been an item of comfort in the life of his better-
brought-up neighbour, and it must be questioned whether in his case some mitiga-
tion of severe discipline in this respect might not tend so far to soften human nature
as to make it capable of receiving more readily the serious impressions to be pro-
duced by those that have to minister to his conscience. For it is through the senses
and through the healthy action of liis faculties that man is the most impressible.
Indeed he is, and was meant to be, afl'eeted quite as much by external, though com-
monly unconscious, influences as by direct arfjument. And since it is found practi-
cally that solitary confinement in tue dark induces hopeless, desponding madness, so
I believe it will be found also that solitary confinement in a whitewashed cell tends to
make the mind incapable of any wholesome impressions. But that the sick and the poor
should be condemned to drag out their existence within whitewashed walls, without
a spot of color, as a point of interest to relieve the monotony with which they arc
every day surrounded, shows a state of things far behind the professions, and indeed
the practice, in many respects, of this enlightened age. Miss Nightingale, In her
admirable and thoughtful Kssay on Nursing and Hospitals, recommends the use of
glazed pure white tiles for the lining of the wards ; why other colors should
be forbidden ire (oto is to me a mystery— the universal use of glazed ware for such
purposes may fairly be questioned in a medical point of view— this, however, is beside
our subject. Suffice it to say, that this universal absence of color is a real grievance
which, it is to be hoped, will be to a great extent remedied by the rising generation.
Many persons there are who have the assurance to urge that all men ought to be,
because in a perfect state they would be, entirely Independent of everything that can
afl'cct their senses. True, in one sense, this is ; true it is, that the more perfect
men become the more independent also they become of external aids. True it is,
that medicine may be administered till its habitual use becomes a baneful necessity ;
but it is by means of healing remedies that the sick man becomes whole, the weak
man strong ; and remedies are to be used in order that they may the sooner and more
safely be done without, rather than neglected for fear that use will make them indis-
pensable. Meat itself is said by doctors to use up the sytem, and to induce a craving
for further support ; but no man in his right senses would, therefore, abstain from
meat lest he should go on necessitating a system of daily meals. But further than
this, an external nature was g'iven by the groat Author of Creation to act through the
senses upon human passions, and to assist weaknesses. And, although I can conscl-
enciously add, happy those that are independent of such influences, yet, alas, people
are often deceiving themselves in thinking that they are thus independent, even when
most of all they are being swayed for evil by external influences of a directly oppo-
site tendency to those which they afl'ect to despise.
One society there is, still in existence, which had its rise out of a well-meant
desire so to spiritualise social life, as to render all external forms superfluous. It set
at nought all the recognised rules of society, and pledged itself to the adoption of the
saddest and most sombre hues in the attire of its members. Color was feared ai an
evil spirit which they were determined to cast out. Yet even here the indomitaule
principle of human nature proved too strong. Their very rejection of rules and
fwms did but give rise to a set of other rules and forms still more stringent, which
Instead of regenerating society at large, cut them offftom It br their DceiiUuttr
And now human nature has prevailed once again, and insU-ad of their dull and m-
obtrusive browns and greys, they rejoice in the adoption of the best and brlghleat at
lavender, dove-color, and fawn, carefully contrasied wllli white or black ; thouok
nominally Btill adhering to the "self-colors" biqueathcd to them by their predT
Much, then as men may profess to despise color, they are (whether conscious of
the fact or not) very consid.'rably under its Influence ; anil there Is scarcely any one
—Whatever may be his views or notions— who could endure to live for a lonirUme
either in a light white-washed apartment, or In a black or grey washed cell, wttboot
other color, and not become sensibly all'ccied In one of two especial particulars. la-
the one case his tendency would be to Idiotcy, and in the other to melancholy mad-
ness. 1 say, then that the employment of color is not a matter of mere opUon or
taste, but of health and happiness ; and It beeomes men but 111 to endeavor to anrae
away its power, or to i.'norc its existence I m*Y be thought to hare taken an ex-
treme and exaggerated view of the case. 1 oonf^s to having put forward stroair
Illustrations, but I do not plead guilty to giving to the value of color an undue im-^
portance.
The next ground which I shall take Is the never thread-bare argument of the
analogy from the teaching of external nature as bearing upon architectural Interiors.
It is to color— as separable from form and association that nature owes verymuchof
her beauty, and power of dispensing wholesome refreshment to the weary whether
in body or mind. Nearly all persons are ready to admit that natural scenery has the
desired efl-ect of resuscitating and affording delight to those that know her eharms-
but there are those that question how far any of the vfl'ects produced, result from
the presence of color in the landscape. Kven those that acknowledge the power of
natural scenery over them will not always admit that the color has much to do with
it. But when the same scene comes to be ai;ain and again subJecUil to cbange of
color through atmospheric influences, or even through a colored medium, we are able
by comparing these eA'ccts with the varied rircumsiances and condilions of season
and weather to understand what a vast difl'erence is made by color alone The elTeet
of color alone upon a familiar landscape— whether of the cold and sombre tints of
winter, or the golden green of spring, or the glowing warmth of summer- whether
lighted up by the reddening sun lu the wcslern sky, or deepened by the shades of
twilight— apart from every other consideration, is quite diflercnt under the changed
aspect. And how marvellously is the same scene changed in its general effect when
looked at simply through a tinted pane of glass ! And in like manner, who has not
felt the cheerless and forbidding aspect of a dingy, colorless wall pajiering, or
painting, or of a newly flnished wall as yet nncolorcd and unpapcred, and the won-
derful difl'erence produced in the whole air of an apartmeut by change of color alooc.
Indeed, I cannot conceive, how any one professing to think and argue upon the
subject at all, can set aside such patent fticts and insist that colorless or white-
washed walls are in themselves the most agreeable and the least distracting mode of
finishing an interior.
But, then, again, we are met by the objection that although this may properly
apply to ordinary habitations and other common purposes of daily life, yet it is
fallacious to apply these'arguments by analogy to worKs of real art- -to works whose
chief aim is elucidation of form— to works whose beauty mainly consists In form,
and must consequently suffer by the addition of color. And I have known It asked
in supercilious and plausible remonstrance, what would Thidias say to any one that
could dare to daub tne Apollo Belvedere with the painter's brush 1 Bot in the same
tone, and with as good a griice, it might be asked, who ever wished to do so ? FVir
if such an one could be found, his audacity could not fairly be charged against the
whole body, or even against a considerable number of the most Inveterate PolJ-
chromatists. And who should be equal to the task save a Phidias himselfr
Setting aside for a moment the question of coloring statuary, who would be competent
to complete or alter the work of such a master of his art. or even suggest amend-
ments which should pass muster as worthy of the work 7 For I hold as a maxim
that no one knows or understands the true merits of a work so well as the artist
himself who produced it, excepting such as very far excel the artist himself
in perception and power.. And no one that has not unmistakably proved his own
superior prowess ought to presume to touch or retouch a work oi"^ true art, though,
perhaps, but of moderate merit, if in any respect bordering upon cquaUty with ola
own.
But the bare notion of painting so justly celebrated works Is of itself suggestlre
of a satisfactory solution of the question at issue, as to the propriety of coloring-
sculpture at all ; for by it we are thrown back fi-om daily life to works of art in
general— to architectural works in particular, whose grandest effects are supposed to
DC superior to the influences of color. It is from irence that the arpiments have
chiefly arisen against its use for public buildings, but especially for churches ; as also
against statuary and other similar works of fine art. Now, there is, and always must
be, an essential difl'erence in treatment between an isolated work of art and one that
is introduced as a subordinate feature into an architectural structure. This point
deserves far more consideration than commonly it receives. There is a general efl'eGt
to be taken into account ; and there are, again, a great many particular effects, occa-
sionally at variance with the general, and not to be lightly passed over. Thus, we
sometimes have to consider whether we will sacrifice the general effect or the parti-
cular; and whether or not a certain piece of sculpture is to receive polychromatic
decoration depends solely and entirely upon its being, in the one case, only a casual
feature in a general architectural treatment, or, in the other case, an isolated and
independent work of art, resting on its own intrinsic merits as a piece of sculpture,
and intended to claim the spectator's whole interest, irrespectivclv of other niore
strictly architectural consideration. The very highest art may. Indeed, be invoked
even in sculpture destined to occupy a position subordinated to the general whole ;
but when it is designed for such purpose, its cohr must receive due consideration.
>\Tiether subjects, or single figures, may or may not receive a considerable amount
of coloring, in order to obviate the efl'ect of being too much detached from that of
which they may form a portion in the general treatment, necessarily depends upon
the particular circumstances of the case, and it is scarcely williin the scope of my
subject to inquire further. But it is perfectly compatible with the nature of my plea
to allow, nay, to urge, that the finer the subject as a work of sculpture, the less ought
to be the amount of color applied ; supposing some coloring to be needful in order to
harmonise the work with the building in which it is placed. But, in fact, the ques-
tion of applying paint to those much admired sculptures whose beauty depcnda
chiefly upon the delicate chiselUng of the artist's own hand, in no manner applies to
the present case. His selection of a hard and close-grained material of pure color
and fine texture, may afl'ord, it is true, a fair pretext for the denunciation ol paint
in toto, as applied to sculpture. But it is altogether beside the question, for such
treatment of such sculpture never has been, nor ever will be, soberiy tnlertained.
Nevertheless, wiien a soft and porous material, incapable of carrying a fine edge, one
whose texture is improved and hardened by the appUcatlon, is employed, "lerc is
not the same prinm facie ground against the use of paint ; It cannot be classed in the
same category : and thus on the one hand, we may safely say, that the richer or finer
the material, and the deeper or more delicate the work, the less need is there ofelabo-
rate coloration, whilst on theother hand, where extensive plain surfaces, or poor mate-
rials are employed the need of color is all the more felt, and color becomes, as it were ,
absolutely indispensable.* But, perhaps, the strongest popular argument put forthby the
opponents of I'olychromy is that of reference to the example of our ancient uneolored
cathedrals as compared with the wretched attempts at an improved state of things
in some of the works of onr continental neighbours, e. g., the solemn dignity of our
Abbey Church of St. I'eter's, Westminster, with the smartly decked-out interior o!
Notre Dame, at Paris. I am quoting no imaginary case. It is one that is continually
brought forward to illustrate the bad taste of a profusion of color and the beauty of
its absence, and the anti-colorlst rejoices in having such a crushing argument o
throw in the teeth of the polychromatists, proving, as we conceive it must, toever'^-
one's satisfaction, the unfitness of color for architectural interiors; whilst he main-
tains that it is the excess of color which has produced such unsatisfactory rcsulta
52
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 18, 1861.
§
Ik
Q
January 18, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
63
January 18, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
66
Again and again, Notre Dame ia set up as the polycliromatiBts' idol, to be domoUsUed
by rutliless defenders of form against color.
Let the auti-eolorists look toll, fur if they cannot produce » more dangerous enemy
than Ibis, It sjiows but a hopeless cause. Their argument is plausible, and, no doubt,
well meant ; and if they really and truly believe that we regard Notre Dame in any
other light than as a warning against the abuse of color, they are, to some extent,
justified in their dread of its introduction on a large scale— much as they do ua and
the cause which we advocate injustice by such imputations.
But, further than this, it is not to the profusion of color, but to the improper dif-
fusion of color, and to the unsatisfactory mode of its appUeation, that its ill-effects
in Notre Damo arc to be attributed, our adversaries themselves being judges; for
even they allow that the interior effect of the beautiful little chapel of La Salute
Chapelle, in the same city, although containing at the least live times the propor-
tionate amount of color, is so immeasurably superior to that of Notre Dame, as to be
beyond the reach of comparison with it.
And, on the other hand, to quote Westminster Abbey, as an instance of the supe-
riority of uncolorcd eflect, is just as wide ot the question in another direction. In the
first place— gladly agreeing to the alleged superiority of the interior of Westminster
Abbey over almost any other church or cathedral in Christendom— I maintain that
the amount of actual color in Westminster Abbey is very far above the average,
not only in the butfs and greys which age has spread upon the surface, but also in
the gilding and positive colors shining through the coating, though not in sufficient
strength to convey a distinct impression of what it must have been when it came forth
from the hands of the guild that directed its completion ; but it would be, to say the
least, as fair for us to claim it, as giving its testiiuouy in favor of color, as it is to
ignore the presence of color, and call Westminster Abbey an instance of an uncolored
interior. The appeal, too, to our more evidently uncolored interiors fails as a prece-
dent of what was done in old time, when we bear in mind how universally these
were furnished with pictures, and hung with costly tapestries of polychroiuatic
material, embossed with silver and golil
But perhaps one of our strongest opponents is prejudice, I have known instances
of a vague dread of superstition in the presumed application of " .Symbolism "in the
use of colors, to have so prejudiced people's minds against polychromy as to induce
them to condemn it entirely for ecelesiastical purposes. Having, upon another
occasion and at another place, already entered fully into the nature and mode of such
applications, and into the benefits of this branch of symbolic teachings, I shall uot now
do more than express my concern, that sensible persons should be led away by an
empty cry of this kind. And I might have expressed my surprise that men, even
professing liberal views, should ever condescend to such bigotry and intolerance as
to condemn, on behalf of others, amost valuable accessory to art, merely on the score
of its having once been, in a dark and corrupt age, liable to dangerous misuse— had I not
long ago learned that a noisy profession of liberty of conscience always means liberty
for others to do any thing but what clashes with its own Umited preconceived
opinions. The dread of the danger suggested is akin only to that of contending that,
aher all the railway accidents of the last few months, it would be much safer and
better if ni> one ever entered a railway-carriage again. That we are, or ought to be
independent of such accessories as either color or symbolism, and that the love of
color must be in some way necessarily connected with a pitiable weakness— or still
more pitiable superstition, is a species of asceticism which its advocates would at once
repudiate if maae applicable to their own ease in domestic daily life.
Naturally, then, and apart from prejudice, there is in man a love for color. Let us
now see further how this displays itself in the practical experience of every one's
daily life. When I say that all are influenced, it is obvious that there must be to this,
as to other general rules, many exceptions, iiome persons, indeed, are partially or
altogether color-blind. Others have had their taste vitiated or deadened by constant
contact and association with bad coloring. It would be, therefore, absurd to quote
the experience of all as of equal force ; much less can the opinion of those that have
no love or proper eye for color at all be set up against tlie experience of those that
do know and have experienced what true coloring is. Some, indeed, there are to
whom strong coloring is positively painful, as there, are also those whose whole
frame receives a shock from loud noise, or from even music itself, unless very sub-
dued and distant, and others, again, whose system is upset by constant noise, as of
the beat of water upon the sea-shore. These, however, are chiefly such as suflTer
from nervous or paralytic affections, and 1 am not one to deny that even these
ought to receive some consideration at the hands of the advocates of high poly-
chromatic decoration. At the same time, the extreme fewness of such exceptions
affords an additional argument against those that urge the propriety of eschewing
all color for fear of giving offence.
This natural love of color displays itself especially in the universal employment
of it by all such as have the means at their disposal in fitting up apartments for
their own private occupation, for the more constantly the apartment is occupied, and
the greater is to be the air, whether of comfort on the one hand, or of beauty and
display on the other, so much the more is color considered and felt to be needful, in
order to furnish it in a befitting manner. And the common living-room, as well of
the highly educated and refined, as of the well-to-do and less fastidious, is the
room that exhibits the most signs of this prevalent love for color, and calls forth the
most taste and care in the selection of what is harmonious and pleasing. Again,
the more rarely an apartment is occupied, although there may be greater display,
and consequently a greater preponderance of gaudy color, yet the air of genuine
comfort is but too often absent. In the one case almost all are interested, and to
some considerable extent experienced, whilst in the other, its discomfort and incon-
venience are not so keenly felt from its being less frequently brought before them.
But with the great majority of people the love of color, though so deeply rooted, is
cherished so unconsciously that they are in reality hardly aware of the fact them-
selves, even when pointed out to them. They do not attribute an effect to its right
cause unless they have given their attention to its actual operation. Thus, on the
one hand, when their paperhangings, carpets, or other coverings become faded or
dull, they do recognise the fact of their shabbiness, and have some indefinite
impression of their being old, faded or worn, which alone they regard as the " reason
why." without going on to consider the positive loss or decay of chromatic surface.
Men's unconsciousness of the presence of color, even whilst appreciating its effect,
may be illustrated in the .Instance of one of some standing in art-criticism, being
wrapt m admiration of the interior of Strasburg Cathedral, and attributing its fine
chromatic rii-hness to the abundant admission of colored light through stained glass,
thrown ujjon wall surfaces entirely free from local color— a favorite theory with him
of what such interiors ought to be. And fine, indeed, the effect is; not, however,
arising from the absence of local color, but rather from the profusion of rich color in
its ferruginous stone, prcsentmg all tints, from deUcate buffs and salmons to deep
maroons. Such, too. was the unconsciousness of another who, although admiring
the beautiful scenery of the South Devon coast, with its deep red cliffs melting off
into, or cut up by bands of Sienna and white, capped with green, and separated by a
bright line of gravel shore from the many-tinted sea, complacently remarked that it
had never before occurred to him that it really contained any element of coloring
beyond that of the earthy brown and other simple colors common to all landscapes.
Such too must have been the perception of a member of the Oxford Architectural
Society, who, in a letter upon the abuse (meaning free use) of color, maintains that
in mountain acencrj- — whither our Lord retired for prayer— unity rather than
diversity of color prevails, intimating thereby that this may well form our standard
in the employment of color. That all mountain scenery is harmonious is true ; but
that diversity of color is not a chief characteristic in nearly all mountain scenery,
and more especially in the mountain scenery of .ludea, is not true. I''or if the
accounts of Kaatcrn travellers are to be believed, the magnificence of the coloring
cannot be equalled by art. The purple surface, broken up by gold and green,
spangled with occasional flowers, at one placi' melting into the soft distance, arid at
another abruptly broken off by an overhanging ledge of massive rock, presents a
picture which the most successful polychromatist may without dishonor fail to rival,
or of which the frequenter of our most glorious sUrincs of worship might well envy
the possession, In iUustraUon of this dlvenKjr we tmn the irloriou.lv ~)ntr».U>d
coloring, even in the moat deaolate pwU of the mountain ' wrfSi
Dead Sea, conveyed to ua u Interpreted by the bruah .i ,,t ta iS
treatmcntof the "Scapegoat." And »g»ln In Canon Sla. /daiSiS-
tions of biuai and ralestinc we h«ve the moat vivid picture.' ol tin. uLiuint loSo
scenery winch Mr. Hunt so. triklnglydleplavs. Mr.'^Stanlcy tell, ua thuMium
the highest ranges the depth and variety of (he coloring ia inch u> to dlaUnindih It
ftom almost all other mountain scenery ; that the deep, atrong hue. which loiWMO
was described by piodorus Siculus a. of a bright acarfet. glvei (when viewed BilS
soberest light) a richness to the whole mountain landscape wholly unknot to St
grey and brown suits of our northern hills. He mentions both Il.e granlt.' and^and-
stone as presenting the most extraordinary hues. On the INIr.a he speaka of bSwr
encircled with rocks of deepening and deepening red, the whole being mixed \rlth
mdigo, yellow, and nurple-not gaudy, but gorgeou.-the cliffs standing out agtim^
white limestone and yellow downs, the cliffs theinaelves being of a gonJeona thouuh
dull enmson, streaked and suffused with purple, In which appears that extraordinSy
veimng and intermixture of colors, in which yeUow and blue are occasionally added
ribbon-hke, to the red and purple. ->.»w,
.„%ff '^?h"' ♦■K-refore, I repeat, it is not the profusion of oolora which ia offcnalve
to the fastidious taste, but it lathe mode of Its apphcatlon, iU harshneaa. Its want of
harmony Its unfitness for its nurpose, its imperfect treatment, arUing ins very gremt
measure from long neglect of the scieutiflc study of chromatic law in combilriitlon
with careful experiment as to its application. The question as to wliat would be a
P"'"!"-"'; ""ount of color or good treatment architecturally in any given work is as
diflicult to determine as any other general question relating to art in a particular
instance. It fairly admits of considerable variety of opinion ; aad I for one ahall
not attempt to define it. I take my stand solely upon the general principle, aeaUiat
those that would set aside the true merits of the ease, and appeal to eridencea of
failure as an argument against all attempt at better things. For many an saoinuit
art-critic will look at a work of varied quality, containing iMrhaps extremes or stwd
and bad taste ; he will denounce or advocate, as a general propositlott, aome n>int
bearing in reality upon only one element therein of failure or auccesa • upon a
branch of art but little understood, he will profess to exercise a mstnre
judgment; and will proceed to attribute to color itself, rather than to Im-
{)erfcct treatment— all the evil result of an unsatisfactory work. And
lence it is that has arisen the wholesale condemnation of coloring as such by
those who have formed their notions, I will not say upon a few poor and faulty works
but upon works showing the highest order of merit in some respects. whOst in other
respects they fal so far shor of perfection as to present at first sight, to thecaaual
observer, an appearance of discord and confusion. Hence it is, too,'tliat a capricious
public will bestow upon an unworthy object a great deal of superfluous and Inap-
plicable admiration, which, in after times, each mdividual is aaluuned to own having
given.
And this is one chief cause of the popular prejudice against polychromy, for a pre-
judice there is amongst many against the very name ofcolor, or of the employment
of color for color's sake in architectural interiors, bat especially in churches and
other public buildings. And numerous are the champions for whitewash and bare
walls, who, whilst justly combiiting the abuse of color, are led away to deny Its
legitimate use. And these prejudices are taken up by a large proportion of ouredo-
eated classes, who being too busy to study .the matter for themselves and haring a
wholesome horror of the barber's pole, are easily Induced to keep on what Is <^ed
the safe side, rather than risk a failure in so important a matter. And since all must
acknowledge that vile coloring is worse than insufficiency ofcolor, there is some ex-
cause for shrinking from what might expose them to adverse criticism, as well aa
entail upon themselves a nuisance from which there is no escape. If, however,
England, in her commercial career, had followed out such sober counsels and such a
safe line of policy, she could never have been, as she has been and still is, the
Mistress of the Seas, and pre-eminent amongst nations. Her very daring, humanly
speaking, has been one grand secret of her prosperity, and " nothing venture, nothing
have " comes home with full force to the understandings of amcrcantlle community.
Why, then, should men be so chary of allowing that which, with a little more
daring and practice, and the increase of experience, will add to her stores of social
happiness and innocent recreation, and will further the well-being of her people. It
is IS, in fact, innocent enjoyment and pleasant associations in daily life which are
wanted to counteract the evils inseparable from the whirl and bustle of business
and toil; and color for the eye, like music for the ear, is one of those delights,
which are meant to be made the most of, and ought to be cultivated to the best of
our power, if not for the sake of ourselves at least for the sake of those who have
but little to fall back upon, when wearied out either by manual labor or by Intense
apphcatlon to literary or scientific pursuit. Color is a luxury upon which the eye
can feast, when the body is exhausted, or the mind overtasked. Anything but a
glare of white, or a gloomy sombreness, is inviting then, and to leave us without
color till we arc perfect in the .art, is like the fona mother who forbade her boy to
enter water at all till he should have learned to swim. That he ought not to launch
out too quickly beyond his depth ; that he should try his strength and gato some
well grounded confidence in his own power, that he should be careful to make his
first strokes with calmness and precision, that he should not all at once strike off,
without instruction, or ready help at hand in case of need, is perfectly compatible
with— nay indispensable to— any moderatejassurance of safety and eventual success ;
and in advocating my cause thus, 1 am not pleading for the indi.srriminate, inhar-
monious, strongly contrasted and fantastic coloring which the earnest advttcates for
polychromy are sometimes supposed to delight in, but for the deep, full, rich.
harmonious luxuriance which has the power of exhilarating whilst it soothes, and
(except in nature) can be found only where real, earnest, hearty, genuine love for it
has inspired, whilst diligent and careful study of its laws has directed and con-
trolled, its application and treatment. Intuition and study are alike needful. No
amount of mere study or knowledge of chromatic law will atone for lack of taste and
artistic power. But this affords no excuse even for the highly gifted artist to leave
the more arduous, and at first sight, perhaps, unremunerative, branch of his high
mission neglected. A noble heart and a good courage may now and then achieve a
glorious success ; but even these will m the main give way before supcnor discipline
and skill. ^ ^ _... __,
Let us, then, not talk only, but work. Let us not rest content with our own ant
impression (good as this may be) of what is right or wrong ; but let us labor, by
patient analysis and research, to build up our art on a sure foundation. And let «s
rejoice in every opportunity of advancing the interests of this comprchensiTe
Museum, and making it available for its proper ends. For its very aun in Its
several branches of art is to supply the means and opportunities of observation and
study ; to collect facts, and to dispen.«c a knowledge of these facts to such as <are to
make use of them : freely disseminating its treasures of information : to aiford the
I'rofessor increased facilities of scientific research ; to aid the student in his art-
education ; to enable the art-workman to master the knowledge necessary for the
proaeeution of his proper mission ; and perhaps also, but only secondarily, to supply
namely, the advancement of true^art. and the consequent well-bcing"and happiness
of ourselves, our families, and our fellow-countrymen— (Loud cheering).
The Stonework of the Houses of Parliament.— T\ie decay or efflores-
cence of the stonework of the Houses of Varliament is not, it would appear, eonflned
to the exterior of the building, but is showing itself in tj"^ "»' "d «'»°f.'™'*
ornamentation of St. Stephen's Hall, arising, it is behevcd, from the destmctlTe
influence of the gas.
36
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 18, 1861.
ROYAL INSTITUTK OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
ON THE Clll'RCHES OF LE PlY ES VEI^Y, AND AUVERGNE.*
THE two central compartiuints of the nave have circular windows (16 feet in dia-
meter) to light the aisle, and round-headed windows in the clerestory, and between
the arches of the windows are small arched recesses. In the two western bays the
clerestory Is similar, save that the intermediate recessed arch is omitted. In both the
TODSsoirs »re counter-ehanjroland the wall from the sprinuringnp to the eaves coursed.
The transept gables are only noticeable for the courses of inlaid patterns with
which they we enriched. All these patterns are formed with white stone and lava.
The latter. Indeed, forms the whole ground of the walls, and varies in color from a
LT-eenish itrey to black, and the palterns are formed with the darkest lava and stone.
The cloister is similarlv inlaid above the arches, but it has o'most all been restored
In a most injuilicious manner. They have struck and ruled (I believe that is the tech-
nical phrase for one of the most abominable of inventions, is it not .') an enormous
red mortar Joint between all the stones.t and wherever this has been done the diaper
appears to be formed with a chequer of black and red; wherever the cloister has
not been retouched the diaper is black and white.
I have left, almost until the last, that which is, after all. the crowning wonder of
thlssiugularchurch— the western porch; I have already referred to its position and
plan. Tile miOesty, I may say the awe-fulness, of this entrance can hardly be ex-
aggerated. It owes llttle'to delicate detail or enrichment of any kind; for though
tfiese have been, they are no longer, and it is the gloom and darkness, the simple
nenous forms of arch and pier, the long flight of steps lost in obscurity and crowded
constantly (when I saw them), with a throng of worshippers, which constitutes the
8trani;e charm of this strangest of entrances. I told yon that in the nave the two
western bays of the aisle, alone, had groining ribs ; in the porch below it is only in
the western bay that they are used, and this a&brds interesting evidence of tile very
gradoal yet regular development of our art.
The spaces below the aisles in the third bay from the west form chapels — that on
the right dedicated to St. Martin, and that on the left to St. Giles. Before the last
extension of the building you will observe that these chapels were at the extreme
west end. They have western doorways, and these still retain the wooden doors.
Each of these doors was of four divisions in height, and, as you will see from the
drawing which I exhibit, covered with subjects curved in low relief. They are exe-
cuted, either in cedar or deal. I am uncertain which, for they are covered with paint,
and the subjects, inscriptions, and borders are all obtained simply by sinking the
ground :J-lGths of an inch. The figures are all. of course, only in outline, but it is
still evident that they were carefully painted with draperies, Ac, so as to be
thoroughly distinct. There is some appearance of the ground having been painted
with broad horizontal bands of color, but the traces are so indistinct that it is difficult
to speak positively. The doors are hung folding, and those to the chapel of St.
Giles contain subjects from the early life of our Lord, whilst those in the chapel of
St. llariin contain subjects from His Passion. The meeting rail in the former
fortunately contains an inscription of extreme value: "Gaulfredus : roe : fct :
Petrus : epi"; after which some letters are lost. If my reading of the last letter
but one, as 1', is correct. I think it leads to a most important inference. Xo one
who looks at the design of these gates can doubt that they are thoroughly Eastern in
their character, and upon searching for the list of Bishops of Le Pny since my return,
I was delighted to lind that the first Bishop of the name of I'eter was consecrated at
Ravenna by I.eo IX. in A.I). 1043. and died at Genoa A.D. 1053, as he returned from
the Holy Land. Gates of the same description are said to exist in the churches of
CbamaUeres and of Lavoilte-Chilhact in the same district ; whilst other evidence of
intercourse with the East is aflbrded by fragments of tissues preserved at Monestler
at Pebrac, and at Lavoi'ite-Chilhac. These tissues are all extremely Eastern in their
character, and very similar to the famous cope atChinon, and to the Le Mans tissue,
both of which are described by M.du Caumont in the " A-B-C-daire," and in the
" Bulletin Monumeutale." IMO (page 3(H). The date ordinarily attributed to those
tissues is the middle of the eleventh century, and this would exactly tally with the
return of Bishop Peter from the Holy Land. I dwell on this the more because, if
the inference I have drawn from the inscription be true, it gives the date also to the
second ]>ortion of the construction of the cathedral, to which the chapels in the porch
undoubtedly belong ; and the result would be that whilst we should date the earliest,
portion of the church at about the end of the tenth century, or quite the commence-
ment of the ileventh, the second portion would be dated at about A.D. 1050 ; and
Anally, there is little doubt as to the whole having been completed in the course of
the twelfth century.§ These dati>9 are, as in all such cases, ofcourse, only approxi-
mate, and it is prettv clear that there was seldom any long pause in the works, and
the development in their architectural features is therefore very gradual,
Theexternal elevation of the west front is shown in the photograph which I exhibit.
It is similar in stvle to the clerestory on the north side, and mainly executed in
alternate courses of lava and stone. The aisle-roofs are masked by walls with pedi-
ments. Throughout this part of the work you will observe that its early date is
proved by the fact that the round arch is almost invariably used tor ornament, and the
pointed arch only where great strength was required. A great buttress, which
had been bnilt against this west front, was removed during the recent restorations.
I oheenred before that there are doorways on the east si le of both transepts— the
"vi""! referred to in the old saying. The south transept door is in itself remark-
able for the peculiar form of the cusping of its arch, and still more for the magni-
ficent iiorch built over it. The date of this is the latter part of the twelfth century,
and Its character will be beat understood by an examination of my drawings of it.
It 18 open on the south and east sides, and abuts on the church on the west and
north, occupying the re-entering angle between the transept and choir aisle. The
arch is remarkable for a rib detached from the arch below, and connected with it by
columns at intirrvals. so as to have the appearance of being suspended. My impres-
sion is that the architect feared that his arch had not suHicient abutment, and hoped
by bringing some of the weight on to the lower rim of the arch to remedy this defect.
The whole detail of this group Is a very rich kind of pointed, full of half-Romanesque
and half-Byzantine detail. The groining, in alternate colored courses, is quadri-
partite, but has the very rare peeuhnrity (in France) of ridge ribs. Above the porch
is a room or chapel, to which I omitted to gain access. Over the door of the other
(north) transept a great arch, thrown from the cathedral to the chapel of St. .lohn
carries another chapel, lighted with a First Pointed triplet. This door is square-
headed, and covered with rich though rude ironwork. The door-handles have a
resemblance to one in the cathedral at Trfivcs, made by .lean and Nicholas of
lilngen, which struck me, and was remarked on also, I find, by M. Jlerimee. The
lintel of the door is deeper at the centre than at the sides of the door, pediment like
and. has figures of our Lord and the Twelve Apostles carved on it, whilst alxjve
under a circular arch, is another figure of our Lord, with an angel on either side.
The whole has been very much mutilated and all the figures hacked to pieces The
ground w.aa all painted, and no doubt the figures wore also, and the woodwork of the
door was covered with linen or leather under the ironwork.
«JF'"'. ,"■''>' "nc'cnt chiipel of St. .John is close to this door, and by its side is a
fifteenth century archway. The ehajiel is areadcd on its south side, and piereed with
very simple windows. Som.> .mtiquaries assert that it is a piece of Roman con -
striictlon. and It Is not impossible, though I should be much more inclined to call it
tenth century work. The cliapel has a rude quadripartite vault, and its apsldal
chancel is roofed with a semi-dome. It was until A.D. 1791, the baptistery for the
entire city, none of the churches in which seem to have possessed fonts.
* Continued from page Xt.
t M. JIallay, of Clermont, says that the mosaic work of the church of Notre
Dame du Port, Clermont, was all set in red mortar.
.. r ^?''''?.^1Y?"*"' '" ""' '^' ►''eph™ •'•. and uncle of Bishop Peter L, was bnried
at Lavofite-Chllhae.
,JA ". <"!;'<"?* " of A.D. 1 W,, is dat(.d from the Ville d'Ani8(/.e., Le Poy), and fixes
the date at which this "citd" received the name of "vllle." uy;,uuuuAe.
I must conclude my already long notice of this church, by some mention of the
extensive remains of painted decorations still visible. During the late restorations
of the cathedral, I understand that the greater portion were destroyed. The north
transept vaults, and the semi-domes of its apsidal recesses are still, however, covered
with paintings, though they are scarcely intelligible now owing to darkness and dirt.
In one of them occurs a figure of our Lord giving the benediction in the (Jreek
fashion, and it is one of many evidences which may be adduced of the Eastern
Influence visible here in so many respects, though I am not disposed to lay so much
stress upon it. as some of those did who engaged in the controversy it occasioned.
In the western porch there are also extensive remains of painting ; the soflits of the
arches in the third bay from the west arc all painted, and so too are the walls over
the idtars in the chapels of St. Martin and St. Giles. The painting was executed on
a thick coat of plaster, and the nimbi are of gold with lines incised on them. No
doubt the whole church once glittered with gold and color, and seeing how fine its
effect still is we may, aiding the indications still left with our recollections of St.
Mark's, of Assisi, and of I'adua, people the bare walls once again, and bring before
our eyes an interior of the most gorgeous magnificence.
I may conclude what I have to say about the cathedral with a few words about the
sacristy and its contents. The building itself is not more than 160 years old, and
most of its treasures have been lost. The most precious relic still left is the Bible,
recorded by a note at its end to have been written by St. Theodulf, Bishop of
Orleans, in the ninth century, and sent by him, in accompUshment of a vow. to the
shrine of Notre Damedu Puy. Itisa4to. of 3107 leaves of very fine vellum, some white
with black letters, and others purple or violet with gold or silver letters. It contains
the Old and New Testament, commentaries on the text, interpretations of Hebrew,
Greek, and Latin words, and some poems by TWodulf. The pages are interleaved
with excessively delicate tissues of various colors and patterns, wliich appear to be
of the same age as the book, and of Eastern manufacture. The binding is, however,
later, and of red velvet on chamfered oak boards, with good simple metal knops.
There are also preserved here some wax candles, tapering considerably in their
length, and stamped with a pattern made by a pointed instrument ; and, finally,
there is a tippet said to have been of Charlemagne's time; it is embroidered with a
tree of Jesse. It is not so old as is said, but may possibly be (though I very much
doubt it) of the twelfth or thirteenth century, but it has been much damaged by
removal from its original ground, and by partial re-working. They also have a
reliiiuary of very late sixteenth century date, of which a phototograph has been pub-
lished by M. Aymard, but which was not shown to me. There is also an almost
endless roll of vellum illuminated with a chronological tree of the history of the
world.
How much has been lost may be guessed from some statistics which I have come
iipon as to the number of silversmiths and specimens of their work in Le Puy in the
middle ages : in A.D. 1408 there were no less than forty resident in the city, whilst
as to their work I find that in A.D. 1444 there were in the sacristy 33 chasscs and
reliquaries, 2'J chalices, 11 statues of the Blessed Virgin Mgry, angels, and other
figures ; 10 candelabra, i) crosses, 9 lamps, 9 mitres", crosses with their stems,
episcopal rings, crowns for the Virgin, censers, paxes, basins, plates, books with
covers adorned with chasinsjs, pearls and precious stones, and many like things.
And in A.D. 1475 I find that Louis XL gave 30 silver marks for a canopy over tne
miracle-working figure of Notre Dame du Puy, which was made by Francis Gilbert, a
silversmith of Le Puy. Other churches in the neighbourhood have been more
fortunate in retaining some of their old plate, and a fair list might be made out, if t
had time, of their possessions, many of which have been photographed by M.
Aymard.
The building of the greatest interest, after the Cathedral, is the little church of St.
Michael, which crowns the enormous rock fitly called the Aiguille. It is reached by
steps winding irregularly round the rock, to the shape of the summit of which it has
been most ingeniously adapted. The oldest portion of the building is the square
choir, covered with a dome, under which stands the principal altar. To the (ritual)
east and north of this are apsidal projections, and to the south .an archway, which,
as it aijrees exactly in dimensions with the others, opened, no doubt, into a third apsidal
chapel, like the others, whilst the entrance was at the west. This archway now
leads into a chapel of very irregular form, part of which extends over the porch of
entrance, in the arrangement of which one may trace a certain kind of analogy to
that of the Cathedral, though it is perhaps older. West of the elioir is a nave,
somewhat like a cone in plan, and surrounded on three sides by an aisle, from which
it is divided by arches supported on slender shafts. The choir has a square domical
vault, and the chapel over the porch a true dome, the pendentives under which arc
just like those of Sta. Fosea at Torcollo. The apsidal chapels liave semi-domes, and
the rest of the church has a waggon vault of very irregular outline. An arcade
against the walls of the aisle corresponds with that between the aisle and the nave.
At the end of the nave Is the tower, which was probably built at a slightly later date
than the main building. The whole interior appears to have been richly painted, but
a faint indication only of this portion of the decor.-ition remains. In the central
dome there is a sitting figure of our Lord on the east side, the emblems of the Evan-
gelists at the angles, and angels and seraphim around our Lord. Below these is a
line of single figures, six on each side— the four-and-twenty Elders— and below this
again subjects, the whole combining together to make a very interesting example of
the treatment of the Last .ludgmcnt. The dome of the chapel over the porch is
also painted with our Lord, Angels, and the Evangelists.
The walls generally are built of lava, though a little white stone is used in the
steeple and for the sculptured capitals.
The columns are very small, averaging 8 inches in diameter, and decrease consider-
ably in diameter from the base to the capital. The dimensious are exceedingly
small, the central choir being only 13 feet 6 inches in diameter, and the spaces be-
tween the principal columns varying from 4 feet to 4 feet 9 inches. The effect Is
rather that of a crypt, but in spite of its small size, it is solemn and religious
looking.
The steeple suggests comparison, in some respects, with that of the cathedral ;
the arches are built with alternately light and dark vonssoirs, and there is a pecu-
liar spire-light rising out of the parapet, as to the antiquity of which I have my
doubts.
The only part of the building In which any rich work has been introduced is the
front of the porch. You will see by my sketch that it has a semicircular arch, tre-
foiled above a horizontal lintel. The walls are richly inlaid, and there is also a good
deal of sculpture. In the centre division of the trefoil is an Agnus Dei, and figures
kneeling and holding chalices within the cusp on either side. In the live divisions
of the arcaded cornice are -In the centre our Lord, on His right St. Mary and St.
John, and on His left St. Michael and St. Peter. The mosaic is done with black tufa
and red and white tiles, and the stone is a light yellow sandstone. T know no other
example in this district of the use of tiles for inlaying, though M. Mallay mentions
one at Mcrdogne in Auvergne, which he says is of the seventh century : but his
dates are not always to be implicitly trusted. And at Lyons in the extremely
beautiful Uomsuesque domestic building called the Mandcanterle, and at a slightly
later date in the church of AInay. in the same city, they are freely used and with
admirable effect. OdoJdelGIsscy, in his history of Le Puy published In A.D. 1019, states
that the first stone of St. Michael was laid in A. i>. 005, and that the church Was
completed in A.D. 984, when Guy II. was Bishop of Le Puy, " as one may learn from
the ancient charter of its foundation, and from other manuscripts wliich I have
read." Brother Theodore In his " Hlstolre de I'Egllse Angelique," in A.D. 1093,
says that the first stone was laid In August 9(12, and that his statements are " derived
from the deed for the foundation of the church, and from the book of obits in the
cathedral."*
The dates, If they refer to the existing bidlding, can only do so to the central por-
tion with its apses, and the nave may have been added some time in the eleventh
century, and the steeple, perhaps, In the course of the twelfth.
• Quoted by M. T/lirimie, Notes d'un Voyage en Auvergne, a.d. 1838.
January 18, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
At thefootoftheflishtof steps which leads up to the picturesque entrance of
this httle chapel are the remains of a small detached bulldlnsr, probably a residence
for a sacrwtau or priest.
Close to the foot of the Aiguille de St. Michel is a curious chaiiel, the plan of wliich
18 drawn on the same sheet as that of St. Michael. It is an octagon, with an apse
projecting from the eastern face, the octagon covered with an octagonal domical
jault, and the apse with a semi-dome. The wall.s are arcaded inside and out below
the vault, the internal arches springrinpr from enffaged shafts in the angles. Some of
the arches outside are cusped in the usual way, tlic cusplne- not starting from the
cap with a quarter circle but with a half circle, the same as all the rest. There are
doors m the west and north sides, with tympana tilled in with mosaic, and the wall
m the spandrels between the arches outsider is also inlaid. The exterior of the apse is
not visible, but L found, on making my way into the cottage and barn built against
It, that It IS perfect and undamaged. The popular opinion at Le I'uy is that this
chapel IS an aueient temple of Diana, a fiction which a minute's examination destroys
M. iJidron, in the lluileiiu du Comite Hi.stoiique, No. 7, p. 02, maintains that it was a
jnortuary chapel : this is, he says, a common arrangement in Greece, and he refers
<•■ "^""P"' "t ^^- Croix, at Jlontmajour, as an example'akin to this. M. Miiriinee
on the other hand, says that the Templars had property in the Faubourg del' Aiguille
and compares it to the similar oratory of the TempUrs at Metz, and he might have
added the curious Templars' church at Laon as another case in point.
This concludes my notice of early buildings in Le Puy, and I nave no more than
time to catalogue the (Jhureh of St. Laureuce, famous for the monument of the
1,-onstab e Uu Guesclin ; it is a large second-jjointed building of poor character, and
very Italian m its plan and design, and with an enormous sham front ; the gable
end ol the hospital chapel, with its lifteenth century bell-turret; a pretty little
fountain in the Kue du Portal d'Avignon, a largo number of picturesque houses
?. the hlteenth aud sixteenth century ; and a very scanty remnant of a gateway at
the bottom of l;he town, caUed, 1 think, the I'ortc I'ancssac, and against the proposed
destruction of which I find M. Aynard protesting only a few years back m the
Bulletin Monumentale. = ,> j
About four miles to the north of Le I'uy, close to the ruins of the magnificent castle
ori ohgnac% is the Komanesque church of the village. This is parallel-trlapsidal in
plan, and the piers are planned, 'as are those in the Cathedral, in the shape of a cross,
with columns in the re-entering angles.
The nttle church at Slonistrol is a good example of the Le Puy type applied to a
very small budding, and the church at Moncstier, which has many ifeatures of simi-
larity to the cathedral at Le Puy, and is rich in early plate, ought not to be forgotten
e" f "" { ^1"'*'^ "' '' '^^*"° personal inspection, but lexhibita photograpliof its
'•"i" !??,^ '*'"^ 5"*" '" *''" Churches of Auvergne. It seems bold to do so at this
period of the evening, but in point of fact, though they are numerous they are so
mueli alike in their charactiir, details, and design, that a description of their pecu-
Lanties need not be so long as might be supposed.
These churches all lie in a group together, Clermont Ferraud beingtheir eeoo-raohi-
rh,?.''w5''C «"'' *°.'!f ""."'' .*^ "'''<""' '^'"^™- Mauzac, and Ennezat, to tie east
Ujauriat to the west Koyat and Orcival, and to the south Issoire and lirioude.
rhnZh°^f Sf "i?.'?'"'* "'^ 't? province, at Couques, at St. Sernin Toulouse, and in the
Chiu-ch of St. Ltienne at ^eve^s among many others we have examples of precisely
the same description of design and construction
^Mifil'*'"'""'!-"/'^''""'''"",''^ *''*?''''*' 'y?'= of these churches, and then give a few
SSrt L.. 1° J""'"^"'"'' examples. In plan tfiey consist of a nave and ai des, western
SfJ„!»^ 1, ■''■V'l"*™,!''?' <J<"?e and steeple, transepts with apsidal chapels on
the east, and apsidal choirs with the aisles continued round them, and four
whihff'^,M >•'''"»'%?""'', ""^ *"'"; U"'*'"' ">« «''»i'- '" sometimes a crypt, in
which, m addition to the columns under the columns of the apse, are four shafts
roif,^<,^?rtw'"V''""Ti'"' «"??»■■' of ""= "'tar, and whose presence certainly seems
wVr^Sgn'eYto'luTport''''™ ^'""' * •^'"'''""''" "■"* °''* '^'"^'^ "» altar tlfat they
f h'5^'' tV'Z ft r"*''' '"}'' "'"§;?'«> vaults, either with or without cross ribs below
them The ai.slcs haveyuadripartite vaults, and the triforia above them are roofed with
Nofn'n3,f;^'?'i'.'T''V /""''• ."'"'"?• "^ y" '^'" ™o ^y reference to my sections of
Notre Dame du Port, Clermont, resisted the thrust of the vault of the nave and
»L\'ii'S,- "■;}'"• '"=<'?'/,:'"°i\" '•'""^ ''""■•'^««- ''■'^o triforia gaUerics are UgSSwUh
Ideolrte trefre"cti?'?h^''n ""'y"?" analogous tea clerestory, being entirely in-
?Sted witli barrel v„,,u«?r^^^ generally very gloomy.'' The transepts are
vauiteu with barrel-vaults as the nave, and in one or two instances are divided in
height by a sort of tribune level with the triforium. At B™oideX?e this arrange"
ment s seen, thereis an original thirteenth e.ntury open fire-place in the tribune and
M^Merunee ing,.,.iously suggests that the noble Counts of BtS.dJ-for hey all hid
the rank of Count-were in the habit of hearing mass before a "ood fire but it is fair
to them to say that the fire-place is in theeast wall, and that Isliw no sign of an altar
vaSt or Ji?h a''eT^^?l^;r";i:^" "'^ t"""^'' " ^'«n"ally roofed either w°thToc"agonal
vault or with a circular dome with an open og n the centre To resist the thrust nf
thiued oS I-etweerfh '. ^r"* """^ '¥. ""-' "PP''^ ^"""^ «f the Wforla are^con-
iinued on between the transepts and the crossiag. The choirs are vaulted with
^'^eled^Hhl SlmcF'^t* ^r-''"™'^' ''°'' "'« ^^^^^^^^^
enIS^nfl>?,v.?L.? .■ ""^ columns .are generally square with half-columns
engaged on three, and sometimes on four sides, the latter only when the main vault
cular'^a^d detaXT"?"'';,"''"^ '"^"'T "i '^'"^ columns rL^d?hcape arldr-
and oc?asonallv ^h.f,'^""' '^f"f '?'' "P^" '»«">' '=»"t the '^ groining,
fambs of the chirr Jnfh '"■" '"'"-educed inside and outside the Ivindow-
„,>h 1 i. ? I"^- .'° ""^ ""^'^ a"d triforia, the windows are generallv verv niah.
Ni\re Dame'du' v:',r^;,^"^* moulding, tbough the laUer hfve som^timelt St
carved wfth grtat rkhnei^ JZ°'h' '"'"'''■ ",''?'^?^ '^'"' '''P'""^ "f the columns are
At St Nectah'e for w„l' """nctimes with foliage, butoften with Scripture subjects,
fespek (11 DWron s mv^f,'ti;^?,''f,K"'' »?»* elaborate of all these churches in thfs
tteS'Testamrt fn^L^^„ V'''''^.^'=''P,^'''^ ■'''"'"' the apse have subjects from
ca?vedanrin™?ck8? at ?.?''."'''?'''*'■ ..^''•'''"''■'''J' ^f™"' and other animals are
wS"Mile™tifex" wbh-r^"?/- ",* demon holding an open book on which is
mSitforthesculptOTorrrchtet wKPh'^ be a very complimentary arrange-
that sculpturrofsubiectra 1 ff,t;.r„?''''''°'' ""^ ?■'"• " ^ 'n t^e earlier examples
moretoX"l,Gotl"i?fXg.toS^.lf ^^ •""* *' ""^ style developed
for thdr(i.rral°v oftv nronnrt^Ll P rY" °^ subjects. The arcades are remarkable
^^S'lutlherhl/creXTLf eve''lh'e heav^^^ '" '??*^ *' Poi-ted
found in the arcades of Komanesque bmidings^ ^ proportion commonly
til"i^st:':rZs'^^^^^^^^^^ ■Sfft-e subjects. At Brioude
the gallery over the narSxTrThihi.F ? a chapel dedicated to St. Michael, in
Last Judgment. The sei^^domef of the iWilH'^t'' "'^^ *'?'"^
richly paiSted, and in one of them tr Ji. „/^ '1"' "hapels in this church were also
AtNjt?e DaiJeZ Port!aerm™t in ctaniS^?hi°L'vi''r?'' ''^'' "■" ^'''"dow jambs,
coats of whitewash. considerXle tVaces wTe founS^ •m?'' "-"movrng seven or eight
this portion of the church was tLshf^W decnr».]/.f''*'°*'' ""l ""^ ™^'tals, and if
coloring of the choir w-as at least eol,«iw =7,? ^ ' there can be no doubt that the
.emicu-fular, and in the apses suited ^'^ sumptuous. The arches are generally
ha*ve\\l=n t'!glnalV°o,?t'h™ ™;^^^ n"?" f'J'."'"'™,*.'' ''i?^'"^ "h"""' '^ »"i'to
proved this to have been the case "^Thnn^^i, '^ame I>,". P^t i excavations have
l^plan to those of "S'^^^ntl^, ItS.'^^lT'i^^^V'SS^! ^'Sll^Jiy^
57
gosed of black and white stone In checquors. but this 1. a mere tr^^^ „f pj
c^T^-jrui^^
K^t?^rh^;^^?ct^^^^^^^
door up to the chapel of St. Michiel over the narlh??Th!rL^" ."" H» "■*•»
more richly decorated than tl.OHeTlo?v and form nL-[o?t "■'"'^'■' "". ?««»"?
capitals aud moulded bases. The walls a?e 11 ni»l>.dPKl «( an arcade wltS euTed
supported on large corbels. The trMsepti are buui-Xi' Z*? "'^ P™joctlag oornka
engaged column in the centrerf^om which tw?,ilS!- "* '^^ ""l^''"'' '>a<"'»»>«»Ty
pierced two windows : al«vr.h„."?,."?i?.° l^O-.'^^'.fP'-i'il.'. w'thin which ««
pierced two windows atovetiie.e we othe? iT^6«^^;U""l''- *"'"'' «»
and the gable is either filled in wTh mosaic oriSe?r^J~wn" *"'° 9' »l"ree ItohU-
the exterior of the apse that the mS"cffort at JupUy S^mZ?"L::ii'ii''^*- " " ""
examples of the style, as Notre Dame ^.t'^ '„« V' '?'' ""^ '¥*'* <»»^
are singularly rich In their effect S ^w-!^"'k ''?"',''• ""* «rlond..
sketehesV NoVe Dame du Port and Briout w?U°.*hfw?^ jLlI'^.'"*' .""*. ""
The two former examples are of very nearly the 7»m» S^JI ?^. . i^"*"^*^ nature.
11.10) the latter is considerably later (probaWyc^cT^D *i:^' \°JT. K^°-
Dame Du Port fir^t. Uere the transept chauels ..r^ t. , i"^*- '..*"' '^e Notro
chancel and the latter (four in number?as ""ou Vj 1 s"c bv °thf„l"'„?, '"««<"■,">«
below the cornice of the aisle, and gable walls arc ^alsfnl on "J f„' V'l" *°^'="
recm-e their roofs, which would otherwise rl back to tt^ -kr 'it^rv '"'Tril'' *"
windows between each of the chapels, and a greatpirt of the tefu^v '^r 2,^"%"?
both internally and externally, is to be attributed tStliis (J. i ™ ^."' ">« '"ect.
whole arrangement is not a nmdifleation 5 the ori^nalVun'- L»° ?°, „'"" ""'.""
tion I found that the labels of the large windowrbetwLn the char^l.T'"."*^
and mitre with another label against which the chape" are buih.'^d which 'ISSS
very well have formed part of an arcade pierced at intervids with wtad^wi I?^
neighbourhood, about half-way between Clermont and Issoir,. at >^? 2 . r "^
have a church precisely simila? to '.what this would l"aveTin',rithout its chS^^^^
and the eccentric position of the chapels at Notre Dame Du Port these beln.rS^.;
opposite the centre,- would be just such as would hav-e been rendc^ if
cessary if it had been (desired to add them after the wirk had pn ..^"»e,Ttom^'
what towards completion. In any case, however therrwould mS hfl; ^» "*"
great interval in time between them, and probably he clmMh. and Jhcl, ^^? ""
of c-xactlv the same age. The whole of tL apseV f'ull oStff" My nUuTtS'S"
made with red and black scoriao and with stone. The enrichment iTaWntrm^SSSSS
to the walls above the springing of the windows, and does uSt geneTX^tSS
quite to tlu,cornice. The spaces between the corbels under the cornh^ touS
and the under side of the cornice is carved with a sunk pattern "^ muia.
Between the fclerestory windows is precisely the same arran>'ement of shafts ann
porting a flat lintel under the cornice that I described to you iS",e first MrtloSTf
the clerestory of Le Puy, and here, as there, the recesserfwall is all inlaid'^
. At Issoire, the photograph on the wall will show you that the general scheme is nre-
cisely similar Here, however, a square chapel juts out from the ccnlrc of^e ,K|
and the question arises whether this IS an original arrangement. ThesTOsSatSni
should throw out here, as at Clermont, would be that this Is the oiSf*^^.J
chapel and that the others were added just as those at that plaM mar havrSm
In both these churches the buttresses are alternately rectan^iilar a^ Jlw-nu,^
the latter are always finished with carved capitals. lUudeTan e«ipK"C?
»S/thn','i/?^'''=' 'i'''"^' *" ""^ f*"*^ type, save that there are five a^rL chapS?
and though the wmdows are much more elaborate, having jamb shafts and monldS
arches and being arranged iu a regular arcade of triplets in the clerestory there ia
inla Imr*^ Positive effect of decoration owing to the comparatively small amount of
The churches at Brioude and Issoire are both on a much larger scale and generally
finer than Notre Dame du Port. H^uvimij
Lastly I come to the steeples of these churches : of these there were one or two at
the west end, and one over the croasmg. I beUevc that not one of those over the
narthex now remains, though two or three have been recently rebuilt ThoM at the
crossing were treated in a singular manner. The eastern wall of the traaaent
carried up much above the height of the walls of the apse, forms an enormous man
for the support of the stemle, and is arcaded and pierced with windows or inlaid.
1 he steeples seem generally to have been octagonal and to have consisted of two
stages arcaded and sometimes shafted at the angles and capped with stone sph-es
sloping at an angle of about 00 deg. The steeple at Issoire is quite modem, and I
believe no authority existed for it. That of Notre Dame du Port Is also new the
finish having been a bulbous slated erection, with an open lantern at the top only a
few years ago. Ancient examples, more or less perfect, still exist at St Satumio.
Lnuezat, Orcival, St. Nectaire, and Huret, and all of these are octagonal. These
churches tally with most other early churches in this feature of central steeples.
This is not the time for discussing the question how far the later French archlleeti
were right in so steadily refusing to follow the example thus set them. But we
may be well satisfied as Knghshmen in the opposite course which our architects
took, for our greater churches no doubt owe no small portion of their dignity and
character to the almost constant recurrence of the central steeple.
I have not yet mentioned the roofs. In those which I was able to examine, they
are covered with slabs of stone, supported from the stone roofs without .iny use of
timber whatever. The ridges are also of stone, elaborately carved, and the whole
construction seems to be as imperishable in its scheme as anything I know of the
kind.
If I were to teU you a great deal more ^bout these churches of Auvergne, I should
be able to add but little to what I have said ; they present so little variety and were
built within so short a space of time, that a description of each of them in succession
would be wearisome to a degree. Of course, there are some variations. St. Amable,
at Riom, for instance, has the main arches pointed, whilst the triforium arcade Is
round arched, and the vault of the nave is also pointed instead of round. The raolt
of the nave of Issoire is another example of a pointed vault. At St. Nectaire the
usual piers in the nave have given way to columns. At Brioude the stvie reached
its perfection, and, indeed, I know few effects more striking in every way than that of
the aisles round the choir, of which I have a sketch here ; the roof constructed as a
regular barrel vault and without any ribs, seems to be as true in principle, and to
carry the eye on even more agrei'ably than our ordinary Gothic vaulting of circular
aisles, in which the eye is olteu di.'itr.acted by numbers of conflicting lines of ribs.
The wall arcades between thi^ chapels rec;Ul the peculiar form of trefoil to which I
have before had to refer, and we meet it again in the triforium of the south side of
Notre Dame du Port
The doorways appear to be of two types ; one enriched with sculpture, the other
with inlaid work. Of the former the south door of Notre Dame du Port is a fine ex-
ample. The opening is square, covered with a pediment-like lintel, on which are
sculptured in low relief the Adoration of the Magi, the Presentation in the Temple,
and the baptism of our Lord. Above the lintel is a round arch, under which is a
figure of our Lord, seated with a seraph on either side, .\gainst the wall, below the
lintel on each side of the door, are figures of Isaiah and St^ .John the Itaptist. In the
much-altered church at Mauzae.t near Biom is a door of somewhat similar kind, and
• St. Hilary Poitiers and Angouleme Cathedral have only four chapels.
+ At Mauzac is a magnificent shrine of copper enamelled, and at St Nectaire a
valrety of precious relics— crosses, reliquaries, and the like, of which M. iUrimie
has given a list.
58
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 18, 1861.
both are veir like the doonv.iv in tlio north tnmspnt ol Lt- Puy ; at St. ^ectlll^e is
ail example ot a door, with a tvnipauum filUd ia with morsaio.
The masonry is usuallv of \vrinii:ht stones sqimr-Hl. but rot very neatly put tojrethor.
M. MaHav.lhoairhitect of Clermont, who has rcBiored some of them, ascertained the
rarious fac( that the stonemaKtns wlio wron^'ht the stone fortlie arches, wid wherever
else Pupcrior work was riMinired. marked th( ir Ptones with the usual masons' marks,
whilst those who wroii«rhi the stones for plain, wallinff. jambs and quoins.
made no mark; and he found that precisely the same masons' marks occurred at
Ibsoire and Notn- Dame du Tort ; whilst the details and plan of Orcival. a few miles
»ODth-vest of Clermont, nre ajrain so identical with both of these, as to leave little
rooM f6r doubt that it was executed by the same workmen ; and I found anotlier
erMeoce of the wav in which details were repeated, in some fine ironwork on the
80ath door of Briomie. which i§ nptated atrain at Orcival.
The arches are j:enerHlIy built with small stones of the same size and of even num-
ber, 90 as not to allow of a keystone. SI. Mallay says that the mosaic work in
the walls of these churches had wide joints of red mortar, projecting from the face
of the wall. These mortar joints in the restored work appeared to me to be a bad
modem device, and I think that the evidence in their favor ought to be very strong
to be convincinpr.
You will havr srathered from what I have said that there arc many similar features
in tlie church* s of the two provinces which I have been describing:. They are shortly
these; vaults and <|uasi-domes alike, and carried on the same kind of squinches or
Sendentives ; the decoration with mosaics and its detail ; the design and treatment of
oors. ehhor sculptured or inlaid : the form of trefoil cuspingr ot arches, chararter of
mouldings, sculpture and decoration with pa!ntin<jr. all of tliese are the same through-
out both districts; and the onlv marked difference— and it is important— is in the
ground plan ; the Cathedral of Le l*uy having no chevet, but an east end derived
from Komanesque rather than Hyzantine precedents ; and the other churches in its
neighborhood bvintr generally similar in their plan.
I must now. before I conclude, sav a few words as to the date of these churches,
for which M. JIallay is mclintd to claim rather too great an age. He dates most of
them (but conjeclurally) In the tenth century, though he admits that buildings in
which the pointed arch Is introduced mav be as late as the twelfth century ; and, In-
deed, in aparierby him read before this Institute in A.D. 1K;u», I find that he considers
the date of Notre Dame du Tort, Clermont, as circa A.D. 803 to 868. He founds this
belief on the fact that no lava was used in its construction, and that the mosaics in
Its walls were formed of scorise found on the surface of the soil. He considers that
lava was not used until the eleventh century, but he must also prove (which he has
not done) that stone was never used in Auvergne after the use of lava had once been
admitt*^. M. Xallay depends no doubt to some extent on the admitted date of the
nave of St. Amable, at Kiom, where the main arches are pointed, in A.D. 1077. But the
prcsenceof the pointed arch proves nothing as to date, for we see it long before this
in St. Front, at rerigueux. and in every other resnoct there is no doubt that St.
Amable presents every evidence of being older than >otre Dame du Tort, and others
of these churches, in which none but round arches occur.
On either side of Auvergne we have other cluirclies, of precisely the same cha-
racter, as to plan and mode of construction, and of which the dates are pretty
certain. One is St. Ktlenne, at Xevers, which was commenced in A.D. 1003, and
completed and consecrated on the 1.3th December. A.D. 10*)7. You will see by the
plan of this church that it is similar in nearly every respect to the Auvergne churches.
But so far as one mavjudge of date from style, I should have no hesitation in saying
that this church must be older tlian either Issoire or Notre Dame du Port. It is ruder
in character, there is very little sculpture on the capitals, which arc mostly a sort of
rude imitation of Doric, and in the transepts there are not only round arches, but
also some straight-sided.
AtConques. south of Auvergne, is another church on the same plan as St. Etienne,
Kevers. in almost every respect, which there is little doubt was completed in the
firfttbalf of tbeeleventh century.by the founder. Abbot Odalric. Then again to the
wert w« have the church of Montiemeuf. I'oitiers. commenced in A.D. 1009 and con-
secrated In A.D. HXMi, which has a chevet evidently formed upon the same type as
Omques. And at St Hilary, in the same city, consecrated in A.D. 10G9, whilst the
gronnd-plan of the chevet is just the same as that of Conques. the nave columns are
strengthened by a transverse arch, similarin its purpose to a flying buttress, and
analogous, therefore, to the half-barrel vaults or the triforium in Auvergne. Now
none of these churches are earlier than the beginning of the eleventh century, and
yet it is hardly credible that a province shut in as Auvergne is, should have received
a perfect and complete new style or invented one. and carried it to the degree of
finish and perfection at which it^had arrived wlien Notre Dame duPort was erected,
without our beimr able to trace,somewhere. the sourcefrom which itwas developed. I
believe, however, that itsorigin may be traced if we examinecarefully the architecture of
the church of St. Front at Perigueux, commenced in A. D. i>i*4 ana completed in A.D.
1047. This church, founded on the same type as, if not copied from St. Mark's, Venice,*
exercised a vast direct influence on the architecture of the day, as the map which I
hare prepared will show. It is seen most clearly In churches which are, like Itself,
cruciform, without aisles and covered with domes. The churches of Auvergne and
those other examples of the same kind to which T have referred, seem to me to be
clearly derived fntm SL Front, or from the Eastern models on which it too was
foundfed. The east end of St. Mark's presents us with a circular wall, with a
snccession of semicircular recesses or apses in its thickness. Sta. Sophia contains
the same feature though differently treated. The Uoman circular buildings which
bare so much in common with Early Byzantine architecture iiave the same feature,
and San Vitale, ICavenn a— whether it is*Romanesque or Byzantine in its origin— is
planned in a similar way. The architect of St. Front evidently copied his apse
from these models, only convertiig the recesses of St. Mark's into chapels projecting
from the walls. The Auvergne architects attempted to combine the plan of the
basilica with its nave and aisles, with thi^ features which were seen at St. Front.
They retained its external wall and projecting chapels, therefore, but placed within
them the cluster of columns round the apse forming an aisle between the chapels and
the choir. By this simple and natural modification of the St. Front plan to meet the
necessities of'^their triple-aisled churches they ;»t once invented, on<' may almost say,
the perfect French chevet. I know no other churches in France of tne same age,
which appear to have suggested so romh in this resiK-et ; and you will realise it if
you compare their plans with, among others, Ihoseof^ Bourges Cathedral. St. Pierre
Boarges, St. Martin Ktampes. Chartrcs Cathedral, the destroyed church of St. Martin
at Toon, and finally what is, I think, almost the Ixst complete Gothic plan, that of
Bowil Cathedral ; In every one of which we see the surrounding aisle, lighted by win-
dows between the chapels, and the chapels distinct and well separated on the exterior,
pff«daely astn thcsi-olderchnrrhes in Auvergne. Thescbuildings, therefore, have great
valse, not only as illustrating a chapter of the history of our art. but Wause the
chl^>ter which they do illustrate, is just one of the most interesting we can conceive,
being that which exolalns how and by what steps that Gothic architecture of which
as our national style we are so justly proud, was developed from the noble archi-
tectorc of the old Romans and Greeks ; an architecture to which we owe, among
other tblDgs. this great debt of gratitude, that It naturally led up to and rendered
possible a Westminster, a Chartres, an Amiens, and all the other glories of our
Cbriatfan architecture.
I feel that I am tresnassing seriously on your patience, but there are still
two important heads of my subject to be shortly discussed before 1 conclude.
One of them refers to roofing, the other to colored decoration. First, as to roofing,
I have already explained how this was executed ; let us now consider why the modes
which we see were adopted. At St. Front the experiment was tried of covering a
aave and transepts with a succession of domes resting on pcndentives, and
supported on pointed arches spanning the nave. These domes were the only
covering of the church, and were visible on the outside as well as on the inside.
At Conques, the architect, unable to carry domes on the comparatively delicate
* St Xark's, Venice, was commeoced in A.D. 977.
piers which were all that were required for the division of a nave from its aisles, con-
trived a barrel vault for his nave, the thrust of which was resisted by the half-barrel
vault of the triforium ; a device not improbably obtained from Byzantine churches,
for if we compare the section of Santa Sophia with that of the crossing and central
dome of Notre Dame du I'ort we shall find the semidomes affording abutments for
the great domes in the former, absolutely identical in their section with the half-
barrel vault, which forms the abutment on the north and south sides of the central
dome of the latter.* But it was impossible to obtain any light for a clerestory roofed
and supported in this fashion, and one is rather disposed to wonder how it was that
so many churches should have been built on the same gloomy scheme. It was, no
doubt, because in that part of France wooden roofs wore thought to be undesirable,
and no other economical way was seen of combining the nave and aisles with what
was intended to be an indestructible stone roof. I need hardly say that at the same
period in the North of France, in Normandy, and in England, the nave was
seldom, if ever, roofed with anything but timber, and the aisles only were vaulted
in stone.
At Tourmis, on the Saone, another device was adopted to serve the same end as
the Auvergne roof, but admitting of a clerestory ; this was the covering of the
nave with a succession of barrel vaults at right angles to the length of the church,
and supported on bold transverse arches. But I doubt whether it was ever repeated
on a nave, though there are several examples of aisles thus roofed ; + and it was,
no doubt, ugly and ungainly. The Le Puy architect devised yet another plan,
which combined to some extent all the others, and this was, as I nave
explained, a succession of domical vaults, which, whilst it was much lighter
and more practicable (owing in part to the difference of scale) than the St.
Front plan of a series of genuine cupolas, achieved, nevertheless, much of
the effect that was there gained. A verj^ small portion only of the weight of the
vault exerted a direct lateral thrust, and it was possible, therefore, to erect such a
roof upon a clerestory ; and though the transverse arches limit the height of tjio
building in one respect^ in another there is no question that the height is apparently
much increased ; for in looking down the interior it is impossible ever to see the
apex of any of the domes, and the vault lost behind the transverse arches
gains immensely in mystery and infinity, so as to produce the effect of a larger
and loftier building than the reality. But, on the other hand, the disadvantages
were great : the piers between the nave and its aisles were so large as to
render the aisles nearly useless; and I can hardly wonder, therefore, that the
example set here was not generally, if, indeed, at all, followed.
It is doubtful where the kind of vault used at Le Puy was first devised. The
central dome of St. Slichel de TAiguille is, perhaps, the oldest of all, and this is, in
fact, a square dome, if one may use the expression. The octacronal dome-vaults of
the cathedral are probably a little later, but that over the crossing of the Church of
Ainay at Lyons may possibly be older; if you compare my sketch of it with
that of the interior of Le Puy Cathedral, you will find that one is evidently copied
from the other; and if the Le Puy vault was derived from Lyons, we make the
important inference that it was an Eastern infiuence travelling up the Rhone,
and distinct from that which we see at Perigueux, to which we owe this
kind of domed roof ; you will sec further evidence of this if you look at my
sketch of the pendentives of the dome at Brioude, which are identical in
intention with the plan of the church of St. Sergius and Bauliers at Constantinople,
and yet quite unlike the kind of pendentlve common in churches of the St. Front
type. They are. in fact, the Le Puy and Ainay pendentiv<'S reduced to the very
simplest conditions. The invention of the ilyin» buttress adumbrated in,
and possibly suggested by, the quadrant vaults of Auvergne. finally stopped
these various endeavours atT^er new forms of roofs, and set men at work to
see how it might most readily be made to serve the boldest and most airy systems of
design and construction ; and in the rage for these, that old system of roofing with
domes, which had been, so far as we know,J first tried in France, at Perigueux and
had afterwards spread with such rapidity over a very large district— though with
many modifications and variations— was entirely ignored or foi^otten. Is it well that
we too should ignore it ? It is clear that the disciples of the Gothic school may claim
it as their own witli just as much truth as any other school can. And in some form
or other it is often so attractive— so majestic on a large scale, so impressive oven on a
small scale— that few of us who have much work to do should alto«:ethor eschew all
use of it, or treat it as though it were the exclusive property of tne architects of
Classic and Renaissance buildings. I do not feel, nowever, as most who write
on the subject seem to do, that our domes must invariably be supported
on what are called true pendentives. I think they are not beautiful, and 1
do not see that they are especially scientific. The St. Front pendentives
arc mere corbellings out of the wall, and in truth only imitations of pen-
dentives. At St. Mark's they are formed with a succession of arches of brickwork
across the angle of the dome, though this construction is not visibl*", and these, I
suppose, are all wrong, but they are very similar in their intention to the kind of
pendentive which I have had to illustrate to-night, and which is in truth much more
Gothic and picturesque in its character than the true pendentive, admits of any
amount of decorative sculpture, and is really precisely similar in its object to the
sqninches under our own Englisli spire8.§
I will add but a few words as to the constructional polychrome which distinguishes
the exterior of the churches throughout this volcanic district. So far as I have seen
it was never, save in Le I'uy Cathedral, admitted into the interior, and this is much
to be regretted, because it seems that the vaults of their naves, the domes of their
crossing, and the serai-domes of their Banctuaries,[woutd have afforded most|admirablc
fields for this kind of decoration. As I have (old you the walls were once covered
with painting, and as long as this existed a mosaic of black and white and dull red
would have been valueless ; but now that the iconoclast, the whitewasher, and the
restorer— all of them, at least, as active in France as they have ever been in England
—have done their worst, the want of some decoration on !the otherwise bald surface
of the vaults is painfully felt everywhere. Externally the colored materials are used
in two ways ; sometimes the whole of the wall is built of the dark volcanic products,
and patterns are obtained by the occasional use of white stone, or by alternate
courses of this and the darkest scorise that can be found. Or else the walls generally
are built of stone, and the patterns only formed with the dark material. Here, too,
as is the case in all old examples of colored constructions with which T have ever
met, the colors follow the natural course of the construction. At Le Puy, for
instance, the courses are alternately [liglit and dark, producing bold horizontal
bands of color. The arch stones are continued generally in one line of color all
across an arch, even when it consists of several orders, and from the arch on into the
wall. The bands of ornament arc similarly arranged in horizontal stripes, generally
• Mr. Fergusson gives a section of a church at Graneon on the Lake of Neufchatel,
in which the aisles and nave are roofed in the same way as at Conques and in the
Auvergne churches. He says that the date of this church is the end of the eighth or
beginning of the ninth century, but I do not know what his authority for this very
early date is.
t The Abbaye aux Hommes, Caen, has its aisles roofed with transverse barrel
vaults.
J This qualification Is necessary, for the curious evidence which M. Vcrmith has
given us of the existence of a Venetian colony in the tenth century at Limoges
would be enough to make it probable, that though St. Front is the earliest complete
example extant of a French domed church, others may have been built before It, snd
that some of those which M. Vermilh supposes to have been derived from St, Front, '
may really have been derived more directly from the East.
§ There is no end to the diversity of the countries in which they are found. In the
Cathedral at Worms we have squinches formed by serai-domes. In St. Nicodemc at
Athens they are identical with those in St. Etienne, Nevers, and the same form
is repeated in the domical vault of the steeple at Auxerre Cathedral. At Notre
Dame du Port the dome is circular, but the squinches below are octagonal iu plan,
and the circle (which is not, however, a true circle) is set upon the octagon.
JitdUARY 18, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
59
placed where they will Aigaity and five value to nome very prominent arcliitcetnral
member. Tliey m-ver occur bi'iowtlie line of tht; sprinjjinK' of au arcaile. and are
richest under coruieea and between tlieir corbeln. And wlien we consider tlie date at
whicli tJiis inlaid worlc was executed, and compare it with what we know of lOur own
a[t at tile same period, or, indeed, with that of any other portion of tlie country wliich
we now call France, we cannot too Iii;ihlv extol its delicacy and (,^race and its care-
fulness of ck'Stpn and execution. M. Viollet ie Due considers the architects of these
churches ti^have been the ablest of their time ; he says, too, which is very true, that
they never attem])ted more than they kuew tlntt they could accomplish, and tin; con-
sequence i.s that, to this day, many of thesi- buildin<;rs stand uninjured and undecayed,
ami all mi^ht well have done so had they received conmionly fair treatment at the hands
of their i^uardiana. I believe, too, that we may rej^ardthewholeof the work in Velay
and Auverjjne as that of uativcartists. The detail of sculpture is, when compared with
.such work a.« Is to be found in Provence, exeeedinr;ly rude. U is vijiorous. indeed,
but wantinir in tluit extreme delicacy and relinement whicli marks the work" of the
Karly l*rovtn»;al artists.
It is probabh^ that 1 have not carried you with me in ray theory about the develop-
ment of the perfect French chevet Ironi the chevets of Auvertiue, for I know how
easy it alwajs is to ride one's own bobby. The statement of tliis theory was. how-
ever, only in'eiilental to, and not the main object o!', my remarka to-nii^lit. Orijrin-
ally, 1 intentied only to j;ive as jrood a ilescription of the cathedral and other
buildiuLis of I.e Puy, as my two days' stiuly of them would allow : and this, because
I could not find any published plans or drawin<]r8 of them, and I thou<^ht that the
ineasureil plans and sketches which I was able to tive you woidd, therefore, have
more value than would otherwise be the case. I found it impossible, however, to
resist sayinjj something of the churches of Anverji-ne, beeause they an? so mixed one
with the other with those of \'elay that it is ditlicult to enter fully into one without
knowiny; soieethin^' of the others also. And it is almo.«t efptaily ditlicult to enter
upon the e.<caniination of cliurches such as these, witliout starting" some theories,
aisint wliich there may be ample differences of opinion arnon-r us.
^V'el■e I to attempt to say anything about the buildin<,'s of a later date it would be
impossible to do more than to iiive a catalogue, which would be as uiiintellit;ible as
it would bo tedious.
1 will only say, therefore, on this head, that Clermont Cathedral well deserves
careful study, and is rich in very line fflasa ; that at Montferrand may be seen as
larofe a collection of medieval houses of all dates as in almoat any smalt town that I
know ; that Kiom possesses a line Salute Chapelle ; and that in the Abbey of Chjiise-
llieu are still iierceived a very rare and complete series of tapestries of the sixteenth
century. Uesides these a larire number of articles of elmrch plate are to be fouiul
ecatferedup and down in the viIlE<^e churches, and all this g^oodly afore of antiquities
is set before you in a province whose physical features are so full of interest ami
beauty as in themselves to make a journey tbrou<;h \'elay and Auvergne one which
none will repent liavlny undertaken.
Mr. I'KNUosE said he had the advantage a lon^- time ago of passing through the
district referred to by Mr. Street, and could bear witness to the exceeding
interest of much of the architecture of Anvergne. lie made a short stay at Cler-
inontand was much pleased with the beauty of the Cathedral, the color and force
of character of some parts of the architecture he had not seen iiaruUeled anywhere
else.
After a few observations from Mr. Ff.urev,
Mr. JIoitRis expn-ssed his gratilication with the paper which they had heard read
tliat evening, which he thought did very great credit to Mr. Street's perseverance
and skill. The district referred to in the jiaper was one wliicti, at no very distant
geological day, was in a state of perfect commotion, various volcanoes were in a state
of eruption, and indeed the ground was covered and overflowed with the molten
lava of the riutonic caverns. The historical features of the diatrictwere also of great
interest, the population having been rude and lawless in the extreme. Hut then there
was great fertility in the country, where the vineyards produced excellent Burgundy
wines, which seemed the principal redeeming feature of the district. Its architecture
w.ta the piotluetion, he should say, of Norman heads ; there was an exact trace of
Norman work in tlie district. The evidences of architecture there were certainly
bold and picturesque, but nothtiig more. When he saw so much talent displayed at
they had witnessed tliat evening on the part of .Mr. .Street, after a stay of only two
days in the city of l-,e Fuy, he couUl not help desiring that Mr. Street would
take a more fertile source for illustration on another occasion, and depict some of
our Knglish districts, where there was ample scope for the talents of the architect,
especially amongst our abbeys, cathedrals, and parish churches. He hoped that
our younger architects would not forget that, for it was to sucli places talented
artists ouglit to resort.
The Chairman hoped young architects would be induced to visit the most
interesting part of France that had been referred to. iThe seriey of studies wliicli
Mr. Street had brought before them were tull of interest, and fit sulijecta for eon-
adierafion and discussion. Mr. Street had in a most extraordinary manni'r sketebid
out to them that evening an account of his journey, which occupied so short iX time.
He asked the meeting to join him in a vote of thanks to the lecturer.
The vote of tlianks was carried by acclamation and the meeting broke up.
COURT OF PA.SSAGE, LIVKltPOOL.
AN architect's CLAIM — WVl.IE V. WII.LMER..
THIS was an action brought by Mr. Thomas Wylie. architect and parish surveyor
for Liverpool, against Mr. Kdward ^Villmer, the proprietor of the Ltre.rpont
Cltroiik-k and l-.'ttrupi'tia 'J'lmen^ to recover the aiiin of d'HK being his charge of .'» per
cent, brokerage for linding a plot of land and building in School-lane, which resulted
in >Ir. Willmer becoming the lessee, and for the further sum of ,<;i.'is l.'is. for prepar-
ing plans and specifications for the erection of a building for busineaa purposes, to
cover about onc> half jiortion of the plot so leased.
The claim for brokerage was aettled by thi> ilefendant having paid the X.M into
court. The action, therefore, rested on the plaintiH-a claim for £\M l.'is.
.Mr. Temple appeared for the plaintiir, and Jlr. ,1. H. Aspinall for the defendant.
.^Ir. Temple, in opening the case, said it was one of some importance. The
plaintifl'. Thomas Wylie, was an architect and surveyor, and the defendant was Mr.
Kdward Willmer, the proprietor of the Chroriirlc, both gentlemen being well known
by reputation in this town. The defendant was also a printer carrying on his buai-
nessin chureb-streel. The action arose out of his taking some fresh premises in
School-lane, t« wliich he I'ould remove his business from Chureli-street. It would
appear flint in August, IsiKJ, Mr. Willmer, the defendant, was in treaty for the pur-
chase of some land in Scel-atreet. Mr. Wvlie informed him that he thought he
could find him a plot more convenient. KIther on that day, or aubsequently, Mr.
Willinir and .Mr. Fniser went, under the guidance of Mr. Wylie, to some property
in School-lane, at the back of St. Peter's Church, and close to the office of the de-
fendant, and .Mr. \\'ylie pointed out apiece of laud there which belonged to the Itlue-
eoat School, .and said "1 think you could get that on advantageous terms." The
question between the plaintill' and the' defendant was his charge for the plans and
speeiliealions. Jlr. Wylie took iustrnciions and jirepared plans and specitications,
till' defendant bringing him rough sketches, and saying •• This is the sort of thing 1
want." Whilst the plans and spi'eifications were being prepared, Mr. Willmer was
at .Mr. AN'yIie's otlice nearlv every day making suggestions, lie ahould like to ask
Mr. Willmer a few questions wluii he got into the box. He contemplated spending
£0,0(10, and Mr. Wylie cliarged a percentage upon t;B,3.iO, and now Mr. Willmer pre-
tended he only contenipluted to have a building which would cost .tl'i.OlHi or £'.,:Mii.
He tllongbt he should be able to prove that he contemplated expending, if he had
not gone so far as to make his contracts for, .eii.iKiO. lint, beyond that, he overlooked
the plans every day, prepared the rough sketches, and was conatantly at the office,
day after day. How did Jlr. Wylie want to be paid ? According to the custom and
usage among architects and surveyors, he was entitled tocharge r, per cent, upon the
money to be e.Mpended, for prepiniiig plans and for overlooking the building alao.
He had not overlwked the building b<!causo he had been dismissi^d, tnd therefore h«
did not charge for it ; hi' only charged ^'.J per cent, upon the Cn,iii«) for prepaHnir
plans and specifications, and he had come there to ask the Jurv lo give lilm that
amount. .Mr. Wylie would state that that was the usual charge ; ' and he would c»II
into the box .Mr. Cnlshaw, Mr Cunningham, .Mr. Scott. Mr. Clarke, Mr Klierlock
and perhaps one or two others, if necessarv, and they would be able to stale that "i
per cent, was the proper charge to which Jlr. AVylie waa entitled. He apprehended
tliat If he proved these facts tlie plaintiff would be entitled to a verdict for £1.V* l.'w
bevoiid the sum paid into court.
Mr. Thomas \\ylie, the nlaiiitiff, was then called, and examiniKl. He laid he had
iKi'ii surveyor U) the pariah for many years. He renieml>i-red Jlr. Willmer cominir
to his office, and stating that he wanted a plot of land for a building suitable lo hlii
business, when he mentioned some property belonging to the Klui-i'oat Scliool
which he said he thoiiBhtcouhl be got. lie tohl him that he did not know that It
could be olitained, but that be was acqiialnteil with the geulleraan who managed llie
property of the lilue-eoat SiIkkiI, and he would ask him. The defendant asked him
where It was, and they went together to the corner of Peter's-lane and School-lnnB
to look at if. He showed the defendant a pieie of land which he sub»<'<|uenllv pur-
chased. Defendant saw the plot, and aaid, "this will do, " and told him to s'ee Mr.
Williams about it immediately. Jlr. Willmer afterwards gave him iustriicllona
as to making plans and specitications ; he waited upon him and said, •• 1 mnst
have some plans prepared immediately for this building, and I must have a mo<1
elevation.' He gave instructions for a survey of the land to be made Hrst
so that he could see what might be put upon If. A survey was accordingly made
and a tracing of it sent to Mr. Willmer, who a few day afterwards brought
to the oflicc some rough sketches which he subsiti'uently t<iok away, a-'aiii re-
placing them with some fresh sketches, which he left. He told him to pnt'liimself
in communication with the proprictora of the Mrrcury ; that they had agreed to take
a portion of the building, and the building must be so arrauKed aa to afford the
accommodation that they wanted. That they were going to remove their olBce, and
to have new machines ; and that the whole waa to be prepared, as far as tliev were
concerned, under their direction; but that Mr. Willmer was lo have the wliole of
the ground floor. That would enhance the cost of the building iHvond the plans he
had given before ; and Jlr. Willmer aaid he must follow out now the suggestions tpf
Jlr. Holme, and make the building, in |>hice of two stories and a cellar, four stories
and a cellar, and gave him sketches Showing four stories. He alao said he wanKii
it as light as possible, as they could not have too much light In a printing ofllce, and
he called attention to a building which waa being built in Wilhaniaon-street, and
said he should like his windows made with iron lintels and iron columna like tliose.
The next day he called attention to a building of Jlr. Preston's, In \'emon-slreet,
and said he thought the building would look very much better if he could have
similar arches. He came to the office several times and suggested different tliinga
he would like to be done. He aaid be wanted his own floor perfectiv free from
impediment, lie (Jlr. Wylie) put himself in communication with the gentle,
men at the Mi^rairi/ office, and took their instructions. He prepared the plans and
specifications. The defendant saw them every day. and simietimes twic^, and
made a great many alterations. The defendant asked him if he was going to take
out the quantities himself, and, on being answered in the negative, aaid he
sliould like it to be given to Jlessrs. lloworth, and requested him to send
the plans to Jlessrs. Howorth, so tliat they might take out the quantities.
He did so. The plans and speeiiicationa were returned afterwards. They were
not ill the same condifinu as when he sent them. There were marks upon them,
showing that tlley had been made use of. The marks allowed that after tne quanli-
ties had been taken out, some profeaaional man had been trying to reduce the height
of the various stories, and to alter the size of the building. The marks were evidently
made by a professional man. The builders were requested to send in theirtenders by
order of Jlessrs. Willmer and Smith. They gave him orders to prepare a note lor the
contractors to tender by, and the note, in wl'iicli he was named as architect, was printed
by them. The day before the date of that note Jlr. Willmer had sent a note to him re-
questing him to call upon .him, and he did so. Mr. Willmer then said : '* JTr. Wylie.
1 have not asked you what yonr charge would be ; that is an omission in this matter.'*
He replied that his charges would be the usual charges— namely, :> per cent, on the
cost of the building-. Tliat it per cent, included the overlooking of the building — for
acting as architect througliout the work. He charged U|Mm .tii;!.^. (A letter frmn
Jlr. iWillmer to Jlr. Wylie, dated Nov. '2, waa put in and read— which appears in
the Assessor's summing up.) He received his plans back on the '2nd of November.
To the letter of Jlr. Willmer he replied as follows :-(See Assessor's summing up,)
According to the plans and specificationa, and taking the aituation into considera-
tion, the value of a place built like that would be .fi-ooor iiSOO a year.
Cross-examined by Jlr. Aspinall : lie was not instructed in the first instance to
prepari? plana for a building which could be erected for £'A00«. Something was said
about .t;2,0iHi. When Jlr. Willmer was with him at Mr. Holme's, which, as nearly as
he could recollect, waa about the 14tli of August, thev had a long conversation, and
Jlr. Holme said to Mr. Willmer, " 'i'^ou know, Jlr. Willmer, you must expend, lie-
fore vou can get premises to auit you, .£1,.'>00 or .t;'-',noo : you cannot cover a piece of
land like that for a less sum." He did not, in the first instance, nudertaketo prepare
plans for a building to cost about that. When he received instructions to make plans
for a second piece of land there waa no sum mentioned. He did not undertake the
plans on the footing of the conversation he had had with Jlr. Holme. Sir. Willmer
once asked him whether he thought the building could be erected for .ei,50<i. 1 bat
would be, he thought, about the latter end of September. He replied, "Mr. Willmer.
you are continually making alterations, and unfil those alterations are
completed it is impossible to know what the building will cost. He
liad told Jlr. Willmer very often that he did not think the building could be
done for £2,000. When Jlr. Willmer gave him the first sketches he said, 'Sir.
Willmer, you don't expect this to be built for £'AOOOI" He did not n-raember
Jlr. Willmer at any time consenting to extend the sura to £-l..MU. on be ng
told that it could not be done for £2,000. (m one occa.sion he had an interview
with Jlessrs. Fraser and AVillmer, aifd Howorth, to see if thev could reduce
the cost of the building before the estimates came in. He thought it would be
on the 27tll or 2Sth of (October. That was after the circulars had gone out for
the estimates, but before the estimates came in. After an interview ol about an
hour and a half or two houra, Mr. Howorth said,- ••'VNell, it would be very awk-
ward if the plans are to be altered, for the principal portion of the quanlifies are
in the hands of the contractors." He suggested that it w-ould be b»-tter to extend
the time, but Jlr. Willmer aaid he did not think it would. He had some objec-
tion to extend the time, and was very anxious to get the estimates in and lo
get the building commenced. He was anxious to have it »P «■''"" »
certain time. A iiortion of his own pnmises would be taken from him, ami th.
Mrrany/ proprietors were under notice to quit their PrPnjl«'»j .""I V'.IT^'ffiU'i'.f.'.^s
must be provided for them. He (the plaintifl') did not tell liim what the In lldings
would be likely to coat as the plans then stood. He could not do ao, because the
,__ ^ ujion
him he must expect that
pniiic in ami tciiintr mm nt; iiiu»t »:jvut-ti. m<ii- <•■! ».-..-.--- - woui i
little over «: 000 He told him they would considerably exceed the amount he had
eel namin- to his son. He only knew what Hie lowest estiinate «as by Mr
Willmer'" IMter One-hiUf of the land was to be covered by the bulldmp of whMi
he prepared plana. The height of the building, as the plans were ultimately prepared.
60
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 18, 1^1.
yn» M tttt from the ETonnd, he believed— four stories with i cellar in;one ptrt, and
Mr9 stories iu another part
Bobert Wylie. the pl^uotif^s son, was next called. He said he was drauj^htsmaa
fiir his father. He surveyed this land, and helped to prepare the plans. He saw the
ddtadant from time to time— almost overv lime he came to the olfice. He canio there
to lee how the plans wer« jrettimr on, and' made several sufittestions and alterations.
He said he wanted to have a noble appearsiii-e to Church-sti-ect, beiause it could be
seen from the end of the chHrchyard in C'hurcli-Btreet. He never expressed dissatis-
faction whilst the plans were soni;jon that he (the witness) knew of. He remembered
him on one occasion lookintr at one of the elevations, and asking if it could be built
for £3,3()a That was Just about the completion of the plans. iM-forc they went to the
sur>*eyor's to be meaaured. It was before the quantities were taken out, because the
pUns had not lelt the office at thetime. He nplied that he could not say exactly—
beeoold tell him better if ho had a copy of the quantities. He took the account to
Mr. Willnier for payment, and Mr. Will'mer said ho could not pay such an amount
withontsubmitting:'it to some hijrher authority.
Cross-examined : He did not remember telling Mr. Howorth shortly before the
estimates came in t hat 51 r. Willmer expected t he building to be .^^..'iOO, but he thought
that If It would be £3,000 it would go on. He did remember tcUin'>: him that he
thooght it woald cost more than jES,000. He met him one day in St. John's-market.
That would be five weeks before the estimates were sent in. There had been no dis-
cussion as to what it would cost. Mr. Howorth asked him what sort of job it would
be, as he was going to takeout the quantities, and he replied £.'t,000. He did not
eXDect tliat would be about the mark ; it was just an olf-hand expression.
Wm. t'ulshaw, architect and surveyor, was the next witness. He said the usual
charge for preparing plans and specitications for a building, when the architect did
not superintend, was '^ per cent, upon the sum to tx' expended. Cross-cxamim-d :
Generally an architect was asked to form some estimate as to the probable cost of
the building before the quantities were taken out ; and it an architect was asked to
{trepare plans for a building to cost £2,000, he was supposed to have sufficient know-
edge to prep.ire plans to amount to somewhere about that.
Mr. John Cunningham, architect, having been called to give corroborative evi-
dence that ~iper cent, was the usual charge,
3Ir. Aspinall said— We don't dispute the 2J per cent.
Sir. Cunningham said it was .iltogether impossible to tell the exact amount a
building would cost until the quantities were taken out; a rough estimate might bo
made, but nothing more.
Tbhi dosed the plaintifl's case.
Mr. Asptnall then proceeded to address the jury for the defence. He said, of
course he did not dispnte that 2.J per cent, was a proper amount to pay an architect
who prepared plans properly according to his instructions, if he did not afterwards
supermt^nd the building; but the question for the jury would be, whether Sir.
Wylie did anything which entitled him to be paid at all. The question would be that
which had been suggested, whether 3Ir. AVyhe, having received instructions, as he
should show distinctly he did receive instructions, to prepare plans for a building
which, in the first place, was to cost £2,000, the amount iH'ing afterwards extended
to £2,400 after considerabl* discussion, and upon Jlr. VVylio's representation that it
could not bt» done for £2,000, and having prepared plans for a building to cost a much
larger amount, was entitled to recover anything? There was no doubt that if Mr.
Wylie had prepared plans which could have been carried out for anything approaching
to £2,.'i'j"J, .^Ir. Willmer would have been bound to pay for them, and no dispute coultl
have taken place about the matter. Jlr. Willmer wouldstate, what was quite apparent
from Mr. Holme's letter, that, in the first instance, he had no idea of spending
more than £2,000. That letter having been submitted to Mr. Wylie, he was quite
aware of .Mr. Willmer's views and Intentions; and it w.is an architect's duty to be-
come acquainted with the views of the person who employed him, and then to
prepare plans within a reasonable distance, at all events, of the intention of his
employeT. There was no doubt that after that letter of Sir. Holme's some change
took place, because Mr. Willmer, instead of confining himsulf to the purchase of one
piece of land ,belonglng to the liluc-coat .School, bought another, and put the
building, not upon the land originally Intended, but upon the other piece of land,
which was slightly more than half the entire piece. That, however, he believed, did
not make any change in Mr. Willmer's views with regard to the cost. But after-
wards. It appeared, the idea arose in Mr. Willmer's mind of letting a portion to the
proprietor of the lAcerpoot Mercury, and then a discussion took place with Mr.
Wylie, and he was authorised to increase the cost of the building to the extent of
£'2,900. He was not going to contend that .Mr. Willmer couldhave limited Mr. Wylie
exaetlr to a sum, because no man could say positively to a few pounds, or perhaps
even to a lew hundred pounds, what the cost or a building would be. Tho
notes were Issued, and Sir. Willmer and, he believed, another witness would
state that on the morning before the estimates were to come in, Mr. Wylie came
hastily into Jlr. Willmer s office, and, as if he were prepared lor some surprise on
Mr. Willmer's part, told him that he must expect that the building would cost over
JM,000. Mr. W^lie, jun., had admitted that which, to a certain extent, went to cor-
roborate 3Ir. ^\ illmer's view. Mr. Howorth asked him in the market what sort ot
plans they were, and be said he thought they would cost upwards of £:i,000. This
was an indication to some extent that he knew what was in Mr. Willmer's mind.
-Mr. WlUmcrwas astounded when the estimates came in, ranging from £B,3."iO to
£C,84.'!. It might be said, and would be said, no doubt, than an architect was not
able, any more than another man, or very little able, to tell what the exact cost of a
bnildlug would be. Hut was an architect doing the work he was asked to do If he
was told to prepare plans for a building to cost £2,joO and when the estimates came
In they weremoretban double that amount ? Surely there must Imj some limit. If
this could be maintained. It would equally follow that if he had brought in
J>lan» for a buildhjg to cost .£20,000 the defendant would be bound to pay
or them. If the jury would not say that, how could they say that the pre-
paration of a plan for a building to cost more than double the outside
anm last mentioned in the course of the discussions between tho
plaistur and the defendant was ('arryiug out the instructions which
were l^en to the plaintiff? His friend had commented upon the use which had been
nude of the ulans. The quantities were taken from them, of course, otlierwiso no
erldenec could have been given. The plaintilf had relied on the fact that an accurate
conclusion could not be ftinned as to whether plans would do until the qantitles were
teken out, and witnesses would state that, whilst the quantities were in tho course of
oaag taken oat, and as It became evident that the cstimatcH would greatly exceed
♦Jearaoant intended, repeated attempts were made— and In the presence of .Mr.
Wylie, he believed- to reduce the cost, and no doubt pencil marks would be found on
ine pl^a with tliat view. Of course, everybody was anxious for everybody's sake to
see if those plans could possibly be made to answer the purpose, but that could not
Deueer^Ded without making the marks necessary to take out the quantities, and
!i!IS* T J I *"?.'"i.*'"'' "ductions could be made as were consistent with the
migiaal doign. He had said enough, he hoped, to show the jarv how the case for
tiM rteftndsnt stood. He proposed to substantiate that case 'by witnesses, and,
naviWMlMd them, he should have an opportunity of saying a lew words again ; and if
the wftMUCs gave their evidence as he believed they would give it, he had no doubt
tlvit the Terdlct would be for the defendant.
Mr. Kdward Willmer, the defendant, was then called and examined. He said
after going to Mr. Holme, he einployeil Jlr. Wylie, and, in addition to reading Mr.
Holme ■ Utter to him. he told him that£2,«io would be the! amount to be expended
oil the Irallding. At first he was only going to buy one of thi' pieces of land, but he
ri«n-.'cd his mind and bought both. During the negoclatioiis he remembered the
elevai ion showing five stories-four and th. basement-being prepared. It was
drawn l«r..r.. the completion of the entire purchase- from the trustees of the Bluc-
fWU .-•<h.>pl, aud It was the Intention at that time to have a building with four
slortes and a basement. 'Thst was the Intention from the first. He saw Mr. Wylie
op tl» •object of the building lie should say immediately aft<T their Interview with
Mt. Holme. At that time he took some sketches to him, showing four stories and a
basement. It was never his intention to have only two stories. About fdur weeks
after he began to prepare plans, Mr. Wylie told him ho thought the build ing could
not be raised according to tiie plans and iustructions for £2,000, and he then told Mr.
Wylie he would extend it to £2..)ii0, but he must confine the plans and spitclfications
to that figure. That was before he had any communication with Jlr. ilaitland, of
the Mercurii office. He from the first contemphited erecting a building aud letting a
portion of it, aud occupying the rest himself. He afterwards came iuto^'ommunica-
tion with the proprietors of tlie Mctxuri/ as tenants. That did not make aniy alteration
in the building. He thought he first instructed Mr.Wylie to prepare plans alxiut the 20th
August. Mr. Wylie's elevation was drawn after that. It was drawn in .locordnnce
with his sketches. He saw Mr. Wylie almost daily about the plans. Mr. .lames
Fraser was generally present at these interviews. lie believed he nevci^ went with-
out him. After £2,ri(K) was mimed to Sir. Wylie as the amount to be laid out,
reference was made to that amount, he should think, at least twenty time's, and it was
twenty times repeated that £2,;"i00 was the sum it was his intention to spend, and
Mr. Wylie assented to that. There was not any suggi'slion made to Mr. Wylie to
reduce that amount, because he did not conceive they were likely to exceed that cost .
The plans were finally ready about three weeks before the :ilst of October. Sir.
Wylie called on him on that day, and in his private countinghouso said, "Well,
Sir. Willmer, vou will have tho estimates iu this afternoon, and you must expect
they will be alittle over £3,000." He did;get the estimates in that afternoon, and
£iS,:ijO was the lowest. The plans were given to Sir. Howorth to have i he quantities
taken out. He had an interview with Sir. Wiflie and .Mr. Howorth on the subject of
reducing the cost. He tliought that was a few days before the :ilst Sir. Fraser
was also present. They went over the specifications and quantities, and during that
process certain alterations in material and so on were suggested by Sir. David
Howorth, and whenever his assent was asked to those suggestions, lie invariably
said, " Will it increase the cost beyond £'i,:m .'" and if the answer was in the affir-
mative, he said It was not to be done ; if in the negative, he said, " Let it be done."
The sum of £3,.'iOo was never mentioned by Sir. Wylie to him, nor by him to
Sir. SVylie, as the probable cost of the building. After the estimates came in
Mr. Howorth prepared fresh plans for him.
Cross-examined : He was not now building at the reduced cost of £'2,500. Mr.
Howorth, the gentleman to whom the plans were sent by Sir. Wylie, was now his
architect, He was to get from the Livn-pniil Merciirii ,£3i)0 a year, less the amount
of taxes, whatever they might be. That was for two floors of the building. There
would be five floors altogether, including the cellar. The Mernirii would have one
floor and the cellar. He himself would have one floor, and he would then have two
floors left. Ho estimated the value of his own occupation at £200 a^year. The
building he was now speaking of occupied about one-half of the land, the ground-
rent of which was £330. He had written to Sir. Ward on the subject of the lease,
and he had submitted the draft of the lease to Sir. Ward for his approval.
Sir. Aspinall said he did not know how his friend could aak Sir. Willmer what it
was about. v
Sir. Temple : You have had notice to produce that letter.
Sir. Willmer: It is here.
The letter dated Dec. 19 was then put in and read.
Sir. SVillmer continued : lie gave the rough sketches to the plaintifl°.
Kc-exaniined : The letter had reference to two pieces of land. He was going to
erect two buildings.
Sir. .lames Fraser was next called. He said he wont with Sir. SVillmer to Sir.
Wylie abont the first plot of land. After the purchase of tlu' two plots of land was
completed he remembered going with Sir. Willmer to Sir. Wylie. He went about
the '20111 of August to Sir. Wylie. He did not know whether it was at that time tliat
Sir. Holme's letter was produced. Sir. Willmer gave instructions to Sir. SVylle to
prepare plans and specincatious for a building to cost £2,000. Sir. Willmer based his
calculation on Mr. Holme's letter and advice. On a subsequent occasion, when the
plans were progressing, several alterations were suggested by Mr. Willmer, as well
as by himself; and it %vas upon Sir. Willmer and he expressing to Mr. Wylie that
Sir. SVillmer would like to have a staircase also at the back end of the building, so
that if he wanted to divide tho rooms in future there would be easier access to them
—as all the rooms were about 100 feet long— that Sir. Wylie said that conld not be
done for the money, and then Mr. Willmer agreed to extend the price to £2,.W0,
but that that must be the limit. He was present after, aud the ,£2.500 was referred,
to several times when any alteration was suggested bv either side. He
always saw Sir. Robert Wylie there, and very seldom Sir. Wylie, senior, aud upon
anything being wanted by Sir. Willmer he (Sir. Fraser) invariably asked whether
that would increase the cost, because if It would, Sir. Willmer always said, then it
must not be done, except upon one occasion, when Sir. SS'ylie, jun., suggested that
there could be a very good room got out of the cockloft. They then asked the probable
expense of converting the cockloft into a room, .and on being told about £40 or £60.
Sir. SVillmcr told Sir. Wylie to proceed with it. He was not quite sure whether
that £40 or £50 was to be included in the £2,500 or not, but when tho estimates carao
in it turned out that the cockloft was to cost from £400 to £500. The £2,500 was
mentioned on these occasions. Tho last occasion on which he heard it mentioned
was a few days before the plans had been sent to Mr. Hbworth's to take out the
quantities.
Cross-examined: He was a bookbinder and stationer in active business. He wa»
always with Sir. Willmer in this matter, because he was his personal friend, and
lived near him in the neighborhood of Huyton. He invariably mentioned that it
must not exceed .£2,.500. He went with Sir. Willmer to the Mcrciiri/ oltlce. He could
not tell whether that was before or after the 20th of August. He had most decidedly
assisted Sir. SVillmcr in this matter out of mere friendship.
David Howorth, architect and surveyor, said be was employed to take out tho
quantities from Sir. Wylle's plans. He did so. I'revioiis to receiving the plans he
had had one interview with Mr. Wylie on tlia subject. It was a day or two before
In; received the plans. Mr. Wylie, Sir. Itobert Wylie, Sir. Fraser, and Sir, Willmer
were present. They looked over the plans. They were not quite ready. He just
looked over the plana and siiccifications, and received instructions from Sir. Wylie
respecting ;tlicm. Ho could not tax his memory with anything having been said
about tho amount to be expended. He saw Sir. Uobert SVylie immediately alter he
began to take out the measurements. Ho saw Sir. SVylie at the office when he
received Instructions to take out the quantities. .Sir. Wylie said if he saw where a
reduction could be made in cost, where any saving could l)e;eirected, or where any-
thing was not correctly specified, he would be very glad if he would mention it. He
did so accordingly. He was not aware that anything was said at any of the meetings
abont the cost. He had prepared fresh plans.
The Assessor : The question is what was the contract between these two parties—
whether it was a contract not to exceed a certain sum, or whether that was left open
for the alterations to be made.
Mr. Aspinall: 1 don't know whether my friend requires me to prove that this
building could not be done for less than £0,3.50.
Sir. 'remplc : Take y
, -- - your own course.
Mr. .1. .Sale was then called : He said he was a builder In a large business. Ho
went over the plans and specifications of Mr. Wylie for the purpose of making a
tender, and he did make a tender. He beUeved It was £0,600, and, according to his
judgment, the work could not be done for less.
Sir. I'rsom gave similar evidence.
Sir. Aspinall said that was tho ease on behalf of the defendant, and he called upon
the jury nov/ confidently— and he might venture to say a greatldeal more confidently
than befon — to say that the ease ought to result in a verdict for the defendant. He
did not know anything which was more material in a case of this sort, to test the
credibility of witnesses, than to find out, if they could, what either party had said at
a time when there was no litigation contemplated to a person who had nothing to do
with the matter ; and, therefore, he appealed to that letter to Sir. Ward, of Prescot.
The learned Assessor remarked that that letter was after the 26th, when the writ
was issued.
January 18, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
61
Mr. Ahtpinall said ; Still it was to a person who had nothing to do with the matter,
and about a matter totally apart irom the question. Mr. Ward was not a person who
had Lad anylliiu;;- to do with the litigation, and Mr. Willmer could never have
expected that hi.s letter to him would turn up for the purpose of this aetion ; and
therefore he should appeal to it as showing: that, in wrihng about aperfectlydiflTerent
matter, Mr. AVillmer liad told exactly the same story with refj:ard to his intentions
and feeling.-* as he now told. The letter contained a distinct and definite explanation
of what he meant when he said the sum would be considerably increased. *' It inij^ht
be extended to i*.i,oo<>;" and nobody could suppose that if Mr. Wyiie's plan.s could
Lave been executed for £;i,000, or auythiny near it, Mr. Willmer would ever have
objected to go on with them or to pay for them. If he had ;iot always mentioned
the £'2/t00, and if it had ever been in contemplation to spend the i" 6,000 ux)on which
Jlr. Wylie was askiu*;- commission, why did he object to the plans in such a strong
and peremptory manner, and why did he not go on with them ? Unless
the arrangement had been so diflerent from what Mr. Wylie carried out,
it was his interest not to have two architects, and he was never likely to Inive
broken with Mr. Wylie. The letter to Mr. Ward was a material corrobora-
tion of Mr. Willmcr's view of the contract. It went to show that £;i,000 was
the utmost limit he expected to go to. There were other corroborations. Mr. Wylie
had pledged his oath that the building originally was extremely diflerent from' that
which was to be carried out. He said it was to be two stories. He very early in
this matter prepared an elevation lor the satisfaction of the lilue-coat School, and
at that time, at all events, it was pretty plain that the intention was to have a
building carried out with four stories and a basement, for the elevation prepared
for the trustees before the purchase was finally completed showed four stories and
a basement. Mr. Wylie himself produced two sets of rough sketches which he said
BIr. Willmer brought to him at tlie outset, and the very first of those showed four
stories and a basement. Therefore, which did they believe, when one gentleman
came before them and said it was first intended to have two stories and a basement,
and the other said four stories and a basement ? When they saw the rough sketch
and elevation they could not doubt that it was always intended to have four stories
and a basement. Mr. Willmer was at all events correct on that point ; and if they
were satisfied that upon one material point one gentleman was accurate and another
not, that was a strong argument that he was likely to be accurate throughout the
case. His friend said that because the Mercury office was to pay about £300 a. year,
less taxes, and because Mr. Willmcr's own share in it was computed to be worth £200
a year, and the other portion of the building was likely to let for a .£100 a :ycar, he must,
therefore, have intended to spend £0,000. But the property was leasehold, and, there-
fore, in order to repay him he must have, at all events, a little more than if it was
freehold. He was paying the sum of £230 a yearrentfortheground. Letthem deduct
that, and then put upon the property such a percentage as a gentleman expected to
have when ho built property of that description, and then see whether, as a reasonable
man, he ought to have been expected at any time to spend more than he stated.
They would find that Mr. Willmer, acting as a man of business, could not possibly
itnend to lay out more than £3,000, possibly not more than £2,-500. Mr. Wylie him-
self certainly admitted that, in the first instance at all events, tliere was an intention
of not spentung more than £2,000, and the only matter Mr. Wylie noticed as likely
to have varied that intention was the transactioji with the Mercury office ; but he
could not help flunking that it would strike the jury that if Mr. Wylie saw that any
alterations suggested by the Mercury office would increase the Rvalue of the build-
ing in such a proportion as from £2,00 to .£0,000, it was his duty to call Mr.;Willmer's
attention to it, because an architect was bound to inform himself of the intentions
and wishes of the person who employed him. Mr. Wylie said £2,000 was mentioned
in the first instance, fbut after that time great alterations took place, and
he never asked Mr. Wilmer what he intended to expend. If alterations took
place which would increase the cost ; if alterations took place which,
according to Mr. Wylie, changed a humble workshop into a palatial building,
•would they not expect the architect to inform himself what sum his
cUent intended to go to ? Therefore he asked them to believe that the
story of Mr. Willmer, who said that the conversations he spoke to did take place, and
that an alteration from £2,000 to £2,500 in the limit was much more likely. He denied
that there ever was such an alteration as to convert the workshop into a palace, and
he said that the story of Mr. Willmer was much more likely than that of Mr. Wylie.
BIr. Willmer said there were no alterations cither by the Mercury ofliee or by any-
body else which changed the character of the building. He said that he always
intended to let ; that he never intended to occupy the whole ; that it was quite true
the name of Mr. Maitland was given him after these transactions began, but lie
always contemplated having a tenant, and having ascertained the name of his
tenant, he put Ills architect in communication with liim, but no alterations were
made in the character of the building. If such alterations had been made, Mr. Wylie
should have put a fresh sum before Mr. Willmer, and he could not perform his duty
without doing so. If the jury wanted something to decide that which was
in the minds of both parties throughout, they had it in the fact that
Mr. Wylie, jun., when he was asked what it would cost, stated something
like £3,000. If the building had cost something like that, probably Mr. Willmer
would not have hesitated, but an increase to £G,300 clearly showed that Mr.
Wylie had done something which was totally useless to Mr. Willmer, and as soon
as Mr. Willmer found it out be absolutely rejected the plans, as he properly might.
He rejected the plans because they were not what he ordered, and also because they
involved an expenditure far beyond what he contemplated, and probably far beyond
his means. He stated that £2,500 was given as an enlarged limit upon Mr. Wyiie's
own suggestion, and that that sum was referred to afterwards as being the approxi-
mate amount for which the works were to be done i and Mr. Eraser corroDoratcd
him. Then, when Mr. Wylie came into Jlr. Willmer's ofliee on the 3lst, it was
evident that he came thereto prepare Mr. Willmer for the estimate which had been
talked about before. Mr. WyUe must have had a consciousness that the estimate
considerably exceeded what Mr. Willmer intended when he said to him, " Mr.
Willmer, you must expect the estimates to be above £3,000." Whether Mr.
Wylie had any notion that they would come to the amount they did come to he
did not know ; but he evidently had a consciousness that they would come to
a large amount. He had called Jlr. Willmer and Mr. Fraser, upon whom
the case for the defendant chiefly rested, and he asked the jury to believe them,
not only because they were credible witnesses, but because their evidence was in
accordance with all the probabilities of the case. The defendant's ease was that Mr.
Wyhe had been employed tc prepare plans for a building to cost one sum of money ;
he prepared plans to cost a sum far beyond the means or intentions of Mr. Willmer.
He did that which was not a performance of duty cast upon him by the defendant,
and which was of no earthly use to him, and it was monstrous if the defendant,
having been delayed with the building, and put to trouble and expense of all kinds
by Mr. Wylie doing that which he was not ordered to do, Mr. Wylie should now say
"Although you employed me to prepare plans fbr a building to cost a small sum, I
have prepared you plans for a building which will cost you double the amount, and
I ask you, because I have done that, to pay me my commission, not merely upon the
small amount, but upon that enormous snm for which I have prepared plans."
Mr. Temple addressed the jury on behalf of the plalntifl'. lie said the learned
Assessor had narrowed the case by stating that it was a qneslion whether it was a
contract to exceed £2,500 or not. That was the simple question, and he would ask
them could they have theslightest doubt that there was an authority to exceed that
snm over and over again ? He was not going to say one word against Mr Wylie ; he
assumed he was a respectable man, and he believed ho was so ; but Mr. Wiilmer in
his letter to Mr. Ward, of I'rescot, though he had made a contract not to exceed
£2,.')00, admitted that probably the portion to be built upon might extend to £3,(X)0,
Could they come to any other conclusion than that this was a contract to exceed
£2,500? Just look at the whole course of the building. Mr. Willmer said he nevtr
-proposed an elevation of two stories It was very true, in reference to the piece cf
[and now to be built upon ; but recollect, when the proposals were made, it was for
tlieother piece of land. Then Mr. Willmer took his rough sketches, after having
la
had some communication with the Mercury office; and It was quite true that fhoK
rough sketches showed an elevation of lour stories. But Uow did Mr Willmer eon-
sider he was to make his £000 or £700 a year ground-rent ? How much per cent.
would that be .' He thought, upon a rough sketch of It, they would find it varying nvm
iV Hl'^.l"^'' "^l"'- °" " ''^'»"" '"'' ""}' y™" • »"'' "'at 'n reference to tenements which
Mr. Willmer kimself would have the entire superintendence of- For property »uoh
as that he should take it tliat from 7 to 8 per cent, would be a good perceulaiL'e It
was preposterous to suppose that Mr. Willmer could think he could build
a buildiug of that sort and character, to make a noble appearance, so that
it might be seen from the churchyard,— It was preposterous to tupnone that
he could think for one moment that he could build that for £2,500. U-t the Jury
look at the probabilities of the case. What was the probable thing, considi-ring the
f - * ,i .K ' /;'"^' 'l!*^ ''"«''''"on» 'nade from time to time, and the accommodation ?
(.ould they think that he did not expect it would come to more than £2,V)«? Had
not arcliitc'cts been called who told them It was Imiiosslble for an architect to keep to
the exact ±2.500, until the qiiantillea are taken out, especially when the plans were
altered from day to day .' His learned friend had never asked whether Sir. Willmer
had not questioned Mr. Hobert Wylie whether it would exceed £2,.')00. The young
man swore he did ask that, and the young man replied "Yes, It; will." Taking aU
the facts together, could they come to any other conclusion but that Mr. Wylie wu
entitled to recover 2* per cent, upon £«J0O, which would give hUn a verdict for
£158 158. ? He would say no more, because the learned Assessor would dh'ect them
on the evidence.
The learned Assessor said :— Gentlemen of the jury, Mr. Wylie Is an architect, and
he brings his action to recover £158 15$., which is a commission at the rate of
2i per cent, upon £0.350, being, as he states, the estimated value or cost of the
erection of a building, the plans and specilications of which, pursuant to the
instruction of the defendant, he prepared; and his right to recover depends upon
the question of what the contract was between the plaintiff and the defendant .
Gentlemen, if a man goes to a machine maker and says— "Make me a machine, or
steam engine," and if you can imagine such a thing as no directions betnu giien as to
cost, of course, when the engine is built or the machine is prepared, the purchaser
would be bound to take it whatever its cost was. lint suppose he ordered an engine
of 20O horse-power, and the machine maker prepared one of 400 horse-power, it would
be monstrous to suppose that the man who ordered one of 200 horse-power should be
bound to take the one of 400. Now, in the case of an architect, if an architect is
employed to prepare plans and speciflcations for the erection of a building— I Kon't
know what the course may be in every specific instance, but probably, generally
speaking, when a OTntleman wishes to build either a house for himself, or a warehouse,
factory, or other building, if he employs an architect one would think he would tell
him—" I want such and such a description of building, of a house, or factory." In
order that the architect may know somewhere about the style and proportions
in which to proceed. Very likely, generally speaking, they will know the probable
amount to be laid out on the building; and it must make considerable difference
whether £1,000 is to be laid out, or £-2,000. It would probably make a great difference
whether it should cost £2.000 or £6,000, which is coming nearer to this case. Well,
if the architect is instructed to prepare plans and specifications for a
building, the cost of which is not to exceed £-2,500, or thereabouts,
a little more or a little less, he cannot expect to be paid if he
prepares plans and specifications which are not applicable for snoh
a buildino^ as that, but require the outlay of a sum considerably ex-
ceeding the limits of £2,500. because his employment was to do a cer-
tain work. He has not done that work, but other work. He can, therefore,
only recover in case he proximates to the contract which he has entered into
with his employer— that is, to do the work specified by the employer. Now, the
plaintifTs case here is that there were no such limits at all gii-en to him ; that he
was employed to prepare plans and specifications. He puts it, " Although 1 knew in
the first instance, upon the communication taking place between us ana Mr. Holme,
that about £2,000 was the limit, yet that was for what was originally intended in the
first plot." As you remember, two plots were specified as purchased from the trus-
tees. This was the plot of land npou which a building to cost somewhere between
£1,500 or £2,000 was to be 6rected. "But," says he, "the defendant came from time
to time ; brought rough sketches of plans, and altered the building, which originally
was to consist of two stories only and acellar, to four stories and a cellar, and made
a totally different description of building from what was originally contemplated ;
and he never specified to me anything about a limitation of money, but went on
making these alterations, which would necessarily, from time to time, increase the
expense. I obeyed him ; what I did was by his direction ; I did nothing without
him; and therefore I am entitled to recover." And he is quite correct in that;
because, if it were according to the mode in which he puts it— if, althongh originally
the party contemplated a building to cost £1,.500 or £-2,000 only, and alterwards Mr.
Willmer, without placing any limits upon the amount to be spent, gave directions to
the architect from time to time to alter his plans, to increase and expand them. In
such a way as that ultimately the plans and specifications required the outlay of
£0,350 at the very lowest, Mr. Willmer must pay for that, because it was his own
fault in not limiting Mr. Wylie in the way in which he ought to have done. He can-
not, therefore, turn round and say— " I won't pay for it, because it is not what I wish
to have. • But on the other hand, if the case is as put by Mr. Willmer and Mr
Fraser, who is with him, " that originally I contemplated £2.000 to be spent, and
distinctly told Mr. WyUe that that was my limit ; and that afterwards when 1
wanted alterations to be made, I invariably " (and in that you have the evidence
of Mr. Willmer and Mr. Fraser both to the same efl'ect) "I invariably tow
him that If the alteration would exceed, or render a greater expenditure or
money necessary than my limit, I would not have it done"— then it is ■
very difl"erent matter. Upon one occasion Mr. Wvlie said- "Well, it cannot
bedone for £2,000." " Then," said Mr. Willmer, "well, I will increase my limit to
£2,500, but within those limits you must keep." And Mr. Fraser corrotiorates mm s
and they both say that over and over again-Mr. Willmer says twenty times at least
—they told him he must not exceed £-2,500. Well, gentlemen, althoufrh it may be
said you cannot arrive accurately at what would be the cost of erecting buildings
according to certain plans and speciflcations until the quantities are taken out, yet it
is obvious that any architect of skill and experience would have some general know-
ledge which will keep him within certain limits, and certainly he oiight to k"?5 "',"
limits between £2,500 and £0,350. One of the witnesses ciUled for the plaintiff, Mr.
Culshaw, said it is obvious he must have done so. Mr. ( unninghani saia,
of course they cannot know it accurately, but they must know to a certain
extent. Well, if Mr. Willmer and Mr. Fraser are correct m what they sa>, un-
doubtedly there were limits beyond which Mr. ■^^ ylie was not to go. Mr. Wj lu did
go beyond them ; he prepared plans and specifications which are not of any
SseatalltoMr.WiUmer; and Mr. Willmer is not bound o P»y f''%<*',t°\'=l';""'
their being used in the way described by Mr. Howorth makes no earthly difference.
When Mr Willmer ascertained that the cost would be so great he was not bound to
take them, if they were not according to contract. There is the case, upon the oral
statement of Mr. Wylie and his son on one hand, and there is the statement of Mr.
Willmer and Mr. l-'raser on the other. H you Ijeji'™ the plaintiff's case the
plalntifl- is entitled to recover ; if you believe the defendant'.s, the plaintiff is not
entitled to recover It therefore depends upon the view you take of the different
parties They are all in a respectable station of life ; and it is difficult to say that
einic'roneparV or the' other came here dellber.itely to tell that .fl"^'' is untrue, and
yet it is diflicult to reconcile these two statements On the 2nd of ^oTC^^^f''*
kppears, after the tenders are sent in, Mr. Willmer finds out the extent of >t s »nd he
w-rltes tiiis letter-and when I read the letter and Mr. A\ ylle's answer, I thmk you
will have the whole case before you :—
[WILLMER TO WTLIE.J , ^ ....
" Liverpool, 32, Church-street, Nov. 2, 1860.
" Deab SIB.-A110W mc to draw your attention to my having statcdto yo'' tjati
contemplated e-xpending upon my proposed erection the sum of £2,000, which air.
62
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 18, 1861.
Samiwl Holme In hi* ietUr (which yon road) of the 17th of Au^st last quoted, and
when be so remarked that for so large au expenditure on a groiuid-reut of £170 per
aanuia a 42 years* lease should be required.
" I meation this here to show you that my whole movement has been baaed upon
that outlay.
"I admit that at a subsequent date I extended the sum to £2,500. Upon givins;
you instraetioDS, I did so on the understanding that your plans and speciticaTiona
should be executed for that expenditure. You may, therefore, judge my astonish-
ment upon receiving eight tenders ranging from £()..'JjO to .£C,&13.
" Being placed iu this very unexpected and einlmrrassini/ position, I consider it my
duty, acting under the advice of my solicitor, to returu to you your plans, and to
state that any connexion with you in'thU matter ceases to-day.
" I am, dear sir, yoius, &«.,
"To Mr. Thomas Wylie." "Kdwabd Willmer.
Now the answer to that letter, in which Mr. Willmer rclers to having origmally told
Mr. Wylie £2,000 and afterwards extended it to £2,500, which was to be tlic basis of
the instructions given to the plaintiff— the following is the plointitTs reply : —
'•LWVI.IE TO WILLMER.]
■' Warwick-chambers, 2", Uanover-strcet, Liverpool, Nov. 3, 1860.
"Mv Dk.\b Sir,— I have to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of yesterday.
inibrming me that you consider it your duty, acting under the advice of your
solicitor, to return to me ray plana (for your intended building), and to state that
your connexion with me iu this matter ceases ' to-day ' (^ esterday).
" I presume that 1 must talce this as your fixed determination, 'tliough T think you
can hardly mean it to be so, on more mature reflection : should I. however, be mis-
taken in this. 1 can onlv express my regret at your apparently hasty conclnsion.
which, if you intend it to oe final, ought to be accompanied by the payment of the
QSnal commission and fees Ipr surveys, which, under the circumstances, 1 claim iu
fnlL
"I can, in justification of myself, show how your ideas have expanded from a
mere workroom and office to a palatial structure of amazing extent, containing
upwards of 400,000 cubic feet, lolly and imposing in appearance ; but that of course
is not now necessary.
" I am, my dear Sir, yours, &e..
"To Mr. Edward Willmer." "Thomas WvLtE.
Well, the only remark I will make upon it is. that whilst replying to 3Ir. Willmer's
letter, he (Sir. Wylie) does not say to Mr. Willmer— "You never limited me in the
first instance to £2,000 or £2.o00." He passes that by. entirely unanswered. Whether
it was that he could not answer it, I cannot say, but lie does not make any comment
upon it. Undoubtedly he comes into court to day, and says on oath that such things
never did take place. Well, gentlemen you are to say, taking all tiiese circumstances
into your consideration, whether or not the contract was as stated by Mr. Willmer
and Mr. Fraser. b* -cause, whatever work the plantifTmay have done, lie' is not entitled
to call upon tlie defendant to pay for it, unless it is done pursuant to the contract
whiehwas entered into; and that contract, if it were of the nature pointed out by
Xr. Willmer, was to prepare plans .ind specifications which would require au outlay
of iK2,600, or thereabouts. Ue has never prepared those plans and specifications,
and is not entitled to be paid anything at all. because what he has done is utterly
uaeleas to the defendant. Upon tlie otiier hand, if yon do not take that view, and are
satisfied that the plaintiff is correct ; that no limits were given to him at any time ;
tliat he proceeded entirely by the direction of the defendant ; and that, in truth, this
bnilding grew out of a mere workroom into a palatial structure without any fault
of his own— then he is entitled to recover the amount of 2* per cent, upon the
£«,350.
The jury retired to consider their verdict ; but after a brief absence from court tlicy
returned.
The Assessor : I understand you wish to ask me a question.
Foreman : A few of the jury wished to ask wliether we have power to give a smaller
amount to the plaintiff, upon 'the smaller sum.
The Assessor: I don't think you can. He is either entitled to recover for all the
work he does under the contract, or not at all. His contract was to prepare plans
and specifications. According to the evidence of Mr. Willmer and 3Ir. Fraser, they
wcTe to be plans and sni-ciflcations for a building not to exceed a certain sum ; and
if the defendant gets plans and specifications which would not enable him to build
such a building as he rcfjuired for that sum. he gets no value from the work wliich is
done. If, on the other hand, the contract was as the plaintiff" states it to be. and no
limits were assigned, there is notliing to prevent his being entitled— in fact, it is
admitted by the defendant, he would be entitled to the whole money ; so that it is
either the wboleor none.
After a moment's consideration.
The Foreman said— We arc agreed to find a verdict for the defendant.
A verdict for the defendant was accordingly entered.
PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION.
THE Eighth Annaal Exhibition ol'tliis Society is now open at the rooms
of the Old Water-color Society, 5, Waterloo-place, east. The present
ooUection doea not show any signs of improvement on the well-known
means, nor docs it promise any advance in future operations. Tliere are
two large views of the Coliseum and St. Peter's, l)y P. Dovizielli, which are
the most striking objects of that kind in the room, and are besides very
excellent specimens of photography. Koger Fenton sends some very fine
effects, under the title of " Still life," and Messrs. Caldesi and Blandford
exhibit several very bold and vigorous studies from the Elgin Marbles,
which with the still-life effects hy lloger Fenton, must prove, if properly
employed, extremely valuable lessons for young artists. There is an
invention by Paul Pretsch, of impressions on copper blocks, produced
entirely by electrotype and photography, which can be printed from the
ordinary letter-press — likely to attract some attention. The reproductions
of old and modem pictures have been very successful, particularly the
" Aurora," after Guide ; "La Honde de Nuit," from Rembrandt ; " The
Post Office," by Hicks ; some water-color drawings after Cumoch ; a
composition by Pickersgill, and the bas-reliefs, after Thorwalsden, of
Stimmer, Winter, Autumn, and Night, by the London Stereoscopic
Society. There are as tisual many architectural remains and examples —
among them we noticed— "The Excavations at Wroxetcr (Uriconium) ;"
" The Nave, Fumess Abbey ■;\" Raglan Castle ;" " Cobliam-hall, Kent ;"
" Old Gateway, Chepstow Castle ;" " Goodrich and Barnard Castles ;"
" Leeds Cartle ;" " Oxford Castle ;" " Harewood House, Yorkshire ;"
" Aftley House, Maidstone ;" " Porch of the Church of Morlaas, near Pau;"
"Dinglev Church, near Market Ilarborough ;" several views of "Raglan
Castle ;' " Church of St. Savin, Hautcs I'yrenees ;" " Castle Acre Priory;''
"Tomb of Bishop Fox, Winchester;" " Madingley-hall ;" "Walderwick
Church, Suffolk ;" "Doorway of Church, St. Santiago ;" and Captain H.
Dixon exhibits thirteen very interesting photographs from temples, &c., at
OrUsa. The portraits as usual are very numerous, and in several of the
frames will be foond UkeneMe* of public characten and eminent persons.
AllCUITBCTURAI. PnOTOtiKAl'IIIC EXHIIUTION.
THE OPEMNO MEETINO.
THE opening of the Exhibition for the present year of the Architectural Photo-
graphic Association, took place on Monday evening in the Cialleries, 1), Conduit-
street. Uegent-street, under the most auspicious circumstances, for notwithstanding
the severity of the weather, there was a very numerous and fashionable assemblage
of ladies and gentlemen in evening; dress. Amongst tlic gentlemen present we
noticed His Excellency the Marquis jD'Azeglio. Sardinian Minister, and suite; the
Marquis of .sligo, Professor Tennant, Professor Partridge; Messrs. LMward 1' Anson,
llobert Hesketh, Calder JIarshall, Henry Uobn, Joseph Uononii, Thomas llawksley,
AValter (ioodall, Kanh.ael Brandon, T. Roger Smitli, .1. Blomtield, William Lightly,
.John Leslie. John Norton, J. K. Colling, Octavius Hansard, E. B. Lamb, George
Morgan. William Burges. C. F. Hayward, (J-eorge Godwin. W. L. Donaldson,
G. O. Leicester, Dr. Pettigrew, J. P. St. Aubyn, G. Truefltt. Francis Fowler,
J. P. Seddon. J. Cole. E. B, Williams. — Winstanley, Edward Koberts, S. J. Nicboll,
Charles Maytiew, AV. M. Teulou, H. B. Garling, A. J. Baker, *S:c., &c.
'riie company having perambulated the galleries, inspecting tlie interesting collec-
tion of photographs for a considerable time, Mr. EDWAKj)'.r'ANS0N, the Treasurer
of the Association, having been called to the chair, said the Committee had hoped
that the President. William Tite. Esq., M.r., would have been able that evening
to address them, but that gentleman had sent a letter to the honorary secretary,
Mr. Lightly, stating that he was suffering f^om bronchitis, which prevented hiiu
at present from attending evening meetings. Then, Mr. A. .1. B. Beresf'ord-IIope,
whose name was universally known in the world of art. would have been amongst
them, but he was prevented from being present in consequence of entertaining a
circle of friends at Scdgbury-pnrk, Cranbrook. Under these circumstances he was
called upon, as tlie;Treasurcr of tlie Institution to welcome the ladies and gentlemen
he now addressed to tlie opening meeting of the Exhibition. It was originally in-
tended that a short paper sliould be read that evening, but the Committee subse-
quently came to tlie decision that no paper sliould Ije then read, being under the
impression that;it would be more agreeable for those present to read lectures for them-
selves as they examined the photographs on the walls of the galleries. He might,
however, just be allowed to introduce the collection to them by drawing their attention
to some of its chief features. As professional men. tlic promoters of the Associa-
tion were desirous that the Exhibition sliould be not only pleasing to the eye, but
instructive in the art of architecture. Amongst the objects in the galleries (about
.'i70 in number), the Chaikman pointed out as, especially worthy of notice, photo-
graphs of detailed interiors of St. Paul's, which had been taken under circumstances
which very few but ourselves had had the opportunity of taking. These photogi-aphs
had been taken under the most favorable circumstances by Mr. Bedford, who, as a
pliotographer, occupied the highest place amongst his English competitors. They
were interesting photographs, and belonged to an interesting period, embracing
wrought-iron gates, wood-carving by Grinlin, Gibbons and others, and details of
ironwork. Then there were some interesting details of Canterbury Cathedral, some
photographs from India, and a short series of photographs '■from a place which
now and always had the greatest interest— Carthage, in reference to which a work
was now in the press. The photographs last referred to illustrated what they would
probably hear of the architecture of Carthage in tliat work. Then, again, there were
m the galleries an unusual number of interiors. There was considerable difficulty
encountered iu taking interiors, and thi^ number tliey had, which were very inte-
resting and executed with great success, showed the progress of the art of photo-
graphy. At the extreme end of the Great Gallery were some of the finest photo-
graphs thev had, he meant the Great Doorways of the French Cathedrals, executed
by, perhaps, the first of photographers. Bisson Frf-res. The Chairman then referred
in terms of eulogy to the photogi'aphs of the Doorways of Notre Dame, the Fajade of
the Cathedral of I'erigueux, the 1 agade of the Cathedral of Poitiers, the Lantern of
Chateau, Cliambord (by Bisson), and to the Interior of the New Sluscum at Oxford
(by Dolamore and Ilullnck), and to illustrations of the Details of Buildings at Blois.
But he must not finish his catalogue without drawing their attention to the valuable
series of photographs by Frith, of Egyptian Temples, having details of columns and
capitals taken expressly for the Association, and which showed the style of archi-
tecture during the several dynasties of Egyptian kings. He trusted that next year
they would be able to show as good, if not a better, exhibition of photographs than
were to be found in the galleries that evening. The Chairman concluded by an-
nouncing that during the exhibition a series of lectures would be delivered on the
objects illustrated by' the photographs.
The company then resumed their inspection of the works of art in the galleries.
LAMBETH SCHOOL OF ART.
ACOXVERSAHrONE in aid of the building fund of the Lambeth School of Art
took place on .Saturday evening, at the South Kensington Museum, the whole
of the estabUshment, including the picture-galleries, patent collection, and schools
being thrown upon on the occasion, by iiennissiou of the Committee of Council on
Education, the Trustees of the National Gallery, and the Commissioners of Patents.
The drill-slied of the 1st Middlesex Engineer Volunteers, which adjoins the Museum,
was likewise .exposed to view. It is an uupretending but commodious and very
useful structure, 00 feet in length, 40 feet in width, and 26 feet in height, and was
erected at a total cost of £82. Other volunteer corps, who have not proper
drill-grounds would do well to take a hint from the excellent arrangements
made for training and exercise by their sagacious brethren at South Iven-
siugton. The Lambeth .School of Art. situated at Vauxhall, and the first stone
of wliich was laid by H. R. H. the Prince of Wales in'June last, is designed, as
the permanent home of the drawing classes which have been gathered in the National
8(^hoolrooni8, 1'rincc's-road, where they have outgrown the accommodation supplied.
The members of the classes are connected chiefly with the building, engineering, and
I>ottery trades, so extensively carried on in Lambeth. The school is self-supporting,
80 that nothing is needed for its annual maintenance ; but in December last a sum of
about £200 was still required to complete the undertaking. The coniTran-ione of
Saturday was held with the view of raising, if not the whole, at least a portion of the
requisite sum, and, we are happy to add, with the happiest and most satisfactory
results. It Is believed that -l.iiOO tickets, at a shilling each, were sold previous to
Saturday ; that .'iOO more were bought at the doors on the evening of the conversa-
:.mie, and that the building fund of the school will be augmented by the handsome
sum of £200 In consequence of the meeting. The various rooms and galleries of the
Museum at .South hensington were from seven to eleven o'clock in the evening
thronged bv thousands of persons, male and female, who expressed the utmost
gratification with what they saw and heard. On a screen opposite tlu' Sliccpshanks
Gallery were exhibited a number of drawings presented to tiie Lainljelb .School of
Art by Mr. G. H. Coppley, including four productions by R. Wilson, a landscape by
Pearson, a sketch bv I'ra Bartolomeo, and Dutch drawings of cattle and figures.
These drawings arc all possessed of interest, and some of tiiem of great excellence,
so that we hope the art-teaching in the school may be rendered more easy by such
examples. During the evening there wore present in dlfTerent parts of the JIuseum
two bands, one that of the First Sliddlesex Engineer Volunteers (undcT the manage-
ment of Mr. J. Gladney, bandmaster), and the other that of the .■!7tli (ISloomsbury)
Rifles (under the management of Mr. Twiddv, bandmaster), and they performed
many favorite airs. Four companies of the :i7tli. headed by their band, marched to
the meeting from the Foundling, under the command of Major Jcakes, who wa»
accompanied by Captains Corrie, Ware, Sayer, and Richards.
The Exhibition of 1862. — The Guarantee Fund for the Great Exhi-
bition of 1862 amounts now to over £373,00.
January 18, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
68
» —
Xyra Oernmnica : Hymns for the Sundiiyn and Chitf Festivals of the
Chrint'um Year. Translated from the Geniiau l)y Catherine Wink-
■» OBTH. With Illustrations by and Engraved under the Superintendence of
John Leighton, F.S.A. London: Longman, ISOl.
SIXTY years ago, and for some years after, Germany was the literary monarch
of Europe. Men were then in the first stage of their repentance from their
eigliteenth century sins of formality and heartlessness. The world found that it
could abstain from shaving and wear its own hair without heinously sinning.
They found that they could make a snns-culotte revolution in dress, witliout
ceasing to be good — without ceasing even to be courtly and refined. In the fields
of politics and the doctrine of government, I''nmce— but only as the. exponent of
English ideas — did the world this service, an(r herself set the daring example to
the world. By Gennany the same office was dischai'ged iu the department of
literature, thought, and art. It was Goethe, Schiller, and others of their com-
patriots who dashed the powder out of ])edants' wigs ; who showed that veritable
living swains were better, more admirable, and more loveable, than the buckram
shepherds and satyrs of Sevres vases — than the CoTydons and Daphnes of
" pastoral poets," who wore ruffles and rapiers, and lounged in the anterooms of
courtiers. The world felt its way to its own heart : with joyous elasticity it
truly breathed ; its breath was a tumultuous sush of genuine literature. Tlie
author of Werter gave expression to the world's sorrows ; Richter gave voice to
its pure enjoyments ; Fichte unbosomed its deeper and more hallowed inten-
tions ; other Germans lifted uj) its hopes; still others chose the way by which he
must travel who wished to acliieve the new aspiration.
Germany, like every other temporary abiding-place of crowning genius, had
its day. Its Augusian age, its Med'icean epoch, its Elizabethan era, passed
away. After a short taste of pre-eminence, it succumbed to nearly the old
level . Of late, as of yore, we have expected and asked from it stores of scholar-
ship, not gleams of genius. Tomes on tomes of polemic, exegetic, doctrinal, and
pastoral theology, has it lurnished to us. The country of Tauler and of Luther has
lately reared nothing better than Hengstenberg, Giessler, Kurtsch, and Steir.
Notliing " done into English " from the German, in the theological field, for not
a few years past — save the volume before us — has really delighted English
readers. This Christian hymnal anthology is no embodiment of German poesy
and piety of to-day, but colleetance of the finer utterances of her religious muse
gleaned from many past centuries.
A mouniful interest is attached to the superb book before us, by the circum-
stance tliat it is dedicated to Baron Bunsen, who has died since it passed through
the press. Bunsen published, in 1833, his well-known " Versuch eines AUge-
meinen Gesang und Gebetbuchs." This was his only work which raised no con-
troversy, and evoked no antagonism. It was the great anthology of German
hyran-writiTS, and contained no less than 900 separate poems. From these
Miss Winkworth has chosen about a hundred. She has arranged them, in the
manner of Keble's " Christian Year," so as to apportioa one hymn to each Sun-
day and Church festival of the year. There are, besides, appendices, consisting
of hymns for the morning and evening, for tlie dying, and for mourners. The
highest praise that can be given to the translations is, that in many cases they
excel the originals. We do not mean in matter, but in artistic perfection. More
of the great German hymn-writers than Luther, although with fine ears for
music, had little regard for unerring metre and rhythm. This gives — for ex-
ample— to some of Luther's hymns, a not unplcasing roughness, congenial at
once to the lusty tenor of the sentiment, and to the rotund consonantal vigor
of the language. This, however, is at best what we may call "an abnormal"
merit. At least, the attempt to transfer to another language would have been
preposterous — especially to such a language as English, where it could only have
constituted a drawback.
Could we find space to wander into so desirous a path, we could with great
delight — and, we believe, witli interest — dilate upon the hiitory of many of the
hymns in this collection. Every one knows how Luther sonorously sang that
forty-sixth Psalm which he has made his own, as he marched to meet the " Devils
of Worms." Another of tlie hymns before us was called by the great Reformer,
" A Christmas Child's Song concerning the Child Jesus." He himself wrote it
for his boy Hans when he was five years old. Up till Christmas Eve. 1860, it
has been annually sung by DresJen choristers in the dome of their " Church of
the Cross." Many of the hymns, again, were written during the Thirty Years'
War. The soldiers of Gustavus sang them as they marched into battle. Others
are sanctified to many Englishmen, women, and eliildren, by the consideration
that they already know vereions of them by Charles Wesley — but versions less
classically elegant, and much less literally correct, than the renderings of Miss
Winkworth.
This is nominally a Christmas book " of the season." While its literary con-
tents elevateit to a height infinitely above the secular puerilities which form the
letterpress of most books for the drawing-room tal)le, it yields to some of them
in respect of the nuality of its illustrations. Mr. Leighton's own vignettes— if
we were to hint the scintilla of a defect — are perhaps rather stiff and cramped in
some cases, and he is apt to freeze into mannerism. Two of the illustrations are
set down as " after Flaxman." They are, we believe, from etchings, or, at the
most, casts which were ne\er produced in stone by the master whose superiority
Canova himself acknowledged. Messrs. Lawless and Marks are represented by
three or four plates each. We are glad to see that they can leave their pedantry
when it is necessary, and that they can draw naturally without being painfully
pre-RafFaclite. It is, indeed, very refreshing to tuni a leaf and come upon
one of their illustrations, after the eye is somewhat jaded by Mr. Leighton's
classically perfect but somewhat severe style. Of the engraving it is
enough to say— any other praise would be redundant— that it is
perfectly equal to the highest achievements which the art has yet effected.
It will be interesting to our readers to inform them that the plate after Flaxman
at page 133, and Mr. Armitage's illustration, " Dives and Lazarus," at page
IGO, were photographed on the wood from the original drawings. Few superior
artists can draw on wood themselves, or care to do it. Copyists are too often
inaccurate. If this experiment, therefore, succeeds, not only will one stage of
labor be saved, and the consequent cost of engravings cheapened, but those for
whose eyes they are meant will have a guarantee scientifically irrefragable that
they look upon literally exact transcripts of what the artist's genius conceived. ,
Only one other word, but a word of some importance. Every lover of sacred
song cannot purchase a guinea book. Could not Messrs. Longman publish a little
volume containing these liynuis without the illustrations at such a price as to suit
the pockets of those who have not an abundance of this worlil's goods? There
are many homes in which the hymns of Wesley anil Cowper are often nung, where
the opportunity of knowing the still more beauteous hymn^ of Gerhardt and
Tersteegen would be welcomed with gladness.
General Ren arlts on Stables and Examples of Stable Fittmnt. — By
William Milks, Esq. 4to. 1800. Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts,
Paternoster-row.
riUIE volume before us, devoted to the subject of stables and stable fittings,
1. contains 82 pages of letterpress, admirably printed and quite worthy of
Messrs. Longmans, and eleven lithographed illustrations — consisting of plans,
sections and details. Mr. Miles is not an architect by profession, and has, there-
fore, consulted Mr. Hayward, ofKxetcr, in the preparation of the plani), &c.,
which show the alterations effected in an old five-stall stable and coach-house,
by means of which four loose Imxes are obtained, each 11 feet 0 inches by 0 feet
8 inches, the passage being i feet 4 inches in width ; too narrow as we think ;
we should also have preferred more light, probably difficult to obtain in treating
the old building. These and one or two other matters lead us tp wish that the
author had rather shown us his idea of the stable lie would propose when unfet-
tered by previously existing arrangements. There can be no nuestion as to the
superiority of loose, roomy boxes, over the usual confined " stall," where a hone
is tied up by the head for hours together within two or .three feet of a more or less
glaring lime-whited wall.
It will cive a good idea of the contents of the book if we jot down two or three
of the author's ideas. It is a mistake to select a southern asjiect, thelemperature
varies too much, when, as is frequently the case, hot days are succeeded by cold
nights, and iu summer the great heat is objectionable. The author's stables face
the north, but in such case should he sheltered from the direct wind. Stables
should seldom exceed 10 feet or 10 feet 0 inches in height. In large (>stablislmunts
it would be better to divide a considerable portion of the building into compart-
ments by brick walls, each compartment to contain four loose boxes ; the ad-
vantages are, a better regulated temperature, and greater quiet for the bones.
"|Bell- traps " are considered to be abominations, because each pan is constantUr
filled with urine ; it is proposed to employ one trap only, outside the stable. We
think more costly drain pipes than are usutilly laid wouhl in such case be re-
quired. Lofts for provender over stables are an advantage for securing equality
of temperature ; rooms for servants objectionable, on account of the noise at night.
Loose boxes may be 12 feet by 10 feet for moderate-sized horses, and 12 feet by
12 feet for horses IG hands high. Concrete, 8 inches thick, should be laid under
the floor; it will prevent its sinking in places and forming hollows for water to
lodge in. Ducth clinkers possess the hardness and solidity of stone, without it*
slippery or cold surface, and are more durable than brick or wood, and less ab-
sorbent. Pebole pitching forms the worst floor ; common bricks, selected for
their hardness, laid on edge — herring-bone pattern, make the best floor next to
Dutch clinkers. Seven feet is sutficient for the divisions between the boxes ; and
37 inches in the clear is sufficient for the doors to boxes, but probably an inch or
two more would be an advantage. Iron and apparently enamelled mangers are
objected to on account of being cold in winter ; those of wood are preferred ; they
should be 3 fetti 7 inches high from the floor to the top of the cappin":, 13 iuches
wide at top, 9 inches at bottom, and 11 inches deep. The water-tank may be of
cast-iron, 1 1 inches square at top, 8 inches square at bottom, and 7J inches deep.
Wooden hayracks, with perpendicular staves, shor.ld be placed about level with
the horse's head, with an enclosure under to collect seeds, &c.
There are some matters in which we are not altogether disposed to agree with the
writer, as, for example, where he proposes to gather up the " litter'* and deposit
it under the manger during the day, it should be well dried and aired instead of
being piled up in a compact mass. It may be said that it should be so clean as not
to be objectionable, but it is difficult to keep it so in practice, without incurring
a great outlay for straw. However, the volume is a very ustd'ul contribution to
architectural literature, and we are not disposed to quarrel on minor matters. The
pages contain much information on the subject of stable fittings, and various
ingenious contrivances are graiihically illustrated. Altogether, the work l»
creditable alike to author and publisher.
Laxton's Builders' Price Bookfor 1861, contuini?ig]upicardg of 30,000 P"ees,
carefully cm-rected according to the present Prices of Materials and.
Labor, together with 5,000 Useful and Important Memoranda ; '"x* "»
Illustrated Appendix, containing Prices and Descnption of IHeu)
Materials and Inventions suited to the Builder, Contractor, awl
Eniiineer. By William Laxton, Architect and Surveyor. The Metro-
politan BuUdings Act, with Notes of Cases in the Superior t-aurti.
By Frederick W. Laxtox, F.S.A., Barrister-at-Law. W. Kent i Co.
WHEN, as in the present case, a price-book has reached its I'ortietli eoiuon,
it may be taken as pretty good evidence that most of the elements necrasmy
to success are contained within its pages. Forty years of annual nn"/"^™"
pubUeation must at once encourage the proprietors of a book to look for^^**
many more years of tribute to literature, and sUmulate them to ^dittooal
exertion to render still more acceptable to their subscribers a woric wtach Oaa
already found so much favor. ... , , ,
There is no lack of energy perceivable in the present volume. \^ th mu* of
the matter we have been^f course long familiar but m a great part we o«er^^^
careful revision down to the latest hour of publication, together with ad-htions
that much enhance its value. Figured diogrnras of ca«t '^d/™"?''' "■»" ^^^
and girders are accompanied with useful memoranda, and tlie information on
stone for building is next to invaluable:
The nrincioal suDDlies of Bath stone are obt.incd from Combe Down, Somerset-
shire Sorsl^am Down Box. and a little is still brought from Farleigli Down, Wdt-
Rhre' rorabc Down stone, when properly selected. Is an excellent wcathor-stone.
and can b?iodw°th safety for pfintKs, copings, &c., in any situation. The best
oualitv works easily but the^locts cannot be obtained free from bars and vents.
wTie7 constitute thb chief def«ts iu this stone ne beds vary 'rom 10 mches to
i feet o" inches in thickness, and arc occasionally fo""? -is "'"dl as ^' ff » »"«^
Hlorks of OTcat lenetb or size cannot always be procured in tins stone, but tncre is
"eneral?y no difficfS in getting them from 5 toO f«' "'.l'^"?"'-/"/ ""rTrln^
forn'or if remiired. 'The average size of the blocks is about L. cubic feet. Co«h«m
dSwh stone is usually free frSm the bars and vents which arc found in the Combe
Down and being a particularly sound stone, blocks can be obtained of any
morble dimensio^ns. ^he beds vary from 1 foot to 4 feet 7<bl«kne8s^ This stone
is finer in texture and more regular in quality than any other dcscripUon of B»tB
64
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 18, 1861.
stone It works cheaply, and is well adapted, both for external and internal purposes,
(exeopt ins plinths, for which a coarser stone is generally preferred). Below the
beds of Bno stone are two beds of harder quality, distinguished from the finer by the
nameofeorn-jrrit This stone is i-qually good in color aud quality, but ou account
of its hardness cannot be economically used for any purposes on which much labor
i< required : for heavy work it is Tcry suitable, and also docs well for steps and
landings. One of these beds to usually 2 feet 9 inches deep, the other, 4 feet to 4 feet
9 Inches. , . ,
Other descriptioDs of Batli stone are given with pnces at the quarry and de-
livered in London.
The Index to the Building Act will be of service to those not well acquainted
with its provisions, and the various decisions in the courts are conveniently
brought together from the law reports for easy reference.
Altogether, the Price-book is one that the profession and trade cannot very
well do without.
Parker,
The Oxford Almanack for the Year of our Lord God 1861.
Oxford ; and Gardner, Paternoster-row.
GIVES us a fine view of the New Chapel at Exeter College, drawn and
engraved by J. H. Le Keux in his well-known and admirable style. Mr.
Scott's work shows to advantage in this delicately executed illustration, which
thoroughly explains the minutest detail. The statue already erected on one
buttress shows how desirable it is that all the niches should be filled with the
least possible delay.
In the almanac proper their are notices useful to university students, a regal
table, and lists of university officers, and heads of collies and halls, and pro-
ieasors.
The sheet is quite worthy of a frame and glass.
A Few Examples of Metal Work, Designedand Wrought after the Manner
of Medieval Art Works. By Thomas Peahd at 159 High Holbom.
18C0.
WE have before intimated our intention of recurring to trade price lists, of
which class is the publication now before us. Bein^ issued before the sug-
gestion lately jnade in our pages as to uniformity of size, it does not comply
therewith, as we have reason to believe may be the case with many future pub-
lications. The examples are comprised in eleven plates small quarto si«e,
interleaved with letter-press descriptions, prices, &c., the latter, however, is half
the width only of the plates, and the arrangement offers considerable facilities
for reference.' The subjects are drawn with some care, though greater precision
and fidcUtv to detail should be insisted on in a future issue. The designs too are
mostly ratfier above the average found in some lists, but greater equality is desirable,
and some of the enterprise displayed in books we have lately noticed, with a little
care in throwing out the inferior designs, replacing them by others by a competent
architect, would render the present llist'hardly inferior to those referred to. The
proprietor does not desire to make the designs " stock patterns to be used any-
where and everywhere when articles of tlie kind are required," and says — " The
tendency of the taste or rather fashion of the present day, is to have articles full
of detail and rich etfect, but after all, very frequently nothing more than shams.
• • Reliance has been placed in producing a few, simple in character, but of good
outline, and with a reality about them, each serving the purpose and indicating
the use which its form "suggests, instead of persisting in that course which is
teiiding to destroy the grandeur of the art." Right principles, if carried out in
practice.
Tvnenty-fourth Annual Report of the Council of the Art-Union of London,
with List of Members. 8vo. 1860. Art-Union of London Almanac, 1801.
THE Art-Union of London has just issued its twenty-fourth annual report
which supplies us with some interesting data. It appears that exclusive of
the current years' subscription, and of considerable sums added by prizcholders,
it has rais<-cl and distributed the sum of £254,14.3, of which £138,002 have been
paid to artists of various classes, and £64,023 to engravers and for the supply of
impressions to the subscribers, which leaves a sum of £50,858 apparently devoted
to expenses. The subscriptions of the past year amount to £14,138 ISs. Od.
Ths print " Life at the Seaside " appears to have induced additional subscriptions
over the previous year of more than £3,500. The great cost of its production,
however, renders it undesirable to give a work of such magnitude very frequently,
The Council do not consider it necessanr to enter into the subject of complaints
by certain artisti, as to the diminution of the funds available for the purchase of
oil paintings, in consequence of the production of other works of art, it being
considered that the fact of the .Society being established to " promote the know-
ledge and love of the fine arts, and their general advancement in the British
empire, sufliciently indicates the wide field originally proposed for it s labors."
The total sum expended on paintings, exclusive of the amount added by prize-
holders themselves, is £118,765; while for bronze and porcelain statuettes,
medals, works in iron, enamels, lithographs, and other productions, the sum of
£19,8!>7 has been paid. The total number of these works distributed being
rather over 3,000.
The works in preparation for future distribution include an engraving by Mr.
■Willmoore, of "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage," from the picture by Turner; a
Medal, by Mr. Lyon, In commemoration of Wilkie ; and a reduced bronze copy
of Mr. Foley's statue of " Caractacus." The almanac contains an epitome of art
faiformation with reference to societies' meetings and exhibitions ; there is also
space under each day lor brief memorandas.
(|orr«pflndcttCU.
— • —
SCULPTURAL EXHIBITION.
Sir, — Your Correspondent, Mr. Druce, in urging theadvisability of a separate
Exhibition of Sculpture, has expressed in an able manner the ardent wishes of the
votaries of that most ill-used art. Ix>ng and loud have been the complaints of
Mulptors, at the sepulchre in which their works have been annually interred
in the Royal AcaiJemy building ; various have been the suggestions made to the
august body which stands at the liead of liiiglish Art ; piteous lias been the
wail of tlic R. A. sculptors ; regularly and generally have protests been made by
srt-critics against the ill-usage of the chaste art of sculpture; but the over-
wbelmiugmajoritvof R. A. (mintersover R. A. sculptors has enabled them to
Jtisten complacently, smile beneficently, and do nothing.
This line of conduct with reference to the parent art of architecture, has re-
sulted in a wise and self-reliant action on the part of architects. Architecture
has arrived at so mature an existence, that it is no longer to be allowed on suf-
ference to immure itself in a httle room among the refuse of the painter's art.
It has established for itself a separate exhibition, having an individual claim on
the |)ublic. Architects themselves will be to blame if their art is not well
represented therein and offer sufficient attraction to the public and to sightseers
as will make it successful. And when experience in managing such an exhibition
has been acquired, and the profession sees a good cause forwarded in the support
of it, there will be no more attractive or interesting an exhibition in London,
than the Architectural.
But in supposing a similar result to occur from the bad treatment of sculpture
at the Royal Academy Exhibition, we shall he miscalculating the comparative
importance of the two arts, and the public support which each derives indepen-
dently of all other arts . I believe I am not miscalculating when I say that there
are more architects in England than painters, and who get more to do in the
way of actual commissions. But this cannot be said of sculptors. If we allow all
architectural carvers to count as sculptors, and not give decorative painters or
architects' clerks the same privilege in their profession, yet the comparative
minority of sculptors to architects and painters will be most remarkable. This is
easily accounted for. The architecture of the last hundred years in England has
not been a sculptured style, and the public encouragement given to sculpture as
an art distinct from architecture has not been of such a character as would raise
a school of sculptors and develop tlie latent abilities of its members, so that in
England sculpture has languished.
Avoiding the question of styles, we may yet say that Classical architecture, as
practised now and hitherto in England, does not give that scope for originality
in its sculptured ornament as would lead to progress and higher originality. The
prevalence of the style for the past two hundred years, may account, in some
measure, for the state of sculpture at present. For let it be said that architectural
sculpture has been the nursingmotherofsome great artists in the higher branches
of sculpture, and where thU preparatory school has been absent sculpture has
lost a valuable auxiliary. Account for it, however, as we may, sculptiire and
sculptors are in a very insignificant minority when compared with painting and
painters, architecture and architects. So that, grievous as may be the present
position of sculpture in the Royal Academy, and triumphant as is the example of
architecture in its secession, yet sculpture is not strong enough to run alone. It
must yet be protected by a stronger art, and the object of my writing these few
words is to show that architecture is the natural nursing -mother of sculpture —
that whilst painting may in some cases be considered to rival sculpture, and the
professors of the former art certainly contrived to snub the latter, architecture
must ever regard sculpture as a mother does her child, not with rivalry, but
maternal love, suffering in its debasement, and rejoicing in its perfection. Paint-
ing, its rival sister, has put obstacles in the way of a development of sculpture;
its specimens have been consigned to a dark and dismal cellar, the number of
works annually exhibited have been limited to the capacities of a single little
room, all works butnurely figure subjects have been rigorously excluded, and with
this treatment results the present debased condition of sculpture. Let it be for
architecture to raise it from its low estate, and to assume the character of its
conductor. An annual exhibition of sculpture alone would not, I think, suc-
ceed ; but if combined with the Architectural Exhibition, it would assuredly be
a success ; and then, instead of any exclusiveness of subject, it would be posi-
tively advantageous that ornamental designs of natural foliage, arcliitecturally
treated, and simple transcripts of nature for their own intrinsic beauty and
artistic value— it would be better if both of these were allowed and encouraged.
It is simply absurd that, whilst the Academy walls are crowded with bunches of
apple-blossom, studies of flowers, and fern-leaves, banks of spring flowei-s, and
pieces of foliage in painting, similar studies in sculpture should be excluded. If
such works are admitted as examj)les of color well selected and of masterly exe-
cution, they ought also to find admission when exhibiting accuracy and noble-
ness of form ; and in the suggested combined exhibition this evil should be
remedied. Works of the highest character, ideal figure subjects, portrait and
historical statues, groups of figures from nature, and compositions of bas-reliefs
and alto-reliefs of historical incidents, all these would suffer no harm by being
associated with modest architectural ornament or simple natural foliage. There
should be no fictitious line drawn between architectural sculpture and sculpture
proper. All sculpture, whatever may be its aim, or under whatsoever conceit it
may have been executed, is necessarily architectural, in spite of itself ; and it is
simplv a matter of taste and judgment whether a statue or a group is nobly
architectural or ignobly so, in the manner of its treatment, subordination, and
position. After gazing at a profound ideal subject, or examining a great his-
torical picture, we turn with delight to a landscape which exhibits to us green
fields, or waving corn, or stately trees; and from gazing at expansive meadows,
or golden cornfields, or forest foliage, we can yet find fresh pleasure in the
beauties of a bright flower, a bunch of chestnut bloom, or a fruit blossom. The
eye and mind are alike relieved by this varietv of subject, so that the spectator is
much benefited by this alteration of intellectual diet. This sliould be borne m
mind in the sculptural exhibition, and it would give additional interest to the
sight. I always consider it a bad Academy Exhibition if there is not a
hundred miles of country represented in the landscapes for every " portrait of a
gentleman " on the walls ; and a certain proportion should be kept between the
figure subjects and the foliage and ornamental subjects, to ensure a satisfactory
and interesting exhibition of sculpture.
One drawback in the sculptor's art is that to execute designs, even in pls^ter*
on the speculation of their being purchased, is so expensive to the artist. This,
doubtless, hinders many men from working out good and original ideas. It
would be advantageous to the sculptor to be allowed to exhibit designs for sculp-
ture executed in pen and ink, Indian ink timings, or chalk drawings. Such draw-
ings might be so elaborated as to give a perfect idea of the intended work.
Architects also might make studies of sculptured works to be executed, for the
direction of art-workmen, with profit to themselves. Many a sculptor would be
only too glad to show a design for a work by means of drawings who cannot
afford to work it out in plaster or stone. A high degree of excellence should be
insisted on in these drawings to qualify them for admission to the Exhibition.
We all know from the examples of Michel Angelo and Elaxman that sculptors
can draw as well as painters if they choose to take the trouble, and ought to be
able to draw better. „ , . - ,
This department, which might be called the " department of designs for scnlp-
I turc " would be a novel feature in an exhibitiou, and none the less attractive on
.Tandary 18, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
65
tliat account. Another sujrgestion I wisli to make is, tliat some time previous
to tlie opening of the Arcliitectural Exliibitioti, sculptors should be, by circular,
invited to contribute both executed works and designs for sculpture. And that
due notice lie also forwarded to all the schools of art of the time for sending in
works, and the character of such works ns the students may be expected to send,
be suifgested to them. .Vrchiteets sitould put themselves in communication
with schools of art by this means, for thereby two good things would
be done ; promising students might have the opportunity of obtain-
ing positions where their talents would be brought into play, and
architects would be able to select good art-workmen for the execution of
their designs in sculpture and decoration from the specimens then exhibited.
It must necessarily be some time before sculpture can be emancipated from its
present Academic thi'aldom. The various architectural bodies might speedily
accomplish this (hsired and long-looked -for boon, by taking every branch of
sculpture, high and low, under their protecting care. Let tliem unite in this
cause. If architects had any self-respect, they would not allow themselves to be
elected members of that body which snubs their art and pushes it in a corner.
But if this is necessary for a time, let them make use of the supposed honor for
the advantage of their poor pei'secntwi art, and for the fiirtherance of its
development in the direction of sculpture.
I am, &c.,
Ak Art-Master.
■♦-
THE ARRANGEMENT OF CHURCHES.
Sir, — As a provincial architect, I cannot over-estimate the privilege of being
able to read carefully the many interesting subjects that are sometimes read and
discussed at the Institue and Association, and the full reports (thanks to yon)
given of Ihem. The two valuable papers on "Church Arrangement" which
nave just appeared in your pages are most interesting, and deserve a considerate
perusal.
As a subject of great importance, may I be allowed to make a few observations
on it ? There can be no doubt of the truth of the principle enunciated by Mr.
Blorafield in his paper, that a church should be expressive of its ritual, both as
regards internal arrangement and external development. As a proof of this
principle, we need only refer to the Htness and beauty observable in the early
Basilican and later Christian churches of our own country and of the continent.
In these, truly, it has been observed, every office and ceremony connected with
the Christian ritual is found embodied and expressed in the architecture. On the
whole, I fully agree with the opinions advanced in Mr. Blomfield's paper. As
regards structural arrangement, I am glad to see the plan of nave, aisles, and
chancel still upheld, not only on account of its expressive character and sym-
bolical significance (which, in my opinion, should be considered of no small
importance in a church), but on account of its association with the catholic
f'aiih in all countries of Christendom, from the conversion of the Roman Basilica
to Cliristian uses, and throughout hallowed centuries of time.
There are some, 1 know, who condemn the employment of symbolism in our
Reformed Church, but without the least grounds. This is only prejudice. What,
indeed, can be more expressive and beautiful than to see a church speaking to
us tluough its architecture— keeping our minds alive to the great truths and
mysteries of our faith. Does not the cruciform church present us with an
emblem common to our faith? Do not the nave audits two aisles recall to
one's mind the Holy Trinity ? — this threefold arrangement often proclaiming the
same doctrine throughout the church. Does not the chancel symbolise the
church triumphant as the nave does the church militant ? As this part of a
church is the one where the holiest functions are performed, so should it be made
a distinctive and cons|)icuous part in the Christian church. But it is not until very
lately that this, without f|uestion;the principal portion of our Chirstian temples, has
received the attention and prominence which were always given to it formei'ly.
Even now, the proper use of the chancel is often overlooked : instead of its being
occupied by the priests and office bearers (its rightful occupants), it is often
made only a part of the church, filled with scats— thus making it of no distinctive
use, and only an awkward arrangement. In support of these views, I quote
from a p.-irophlet entitled "The Chancel; an Appeal for its Proper Use," and
addressed especially to architects, by a Clei-gyman of the Church of England : —
It is the eapital fault of modern church builders (still, of course, acknowledging
many honorable exceptions) that proper attention lias not been paid to the chancel
and what belongs to it. It lias been treated simply as a part of the church : if the
nave is beset wiih pews so is the chancel. * * « Chancels would certainly
never have been built unless there had been a proper use for them • • *
It we decide on retaining our chancels, then, in the name of consistency and common
sense, let us not continue to sanction the monstrous sham of not usintr them as
chancels.
Why not let the chancel proclaim its proper use, and set it apart for
the functionaries of the church, and as a place consecrated to the highest
ordinances of religion. How much more combined and pointed would
our services then he! the officers of the church concentrated, their ministrations
more effective, and the clergy and choir aiding each other more harmoniously,
and uniting in prayer and praise as one combined and united whole ; not sepa-
rated by an intervening congregation, as is often the casse. As the celebration of
the Holy Eucharist (the highest rite of the church) is performed in the chancel,
the altar should be made the most attractive and conspicuous feature. The same
pamphlet says, "The altar in every church should be made to arrest and fix the
eye of the beholder, and to this everything should point." I know there are
some, clergy as well as architects, who have certain ideas of their own, and to
whom polygonal and circular churches seem to gain favor; but these gentlemen
seem to fancy that preaching is the most important part of our service; whereas
"churches are not consecrated (consecration makes a church) for the purpose of
forming preaching houses, but for the purpose of celebrating sacraments and
sacramental acts." Is not , the service of God first? next, man's preaching?
This was always considered so in the Christian church, as may be inferred by the
few churches built on circular or other forms, adapted only for large assemblies
and preaching. This principle, then, of unity should be carried out in the
structure of our orthodox churches. I think, with Mr. Blomfield, the reading-
desk and pulpit, as being necessary adjuncts, should be embodied in the archi-
tecture of churches as much as possible. The lecture or reading desk should
always be distinct from the pulpit, and be made so that the clergyman can face
the east when leading the prayers (his proper position), and be able to turn to
the people when reading to them in the lessons, &c. Pulpits ought either to be
attached to the chancel end of the nave, or (in cruciform churches) to one of the
intersecting piers where best for sight and sound ; the former position is certainly
the best, and then it can open by an archway into the vcntry. A beaatifU
example of a stone pulpit of this kind is one at Bieulieu in Haniptldre.
It is to be hoped, at all events, that the days of towering pulpit and reading-
desk obscuring all beyond them, and setting themselves up as objects of attrac-
tion (?) are passed, together with those unseemly obstructions — galleriet.
As to the font, the position at the entrance or w<st-end should be adhered to
as its proper place, and I fully concur in thinking that its position should be
marked, if possible, in the architecture by a leau-to or otherwise.
With these discursive remarks, Sir, I will conclude this letter, and altbongli
some, who seem to confound matters of faith with scientific progress, many think
that the points I have touched upon are of trivial importance unworthy of
regard, they are matters deserving of great consideration ; and attention to tlwae
will alone be instrumental in making our churches ritualistic, expressive of onr
creed in their architecture and arrangements, and not expressive of our age,
except it be in matters of construction and detail.
I am, &c.,
Pro UitiTAa.
: ♦
STONE INDURATION.
Sir, — As one of the earliest and strongest supporters of your Journal, I am
very jealous of its reputation and cannot therefore allow your corrc^jxindcnt'i
letter to pass uncontradicted, since it is the universal opinion here that although
the painting of the large upper cornice of the Custom-house is a great dissigbt,
yet the attempt to preserve the stone is as great a failure, as may be seen by any
person closely examinhig it, not to go further than the recesses on either side
the main entrance opposite the quay. Your object is most plainly to ventilate
the whole question of induration, and show to competition a fair field and no
favour. In this you should, and I trust will, find public support.
I am, Sic,
Veritas.
Glasgow.
♦
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE QUE.STION.
Sir, — I see in your last Number a letter from a Glasgow gentleman upon the
success of the preservative coating applied to the custom-house in our town.
From the impartial manner in whicli you evidently have opened your columns to
the elicitation of the real value of the existing modes of preserving our public
buildings, I feel sure it is your wisli to present your readers with unvarnished
truth and facts for their guidance, and tlierefore it is that I take upon myself to
coiTCCt the statement made relative to the success of the application at the
custom-house, the state of the case being this : — The custom-house, like most
other buildings, had some very bad stones used in its construction ; these stones
were replaced to a large extent bv new ones, and only from the few that (though
in a state of decay, were so slightly so as not to require removal) were left can
the real effect of tlie operation he judged, the others having originally become so
case-hardened by time tliat during the operation it was with difficiUty enough
the surface could be removed with stone rubbers to clean it down .
In the decayed stones that were left, then, can only be seen the result of the
process which, so far from being successful, has left the stones as sugary as ever,
excepting, perhaps, for' a short time after the operation, during which a slight
case-hardening seemed to promise favorable results; even this may have tieen
induced by a sort of distemper which was used as a last coating. With all due
respect for your correspondent, I really think his examination has been too
cursory for the weighty result that a commendatory letter in your pages involves.
I am, &c.,
An Ex-Subveyob.
.^-
A QUERY ABOUT BEIX-HANGING.
Sir, — Could any of your numerous co-respondents who have adopted the plan
of bell-hanging on the patent atmospheric principle, inform me the cost of them ,
if they are more expensive, or have any advantages over the old wire system, and
if in practice they are found to answer ? 1 am, &c.,
A. B.
THE SOANE CURATORSHIP.
Sir, — It was not without considerable surprise that I read the rules, which,
according to the Act of Parliament, are to be complied with in appointing a
curator. That a candidate for a place of such trust should, if otherwise qualified
for it, be eligible provided he has attained the mature age of twenty-five — an
age at whicli, sofer from having " distinguished himself," an architect can have
had no opportunity of doing so, he having barely emerged from bis state of
pupilage— such stipulation as to age does, I must confess, quite astonish me. As
regards the having obtained an " .\cadeniical prize," alias, a gold medal, that is
a very insignificant matter. . ■ , t . ■ j
One would have thought that constant residence would have been insisted
upon as a sine qua non condition, and a very proper one also, unlew Uie curator
were to have a sub, to whom, when not present himself, he could safely depute
the charge of the house and its valuable contents. Yet, strange to say , accordiBK
to the wording of the Act, no more is required of the curator than that he shaU
always be in attendance at snob times as the Museum is open to visitors and on
a few other occasions, which, of course, implies that at all other times he is at
perfect liberty to consult his own convenience and inclination as regards remain-
ing at home or absenting himself ad libitum. Surely a place of the kind ought
never to be left in charge of a mere domestic. In my opinion, it should be re-
quired of the curator that he should always sleep in the house, and Uiat, when-
ever he wants leave of absence from it to go out of town, he ought to signify
such wish to the trustees, and obtain their permission. Such regulation would
not be at all too strict; at any rate, those who considered it a Imrdship need not
put themselves in its way: , ,
With respect to the Library— whicli, by-the-bye, cannot possess any of the
architectural works that have been published during the last thirty years-if it
is to be rendered accessible for puriioses of study or research, admittance to it
visitors at a tiiiie, conuucieu tiii-uu^u luc iuvi*« uj »«.. ^". — -.
been told by a friend, who had it from the late curator, that some convenienuy
small articles had disappeared. I am, kc.,
66
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 18, 1861.
ADULTERATIONS OF PAINT.
Sir,— I see some correspoudents of the Builder are making a great stir about
the adulteration of linseed oil, and attributing all the blame to the oil merehant.
Now, I can say that not only is oil adulterated, but the lead, the driers, the
ochies, ambers, and other "pigments for coloring, and that the blame, in the
flnt inslance, rests with the public. They will hiive low-priced work, and the
tradesman must hare low-priced materials to meet the demand.' I have known
plentv of painting done at prices which wonld not pay for pure materials, leaving
the labor out of the question altogether. Now, before commencing a crusade
against adulterations, that hartl task-master, the public, must come to a deter-
mination to act conscientiously by giving a fair remunerating price for good
work, and tlien I would say— show no mercy to scamp-work. I have never had
any adulterated oil brought under my notice, but I have, by means of a trouble-
some process, analysed white lead and found barytes to the extent of 28 per cent.
I also know that "the otlier coloring matters are adulterated with the same
article, which, I believe, may be obtained at a cost of about one penny per
pound. Patent dryei's are frequently mixed with ground pumice-stone, the
proportion according to the price required ; but no drying material will preserve
the purity of white paint, excepting litherage and sugar of lead— in feet, all
ddicate colors are injured by the use of pateut dryers as well as drying oils.
I am, &c.,
A Surveyor.
TENSERS-
Paving, Whiteciiapei,.
Forexecnting the paving works of the Wliitechapel District for 3 years, at their
achcdole prices.
Worslem. Burt, and Freeman 11 per ccnt.;under.
Henr}- Ituoth, KiugBland (accepted) Oj „
Henry liooth, li&nkside 4 .,
Crookand^D) 1} ,.
Geoi;ge West at the schedule prices
ScnooLS, Brightlincsea.
For the various works in the erection of Brightllngsea schools. Charles Forster
Hayward, 8, Adam-street, Adelphi, architect.
Children's W.C. and
School kod HoiiM, FittinKS. Boundarr Walls. Total.
John Eade. Wiranhoe £7flO Os. £93 Os. £103 Os. ^B.'ifi Os.
Joseph Eloden, Colchester. 746 0 75 5 72 0 893 5
B.Orrin, Colchester. 734 0 78 0 67 0 879 0
•"iW^Siii;:"-! ^i" ^"o ^^^^ «^*«
• Provisionally accepted.
FASMBCrLDIKGS, AC, WiLSTHORPE, LlNCOLNSHIHE.
For a new farmhouse, farm premises, pair of double cottages, including all fencing
«nd flttinffs, labor, and materials, for A. English, Esq., to be built at Wilsthorpe.
Mr. Browning, Stamford, jirchitcct.
>:. I'earsoD. London £2,446
S. andW, I'attinson, Ruskington 1,005
Swarm and Carrington, MarketDeeping 1,520
J. W. Timms, Castle Bytham 1,459
H. Bradshaw, .Stamford 1,420
Belton and Grant, Jletherlngham 1,276
Cagswell and Day. Petcrboro' 1,252
ICesidences, Ac, Gibstenwood (N.B.).
For the residence and offices Girstcnwood.
Mr. McCandlish Kirkcudbright has been selected as the contractor for the works.
Warehouse, Leicester.
Fop a new warehouse to be erected at Leicester, for Mr. Jos. Swaine. Mr. Francis
Drake, architect. Quantities supplied.
After deductinc: for the materials of a lot of old buildings.
Cbamber.> and Son £79:
Osbone Brothers m
Hill 770
Shflhjoek 75,'
Cox £7.10
Sketchley 720
Ncale 685
Ashby (accepted) 656
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
SCHOOL AND KE.Sn>K\CE.
fitntRET. — For designs for an infant st-hool, and residence rooms for the mistress,
and also residence rooms for the master of the adjoininif National School, tor the
trustees of the Chrtstchurch (Surrey) Charity Scliools. The buildinfjs arc to occupy
the site of two old houses, Nos. 7 a'nd 8, Green-walk, niackfriar»-road, which are
to be polled down. The plan of the premises may be seen, and further particulars
nnr be obtained, at the office of John C. Meymott, .5, Albion-place, lilackfriars-
briage. The trustees will pay ten guineas for the design which they shall select,
if the architect who sends it does not have the superintendence of the building ;
in that case the design will be the property of the trustees. Designs] to be sent to
Mr. Heymott, by February 4.
COMPETITION AWARDED.
BBOm-ET.— The cruardians of the Stepney Union have awarded the premiums to the
authors of those plans and designs ibr the proposed new workhouse at Bromley,
Middlesex, in the following order of merit:— 1st. "Let Justice be done." 2nd.
"J.F." 3rd. "Honesty Is the best Policy."
CONTRACTS OPEN.
_ „ CHI'KCIIE.S.
BranzB WA1.TOS.— For the erection of a new church, proposed to lie built at;nigher
Walton, in the parochial chapelry of Walton-lc-Dale, near Preston. Plans, Ac,
** V "■*'""»' Schoolroom, Walton-le-dale, and also at the office of the
arehlteet, Mr. E. G, I'aley, Lancaster, till the 20th inst. Tenders to be sent, ad-
dressed to Mr. Paley. by February :•
PaocBEDA (IBELAKD).— For building the new church of St. Augustine, Drogheda,
Plans, Jie.. with tbe archiu-ct, Mr. M. B. Moran, 3, Castlewood-avenuc, Rathmines.
Tesiders by February 16.
AsJsnCLD (IRELAKD).— For enlarging the church of Ashfleld, county Cavan.
n«°s, fcc., tobe seen in the hands of the resident minister of the parish. Each
proposal to be forwarded scaled, prepaid, and addressed thus :— " Proposal for
, the Church of , the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for Ireland,
Dublin," by .Tanuary 24.
DoLMr..— For thi- rebuilding of Holme Church, In the county of Hunts. Plans, Ac,
at the omce of Edward Browninir. architect, Stamford. Sealed tenders, agreeably
to the form suppUed. to be delivered on Feb. K
,_ „ COTTAGES.
Ctoamu. Head (I^urnX-For the hulldlng of six small cottages, at Clogher Head,
esinty of Louth for tbe use of the Coast (juard. Apply to ArcUltald Godley, Esq. ,
niiifgsr, iselturbct.
HOTEL.
Leeds.— For the erection of an hotel, Ac, near to Smithfleld-market, North-street,
Leeds Drawings, Ac, at the olBces of George Smith, surveyor and architect,
171, I'ark-lano, Leeds, from the 2l8t till the 2«th January, on which latter day
tenders must be sent to Sir. Smith by twelve noon.
BRIDGE.
REAniNO.— For re-buildins Yorkpool Bridge, in the parish of Shlnfleld, near
Iteading, Berks. I'lans, &c., Ac, at the ofSee of J. B. Clacy, county surveyor, 99,
Broad-street, Reading, to whom tenders endorsed, *' Tender for Yorkpo<>l
Bridsre," on February Ist.
*" LiGUT-KEEPERS' DWELLINGS.
Cbookiiaven (Cork).— For the erection of light-keepers' dwellings at Crookhaven
for the Fastness Rock Lighthouse, county t:ork. Plans, Ac, at the Ballast Office,
Westmoreland-street, Dublin. Scaled tenders (only on forms to bo had at the
Ballast Office), addressed to William Lees, Esq., secretary. Ballast Office, West-
moreland-street, Dublin, by 12 noou of February 13.
WARMING APPARATUS.
Kensington.— For hot-water apparatus for warming the conservatory now in
course of erection at the Horticultural Society's Gardens, Kensington -gore.
Plans, Ac, on application to Mr. Eyles, at the Society's office, Kcnsuigton-gore.
The specifications state the quantity of pipe required to be about 7,400 feet, besides
beuds, branches, Ac. Tenders must bo sent to tlie offices of the Society, Kensing-
ton-jfore, W., endorsed "Teudera for Heating Conservatory, " by U a.m.,
January 28.
OUTFALL.
Bbigiiton.— Forthe construction of an iron outfall, extending 800 feet or there-
abouts, and a brick stormwater outlet, from the main sewer at Black Rock, Kemp
Town, in Brighton, and also of a Groyne on the west side thereof. Draw-
in'^s, Ac, at the office of the borough surveyor. Scaled tenders, addressed
to (:harlcs Sharood, town clerk, and endorsed "Tender for Outfall and
Groyne," to be left at his office, at the Town-hall, before four o clock,
January 211.
LIGHTHOUSE TOWER, Ac.
Absanhore (DoNEGAi,).— For the erection of a lighthouse tower and keepers
dwellings, to be erected on Arranmore Island, county Donegal. Plans, Ac, at
the Ballast Office. Westmoreland-strect.'Dublin. Scaled tenders (only on forms to
be had at the Ballast Office), addressed to W. Lees, Esq., secretary. Ballast Office,
Westmoreland-street, Dublin, by 12 noon of February 13.
BEACON.
Antrim (Ireland).— For the erection of a cast-iron beacon, with filling of masonry,
to be erected on the Storks Rock, on north coast of county Antrim. Plans, Ac,
at the Ballast ( )fflee. Westmorelaud-street, Dublin. Sealed tenders (only on forms
to be had at the Ballast Ofhce), addressed to Wm. Lees, Esq., secretary. Ballast
Office, Westmoruland-strcct, Dublin, by 12 noon of February 13.
SUPPLY.
DiiMFBiES (N.B.).— For a supply of broken metal, for three years, to the trnstces
for the prreat road from Dumfries, by Thornhill and Sanquhar, to Ayrshire, and
the several branch roads in that district. Specifications may be seen on apphca-
to Mr. Cowan, road surveyor, Thoruhlll, to whom tenders, at the Queensberry
Arms, at eleven o'clock, February 2.
Penrith.- For the supply of about 190 tons of cast-iron pipes and other castings
for the Penrith Local Board of Health. Specification may be seen, and duplicate
forms of tender, schedules and bills of quantities may be had (by payment of os.) at
the office of the Local Board, Penrith; and further information on application to
J. F. Bateman, Esq., C.E. 10, Great George-street, Westminster, London ; or to
Mr. Watson, of Penrith, the Board's Surveyor.— Sealed tenders, addressed to Mr.
C. Fairer, clerk to the Local board, by .lanuary 26.
AN.SWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters ami communications to be addressed to the Editor of the BoiiDiNO Sews, 20,
Old IJoswell-court, St. Clcmont's, Strand, London.
The Editor cannot midertake to return unused manuscripts.
M. I. B. A.— Shall appear as soon as we receive name and address.
C. V. W Too personal for publication.
Mr. K.'s peculiar views on the Dioioma question are not likely to meet with support.
T, Johnson.— Sucli a girder should have carried safely 24 tons, distributed equally through-
out its Icncth.
TV. li. K 'rhe Act is perfectly clear upon the point. The thickness of the wall should be
for the lower story, 3 bricks ; two stories labove Hi bricks ; two stories, 2 bricks ; and the
remainder 1 brick and a lialf
R. PniLLIPS.— Award shall be published. ,. . ^ ^.,
Petee Quince.— 1. I'roposed in our :pages long since. 2. Not likely to bo dctcrmmed this
year. K. .Shall be kept in mind.
J. v.— Consult the indices to the various law reports.
Senex We will try. , , j „ j
KNOiliXEa Shaiishortly report progress. Thanks. Every facility has been already offered
to us. , ,
W Sorry we cannot assist individual cases.? We can only broadly advise courage and per-
severance. Slany others are In the same position. ,
M.Ii.and Co.-We must naturally give the preference to those adopting our suggestion,
but otherwise difTcrenee of opinion will not influcnee us— or our remarks.
R— We believe Uiat a seeond edition is published, but we have not received a copy.
It, MoRDAN— Apply at Scotland-yard. „ . ,, . , .
C. X. li., A ScascElBEK (Hayswater.)- Dr. Urc says of the manufacture of white-lead In
England'. Lead Is cast into the form of a network grating, in moulds about 20 inches lone.
Several rows of these are placed over cylindrical glazed earthen pots, about « or 7 inches lu
diameter, containing some wood vinegar, which are then covered with planks .ind spent
tan ; above these pots another range is piled, and so in succession to a convenient height.
The whole Is embedded in spent bark from the tan pit, brought into a ferraenUng state by
being mixed with some bark used in a previous process. These pots are Icit undisturbed
under the inliuenee of a fermenting temperature for eight or nine weeks. In tlie course of
this time the lead gratings become, generally speaking, converted throughout Into a solid
carlwnate, which when removed, is Jevlgared in a proper mill, and elutriated with an
abundance of iiurc water. The plan of inserting coils of siicet lead into earthenware
pipkins containing vinegar, and embedding the pile of pipkins In fermenting horsedung
and Utter, has now ceased to be used ; because the coil is not uniformly acted on by the
acid vapours, and tbe sulphuretted hydrogen evolved from the dung, is apt to darken the
white-lead. The foregoing is the most complete reply we can give— try in another
dirccllon.
T. KoBEBTS Thanks ; shall be engraved.
11. Sibley — V . and J.— Consult the •* Post Offlce Directory."
A Mastek BuiLDEa.— More likely to die aw.-iy of its own accord, if left alone.
Cuaiocs Wc have no time to bunt up " every kuowu mode of prepartog cementiUous com-
pounds."
F. B. W. C Certainly, if up to our mark.
J. L. and M. O.— Wc have Instituted inquiries hito the whole matter and Und Itho previous
account is substantially twrrcct. , ,
JicMBEK One.— Mr. Cockburn Muir'a book, "Pagan or Christian," is published by
lientley.
C. .1 .-Snail be glad to hear from you soon if at all.
Abt ADMiBEit — Can hardly be dealt with in the manner proposed.
A. I!. 11 Such a register would be of great value; but who is to supply all the inftrmatlon
required ?
T. Kino.— The length of each tube of the Britannia Bridge is about 1,520 feet. The Con-
way Bridge is in one simn of about 400 feet. Your oUier question could not now be
answered.
H.— Portland Cement Is so called (Vom Its color, which approaches more or less to that
of the stone whence it takes its name, none of which, however, enters into its ooraposi-
tlon.
A.. J. L. U Shall hear from ns in good time.
K.TuoUN Deellncd, with thanks. Shall parcel be forwarded, or lie with our publisher ?
Beceived— J. CM.; I". W.Esq.; Kev. 8. I!.; Messrs. W. andH.;An Areliltect (Bath) ;
An Architect (Loudon); Constant Header; M. A. W. ; JJ. EUnes ; B.Wright; C. W.;
Anouymous; Sllex.
January 25, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
67
THE INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS AND THE LOCKED-
OUT KErORTERS AND SURVEYORS.
N our last Number we gave
our readers what was confessedly
a skeleton report of the Special
Meeting of the Institute of Archi-
i tects convened for the purpose of
■ proceeding with the question of
Architectural Examinations ; and
why it was a skeleton report we
offered them an explanation, the
particulars of which will, we are
convinced, go very far to shake the
confidence ofthe public in the pro-
ceedings of the Council, if not in
those of the entire Institute. Our
own reporter was excluded from
the meeting — a very questionable
proceeding, to say the least of it,
and made hardly more palatable
when one finds in a more ifortunate
contemporary a " full, true, and patticu-
laraccount" ofthe resolutions that were,
and the resolutions that were not passed.
However, the Editor of the journal in
question is a Eellow of the Institute
(of the Institute which excluded our
reporter), and the public are informed
that, after all this exclusive dealing, the
journal may hereafter be permitted to
give a real report of the meeting. What
does all this mean, and what are we coming
to : a Secret Consistory of Architects, with
an official journal of their own, or what ?
The real business done at this special
meeting seems to have been, like that of its
forerunners, almost wholly made up of a
series of amendments, carried in sheer
opposition to and i-ejection of the original
scheme ofthe Council ; and, we presume,
in strict accordance with parliamentary
usage, these gentlemen ought all to resign ;
for not one of then- measures has hitherto
been carried by the suffrages of even the
assembled Fellows. If our readers will
turn to our printed account ofthe two special meetings held in May and
in July last, and of that held on ISIonday week, they will see that
this is really the case. Up to this time the resolutions of these three
special meetings— all arrived at by amendment— take this form in
brief: —
1st. That it is desirable to afford an opportunity for a voluntary professional
examination.
2nd. That this Institute • • • take upon itself the labor of institutmg an
examination tending to promote a systematic professional education.
3rd. That the examination be open to any British subject, making such decla-
ration of his intention to follow the profession of civil architecture, as may be
determined by the Council, on producing a recommendation from three members
ofthe Institute, one being a Fellow.
4th. That tlie Council be instructed to proceed towards the 'preparation of a
cnrrieulum and bye-laws ; and be recommended to appoint a committee to this
end, and to report to a general meeting.
All this is, alas, very unlike the scheme which the Council had origi-
nally prepared for the adoption of the Institute : it is mainly the work
of those turbulent Fellows, Messrs. Kerr, Papworth and others ; who
seem bent, meeting after meeting, on putting a veto on the entire pro-
gramme of the Council ; nor has the position of these gentlemen
(evidently " born to ill-luck") been at all improved by their own suicidal
exclusion of the press ; since it would doubtless have given accurately
to the world all the clever remarks of their own supporters, urged by
way of advocacy of the measures, which they had prepared at such
pains, and taken such precautions to have carried out, snugly and cosily
in Secret Consistory aforesaid.
Perhaps the most notable point for which the Council strove on
Monday week was their important clause —
And subscribe the declaration as to practice, which is signed by members of
this Institute.
We understand Mr. Ilayward spoke very usefully in favor of the re-
tention of this clause ; but here again, as the reporters were excluded,
the Council have lost the chance of giving publicity to his able speech
in their favor. We are very sorry for it ; that is to say, we are sorry
for the C'ouncil, who all through the debate seem to have " come by
the weeping cross." To say, with the Yorkshire jurymen, " sarved 'e^l
reet," might be deemed ungenerous ; so we won't say it.
Let us rather say a few words with a view of patiently contiderinr
this clause, which, whether or not incorporated in resolution No. 3, is
one of such consequence that we shall doubtless hear of it again in
some shape or other before this Examination question comes to an end.
We do not undertake its advocacy, for we coneeiveits general adoption
impossible, to say nothing of its being a clause ofthe Council's, who do
not deserve our advocacy ; but wo are inclined to think the intention of
its framers was a commendable one.
It is based on one of the bye-laws of the Institute, by which any
member of that body is deterred on pain of expukion, from accepting
any fee from a contractor, or from undertaking the measuring up of
any works, of which he may not have been the controller and architect.
This bye-law has been on the books of the Institute ever since its first
ibrmation in Sir John Soane's time ; and Sir John himself strenuously
objected to it, urging that it discouraged young architects from acquir-
ing a knowledge of measuring and valuing artificers' work. The
Institute at the time turned a deaf ear to the remonstrance (just as the
Council of 1861 now doggedly insists on excluding the reporters), and
the injurious consequences of their inattention to it may be seen in the
fact that, of all English architects the members ofthe Institute may be
said to be the most incapable of professionally adjusting their con-
tractors' accounts. Their bye-law has been the means of creating a
swarm of building surveyors, who, whenever an architect is in actual
need of a detailed estimate, are supposed to be at his beck and call,
now and then for a fee, but too oflen "for love," or, at the best, for the
chance of some large incoming crumbs, that are about to fall from his
table. On this topic a good deal might be said, and, perhaps, usefully ;
but our business to-day is with the anti-educational tendency of this
bye-law ofthe Institute.
By the importation of it into the Examination question it is evidently
the object of the Council to make it compulsory on provincial as well
as metropolitan architects ; and the wisdom of any such attempt is very
questionable. We are not aware that the Institute has ever officially
put forth any statement of its reasons for holding to this bye-law ; and
if it is now to be insisted on, now is the time to issue one ; for we OTeatly
question whether one out of any dozen of its own members could offer
an intelligent reason for having given his adhesion to it, on his being
admitted to the Society.
We just now expressed our conviction that, the intention of its first
framers was a commendable one. It is a charitable surmise, which we
have never yet heard verifief' by the expressed assertion of Associate or
Fellow ; and, as our own utterance of it may help to popularise a pet
bye-law ofthe Council, who, be it remembered, locked out our reporter,
we will give them " the benefit of the act."
AVe surmise then, that this bye-law ofthe Institute was not originally
framed (as is the popular theory) to prevent future members of that
body from degenerating into such " extremely low fellows, as surveyors,"
and' thereby confer a distingue character on Associates and Fellows of
the Institute ; but that it was intended by it to keep architects and
builders more apart, than they confessedly were in the days of
" measure and value." We opine that it needed not any Institute bye-
law to invest with obloquy and the execration of his fellows any archi-
tect, who so far forgot himself as to accept a direct rfouf ear without
consideration from a builder or tradesman employed under him ; but
some such rule was needed to meet another condition of things still
prevalent in the provinces, where architects are in the habit of indif-
ferently measuring up artificers' works whenever called in to do so. It
would not infrequently happen that, a builder employed on some large
work not placed under any architect's control, would place the admea
surement and valuation of it in the hands of some architect, under
whom he himself might happen at the time to be executing a consi-
derable contract; and here a confusion of position would at once arise,
to the prejudice of the architect's respectability m the eyes of a
sensitive client. The case was made infinitely worse when (as not
unfrenuently happened) the architect was regularly employed all the
year round to measure up the works of certain large tradesmen. How
could he in such circumstances be supposed to exercise impartial
iudgment on the defects or other failures of that contractor employed
under him to carry out a design, with which he might be commissioned ?
Looking at the bye-law in this way, we conceive it has done some good
in its dSy, hut-pace Mr. Ruskin and his Lamps-we think it has done
mischief in discouraging young ai-chitects from applying themselves to
measuring and valuing, without some knowledge of which it is plain
they must oflen get into difficulties, and worry both their clients and
their contractors. , , . » v r . :»>
The bye-law is, then, an important one ; but, before contendmg for its
general adoption, the Institute would do well to pause, for we greatly
question whether it can be acted on f:or some years to CT*^;, ^ 7'" ¥ *
pity if the Examination scheme should suffer shipwreck by their persist-
ence in it. There are very many highly respectable architects in London,
and many more in the provinces, who will never give in their adhesion
to it, for the mere object of joining the Institute in its present con-
dition, when it is well known, the paucity of its members precludes all
68
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 25, 1861.
power of the CouncU's compelling strict compliance with its laws, even by
those of her own fraternity. It will be far wiser to proceed now with the
Diploma or Examination question, holding such a law in abeyance, until
a sufficient concourse ot' architects can be got together with mutual
sympathies ; when the whole question of admeasurements and quantities
might be thoroughly ventilated, as it should be, by a more influential
body of architects, toth London and provincial. At present the In-
stitute is making no " way " with the question, but simply dealing
with ne$;ations — nobody shall measure artificers' works : nobody shall
print what goes on at our meetings, &c., &c., &c., and thus a great
public movement is gradually degenerating into a sort of Conduit-
street Gauta.
THE LATE SPECLA.L MEETING AT THE ROYAL
INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
OUK readers will remember that in our last issue we gave but a
very meagre account of the special meeting at the Institute of
Architects, called for Monday last, to take into consideration the
replies of the various provincial bodies to their communications to
them on the subject of Diplomas, and to^further consider the steps to
be taken in the matter. As we said then, there appeared to be every
inclination to throw as many obstacles in the way of presenting our
readers with a full and fair report as could possibly be, and that
it was with difficulty we could obtain the outline with which we were
obhged to be content.
At the time of going to press we were not aware of the arrange-
ments that had been mode, as announced at that meeting by the chair-
man, for supplying the architectural publications with the report that
was so much desired ; had we been so, we might have spoken in less
measured terms than we did.
We alluded to the fact that our reporter was unable to gain admission,
and that visitors likewise were excluded. The architectural public
will, however, be greatly surprised when we tell them that it was an-
nounced from the chair that the shorthand writer of the Royal Institute
of British Architects was present, that he would take a full report
of the proceedings, and that copies would be immediately furnished
to the professional journals. This announcement prevented one Fellow
from advocating, as he fully intended doing, the admission of the
recognised reporters of the papers in question, as he fairly expected
that the statement of the chairman was to be depended upon.
At the commencement of the meeting, and before any remarks could
possibly be uttered, this decision of the Council was made known, and
several of the members, who would strongly have supported the
fentleman to whom we have alluded, were silenced by that assertion,
t appears, therefore, that we have been singled out by the Institute as
a special object for attack ; that our straightforward and manly conduct,
in reference to the diploma question, has drawn down upon us the ire
of those in authority. Never mind ; the dealings of the Institute
will no more harm us than their wise and deliberate counsels will md
and urge forward the great question of Architectural Diplomas.
Wb only, it appears, had to be content with what we could get ; we
only had to incur considerable trouble in obtaining information ; for,
though a favored contemporary simply gave an outline of the same
meeting, yet he was enabled to announce that a full report of the
meeting would be presented to the members of the profession. As
this gentleman is a leading member of the Institute, under ordinary
circnmstancea we could not complain — every one being at liberty to do
the best he can for himself and his party.
We have no fear of this matter being treated as a mere personal
one ; had we alone to sutler from it, we might be content to pocket the
afiiont, and ask ourselves why we should expect greater courtesy from
the parties referred to. But the whole proceeding is not to be so
circumscribed ; even if we wished it, it could not be so ; and if we pro-
tested not against it, we should be unworthy the position we hold as
the leading architectural publication. The interests of our readers
demand that we should view the matter in a public light, and we
therefore unhesitatingly hold up the conduct practised towards us to
their strong and deserved animadversion.
And now for the special meeting on the real question at issue — the
" diploma" or the " no diploma."
It will be necessary, before the bearing of the late discussion can be
well understood, to refer briefly to the aspect of the case in June last.
At that time the Council brought before the members of the Institute
their scheme, which had for its object the establishing an Architectural
Examination /or the members of the Institute only. This scheme called
forth a very vigorous opposition, and after several hours' discussion,
the Council having been defeated on several points, it was carried by a
small minority (13 against 9, if we remember rightly), that there should
be a " Voluntary Examination." All reference to the members of the
Institate was struck out — the opposition was successful in that ; and
any reference to the profession at large was omitted — the opposition
not being strong enough to carry their point then. So that, with this
very unsatisfactory state of things, that meeting closed witii an adjourn-
ment for a fortnight.
At this second meeting various amendments were again proposed in
opposition to the project of the Council ; but after a long discussion, the
hour approaching the longest this side the " twal," it was moved that a
committee of Fellows (not members of the Institute) and Associates
should be formed, and communicate with the various architectural
associations throughout the provinces, to obtain their views upon the
matter, and report upon the same at a subsequent meeting of the
Institute — all the anterior proceedings of the Institute being under-
stood as remaining in abeyance until this information could be
obtained. Thus pushed into a corner — for the feeling of the meeting
was seen most unmistakably to be with this amendment — a member of
the Council himself proposed the adjournment, as an auiendment to
the amendment, for the same object, but the Council to take the matter
into their own hands instead of having a separate committee. On a
division, this amendment of the Council was carried by anything but
an overwhelming majority, and the meeting was formally declared
adjourned until the necessary communications had been made, and the
expected replies thereto received.
Briefly as we have referred to these proceedings, we have given all
the/acts that bear upon the subject before us, and we will now proceed
to review the manner in which this self-imposed task was carried out by
the Council, and the result which has " crowned " all their efforts.
The first portion of the business, then, was the announcement
regarding the Press, of which we have so justly complained ; the second
the readmg of the minutes. Afler putting these to the meeting, and
while the voting of the "ayes" was being taken, Mr. Robert Kerr
asked the Chairman if it was contemplated to begin the subject again,
as though, of course, all previous steps had been ignored. This was
assented to, the Chairman remarking that he put the motion merely
to ascertain if they (the minutes) were correctly entered. The replies
of the various architectural bodies were then read, Vith the whole of
which our readera are familiar. After which a second question, as to
whether they were to begin de novo, was put, we believe, by Mr.
Wigginton, and answered in the negative. "Then the first resolution,
which had, by-the-bye, been put by the Chairman (and which will be
found in our meagre outline last week), was seconded by Mr. George
Godwin.
We have had some little experience of public meetings, and know
very well how the business of those meetings should be conducted ; but
we are reminded by the public (beg pardon, private) meetings of the
Institute, of the old adage, " There is no rule without an exception."
We deem the functions of a chairman to be anything but those which
may be expected of a partisan who has an object to gain, and who goes
to a meeting determined, nolens volens, to succeed in that object. We
have always supposed that a chairman was called to preside over a
meeting in order to see that the laws relating to public meetings were
strictly enforced — that each party should have, in fact, " a fair field and
no favor." ^The Institute, however, seems to have a code of regulations
of its own — in short, the power of riding rough-shod over the usages
and customs by which other people seem bound. We regret that the
Council had so few among the members to whom the task of moving a
resolution could be confided (we may be pardoned for the supposition),
and that so talented a gentleman as the chairman upon that occasion
should have done double duty, and openly to have espoused a
cause which he knew was not favorable to many of its members, and
thus have given an undue and, if we may so say, unfair weight to his
own party. Enough, however: the practice at the Institute on the 10th
being " more honored in the breach than in the observance."
To this resolution an amendment was moved by ^Ir. Jennings, and
seconded by Mr. Papworth, the amendment forming so few points of
difTerence that the resolution and amendment became amalgamated.
During the discussion an Associate, bolder than the majority, and deter-
mined to maintain inviolable the few privileges possessed by that body,
moved the adjournment, which, being seconded, was received by the
chairman. This amendment was protested against by a Fellow, who
observed that, as the compulsory view of the (question was completely
shut out from them (by the ruling of the chau-man), it would answer
no good end to prolong a discussion, a discussion, by-the-bye, which
most present saw would be a very useless one. The luuendment was,
however, put and lost, and the original motion declared carried.
Thus ended, as far as the " vital " question was concerned, the farce
which the members had been called upon to play, and thus was shelved
the only point for which so many earnest well-wishers and supporters
of the profession cared about contending. If the Institute can look
back upon the whole proceedings with delight, it is infinitely more than
the mass of respectable professors outside the walls can do. If they
can rest contented after this desultory and wofully-managed cam-
paign, they are the only parties who can afford so to do. There is a
victory which is worse than a defeat ; and that this " triumph " of the
Institute will have that effect there is not the shadow of a doubt.
How was the question broached — in what spirit was it discussed ?
January 25, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
69
Did the " replies of the various provincial bodies " receive that fau-
amount of consideration which was justly their due ? Did they receive
any consideration at all ?
The answer to these questions is NO ! Why then were they
troubled ? — why did they call special meetings ? — pass special resolu-
tions ? — and forward special replies ?
Let the Institute answer these questions, for an answer will surely be
required before the provincial societies separate for the summer recess.
We have said the answers were read. Let the various societies
know that this was a/L' "What!" — we fancy they exclaim, "were not our
opinions embodied in any report? — had they no weight with the
Institute ? — did they not, in some little measure, shape the proceedings ?"
To their fancied questions the answer must be again, emphatically,
NO!
And why do we say "no," when the Council say they have "considered"
their replies ?
We answer — The Council brought forward a scheme some eight
months since, ye troubled ones, and all your opinions have not changed
them one jot, the results being in substance the same as that recorded
in their minutes of the 25th of June. Time has brought no change —
experience, no wisdom. The heavens, lowering as they were then, are
now black with clouds ; a storm is brewing ; the bark of the Institute,
instead of being tightened and made " taut " to withstand the tempest
of future years, has laden herself with useless, dangerous ballast; her
hull has sunk to the level of the port-holes, and if not soon righted,
lightened, and made sea-worthy, by a retracing of her course, must
inevitably sustain a damage, so great, so irreparable, as to endanger her
very existence. May she be wise in time !
WARMING RAILWAY CARRIAGES BY STEAM.
ALMOST at the very moment when the experiment was being made in
England of lighting tlie interior of railway carriages by means of
gas, another was being tried in France to warm them by steam. The
latter occurred on the Paris and Lyons line, and is said to have been
crowned with complete success. M. Adrien Delcambre is the inventor of
the system, which was tested on the 18th inst. ; and ten carriages of three
different classes were attached to a train wliich left Paris for Montargis,
for the purposes of the experiment in question. M. Delcambre attaches a
tube to the boiler of the locomotive, through which the steam passes ; the
tube passes along the side of the baggage-waggons, warming a plate for
the benefit of the guards and assistants, and thence passes through the
whole of the carriages in the train, being connected in the intervals by
by india-rubber junction pieces attaolied to the pipes by iron sockets,
which make a perfect joint, but are connected and disconnected with great
facility. The steam circulates in each carriage through hollow copper
vessels placed beneath the passengers' feet on a level with the floor ; these
conductors are of a flat form, about five inches wide by an inch deep, and
are formed of copper about one-eighth of an inch thick ; the steam issues
into the open air at the end of the train.
The experiment took place in the presence of three officers of the
department of Bridges and Roads, nominated for the purpose by the
the Minister of Public Works.
A large number of engineers connected with the various railways,
scientific men, and journalists travelled in the train.
When the train started the steam was not turned into the heating
apparatus, which was consequently cold ; scarcely had the journey com-
menced, however, before the warmth began to be felt, and at Charenton,
which is but a very short distance from the terminus, the temperature rose
to 55 degs. and 59 degs. Fahrenheit, in the carriages of the first-class, which
were nearest the engine, to rather less in those of the second-class, and to
42 degs. and 43 degs. in the third-class carriages, with the ventilators open.
After this time the warmth remained constant, and on the return journey
the result was the same.
We are told that the speed of the train was not checked by the con-
sumption of steam, and that the amount of fuel used was not considerably
augmented; but of course a more exact account is required before any
practical opinion can be formed of the arrangement. There is also another
omission in the published report, namely, how the mode of attachment to
the boiler, and especially of the arrangement for the supply of the steam to
this long series of tubes— which would, of course, have carried off all the
steam and brought the train to a dead stand, but for some system of check
—were managed. Still, the account, imperfect as it is, is highly interest-
ing, and the experiment may possibly be the forerunner of a great improve-
ment in the comfort of railway travellers.
A New Blow-Pipe. — The blow-pipe has always been attended with
the inconvenience of exhausting one's breath, in order to perform certain work.
Nothing could be more objectionable. Mr. Lewis J. Paine, of Bloomsbury, has,
however, by the aid of vulcanized india-rubber, overcome the objection indicated.
He makes a small pair of bellows, the sides of which are of india-rubber, and with-
out a nozzle, but having a hole instead, into which is screwed a tube of tlie same
flexible material. This tube is attached to the blow-pipe. Between the bellows
and the blow-pipe, and attached to the tube, is an air-chamber, into which the
air is pumped by tlie bellows, the bellows being placed on the floor and worked by
the foot in the same manner as a treadle. The air, when forced into the chamber,
can be readily operated on by the manipulator, so as to cause a greater or lesser
stream of air to be forced upon the object to be operated upon.
PLASTIC WOOD.
THE following additional information on this subject appears in the Maneheiter
Examiner ; —
"Oneof tlie results of the late French treaty has been the introduction into
this city of a new product of art and industry, called " boi» duri," wbidi wUl
cause Iquite a revolution in the manabcturc of many articles of omamcnt and
general use, and, to judge by the remarkable applications that we hate Keen, the
discovery is a great success. Bois dnr6," or har<len<ri wood, which has been Im-
properly described as wood softened and then hardened, is made trom gawdnit,
which, under the Influence of a high temperature and the enormoiM picmm of
600 tons, acquires a hardness a good deal exceeding that of wood. It i» of avery
fine grain, and fears no atmospherical variation ; but its principal merit ll it»
adaptation to moulding, and by the most economical processes Ibrms and Im-
pressions are given which would require, in any other way, considerable labor
and workmanship. We have seen various articles of great beauty manufactnred
from it, such as vpriting-desks, inkstands, seal- handles, medallions of royal and
public characters, and even binding for books; on these, carving and the mot
deUcatc sculpture are reproduced with the perfection of models, and with exquisite
fineness of execution. In Manchester there are one or two places where the
products of this new art can be seen."
PROPOSED GENERAL SYSTEM OF PREVENTING THE INUNDA-
TION OF A COUNTRY.
THE immense amount of damage done at various times in France by the
overflowing of her rivers, the proposals made by (Jovernnient for prevent-
ing a recurrence of such evils, and the large amount of land which is at present
unfit for cultivation in consequence of the want of a proper method oi drain-
age, have caused many people to turn their attention to the subject. Plana,
propositions and suggestions without number have been put forth, many of
which exhibit a marvellous want of any scientific knowledge, and few of
which possess any completeness. One which has appeared has, however, this
great desideratum, that it takes up the matter in a broad and general manner, ii
set forth with clearness, and, even if it be not accepted as a complete system,
supplies an excellent starting-point for the general consideration of the whole
question of irrigation, water-power, and drainage.
This subject, if not of tlie same, is at any rate of great importance in every
country in the world, and we therefore think we are performing a useful task in
laying the scheme before our readers without delay, in order to induce a cond-
deration of the entire subject, as a matter of theory, and to call forth the energiea
of practical men as regards the application of this or any other system to those
parts of our own country which are subject to inundations.
The projector of the system alluded to, M. Delamarre, illustrates his plan
by means of aa imaginary chart, a copy of which we have given at the head
of this article; it is made on the type of the hydrographic basin of the Loire,
but is equally apphcable to the Thames, the Severn, the Trent, the Vara and the
Waveuey, which give so much trouble in Norfolk, or to any other river in the
world. It will be seen by a glance at the chart In question that the whole apace
of country occupied by a river and its tributaries is, according to the system
referred to, divided by dotted lines into three regions, called upper, middle, and
lower, to each of which a ditt'erent mode of treatment is ainilied.
1. Aa regards the upper.region, says the projector, the first process to be put
in action is, above all, that' of imbibition, that is, to prevent as much as possible
the rain swelling the small streams;and causing them to overflow, by making the
earth absorb the greater portion, and thus directing it gradually by underground
drainage. When the soil is of a non-absorbing character, he considers it a™?"
lutely necessary to create reservoirs on the various plateaux by stopping up the
gorges of the ravines which separate them. It is argued that very littleex-
pense and great benefit would arise from the carrying out of this first portion
of the plan by combining the system of road-makmg with that of agriculture,
as grass or ploughed lands ofter the most available means of imbibition.
2. The middle region is proposed to be supplied with a system of frreat resCT-
voirs, or great permanent lakes, of which fourteen are indicated on the diart by
the letter A. These great reservoirs are intended as receptacles for all the vari-
ous small streams of waterwhich descend from the Imountainous or, at anv rate,
upper region ; they are intended to contain an immense body of water, and wUl,
it is argued, be the source of great wealth to the regions below them, in the three
modes of h-rigation, navigation, and water-power. When a rainy season woiira
otherwise produce a sudden swelling of all the streams, these great reservoirs
are calculated to regulate the distribution of the water throughout the wnoie
basin of the river, by causing the waters to flow gradually to the middle region
before a superabundant supply can descend from the plateaux above ; and wnue
the latter remains in these reservoirs, the lower country will have tune to arain
itself; and they will tend also greatly to the general improvement ot in»
3. Lower region, and system of temporary reserves. M. Delamarre cwi-
derans entirely the longitudinal embankment of rivers, as tendmg to keep upjne
height of water at times of flood, and to produce disastrous periodical 'Munaa-
tioiis of towns situated on the banks of the rivers to which they are appUett. as
a broad general principle, the projector advocates that, instead »• "'l';!"? "P JJ«
river by parallel embaikients, the plains should be left open to the AooJ «» »"
best meaSs of preventing great inundations. . Of course he does not mean IMt
that principle is to be appfied in all its naked simplicity, for that ''»»'d be doing
nothing at all; he proposes to spread the superfluous water over the plains, or
rather to lodge it on the lower grounds, by means of a senes of t^a^ve^ °^'
which may be seen in the chart, along the whole =»«^ <'Lji%"'Tttof '
throughout the middle and lower regions, and which are marked '^t» '«« '«!J^;
In fact, he would create a hundred or more little toundations '"Placf «J"« *^
could do no harm, in the hope of thereby preventing any ■""P"?'';.''* "X^''^
extent in those parts in which it would prove mischievous. 1° •»«'•, "1°^!,^:
superfluous water much in the same manner as a canal is '"ckfJ' ^f '^^ ""^^
of the embankments are in proportion to the fall »f tH"'"u h^miifLes te
dams are simple low banks witt a very wide base, and would, inmo»t<^^
formed by hoflowing out the ground on the upside. The '«"»«' of «bese^
would be determined by the lowness of the surroundmg counts?; butjhatevCT ^
the extent of these temporary reservoirs, says the author, «•?« ™tf„ ""^i^.^i^
gently, and not carry destruction to the crops as the mundations at present too
''X' p/ojtctor believes that under such a system anyUiuig like a great inunda-
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 25, 1861.
UPPER
CHART OF A HTDEOGEAPHIC BASIN, EXHIBITIKG A SYSTEM OF PREVENTING INUNDATIONS.
tion would be quite impossible, and that even the flooding of a large number of
the temporary reserves or dams would be a rare occurrence. fAt the same
time he recognises the great value of flooded lands in an agricultural point
of view, and says that in the Milanais the lands that are liable to the great
irruptions of the Po produce a much greater revenue than those which are pro-
tected by embankments ; and that the same benefit accrues annually in the
Se^neaux, which are periodically flooded by the Rhone, the lands in question
bemg, like those of the valley of the Nile, enriched by the deposits left thereon by
the receding waters. He looks, therefore, upon the transverse dams in his system
not only as a means of preventing inundations, but also as collectors of a mass
of valuable manure, which would otherwise be carried away and lost in the sea.
In the case of the cultivated lands lying aronnd large cities the circumstances are
very diiferent : there the manure of the town has fertilized the country for
ages, and submersion is a positive and enormous evil, which must be prevented as
far as possible ; with this view it is proposed to isolate each town liable to inun-
dation by a continuous series of dams, as may be seen in several places on the chart,
marked with the letter C, thus rendering such town with a large portion of the
adjoining country utterly insubmergible. This latter feature of the plan will
probably strike practical men as being rather delusive. As regards the whole
scheme, it is impossible to overlook the fact that the work to be done, first in
confining the waters to the plateaux of the upper regions, or rather in preventing
the natural valley torrents; next, in constructing the enormous permanent
reservoirs or lakes at the outfall of all the tributary streams ; and, lastly, in
forming sufficient dams or shelves along the whole course of a great river, is
sometlimg gigantic ; but it must be remembered, also, that the evil is enormous
too : and, m jreover, that the scheme may be carried out bit by bit, and that each
portion finished would be a complete work in itself, and would reduce the general
evil in precise proportion to its own extent.
FRENCH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
THE first Bitting ot the year was, as usual, devoted to the renovation of the Board
and other matters of routine. Mr. Milne Edwards succeeded M. Chasles as
I»re8ident for the year 18C1, and M. Duliamel was elected Vice-President.
M. Bonnafont sent In a paper on the foot-liglils of theatres, and other matters re-
lating to their construction. The competition opened by Government, he observes,
for a new opera-house invests the subject with peculiar interest, and it is therefore
^■■ential to take the following circumstances into account :—l. That the foot-lights,
in their present position, arc extremely hurtful l)oth to the eyes and voice of the
actors, and etipec-ially in the case of singers. 'I. That the communications existing
ovivixji the »iH'^i: and titc lower story by means of trapdoors, cause draughts of
cold air, whicli arc highly prejudicial to the actors. 3. That it would be highly ad-
vantageouii both to the actors and to the public 11 the foot-lights were replaced by a
■yitem of illumiuation from above, invisible to the public, and exercising no noxious
Inflnence over thi: performers.
Dr. Dcmarquay Communicated some remarks on sub-perlosteal sections.
•V. "crnard sent In a description of a contrivance of his, by which he raises water
through the agency of wind. The idea is not a new one, and we have ourselves
Been a wmdmill which, while it ground its modicum of corn, at the same time
worked a pump, by which water was raised to a cistern above ; this water
Bcrrmg, when there was no wind, to drive the mill by its fall. But it often happened
that the supply of water was short, owing to the wind not having been strong
enough, and It u> this inconvenience which M. Bernard professes to have removed.--
G<Uiffnon%. '
Or ^ J T.ECTLRE AT THE ARCHITECTUKAL MUSEUM.
Ji Wednesday evening a lecture was delivered on behalf of the Arcliltectural
Musenm, In the Lecture Theatre of the South Kensington Museum, by
Mr. 8. C. Hall, t .h.A., " On the Art of Engraving and Printing Plates." There
2?* "n"*™!!* audience, who expressed great satisfaction with the lucid and minute
maitrattons given by the lecturer of the several styles of engraving. At the close
or Uie meeting a vote of thanks was passed by acclamation to Mr. Hall.
METROPOLITAN BUILDING ACT.— GREENWICH POLICE COURT.
ON the 19th inst., the district surveyor ofDcptford, Mr. Wliichcord, summoned
several parties to amend irregular buildings, wooden workshops, and sheds
built and covered in with combustible materials. The defendants contended that
the buildings objected to were only of a temporary character, and were not
buildings within the meaning of the Act.
The magistrate, Mr. Traill, decided in every case that they were buildings,
and must be amended or removed, and a week was given, within which time they
were to be done. .A.t the same time Mr. Traill said that as the Act did not
describe what was and what was not a building, he was willing to give a case for
tile decision of the Court of Queen's Bench upon the point, but that in these
particular cases he had no doubt but that the structures objected to were
buildings.
LECTUUES ON ARCHITECTURE AT THE EOY'AL ACADEMY.
LAST (Thursday) evening the first of a course of lectures on Architecture was
delivered in the lecture-theatre of the Royal Academy by Sydney Smibke
Esq., R.A.
Clayton Memorial Church. — Monday last was the day chosen for the
consecration of the Clayton Memorial Church, which has been erected to the
memory of the late Rev. Richard Clayton, incumbent] of St. Thomas's Church,
Newcastle. The foundation-stone was laid on the 28th of October, 1859. The
erection of the building has been carried out by the direction of Mr. John Dobson,
tlie architect, but the immediate superintendence has been by Mr. D. Birkett,
one of Mr. Dobson's pupils. The church is handsome and commodious, and con-
sists of nave and north and south aisles, communion recess, tower, and south
porch. The style of architecture is the Geometric Gothic, and contains a most
beautiful east window of five lights. There are also north, south, and west
galleries, which ore very well lighted from gable windows, tliereby avoiding an
undue height of wall. The length of the building is IIO feet, width 54 feet, height
from floor to apex of roof 54 feet, height of tower to top of pinnacles 100 feet.
There are 849 sittings on the ground floor, and 491 in the galleries, making a
total of 1,340 sittings, of which 4.53 are free. The church is well warmed by hot-
water pipes, and otherwise well provided for the accommodation and comfort of
the congregation. The nave and galleries are lighted by Messrs. Farraday and
Son's patent sun-lights, suspended from the roof, and containing 81 burners
The cost of the site and building is about £0,700.
St. Pauts Church, Maidstone. — On Tuesday last this structure was
consecrated. The foundation-stone was laid on the 19th October, 1859, and it
has been erected in a most satisfactory manner by Messrs. Sutton, Walter, and
Goodwin, upon the plans of Messrs. Peck and Stephens, the architects. The
church comprises nave, with clerestory, north and south aisles, south porch,
tower and spire over north entrance, chancel, and vestry. The dimeusions are
as follows :— Nave 85 feet by 35 feet 6 inches, north aisle 70 feet by 13 feet, south
aisle 85 feet by 13 feet, chancel 34 feet by 25 feet, vestry 18 feet by 10 feet
6 inches, south porch 11 feet by 9 feet, tower entrance 15 feet by 15 ieet. Its
style is Decorated, of the geometrical period, and exhibits much of the elegance
and beauty which mark the churches of that time.
American Notes. — The brick-making business of Troy, N.Y.,
amounts to about 8,000,000 a year. During the summer season the price for a
good article was about 14s. 6d. per 1,000 ; it is now about £1 Is.— The Portland
(Maine) Athenaeum will build, next spring, a building which will contain a hand-
some library hall, about 44 feet in length by 33 feet in breadth, and 18 to 20 In
height. — The corner-stone of the New Methodist Episcopal church, for the use
of the First Methodist congregation, Newhurgh, N.Y., was laid on the 14tli of
November. Tlie dimensions are 73 feet by 140. The style is Gothic, of the
thirteenth century. The centre tower will be 180 feet high.— Christ Church
(P.E.), Boston, was reconsecrated on the S2nd of November, having been re-
puired ata cost of about 20,000 dols.
Januarv 25, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
71
THE VOLUNTEER DRILL-KOOJt,
BRADFORD.
THE accompanying is a view of the
drill-room about to be built for the
Srd West York Rifle Volunteers at
Bradford, on land leased to the corps by
the ladies of the manor adjoining Man-
mngham-lane,containing about two acres.
The want of a suitable rendezvous has
been seriously felt from the first, and the
consequence has been that many have
been deterred from joining the corps on
this account. This want will now be
met in a manner which will at once prove
useful and ornamental to the town, and
be an evidence of the patriotism of its
inhabitants ; and now that drill and in-
struction can be conducted despite the
weather, the corps may be expected to be
greatly augmented.
The room for drill purposes will be
97 feet by GO feet. This space is to be
covered in by a light wrought-iron roof,
having on either slope a range of large
skylights. The floor is to be of
concrete.
Communicating with the drill-room at
one end, will be the armoury, 44 feet by
20 feet, ofiicers' orderly room, 20 feet by
15 feet, room for cleaning arms, 20 feet by
12 feet, containing hot-water apparatus
for heating the armoury. At the
opposite end of the drill-room will be the
gymnasium, 44 feet by 20 feet, and the
sergeant's orderly room, 20 feet by
15 feet.
All the walls (which will be of the
stone of the locality) will be loopholed ;
and by means of loopho'.ed towers at the
angles, each face of the building can be
commanded by tlie rifle, and the whole, if
necessary, rendered perfectly defensible.
In an elevated recess at one end of the
drill-room will be a gallery capable of
containing about fifty musicians. This,
which will add to the elegance of the
interior, will be occupied by the regi-
mental band ; but is also adapted for use
at a concert, or as a platform for
speakers.
The building will stand on a raised
terrace with a verandah in front 12 feet
wide. A grass verge will surround it,
as also the boundary walls inside the
parade ground.
Adjoining the main building will be a
sergeant's house containing a sitting-room,
kitchen and three chambers.
The cost of erection, exclusive of the
boundary fences to the land, will be about
£1,400. This sura it is intended to raise
by a bazaar to be held in St. George's
Hall during Whitsun week.
Altogether, when completed, the build-
ing will be worthy of the corps, the
present efficiency of which is owing to
the enthusiasm and spirit of the com-
manding ofiicer. Lieutenant - Colonel
Lister of Manningham Hall, and to the
energy and skill of the adjutant. Captain
F. Lepper, late 7th Lancashire Militia and
81st Regiment.
The Bradford corps is on the increase,
and is one of the finest and most
efficient bodies of volunteers in the
country.
The architects for the buildings are
Messrs. Andrews and Delaunay of Brad-
ford, who have given their services
gratuitously.
Dangerous Condition of Melton
Mowhray Church. — This large and lieautiful
church has been surveyed by Mr. William
Slater, architect, of London. The bells, Mr.
Slater advises, should not be rung until the
tower be made safe, and some parts of the
roof are pronounced decidedly dangerous.
The cost of a restoration is estimated at
£7,000. The report produces dismay and
despair.
ttiliiliiiiilpi'.Mijil'i illilJiiiliTillllilllllllll'il!llBiiia:iiia'imj''i'.ii:ili!il'.l3
72
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 25, 1861.
NOTES ON COAST CHURCHES IN DEVON AND.CORNWALL.
Vaet II. ITevok.
CiupTES 2. — Browsstoke, Kingston.
TXTE must not quit Modbury witliout making allusion to the chapel of
VV ease in the distant village of lirownstone, which was erected some
years ago by the Rev. I^ebendary O-xenham, late vicar of the parish. It
lies in a remote and picturesque valley, about three miles inland from the
town, and is a fair example of good intentions badly carried out from lack
of the knowledge which was in its infancy when it was built. It is in-
tended for Gothic, and is a trifle better than carpenters' Gothic, but to
one main defect it owes and must ever owe its utter heartlessness as a
design. The tall, wide lancets are splayed on the outside instead of
within, and look as if the villagers had thought their chapel getting too
weatherbeaten and moss-catcn, and had given it to a tailor to " turn."
The cross at the cast gate is a great curiosity in its way. Instead of being
set on the gable it is set behind it, raised on a little pedi mental erection
built np for the purpose.
Close by the west end of Brownstone chapel is a village school,
ambitiously imitative of Gothic architecture, but indebted for all its deco-
lative features to the fatal facility peculiar to the use of " compo."
We wish we could have spoken in more satisfactory terms of a work
which was carried out by one of whose sincere intention and desire to do
everything for the best and in the best way none of the large circle of his
attached friends can doubt, and who is now gone to his rest. But as
architectural critics, we must speak the truth and lay aside private
feelings.
The parish of Kingston lies between Modbury and the sea, by which
and by the estuary of the lovely river Erme, it is bounded on the south
and west. It is a large parish, and is held jointly with Ermington by the
vicar of another neighboring parish, Holbeton, of both of which more
anon.
The church lies on the side of a hill about a mile from the sea, and is in
many respects a very interesting old structure. It consists of nave and
chancel, north aisle and vestry, south transept, south porch, and western
tower.
The tower is of the thirteenth century, early in the period, and is of a
most remarkable character, presenting more or less a resemblance to the
Irish towers. It is surmounted by plain battlements, which, on the east
and west sides, are not level, as commonly seen in our English buildings,
but rise from eitlier angle of the tower, the middle battlement being the
highest of all and stepped. This arrangement conceals from below a
gabled roof, the ends of which rest against the stepped battlements. The
windows of the tower, with the exception of the great west window which
is now nearly blocked up and a mere heap of rubbish, are all lancets, some
plain, but all in the bell-chamber stage, with square-headed trefoil tops.
There is a west door, under the blocked window from which the stone
dressings have been taken away. The battlement stage of the tower above
the bell chamber, projects beyond the lower parts, and is carried on a
series of plain corbels. There is a large and bold square turret on the
north side, rising above the top of the tower, and adding' greatly to the
picturesque effect of the whole. The entire composition is simple in the
extreme, but thoroughly good and well worthy of study.
Internally the tower opens, or rather ought to open, to the church by a
tall and acutely pointed arch, perfectly pUiin, but most effective. Against
this a singing gallery is built up, and the arch is filled with huge boards
containing the Commandments, &c
There is a good peal of four very heavy bells, about 250 years old.
The body of the church itself has been, so far as can be now ascertained,
almost wholly rebuilt in the fifteenth century, tolerably early in the Per-
pendicular style. The nave is now encumbered with huge pews, as indeed
the rest of the church is also, and only tvif) or three fragments of ancient
work remain to testify to its original beauty. These are portions of the
old bench-ends and of the chancel screen. The latter was removed not
many years ago " because it made the church dark." It must have been
a very fine piece of work, extending across the entire church, as is evident
from the lower portion wliich remains to the height of the modern pews.
The bans of the little shafts which supported the tracery of the open-
work of the screen are delicately moulded and in good style.
Of the old benchea we observed one tattered fragment laid on the floor
of the ground stage of the tower to cover a hole, and a couple in a perfect
state, ingeniously tnmed into a chair for the clergyman by Mr. Pearce, a
local carpenter, and get within the rails. They are of black-oak, very
solid, and richly carved, of good design and earlier in the style than any
we have met with in Devonshire, except those in the neigbouring church
of Aveton-Giffard.
Some portions of panelling which once belonged to the pews have been
recently set up with good effect, under the east window by way of reredos.
The windows of the church are all Perpendicular, those on the south
side of the nave being early in the style. These last are of granite, but
they have a pecuharity which we have noticed elsewhere in the neighbour-
hood; only the tracery and the central mullion are of granite, the jambs
Me of plain walling simply chamfered. The effect of this is very good;
but one of the windows, that between the porch and the transept, is in
danger of falling to pieces, and ought to be carefully restored without loss
of time.
The east window is a fair specimen of somewhat later Perpendicular,
and one or two others are quite debased.
The arcade is tolerably good for its period, but it is late ; the pillars
have been relieved from their load of plaster, it is a pity that the arches
hare nut been treated in the same way.
The roofs are original, of the same date as the arcade, simple barrel
roofs in square panels, with a little thin carving, but weakly constructed
at first and very feeble now. They require immediate attention.
The font stands at the west end of the aisle, and is a good example of
granite, carved in various geometrical devices, apparently at the begin-
ning of the fifteenth century. It has been lately cleaned and put into
good order.
The south transept is the family aisle or chapel belonging to the
ancient house of Wonwell. It is still separated from the church by a
Jacobean screen, bearing a shield with the arms of the family of
Ayshford.
There is one of the openings, commonly called a " hagioscope," from this
chapel into the chancel, one end of which is now blocked.
Kingston Church, like many of its neighbours, has suffered from the
epidemic of rough-cast which was the plague of the last century; but it
has fallen off in many places, and we are glad to hear that the east end
of the church is likely to be cleared of what yet remains of it in the
spring.
We must not conclude our notice without reference to the old house at
Wonwell Court, which lies in a picturesque hollow about a quarter of a
mile west of the church, the entrance gateway to the old drive being just
outside the churchyard gate. Here the ancient family of De Wonwell
lived till the reign of Henry the Sixth, when the representative of the
Hingestons married the heiress and migrated hither from Hingeston in
the neighbouring parish of Bigbury. From the Hingestons it passed, some
generations afterwards, by marriage with the heiress of that branch, to the
Ayshfords, during whose possession the old screen in the parish church
bearing their arms (above alluded to) was erected. Prom them the estates
passed to the family of Ayshford-Wyse, and it is now the property of the
Duke of Somerset.
The present house consists of two wings, a portion of the house erected
about the time of James the First by one of the Ayshfords, whose coat of
arms still stands over the entrance door. Portions of the old Court are still,
undoubtedly, traceable in the foundations of the buildings, but there are
no noticeable remains of an earlier period. w
At present Wonwell Court is occupied by Mr. Loye, who farms the
estate under the Duke. The Court is surrounded by fine timber,
which has grown to a great size under the shelter of the hills.
A large tree was blown down here during the great storm of New Years'
Eve.
There are many remains of old cottages in the village of Kingston,
but nothing, probably, of earlier date than the present house at Wonwell.
Scotscombe is a venerable farm-house nearly a mile south of the church;
near it we observed a mutilated granite pillar, apparently the remains of
an ancient cross.
The parish of Kingston abounds in beautiful scenery, the valley of the
River Erme towards Plete being remarkably picturesque, hilly, and well
wooded, and nobly backed-up, northwards, by the rocky heights of
Dartmoor.
THE DRAPERS' SCHOOL, TOTTENHAM HIGH CROSS.*
THIS Institution, together with 24 Almshouses now in the course of
erection on an estate called the " Elms," purchased for this purpose
by the Drapers' Company, has been founded by them for the education of
boys being the sons of freemen of the company.
The school, of Domestic Gothic character, is built of brick, with malm
" facings " and Portland stone " dressings ;" it contains on the ground op
principal story, a school and class-rooms, entrance-hall and staircase,
dining-hall, kitchen, and offices, sufficient to accommodate 100 boys. A
large apartment, corresponding with the school-room, to be fitted up and
used as a chapel for the boys and almspeople.
One wing of the building contains the residence of the head master, the
other wing, the residence of the matron, and the infirmary wards. The
upper floor of the central portion of the building contains the boys'
dormitories and teachers' bed-rooms.
The nature of the clay soil on which the building is erected has suggested
the precaution of keeping the principal, or ground story, some 4 feet
above the general level of the ground, and the excavation of a basement
story under the whole area of the building, every precaution being taken
to guard against damp by concrete and cfBcient drainage throughout the
whole site.
The school forms one of three sides of a quadrangle, of which the alms-
houses (twelve in each block) form the other two sides. A handsome
fence of iron railing on a dwarf stone wall will form the sejmrating
boundary from the high road. A wide roadway will be formed round
the quadrangle, and the centre portion laid out either as a garden or
grass-plat.
In the rear of the school is sufficient space to form a good cricket field
for the use of the boys in summer, and a hard surface playground with a
paved playshed for winter ; there is also a large enclosed kitchen garden
for the use of the school, and ground set apart for cultivation by the alms-
people, besides a small garden in the rear of each house.
The whole is from the design and under the superintendence of Herbert
Williams Esq., the architect of the Drapers' Company. The contract was
taken by Mr. John Willson of Southwark, in March last, at tlie sum of
jei7,581, of which £9,450 is for the school, the remainder lor the alms-
houses, grounds and drainage. The clerk of the works is Mr. James
Mortlock.
• For Illustration see page 75.
January 25^ 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
73
Every one must rejoice to see such noble institutions springing up for
the education of youtli, and feel a desire that otlier of the City companies
would follow the example of the Drapers' Company. The situation of this
building, its proximity to the metropolis, and the study that appears to
have been given to promote health and comfort will cause many a citizen
to cast a longing eye to the Drapers' School. And having regard to the
assistance now urgently needed by the middle classes and professional
men in the education of their sons, we could devoutly wish to see such
institutions not entirely confined to a particular class, but like the
Merchant Tailors' School, St Paul's, and others we could mention, open to
all classes of respectability, who might at the same time maintain a certain
feeling of independence by contributing yearly a small sum to render the
institution in a measure self-supporting, and thereby promoting its
efficiency and general usefulness.
COLORED GLASS COLUMNS, &c., EOK ABCHITECTURAL
PURPOSES.
SINCE the days of Pliny, as most are aware, the manufacture of colored
glass, for a variety of purposes, has occupied an important position
in the mechanical arts, and though the progress of it, as compared with
others, has been imaccoxintably slow amongst us, the Germans have made
many improvements. In fancy articles, which all foreigners nearly are
greater manufacturers of than ourselves, glass has always occupied a great
share of attention, and, but for its extensive supply, would be considered
very valuable, for in its crystaUine appearance it is an attractive article,
capable of assuming so great a variety of forms and colors. The novelist,
should he portray some scene of artistic splendor, invariably calls it to his
aid, and the poet hails it as a welcome simile; and wherever we find it —
whether as portions of furniture in domestic life, as combining use and
ornament in the salons of the great, or as even described in books or
I)ortrayed in pictures — it seems to relieve a certain monotony, and as a
sparkling fountain on a rugged background imparts lightness and trans-
parency. So much for the material itself, and its present uses; but its
adaptability is evidently fast assuming a wider range, which promises to
be productive of much greater results. Doubtless many may be induced
to look suspiciously on an article hitherto only limited in its uses; but we
must investigate thoroughly the strength of articles before we can east
any suspicion on them in that respect.
Glass columns, colorless and colored, have been introduced into shop-
fronts for the last seven years, and that length of ejcperience has shown
them to be eqaal to any strain, whilst in that position, which may be
brought to bear upon them. We had opportunities of observing such
columns (whilst acting as window mullions) in operation, being 3 inches
in diameter only, and having as much as from 80 to 100 superficial feet of
glass upon them; but for better security these columns have iron rods
passing up the centre, and screwed up at both ends. In Sloane-street, at
Messrs. Youngman, Hayman, and Burnett's; the London Mantle and
Shawl Company, St. Paul's-churchyard ; and in many fine shops in the
principal cities and towns in the United Kingdom, may be seen excellent
examples, by an inspection of which our readers may assist themselves in
following our description. Though these columns may be more expensive
than wood or brass at first laying out, the ultimate saving is much in
their favor, not requiring that attention or renewal to which the latter are
subject, and in linendrapers', chemists', or other shops, where a certain
display is highly necessary in the way of attraction, the effect is quite
equal to any anticipation.
Their use for internal decoration, though not having had that general
trial which they merit, is very great, for being east in semicircular
portions to fit round iron columns of almost auy diameter, and receiving
gilding or other decoration on the inside, thereby effectually concealing
the plain iron column, they may be made very effective in drawing-rooms,
saloons, and places of public assembly. They are now convertible into
arched window-heads by the patentees (Messrs. Lloyd and Summerfield,
of Birmingham), but we would suggest a still wider field for their
adoption than any that has been entertained by the patentees. Ecclesias-
tical and palatial decoration continually suggests to the architectural
profession new associations of idea and new modes of treatment, and
whilst building in the true spirit of the structure, the choice of material is
a great consideration, for to each kind we attach associations and ideas,
whether tliey be cast in the devotional or Epicurean mould. Perm, kind,
color, each beget their distinct allusions, and the more sensitive the taste,
the more powerful do these allusions become. With the cold and classic
marble we associate ideas of purity and repose, whilst with the rich and
mellowing tints of stained windows we soften them down into that warmth
upon which we can linger with pleasure. Thus, then, with glass being so
readily used in places where every shade of color would have its proper
effect, would the purest or most luxuriant taste be accommodated, and
changes various and multiplying be produced. In civil architecture, piers,
balustrades, &c., may be relieved by the introduction of such a material,
and in ecclesiastical our altars and fonts would not suffer by it, for the
crystaUine and polished appearance alone is sufficient to give it the first
place where even a moderate designer is engaged in the execution. They
who seek symmetrical beauty equally in a finger glass as in the most
expensive mirror or other ornament will appreciate our argument, for the
principle is similar through all, and the true artist never deserts his
standard though his work be diminutive, and may, by some, be considered
unworthy of attention. This is why we advocate the use of glass for
internal decorative purposes, as it is cheap and can be used in so many
different modes, so «s to obtain effect at a trifling cost. As ceiling-centres,
cornices, mirror-piers, baluitrades, may be all worked out of the preient
manufactured glass columns, with a little trouble taken in arrung«in«Bt,
we should suggest to designers the importance of showing liow this can be
done in their pattem-bouka, as, when the public have these niatten laid
before them in such a form, they are more likely to entertain with proper
spirit the suggestions urged upon them. R.
A
ARCHITKCTIIRAI. AS.'?OCIATION.
Mr,
meet
MKKTIXO of tlie AsBotlatlon w«8 held lu the rooms, y t'ondnlt-sfrctt, 1
street, on Friday evcniuj; ; T. «o(;Eit Smith, Ks<i., tlic l*re»l.li>iit. lu the Sutr.
Ir, Arthur .smith (hon. sec), road the inlnut«» of proeccdlniTB at
ctinK, winch were approved of and conflrmed.
, Kegest-
the Uct
Aomnuiiioiiajhr Memftershiu.—iiestn. Walter Paris, Trlnity-plare ; — Tarrn-, »,
HernerB-strect (propo»ed tjy Mr. Keeves, and secandcd by Mr. Arlhnr Smith); R. W.
llart, 77, (Jamdeu-road Villas, Oamdcn-town (proposed by Mr. Blashlll and aeeondod
by Mr. Arthur Smith); M, ». Thomson, 74, Oxford -U-rracc, Hyde-park (prapoMd
by Mr. lilaslilll and Mr. Arthur Smith) ; — tircen (propoBcd by Mr. T. Koutr fimltk
and Mr. Vernon. ^ r j
iTho Chairman said there were a few obBcrvatlons which he wished to additM U>
the meeting- before they procoedod to the business of the cveri-- H- thooBfct it
right to draw their attention to the report of thctr last meetin" beeaue
Mr. Billing.'! thought rifjht to refer In a way which, he tt". of them
regretted to his works, and ho thought it only riaht that li.. i,....h..iph wbleh
appeared in tlmt paper of the same day in reference to this matter abonld hare Moal
publicity to the statemcntB made by Mr. liillinirs. The Chairman then read an
e.xtract from the JiuiUlcr, denying that the editor knew Mr. lliliinirs wa« thcKeutle-
man charged with the want of capacity in the matter of the fall of ItamBar-terraee,
Edinburgh. That, he thought, exonerated the editor of the lluilrlir from the charge
of having- wished to injure their friend Mr. Billings. The gentlemen be addressed
would have seen froiu the arclutectural Journals that the subject of archltoetnral
examinations had been discussed at the Institute, and that nome resolnthma
were passed thereon. And there was no question that a scheme for
examinations would be brought before the Institute prepared by the Conncll,
and would, no doubt, be carried into effect. The CImirman then read the
resolutions come to by the Institute at the private meeting of the previous Mon-
day, wliicli ha»e already appeared in the iJuiLiuNC News. la connection with thU
subject, the speaker remarked that it might be useful to say that the managers of the
Polytechnic Institution (educatlDnal department) had commenced courses of lectures
on architecture and building, in consequence of *'a growing" desire for some oppor-
tunities of systematic instruction in architecture and building havmg latterly dmb
evinced; and should architectural examinations, as now proposed, beoomeestob-
lished, such opportunities will become indispensable." There were to be three
courses of lectures: the first, "On the Essentials of UuildiogB;" tbe seooisd, "On
Architectural Character ;" and the third, "On Modern I'ractice." The charge for
admission to the lectures was very trifling ; the fee for each course, includin;^ ten
lessons, being only twelve shillings. lie also wi.'ihed to draw their attention to the
modelling class of the Association, which would be of extreme advantage to gentle-
men who itad time to attend it. The question of the registry connected with
draughtsmen out of employment and of architects wishing araoghtsmen, was
brought before them early in the session, and Jlr. Capes, the registrar, had prepared
a report on the subject. BIr. Capes was prepared, and be had no donbt woufd lay
bis views before the meeting. Tbc following was the report which Mr. Capes haa
prepared :—
" Gentlemen,— I beg to lay before you some remarks In reference to the ofllee
which I hold as Registrar to the Assoclatiou.
" The duties of Hcgistrar are supposed to consist In affording gratuitously every
information to architectural students to enable them to obtain access to the libraries,
museums, galleries, and" public buildin<;s in the metropolis, for the purpose of pro-
fessional study, as well as to keep a list of assistants reqmring engagements, and of
architects making application for assistants, such register to be tree of charge, and
open to all who may apply.
" I'rom four years' experience, I find that very few students cltherrcqulre or avail
themselves of the opportunity of information or introductions for the purposes of
study, and that the mode of registration does not produce that t>eneflt to the pro-
fession or to the Association for which it was intended.
" Iso discretion is left to your Registrar to refuse entering the names of or Bbowug
the books to any person who may apply. The result is, the list contains a large
number of so-called assistants who are incompetent to perform any other duty than
that of tracer or copving clerk, whilst others, who have a sUght knowledge of
drawing, enter tlieir names in the hope of being enabled thereby to resi^ the trade
to which they belong and rise to the occupation of an architect.
" Those who are fully qualilled do not seem to require the aid of the reglBtCT^ or,
perhaps, decline to have their names associated with the above ciMs. It Is, therefor^
only very occasionally that an application is made by any aesistsnt that I coulo
satisfactorily recommend. - . . ^ -i.
" Architects complain that there is no opportunity afforded of judging or tne
relative merits of the applicants, who nearly all profess to be fully compctait
assistants, and if they, the architects, allow their names to be placed upon tlie
reffister, they render themselves liable to be waited upon by a number of persons
who arc in every way ineligible to fill up tlie vacancies in their offices.
" A serious injury is often done to the credit of the Association by members or the
profession supposing that the names of the assistants on the register are rceon-
mended for employment by the Association as being cither personally belongliig to
it or introduced by one of its members. v. . v
X" In order to render the register of any benefit to the profession. It onght to be
much more extensively used than it is at present, and greater publicity given as to
its existence. Every assistant wishiiig to place his name on the books should first
fill up a printed form, stating Ills name. asv. address, number of years professional
experience, where and how obtained, with the length of each engagement, the names
of the professional societies (if any) to which he belongs the several branches of
professional knowledge with which he considers himself beet acquainted, and the
amount of salary required. This form, at the discretion of the Registrar, to be
entered in a book kept for that purpose, to be shown only, or a copy sent, to arclu-
tects requiring assistance. _ „ , ^ ^l -i < i- >,-«.•
" To prevent the present difficulty of discovering where the register is »pPPO«ed
annually to migrate, and the address of the Registrar, I propose that the bo<*8 be
always kept at the rooms of tlic Association, and that arrangements be entered Into
to obtain the .services of some gentleman on the premises to take charge of Uie
register and to five every information required, whether personally or by letter.
" The Institute and the other architectural societies, at present located in the
Union Company's premises, would then, doubtless, be enabled to lend their aid iu
promoting the greater utility in the services of the Kegiatrar.
" I feel fully assured that, under its present form, the register is of UtUe nse.imd
1 therefore trust you will take the subject into your serious consideraUon, and eJtner
allow me to resign the office to which the members have elected me, or suggrait some
plan by which f can continue to perform the duties with greater credit to tne Asso-
ciation and interest to the profession. .,,„.,„
" I am, gentlemen, yonrs obediently. _
•• Silvester C. Capes, Hon. Segistnr."
Average of applications for the last four years :—
Assistants 7,i per annum.
Architects 27 „
— Total 102
74
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 25, 1861.
Mr. Capes said he had very little to add to the report, whieh he had written with
the Tlew of eliciting suggestions from the Association as to the future management
of the register. He thought it would be desirable to receive the report, and to refer
It to a coSimittee for consideration and to report.
Mr. Aktblr Allom thought it would be desirable for the Association to retain
the register in its own hands, and that some means should be devised for the pur-
po«e of ueertainiug the qualifications of those who put their names do\ra. He
thoo^t Mr. Capes deserved great credit for having undertaken the registrarship—
ftn office which could not have possessed much interest for him, but wlueh had been
of gt«at ser\ice to others. At the same time he agreed with the suggestion that
some one connected with the rooms in which the Association met should hold the
oOee for the future, for he was of opinion that that would be for the advantage of
»U parties. He moved, therefore, that this subject be referred to the general com-
mittee of the Association for consideration and to report. At the same time he
personally rwommended that the suggestion of Mr. Capes be adopted.
Mr. E. O. ll.\RRis seconded the motion.
The Chairman remarkid that they would have to pay for his services If they
engaged any one at the rooms, whereas the present registrar had no pay. It might,
therefore, be worthy of consideration whether a small fee should not be paid, not
when the name was put down on the register, but when a situation was obtained. If
that was decided upon they would be enableJ to secure the services of a gentleman
on the premises without subjecting the Association to any expense.
Mr. Kahdall Druce thought it would save expense if the register was open only
on the nights of the Association meetings, and then either one of the Hon. Secre-
tarie* or the Secretary of the Class of Design could attend to the matter without
expense being incurred.
The motion was unanimously agreed to.
Mr. Abthl'R Allom then read the following paper :—
THE battle or THE STiLES.
GEXTLEMEX,— In making some observations upon what architects may, with
justice, call " The Battle of the Styles," I am not actuated by a desire to en-
courage the combatants, as I consider that already in the discussion of this subject
too much warmth has been evinced on both sides. Tlie arguments brought forward
have occasionally savoured of the bitterness of personal enmity, and have conse-
quently loet that power of conviction which a calmer tone naturally exercises over
redectiTe minds. Nor is it my intention, by recapitulating the numerous arguments
that hare been deduced in favor of the Classic or the Gothic styles, to re-open the
whole snbject again, and thus break the apparent truce that at present happily exists
between the parties.
I feel that in bringing this subject before your notice I am exposing myself to
the critical acumen of enthusiasts of both sides ; but I shall endeavor so far to gene-
ralise as to avoid the necessity of quoting the opinions or mentioning the name of any
partlcnlar individual
By adopting this course I hope to avoid giving offence to the champions of either
Bide, and although I shall be compelled, in the course of the following remarks, to
differ from some of my professional brethren, I trust that they will give me credit for
the desire not in the slightest degree to hurt the sensibilities of anyone.
I feel that in the discussion of a topic of such importance to us, and also to the
progress of architectural art in this country, the more calmly we can study the points
of the question, and free the argument from that special pleading that too frequently
indicates a selfish view of the subject, the more likely we are to arrive at a conclu-
sion that shall reflect honor on ourselves as a profession and prove a real impetus to
the original and tasteful development of our art. At the same time I believe it to be
in the true interest of art to state with boldness such views with regard to it as
appear to be grounded on common sense and a knowledge of those principles which
gOTem its practice. And as it is despicable to permit the judgment to be biased by
interested motives or envy to dwarf that appreciation of the works of others whicn
is ; inherent in generous minds, I trust that whatever opinions may be advanced by
me tills evening, you will give me credit for perfect sincerity when I say that in
deahng with this snbject I have simply a desire to promote the successful study of our
Boble art
Unfortunately the battle that has raged between the advocates of the Classic and
the Gothic styles has not been conflnea to members of the profession, but has been
taken up with virulence by those who do not belong to It. The champions on
both sides hare too often shown evidence of being partisans rather than true lovers
(rfart, and have unworthily availed themselves of the mere Illogical reasonings or
chronological errors of their opponents, instead of confining their arguments to a
discnssion of the true principles of art. Nothing, perhaps, will prove the animus of
some writers upon this subject more fully than the vituperations and sneers with
which they have frequently interlarded their literary cflbrts to prove the correctness
of their opinions. Tliis shows itself in the descriptive terms applied to the various
periods of art, such as '•Pagan," "Christian," "National," "Ecclesiastical,"
In dealing with this snbject it will, perhaps, bo convenient to consider the
question firstly, as it effect* the architectural profession ; secondly, as it effects
arcliiteeture and the public generally.
In treating of the first division of my subject I feel that I am addressing those who
hare as mncn interest In the advancement of the true principles of art as myself,
and that, however we may differ in views as regards the details of the question, our
main effort should be in the same direction. Until within the last day or two I was
unaware that Mr. Kerr had during the last session of the Institute read a paper upon
the " Jtattle of the Styles," and having perused the report of it in the Building News,
I may here state that 1 almost entirely concur in the views therein expressed.
There are some points, however, upon which Mr. Kerr has not touched, concerning
which, I truft, 1 may have something to say that may interest you. Those who
have watched the various phases of the argument will have observed that both sides
have shown some qualities to lie admired and encouraged, as well as unmistakable
■ymptoms of other qualities to be condemned as unworthy of the votaries of a
liberal profession. If we look at the ability with which the whole question has been
discussed, I agree with Mr. Kerr in thinking that it augurs well for the future study
ana practice of our art. Biit, on the other hand, when we reflect upon the bitterness
foamtcum that have too often prevailed, we are led to infer that there Is some
bidden motive for such unwonted excitement.
I would ask, why all this acrimony and anxiety— why this desire to raise up one
style of art at the sacrifice and ruin of all others ? How is it that there are those
■poog n».»o blinded by enthusiastic bigotry that they deny the beauty of
those periods of art which produced the monuments of ancient Greece and Home, of
Hercouneum and Byzantium, of Modern liome, Venice and Florence. Again, on
the other side, there are some who look on Gothic architecture as the barbarous
growth of the dark ages— as the child of Feudalism nursed by Popery. But why
I>*"'*t in applying irrelevant and ungenerous terms in conducting an argument that
staoold have for its sole aim the establishment of the true principles of taste, and the
jnsoeMriil development of architecture in this country? The t(!mporary triumph of
tlie pamphleteer of to-day over him of yesterday can only be gratifying to his
Immediate partisans.
Soeh lltcranr " escapades " though they may affect a few, are not destined to
influence art to any extent In coming generations ; and I fear we may sometimes
measure the interested motives of their anthors by the amount of vituperation
tw^ied upon the heads of those who are unfortunate enough to differ from them on
'■'{• 'ooject. It is much to be regretted that the terms which have been applied, or
rather misapplied, during the discussion have been the indirect cause of much mis-
•"derstandlng on the part of the public, and of ill-feeling amongst members of the
profeasion. We should endeavor to consider this subject in the most liberal and
eosmopolilan spirit. To be really great in our profession we must set aside all mean
or sordid views. To be learned in art the mind must be carefully stored with
"'"BJ;" '^ the styles of every period. To be successfully original the mind
must oe prepared with a correct knowledge of the principles of composition and
proportion combined with an unfettered imagination. To be chaste in art the mind
and the band must be highly cultivated. These remarks may be considered by
some, as so m.iny truisms, and I freely admit they are; at the same time I humbly
submit that they are truths whieh are sadly overlooked in the education and practice
of modem English architects. From whatl havejust said it would appear that au
architect to be successful in the practice of his art should be liberal,
should be learned, should be original, and he should be chaste in design.
Of the first named quality I am sorry to say there are too few instances.
This does not proceed from the want of this quality in the minds of the majority of
architects, but from the exceedingly restricted means of professional education that
students generally have at their command. In all probability, the young architect
enters the office or his master, who may be principally employed in designing Gothic
churches and chapels, or Italian banks or warehouses, or, what is more fatal still,
is engaged in the more mechanical part of his profession as a district surveyor or
surveyor to some public company, and who, therefore, cannot be expected to devote
much attention to the higher branches of art. Neither of these opportunities is
favorable to the development of liberal or cosmopolitan ideas of art. VVith regard to
the second qualification, that he should be learned, 1 will only remark that this is a
matter of previous education and persevering industry. As respects originality, I
do not mean that fcceH/r/c;originality so distressing to persons of refined taste. With
regard to cbasteness in design, I consider this aportion of tlie argument that has not
hitherto received the attention it deserves. To those who have observed with a
critical eye many of the executed .and unexecuted designs of the present day, I think
that it will be admitted that there has grown up among some of our younger men a
tendency to a flaunty style of designing, without pretension to any degree of ele-
gance, which asserts itself by what is called "striking the eye" of the beholder.
I may even go further, and say it occasionally presents itself in the shape of some
hideous eccentricity, adopted solely in consequence ot the novelty of the pattern
(for such only can we call it). This kind of art never yet made a I'liidias, a Michel
Angelo, or a Raffaelle, and is in total opposition to the cbasteness to be
found in the best schools of Classic ami Gothic architecture. We need
not seek far for the probable cause of this (which has been aptly
termed " Jemmyism " in architectural art) when we reflect that the autliors have,
for the most part, been deluded into the idea that they could learn the whole
art and mystery of architecture in the short term of three years. Although I feel
that I am moving on tender ground, I cannot help observing on the very careless
style of drawing that has been lately introduced into our architectural exhibitions.
I refer to the cross-hatching pen and ink style so freely used and abused. There are
some who. from their real knowledge of the correct principles of art, can handle tills
manner of drawing in a masterly style, but unfortunately, there are many imitators
who, although they may not be able to deceive the profession, yet with these scratchy
attempts at the picturesque, succeed in misleading the uninitiated, exhibiting the pro-
posed designs in such a state of confusion, that what should represent ornament is
taken for accidental blotch, and what is intended for blotch proper, is supposed to be
ornament. As I have before stated, perhaps the excuse is to be found in the very
short period for which articled pupils are now taken, rendering it impossible for
them to master the mere mechanical difficulties connected with their profession,
much less those great principles of art, without a knowledge of which they can never
be expected to attain success, I have before referred to the fact that there are many
amongst us who, from studying under architects who were essentially one-style men,
have naturally a strong feeling in favor of that style, to the prejudice of all others,
and who decry the modern eclecticism, not only from bias of old association, but,
perhaps, from the interested motive of self-preservation.
In passing to the second division of the subject, as it relates to architecture
and to the public generally, it will, perhaps, be useful to devote a little consideration
to the origin and development of the various styles of architecture throughout the
civilised world. And I would first ask what it is th,at constitutes a style of archi-
tecture ? A column does not constitute a style, as there are columns in all styles. A
roof does not constitute a style, as there are roofs in all styles. A window does not
constitute a style, as there are windows in many. A string-course does not
constitute a style, as it is common to many. Mere ornamentation docs not con-
stitute a style, as all styles are more or less ornamented. And if none of these
things constitute a style of architecture, what does ? Here it becomes necessary to
think with deliberation, as we are now entering upon the threshold of those great
Srinciples of art which are universal in all styles and in all ages. It becomes most
ifficult in speaking of this subject to avoid mere generahsing. But I desire, if pos-
sible, to go further into the consideration of this question, and to state what I believe
to be the peculiar characteristic of the various styles of architecture. In the first
place, let us note the necessities of mankind under various climes and degrees
of civilization. Let us reflect upon the vicissitudes of climate, necessitating
shelter. But, above all, let us consider that wonderful instinct of our nature that
whispers to the soul of the savage that there is a greater and more terrible Being
than himself, that disturbs sleeping consciences and speaks to thinking men. To this
wonderful instinct we owe the glorious examples of ancient and modern art. From
the early Hindoo temple down to tlie exquisite culmination of Greek art in the
Acropolis of Athens and the luxurious profusion of Ancient Uome, dates a period
upwards of .3,000 years, during which time the various phases of art had appeared
and disappeared, to be again resuscitated, sphynx-like. from the ashes of Ancient
Byzantium, by Constantine, in the fourth century, when he moved the seat of
government from Rome to Constantinople.
The fears of a superstitious mind induce the savage to carve, with a certain
degree of rude elegance, the idol which he Is about to set up for worship. The
mysteries of a solemn ritual lead the Buddhist to carve and decorate from the base
to the crown with silver, gold, and peecious Jewels the temple dedicated to his gods.
The dictates of a purer faith led Christian nations to offer better and grander works
to an omniscient t;rcator. And thus we find that art has its origin in the expression
of some abstract idea of the beautiful existing in the human mind, and when we reflect
upon the variety of faiths that have existed, and now exist, in the world, we can
easily discover the origin of the various forms into which this abstract expression
was thrown by respc^ctive nations of the eartli. And taking this view of the ques-
tion, how very mean appear the eff'orts that have been made of late to restrict art !
These would- be critics on art seem to forget that it has been practised in all its
various forms of beauty for thousands of years, in the same way that language has
been spoken, occasionally with the force and vigour of an intuitive taste, but fre-
quently with all the eloquence and grace of a more refined education.
The revival of any style of ancient art does not always arise from a conviction of
its intrinsic beauties and merits. It is more often the result of fortuitous cireum-
Btances favoring the development and knowledge of this or that particular pi-riod.
To such circumHtanees we may trace tliu revival of (Ireek and I*alladian arcliiteeture
which has prevailed in thiseountryfrom the time of Wren to the present. Allthepub-
hcations during this period have been devoted to the delineation of examples of Classic
art, The students of the Royal Academy were sent to study the glories of past
ages— Greece and Italy ; and perhaps not a little of the patronage given to the
revival of G reck art in this country has owed its origin to the keen appreciation of men
of refined taste for the unexampled specimens of Greek sculpture that have, from
time to time, found their way into this country. During my short experience,
Gwilt's "Chambers' Architecture" has been a common text-book for the young
architect. From its pages we have learned that a door, or a window, or a room,
must be of certain proportions to be within the strict rules of taste, with sundry
other fallacies concerning the origin of the five orders of architecture, which are
now happily, to a great extent, exploded.
In speaking thus of a most valuable work upon Classic art, I would still wish it to
be clearly understood that I would rather place in the hands of a pupil this book,
with all its faults, than let him wander through the more picturesque but less strict
works on Gothic architecture. In the one case he is, by gradual steps, .idvanced to
true knowledge of the proportion of whole, as well as most minute, parts, and is
has disciplined Into a keen appreciation of those exquisite proportions to be found in
January 25, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
January 25, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
77
the works of ancient urcliitecture and sculpture. In the othir, he is too fniiuently
allowed the licen«n of the iiniHtcur in art, who always sketclies but rarely llnislioa.
The revival of (iothic architecture has, in like manner, derived a great nnuetus
from the numerous and valuable publications of such men as liritton, I'ujjin, Collins,
Jobbins, and others. But, unfortunately, the knowledge thus offered to the young
architect has not always tended to the advancement of art, but has rather acted as a
restriction. I say this because it is not long nince (aceordingto the views propounded
by certain critics on arcldtecture, who were then looked up to with con.slderablc
reverence) the use of a moulding or a window-head was restricted to those forms only
for which a precedent could be found in some iincient example, and the unfor-
tunate tyro who had the temerity to be guilty of originality was visited with
condign punishment by these would-be Mentors. This is art in leading-striujjs
indeed 1 I would ask these persons whether they consider art ui this country to be
in its infancy or in its dotage. No wonder that we, as a profession, have been
content, for some years past, to witness the erection of a series of copies from
ancient e-vamples, without a single good or original idea about them ; and thus
assisting, as far as lay in our power, to puzzle the New Zealandcr, who, at some
remote period, is to visit the ruijis of this metropolis.
Having taken a brief glance at the probable origin and development of architec-
tural art throughout the oivihzed world, let us consider the present state of
architecture, as a fine art, in this country. To fully appreciate the merits and
beauties of any particular style, it is desirable to consider the uses to which the
building has been devoted in which it la found. From what I have before stated, it
will be seen that religion, or feeling.s of a kindred nature, have, according to the
history of past ages, proved a fruitful incentive to the production of art in the
erection of places of pubhc worship, either Pagan or Christian. It will be found
that the higher the degree of civilisation, the greater the efforts which have been
made in the direction of high art. And although, according to the taste of the
present time, these efforts may not always have been successful in keeping pace
with civiUsation, yet it must be allowed that higher mental attainments in some
form are necessary .to the encouragement of fine arts. By studying the various
styles of arcliitecture which have for the most part been devoted to religious pur-
poses, perhaps the greatest merit of each is found to consist in the perfect adaptation
of all its various parts to the particular requirements of the form of worship for
which it was intended. The growtli and perfection of all styles of architecture have
been the result of tlie perfect adaptation of form and ornamentation to the require-
ments of the times and circumstances under which they were developed. In the
architecture of the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Greeks, the Komans, the
Moors, the Venetians, and some other styles, we can discern no attempt
to do more than to fulfil the necessities of each period, and it must be clearly
observed that these styles were in no case the result of revivals, although
we may plainly trace the influence that early periods of art had in moulding some of
the forms and ornaments. This engrafting of the beauties of one style upon the
vigorous shoots of another is a healthy sign, and should be encouraged, if only in
opposition to the tame revivaUsni of either the Classic or the Gothic, which can
alone lead to servile copyism, to the inconvenience of the public, and the permanent
depression of true ajstlietic feeling in this country.
The perfect fitness of a stylo of architectui'e to the requirements of the age under
■which it has been developed and perfected should be a subject of thought and
example to the young arcuitects of^ the present day ; for although we can mark a
decided improvement in the progress of art in this country, we can also discern fre-
quent attempts to force the (h;tails and characteristics of past styles mto the facades
of modern buildings, without reference to their original adaptation and the require-
ments they were intended to fulfil. Such attempts have produced many failures in
art, and, if persisted in, will result in a Victorian style that will be quite unworthy of
the education and present enlightenment of this century.
To those who are anxious for a distinctive nineteenth century style, or what has
been termed a Victorian era of architecture, 1 would say that no individual ever yet
succeeded in originating a combination of beautiful and original forma of such a
homogeneous character as to constitute a complete style. There is a well-known
proverb that " fools rush in where angels fear to tread," and the truth of this saying
18 sometimes exemplified in the introduction of colour and coloured materials in some
of our modern domestic and public buildings. The application of colour, as an
auxiliary to architectural form and design, requires to be executed with the delicacy
of a woman's touch, jind not with the coarseness of a clown's. In the one case, the
mind sympathises with the graceful pencillings of art ; in the other the feelings are
excited to mirth, or more frequently disgust. To all who have devoted even a mode-
rate amount of attention to the science of colour that study is foimd to be one of an
exceedingly difficult nature.
The student, after having made himself acquainted with the names and the natures
of the primary, secondary, and tertiary orders of colours, has yet to attain the know-
ledge of those varying circumstances which should govern their successful application.
In the painter's art this is to bo attained by a careful study of nature and close
observation of ithe practicu of the best masters, liut we have only to note the
numerous failures of^ those who attempt the practical application of the science of
colour to discover the difficulties attendant upon its judicious treatment. All art is
dependent upon a few great principles ; as are, in fact,*all sciences founded upon an
accumulation of facts from which their leading truths are deduced. But in the
practice of polychromatic decoration in architecture we cannot exactly copy nature
because our art has something in its forms and principles which is opposed to those
of nature.
The prototype of a CJreek temple has never yet been discovered in the works of
nature, and I think we may safely apply the same observation to a modern school-
house. Whatever may be said by tliose who so frequently tell the young student
to follow nature, I much fear that the teachers themselves are not prepared to point
out the road which he should take.
Before bringing these few imperfect remarks to a close it would, perhaps, be
desirable, m a practical way, to attempt a solution of the difficulties connected with
this subject. 1 had cause to lament the bitterness of feeling that existed between the
belUgerents, partly arising from enthusiasm and bigotry, the result of a peculiar bias
acquired in the early education of the architect, and partly owing to the less estimable
but necessary motive of self-preservation. If the principle of eclecticism were pos-
sible to all architects, we should, probably, hear no more of the " battle of the styles."
But, unfortunately, there arc many who, from circumstances over which they have
had no control, have been compelled to devote their studies to one style solely. It
may have been Classic or it may have been Gothic, and consequently
they are fl-equently almost insensible to the beauties of any other. They
must live. They have no choice. Hence, their anxiety for the success of their
pet (because their only) style of art. If we could only bring our minds to believe it,
this mere revivalism is but a lazy and lifeless way of practising art. The facilities
offered in our time by the immense increase of architectural publications,
principally devoted to the delineation of mere ornament, encourages a slavish
copyism, resulting in a tame, not to s.^y fraudulent, practice of palming off tlio
■work of past contories as the invention of the present day. I do not pretend to sny
that there are not signs of living art in some of the productions of modern times.
We have only to walk through the mctropoUa to discover many examples of real
thought and genius in the works that have been erected within the last few years,
but we may also discover some that tell, as it were, of the paste and the scissors,
and many again that are so painfully erratic in their forms and ornaments that we
might with considerable justice class them as belonging to the Harlequinade style of
art. Turner was onco asked by a tyro in the art of painting, on what principle
he worked to obtain the glorious results now so highly prized In our private
and pubhc galleries. His answer, although disappointing to the young aspirant, was
roll of meaning ; he said, " I do exactly as I please. " And so it should bo with us l our
minds should be so well stored with the forma and spirit of past periods, our ju'ig-
ment so well balanced by artistic study, that we should be able to handle the pencil
In the same way that he did the brush. And although we may be using the same
matt'rialB and means that have been uaod for centorte*, yet by the power of imaeiaa-
tlon, guided by icsthctio feeUog, we may uae them ao that the work tbaU bnir the
stamp of our individual minds, and remain an example, ootof our power* of mirnkktas
the works of bygone ages, but of our succesBful proKroM In arcUteclural art (taitw
the nineteenth century. In Its development at the present time there i> mnohtoiS
admired, and jKrhaps we may congratulate ourwlvei apooa movclnUw right tUnct-
tion, more particularly as respects our modern i-ecular buildinga. There hainllr
exists a growing desire on the part of the public for an improvS coumcUon and
more tasteful embellishment of both private and public BtructarM; and iltlm^ti
the effects of eclecticism may t>c to give too great latitude to original thinken.yiit
we have only to adopt an Iniproved luid more complete ayatcm of cducatlmr the yoiOHt
architect, to perhaps, eventually, rival the gloriea of both Claaalc and (ioUilc art
The Chairman remarked that the paper of their friend Mr. .\llom w«» a »«fy
suggestive one, audit seemed to him that .Mr. Allomhad been speaking ratherojthi
peace between thestvles than the "battle of thcstyles. " And lie hoped they akoold
be able to arrive at the time when, with a knowledge of all the atylea toau cxtoit
that never could have occurred to any other people, they could make nac of ail the
beauties they presented without acrimony or discontent. He beUeved the tlmewoaUd
come when out of a fusion of all the styles a national atyle of bnildiitg wonM ariac,
when the styles of various ages would be employed, and yet when wo)3d be blmdM
into one the two distinct schools that seemed to be attempting to get the maatery
over architectural practice. .Such a style would depend on conatmction and the nae
of new materials, such as iron, and then probably would be harmonlaed what-wai
now discordant. Instead of being like people who, living in the twelfth and thir-
teenth centuries, thought of nothing and built nothing but f;otliic, they had and
could study the architecture of India, the archltioturc of China, the architecturo of
Egypt, and had access to the architecture throughout (he whole world. They bad
only to pay a visit to the Architectural Photographic Kxhibition in the adjoiotng
rooms to witness the details and general effect of the varlone styles of bufldinga
throughout the globe. He thought, therefore, It was vain to expect they should ever
for any length of time practise one style of architecture as a nation. Men who
practised one style, if they were men of enlightenment, and took hints from other
styles, produced better works in consequence. He could believe in a man being
thoroughly well versed in Gothic and Itahan, and doing both f:on amore, but aach a
man was rare, for they would find that generally men took up one or two olaiica
of ideas. It was one of the most remarkable and interesting things connected with
the ethics of their art to trace the way in which the trains of thought and of litera-
ture in this country and throughout Kurope had gone hand in hand with Gothic
architecture. Takeanyof our poets a hundred years ago — take I'ope, for iustanoc :
they would find in his writings Latin and Greek done into Knglifh, in which the modes
of thought were those of Classic writers. The study of Greek and Latin used to oecapy
an almost exclusive pre-eminence. In the last and at the commencement of the preaent
century the style of architecture was Classic. Well, perhaps it would be difficult, with-
out occupying" much time, to attemptto give even aprobablcreasonforthechangv.bnt
the change did come. The literature of Gernmny was the first to show it, and the
works of Goethe did much to bring about the change*, and in our own conntry no
writer had done so much in this respect asSir Walter, Scott, who brought to view with
much effect the beauty and picturcsqueness of buildings of ancient timea, and created
much interest in antiquities. Other causes had e.xistetl, first, to make ua a natioa of
antiquarians, and more recently to make us a Gothic nation. We had got out of the
antiquarian state, and were now in the Gothic. But they were now getting f^ah
hints from ul\ parts of the world as to styles of architecture ; and in l^onmn the
singular introduction of French and Italian features might be traced in thcbuildinffs.
He thought the time must come when, to a great extent, existing dlfTcrencea woold
be fused. In the meantime, if a man had studied one style, he shotUd alao make
himself acquainted with another style. If such a person found one style to ault Um,
let him by all me.ans keep to it ; but let him not say that no other man could do his
work equally well in another style. If a man wished to be Italian, let him be a good
Italian, for the mine of Italian had been harder worked than the Gothic. Barry's
Italian works were a wonderful instance of howmueh character and originality could
be thrown into Classical constructions that were thoroughly correct Cockerell's
Classical buildings were another instance of the same thing. There was more »eope
for novelty and originality in Gothic, and those who studied the ItaUan ought to
study it well and thoroughly before they could hope for great success.
Mr. Kandall Dkuce was sure that all of them must have been very much
pleased with the tone of Mr. Allom's paper, whatever then- special ItBng or bias
might be. He thought all of them should try to attain to the same liberal feeling
which Mr. Allom had shown in his paper, not only because it was right they shonla
do so, but also because the art they produced was more likely to do so. He coold not
understand the man who, being thoroughly acquainted with oue style, did not make
himself acquainted with all existing styles that might be presented to his view, A
man worked of course with much more vigor and enlightenment in his own par-
ticular style. If a man had a particular bias and taste, he thought he was quite
right in adhering to them, and in his opinion architecture and the public gained by
such an arrangement. I'or when a man went into it thoroughly, and bent his whole
mind on a particular style, he of course gained more information in reference to that
style than he could do if his attention was diverted, and the [profession and the
public gained the advantage of tho individual attention of the architect behig
directed to one particular branch of art. He certainly was of opinion that the best
works were produced by men who in practice attended to one particular branch.
But there was a class of^ buildings in which the tiest were those in which all the
styles were ignored altogether. There were buildings on looking at which they
could not tell what style the architect had particularly in view. If a man confined
himself to the construction of a building in the best manner he could, he (Mr, Uruce)
did not care in what style it was. He thought that some of then- best buildings were
the products of such a style of building. He thought it was ihe best chance for
architects to have a style of their own, and to do away with party feeling on the
^"Mr.^BLAsniLi- said Mr. Allom's paper rather surprised him. He expected that
the lecturer was going to do his best in fighting the battle on one side or the other.
He was glad, however, thatMr, Allom had not sought to do anything oT the kind
and that they had arrived at a period in architecture when peace ought »» jcign. If
they had looked back to the beginning of the last century there was no difflcully in
understandmg how it came to pass that the men who examined the wondere of
Greece and l&me. and that the men who more recently had examined the buildliffis
of our own country and of France, should have done their best to produce sMlar
works, should have done their best tocopy and improveupon them. The only good rf
copying was that a man miglit throw that aside and make origmalbmldlnffliforhlm-
self. Architects had come upon a time when they must copy, as some of his friends
said, .art having worked itself out, and that was a posiUon from which it was their duty
to escape as soon as possible. , .,_.i^,.„. „r .
Mr. Allom said something about the non-flnding of a prototype of a
Greek teinnle in nature, and that architecfural principles : were very different
principleslRimthoseof nature. He(Mr. Blashill) <fid not see that 1 seemed to
1 im that as to the beauty we all enjoyed with the eye and the mind ; the eye and the
mmd continuing the same, whether looking at a work of art or nature. Jhere.mnst be
7nm,. wneral nrinciole though they should not e.xpect the idea of a building to be
tak"n JvacfTy Cm iwtuVe any^^^^
or othe?mu4aI works of that class, to be taken from natural sounds There was a
"c^atS^a ofdifTcrenee between the way in which the Classical and the Medieval
Stvles 1 ad been practised. It happened that when the Greek and Koman styles began
toT)e practised a large number ol- works were published upon them. 1 he architects
of ha? day got what"theycouldout of them ; itwas s"PP»»«d'<>^™7i;«'» f"'^.*'*'
was stateA therein, and that not to do so was incorrect >ow hedid not thmk that
ruch had been the case with the Gothic style. Maeaulay, in one of his essays, wrltmg
upon poetry took up the word "correct" as applied to po^nnr, and he mauled S
teiTibly The author of the essay produced a passage which he maintamcdto be
79
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 26, 1861.
not correct, but yet bcaatlftil. Xow, a similar thing took place in architecture.
Therefore, the ideas of liberty ot design hadhad better opportunity of developing
ttaesttelTC*. It was through the studv of Jledicval art prolessional men had begun
to hare aftvedom of architecture at all. liut for that he belleTed they would still
have been w>rkiDg the five orders, and not have had the variety and vigor which now
existed.
Mr. C. n. F. Lewis was of opinion that Instead of the present being an age of
copyine, everv building ercoted had something new about it.
Mr. Blashili.— What he said or meant to say was, that there had been an age of
copvism, but that arrhitects wore getting out of it.
Mr. K. O. Harris observed that Sir. Allom in his paper, asked what was a style,
and remarked that a column nnd other portions of a build'ng did not constitute a
style. Xow. the column constituted the style of the Greeks.
Mr. Allom.— Not per se, because we had the Norman column. It was only a
pfitttfof stone to support a certain superstructure, and whether it was Norman
Greek, or Byzantine, it only formed a portion of the parts of the style employed. So
that a column was peculiar to different styles of architecture, and whether it belonged
to one style of art or to another depended upon the way in which the ornamentation
of its capital and base were treated.
Mr. R. Drlce.— What Mr. Allom said was that the mere fact of there being
coltunns did not constitute a style.
Mr. Allom.— Nearly all styles have columns. With regard to what constituted a
style, he told them frankly tnat it would take him most probably a couple of hours
to explain what he thought a style was, and the peculiar characteristics upon whicli
particular styles were founded. He thought they would find that the tendency
of art, especially amongst highly civilised nations, was to follow the fashion. They
must remember that the fashion of the present day was a leaning towards the Gothic
feeling in poetry, in Uterature, in art, in painting, in architecture, and in coining.
The new penny pieces now distributed from the Mint were in the Gothic feeling of
art, and not in the Classic. He was looking at a penny piece the other day of an
old style, and compared it with the new coin ; nnd without wishing to feel the
slightest degree of bias, he must o\vn that there was a certain degree of breadth
and power m the old style, which he did not find in the new coin. Referring
to some of the observations which had been made upon his paper, Mr. Allom said
he looked on Classic art as far more difficult to study than Gothic art. The tendency
of the present day was to be content to put so many cusped, quatrefoil, or trefoil
windows in the side of a church, and to call it a Gothic structure. Now, any one
who had studied the Gothic and Classic styles would find that the one was
dependent on picturesque elTect, while the other depended more upon the hne
that would be represented by the line of beauty. In Greek art the study of the
human figure was never in this world so splendidly brought out and represented.
The lecturer then proceeded to speak of the beneficial discipline which the study of
CUsalcal art gave to the mind ; it was only that powerful discipline which could
thoroughly imbue the student's mind with a properleeling for art, taste, and beauty.
After some further observations bearing upon the subject of eclecticism, Mr. Allom
said he recollected reading a discussion that took place between Mr. John Bell and
two or three anonymous writers in the Building News, when Mr. Bell brought
forward his theory that the Classic style or the round arch was more favorable to the
representation of'sculpture within ita circle than the Tointed or Gothic arch. Now,
he perfectly agreed with Air. Bell. The speaker then made various diagrams on
the hlack-board in illustration of his views. He (Mr. Allom) said that Mr. Blashili
appeared to find fault with him for speaking of architecture as being different
to nature in its forms. Architecture was only like nature in its ornamental forms ;
it took nature and dealt with it in its own peculiar way for the ornamentation
of its grand forms. He looked upon architecture in this light — the man who designed
a building must design the principal lines of it in perfect taste before he ornamented
It The mere ornamentation of a building did not constitute its beauty, but
it was the large forms, the openings, the large columns, and the ten-
dency of all the lines, the proportions one with the other, that con-
stKuted real art. The mere ornamentation of a small moulding was not a
question of the proportions of a room. It was in the larger proportions of architec-
ture that nature could not assist them at all. In its larger forms architecture dif-
fered from nature. There could be no greater opposition to nature than the forms of
a Greek temple or the forms of a modern schoolhouse ; they were something totally
distinct from natural forms. After advocating " truth in construction," Mr. Allom
remarked that the tendency of the present time was to force Gothic architecture in
secular buildings, to which he expressed an objection. After further observations,
delivered with much flucncv and great ability, and frequently illustrated by diagrams
on the black board, Mr, Allom resumed his seat.
On the motion of the Chairman, a vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Allom for
his able paper, by acclamation.
The CiiAiKMA.N having announced that at the next meeting Mr. Bunker wonld
read a paper " On Foundations," the meeting broke up.
ARCHITECTUKAL PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION.
Lectlre by Joseph Bonomi, Ksq.
ON Tuesday evening Mr. Joseph Bonomi delivered the first of a course of lectures
at this Exhibition, in the Great Gallery, 0, Conduit-street, Regent-street, his
subject being— "The Kgyptlan Photographs."
The chair was occupied by C. C. Nelson, Esq., who, in introducing the lecturer to
the meeting, remarked that Mr. ikmomi's name was well-known to all who took an
Interest in Egypt both Ancient and Modem.
Mr. Bonomi then read the following paper :—
ON eotptian photocraphb.
J08EPHU.'*, the historian, in his "History of the Jews," informs ns that the
descendants of Seth, the son of Adam, being admonished concerning the
approaching destiny of mankind, erected two tables or stele, on which they caused to
be engraved a record of the science and learning of the Antediluvians. One of these
tables is said to have been made ol terra-cotta, in order that the record should be
preserved in the event of fire being the agent of destruction, and the other to have
been made of stone or granite, in case water should be the destroying agent. Next
in antiquity to these antediluvian records, arc the sculptured writings on the walls
and columns of the more ancientof the temples of Egypt, the most ancient structures
in existence, buildings which belong to ages so remote ;that apart from all
questions of abstract beauty, their antiquity alone renders them peculiarly interesting
to every architect and archaeologist.
To afford some tangible notion of the great antiquity of Egyptian buildings, as
compared with the architectural remains of other countries, I will here advert to a
fact that is not generally known. Among the older, though not by any means the
oldest, of the temples of Egypt, is that at Abou Simbei, from which we have in this
collection a most beautiful specimen of the photographic art — namely. Photo-
graph No. I.W. representing one of the four colossal figures in front of the entrance.
Upon the leg of the colussus, on the left-hand side of the entrance, is an inscription
engraved bv some (ireek soldiers in the pay of the Egyptian King Psammitlchus I.,
who recorded their arrival at that place when on tlieir march in pursuit of the
deserters of the garrison of Elephantina, who had fled into Ethiopia.
This inscription, additionally interesting because Herodotus mentions the circum-
stance of the revolt and pursuit of the deserters (ii. .30), is the oldest piece of Greek
writing known, for It must have been engraved prior to OH B.C., because Psam-
mitichns I. died about that date. Now this inscription was engraved before the I'ar-
tbnon of I'htdias was begun \ yet, long before that inscription was engraved by the
wwdt Dereenarles of the Egyptian king, the temple of Abou Simbei had become a
J™". .Uready the head of the colossus on whose leg this most ancient of all
Week iaserlptions Is engraved had been hurled down by an earthquake or
by the sodden sinking of the lower itratom of the mountain in the side of which
the temple is excavated. Altbady the sands of the Lybian desert had buried the
lower part of the two hoHhernmost figures, and obstructed the entrance, Tlicse
curious facts can be demonstrated as clearly as any problem in Euclid, if our time
would admit, but the evidence and illustrations would furnish sufficient subject
matter for a lecture far beyond our present limits.
Thus much by way of preface ; for it is not my Intention on the present occasion
to occupy you by any disquisition on the antiquity of Egyptian architecture, or yet
to describe its distinctive features. I will merely confine myself to a few observations
on the admirable Egyptian photographs of Mr. Frith, and endeavour to supply such
details and information as may be inseparable from individual specimens.
The first in order as they appear upon the wall is No. 125— the capital of a column
from a remarkable structure Dehind the large Temple of Karnak. Columns of this
order are found in no other building. Upon the shafts of two of these columns are
representatives of the figures of SS. Peter and Paul, now almost defaced. I mention
this circumstance in the hope that some traveller will make the relics of Christian art
yet to be found in the temples of Egypt, his particular study. There is scarcely a
temple either inEgypt or Nubia which has not some indication of its having been
adapted to Christian worship by filling up the incised ancient sculptures with thin
clay, and covering it with a coating of plaster, on which may still be discovered the
pictures of saints, and very frequently one of St. George and the Dragon. I should
have observed that the diameter of the lower part of the shaft of this column is a
little less than the upper diameter.
No. 120 is the capital of a column of one of the forms peculiar to the more ancient
temples ; it represents eight buds of the papyrus bound together with flat bands.
The shah of this column is also divided below the pendent terminations of these
bands into eight compartments, representing the stalks or stems of the eight buds.
These stalks, after growiug considerably wider as they approach the base, at last
contract, as does the natural plant just before its Insertion into the ground, and here
the natural plant Is furnished with a thin leaf which closely surrounds the stem.
This feature is also given In the stone Imitation, so that in this form or order ot
Egyptian column there may be said to exist a certain consistent harmony between
the capital and tlie shaft, which we fail to recognise between the capital and shaft of
a column of the Corinthian order. Perhaps the most elegant examples of this order
are those of the ruin at Soleb, of which there are three views, Nos. 151, 152, 153, In the
present collection.
No. 127 is not, properly speaking, a column, but more closely resembles an obelisk
deprived of Its apex. It Is of the rose-colored granite of Syene, and Is the obelisk
at the south of the entrance of the granite sanctuary at Karnak. Two of the four
sides are decorated with representations In Egyptian relievo, of the King being
received (I may say In a most cordial manner) by the divinities of the Sanctuary.
The remaining two sides of the square monolith are occupied by throe figures of the
papyrus, which represent, perhaps, a variety of the plant belonging to the southern
region ; while on the obelisk to the north of the entrance is sculptured the papyrus
of Lower Egypt.
No. 128 Is a specimen from the west bank of the Nile at Thebes, of the form of
column already described. It Is from a temple, in and about which there used to be
a village called Errebek, In which word Is recognised the ancient Egyptian name of
the temple, for the temple is dedicated to the Egyptian divinity Ke, the sun, and the
Egyptian work liek signifies house, as in the word Baal-bek. This temple had
anciently undergone several changes and additions by the successors of the original
founder Olmenephthah I., whose tomb Belzoni discovered In the Blban-el-Moluk,
and whose sarcophagus is now In the Soane fliuseum.
No. 129 Is likewise a column of one of the more ancient orders, the capital repre-
senting a single bud of the papyrus, and the shaft the stem or stalk. Now, in order
that a characteristic feature of this important plant— namely, the triangularity of Its
stalk, should not be lost In these architectural modifications of Its form. It is to be
observed that there is always left on the shaft three ridges extending from the five
bands down to those close fitting leaves at the base of the shaft.
No. 130. The column I have next to describe is of an order never found In any of
the more ancient temples now existing. It may be said to be of the composite order,
for the capital Is composed of papyrus flowers In several stages of growth, placed In
orderly succession round a common centre. First we have four fully expanded
flowers, then four large half expanded, then eight lesser half expanded, and lastly
sixteen buds. The stalk of each flower and bud is to be traced for a short way
down— that Is to say, as far as the first flat band, of which there are Invariably five.
From this point the shaft represents only a single stalk gradually enlarging, till
within about one-sixth of Its height It begins to contract, and is encompassed by
those close-fitting leaves previously described.
In the temples of the later Ptolemies, and of the Roman period, the shaft is fre-
quently continued in a straight line down to the base. The leaves at the base are,
however, never omitted.
No. 131. This column is also of the composite form, beginning with eight fully
expanded flowers, then eight half expanded, then sixteen smaller, but fully ex-
panded, and lastly thirty-two buds, making In all, including the buds, sixty-four
parts.
No. 132 la of the same order of composite as No. 130, having thirty-two parts. This
is one of the columns that sustain the doorway of that unfinished picturesque build-
ing in the Island of Phila: that lias obtained the name of the Bed ot I'haraoh.
The columns of an Egyptian portico are always connected by a dwarf wall, and
those that subtend the entrance are further strengthened by a massive construction
which sustained the two valves of the gate. In the case of^Dendera, the stones Into
which the pivots of the gates were Inserted are of black granite, the rest of the
temple being of sandstone, as. Indeed, are all the columns hitherto described.
No. 133 Is a column, with a capital formed out of eight lotus-flowers, combined in
the same way that we have seen the flowers, or rather the expanding filaments of the
papyrus.
No 134 is a column, whose capital is formed out of the head of the Egyptian
divinity Athor, and whose face Is repeated on all the four sides. Here the abacus,
or the block which connects the capital with the entablature or stone beam which
sustains the roof, is carved into the form of a house or shrine. This column resembles
those of Dendera, but is smaller and less ornamented.
The remaining columns of the picturesque ruin from which this Is taken, are of the
composite papyrus form. Those columns only which sustain the entrance are of the
Athor-heaued kind.
No. 1*5, a capital of the same construction as those of the simple composite,
Nos. 130, 132. There are only three tiers of flowers, and they are all ot the expanded
form, and only 10 In number. A peculiar but constant feature In this form of capital
Is the pendent lobe and curling appendage at the two ends and centre of each
flower.
No. 130, same as 131. Here the abacus is lengthened out, and a figure of Typhon Is
sculptured on it.
No. 137 exhibits the details of the capitals of some of the shorter columns of the
great chamber called the Hall of C;olumnB, at Karnak. The roof of this chamber was
supported by not less than 122 columns of the bud-shaped capital, and 12 of the fully
expanded flower, making In all, l.'(4 columns.
No. 138 Is a view taken across the Hall ;of Columns, at Karnak. Here the inter-
columniation is considerably increased, making a transverse avenue across the hall
from north to south, corresponding with the north and south gates. The great avenue
or axis of all the buildings (-onncctcd with this hall is at right angles with this view,
and the columns which support the higher roof in that axis represent a single iXilly
expanded papyrus. These columns are about 00 feet high, while those which support
the lower roof are not 40 feet high.
No. 140 is a view of one of the most interesting ruins of the Plain of Thebes. It Is
surrounded by a scries of crude brick arches, like our railway tunnels. For what
purpose these extensive arched constructions were made, still remains a mystery,
but It is tolerably certain that they are of the same age as the temple, which is of the
time of Raraesee II.
January 25, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
79
No. m. "View of the I'laiii of Thebes, lookiiiR across the Nile." Tlie towers ol
the great Propylon of Karnal; are visible in the distance.
No. 14->. This newly-excavated figure is the last one of the row, close to the second
Propj'lon. In my time it was buried up to its shoulders in the unburnt bricks and
Iragmcuts of stone which encumber the ruins of Medinct Habou. It rt-iiresentsthe
g:reat Egyptian conqueror, Kameses II., the Sesostns of the Greeks, and two of his
children. This is a particularly interesting view, as showing the beautifully formed
and deeply cut hieroglyphics with which the walls of this temple are covered, where
they are not occupied by representations of battles and processions of the greatest
historical Interest. I would next call your attention to No. 139, representing the
recent excavation in the inner part of this temple, carried on by M. Marrlette.
It shows the bases of the walls and columns of a chamber resembling
the Hall of Columns at Karnak. In my time the whole of tliis
space was covered with the accumulation of the ruins of successive
Villages, built one over the other, above the remains of this palace of
temple of one of the greatest conquerors in the world. There is reason to belfeve
that the ruined and deserted villages which have been so recently removed have not
been inhabited since Thebes was a Christian city, when the great court of the
temple to which the gate gives access was converted into a cathedral church. There
are some beautiful drawings of David Koberts. showing this court and the Chris-
tian additions to it, by «hich means it was adapted to Christian worship. A singular
fact in this view is, that we see no remains of the superstructure, and we naturally
inquire, wlien^ is the upper part of the columns ? Where are the architraves and
roof stones ? When and by whom taken away ? These are questions connected with
the history of the great capital of Upper Egypt, which it would be highly desirable
to answer, and which I hope the learned excavator will have found sufBcicnt evidence
to elucidate satisfactorily.
From a building belonging to this same group of ruins, and built by flhe same
sovereign, I now produce this piece of wood, for two reasons— first, to show you
what great care the ancient Egyptian architect took to unite the well-squared and
large blocks of which the buildings are constructed, for each two blocks have a
similar piece of wood inserted in the top surface ; and, next, to give you a notion of
the highly preservative nature of the climate of Thebes, tor this sound block of wood
was taken out from the top of a wall that had been partly thrown down in ancient
times, and only escaped the explorers in the time of the lirst Napoleon from its being
covered by a thin coat of mortar, and saved from the Arabs ever since from its being
out of reach without a ladder of considerable height.
No. 143. Koum Ombos.— This temple, now almost buried in the sands of the eastern
<lesert, was begun by Ptolemy I'hilometer, B.C. 180. It is of the most stupendous
masonry, some of the blocks of sandstone of which it is built being twenty and
thirty feet long.
No 14t IS a beautiful view of the granite rocks that form the first cataract and the
Island of Temples.
No. 143. In front of this elef'ant rnin, called Pharaoh's Bed, is a pier extending
into the river. The front wall of all such engineering structures in Egypt present
a concave surface (on plan) to the river. The construction of these piers is extremely
ingenious, but not likely to be entertaining on the present occasion, and, besides, I
should require plans and sections to render myself intelligible.
After noticing No. 140, he referred to No. 147, colossal sculptures In the tower of
the great Pylon of Philse. The figures represent Isis and Horus, the two divinities
in great honor at the period at which most of the buildings on the island of PhUaj
were executed. These figures, which cannot be less than 2;l feet or 24 feet high, are
fine examples of the Egyptian style of rehevo. The groove in the sloping wall of
the tower is a contrivance for inserting a large flag-pole on festive occasions.
No. 148. The Koman arch in this building was not in the original design, but was
an insertion many years after, much to the prejudice of the significant decorations
of the former doorway.
No. 149. Interior doorway, Kalabshe. The temple Irom which this view is taken,
isone of the largest ruins in Nubia. It is situated on the left or western bank of the
Nile, and consists of a quay of admirable masonry extending laterally beyond the
limits of the building. This temple was commenced by Augustus and continued by
Caligula, Trajan, and Severus, but was never finished, as you may perceive ; the
sculntures on the wall, and the architectural decorations of the doorway being only
blocked out. The masonry of this building is most excellent. It is built of large
blocks of sandstone of which the quarries are close to thetemple.
No. loO. We have already spoken of this beautiful specimen of the photographic
art It represents the southernmost of the four colossi of the facade of the rock
temple of Abou-Simbel. The Arab walking on the lap of the figure, and the other
man sitting on the knee, help the mind to form a tolerably just estimate of its
dimensions.
No. 161. General view of the Temple of Soleb, and two other views of the same
ruins. Soleb is situated on the western bank of the Nile, in Nubia, far above the
second cataract, and far beyond the usual limit of ordinary travellers. Among the
columns, which are of the ancient form. Is one representing the palm or date, now one
of the most important productions of the soil of Egypt.
You will have understood from what has been said that all these varieties of capitals
and columns, excepting three, arc derived from the figure of the papyrus ; and when
we reflect on the importance of this plant in ancient ,time8, as furnishing the material
tor the transmission of thought, wo shall cease to wonder why its figure was so often
portrayed, or why it should have been chosen as the type of the column, a feature of
all trabeated buildings, and of especial necessity in those of Egypt.
On the motion of Mr. C. C. Nelson, seconded by Mr. Owen Jones, a vote of
thanks to Mr Bonomi for his excellent and interesting lecture was carried by accla-
mation.
REPORT OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE EOYAL INSTITUTE OF
BRITISH ARCHITECTS.*
THE Hon. Secretary (Mr. Lewis) read the notice convening the meeting and the
minutes of the last Special General Meeting.
The Chairman, in reply to an inquiry by Mr. Kerr, said that the Council
had communicated with the various London and Provincial Architectural Societies ;
and
The Hon. Secretary read the replies which had been received.
Mr. J. W. I'APwoRTH said that all the replies assumed that the propositions
printed and circulated were sanctioned by the whole body of the Institute. This
was not the case, nor was it so stated in the circular issued by the Honorary Se-
cretary. '
The Chairman said that the replies had been carefully considered by theCouncil,
who felt that the only decided opinion expressed was, that it was desirable to aflbrd
an opportunity for a voluntary professional examination. They had not given their
attention to the separate propositions in the replies, but only to the broad aspect of
the question. On the «th .June, ISOO, the Institute, .-iftcr much consideration and
discussion, had resolved, " That it is desirable to afl'ord an opportunity for a volun-
tary professional examination." The proceedings would now, therefore, commence
de novo, with the simple fact that the above resolution had been carried unanimously.
In accordance with this proposition theCouncil were not prepared to entertain any
scheme which might be oflered by the meeting, but he thought they had wisely
limited their present consideration to a point whicli they had expressed in a resolu-
tion, which he proceeded to move as follows—" That the examination be open to
all members of the profession, andthatcandidatcsnot members of the Royal Institute
ol British Architects do produce a recommendation, signed by three members of this
Institute (one to be a Fellow), and subscribe the declaration as to practice which is
signed by members of this Institute.
Mr. Godwin, V.P., seconded the motion, which he considered at all events carried'
• Held on January 14th, 1801, M. l>. Wvatt, V.P., iu the chair.
the question one step further. He fully concurred In the rcwlntlon that the exaai-
nation should bo voluntary. He had looked Into the forelini •yatemi of eofflpolMrr
examination, and did not think they bad been fiTOrabie to art. Kelther Oronn
htephenson nor Michel Angelo would have mcceedcd in produrlui; their mat
of
out a course of study and reading, and suggest what course ol Icaniinir Uietr
students should go through, they would do good to architecture, and woold alio
materially beneht the public. There was no desire by the step now propoaed to fore*
people into the Institute. The resolution proposed wa» only a response to a gencnl
demand, and in the case of a man coming there and paying the fce» which moat be
paid lor a proper examination, he would obuln to »ome extent the seal ol the Imtl-
tute and if found competent In the various branches of knowledge prescribed be
would obtain a certificate. This was the view taken of the matter by tlie CouoeU as
a great educational question, and wholly without ngard to any forced diploma,
•v '/;,:'•, • l'A'",'«'ORTii thought the resolucion should be preceded by a statement
that the Council had done the best they could to obtain the opiulon of the profcssloa
generally. 'I hey should then specify tlie bodies which had replied to the circular,
and then state that the Institute would pro<!eed to take upon Itself the responsibility
ot the examination. At present the resolution already passed merely aflirmed that
the examination was desfrable, and the resolution iM-fure the meeting proposed that
it should be open to all the profession. Hut the Council had not yet taken upon
themselves the responsibility of the examination. Jlr. Papworlh proj-eeded to
advert to the importance of connecting art with architecture by means of the exami-
nation. A good deal of diflerence of feeling might be avoided if the Council would
lay their own proposition in detail before members, and name some day before Easter
for voting on it.
The Chairman said it was competent to the meeting to postpone the discosiion
to any time they thought proper ; but since last year the subj.ct had l)cen most care-
fully considered and digested by the Council, and by experienced professional men
whom they had called to their assistance ; the architectural press had discussiKl the
question with great ability ; and it had, moreover, been fully discussed by the Archi-
tectural Association, whose proceedings were of a very suggestive character. He,
therefore, did not consider an adjournment necessary, and thought that whatever
steps were taken they should emanate from the Institute.
The Chairman said he was prepared to receive for discussion any amendment on
the resolution proposed by the Council.
Mr. Kerr observed that the original circular had been sent out in July last, and
the Council had therefore been a considerable time in coming to this resolution.
The Chairman explained that the delay had been necessary. In order to receive
the replies from the various societies. The Architectural Association bad not com-
municated its decision till the 21st December.
Mr. C. Maviiew said the original proposition had been very much altered. It was
at first proposed that "the examination should be applicable to the Associates and
future Fellows of the Institute."
The Chairman said that the words quoted had not been passed as a resolution.
_ Mr. C. Mayhew wished to know whether members would pass under the resoln-
tion now proposed. All the associations were applied to for (heir opinions on that
subject, but it was now proposed to have quite a diflerent (examination, so that any
person, whether a member of the Institute or not, might pass.
Mr. Jennings said the question was whether the examination should be open.
His own opinion had been that it was desirable to require that all persons intending^
to offer themselves for examination should enter themselves as students of the
Institute, and that by doing so, and paying the fees, they should be entitled to an
examination. He thought this particularly desirable, because a temporary connexion
would partly tend to a permanent connexion with the Institute. The tendency* c^
all examinations was to indicate certain books and subjects ; knowing that, the
candidates should have the advantage of saying that they had read up those subjects.
The ^question for the meeting to determine was whether the examinations should
be thrown open to all, or whether the candidates should be required to become
students of the Institute.
Mr. J. W. Papworth said that when it was resolved to afford an opportunity for
a voluntary examination, it had not been resolved that the Institute should take that
examination upon themselves ; neither was anything resolved as to the mode of ex-
amination. He wished therefore, if possible, to modify the resolution to that eifect,
without violating the principle.
The Chairman, Mr. Godwin, and Mr. Penrose explained the terms ol the reso-
lution as proposed by the Council.
Jlr. G. E. Street inquired whether the Institute had not already established an
examination for the election of District Surveyors.
The Chairman stated that in that case the candidates for District Surveyorships
were obliged to declare that they applied to be examined with a view to th6 District
Surveyorship Acts. The words of the Council's resolution were that the examina-
tions should be open to all members of the profession, and that candidates, not
members of the Institute, should sign a declaration to practise as architects accord-
ing to the rules of the Institute.
Mr. J. W. Papworth moved— "That this Institute, by the publication of the
resolution of the 25th of June, 18fA and by the circulation of the propositions sub-
mitted by the Council at that time, having, to tlio utmost of its power ascertained
tlie views ot the profession thereon, and having taken into considcralion the replies
forwarded by the various societies, does, in conformity with the wishes expressed in
those communications, take upon itself the labor of instituting an Examination tend-
ing to promote a systematic professional education."
Sir. Kerr seconded the motion. » »r i»
The Chairman suggested that there could be no objection whatever to Mr. rm-
worth's motion, and the only question was whether it should be put as an amend-
ment on the motion put forward by the Council, or whether the latter should Dc
withdrawn for a time. ■ i ». i>
Mr. Penrose, hon. sec. forlforcign correspondence, did not consider Jlr. 1 ap-
worth's motion an amendment. ., , , , . _i.k..
It was then agreed that the motion proposed by the Council should be withdrawn
for the present, and the resolution proposed by Mr. Papworth, and seconded by Mr.
Kerr, was put and carried. , .,,«•«■ .i, n^^^^w
The Chairman said that the original motion proposed on behalf of the Cooneu
would now be put as follows :-" That the Examinations be open. 4c., *c.
This had already been proposed by himself, and seconded by Jlr. V.™»''"- „ „, ,. „
An inquiry was made by Mr. Boulnois as to what was meant by Members of the
Profession "-an important question as afl-ecting those who assumed the Utle of
architects without authority, but who might get the signatures of two respectable
architects or surveyors, iu order to obtain a diploma. . . „„ .i,«
The Chairman said that the Council had relied, to a certain extent, on the
necessity of procuring the recommendation by members of the Institute, ine
examination itself must settle the value of the Individua ability of the candidate.
Jlr. Kerr said the question now raised must be considered, in the V'e^^^J"\y
stage of the matter, as entirely one of detail. The "'^""""^"''.a'""". »,PR^'**' K
have been settled, but not the extent to which the recommendations 8no"Wg»; *J
present the recommendations for a member of the Institute went «o/''"f '?»« ^,
parties were fit and proper persona for elecUon under the charter and bye-laws, oui
that would not be so under the new plan. „„i„i,.„ (.,n1»«« «
The Chairman said that it would be unwise to ^''P«,s\«ny opj°™ |""X' 3
were on a general principle or some general sets of principles) •«."?,'''« J?*™* ?'
those who were to conduct the examination. Therefore they did not propose to
bring in any distinct aflirmation on these or any other such details. ,
Uv. Kerr suggested that it might be better to leave the r"^?,™™™?"''"" '*'*
limited, and ina form such as three or five members of the CouncU might approve.
80
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 25, 1861.
At the request of Mr, Jennings, Iho Chairman rt-adthe foUowinK torm of decla-
radoo now s-imed by Associates, It bdui; propo8e<l, of course, so to modify it as to
make it applv to the case of candidates not members of the Institute : —
•• I, the undersigned, being elected an Associate of the Institute of British Archi-
tects, do hereby declare that I am engaged in the study of Civil Architecture, and
hare attained the ajre of twenty-one years. That I will not receive or accept of any
pecraJary consideration or emolnineiit from any builder or other tradesman whose
works 1 may be euffased to superintend ; and that 1 will not have any mterest or
participation in any trade contract or materials supplied at any works the execution
of wliich I may be enjjaffed to superintend. And I further promise and cn{;»f;e that
I will be governed bv the Charter of tucorporalion and by the bye-laws of the said
Institute, or as thev may be hereafter altered, amended, or enlars^ed: and that by
every lawful means in my power I will advance the objects of the said Institute, and
will attend the meetin;,'s thereof as often as I conveniently can ; provided that, when-
ever I shall signify in writini; to one of the Secretaries for the time being I am
de^rous of withdrawing my name therefrom, I shall jafter payment of any arrears
which may be due at that period) be free from this obligation.
'- Witness my hand this day of
The Chairman further explained tlic intended declaration and the rules of practice
adopted by the Institute.
Mr. Jexmsgs said that the declaration would not prevent the candidate being a
builder.
Mr. Hayward said he had attended under the idea that the discussion was to be
confined to the I'xamiuation of members of architectural bodies, which he thought
would include other bodies than their own, but now a very different affair was to be
entered on. To him it ai>peared likely tliat if any one could come here and pass such
an examination, and receive a ticket of proficiency, it would be entirely prejudicial to
the interests of the Institute, because any person coming and siguing a declaration
and getting a certificate, might .-ifterwards'do anything contr.ary to the right mode of
the profession. This they had not guarded against, but had merely been discussing
modes of proceeding. The only question was, whether persons taking these certifi-
cates or diplomas would not thereby secure a po.**itiou which they could not hope for
at present. The object was to provide a better and more solid education for students,
instead of a discursive education, such as there was now. Then as to a com-
pulsory examination. There were many members present whom it would be absurd
to ask to pass an examination ; but after a certam time it should be made a com-
pulsory examination for all. It had to be settled whether they were ultimately tend-
wigto a diploma or not. All these points required thorough "ventilation.
Mr. C. Mavhem- thougtit the examination should be for future Associates and
Fellows, and that it should not be commenced till some time after the Ist of January,
18ft2, in order that the candidates should have time to qualify themselves. The pre-
sent Fellows should receive the certificate forthwith, as well as architects who had
been seven years in practice, or had erected some building which the Council approved
of, as a qualification. A curriculum of examination, if approved of by the general
body before the 1st of June, would do away with a great deal of acrimony and
schism. He thought it would be better to adjourn the question, and appoint a Com-
mittee to consider the views that had been expressed. The resolution now proposed
would in his opinion be injurious.
Sir. Kekr thought it would be best to refer the matter back to the Council or a
Committee, and if it were again brought forward as a perfect working scheme, there
would be verv' little objection to it. Hut it was tlesirable to settle the broad question,
that the exainination should be as little restricted as possible.
Mr. .Ie-Mmnus thought it would be unwise to limit the examination to members of
the Institute. It ought to be thrown open to the public under some restrictions, lie
would move, as an amendment, "That the examination be open to any liritish
subject," making such declaration of his intention to follow the profession of civil
architecture as may be determined by the Council, producing the recommendation of
three members of the Institute, one being a Fellow. The objection that persons
obtaining certificates might act contrary to the rules of the profession was of little
importance, and was never taken into consideration by the medical colleges, many of
whose members turned out badly after obtaining their diplomas.
Mr. J. W. rApwoRTH said it was equally disregarded in examinations for the
Clyil Service. He would second Mr. Jennings's amendment, first, because it was
impossible to confine the examinat ion to their own members ; secondly, because they
had a right to demand a declaration that the candidate positively intended to become
an architect: and, thirdly, because he believed if the candidates must have a
recommendation from three members of the Institute, they would get up preliminary
examinations of their own, and very few candidates would be plucked. He held
that they would have no right to exclude a builder's clerk if he applied to be
examined.
The Chairmak said ,he thought that there would be no reluctance on the part of
the Council to adopt the alterations proposed.
Sir, Godwin considered that course preferable to an amendment.
Mr. .Street concurred in throwing the examination open, if there were to be an
examination at all. The builder's clerk might become an architect, and the painter
or Bcolptor should have an opportunity of practising also as an architect, if duly
qualified. But he had strong doubts us to the propriety of the examination. The
resolution as prepared by the Council appeared to aim at the cstablisliment of an
academy of architecture, and the divergence of science from art, and nine out of ten
people would ignore such an academy.
The Chairma.v reminded Jlr. .'Street that the Institute had affirmed unanimously
that it was desirable to afford facilities for a "voluntary '* examination.
Mr. Gray hoped to sec the Institute in the same position with regard to the pro-
fession as the Law Institution held with regard to the law. If a lawyer turned out
a scamp, the Law Institution turned him out, and the Institute might do the
same. The Inslitute should be dealt with not as a private society, but as repre-
senting the profession, and ultimately the examination should be compulsory on all.
Mr. Lewis, hon. sec, said that if a candidate obtained a certiUc'ate, and afterwards
acted contrary to the rules of the profession, the Council, on its being represented to
them, might give him proper notice, and on his still continuing so to act might pub-
licly withdraw his certificate.
Mr. llAvwARD thought that a certificate once granted could hardly be withdrawn.
The thing should be done thoroughly, or not at all. He was of opinion that the exo-
mlnation should be limited to members of the profession.
Mr. Morris observed that the Institute would act unjustly to the profession If it
were to grant rertificates to tradesmen.
Mr. T. Koger Smith called the meeting back to the educational question, as
enunciated by Mr. Godwin. Any restriction on the examination would be disadvan-
tageous in that respect. The candidates should be examined on the contents of
certain books, and should be required to show their acquulntance with those books.
**™^*'5' pleaded for an educational treatment of the subject, and thought it
would be a great advantage if architecture became popular as a branch of polite
education, and he knew that this view would be acceptable to the Architectural
Association.
"■- Mr. BCBUEH said, that in the sketch of the subjects for examination which had
been printed and circulated, there was no provision made for drawing the figure, or
for the theory of the beautiful. ||i. thought that the real fact was that the principals
had not done their duty to their pupils, and this Involved the (|uestion of premiums,
beeaose £.3flO would bo too much fVir a bad teacher, and too little for a good one.
The Chairman said the sketch referred to had not yet been adopted.
Mr. Jennings, in calling attention to the resolutions immediately before the
meeting, pointed out that the object at present was to make the two resolutions
coincide without the necessity of an amendment.
the Chairman was about to imt the altered resolution, when
Mr. HwwA mi moved au adjournment of the discussion, and said that he stood
npon his right to do so In behalf of absent members, although only an Associate.
Kr. £. Street seconded the amendment.
The C11AIK.MAN thought it would not be desirable to adjourn. The two pro-
positions were very nearly in consonance, and the Council did not object to either.
The motion of adjournment was put and negatived.
Mr. G. K. Street then moved as an amendment, that the words " British subject "
be altered to " any person."
Mr. HoBiNSON seconded the amendment, which was put to the vote and negatived.
The resolution, as altered and agreed to by the Council, was put to the vote and
carried, as follows : —
" That the examination be open to any Hritish subject ; and that candidates, not
members of the Royal Institute of British Architects, do produce a recomuicndation,
signed by three members of the Institute (one of them l)eing a Fellow), and subscribe
a declaration of their intention to practise, as architects, in accordance with the usual
rules of the Institute."
The C'HAi R.MAN said that the Council would now feel bound to carry out the views
of the Hoard of Kxaminers of District Surveyors, and the various architectural
societies, in putting the examination into operation as soon as possible. To do this
it was necessary that they should have distinct freedom of action, and he therefore
moved "That the Council be empowered to carry the said resolution into execution.'*
Mr. l*ENROSE seconded the motion.
Mr. Kerr moved as an amendment, " That the Council be Instructed to proceed
with the preparation of a curriculum and bye-laws, and be recommended to appoint
a committee to this end, and to report to a general meeting."
3Ir. iU'HGES seconded the amendment
The Chairman said the Council would naturally appoint a committee to work
out the plan. Even if the Council were willing to do so, they could not by them-
selves carry it out, and he did not think the general body of members could do so
satisfactorily. The Couucil wished for power to appoint a committee without recur-
ring again to the body at large.
Sir. Tapworth presumed the Committee in that case would consist of members of
the Council.
The Chairman said there was nothing to prevent its being so constituted, but he
found that the majority of the members of the four Committees recently appointed
were not on the Council.
Mr. Fapworth thought the Committee should comprise " members of the Council
and others." He inquired whether the Council would De boimd to adopt the report of
the Committee.
The Chairman said the curriculum adopted would be submitted to the members.
Mr. Newton proposed that the Committee should sit once a fortnight and report
to tho Council.
The Chairman thought it was not expedient that the details of the scheme
should be laid before the members until the whole scheme had been prepared. The
members might either give the Council an outline upon which the Committee could
act, or they might (which he thought the better course) give the Council power to
go on and try some experimeut. This would be better than having a cut-and-dry
scheme, which would be sure to be afterwards cut to pieces. Tho Council, however,
were in the hands of the members, who might themselves appoint the Committee.
Mr. llURGES suggested that the curriculum adopted should be circulated among the
members a fortnight before the meeting at which it was proposed to be confirmed.
After some conversation.
The Ciiair.man said the Council were willing to accept Mr. Kerr's motion instead
of that proposed by them.
Mr. IvERK'smotion was accordingly put, and carried unanimously.
The thanks of the meeting were voted to the Chairman, ancf the proceedings
terminated.
.^
WORKS IN THE CITY OF LONDON.
THE recent intense frosts have much retarded building operations, but now that
a favorable change in the weather has taken place, works have been
resumed externally with an unusual amount of vig:or, in order to make up for
lost time.
This is more remarkable in the City tlian in any other portion of the metro-
polis, and we do not remember at any previous time to have seen so many lar^e
structures in hand simultaneously as there are at present, more particularly m
Lombard-street, Eastcheap, Great Tower-street, Threadneedle-street, the comer
of Rood-lane, and Fencliurch-street, Gresham-street, Wood-street, and numerous
others of a minor description.
In most of these new buildings we are glad to observe a much improved
system being pursued both in design and materials employed ; in the latter more
particularly, cement as a facing having been entirely abandoned, and rarely
applied for moulded dres.sings and that very partially. Good brick and stone
(chiefly Portland) are now Smost universally being used in the City buildings
now in hand.
At the comer of Abchurch-lane and Lombard-street a very l.irge block of old
bouse has been cleared away, in preparation for the erection of a spacious and
splendid banking establishment for the well-known firm of Messrs. Robarta,
Lubbock and Co., the plans for which have already been prepared by Phillip
Hardwick, Esq., architect, and the edifice will be carried out under the practiciu
inspection of the veteran clerk of works Mr. Christopher Baven. The new build-
ing will cost about £30,000. Other structures on a smaller scale are also being
erected on the southem side of Lombard-street, and a large block has been
nearly completed at the northem end of Nicholas-lane, which, however, has no
particular features about it calling for special comment.
At the south-eastern comer of Gracechurch-street and Eastcheap (a highly
commanding situation,) a large mass of old houses has been pulled down, and a
portion of the premises of the Provident Institution for Mutual Assurance
Annuities, &c., is shored up, but wliich, however, will soon be removed to ^ve
space for a large new building to be erected from the designs of Robert Ken,
&c., and for which Mr. Myers has already entered into a contract. The new
building will, we understand, involve an outlay of nearly £20,000.
At the northern side of Great Tower-street, at its Tower-hill end, great pro-
gress has been made, since our previous notice, with three large shops and houses,
which are being carried out from the designs of Thomas Chatfeild Clarke, Esq.,
architect, Leadenhall-street, and immediately opposite to Love-lane the lofty and
characteristic building, in colored brick and stone, lias been completed ironi the
plans of Messrs. John Young and Son, King-street, Cheapside.
At the south-eastern corner of Rood-lane and Fenchurcli-street a large struc-
ture is now in active progress, from the designs of Henry Dawson, Esq., archi-
tect, Finsbury-place, and, as far as it has proceeded, bids fair to present a very
favorable example of brick and stone construction, in combination; the ground-
story portion of the elevations comprise a series of twelve semicircular and
scgmental-hcaded arches, crowned by a moulded corner in Portland stone. The
window-heads above this level are all circular, and, with their jambs, are formed
in stone. The former are surrounded by brickwork, alternately of red, black, and
yellow, radiating from the centres of the arches; the plain surfaces of the walling
are cased, externally, with white Suifolk bricks. When the works at this build-
ing are in a more advanced state, we shall descrllx) them more in detail.
I Threadneedle-street.— Tb^ street, as most of our metropolitan readers are
January 25, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
81
aware, lias long been associated with the South Sea House, to which, latterly,
great and important improvements have been made, under the direction of Messrs.
Nelson and Innes, arclntects, Whitehall ; and now, in its immediate vicinity, a
new structure has just been erected, and is now having its interior finished from
the designs of Mr. Alfred Gwilt, architect, 8, Union-street, Borough. The
new building is intended for business purposes, and has evidently been planned
to harmonise, to a great extent, with the large faijade of the old South Sea House.
The ground-story portion is entirely of Portland stone, in a series of five rusti-
cated openings with divisional piers. These openings have circular soffits, the
keystones of which have heads carved on them with a considerable amount of
artistic effect. Over the arches there is a moulded stone cornice and ballus-
trading also in stone, the latter of which is inserted in recessed panels over each
arched head. The plain walling is cased, externally, with dark red bricks, in
order to correspond with those of the South Sea House. Mr. George Ilolgate, 3
Bonner-road, Victoria-park, and 28, Duke-street, Union-street, Bishopsgate
within, is the general contractor for the works.
At the rear of this structure, and having a frontage in Adam's-court, what are
termed the South |Sea House Chambers, a large block of buildings, is now in
active progress from the designs of Messrs. Nelson and Innes, architects. The
site they occupy is somewhat irregular in plan, and measures ou an average about
70 feet by 50 feet. The elevations have a height of 05 feet from the basement
level to the top of the parapet, and the new building is planned to afford excellent
accommodation for various City businesses. On the gi-ound floor there is a
spacious apartment 40 feet by 30 feet, with adjunctive rooms in connection with
it, and the upper stories are similarly planned. The whole are being carried out
in a most superior and substantial style ( Portland and Yorkshire stone being
employed for the steps and landings of the staircases), by Mr. Charles Fish,
builder, Cambridge- wharf, Grosvenor-road ; Mr. Roberts being the clerk of the
works under the supervision of the architects.
While in tliis vicinity, we may state that on the western side of Bishopsgate-
street Within, close to the well-known Flower Pot Tavern, a departure has
recently been made from the usual manner of street architecture, as developed at
the present time, by the erection of a large block in the Domestic Gothic style.
The edifice is carried to a considerable altitude with characteristic details and
embellisliments, partaking both of English and Continental peculiarities, and
forms a striking contrast to numerous common-place old dingy brick shops and
houses in its immediate vicinity. Tlie new building is intended for business offices
and chambers, and has an imposing central mass with a wing on each side, the latter
being in three stories above the curb level of the street, and the centre part four.
The street facjade possesses many good points, both of general composition,
materials, and workmanship. The gi'ound story is perforated by five pointed
arches, that comprise the windows and principal entrance. These have their jambs
formed by shafts of serpentine marble, surmounted by capitals, enriched by
carvings, in which the representations of heads and natural leafages, fruits, &c.,
is shown.
The first-floor windows are of a somewhat similar character to those imme-
diately below tbcm, with the addition, however, of having the " nail-head " orna-
ment of the Early English period, judiciously introduced in combination with the
moulded work. The ranges of windows over them are not so elaborate in detail
as those we have briefly described, but yet harmonise well as a general whole.
The plain walling of the street front is of red brick, and the whole of the moulded
dressings are of Bath stone. As we have observed,°the shafts introduced in the
window jambs are of serpentine marble. This is a most beautiful material,
supplied from the noted quarries at Penzance. It is susceptible of taking a very
high 'degree of polish, is of beautiful rich color, and is said to be as durable as
granite. Should this really be the case, we should be glad to see its more
universal application, both externally and Internally.
W. Wilkinson, Esq., of O,xford, is the architect, from whose designs the
building lias been well carried out by Mr. John Willson, builder, who is the
general contractor.
The various carvings, which display great diversity of pattern and artistic
feeling, have been very creditably executed by Mr. Suffolk, of South Lambeth ;
and Mr. Deacon is the clerk of works, under the supervision of the architect.
Amongst all the new buildings, however, now In progress in the City of London,
oneof the largest and most remarkable in a constructive point of view, in con-
nexion with the increased tratfic of the nation, is that wliich has been erected
on the northern side of Gresham-street for the special purposes of Messrs.
Chaplin and Home, the great railway earners. This enormous edifice occupies
the site on wijieh stood the old hostelry known as the " Swan with Two Necks,"
the low antiquated old building having been entirely swept away hv the indo-
mitable progression of the age in which we live, brought about, of "course, by
the modern railway system, that has so effectually driven the lumbering waggons
such as were used in the days of " Roderick Random " and the old stage-
coaches of tlie bygone period out of the pale of our social aiTangements,
rendering such vehicles as the " Highflyer, " the " Wellington," the " Brighton
Tally-ho !" and the heavy " Birmingham," as things obsolete, that have been
extinguished by the giant power of steam, under the guidance of persevering and
progressive roan.
To give our readers some idea of the extent and capabilities of the large
premises of Messrs. Chaplin and Home, we may state that the frontage in
Gresham-street is neariy 100 feet by an average depth of about 150 feet, and a
height of 04 feet from the foot-pavement to the top of the parapet. Undei-neath
the ground story is a capacious basement, together with large cellarage for
warehousing imperishable goods. Accommodation is also afforded for upwards
of 30 horses. Asa matter of course, in constructing underground stables, many
diflicultics presented themselves, more particularly as regards their effectual
ventilation. These latter and more important, however, have been successfully
combated and overcome by the simple process of inserting large perforated open-
ings in the front wall of the basement, for the admission of fresh air, and a
continuous shaft at the rear, up which the foul ah- generated in the stables
ascends to the roof, where it is dispersed at a high level, and mixed with the
external atmosphere.
One of the most remarkable features of the building is that the various stories,
as a general rule, are all clear throughout, without the intervention of wooden
partitions, thus affording the most extensive accommodation possible. The floors
are all entirely constructed ou Fox and Barrett's fire-proof principle, and'
supported by a continued series of cast-iron columns, which extend from the
basement to the uppermost warehouse. On these columns rest wrought iroH
of
girders, and the lower ones stand on blacks of granite, bedded on
concrete, 4 feet in depth.
The walls throughout the edi6cc, with the exception of the sUbles. are lined
with match-boarding, in order that the various goods warehoised m«v
be protected from the influence of damp ; conscqucnUy no plaster work hu been
The building contains four stories above the basement, all of which are
arranged iii a smidar manner for the specml purposes for which they are
re(iuired ; and one constructive feature in the planning of the vast structure \a.
an enormous wrought-iron tubular beam, probably the largest in London, that
supports an immense weight of a large portion of the edifice at Uie rear and
leaving a clear area underneath. »«•, nuu
The principal front of the edifice in Gresham-street, displavs a large amount
of massive solidity and appropriateness of detail, admirably eiecuted. It rests
on a basis of granite, on masses of dense concrete, and the ground-story is
entirely of Portland stone, comprising a series of eight large segmental-heiided
arches, workclin bold rustic work. The three principfl of these arches are
adapted as entrances, and have on tlieir keystoues cut in stone emblematic
representations of the swan with two necks. These with all the other carvings
on the front, mcludmg enriched trusses, &c., have beeu executed by Mr. Tolmie
the architectural sculptor. Belvedere-road, in his usual vigorous and artistic
nmnner. Above the level of the ground-floor there are tliree stories, sur-
mounted at the eaves by a cornice, having its corona supported by consoles in
pairs. The plain faces of the walls are of brick, and the ground-floor, together
with the cornices, string-courses, and dressings of the windows, are of Portland
stone. William Tite, Esq., architect, has prepared the designs, under whose
supervision the building so far has been carried out by Mr. James Tift (practical
manager for Messrs. Tliomas Piper and Son, contractors), by whose untiring
zeal, enerCT, and ability, the whole will soon be finished in a most satisfactory
manner. It is believed that the structure will cost over £30,000.
— • —
THE DIPLOMA.
Sir, — The writer of an article in your last publication is somewhat puzzled to
divine the object of that resolution of the Liverpool Architectural Society which
recommends that the diploma should secure the architect from the special pro-
visions of any local laws for regulating building construction. It, therefore,
appears desirable that I, as the iramer of the resolution, should give such further
explanation as may enable the writer of the article in question, and any others
who may be" nuzzled," to understand its purport.
At present there are not only various local enactments npon building con-
struction, but by the Local Government Act of 1358, every local board is dothed
with lar^e powers for a similar purpose. But as within certain prescribed limita
it is in the discretion of each board to adopt such provisions as they may think
proper, it is possible that the provisions of one district may differ very widely
from those ot another, which other may be immediately adjacent; and, in feet,
this is found to be the case. The result is, that not only must an architect be
able to prescribe the provisions which he may think necessary for the stability of
his building, but he must be so versed in architectural jurisprudence as to know
what provisions are considered|needful by the authoritiesof any district in any part
of the kingdom in which he may be consulted. He is furthermore subject to the
surveillance of the local surveyor, whose duty is is to ascertain, not that the
coustruction adopted is sufficient, but that it is according to the bye-laws, exct-pt
in those cases in which a discretion is allowed to the surveyor, in which case the
architect must explain to him what he thinks necessary, and why ; and then, if
the surveyor is not satisfied, lie must modify his designs and details to make the
proposed building conformable to the surveyor's notions of what is right. .\ void-
ing invidious reference to living names, let your readers fancy Barry or Stephen-
son subjected to such control !
I think it is absolutely necessary that a certain restraint should be imposed
upon buildings in general, that the minimum requirements essential to stability
and health may be secured; otherwise the ignorance or cupidity of different
persons may entail considerable public injury. But when the possession of
ability, knowledge, and responsibility, is secured by the ordeal through which a
diploma is earned, it seems to me that the public will then be sufliciently pro-
tected, and that the persons upon whom the diploma is conferred may be itleased
from the minor restrictions of local Acts and bye-laws. It is well known that
the provisions of these enactments may be varied without any injurious results ;
that the weakness entailed by retrenchment in one direction may be compensated
by additional strength in anotlier and more convenient position; but the framera
of legal enactments are averse from the exercise of discretionary iwwers, they
prefer the letter which killeth to any spirit whatever. And even if the
discretionary power be granted, upon whom can it be conferred excc^it upon the
Board or their surveyor ? Now, if the architect is a thorougbly quali«e<l person, as
testified by his diploma, why .should not the discretionary power be vested in
him, imposing upon him also legal responsibiUties in the event of any incompetent
or improper exercise of that discretion ? ^ ^, ,. ,
If such a privilege as I urge should be secured, the opposition to the diploma
will be much weakened. It is remarkable the change already produced by a
regard the 'architect's independence of aU local and official interference as a ne-
'^''Se view™ bdng explained, I hope the writer of the article refm-ed to, and
your readers generally, will agree with those architects who adopted the resolu-
tion in question when it was submitted to them.
^ I am, &c.,
Joseph Boclt. •
Liverpool, 17th January, 1861.
♦- •
A NICE, LITTLE COMPETITION JOB. _ _
SiH —I heir to call your attention to another barefaced competition on tno
<«,«•, 'emana^tingfrom^ the trustees of the Christ Church, (Surrey) chanty
Sis, who advertise for designs for an "infent school and residence rooms for
^T
82
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 25, 1861.
the mistress and also residence rooms for the master of the adioininji: National
school," and refer yon to M. Meyniott for plan of site and further information,
but judge my astonishment, wheii upon making application 1 was informed that
no further information could be given beyond bcins shown an elaborate plan of
the site prepared by the architeet to the trustees whose name has been cut out
of the drawing in consequence of some person making an unpleasant remark.
Now, Sir, why on earth do not the trustees let their own architect prepare their
plans ? la it because the job is beneath his notice, or is it to ascertain the
iH'St means of coping witi the difficulties of the site that tliey so liberally
offta- 10 guineas for the best design. I imagine the latter.
I am. Sec,
NoN Competitor.
Jantiary 19, 1861.
ROYAL ENGINEERS.
Sir. — In looking over my papers, I have just read some very able su^estions
in your journal, by " Civilian," under the above title, and as he solicits some of
your readers' opinious thereon, I, as one of that numerous class, beg to trouble
you with a few curt remarks.
A writer, signifying himself " C.W.," in the Civil Si^vicc Gazette, sujigests
that selections should be made from the first-class civil officers of the Roval Engi-
neers, and that commissions should be given them to make up for the deficiency of
quaJifted military officers occasioned by the various works now being carried out
lor our national defences.
Now, if the first-class civil officers are worthy of commissions, are not also the
se cond and third ? For these reasons : the three classes are constituent parts of a
whole or system, they are all supposed to be men of professional talent and abili-
ties, and to have attained their present positions, primarily, by examinations
before competent authorities; they are all engaged for the same end, namely,
thecarryingout of the civil works on l)ehalf of the Royal Engineers, and they
have a corresponding military rank given them (without the honor) of captain,
lieutenant, and ensign. Therefore, I suggest that, in justice to the profession
they represent, their necessarily intimate connexion with officers of all grades,
non-coiiimissioned officers, and private soldiers, and their present ambiguous
position and rank, that commissions should be granted them, with the relative
military rank attached to each class at at present.
It is my humble opinion, as a Civil Engineer and a lover and venerator of the
science generally, that our profession is as glorious and noble in its path as any
under the sun.
I quite a^ree with " Civilian's " remarks that it would be better that both
branches of the service should be independent of the other, for how can it be sup-
posed that civil engineers can plan and lay out fortifications, lines of military de-
fence, Sec, any more tlian a young lieutenant, 17 or 18 years of age, is competent
to give ordersand to command a civil officer on matters to which twenty or thirty
years of his life have been exclusively devoted, and yet this latter part of ray com-
parison absurd as it may appear, is in full working order, and must eventually
bear fruits worthy of the system.
,. Another good suggestion of " Civilian's " is that in the civil branch a higher
grade should be created, I think, not as a military architect, hut as a military
surveyor, one to each district. And I decidedly think both branches might
work, to gome extent, in conjunction, not exactly as they do at present, but that
each service should attend to its own legitimate duties.
With respect to " C's." remark of every young Engineer in the army being
sissociated with a civil officer, for the purpose of gaining an insight into the
practical and theoretical branches of the profession, &c., previous to obtaining
his permanent rank as lieutenant, is all very right and proper, but " Civilian" well
knows that what it has taken such as himself and others some years' experience
to obtain, these young lieutenants arc supposed to cram into their extraordinary
heads in the space of three weeks or so, which everybody must agree is absurd.
For our profession is one of progression, always getting more knowledge, never
perfect. The more one obtains the more there is to get old of
I say, tlien, hold out inducements for able men to remain in the service ; give
salaries commensurate with the times, make the two branches independent of
each other, show the professional man without that by entering there is a definite
and honorable position to start with, and a still higher if he can attain to it,
and I am sure that the ranks of the civil service of the Royal Engineers will be
benefited, and the public purse more studied. Some of the present specimens of
military engineering in this country will then speedily become relics of a past
i'ge, and be looked on with pity, I hope, by succeeding generations, for their more
unfortunate brethren, who were bound hand and foot by that too oft used article
"red tape ;" and whose designs on paper are perhaps either mouldering away on
shelves, with the red gauntlet still around them, or rifled and mangled to such an
«xtent that their own author would feel ashamed to own them.
If you think the foregoing remarks worthy of a comer in your Journal, and
the subjectone that ought to be ventilated, I should feel obliged by its insertion.
1 am, &c..
Excelsior.
♦
THE LATE GREAT MEETING OF THE INSTITUTE.
''"'>~I notice in your lea<ling article on the late discussion at the Institute,
an error which shows that the gentleman who contributed it did not possess full
information. Associates were jwt excluded from the meeting, and could not
^•t"'& ' ^^- "*"* ""*'''* •*• ^o*«> but they were specially invited to speak.
I he best speech of the evening, in my opinion, was that of an Associate, Mr.
xlBywara, and the amendment to adjourn was moved by an Associate.
I am, &c.,
R. I. B. A.
♦
a o ■ ., STONE PRE.SERVING.
; «."'■ L u' *"^ "^ "'^ '"**' •"'■'"y forward in search of undisguised
trutli. it has been yourself Amongst all your contemporaries you alone si-em to
Have iMd the courage to sift to the bottom the pretensions of the claimants to the
ponettion of an infallible process to the bottom ; and, feeling with your other
c«.rre»pondcnt« that you should te supported in your thoroughly impartial hives-
tigalinn, I desire to lend ray quota to that end.
You have already suggested in your columns that the only safe guide in a
matter m at the mercy of the elements in all their various combinations is to
watcd narrowly the operaUon of time upon the work of the various inventors,
and it should be .line qua non that inventors should fairly submit the results of
their various processes to the inspection of the public. Now, this has not been
done upon the Houses of Parliament (the place of all that is to be esteemed the
standard of test). There is a great deal of deception practised, and the public
misled. Notwitlistanding, after this hint, ««i;an,« can see enough for themselves
in the common inner court and in the buttresses at the entrance to both the
Peers' and Commons' courts on the river terrace to satisfy themselves of the
truth of this statement. I hold that the question is an important one. You
must deem it so, or you would never have devoted the valuable space to it that
you have done. Why, then, should a matter of so much importance be made
child's play by the efibrts of a few interested individuals to botch up their
weakness and befool the public mind ?
I am, &c.,
January 33, 1860. S. S. E.
Jlwips.
Tables prepared for the Assi^ttnnce of Architects, Surveyors, Builders, Con-
tractors, §-c., classed under thirty headings, and calculated at the rate of
ten hours per day, to the nearest fraction on theWorkman's aide, from
half an hour to nine days, and Jroin one shilling to ten shillings per day.
By" Henry Tovey, Architect and Surveyor.
THESE Tables, the result of thirty yeara' experience, and composed at a time
when the author had the management of an eminent building firm, are con-
tained in ten sheets, and must be useful to all having to calculate operatives'
wages. When we say that, referring to a few figures, they appear to be cor-
rectly given, we have said all we can of the book, which, from its very nature, is
even less entertaining than Bradsliaw.
Trade Price Lists.
MESSRS. FRANCIS and Co's book of patterns contains illustrations and
prices of wood and iron revolving shutters, with sections of gearing, some
150 full-size sections of whole and half brass sash bars, with others of brass,
copper, and zinc beads, and stall board plates.
WHITECHAPEL BOARD OF WORKS.
AT a meeting of the Board of Works for the Whitechapel District, held at the
office of the Board, No. 15, Great Alie-street, Whitechapel, on Mond^,
the 2l8t day of January, 18G1, at six o'clo(^k p.m., it was moved by Mr.
Jenkins, seconded by Mr. Thompson, and resolved unanimously —
That, having heard Messrs. Mowlem's statement, the Board is now convinced that
the declining Messrs. Mowlem's contract arose out of mistake, and that Messrs.
Mowlem's honor as practical men romaius unimpeaehed.
It was moved by Mr. Outhw.^ite, seconded by Mr. Simmons, and
resolved —
That a copy of the foregoing resolution be certified by the clerk and sent to
Messrs. Mowlem and Co., to be by them used in such manner as they may think
proper.
TENDERS.
Corn Exchange, Lekd.s.
For the works in the erection of tlie New Corn Kxchange, Leeds. Mr. Cuthbert
Brodrick, architect, Leeds. Quantities not supplied.
Bricklayers^ and AIftsons\
Nichols £7,880 I Whitcly .£6,300
Wood 7,002 Addy 6,114
Shaftoe ... 7,581 |
Carpenters^ and Joiners^.
Winn andPawson £4,444 0 1 Britton £3,022
Thorp 3,1HW lOl
PfiT jiip j*s *
Wood and Son £222 I Jackson £180
Kershaw 200 1
Plumbers^ and Glaziers'.
.lohnHall jEl,200 0 0 I Story £057
Braithwaite and Co 1,029 3 6|
Irotifou7iders'.
Wilkinson £1,102 0 SJ I Singleton and Tennant £589 9 7
Nelson and Sons 030 0 0 i
Brantonand Son £510 1 Gariick ^49 0
Brauton .'ao Mountain 335 0
Handles 374 I Wilson and Son 318 15
.Staters'.
Watson £350|Ellis £301 0 0
For the whole of the Works.
Thorp £13,099 10 I Addy (accepted) £12,529
Whitcly 13,000 0|
Amount of lowest tenders £12,383 1 1
Breweby, Burnlet.
For works in the construction of Bridge-end Brewery, Burnley. Mr. H. J. PauU,
architect, Burnley. Quantities not supplied.
For the whole of the works :~
Booth, lUingworth. and Moulson nud Son, Bradford £4,9.'8
William Duckctt, Burnley, & Ciibson & Maude, Keighley 6,:345
For the separate trades : —
Excavator. Mason, and Bricklayer.
Duckett £3,695
Moulson and .Son 3,339
Lieut and Parker, Burnley 3,130
Slater.
Redman, Burnley £193 10
Carpenter and Joiner,
llllngworth f847
Gibson and Maude 800
Plumber and Olaiier.
Schofleld, Bradford £10* 10
West, Burnley 94 1«
Alterations, Deptford.
For alterations and additions to premises. High-street, Deptford. Sir. 11. J. Lan-
chester, architect, 10, Warwick-street, Regent-street. Quantities supplied.
Prlchard and Shelton £640 | Messrs. Coleman 589
.1. Lester .599 W. C Penny (accepted) 587
J.Thompson 590 1
January 25, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
83
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
MECHANICS' INSTITUTION.
A6[I10>i-UNDER-I.\T.'E.— For dc'sisns for a new bulldins; for the Aslitoii-undcr-Lyno
and DnkinflcldMechantcs' Institution, the I'ntlri' cost of which shall not exceed
£v,vVJO exclusive of the land. The building: to comprise in two stories, a lecture-
room, to sc-at 500 persons, witli ante-room contiy:uous, news-room, conversation-
room, boanl-room, secretary's-room, library, I'our class-rooms, rooms for keeper,
and all otlier necessary conveniences.^ There must be preparation for heating the
rooms with hot water, also tines provided for lireplacea in the various rooms to be
used if required, and a separate enlrancc to the class-rooms. The old buildings at
present on the site will be taken down. The directors will award a premium of
twrnty-tive fjruineas for the i)Ians selected, provided the works can be completed
for the sum specified. The approved plane to be the property of the directors.
I'he plans must be drawn to a uniform scale of s feet to an inch, and must be ac-
companied by a speciiication of the works. Tlie plot of land is larjjer titan the
proposed building will occupy. Each set of plans must be subscribed with a motto,
and forwarded, with a sealed Ictfer containing the motto and the author's name, to
George Heginbottom, E8(i.. President, Ashton-under-Lyne, by February as.
DALIIOUSIK IN.STITL'TE.
Calcutta.— The General Committee of the Dalhousie Institute invite architects or
others to furnish them with designs and estimate for a building to be erected
on the site on the Maidan. Printed copies of the conditions of the competition, in
full detail, will be furnished to applicants by Messrs. R. C. Lepage and Co., No. 1,
Whitefriars-street, Fleet-street. J^ondon, EC. The author of the design selected
as first in merit will receive a prize of three thousand rupees. If required by the
Committee, he must engage to supply to them, in addition to the plans required
for the general competition, such other working plans and specifications as may
be needful to guide contractors desirous of tendering for the construction of the
building. (Such additional plans and papers must be lodged with the secretary
on or before the first of .Inly, IS(il). The author of the design selected as second in
merit will receive a prize of one thousand rupees. The Committee do not bind
themselves to adopt either of the prize designs for the actual building, nor to em-
ploy theauthorof either in the supervision of the construction of the building.
But if so employed, he will receive remuneration for the same irrespectively
of the prize awarded him. Designs will be received to M.irch 31.
blSPEN.SAUY.
Leeds.— For pl.ans for a new building, calculated to afford accommodation for the
business of the Leeds Public Dispensary, to be erected on the site of the present
building (No. 171, >'orth-8treet). Applications for conditions and other pai'ticulars
to be made at the Institution from one to three o'clock p.m., up to Jan. 13. The
plans to be deposited with the secretary before March 1.
LAYING-OUT LAND.
Plymouth.— For plans for the laying out for building about four acres of land in
Plymouth, for Mr. W. Derry. Three premiums will be given to competitors — £50
for the best plan, £2.j for the second, and £10 for the third, he reserving to him-
self the right of decision thereon. The pl.ans to which the premiums are awarded
are to become the property of Mr. Derry, who docs not guarantee employing the
successful candidate for the future carrying out the work. Each 'plan to have a
distinguishing motto or sign, accompanied with a sealed envelope, endorsed with
motto, and containing name and address of sender. Plans, sent free of all cost, to
Mr. William Derry, Uoundiscoinbe House, Plymouth, by March 1.
SCHOOL AND RESIDENCE.
St'nnEY.— For designs for an infant school, and residence rooms for the mistress,
.Titd also residence rooms for tile master of the adjoining National School, for the
triLstees of the Cliristchurch (Surrey) Cilarity Schools. The buildings are to occupy
tile site of two old houses. Nos. 7 and s. Green-walk, Blackfriars-road, which are
to he pulled down. The plan of the premises may be seen, and further particulars
may be obtained, at the office of John C. Meymott, 5, Albion-place, Blackfriars-
bridge. The trustees will pay ten guineas for the design *rhich they sliall select,
if the architect who sends it does not have the superintendence of tlie building ;
in that case the design will be the property of the trustees. Designs to be sent to
Mr. Meymott, by February 4.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
CHUItCllES.
Ramsgate. — For the restoration and reseating of Monkton Church, near Ramsgate.
Drawings, &c., at the office of C. N. Beazley, architect, 44, Upper Gower-street,
W.^"., and also at the Vicarage. Tenders to be delivered at Mr. Beazley's office
by February 5.
HoL.ME.— For the rebuilding of Holme Church, in the county of Hunts. Plans, Ac,
at the office of Edward Browning, architect, Stamford. Sealed tenders, agreeably
to the form supplied, to be delivered on Feb. 8.
CHAPEL.
VVEV.MOUTH.- For the erection of Hope Congregational Chapel, Weymouth. Plans,
&c., at the Royal Baths, M'eymouth, Dorset. Sealed tenders to bo sent to the
offices, at 'Sherborne, of Haggett and Pocklington, architects, endorsed "Tender
for Hope Chapel," to January .30.
GLEBE-HOUSE.
i IHLACAN (Ireland).— For the erection of a glebe-house, at Finlagan, Ballykellv,
county Londonderry. Plans, &c., at the office of Mr. McCurdy, architect, 3'4,
Westland-row, DubUn, or at Londonderry, on application to the Rev. A. W. Ed-
wards, Finlagan, to whom tenders by February 9.
„ HOTELS.
JNANTwiCH. — For pulling down and rebuilding the Lamb Hotel, in Nantwich.
I lans, &c., at the said hotel. Bills of <iuantities will be supplied on application Ui
iWcssrs. Mchols and Bower, Heath-chambers. West Bromwich. Tenders to be de-
livered (endorsed " Tenders for Lamb Hotel ' '), to Mr. W.Oates, Lamb Hotel, Nant-
wich, by !1 a.m., February 2.
Leeds.— For the erection of an hotel, &e., near to Smithfleld-market, North-street,
Leeds. Drawinn:s, &c., at the offices of George Smith, surveyor and architect,
LI, I ark-lane, Leeds, until the .'ilst January, on which latter day tenders must
be sent to Mr. Smith by twelve noon.
DWELLLNG HOUSES, &c.
toniiEEN (Ireland).— For building a house and olHces at Corheen, near Loughrea,
in the county of Galway. Plans. &c., at tlie office of Jlr. J. F. Kempster, architect,
Ballinasloe. Tenders to the Viscount Dunlo, fiarbally, Ballinasloo, to Feb. 11.
LINCOLN.— For the several works required to be done in the erection of the master's
house to be built in the city of Lincoln for the visitors' of the Lincoln Grammar
School. Intending contractors to forward their names to Bellamy and Hardy,
architects and surveyors, offices, -«l, Broadgate, Lincoln, by February 1.
Leeds.— For the various works required in the two following contracts, viz. :_ Con-
tract No. 1.— The erection of a detached dwelling-house, witli stabling, out-build-
ings, yards, walls, &c. Contract No i— The erection of four dwelling-houses,
with out-buildings, fence walls, &c. ; all at Headingley, near Leeds. Plans, Ac
with Mr. John W. Ramsdtn, IS, Park-row, Leeds, until February, 1. Tenders
endorsed " Contract 1," or " 2," as the case may be, to be delivered at the offices
of L. Milncs, architect, :iO, Hall-invs. Bradford, by 10 a.m., February 2.
LIGHT-KEEPERS' DWELLINGS.
CROOKIIAYEN (CORK).— For the erection of light-keepers' dwellings at Crookhayen
for the Fastness Rock Lighthouse, county Cork. Plans, Ac, at the Ballast Office,
Westmoreland-street, Dublin. Sealed tenders (only on forms to be had at the
Ballast Office), addressed to William Lees, Esq., secretary. Ballast Office, West
morciand-strcet, Dublin, by 12 noon of February i:i.
IRON FOUNDRY.
LONDON.— For the erection of a building for the purnoscs of an iron foundry.
1 lans, Ac, at the office of Mr. I'armiuter, architect, 7, Whitehall-place.
BRIDGE
READINO.--For re-bullding Yorkpool Bridge, in the parish of Shlnlleld, tarar
Reading, Berks. Plans, ic, Ac, at the olllce of J. B. CUcy, countr surveYor yu
Broad-street Reading, to whom tenders endorsed, •• Tender for Yorknooi
Uridg^e, on February l»t. ^^
, ROADWORK. &c.
LIMEI10U8E.— For the general works and repairs to the foot and cjirria^e ways of
tne several streets, courts, alleys, and other places under the Jurisdiction of thi?
f ".'"■" ?,' \r<"'^« for the Limehouse district, fortwo years, from the 4lh of April.
iiioi. 1 articulars and printed conditions, schedules of works, and forms of It^^udrr.
upon appUcation at the office of the Hoard, White Horsc-strcet, CommcKlal- road-
east, upon payment of 20s. Tenders, sealed, and endorsed "Tender for
I aviors and Masons' Work," delivered at the said office by four p.m. of Feb. i.
_ , SEWERAGE.
DIJNDEE.— I-or constructlnp certain sewers, within the burgh of Dundee. ri»n«,
&c., at llie office of J. Fulton, town 8ur>eyor, Policc-bulldlngs. Tenders on
printed forms, to be addressed to the Commissioners of Police, Surveyor's OIBce.
1 olice-buildings, Dundee, marked "Tender for Sewers," by February la The
cost ot the above work, when completed, is estimated at £5,0(iO.
(iASWORKS.
LLANDOVERY.— For thc crection of gasworks, with all neeeesary meters, mains, and
Light Company. Particulars, on application to Mr. Braddock, at theConiDany'*
omco. Tenders to February 2.
WATERWORKS.
Bridonorth.— For the following named contracts for the Local Board of HeaUb
for the district of Bridanorth, in the county of Salop. Contract No. 1.— For sup-
plying and erecting a a.'i-horsc power condensing steam-engine, with boiler and
pumps, capable of lifting 200,000 (jallons of water '^60 feet high in lOHiours; for
providing, laying and jointing rising main, and other pipes ; for altering and
repairing existing engine, boiler, and pumps ; and for other works. Contract -No.
-•—For erecting engine-house and boiler-house, and for constructing inh-t -culvert,
screening-well, filter-beds, and other works. .Specifications, forms of tender and
bills of quantities for Contract No. 1 on payment of £1 ; and drawings, tc, may
be seen, and forms of tender, bills of quantities, and schedules for prices, for Con-
tract No. 2, on payment of ten shillings, on application at the office of J. J. Smith,
town clerk, and clerk to the Local Hoard, Bridgnorth ; or at the office of Robert
Rawlinson, C.E., 34, Parliament-Street, Westminster. Scaled tenders, endorsed
"Tender for Contract No. 1," or "2," to the office of thc clerk to the Local Board,
Bridgnorth, by February 9.
RAILWAY' WORKS.
Dumfries.— For constniction of that part of the Dumfries, Locbmaben, and
Lockerry Junction Railway, extending from the Junction with the Caledonian
Railway at Lockerby to a point about a furlong to the south of the village of
Locharbriggs, in the parish of Dumfries. This portion of the railway is about 12
miles in length, and includes the bridge over the river Annan. Plans, Ac, will,
from the 28th inst, be seen at the office of .^Ir. .lohn Miller, jun., (;.E., ■-'.'i.
Northumberland-street, Edinburgh. Mr. Miller will attend at Lockerby, on the
Gth aud 7th February, at 10 a.m., to accompany intending offereni over the line and
point out the works. The draft of the contract is at the office of thc secretary for
the company at Dumfries ; and, on application, blank forms offender may be had
there, or at Mr. Miller's office. Sealed tenders, addressed to John Jackson, Esq.,
secretary, at Dumfries, to be lodged with him by February 16.
LIGHTHOUSE TOWER, Ac.
Arranmore (Donegal).— For the erection of a lighthouse tower and keepers'
dwellings, to be erected on Arranmore Island, county Donegal. Plans, Ac, at
the Ballast Office, Westmoreland-street, Dublin. Sealed tenders (only on forms, to
be had at tlie Ballast Office), addressed to W. Lees, Esq., secretary. Ballast Office,
Westmoreland-street, Dublin, by 12 noon of February 13.
ANTRI.M (Ireland).— For the erection of a cast-iron beacon, with filling of masonry,
to be erected on the Storks Rock, on north coast of county Antrim. Plans, Ac,
at the Ballast Offloe, Westmoreland-street, Dublin. Sealed tenders (only on forms
to be had at the liallast Offlc«). addressed to Wm. Lees, Esq., secretary, Ballast
Office, Westmoreland-street. Dublin, by 12 noon of February 13.
WARMING APPARATUS.
Kensington.— For hot-water apparatus for warming the conservatory now in
course of erection at the Horticultural Society's Gardens, Kensington -gore.
Plans, Ac, on application to Mr. Eyles, at the Society's office, Kensington-gore.
The specifications state the quantity of pipe required to be about 7,400 feet, besides
bends, branches, &c. Tenders must be sent to the offices of the Society, Kensing-
ton-gore, W., endorsed "Tenders for Heating Conservatory," by 11 a.m.,
January 28.
OUTFALL.
Brighton.— For the construction of an iron outfall, extending 800 feet or there-
abouts, and a brick stormwater outlet, from thc main sewer at Black Rock, Kemp
Town, in Brighton, and also of a Groyne on the west side thereof. •'■'*»-
ings, &c., at the office of the borough surveyor. Sealed tenders, addressed
to Charles Sharood, town clerk, and endorsed "Tender for Outfall and
Groyne," to be left at his office, at the Town-hall, before four o clock,
January 20.
MILITARY, , , .
Dublin. -For the performance from Ist of April, 1861, to 3l8t March, 18<M, IneliulTe.
of such artificers' work as may be required at the under-mentioned stations : —
Ihiblin District.
TJiMin-Us per Schedule >(.)-Sliip-street and Beggar's Bush Barracks and
the War Office Buildings, Lower Castle Yard, with 5 per cent. In addlUon for
Pigeon House Fort, and the Rifte Ranges. Portobello Barracks, Royal Barracks.
including thc Jlilitary Storehouses at Montpelier Hill, and the Military J rwon.
Chapel, and Hospitals at Arbour Hill, Riclimond Barracks, including iBland-
bridge Barracks, and Kilmainham Hospital. Royal Infirmary, Magaainc fort.
and Mountjoy Barracks in Phtcnlx Park. Llneu Hall, Aldborough House, and
other temporary Barracks, as they may rl.sc.
Toirersavd Ilalterus. .,-.„.
As per Schedule A. -Seven Towers aud iiatleries between Bray Head and Killiney;
Seven Towers and Batteries betweee, Dalkey and Old Merrlon, and Battery at
Kingstown, with 10 per cent, in addition for Dalkey Island. !■ Ire Towers and
Batteries between Sutton and Robswall. with loner cent, in add tion for Ireland *
Eye Seven Towers and Batteries between Ballcarrick and Balbriggan.
As per Scheiiule ^.-Galway, with 20 per cent, iu addition for the Powers at
Augnuish, Finnevara, and Cashlch.
Granard ; Loughrea, Mulliiigar, with 8 per cent, in addlUon for Rific Range.
Oughterard. Portumna. Roscommon, Westporf.
nelfast nislrict. , ,
Asjyer Schedule A. -Belfast, with 8 per cent in addition for Rifle Ranges, !cc., at
^i)^e7sSL/f/i. -Armagh, Belturbct, Ballyshannon and Belleek, Carrlckfergns,
Js^^TSSS-Enniskillen, Londonderrv, Loughswilly. Forts and Itatteries
w-ith 2;'i per cent, extra for Rutland Harracks ; Loughfoylc lortsand Batteries
Monaghan, Newry, Omagh, Sligo.
84
THE BUILDING NEWS.
January 25, 1861.
Cork DistrUt.
A> vrr Sfkfdult A. -Cork : BsllincoUitr ; Cork Harbour, viz., QneenstowTi Haul-
bovllne. Rocky Island, Towors, und Spike Island, with 10 per cent, in addition
fbr Camden and Carlisle Forts. „,.„.. . ■ jj-.- ,
Mper Scludule fl.-Whiddy Island (liantry Bay), with l.i per cent, m addition for
Sen and Garnish Island. Bandon, with 10 per cent, in addition fcr Clonakilty.
FeraKiy, with lo per cent, in addition for Mitchclstown, and for KIHc Range, near
Fennov Kinsale. Includins Charles Kort, with 10 per cent, in addition for Kifle
Eansre near the Kace-conrse, I'reghane. Mallow, includiuc Buttcvant, with 10
percent in addition for Millstn-ct. and for Kifle Kangcncar Buttevant. Tralee.
Vonghal, and 5 percent, in addition for Kifle Kange at BalllnTonear.
(^irragh Diatrkt.
jlil)cr5<-»«fti/«^.-CnrrashofKildarc.
At per ifchedule 7J.— Arklow, includiue Kitle Range. Carlow, with 5 per cent, in ad-
dition for Athy. Duncannon Fort, Kifle Range, and Towers, with 5 per cent, in
addition for Baggenbon Tower. Kilkenny, with 5 per c*nt. in audition for
Castleconier. Maryborongh : New Koss ; Newbridge, including Naas. I'arsons-
town, Banagher Barrack and Towers, and Fort Eliza, with ■'» per cent, in ndditon
for Keelogue Tower and Shannon-bridge, and for Kifle Kange near I'arsonstown.
Tullamore; Wexlord.
Limerick Distil.
Atprr SehnluJe A.—T,imenek, with 20 per cent, in addition for Woodcock-hill.
.^» p<T **«/«/<• A— Forts on the Lower Shannon. • Carrickisland ; Doonaha;
Kilcredane; Kilkcrran ; Scattery Island; and Tarbert ; Carrick-on-Suir;
Cashcl, with five per cent in addition for Fcthard and New Inn ; Clonmel, with
« per cent, in addition for Clogheen and nallinamult, and for Kifle- Kantje near
Clonmel ; Clare Castle ; Cahir ; Dungarvan ; Ncnagh ; Roscrea ; Templemore ;
Waterford.
KOTE— There are special conditions attached to the tender for the Curragh Camp
contract, to which the attention of persons tendering for that work is requested.
Persons desirous of tendering may obtain every information on application at the
Koyal Kugineers' Offices, Dublin, or to the Barrack Masters at the several stations
herein named; and printed schedules of the prices, mth terms of contract and
letter of tender, may tx' obtained upon making a deposit of 10s. for the same,
which deposit will be repaid when the schedules are returned uninjured. Tenders
Realcd, under cover to " The Director of Contracts, War Office, London, S.W.,"
marked on the outside " Tender for Work at ," by February 13. ■
SUl'l'LY.
DriirRiES (X.B.).— Fora snpply of broken metal, for three years, to the trustees
for the great road from Dumfries, by ThomhiU and Sanquhar, to Ayrshire, and
the BCTeral branch roads in that district. Speciflc'ations may be seen on applica-
to Mr. Cowan, road sur^-eyor, Thoruhill, to whom tenders, at the Queensberry
Arms, at eleven o'clock, lebruary 2.
Pekrith.— For the supply of about 100 tons of cast-iron pipes and other castings
for the Penrith Local Itoard of Health. Spcciflcation may be seen, and duplicate
forms offender, schedules and bills of quantities may be had (by payment or os.) at
the office of the Local Board, Penrith ; and further information on application to
J. F. Bateman, Esq., C.E. 16, Great George-street, Westminster, London; or to
Mr. Watson, of Penrith, the Board's .Surveyor.— Sealed tenders, addressed to Mr.
C. Fairer, clerk to the Local board, by January 26.
INVENTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS OF THE WEEK.
Patents Seated,
Mr. J. Pilkington, of Fish-strect-hill, City, asphalte Importer and bitumen manu-
facturer. " Improvements in means for protecting and making water-tight exposed
SUTfaces, such as railway arches, bridges, roofs, and other structures."
Mr. F. Johnson, of 12, North-street, Westminster, civil engineer, " Improyements
in fixing screw piles and moorings."
Patents respecting which Notice to Proceed has been given.
Mr. D. Miller, of Glasgow, civil engineer, " Improvements in the mode of con-
etmcting breakwaters, piers, quays, sea walls, and the submarine works of fortifi-
cations."
Mr. K. J. Cole, of 11, Pembridge-gardens, Bayswater, " Ornamenting the external
walls of bODsea and bnildinga."
PARTNERSHIPS DISSOLVED.
[From the London Gazette.']
Messrs. C. Roberts, W. Roberts, and G. Homfray, Tipton-green Colliery, coal,
limestone, and ironstone masters ; and at Tipton-green blast furnaces, iron masters
and smelters , so far as regards G. Homfray.
Messrs. 31. E. Iladfield and G. Goldie, Sheffield, and Parliament-street, London,
architects.
Messrs. Ginn and Making, Sndbnry, Suffolk, timber and slate merchants and
joiners.
Messrs. and A. Stephens, King's Arms-yard, Thornton-street, Horsleydown,
tnnlders.
Uessrs. C. Fletcher and G. Wild, Halifax, woolstaplers.
DIVIDENDS.
Febmary 20, G. M. P. Daniel, f:ani(bord, Cornwall, Ironmonger.
Febmary 8, J. Thomas, Abingdon, builder.
February 8, J. Sheppard, King's Lynn, brick manufacturer.
DECLARATIONS OF DIVIDENDS.
J. W. Bnsh, Wandsworth. Surrey, color manufacturer, January 23, and three fol-
lowing 'Wednesdays, at Mr. Edward's, Basinghall-street.
Mr. S. Atack. Leeds, builder, any day at Mr. Young's Leeds.
T. Lewis, Abergavenny, ironmonger, any Wednesday, at the office of Mr. Miller,
Bristol.)
CERTIFICATES GRANTED.
January 16, J. J. Stephenson, Crawford-street, Bryanston-aqnare, cabinet maker
(second class).
December 15, J. ThomhiU, Sheffield, awl blade manufacturer (third class).
January 14, J. Cartwrlght, Frankton,«alap, builder (third class).
January 14, J. Rogers, Sbrewley, near Hatton, Warwickshire builder, (third
class.
CEETIPICATE TO BE GRANTED, unlets ctmte btthoumto the contrary on or
b^ore the day of meeting.
Febmary 8, G. J. M'Lcnnan and J. W. Bird, Osnaburgh-street, Regent's Park,
bnilders.
SCOTCH SEQUESTRATION.
Messrs. W. I.. Phnn, Glasgow, bnlldcr and accountant, Jannary 29, at 12, at the
Faculty Hall, Glasgow.
February i:). J. Ford and E, Yonnp I'ortman-mews, Portman -square. Saint Mary-
lebonc, Middlesex and elsewhere, cabinet manufacturers.
February 20, .1. Thome, Wivinouth, Dorsetshire, builder and cabinet maker.
February 2«, T. Wilklns and .1. Wilkins, Coventry, Warwickshire, builders.
February 20, W. Isinks, Kin^'nton-urion-llull, painter and paper hanger,
March 6, W. McI.K!Od, Klngston-upon-Hull, Joiner, builder, undertaker, and iron-
inoneer.
February 15, E. Williams, Wrexham, Denbighshire, bnilder and joiner
Mr. Iliirs Drawing School. — The following gentlemen received the
prizes at Mr. T.J. Hill's DrawingSchool,70,01d-street,E.C.,forthebestdrawings
exhibited at liis late Exliibition of pupils' drawings : — 1st prize, for the best archi-
tectural ilrawiiig, Mr. Baillie ; 2nd prize, lor the best perspective, Mr. Seaman ;
3rd prize, lor tlie best ornamental drawing, Mr. Pipe ; 4th prize, for the beat con-
structive drawing, Jlr. Ilertogs.
Alton Parish Church. — The parish churcli, which for some time past
has been unavoidably left in a state of neglect and want of repair, has just been
in part restored by the aid of contributions from the Earl of Slirewsbury and
Talbot, &c. The church, originally built in the l'2th century, was rebuilt about
30 years ago, when the science of architectural restoration was but little under-
stood, and consequently some of its most striking architectural features
were then utterly lost. The best, however, has been made of
what still remains. The accumulated whitewash and plaster of centuries have
Ijeen carefully scraped from a very fine row of Norman arches, a part of the old
church, wliicii now form a striking and interesting object in the nave. A mag-
nificent early pointed arch, which was built up and hidden by the west gallery,
and the existence of which was almost unsuspected, has been thrown open by
taking down tlie gallery, and now connects the tower with the body of the
church. The interior of the nave has been stencilled with a light pattern, which
somewhat relieves the coldness of the walls. The pnlpit has been removed to
one side the chancel arch, and a very handsome new oak reading-desk has been
placed on the other side. We understand that it is in contemplation to place one
or two painted windows in the churdi, the internal appearance of which is, of
course, strikingly improved.
New Parochial Schools at Wichwar. — On Monday last a suite ot
commodious buildings, which have been erected through the munificence of
Earl Ducie, in lieu of the existing edifice, was opened as school-rooms for the
children of the inliabitants of the town of Wickwar, Gloucestershire. The new
building is situated on an elevation, and faces the entrance to the town from the
Torworth-road, an ample piece of ground around the building being intended for
conversion into terraced gardens and play-grounds. The school- room is 40 feet
by 20 feet, and communicates with a class-room, 18 feet by 15 feet, and a large
porch er lobby, and close by, but detached, is a dwelling-house for the master.
ANSWERS TO COKKESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and comniunicalions to be addressed to the Kditor Qf tlie Bulldinq Kews, i
01(1 Boswell-court, St. Clcuient'fi, Strand, London.
The Kditor cannot undertake to return unused manuscripts.
HopEPDi, We cannot prepare and print matter that would be acceptable to not more than
one or two subscribers.
E. Beown Would probably not comply if we askedbim to depart from an establlshearale.
We must take the cons quences.
B. Wright.— Below our mark.
C— Wc arc compelled to require the names of all writers of communications referring to
matters of fact, not, however, for publication unless desired.
Artist.— The buildiiife' has not been engraved. Wc will make inquiries.
J. F.— Wc wouldrathernotndvlse, but think the "market "is not "overstocked with! tlrst-
rate architectural colorists."
W III a condensed form.
r. W.— A somewhat similar proposal was laid before us some months ago. Too soon.
AlEssas. W. and II.- HouthwarK-bridge was designed byG.Kennie.
J. C. M Strength appears to vary inversely as the length ; as nearly as possible.
C. W Itefer to the Transactions of tlic British Association, 1854.
T. SlMsON Calculated according to the area on plan.
Kev. S. S. K By introduction through a member.
Constant Header The force required to crush sound English oak is nearly double that re-
quireii to crusli good yellow pine.
An Aechitect (IJath).— Very difflcult to report such matters. We shall be glad to receive
any notes. Our country readers can always much assist us,
M. It. Clarke.— We cannot tell the probable cost of a house with no more data than the
area of the plan. Consult an architect.
Subscriber Such details have been already given in our pages. Itefcr to the Indices.
A Member It was announced by the chairman that reports of the proceedings would be
forwarded to the iirchitectural i»ress.
A Clergyman There are various ways of preventing damp rising in walls. We have
ourselves, with very satisfactory results, inserted two or three courses of slate in cement.
It should be below the level of the lowest Joists, and the wall should be further protected
by a properly ventilated and drained dry area. Sheet lead in place of slate is In some
cases more efficacious, but is at the same time more costly. The insertion ol three courses
of slate is not by any means expensive.
A. Hoofer We cannot tell until we have seen the drawings. Shall be taken care of.
Enquirer.- Oxideof lead. ^
An Architect (London).— We receive many letters to the same effoct ; how can we
B.— The principal supply of borax Is brought from Monte Rotondo, in Tuscany. That
proposed is Inferior. , - -
N. Elhes Strictly speaking, wc do not think a landlord is liable, but probably few refiise
to comply. ...
C. W._Lctter referred to has not been received. Send address ; we may be able to suggest
an explanation.
M. A. W Thanks for tracings; shall appear.
M. W Usually varnished ; French polish cannot be applied to such parts.
E. B. W. will, we hope, some day thank us for not printing his letter.
T. IloLPEB.— Joists nine inches by three Inches would be ample.
K. N. 8 Subject has been selected for publication, and is now in the hands of our
engraver. , ,
F. W Action must be brought within six months or claim would appear to be lost.
S. IIuoHEs.- We cannot advise on the value of property in these columns.
Anonymous —If not too late.
BiLEx Shall bo able t«give a definite reply on inspection of model— not otherwise.
A Builder We fear we must decline.
ONE I'aovoKED.— Ktflect ; such a case would be extremely difflcult to prove, and wc cannot
assist ill tile way reciuircd.
• * Not advantageous to tlie profession.
Thomas W — — s — Shall appear. ... ,..,,..
8 ' 8. T.— If, as we suspect. " the person " was the architect, we think he was quite right.
(1. A. T White metal lubing is the least expensive. , . , ..
One not Pbesint.— We do not print your letter, as you have evidently lieen mislnfonned.
Mr. Uavward drew attention to tlic very possible event of Improper persons availing them-
selves "fthe facility alfordcd by an open examination, to obtain a ccrtiflcato of competency
from the Institute, and to the difflculty of efficiently withdrawing stich certlflcate or the
reputation attached to its possession, should such a course be deemed desirable In certam
cases.
Abous.— Tlic article obtained us a vast amount of commendation, and some little ex-
pression ofdisapproval. Your letter, even, though not so Intended, conflrma us in our
opinion. , .. , , ,. 1 ,.
O. MoRAK Not for us to Interfere ; parsimony, in some matter*, brings about its own
WNliCENSEn.—Tonr business appears to require a license ; sec index to our last volume.
Junior ARCUITECT.-Nothlng to prevent your requirtog a higher coinmisslon for emaU
works; better, however, to name it at first; ten or fifteen per cent, will sometimes bo
Inadequate.
T. PiilLMoRE is thanked for the hint. ^ „ „
K. 8. A.-Mr.Fcihicr's artificial stone works arc at Berlin. „^ , „^ . ,. „ ,_.
KECElVED-V.W..Mr. Tllomas Scale., J. A. B., C. E T., Edwin Thomas, A. \^S. and
Co., One who likes Ucvicws, s. Tibbcn, A Carpenter, Frozen Out, M. Henery, r. K. s.,
U.: M.P., E. Home, W. C.J., L. 0.,AClerk.
•»• And three letters so carelesaly written as to be illegible— wc cannot read tne sig-
natures.
February 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
85
now ARE ARCHITECTS TO BE EDUCATED?
HERE is scarcely any-
thing more difficult to define
oAT^^B^^ ^/7J-/'/y"'|^^i^^^^^:_^than the course to be pursued
^^^^^'^^ ^ '' ^yMIr /vv'^^^Jn t],e education of an archi-
tect. Art, we are told, is
long, while life is short ; and
as young ai-chitects are, after
all, merely young men, emu-
lous with the famous medical
student of earning hreul by
the profession to which they
have been hi-ed, there is an
ever-pressing necessity for solving
the problem, how to cram tho archi-
tectural pupil or student with (if not
all the knowledge an architect
ought to have) as much knowledge
as will enable him to conscientiously
start in life, and offer his services to
his fellow citizens. Nothing short
of actual ignorance of what is
required of a perfect architect will
justify the student in falling in love
with some one or two of the several
branches of knowledge before him,
and becoming a special expert or
pedant in it. And as with know-
ledge, so with art : nothing but this
ignorance will justify a young man's
applying himself to some one
branch, and consuming his "short"
life in qualifying himself for an expert manipulator in that one branch.
AVe are quite aware that, in the every-day practice of life, men do
these things, pass through it agreeably, and realise a competency. One
man, happening to have a mechanical turn of mind, will apply it
exclusively to devising novel constructive contrivances, or new uses of
building material ; another, with a forensic mind, will go deeply into
architectural jurisprudence, and become a walking authority in
doubtful cases of contract procedure, boundary rights, or dilapidations ;
another, again, will exhaust a life in attaining to excellence in some
matter of artistic manipulation, for which he finds himself especially
gifted by nature ; while a fourth will bury himself in fond contempla-
tion of antiquity, and grow famous as a numismatist, an ecclesiologist,
or the like. This we say is the practice of every-day life, and men
highly esteemed in the profession are known to give way to it ; but,
albeit they are architects so called, their course is not that of the true
architect ; who should, strictly speaking, have a penchant for nothing in
particular, but be rather, in all that pertains to the world of science and
art, an intelligent but an indifferent, unloving cosmopolite. To speak
more plainly, an architect should be an artist gifted by nature with
high mental powers, fitting him
for a ready comprehension of the
" a Jack of all trades, and a
sciences, but acquisitively a smatterer,
master of none."
To the foregoing observations it may be reasonably objected that,
such a being as we have attempted to describe is an impossible mon-
ster ; and that, whereas in the first place the world can't be always
producing Admirable Crichtons to make up into architects ; in the
second there is so much of fascination about many of the subjects of
study which come before the ai-chitectural student, that it is not in
human nature that he should keep clear of a bias for some one or two,
and cultivate all indifferently. This may be, and indeed is, perfectly
tnie_; but still the facts remain that we must have architects; that
architects should possess this versatility of power, and that, far short
though we may fall of the beau ideal, it is necessary to establish for
their use a course of education, that will most closely approximate to it.
Over and over again we have put the question, which many years of
careful thought about it have only invested with mystery — What is the
best way of bringing a youth up for an architect f and recently we have
had the query put from a far-off colony. It is no small matter to
have made up one's mind to a catalogue of qualifications and acquire-
ments necessary for an architect, indeed it is a part solution of the
query to have done this ; and it is only when one sets about thinking
how they ai-e all to be imparted to the student, that the prospect of
entire solution becomes formidable. It is like the old arithmetical
puzzle of "the fox and the goose and the peck of oats." To make the
youth an adept in drawing and design is good ; it is good for him to be
imbued with refined ideas of art, to be versed in ancient styles of archi-
tecture ; good for him, as far as it goes, to work at the carpenter's
bench, or the smith's forge, and so on ; but then comes the difficulty.
When and where are we to begin with this course of training, and hoV
are we to so train the artist, that he shall not snub the office and fail
at the bench ; or, if first trained to the bench, shall be guaranteed to
come away from it m a mood and with a mind bcSttin<» the library or
the studio ? This is the question of questions— How are we to keep
the fox from eating up the goose ; how reconcile the goose with the
oats ? "
In an old and more civilized country the training of an architect n
in one sense attended with greater difficulty than is the trainin" of a
colonia architect. In England we have now, not only mastcr-artTficens,
who will undertake the masonry or the carpentry of a building, but a
higher commercial class of men called builders or general contractors,
who will undertake the vhole of the works; and thus it is that the
system of buildmg by " lump" contract has become almost universally
prevalent m this country, and that the architect has risen (if it really
be a rise) from being, as in the middle ages, a presiding artist, to
being, as he now is, a stem administrator of moneys, and a jud-re or
arbiter of all questions in dispute. He is the quasi-lawyer, who 5raws
up our building agreements, defines by specl^fication how, when and
where such and such building matters shall be carried into execution ;
when and in what ratio to the contract all moneys shall be paid, and
these only on his written authority or certificate. In the younger
countries there is no such division of labor as to make ail this incum-
bent on the architect ; there is no merchant-artificer or contractor to
negotiate between the architect and his client; "Ae who plan* or
devises must also execute ;" or, at the least, undertake the immediate
control of the workmen, the purchase and conveyance of the materials,
the construction of the scaffolding, the disbursing of the moneys ; and,
in short, see to all those matters that, in the older and more civilised
community, make up the vocation of the "builder," so called. Thus
it will be seen that the duties assigned to the home and to the colonial
architect, though they may not quite assimilate, are rendered tolerably
equal ; the home architect requiring to be more or less of a lawyer, and
the colonial to be more or less of an operative artificer. In cither case
the architect must be an artist (the greater the better), or he can make
no true claim to his honorable title.
Truly, when all these conditions are borne in mind, one may well
repeat, ^^ Art is long; life is short .' " Art — that is to say, the fine
arts — should, indeed, engross the every day thoughts of the architect;
and nulla dies sine lined be his rule of life. A smattering of art will
be to him a dangerous thing : in that, indeed, he cannot afford to be a
smatterer. Far too little of his time is, by the English architectural
student, devoted to art. If we except landscape painting, in which he
often excels, but which is, of all branches of art, the one he can best
aflbrd to dispense with, the young English architect will be found
singularly deficient as a, free-hand artist. Free-hand drawing, whether
of foliage or the human form, is indispensable to the architect ; and yet
how very few English architects are proficients in delineating either of
these subjects ?
But we are reminded that, elsewhere in this article we have said, let
the young architect be a smatterer. He cannot know too much of
science; and Wren, perhaps, of all living Englishmen of his time, knew
most of the sciences, that were needed for the constructive perfection of
his edifices ; but we cannot all be Wrens. It will be better to devote
our energies to art, than seek to emulate him in scientific attainment.
AVo will bring these observations to a close, by directing our young
readers' attention to the advantages they possess in the present day of
acquiring scientific knowledge ; if it be only that smattering of science,
indispensable for every architect.
They have, particularly in the metropolis, easy access to the naany
lectures which are delivered each year at the various public institutions.
Those usually delivered at the Society of Arts and at the Polytechnic
Institution will generally be found useful to the architectural student.
He should also avail himself, if possible, of the Constructive Course of
Architectural Lectures, delivered .it London University College.
Speaking of lectures, it will be of service to our voung readers to direct
attention to the short course of instruction in architecture and building
now being instituted by the Directors of the Polytechnic Institute.
AVe have lately seen a prospectus of it, and heartily recommend those
students who may be debarred from attending the more extended and
more costly lectures of Professor Donaldson, to enrol themselves in the
classes about to be formed during this spring. The three courses are
only intended to extend over one quarter ; and whilst by their extreme
brevity, and the lowness of the fees, they are little calculated to draw
heavily on either the momoiy or the purse of the student, the know-
ledge imparted will prove highly serviceable to him in after fife; whether
he lie an incipient architect, engineer or contractor.
Should the scheme of architectural examinations, now so much
discussed, become developed, the mode of imparting scientific informa-
tion by lectures will doubtless become very general ; since it is the
readiest way in which a little knowledge of many things can be acquired ;
and this, we again assert, is {qua Science) the peculiar desideratum of
the architect.
86
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 1, 1861.
MODERN PARIS.
"TirrE hare, during the past year, kept our readers tolerably well in-
T V formed of the Improvements which are taking place in Paris, but
the work of demolition and reconstruction proceeds there so rapidly that
many important erections hare remained unchronicled. The chief of
these have been consequent upon the gigantic cuttings which have been,
and still continue to be made through every quarter of the city. It is
impossible to give an adequate idea of these new boulevards which, when
completed, will connect, by wide open thoroughfares, all the principal
points of the French Capital. Dozens of them are either in course of for-
mation, or projected, on both sides of the Seine. Before the great
Boulevard de Sebastopol, which bisects the city from north to south, is
completed, others of equal length are commenced. Wherever there is an
open space a necessity seems to be found for having a wide, straight road
to it, and. oftentimes, for branches spreading from it to meet other and
similar new streets. Paris will soon be a network of boulevards lined
with stone buildings, which will mask a group of narrow, dirty streets, and
hide the objectionable dwellings of the poor. The visitor will have no
need to pass through the ill-paved lanes, tenanted by the working classes.
In tall and spacious streets, lined with the " Architecture of Napoleon HI.,"
he will see the wonders of the capital. Where all the working classes will
go to who are turned out of the demohshed houses it is difficult to say.
One tiling is certain, they cannot occupy the new houses ; they are far
too expensively built, and, consequently, too expensively rented. In fact,
it puzzles us to think who is to live in them. There does not seem to us
a class in Paris sufficiently numerous and wealthy to pay the enormous
sums which are demanded for the different floors, nor does the trade of
Paris appear to ns of that extent to warrant the erection of so many and
such expensively rented shops. It is not simply the opening of a new
street in a busy part of the city, but the same class of buildings, as like to
each other as files of soldiers, are being erected everywhere — at the
extremities as well as in the centre ; traversing the Ruede la Roquette —
where foot pavements have not yet been extensively introduced — to the Place
du Trone, amidst the lowest of the Parisian people, and branching in every
direction around the Arc de I'Etoile ; forming not simply a direct line from
the Strasbourg Railway to the Rue Rivoli, through the centre of the city,
where such liouses,if anywhere, may possibly pay a percentage on theoutlay,
but being continued as far on the opposite side of the river down to the
Observatory, — nearly to the southern extremity of the capital, where,
assuredly, they cannot. North, south, east, and west, the same course is
being pursued. No general improvements in the present streets, but
everywhere new thoroughfares flanked with palatial buildings.
There is no great demand for them, the trade of Paris has not suddenly
overflowed its banks and stood in need of larger stores. Even the
abolition of passports will not cause a very greatly additional influx of
money-diffusing Englishmen. The new shops and new houses must
depreciate the value of others, and be themselves diminished in value by
their own number. Various manoeuvres are resorted to in order to attract
the public to some of the new streets. For instance, the removal of two
theatres from the old Boulevards to the Place du Chatelet and the creation
of branch streets, but it will, we fancy , be of little avail — " C'est magniflque
mais ce n'est pas la guerre," which we would roughly translate " It's all
very fine, but it won't pay." Let us assume a parallel case : let us, for
an instant, fancy a builder with a national credit at his back, cutting a
wide street from Whitechapel Church through Bethnal-green, and build-
ing shops equal in size and splendour to those of Regent-street, running a
belt of similar bnildings round our metropolis, and attempting to found a
new " Bond-street " between the Mother Red Cap, at Camden Town, and
the Swiss Cottage. He might leave an open square here and there, he
might put up a fountain, he might put balconies to all the floors, and buUd
the houses of stone, but he could not make the Belgravians drive down
there ; we should think the next road he ought to open would be to St.
Luke's Hospital, and there stop. We know the difficulty of drawing
visitors to New Oxford-street ; we know that the aristocracy but rarely
shop ferther eastward than Wells-street or Berners-strcct, and seeing this,
and much more of a like character, we do not anticipate great results from
the new streets in Paris. We have wide streets in London : Blackfiriars,
Westminster, and Waterloo-roads ; the width of the streets do not make
their trade or they would be most flourishing. A street and the business
done in it is, or ought to be, fashioned in consideration of its peculiar
neighbourhood, and result generally from thenecessities of the inhabitants.
The Parisian streets seem to spring from no such causes, or they would
not be so suddenly required, and would not be all so much alike, nor would
the new ones be so numerous in every quarter of the city. If a desire had
been really felt to better the condition of the inhabitants, a different course
would have been adopted than that of enclosing them by bands of superior
buildings, a.ni ejecting costly and expensive barracks in every district. We
regard the formation of the new streets rather as a means of employing a
large army of workmen which might else, in times of distress, devote its
hands to building barricades, and of fashioning, by its assistance, the wide
streets which constitute the revolutionist's greatest difficulty. It affords the
Emperor, at the same time, an opportunity of gratifying the vanity of his
people, and of leaving his Imperial cypher carved upon the new public
monuments. It will benefit him still further, for when at a future day,
the penalty of this extravagance has to be paid, the workpeople unmindful
of the swollen oppressive national debt, and of the cause of it, will associate
recollections of constant employment with the Emperor's reign. He
stimulates unnaturally the building trade, and sows the seeds of future ill
which a succeeding government must suffer from. The longer it is allowed
to grow, the worse will it become, because continuous work, as we all know.
increases the number of artizans. The mason's boy becomes in time a
skilled mason, and the carpenter's lad earns a man's wages. The list of
workmen is lengthened in inverse proportion to the requirement for them.
The day m which this accumulating evil must be dealt with may be put
off, but the longer it is delayed the greater will be the difficulty of dealing
with it. Not aU the fine streets and wide boulevards will compensate for
it, and we may well congratulate" ourselves on the absence of such em-
bellishments to our city with the condition which is inseparably attached
to them.
But although the cutting of these new streets seems to us to spring
from other reasons than the requirements of the capital, and to bo con-
nected with circumstances which preclude the possibility of our deriving
any very useful lesson from them, the display of architectural taste and
skill shown therein may be profitable to us. Instead, therefore, of
attempting a description of the several new communications which have
been opened, which would moreover be incomprehensible without a plan
of the city — we will note down the various suggestive features which the
Parisian architects have set upon the buildings they have had to con-
struct.
There are one or two points connected with the laying out of the new
roads which are valuable. Wherever the principal streets meet and cross
each other, open spaces are left, which may be best understood by reference
to our Regent-circus, Oxford-street, which they somewhat resemble in
plan. At minor intersections the angles are simply cut off, and the corner
houses have their fronts at an angle of 45 degress with the main thorough-
fares. This is a feature which we might advantageously adopt, and it is
more especially suited to our metropolis on account of tiae crowded state
of its streets. It would obviate many accidents caused by the too
precipitate entry of vehicles from the side into the principal streets.
Another good arrangement, conspicuous in Paris, is the supply of water
from under the curbs, and in some cases — as in the Pavilions of the
Louvre — from the bases of alternate lamp-posts, to cleanse the streets and
gutters in winter, and to lay the dust and cool the atmosphere in summer.
Again, when they erect a pubUc building of any kind, good, bad, or indifferent,
they arrange the adjacent buildings so that it shall not only be seen but
seen to advantage. To throw open the fa9ade of the Conservatoire des
Arts et Metiers, a large open square decorated with fountains and shrubs
was left when building the Boulevard de Sebastopol. The churches of
the Madeleine, St. Genevieve, St. Sulpice, St. Eustache, in fact, nearly all
the principal churches and buildings are made centres to which different
streets converge j this, consequently, leaves them visible at an immense
distance. The first named church, for example, is seen from the steps of
the Palais du Corps Legislatif on the opposite side of the river, from a
long distance down the Boulevard des Capucines, in the same way from
that of Malesherbes — now being cut, through the Pare de Monceaux, right
away to the I'orte d'Asnieres — and almost equally well from the Rue
Tronchet in its rear. In the same manner the hotel de Ville, the
Tuileries, the Louvre, the Palais Royal, the Arc de Triomphe, &c., are
either deprived of minor buildings which obscured their magnificence, or
have worthy approaches made to exhibit it.
A striking instance of this, and one which contrasts powerfully with our
method of action, is shown in the preparations for the new opera-house.
When Covent Garden Theatre was burnt down, it was rebuilt by the
ablest hands the lessee could find to do it, on the same site. A new opera-
house has to be built in Paris, and a large plot of ground is appropriated
in a central position, separated from one of tlie main arteries of Paris — the
Boulevard des Capucines — only by a vast open square. It is detached on
every side, and all obstacles are gashed away in four different directions to
make so many additional and straight approaches to it — one to meet the Rue
la Fayette, at its junction with the Faubourg Poissonniore ; another,
the Rue de Rouen, to the Boulevard Malesherbes and the Rue St. Lazare;
a third, to the Bourse; and the fourth, past the Theatre Fran^ais, to the
large square in front of the Palais Royal. All this, be it remembered, is
when splendid approaches to the site already exist in the Rue de la Paix
and the Boulevards, to say nothing of minor streets. To attempt any
imitation of such a method is with us impossible, and to wish for its intro-
duction is foolish ; it is part and parcel of a system of Government and of
a people's manners, the results of which we may, at a distance, occasionally
admire, but which are irreconcileable with our institutions. It suits the
French people; they are delighted with and will have to pay for it.
Close adjoining the opera-house, on the opposite side of the Kue de Rouea
and on a triangular plot formed by| it and the widened Rue Mogador and the
Boulevard des Capucines, the new Hotel de la Paix will be placed. It will
correspond in size and in the number of its rooms with the great Hotel du
Louvre. Each of three fat/ades will be about 400 feet in length.
But to return to the noteworthy points in the laying-out of the
streets. Another feature in which they are remarkably different
from ours, is their straightness. A complete and thorough clear-
ance has been made both of soil and of houses; nothing has been
suffered to stand in the way. The quantity of excavation or of demo-
lition is not considered; no matter how splendid the house nor how
newly built, down they have come before the power and energy of the
projectors. The new streets have a strong family likeness, due, perhaps,
to a rigid "Building Act" as well as to academical education. They
show much less individual and Independent action than our irregular
streets. They have all a profusion of balconies, dormers, and outside
shutters. They all are carried to an immense height and nearly all have
entresols or mezzanine floors over the shops, which give great importance
to them. This arrangement is due, perhaps, as much to the fact of the
upper floors being let off as separate tenements as to an appreciation of its
February 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
87
architectvjral value. It further allows of a gateway, commensurate in
size with the magnitude of the houses leading to an inner court, or of a
felicitous combination of the doorway and the fanlight over it. To this
portion of their design the French architects give much study, and in it
they produce their liappiest results. The general design of the houses in
the new thoroughfares is, in fact, so similar that it is only in the details
that the skill of the architect is prominently seen. There is a want of
variety in them which is manifest only after we have been long enough
amongst them to lose the impression which their novelty at first created.
This will be evident when, in a subsequent article, we notice their pecu-
liarities more fully.
The new streets do not monopolise, however, all the building trade ;
the old churches of Paris are nearly all undergoing restoration and re-
decoration. The work of a few years ago is being scraped off and abler
men direct the busy hands. A notice of these restoration and of the new
buildings at the Bibliotcque Imperiale, at the Beaux Arts and elsewhere
we must, for the present, defer.
♦
ETHNOGRAPHICAL EXHIBITION.
AT the French Gallery in Pall-mall there is now exhibiting an unusual
collection of models and sculptures illustrative of the principal types
of the human race. There are fifty-five specimens, varying in size from
the statuette to a whole-length Venus of colossal proportions. The entire
collection is the result of several years' study from the life, and visits to
the different countries represented by the types exhibited, by M. Cordier,
a French sculptor. Besides the great variety in the size of his produc-
tions, the materials in which they are worked are, if possible, still more
various. They consist of different kinds of pure marble; the same sub-
stance in delicate polychrome, plain bronze, but in some instances with the
draperies in Algerian onyx, and in others with a combination of parts in
gold, silver, and enamel. In addition to the mastery over so many mate-
rials, M. Cordier possesses considerable artistic talent, and that, too, is as
varied in style of application, according to his subject, as the substances
are various in which his subjects are executed. His power over the
vigorous expression of national character is well displayed in the busts of
the " Nubian Negro," and the " Negro Woman of the African Coast," both
which created a general sensation at the Great Exhibition in Hyde-park,
and were purchased by the late Duke of Devonshire, whose taste was,
however, questioned at the time; but his Grace was not singular in his
choice, for his opinions found echoes in several high circles — and, indeed,
in the highest quarters; for we believe it is perfectly correct to say that
so pleased was Her Majesty with these two busts, that a pair was pri-
vately ordered as an agreeable surprise for Prince Albert on his birthday,
while the Prince Consort had as privately commanded the two busts to be
ready as an equally pleasing surprise on the birthday of Her Majesty.
Still, we will say, the question of taste remains unsettled, the fact of the
above Koyal patronage notwitlistanding. But if M. Cordier, in his love
for national character, can produce the beau-ideal of ugliness, he is quite
as successful in features and expressions more in accordance with Euro-
pean notions of beauty and civilised character, as the two heads of colossal
size and broad execution, entitled, " The Roman Woman of Transtavcre,"
and " A Greek Woman of ilissolonglii," will sufficiently prove. Then, for
tenderness, sweetness, and pleasing expression, we would refer to the heads
of " The Moorish Woman Singing," and " The Chinese Woman " — the
whole treatment of the latter admirably conducted, so as to fully justify
the Chinese poets in seeing in this type " the radiant image of the moon."
Amidst so much violently opposed nationality of feature, it is pleasant
to see the tact and ability with which M. Cordier seizes, as it were, a sub-
ject on neutral ground, in the execution of a very excellent head, entitled,
" Child of the Highland Kabjle," whicli, perhaps, representing too young
a person to present much individuality of feature, would do quite as well
for a child of this country. There is well-marked, manly character in
the " Nubian Negro," in bronze, and the " Negro of the Soudan," the
head also in bronze, but the draperies in Algerian onyx. The artist is,
besides, a practical phrenologist, and however persons may believe or dis-
believe in that science, the knowledge of it ensures, at the least, a faithful
and intelligent representation of the exact configuration of the craniums
of each individual or national type. M. Cordier has had the support of
the French Government in this enterprise, and a duplicate series has been
purchased for one of the galleries in Paris; but separate specimens may
be selected from the present exhibition by private collectors.
W^'
THE CARLTON CLUB-HOUSE, PALL-MALL.
/"ITH the splendid Engraving, on another page, of the renowned Carl-
ton-club, we conclude our series of illustrations of those stupendous
buildings which have made Pall-mall the " great social exchange— the
mart of news, of politics, of scandal, and of rumour," and which afford the
liberty of private houses united to the comfort, magnificence, and gorgeous
decoration of palaces.
Many, doubtless, recollect the old Carlton— the headquarters of Tory
politicians, when the terms Conservative and Liberal-Conservative were
unknown— with its bald, cold, Classicality due to the revival of Grecian
art in England. Sir Robert Smirke, the architect, has lived to see his
work swept entirely away by his brother, Mr. Sydney Smirke, R.A., and
superseded by a fa(;ade of an entirely different description. The flatness
and good proportion of the former work has given place to a front in
■which boldness of projection and an almost total disregard of proportion
are the characteristics. The great size of the upper entablature, especially
when compared with the Doric one beneath it, is antagonistic to every
known architectural canon ; and yet we admire it exactly a> we admire,
spite of the same violation of strict rule, its magnificent prototype, the
cast front of St. Mark's Library, at Venice. It is not, however, a mete
copy, as has too often been asserted, of Sansoviao's work. The famooi
Library has a range of arcades along the ground story, and the whole of
the sculptured work is different. There is, aUo, in the Club-hou»e a
novelty, in the shape of polished red granite columns and pilaster* intro-
duced to compensate for the want of light and shade consequent upon its
northern aspect. The panels in the frieze are likewise filled with Peter-
head granite. In the Library of St. Mark they are windows.
The facade is 130 feet long, with nine openings on each floor. It it in
two orders— the lower Doric, the upper Ionic. There is an arched opening
m each inter-column iation, the key-stones of which project so as to con-
tribute to the support of the entablature over them. It is laced, with the
exception of the granite shafts we have already alluded to, with Caen
stone.
But it was not solely for the purpose of altering the facade that Mr. S.
Smirke was called in. The old Carlton required enlargmc'nt. One or two
houses were purchased on the western side and appropriated to the club-
house which is now second to none in internal accommodation and external
magnificence. It contains the usual morning, dining, coffee, billiard and
other rooms. The coffee-room is a splendid apartment, 92 feet long Ijy 37
feet broad, and 21 feet 6 inches high. It is divided by Corinthian colunuu
of green scagliola into three compartments ; the two ends are lighted by
three windows, and the centre by a large glazed dome. On a floor
invisible from the street, the smoking and servants' bed-rooms are situated.
On the same side of Pall-mall, divided from the Carlton-club only by a
narrow street, is its great rival — the Reform. Both are modifications of
Italian palaces, and they form as striking a contrast to cacti other archi-
tecturally as politically. Pall-mall affords the student, above any street
in the world, an opportunity of comparing side by tide the bett ipeci-
mens of every stage in Italian art.
LIVEKPOOL ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY.
THE ninth meeting of the Be8»ion of the above society was held on Wodncfldav
evening week, at the Koyal Institution, Colquitt-strcet. Mr. J. il. Hay presided,
and the attendance of members wai* very large.
Mr. Chantrell introduced to the notice o( the meetinir an invention by a Ttelgian
gentleman, who was a relative of his. The invention had bi-CD used for Tentilauo};
hospitals, priRone, and other lar<^c buildin<rs. He had himself talcen out a patent for
this country, and his object was to apply it to smoky chimneys. He had liad several
very bad cases, and the aplicatiou of this invention to them bad proved eminently
successful.
Jlr. HoKNBLowEK Said he had a couple of " incurables " at Mr. Chantroll't service
(laughter).
Mr. William Brown said it was similar to an apparatus shown to him by a rela^
tive in iSomersetslilre, and which was placed on all the chimneys in Bockingtaam
Palace.
Mr. Chantrell said he had had a patent agent searching the records, to see if
there had been such an invention before.
Mr. Bro\vn did not thifak there was a patent for it.
Jlr. Chantrell said if it were good it would be patented.
Mr. ItENNETT said not always. Dr. Arnott, who had given more good things to
the world than auy scientific man of the day, had never patented any. The evil of
smoky chimneys, in nine cases out of ten, did not arise at the top of the chimney at
all. The evil lay in the goodness of the workmanship of the present day, by wbicli
fresli air was so rigidly excluded from our houses. It was tliis which caused a
down draught in some of the (ireplaces ; and tUe best cure was to introduce pleutT
of air into the vestibule and corridor.
. Mr. riCTON said Mr. Chantrell, in the fulness of his benevolence, was proceeding
upon the principle of "no cure, no pay."
Mr. William BRO\ra.— Then I shall be very happy for him to operate upon one or
two of my chimneys (laughter).
The Chairman to a great extent concurred in the observations of Mr. iSeiinett
Jlr. J. A. PiCTON, F.iS.A., then read his " Notes on Architecture in Russia."
Speaking of St. Petersburg, he said :— The first appearance of the city from thta
access is very eifectivc, from the expansion, the breadth, the colossal .-Jcileon wtUoh
everything appears to be set out ; and even after a few days' sojonm, the impression
made by the first coup dVeirVemains as striking as ever. There is such a wiillh aboat
the streets, and the size and number of the public buildings are so great, as to give
a gigantic character to the whole. The river .Neva, at St. Petersburg, is about tbe
width of the Thames at London-bridge. Standing on the only permanent bridge
which spans its waters, the eye ranges on each side along a succession of cnonnoas
blocks of building devoted to public purposes, which it would he difl: - .Ilel
elsewhere. Similar huge piles are found in all nuarters of the city, tu . itt,
if the epithet be worth anything, St. Petersburg may with truth In ■ .. yot
palaces. The whole of the buildings are white, or stone color, an.i n parenUy
roofed with copper, which adds much to the eflect, wldch is heightened greaUy by
the number of gilded domes glittering in the sun's rays. On a nearer survey mucJi
of this apparent magnificence sadly deteriorates. The streets are wide, it is true,
but moafe.Necrably paved with the roughest description of boulders which ire .-unk into
large hol'es.andseemasif they hadnever been repaired within themcmorvoira.m. strips
the Neoskoi, Prospekt, and other principal streets are paved with wood in hexagons,
some of which is new and in good repair, but where it has been worn for some ttae
it is nearly as bad as the stones. This may be accounted lor by the fact that in this
metropolis of a great empire, the primitive system is still maintained of every man
paving the street before his own door in his own way-(laughtcrV It need scarcely
be added that the dust in dry weather, and the mud in wet, bids defiance to all 8»-
vonging operations, which arc accordingly never attempted— (renewed laughter).
The palaces and buildings, which look from afar so grandiose, on a nearer inspectlpa
turn out to be onlv pTaster-columns. cornices, enrichments, statues, and aJ.1--
(laughter). This might be borne if the material were of good quality, but it is tart
plaster, badly designed, and miserably executed. The general style is Italian, of »
very poor and common-place description In some casts the pure (.Kck has been
attempted, as in the School of Mines on the north bank of the river, which is fronted
with a dccastyle Doric portico, n In Parthenon, flanked by colossal groups of statuanr.
All this looks very imposing at a goodly distance, bnt on approach it is found to De
constructfdofbrick and plaster of the most wretched description, and the groups
of statuary to be plaster casts in a state of rapid decomposltion-(laiighter). The
"■reen roofs of the buildings, which give the notion of an expensive construction to
copper, are merely sheet iron, painted green. In fact, were the buildings in St.
Pctersburc Iclt to the tender mercies of the elements for a few years, they would^r
the most part, be reduced to their original mud. and leave few traces of their eM»-
tence behind. Of course there were exceptions to this rule, and Jlr. Picfon proceeaea
to mention them. The sham character of the public buildings S™"''>''y,^*S„'l-
deemed in the case of St, Isaac's Church, the aichitectural glory of bt. 1 etcrsburg.
88
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 1, 1861.
I In wUeh the realistic priuoiplo of expensive material had been carrii-d to its
MWt limit*. Polislied granite, polislied marble, bronze, and plated pold composed
the exterior; whilst the interior was one bla/e of marble, mosaic, malachite, lapis,
lazuli, bronze, t;old. and paintinjr. The alles.'vd cost of the building was somethinjf
fabulous. The whole of the parts was iJTOod in dcsiirn, and of excellent workmanship,
"bat as a whole the proportions were not harmonious. The ISepulchre of the SJaviour
was of solid silver, and the whole of the work in j;ood taste, but the display gave too
Jnuch the idea of imnvmi finery. The Kasan Church, the church in the citadel, and
other ecclesiastical buildings, were next reviewed, and Mr. I'icton observed tliat tlie
great majority of the churches, both in St. Petersburgh and elsewhere in liussia,
were on the llyzantine model of the Greek cross. The palaces of the Imperial family
and of the nobility, the Government otTice8,and public institutions >vere larg:e anh
numerous, but nearly all built of brick and plaster, badly executed— the style of the
earlier buildings being Italian or French of the reign of I.ouis XV. The general im-
pression left by the architecture of .St. Fetersburgh was that of barbaric greatness—
vastuess in dimension, pretence and feebleness in design, and coarseness and poverty
in the execution. There were undoubtedly some exceptions to this sweeping esti-
mate, but thev were few and unimportant. A railway ride of twenty hours through
miserable-looking, poverty-stricken villages, pine forests, hungry, flat plains of sand,
and afewenclosuresof rye and oats, brought 3Ir. I'icton and his fellow-traveller toMos-
cow. £Hp(usi:al he noticed the curious examples of the " sham " system of architecture
Srevalent In Kussia. as presented by the station-houses on the railway. The city of
loaeow was more pleasing to the stranger than St. Tetersburg. It was older, more
national, more naturally developed. There were In Moscow- probably about 1,000
cbnrrhes, winch, viewed singly, would in most cases be pronounced in bad taste—
the work coarse, the material poor, and the detail bad ; but they had one charm,' and
that was variety and picturesqueness of outline. The earliest church architecture
aated from the eleventh century, soon after the conversion of Russia to Christianity,
and bore a rude but strong Byzantine character. There was one exception to the
faults which disfigured most of the ecclesiastical buildings— the Church of the Holy
Saviour, a very large edifice, which had been in construction twenty years, and would
probablv take twenty more in completion. Having noticed the " Kremlin," within
which there are several palaces and four churches, three of which are cathedrals,
Mr. Picton described tlie great bell of Moscow, now consecrated as a chapel, the
opening caused by the fracture now serving for the entrance. The lecturer
went on to say : — There is much in Moscow of the curious, interesting, and
strange, with a bearing, near or more remote, on architecture and 8rt. The
monasteries, with their singular mixture of the shabby and the magnificent ; the
tiazaars, with t heir miles of booths of every imaginable description ; the market places,
the streets- all present much matter for observation. Over and upon all presses the
iron hand of despotism. The natural results of a grinding bureaucracy and a venal
police, who are the real governors of the country, are visible on every side, depressing-
private enterprise, leading to uncertainty in every undertaking, and preventing the
derelopnient of the real resources of the country. Kussia is the dearest country in
Europe, and. in proportion to its population, the poorest— the country where the
peasant population are ground down to the lowest level, where trade, skill, enter-
■prise. manufactures, and art, have to be sought from the foreigner. Under such cir-
cumstances architecture, as an art, can only be looked for in works of a public
nature, or in the palaces of the higher classes. A native school cannot be looked for.
At the same time, since every art must be modified by the circumstances under which
it Is applied, the time will assuredly arrive when the inert and slumbering mass of
Russian intellect and energy shall be permeated and quickened by the instincts of
freedom and expansion. Of this awakening there are already symptoms, and when-
ever the period shall come, there is power and vigor enough in the Uussian mind to
take its fair and legitimate place in tlie ranks of architectural as well as of other arts.
Mr. I'icton returned home by way of Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Hamburg, of
which he gave brief architectural notices. The paper was copiously illustrated by
plates and engravings, which imparted additional zest to it.
The Chairman tendered Jlr. I'icton the thanks of the society for his instructive
and interesting paper. There was very little that passed unobsened by that gentle-
man, and he hoped that other members of the society would follow Mr. Picton's ex-
cellent example, and make notes of their travels. The Chairman complimented Sir.
Picton upon the fact that he had been favoured with the largest audience of the
session, and that he had been honoured by the presence of Jlr. William Brown, who
had done so much for art, science, literature, and the social improvement, notonjy of
Liverpool, but of the whole county.
Alderman iiEXNETT seconded the motion. They had had laid before them, with a
brightness and vividness which a long course of readingof all the histories published
conld hardly convey, a picture of Kussia, her pcKiple, her public buildings, &«., that
Was exceedingly interesting.
Mr. CiiANTBELL observed that in Kussia he had seen the masons employed on
lUTse buildings working to a chaunt, so as to keep tune.
Alderman Bennett: "Working to some tunc," then, I should say (loud
Uughter)
Mr. S. iliooiNS made some remarks on the ancient Russian style embodied in
the buildings of Moscow, which, though one of the most barbarous of the styles
that originated during the middle ages, was historically very interesting from
its descent from the Armenian, which was again the offshoot of the Persian or
Sassanian.
Mr. HoRNBLOWT.R trusted the paper would be printed in externa.
Some conversation as to the great bell at Moscow ensued, and the question
was asked of a member if he thought he dared to undertake such an enormous cast-
ing as that ?
Ilr. T. Kae observed that he thought the gmtleman would be Uke thegreat bcllat
Moscow, if he made the attempt— cracked (laughter.)
Mr Ai-DSLEv stated his belief that the bell was being raised, and when at an
elevation of about two feet the beams snapped, and it was precipitated totheground.
A fracture was the result, and although unfit to be used as a bell, it now gave
accommodation as a chapel.
Alderman Bennett : It strikes me that as this bell is used for a chapel it may stiU
be used for bell (bel/e) " ringing " purposes (roars of laugliter.)
Mr. I'icTO briefly acknowledged the vote of thanks, and the meeting broke up.
„ The next paper will be by Mr. W. U. Hav, on •• The Construction of Turkish
Baths."
AKCHITECTURAL KXHIBITION.
B THE HEPOBT OF THE COMMITTEE EOH THE VEAK 18C1.
y the Statement of account annexed, it will be seen that the affairs of the Socictv
are in a fairly prosperous condition ; although the Kxhibition for this year did
not equal tin- anticiiiations of the Committee, and as a natural consequence, the
amonnt of public support received has ako been rather less than might fairly have
been expected.
The Committee have resolved to relax regulations hitherto In force, as follows—
viz., topav Uie carnage to town, and back again, of all drawings from the country,
. and they have also determined that Kxhibitors shall have free tickets of admission
during the day. reserving only the evening meetings and lectures for subscribers
exclusively, and holders of season tickets.
The thanks of the subscrilK-rs are especially duo to Professor Uonnldson, and to
K. Kerr, J. II. Parker (of fixford), G. K. Street, K. B. Lamb, Esquires ; to the Kev.
Mackenzie V> allcott, and to K. P. Pullan, Ksq., who lectured on the Tuesday even-
ings, also to A. J. li. liercsford Hope, G. Godwin, G. E. Street, E. B. Lamb, Robert
Kerr, and Edward Hall, Exjuires, who presided on those occasions. A list of
jMued*' ' ^"'■"'''^ cveniugs during the coming Exhibition will be immediately
— h'!!^?'.'?.'''"'''""? *"' *JP*" at the Conversazione, on Tneiday, the 2nd of April,
And on the toUowing day to the public. '
TheCommittee would still urgently call upon their friends and supporters to do
their utmost to render the coming Exhibilion as creditable as possible tathe status
of the art. and to make it a fair representatiou of what has been done in various
parts of the country during the past year.
All drawings and models must be delivered at the galleries between 10 and C on
Monday, the 18tli March next.
The Commithe in Account tcitli the Siibscribei-s to the Architectural lixhibilion.—
Audited Account, ISOO.
lieceivtsi. £ jj. d.
Balance in hands of the Honorarv Treasurer 47 111 2*
At door from April 11th to .fune :iOtli, inciiidiiig
Receipts connected with the Department for
Materials a?,*) 8 C
By Season Tickets .'.*..'!.'.'.'.'.* 54 2 G
Annual Subscriptions and Donations paid up "to
January 26th, 1801 144 15 6
£523 5 8
Invested in Shares of the Architectural Union Com-
Sany (Limited), in favor of the Architectural
Ixhibition.
By the late Right Hon, the Earl de Grey, K.G £50 0 0
By C. F. Oldflcld, Esq ; 20 0 0
A. Waterliouse, Esq., Manclicstcr 10 0 0
J. Boult, Esq., Liverpool ...'. '/,. 10 0 0
Jlr. Joseph Green, and Jlessrs. Jlaw (each contribu-
tiugi'SJ 10 0 0
£100 0 0
Payments.
„ . . £ s. d.
R™t 200 0 0
Advertisements 00 16 8
Messrs. King and Co., Printers 75 12 0
Mr. Green, as per account 13 14 7
Mr.Tupp, „ 20 0 0
Door Keeper's .Salary 12 12 0
Curator's Salary, one year to Christmas 1800 40 0 0
Curator's Petty Cash 17 19 8
Honorary Secretary's do 7 6 0
Gas 3 3 6
Balance in hands of the Honorary Treasurer 65 1 3
' £522 5 8
Examined with the Vouchers and found correct,
Thomas. M. Kickman,
Edm-d. Swansboroug
'h. ]
Auditors.
THE ARCHITECTURAL MUSEUM.
£3
Hall, r.f.A.) to J. iiatciiett, or s, Sutherland-square East, Walworth i Srd prize _.
£2 2s. not awarded, but £1 Is. adjudged to H. O. i>ale, of the Terra-cotta Works,
Stamford.
For carving an oak panel of original design for one side of the binding of a church
bible, iRt prize of £3 3s. to H. Kevnoids, of 42, Kirby-street, Hatton-farden ; 2nd
prize of £2 as. (given by S. C. Tlall, F.S.A.) to B. L. Boulton, of 40, New Church-
street, Birmingham ; and £1 Is. awarded to J. Sevmour, of Tower-lane, Taunton.
For an original cartoon of a canopy for paintefl glass, the 1st prize of £3 38. to
J. J. Laing, of 10, West Preston-street, Edinburgh ; and £1 Is. to E. Sedding, of 5.
Upper Victoria-place, Clifton, Bristol. The awards of £1 Is. were not included in
the ofl'ers of the Council of the Museum, but have been added in cases showing merit
though not entitled to prizes.
It lb the intention of the Council this year, if their funds will allow, to ofl"er larger
prizes, and present smaller sums or books as an encouragement to those competitors
whose specimens, although not rewarded by prizes, deserve some mark of approval.
Forcolorcddecoration— prizcsof £6 58, and £3 3s. (ofl'ered by the Eeclesiological
.Society and Mr. Beresford-Hone), W. J. Simkin, of 20 Palace-road, Lambeth, and
Mr. A. O. P. Harrison, of 337, Euston-road, having been considered equal in the
competition, the 2nd prize has been increased to £i 5s, and prizes of that amount
have been awarded to both the above competitors.
For prizes of £r> 5s. and £3 3s., offered for a key, either medieval or Renaissance
in style, no specimens have been sent in, being the second occasion on which the
metal-work jirizes have not been responded to.
The prizes, with certificates of merit in dcscr\-ing cases, will be distributed at a
public meeting in the Theatre of the South Kensington Museum, on Wedn<'Sday,
March 0, by the President of the Architectural Museum, 3Ir. Beresford-IIopc.
Until that time they will continue on view in the Museum.
ThcSoanc Museum, London. — We are made aware through the archi-
tectural and otlier journals that tlie curatorship of the interesting and valuable
Architectural Museum in Linco!n',s-inn-fields, London, beque.ithed to the public
by Sir John Soane, is now vacant by tlie death of Mr. George Builey, in De-
cember last. Under the Act of Parliament settling tlie future curatorship, the
new curator must be an English architect who may have distinguished himself or
gained an academical prize, and who may be deemed most competent to discharge
the duties of tlie said office by tiie president and council (or tlic time being of the
Royal Academy, within three montlis of the vacancy occurring. Several gentle-
men, of names well known to tlie architectural world, have placed themselves on
the list of candidates for tlie office, and among them we find our townsman Mr.
Saiuuel liuggins, whose claims are being vigorously set fortli by several infiu-
eiitial friends in the metropolis, as well as by a flattering testimonial from the
Liverpool Architectural Society, voted by its council and signed by the members
at large, including the Mayor of Liverpool, William Brown, Esq., and other emi-
nent honorary a.ssociatcs. It is as follows : " We, the members of tlie Liverpool
Architectural and Arclitcological Society, beg leave to recommend Mr. Samuel
Hu^gins (now and for several years past an active member, and some time
president of the said society) as a gentleman eminently fitted for the curatorship
of the Soane Museum, he having distinguished hiniseff by his numerous and in-
structive papers on architecture, whicli we believe have done much towards
promoting the study of the art to which the founder of the museum was so
entliuslastically devoted." — Liccrjiool Mercitri/.
A Cheap Structure. — A new station is to be erected on the line
of the Canal Railroad, in Westfield, Mass. (U.S.), the citizens furnishing the
structure for the sake of having the trains stop there.
February 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
8.9
OUTRE MEK.— SIX WEEKS IN CAEN.
' f T IBS Notus et Auster " were blowing their cheeks to the full, when
I i we stepped on the deck of the good ship Alliance, en route for
Havre from Southampton, and found, according to that ill-timed nautical
pleasantry, " all made snug " on board — an unmistakable sign that we
should have something more than a rough night. The apprehension was not
disappointed, as soon as we cleared "the Wight," the "fishermen's horses "
and •' mermaiden's sheep " came rolling up in sheets of foam and long
curves of deep-blue waves, against the ship's sides, while the bright harvest-
moon and a satellite star pirouetted and set affectionately to the mast-
head. There had not been a worse night, the skipper averred with a cold
comfort, since the loss of the Great Charter. The Alliance well deserves
the conventional appellation of the " good ship," but her unfortunate
passengers, as she labored through the heavy seas which ilooded her
decks, entirely calumniated her qualities. In the small tilt-covered seats
on deck a young lady reclined, while her sister, holding on by the stays,
listened to the romances of a fast young gentleman, and vivaciously
declared themselves to be jolly. One miserable voyager we saw cajoled
out of his unsteady lounge upon the thwarts of the weather lifeboat by the
blandishments of the skipper, (a first-rate seaman by the way), and again,
in despite of his vain and feeble expostulations against the ejection,
induced by the well-meaning steward to descend into the airy and brilliantly
lighted cabin. " Time and the hour run through the roughest day," and
morning was just dawnmg when to his great relief the steamer entered
the port of Havre. Our course lay to Caen, and within three hours we
were on board the steamer Ojgne, and endeavouring to find a place of rest
among the huge masses of passengers' luggage and heavy bales of cotton
destined for Condo and other manufactories of Normandy, which were
piled upon the crowded decks. The cheerful watering places of Trouville,
the Brighton of Paris, and Cabourg the Margate of Normandy, could be
distinguished along the coast, while further westward a sailor pointed out
the bathing villages of Luc and St. Aubin, and the site of the dreaded
reef, known as " tlie ditches of the Spaniard" or "rocks of Calvados"
and so called from the wreck of the ship of the Spanish Armada, the
Calvados or Calvary. We at length entered the Orne, a winding river full
of shoals at the mouth, where only the masts of some unfortunate vessels
standing up among the shallows show the dangers of the passage, and are
a warning to all bold mariners. A ship canal, however, affords a safe and
less circuitous passage. The church-tower of Oistreham, a building of
considerable interest, in a town peopled by an amphibious population
retaining very peculiar habits, appears over the left bank.
At a distance of about two miles from Caen the river begins to flow
between superb avenues of elms ; and under the bright green banks of
the Cours Caffarelli, the scene reminds the Londoner of the Thames near
Hampton Court. There are many beautiful points of view commanding
the town, the heights over Vaucelles, the calvary on the road to Langrune,
and the mound in the park of the Hotel Dieu, but not one of the three
surpass the effect of the town when seen from the Orne, gradually opening
out and expanding with the onward progress of the steamer. The town
lies in the hollow of a little valley, surrounded by gentle undulations; the
broad masses of verdure which environ it harmonise rather than contrast
with the soft color of the houses, which are built entirely of stone, and
follow the various levels of the ground, while numerous towers and spires
and the masts of the vessels in the port, decked-out with the flags of many
nations lifted above lines of elms, screens of poplars and horse-chestnuts,
and groves of plane-trees, in spring and summer full of nightingales,
diversify the entire view. Upon a richly-wooded hill rise the spire of St.
Gilles, and the three towers of the Abbey of the Holy Trinity over the
long front of the Hotel Dieu; in a line verging towards the south-west
appear the graceful spire of St. Pierre, and its rival of Notre Dame or St.
Sauveur; the twin steeples of St. Etienne, the open turret of the Gendarm-
erie, the leaning tower and unfinished lantern of St. Jean, the picturesque
mass of St. Michael of Vaucelles and the walls of the chateau compose
the prominent objects of this fine town, one of the richest in historic
memories, and eminent alike for its learning, its military associations, and
architecture. Normandy has been called the land of churches and castles.
The origin of the name of Caen has been fiercely debated by zealous
antiquaries, and has been referred poetically to the Latin Casta Domus
(the home of chastity), historically to Julius Caesar, and after the lovers of
legends to the lute-playing architect, Cadmus, of Thebes; or to Caius, the
seneschal of King Arthur. The town was included iu the Ottingua
Sanonica, the district of Saxon colonists, lying between the Orne and the
Dives, in the third or fourth century; and a camp existed on the site of
the present cliateau, round which, in time, Caen grew up. According to
the Chronicle of Normandy it was an important town in 9.55, but in 1058
the troops of Henry I. found it unprotected with walls. To this day the
townsfolk dote on the memory of Duke William, misnamed the Conqueror;
to him it owes its castle and its two noble abbeys, and to him was in-
debted for an exchequer; he gave his daughter Cecilia to take the veil in
one of its convents, and celebrated the nuptials of the Princess Constance
with her Breton husband, Alain Fergant, within its walls. His equestrian
statue is pointed out on a buttress of St. Etienne le Vieux, and his por-
trait, much resembling our own burly Henry VIII., adorns the sacristy of
the Abbaye aux Hommes.
The traces of English occupation are yet visible, not only in the ruined
lantern of St. Etienne, but from the breezy cliffs above the Orne, at
Allemagne ; and near the mill of Bourbillon (where the wheels were stopped
by the bodies of the Norman lords, who in vain attempted to ford theri^er
in their flight from Duke William, after the defeat of Val des Dunes), tne
view reaches over the wide prairie, where, on August 18, 1417, the army
of Henry V. was encamped. There were the tcnt» of Glouceatcr and
Clarence; there the pennons and standard! of Pembroke, UmphravUle,
Neville, Willoughby, and Maltravers— of Warwick, Huntingdon, and
Salisbury, fluttered in the breeze ; and there still are the marks of tlic
enormous camp set in the broad ditches which intersect the green extent ot
water-meadow. To our Henry I. the Hotel Dieu owes its foundation, and
from Henry VI. the University received its first charter. Henry II. with
Queen Eleanor, and Queen Margaret of France, here kept high court and
festival, and in solemn conclave his interdict Was pronounced after the
murder of ii-Becket; and, still later, a fruitless effort was made by a
council to re-establish his family. John Lackland sought refuge in the
citadel with his young wife, Isabellc of Angoulrmo, in the vain hope that
the French would not follow him. All the morning he lay in bed. sleeping
off the debauch of the previous night, and when courtiers awoke liim with
the news that Upper Normandy was lost to the Crown of England, ho im-
pudently answered : " No matter; I will recover more in a day than my
brother of France could take from me in a year !" The deputies from
Rouen, coming in hot haste for succour, were put off with words as idle —
" We will see to it when we have finished our game I" and went out of the
gate muttering, "See, for what a wretch we die!" Within a few days,
Philip Augustus entered the gates of Caen. In 1346, Edward III. and the
Black Prince were marcliing along the Cherbourg road, within sight of the
monks of Ardennes, to lay siege to Caen, " a town," writes Froisaart,
" large, strong, and full of cloths, all sorts of merchandise, and rich citizens,
noble ladies and demoiselles, and fine churches." The townsmen, in »pite
of the entreaties of the Constable of France and the Counts of Eu and
Tancarville, seeing that the beseigers did not outnumber their own force,
sallied out to give the enemy battle ; the English driving them back, within
an hour had entered the gates ; and Edward soon after embarked rich
spoils of gold, jewels, plate, and merchandise on board his fleet. The famous
Du Guesclinin 1.373 occupied the Chateau, to resist the advance of Charles
the Bad, King of Navarre, and his stay was commemorated in the public
acts, as " the era of the Good Constable," a noble testimony to his virtues.
In 1417 the Sire de Montenorg was compelled to open its gates to Henry
v., and in the reign of Henry VI., the Duke of Somerset with his gallant
garrison of 4,000 men tried and true, in his turn, after enduring a terrible
siege, was forced to capitulate, but marched out with the honors of war
in the presence of the Count of Dunois and 40,000 Frenchmen. Henry
VI. kept his court in the castle on several occasions. Louis XI. of France
passed through the town in 1462 as a pilgrim to St. Michel. In 1512 the
town suffered cruelly, owing to the frays between the townsmen and a
body of 6,000 sottish German mercenaries quartered here by Louis XII.
to guard agamst surprise by Henry VIII. In 1532 Francis I. with the
Dauphin kept state within the walls of the Chateau, which after the
abominable excesses of the Calvinists were filled with the plundered
treasures of the church and townsfolk at the solicitation of the treacherous
Due de Bouillon, who confiscated them in order to pay his soldiers. In
1563 Admiral Coligny entered the town at the head of 40,000 men after
the battle of Dreux, and favored the inhabitants with a sermon in the
church of St. Pierre, thumping bravely the desk with " drum ecclesiastic."
Within a month, Charles IX. was welcomed by Caen, the faithful town
which in 1603 from Henry IV., and in 1620 from Louis XIH. rcqeived
their royal thanks for its demonstration in their favor at a critical time.
The unfortunate Louis XVI. was here a guest of the Due de Harcourt, but
the tree under which he reposed himself was cut down by the municipality
and on July 15, 1789, the populace and townsfolk stormed the Chateau and
compelled the governor to put on the tricolor cockade, the badge of Henry
IV. In 1811 the Emperor Napoleon and Marie Ixmise visited the town.
The old chateau is now a mere barrack ; its high buttressed walls, the
gate of Bon Secour, with portcullis, drawbridge, and machicolis, fragments
of the church of St. George, in which Henry VI. held an investiture of the
Order of the Bath, April 23rd, 1418, the Hall of Exchequer, and deep
bosses hewn out of the living rock, are the last remams of the former
magnificence of the Acropolis of Caen. The parade-ground affords room .
for the manoeuvres of 5,000 men. The donjon built by Henry 1-. »»•
destroyed in 1793, and the delightful walks along the dd walls and the
Black, Red, Grey, and White Horse Towers, on which de BourghviUe loved
to dilate, exist no longer. Sir John Fastolfe, the calumniated Knight of
Caistor Castle, was once lieutenant here, under the great Duke ol Bedford.
Of the old fortifications of the town there are substantial remains, near
the church of St. Etienne le Vieux, and two round towers are preserved,
one near the barracks and a larger building on the rue des Quais from
which a boom once stretched to the other bank to secure the river defences
°^Duke Wmiam's palace, near the Abbey of St. Etienne (or Abbaye aux
Hommes, so caUed because it was fo-^dl"! ^^^ P?°T "'^''f ^ ^^'^Xnth
veteran soldiers) has given place to a fine building of the fourteenth
lentury now used a^a^normal school, with an arcade of pointed arches
Near h is the old court-house of the Abbey steward, with the conventu^
prison below. The superb Salle des Gardes, barbarously mutUated the
Almonry Gate, and a portion of the enceinte give '^'^^^^^^^ "^ *''^^f,X
importance of the establishment lu its palmy days lowering above «.e
courts of the Lycee rise the twin spires and central o<=t»g^" ""'^.^^.'^j^
founded bv William I., as a penance for his marriage with his cousia
SaUlda, of Flanders, which hasWished » '".bj^-f/^,-?^"? l«,^?,^ ^^
local tale here relates thafonce, when she f ^"'tf,,^''?) ° '''^r^^u'^u^
caused her to be dragged by horses to,"|e foot of the hill oMauceUe^
and then by way of expiation, built the Abbey of the Holy ^"""y; JV^/
tTe lady dolefully erected the " Weeping Cross " on the road to Maise,
In the choir is his tombstone, covering now only his thigh-bone, fbr the
90
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 1, 1861.
original grave was torn open, and its contents scattereJ over tlie pave-
mrait by the Calvinisti in 1S62. He could not even And burial until
Ascelin^ the townsman of Caen, was paid for the portion of soil allotted for
his grave, at the very moment of interment. The artillerymen of Henry
v., in 1417, and the Calvinists, in 1362, reduced the central steeple once
372 feet in height, to its present diminished size. St. Stephen's is now
the chief ecclesiastical building in Caen, being attended on all public
occasions by the authorities. On August 15th is the Fete of the
Emperor, which has Been conveniently made to full on the great Roman
Catholic Festival of the Assumption of the Virgin ; and it is celebrated
with the utmost pomp in the Old Abbey, which, with its superb arcade of
nave and vast triforium, its noble and imposing choir and radiating
chapels, permits an imimpeded view, throughout its length of 362 feet, of
the chanting priests and choristers before the high altar, veiled in clouds
of incense, the lines of soldiers ranged along the central alley, the long
procession of military and civic authorities, the Imperial court of Appeal,
nbed in scarlet, the professors of the University, in gowns of amber,
crimson, and black, trimmed with ermine, headed by Sacristans in an old-
world dress of purple and red, and a towering Suisse, of gigantic pro-
portions, attired in a superb scarlet suit of Genoa velvet, halbcrt in hand,
and with three tall ostrich feathers in his hat, swaying to and fro with every
motion of his body, while the regimental bands, the music of the Sapeurs
Pompiers, the deep diapason of the organ, and tlie voices of numberless
singers, combine in theoverpoweringchantof the " Salvumfac Imperatorem
Bominc !" Among the Benedictine abbots of St. Stephen, occur the names
of eight cardinals, including a Medici and Farnese, Xanfranc, Richelieu,
Mazarin, and Flenry, The cure, like his brother of St. Jean, a cure de
Commune, appointed by Government, receives 2,000 francs a year ; the
subordinate cures de canton, like ourownperpetualcnrates, are subordinate
to those of commune, and are paid 800 francs, but are nominated by the
bishops. The vicaires, who have a stipend of 600 francs, pay 400 francs
to their cures for board and lodging. A bishop's salary is 10,000 francs a
year.
The Abbaye aux Dames, now in course of restoration, has lost its western
spires, which were destroyed by Charles V., then dauphin and regent, and
Dn Guesclin in 1360, when at war with Charles of Navarre. The compara-
tive grace and delicacy of the ornament of the church contrast strikingly
with tlie severe grandeur of St. Etienne. The house was filled with noble
ladies of Rome, and in honor of the Princess Cecilia, the first member of
the community. Count Robert presented to the church the standard of
the Saracens, which he had taken at Ascalon, and the abbess bore the title
of Madame de Caen. On Trinity Sunday her arms were set over the
town gates to receive the dues, and her officers rode through the streets to
St. Rtienne as if in the .-ict of taking possession of Caen. In the choir is
the grave of Mathilde ; it was rifled by the Protestants in 1562, and
again by the Republicans in 1793; the present tomb wws restored by the
Comte de MontUvault, Prefetin 1819, and retains the original slab of white
marble, inscribed with characters of the 11th century. The Abbey now
forms the church of the Hotel Diou. the great hospital of Caen, and the
minster of the Sisters of Charity ; the Mary of Contemplation and Love
has given place to the Martha of Active Charity, and the curtain of the
grille before the choir has only to be lifted to show the nuns at their
office, while the corridors and wards of the hospital are constantly traversed
by these busy and tender nurses. The crypt below the choir has a
sepalehral light like the dawning of eternal day, there is no sensation of
cold or damp, only that of entire isolatioa from the outer world, the sounds
of which are in the profoond calm like those of the ebbing sea. Fifty
Augnstinian nuns from the community ; sixteen airy and spacious wards
contain 1,428 beds; in addition to which ten pensioners are received at
their own cost. Seventy-two men are employed as assistants, and break-
fast is served at 8 a.m., and dinner at 4 p.m., by the religious. One ward
is filled with soldiers wounded in the Crimean and Italian campaigns, and
the Sisters described the poor fellows as the most grateful and resigned in
the hospital, except a little English sailor boy, and ill of a fever, who was
the especial object of their care.*
♦
TUB FUETEK DIOCESAN" AltCHlTKCTDRAL SOCIETY.
inUIS Society held Its annua! meetinj' at the Co]legc Hill, Exeter, on the 23rd. The
A, chair waft taken by IE. Durrant, Ebo.
The report, which was read by Itev. .1. I,. Eplfobd, allnded to tlic gond inflnence
which the workinK of tlie .Society had had over church restoration in the diocese, and
with recard to domestic architectore it was shown that medieval architecture was
applifabli< to the dwellings both of rich and poor, and need in nowise interfere with
modem comforts and conveniences.
Allnsion was made to two memorials placed, dorinjr the past year. In Exeter Cathe-
dral, one a window by Clayton and Bell, to the late I)r. CoU-ridirc-, a prebendary ; the
other, a military monument of marble and bronze, sadly disti;,'uiinpr the wall»,-thouKh
very costljr^nd a wish was expressed that those who had bo nolily fought for their
eoantnr raiirht have liad something,' better to commemorate tlieir deeds.
^A letttr was read from the Hecretary of tlie Uritish Archajoloirical Association, ex-
I*?"™£' **!" "'the Council to hold their next meetinif in Exeter.
A question being raised as to the propriety of a direct invitation belnp sent to
'tne AuoeUtkni, a member of the Archaeolofrical Institute observed that the cor-
MCMton and chapter of Exeter had destroyed all the antiquities of the city, and that
MMdM Hie Cathidral there wa» nothing to be seen but ail arch of llongemont Castle,
ttattta antiquities of Dartmoor were too dlntant to be visited In a day, and that,
thereTore, the Institute had .ietermined never to visit Exeter. It was, however,
moved and seconded that the Committee of the Exeter Architectural Society lie re-
.iwited to communicate with the mayor on the subject of the proposed visit of the
Aisoetetlon. The oHlc<ri. were then elected. .Mr. Ashworth read a paricr on five
oontrjr churches in the deaneneH of Iloniton and ■•■ - ■ ■■■
IMymtrec. with some notice of
i--^... .- -.. ,- . , J,- r '■~j^~' "*■ i""H.iCty in memorials in cliurehes.
^ thW of the sixth volomi; of the .Society's publications was circulated to the
rariuiiiuoi tue »i.iiu .oiuio..' m iiic .-society's publications was circulated to the
"^i*:!?. T"k .^"If*!^" !"«'"' painted windows for St. .Stephen's ilhnrch were
exhibited by the artist. Mr. A. Ii«er.
• To be conttoiKd.
ARCHITECTURAL PEDESTRIANISM.
ALTHOUGH I intend addressing myself particularly to the young and
active, and not to the lame, gouty, or invalid among my professional
readers, yet I expect that the number of true pedestrians among them is
very small, if judged by my view of what constitutes a true pedestrian.
It certainly is not necessarily a man that has performed for a wager
the ffeat of walking a thousand miles in a thousand hours.
To have walked in his college days from Oxford to London between
day-break and midnight, does not entitle a man to be called a true pedes-
trian for the rest of his days.
No other feat performed once or twice in a man's life does so, to
my mind, if that man always requires some strong inducement to make
him take much walking exercise in his ordinary life. Walking 30 or 40
miles in a day during a pedestrian tour, does not constitute it, for too
great a distance necessarily does away with much of the mental and
bodily enjoyment of the pedestrian.
Setting out with a knapsack and walking about three miles, and then not
being able to resist a vacant seat on an overtaking coach, as 1 have seen
men do in Wales, certainly does not come up to it.
The habit of taking pedestrian tours does not necessarily give a man
the right to the name, although if a man is in the regular habit of doing
so, every annual holiday, he comes somewhat near to my definition ; but
according to my idea, a true pedestrian is a man who never for his own
pleasure rides, drives, or enters a railway carriage, although of course
glad enough to avail himself of them when obliged by pressure of busi-
ness, shortness of time or excess of distance, or to transport himself to
the chosen scene of his pedestrian pleasures. Mark you, I use the term
pedestrian " pleasures," not pedestrian " labors," for therein lies the great
distinction of it ; as a labor to a man he had better leave it alone.
Furthermore, it is a man who, in London, never takes a cab or an
omnibus except on urgent business, who quite naturally turns out if he has
anywhere to go — no matter what time it is, and, as a matter of course,
begins at once his locomotive operations by putting his best leg foremost,
not even looking up or down the street, or ever having any hesitation as
to whether or not it would be advisable to take a cab or get into a 'bus,
but who, nevertheless, wisely avails himself of the great inventions of
Hansom, or George Stephenson and other promoters of the highest refine-
ment of civilised locomotion when necessary for business or other purpose,
or, as before said, for the highly necessary and important purpose of con-
veying himself to distant and varied scenes of his pedestrian pleasures.
And what are those pleasures ? I answer to the world at large —
Innumerable as the different minds and temperaments of the men that
make up that world. Innumerable, as the different branches of science
and art that occupy those different minds. Innumerable, as the different
shades and parts of those sciences and arts that those minds in their in-
numerable peculiarities take up as their occupation, recreation, or
pursuit.
The pleasures are, I say, as innumerable as these, and are peculiar, also,
among the pleasures derived from these because a regular habit of pedes-
trianism will enable their votaries to traverse all lands in search of the
subjects of their study, while, notwithstanding the great power of accu-
mulated locomotion that it possesses, pedestrianism brings the student
closer to, more among, and slower past, the objects of their study, and
these surely are great advantages; and because he is wholly independent
of those inconveniences and impedimenta attached to other modes of tra-
velling; may stop where he likes, take the first stile or the next path
through the wood, deviate from his fixed route in any way it suits him —
what so free as the feeling experienced by a true and confirmed pedestrian?
(It is, however, an article of which there are many false varieties and
spurious imitations). What, I say, so free as the feeling experienced by a
true and confirmed pedestrian, with an object in view?
The true pedestrian, however, can even do very well without that; that
is to say, without anything more definite for his object than the great
pleasure of a long stretch at his will over the country.
What so exhilarating as the setting out in the morning? What so
delightful in its refreshing relief, as the arriving at a comfortable inn,
however small, famished and fatigued, but not too fatigued — for that is a
great folly in pedestrianism — and gradually becoming, by nivtural process,
unfamished and unfatigued; and, as a genuine pedestrian will very shortly
become, quite ready for just such another tramp, were there daylight
for it?
And in such a journey, so performed, if the pedestrian lias a special
object in view, how much must he not necessarily see, how much must he
not necessarily learn, even with ordinary zeal, even with ordinary eyes !
But I must, even at the risk of the charge of needless repetition, again say
that to do this he necessarily must be a true pedestrian, according to my
definition; for if the actual walking itself is a labor and not a pleasure, he
will not be sufficiently at his ease to observe what he passes, to note down
what he observes, or sketch what he particularly admires. And if this
mode of travelling is more than any other favorable for the practical study
of the objects of nature, in their own homes, for all science and the other
arts, so surely is it for the practical study of architecture, so profusely
scattered in the course of ages over the length and breadth of every
civilised land. Surely it is not enough for the student of architecture to
take the railway, the steamboat, the diligence, or the stage coaches still
running in tourist parts of England, from one large town to another, even
if he stops occasionally at celebrated selections among the villages, or
even if he walks for a day or two when strongly recommended. Even if he
thereby sees most of the best works, he at least misses man> worth seeing,
and certainly mnch pleasure and much study of nature.
February 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
91
It would not be a difficult task to name many fine buildings in France,
Germany, Italy, and Spain, tliat are never seen by the ordinary pro-
fessional traveller because they lie out of the direct route, .ind con-
sequently have not acquired a popular reputation ; so much tlie better
for the pedestrians ! there are still some unhackneyed beauties for tliem
seemingly to discover in that most delightful of ways. I know few things
to equal the pleasure of discovering from a height a tower, or spire, or
large high roof at a long distance off, wondering what it is, never liaving
heard it spoken of as existing in those parts, and immediately quickening
one's step and deriving fresh exhilaration from ;the increased exercise, and
the elation of expectation, then losing sight of tlie object behind a small
hill, then surmounting the hill and seeing the wished-for group of build-
ings lying before you, be it large church, monaster}', chateau, or what it
may, then on again down the easy encouraging slope, again losing the
object behind a thick wood, and while in the wood as you ascend the hill
on which it stands; then, perhaps, while thinking you are yet some distance
off a break in the wood suddenly comes, and you find yourself unexpectedly
at the doors ; then you have the first sight perfectly fresli to you of a
beauteous work of man's heaven-given creative genius before you, em-
bellished and ennobled, perhaps, by one of nature's loveliest scenes ; and
this while your frame is glowing with health-giving exercise, Avhile you
feel energy and spirit for anything and all objects that you see are endued
in a marvellous way with a lustre even greater than they usually have in
your sight !
Then, if this mode of travelling gives us what are really to us discoveries of
remarkable and artistically beautiful buildings, how necessarily numerous
are the buildings of less mark, and smaller works of art that reveal them-
selves during every hour of the journey, travelling at will, deviating with-
out a moment's consideration from the path hitherto pursued, at the sight
of spire or gable among the trees, what liitherto unexplored treasures do we
not find in the remote villages that abound on our route ! If there is a
village there is a church, if a church in all countries necessarily a church-
yard full of more or less curious tombstones, in many countries rare old
lich-gates, crosses, and sun-dials ; in the village streets, fountains, curious
houses, gables, doorways, and many other curious details.
All parts of England would yet repay the zealous and active archi-
tectural pedestrian, if he remembers one rule only. With this rule he may
even travel in the same direction and route usually travelled by tourists
by rail or coach. The rule is to avoid the high roads, and take the by-
roads and field paths. As an instance of the advantage to be derived
from the observance of this rule, I thought myself, some time since, com-
pletely acquainted with everything worth seeing and sketching round a
village where I had spent much of my leisure for five or six years ; but one
day, happening by mere chance, in the way one does in pedestrianism, to
take a farm-road across the fields for the first time, it led me first to an
old house of whose existence I was not aware, and then to a curious little
old church, of which I had certainly heard, but never before found my way
to, booking both in my sketch-book. I was more than ever confirmed in
my habit, long established, of always taking a by-path after I have once
been by the direct road, which of course it is well to do, for my object is
not to recommend the student to avoid what is usually seen, but to point
out that this mode of travelling offers a supplementary gathering up of
things usually lost.
All parts of France, especially Brittany and Normandy, would yet repay
the architectural pedestrian richly, in spite of all the noble workers in
pictorial art, headed by the indefatigable Prout. Many of us, doubtless,
have not yet seen many of the beautiful originals of his expressive pencil
or, rather, pen, and brush, which would be to such, at least, a new pleasure
and profit. Many of the picturesque buildings in the French towns have,
alas, disappeared before the march of modern alteration and widening im-
provements. But, happily in the country changes are less necessary, less
rapid and sweeping, and the noble works of the middle ages are left in
peace. I have frequently, when of necessity compelled to travel across
France, on my road to Switzerland and Italy, by rail or diligence, seen so
many quaint spires, towers, bell-cots, and gables, that it was hardly in
human nature to resist getting out at the next station and having a week's
walk among them; as it was, I hastily dotted down many of their outlines
and striking features from the railway-carriage window, and should much
delight in getting among them at the first opportunity.
Among many tracks, I think from what I saw in passing, that in all the
champagne district, making Rhiems the head-quarters, and from thence to
Strasbourg, not forgetting to visit Chalon-on-the-Marne, a tour among the
villages would yield rich stores forthe pencil and architectural sketch-book.
All parts of Germany, even, I believe, the much-worked banks of the
Rhine and the Moselle would give novelties to the pedestrian, although
they may have ceased to do so for the steamboat traveller, while
Switzerland, Savoy, and the Tyrol, have been, I always think, much over-
looked in an architectural view, perhaps owing to the sublime attractions
they offer to the lover of nature.
Italy has always been hitherto, to a great extent, a sealed book to
any but the most enthusiastic and hardy of pedestrians, on account of
bad government, and the consequent prevalence of brigandism, and bad
accommodation in the more remote and less visited districts ; but when
the wise and constitutional rule now being happily established over the
greater part of the country, is, as most of us ardently wish to see, ex-
tended over the whole, and has had time to show the beneficent effects of
its true and enlightened principles, then a vast and almost untrodden area
will be thrown open to the artist and architectural pedestrian, whose
pleasures have hitherto, with few exceptions, been limited to the principal
towns and their neighborhood, and at the moit cloie to the borderi of the
principal roads.
In Spain, of which I know nothing personally, 1 imagine mudi the
same objections as in Italy, such as brigands and bad accommodatiOD,
exist; but from what artists have shown us and authors told uf, it must be
a rich and singular country for architectural explorers. But to return to
our own country, my readers may perhaps imagine, from wliat 1 hare
said, that I think, as no doubt many of them do, that to indulge in the
pleasures of architectural pedestrianism, it is requisite to wait till one it
able to take one's fortnight or three weeks' holiday. By no means. The
young architect that is in practice for himself, and therefore to a certain
extent his own master, if he is a true pedestrian, and finds his pleasure
in a walk, cannot have a better day's combination of recreation and
profit, than by choosing ten or fifteen miles of country that he knows
very little about, and condescending for once in a way to seat himself in a
railway carriage for from half an hour to an hour, allow himself to be
taken clear of London, and then commence liis operations from London
or towards it, according to the distance of his railway journey, and
other circumstances depending on the route chosen.
Kentwards will do — Surreywards will do — Berkshire, Buckingham-
shire, or the borders of Hampshire; and if fifteen miles be the limit, on
account of sketching and deviation, if the day's walk has not been full
of both unmixed healthful pleasure and architectural instruction, all that
can be said is, that is not the fault either of the mode of travelling, or the
things to be seen. D,
ON CHIMNEYS AND FURNACES FOR STEAM ENGINES.
IT is well known that furnaces, or closed fire-places, are essentially
different, in principle and construction, to the ordinary open fire-
places of dwelling-houses, and exceedingly different, in their general
scope and object, as well as in the vast variety of their applications.
Yet there is one important feature common to both, and that is the
chimney or flue, for the purpose of creating a drauglit of air through
the fire, as well as to carry off the smoke, and other waste products of
combustion. It is the greatly increased dimensions and proportions of
this indispensable adjunct to engine furnaces, which principally distin-
guishes the present from the former practice of engineers engaged in
erecting steam engines.
Although several large and handsome chimney-shafts have been erected
during the last twenty or thirty years, still there are perhaps not many
subjects of such useful importance, connected with modern architecture,
that have been so much neglected, misdirected, and misunderstood, as the
proper construction of chimneys generally. We here refer to their
engineering aspects only, or the proportions most suitable for the pur-
poses for which they are designed.
The external portions of the chimneys of dwelling-houses, have no
doubt had a proper Share of attention from architects generally, but it
may be doubted whether the most important functions of even a house
chimney— the creation of draught— has yet been sufficiently considered,
if only to prevent that greatest of all nuisances, a smoky house. In proof
of this, many cases might be cited among the mansions of the nobility
all over the country, where it is the less excusable. Indeed, the chim-
ney-flues of houses are too commonly treated as mere "eondnits for
smoke," as, in fact, they are termed, which, however, they do not always
conduct the right way. As such, they are considered as equally sub-
ordinate with drains and other conduits, wliich may or may not be
attended to, after tlie plan of the house is determined upon, instead of, as
we humbly think they ought to be, considered of the higliest importance,
being, in fact, the highest external features that can, in this chmat^
properly characterise the well-ventilated, well-warmed, healthful and
comfortable dwellings of a rational and civilised community.
Not being of the profession, it is far from our intention to write a homily
upon any branch of architecture as an art, but rather only to throw out
a few suggestions that possibly may be useful to practical builders and
others, which have occurred to us during several years' experience in
steam engineering.
The business of designing and erecting chimneys for steam engines and
other similar purposes, as well as other substantial portions of buildmgs
devoted to manufacturing industry, has, for some time past, in our
Northern counties at least, merged into the provmce of the cml or
mechanical engineer, technically known in Lancashire as facto^
engineers. These gentlemen differ widely from architects generaUy,
and on many points are not at aU agreed among themselves, as to the best
form and construction of a chimney for attaining the principal end m
view-namely, a good draught. The best draught may be properly
defined to be the greatest velocity of the air passing through the spaces
between the grate bars, with a given temperature in the furnace, and at
the least expense or quantity of fuel used. This being admitted any
difference of opinion as to the best means of attaining it, <>"ght not to be
so very greatf after all, among observant men practically engaged m
this line of business; and its present extent may. in a f.'^''' «?«""/>. ^
ascribed to the generally prevailing reliance on the dicta of some few
popular professorl of modern experimental and theoretic chemistry , and
in the same category we might fairly include not a few of our popular, so-
called, scientific guide-books.
To make a chemical laboratory, for instance, as has sometimes been
done an object of study to the engineer or builder, however scientifl<^y
constructed and arranged, unless indeed the object is to erect another
laboratory for a similar purpose, is a very injudicious mode of proceeding
92
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 1, 1861,
and the fruitful source of much error and prejudice in the minds of
young men of scientific aspirations, more particularly when the object in
Tiew is the acquirement of knowledge for the construction and arrange-
ment of factories or works for various special purposes, those purposes
being mainly for commercial profit, and not for the mere amusement of
amateurs, nor even for the professed " advancement of science '* which is
often little better.
Holding the above yiews in common with the factory architects and
oigineers before adverted to, we have always preferred taking for prece-
dentfi the blacksmith's forge, the potter's kiln, or the glasshouse chimney,
nther than seek mechanical prescriptions, so to speak, among the crucibles
and alembics of our modern alchymists.
We may here observe, that those who have been much occupied in the
desigmng and erection of chimneys, have generally had their notions not
a little complicated by the widely difiering results arrived at in the calcu-
lations of the very eminent chemical and mathematical philosopers, who
have attempted to determine theoretically the velocity of chimney-draught
to be expected in any given case. The theory of chimney-draught is, in
feet, confessedly very incomplete, and we are not ambitious enough to
attempt to supply all that is wanting in it. Neither shall we undertake
to explain much of what has been advanced by others, but confine our-
selves principally to such elementary facts, principles and observations, as
are likely to be useful to those practical engineers and builders whose
oouunercial undertakings— contracts — or other exigences, do not generally
admit of long delay, much study or scientific research.
EMGINEEfi.
^-
PROPOSED BUTLDINa FOR THE DALHOUSIE INSTITUTE, CALCUTTA.
Detail of CoiuiUions to be obsert'ed by < ompetUors for the Prizes offered by the
General ( 'ommittee of the Dalhottsie InatUxtUfor Designs qfa Building suited to the
objects of that InstittUion,
1. All desi^s departing from these conditions will be liable to summary rejection
by the Committee.
2. The competition is open, on its terms, to all who can submit their designs on or
before the 3Ut of March. 184>1.
3. Plans and papers to be delivered by the above date at the rooms of the Calcutta
Inetitute, in Old Court House -street, addressed to John Remfry, Esq., Secretary to
the Institute.
4. Each set of designs to be accompanied by a scaled letter, containing the anthor^s
name and address, lug;ether with a motto, mark, or number, corresponding to that
which will be shown on the plans themselves. These letters will remain unopened
In the secretary's hands until the prize design shall have been selected, when they
will be cpcned ; but the names of the successful candidates only will be announced ;
such letiers to be marked outside "I>e8ign8 for the Dalhousie Institute — confi-
dential."
6. The author of the design selected as first in merit will receive a prize of rupees
(3,000) three thousand. On this being awarded to him, he must engage (if required)
to supply to the Committee, in addition to the plana and estimate for the general
comp^^-tition, such working planaand specifications as may be required by contractors
preparatory to tendering for the construction of the building. These working plans
must be supplied on or before the let of July, 1801, on pain of invalidating his
claim to the urize in whole or part, at the discretion of the Committee.
6. The author of the design selected as second in merit will reCveive a prize of rupees
(1,006) one thousand.
7. The Committee do not bind themselves to employ the author of either of the
prize designs in the supervision of the construction of the building. But if either be
so employed, additional remuneration will be granted. Further, the Committee
do not bind themselves to adopt absolutely either of the prize designs for the actual
building.
8. The final decision on the merits of the designs submlttedwlU be made by judges
nominated by the General Committee of the Institute.
9. A public exhibition of all designs received will be made In the Town-hall, or
elsewhere, prior to the flual decision of the Judges.
10. The building must be designed with a view to its being erected in a wholly
detached position, on the plot of ground to the eastward of the Government House-
gardens, and bounded un the westward by the main road in prolongation of Govern-
ment-place, on the eastward by the DhurrumtoIIah Tank, on the north by part of
Ksplanade-row. and on the south by the cross road from Government Place -road to
the head of Juan Kazaar-Btreet.Chowringhee. The dimensions of this ground are,
length 400 feet, and breadth .50u feet.
11. The style of architecture is left entirely to the selection of competitors. But
the building must consist of a single story, with basement only.
12. The cost of the building proper, including all interior fittings, but providing
extenorly only for an enclosure wall or railing, with roads of approach and simple
entrance gateways, must not exceed rupees {liW.OOo) two lakhs.
1.1. The ouilding must iuclude—lst. A central hall, for the reception of statues
and busts, and suited for public meetings, concerts, and the like. Its dimensions
must be such as to give comfortable accommodation to not fewer than (1,000) one
tboiiMnd persons. Provision must be made for the accommodation of a lar^c organ
and orchestra. 2nd. A lecture-room, fitted up for the convenient accommodation of
an audience of not less than 200 in number. 3rd. A reading and library-room,
havlnir a superficial area of not less than 2,400 square feet. 4th. Two rooms for
miscellaneous puroofles, as class or committee meetings and the like, having each a
•aperficial area of not less than from (.50*^ to 000) five hundred to six hundred square
feet. 5th. Two retiring-rooms must be provided for. fith. Accommodation for ser-
Taate to be arranged for on the basement. Moderate and reiisonable modifications
of tlie above dimenHions, obviously convenient to the requirements of the designers,
and not afTccting those of the building, will not be considered violations of the con-
ditions of the competition, in the sense of paragraph 1.
14. The provision of the following plans Is oUif/oU/ry on all competitors:— 1st.
Such number of plans as may be necessary to exhibit in full and clear detail the
foundations and superstructure of the building, with all needful dimensions marked
thereon. 2nd. Such number of longitudinal and transverse sections as may show all
necessary details in section as above. 3rd. Such number of elevations aa may be
required to exhibit differences In the exterior aspects of the building.
Vt. The provision of the following drawings and plans is optional with all com-
X>etitors; but to each which maybe subinltted a fair number of marks or other
valoatlon will be assigned by the Judges. Ist. One or more perspective views of
tbe exterior of the building. 2nd. One perspective view of^the interior of the
central hall, showing the disposal of the statues and busts, and the general style of
internal d»cx)ration proposed. 3rd. I'lans for laying out the ground around the
building in ornamental forms, for entrance gateways and gate-keepers" residences,
and for an ornamental enclosure in such style as the deslgncfr may choose. The
vegetatkn od tbe ground will be restricted to low shrubs and flowers, but designs
for fountains may be shown. The cost of the atxive exterior works to be not more
than rapeee (30,000) thirty thoiwand, and to be regarded as an addition to the amount
■peeifled In parafj^aph 12.
16. The plans referred to in paragraph 14 must all be drawn to the same scale of
(9) eight feet to one Inch. No other colors than Indian ink or sepia will be used in
the plans and elevations. In the sections the usual colors, showing sectional parts
of brick, stone, wood, or iron work may be used.
17. The drawings and plan referred to in paragraph 15 must also be in Indian ink
or sepia only. The plan of the grounds round the building will be on a scale of (10)
sixteen feet to one inch.
18. Kach set of designs to be accompanied by a general specification and estimate,
showing the probable cost of the buildings and works.
19. Any departure from the terms of paragraphs 14, 15, 16, and 17 wiU be dealt with
as violations of the conditions of the competitions.
20. Kach competitor will put on each separate plan, drawing, or document,
forming part of his set of designs, such motto, mark, or number as he may choose,
copy of the same with his name and address being sent to the Secretary, as provid^
for in paragraph 4.
21. Any douhtful points which maybe found in the foregoing conditions will be
explained on application to the Secretary.
By order of the Committee of the Dalhousle Institute,
John Bemfbt, Secretary.
Calcutta Institute Rooms, Old Court House-street,
Calcutta, 17th of November, 186a
LKCTUEES ON ARCHITECTURE AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY, BY
SYDNEY 8MIKKE, ESQ.. E.A.
THE FIK8T LECTURE,
As we announced in our last, was delivered in the lecture -theatre of the Academy
on Thursday se'nnight. It was as follows :—
IN a former lecture I addressed to you some observations on the application of
color to the purposes of internal decoration. I propose this evening to pursue
the subject of color as applied to architecture, confining, however, my views on the
present occasion to its use on the exterior of buildings.
It is very obvious that there is, in many respects, so wide a diff'erence between the
requirements and capabilities of external and internal decorative architecture, that
very different rules must guide us, and very different circumstances have to be taken
into consideration. Within the four walla of a room we can generally command our
colors ; we need introduce no inconvenient or discordant combinations ; and although
there maybe, and undoubtedly are, various difficulties' to contend with, it may he
said that they are not insurmountable, inasmuch as the room is at our own command,
and if we introduce discords, or otherwise unpleasing effects, it is, generally
speaking, our own fault. But it is not so in the case of exterior architecture ; there
the difficulties are real : we have to design the coloring of our building with reference
to circumstances over which we have no control whatever.
Our building may be required to be placed in juxtaposition with other buildings
or objects already existing which we may not disturb ; or it may be surrounded by
natural objects to which our building must, per force, to some eJctent, be in subjec-
tion, or at least on terms of amity and eo-operation. Moreover, color is closely allied
to light. Within a room the light is strictly under our control ; we can subdue it to
any extent; we can render its infiuencc as partial as we may think proper, and
cause it to enter the room in whatever direction It may be expedient that it
should enter. Quite otherwise it is out of doors. The exterior of our building is
exposed to the searclilng light of day, and the sun's rays will come in whatever way
and with whatever intensity tliev please upon the surface of our work. Hence,
therefore, it is that we find ourselves compeUed to be guided by very different prin-
ciples in the two cases.
It was on this account that the observations which I had the honor to make to you
two years a^o were expressly, and almost exclusively, confined to the application of
color to the interior of buildings.
I have said that color is nearly allied to li^ht : hence bright colors seem to har-
monise especially with a bright light, and brilliant colors have ever been regarded
as congenial to brilliant climates. This remark is no doubt trite ; it must have oc-
curred to almost every observant person, that most of the productions of nature in
those climates where the sun is powerful, are distinguished by more intense coloring
than elsewhere. In an ornithological collection we are almost always able to pronounce
with some precision, whether a bird is a native of an Arctic, temperate, or inter-
tropical climate, by applying- to it the test afforded by the relative brilliancyof its
plumage ; and the same would seem to apply to the nira of other animals. We see
how color graduates, from the intense markings on the tiger's back to the dingy, or
even colorless, coverings of the animals living in Polar regions. No doubt there are
exceptions, but the general prevalence of this apparently fundamental law cannot
escape our observation, or be attributable to mere caprice or accident, I would not
dwell on this law of nature did it not appear to me to be well calculated to throw
light on the special subject of my present observations.
In the regions of the East men's eyes are early educated to the appreciation of
color, bv having natural colors constantly before them ; whilst amidst the grey mists
of the North we may, it is true, learn to appreciate color, but the education must be
artificial, and hence, perhaps, it is that whin we do indulge in color, we are apt to
run into some preternatural, and even painful, excesses, and, prompted rather by
fashion than by instinctive or natural feeling, our fancy becomes capricious and iU-
refifulated, rushing from whitewash to polychromatic ebriety.
This is not as it should be. If we are not by nature endowed with a delicate per-
ception of the niceties of color, we should, at least, learn to understand the prin-
ciples which regulate it, for color, like a sharp weapon, needs to be used with that
caution and dexterity which knowledge and experience alone can give.
But I am, perhaps, prematurely entering into my subject, before urging on your
attention those principles which, I think, should regulate us in our attempts to
avoil ourselves of those beauties which our art can certainly derive irom a judicious
and well understood use of colors. Before. I say, we descend into a detailed consi-
deration of those principles, we should, I think, look back cursorily over the works
of our predecessors ; review the progress of the art of applying color as a means of
exterior architectural decoration, and take a glance at the experiences and practice
of other times and climates.
In Egypt, the cradle of art, it Is beyond dispute that brilliant coloring pervaded
their architecture. Egyptian ariists used profusely a few positive colors, for they
had not learnt to derive pleasure from those niceties which more advanced art
delighted in.
The uneducated eye, like the eye of a child, is sure to be captivated by brilliant
coloring. Hence wc might fairly expect, a/jnori, that such would be the character
of the coloring adopted among those earlier pioneers of art who peopled the East.
I do not think that it will be a profitable or an appropriate topic of inquiry here— to
investigate the principles which guided the Egyptian antf Assyrian builders, if,
indeed, principles they really bad to guide them. It seems probable that motives of
taste regulated their choice of colors less than certain considerations of a religious
character, and these involve archieological inquiries which are quite foreign to our
business here.
When, however, wc advance to the period of Greek art, wc are bound to believe
that art (although, no doubt, still influenced by the traditions of their predecessors
in civilization) was allowed more freedom, and that the Creek artist souglit to gratify
the natural good taste of his countrymen, liberated from mere conventional forms,
and disregarding prescribed dogmas in the adoption of color. Unfortunately, time
has spared us so few indications of original color actually existing that modem
artists and art-writers have been tempted by the paucity of ascertained facts to
indulge In theories of color not based on any soun(i authority, and the somewhat
vague and accidental expresslonsof anclentauthorshave been called in aid to supply
the place of the more exact and satisfactory information to be derived from actual
observation.
Without embarrassing ourselves with the very discordant views of the different
archseologlsts who have written on this subject— and the subject of ancient poly-
February 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
I
cUromy has indeed been most fruitful of controversy— I will content myself with
Bimply fltalinc the convictions which I have myself arrived at.
My own belief 'm, that the externnl architecture of the Greeks was enlivened by a
considerabU; ftniount of fltronii' color in the details, and that even the broad surfaces
were occasionally, perhaps often, stained with fainter tints. That the details were
so enlivened we have the undeniable evidence of surviviuj? fragments, and wc need
f^o no further than our own national Museum for such evidence. In the Xanthian
examples the late Sir Charlew Fellowes has satisfied us that the tombs of early Greek
workniaiialiip were profusely painted. Color was traceable when those remains
were first explored, although the cUmate of this country has, perhaps, effaced in
most cases the indications of it. Nor can it be with trutli in all cases asserted that
the colors observed might have been the daubing of later and degenerate days ; for
an example occurs in the Uritish Museum where the sotite panelling has had its
enrichments marked in preparatory outline, to be tilled in at a future time with color-
ing, of whicli some accident seems to have occurred to prevent the completion. -
That tlie general surfaces were stained occusionally, perhaps often, we may infer
from certain expressions that have been detected in ancient writers, and from the
fact that many of the most authentic, and some even of the purest examples, of Greek
architecture were executed in a coarse limestone, coated over with a thin coverinig- of
stucco, the crude whiteness of which would not have been tolerable, and which,
therefore, we may very reasonably and safely assume to have been subdued by at
least a certain amount of color. Hut it by no means necessarily follows that, because
color was, in such cases, always resorted to, it was therefore habitually applied to all
architecture, and that the beautiful crystalline I'arian marbles, so highly prized by
the Greeks themselves for their purity and transparency, were thus habitually dis-
colored. Although we know well that early Greek art was greatly influenced by
Egyptian aud Assyrian practices, leading to wliat we may now regard as an exces-
sive use of cx)lor, I can with difficulty brmg myself to believe that the fine sesthetic
sensibihty of the Greeks could ever "have been reconciled, by any amount of respect
for their predecessors in art, to the destruction of th» pure translueency and to the
obliteration of the delicate natural tints of their marbles, by painting over the
columns and broad surfaces of their buildings with strong opaque reds or blues, as
some would wish us to believe. Upon the wnole, I should say that the wide diver-
sity of opinion among the writers who have discussed this difficult sutgect of Greek
polychromy is somewhat disheartening to those who are simply in search of tbe
truth ; but, perhaps, encouraging to those who, whilst reverencinf^ Greek artists, are
shocked at the rank coloring attributed to them, and would fain disbelieve that such
outrages were ever committed, and hope that they were, in their best days, more
temperate in the use of color tlian some of the able advocates of glypto-chromatism*
arc wont to represent them to have beeu.
So doHtnictible and evanescent as all artificial and superficial coloring is, it is not
to be wondered at that we are as much at a loss for surviving Roman examples of
exterior coloring as we are of Greek ; but [we may very safely assume that the love
of ornament and splendour which especially distinguished Roman imperial art is
more likely to have led to an increased than to a diminished resort to color on the
exterior of their buildings.
It was at this period that the use of marbles of various natural colors dispensed
with artificial pigments. Even as early as the date of the Greek remains at Ilali-
carnassus there is strong evidence that the natural diversities of color in the
material were resorted to as a means of giving variety to exterior architecture.
That such was the case may be inferred from the fact that the blocks of marble
recently obtained in great abundance by Mr. Newton from the ruins of Halicarnassus
differ considerably in color : some are as pure and as white as the i'arian itself, other
blocks are of a dark slate color, and there arc various intermediate hues. How these
variousK'-colored marbles were arranged with reference to each other it may now be
very difficult to ascertain, but the effect that would unavoidably result from using
them indiscriminately would be so bad that it is not to be supposed that any Greek
artists could have so employed them, and we are thus inevitably led to the conclusion
that the arrangement of^ these light and dark colored marbles was probably made in
conformity with some principle or method adapted to impart variety of effect to the
arcliitecture.
^ At Rome so great became the passion for colored marbles, that Ovid says,
" Decrescunt elfosso marmore montes ;" and artificial processes, therefore, for stain-
ing marbles were adopted for the sake of giving them a more ornamental
character, processes which lapidaries of the present day are known to practise.
♦1, ' ^^^'^ "^*^ ^ colored marbles became so universal that I'liny seems to hint
taiat the known available sources of ornamental marble were becommg exhausted;
aad to tills ho attributes the invention of marbling, although it seems more hkely
that this fictitious splendor was one of the significant signs of the decay of taste in
the empire. It was at this period, also, that the practice of veneering stone and
. brick with thin laminae of marble took its rise. In the portico of Oetavia, in Rome,
I observed the exterior face of the brickwork lined with slabs of marble, scarcely two
inches thick ; but at the great theatre in Taormina, in Piciiy, 1 found marble veneer-
mg executed with reaUy wonderful dexterity, the thickness being scarcely more
tlian that of ordinary card. The dexterity, indeed, which this veneering required m
Its execution affords strong ground of presumption that the practice was common.
In what way and to what extent the architecture of the later Roman empire was
affected by the contemporary style of design prevalent in the East, is a question of
undoubted interest, but it is one upon which those who have treated on the subject
aeem to entertain by no means clear views, a difficulty arising perhaps in great
measure from the uncertainty that hangs over the dates of early iSastem buildings.
Jiut It would hardly b<' germane to the subjects of these lectures to enter into
mouines so exclusively lustorical.
It may suffice to sav that either through the fusion of the decaying Classic style
wit n some other style that may have pre-existed, owing its origin to Oriental
artists, or through the direct changes effected in the Roman manner, when the task
oj buildmg fell into the hands of the predominant races of the East, even without
assuming the influence of any pre-existing style, certain it is that a very readily
distinguishable change took place ; aud one of the most marked characteristics of that
charige was the cxte-uded application of color to architecture.
The use of mosaic work is especially a marked feature in this new phase of art.
Although this work was the invention of an earUer age and was very largely need by
Uie iioman arcliitects in pavements, I am not aware of any evidence of the appli-
cation of this species of work being applied as a mural decoration in any building of
positively Classic date, and I presume that this latter use of it may be confidently
r^arded as originating in the iiyzantine school. The practice of inlaying and
pMielling marbles as an incrustation on the surface of walls is also another very
grevalent mode of ornamentation marking the period; much resorted to, no doubt,
y the Romans even in the best periods of the Empire, but received in the Byzantine
school with particular favor, from the facilities it afforded of colored enrichment, in
Which that school, as we have seen, so greatly excelled.
I need not remind you that Byzantium, during the least cultivated periods of
i!-uropean history was the sole asylum of the arts, and it was thence that the
earliest rays of a revival dawned on Western Europe. Italy, Sicily, and Spain were
tnenrst countries to catch these rays. Hence it is that we there find the earliest
developments of this new feature o( architectural ornament. The new buildings of
Venice and i'isa became resplendent with colored marbles, both internally and
extcrnaliy applied. Then, too, arose that parti-colored system of decoration which,
m our ceaseless aspirations after some new beauty, has of late found some favor in
our eyes. The Duomo at Venice is a very early and remarkable example of the
adaptation of colored materials to external architecture. The shafts ot the small
• I have been reprhnanded sinc« the delivery of the lecture by a very distinguished
art-scholar for coining (his word. I may, perhaps, have been misled by Bavarian
authority into using this term, for which (in deference to him) I would substitute
ayaA/iarox/>w(r(f, or " statue-coloring."— S. S.
^
pillars are of various colored marble)., whilst IncnHtation of pornlirrv and olhor
precious matmal. of like nature enrich the surface of many panTS thTbSldlSlT
I lorence aftor; « many notable exanpln. and In <;iotlo'« ceferatS eamomlkf%-.
l)ractl.e ol pancllniK and otherwfae io^lniDixliig variously colored sS^wSSlS!
sively adopted, and treated with admlnble tatUj and skill "^^
„„ir„,i™f •) "'■■"">'''"'"' "lis period ol medieval aroUltocture In lUly the praoUec m*.
vailed of l.mUinj; m courses of colored mMwarr. and It became, In truth Vcha5«Sl
istic, feature m tlji; buildluf;s of that age in lUly. "»">, acuaraeMr-
(■^PiT'^'k''"'' '?■?"'■ "'"■'■""'''e courses of colored stono! came to Italy from the Kaat.
™C7hi''ch\n'a?i:r.St"aCt"' "''«'''''""«• '•"''''''■• »" "»= OeeJ— teJ^o^f
bm dmya so ornamented, and It affords a Btriklng Instance of the slmpla meuirto
whicli beauty may be attained. ~™k" uumiu d^
Wliether tlie motive was purely a;Btlutie,or whethix the oceuional course of colored
JZZ"''' ""' *''"'"■ ""'i"."' ""J" '■'"">' '" «»""' instructive r4tdr«S°wel2J2
perhaps now no means of dctermininj;. The latter suppositlon^^a Dotaltoire£a=
uJaZ^!' extremely bard substance, and the oecaalonal Introduction of courses of
io- tCtSmyTiPa waif '■''''■ '"""'*' "° '""""• '»"" » '^'^ "" and contribute much
..JiV^r ^°"T'"'' '° •» remarked that even In Italy this mode of oonrtmction wa*
?™Ll n?.''"'7*.'.'°'"'- I^'\^" """■'' '"l"^"" 'n ""^^ ''"rth and mIdX of that
pcnmsula than in the south. Instances in other parts of Europe arc eomparmtlTelT
more rare and, as far as my knowledgeextends. vel-y few inst.nSs otr^Srh^i^
or striped masonry, where diflereut colored stones are used in altematmK coSSi:
occur m our own eouutry. >.." •."-■uaiiuu mibtbim.
The nearest approach to external polychromy In Kngland is, perhaps, the Inter-
mixture of ashlaied stone and square flints, which occiis so fVeiKnHy In the mX-
s.astical architecture of the eastern counties, and by whlch^ pteJiC iijllrt 5r
tone, if not of color, is often produced. !<.<=— tug osrievy oi
There is no reason to believe that external coloring, whether by the use of oata-
rally colored materia s or by superBcial paintinjr,. was ever extensively practised In
ei LnU?',?' "'"■";*'' ""■ ^"^^ Pf "«"* "' M^'d''-'"'' "t. Perhaps the most usual TppU.
cation of the practice waa m tlie shafts of columns ; a blank spandrel or irabic waa
occasionally re leved by a colored panel, but this occurs rarely, sculptor.' fcclne erer
considered as the readiest resource whenever a blank space is to be llirhtcned or m
enhancement of the effect is desired. i"."»u or an
But probably in no country on the Continent has I lie mode of producinc a rioh
ettectof color by the use of bricks and stone intermixed beeu Ijetler understood or
more effectively carried out, than in England durin;; the Tudor period
In the wide, alluvial tracts of Gcrraay, where the use of bricks was earlier intro-
rtueed than m Enfjlaud, qmte as widely disseminated, and as generally practised.
1 have not myse f seen, nor have I been able to ascertain that others have met with
that regular and systematic use of the interlaced courses of dark bricks on a red
brick ground, with which we in England are so familiar, and which so admirablF
attains the object of relieving a plain surface of wall without labor or effort at tbe
same time lowormg and qualifying the general tone of color in a highly picturcsoue
manner. » .- i- -^
It is not unworthy of note that at a period when in England we were thus stnur-
ghng to relieve the monotony of red bricks, our more advanced and ingenious coS-
temporaries in Italy were stuccoing the surfaces of their palaces to receive freMo
painting, and often employing the very highest available! art upon the plain surfaec*
so obtained. Vasari relates many instances of this employment of the painter'!
art, and it seems highly illustrative of the universal prevalence of a taste for pahit-
iDg in that country when we flud men like I'crino del Vaga, Garofolo, Ghcrardi, Br»-
mante, and very many others I might name, zealously engaged In painting historical
subjects, on a colossal scale, upon the exterior surfaces of ordinary street archi-
tecture.
They could not but have been perfectly conscious of the perishable nature of their
workmanship, but it was enough for them that the all-prevaUmg admiration for art
was gratitied, whilst they fouud a wide scope for the exercise of their fertile inven-
tion and for the display of their admirable powers.
You are no doubt well aware of the great efforts that have for some time past been
made in Germany to revive this mode of exterior decoration.
The whole fafade of the newly erected picture gallery at Munich, is oonvcrtedtato
one vast historical picture ; the figures are so colossal, that in order to appreciate
them one needs to retire to the remotest distance that the surrounding buildings will
admit of That veracious geographer, Leuo Gulliver, tells us of a book h« met with
in his travels, so large that he had to erect a .scaffold in front of it to read its pages.
So in this truly great work at Munich, we have to take a considerable walk In order
to examine the opposite limits of the picture.
But without reference to sueli extreme cases, I leave it for those who practise the
sister art to determine how far historical painting is rightly appUed as a mural deco-
ration in the open air. I am disposed to think that the practice will not spread very
widely. It seems to me calculated to lead to the degradation of art. for what artist
is there, at least in these degenerate days, and in the inclement atmosphere of
Northern Europe, who would uot feel the warmth of his genius chilled by the reSee-
tion that his works could expect only an ephemeral celebrity. Exjiosed to the
vicissitudes of climate, such work could hardly live to be fully appreciated before it
must perish. Such certainly has been the fate ot nearly ail, if not of all, the extenul
frescoes of the great masters of the Ufteeuth and sixteenth centuries. But so great
was the wealth of genius iu the palmy days of Italian art, that painters were
willing to waste their brightest thoughts, and bestow the exquisite product! of
their art on the mere pageants of a day.
But somewhat before the bright period I have referred to, the love of oolored^rohl-
tecture in Italy had found another and more legitimate development.
In the fifteenth century was introduced, originally derivea, no doubt, from the
Kast, a new manufacture by which a far greater permauency could be imparted to
colors. In the alluvial plains of Italy arose a passion for glazed terra-cotta worJt,
aud in this mstanco also, the most gifted artists did not disdain to impart the
Promethean touch of their genius to tliese fictile producttons. I'assero, a learned
historiau of this art, gives 130.1 as the date of its introduction, and the eminft
names of Delia Kobbia, and even Kaffaellc, are identified with its cultivation.
Though limited at first to small fictile works, such as taazas, ewera, and the like.
it was not long before artists found that the art was applicable to the nobler
purposes of architecture. Friezes, panels, and many of the minor features of archi-
tectural composition, were thus enriched by colors of the most durable nature.
There are, in fact, few substances less perishable and less liable to tajury tram
chemical and atmospheric action than the vitreous glaze on this torra-eotta werk.
There are many interesting specimens of glazed fayence ware of a green color
among the Assyrian remains iu tlie British Museum. Those from the north-we«t
pal.acc at Nimrud, and from Konyunjik date, according to the trustworthy authority
of Mr. Birch, as far back as the year 750, B.C.
There are also many examples of glazed ware from Babyloaia. especially I wmud
name the glazed coffins from Warku ; these Mr. Birch is incUned to aiisign to tk*
days of Nebuchadnezzar. You will find none of these specimens materially affiseted.
except by external violence.
The Italian artists of the quatro-cento period highly appreciated this material,
and used it in their buildings with admirable effect, as at Alberti's Church, at
Kimini, and elsewhere. Its application, however, declined in the sixfoentli century,
a fact, perhaps, mainly attributable to the more general and closer adheri-nee to
Classical forms, which did not lend themselves so readily to terra-cotta as to stone.
Much also may be ascribed to the istroduction, at that period, of external ctucco
work.*
• To be continued.
94
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 1, 1861.
THE DICTIONARY OF ARCHITECTURE.
RECENTLY as we have directed tlie attention of our readers to the great
■work which the Architectural Publication Society is so steadily and satis-
foctorily bringing towards completion, we feel it now due to the public and to
the Society to notice the present position of the undertaking. In our last week's
issue, an advertisement appeared announcing that a portion of the early parts of
the illustrations to the Dictionary was out of print, and inviting the immediate
accession of new subscribers to enable the committee to reprint them, failing
which the plates would l>e destroyed.
Having always urg«i the great claims of the " Dictlonaiy " to the support of
the profession and public
bodies, we at once in-
quired into the circum-
stances which led to the
announcement referred
to, and can now state
that, although the sup-
port affonled to the so-
ciety has been but small
compared to that which
it should have received,
yet the stock of a por-
tion of the illustrations
has become exhausted,
and the annnal income ef
the Society being rigor-
ously devoted to the pro-
duction of the works of
the year, and the Society
not possessing any capital,
the question of reprinting
a lai^ number of plates
becomes matterfor serious
consideration. Another
and most important point
is, that the Society, being
pledged not to issue any
portion at a price less
than that of the sub-
scription, the committee
do not desire to print a
larger number of copies
than will meet the pro-
bable demand; and it
now rests witli the pro-
fession and public to de-
termine, by the amount
of fresh support they may
give to the committee,
whether the possibility of
procuring the complete
work shall ironi this time
cease, or whether, by en-
rolling themselves as sub-
scribers, they will aid in
pressing the work on to
completion.
We hare repeatedly
allnded to the constitu-
tion of the Society — to
the energetic and pains-
taking aid gratuitously
rendered by the many
distinguished architects
who form the committee
and assist in revising the
articles — and reference to
the remarkable paucity of
works which can be ad-
mitted to lay just claim
to the title of" Dictionary
of Architecture," and the
limited views with which
e\en such works have
been carried out, renders
it hardly necessary to
pcdnt out how distinct
this undertaking is from
any other professing a
Binilar aim which has
hitherto appeared either
in this country or on the
continent ; • how tho-
roughly comprehensive it
is in its scheme and exe-
cution, how catholic in
its principles, dealing with
facts, avoiding those party
feelings and personal pre-
judices which can hardly fail to exist in the work of one hand, and comprising in the
most concise form not only the most perfect historical, typographical, and scientific
mlormatjon on aU matters cognate to architecture, but also the knowledge and
experience of most of the leading men of the day, so combined and harmonised
as to pr«acrve a perfect unity throughout the entire work : and when we mention,
among the coUoborateurs, the names of the lateand present I'rofessors of Archi-
T U\^ principal works professing to deal with the subject generally are-" Penther,
J^. Arch Ocrm- {?';''« i Quatremirc de Quincy '-bict. Hist. d'Arch." «o, 1?8S,
t^ii^ «? imS 8T0.1830i "Nlcholson-s Arch, and Eng. Diet.," by
lecture at the Royal Academy, the President of the Royal Institute of Architects,
the Professor of Architecture at London University, Messrs. Ashpitel, the late
Sir C. Barry, Burn^ll, Garling, Lockyer, Papwortli, and very many others of
the highest literary and professional attainments, the public may be sure the
praise uuiversaily accorded to the " Dictionai'y " has not been ill deserved.
The course so frequently followed by publishers of bringing out " remainders "
of costly works at a reduced price has, we fear, in some degree prejudiced the
" Dietiouary." Many gentlemen, who would otherwise support it, defer sub-
scribing eitiier from a fear that the work will not be completed, or in the expec-
tation that after a short time a " remainder " will be thrown on the market, and
they will be able to pro-
cure the book at from
one-third to one-half of
the original subscription
price.
The fear and the expec-
tation are, we believe,
alike without foundation ;
the progi'ess already made
with the text, which will
this year he much further
advanced, assures a speedy
completion, while the cha-
racter of the gentlemen
who manage the affairs of
the Society gives every
weight to their pledge
that not a single copy
shall be issued at a price
below that paid by the
original subscribers.
The " Dictionary "
may, fi'om its important
and unique character,
assume the position of a
national work, and claim
a placq not only on the
shelves of every archi-
tect and amateur of the
arts, but especially on
those of the public libra-
ries of this country, the
Continent, America, and
the colonies, and in those
of the great educational
establishments founded
for the advancement of
art and science, and to the
consideration of the man-
agers of such institutions
we especially commend it.
As regards the sub-
scription for past years,
we learn that every faci-
lity is aflforded to new
subscribers to take up the
early parts at their con-
venience, and the object of
tlie committee being to
secure a sufficient stock ^
to meet all probablefuture
demands, they would be
glad at once to receive the
names of all intending
subscribers, who, as we
are infonned, may obtain
very information from
Mr. Arthur Cates, the
Hon. Secretary.
On our readers gene-
rally we would urge not
merely how much it
would be to their own
advantage, that they
should avail themselves
of what may be the last
opportunity of securing
perfect copies of the
" Dictionary," but also
how desirable it is in a
professional, and even a
national point of view,
that the "Dictionary of
Architecture" should re-
ceive their cordial sup-
port— support not limited
to subscription, but ex-
tending to a personal in-
terest in spreading its re-
putation— bringing in additional subscribers, and forwarding to the Committee
any information and sketches likely to prove of value in the progress of the work.
SCRAPS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE.
DOORWAY, ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, CLAPHAM.
THE subject of our illustration is the principal, or nave, doorway of the Con-
ventual Church of the Uedemptoiists, Acre-lane, Ciaijham, a structure
erected from the designs of Mr. W. W. Wardell, architect, of Parliament-street.
Our engraving is executed from sketches taken on the spot, and will afford a good
idea of the very beautiful carving with which the doorway is embellished,
February 1, 1861
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
97
ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
AN ordinary ^neral meeting of tills body was held on Monday se'nni^lit at tlic
rooms, 9, Conduit-street, Regent-street ; George Godwin, Esq., V.l'., in tlie
chair.
Mr. T. Hatter Lewis, lion, sec., read the minutes of proceedings at the last
ordinary meeting, which were found correct, and signed by the Chairman.
Donatioiis.—Tae following donations were announced :— From Mr. James Fer-
gusson, " Notes on the Sit*? of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, an Answer to the
Isdinburgh Jievkur, by James Fergusson, Fellow;" from the Royal Society, "Pro-
ceedingH of the Royal Society," Vol. XI.
Miscellaneous.— 'ibe Chairman intimated that the discussion, proposed In the first
instance by Mr. Tite, as to the various processes for the jirescrvation of stone, would
be taken on Monday next, when Mr. Tite would give a general description of the
various processes, both ancient and modern, and various gentlemen who tooK an
interest m such matters would be invited to attend. He had also to state that It
was the desire of the Council that a report of the discussion of the previous Monday
private meeting) should be made public, and forwarded, from the notes of the short-
hand writer employed by the Institute, to the architectural papers ; but unfortunately
the Council had been unable to do so, not having received the transcript from the
reporter, who wrote that morning stating that he was still confined to bed by a
severe attack of nervousness. The Chairman then read a note from Lord Dulferin,
having reference to the discovery of a temple at Thebes (Egypt); the remains
of which bad been removed to his lordship's residence atllighgate ; it was the moat
ancient temple yet found at Thebes, with primeval Doric columns, and a wooden
table was found in it, with the name of a king of the old Empire engraved thereon.
The Ch:urman next explained the duties of the tliree Committees of the Institute
recently appointed, a list of which has already appeared in the Building News.
The rrofessionai Tractice Committee had to deal with professional charges
and to frame rules when anv difficulties arose amongst the members. Within the
last few days questions had been submitted to them even fVom Canada. The Com-
mittee consisted mostly of men of considerable practice and engagements, so that
they could not meet very often, and did not expect to have trifling matters sub-
mitted to them, but any point of real importance they would be glad to attend to.
The Committee, in the meantime, was attempting to form a complete code for the
guidance of the members. As to the Library Committee, the members of it were
actively engaged in going through the list to see what books were required. He
hoped that tlie list of books wanted would be printed and circulated, and very likely
it would be found that some of tne I<'ellows had those books in their libraries, and
perhaps would contribute them to the Institute ; if not, they must be bought as
opportunities presented themselves. It was very much desired that the Library
should be open at night, when some one should alwavs be in attendance ; and if tea
and coflTee were to be had at a small cost, that might induce men to come to the
Library when tliey otherwise would not. Then as to the Construction and Materials
Committee, that Committee referred to this— not to commit the Institute to new pro-
cesses too rapidly ; for tliough some thunderers, like the Timen, blamed architects
for not adoptmg new processes, yet the very same journals would come down upon
them if they were used and failed ; but the Committee would be glad to deal with
reallv good new processes and inventions. Their indefatigable Hon. Secretary,
Mr. T. Uayter Lewis, would that evening read two papers prepared by Mr. WilHam
Hawkes, engineer, who was unable through illness to attend.
New Members.— The following gentlemen having been balloted for were elected
members of the Institute :— Messrs. John George Knight, of Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia ; Robert Lacon Sibley, Associate, of :i9. Great Ormond street ; and
Prancis Edwards, Associate, ot Hart-street, Bloomsbury, as Fellows.
Mr. T. Havter Lewis (Hon. Secretary) read the following papers by Mr. Hawkes,
which were iUustrated by numerous diagrams ; —
ON THE STRENGTH OF BRICKS.
I SHOULD not have thought of offering to your notice the experiments upon the
transverse strength of bricks had I not been solicited by your t'ouncil to do so.
My attention was first called to this subject about ten years since, when I was having
flome farm buildings erected ; and as these were several miles from either my residence
or the office of the architect, I thought it would exercise a healthy influence over the
builder if we could agree upon some standard of qnality, or means of testing at any
time what the bricks really were. Having experienced a like beneflt in testing for
the last thirty years the strength of pig-iron purchased for my foundry, I desired
that thirty bricks should be sent to me as an average sample of the kind he purposed
using; I found that the average strength of these bricks was, as far as I recollect,
about l,aoolbs. When the bulk of the bricks was delivered, from the appearance
not being favorable, we passed a number through the machine, and foimd the average
strength was but about KH) lbs.
This same plan I pursue with any bricks I may now have to purchase, and although
the transverse strength may not indicate all that it is desu-able to know of the quali-
ties of a brick, yet, if it comes up to a good average strength, the brick is either
made of good material, or if of bad materials the burning has been very good.
Ofcour.se ii is not expected that every brick wiH be tested ; but as a couple of
men with the testing machine I use can prove at least 300 per hour, that number
would suffice to determine the quality of a vast quantity. Of course I do not mean
that it can be ascertained what is the breaking point of the bricks, but what is the
l)earing power up to a certain agreed standard of strength.
If, for instance, you wanted to test bricks at Boston, where the mean strength Is
S,0fi4 lbs., it might be considered that 4,000 lbs. was a fair test. If bricks had been pur-
chased at a tested strength in the year 'im at Uriconiura, about ,1,000 lbs., or if in
London in 1860, I would advise the brickmakor to limit his guarantee to 360 lbs.,
because, unfortunately, some have broken at 36fl lbs.
The method I have adopted of testing bricks as we do our girders and beams has
not, I tliink, been usually adopted by others, the usual test being that of resistance
to a crushing force.
The strength of an iron structure is calculated from knowing that a bar of iron
3 feet long and 1 inch square will require about 7.50 lbs. to break it, and its sustaining
power may be taken at about two-lifths of the same. If it be known what is the
transverse strength of bricks, and if the mortar, after it is thoroughly set, may be
taken of a like strength with the bricks (and in those experiments of Mr. Barlow on
the transverse strength of brick pillars tested horizontally the fracture was not
through the joints, but the solid bncks), a calculation may be made as to the sustain-
ing power of brick beams or lintels, whether built as beams similar to the one tested
in 1S.01 at the Great Exhibition, or whether portions of walls from which wood
lintels, door or window frames have been removed.
The resistance to a crushing force, as tested by the hydrauhc press, in which it is
said that bricks will resist from 30 tons to 100 tons, tells you that which you hardly
ever want to know, for it would require a wall upwards of 2,000 feet high before you
got a pressure of .30 tons on the surface of a brick ; but it might be useful to know
that if in a y-inch wall you have 40 inches in depth over an opening 90 inches wide,
you might distribute a weight of 13 tons over the same, if the bricks be of moderate
atrength and the mortar as strong as the bricks.
I think that a comparison of the transverse strength of bricks may be made with
much more certainty than their power to resist a crushing force.
That proving machine is best which subjects all that it tests to shnilar conditions
— to similar punishment.
If it chanced that the upper and lower surface of bricks were as true as the two
planed surfaces of the hydrauhc press crushing-plates, then a fair comparison would
be made ; but when, perhaps, bricks have a concave lower face and concave upper
one, the first effect of the hydraulic machine is to break the brick transversely into
several pieces before the crushing begins. Again, it is a more tedious operation, and
requires rather a costly machine, and it would be almost impossible to fix upon any
test strength by which bricks should bo proved up to a limit— say two-thirds of
that which would crush them ; for if.the good bricks were not quite true, they would
most assuredly break, while a very Inferior qiuUty u to strength, bnt hsTtar two
flat surfaces, would sustain the pmsure. ^ ' s . ""» awrmg two
Description of IMat/ram. The dlaeram before you Is IntoDded to renrcsaat al au
view the strength of bricks from different districts. The strong borjsoiitsi iSI
drawn one Inch apart denote a strength of SCO lbs. ; and the ttiiSet Unss. (as-teS
of an Inch apart, a strength of 100 lbs. ^^ "-•'■•imtm
The vertical red lines denote the strength of the bricks, which Is Msllr raid off bv
noting their intersection with the horizonul lines, and earrvlac tb* ere t"»K
margin, where the figures give the exact slrength. i" •« um
The shorter vertical lines (blue) at the bottom of the diagram repreieBt, ateonUnc
to their different heights, the difference In the weight ofthe bricks. The absortev
power IS given In figures. ~»vi»i^
It will be observed in comparing the strength of the thin bricks sad tUea (saT aU
those whose thickness docs not exceed ^ inches) with the strength of the thftlnr
br:c_ks, that the former much exceeds the latter ; for InstaneeTln the tbMr-aTe
kinds of bricks the average of the strongest is 2,MS lbs. ; the average of tbe aan
B.rength 2,ias lbs. ; and that ofthe least strength, I,5S7 lbs., the thlekness varrtiig
from 1^5 Inches to 17 Inch ; while from the nine thinner description of bricks, ime
oJ^?^ exceeding 2-2,'i inches in thickness, we obUIn 4,088 lbs.. 2,9M lbs., and
2,070 lbs. as the greatest, mean and least strengths, giving an ezoeas of ttfCBgtb
over the average of the whole of 1 ,233 lbs. , 829 iBs., ink S131bs. vraigMi
Strength of Bncks under Continuous /Vw««re.-The strength of brieks given In
the diagram is the weight sustained before the last 10 lbs. Is added, such weight belK
added at intervals of half a minute or less ; but it does not give, what It Is very ff
portant to know, for how long a brick would carry a weight without breaking. One
of the common Boston bricks, which broke with a weight of 920 lbs stufiUosd a
weight of 690 lbs. for forty-eight hours, and then broke with a weight of 1J30 Ow.
Of course these experiments were made upon the half-brick, and cdenlatedoat at
the standard size and bearing. One of the bricks from dried ground elay by presi
sustained a weight of 820 lbs. for forty-eight hours (its original strength Mlng^ lbs.)-
weights were then added up to 950 lbs., when it broke I hare foond In several
instances that the half-brick requires a greater weight to break It than when whole.
Of course, the difference in the lengths of the bearing is taken into account • bldfCd.
all the strengths are calculated at a bearing of 7 inches throughout. The Baltlmon
brick, which liroke with 8.50 lbs., carried 7M lbs. for ten hours, and then broke.
In comparing; weight with strength. I find that the average weight of twenty-flve
bricks from difterent districts is 7-8.5 lbs., and the strength usually increases with the
weight. The Tipton blue, which weighs 10 lbs., gives a strength of S,$5S lbs., 3,075 lbs.
and 2,801 lbs. The Boston weighs 9 88 lbs., giving 0,100 lbs., 6,064 lbs., and4.12«Ib«. •
and the Leeds weighs 907 lbs., giving 4,133 lbs., 3,198 lbs., and 2,610 Iba. ; while the
lightest London brick, weighing 6191bs., gives 1,496 lbs., 998 lbs., and SOOIba., not
allowing for the frog. The Calcutta brick, weighing 6-8 Ibe., gives 2,890 lbs.,
1,411 lbs., and 713 lbs. The Dutch clinker is an exception, the weight being onhr
6-50 lbs., and the strength respectively 4,006 lbs., 3,346 lbs., and 2,M2Ib8.
Experiments.
Best Boston Bricks.— Then were four of these tested, of an average size of 7''5 by
3'-5 by 2"16. The bricks carried as follows :-2,780 lbs., 2,440 lbs., 2^70 lbs., and l,ffiO
lbs., which, calculated upon one common size of 7' (bearing) by 4J" by 3', gives the
mean strength of 5,064 lbs. ; the greatest being 6,100 lbs., and the least 4420 lbs.
The weight of the bricks calculated upon a size of <.»" by 4J' by 3", was 9-88 lbs. i and
the absorbing power after 24 hours* immersion was 3-6 per cent upon the weight when
dry. These tricks have a flue smooth surface, very straight andsqoareat the edges ;
the fracture clear and equal, free from all kinds of rubbish or pebbles. The cost of
these at Boston is 17 dollars per thousand ; the color, red. The cost of Ubor Is
about 5 dollars per thousand. My informant states that some years since acompany
was estabhshed for making tbe bricks by crushing the dry clay, then sifting or
bolting it, and then forming the bricks in moulds, and subjecting them to i^eat
pressure ; this experiment failed after an expenditure of 170,000 dollars.
Common Bricks, Boston make.—Voar of these brick carried as follows :— 2,220 lbs.,
1,600 lbs., 1,2,30 lbs., and 920 lbs. ; the average size being about the same as the best,
or say ""o by 3"-44 by 2'12. The strength calculated upon the common size of 7"
(bearing) by ii" by 3'', gives a mean strength of 3,184 lbs. ; tbe greatest being 4.610
lbs., and the least 2,040 lbs. ; the weight of the bricks at 9" by 4i" by 3", was 8-81
lbs. ; and the absorbing power per 5-9 percent. Not having been pressed, they are not
so smooth and fine in the finish, but yet are very sound and fVee ff-om mbblsh In the
fracture. The color is dark red. The labor of making these is about 2 dollars per
thousand.
Baltimore Best Bricks. — Two of these were tested, of an average size of 8*-.54 by
4'-23 by 2'-31. These bricks carried the following weights :— 1,980 lbs. and -,',010 lbs.,
which calculated upon the common size, 7' by 4^' by 3', gives 3,642 lbs. for the "reatest,
3,460 lbs. for the least, and 3,.561 Ibs.for the mean strength. The weight of a brick ofthe
standard size, 9'by4J" by 3", is SOeibs., and the absoroingpower 10-4 percent. These
bricks have a fine smooth surface, nearly equal to the iJoston brick ; the fracture
clear and free from rubbish of any kind. These specimens were taken from the run
of the kiln, and may be considered of an average quality of an entire kiln (from what
is called " arch to salmon ") of 200,000. They are hand-made, and burnt in an ordinary
kiln, the top being boarded over during the first part of the burning. They are flrst
made by hand, and then pressed in an iron mould, which is well oiled, the pressure
being given by steam power. These bricks are so set In the kiln as to save one edge
and two ends, that they may be quite even and true. The cost of making these ftont
bricks, including pressing, is five dollars per thousand. The very best picked bricks of
this kind are selling at 25 dollars per thousand, the ordinary bricks at 6 to 8 doUus
per thousand. The very high price of the best " Latch bricks" is owing to the
numbers which are rejected as " best quality " by having the edges ever ■<> ■J|§>>^
injured. Bricks are also made by macninery, but are not so much esteemed by the
builders : they are inferior to the hand-made, and sell from one to two dollars less per
thousand. , - „, „
Baltimore Common Bricks.— SiK of these were tested, of an average size of 8"fl7
by 3'-98 by 2*07. They carried the following weights— viz., 1,680 lbs. (the weight
remaining upon this brick for nearly an hour before It broke), 1,540 lbs., 1,420 lbs.,
1,2.50 lbs., 970 lbs., and 8fiO lbs. The weight at •T by ti" by 3- is 8-12 lbs., and the ab-
sorbing power 11-3 per cent. The strength of these bricks at the standard size (flTes a
mean of :!,CHO lbs., the greatest being 4,14filbs.. and the least 1,984 lbs. The price ofthe
common bricks is six to eight dols. per thousand, and the best "Latch fifteen dols. per
thousand. The bricks which carried 850 lbs. (equal to 1,984 lbs. on the standard size)
carried 1,470 lbs. for ten hours. The above bricks, with particulars of price, *e.,
were sent to me by N. F. Williams, Jun., of Baltimore, in September, 1859. The
fuel used is the small anthracite "dust," but in some quarters the bituminous coal
is used. Some are burnt with wood, taking as an average half a cord per thousand ;
the ordinary price of anthracite coal is 258. per ton. Experiments hare been made
by the Government upon the strength of brick, bnt not published. These bricks
have been tested in order to compare the strength of them with stone, and they
proved stronger and more durable,particularly where age Istaken into tonsidcratlon.
the bricks from old buildings being very sound, while stone from buildings of similar
age was soft and crumbled. „ ,, « ^ ^ « * , —k.-r
The Dutch Bricks were purchased of Messrs. Rosher and ^Co. L'me-whMf,
Holland-street, London ; three of them were of an average size of 9'-->6 by 4 '35 by
2«-16, and carried at a bearing of 7 inches 2.110 lbs.. 1,910 lbs., and 1,410 lbs.
giving, when calculated at the standard size, 4000 lbs as the greatest strength,
3,580 lbs. as the mean, and 3,016 lbs. as the least. The weight of these at the
standard size is 6 76 lbs. Tbe size ofthe 4 smaller clinker bricks is e'-25 by 3' byl 46.
and give a strength, as compared with the others, of 4,006 lbs. greatest, 2,946 int.
meant and 2,-l57 lbs. least. The weight of these is rather less than the larger alie,
''in^comparmg th^e strength and weight ofthe Dutch chnkers, even with the strong
American common bricks, the result fs in favor of the former, the mean strength of
the American brick being 3,112 lbs., and the weight 8-46 lbs., whUe the clinkers giro
98
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 1, 1861.
a strength of :V-'fi2 lbs., and only 0 M lbs. in weight. These clinkers are made at
Moor, near Gouda, in South Holland, from the slime deposited on the banks of the
river Ysael, and formerly from that of Haarlem Sleer. The color is a light yelliiwisU
brown. "The clay or slime is washed to get rid of the earthy matter before being
moulded. When in Holland some years since, I built a small brass furnace, and
lined the chimney 40 feet high with tire-brick, but we ran down (i.e., melted) the
clinker brick abtive this, the first day's trial." „,_ , „,
9 Piects or'Jioman 'lile from Wroxeter (Lriconmm), near Shrewsburj-. They were
ft'ainnents of the S-ineh hypocaust tiles, about 8" by .r-5 by l'-8, and gave 4,6ro lbs.
forthe greatest, .^SOr lbs. for the mean, and 2,fim lbs. for the least strength. The
tile, 4' by 2'-€by 1', used in the herring-bone pavements, cr rried ;j,r4'^lb8., calculated
at the standard size. The color of these tiles is light red, and they are very sound
in the fVacture. Nearly all of them had the circular score marks so common on
R^^ni'" work. Some of them had the appearance of having been made of two
" sheets " of clay folded one over the other, as if the clay had been prepared in
laminK of about J or } of an inch thick, the coating of sand sticking to the sepa-
rata lamina? being sometimes perceptible in the fracture.
Mr. Koach Smith is of opinion that the Koman tiles were burned with wood, but
neither he nor Dr. Collingwood Uruce have ever met with a Koman brick-kiln.
Mr. Smith writes me "that in idl the modern and medieval examples 1 have been
able to examine, sand predominates ; the Komans worked pure clay (or such that was
best adapted for the purpose). This would partly explain the superior character and
greaterdurability of ancient bricks." They were made to last for ever ; the modern
are made to sell.
I might notice that the tiles in the hj-pocausts at Wroxeter are set in clay, as re-
commended by Vitruvius, clay being less acted upon by fire than mortar.
The 2 herring -bo7ie Tiles from Baiht o"-! by S"-? Dy^^'i), about give at standard size
6,160 lbs. and 5,840 lbs.
Eleven Jlricks mfuie in the neighbourhood of Paris, of an average size of S^'S by 4''-2
by 2"% which carried the following weights : 1,740 lbs., price 4os. ; 1,540 lbs., SSs. 4d. ;
1,262 lbs., 566. 8d. i 1,252 lbs., SSa. 4d. ; 1,102 lbs., rSs. ; 1,.»0 lbs., 76s. ; 1,040 lbs.,
S28.;6d. i 980 lbs., 453. ; (SO lbs., 56s. 8d. ; fi20 lbs., .Ws. 6d. ; 400 lbs., 378. Od. ; 200 lbs.,
37s. '6d. The strength of these at the standard size was— greatest, 3,32."5 lbs. ; mean,
2,010 lbs, ; leasti 370 lbs. The weight at standard size, 7-5 lbs. The highest priced
brick, 758., which carried 2,180 lbs. at the standard size, is a good smooth brick, dark
red color, and made for Vincennes Railway Viaduct (hand-made, stamn-C).
The strongc'st brick was 3,;i23 lbs., and the price 45s. per thousand ; it is called
** Brique de Pays," and made in the neighbourhood of Paris. The weakest brick,
400 lbs., was soft and rotten, of a dark buff color, and seemed to be made of a kind
of mud and Band containing very little clay, and haying, iis the test proves, very
little cohesion.
TAc 4 Hollow Bricks, machine-made, Paul Borie and Co., and which were in cross
section as follows :—
Price lOOf. = 83s. 4d.— one 4'-25 by 4"-3, having 9 apertures, about 1* square.
one 2*'45 by 4*'2, having 2 apertures, about l''-6 square.
Price 60f. = 50s. — one 2''-6 by 4'-15, having 6 apertures, about 1" by 70 square.
Price 60f. = .508. — one 2'-6 by 4''-20, having 0 apertures, about 1" by -8 square.
These bricks carried at the standard size of 3" by 4J", 2,:i60 lbs., 2,233 lbs., 1,950
lbs., and 1,600 lbs. In the Building News of March, 18i5.s, and April, IS.'iS, folios
317 and 382, reference is made to the first introduction of hollow bricks in 1812, and
also upon the disputed claims of Mr. Beart, and Borie, Brothers, of Paris.
10 Bricks from Calcutta, having a mean size of 10"-13 by 5" by 2"'3. The greatest
strength, at the standard size was 2,8.50 lbs. ; the mean, 1,411 lbs ; and the least, 713
lbs. These bricks are light, being 6-8 lbs ; and the absorbing power great, being 17'5
per cent. The strength of the bricks was 2,110 lbs., ],. 500 lbs., 1,160 lbs., and 1,100 lbs, ;
these were made by Messrs. 31ackintosh, Burn and Co., builders, at Calcutta, one of
the first houses in the trade. The other bricks were weaker, being 1,050 lbs., 1,000
lbs., 940 lbs., 570 lbs., and 480 lbs. ; these bricks were of about the same size.
Mr. Joseph Walmsley, of the firm of Messrs. Mackintosh, Burn, and Co., to whom
I was introduced by Messrs. Osier, writes me with the sample bricks : —
" Calcutta, Sept. 8, 1859.
'* The fuel used for burning bricks in India is wood and coal, and they are burned
in clamps, not kilns. To bum 100,000 bricks, if of a thickness of 3 inches, it requires
200maunds, or 146 cwt., of wood, and from 600 to 700 maunds, or about 512 cwt., of
coal. Less fuel is required if the bricks be thinner."
This gives but about 7 cwt. to the ton.
i«Aor.— Three coolies will make 1,000 per day— i. e., one boy to carry the clay,
another to puddle, and one man to mould. The bricks are moulded on the ground
(this accounts for the unevenness of the surface), and as one brick is made, the
moulder passes on and makes another side by side, and so on. This is the old style.
Moulding-tables and machinery have been introduced, but as yet with little success ;
for it requires such close superintendence to make a native do anything dificrcut to
what he haa been in thcliaoit of doing. The bricks usually remain on the ground
from a fortnight to three weeks previously to being put in the clamp, where they are
burning from three to six weeks. The temperature in the hot weather on the dry-
ing ground is lOO deg. Kahrcnheit. The cost of the common bricks in Calcutta is
about 128. per thousand, but the better kind, marked "M., B. and Co.", are worth
16s. to 188. per thousand. All the bricks have a very rough and common appear-
ance : there is nothing like fuiisli either on the sides or angles. Being made on the
ground, they partake of all the irregularities of a badly prepared bed. In order that
they clay should relieve itself ft-om the mould without much trouble, it is made
taper, nearly 3-16th8 of an inch, which, of course, makes the bricks of a like taper.
The fracture of the bricks was sound and free from rubbish.
Russian Brick.— 1 have only one specimen of a Russian brick, one sent from
St. Petersburg ; but, as it w as sent as a pattern for a machine to make similar sizes,
we may infer it was a fair sample. The size is 10* by 4"S by 2"-8, and the strength
l^j lbs., which, calculated at the standard size, is 948 lbs. ; and the weight at the
dimensions 9" by 4"} by 3" is 81 lbs.
4 Bricks from Algoa Bnji. South Africa, sent by Mr. E. Brooke Smith.— These arc
very well made bricks, of a straw or whitish-brown color : the average Bize is
** 12 by 4"18 by 2'-37. There Is a groove on one side of the brick about 0 inches long
by 1 inch wide. Their strength, calculated out at the standard size, is l,:i87 lbs. for
the greatest, 970 Iba. the mean, and .555 lbs. tlieleaBt; the weight, at our standard
size, is "4 lbs. each. The fractures were free from rubbish, and. from the sound
appearance of the bricks, I should have supposed that they would have carried more
than they did.
Extracts from a letter rcceired firom Mr. E. B. gmitb, Algoa Bay, South Africa,
dated September 15, 1859:—
" The clay Is found in large beds about a mile from the town, and half a mile from
the seashore, where it is quarried and carted to the kiln ; it is then mixed with beach
•and. and then the two are thoroughly ground together by a mill worked by a horse ;
but b<;fore it is mixed with the sand, I should have told you, it is spread out to dry,
then watered, allowed to dry again, and after that it is ready for the sand. When it
leaves the mill— which Is a rude piece of machinery, consisting of a wooden cylinder,
into which the lumps of clay are put, and a clod-breaker revolving in it— it is at once
moulded in the same way as In England. The bricks are stacked up in long sheds
open at the ends, where thev are left to dry ; this sometimes takes two or tliree weeks.
"The kiln is somewhat the shape of the accompanying sketch :— The bricks are
stacked above the line A It to wllhin a short distance of the top, spaces being left
between them for the circulation of the heat into every part. When the kiln is full,
all the openings are bricked up and fires kindled In the holes C U, which extend
.5"i **^2f*' •°,'* "■* "P'^" *' '"'^ '"!' «o allow the flame to come In contact with the
bricks. The only outlet for the smoke Is through the hole at the top.
'• The kiln which I saw was about 40 (ect high from top to bottom, and 20 feet
across the widest part Inside. It would burn about 25,000 at once. The fuel used is
wood.
" As far as I could le.arn, the cost of making is as follows :—
" Clay, sand, and all the material, labor, tools, horse, &c.,
&c., including everything but fuel, rent, fixtures, and s. d.
risk of breakage and waste 17 0 per thousand.
"Fuel 10 0 „
"Total 27 0 „
" The selling price at the kiln is from 388. to 408. per thousand.
" The laborers are mostly whites, though coolies are now and then employed for
the heavy and dirty part of tlie work.
" You will, no doubt, notice the whiteness of the bricks, which is owing to the sand
mixed with the clay.
" The bricks take from thirty to sixty hours to bum, and are then left for about a
week to cool before they are removed."
3 Tipton Blue Bricks, made In 1859. Of an average size of 8"-CS by 4" -2 by 3"-2, at
the standard size, carried 5,6,>3 lbs. greatest, 3,975 lbs. mean, and 2,801 lbs. least. This
is the heaviest brick 1 have met with ; it weighs 10 lbs. at the dimensions 9"by4J"by 3".
Its absorbing power is least, being hardly perceptible, two bricks giving but about
0-3 percent. The second quality absorbed but very little more, two bricks weighing
when dry 173 lbs., and after imraer»ion for 24 hours, only 17-5 lbs.
4 Tipton Blue Bricks, meide in ItHH. Mean size about 9" bv 4" -2 by 3' -2. These were
not nearly so strong as those now made, the greatest being 2,1001bs., mean 2,0171bs.,
and the least, 1,970 lbs.
2 Best Garrison-lane, Birmingham ; hand -made, clay passed through only one
pair of rollers ; the greatest strength, 3,630 lbs. j the least, 3.225 lbs., giving a mean of
3,370 lbs. ; the weight, 8-5 lbs ; the average size 9"'12 by 4"'23 by 3"'18.
9 Common Bricks, from the same neighbourhood, say Stony-lane, Ladypool-
lane, gave the greatest strength at 1,300 lbs. ; mean, 757 lbs. ; least, 320 lbs. ; the
weight, 7-06 lbs., and the average size, 9"-0S by 4»-29 by 3''07. The price of the best
face 358., and the common 21s. per thousand. In Doth the latter instances the
clay is passed through one pair of rollers only.
6 Best Oldburtf Bricks, made by Messrs. Barnsley and Sons ;the greatest strength,
4,600 lbs. ; the mean, 3,345 lbs. ; and the least, 2,542 lbs ; the average size is
9"-l by 4"-37 by 3"-25.
11 Common Bricks. Greatest strength, 3,361 lbs. ; mean, 2,193 lbs. ; least, 1,121 lbs.;
weight, 8-25 lbs. ; average size, 9"-l by 4"'4 by 3"16. This clay is passed through
two sets of rollers, and a pug-mill ; the bricks are hand-made.
Ingram, Ohlbury ; adjoining yard. These are machine-made. 9 bricks gave the
following results: the greatest strength, 3,703 lbs ; the mean, 3,120 lbs.; and the
least, 2,078 lbs ; the weight 8-44 lbs., and average size 9"-27 by 4'-43 by 3«-19.
The clay is treated in a similar manner to that adopted by Messrs. Barnsley, with
the addition of the machine for forcing the clay into the mould by machine power
instead of by hand.
5 Bricks, Bii-mingham, about 80 years old ; greatest strength, 3,460 lbs. ; mean
2,294 lbs. ; least, 1,682 lbs. ; average size, 8''-9 by 4"-4 by 2"-5 ; weight, 8-4 lbs.
37 Bricks made by Ingram's patent machine at Vaughton's Hole, Birmingham,
1849 ; greatest strength, 3,286 lbs. ; mean, 2,150 lbs, j least, 724 lbs. The sizes ot these
bricks may be taken at 9" by 4'-37 by 3'-25.
22 Haml-made Bricks, of the same dimensions, yard, and similar clay and baking ;
the greatest strength of these was itOO lbs. ; the mean 606 lbs. ; and the least 421 lbs. ;
the ordinary size, 9" by 4"'37 by ,3"'25.
6 Birmingham Brick.':, about 100 years old ; greatest strength, 4,250 lbs. j mean,
1,923 lbs. ; least, 1,100 lbs. ; average size, 8'-87 by 4"-33 by 2"-25.
18 Machine-7nade Bricksfrom Leeds ; greatest strength, 4,1.33 lbs. ; mean, 3,198 lbs. ;
least, 2,010 lbs. ; weight, 9-07 lbs. ; average size, 9"-l by 4"-25 by 3"-21. These were
made by Bradley and Gavan's machine (of Wakefield); they were taken from
different parts of the kiln, but there was not so much difference as might have been
expected. The mean strength of the six bricks at the bottom of the kiln was
3,4:i8 lbs. ; in the middle, 3,133 lbs. ; and at the top, 3,023 lbs. On May 4tli, Bradley
and Gavan wrote to me saying that "the machine consists of a pair of rolls placed
over a pug-mill, the bricks being formed in moulds under the pug-mill. The clay is
taken direct from the pit, and undergoes no previous preparation ; in some cases no
water is added."
Hand-made ditto; the greatest strength, 1,233 lbs. ; mean, 1,038 lbs. ; and the least,
835 lbs. ; average size, 9' by 4"'5 by 3''*6.
4 Bricks from Messrs. Browne and Co., Bridgewater; the greatest strength,
.3,200 lbs. ; mean, 2,318 lbs, ; least, 1,515 lbs. ; weight of brick, 706 lbs. ; average size,
8"-9 by 4"'25 by 2'''"65. Two of the bricks were "best." havinga strength of 3,200 lbs.
and 2,380 lbs., and the two common, 2,2.30 lbs. and 1,515 lbs., calculated at the
standard size. The strength of a tile 1"'6 thick gave as the mean of seven experi-
ments, 3,IK101ba. greatest; 3,107 lbs. mean ; '2,045 lbs. least, calculated at the standard
size. The fracture of both bricks and tiles sound and free from rubbish. All are
hand-made, and burnt in a close-arched kiln, about 20 feet by 19 feet by 14" &
high, fired for about seven days. The clay is rolled and pugged, and, as it leaves the
mill is cut off in suitable lengths and carried to the moulder. The bed of clav is close
to the river, and comes witliin 9 feet of the surface, and is about 18 feet thick (fresh-
water deposit). The weight of a brick of the size stated above (8"'9 by 4"-25 by 2''-(>.5)
when wet from the mould is 8J lbs. ; when dried fit for the kiln, OJ lbs. ; and when
burnt, about 5| lbs.
4 Bricks fromnear Weymouth; G. H. Crickmav, 3 miles from Weymouth ; greatest
strength, 2',0801bs. ; mean, 1,940 lbs. ; least, l,48o'lbs.; weight, 7-.33 lbs.; average size,
8" (il by 4"07 by 2"52. These bricksare hand-made ; one pair of crushing rolls, but
no pug-mill.
0 Bricks from two yards nearer Weymouth; greatest strength, 1,152 lbs. : mean,
7251bs.; least, .590 lbs. ; weight, 771bs., average size, 9»-4 by 4*5 by 2"-55. Theclaf
is passed though onepair of rolls. These, bricks were not sent to me by the makers;
the four first were,
3 liricki .from Colchester; greatest strength, 1,810 lbs. : mean, 1,389 lbs. ; least,
1,0.50 lbs. ; weight, 8i!7 lbs. ; average size, 9"-l by 4"-15 by 2"-2. These came from the
yards of Alston and Daniel, at Mile-end, near Colchester : the price is 24s. per thou-
sand ; they have a slight hollow. This was not allowed for in the testing. The
color at the fracture was a dark red, and one of them had a few small pebbles
in It.
9 White Bricks ; maker, Jarrow, near, Leicester ; greatest strength, 1.472 lbs. ;
mean, 1,104 lbs. ; least, 824 lbs. ; average size, 9" by 4'-3 by 3"16. They are sunk on
oneside, for;2«Jby 3"|. They carried 1.472 lbs., l,392Ibs., 1,252 lbs., 1,1.32 lbs., 1,052
lbs., 1,002 lbs., 902 lbs., and R92 lbs. at ordinary size,
9 Perforated Bricks {white] from Rugby (white and green) machine-^nadc ; the
greatest strength, 1,222 lbs. ; mean, 847 lbs. ; least, 407 lbs. These bricks broke
through the perforation, having three holes J inch diameter. The reduction of the
section by these holes is about one-third of the brick, and by adding on one-third to
tliemeanstrengtli,say 847 lbs. by282 lbs. = 1,129 lbs. against l.liM lbs. of the solid
brick. The weights the bricks carried (not calculated out at the common standard)
were 1,222 lbs., 1.022 lbs., 1,012 lbs., 862 lbs., 822 lbs., 552 lbs., 422 lbs., 362 lbs.
4 Oxford Bricks gave— greatest, 1,187 lbs. : mean, 1,08? lbs. ; least, 875 lbs. ; the
weight, 7'9 lbs. ; and the size 9" by 4"-24 by 2"-64.
7 /xmdon Bricks (proved .lunc a'j, 1859) ; greatest strength, 1,406 lbs. (stock) ; mean,
9<.I8 lbs. ; least, 366 lbs. (place) ; weight, 6-19 lbs. ; average size, 9"-2 by 4"-5 by 2" 7. The
weights the bricks carried at ordinary were, the first lot 1,142 lbs., 1,042 lbs., 9.52 lbs.,
662 lbs., 8.12 lbs., 422 lbs. ; all these being "stock" bricks, and the last a "place"
brick, 270 lbs.
7 to/i(foK/(HcA-» (proved October 14, 1859); greatest, 1,,390 lbs. (slock); mean, 825 lbs. ;
least, 485 lbs. (place) ; weight, 658 lbs. The weight both of this and the former lot is
calculated at tin: standard size. The weights carried were 970 lbs., 690 lbs., 580 lbs.,
400 lbs. stock bricks ; and 6;J0 lbs., 490 lbs.. 340 lbs. place bricks. The sunk cavity or
"frog" is not allowed for; if it were, it would give a little addition to the strength in
both esses.
February 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
99
10. Tika from Andrew Cuthill, ICsq., late Messrs. CubUt. These tiles he uses as
bond courses, and you will see a good specimen of them in some houses which he is
now erecting in Gordon-square. They are called "tile beams ; " their structure will
be seen on referring to the diagram. The sizes of those tiles are about 14 inches
long by .'i inches wide by ?t of an inch thiclc. Tlie average strength of 10 which 1
have proved was 5,055 lbs.— the greatest being 0,1K|0 lbs., and tlie least ;i,740 lbs. This
shows great increase of strength over the ordinary London briclis, tlie average
strength of which was only 911 lbs. The weight of these tiles, calculated out at the
standard size is 7-35 lbs.
4 /Iricks I'mm St. Albans; the greatest strength of these was 1,105 lbs., the mean
961 lbs., andthe least 873 lbs. The weight at the standard size was 7fl3 lbs., and the
size !>'-14 by 4"-29 by 2"-0.
4 Bricks, ilrij clai/, made bi/ Mr. Piatt, nf Oldham ; greatest strength, 1,193 lbs. ;
mean, 982 lbs.'; least, 898 lbs'. ; weight, at 9" by 4J" by 3' = 8-31 lbs. ; absorbing power,
a-27 per cent. ; size, 9'I by 4" 4" by 2"-9. These bricks were exhibited at the meeting
of Mechanical Engineers in Hirmiu":liam in 18.58, when a paper describing the
machine was read. This machine was likewise described at one of your own meetings
last year. The weights which the bricks severally carried at the ordinary size were
1,090 lbs., 842 lbs., 842 lbs., and 820 lbs., sliowing much uniformity in the strength.
All these bricks had a cavity or "frog." As these specimens were brought as a
sample of what could be done in dry clay, wo may infer that the best were
selected.
4 l)rick.i./rnm Nottlngliam, at Carlton-hiU, the brickyards of Mr. W. liiirffess; the
greatest strength was 2,142 lbs.; least, 1,090 lbs.; mean, 1,583 lbs.; calculated at
standard size, 7' by 4J'' by 3' ; one tile, 875" by 8-75 by 2" ; bore, 2,314 lbs., at standard
size. One of the bricks was proved while wet, after twenty-two hours' immersion • its
strength was 1,811 lbs. ; ordinary size of brick, 9J'' by 4i' by 1-lOtli by 3 l-l(ith" and
9 .5-lOth" by 4|' by 3'. The clay is usually got in the autumn and exposed, to the Irost
through the winter. The clay is rolled. The bricks are dried in a drying-house
before putting in the kiln. One ton of slack dries 0,500 in twenty-four hours. The
absorbing power was 1 lb. SJoz., the weight when wet being 9 lbs. 4Joz8., and when
dry, 7 lbs. 15i ozs., the size of brick being 9 7-10th» by 4J' by 3'.
Glass.— 'the four pieces of glass, common kind, which I proved were cut from one
strip, 5 inches wide and 4 inches thick ; the pieces were 0 inches lonf| and 5 inches
wide, and (calculated out at the standard size of the bricks) gave 17,208 lbs., 1.5,4:i5 lbs.,
14,931 lbs., and 11,385 lbs. ; the greatest being 17,208 lbs. ; the least, 11,385 lbs. ; and
the mean, 14,931 lbs. Tliis great difference is all the more singular from the circum-
stance of all the pieces being cut from the same plate. The weight at 9' by 4i" by 3"
would be 11-12 lbs. The increase of strength in other bricks is sometimes due to the
partial vitrification of the outside ; the great increase of strength from complete vitri-
ncation is seen in the experiments on glass.
Abstract of Experiments on Bricks.
The strength is calculated out at 7" x 4J' x 3".
Ha
Boston B
Do C
Baltimore B
Do C
Dutch
Do. Clinker....
Wroxeter
Paris
Do. Hollow ....
Calcutta
St. Petersburg
\lgoa Bay, South Africa
Tipton Blue
Make.
■!.::1
Do. (made 1S49) .
Birmingham—
Oarrison-lane
ytoney-laue
Do
Oldbury (Barnsley's).. B
Do C
Do. (Ingram's).... M
Birmingham(80 years old)
Do.Vanghton'sHoIe M
Do. Hand-made . . H
Do. (100 years old) . .
Leeds (Bradley and
Gavan) M
Do. Hand-made.. H
Bridgcwater (Browne) . .
Weymouth (Orickmay). .
Do. Common C
Colchester
Leicester White
Rugby Perforated (about
l-.3rdlos8)
Oxford
London (first lot)
l>o. (second lot)
Tiles from Mr. Cuthill .
St. Alban's
Oldham
Nottingham
0) S
4
j2
a X
3 a~
CC
aj
a*
Iba.
lbs.
lbs.
lbs.
6100
50M
4126
9-88
4510
3184
2040
8-81
3f>12
3551
.3460
8-06
4146
3040
1984
8-12
4000
3580
3016
676
4006
2945
2457
656
4654
3435
2403
3323
2010
400
7-5
2360
2035
1600
2850
1411
713
68
948
948
948
8.1
1387
970
555
7-5
,5.W3
3975
2801
100
2100
2017
1970
.3530
3.376
3223
8-5
1.300
757
.320
7 '06
4600
3345
2.542
.3361
2193
1121
8-25
3703
3120
2078
814
3460
2294
1682
8-4
3286
2160
724
900
005
421
42.50
1923
1160
4133
.3198
2616
9-07
1233
io:)8
835
,,
3200
2318
1515
7-06
2680
1940
1480
7 '33
11.52
725
590
77
1810
1389
1050
8-67
1472
1104
842
..
1222
847
407
1185
1087
875
7-9
1496
998
3f)0
019
1396
825
465
6:)8
6900
5056
3740
7-.i5
1105
961
873
7-63
1193
982
898
8-rH
2142
158:3
1090
■S a = «
per cent.
3-6
5-9
10-4
11-3
0-33
ImTdly
[>erceptiMe
9-27
1-5J
Size of Bricks.
7-5 X 3-5 X 2'16
7-5 X 3-44 X 212
8-54 X 423 X 2-31
8-07 X 3-98 X 2-07
9-26 X 1-35 X 216
6-25 X 3 X 1'46
X 34 X 1 7
8.8 X 4-2 X 2-1
10-4 X 4-3 X 4-25
415 X 21
1013 X 509 X 2-3
10 X 4-8 X 2-8
912 X 4'18 X 2-37
3x4-2 X 3-2
X 4-2 X 3-2
9-12 X 4-25 X 3-18
i X 4-29 X 3-07
9-1 X 4-37 X 3-25
91 X 4-4 X 3-16
9-27 X 4-43 X 3-19
8-9 X 4-4 X 2-55
4-37 X 3-25
4-37 X 3-25
S-87 X 4-33 X 2-25
X 4-25 X 3-20
X 4-5 X 3-5
8-93 X 4-25 X 2-65
8-nl X 4-07 X 2-,52
9-4 X 4 5 X 2-55
9-1 X 4-15 X 2.2
x4-3 X3-16
9- X 4-24 X 2-64
9-2 X 4-5 X 27
8-9 X 4-2 X 2-6
14 X 6 X it
9-14 X 4-29 X 2-6
1 X 4-4 X 2-9
97-10 X 4-5-8 X 3
Note.— B means Best ; C, Common ; M, Machine-made ; H, Hand-made.
CIIIMNEVS.
TIIK sketch of the furnace chimney is one we have had working for a lonf time
It will be perceived that in the interior is a firebrick lining 2' 7" diameter''inside'
and 9" tliick ; as this is built quite independent of the exterior casing of red brick'
a space lieing left between the two of J an inch, the interior firebrick linin" is at
liberty to expand without raismg the red brick which surrounds it. Within"about
3 feet of the top of the firebrick chimney or lining is attached a wrouf'ht-iron bar
from the end of which is suspended a wire of about a quarter of an inch diameter
which is attached to an index placed about 36 feet below. The index I use is a lio-ht
one, about 30 inches long, working upon a centre at one end, and having the liftinir
wire attached to it at a distance of 3 inches from that centre, giving a multinlvin''
power of 10 to 1 ; so that, when the wire is raised by the expansion of the chlmnev
only one-tenth of an inch, the index at its point shows a spact! of 1 inch
With (his I give the results of six experiments, showing in experiment No 3 an
elongationofl"-42.5, or nearly an inch and a half iiiooan
In the tabies of experiments marked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, «, the first column shows the
hour at winch the coal was put into the furnace, the third column gives -the number
Jdegrees as marked by the index. -u^uuv.
thl}ZfZiZh- "'" *-^*',?.' M °' • '""»"• chlnuiey for melUng Iron comtwred to
t el eat which is ever obtained in house flues, hut since the introdaction orSot It
«np«- f',Vil iT ^^- '1""^'" (l""-fieularly the high-presiure), the beat ot tlMM
an?rnn i,„, ^J^h^'k''",'"''.''.™'"'""^'' «'"' "»> " Iromopen flfepUee. : indeed I expect
an iron bar might be hcaUd to rednees in som,- of thewftiniaee flnea.
f-xpcriments showhig the elongaUon of a furnace-chimney when hc«ted. Height of
cliimncy 54' 7" by -r 7' insid<-.
KxMuiMENT No. l.-January 28tli, 1859.
Hour.
Cwt. of
CoiU.
ladei.
in
lulus.
Oscrma.
8rph«n.
IUbuIu.
12-50
1-15
2 coal
10 Black
Zero
47
46-25
..
Clear fltMty day.
2-35
24 slack
65
•326
47-50
2-67
3-17
2 coal
108
8S
•M
■42
48
..
Commeaeed charging Iron.
3-21
82
•41
3-30
4-21
8 coal
2 coal
80-50
155
•40
-77
48-50
■•
Charging door cloied.
4-50
2 coal
191
-95
5-5
2 coal
223
111
46
512
,.
228
1-14
5-37
2 coal
237
1-18
45
6-0
,.
237
1-18
0-5
6-25
7-10
8 coal
8 coal
2.37
223
237
1-18
1-11
1-18
44
..
Commencing second charge of iron.
Charging door cloied.
7-48
••
250
1-25
BxPEBiHENT No. 2.— February Ut, 1859.
BxjHUl-
HOM.
Coal.
Indm.
in
Inches.
Bitemsl
De^ees,
Syphon.
BoMto.
1-0
2-0
3 coal
10 slack
Zero
••
43
••
Day overcast.
3-20
4-0
2 coal
8 coal
71
162
•33
•81
42
41
••
Commeneed charging Iron.
4-50
2 coal
5-18
5-47
8 coal
2ooal
149
170
•74
•85
41
. »lio
Commenced second charge of iron.
6-40
2 coal
209
i-oa
< 9-10
7-5
2ooal
239
1-17
7-15
••
247
1-23
Experiment No. 3
-February 4tb, 18»9.
Expan-
Hour.
Cwt. of
coal.
Index
Externa]
Syphon.
Remarks.
inrbes.
'
1-0
1-55
4 coal
lOi slack
Zero
46
••
Day overcast.
3-20
3-27
4 coal
40
-200
46
••
4-35
2 coal
176
•880
4-45
2ooal
181-50
•905
4-55
,,
,.
Commenced second charge.
5-10
.«
165
•825
,,
Charging door dosed.
5-20
9 coal
165
■825
46
6-35
255
1-275
7-S
4 coal
280
1-40O
7-18
283
1-415
47
7-45 1 ..
285
1-425
..
..
Hain and Wind.
Experiment No. 4
—February 10th, 1859.
Hour.
Cwt. of
coal.
Index.
Expan-
sion
of
inches.
External
degrees.
Syphon.
„.-..
11-40
3 coal
Zero
46
Abrigtitday.
12-25
10 slack
155
2 coal
■40
■200
2^5
..
50
.,
Commenced charginsr iron.
Charging^door closed
235
55
■275
60
,,
240
8 coal
S3
■265
52
330
3 coal
4^0
3 coal
415
1 coal
4^30
202
fOIO
4^45
205
10-25
47
453
208
1'040
C^O
180
-900
7^0
142
-710
'
ExpEnmENT No. 5
.— Kebrniry letb, 1859.
Hour.
Cwt. of
Coal.
Ind«t.
Bxpin.
sioa
inches.
External
degrees.
Syplioii.
Remark!.
12-23
1-15
3-15
47
4-30
5-15
0^16
7^0
7-30
740
80
3 coal
10 slack
6 coal
2 coal
9 coal
2 coal
2 coal
Zero.
29
162
176
243
246
249
■145
•780
■880
1^215
1225
1-245
52
52
••
Strong west wind.
Commeneed chai^-ing iron.
Commenced second chaigc of iron.
Bain.
100
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 1, 1861.
ExFESiMENT Xo. 6. —March t4th, 1859.
KxT"-
Hmt.
Gal.
U*a.
Hon
ill
incites.
SjrphoD.
Remarlis.
12M0
Iron charged.
1-0
11 ootd
8
•040
1-30
K
■3flO
112
88
•+40
..
Gommeuced charging iron.
1-53
73
•365
,.
,.
Door closed.
2-0
69
•345
2-50
icoal
3-0
112
•660
315
21 coal
3-40
IM
•82
3-42
}coal
3-M
173
•86
Iron tapped out
415
■» C
182
•91
1
S? ( '« j
174
•87
f Furnace kept waiting more
til an
173
■86
I two hours,
6-35 )
173
•86
J
7-0 ..
171
•85
8-0
220
1^100
40
8-8 3i
227
1135
Iron tapped out.
8-45 2
1
245
1^225
Having read Mr. Uawkes's paper on "Chiinneys," Mr. Lewis likewise read the
following letter from Mr. Rogers :~~
River Hill, Seven Oaks, January 19th, 1861.
Dear Sir,— I have just taken the dimensions of the chimney about which I spoke
to you, and jjive you the facts as precisely as I can.
The chimney-stack in question is about 19 feet hig:h from its base to the chimney-
head, 14 (cet being within the roof of the building, and the remainder above. It
contains two flues, each 9 inches square, which are used for separate boilers— situate
one on each side the stack— the stack itself being entirely independent of the boilers.
The direction of the stack is north and south, t.e., the flues are north and south of
each other. The northern flue belongs to a boiler in which anthracite coal only is
nsed, and where there is a perpetual fire throughout the year, though of course, very
small in summer, and, perhaps, intermitted for a few days in very hot weather — in
July or Augu»>t ; the other, or south flue, belon-'S to a greenhouse, and of course is
only used in frosty or very damp weather, and for the most part with a feebler fire ;
the fuel burned m this boiler is principally cinders and breeze, very rarely a little
anthracite.
The facts I give relate entirely to the part of the stack outside above the roof,
and the measurements are taken from a 6et-ofl*or string-course, just level with the
rid^e of the roof, up to the under side of the chimney-nead, where there is another
stnng- course.
In measuring this 5 feet, I find that the northern side of the stack is 5 feet
S inches ; and the southern, 4 feet 11 J inches bi^h ; or that the expansion in 5 feet is
exactly one inch. On plumbing the chimney, I find that the south side is one inch
out of the perpendicular (towards the south) in the ^ feet, and the north side a
quarter of an inch in the same direction. The apparent reason why the north side
does not show a corresponding deflection with the south side, is that the north side
of the chimney has expanded towards the north, carryingthe outside courses back In
an opposite direction to that in which they would have been carried by the general
deflection of that part of the chimney.
Surmising that it was possible that the whole chimney had gone over towards the
south, I plumbed the lower part of the shaft 14 feet within the roof, which remains
as perpendicular as when it was built, so that the whole deflexion is a curvature in
the upper part of the chimney towards the south. There is rather more difficulty in
ascertaining the lateral expansion; but if the upper part was built parallel (and I have
DO reason to think it was not), the chimney alK)ve the roof has expanded |ths from
east to west on its north side, t.e., in 18 inches, and gtha from north to south, i.e.
ha 27 inches ; it must be noted that this expansion from oast to west );• only in the
north side, in the flue used for antliracite. The mortar in the joints of the north flue
is destroyed and has no cohesion ; but a knife may be pushed through it. The
mortar of the south flue is sound ; the mortar was all made with good road-sand and
good lime.
I must further state that the chimney-shaft has been built about twelve or thirteen
years, but that six or seven years ago it was so thoroughly dilapidated, to a greater
extent than now, that I had it taken down for about 4 feet and rebuilt with great
care, and partly in cement, so that the injury I now describe has all arisen in about
fire years.
On the former occasion 1 attributed its defects to explosions of gas in the flue, two
or three of which had taken place, and which I suspected had Mhattcred the chimney ;
but of lat« years I had taken precautions against all such explosions by admitting
air immediately above the fire, which bums all thej^as at once, or dilutes it so as to
be innocuous, and by admitting also a further draft of air into the chimney, 3 feet
hlffher up, so that if^any explosive compound formed, it could only be in about 3 or
4 feet of flue— too little to do any real mischief, especially with a lateral outlet to vent
its force. Since this was done I have never heard of any, even small explosions,
taking place. The destructive eflect of anthracite vapor upon mortar is shown by
the fact that the pargetting of the chimney all fell down in powder in the course of a
very few months after the chimney was first built, and I have never attempted to
renew it, A soot-door had been left at the bottom of each shaft to clear the upright
flues without interfering with the boiler flues, and the enormous accumulation of
dust here* attracted my attention, as it was removed by pecks, and first led me to
SDspcct the destruction of mortar by the vapor of anthracite. 1 must leave the ex-
planation of these phenomena to those wno have more experience ; I record as
correctly as I can what I have noted.
I may add that the cement (I'ortland) does not appear to be equally iniurcd, if at
all. but the courses laid in it are broken— I presume oy the expansion of the mortar
courses. I did not use cement throughout, because previous observations led me to
think it suff'erB from fire-heat more than mortar does. It should also be noted that
from the management of the fires, not to say from the twofold admission of cold air
Into the shaft, the chimney never becomes hotter, if so hot as an ordinary sitting-
room orbed-room chimney ; this is important, as showing that the effV-cts are not due
to heat. Moreover, they are less apparent lower down where the heat is greatest than
in the upper part of the chimney, which is cooled by external air. My conjecture is
that the sulphurous acid generated by combustion is condensed in the upper part of
the shaft, and that this it is which destroys the mortar and causes tne joints to
expand. An analysis of the disinU'grated mortar— if it was worth while— would, of
course, verify or disprove this suggestion.
BeUeve me, my dear Sir, faithfully yours,
J. Rogers.
Mr. Lewis then drew attention to mosaics on the table, which Mr. Penrose (who
was unable to be present at the meeting, in consequence of being engaged at the
rehearsal of the great oratorio to be performed in St. I'aul's) was anxious to use in
carrying out the pendentives of the dome of St. Paul's. They were chiefly from
Murano, near Venice, but some of the specimens were from Palermo. There was
also exhibited to the meeting a laree original head in mosaic from Torcello, near
Venice. Mr. Lewis likewise drew the attention of the meeting to some specimens of
patent bituininised pipes, for the conveyance of water, gas, and drainage, and made
of a number of layers of coarse paper. These pipes had Jx^cn long iu use in France
and other places. Mr. Lewis then pointed out some specimens of patent marble,
a kind of scagliola, which had been sent to the Institute by Mr. K. J. Ilridell.
Mr. Jennings said there were various points in connexion with the manufacture ot
bricks which had not been touched upon in the paper read. There was one which
he tliought ought to have been touched upon, and that was that the eflect of moisture
upon them occasioned an extension after they were made which was injurious to
buildings. Then notice had not been taken of dilTerent kinds of hollow bricks. The
French brick was stated to bear a very considerable weiglit ; that arose, he though^
from a greater burning in the kiln, and that, he thought, was the cause why
perforated bricks were stronger than the solid, though they were lighter. Then there
was another point, and that was that they ought to know the quantity and quality of
sand iu the clay where bricks were to be made for the erection of a building ; they
ought to know what the bricks were really formed of. Again, the question of
expansion of bricks under heat was of extreme importance. He should be glad to
know what bricks would expand least when subject to heat, and how they were to
form an opinion as to what bricks would expand the least.
Mr. T. Uayter Lem-is drew attention to one point, as to hollow bricks, which he
liad found in his own practice, and that was that he never found the mortar adhered
to the bricks. He had used first-rate mortar and bricks, but he found that he could
shake a wall to pieces after it had stood four or live years. And if hollow bricks did
not adhere to the mortar, that was a reason against the use of hollow bricks.
Mr. Thomas M. Rickman remarked that the taking of the duty ofi" bricks led to
an increase of their size, especially in the country, though not so much so in
London. He should Uke to ask a question as to the bricks they had in London —
why the finer sort of bricks they had, if not very carefully kept under cover, had a
green mould upon them, which was very objectionable. He presumed there was
something in the constitution of the bricks which absorbed the moisture and retained
it. Mr. Hawkes alluded in his paper to the bricks of the Midland Counties as being
non -absorbent, but the water got into the blue bricks very much. Mr. Kickmau pro-
ceeded to make some observations in regard to a chimney -shaft, the apparatus in
regard to which nsed by Mr. Hawkes he had seen. There was a curious point con-
nected with a chimney-shaft, and that was that supposing it to get perfectly cold
there was a contraction.
Mr. Jennings had used blue bricks in 14-inch walls, and found them perfectly free
from water ; they had been the very best bricks he could find.
Mr. C. Barry thought the blue bricks were very compact and good ones, but the
mortar did not thoroughly and permanently adhere, and become homogeneous. As
to the transverse strength of bricks, the information of Mr. Hawkes was exceed-
ingly valuable; but it did not possess that practical utility which at first sigrht it
might appear to have. The speaker then referred to some experiments which he
had made in reference to the strength of brick walls and cements.
Mr. Dines remarked that when a wall tumbled down, it was more likely to be due
to the mortar than to the bricks. Very few bricks would not bear a pressure of
three tons. As to the sand in bricks, if'^bricks were made of London clay, unless a
large quantity of sand was put into them, they would have very small bricks, and
that kept them from shrinkmg so much. As to the expansion oi brickwork, he had
known an expansion of five-eighths of an inch in ninety feet. He was quite
certain that brickwork did expand. As to the non-adhering of the mortar to the
bricks, that was very often caused by the bricks being used too dry.
Mr. C. H. Smith said it was very difficult to speak of bricks without speaking of
mortar, for the one was of little use without the other. It had been stated that
mortar did not adhere to bricks. Without a coating of sand on the outside they
could not have good bricks. It had been a question amongst builders, arcliitects,
chemists, and otners, as to what part sand played in mortar. Chemists said that
there was something very sensitive between the sand and the mortar. Mr. Smith
then referred to some experiments which he had made, and from which lie concluded
that if they did not put a coating of sand on the bricks there would be no cohesion
between the bricks and the mortar.
The Chairman was very much afraid that many of the bricks used would not
stand a pressure of three tons, and his own notion was that the greater part of the
bricks used in London were perfectly disgraceful. He saw no reason why every
brick should not be a good brick, he did not see why the brickmaker's yard should
not be made Into a manufactory for the proper burning of bricks, so that they might
bear a reasonable pressure. In reference to brickmakers and makers of brick
machines, he hoped the publication of the experiments mentioned in the paper
which had been read, would be productive of a great deal of good. The high price of
bricks at the present time was one of the most extraordinary phenomena of the day.
Touching the non-adhesionof mortar to bricks, that was an important point, and one
well worthy of consideration. And it was discreditable to the state of science in this
country at the present day that professional men should build houses with bricks
that held by absorption so many gallons of water, and which did an immense amount
of damage. As to tJie non-absorbent bricks, it was said that the mortar would not
adhere to them. Then it was the duty of brickmakers to provide bricks which were
non-absorbent, and yet at tlie same time would adhere to the mortar.
A AlEMBEK thought that chalk lime would, under some circumstances, be as good
as any other lime. As to the absorption by brieks, he mentioned a case in which the
brickH from moisture swelled, and the wall which they formed was upset, though
the foundations were perfectly good. The wall fell In consequence of the expansion
of the bricks.
After a few words from Mr. I'Anson and Mr. A.J.Baker, it was mentioned
that the mosaics intended to be used by BTr, I\'nrose in St. Paul's had been got
from Murano.
The Chairman thoughtit was a pity that when in this country there was so much
ingenuity in the manufacture of glass, cliina, and pottery, they should have to go to
Murano for mosaics for the decoration of St. Paul's.
In reference to the paper on Bituminlsed I'ipes exhibited, Mr. Alexander
Young, managing director of tlie Company for their sale, stated that he saw these
pipes in Paris in July, and the heat had no effect upon them. These pipes were
made for the conduct not of hot but of cold water, of gus, and for drainage purposes,
but in his opinion tliey would stand heat for domestic purposes.
Mr. Jenningh wished to know whether these pipes were desirable in the way of
cost. He thought tlie cost of them must be very considerably more than that of the
ordinary ones. ,
Mr. Young explained that tlie pipes cost only about one-half theprieeofiron pipes,
and one-fourth the price of lead ones.
Mr. C. Barry asked what tests the pipes had been subjected to to resist the
corrosion of acids.
Mr. Young stated that they had been tested to resist sulphuric acid, gas liquors,
the ammonia from gas, the oils that were extracted from coal tar, &c. The pipes had
stood to th*' satisfaction of several gas companies liere. The only Instance m whieh
they Iiad been afl'ected, was that with reference to bleaching liquor which paper-
makcrH use, and which the Company was now trying to overcome. The pij)es were
made for the conveyance of water, gas, and drainage.
A Gentleman stated that the patent marble exhibited that evening before the
members of the Institute, was much cheaper than scagliola.
On the motion of the Chairman, seconded by Mr. C. B.vrry, votes of thanks were
Jiassed to Mr. Hawkes for his interesting communications, and to Mr. Hayter Lewis,
or the trouble he liad taken In the matter.
The meeting then broke up.
A city hall is being built at Jersey City, opposite New York,
at a cost of nearly £2,000. The building will be connected with other municipal
institutions.
Fkbruary 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
101
THE I'UOCKSSKS KOIl THE PKKSEllVATIOX OF Sl'OML
IIOVAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH AKCHITECTS.
AX extraordinary meetinfr of this body was held at the rooms, 9, Conduit-street,
Keirent -street, on Monday last, wliicli was eonvened on tlio Hug:g;estion of Mr.
TiTE, Jl.r., for tlic purposeof liavinsj a diseussion on the various processes for the
prescr\atiou of stone, witli special reference to the present condition of the new Houses
of I'arliamont. There was a numerous attendance, and the chair was occupied by
?r. Dif:BV WvATT. Esq., V.I'. Amoofjrst a number of visitors present was the Klght
JI(.n. "W. Cowper, M.r., Chief Commissioner of Her Majesty's Works.
Tile discussion was opened by
Jlr. TiTE, who s.aid he had to express his thanks to the Chairman and to the Council
of the Institute for the opportunity tiicy liad g-iven him of promotlns' llie discussion
of that evening:, and on liis own part, for their permitting liim to open it. In ameet-
in;;- like that, composed mainly of professional architects, the jjreat importance of the
subject they had met to discuss would be sufficient justification for the step lie had
taken. For he thought, as a profession, they must feel that nothinff could be of more
importance to them than to endeavour to discover the causes of the failure of the
f)riucipal material employed in the construction of the Valaci; at Westminster, and to
nquire into what steps oujjht to be taken to arrest the decay wliicli, at so early a
period of its construction, liad manifested itself in a manner so marked as to render
it an object of European notice and of national regret. The building was one of vast
extent, just tinished. built without reference to cost, and so far as possible, in con-
structiun. of materials intended to last for an indefinite period of time, to defy the
ordinary causes of accident in ordinary edifices— a building of which we were justly
jiriiud as a nation, from the combination of artistic learning and scienccwith the pre-
sent ski 11 of tlie best of English artificers, acknowledged by all to be the best in the world.
And yet when the sound of the finishing strokes of the axe and the liaramer had hardly
ceased it was found externally in a state of lamentable decay, adecay so extensive that he
lliought the professional experience of any architect could not find any parallel
whatever to it. It was true tiiey had seen, and were constantly seeing in this
and other countries the necessity for restorations, various in extent and character,
and many of them due to the same cause as they were about to consider, and
amongst them he might quote the cases of Notre Dame, Denis churches, Kouen and
otlier continental celebrities, and in our own country the very familiar ones of
Henry VII. 's Chapel, and RedelifTe Church, Bristol, lint then these cases of decay
were found after the lapse of centuries, and not of years, and were due to causes
perfectly intelligible, such as the use of Caen stone, and Ueigate stone in Henry
Vll.'s Chapel, and one of the worst kinds of oolite in llristol. Not so with the case
immediately before them. Here science and caution liad been exhausted, and at the
outset no probable foundation for the result which liad followed was allowed to
exist, and no expectation of failure could have been reasonably surmised. Under
these circumstances he had asked for the present meeting. The question to be con-
sidered was one which not only concerned them as architects ; though they might
refuse to allow themselves to be involved in the reproaches so ready to be cast upon
them, yet they must, amongst the members of the profession, have all the experience
whieli exists amongst livliig men on the subject, with the technical skill best able to
appreciate any proposition which might be made for the amelioration of the great
existing evil. For himself, in proceeding. let him say, he had no personal object to
serve, he had no theory to maintain, no likings or dislikings of Individuals ; he would
endeavour to state everything candidly and fairly, and without bias, with a view to
promote discussion in the kindest and most friendly spirit, and he trusted the
sjiirit he desired himself to show he might be enabled himself to realise,
and In so doing he felt he should best promote the object he had In view, the obtain-
ing of some practical and useful result on this much- vexed question. He then pro-
ceeded to refer to some inventions which it was said were used by the ancients for
the preservation of stone. Now, if he had been informed that the ancients referred
to possessed any such knowledge, he should have been Inclined to contradict it. As
to the practice of the ancients. It was evident they made no such attempt, for in their
climate no such attempt was necessary. They made use of no coating or painting
for tile purpose of preventing decay ; they painted their buildings, not for the pur-
pose of preventing decay, but for the purpose of ornamentation. Recently two pro-
cesses for preservation had been mentioned— the zoplssa, and a distinct reference to
the ancient encaustic. He had taken some pains to ascertain what were tlie mate-
rials with which the ancients coated their vessels. In Genesis we were told that the
ark of Noah was made of goffer wood and lined within and without with pitch— no
doubt tile bitumen of the country. It was found tliat pitch and wax, scraped off old
«hip3 and roraelted, had greater usefulness as a preservative ; while others said the
xesin of the pine-tree produced the same effect. Tlie speaker proceeded to read
extracts from Pliny as to the use of pitcli which had been scraped together from
ships which had laiu at sea, which was called zopissa, and which was thought to be
better and stronger by reason of the greater capacity It had from being exposed to
«ea-water. But to say that zopissa was useful at the present day for the preserva-
tion of stone, was to use a very hard word with a very unintelligible meaning. He
ne.'ct proceeded to refer to encaustic, the use of which Vitruvius explained. Having
made some extracts from the work of Vitruvius, Mr. TIte said he apprehended that
to apply encaustic to the Houses of Parliament would not be efncaclous. Then
he came to the question of a process for the. preservation of stone being
known to the Assyrians. Sir Henry Rawlinson (who was unavoidably absent from
the present meeting) had drawn attention recently, in answer to a letter which had
appeared In the Thus, to a cuneiform inscription on a rock in Mesopotamia, a
portion of the surface of which he found covered with a fine siliceous varnish, which
had the effect of preserving the inscription upon it recording the deeds of King
Darius unimpaired for nearly 2,.o00 years. His opinion was that the droppings
remarked In the face of the rock were made, not bv the rain or action of the elements,
but by the material itself when first adopted. Varnish, they all knew, very soon
evaporated, In consequence of the effect of the atmosphere upon the materials used.
It was quite possible that the Assyrians might have used silicates of lime, but he
thought that most likely they were sulphates of lime. If they did use a material
for the preservation of stone, it sliowcd an advanced state of science at that early
period. He understood that some of the carving brouglit from Nineveh and made of
alabaster had a coating of that kind made from the percolation of water. The
lecturer then proceeded to the principal part of his subject, which involved the
ouestlon what they should do at the present day. Now, the stones we and the
French used were calcareous ; carbonic acid and lime formed the stones and marble
with whicli they were all familiar. Of the sandstones used In London the cleanest
and the clearest was the paving-stone of Yorkshire. He then referred to the Bath
stone, the Portland stone, and the Caen stone, all oolitic, and these oolites were all
extremely well known. The Frcncli limestone was verv little known In this country,
but well known in France. Referring to the stone used in the erection of tlie Houses
of Lords and Commons, he said it would be recollected that at the commencement of
that beautiful building a commis.sion was issued consisting of some eminent men, one
of wliom (Mr. Smith) was in the room, for the purpose of selecting the most suitable
stone for the structure. They went all over England, and there were In that Institution
specimens of the different kinds of stone they met with in the course of their labors,
and at last they discovered iuYorkshire a stone which was found to be an indestructible
material— it was a magnesian limestone, a dolomite, as they said in French. The
magnesia of commerce, which was so largely produced, was mainly produced by this
dolomite, the carbonic acid being extracted by sulphuric acid. Tliere was a report,
a very elaborate and wonderfully able report, printed upon this inquiry ; but the
more convenient references to the opinions of that day were contained in an extract
which he would read to the meeting. Mr. Smith, who was one of the commissioners,
published a book called " LitholciL'y." [Mr. TIte then read some extracts from this
book.] He believed the suggestion of the cause of the failure of the stone employed
fortheNewHousesof Parliament wasthis, that if the lime of the magnesia and the car-
bonate was not crystalhne, it decayed more rajiidly than any other stones. Therefor*
nothing was more essential than a proper choosing of those stones. The very oldest
stone in England was Bath stone, and some portions of it were yet in a good state of
pieservatlou. If they touk an ill-clioscn stone lUr i-ffccta were Ununmbl... and •ucli
M_as the case sometimes witli Portland stone. He knew that the atone from the west
ot 1 ortland would endure, while the stone from the east would not Now that
showed the necessity of having iiracllcal men like .>lr. Smith to examine and d.-cl<le
upon the nature of the stone to be chosen. The two kluO* of itooc to be found at
1 ortland were very diHerent in quality and In result, yet they were b<ith I'ortUnd
ana both oolites, llwu as to the bulldiug in .lermyn-slreet. which » an of murnGilia
several stages of the lecture]. They all kiiiw that when m Switzerland Iher >aw
uie ridges of the spires, well, they were nothing but our block tin, and the »awews»
i" I^^S i? Canada. But such tin would not exist in London, in con«<qiienc,. of the
eltect of the acid. He then proceeded to speak of the remedy of the evil complained
of, and one remedy which had been suggested for the preservation of cement or
stone was to paint it. Then It had been proiiosed to bituminlse it; tiler had seen
some specimens of that at Tunbrldge Wells, but It had not been suceesslul, and he
thought bitumen could not be borne as a coating for stone. There were thrre systems
proposed for the coating of stone, one, the use of bitumc^n. which he disnilssed ;
then the oleaginous or paint system; and next the siliceous remedy. As to the
oieiiginous remedy, he showed, from experiments which he had made, with the
assistance of 3Ir. Jaraday, on a work of Sir Robert Smirkcs, that paint would de-
compose. So much for the oleaginous cements. Then the Ihlril class of remedies
proposed was the siliceous, organic or nltrogemms, nitrogen being a principal iKirtion
of file air we breathe. Having suggesteil that there were three remedies proposed, the
bituminous, the oleaginous, and the siliceous, he came to some of the patents, whicli
might be had for a penny. He had before him some patents referring to the preser-
vation of timber, &c. One of them, the author ol which was Mr. John Itetlull
claimed it as a right that it was useful for the hardening of stone, but he iMr. Tite)
never knew of its being applied to stone. Then there was a patent obtained by Mr.
M illiam Hutchinson for making pasteboard and other articles waterproof, and he
proposed to apply the patent also to the preservation of stone. But If
they were to .apply anythinij to atone, it appeared to him painting was the mo*t
reasonable thing to apply. Then he came in the order of time to the speciflration of
an invention (by Mr. Daines), which had been rather extensively used, and which
though au oleaginous on^ Mr. Sydney Smirkc spoke well of. ' The H'cret of tlie
patent was that the remedy was sulphur boiled in oil and in certain proportions, and
in the Pharmacopoiia of London he found the same thing. The ingredients were
us:;d in medicine in about the same proportions as In the patent for the preservation
of stone. (Mr. Tite then readexlracts from the " London Pharmacopoiia " a* to the
use of tlie olium mlphuratum, or sulphurated oil). After referring to the patent of
Szerelmy, of I85r, for rendering surface matters water-proof, the lecturer came to
the siliceous class of remedies, and first noticed the spwification of Mr. William
Edward Newton, which seemed to be the patenting of Kuhlmann's invention. He
then alluded to the invention of Sir. liansome for ttic preparation of artificial stone, of
which he (Jlr. Tite) did not know much, but he believed it had been found very
useful. He thought that if they were to take as a remedy anything that decayed
suddenly, soon or readily, they were only palliating and concealing the evil, and he
could not understand why, in the present state of^sclence, something should not be
brought to the cure of the evil. He then came to the question of giving to the face
of stone glass, a material which was almost indestmetlble, and which lasted two
thousand years. They had found means of liquefying glass, and all they wanted
was to find the means of applying it. The whole thing had been beautifully stated in a
publication which had been brought out at the instance of the I'rincc Consort, being
a translation from the German into English, and also into French of a
paper by Kuhlmann upon the invention of Fuchs. Fuchs was the author of the
invention, and Kuhlmann carried it out. The Invention was said to be very success-
ful, and it was supposed to be a coating for fresco painting. (Mr. Tite then read
extracts from the publication in question wliich showed that the application of the
glass referred to had answered very well in some parts of the continent.) But it had
not been found to answer in-Euglan I, and he thought it had not been found to answer
in Paris. I'roceeding to make some remarks on the application of water glass, the
lecturer remarked that our moist climate in England must saturate the stone very
considerably and prevent the intended effect of these silicates. Without the stone
was exceedingly saturated, and it did not appear to him that the silicate could enter
the stone sufhciently to produce the desired results. He thought that any temporary
coating to give time for a change within would be a failure. After making some
experiments bearing upon liquid glass, the lecturer said that, as to what was proposed
by Mr. Itansome the difficulty was this, that his remedy was a sort of powdery sub-
stance, and when it become dry it would get washed away, but he was told that that
was explicable, in what way he did not know. Probably, however, that might be
solved by the wonderful skill in chemistry possessed in the presi^nt age. After making
some further experiments with carbonate of ammonia, in order to the production of
the gelatinous silicate, the lecturer said there were two or three remarks with which
he should wish to conclude. First, he thought they were exceedingly indebted to the
former Chief Commissioner of Works as well as to the present Chief CommissiontT
for the cautious and handsome way with which this question had been noticed and
experimented upon, and especially so to the present Chief Commissioner, who he waii
happy to say was present at the meetiug. He entirely approved of the course which
the Chief Commissioner had taken throughout In the hope that some results would
follow to remove what he could not help thinking would be an architectural disgrace
were it permitted to remain. Mr. Sydney Smirke in a paper bad euggesled that it
was desirable to have this matter referred to a Committee of the Institute. A disctis-
sion might have certain results, but he (JTr. Tite) thought that the appointment of a
committee properly chosen, to go and see matters on the spot, and ace what Govern-
ment had done on the subject, would be attended with the greatest possible
advantage. . ^. „. , , , _ ,,
Mr. T. Hayter Lewis (hon. sec), read the followhig communication, which had
been received from Mr. Sydney Smirke, R.A.:— , . ,i i .n •„ .1.1.
" I deeply regret my inability, through indisposition.to attend at the Institute this
evening, not only because the subject is of vital importance to our art. but Ijccauac
every member ought by his presence, if possible, to express his sense ol gratitude to
Mr. Tite for undertaking so difficult and, in some respects, so invidious a task aa
thatof canvassing the relative merits of rival processes.
•• Of the three processes, that of laying on zopissa ranks lowest in my estimndion.
There has been so much mystery and mystification about it, and there has been so
much vain boasting about it, that I own I have acquired a prejudice against it whch
may warp my judgment. I will, therefore, not say more than that no chent of mine
will use the zopissa by my recommendation. ... ,,,^. , „„ j „„,„t_
"With respect to the sillciflcation proe-ess, it is »!"'?'<;. '"''"'^'^''■•""^P";^^
scientific in principle ; and if the theory of it ciin be practically and satisfactoril>
worked out, it would leave nothing more to be des red If a tun '"'" »' P";'-; f ''•j*,
can be made permanently to adhere to the face of the stone, so "•»°*P'"^J' f, °» °"' ^
aff.ct the color of the stohcand so thin a *iot to destroy the sharpness of tie can ing'
on the stone, what more do we want ' Hut I have not been y^' V^''!!'Y' «'\»* *.'i
these desiderata have been secured. It would indeed be "/'."""'P! ."^^ri'r'Jnite of
process could be so effectually realised. The mechanica "^^'P""''? .f^.^fj^id ,he
hrae in the interior of boilers and pipes, of sulphate of lime »" ?'*J»'''''?^",55ome
deposit of the salt of lime on urinals, ic. are all granular at «'-s'' ?"^ °"',^,!^"'St
laminated after the process of deposition has been so long continued as to ha> e accu-
mulated a considerable thickness of solid matter on the surface receiving the
''"•T^ese analogies are ratherdiscouraging. and somanv years ha«no^^^^^
the scientific world was first put upon this scent that I teg'n to fear that a penecu>
satisfactory result is not forthcoming. ^ . . .^ ,„, ty.. nu,ulta of
"With regard to the sulphur process, I need not «»ymueh; for theresuraoi
102
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 1, 1&6L
"•X*'
my I'xpiricnw. such its it is, are failhfully and exactly stated In the printed papers
circulated by the inventor of that process.
•• The 40 yards of experiment on the north side of the Conservative Club arc
within the reach of evervone's observation, and as far as three and a half years' ex-
perience Roes, the experiment is sallsfactorv' ; of this Tvrill only 8ay.y«a»/«m mleal.
" Should the discussion this eveninsr result in the appointment of any committee to
prosecute this important inquirv carefully ""d systiniatically, the Institute may rely
on my lealous services, whether on the Committee or otherwise.
"Jul 2S, 1881." " Sydney Smirkf.."
The Chairman said that the intcrcstinp remarks of Mr. Tite had necessarily
occupied so lar^ a portion of the evening tliat sufficient time was not left for closing
the discussion that evening, for it would not lie possible with the brief space left to do
justice to fireutlemen who mi^ht wish to state their views ^n the subject under con-
sideration at length. Tlurefore he announced that at the close of the meeting; the
diseaiwkm would be adjourned, and continued at the next ordinary ^neral meeting,
I he hoped that those who nii^ht speak in the meantime, would' aiiow time for the
iDOsin^r and seeonding of a vote of thanks to Mr. TIte for his interesting address.
G. K. IlL'RNELL, C.K., said this was a subject to which he had devoted
special atteutiou. and in which he had, perhaps, had peculiar opnortuuities of
forming an opinion, he might say that for years ne had been practically acquainted
with building stones and in almost every climate of the temperate latitudes
of Europe, and had had many opportimities of seeing the ways in which stones
had decayed. Since coming to England a subject which had attracted his
attention had been the lamentable decay in the New Houses of Parliament, a build-
ing which was certainly the honor of^our modern architecture, and to which it
appeared all common resources of science had been applied, but which was no sooner
eompleted than the exterior began to decay. It was certainly a lamentable, a sad
and a national disaster. As to the choice from amongst a series, of processes for the
preservation of stone, it struck him the whole iiuestion started first of all upon the
mistake that they were studying the preservation of stone, while they should first of
all address themselves to this question— to obtain a stone that would not decay. And
especially so as architects in London had been possessed of a stone that would resist
the atmosphere, yet thev were not content with that but would go further a-ficld and
had thus fared worse. The crystalline stones did not decay in the same way as those of
an earthy nature. The building stone which was experimented upon for the 1 louses of
Parliament, and upon which the Parliamentary report was based was crystalline, and
not the same as that which was used. The question no\i»was, what were thev to do,
when they had before them a stone which was rapidly decaying under a London
atmosphere. The sulphate of ammonia was acting upon the unstable carbonate of
magn^a. If they examined what was going on in the building they would find that
the decay was not proceeding in the way meiitioned by 5Ir. Faraday. If they looked
through the Houses of l*arTiament they would find that the decay had not taken
place in the string-courses on which the wet would fall, but on the small bead under-
neath, and that inllnitely more than in the inclined surface on the top ; It took
place, in fact, between wind and water. The question was how was this decay
to be arrested ? It stnick him the only way to prevent this was by presenting
some kind of cementing material which would artificially prevent the disinte-
gration. As for all they had heard abont the coatings which had been applied for
uie purpose of hermetically closing the stone, they would find tliis bad taken place —
that wherever the stone had been In any way hermetically closed by the process of
throwing out the different salts, the stone itself had gone on decaying underneath.
As to the Speaker's Court, Mr. Faraday referred to the success of the application
there. That C'ourt had been coated over several times, and was still being done, and
yet without the desired effect. Some time since Mr. Bidder, himself, and another
gentleman made reference to the application of Szerelmy's process, and he
should like any gentleman to uxamine what had been going on in the
Speaker's Court. Hut the real question which interested them as practical
men, having to deal with a material wliich was capable of absorbing causes of decay,
was how they might resist |those causes. He thought the best process was to bind
the earthy particles of the stone by some insoluble cement, and some precipitate of
of lime and silica seemed to him the only thing they could at present command.
There were difficulties in the application of all these ipatters, and which he had ex-
perienced himself The application of the siliceous solutions was essentially a
chemical question, requiring skill and careful manipulation. The whole question,
indeed, was involved in very great doubt and very great obscurity. He had a very
strong conviction that of all the processes he had seen Kansome's was the best, but
he should be very sorry to pin ills judgment upon that until thev had had more
extensive experience. He was convinced that what Mr. Sydney SrairKc had suggested
was the best course which could be adopted under the circumstances— namely, that
the whole question should be referred to a committee, who should consider the cir-
cumstances under which the decay of the Houses of rarliament had taken place, and
who would be able to guide the chemists in their investigations. Architects were
wsnted to guide the chemists In the conduct of the class of investigations they should
go through. And he could not but think that the best course for the Institute to
pursue was to support as far as might be. the suggestion of Mr. Smirke, for this
was, essentially, a question to be examined by a committee of architects and
eneineers.
The Right Hon. W. Cowper, Chief Commissioner of Her Majesty's Works, must
say he thought the present was a subject that could worthily be taken up by the
Boyal Institute of British Architects, for in their present state of difficulty in taking
chargeof this building of the Houses of I'arliameut, the (iovernment looked for the
help of the Institute in the science and experience which they could give in that
respect. .Sir Charles Barry was the person looked to when first he (Mr. Cowper) had
to consider the subject, and he found that gentleman exceedingly wishful that some-
thing should be done for Ilie preservation of the stone, he having become aware that
the stone he was instriimental in selecting had not attained the object expected, and
he was most anxious that something should be done in the matter. That gentleman,
it seemed, bad formed an opinion favorable to the process of Szerelmy, which, in his
Judgment, was the best known ; and afteran examination by Mr. l''araday and Sir K.
Murchison, he (Mr. Cowper) thought it proper to apply that process to some portions
of the building. But he thought that process was not such as should be applied to
the whole of the building, but would like to wait to see what practical and scientific
men would wish to be applied to all the parts of the building. He should be glad if
B eoinmittee were appointed to go ftilly and very carefully into the whole subject.
The idea he had now, liad been very much confirmed by the lecturer, that the appli-
Cktion of water-glass would be in the direction of what they should want. There
had been an application of water-glass to the river front of the building some years
ago. He did not know the manner in which it was applied, so that it had not been
asnfflcient test. But the water-glass had been applied in different directions, and it
was now being need on the frescoes of the House of Lords, and lie believed to the
Seat satisfaction of those engaged in applying It. He thought they were still
}k>iig to a proper and safismctory means being found of prcsirving the walls of
this magnificent structure, and in bis opinion the observations whicli liad just been
made as to the place in which the decay occurred, was one which had hardly met
safBclent attention. II was under the string-course where the decay occurred ; it ran
all along the building, diffused, and in a partial manner. He was sure the fiovern-
ment would be "lad if something could be demonstrated about this matter as to the
preservation of the building— anything clear and distinct whlcii the knowledge,
science, and skill of the country could produce for the preservation of that magnifl-
eent building from the decay so rapidly advancing.
Mr. Geobgz Gilbert Scott proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Tite, who, he
thought, had brought the w hole case before them In a full and fair manner. The
mason at Westminster Abbey had within the la.st five years tried a long series of
experiments on different decayed portions of the Abbey, and in those experiments
the various prfjcesses mentioned that evening !had been tried. He should be most
happy to afford any member of the Institute before the next meeting any liiibrma-
aon as to those experimenti, bat he should advise all to apply to the mason of the
Abbey, who lived near to it. None of the experiments had been thoroughly
satisfactory ; in some degree or other tlicy had failed, some sKghtly, others greatly.
But they had been all tried under great disjidvantages and under unfair circumstances.
But, however, the experiments had been made and were open for observation.
There was a standing committee already on the subject of the preservation of stone,
which he proposed some four or five years ago, but they had never made any report.
He thought it exceedingly desirable to have a general investigation of the subject
with the engineers, for to both engineers and architects the subject was similarly
interesting. If members of the two institutes of engineers and architects were
united in the consideration of this question, in addition to having tlie assistance of
chemists, he thought desirable results would be more likely arrived at. He thought
they ought not to saddle on the commission of scientihc men, the whole of the
failure of the stone for the Houses of Parliament, for the stone of which the Ilonses
of rarliament were built was not the stone recommended by the commissioners.
They recommended Itoisover stone because it had been found to answer well. It had
been pointed out to him by a mason who worked at the Houses of Parliament in
their earlier stage of existence that the whole of the stone used from Mansfield
Woodhouse stood, and that was the stone recommended by the commissioners. It
was in consequence of a departure from the report of the commissioners all the mis-
take had arisen. That showed the importance of a proper selection of stone. He
remembered that just at the time of the commencement of the building of the New
Houses of I'arliament he was engaged in the making of a monument at Oxford, and
in the committee who had charge of the matter a difl'erence of opinion arose as to
the kiiid of stone to be used. He went through the adjoining district, and found a
stone which suited the purpose. He moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Tite.
Mr. George (Jcdwin seconded the motion. He thought that the state of the
Houses of I'arliament at the present time was really most distressing, .and was
quite sure that Her Majesty's Government would do well if they paused until a full
inquiry was gone into on the subject, before a report was made. He thought the-
great misfortune of this matter was, that the discussion upon it had iiitherto been
chiefiy carried on by interested parties. Before any of the processes for the preser-
vation of stone could be adopted, time must be given to prove whether they were
of worth at all'; before they were persevered in, a calm and careful inquiry should be
made as to their qualities.
After a few remarks from the Ciiatrman, who remarked that although the
Council would be delighted that this subject should be referred to a Committee to
consider and report, the meeting must not indulge too great expectations from
receiving such a document, as they had all the information the gentlemen who would
form the Committee had.
The vote of thanks was passed by acclamation.
Mr. TiTE briefly returned thanks, and the discussion was ac^oaTned to Monday
next.
MANCHESTEK AKCHITECTUKAL ASSOCIATION.
A MEETING of this Association was held at the Church Institute's Eooms, John
Dalton-street, on the evening of 'Wednesday week, January 23rd.
The minutes of the last meeting having been read by the .Secretary, and the
the necessary business transacted.
The proceedings of the Associatioii were formally opened by the I»RESiDENr
reading the inaugural Address, in the course ot which a graphic sketch was given of
the favorable circumstances under which architecture at present exists in spite of the
many misconceptions with which the general public regard it.
In inquiring into the probable cause of such misconceptions, the writer asked
the question—
"Is the history of architecture inadequate to furnish materials for suggestion,
instruction, and incentive, that, profiting by the experience of the erections of past
times, we may avoid the defects, imbibe the spirit which breathed into their archi-
tecture the breath of art life, or catch from them the mantle which shall enable us to
infuse into our works power and beauty, or seize that golden cord wliich, iu not a few
instances in the progress of style has been left incomplete, and carry to a successful
issue the perfection of styles, in so far as perfection is attainable ?
" Or is it that the arcliitectural mind, intent on reaping the rich fields already
tinged with autumn tints, gathering the luscious fruits abundant and luxuriant, flits
about amid the bc'wildering scenes of beauty — experimenting with one thing,
capriciously adapting another— seizing with excited grasp the apparently excellent
and worthy— carried away by the vastucss and richness of his resources in despite of
better judgment — that cooler research would secure to it ?"
The Essayist, in alluding to the many failures artistically and constmctionally of
buildings of modem times, ascribed such defections in great measure to improper
early training, in regard to matters of professional education, and censured, in the
following terms, the architect who, in defiance of all accepted standards of taste,
thrusts the creations of his brain, hideous as they sometimes undoubtedly are, on the
general public.
" Does it then." he asks, "become our province to censure ; have we any right to
indulge in strictures, and charge with a weighty responsibility those who may incur
them, seeing that after all it may bo a mere personal matter affecting iu his profes-
sional reputation the individual more immediately interested; if he is willing to bear
the censure of the public to whose criticism the work is, by the fact of its erection,
submitted, if he choose to stand on his rights as a private citizen, on the peculiarity
of his standard of taste, or on his privileges as a professional man, better informea
than the uninitiated portion of society!? Can requirement go further ? We believe it
can, convinced that as in literature so in art— the works of the refine d and skilful
have their tendency in elevating, intellectually, those who come under their infiuence ;
that, on the other hand, coarse, tasteless, and ill-adapted productions have not
merely a negative impression, exciting no emotions of pleasure, no sense of content-
ment with the work thus presented, but one positively demoralising, giving to archi-
tecture a depressed standard of taste, weakening the sympathies, stupifying the
imagination, and extinguishing the life-spark of the appreciation of the beautiful
possessed, and enjoyed in a greater or less degreeby all." Tlie lineof argument chosen
embraced the means of careful art-education, and also proved that an associatioii
like that just established was one of the most effective means to secure such
training.
After alluding to the success which is augured by the energy and spirit with which
the members are accepting the obligations laid upon them, the writer concluded by
a reference to the many diflieulties which beset the architect, by remarking that--
" Of a truth, the pathways we respectively pursiu' are steep and rugged, the toil
couslant and arduous— the shrine of perfection on the summit of yonder acclivity too
thickly enveloped in clouds of mist ever to be perceived by us, too far distant ever to
be reached by us-its existence too often forgotten by us, ever and anon concealed as
the place of its habitation is by the Jutting crags and overhanging ohifs of difficulty
which beset our course. Now we are hastening onwards with alacrity in the dis-
covery of some new treasure ; again stumbling, as with false steps we less carefully
pursue our course. Still, for our encouragement, many have passed far onwards, in
varying nearness, to that enshrinement ; their shadowy forms may be seen in the
distance, their voices faintly heard 'far up the height,' as courageously they contend
with foes to their progress. In the utterance of the watchword, 'Excelsior !' "
The proposed Class of Design was then discussed by the members, and other
institutions (library, reading-rooms, &c.), in connection with the Association were
mentioned and considered.
The Secretary having intimated the business of the next three meetings--
namely, a paper by Mr. Thomas, on " Timber ;" Mr. Alfred Darbysliire, on " Slichc!
Angelo, the Architect, Sculptor, and I'oet ;" and by Mr. Webster, on " The Science of
Architecture," the meeting was concluded by a vote of thanks to the President for
his paper.
February 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
103
The Engineer'n, Architect'^ and Contractor's Pochtt Book, for 1801. Lon-
don : LocKwooD and Co- . ^, , , . „ . , ,. ,
BETWEEN the Epliemendes of the planets lor Greenwich mean time, and an
obituary of eminent engineers— that is to say in tlie intervening: four hun-
dred pa"-e3 of tills work— tliere is contained an immense mass of legibly printed
and fairTy illustrated subjects. Condense theEiirycIopoediaBrittaiiica, illustrate
the condensation mth a multitude of tables, and, as stated, examples drawn to a
condensed scale; give the values of dilferent moneys and explain the relationship
of English measures of distance and weight to tliose used abroad, and a fair idea
may & hadofwliat is attempted, and in a majority of cases, fully carried out,
in tlie portable volume before us. No sane man would condemn us to \?ade
through and check the entire contents of such a volume, but we must say that
all we have tested we have found correct.
We cannot conclude our notice of this work without quoting the follownigon
the use of the wire cables in suspension bridge building, and with the quotation
close our necessarily brief notice.
The mode in which the separate strands of tlie frrcat cables of the Niagara Bridge
are made up into one rope, and the way in which the wires themselves, or the yarns,
are bound tO'Tcther in the str.inds, seem to bo one of the most serious objections to
the nrescnt sTpiilieation of this material to bridffo building. The wires are spliced, It
is true in the cables of the Nia^'ara Itridge; but they are ehnply placed in juxtapo-
sition in the strands, and are only retained in their respective positions by the
bands In the Krench iron wire bridges, the precaution of joining tlie ends of the
wires was hardly ever observoil ; and it is more than probable that under these cir-
cumstances tlK- cables must have lungthencd under the action of the load to a much
greater extent than would be the case -with the Niagara cables. But it is also to be
suspected that the public is hardly in possession of all the facts connected with the
changes which have taken place in the latter: and it would be very important to
know the precise degrei; of elongation to which tlio last-named cables have been
exposed, smco they left the reeving pulleys, and since they have been in place. But
be this as it may, there can be no reason to question the advantages which would be
gained, both in the strength and in the durabiUty of iron-wire cables for bridges, if
they were made in the manner so successfully applied by Messrs. Newall and Co.,
in the wire ropes supplied for the slanding rigging of ships. The resistance of such
strands to longitudinal efforts of traction must be far greater than it can be when
the wires are simply laid in straight lines from one end of the rope to tlie other, and
the mechanical effort to which the wires are exposed in the process of weaving, must
get rid of the danger of the partial elono:ation of the separate elements. The
success of this application of the iron manufactures seems, to us at least, to depend
on the u.sc of the wire rope, aud if the latter were used with proper precautions
there could be no reason for the disfavor which at the present day certainly
attaches itself to one of the most elegant and economical systems of bridge build-
ing As for the application of the suspension cables to railway bridges, we can
only repeat our formerly expressed opinion, viz. : that it would in England be
simply inadmissable, on account of the difficulty of maintaining liigh rates of speed
upon a roadway bo supported. There Is an incidental advantage, it may be added,
in the use of the woven wire ropes, \1z. that they must be formed of the very best
metal ; the process of weaving could not be effected with inferior iron wire.
Buildern' and Contractors' Prke Book for 1861. London : Lockwood and
Co., Stationers' Hall Court.
THIS " hardy annual," as we may term one of Weale's celebrated series, con-
tains all the latest prices for work in all branches of the building trade,
with the items numbered for easy reference; also an appendi.\, of tables, notes,
and memoranda, arranged to afford detailed information commonly required in
preparing estimates, &c. The whole has been revised by George R. Burnell who
to the profession of architect adds that most important and ought-to-be-added
qualification ot Civil Engineer. We have said "ought to he added," because
die more an architect knows of civil engineering the more substantial will be the
structures raised from his designs and under his superintendence ; and hence we
are glad to see in this work many items generally classed under the engineering
head, but a thorough knowledge and appreciation of which are undoubtedly
essential to the proper formation of an architectural mind, jfwemayso express
it. We need scarcely say that the 280 pages of this work contain nearly all
tbat.can be desired in such a work.
Pictorial Handbook of Geography (Bohn's Illustrated Library).
H. G. Bohn.
TO keep pace with the study of geography is now-a-days no easy task. The
condition of Europe is so altered by new divisions and annexations, so
many new colonies have been established by Great Britain and France, so many
new territories and states form part of the American republic, and the Central
and South American republics have been so altered of late years, tliat only those
who have carefully watched these changes could keep pace with the altered state
of affairs. The population of towns and states in the newly colonised regions of
California, Australia, and Southern Africa have been so materially altered that
even modern geographies have become obsolete and incorrect- Even tlie very
best and most carefully compiled of a few years ago are quite useless for the
purposes of instruction or reference. We hail, therefore, with pleasure the
publication of a new geography by so eminent a bibliopoiist as Mr. Bohn, who
has given his energies and stores of knowledge to the work with a zeal and
industry quite unusual in one who has such extensive business details to manage.
As a book of study for old and young this geography may be honestly recom-
mended, and will, we feel sure, immediately it becomes known, have a widely-
extended circulation.
We have examined the book in all its principal details, and find an amazing
number of new features of high merit. Tliose which may be especially com-
mended are the very recent data as to new states and colonies, boundaries, and
population, and modem discoveries by land and by sea. When we mention that
the illustrations comprise ol accurate maps engraved on steel and 150 engravings
on wood, and that there is also a copious index and table of contents, the price
at which the book is sold renders it a treasure for every student, school, and
library. ^
Examples of London and Provincial Street Architecture of the Victorian
Age; accompanied with Descriptive Noticex, and also with original
Articles and Designs, Reviews, Correspondence, and occasional Examples
of Modem Buildings in the Streets of Colonial and Foreign Cities and
Towns. Royalquarto. London : Frederick Tallis. 1801.
THIS is a new monthly publication, the first number of which consists qf
simply four lithographic plates, two of them being rather indifterently
executed in chronio-lithography. The title of the work is so exceedingly ex-
cursive, that one is fain in reviewing it to at once draw one's breath and tufpend
one's judgment, till it can be seen what shape the work will ultimately aauioe—
for what says the prospectus?
In aildltion to deacriptions of thephm ! ngravInK", the literary portion
will comprlac original articles treat hit; ■ i siibj«-l nf »tn;tl orclill<'ctur«,
with others, on style in street ediliccs ; u; i, ^ , onminentatlon, arruicement(!),
" aggr»upcment,''^Tnaterta/«, and arcliitevtural hiiiI utlier aoccMorieo, boUi dMermUre
and foiistrurtive ;* and we learn that. 'the columns ilevotcd to oommMidtiim on
designed to form a medium for the Interchange of idfttn and rfetc* (lltnof^raphle mad
photou^raphic, we presume) between persons Interested In this particular department
of architecture, as well as a channel for critical and miseeUaneoua communtcationii
upon it.
From all this we gather that the roattera treated of will be much varied ; and
that possibly the projectors of the work have not quite made up their minds where
they shall terminate. Unfortunat'.lv, the first nunilier of the work in quite devoid
of letterpress, which would have alibnleil subject-matter for comments, wemnit
now, perforce, reserve for another occa.sion. Wo may, however, exprest a donbt
whether, in the transition state in which the architecture of oar times Is placed
by the combatants who take part in the battle of the style*, " 'Tlie Street Archi-
tecture of the ;,Victorian Age " can be said, as an edocational work, to be
worthy of a separate publication.
The Art of illuminating us Practised in Europe front the. Earliest Timet.
By Mr. W. R. Tymmi* and Mr. M. O. Wy.itt. Day and Son.
THE study and popularity of the art of illuminating is a mitural sequel to tlie
revival of Gothic .\rt. Oui- architects cannot consider their education |>eriiect
without an intimate knowle<lge of it. It enters largely into the decoration of ^
ecclesiastical buildings, and there is no sufficient reason why It should not ba
externally employed in private houses. It cannot, of course, take the place of
those mechanical" arts which— produced much more cheaply — dispense beaoty
and graceful forms in the humblest habitation, any more than it can take toe
place of the printing-press in the dissemination of serviceable informatioa^
but although it perform now a different office, and ramister to other
wants than those for which it was invented and perfected, its beautv of form,
its gorgeous colors, and its exquisite design remain the same, and tfiey are •■
capable of gratifying us as they were of delighting monarclis and monks
centuries ago.
The first step towards an adaptation of it to our modem requirements most
naturally be a careful collation and cla.ssification of old examples. Many works
have already been published with this object in view. They are necessarily
costly volumes, by reason of the expense of printing them fac-simile, and by
reason of the amount of time and tlie great trouble which must be taken to
procure the dlBerent examples. Illumination was, of course, originally applied
to the decoration of manuscripts. These manuscripts being generally reUgiou*
books and preserved in the monasteries, they shared the fate of the '' treasure
houses" which contained them. Wliat the Danes commenced, the Reformers
finished. Alfred the Great "saw, before all were spoiled and burnt, how the
churches were filled with treasures and books ; " after the dissolution of Uie
monasteries, " persons were appointed to search out all missals, books of legends,
and such superstitious books, and to destroy or sell them for waste paper The
red letters, or the drawing of the cross, was evidence sufficient for a book a
condemnation." Bale, although an advocate for the dissolution of monasteries,
says they should not have been so much offended at the loss of theu- libraries it
the chief monuments and most notable works of our excellent writers had been
reserved, but "to destroye all witliout consyderacyon is and wyll be unto
Englande for ever a most horryble imfamy amonge the grave senyours of other
nations." Two noble libraries, he adds, were bought for torty shillings by a
merchant who occupied it in the stead of " grcye paper " for the space of more
than ten years, and then had enough for as many more years to come. Jusuy
does Mr. Wyatt, in the essay prefixed to this volume, point to the torcible
illustration of the untiring zeal and industry of the illuminators of old, contained
in the fact " that, after all that has been done to stamp out the sparks stiU
lingering in their embers, their works should still glow with such shining light
in all the great public libraries of Europ." , .,1 ^ ...»»,,»j
NotwitlTstanding that the materials for a proper study of the art are mattered
north, south, east, and west over Europe, men have been found to devote lonK
years and profound learning to their examination. They ''a™,'"!'"' a""5. "'/
dust of ages from the brilliant sheets, and shown us, in »■**"', r"^l'^»f,°;^''°'^f
the brilliant monuments of the old penmen's skill. To *''«"»'''« ;"'"'"t' ^^
Owen Jones and Noel Humphreys, Sylvestre and S""?ril"''S;J„» n„wL«d
added the beautiful work by kr. W. R. Tymms and Mr. it. D. Wya t, P'-'-'^hed
by Day and Son. Without the assistance of either of tli«e ^°^™'f°' l|'X
would^ave been incomplete. The es-say of Mr W. D. Wt irqu'-^t *|
chromo-lilhographs and the admirable selection of subjects by' "■■J>"™'. TL
this latter gentleman needed, to perfect his book, the f"-^'^ « -"Si_ Tf
which he has obtained-of the accomplished essayist, and the careful praitmg ot
Messrs. Day's establishment. , „ _j tA «nH tli» hmsv
The volume contains over 100 plates, ininted in ^'-"^ «°ip^"',""l'°!,i!^
comprises about the same number of pages, each ^;'^""''^, ";> ""J/""'"/^
border. No expense has been spared in getting '« "P' /"I, ^"1 "''•'^e i»v
concerned in it Kas been to make it as practically "^eft^."^^*^"^- .h?" 1^^
is clearly written, and is divided into tlin.,- Vf^^\-.f^l*Zf^nt
Illuminating Was," "What the Art of lUumintitmg should be in the Present
Day," and ?' How the Art of Illuminating may *"; J!™'-"^- ,,_„. „^„^ ^.
/„' the first nart.afler glancing at the mon, --i;;„,'^,;X"o the empl^-
the earliest reconl of the rich
In the first part, after glancing ai ii.i- ..•"■; ■••■:;;;'" i".",!,.-, .„ ti.p cmnlov-
covered at Hereulaneum, and to the allusions m '='«,?,*'f'«"",°^ *"/''? ^f°lh
*,.f .„j „-.! i.i„ck ink Mr. Wyatt instances the earliest reconl 01 tncricn
■11 lettering on purple or rose-stained ve
■0 the Emperor Maximmus by his moll
ay from Greece to Rome, and a few val\
is of the style employed contemporaneous
hut as the fragments are not of S^etil^-«^ueto_t\m ^act^ic(a^
»"=s rs"i' A«K ?=::Ai^=;%.,=;fe!
?othe%lxth century, fhe books broughtw. them
^^^f:^j:;^t:i^^^'^^^'rz^^^^
by the eariy missionaries to uie iiu.wic... »..« '■""•,•■,■,■•"■"". f„._,:,iable com-
barbaric nations in their attempt to imi ate ?"'>."^''^*7„.^,5S"n, he island
netitor for the leadership in the -' "^ '{l^^-^^.S Srt it attau^-^ -
irities were marked and many, but its
" Pnlceographia SacraTictoria, reduc
1st. One or more narrow ribbons diagonally but symmetrically i
marvellous perfection. Its peculiarities were marked »"« ""*''>;' V," Ji„ 'L, tn
dp[r'r byV west-od, inthc :^^rr.t^^^'^^^^^,x^j^-
four :-
104
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 1, 1861.
lared, lorminp an endless variety of patterns. 2n(l. One, twor or three slinder
spiral lines coiliBK one within another till they meet in the centre of the circle,
tlieir opposite ends Roini; off to other circles. 3rd. A vast variety of lacertir.u
animals and birds, hideously attenuated and coiled one within another, witli their
tails, tongues, and top-kno"ts forming lonjr narrow ribbons irregukirly interlaced.
4th. A series ol diasronal lines, forinin}; various kinds of Cliineso-like patterns."
Xo better idea can be tjiven of the minute delicacy of liandlinp, and of the
faultless execution of these mannscripts, timn the fact that so skilful an artist as
Mr. Wyatt broke down in despair whilst attempting to copy some of the orna-
ments in the " Book of Kells. Mr. Westwood examined the pages for hours
toj^tber without ever detecting a false line or an irregular interlacement. In
one space of about a quarter of an inch supertlcial* he c- unted with a magnifying
giass no less than 158 interlacements of a slender ribbon pattern, formed
of white lines edged on by black ones, on a black ground. When St.
Augustine reached our shores he found the primitive church practising a high
class ot caligraphy; and when-the te.vt-lwoks he brought with liim were copied,
as they rapidly »"ere, the styles became blended. To tlie Roman rustic capitals
were added the interlaced tixon initials. Of this kind of writing many examples
are preserved, and they are noticed in detail in Mr. Wyatt't essay.
Alter giving an .iccount of the means by which books were in those early days
multiplied in this country,Mr. Wyatt notices tlie growth of tile art on the Conti-
nent. He describes the works which were sent from Charlemagne's " Scrip-
torium "—the head-quarters of the best artists of all nations in his time — the
varieties of type adopted in Byzantine manuscripts, and the influence which the
Anglo-tjaxon artisfs wrought" upon the rest of Europe. During the century
which followed the Norman Conquest, the art of illumination was paralysed in
England, but it burst forth vigorously in France and Germany, and alter the
accession of the Plantagenets it reappeared there and attained its
fiilness in the middle of the thirteenth centurj-. Up to this time
the pen was more frequently employed than the brnsh in the art of
illummation : the latter being only "cmplovcd to fill in the work, and
for the strong outlines, which give" some illuminations the appearance of
stained glass. The successive phases of the art are very ably dealt with by Mr.
Wyatt. He shows clearly in his descriptions, and by reference to the plates, how
each style ^w out of the one preceding it ; how the large Romanesque initial
letters dimi-nished and effloresced into floriated terminations, which were at last
not only carried down the side of the page, but made to extend right across both
the top and bottom of it ; how, " during the reign of the three first Edwards in
England, the tail of the initial letter running down the side of the page gradually
widened, until it at length grew into a band of ornament, occasionally
panelled, and with small subjects introduced into the panels." The development
of the art; in Belgium and Italy is afterwards fully descanted on. Where space
bas precluded an elaborate notice, reference is given to works in which the
student may find the desired information. The quantity of notes and references
to English and foreign authors show how deeply the author has studied his
subject, and his intimate acquaintance with it; the clearness with which the
essay is written testifies to his qualification to impart his knowledge to others.
This Is, if possible, even more visible in the second part, where he frankly admits
that the art is in a great measure superseded by chroraolithography and
chromotypy. In fact, the volume itself is a proof of it. Each of the 100 pages
which it contains bears some ten or twelve fac-similes of ancient examples which
it would have taken years to produce or reproduce by hand. A wide field is
nevertheless open to the illuminator in designing exquisite originals for repro-
duction, such as have be<;n extensively circulated as " Christmas books; " in the
blazoning of pedigrees, addresses, family records, &c. Air. Wyatt further jjoints
out another equally elegant application of the art — to enrich the interiors of our
rooms, strings, coruices, friezes, bands, stained and painted furniture in churches,
schools, and dwellings, with appropriate inscriptions and harmonious coloring.
The idea is an excellent one, and in every way practical; to render it even
more so, a series of texts are given, culled from old authors, which would be
applicable to the various rooms. Some of them are very upropog. Tor a
supper-room —
■" As men
Do walk s mile, women should talk an hour
After supper : 'tis their exercise."—/;™ Jonson.
Here's another from Beaumont and Fletcher—
'■ What an excellent thing did God bestow on man,
When He did give him a good stomach."
George Herbert furnishes one for a drawing-room —
" Who shuts his hand hath lost his gold ;
Who opens It hath it twice told."
Each of the difierent subjects upon which the art may l>e satisfactorily worked
are then examined : — vellum, paper, tracing-paper, canvas, plaster, storie, metal,
and wood. Full directions are given, nnd a long list of recommendations are
furnished to the amateur for bis guidance as to design. They are not, of course,
all that is necessary, and they are not meant to be. An observance of them will
not, consequently, make an amateur a good illuminator, although putting him
in the right road; but they should be treasured up, because a departure from them
will most certainly entail disaster and result in failure.
The third part of Mr. Wyatt's essay is devoted to " How the Art of Illuminat-
ing roav be Practised." It describes the ancient and modern processes. The
"po»»ilile procemiejt," he hints, will he embodied in another work. We shall
look forward with interest for it, because the complete knowledge which he has
shown of his subject, the valuable suggestions he oilers for its occasional emplo^'-
ment, and the freedom ivilli which lie surrenders its old po.siiion, makes him
above all men qualified to write upon it. in this part every pigment, every
vehicle, every form in which water and oil color is oflered to us, the difl'ercnt
kinds of gilding, silvering, and bronzing, nreall subjected to the most searching
analyses, and the several methods of executing works are most minutely described.
Ko amateur ought to make a mistake with so sound and complete a guide, and
no amateur should be without it. The essay is as crowded witli valuable matter
— archiEological and practical— as the pages are full of good d(»igns splendidly
printed. We have seldom met with a book better arranged. The plates are
placed in regular order, commencing with the sixth century and continued down
to Ibe sixteenth. The borders to the letterpress, printed in red, are full of rich
{ancle*, and form a brilliant ornament to the book. The cover of the book is
designed very ably. It is composed of groups of interlacing re<l circles, edged
With gold, on a purple ground. Theonly defect we notice is that the title of the
b ook Is insufficiently brought up. In some lights it is almost invisible.
Corrcspiulcncc.
X.\.TURAL COLOR IN RELIGIOUS ART.
SiH, — .\llow me to make a few observations on the subject of Mr. White's
lecture, lately delivered at the South Kensington Museum.
Before coi'umenoing, may I remind the lecturer that those individuals who
endeavor to stem the torrent of reaction, whether it be political or aesthetic, are
not generally found " among the class of the ignorant objectors whose first im-
pulses have" not been tempered by reason and judgment." Such an opinion. I
may venture to say, is contrary to the whole experience of mankind.
Nor can I do otherwise than enter my protest against the assertion that those
who would restrain and modify the application of color in ecclesiastical edifices
are " lovers of whitewash." That buildings were once so treated wo all know,
but wliv the sins of the whitewashing chnrehwardens should be visited upon
those wlio, while they love color as sincenily as its most ardent advocates, would
yet endeavor to direct it aright in its application to "religious art," seems ditti-
cult to understand. An Jillegation of this kind is l)otli illogical and unfair, and
can only have the efTect of prejudging and stultifying all fair discussion.
In all tlie praises which the lecturer bestows upon color I entirely and
thoroughly concur, and believe with him that the love of it is an instinct common
to all, and most remarkable in its early and almost intuitive ajipreciation by little
children. I am not prepared to say whether its physical benefits are so abundant
as he ascribes to it, but, if such is the case, his arguments will be cordially enter-
tained by every one. But, unfortunately, the appreciation of " form," indepen-
dent of color, is by no means so natural ; for I will venture to affirm that, out of
a hundred individuals who have a strong perception of color, jou will not find
half a dozen who thoroughly appreciate " beautiful form." The power of doing
so is the result of a cultivated taste, combined with long observation and study
of those edifices in which it is most conspicuous. Consequently, it may bie
affirmed without fear of contradiction that among those nations in which a love
of color predominates we shall discover generally a lack of perception of tins
noble and refined part of architecture. We cannot open that excellent work on
the subject by Mr. Fergusson without lighting upon numerous examples, some of
which I have cited in my letters in the iicchwologigt, and lately in this Journal,
proving that tlie one taste has been too frequently perfectly subsei-vient to the
other. I will again quote an instance. SjMjaking, I think, of the Doge's Palace
at Venice, the author says: — " The admiration which it excites is one more tes-
timony to tiie fact that, when a building is colored internally, ninety-nine people
in a hundred are willing to overlook all its faults, and to consider that beautiful
which, without the adjunct of color, they would unanimously agree in con-
demning." And, speaking of the Cathedral of Monreale, in Sicily: — "The
architecture is merely a vehicle for the display of painting in its highest and
most gorgeous forms'" If such be the tendency of the unrestricted use of color,
men of taste may well pause before they give their assent to opinions and prac-
tices which would lead precisely to the same result.
There is an assertion made" by the lecturer which requires, perhaps, some
explanation on ray part, ns it is founded on an extract from one of iny letters.
He says, " One theorist jjuts forth the absurd notion that the very existence of
color in architecture is not an essential element, thus endeavouring to put it out
of the scope of analogy from nature, upon the plea that color, which is a
necessity in nature, is oiily accidental to our art." Had I said the existence of
color in architecture artificially, applied is not an es.sential element, I should,
perhaps, have escaped the imputation of being an "absurd theorist," since I
presume that the lecturer would not deny that a cathedral may be destitute of
all " applied coloring," and yet be to all intents and purposes a perfect building
still. And he observes truly that so long as a building material is not quite
colorless, just so long is color a necessity in art as well as in nature, ilere,
then, at least, we meet on common ground, but yet from this commences a
divergency in taste common to numerous other individuals as well as myself—
viz., the decided preference of stone as it comes from the quarry, colored by
Nature, to the same stone however skilfully colored by the hand of art.
Now, throughout the whole of the lecture at the .south Kensington Museum,
there is not the slightest discussion on the efteet ivhieli stone, in its natural state,
produces on the mind when employed in ecclesiastical architecture. Indeed, the
lecturer presupposes that individuals, such as the one 6f some' standing in art-
criticism, are " unconscious of the presence of color," when they " admire (and
most justlv, too), the ferruginous stone in the interior of Strasburgli Cathedral,
presenting' all tints, from delicate butt's and salmons, to deep maroons." One would
imaK:ine that this would, at at events, be satisfactory, but, no ; the lecturer refers
us to that darling of the Polychromists, La Sainte Chapelle, which "above, below,
and all around," is one mass ofthe most brilliant colors, no doubt tostefully laid on,
and so far superior to the Archrepiscopal Church, its close neighbour, but not
one wit above it in creating those feelings which we should wish to experience
when entering an edifice devoted to the worship of the Most High. And the
reason is plainly, that the whole thing is artificial from one end to ilie other. It
might be a palace or a levee room, and the coloring would be admirably suited,
but there is not a touch of nature about it. Any one with feelings and taste
directed aright would just as soon think of devout sensations in the magnificent
apartments of the Hotel de Ville. And the reason is obvious, where nothing
but the work of man is visible, nothing but what is essentially human will find a
place in the feelings. The eye roams from color to color, and finds no repose,
nothing to dwell on which can raise the thoughts and feelings to a higher power.
It is in vain for the lecturer to endeavour to justify nil this chromatic profusion
by a comparison between it and the goi-geous coloring with which the mountain
scenery ofthe East is sometimes invested. Tlujre is not a point of resemlilancc
between them, utterly dissimilar as they must be in their eff'ect upon the feelings.
God showing the matchless beauty and sublimity of his natural works can have
nothing to do with the jirofusion of artificial coloring in La Sainte Chapelle.
But it may be said, what, then, constitutes the great difi'erence between the
Parisian edifice and the interior of Strasburg Cathedral, or any other church in
which the stone has been left as it comes from the quarry, only moulded by the
hand into beautiful and majestic forms ? The answer is plaiu. Being left in its
natural state, it is connected to the mind and feelings with the God of nature.
We are, in this case, both soothed and elevated ; provided, of course, that tlie
forms in the edifice itself conspire to produce those eftects. And I will venture
to affirm that no depths of coloring will ever destroy this efi'ect. The " rocks of
deepening red in the Pctrea," if any portion of tliein constitutes the nave of a
cathedral, would never deprive the edifice itself of a grand, solemn, and hormo-
FfiBRtAIlY 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
105
nious eliaracter. If the lecturer is acquainted with the cathedral of Basle, he
luUst recollect its solemn character, thougli the (ji-eater portion of the interior is
of red sandstone. As another instance, I may niention the interiorof St. Mary's,
Shrewsbury. May the day be far distant when a perverted taste subjects them to
the brush of the colorist !
In conclusion, I am willing to allow that there are portions of reliifious edifices
which admit of artificial coloring, but in this case it must be so applied as not to
inteifere with the general eftect of the stone in its natural color throuRhout the
building. Tlic Cliapter-liouse of Salisbury afl'ords the happiest examples; and
no one can deny that a reredos colored delicately is most pleasing, as it complies
exactly with the requisitions just mentioned. The restoration of its beautiful
chantries in Tewkesbury .\bbey Church to somewhat of lUeir original coloring,
would, I think, meet with disapproval from no one.
I remain, &c., .
A Member of the Oxford Auchitectcrai, Society.
jMR. GEORGE GILBERT SCOTT AND STONE INDURATION.
Sir, — Your contemporary the Timi'ii, in its report of the meeting at the
Royal Society of British Architects, has, in my opinion, lost the pith and
practical results of tlie wliole meeting. Mr. G. G. Scott is made to perform tlie
very pleasant and grateful task of returning thanks to the worthy chaiman, but
his short and useful speech is omitted to the letter.
It is not generally known that this gentleman has long since adopted a very
practical method of arriving at correct results and accuracy of judgment in the
matter.
On the most exposed parts of the flying buttresses of the Westminster Abbey,
and the Caen stone coping of a portion of the restoration, each inventor of the
various systems of induration have been invited to apply their process. Tliis
invitation was accepted by them, and the operation |)erformed by their own
workmen under their own surveillance. The public have in Mr. G. G. Scott's
few words at the lecture (to the effect that he had carefully examined the whole
of the various processes, but had not found one worthy of confidence), a most
imjHirtant decision on the whole results, and one which cannot be over-estimated
by the searcher for truth, and it is to be hoped that a truthful spirit may guide
the whole of those gentlemen who intend taking part in the next discussion; we
shall then, notwithstanding the pardonable amount of prejudice, all more or
less possess, aiTive at conclusions worthy the valuable Institution that has
undertaken the matter. I am, kc,
S. T.
ROYAL ENGINEERS.
Sin, — I am glad to find that even one of your numerous readers has taken
notice of my last letter to you under the above head. Allow me this opportunity
to correct an error I made in the said letter by referring to the Civil Service
Gazette, and not, as it should be, to the Arnu/ and Navy Gazette of De-
c -mlwr 1st, I8C0.
Your correspondent "Excelsior" seems to agree with my suggestion in the
main, but would alter the details. I have no desire to contend about minor
matters ; it will be time enough to arrange about those when we successfully
enforce the necessity for some change in the present constitution of the Royal
Engineer Department.
A few members of Parliament are getting up a protest against the extrava-
gance of the public expenditure, and it is their intention to lay it before Govern-
ment. But what do they expect by sucli a proceeding? Will they close up the
public coffers, while the nation is undefended, while our noble soldiers are housed
in ill-ventilated, inconvenient barracks, while their families are compelled to live
by groups in single rooms 1 No ! Philanthropy demands the means by which to
remedy those evils : a nation's gratitude requires it — common humanity, nay,
decency itself, insists upon it — and are we to deny it? Certainly not. The
expenditure imt.it be free until those evils are removed, and extravagance imutt
be the result until the expenditure is controlled by competent ofiicials.
Public extravagance is not cliecked by limiting the public expenditure; the
same extravagance will exist in a proportionate degree, and with less funds still
more urgent demands must be left unsatisfied, for if the above evils continue,
notwithstanding our enormous expenditure upon buildings for defence and army
accommodation, how nmch greater would the defects be if the expenditure was
reduced? The evil, therefore, is not so much in the sum voted as in its
injudicious management, and surely Britain, with all her resources ; Britain,
whose engineers are employed thougbout the world, cutting railways through
the granite moimtains of India, and throwing colossal bridges over the vast
river of America; Britain, wliose architects erect the Parliament Houses for
Sydney snd Canada, palaces for Russia and Egypt, villas for Norway, and
^ prisons for Sardinia; surely Britain could afford and could supply fit and proper
persons to carry out her own military works : then why not? Why does she
allow military officers to amuse themselves by creating architectural abortions at
the expense of the nation? Why does she give into their hands the expenditure
of vast sums of money ? Let members of Parliament ask and follow up those
questions, and they will come to the main spring of our national extravagance.
"They will find that men are entrusted with the expenditure of enormous sums
whose only qualification for the responsible duty has been acquired by a few weeks'
course of instruction under the teacher of practical architecture at (Jhatham.
No wonder that we have so much building up and pulling down, so many
experiments, and so many failures I no won<ler that the work of one engineer is
altered by his successor, so that no individual can be found responsible for any
work of importance executed under the Royal Engineers, and where no responsi-
bility rests, no satisfaction can be re(|uired.
I may he told that the military officers are assisted by civil officers, who are
thoroughly qualified for their duties, who are men of experience and ability, men
who had many yeare' practice before they joined the Department, and then were
obliged to pass a rigid examination in all that pertained to practical architecture.
But in what position do we find those gentlemen ? They have a nominal rank
with officers in the line, and yet are civilians. The military officers, even of the
lowest rank, are their superiors and directors, and non-commissioned ofticers are
their snborilinates as clerks and foremen of works; so that they fill a most
anomalous position between the two military grades, and cannot exercise any very
great influence for good or evil. They see their plans for intended works mnli-«
lated before they are authorised to be carried into execution, and still more fre-
quently during the execution of the works; yet they must submit without a
murmur, and fook on in silence, though they see the most glaring absurdities
perpetrati'd. The fact is, plans are sanctioned very often before they are
thoroughly ccmsidered, and then, of course, in execution endless alterations ainl
endless (expense must be the consequence. For example : a work of considerabli;
importance is lequiri-d ; the plans and speeificutiuns are liurriedly prepnn^, and
forwarded to tin; authorities for approval ; tliey are sanctioned, and tender* are
called tor. From the urgent nature of the intended works, it is found neceanry
to hind the contractor, under a heavy |)enalty, to have them completed within a
limited time ; he is, therefore, justified in demanding a mucdi higher price for his
work than if he had sufficient time to execute the contract. His high tender ia
accepted, and he begins. Very soon after it is found necessary to make con-
siderable alterations ; perhaps the original design is laid aside ; at all events, they
arc such as to make it impossible to have the; contract finishe<l within the time
specified, or to enforce the penalty. Very likely it is found that the contractor
has not signed the bond ! ! So that the work, when finished, baa cost the original
high price, to which is added the expense of alterations; the time is exceedwl by
far more than would be amply suHicieiit to carry out a well-digested plan, 8n("l
the work handed over docs not answer the expectations of its originntora. Here
is one source of our national extravagance, and one system that requires re-
organization. I am, &c.,
Civilian.
TENDERS
Heating Apparatls, KENsixaTOM.
For the heating apparatus of tlie ('ousurvatory in the garden of the Boyal Horti-
cultural Society, Kensington-gore, W.
Frederick Bacon £1330 17 0
T. H. I'. Dennis' 1,74.1 0 0
Taylorand Sons ', l.Vil H 'i
Thomas Potter 1,497 14 0
Henry Ormson 1,440 0 0
Alfred May 1,4«0 0 0
W..Kake« 1,357 18 3
J. Wontner .Smith 1,380 0 0
BarwellandCo 1,321 0 0
CottamandCo 1,307 0 0
J. Tylor and Sons 1,300 0 0
A. .Slianks iind Son IJOO 0 0
William Hood 1,210 0 0
John Weeks and Co 975 0 0
* This estimates includes (in slump) gratings, which are not In the other tenders.
The following gentlemen also sent in tenders, but imperfect: — A. U. reikios,
John Meiklejohn, aud Fectbam and Truss.
Glamorganshirf. Lunatic Asylum.
For the erection of the County Lunatic Asylum. Mr. SKichard Bell, architect, 17,
Gracechurch-strect. Quantities supplied by Mr. K. J. Austen, 4, Adclplii-terrace.
Htone Brick
Ectemallj'. Estcrnftlljr.
James and Price, Cardiff £28,500 0 .. f2»,215 0
Church 1,885 0 .. —
G. Myers & Sons, London 27,0O( 0 .. 27,600 0
Church 1,410 0 .. —
Hardwick & .Sons, Birmingham . . 25,700 0 .. 26,»20 0
Church 1,480 0 .. —
Wm. Baker Bristol 23,505 0 .. 27,132 0
Church .• 1,034 0 .. —
Webb <fe Sons, CardllT 22,550 10 . . 22,738 10
Church 1,3.15 0 .. —
Barn8ley& Sons, Birmingham*.. 21,288 0 .. 22,198 0
Church 1.400 0 .. —
* (Accepted.)
QuARRv Working.
Broadlaw Granite Quarry was let last week to the Messrs. Wilson, of Carrie Farm.
Chapel, Leicester.
For additions and alterations to Baptist Chapel, Charles-street, Leicester. Mr.
J. I'aull, architect, Burnley. „. . „
W uh Concfst* la
Kuundalioiu.
Wm. Rnskin and Son f8«9 0 .. fSWl 0
James Wykcs 700 10 .. 74110
Itobcrt Groves 680 0 .. 7IH 0
Osborne Brothers 085 0 .. n4 0
J.B.Collins <M5 0 .. 077 12
.L Cox M5 10 .. ..
Thomas Uussell 021 15 . • «■•: '■'
H. T. I'orter «18 0 .. Mi 0
Tbomas Duxbtiry 697 10 .. <U2 0
Kdw.-ird Ashley 580 0 .. «10 0
John Hutchinson 575 6 .. 000 j
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
Welciipool, MONTOOMERYsiiiuE.-Thc Council of the Iwroiigli of Welchpool,
Montgomery, are desirous of receiring plans, spccilical Ions, and .•stimates for the
erection of a Smithfkld. near the town of WeUlipool, wbuli must be sent to Alfred
Mereditli,t own clerk. Welchpool, by Feb. 25 next. Intending «>n petitors may
inspect a plan of the land at any time at the above »«1"'- ' ■■; P,f "V," *■}?
prepares tile plans, &c., adopted by the Council will receive from them the sum
of £25. .^ .
CONTRACTS OPEN.
CHlltCHES. ™ ,.
T? A«af iTp Fnr tlip restoration and reseating of Monkton Church, near I.amsgate.
''t>aX7ac. aUlirX^Tc. N. Beaz:ey%rchlu
W.C, and also at the Vicarage. Tenders to be delivered at Mr. Beazlty s offlco
HoLME.-FJr^he rebuilding of Holme Church, in }^^J^^'^ZlAi^^Lrr^*J.Mi
at the office of Edward Browning, »rehile<t. Stamford, .'sealed tenders, agrctalily
I^^^^'^::^-lS^^'^o^^ rebuilding the parish church of Manton
FivT ir »>i riRFi vNn) -For tlic erection of a glebe-house, at Flnlagan, Ballykely,
vmiu^ Ludouderrv rfanV &c., at the office of Sir. McCurdv. »«hi^ct, 34.
wSurd nirffl dn application to the l£ev. A. V. . Ed-
wards, Flnlagan, to whom '"•■•"^'"„';{gp^!j.'^">' "'
r.rATMiM Ti-or the erection on cround near the New-road, in the parishes of St.
MarL'areu'ocbc stef , and U^^^^ Kent, of a dispensary and hospital, .comprishig
106
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 1, 1861.
ward? for SO patients, with apartments for the officers and servants of the esta-
blishment, and the other builiiin-s eonneried then-with IVrsons msliins to tender
to send their names to tlie arehiteet, .Mr. Itobert I'hihp I'ope, JSo 21, liedford-row,
Gravs-inn, London, hv ..tli February, when they will be informed whore the
quantities can be obtained on payment of £-• -'s. per copv^ These will be ready on
the snh Kcbruan-, when plans. &c., may be seen at the office of the architect. Ihe
tenders to the clerk to the Trustees of .St. Bartholomew's Hospital, free, sealed, and
directed to " The Trustees of St. liartholomew'8 Hospital," endorsed " render for
Hospital,'" by 7 p.m., of February 20. ,.„^„ ,
i" -^ ' '• ' iiwELLlXG HOI SF,.S, &C.
CORBEEN (Ireland).— For building a house and offices at Corheen, near Loughrea,
in the county of Galway. Plans. &c., at Ihe office of Mr. J. F. Kempster, architect,
Ballinasloe Tenders to the ^■i6count Uuulo, Garbally, Ballinasloc, to Feb. 11.
£a8t Brixton.— For tlie several works (exceptiu": joiners' and ironmontrers") in the
erection of live houses in Coldharbor-laue, Last Brixton, adjoiniuff Prince of Wales
tavern, at which place are plans, Ac, until February i ; further information from
Mr. E. Xash, .'>, Adelaide-terrace, London-bridge.
DCBLis.— For building two dwellinsr-houses and offices on the Uaglan-road. I'lans,
Ac, with thearchitect, Mr. Joseph Majjuire, 14, Kenilworth-square-south, Bathfrar.
Tenders to February 11.
LIGHT-KEEPERS' DWELLINGS.
Cbookhaven (Cork).— For the erection of liffht-keepers' dwellings at Crookhaven
for the Fastness Rock Lighthouse, county Cork. Plans, &c., at the Ballast Office,
Westmoreland-street, Dublin. Sealed tenders (only on forms to bo had at the
Ballast Office), addressed to William Lees, Esq., secretary. Ballast Office, Wcst-
moreland-strcct, Dublin, by I'-i noon of February 13.
WAREHOUSES, Ac.
lEEDs.— For the erection of an additional story and other works, at the grain
warehouse of the North Eastern Railway Company, Welllngfton-street station,
Leeds. Plans, &c., and further information, from -Itn February, on application to
Mr. Prosser, the company's architect, York. Sealed tenders, addressed to J.
Cleghom, Esq., the secretary, and marked "Tender lor Grain Warehouse at
Leeds," by twelve noon, February 13.
Hanley.— For taking down old buildings and erecting new warehouses, workshops,
engine-house. &c, at the Albion works, in the borough of Hanley, for .John Dim-
mock, Esq. Plans. &c..with Robert iScriveuer, architect and surveyor, Howard-
J)lace, Hnnlev. Bill of quantities will be supplied. Tenders endorsed, '• Tenders
br Albion Works," to Mr. Scrivener, by twelve noon of February 13.
TOLLHOUSES.
Oxfordshire.— For the erection of a toll-house at Burcott Wood Gate, two miles
from Towcestcr; and at Farthinghoe-gate, about five miles from Banbury. Ten-
ders for each house to be separate, sealed, and endorsed " Farthinghoc," or
•' Burcott," as the case may be, and to be sent to Slossrs. C. and G. Cave, Banbury,
at whose office, plan,&c., may be seen, and tenders received until February 28.
FARM RESIDENCE, &c.
Hebts;— For the erection ol a farm residence and stabling, on Holmellbury farm,
near Hitcben, Herts. Drawings, &c., with Mr. G. Low, architect, 10 Basinghall-
street. City. Tenders to February 26.
ENCLOSURE.
MoHTAOu-BQDAHE. — For removing the old railing In the circolar recesses in
Montagu-square, using the old material as far as practicable, and replacing them
in a straiglit line with the other railings, so as to make both sides parallel.
Sealed tenders, endorsed outside "Tender," to be sent to Mr. Panchaud, the
secretary to the trustees, 201, Marylebone-road, N.W. before February 7.
RAILWAY WORKS.
Dumfries.— For construction of that part of the Dumfries, Lochmaben, and
lockerry Junction Railway, extending from the junction with the Caledonian
Railway at Lockerby to a point about a furlong to the south of the village of
locharbriggs, in the parish of Dumfries. This portion of the railway is about 12
miles in length, and includes the bridge over the river Annan. Plans, Ac, will,
from the 28th inst, be seen at the office of Mr. John Sliller, jun., C.E., 25.
Korthnmberland-street, T^dinburgh. Mr. Miller will attend at Lockerby, on the
6th and "th Februiiry, at 10 a.m., to accompany intending offerers over the line and
point out the works, The draft of the contract is at tlie office of the secretary for
the company at Dumfries; and, on application, blank forms of tender may be had
there, or at Mr. Miller's office. Scaled tenders, addressed to John Jackson, Esq.
secretary, at Dumfries, to lie lodged with him by February 10.
LIGHTHOUSE TOWER, &c.
Abbanhobe (Donegal).— For the erection of a lighthouse tower and keepers'
dwellings, to be erected on Arranmore Island, county Donegal. Plans, &c., at
the Ballast Office, Wistmoreland-street, Dublin. Sealed tenders (only on forms to
l>e had at the Ballast ( iffice), addressed to W. Lees, Esq., secretary. Ballast Office,
■Westmoreland-street, Dublin, by 12 noon of February l.'i.
Ajctbim (Ireland).— For the erection of a cast-iron beacon, with filling of masonry,
to be erected on the Storks Uock, on north coast of county Antrim. Plans, Ac,
at the Ballast Office, Westmoreland-street, Dublin. Sealed tenders (only on forms
to be had at the Ballast Office), addressed to Wm. Lees, Esq., secretary, Ballast
Office, Westmoreland-street, Dublin, by 12 noon of February 13.
ROADWORK, &c.
I^UEHOirsE. — For the general works and repairs to the foot and carriage ways of
the several streets, courts, alleys, and other places under the jurisdiction of the
Board of Works for the Limehouse district, for two years, from the 4th of April,
1801. I*articulars and printed conditions, schedules of works, and forms of tender,
npon application at the office of the Board, White Horse-street, Commercial-road-
east, upon payment of 208. Tenders, sealed, and endorsed "Tender for
Paviors and Masons' Work," delivered at the said office by four p.m. of Feb. 4.
SEWEBAGE.
DlTtDEE.- For constructing certain sewers, within the burgh of Dundee. I'lans,
&c., at the office of J. Fulton, town surveyor. Police-buildings. Tenders on
printed forms, to be addressed to the Commissioners of Police, SuiTcyor's Office,
I'oliee-bui Wings, Dundee, marked "Tender for Sewers," by February 18. The
cost of the above work, when completed, is estimated at £rt,00i).
Haklev. — For the construction of a sewer, fi feet deep, fixing kerb stones, paving
channels, andjforming a carriage road along an intended new street, in the borough
of Hanley. Apply at the ofllcu of Mr. Ralph Stevenson, solicitor, Hanley. All
materials will be jirovided.
Enfield.— To provide and lay about 2,000 feet ofi) and 12-inch glazed pipes, and
for constructing other sewage works connected therewith, for tlio Enfield Local
Board of Health. Plan. &c.,atthe offlceof the Board, in Enfield town, where forms
of quantities will be supplied on payment of fis. Tenders, endorsed " Tenders for
Pipe Sewer, Ac," addressed to the Eufleld Local Board of Health, by J'ebruary 8.
WATEKWOKK.S.
Bbidcnobtii.— For the following named contracts for the Local Board of Health
for the district of liridgnortli, in the county of Salop. Contract No. 1.— For sup-
plying and erecting a 'i-'.-horse jiower condensing steam-engine, with boiler and
pumps, capable of lifting 2'«(.o<K) gallons of water 2i» feet high in lOlboursj for
providing, laying and jointing rising main, and other pipes ; for altering and
repairing existing ingine, boiler, and piim]>s ; and for other works. Contract No.
2. — For erecting engine-house and l>oiler-house, and for constructing inlet-culvert,
•creenlng-well, filter-bed", and other works. Specifications, forms of tender and
bilb of quantities for Contract Xo. 1 on payment of £1 ; and drawings, &c., may
be seen, and forms of tender, bills of quantities, and schedules for prices, lor Con-
tract No. 2, on payment of ten shillings, on am>liealion at the office of J. J. Smith,
town clerk, and clerk to the Local Board, Bridgnorth ; or at the office of liobcrt
Kawlinson, C.E., M, Parliaiiu;iit-»treet, Westminster. Healed tenders, endorsed
" Tender forContract No. 1," or •'2," to the office of the clerk to the Local Board,
Bridgnorth, by February 9.
GASWORKS.
Llani>overy. — For the erection of gasworks, with all necessary meters, mains, and
fittings, to be erected in or adjoining to the town of Llandovery, in the coimty of
Carmarthen, for the Llandovery Gas Company, Limited. Tenders in writing,
prepaid to Wm. Slorgan, secretary. Stone-street, Llandovery, by February 15.
Milverton, Someh.set.— For the construction of the necessary works and appa-
ratus for lighting the town of Milverton with gas. Plans with specifications and
tenders are required (free of expense) for providing and executing the reqmslte
materials and works, the same to be furnished, sealed up, to the secretary of the
Milverton Gaslight and Coke Company (limited), Mr. A. R. Payne, solicitor, Mil-
verton, by February 11.
Lecture at the Architectural Photographic Exhibition — A lecture
was delivered at the Architectural Photographic E.\hibition, Conduit-street, on
Tuesday evening, before a niiiiieroiLS audience, by Edward I'Anson, Esq., his
subject being, " The Photogiaphs of Frencli Renaissance Architecture." The
chair was occupied by George Mair, Esq., on the motion of whom a vote of thanks
was tendered to the lecturer at the close of the meeting.
Watches in- Relation to the Fine Arts.-" Indeed one of them has already
made a very marked advance in this respect by producing artistically ornamented
watches, adapted to meet a high standard of cultivated taste. The manufacturer
here alluded to is Jlr. J. W. Benson, of 33 and 34, Ludgate-hill. In recently visiting
his n ewly-enlargcd show-rooms, we found a most rare display of highly-ornamentea
watches of all kinds. The watches here exhibited surpass tliut of any other English
manufacturer, in respect to novelty of design, combining artistic beauty and exqmsite
finish in the ornamentation. The wide reputation which Mr. Benson Inis gained for
the perfect tijne-keeping qualities of his watches, leaves nothing for us to say on this
point. M r. Benson can meet the views of the economic utilitarian with the same
facility as he can the wishes of the most elevated. A buyer intent on securing a
superior watch of good design and lasting qualities cannot fail of meeting [with
satisfaction at this establishment." — Obm^rver.
Ilenson's Illustrated Pamphlet, post free for two stamps, is descriptive of every
construction of watch now made. Watches sale by post to all parts ot the globe.—
ADVERTISE.MENT.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and communications to be addressed to the Editor of the Building ^ews, SO,
Old Boswell-court, SI. Cleiiu'iit's, Strand, London.
The Editor cannot imdertake to return unused manuscripts.
\ . w. — X. — Several communications on the subject are waltmg until we have inquired Into
the matter. Yes, if to the point.
M. Thomas Seale.— rurcliascd by Charles I. at the instigation of Rubens. Date about
1515.
J. A. B.— Should arrange with the adjoining freeholder.
C. K. T The difficulty of drawing or laying flat washes of color on parchment has been
often mooted, with inquiries for a preparation to assist, generally without satisfactory,
results ; mucli of the fault lies in the parchment itself owing to its unequal thickness,
from being unskilfully split.
A. v.— Anyone always able to cure smoky chimneys, would soon be able to make a fortune.
Edwin Thomas. Subject of architects' fees is now being considered. Shall be glad to receive
eommuiilcations.
S. and Co We have Ijefore Invited manufacturers and others to send price-lists ; notices of
those receiveil will shortly appear.
S. GiBBfiN Ice houses may, if properly constructed and arranged, be of almost any form :
a plan we have found to answer welljis to make It circular, of the form of an Inverted
truncated cone, the upper diameter liehig'about IG feet, and the lower 1'2 feet, with short
sloping siilcs at bottom towards an Iron grating. The depth of the well may be (Vom 20 to
30 feet according to retjuirements. The sides should be or stone or, brick set In cement and
not less than 14 Inches thick ; under the grating at the bottom a small well should be formed
about 2 feet G Inches square by 3 to 5 feet deep, also formed of stone or brick In cement, for
the \valor to drain Into and be carried away by means of a trapped drain, or if, as Is some-
times the case, the depth is too great, a small pump may be fixed, and the well emptied once
or oflencr every day, the roof should rise from the ground, and a layer of felt may be laid
under thatch, which is. perhaps, the best convering. Where the cost of obtaining Ice
is trifling, the well may be made larger, as ice is preserved much longer in a large body.
L. O. N.— For information as tol'alals de Brussels competition seeAnswers toCorrespondents
In a late Number. , ,. ^
One Frozen Oct.— We should have had no difficulty in reporting to our readers had we not
been misled.
A Carpenter Shall appear in good time.
M. IlENEKY May try, but must be prepared to niect the consequences, which may not be
agreeable. , , ^,^ ,
F. R, S The architect has already forwarded us a view and plan ; we are, nevertbeleas,
obliged for troiihle taken. IIow shall we return sketch ?
II.— The total length of the bridge over the Treat at Gainsborough Is 332 ft., the two principal
arches being 1.'.4 feet each. We are not able to place our hand on the answer to your first
L.'o.-lst.The window glass mamU-acture In England dates from 1,M7. 2nd. It Is well-
known that bluish or greenish glass sometimes loses Its color, either partially or enturely ;
It Is considered to \k In consequence of the peroxldlsement of the iron, to whose protoxide
they owed their tint ; we have little faith In the "useful results likely to arise " out of your
scheme ; study chemistry a little more.
E. Horne.— We are forix-il l(. decline noin-ning the controversy.
E. B. W We have no I'lirtlnr r( iily to nuil^f.
W.C..I.— We suppose, liylciiir tu till' survivor to the estate. .
A Clerk.— Have been used lu some extent and found to answer, but longer time is required
to show the effects of wear and tear.
A Clehovman Send rough plan, t)ettcr to employ an architect.
M, r.— It would cost us some dozen poimds to answer your inquiry.
A Clerk (Wort-ester) - ClinUr iLppeura, from sketch, to have been much too weak, add 8 top
fiance and <liiub!i' slreii^'lh ijfjirvsi-iit lower one In next attempt.
j^ ]j —Such a Imildin;.' could In- niM\ vil without mucli ditHculty ; leave the matter to your
architect, who appears to be directing the work very satisfactorily.
SiinscRiiiEu.— We cannot comply at present, too many demands on our space. .. . , .
YoUNO ARTiZAN.-bowiulussays— ruttheartlclcs to be case-hardened, after being flnislied
but not polished, into an Iron box In layers with animal carbon, that Is horns, hoofs, skins,
or leather, partly burned, so as to be capable of being reduced to powder, taking care that
everviiart of the ir(.n is completely surrounded; make the box tight with a lute of sand
and clay, in cciuni parts, put the whole Into the fire, and keep it at a light red heal lor half
an hour to two hours, according to the depth of hardened surface required, then empty the
contents of the box into water, care lielng taken that any articles liable to buckle l>c put
lu separately and carefully, end In first. Cast-iron may be case-hardened as follows :—
BriuKtlie article to a red heat and roll it In a mixture of powdered [irussiale ol potash,
saltpetre, and salaminonlac, inequal parts, then plunge It in a bath containing 2 02. prusslate
ofjmtash, and 4 oz. salanimoniac per gallon of water.
Amateur,— A subject of frequent complaint. Send It to us ; shall appear if suitable.
I. It. A,— N'ot " arranged " by us ; printed as sent.
A KuYER.- Little hope of a decline in price for some months, if all that is reported be true.
tI 3'. — l^E.— Statement requires some corroboration. We are compelled to exercise great
care.
'Pupil Vaj
G • X W.-'shouldvpTltc Intelligibly; not our fault that reply would now be too late.
II. F. W.-Sball -hear Irolu us by letter in a few days ; meantime, thanks.
P. P. : SiiBsciiiBER.- We arc generally able to answer all correspondents in the ■week follow-
ing receipt of letter, ijiieclal coses are attended to at once. Some are unavoidably deferred
for a longer time.
E, K Unal)le to say.
One wno Likbs Keviews — Inpreparation. „.„„__,,„„, .„ . -v-
liEcEIVE».-T, Jotmstone, S. B. W., F. S. A., B. A., 8., B. S. T.,C. K., Thomas P—-S., T.,
George Williams, .'Messrs. C. and H., Ironmaster, H., W. M., E. Fellowes, C. Burt, O. B.,
James W.
February 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
107
" THE RULES OF PRACTICE ADOPTED BY THE
INSTITUTE."
T tlie risk of wearying sucli
of our readers, as take no in-
terest whatever in the Diploma
Question, we must perforce re-
turn to the subject ; for it is
one of very serious import,
possibly destined to fall to the
ground and be forgotten, but
more likely to assume some
practical shape, and so exercise
considerable influence on the
career and prospects of English
architects. Whether for weal
or woe will now depend on the
way in which the two pending
questions are solved ; and these
two questions are —
What will be the forthcoming
" curriculum, bye-laws, and report," of the
Committee of the Institute ; and, How are
these likely to be laid before and be received
by " a general meeting ? "
The former of these two questions may be
easily answered. The curriculum will undergo
but very little alteration from that first one
prepared by the Institute ; for the Institute
of Architects, judged by its antecedents, is
of the family of Mr. Dickens' John Willet,
who when he had once conceived or rather
got hold of an idea, was very little prone to
reconsider or to modify it ; while, as to " the bye-laws," they will
doubtless be based upon the form of declaration now signed by the
Associates, and which (at the request of Mr. Jennings) the Chairman of
the last meeting read out to the assembled members.
This famous form of Declaration will be found in the Institute's
Report of its own proceedings on the 14th ult. : it will also be found
printed in our Journal at page 80 ; and it is destined, if we do not
mistake, to become doubly famous. Referring ourselves to that report
at page 80 (and we wish our country readers to do the same) we are
smitten with a wondrous indisposition to rest content with the good the
gods have provided us (videlicet, the Institute's Report), and we
earnestly trust that at the ensuing "general meeting" the ordinary
reporters of the press will be admitted. Of course it is of no advan-
tage to ourselves to incur the expense of providing the public with an
express report ; but it will be highly advantageous to our subscribers,
and to the entire architectural public, whether that public be without
or within the pale of the Institute.
For be it known, there is a very serious defect in this short-hand
report of the Institute — a very serious " hole in the ballad," for which
we would recommend that body to administer to " our own reporter "
a sharp remonstrance.
The report in question does indeed give verbatim the form of decla-
ration read from the chair. There is nothing very valuable in its being
thus repeated in reading and in print, since any one may see it iu the
published copy of the Institute's charter and bye-laws. Not so the
portion of the proceedings, which immediately followed this reading :
had the reporter given us that in extenso he would have done good
service. How he came to omit it is a grave question, the fair reply
to which we should much like to see. All that we do get of the matter
is the following shp-shod sentence : —
" The Cliairnian fully explained the intended declaration, and the rules of
practice adopted by the Institute."
Did he, really ? Why, Mr. Reporter, this is the very thing we are
all waiting to have explained to us ; and why, oh why, was it left out
of the report? Our readers will remember we stated that some sharp
language was given and exchanged at the meeting ; but of this there
is not a syllable in the report. Well, we do not care to have a report
of that; but really we cannot, just at this very time when it is most
wanted, dispense with Mr. Digby Wyatt's explanation of " the intended
declaration and the rules of practice adopted by the Institute." It is
the very thing we all desire to know; the very thing which this journal
has been calling for for months and years past, those same " rules of
practice adopted by the Institute " — not merely ^'■promulgated" but
^adopted" by the Institute. Let "our own reporter's" notes be
forthwith consulted ; and, if aught remain of these adopted rules,
which we for one have wickedly supposed were conducted on the
famous rule of thumb, or of yet more vulgar roly-poly, for pity's sake
let's have 'em !
The case is really pressing, and these "rules of practice" must B,e
forthcoming. How else are we to expect the country ai'chitects to
co-operate heartily with this diploma movement, or to recognise it in
any way ? So wo echo for them, and for all those many architects
in town, but quite outside the Institute, we echo the question — What
on earth are " the rules of practice adopted by the Institute f "
The Institute will, we trust, see the reasonableness of our demanding
the publication of these " rules, " and cease the practice of reporting
her own public proceedings. A private report maybe all very wefi
applied to the reading of a scientific paper at an ordinary meeting;
but in the case of the late special, and, as it now turns out to have
been, public meeting, it is a species of report which, for obvious
reasons, had best be abandoned. There is just now the strongest
reason for advocating thorough publicity in relation to this maUcr,
which the Institute has undertaken ; and we trust that nt the next
"general meeting" the ordinary reporters of the press will be admitted
to transcribe faithfully all the proceedings. The admission of public
reporters will assuredly raise the Institute in public estimation ; and
really, after all that has occurred, something of that sort is very much
needed.
Should the Council a^ain determine that reporters are to be excluded
at the next special meeting, it is to be hoped the cuxiulars of the Insti-
tute will distinctly state that this will be the case ; and the same with
respect to visitors. These latter have ordinarily free access to the
meetings of the Institute on the introduction of a Fellow or Associate:
they are often invited by Fellows and Associates to be present at the
meetings ; and we know that this has been more than once the case
since the first commencement of these Diploma debates at the Insti-
tute. Of course, it cannot be pleasant for visitors to enter the rooms
of the Society as trespassers ; and therefore, if they are to be excluded
from these meetings, the Institute should take special care to notify
the fact beforehand — at least to their own members. The question
they are discussing is a public one, and visitors, who have usually access
to the Institute, and always access to the ■Association, are more sinned
against than sinning, when they are found incontinently straying into
the Conduit-street fold — invited, it may be, albeit as it seems " more
free than welcome."
It is impossible not to perceive that the Council are resolutely bent
on making u very hole and corner affair of the question in debate; and
too much praise can hardly be accorded to Messrs. Kerr, Papworth,
and others, for their well-sustained, and hitherto successful, efforts to
prevent this. These gentlemen are the best friends to the Institute,
which is just now rather critically situated. It is a most unfortunate
thing for the Institute that, owing to its own absurd regulations,* this
important question has hitherto been debated before such meagre as-
semblages of eV5n its own intelligent members. It is bad enough that
the country architects, &c., should have their vital interests committed
to the consideration of a mere town club of architects, but far worse
that only a miserable minority of members of that club should assemble
to discuss them. How the Institute will succeed in making anything
of this examination question, without abandoning some or all of the
conditions with which they have mischievously overlaid it, is very hard
to see. These conditions are, in essence, as follows : —
1st. The discussion of this clearly public question shall be made
with closed doors ; neither reporters nor visitors shall be present ; and
should anything so vulgar as a row occur, the Institute reserves to
itself the right of reproduction and translation thereof, as the case may
require.
2nd. The discussion is to be confined to the Fellows alone. Asso-
ciates may come and listen to the said discussion ; or, if they be in the
mood, may talk to their hearts' content ; but it is to be distinctiv under-
stood that, such talk is to be considered Associates' talk ("small talk") :
it is to be held and accounted as " talk to no purpose" ; and in no case
is it to be backed or endorsed by a vote. N.B. The chairman of the
meetings shall have carte blanche to propose, or to second, or to vote,
or to speak, &c., &c., &c., as he may think fit, "anything to the contrary
hereof at any other meetings provided in anywise notwithstanding."
3rd. The forthcoming diploma is only to be accorded to such thick
and thin supporters of the Royal Institute of British Architects, as arc
prepared to practise as architects " in acordance with the usual rules"
of the said Institute. These rules (albeit they are unknown outside
the Society, and are only here and there observed within it) are to
underc'o no re-consideration whatever : they are as the laws of the
Modes' and Persians, which alter not. Hence it follows that, architecU
in town or country, who demur to them (as did Sir John Soane and
other stiiT-uecked people) wiU be ineligible to receive any diploma ;
• In a recent number of this Journal, a writer, under the signature •' K. I. B A.,"
assumes from our fre<iuent complaints about the compulsory si/.'hct of the Asao-
ciateT tbat ?v" are i<i.orant of the fact that Associates are not orbidden to speak at
the meetin-sbSt only forbiMen to rote; and he says, with a sunphcity that is quite
refrrsWn>aid, if he. be an Associate, quite edifying, -They (the Associates) were
unable "ri-ole. but they were specially mrUed to «/.eaI;'; adding to make the matter
8t II worse for the Inst^ltute, " tlie best speech of the ei-em„g .roj that or «» Assocate.
The inference is obvious : if an Associate can make a best speech what is to prevent
liim from c^vin.' a best vote i We know, however, that, as a rule, the poor Associat^
absent tKseh'es from these special meetings, and are, in fact, birds that can't rote
and won't sing.
108
THE BUILDING NEWS.
and so be accounted professional muffs or incapables, " from that time
forth to evermore."
We really should not like to see the Institute of Architects, with all
its wealth and time-earned advantages, royal charter, and all the rest of
it, come to grief and insignificance, as assuredly it will, if it persist in
maintaining these three absurd conditions. There was much good
sense in the proposition advanced by Mr. Mayhew, who seems through-
out the discussion of this question to have tdcen an unselfish view of
it — one far more practic^ than is the view which the Council have
taken. At a fuller meeting, at which all membe.s could have voted,
we think Mr. Mayhew's proposal* would have been well received.
Again, at such a meeting we do not think the Council could have
carried their suicidal clause (" in accordance with the usual rules of the
Institute ") in the face of the very modest substitute for it which was
moved by Mr. Jennings. There is something actually indecent in the
rejection of Mr. Jennmgs' wording of it (" as may be determined by the
Council "), for the words would have operated as a safety-valve for the
Institute, and given the Council time for reflection that, there is hardly
a remote possibility that, what the Institute has for twenty-five years
fiuled to do with even London architects, it will succeed in doino- with
architects all over England — compel them to come in to Conduit-
street and sign that form of declaration, which we have printed at
page 80.
" That Form of Declaration " — the words remind us of the theme
with which we began this article ; and we say again, let the Institute
issue a fuller reprint of then: imperfect report, and let us and every
English architect know what are " the rules of practice adopted by the
Institute"
February 8, 1861.
A FEW REJIABKS ON MODERN STREET AND VILLA
AKCHITECTURE.
WE feel no small amount of hesitation in commencing a subject pos-
sessing so wide a field for examination and comment as the one we
have chosen. We know that to treat it properly and to its full extent
would necessitate the production of a volume, and that consequently our
remarks must be " curtailed of their fair proportions " and be reduced to the
narrow limits within which time and space compel us to confine ourselves.
Many may perhaps wonder why we have mixed the two subjects of street
and villa architecture together, instead of dealing with them separately, as
the great difierence between them would seem to suggest; but we do so for
many reasons, among others that of impressing on our readers the almost
absolute necessity of preserving that difference, and of treating each in its
natural and proper way, instead of confusing one with the other and thus
producing an architectural deformity. These deformities in our day
have assumed most formidable proportions. It is true that a wonderful
stride has been made in art and science within the last half-century and
that we are now in the midst of a modern revival; but it must not be
supposed that we have arrived any where within the vicinity of excellence:
it must not be imagined that we have emerged from the faulty absurdi-
ties which ever accompany a revival, or that we have made a triumphal
entry into the haven of purity. We are still grovelling in a state of semi-
daikness, which must be dispersed before we can rest in safety, or halt to
enjoy the eminence we have gained without a fear of falling back and
perhaps losing much of what we have acquired. Few unacquainted with
architecture can understand liow or why it is that we are inferior to a
people who have centuries ago passed from the stage and who were not
possessed of the many advantages which we possess, who had not the ex-
amples for their study as we have for ours, who had not the machinery to
aid them in carrying out their designs as we have, but who had to depend
entirely on their own unaided genius for the one, and on their patience
and perseverance for the other. Yet it is so; our works cannot be com-
pared to theirs as works of art. We have produced none worthy to be
examples cf any future age, none which would enable us to challenge all
that have preceded them or which would justify us in supposing that we
have attained the summit of that mountain of perfection up whose rugged
sides we are now struggling.
We arem a critical stage; every one is searching for a new style among
materials which are scarcely calculated for the building up of an edifice
J^''u"'^ of the name. We are bewildered among the ruins of those styles
which have been so long lost to the world; we are unable to regain the ex-
cellence which was attained in the age of Pericles by the Greeks, and in the
i/dwardian period by the Gothic masters, and yet, strange as it may ap-
pear, we are daily looking for the appearance of still greater excellence
even before we have regained that which man once possessed. Surely our
ambition does not lead, or rather drive, us to such extremities as to desire
a Victorian style at the cost of purity or perfection, a style which would
marJc the age but sacrifice the glory, which would bo a danger-light to
warn future ages rather than a guide to invite the New Zealander, should
he come, to a Temple of Purity. For our own part, we would rather
^ntent ourselfcs with the present bemg known to the future as the
Victorian era than as the Victorian style, a distmction to which we have
not the slightest claim. Every one must see that we are laboring in a
revival of not only one style, but of each one that has ever been known to
the world. AU are being caUed from their oblivion by our indefatigable
professors, and are now undergoing the process of mixing : from this
compound many anticipate the formation of an entirely new and
• See BuiLDntc News, page 80.
perfect style, suitable for our modern requirements, in accordance
with the state of modern feelings, customs, and habits, and
worthy of the " good time that's coming." This may or may not be true •
but we wdl not enter upon the discussion of so inexhaustible subject,
thmking as we do that such problems are as well left alone and aUowed to
reveal themselves in due season.
As we have before remarked, there is a wide difference between street
and villa architecture; in the one it is imperative that the front should
face a certain quarter without any regard to the points of the compass,
while in the other the position of certain apartments and the direction of
certain sides of the building are influenced by the position of the sun, the
scenery, and the more or less sheltered portions of the country by which
It IS immediately surrounded. In street architecture external effect is
generally confined to one front, while in villas every side is seen and
demands nearly an equal amount of attention. Standing in their isolated
positions, every fragment of beauty is at once perceptible, every snug
arrangement immediately engages the eye, and every detail possessing
merit excites the admiration, while on the contrary every blemish is pain-
fully apparent, every infringement of the laws of construction is sadly
prominent, and every fault as it were invites detection. It is here that
the judgment of the architect is called into play, each face requires a
judicious distribution of ornament and elaboration according to the im-
portance of the work, and the amount of money to be expended. The
genius of the designer becomes, as it were, more scattered, while in street
architecture it is concentrated. All the effect must there be gained in
the one and only face in view, but in this every side must be made to con-
tribute to the general appearance, and share the richness with which it ifr
to be adorned. Yet this concentration of effective workmanship is
subjected to the injurious companionship of concentrated ugliness and bad
taste. Both bad and good are united in the same fa5ade, and are at once
seen standing out, unsheltered and unconcealed, to the scrutinizing gaze of
the public and the profession.
Critics are apt to be severe, and it is an acknowledged fact that they
almost invariably forget the whole in their examination of the parts. To
a certain extent this is excusable in architecture, but to forget the whole
entirely is an injustice to him who brought forth the work on which then:
criticism IS passed. The frequent confirmations of this truth should urge
us to throw our whole energies and abilities into every work of such im-
portance as a street front, not only for the sake of ourselves individually,
but for the credit and advancement of us as a people. It being understood
that the parts will be severely handled, how necessary is it that every
detaU should be well considered and matured, that it should be in correct
taste and unexceptionable workmanship, free from any absurdity or in-
congruity that may draw down censure and condemnation upon its
designer ; that it should bear a just and proper relationship to the entire
bmlding for which it is intended either as an ornament or as a useful
appendage, and that if intended for the former it should be made
subservient to the constructive portions instead of being, as is too often the
case, superior to them. Could all that has been said against this be
gathered together, what a mass of writing would it form ; yet what is the
result ? We find even now as much disregard paid to this law as we ever
did. That pile of thought and wholesome caution which emanated from
minds possessing a keen appreciation for the beautiful and a Jistuste for
the bad, may be looked upon as so much waste paper, and the labor and
study which it necessitated as so much loss of time. Our " modern im-
proved street architecture " affords abundant proofs of this. In some
examples this law, which is the foundation of true art, seems to be com-
pletely set aside, and in some cases absolutelyreversed,andyetthe classing
of them under the above head would seem to imply that something had
been done in advance of what has gone before ; the praise too, which is
lavished on them- by incompetent judges cannot fail to have an injurious
effect on our young brethren, who are not sufficiently advanced to judge
for themselves, and who may in consequence be led away by these pro-
fessional flatterers, and forget that their only object and only aim is to
aspire to purity and perfection, instead of contenting themselves to equal
what has been pronounced in the public press as a worthy example of
modern art. We know it is hard to say aught against the work of a
friend, a fellow citizen, or even a countryman; yet, if we acted justly, this
would be more frequently done than it is (in a professional point of view)
and the undeserved and injurious praises would be of less frequent
occurrence than they at present are. We would strongly urge the
advisability of silence when we cannot speak conscientiously or give our
real and unbiassed opinions for fear of giving offence or inflicting an
injury on a friend. A critic, in our opinion, should be a master of the sub-
ject he criticises, should possess pure taste, a clear judgment free from
bias or interested motives, and should be one whose actions are influenced
by a desire for justice, and on whose shield is engraved the motto " Be
just and fear not."
The selection of a site is generally made by the building owner before
the architect has been consulted, and he consequently has to make his
proposed design suitable for its intended position. In villa architecture
the nature of the landscape must, to a certain extent, guide him in the
character of the edifice about to be erected. It is essential that it should
harmonise perfectly with the scenery surrounding it, that it should blend
as it were with the productions of nature which encircle it, and that it
should unite with her to form a complete whole, yet remain in itself as a
production of man and an object of utility pleasing to the eye. The
arrangement and laying out of the gardens and lands around the house is
a duty often intrusted to the architect, and no other person is, or ought to
be, so well able to do it tastefully, and in accordance with the requirements
February 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
109
of what has been termed landscape gardening. Simple as it may appear,
it is nevertheless necessary that some thought should be bestowed upon
it, and the effects of a refined fancy should be made visible in the works
produced. It is needless to speak of the absurdity of Italian terraces and
walks, with their Classic balustrades being placed round a Gothic building,
or, on the contrary, of a Gothic feature being worked round an Italian
building. Yet tliis has been done over and over again, and we do not
doubt that notwithstanding its absurdity it will be as often repeated.
The Greeks paid great attention to the position of their temples and
public buildings, and also to their private residences. The larger edifices
were placed generally in an elevated spot, both commanding a fine view
and in return exposed to the observation of all around. The Egyptians,
on the contrary, buried their temples and other large buildings in obscure
dells, where they were hidden by enclosures and dark masses of foliage
which threw their deep and solemn shades upon them ; their love for the
mysterious prompted this, and the priests, who were ever striving to
enshroud their religion and religious observances in a gloomy superstition,
were of course the originators of this practice. In our own land the
Medieval architects were not unmindful of the additional and pleasing
effect to be derived from a judicious selection of their building sites. They
were sensible of the influence scenery has upon the mind, of the tendency
it has to raise the thoughts from the earthly to the celestial, and they
accordingly made use of that knowledge in the position of their churches
and other religious edifices. Even the savage is not insensible to the
influences of scenery ; though unable to define the impressions it makes
upon him, yet he feels its power and is moved by its irresistible charm.
He is melted by that something which he cannot describe, and he is fasci-
nated by the poetry which lingers in the bosom of the forest. He feels
subdued yet he know not what it is that subdues him. He feels a kind
of awe, yet he knows not what inspires it, and he seems surrounded by
some invisible yet irresistible agency which makes him sensible of the
existence of a greater than he, These impressions become deeper as we
become more civilised, and the more refined the taste the more do they
affect the feelings, and the more intelligible do they appear. It is, there-
fore, essential that due attention should be paid to the positions of villas
and mansions, in order that they may be ornaments to the landscape in
which they rise, and also that they may command as fine a view as cir-
cumstances will permit — of course convenience must be consulted.
Drainage and the supply of water, together with a ready means of
approach, will of necessity be considerations which will have great weight
in the selection, and which must not be forgotten, for on these requirements
being met well, perhaps, depend the comfort of the future residents in the
building to be erected.
A damp situation above all things is to be avoided both for the sake of
comfort and of health. Nothing can be more injurious than a damp at-
mosphere and damp locality : the evil efl'ects are too well known to
require enumerating. We all know that chills and colds are the foundations
on which are built more than half the sickness and disease to wliich the
human race is subject; this is more especially the case with children and
young persons, who are more susceptible than those of a more advanced
age, and to them a damp house or a damj) atmosphere often proves fatal.
Besides this we generally find the soils in these localities are bad for
foundations, consisting for the most part of clays which are totally unfit to
to receive any superstructure without extra preparation being made
and additional means being taken to secure its safety, and thereby
necessitating the expenditure of money that . might otherwise
have been saved. The economising of funds in our day is a
question which is looked at most rigorously by building owners, who have
imbibed a morbid fear of every work which they commence being the
ultimate cause of their ruin. Tliis fear has been spread by the grievous
errors which some of our architects commit in their estimates, which so
often prove much below the actual cost, errors which are decidedly in-
jurious to them individually, and, what is worse still, injurious to the pro-
fession at large. People have had so many instances of these blunders
that they have now but little confidence in professional estimates, and the
custom of keeping a strong reserve for extras seems to be getting pretty
general. In doing this, however, perhaps an able and conscientious architect
is somewhat cramped by this prudential course on the part of his client,
and many advantages and benefits which this extra sum might have
enabled him to procure, have been lost without the possibility
of their ever being added at some future time. Thus we often find
the inability of one proves a stumbling block to many ; the sins of the
minor members of the profession are generously credited to the account of
the entire body, and it is only by experience that we can discover the
lamb from tho wolf; or, as it is expressed in common phraseology, that we
can discover " who is who."* D. S.
NEW MODE OF PRESERVING IMPRESSIONS IN SAND, &c.
THE murder of President Poinsot on the Lyons Railway has given
rise to a very ingenious plan of rendering permanent marks in sand
or any other yielding soil, and which may possibly be found useful in many
cases where it is desirable to preserve an impression that would otherwise
be soon obliterated. The process is tho invention of M. Hugoulin, an
apothecary in the Imperial navy, and the manner in which it has been
applied to preserve the marks made by the criminal Jud in the sandy
ground of the station at Noisy-le- Sec, where he leapt from the train, is as
follows : —
I —
* To be continued.
A sheet of thin iron plate was placed over the marka made, and lap-
ported by an iron stand at a distance of about an inch and a-balf from
the surface of the ground, a quantity of lighted charcoal wa« then placed
on the iron plate, which soon became red-hot, and of coone heated tbe
spot over which it was placed. When the latter waa raised to about lOO"
centigrade (212= Fahrenheit), the fire, together with the plate, waa re-
moved, and a quantity of finely divided stearic acid wag strewed oTer tke
impressions by means of a sieve. The powder used was that of the com-
mon bougie, or stearine candle, dissolved by heat in alcohol, and tlien
thrown into a large quantity of cold water, when the stearine falls to the
bottom in the form of a fine precipitate. This powder is so light and im-
palpable, that it is said it might be sifted over an impression in tbe
dust of acommon road without in the slightest degree interfering with the
faintest mark. The instant it touched the heat^ surface of the ground
in question it melted, and, as it were, sealed the whole of tho loose atoms
into one compact mass. When a suiBcient quantity of the stearine had
been applied, the place was left until it liad become completely cold, the
surrounding earth was then dug out carefully at some little distance from
the edges of the impression, and the portion containing this latter was lifted
up in one entire block, and laid on a cloth several times doubled, tbe
edges of which were raised up so as to form a kind of Iwrder. or rather
framing, into which and against the sides of the sandy earth containing the
impression, plaster of Paris was poured, and when the later was set, tbe
whole could be handled without danger, and was firm enough to bear
packing and carriage to any distance. It is evident, therefore, that, if ne-
cessary, it might also be used as a mould, from which casts in plaster
could be obtained. The value of such a process as an aid in criminal
cases is too self-evident to require demonstration ; the production of the
tell-tale impression in a court of law, where every mark can be con
veniently exhibited and compared with the object by which it wasprodaced
may be equally useful in the proof of guilt and of innocence, and it would
be strange indeed, if a use for such a process be not discovered in matter*
of scientific or practical interest.
ST. CLEMENT DANES' NEW SCHOOLS.
AN architect who selects Portland stone for a Gothic building is, by
some people, considered guilty of the same degree of heresy as a
pre-Raffaelite painter who chooses a well-formed model. He exercises
his common sense, and incurs the displeasure of his " schooL" Why a
warm-colored stone should be more " Christian " than the stern, cold
Portland, we cannot say, but it is imagined to be so. Portland becomes
dark and grey in London, it is true, but it does not require washing with
any bituminous, oleaginous, or silicated compound, and, therefore, we
think Mr. Hesketh, in the new schools for the above charity, has done
wisely in disregarding Gothic prejudice, and employing the best material
upon which his design can be carved.
The new schools, now being fast proceeded with, stand at the angle
formed by New Inn-passage and Houghton-street. The site could not be
entirely cleared. Vested interests of some kind have retained one house
in the former thoroughfare, and two houses in the latter. The schools are
built at the back and sides of them, and the dirty, grimy brick buildings
are blots upon the new structure. Mr. Hesketh has, however, planned his
building most ingeniously without them. In Hougliton-street there is a
frontage of about 35 feet, which includes the master's residence ; there is
then an interruption of 32 feet to the frontage by the two houses we have
mentioned. The frontage is thence continued nearly 70 feet on the other
side of them, and embraces the girls' and infants' schools. The end of the
infants' school has a frontage of 28 feet in New-inn-passage, when it is
checked by the other brick impediment, and the infants' school-mistress
has her residence, with 15 feet frontage, on the other side of it. At
the easternmost end of Houghton-street, the entrance is by a
spacious hall and staircase ; on the right is the clerk's general
office, and at the back of it the clerk's private office, and the
master's dining-room, each about 17 feet by 14 feet. At the
other side of the clerk's office is a paved corridor, 7 feet wide,
leadmg to the boys' school (67 feet 6 inches by 22 feet G inches) m
the extreme rear. The entrance to it is direct from the corridor, tmt
on either side, at the end, is a class-room, 15 feet 6 inches by 2, feet, and
a master's room, 16 feet 6 inches by 13 feet 4 inches. A hbrary, of the
same size, adjoins it. There is, likewise, a room for hats, cloaks, &c., and
urinals, approached from the entrance haU, and, likewise, from the west
end of school-room. _ , . ^. . , ,„„.„„
The girls' entrance is on the other side of the existing p.iir of houses.
It opens into a large hall, in which there is a room for bonnets, cloaks
&c. A doorway from this hall opens direct into the school-room 34 feet
by 17 feet 9 inches. A corridor, 4 feet wide, leads at the "ght of the
school-room, to the play-ground, which lies to the right of the l^o^» »f <f 1-
At the side of this passage, the closets are placed ; a wall divides them
from those of the infants. The east end waU of mf^ts' f hool-™0°> ad-
joins the girls' entrance ball. The flank wall IS in Houghton-street amd
ihe other end wall faces New Inn-passage. The size of the. '"f^°^ '<=^~J
room is 42 feet by 21 feet 6 inches. The entrance to it is in New Inn-
passage, next to the existing house, by a passage which le^ds. also, to the
class-room for girls and infants, 16 feet by 14 feet. At the b^ck of the
existing house a covered way leads to the play-ground and to the mis-
'"rhe lhr"efschool-rooms, the class-rooms, and the library are all one story
high the rest of the building is carried higher. The board-room ison
the first floor, over the clerk's office and master's dinmg-room. Tbe
110
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 8, 186 1.
master's residence is on the second floor, with oflBces, &c., in the basement;
on the basement are likewise laundries, &c., for the girls. The roofs of all
the school-rooms are formed of wrought iron ribs, with a portion between
the purlins of boys' school raised to admit light at the sides. On these
iron ribs chamfered rafters and diagonal boarding are laid. The ribs rest
on stone corbels let into the walls. The insides of the schools are faced
with white Suffolk bricks, with red and black ones arranged in patterns
along the top of the wall and in perpendicular lines beneath the iron ribs.
The height of the floors at the principal entrance are — ground story,
12 feet 6 inches; first floor, 15 feet ; second floor, 10 feet.
The elevation shows a range of flat pointed arches stilted on circular
columns of polished red granite, with carved stone caps. The plinths
are of grey granite. An arcade is thus formed on the ground story,
and the pilasters at the back of the columns are also of red granite. A
moulded string runs over the ground story, upon which rest the five
windows of this portion of the facade, recessed between piers, which are
linked together by flat pointed arches over the second-floor windows. All
the windows are subdivided into two lights by wood muUions. A cornice
surmounts the second story, with a panelled parapet above it. The same
arrangement is repeated on the other, or west side of the two existing
houses to the extent of three arches. The string over the ground story is
continued as a cornice, with a pierced parapet over it, along the flank wall
of infants' school, the roof of which, with the ventilating turret in the
centre, is visible above it. An iron railing is fixed on the ground story,
between the columns, to enclose the arcade.
On the return front in New Inn-passage the gable of infants' school-
room springs from the parapet. There is a triple window beneath it in
the end wall. The mistress's house beyond it has a triple window on each
of the upper floors, and a single window beside the door on the ground
story.
The scaflblding is not yet removed, and the building is not siiiBciently
advanced to enable us to judge fully of its appearance. We shall probably
notice it again in a future number. The architect is Mr. Hesketh, of
Essex-street, Strand ; the builders are Messrs. Piper and Son, and Mr.
Kicholson is the foreman having the local direction of the works.
ELECTRO-BRONZING ON A LARGE SCALE.
IT is now some time since the coating of large objects, such as fountains
and candelabra, with copper, was commenced in Paris, and the result
is certainly higlily encouraging ; the fountain in the Place Louvois
opposite the entrance of the Bibliotheque Imperial in the Rue Richelieu,
and three fountains in the Champs Elysees have been operated upon with
great success, and the process, which is carried on at a special workshop
at Auteuil, lias been applied also to a large number of direction-posts in
the Bois de Boulogne, to benches, and many other articles in cast-iron for
the open air.
The other day, some workmen commenced taking down the two fine
fountains in the Place de la Concorde, and it now appears that they are
also to be coated with copper. The magnitude of the undertaking will be
best understood by giving the dimensions of the fountains in question,
which throw each 6,716 cubic metres of water in twenty-four hours, or to
put the matter in a more simple form, 280 cubic metres per hour, and they
usually play from mid-day till dusk, unless the weather is very bad.
These figures will give some idea of the cost of the ornamentation of tlie
city of Paris, an outlay which, however, is fully compensated by the cash
expended in the city by admiring foreigners.
The polished stone basins in which the fountains are erected are more
than 40 feet in diameter, the lower iron tazza of each fountain is nearly
20 feet, and the upper, which is reversed, is 1 1 feet in diameter; the height
of each fountain is about 30 feet. The design of these noble ornaments
resulted rather capriciously from the locality which they occupy— that is,
midway between the Ministry of Marine and the Seme ; one was conse-
quently dedicated to river and the other to maritime navigation. Each
has six figures 10 feet high around the base, and between these are
dolphins spouting water; around the socle of the upper tazza are three
figures of children, each about 5 feet high, and three swans; in
the great stone basin of each are three tritons and three nereids,
each holding a fish, making a total of twenty-four pieces, all
large and some colossal, besides the basins and their supports. The
castings were made at the foundry of Tusey, near Vaucouleurs, in the
Meuse. Originally, the whole was painted in what was believed to
be a very durable manner, and certainly had a good eflTect; the flesh por-
tions of the figures were made to resemble Florentine bronze, and the other
parts, the old green metal and the ornamental accessories, were gilded;
but the experiment was unsuccessful, and the fountains have been since
resulted every two or three years, but not in such an elaborate manner,
and It was clearly proved that the paint did not entirely prevent the oxi-
datioD. Moreover, a large expense was caused by the necessity of com-
pletely scraping the iron before the new paint was applied. The autho-
rities, thcrelore, decided that the galvanic process shaU be applied to this
immense mass of castings, as well as to the twenty of the great rostral
columns in the place itself, and the 220 candelabra which illuminate that
large space, and the grand avenue of the Champs Elysees. The weight of
the whole of these objects taken together is estimated at 480 tons ! The
lonntains are expected torbe in their places again in the spring, each covered
with a coat of copper, which will endure for ages; but, whether the latter
expectation be fulfilled or not, there is no doubt that their appearance
will be immensely improved, and that the bronzing will outlast many
coats of paint. '
There is another point of view, too, from which this process deserves
high commendation; one great fault of the ornamental part of Paris is the
constant scraping and scrubbing, and painting, wliicli is almost always
going on, and tlie consequent greenness and want of repose that charac-
terised all the great public buildings in the city. Now that Notre Dame
is furbished, there is scarcely a monument upon which the eye can rest
without weariness ; a bit of fine old black wall relieved by rain-washed
and sun-bleached patches, such as carries sentiment with it and looks
historical, is not to be found in the Imperial, upstart-looking quarter of
the city. The introduction of this bronzing is, then, a great god-send,
and it is to be hoped that our Parisian friends will get their ideas of color
improved, by feasting their eyes on the rich tones which the atmosphere
will soon produce on the coated iron, and learn that a flaring white wall,
and a spick and span painted railing, even with gilt tops, are anything but
delightful for the eye to dwell upon, especially under a broiling August sun,
when the Place de la Concord, with the obelisk of Luxor in the centre,
may be compared to the plains of Egypt.
ARCHAEOLOGY.
IN the commune of St. Antonin, in the Department of the Tarn et
Garonne, in Prance, attention has been for a long time attracted by a
large number of flat stones lying nearly level with the surface ; but very
little trouble has been taken to inquire into their origin; a superstitious
terror surrounded these ancient remains, which are known amongst the
country people by the name of the Giants' tombs. These stones are found
in three principal groups, one at Gastinel, near Tabarly-de-Poulan, and
the other two not far from the same spot.
The six tombs which form the first group have recently been explored ;
each is composed of five squared stones, four forming the sides, and the
fifth the top, but none below ; the general depth is about five feet, but the
dimensions vary according to the number of bodies they contain, the
smallest being, however, not less than eight feet long, by three feet in
width. They all lie east and west. Most of the tombs contain but one
skeleton, and in only one there are as many as four discovered, these con-
sisted of the bones of a man of gigantic proportions, those of a woman, and
of two children. The neck of the female was still surr'ounded by a neck-
lace of composition beads, round in form, and nearly half an inch in dia-
meter. There were many specimens of pottery in the tombs, which are
said to resemble precisely that manufactured by the ancient Gauls, and in
spite of the absence of arms, jewels, and other objects, no hesitation is felt
in coming to the conclusion that they were the last resting-places of
people of that nation ; they, moreover, resemble precisely those tombs
which were discovered between Bruniquel and La Verrouille, and in which
were found flint lance-heads and hatchets, as well as small discs of bronze,
supposed to be the fastenings of girdles.
One of the tombs just opened contained the skeletons of a man and a
horse.
Similar sepulchres have b^en found in old Montauban, or de Montauriol,
in the same department, the principal difference being that, in the latter
instance, bricks were used in place of stone, which is not to be found in the
neighbourhood ; in these latter bricks were set up edgeways around the
body, in such a manner as to support others laid flat upon them, and thus
form a cover to the tomb.
Two ancient mines, one of copper and another of lead, have been dis-
covered in Mount Constant, near Cadarcet, in Prance, and are now being
worked by a company. The copper found is in the state of green sub-
carbonate, or malachite, of a fine color, and susceptible of a high polish.
The lead mine is in the same slope of the hill, and not more than 500 yards
distant from the former ; the metal is in the condition called native, and
presents a brilliant appearance and great regularity in the form. The
latter had been opened by the ancient miners to the depth of fifty or sixty
yards, but the former to only about seven or eight yards, the galleries
entering directly from the side of the hill. The mines are situated close
to the high road, and promise good results.
It is curious that two other mines, one of copper and the other of lead,
as in the former case, have also been discovered in the village of Auzat, in
the canton of Vicdersos.
MR. FRITH'S PICTURE, "LIFE AT A RAILWAY STATION."
THIS great work of one of the ablest and most popular artists of the age is and
has long been " in progress," and has been sold to Mr. L. V. Flatou for the
prodigious sum of eight thousand seven hundred and fifty guineas ! tlie sura of
seven hundred and fifty guines being added to the amount as an inducement to
the painter to forego the riglit to exhibit the work at the Exhibition of the Royal
Academy. This is unquestionably the largest sum ever paid to an artist for a
picture since art was a profession. It is so large as to be almost incredible ; but
we speak from the best authority when we state It to be correct, and as Mr.
Flatou is known to be a gentleman of sound practical knowledge as well as a
thorough critic in modern art, in which he is an extensive and successful dealer,
we presume he has taken into wise account his chances of gain or loss hv the
transaction. These chances are, first, from the public exhibition of the picture
in London and in the provinces ; next from a purposed engraving, and eventually
from its sale. The picture is 10 feet in length.— 2'/ic Art Journal.
Alterations and Additions at Newgate. — Preparations are being made
to erect another block of buildings for the confinement of female prisoners,
which will be situated immediately at the rear of the southern mass of the
main building. The work is not yet sufficiently advanced to admit of a detailed
description.
February 8, 1861
THE BUILDING NEWS.
Ill
THE FINE ARTS SEEN FROM A NEW POINT OF VIEW.*
No. 7. — TirREB Fallacies.
I HOPE to be able to convince the reader who has followed me thus far
of the fallacy of three prevalent ideas. 1st. That a high degree of
artistic perfection forebodes the decline of a state. 2nd. That, from the
number of patrons and judges in modern times, art can never attain the
lofty position it has occupied when under tlie control of a limited number
of highly educated men. 3rd. That there is a radical opposition between
nature and art.
First, then, with respect to the period of the arts attaining maturity
being often coincident with symptoms of decline in a community. If a
people deteriorate, is it not natural that their arts should deteriorate ?
The fact is that it is the decline of nations which causes the decline of
their arts ; and to suppose that the former is induced by the latter is as
illogical as to presume that because a people have fallen whi^e manifesting
a high degree of wisdom and prosperity, these are evils to be carefully
avoided. Why, too, are politics, morals, science, and literature, to be ig-
nored, and the Fine Arts selected for special animadversion ? " From the
time of the attainment of the meridan of art, its sun declined and set ; the
period in which any given people reached their highest power in art was
precisely that in which they had signed the warrant of their own ruin ;
the moment a perfect picture was to be seen, from that moment probity,
industry, and courage, seemed to decline in a nation, and eventually to
perish. But that was not all. As art seemed one of the chief promoters
of indolence and sensuality, so hitherto it had appeared in the service of
superstition, as was found to be the case in Egypt, Babylon, Greece, and
Italy, and developed under strong excitement in the worship of Osiris,
Belus, Minerva, and the Queen of Heaven. While art had been active in
the service of idolatry, it had also been productive of cruelty. The people
who had been guilty of the greatest barbarities, bestowed exquisite orna-
ments on the quiver, the spear, and the helmet. It would be difficult
to show that art ever existed in any high degree, except in
connexion with superstition, sensuality, luxury, or cruelty."t Setting
aside the transparent sophistry of the above insinuations — the non causa
pro causa — and taking the often-cited case of Athens, history teaches that
its fall was due to causes independent of the Fine Arts, and that nobler
developments of these might be expected had the republic progressed in
greatness.
But the arts of Greece as unquestionably promoted her prosperity as
they are still the truest records of her civilisation. Even the commonest
materials and the most ordinary utensils were so dignified by art as to
become sources of extraordinary wealth. Sicyon, Corinth, ^gina, and
Athens were the first seats of commerce and sculpture in Greece. When
physical wants are satisfied beauty is required; and the demand for many
articles depends ultimately as much on their beautiful as their useful
character. The beauty of the workmanship, rather than the necessity of
the things, prompted the desire for the glass of Egypt, the cups and
embroidery of Sidon, the dye of Tyre, the shawls of Miletus, and the
bronzes of Corinth. Glance at the little island of Samos. No gold mines
were there; but there was its plastic clay. On this art seized. The
intrinsic value of the material was slight, but the Greeks despised costli-
ness adapted for the vulgar display of wealth obtained by vulgar means.
Brass lamps, elaborately decorated, and set ofi" by their natural tarnish,
were preferred to those of rarer metals. The furniture of the Greeks was
pure in design and exquisite in execution, rather than of rich materials.
Set in their rings, onyxes and camelians, engraved with symbolic and
other instructive devices, appealing to the reason and imagination, super-
seded the trifling toys, glittering with precious stones, which are now
esteemed. With the Greeks workmanship exceeded the value of the
materials ; with the moderns it is continually the reverse. So with the
clay of Samos. In the time of Homer, according to Herodotus, the vases
of her potters were famous : they are more so now. Samos is little in
these days, or lives only on the legacy of fame. But yet, if some people
are to be believed, art was the cause of her fall. Will they assert that
the wealth which flows into France from the artistic skill which her sons
display in dealing with substances which all nations possess presages her
speedy decline ?
Although the decline of legitimate art has often been one of the signs of
the fall of nations, it would be wrong to deny that some kinds of artistic
delineations aid the ruin of states. There is a high and moral and a low
and immoral development of art; the former prompting noble deeds, and
refining without enervating; and the latter rooting-out manliness, and
refining only on vice and sensuality. The Fine Arts are no exception to
the truth that we may use or abase any of our faculties. It may be
said that their cultivation indisposes the mind to warlike pursuits,
and lowers military enthusiasm. This is one of the highest merits of the
arts: —
" Scilicet ingenium placida mollitur ab arte,
Et .studio mores convenientur cunt."
The military is a predominant trait in nations in an early phase of pro-
gression, but by no means a characteristic of ultimate development. It
marks strongly a period of barbarism. The chivalry of the Aliddle Ages
is an example. Then, unless a man was a priest, almost the only honorable
avocation was to cut the throats of other men; skill, strength of muscle,
and brute courage carrying the day. But, in the course of advancement,
as Ilallam remarks significantly — " The character of knight gradually
* The riffht of republication and of translation of this series of articles is reserved
by the author.
t Address at the Kensington Museum, by J. Kusldu. Buildimg News. Vol. IV ,
No. 4.
subsided into that of gentlemen." Standing armies, recruited by force or
famine, are found iu countries which have progressed beyond feudaliim,
warriors becoming paid gladiators for the protection of peaceful pnrtuiti.
Enthusiasm is daily diminishing, from the scientific character of modem
warfare, and the coolness requisite for its successful prosecution. The
military has become subsidiary to a higher character; and natioat
which plume themselves chiefly on warlike skill are never really
civilised, liberty is doubtful, and aggression, tyranny, and cruelty com-
monly prevail.
We may altogether conclude that a state of society in which the Pine
Arts do not occupy a considerable amount of public attention is never that
" good state " which the enlightened philosopher, statesman, or economist,
will highly praise. Their high degree of cultivation proves the attain-
ment of sufficient leisure to permit of the improvement of the mind ; and
it will be found that love of the beautiful in art leads to love of the
beautiful, the good, and the true in all things. So far from causing
decline, while politics, religion, and philosophy divide men, they may all
unite in taste for the Fine Arts. These rise and decay with nations. When
a race excelling in them have suddenly fallen, this has been the conaequenoe,
not of their cultivation of art, but of moral and political causes; because of
indolence iind sensuality; or because the nation became a conspicuous
prize for the barbarians who poured upon her in overwhelming numbers.
The maturity of art does not foreshow the deterioration of nations ; but
the decline of nations causes the decline of art.
I have next to explain the fallacy of the idea that the Fine Arts mast be
under the exclusive control of a few learned and discriminating men before
they can attain the perfection which they formerly exhibited. I quote
the words of one of the advocates of these views: the italics are his own.
" There will never again be a period of pure taste. There will never be
another Periclean age, nor another thirteenth century. But there may be
another Pericles. Observe the difierence. Though general or national
taste will always be depraved, there need not, therefore, be total depravity
of all taste. Though purity can never be prevalent, it need not, therefore, be
absent. We are, perhaps, the only nation that has a national style, certainly
the first in history that has had one ; for, observe, none of the styles of old
were national, — they were the styles of classes, priesthoods, and corpora-
tions. They attained their purity, I doubt not, precisely at the times
when the many, the nation, knew least, talked least, and cared least
about architecture. This was the very essence of their success, — that they
were the exclusive production of the thinking few, uninfluenced by the
thoughtless multitude; though universally admired, yet totally unpopular,
unnational. The many now have a voice in art. Therefore, most art is,
and ever will be, art for the many and of the many. The general taste
can never improve. Pure taste can never again prevail; but it can fight.*
Much of this sounds plausible, until we perceive, on reflection, the un-
warrantable suspension, with respect to art only, of that law of progres-
sion which is visible in other things. Of course, if we require no proofs
of the prophecies that' " general or national taste will always be depraved,"
that " purity can never be prevalent," and that " the general taste can
never improve," there is an end to argument on the subject. It is indeed
surprising that the writer should so completely ignore the fact that the
grand strides of modern civilisation are inseparable from the exertions of
the mass of the community ; and it is passing strange that art should be
made the scapegoat, while no one denies the possibility of advancement in
other departments of human knowledge. Such arguments are doubly
mischievous ; ibr, while tending to induce the perpetuation of that sta-
tionary doctrine, with respect to the multitude, which has produced so
many indignant uprisings and deplorable revolutions in asserting the com-
mon rights and duties of man, they confirm the existing misconception of
the true scope of the Fine Arts in steadily ignoring the fact that, previous
to Modernism, it always has been to reflect the ideas and feelings of the
community, and not those of a sect, or a party of antiquarians with a
mania for reproducing efiete modes of expression. Nay, the decline of
Roman art was mainly due to its being no longer the free servant of the
"many," through the exclusive patronage of the emperors and rich
citizens substituting individualities for the expression of what was in
every mind.
According to our author, we are forced to conclude that representations
of Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Saracenic, Gothic, and Chinese structures
constitute our " national style ;" and that " none of the styles of old were
national," in spite of the fact that, with rare exceptions, each ancient
people had one accurately reflecting their outward and inner life. But
these, it is said, " were the styles of classes, priesthoods, and corporations."
They were so, but also the styles of races, whose characteristics they
reflected. Is it not evident that the present adoption of Classic, Gothic,
and other styles, has been dictated by classes, priesthoods, corporations,
dilettanti, and antiquarians, that mislead a public, intelligent enough, but
ignorant of art. Pugin observes that the revival of Gothic art was
"rather the result of amazing zeal amongst a few noble and devout indi-
viduals than the spontaneous act of the body,"t just as the cultivation in
England of Greek art was due, in a considerable degree, to the Society of
Dilettanti. The testimony of all antiquity points to the fact that, though
the old styles were certainly tools in the hands of priesthoods, they would
have been useless tools unless appreciated by the people at large ; and it
was because of this that they attained their highest degree of success,
Brecisely when the nation knew, talked, and cared most about their culti-
VfltlOD
When the Parthenon was raised the populace of Athens were the fbre-
' The Principles of Design in Architecture," by E. L. Gabbett.
'Apology."
112
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 8, 1861.
most in the world in ability to appreciate the beautiful. One patron, the
state, representing the community, appealed to the common sentiment. No
vorks were accepted until after public discussion of their merits ; and
Phidias concealed himself to listen to the criticism of the people, knowing
that fame was their gift. It is quite true that, in all ages and countries,
great works "were the exclusive production of the thinking few ;" but it
■would be wrong to concl jde that -^Eschylus and Shakespere, I'hidias and
Angelo, addressed a select clique, instead of the whole of the community.
Their productions arc for all time and for all people, .whether " thinking "
or " thoughtless." Our author's sentiments are apparently analogous to
those of Dr. Johnson. " The boasted Athenians were barbarians. The
mast of every people must be barbarians where there is no printing." But,
as Lord Macaulay truly observes : — Those who could hear Socrates talk,
and Pericles harangue, behold the plays of Sophocles and Aristophanes,
and gaze on the friezes of Phidias, and the paintings of Zeuxis ; those who
listened to the choruses of iEschylus, and heard the rbapsodist at the
corner of the street reciting the shield of Achilles or the death of Argus,
were receiving an education giving quickness to the pereeptions, delicacy
to the taste, fluency to the expression, and politeness to the manners.*
Winckclmann also testifies : — " To be learned, that is to say, to know what
others have known, was the ambition of a later i>eriod. In the best days
of Greece it was easy to be learned, in the signification of the word at that
time ; and every one could be wise. Por there was one vanity less in the
■world at that time than at present, namely, that of being conversant with
many books, — since the scattered fragments of the greatest of
poets were not collected till the sixty-first Olympiad. These
the child learned ; and when he had achieved any meritorious
act, he was numbered among the first men of his nation. "f
The " many " understood art as well as philosophy, being taught drawing
in order, as Aristotle says, that they might be enabled to form a correct
judgment of beauty. Nay, he distinctly asserts that — " The multitude is
the surest judge of the productions of art." Cicero also makes the public
the supreme judge ; and Pliny observes that, through the influence of
Pamphilus, the free and noble youths of Greece were taught drawing
before other arts.
lo the Middle Ages, art could never have been so perfected were it not
for its appreciation by the mass of the people. It reflected, not the tastes
and characteristics of the few, but those of the many. "And it is, per-
haps, the principal admirableness of the Gothic schools of architecture
that they thus receive the results of the labor of inferior minds, and out
of fragments full of imperfection, and betraying that imperfection in every
touch, indulgently raise up a stately and inaccusable whole."t Medieval
art. although presenting national types, was, it is true, rather European
than national, for it was not only the style of a priesthood, but also of
various races united by one religion. To say that Gothic art was the
style of the priesthood exclusively, that it was uninfluenced by the mul-
titude, and that, though " universally admired," it was " totally un-
popular," and attained perfection " precisely at the time when the many,
the nation, knew least, talked least, and cared least " about it, is to take a
very incorrect view of the state of society in the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries. What was the use of the symbolic forms, of lavishing thou-
sands on noble cathedrals, of building little parisli churches " in remote
and secluded wildernesses, to be witnessed only by the rude peasants of
the neighbourhood and the birds that hovered about the pinnacles," if
only a select number of learned and accomplished men were to be inte-
rested ? I have before remarked on the popular character of Gothic sym-
bolism, no secresy, as in Egypt and Greece, being attempted; and the fact
it that it was addressed especially to the simple and unlearned : they had
DO books to read; and it was of particular importance that they should be
enabled to peruse and appreciate works of art. So far from being " the
exclusive production of the thinking few," it is evident that the most
ignorant, degraded, vicious, and thoughtless men had an extensive share
in decorating the Medieval edifices.
It seems altogether reasonable to conclude that the wider the circle of
critics the more likely it is that works of art will be satisfactory. That
those who live to please must please to live is as true as that those who
live to instruct must instruct to live: in art both aims are combined. The
great artist will never work down to the lowest, but up to the highest.
His mission is to depict the good and the true; and he can never fail being
appreciated sooner or later. The vicious artist may pander to sensuality,
for there will always be some depraved to address; but we never need
fear that all will be vitiated. Nay, at the present day, when education Is
diffused so widely, and the masses have attained a pitch of intelligence
never before approached, even the most gloomy alarmists will at last
cease to assert that, in proportion as the many have a voice in art, its
degradation will be marked. Educate the many ; teach the many ; put
them in the right path ; and then trust confidently that the more art is
comprehended and influenced by the public at large, the greater it will
become.
The third fallacy is that there is an opposition between nature and art,
these being contriidictory things.
As was the case with the previous fallacies, we have again an assumption ;
and it is far easier to assume an untruth than a truth. We all know what
it understood by nature. Art— originally meaning power, as poet meant
the nut^r— may be defined as the material expression of the sentiments
with which man looks at nature. The artist, then, is one who has the
power to express tangibly what the poet clothes in words. Tliere must be
• K«riew ofCroker's Edition of Bonwcll's Life of Johnson.
t " Ulstorf of Aoelent Art smODC tha ttreeks "
J " The Stones of Vcnlcf," by John Buskin.
mind and feeling, peculiarly characteristic of the artist, infused into his
work. An exact copy of a leaf or a plant, such as we see in books on
botany, made merely as a copy, is not art, but mechanism, just as a prosaic
description of its form and structure is not poetry. A military man may
describe a landscape with respect to strategic operations ; or a farmer its
agricultural aspect ; a geologist its structural formation ; and, again,
the photographer may give us a view of it ; and a painter sketch what
he sees without reference to his own ideas and feelings : none of these
processes involve truly poetic or artistic delineation, there must be sen-
timent and imagination, rising above matter-of-fact depiction. A glance
at many pictures of the Dutch school, exhibiting far more patient labor in
copyism than thought, and then at the the works of Giotto, Angelo,
Eaphael, and Turner, in which there is more thought than labour— even the
sketches of the latter artists presenting evidence in every line of their
peculiar tone of mind— will readily explain the distinction to be remem-
bered. We may say to the great imaginative painter :— « Come between
this nature and me— this nature which is too great and too wonderful for
me ; temper it for me ; interpret it to me ; let me see with your eyes, and
hear with your ears, and have help and strength from your great spirit."
Thus also Milton's descriptions indicate the poet's view of nature.
" A steep wilderness, whose hoary sides
With thielieet overgrown, grotesque and wild.
Access deny'd ; and over-head upgrew.
Insuperable heiffht of loftiest shade,
Cedar and pine, and lir, and branching palm ;
A sylvan scene ; and as the ranks ascend
Shade above shade, a woody theatre
Ot stateliest view."
So Professor Hart observes :— "If you paint the very appearance of a
person in every particular, what docs it amount to ? You give him no
more than he can see when he looks at himself in the glass. There is no
idea ! It is nothing ! You have done nothing !"
Now we may appreciate the value, in one important respect, of archaic
works of art. Siechanical representations of natural objects are very
useful ; but it we can trace the sentiments with which men contemplated
nature, ancient remains then possess a more human interest. Art is
loved better because it is linked with nature. Nature also is elucidated ;
and we learn from old artists the great lesson that, as man is conjoined
with the external world, so the true scope of the Pine Arts consists in the
depiction of all that lives, moves, or has being. Not only animate, but
also inanimate nature is to be regarded by man as linked intimately with
himself, even stones uttering words of sympathy, wisdom, and beauty.
To us, then, there are two worlds ; the world of nature, and the world
cf man's records of nature. Of the latter there are two kmds ; prosaic
records or chronicles of events, facts, principles, and objects ; and records
of the way in which all these have been regarded. This last is, within
peculiar limits, the world of art, wliich cannot be disconnected from that
of nature. Longfellow has dilated on this in his " Hyperion," " Art is
the revelation of man ; and not merely that, but likewise the revelation
of nature, speaking through man. Art pre-exists in nature, and nature is
reproduced in art."
So far, therefore, from art and nature being discordant things, they are
joined together harmoniously. Nature indicates the creative power of
God ; art that of man. We do not look at nature through the spectacles
of art, but we look at art through the spectacles of nature. The true
artist is the true man of nature; for without he is the latter he cannot b&
the former. Art exists on the basis of nature; and we thus come to
Shakespere's conclusion —
" That art,
Which, you say, adds to nature, is an art
That nature makes.
* * * • «
The art itself is nature."
The apparently arbitrary forms of architecture may seem to be excep-
tions to the above conclusion; but they are adaptations of nature to
certain materials and requirements. Thus modified, or conventionalised,
the works of the architect are equally expressive, though in a diflTerent
way, of the feelings with which nature is contemplated as the closer
reproductions of the painter and sculptor, more inventive power being also
exhibited in architecture, as nature is imitated in her processes and
principles, rather than copied. In this our great dwelling, the earth, with
its star-bespangled roof and richly tesselated pavement, we have to form
lesser habitations, reproducing the varied forms in nature.
EdWAKD L. TAHBUCli.
VILLAGE CHURCHES.— Part II.— No. 3.
MORETON VALENCE CHURCH.
ABOUT six miles from Gloucester, on the west, is the parish of Morcton
Valence. It can scarcely be termed a village, the houses being few and
much scattered, and consisting for the most part of farm-houses of various sizes,
having no pretensions in the way of design. Here and there are small groups of
cottages occupied by the farm laborers, but they are not numerous, and are too
far apart to warrant them in assuming the importance of a village. The church,
as usual in these country places, is the only building worthy of notice, and
appears to he tlie only one possessing any claim to architectural interest. The
farm buildings of England erected durmg the last two centuries are void of
beauty, and do not even possess that picturesque appearance, which added so
much to our scenery, that the houses of the Elizabethan era offered. Tliere was
a look about the old timbered erections of that day which drew the attention and
gave an amount of satisfaction which those of later years Ijave failed to do.
There was a snup and homely look about them which lingered in tlie memory,
and .idded additional charms to the remembrance of the eai-ly life of our fore-
* " Modem Painters," III.
February 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
113
fathers. The honeysuckle and roses seemed to flourish more sweetly against
those old irregular walls than they now do on our plain, flat fronts of brick ; and
though they failed in purity of detail, yet the whole was pleasing. They appeared
like the embers of departed excellence ; they gave the landscape a look which
could he felt rather than described, and added a quaint beauty to the luxuriance
of nature.
Moreton Valence Church is situated in a flat portion of the country thickly
wooded with fruit-trees, oak, elm, ash, and other timber common in the West of
England, and is concealed by masses of foliage until the traveller arrives within
a few yards of the graveyard, when it stands boldly out from its green back-
ground. It consists of a nave and chancel of old work, and a south aisle which
extends to the east wall of chancel to the west of nave, of Perpendicular. The
tower stands at the west end. It is divided as usual into three stages by string-
courses, and is finished with a battlement immediately under which are two
large gargoyles on each side. The buttresses are placed at the angles, and the
whole of the design is in the Perpendicular style. The stone of which the
church is built is of a whitish color, and is not concealed by whitewash or plaster
but bears the coloring of age. On the inside this is not the case, but every por-
tion is covered with thick coats of that colorless abomination, not even the
sculptured portion has been spared, but has been clothed with layer after layer
till it is now scarcely distinguishable.
On the north side of nave is a porch of early design. The roof is concealed by
the ceiling which is carried under the rafters and is polygonal. The wall-plate
is moulded but is whitened like the other portions. The inner doorway of this
porch is interesting as a specimen of >forraan work, the opening is 3 feet
C inches wide and 6 feet 0 inches to under side of square head which is level with
the neck moulding of the small column on each side ; these columns are 9 inches
from the opening, 2 inches from the face of wall, to allow room for the cap, and
6 inches in diameter : they are not detached. The base is partly concealed by
the floor, the portion still" in sight consists of a round moulding not deeply cut,
and a quarter hollow underneath the cap is formed of one inverted truncated
cone presenting one escallop on the face 8 inches wide ; the upper portion, as
usual, is flush with the face of wall, the height of cap is 9 inches and the neck
moulding 1^ inch. The abacus consists of the mouldings generally used, namely
the flat projecting face of 2 Indies, the small angular moulding of half an inch,
a small narrow flat portion, and the under splay to face of wall measuring IJ-inch,
making the total height of abacus 4 inches. It measures 17 inches in length,
being stopped a little beyond the outer moulding of arch. The arch is semi-
circular, or nearly so, and consists of a half-round moulding with a flat fillet on
each side, the outer one measuring l|-inch and the inner one l}-inch. The
moulding itself is three inches. Under this is a large bold round moulding mea-
suring 6 inches, and a narrow flat face of 1 inch, making the entire arch-mould-
ing 13 inches wide. The tympanum of this arch is filled with sculpture repre-
senting, as far as can be seen through the veil of whitewash, an angel
charging a dragon with a spear. A glory is shown round the head
of the angel, who is also represented with wings, and dressed in a
long flowing robe. Behind the dragon is some foliage of that stiff kind
so often found in Norman carving, the long stems terminating with a round
bulb or ball, and having a curious effect. The stone forming the head of door is
33 inches high ; the upper edge under the sculptured portion is splayed off, but
its under edge is left square. Along its face, above the door opening, and 2^
inches from it, is a row of sixteen small escallops, above which are some indenta-
tions, somewhat similar to the star moulding, and surmounted by another row of
sixteen escallops, with a flat face of 3 inches above. This stone head is 9 inches
from the outer face of wall. The reveal is (>J inches, and is finished sauare on
the inside. The entire thickness of wall is about 2 feet 6 inches. The ctiurch in
its original state does not seem to have been a very large one, but the addition of
the aisle affords more accommodation, being nearly as large as the nave. As has
been stated, it is in the Perpendicular style, and does not harmonise in the
slightest with the old portions of work. There is almost as disagreeable an
effect produced in the combination of Norman and Perpendicular as in the
mixture of Classic and Gothic — the one bold, massive, and plain; the -other
meretricious and toylike ; the Norman representing the bud and the Perpendi-
cular the overblown flower. There is no harmony visible in the association of
these two extremes, which must ever stand, as it were, opposed to eacli other,
and refuse to amalgamate.
The nave is 35 feet 0 inches in length and 20 feet 3 inches in width, the chancel
20 feet 1 inch in length, and 13 feet 2 inches in width. Tlie aisle opens into the
chancel, and the altar is placed at the east end instead of in the chancel. The
font is idaced under the chancel arch, and the pulpit stands at the west end
between nave and aisle. These arrangements appear to be directly opposite to
those usually found, and have an appearance of awkwardness to those who have
always been accustomed to see them otherwise. The nave arches are in the Tudor
style, and supported by columns having caps and bases. The chancel arch is in
the Norman style, and is semicircular. The opening between the piers is 7 feet
2 inches, and the height from floor-line to under side of abacus is 6 feet 6 inches.
The arch mouldings are few, but rather bold, consisting of a small hollow on the
outer side, separated from a large three-quarter round moulding by a fillet, then
a small flat face projecting about an inch beyond the round moulding, and lastly
a flat recessed face of bj inches. The hollow measures 3J inches, the fillet
2 inches, and the three-quarter round 0 inches. The flat soffit of this arch is
1 foot 1 0 inches wide, and finished square on the chancel side. The impost is 9 inches
high, and is composed of a flat projecting face of 5 inches, an angular moulding
of 1 inch, then a splay to face of wall of 3 inches, with two angular ch.innels
cut into it. It is stopped abruptly on the nave side within a few inches
of the flat face, which would have met it had it been continued. On the
chancel side it is continued 15 inches along the wall, and terminated
without presenting its proper profile, having the appearance of being broken
off. The pier on the west side consists of a shaft having cap and base, and
measuring U inches in diameter, then a face projecting 1 inch beyond the shaft,
and in a line with the upper flat face of cap, and lastly the inner recessed face of
8 inches. The entire thickness of wall is 2 feet 9 inches. The cap of the small
shaft is formed of only one escallop on each side, and one inverted truncated
cone — above it is small round moulding and splay to face of wall, a feature not
often observable. The neck moulding is round. The step to chancel is 5 inches
in height. Along the eastern wall of chancel runs a large and ornamental stsing-
course, its under side is 2 feet from the floor line, and its upiier side 2 feei, 8J
inches. It is composed of a flat face of 4 inches projecting fij inches from wall,
and ornamented with the star mouldmg, each one being half an inch longer than
it is high. In the apex, if it may be so termed, of each liidcntaUan It ■ i
round ball, which addition to the plain star contributes mucli lo iu enriched
appearance. Under this ornamented face is an angular moulding, the under
side of which presents a much larger face than tlie upper, which i» olniost parallel
witli the floor line, and lastly the plain under splay ol^3J inches to within half an
inch of the face of wall. In the eastern portion of the nouth wall of
chancel, which was not removed in making the opening with the nouth aisle,
is a small Norman piscina. The opening is 3 feet 2 indies from the flcxir-Iine,
and is 145 inches wide. The arch over it is segmental, and has a plain splay of
2j inches; the sidts have their angles uncut, the height from the softit of arch
to the upper side of sink-stone is 13 inches, and from the springing of arch 9*
inches. The drain is circular and very shallow. The hack of this piscina u
lOJ inches from the outer face of wall. In the cast end of north wall of chancel
15 a small Norman window, round, which on the inside is carried a splay of
16 inches. The light is 0 inches wide and 3 feet long, with a sinnicircular heail.
It is about 6 feet G inches from the floor-line. The other windows are all Per-
pendicular. The east window of chancel is a thn*-liglit window, in this style,
probably inserted when the other portions were built. The east and wi-st windows
and three south windows in the aisle are also three-light Perpendicular windows,
together with one of a similar kind in the north wall. The ceiling of chancel is
arched, and, as before remarked, every portion is covered with whitewash or
plaster. The font is octagonal, with a round base with an escallop on each face.
Its shape is peculiar, being tied in, as it were, by a round moulding in the middle,
and becoming wider towards its upper and lower portions ; the former is moulded
with mouldings of a Norman character, and the font would a))n<'ar to be a work
of that period, although in its general form it is very unlike tlios<.' usiL-illy exe-
cuted in that style. Its height is 3 feet 1 inch. The basin has a Hat bottom, and
almost perpendicular sides. The chancel of this church points K.S.E.
THEATRICAL SCENERY.
FOR the first time since it was built, Her Majesty's Theatre — the old
Italian Opera House — has gone the way of all theatres, and dcTOted
its vast area to the frolics of harlequin and columbine, clown and panta-
loon, to say nothing of supernumary sprites and well-punielled policemen.
With all the rude fun of this offering to the festive sca«on, we have Mr.
William Beverley to inspect the production of the scenery, and enable the
old theatre to make as good a show in that respect as its more experienced
rivals. It is on this last subject that we feel it necessary to make a tew
observations. The first scene, the pantomime being entitled " Harlequin
and Tomb Thumb," is the interior of Gaffer Thumb's Cottage. In the
centre is a window, by the side of which is a " practical " door— that is
to say, a door through which persons pass in and out of the cottage. On
one side is an old-fashioned fire-place, with cauldron over the fire, and on
the opposite side is a flight of rude steps leading to an open doorway,
through which is seen the open air. The use of such a door it is difficult to
imagine, because it leads nowhere, except indeed it be as a balance to the
fire, and showing the clear blue of the atmosphere serves as a contrast to
the strong and dark grey which pervades the whole of the interior. There
is besides, attached to the woodwork of the ceiling, a small box or cup-
board, with a piece of red cloth hanging from it. But as at that height,
the height of the Opera House proscenium, it would be totally useless, it
is therefore altogether an unnecessary piece of conventionalism. With the
rest of the scene we are well satisfied. The dark grey of the general tone,
is skilfully assisted and relieved from appearing heavy by the black clock-
case, the cauldron, the soot at the back of the fireplace, a black chair, and
several gradations of the same tint on saucepans on the mantelshelf The
formality of the door and square window in the centre of the scene is
broken by a stream of light and accompanying shadow thrown diagonally
across them both, and all the lights, with the local whites of plates, are
made to retire, and the dark to receive point and vigor from the while table-
cloth in front which focuses the whole scene, both in the regularity of its
form and the pure white of the cloth, by which it is covered. When the
time comes for the change to the next scene, the cottage descends through
the stage, and its roof rises ; we then find that the edge of it, hidden
behind the back part of the cottage, is painted with elegant fruits
and flowers having a light and transparent appearance, and forms the
border over head to the second scene, entitled "Rosewater Lake and
Romantic Haunt of the Fairies." The dark, cold, and vigorous character
of the interior which has just disappeared gives great effect, by contrast to
the aiirial, light, and imaginative style of this fairy scene. The dis-
tance is mountainous ; in the front is a lake of beautiful blue ; on the
left are some fanciful, if not impossible, rocks, forming natural arches,
stretching partly over the lake, and beneath them are vessels lying at
anchor, illumined by the midday sun. In the foreground, on one side, are
prostrate stems of trees, on the other are groups of gorgeously -colored
flowers, chiefly red with green leaves, which add greatly to the general
eflect. This scene is painted something in the light and imaginary colors
frequently adopted by Turner, and is a style no doubt well suited to fairy
scenery. At the same time, however, that great scope may be given to
the fancy in such subjects, it is still necessary there should be sufficient
reality in the design to satisfy the eye and content the sense of those ia
the habit of inspecting such subjects rather closely. This scene looked at
in that sense, partly fails, because a natural arcli formed out of a chalk
cliflr as that represented could not support its own weight, for it
is not of the circular shape at all, but consists really of a straight and
comparatively thin mass of chalk of great length resting on the natural
clifTon one side and on a natural pier of the same material on the other,
reaching probably to the bottom of the lake. There are two of these
arches, and the furthest from the spectator has not been duly con-
sidered or carefully executed in another respect, for in point of color
it appears close to the foremost arch, but the pier supposed to support it
seems to touch the lake several hundred feet behind its line of projectioa
114
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 8, 1861.
at least, so it appeared to us. As an effect of color, however, this scene
displays great taste, particularly when the corps de ballet — the fairies — are
assembled on the stage, and, being dressed in blue or green, agree so well
with the intense blue of the lake as apparently to belong or melt into it,
which gires to all their movements an ethereal character very pleasing to
the eye and appropriate to the nature of the subject. The scene, however,
receives its full point of effect when the queen of the fairies occupies the
centre of the stage, her white dress giving life and accent to the whole,
especially when in close contact with the dark costume worn by the male
dancer, which is the key to all the darks in the picture receiving and giving
support from and to the principal white. The vivid red of some large
flowers near the middle of the stage rising against the deep blue water
produces a powerful and valuable contrast, throwing the back scene into
air and distance, .iccording with the warm tints on the mountains ; the
dark green leaves compare with the dresses of the fairies, and separate
them as a mass from the lake and distant scenery. The whole arrange- '
ment is rendered full and complete by the quantities of fruit, flowers,
and tropical shrubs, which hang down on each side of the stage.
The frequent return to the cottage scene is very advantageous to each
scene that follows it, being light in tone and delicate in color ; the strong
and vigorous darks and greys to which we have alluded serve very much to
increase by comparison, at first sight, the brilliancy of theireffect. This result
is not more strongly shown in either of those by which it is followed — than
that of " The Exterior of the Giant's Castle, with Farmyard and Distant
Country." It is a sunset, which, with the composition, reminds us of
Cayp. The castle, with its square and round towers occupies the right.
On the left is a rustic shed, close to which is a light and elegant tree, not
thick in foliage, so that the pale warmth of the sky is freely distributed
amongst its branches and leaves. The arrangement receives a rather
classical aspect from the circular form of the moat, contrasted by the
square turrets and repeated by the round towers of the castle, the whole
effect being brought together, and the pervading idea sustained by a well
painted and an appropriately designed hedge. The only objection to this
scene is that the castle, as regards its apparent height, is not fit for a giant;
but, taking it as an ordinary one, it constitutes an interesting portion of a
chaste and charming composition. The same want of height and space is
still more strongly shown in the following scene, of "The Interior of the
Giant's Castle." Besides the absurdity of supposing a giant living in a
castle where he could not sit, much less stand upright, only his head and
shoulders are shown rising just above the stape, ^om which we are left to
conclude, one of two things — either that, as King Richard says, " he came
into the world scarce half made up," or that the pavement of the stone apart-
ment we see forms a kind of entresol, and that the giant is walking on a
floor low enough down to give room for his long and gigantic continuations.
We are aware that it is not usual to criticise a pantomime too closely, but
the times are becoming so strictly realistic as regards art that incon-
gruities of this kind appear the more striking. The color of the stone-
work in this scene is unnecessarily cold in color and inartistic in monotony
of treatment.
Nor can we, as in the treatment of the cottage interior, find the same
reason for those excesses with respect to assisting the first effect of the
following scene, because that is gradually presented to us by the inter-
vention of a dark medium painted for the purpose. We have now come
to the great transformation - scene, or, according to the bill, " The
Cliameleon Temple of the Fairies, or Grand Magical Metamorphosis."
The intervening medium which ushers in this elaborate effort of the
scenic artist is, we think, a great improvement both in taste and execution
on all the scenes of the kind painted for the same purpose which we
remember to have seen. It is, in fact, a very handsome black lace veil,
extending to the full extent in every direction of the proscenium. It is a
gauze, on which is painted very carefully a pattern consisting of light
branches and well-defined leaves, the darkness of which very effectually
shuts out the exact features of the scene behind it ; but the transparent
ground on which the pattern is painted leaves just enough visible to produce
the necessary mystery, without keeping the spectators absolutely in the
dark as to that which is coming, much as they feel when watching
changes of a dissolving view. As we have said, the light appears
partially through the transparent interstices of the dark foliage, after
which the light gradually increases, and the leaves become more distinctly
visible, the whole veil or medium rises slowly, and we begin to discern at
the back some palm-trees, painted in very pale red or pink.
This scene, it should be stated, is divided into three parts: a kind of
bridge with arches beneath it crosses from one side of the stage to the other,
above them are alcoves, which turn round and back again, and in the
back and front is a female figure, one dressed in gold and the other in
green ; when the arrangement is complete, another group of female figures,
placed on an expanding column, presents itself above the whole. The
first change of effect is when a red light is thrown on the scene and the
figures placed in the alcoves on the bridge, being dressed in golden tissue,
receive the light very favorably. The arches beneath are not yet opened,
but some foliage within tliem partakes of the colored light. The alcoves
now turn and present the figures dressed in very vivid green, upon which
and the rest of the scene a brilliant light of the same color is instantly
thrown. Tlie dresses in each instance are contrive<l to receive the light
more vividly than any surrounding object, so that each figure becomes
the key of the effect to which it belongs. The sudden change from
one color to the other of so powerful a contrast produces a startling
and an agreeable effect. A back scene of a peculiarly delicate, or,
rather, a neutral grey, with some palm-branches painted on it, ascends
and produces a variation from the first appearance of the scene, when the
figures in green retire or are turned away and those in gold resume their
former place before the audience. In addition to that the arches open
below, and within them are some groups more jncturesquely composed of
figures dressed also in golden tissue, and of course the effect is more full
and splendid. An indescribable kind of transparent upright leaves or
pinnacles, brilliantly illuminated with a white light, now appear and
increase the arrangement, by being placed between the alcoves containing
the figures. The third division of the scene mentioned above gradually
rises behind the rest, its form being suggested jirobably by a palm-tree,
and when the leaves begin to expand, the figures on the top appear to be
nestling in its crown; but when a canopy is formed above, the figures are
seen standing erect with one or two on each side in a recumbent position,
and all being in the golden costume, an enormous breadth of delicate gilt
work, as it were, richly embossed with allegorical subjects, is pre-
sented to the view. The contrast to all this gorgcousness being delicately,
but effectually, produced by the subdued grey at the extreme back ; and a
faintly expressed silvery drapery, ornamented with beads, turned over
beneath the seat of the group on the supposed palm -tree, tends to relieve
by contrast the central golden group below it. The composition is
bounded on each side by palm-trees of gold, which connect the front with
the back scene. In order to give a width to the whole, the figures in the
bottom arches or niches have a row of others in the same costly costume
standing on each side, to the full extent of the stage, giving, in some
degree, a pyramidal form to all the figure part of the subject, with breadth
of base, and consequent solidity to the entire composition. The final
changes are — firstly, from the gold to a brilliant green ; secondly, a
delicately pink back ground to a vivid green on the rest of the subject ;
and finally, pink and silver. All these concluding effects,' as well as those
previously displayed, are warmly and deservedly applauded.
MR. BELL'S LECTUKK AT THE ARCUITECTURAL MUSEUM.
ON Wednesday evening, Mr, John Bell, sculptor, South Kensington, delivered in
the Lecture-theatre of the South Kensington Museum, before the members and
friends of the Architectural Museum, a lecture entitled "The^Four Sisters; or
some Notes ou the Kelationship of the Fine Arts." The following is a copy of the
lecture : —
THE FOUR BISTERS ; OR, SOME NOTES ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE FINE ARTS.
We are all apt to embody our thoughts ia illustr.itious which are I'amiliar to us.
The tniveller speaks of the "journey of life:" tlu' sailor frames his hopes in
wishing you a fair wind and a sure haven. Thus also is the artist ready to clothe his
thoughts in those illustrations with which his imagination is peoi>led. With the
sculptor hardly a passage occurs in poetry but calls up in his mind figures and
groups to symbolise the sentiment. Thus, iu considering the relation of the tine arts,
he is apt to re'^ard it as a real relationship— he sees before him a group of sisters.
The siat^rhooa of the Muses is as old as raruassus.
It is thus wc have been accustomed to view architecture, painting, and sculpture ;
but I submit there is yet another sister which we may well introduce into the u'roup,
may be of lesser stature, but still a sister. I mean the Muse of Ornament or Deco-
ration.
In regardinp, indeed, the subject of the relationship of the fine arts, I do not con-
ceive we can do so justly without this introduction of the fourth sister, and that
more on an eciuality than we, in this country, are wont to do, and if at first sight
this may appear somewhat of an iunovation, yet I trust it will not be set down as a
presumptuous one. It is, in truth, I fancy, but a piece of justice, for decoration, as
an art, is not unfrequently slighted, even by those who may moat miss the com-
pleteness only to be gained by her presence.
In duly considering the department of decoration it presents itself in a twofold
shape. First, as that union of fanciful natural and conventional forms and objects
and colors, more addressed to please the eye than to convey any striking sentiment,
and which is subsidiary to architecture, painting, and sculpture, and, secondly, that
large decorative cjuality, without wliich nothing can be quite good in painting and
sculpture, and assuredly not in architecture. Viewed in the former of these aspects,
the Decorative Muse seems somewhat of a handmaid to her statelier sisters, in the
latter she seems almost their superior, binding them together in a union which forms
their greatest strength.
Thus, then, iu regarding in our mind's eye the sisterhood of the fine arts, we
imagine a classic group of three maidens, stately and beautiful, in attitudes of noble
frace and yet bound together by a younger sister with a wreath of flowers, hke a
•syche entwining a group of draped Graces. Like a younger sister and of lesser
stature, she seems to tend them alternately; assisting now one, now the other,
but none the less binding is the festoon with whicli she unites them because it is
one of flowers.
To repeat, Decoration when viewed by herself is not so lofty as either Painting,
Sculpture, or Architecture. She is comparatively a child, fanciful erratic, chasing
butterflies, blowing bubbles, doing many things which her elder sisters would
scarcely stoop to do, and would hardly be forgiven if they attempted. She makes all
sorts of capricious combinations out of tlie ditTerent kiugdums vt' nature, waves off
figures into scrolls and foliages ; and plays with colors like a kaleidoscope. Hut in
another point of view, she is the bond of union of the whole family. In this aspect she
is at least as lofty as any member of It—because without an appreciation of decoration
in its highest sense, architecture, painting .'ind sculpture cannot be truly combined.
It is thus that the playful yet powerful Muse of Decoration appears in her highest
phaae. It was thus she appeared in the I'arthenon, and in the ceiling of the Sistiuo
Chapel.
It is with this preamble, that I introduce a few notes on the relalionshiji of the
Fine Arts— on their family likeness and Individual diversities, which I have been
invited to read to-night. These will be found more to invite attention than to attempt
to dogmatise, which is v<Ty far indeed ftom my desire.
We must all see that the fine arts address us through our sympathies. Some,
however, are more direct in this than others. Of these arc painting au<l sculpture of
the human form, for they represent our own race. I'ope's well-known adage ap]>Iics
to tills study : and painting and sculpture of the human form will always jiossess a
more direct appeal to our feelings than any other branch of the fine arts. We may
remark this In a building. No matter how admirable its structure and decoration, yet
If It possess also paintings and sculpture of equal excellence, it is to them that the
general eye will be attracted ; especially to the painthigs whlcl), in their art. leave
nothiug to be supplied by the imagination. For this reason painting is ever the moro
immediately attractive of all the arts. Sculpture is more abstract. We may see the
effect of this in any exhibition of the fine arts in any country. I'aintings form the
first attraction ; sculpture comes next ; then the architecture ; then the decorations.
It Is for sympathy that we all work. " No one," says Dr. Johnson, " would write
a book if he knew Its leaves were at once to be scattered on the ocean " ; and who
would elaborate a picture, or with many a studied stroke hew the statue from tho
block, if the niomentof completion were t<i be the signal of their destruction / In all
our art works wc seek for sympathy. This is the liope, the dream, the prize of our
efforts. No marvel therefore that this shows itself in tin: aim and direction of our
higher art works, which use the form of man for their language.
February 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
115
The landscape which puts before us the associations of our childhood and the
varied Hceuery of the chang-ing seasons, the pictured flower, which seems to breathe
the perfume of its ori8:inaI. the imajjed Htorm or calm of ocean, and the characteristics
of animal life, of dojrs and horses, man's humble but useful companionf*. are not ex-
cludi'd. but rather invited and welconiod by this view of sympathy, under such
attributes, however, as are most adapted to interest us. Still, on the oiher baud, the
mode in which wo appreciate these k-ads up a«,nxin to the recog-nitlon of the highest
efforts of the fine arts— those which represent our own kind, not only In its
grosser contours, but in that expression which breatlios the essence of our more
spiritual nature.
Thus is it in its movement amid the variety of surroundin;? nature, that the sym-
pathetic key of art is at once responded to. It is the note startnig from the human
lips, whicli, rinfiring: out amid the swell of instrumental music, thrills us more than
all the billowy sounds beside. It is tlie voice in the storm that we catch with breath-
less interest, the footstep in the sand on which our caze is riveted— the liuman
form which steps out amid the works of creation and calls them all by name !
It is in this respect that the arts of painting and sculpture possess their superior
force. It is in their power in the direct representation of our kind that resides the
immediate hold they have on our interest and sympathy. Nor can any form of mere
architecture or decoration attract so fit once, as the record of features which beam
with intellip-ence, or the form which is the possessor and a^oHt of that intelHg-cnce.
in this walk of human representation these arts are directly of man and speak to
man, face to face. With them in this respi ct, architecture and decoration can bv no
means compcte—whicli deal with parts of nature, animate or inanimate, which have
less hold on our feeling's, and thus, of the four arts, undoubtedly, painting and sculp-
ture possess the more direct and sliorter roads to our sympathy.
It would thus seem, by^this arjfument, ttoat the pre-eminence rests with painting
and sculpture over the otlier two art«. Like, however, the ^rold and silver shield of
the disputants, the truth also has its two sides, each polished like a mirror and reflect-
ing-many tiling's each way. Among these we will turn at least to one which we
may see on the other side. While we have thus favorably regarded painting and
sculpture, let usnotomit to remember that, immediately as th^ speak toour mental
sympathies, yet they are of no actual direct corporeal use. We could live without
painting and sculpture, but civilized man cannot live without architecture of some
sort. And let us not underrate this consideration. The whole revolution in pliilosophy
which wo are so proud to attribute In great jjiart to our great countryman Francis
Bacon Lord Verulam, was based upon maknig that study useful, and of direct
service to man, and assuredly the arts are not above science. Architecture Is an
indisi)en8able art— it is so directly useful. Painting and sculpture may be— archi-
tecture must be. Wlien the abuses of heathen worship, with their sculptured and
painted gods, were banished before the light of the Gospel, the fine arts then par-
took, justly perhaps, of the odium of the service of which they had been 80 long the
handmaids. raintiug and sculpture were awhile in di.sgrace and lost the
world's sympaihy. "^Architecture, like her sisters, had pandered to Pagan
worship, and had built its temples for ages. Uut she wa.t not over-
whelmed by this obloquy like her sisters. She was too strong to go
down before it. The world could not do without her, and her power
eur\*ived almost without an interval. One of her finest styles, indeed, arose even
amid the morning twilight ages— that of IJyzantium- that of our own early church.
Arcliiteoture was continuous, and moreover, after the lapse of some centuries, held
out a helping hand to her sisters. She led them out of their capti\ity where, like the
daughters of Israel, 'n Babylon, they had hung up their harps and mourned'; after a
while, interceded with the world for their forgiveness, and by degrees restored them
to their high places. And she had the power to do this because in her nature she is
essential to us, and the world cannot do without her. Herein lies a great force and
stability in her, on which a number of other forces are founded. We must have
structures, and even as early records show, we must have them of various kinds.
They should fulfil each purpose fitly: they thus become imprewiTe and ex])res8lve
in various ways. We may as well have thera l?eautiful. It is at this point that
arcliitecture becomes a fine art ; before it was only a useful art. Yet hare its most
refined beauties the invaluable advantage of the substantial basis of the useful. It is
on this solid foundation that this art rests. Loftily, airily, gracefully and grandly
as it may expand and tower into the beautiful and sublime, yet does its Urm footstill
rest on the rock of direct utility. This is a vast advantage, which in these practical
days especially, more than counterbalances the more direct appeal to our niind pos-
sessed by painting and sculpture. Painting and sculpture rest on our sympdthk'S.
Architecture greatly on our wants. Our sympathies may be in abeyafflee — our
wants never. For their higher aspirations the three arts may tower together, but
architecture is the base of the pyramid.
But the fourth sister now claims our attention. Tn regarding her w€* ina»t not
forget her two-fold character. lu her smaller province. Decoration, we may perceive,
arises directly and chiefly from architecture. Ornament, so to speak, is thelmmcdiate
parasite of architecture. It is the lichen that springs from it, a natural gro\vth ; the
ivy or honeysuckle that clings to its pillared trunk ; the mistletoe which buds out
amid its branches.
The earliest and crudest selection of architectural forms has in it the seeds of
decoration. The column of wood sprouts into loaves at the top. The finials become
fruit and flowers. The bundle of upright reeds is rudely simulated in stems, and the
capital maguilie.s the head of the papyrus. lotus, or acanthus. No nation has been
80 impr-gnant of art that the simplest "forms of natural structure have not very soon
suggested to them surface ornament ; and that commenced, decoration is born. Then
begins its existence ; first, in a kind of crystallisation from points over the surface,
and then in a more vital action. Sometimes it runs over the whole work, in the
more florid styles, as in some ofthoseofthe Indians and Jfoors. In others it only
crops out here and there, as in (Jrecian and some simple (Jothic styles. lipping over
a moulding, bursting out into growth in capitals and tinials, and grasping the union
of arches with knots of stems and leaves. Compact tn architecture is its first life ;
but its seeds fall about and are wafted on their light plumage hither and thither on
pavements, walls, draperies, and furniture, and all the adjuncts of our habitations.
True it is, however, that there is anotlitr starting point of ornament, that of
f>cr8onal decoration ; which is so strong a natural passion that the savage will often
lave decorations even before he has clothes. Paintings on the human skin itself, as
with our rude forefathers on these isles, arc among tlie earliest examples of sur-
face ornament, as bright feathers in the hair and festoons of teeth and shells are
among the earliest decorations of uncultured man. Thas, from his own person does
the ornament of the savage extend to all his cherislied implements. His bow,
his quiver, and his club partake of them ■, his paddle and his canoe receive the
like embeUishments. The latter may be called his moving habitation, and thus deco-
ration returns to architecture.
On the doorposts and pillars, and along the cornices of these habitations, we soon
see surface ornaments appear, and then grotesque heads of human beings, asjhouse-
hold gods, &c. The rude hut of the New Zealanders of the Society and Friendly
Isles, as pictured in Captain Cook's and other voyages, presented when first dis-
covered, this early kind of decoration. The temples of Central America, as described
by i=tepbens and drawn by Catherwood afford examples of the same early
stage of decoration. Even at the present time, Chinese architectural decora-
tion has not advanced much beyond this type. Celtic and Scandinavian ornament
is of a similar character. Indeed, this early style, which is greatly serpentine and
lacertine, or made up of serpents and lizard forms, with the occasional introduction
of grotesque heads and foliage, has probably been much the same in all countries.
With no nation did art spring, like Minerva, of full growth from the head of her
parent, but was the offspring of long travail. The saying that, "Art is long and life
IS short," may be applied to the art and life of a nation, as well as of an individual.
We see, however, that althouijh decoration is the close companion of architecture,
it Is not in this respect alone, tliat she possesses our regard. To decorate in some
way or other is one of the first things that man has ever done in his leisure moments.
Nature herself is decorated everywhere, and where ever our eyes unassisted fail to
show us this— take up the microscope and it is soon demonstrated. Man'M derorallo"
soon arrives at Its limit. The moat minutely flnlihed goldsmith'n wnrL m,,!. r ii|0
microscope becomes rude and incomplete. I'nder the same teal i! tW
lace be<:omes a coarse and uneven net. But Nature it) a far more • rk-
woman. Submitted to the samescrulfny any scrap taken hapbazaii ^uu-
facture, leaf or flower, tjhows in Itself a World of hubtilc and perfctti d d» imII. In
nature we meet with decoration in the MoAt unexjM-cted placet*. The unow that
flutters down to the earth, affords unrti*r the ndcroscupe, the roont startlingly
regular and charming arrangements of erystaltifled decoration. Soni« year*
ago a number of these, excellently drawn by Mrs. Cilaishtr, were figunM in the
Art Journal. Kven sections of tlie st- inw of plants, and of their seed ve«»eU and
flowers, present occasionally most d^ -m^a«ha« been admirably llluntralcd
lu this room by Mr. Dresser. Jlor. ^ illoge child well kiiown'thc natural
likeness of the oak which is seen on -•* the stalk of Ihu common fern or
brake, in thecentre of which traditi i)icture Klor Charles I And thene
latent mines of ornamental forms ;ii mi. Nature lias been wrid to work
by mathematics; she may be well h;i ■ .rk by decorstJon. Doubtl««t the two
ouallties are closely ex>nnected, at least they meet us together at evcrY turn. H
decoration, then, is so universal in nature, it does not become us to sligfit it in art.
Yet it is not uufrequentlv slighted even In those quarters where von vmuM least
expect it. For example : few things of the kind, perhaps, are mor« '■■ - to
induce a committee of gentlemen interested in the erection of a sta fur
it a duly decorated pedestal. The advantages of the union of -lulp: ra-
tion in such works are visible throughout great part > en
here, in the centre of London, in the example of the ] ok
Charles at Charing-eross. And yet, from an incompUt. -i of
our statues stand on crude granit*- posts. It is extremely diflicult on auch occa>ion«
to impress sufficiently that Just simplicity cousists in unity, not in baldness and
crudeness.
It is such public deficiencies as these which may be acVnowli lorc
polite regard for the fourth sister of the fine arts. I do not ^l .er
mission and powers, but I do claim for her a higher status an-l iuin
she is in the habit of receiving in this country.
In one point of view, as I have said, decoration is subservient to the otfaei* fine art»;
in the other, it regulates them all. As merely decoration, it is not a Bubstantive. bat
an adjective. It dws not standalone. 1 1 embraces the other mu»es. It is not a thing
of itself; itadvo<^tes something else: decoration is an adjective. On the other hand, a
painting, a piece of sculpture, or a structure Is a noun substantive, a thin^ Of itself.
Not so decoration. Decoration clings, it needs support ; it follows, it does not lead
the way ; it enhances, it does not originate. This is its restricted province. Never-
theless, in its higher phase, it regulates the whole of the oth^r :irt« binds them
together, and completes thera as they can be completed by n" us.
Advantageously a.s the sisters may all be seen together, unitn aswellaa
kiudredinappearance, yeteachhasitsindividuality. Strongasii: n.enessma]r
be, still we may observe|especial resemblances between sonje more tiiuii others, as we
do in families. Thus we may remark that painting and sculpture seem much to group
together, and architecture and decoration to have a similar affinity and disposition.
We may notice one of the most striking of these points. Painting and sculpture
both seek to represent the works of the Creator. Neither architecture nor decora-
tion have directly this object. Decoration, to be thorough, must ever be more or
less conventional ; if not in detail, yet m arrangement. The painter represents
trees and flowers as they grow; the decorator arranges a branch of foliage in a given
line, and hangs his flowers in festoons. A similar conventionaUty or regular modifi-
cation from nature distinguishes architecture. Deriving her stvles evidently
from natural objects, yet successful architecture is never the direct imitation
of nature. The aWh of Heaven may have suggested the dome ; but the
architect does not decorate it with the sun or moon, or portray a storm or
sunset in it, but erects it with eonstnicUvo embellishments of treatment which
are without reference to the original type. The interlaciugs of a (lothie roof
may have been suggested by the frondage of an avenue, and the pendentive ceilmga
of Alhambresque halls 'from the stalactite vaults of caves. coM and plea.<«ant m a
burning clime. Yet are these natural types conventionalised in execution, or they
were not satisfactory. Even in the structures made by the lovnr animals we do not
^\itnes8 the direct imitation of nature. The nest of the bird, the waxen palace of the
bee, the lofty edifices of the African ant— which last vastly exceed in proportion to its
artificers any works of man— are none of them direct imitations of anything else m
nature, but are, per sf, of themselves. Birds, quadrupeds, and even fishes— many
of them make, more or less, houses for themselves ; and tht; ^^^*^'^-**'''[! ,"°J
only constructs his bower of twigs, but also decorates it with all the brtgnt
finery he can collect to feast the eye of his lady mate, as ymi may sc** m the
Zoological Gardens. He is a decorator as well as an architect. The architecture oi
birds, indeed, is very various. There are the cave-temples of the sand-martin ana
of the little owl of'^the prairies: the stucco-palaees of the swallow and house-
martin ; the exquisite and refined retreats of the finches ; the pla«tere<i house of the
thrush : and the warm and cosy abodes of the wren and ■--'■■ I Iteu come some
which build more open domiciles, as the hawk, heron, ; .iKl-pigeon, ic,
&c. Indeed, in bird architecture then? may be said to . ^tyle.^* as jmojV
ourselves, not, however, probablv, so much a subject oi ui><-',j>-,.... out noiieoi inese
are direct imitations of nature, nor do they include the painting and sculpture oi
living forms, which arts, indeed, appear reserved for man alone, .""f P'""»*'\"';i
follow, then, that instinct will build and decorate, but reason is required to paint ana
^*^Bft"here. again, let us cast a glance on the other side of the shield, whi^-h. in
counterpoise, tairly affords this reflection, namely— that, from these p- -"■^. - may
be well held that architecture is so essential, and decoration so urn "i-
ful, that they oerforce spn;ad even beyond the domain of man. ^^ • "^
region of painting and sculpture ; that architecture baa a_w»*^ i" J*^" .;„.: '.uiioi
our wants and desires, and decoration possesses a vaBtlrmore extended appreuaiwu
than rests alone with us.* . . , < -.^j h^ .nMn
At the close of the meeting, a vote of thanks to the lecturer was passed by accU-
mation.
I
DOORWAY IN THE TRANSEPT OF THE CHURCH OF THE
FRARI, VENICK-FOUHTEENTH CENTURY.
N one of the finest of tlie large brick churches of Northern Italy, where
_ the pointed arch, multiform piers, shafting, and tracery are freely used,
occurs the fine doorway given on the next page. , , . ,. u.i„
A simple parallelogram of large dimensions, with a broad border, slightly
enriched; forms the basis of the design. Though varying little from the
door of a Greek temple, we observe no want of harmony between it and
the entirely Medieval enrichment above, which makes up the compo-
Tlie material is white marble, and the execution carefiil.
. ■^~ ■
IRONWORK.-COPE-CHESTS IN YORK CATHEDRAL.
THE importance of metal-work as an ornamental adjunct to architecture
is generally admitted, and its study has revived with the study ot
Gothic architecture. Good examples, therefore, become valuable, and
there needs no apology for introducing the present ones, for though tlieir
" • To be continued.
116
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 8, 1861.
DOORWAY, CULliCII OF TJIE FKAEI, VENICE.
application is not architectural, they are equally available for the
ornamentation of doors or other parts of churches. Sbi^v.'
Among the lumber in the vestry of York Cathedral arc, or were,* the two
chests here figured, and though such excellent examples of their respective
ririods, they seem to have been almost entirely neglected, the only notice
have been able to discover being a few lines in "Britton's York," and a
■till shorter notice in " Browne's York."
These chests, or " arks," were made to contain the copes or cloaks of
the officiating clergy of the cathedral, and as the form of the cope was that
of an exact semicircle, the chests were made of half that size, so that the
copes would lie in them by. being once folded. They are of large size, the
• The sketches and robbings from which these cngraviDgs were taken were made
in imn. but I believe they have been removed to the vestibule of tbe Chapter-bouse
•ines then.
COPE-CHEST, No. 1.
radius of the circle of the earlier one being 6 feet 6 inches, and the other
6 feet 2 Inches. They are of wood, and covered on the sides and top with
leather, and open by two lids, which close in the middle. These lids are
covered with ironwork laid on leather. Many portions of tlie iron have
been broken away or destroyed, but as what remains could leave no doubt
what the missing portions were, they have been restored in the engraving.
The two chests are of different dates, the one here given, the hinges of
which are given on a larger scale in the large plate — is of much earlier
date than the other. This appears to be of twelfth century date, though
late : an example of a hinge of somewhat similar character occurs at Lincoln.
The circular branches to the band are common in Norman ironwork,
though they are continued in later examples. The curves are stiff and
wanting in the grace and elegance of those of the next century. There i»
a groove running along the middle of the bands to receive the nails, but
the terminations are flat, and the ornamentation is produced chiefly by
small curls applied to the sides of the binds.
D jtwtrr Jklaiis -g nui size .
COPE-CHEST, No. 2
Of the date of the second there can be no question, as there are many
examples of similar character remaining on buildings of which tlie date is
in some instances known, and all belonging to that culminating point of
English Gothic architecture— the reign of Edward I. Among these may
be mentioned the doors of the Chapter-house, York, the hall of Mertou
College, Oxford, St. Mary's Chapel, Norwich, and Leighton Buzzard
church. All these are of similar character, but with the details some-
what varied, but none of them equal the present subject in the grace and
beauty of the curves and the skill witii which the surface is so regularly
covered, the whole of the ornamental curves rising from the bands of the
hinges without the aid of scrolls for filling up between. It is a beautiful
specimen of hammer-work, the fillet is very narrow, and there is a broad
chamfer on each side, the broad part of the band next the hinge is
flat and ornamented with punch-work, and the terminations are cither a
flower or an imitation of Early English foliage, all beautifully sunk and
finished.
FEBRUARy 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
117
ino>;\V(jiUi-cori;-ciiEST in toek cathkdeal.
February 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
rw
There is great beauty in this kind of scroll ornament, which was in use in
the thirteenth century, and it is the most manageable of any. There is no
space nor shape which it cannot be made gracefully to fill, the combina-
tion of its curves is without limit, and it admits of any amount of orna-
ment which may be desired, as may be seen in the cloisters of Westminster
and indeed in almost any rich Early English building.
^
LECTUBES ON ARCHITECTURE AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY,
IvECTURK T.— MR. SYDNEY S.MIRKE.*
ClOLOUED terra-cotta never attained to much favor in this country. We see some
/ few oxamplea of glazed earthenware in heraldic shields, and other details on the
exterior of Wolsey's portion of Hampton Court ralace, and a few other, scattered,
examples may be ^met with ; but it would appear that the gloominess of our English
climate and the noxious influence of our gniokc are not favorable to the cultivation of
taste for external colored decorations, and cause timidity in its application. I would
by no means advocate an extravaii:ant use of this vitreous manufacture, such excess
would I)e as little in keeping' with the grave and^sober.character of the English on the
subject of art, its it woukl be unsuitable to our climate ; yetg-lazed and colored terra-
cotta work deserves the attention of every Enyliali architect. Its remarkable
permanence is a most valuable quality, and its cai>ability of resisting the disflguring
eflTeets of soot seems strongly to recommend it to favor in cm- larger towns.
Reverting now to^tho brilliant quatro-cento period of Italy, from whence I had
deviated m order to sketch the progress of terra-cotta as a building material, I should
remind you that it was not »nly in the use of this artificial material that the love of
color in architecture showed itself in Italy. The use In the time ot Giotto, and still
earlier of colored marbles in the enrichment of external architecture, to wliich Ihave
already adverted, seems to have revived in the fifteenth century, and especially in
north of Italy. In Venice we find few buildings of tiiat period which are not cha-
racterized by a profusion of colored marble panels, friezes, medallions, and the like.
Neglect and exposure have contributed seriously to eflace these beautiful decorations,
but enough remains to enable us to form some conception of the gorgeous eflect of the
Canal Crande and of the Piazza di S. IMarco in the fifteenth century, adorned as they
were by the fresh glow of colors in the stately structures then newly erected, as well
as by the more subdued cmbellislunent of the rich marbles, mosaics, and tessellations
of the earlier buildings of that city. When we recall to our imagination those
gorgeous buildings, enlivened as they were by tlie rich costumes which figure in the
paintings of Giorgione and Veronese, the brocaded hangings, the gay standards, and
gilded metal-work which must have then everywhere met the eye, I beUeve we shall
all admit, without a doubt, that no city in the world, at any period of its history,
ever offered such a sumptuous feast of color as Venice, in those her palmiest days.
No doubt many of these marble insertions were the spoils of war m the East; for
specimens of the deep red granite, and other precious materials, may be found
among them, which are not known to occur in any European locality ; so that, as in
ancient Rome, the pride of conquest mixed with the asthetic predilections of Vene-
tian artists, conduced to promote the use of color in their architecture. These
panellings, however, gradually fell into disuse in the progress of art. More strictly
architectural forms came to prevail, and columnar architecture becoming almost
universal, the opportunities for the use of colored marbles became necessarily re-
stricted to the friezes of entablatures and shafts of columns ; eyen this soon ceased
to be common in exterior works.
It cannot be denied that there is, in the nature of most colored marbles, an in-
herent defect which may have largely contributed to bring it into disuse in situations
exposed to the external atmosphere. The colors of most marbles depend for their
depth of tone and richness of effect on their polish : and that polish is sure, sooner
or later, to be destroyed by exposure to damp air. This is not the case with respect
to granite, of which silex forms so large a component part, nor perhaps to serpentine,
but the polished surface of probably no limestone, nowever compact and however
crystallised, will long resist the effects of exposure.
I have now, in a shght, hasty, and somewhat disjointed manner, sketched the
history of the use of colored materials in exterior architecture. It remains for me
now to consider the principles which, I think, sliould guide us in their use.
This consideration is an important one at the present day. for a fashion— I might
almost say a passion— is growing up among us for indulging in this kind of embel-
lishment.
Of all novelties, especially in matters that come within the dominion of taste, the
tendency is to degenerate into extravagance and excess. A speculative chemist, or
an inventive manufacturer, has no sooner devised some new modification of color,
than t!ie world of fashion becomes steeped in the favorite dye, till our eyes are tired
of the novelty.
The leaders of toji in the fourteenth century bethought them to prolong the toe of
their shoes to an inordinate length. The servile crowd of imitators followed : the
passion grew with the growth of this superfluous appendage, till we find that by the
middle of that century the toea of any well-dressed gentleman were tied up to his
waistband.
Again, some unsightly excrescence is supposed to have suggested to the coiffeur
of Louis X IV. a structure of artificial locks, and not many years liad elapsed after its
adoption before the heads and shoulders of all Christendom were oppressed by the
superabundant load of adscititious hair.
It seems an instinct of the human mind, when a new enjoyment or fresh object ot
admiration is found, to exceed the limits of moderation in the indulgence of it.
Whitewashing was once a passion, especially among churchwardens, and the rigid
saints and painted purgatories with which it had pleased our ancestors, before the
Reformation, to cover their walls, for the moral improvement of a staring but un-
reading generation, all became obliterated by the clerical wash of lime-white, and
the facility with which that dazzling production could be yearly renewed, and the
economical cleanliness which it introduced, seemed to favor its perpetuation, but
whitewash had its long day, and lost its hold on the public favor, and there is
every prospect that we are now about to enter upon the reign of intense poly-
chromiitism.
It behoves us, therefore, to be very careful that this new-fledged zeal shall be
kept, more especially in the exterior of our buildings, within a just and reasonable
restraint.
Let us not lose sight of the principles that should guide ns, and let ns be guarded
iu the application of those principles, remembering^ well how often the worst of all
things is the corruption of the best, and that the idol of yesterday is the laughing-
stock of to-day.
I will not say, with the ancients, that nothing is permanent but mediocrity, but I
am convinced that the most lasting praise is reserved for those only, whether
architects or artists generally, who will not risk their reputations by extravagant
flights of fancy, either in desis^n, composition, or decoration.
What, then, are the principles that should guide us in the treatment of color in
external architecture ?
1st. AVhatever colors may be used, they should not be 80 used as to detract from the
harmony and unity of the general effect.
For this reason violent contrasts are seldom attended with good results ; when
such strongly marked contrasts are not offensive, it is when they are uniformly
spread over a whole composition. Thus, when in a red brick building, stone dress-
ings are used throughout tor the quoins, window jambs, cornices, strings, &c. ; or
when on an exterior of red bricks there are reticulations of black bricks over all the
Slain surfaces, these strong contrasts of color do not offend the eye, because of the
itimate and general intermixture of them ; the only effect is, that in the one casfc
the light stone dressings lighten the effect of the building, and in the other case the
* Continued from i>age OX
dark reticulations being disseminated over the whole, lower tb« tone wlthottt dis-
turbing the unity of the building. Hut scatter those white stones or black brtaks
here and there, sparsely and at un^ular Intcrvala oTcr the fi-ont, and the geMTAl
effect will assuredly become spotty and disorderly.
2nd. In the distribution of colored materials regard should bo had to the rottrte
and advancing ([ualities of color. Thus white, and brij^bt yellows, and bright riS
appear to stand forward, whilat black, blue, and greys retire. Care sboold. M takn
not to outrage these prejudices of thi' eve ; for example; when dark and MtMog
colors prevail at the lower parts of an architectural coroposftJoD, and the opperpsrta
are of bright-colored materials, the latter will inevitably l^ipear to adrance and
overhang the former, producing a false eflect that cannot be airrecablc.
So wlien buttresses are built of a darker stone than the faitenrenlnfi: vail, ttav
seem to sink into instead ol advance IVom the face of the wall, and the eye gcU
puzzled and offended, for an effect is produced at variance with what we know to b«
the fact. For the same reason I have neen a rery bad effect produced by a black
marble fVleze introduced in an order built in other respectaofU^t-eoloradmatedate.
When viewed at some distance, or with half-closed eyes, the comkc seemed sna-
pended in the air, or at all events the means of Ita support were not obvious, and
generally we may regard it as a rule in matters of this nature that oonstructire
doubt and uncertainty produce an unpleasing impresaion, like that produced by the
concealment of the feet of figiires in u picture.
So also dark marble columns in front of a light wall, nnlcHS brought out by poliah,
or by a considerable depth of shadow behind tnem, lose that prominence and matheOt
value which should belong to them ; reverse the arrangement and all amb^rutty
vanishes, each part then takes its right place in the compositlou, and the eye oonae-
quently rests satisfied.
It ought not to be necessary to dwell on a principle that appears. I think, so
obvious ; but it is too certain that the principle, obvious as It may be, is often lost
sight of.
3. Special care is needed in the Introduction of dark bands and- other feature* of
like nature, that thev do not interfere with the architectural shadows of the compo-
sition. Nothin*^ perhaps, in architectural design, is more important than to presenre
its outlines and masses distinct and unambiguous, and as those outlines ana massM
are best brought out and rendered intelligible by shadow, whatever inturferea with
the due force of those shadows must detract trom the eflectivcness of the work.
There is great danger iu using those dark streaks and chequered courses which an
now gaining so much favor, lest the shadows of the building in which they oecvr
should lose their value. For when not seen so near as to allow of a clear peroeptka
of details, these bands are hardly distinguishable from shadows.
However easy it may be to cite old examples as a justification, reason ought erer
to prevail over precedent. I know that these zebra stripes occur in many parts of
the peninsula of Italy and in Spain, as well as elsewhere in Europe and in the £ait.
As 1 have already said, they may have originated in some oonatructive requircmettU
no doubt adding to the strength of the wall.
We have no such valid reason to urge in favor of our dark streaks ; at all evairta
they constitute, I think, one of those eccentricities of the past which scarcely deaerre
to be disinterred.
4. There is another principle of paramount importance in the treatment of color m
exterior architecture— viz., that the coloring should be consistunt in character with
the purposes of the building itself. Our ancestors correctly anpreciated the cheerftJ
character of white by frequently designating halls erected for festive purposes
■V\TiitchaU8. . .. , ^ ,.,. u ..,,
The hall atKenilworth Castle was called the "Whitehall." There was a "Whitehall
in the Old Palace of Westminster ; and the Whitehall of Charles's intended p>^aoe
is familiar to us all. There is also a " Whitehall" in the Royal Palace at Rerlin. Kren
our cousins across the Atlantic have', taken over with tlicm the tradition, and they
have their •* whitehalls " for festive and popular.gatherings. |lt is a fact, not without
interest to any true born Londoner, that the lofty(buildini:, called the White Tower, in
the medieval citadel of this port of London, seems hkely to owe its name to having
been whitewashed externally. In a very fine illuminated manuscript of the fifteenth
century, preserved in the British IVIuseum, a carefully executed view of London is
introduced, in the foreground of which appears this great fortress, and while the
o-eneralmasonry of the building is colored naturally, and in a somewhat low tone,
the tower, with its four angle turrets, stands out. prominently and couspieuoualy,
white. So marked is the distinction that it cannot have been so represented m the
manuscript without a special purpose, which was probably that ol idenUfymg the
building. , ^ _r . ,
If as I have said, white is calculated to produce in the nund a cheerful imprcsnon,
black, on the other hand, has ever been viewed in an opposite sense. Thus, from
remotest times, black was typical of mourning. Atra and lugubna were synonymoo*
words. Even the sacred rhapsodist, when he would describe a scene of terror and
despair, says, "all faces gathered blackness."
The same distinction is alike applicable to those colors which, on the one hand,
partake of the character of light, and those which, on the other band, ««
characterised by an absence of light. It is not for ns here to inquire whether there
may not be physical causes assignable for this mental phenomeuou : but that the
animal spirits may be raised or depressed by the mere contemplation of different
colors ; tlat colors, according to this quahty. may be productive of J>*>8itive pleasure
or pain, irrespective of any considerations of harmony and discord. ""^ ««»» WittUJ
the reach of every man's experience, although probably it is beyond the reaoh 01
human intelligence satisfactorily to explain them.
The power of color to produce strong emotions of the mind has been at «J ™J
recognised. Thus, when the sacred writer desired to raise in the mind a pictuw to
the Eighest degree poetical of the Holy City, he represented '»»»* ^^ »*'S«"«,Sail!
wall was jasper and its foundations as bem^' garnished wiUi ftapphires. with ch^
dony, emcrard, and all other stones of resprendent colors ; the gates ^^ere of pc^
and the streets of pure gold. No doubt the value »»d rarity of a^esepr^oua^-
stances were also calculated, to excite tj^e^ -mj^nation ;^ut ^eir^^^
a urdea
tbehigk
ippreclation of color as a source ot Bt-'H^y "'aP'S'^"'^- ';" 'S^ "?"h„""'^^IS
also we may find abundant evidence of this natural and pcrjadlng feeUnj?. Aim*
andTcrSmon arc constantly used a« •yP'-'^'v,:' "SafL"^ '"
pocti m whose^^ds rirhco?oring seems ever to be aasociated «1th .de« of magni-
"Tdo' not know how far I shall bare been justiBed In 80 l<mg a digiessioii ; bnt I
trust ?haf I haTe at kast estabUshed f»"Ki^to warrant «eJn.vla«toat^o^
'JltJ°'^r,V^.L?'floVrh^» to seek the m.terlals.of U. workftym .«rT
building:. The s»bj«.t_,s .m^^^^^ „ ' ,y 4
c&S' Vc , sTdark 'ore^mbre hues are eqSly elTecti/e to raiiring fe^' -
hSny with the gtmc and serious purposes of some buildmgs.
120
THE BUILDING NEWS.
Februarys, 1861.
This indeed seems obvious. Who would not be at once struck with the excessive
impropriety of bri^jht colored decorations on the exterior of a prison, or a cemetery,
ana may 1 not ada too of a church ? For however becoming it may be to lavish ou
a bmldin^ destined to the service of Go<i, oil the best offerings of art and jjenius, I
am by no means convinced of the propriety of chequering over the exterior of a
■church with bits of bright colored materials.
Eren in the interior of a church it is. to my raind at least open to question
whether a true religions feeling is not better expressed by the grey, sombre tints of
old stonework than by the goi^'ous pageants of gilding and painting, inlaying and
polishing, by which piety is supposed by some to be measured.
Beftntiftil as are the St. Chapelle and the Church of St. Genevieve, at Paris, and the
Hof Kapelle at Munich, it is impossible not to rej'ard them rather as festhetic
• triumphs, than as evidences of the devotion of the builders.
It is very long since T saw the church of Sta. Maria Maggiora, at Rome, prepared
for the midnight ceremonies of Christmas Evo; but I have a vivid recollection of
the enchanting effect of the bright polished marbles and the gorgeous gilding, the
crimson satin embroidered banners, and the green festoons ; yet the impression pro-
duced on my mind was that I saw before me the most elaborately beautiful salle a
danger in the world.
It is. I repeat, a principle of paramount importance that every building should be
conformable in the character of its architecture to the nature of tne purposes to which
it is destined. Tliere is in the treatment of color in exterior architecture yet
another consideration which must by no means be overlooked— viz., that treatment
should always be influenced by the site of the building. The genius loci must be
consulted. The strong positive red of bricks, for example, extending over any
bulky object presents an unpleasant contrast when surrounded by green foliage ; and
when these bricks are of a dark dingy tone, they sink into the landscape and the
building, as such, loses, proportionately, its value.
For this obvious reason, stone is a very preferable material ; we must all have often
had occasion to observe how a white building brightens up a landscape ; how the
white cottage sparkles in the distance, when set off by the surrounding deep green
tones.
It is true, these white buildings may cease to. be so pleasing when they occupy too
much space in the eye ; a great white mansion.is always best seen when lialf-con-
cealed oy foliage ; and tnis may suggest more artificial modes of subduing the
intensity and breaking up the monotony of these large white masses. For this
reason the intermixture or stone and brick is often far preferable to the use wholly
of one or the other. But the use of two qualities of stone, the one of lower tone
than the other. Is perhaps a still more unobjectionable measure, provided the
difference in tone be not too violent
In civic architecture other special local considerations have to be taken into
account. There are in towns seldom any pleasmg natural accompaniments to assist us.
Hoose is opposed to house, each has to contend with the damaging effects of its
Belghbour. In fact our most frequented streets present, for the most part, a very
inharmonious medley of sizes, forms, and colors— Tike a Dutch concert, where each
performer, it is said, plays his own particular tunc.
Still it is very questionable whether even this scene of confusion may not be
regarded as less objectionable than the insipid uniformity of some modern German
ttmrs, such as Stuttgard, for example, where it would nppear to be almost impossible
for a man to know his own house f^om his neighbor s, unless assisted by some
private mark or some familiar badge.
The severest military discipline seems to pervade even the architecture of the town,
and the houses are drawn up in array, like soldiers on parade. We nught say of
them (taking a little liberty with a well-known text)—
'* House nods on house— each column has a brother.
And either terrace just reflects the other."
Such dull tmlformity seems to me more offensive than the most tumultous
disorder.
In the architecture of towns and cities we are seldom called upon, as In rural
situations, to subdue or neutralise any excessive whiteness. In the large towns of
England, at least, soot soon clothes the nakedness of a new stone building, and too
effectually lowers its tone. This might suggest the expediency, in such a climate
and with such an atmosphere as ours, of avoiding the use of any colored material of
too low a tone. Those who have seen Schinkel's elaborate work in deep red terra-
cotta, the Bauschule, at Berlin, will have regretted that so much intricate and
beautiful workmanship should result in producing so ponderous an effect. Light
loses its quality of brilliancy, and shadows lose their force and distinctness, when
the facade is veiled, as it were, in this monotonous, deep tone.
I think, then, that it will be admitted by all that a certain amount of variety of
color In a piece of architecture of any considerable extent, adds to its power of
pleasing by giving it spirit and animation.
But it is in this, as in most otlier matters dependent on human judgment, the
greatest difhculty— that which is the real touchstone of talent— is to know where to
Btop, and to determine how far to carry this variety of color.
In some towns on the continent we see washes of green, yellow, red, and other
gaudy colors used to an almost ludicrous extent; and in nothing doeff the Asiatic
origin of a large portion of the population of Itussia show itself more than in their
love of gaily-colored architecture, both domestic and ecclesiastical.
At Moscow, near the Kremlin, is a church dedicated to St. Vassil, whose fantastic
and indescribable architecture is rendered still more barbaric by the brightest
coloring up to the very summit of its highest towers. Tlie bulbous-shaped domes
that, in singular profusion, surmount the towers' of the adjacent palace—or group
of palaces— designated the Kremlin, glitter with gold and paint; whilst the iron
roofs throughout the city seem all to be green or red.
In their country houses, too, I hear of an excessive use of bright greens and reds.
These are, it is true, the excesses ever attendanton an uncurbed, uncultivated taste ;
but, perhaps, on that very account they the better illustrate the natural tendency of
all minds, both the wise and the simple, to derive pleasure from color.
Let us, however, be moderate in our indulgence of this pleasure, and let us be dis-
creet in the manner, as well as in the measure, of our indulgence. My own predilec-
tkms are certainly in favor of almost limiting the varieties of color on the outside of
a building to those which are aflbrded by the natural hues of the materials them-
■elTCs. I feel averse to resort, in exterior architecture, to the use of artificial color-
Injf, except for temporary or experimental purposes, when, of course, the practice is
quite admissible ; but I would never willingly resort to painted external decorations
*■ pc"'**^*^'^*^ work— if. indeed, any work so executed can be called permanent.
Where oil is the chiet vehicle adopted for the color, no doubt it resists the weather
for some, even for many years, perhaps, although its puritv and brilliancy may
speedily depart ; but, if oil-painted decorations bi; objectionable for their deficient
dnrability, now infinitely more so are the ephemeral decorations of other pigments \
I well rrmcmlxr, when at Munich, my great cancern to find that, by casually leaning
ttalnst the wall of a great public building, I had transferred on to ray coat no incon-
•iderablc portion of its I'ompeian ornamentation.
I hope we shall never be driven, by the urgency of other demands on the public
purse, to resort to such means of beautifying our public buildings. There, at all
events, let our colors be natural. Nor will this obligation impose on us any incon-
venfent limits ; Nature is rich in colored materials of various hues ; wc have in
common building stones a wide range, from red sandstones to chalk ; and our
marbles are almost endless In their variety of color.
I would, howevir, except from this condemnation of artificial coloring one most
important source of beauty. I refer to the use of those earths that, by burning and
vitrification and by chemical proceBses, are brought to the condition of naturally -
colored HubKtanoes. There need be no apprehension as to their permanency ; they
will outlast most stones, and their color neverfafls them.
I have already adverted to the use of this artificial material, and I now only remind
you of It to show what abundant means wc possess of coloring our architecture with-
out resorting to the paint-brush and to the wash-pot.
I have now touched upon most of the salient points of the subject to which I have
appropriated this evening. I fee! too well aware how little can be effected within
the narrow compass of a single lecture ; but I believe the value of such remarks as I
may address to you depends wholly on their suggestive nature. Whatever truth
there may be in the thoughts expressed, they are wholly inert and valueless, unless
they are made by you the groundwork of further thoughts, and excite in your minds
a desire to pursue further tlxe inquiry into the subjects touched upon.
The seed that falls upon barren ground will take no root, and be productive of no
good result; whilst that which falls upon good ground is at once kindly received,
and springs up and brings forth fVuit, some twentyfoM..'!ome fifty, and some one
Imudredfold, according to the richness of the soil, and to the care of the husband-
man.
To quicken the energy, to smooth the path, and to facilitate the progress of the
really studious learner, is the anxious desire and aim of this Academy : you will
accept this my assurance that the student who, in his earnest exertions to improve
himself, shall seek such aid and advice as I feel myself competent to give, will find
in me no grudging or unwilling, but, rather, a most ready aud cheerful adviser.
8EC0NI> LECTURE.
MANY years have passed since the desk at which I have now the honor to stand
was occupied by Sir John Soane. I was then in my earliest pupilage, but I care-
fully noted his sayings, and made a record on paper of my recollections every
evening.
In one of those lectures I well remember his dwelling with great emphasis on this
rule— namely, that it was not sufficient merely to adapt the interior of a building to
its special purpose, but that its exterior character should also be conformable to the
purposes for which it was erected ; and the lecturer quoted the well-known maxim
of Demosthenes, who taught that the firstgreatrequiremenf of the orator was action;
the second, action ; and the third, action. This led the worthy profegsor to para-
phrase the dictum of Demosthenes and to say that the three great requirements in
architectural design were "character, character, character !" Forty years have not
effaced the recollection of this dictum, or impaired its force; it is, indeed, a truth
with which I am far more impressed now than I was when it was uttered by my
distinguished predecessor. '* Be what you seem !" the moral teacher cries, and the
lesson api)lies with equal force to the practice of our art.
It would, indeed, seem toconvey a truism which would scarcely need to be enforced,
did we not find it so frequently overlooked in practice. A spendthrift builds himself
a solemn abbey, in which, it is true, vigils are kept, but not the vigils of prayer and
fasting, roorhouses and reformatories are crennelated and loopholed, with medieval
sternness, as if it were likely to be made an object of hostile attack ; whilst red tape
and foolscap are sold in a shop faithfully modelled after the type of a palace of the
rharaohs.
With such examples, then, daily before our eyes, I feel myselfjustified in repeating
that a consistent and appropriate character should never be lost sight of in architec-
tural works. It is a quality, the importance of which should be constantly impressed
upon the raind of every student.
But not only does this maxim apply to the general exterior aspect of a
building.
All objects that enter into the composition of a piece of architecture have some
particular character which seems especially to belong to them, and which it behoves
us to pursue. However, we may vary the treatment of them ; however much we
may overlay them with ornament, we should be careful to do nothing calculated
either to disguise or conceal their special character. Their motive and rational
principle should be apparent and unimpeached ; and honesty and good taste alike
demand that in the treatment of their details we should seek rather to display their
purpose than to conceal it.
Thus, a column is a vertical support, and in designing a column its fitness as such
should never for a moment be forgotten. Yet there is nothing, perhaps, which ex-
hibits the waywardness of art more than the column. Its purpose is simple and
obvious ; its duty is as apparent as it is possible for :;ny architectural feature to be ;
and yet it would seem that architectural ingenuity has been racked and tormented to
devise modes of departure from that simple type which its mechanical duty seems to
render so obvious. The Hindoo builder rests his weights upon fanciful and extra-
ordinary compositions of animal and vegetable life. A similar barbarity was
prevalent in Italy in the early Medieval period, when we see the shafts of columns
poised most inconveniently upon the backs of monstrous animals.
But without dwelling on preposterous excesses of this nature, which are the
natural results of a bold but uncultivated fancy, propriety has been defied in a great
variety of ways, and at perhaps all periods and ages of art. To some of these it may
be expedient that I should advert hereafter.
I'robably the most perfectly unobjectionable realisation of the idea of a vertical
support may be found in the Greek-Doric shaft, where the delicately-expressed
flulings are in perfect harmony with the idea of an upright support, those vertical
lines tending to fix the mind ou the special purpose to which the shaft is applied,
without scoring it so deeply as to suggest any idea of diminished strength. One of
the principal charms of the clustered shaft which charactrrises Gothic art at its best
period consists, I apprehend, in the strongly defined vertical lines so exactly har-
monising with the known purpose of the shaft, although it certainly cannot be said
toconvey the idea of strength so emphaticallv as the Greek pillar. The bands or
horizontal interruptions occurring at intervals in the length of these slender shafts,
do not materially disturb the idea of verticality, for they are too unobtrusive to do
so; but if we greatly multiply these bands in number, or materially increase their
bulk, the sentiment of the shaft is impaired, and the eye is at once offended by the
seeming inutility and even discordance of such interrupting bands.
One of the earliest conceits introduced into Roman architecture in its decadence,
was the substitution of spiral for straight lines of fluting; a change manifestly
injurious to the effect of the pillar, and leading the way to a variety of kindred
barbarisms, for it is in the nature of all error to propagate itself in other and varied
forms.
The spiral fiutes and beads suggested the twisting of whole shafts which are to be
often found in early Medieval work, until at length the shaft altogether lost its
character of a vertical support, and we find them coupled and intertwined and
knotted, after a fashion more like ropes than cylindrical shafts of stone and marble.
Kaftaelle, in designing his immortal fresco of the beautiful porch of the Temple,
incurred a grave responslbilitv in setting that example of spirally twisted shaftf, to
be too readily followed by those who knew not how to distinguish betw<'en the
refpiirements of the painter and those of the architect. Had the composition been
scored and cut up by the vertical lines of a number of ordinary columns, the effect
would necessarily have been unseemly, and the painter was, therefore, tempted to
give to them unaulating forms which associated well enough with the accompanying
figures. But it is worthy of note that this great master, when he worked as an
architect, committed no such mistake as to give such unsubstantial forms to real
stonework. On the contrary, the few buildings witli which he enriched our art are
remarkable, even at that early period, for purity of form and propriety of design.
How heavy are the responsibilities of those on whom great genius has been con-
ferred !
M. Angeloby the caprlccios which he permitted himself to indulge in when ho
designed the tomb of the Medici, was little aware that he was paving the way to
that monstrous progeny of broken pediments and other violations of propriety which
often defaced the architecture of later schools. So his matchless contemporary,
Kaffaelle, by having traced on the walls of the Vatican those graceful contor-
tions, so pleasing to the painter's eye, but so little adapted to execution in real stono
and marble, may, ptrhaps. be regarded as the real parent of those fantastic ma93e8
of bronze and stone wliich are scarcely censured in the iialdachino of St. Peter's,
the porch of All Saints' Church, at Oxford, aud in a hundred other less distinguished
localities.
February 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
121
Certainly coromaudin^ g:eniufi has its duties as well as its privilei^fes : its faults
become eouaeerated by their association with so much acknowledged merit, and an
error is duntjerousiy seductive when it comes recommended to us by the sanction of
a jjreat name.
I should be dwelling too Ions on this subject of the column— important ns tliat
subject certainly is— were I to do more than shortly advert to the curious and fan-
tastic forms with which it has, at various times and in various countries, delighted
artists to impart to that feature. At Liege we have it wliimsically assuming the
likenes.s of a Lngantic baluster, an idea to wliich the quatro-centists of Italy had
been also led by the loose rein which they were wont to give to their masonic fancies.
At the ravian Certosa we shall sometimes find their shafts divided into two distinct
parts ; the lower part straight and normal ; the upj)er part degenerating into shapes
fitted rather for confectionery than masonry. Ivary, an archite'ct of some merit, and
greatly employed in the north of Italy during the seventeenth century, ex-iggerating
the faults of the quatro-centists, devised (H>Iumns of which the upper part is twisted,
like those of his predecessors, whilst the lower part is bulged out into the resem-
blance of a baluster.
These curious inventions may bo compared to the variations on a simple air in
music; sometimes so erratic that yon can hardly trace the parent melody ; some-
times retaining much of the air, but so overlaying it with extrinsic additions and
decorations as to deprive it of all its original simplicity, and even identity.
I'erhaps one of the most attractive variations is that where the shaft is enriched by
superficial foliixge, some ivy or vine seeming to clasp the pillar, and to twine its
tendrils round the ponderous cyhnder.
Many such cases occur m the buildings of the quatro-cento period, and there is no
denying their beauty, though we may question their architectural propriety. During
the medieval period these sculpturesque shafts may often be met with, as at Melrose
Abbey, but in greater beauty and variety in Italy. These varieties may all, perhaps,
be regarded as the natural offspring of the beautiful stems of candelabra which
abound in Classic art, and where the most exquisite delicacy of foliage was often
indulged In without restraint, and of course without violation of any architectural
propriety.
To the period of Renascent art, that period so original and so fertile (at least
in its earlier phases, in quaint and picturesque devices, we may attribute the intro-
duction of another curious irregularity in columnar architecture, namely, the build-
ing up of shafts in what are called rusticated blocks, sometimes alternately cylindrical
and square, sometimes vcrmiculated, sometimes roughly-hewn as from the quarry,
sometimes in alternate bands elaborately carved in an endless variety of ways.
The love of simpUcity and dignified good sense which marked the earlier phases of
Classic art arc nowhere more conspicuous than in the design of the Greek column ; no
trace of this anomalous treatment, to which I have been adverting, occurs even in
the later period of Classic art. A shaft, when not actually monolithic, which was
always on object much sought after and highly prized, was carefully constructed
80 as to convey an idea of unity and to bespeak its singleness of purpose, that of
vertical support.
But when the original purify of design gave way to a love of novelty, builders
thought of dividing the shafts into a multiplicity of parts, marldng the horizontal
bed-joints by deep channelling, all tending to convey the idea of a number of
small stones piled up on each other in lieu of the primitive idea of a unit or
monolith.
It is to this departure from the first intention and forgetfulness of the original
object of any architectural feature, that may be traced most of the errors for which
our art is often so deservedly condemned.
Before quitting the subject of columns it is incumbent on me to take this occasion
to express my unqualified condemnation of the practice, however common, of con-
verting a single insulated column info a monument. Neither the undoubted
Classical origin of this form of monument, nor the graceful proportions of the column
itself, can be regarded as any justification of this manifest misapplication and per-
version of a great architectural feature. Kven our silversmiths have ceased to make
Corinthian candlesticks, although the solecism still lingers among some competitive
candidates for monumental street architecture.
By how much we may admire the true adaptation of a column, in form and pro-
portion, to its purpose of supporting a vertical pressure, by so much are we bound to
condemn it when we find it standing idle and useless, or with no duty but that of
lifting up to a dangerous eminence, and beyond the reach of distinct vision, some
rase or other insignificant object, or some statue of a bulk and weight utterly dis-
proportioned to the shaft of so colossal a pedestal. The very form of the capital at
once betrays the impropriety of this application of a column. Whatever the style of
art, whetlier Kgyptian, Greek, Komau, Uyzantine, or Gothic, the capital invariably
gpreadsitself out to receive a burden ;pressing on it perpendicularly ; the abacus in
some shape is expressly adapted for the reception of that burden, and when the
burden is not there, the abacus becomes unmeaning and superfluous.
We must not do tlie injustice to Early Classic art of supposing that we have any
evidence of such a misappropriation of a column in the best times. The idea of
setting up a monumental column seems first to have occurred to the degenerate sons
of Roman art, an art which invented little, and seldom borrowed without some dis-
figurement or deterioration.
It may, indeed, be presumed that the practice of erecting this fragmentary portion
of a portico may have been justifiable in its origin, on the ground of its being a
trophy; the material evidence of the ruin of some hostile city; if so, however, no
sucli apology can be oifered for the colossal pillars erected by the Emperors.
The obelisk, of much earlier times, and of more Asiatic character, was in every
respect more consistent with reason, and, flierefore, with good taste. By narrowing
upwards from a broad base it conveys the idea of sti-ibility, and the simplicity of its
form, whilst it seems to secure to it an enduring existence, is in itself one of the
causes of its grandeur. Nor is such a form liable to the imputation of having been,
like the column, an object transferred out of its proper place to act an unsuitable
part.
It is true that in adopting the obelisk as a monument, we are, perhaps not. apply-
ing it strictly to its original primitive purpose. The Egyptians, itis said, figuratively
designated them "the fingers of the Sun," for they were originally erected as the
gnomons of colossal dials ; the shadow from the lofty shaft pointing to the hours
ranged in a gigantic circle upon the surrounding area.
The obelisk, however, ultimately ceased to be applied to this utilitarian purpose
.and (I know not when) became, hkc the Celtic monolith, a simple monument, for
which purpose it seems, as 1 liave said, admirably adapted.
With this example of fitness and propriety t)efore us, let ns not resort to this
erroneous use of the column. We have already had a satiety of triumphal columns ;
there is scarcely a large town that does not own some specimen of this deplorable
misapplication, to which the pubUo taste is only reconciled by the frequency and
familiarity of the vicious practice.
We will now turn to another instance of that aberration of taste which so easily
misleads by tempting men to forget the real nse and purpose of an architectural
feature. The abrupt vertical termination of the sloping sides of a roof forms the
pediment or gable. The shape is the result of a necessity. Its origin is simple and
manifest, and stands in no need either of concealment or of qualification ; yet there
are, perhaps, few features in the use of which architects have so often testified a
perverted taste, or have deviated so widely from good sense. As usual, the earliest
forms of pediments are the most honest, and therefore the most pleasing. With that
simplicity of character which distinguislied Greek art, the early temple presented
the gable ends of its roof without the slightest disguise, the pediment simply repre-
senting—or rather, I should say, actually being— a cross section of the roof. The
same obvious sense of propriety and fitness led the Greek architect to occupy the'
blank triangular space or tympanum with sciUpture, at once rendering the undis-
guised end of liis roof a source of beauty, and by tlie nature of his sculpture giving
to it an intrinsic moral value.
As art travelled westward and northward, the original purpose of the pediment
was still not disregarded, and no material chango was effected by the Romaaa
bevond giving the accUrlty of the sides of the pediment •omewbatgieMer MeenMM 7
and tins was no caprice and In no respect a departure from the prtanltlva oMMor
the form, for the cliange of climate reasonably led to this ebaoire !■ the luiala <«
the pediment. " -«»■•«»
The decay, however, of Roman art Is marked by the inventlOB of tlw »
pediment. appUcd at first, probably, only over small opcniiiin, but aflermrdl i
boldly adopted as a substitute for tlie original and natural nbleend.
It was at this period of the decline of art that we flmt find, a* at Dioek-ataa's
palace on the north coast of the Adriatic, an<I In the splendid thonffb barbaroaa
arcliitecture of Balbec, the example set of broken pediments, a giimSn departnn
from simplicity whichfonndtoo ready an acceptance in far later tinies.
Nevertheless, in the succeeding period we still find but little inellnatioa to abandon
flu; ordinary form of pediments, of which so many noble examples of better tbam
were then still remaining, especially on the claasic soil of Italy.
The dates assigned to buildings of this dark age of oar art are not safely to bo
relied on, but certainly the Church of San Ambrogio at Milan, and of the Du'omo at
Murano, near Venice, are very early Cliristian works ; and we there find the antiqao
Roman pediment almost in its pure form imd legitimate application, as the abnat
termination of an ordinary roof.
It was at a somewhat later time, at the eomraencvmcnt of the so-called Medieval
period, tliat a singular practice arose, especially In the north of Italy, of breakinir
up these pediments, or gables, and disturbing their original simpUelty brexeavatlBe,
as it were, the surface of the tympanum with a crowd of shallow, bueemuMa, ««d
entirely superfluous arcades. But the original type of. the Chusic pedlmait WM
afterwards still more completely obliterated by the general aappKsskm of the hort-
zontal cornice, or base line of the pediment. The increasing steepness of the pHeil
at the same time caused a further departure from the old type, due, no doobt, to tbo
gradual extension of art towards the north.
It was thus that by progressive steps the Gothic gable arose, on whieh the carver'*
and the sculptor's beauties were lavished with so free a hand that It beeami one of
the distinctive glories of 3Iedieval arobitecture.
Charmed by the graceful and aspiring form of this novel feature In our art, a
passion for its use arose among church builders, which, as usual, led to exoeas
and to an indiscriminate application of it.
Lofty gables arose which, regardless of their original purpose, had In tmth no
roof whatever behind them, sometimes indeed with windows immediately lichlnd
them; and they were carved, and traceried, and perforated until they heeame the
mere anatomies of gables — favorite themes, as it were, whereon the mason miirht
disport and exercise his fanciful and inventive genius, utterly setting at naught th<»
fine-spun theories of those martinets in art who would insist on every form in arebl-
lecture being applied to some special, useful purpose ; a view which, 'from VltruTinn
down to I'ugin, teachers have urged on us far more dihgently by their doctrine than.
by their practice.
1 should observe that these ch^s-dWurre of masonry are of Northern extraction,
.and occur rarely on the soil pre-occupied by the ancient Classlo pediment. It In
indeed, curious to mark the pertinacity with which Medieval artists, when worfcbii;
on Classic ground, adhered to theold style, or sought to amalgamate tt with tfaelrown.
The frescoes of even the thirteenth and fourteenth centnrles are fhll ot illnstrationa
of this lingering, semi-Classic feeling; nor are examples wanting of it In tbo
buildings executed at that early period. Many examples might readily be cited, bui
I will name but one— namely, the archiepiscopai throne in the church at Assiad,
whieh bears every mark of being of the date oi^ the earliest portion of that binlding.
The Medieval gable in more northern climates appears to have reached a sort of
climax of intricacy and decoration, when its very existence lxK»aine threatened by
the remarkable change In all the arts of design, at the period of the rerlyal ol
Classic forms. Most of the features of Classicjil architecture were, tlien. In some
modified form or other, re-introduced, and among them the pediment
But the cold formality of the ancient gable was scarcely consistent with the
exuberant genius of the qualro-centlsts ; accordingly we find scmicireular pediment*
became greatly in vogue among them, and were the source of much beautv and
novelty, although irreconcileable with a strict adherence to reason, and to that fitnese
to its purpose whlcli reason must ever suggest to us, and which seems to offer the
best, if not the only safe, standard for tlie guidance of our judgment in matters
of art.
The Classic pediment and the Gothic gable were not only apparently, but In strict
reality (as we have already seen), the wall which terminated and closed up the ex-
tremity of the roof; but at the stage to which architecture had reached at the time
to which I am now adverting, this gable became rather an ornamental wall built up
for the roof to abut against in the best way it could, and therefore it was not thought
necessary to make it conformable with the slope of the roof
The circular gables of the Chiesa de St. Roeco, and man v other buildings which I
miglit name, are picturesque vagaries, and admirable, perhaps, for the variety they
introduce into the composition, and as liberating architectural design from the
rigidity of straight lines and sharp angles, but they must be admitte<l u> be nnjuati-
flable on any principle of sound criticism. Had they been in truth vertical seetiou
ofdomes, there could have been nothing to say against them; but as reprcsentine
the end of any ordinary pitched roof they are false and unmeaning. .
Much, therefore, as I admire and respect the art of tlie quatro-centists ; much as I
would wish to see its numerous beauties recognised, and its grnccfnl inventions
studied, I should be indeed sorry if the striving after new and unwonte.1 forms, and
fancifiil compositions, which is but too apparent in the present day, should lead to
the reproduction of so great an anomaly as the circular pediment.
The more careful study of ancient architecture soon led the qnatro-centisM
to abandon this form of pediment, except in small interior compositions, sudi
as altar-pieces and tombs, and in the subordinate parts of architecture, as tke
dressings of doors and windows ; and the more accomplished architccM bronKDI
their pediments generally down to the normal type. I do not call to ""j"* "X ""
ample of these picturesque anomalies having been executed by Bramante. certainly
none by his nobler pupil. RalTaelle. . ,_ „ __r..«.
But now a new danger threatened the Integrity of the pedinient. In an nnfortii-
nate hour it occurred to some artists to break the continultv of the "'"P'fSJ'i**,^
the pediment, and, perhaps, with a morbid anxiety to relax the «e™rityor tte
angular pediment, they contrived that solecism in art which I have »»*«» ™0"J**f
one occasion to point to mth reprehension, namely the truncated or brolren pedimo*.
Some early indications of this error occur bi'fore the sLxtee'uth century, but, to OH
best of my belief, only in the works of fresco painters .i.^-—*!,
I am aware of no reaUsation of the scroll-shape<l pedUncnt before the suttoeatB
''"it ^P'iiowever to no less an authority than SI. Angelofas I have already noSced m
the prornTTc'urc)Tliat weowe, if not the first practical execution of «he broken
oediment at all events the questionable honor of having bwn the means of bringing
fntoT?or that f^e.at architectural anomaly. It is, certainly to his srrea' «xan^h,
that we are Indebtedfora numerous progeny of most grotesque ""^ absurd p.^-
ments ; one of those departures from good sense which bring opprobrium on the
arcliitecture of the sixteenth century. , „, . ■,„.., „..i, „thi.r is
The near relationship that architecture and sculpture bear to each other is
nndeSiable. The mutuaf assistance that those arts are ab e »» ''"rt'oXid^
the similaritv iu many respects of the objects pursued bv '''« 'J" *"»ViIl 2. e^
to render tlie cultivation of them by the same Individual, f not essential to exoel-
Icnee at all events a powerful auxiliary in establishing the '^'•aracter of a great
artfst- yet " so vast is art, so narrow human wit." that we can vvith *fflcultv point
toany irdlvidualwho basin himself united those "f ,?;•'"' "'.rt1?SmSel?SS
and intelligence which are necessary in order to prevent the one art from over-muny
the other.* ^___,
' To be continued.
122
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 8, 1861.
KOYAl. INSTITUTE OK IlKITISH AUCHITECTS.
AN a^joomed special peiicral meitinsr of tliis body w«« held at the roomii, 9,
Condult-strett, Kegent-street, on Jloiiday cveuing; M. Digbv Wyatt, Ksq.,
y.V.. in the chair.
Mr. T. Hatteb Lewis, hon. secretary, read the minutes of proceeding at the
last meeting, which were approved of and confirmed.
Death or an Asaociale.—ilr. I'exrose, hon. foreign corresponding secretary,
annoimeea the death of Mr. John Watson, Associate.
Jfev itembm.—The following gentlemen were elected members of the Institute : —
Mr. Lewis Stride. Associate, of S. Bloomsbury-square, as Kellow ; Mr. Kobert
George Thomas, of Newport. South Wales, as Associate.
T»e Library.— Tt\e Cii-\iBMA» said the Library Committee had been most actively
engaged in going through the catalogues of the present library, with the view of
ascertaining what were the books that were important desiderata. Of course, the
foods of the Institute were limited, but still it would be the duty of the Council to
make certain purchases. Before doing so. however, they intended to communicate
to the members generally a list of the desiderata, so that gentlemen who might have
some of the books in their libraries might have an opportunity in their generosity of
contributing them to the Institute. The list of books wanted would be circulated
amongst the members, and he hoped that there would be a long list of donations.
AiwofRSED Discussion on the Various I'kocesses fob the
Preservation or Stone.
The Chairmajj said, since last Monday evening the Council had received a long
letter from Mr. Sierelmey, who said he thought he ought to have an opportunity of
stating his case. The statement was a very long one, and the writer being a foreigner
coold not express himself very well in Encrlish. Mr. Lewis had looked it over
several times, and had made a condensation of it. Including, as he thought, the whole
of the sense, and which he would read to the meeting.
Mr. T. Hatter Lewis then read a condensation of Mr. Szerelmey's commtmlca-
tion, which was as follows : —
" New Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London,
February 2nd, 1861."
"To the Members of the Institute of British Architects."
** Gentlemen,— I trust that ere the discussion of the subject entered upon is
resumed I may be permitted to make a few remarks on the arguments adduced on
Monday last affecting myself. Although a long resident in this country I am still a
foreigner and but imperfectly acquainted with the English language, and am, there-
fore, diffident of venturing upon a personal explanation, I, therefore, trust to your
Indulgence in the following brief disquisition commuuicated through your secretary.
" 1 fully agree with the opening speech of the talented member Mr. Tite, M.P. , as
regards his remarks on the term " zopissa," a word applied by the Greeks to a certain
process for preserving the timber of vessels, but 1 respectfully conceive that he has
not gone far enough ; the processes of both zopissa and encaustic although ever
tending to produce the same result, were of a very varied and undeiined nature,
artists modifying them according to their judgment, or as might be considered
expedient for the occasion. The only zopissa spoken of is that for ships ; no men-
tion is made of the secret processes used by the great masters, nor is it ever stated
that zopissa and encaustic were confined to fixing colors and indurating wood. As
the term is used by me, it has a far more comprehensive signification implying a pre-
servative compound without reference to its being applicable to wood or stone, but
embracing both. It includes the processes employed by the earlier Egyptians in
preparing the groundwork for their monumental inscriptions, the mixing and fixing
of their colors and their preservation ; the preservation of the sycamore and other
woods of which their cotBns were composed, the solidification of^ their cements, the
ground-work of their simply concrete or cohesive masses.
*' I have not stated, either publicly or privately, that I used the process described
by Pliny, but on the contrary have given It to be distinctly understood that my com-
position varied with the nature of the work. Both these processes for the present re-
main a secret, the only mode left me. as a foreigner, of reaping the fruits of my
grievous toil and application to acquire it.
" Mr. Bumell tells you, gentlemen, distinctly, that the Speaker's Court is a failure ;
that the plasterer cement is rapidly falling oft. and that my process is a failure. Had
Mr. Bumell made a close examination he would have made tlie discovery that
there is no plaster or cement to fall ofl': the material I use is absorbed within the
stone, and till its exterior is supersaturated, the surplus may in some instances lie
on the surface, presenting a kind of raised appearance ; but this very fact is an
advantage rather than a fault, since it demonstrates that the work is well finished
and the stone hermetically sealed. Still, in no one instance can it be proved that this
sarfaee could be scraped off. It is true that several purported analyses have been
published, but I can with veracity confldentiv state that no one of them advances
beyond guess-work as to the nature of the material used by me. In all the courts
operated upon by me the stone is very much harder than it was before, and that
which was done upwards of four years ago, has become exceedingly hard. In no
part can the material used be scraped ofi' without bringing with it the surface
material ot the stone itself. But, sav my adversaries, you use, aocording.to your own
account, zopissa, and taking the term in the sense explained by Pliny, you use
pitchy and bituminous substances, which must cause the stone to turn black, or,
rapidly decomposing, throw it open once more to the destroying infiuences.
" The stone of this magnificent pile of buildings is, as you all know, extremely
varied in its nature, and on some of the blocks or slopes the dirt of the bed, from
whence they were taken, or the deposits of impurities with which the atmosphere of
London is overloaded, have so encrusted the surface as not to be removed otherwise
than by the chisel. Again, let It be recollected that the process covers in the decayed
surface, and though by this means further decomposition is arrested, the scar and
the seam still remain, and may be seen, there being neither plaster nor cement to
conceal its defects. Again, the stone presents every variety of shade, and much of
it. if freely exposed to the atmosphere, would soon become black and unsightly.
The eye of the practical architect may condemn all change from the original color of
the stone, but tiie evil cannot be remedied otherwise.
" It Is against the evidence of innumerable facts furnished by nature to assert that
bituminous substances have no preserving virtues, and quickly perish, or that as co-
operative agents, they are incapable of entering into permanent combinations. The
©■rth B exterior beds In all parts of the earth are rejilele with bituminous animal
and vegetable exuvis, with fossil oils, gums, resins, and other fatty or oily earths
existing in most countries, and under numberless combinations, existing age upon
am, and Impervious to all external influences, except by lire : a slight chemical
J5JSS* i? ''"''' atomic parts causes them to enter into the fossil kingdom, and
pecome bodies of another nature, capable of resisting further change and elemental
inOnenees. Hence the many lieautiful specimens of fossil gums, resins, honey, and
ons. containing insectivora. and which are preserved for ages, without change or de-
composition, by the Immersion in a bituminous menstruum. Wax, pitch, and other
bltnininous products are in themselves in the highest degree preservative, and
judiciously and skilfully united with other bodies, enable them to bid defiance to time
and the destroying elements, conferring durability on timber, forming japans,
lacquers, and varnishes, that in their united state are, so far as mere external
influences arc concerned, comparatively Indestructible.
" Much has been said concerning the preservative and indurating properties of
sUicated water : there is no question that were the knowledge acquired of restoring
br synthesis the silica to its original state of flint-like hardness it would be of vast
utility for indurating substances. But chemists have not arrived at that knowledge.
J" u ^"°'"' liquid glass (a discovery, by-the-bye, nowise new) is silicate of lime,
potash, or soda, otherwise speaking, a menstruum, in which the two earths are held
in mechanical'solntloD, and not a homogeneous elastic compound, the silica being
present to the extent of about I.', per cent. From this solution the metalloid is
readily precipitated, the silicate, when the water is evaporated, being left In the form
OT a dry white powder. Chemists have erroneously supposed that the stone would
aosorb this mechanlca compound, but the stone acts as a filter. It receives within
itself the water, and the two earths arc left upon the surface, without power of
further action either chemical or mechanical, and only a slight cohering force,
wholly ineificient to produce the result contemplated.
"I have already used my process over thousands of square yards of the palace
exterior without altering the natural color of the stone, but stopping only the black-
ening process. In all I have done I have arrested the progress of decay and
rendered the stone harder and more durable, and the short time that has elapsed,
about four years and a half, is sufficient to satisfy any disinterested as talented
person, that time only adds to its hardness.
"In conclusion, gentlemen, I have only to add that I shall be proud and happy
to see a Committee appointed to investigate and report upon what has already
been done, provided the members are chosen for tlieir scientific and practical
knowledge, and come to their work unprejudiced and uninfluenced by personal con-
siderations. Insulated in my position from the fact of being a foreigner, and since
the death of Sir Charles Barry deprived of that auxiliary assistance and influence
which never tailsd me in the trying hour; not sufllciently conversant with the
Knglish language to convey with force, truthfulness, and judgment, my thoughts and
feelings, my only hope and desire is to see these charges duly and righteously
investigated. The subject matter Is ol too grave importance, and involves responsi-
bilities of too stupendous a character to be lightly or partially investigated. The
question is more a national than a professional one.l and as such it must be
treated.
" Apologlsmg for the length of my communication,
" I beg to subscribe myself, respectfully yours ,
"R. C. SZERELMET."
Mr. Lewis also read the following letter from Mr. Arthur Ashpitel, who was un-
able to be present at the meeting on account of illness :—
" 2, Pocts'-comer, Westminster, February 4th, 18fil."
" My dear Sir,— Having taken so great an interest in the different processes for the
induration of stone, and having had such opportunities ot inspecting the progress of
the various operations which have been carried on close by, 1 extremely regret that
I cannot be present to-night, as my chest and throat are still in a very weak state,
and my medical man expressly forbids any unusual exertion.
" I should have wished to have offered a few word on the salient points that arose
the other night, and which may also arise from the printed papers now before me,
and I hope the meeting will not object to listen to a few of my short notes thereon.
First as to the zopissa, which it has been asserted to have been mentioned both
by Pliny and Vitruvius in connexion with encaustic painting. I find no such men-
tion. Pliny describes it in the words cited by Mr. Tite, as the scrapings of ships'
bottoms, composed of pitch and wax which had been softened or purified by the
action of sea-water, and in another passage he says zopissa is useful as a species ol
poultice (malagmata) to disperse gatherings. The same definition is given in
DIocorides, and the same one in the original work of Paulus Oglneta. Vitruvius, on
\vhose authority so much stress has been laid, never ever mentions the word. I can-
not conceive a respectable man would willingly attempt to impose on the Institute by
false quotation, and, therefore, fancy Mr, Szcrelmey has confused the zopissa with
punic wax, which last material was the vehicle of encaustic painting. This was wax
purified by boiling it with sea-water, or with nitre. The zopissa may be said to have
been puriiied by sea- water, but to suppose that pitch was ever a vehicle for laying on
delicate colors is quite absurd. Fancy painting such delicate figures as those at
PompeU out of a pitch pot 1
" But I must not go at length into any point. However, as anxious to see even-
handed justice done to all parties, I beg to say a few words on Mr. Daines' patent.
He seems doomed to be misrepresented, or, at least, mistaken, on very many points.
He does not boil the oil and sulphur. The former will not boil at less than fiOO deg.
Fahr., and then becomes a dirty, viscid body. He assured myself, Mr. Sydney
Smirke, and Mr. G. Gilbert Scott, that the oil is only heated sufflciently to take up as
much sulphur as it will, which is known by the crystallization of the superfiuous
sulphur. The specimens of the material exhibited to us as used by him were
certainly not darker in color than common oil. This composition does not dirty the
stone. This may be seen at once by examining the bay in Old Palace-yard, close to
the Victoria Tower, and to the north of it. The discoloration of the first attempts
is clearly explained as an accident. It is said Mr. Daines' solution does not pene-
trate the stone. This we can satisfactorily disprove, as, by Mr. Scott's suggestion,
we broke the specimens in half, and found the material had penetrated the stone as
stated in our report, which I enclose. We also found that the part operated on was
harder than that untouched, that it was more repellant of water, and in general of
cleaner color. Of course, we could not pronounce on the validity of the specimens,
but we had a letter from a respectable solicitor stating they had lain for nve or six
years in his garden under the drip of the coping of a wall. It has also been asserted
that his solution immediately or very shortly leaves the stone. This we can safely
disprove, as by placing the pieces on hot iron a vapor arose of the strongest smell,
and which did not get out of the house for many hours. This vapor also discolored
silver, so that we felt convinced at the time we made our experiments not only the
oil but the sulphur was present in the specimens.
" I may say for myself, and I think for my coadjutors, that we were pleased with
the simple, though earnest way in which Mr. Daines stated his pretensions. He
said he did not pretend to the transmutation of stone, nor did he say he changes
chalk into granite. But this he claims to do : every one knows that oil is in itself
one of the best preservatives of stone, but the heat of the sun, and the changes of
the atmosphere, soon dry out its particles. He combim^s it. therefore, with the
hardest and most durable material he knows of which will combine with it ; and
which at the same time it adds to their durability, purifies oils, and all similar
matters, from vegetable mucus, and all uncombined fatty acids. In this sense he
seems to have quite as much title to talk of zopissa and encaustic as anyone else.
" Now, Mr. Daines, as we understand him. adds, ' I do not pretend to transmute
stone, but I cause it to Imbibe such a material that its surface will repel the weather
and prevent decay quite as well as paint or ordinary oil will, not only for three
years, our usual renewal of outside coatin^j, but for twenty-five or thirty years, and
yet the grain and color of the stone shall be uninjured. By this time the stone will
become naturally hardened or weathered.' If not it will be a cheap process to
repeat it again at the close of a quarter of a century, and tbe stone may then, at
fifty or sixty years, be supposed to be safe.
"What results may happen .50 or even much fewer years hence we cannot foretell.
Indeed, this investigation reminds us of the pedant in Hierocles.who was told|a raven
would live a thousand years. He replied he did not believe it, but he would buy a
young one and try. This remark applies to the future of all these processes, that
we have before us a present need. A noble building is fast going to decay, and we
must not loiter in our attempts to arrest its ruin. Among the processes before us I
must say I think that of Mr. Daines' is entitled to notice. It is novel, simple, intelli-
gible, and does not profess too much.
" In justice to Mr. Kansome it should be said that I have this morning witnessed
some experiments which (though no profound chemist) lead me to believe that his
solution does penetrate the body of the stone, which has been denied, and that the
product of the double combination which takes place is insoluble in water. His pro-
cess, howcviT, requires great nicety In manipulation. Too much of either of his
solutions do mischief; but as practice makes perfect, he claims greater certainty
and better results every day, [though his theory is based on the same principles as
in the beginning.
" In conclusion, I would strongly recommend the formation of a committee as pro-
posed, with power to consult the best chemists, and our brethren in constructive
science, the Institution of Civil Engineers, and should be proud to assist in any
way my present stock of information would afford.
" Believe me.
" ^'cry truly yours.
"Arthub Aibpitel"
February 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
123
sir. Lewis then read the following: letter from Mr. Colo.
"24, Esscx-stroct, Strand, 4th Feb., 1801.
" Pear Sir,— If ilr. Pcrrey shoiiW happen to be present this evening he might be
asked whether he hiin continued to use the preservative soap and alum process of
Mr. Sylvester, whicli lie introiuocil to the Institute some years ago, and with what
result ? For althougli it might not satisfy the ultimate requirements of such a build-
ing as the Houses ot Farliamont ; yet, from its ciieapness and simplicity of applica-
tion, it might be worth while to employ it to arrest the decay of some parts, at least,
during the years of Inquiry and e.xperiment, which obviously will elapse before the
best and only thing shall be deterramed on. Mr. Burnell, or any other good chemist,
would try whether it could mterfere with a silicate applied hereafter. I
think not.
" For the protection of stone from the effects of the first twelve winters after work-
ing and setting, Mr. Sylvester's process is certainly an excellent one. according to my
own experience. 1 lately examined a church of old and new red sandstone done with
it ten years ago, and I searched in vain for the slightest decay of an arris or even in
the ashlar of the plinth, in which parts the stone in other buildings in the neigh-
bourhood always perishes. The oolites, even in London, are preserved by it from
that miser.able black discoloration (not an artistic, time-honored tint), which frost and
rain bring with tliem. It is, us you may remember, easily made and used by any
ordinary 'workmen, and ,t;i2 averjige for a church is not dear for immediate beuetit.
But Sir. Ferrey's renewed approval would do more good than mine.
" Yours truly,
" T. Tlayter Lewis, Esq., "John J. Cole.
Sir. TiTE, M.I'., said he had, as might have been expected, received since the last
meeting a great many letters. lie would trouble the Institute with one from Sir.
Grissell, one of the most eminent builders of London, and who was one of the con-
tractors for the Palace of Westminster. The following was the letter : —
" Norbury-park, aist Jan., 1861.
"Sly dear Sir,— T am much interested, as you are aware, in the durability of the
stone of the New Houses of rarliament, and were it not from indisposition, which
confines me to the house, I would personally attend the next ordinary meeting of
the Institute of Architects, in order to afford any information or explanation in my
power touching the interesting subject under discussion, or with respect to the ex-
tent of care and supervision in the selection of the stone in the working of the
(Quarries. I can onlysiiy, that had we to go through the quarrying operations again —
tne workmen employed, who, it must be remarked, were only practical masons and
quarrymen. could not, with their amount of intelligence, have exercised greater care
and discernment in the selection of the stone, and the greatest care was taken not
to send any soft or unsound stone to London.
"The object, however, mainly of my addressing you is to correct a misapprehension
.as to the apparent difference in the selection of the stone for the New Houses of I'ar-
liamentand that supphedfor the erection of the Sluseum of Geology, in Jermyn-
Rtreet, in reference to which you are pleased to say that, 'in one ease the selection
was good, while in the other it was bad.' In reply to which I beg to assure you
that the stone for both buildings came from the same quarry, and was got by the
same workmen, without reference to any special selection, or for any particular build-
ing, so that it is entirely a matter of chance, as far as the selection is concerned ; the
situation of the two buildings not bein^ identical may have something to do with the
increased stability of one over the other. Of course in the same quarry there are
svime portions of the rock more dry and of closer texture than other portions, and, to
use a technical ti'rm, more crystalline in its nature, but at that time we were not in-
formed that to ensure perfect durabiUty it was necessary that the stone should be
perfectly cystaliised.
" The truth, however, is, that the stone first selected by the commissioners was a
similar stone to that used— a magnesian limestone— but was found on the estate of
Lord Bathurst, at Bolsover Sloor, about six or seven miles from the village of North
Anston, where the quarries are situated, from which the stone was ultimately sup-
Elied ; but it was found on opening the quarry at Bolsover that the stone could not
e obtained in sufficient thicknesses or sizes for the purpose required. The com-
missioners had, therefore, to select another spot in the same neighbourhood, where the
quantity and sizes could be obtained, and this was found at North Anston, on the
estate of the Duke of Leeds, the stone appearing to be of the same nature and
quality as that first selected, with the exception that the Bolsover stone was of
somewhat finer grain and closer texture, but in all other respects was identical.
" In conclusion, permit me to say, that I think nothing would have prevented the
present dilemma in which we are placed, but the appointment of a resident chemical
agent in the quarries at the commencement of the operations, and possessed of our
present information on the subject, to have determined which portions of the rock
wereperfeetly crystalline from that which was not so. If you are unable to attend
the next meeting, will you obhge me by intrusting this explanation to a iViend?
" I remain, dear Sir, ■
"Yours very truly,
" W. Tite, Esq., F.R.S., &c." " T. Grisseli,.
It appeared that the stone first selected at Bolsover Sloor was not found in sufficient
quantities, and that the stone afterwards selected, though it appeared to be ot the
same nature and quality, was not tlie same. And such was the case at Portland;
some stones were safe there while others were not. And so it was with Bath stone
sometimes. The Caen stone used by the Normans stood, whereas the modern Caen
stone in our atmosphere universally failed. It appeared to him that the lower beds
seemed to contain a degree of crystallisation whieji the upper beds did not show. There
was another letter which he had to read, which was quite to the point of the discus-
sion he introduced ; he wanted to get the experience of architects, without so much
referring to the chemical point. The letter contained an opinion given by a young
architect for whom he had very great respect. Sir. Chancellor, of Chelmsford. (Mr.
Tite then read the letter, which stated that the writer, in the year 1S57, had applied
Sir. Kansome's process to a balustrade and coping, and that he had visited the works
8ever,il times since, and as late as last autumn, wdien he found that the stone, which
had been decayin'' before the process was applied, had become hard and solid.
He added that he had again visited the work within the last few days, and ascer-
tained that although the coping had become in part laminated by the severe frost,
the material itself^ was still hard.) He thought that Kansome's process was in the
right tack, and led to a solution of this diflicult question, but he had stated,
most distinctly, his difficulty respecting it, and he would state it again. Mr.
Kansome wanted to turn the siUcate of soda into the silicate of lime. Now
he (Sir. Tito) thought he should be able to show them that these two com-
pounds, if stirred together, would become a solid mass. [Sir. Tite then made the
experiment.] Now he had produced a thick gummy mass, which was, in point
ot fact, the siUcate of lime, which, he believed was indestructible; and it was
said that this composition was exactly what they were seeking. But other
persons stated that the deposit thus formed was washed away as easily
as the two solutions of which it was made. That was an objection he raised
to this very important element in Kansome's patent. If he had done Han-
soine's process any injustice by stating the difficulty, he hoped that gentlemen
prcseut would meet it. Sir. Szerelmey seemed to suggest that ho (Mr. Tite) had
made an attack upon him. Now he appealed to every one present whether he had
made an attack upon him— (Hear, hear). He suggested that Sir. Szerelmey was a
foreigner, that sympathy was due to him, and that he might, aa a foreigner, seek to
keep secret an invention of real importance to the world, but that keeping a secret
in these days of chemical research was out of the question, and that fornis invention
they were bound to pay him. But he showed, that Sir. Szerelmey had, on his return
from a lengthened journey abroad, where he had paid attention to the hardening of
stone and to the practice of the ancients, called zopissa an encaustic. Sir. Szerelmey,
in 1Sj7, obtained a patent for materials, the nature of which he would not charac-
fa;rise, such as blood, cheese, ground brickdust, &c. And he meant to say that if Sir.'
Szerelmey, in 18.i7, patented blood and cheese, as Greek cement, he could not see
now in I8<i0 he could use these materials with any chance of success. Now, as to
Dalnes patent what he said was this, he did not understand what wa> gained by
putting the sulphur m the material to be used, as It would only render the .urfaei
sticky. What the use of the sulphur was he did not know. "" lut .unwe
.1 f' y/KKiNGTO.N, chemist. Slated that ho had b./eii emploreil profemlnnallv for
the last few years, and paid a great deal of attention to the state of the Hou»r« of
1 ar lament, on the part of Mr. Kansome. He then pro<!eeded to give aom.- account
01 tne exfoliation and etllorescence of the stone. In some cases, from thirty. five to
ninety per cent, of the substance of the stone was found In a «tab- of pim.U-r He
had been employed at the Houses of Parliament about two years, but there was a
P!?V, " J' t'"-' "'"'•k indurated by Kansome's proccM in IsVl. He referred to some
oi tin; ellucts of tlie apjilication of different processes upon the stone, and observed
tiiat liansoine's patent did uot confine itself to the use of silicate of lime. It was
tound that, by the application of the process In Wxl, the efflorescence came out of
the stone, without in the slightest degree disintegrating the surface.
the Chairman asked Sir. C. H. Smith, one of the (Commissioners for the s«lccllon
ot the stone for the Houses of Parliament, if tint Commlsaianers selected atone at
another spot than where the Bolsover atone was found.
Sir. SsiiTii answered In the affirmative, and remarked that he had a copy of the
report of the Commissioners with him. The ( ommlssioiiers were viry anxious
indeed as to what they did. The subject of the selecllon of the st.jn.' was fully dis-
cussed by the Commissioners appointed, of whom he was the only remaining repre-
sentative. It w-as agreed that the Commissioners should assemble at Newcastlc-
iipon-Tyne, and at a meeting held there of the Association for the Advancement of
Science, the subject was brought forward and discussed. He next referred to the
assembling of the Parliamentary Commissioners at Bolsover Sloor. Though good
stone, Bolsover was found to be too small, and in two or three weeks afterwards he
was sent to examine certain holes which had been ordered to be dug In a quarry in
the neighbourhood ; and in the neighbourhood he found the stone which had been
used. It was generally thought the basement of the river front of the Houh s of
Parliament was made of Bolsover. but such was not the case, nor was it from
Anston quarry. It was ultimately determined that the stone should be taken from
Anston.
The Chairman— Did the Anston stone ever receive the approbation and sanction
of the Commissioners as a body ?
Sir. Smith.— Yes, the Commissioners, as a body, sanctioned the Anston stone.
When he went down to Anston quarry he ordered a small block of stone, IS inches by
9 inches, to be sent to town. That stone was sent after him, and It was submitted to
the Commissioners, Sir Charles Barry, Sir Henry De la Heche, and IJr. Iluckland
(Dr. Smith, another of the Commissioners, being at Harrowgate <Iid not examine itx
who approved of the stone. They thought it was as good aa the Bolsover though not
quite so hard. The new buildings of Liiicoln's-inn w'as a very bad stone, and there
was a large railway hotel at lIulT the stone of which was as bad as It could be, and
they were built of the same kind of stone as he had referred to. But there were to
be found good specimens of this stone, such as the Sluseum in Jermyn-street, the
Piccadilly front of the same Sluseum, and an insurance office.
In answer to a question put by the Chairman,
Sir. Smith said Sir Henry De la Beehe and himself went down to the quarry to
select the stone for the Sluseum in Piccadilly.
The Chairman— Do you think an equal degree ofvigilancc was exercised In regard
to the selection of the stone for the Houses ot Parliament ?
Sir. Smith. — There was not the slightest doubt of it. There was a talk abftnt a
person being appointed to look after the stone. Well, he was appointed on the com-
mission without knowing a word about it. Of course he was very much pleased at
being selected in such good company as Sir Charles Barry and Sir Henry De la
Beehe. He was to be paid ^150 a year, and having to be off two or three 'times a
week he did not think that sum too mucli. He wished to know who was to pay him;
he was told he was sure to be paid, and;then he went to work. Well, he was told
there was to be a principal and an assistant to look after the stone. On inquir>' he
found that he was to be the assistant, he then inquired who was to l>e the principal,
and was told that that was not yet settled. But he wa-s not appointed the principal
and nobody else was ; that was the grand secret of all the failure. It had been
stated that sulphuric acid in the atmosphere of London was destructive to stone. He
did not deny that it was so tO' a certain extent. But the principal thing was the
stone not being well cemented together, as well as the sulphuric acid, which, how-
ever, had very Uttle to do with the matter of the decay of stone. The stone, if It was
bad, would decay anywhere, as well as in London.
The Chairman.— Had you any reason at that time to believe improper stone had
been taken for the Houses of Parliament ?
Sir. Smith.- Yes, Sir, no doubt of it, but I was not appointed to look after It. I
went down to know what I had to do, and it was to see whether the quarries worked
well, and whether there was any other stone in the neighbourhood. There was no
doubt about one thing, and that is that there was no specifying of the quarries from
which the stone should come for this particular building. Sir. Smith proceeded
to remark that he thought there were two classes of decay, decomposition and dis-
integration. Decomposition had taken place in the Elgin marbles. Diswtegration
was what was most general, and such was the ease in reference to the Anston stone.
To preserve stone they must take a hint from nature, and give a little more cement
to the g-ains to make them adhere better. Tlie stones of a rock were always
saturated with wet. When the stone was on the rock so long It became harder
and more durable ; but the moment the stone was removed from Its place and potoa
a building it began to decay, and that decay was very much assisted by water, which
was universally solvent. Whatever plan might be adopted for the preservation of
the Houses of Parliament, one matter of importance was to keep the wet out from
above, from the great projections, as much as possible.
Sir. G. GiLiiEHT Scott, on being called upon by the Chairman to address the meet-
ing, said he did not know that he could add very much to what he had already said,
and had been said by others, because he was not himself a scientilic man in regard
to chemistry. The question before them had assumed a double'^- '• •-• • ""«
! form-
was not
tion, he did not beheve there were any 1 ».t.. - -. . ,,„.-.
could be laid down with safety as positive tests of a stone. Even granite "»elt was
not all durable. In Dartmoor there was decayed pranite. It was the duty 01 the
builder to select good granite, and in seleoting good granite no doubt chemistr) and
mineralogy would help, but after all they were not sufficient wihout experience of
the neighliourhood, that such and such granites had b.'en used and stood though they
might Unite with that scientific observation, and thus judge "%'<>«''« ,^''!°»°'
granite were likely to stand. The same thing wi h other stones. Take, for instance
the hard stones of Yorkshire. There were ten bad stones to one good one I? »«
found in the West Itidiug of Yorkshire. The same thing with oolites. There WM
not one division of oolites which they could say produced good »Vr'Uilnt''w^ „f?ie
good and bad. And one quarry will not produce all good s'»°\ J'^,"^f"^.';" " V f '^
,,fmr.,t imnnrt,inee everv architect should have an amount of knowledge to assist him
was bad He had been told by a stone merchant that nineteen out of every twe ty
mrsons in London rejected all the good stone and chose the bad, which is a whiter
rdHretttrstZr Throughout the Isle of Portland, the bad stone was known by
the mfro? best stone; so^if they had in their ^Pe^fl'^**'"'^. " « '/^^..'^ /^''J.'itSg
stone " it raizht be a quibb e that the worst was known as the " best, best meaning
the worst "t was not the lower bed of Portland that was good, " ••"'V'SSlJlh^
and he beilcved its being the upper or lower bed ot stone bad nothing to do with the
124
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 8, 1861.
quality of the stone. In Portland, the stouo was hardor ami harder as it got to the
top. The hanU'st wa? at the top ; the next under that was the roche, whieh was full
ctf shells, and extremely durable for eupnetrinjr jiurposes, but not tit for architec-
tural purposes. The stone thai came next to that was the realTortlaud stone; it
wa» called the whit or white bed, because it \v&b not white, but brown. The really
white bed below was very chalkv; it was a nice httle stone, but not
durable. It waa exceedingly difficult to find out, on examination of a
stone, whether it was go<xl or bad. But he thought if chemists would
examine a stone they could tell whether it was ^^ood or bad. To fol-
low the processes of nature would be valuable. It the process of siliciaa-
tton could ne shown to be a fH>nA ,nile following of the process oi nature it would be
Taloable lor them. lie would mention one thing he had observed in the quahties of
Portland stone. In the good tlie particles w*ere very clearly marked, and separated
by crystalline particles, whereas the bad had its cores tilled ".p with a powdery sub-
stance Uke chalk, not crystalline. As far as he had seen, the Uolsover of Mansfield
Woodhouse had the crystalline very distinct, whereas in the Anston stone the
arrstala were not so distinct, there being a powdery substance between them, which
mL^ht be the cause of the one standing and the other decomposing or dismtcgrating.
If Jt could be proved that silex would crystallise stone they might feel confidence in it,
and Mr. Wurriugton said that Kausome's process did, wliile it was stated in prints
that it did not cr}-stanise the stone. In examining all purely chemical agents they
ought to have proof that it settled crystalline on stone or even a vitreous substance.
He would mention one thing about the stone for the Houses of Parliament. The
stone sflectiMl was the Uolsover, as Mr. ?mith stated. Probably enough, there were
not more than ten tons of that ever used. But there was another quarry, the Mans-
field Woodhouse quarry, ftom which a large quantity was used. That
stone was as good as the Bolsovcr, and better than the Anston. That
quarry was open, and he used it sometimes. The stones from that
quarry used in the Houses of Parliament were in a perfect state of preservation.
He thought that that was a most valuable fact. That was one of the magupsiau lime-
stones wbieh was found to be trustworthy, and he used it for the Martyrs' Memorial,
at Oxford, twenty years ago. The use of this stone was discontinued at the Houses
of Parliament because the blocks were small, but he had found no difhculty in them
as to size in ordmary buildings. Mr. Smith said the stone was specified to be from
Bolsover Moor, or its neighborhood. Kow, he was surprised that such loose
language should have been introduced into the contract, for it was calculated to lead
to the most injurious results. Cateby stone would stand while a stone in a quarry
next to it would not stand. That showed the danger of talking about usino; stone in
the neighborhood of another stone. They could not trust much to neighborhoods.
Mr. Scott showed to the meeting two specimens of stone which he got a few years
ago at Anston quarry ; one being a hard or good one. and the other a soft or bad
stone. As to Daines' process, he (Mr. Scott) was called in to report upon it. And
generally it was found that the stone prepared by that process was in a very good
state. The system was sulphur dissolved in oil, and wnere this system had been
applied to stone previously decayed, the decay had been stopped very effectually
inaeed. In some of the parts the stone became exceedingly black, from what causes
he did not know. He aid not hazard an opinion as to whether sulphur added to oil
made stone durable. As to Mr. Szerelmcy's process, he had not detected any new
decay in the parts of the Houses of Parliament to which his process had been applied,
and whioli he had looked at that day with Mr. Edward Barry. He thought Mr.
Szerelmey had done himself much injustice by his system of secresy. As to zoptssa
he believed it was all nonsense. He hoped all that had been said about zopiasa would
fall off", and that something substantial would be loft behind it.
Mr. G. Goi>wiN was exceedingly anxious that they should gather the facts aa
much as possible, and he had one to mention. He could not but express his great
astonishment at the whole story which had been told that night about the selection
of stone for the Houses of Parliament, and that the stone was chosen after the
examination of a small stone 18 inches by it inches, sent up to town from a place six
miles from the quarry which had been previously selected. As to Daines^ process
for the preservation or?tone. they must liave facts, if not positive, at least negative.
Mr. Calder Marshall, the sculptor, some years ago put up a statue in front of the
Foundling. The statue had applied to it " Daines' process," but some months ago
the whole thing had decayed, and he found it had gone to pieces entirely, although
it had been several times painted by Daines' process.
Professor Ansted said, in the first place, he saw they took the two subjects together,
the nature of stone as used for building purposes, and the preservation of stone as
they found il in public buildings. He thou<jht it was a pity the two subjects were
mixed up. He understood that the discussion was to be of a preservative, rather
than a .aelective character— to refer to the preservation of stone, and not so much to
the selection of it. The quality of stone varied very much in different parts of the
same quarry, and, indeed, of the same bed. lie thought he might venture to say
that the eminent architects who had spoken on the subject of selection did not seem
to be aware of the mode of nature in bedding stone. Jieds of stone must necessarily
contain very large quantities of water, and the difl'erentbeds of stone varied according to
their exposure, the beds of stone around them, and mineralogically. As to stones at the
stuface, they were comparatively hard. and those beneath soft or cheesy. He thought he
might venture to say as to the stones of the Houses of Parliament that he did not believe
any process under heaven would prevent them from having decay ; although it might be
stopped for a time, yet no preservative process could be effectual. As to processes
for preservation there was in one the pnnciple of choking the pores of the stone with
some substance, such as oil ; but after a few years the oil would be got rid of, and the
process of decay go on. In the parapet of Westminster Abbey, where a process had
been applied, it was true the stone retained the oil to a considerable extent in some
parts. Now, this choking of the stone was like painting it. Then there was
another method of preservation which waa^introduced by Fuch, and carried out by
KuhImann,on the Continent. It was laying on the surface of the stone water-glass,
and letting it remain on the stone to be acted upon by the atmosphere, when It might
happen that decomposition took place. Then there was a third process— a process of
double decomposition, invented by Air. Kansome. It appeared to him beyond
doubt that the question to be decided must be decided — what was the material that
gave them hardness in concrete. If they could deposit the silicate of lime, aa Mr.
Kansome suggested, It appeared to him they could not have anything better, but
then they must settle the question among themselves. He had "been looking that
day at the Houses of Parliament and at the parapet of Westminster Abbey, where
preservative processes had been applied, and he confessed that he was not at all
satisfied with the results. Of Kangome's specimens he found some which were
done at a very early period of his invention, and he found a peculiarity or Irregu-
larity of eonditton In the stone, the stone in some cases being hard, and in others
decaying. Of the three processes which had come Ix'fore hlra for the
fi^esen•ation of stone, the first failed of necessity ; the second failed by experience
I our climate, if not in other chmates. The specimens of Kuhlmann in l^aris and in
this country had not been successful ; they might be to some extent, but not gene-
rally successfnl. It had been proposed to appoint a committee for the consideration
of the subject ; he did not think the condition of the examples before them was such
as to render them hopefal of success, but the time had come when something must
be done for the preservation of our large public buildings. There was not a stone in
the world so good as the Portland stone of Greenwich Hospital.
The CI1AIR.VAN said, instead of this matter being referred to a committee, It was
to be desired that a public commission would issue for the purpose of making an
'nqnjrv into the subject. It was not to be expected that any satisfactory information
could be obtained from the appointment of a committee of architects alone, and he
could not help thinking that Parliament should be called upon to bring together a
concentration of talent and (-kill, and he hoped that next 3Ionday some gentleman
would come to the meeting pn/pared to make a motion for a petition to Parliament
pMiying for the appointment of a commission.
Tlie discussion was then again adjourned to Monday next, when the flrBt speaker
will be Mr. Kdward Barry.
ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION.
AN ordinarv meeting of this body was held on Friday evening, at the rooms,
9, Conduit- street. Regent-street ; A. W. liLOMPUEi-D, Esq., M. A., Vice-President
in the chair. ,
Mr, A. Smith, hon. sec., read the minutes of proceedings at the lastmeeting, which
were approved of and confirmed.
Xcxo Meiiibers.—'Thc following gentlemen having been balloted for, were duly
elected members of the Association :— Mr. WaltcV Paris, S, Trinity-place ; Mr.
Turner, ;W, Herners-street ; Mr. K. W. Hart, 77, Camden-road-villas, Camden-town ;
Mr. M. H. Thomson. 74, Oxford-street; Mr. George Kobert Green, ir>. Clarendon-
road north, Kensington-park.
jS'otninatiotis.— The following gentlemen were proposed as members:— Mr.
Walter, 10, Uark-pluce. liayswator-hiU; Mr. J. Husk, 56, High Holborn ; and Mr.
J. Adams.
Mr. K. W. RiLLiNOS said he was sorry their President (Mr. T. Koger Smith)
was not in the chair that evening, because had he been he should, perhaps, have
addressed himself to him rather than to the members generally, but he promised
that he would not titiy anything very serious against him in his absence.
An observation, however, which the President made at the last meetinsf
showed that he was in some measure mistaken. He (Mr. Billings) wished,
in the first instance, to read to the meeting an extnuit from the BuiUlar, then one
from the .liuildinfj S'ews, and afterwards to make a few observations upon them in
justification of himself. The liuildcr of January 0th stated that Mr. UiUings gave a
sketch of his professional career, aud further went on to say, "-The speaker (Mr.
Billings) concluded his observations by recommending young architects not to supply
design.s for works which they were not to carry out, as he stated that he had himself
suffered in reputation by the subsidenoe of certain works carried out by the late Lord
Murray at Eaiuburgh,and the failure of which had been caused by an oversight of
the person entrusted with the superintendence of the work, and for which he was in no-
wise responsible. The speaker complained in reckless phraseology, and without the
slightest ground, of anotice of this accident which appeared in Uu: Builder of Mascb.
loth, iy<K). The paragraph, which cametous justlasit was printed, attributed blame to
no one, did not seek to do so, indeed, mentioned no name, aud our belief is that until this
moment we had never heard that he had anything to do with it." Then, their
worthy president had thought proper to allude to this matter, and, though he was
sorry that such an allusion should have been made, yet it gave him an opportunity
for an explanation. At the last meeting the president said, as was reported in the
liuildhif/ AVii's:—" lie thought it right to draw their attention to^ the report of
their last meeting in the i/w(7c/cr, because Mr. Billings thought ri^ht to refer, in a
way whieh he thought some of them regretted, to his works, and lie thought it only
right that the paragraph which appeared in that paper of the same day in reference
to this matter should have equal publicity to the statements made by Mr Billings.
The Chairman then read an extract from the TfuiW^r denying that the editor knew
Mr. Billings was the gentleman cliarged witli want of capacity in the matter of the
fall of Kamsay-terrace Edinburgh. That, he thought, exonerated the editor of the
Bui kin' from, the charge of having wished to injure their frient^^Mr. Billings." Now,
in the first place he denied the statement of the /iwf/t/er that he gave a sketch of his
professional career ; if any one ever expected to get that from him he was very much
mistaken. And ngain, what he said about young architects was to urge them,
instead of entangling themselves with the much-vexed question of a new style,
to produce themselves new designs, as he had done. The Builder stated that he
said the accident at Kamsay-terrace, Edinburgh, was caused by the super-
intendent of the works. Now, he never said such a thing ; that
was an attack on the clerk of the works, and he never knew that a clerk
of the works was employed upon the structure. But the report of
what he said was correctly given in the Buildinff N^ews, and he referred to that.
He denied he ever used the language imputed to him in the BuiI(Ur; he
never said anything of thc;kind, Then, as to the charge that he indulged in
"reckless phraseology," that "was alljbosh; he denied Ihaving used such phraseo-
logy: but if he had used reckless phraseology, why did not the Builder
report what was said, and thus allow people to judge of the truth
or falsehood of the charge ? Then ho came to the statement in the
Builder that the editor of that paper did not know he (Mr. Billings)
had anything to do with the work raferred to in Ramsay- terrace, aud that he,
(the editor) had nothing to do with the matter. The article complained of, whieh
appeared in the Builder of January <.»th, bore no mark of quotation from another
newspaper, and yet it was stated that the article came as it was printed. But he
eonieufled it was an original article— it had in it the all-powerful "we." It
was not the first time by many he |had been ill-used by the Builder. In that paper
of the 9th of January, 1801. his name was mentioned, which had not been the case for
years. What was the cause of the change? Simply that the old despotism was
destroyed by the moral power of the £w//(7mj//'A>hvs, and nothing else. Some time ago
Mr. Iloutell was to have delivered a lecture before the Architectural Association at
Lyon's-inn-Hall, but failed at the last moment. Under the circumstances, Mr.
Herring, one of the hon. sees, of the Association, came to him and asked if ho would
step forward and give a lecture off-hand. That was not a thing that many people
would like, or could do. But he complied with the request, and the lecture was fully
reported in the Buildinff Aeirs. The reporter of the Builder was present at the
meeting and took notes. Well, what appeared in the Builder respecting the
meeting ? A paragraph which gave the name of the person who did not lecture, but
the name of the person who did lecture was suppressed, it being stated that Sir.
Boutell who ought to have lectured did not come, and that a member of the Associa-
tion made some remarks in lieu of him.
The Northern Architecturnl Association. ~^\r. Arthur Smith, hon. sec, read the
following minute of a meeting of the Committee of the Association :— '* The subject
of architectural alliance was brought forward, when, upon the motion of Mr.
Blashill, seconded by Mr. New, the following resolution was passed unanimously : —
'That, liaving received a communication upon the question of an architectural
alliance from the Northern Architectural Association, the Committee consider it
desirable that facilities should exist for eommunicating with the various architec-
tural bodies in the kingdom, and obtaining their opinions, and. if need be, their co-
operation, whenever such shiill seem needful ; and the Committee is of opinion that
each Secretary of an Architectural Society should obtain the addresses of the other
Secretaries, and forward to them from time to time any information of importance
that may come into their possession.' " The Hon. Secretary then read the letter
which had been received from the Northern Architectural Association in favor of an
alliance.
Mr. BtAsniLLmoved that the resolution of the Committee be adopted, and a copy
of it sent to the Northern Architectural Society. It seemed to him that great advan-
tages might arise from inter-communication being established amongst the various
architectural societies,
Mr. New seconded the motion.
Mr. Btllings said the President of the Northern Architectural Association,
Sir. Dobson, was.nerhaps, one of the most accomplished architects in Europe, and
he should be glaa to hear of a friendship existing between that Association and
their own.
The motion was unanimously agreed to.
Mr. C. H. F. Leweb stated that at a recent meeting of the Class of Design Mr.
Keeves, hon. sec. of the class, introduced two resolutions for the sanction of the
Committee, the first being to the effect that any member of the Association can
belong to the (^ass of Design, but not be entitled to compete for any prize unless he
contriDute eight designs during the .Session, six of which must be delivered before
the conversazione in April next. It was considered that the Committee had no
power to sanction this resolution, as it had the effect of limiting one which had been
passed by the general body of members at an ordinary meeting on the Uth of Novem-
Der. The second resolution brought forward by Mr. Keeves was to the effect, that
Febkuary 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
125
no design will be rcciMvcd after the evcniiiir for wliicli it is spocilled la the syllabus,
and that all de»if;ns itributed must bo half or quarto imperial.
Mr. K. Url'ck said tiiis wasa matter for the consideration of the Association as a
body, and not of the Class of l)esii;n only.
Mr. Rkevf.s.— That was the very reason why the matter had been brought forward
for the consideration of the meeting.
Mr. Bl.vhiiill said it was tolerably well known that Mr. Tite had oifered .£5 tor
prizes amongst the members of tlie Class of Design, and after a long di-scii-ssion one
night it was decided that .£2 should be given for the best series of sketches by mem-
tlers of the Class of Design, and .£.'i for the best sketch on a speeihc sulyect. After
that the Class of Design passed a resolution limiting the number who should com-
pete for the prize to such as sent in six designs, but then it was found tliat neither
the Class of Design nor the Committee could limit the competition after the decision
which liad been arrived at by the Association as a body. It was desirable, however,
tliat the competition for the prizes should be limited in some way. He understood
a week since that their Tresident was going to see Mr. Tite on the subject, antl-con-
sult him as to the way in which tlie prizes slionld bo given away.
Sir. UuLCE thouglit the eonsideratiou of the subject should be adjourned until Mr.
Tite had been consulted respecting it.
The Chairman was of the same opinion.
Mr. 11EEVK9 understood tiiat all the President had to see Mr. Tite about was to
hear his opinion as to what should be the specific subject selected for a design.
Mr. liiLLiNCs certainly thought that In tne exercise of his liberal feeling Mr. Tite
would leave this matter in the liands of the Association. 'Why should there be a
limit as to the number of designs sent in ? lie who produced the best design ought
to get the prize, without any limitation as to the number of sketches sent in.
After some furtlier discussion, the consideration of the subject was postponed.
Foumlutiom.—'Vhe Cii.iin.MAN said before calling on Mr. Bunker to make some
remarks on foundations, ho wished to remind them that [that was the second of a
series of subjects for discussion, not introduced in the manner of a formal paper.
He hoped that all who coul<I give information on the subject would do so, and that
those who wished to gain further information would not hesitate to put questions.
Sir. Bunker smd their wortliy Chairman had, be thought, put them in possession
of the object wliieh had brouglit hnu before tliem that evening. Ue would start at
once on the simple facts as to what were foundations. Ho could not do better than
begin by deiining what was a foundation. He said a foundation was that
plane or surface on which any building or pier was constructed. He divided
foundations Into natural and artificial. By natural he meant those suffi-
ciently strong to receive any building put upon them. The natural founda-
tions, again, he divided into good and bad. Itock was the best of all natural
foundations ; by rock he meant a stone foundation, either lime or hard stone.
The next best foundation was a pure, compact, tirm gravel. The next was the shale,
which was an excellent foundation, provided rain or other moisture was kept from
it. If upon such a foundation they could get the walls up dry the building would
last for ever, but if the structure was erected in wet weather the results would be
very bad. Xow as to the bad foundations, they were, generally speaking, compounds.
Gravel and loam was a very bad and a very deceiving foundation. Tliey sliould iu
regard to it use a crowbar or pickaxe, and see whether they could get them down
a great depth ; and if the implement came up with clay they ought not to trust the
foundation. Clay and sand, sometimes a little clay and sometimes a httle sand, was
a very bad foundation, and the whole of it ought to be cleared away. Some clays
were worse than others, tlirough the shifting or rollin|j nature of the material. As
to made eartlis they ought to be cleared away uutil they got to a good natural
foundation, or put in a good artificial one. Now the natural foundations— the rocks,
the gravel, and shale— only required preparation for a structure to be put upon them,
and lierc care was required. If they had to erect a large building on an undulating
soil, they ought not to let thejumps be too deep, or there would be cracks in the
building. Before a buiider was in any case allowed to put in a footing,'he should advise
them to make an e.xaniination as to the condition of the trenches, with a crowbar and
pickaxe, and they sliould take care that the specification gave tlieiii tliat power. They
should have intlie specification provision made that the footings jshould not be put in
until the architect liad ascertained that the trenches were fit and proper for the struc-
ture. Another troublesome customer they met with in foundations was water, not only
rain but spring water, and sometimes it caused a vast amount both of expense and
annoyance. He then referred to a clay and loamy soil, in wliich, although buildings,
sometimes stood a long time, yet through water being in the strata buildings had
fractured. All speculation should, if possible, be kept out of building contracts; every
contract should be a matter of fair deaUng between man and man, and between
parties. Having spoken of natural foundations good and bad, and of water which
caused natural foundations to be treacherous, he passed on to artificial foundations
which he would describe as simple and compound. By simple lie meant any rough
material thrown in to form a foundation, such as rubble or brick-work, wliich
frequently made a very good foundation-i.Otiiers, again, would putdown large blocks
of stone and rough lots of I'ortland, which were very gpod. The simplest kind of
artificial foundations consisted of concretes. The simplest ware ballast and lime,
gravel and lime, and burnt clay and lime. The proportions of these materials mixed
together were generally one of ground lime to six of ballast, gravel, or burnt clay ;
but he thought the better plan was to take one of ground lime, five of ballast, and
one of sand, which was an excellent material for combining the gravel and ballast.
Another concrete was made of blue lias and Portland cement with ballast or gravel ;
that made a firm, hard concrete. Concrete was of a honeycomb nature, even when
fixed or settled, full of little fissures or holes, and hence there was danger in putting
concrete in wet soils. Li' they were to cut through a piece of concrete in a wet soil
they would see the water come out. Another kind of simple foundation but a very
bad one, he was sorry to say, was wood, as was shown in the case of the beechwood
under the Custom House. The lecturer then proceeded to make diagrams on the
blackboard, explanatory of the mode in which piles should be used iu order to make
a good foundation. ^\ here they had a boggy or muddy soil to deal witli it was not
desirable to go to the expense of piling, but rather to sink piers under the main
walls and form arches. In his remarks he had only referred to ordinary work, not
to extraordinary work, such as bridges, railway works, coffer-dams, caissons,
orthe method now employed at Hungerford, of sinking cast-iron cylinders.
Mr. ItiLLiNGS advised them not always to trust to rock, as it was not always a
sure foundation. This he illustrated byreferences to Dalzell Castle. As to a shiUe
they must take care, even if they got a foundation iu favorable weather, to drain it.
With regard to the mixture of gravel and loam, water pretty soon settled the loam
from the gravel if it got to it. As to the rolling clay it was a very fertile cause of
expense, especially in railway works. He strongly recommended that no jumps
should be allowed in any foundations, and he strongly advised them also never to use
rough rubble in foundations. Foundations, where the pressure should be perfectly
level, ought to be level, they might make artificial stone if they liked, but whatever
they did let them not trust to irregular forms underground. As to large blocks of
stone being used, the) all knew what a good understanding was. A manwitliabig
foot and a bigger shoe could walk across a snow drift, which a man witJi a small neat
foot could not manage to do. So it was of great advantage to liave good footin'^s for
their buildings. The lecturer spoke against the use of wood in foundations, but it
should not be forgotten that wood piles were taken out of old Ijondon-bridge in good
condition. He then proceeded to speak strongly in favor of the use of wattling or
basket-work, for railways over mosses, &c.
The Chairman remarked that what seemed to be the great object in foundations
was to get broad footings.
Mr. A. SsiiTH exhibited a drawing sent to the meeting by the Tresidcnt, Mr. TJ
Roger Smith, and accompanieil by the following note ; —
" I send a drawing showing the foundations for a very heavy tower that I ha^e
built on a very doubtful-looking bit of sottish clay, and which has stood without ■^
shadow of a crack. The peculiarities, beside the great depth and the mass of the
foundations, are the fact that the lowest course of the footmgs was of the longest
stones wo could get, laid with tlieir length across the wall, so as to distribute a very
partial pressure over as much widtli as possible, and that the inverts are tied by*
stout iron bar, as shown on the drawing, secured to strong rods built into the work
as it is carried up. I consider that tliia tie luw, in all probability, been of Immenae
service."
Mr. New, in reference to compound concretes, had tried and found to answer well
one of lime to three of burnt clay, two of ballast, and one of line sand ; that made,
even in wet soils, a good foundation. He agreeil with Mr. Hunker in Ills remark as to
concrete being lioney-combed and the necessity of draining it. He thought that too
great stress could not lie put upon that fact, Conoreto, ospeeially where there waa a
wet soil, must be drained.
After some further conversation. In which Mr. Blaahlll, Mr. Billings, Mr. C. IL F
I.ewes, Mr. Herring, and others took part, a vote of thanks waa paaaed to Mr.
Bunker, and the meeting broke up.
IMPROVEMENTS AT THE OLD BAILEY SESSIONS' HOUSE.
GREAT alterations and improvements have recently hecii made at the Old
Bailey Sessions' House, under tlie supervision of Mr. Buniiing, the City Archi-
tect. Tlie various works here are carried on under the control of tlie " City Lands
Coniinissioners," and are of asomewliat coinprKliensive nature, the first move-
ment having been to clear away a large block of old buildings, on the site of
which tlius obtained, a larji^ structure lias been erected, containing on the prin-
cipal floor, rooms for the judges, sheriff, and under-sheriff, and other officials,
together with a parlor for the accommodation of the Lorti Mayor, and aldermen,
and a new grand jury-room 23 feet by 21 feet, aboiit 10 feet high. Access is
contrived to this room for prisoners to .approach it direct from tin: cells below, in
which they are c mfined : on this floor there is also a retiring room for the grand
jury, and .i lobby for witnesses, communicating with the Old Coarta. On the
"two-pair" floor are retiring rooms for juries. In addition to these, bat shut
off from them, is a suite of six rooms fltted with domestic arrangements for the
keeper of this department of the establishment, the communicating staircase being
spacious and well lighted.
The entrance to the Courts from the Old Bailey has been much improved by the
removal of the ma-ssive stone pillars, by which a great amount of additional
light has been obtained, and the internal space much extended for the accommo-
dation of male witnesses.
On the ground floor accommodation is planned for female witnesses.
The new.block of buildings (none of which, however, can be seen from the Old
Bailey — is 100 feet in length by a breadth of 25 feet— and is built in the most
substantial manner, masses of concrete having been introduced lielow the fouii-
dations down to the upper surface of the " old London wall" wliich protudes in
many places, showing unmistitkable examples of the superiority of old mortar
and rubble walling, which latter has evidently been cmheddeil by the process
technically known as " grouting"— These works, as we have previously intimated,
are under the direction of Mr. Bunning, the City of London architect — Messrs.
Brown and Robinson being the contractors — and Mr. Thomas Lawrie the prac-
tical clerk of works.
♦^
A MONUMENT TO J. DALY, ESQ.
A MURAL monument, in memory of the late James Daly, Esq., of Cork, is
now on view at the British and Foreign Marble Galleries, 17, Newman-
street, Oxford-street. The monument is composed of two pilasters, panelled,
modelled, and inlaid with colored marble, supported by an nprou-piecc, «»
suite ; embellished with four cherubim, demi volante, as corbels, and two in the
cornice of equal merit. The centre mount comprises a Imndsoinely-executed
draped figure of Victory, holding aloft a wreath of laurel. The figure is poised
upon a beautiful black marble sarcophagus, having at its apex a gilt ball, which
bears the following inscription in gold Roman letters :— " Sacred to the memory
of James Daly, Esquire, of Cork, who died January 11th, l&SO, aged /4 years.
He was a kind friend, a useful citizen, and a most charitable inan._ He died m t^e
hope (
soul, '
beloosedl,,yu. ..u^., =...„. -. .. -.. , . . i i j .•
At either end of the sarcophagus is a figure seated— the left, a female denoting
Faith, and the right, aniale, Resignation. The whole of this elaborate piece has
been designed, modelled, and executed by the well-known sculptors, Messrs.
Edwardes Brothers and Burke, of 17, Newman^street, London, and reflects the
greatest credit on those gentlemen. They have kindU- placed it in one of their
«*(;«e7V-', for the general inspection of the admirers of fine art.
This superb monument will be removed shortly to Cork, where tlie late genue-
raau resided for more than half a century. His obituary runs thus :— Mr.
Daly was over half a century one of the most eminent citizens of Cork, in tne
troubled year of 1798 he was a member of the volunteer lorce : he afternards was
one of the leaders iu the South of Ireland in the struggle for Catholic Em»?«pa-
tion: he was always a consistent Liberal, find opposed to any violent or lUegal
agitation. He founded, over forty years ago, the eraii.ent disUlhng firm in Cork
which still bears his name, James Daly and Co."
I was a kind friend, a useful citizen, and a most chantable man. lie uieii "i tne
pe of a glorious resurrection. Your prayers are re«uested for the repose of his
il, • for it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may
loosed from their sins.' "—2 Mace, c.xii. v. 46.
DRAINAGE AND IMPROVED DRAIN-PIPES.
TN this ever-changing world we live in, matters were formeriy leR [by o^
1 forefatheis to take their chance of any one of the hundred odd ways there
are of doing miy tiling; if it answered the purpose intended, all well and good—
if not, whv, then it could not be helped, and it was no use grumWing about it,
as it was done in the usual orthodox way of domfj such things at the tune.
Happily for all of us, such ways of doing things are now past tind gone, we
hope Ibr ever, in these days of " sanitary progre^,'' which lias aboljshed-^^
the old-fashioned « square drain " for the small bnck barrel <lra>", and " ' ,ch m
its turn is now altogether superseded by the " stoneware drain-pipe .but
although we fully admit that great progress has been made '" '^e ma ter ot
drainage during the last few years, still there Is somethmg yet «»" "?' 7<».>°"
have only to asl^ the first .architect, engineer, or surveyor that >«» "f«'' 'L, ^^
is satisfied with things as they are in reference to dram-pipes, and the answer
invariably will be, no° but he cannot alter it, as he must ta'ke what the potters
think proper to provide for his use. . ,
When he requires drains for a town, building, or land, as the case may be, he,
in the absence of having a variety to select from, merely inserts thevanousazes
of the pipes in the specification, and the contractor or budder procures socket
pipes and lays them down. ... , . . .i. . i. i,.,~«™«a
Now, we aU know when a drain is once Imd with socket pipes that it becomes
126
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 8, 1861.
like a labyrinth. There is certainly provision made for the sewage to enter, and
nn outlet for its discharf^ ; and so long as no other matter than wlmt i t is really
intended for is allowed to enter the drain, perhaps it may be all well enough ;
but ODoe let anything out of tiie ordinary way enter— and very strange things do
and ahrays will find their way into drain*— what then occurs ? M'liy, a stop-
page, as a matter of course; "and as there are no means of ascertaining what or
wtere the substance causing the stoppage may be, or yet of removing the
obstruction when discovered, nothing remains to be done, owing to the absence of
any provision being made for examination, but to break open the drain, to the
serious annoyance of every one in the immediate locality
This state of affairs occurring so often has naturally attracted the attention of
various persons who have endeavoured to provide a remedy, and several patents
have been taken out to make drain-pipes to obviate this difficulty (one now
lying before us dated so far back as the year lftt7), but they have hitherto all
railed in a greater or less degree in providing what is really required ; some were
too expensive, others too complicated, whilst a much-vaunted one that we
know of, is a completey«c-*i/Ni7e of the aforesaid patent, dated 1847.
We have seen samples of a drain-pipe invented and patented by Mr. Creeke,
architect, which to our mind possesses all the desiderata so long required ; and
as we must keep our readers well informed in all matters appertaining to "sani-
tary progress and improved drainage," we will describe the important improve-
ment effected by Mr. Creeke's patent capped drain-pipes.
They are socket pipes, with a jwrtion cut out at the opposite ends of alternate
pipes, and when placed together an opening is formed, which is covered with a
cap secured by a flange, consequently there is no liability of leakage. This
arrangement, we think, possesses the advantage of simplicity of construction, and
o8ers facilities for examination of drains before closing up, or for ascertaining the
situation of a stoppage, should one occur, or for removing any obstruction, with-
out breaking or disturbing any part, thus accomplishing what has so long been
required in a most eminent degree.
Another great advantage they have is, that the ordinary flow of sewage is not
interrupted when the cap is taken off, or the capacity of the drain lessened when
under examination, as the side, or rather the top joints in every alternate pipe
leaves a free and clear drainage course for seven-eighths of the depths of their
diameters, thereby altogether avoiding the serious inconvenience created by
opening drains laid with any other description of pipes .
T
THE NEW CEMETERY AT WALTON, NEAR LIVERPOOL.
H E Liverpool Burial Board held a special meeting on Tuesday last for the
purpose of awarding; the premiums to architects who had submitted the best
designs for the buildings required at the new cemetery, which the parish are
laying out at Anfield Park, Walton. The buildings are to consist of three
cimrches, or rather one church and two chapels — Church of England, Dissenting,
and Roman Catholic— superintendent's residence, clock-tower, and principal
entrance gates. The architects were instructed to confine themselves to plans of
structures which could be erected at a total cost not exceeding £11,2.50. The
nriies offered were £100 for the first best plan, £50 for the second best, and £30
for the third. None of the plans sent in, however, appear to have met with the
unqualified approval of the board, for the best design submitted, the board were
assured, could not be carried out for the sum stated, whilst those which could be
carried out for that amount were declared to be unacceptable in point of design,
so that the board found themselves in a dilemma of having to award prizes to
architects who had not complied with the conditions under whicli they were
asked to compete, or to those wno* plans, t.iev ag^reed, possessed no individual
merit. In this difficulty, the advice of a professional architect (Mr. Rhind, we
believe) was sought as to the respective merits of the competitors, and their clerk
was even asked to decide whether if the board were of opmion that none of the
designs could be executed for the amount of money stipulated, they were bound to
award premiums at all. Mr. Harvey, the law clerk, decided, however in favour
of the architects, urging tliat the gentlemen who had sent in the plans most ap-
proved of might set up a case and call witnesses to prove that their designs could
be executed for the amount to which they had been restricted. Though
not unanimously adopting this view, it was deemed prudent to act upon it,
and the board then proceeded to award the prizes to the competitors whose designs
they most approved of. The first prize was awarded to design No. 3, marked
"Spe," and sent by Messrs. Charles Lucy and Charles ILittler, of Holt Hill,
Tranmere ; tlie second to No. 5, marked with a red circle within a black one, and
forwarded by Mr. Walter Scott, of Birkenhead, and Sweeting-street, Liverpool,
and the third prizewas given to designs No. 7, marked " Hiram," and submitted
by Mr. James Shipway, of Great Malvern. These, we believe, were the designs
considered most meritorious by Mr. Rhind, though that gentleman had at first
thought that designs No. 11, were preferable to No. 7, but he subsequently ex-
pressed an opinion that though No. 11 was perhaps the most attractive, No. 7
embraced more points that would be useful to the committee. With respect to
the award of the first and second prizes the committee were unanimous, but as
regarded the tliird they, like Mr. Rhind, were divided in their opinion, but upon
the votes being taken, there was found to be a majority of four to two in favor of
Mr. Shipway's designs, and the third prize was accordingly awarded to that
gentleman. For the benefit of our Liverpool readers we give the names of the
gentlemen voting, which were as follows :— For Mr. Shipway's : Messrs.
fhomley. Corbally, Robertsoa Gladstone (the chairman), and the Rev. Hector
Campbell ; for No. 11 (autlior not disclosed), Messrs. Jackson and Bairstow, the
latter of whom suggested that it might be deemed requisite to vary the designs
which they had adopted, and it would, therefore, be desirable to purchase No. II
designs if they could l)c obtamed for a small amount. It was resolved that in
retnmlngthe rejected designs, the thanks of the Board should be conveyed to the
unsncceMrnl competitors, many of whose plans, Mr. Jackson remarked, contained
points of great excellence.
THE CHURCH MIS.SIONAKY HOUSE, 8ALI8BUKY SQUABE, FLEKT-
T,,„ , . , STKKKT.
Ilfc rouodatlon-stone of this new building was formally laid on the afternoon
«... • ,'"*"'")' '•»' by ll'f ItiKlit Hon. the Karl of Chichester, assisted by a large
a.scinblat'f of influcntiaU'untltmen, amongst whom we recognised Viscount Middlc-
' ,* ■..*'''V''''' "•''*•■ '"« ""•■• "■ Curzon, the Hon. It. Forbes,
manner adopted. The new edifice will have a frontaffo of 51 feet by a deptli of about
80 feet. The height of the elevation, from the foundation footing's to the top of the
parapet, will be 74 feet. The basement of the building is planned for wlmt arecallcd
fiublication-rooms, warehouses, and numerous otlicr couvenience.s. togjether witli a
arg:e area for general purposes. On the «rround tioor are (o be several secretary's-
offices, waitins-rooms, lavatories, &c. ; and on the first tioor is planned a spacious
board-room, 40 feet lonjr by 'iX feet wide ; a library, ;i:i feet by 10 feet, whicli will be
lighted from the roof. The second floor is intended to be occupied by secretary's
rooms ; and the third as bod-rooms and domestic offices. The ground lloor portion of
the principal elevation is to bo formed of a series of Beraicircular-headed arches, the
entrance being in the centre by a flight of nine steps, on each side of which, right and
left, are iron railings set between dwarf pedestals. The first floor is to be formed of a
range of windows with square heads, whicli will have dressings on each side, em-
bellished by moulded and enriched trusses.
Tbe structure will involve an outlay of about £13,000, and is being erected from
the designs of E. L. IJracebridge, hsq., architect. Amity House, High-street, Pop-
lar, Messrs. Lucas lirothers. Belvedere-road, Lambeth, being the contractors, whose
practical foreman is Mr. D. Steele, and Mr. E. AV. Sims is the clerk of tlie works.
In connexion with this building we may remark that most of the stonework will
be constructed of stone taken from Old vVestminster Bridge, which, hariiig beea
thoroughly seasoned, is now of unexampled quality.
Icciijirs.
J?.?.;J]l.'i I'll"™' *iPif '" ,'•„""?'"'•"•"-.»"« Jion. It. uurzon, the lion. K. Fortjes,
and others '^'''"'' ""Khes, together with a numerous assembly of clergymen
D Jt^ "^Ti *,!j!li'^," " ''""?»""• '" «'"" I'*""" style, and externally, when com-
pleted, wlU present a very favorable upecimeu of architectural development hi the
Tim Ecclcsiologist.
DRAWS attention in a brief article to some early ecclesiastical buildings in
Paris, of which it is assumed that their existence is generally unknown.
The buildings noticed are the church of S. Julien le Pauvre, now used as the
chapel of the Hotel Dieu. The choir is remarkable for the number (over 150)
and variety of the sculptured capitals, some on the south side being particularly
interesting. Some capitals from the ancient entrance— now destroyed — are pre-
served in the chapel. To the account of the Priory of S. Martin des Champs, we
may add that a church existed on the site in 99.5. A later structure was sub-
sequently used by the order of Benedictines until 1G04, when it was ceded to the
Carmelites, who rebuilt the domestic portion of the monastery, but preserved
and embellished the church. Little now remains of the ancient edifice, but it is
believed that two crypts are still in existence, or were so until very lately. The
parish church of Montmartre might be passed over as a modern building, but
really contains some curious early work, including the original apse.
An elevation, ])lan and section are given of Mr. Burges's design for Brisbane
Cathedral. An elevation to a larger scale is desirable to enable the design to be
sufficiently understood. A view of the interior appeared in our Journal for
December 28. Returning to notices of " Progress hi Oxford," our contemporary
refers to Mr. Butteiiield's eliapel for Baliol College, Exeter College Chapel, and
the New Museum. Of the latter it is regretted "that this costly and well-meant
experiment has not been so successful as all lovers of Gothic architecture would
wish. The problem, we take it, has been beyond the powers of the gentlemen,
Messrs. Deane and Woodward, who have been entrusted with the perilous honor
of developing the unknown capacities of the style." We think the remark is
much to be deplored. The opponents of Gothic architecture have had too often
the opportunity of pointing out that failure in the application of the style is
generally ascribed to enor of treatment on the part of the architect, and never
by any chance, to any want of the elements of success in the style itself, no
matter for what purpose it is employed.
Three new churches in France are described, St. Andrew, Bagonne, founded in
1856, cruciform on plan, in the Early French Pointed style, is groined through-
out and cost 401,000 francs. St. Barbe, Peyrehorade (Dep. des Landes) was
founded in 18.53, and has cost 100,000 francs. St. Jacques, Tartas (Dep. des
Landes) was begun in 1849, the cost has amounted to 130,000 francs.
It is observed that the height of the spires in the two first-named churches, is
the same dimension as the length of the church on plan — viz., 60 and 40 metres
respectively.
We also observe several carefully written reviews of some architectural books
recently published. It cannot be denied that the conductors have begun the new
year well ; the number is not, however, attractive in respect of illustrations.
The Art Journal
FOR the present month gives us notes of a visit to Magnus's Enamelled Slate
Works, from which it appears that Mr. Magnus's attention was first drawn
to the subject in 1838. The progress since made, and the excellence of the better
class of manufacture are well-known to our readers. The process, as now em-
ployed, has not been patented by the inventor, and its details are consequently
looked upon as a trade secret ; but Mr. Robert Hunt, who contributes the article,
is enabled to give a broad outline of the operations.
The enameller on metal has considerable advantage over the enamelleron slate,
inasmuch as the former material may be subjected to almost any amount of heat
without damage, while the latter is unable to bear a higher temperature than
500" Fahrenheit, without risk of fracture, and to bring it to that heat requires
considerable care and experience. This done, a surface of enamel composition is
floated on the slabs, which are then passed through cooling ovens in which
"uniform high temperatures are preserved, each one being graduated con-
siderably below the preceding, until the enamel is perfectly solid, hard and firm."
The surface is afterwards subjected to high polishing processes.
It is said that by a peculiar process " a single individual can marble twenty
chimney-pieces inone morning — more true to nature than any grainer could pro-
duce a single slab in the same time."
It is almost impossible to refrain from quoting the following from the
"Jurors' Report," laW —
Though not brought up to any business, I (Mr. Magnus) had In my youth, studied
drawing, con amove, under Cardelli, fellow pupil of Cauova. I was thus rendered
competent to direct and form artists. I believe those in my employ would do credit
to any establishment whether continental or British ; my principal designer when I
took nim Into my nmploy was a plasterer, my chief grainer a baker, and my tjest
imitator of Florentine mosaics a poor boy, one of four ragged urchins, that an old
Irishwoman had bi'sought me to put to any kind of work.
An attractive title is that of Mr. Walter Thornbury's intended series — "Turning
Points in the lives of Great Artist." of which we have the first instalment in
" Flaxman and the Gold Medal." The sketch is given in a qun.n dramatic form,
and is intended to depict the conceit and arrogance of Flaxman's early youth,
and his mortification and subsequent amendment on the occasion of his losing
the Academy's gold medal in competition with Engleheart in 1781, a loss
occasioned it is said by his intolerable self-confidence and the contempt he
Februauy 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
127
foolislilv entertained of his adversary. Scene 1 is too much drawn out to ou^
foncv, out the climax is given in
Scene II.
llie Aca(hmt/ Lecture lioom, Somerset-home,
The done in full drosH, powdfr and sold, swords and all other falalfi, are seated in
t'onclave for the distribution of prizes. The sur^nnff sea of students subsides into
siletrce as tlie I'resident, readinsr from a list, says, "The trold modal for 17 — "
A buzz as Flaxman, a little late, fussdy cnter-n, wipes his face, nods to a dozen or
two friends, and shakes some twenty outstretched hands. A buzz ajrain, as tlie
President, havinjr mislaid the rit^ht paper, at last linds it, and hctrins readiufj. The
keeper talies from the table the prreat shinins; ^old medal, and prepares it for the
President to hand to the victor. A dead silence.
(President reads in a slow, meehomat I roin\ planning up at Flaxman. Kngle-
IIKART ispfrrhif/ his mtils in a ronier,)
"The ffold medal for 17— for the best model of the ' Kury of Athumas,' is jriven to
(here he lai-es stinff'i-eivfn to HEItMAX EN'GI.KI1E.\KT. At the same time the
Council would observe that in spite of some hurry and triflinpr faults. Sir. Flaxman's
work, though not sufficiently learned and careful, sliows jjreat talent."
Mr. Thornbury has a wide and interesting field before him ; we hope he will
beat it thorouglily ere he closes the series.
"An Examination into the antiquity of the likeness of our Blessed Saviour, by Mr.
Heapy, considers the various worksof art known toexist, that may lay claim toahigh
antiquity, and araonfrst which we may look for early instances of the likeness of
our Saviour. The subject is to he continued in tlie following Number of the
Journal, nhicli will contain a woik in fresco from the catacomhs of SS. Acliilli e
IVereo, and a sculpture from the cemetery at Aries. The eleventh of the series of
articles on " Rome and Her Works," by James Daffome, is accompanied with
six illustrations, carefully engraved.
Mrs. Thornyeroft's statue, entitled by her "The Knitting Girl," is engraved
by Mr. Roffe. We see no sufficient reason for changing the title to " Industry,"
as we find it here distinguished. Every argument employed to defend the change
appears to us to tell powerfully in favor of its former cognomen. Mr. Los.sing's
narrative, "Tlie Hudson," has now reached its thirteenth part, and "The
National Flags of England " its fifteenth. There is other interesting matter in
the current part, and we take the opportunity of reminding our readers that Ihe
commencement of a new volume affords a favorable opportunity for the accession
of new subscribers.
The engravings are " The Duenna," by G. S. Newton, R.A., and Turner's
" Calais Pier" from the picture in the National Gallery.
(Correspondence.
—* —
PRESERVATION OF STONE.
Sip., — Reading the interesting correspondence in your Journal on the Preser-
vation of Stone, I find one process in which chloride of sodium or common salt
i* said to be found in the pores of the stone. Allow me to inferm your readers,
for years I have used in cleaning down old stone with a very hard face a solution
of common salt as the best assistant to the rubber or drag for removing the face.
The softening character tlius exhibited by the salt would naturally suggest its
■very damaging eflect as constituting a part of any processes in connexion with
the preservation of stone from decay. I am, &c.,
A Mason.
PRESERVATION OF STONE.
SiK, — In Professor Ansted's speech on Monday evening, at the discussion at
the Royal Institute of British Arcliitects, he accountsfor the disintegrated state
of the buttresses first operated upon on the river front of the Houses of Parlia-
ment by Ransoue's proce-ss, by stating that chloride of lime was used instead of
the more perfect system of using the chloride of calcium.
: He may not he aware of the fact that these buttresses were at three different
geriods submitted to tlie more approved system subsequently to the first operation
eing carried out, which even in so small a surface, occupied many days and a
large amount of labor in its performance.
Further the Professor accounts for the unsatisfactory state of the specimens
executed for Mr. G. G. Scott at Westminster Abbey, by saying that they were
b done un<ler disadvantageous circumstances. This w.is certainly not so. No time
f' -was specified ibr the operation — the weather was chosen by the operators. Access
I was given to them at all times and as often as they pleased, and each had the
service of an experienced mason to clean down and render any assistance
necessary, and so far from saturation being incomplete, the workman stated that
he had got all in that could be got in. Mr. Ransome's own representatives, pro-
nounced the operation at the time as satisfactory as could be.
On what, therefore, are we to depend if, after such care as all this indicates,
the Professor cannot say more for the process than that he does not consider the
result satisfactory? I am, &c.,
_^-^__________^^^___ R- S. T.
TENSERS-
HOTEL, Leeds.
For portions of work required in the erection of hotel, North-street, Leeds.*
Quantities supplied.
Ilrickwork.
Smith Jfathcw £404 17 8 i Swallow Abraham £410 0 0
Uarland J. and Son 41U 10 01
Stotte Work.
SmlthHenry £412 0 0 I Smith Mathew £.192 0 0
WUkins J ;iU5 10 0 I Richardson and Moses 330 10 10
riaster Work,
Garlick Edward £134 I Mountain John Procter £110
Kandells David 125 | Senior John* 110
Slatimj Work.
Pycock William £45 11 8 I Heavisldes ,1 £43 5 0
Lawson Jabez 44 3 loj | Ellis William* .' 40 12 0
Plumbers' Work.
Dawson George £140 10 0 I Hall John £120 0 0
Lilley Jacob 148 « 0 Powell Samuel* 125 8 lOi
t'longhJohn 120 0 7|
Brick and Stone Work Combined,
Fairbaim .and Watson £<Jlii | Nicholson and Son £808>
Garland J. and Son 889 1 lioothman W. D,* 807
Tliose marked (* ) an- accepted.
* The carpenters' and joiners' work, ironwork, and painting, are intended to be
IK done without contract. Also all out-oBlces.
Villa. Gbeat Malvern.
ioT villa to be erected in Windmlll-hiU-field, Great Malvern, for Mr. E. K. C.
Hays. Mr. K. W. Klmslic, architect.
Frost, Malvern Link ...£1,417 16
Allen, .Malvern Link \fli:, 0
Thompson, Kidderminster 1,370 0
IJ. McCann,. North Malvern IJflO 0
Wilson, Worcester (accepted) 1,:k4 u
Farm Bl'ildincr, Tranwell, near MoRrETH.
For the erection of farm buildings at Tranwill, near JIor|M'th, for the Kijfhl
Honorable the Earl of Carlisle, exclusive of haulage and stone and tiles froir.
the old buildings. Messrs. J. and J. Olrdwood, archltectB, 4(i, Pall-mall, London.
J. Walton, Newcastle £1,421 0
Stafl'ord and Uodds, .Morpeth 1,2H» 19
Masom'.-.T. and J. Waterstone, Mortreth* .. £338 0)
Carpenters'.— W. Middlcton, lily th* 530 0 J l.WO 10
"'"'"""' '■' "'- '" " ' . 1« lOJ
Staters'.— K. BaUi, Blyth*
Accepted.
Farm Buildings, LiNCOLNsniRE.
ior the erection of farm buildin^fs at Deeplag-strcct, XlcUoI»», near SpaldlDir,
Lmeolnshirc, for the Itight Hon. the Earl of Lindsay. Exclusive of bauUecajid
bricks. Messrs. J. and J. Girdwood, architects, 49, Pall-mall, London
J. and W. Timms. ('astle Bytham £1.300 0
Geortre Hewitt, Ipswich L290 0
W. Brown, Spalding 1/230 0
Booth and Sons, Boston L'20O 0
H. Jiradshaw, Stamford , ,• IJ43 0
Itichardsou and Sou, Stamford 1,13s 0
John Moore and Son, Spalding 1,115 19
Bennett and Son, Whittlesea ; ggg 0
Mills and Son, Whittlesea W7 0
Swan and Carrington, JIarket Deeping 980 0
Johnaud James Sueath, Boston 906 0
J. and W. Pattinson, Kuskinjjton (accepted) 9S4 0
lielton and Gant, Metheringham 866 0
Hobson and Taylor, Hogsthorp 790 0
A. and W. Blood, Crowdand 789 0
Charles Brett, Spalding 758 10
WlUiam Pitts, Bicker 710 0
Alterations, &c.. Trent Park.
For alterations and additions of mansion at Trent Park, Middlesex, for Mr. R. C.
L. Bcvan. Jlr. S. S. Teuton, architect. Quantities supplied by Mr. Gritten.
Mansfield and Son £2,670
Ladd 2,539
Child, Son and Martin , 2,145
Ashby and Horner 2,140
Stabling, &c., Agar-town.
For stabling and offices for the Sllkstone and EUeen Coal owners, to be erected in
Agar Town. Mr. Thomas Taylor, architect, 4, Euston-grove,
Holland and Hannen ^7,280
Pat rick 5,708
Langmenn 5,690
Lan^tree 5,Ot7
Wilson £5.500
(Jrecwood 5,300
Roberts (accepted) 5,'20O
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
POLICE COURTS, &c
WoLVERnAMPTON.— For designs for now public buildings for the magistrates
and poUce of Wolverhampton, comprising magistrates'-room with Its ap-
purtenances, chief constable's olHcesau J residence, office for inspector of weights
and measures, barracks for sixty policemen, and cells for sixty prisoners, Ac,
itc. A premium of £50 will be given tor the best design, subject to the iustnic-
tions and conditions to competitors— a copy of which, with a plan of the site, may
be obtained on application to the Borough'Surveyor, Town Hall Wolverhampton.
The designs to be sent (free of expense), addressed to the "Chairman of the
Public AVorks Committee, Town Hall, Wolverhampton," on or before ^larch 21.
PUBLIC HALL.
iSwANSE A.— For designs and plans for the erection of a public hall, in the market
premises, Oxford-street, Swansea, with all suitable offices thereto : and also plans for
the improvements of the Swansea market consequent on the intended alterations. A
premium of £25 will be paid for the design and plan selected. The designs and
plans to be sent in marked " Designs for Public Hall," addressed to the town-
clerk, Swansea, on or before Monday, the 2.jth day of February next. A block
plan of the market premises, and further information, will be sent on application
to C. B. MansHeld, town clerk, Swansea.
CHAPEL.
Eastbourne.— For plans for the erection of a detached chapel to contain 230
• sittings, at a oost not exceeding £450, for the Guardians of the Eastbourne Union.
No premium will be given, but the architect whose plan is chosen will be paid by
commission for supervision of erection of building, &c., in the usual way. Plans,
accompanied by estimate of cost, to be sent to Mr. Barber, clerk to the guardians
by March 1.
MECHANICS' INSTITUTION. . ,
AsuTON-uxDER-LvNE.— For desiprns for a new building for the Ashton-nndcr-Lyno
and Dukinfield Mechanics' Institution, the entire cost of which shall not exceed
£2,500 exclusive of the land. The building to comprise in two stones, a lecture-
room, to seat SOOpersons, with ante-room contiguous, news-room, conversation-
room, board-room, secretary's-room, library, four class-rooms, moms for keeper,
and all other necessary conveniences. There must be preparation for heating Ihe
rooms with hot water, also Hues provided for Hreplares in the various rooms to bo
used if required, and a separate entranrc to Ihe class-rooms. The old buildings at
present on the site will be taken down. Tlic directors will award a premium ol
twenty-flve guineas for the plans selected, provided the works can be completed
for the sum specified. The approved piaus to be the property of the directors.
The plans must be drawn to a uniform scale of 8 feet to an inch, and must be ac-
companied by a speciflctttion of the works. The plot of land is larger than the
proposed building will occupy. Each set of plans must be subscribed with a motto,
and forwarded, with a sealed letter containing the motto and the author's name, to
Georsic Hetrinbottom, Esq., Presitleiit, Ashton-under-Lyne, by February '-••■
1)ALU0USIE INSTITUTE.
Calcutta —The Gereral Committee of the Dalhousie Institute invite architects or
others to furnish them with desiarns and estimate for a building to be erected
on the site on the Maidan. Printed copies of the conditions of the competition, m
full detail, will be furnished to applicauls by Messrs. R. C. Lepage and Co., ^o. 1,
Whitefriars-street, Fleet-street, Loudon, E.C. The author ot^the design selected
as first in merit will receive a prize of three thousand rupees. If required by the
Committee, he must engage to supply to them, in addition to the plans required
for the general competition, such other workin;; plans and specifications as may
be needful to guide contractors desirous of tendering for the construction of the
buildin" (Such additional plans and papers must be lodged with the secretary
on or before the first of July. 1801). The author of the design selected as second in
merit will receive a prize clone thousand rupees. The Commlttc* do not Wad
128
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 8, 1861.
themKlTM to adopt either of the prize dcsiirns for the nctual building;, nor to era-
Sloy the author of rtther in the Bupemsioii of the eonstruction of the building-,
ut if so emplojHMl, he will receive remuneration for the same irrespectively
of the priie awarded him. Desi^Tis will be reeeivcd to March 31.
DLSI-EXSARY.
Leeds.— Kor plans for a new buildinjr, calcnlatcd to afTord accommodation for the
business of the LohIs Pntilic Uisnensar.v, to be erected on the site of the present
building (No. in, Nortli-streetV Applications for conditions and other particulars
to be made at tlic Institution from one to three o'clock p.m., up to Jan. 15. 'Ihe
plans to be deposited with the secretary before March 1.
LAYIXG-Ol'T LAXU.
PtTMorTii.— For plans for the hiyinjf out for building about four acres ot land in
riymouth, for Sir. W. Derr.v. Three premiums will be jriven to competitors— iSO
for Ihe best plan, £3.> for the second, and ilO for the third, he reserving to him-
self the right of decision thereon. The plans to which the premiums are awarded
are to become the property of 3Ir. Derry, who does not guarantee employing the
sneoessful candidate for the future carrying out the worli. Eacli plan to have a
distinguishing motto or sign, accompanied with a scaled envelope, endorsed with
znotto. and containing name and address of sender. I'lans, sent free of sHi cost, to
Mr. William Derrj', Houndiscombe House. IMymouth, by March 1.
SMITIIKIELD.
Welciipool, SIoxTCOMERYsniRE. — The Council of the borough of Welchpool,
Montgomery, are desirous of reeeiring plans, specitications, and estimates for the
erection of a Smithfield. near the town of Welchpool, which must be sent to AltVcd
Meredith, t own clerk, Welclipool, by Feb. 2u next. Intending competitors may
inspect a plan of the land at any time at the above office. The person who
prepares tbc plans, &c., adopted by the Council will receive fh>m them the sum
of £25.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
CHURCHES.
GLAMOBGANHniRE.- For the proposed new church at Mountain Ash, Glamorgan-
shire. Names to Prichard and Seddon, diocesan architects, 0, Whitehall.
WiGAX. — For the execution of the various works required to be done in erectiuff and
comploting a new church, proposed to be built at Ince-in-MackerficId, near W igan.
Plans, &c., at the overseer's office, in Ince-green-lane, in Ince, also at the office of
thfe architect, Sir, E. G. Paley, Lancaster. Sealed tenders, endorsed " Tender for
Inee Church," to the secretary, Mr. William , Gerrard, Inco, near Wigan, by
February 25.
CHAPEL.
EossAi^L.— For the execution of the various works required to be done in erecting
and completing a new chapel proposed to be built for tlie school at Kossall, near
Fleetwood. I'lans, &c., at the Bull Hotel, Preston, and at the office of the archi-
tect, Mr. E. G. Paley. Sealed tenders, endorsed " Tenders for Rossall Chapel," to
be sent to Mr. Paley, by February 25.
COLLEGE.
Bristol. — For the erection of a portion of the proposed new college in Clifton.
Plans, &c., at the company's offices, Albion-chambers, Bristol. Tenders, under
•eaU to J. Page, £sq., tlie secretary, endorsed "Tender for College," by 10 a.m.,
February 19.
raSTITUTE.
Wakefield. — For the whole or any portion of the works required in the erection of
a bnilding for the Wakefield Church institution. Plans, Ac, at the rooms of the
Institution, in Queen-street, Wakefield. Tenders to Mr. J. C. Marks, Strafford-
square, INorthgate, Wakefield, endorsed, " Tender for .Church Institution," by
J- February 2fl.
Hnquai.,. HOSPITAL.
a&tured cu,~'^*"' ""^ erection on ground near the New-road, in the parishes of St
«-__i-^' . ^'iochester, and Chatham, Kent, of a dispensary and hospital, comprising.
,,7rv^''*0 patients, with apartments for the officers and senants of the esta-
so inar toe bo.id the other buildings connected therewith. Persons wishing to tender
architects who i-ames to the architect, Mr. Robert Philip Pope, No 21, Bedford-row,
asked to comp€tei<ion, by .'ith February, wlien they will be informed where the
merit. In this diV obtained on payment of £2 28. per copy. These will be ready on
believed wns vnntr\,'t wben plans, &c., may be seen at the office of the architect. The
tno or„r. „ 1, I ? j'' •othP Trustees of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, fi-ce, scaled, and
was even a^Ked to deci.,9tees of fit. Bartholomew's Hospital," endorsed " Tender for
aesi;!i)s could be executef February 20.
award preiniums at all. INKTRMAllY.
01 the architects, tirging t; the erection of n new infirmary or hospital, with all the
rved of might set op a cas"*^*"-^**^ therewith, on ground close to the town of Ayles-
executed for the araon?'"^''* "^ "'^' I^"^''' Brandon, the architect, 24 Berkeley
not unanimously adopting .hUfi-ee of expense) at the office of Sir. Henry Heyward,
and fl... hno^ tt™ "^ ^ '"""ire Geuernl Intirmaryin Aylesbury, by February IS.
ana tut board then proceeded to a LIXG HOLSE-S &c.
iney most approved of. The firt and additions, on 0, Eaton-place, Eaton-square
ape, and sent by Messrs. Char ••''••*•'' ^^'''""""■"'-■•Pl*'^'-'! Eatou-squarc, S.W-
Tranmere; the second to No .5 marK"'*'^"^'^**'*'-
forwarded by Mr. Walter .Sentf .fiV,' additions "Eichmond," Fermoy, Cork, for
and the third nriVewp.^L^ .'■•''" t'"" ""'<"' n'"'''. U. Lysaght, the arcliilcct.
hv Mr Ioi^'^7^ ^ ^^*^ '" designs Worrison's, 7'.), .South Mall, Cork. Tenders
iiy -^'r-JamesShipway, of Great Malvern, "cnttothe Architect, on or before Feh-
eonsidered most meritorious by Mr. Hhind i
thought that designs No. 11, were preferilble'i^^^'-^'"*''^^-
pressed an opinion that though iVo II w-.a t^'-^^^SP"' dwellings at Crookhaven
embraced more poinU that would teusefu^To th^ , """' ?" ' »t«>e Ballast Office,
the award of tbi fl~t „!,!i """'" "'-. useiul to the inly on forms to be had at the
reli^wl f I?; , vi^,7 and second prizes the coramii'ciretary. Ballast Office, West-
thf .^.?i • .1 ""^y- ''■'6 M'- Hhind, were divideo
the %ote8 being taken, there was found to be a maioritv
Jir. .-ihipway's designs, and tlie third nrize wai u^L ""'*'' works, at the grain
(fenteman. For tile Uefit of our Livcroool r^idX^^;'^"'"-'^''-'''™,^ '!?""?'
gentlemen voting, which -„,.„ 'f;„„P"°' '^^"<^" "bruary. on application to
TTiomlev fnrhalii n.i . ^,"*. '""ows:— For Mr. tenders, addressed to J.
cZpteTrVor Vn^'n Gladstone (the chalnnan)or Grain Warehouse at
latter of whom .■ '?°.""L'' ""t disclosed), Messrs. Jack
'"J^u ?L"-T'l' »."ffKMted that it might be deemed requisite
1 HolmcUbury farm,
itect, 10 Basinghall-
TiiE CHLRCII MISSIONARV^HoirSK. 8ALISBUKY SQUA
T^rrTeT^V.'i'S^t^^^^^^^^ IBM c X.orhmal>cn
;oD, ti.e Hon. i ^ptaint^M^^^^^^^ whom we recoimi«<.d \ of
<.eneral Dawci. folonti UuXi' Sifi;hi^ fJ.""' ^^ <-"won, the J rail
and oihoM. '^"'""*-» uufciies, together with a numerous asscml I'l
and
...- „„,-'doniaii
„. tho viHajTre of
and others. '^"'""*-» uufciies, together with a numerous asscml I'lanB, Ac., will,
'Hic- new ntnicture Is desiimed In 11./. it-n . . '^'^^ J"**' ^'■^-' '^'*-
pitted, w«i prewnt a TCTr&Twable ^ui^''*"" ?*>'*^' "o** <'^^"'' Lockerby. on the
■ TCT-jr lavoraDIe itijecJmen of architectural de m over th<- line and
jf the secretary for
the eompanv at Dumfries; and. on applirntiou, blank forms of tender may be had
there, oral Mr. Miller'H office. Sealea tfiulcrs. nddrcssod to John Jackson, Esq.
secretary, at Dumfries, to be lodj-ed with him by'February 10.
TniBSK.— For the erection of anew Btation at Tbirsk, for the North p]aBtern Railway
Company. I'lans, &c., with Mr. I'rosser, tho Company's areliitect, York. Sealed
Tenders addressed to J. CIeghorn,the secretary, and marked " Tender for Thirsk
Staion," by 12 noon, February 27.
Tebay.— For the construction of a passenger station, shed.i. foot-bridsre, and other
works at Tobay. Brawmj^'^s, &c., at the office of Mr. T. Worthlugton, Castle
Station Lancaster.
LIGHTHOUSE TOWER, &c.
Arranmore (Bon eg a l).— For the erection of a liffhthouBe tower and keepers'
dwellin^'-s, to be erected on Arranmore Island, county Donegal. IMans. &c., at
the iiallast Office, Westmorelaiid-strt'et.'Dublin. Sealed tenders (only on forma to
be had at the Hallast Office), addreast-d to "VV. Lees, Esq., secretary, liallast Office,
Westmoreland-street, Dublin, by 12 noon of February i:{.
Antrim (Irelaxd).— For the erection of a caet-iron ln^acon, with filling of masonry,
to be erocted on tho Storks Rock, on north coast of county Antrim. Plans, Ac.,
at the Kallast Office, Westmoreland-street, DubHn. Sealed tenders (only on forms
to be had at the Hallast <»ffico), addressed to Wm. Lees. Esq., secretary, Ballast
Office, Westraoreland-streut, Dublin, by I'^noou of February la.
PAVING, &c.
Marylebone.— For the new paving of the footways of Marylebone-road, from
Cleveland-street to the Edgware-road, witli three-inch Yorkshire pavin^^ and best
blue Aberdeen picked granite footway and kerb. Ths Yorkshire paving to be at
per hundred superficial feet, and the straight kerb and circular kerb at per foot run
The whole quantity being about 10<i,<XM) superficial feet of Yorkshire, and about
i;j,000 feet run of granite kerb, and the work to be done in the years 1801, 1803, and
IStVI, in about equal proportions in each of the said years, and each portion to be
kept in repair by the contractor for three years from the completion ol each separate
portion. Particulars and specifications on application to the Vestry Surveyor, Mr.
Robert Scace. Tender.s before March 2, from 12 till 1 o'clock.
Marylebone.— For the paving of the carriage way of the Marylebone-road, from
Cleveland-street to the Edgware-road, with Moimtsorrel granite carriage-way
paving, six inches deep, three inches wide, and from 8 to H inches long, with
concrete foundation, at per superficial square yard, the whole quantity being about
27,000 superficial square ysirds, and the work to be done in the three years 1861.
1802, and 1803, in about equal proportions for each year, and each portion to be
kept in repair by the contractor for three years after the completion of the same.
Particulars. &c., with Mr. Robert Scace, vestry surveyor. Tenders by 11 a.ni. of
February 10.
SEWERAGE.
Dundee.— For constructing certain sewers, within tho burgh of Dundee. Plans,
&c., at the office of J. Fulton, town surveyor, I*ol ice -buildings. Tenders on.
printed forms, to be addressed to the Comnii.ssioner.s of Police, Surveyor's Office,
Polico-buildiugs, Dundee, marked "Tender for Sewers," by February 18. The
cost of the above work, when completed, is estimated at £5,000.
GASWORKS.
Llandovery. — For the erection of gasworks, with all necessary meters, mains, and
fittings, to be erected in or adjoining to the town ot Llandovery, in the county of
Carmarthen, for the Llandovery Gas Company, Limited. Tenders In writmg,
prepaid to Wm. Morgan, secretary, Stone-street, Llandovery, by February 15.
Salfokd. - For the supply and erection, on their No. 1 station. Lamb-lane, Salford,
of a telescope g:ashoIder, 100 feet diameter, and in two lifts, each 2S feet deejp.
Also a wrought iron roof, 191 feet long, and 77 feet span. Plans, &c., on appli-
cation to Mr. G. J. Halls, the manager, on the works.— Printed forms ot teuder
will be provided, which must be filled up, endorsed, by February 19.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and communications to be addressed to the Editor of the Buildisg News, 20,
Old IJoswell-court, St. Clement's, Strand, Londou.
The Editor cannot undertake to return unused manuscripts.
G. B. W.— The extract from specification sent clearly shows that the builder is to provide
«;/ materials, labor, &c., necessary for the completion of the work, except those things
parHciilarly mentioned, to be provldod by M. S. ; and as the item is not included In the
list, what ground have you for ueclining to provide it? Is extract fairly taken?
ENQOiEEE.—lnflucnce will of course much assist you In obtalniuif the appointment ; the
salary is £250 per annum, with some other advantages.
J. "W 8.— We shall shortly refer to the various schemes at some length.
M.—AVe think not, no harm in trying however.
SuBscBiBEB.— Any member of the Committee becoming directly or indirectly interested in
any contract concernhiK any works to be done in pursuance of the Act, or concemiug any
materials to be used therein, is lial)Ie to a penalty of £100 for every offence, and tlie con-
tract becomes void. The penalty may be iccovered by any person, with full costs of suit,
In the superior courts,
W. T. S.— Plans and sections are exhibited, but if not otherwise framed, must be mounted on
a stretcher, and surrounded with a Rllt moulding. We recently announced that the Com-
mittee will pay the carriage of drawings tVora the country.
C. P T.— The erection of a similar structure has been sanctioned by the Board of Works.
Possibly there are circumstances of which you have uot Informed us".
Artuur GFiAiNLEY.~Not suitable.
S. Feild (Worcester). —Tlie Covent-gardeii approach Is described as a short street of 135
yards in length and 50 feet wide, commenchig at the intersection of St. Murtiii's-lane by
Long-acre, and running south-easterly Into the Parish of St. Paul, Corent-garden, at the
south-west end of King-street. In the Soutliwark improvement sclieme, the new street Is
to commence in Blackfrlars-road terminating in the High-street, Borough, near York-
street : Us length wIU be 3,330 feet, and its widtli 70 feet. For the rest see our pages next
week.
J N. S N.— Communication on the selection of stone for the Houses of Parliament
shall receive attention.
V. H 0.— Other matters have appeared to require earlier consideration. Thanks.
W. Thomas.— Impracticable.
8. Cully.— May be granted on the recommendation of the stiperintcnding architect.
J. v.— We have no objection to entertain the proposition.
Ma. S.— We are always willing to receive suggestions, but will not be forced into adopting
any against our convictions.
A BciLOEu.— Bffcrring to our third volinne we find that a lookum or covered projection to
atford shelter dnnng the hoisting of inerehandise, supported on bearers composed of wood
and corrugated iron was sanctioned because there were several otliers in the same street,
and they were necessary appendages to iofty warehouses ; it wastol>e securely constructod
under the district surveyor s supervision, and provided with gutters. The projection was
4 feet, and the width, 8 feet (i inches. And in the same volume that a lookum was not
authorised to Ijc built in George-streot, Orosvenor-square, because the thor aighfare was
only 2« feet wide and the structure was not fireproof,
B.iVI.il.V.-No power to permit any alteration.
Tno.MAS KiDLEv.— Enquire at the (Jeological Museum, Jennjm -street.
L.— We are unable to make out what you wisli to know.
G.G.— St, (Jeron. Cologne, has been restored under the supervision of M. Ramboux.
W P.— Thanks for suggestion ; structure shall be engraved.
W. White.— Sorry we cannot assist; such applications are too numerous.
An Eafilv Bird is <oo late.
A Co.vsTANT Ueadeh.— Proliably ; but wo caunot pledge ourselves to such a course.
S. IJENNKUST.— Send address.
AiirniTECT's Chaiigbs.— A communication on this subject has been mislaid; we regret it:
will our correspondent favor us with a copy of tho paper.
R. C. (Darltngton.)— 1. Certainly "a word in the right place from an Af.P. or lord " would
be of service; 2. Yes, apply for papers at the department; .'J. l)epenas on yourself;
4, fi, and (J. Apply to some one connected with the War Department.
Rkceivkd.— A. n. P.; Thomas Keene ; W. and T. ; M. B. W. ; ACadct; J. Tabbnrn; A
Carpenter; Messrs. J. ami P.; A Now Subscriber: B. M. (Dartmouth); K. Wolfe;
Cursltor Street; W. Vincent; A Master Builder; , I. N.; W Bird; M.U.Q.
^ ••* Answers to communications acknowledged hi our last Number are unavoidably
deferred.
February 15, 1861
EXHIBITION OF THE SOCIETY
MM
THE BUILDING NEWS.
OP FEMALE ARTISTS.
T is (juito possible that
tlie pages of our Journal are
seldom seen by our fair
countrywomen : so it follows
that, in penninii an article
for their special advantage,
1V0 have taken up a task with
but small prospects of per-
sonal remuneration. Our
Journal, Iiowever, professes
to be a record of sculpture
and paintins; ; and .as such,
cannot well be indifferent to
the movement, that has been going on
for some years, by which the art of
painting may be more generally dis-
seminated than it has been among
females. It is the curse of middle-class
English society that, whilst it is left for
man to range " the court, the camp,
the field," there should be such a ban
put upon the employment of females in
the many callings or trades, for which
most of them are well fitted l)y nature.
Surely there is some via media between
the state of female society, advocated by
the turbulent agit.ators (or .ngitatrices)
for the "rights of women," and that
state of worthless insipidity, to which
the daughters of our middle-class men
are consigned, by an absurd straining
afler gentility, that is made to lie, like
an incubus, on their energies. We arc
no advocates for arraying our fair
countrywomen in " Bloomer costume ;" or, for setting them to work at
many masculine employments, for which they are often said to be
qualified, but are not : as a general rule we should be sorry to see them
called away from the domestic hearth, in order to betake themselves to
pursuits, in the practice of which it would be absolutely necessary they
should be brought into frequent intercourse with the opposite sex ; or
with what is equally pernicious— ctomk/js of their own se.\. But one
pursuit there certainly is, to which many young ladies of talent and
education might apply themselves with advantage ; and this without
floinir violence to that condition of retirement and modest seclusion,
that is considered indispensable to the well-being of an English gentle-
woman. We allude to the pursuit of some one of the three fine arts as a
distinctive calling or profession. To succeed in so arduous an avocation
it will not suffice that, a lady take to it now and then. merely: the arts
are not to be successfully wooed in this desultory way. Hitherto
young ladies have been taught drawing as an accomplishment ; just as
they would learn to play iiidiflerently on the piano ; to crotchet, to
make wax flowers, or to do potichomanie ; but such only go to make
the " accomplished young lady :" what we wish to see is, the young
lady with " a business in her fiutrers ;" and this we think many ladiel
may attain to, by a systematic cultivation of some one of the
fine arts.
Turning for the moment to that one of them, of which it is our own
province to discourse, we would ask our readers, whether it is not quite
possible to create a class of architectural draflswomen, or at least of
architectural colorists ? When any great architectural competition
occurs, such as that for the Constantinople Church, the New Govern-
ment Offices, or the Manchester Assize Courts, why should the competin"
architect be put to his wits' end (as he always is) to find " a brother
brush, able and willing, for five or ten guincas,'to impart those bewitch-
ing blandishments of very blue distance, very bright sky and very
populous foreground, wherewith a discerning public is to be tickled into
choice of his design? Why, we say, should this be ; when so many
sister brushes imsht surely ha trameil to an occupation, so especially
hy, but for the hateful traditions of genteel society, that
femini:
would ever have it understood that an English lady does nothing *■
Oh, she was a rale lady : "* (..aid the servant girl in eulogy of a
former mistress)— "she couldutevenmake acup ofteaH" We certainly
coaW name two architects of our acquaintance, whose ladies handle the
camel hair pencil with such forte, as to often" put in" (and very
cleverly) the back and foregrounds of their husbands' " perspectives " ;
but we fear being committed to Coventry, were we with name and
address to indicate the locus in quo of any lady, who could even be sup-
posed to becapable of doing so useful a thing.
Boswell, in his Life of Dr. Johnson, quotes an opinion of that philoi
sopher on the subject we are considering— the employment of females
• A ftct!
as artists,
employment
" and staring
doctor. We do not altogether sympathize with the* surly old wT the
wei-'lit of his objection is cast on thcpublicity of the practice; but what
t this objection can be got rid of, and if it be shown that ladie.^ may
practise their art at homem solitary study, and dispose of their work.
by private negotiation, as is now the custom of all our eminent painters ?
Ihe Society of iemale Artists, which has been in existence for five
years, affijrds every facility for such an arrangement. It is now
loldmg Its Fifth Exhibition at the gallery of the New Society of
lamters in Water Colors in Pall-mall; and to this Exhibition we
desire to attract the attention of our readers, who may not, like
ourselves, have paid it a visit. Of the Exhibition, as a whole, we are
unable to speak in very high terms of praise; there are many
pictures in It which ought not to have been hung at all. AVe presume
they have been hung because, though not absolutely good as pictures,
they were considered creditable as works of feminine art ; and this is
precisely the motive, to which we would give no place. It would
scarcely be fair to pay our countrywomen so poor a compliment, as
to suppose that, m entering the lists against male artists they are at
all disposed _ to sue for quarter ; or to deprecate that oven-handed
criticism which is their due, not merely as women but as artiiU.
VVe proceed now with some remarks on the Exhibition itself.
The gallery contains upwards of three hundred paintings, partly
executed in oil, and partly in water-colors; the latter constituting'
(in more senses than one) by far the better half of the exhibition.
Fruit, flowers, and " still life " abound, as may easily be ima<nned of
a ladies' picture gallery ; and No. 154, " Grapes," by IMiss E. ifarrison,
and No. 205, " Fruit and Flowers," by Miss E. Walter, struck us
as able productions. Such subj'ects do not, however, absolutely
predominate: on the contrary, j'udging by what we see on the
walls this year, we should rather predicate that, pictures of genre,
as they are called, will prevail at these exhibitions. Certainly such
subjects are extremely suitable for that fireside course of study to
which, for obvious reasons, female painters are likely to be more or
less restricted.
Foremost of these lady exhibitors, we ought to have named
Madlle. Bonlieur, who contributes two small, but admirable, drawings
of cattle, and some bronze statuettes; all remarkable for that truth-
fulness to nature and vigor of execution, for which this lady is famed.
Her sister, Madame Feyrole, evidently an aspiranle of the same
school, sends two pictures in oil ; one of them (No. 52) very spirited
in execution, and characteristic of its subject, a cock-fghL
Not a few of the ladies have ventured on historical subjects ; but, as
a body, they fail as yet to give much promise of excellence in so
difficult a path. It will, to say the least of it, be somet,time ere the
movement can secure for them those facilities for acquiring that
anatomical knowledge, indispensable for the production of pictures of
this class. Thus one is hardly surprised to find in No.'SI 4, "Christ
raising the Widow's Son," that, the subject is too great for the painter.
The widow too would appear much too young for the mother of the
young man shown in the picture. No. 83 however, " Saints Perpetua and
Felicitas," by Mrs. Lee ISridell.is a painting of great merit, and inclines
one to hope that, this lady will often be an exhibitor : her " Portrait
in crayons of Mr. J. Berkeley Thomson" (No. 195) is very cleverly
executed. No. 168, "A Spanish Scribe, reading the Gipsy's Love-
letter," is skilfully drawn, and well imagined ; but is so confusedly
composed, and so inharmoniously colored that, as an ensemble it fails to
make a pleasing picture.
Of simpler subjects, involving less erudite acquaintance with the
human figure, we would especially name for commendation No. 247,
" The Bird Tenter," by Miss Hewitt, one of the most charming pic-
tures in the Exhibition. There is much of JMr. Topham's manner
about this Picture ; but quite enough in the work itself to show, that
its author is an artist of no ordinary skill and good taste. We were
not surprised to see that, it has already found a purchaser — at what
price the catalogue says not : though, by the way, it very conveniently
gives the prices demanded for most of the works exhibited.
But the principal exhibitor in the gallery, the one in whose specialty
of art we feel the most interest, is iUiss Louisa Rayner, whose works
though numerous are all of them excellent. This lady is essentially a
painter of architecture, of the schools of David Roberts and the Cat-
termoles, and contributes no fewer than si.x pictures in water color.
They are all strictly architectural subjects ; and our professional
readers should by all means go and see them, and acknowledge, as we
do, they are treated with a vigor of execution and a familiarity with
architectonic detail, especially deserving of commendation. We under-
stand this lady to be related to an architectural painter of some
eminence ; but we do not remember to have seen any of this g;entle-
man's works, that will bear comparison with any of these six paintings
by his kinswoman. No. 117, "The Founder's Tomb, Canterbury
Crypt," and 132, *' Assembly of Monks in Glasgow Crypt," are very
130
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February
effective pictures, lioweTer parasitical they may be deemed as to style
or manner, and Nos. 123, 163, and •224, studies from Koslyn Chapel,
are all of them admirable, particularly the last named one, " North
door, Roslyn Chapel." These paintings will doubtless meet with ea^er
purchasers, at the very modest prices named in the catalogue. No. 162,
" Street View — Salisbury," is, we see, already disposed of ; the style of
this production differs neatly from the others just named. It is n
talented picture, and shows the versatility of the lady's pencil ; the
distant cathedral spire hardly realizes our own recollection of the
massive grandeur of the original.
Architecture has in the gallery several other fair votaries, but none
of equal power to Miss Rayner. No. 200, " Old Houses at Conway,"
by Miss Isabella G. E. Jones, is nicely and quietly painted ; and No. 225,
" A Gateway at Plas Mawr, Conway," by the same lady, merits approval'
Miss Jones exhibits another architectural picture. No. 256, " Fountain
at Rouen," so ably drawn that, it seems quite the work of an architect,
versed in Pointed detail No. 252, "Chancel of St. Mary's Church,
Ware," remmds us most unpleasantly of an architect's competition
drawing : it is altogether too crude in execution, and wants aerial effect.
No. 243, " The Hall at Castle Hill," by Lady Camilla Fortescue, has
all the gaud of an architect's competition drawing, but is a clever pro-
duction nevertheless.
On the whole, we congratulate the Society of Female Artists on its
this year's display of architectural pictures ; and are inclined to caution
our male friends, by iterating (especially of Miss Rayner) that line of
Longfellow's, which we see is chosen for the title of one of the pictures
in the room —
" I know a maiden fair to ace,— beware !"
for, judging by this year's Exhibition, our architectural draughtsmen arc
apparently destined to have brave rivals in the field.
The architectural pictures have naturally enough drawn from us a
longer review than we have bestowed on any other class of works in
the Exhibition ; so, if we have excepted other praiseworthy contribu-
tions. It must be understood to be because our space is exhausted. We
will, however, briefly call attention to the following creditable produc-
tions. No. U, by Miss Kate Swift ; No. 34, " Le Tasse et la Princesae
Eleonore," by Mdlle. Eudcs de Guimard ; Nos. 37 and 86, by Miss
Frances Stoddart; and to No. 143, "Golden Weather," by Mrs.
Sturch. One pre-Raffaellite work there is (No. 80, "The Thorny
Path ") to make the exhibition au courant with these our modern times;
but we fail to see the point of the picture ; notwithstanding (" not to
put too fine a point upon it ") the pungency of the subject illustrated.
And so we close our commentary on the exhibition, earnestly trusting
to meet with the fair painters for many years to come; and most
heartily wishing success to so timelv an institution, as " The Societi/ of
Female AHisUr " ■'
15,
1861.
THE IXTEEXATIONAL EXHIBITION BUILDINGS FOB 1862.
MANAGERS of the forthcoming International Exhibition must, by this
time, have felt the truth and force of the fable relative to the adven-
tures of the old man, his two sons, and their jackass. Whether the
thistle-browsing quadruped be ridden by one or all three, or be carried by
the foolish bipeds, some lookers-on are sure to express disapprobation, and
advise a different proceeding, and it is a knight from the Land o' Cakes,
whose national emblem is the thistle, that leads the van of attack
m the present case. Sir Joseph Paxton, gardener, architect, hot-house
J if; 6<"'o'"' engineer, railway-director, capitalist, financial reformer,
and M.P., protests, amidst unfair insinuations, in his multifarious
capacities, and as the universal genius of the age— the Admirable
Crichton of Scotia in the nineteenth century— against the proceedings
of the Exhibition Commissioners, and hints a threat of withdrawing
from them liis all-powerful patronage. When the late Mr. Hoby
was menaced by a customer with the withdrawal of his countenance,
the celebrated bootmaker exclaimed, in tones of feigned alarm, "Put
up the shutters, boy, I am a ruined man. The honorable Sawny
Macnoodle threatens to take his custom away I" Nothing can save the
Commissioners if they remain under Sir Joseph's displeasure. They must
shut up their shop, unless they exhibit contrition, and make amends. Let
them humble themselves before their great, infallible censor ; clothe them-
selves m sackcloth, and with ashes on their heads, wail aloud, " We have
•mned, ' nostra culpa, nostra maxima culpa !' " Then, perhaps. If truly
penitent, and they place the construction entirely in the hands of the
thnce-fortunate builder of the '51 Exhibition building, Sir Joseph Paxton
may be induced to continue his patronage, and to allow his name to
remain on the list of guarantors. As the question is not devoid of
pnblio and professional interest, it may be as well to examine the cause of
ail tins awful pother on our heads, and to ascertain if Sir Joseph Paxton
be justified or not in taking the unusual course he has. The Commissioners
have issued conditions of tenders for the construction of the buildings.
They are to the following effect:—
frL''»''Hm»S"n,';^7'''°%*''* International Exhibition of ]8fi2 propose to invite
and wnrk-Tr^nfiJi^f 'HyLP^'"""" '">''"" ^""^ «'« crcction 5f the buildings
and work, htrcafter de»crlbc<C in portion., and marked on plane as A, B, C, D, I,
uiLT^^^^J^^,^ ^""^ t''" "•'"'^ "f ""• «'0''k«- They must be made
and removal. They mmit be made out on the accompanying form, scaled, marked
"Tender for buildinfrs," addressed to F. R. Sandford Eso and <lpli,7ni.nrt «t
^^Council-office. Whitehall, on or before the <jihoTl%Sary!^i80?rrwelTc"^^^^
2ld^™ I'll:; piz a" b!™: d.'e" f:^^ ^^^ "^^ ^"""^^ p°'«°"«' ««p-tivei,'
B 18 a Imll about MO feet long, 250 feet wide, and ','-0 feet high, to be built chieHy
of iron, wood, and glass. o . >" "^ uum, uuiuy
Cincludos the nave and transepts, about 2,200 feet long, M feet wide, and 100
feet high, and polygonal entrances, about 150 feet high, to be erected in iron, wood,
JtXtn\l1bt^'l°feet"h?gr ''■''"'• '"'O""-*'"-^"''"^. - ^'^ths of about 5*
F. Dramuj^e, water supply, hydrants, heating for use and for prevention of fire,
with hydrants, heating apparatus for olflces, gas-fittings, waterclosefs, urinals, Ac.
railln"'' aud'"ate''s &c "*™" ' '""i^tUcs, fittings at entrances, and boundary iron
i,--'^V^';i"'"*{? «nd specifications have been prepared, and may be seen at tho
VJ orks Ofhce houtli Kensington Museum, from the 1st of February to the 8th of
February inclusiTc, between the hours of 10 and 4. Each portion is to be considered
as including all works proposed to be constructed upon the respective area of each,
whatever may be their height or depth, and every tender must be accompanied by a
schedule of prices, fully priced, on tlie form supplied.
V'. No hills of quantities will be furnished.
VI. It is requisite that the buildings, especially the picture galleries, shall bo
covered in as ear y as possible, and parties tendering must state the respective dates
at which they will bo prepared to Ruarantee that each portion of the buildinps shall
be roofed in. 1 he whole of the buildings must be completed before the 12th of Feb-
ruary, 1N)2, when they must be delivered over to the Commissioners, and this must
be fifuaranteed.
VII. The works must be executed in the best manner and of the best matcrials-
and must be completed m every respect and particulai- to the saUsfaction of the
t ommissioneis ; and their decision in all cases shall be final. The contractor must
undertake to keep all the works in thorough repair until the 3l8t of December, 1862,
as part of the contract.
\ III. I'ayment for the works will only be made on the certificate of the engineer
appointed by the CommLssioners, and the contractor must specify in his tender tho
term of payment he is prepared to accept.
I.\'. The contractor must be prepared to fhid satisfactory security for the due per-
formance of the works.
X. The Commissioners reserve to themselves the power of^iccepting any portions
tor purchase, and any at use and waste ; and it must be turther distinctly understood
that there is no obligation to accept the lowest or any tender, or to make any re-
muneration whatever for any tenders, or for any trouble or expense incurred.
In his epistle to the Times Sir Joseph objects to these conditions,
because no bills of quantities are to bo given, because of the short time—
a week inclusive of a Sunday— allowed for making the estimates tO'
tender, because of a loose condition in the form of tender that the works
are to be " in general compliance " with the drawings and specification,
and because the tenders are to include the alternative of permanent
construction.
A little reflection will probably convince the pubhc that no one of the
objections is valid, save that which refers to the shortness of time allowed
to contractors for making tho estimates, and even that has to be demon-
strated by experience. We are not aware that anv intending contractor
for the works has objected on this head, excep't Sir Joseph Paxton
himself be one. Even then it does not follow that because he finds the
period too short, others who have few irons in the fire or who may be
quicker arithmeticians than he is may not find the alloted time ample. We
think this a moot question at worst, and submit that tlie complainant
ought to be the last of all to stigmatise "tardy liaste" in others, when it
is remembered that he discussed the design for the 1851 Exhibition building
in a railway carriage, and jotted down, while presiding over a railway
meeting, the first plan, which was subsequently framed, glazed, and hung
in the Fine Arts court — an example or a warning to future competitors.
Although we are not in the confidence of the Commissioners we appre-
hend there are certain circumstances which may e.Kcuse, nay justify, their
" tardy haste." There are evident facts within the cognisance of the
public that must go a long way to do so. It is desirable, if we are to
mark and chronicle the progress of the age in arts and science that we
should do so at stated and regular periods : considering the proverbial
shortness of human life, decennial exhibitions, or marking times of
progress, would not be too often. It was originally intended to hold
the Exhibition this year. But between the conception and realisation
of the project occurred the w.ar of France on Austria. AU Europe
was threatened with the dread fires of war, and that was not a time
for the arts of peace to hold high festival. Nor, indeed, would the
juncture of affairs have admitted of it. Had the attempt been made little
doubt can exist but that the Exhibition would have been a lamentable
failure, instead of a triumphant and complete success. With the memory of
'51 present to us, we cannot afford to fail Thus, by the force of things,
and the bloody course of events, over which the promoters of the Exhi-
bition had no control whatsoever, they were compelled to pause. Now,
peace is promised by one who laps in his imperial mantle peace or
war ; and as none can tell how brief may be the armed peace we enjoy
or groan under, the Commissioners, as we think very wisely, have de-
termined to take time by the forelock, and celebrate the progress of
the peaceful arts while they may, ere we are compelled to have recourse
to those of Bellona, or our faithful ally sliall cry " havoc, and let
loose the dogs of war." Wherefore the uncertainty of the continued
avoidance of strife, the necessity of holding an Exhibition as nearly
approaching the decennial period as possible, and this further reason, that
Napoleon III. has courteously postponed the French Exposition Uni-
verselle for a short delay to allow of our Exhibition being held forthwith,
have left the Commissioners little choice in the matter. Their conduct
has been dictated by compulsion. Supposing they were to consent to a
postponement, to satisfy Sir Joseph Paxton's convenience, will he
February 15, 1361.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
131
guarantee us that in two years we shall not bo involved in war, or
that meanwhile a Paris Exhibition shall not have been licld, which will
take the novelty and attraction from ours, rendering it stale and un-
profitable ?
But is a week, or five working days, as Sir Joseph will have it, too short
to prepare estimates ? For tliat is, after all, the real point at issue ;
workins;; drawings, and specifications arc prepared. The constructions are
to be of the simplest design, no ornament or elaborate decoration. We
presume they are to bo built in bays, to reduce the number of patterns
for castings to a minimum, and consequently diminish the cost. If this
be the case there will simply bo to estimate the cost of one bay, and
multiply it by the number of bays and the thing is done. Any hydraulic
engineer can tell, o9"-hand, the cost of laying so many feet of pipes for
drainage, water supply, gas, and heating. Really, when the question is
looked at fairly and in no captious spirit, there is no insuperable difficulty
in arriving at an equitable and satisfactory solution, and which, we doubt
not, has been done ere this. At the same time we are ready to admit that
it might have been more desir.ible if longer time had been conceded, but
the commissioners do not appear to have had it in their power to do so. On
the other hand, things done ofi'-hand and at once are often the best. De-
spite the proverb, second thoughts are not always the wisest. Nor are
men who dawdle and potter over schemes the most eminently successful.
Quickness of perception, promptitude of execution, and dash, carry off
the prize in every-day life as well as in war. Leaders in the Times,
written on the spur of the moment, and after a long debate, are oftener
models of close reasoning and literary elegance than the labored essays of
the quarterlies.
The not issuing bills of quantities will be thought by many an act of
wise discretion on the part of the commissioners. To have taken out and
published the quantities ofiicially, would have been to assume a
responsibility not necessary, but which might nevertheless, have proved
very irksome. The reader cannot have forgotten what occurred in the
tenders for the Northern High-level Sewer. The bills of quantities were
erroneously in excess of their exact amount. A contractor more " cute "
than his fellows took them out on his private account, discovered the
blunder, made the lowest tender, and won the prize. With this example
before their eyes, it would be absurd to suppose practical men of business,
seriously desirous of obtaining the contract, would have based their
estimates upon the official bills of quantities. They would make the
calculations themselves, so that the work would have been done twice
over %vithout any advantage to either party.
As to the loose condition of '-general compliance" with the drawings and
specifications, the objection is of the flimsiest and most captious character.
It is met in the amplest maimer by clause VII. that the works are to be
" executed in the best manner and of the best materials, and must be com-
pleted in every respect and particular to the satisfaction of the com-
missioners " : we should have looked for complaints against the stringency
rather than against the looseness of the terms. No one who has any
experience in building contracts but knows the advisability, and often-
times the necessity of allowing latitude for alteration of the works, to
satisfy wants only discovered during their progress. Had it been insisted
that the works were to be executed in exact compliance with the drawings
and specifications, both parties would be precluded from remedying errors
or making improvements, whereas now the door is left open for mutual
arrangements in an amicable spirit, and the commissioners reserve the
exercise of their discretion within certain limits, instead of being tied down
to drawings and specifications, that no one in his senses would insist are
infallible and not susceptible of improvement. Sir Joseph Paxton ought not
to complain ofthe commissioners being allowed some little latitude to do that
which is right and just, for if those who employed him in 1851 had been
similarlj' fettered, he would not have got that " slice of the pudding "
which Mr. Punch begged for him, and Messrs, Fox and Henderson would
have been great losers by their contract. Let Sir Joseph be just to others
as well as generous to himself. Let him not refuse them what he was so
glad to profit by.
The last objection we shall notice is directed against the alternative
which the Commissioners reserve to themselves of making the buildings
permanent, or, as they phrase it, " the power of accepting any portions
for purchase, and any at use or waste." AVith the experience of everyday
life before us, the man must be blinded fey prejudice or pique who can
carp at this reservation. It is the dictation of the commonest prudence,
and the difference between the cost of materials— iron and glass, with the
exception of the brick-built picture gallery — whether intended for
permanent or temporary use, will be trifling. Iron castings to stand ten
months must be snfticiently;strong for a permanency, and we shall be curious
to learn what is the annual we.ar and tear of glass slabs. The materials
for the Crystal Palace were designed for temporary use ; they are now
applied to a permanent purpose. Surely this illustration is sufficient
answer. As we have mentioned the structure at Sydenham, we fancy
there will be found the key to the course its architect has taken. A
Crystal Palace at Kensington would be a rival, and diminish the earnings
of the Sydenham speculation. With that we have nothing to do. As
well might a dealer seek to prevent shops in the same business being
opened in his neighbourhood. But to reassure Sir Joseph where he is
most sensitive — his pocket — wc may state our confident belief that there
is ample room in the metropolis, with its two millions of inhabitants, for
both. Whether, however, it should prove so or not, let him be convinced
of this — the public will not consent to the extravagant folly of erecting
and destroying a building every ten years. Decennial International
Exhibitions may be considered permanently established, and they mus*
have a permanent house. Wo require a large covered area In Loadon
accessible to pedestrians, and that for an infinite variety of pnrpoMf,
the same as the Palais do I'lndustrie across the channel. Why are
Londoners to be worse off than the Parisians ? To those who fullow In
the wake of Sir Joseph, and desire to prevent the satisfaction of a public
^yant, the Commissioners may best reply by erasing their names from the
list of guarantors. We can well afford to forego their patronage if it is
to be made the means of enriching a few at the expense of public con-
venience. We trust the Commissioners will adhere to the courte they
have taken, or else abandon the project ; for they cannot make it luccesi-
ful if they submit to dictation proceeding from wounded vanity or an.
alarm for private interests.
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CITY OF LONDON.*
IT has been much the fashion of late years to draw comparisoDs Iwtween the
great work of street improvements in proere^ In Paris, and our own
metropolitan improvements— a comparison generally to our disadvantage. The
fact is, and it is too often wilfully ignored, that the political condition of the
French Empire has been a continued bar to any steadv progress In street hnprove-
raents in the capital until of late years, while so i-arly as the time of Wren the
subject was forced upon our notice in a very practical manner, and lias hardly
ceased to be looked upon as a desirable ohject from that time to the present.
Travellers to Paris so late as ihirty or five and thirty years ago will not fail to
remember it as a city of narrow irregular streets, closely- packed, and mean
houses and shops — many of the now magnificent squares were In winter im-
passable, being in fact so many acres of uncultivated wilderness. The Louvre
and Tuileries were hardly approachable, and the lower qoarters were undoubtedly
in a far worse condition than anv similar extent of property in our own capital ;
there was then ample room, and indeed urgent necessity lor extensive demoli-
tion of old and the formation of new streets. We think if London had been in a
similar condition to Paris at the beginning of the present century or twenty
years later we should have effected improvements as important as those wbicu
strike the periodical visitor to that city. With the exception of two or three new
works— the Rue de Rivoli, the Pantheon, and a bridge or two — Paris of 18S0
was almost identical with Paris of the time of Louis XIV. It is true tliat the
works carried out since that time have been stupendons, as every one
knows ; but have we been idle ? We tliink not. The great West-end
improvements, carried out chiefly at the ultimate expense of the Land
Revenues of the Crown, aided by the Consolidated Fund, have cost enormous
sums : the formation of Regent-street alone was reported iu I8'J8 to have
cost £1,5X5,088 16s. 4d., the large item of £1,102,183 10s. M. being paid
for purchases of freehold and leasehold property, and compensation for goodwill ;
£4,.523 for gratuities to tenants at will ; £10,430 tor partial injuries, and
£27,.5!)8 for purchase of additional ground-rents. The improvements in Regent's-
park involved an expenditure, up to the same date, of some £120,000. Those at
Charing-cross cost £1,0G0,000. Under the Charing-cross Act (18-26), including
powers for improvements in Downing-street and King-street, tiie land revenues
paid £1,196,000. New Oxford-street, Endell-street, and the New-street in
Spitalfields cost £840,000 ; opening Cannon-street cost £.500,000; Battersea-
park, upwards of £300,000 ; Victoria-park, about £130,000. But it is impas-
sible to complete the list, and we cannot here attempt to name one titlie of the
improvements effected in house property bv private enterprise, or to do more
than allude to what has been done by railway companies and others — not to
mention the New Palace at Westminster, and other public buildings and a bridge
or two. Newgate-street is being widened as oppori unity offers ; Covent-garden
is being opened to the West-end, by Cranbourn-street, which is itself of no great
age ; and sums have been provided for other authorised improvements. So that
altogether we appear to have had our hands pretty foil of budding and improve-
ment matters of late years, as well as in the present— liy-the-bye, something
must be done with Smithfleld shortly, so it should be added to our incomplete
list- yet with all this, we find that vast works are in contemplation, iiivofvtoic
a probable outlay of several millions sterling, and the appropriation or alii-ration
of seventy two and a half acres, and about one hundred and sixty streets and
public ways within the City boundaries alone.
The schemes under which these improvements are comprised are ten in number,
and appear to deserve some consideration at the present moment. Firstly, the
Metropolitan Railway Extensien to Finsbury-circus. The company, as is well
known, were authorised duiing the last session of Parliament to construct a rail-
way froniPaddington to the Smithfield-market ; they now propose to extend that
railway to Finsbury-circus. The line will proceed at the back of the projHTty on
the north side of Long-lane, crossing under Charterhouse and Aldcrsirate streets,
at about seventy feet north of Barbican, it then inclines in a south-easterly
direction to Moor-lane, then easterly, north of Fore-street, crossmg LilUe Mow-
fields a few feet from Green Arbour-court, and thence to its termination on the
west side of Fmsbury-pavement, about I'JO feet north of London-wall, fho total
area scheduled is about fourteen acres, and the number of public nlaces U> be
passed under, stopped up, appropriated or interfered with is forty. 1 he railway
IS to be in a tunnel throughout it.« entin^ length. The levels of public ways not
appropriated will be unaltered, except in Moor-lane, wlucli wiU ai one pomt be
raised 2 feet 0 inches above its ])resent level. . . .
In connexion with the scheme before described, but a separate project, it is
intended to provide station accommodation and a connecting line between tte
Metropolitan Extension and the Eastern Counties and Finsbun,- Railway. The
area scheduled is twenty and a quarter acres, and the pubhc ways mtofoed
with are twenty. A new street is to lie formed, ()0 feet wide, perfecOy _straigtit
from the northern end of Bartholomew-lane to London-waU, and a crcMS street,
50 feet wide, leading out of it into Moorgate-street; the plan scheduled for tte
approaches comprises much iwor properly, and the total area is four acres and
three quarters. The public wavs aflceted bv this scheme are fourteen in number.
The station and approaches will, therclbrc, affect about twentv-five acres and
thirty-four public ways. , . . ■„ »
The Ea'^tern Counties and Finsburj- Railway, above referred to, wdl connect
the Finsbury Circus station with the Eastern Counties Railway, leaving the
• Report to the Hon. the Committee upon Improvements of the <■ ~of
Sewers of the City of London, upon the Kiiilway and other Compaii: i'lr
Powers to construct Works within the City of London. By « illi . •> oD,
M Inst C E., F.E.LB.A., Engineer and Surveyor to the CommissionLis.
132
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 15, 1861.
Citv bv passiiiir under Bishopsgate-street at its junction witli Norton Folgate,
and entering tiic Eastern Counties station at Arundel-street. The total area
scheduled is about eleven and a Imlf acres, twenty -nine public ways being inter-
fered with. This line also is to be in a tunnel throughout. The project includes
several improved approaches ; there is to be a street, 50 feet wide, from Liverpool-
street, near to Baker's-buiUiings, to Broad-strect-buildings, which is to be
widened to a widlli of 00 feet.
It will be observed that these three schemes will, if carried out, provide direct
communication between the Padiiington and Slioreditch Railway station.
By anotlicr Bill it is proposeil to give the Metropolitan Railway Company
power to take additional lands, to widen portions of the line, &c^ The only
proposal which interferes with the City in this scheme is a loop from the main
fine in Victoria-street to SniithfieKl meat market. This loop line will also be in
a tunnel ; three and a quarter acres are scheduled, and five public ways are more
or Ie«s affected.
The project for the East London Railway proposes a line from New Broad -
street to the river Tliames, close to Irongate-wharf. The line will run on to the
proposed Eastern Counties and Finsbury Extension Railway at Broad-street,
thence on the south side of Liverpool-street, down the centre of Houndsditch,
into the Minories, striking off at Swan-street, passing under the Blackwall
Hailn-ay, to the St. Katharine's-dock warehouses, the wiiole length of one large
stark of wliich it travei-ses, and terminates, as twfore mentioned, near Irongate-
stairs and t!ie Tower of London. Subordinate to this line are three branches
from it, one leaving it at High-street and running to the goods depot of the
London and North Western Railway in Haydon-square; the second leaves the
main line at Haydon-street, and terminates at the goods depot of the Great
Norlhern Railway on the south side of the Blackwall Railway ; and the third,
leaving the mainline by Swan-street, Minories, runs to the new warehouses in
Royal Mint-stri«t, belonging to tlie Victoria (London) Dock Company. These
main and branch lines are to be entirely in tunnels. Tlie total area is about ten
acres and three-quarters, and thirty-seven public places ai-e interfered with,
The North London Railway is to have a branch from the main line af Kings-
land, near Dalston-lane, to Liverpool -street, entering the city at Primrose-street,
Shoreditch ; the entire length within the City is to be carried on a viaduct. Siin-
street, Skinner-street, and Primrose-street are to be spanned by arches 15 feet
Irigh, the area scheduled within the City is comparatively small, being only five
acre*, while the number of jpuhlic ways interfered with is eleven.
The West-end and City Railway is proposed to commence at Regent-circus,
Piccadilly, and to terminate at Smithfield-market. In this line the levels are
for the greater part of the distance favorable to an underground railway. After
leaving the Circus, it will proceed by Coventry-street, Leicester-square, Cran-
boum-strcet. Long-acre, and Great Queen-street, keeping entirely in the line of
public way. At Great Queen-street it passes beneath property, and crosses
under Little Queen-street and Gate-street to Holbom, down which it will
continue as far as Leather-lane, when it passes under private property, Hatton-
gardeu, and Ely-place, and over l"ield-lane and Victoria-street by a viaduct.
The latter thoroughfare will be spanned by a girder bridge, 55 feet wide and
15 feet clear height. Still less property is scheduled for this project within the
Citv, the total area being four acres only, the number of public places interfered
with being seven.
Another proposal is to make a junction with the Charing-cross railway, near
to Redcross-street, in the parisli of St. Saviour's, Southwark. It will cross the
river Thames near to the Steel-yard in Upper Tliames-street, and is to terminate
at Cannon-street close by Tumwhecl-lane. The entire length within the City
will be on a viaduct. Four-and-a-half acres are scheduled, and the public
places to be interfered with are nine.
There yet remain two schemes to be noticed, one the long deferred Thames
Embankment; tlie other, that fo.r the concentration of the courts of justice. The
project, as regards the former, is at present limited to tlie frontage between
Westminster and Slackfriars bridges, and is intended to provide a line of public
highway, 80 feet in widtli, between tliose points. A railway is to be constructed
along the route, terminating by a junction with the London, Chatham, and
Dover Railway, mw in course of construction at or near to New Bridge-street,
Advantage is to be taken of the embankment to construct the Low-level Inter-
cepting Sewer, now projected to be earned along the Strand and Fleet-street.
The embankment is to be entirely in the bed of the river, the railway to be nearest
to the wharves, and tlie public road next the water. There are about thirteen
acres of river-shore fronting the City line scheduled, and fourteen public ways
are to be interfered with.
The plans deposited the acquisition of the site for the proposed Courts of
Justice show that a verj- large amount of property is to Ije removed. The area
is bounded by the north side of Carey -street and Yate's-court : east, by Bell-yard,
Fleet-street ; south, by Fleet-street and tlie Strand, from Bell-yard to Clement's-
lane ; and west, by a line running from the last-named point to Horseshoe-
court, Clement's-fane, the very large area of si.vteen acres is scheduled, in which
Temple-bar is included. We mu^t express a hope that, should this last remnant
of our City walls be removed, the authorities will see that the demolition is
conducted" with proper care, and will provide for its re-erection in some
suitable situation, as little changed as may be under the circumstances.
It will ha>e been olwerved that nearly the whole of the projected lines are to he
n tunnels, following, as Mr. Haywood remarks, the example of the Metropolitan
Railway, the propriety of making which a subterranean structure was so long a
debated question.
Great improvements in the very heart of our metropolis must be the result of
the realisation of the project to which we draw public attention, feeling satisfied
that no works that do not partake largely of that character will be sanctioned by
the surveyor to the commissioners. Many new approaches and thoroughfares
must lie formed, and much objeetiouablc property will be destroyed. We need
add nothing to what we have written on fonner occasious in favor of the Thames
Embankment ; iLh construction at this time offers us a double advantage, inas-
much as it will afford the means of obviating the public inconvenience which
would be caused by the construction of the Northern Low-level Intercepting
Sewer throughout the length of Fleet-street and tlie Strand.
Too much praise cannot be awarded to Mr. William Haywood for the laborious
care with which hi:s able report is compiled.
THE EXHIBITION BUILDING IN 1862.
IN the public journals of late have been some letters which we have set
down as the natural effect of the impossibility of employing everybody;
also to the fact that no one person or set of persons are to have the fee-
simple of laying out public ganlens, or erecting large structures of iron
and glass. Among tlie trustees of the forthcoming Exhibition are two
who are eminently capable of judj;ing of the engineering part of the
subject— Ixird Chandos, who until lately was the chairman of the
Nortli-Westcrn, and Mr. Fairbairn. On them lies the responsibility of
the structure being such as the public want fur the great object of
"taking stock " of the world's progress in industry and art since 18-51.
There is one point, however, on wliicli we would briefly remark, which is
the height of the structure. Against extravagance in this respect, several
reasons concur : The uselessness of the quantitv- of upper space thus
created : the difficulties it adds to the question of warming, as the warmed
air at once ascends : and the increased expense it entails in foundation,
structure, and maintenance, especially in contemplation of permanence. At
Sydenham, the boast was made and fulfilled that tl e Monument might
stand under the centre transept ! We think this is enongli in its way for
some time to come. This cumulative mode of exciting wonder is not of
the highest artistic class, and in it Nature infinitely transcends anything
that art can do. We would rather, in the present ca.se, see effect obtained
by proportion than by actual dimension. We would remind those con-
cerned, that the Parthenon did not exceed 100 feet in height. We
trust the architectural elements of beauty of proportion, although the
details be simple, will be present in the edifice. Also, we would remark
the effect of great height is often illusory. At Sydenham, after the first
upward glance at the height of the edifice, the wonder ceases, and the eye
becomes habituated to it, except in as far as tending to dwarf everything
beneath it. Perhaps it might have been better if that structure had been
but half the height throughout, and if a tour de force of height were
requisite somewhere, that this should have been emphasised by subser-
vience in tlie other proportions of the building. We only allude to this,
however, as afTording an apt illustration of our remarks, and as we should
" live and leain." We hear speak of a large music hall as part of the
Exhibition structure. Nothing can be better than such a feature, and we
trust it will be retained. Tlie facilities it Avould afford are much wanted.
But, above all things, let us hear well in it. For this purpose it must not
be too liigh. In the oratorios at the Crystal Palace nothing was heard well
but the choruses. The large masses, so to speak, of light and shade in
the sounds were, perhaps, duly conveyed, but the half-tints and delicate
gradations, especially of the solos, were lost or obscured. Among the
requisites of a music hall, is the power of conveying the most delicate
touches of the artist, and these are absorbed by great height in the
structure. We have the best hopes and wishes for the Exhibition of '62,
but we do not wish to see it building its " castles " too high " in the air."
. " Wanted a Good Culler." — For tlie Isthmus of Suez.
Mr. Ferdinand de Letseps. — Punch.
Apply to
ST. MARGARET'S SCHOOLS, TOTHILL STREET, WESTMINSTER.
ON the north-eastern side of Tothill-street, a substantial structure is now in
progress, from the designs of Mr. George Gilbert Scott.
The site of the schools was given by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, and
in plan is an iiTegular parallelogram, having a frontage in Tothill-street of about
40 feet, and the large depth of 170 feet. The large area, thus obtained has,
however, as we conceive very judiciously, not been all built upon, there being an
intervening space reserved as a play-ground, which comprehends a space of 52
feet by 35 teet.
The front mass of the structure on the ground floor contains a boys' and girls'
school, 05 feet by 21 feet, and 10 feet high in the clear ; and ov(!r it a girls'
school of similar dimension, above which the roof shows its constructive timbers.
The walls of this room are 12 feet C inches in lieifht from the floor to the top of
the wall-plate.
The block at the rear comprises an infants' school, 40 feet long by 18 feet
in width, having an open timber roof, a class-room, and also a master's
residence, the latter of which embraces an area of about 25 feet by 20 feet, in-
cluded within which are all the necessary conveniences for domestic purposes on a
small scale.
On examining the constructive features of this building we were impressed
with the good effect produced by a most economical display of a comparatively
small amount of labor, more jjarticularly in the heads of the pointed arch
windows, on which the tracery is effected by simply peri'oraling and clianifering,
cut from solid Bath stone, in cinque and trefoils. The walls of the building
throughout, both extenially and internally, are of brick and stone : the latter
being employed in the windows, copings, and partially in the string-courses ;
and the former in the plain facings, in which red brick courses are judiciously
intermingled with the yellow malms, and thus pleasingly break the monotony of
the otherwise plain surfaces of the exterior. The interior lacings of the walls
are all of brick, flush pointed, without the aid of coatings of plaster.
Messrs. Thomas Mills and Son, York-street, Westmhister, are the contractors
for the works, w liicli, as far as they have proceeded, are exceedingly well executed.
The erecting and carrying out of the building are under the inspection of
Mr. Coad, one of Mr. Scott's assistants. Mr. Chesterman is the general foreman
for Messrs. Mills ; and Mr. Abraham Hibberd has the management of the
bricklaying jiortion of the structure, which, it is only justice to say, presents an
excellent example of workmanship in this special department of the builder's art.
Mi(. Bfnson'9 Watches.—" We have seen several wiitclies from this well-known
firm, and can speak with confidence ol their exquisite workmanship and artistic
finish. They keep time with very great precision, and have beiii deiiared by com-
petent judges to be well woHh the monc;- Panics wishing them can be supplied
through the post-onice."— f.7«»</OTC Kj-ammer, May, Wth, ISOO.
lienson's lllustnited ramphl'et, post free for two stamps, is descriptive of every
construction of watch now made. Watches safe by post to all parts of the globe.
J. W. Benson, a3, and 31, Ludgatc-hill.-Aov.
February 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
133
MODERN PARIS.
TO give our readers some idea of the architectural quality of the new
Parisian buildings, it will be as well to stroll at first leisurely down
one of the principal thoroushfares. We select the Boulevard do Sebas-
topol — a street which has been recently cut to continue the line of the
Boulevard de Strasbourg through the heart of the capital, over the river,
to tlie southern extremity of it. The Strasbourg Railway station stands
in a relative position to our North- Western Railway station, and the new
street corresponds with an imaginary one from Euston-square to Waterloo-
bridge, and thence on to Kennington-gate. It is crossed by main thorough-
fares— Boulevard des Italiens and Rue de Rivoli— even as our imaginary
line is crossed by Ilolborn and the Strand. The first portion, as far as the
Erench Holborn, is called the Boulevard de Strasbourg; from tliat point
it bears tlie name of Sebastopol, both on the north and soutli sides of tlie
river. The wliole length of the street has been entirely reconstructed,
and it is, consequently, a fair sample of modern French architecture. It
is built of stone throughout j not a single plebeian brick shows its face
along the double line of noble masonry. The houses are ranged like sol-
diers, and are " dressed up " with remarkable regularity. There is little
variety in the heiglits, and they have, with one solitary exception, the
same conspicuous roofs with windows in them, and continuous balconies
in front of them. The architectural display lies, therefore, necessarily in
the details, and the difference in them is rendered still less by the general
adoption of several leading features. For instance, all have mezzanine
stories, crowned by balconies, over the shops, and iron balconies and per-
siennes disposed in some way or other on each story, the principal railing
being that to the attic windows. The balconies, as we shall see hereafter,
are occasionally very artistically grouped, but otherwise the architecture
has more the character of surface decoration than of anything else. Tlie
style of decoration is chiefly that of the reign of Louis XIV., in some
places as debased as the worst specimens at Versailles, in others with an
amount of purity and freshness infused into it which no modern buildings
in the world can surpass. The result of long and laborious study and the
fruit of the ripest scholarship, are seen in juxtaposition with work of
which a London picture-frame maker alone might discern the merit.
The bad ornament seen, however, in several of the blocks does not
affect the general aspect of the street, because the masses seem to have
been previously arranged on one plan, from which no deviation has been
made. The boldly projecting balconies, the lofty buildings, the fine
material of which they are built, and the width of the street, give it
altogether a noble appearance ; and when examined closely, masses of
rich and valuable design will be found wrought on door lintels and window
heads, and skilful disposition of entrance lobbies, &c., will repay a close
investigation. There is much to learn in another way upon these "fa9ades:
we can see there, illustrated on stone, some of the most glaring architec-
tural errors— weak, meaningless panels ; attenuated Corinthian and
composite pilasters, some with cornices and some without them ; broken
friezes, and faint mouldings. Large trusses spring from writhing capitals,
and huge block letters are spread over delicate iron railing to proclaim to
all beholders the name of the trader or the class of his goods. It is
consoling to find that we barbarous English are not the only people who
sacrifice " art " to the " shop," and that the evidence of our want of taste
has its counterpart in the magnificent streets of Paris.
As a general rule the houses in this street seem to have been designed
in blocks extending from one transverse street to another. This certainly
prevents the motley appearance which our roads too often wear, and gives
breadth and dignity to the architecture.
On entering the street from the old boulevard the first block of three
houses on the left hand, or eastern side, has rusticated piers below and
four stories above the mezzanine floor. There is an iron balcony to the
first and second floor windows of the centre house, and a continuous one
on the main cornice under the attics. The attics are here, as elsewhere,
formed of timber, plastered. This external partition is set back as far as
possible, so as to allow of a wide balcony. The windows throughout the
houses are divided by panelled pilasters and " persiennes " shut into the
deep reveals.
On the opposite side of the street the balconies are diflferently arranged.
They are all, except those over the mezzanine floor and on the principal
cornice, set between the reveals of the windows. The lower portion of
the house is colored entirely in chocolate and gold.
In the next block, on the Eastern side the design is varied, only as
regards the persiennes which open on to the face of the wall. The follow-
ing block, between the Rues Neuve St. Denis and Ponceau, shows more
design. Three of the seven windows are bounded by composite pilasters,
and all the attics are crowned with pediments. The ornament is well
studied, but it is even still better in the adjoinmg house. No. 122, where it
is ranged along the window-heads and grouped over the door with great
freedom and elegance. This house has four w indows in the front. The
balconies areas usual continuous over the mezzanine and to the attics
but on the first and second floors they are returned round each pair of
windows. In No. 120 the balconies are further diversified. There the cen-
tral windows on each of the stories between the mezzanine and attics alone
have projecting balconies. The doorway of this house is noticeable fdr
the marble slabs introduced on the jambs to receive the names of the in-
habitants of each flat, and for the devotion of the frieze on each stage to
the same purpose. Between the Rue de Ponceau and the large open
square which has been formed to throw open the fayade of the
Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, the balconies are very picturesquely
arranged. At Nos. 116 and 118 a balcony extends over the mezzanine floor
the whole length ; above it the balcony embraces only four windows, and
m the side openings the railings are placed between the reveals ; abore
these again the balcony ia limited to two windows, whilst the ordinary one
on the main cornice runs the entire length of the building. The comer of
the square is a very fine design, equal to any throughout the whole street.
I he balconies are continuous in front of the first, third, and fourth storiet,
whilst they are singly applied to each of the openings on the second floor.'
To form an adequate idea of the cfliect of these balconies, it is well to
remember that they are bold projections of some 2 feet C inches, supported
by stone consoles. The soffits are often carved elaborately, with a just
appreciation of their conspicuousness, and the outline of the trusie* are
frequently so marked as to show, even in themselves alone, the band of
the educated artist. The consoles of the doorway and windows rest on
miposts below the top of the openings; the space between them is filled in
with richly-carved square or circular panels. Over the second and third-
floor windows the trusses are omitted, but instead of them, the architraves
are turned down on to the imposts. The spaces thus left between the
architraves are filled with some masterly incised ornament. The doorwa*
has a shield nestled in foliage for the number of the house, and in a some-
what similar stone frame, the name of the street is introduced at the
angle. The whole has a magnificent eflcct, and is a model of street archi-
tecture.
The new street, at right angles with the former block, leading into the
Rue St. Martin and forming the north side of the square, has, as yet, only
two houses completed. Placed immediately opposite the fine design
we have just alluded to, the block on the south-west corner
of the square appears very weak and commonplace. It possessea
the universal balconies, but the dressings to the windows and the
panels between them are altogether unworthy of the material they
are carved in. They are suitable for plaster, but stone is entitled to bolder
work. On the house at the south- east corner of the square balconies are
put to each window on the cant — which, as we have before mentioned,
forms a characteristic feature in the buildings of modern Paris. Red and
black marble slabs are put alternately over the openings of first, second,
and third-floor windows.
The square in front of the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers is enclosed
by a marble balustrade. Bronze vases filled with laurel, and bronze lamps,
are placed alternately on the piers. The square is covered with txut, and
two fountains stand in the midst of it. They are small, and have no pre-
tensions to rival the great fountains of Paris ; they stand in oblong basins,
with semicircular ends. The square cannot, as regards size, for an instant
be compared to those in our own metropolis, but it is not appropriated
exclusively, as ours are, to the inhabitants of the houses round it. Several <
open spaces of this kind — as, for instance, the Place Louvain, and that
where the Fontaine aux Innocents has been rebuilt — have been planted
and adorned for the Parisian public. They are open to all, without ex-
ception. We might prqfltably take this leaf out of our neighbour's book.
We have nothing to make; there is no necessity to demolish houses and
to buy up a long list of expensive "interests;" we have but to destroy
the selfishness of an insignificantly-small class, and to remove a few gatesv
in order to afford healthy and pleasant promenades to the dwellers in our
crowded city.
The central portion of the inner court of the Conservatoire des Arts et
Metiers is now in progress. It is divided, on the lower story, into three
compartments by composite pilasters and pedestals. The centre com-
partment is filled by a lofty archway resting on Doric imposts, and
approached by a high flight of stone steps. The archivolt is richly sculp-
tured. The archway forms one side of a square loggia; the door is at
the back, and has a sculptured semicircular panel over it. The side
compartments are each filled with a small window, and a bust in a
circular niche over it. Between the niches and the windows there are red
marble panels bearing gilt sunk inscriptions — on the right-hand side :
" C. A. Coulomb, 1736, 1806;" on the left— "Jac. Chaptal. 1756, 1832."
The cornice of the pilasters returns slightly round the central couple,
and a black sunk panel on the frieze and architrave bears the inscription
— " Galeries des Exposition des Modeles." There is an ornamental blind
parapet over the side compartments, and an attic story, with a curved
pediment, over the central one. The attic has four dwarf pilssters, a
circular window in the middle, and panels at the sides. The tympanum
bears on a black panel, surrounded by sculpture, the date 1860, accom-
panied by " Napoleon III., regnante." A curved roof connects the ex-
tremities of the lower cornice with that of the attics, and a small turret,
crowned by an octagon dome, rises from the roof behind the attic story.
The building, of which this is but a small portion, is devoted entirely to-
the industrial education of manufacturers, mechanics, and other workmen.
There are professorships on every branch of art and science connected
with manufactures and commerce. Models of all patents and the descrip-
tions of them, are obliged to be deposited here ; gratuitous schools have
been formed, and lectures are delivered on Sundays. There is a splendid
library attached to it, and all the expenses of the vast establishment are
defrayed by the State. The principal part of the buildings appropriated
by the Conservatoire are those of the ancient Abbey of St. Martin des
Champs. The old refectory is now the library, and has a very grand
appearance, with its double line of groined vaulting supported in the
centre by seven slender columns.. The bookcases and furniture are, of
course, modern, but they are of carved oak and of medieval design. The
windows are partially walled up, and figures of Natural Philosophy,
Chemistry, Painting, &c., occupy the spaces thus created. The capitals
and bases of the columns are richly gilt, and the whole of the interior is
most elaborately colored.
But to return to thcBoulevard de Sebastopol. Thcblocksof houscsopposite
134
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 15, 1861.
the square on the right hand — the west side of the street— show nothing
remarkable in the way of design. Tlie balconies are occasionally a little
diversified, and the doorways occasionally are carried to the height of
the mezzanine story, but that is all; the carving in several of the
houses is altogether beneath notice. Between the square and the
Kue Reamur the new bouses are only just commenced. At the
comer of the latter street the balconies are all continuous. The
block is highly enriched with stone carving, and the doorways — 98 and
100 — arc beautifully designed ; marble panels are inserted in the jambs
of them for names, and from the shields in the centres, bearing the
numbers, the flowing foliage curls gracefully in splendid lines on to the
imposts, from which some small ornament juts up playfully to mingle
with it. The iron railing in the reveals of the mezzanine windows is also
Tery well desiened. The next street on the same side — the Kue Greneta —
is now, on both sides of the Boulevard de Sebastopol, being rebuilt. The
■OQthem corner is conspicuous by means of a curved stone balcony on the
faulted face. No. 88 has heads carved on the key-stones, and slabs of
black marble between the mezzanine windows for descriptions of the goods
sold there. The large block on the west side of the Boulevard — between
the Rue Greneta and the Rue du petit Lion — has only reached the second
floor. Workmen are still busy on it. It is covered in to its full height
and at the sides with tarpaulin to protect the men and the work from the
severity of the weather.
Where the Rue Reamur joins the Rue St. Martin, nearly opposite the
church of St. Nicolas des Champs, a new building has just been completed.
This house shows the new boundary of the street. The Kue St. Martin,
when this line is continued, will be increased to nearly double its present
width. From this point the high ecclesiastical looking building — the old
church of St. Martin — devoted to the machinery of the Conservatoire,
towers grandly over the low buildings at its base in the Kue Reamur. Tlie
tiles with which it is covered are chocolate, yellow, and black, arranged in
patterns, clean and new, and contrast strongly with the dirty, ruinous
buildings below and before it. The view is altogether one of the most pic-
turesque which the new streets have exposed.
No. 63, in the Boulevard do Sebastopol, is bolder in its details than the
greater part of the new houses. The first-floor windows are surmounted
with curved pediments broken by the ornaments which spring from the
tympana. The decoration on the flanking pilasters is conceived and
executed in an artistic manner ; but the effect of the fine balconies is here
destroyed by large letters attaclied to the face of them, totally hiding their
forms, although proclaiming plainly tlie occupations of the tenants. In
No. 74, on the eastern side, the doorway is combined more harmoniously
with the shop fascia than is generally the case here. The doors are too
often distinct features, without a link or band to connect them with the
rest of the structure. The Kue aux Ours is begun on the east side of the
boulevard; one house on either side is completed. It is thus enlarged to
nearly three times its present width. On the opposite side, in the direction
the Rue St. Denis, there are sectional views enlightening us upon the
internal accommodation of condemned and partially demolished houses,
facing long files of persiennes and chocolate balconies, where the north
side of the transverse street has been completed. The ancient church of
St. Leu et St. Gilles, close by, has oue entrance in the Rue St. Denis and
another in the Boulevard de Sebastopol. The church is rich in relics and
debased architecture. The windows are filled with stained glass of the
worst class : a dreadful crude blue is the prevailing color. The only good
architectural point in the church is the way in which the altar is " built
up," and for this feature it is worth a visit. The front in Kue St. Denis is
gabled, and flanked by two slender towers and spires. Some new build-
ings have recently been built on the south side of the church ; they have
Tninco-Italian details, with the general form of the style of Francis I., a
mixture of Gothic and Classic of about the same value as that in the
mairie opposite the Louvre. These buildings face an unfinished street
leading from the boulevard to the Rue St. Denis. The best view of them
is obtained from the south-west ; thence they group rather well with the
spires of St. Leu, and the pinnacled dormers and high roofs give a varied
outline to the composition which is quite refreshing after the long,
nnbroken lines of the new streets. Another long block is in course of
erection between this street and the Rue Rambuteau. The " Cafe des
Balcons," No. 42 in the boulevard, has an agreeable variety in the
balconies, which project semicircularly on plan over the mezzanine floor, and
are in stone instead of iron. Opposite to it the Rue de la Cossonnerie
leads direct to the Halles Centrales. No. .31 in the boulevard, at the corner
of Rue Aubry le Boucher, possesses a fine doorway, and is altogether a
creditable specimen of the new street architecture. One small house in
this latter street is well worth notice. The ornament, which is of the best
kind, is confined to the window-heads and to the panels over them for
inscriptions. The mezzanine has one large opening, enclosed at the sides
by long elegant consoles. This street leads into a newly-planted square,
protected by dwarf iron railing, in the middle of which the celebrated
f ontaine aux Innocents has been rebuilt. Here, for the present, we will
stop, and continue, next week, our stroll through the Boulevard de Sebas-
topoL
-^ ■
ABCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION.
MB. B. P. I'LLI.AN'8 I.ECTl/HE ON PKENCH GOTHIC.
ON Tuesday evening Mr. 11. Popi-lewbll Puixan delivered a Lecture at the
Architectural Photographic Exhibition, Conduit-street, Regent-street, on
" The Photographs of French Gothic Architecture of the Thirteenth Century."
Tlic chair was occupied by Mr. J. R. Seddon, and at the close of the meeting a
vote ijf thanks was passed by acclamation to the lecturer. We shall give the
lecture in full in our next Number.
FRANCE AND ARCHITECTURE.*
THE traveller in France who is an architectural student, or even an
antiquarian, will find in the various districts of the country objects to
study, part of which have not even yet been fully investigated by French
arcliajologists, and wliich are far from familiarly known here.
The early history of the country is not obscurely written in its archi-
tectural monuments, and the marks of different national or dynastic
influences are, so to speak, petrified or fossilized in these works, occupying
diflerent localties in the country in correspondence with that particular
predominating influence which, from circumstances obtained the greatest
influence in that locality.
The earliest civilised influence brought to bear upon France was that of
the Phcenicians, who made use of Marseilles as a trading port, and founded
a colony there. Of their works, however, few or no traces remain, though.
the Marseillais are very proud of what they are pleased to call their
Phojnician origin. The Romans, as every schoolboy knows, from that
most delightful of all histories the "Commentaries of Cajsar," then
became occupants of the soil, and, following their custom, they erected in
the principal cities public works and buildings of precisely the same
monumental character, for the same purposes and with the same charac-
teristics, as those in'use in Italy. As the colonies in transalpine Gaul
grew numerous and powerful, these structures became multiplied, and
consequently there is in the south-east corner of France, that is to say in
Provence, and parts of the adjoining provinces of Dauphiiie and Languedoc,
a cluster of Roman buildings, within a day and a half's journey of
London, superior in interest, it is not too much to assert, to anything of the
sort on this side of Rome.
The Pont du Gard is one of the noblest known remains of Roman bridge
building and aqueduct building, and in a surprising state of preservation.
The Temple of Jupiter at Nismes, now known as the Maison Carree and
used as a museum, is, perhaps, the best preserved Roman temple extant ;
the theatres at Orange and Aries, and the amphitheatres at Aries and
Nismes, are as examples of the kind of building, as valuable as any ; in
fact, we arc not acquainted with any Roman theatres nearer than Pompeii,
from which the nature of these buildings can be better understood than
from the two just named, and nearly, perhaps quite as much may be said
of the amphitheatres. When we add a reference to various other
interesting Roman remains, including the triumphal arch at Orange, the
pretty little baths at Nismes, and a second temple at the same place, it
will be seen that there is a most interesting cluster of pure Roman
antiquities, and probably to the general traveller there is hardly any trip
of greater interest within easy reach than a visit to this part of France ;
especially if combined with a visit to the rich mountain scenery of the
Pyrennees, of which Louchon is the most beautiful spot.
To the Roman occupation there succeeded in all Europe that long, dreary
time which has left so lew records except of destruction and desolation ,
ushered in by the irruption of the northern barbarians, and closed by the
gradual emergence of one nation after another, into the vitality and
activity of the " middle ages." The monuments of this and the succeeding
time speak of the two great powers — the sword and the church, which,
the one representing physical, the other moral force, divided between
them the sway of the whole of Christendom.
The remains of the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries show in a most
interesting way the condition of tlie country and conversely will be best
classified by those who will take a little pains to ascertain their history.
As it is of great importance to the general traveller to know what he will
find in any particular district of a country, and to one in pursuit of
illustrations of any special peculiarity to know where to look for those
illustrations, we propose to attempt a brief outline of the arehitectural
regions of France, referring our readers for further information (without
despising various other French and English authorities), particularly to the
Dictionary of Viollet le Due, and to Fergusson's hand-book.
From the time of Charlemagne, when the arts first dawned again in
France, to the commencement of the eleventh century there was a constant
struggle between the clergy and the turbulent surrounding chieftains and
marauders, and during that time and even tlirough the eleventh century
the works executed were almost wholly done by clerical architects, and of
the type known to us under the broad general name of Romanesque, but of
a complexion strongly tinged by local circumstances.
The broad separation of France into north and south, by a line running
up the course of the Loire, and then crossing the country eastwards till it
reaches the Swiss frontier — will give the first noteworthy division, and
each main portion will yield at least three subdivisions. In the north but
little of the original round-arched Ilomanesqueis left, for it was supplanted
early in the east and west by characteristic varieties of style, while iu the
centre, whatever was built in the round-arched style was entirely rebuilt
after the introduction of the pointed style, almost to the extinction of any
trace of what had gone before.
The west of this northern division is the rich architectural province of
Normandy, a province peculiarly interesting to us because our principal
early monuments are identical in style as in origin with those to be found
there. Few traces of imitation of Roman work are to be found here, and
few examples of statuary. A profuse and skilful use of decorative carving
and other Eastern characteristics point, however, to an Oriental influence,
partly derived, no doubt, from a Venetian source, to which we shall
have occasion to refer again, and partly drawn from early and successful
ventures in the Crusades; while the difference of race and national
character between the Danish invaders of this province and the natives
• Continued from page 46.
February 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
135
or occupants of other parts of France, will account for a very decided
difference of character between the work here and elsewhere.
In the centre of the northern division, the royal domain, the round-
arched architecture of the eleventh century seems to have retained its
general early Romanesque character till the great transition came which
here was brought about ; and from here, as a centre, spread more or less
over the whole of France, but far more completely took hold of the north
than tlie south.
In the east, the province of Burgundy, less known to us than Normandy,
but hardly less interesting or deserving of study, exhibited in the eleventh
century an architecture probably as noble as that of Normandy, and as
advanced, but developed from a widely [different source. Here great
monastic institutions had taken root to an extent which rendered this
province perhaps the most influential of all, so far as internal affairs
went.
The great monastic establishments of Cluny, Vezelay, Citcaux, and
others, exercised an astonishing influence over France and Europe. With
them were connected abbey churches, of which that of Cluny, now totally
destroyed, was of a size surpassing any church of France. More classical
influence is to be observed at work in the details of such churches of early
date as remain to us here, than in Normandy. Circular columns are
commonly used, but are generally of more lofty proportions, and the
characteristic decorations of Normandy are only partially to be found. To
some extent the influence of Rhenish architecture is said to be traceable
in this district, and its geographical position affords a good explanation of
the fact.
In this northern division, but especially in its central portion, the great
glories of the succeeding century are to be found. With the rise of the
kingly power rose a perfected French style of which the best, the earliest,
and the most complete examples are spread over a comparatively small
part of France, but gradually, as the country became more united, the
styles of separate districts became more and more blotted out, though less
so iu the south and soutli-east than in the north.
The earliest work of importance of Fointed architecture was the
Cathedral of St. Denis. The Sainte Chapelle at Paris may, perhaps, be
taken as the best example of its most perfect stage, and possibly Rouen,
taken all in all, may be said to afford by its various buildings to a visitor
who has no more than time to see one city, a better idea of perfected
French Gothic, with the glories of its wonderful vaulting and its stained
glass, and of the commencement of its debasement, than is elsewhere
procurable within the limits of a single city. To those who wish to
embrace within the limits of a short tour the most celebrated and
characteristic examples, we may suggest some such a route as the
following, which may be appropriately commenced at Havre or Dieppe,
and terminated at Boulogne or Calais : — Rouen, Paris, excursion to
Chartres and Orleans, Paris again, Rheims, Soissons, Laon, Noyon
Beauvais, Amiens, and Abbeville.
Turning now to the South of France, we find a subdivision possible
into at least three broad districts, and, strictly speaking, perhaps into
four. For our present purpose, however, it will sufiice if we form one
province of the South-Western and Southern divisions — Anjou and
Aquitaine; the other two being the South-Eastern one of Provence, and
the small inland district of Auvergne.
It is in Provence, as we have explained already, that the bulk of the
Roman remains in France are to be found, and Roman decoration and
construction exercised a perceptible influence here to a late period. There
is hardly a single church of the Northern Pointed Gothic architecture in
this district, and the most celebrated monuments are those of the richest
Romanesque, perfectly living with sculpture. The Cathedrals of Avignon,
Aries, and St. Gilles, and the well-known cloisters at Aries and Aix, are
the most celebrated examples of a style that was carried here to great
perfection.
The next subdivision to this will embrace the buildings of the south and
south-west, which, while exhibiting, especially in the south, traces of the
same Roman influence show also another and a most remarkable power at
work. Eastern in its nature and traceable in part to the Basque people
and in part to the Venetian traders who formed something like a colony
here.
At Limoges it appears there was established in the end of the tenth
century a trading community of Venetians who from there, as a centre,
distributed the wares and fabrics which they caused to be brought from
the East and from Venice. At Perigueux, near this city, is an early church
of great celebrity on account of its being almost identical in plan with St.
Mark's at Venice, and being similarly covered with cupolas. A similar
mode of covering, or one derived from it became prevalent among the
districts now under consideration, and this domical vault iu contra-
distinction to the waggon-head or groined vault of Roman origin used in
other districts, is the most characteristic feature. When the change to a
Pointed style came iu the twelfth century the influence of this mode of
construction led to such churches as that of St. Sernin at Toulouse, and
the Cathedral of Alby, both of them interesting examples in no common
degree. In the West the style, by slow degrees, assimilates itself to the
Northern Gothic as it leaves the Pyrennees ; and Bordeaux possesses some
fine examples of twelfth and thirteenth century arcliitecture. Further
north the Transitional church at Poictiers claims notice on account of the
rich beauty of its lavishly sculptured facade.
As the last-named district, that of Auvergne, has recently been the sub-
ject of a very complete and detailed paper, by Mr. Street, read before tflie
Institute and published in this Journal, it will not be necessary to
examine it minutely.
The same Oriental influence visible in the church at Perlgcux U hero
traceable; the partial use of the domical vault with pendcntirei, to wit.
Here, more than in auy other part of France, not excepting Normandy, si
consistent, round-arched style has been worked out, carried to great per-
fection, and adhered to, while a most charming peculiarity, not elsewhere
to be met with in France obtains through all the buildings of the province;
we refer to the free use of inlaid decorations, executed in the various
colored stones which the district affords in abundance, and carried out
with great taste and variety.
From this rough idea of the characteristics of the two great diridoni
and the six subdivisions into which France can be portioned, a student
may gain some general notion of what he will And in each district.
The analysis might have been pushed much further, and might, perhaps
ought, to have been extended so far as to notice the peculiarities of vaulting
which belong to each province; enough, however, has been said for the
purposes of most of our readers, and those who have occasion to study the
subject profoundly will find facilities for doing so in the special works oa
French architecture, already indicated. K. S.
IMPROVEMENTS IN SILVER STREET AND WOOD STREET, CITY.
EMBRACING a frontage of 48 feet 6 inches in the former named street,
L shaped, and 18 feet in its shorter limb, in Wood-street, a first-rate
sample of a city warehouse has Just been erected, and is now having
its interior finished, from the designs of James Murray, Esq., arcliit«:t,
Coventry and London. The elevations of this building arc entirely constructe<l of
brick and stone, without the adaptation of cements in any sliape or form. The
structure comprises 5 stories, with dormers on the roof, aud the height of the
elevations from the foot-path level to top of parapet is 54 feet. The basement is
10 feet in height, and the other stories average about 12 feet in the clear.
The new building has been specially planned as a silk waivhouse, and the archi-
tect has evidently bestowed much thought ou his work, so as to render the edifice
as perfect as possible, both as to its constructive and utilitarian qualities. With
regard to the foundations, in some instances, 14 and 15 feet depth of concrete were
employed ; but the general average of this material throughout the total area of
the walls is about G feet. Precaution was also taken to lay a coat of asphalte
over the upper surface of the footings, to prevent the ascension of damp. The
various floors are supported on girders which rest on a series of iron columns
that extend from the basement to the uppermost story. These columns are 10
inches diameter at the base, and gradually diminish to the highest floor. M the
base they are firmly set on blocks of Portland stone, 6 feet square and 2 feet
thick, and such is the ingenuity of the constructive ai-rangemeiit tliat in the event
of the front and back walls giving way the central range of columns would still
stand good. The walls throughout are lined with match-boarding, and colored
a quiet grey, the tint of which is deemed most advantageous for the display of silk
goods. The front' areas are faced with white glazed tiles, which is a durable and
permanent material and tends much to throw more light into the basement.
The walls of the entrance are lined with Keene's cement and consequently are
not liable to be chipped or broken, like ordinary plaster work, and the st.iirs arc
carried on what are tech'nically termed wrought iron "carriaces" — and the
building throughout is warmed by means of hot water circulated in iron pipes.
There is a lift for the transmission of goods from the basements to the upper-
most floor, and also oue of a very simple and ingenious construction (devised by
Mr. Alfred Smith, the foreman of works) for the purpose of receiving goods, ana
conveying them from the basement level. By this peculiar lift, a case may be
packed flush with the floor line, and then by the turning of a windlass it ascends
on an incline to the foot-path level of the street with the greatest facility, still re-
taining its horizontal position.
Theexterior of the building presents a very favorable exampleof design, and
the judicious application of stone and colored bricks in coiubiiiation. The ground-
floor portion consists of a series of five arches supported by stone piei-s, below which
(but yet well raised out of the ground) are the windows of the basement. Both
these stories are entirely constructed of Portland stone, partaking as does the
general character of the details of a domestic Gothic feeling well worked out.
The facings of the walls above the ground floor are of colored bricks with
stone judiciously introduced in horizontal bands.
The second-floor windows are somewhat peculiar, their heads lieing formed of
pointed arches resting on stone moulded imposts and their voussoirs constructed
of yellow red and black bricks, arranged alternately.
The cornice at the eaves is formed of brick in pattern.
The principal entrance is from the narrow front in Wood-street by two arched
openings, the impost mouldings to which are to be carved in leafage and their
spandrels relieved by medallions in stone. j m < ir_j
Mr. George Myers is tlie general contractor for the works, and Mr. Allrea
Smith acts as practical manager, and foreman under the direction of the archi-
tect, there being no clerk of works. „
Abutting against the western end of the building which we have briefly
described another very large block has just been erected, planned as a warehouse
for Messrs. Vyse and Sons. It has a frontage of 64 feet, the great depth of
152 feet, and a height from the kerb level to the top of its parapet of
G*' feet
"The basement of the edifice is arranged in its front portion for general packing
purposes, and the rear as a kitcheu, and what is termed a furnace-room, from
whence by irou pipes the building is heated by steam. On the ground floor B what
is called the shipping room, 44 feet by 30 feet and a show-room o2 feet by 28 feet,
wliich is lighted by a lantheru light. On this floor there are two other show-
rooms, one'of which is 60 feet by 30 feet : the other, 32 feet square, topther with
a trimming room 32 feet by 24 feet, on the first floor there is also a large show-
room and the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors are planned for work-rooms.
The basement story is 7 feet 9 inches Jiigh in the clear, «ie ^""d /««'
11 feet, the 1st and 2ud floore 10 feet G inches each ; and the 3rd and 4th floors
""Exferaall'^the elev-ation is of Portland stone to the silU of the first-floor windows
in a series of eight segmental-headed windows, the spandrels and piers of which
are formed in rustic work. Above this level there are four stones the plamTaces
of which are faced with malm bricks, aud the dressings round the windows,
string-courses and upper cornice are of Portland cement
136
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 15, 1861.
Tlic architects of tlie building- are Messrs. Tillott and Chamberlain, Gresham-
street, and the style adopted is the Italian, well carried out. Mr. John Jay is the
contractor. There is no clerk of works engaged and Mr. William Bugden acts
as the general practical foreman under the supervision of the arcliitects.
ON CHIMNEYS AND FURNACES FOR STEAM ENGINES.
THE questions of most interest relating to steam-engine chimneys, and
thoae usually first asked, after the important one of cost, by the pro-
prietor of a steam-engine who has determined on some considerable outlay,
either in erecting a new shaft, or rebuilding an old one, may be classed
under two principal heads, namely the external and the internal pro-
portions.
Whether the external form of a hollow shaft of brickwork or masonry
of considerable elevation, in this climate and country, shonld be a plain
obelisk or a finely proportioned architectural column is a question that
we do not think admits of ranch difficulty in deciding. We are inclined
to the opinion, that for the utilitarian purpose of a chimney the former is
the most preferable. It is, however, entirely a matter of architectural
taste, and the last thing in the world that we would dogmatise upon.
Whether the form of such a column should affect great simplicity — a
simple truncated cone or pyramid, for instance — or whether it should affect
great stability, like the trunk of the oak ; or should it have a variable
batter, in accordance with the outline of a light-house on the sea coast,
are all questions for modern architects and which we would like to see
discussed by professional architects only.
It is the internal proportions of the chimney-shaft only — its height and
sectional area — that principally concern the steam engineer. Until these
essential internal proportions .are first agreed upon, we are not in a posi-
tion to discuss the external proportions with advantage ; we shall,
therefore, leave the latter portion of the subject at present, with a single
practical illustration that may be useful to those who, like the writer, are
on the look-out for any recent erection of the kind. We refer to a hand-
some pagoda-looking cliimney which has been finished within the last two
months at the West Ham sewerage works, on the Essex bank of the river
Lea, at Canning Town, and within a few huudred yards of the iron bridge
■which connects the East India Dock -road with the Barking-road, from
which bridge, as well as from the Barking-road Station of the Eastern
Counties Railway, it is a remarkably conspicuous object, as it must also
appear for many miles over the flat West Ham and Plaistow Marshes, it being
above 100 feet in height from the ground and entirely isolated from other
buildings. The shaft api>ears to be about 8 feet square in plan, rising with
perfectly parallel though deeply recessed sides to within about 10 feet of
the top, which latter is in the style of an Italian campanile tower, having,
as we are informed, the roof formed of cast-iron plates. Various oblong
openings are made in these plates for the passage of the smoke, which, it
is supposed, will thus be distributed over the whole area instead of passing
up in one dense column. At present, this chimney is, in our eyes at least,
a handsome looking structure, and does credit to the taste of its designer,
whom we suppose to be Mr. Robert Rawlinson, C.E., the engineer to the
West Ham Board of Works ; but liow it will appear when it comes to be
surmounted by a cloud of smoke hanging over or issuing slowly from its
hundred square feet area of perforated iron roof, we would rather leave to
the opinion of our architectural friends who may be induced to inspect it
when the works are in operation, which we are informed will be in a week
or two from this date. The place is well worth a visit, the chimney, as
well as the engine-house, which is at a little distance and connected with
it by an underground flue, are both well built and finished with the varie-
gated ornamental brickwork now so much used. The internal diameter
of the shaft is 5 feet, which is evidently more than sufficiently capacious
for the draught of the two double furnaced boilers that are now fixed.
They are each of 6J feet diameter, and intended to drive two 40-horse
engines with cylinders of 34 inches diameter and 6 feet stroke.
With respect to the proper dimensions of the vertical smoke-flue of a
chimney, it is a question with many, whether it shonld, as is most
generally done, be diminished in area towards the top, or ought it to bo
parallel — as wide at top as at bottom — like the Canning-town example
above referred to, in order to have the best draught with the least ex-
penditure of fuel ? or again, ought a chimney to be, as some few eccentric
engineers have contended, and occasionally carried into execution, even
wider at the top than at the bottom ?
There is another question more important, and requiring a prior con-
sideration, than any of the above, and that is, what are the proper dimen-
sions and area of chimney most suitable for a steam-engine of a given
number of horse-power ; or, which is nearly the same thing, for burning
Rway a given quantity of coals per hour ?
The proper answer to this question depends a good deakon the quality
of the coals used, and the quantity of waste gaseous products arising from
their proper combustion in the funiacc. The best Welsh and the best
Newcastle coals, though each require very different treatment in the
furnace, are equally found in practice not to require such
large chimneys as the inferior coals of the midland and manufacturing
districts. There is however one short reply to this question that may be
anticipated and will be easily admitted, namely, that a stationary steam-
engine chimney, leaving all considerations of cost out of the question,
cannot be too large nor too powerful, provided that it is supplied with
efficient means for checking the draught, by properly fitted dampers or
other arrangements, whereby it may at any moment be readily altered to
work at considerably less than one-half its full power, which in fact it
ought usually to do, thus liaving a surplus draught always at command
for emergencies. Under these circumstances, it will be must advisable
perhaps, to base our observations and calculations on such practical data
as the midland and manufacturing districts so readily afford, more parti-
cularly those of Lancashire, South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Stafford-
shire ; not only because the coal of those districts requires a strong
draught neces^tating large chimneys, but also because the usual stoking
and management of the fires, may be described as a sort of medium
between that of the north and the south, between the Newcastle and the
Cornish practice.
There is also another feature of this question arising from the practice
of working steam engines with inferior fuel that must not be disregarded.
This is owing to the large proportion of dirt and ashes derived from the
burning of the bad coal — the " flue dust," which accumulates frequently
to an enormous extent in the flues and on the bottom of the chimney.
Much of this, all the finer particles especially, and to a much greater
extent tlian has hitherto been suspected, or at least recognised, passes up
and out of the chimney top under the appearance of smoke, but which
" smoke burners" generally are surprised to find is neither a carbonaceous
soot nor a combustible gas, but simply incombustible earthy and siliceous
dust. Engineer.
♦
THE FOUR SISTERS 5 OR SOME NOTES ON THE RELATIONSHIP
OF THE FINE ARTS.*
STILL however, returning to ourselves, we may remark how all our fine arts
yearn for representations of our own kind. Architecture and decoration, as J
well as painting and sculpture, are ever seeking to introduce them. How early — J
almost with tlie very commencement of the architecture and manufactures of the ^
world — do representations of the human form appear, as in hieroglyphics and
early pottery. Look through our museums of ancient objects, or the pages of
early illuminated books, and see the many countenances that meet your eye. Even
in a landscape, however beautiful, the scene appears incomplete imless there is
something which tells of the presence of man, as a well placed figure or group ;
and if these are absent, how welcome is even the thin grey thread of smoke
tapering up from amid the trees, in the distance, to tell us a habitation is near !
Kor is a sea-view complete without a group of mariners, a sail on the horizon, a
ship or a fisherman^s boat.
Tims it is also with Architecture, immediately she rises beyond being merely a
useful art, into bein^ also a fine art. She naturally then, seeks at once the aid
of representations of man both in sculpture and paintings. These are the voices
with which she would fain sing to us. Her own expressions are but the instru-
mental music. Some styles of architecture welcome these human forms of a
higher character than others, and insomuch, as I have here expressed before, are in
themselves superior. Some styles, as those adopted by the Mahomedans, arc
without these adjuncts : but this has arisen solely from superstitious restraints.
Were these removed, high art might probably harmonize with their grander
examples. As it is, however, the lollowers oflslam have been fertile in resources
for supplying the deficiency with enhancements of a lower giade. And most
beautiful and elaborate arabesques united with texts of the Koran, and various
other details drawn Irom the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, have been com-
bined to produce in various of their structures the perfection of jewel-like
efl'ect.
Probably it will, without demur, be allowed at all hands, that architecture, as
a fine art, cannot reach her highest expression without the presence also of the
highest class of painting and sculpture ; which arts, although highly to be
assisted by architecture, yet nevertlieless possess their intrinsic value in many
instances quite apart from her. This was also the case in ancient times as in the
present. Indeed Pliny says, in regard to the paintings of his own time, not far
from the commencement of our era, the time of our Saviour, that the pictures
which were made movable, that is like our pictures in frames, were considered
superior to those which were painted on walls. As the passage is quaint and
interesting, I will, if you please, read it.
He is speaking of a certain Ludius, who seems to have been a very popular artist
of that time, and who introduced a light, facile and humorous style, such as you
may notice in some of the minor decorations from the ruins of Pompeii and
Herculaneum : —
Ludiuhi was he (Pliny says) who first devised to beautify the walls of a house with
the pleaKantest painting which is in all variety : to wit, with tlie resemblance of
manors, farms, and pleasure-housos in the country, liarbours, vineyards and flower-
work in knots, woods, forests, fishpools, conduits, rivers, and rivulets ; and, on their
banks, passengers, some walking or ridiue to their farms, moimted on mules or
asses, or in waggons and coaches, and, on tiic streams, some sailing and rowing to
and fro. In one place a man should [see folks fishing and angling, in another
hunting the liare, the boar, the fox, or the deer, both red and fallow. In these
paintings a man would see fair houses standing in the marshes, to whieli tlie paths
would he ticklish and slippery, with figures of women afraid to set one foot
before the other, at every step ready to slide, some bending forward their heads, as
If they carried burdens, tmd all for fear, lest they should catch afall ; and athoasand
other numerous conceits full of pleasure and surprise.
This apparently describes a different style of decorative painting from any
which is in practice now.
This same Ludius (I*llny goes on to say) devised walls without doors and abroad
in the open air, and to paint cities standing Ijy the sea-shore. All which kind of
painting pleftsetli the eye exceeding well, and is. moreover, of little cost. Howbeit,
neither lie nor any artificers of this kind, liowever much otherwise respected, grew
ever to be famous or of great name as painters. That felicity was only obtained by
those who painted on tables.
That is, on separate tablets or tableaux, like our separate pictures in frames.
And therefore (he says) in this regard we iiavc the greater admiration for venerable
aiitiijuity.
For in old times painters loved, not to garnish walls, only to please the master of
• A I'nper read by .lohn Dell Ksq., at the Soutli Kensington Musem, Wednesday
evening, February (i. (Continued from page 116). Although in opposition to our
usual rule ill reporting such matter, we print the latter half of Mr. liell's lecture in
large type, on account of the important suggestions it contains. There can be no
doubt of tlie juslness of nuicli that lie says. We may, en pnstsajit, remark that the
epithet of " miscellaneous " which he applies, though in a friendly manner, to the
JSouth Kensington Museum, is, equally if not more, aijplicablc to the Jiritish Museum.
We may not be eipially sanguine Willi Mr. Hell as to the probable prompt realisation
of his great proposition, but we tliink it well worthy of being placed prominently
before »ur readers for consideration and discussion.
February 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
137
the house, nor yet in snch a manner that cannot stir out of the place and be saved
whenflre comeih ; which, on the other hand, can be done with eaae with such paint-
inffH as are on tablets. , . , .
Tluis with tlie ancients as witli the modeni» there were easel pictares in
movable frames, as well as those iiainted on walls, as we do now m tresco,
encaustic, or water-glass. So that although they were more constant than we
are, to the union of the arts, yet they produced many pictures and statues suit-
able for removal. . , ., ^. a
With the easel pictures of the present day this is markedly the case, home
pictures, indeed, now so frequently change hands that they are almost a new
form of circulating medium. Easel pictures, indeed, of the present day, « of
moderate size, are rarely executed with reference to any particular situation, and
so that they are well lighted and arranged with just colors, they arc seen excel-
lently well in their gold frames, even in connexion with the smallest amount of
the architectural element, as is the case in the picture-rooms here in South Ken-
sington. The structure in these rooms is of the simplest and cheapest kind, only
costing a^d. per cubic foot, but it well performs its mission of justly exhibiting
the works. On the other hand, we have in London, examples of very ornate
galleries, where much talent and expense have been applied to their architecturid
features without this happy result to the pictures.
It may appear, in considering this point, that when galleries are buflt expressly
for the exhibition of pictures, especially if the pictures are open to be changed,
that it may usually be well to have their galleries plain, but when, on the other
hand, paintings are executed indirect connection with the architecture, and, in
degree at least, to illustrate the purpose or history of the building, that then the
fullest and mostcomplete architectural treatment iswelcome. Thusthe treatment
in a gallery, if constructed to exhibit a miscellaneous collection of pictures, as
those of Mr. Sheepshanks, is, as regards this point, quite a different subject from
that of any grand apartment, of which the pictures would be part and parcel,
as might be most appropriately the case in Westminster Hall, the bare sides of
which might most justly be decorated in compartments, with such subjects as
Mr. Cope's " Trial by Jury," and Mr. Redgrave's " Loyalty." which fine works
have never as yet been carried further than the cartoons, as they were
exhibited in 1844 in that very hall ; or, well might that venerable hall receive
fixed pictures on its walls of some of those iuiportaiit historic events which have
taken place within them— within those very walls— as some of the publm trials
which have been conducted there, as that of Wallace in 1:!05, of Strafford ill
1041, when the King and Queen and Prince of Wales, looking through a trellis-
•work, saw and heard the proceedings ; the trial of Charles I. himself a few
years after, in 1648, &c., &c., also tliat of Warren Hastings, which began in 1788,
in which might be pourtrayed various of the remarkable men of the time besides
Hastings, as Pitt, Fox, Burke, Sheridan, Grenville, Lord Mnlgrave, Dundas,
Thurlow, Windham, WUberforce, Sec, which would be of great interest.
In the Cathedral of St. Paul, also, which is now, so justly, being restored to
the original arrangement purposed by Sir Christopher Wren, it occurs that its
lower architectural spaces would be well occupied by paintings of some ot those
noble and instructive events in that Apostle's life which have not as yet been re-
presented in art. Among these, are the unfurling of the banner of the Church in
Antioch, in the year 41 of our era, when Christians were first called Christians,
and also St. Paul preaching publicly at Rome chained to a Roman soldier.
In both these cases of St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Hall the pictures
■would be in such compartments as are defined or suggested by the features of the
stnicture, as by the divisions of the hammer-beams overhead in the Westminster
Hall.
In most respects, this perfected and illustrative treatment in which architecture
and painting unite their powers, is evidently quite distinct from that of current
exhibitions in galleries constructed for that purpose and for miscellaneous dis-
connected worte. The two subjects are as different now as they were in olden
times.
The same thing, also, applies to sculpture. Sculpture is of the highest advan-
tage to architecture, when the two form alternate phrases of the same expression,
and when their details are designed in conjunction. On the other hand, gal-
leries special to sculpture are occasionally required, in which individual statues
and groups unconnected with each other or with the architecture, may be
exhibited. In these eases, although a contrary treatment has been much ac-
cepted in this country, it is better to have a mild atmospheric colored background
into which the edges of the statues melt, rather than a strong dark red which
cuts them out sharply and renders them flat and harsh. This forms part of the
subject of the union of pictorial effect with statues, and the contrast of the two
methods may have been observed in the sculpture gallery here, as compared with
that of the Royal Academy.
It may occur, however, as regards collections of works of sculpture, darkened
and partially discolored by age, that the tint of background may be well different
from that suitable when they are white. This, however, is the reason which has
been given me for the flaming vermilion background placed behind some of the
ancient works in the British Museum.
In galleries for the exhibition of miscellaneous and current works of sculpture
by themselves I know of no treatment of background better than drapery of
some mild atmospheric color and texture, yet possessing sufficient contrast to set
off the figures justly. In this method the drapery may be hung somewhat flat
and panelwise behind the statues, with vertical columnar folds in the intervals
between them.
This is a semi-architectural as well as pictorial treatment which, with a like
consideration of the pedestal, floor and ceiling in suitable harmony and contrast,
may be easily rendered decorative. As a matter of convenience also, it isevident
that this draperied method allows of adjusting the folds of the background so as
to suit the size and character of each work placed before it, and to meet the
question of change of works. In the temporary accommodation in the Museum
here of what eventually we hope to see expand into a fitting representation of the
British seliool of sculpture, past and modem, you may observe a tint for the back-
ground which has been a good deal favored of late, but alas in this case merely
crudely distempered on the walls instead of being presented by the rich folds of
drapery. In the front view of the Venus of Melos in the Louvre, you get this
fine work against a rich curtain which hangs at the end of the apartment, and
the effect is fine and satisfactory. Also the introduction of tapestries of various
colors and pictorial character in union with statues may be made conducive'to
most pleasing and harmonious effects. This would lead naturally up to the
subject also of the direct association of sculptures and paintings in the same
apartments, as at Florence, a mode well worthy of consideration un any im-
portant occasion which may give an adequate scope lor it. This mode, however.
is also available in degree in more utuol exhibitions of a miscellaneou* and
current chisR. It is when, however, the architecture, paintings, and worlu of
sculpture are expressly designed for each other that the highest trcatn>ent comes
into pli.y. That part of the subject, however, is so extensive that I avoid enter-
ing on it now.
There is, however, one kind of sculpture on which I would ny a word or two
— Relievo. This is a peculiar art, midway, as it were, between drawinf; and •culp-
tore. You see all the forms are more or less flattened. It U, indeed, the
representation of true form by false form, and eveu when most complete is In-
complete. This elegant and channing art, however, has always been of the
utmost use in connexion with architecture and decoration, from its power of adapta-
tion to almost any surface. Also if polychromy or the painting of sculpture with
various colors is admissablc at all, it is more admisaable on low relievo, Micb a»
Donatcllo's, or as seen in some of Luca della Robbla's work*, than on statues in
the round, because of this fact, namely, of relievo being more an appearance and
a suggestion than a reality, as painting is in comparison with "culpture. Alio
relievo is capable of combining many figures, which sculptun' proper is not. The
less, indeed, the number of figui'es in a group of sculpture the more is it likely to
be effective. Indeed, the siuKle figure is tne stronghold of sculpture proper.
When sculpture adopts many figures in the round, they no longer coiubine well
on one pedestal. They must be placed on several, or spretul out in relieYO
fashion against a wall, as in the Chissic tympanum. ^^ itliiu iLs own Umiti,
however, sculpture is remarkably independent, and nowhere, perhaps, looks
better than in the open air with the auu on it, and the blue aky and fleecy
clouds for its background.
In this view sculpture (proper or in the round) and architecture are similar In
their independence. A building well stands alone or apart in the o|>iii air, on a
rock, and so may a statue. On the other hand, painting and decoration have to
be applied to some artificial surface either fixed or movable.
I have now run briefly over some of the diversities in the charactett of those
four sistei-s of the art-family who have dwelt together, more or leas, in all age»,
especially in those when they have mo«t flourished. To foster their suitable
association is one just object of all the systematic art-education that has of late
years taken form and place in this country. It is certainly one object of the.
Government establishment of art here in South Kensington.
Let us view for a moment the character of the present contents of the Art Sec-
tion of the Museum within these walls. It comprises some admirable collections
of fine paintings, some ancient and modem sculpture, some representations of
some styles of architecture, and examples of details, and a most valuable selection
and great variety of decorative objects in very many materials and of ditfi^rent
ages and styles, and in addition an increasing art-library, adapted to illustrate
and give iufrrmation on most of these subjects. I note all this but briefly, tat
the public have but to visit this Museum, as they do largely, to be aware of the
wealth of various art already collected here, and in the steady progress of en-
largement and expansion. I am but one of the public myself, and have no con-
nexion whatever with this establishment, but I find my love of art continually
bringing me within its walls, which also, I may say, I rarely leave without
having learned something fresh to repay me for my visit.
There is one thing, however, which must strike all who visit this Museum —
namely, its miscellaneous character. Each section is well and intelligently
arranged. Each limb, so to speak, may be well adjusted, but they want a hack-
bone. The vertebrated column which should supply tltis should, I conceive, be
a Universal Museum of Architecture,
It is to architecture, as the eldest of the sisters, that we must look to marsfaU
the others. We have seen that she is the only one of the fine arts that apjiears
absolutely necessary. It is on the firm liasis of the directly useful that her foot
rests. She has been continuous throughout all ages, and therefore she can beat
furnish the historic thread on which the jewels of the other arts arc strung, and
be the logical index to their age and character. In the collections of painting,
sculpture, and decoration in this place, there is no idea of restricting tlie ex-
amples to any period or country. The architectural collection, therefore, both for
jts own sake as well as for that of the other arts, should be as universal.
When the present existing section of architecture within these walls, now
occupying the western gallery and jmrt of the space beneath, was first formed in
Cannon-row, Westminster, in the year 18.V.>, it stood alone, surrounded by none
of the other arts by which, at least in degree, it is associated here. Nearly three
vears ago it came here. It is a most fortunate circumstance that it did so, lioth
for itself and for the sister arts. Its present social position is more logical than
its former solitude. It is not good for an art any wore than for man to be alone.
However at present, this presents little more than juxta-positioii without inter-
course. But a fuller use should be made of the neighbourhood of tlie sister arts:
they should illustrate each other. The present collection of architecwre is re-
stricted to the illustration of some two or three styles, and that not adequately ;
but what there is affords an excellent nucleus lor future development mto a
Universal Museum of Architecture, enibracing all styles and worthy of the time
and country. .... , ... >.
It is highly gratifying to be able to state that since this time last year, when
the Committee of the Architectural Museum had already endorsed their approba-
Scott, as representative of the CouncU of the Architectural Museum, and
the mo<le of giving it tbrm and being is occupying careful attention wiUi the
authorities here.
However, it may be well to repeat briefly what this Universal Museum of
Architecture means. The illustration of architecture which should correspond
with this scheme would range over all man's architecture from the earliest times
to the present. It would range from the hut of the savage and the stone circles
of the Druid, through the Primitive, Cyclopican, hgyptian, Indian, Hindoo,
Chinese, Assyrian, Persian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman Byzantine, RomaBesqne,
Saracenic, Arabian, Mexican, Muscovite, Italian, Renaissance, Gothic of its
various kinds, Elizabethan, English Italian, Modem, &c., &c., under any
heads of nomenclature and arrangement that the best authorities might suggest.
I would avoid repetition of what 1 have said on a previous occasion, but 1 may
say o-enerally that this might be placed in a tangible form before the public, not
onlv"by models, drawings, engravings, and photographs of parts, but hv means
of a"de<iaatc representations of tlie perfect, and in many cases ot restored buildings,
in such a sort as to illustrate the subject clearly.
I especially mention clearness, as this is a moat essential part of the public use
138
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 15, 1861.
of such an arrangement; namely, tliat it should be so clear and perspicuous,
that the workman, even within the limit of his hour or two of leisure, may learn
broadly " how man has built in all apes and climes."
\ow for the practical part oftliis. It might not be difficult to imagine a
great building covering acres that would house this great project, under such an
arrangement also as should provide that all the four arts should
educationally illustrate each other. But such a great building is a
great expense and is not available just now. If, however, we cannot
Bave all we desire at once, let us see what perhaps we raierht have shortly. If
we cannot have this great museum of architecture at once, perhaps we might in
the mean time have an epitome of it, on the same principle of universality,
although on a reduced scale.
The first requisite, however, even for this, is increased space, so as to allow the
the present sectional Architectural Museum, which is chiefly Gothic, to expand
into a commencement on the universal plan. I will venture to allude to one
mode of obtaining such space, which appears possible. Last year a grant of
money was made to the Kensington Museum to extend its area and capacities.
Those additions are begun. When completed it seems feasible that they might
receive all the collections, except the architectural one, out of the present three-
arched iron structure, which then might be given over for architecture to expand
in, which she would readily effect with the materials which are at present here,
and such collections and additions as are only wanting for space to come in. If
this idea were acted on, it might be well at once to remove the galleries of that
building and to arrange the whole architectural epitome on the ground-floor.
All the styles would thus be equally and thoroughly lighted. Also it might be
desirable to adjust high divisions aiiording wall-space for architectural elevations
and ground-plans, and details in the flat.
Now, I by no means put this occupation of the present iron building forward
as the only or the best mode for the housing of the epitome of all the styles of
architecture, but I mention it because, after all I have said, it might seem in-
cumbent on me to indicate one way, at least, in which it might seem ' that it
might be carried into effect, and that without any great delay or additional
expense.
Tliis epitome and its shell, however, would, of course, be but a temporary
arrangement, and but the germ of the future establishment ; nevertheless, even
in such a form it would be a great lioon to all classes of the public who desire
art-instruction. Also it would give a local habitation and a name to the growth
of the whole scheme until it might eventually be established on an adequate
national footing, maybe not far from this neighbourhood.
Such a universal illustration of architecture as this, with a good catalogue
raisonnee, would be a great addition to the means of education of this metropolis,
and would be calculated to produce various excellent results to architecture itself,
on which T have not time to dilate now. But we must still hold in mind tliat
this plan is not solely an architectural one. It is also exactly calculated to afford
the best organism and arrangement, chronological and characteristic of the other
fine arts, and be, as it were, the magnificent index to the works of the other
three sisters, of all times and countries. By this means the eye and mind would
be led consecutively down the stream of art from the earliest times to the present,
showing how such and such characters of painting, sculpture, and decoration
existed contemporaneously and in conjunction with such and such styles of
architecture, "this need not be done by mixing up the architecture, painting,
sculpture, and decoration, of one period altogether, hut by a judicious system of
reference. Supposing when this scheme is developed and the building for it
erected, that the Universal Architectural Museum should occupy the central
space or avenue, with galleries branching oti" therefrom on either side containing
the examples of the other arts, when, by juxtaposition and alternate reference,
you might attain readily to a view of how the sister arts worked together in each
time and country.
For instance, to take one period of the art of the Romans, in the early
times of their empire — ^when Augustus triumphed that he "had received
Rome of brick and left her of marble." As representations of the arts of that
time, let us have a line struck as it were across the progress of art then, illus-
trating the architecture of this period of the Romans. Then, also, on either side in
salleries, with references, representations of such paintings of the time as we have
data for; also, such statues as then were made, chiefly by Greek sculptors, in
Rome ; then the decorations of the time, as applied to pottery, metals, draperies,
arras, ships, glass, dress, &c., &c. You see what a picture you would have at
once : and by this means, carried out in modern as well as ancient times, what a
series of historic pictures you would possess in following oiit, chronologically,
this plan.
On the details of this, much might be said, but the ti me warns me to bring my
observatioas to a close. As regards the execution of this plan, I
would only notice that the unity of its idea and the universality of its
character by no means entail that all periods and styles should be
equally developed at once. In fact, it is evident that they must
be first developed most fully in those directions and sections for which
tliere are most facilities and materials here at present. To depart from
this would be obstructive and, perhaps, pendantic. Vet I conceive that from tlie
very outset even of arranging the epitome (the preparatory stage in which this
plan must first appear) it is essential that the universal principle of the plan as
well as its unity siiould be emphatically expressed, or its value would be lost or
obscured. Also from the commencement it is evident, as I have said before, that the
utmost clearness of arrangement should be sought in this universal treatment, in
order to render it, in the most direct manner and to the fullest extent, educational.
For this purpose, even in connexion with the epitome it might be of assistance to
have a chronological chart of art prepared analogous to that of history known as
the ".Stream of Time," originally from the German of Straus. Such a chart of art,
aa placing the whole subject chronologically and sectionally before the eye of the
student at once, would also be very useful in all the schools of art throughout
the countiT. Now that education, the great subject of the day, is occupying so
many of the best minds, it is not necessary to illustrate more fully the direct
instructive action of the above plan, which indeed would also be' calculated
collaterally to convey, in some degree, a knowledge of general history as well as
■of art.
In conclusion, I may remark, returning to the province of the Fine Arts, that
their due combination is not sufficiently the practice in this country. We
witness on all sides short-comings in this respect. The arts of architecture,
painting, sculpture, and decoration, do not sufficiently work together. To
educate towards this both the student and the public, is one object of all our
national art-education, and is also one object of the universal art-plan of which
we Iiave been considering a sketch to-nis-ht. It appears feasible that even within
a short time an epitome of the Universal Museum of Architecture, as an educa-
tional organism also for the other arts, is practicable, which at least would at
once be a recognition in the way of direct educational illustration of that rela-
tionship of the Four Sisters which has formed the title of this address.
As regards this sisterhood, their diversities of character and yet i'amily likeness,
I feel I have offered but a few discursive hints. Indeed, I have only attempted
to present a few scattered views which occur in the landscape over which they
reign together. Yet some spots more especially belong to the one art, some to
the other. Architecture, painting, sculpture, and decoration are individual arts
as well as a sisterhood. It is not necessary that they should always be together
to prove their attachment, or be on all occasions companions ; although assur-
ei\y they .should ever be on the best terms, and even at a distance should yet
correspond like dear friends. When you invite one of a family it does not always
follow that you desire the company of them all. One lover of art may desire
simply the company of a collection of easel pictures in a common-place house ;
very well. Another may desire a collection of sculpture, per se. Another may
devote himself to build a church without any painting or sculpture at all, and
with but a small amount of decoration ; and another may desire solely a collection
of majolica or Palissy ware or Venetian glass, or decorative metal work, &c. All
these tastes are good in their way and may bear good fruits. It would not do
for the Four Sisters to be inseparables and always together. It would be very
inconvenient and perhaps pedantic. Doubtless they should have the utmost
individual freedom to visit their friends, and to confer benefits in their separate
capacities. Yet assuredly, although when abroad there is no necessity that they
should always be talking about their family, or acting under any undue
restraint, yet assuredly, when quite at home, they should also be quite and
altogether Sisters.
Notwithstanding the wet evening, the above lecture was fully attended. At
its close Mr. Bell stated, as requested, that on the evening of Wednesday,
February 20, Mr. Lott would lecture on the Antiquities of Guildhall, and added
that as that gentleman was fully conversant with the subject, doubtless those
who attended would be well rewarded.
NEW LIBRARY, INNER TEMPLE.-
IN our last Volume, page 647, we gave a full description of the New
Library, Inner Temple, then in course of erection from the designs of
Mr. Henry R. Abraham. Now that the works are nearly completed, we
lay before our readers a view of the river front of the building. The
structure on the right in our engraving is the old Hall, built in 1.572. The
New Library has been designed in the same style, so as to harmonise
thoroughly with it, but it has a loftier and nobler appearance, and in its
proportions, its carved details, and the internal fittings, combines with the
character of Late Perpendicular or Tudor work, the architectural purity
of an earlier period. The large bay window, and the upper range of win-
dows at the side, light the vast Library, 8.5 feet long by 42 feet wide, t' The
lower windows light a series of chambers which occupy the whole of the
ground story. The entrance to the Library is by a stone circular stair-
case in the octagon tower at the north-east corner, approached by stone
steps flanked by parapet walls, from the upper terrace. Stone pedestals
with very handsome iron gas standards are built into this parapet wall.
The two standards nearest the door are twisted, and held by lions rampant;
the other two standards rise unsupported from the piers. They and the
lamps are colored chocolate, blue and black ; they are banded with strips
of brass, and surmounted with brass finials. They are good specimens of
medieval metal-work, as also is the gateway below leading to the garden.
This latter is mainly formed of inch bars about a foot apart, with bands of
hammered iron riveted on between them, to form a kind of trefoiled arch,
but it is no imitation of stone or wood work ; the design is essentially
suited to metal, and is both conceived and carried out in the proper spirit.
The lower portion of the gates has the bars subdivided by slighter twisted
bars, with hammered finials. A band of pierced work stiffens the work.
We have seldom seen a better specimen of iron gates. It is deco-
rative without being weak, or appearing weak ; it is strong
and solid, without being deprived of artistic value.
In our former description we mentioned that the lower portions of the
Library were left blank for the book-cases. A few of these are now fixed j
they are of oak, and are let into the recesses under the windows. In front
of the piers between the windows the book-cases project slightly, and are
carried higher up so as to hide the blank wall, which would otherwise
have intervened between them and the corbels which carry the roof prin-
cipals, as well as to destroy the otherwise monotonous line round the walls.
The cornices are embattled, and flowers, finely carved, fill the deeply cut
mouldings. Brass columns and caps decorate the angles of each projec-
tion, and brass ornaments are fixed on the stiles of each case. Finials in
brass likewise spring from oak saddle-shaped pinnacles on the ends ol the
loftier parts. The effect of these glittering ornaments will be very rich
when the whole are completed.
The sash doors leading to the Library are of oak carved and cusped; the
panels are filled with plate glass. The lock furniture and hinges are of
brass, and, like the rest of the metal-work, appears, from its excellence to
have come from Hart's establishment. The lower door leading to the
Committee-room is covered with one mass of iron branch-work, with the
badge of the " Lamb " introduced in the centre.
Nearly all the glass work is completed ; it is, we believe, the production
of Ward, of Soho, and is worthy of high commendation. The north
window is filled with the blazoned arms of illustrious Templars skilfully
arranged to form an harmonious composition of color. The side lights are
in diamond-shaped grisaille, with badges of rich color in the centres bear-
ing divers emblems, such as the crosses of St. George, St. Andrew and
St. P,ttrick in one window ; the rose, sliamrock and thistle in another ;
February 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
139
February 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
141
wliilst in others the harp, the crown, the Tudor rose, the lamb, the lion or
the anchor is introduced.
*? The exterior needs no description ; the engraving shows its merit and
its peculiarities. The builder is Mr. George Myers, and the architect, as
we have before mentioned, is Mr. Henry K. Abraham.
PROGRESS OF THE MAIN DRAINAGE WORKS.
THE last inontlily report of Mr. Bazalgette, engineer-in-chief of the Metro-
politan Board of Works, dated the Ist of February instant, states the main
drainage works, with trifling exceptions, continued locked up by the fro,st until
within the last ten days, and the large body of workmen and artizans who were
thus thrown out of employment were suffering severely from so long a period of
idleness. The contractor had, however, evinced great consideration for them,
and, in addition to the private pecuniary aid afforded by them, they readily
co-operated with the Board in making arrangements for the partial employment
of the men by carting materials upon the works, and extending their excavations
wherever that could be done without inconvenience to the public, and by en-
gaging both bricklayers and navvies as laborers indiscriminately, changing them
in alternate gangs for three days a week each. A large quantity of materials has
been deposited upon the unfinished portion of the line of the Northern High-
level sewer, and although the works have not yet been fairly recommenced, there
is every reason to expect that they will be speedUy completed. The contract
with Messrs. Brassy and Co. for the Middle-level sewer is not yet signed, but
these gentlemen are making provisional arrangements for the supply of bricks
and other materials. The Northern Outfall sewer is now marked out and nearly
fenced from end to end, and the contractor has received instructions to commence
the work on Monday next. The Ranelagh Storm Overflow sewer across Hyde-
park again progresses satisfactorily ; works to the amount of £.5,830 have been
completed, in addition to the completion of the underpinning of the old sewer to
the value of about £-2,800. On the south side of the river, the Southern High-
level sewer in now in progress at four different places, three on the main line,
and one on the Dulwich or Eflra branch. Of No. 1, at the Clapham-road, along
Bedford-lane, Stockwell-green, and Robert-street, to the EfFra sewer in the
Brixton-road, about 0,100 feet, varying from 4 fiiet 6 inches by 3 feet to 6 feet
3 inches in diameter have been completed. Of No. 2, fi-om Loughborough-
road, Brixton, to Cold Harbour-lane, Camberwell, about 2,500 feet,
9 feet 9 inches, and 0 feet 9 inches in diameter, are complete. As
to No. 3, along the New Cross-road to the Broadway, Deptford,
the main line and the Eflfra branch are constructed side by side in
the same trench, the Eflra branch falling from the higher level, and
with a more rapid incUnation, until at Deptford they unite in one double line of
sewer, each 10 ft. 0 in. by 10 ft. C in., with segmental inverts. 1,700 ft. of each
of these lines, equal to 3,400 ft. in all, are now completed. The work has been
brought up to the North Kent railway, under which the sewer is about to be
constructed. Of No. 4, from Peckham-rye through Nunhead-green and
Cemetery-road, 5,005 ft. of sewer 8 ft., and 395 ft., 7 ft. 0 in. in diameter, have
been constructed, at depths varying from 25 to 35 ft. The value of the work
done is about £60,000, and the total length completed 3i miles. The bricks
employed upon tliis contract are still very rough, and a better supply will have
to be provided in future. The Southern Outfall sewer works progress in a satis-
factory manner. The tunnel under Woolwich is about one mile in length, and
varies from 45 to 75 ft. in depth ; four shafts have been sunk, and 2,820 ft. of tunnel
completed, the headings being hghted with gas, and the miners working day and
night. The rest o*' the work is, with trifling exceptions, being constructed in
open cutting, and about C,950 ft. have been completed, making9,770 ft. in tunnel
and open cutting. The value of the work done is about £90,000. The work for
the Low-level sewer, under the Surrey Gas Consumers' Company's property,
now progresses satisfactorily, the water having been subdued, the excavations
nearly completed, and the lower portion of the brickwork got in for nearly the
entire length. The work is carried on day and night, and will probablv soon be
completed. The old Earl outlet, now being reconstructed, progresses slowlv,
owing to the work being uncovered by the tide for a short period only at and near
to low wuter, and it has also sustained serious injury from the ship Zebra, which,
having fouled another vessel in the river, became a wreck and stranded upon the
work. The total value of the Main Drainage works now completed may, in round
numbers, be estimated at about £340,000.
LECTUBES ON AKCHITECTURE, AT THE EOTAL ACADEMY, BY
SYDNEY SMIEKE, ESQ., E.A.
SECOND LECTURE.*
Takmg, for the purposes of comparison, perhaps the two most prominent artists
that the world has produced— Phidias .ind M. Angelo— we observe (so far, at least,
as wo know, or have the means of judging of tlic former) tliat wliilst in I'hidiat's
works the sculpture was doubtless made essential to the due effect of his architecture,
it_ was, nevertheless, always subordinate to it, and was never permitted to overridcit ;
the leading arcluteetural lines of his building, as the metopes, the friezes, and the tym-
panum, were in no case allowed to be Interfered with by the sculpture, but retained in-
variably their undisturbed continuity and distinctness. Intimately intermixed as the
sculpture was with the architecture, it kept its place as a mere decorative expletive— an
ornament, in fact. Full, uo doubt, ot siguiflcance, and perfectly appropriate in
character, both as to treatment and design, but still a non-essential ornament.
In the works of the other great genius whom I have named, we find these
conditions reversed. Allhough undeniably great in architecture, and great in
sculpture, I think that the common voice of his posterity proclaims him to have been
far more a sculptor than an architect.
In the very instance to which I have adverted, the Medici monument, the feeling
of the sculptor obviously preponderated. It suited his composition to place his
figures recumbent on the sloping sides of a pediment, and he, therefore, so placed
them, omittiuf,' the interveninij apex of the pediment; thus committing, it is true,
an architectural absurdity, whilst he produced a picturesque arrangement of his
sculpture, which was all he seemed to have cared for. We may say, however, in his
defence, that in the arrangement of sculptured groups of figures the modification of
known architectural members may be regarded as a poetical rendering of them, so
as to make them subservient to the exigencies of Iiigli art.
It would be by no means difficult greatly to multiply instances of a similar
sculpturesque bias in the works of this great man. I will, however, adduce but one
other.
In the ('hiesa degli Angeli, at Rome, erectedibylM. Angelo, upon the site, and partly
upon the walls, and with the materials of an ancient imperial palace, great pictorial
effect has been produced, but in singular defiance of propriety.
* Continued from page 121.
A huge circular tablet la so Uld over the f«ec of a wall which be dMtml le
from undue hcavtne.., u to overlay, and almoit to conceal, the mhU^mllE^
fact built luto ,t and formed an Integral part of the nuwnrr of the chnreh.
There can be no doubt, I think. In the mlod of tor nopr^udlced critle, that tha
examp e set us by the great sculptor of antiquity of m.th?K iSlcSptSie^SlrtB;
subordinate to the «rchit«ture, U the more einnristeot with good linS^d SSS
K^*? ■ !.'»"'?\" '■InjH'rately architecture may bcdecoAted and enllrenSw
the gen us of sculpture, all the hading and esuntltl lines of the compoelUonltoidi
be dictated by its structural requirements, and should at least «nne»rto expreu Ita
iiiain construitive features. There should, I ihink, \k- no intimate blendlne lontlMr
of the constructive and purely decorative features ; let Ihem perfectly harnTonlwand
aSib' o^*^*^ "* ' P'®"'"* "'"'''^^' ''"' ^'■'* 'heir respective Umlu nerer be
In the best age of Medieval art this mie will, I think, be found to have been nrtly
departed from. It was in proportion as It degencraUd that thl« principle ecHcd fc
have been acted upou, and sculpturesque excessea so cune to be committed. The
carver over-ruled the mason until there arose those wonderfhl petrilaetioM. u it
were, of architecture, which stood as if by a miracle, for their anatamrwa* concealed
from view, and they appear rather to have grown than to have been built up— the
creation rather oi vegetable liie than of mechanical skill. I might refer aa Initueea
to the pedentive roofs of IClncs College chapel and other tlmllar itructurea, and to
the singular productions of Kraft anffothers at Xurcmburg.
In the age which followed the Medieval perioil the beat works fully Illustrate the
truth ot the prmciple that would teach us to keep ctearly defined. In due eubordina-
tion, and m a right relation to each other, the constructive and decorative arts
Great purity of design in this respect usually existed In the short, bat brilliant
period of the early Kenaissance. We shall seek in vain among the beat works oi
that period for examples of the comipt tasle that would aeem to abhor the afmnle
outlmes of that geometry on which (he whole fabric of oor art la founded. Althoneh
rich, occasionally even to a fault, in carved decoration, you will find those deconUons
ever kept within the limits of the frieze, or panel, or spandrel, or whatever other
architectural compartment may have been left open for the nrnamcntiat, after the
requirements of the mason had been provided for. Thus their buildings preaemd
generally a great simplicity of outline and distinctness of form, althongb ther nwy
have presented a rich display of perhaps the most beautiful ornamentation ttiat art
has yet bequeathed to us.
As, however, renascent art advanced, It gradually departed from this wholeaonn
rule, and the wider the departure the baser became the prevalent character of tha
art, until the imiiroperly-called Classic style became disfigured by a mnlUtode of
gross errors. The most manifest structural requirements were often aiudlonslr con-
cealed; the ordinary and characteristic features of architecture were lost amidat
clouds and angels, floating by the aid of hidden cramps and tica ; and a great deal
of really ingenious construction was throwTi away m simulating impossible con-
struction.
The principle which I urge upon your attention may be illustrated by reference to
what I believe to be a fundamental rule hi the sculpture of the human figure, which
forbids such a disposition of drapery as may wholly obscure, or even render doubt-
ful, the actval position of the several limbs. In the work of a good master, however
enveloped a figure may be in accessories, the Imagination is never at a loss to deter-
mine its attitude or posi5. So it should be with a building; its anatomy should be
ever intelligible, however richly clothed it may be in embellishments. I dwell the
more on this subject because I think I am justified in expressing my fear that there
is a strong tendency in the practice of the present day to overstep the limits to which
ornament should be conlined. Ornament is a most pleasing handmaid, but a very
unreasonable and dangerous mistress.
There is another kindred error to which I think It may be profiubic that I should
advert. It is in some respects the converse of that which I have just reprobated,
and consists of an attempt to give to mere ornament a false, or affected ulllity. We
sometimes may see a heavy wei{;ht of masoury— perhaps, an integral jiart of a
fabric— affecting to rest upon some manifestly insufficient basis, such as on foUage of
the most deUcate and fragile nature, or perhaps upon the edge of a shield obviously
unfit to carry more than its own weight.
This is an anomaly which no beauty of execution nor cleverness of treatment can
justify. Painters may, no doubt, be readily permitted to represent bodies of very
appreciable weight reposinff on a mist. Aurora may freely drive her wheeled chariot
over the trackless clouds, for their paintings are but the emlxidimcnt of mere mental
visions. These forms are but as words addressed to the mind's eye, while the archi-
tect has to deal with substantial realities. Whatever lie docs mnat be conformable,
not only with plain reason but static laws.
The Pompeian decorator is quite at liberty to indulge his fancy in strange hnpoa-
sibilities ; his cupids may ^emerge from the calyx of a blossom, and may poise on the
tip of his wing a column, or a whole temple, if he will : it is but a painter's dream
after all. IJut when an architect so forgets the proprieties of his art as to realise in
stone these vagaries, and places, or seems to place, a material burden upon IheM
utterly inadequate supports, he is guilty of afrlvolity unworthy of IhccharacteroflllB
art. It is not that we need altogether condemn the use of these cupids and bloaaoma,
but let them be superfluous adjuncts. Let the duty of a corbel or a capital be per-
formed by a stone visibly shaped to its purpose, and adequate to its task, and then
overlay it as you will ; the reins may then be giveu to mvention to clothe that stone
with whatever natural beauties the good taste of the sculptor may suggest to him u
suitable and agreeable.
In like manner, when we sec the smoke of some laundry cliimney issuing nom
among the leaves of some fictitious plant, however beautifully natural the leave*
may appear, we repudiate the conceit as a gross breach of good taste in the artUt who
so applied the resources of his art.
Hut I have wandered widely ft-om my theme, the real practical importance of the
principle which I urge upon you must be my apology.
I was adverting with regret to the anomaly of the broken pediment ; an error
which struck deep root and was the parent stock of an unaccountable variety of
censurable forms. Strange it is that art is so prone to submit to the Infloenoeof
fancy or caprice, as if the eye was ever craving for new forms.
The simple, sensible, and strictly unobjectionable pedunent thus twcamc debased
into a useless and |ridiculous excrescence, under the Impulse of tendencies which
seem to be inherent in our nature.
A like tendency betrays itself in a variety of ways ; In nothing, perhaps, more
visibly and viciously than In costume. Thus buttons are placed wh.re they cannot
possibly be applied to any useful purpose, justified alone by long usaire, and by the
eonsf quent iirejudices of the eye, and thus shapes will long outlive the u.sca which
had dictated them. So it is that archllwts are occasionally found erecting an array
of buttresses, not because there is any lateral thrust to meet, but because they con-
stitute a customary feature of a certain style. j, ^ ^ ..
Having dwelt long on the errors Into which we are liable to be seduced by a al«-
rcard of the legitimate purposes of those two important component parts of arelU-
tectural composTtion, the column and the pediment, it remains for me to point out to
you with reprobation, another, and perhaps still grosser, error In the misapplication
of the entire portico. ,,,,.,, , ^ ■ j
The unanimity Is somewhat remarkable with which all critics, of every school and
a*^e have a^'reed to admire the Greek portico, as comprising all the highest qualities
of art in th'eir purest and most complete form ; and the great beauty of tliis model
of symmetrical composition is enhanced by a sense of its obvtous ntiUty as a place of
external shelter.
I For many centuries exclusively the distinguishing feature of temples, the portico,
was seldom permitted to be used in domestic architecture until the date of Ai^stns.
From that jieriod downwards it has never ceased to be applied to any ana every
species of structure needed by man, and it must be admitted often without the
slightest appearnnce of necessity or ntiUty.
142
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 15, 1861.
The same critical remarks which I have already made in respect to the erection of
a colnmQ as anornameut oras a mere pedestal, and not as a support (which is essen-
tially and exelusivelv its sjH'cial duty), are also applicable to the columnar portico, in
all cases where neitHer shade nor shelter is of any appreciable value.
To ert-cl a portico in a position obviouslv inaccessible, is an idle squandering of
masoiirv with which ihe architects of the best days of Classic art cannot be charL'ed.
A bliiid and unreaaouiu? habit of repeating: forms, without due regard to their
purpt>se. lias been amon<j: the worst faults of modern art. To build a gable or a portico
and pediment, without an v roof biliiml to justify or call for its use, or beneath whose
shelter no man can betake himself, is an act which no reasoning'- critic, whatever be
his admiration of the portico itself, ought to sanction.
Like the small arcades which we so often see covering the apses of early Koman-
esque and Medieval churches, yet often perfectly inaccessible, and convertible to no
possible use. we can only attempt their juatiflcatiou on the ground of picturesque-
neas or beauty, or because they serve to cloak a bliuik wall, or because they produce
a plea«mg chiaroscuro.
It may be that there are occasions when there are sufficient and satisfactory
reasons. The architect very imperfectly fulfils his mission if he does not gratify the
eye whilst satisfyintr the graver requirements of his art. All that I would insist
upon is that the more prominent and conspicuous features of a design should not be
mere unserviceable appendages.
With rt-gard to the use of colonnades partially built into a wall, as we see exem-
plified at the Itanqueting Hall, in Whitehall, it is not uncommon for architectural
critics to condemn the practice as a deuarture from the dignity and real use of
columns, and as something false or absurd.
I am not. however, disposed to coincide in this view, and 1 can see no valid reason
for condemning those engaged colonnade. Tested by the standard of common sense,
I see no suflicient ground for such condemnation. Columns are points of support,
and we may with etiual correctness regard them in that light, whether insulated or
engaged, for as supports they are equally valid in cither case. We may regard the
wall intervening tK^tween engaged columns as the means of enclosure, not of sup-
port ; assisting columns, it may be, in the support of tlic entablature, but yet not an
essential and integral fpart of the fabric. The great Boric temple at Agrigentum,
and the Erecthaeum at Athens, suffice to shew that even in the best period of Greek
art, this practice was not held to be opposed to the canons of good taste.
The critics who would condemn engaged columns have, of course, a wide field for
the exercise of their censorship in the engaged pillars, or wall-shafts of Medieval
art. the use of wliich is an exactly analogous practice, inasmuch as they represent
the points of support of the arches and vaulting which spring from the capitals. The
truth is that there is perfect masonic propriety, whether in the wall shafts of a
cathedral, or in the engaged pillars of a Greek temple. They represent an accumu-
lation of p<jwer at the particular point of the wall on which the principal weight is
charged, and not only nave they constructive truth to justify them, but also great
aesthetic value. These vertical lines of support convey to the mind the idea of the
active and efficient support of any particular imposed weight far more Hatisiacforily
than can be effected by prescntmg a plain, unbroken wall of apparently uniform
solidity and strength ; and this idea is still more forcibly and distinctly produced on
the mind when the vertical engaged shafts are of different color and material from
that of the general surface of the wall. This practice, so prevalent, both in Sledieval
and Classic art, gave rise to additional beauty and variety by the use of colored
and polished marbles.
Although I have justified and defended these engaged columns as true and legiti-
mate architecture, 1 am, nevertheless, by no means inclined to encourage the gra-
tuitous or too frequent use of them. There can be no doubt whatever that in lightness,
elegance of effect, advanced and insulated pillars, telling out distinctly and briglitly
against the lower lone of the recessed wall behind them, produce by far the most
artistic and pleasing effect.
The object with which I set out in making these observations was to press upon
your attention what I conceive to be one of the most important principles of design,
namely, that every form in architecture should be, or at least appear to be, true to
the purpose to which it is applied. The principle is of widest application, and
appears to me to t>e valid alike for the smallest objects of design and I'ur those
laiT^er, more important features to which my observations have been more especially
directed.
When Thucydides is deploring the moral deterioration of Greece, occasioned by
the baneful influence of the civil wars on the manners of his countrymen, he says
that a sort of duplicity had entered into the Greek mode of speech : false terms were
introduced, nanus of nonor were applied to the base, and of baseness to the honor-
able: and he adduces this evil tendency as one of the most striking signs of the
times.
It is true that, in uttering these lamentations, Thucydides bears singular testimony
to the general purity of Greek sentiment, when we find that the mere habit of mis-
applying terms of honor and of depreciation should be regarded by the historian as
a national stigma, and as a serious public reproach; still his remark has great
significance, and may convey a useful lesson even to us as artists. The clear-sighted
ancient historian and moralist could read the signs of the times in these unobtrusive
and apparently insignificant indications ; he saw that the habitual use of unfitting
phrases and the untruthful application of words were evidences of an incipient
national decay and deterioration. May we not draw like conclusions when we see an
habitual neglect of truth in productions of art ? And is it not a duty becoming in all
who are a position to exercise any influence whatever en the mind of the younj*^
student, to strenuously endeavor to deter him from that downward course which
leads to debasement of style, and with all possible earncstucas to impress him with
a sense of the beauty of truth.
Such certainly 1 conceive to be my duty here. Weak and faltering as my words
may be, and though I may not be able to defend myself from the imputation of hav-
ing set sonii.' bad examples, still I feel that I should betray the cause which it is at
once my duty and my pride to advocate, were f not to use my best exertions to
encourage the student in art to seek not only that which is ornamental or pictu-
resque ; not only that which affords a display of the most agreeable flow of lines, or
most attractive in composition ; not only that which presents the richest groups of
decorative features ; but to seek, above all things and before all tilings, that which is
fitting in form and truthful in character.
THIRD LECTLRE.
IN a former lecture I called your attention to a period in the progress of our art
wliich must ever be of great interest and value, I mean the quatro-cento period ;
for it was then that the foundation was laid of a new epoch or style of art, founded it
is true on the admired examples of antiquity, but adapted and reshaped to meet the
new wants and altered habits of modern life. On the occasion to which 1 refer, my
retroisjiect reached backto the earliest germination of the Kenaissance. We found that
even so far back sU in the middle of the fourteenth century there was a manifest
dawning of the coming change, and that by the middle of the following century the
revolution had been completely effected.
I recommended U) your special attention and study the beautiful and in many
re«pectB original style of design which the best masters of that period practised ; the
style, in short, which we observe in the works of the Lombardi at Venice, of Alberti
at Kiminl. and elsewhere, and of some few other eminent artists who led the way in
that new school.
But it in not to be denied that that style is characterised, perhaps I ought to admit
disfi;:ured, by certain archaisms and conventionalisms similar to those which are
observable in the sculpture and painting of the same transitional period. In fact,
throughout the fifteenth century a savor of medieval art had remained. Works of
great purity and beauty would oflen present some quaint conceit, a reminiscence of
the prist analogous to that which still tinctured the elder schools of the other
branches of art.
This no doubt waa occasioned by an onwillin guess/ not uncommon, to depart from
a trodden path, and to that reverence and prepossession with which it is natural to
reg^ard the works of our forefathers.
Kor is this habit peculiar to architecture alone. The other arts were, j«iW ;?a*OTf,
partaking ot the same innovating spirit. Old habits and partiiiUties had to be over-
come, olil barriers broken down, both in painting and sculpture. There were those
who still persisted in representing human t!<^'Uies standing on the extremities of •
their toes, and who would not learn to represent a horse walking as alone a horse
can by any possibility walk. A'asari dwells witli some naivete on the impotent dismay
with which tlio men of the old Gothic school beheld their long-cherished traditional
delineations of natural objects set at naught, and their convent ion aUsms disregarded
and wholly displaced in popular estimation.
The new manner of design in the three sister arts, appears to have become com-
pletely matured at the close of the fifteenth century, not, it is true, in Europe
generally, but in Italy, which was then immeasurably in advance of other countries
in aesthetic cultivation. A particular interest attaches' to that transitional period, for
it was a time of remarkable activity and energy— an activity which perhaps neces-
sarily accompanies all periods of great social change.
It was at this juncture in the history of the world that men began to learn that
war IS not the normal condition of our existence, and that human happiness depends
rather on social co-operation than on antagonism. They were then also learning to
exercise a free judgment on many public and rehgious institutions.
These great moral changes were accompanied by great changes in the moral per-
ception and practice of fine art. Dwellings ceaseil to be castles ; helm, corslet, and
mail gave way to the silk and ermine of civic robes; and the houses of the great
began to wear a new aspect, when their occupants ceased to frown on their neigh-
bors as on their natural enemies, and began to appreciate the smiles and graces of
domestic life.
Thus, nothing could be more joyous and peaceful in their aspect than the palaces
of Venice that began to be built about this time; and when, at a somewhat latter
fjeriod in our own country and in neighboring states, the harsh attributes of medieval
ife yielded to the cultivation of peaceful arts, nothing could exceed the cheerful and,
attractive aspect of the mansions of the Klizabethan age; unrefined, indeed, and
occasionally clumsy and even grotesque, they were gay and lightsome— ol'ten, in-
deed, so flooded with light that, as Bacon, who was familiar with such houses, says
" Men knew not where to be to be out of the light," so entirely had the secluded and
fortified aspects of the earlier architecture been banished from them.
Among the changes brought about at this momentous epoch no chancre was more
strongly marked than that which occurred in our own art, and the ciiange which
was in Italy gradually effected during the fifteenth century, seems to have reached,
as I have stated, its final completion towards the end of that century— a period
rendered so illustrious in the annals of art by the works of Kaffaellc, Michel Augelo,
and a brilliant host of others of kindred genius.
Bramante and his still more distinguished pupil, Raffaelle, introduced in their
architectural designs that union of perfect grace and simplicity which inclines me to
assign the very beginning of the sixteenth century as the date of the greatest per-
fection of the Kenaissance school, when modern architecture may, perhaps, be said
to have attained a degree of excellence which has never been since exceeded.
Among the most notable examples of this very remarkable, but short period, may
be named the loggie ^of the Vatican, the Palazzo of the Cancellaria. at Borne, the
I'alazzo Fandolfini, and a few other buildings, which might be specified as specimens
of matchless purity of design.
As the painter's art freed itself from the conventional style of drawing and com-
position which had before prevailed, and became distinguished for truth, simplicity,
and grace, so architecture in this its age of elevation, namely, the commencement of
the 10th century, will bo found to be free alike from the grotesque tendency both in
proportions and in ornamentation which occurs in the preceding age, and from the
excesses and extravagance which grew up with the rapidity and profusion of weeds
during the succeeding period. It is to be deeply regretted that Kaffaellc did not live
to transmit to us a greater variety of examples of architectural design, for un-
doubtedly he had as pure and refined a feeling for architecture as for the sister art.
Tiie great works of this illustrious man, whom the united voices of his own aud of
all subsequent ages, aud of all civilized countries, have pronounced to have
been one of the most gifted of the children of art, were executed within twenty
years — namely, from 1500 to 1520— which must be regarded as the culminating period
of modern art. including modern architecture. It will be profitable, then, to look
back upon that short but brilliant epoch, and to pass under review some of the
principal works which belong to it. I have already noticed some of the contempo-
raneous social and political events which characterised this period of mental and
lesthetic activity. V ery few years sufficed to effect very "^reat progress. The great
changes in art were, as you well know, simultaneous, and perhaps in groat measure
connected with and consequent upon, the important literary revolution which was at
that time taking place.
After lying for ages almost concealed and certainly wholly neglected and unculti-
vated, classical literature was restored and rapidly developed, and it was natural
that, at the same time, a congenial taste for the study of that Classical art with which
it was intimately connected, should arise. While tlie Ketrarclis and Bolitians were
busied in exploring and unfolding: the treasures of neglected libraries and defaced
palimpsests, the researches and Tabor of the no less indefatigable lovers of ancient
ait were daily bringing to light the surviving evidences of its former excellence.
The first artists of the period were, indeed, the most ener^fetic nrchaologists.
Buildings previously unknown were disinterred and diligently examined. We
find Alberti, Bramante, I'eruzzi, aud Kaffaellc himself studying with exemplary
pains the crumbling relics of antiquity, and with incredible zeal measurinf:^ and
delineating those treasures, which like the gold of new found fields, had lain for
centuries trodden under foot disregarded and even unobserved.
The effect of this ardent study soon made itself very visible in the works of these
artists, and such was the fervor with which these studies were pursued, that the life-
time of each individual artist witnessed wonderful changes in all the arts of design.
It is not for me to exi»atiate on the^changes so effected in the sister arts ; I have
already alluded to the sin<rular evidence of progress as a painter in the :iO years of
Kaflaelle's artistic life. Unfortunately he uuilt so little that we have not the means
of tracing his progress in architecture ; but in the works of his master, Bramante,
we have more palpable evidence of the effects of his eager study of Classical remains,
his earlier works, as in the Cancellarea, with all their beauty, show some indications
of the archaic dryness of the fifteenth century in the? working out of their details ;
whilst in his later works, as for example the memorable arcades of the I'apal palace,
a more accurate ac<iuaiutance with Classical details and Classical treatment of archi-
tectural forms becomes manifest.
Vasari dwells with admiration on the zeal with which Bramante applied himself
to the acquisition of an accurate knowledge of the style which had for so many
centuries fallen into oblivion. In cultivating this style anew he was but following
the popular impulse that had been given to the study of ancient architecture by the
disinterment ot Koman remains, both literary and artistic.
But the peculiar energy of Bramante's character and the favor which he enjoyed
at the I'apal Court, under Alexander VI. and Julius II., and which afforded him so
wide a field ibr the exercise of his genius, rendered him, perhaps, the most influential
and effective of all the promoters of Classic art at the period to which we are re-
ferring.
Among the foremost of those who zealously seconded Bramante's efforts for the
resuscitation of ancient architecture, was Baldas.iare I'eruzzi. Although his imme-
diate successor in the fabric of St. Peter's, Teruzzi was an artist of widely different
character; of far less vigor but of much more refinement, most painstaking and
laborious, but diffident, retiring, and unambitious, reruzzi wanted those iutr nsic
qualities, without which talent often fails to attract the regard which it deserves.
Bramante. bold and energetic in the p^^J^;ccution of his works, yet joyous and festive
in his social habits, attained the highest favor and the utmost popularity. Whilst
his successor, of a very different turn of mind, lived, as his biographer tells us, amidst
February 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
143
«on«tant vexations and difficulties, and he died in penury. Yet, in mockery as it
were of his hard I'ut^' whilst Iivinf.% a. pompous monument was erected in his honor
after death, by the Tope, in the rautheon, close to the reattug-place of his fellow-
pupil, Kiiftaelle.
There iiro lessons to be Icamt from a careful study of the works of these earlier
masters of the itenaissauet' to whom I have been referring, which I thiuk it particu-
larly behoves rae to dwell upon in tliis place.
I can eall to mind uo work of the best masters of this period which does not clearly
indicate that, in tlieir estimation, it was a leading" principle of design to distmtjruish
very widely, and in a most marked manner, between the treatment of interior and
exterior architecture.
In the works of both the masters to whom 1 have adverted, namely, Jiramante and
Peruzzi, but, perhaps, more especially of the latter, a degree of interior ornamenta-
tion was indulged in that might, to our cold northern tastes, appear almost- exces-
sive, and which we should probably be disposed to condemn were the excess not
redeemed, and I may say, in most cases, fully justitied, by the extreme beauty
of these oruamental details and by the judicious treatment of them. Nothing, for
example, can well exceed the elaborate elegance of the decorations of the halls and
corridors of the two Massimi palaces at Kome, wliich, I own, struck me us among the
most finished studies of interior architectural composition that I had ever seen. The
rapid advance miwlt? towards the perfecting of the new style is rendered remarkably
apparent by a conii)arison of the ornamental details of Uramante's (Jaucellaria with
those of the highly finished works of l*eruzzi to which I have just referred.
Now, if we look to the exterior of these same buildings, we shall find the most
marked difference of treatment ; a general abstemiousness prevail.-* in respect to mere
ornamentation. The evidences of care and study in the compositi(m of tlie leading
forms, as well as of the details, are quite as apparent outside as within. There is not
a moulding that does not bear the impress of thought and Ciire; but you will find
■breadth and simjiUcity the chief objects aimed at throughout, whether in the prin-
cipal features or in the minor details. It is clear that these great masters, with one
accord, were wont to say to themselves. " We will indulge our love of the beautiful
on the walls and ceilings of our saloons and corridors, where the eye has leisure to
dwell upon them, and where, sheltered from the vicissitudes of the seasons, our cun-
ning intricacies and our mimie foliage may endure, and be a permanent soiu-ce of
gleasant contemplation for future generations; but we must, in our exterior work,
ave regard to the altered circumstances of position."
A building cannot be very critically examined, or even seen with convenience, from
a very proximate point of view ; the eye must be moved to some distance in order to
appreciate or comprehend the design of the exterior, when the building is large. It
is not, then, in these elaborate details that we can hope to win the applause of culti-
vated critics ; for. in truth, such details will be too far off to be seen. We must
rather have regard to the ensemble, to pleasing outlines, to variety of light and
ehadow, to symmetrical arrangement of the several parts. Such are the considera-
tions that must be foremost in our minds whilst we are designing external
architecture.
If we introduce on the outside the minute and intricate ornaments in wliich our
fancy disports within, we shall find the breadth of our lights broken uj), and their
offeet destroyed. We shall be inciting attention to details, the merits of which will
be unappreciated, and run the risk of losing the labor we have bestowed on the
general composition, which may perchance pass unheeded by the eye distracted in
its attempts to examine unimportant minutiae. Besides, architecture is a material
art: it deals with substantial realities, and is wholly dependeiit on static laws.
Moreover, if we break up and obliterate our boundimc lines, we shall deprive our
work of the special character of architecture, and destroy its idiosyncracy.
It behoves us, too, to reflect that by raising up a structure composed of trivial
littlenesses, and overlaid with festoons of little leaves, and flowers, and ribbons, or
crowded ivlth crockets, and finials, and intricate corbelhng, and by fretting the sur-
face over with niehea. and imagery, and so forth, we shall be setting the elements
against us. We shall find that the rain, and the frost, and the invisible chemical
atmospheric agencies for ever acting with determined hostility against the substances
we work in, will ultimately— possibly slowly, but perhaps rapidly, at all events most
surely— render our sculptural labors nugatory, and perchance, indeed, annihilate our
building ; and if those wiio follow us are not perpetuaJly employed in renovating
our work, patching and mending, restoring or renewing, our structure will
inevitably become a picturesque ruin, the established residence of bats and owls.
Such may have been the reasoning of those experienced, thoughttul, and sagacious
masters who ruled the destinies of our art at tJie end of the fifteenth century; and
hence we find that Kaffaelle, when he designed the I'alazzo Fandolfini at Florence,
his work is a model of symmetry and elegance, but wholly without wreath, swagg,
or crocket ; it is the admired of all beholders, as much so now as when it was just
erected ; and lastly, it remains unaffected in its stabiUty after exposure to the
elements for three centuries and a half.
The same discrimination in the use of decorative details will be found to charac-
terise the architecture of the Vatican Loggia, the Cancellaria, and the Talazzo
Massimi, at Rome ; the Church of San Francesco at Kimini, the Palazzo del T at
Mantua, and I believe I may add every other building by the leading artists of that
memorable period, which remain to us undiatigured by the hands of more recent
■spoilers.
I feel it incumbent on me to invite the attention of the student in architecture of
the present day to a thoughtful consideration of this lesson, as taught us by the best
masters of the best period ot modern art.
It is the more incumbent on me to do so, because it is impossible to deny tliat the
fault of the present day is a tendency to excessive and inappropriate ornament.
I trA^st I snail be exonerated from any charge of ]>ersonal criticism. 1 can truly
8ay that I have not the remotest idea of assailing individmil sinners ; it is the sin I
would condemn. If we critically examine the growing architecture of any of our
great commercial or manufacturing towns, we shall see ostentatious — I may call
them presumptuous— edifices fising around us, in every possible respect the reverse
of those graceful, yet unassuming works to which I have been adverting. Their
outside is decked out and weighed down by ornament, showy, obtrusive, and mere-
tricious ; whilst their interior presents usually bare, black walls, as indeed they
should be, seeing that they are occupied solelv by clerks and merchandise.
I cannot in too strong tenns raise my feeble voice against this vulgarism, which,
whilst it panders to the worst tastes of the uneducated throng, sets an example that
tends to perpetuate the grievance, and to lower the standard of public taste, by
inuring our eyes to these pretentious solecisms. From warehouses and counting-
houses the plague may spread to edifices of other and higher character.
But let us turn from the further contemplation of thene unhappy errors, and as the
Spartan youth were taught sobriety and moderation by the repulsive exhibition of
vice in its worst forms, so let us hope that the exhibition of so much vicious taste
may operate as a warning to our ingenious youth, aud thus tend to bring back archi-
tecture to its ancient and becoming purity.
Whilst thus venturing to denounce offences against purity and good taste, it may
be permitted me to touch on what I am apprehensive must be regarded as another
prevalent error ; I mean to the growing tendency to disregard consistency of style
in design.
By style in art I presume is meant a certain homogeneous system or manner of
design productive of a combination of analogous forms bearing an harmonious re-
lation to each other ; thus, when a particular style or manner is adopted and care-
fully adhered to, a pleasing effect is produced by the general air of consistency wliich
is the result, even when higher aesthetic qualities are wanting.
To adhere accurately to any given style demands an intimate knowledge, jind
close observation of its peculiarities, involving the necessity of a laborious and "t-
tentive study. This necessity is apt to breed a disposition, tlr.st to depreciate, and
then to disregard all study of this nature- a study very unwelcome to the indolent
and very distasteful to the self-sufficient student, who spurns the trammels of con-
sistency, and who, ambitious to strike out a path of his own, would fain believe it
to be beneath him to regard very narrowly the trodden paths and the moK fre-
quented highways of his art. ^o mistake Is more dangerous than thin, tiM only
safe ground fur hope of future prof^ess lies in a clear and rompri'heuKlve knoirltdfe
of the past, and he who is earnestly aoxloos to extend the bounds of art mtui Snt
make himself thoroughly ae^iuafutcd with all that lieit within those boundji.
The contempt for eunsisteucy of style s^ves birth sometimes to v«ry straoffe
spectacles, many singular compounds of dld^ordant types. We shall And. perhapa.
very high pitched rjofs of FKuch ro ■"- — -'' ' id upon a structure haTlng vhilNa
pretensions to Palladian art, whilst - ^psesof Kllzabcthan manner ftre
to the heterogeneous mass still great- : ;ieg8.
Such are the deplorable results of tli. ui -i-.i, ,,\ dtyle. Be assured that no£;ftnlH,
Iiowever commaudiug. can indulge in thest* anomalies with Impunity. wJiiUt, for the
student of ordinary powers to venture upon them would be an act of huprudr'neo
which no sensible uiau would commit.
I may perhaps be told that to inculcate so careful an adherance to style wonM be
to set up a slavish doctrine, to shackle the fancy, and to limit the freedom of genlos;
but this would be an error. As consistency of conduct in the ordinary affairs of Ufa
is an evidence of stabiUty of judgment, so aesthetic consistency ts a proof of a tatte
based on sound and intelligent principles.
This consistency of style is peculiarly a mark of the best periods of art, and will
never fail to be fouud to distinguish the productions oi the bent masters. If, (or
example, we examine the cfufs-tVu^uvre of the thirteenth century, we shall be
offended by no inconsistencies. One portion of the bulldinif appears to arise nveee-
sarily out of or to be necessarily dependent on the adjacent portions, and i^eneraUy a
natural sequence of parts tending to one homogeneous whole seems at once manifeet ;
a pervading principle, in short, appears throu'rhoutthe structure.
So in the best works of the great masters oifhe Ueiiafssance period there hi a wtll
regulated cougruity of manner, testifying that the artist was influenced by fljced
principles, and that his work was as much the result of good.sense as of ijfooa taate ;
or rather that those two quahties are necessarily associates of each other, for I
cannot too strongly impress upon you how close a relationship It Is which exists
between them. The educated eye refuses to btr pleased with that which Is Irrecon-
cileable to reason, in however fascinating a form it may be presented to the eye.
It is for tliis reason that all false bearings in architecture are a deformity, for by
offending the judgment they offend the taste. Every apparent insufficiency of mp-
port, every pillar and corbel and beam that is apparently incompetent to bear the
weight charged upon it disquiets the critical eye. I would suggest it to yon as a
useful exercise to test all the best works of architecture, of whatever date, with
reference to this rule.
You will find, for example, the lower parts of the building always d<-8igned with
fewer breaks, smaller opcniugs, and generally a greater breadth of parts, in order to
convey to the mind ot an obser^'cr the idea of greater strength tuere than in the
superstructure. An abundance of illustrative examples might readily be addneed,
but it may be suflicient that I should name but two. both works of high repute and
familiar to all— the campanile at Florence, and the Bogc's palace at Venice. In the
former stability is one of its most prominent characteristics. Giotto, its author, was.
we know, remarkable for his constructive saijacity, and hia biographer reports to us
the infinite pains he took to secure the stability of his work, fashioning each indi-
vidual stone to its special place and purpose.
Yet we see plainly that lie was equally anxious to give to his tower the appearance.
as well as the reality, of t^trength. In truth, to act otherwise would have been to
practise a species of architectural jugglery, which was far beneath the dignity of his
art, as well as inconsistent with his character as an artist. He built a tower. In
short, which has stood unmoved for six centuries, and bears upon its very aspect the
promise of permanence during, at least, another like period.
In the Doge's palace at Venice, on the contrary, we see a building which fs, no
doubt, strong enough, for it has stood some centuries, but in which all Its beautr of
detail will not redeem it from the charge of being built in defiance of static propriety.
A vast, plain, ponderous, mass of brick- walling, lightened by few windows, relieved
by very few breaks, is u[Jheld bv a continuous row of not very substantial- looking
arches, ultimately resting on pillars of no great bulk and having scarcely a base to
receive them. , ,,.**.
In the Tower at Florence we sec solidity below and lightness above, whilst m the
palace at Venice all the solidity is above and the substructure is weakened, or
apparently weakened (which Is sufflcieut for my argument; by a series oi deep per-
forations or excavations. - , - i,^ ,
To give a structure of adequate strength the appearance of infirmity is a
gratuitous piece of absurdity which no ingenuity ol construction or beauty of dctaU
AVere it necessary to enforce this principle by further Ulusf rations I might invite
you to compare the dome of the Pantheon with the dome of St Peter's : the latter
growingabruptly out of, and apparently resting on. a flat roof; the former, on the
contrary, having all the attributes of strength, its weight visibly and adequately
borne by walls traceable down to the earth upon which it manif.-stly renoses.
It is but doing justice to the memor>' of the great artist who first de-
signed St. Peter's, to add that this serious lesthetic error is due to a departure from
ills original design.*
LH-ERPOOL AUCHITECTUUAL SOCIETY.
THE tenth meeting of the thirteenth session of this society wa« held on ««"»«•
day evening last, at the Uoyal TnstituUon. Colquitt-street. Mr. Jamee U. Hmt.
the president, took the chair ; and the attendance ol membors was more tJMO
"^The^ President informed the meeting that the testi^tnlal »*»«JfifJ»i£jS
instructed by the council to obtain from the members at 1«?*J° '!^';^»2I!i^^
of Mr. Huggins as curator of the Soane Museum, was <;o."Plf ^' JJ™2,»^RL2
nearly a hundred signatures, including that of las A\ f ''"'Ik 'iJiI^' i« JSJhS
Brown, and other distinguished honorary members and ''■^■:<^''';«'^**"; J"^"^^
it to Mr. Muggins, he had had the additional pleasure of '";*>*^"S™^™gJ^l
alacrity the members had borne testunony to his ^«'''''^''}J,^S^^l£^^
office; and he had been requested by that P-^-n^H™*" *« i^^P^'f^^ *^ZJ2S£S^
and pure gratification which itgarehim. and '^'^'''^';;!l^^^^.^l^T ^^^^^^l
not he sliould always remember with pleasure. The testlmooial, as "JT ''.^fS
awarrdrew attent^^^^^ the numerous and instructive pspers and e«»y8 whfch had
Snatef f7om Mr H^^^^ pen. which, he need not say had been mostJavoniWy
rc"e ved noHnly in tl^s co^ but on the Continent. Th^-senot otdr evtoced ^e
knowled''« of and feeliu<^ for architecture generally on the put of t»»«ir .^^S***;
wSmr^htbcsuDDOse^^^^ to the situation, but that classical predileotioii
^V' ast?^llicl^r,STd Iiim'peculLly^fi
classical antiquities as constituted the staple of the Soane JIuseum.
Mr. W. H. Hat then proceeded to read his paper—
ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF TURKISn BATHH. ^, , ,*».
miE waters which cover the channels of the deep OLcnpj at ir^t^'^'^^^irHl^
T earth's surface and form such a necessary and important element to the
pcnnnmv of our St(mce, that, upon reflection, it seems matter of apprise th^ita
fnohSUsl^nld noffce ^^ with other improvemenU in thTs '^f^^-
dS?trMoane^^^^ ^ * *=^*^'^*^ P*>"'*^' **^ *^"'°^ ^ ^^"^ science of Materia
"'^^TherP are instrucUve feeUngs conspicuously implanted by the infinite wisdom of
Provfdenc'^'^o.i nature which require to le awakened ft-om time to time and
emanSedfronT^^^^^^^^ ovt-rlaving and engrossing passion exhibited in the spirit
orth/i-e-tlmt of h^^ up riches together, without knowing or caring vrho shall
L^herSem No^^^ as an^estabUshed axiom, that man. hv obserrlne
?ertidu conditions. wUl continue in a perfect stete of health until he reac>»es old age.
* To be continued.
144
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 15, 1>*61.
comfort, curront of onr sinless years."
our own ^2""JL'^^>'TZdiXhtWhTiBso dear and precious to man as
^"LVJ^h^' WhHtCtIha? makes is countenance beam .vlth alTection and joy,
good health. """J '*'',"?„ ,™i. brighter at his approach? It is good health.
Shakls^^ ,°hVunbm.nd%,1reat r°and general preceptor the educator and
^Jl^tS^^f n„n hath Wisely said that "'tis in ourselves that we are thus or
n^^ our lidTs »'re garfens Lfd our wills the gardeners, so that if we plant nettles
or^ow^ettu^e set hvfsop and weed up thyme, supply it with one sender of herbs or
distract twTth many, ciUier to ha?e it sterile with idleness or manured with
SSn- why the power and corriKible authority of this lies in our wills. If he
iS.Un«; ofOTr lUesTiad not one scale of reason to poise another of sensuality, the
^^dCeness'of our natures would conduct us to """^^ P''^P<« ?™"Vh°ere U
•inn. hence we have reason to temper and regulate our judgment. There is
Mother exua^t which you will excuse; it is, if memory serves me properly, where
H.r™lntu« at the Olympic games, rebukes or, rather, admonishes the life of the
5h^i^".^-Byt<»iMc\s'^tting still the body becomes unhealthy, and consequently
Se mhi'd • this U Nature's law- she will never sec her children Nvronged If the
Sin? vhiih ™les the body ever forgets itself so far as to trample uP™ "^ ^Uve the
Save has not the poUtcness or courtesy-is never generous enough to forgive the
?ijury, but will rise and smite the oppressor;" and thus has many a monarch mind
"^'n tlfcfXlois and heroic ages of Greece, the art of Gymnastics was also pre-
scribed to the sick Achilles wis much indebted to his physical education, which no
doubt added virtue, and repletion of body to the bath he received from his mother,
Thetis It wis also this art which gave strength to the great Demosthenes, so feeble
and M sickly in his youth. The athletic exercise graduall,^ assumed a scientiflc
Jharl^ter and was taight in all the schools or gymnasia built outside the city, in
whkh the bath formefalways a feature. But I sliall have occasion again to make
"Baths" and bathing, we may presume, have existed since the world was made «om
mon to th" necessitTes of man and coeval with existence. In all ages and countries
we find th°^eof the bath resorted to in ^.o^ /'^»nt.rP„''c1fir'So?WsHake
DMolc more accustomed to the water than the islanders of the Pacific. Mothers take
S children into the sea the third or fourth day after their birth, and many can
gwim as swn as they can walk. The high temperature of the climate makes the ex-
IroU^ and amusement universal. These islanders have also a singular custom of
gt^lngpaHeuts in an oven of heated stones, also of employing i;nction by rolling
i rtSSe or (innon shot over some part of their body to alleviate pain.
It hal^been found that the s.iv^e tribes of America use the vapour-bath. The
InianfofcSlSirSia practise the hot-air bath, as do also the natives on the banks of
ihejCtsslDDi Thev are constructed in a rude manner with mud and sticks, by the
aide of alive? with a small opening in the side to enter by. and one at the top for
the wao^ of thi smoke These ov?ns are of various sizes, made to hold from one to
twc^'lrhe bathers enter in a nude state and close-to the door, make a Are, which
iTffl UP with a fresh supply of wood until they arc thrown into a profuse state of
JS;rspXI, when they plunge mto the river. This is esteemed a cliief remedy for
*"lD RSIsia the vapour-bath is used, and is constructed with more or less elegance
«JSrding othe means and position of the people, but all upon the same prmcipK
They arc mostly wooden houses, with a large vaulted oven "eated to such a degree
that the floor is sometimes red-hot. The temperature is i"c^ea»''<^by throwing water
mStt the heated floor; there is little light, and there are small apertures for the
Xpc of the vapour. After being violentlf sweated, the bathers wast and plunge in
* The most costly edifices of the nations of antiquity were public baths : Alexander
was Mtonisbed at the magnificence of the baths in Persia, and ^^-f^'t be equally,
«• not more so, when weTonsidcr the extent and vastness of the Roman ones.
Whatever may have been the origin of the baths in Italy, the use of them was
yery difl-erent from what it had ever been in Greece. The gymnasia of the (.rceka
w^ chiefly Irequented onaccount of exercise, but those of the Romans for the warm
'"in'lUly the gvmnasium constituted a part of the bath ; in Greece the bath was
looked upon as part of the gymnasium ; fience the name of therms given to these
boSdings of the Romans, a word afterwards applied to all the public baths In the
'ThMe baths were the palaces of the people, and their ruins and vestiges still stare
OS in the face. It is said that the I'antlieon formed the entrance to the baths which
AeriDoa built. It was not until liis time and the Emperorsafter Augustus, that they
were built and finished in a style of magnificence and luxury almost iBcredible. At
one time there were upwards of seven hundred public balhs in Rome, dlflerlng, ot
course in ma-nitude and splendour, while the arrangement and construction were
T?ry much afFcr the same type We are indebted to Palladio for the investigations
iid measurements of the ru.ns which still exist of some of the most celebrated He
restored the baths of Agrippa complete. Unfortunately, he did not hve to issue to
the world his laborious undertaking. , „ . , . , »,„,i,i„„
The main liullding of these baths contained large halls for swimming and bathing,
wmc for conversation, others for athletic and manly exercise, some for the declama-
«on of poets and the lectures of phllosophers-indeed, for every kind ol polite and
manly a'S^sement. These rooms were'highly finished, furnished with books and
adorned with the most valuable collections of paintings and sculpture. The most of
S2?flnesrstatueshave been found amongst their ,'"i"«7the l-aocoo". the J arnese
Hercules the great granite columns now m the Palace of S. Lorenzo, at riorcnee,
lUsofountainsfbathing vessels, vases, and other fragments, too long and too tedious
*"N"e;;S'sTa?hs*a'„"d''thoseof Vespasian, Titus, Domltian, Trajan and Constantino
»re nearly wholly destroyed, although we have the arrangement restored and pub-
lished by Cameron from Falladlo's measurement. ,:,„,„(■
The biat-prcserved are those by Diocletian and Caracalla. With the view of
makhig the arrangement understood, here is a plan of Diocletian s, enlarged irom
^\^roo«t complete and elegant baths had generally the following apartments : --
An aoodvterium, or room for undressing; an unctuarium, for holding the ointment; a
«ph«re«tirlum. or large room for exercise ; a calida lavatio, warm bath; a laco-
nlcum. or hot room for sweating ; a tepidarium, or warm room with a tepid bath; and
Uatly, frigidarium, which conSuncd the cold bath. There were other rooms for
baoqueting and conversation. . . ^ ■ i,„„„
The provincial towns had also their baths, both public and private, asm Rome.
The Dubllc baths of Pompeii, discovered in 1824 in a somewhat perfect state, have
thrown considerable light on what the Roman writers especially have said on the
subject. It Is not necessary, however, to detain you with a description ot them, as i
have found all to be much upon the same principle. , n .i, * .
Th*M public hatha of Rome strove to excel each other in a display of all that was
«>nn>oiu and costly, as also in magnitude, magnificence and architectural skill, ana,
«i Plutarch expresses it, " mingled their majesty and grandeur with those other
eloriousfabricsendowed with the bloom of perennial youth. „ „„„i.
Those baths were not built to /wy, in our signification of the word, by so much
return on the original outlay ; they were free Kj the people, and the funds to main-
tain them were drawn from all the conquered provinces of triumphant Rome.
Hail all her imtltuUons becD aa wisely conceived and as deeply Uld in the laws ol
our physical bein", Rome had not fallen, as she did in the fifth century of our era, a
p^y to barbaric Power, but had stood ti the present day, claiming more truy than
She can now claim, the epithetof the Kternal City. And we, with our boasted en-
Itehten n" nT wouh bo a greater and a happier people it in this and some other thinga
'tc had more doselv imitated the pagan Mistre'ss if the World. But I would grow
tedious and now hastou forward to the Turkish Baths. <•„„*„._
'sncc the introduction ol hydropathy into this country, the application of water as
a heaUh r\Vtorer andVurative agiMit of disease has gradually rec^'ived he attentioa
of I may sav), the more wise and thinking members of the faculty These gentle-
men M^e maki gus acquainted not only with the structure of our bodies, but also the
best means necessary to preserve and keep in working order these fabrics so fear-
fully"^^ so wonderfully made. Our fine-art studies scarcely lead us beyond the form
an7att«u5e Tthe liumL.flgure ; the internal mechanism is notjo we" ^ferstood^:
be capaoieanu uispuseu iuimoc. ,,; .u ... » o.™.. — ..-..-- ■;---- '_,„,„ „fi,p,,ith
is a perfect and c-omplete respiratory memteane_which,_whenjn ajtato o^^
et the more we know and Comprehend the structure of ourftame thf-X" ^l"^"
capable and disposed to preserve it in a state of health. We are t^oldtlat the skin
IS a nerfect and complete resp ratory membrane which, when m a state ot licaiin,
gives'^ finfsh and classical repose to the beauty ot man ; butwhen neglected becomes
unsightly and repulsive. Its chief functions are absorption and exhalation. « e am
told that the number of perspiratory pores on the surface of man is upwards of seven
Sllions and that the "ducts leading to these would extend to a length of twenty-
"glit miles If we examine the skin with the naked eye, we perceive its furrowed
ridsres and fretted lines, necessarily providing increased surface. «.„.„»■„„
Tlie celebrated Fourecaulefs el.abOTated experiments have shown that suff-ocatlon
is nroduced by excluding oxygen from the skin. He covered the skins of animals
wirvaniisl^Sd they 5l dl^^d from suirocation ; he thus accounts or the deaho^
he ehilH Fro^enceVwho, 01 tl elVSmotl^^^ X. to the Pontificate, had been
gilded all over to represent the golden age. The fatal stage of the smallpox is when
the pustules break, and thesui-fa"ce becoines|yarnished from the d'seharge. But Ihave
„,i/,.no„o-h to show the importance ot keeping the skm clean, which is thoroughly
It ma>?.'ho^evXnorbeourof 'place -at this stage, to give some idea of the
^'u,rfo''rtun''ately, for myself at least, I have not yet travelled in Turkey ; but we are
told that with the Turkish ladies a bath is announced beforehand «™'l" t» a MUn
En.^land ; the gentlemen are prohibited from approaching every day untila certain
hour, in order that they may be kept sacred tor the women. The bathingapartments
are illumined by a fafnt light, by small domes with l».'"ted windows. They are
oaved with marble of varied colors, executed -with a considerable degree of art. 1 he
^a^fs are also veneered with marble in mosaic, or «c<"Pt"'-f ^ ". mou dings or
small Moorish columns. These apartments are of »,gf»duated temperature ; the
first is of the temperature of the open air, the second of a moderate heat, the others
successively of a greater heat, until the last, when the vapour of the almost boihn-
water rises from the basins and fills the air with its suffocating heat In general,
ttiere are no basins scooped out in the middleof the apartmeirts but merely cocks
continually running, which pour on the marble fioor about half an inch of water, 1 his
water is afterwards carried ofi- by gutters and is 'neessantly renewedL
That which is called a bath in the East is not a compete Immersion but a
successive SpniiailUg mui,:ui .coo ..w,, »..>. v.... , l„,+ -o^all nnar tmt^T
They have music an^ refreshments, which I need not specify ''f*^a"no"- enter
upon the description of those baths I have recently erected at the Hydropathic
"^t'"r':S;re'nf h^rsf'entts the hall, a room l^f-t square lighted from th^^^^^^^
with eyes of colored glass, and cut up, as represented on the section >°to niches varied
in size Around this apartment are small rooms, s"eened off with curtains^^^f^^
dressing, and furnished with seats and couches, and the »™»1 toilet apparatus^ From
this hal the bather enters the frigidarium. or fohng-roomwhiclis the natural
temperature of the atmosphere; it is also 18 feet square and lighted ^rough
colored glass apertures, scattered along each side of the roof. This apartment is
fitted up with reclining couches, to which the bather returns to luxurate^^^ Jrom
this he passes into the tepidarium, or warm room, where the temperature i3 some-
where about 100 deg., and at this stage the process of the bath begins Here are
seats, with shampooing tables. This place is lighted s™>i»f ^ to th« .Ifl'-rtn^""
becoming acclimatised in this room, the bather is now shown into the ^alidarinm or
hot-room, which is heated to a temperature of 150 deg., where »™ »'»V *V.*ts *"<»
shampooing tables. Tliis room is 14 feet diameter, w'th "■^=hes water-dosets &c^^
lighted with colored glass in foliated openings in the '™ of the bast of the sm^^^
crowning dome. In ttiis apartment the sweating process begins, wliicl is called by
scientific writers, "the great cooling process «{ nature." Adjoiing this 's another
of smaller dimensions, where the patient next enters f" the P'-JPosf of usmg the
hot and cold water, the douche, the spray, and other waters Iicre is a niche pro
vided and completely surrounded witfi acmlofpipe Pf f«';«tf,f,.^"^,,^„7^n^i^' "5
upon the bather like a horizontal shower of f*'"-, After the abUiUons arc com^^
in this place the bather returns gradually to the eooling-rwrn to enjoy the most
luxurious repose, where he may sing hymns to the e:o<ls, or wander n visions in
tangible and unembodied, or dre.am of her he has chosen, or longs to choose, as the
companion of his pilgrimage to the grave. ♦!,„«„„,■, .r,. nil laid with
Tllese places ari all nicely fitted up in a superior style ; the floors "eaU laid with
encaustic tUcs upon a bed of mortar spread over the large fire tiles which cover ine
""The mode I have adopted in heating these rooms has proved very su^cess&L The
j"™-i»pi»rifiL™.^'i'!,%°L"'L''^ ;rn"'flu\t:^
both these rooms" the heat of course becoming '«'«« pow^^"' towards the ^oint
requiring a lower temperature, where a chimney is provided f" ca'-ry oil tl«; sm^^^^^^
The furnace-room is placed in the centre of the building. A boiler is placea over lao
furnace connS"d by a circulating pipe with a cistern placed on a platform at the
he gilt of the fi™t floor, where are also a series of eohl-water cistern
The fresh air is introduced at various points from „the external atinospl«re^
the vitiated air passes oft' in the hot room f^o" «"/P"t"'e at the to regulateo by
ornamental plate, hung to shut and open at pleasure. Jhe mod adopted in tnc
... J-i,,, fl,,„ descending within the walls^towards.^the^to^^^^^^^^
warm room is witl
top of the side walls, as shown by these apertures, ......^ """j'^Vihrirawal of the air
is drawn off or extracted by the furnace The admission and w't'lf,^""' j%^f^'iio„
are regulated by dampers, and works with the greatest nicety, so that a circuiaiiou
of pure fresh air is constantly kept up. i,»»i,„ r hovo inst described
Vou will perceive that the plan and arrangement of the baths I h»^« f^t f f crlDea
are based ipou those of ancient Rome, which were the .Anf/t in the worW. i no
problem which was set me, however, was not to compete ,'" «;''°fXe very"malle8t
with those structures, but to produce a eertain accomimila ion at the ver^ 'irking
outlay. It was. In fact, toproduce an establishment wh eh, when in lull worKing
order, would secure a satisfactory pcrceutage. I have, therefore, used a „ooa aeai
of zinc and felt, galvanised iron, and other modern materials „„n-condnctor-a
The walls are of brickwork, provided with a cavity to act as a non conductor a
matter of considerable importance in the economy of hea , especially in those apart
menls which are heated somuch higher than the external atmosphere^^
I have adopted the Turkish or Oriental style, of architecture, with J tou^ch^
"lat the Turk
theless, thel ^: .o .. . ^. ^ — ^. - - - .,<■ +f.;o 1
skill and experience of an architect in the_ erection of works of thisj
Eastern grarideur, so thatthc Turkish Baths f'K" not be altogether a mmiomer to
- itlielesB there is a very large demand made upon tnc praciicai
'.." S".l".Vi., „. i„ ,h„ »r,.ctinn of works of this kind. But I was
the uninitiated ; ni-vert
sk ano experience ol nn areniieei lu ni» >=' ■ ':""" •■-, ' „,. „ „:„,., i,„ . .n arrRne-p the
employed to design Turkish baths, and Turkish baths they must be to airan^^^^^
as freshly as from a perusal of " Lalla Rookh. , , i,„„,..h „*«]„ of archi-
! should be inclined, however, to recommend a thoroughly Lnglish style oi arcni
tecturc as decidedly preferable to this. „„j „!,,„ ™.„of aallsfaction and
These baths are now in first-rate working order and give great Batlstaciion, ana
yield a large and lucrative percentage.
Februauy 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
145
Now, one of the srreat qinistions of the present day is, " How to punish erime, or
what arc tlio beat nu'ans of pri'ventin? it ? On all hands it is admitted tliat Intempe-
rance is the prolific parent of nmeh of the poverty and crime of the present day. Ihc
energies of every community are extensively engajjed in providinjr af^ninst these
evils, and tlie burden falls heavily upon the honest and industrious. Now, it is a fact
tiiatthc lassitude consequent upon a filthy state of tlie body ■■nsrenders a cravinsj for
stimulants ; and it is also a fact known to every one who has liad any experience of
these baths, that their use is one of the liealthful means of diminishing,' this vicious
appetite.
Is it not, therefore, worthy tlie consideration of our majjistrates and municipal
authorities to inquire in how far they can benilit this lar>re and important com-
munity by erecting: a batliiii^^ establisiimeiit of thi;3 Icind, upon a larfie scale, suited in
style and'adornment for all cl.asses, from the workin»r mechanic np to the wealthy
merchant? I have no doubt that such an establislinient would pay, even if the lowest
class of baths were given at a merely noniinal charge ; but wlicn we consid/'r the
matter in its widest sense, and contemplate the beneticial influence resulting there-
I'l-om, we shall. I think, be led to tlie conviction that it would pay even were these
givcu/rec. and became the "Free rublie liatlis of Liverpool." VVe ])ossess a Free
liibrary, the munificent gift of a private gentleman ; a .St. (George's Hail, unsurpassed
1b Kttrope ; we are now provided with an ample supply of pure water ; we possess
numerous excellent charitable institutions ; the enterprise and spirit of our merchant
princes are unequalled either in ancient or modern times ; our coriioration is one of
the wealthiest in the kingdom ; Lancashire is becoming noted for her encouragement
of the line arts, and Liverpool was pronounced by the late Haydon " the Florence
of England."
Is Liverpool proud of this distinguished reputation 7 Will slio lose this oppor-
timitv of maintaining and advancing it— an opjiortunity of being tlie first city in the
king(\oni to establish baths on a scale of magniliccnce unequalled since the period
•when Home was in her glory ?— (Applause.)
Mr. S. Hiir.GiNs cxpressc'd the great pleasure which the interesting and valuable
paper of Mr. liay had given him, and defended the mode of heating the 'rooms
which Jlr. Hay had adopted in the Turkish baths he had erected. It was the liomau
mode, and he believed tlie itomans knew more on the subject than .we gave them
credit for, and carried the system of public baths to a perfection of which we had
little idea, not only as regards arehiteetnral arrangement but scientific appliances
for heating and ventilating. He considered it was greatly to be regretted that so
little was known of the Koman bath. The purposes of inost of the other public
■works of the Uomans, as that of temples, amphitheatres, and triumphal arches, had
grown obsolete ; but the utility of the baths remained to the present hour : and their
destruction was one of the greatest losses which architecture and science had to de-
plore. He said tlic society "was greatly indebted to 3Ir. Hay for bringing the subject
forward in so interesting a manner.
After some further discussion on matters of detail, a cordial vote of thanks was
passed to Mr. Hay for his able paper.
The next paper will be by Sir. Boult, " On the Education of the Student with
special reference to a Diploma."
EXHIBITION OF DECORATIVE ART, PAINTERS' HALL, CITY.
TH K claims of Decoration to r^pk as a fine art have been too long disregarded.
The work which Raffaelle perlbrmed, and by which lie manifested liis genius
as plainly as by his Madonnas, has been held in disrepute. Tlie beauty which
shines forth from the Vatican Loggle and from the walls and vaults of countless
Italian churches has been in a measure acknowledged, bu' chiefly because it was
known to be the work of famous artists. There has been little opportunity
afforded, and consequently but small desire evinced to emulate the performances
of tlie early decorators. Art-practice has been split into sections. We have no
longer painters and sculptors who can as ably design a building or stain a wall
as they can paint a picture or carve a statue. Tlie labor of lives is devoted to
peculiar fragments, into which art has lieen subdivided. The more attractive of
these subdivisions have been hailed as iine art par excelleyice. They have enjoyed
more patronage, and consequently have absorbed, to a considerable extent, the
skilful hands and fertile minds which else might have been devoted to the less
conspicuous but important callings. Amongst the neglected sisters or hand-
maidens of art Decoration has for a long period been banished from our homes.
She who, from the earliest ages, was welcomed with gladness in every home,
without whose presence no temple or church was reckoned complete, who wove
beauty into our gTirments, fashioned our trinkets into lovely forms, and covered
them with jewels and gold, whose aid was ever ready for, and wliose service was
always esteemed by architecture and sculpture, even before jiicture-making
existed, has been shunned and avoided ; our churches and public buildings Iiave
been left, in their nakedness, cold and frigiil for the want of her wanning influence,
her place has been usurped in our homes by a universal ill-begotten chaos of form
and color which testifies to our injustice towards that decoration which was wont
to smile so cheerily upon our ancestors.
Signs of amendment are visible in several quarters. St. Paul's Cathedral, which
lias remained nearly two centuries witli its areliitect's intentions unfulfilled, is now
to be fitly finished. Tlie New Houses of Parliament have called for the decorative
artist's assistance, and the best of our modern churches are deemed incomplete with-
out it. In one of these — .411 Saints', Margaret-street — Mr. Dyce left for a while his
matchless frescoes to rival on the chancel vaults the glories of Saint Anastasia
at Verona. A sculptor of eminence leaves the hewing of marble into family busts
to carve the external decorations of buildings in such manner as they have not
been for years carved in England. In another direction, the school of South
Kensington preserves and lays before the students copies of the best work in
each class of decorative art, and there, also, Mr. IJcU, in eloquent litnguage,
advocates its rights, and maintains its dignity.
If we turn City-wards we find that the old Guild of Painters, otherwise
Painters' Stainers, steps forward gallantly to aid the practical operatives, and to
stimulate them in their eftbrts.
Centuries ago, the decorators, under the before-mentioned t'tle, formed them-
selves into an association to protect the public from bad work, and to furnish
good artizans to the trade. The Company was empowered by Act of Parliament
to deface all bad works, " even the portrait of the Queen's Moste Excellente
Majestie, so that her highness might not be abused by the defonnity of such
portraits, shadows, and pictures, to the great slander of the whole Companie ; "
and, " forasmuch as the true workmanship and knowledge of the said arte and
science of painting or staining cannot be attained, or the execution thereof to be
had, without many years and great diligence," the same Act provided that no
person within the City or Suburbs could lawfully execute or use the said art,
unless h ,' were free of the Company, or had been apprenticed to a painter-
stainer. By this Act, the whole trade was, under heavy penalties, controlled
and ri'giilated, and the Painters' Company stood in tlie place of a Royal
Academy, The most distinguished painters — as we now use the terms td
distinguish tliem from liouse-iiaiuters — were ranked amongst its members, even
as Reubens, Van Byck, and other great Flemish artists, belonged to the similar
guild at Antwerp. Camden, the celebrated antiquary and herald, Samuel Aggua,
the landscape-painter. Sir James Thornhill, Trivett, Sir Goilfrey Kneller, and
Sir Joshua Reynolds have their names upoq the Company's nx;orda. Time* bare
altered, however, since their days; the powers of the tiiiild liave diminiahcd, or
have fallen into disuse. Memberships have been held by men who were not
painters, and who were not in any way connected with the art ; the penalties conid
not he enforced now, neither could the supervision be exercised. Tlw liberty of
trade has virtually done away with the prohibition against the cmplm-ininit of
foreign operatives. In all its main features, excepting one only, the Company
has decayed. The only remaining feature is its ability through "the benefactlooi
of deceased meniliers, to distribute pensions to blind persons, decayed liverymen,
and "poor painters."
Within the last year, however, the Company has been deslroos that the
influence left them should be cxertij for the promotion of impruveinimts In tlie
arts their Guild represents. It does not seek to revive the old coercive powers
which they once so largely exercised, but, recognising the spirit of our times, to
exert their energies in accordance with it. The old fashioned worn-out
machinery is thrown on one side and fn-sli means arc taken to cnhirge the use-
fulness of the Guild, to benefit the jiublic by superior decorative work, and to
give an encouraging hand to the young operative as well as a succouring: one to
the decayed members of the trade. The credit of the renewed life influed into
the Company is due to Mr Scwell, a member of the court. He conceived the
idea of an annual exhibition of specimens of decorative work, and sumated
that the hall of the Company should Ix; appropriated for that purpose
gratuitously to the exhibitors. The object has been to induce members of the
trade to become members of the Company, and by joint co-operation to aid in
the elevation and improvement of the trade artistically and otherwise. The fees
of the Company have been lowered almost to. a nominal amobnt to meet the
peeiiniaiT capacity of tlie operatives. The desire evidently is that the Coropanv
shall be what its name implies, a society of Painters and Decorators; that it sbau
be a nursery- for competent craftsmen, and a promoter of gooil work in erery
branch of the art and science. For the attainment of these objects they appeal
to the wealthy and successful in the trade for a.ssistance and subscriptions. It
would neither be prudent nor just lor tlie Company to incur the entire expcndi-
f ure necessary for tlie carrying out of the proposal. It gives a hall for an exhibi-
tion ; it bestows priziis, either of money or of meiials ; it grants certificates of
merit; it admits effective artiians to tlie freedom of the Guild at greatly reduced
prices, and to all the advantages which accrue from membership ;
it facilitates the apprenticeship of youths to qualified permns, and their subse-
quent admission to the ranks of the coiiipaiiv. Thus it prepares a solid founda-
tion, upon which the permanent and enlarged importance of the decorative arts
shall be established. But the eminent amongst the trade must aid it, as also
must all who take an interest in the development of English ingenuity and skill.
The operatives themselves must respond to the call made upon them. The
company can no longer deface or destroy bad work, but replace it with something
better. Time has altered only its modus operandi. It now seeks to create an
emulation among the workmen, and it invites all decorative painters and others
connected with the painting trade to submit specimens of their workmanship, to
be exhibited in the months of June in each year in the Hall of the Company,
where the different works will be adjudicated upon, tnd rewards given under the
corporate seal of the Company. Writing, graining, marbling, decoration in oil
and distemper, every brancli, in fact, of the painter's art, will he admissible and
thoroughly examined. The publicity given by a gratuitous exhibition cannot be
otherwise than highly beneficial to the deserving artist. One exhibition has
already taken place, and the Company had every reason to be satisfied with the
result ; in fact, the success of the first effort stimulates them to a renewal of it,
so that meritorious decorative artists, like architects, artists, sculptors, photo-
graphers, and others may have an opening through which to rise to their proper
position, and show their capabilities to those who need their services.
The move made by the Painters' Company is one of the most important which
has for years been made by a City Company. It has come boldiv and manfully
forward to acknowledge the altered manners of the times we live in, and to
adapt itself to them, ft strives to carry out the spirit rather than the letterof its
constitution. It casts aside all the restrictions of a former age, because such
restrictions would now be in direct antagonism to the object for which they wa«
originally made. They adopt the very opposite principle because ny "8P~
work can best be obtained, and tlie intentions of the old founders be in tbefuUest
degree carried out. The Company does this at considerable pecuniary «a<:™<»{
but in justice to the charities which have great claims upon it, it cannot bear aU
the expenses which are necessarily incurred, and it has a right to ask aid of those
who are interested in the arts it serves and strives so strenuously to advance.
It is to be hoped that the operative painters will see the advantages which the
Company hold out to them. The more meritorious the works are rendered the
more popular will the Exhibition be, and the more extensively C'r^n'a'™ wdl "e
the reputation of the successful competitors. All painters who believe that they
can do a good piece of graining, marhling, or decoration should enter the 'isB^
show their power. Tliey may rest assured that justice will be fairly admmi^eroi,
and that profit, as well as honor, will fall upon the best men in each departiMnt
of the trade. No better means could be devised to aula good workman, and tt
will be almost a test of a skilful operative that he send a speameii of his powers
to the Exhibition. We earnestly wish it success, and siiall be glad when the tunc
arrives to notice the collection and give pu'olicity to the nani.^ of he rewarded
candidates. The specimens must be sent to the Ball betwcCT the Ist and loth of
Mav, and the Exhibition wUI be opened fi-om the 1st to the 30 th June, ^o»« of
intention to exhibit must be given to the clerk as eariy as possible, and not later
than the 15th of April.
BesisnalionofMr. Marrable, Superintending Architect of the Metro-
politnn Board of II7,r*.«.-Since the last meeting of the M«=t™r'''»" B"'.™ °^
Works (a report of which, so far as relates to his sa arv, wiU be found m another
portion of to-day's impression), Mr. Marrable, the Supanntending Arcing,
has resigned his appointment as Superintending .\rchitectot the Metropolitan
Board, thus leaving at their disposal a lucrative situation.
On Tuesday, Mr. Cowper obtained leave to brm^ in h ISiU to enable
the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Works to acquire aaditional land for the
purposes of the Public Olfices Extension Act of 18o9. The BiU was read a first
time.
146
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 16, 1861.
^v»i T\->4TITrTF (^F" BKITl!*H ARCHITECTS.
ly^^oi rJlSfgrxL^wo'ds.' the [o'^oil thouJJa luB letter ouyUt in justice to be
"5fc. rB..BOSE, then read Mr. I>«i»"j:,\^«-i-;;;f.h,--;V'!'^^^^^^^^ llth, 1861.
''onVd-.y .l"o«t two vear uncTrhalf after the ap,>licatio,, of my process the foro
...^ nf th'e' ri"ht foot 6{ the statue was found separated from the figure, tjie road
part of t^*^."^'""', 'j^J °A,, ,I,,„ .vranite several pieces of which were found lodsod
S^'ISl^^SrKfar'the SeXwWiu wa^suVoscdto be the work of somoidie
'"foweTr^ll's '.Ircumstance led to the proposition of Mr. S^"<;!'"„7 '» 'Xe'S
ra?pJSlss and the man employed by him, broke '''%P™J[\Vf 'hand "holdin* a h'avy
hinS So^n after from some unexplamed cause, tlie left liand, noiaing a niavy
^SSi w^TearlT one mornins found separated from the statue, certainly not from
iK^tr^urto^'he^^'nrof/S'ySfy^^^^^^^^^
bnt did not J"™ '<> "!? in.l f„rlher to show that Sir. JIarshali's opmion as to
"ren^e !n°a^b?f cloT'Vor not™7c"ho utility of my process through the
"^loiriaing for tronblinR you, but thinking it would save the time of the meeting
if you Win re«l this. I remain, dear Shs^^^^ ^^^^^_ ^ ^ ^^^^
To T. H. Lewis, Esq., Honorary secretary,
M?°V^EftrEv"am'h'e"heMl"wrhand an account of the process introduced
a ?aretbuklin^' in Dorsetshire, where rain penetrated almost everywhere^ It
SeiLT^tha nethinsbnt paiutini or some suet. T'i"^*\ nd'forZl'^^ha^ ^ve
SSveVter would do anv "ood Tliat process was laid on, and for moietnan nve
IS^U effe??uLly rSred all the att/mpts made by moist-ire to ■■;3"rc^«>e stone.
tie applied the process to another building, and it " f o^^f^ ™'**',*''*' "aTsJ cheap
Afler some time, however, the weather acted "Pon". but the process ™.»» «o «n™§
that it was well worthy of a trial, and it appeared to him that it ^^^f, ff'^'^^™'™*^"
to be mentioned. The cost of applying tfie process to a large building was only
"'rh'c tfiiAiBMAN - Did the application of the process leave any film on the building?
Mr FFHHF?iThe Drocess SkI not materialfy alter the color but mellowed it and
<raTcit an ro^arance'rf Se lie had also to mention another remarkable instance
^Ihe wVrwSsoap'^ndalum mifjht be applied Th^latc Mr. Whichcord m^^^
a trial of the process of soap and alumTjy applying it to a cistern, where it naa Dccn
foSd to be very successful. Now, he could add to that the testimony of a moat dis-
tSshed St "ct who had used tlie process and found tlic same results; that
gSman "m U woufd not last for ever,'but that "^»« Vnof'^d^^rorti'l" g^nTra
Stand most admirably for a number of years ; and it did not <','^".'™v t _^aierai
cffc" t of ihe building : the buildinfj did not look 1 ke a I!*'"*"! 0^ «''X '™'''^i?f , J,f
one with a nice tone which everybody desired to see m a stone build ng. Me (Mr.
I^^Tylhad bought it r coming to the meeting that cyening to look at
toe H^usf-8 of iSment.^nd in going ove? them that afternoon he ^^
sS^riaed toflnd tlie process of dccSy in so small a degree, espeeiallv after reading the
S"lc. in the 7Vme; respecting it-(Hear, hear). He was extremefy surprised to And
?he de?ec°a were so smafflind Jonflned to P"''''"'"' portions of the buiia,ng^
((Tn/iintr to all narts of it Perhaps, not one five-hundredth part of the whole i)uiian<,
WM Xted "it appeared to him that if this process was to go on the far better plan
wS^d beto leave'^he matter in the hands of Sir. Kdward Harry, and that such por-
tT^^aahadgorshouW be cut out and replaced by ™^^^^
and other Darts of the building he found no traces of decay. 1 he parts ">>''' r decay
WCTethoLwherc the water had come over the weathering, and there, no doubt, the
d^v w^LroinL' on He went tlirongh the Speaker's Court, and it was most namful
to'hlLTfi'-ndltS°a"inted'.n over. IIe\poke wShg^^^
and Mr. Itansome's processes when he said that he *'>0''Kht if instead o' covering
the buildlmr with their nroeesses, such processes had been applied with caution, ine
iS^Uswou^rhave'^beeSmoresitisfactory. Whatever app legation was made must
be of a auperllcial character, and would not alter the "»'""• o''bf«*on''-,,-^"V
appeandtohim that it would be «hc better plan for the faces of the stone u^^^^^
dK^tobe cut away and replaced from time to time-(Hear, b««J^- "fJ^rL?"!
help saying that he 4as Impressed with the undesirableness of proceeding further
at/res^nt, either with /.oplssa or any of the other prrcesses rp<|^rred to.
6r. EmvAnn M. lUniv said, considering the position which he (KCupicd In con-
nexion with the new Houses of I'arliament, he was anxious «" ««y » '«"^ ""f^,' "^^
spectlngwhRt had been stated about the prpcx'sses for the preservat on of atone
w'hieh had been applied to the Houses of I'arliament. He w'«li«l he task had not
faUcn upon him, but upon those who ought properly to h/ve dealt wMth it "»'"»-
cnwdonof the Inslitnte upon the question un.ter '9^"^<^''"l'°"JPZT^fthcZw
have branclied out into two distinct heads, one bearing on the selertion of the ston^.
and the subsequent transaction, in reference to that n;»''ffi"';;'',';;"'her regarding
the processes iow under consideration for the prevention of^h^ further decajot tlie
stone. He must say a word or two on both subjects, lint before doing ^f' pt rhaps
he might be allowe'd to offer his thanks to Mr. Kerrey for P"''-«lmg 1 m n his
protest against the erroneous statements whi.h had been made respecting the extrat
Of the dcSiy of the stone of the Houses of I'arliament- (Hear„hear). That there was
a partial dicay there was no doubt, but It was utterly untrue that it «^«,K^"'™'' "J
extradhig^er anything bnt a very minute fraction of the ™•'':o,b""dln^^-(Hcar.
hear), ttow. as regarded tlu- choice of the stone for the Houses of •■"''ament it was
aelected by a CommieBion, which was, at all events at the time, thought to possess
the conlldence of the Government and of the scientific world. They wererather startled
on the last evening of the discussion by the statement made that the quarry from
^.id? the stone wSs to come was changed after the last selection by one member of
the Con mission, and in consequence of that gentleman having had sent after him to
I oudon a small piece of stone, 18 inches by ii inches. He thought that that was tho
Imnressiou whieli was made upon the meeting ; but he had reason to know that that
wasnot^he i pression intended to be conveyed, and it was not the true acc^ount.
The stone referred to was sent up to London; the result was another vis t to the
snot and the change of stone resulted from that visit. As to whe her t lie change of
8?one was r"ht or wrong the Commission were entirely responsible. The choice of
stoSels it always was with architects having charge of a large building, was ex-
m-dfiiglv dimcult Professor Ansted's statement at the last meeting was through-
ont'm.ded bv "ood feeling, sound judgment, and great accuracy. Then as to Ihe
facts lis Ilith-J? (Sir Charles Bariy)was certainly appointed on the Commission
fOT the selection of stone, and, he presumed, exercised some influence upon it Now,
the event occurred beyond the Umlts of his (Mr. E. Barry's) first recollection.
aidhe"ould only speak of it from assumption of facts, If his father's opinion
™d dWered as to the selection of stone from such d.s ingu.shed men as Sir
Henrv do la Keche, Dr. Uuekland, and others, on the commission, probably as the
architect he might not be blamed if he did not urge his opmion more strongly-
S hear )_and probably most architects, similarly situated, would have acted m
a simnarmanner -(Continued cries of Hear, hear). But then it was said " Look at
the Museum of Economic Geology in .lormyn-street, built of similar stone which
had stood but such had not been the case with the Houses of Parliament. Ho
thlght that upon examination they would find the analogy between the two build-
n°8 failed If they examined the Museum of Economic Geology they would find
that there was a considerable amount of decay. He did not say tlicre was quite so
mud relatrve?y as at the Houses of Parliamei'it, but he thought tliat on the difference
S- posmoii a great deal might be said. Tlie Museum was not on the banks of a sewer
wit"^" no? ert?s on the opposite side-(llear, hear). If they were to examine ho
Miisei m and the Houses o -Parliament, and compare tho amount of decay with the
quant tv Sf stone in the two buildings. It would be found there had not been so much
de?avn the Houses of Parliament as had been represented-(hear hear)-howover
frue U mi "m be hat similar care had been taken in the selection of the stone tor both
buiWings And that as great care had been taken for the selection of the sto c tor
the one as had been in the selection of the stone for the other, was proved by Mr.
GrissenwhS all niust be aware who knew him, who knew his high character, and
the manner in which he performed his duties as one of the contractors for the New
Houses of Parliament,^must be aware that if any mistake had occurred n
the selection of the stone, he would have mentioned it-(Hcar). He did
not think he need occupy any more of their time, as to the selection of
stone but would pass on to notice the machinery which had been
taS to a^eBUhede?ay existing, and to prevent future decay. It would not be
sunnosed by any who knew the Seep anxiety which his father always had in regMd
to a?l Ws works that a partial decay of the stones of the Nejr Houses of Parlia-
ment dfdSurwHhout causing liim considerable anxiety-(hear hear)--and
accordingly six or eight processes for the preservation of stone were tried by hinx
on the Xw Palace of \\'estminster. There was a Process highly reconimcnded
from Erance another from Germany, another recommended by Mr. 1 laines, one or
tw^morrof whieh he (Mr. Edward Barrv) had no knowledge, another recommendc-d
bvMTKansome, and another the invention of Mr. f^erelmey, Th'^'e P™™''?*
hL been Ssed, b It no very distinct result was olftained respecting them be ore his
fatlier's de ith and his (the speaker's) appointment to take charg^e of f he buildmg
The first instruction which he received after having been appointed to the care of
the New l"uace as architect, was that Szerclmey's process had been adopted, and
that it was to be applied by Iiira (Mr. E. Barry) on a somewhat extensive scale. Up
to thattime he ha^paid v?ry little attention to these processes ; he was awarc^they
were beiuir carried on, but he never had any great faith in them-(llear, niax).
Whenfhowever. he was called upon to apply the process "taP/lae t^aud S" •. w4re
anxiois about the subject, and endeavoured to feertamwhat^facts and data were
necessary to enable him to form an opinion on tho subject, lie was awart luat.
from txperience, Mr. Szerelmey's process had obtained the confldence of
da father and when that gentleiiian's investigations were about to come
m^Hd'cT-to-e-sLif ^v%j^.'^^^s^ r;^£3^
il^Sl^^nd'Si^^S:?^ E^^l^-^-^^i^-th^^
?orei^er would not obtain justice at their hands if he "-^^ed '^ "'"^fth the
nrocess-(Hear) Now, he thought that that secresy was "'eonsistent wltn tne
entirely dispasBionato and impartial, and he »hou,d be g lad tnereiore k, J
attention ol the meeting to some o/thfMr most, salient points »« '^"ou d read omy
Chief Commissioner in wh'eh he «Pf,f^/;;,\f,;^f "™V 'he others,] That was in
mey's process which he thought was hettertnan a y j , ,,e ,),o„ght it
WMMmmmmi
[Mr. Barry read, from a Parliamentary paper, the leters,wch were o1^ con. la^^^^^^^
two dlfTerent processes, on the ground that there h»'l "'« of^''^^ ,1 j , tlu.t aVhcmical
afforded for such ajudgment being armTd at Mr. Ita^^^^^^^ ^ ^^^^^ _^__^ ^^.
analysisrespectingthecletails of the rfspectivc pro ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^
ported upon by competent Persons and that me <^^" j. y^ lunsome's pro-
suspended until such report was made. „/hat was i c , nY,rri,,,on TMr. Barry read
test against the report of .Mr. Faraday and ^'•'•^"ooe^ "= '' "^V"'^^ the
the whole of the letters, but we have only "P'',?,<'f%eir"r"'; "'';««, to Mr I'araday;
protest the Board of Works aPP''e' ; o'\ thf «''h "' ^^P",^'/';!;'';;!;*;^,/ a™^^^
inclosing copies of Mr liansome 8 ''•♦". ""'1 of one ton, ^^^^ ^arr ngton an
questingthat.he.would inform the I irst commissi i ^^ ^^^
questing that he would h.form the rirs. ._. "m... .^^ Exposure to the
February 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
147
I
said that on taking into consideration f lie two processes, that of Szerclmcy would
prove to be tlie best. That was on the aotli of April, IHOO, not twelve mouths ago.
And as Mr. Faraday's opinion then was that Szerelmey's process was the best, he
presumed it would be so still, unlesss new eoniUtionH and circumstances had been
introduced into the case. And ho was bound to say that after a very careful
inspection of the work himself, he {Mr. Jtarry) saw no reason whatever to contradict
the opinion of Mr. Faraday which he had read, for as far as the reason of the
senses went, Szerelmey's process Iiad hitherto proved successful, but how long it
might continue so he had no means of knowmg. As to the application of the process
in tlie Speaker's Court, it had been stated that the application had come off in
{dates, or at all events that it had come oif. Now such was not the case— (iiear,
lear). There were parts of the courts which had been touched three or four years
ago, and ho did not believe the process had failed there ; whether it had or had not
could be determined by others, for there the walls were, and could be examined.
Mr. Kansome treated some parts of the building on the river front, close to the
Speaker".'* residence, with his process, hut those parts did not appear to have
been successfully treated. Itut he (Mr. Harry) had bad a hst made out that day of all
the parts which had been treated, properly labelled, and any gentleman visiting the
building could form his own opinion as well as he could— (Hejir, hear), ile did not
know whether this discussion was to terminate in the appohitment of a committee,
or in the appointment of any other recognised course, lie should like to know what
it was intended should be doue, because he might have a few remarks to make upon
the subject.
The Chairman said the Council of the Institute were of opinion that the appoint-
ment of a committee of architects would not be sufTicicut, but that there should l>c a
commission issued by Government for the purpose of bringing to the solution of the
question as great an "amount of scientific skill and talent as possible,
Mr. Kr>MUND Baruy was glad to hear that such was the intention, which met with
his liearty approval, as it was a course the most likely to lead to be'neiicial results —
(Hear). As to whether the body should be appointed jointly or not was another
matter, but he had reason to believe that the matter was occupying the attention of
the responsible portion of the Government, having charge ot the great building in
question. IJut, whatever course might be adopted, it would be his earnest desire and
pleasure to co-operate with any parties who might be appointed to make inquiries
on the snbject.~(Hcar, hear). 11 is only desire was that the best remedy that could be
found might be adopted under the circumstances. That was his earnestwish in con-
nexion with the office which he had the honor to occupy in reference to the great
building, and it was no new idea with him. In December last he oifered an advice to
the Hoard of Works to the effect that the whole matter should be referred by them
to such a committee as would have their confidence for their scientific and pro-
fessional attainments, lie for one was opposed to asking patronage for a secret
Eroceas, but he was careless who did the work so long as it was well done— (Hear,
ear).
The Chairman then called upon Dr. HofTmann, one of the most distinguished
chemists in this country, to address the meeting.
Dr. IloFr.MANN said he had not been employed on any of the processes, but his
advice had been asked once or twice by the Chief Commissioner of Works, who had
requested him to direct his attention to this subject, more particularly for the last six
or eight weeks, and that was the reason why, perhap.«,hc might address a few words
to the meeting. The task which was thrown upon the shoulders of the chemist in
this case was one of the most difficult tusks. The element ol time whicJi was in-
volved in the possibihty of arriving at a due appreciation of the value and success of
a precise invention would have to regard a process imitating, if he might say so, the
truth of time. The processes which had hitherto been propo.sed were essentially
based upon two essentially different principles. Some of tlie processes were for tem-
porary preservation, while others were intended for final and permanent preserva-
tion. The processes which intended the temporary jireservation of the stone would
appear to consist in the proposal to use agents that sealed up the pores of thestone,
so as to render it impermeable and inaccessible to the action of the water. The pro-
cesses for the permanent preservation of the stone intended to produce a permanent
alteration in the coiisfitutiou of the stone. Whatever might be the causes of the
decay of the stone, and various causes had been suggested, thougli expres-
sions rather than proofs had been given, as far as his opinion and expe-
rience went, he thought that the extraordinary rapidity with which
the stone in question absorbed water, had something to do with them. Now, this
stone absorbed water like a sponge, and that he believed had a great deal to do with
the decay. The great cause of mischief and failure was the action which the water
imbedded by tlie stone had when the -water freezes. He was of opinion that in a
measure, at all events, the weakness of the stone arose In consequence of the extra-
ordinary amount of water the stone absorbed. Then if that were so, and if they
succeeded in permanently sealing the pores of the stone, they would retard, if not
perfectly avoid, the decay ; if they could seal the pores of the stones so as to exclude
the action of water, he believed the question would be half solved. If they saturated
the stone with oil, they saturated it with a perishable substance. So long as the oil
remained the water would be excluded ; but the oil deca>td. Ile did not see how the
condition pf the stone could be improved by the introduction of sulphur, but he
believed that stone could be beneliteil by the introduction of oils, such for instance as
linsc^ oil. As to the permanent preservation that involved processes of a ditferent
kind, and they had been explained at the last meeting. They were essentially two-
fold, the first being that known as Fuchs' or Kiihhnann's process, and the other as
Kansoine'a process. lie believed there was some misapprehension as to the original
intention of Fuchs' process, before it was carried out by Kuhlmann in France.
Now, these processes for the permanent preservation of stone were not capable of
demonstration by actual experiments. The action intended by Fuchs' process was
twofold, or double decomposition (which he explained). The first action would be
the change of the nature of the material of the stone— the transformation of the
carbonate of liine into the silicate of lime. The second action was the deposition of
a certain quantity of silica at the pores, partly of the carbonate of lime and partly of
the silicate of lime. Then, as to Mr. Kansome's process, it was the mixing of the
silicate of soda and the silicate of lime, to be put in the pores of the stone,
there was a quanilty of the sihcate of lime to fill the pores of the stone ij^and it
was said that this silicate of lime was combined with the particles of the stone. Now,
it seemed to him, as far as his experience went, that there was no actual experi-
mental success in favor of either of these processes. There was in favor of Fuchs' or
Kuhlmann's process, that chalk actually hardened under the process. As to the case
of Kansome's process, he would wish to suggest whether it was possible by his pro-
cess to consoliilatc a ball constructed of powdered chalk, as that would be an idea
as to the hardening of stone under this process. As far as ho understood the matter,
it was impossible to decide in favor either of the one or of the other process.
Theoretically, he had no hesitation in believingthatthechances were greatly in favor
of the original process of Fuchs, carried out by Kuhlmann. The reason was this—
in this process the action took place extremely slowly, gradually, and the silica was
enabled gradually to form part of the stone, and to form silicate of Umo. The very
fact that this decomposition took place gradually and slowly was, he believed, one of
the great advantages of the process. But as to the other process, if the decompo-
sition took place rapidly, the chances of the silicate of lime combining actually with
the substance of the stone were rather slender. But, however, he did not wish in
any way to press the distinction he had drawn; but he had thought it proper, looking
at thisgreatiiationaU|i;e3lion,and as ho had been invited to attend the meeting, to
speak out his niindonthesubject— {Hear, hear). He knew that the attention of a great
number of chemists had been engaged on this important question, and he would throw
out this suggestion that the resources of chemistry were not exhausted in the proposals
hitherto made in this matter-(Hear, bear). If they looked round they would find that
there were a number of substances wliich deserved the attention of those engaged in the
preservation of stone. Sibcic ether, which contains between I'lO or 70 per cent, of
transformed into a hard mass of silica or quartz. Now, the question pr'-x iit<-tl lt«i-ir,
could not this agent be used in the cons<illi!atli)Ti of the stone? Hi Ihr. w it out an ■
Biiggestion whether It might not bi r. irythia aubitauce on the •luiu>—
(Hear). An objection which present. .. ii be this, that tlu- price of inch ■
material was too high to bring It ii.! .■. He enllrely agri-ed with Mr.
Ferrey as to the partial nature of the ilecay of the llouws of I'lirriuiicnl, tnd pro-
bably it might be desirable to have recourse even to a more expeuilve nutcrUl toaa
had hitherto been used. I'liere was no doubt that one of the adraDtages which In
practice Mr. Szcrelmey had achieved was in the combination of the temporary pre-
servation with the Intended ixirmaneut preservation. Now, this silicic ellier would
appear to lend itself to this temporary and permanent preservation. The HiUolcether
sinks in the water but does not mix with the water, and the itone beo
impermeable, and has received temporary preservation, as the stone la no \o
accessible to the action of the water. [Dr. llotrnmnn then submitt. d to the mei
two small stones from the Houses of I'arliamcnt, as being ex i fwbatbe
raid about the action of the silicic either.] Silicic litli. i .- a* aa
oil; it would prevent the water from entering, because the pi ■-• wat«r
would enter was occupied by the ether, and then It would have au ■ llect upon ttie
permanent preservation of the stone. He simply tlirew out these obsenratunu a»
suggestions. Hitherto the substance he had referred lu had been used as a cliemleal
curiosity,for nobody had thought of applying it. Ur might state that he bad n»
data as to the price, which was high, but it was the result of general experience In
chemical operations, that if thi'y tailed in getting a substance for love or money 1
they asked for an ounce, let them only ask for a tun, and they wouUI get It at onoo —
(A laugh). And our chemical manufacturers might, perhaps, be able to produce aUlde
ether at a sutllciently low price, so as to enable them to apply 11 to those loeal parte
where the action of disintegration had taken place. He thought it would scarcely be
jiossible to apply this agent to the whole of the building, the expense would be so
great. He had always thought it would be necessary to apply a preservative agvnt
to certain loeal.portions of the building, the other parts which were unalTcc ted by dtetcf
being left without It
TheCiiAm.M.vN said, Mr. Ansted andsomeof the sneakers at the formermcedlin
had told them that once the action of decay had 'set down on stone it could not 5o
arrested. Now, he wished to ask Dr. llofimaun whether the process of using siUclc
ether would tend to arrest Incipient decay?
Dr. II0FF.MANN said be could not answer the question as a whole In tbc waf Itt
which it had been put. He believed a great part of the dAiay was owing to tho
absorption of water by the stone, and if they could get rid of that by any proccaa.
that would assist in the preservation of the stone.
The CiiAiii.MAN supposed it was essential that the stone aboidd be free from water
at the time of the application of the silicic ether.
Dr. ItoFF.M ANN. —Exactly so. In the same way an applying oil to a stone, wUeb
must at the time be dry in order to preserve it temporarily.
In answer to another question from the chair.
Dr. Hoffmann said he believed If the building could be iO protected as to avoid
those constant washings by atmospheric action, Mr. Sren'lmey's process would be
far less doubtful than it appeared to be. In less humid cUmates the process bad been
found to be more successlul.
Mr. White inquired whether the silicate of quartz deposited ftom tho ether, a>
described by 'loflman, was expanded or contracted by frost ?
Dr. Hoffmann said he had not bad time to make large experiments on tho
subject, he simply took facts wlilch were known to every chemist. In any chemical
manual they would find the silicic ether described, and the (bicf Commissioner of
Works had suggested that some experiments on a large scale should be made If
reference to the subject. This silicic ether deposited a silica of such a degree of hard-
ness as to scratch glass and was perfectly impermeable to water.
TheCiiAiH.MAN then called upon I'rolcssor Tenuant, one of the greatest mlncral-
logists in this country, to address the meeting.
I'rofessorTEXNANT said he went to the Houses of Parliament last Slonday, and saw
a number of men brushing flown.tlie loose portions of the stone— others using a kind of
paint, which will look better for a short time ; but when looking at a court done a few
months since, he saw a man busy brushing olT a kind of efflorescence. That ought not to
be so, if the process was considereil to be effectual. Were we likely to benelil, in tho
erection of any new building like the New Government Olllces. or a permanent Crystal
I'alace, from our experience of the Houses of Parliament, liuckinghamj'alace, British
Museum, or other buildings ? He feared not. He felt certain that many valuable,
and in some cases better, materials arc lying useless in the rocks for the want of the
engineer, architect, or proprietor making their qualities known. At the time tho
Druidical monuments were erected, the Ancient Britons bad neither roads, canals,
nor railways. In the British isles we have about U.iiOO miles of rails, which gave tho
moderns a very superior advantage, and they had also the opportunity of examining
the flue old castles, cathedrals, and other works. In this and other countric-s. Tho
speaker then referred to tho compact sandstones of the coal measures, compact
limestone of the mountain limestone, Syenite of Mount Sorrel, near Leicester, and th e
stone on the Malvern Hills. , ,. ^ , .1.
Dr. Franklani) pleaded guilty to the charge of having been consulted in the
matter under consideration by Mr. Kansome ; but on a subject of such naiipnal im-
portance, he hoped to keep clear of all, prejudice, and to give his candid opinion
respecting the processes proposed for the preservation of stone. With regaru to ino
dlirerer.t processes that had been before them, he concurred almost entirely wiin too
remarks of Dr. Hoff'mann. He believed that any process which Involved the use or
a material that contained organic matter was a process that could »"' "^ -™f •. "Pr
organic matter would decay j though they might till up the pores of the stone ano
prevent aqueous and other substances getting in, the organic matter would In time
decay, and then the original process of decay went on. These remarks appUMW
Daines' process, as It would to other oily processes ; and the ""•P''"","''^?^" ???*
was injurious to the appearance of the stone. With regard to the '»'»'''' e""*?,^-
cess, he entirely agreecf with what Dr.Hoinnaun had said as tothe "«"" <fr™"'''°'
Fueiis' and KuhhTiaun's materials. But he believed it had been found 'hat this pro-
cess of producing silicate of lime within the PO'!'''. »f 1^0 stone was so idowthat con-
siderable progress might be expected to be made in the decay '**''''''^.Pi'r»'»*»°^
the desired aSd neceslary effect. Then coming to Kansome .s P"'"* V''',"^^. 5^«
next free fVom organic matter; they found there l"™'''^^^ a, Pr'"'^'^'^,^,:' '■?,•*,?;;
retically spcaking:at all events, seemed sound-the I'"™:'" ?f'"P';;^'"*''",^\^ 'f "^.^
with a sohible material, and then impregnating the «t»n«'^«'' ""';[, 1°'",™;°;?^
rial, to provide an Insoluble niateriarwithm t le s one. That wa.- «li.U h, - "noe v.^
to be Mr. Kansome's process, and it was similar In Its resnlls to lopted
in the application of color and bleaching, l rom examination of > tne
Hou.ses of Parliament that had been operated upon byJhcp_roce^- ■ 10, ana
from the specimens of stone on tl
he saw that an entire crjstalllzation
pure quartz, the rest of the contents being spirits of wine, had the remarkable pro-
itact with atmospheric air, and it was then '
pcrty of tmdergoing decomposition in contact '
nouses 01 raruamem iiiai imu ueeix«i'v..."-. .-r — , ,- v. r.j Ka^« ^n..r,.t.-.l ntwm
from the specimens of stone on the table wlilch l"?*^ »>«'n ^r;"'''1 «P^^^
he saw that an entire crjstallization had taken place. And he «""" °°' J.'f'^'^S
how in any other way such a hardness could have b«;en produced-how it ro^^^^^
been produced without such an aggregation »"<' -^^ ? »''«f '»"• '\" 'y? '*V^^^
thenartlcles of lime first precipitat.-d. Cndoubtedly these processes ""gin to dc
ann&w en the stone was in is driest possible condition ; to apply such l'roc"»«
hfvime" or in rnois" weather, was out olShe question »«?'' "P^^f. '""f^Ctto
be made during summer, and wh™ the weather was 'he dr es J) '' "S*"' ™ "JJ
suggestion thrSwn out by Dr. Hoffmanu «'»;'V''S '^^'^ "'^^S''^^" ^hi 'JucS wVeS
ingenious one he perfectly agreed in all that he had said. HeJ""' "°"<*"?^V!JI
r^pe ° 4 Tn 'siUcfc ether%,l;ich were great Iv calculated to harden ^"-^^n^no
louU the proposed process of silicic ether ougtt at once to receive « S^ «°f ""^
nletc trial There was only one circumstance connected with it that wouia oamp
he r ardoi'ir aiidlthat was its present enormous price. He wanted several pounds o«
t 'but 10 on;. 3d undertakcVfor a long time to make tho,"*'::."" '"»• "L^?,'^?,"
could prepare the silicic ether. At last, one gentleman undertook <" """''^"'"f.iv
toumprepar . i,,„„ble quantity, at the rate of £0 per pound Andy'tt°«
of cheap materials, flint, chlorine, charcoal, and methylated spirit B
prepa
if he would take
ether was made
148
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 15, 1861.
of wine (now to be had ;it u cheap rate). And if the material was ordered in large
<iuantities he had no doubt it could be obtained at a much cheaper rate than
it could be at present. — (Hear, hear.)
ilr. Uaines. tilt' patentee of one of tlic processes for the preservation of stone, then
made the followiuir statement : —
" Since the vear 18;V> considerable discussion and controversy has been carried on
relative to the'subj«H'l before the Institute this evening:; and since Lord Lyndhurst
brought mv patented process— accompanied by a twoyears' eertittcate ustoitselTi-
cacy from the late s^ir Charles Harry— under' the notice of the Government in the
lionseof Lords, the great object in every discussion and con*roversy has obviously
been aimed against the value of oleaginous and fatty matterB. I therefore beg to
state to the Institute this evening the inducements which led to my employment of
linseed oil, as set forth in my patent date<l llltli August, iso-i. On June •2'i\u\, ISOO,
Messrs. Svdney Smirke, G. (j- t'cott, Arthur Ashpitel, Edmund Woodthorpe,
Bdward Mackmurdo, and James Hutiledge. M.D., and Professor Campbell (by
analrsts) confirmed the certificate of Sir Charles Uarry, after a six years' test upon
the walls of the Houses of TarUament.
*' From time immemorial oleaginous matters have been employed by chemists,
architects, and masous for the preservation of stonework from decay, and when
properly applied simple linseed oil has been proved to resist the action of the atmo-
sphere for periods of from 15 to :;u years, although like paint (a preservative and
decorative process for wood, &c.) it has found a host of opponents in the numerous
inventions which have been patented to snpei-sede Its use ; yet, notwithstandinjj; the
acknowledged deleterious properties of the latter, who has ever been found clever
enough to introduce a satisfactory substitute for paint?
Now, having learned from numerous scientific and practical men the valuable
properties of oil as a prescrvativi- medmm, I set myself to work to ascertain the most
mdestructible body which might be found to combine with tliis long-tried preservative
process.
" I found that the element sulphur, at a certain temperature, was readily taken up
and retained in solution by the oil, whilst during the process the vegetable mucus of
the oil is precipitated and the watery particles evaporated, and their place supplied
by the sulpnur.
'* Itis stated by chemists that an clement by itself is incapable of change. Sulphur
may be by heat, fused and converted mto vapor, but in both conditions it retains its
essential properties. Light, electricity, or magnetism are per »e also incapable of
changing it. A particle of sulphur ever remains the same individual, indestructible
atom of sulphur, and only in chemical union with other bodies does it disappear to
us, and is incapable of detection by ihe perceptions of the senses, liut when we
dissolve this chumical union it appears again with all its essential characteristics,
being liberated from the combining influences of other substances, and appears again
as slmpl'j sulphur, which is insoluble in water and suHVrs no change by exposure to
air; and further It is kuowji to be a decided foe to vegetation (a prolific source of
decay in stonework). Itis a mechanical combination containing no deleterious pro-
perties likely to act chemically upon the surface or body of the stone, and thereby
decomposing instead of preserving the .basis operated upon. Observation and
practice have assured me that it must be a simple mechanical combination, bearing in
view all the circumstances connected with the various localities that will form the
tltitiilereUum as a universal remedy with reference to the object of its application.
*' For these rcas.ins I have selected sulphur as the basis of my indurating medium.
The stone so treated becomes extremely hard and impervious, and so far as 1 have
been able to test its preservative qualities a period of nearly seven years, shows not
only that no decay has taken place, but time seems actually to increase its hardness.
"The solution is simple ana inexpensive in its application, and is applied with a
common paint brush to the surface of the stone until it will absorb no more, and
generally five dressings will penetrate to the depth of from | to ^ an inch according
to the nature and absorbent properties of the stone. 3Iy first specimens of from 45
to :^XJ yards each were completed in two days, whereas the two competing bays so
much discussed, prepared by Messrs. .Szerclmey and Uansome upon the river front at
the Houses of I'arliament wore commenced August Uth, Its.*!), and supposed to have
been completed on September ^ird, but the heavy driving rains of September made it
necessary to re-operate on those specimens again on the-'ittli and again on the 5th of
October. The works executed by me at the Houses of rarliament over a surface of
nearly 2,(XX» yards have never been retouched by me ; and further in all eases where
my process may. be employed, so satisfied am I witli its etficiency for the purposes
intended, that 1 am prepared to engage lor any reasonable period of time to keep
such buildings in a clean and perfect state of surface repair tor the annual payment
of 10 per cent, upon the original cost of the application of my process."
Mr. Geokgf. Oilbeht Scott then made the following statement as to the results
■of experiments made at Westmiugter Abbey ;—
Suicions ami other Chemical Processes, as applied to raj/ully Decaying Stone in
Westvibisier Abbey.
I. The Water Glass ; tried in 1857 and 1858.— The effects still remain and the stone
is a good deal hardened and the decay in part arrested, but by no means perfectly.
IL Air. Paul's System, Alumlnatp. of J'vtasa ; tried in 1857 awe/ 1858.— About the
same In all respects as the water glass.
IIL Mr. Pansonie's System, Silicate of Lime; tried in 1S57 and 1858.— Not very
different from the above. The stone is hardened and decay in part arrested, but
not perfectly.
IV. Mr. Szerelmey's Process (this is placed under the liead of silicates on the faith
of the statement made to Dr. Faraday, though Mr. Szerelmey's pamphlet would lead
to a contrary classiDcatiou); tried in 185U.— Stone much hardened, efl'ects remain
though apparently diminished ; decay only in a small degree visible.
Experiments have al.HO been made on a somewhat extended scale, both with the
soap and alum and with Uocha's silicate. The effects of the soap and alum appear
to liave ceased, those of liocha's system remain, but 1 am not able to judge well of
its efficiency.
JCestnoiis and Oily Processes^ as applied to rapidly Deeayiny Stone in
Westminster Abbey.
I. Solution of Shellac in Smrits of Wine.— 'Xhia has answered admirably for in-
ternal work and also for work in the open air. but defended against rain, but has not
asswered where exposed to rain, though in some cases where used upon plain ashlar
faces it is pretty perfe«'t. It has been used internally for between four and five
years, and a few external specimens for between three and four years.
II. Solution of White }t^x in jf'«r»e/j(iHC.— Has been tried for about three or four
years, but has failed.
III. The same fcitn the addition of Stearine.—llM answered better, but is failing.
IV. Mr. TJaijte's Process, (Jil and Sulphur.— UaB hccn tried since July, 1859. It
has hitherto answered almost, though not quite perfectly, the stone is very much
Iiardened. One specimen shows a little failure under the projecting coping.
Mr. Jejimnos referred to the use of gums. There had not been many experiments
made in reference to the use of gums, but he thought that such experiments should
be made. He had tried them for many years both in Kent and Suffolk, but It did
not seem that the results had been very permanent. Then, as to the use of diamond
cement, it was the employment of gum which lasted both iutcrnally and externally
for about thirty years.
Mr. Penrose thoughf. after what they had heard from Dr. Hoffmann and Dr.
Frankland. they would be in favor of the trial of silicic ether ; but, as that substance
was so expensive, then: were cheaper proccsHCS which might be worked well. He
had no knowledge of lian^ome's process, but of Szerelmey's he knew a little. Mr.
f)zerelme7 was introduced to lilm by Sir Charles Barrj-. He (Mr. Penrose) was seek-
ing for a good kind of nalut for Ironwork In the exposed part of St. Paul's
Cathedral, and Sir Charles liarry said he had been unable to succeed with the iron-
work on theroof of the Houses of I'arliament until he met with Szerelmey's granitic
paint; and he would advise gentlemen to look at the results of its application.
Szerelmey's wash had answered in brickwork, and lie had applied it to the compo
front of an exposed house in Kent, where it had entirely obviated the difficulty pre-
viously experienced. He had always used it in the interior of St. Paul's Cathedral to
give a color, and with success. It was very desirable, he thought, under existing
circumstances, that a commission appointed by Government should issue for a full
inquiry into the whole subject.
The Chairman drew attention to some objects on the table which bad been acted
upon lor preservation, and which were sent by Mr. Couch.
Mr. GoDfliN moved, "That the Council of the Institute be requested to me-
morialise her Majesty's Government, urging that a joint committee of architects,
engineers, geologists, chemists, and other competent persons, be appointed to inquire
into the various proposed modes of preser^-ing stone from dccav, with special
reference to the present condition, causes, and extent of decay of the stone of the
Houses of Parliament, and that in the meanwhile no further large applications of
washes to the exterior of the building be permitted."
The Chairman read from a "ijluebook" a letter, of date 28th August, 1813, which
bore out the statement of Mr. Kdward Harry as to the selection of Anston stone. Sir
IIenr;>' de la IJeche and Mr. Smith taking upon tliemselves the responsibility of the
selection of the stone.
Mr. TiTE. M.I*., replied, and in so doin"- remarked that the discussion which had
taken place would be of the greatest possible use both in a public and professional
point of view. Mr. Edward Barry had that evening addressed them in a modest
but manly way— (Hear, hear). His defence of his father was natural, and it was en-
tirely successfiil— (Hear, hear). Sir Charles Uarry was, he (Mr. Tite) thought,
entirely exonerated from all blame, as to the failure of the stone of the Ifousea of
Parliament.— (Hear, hear, hear). The honorable member proceeded to say that the
failure of t lies tone was a most unfortunate thing, and he believed that the decay
was going on very extensively. He did not mean, however, to say that the whole
building was in a state of decay, because he believed a large portion of it was crys-
talline, and perfectly indestructible. He was of opinion that the Government ought
to issue a commission to make a full inquiry into the subject they had been consider-
ing for three nights, and he seconded Mr. Godwin's motion.
The Chairman, before putting the motion to the meeting, thanked the scientific
gentlemen who had attended their meetings on the subject under consideration, and
given them the benefit of their information upon various points.
The motion was carried unanimously.
A second vote of thanks having boon passed to Mr. Tite, the meeting broke up
about eleven o'clock.
CURATORSHIP OF THE SOANE MUSKUM.
PERFECTLY well can -we understand why, when giving his Museum to the
public. Sir J. Soane should have been anxious to have his Iiouse as well as
its contents preserved intact as part and parcel of his bequest. Grantin*y that
such solicitude proceeded from vanity, the vanity whicli prompted it was
excusable enough, for on the walls of the picture-cabinet might now witliout
impropriety he inscribed, ^' St monumentum quarl'i circionsptce." Small as it
is, that single room suffices as a worthy and most appropriate monument of the
man — of his peculiar felicity of contrivance. Wliy Soane should have greatly
diminished the value of his gift by allowing the Museum to be open to visitors
on only a very few days in tiie year, is not so intelligible; something ungracious
in it there certainly is. Still more unaccountable is the pure caprice of trans-
ferring the power of appointing a curator fi-om the trustees to the president and
council of the Royal Academy. Had it been " enacted " that on such occasions
the Pr:)fes3or of architecture and the other architects belonging to the Academy
should have a voice in the election of a curator conjointly witli the trustees, that
might not have been deemed jiltogether unreasonable; whereas it seems alnaost
like disqualifying the trustees as being not sufficiently trustworthy, when we find
them not entrusted with the clioosing of the individual who has to act
immediately under them as their officer in tlie capacity of curator, and whose
efficient discharge of his duties most of all concerns them — he being, in fact,
responsible to them, and to them only, as t Iieir servant.
The candidates for the appointment are .said to he legion ; yet, if so, what the
pretensions of the majority of them can be it is difficult io guess. That Mr. S.
Hugginsisone of Ihem is no secret to the readers of the Building News.
Uniortnnately for him, his having contributed so largely and so ably to our own
columns, prevents us from expatiating, as we could else witliout impropriety do,
on Ids merits as a most earnest student, and a no less thoughtful and conscien-
tious than elegant writer.
THE METROPOLITAN ISOARD OF AV0RK8 AND THEIR
SUPEKINTENUING ARCHITECT, MR. MARKABLE.
AT their last meeting, held on Friday, J. Thwaites, Esq., in the chair, the Metro-
politan Board of Works took into consideration a report from the Streets Com-
mittee, recommending, " That the salary of Mr. Marrahle, superintending architect,
be £,1;^0<), instead of £8)K> per annum." Memorials generally against the proposed
increase were presented trom the following vestries and district boards -.—Greenwich
(which prayed that the report of the committee might be printed and circulated
amongst the vestries and district boards before any decision upon the recommenda-
tion was arrived at), lSerniondsi?y, Kensington ("reprobating" any Increase of
salary), Plumstcad, Mile-end Old Town, and St. Martiu's-in-thc-lields. The
memorials were received and ordered to be entered on the minutes.
Mr. Deputy Harkihon, who stated that he was a member of the committee ap-
pointed to consider and determine what should be the duties of the superintending
architect under the Metropolitan Building Act. when the present Hoard came iuto
existence, said the duties which had been performed by Mr. Marrable were far
beyond what it was contemplated the superintending architect should bi; called upon
to perform. Now, he did not think the superintending architect should be called upon
to perform duties undiir special Acts of Parliament for the formation of new streets
without being considered by the Board. He then proceeded to say that he looked
upon Mr. Marrable as second to none when engaged in compensation cases of an
important kind. And he thoufjht that in justice to Mr. Marrable and to all parties
they ought to consider lus salary at tlie present time. They had thrown upon their
arcliitect a very considerable amount of additional duty, and there was but one
opinion among i)rofessional men engaged in compensation cases as to the position
which Mr. Marrable had taken and the advantageous settlements which he had
made for the Board. He had saved the Board, and tlirough the lioard tlu' ratepayers
of the metropolis, thousands of pounds by his judicious settlement of compensation
cases. Mr. Marrable had proved a faithful and useful public servant for years,
and was entitled to the proposed increase of salary. That gentleman had had
some favourable olfers made to him for the resumntiou of private practice in con-
nexion with public improvements and other speculations, but Mr. Slarrable did not
wish to leave the Board if an inducement was made to him to remain with them. As
to the money which had been saved to the Hoard, chiefly through the talent and
exertions of^Mr. Marrable, he might mention that under the Act for the Jormatiou of
the Covcnt-garden approach, the claims for compensation were £l(H,88r ; under the
Act for the Southward and Westminster Improvements, the claims were £517.29";
and under the Act for making the \'ictoria Park approach, the claims for compen-
sation amounted to .tija.lus, making a total of .«71.>.5U'J. Well, the settlements
effected by Mr. Marrable amounted only to £10^,^5.1. Ue moved the adoption ot the
report of the Committee.
Mr. CAur3iA£L seconded the motion.
\
\
February 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
Jfr. liRisTow, 31.1'., moved ai4 airnmcndment, " Tlmt the report of the Streets Com-
mittee be reeeived and printed : that a copy of it be sent to each vestry and district
board ; and tliat the report be taken into consideration by tlie Board that day fort-
nialit.
3Ir. Snow seconded the nraendinent.
On a division, the amendment was lost by a majority of '.^9 to r>.
Sir. Savaoe, who thought the proposed increase of the architect's salary from
.£800 to £l,:iOO wa.i too hir(;e. moved a.s an amendment " That the salary of Mr. Mar-
rable be inereai^ed from Jism to £1,000 per annum."
Mr. Brookeu seconded the amendment.
A discussion followed, in wliieli Jlessrs. Bristow, Dixon, Nicholay, II. L. Taylor
Phillips, Lcshc, Doulton, Alderman Lawrence, Freeman, I'cckett, IIukIics and
Kooch.
Mr. Deputy IIakrlso.v, In reply, findintr that tlie feeling of the Board was asainst
the proposed increase to £1,UOO, abandoned the motion, and stated that he should
vote for the amendment.
Various members were opposed to both motion and amendment, beine: of opinion
that £bOO a year was suflicient for the salary of the superlntendlnfj architect.
The question beiUK- put, and a division havmif taken place, there appeared for the
amendment 27, aK-ainst it !i. The amendment having been put as an orlj.'inal motion
It was earned by ^4 to (i, this majority being more than two-thirds of the Board
present (tvro-thirds being required by tlie Act for the rescinding of a resolution), the
salary of Mr. Marrable was thus raised to £1,000 per annum.
(^mes^on&tncs.
STONE ON ITS NATURAL BED WKIISUS "BED WAY UP."
SiR.--Having taken great interest in the discussions at tlie Royal Institute of
British Architects on the cause of the decay of stone, as reported in the Blilding
News, I have not observed it stated wliether it has been fully ascertained that the
stone used has all been placed upon its natural bed in tlie buildinn-s showin"
symptoms of decay. * *'
This is a most important point to ascertain, because I know buildings where
some care has been taken to set tlic stone on its natural bed, but from the fact of
great difficulty being experienced in ascertaining whicli really is the natural bed in
some stones, agood deal has been set "bed way up."
I know something of Anston stone, and several limestone and sandstone quarries
■where stone of very superior quality is got and extensively used, but which would
puzzle the most e.xperienced person to determine which is the natural bed witliout
applying one or more of the tests I wish to point out.
The Telacre and t'effan quarries, in North Wales, the stone from which is a "ood
deal used in Lancasliire and Cheshire, and of good quality, presents this ditficniry in
the second and third beds of rock or strata. Manley quarries, near I-'rodsham in
Cheshire, yield perhaps .some of the best stone in England, both for appearance and
durability, but wliich is frequently spoiled, either from neglect in setting it "bed
way up," or, what is quite as bad, not knowing the natural bed from the face in
consequence of the even and regular texture of the stone. The same may be said of
one bed of stone in the Longridge quarries in Lancashire, and also the Warwick
quarries (proper) in Yorkshire, and likewise the Prudham qnarjies in Northumber-
land, all producing the most valuable stone of proved durability when properly used
as may be seen in several old buildings in the respective neighbourhoods of each of
the above-named quarries.
The same stone may, however, be seen, taken from the same beds in these
qBairies, either partially or in .on advanced state of decay, which, upon close
e.xamination, I found in nearly every instance to have been set the wron**- wav
of the bed. ° ^
I have been at consider.ible pains to ascertain this, in the neighbourhood of the
quarries to which I have alluded, by making inquiries from some of the oldest
quarrymen or masons, as to the length of time any ot tlie buildings I have noticed
have been built, and also to get correct Information what part of the quarry the
stone was got from ; and. although the builders might have long been dead, yet the
traditional knowledge of their successors generally served as a clue to the requisite
information.
I could point out buildings wlierc some attention is supposed to liave been paid in
setting the stone on its natural bed, but irom the fact of tlie difflciilty in ascertaining
this in certain kinds of stone, a good deal has been set " bed way up " without this
being actually known, and the consequence is, it shows symptoms of decay.
Any scnsll>ie mason can tell, within a few minutes after lie commences to work a
stone, whether he is working it the right way of tlie ted or not. This is one test
which may for tlie most part be relied on, although not always with certainty. As
an additional test, J Itave s<iuared and rubbed apiece of stone on three sides' to a
smooth surface, and liave invariably found one side present a very distinc^nishable
appearance irom the otlier two, and generally been able to discover the natural bed
from the face. The distinction will become still more marked if any one will loolc
at the three rubbed sides tlirough a glass ; as he will observe what appears like
small flakes lying flatwise among the particles of stone, which is a sure indication
of its natural bed.
I am strongly convinced, from observation, that scientific investigations or
chemical tests will, in a great measure, be rendered abortive, unless the very
greatest cai-e be taken in.settmg the stone selected for any building on its natural bed.
I am, Ac, A. A. W.
Wanstead, February Uth. Clerk of Works.
THE YORKSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY COMPETITION.
Sin,— You would confer a favor upon myself and many others in the profession by
allowing me space in your widely-circulated .Journal to inquire what the Yorksliirc
Agricultural Society is doing with the competition plans sent to them for laborers'
cottages and farm buildings. The drawings foi- cottages were supposed to be
delivered in Yorkshire on November 15th, and plans, &c., for farm Duildings on
December 1st, and here is the 12th of February, and not even an acknowledgment
of their reception has been given to the competitors. " Patience is a virtue,"' it is
true; but I think it high time some one began to be impatient and make a stir on
this subject, particularly as competition in a maiority of Instances is, I regret to say
carried on most unsatist'actorily. '
I am, &c..
Lower Clapton, N.E. Edwin Calvert Morris.
WEDGWOOD MEMORIAL, BURSLEM.
Sir,— Allow me, through the medium of your columns, to enter an earnest protest
against the treatment reeeived by tlie unsuccessful competitors in the second com-
petition for the Wedgwood Memorial Bulldingat Burslem.
It will be remembered that in tlie first ecmpetition, professional assistance was
secured to aid tlie Committee in selecting the best design. In their report the pro-
fessional advisers selected four from whicli to choose the ])remiated designs— recom-
mending at the same time that neither of the designs should be carried out,— that more
explicit instructions should be drawn up, and that the autliors of those four designs
should be invited to a second competition. This report was adopted by the Committee
wlio added two, however, from the other competitors making si.x in the whole. Against
the addition of these two we protested, from more than one cause— but having faith
ill the skill and judgment of the gentlemen under whose advice the step in respect to
the second competition was taken, we consented to furnish another set of drawings.
Much to our astcuiishmeot, the prize was awarded to one of those gentlemen whose
names were added by the Committee— even to the gentleman, whose previous
design had not been deemed "worthy of comment" by the selecting architects.
149
We have Just now, however, btvn infomied that the MTvlrrii of tluMi >»><i«_«
mgs having been examined and decided upon In one. or .c ", J,MiiS2[l
was made by the Committee without any irofe.slou, I a:.-. "wV^^^SS^
«v?.™t"„re''sTa<Uv,' lu,'" T ?f P"' »f "»' ' "".mittee. a. we,l,„ul.l l..v ,' rTTuI^ th.fr
I „l)^ir. 1 ■ "",'P<^^f "■'' fof ""« moment that they intended to i x.rclw ih.lroirn
of o ??, A.nl'' '" "<■''•"•">-' ","'''«»' di-'un. .Moreov.-r. to add to our di-t^u. . fr°"d
1/ /J ,,^,-7. >?''"'''''■'''';'' ,""■■" '" " »I'«I<'W In wliich thevw.n- .. xhll.il, d t. «
pu;r'fS''w'!,?cirir;r.,.'t::;;:u..i' "'''''• "■' •"""""^' 1-1.1 u. „nworthVofm:
indicated't".!'';,?*^.',!!? /"""'"f ^y which tills result has boei brought .boat bu bmi
wi h the se eeJinn th .nVn"'*' "{T." """ "-"'"f"" PTllolily h.. h«<l f.r more to do
We ch»n,™ .^ ," «"yf «'"■"» pro|KTties of the design In question.
imnart^afiiZ^i'm ?',"•. "''■ '" "'T"" ""' •*'■'"•'"" ^ "'« »»"d of compel, nt ud
impartial judges, and not thus covertly to make an award to one of their own rlkmi- •
for had such a moile of selection been avowM in the flrat Initance we Jboold wrl
tainly not have condescended to become competitor.. '""•'''P. we iKOOia ctr-
We to. Sir, jronrs faithtolly,
Jo» 8L-PRA V™.
TENSERS.
Wareiioisf., Londox.
lor alterations and additions to premises No«. 5fr and Ma, Wood-itnet. CItr
^.'nnit'n • ^^'^- *•«""• Tlilottand Chamberlain, irehltecU ; quMtlUM
AshbyandSoni £3,o(»
"'."w 3.010
Heath aooo
Wills (accepted) 2,je7
supplied.
Hill £-l.Vi7
Turner and Sons 3,(iro
Browne and Robinson .l.tW
Cannon 3100
District Works, Holborn.
For removing the dust from the houses and the sweepings (toa the streets for one
KReddin £1400
H. Dodd i^sij
John Eoston (accepted) i.ijo
Paving, London.
For paving the carriage-way of Gray's-inn-lanc, from KIng's-road tothebonndary
of the parish of St. Andrew, northward, with Mount .Sorrell cubes. Mr L H.
Isaacs, surveyor to the Ilolborn Board of Works.
P. Aspinall £l,.V,'a I .J. .UowlemandCo £l,*er
H. Booth l,.',!? W. Scwell (accepted) 1,430
W. Styles 1,4«7 I Sun'cyor's estimate 1,S75
CnAPEL, Wei-mol'th.
For the works in the erection of the Hope Congregational Chapel, Wermooth.
Haggett and Pocklington, architects.
Daubney £1,470
Seamen 1,440
Brown 1,430
Paul! 1,320
Reynolds and Son 1,193
Williams (accepted) 1,140
IMRSONAGE-HOl'SE, CANTI.ET, NORFOLK.
For the erection of parsopage-house, Cantley, Norifolk, for W. Gilbert, Esq. Mr.
J. il. Brown, architect, Norwich. Quantities supplied.
W. If. Kpaul, Norwich £2,030 0 0
,1. Worman 1,042 0 0
.L W. Lacey l,«88 0 0
R. B. Foyson 1,014 10 0
H. J. Norfor, Yarmouth 1,572 0 0
Hotel. Nantwich.
For pulling down and rebuilding the Lamb Hotel. Nantwich. Mr. ,T. Bower, jun.»
architect. Quantities supplied by Messrs. Nichols and Bower.
Farrell and Ledger £1.800 0 0 I Itowker £1,321
Hodgklnson l,r)80 .! 4 Field 1,24»
Ray (accepted conditionally) 1,330 U 0 1
Dwelling-house, Clafiiam-road.
For a house to be built in the Clapham-road, Wandsworth*common, forG. H.
Swonneli, Esq. Mr. G. H. Page, architect. Spencer-road, Wandsworth.
Ashby and Sons £1,1)70
Ashby and Homer 1,025
Willson 1,«14
J. and C.Todd 1,SS8
Notley 1,4W
Langtree 1,4<I3
Bass 1,395
Hotel and Wareiiocses, London.
For building Smith's St. Paul's Hotel and warehouses In Newgate-street and
King Edward-street, City, exclusive of chimney-pieces, stoves, cooking apparatus,.
and fittings. Mr. George Grayson, architect Quantities supplied by, Mr. Morris
Ev.ans.
Brown and Robinson £14.100
Lawrence and Sons H.OflS
Bowley H.OOO
M.instield and Son RSSO
George Myers 12,1100
Charles Fish 12.*«0
CONTRACTS OPEN.
CHUKCHE.S.
Wig AN.— For the execution of the various works required to be done in erecting and
completing a new church, proposed to be built at luce-ln-Mackerfleld, near Wgan.
Plans. &c., at the overseer's ollice, in Ince-green-lane, in Ince, also at the office of
the architect. Mr. E. G. I'alev, Lancaster. Sealed tenders, endorsed " Tender for
Ince Church," to the sccrc-tary, Mr. William , Gerrord, Incc, near Wigan, by
February 2i. CHAPELS. *c
Burslem.— For altering and enlarging the Wesleyan chuicl at Longport, and
erectin"' new vestry and class-room thereto. Drawings, £c., at the office of Mr.
George" B. Ford aichitwt, Burslem. Tenders to W. M. Edge, secretarj- to tho
Trustees of the said chaiud. Queen-street Pottery, Burslem, by r,' noon of Feb. 28.
R08SALL.— For the execution of the various works required to be done in erecting
and conipleting a new chapel proposed to be built for the school at Rossall. near
Fleetwood. l*lans. &.C., at the Bull Hotel. Preston, and at the office of the archi-
tect, Mr. E. (r. Paley. Sealed tenders, endorsed " Tenders for Itossall Chapel," to
be sent to 3Ir. Paley, by February 23.
INSTITUTE.
WAKEfiELD.— For the whole or any portion of the works required in the erection of
150
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 15, 1S61.
a buiUlin:,' for the \Vukea.Ul Church Institution. I'lana, &c„ at tho rooms of the
Instituiiiiu. in (iutvii-strect. W:ik(fidd. Tenders to Mr. .). C. Marks, Strniford-
square, Xorthgate, Wakelleld. endorsed, " Tender for Church Institutiou," by
■^TooDsToi-K.— For crtctinsr a chapi-I on the burinl STOund at Woodstock, for
the burial board, with internal flttinsrs complete. I'lans, iSic, at the office of Mr.
Hawkins, solicitor, Woodstock. Tenders scaled, endorsed " Tender," by post,
prepaid, to Mr. Ilankins, by Feb. -'."■■
*^ '^ SCHOOLS, &c.
BtACKniBN.— For the various works in the erection of Wesleyan schools, and
masters' house, St. I'eter's-street. Blackburn. Drawings, &c., at the Wesleyan
chapel vestrv. Clayton-street, Blackburn, to Feb 23. T' ndcrs sealwl, endorsed
" Tender for'Wesleyan Schools, to Kev. K. lieyworth, Wesleyan minister. Black-
bum." toilarch 2.
HOSriTALS.
CHATn.\M. — For the erection on pronnd near the New-i*oad, in the parishes of St
Har^ate, Kochester, and Chatlmm, Kent, of a dispensary and hospital, comprising^,
wards for M> patients, with ap.irtments for the officers and servants of the esta-
blishment, and till' other building connected therewith. Persons wishing;- to tender
to send their names to the architect, Mr. Kobcrt I'hilip I'ope, Ko 21, liedford-row,
Grays-inn, London, by 3th Februaiy, when they will be informed where the
auantities can be obtained on payment of £i 2s. per copy. These will be ready on
le i>th February, when plans, &c.,may be seen at the office of the architect. The
tenders to tlie clerk to the Trustees of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, free, sealed, and
dir«ted to " The Trustees of .-^t. Bartholomew's Uospital," endorsed " Tender for
Hospital," by 7 p.m.. of February 20.
IXEDs.— For convcrtins Springfield Lodge, Little Woodhonse, Leeds, into a
hospital for women andchildrcn. I'lans, &e., may be seen at the offices of Perkin
and Backhouse, architects, rease's-buildingfs. No. .^i. South -parade, Leeds, on
which day tenders arc to be sent in to the architects before 5 p.m. to Feb. 22.
CORN EXCHANGE.
KoRwicn.— For the erection of the intended new corn exchange. Norwich, exclusive
of the iron-work in roof and columns. Plans, &c., at the offices of Mr. Barry,
city surveyor, Norwich ; and in London, at the offices of Messrs. Goodwin and
Butcher, architects, 37, Bedford-row, W.C. Quantities and forms of tender, on
application to the architects. Tenders addressed to Mr. Isaac Bugg, Bank-chambers,
Norwich, to March 7.
FAKM RESIDENCE, &c.
Herts.— For the erection of a farm residence and stabling, on Hotaellbury farm,
near Hitchen, Herts. Drawings, &c., with Mr. G. Low, architect, 10 Basinghall-
atreet. City. Tenders to February 26.
KAILWAT WORKS.
Thibsk.— For the erection of anew station at Thirsk, forjthe North Eastern Railway
Company. Plans, ic, with Sir. Prosser, the Company's architect, York. Sealed
Tenders addressed to .J. Clegliom, the secretary, and marked " Tender for Thirsk
Staion," bv 12 noon, February 27.
Tebat.— For the construction of a passenger station, sheds, foot-bridge, and other
works lat Tebay. Drawings, ic, at the office of Mr. T. Worthington, Castle
Station, Lancaster.
Caledo.mak.— For the construction of the Douglas branches of the Caledonian
Railway :— 1. A branch railway (called the Douglas branch) commencing by a
junction with the Lanark branch of the said Caledonian Railway, and terminating
near the 27th mile-stone from Glasgow, of the turnpike road from Glasgow to
Carlisle. (This braneii is about seven miles, eight chains and a half in length). 2.
A br.inch railway commencing by a junction with the Caledonian Railway, and
terminating bv a jnuction with the said Lanark branch. (This branch is about
nineteen chains iu length.) 3. A branch railway commencing by a junction with
the Lanark brancli, and terminating by a junction with the Douglas branch.
(This branch is about twenty-three chains in length.) These three branch rail-
ways are to be let In one contract, to be called the " Douglas Branches Contract."
Plans, Ac, at the^ office, in Glasgow, of Mr. George Graham, the company's
engineer, where duplicate schedules and blank forms of tender may be had on
application, price one gUin ea. Sealed tenders, addressed to the secretary at
Glasgow, must be lodgeti with him by 3Iarch 11.
RAILWAY WORKS.
ImTRiVERS. — For the coBstrnction of the remaining portion of the Inverness and
Boss-shire railway line, unlet, extending from the shore road of Dinjrwall to the
west end of the village of Invergorden, a distance of 12 miles 5i furlongs, or
thereby. The works comprehend : —1st., About 400,000 cubic yards of cuttings and
embanKmente. 2nd. About 24 overway and underway bridges, and bridges over
streams and burns, the largest being 60 feet span. The rails, sleepers, and fencing,
Ac, for the permanent way, will be supplied by the company. Drawings, &c., at
the offices of Jlr. Jlitchell. C.E., Inverness, from whom, or from Mr. Paterson, the
assistant engineer, may be obtained duplicate schedules, at 408. each. The cost of
the detailed measurements shall be paid by the successful contractor. The whole
line is staked out at distances of 100 feet between Dingwall and Invergorden, ac-
cording to the working section, and an assistant engineer will attend at Dingwi'.ll
on Tuesday the Sth day of March, .and Tuesday the 12th day of March, to accom-
pany contractors along the line, and point out the sites of^ the bridges. Sealed
tenders, addressed to the secretarj-, A. Dougall, Esq., and marked "Tender for
Inverness and Ross-shire Railway Works," must be lodged at his office, Railway
station, Invernes.s, by noon of March l>i.
WATERWORKS.
Bradford — For the forming, building and completing of a catchwater conduit, of
upwards of two miles in length, in the townships of Silsden, Addingham, and
Draughton, and parishes of Klldwick and Skipton, with the branches, residuum,
lodges, weirs, overfalls, and other works connected therewith, afj also of certain
minor conduits in the said townships of Draughtoii and Addingham, in the said
parish of Skipton, all In the west riding of the county of York. Plans, &c., at
the offices of ilr. .John W. Leather, No. 1, Bond-place, Leeds. Tenders to Water-
works Committee of Bradford corporation before March G.
GASWORKS.
8i;!tDERi.ANn.— For the construction and completion of certain portions of the
intended additional gasworks, near the Blue Ilouse, Ilendon, and adjoining the
Durham and Sunderland branch of the North Eastirn Railway, comprising a
retort-house, chimneys, purifying-house and oth<rr buildings connected therewith,
and a cottage, for the Sunderland Gas (.'onipany. Drawings, &c., at the office of the
company, 61, Fawcett-street, Sunderland, and at the office of Mr. T. Ilawksley,
C.E., M, Great George-street, Westminster, S.W., where (price £1) bills of quanti-
ties may be obtained! Tenders must be delivered at the offices of the company
by February 29.
DRAINAGE.
Wbitechapkl.— For laying down certain pipe drains at the Industrial School,
Forest-lane, West Ham, Essex, for the guardians of the Whitechapel union.
Plans, &c., at the office of Jlr. Simmonds, surveyor. Great Alle-street, White-
chapel. Tenders at the workhouse of Ithe union, Charles-Street, Uile-end New-
town, N.E., before six p.m. of February 19.
SEWERAGE.
8l. Mary, Iblingtom.— For the day and jobWng works In connection with the con-
struction an<l repairs of sewers and gnllies for the vestry of St. Mary, Islington.
Form of tender and contract (wliich alone will be received) 2s. 6d,, may be had at
the Tcstry olBee, Upper-street. Scaled tenders, before 10 a.ni., March 6.
PAVING, &c.
Uabylebokk. — For the new paving of the footways of Marylebone-road, from
Cleveland-str<-et to the Edgware-road, with three-inch "Vorkshire paving and best
blue AU-rdeen picked granite footway and kerb. Th-i Y'orksliire paving to be at
per hundred superficial feet, and the straight kerb and circtilar kerb at per foot rim
The whole quantity being about 100,000 superficial feet of Yorkshire, and about
i:i,(K)0 feet run of granite kerb, and the work to be done in the years 1861, 1862, and
18<i:t, in about eijual proportions in each of the said years, and each portion to be
kept in repair by the contractor for t hree years from the completion of each separate
portion. I'articulars and snecifications oil application to the Vestry Surveyor, ilr.
Robert Scace. Tenders before March 2. from 12 till 1 o'clock.
Leeds.— For p.iving, flagging and Icvelhng streets in thi; borough of l-eeds, for
periods of one, two, and three years, materials being supplied by the town cotmcil
to the contractor. Specification at the ollice of Mr. E. Filliter, C.E., borough
surveyor. Town Hall, Leeds. Tenders, addressed to the "Streets and Sewerage
Committee, " endorsed " Tender for Paving." by 10 a.m., Feb. '22.
MILITARY WORKS.
IlAnM'icii.— For sundry alterations and improvements at the circular redoubt,
Harwich, Essex. Parties willing to tender must leave their names at the Royal
Engineer Office, Colchester (where plans, &c., may be seen), by Feb. 2S.
London District. — For all wojks aiul repairs at all barracks and other buildings
iu the occupation of the War Department, within five miles of the Commanding
Royal Engineer's Office, 11, .laines-street, llnckingham-gato, S.W., including
Turnham-grcen Militia Barracks, from Ist April, 1801, to 31st March, 1802.
Schedules and printed forms of tender (pri?e Os) at the above office until the
23rd Feb. ; and tenders, sealed, addressed to the Director of Contracts, will be re-
ceived at the War Office, Pall-mall, to Feb, 20.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and communications to be addressed to the Editor of the BuiLniNO Jnews, 20,
Old Boswell-court, St. Clement's, Strand, London.
The Editor cauuot undertake to return unused manuscripts.
Erhatum in the last number, Feb. 8, 18U1 : Ironwork of (Jope"Che3t, York ; the upper wood-
cut, p. 116, should be Cope-cUest No. 2, and the lower one Cope-ciiest No. 1.
Ali-sed W. Mokant (Great Yarmouth) — Commuuicatlou has come to hand; tlianks for
favor.
A. II. I'., while thanking ns for what he Is pood enough to term our Interesting and valuable
Answers to Correspondents, asks If we cauuot extend its usefulness by making all replies
lutelUgible to everj' reader. Such a course would be possible, no doubt, but we think It
be neither necessary nor desirable; many communications addressed to this dc])artnient of
our Journal require, from tlicir peculiar nature, replies intelligible oiUy to the jiropuunder
of the query ; wherever It seems desirable we frame our replies so as to be ot^intcrest to
readers generally. We think that A. II. P. has found, hy experieucc, that we never omit
to reply to ally question iuchidcd within the scope of our pages.
A Cadet.— We were .not previously aware of tlie circumstance to which our correspondent
refers.
T. Johnstone.— The engravings published In the Building News can only be obtained by
purchasing the numbers. They are not published separatelj".
S. B. W.— l*rol)abIy b.v public competition. The site named contahis-about 16 acres.
K. S. A.— The first estimate sanctioned fui Buckingliaui Palace amounted to £2^2,090.
B. A. ; James W.— Too late.
TuoMAs P 8 We can, certainly, conceive of such ,i case; it would be yery exception-
able.
OEOttOE Williams Not within our province.
Messrs. C. and U Statement shall be kept In mind.
A New SoBscaiBEB.— Designs for villas have long been deferred for want of space. Not too
often.
n.— Index "has been Issued some time, and should have been delivered with tho Number
noting Its publlcatlou.
O. B Of so many schemes as arc before the public it is not easy to say which is the best ;
probably none for all occasions.
C. IhiKT.— Not original. We are not to be Imposed upon so easily as yen appear to imagine.
W'. M. ; It. Wolfe.— No.
M. B. W.— Your communication is of considerable importance, and we shall hereafter return
to Its consideration — We wish, however, to give you an opportunity of revising certain
portions after perusal of the following extract from a Treasury minute, dated iwrd June,
1826 :— " With respect to the disallowance of the charge of five per cent, upon the expendi-
ture for the works carried on at the King's I'jdaee, in Saint James's. park, which has been
made by Mr. Nash for his own remuneration; ray lords concur with the Survcyor-
Genefal In opinion, that such a charge could not be admitted on the part otai>ersou
superintending a public work in the character of one of the cstaUisIied and salaried archi-
tects of the Boarcf of Works, whose commission Is limited to three per cent. Hut they are
informed, after having made further inquiry Into this subject, that the cinployracnt of Mr.
Nash, In this instance Is of a very peculiar and distinct description, Iiivolving labor and
responsibility, differing greatly In character and degree from what is imposed upon the
arcnltects who superintend the public buildings e.>:ccutcdundertIieaiithont3- and directions
of the Board of Works, and as It appears that this employment is aualogiais tu tliat of BIr.
Wyatville In the restoration and alteration of Windsor Castle, who receives the full coin-
mlsslon allowed to architects in ordinary cases, my lords consider that Mr. Nasli should
be placed on the same footing In that respect witli Air. Wyatville, but on the condition that
while employed on this especial service he is to be considered as being entirely detached
from the service of the Hoard of Works, both with respect to salary and to the superinten-
dence of any new works which may be undertaken anil directed by the .Surveyiu-Ueiieral,
while, on the other hand, he Is to eoulinue to afford to the Survcyor-ljencral the
benefit of his prolessional opinion and advice, whenever called upon so to do, witkout re-
muneration."
Thomas Keene — Y'es, but pray be concise.
W.andT Case was reported in our second Volume. ., . ,
S.— The strength of a slab of slate of file dimeuslons figured would be quite four times that or
a slab of stone of similar size. ,,,,.. ,- , „.,
R. s. T Sulphate of lime is the base of several cements particularly Panan, Keene s, and
Martin's, llurax is added to I'arlan, and peailash and alum to Martin's.
C.K..; Ironmaster.— Thanks.
Aacur
another (
spondent.
,,' '''■'TUTIU. I'UlltX. ,. , .. -. --. -J - -. „ , .
full Particulars and Form of Vontracl.
For one or more houses not exceedmg £2i)0 £1C
For one or more „ „ iOO 23
Foroneormoro „ ,, 750 30
For an ornamental cottage or villa, not
exceeding . 1,000 40
For „ „ IfWO «
For „ „ 2,000 W
For all exceeding £2,000 nt :) per cent. „ „„„ , _>
If engaged as architect to supcrinlcnd any building amounting to £2,000 and upwaras,
provided the drawings of every kind, specifications, amt forms of controct arc to be
flnlshc.1, the charge will be 5 per cent, on the amount at the building. 1 ho expense of
the journeys to superintend, to be paid by tlie employer, and also tlie Clerk ol the
Works
We rcltcriite our desire to receive copies of any examples iu tho possession of our
Suliscrlbers.
E. Fellowes.— By SirKo'uert Snilrke. . . , ., ,j , r ,
CtiisiTon Stueet.— Thanks for preference ; shall be better able to decide In a few days.
J.N.-Thet''owerof"(}raK,at°Alxda-Chapelle, though said to be ofRoman origin, really
dates about 1200.
W. llial).— License is not necessary. „„„„.» j.„ii„.
A MAsTiJii Bi'iLDEK.-Kuraours have reached us of the proposed movement; wemust decline
to interfere at present. , .. . .
W ViNCE.\T.— Not drawn with sufllclent care s details are wanting.
B. M (l)artmnuth).-Howcttn we tell without particulars ?
Messiis J. AND P.— Papers not received.
ACAUPENTEn.-Leavc nameatourpubllshlngofHce. lerliaps. .,„„„,,:
J. TABBUirN.-l. The estimate for St. George's, Bloomsbury, by Mr. Ilawkcsmoor, the archi-
tect, amounted to £9,71)0; the total cost is said to have exceeded that sum by £3 only. a.
8t. Pancras Church, as has been often stated, cost about £70,000.
Z Lo^fk for reply next week. „ .„- t, „l . ,-n .y \ c -or r\ ,
Keceived-B. liose i S. and Co. ; J. R. V. : M. I. : M. -W B. ; Photo. (Bath.) ; S W. O. !
G.C.; Charles I'cttin; An Associate; T. Smith; W. \ ; K. Lewes; Mac iJonald: G.
Fllghler- C- X. Y.Z ; A Header (Wolverhampton).; Q.; T.Clarke; F.Bolton; W.J.
February 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
151
CONCENTRATION OF LAW COURTS.
V A ERE evidence required of the im-
' '^* practicable and obstructive cha-
racter of the legal mind — or per-
(.'S^<r^ haps it would be juster to say the
% — ^ judicial mind — we have only to
_^ ^ turn to the melancholy exhibi-
^ tion made by Lord St. Leonards
V in the House of Lords last Friday
evening. If there be one point con-
cerning the administration of justice
upon which the public, judges,- bar-
risters and attorneys are agreed it is
on the desirability of concentrating
Courts of Law into one neighbourhood,
and in the vicinity of Inns of Court and
public offices. For the last twenty
years the corporate representative of
solicitors has advocated this measure.
Scarcely a day in term passes without
complaints from judges of the lack of
accommodation, and of the unsuitable
and unhealthy character of the present
courts. And we do not believe one
suitor in a hundred is to be found
who has not experienced addi-
tional costs in his lawyer's bill,
ss of time, increase of his personal expen-
diture, and delay of justice from the existing
dispersion of Courts of Law, and of their ac-
cessory or subordinate offices. Yet the ex-
Tory Lord Chancellor had the courage and obtuseness to stand up and
oppose the only scheme by which this much-needed and important
reform could be effi^cted. Delay in the administration of justice prac-
tically amounts to its denial. So long as a suitor is prevented, no matter
by what cause, from obtaining justice, justice is refused him. It
matters little to him that he has a right to it, if the right does not secure
it to_ him within a reasonable time and during his lifetime, and if it
remains solely of an abstract character. Delays have made Chancery
Stink in the very nostrils of the people : it is hated, shunned, and abhorred
for this simple cause by all classes of men, the more thoroughly the
more intelligent they are. Men of business would rathtr submit to almost
any loss, to the grossest extortion, than be involved in a Chancery suit,
because they never know when they may be freed from it. It may
cling to them through life like the fatal shirt of Nessus, corroding and
consuming their whole system. It may even descend to their children
and their children's children. Lord Eldon's memory is odious for his
delay ill giving judgment, and for no other cause. We know that he
■was painstaking and conscientious, that his decisions are monuments of
judicial acumen and equity, yet so ruinous to suitors was his deferring
judgment that his historic doubtings were unfairly regarded as proceed-
mg from mercenary motives. Themain, ifnot the, whole grievance against
Chancery is its delays. Tliey are the burden of the moanings about
" Bleak House," and are the cause of that hope deferred which maketh
the heart sick.
Since the various Law-reforms have been carried out subsequent to
Lord Brougham's great initiatory measure, the chief cause of delay and
excessive costs in all law suits may be traced to the dispersion of the
courts and offices. Those of our readers who h-ive unfortunately had
experience in the matter need only refer to their lawyers' bills for proof
of the truth of the proposition. There they will find abundant items
of charge incurred by agents going from one part of town to the other
in prosecution of suits ; cab hire, clerks' time, &c., and they will also
find charges for attendance in courts or chambers when postponements
had to be submitted to from the inability of council to be present; a
witness before the Law Courts Concentration Commission mentioned a
case of four or five adjournments. How oflen does it happen that the lead-
ing counsel, who has received heavy retaining fees, fees for consultations
and refreshers, never appears in the case from his inability to get from
\\ estminster to Lincoln's Inn or the City in time. When this takes place
tJlie money is so much dead loss. It might as well have been cist into the
Thames tor all the benefit the suitor derives from it, and what is far
worse interests of weight and moment have to be confided to a junior —
a mere 'prentice hand. Those of our readers whose good genius
has preserved them from the meshes of the law, common-sense
will teach that the dispersion of Courts of Law must inevitably
be fraught with unnecessary delay and costs. How could it
be otherwise when the courts are not only periodically vagrant
and scattered, but their subordinate offices are situate at remote
distances and dis^iersed ? For instance, the Common Law Courts, the
Queen's Bench, Common Fleas, and Exchequer, hold their sittings at
Westminster, bat their depjudent offices are scattered a long way off.
In Chancery-lane are the courto of the Anodate* and Manballi, the
Queen s Remembrancer, and some of the offices of the Mssten in
Common Pleas, and the Registry of. ludgments; in the RolU G»rdeM
are the Judges' Chambers; in two portions of the Temple are the
offices of the Masters in the Queen's Bench ; in Serjeant's-inn are the
remaining portion of the Masters in Common Pleas and the R^trr
of Judgments ; in Stone-buildings are the Exchequer Masters' Offices.
Lords Justices', and the three Vice-Chancellors'— are held at West-
minster and Lincoln's-inn. The Master of the Rolls sits at Westminster
and the Rolls-house, but he, as well as the tliree Vice-Chancellors, have
no courts at Westminster, there they have no local habitation, while
the offices (nineteen) belonging to them are dispersed in as many
difrerent localities. The Lord Chancellor sits at Westminster, and lus
secretary's office is in Quality-court, where also is the Registrar ir.
Lunacy, while the Masters in Lunacy are in Lincoln's-inn-fields. The
Bankruptcy Courts are in Basinghall-strect, but Bankruptcy Appeals
are heard m Quality-court. AVhen the Vice-Chancellors leave the court at
AV'estminster to transact business at their Chambers, they must proceed
respectively to Stone- buildings, or Old-buildings, or New-square, in Lin-
coln's-inn, dragging in their wake suitors, barristers, attorneys, and clerks.
The Probate and Divorce Court sits at Westminster, compelled to hold
its sittings in the Lord Chancellor's Court, having none of its own,
but its subordinate offices, those of the Registrar and Depository of
Wills are in Doctor's Commons. The High Court of Admiralty is
likewise without a court, and sit^ by permission of the Collcce of
Advocates in a hall which is their private propertv. What would \>o
thought of a builder who had his office to receive chents in AVestminster,
his workshops in Doctor's Commons, his draughtsmen in Lincoln's-inn,
his accountant in Chancery-lane, and his foremen in the Temple?
To remedy the numerous inconveniences that arise from the existing
dispersion of the offices through which justice is administered, to shorten
the delays and costs of law suits, and to provide half a dozen branches
of the Law with courts that now have none, an admirable scheme has
been devised which will cost tax-payers notliing or next to nothing,
and which will occupy a site in close proximity to the legal districts,
where are situated the chambers of barristers and the offices of the
majority of London attorneys — a site that, comparatively speaking, is
of little annual value, and that when occupied as it is proposed to do,
will conduce to the sanitary and architectural embellishment of the
metropolis. If this chance be allowed to pass unjirofited by, we may
have to wait a long time and go a long way before the like advan-
tages may be met with'.
The Royal Commission upon the Concentration of Law Courts, which
sat last year and was composed of Sir John Coleridge, Sir W. Page Wood,
Sir G. C. Lewis, Baron Wynford, Dr. Phillimore, and J. Young, Esq.,
were unanimous in thinking the concentration of the courts, with their
offices, desirable in every respect, and in selecting for the site on which
the structure should be erected, in which the concentration should be
effected, the ground that is bounded by Carey-street on the north,
Pickett-street and the Strand on the south. Bell-yard on the east, and
Clement's-inn on the west. The Commissioners unanimously proposed,
with the except ion of Sir W. Page Wood, that the cost of purchasing the
site and erecting the building should be defrayed out of those funds
arising from profits on moneys lodged by suitors who neglected to invest,
that are under the control of the Lord Chancellor, and to whom no one
has or can have the slightest claim whatsoever.
To these propositions, which we have given briefly and in outline.
Lord St. Leonard's objected that ample accommodation would be pro-
vided for the judges by building two new courts for the junior Vice-
Chancellors, at an additional charge of .£2,000 a year on the Suitors'
Fee Fund ; that this, all that was necessary for the ample accommo-
dation of Equity courts, could be 'elTected in twelve months, whereas
the Commissioners' scheme would take seven years to accomplish, and
cost £1,400,000; that the Commissioners would not effect complete
concentration, because justice would still be administered in the House
of Lords, the Old Bailey, and Basinghall-street ; because the new courts
would be inconvenienced by the noise and turmoil of the Strand, and
because the fund from which the cost of the new courts would have to
be defrayed belongs wholly to the suitors to the Courts of Chancery.
With respect to the ample accommodation which would be provided
by the erection of two new courts, the ex-Chancellor has made a
stran"-e mistake, even in so simple a matter as addition. Two new
courts would still leave the Lords Justices, the Master of the Rolls,
and the two junior Vice-Chancellors without courts at 'Westminster,
while Sir CresswcU Cresswell and the Admiralty would have no courts
at all, and remain dependents on the charity of others. Unless the
concentration scheme be carried out and the courts removed from
Westminster, there will still be six departments of judicial administra-
tion without courts, and they cannot be supplied by two more " Wig-
152
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 22, 1S61.
TTsms," or agglomeration of sheds in Lincoln's-inn. Moreover, these
sheds are unsuitable from every point of view : they have no architec-
tural pretensions, any more than the Brompton boilers, and are infi-
nitely beneath them in adaptation to the purposes they wei-e intended
to serve. The law-sheds are temporary in character and materials ;
they are too hot in sununer and too cold in winter. Vice-Chancellor
Stnart stated before the Commission that the accommodation for his
chief clerk, to say nothing of his own court, was such as urgently to
call for improvement. The state of the chief clerk's" chambers greatly
retards business, and gives occasion almost every week to complaints
from solicitors as to the want of decent accommodation. The Vice-
Chancellor's private room is so badljr ventilated that he cannot sit in it
for an hour without suffering great inconvenience ; it is a mere closet,
which only holds conveniently a round table in the centre and three
cluuFs. JVom its contracted dimensions, the Vice-Chancellor is pre-
cluded from hearing causes in private. The judges' chambers consist
of three sets hired from the Society of Lincom's-inn, and are " ab-
gnrdly inadequate." The room in which the Vice-Chancellor sits in
chambers is, according to his own statement, " upon the ground-floor,
below the level of the burying-ground, below the crypt, and so damp,
that when my books are taken from the shelves, they are always damp,
and sometimes the binding even wet. The buildmg is rapidly decay-
ing. But, worse than that, I have been sitting in that room the last
few days, and I have to attend here with a disfigured face, which I
attribute entirely to the extremely inconvenient and insalubrious nature
of the accommodation." What Vice-Chancellor Stuart said of his court
and chambers Sir W. Page Wood averred was equally applicable to his
court and chambers. Now, it is evident that the two new courts pro-
posed by the ex -Lord Chancellor will not remedy the inconvenience to
the judges, clerks, and profession resulting from the character of the
judges' chambers.
It will cause some surprise, and perhaps satisfaction, that in his
peculiar opposition Lord St. Leonards should have left untouched the
real point<i at issue in the concentration scheme, namely, the quickening
of the administration of justice, and the economy to suitors that would
result therefrom. The arguments in its favor are really too strong for
the most subtile crotchetty mind, that was ever warped by Chancery, to
gainsay or deny. On this point nothing can be more conclusive than
uie evidence of Mr. E. W. Field, and the admirable common-sense
manner in which he illustrated it gives a freshness to the arid subject.
The purport of what this gentleman stated was to the effect that by
the dispersion of offices a great deal of space is wasted. Each must
have separate entrance-rooms for attorneys and their clerks to write
in ; so that if there are forty offices there are as many entrances and
writing -rooms, whereas, if concentrated, one entrance and two or three
writing-rooms would suffice. J£ a judge had his clerks and papers
under his Court he could ring for them and give, instanter, explanations,
which cannot now be given, or if given, after a delay. An instance
was referred to of delays in the Registrar's office. In a suit lasting
some years these delays amount of themselves to a year or more. The
coort sits 200 days in each year. If there are twenty orders made in
a suit, and each order takes ten days to draw up, a whole year is
accounted for at once. The length of time which elapses after the
orders are pronounced and before they are drawn up is something in-
credible, owing to the great delay in the Registrar's offices. These
offices are so far from the courts that the registrar cannot get to speak
to the judges, or the judges to the registrar. In one case relative to
property worth .£50 to £60 in which Mr. Field was concerned, he had
to wait six weeks. Apply this to the 6,000 cases in Chancery and see
St*, mischief is dojy>Jjv..ofMa"rpii ihopical or physical obstacles. Truly
BBADFORD-i?or the forming, building and'c'^Siroean inquiry into all these
upwards of two milos in loncth. in tliu town»lilpM>st of suitors m the COn-
Draughton, and parishes of Klldwick and f^kipton, \v :j „ f ojmnip fiinirpi
lodges, w.irs, ovirfalls, and other works conn.-cted t('." " "^™ simple n^ures
minor conduils in the said townships of iJrnughton aid, we have m London
parish of Skipton, all In the west riding of the oouni^ those who have not
thcofflctsofJlr. John W. Leather, Xo. 1, liond-placc, Li' f + I, t„anr,
worka Coiuinitteo of Itradl'ord corporation before March (£ amount to Detween
<;asw(»kk.s. ^re or less business
BcSDEBi-Axn.— For the construction and completion of eei ,i:„„„_„:„„ „f»l,o
intended additional gasworks, near the Blue Ilouse, Hcndo."'*Pef »'°" °' '■"°
Diu-ham and Sunderland branch of the >ortli Kastcrn UaUays m the year,
retort-house, chimneys, piirifying-housc and other buildings co._. Tho value
and « cottage, for ihe .Sunderland Oaa Company. Drawings, &e., '^^ j ^ /.,
company, dl, Kawcett-strcet, Sunderland, and at the office of ieragea at AI.
C.E.. ;!0, Great George-street, Westminster, S.AV'., where (jiriee £. (yp [gst time.
tie! may b« obtained. Tenders must be delivered at the offices , .„„„i, „„
by February -M. ^) ^^ much as
DRAINAGE. by clients for
WnnxcHApri,.— For laying down certain pipe dralna at the !«._'■_ ...^ .1,-
Kore»t-Iane, West Ham, l.;8«cx. for the guardians of the Whty's °^^ '"^
Flans, &c., at the ofllcc of Mr. Simmonrts, surveyor. Great AUe
diapcl. Tenders at the workhouse of ;the union, Charles-street, and did not
town, N.E., before MX p.m. of February ly. u-iU »„
SEWKKAGE. ave hitherto
St. Mahv, Islikctoii.— For the day and JobWng works In conncotla dis^Taceful,
•traction and repalra of sewers and gullies for the vedtry of St. . t>„Yi p„„,»
Form of tender and contract (which alone will be received) 28. 6d ■""" ^ .
thevestry office, Uppcr-atreet. Sealed tenders, before 10 a.m., SIpect of size,
PAVING, &c. for trials bv
Mabtxeboiie.— For the new paving of the footways of Marylel V ■'
Cleveland-street to the Kdgware.road, with three-inch Yorkshire ae When ser-
blue AlxTdeen picked granite footway and kerb. Th". Yorkshire
per hundred superficial feet, and the straight kerb and circular kerl
jeants alone had audience, and the business, together with the attend-
ance of barristers and public, were very limited. " It is now much too
small for the convenient discharge of the business before the court. It
has no second or Nisi Prius Court. The Nisi Prius sittings in term
have been held at Westminster Sessions' House, or in a Parliamentary
Committee-room, or in a Chancery Court borrowed for the purpose,"
The Exchequer Chamber, in which this court holds its Nisi Prius
sittings, " is wholly inadequate for the purpose." Both the Courts of
Common Pleas and Exchequer are " miserably unprovided in respect
of accommodation for the bar, the attorneys, the jurymen, the
witnesses, and the suitors." The two new courts for the junior Vice-
Chancellors will not remedy this miserable accommodation, yet Lord
St. Leonards can hardly desire it should last.
The objection that the new Palace of Justice would take six years
longer to build thau the two temporary courts rests upon a gratuitous
assumption. Let the scheme once be decided upon, the money
forthcoming, and there are plenty of contractors who would undertake
to erect the building in less than half that time, ancj to set up one
portion of the structure within twelve months to accommodate the two
Vice-Chancellors. Now as to the cost of the two temporary courts.
As it would necessitate a fixed rental of £4,000, this piece of patch-
work would in reality cost more than one-fourteenth of the total
expenditure that would have to be incurred to complete the concen-
tration scheme. Then as to the scheme not effecting complete con-
centration. Sir Richard Bethell stated that it would be desirable to
bring the Bankruptcy and Central Criminal Courts into the general
plan. Even if they stand out there will be such close approximation
to concentration as to remove all the evils complained of, and we can-
not expect to have absolute symmetry and perfection. With respect
to the noise and turmoil of the Strand, the Courts, by being on the
first floor, as it is proposed, will be far removed from the street;
and as they will have no windows, being lighted froni above, they will
experience slight inconvenience from this source. The objection is
frivolous in the extreme, for wherever the Courts are situated, even if
on Woking-common, there will be noise and turmoil from the rush of
votaries and victims of the Law.
The great point upon which the whole question hinges, is providing
the means for purchasing the site and erecting the new Palace or
Justice thereon. In 1841 and 1845, Mr. Henry Cadogan, with his late
father and Sir Charles Barry, estimated the value of the site at
£675,074. Sir Charles' estimate for the building was about the same
sum, to which the Commissioners propose to add £150,000, making the
total cost of the scheme, in round numbers, a million and a half sterling.
There happen to be three separate funds at the disposal of the Lord Chan-
cellor, which together amount to £1,580,911 12s. 9d. These funds may
be briefly described as having accrued from moneys paid into court, but
which suitors did not chose to invest, fearing a fall in the funds, or fondly
believing in a speedy judgment. The Court invested the moneys depo-
sited and accumulated the interests upon investments. Suitors received
back the exact amounts deposited, but not the interest. Not choosing
to incur the risks they had no claim to the profits of the investments.
If the investments had entailed a loss. Chancery, or rather the public,
would have had to make it good, as was the case many years ago, when
certain Masters were defaulters. Under these circumstances, what
reasonable man will say these profit-funds are not the property of the
public, who has had and would have to bear the risk and cost of taking
care of suitors' moneys ? Yet Lord St. Leonards says all the profit
shall go to the suitors, all the risk and expense shall be borne by the
public. It is the old cheat of " heads I win, tails you lose," and is
monstrously unjust to tax-payers. The Master of the Rolls said he
agreed with Bentham, that justice ought to cost nothing : so do we, pro-
vided it costs nothing to the public also, but if the imperial treasury is
to bear the whole cost of litigation — it now pays upwards of i:700,00(>
— people will indulge their taste for law to a terrible extent, and the
sooner we organise Government upon the intelligible principles of un-
disguised communism, of making the State pay for everything, the better.
As it is, court fees have been so reduced that they do not amount to 8
per cent, upon the total costs.
Supposing we admit, for the sake of argument, that the public should
bear all risks, loss, and costs of taking care of suitors' deposits, and that
the latter should take all the profits. In the iii-st place, we cannot
identify the suitors to whom the profits should be given. They, their
children, and their children's children have been dead long since.
Lord St. Leonards says, let future suitors benefit by profits made out
of the property of suitors two or three generations back through a
reduction of fees. But there is no claim to anything of the kind. It
is repugnant alike to the principles of justice and common sense, for
risk and profit always go together. Still, supposing suitors in futurum
esse are to have all the advantages from the profit-funds, it remains to
be seen whether they would be more advantaged liy reduction of fees
or the despatch of business consequent upon the concentration of the
Law Courts. The profit-funds should produce a yearly income of
£45,000, but they are already charged with certain payments. The
February 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
153
amount that would be available to go in reduction of fees would be
about one-fortieth of the total yearly bills of cost. As Mr. Field
cleverly puts it, it would be like a traveller having to choose between
paying 40a. or 41s. liu-e for parliamentary or express train.
There is an arrangement which has escaped notice, and which meets
all objections. Let the site and new Law Courts be regarded as the
property of succeeding suitors. Land and buildings cannot be melted
away or carried off by defaulting Masters. The interest upon outlay
at 2J per cent, which the Chancellor of the Exchequer is to pay on
savings' banks deposits, will amount to £37,000. There are certain
economies to be effected in Chancery departments — the suppression of
the Accountant-general's office, which is a mere duplicate of the
establishment at the Bank, and that stupidly pays income-tax twice
upon salaries, which would almost pay this interest. There are annuities
amounting to about £75,000, paid as compensation and pensions, which
fall in at the rate of £2,000 a year. Let these, and the savings indi-
cated, to the amount of the interest on the profit-funds, be carried to
the credit of fees for their reduction. By this arrangement all difficul-
ties will be met. The public will not be called upon to disburse
money for the building of law courts, the corpus of the profit funds
will not be touched. It will simply be invested in land and buildings
instead of stock, an alternative which those who are responsible for
the investment are clearly entitled to, and the fees of suitors will be
reduced.
The Chief Commissioner of Public Works has announced a Bill for
carrying out the scheme for the concentration of law courts. We
cannot believe the bench, the bar, the legal profession, or the public
will allow him to be defeated, in order that Lord St. Leonards may
descend to posterity as the saving patron of Temple-bar Trulldoni.
THE THAMES AND ITS PASSENGER TRAFFIC.
ABOUT three months ago we took occasion to offer some observations
on " The Future of the Thames." They had mainly relation to its
banks, and would have been concluded with some remarks on the means
of traffic up and down the river ; but that, in the foggy month of
November, httle attention would have been given to strictures on a matter,
in which at the moment no one could be supposed to feel interested — the
condition of the Thames steamboats, especially " above bridge." Spring,
on which we are now eutering, is a titter season for such a subject ; so we
propose to resume it.
And first, to form some idea of the importance of this question of
Thames traffic, and of its sanitary influences on a large portion of the
inhabitants of the metropolis ; it may not be amiss to consider, wliat
are the peculiar advantages, whicli the river boats offer, over and above
those conferred by the omnibuses and railways — travelling (as these boats
do by " The Silent Highway ") through the Iieart of " London " from east
to west.
The comparative lowness of the fares is the most obvious, but by no
means the most valuable of these advantages. Yet it is one of no mean
consequence in a place like the metropolis, whose denizens for tlie greater
part quit each evening its crowded centre, and betake. themselves to the
suburbs, whence they as regularly return each morning. The daily
migration is of course mostly effected by omnibus; but it must be remem-
bered that, the steamboat fares exercise a very powerful influence even
on the omnibus owners -, and are the best protection which the Londoners
can have against an already formidable monopoly — so formidable that the
very odour of it ever and anon makes its way down to tlie river side, in
the shape of a whispered on dit that, " The London General is in treaty
for the buying up of all the steamboats."
Some manifest disadvantages of the steamboat traffic there may be ;
as, for example, a dense fog on the river will not only retard a voyage
begun ; just as a fog, a sharp frost, a snow storm, a
Street " up" and clos'd by order of the lliiyor,
Or worse, a cliok'd up City thoroiu/lifare,
will have the same effect on a journey by omnibus. Nay, a fog will do
more— it will scare all the boats off their beat (to use a land-lubber's
term) for an entire day. Again the steamboat traffic may be entirely
suspended for weeks, by that not very frequent occurrence a frozen-up
Thames ; but with these two atmospheric contingencies— dense fog and
extreme frost — we tliink the adverse influences on travelling by steam-
boat may be foirly .said to begin and end. Tliese are the evils beyond
mortal control : there are others, wliich we shall presently enumerate ;
but every one of tliem belong, not to steamboat traffic in the abstract,
but to that traffic, as it is now imperfectly and viciously conducted.
Want of speed for example is not a steamboat disadvantage, as one
hears it often alleged : if any person will of an afternoon take tlie Chelsea
boat from London-bridge, and proceed Westward, he will be disgusted on
finding the vessel, whether it be going with or against the tide, occupy
an hour and a half in tjHting up to Batlersea- bridge; but, next morning,
should he come up'to town by steaming down the same fickle Father Thames'
in the self-same slow boat, he will be agreeably surprised to find the
return voyage accomplislied with or against tide (it matters not) in about
half an hour; and, stranger still, that it has been accomplished for the self-
same threepenny fare, whicli he paid for his toUsorae trip of the preceding ,
evening ! There is something wonderful in this— it is in fact one of '
"The Curiosities of London;" — we mention it just to show that, it is a
vulgar error to assume that, want of speed may be named as a third dis-
advantage of steamboat transit; and we will proceed with our coaAiuatiiM.
of its acknowledged advuntagen.
These are not a few; and to all, who can go to and fro by the river thev
contriist most favorably with the condition* impoied oa thoic who tnval
by either railway or omnibus. Is it a flue warm day, and doei the pas-
senger desire " an outside place," wherein to enjoy the fresh air a« he ooes
to his dingy office or warehouse— ho cannot have it at all by radway— bat
can only by chance have it by omnibus; sitting; pcradventure on what
IS famUiarly known as " the knife-board '' on iu roof, inhaUng those puffi of
tobacco, good, bad and indifferent, emitted, with occasional interpolation* of
saliva, by the two fallow-passengers behind him. the three ditto on hi*
right-hand side, and the driver " a-blowing a cloud with that 'ere gent on
the box " in front of lum. Should a shower come on, our smoke-dried
hero may be drenched to the skin in spite of his teeth, entering his count-
ing-house in a pretty pickle for the day's campaign ; whcrias. happier far
than he, the passenger by boat can enjoy the open air and, if he like* it,
his cigar, on the fore-deck, or take the former and get out of the way of
the latter " en arriere le loyau" while, should a storm come on, the smoker
and the smoke-hater can alike retreat within their respective cabin*.
Is it a wet or intensely cold day, the railway traveller is, indeed, always
sure of an inside place ; but not so the man who travel* by omnibu*. To
get an inside place he may stand in the wet street and hail twenty-three
omnibuses (as did a friend of ours one night by way of experiment) ere he
may gain such " a comfortable berth" ; whereas the traveller by boat hu
always an inside place at hand, and moreover a fire to keep him warm^
these two open to improvements it must be owned, bat quite capable of
their introduction, as will be presently shown.
Again, is our river-boat passenger a reading man, he can read with ease,
either on the decks or in the cabins ; and for the matter of that, write, a* many
have dfcne: whereas, by railway or omnibus, reading is not only attended
with difficulty, but danger — to the eyesight; and writing is simply out of
the question. There are many persons in busy London, who can ill afford
to spend the two hours consumed in travelling daily to and fro in idle
listiessness ; and to such those two hours offer the only available leisure
for meditation or for study — even of the newspapers. For such the rivet
boats are especially convenient : the garrulous can get to one part of the
boat and the studious to another ; and both, instead of sitting confined to
one spot, as in an omnibus or a railway car, have the means of varying
their posture, or, of moving about at pleasure.
It is the continual recurrence of the daily journeys, consuming from
five to six hundred hours annually, wliich makes these differences in the
condition of the respective travellers of serious consequence : thus the
jolting, oscillatory motion of the omnibus and of the railway carriage will
for an occasional journey be scarce worth contrasting with the quietly
gliding motion of the boat ; but, just as " constant droppings wear away
stones," so will it be found that these daily double journeys operate most
unpleasantly on the nerves and the spine of the back of the weary pa*genger
by 'bus or rail ; whilst (on fine days especially) the boats ofler their occu-
pants an actual means of re.s( from the fatigues of the day.
Lastly, as it affects that highly important question, good and bad venti-
lation, we conceive the chances of attaining to good ventilation are all in
favor of the boat traffic, and against that of the railway and the onmibiu.
We do not see how for the two latter any very efficient means of ventila-
tion are to be got at ; nor is it any answer to the fact to say that, in the
case of the omnibus and car, some attempts to this end have been made,
and to the boats none whatever. There is no difficulty at all in effectually
ventilating the river boats ; and we therefore claim this fact — no alight
one — as one of the many advantages of this kind of passenger traffic.
It must be admitted that, we have here made out a pretty formidable
statement of these advantages : they are natural and peculiar to tke
river conveyances ; and it remains now to inquire how far they are seemed
to the public ; and how far the steamboat proprietors and pier-master*
have availed themselves of the advantages really derivable from the noble
river, on whose waters they have invested their money.
The answer to the inquiry will surely be unfavorable. If we except s
few plate-glass embellishments to be found in the after-cabins of some of
these river boats, it will be found that hitherto there has been a remark-
able neglect of both public comfort and convenience.
This is seen in the landing-piers, which, as a rule, are filthy and incom-
modious. The one at Hungerford-bridge— perhaps the best-frequented of
any— is a fair example of the rest ; it presents a woful congeries of dirty
platforms and ill-arranged barriers. Though placed in the very centre of
London, it is totally devoid of seats for passengers in waiting, and on the
score of mere cleanliness and convenience, to say nothing of attractive-
ness, is a disgrace to the metropolis. The proprietors, we hope, are only
waiting for the alteration of Ilungerfbrd - bridge, or the opening of
Mr. Bazalgctte's great sewers, and after that intend to .construct us a
handsome steamboat-pier, better worthy of its central position, and of the
enormous traffic that it ministers to. We appeal to the Lord Maj-or, the
Conservator of the Thames, and demand— Why should not steamboat-
piers be made pleasant to look at, and moderately architectural, as is the
pier erected by Mr. Cubitt at Pimlico ?
Then there are the steamboats themselves, than which it is hard to
conceive anything more slatternly and devil-may-care. "Verily it seem*
as though their owners, priding themselves on the mere cheapness of the
fares (and they arc cheap) contented themselves with mentally askmg
" What can ye expect for threepence? " Now really we must insist on
behalf of the public that this is by no means the whole question ; and
that it is imperative on the proprietors to have an eye to something
beyond the mere cheapness of the fares. The time is coming, we trust.
154
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 22, 1S61.
•when people will ngain traTcrse the Thames, as did our ancestors, for pica-
sure as well as for convenience ; and against that " good time coming " it
behoTes the proprietors to put their houses — or rather their boats — in
order ; or they will be driven from the bosom of the noble river they mis-
DAvigate, and will have to give place to speculators with better craft.'
Let them look at the present state of these river boats ; at their entire
want of ventilation, the execrable manner in which they are lighted by
nigbt, their wet cabin seats, the compulsory landing of night passengers at
Nine Elms ; with the stern -steering, the deck-washing, mop-trundling and
other annoyances of the night boats returning from to\,-n, and own that
far more ought to be done for Thames steamboat accommodation.
We have said that, in a morning, express boats run down from Battersea
to London-bridge in about half an hour : there is nothing to prevent such
boats plying all d.iy up and down the Thames. Alternate boats might stop
at different piers, the names of which might be painted legibly on or about
the funnel of the steamer, in characters illuminated by night. This would
do much to prevent the excessive crowding of the boats, and at once
secure a better class of passengers. In this respect the river boats might
with advantage take a lesson from the railway trains.
Willi regard to light and ventilation, there ought to be no difficulty,
»1iere now there is nothing satisfactory. By day it would be better to have
the cabin windows immovable, and to ventilate the cabins from above ;
a double staircase if practicable, and if not an upper skylight or a double
funnel, affording egress for foul and ingress for fresh air, would accomplish
all that is necessary for proper ventilation ; and by night the method of
lighting and of ventilating might go hand in hand; theUamps overhead
being made to serve as foul-air exhausters, just as we see sun-burners now
introduced for lighting and ventilating buildings. Any system of
ventilating the cabins is preferable to that entire absence of all attempt at
ventilation now existing. For example, in the winter months there is
nothing to prevent the introduction of a system of foul-air extraction (a
most necessary thing) in connexion with the iron stove usually placed in
the middle of the cabins. The condition of these cabins when crowded on
a rainy day is discreditable: they remind one of the hold of a slave ship;
or, of the blackhole at Calcutta.
That great improvements are wanting in these boats is certain. If they
cannot be effected without an increase of the fares, which we are disposed
to doubt, let them be effected, and the fares be augmented. The Steamboat
Companies may rely upon it that, with the coming purification of the
Thames, there will come an increase of river travelling, and an irresistible
demand for steam-boats of a better class — better lighted, better ventilated,
better managed ; and that, posterity will good-naturedly throw a veil on
onr days gone by : — the days when poor Old Father Thames was dismally
engaged in " serving his time " — as a town sewer.
ENTRANCE TO THE HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS, FROM THE
LIONS' COURT.*
THE Palace of the Alhnmbra will ever be known as one of the most remarkable
buildings in the world, as well as the most perfect model of Arabian archi-
tecture that has existed. M. Laborde says that it contains "tout ce que la
volupte, la grace, I'industrie peuvent reunir de plus agr^able et de plus parfait."
It wa.« built during the latter half of the thirteenth century, when the Moresque
style had attained its greatest elegance, and had developed an exuberance of re-
fhied ornament. It was constructed for the residence of the Mohammedan kings
by Ibn-el-ahmar in 1241, and its erection occupied the subsequent 00 years. It
was completed by Mohammed III., the grandson of Ibn-el-ahmar. The name is
a corruption of Kasr-al-hamra, " the Red Palace," so called perhaps from the
color of the walls which are built of a kind of concrete and assumed that tint
when finished. The Palace is built ou a hill to the castof the town of Granada,
and the walls are so placed as to suit exactly the plateau of the rock. Its entire
length is about 2,300 feet, and its breadth 600 feet. The River Darro flows at
the base of the hill on the northern, eastern, and western sides.
The entrance is, from a natural teriaee, by tlie Puerta della Justizia, " the Gate
of Justice," — a horse-shoe arch, half the height of the tower; it is the outer gate,
where justice was formerly administered. Passing through this tower, we reach
the Plaza de los Algibes, " the Court of the Cisterns," but the most famous
amongst the many courts of this wonderful Palace is that de los Lioues, or
" Court of the Lions," so called from the alabaster fountain-basin in the centre,
resting on the backs of twelve lions. This court is unroofed, and measures 100
feet by 50 feet. It is surrounded by a colonnade of 128 columns of white marble,
9 feet high and 8 J inches in diameter. These columns are irregularly placed;
sometimesthey are single, sometimes in groups of two and three. The pavement
is of white marble. The walls, to the height of several feet, are lined with vari-
ously figured blue and yellow porcelain mosaics. The columns and ceiling of the
colonnade are covered with exquisite iVetwork and ai"dbesque.s. There is a portico
at each end of the court, supported i)y marble colunms. The Alhambra Court at
Sydenham is a reproductien of this portion of the Palace, one-half the size of the
original. It was, as our readers are aware, executed under the supervision of
Mr. Owen Jones, whose work on the alhambra is i^ monument of patient labor,
artiitic skill, and commercial enterpri.se.
Around the several courts the apartments of the palace are ranged . Tliosc
for state occasions look out towards the country ; from the naiTow windows on
the three sides of the Hall of the Ambassadors, in the Tower of Comares, a
splendid view is ohtained of llie City of Granada and the whole valley through
which the Dano flows. Tliis hall still retains many traces of its ancient
splendor. The ceiling u of cedar wood inlaid with silver, mother-of-pearl, and
ivory, and the wall.t are covered with arabesques in stucco.
The private apartments have openings for light generally under the colonnades
towards the interior, and in an inscription in one of the rooms tlie architect
gives his reason for this arrangement. " My windows admit the light, and
exclude the view of external objects, lest the beauties of nature should divert
your attention from the beauties of my work." The light admitted into the
♦ For Illustration see pnijc 101.
apartments is soft and subdued, and produces a charming effect. The colors
chiiifly employed on the ornaments are gold, pink, light blue, and a dusky purple,
tbe first color being nearest the eye, and the last the furthest from it ; the general
surface, however, is white.
To the east of the Hall of the Ambassadors the "Queen's Dressing-room " is
situated, and near it the Garden of Lindaraja, with its alabaster fountain and
groves of roses, myrtles, and orange trees.
Right and left of the Court of the Lions are the Sala de las dos Ilermanas, or
" Hall of the Tavo Sisters," and the Sala de los Abuncerrages. The entrance to
the former of these halls forms the subject of our engraving. It derives its name
from two immense white marble slabs, without spot or blemish, set in tlie pave-
ment, one on each side of the fountain. They each measure 15 feet in length by
7 j feet in breadth. This is the only entrance which retains its old mosaic door of
cedar wood, beautifully covered witli an intricate tracery of different kinds of
wood and of various shades of color. The fine arch is supported by riclily-
omamenled Moorish columns. In front of the entrance is seen an old Moorish
vase, which was discovered some fifty years ago, filled with coins. A drawing of
it, to a large scale, showing all its ornaments in detail, is given in the splendid
work of Owen Jones to which we have before alluded.
Notwithstanding the vicis.situdes of five centuries, the Alhambra Palace stands
in a tolerably good state of preservation. The colors of the decorations are fresh
and brilliant, and the countless cells of stucco and elaborate filigree work still
remain to enlist our admiration.
Herr Carl Werner has lately published a series of twenty photographs,
from drawings made by him on tJie spot, of the actual state of the building
and of scenes connected intimately with it. It is from one of these drawings
that our engraving is taken. They include general views of the Palace, from
Gereralife, the summer palace of the Mahommedan kings, on tlie " Sun Moun-
tain," and from San Lorenzo, a view of Puerta del Sol, another of the Puerta
della Justizia, a splendid repiesentation of tlie Court of the Lions, and careful
sketches of Spanisli peasants and Spanish gipsies. They have all been drawn with
scrupulous fidelity, and photographed in the best manner. They are contained in
a portfolio, and form an invaluable record of this gorgeous royal residence.
THE METROPOMTAN BOARD OF WORl\,S AND MR. MARRABLE,
THEIR SUPERINTENDING ARCIUTECT.
AT the usual weekly mectinij of tlie Bletropolitau Board of "VVorkB. held in tbe
Council-chamber. Guildhall, on Friday, a letter from Mr.^larrablc, Superin-
tending Arcliitcct of the Board, was read, resigning bis situatiou. The following is
a copy of the letter : —
1, Greek-street, Soho, 11th February, ISM.
Gestlemen,— When in 1850 you invited candidates for the office of Superintend-
ing Architect of Sletropolitan Buildings at a salary of £800 per annum : there was
nothing in the advertisement which, according to your resolution of the 25th
January, 1850, professed to define the duties of that officer, nor in the provision of
the Metropolitan Building Act of 1855, which called him into existence, to induce a
belief that he would be expected to perform such onerous and responeihle services
of a professional character as h<ave been demanded of mc relating to the survey, valu-
ation and purchase of property for the new streets undertaken by the Board, and in
the settlement of the claims for which I have frequently hud to contend with tbe
first men in the profession. During the last two and a half years I have been required
to deal with property for wliich claims amountinuf to £711. iW3 1:18. 5d.
have been made, hut which have been settled for £461,778 10s. -id. I have also
been called upon to design and superintend the erection of your new offices in Spring-
gardens, and to rebuild a part of the United Sendee Museum, and the Exchequer
Office in Whitehall- yard, the foundation of which bad given way in consequence of
the originally defective construction of the Victoria-street Sewer passing under those
buildings. In this last instance greatly extended works were found to be necessary
by reason of the continued sinking of the subsoil— with this exception, all the works
undertaki.'U by the Board that have been entrusted to my care and management, will
be completed M'ithin my original estimates.
As re^f-ards the duties properly belongin;^ to my appointment and "incident to the
office of Superintending Architect of Metropolitan Buildings," I Iiave, during the
last five years, written about five thousand reports on subjects more or less of a
professional and technical nature, and I have the gratification of knowing that every
member of tlie Board is ready to acknowledge that all my duties have beeu discharged
in a perfectly satisfactory manner. Three times has an appeal been made to you
in vain to make my emoluments in some degree commensurate Willi the extra
services that have been required of me ; and now, after five years of office, with
duties at least five times as onerous as they were when you fixed £so« a year as the
salary of the superintending architect, you have voted an addition of £200 per
annum. Gentlemen, in justice to myself, 1 cannot any longer retain my appointment
on the terms you otfer, but I must embrace the favorable opportunity that is presented
me of returning to the practice of my profession, and I now most respectfully tender
ray resijjnation of the office of Supermtcudintr Architect of Metropolitan Buildings
under the Building Act of 18.55 ; out as 1 have no wish to put the Board to any
inconvenience by my sudden retirement, J am willing to assist you in the discharge
of sucli professional duties as you may require of me.
*' I bog to thank the members of the Board for the general courtesy and considera-
tion they have sliown me, and to subscribe myself
" Your very obedieut Servaut.
"FllEDK. MARIL,K.BLE.
'• To the Metropolitan Board of Works."
Mr. Deputy IIabrisos moved that the resiijnation of Mr. Marrable be received
and in so doing regretted that circumstances siiould have arisen to induce the Super-
intending Arehiteet to resi^-'n his api)oiiitnient; be also added to this motion words to
the effect that J£r. Marrable be requested to continue to discbar^'e the duties of the
office he then held untd his successor was appointed.
Mr. D ALTON seconded the motion, and In so doin^- said he very much regretted
tlicy were going to lose the valuable services of Mr. Marrable.
Mr. Makkable said he parted with the Board with pain and regret, and he had
not resigiu-d hia situation in liaste or in anger. He thanked the members of tbe
Board tor their kindness and courtesy to him, and was quite willing to discharge the
duties of the office until his successor was appointed.
The motion was then agreed to.
Mr. Bkistow, M.P., moved that it be referred to the Streets Committee to con-
sider and report what should be the duties and salary of the Superintending
Architect.
Mr. D£n.uEB seconded the motion, which wa« unanimously agreed to.
LECTURE AT THE ARCHITECTURAL MUSEUM.
ON Wednesday evening a lecture was delivered before the members and friends of
tlie Architectural Museum, in the lecture-theatre of tlie South Keusiudton
Museum, by Mr. Deputy Lott, F.S. A., "On the Architectural Antiquities of Guild-
hull." At the close of the meeting a vote of thanks was passed by acclamation to
tile lecturer.
February 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
A FEW BEMABICS ON STREET AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE.—
No. II.
THE subject of plans an<l planning would require to bo considered at
greater length than we are in this paper able to do. It is one of
those things wliich when viewed from the beginning appear to have no
end, but present interminable vistas with numberless radiations on every
side. It is a subject to which sufficient attention is not paid, and one to
which much thought must be given. To treat it satisfactorily a thorough
knowledge of domestic requirements is indispensable, and this, with the
addition of common sense, will go a. great way towards forming a plan
which will possess that convenience of arrangement so desirable in every
home. The architect in tliis department is seldom left to himself. Almost
every plan is manufactured by a sort of limited liability company, con-
sisting of the architect and his clerk, and the client and liis wife, the latter
being, by the bye, no insignificant voice in the council. Neither should it
be, for who is better able to know what is wanted and what is not ? Most
ladies have a good idea of a snug internal arrangement, and there is a
curious characteristic of every plan over which they have had control, and
that characteristic is an abundance of cupboards, every corner is looked
upon as a capital place for one of these convenient fixtures, and no house
is so favorable in the eyes of a good manager as one in which the supply
of them is almost unlimited. In City houses it is generally found
necessary to have the kitchen in the basement, as space does not often
permit of its being placed on the ground-floor, but in villas this arrange-
ment should not be, as the inconvenience of running up and down steps is
a sufficient obstacle to its being adopted, besides which there is no possible
excuse for it when there is plenty of room for it above ground. The great
thing is to have it as near the dining-room as possible, without bringing it
into the front and best part of the house, and on a level with it, steps
either down or up to it should never be allowed where it is possible to
avoid them ; they become a continual source of annoyance to the servants,
whose comfort and convenience it is of course necessary to consult, and
they prove very fatiguing to persons who have constantly to pass up and
down them. Some writers go so far as to recommend the abolition of steps
altogether, and have both sleeping and living rooms on the same floor, but
we do not agree with this, and cannot see the wisdom of the proposal. We
however, do perceive the necessity of avoiding them when they can be
avoided, and also the advisability of keeping every room in each story on
the same level.
In street architecture we generally find the drawing-room on the first
floor, an arrangement which, in nine cases out of ten, is compulsory. In
villa architecture this is not imperative, and we think that the ground-
floor is more suitable for it. It should be situated in the pleasantest part
of the house, and should have an air of comfort about it, and the appear-
ance of being cool in summer and warm in winter. French casements
may here be introduced with advantage; when well constructed they have
an elegant and convenient look, which is both pleasing and effective, yet
there are many who are prejudiced against them as others are against
Gothic casements, but without the slightest cause, for experience has
taught us that when they are constructed properly and with well-seasoned
materials, they are everything that could be desired; and in point of
appearance are, in our opinion, infinitely superior to the common sash.
Libraries and picture galleries are generally made to face the north, this
being considered the best for light, which of course is the principal thing
to be provided for. The library should be as distant from noise as
possible, and in town buildings should be placed at the back of the house
and not in the front, where the bustle and rolling of carriages is likely to
disturb the occupier. What is more annoying to a student than a con-
tinual din, which is constantly disturbing him in the midst of his deep
studies, when he requires everything to be as still and motionless as the
inner sanctuary of an Egyptian temple, or the centre chamber of an
Egyptian pyramid. Many persons feel it impossible to devote themselves
to profound study when the slightest noise or confusion prevails. The
nerves are very sensitive on this point, and it is therefore desirable
that the most retired and private part of the house should be the position
of the study.
The situation of the inorning-room, billiard-room, and breakfast-room
will be dependent on circumstances, and possibly on the site of the house
or the whim of the owner. Tliere is no recognised law respecting the
placing of these apartments, but the architect will, of course, select the
most suitable part. In large buildings, where there is a central hall of
sufficient size, it would be well for these rooms, together with the dining
and drawing rooms, to open into it, thus affording an easy communication
one with the other. There is, perhaps, no more imposing feature in a
house than a good staircase hall. When well arranged it has a look of
grandeur, which produces a favorable impression on the visitor, and leads
him at once to conclude that the house is a superior one. As I'alladio
says, a stranger should be compelled to pass through the best portion of
the edifice before he reaches the staircase in order that he may be
impressed by the grandeur of the structure. This is sound advice, and
where it can be followed it would be well to do so, for first impressions,
whether favorable or unfavorable, are more lasting than any others, and
linger longer in tlie mind and memory — in fact, they are seldom entirely
forgotten or wholly effaced. The staircase in any house is susceptible of
much beauty and artistic treatment where the funds will permit. In
whatever style it may be, or in whatever character of building it may be
placed, still it affords one of the best opportunities for a display of tas\e.
Notwithstanding this, however, there are few which are worthy of
being mentioned as examples, and there does not appear to be that care
and attention bestowed on them which their great importance demands. Iron
is becommg a prominent feature in the construction of our modem
staircases and balusters of that material, frequently of c-lcKant deiiun
replace the old, massive, wooden ones, which have held their iwav since-
the tune of Elizabeth, but which will soon be numbered nmong tlic" things
that were. This ironwork is rendered still more beautiful by color which
should be used carefully and cflTcctively, and tinder the immediate' super-
intendence of one acquainted with its laws and effects, and not be leftto
the uncultivated taste of a house decorator, whose ideas of polychtwny
are not, generally speaking, of a very high or refined cliaracter, and whoic
blunders may, perhaps, bring it into disrepute. The ancients were fond of
color and knew well how to use it; we are fond of color too, but we do
not know how to employ it, and are afraid to make the attempt. The fact
IS we have scarcely sufficient mastery over form to begin the application
of color, and It is perhaps well that we are somewhat deterred by this
fear, or we may possibly be induced to ilepend too much on it, and
neglect that which is of infinitely more importance. The principle of
form first and color after appears to n» to be the best for our adoption, and
till we have risen higher in the treatment of the one we have no desire to
commence the general employment of the other. We of course (peak
now of polychromy, as it is generally understood in its widest sense, and
as advocated by its most zealous advocates.
In a Gothic house open flooring has a very beautiful effect in roomi
suited for it, such as a library or dining-room, and under balconies, stairs,
&c. The wood-work has in our opinion a much better appearance when
stained and varnished (if deal), and polished, if of a superior kind, than it
has when painted. There seems to be less sham about it. and in avoiding
this we are carrying out one of the most important principles of art. The
mouldings in these open floors may be bold and numerous, according to
the degree of richness desirable for the building in which they arc built.
They of course 'should all be of pure Gothic, and not of Classic, as they
too generally are. In almost every modem house in the Gothic style wo
find the mouldings of the doors, skirtings, handrails, &c., of a Classic form,
instead of in the style of the rest of the building. There can be no excuse
for this wanton departure from the proper path, as there is no style of
architecture which has so many and beautiful mouldings as we find in the
Gothic mouldings, which may be used in any position where they are
required, and which possess a peculiar beauty, not to be surpassed by any
others. We too often find the interior fittings neglected and left to the
mercy of the contractor, and details which might have thrown a spirit
into the interior of the building suffered to be carried out without regard
to style or order. These slights, however trifling they may appear, have
a tendency to destroy that Medieval character which should be apparent
in every part of a Gothic edifice, and which would, if properly attended to,
tend to raise the style in the estimation of the people. It is to be regretted
that Gothic furniture is so little used, and its design so little understood
by the manufacturers. It is not often that we are favored with an inspec-
tion of a chair, sofa; table, or pianoforte in that style, yet is it not neces-
sary that the furniture of every house should harmonise with it? How
much better would it be if our Gothic buildings were furnished with
Gothic furniture, instead of that semi-Classic kind which is now so much
in use, and which has the look of being imported instead of being of home
produce. It would, of course, be absurd to e.xpect every person to change
his furniture when he changed his residence, but our remarks are intended
for those instances in which a mansion is built on a family estate, where
the members of that family intend to reside for life, and where there
is every probability of their children and children's children residing
after them, or in parsonages, hotels, &c., where much of the furniture is
often transferred from the old inhabitant to the new comer, lu the
papering of a house this difficulty does not present itself ; and
yet we do not find that style is a consideration ever thought oC
It is true that the fault is, perhaps, not so much that of the pur-
chasers as of the manufacturers, simply because we do not see many
papers in any style, whatever, but a kind of pattern or design in
which the designer's fancy has evidently gone to seed or else is choked by
weeds which prevent its development. Now, we think that something
should be done here to remedy the evil. We know that every style is
susceptible of a proper and appropriate treatment, and we think that these
apparently unimportant items should be more looked after than they are.
believing, as we do, that they would add much to the effect and beauty
of domestic architecture. It is, after all, a branch of polychromy which
has never been thoroughly understood, and which does not appear to be
much studied. We much doubt whether the Greeks or SIcdievalists would
have been guilty of the many glaring absurdities in this department as
the modern are. They would have been guided and kept within bounds
by that good and pure taste which characterises their works, whether of
the largest and most magnificent or of the most minute and simple ; and
thus it always is and always will be with people possessing taste and re-
finement. It is almost as difficult for them to produce a work devoid of
beauty as it is for the uncultivated to produce one with; and nothing
shows more plainly the confusion in which art now struggles than these
numerous oversights which arc daily occurring.
Stained glass, in domestic architecture, is not so generally used as it
might be, or as it eventually will be. In street architecture, where the
light is obtainable only on two sides of the house, and, perhaps, even there
but imperfectly, there is not that opportunity for its use as there is in villas
and detached houses. Having the effect of subduing the intensity of light
and where too tliickly distributed of even throwing a shade within, it is
necessary that where it is employed there should be an abundance of
light, as in houses standing alone and admitting it one very side. Staircase
halls lighted from the roof are in every respect suited for its reception
156
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 22, 1861.
and are much beautified by the brilliant coloring which it gives to all
▼ithin. The upper panels in passage doors are also admirably adapted for
it, and the effect it has in these situations is very pleasing. Windows of
waterclosets, and of rooms in which light may be somewhat subdued with
advantage are suitable for its insertion, as are also glass doors or partitions
of an inner porch or lobby. We do not mean by stained glass, a few
diamond-shaped fragments of color sprinkled sparingly here and there,
but where the monev will permit, a proper and suitable design of foliage
or what other design the architect may think fit. Scriptural figures being
of course out of the question; geometrical designs when good are produc-
tive of a pleasing effect, and may be made simple or elaborate as the state
of the funds will allow. But it is unnecessary to suggest more as the good
taste and discretion of the architect must be the principal guide ; we merely
wish to call attention to the various subject on which we touch in these
papers, and leave the reader to think and judge for himself, space not
allowing us to enlarge on the various heads, or to go thoroughly into
them. In fact to do this properly a separate paper should be devoted to
each, there being so much to be said for and against; so many suggestions
to be made, and so many views to be taken, that it is utterly impossible for
us to discuss them in these papers in which the subject chosen requires
so broad and general a treatment.* D. S.
THE COAL TAX AND METROPOLITAN IMPROVEMENTS.
AMONG the many subjects which Parliament will handle this session
the improvements of the metropolis, and the sources from which the
means are to be supplied for carrying them out, will occupy no insubor-
dinate place. After the theory of non-intervention has been expounded
from a hundred different points of view, and the temporalities of the Pope,
Hungarian insurrection, American disintegration, the cotton supply,
Mr. Gladstone's financial vagaries, the defences of the country. Reform,
the French occupation of Syria, Indian discoatent, the Chinese treaty,
•with the thousand and one incidental questions, have been worn thread-
bare, we may look for an onslaught on the present system of London
taxation in general, and upon the coal-tax in particular ; indeed Sir George
Comewall Lewis has given notice of his intention to bring forward a Bill
for the reduction or abolition of this impost. The last delusionist— we
beg pardon, the last Protectionist— the hon. member for West Norfolk, will
then, as of old, denounce in choice bucolics the tyranny of London, will
protest against a penny being paid from the Imperial treasury towards the
cost of metropolitan improvements, and will claim as convert to his doc-
trines the Chief Commissioner of Public Works. Mr. Bentinck and
the Right Hon. Mr. W. Cowper. in ominous conjunction, will proclaim the
expediency of imitating South Carolina, and advise the secession of towns
lying within twenty miles of the General Post Office from connexion with
London. Such, at least, was the new lamp held up to dazzle the vision of
the inhabitants of Hertford a few days back, but which a remembrance of
Msop's fable — the one anent the " Belly and its Members " — will prove to be
a very old one, and no more to be followed by any of the constituents of
the body politic than a jack-o-lantern, unless they would ultimately come
to grief.
If Sir. Bentinck had been alone, in the leadership of the opposition
agamst imjierial contributions being made towards the cost of improve-
ments imposed for imperial purposes upon Londoners, his theories might
have been allowed to remain unnoticed — to fall upon the stony ground of
public indifference, where they will find no soil for them to take root and
bear nuisance-fruit hereafter. But as the member of the Government
vrhose voice is all potential in metropolitan affairs has chosen to snatch
the mantle from the Elijah of West Norfolk and to espouse the same cause,
it becomes a duty to examine the statements that are made, to endeavour
to ascertain their soundness and to put the matter on its right footing.
The propositions which the Right Hon. Mr. Cowper laid down in Hertford
Com Exchange amounted to this: for Hertford to pay the coal-tax was
to be tributary to the City of London — "a sort of slavery altogether
intolerable in this free country;" that, being without the metropolis, the
inhabitants of Hertford were no more entitled to pay this duty than Man-
chester— why should the members work to feed the belly ? — and that
Hertford should repudiate its connexion with London, and " secede " from
it, because " they could not get over the feeling that in this case they were
unfairly and unjustly taxed, and that the tax was administered by a body
of persons in which they were not represented." At the same time, the
Cluef Commissioner candidly admitted that much could be said in favor
of the coal-tax; that he thought in some respects it was advantageous ;
that if taxes were necessary, he did not know any better form of taxation
that could be devised than that of a duty upon coals ; and that it
was levied with the least amount of cost, and ordinarily with the
least amount of inconvenience to those who paid it. Were it not
for the respect and courtesy we are desirous to exhibit towards the
right hon. gentleman as being due to his position and his generous interest
in the welfare of the working classes, we might rest content with having
placed his propositions for the abolition of the coal duty in juxtaposition
with bis candid admissions in its favor, for they completely neutralise
each other. " If the taxes are necessary," said the speaker, " I do not
know of any better form of taxation tliat could be devised than tliat of a
duty upon coals."
It would be occupying space to no purpose, and a work of supereroga-
tion, to enter upon a demonstration of the neccssfty of taxes. Every
ratepayer within the metropolis has tangible proof of it in the paring
down of his income to supply them. Should he forget this necessity, the
* To be continued.
collector, Boards, and lawyers will remind him of it. The general reader
has but to cast his eyes over the amounts to be raised by bills prepared
for going before Parliament to be convinced of the necessity of taxes. If,
however, the Chief Commissioner can show that taxes are not necessary,
which he ought to have done to arrive logically at his conclusions for their
abolition, then we should be happy to follow where he leads.
It is curious to note how some minds are unconsciously reacted upon by
others to which they are antagonistic, so as to produce resemblance
between them. In mechanical science we are taught to believe that,
under certain conditions, two forces meeting from opposite directions
will unite and take the same course. Our readers cannot have
forgotten the professor who indulges in oratorical displays in Hyde-
park on Sunday afternoons, or the strange pass of arms, or rather of
tongues, which occurred between him and the Right Hon. Mr. Cowper
last summer. The orator raised his voice against the imposition
of taxes and their administration by a body of persons in whom the
taxed had no representatives. There was a digression or illustration of
the theme, with respect to the new ride in Hyde-park, showing how
" aristocrats levied taxes on the people, and applied the money to their
own pleasure and enjoyment." The Chief Commissioner met the orator
on his own ground, his own stump, and contradicted him. To which
side victory inclined in this rhetorical struggle we do not pretend
to say, but certain it is that the right hon. gentleman got the better of
his humble rival in public speaking by recourse to the police. Having
entered the list with such an opponent, the Chief Commissioner was
perhaps hardly justified by what Englishmen term fair-play in calling to
his aid the authority of his official position and his influence with the
police to come forth victorious. Now, by the Nemesis of fate the victor is
vanquished. As Rome, the conqueror of Greece, bent beneath the dominion
of the literature, arts, and philosophy of Athens, so the Chief Commissioner
adopts and preaches the political theories of the man whom he
sent to prison as a vagrant. The Hyde-park orator and the advocates
of universal suffrage, say every man who pays a tax, should have a
vote, which the Right Hon. Mr. Cowper puts more euphoneously at
Hertford, in the form that men were unfairly and" unjustly taxed
when the tax was administered by a body of persons in which they
were not represented. Far be it from us to assert the prerogative of class
or wealth, or to insinuate that the two formulae are not strictly just and
constitutional, only we are curious to learn wherein they are not identical,
save in their wordy clothing, and why the Chief Commissioner should
hesitate to grasp the hand of his late rival, and say, " Brother, we are
both in the right."
If the principle of universal suffrage, or theory of representation and taxa-
tion going together, as enunciated by the Right Hon. Mr. Cowper, together
with the secessional doctrine, be admitted, we must claim the benefit thereof
for London as well asfor Hertford and other remote districts. The inhabitants
of the metropolis constitute more than one-fifteenth of the total population
of the United Kingdom, and contribute far more than one-fifteenth of the
national income; yet not one-fifteenth of the total imperial expenditure
is appropriated to purposes peculiar to London. How small a fraction of
educational votes do Londoners participate in ? How considerable the
expenditure in directions whence Manchester, Birmingham, and other
provincial centres of manufacture derive the sole benefit? Look at the
enormous sums spent in refuge harbours that are of no utility to
London shipping, and at the innumerable wants to supply which the inhabi-
tants of the metropolis are taxed, but whence they derive no benefit,
save what comes to them indirectly from the general prosperity of the
whole body politic. . .
Should the Chief Commissioner succeed in carrying out his views, it is to
be hoped that he will be consistenf^not give to Hertford what he refuses to
London. For instance, here duties are levied upon metropolitan carriages
and omnibuses, the whole proceeds whereof are devoted to imperial
purposes. Before people, living within the metropolitan area of taxation,
are liberated from liability to contribute towards it, common sense and
common fairness require that the whole of the metropolitan carriage
duties should be handed over to the local metropolitan authorities, to be
devoted exclusively to satisfying metropolitan wants. Is the right hon.
gentleman prepared to perform this act of justice ? If not, he must
retreat from the position he took up on the Hertford Corn Exchange, for
it will be no excuse for Government retaining the duties because Lon-
doners want the coal tax also.
But we may take higher grounds, and meet the coal-tax abolitionists
upon the justice of the tax and the fairness of its incidence, if there be
any impost or toll that can be justified. Certain costly works arc imposed
upon the metropolis for the benefit of the general trade of the country,
yet their whole expense is sought to be defrayed out of the pockets of the
inhabitants of the capital. An immense through traffic passes London, to
accommodate which the inhabitants have to maintain the pavement,
though it is rather a nuisance than anything else, and injurious to shop-
keepers. The legislature lias imposed upon the inhabitants of the metro-
polis the execution of works to intercept sewage from the Thames. But
Liverpool is at liberty to drain into the Mersey, and all the manufactu-
ring towns into their neighbouring streams. We do not say one word against
the decision of the legislature, or that the works will not be for the benefit
of Londoners ; but if the Thames had not offended the nostrils of members
of Parliament, Londoners would not have had inflicted upon them excep-
tional legislation, and be made to bear alone the expense of works they did
not ask for. London is the receptacle for nearly .all the vice and poverty
of the country to drain into. If we had none but our own paupers and
criminals to deal with, the police and poor rates would be enormously
February 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
157
reduced. The capital, from its position, has to bear expenses whicli pro-
perly do not belong to it. So strongly is this felt, that in Paris a i)ortion
of the cost of public works is borne by the State ; and all the expenses
which are there defrayed from octroi duties, er toll on goods entering the
metropolitan limits, are here paid for by rates out of the pockets of the
inhabitants. No one can contest the right of the metropolis to institute
tolls. If it does not establish them, it is because the equivalent is found in
the duty on coals. Supposing the Chief Commissioner succeeded in freeing
Hertford from liability to pay coal duty, it would be open to the metropolis,
were it worth the trouble, to impose toll upon all produce passing through
London to or from Hertford. Will the inhabitants of this pleasant country
town consent to the change ? They should adopt one of the two courses. It
is time to call things by the right name. The agitation against the coal-tax
is simply a manojuvre to shift the burden of taxation. Were the duties
abolished to-morrow, as the money must be had, the ratepayers would
find tlieir local taxes increased by the amount of the coal duties, plus col-
lectors' poundage. We should fall from the frying-pan into the fire. Under
these circumstance we may well hesitate to follow the Right Hon. Mr.
Cowper in experiments upon local finance, seeing that it is not his spe-
cialty. He is Commissioner of Public Works, not Chancellor of the
Exchequer. Ne sutor ultra crepidam, and finance is not his last.
THEATRICAL SCENERY.
SOME of the scenes in the pantomime at Covent Garden, entitled
"Blue Beard," are worth a description in these pages. Messrs. Grieve
and Telbin, although celebrated for the solid breadth of their scene-
painting in general, show us in this pantomime that, when occasion
requires, they can descend from their serious style, so superior in that
respect to their contemporaries, and encounter them at least on equal terms
in the gayer and more fanciful inventions suited to extravaganzas and
transformations. The first scene is quite peculiar as a specimen of their
massive style of painting. The back canvas consists of ponderous blocks
of stone rising two-thirds the height from the stage to the " sky borders ;"
upon those blocks of stone are short thick piers, from wliich spring semi-
circular arches, the tops of which fill the entire space above. They, being
seen one within the other, give the idea of a cavern, extensive and deep,
hewn out of the solid rock. The whole is painted in various tints of deli-
cate grey, as if seen by moonlight, which effect is contrasted and enriched
by a large mass of detached earth or loam, supported on a framework of
timber on the one side, and on the other side of the stage the back
scene is more strongly contrasted in its grey color by a furnace, and
in its moon-lit parts by the blackness of the furnace-chimney. The
whole is relieved and broken by iron railings and gates, which form
a somewhat diagonal line across the stage. In tlie second we come
to the fancifully gay colors of pantomime. In the centre is the bow
of a man-of-war of a sufficient size to be almost real. It stands be-
neath an ornamental covering or roofing, in resemblance to and perhaps
suggested by the light-roofed shed when a ship is being built. All the
upper part is both light in construction and color, and its formality
varied and concealed by long banners and flags supposed to be waving in
the breeze, and are entwined in a most playful manner. On each side are
elegant tripods bearing golden and crimson poles intended to support the
banners and flags overhead. The hull of the vessel is colored in delicate
green, and the sides are tinted in as delicate warm colors representing the
copper rising from her bottom. The rest of the back scene is occupied by
ships fully rigged and a partial view of Greenwich Hospital. A circular bush
of bright green laurel is placed in the centre, and immediately beneath the
bow of the large ship, out of which Hope and Neptune make their appear-
ance. In this scene there is dancing, when the blue jackets, white skirts
worn by the corps de ballet, and the union jacks they wave about during their
evolutions, give much gaiety, effect and fulness to this allegorical scene,
which may be described, as a whole, both light and brilliant. The follow-
ing is like a street scene in Turkey, having a square low building bearing
a marble cupola in the centre. The coloring in this is also delicate, for
the contrast of which a group of dark poplars is introduced in the middle.
It is, however, merely for the arrival of Blue Beard on his elephant, and
although excellent for the purpose, does not call for a long description.
The next scene is light and warm in color, representing a large apartment,
open at the ends, fit for a warm climate, something like a railway station,
having considerable space given to it by being represented rather sidewise.
Previous and introductory to the transformation scene we have a rocky
cavern on the sea shore, a wreck in the distance, the clouds are lowering,
and the whole dark and stormy. By the side of the wreck is a lighthouse.
After the necessary business on the stage has taken place, the dark clouds
begin to ascend, the still darker sea to descend, and through the opening
appear some brilliant crimson flowers, amidst vivid green leaves,
apparently lying on banks of silver on each side of a column, formerly the
lighthouse, now bearing the figure of Freedom in a dark red dress ; aud
from behind this figure and out of the dark and stormy sea a rainbow
ascends, golden and crimson flowers appear on each side. In course of
time a change takes place, a grotto is discovered, in which a fountain,
having several jets of real water, is playing. This obtains a peculiar and
elegant effect, from being placed behind two large sheets of plate- glass, their
inner edges meeting at an acute angle; this arrangement gives great depth
to the rocky recess of the grotto, and an unusual appearance to the drops
of water as they descend with a clear light thrown upon them. While ,we
are admiring ihis a slight and inverted arch, painted to agree with that
part of the scene, where it remains almost unperceived till it is wanted,
begins to rise slowly, with another bow or arch of the opposite form, and
ascends to the upper part of the scene ; then golden columns with Urlng
female figures upon them rise through the stage to meet the ends of tb*
arch just described : when that portion of the jscenc ia completed, the
crimson flowers, with green leaves, lying, as it were, on the silver bonk on
each side and at the feet of Freedom also commence rising, and prove to
be very beautiful trees laden with the crimson and golden flowers,
surrounded by brilliantly green leaves, which were described at the
beginning of tliis scene. By this time the low set pieces on the stage in
front of all are changed to silver water-falls, which form the continuation
of some flowing from the fountain down the steps of the grotto. The scene
has now reached its culminating point. The various delicate but brillisnt
colors, combined with gold and silver, which now surround the centre of
the stage, receive a delightful and an effective contrast from the glassy cool-
ness of the water and dark grey of the recess of the grotto, while the deep
red dress of the figure of Freedom contrasts powerfully with the watery
coolness behind it, giving it comparative paleness and distance, and at the
same time opposes by its deep-toned red the golden and crimson flowers
about it, gives excessive brilliancy to the metallic green leaves, and forms a
rich dark point to the whole scene. The prevailing lightness of the entire
effect may be judged from the fact that the nearly all white dresses worn by
the clowns are scarcely visible in front of it. Uffore the first scene of the
harlequinade hides it from view, the usual beautiful changes arc produced
by green and pink lights thrown over the whole. The striking character-
istic of this transformation scene at Covent Garden is its peculiar elegance,
and in that respect is, we think, superior to any we have yet seen, and is,
therefore, highly creditable to the taste and ingenuity of Messrs. Grieve
and Telbin, and is praiseworthy to the spirit and liberality of the Pyne
and Harrison management.
THE ABBEY OF ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL, SHREW.SBURY.
THIS ancient church is undergoing the process of restoration gradually. The
walls, once covered with plaster, have been stripped, showing patches of
brickwork here and there, rather unsightly, but which, of course, will be re-
moved and filled in with masonry neatly pointed. Tlie clerestorios have been
hitherto bricked up, but are now being renewed. The restoration contemplated
by Mr. S. Pountney Smith, the present architect, is of the moat complete
description, inclusive of choir, &c., thus carrying out tlie original cruciform
plan; but it is sadly feared these additional improvements will not be carried out,
owing to the paucity of funds. The same cause is delaying other structures of s
similar nature ; and it seems a matter of surprise that those anti({uarian gentle-
men, ere defacing our ecclesiastical odifices by stripping off thoir plastir, did not
take sufiicient precautions in the way of a reserve fund for the fulfilment of their
praiseworthy intentions. Much has been done to tliis church by private munifi-
cence, and much remains to be done before it can rightly be considered as re-
covered from actual dilapidation. As to restoring it to its former extent and
magnificence, time, circumstances, lack of funds, &c., will present innumerable
and insurmountable obstacles ; but the portion still in existence may be rescued
from the spirit of vandalism usurping sway for so many years.
As this is one of the earliest foundations in the kingdom, a brief notice of it
may be desirable. Founded in the year 1083 by Roger de Montgomen-, tlie first
Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, and peopled with monks of the Benedictine order,
it seems to have been richly endowed, and eventually became the resting-place
of the illustrious founder, as also of his son, who was"buried with his father in
the cloisters. Up to the reign of Henry II. constant enriclinieut and endowment
seems to have been going on. In 1137 the bones of St. Wenefrede were trans-
lated from Gwytherin, in Denbighshire, to this abbey, and interred there with
great solemnity, and in honor of this a bell was christened and consecrated ; and
as it was a superstitious belief in those ages that, on being rung, tells allayed
storms and drove away evil spirits, they were generally inscribed. In this
instance thus the inscription ran round the outside, and in old English
" Sancta Wcnefrcda, Deo hoc commendare memento,
Ut pietate tua, nos servct ab hoste crueuto."
Again, in text capitals —
" Protege prece pla, quos convoca vIrgo Maria."
This was remaining till the year 1673, when the rest of the bells were recast
into a peal of eight. St. Wenefrede's great bell was cracked about the
year 1700, and sold as old metal, in the thirteenth centur>- the property
belonging to this abbey consisted of upwards of seventy manors, thirtjr-seven
parishes, and more than twenty churches. In Henry VIIl.s reign the
revenue amounted to nearly £o,00Q annually, taken at present valuaUon,
and this place seems to have been a royal residence on the occaaon
of several visits of that nature to Shrewsbury, for it was here, at what
was called the "Parliament" of Edward I., in 1283, that David, Uie
last Prince of Wales, was tried and condemned to a cruel death. Little remains
now of this once celebrated abbey, so often occupying attenUon in past history.
pulpit. Concerning the latter are many speculations, for standing alone to the
south of the church, and overgrown wiUi ivy, it seems to invite attention and
admimtion. Some suppose it to have_been usj^ as a hgh.house or l^^ntho^^^
the cloisters, but the more reasonable supposition is that it was a reader spulpit,
although bearing marks of having been glazed in the panels. It is octagonal on
nlan and is supposed to have projected on one side mto the refectory, and on the
S her?" have Ukcd into the outer courts. It is supported upon an enriched
bracket sDrin<ring from a corbel, and the roof is conical, supported by six pointed
and txefo'^l-headJd arches, anJ groined within, the c«itral inter«,;etio« being
concealed bv an open flower, bearing a finely-executed Crucifixion, with t)t. John
and the V rsin JIarv. Pixels embattled, reUeved by crocketed tabernaclas
having pinnacled buFtresses intervening, fill up the three northern arch«,^
subiects cliosen being St. Peter and St. Paul, the Annuncialion, and M. Wene-
frede and the Abtet Beuno. No one can visit this pulpit without veneration for
its antiouitv.and admiration of the artistic finish discernible in everv portion.
The present charch of the Holy Cross has nave, side aisles, north porch and
158
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 22, 1861.
western tower. The present cemetery was once the site of the choir and Lady
chapel of the monaster}'. The greater portion of tlie structure is in red stone,
bearing marks of cannon-ball and other injuries, the style being early Anglo-
Norman and Decorated Enslish, the latter being observable in two arches on
chistered piets, with horizontally-moulded capitals in the western portion. The
window of stained class in the western tower is very fine, displaying the armorial
bearings ofRich.ird II., the Dukesof York, Gloucester, and Lancaster, and other
notable personages. The north-east window of the north aisle has the arras of
the see of Lichfield, of the donor Lord Berwick, as also the figure of St. Peter ;
and opposite to this, in the south aisle, is a window of mosa'c design, bearing the
Rocke family shields. Tlie chancel seems to have been built across by a wjdl at
the east endl but to some extent restored a few years back, and the wall perforated
with a triple Xonnan window, having figures of David, Solomon, St. John, St.
James, St. Peter, and St. Paul, by IMr. David Evans, of Shrewsbury, long
celebrated as a window painter and stainer. Beneath this is a stone altar-screen
in the Ji'onnan style, forming a series of arches with interlaced mouldings; a
painting of the" .Appearing of Angels to the Women at the Sepulchre," by Mr.
Bridges, of London, adorns the central arch. We find the remains of a screen of
a chapel in the north aisle, which is supposed to indicate the position of the
chauntry. Many curious specimens of tiling are to be found here, and the font
is of vm- singular design. The pedestal is formed of the upper portion of the
'■ Weeping Cross " (which was at one time situate some distance from the town
of Shrewsbury, and to which the monks and burghers made an annual procession,
which has now the designation of " Shrewsbury Show "), and this is sculptured
with figures of the Virgin and Child, the Crucifixion, the Visitation, &c. The
basia of the font represents an open flower, surrounded with drapery festooned
from grotesque heads. It was found amongst the ruins of the abbey. Many
monuments are still extant here, including those of Roger de Montgomery,
W. Charlton, Esq., and Anne his wife, of Apley Castle, 1524 and 1554 ; Richard
Onslow, Esq., speaker of the House of Commons in the reign of Elizabeth, and
who died 1571 ; Thomas Edwards, Esq., and family, 1634 and 1641 ; Sir Walter
de Dunstanville, lord of Ideshale, who died 1240 j with knights and priests, the
names of whom are long since defaced. Here is a mural monument, bearing
a long inscription to the late Rev. Richard Scott, B.D., a great ecdesiastical
benefactor.
From whatever point we view this venerable abbey, we cannot avoid being
struck by the massive outline of the western tower, with the imposing window
upon its front. Beneath the window (whose outer mouldings terminate in a
canopy, crocketted with finial flower, which again is surmounted by a taber-
nacle, containing a figure of Edward III. in armour) is a Norman doorway in a
deeply recesse<l semicircular arch, and this arch displays a series of well-executed
mouldings. The window deserves especial notice, as being, perhaps, the hand-
somest thing of its kind in the kingdom. It has been often and lucidly described,
with its vixried trefoiled and quatreibiled folia|;e and panelled tracery, which
seems in profusion, yet at the same time preserving a completeness of design we
have rarely seen equalled. We can only hope that funds will be forthcoming for
the laudable purpose of restoring this and such like ancient edifices to something
like their pristine grandeur.
MAXIMS AND MEMORANDA RELATING TO THE ARRANGE-
MENT OF FARM HOUSES, AND COTTAGES FOR AGEICUl^
TUBAL LABORERS.
No. rv.
T) ESUMING onr notice of the various " plans " for the cottages of farm
XXi laborers, which liave been produced during the last few years, we
proceed to illustrate the arrangement of a one-storied single cottage, as
suggested by the Scottish Association for the Improvement of the Con-
dition of Agricultural Laborers, and given by them in their first Report,
1855. In Fig. 1, Plate III., a is the lobby, b the living-room or kitchen,
12 feet by 11 feet, c the scullery, d a pantry, e a bed-room, 12 feet by
7 feet C inches, / a second bed-room, 12 feet by 8 feet 1 inch. In Fig. 2,
jmother arrangement of the same space is shown, in which three bed
ajartnicnts are obtained ; a the lobby, li the kitchen, 12 feet by 10 feet,
c a bed-closet, 8 feet by 6 feet 6 inches, d a scullery, same size, e a
pantry, / bed-room, 12 ^et by 10 feet, g a bed-closet, 8 feet by 6 feet
6 inches.
65. In Fig. 3 and 4, plate III., we illustrate the arrangement of a pair of
cottages with attics, as suggested by the Association (see last paragraph),
and also given in their first report. In Fig. 3, the ground-plan, o a the
living rooms, 13 feet by 11 feet ; b b sculleries, 6 feet 6 inches by 5 feet ;
e c pantries, 5 feet by 3 feet 6 inches ; d d bed-rooms, 9 feet by 7 feet
6 inches; ee stairs. In Fig. 4, chamber plan, a a stairs, A 6 closets, enter-
ing from landing c c • dd bed-rooms, 13 feet by 9 feet 6 inches j e e bed-
Tooms, 9 feet by 7 feet.
66. In the last Report (1860) of the same Association is given the plan
of a single or detached cottage with attics, of which, in Fig. 5, we give a
sketch of the ground-plan : a lobby, b stairs, c kitchen, 13 feet by 12 feet ;
■cullery, 8 feet by 6 feet ; e bed-recess ;/ recess, j bed-room, 10 feet by which
9 feet 4 inches pantry. In Fig. 7 we give the alternative arrangement, in
a is the scullery, b closet, c bed, d pantry, e bed-room. In Fig. 7 bed-
room plan, « the stairs, 6 a closet, c a bed-room, 12 feet square ; d ditto,
12 feet by 10 feet.
67. In Figs 8 and 9, Plate III. we illustrate the arrangement of a pair of
cottages with attics, also suggested by the Association in their last
report. In Fig. «, the gronnd plan, a the lobby, b press or cupboard,
c stairs, d kitchen, 13 feet by 12 feet; e pantry, 4 feet 6 inches square ;
/ a bed recess, g a bed-room, u feet 6 inches by 9 feet. In Fig. 9, the
chamber floor, a the stairs, b the landing, c bed-closet, 7 feet 6 inches by
6 feet 6 inches ; d bed-room, 12 feet square.
68. With reference to the fact that all the cottages proposed by the
Scottish Association have been those of one story, with or without attics,
the f/orth British Agriculturist has some suggestive remark : " It is
questionable how far cottages with attics can he considered an improve-
ment on cottages whose entire accommodation is arranged on the ground
floor; and the construction of attics with their general inconveniences and
discomfort, has induced the existing prejudice in the minds of many-
laborers against modern cottages. Garret-rooms are objectionable — being
cold in winter and hot in summer — and in countries where the temperature
is liable to extreme variations they are very objectionable. When the
roofing material acts as a protection— say thatch— sudden changes of the
temperature are modified, but attic-rooms where the cottage is roofed with
slate or tile— particularly tile— become suddenly hot or cold, partly from
the change of temperature in the atmosphere, and partly from the heating
of the tiles by the sun's rays. Under a powerful sun, a roof becomes
heated, and the temperature of the attic is raised considerably above the
temperature of the atmosphere. In our climate, cold is to be guarded
against rather heat ; but a high temperature acts more injuriously on
animal life than a low temperature. Attic apartments have been occa-
sionally characterised as nurseries of fever, and except attention is
bestowed on ventilation, fever will be induced, or if contracted otherwise,
the patient laboring under fever has less chance of recovering."
69. So much for the objections of an authority to the system of atticked
cottages. These objections do not hold, however, against the upper rooms
in two-storied cottages, where these arc of proper altitude. If we were
asked to point out the most striking point of difference between English
and Scotch cottages we should at once say that while in England the
bed-rooms are generally placed in a second story, in Scotland the accom-
modation is all placed in the ground floor. Now this latter arrangement
results, we think, in a two-fold evil, namely, first the expense of roofing in
great measure controls the extent of accommodation given, and the sleep-
ing apartments being placed so near the ground line are generally damp.
This dampness moreover is greatly aggravated, if not in many cases
chiefly caused, by the absurd habit too often indulged in by Scotch
builders of placing the floor squat upon the ground, or, which is worse —
and not seldom done — descending a step or two, so that the level of the
surrounding ground is actually above that of the room floors. Now, in
England we may say that it is the rule to raise the floors of all cottages
the height of two, and often three steps above the ground level. The
great advantage arising from the adoption of two-storied cottages is that
the bed-rooms there placed are generally dry, and warm, and if made of a
proper height in the ceiling with casemated or sash windows — the latter
are in every way preferable — well ventilated.
70. As a rule for safe adoption, we should say that where the accommo-
dation of a cottage is required to be more than a living-room and a single
bed-room, the extra accommodation should be given in a second or bed-
room floor. It will be better as well as more economically done thus,
than by putting all the accommodation on the ground floor, and adding
to the expense by the increase of roof surface.
71. In the 17th volume of the Journal of the Roval Agricultural
Society, a prize essay by Mr. T. W. P. Isaacs of Bath, on the Construction
of Laborer's Cottages is given, containing plans of a pair of cottages ;
of these in Figs. 10 and 1 1, we give sketches illustrative of their arrange-
ments.
72. In Fig 10, the ground plan a, is the porch, 6 the stairs, c the living
room 12 feet square, d the wash-house, e the pantry. In Fig. 11, the
chamber plan, a is the stairs, h the landing, c the parents' bed-room 12 feet
square, d the boys' bed-room, 9 feet by 8, e the girls' do same size. All the
rooms are 8 feet high.
73. In the Journal oj Agriculture, Nos. 38 and 39, new series, are given
a variety of plans of cottages for agricultural laborers ; of these we give
sketches in Figs. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. In Fig. 12, Plate HI., we give a sketch
of a single one-story cottage, in which a is the porcii, b the living-room,
c the scullery, d the bed-room, e a wardrobe closet, entering from same,
/coal place, g privy. This would be much improved by taking away the
water-closet, g, making half of it entering from the outside into a coal
place, the other half a wardrobe closet entering from bed-room d. In this
case the closets e and/ would be thrown into one and entered from the porch,
using it as a store closet. In Fig. 13 is the ground plan of a two-storied
detached cottage, also adapted to be built in pairs by doing away with the
side window in living-room ; « is the porch, b stairs, c living-room, d a
store closet entering from living-room : it may be enlarged by being also
made under head of stairs ; c scullery, f back door, g coal place, h privy.
In Fig. 14, the chamber plan, a is the stair, the landing, c the bed-room,
d e closets, /bed-room. In Fig. 15, the half ground plan of a pair of cot-
tages is given; a is the lobby, 6 the living-room, c bed-room, d scullery
e back passage, / closet. In Fig. 16, the chamber plan, a the stairs, b b
the bed-rooms, c bed closet, d linen closet.
74. In the Quarterly Itcview for April, 1860, in the article on "Laborers'
Homes," a number of designs for cottages are given. Of these we select
the plans of Mr. Strickland, given in his "Cottage Architecture," and
which the writer in the Seview conceives " to be by far the best yet offered
to the public." (For many points of interest on the subject we refer to the
Hevieuj itself). In Fig. 17, we give ground plan, and in Fig. 18, chamber
plan of Mr. Strickland's design. In Fig. 17, a is the entrance porch, b the
stairs, c living-room, (/scullery with back door e,/pantry. In Fig. 18, o
the stairs, 6 the landing, c d e bed-rooms.
7 5 . A committee of noblemen and gentlemen connected with the princi-
pal ity of Wales, offered prizes for tbe best design for laborers' cottages.
These were awarded to Mr. J. W. Poundles, Kerry, Montgomeryshire,
and the plans have been published, along with designs for farmstcadings,
by Lomax, of Lichfield. Of the plans for a double cottage we give
sketches in Figs. 19 and 20. In Fig. 19, ground plan, a is the porch,
7 feet by 4 feet 6 inches ; b, the kitchen, 16 feet 3 inches by 11 feet;
c.the back kitchen, 14 feet 9 inches by 7 feet 3 inches, this is provided with
February 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
159
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PLATE ni.
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THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 22, 1S61.
a sink, a stone table, a boiler, and an oven ; d stairs, e pantry. In
Fig. 20, chamber plan, n is the landing. 6, bed-room, 16 feet 3 inches
by 11 feet; c, do, 12 feet 9 inches by 7 feet 3 inches ; d, do, 19 feet
8 inches by 7 feet. In Fig. 21 is the scale to which all the drawings
are drawn.
VILLAGE CHURCHES.— Part II.— No. 4.
JIARDWICKE CHURCH.
H.*.BD\VICKE CHURCH is situated about four miles to the west of Glou-
cester, in the same direction as Moreton Valeuce, and, like it, may be ap-
proached either by the Bristol-road, or by the steamboat which leaves Glou-
cester for Sharpness Point each day. During the summer months the water
excursion is exceedingly pleasant, and visitors avail themselves of the opportunity
offered by these steamboats to Sharpness of paying a visit to Berkeley Castle,
which is" situated near there, and which is so replete with architectural and
historical interest The Gloucesterond Berkely Canal is sixteen miles in length
and sufficiently deep to allow of ships of eight or nine hundred tons burden sailin<^
up to the port without discharging their cargoes. Ships of larger tonnage lie
at the point where the canal joins the river Severn ana unship their cargoes,
which are taken in hghters to the Gloucester Docks. The river Severn is not
navigable to this port for ships of more than 200 or 250 tons, and, consequently
the canal is the principal channel for foreign trade. Hardwicke Church stands
a little distance from the banks of this canal, in a flat unbroken country, well
sprinkled with foliage, and dotted with farms and cottages. Like Sloreton
\ alence, the houses around the church are much scattered and are not grouped
into the semblance of a village. Near it, however, are some schools, which give
it an air of modern completeness, and the voices of the children tend to give it a
livelisess which destroys that almost unbroken silence usually reigning in these
rural districts. The church consists of a nave, chancel, and south aisle, which
is continued np to the east wall of chancel and opens into it — anarrangement
observable in Moreton Valence. The tower stands at the west end of aisle ; it is
divided into three stages by string-courses and finished with battlements. ' The
windows are single hgbts with foiled heads ; the buttresses are placed at right
angles, and under the battlemented portion gargoyles are cut on each side. It
appears to be of rather late design, and has the appearance of work of the fifteenth
century. The outside walls are free from the usual coating of whitewash
and appear to be built of freestone, which has the mellow colorin"' of
years upon it. On the north of aisle is a porch of early design ;
the inner door is especially worthy of notice; the opening is
3 feet 10 inches wide, and the height to springing of arch, which
is not quite equilateral, is 5 feet 4 inches. On each side the jamb is composed of
a shaft, which is detached, but standing in a hollow near the face of wall, then a
moulding of 2i inches, a hollow of 3 inches, and another bold round moulding of
the same size as the one on the other side. That portion which falls on the cap of
shaft and is stopped by it, is formed of a flat face flush with the face of wall,
measuring 4^ inches, and having its angle splayed 3i inches ; over this comes the
hood moulding, which is very small, being only 2^ inches wide, and formed of a
three-quarter round moulding, projecting 2 inches from the wall, and having a
fillet on the under part of its outer face. This hood moulding is terminated
onjeach side level with the upper mouldings of cap, by a kind of trefoil leaf,
which appears to be a foliated continuation of the fillet turned round the upper
portion of the three-quarter round moulding. The cap of the shaft is composed of a
neck-moulding of one inch, from which spring several stems crossing each other,
and then bursting forth into foliage ; this is surmounted by a moulded part of 2
inches, the mouldings being first an upper projecting quarter round withahollow
imder, and lastly a sloping fillet. The caps are not both alike in design, the one
being plainer than the other. Their total height is 11 J inches. A moulded band
is placed in the middleof the shaft; it is composed of a square projectinn- fillet
and a round moulding with a fillet on its face, and an under projecting fillet'
which like the upper one measures a quarter of an inch ; the round moulding is 2
inches wide, and projects 1 J inch from the face of shaft. The base is hidden by
the floor-line, which has probably been much raised in the courseof time. There
is a flat face of 4i inches between the mouldings and the door, and another one of
3 inches at right angles to it, cut for the reception of door. This face is 14 inches
from the inner face of wall, the angle of which is splayed four inches. The door
is an old one, having moulded ribs running round it, and two others of the same
size and design placed vertically, and covering the joining of the boards which
compose the door.
The springing of the inner arch is much higher than the outer one, and much
more depressed ; its apex rises 9 inches above the door opening ; the distance
from the spring to the apex of outer arch, or rather opening, is 2 feet 6 inches,
being, as before observed, less than equilateral. The ceiling of porch is semi-
circular, springing from a moulded wall-plate. The whole of the timbers were,
probably, at one time in sight, but are now concealed by the nlaster. On the
right hand of entrance is a font standing oil a round step of OJ 'inches in height.
The basin, which is round, is supported by eight columns or shafts with moulded
caps and Uses, and round it are eight moulded arches with a small projecting
block in the centre of each, which seems to have been originally intended for a
carved figure, hut which was never carried out. The basin measures 2 feet
6 inches and the bowl 1 foot 10 inches in diameter, and 12 inches deep. The
small shafts are each 7i inches, and are not detached. The base, which is octa-
gonal, consists of a small nuarter-round and a large one joined to it ; this moulded
part is placed on a stone plinth, the top of which is splayed. The total height of
base is 8 inches, and the width of each side of plinth 13 inches. This font is
covered with a flat oaken lid which has a moulded rib carried round it, but is not
ornamented with iron scroll-work as is usually the case. The lid is round, but
the rib is arranged octagonally, and is composed of three round mouldings— the
upper and centre one being separated from the one on each side by a small right-
angled projection. Both the font and cover appear to be of very eariy date, pro-
bably of the thirteenth centurj-. The chancel arch is a verv plain one, and also
of eariy date. It is 6 feet 7 inches wide, and 6 feet 6 inches from the floor-line to
springing of arch, which is obtuse. It is not moulded, but a splay of 4i inches
« carried round it, and down the pier, and a small hood-moulding of the same
size and design as that over north door, before described, is placed a few inches
above it. The angle on the chancel side is splayed, but there is no hood-moulding.
Thethickness of wall is 2 feet 8 inches, the flat soflit of arch measuring 1 foot 1 1 inches.
The chancel points east-south-east, and measures 29 feet 2 inches in length by 15
feet 4 inches in width. The nave is 42 feet long and 15 feet 4 inches wide. The
east window is a two-light geometrical one filled with stained glass; the mullion
is plain, being formed of a flat face with the angles splayed, and the lights are 2
feet wide. The east window of south aisle is a three-light window having a kind
of geometrical tracery in the head, which appears nt one time to have belonged
to some other, as the circles are cut partly away to admit of its insertion in'au
arch which was too small for them. The mulli'ons are moulded and more elabo-
rate than those in the east window of chancel. All the other windows of this
church are in the Perpendicular style, the north and west windows being three
lights. The nave ceiling is curved and plastered, but the principal timbers in the
chancel roof are showing. The whole of the seating is modern, and well
arranged against the wall which is between the chancel and south aisle, and on
the south side is a moulded corbel or cap, the under side of which is 5 feet G inches
from the floor-line. It is 13 inches wide at the top and 8^- inches from its upper
side to the under line of neck moulding, which is round and measures 1^ inch.
The mouldings are, first, the upper flat face of 1-J inch, an angular channel, and
a kind of cyma recta under; then a bold half-round with a fillet on its under side;
and lastly, the hollow separating it from the neck moulding. The round mould-
ing with its under fillet measures 2J inches, as also the curved portion above the
neck moulding. This corbel is not of any present use. There are several old
monuments in the upper or east-end of this south aisle, and the walls have
tablets resting against them. Between the western part of chancel and south
arch is a large and elaborate monument representing a knight in armour in a
recumbent position, surmounted by a rich canopy of Elizahetlian architecture,
vrhich as a work of art does not stand high, and, like all other monuments par-
taking of a Classic character, it does not bcem to harmonise with the Gothic work
by which it is surrounded.
About one mile from Hardwicke stands Quedgeley Church ; with the exception
of the tower and spire, the whole appears to have been rebuilt and carried out in
the Decorated style. The stone is white freestone, and the windows are filled
with stained glass. Like Hardwicke Church it is situated in an open country
near the canal, and is about three miles from Gloucester.
NEW MATERIAL FOR INTERNAL DECORATION, A^S APPLIED
TO WALLS AND CEILINGS, &c.
ON former occasions we have given favorable notices of new compositions, as
introduced for the decoration of the interiors of buildings. If we recollect
rightly, the last invention and improvement of the kind which we described was
that of M. Desachey, which consists of a lining of canvas faced with plaster of
Paris. The composition to which we now advert has been invented by
Messrs. White and Parlby, carton-pierre manufacturers, 49, Great Marylehone-
street, and, as far as we can judge of it, the basis of the composition is plaster of
Paris, which material is impregnated with certain other substances in com-
bination that render the whole a compound inflexible mass not liable to " chip;"
at the same time exceedingly durable, and capable of being painted or gilded a
few hours after completion. When we say an inflexible meiss, we do not mean a
solid one, for the material, whether in mouldings or in ornaments, can be
executed to an extremity of thinness, and, figuratively, may be termed as
"light as a feather;" consequently it is of universal adaptation, whether as
regards mouldings, ornaments, or figures — in fact, the composition of the
inventors seems to be, under certain conditions, as applicable to external as
interior works.
THE ROYAL ACADEMY AND TIIE BRITISH INSTITUTION.
WE saw, last week, a letter in the Times from a Royal Academician,
Mr. Frith, calling attention to the bad hanging of the pictures in
the British Institution. We fully agree in his remarks, and we are glad
the question has been raised by an Academician, first, from the special
force it thus gains, and secondly from the ready suggestion it presents
that example is still better than precept. We therefore hope to see the
hanging of the pictures in the forthcoming exhibition at the Roy al Acadetny
a model of justice and judgment. There is ample room for improvement
in these respects, and we trust that the new arrangements in that build-
ing will be thus inaugurated. As we are on this subject, we may
remark the turn that the exhibition of pictures seems just now in the
course of taking. By degrees, of late years, the overweening prestige of
the Royal Academy lias been gradually giving way, and little advantage
has attached to the fact of membership, even as regards painters, beyond
the assurance thereby gained of having their works well hung on the
walls. Last year, however, Mr. Holman Hunt did not avail himself of
this, and his admirable picture of the Saviour in the Temple was exhibited
by itself, by Mr. Gambart, in Bond-street ; where doubtless it was seen
to greater advantage than would have been the case in the Royal
Academy. The whole result of this separate exhibition was a groat
success, and we foresaw that Mr. Hunt would in consequence have his
followers. Among the first of these is anotlier of our foremost painters,
Mr. Frith, it appearing that an arrangement has been made that his
picture, bought by Mr. Flatou, is not to be exhibited at the Royal
Academy this year; it will be a better speculation elsewhere. This mode,
if it prevail, is evidently calculated to have much effect on the Royal
Academy Exhibition, tending to deprive it annually of some of its most
attractive gems. Nevertheless, its action may be wholesome and for the
public interest. The Royal Academy has for years been backing against
progress, and now an influence for wider views comes from an unexpected
quarter. It should know best how to deal with tiiis form of "secession."
Years ago, not to be an Academician was to be nowhere in art, but lately
this has been much modified. In the City of London tlicre is an ancient
corporation strong in vested interests, composed of a Lord Mayor,
aldermen, and common council men, but many of the chief citizens and
merchants, and men of note decline to enter its coterie. The Royal
Academy is also a corporation of many years' standing, composed of a
President, members, and associates, but at the present time it by no means
February 22, 1S6I.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
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February 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
163
includes all the good names in art, and this, not because the Royal
Academy declines to enter them on its rolls, but because it has not the
opportunity ; each of the three arts now possessing men who, though
friendly to the Academy, yet prefer independence. Apropos, however,
to the arrangement of exhibitions of works of art, either at the British
Institution, Koyal Academy, or elsewhere, it is evident that " evenhanded
justice" should be present. This is not only right but is the best policy.
LECTURES ON AKCHITECTUKE AT TUE ROVAL ACADEltY, BY
SYDNEY SMIEKE, ESQ., K.A.,
THIRD LECTUBE,*
LET US revert now to the conBideration of the works of that particular period to whicli
I liave for the most part confined my remarks on the present occasion. 1 have
called your attention to the g:eneral propriety of desiern that pervades the works of
the best masters of the period ; and I have shown how invariably they kept in mind
the difference which it is obviously and naturally desirable to preserve between the
treatment of interior and exterior arcliitecture. I have attempted to show, too, how
discriminating: they were in the use of ornament, exercisiue; a wise and judicious
ab.^tcmiousness, or a o:enerou8 profusion, according to the relative position of the
work, and the character of the building.
I would now invite you to observe how careful those masters were to consider well
the nature of the situation of their work, and the diflerence which they evidently
thought it fitting to maintain between works of architecture erected in cities, and
those which are erected amidst natural scenery.
In these two cases the building is seen under circumstances so widely different
that a corresponding difference of treatment seems obviously called for.
A certain air of reserve and dignity, a subdued formality of manner, seems the most
appropriate average character for buildings in tiie one case, whilst a riant and play-
ful aspect seems generally the most appropriate iu the other ; although, no doubt,
it would not be difficult to state exceptions, still, I apprehend, that such is the broad
distinction which may aptly and properly be laid down.
In civic architecture, then, although there may be contrasts in the color ot the
several parts, as well as in the form and ornamentation of tlie several features of
the design, still it is expedient. I think, to preserve a generally symmetrical arrange-
ment and uniformity of .appearance, in order to give to the work that staidaess of
character which seems most in accordance witli civic life.
My observation is intended, of course, to apply with more force to buildings of a
pubUc nature, but it applies also with, I thiuk. but little less force to domestic archi-
tecture. In the thoroughfares of a great city good taste suggests that individual
ieeling should give way to public considerations ; and a man who obtrudes his resi-
dence upon the public notice too conspicuously, lays himself open to the charge of a
vulgar presumption. Hemmed in, as every building usually is, whether public or
firivate, by numerous otlier buildings when in the centre of a town, each building is
iable to be judged with reference to its neighbor, and each group of buildings forms,
or should form, a homogeneous whole. I must not be so far mistaken as to l)e sup-
posed to recommend that cold, monotonous uniformity which we occasionally meet
with in continental cities, and too frequently in our own. Yet, too great a variety of
treatment should not, I think, be indulged in. I have however, already on a former
occasion ventured to express this opinion ; I will not. therefore, further insist on it.
Widely different are the circumstances attending rural architecture. Surrounded
by the endless variety of natural objects where those with which our work is in
contact, or in the immediate proximity of which our building stands, are broken
into many parts and into various altitudes. To group well, and to amalgamate
agreeably with such forms, a building must not be marked by too fjreat severity of
aspect ; it should be broken and somewhat diversified in form and chiaroscuro.
This is the sentiment that seems constantly to have influenced the best masters,
not of the age only to which I have this evening been particularly referring, but of
every age when accomplished architects have existed.
Look, for cvample, at the ^'illa de Medici, at Rome, attributed in great part at least,
to M. Angelo. The front next the city where it is placed formally in the presence of
other buildings, presents a somewhat plain, unilorm. and perfectly symmetrical
design ; whilst the rear of the very same building, where the facade is surrounded
by the varied accompaniments of ornamental gardening, ]>artorreg. fountains,
terraces, and the like, assumes a totally different character; its outlines seem to
relax into the picturesque and irregular.
So that beautiful villa in the vicinity of Rome, well known to all who have visited
that city— the Villa Doria ramflli. Rich in sculpture of the most cheerful and elegant
character, it seems to be in perfect harmony with the smiling gardens with which it
is associated ; so harmonious, indeed, that the edifice appears to grow imperceptibly
out of the terraces wliich surround it, and one can hardly define where the domain
of the gardener ends, and that of the architect begins. Compare this villa, its broken
outlines and varied heights, with the palaces of the best masters in the adjacent city,
such as the Palazzo Farnese, aud others that might be readily named, and you will
see In the latter dignified masses of architecture, with unbroken outlines, generally
of uniform height, and always great moderation in the use of ornament. Look, too.
at the A'illa IMa. by Tirro Li^orio, a contemporary of M. Angelo ; the light and
graceful building scatters itself; as it were, over the gardens of the liolvedere, in the
n-ecst and most fantastic manner ; whilst the same artist, when he designed the
Palazzo Laneelotti, at no great distance off. but in the streets of Rome, produced
.simple, grave, unilorm, and almost heavy structure.
But evidences of the systematic adherence to this principle of design crowd upon
our recollection, among the works of the most eminent in the age of which wc are
speaking. I'alladio adorned the cities of the North of Italy with buildings that have
ever since been the types of architectural beauty, but I remember not one example
of a strictly civic bmldingofhis design that does not, with all its elegance and
refinement, preserve a somewhat subdued, dignified, and decorous tone,
marked by the uniformity and simplicity of its general lines, whilst the
same architect, when relieved from the restraint apparently imposed on
his pencil by the pubhcity, as it were, of the site, will never fail to be found to
relax into a freer and more playful design. I need hardly do more than remind you
of the graceful Villa Capri, on the banks ot the lirenta, those banks so rich in
examples of that fine taste which distinguished Italian art in the earlier half of the
sixteenth century yet abounding, also, it must be ov^•ned, in architectural capriccios,
of a very diflerent character, of a later date.
When adverting to the excellence of the masters at this auspicious period, it be-
hoves me not wholly to omit certain other illustrious names.
Among the immediate followers of Ilaflaelle, none. I think deserves our regard
more than Giulio Romano. He was one of the master spirits of that remarkable age.
Whether as an engineer engaged on the drainage of the marshes of the Po and the
Mincio ; or as a painter of the very highest powers, and endowed, in tlio opinion of
Sir .loshua Reynolds, with a poetic genius bA"ond that of any painter before or since;
or as an architect, the designer of the Villa Aladama, at Rome, and of the Palazzo del
T at Mantua— in whatever light we view him we must place him in the first rank of
those who by their works have bequeathed to us important lessons in our art. As
architect, oiily, I presume to speak of him here ; ;and as such, certainly, he was
fully worthy of his great master Raffaelle, aud of the period at which he lived.
To the Mantnan I'alace 1 would point as a striking illustration of the principle of
design to which I have been adverting. With all its elegance nothing can well
exceed the extreme simplicity of the exterior of that building, although built»for
the personal enjoyment, and under the eye of a prince devotedly fond of art, and
with the command of abundant means, G. Romano has lavished on his work no
pompous Corinthian displays ; he has indulged in no superfluities of friezes and
* Concluded trom page 143.
festoons and foliage. There is not. In fact, a ihurle ooliiino In the Whola balUlMr (
although it is true we see on every inch of surfue sninla erldeneeorttac alccM
taste, and of infinite painstaking in the adjuatment or the proportiou at (Mb
individual part, as well as of the whole.
Such is the character of the exttTior. It would be difltcult to form an •deqnatc
conception of theoblO(|uy that would be the fate of any mistaken Indlvldaal who ia
these days of masonic floriculture would dare to erect so plain a building in lljrd*-
park. Poor, tame, heavy, barren, cold, dry, &e., such are a few of the aiUeettTca that
would be contumeliously assigned to the unhappy artist by the current erltleiani of
the day. Such, however. Is the character of the exterior which O. Komano, the
favorite pupil of Raffaelle. thought propiT to give to the outside of hl« royal maater'a
palace. But enter that palaic, and you will there find the po.lle genius of the artiit
in all its radience ; the richest dis|>Iay of all the three sister arts in happleot combi-
nation, and in most generous abundance.
It might seem siiperfluouB to dwell so much In detail on a principle the propriety
of which appears too obvious to need enforcing, but he must be little vemed In the
erring tendencies of our art. and in the eccentricities of her rotarlea, who will not
admit but too readily that the principle I urge has been far too often deplorablr
overlooked. How often do we meet in situations of the most romantic beautr ritSi
buildings of that Iteotian age of English architecture, the h«ttcr part of the last
century, whose plain, heavy, cubical, masses too truly deBcrvc the ridicule of L'vcdale
Price who likens to "a huge clamp of bricks "theh- uugainlv ■■ha|)o." If shape It
may be called which shape hath none." How often, to<j, ni^ ihe
very heart of our soot-begrimed towns, some tawdry i»leee <: ue-
neas obtruding itself on US like an Ill-timed joke, jarring on t ilof
tune with the tone of the mind.
Having now touched upon the merits of some few of tlie most distiairulshed amomr
the worthies of the earlier part of the sixteenth century, I have but little time lot
to review the merits of those artists who illustrated the remainder of the century.
Indeed, to do even the scantiest justice to that brilliant epoch we need a long course
of lectures, and what is far more important, a long course of study. It is a singular
fact in the history of our art that, limiting our view to the period of modem civilisa-
tion, nearly all that is most excellent in architeelure will be found to be entertd
within about 100 years, dating from the latter end of the fifteenth ceutur$t o tho
latter end of the sixteenth century, aud that, too, within vcrv narrow geograplilcat
limits, namely, the northern and central parts of the Italian Peninsula.
No doubt, within that period works of^ great merit aud genius may be found out-
side those geographical limits ; but they will prove on cxamlnatiou to be for the
most part but weak and inferior emanations from the real active centre to which 1
have referred. Italy was in fact the school of art for all Europe, and whatever was
fine at that period in France, Germany, and, I believe 1 may add Spain, mar be
traced to an ItaUan orl^n, for Italian artists scattered themselves over tluMc
countries, or by their teaching and example influenced the progress of art there. Of
course, I here speak not of our own country, for we had then hardly emerged fh>m
Medievalism, and our art then formed part of a totally diflerent cycle and belonged
to another civilisation.
In statmg that the culminating period of what we call by the borrowed term, the
"Renaissance" extends from the latter part of the lifteenth century to the latter
part of the sixteentli century; 1 would observe that even within those loo years ft
18 by no means to be asserted that an equally sustained excellence prevailed. For
whilst in the north of Italy. I'alladio, Sansovino, and others, nobly sustained the
character of their art, the Roman school certainly deteriorated « ithin that period.
M. Angelo was, beyond any question whatever, one of the greatest artists the
world has yet known, and it seems almost profane to utter a single derogatory
syllabic respecting him, especially within these w alls, where his transcendent merits
have been so often recognised and proclaimed ; yet truth, or at least what 1 honestly
believe to be the truth, obliges me to say that the intense vigor and potent genius of
M. Angelo, led him to set examples which did, in fact, through his numerous and
less gifted imitators, very seriously deba.se the Roman school of architecture.
In the earlier, purer days every form had its mechanical purpose, and every stone
its special use, and even every ornament was but an emphasised slone. In the
works of Uramante, and Raffaelle, and G. Romano, the removal of a single orna-
ment would have been a manifest mutilation of the building ; whereas in the works
of the later masters ornament became a redundancy, an object that would seem to be
capable of being plucked away or hacked off without any concern to the fabric
itself. ^ ». »!«. 1
These decorative adjuncts were. I am most ready to admit, often very bcautUUl
works in themselves, but their individual beauty is no Justification of them when
inijiroperly placed, or when used for the unworthy purpose of winning applause for
their novelty alone, or for their fine execution.
A learned divine of the last century, speaking as a literary censor, says ••Vicious
examples are most noxious when set olvand recommended by the charms of oratory
and poetry, as some poisonous plants growing on a mountain in China arc said to
kill only when they are in flower." . , j, _,...»
So was it with the seductive embellishments of artists who, heedless or tne
simple habits of their predecessors, cultivated a noxious exuberance of ornament.
degenerating from plenty into excess, from legitimate indulgence Into a sort oi
ffisthetic inebrietv, wliolly forgetting that the highest art. and the most commauamg
powers, must submit to be subject to the guidance of reason and good sense.
It is therefore that I have this evening held out for your special consideration and
study the works of the distinguished men of those better times to whicli I rcier
I would recommend to you to ascertain e.\actly wherein their merits amHareaio
lie. and what were their faults. Consider well how the pecuharities of eacli niastcr s
style arose out of the circumstanccB of the time when he lived, or from the cumau
under which he worked, or from some other local circumstances ; and however roucn
you may admire or even reverence his style, think how far It suits our modem LngUsn
wants before you adopt any portion of it as your own. „„.!,„„.«•.
I know some very transcendent.-d critics may say. why ''<loP' "py"^''""^
ideas ? Scorn rather to repeat that which has been done, and 1<=' f "g^i*^
that you embody in bricks and stone be your own original conception, the omprmg
of your own pure invention. _„i,^ i„.> i< i. •
s'uch advice would be founded on a theory most attractive and «»'^ 1 *"'"'' ?
theory which I should fear to recommend here for J »ur unrestratoed unqmUIBed
adoption. Some of the most atrocious sins to our art h»» 'i,''*™ «°""""^ "°°" '°^
Influence of this seductive and dangerous theory. Lnder tbeflatterlnie "» »f
invention men have indulged in the vahiest conceits, and V" ^I^T^: ?,? '^^h ' ^i°°„f
some of the most ridiculoSs errors. I feel it to be my ^"'X- »»»?« ''*'',• .[■ifot to
being charged with timidity and want of vigor, to advise the young student not to
aUow his ambition to seduce him into abortive attempts at novelty.
An eminent writer of the seventeenth century says with much point— A man
coins not a Sew word without some peril and less fruit, for If It happen to be received
the nraisc Is but moderate ; if refused the scorn Is assured.
It'^^sJntruTi; the privilege only of the highest genius t",""*"""!"" ^^HST*"
innovations upon establisbed modes of expression. <>' «» «{^f J° "« "*"^. J,Sf h .g
lary • and the ordinary student would do wisely to confine bunself to that w hicn uas
'TuihM'o' a^rtllrris'k.' mn by him who. without the utmost circumspection, would
venture to coin new forms and arrangements of architecture.
Nor am I imposing on h m any si vere restraint. A wide field still hes open bclorc
him for the exercise of his Imatiinalion, and for the production of b«aut,- and
grandeur He may find his ingenuity sufficiently taxed in doing that well, -nithout
even altemptlng to mount into Ihe higher regions of imagination.
To torment his brain bv spasmodic attempts at novelty, when the result of that
effort is. perhaps, but to do what might just as well have been done by ordmary
means, i.s like a man who would prefer to lose himself m the tangled forest, "ther
than submit to pursue the path tliat is straight before bim Let the sludent, th^^
and the younger practitioner beware lest he be led Into danger and dIflSculttes in mt
164
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 22, 1861.
pursuit of so unsafe an object, so treaclierous an if/nisfi'tam as mere novelty. The
iTood general is he who. in prepariu'' for aa engagement, begins by making himself
thoroughly acquainted with his fighting-ground ; who ascertains his weak pomts
and strengthens Hum. and secures his ground, by tirst making himself intimately ac-
quainted with its capabilities.
Such, I appnhend, would be liis surest way of effecting a permanent and safe
advance, and of sii-uriug ultimate triumphs ; and such, 1 apprehend, is the type of
that process by which, iu our art, real progress may be made, and her true interests
promoted. ' ,
Above all things, enter into no sectarian views ; do not confine your studies to the
narrow limits of a special period or style. Were a man to oper a book in one place
only, and after thumbing and dogs-earing the one paae, to leave the rest uucared
for and unread, his profit would M small, and his knowledge of the book extremely
limited.
The great volume of our art must be read with no such parsimony of labor ; for
no deep and compendious knowledge of the subject of that volume will be acquired
without a diligent, impartial, painstaking study of all its pages.
ON THE FRKXCll GOTHIC PHOTOGRArHS.*
BEFORE proceediujj to describe the magnificent photographs of French Cathe-
drals and churelics which hang upon the walls, I Ijeg to congratulate the
committee, the subscribers and all interested in the Association upon the acquisition
of so perfect a series, illustrating as It does consecutively, the progress of archi-
teetnre and sculpture from the llth to the liith century. In it the architect will
And ample food for the study of style— of the treatment of draperies and of icono-
CTaphic arrangement— and the painter and lover of the picturesque will be able to
feast his eyes upon some of the finest effects of light and shade ever seen in
the sun's best paintings. I would direct your attention, in evidence of what I say,
to Photograph -'3, the Cloister of St. Trophlm, at Aries, where the sun's rays falling
full upon the pavement are reflected upwards in such a manner as to show all the
carved figures on the capitals with equal distinctness, and at the same time to pro-
duce such an eflect of calm and quiet repose, and to convey such an idea of peaceful
retirement as to ahuost make one envy the monks who had such a retreat from the
bustle of the world.
Some people,— among them that great authority of the day Punch—
sneer at the notion that a photographer may be an artist. But I am certain
that the person who by choosing the right time of the day, taking
advantage of the proper degree of light, and selecting the proper
position, produced snch a picture as this, must have had the mind and
eye if not the hand of an artist. The same remark will apply to many other photo-
graphs in the collection. This being the case, I repeat that 1 beg to congratulate the
Association upon the taste and discernment evinced by those who catered for
them in providing such a rich intellectual banquet. They have provided not only
the cream of Gothic architecture, but the cremedela crane in the portals of Notre
Dame de Paris and of Kheims- the latter the best work of the best period of art.
When I call French Gothic the cream of architecture! do not infer the inferiority
of our more chaste and simple styles, for if I said anything to their disparagement, the
stately towers of York, the elegant spire of Salisbury would bear witness against me.
But every one who has seen the noble cathedrals of Amiens, Beauvais or Strasbourg
must ow'n that for grandeur of elevation, and whoever has studied the crowded
portals of Notre Dame de Paris, Chartres or Uhcims must own that for richness of
sculptural decoration the cathedrals of our continental neighbours carry olf the
palm.
fitty years ago no one would allow that any good thing came from France, unless
they were liberal enough to make an exception for cooks and the fashions.
But, now-a-days, we can afford to be more candid, while in this room we are
compelled to be more candid, for are we not surrounded with the results of an art or
a science (whichever you please to tei-m it), invented in France, though perfected in
England? And are not the finest specimens of architecture here illustrated, French
also?
It may be some consolation to us to remember that, though the Gothic architects
of France were somewhat in advance of us in the thirteenth century, we are before
them in the nineteenth, and that we have beaten them on their own ground, and with
their own peculiar weapons, in the competition for the Cathedral of Lille, which was
the Waterloo of architectural competitions. Till that took place they always pro-
fessed to understand thoroughly. Gothic architecture, especially the architecture of
their favorite period, the thirteenth century.
But my business here to-night is to describe the photographs and not to give you
a disquisition upon the respective merits of French and English architecture; be-
sides, as Mrs. 3ia]aprop says. " Comparisons are odorous."
The photographs of buildings of France of the thirteenth century are not very
numerous, so. perhaps, I may be permitted to exceed the limits of theprogramme for
the purpose of^ mentioning an interesting group of photographs belonging to a period
anterior to the thirteenth (century, I mean those of the western fa5ades of Angouleme
and Poictiers. and of tlie doorway of 31oissac. illustrating a peculiar phase in the
history of French architecture. These are all offshoots of the Franco- Byzantine style,
which had its origin in the Church of St. Front at Perigueux, built in 1047, by a
colony of Venetians settled in I*eri^ord, after the type and almost precisely upon
the plan of .St. Mark's at Venice, which, as you know, was,copied from the Church of
Santa Sophia at Constantinople.
The plan of .St. Front is of the form of a Greek cross, the centre and each arm being
crowued by a dome as at Santa Sophia and St. Mark's. The only marked difference
tietween this and the Byzantine churches exists in the employmentof pointed instead
of round arches to carry the domes. The pointed arch was occasionally employed in
France a century before it liecame general, before it made Its appearance in England.
No doubt it came (as well as the dome) from the East.l
This latter feature is purely an Eastern adaptation, for though the prototype was
thatof the Pantheon at Rome, we find that it was seldom employed by the Roman
builders during the decline of art, whereas It was constantly used by those of
Byzantium.
There is no other church in France, that I am aware of, but St. Front, built
exaptly upon the same plan ; but to the north-west of I'erigueux are found many
in which the distinctive mark of Byzantine style — the dome— has been adopted.
The Cathedra! of Angouleme is one of the most interesting of these; its plan is a
parallelogram of three squares, each covered by a domical vault. It has in addition,
transepts with small projections, and, at the east end, a semicircular apse with four
projecting ctiapels. Here, as at .St. Front, the transverse arches are pointed, the
pier arches also. This cathedral was commenced in 1109 and finished iu 1135.
In the Photograph No. '4i, one of the clearest and best in the room, we have the
west front of this Instructive building. The composition is well worth study. It Is
divided in its breadth by an arcade of five semicircular arches upon lofty engaged
column!, with capitals of Classical character. Within these arc live other arches on
shorter oolurons; near the ground the arch-moulding and spandrels are covered with
grotesque carvings in low relief; over the principal arches is a stage, with a
smaller arcade filled with figures ; above all there is a cornice of Roman character,
with a decided egg and tongue pattern. At the corners, surmouutiug all, are two
small circular turrets with domes.
Cpon the whole of the uj*perpart of the western facade is displayed the grand scene
of the I,ast .ludgment, a subject which is generally found at the west end in later
times, but is then confined to the tympanum of the central doorway.
One peculiarity aljout this •ludgment is to be remarked. .viz.. that the Condemned
* A Paper read at the Architectural PhotogTapbic Assosiatloo, on Tuesday
Tenlog, FtXirxxtrj 12, by K. P. I'ullan, Esq.
are but few in number compared with the Blessed, and that instead of being on the
left hand of the Saviour they are grouped at the extremities of the facade.
The church of Notre Dame la Grande, at Poitiers, of which the west front is exhibited
in Nos. 44 and 45, lias nothing of the Byzantine style about it— except a dome under
the central tower. The arches of the interior arc semicircular, but you will see that
the arches on either ; side of the doorway are pointed, proving that in this part of
France the pointed arch was used indiscriminately with the round, and wherever
convenience required it.
Therichnessof the sculpture here is remarkable, the whole fa5ade is so covered
with elaborate carvings of^flowers and fruit, birds, animals, and men, that at first
sight there appears to be an incrustation upon the surface of the stone. At the
angles of the gable are two low turrets with conical roofs— this description of roof is
noticeable ns being the germ of the spire. It is an imitation of the elegant cupola
which crowns the tower of St. Front — whether this latter was copied from a former
campanile of St. Mark's, or whether it had its origin in the monument at St. Rerai, it
is evidently the bud from which shot forth, first, the conical spirelet. the octagonal
turrets, the elegant spires of Caen and Chartres, Salisbury, and the whole forest
of pinnacles and spires which adorn the ecclesiastical structures of England and the
Continent.
But the most curious of this group is the church of Moissac, the doorway of which
Is shown in Photograph No. 39. It is recorded that the cloister which adjoins the
porch in which this door is placed was built in the year 1100. If this were the case
the architect must have been a man in advance of his age. or at all events one of
original mind, who was not content to go on in the tracks of his predecessors, for
there are in the building many developments which belong to a later age. Not only
are the arches of the cloisters all pointed, but that of the doorway is slightly so, and
you will see in the inner angles of the jambs delicate shafts, with projecting
capitals, and a corresponding moulding carried all round the arch, and also that in
the inner jamb the column has cuspidation, which at first sight would seem to belong
to a later age.
Byzantine traces are found in the flat bands of ornament sunk from the surface of
the arch mouldings, and in the still loose jointed figures which ornament the square
reveals on eacli side of the door.
As I find that this collection of photographs illustrates rather the sculpture thivn
the architecture of the churches of France— my description of them will necessarily
have more to do with iconography than with architecture, or rather with the
sculptural than with the constructive part of the architecture (for sculpture with
reference to a building must be considered as part and parcel of it, as intended to
ornament it, and not the building as a mere frame for the exhibition of sculpture, as
some would seem to say). You will not, I trust, therefore think me tedious if I
attempt to explain the meaning of the sculptures in this series of magnificent portals
as I go on. at least so far as I can do so without repeating anything said by myfriend
Mr. Surges in his excellent lecture on French portals in this place.
To return to the door at Moissac. the reveals are ornamented with two round arched
compartments, with an entablature above them, all filled with figures of archaic cha-
racter. , . 1
On the north side we have the story of Dives and Lazarus, an appropriate subject
for the entrance of a church in which all men are equal. We see in the tablement
Dives in his house, seated at table feasting, and hy that convenient arrangement
common in the middle ages, by which we see the inside and outside of a house at the
same time, we also see Lazarus at the gate, his sores being licked by dogs.
In the arches below. French antiquaries tell us that the four cardinal vices are
represented, with their corresponding punishments; and in the opposite panels the
four virtues, and their corresponding rewards, but the sculptures are so much
injured that it is almost impossible to decipher them.
The reveal on the south side has, on the tablement, the Flight into Egypt ; below,
the Annunciation and Salutation, and other subjects. On the tympanum of the
doorway is Our Saviour in Glory, the Evangelistic symbols in life-size, as at Chartres
and the Twenty-four Elders of Revelation.
In No. 3.3. a photograph of a fine doorway at Bruges, is seen the advantage of in-
troducing a figure into a picture, for tlie purpose of giving scale. It is much to be
regretted that this plan was not adopted in some of the photographs of portals, as it
would have conveyed a clear idea of their grand dimensions, without interfering
with the architectural features. This doorway was removed from the church of
St. Ursin, and built in between the modern walls, looking none the worse for the
contrast. In the tympanum we have evidence that iEsop's fables were appreciated
by the people at a very early period, for in the upper row of sculptures we have
the wolf and the stork, and apparently incidents from the adventures of liniin
the Bear and Reynard the Fox. Below this is a hunting scene, and m the
lowest row the emblematic figures of the months of the year. The series begins
with February, represented as a man seated, warming himself; March, as a
man pruning a vine ; April, as a man holding flowers ; Mav, a man hoeing
the ground ; June, as a mower sharpening his scythe ; July, as a reaper ;
August, a thresher ; September, as a man putting grapes into a vat ; October. Here
the man is pouring wine into a barrel. December. Here he is represented as seated at
table, enjoving the fruit of his labor; January. He Is putting on a pot to boil, llie
names of the months are beneath these figures. This door is called Byzantine in
the catalogue. I see no traces of that style about it ; but should call It Roman-
esque. The figures are in low relief, carved in hard stone. , .^ _ ^ „ ,
We come now, in chronological order, to the tympanum of the Porte Royale or
centre west door of Chartres. You are aware, probably, that this cathedral is cele-
brated for the size and richness of its portals ; of these there are three, with three
doors in each, situated at the west front, and, at the terminations of north and south
transepts, all covered with statues, forming part of a system of iconography extending
through the whole cathedral, illustrated by no less than 9.000 figures in sculpture and
stained glass.
There are three illustrations of this cathedral, that of Porte Royale and two views
of south portal. The first Is round arched ; the tympanum of the first presents Our
Saviour seated on a throne surrounded by aureole, with remarkably bold figures ot
the Evangelistic symbols on each side of Him ; below are figures of the Twelve
Apostles, and of two other Saints.
The architecture of the south portal is peculiar; here you see a square lintel
taking the place of a pointed arch. It seems to have been a bad substitute, as it has
now to be held up witli bands of iron.
The noble figure of the warrior that faces you in No. 37 is that of St. Theodore, one ot
the finest statues of the period. In the small arched compartments which fill the
pier that supports the roof are exhibited the martyrdoms of several saints.
1. St. Calixtus thrown into a well.
'^. The decapitation of St. Cyprian.
3. St. Denis between two lions who caress him.
4. St. Theodore broken upon a wheel or gibbet.
5. St. Eustace with his wife and children in a burning bull.
ft. The Slartyrdom of St. Gevasius and Protasius.
In thephotographs of the west front of Rouen, we have a good opportnnlty of
comparing the bold simple style of the latter part of the twelfth century with the
Flamboyant of the sixteenth, for under the elaborate fretwork of the fa9ade we dis-
cover two noble doorways of the original front. These we may examine more at our
leisure in Nos. 14 and 10 ; there are four orders of mouldings in the arches, one filled
with bold salient foliage, alternating with a moulding formed of three sides of an
octagon pierced on each face with rectangular cuttings.
The tympanum of No. 14 is partly destroyed, that of No. 13, which, though nlmost
of the same period is greatly superior to the other, contains in the tympanum the life
anddeafhof St. John the Baptist. We see Herod and Herodias seated at table,
served bv diminutive domestics, while the daughter of Herodias dances or rather
tumbles 'for his amusement ; on the opposite side is seen a soldier cutting ofl^the heu*
of the Saint who appears through the door ofaprison with barred windows ; between
Februarv 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
165
js an attendant with the head on a charger. Above all, the entombment of St.
John.
The g-cnis of this Exhibition are, without doubt, the facade of Notre Dame de Paris
and the portals of Uheims, the one of whicli attracts the spectator by its severe and
grave aspt'ct, while the other lures him by its ricli and exuberant beauty. ISoth are
extremely interestiug' as types of 3ta":es In the prog^ress of thirteenth century art. 1
do not say of distinct periods of art, because the progress of development was so
<Tfrudual that architectural forms were in a constant state of transition, and it is
tiifficult to defint; styles except by reference to thf introduction and duration of some
entirely new feature, such as the ]>oiuted arch, of plate tracery, of bar tracery, of
geometrical forms, of Jlamboyant iorms, and soon.
The first half of the i:sth century was a period when the chansres were very- rapid.
It was lound that the spandrels existing: above tlie lancets whicli had been broug^ht
tog-ether could be advantac-eously pierced, and that cuspidaUon was necessary to
ornament them, hence the invention of plate tracery, of which we have such a fine
example in the elioir windows of Chartres. Here in tlie west front of Notre Dame we
have che coupled lancets and the foliated circle above ; a little later it was discovered
thatthc wall space between the licfht would also bear considerable reduction :muIlion8
were formed, and at the same time the spaces between the circlets and the circum-
Bcrlbinj^ arch were pierced, so as to form bar tracery. We llnd the carlieHt example of
this in the nave of Kheims commenced in 1220 and in that of Amiens of about tlie
same date.
At last it was ascertained that the whole of the space between the bnttross and
Sier which supports tlie vaulting- might be pierced to admit of a groat space for the
isplay ot stained glass, till at last tlie cathedral became one luminous lantern, into
which the light streamed in hues of ruby, sapphire and emerald.
More elevated proportions than those which prevailed in the first part of the l.^th
century were necessary to the end. The Saint Chapelle erected in 1245,
and of course designed some little time before, was the first building erected in
this improved manner or new style as some would call it; the west. front belongs
to the former stage and partly to the 12th century— the portals of Rheims to the latter
or that prevailing in the middle of the 13th.
It would occui)y too much time it I were to go througli the iconography of those
portals; Notre Dame is illustrated in numerous photographs, the subjects of the
tympanum arc self-evident, the north door of west front is devoted to the life
of the Virgin Mary. The centre, as usual, contains the Last Judg-ment, which you
will see in detail in Mr. !Le Gros' pictures. Keniark the dignified expression in the
faces of the twelve apostles. Our Lord in Glory occupies the top row, in the second
we see St. Michael weighing- souls ; the malicious demon Is trying to bring down the
counterpoise unfairly, and he is aided in his efforts by a little imp, who is slyly trying
to bring down the scale by means of a hook, but their efforts are unavailing as the
placid Houl on the other side of the balance far outweighs the imp in the other scale.
Prom tiie right side of St. Michael are the blessed looking up to heaven, on tlie
other the condemned being hauled by cords into the mouth of Leviathan ; amongst
them we find a bishop and a king, showing that the artist was no respecter of
persons. The grouping of the figures rising from their tombs is very masterly.
The martyrdom of St. Stephen in portal of later date does not require description.
That of tympan of portal has a Massacre of Innocents and other groups.
It would be difficult to find words to express sufficient admiration of the beautiful
photograph of the Kheims portal, and to describe it would be beyond my power. I
shall, therefore, content myself by asking you to admire the manner in whicli every
figure in the deep recesses is made manifest by the light reflected from the pave-
ment, and to acknowledge the artistic skill of the photographer.
The groups in the niches of voussoirs are well worth a lengthened study by means
of magfnifying glasses. I may remark that I find the lenses of two or three cameras
put together make the best magnifiers for architectural subjects, for we get in this
manner a large field and considerable power.
Amongst these ^oups is an Adoration, the Magi and the Blessed Virgin Mary
being substituted in various voussoirs. The gurgoyles between the gablets lalso
deserve notice. They represent the four rivers of tlie world— Nile, Tigris, Euphrates,
and Ganges. Below each is typified, by a man pouring water out of a vase, the
g:urgoyies themselves consisting of a bull, a rhinoceros, a hippopotamus, and a serpent.
Above these are seated four figures of kings.
But of all these five doorways, tliat of St. Remi, from the ('athedral of Rheims,
presents the most interesting study to the architect and archaeologist, for its chaste
character, for the delicacy of the sculptures, and for their architectonic character and
arrangement.
The sculptures are illustrative of the lives of St. Nicalse and St. Kemi. The large
statues at the sides of the doorway are those of St. Remi, and St. Nicaise carryino^
his head in his hand. St. Euterye, his sister, and a deacon, who was martjTcd -with
him. St. SIxtus, first Bishop of Rheims, stands in front of the pier between the
doors. There are five rows of sculptures in the tympanum. The lowest has three
groups — 1. St. Nicaise preaching and baptizing; 2. The massacre of St. Nicalse and
his companion ; 3. St. Nicaise placing his head upon an altar. The second row has
four groups from the life of St. Remi— 1. An angel announces to St. Montainc the
approaching" birth of St. Remi; 2. St. Montainc tells St. Celciniathat she will bethe
mother of St. Remi ; ^. The birth of the saint ; 4. lie sends a devil out of a child of
a'nobleman. In the third row are also four groups, representing an incident in the
life of St. Kemi.
It seems that there was (as was not nncommonly the case in the middle ages), a
dispute between the church and the parishioners at llildesheim. A rich man left his
property to the church. After his death his relations disputed the will, and brought
forward false witnesses in support of what they asserted. St. Remi was chosen to
act as arbitrator. He invoked the spirit of the rich man, who appeared with the will
in his hand. Whereupon the relatives are confounded, and the property goes to the
clergy, the rightful inheritors. You will be able easily to trace this legend in the
sculptures.
Above, we find St. Remi filling a cask with wine by making the sig^i of the cross,
and another miracle performed by him,
I hope I have not tired you by entering so much into detail, but the character of
the photographs rendered this necessary. Thotography is an invaluable aid to the
architect, and 1 hope that before long the practice of it will become a regidar part of
architectural education, so that the architect when he travels will always have with
him a compact camera for the purpose of taking subjects that it would take too much
time to draw and measure.
Vou will all have seen in the first page of the Times advertisements about pistol-
grams of babies. Now I should infer from the wording that the camera or pistolgraphs
that are used are small in size and quick in operation.
Then why should not every architect have this pistolgraph and plenty of ammu-
nition in the shape of plates prepared with the honey process ? And why should he
not pot at every fine piece of detail he sees, making 50 or 00 shots in a day, without
a single miss— bring home a pretty good bag— an<l when ho returns home enlarge
from this small negative by meansof a tube of pyramidal form? He could take by means
of a flash of artificial light pictures four or five times the size of the negative, a little
hazy, perhap.s, but still suliiciently clear for architectural purposes. I do not mean
to say that photographs should supersede sketching, but to quote Mr. Petit's remarks
on the cover of the catalogue—" It will work hand in hand with him. and above all,
will keep him up to the mark in his own work."
South Kensington Museum. — DarinjT the week ending IGtIi February,
18G1, the visitors have been as follows: — On Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday
(free days), 5,129 ; on Monday and Tuesday (free evenings), 3,94*7. On the three
students' days (admission to tlie public Od.), 1,010; one students' evening-,
Wednesday, 120. Total, 10,206. From the opening of the Museum, 1,876,6'<J0 .
A«...T,^r*. AUCHITECTUUAL ASSOCIATION.
MKPjTI>G of thiB body wan heldat the rooam, Conduit-Rtreet. Rcffent-fttrvet
on Irtdayevt-nlnp; A. W. Blomi-ield. EtMi..M.A.. \ ic<-l»rMildent,Tn the chair*
Mr. Arthur Smith, Honorary Secretary, road the minutetf of proocetliuirt at the
last meethig. which wen- approved of and confirmed.
New Mem})tr>i.~^'l'\w following geull-'inirn having been Imllotcd for, were duly
elected mt-mbers of the Association :-M<'^«rM. Walter. .}. Adams, and J, Husk.
domination Jor .\htnhf^r)fhii). ^Mt. Ili-njamin ItriM^khoune, 14. Soutbamnton-itrcel,
strand, was proposed as a mfmber of the Association.
Mr. Titers Prneit.-ilr. It. O. Hakrih said it would be remembered that of the £5
*^*"l^*VC°.'*y ^**- '^'**^' ^*''- *"<"• P'*'^*^ to the Asaoclatiou. itUadbeenarranimS that
£2 should be (^iven for tlie beat scries of sketches, and that the remaininc £\ should
be given for the best desigrn of a specific Hobjeet. And he now moved Uiat the £^ be
awarded for the best desijrn, by any member of tlie Atsoclatlon, of a School of Art ;
the drawlutfs to be sent iu on or before thu Ist day of April, 1»*8I.
Mr. Kf.eves seconded tho motion.
Mr. Blashill thousfht that some details should bo girea to intendlnj^eoinpetltors
as to the size and number of tlie rooms for the School of Art, and alao aomc idea aa
to the site.
Mr. IlARnm believed the same difiiculty would exist in referenee to any aoblect
which mi<rht be brought forward, and that it would be beat to laare the matter In the
hands of the parties competiug.
Mr. Blashill thought that before there was any competition there shoold be
some g:cneral conditions laid down, lie might or might not be a competitor, but he
should not think of wasting time in going Into s competltioa of this kiwi without
some conditions beino: laid down. He was of opinion that some aatliorls«d body
ought to meet to settle the particulars. He proposed, as an amemlment, that the
words in the motion, " that the subject for the present seaslon be a Sehool of Art*'
be omitted.
Sir. Druce seconded the amendment.
After a brief conversation the amendment was withdrawn, as well &» the motion.
and it was unanimously agreed to, on the motion of Mr. .Vdams. tu'coudcd by Mr.
C. H. F. Lewes, that the whole subject be postponed, aud submitted to the general
committee for their final decision.
Mr. Kandall I>ruc£ then read the following paper:—
AN AHCniTECT'H AUDIENCE.
AN Architect's Audience, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, and what may that mean ?
Much, I think, and much in value, I hope to make it appear ; much In respon-
sibility, much in encouragemeut, I think you will find In considering what It com-
prises. 1 hope to be able to show that it is an important matter to consider, both In
general and in particular, for wlioni yon are designing ; who will see, who will delight
in tyour buildings when they are liulshed ; in what IV&me of mlud tbey will eome
to your building ; how fitted iu particular cases those for whom you are particularly
designing are to a])preciate what you put before them ; whetherU would be well to
put forth all your leftrniug,all your'poetry,allyour8ubtile constructive skill ; whether
any striking novelties or suggestions from abroad will be thought iauovatlons; or
strange, or recognised at once, as by the scholar or traveller as a reminder yet not
a c?py, of rtomethiug remembered, admired, and loved in days gone by, and, thwc-
fore, giviug them pleasure. It will be, therefore, well to cooaidcr, In tne first place,
who in ray v'ew constitute tliis audience.
Our building is designed, the foundation is laid, and firom that day It has an
audience. Whom does it begin toattractasit slowly rises from the ground? Wbostopa
to gaze ?— do any, and, if so, how does it affect them .' Oo they stop long and wonder
what building it is ? Do they take an interest In it 7 Do they pass again aud jigain ? Do
they purposely come by that way to see how it Is getting on, and, as ir ii-T
day by day, does it seem to give greater or less pleasure ? Does it pleas* : >■ .k
at it the more complete it gets ? or does it seem to disappohit.' Do Ihos* i at
it at first no longer look at It ? do they seem to say, " I thought from thu lirst few
courses that it would be fine, but it is not so ; now we sec the meaning and finish of
the'design- -itjis si)oiled"?.Or doeslevery one tbatjhas watched it throughout its growth.
seeing it improve every day, seem impatient to have every scafi'old-board and pole
removed, and every hoarding down that obstructs the view, knawin::^ tliat in that
building, as in every perfect design, they, although plt^asi-d with every litep, and the
more pleased the higher it got, have not yet seen the building in Its full mature ]icrfec-
tion ? No ! nottill the crownmg finial is in its place— no ! not till the very Irou t-ross
or gilded vane surmounts that finial and glitters in the sunlight. And whenat last It
is finished, and when the interlacing screen of the scaffolding, that so long tantalised
and yet enticed the gazers, is gone, and tiie towers aud roofi* and windows come out
clear to vie w,— when the hoarding is down and the base and lower limbs, aa it were, of
the building, whereon the appearance of its stability depends, are exlubited, And the
building, for the first tune in its existence, seems to stand firm, clear and independent,
like a ship justlaunched into the sea, and for tlie first time freed from Uie restraining
timbers,— then, wlio cares for it?— what do the papers say? -what the public
generally? What is said In the drawing-room ?— what said in the club .'—what in the
architectural societies ? -what in the offices ? And after this, when foreigners come
to England ; when eountrvmen come to town ; whea students from the colleges visit
the place: when antiquarians, the learned, the curious, arc in search of objeets for
stuoy and admiration, do they visit it?— do they write of it? And tJ»e poet, the seor.
the man gifted with special powers of impression and expression, when he comes
wandering by, spending hours iu its cloisters or beneath iti shade, doi'S heHingofitf
does it give him the frame whereupon to weave his more magical, mor.' ethiTcal. but
not necessarily more sublime creations? And.in those after-timejj. when theartifitand
the poet visit its crumblingwalls.isit worth painting ?-is it worth recording. \\ hen
architects visit it, is it worth sketching .' is it worth measuring ? i.s il. in whole or
part, worth repeating?
All these pass us by. _. ,, ,.
Watchers of its infancy, admh-ers of its maturity, veneratora of its old age, are Its
and its architect's audience
Aiid surely it is iiwoudrous thouglit-almost enough to auikca nun eiiooac it for
his profession above the, or at leant besides the, more fascjnatuig sister or. rather
handmaid arts, painting and sculpture— that of raisins r««t struri ; ■ v.,u
remain the same for 600 years; and attract in various waj-s. at va :n
various moods, in varying fortunes, sueh a mixed, sueli a variously sii : i y
thinking audience. And, more in detail, wlio are the individual.-',
representative men among our audience, and what arc their oppnrtuni;
and whence their knowledge, and what parUouIar parts audch*r8t: :'.t
buildings arc likely to attract them ? j -n . .■ r.i. .
Herels one who has read all the books, both descriptiTC and illustrative, of the art
of architecture ; who has not travelled mucli. .ind has read t><>oks treatint- of the
successive styles of architecture, and then r. I ' ■ ..^
with tlio rules and descriptions of bygone an '•'
looks upon present architecture as a reprodu. e
and will approve of your building as long only .is ii m ;
general iorms, plans aud disposition, accords with the ru
Then passes by one deeply read in Classic literature, i. - ■
qncntly, by le.irning and association, with (.'■reek .- -i
iutellectu.il cfTorls having been made in atiaimug i i^
languages, and the earliest ideas of splendor ami ■!
from Latin and Greek authors, and the lirst early teeuui; lui ,,„iu,»,.u ,.,;,,,. ,iual
creative art havin" been derived from the same sources, his natural thoughts on suit-
able huildincs for'all high and exalted purposes, for palaces or for imperial .plrador,
or for the lar'e political assemblies of a free people, or for the rccr in-
tellectual amusemenls of the multitude, must naturally incline totli
purposes of the (Jreek and Uoman architecture. This representatr, ^r
audience is a representative of a large class of m.in. especially m our II.. a-- >. .-r-
lianient-college educated, hence the disposition to.oppose the lucofUoUiic arctii-
tecture in those houses for public buildiugs.
166
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 22, 1R61.
Next wc have one. and a critical one. wlioso natural taste aii(1.*opinions make him a
profe*ii»td eccleeioiogist ; one who brinps to bear upon the buildiufr? lie views Ion::
bludy of chureh practice, svntbolisni, and precedent ; not only precedent of form, but
jpreredent uf arranjrement.' He is u partisan for Gothic, and rather strietGothic too.
J These all look rather to architecture that appeals to tlie head than the heart— to
im architfcturo depending on the correct leammg: and imitation of thinffs that are
past, rather than to eueh as depends on the seizing- of the circumstances and
cbanglnff life and incident:* of the present; rather to an architecture that looks for its
omamcDts in the fields of past carving and desig^n, than in the fields of nature at
presentopen to us.
Then comes the man of business, who but seldom thinks of architecture except he
be on a committee for building or wants a villa ; be naturally, from his tralninf^ and
habits, looks rather to the ouildinp: tlian the architecture— convenieneo if in a
public bailding*, comfort if in his own house; suitability for the particular purpose in
plan and fittin^rs iif in his countinji-honse— knowing little, and carincr less orenerally,
about the outside or the decoration. Uemcmber, lam necessarily recounting: broad,
distinctive classes. There are many men of business with both k'nowlcdg-e and taste
of architecture as an art, but they are the exceptions.
Then we have the artist, very seldom knowing- much about either the rules or the
style*, and often caring less, and yet. on the whole, as true a critic on our art as any.
Is' the sculpture good, ho knows it ; is the contour of the mouUiinjc:s or cornices good,
and, consequently, the light and shade, he feels it and sees it ; is the proportion
good, he intuitively feels it. Much that the professional architect knows from his
education he does hot notice, and would not prize if he did; and, although he does not
criticise loudly, he quietly feels and enjoys everything worth feeling and enjoying
that we put before him, as long as it is produced by our artistic powers, and not
entirely by onr archaeological knowledge.
And the poet, a genuine enjoyer of all that shows talent or originality as well as
appreciation of all of our art that depends on history, biography, or association, a
quick reader of our meaning. Any subtile skill wc may have sliown in getting over a
difficulty or seizing on an opportunity ; what the practical man only thinks unneces-
sary he thinks beautiful, he reads what is obscure to many, and sympathises where
others blame. He is generally very wide In his creed, admitting the picturesque
beanties of all the styles, as, indeed, does the painter, but both incline to the pic-
turesque rather than the regular and severe — are consequently generally admirers of
Gothic and Early Renaissance, although both are very greatly influenced by their
reading and study.
The sculptor is almost always an advocate for Classic architecture, and seems, as far
as I have had theopportunity of judging, to admire'mostly building that depends upon
accurate and measured proportions. This comes naturally, I think, in the same way
as the tastes of the Classical scholars.
Next comes he whose ideas of art are obtained from the picture galleries, fVom the
study and collection of the works of art, paintings and sculpture, to objects of vertu;
from Kaflaelle to the last of the so-called old masters ; and whose sympathies in
architecture, therefore, very naturally range only through the periods of*^ architecture,
contemporary with the dates of those painters, his art-historical studies naturally
being much confined to the history of those times and that style of art that give him
information concerning the pictures and other works of art he admires, and his time
during his visits abroad being principally occupied in visiting the galleries and
churches containing them, which are mostly of the Renaissance period, he is very
natorally a confirmed supporter of the later Renaissance or Italian style, which has
so long been the prevailing one for the exterior, and in the architectural decoration
and fittings of the interior of our town mansions, inhabited by such as I describe.
This is a representation of a class that have much influence in club-houses and large
mansions, being usually of the style mentioned, and I think naturally, by taste and
education.
Certainly not among the least to be considered among our audience, capable, for
many reasons, of keenly relishing much, and especially certain parts of our work, is
the intelUgent mechanic, in whatever especial walk he may be. For similar reasons
of training natural qualities and education, as make the artist and poet understand
and appreciate the feeling and intention of what they see, so the mechanic knows by
experience, not only of mind but of hand and eye, good and eflective work of all
kinds, when it is put before him ; and I know scarcely any that look upon an
architect's work with more interest and practical criticism than the intelligent work-
men, concerned themselves in various branches oflthe decorative, building, and other
producing trades.
Many a valuable hint might be taken by the architect from practical observations
that are made by these practical thinkers— aye and deep thinkers, many of them
are. and what they know they know by the slowly worked out practical result of the
designs they have to execute.
Ho we have a variously constituted, variously educated, variously inclined
(I will not say prejudiced), variously learned, variously ignorant, for
many do not interest themselves because they do not understand, variously
affected, variously indifferent audience to please, to interest to teach— how shall we
doit?
Some are naturally inclined, and by circumstances educated so as to require, the
Classic architecture of Greece or Rome to satisfy their ideaa'of magnificence, refine-
ment, and beauty.
Others are naturally inclined or by travel, money spent on statues, pictures, and
articles of c«rf«, and f>om a taste for the same, educated so as to be best satified with
the style in which the most usually valued of these were produced, or the period
when the more ancient of the former were discovered, and the love of such things
for themselves alone began— the Renaissance and Italian.
Others by religious feeling, natural inclination, and peculiar circumstances of edu-
cation and association, and by taking interest more in ecclesiastical structures than
in stately mansions filled with works of luxurious and costly art, and finding those
buildings, to their thinking, most suitably carried out in the styles prevalent in the
nUddle ages, have very naturally— having, as I said, at heart the beautiful— and to
the greatest extent that frail man can produce the worthy execution of such build-
iDp»~« wish to see revived to the letter, to the rounding of a moulding and the curve
ofa leaf the identical architecture that in times of old 'produced buildings that arc
juBtlv in their idea, with the consent of all, almost perfect models of what such
buildings should be. These, then, would reproduce, with adaptations to present
and peculiar cases, the architecture of the past— forgetting that the way that their
favorite buildings themselves were produced was so different : every leaf being de-
Migned, every moulding different, and the whole building in every member being
dlfTerent from th< last building produced, and an alteration and continual develop-
mcBt and intended improvement on the principles and forms on which the last was
built.
1 repeat these three classes of onr audience, to show that the taste of the educated
clMtM has bad much to do with the simultaneous practice of the several styles, out of
whieb stage, I think, we are passing. I think that for some time, if not always, we shall
bavcto consider the requirements and tastes of these three classes of employers, and
critics in broad principles, if not in a continuance of the details and easily recognised
features of those separate styles, even although wmrrivcaswc evidently are tending
to two Htyles which may mereein one— of a free round arched style and a free pointed
style. The three marked char acteriH tics of the Classical, Italian or Renaissance, and
Gothic will lonir be looked for by their respective votaries— being the results of edu-
cation, suiUbility to their respective habits of living and thought, as well as their
architectural taste.
These are some of the heads or main divisions of our audience, and until quite of
late years they were the only classes that were capable of judging or of enjoying
what was put before them, as much of the enjoyment of the buildings lay in the
Knowledge of their correctness. Hut I(am thankful tofsay thatour audience is extend-
ing day by day ; and what do I mean by that? Do I mean that so many more
people are educated by the numberless photographs, and the less cost of architec-
tural books and plates ? There is much in that ; but what I do mean is this— that the
masses of tlie people, whether educated or uneducated, have always been, and will
always be, fonder of sculpture and painting thiin of architecture 'that depends as
much as it can upon itself alone, and that it Is only quite Ijitely that architects,
oecnpiod by their sun'f^ving, their nccesf^ary business, and tlieir measured proportions,
or copied mouldings, have only just begun to be nnything like as fond of it as the
general public JtPelf. Von will now get an audience wherever the chisel rings;
wherever you work bas-reliefs and interesting stories on your walls. Where such
carvings as there are at the Oxford Museum, or at one or two churches now
building, every one will visit you ; where there is painting like that at All Saints, all
will bo attractive.
You may please the ('lassie student, if you will, with grandeur of proportion and
severity of effect ; the lover of Medieval architecture by solemnity ; the lover of Re-
naissance by richness and luxuriousness ; the man of business by careful and
business-like arrangement of plan, and fittings, and boldness, and massiveness of
style; the artist and poet by ptcturesqueness, and poet thought ; the workman by
good work and skill ;— but depend upon it, in whatever style you work you cannot
fail to win all these, and add to them the uneducated and the poor. If you find room
in your capitals and your walls for rich and varied sculpture of sacred subjects and
lives of great men, framed by the loaves of the wood and the flowers of the field, thus
and thus only can we make the most sensitive among our audience— the poet— sing
in far-off future of our works —
" Everywhere I sec around me
The wondrous world of art.
Fountains wrought with richest sculpture,
Standing in the c<>mmon mart ;
And above Cathedral doorways
Saints and Bishops carved in stone.
By a former age commissioned
As apostles to our own."
The CHAinMAN thought they were all very much obliged to Mr. Druce for his
interesting paper, which contained a great many suggestions on an important subject.
He considered what that Mr. Druce said respecting whether their buildings would be
drawn afterwards or not was a great matter, and that was a reason why in designing
architects should design in perspective. And another thing to be thor.ght of for
that reason was the study of landscape painting, which by some architects was
looked down upon. But all good landscape paintings, such as those of Turner, were
■well worthy or study. Without a knowledge of landscape painting it was almost
hopeless for an architect to design successfully in the country, especially in a hilly
country. It was true that in countries like Switzerland and other mountainous
districts, where there was very little architecture in the village churches, the churches
were found very suitable for the locality and the surrounding neighbourhood. The
inhabitants generally, and in following- native custom, put the right architecture in
the building; but architects, unless they had studied landscape, generally made a
mess of it.
Mr. Blashill said, as to the suitability of rude buildings in^the country, that was
found almost everywhere, and it had often been made a taunt against architects that
the rudest people in the world generally succeeded the best in architecture. If they
took the Indian wigrwam they would find tliat success even there; and the reason,
perhaps, was its simplicity, and the adoption of the custom or mode followed in the
particular country. But if an architect was called upon to design a buildinc for the
country in Scotland or Wales, it was the mark of a great mind to hit upon the proper
style for such localities, without some assistance being obtained from a knowledge
of*^ the localities. As to sculpture, he hoped they should see more of it now,
and there seemed to be growing up a dishke of bare walls and mere mouldings. It
was hardly possible to mention a building for which architects could not find some
suitable sculpture.
Mr. R. O. Harris could not understand the remark which had been made
about the rudest and least civilised people succeeding better in their buildings than
the civilised.
Mr. Blashill said the man who built in a simple way had theadvantageof work-
ing on the experience of many generations in those rude and uncivilised countries.
The beauty and the wonder of the Greek architecture arose from the fact of their being
situated, to some extent, as were the savages referred to. No doubt the Greeks
developed their architecture very rai)idly, and it was a wonderful thing to have
succeeded so rapidly as they did. No doubt civilisation and advancement would
produce better buildings, but our civilisation of the j^resent age did not seem to have
got us out of our old habits as to the making of buildings apj)ropriate to positions
and appropriate to themselves. He thought savage nations had succeeded well,
from their buildings being so simple, and because they followed the practice of their
forefathers.
Mr. Druce thought the use of the material on the spot had a great deal to do with
the success of the buildings of the less civilised nations, who put up the stones found
in the neighbourhood of the building, and thereby the material and the color har-
monised with those of the district.
After a few remarks from Mr. S. C. Ror.ERs,
Mr. C. H. F. Lewes thought that if they put up sculpture in their buildings it was
for the enjoyment of the educated classesof the people, for the uneducated took every
opportunity they had of smashing sculpture.
The Chairman thouaht that was a libel on the lower classes.
Mr. Blarhill stated that he had fVequently seen the effects of the practice referred
to by Mr. Lewes. He then referred to the abominable practice of visitors carving
their names in buildings.
The Chairman thought we were improving as a nation in that respect.
Mr. Blashill.— I hope so.
The Chairman did not think people were now so apt to disfigure churches as they
used to be. In his opinion every bit of sculpture produced in a building helped
to educate the people, and that was likely to cause sculpture to be more respected.
Mr. Druce aid not think that because a few unruly persons did injury tosculpture
the whole of the lower classes sliould be blamed.
Mr. Reeves remarked that excursionists were verv fondoftakingportions of work
from buildings for the purpose of showing that they had been at them.
After some further discussion, a vote of thanks to Mr. Druce, the lecturer,
was carried by acclamation, on the motion of Mr. Herring, seconded by Mr.
Blahhill.
The meeting then separated.
ROYAL INSTITUTK OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
OX Monday evening a meeting of the Royal Institute of British Architects was held
at the rooms, ft. Conduit-street, Regent-street, Trofessor Cockehell, R.A., the
President, in the chair.
Mr. T. Havter Lewis, hon. sec, read the minutes of proceedings at the last
adjourned special meeting, which were approved of and confirmed.
The Chairman said he was sure they would all hail witli very great pleasure the
return of their old friend I'rofessor Donaldson alter his brilliant expedition to the
Nile- Oiear, hear)— the fragrance of which he brought with him, and after his journey
he looked remarkably well-(Hear, hear). He was sure they would all congratulate
Professor Donaldson as well as themselves on his happy expedition, and gladly wel-
come him back to his own shores — (Loud applause).
Donati<ma.~TAT. T. Hayter Lewis announced amongst others the followmg
donations :— From Mr. C. F. L. Korster, architeete, honorary and corresponding
member, "Allgemaine Bauzeitung niet Abbildungen," von Prof. C. F. Ludwig
Forstcr, Parts VIII. and IX., with plates; from the author, "On the Decay and
Preservation of Building Materials," a lecture delivered at the Royal Institution oi
Great Britain, 24th May, ISOO, by Professor D. T. Ansted ; from the Incorporated
Society, "Reports of the Incorporated Church Building Society,'* read at the several
annual meetings, from 1818 to 1851 ; the Quarterly Reports, 1849 to 1855 ; the 41st and
February 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
US7
4'^n(\ annual reports of the Incorporated Society ; the Quarterly Keports for lH;>*»-7;
numbered 21* to Xi ; :\'i sheets, numbered eonsecutively. of details and g:eneral nrraui^e-
mcnts of country churches and fittinjjs ; also, one sheet of church fonts (lithoifraphs),
also, a foreijjn work, presented by Sir, It. Kerrey. The hon. sec. was fflad to state
that it was the intention of the I'neorporated Society to send to the Institute copies
of their publications for the future, so far as they related to architecture.
Thv SchctUm ami Preservation of Stone.— "Mt. Ciiarlks Bakhy, apolofrisingr for
intorveninef between TrofeSHOr Donaldson, who was to read the paper for the even-
in;;-, and the meeting for a few minutes, said he wished to j^-ive them a few facts on
the sut)jt.'ct of the iutoresting- discussion which liad reeently taken place respcctinjj
the sclfction and preservation of stone, and more particularly with reference to the
stone which Inid been used for the New IIou.ses of Parliament. One fact was worth
more than a jcreat deal of thuory~(Hear). He held in his hand a report which heliad
recclvefl since last Monday, and which referred to the condition of the stone used lu
u lart^u building?, lJylau;:h Hall, which he was wiijaged in constructing in 1850-1. That
buildin-i- was con.struetod externally of similar stone to that used in the construction
of the Houses of rarliament ; the stoue was supplied by Mr. (irissell, who was then
eugaged in the construction of portions of the new I'alace, and it came from
the same bed and the same (juarry as the stoue used for the Houses
of Parliament came. But the stone was not used (referring: to an
observation made by his brother the other (neniug as to the position of the
Houses of Parliament) on the bank of a sewer, but in the open country. It thereloro
occurred to him to send down an iirchitect who was well known for his abilities, and
in whom he had confidence, to look at the building. He had iioped that on the
ovening upon which the discussion upon stone was brought to a close lie should
hitve been in possession of that gentleman's report. He had not then received it,
liowover, buthe had received it since that time. And he wished to read it, as he
tliought it would be interesting to them all— (Hear, hear). The arcliitect referred to,
Mr. Tliomas Jeckell, writes, ou the 0th of February, 1801, as follows :—
"Jly Dear Sir,— In reply to yours, I Itave great pleasure in being able to give a
eatiafactory account, because (you know, 1 think) for the last five years, I have had the
care of IJylaugh Hall, and this has rendered it necessary that I sliouUl make most
careful periodical iuspoi^tions of the stonework. And since I received your imiuiry, I
have made a special iuspeetiou in order to ascertainthe effects of the late unparalleled
severe season, and it is positively impossible for any material to retain its surface
more thorougldy. Tliougli, as you remember, the Hall is invariably expo-«od to the
action of the sun and wind, there is no trace of decay to be seen in any part, and ail
tliat beautifully-carved porch and the enrichments on tlte south side, the finials and
the open parapets, are as sharp and fresh as on tiie day they came and the mason
left them. Tlie only place wliere there is any failure is in the terrace on the south
front, and there the stone ai)pears to me not to have been so carefully selected, and
has in a few cases cracked and blistered, as it wen-, as also have the l*ortland steps
to a slight extent. I trust thia account is all you require, but if you want further
particulars I shall be most happy to give you them."
He (Mr. Charles Barry) thought'that the situation of a building had much to do with
the preservation of tlio stone, whether crystalline or morphine.
3Ir. J. W. Fraseb was sure they were all very much indebted to Professor
Ansted ibr sending to the Institute a copy of his lecture at the Uoyal Institution of
<ireat Britain, in Albemarle-strect. "On Stone," which he (Mr. Eraser) heard, and
lie could only say that by those who took au interest in the subject the lecture Was
WT-U worthy of perusal.
Mr. ('. H. Smith remarked that ho also was present when the lecture referred to
was di-'Uvered, and that it was liighly interesting.
A vote of thanks was passed to tlie donors.
Professor Donakhon m AV.'/pi.— Professor Donaldson (who was received with
cheers), proceeded to read three papers which were entitled '"Description of 51.
Mariette's Excavations at Ghizeh and Saccara," "Some Observations upon the
Domestic Architecture of the Ancient Egyptians as Existing among the Present
Arabs ;" and ** An account of Catacombs at Alexandria, recently discovered ;" being-
notes made during a recent visit by the learned Professor. The papers were
illustrated by a number of drawings and sketches, as well as diagrams on the black
board. The lecturer commenced by observing that he thought some account of a two
days' excursion from Cairo to the monuments of Ghizeh and Saccara miglit not be un-
interusting to the members of the Institute. He visited Egypt for a more serious
subject than merely making architectural notes, he went upon a practical one for the
Government ; and, therefore, lie enuld only employ a few days of leisure in the
pleasure of visiting some of tlie ancient monuments' of Egypt, of which he had read
much, on which he had lectured much, and on which of course he had thought much.
If they would allow him, therefore, he would give a brief description of a two days'
journey which lie had in going from Cairo to'Ghizeh and Saccara. Many present
who had not been in the country to whieli he referred might, perhaps, not be aware
that the donkey was a very useful animal, and tliat the journeys of travellers in that
country were generally made on the backs of donkeys, which were exceedingly
intelligent and docile, and took great care of tlieir burden. They went about the
pace of five miles an Iiour, and he had been in the saddle on a donkey's back for ten
hours a day, without experiencing any very great fatigue, indeed he sliould
have experienced more fatigue luid he been on horseback that length of time.
It was astonishing liow a donkey carried so easily a man of his
weight— (a laugh)— and it was delightful to see the pleasure the animal expressed in
liis own way on arriving at Cairo after a somewhat long journey. Sometimes
travellers availed themselves of the aid of dromedaries, and he knew a gentleman
wlio was educated at the Koman Catholic Colk-gc in Lancashire, who went into the
desert with a dromedary possessed of only a few dates, in pursuit of botanical and
othtT scientific studies. On leaving Cairo travellers took their donkey drivers and
*lragoman, and off they started from Slodern to Old Cairo, which was situated at the
distance of about a lea*'ue. He waa in the country in tl>e month of Deeember, and
it was then as flue as the early summer in Englanil. The traveller went through Old
Cairo, dismounted, got to the place for embarkation, went into tlie boat and crossed
the Nile to Ghizeh, passing the Nilometer, indicating whether the Nile rose to a cer-
tain height ataparticular^time, whieh had great cfTt'ct upon the prospects of the Jiarvest
of the country. Near the Nilometer were some monuments of verv great interest ;
the tniveller passed over the river, and got to (ihizeh, from which' was derived the
name of tlie pyramids in the neighljourhood. Having crossed the Nile the traveller
got out of the boat or barge, again mounted his donkey, passed througli various
Arab villages, and through groves of date-trees. All the while, after getting to
Old Cairo, the traveller saw the pyramids before him. and as he advanced tliey
develoi)ed themselves gradually, over-topping all otla-r objects. The traveller passed
through iields and through groves of date-trees, and tlien arrived at the plateau of
the rising bank of tlie roek on which rose the three great pyramids of Ghizeh. (The
lecturer then refi'.rred to and explained a number of sketches he made on the spot,
representing the appearance of the pyramids from a variety of points of view.) The
pyramids rose up above every other object near, and for twenty-five miles approach-
ing from Alexandria towards <.'airo they were always seen. The first moment he saw
the pyramids it seemed to realise the whole history of a vast time, and to form an
epoch in one's life. They could easily imagine the emotions that arose in the bosom
when first a traveller saw the pyramids. As thu plateau of the pyramids was
approached it was found that the viilaijes were distributed to the right and left. As
the traveller got eloai; to the nearest village, or even before, the Arabs came to him
offering to be Ids guides, and of course he had likewise his drajjoman along with him.
And he does not grudge the money he pays (sometimes too mueh) to the guides who
soon haul him up to the toj) of tlie'great pyramid. (He then referred to some draw-
ings, illustrating some of the scenes hi' witnrsseii.) The great pyramid, as most of
tliem might be aware, was cut out of the solid rock. The Professor then proceeded
with his account of the
EXCAVATIONS AT GIII^EII AND SACCARA. ^
M. Mariette, «o well known for his researches among the antiqaities of Egyr*.
has for some years conducted excavations for his excellency said Fasha, tne
\ iccroy. and hui had the tontrol of all the antiquities of thte eosotrr. Mo dl«taM
are allowed without a permission ^ranted throoffh him. None of the fellabs cSa sdl
the smallest object, under pain of a serore panlsbment, cxtcndiiiff it Is said br Um
Bedouin Arabs themselves to death, if anv article be offered for sale irlthoat barlne
been first brought to him to buy It. if he chooRe, for the Pa«ha'i coUeetlon. He la oow
carrying on excavations at the Ghizeh platform. Saccara. andTheUn. wherrifangsof
Arabs are at work, under the direction of their shi-iku, wifh thi- ullifhtont tool, and
even with their hands, casting the sand, the dirt, and rubbi-b m*- -■■■ .i) b»«|wti,
carrying it out of tlie tri;nch and depositing it at ashortdlstir Hie spot
This is a forced labor ; each village in turn being obliged, as f": works,
to furnish and maintain Its contingent without r4>muneration if rnmeot.
I observed that there wen; few u'rown-uo j>eople. the mass con mi^ bors
and girls, who appeared very merry at their work, one or two . ; Ni^akiad
of coupkt. constantly repeating the same words, thi> rest joinniL: -U theend.
M. Mariette is very stringent with respect to any strangem t«khtK nunaoraiida,
sketches, or dimensions, and it was as it were onlv by stealth, and as tbougb I wtre
doing something else, to avoid observation, tliat I rould put toj^ether a few ootm of
wlmt I saw. In the illustrations, thfreforc. that accompany my remarks, these
difficulties must be borne In mind, and except when I give positive dimension*, very
precise accuracy must not be expecti-d. It is to be n^TCtted that M. Mariette does
not supersede such imperfect data by himself glvloff orcurat*- di-srrJptfonF* of his
most important discoveries. He hau full knowledge of his subjert. aptitude and
felicitv in knowing where to direct liis rcscorchei, and great j-m.. --* Iii^ attended
his labors, for the collection in tht- Museum at lt<mlak contain- '« of the
highest value, particularly those fouud in the tombs. Heougti' • »p the
full benefit and credit of his investigations. Hut his d« bivs -.: ■ binmvlf
and injurious to the study of Egyptian archaeology,
pleased or surprised that a passing traveller like ni. . n
to his colleagues, however imperfectly, some of tb- . „ ' ^ ■ :. 'm
time to time, and in which all Europe feel interested.
I regret tliat X had not the advantage of seeing M. Mariette while I was at Cairo. I
called twice upon him at Itoulak. Ue was out both times ; the flrst he had gone to
Ghizeh with M. Lesseps. the second time he had just started on the Nde to pay avlsit
of inspection to the operations carrying on at Thebes.
Tomb near the Great Sphinx.— "hi. Slariette has for some years been engaged In
excavating a tomb upon the Ghizeh Platform, within 100 yards of the .Sphinx. This
tomb, like that of Campbell, is sunk in the solid rock, out of which it ha>* l*e<'u ex-
cavated 30 or 40 feet deep. It assumes very much the form of a rhurcli, with a central
aisle and an aisle on each side, separated by square pillars, with a transept at one end
having a central line of pillars. There is a wide door at the cml. leadloff Into a kind
of vestibule parallel with the transept nearly as long but only half as wide. In the
vestibule there i.s a well of considerable depth, with water in it from the Xlle. At
each end of this vestibule are doorways, one leading into a gallery still filled with
sand, tlie other into a wide passage running at right angles to it, the end also blocked
up with sand. I should state that tlie whole of tliesc parts have no roofing now,
and are open to the sky. From the transept there are 0|>enlnuft ; that on the one side
leads into three cells parallel with the aisles I have just descriiH-d, they are about
10 feet high, and over them was a much larger chamber. The opening from theother
end of the transept leads into a narrow passage, also running parallel with the nave
and side aisles, rising in an inclined direction and being apparently the passsge of
entrance. On one side of this passage, in the thickness of the rock between the
passage and side aisle, is a chamber ; on the other side of the passage an inelined
passage leading to an upper story, probably over the entrance passa^^e and the
chamber last noticed. The inclined passage is lined half its height with large blocks
of ijranite. and the other or upper half and the ceiliiigare lined with slabs of l!.^7ptian
alabaster l.i to 15 inches tliick. A specimen of this alabaster I brought away with
me, and it lies on the tabic.
The piers dividing the nave and aisles are monoliths, 4 feet 0 inches by :\ feet 4 inches,
and 14 feet high, upon which rested longitudinal beams or architraves about 3 feet
high ; most probably on those rested the transverse beams forming the roof or ceiling.
The walls were lined with blocks of granite of different tints, some ofdeep red, others
approachinjr to grey. I measured some of these as memoninda of the gigantic
characterof their construction, 15 feet long bv 5 feet high. 11 feet long bv 3 feet 6
inches by 5 feet, and others 3 feet 4 mches square on the face. The blwks in the
angles had no joints there but returned on the other face, :i or 3 inches, of course,
alternately breaking joint with the blocks above and below. This mu-ft necessarily
have caused great waste of material and considerable additional labor. In the upper
part, near the surface,! perceived some constructed walling formed of huge blocks
of the rock itself, laid in regular courses. As I did not meet with M. Mariette at
Cairo, I was unable to ascertain what had been found in this tomb, if any tmo-
phagus had been discovered, and the nature of any other particulars brought to
Before quitting the platform of the pyramids I will venture to mention two or three
other points with which I was struck. In f^ont of the smallest of the three groat
pyramids there was originally a considerable court with a dromosor avenue which led
up to it. The walls are thick, and consist of blocks of the full depth of *» feet, and
in courses G feet high. I measured as the average length blo*:k8 10 feet II inches. Hi
feet 9 mches, 16 feet 0 inches, and 11 feet 5 inehea long. , ^ ^^ ^ k» i.- »k.«i.
When the bases of the pyramids were clear of the sand, debris, and tjlocks, wmcn
now cucumbei' them, they must have had large platforms, the rock having been cui
away to form the level. Consequently, at \m or ir»0 feet behind the Pyr*ra'a?Jy "»J
west the face of tlie rock gave a perpendicular height of 10 or l.» feet, in the Doay oi
the rock tombs were cut. having doorways opening upon the plattorm. .„,,„„,
I found, on the lower part of the third pyramid, courses of red gram te. several
blocks remaining in their original position and having the apP*^""V*''^„?L»P?!>rf
blocks 3 feet 8 inches high, 3 feet 0 inches deep from front to rear on «•';* "PP^^^.^-
and from 2 feet 10 inches to 4 feet wide; they were wedge-shaw-d in !»'*«•«>»?»
form a key. and there was a curious angle-shaped channel on the f-J^f ofsomc rfttoe
blocks lying about. The second pyramid was faced with a granite re^etincat u um
same manner as the first. , ,^ . „ .... »«,i K.a.it Miif<*h
I The learned Professor exhibited specimens of alabaster, »n«'^J»'^,f <* f**'*' *." 2^**
he found in Egypt. He next proceeded to give some secount "^ J^* ■»,^"^" / .*" ^^^
' cara. Beparting from Ghizeh, the traveller oassed over the desert w^^^^^^^^
' donkey driver, and dragoman, passed by a late, got ;<>»»*'"<*, V''^."\"""? '" "^Xted^b?
i a monument, advancc^d onwards and found other lakes Y'^'' " wnnr^and w^^
wild ducks, snipes and other fowl, whieh sometimes ^^''^-f **,,7'^ JP^'' *^^^^
i found very convenient for supper. The traveler rose up ° '''^;^„'';^^ *;^i*L^
then he found a wild sequestered «r"*'\^.*''"^V'^^'''^' V U^m^t^^^^
and thus he passed on fo^ miles to the vUIsfre of >aeear|^^ Ihe ne^^
! was up before daylight, had the donkey got ready, and off the> procei-dcd to examine
I the monuments which he was about to describe. c.«.,r« u in a direct line
I Serapeion of Memphis.--'rhe Itedouin village of I.axara, f^*""*™; ^^^, " * r^-bi^ve
nhni.f a mile or fl mile and a halfto the west from the site of Memphis, l p aoo*e
1 ?L°"^na?c onVhc^I-yWarran^of hill. »re jovoral Py^f"";,-^' »;:;^',».^rr":u
quantity of tombs, proviivj that this must havo boon the prmclpal com. u^ ,.t ...ui. i
Memphis The pyramids are erumblin^' awa^^ still, howefer. retamn
por"5n ; the numerous mounds by which they are "urroundert in. -
tin.i« iw.nenth nr the cieaTations of Arabs or travellers in search at :ii , ■■"<i
for miefthe surface of thJsands, which huve :aceumulated to the hchjht oi '^^ "f
ftetatwve he rocky k'vo are stowed with frasmonts of mummies blanched bone.,
and other wortWess fruits of the di-Rinfs of the curious ; inspiring f«ln>K» »' "^S"
and dis"u.rat t u rut ess spoliations of these restinL'-placeaof the dc«d^ Stmbo
ZL io.fsasat*5 ™p^^^^^^^ plateau must have Ikh-o «">;'^«^„!» ^?
"rmed a suburb or part. " a Temple of J^erapls In a spot " he " Y»v *» '»»?,j4i un
thewinds Hll it up ;'■ and In It he saw sphinxes embedded, some li»'f-''»y' <•*»;" ,^J
to the head It wiuld. therefore, appear that in ancient times the same »§^«l«»
cxsted ami it coild haveX.>ea by constant attcnticn alone that the arcasuid^mo
168
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 22, 1861 ,
of the temples could have beou kept free from the accumulation of Band. ^^lonsieur
Mariette had stvn a dozen sphinxes at Alexandria, and many at Cairo broug;ht from
this part : and felt couviuccd that in this loeality must exist the burial place of Apis
or Serapeion alluded to by auci»*nt authors. Ho was euL^a^ed in lu3 researches four
years turou^'^h the sand, in many parts >o fet t deep, aud discovered the dromoi or
sacred avtnue leading from the '.Serapeion of the Grecian times to that of the old
Kgyptiau dvuastics. Tlie ccremonifs connected with the jjod Apis were very
peculiar. Ue was a white bull marked with black spots ; tjreat caro was used in the
selection of thf iudividual auimal, that he mis:ht fulfil all the conditions required by
traditional U8a;."e. Ue was kept in liis sanctuary with scrupulous devotion, and not
allowed to have food of too uouri»luug' a quality lest he should become too fat. He
WHS occasionally, but rarely, brought out aud exhibited to the worshippers. He was
not allowed to live beyond tweuty-tive years, arrived at that period he was slain,
and his successor selected. They usually died at an earlier age ; one is recorded
whose death occurred when he was 17 years (J months and 5 days old. It is said
that i£2O,0uO were expended for funeral rites, which were of the most sumptuous
character.
The Serapeion which I visited had its connexion with the temple of Apis, and is
situate on the slope of the hill, about half a mile to the north of the {jrreat pyramid, and
the descent to the present entrance is to the depth of some ^0 feet or so below the
raseral surface of the sand. We tirst passed along: a narrow f2;allory about 45 paces
lonff^tben turned to the left some 25 paces, which led into the main gallery, 4 paces
witfe, and, perhai s. Ij or is foot high. The whole excavation is in the natural rock,
which consists of a S(»ft friable grey stone, Uke indurated clay, with seams of striated
or fibrous alabaster, li*om half an inch to an inch deep, and about 12 or l.> inches apart.
The rooting of this gallery is semicircular in form, but the sides, up to the springine;
oi the circle, are lined with com-ses of soft Thorah stone, in courses 14 inches high
and 18 inches thick. Turning to the right down this wide gallery, sepulchral
chambers present themselves on each side. Nothing can be more imposing. In the
dark gloom of the excavations, lighted only by the glimmering fiare of a wax candle
or two. or by a few pieces of burning resinous wood producing a doubtful gleam,
these mortuary chapels, on a lower level than the ijallery, and into wliich the eye
intently gazed, to catch sight of whatever might be within, presented a gigantic
sarcopha^s in the centre 11 feet high, 12 feet 9 inches long, by 7 feet 8 inches wide.
Snch, at least, was the size of the one I measured, although Jf. Mariette records
others from 15 feet to IS feet long, and 13 feet high. These enormous proportions
have a very impressive effect. They are of porphyry, grey and rose granite,
and baaalt. The body of the one I drew was 7 feet S inches high, hollowed
out to receive the mummy and case, the sides and ends being left ft-om
1 foot 2 inches to 1 foot 5 inches tluck; the lid was '.i feet 1 inch high, and splayed off
at the top with a level upper surface, 4 feet lOj inches wide. Each sarcophagus with-
out the lid must have weighed 30 tons. Let us consider for a moment the labor
employed to disengage such a mass from the quarry, to transport it several hundreds
of miles from the upper countrj", to carry it from the Nile up to the level on the side
of the hill, and then to convey it along the galleries, and to raise and to lower it into
its permanent position. One of the sarcophagi in the rough still remains near the
main entrance, as though in course of preparation for the mummy of the creature
god. The floor of these lateral chambers was 3 feet 0 inches lower than that of the
main gallery, and the bottom of the sarcopliagus was sunk some 3 feet 0 inches
bolowthat. The chambers varied in size, and were lined with courses of Thorah
sloae up to the springing of the vaulted ceiling like the main gallery. One
Mpolchral chamber I measured was 25 feet (i inches trom front to rear, by 10 feet
wide in the clear between the masonry ; others measured between the rock 25 feet
8 inches by 12 feet, thus varying in size. There are only three 'which have
hieroglyphics ; those of the one I particularly examined were not deeply chased,
bat rather tliinly incised, almost in mere lines, as it were, on the outside surface,
and very few characters. For myself, I did not find anv hieroglyphics on the other
sarcophagi that I examined. I saw 25 of these chambers, as shown on the plan,
beyond which the gallerios are encumbered by d^ibrts; but there are further con-
tinuations examined by M. Jlariette, and I doubt not others are still concealed from
view, but probably containing other like stupendous sarcophagi.
M. Mariette discovered these subterranean deposits of the dead in 1851, and found
40chamberB. One of these sepulchral chapels'remained intact, just as Jit had been
closed in the reign of Kameses II., some 3,700 years since, and containing still the
statuettes, vases, and trinkets usually (leposited with the bodies, but of which the
other chambers had been despoiled. Many votive tablets exist, some inscribed with
the names of Darius and of Cambyscs, the latter of whom profanely wounded one of
the sacred heifers, which, however, an inscription proves to have survived some
years after that event. I found a rudely carved figure of a couchant lion in stone on
one of the sarcophagi, 4 feet 8 inches long and 1 foot 10 inches high, as shown in the
drawing.
OS FELLAH ABAB ARCHITECTURE IN EGYPT.
It Will be remembered, that when CbampoUIon and the other investigators of the
hieroglyphic inscription on the famous Hosctta stone had their inquiries so mate-
rially aided by the (Ireek translation of the edict on that triangular slab, they had
still to find the elements of a language embodied in the hieroglyphic and demotic
characters, so as to afford a clue to the hidden meaning, With much ingenuity refer-
ence was made to the tongueof the people who had constantly inhabited the country,
and among whom tradition might still have retained the like laugua«:e. Success
attended this reference to the Coptic, which was found to contain ttie key of the
ancient Egyptian language. As 1 was travelling in lower Kgypt, I was struck with
the fact that almost all the villages are built on artificial mounds, rising from 20 to
even 100 feet and more above the general flat and level of the natural soil. These
mounds abound in the neighbourhood of Alexandria and Cairo, and in the Valley of
the Nile, and. in fact, throughout the region of lower Kgynt ; consistingof accumula-
tions of the Nile mud mixed up with large quautities or fragments of pottery. If
for any reason portions arc cut through or removed, all sorts of antiquities, as, for
instance, bronzes, terra-cottas, acarabei, and even tombs with mummies, are occa-
sionally found, as also sarcophiigi ; at length I found them to be the sites of ancient
towns and villages of the remotest periods of known history, the accumulations of a
succession of generations, which had had their frail tenements built one over the
other, thus raising the mass still higher. They were thus more and more above the
influence of the annual risings of the Nile waters, and protected from ravages, that
are caused thereby, and the more healthy, as they were higher above the occasional
miasma arising from the vegetable composition, the natural result of the stagnation
of the waters, until the Nile retired within the limits of its natural bed. Havingto
go to Kaselwadi, in the Valley of Goshen, I saw the grand Kextensior mound of
Bnbastit, of hi^^h note in ancient timep, and situate near Zagasik. It rose from the
Elains like the mounds of Nineveh, Ninirod, and other Assyrian cities described by
ayard. and with which these Egyptian mounds have a remarkable analogy. I was
detained for some hours on twooccasions at lienha Kl Assal.on the Uamieltabranch
of theNlle, close to the mound of the ancient Athorbis, where a friend of mine has
fomid a threat variity of antiquitiee. I was struck with the rude form of the mud-
built huts and liouses of the Fellah or people of the country : the walls consisted of
sun-dried bricks of a dusty brown c^olor— the faces inclined backwards like the
ancient Egyptian Temples— flat terraces formed the roofs, on which the Arabs stow
their fuel, and perform many of their domestic operations ; the apertures for light
or air are of rare occurrence and small, seldom appear on the outside, and are more
generaUy next the court, to ensure privacy and snade. While I was detained at the
railway-station of Itenhit, I made a jioint of thoronghly examining its adjoining vil-
lage, and calling to mind the representations of domestic buildings, which we have
upon the hieroglyphs and frescoes of antinue Egyptian monuments, and as given by
Hit Gardner Wilkinson. CliampoUion. Uosseilini, Lcpsius. and in the work of
I-'Epypte. I recoffuised the analogy at once between ancient and modern usages,
and found that the buildings, like the language of the people, are a tradition of by-
gone times of remote antiquity, and that the one explained the other like tne
modem cottages of Lycla, which present the same features of timber construction
as the tombs of Zanthus, carved 2,000 years ago. The bricks are nearly the same
size as ours; they are simply made of the Nile mud by boys, who perform all the
operations, assisted by girls and other boys, who carry the material to tlie modeller,
each of whom makes ilOO per diem in winter, and 1,200 in summer. They are placed
with two courses of stretchers to one headers. The wider openings have timber
lintels of the date-wood. To produce an ornamental appearance they lay a line of bricks
herring-bone fashion, so as to present a sharp edge on the face. Atothers every alter-
nate header recedes from the face 2 or 3 Indies. They have tile-formed bricks about 12
inches long by some 2 inches thick, to form pohited fops to small apertures, or
rimged in a row, to give a zig-zag appearance. Vertical channels are sometimea
introduced, like those in the face of the ancient Propylea for the banner-masts, and
they are formed either by receding bricks, one over the other, or by vertical bricks
§ laced edge on, one over the other. But I need not minutely enter into further
etails, which are so much more perspicuously shown on the drawings. Over
the doorway I observed that they always had a bit of crockery, as a plate, inserted
into the face of the brickwork ; one of those I saw was a plate or dish with the
willow pattern on it. Frequently the doors are painted in brilliant colors, especially
green, red, and yellow, with white, in patterns ; and I should observe that at Cairo
every Hadji who had been to Medina or ]Mecca immediately had his doorway be-
dizened with color to mark the important event. The genur^ tone of the houses
and villages is a dirty mud, now and then, yet very rarely, enUvened with a little
whitewash on the strings and other features. Hut the mosques arc always white.
.Sometimes it is a favorite habit for the Bedouins to dip their hands in whitewash,
that they have prepared, and daub the surface of the wall with the marks of the five
fingers. In fact it is the custom with new married women, when they liave prepared
the dough for a meal, to dip their hands in the flour and mark the outside wall round
the doorway, to show that she pays attention to her domestic duties in preparing her
husband's food.
The streets of the villages are very narrow, varyin"- fVom 4 or 5 to 7 or 8 feet,
except, perhaps, one or two streets for the bazaar, which may be 10 feet wide. This
is for the purpose of shade and keeping the streets cool, a necessary precaution in
hot climates, and very prevalent in the East. The huts arc only one story high, and
rise 7 or 8 feet. Some houses have two stories, and a court-yard, with an outer
staircase leading to the upper rooms. At the villao-e of Saccara the treads or steps
of a house at which I slept consisted of blocks of Thorah stone, brought from the
ruins of the adjoining tombs and pyramids, carved with hieroglyphic inscriptions on
the upper face, and which were being gradually worn away.
The floors and roofs are formed of rough lengths of the palm-tree wood, some 12
inches apart, covered with reeds and a thick coating of mud, which cracks easily and
admits the rain whenever there is a storm ; this, however, isof rare occurrence above
Alexandria, tliough frequent enough m that town.
The Arabs pay great attention to ventilation, and have apertures expressly fortius
purpose over the doors and windows, and under the ceilings in other parts, and occa-
sionally just above the floor. These apertures they close with a mat stuifed in, which
they remove whenever they wish to produce circulation of air^in their cabins or
rooms. Their sanitary precautions extend no further, for they have no drains, and
all their dwellings are very dirty, and abound in fleas, not to mention other insects
and vermin.
Fowls, pigeons, and doves abound in the plains and desert, where they easily find
food, and there are quantities of them in every village. Conical-shaped dovecoate
are generally p(!rceivable in all the towns rising above the general lines of the roofs
of the dwellings ; and usually the minaret of the mosque forms another vertical
object in striking contrast with the flat tops of the houses. Many a tree also breaks
the level line, as each village has them, bomg especially valuable as producing one of
their chief articles of food, fibre for their cordage, wood for their timber framings
and utensils.
As I passed along the Egyptian plains and valleys and saw these mounds one after
the other, with flat-roofed buildings aud of pyramid shape, I could not but feel
impressed with the conviction, that these modern constructions recall the features'
of the towns and villages of antiquity, erected on the very site of olden cities, inha-
bited by a like race, ruled by like laws of supreme power in their chiefs, following"
the like custom, but destitute of that civilisation and grandeur of conception in their
priesthood and dynasties, which once produced those wondrous fabrics that have
employed the highest genius and most profound learning of modern times to
investigate their ruins and read the hidden mysteries of their records still preserved.
The learned rrofessor then proceeded to say that when at Alexandria he
visited Tompey's Pillar, which was of granite. The pillar rested on a block
or die somewhat less than the diameter of tlio column itself. That was a most
remarkable circumstance, and another remarkable circumstance was this, that
Pompey's pillar itself was upon a mound that was he dared say 100 feet above
the general level of the surrounding country. The learned Professor gave a descrip-
tion of the pillar^ aided by drawings and diagrams on the black board. lie had
asked Mr. Rous, the engineer at the railway station, to make an examination as to
the stability of the pillar, for it would be a great pity if such a monument were to
come down, and he hoped that representations would be made to the Viceroy in favor
of a thorough and proper examination being made.
CATACOMBS AT ALEXANDRIA.
In the illustrations accompanying the "Architectural Dictionary,'' now in course
of publication, are some plans and sections of tombs, in the catacombs about
three or four miles out of Alexandria to the westward. They are very curious,
presenting features of the Greek period, and arc of considerable extent. Of late
years Hr. Kous, chief enMneer of the railroad, has had to cut away a portion of the
rock in the immediate vicinity of the station, in order to gain further space for the
accommodation of the increased traffic. These operations have brought to light a
vast quantity of catacombs, which were not known to exist. The upper surface-
varies from 20 to (SO feet (I think) above the present level, and the sides present a
perfect honeycomb of tombs, one above the other, excavated in the live rock. Each
family catacomb consisted of one, two. three, or even four chambers, and had a dis-
tinct access from above, with its separate stairs, cut in the rock, leading down to the
subterranean vaults. Each chamber had two or three tiers of columbaria, 2 feet
3 inches to 'Z feet 10 inches wide, and 2 feet 10 inches high, and from 5 feet to 0 feet
fi inches deep. In some cases, as though for children, they are only 1, 2, or 3 feet
deep. The ceilings were cut In the form of a low arched vault, and were painted a
blue color, havin*? a flat ovolo moulding at the springing, also painted red. I will
describe the tomb, of which I give a plan and section.
A is the principal sepulchral chamber, H fcot s inches by 18 feet fi inches, having
on the side opposite the door an arch flanked by antre, and a sunk receptacle for the
body cut in the rock ; the lid, if any once existed, is not now remaining there, though
others have been found. Over this was cut, at right-angles in the rock, a colum-
barium to receive a body, 2 feet 4 inches wide by 2 feet 8 inches high, and 7 feet
.t inches deep. At one end of this chamber there was a like arrangement without
the columbarium over, and part of the back being partially broken away ; and a
portion of the wall, in another part of this chamber, which we found to be only 0 or
0 inches thick, those apertures disclosed on the other side of the thin walls, other
sepulchral chambers belonging to distinct tombs of other families. The anta; had
beams over them sunk in the rock, dividing the ceiling into three compartments-
The doorway leading into this chamber had on the outside three-quarter detached
columns, over which was an entablature and pediment. There were considerable
remains of color, and paintings of flat Kgyptian figures in panels, showing that,
although the architectural features were Greco- Roman, the pictorial decoration
retained the character of Kgyptian art. The level of the chamber a is about 2 or ;i feet
above the floor of n. which is IK feet 11 inches long by i:t feet wide, also vaulted. The
two sides only of the chamber are pierced for columbaria, throe ranges high, five or
six of a row, irregularly placed. One in the angle, 4 feet U inches wide, forms a
species of vestibule, 1(5 feet 1) inches by 13 feet 8 inches, having its sarcophagus cut in
the rock, and columbarium over at the back of the recess.
An aperture, 8 feet 3 inches wide, led into a sepulchral chamber, which had three
February 22, 1S61.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
169
I
tiers of columbaria on the tlirce sides, tlicre belnff six In cni-li tier on the Hide
opposite the entrance, ami space for four in a row at each end. although ct present
only three were cut, leavinff room for future bodies to be received. Kach of the
op«iiinss in tills chamber Ims narrow delicate architrave moulding? of a I'ompeian
character, worked in plaster, with thin consoles to support the heail mouldinprs. I
found this to be the case in other tombs. tYoni the accumulation of tiebri.i and col-
lection of water, it was impossible to ascertain precisely the heights of the chambers,
but they must be about 11 feet :t inches to the springing of the vault, and the vault
itself rises a feet (1 inches, giving a total heiglit of about 13 feet ft inches.
He hoped that future tr.ivellers in Kgypt would examine the subjects to which he had
referred more fully than he had had an opportunity of doing, and give the Institute
the benefit of sucli examination.
The Chairman.— 1 think we must thank our friend for his most Interesting paper
— (Applause).
Professor Donaldso?* exhibited a fnigment of a friable kind of stone used m
Egypt, a fragment of mortar from the catacombs at Alexandria, and three spo'eimens
of marbles used in that country.
Mr. IJoBERT Kerr.— Did you find any zopissa ?— (A laugh)
Professor IJonai-dson.— No.
Mr. Godwin moved a vote of thanks to Trofessor Donaldson for the vivid and
graphic account he had given of his travels in Egypt, which showed that he had lost
none of his vigor of mind. He then referred to the wonderful sarcophagi to be found
in Kgypt, many of which were each four or five times as large as that of the Dukeof
Wellington; such wonderful productions excited our admiration of a people pos-
sessed of so much skill and science, and who, notwithstanding, were the worship-
pers of a bull, lie moved a vote of thanks to Professor Donaldson.
Mr. Chakles Harky seconded the motion for a vote of thanks to the learned
Professor for the interesting paper he had given thcni that evening-, and which
would be found of much service to those who might have the good fortune to travel
in his steps.
Professor Dox.VLR.soN then read a lengthy extract from an article by Jlr. Bireh,
which will shortly be published in the " Dictionary of Architecture," on Egyptian
antiquities, .and remarked that in his observations, and in the account of his Journey
ho had given them that evening, ho had confined himself to the architectural part of
the subject, without entering upon chronology or archicology.
In answer to 3Ir. Kerr,
Professor Donaldson estimated the size of the block of stone at the bottom of
Pompey's Pillar to be 7 or s feet square.
Mr. Morris said the paper read that evening showed in how clear and distinct a
manner Professor f.)onaklsou could portray passing events in a journey extending
over two days - (Hear, hear). A few years ago business took the professor to
Ireland. He went to the Giants' Causeway, and when he got home produced a most
interesting paper on the visit— (Hear, hear).
After a few words from Messrs. ScoLES, Papworth, and the Chairman, Pro-
fessor Donaldson said there were at Cairo drinking fountains at every corner, but
not such as those in London, wliicli were a disgrace to art. At Cairo the lower parts
of the fountains were ornamented with marble, alabaster, and other decorations,
and there was a day-school above. He then showed a few drawings of some of those
fountains.
The vote of thanks was carried by acclamation, and shortly afterwards the meeting
separated.
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1862.
THE following letter has been received by Sir Thomas Phillips, Chairman of
the Council of the Society of Arts : —
Council Office, February '.iO, 1801.
Sib, — I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of 3Ir. Foster's letter of the 16th
February,! euciobiiig the Charter wliich; has; been! granted to Earl] Granville, K.G.,
the 3farquis of Chandos, Mr. Thomas Baring, 3I.P., Mr. C. Weutworth Dilke, and
.Mr. Thomas Fairbairu, incorporating them as the Commissioners for the E.xhibition
of ISfii.
The Commissioners, on the 22nd of November last, agreed to act, after a guarantee
had been promised, to such an extent as to show a strong opinion in the public
mind that the time for holding a second International iExhibition had arrived;
after the guarantors had expressed an opinion that the absolute control of the
undertaking ought to be entrusted to fivi' gentlemen named by tliem ; autl after the
Commissioners of the Exhibition of lS.jI had intimated their approval of the project,
and their confidence in the proposed mode of maiuigement, and had jiromised fiieir
support and assistance ; the Commissioners, therefore, gladly accept a charter which
conveys to them her 3Iajesty's gracious assurance that she is earnestly desirous to
promote the holding of an International E.xhibilion of Industry and Art in the year
1802, and that she is pleased to sanction the proposed arrangements.
The powers conveyed by the Charter will, ficwever, be practically inoperative until
the Deed of Guarantee has been executed. When this has been done, the liank of
England hss agreed to advance the necessary loan of money on liberal terras. Tho
Commissioners iherifore desire me to request that you will represent to the Council
the necessity of having the deed signed as soon as possible.
The Commissioners, unwilling to lose valuable time, have, during the interval
required for the preparation of the retiuisite legal powers, taken such provisional
steps as their position permitted.
The most pressing point .was the building required for the Exhibition. In 1S50,
notwitlistanding the posset-sion of considerable funds, and the assistance of the most
eminent architects and engineers, seven months elapsed before a design was adopted.
Tile Commissioners thereiore felt that if tliey postponed the consideration of this
subject until ^they wx*re u legally constituted body, the cost of the building would be
greatly increased, and a serious risk incurred of its non-completion by the appointed
time.
The arrangements made by the Society of Arts, when negotiating for a site on the
estate of the Commissioners of IMl, and their announcement that tlie Exhibition
was to include pictures, a branch of art not exhibited on the former occasion,
rendered it necessary to contemplate the erection of a building in some parts of a
more substantial character than that of 1851.
Apian was submitted to the Commissioners by Captain Fowke, R.E., who had
been employed by her Majesty's Government, in the liritish Department of tlic Paris
Exhibition of 1 Wo. This design was adapted to the proposed site, and was intended to
meet tlie practical defects which experience had shown to exist ijotli in the buildings
in Hyde-park and in the Champs Elysees. It .ippeared well adapted for the required
purposes, and its principnl features were of a striking character, and likely to form
an attractive part of the Exhibition. The Commissioners submitted the design to
the competition of ten eminent contractors, four of whom took out the quaulities.
Three tenders (one a joint one from two of the contractors invited) were sent in on
the day named in the invitation, but all were greatly in excess of the amouut which
the Commissioners could prudently spend, with a due regard to the interests of the
guarantors.
The Commissioners have, therefore, had under their consideration, modifica-
tions of the plan, which, without destroying its merits, would materially reduce its
cost.
The Commissioners having learnt that the French Government had applied, on the
3rd of Xovember last, to the Foreign Office, to know whether it was intended to liold
an International Exhibition in England in 180:i, entered into private communication
with that Government, from wliom they have reeeive<l satisfactory assurances of
support, accompanied by a statement that it had been the intention of the Emperor
to hold an lntern:itional Exhibition in Paris in lSO"i, had the project not beeb
entertained in F^ngland.
The Commissioners also requested the Duke of Xewcastle, the Secretary of State
for the Colonies, to announce the dcalni ent<Ttmln<'d of hotrilnir an exhibition, and
I he intention of the promoters to apply to the Crown for a Charter; and the Com-
mlBslonem have been informed that Ills (iracc has addressed a communication to
rnlmlald
nfflxlns
. UTKaol-
tliat elTect to all the governors of Her Majestv
The (.'ommisslonerrt have had under their ■
down In IWI, respecting the award of PrI/.
of I'rices, the Distribution of Spaci', ih.' <„,
zatlon of theadditioniil Department ■
When, therefore, the Giiiirantee 1 1 ixicuteH, the Comtaiiiionen hope
to be able to proceed nt once with the ..a of (hebnildlngi, ud touiaoaOM
the rules and regulations for the arrangement uf the KxhIbltioD.
1 have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient si-rrnnt.
y. It. SANDKtJUU.
.^
MUSIC IN Tire EXHIBITION BUILDING IN 1862.
WE express our strong liopc, whatever reduction the plans of the pro-
posed structure, as it first met the public eye, may undergo, that a
fine music liall, spacious but not too liigli. will Ve retained. First a*
regards the duration of the Exhibition. Tlie Exhibition of '.')! had the
charm of noyelty, whicli was one cause of its success. Such norelty, In
its breadth, that of '62 cannot attain, but it sliould tcetc to supply this aa
much as possible with new special features. Of these one exists in the
happy proximity of the Horticultural gardens, into which, we presume,
there will be accesses from the Exhibition. Another exists, as far u the
metropolis is concerned, in the proposed galleries of pictures which did
not form part of the former Exliibition, but are to form part of that of '62;
also in their being arranged in union with sculpture, aa would be judi-
cious, and, on a large scale, a novelty in this country. A third moat
important feature beyond those possessed by the former exhibition of '51
would be presented by affording on the forthcoming occasion, as, we trust,
will be the case, the best possible facilities for the representation of music
as a fine art. For this purpose, however, perhaps more than one miuic
hall might be requisite.
Secondly as regards after years. A portion we are told of this bnildinf;
of the Exhibition of 'G2 is to be permanent. A noble music hall should
assuredly form part of this. Music is part of the education and civilisa-
tion of the people, and the population of several other towns in
England have far better facilities for good music than London at present
possesses. At Birmingham, for example, if we recollect right, the
admission fee to tlie hall, to hear the best music, is only -Id. For any
information on this subject with which we may be furnished ftom other
towns, we should be much obliged.
T
SUDDEN DESTRUCTION OF A FEUDAL CASTLE.
HE old Chateau du Breuil, situated in the commune of Gissac, near Le»-
_ parre, in the department of the Guonde, in France, was the last remnant of
feudalism in that neiglibourhood that presented any completeness, and was an
object of considerable interest. It has been almost annihilated in a very unex-
pected and unusual manner ; the walls, which were of enormous thickness, had
been so much injured by the rains and frost tliis year that they gave way, and
fell nearly all together with a terrific fni(;as. The place was inhabited, and the
persons living-there had heard a cracking noise for a day or two, and bad seen a
number of lizards emerge as if iu terror ; the bipeds fortunately followed the ex-
ample of their little co-inhabitants, and took their departure just iu time, for
almost immediately afterwards the whole of one side ol the castle fell into the
moat, a second fall brought one of the two towers to the ground, and nothiof^
now remains of the old edifice but the northern portion, which is in such a state
that the first bad weather is expected to level it with the rest. The ruins presrat
a curious spectacle, being dotted with sculptured stones the remains of the
boldly crenellated battlements, parapets, and loopholes. The walls of the castle
were 10 feet thick, but they were filled in with earth, the outer case alone lieing
in masonry. .,
In the fourtcenlh century, the English assaulted and took the Castle ofBreuil,
which was one of the most important places in the old Province of Gmenne, and
for a considerable period those walls which now lie shattered and dispersed were
guarded by I3ritish soldiers and surmounted by the Baglish flag.
(l[m'rwpiulcnc(j.
ME. WHITE'S "PLEA". , ,i.. <j««k
Sir,— In answer to your correspondent's remarks upon my lecture at inesMiain
Kensington Jluseuin, I can truly say that :— .„i,if.vrf„«
1. HJd he explained himself to mean .'■ art ifically. applied' color in urWterti^^
in his letter to the Kcclmiolixiist, I could not have callt d it cssentiaL 1 tooK simply
what he did say, and not what he " might '■ have said.
■Z. My allusion to ignorant objectors w.s obviously ""^J"' '".'PP'^, ?°,'{,°i*L'Jf
that had given their Siinds to the subject (as he has d.,„e) but to those that h«t not,
of whom I happen to meet with a great many. .„„ii-..i„- rf
:!. I did not assert "that those who would '" ri<-' ""l"?<''fy •'^f, »PP',"''™.S
color in ecclesiastical interiors are lovers of whitewash. ' / •«"! "'»« i',"^*;^
many advocates for whitewash and bare walls »"°»K«' «^""' '^"i-""" .,???
busy to study the matter for themselves ;' as is indeed, unhappily, bat too olttn
'"r\"al^^'eTuhtho "?M''eSerof theOxford Architctural Society '; »» '« «» bej^
"iinfortunate" that good form should be by niost people ''■^» »PP'>„";'I'J^ ''•'"X?
color i at the same time (if it be so) it is an additional "■''""■"••'^ "° J"V'r„°i "'fJi
tending to prove that it is chiefly through means "V^'^^jl'^Vr,"^? co or m^v ta
SiK-nce the masses And I do ma ntain that a considerable amount of color may M
"applied '• m an ecclesiastical interior without _toucWng,or_inJuring_^the general
effTCt of the finer forms which will still equally afl-ect the cultivated mind.
5 In one of his letters your correspondent appealed to the absence of polychrpmy
in the mmmtain scenery whither Our Lord retired for prayer, as alTordlng "■•""•"OKJ
a°ainsU°iTai plication of color, for religious interiors. I therefore, simply .ecentod
aSd "lop edh sown analogy as justifying the use of color for such mtcrlors, since
I found t'^^ie mountain scenery of the »5ast to be gorgeous m 'he extreme.
fl I introduced this analogy in connection not with La Saintc Chapelle (as ne
id implyrbut with .Strasbourg, as a most strlkmg interior, and as presenting an
wou
T^"lL'lsfdtat"tofine''Sect arose not-as also he would have me to be under-
stoijd- in spite of its naturally colored materia), but hi consequence of a.
170
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 22, 1861.
S. I t^ald not "prc-suppose that men arc unconscious of the prosencoof color when
they adinire such interiors as that of Strasbourg ;" 1 simply urged, and still main-
Uin, that men are sometimes affected by and do appreciate the etfect of color, even
before thiir attention is awukeued to the,fact of its presence, or they aroconscious of
its existence.
9. I ("tattrd in my lecture at first starting', that the Talue of constructional color was
already (generally rvcognifted. and it seemed unnecessary to pursue my plea at all m
that direction. It was my aim to call attention chiefly to the benefits of color ;jer
M, on account of their belns: so often repudiated or ignored. Otherwise it would have
formt-d, as I said, one chief branch of the subject.
10. I admitted -nay. insisted upon— the subordination of applied color, in rich or
fine material, and in deep or delicate work. I recosruise the value of a natural mate-
rial as a means of color, and I pleaded for the use of applied color chiefly upon poor
jnaterial and large plain surfaces, otherwise almost colorless.
11. The comparison between Notre Dame and La Saiutc Chapellewas made by me
evidently for the sole purpose of drawing uttention to the large amount of applied
color in. and the universally acknowltuljfcd chromatic result iu favor of the latter;
and not in any way whatever as comparmy: either of them (as he would make me to
do) with Strasbourg or Basle, or with natural scenery.
l.i. Kiwe architectural form may sometimes be such as to sugpeat devotional feel-
injrs, allhouijh it is " the work of man.* and as such, is "essentially human."
All answer to objections is almost always insipid, except to tlie writer, and your
readers may think these notes not worth pen and ink. Still. I do not like to allow.
in a subject of such interest to myself, so many misapprehensions of my meanin«r to
pass unnoticed, even at the risV of calling frcsu attention to my *' unfair and illnrrical
aUejfation*.'* I am, &c., William AVhite.
THE STONK F«ESEKVING QUESTION.
SiK.— I saw the same thin^ beiu? done at the Houses of Parliament as l*rofe8.'*or
Tennant (as per report of British Architects in your number on Friday), and hope
that the GoTcrnment will stop nil trials of washes on that building until something
is settled that will cure the evil.
If the lime whiiiug process going on in the Commons' courts, or whatever it may
be, is so efl'ectual as it is said to be, why t;o over it so otten ? AVhat the learned I'ro-
fesrior calls efflorescence, I call a sort of mould, as is found on new cement, caused
by the saline qualities of the sand, and if the process hardens the stune, how
«ome8 that ?
My opinion is that time, and time only, will prove which is the best, and we ought
to wait Offorc more money is a^^ain speot ou any plan.
Can you, or any of your readers, inform me what wash or composition it Is that is
OQ that part of the building in the angle opposite to Henry VII. 's Chapel?
1 am, &e.,
.C#m4en-t9wn, F«J)ruwy 39th. 18<^1. W. R.
'" ' ' ROYAL ENGINEEKSr
SXB, — The above subject having been takenln hand by "Excelsior" and "Civi-
lian," would you kindly allow the following remark;^ to appear in your Journal, to
farther ventilate the matter?
The remedy for the present anomalous position of the civil officers in the Royal
Engineer Department rests with themselves. Their passive submission to the
■whims and caprices of the military officers, without even one of them venturing to
cxpo<;e tlic rottenness of the system, is vi-ry remarkable. Even their ■' relative mili-
tary rank," although it is but nominal, ought to prompt them to try whether they
arc not entitled to, and deseiviug of, more consideration. The military officers are
"working hard to maintain their present position: the civil officers sufl'ering judg-
ment to go by default. E\try one at all conversant with the working of the Koyal
Engineer Hepartraent, knows well that the civil officers do the work, and that the
milirary officers get the credit, when there is any ; but if censure is to be borne, the
civil otHccrs become the recipients.
It is an old but a very true saying, *' that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing,"
and in no case ig it more fully proved than in llid behaviour of the military officers
of the Koyal Engineer depnrtmeii t,w'ho, because they have had a few weeks' schooling
under the ** Teacher of I'ractical Architecture," at Chatham, are consiclered compe-
tent t« give directions in all that pertains to architecture, to tetter and control the
actions of men who have devoted years to tUeir weeks ; who are old enough, in
many cases, to be their fathers. And, If ability and practical knowledge could be
reckoned by years, old enough to betlieir great-grandfathers.
If the civU officer:*— either individually or collectively, would perform a duty which
they owe alike to themselves and the country, and expose the workin^^ of the present
system, in all its deformity and rotti-niiess, 1 am convinced that an alteration would
soon be made, which ronst necessarily be for the better— it could not be worse.
For the interest of the civil officers (I was one myself once) I will put the following
questions :—
Is there a military officer of the corps of Royal Engineers capable of designing.
writing a speciUcation, or making an estimate for, or superintending the erection of,
any building, however simple ? or docs any one know of such a thing ever having
been done? I fear the answer must in each case be "No," for although the Engineer
officers nominally do those things, the Civil officers really do. Would anyone in
their senses entrust the expenditure of such enormous sums of money, as are
entrusted to the military officers of the Koyal Engineers, to a student who has had
only a few weeks' experience in an architect's office to justify him in assuming the
title oi architect ? The answer must again be "No." Yet such is the custom or the
Royal Engineer Department, the results being such as are inevitable— a waste of
public money, abortive schemes, mad projects, discreditable erections.
J would offer a few suggestions for remedying this state of things :—
1st. Separate the military officers Irom .the civil officers, as far as the civil
duties are concerned.
t-'nd. !n the place of the Inspector-General of Fortifications, "rive to the civil
officers a civil head or chief, who might be styled *' Sur%eyor-in-ChTef."
3rd. In the place of Commanding Koyal Engineers for the charge o
appoint deputy-surv^'ors.
4th. Give to the civil officers generally the advantages attached to their " military
rank."
I l>elieve the benefits to be derived would be these. The "quallfled military
officers required for the defences of the c/juntry" would then be available for their
legitimate military duties, without the uecej*flity of "giving commissions in the
C*orpH of Royal Engineers to the first-class civil officers. ''^ The position of the civil
officers would b<* properly recognised, and the country would save many thousand
poouds every year.
At a time when retrenchment and economy la so strongly urged upon all branohes
of the public service, if would be well tliat the Koyal Engineer department should be
one of those first kx^ked to or brought under consideration, and therefore I have
troubled you wllh the foregoinir remarki*, which X trust will not be too lenfrthy for
insertion in the KtiLmNu Nr.irs. ^^ - ,-
Febmary 18th, 1801. ''-''' " , FHxaud.
_. . '^"^ DECAY OF STONEWORK.
SIR,— I «trce with your corre»r*ondent " A. A. W." that It is imperative that stone
should be fixed upon its natural Vd, i.e, if exposed to the weather.
rin- failure of the stone at the new Houses of Parliament asises from the fact that
the quarry at Ilolnovcr ran out, as it u termed, and then an inferior stone from
Anston was employed, and. In my opinion, without that care in selection which is
indispensable. I have not linked at the river front for ten years, yet I will under-
ta ke to say that the plinth is as sound as the day it was fixed, and it is entirely of
uolsover-itoDc, but when larger blocks were required Jbr window heads, &c., It was
: of out-stations.
found that the quarry could not supply them, hence the building from the plinth
upwards is Anston-stone, and I am sure that every mason who worked at the
building when this change of materials took place could have foretold the result.
Why. 1 have known as much a« a day's work difference in one piece of muUion,
simply in consequence of its being full of soft and hard places, sandholes. Ac. ;
hence, if a stone is rotten to begin with, in my opinion no amount of chemistry can
make it sound, as the chemical agent is too .strong for it, forcing it ofl' in flakes.
Tlie primary remedies for the prevention of decay in our stone buildings are— fix
upon the natural bed. see that the stone his stood under similar conditions to those
required elsewhere, that it is of the best beds the quarry can produce ; let each block
be exununed by a practical person ; and lastly, season it by quarrying and stacking
twelve months before use. These points attended to, there are many uuilding stones
in this countrj- that will stand unimpaired for age.
I am, &e.,
Portland. Feb. ly. ^ ____^ ^- *'^-
THE BURHAM FOUNTAIN COJIPJETITION,
Sir.— Will you allow me. through the medium of your Journal, to inquire if any
one of the .'io comf)etitor8 for the £I0 prize oflVred by the Local Board of Health in
the above competition can give any information respecting the determination of the
Board. The designs were sent in on the liiith of September, ISiKi, Surely in such a
small afl^air the Committee ought to have been able to make up their minds ere this.
IfUQ.&C, . A COMPETlTOn.
THE EMBANKMENT OF THE THAAIES.
THE embankment of the Thames, so long talked about for therelief of several of
the at present overcrowded thoroughfares of the metropolis, and so long deferred,
is likely, ere long, to be a/ait accompli. A company has been formed, and, amongst
others, their scheme for the embankment of the Thames is to be brought under the
notice of Parliament, a Bill having been prepared for the purpose. At a meeting of
the Metropolitan Board of Works, on Friday last, the scheme of this company was
taken into consideration. It appeared, from Statements made to the meeting, that
the company proposed to make the embankment, a street and railway {we presume
between Westminster and London bridges*), at an estimated cost of £700,000; that
the Metropolitan Board of Works should have permission to make a main drainage
sewer within the embankment, on the conditions that they paid to the company the
sum of £400,000, and that the plans for the sewer were approved of by the company's
engineer. After a short discussion it seemed to be the general opinion of tlie members
of the Board that tlie Bill sought to exercise very extensive control over their opera-
tions, and that a petition against it should be presented. It was accordingly ordered
tliat a copy of the Bill be sent to each member of the Metropolitan Board of Works,
and that the further consideration of the matter should be postponed to the following
Friday. On Tuesday last, however, a special meeting of the Metropolitan Board of
Works was held in the Council Chamber, (iuildhall, in reference to the proceedings
to be taken in connexion with the re-introduction of the Bill for'-the Amendment of
the Metropolis Local Management Acts, when the Chairman stated that he had been
in communication with the Chief Commissioner of Works, the Right Hon. William
Cowper.in reference to the proposed embankment of the Thames. Ho was informed
that it was intended, by tlic Government, to issue a commission to consider and re-
part upon the various schemes for the embankment of the Thames. lu consequence
of that he addressed a communication to the Chief Commissioner, offering several
objections to the issuing of any commission to inquire into the matter ot the em-
bankment of the Thames, and stating that the Board hud the subject under consider-
ation. The Chief Commi-^sioner, however, was of opinion that a commission ought
to be issued. And since then the following communication had been received from
the Chief Commlssiouer :—
"Office of Works, February 16th. 18CL
*' Dear Sir.— After the fujlest consideration I have been able to give to the subject,
I adhere to the opinion I expressed to you, that the proper course with respect to
the selection of the best plan of embankment, is to refer all plans to a Commission. I
hope that notwithstanding the objections you entertained to the appointment of a
Commission, you will be willing to give us the advantage of naming you as one of
the members. It will consist of seven persons, rather more than 1 contemplated,
when I first spoke to you on the subject. The Lord Blayor will be one of the
members, and I suppose tliat he will be entitled, by virtue of his office, to take the
chair. I do not think the proceedings will be very long.
"I have the honor to bo yom- obedient servant,
" J. Thwaitcs, Esq." "W. ComtpeR.
To the above letter the Chairman of the Board (Mr. . Tliwaites) returned the
following answer : —
•* 10th February. ISOi.
"Dear Sir,— Although I considered myself bound to urge on your attention the
strongest arguments which suggested themselves against the appointment of a
Commission ou the plans for the Thames embankment, I feel no hesitation in
accepting the responsibility you do me the honor to impose on me, and shall endea-
vour to discharge to the utmost of my duty as a member of the Commission, by an
earnest endeavour to assist my colleagues in a careful and impartial examination of
the plans submitted to us.
" 1 have the bonor to be your obedient senant,
" J. Thwaites.
"The Right Hon. W. Cowpcr, M.P."
Tlie conduct pursued in this matter by the Chairman was unanimously approved
of by the members of the Board present.
0
AKcniTECTUIlAL PHOTOGUAPHIC KXHIBITION.
N Tuosday evcninjf, Mr. James Feugusson, F.K.A.S., delivered at the Archi-
- tectural Photoijrapliie Exhibitiou, U, Conduit -street, Keffcnt-streer, a lesture on
tlie Collection of Indian riiotosraplis. The chair was occupied by Mr. M. Digby
Wyatt, and amonf^st tlie other gentlemen present we noticed, Mr. G. E. Street, Mr.
Charles IHayhcw. Mr. John liell, Mi-. E. 11. Lamb, Mr. James Edmcston, Mr.
William Lightly, Captain Henry Dixon, '.i^ind, M. N. I., Mr. C. F. Hayward, &c.
In movinjr a vote of thanks' to Mr. Fer^uftson for his interesting: lecture, the Chair-
man ob.served that he had lately been enf;u^ed in superintending the removal of the
Indian Sluseum Cnim tlic City to the West-end of London, and he had made It a
point with the .Secretury of State to aUow liim to introduce gas-light in some portions
of the Institution wlth'a view to its being open in the evening. The library formerly
in the India-house had been brought to Oaunon-row, and it would be found of great
advantage in tlie study of the history of India. It was desirable that under proper
restrictions the manuscripts and books should bo made as far as possible accessiolc
to the public. The arrangements were not yet completed, but he hoped they would
be soon, and that the public would derive much advantage therefrom. f)n the motion
of Mr. (i. E. .Street, a vote of thanks was passed to the Chairman. AVe shall pro-
bably return to the lecture In a future Xumber.
[ADVEIlTISE.MENT.l
li, Bedlord-squaro, 8th February, 1801.
(;entlemen.— I have sent the lock of my house door to be repaired, which has
been Ininred by an attempt to enter the house by false keys. The police assure me
that nothing but the goodness of the lock prevented the thief accomplishing his pur-
pose. Several of my neighbors have been less fortunate than myself, by having
inferior locks. 1 am. gentlemen.
Yours, &c.,
Joseph Collvis.
Mcssrj. Chubb and Son, 57, St- Paul's-churchyard.
FEBnuAUY 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
171
THE BUILDEHS' BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION BALL.
TO the joiirger members of the building community, the Ball is what the Dinner
is to the seniors in tlie trade — the happy means of contributing heartily to the
support of the worthy charity. Heads are busy in the one, feet are active in tlie
other; whilst hearts ai'e enpcnged at both. All branches of the trade thus
contribute to the support of the distressed. The enjoyment and pleasure seen in
all eyes last night was tI)e,more intense, because goodness and kindness was
reflected from them to the objects which the Institution benefit*, and because
Valentine's day is looked forward to byjothers than those who mingle in the
dance.
The Ball-i'oom was crowded at an early hour, spite of the tempestuous weather.
Mr. Harris, the Secretary, and the Committee of Management were seen in all
directions contributing to the comfort of the dancers. Amidst a dazzling array
of loveliness, we were enabled to notice the following earnest and constant
attendants at this happy annual gathering: —
Mr. G. Plucknett, President of the Institution ; Messrs, Wm. Dunnage, Pfeil,
Stedall, Joseph Bird, Jno. Chapman, T. Coiens, J. Thorn, Wm. Todd, jun.,
Wm. Denuis, jun., M. Hall, Wm. Hutchons, T. Stirling, Wm. Stirling, Wm.
Harrap, J. G. Pilcher, C. tisb, D. Nicholson, Collins, Stanbury, W. Wood, A.
Edwardes, G. S. Bell, A. A. Robinson, W. Norris, M. Timpson. The dancing \
was continued to an early hour this morning, to the music of Adams's excellent
band.
TENDERS.
WiiiTEciiAPEL Union.
For washing troughs and other littinga at the Whitcchapel workhouse.
Comwell £209 0 "0
Collins 12S 0 0
Thorpe lUi 0 0
Moseley 124 0 0
Carter 119 0 0
Murdock...... ., ^,. US 10 0
Parrett ICS 0 0
Hartland ,,...., JOO 0 0
White lOi 10 0
Lucas 100 0 0
Cole , 99 10 0
Potter.. 99 0 0
Porter.... 97 10 0
Kivett 97 0 0
Hill £97 0
Dowling 97 0
Wood, Brothers 94 18
Stouer
Forsdike
Hammer..
ToUey
JlarkhaU
Terry ....
W.Nash..
J. I'age ..
Gallienue
94 0 0
93 10 0
93 0 0
93 0 0
89 0 0
88 0
87 15
86 0
72 4
Collin 70 0 0
Drainage, Fohest-gate.
For drainage works at the Industrial Schools, Forest-gate, Essex.
Morter £168 0 0
Kivett 137 0 0
Hill 145 0 0
Lcekis 137 8 8
Sinims , 137 0 0
rat-" 134 10 0
Mumly l:S0 0 0
I'uuml , 122 4 0
Hill
12
0 0
Wood £118 0 0
Wilson 105 7 6
Hawkes 104 10 0
ToUey IM 0 0
Lynam 103 0 0
Dowell 9S 10 0
Cattell 95 0 0
Stacey 90 0 0
Home 68 0 0
Chapel and School, Bedfordhury.
For chapel and schools, Bcdfordbury, St. JIarlin'a-Iane, W.C. Mr. A. W.
Blomlield, M.A., architect. Quantities supplied by Jlr. tJames Alfred Bunker.
J. Clcmenec £2,893
Fatman and Fotherlngham 2,865
G. Myers .' 2,7ii0
Holland and Haunen 2,700
I'rollope and Sons i2,(M0
Turner and Sons 2,355
Child, Sod, aud Martin (accepted).. 2,500
Church, Manton.
For taking down and rebuilding the Parish Church of JIanton, Lincolnshire.
Stamp, Bartou-on-Humber £1,200 I C. Fox, Lincoln Xl,243
Kobuison, Manchester 1,250 | Huddlcston, Lincoln 1,021
Church, Kilcock (Ireland).
For tho several works in the erection of a church m Kilcock. Mr. J. J. M'Carthy
R.H.A., architect.
Beardwood and Son £10,200 I Freeman f 0,300
JohuFanell 9,422 | Campbell and Dunn (accepted).... 6,173
Alterations, London.
Alterations at Mes.srs. Xaylor's premises. Princes-street, Cavcndish-squarc. First
portion of works. Quantities uot supplied. Mr. E. Bassett Keeling, architect.
Simraouds £199 10
Brown 193 10
Saunder (accepted) 169 0
Houses, Brixton.
For building the carcases of Ave houses adjoining the Prince of Wales, Cold-
harbour-lane, Brixton, for Mr. Goodwiu. Mr. K. Nash, architect, Adelaide-place.
Thompson £1,.!63 Msrslnnd .£1,235 0
Gates 1.320
Kudkin, .Jun 1,295
Brashier 1,2.38
Churchyard 1,2.34
Tyler.. 1,192 0
Notley (accepted) 1,189 0
Oarnham 1,097 10
Dover l,o:» 0
Alterations. *c., H.vnlet. "■ ■
For alterations andaddilions to the Allien Worlis, Itanley,f6j' J. Dlmmoick, Esq.,
Mr. K. Scrivener architect, (^nautities supplied. « .
.J. Woolrich, Burslcm X5,000
J. .Tones, Wolverliamptou u,0O0
.1. Clews, Hanley ,... 4,991
.1. Watkin, Burslcm ..'...'.'i'JiJ.i.'.'l^'.V.:... *,8o5
K. Matthews, Hanley 4,777
.1. Halter, Newcastle-under- Lyme . . 4.700
K. HammersUy, Hanley 4.695
Ilarley and Dean, Burslcm. Accepted 4,:iij0
Wareiioisk. Liverpool.
For the erection of a warehouse for K. Thin and Co., in Redcn>S8.*8treet, Liverpool
(quantities by J. Hay).
William Tomklnson £4,800
.1. H. .Mullins 1.732 •
George Itowc 4,623
.lump and Son 4,600
Isaac Hoberts 4,432
James Burroughs 4,:J40
Holme and Nicliol (accepted) 4,241
Malvern.
For dwelling houses and (tables, for G. Hicks, ii<H" <^ Grc«t Mulrcrn. K. W.
Llraslle, architect.
n"n». Of.l.I- ToUl.
Wood, WonTSter £l',i'.'ii n xM- £3 118
iPCann & Kvcral, Malvern, 'i.v.'l 'i .■ 2.(W0
Nott, .Malveru Link 2,31', " r; 2,;.',o
Davis, Malvern Wells*.... 2,2 H M .... ,>,i .... .'.r'!
• Accepted.
For dwelling-house for Jlrs. George WoodwanI, at Gr«at Malvern. E. W.
Klmslle, architect.
Holt, Malvern (accepted) /1 ,330
Hancock, Bnrlingham 1,X!3 10
Farm IIitldinoo, LiNCOLNgiTTBK.
For the erection of farm buildings, at Deeping St. Nicholas, for the Earl of
Lindsey (exclusive of haulage and bricks). Messrs. Oirdwood, London, nrcliitects.
J. and W. Timms, Castle Bytham £1,100 0
S. Hewitt, Ipswich 1,290 0
W. Brown, Spalding 1,2:10 0
Booth and Sons. Boston 1,200 0
H. Bradshaw. Stamford , 1,153 0
Uirhardsou and .Son, Stamford < 1,135 U
.). .Moore and Sou, .Spalding , 1,11.1 19
Bennett and Son. Whittlesca UU8 0
Mills and Son, Whittlcsea „,.. IW 0
Swan aud Carrington, Market Deeping '. 9M0 O
L. and .L Sneath, Itoston Vt» O
•F. aud W. Pattinson, Uusklugtou (accepted) WM 0
Belton and Grant, Metheringhani SM 0
Ilobsou aud Taylor, Hogsthorpe 7V0 U
A. and M'. Bl.ia'd, Crowland ,..., TW 0
C. Brett, Snslding 7i» 1«
W. Pitts, Bicker 710 O
«
COMPETITION AWARDED.
Weslevan Chapel, Sheepscar, Leeds.
The design of Messrs. Pritchettand Son, of York, Huddersflcld, and Darlingtoo,.
has been selected from those sent in by the eifht or ten firms chosen.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
CLUHHOUSE.
SHErriELD.— For the various works required In the en'Ction of a new house for the
Sheffield Club. Plans, &c , at the olSce of the architect, .Mr. M. E. Hadllcld, Com
Exchange, Sheffield, from Ist to 15th March, ISfll, on which day sealed tenders are
to be sent in, addressed to the committee.
BANK HOUSE. ,
Ireland.— For the erection of the new National Bank-boiue and offlcca at Enaia,
county Clare. Elevations, plans, &c., at the ofHce of the architect, W. F. Caldbeck
Esq., 24, Harcourt-strect, till March 1, copies of same may be seen on applicatlou
to .1. H. Millward, Esq., manager, at Ennis. Tend'-rs to 11. B. Hyde, Esq., SKre-
tary, 13, ;Old Broad-street, London, E.C., endorsed "Tender for Bulldioe
New National BaukTbouse at Ennis, to March 3.
CORN E.XCHANOE.
Norwich.— For the erection of the intended new com e.vchan^s. Norwich, exclnsiro
of the iron-work in roof'and columns. Plans. Ac, at the offices of Mr. Barry,
city surveyor, Norwich ; and in London, at the offices of Messrs. Goodwin and
Butcher, architects, 37, Bedford-row, W.C. Quantities and forma of tender, on
application to the architects. Tenders addressed to Mr. Isaac Bugg, Bank-chambers,
Norwich, to March 7.
CLOCK TOWER.
Ireland.— For supplying materials, and erecting a tower for a public clock In the
market square or Letterkcnny. Plan at the Town Commissionera' office, Lcttcr-
kenny. Further Information as to details may be bad on application to John Storey,
town-clerk. Tenders to 12 o'clock noon. March 4.
INSTITUTE.
Wakefield.— For the whole or any portion of the works required in the erection of
a building for the Wakefield Church Institution. Plans, &v., at the rooms of the
Institution, in Queen-street, Wiikelleld. Tenders to Mr. J. C. Marks. Strafi'ord-
square, Northgate, Wakefield, endorsed, " Tender for Church Institution,' by
February 26.
CHURCHES, &c.
Burton-on-Trent.— For the repair of the tower and spire of Lullingfon Church.
Speeifications at the Vicaraso-house, from the 25th insi. Tenders to Mr. SuUtli,
Churchwarden, Lullington, Burton-on-Trent, to March 9. , , . ,
Chei.wood.- For the partial rebuilding of, and adding an aisle to. the parish church
of Chelwood, between Bath and Bristol, on the Wells road. Plans, Ac, by apph-
in" to the Rev. C. H. Tyler, at the Itectory. Chelwood. Tenders to be forwarded
to John Norton, Esq., architect, 24, Old Boud-street, Loudon, ^^ .. to March 4.
WHIXLEY.-For the restoration of WhixleyChurch, near Catlal station. I laua, *c.,
iu the vestry of the Church. Further particulars from the architect, Mr. Scott,
20, Spring-gardens, London. , , „ . j
IRELVND.-For enlarging the churclies of Acton (Poyntjpass) and Portadoxvn.
County Armaoh ; and Ivilleshal, County Tyrone ; and also lor repairing the cburcli
of Killoran, County Sligo. Plans, ic, with the resident minlstersof the parishes.
Tenders, sealed, prepaid, and addressed :— " Proposal for-— ^tbc Church of
The Eralesii.stical Commissioners for Ireland, Dublin, to 3Iarch 4.
IlADDLESDEN.-Forthe several works in the erection of a new church at lladdlcs-
deii, near Over Darwen. Plans, Ac., with Rev. G. W. Reynolds liver Oarwcu,
and at the office of the architect, Mr. E. (!. Paley, Lancasur, to 4th March. Ten-
ders, under cover, to )Ir. Paley. to March II.
JIelcombe-Regis —For the enlargement and repairing of the church of St. Mary,
' Mcloombc- Re'is Names, with rel'erences, before 13th of March, to Lwan Christian.
I" Mil 10 Wliitoball-nlace. London, S. W. Plans, and s|>ecilications. at the olnce of
'Mr Kickman 25 Keppclstieet, London. W.C, from the 25th inst, to March iS;
ind at the offl'ce of Jlr. Crickuiay, 77, St, Tboma«-8ttc«t» Weyniouth, Irom the 3th,
,othe9.U March. cHAPEL.'., Ac.
BURSLEM —For altering and enlarginc the Wesleyan chapel at Longport. and
ereitin" new vestry and class-room thereto. Drawings, &c.. at theoflice of 3Ir.
Georee" B Ford architect, Burslcm. Tenders to W. )l. Edge, secretary to the
Trustees of the said chapel. Queen-street Pottery, Burslcm, by 12 noon ol Feb. 28.
SCHDOLS, &c
Bl iCKBURN — For the various works in the erection of Wesleyan schools, and
ma-tirs' house, St. Peter's-strcet, Blackburn. Drawings, &c., at the Wesleyan
clinpcl vtstry. Claytdu-strcet, Blackburn, to Feb 23. Tenders scaled, endorsed
" Tendi r for "Wesleyan Schools," to Uev. It. Keywortb,We8lcyau minister, Black-
CoLciiESTER.- For the erection of the intended new school buildings, at Colchester,
dosi^nedfor 480 children. Plans, &c., at the offices of the architi'ct, Mr. H. W.
Jla.\°vard, Bauk-buildings, Colchester. Tenders to the Rev. Henry A. Olivier, .4.11
Saints' Rectory, Colchester, ta March 8.
172
THE BUILDING NEWS.
February 22, 1861.
SAI.OP.— For building- a school-house and teacher's residence at Clunbury. Salop,
five miles from Craven Arms Btation, on the Shrewsbury and Hereford railway.
rians. Ac, at the t'raven Arms Inn ; and further iuformation can be obtained on
applicatjou to Thomas Nicholson, diocesan architect, Hereford. Tenders to the
*'Kev. W. Jellicorse, Clunburv. Salop." to March o.
HoRSiNCTOx.— Kora new sehobl and teacher's house, at Horsin^ton. Tlans, &c.,
at the Bull Hotel.. Horucastle. Tenders addressed to the rector, Horsington,
Homcastle, to March U.
MANSIONS, &c.
Ireland.— For extensive additions and alterations to Killadeas House, the seat of
CaptainJ. G. Irvine, co Kcrmanaorh; also for buildinffaparsona^eregidenceon his
estate, close to Killadeas House. Parties to forward their names to Edward AtthilJ,
Kaq.. J. 1*. Ardvarney House. Ederney, co Fermanagh.
l*EBTHsuiRE.— For the iTcctiou of alaige mansion and offices, in I'erthehlre, N.B.
for the Kight Hon. Lord Kollo. Communicate with the architect (giving
references), Mr. W. U. Haberslion, 38, Bloom sbury- square, Loudou, \V. C
■ DWELLING HOUSES, SHOPS, &c.
Leicester.— For taking down seven houses in Granby- street, and the erection of
six shops and dwelling houses on the site thereof. Plans. &c., at the office of Mr.
Milliean. architect. Hotel-street, Leicester, from the 25th inst.
KOTTiNU-niLL. — For the enaction of some houses at Notting-hill. Application to be
nude to Mr. Edward Haberslion, architect, 37. Bedford-place, Kuasell- square.
KAILAVAY WOKKS.
London and North Western.— For the construction of the branch railway from
Edgehill, near Liverpool, to Garston, a distance of 4} miles or thereabouts.
I>rawiog8 and quantities at the Engineer's office, Euston Station, on Feb. 25,
between ten and four. Sealed tenders addressed to the Secretary at his office, to
four P.M. on March 6.
Caledonian,— For the construction of the Douglas branches of the Caledonian
Railway :— L A branch railway (called the Douglas branch) commencing by a
junction with the Lanark branch of the said Caleaouian Railway, and termnialing
near the 27th mile-stone from Glasgow, of the turnpike road from Glasgow to
Carlisle. (This branch is about seven miles, eight chams and a half in length). 2.
A branch railway commeDcin<; by a junction with the Caledonian Railway, and
terminatioi; by a junction with the said Lanark branch. (This branch is about
nineteen chains in length.) :i. A branch railway commencing by a junction with
the Lanark branch, and turminatmg by n junction with the Douglas branch.
(This branch is about twenty-three chains in length.) These three branch rail-
ways are to be let In one contract, to be called the " Douglas Branches Contract."
Plans. &c., at the office, in Glasgow, of Mr. Geoi^e Graham, the company's
engineer, when- duplicate schedules and blank forms of tender may be had on
application, price one guinea. Sealed tenders, addressed to the secretary at
Glasgow, must be lodged with him by March 11.
Ikvernes.s.— For the construction of the remaining portion of the Inverness and
Ross-shire railway line, unlet, extending from the shore road of DincTvall to the
■west end of the village of Invergordon, a distance of 12 miles 54 furlongs, or
tiierebv. The works comprehend :— Ist., About 400,000 cubic yards of cuttings and
embankments. 2nd- About 24 overway and underway bridges, and bridges over
stream.^ and burns, the laj^est beiny:r»o feet span. The rails, sleepers, and fencing
Ac., for the permanent way. will be supplied by the company. Drawings, &c., at
the offices or ilr. Mitchell, C.E., Inverness, from whom, or from Mr. Fatereon, the
anlstant engineer, may be obtained duplicate schedules, at 408. each. The cost of
the detailed measurements shall be paid by the successful contractor. The whole
line Is staked out at distances of 100 feet between Dingwall and Invergordon, ac-
cording to the working section, and an assistant engineer will attend at Dingwall
on Tuesday the 5th day of March, and Tuesday the 12th day of March, to accom-
pany contractors along the line, and point out the sites of the bridges. Sealed
tenders, addressed to the secretary, A. Dougall, Esq., and marked "Tender for
Inverness and Ross-shire Railway Works," must be lodged at his office, Railway
station, Inverness, by noon of March IS.
ROADWORK, &c.
Bacup.— For the formation of the approach road and drain of the western entrance,
also all the roads within the c<metery, at Bacup. Plans, &c., at the offico of the
clerkofthe works, and further information of Mr. AVilliam Gay, surveyor, Brad-
ford. Tenders, under cover, addressed to the chairman of the Board, at the
office of Samuel Hall, ckrk to the Board, Irwell-terrace, Bacup, by 12 noon of
March 7.
PAVING, KEBBING. MATERIALS, &c.
Hamprtead,— For the supply of the imdennentioned paving and kerbmg for the
Testry of the parish of St. John, Klimpstead, fa specification and schedule of which
is at the surveyor's office. No. 10, New-end, Hampstead,) viz. :— Yorkshire paving,
Aberdeen and Havtor granite and kerbing, Mount Sorrel. ISItirkfield, and Hartshfll
paving, all to be of the best quality. Tenders, m a printed form, to be obtained at
the Sur\'eyor'6 office stating the price at per loO lineal or superficial feet, or per ton,
as specified in tlie said sclieaulc, ofail or any of the above mentioned materials, dis-
tinguishing the price for the supply of all or any of the above-mentioned materials
for the period of six, nine, and for 12 calender months from March 25. Tenders
nnder cover, endorsed " Tender for paving and kerbing," by Feb. 28, to Thomas
Toller, vestry clerk, offices. Hampsti-arl Workhouse.
Hampstead— For the supply of the following road materials, to the vestry of the
parish of St. John, Hflmpstead. viz ;— Broken Guernsey granite, broken Markfield
granite, broken Kentish ragstone, broken pit flints, screened gravel, screened hoggin
shingle, screened brick rubbish and pickin^H, Dorking lime and sharp Thames
ballast and sand. All the materials to be oi the Iw-st quality. Tenders, specifying
price |>er cubic yard of all or any of the above mentioned materials, distinguishing
the price for delivery at the wharf, and the price for delivery at any part of Hamp-
stead parish west of the Finchley and Avenue-roads, and at any part of the parish
east of the last mentioned roads, including the town of Hampstead, at the sur-
veyor's office. 10, New-end, Hampstead, where further particulars may be obtained.
Tenders nnder cover, endorsed "Tender for Hoad Materials," to Thomas Toller,
▼eatry elerk. Vestry offices, Hampstead Workhouse, by February 28.
Gravehend.— For the supply of materials and performing the several works of
paTing and repairing the paving, of the several streets, ways and passages under
the Jurisdiction of the Graves*'nd Improvement Commissioners, which may be
required by them, for one, or two. or three years from March 25. Forms of tender
at the office of Fras. Southgate, clerk to the commissioners. Gravcsend, to whom
tenderf. sealed, and marked, *• Tenders for Paving," to JIarch 4.
^ ORCHESTRA.
Bath.— For the erection of an orchestra in wood and iron to hold GO performers, for
the Sydney Gardens, Bath. l*lans,&c., at the offices of Mr. C. J. Phipps, architect
Bath, to March 2.
WATERWORKS.
Bbxdfobd— For the forming, building and completing of a catchwater conduit, of
upwards of two miles in lentrth. in the townships of Silsden, Addinglmm, and
Drangtatoo, and parishes of Kildwtck and Skipton, with the branches, residuum,
lodges, weirs, overfalls, and other works connected therewith, as also oi certain
minor conduits in the Haid townships of J>rau;rl»ton and Addingham, in the said
pariah of Hkipton, all tn the west riding of the county of York. IMans, &c., at
tlwiiaeesof Mr. John W. Leather, No. 1, Bond -place, Leeds. Tenders to Water-
works Committee of Bradford corjwration before March 6.
GASWORKS.
LouonBOBocon.— For the erection of a brick gasholder tank, Gfi feet in diameter,
and other works in connexion therewith, for the directors of the Loughljorough
Gaa and Coke Company. Plans, Ate, on application to the manager at the works.
Sealed tenders to be addressed to Iticbard Cruf her, Esq., chairman, Loughborough,
marked "Tender for tank," to March 2.
SEWERAGE.
St. Mahv. Islington.— For the day and jobbing works in connection with the con-
struction and repairs of sewers and gullies for the vestry of St. Mary, Lslington.
Form of tender and contract (which alone will be received) lis. (id., may be had at
the vestry office, Upper- street. Sealed tenders, before 10 a.m., JIarch 0.
PAVING, &c.
MABTLEBONE.—For the new paving of the footwavs of Marylcbone-road, ftom
Cleveland-street to the Edgware-road, with three-^uch Yorksliu-e pavinj:; and best
blue Aberdeen picked grauite footway and kerb. The Yorkshue paving to be at
per hundred superficial feet, and the straight kerb and circular kerb at per footoru
The whole quantity being about 100,000 superficial feet of Yorkshire, and about
lS,000feet run of granite kerb, and the work to be done iutbe years 18(il, IKtW, and
18(i:i, in about equal proportions in each of the said years, and each portion to be
kept in repair by the contractor for tliree years iVom the completion of each separate
portion. Particulars and sjiecifieationson application to the Vestry Surveyor, Mr.
Robert Scace. Tenders belorc March 2, from 12 till 1 o'clock.
BU1LD1X(; MATEIUALS.
Convict Prisons.— For the supply oi tinibi r, deals, slates, lime, sand, bricks, lead,
glass, wrought and cast iron, ironmongery, gas and water pipes, whitelcad, oils,
Ac, for 12 months from the lat of April next to the :nst March, 18(V,', for the
Pentonville, Millbank, IJrlxton, I'ortland, Portsmouth, Chatham, Parkhurst,
Dartmoor, and Woking prisons, and the refuge at Fulham. Forms of tender will
be supplied on application at the several prisons before named, or at the office of
the directors, 45, Tarliament- street. Tenders, addressed " the Directors of Convict
Prisons, No. 45, Parliament -street, Westminster, S.W., by 2 o'clock p.m., of
March 2.
MILITARY WORKS.
Harwich.— For sundry alterations and improvements at the circular redoubt,
Harwich, Essex. Parties willing to tender must leave their names at the Royal
Engineer Office, Colchester (where plans, &c., may be seen), by Feb. 28.
London Distbict. — For all works and repairs at all barracks and other buildings
in the occupation of the War Department, within five miles of the Commanding
Royal Engineer's Office, 11, .James-street, Buckingham-gate, S.W., including
Turnham-green Militia Barracks, from let April, isol, to :il6t March, 1802.
Schedules and printed forms of tender fpri^e 6s) at the above office until the
23rd Feb. ; and tenders, sealed, addressed to the Director of Contracts, will be re-
ceived at the War Office, Pall-mall, to Feb, 2(i.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
AH letters aiul comnnmicatious to be addrcs-scd to tlie Editor of the Buildiko ^'ews, 20
Old BoswcU-court, St. Clement'tt, Strand, London.
The Editor cannot undertake to return uuu-sed manuscripts. *
W. \V. J. Thomas.— Discuaaiun was closed at the la.-'t meeting.
E. Sampeu.— >'ot our usual practice, but perusal of M.S. map induce us to deviate from our
rule.
IL Gbeen.— Contrary to the Buildiu},' Acts.
G. O. C— Ueceived ; in the hands of our rej>orter.
S. S. F. — Too late ; make a formal application.
R. YoELEY (New York) We are aware of the fact. Particulars have reached us. Shall be
clad to receive notes.
APi>oB Man. —Wages arc due to the time named in your letter. You caji recover.
O. O.— Not within our province.
Artificial Stone.— Inquiries reach us from time to time for information respecting the
various kinds of artificial stone. It seems desirable to answer such interrogations at once,
and rather fully, which we shalldo, availing ourselves largely of the data given in Dr.
Ure's admirable" l>ictionary of Arts," &c. It appears that artificial stone liaslK-cn made
with great success for some years at Berlin, by Mr. Fcllner. for statuary and other orna-
mental accessions to architecture. The materials employed by liini are nearly the same
as those used in the production of English pottery. Tlie kilns employed arc said to be
economical in fuel, and deserve to be better known. Among the numerous modes proposed
for this manufacture but very fcwmay be said to have met with much success, tlie failures
being generally either on account of too costly production, or want of durability. Amonp
those systems which have failed from one or other of these causes, that of Mr. BuckwcUs
maybe mentioned ; it is, in point of fact, a perfect kind of concrete. Tlie mould Is filled
with tVagmcnts of stoncof suitable size, filling up the interstices with stoni;s of smaller
dimensions, when a liquid cement, amixture of clialk and Tliames mud, or iMersey mud
burnt together, is poured in, and the whole subjected to pressure, wliieli forces out the water
through apertures left in tlie mould for that purposes : the resulting composition is very
perlect, and isof such hardness that it rings when struck. Another process is that em-
ployed at the Bippenhull Silica works at Farnham. It is founded on the employment of
soluble silica, being that kind of silica which is readily dissolved l»y boiling in open vessels
withsolutions of caustic potash orsoda,as distinguished from tbe silica of fiint, which Is
onlysoluble in such solutions at a temperature of about 300 degs. Falir. in a steam-tight
boiler, and from that of quartz or sand, which Is insoluble by any ordinary process.
Messrs. Payne and Way, upon ascertaining the existenceof suchfeilicate, took out a patent
for " Improvements in thefllanufacturc of liumed and Fired Ware." , They lay clnun In
their specificHtlon to the production of a superior class of burned goods by usmg the
*' soluble sdlca," with such admixtures of clay or lime as may be required, lly this means
they propose to make anv kind of artificial stone, more or leas resembling natural stone ;
blocks or slabs, building bricks of any color, and fire bricks. They alsu cun.sider that in
some cases articles may be burned to a 8n>,'ht degree ofhardness, then flmshed up by the
use of tool>i. and afterwards reburued to any hardnessthat might be required. Mr. Tame a
death in 1S.W has considerablv rctnrded improvement In the process, sn that the results
at the present time are not so satisfactory as might fairly have been expected.
II. ItosE.— Will be reported as usual, we can say no more at present.
J. li- v.— Tin melts at a toniperaluro of 442 dcg. Fahr., lead .at 5M, zinc at 700, brass at 3,807
copper at 4..'i«8, silver at 4,710, and cast iron at 20,577. For the rest see any rudimentary
work on the subject. . , . i,. » ,
M. I.— 1. See M. I'etric's "Ecclesiastical .Architecture of Ireland, anterior to the Anglo-
Norman Invasion." Dublin, 184.'). 2. We cannot say at present.
8. W. O.— The first edition will answer your purpose.
M. W. It. Stemples, In mining, are struts driven between the sides of the excavation to lieep
up the sides.
S. and Co.— Subject does not appear to require public discussion.
Thoto (liath).— Shall hear from us at the proper lime.
O. C— Wf shall iK! obliged by extract in full.
Chaiile-s Petti.n.— a square, of which each side Is 210 feet In length, will contain some-
what more than an acre. . , T ..
R. Lewes Deliverv of water will be increased by the attachment of a short pipe. Lowndes
says : " The greatest delivery with a straight pipe will be attained with a length equal to
four diameters, the result being one-third more than the delivery through a plain hole ; tue
discharge decreases a?* the pipe is increased l>eyond that length, uHtil al a length of 60
diameters, when It again equals the discharge through the pluiii urifice. it Is'prybable that
if a iiipe with curved decreasing taper were to be tried, the dtlivery thrnuyh it would be
equal to the theoretical discliarge, which is about 1"05 the actual discharge thiougli a plain
T. Smith— The Cathedral at Florence was commenced about 1295, and was substantially
completed before 1444.
C— Lists will be noticed together. ^ „ , , », i,
■W.V.-We have no time to spare for such a purpose ; apply to our publisher for back
Numbers.
MacDonai-d.— Thanks ; shall appear.
G. Fliohter.-No fixed periods ; optional. , .
X. V. Z.— Such is our impression ; nevertheless, we shall be happy to hear from you.
A KEADEtt (Wolverhampton).— Thanks, but view has been drawn and is in the hands of our
engraver: plan will be given.
T.K., Q.— Answered. _ „ , . , j, T.r
F. BoLTON.-Scveral cases have been reported In the Bcildino News ; refer to indices. We
Jiardly think vonr view of tlie law on the subject will be conflrmed.
T. CLAKKE.^We cannot tak<' the responsibility of recommending.
W. J.-Not usual, but circumstances might justify such a course.
Aitoos.— Only in our advertising columns.
B. A.— The duty is very heavy ; Inquire at the Custom House.
0, .IoKE8.-At all times glad to receive such information. Thanks.
F. L.— Yes, inquire at the ofticc. „ . „ . ™ „ ,-rr > v
KECEivED.-T.Bonham; C. J.; L. M. K. ; S. W. ; T. SUlcrj*; A Builder iJ.V. (York) ;
.1. M.; It. M'Aulcy; A. Alfield: Multum in I'arvo; H, Bawling; F. I'-i It. Newton j fi;
I RUey; J. Wellburn; J.V.; E.J. W.
March 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
PROPOSED AMALGAMATION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL
SOCIETIES.
llJliKlli is a certain dramatic
entertainment, popular, if we
^mistalie not, witii some of the
juvenile Marionettes, in wliicli
the component bones of a
human skeleton enter on the
stage in twos and threes, and,
after taking part in sundry
hornpipes, mmuets of two,
trios, and quartettes, gradually
fall into their ordinary anato-
mical ranks ; when all combine
as an integral skeleton to act their
parts in a htxsX pas seul.
Well, it may be asked, what is
there in all this to concern the botli/
of English architects, for whom we
write? Simply this, that there is
just now going on a performance of
the several atoms which compose it,
that bids fair to wind up in like
manner to that of the " 'atomy '' of
the Marionettes, and present to the
world the hitherto unwonted sight of
the aggregate body of architects,
dancing or moving before us with all
its parts in unison. Whether it will
ever come to this we cannot say : we
can simply chronicle the several
movements of the disorganised body
as they occur ; and venture to make
our comments upon them ; now and then indulging the hope that, even
its dismembered parts may at last " fall in," and assume homogeneity.
The Northern Architectural Association has recently started a
proposal for a general alliance of the several architectural societies in
the kingdom ; and on the 12th of this month received, at its Anniversary
Meeting, the Report of its Committee appointed to consider the project,
and take steps for its realisation. In this report it was stated that, the
Committee had corresponded on the subject with the following archi-
tectural societies :— the Royal Institute of British Architects, the
Institute of Scottish Architects, the Architectural Association, the
Liverpool Architectural Society, and the Architectural Society of
Birmingham and of Glasgow, and with the Manchester Architectural
Association. It went on to state that, replies had been received from
the architectural societies of Liverpool, of Glasgow, and of Birming-
ham; from the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Architectural
Institute of Scotland, and from the Manchester Architectural Asso-
ciation; and that, from the unanimous opinion expressed on this
correspondence by the Committee, it had every confidence in reporting
on both the possibility and desirability of the formation of such an
alliance as had been proposed.
Hereupon the Northern Architectural Association resolved, on the
motion of Mr. Pritchett, — " That the scheme now read be referred to
the Committee, and that they bo requested to print it, and forward it
with any alterations they may see fit to make, to the difierent members
of the Association ; and call a special meeting within a month to con-
sider the same."
Here, then, is something going on amongst the architects of the North
to make amends for the tiresome delay we see in the South. One's
attention is naturally turned to the Institute of British Architects
sitting in London, and to its recently agitated scheme for examining
architects and investing them with diplomas. If we could see our way
clear to some practical result, likely to be arrived at by the Institute
scheme, we should much prefer advising our Northern friends to wait
and abide the issue of it ; but, after some thought on the matter, we
confess with great regret we see no prospect of anything of the kind.
_ When first the Institute, during the recess, put itself in communica-
tion on the subject with the Provincial Architectural Societies and the
Arcluteotural Association, we joere led to hope that something practical
would be effected ; of course, by " something practical " we mean some-
thing by which all our architects would be benefited. But our
readers know already that, with the re-assembly of the Institute all such
hope was entirely dispersed and committed to the four winds of heaven.
If the diploma scheme of the Institute ever assumes a practical shape.
Its influence will never extend beyond the walls of the Institute itself—
beyond its own limited sphere, and we know what that is. We know
well enough here in London that, it is very tar from embracing the
metropolis it vegetates in— for it certainly does not flourish within It—
and that, however royal it may be, an Institute of " Britisli Architecis "
It will never become. The recent hole-and-corner meetings, and the
173
cool way in which the principal societies' replies have been aet aside
have made all this as clear ao noonday. Of those provincial Kwieties'
ana ol the Architectural Association witli them, it is to be remembered
that, the correspondence entered on by the Institute was never by that
body meant to eventuate in anything but smoke. Wc say "to be
remembered ;" for, it seems to have been forgotten that, it was not an
Institute movement at all, but simply a measure unwillingly forced on
the Institute by Mr. Wigginton, of Birmingham, and others. The
correspondence begun was a mere "tub to the whale;" and it was
evidently never intended to come to anything.
This being too truly the state of the case, and the entire body of
English (or " British ") architects being in most disorganised condiUon.
we are by no means sorry to see the several societies of architecU m
London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham.
and Newcastle all stirred up into action by this opportune movement
on the part of the Northern Association. We trust iu committee wiU
profit by the past, and adopt such wise measures in maturinir their
scheme, that the movement may not degenerate into a measure of mere
town and country courtesy, confined to simply an interchance of naoers.
or the like. ' r"°>
To be of real service to the architectural body, it should be much
more than this; a measure defining some principle of distinction
between an architect and a quack ; oiie calculated to give honor to the
skilful, ripe practitioner, and, at the same time, to afford a salutary
check on the half-educated student, or the mere professional
adventurer.
The occun-ence ot this Northern movement just at this jnnctnre,
when the scheme of the Institute is beUeved to be in process of creation!
is not a little curious. It looks as though the provincial societiM
snubbed by their big sister in Conduit-street, were meditating a coup of
their own, the issue of which would most likely be a new society of
architects, with branches all over the kingdom. This is the very thine
that is wanted, and is what the Royal Institute of Architects might
have created " lonj?, long ago." However, the Institute, it is quite
clear, will do nothing of the sort : if it makes any use of the af^itation
about the diploma or examination question, it will, as we have lately
seen, be with the view of aggrandizing Me i^e/fotc* of its own body •
and of extending to the provinces an absurd rule of practice which'
though professed by its members, is seldom observed ; and which can
never become general or popular with country architects. Our
Northumbrian friends had therefore best go on with their project, aided
by those town and country architects, who are disposed to unite with
them, either, singly, as unattached members of the profession, or in
groups, as members of the different societies they have addressed. It ia
high time that the architects of the kingdom should amalgamate as a
corporate body, subject to certain laws of professional custom or
etiquette, to which individual architects all over the kingdom can
refer. Instances of the want of such laws (or call them rules of honor)
are continually coming before us ; and though there has been for a whole
quarter of a century a so-called Institute of " British " Architects,
there is not an architect in Britain who can tell what is and what is not
professional custom. Old practitioners shake the head and say, such
and such charges or deeds are " not professional;" and young ones, who
would follow the rule if they only knew it, are constantly fidling
victims to a kind of over-scrupulous delicacy, leading them on occasions
to decline commissions on certain terms, which they deemed unpro-
fessional, because they have heard their seniors so declare them ; which
very terms they often discover their venerable advisers are in the con-
stant habit of accepting. This is altogether too bad ; and it is simply
ail evil that has arisen from the non-existence of a code of rules affcctug
architects' fees and customs.
It is perfectly amazing how a large class of professional men, suck
as that of the architects of this kingdom, should exist without such a
code as is here indicated. If we look round at the bar, the press, the
medical and other bodies, we find certain understood rules do obtain ;
and how the architectm'al profession should have been so long without
some rule is a paradox.
As to the disputed question of professional charges or fees, we see
with pleasure that the Northern Architectural Association has already
given some attention to it : for, in the very report of the anniversary
meeting, from which we have been making extracts, we come upon the
following paragraph, allbrding proof positive that, the Northern Asso-
ciation fs something more than a dilettanti club for the reading and
discussion of essays, &c.: —
" Alter a conversation on Uie scale of profi-ssional cbames, presented by
the Cuiuiuitteo, it was resolved to tiold a special meeting for the considera-
tion of the same."
We should much like to know more of this scale of charges, and of
the proceedings of tlie special meeting convened to consider them. If
the Northern Association succeed in agreeing to a good intelligible scale,
we advise them by all means to print it for the office use of, not
Northern architects alone, but of others, Southern, Western, and
irr
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March I, lS6l.
Eastern, who may possibly adopt it — and for this reason^Mere is no
oAer publicly recognised scale to be had.
We should also like to know something of their newly agitated
" Alliance," or, Amalgamation of the Societies ; or, in other words, of
the new architectural society that is being formed. It will require, to
conmiand ultimate success, which we wish it, veiy judicious handling in
the matter of rules of admission and subscription. As a general rule
■we. conceive it may be averred that, the attempt to permanently unite
architects by the annual payment of a subscription fee, has proved a
signal failure. When the Royal Institute of Architects was founded,
somewhere about 1836 or 7 (we speak from memory), there possibly
existed not one twentieth part of the architects, we have now in 1861 —
are there now live times as many Fellows of the Institute as
there were during the first two or three years of its formation ?
Certainly not; nor does the Institute give any indication of in-
creasing in numbers commensurate with the architectural popula-
tion. The same thing may be said of the Architectural Association —
the most vigorous architectural society that has ever existed in these
kingdoms — excepting always that of the Freemasons, of which
(professionally) we know little or nothing ; and the same may be said
of every architectural society, whose tie of concord or bond of cohesion
lies in its annual subscription. People become tired of the annual
payment ; especially when, after making it for years, they see others
drop in at the eleventh hour, and (whether they be new lights or mere
nincompoops) claim perfect equality and fellowship with the first
comers. An architectural society, to succeed, should be so constructed
that its senior members can always say, " I have, by belonging for
years to this society, not only done something to aid my younger
brethren in their career, but have myself acquired professional con-
sideration by my long membership ; which consideration I should have
forfeited had I not years ago enrolled myself as a member." — Is there
a single society of architects in these kingdoms of which this can
truly be said ? — Not one. We very seriously question whether several
of our eminent architects have not lost consideration by the absurd
system of defining membership by mere annual payments : a moment's
reflection must show that, the principle is utterly destructive of all
advancement. Cakes, coffee, and conversazioni are all very well in
their way (they are all admirable at the Institute) ; and for those who
desiderate them (batchelor members for the most part), a small annual
fee will be necessary ; but its payment or non-payment ought to have
nothing to do with the membership of the subscriber. nat (subject
to the payment of some ten or twenty guineas down as an entrance fee)
ought to depend on his professional attainments, tested by his works, his
past training,_or by some other essentially educational standard, that,
once reached in the opinion of his constituents, should secure his being
considered an architect for life, of the A, the B, or the C class, as they
■who shall draw up the laws of the society may decide.
Let us hope this movement in the North will lead to some such
alliance, or association, or society, or institute. It will do the present
Institute no harm ; just as the Institute itself will do the several
societies no good ; for the Institute is possessed of a Royal Charter,
swne very handsome bequests, &c., &c., &c., and it will last for years
to come — as a very select club of highly respectable gentlemen, useful
on all great public occasions, as a sort of representative of the extreme
" gentility " of our profession.
BUILDING ENTERPRISES OF THE ARMY AND NAVY.
FOR some years past we have been accustomed to lay before our readers
a brief statement of the civil works designed and erected by the twin
services, and to point out how costly it proves to the nation wlien the
Admiralty and War Office are permitted to dabble in bricks and mortar.
Our remarks, from time to time, have suggested to several esteemed cor-
respondents illustrations of the mischief resulting from the employment of
officers of the Royal Engineers to design and superintend the construction
of civil works. This may be said to be a professional grievance; but as it
entails an unnecessary or, at all events, an avoidable drain upon the ex-
chequer, it is a public one also.
The Army and Navy Estimates, which have just been published, prove
that the authorities are utterly incapable of effecting any real economy.
For, in speaking of our national defences, that only is economy which
maintains them in as satisfactory a condition at less cost. When the
Admiralty and War Office reduce the estimates they do so by a reduction
of the efflcacyof our defences— the simplest and most barbarous expedient —
involving future extravagance when the next periodical panic occurs. This
year we lose 7, loo seamen, upwards of 2,00() naval artificers, and more
than 16,000 soldiers — treating those who are by the Imperial and Indian
Treasuries as one army— and 15,000 embodied militia, as good as the line.
leaving aside the Indian regiments, we find that we gain 775 linesmen for
home, and lose the 1 5,000 militia, yet the only real economy is 1 85,795t But on
the strength of this reduction in effectives the authorities deem themselves
justified in increasing the expenditure on non-effectives. They decrease
what is useful and augment what is useless. We should be straying from
our province if we here point out all the absurdities apparent In the esti-
mates, but we may be permitted to remark that of the 775 men added to
the home establishment, one-seventh is to the staff, already greater than
that of Franco with an army four times as large; that'this addition,
though about J per cent, of the forces, increases the vote for pay 1 per
cent.; the vote for miscellaneous charges 4 per cent.; the vote for official
departments 2 S-lOths per cent.; the vote for provisions nearly 14 per
cent.; and the vote for clothing and necessaries 62 per cent.! The reader
can draw his own conclusions as to the economical and administrative
capacity of the War Office, and we trust that he will excuse this digression
on the score of the curious results of a cursory inspection of a few figures.
We now return to matters more germane to our duties.
During the ensuing year the War Office proposes to increase the number
of persons employed in the Military-store, Barrack, and Royal Engineers'
civil departments by thirty-eight, at an additional cost of 19,890/. — at the
rate of about 524?. per man — to a total of 217,430/. As about half the
additional men are messengers and office-keepers, the increase of expendi-
ture is all the more unsatisfactory, especially as in these very depart-
ments people thought there was room for economj-. On a previous occasion
we pointed out the large item for expenditure in addition to the amount
under another vote for lighting and whitewashing barracks, sweeping cliim-
neys, &c. The authorities have met the complaint by actually increasing this
item by nearly 14,000/., raising it from 31,676?. to 45,000/. If this increase
be intended as a reply to or defiance of public criticism, nothing could be
more complete. It is tantamount to saying the authorities claim to spend
the nation's ill-spared money as they please and will submit to no remon-
strance. The lodging allowance for staff, regimental, and civil officers not
accommodated in barracks is raised by 5,000/. to 65,000/. Suppose each
receives 1/. a week for this purpose, there would be 1,300 officers in
lodgings, or about one in every five. This outlay represents interest at
3 per cent, on a capital of 2,166,000/. As there are 6,340 officers in all,
we could afford to erect quarters for them at a cost of 344/. a head. But
as there are a very great number lodged in barracks, it will be evident
that if we borrowed money or issued Consols to provide quarters for those
who have none, the nation would gain in the end. By the way, we are
not told how many individuals divide this 65,000/. — are they a thousand
or a hundred? Pray enlighten us. Lord Herbert, of Lea, and then,
perhaps, a speculative builder may offer to contract to lodge these gentle-
men, and thereby annually save the State some tens of thousands of
pounds.
The vote for fortifications is reduced by 437,170/. to 158,185/. But let
not the reader fancy there is any real saving. The charges that used to
figure under this head will be simply transferred to the extraordinary loan
obtained last year for fortifying the dockyards and arsenals. The tax
payer will find no relief from this veering of accounts ; on the contrary
his liabilities will be rather increased. 'The most important items under
the vote for fortifications in the current year are 4,000/. for the purchase
of land at Alderney ; 13,000?. for the Defences of Harwich, Newhaven, and
the Downs ; 40,000/. for the defences of commercial harbors ; 8,000/. for
altering batteries ; 9,000/. for Gibraltar ; 6,000/. for the Ionian Islands ;
9,000/. for Malta ; and 5,000/. for the Mauritius. But the worst feature,
that there will be required to be voted in future years to complete these
works 584,560/. Would it not be better to add tliis sum to the fortificatioa
loan, and so rid the estimates of the vote for many years to come, and
save the salaries of Engineer officers and others employed upon these
works ?
Upon the vote for civil works there is a reduction of 27,093/., bringing
it down to 179,407. The chief items of expenditure are 4,026/. for land
and shell-store, Chatham; 27,825/. for water supply, extension of wharf
and railways and shops, Woolwich ; 5,300/. for clothing establishment,
Pimlico; 6,700/. new range at Enfield; 17,120/. for gunnery school at Shoe-
bury ness; 11,000/. at different stations, and 3,000/. for renewing the
wharf at Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Under the vote for Barracks, Aldershot is to cost 19,000/., including
10,000/. for gasworks and laying on gas, and 7,000/. for stabling; Nottmg-
ham new barracks, 5,000/. ; Chatham rifle range huts, soldiers' institute,,
and a lock ward in St. Bartholomew's, 29,350 ; Colchester cavalry and
reappropriation of Warley barracks ; Chelsea new barracks, 50,000/. ;
Hounslow hospital, 4,000/. ; Fleetwood hotel and rifle ranges, 20,000/. ;
Netley hospital, 33,712/. ; Sandhurst College, 44,300/. ; York barracks,
12,000/. ; and Woolwich, 56,305/., including 40,000/. for a hospital, and
15,000/. for additions to the Royal Academy. Abroad we are to spend
9,200/. for huts and commissariat magazines at Gibraltar; 5,000/. for huts
at Hong Kong; and 3,877/. for barracks and rifle huts at Malta. There will
remain to be paid in future years 464,608/. under this head. The sum of
156,000/. is also asked, out of which 15,000/. are to be spent on regimental
schools and chapels; 30,000/. for married soldiers' quarters, that is for the
accommodation of their better halves ; 10,000/. for rifle ranges ; and
10,000/. for artillery barracks.
Adding up the three votes for fortifications, civil buildings, and barracks,
they will be found to amount to 1,027,751/. If we add up the amounts for the
superintending departments, the result will be— 4,200/. for Inspectors of
Fortifications, 4,220/. for Surveyor's Office in the War Department, 37,197/.
for Barrack Establishment, 06,464/. for Royal Engineers' Civil Establish-
ment, 9,000/. for servants to civil officers abroad, foreign-service pay to
them and Royal Engineers civilly employed, the Woolwich Inspector of
Works Office, 4,075/., making a total annual outlay of 125,156/., to say
nothing of extra pay to Engineers, amounting to 38,400/. Supposing wo
leave aside the vote for fortifications and the salaries of the inspectors
thereof, it will then be seen that 869,566/. are to he spent on civil buildings
and barracks, and that the cost of superintending this expenditure will be
163,956/.— that is to say, what would be equivalent to the architect's com-
March 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
mission upon outlay will be nearly 14 per cent. Of course, some partizan
of the present system will be ready to say that we ought not to include
the barrack establishment, any more than a gentleman would include in
the architect's commission his lodge-porter's wages ; but a lodge-porter
does not watch over the condition of the house or call for its repairs.
Let us now turn to the Navy. The vote for new works, improvements
and repairs in yards, &c., shows an increase by 23,286/. to 469,835/. The
chief items are 14,521/. for Deptford yard; 18,028/. for Woolwich ; 41,426/.
for Chatham; 10,702/. for Sheerness; 60,425/. for Portsmouth ; 42,752/. for
Devonport; 37,519/. for Key ham; 12,000/. for Plymouth breakwater; and
16,800/. for Pembroke. The victualling yards are to take 16;845/.; the
naval hospitals, 1,3,450/.; the Marine barracks, 52,892/. ; the coast-guard
buildings, 35,000/. ; and the Admiralty, 7,500/. Works in yards abroad are to
cost 73,893/. Deducting the cost of gas, it will be seen that new works and
alterations are to cost 409,456/., and repairs 50,046/., or 459,502/. in all. It
cannot be said these works are unimportant, for they include large stores,
docks, naval barracks, basins, factory buildings, meat stores, marine bar-
racks, and marine artillery barracks, the latter to accommodate 1,200 officers
and men — sea-walls, cottages, and railways. The further sums to be veted
for the works amount to 515,100/.; they are, consequently, of magnitude,
diverse characters, and costly. A portion of them is to be executed under
the Director of Works and the remainder under the Comptroller of the
Navy.
Let us now endeavour to ascertain the cost of superintending the
carrying out of the works — not very easy — and for that purpose we leave
aside those under the direction of the Comptroller of the Navy, because
they do not amount to much, and his salary includes the discharge of
other duties. First we have the marine barrack establishment, including
only those items which occur in the army barrack department, which
costs 1,496/. 17s. fid. As there are 8,000 marines ashore in barracks, it
follows, by working out a simple rule of proportion, that if the army
barrack establishment was worked as economically as that of the marines,
it would cost just 10,000/. a-year less. Can any one explain by what
mysterious law the barrack establishment for the line should cost 30 per
cent, more than the one for marines ? The Director of Works' establish-
ment in London costs 3,732/. 83. lOd. ; the subordinate establishments
cost— at Deptford, 550/. ; at Woolwicli, 755/. ; at Chatham, 578/. ; at
Sheerness, 520/. ; at Portsmouth, 1,360/. ; at Devonpcrt, 1,990/. ; at
Pembroke, 700/. ; at Gosport, 480/. ; at Plymouth, 430/. ; at Gibraltar,
350/. ; at Malta, 970/. ; and at Bermuda, 250/. The total cost of Director
of Works' establishments and the subordinate ones is 12,665/. 8s. lOd.
Add to this the cost of marine barrack establishments, and we have
14,162/. (omitting fractions) for superintending the expenditure, 424,502/.
in new works, alterations, and repairs, or what would be equivalent to
architects' commission of little more than 3 per cent, upon outlay. Can
the Secretary at War or any partizan of the existing system tell why the
superintendence of works should cost upwards of 10 per cent, more in
the army estimates than in the navy estimates ? If the one were reduced
to the cost of the other— and for the life of us we cannot understand why
it should not be— the nation would save 100,000/. annually : a palpably
evident conclusion which no cfBoial sophistry or mystification can deny.
Considerable and important as this reduction would be, it falls far short
of what might be effected by a thorough and business-like reorganization
of the superintendence of Government buildings. The most common-
sense, practical way to carry this matter out would be to transfer the exe-
cution and maintenance of works from the Admiralty and War Office to
the direction of the Chief Commissioner of Public Works and Buildings.
That is his particular province, to carry out which he has a specially edu-
cated staff and assistants. The change need not involve loss of control to
the War authorities. For it is not proposed the Commissioner should have
the deciding whether the class of works in question should be carried out
or not. His authority would be limited to their construction. The mode
in which the scheme would work would be thus. The War Office or Ad-
miralty, on deciding upon erecting a barrack, or constructing a dock,
would apply to the Board of Public Works for an estimate of cost,
specifying the requirements to be satisfied. Upon receipt of the estimate,
application would be made to Parliament or to the Lords of the Treasury
to sanction the proposal and to provide the means to carry it out. On
this being obtained, the Board of Works would commence and complete
the construction, to the satisfaction of the War authorities, and would
subsequently he charged with keeping the building in substantial repair.
The Board of Works would simply fulfil the duties of architect and builder
to the War Office and Admiralty, who would stand towards it in the rela-
tion of clients or employers, as the public do towards the profession and
the building trade.
The saving that would result from such a rearrangement would include
the consolidating of tliree — even four — separate chief departments of direc-
tion of works iuto one less costly, from the constructions being carried
out comprehensively, from the suppression of several quadruplicate offices
that would tlien be rendered useless, and from the economy of their salaries.
For instance, there are several stations where the war department has
an office of works, and the Admiralty an office of works also, and yet the
buildings carried on by each separately is not sufficient to occupy the
time of either. Thus, at Bermuda the army office of works costs 464/.,
and the barrack master's establishment 347/., or together 811/., while the
estimate for works to be executed is 948/. — but one-ninth less than the
cost of supervision. At Bermuda also the navy office of works costs 250/.
and the building expenditure is to be 13,361/. We have consequently a
total cost of works of 14,909/., at an expense for superintendeace of 1,061/.
Can it be denied that the navy office of works could, without its exertions
175
being over-taxed, superintend the army expenditure of 948/. and «o isto
salaries to the amount of more than 800/. a year. In some home sutions
It 13 even worse, for at Portsmouth the army expenditure 011 works !■ to
oe 4,383/., while the offlce of works there costs 6,728/., and the barrack
master s establishment 2,245/., together more than double the outlay on
works. We could furnish further illustration of the ample scope and
urgent necessity there are for small reforms in public expenditure were it
nccess-Yy, but independeni members will not condescend to notice then.
ret "' quarry, forgetful that small savings aggregate into a
■ ^
S NOTES WITHOUT TEXT.*
OME books there are in which Nottn play a more important part than
the iea;<,the latter being, comparatively speaking, little more than a
peg to hang the former upon. As an improvement. Text is here omitted,
13 left to be imagined, and Notes alone are given, intended to forma
collection of miscellaneous observations and opinions, not, it is to be
hoped, altogether valueless or uninteresting. If, by presenting them in
such shape, the writer shall be thought to liave consulted his own con-
venience, and perhaps indolence also, his readers are at the same time
spared all ceremonious "bowing and scraping." A Note delivers its
message bluntly, and comes to the point and the pith of it at once without
any prefatory talking.
Fortunate will the writer of these Notes deem himself should they pot
those who read them up to thinking, even though the result of their
thinking may not always be in his own favor.
THERE are some objects which please not so much in spite of as on
account of the very qualities which, considered abstractedly and in
themselves, are, if not always positively offensive, auylhmg than agree-
able. It is in the power of art to render the naturally repulsive even
attractive, as witness the beggar-boys of MuriUo, who, though no better
specimens of humanity than the "Arabs" of oar streets, shown upon
canvas far excel the equally comme il Jaut and common-place saints and
angels of many very respectable artists. On the other hand, what pleases
in reality may cut but a very poor figure in a picture. A cottage that
would captivate the eye of a landscape painter would at once be condemned
by those who are very laudably endeavouring to improve the dwellings of
agricultural laborers. All that constitutes the picturesque in dwellings of
that humble class is sadly at variance with orderly condition and neatness.
Spruceness is absolutely fatal to it. Unfortimatel}' the admirer of the
picturesque and the generous philanthropist here pull in such opposite
directions that it is scarcely possible to satisfy one without offending the
other ; the object of the latter being to get rid of those defects which in
the estimation of the artist are so many merits and beauties ; so that while
the heart votes for the philanthropic reformer, the eye, at least the
painters' eye, strongly deprecates such reform as would substitute prosaic
spruceness for the time-bestowed touches of accident and decay superadded
to the utter absence of aught like design, or that smacks at all of the draw-
ing-board. Before it can suit the purpose of a painter, a bona fide cottage
must have time to ripen, and acquire tliat many-tinted, weather-beaten
complexion which of itself is a strong recommendation to him who holds
a palette. Mushrooms arrive at maturity in the space of a night ; by
means of a very simple mechanical apparatus, cresses for a salad may be
sown and reaped again in the course of a couple of hours ; but a veritable
picturesque cottage is a thing of slower growth. It must l>e allowed not
only to ripen but to run to seed. Quinces are not eaten until they are
rotten ; game is considered to be improved by beginning to partake of
putridity ; and in like manner a cottage that captivates the painter's eye
as bring/ai( apeindre is one that he himself would shudder at the idea of
being compelled to take up his abode in it.
TTERY much more than has hitherto been thought of, or if thought of,
V yet attempted, might be done with shop fronts, more especially
if the entire front can be treated consistently, and the general design
be made all of a piece from the pavement to the house-top. That
such treatment is entirely out of the question, save for an exceedingly
few exceptional cases, is so self-evident as to exclude other remark than
that when an opportunity of the kind docs present itself, the utmost
should be made of it. And by " utmost," excess of display and showiness
is not to be understood, but, on the contrary, sobriety— a quality which,
is far from being incompatible with richness, even with a far more than
ordinary degree of it. Besides being quite contrary to truthful arcliitec-
tural expression, the practice ofmaking the shop itself ne.irly all window—
the maximum of void with the very minimum of solid— leaves no space for
introducmg visible support to the wall above, nor surface for decoration.
Some twenty years ago, enormous sheeU of plate glass were a novelty and
a rarity, and accordingly conferred distinction, but now they have become
quite every-day matters.
X
MORPHOLOGY, or what the Germans term formen-lehre, is a study
which if not indispensable to, well merits the attention of the archi-
tect The same forms are pleasing or the contrary accordingly as they
are appropriate. Coluihns, for instance are made to taper upwards ; the
legs of tables and chairs on the contrary, to taper downwards ; nor is
such difference of treatment merely arbitrary and conventional, but ism
' By tlie Author of "Ciura w Ckiticism."
176
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 1, 1861.
perfect accordance with, or in fact necessitated by total difference as to
purpose, material, stability, and other conditions to be attended to. Even
were it with safety practicable to make the shafts of columns more bulky
at top than at bottom, to do so would strike every one as an absurdity,
and as expressing weakness and insecurity. On the other hand, were the
•legs of chairs or other pieces of furniture intended to be easily movable,
to be made bulkier below tlian above, such conformation of them would
produce only clumsiness and inconvenience. . Even in furniture, regard
-must be had to the p.irticular destination of the article. Ic, is purpose that
ought to determine characteristic proportions. A spindle-legged sideboard
is a solecism in taste ; nor are bandy-legged chairs much better, although
they may be in perfect accordance with the Hogarthian " line of beauty " ;
-which would, by the by, be in many cases no other than the line of ugli-
ness—in architecture most certainly such. As one very striking proof of
similar forms being highly pleasing or the directly contrary, accordingly
as they are applied, may be mentioned the baluster, which Garbett calls
•■ the most successful novelty ever introduced by the moderns, and evidenc-
ing, if not genius, reflned taste;" yet columns partaking of the same shape
are monstrous, even to hideousness ; owing to the obvious unfitness of
any such form for the purpose to whicli it is then perversely misapplied
and made to exhibit the combination of clumsiness with weakness.
Although not quite so gross and gigantic a solecism, and one in the opposite
direction, a solecism it nevertheless is to fashion balusters— or rather mere
xails, into the semblance of pigmy columns, as has occasionally been done
in some modern Greek buildings. Of two inconsistencies it is surely a
lesser one to adapt the baluster into the Greek style, than to degrade the
olumn by employing it as a support to a handrail. Scale has much to do
with beauty in architecture, for though the forms themselves remain
■unaltered, they may, by being either extravagantly diminished or
extravagantly enlarged, and in either case perversely misapplied, be
transformed into absurdity. Lilliputian columns vice railing ; soi-disant
"Gothic" chairs whose backs resemble miniature mediaeval church
"windows, peaceful mantel-pieces bristling";with a military array of battle-
ments, all belong to the same category. So also forms which as those of
'detail are no less graceful than appropriate would become positively dis-
'gusting, because outrageously absurd, were they to be exhibited on a
colossal scale as the main parts of a structure, an achievement that is
fortunately almost beyond the power of the most ingenious depravity of
taste to accomplish.*
THE SUPERINTEiVDING ARCHITECTSHIP OF THE METRO-
POLITAN BOARD OF WORKS.
WE stated in our last that it was referred to the Covent-garden Approach and
Westminster and Southwark Communication Committee to consider and
reportwbat should be the duties and salary attached to the office ofSuperintending
Architect of the Board, vacant in consequence of the resignation of Mr. Mar-
rable. At the usual weekly meeting of the Board, held on Friday last in the
Council-chamber, Guildhall, John ThwAites, Esq., the Chairman, presiding,
the Committee made a report, which, inter alia, recommended —
That the dalies to be performed by the Superintending Architect of the Board be
those mentioned in the report of the Ck)mmittee on the salaries and duties of the
officers, approved and adopted by the Board on the 2Sth January, 1836.
Those duties may be briefly summed up as follows: — The Superintending
Jlrchitect to perform all duties requisite for the carrying out by the Board of the
provisions of the Metropolitan Building Act, the Metropolis Local Management
Act, and any other acts relating to the business of the Board ; to act as profes-
sional adviser to the Board in all matters relating to the offices of district
surveyors, and questions of fees connected therewith ; and advise the Board on
all claim for compensation in the valuation of nroperty that may arise in the
formation of new streets and other works ; antf generally to pertbmi all such
-duties as the Superintending Architect may be call«l upon to perform, and devote
the whole of his time to the performance of the duties of his office.
The recommendation of the Committee was agreed to.
The Committee further recommended that the salary of the Superintending
Architect be £800 per annum.
Mr. Peckett moved the adoption of the recommendation of the Com-
mittee.
The motion having been seconded, Mr. Bristow moved, as an amendment,
that the salary be £C0O per annum, including travelling expenses — a salary
which, in his opinion, they ought to have fixed when the Board first appointed
an architect, and which might have been increased by degrees until it reached
£1,000.
Mr. O'Iffasger seconded the amendment, remarking that he thought they
could pet a very good man for£GOO per annum.
Mr. DouLTo.v thought the salarj- should be £800, and that it would be im-
mke to fix it at a lower sum.
Mr. Aldennan Lawrence regretted that £800 was the sum recommended by
the Committee as the salary for the Superintending Architect. He should have
been much better pleased if the salary was to be £1,000 instead of £800, because
if tlie Board wished to get a gentleman of high professional position it was
requisite that he should be compensated liberally for the performance of the
duties of the office. There were several district surveyors who got more than £800
a year, and yet the superintending architect of the Board was supposed to be
superior to the district surveyors, he being a governing power in respect of them.
If there had been a possibility of carrjing ii, he should certainly have moved an
amendment to the effect that the salary be £1,000 per annum.
Mr. Bennett said £800 was the sum he should have fixed upon as a proper
salary for the Superintending Architect. He did not think tliey would get a
proper man for the office, one who could advise the Board on questions of
valuation, compensation, and so on, for £000 a year.
Mr. Peckett asked Mr. Bristow to withdraw his amendment.
Mr. Bristow declined to do so.
On a division there were for the amendment 4, against it 22.
• To be coDtlnned.
The original motion was then agreed to.
The following recommendations of the Committee were then approved of and
agreed to ;—
Tliat the election of a Superintending Architect do take'place on Friday the 15th
Jlarch next.
Tliat adviTtisonients, inviting candidates to send in applications and testimonials
be inserted in all the daily metropolitan newspapers, the Ituilcler. the Building A'ews,
and other professional publications.
That candidates he required to send in their applications and testimonials by 10
o'clock A.M., on the 13tli of March next, and that sucli applicatious, &c., do stand
referred to the Streets Committee for classification.
HEREFORD TOWN HALL.
ALL that remains now of tills ancient edifice is a heap of ruins, and as soon as
that can be removed, an open and convenient space will be left for central
traffic, displaying on either side interesting old residences of gi'eat personages in
the hygone day.«. It is rather curious that the oak columns supporting the upper
portion of the Town-hall are found to be perfectly sound, and much also of the
other timber, the constructive having been the erroneous part of the work and
the cause of its insecurity. The carving on the spandrels has retained a freshness
of appearance seldom perceivable in similai- cases ; but there are many houses in
Hereford erected in the seventeenth century that abound in elaborate oak
carving still exhibiting a well-defined outline, and remarkable for taste and skill
of no mean order. The old Town-hall was used, before the erection of larger
buildings for the purpose in St. Owen's-street and Widemarsh-street, for all the
public business of the city and county, being constructed almost entirely of wood.
It was 84 feet long by 34 feet broad, "and supported by three ranges of oak pillars,
nine in each range. A century ago there existed an upper story, which was then
taken down for the sake of security, and whicii contained fifteen chambers for
the trading companies of the city. In this state it was a handsome building of
its time, having been erected during the reign of James I. by Abell, and imme-
diately adjoining once stood a market cross and bull ring, a maypole, and the
city tolsey. The old materials have been purchased by various parties anxious to
preserve some vestiges of their once celebrated guildhall, and are being carted
away to be re-erected into miniature Gothic edifices, &.C., round the country
scats of Herefordshire.
• —^
FALL OF THE SPIRE OF CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL.
WE liave this week to record the occurrence of a calamity whicli must be the cause
cf great pain throughout the county— we refer to the fall of the beautiful spire
of Chicliester Cathedral— the glory of the architecture of tlie county, the landmark
of the localitv, and the object of reminiscences of the most afleciing kind to all
dwellers in the neighbourhood. This sad event occurred on Tliursday week. The
Cathedral has been for some time in course of restoration.
The tower on whicli the spire stood, and which reached to the height of 133 feet
from the ground, rested on arches upon four piers in the centre of the building, at
the angles of the nave and transept of the cathedral, which was, like many buildings
of the same nature, of cruciform construction. This tower was 4ii feet square, and
from it rose the spire to the helpfht of i:i8 feet more, the vane at the top being 271 feet
from the ground. In the course of tlie work of renovation— in the attempt to restore
the sacred edifice to somewhat of its pristine glory— it was discovered that one of the
piers which supported this enormous mass of masonry was in a very weak and unsafe
state. The piers were found to have been built with rubble and cased with stone,
wliilc tlie tower and spire weie constructed of solid stone, and clamped with iron,
this dilTercnce being accounted for by the fact that the spire was of more recent con-
struction than the rest of the building by about 20O years, the original edifice having
been twice destroyed by fire, and the spire having stood about 5110 years.
On Sunday last, Divine service was performcdas usual in the nave, tlie rest of the
edifice being in tho hands of the builders, but on Sunday evening symptoms of in-
security in the spire became so manilest 'that immediate measures were taken to
obviate danger, and continued until Thursday, during which time there was a con-
Btant creaking sound under tlie tower, fiaws were observed, and occasionally stones
dropped out of the casings of the piers— about three-hundredweight falling at once
on Wednesday afternoon. At midnight tlie boisterous gale so increased theapparent
danger that the men who were at work high up in the tower came down, and
declined working there any longer. During Thursday morning the indications of
danger increased, but the workmen continued their etforts until twelve o'clock, when
they went to dinner. On their return, however, they were directed to get their tools,
and not to resume their work, nor remain within the building.
The impression had by this time become general throughout the city that the spire
would fall, and hundreds of people were assembled, watching for the catastrophe,
and not in vain, for at about twenty-five minutes to two o'clock tiie tower and spire
sank gently down into the midst of^ the building, the lower part of the spire parting
in two, quivering as it sank, while the upper portion followed it entire and upright,
the weathercock being to be seen through the window, on the top of the rubbish.
The weight of the falling mass is supposed to have been about 1,000 tons. In its
fall it formed a complete mass of rubbish in the centre of the building, doing but
little injury to the monuments or fittings of any kind, excepting what were imme-
diately beneath it, but covering with a thick coating of dust everything throughout
the rest of the edifice, the whole of which is considered to be perfectly safe, and may,
it is said, in a week or two, be prepared for public worship by the erection of a tem-
porary wall at tlie east end of the nave. No pains will be spared to restore the
tower and spire as speedily as possible, and meetings will shortly beheld throughout
the county for the promotion of this object. The consternation caused in Chichester
by this sad disaster is universal, and general sympathy seems to prevail in all parts
of' the county.
Bankruptcy Court. — In Re Gibbs Howes Murrell. — The bankrupt,
a brick and tile manufacturer and farmer at Surlingham, in the County of
Norfolk, applied for a certificate. He had pa.ssed his last examination
on accounts showing that on the 1st of October, 1859, he possessed a surplus
of £4,r)39, and that when he came to this court on 30th November, 1800, his
total indebtedness amounted to .£-29,751, but he produced assets to the amount of
£•28,283. Mr. Bagley, on the bankrupt's behalf, stated that the case exhibited
nothing but favorable" features, for the books had been well kept, the expenditure
had been moderate, and the bankrupt's conduct both before and after the bank-
ruptcy had been in the highest degree praiseworthy. The failure had been
produced by circumstances wholly out of the control of the bankrupt, for he had
inherited a property deeply mortgaged, and it was only through attempting to
kee]) up the payments of interest due on that mortgage that his difficulties had
been created, it might, therefore, be trulysaid that his misfortunes had resulted,
not from any negligence or imprudence on his part, but wholly from unavoidable
loss and misfortune. Mr. Reed, from the office of Mr. Blake, having, on the
part of the assippiec, acquiesced in this statement, his Honour granted the
bankrupt an immediate certificate.
March 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
177
OUTRE MER.— SIX WEEKS IN CAEN. •
THE other great hospital of Caen is that of the Bon Sauveur, founded
in 1804, on the site of an old Capuchin monastery, and consisting
of a sisterhood of 200 nuns, bound by vows, renewable at intervals of
three years, who attend the sick, nurse the insane, educate the ignorant
and the deaf and dumb, and afford a home to ladies who desire a life of
retirement. In a little chapel in tlie simple cemetery of the sisters,
where there is neither headstone nor cross, sleeps the founder, Abbe P.
Jamet, who died in 184.'5, at the age of 85. The hospital contains
upwards of 1,200 inmates, including five chaplains, and 120 deaf and
dumb persons in course of instruction, or plying their trades within the
walls. Information is communicated to them by means of an ingenious
code of signs invented by M. Jamet. Among the alienes, seven hundred
in number, the larger proportion being women, may be seen every stage
of their terrible malady, from imbecility and despair to raving madness,
but the latter is rare. The attitudes of the patients exhibit superhuman
intensity of sorrow; seated upon the ground and cowering against the
wall, as if forming a part of it, bowing the face between the knees or
drooping on the breast, averting the features from view, arms folded and
wound upon the head, all absorbed in their own terrible reflections on the
past, immovable, and with eyes fixed upon the ground. The "Pavilion
of Hanover " was so called by the unhappy Beau Brummell, and adjoins
the former cell of Bourrienne. Two of the most touching objects are a
poet who, with exquisite grace, warbles verses without one word of sense,
and a young priest, who sits with his face turned towards the garden,
pale, resigned, pensive, like one in a dream, and his breviary clasped in
his thin hands, streaked with blue veins, clearly marked on the emaciated,
bloodless flesh. The ladies may more generally be seen reading, seated
on the benches which line the walks of the beautiful flower - garden
allotted to them. There are four Irish nuns in the establishment, and one
Sister Seix, or Sykes, is always pleased to show it to English visitors.
The cider room is 32 feet long, 18 feet wide, and as many feet in height,
paved with granite, and containing above 850 hogsheads.
The Church of St. Pierre has been sketched, engraved, and photographed
times innumerable, but the recent draining of the Odon has deprived the
visitor of the sight of the pretty reflection of the apse in tlie river beneath
it. Perhaps, no Continental church is better known, owing to these re-
peated illustrations of the glorious north portal, with its niches filled with
the mutilated sculptures of the acts of St. Peter, the picturesque apse and
eastern chapels, laden with arabesques and fantastic carvings, the delicate
stonework of the high altar, and the superb spire, rising from among its
attendant turrets and pinnacles, like the pistil of some tropical tlower,
diapered with the chisel, and pierced with roses ; always beautiful, in the
thin mists of morning, when its network of stone looms vague and
mysterious, and in the bright sunset, when the golden glow streams through
every opening, and kindles every crocket and finial along its soaring
height, prolonged apparently, into the height of tlie sky in the fading
light, the steeple of St. Sauveur is a near rival, but does not equal it.
Four of the capitals in the nave are carved with designs from Norman lays
and Medieval romances.
At St. John's the builders seemed to have worked like those of the
Second Temple, with the trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. The
marshy site contributed to the unfinished appearance of the central
lantern, and caused the inclination of the western tower, which, in this
respect, resembles the leaning tower of Pisa. The interior of this fine
church has been enriched with modern stained glass, wrought by the nuns
of a convent in Normandy, and by some manufacturers of Bayeux, but is
far inferior to the beautiful work now produced in England ; the choir is
paved with Minton's encaustic tile.«. The clergy used to light the famous
fire of St. John annually before the great porch on Midsummer eve. The
possessors of the fief of St. Pierre, the monks of St. Etienne, were bound
to furnish an executioner to the justices of Caen, when required, until freed
from the custom by a royal ordinance in 1366.
The various parishes liad their various designations derived from the
occupations of their inhabitants, or from some local custom. St. Gilles
was called the gardener, and many of the houses, which are built over the
old quarries upon the hill-side of Caen, were held on the tenure of a yearly
offering of a bunch of lavender, or a garland of white and red roses ; St.
Peter's was the fisherman, the fish-market being in the parish ; St. John's,
the aristocratic quarter, was the Noble ; Notre Dame, the Butcher ;
Vaucelles produced "Picardins," restless mobs as hot-headed as the men
of Picardy ; St. Julien, Puritans, and Ouen's, little ducks, not as a term of
womanly endearment, but by way of unkind allusion to their vicinity to
ponds and marshes, as Voltaire stigmatised the Hollanders as canaux,
canards, and canaille. St. Sauveur's was known as the executioner, the
guillotine being placed in an adjoining square ; it was used on the last
occasion last year, for the beheadal of three Jew assassins, who brutally
murdered, with poinards, an honest goldsmith of Caen, under the fountain
near St. Stephens. They were detected by means of a fragment of a
pocket-handkerchief discovered on the spot ; all the washerwomen were
assembled by the mayor, and one of their number was able to describe its
owner, who formed a member of gang of 49 desperadoes, who were the
terror of many parts of France. The guillotine has since, happily, thinned
their numbers.
The finest horses belong to the Gendarmerie, who purchase their own
chargers. The men are tall, powerful, and well set-up, and their horses are
strong and well-groomed. They wear tlie cocked-hats, set amidships, as
sailors say, longtailed coats, and yellow bandoliers of the time of Louis XIV.
National guards there are none. On the election of Napoleon as Presi-
* Concluded from pajfe UO.
dent, an order was issued for the disarmament of the Burgher-guard,
which the latter refused to obey ; they took up a position in the Place
Roy ale, laid cannon to command every approacli, and then sent a meaiage
to the general, who had only a few companies of troops under hit orden,
to take their arms, if he would, but it must be by force, They defied him,
and he found himself unable to disarm the powerful force opposed to him ;
nor was it until after the proclamation of the Empire that the National
Guards of Caen actually gave up tlieir muskets.
The municipality have done their best to desecrate the churches. The
fine Norman church of St. Nicholas is used as a granary by tlie cavalry
of the Kumonte ; St. Sauveur is the corn market ; St. Etienne Ic Vieuz it
occupied as a workshop, with cxquisitcly-carred woodwork filling up the
outer court, and devoted to be burned this coming Cbristmaa by the Uons
Frcres, the voluntary schoolmasters, w^ho may be teen in the street in
shovel hat, gowns, and white bands at all hourt. The next barbarism
proposed is the complete destruction of the highly interesting church of
St. Gilles.
The public library, over which the learned M. Trebutien pretidet, occti-
pies a portion of the church of the Eudistes, and contains the library of
Bochart, with his MS. notes, a copy of I)e Lyra's " Commentary," printed
1471, an Aretino dated 1470, and books from the shelves of Diana de
Poictiers. The Societc Fraof aise d'Archoeologie, hat M. de Caumont, an
archaeologist of European reputation, for its director. The Museum of
Natural History and that of the Society of Antiquaries of Normuidy,
founded by M. de Caumont, and boasting the name of M. Charma as its
perpetual secretary, and the Jardin dcs Plantes are full of interett
severally to the botanist, arch^ologitt, and the disciple of Cuvier and
Buffbn. The Museum of Sculpture and Painting contains two picturet by
Perugino, four by Paul Veronese, the " Coriolanus " of Guercino, " Mel-
chisedech," by Rubens; the "Communion of St. Bonaventura," by Van-
dyke, brought from Mechlin ; the " Descent from the Cross," by Tintoretto ;
the " Death of Adonis," by Foussin ; the " Scourging," by Ribeira ; works
from the easels of Zuatis, Ruysdael, Snyders, Fontenay, Le Brun, MaUe-
branche, and, lastly, " A Revelation of St. Catherine," by Van Eyck or
Albert Durer.
The University, founded by Henry VI. of England, had for its first
rector Tregury, afterwards Primate of Ireland, but was ungrateful enough
to offer to have its charters in honor of Louis XI., who had the magna-
nimity to administer a well-deserved rebuke to the ungrateful gownsmen.
Among the most recent pupils it numbers the names of A. Renee, the con-
tinuator of Sismondi, Auber, and Boildeau ; St. Evremond was a student
here.
Wace, the author of the " Roman de Ron," Ivaud, C. Marot, Delchampt
the physician, Baudins, and Decaens the famous French general in the wars
of India, were born at Caen. The historic sites and houses are those of
Malherbe, the poet ;• Malfillatre, whose touching death, stricken down
with the pen in his hand, is represented on the walls of the picture-
gallery; Samuel Bochard, whose cabinet, where he wrote his " Sacred
Geography," is still preserved ; Sieur de Bras, the local historian; Daniel
Huct, the learned Bishop of Avranches ; Segrais, who founded his
Academy here ; Asselin, the townsman who cried " Haro '." at Duke
William's grave ; Charles d'Orleans, remembered for his poetry and cap-
tivity after the battle of Agincourt; Gallaud, wiio translated the" Arabian
Nights " under the tall slated roof which is conspicuous in the PetiisMurs;
and Charlotte Corday, the assassin of the infamous Marat. Many of these,
and other houses of note, thanks to the municipality, will soon be remem-
bered only by the exquisite drawings of M. Bouet.
Caen can boast an unrivalled collection of fine houses, many of the period
of the Renaissance, when the nobles and townsfolk imitated the magnifi-
cence of the Sovereign. Columns, shafts, statues, peristyles, arabesqnei,
turrets, cupolas, arcades, and dormer windows still remain, while the
richly-sculptured fronts of timbered houses, such as those in the ruet
St. Jean and St. Pierre, present a formidable competition with their
compeers in stone, the Hotels de Lorailles, de Quatrons, de Beuvron. and
d'Aubigny. The Hotel de Valois, now the Exchange, bears the name of
the House of the Great Horseman, from a carving on the front of the
Great and True of the Apocalypse. The same subject is seen also on the
Hotel des Monnaies, so called from the Exchequer established here in 1550,
which adjoins the rich front of the hotel of Stephen Duval, who was en-
nobled by Henry II., in recognition of his trading enterprise in cotton with
Africa and the New World. Upon the cornice are the words— " Caelum
non animum. Ne vitam in silentio prajtereant." "Pudicitia mortem
vincit " is the lofty-minded legend Which is sculptured over the medallions
on the Tower of the Gensdarmes, the "Folly" of a Gerard Nollent, lord
of St. Conteil in the reign of Louis XI, which has stone cross-buttresses,
like those in our own border castles, carved out above the battlements.
On the old Hotel de Than (the house of M. Vautier, and containing a
superb miscellaneous collection of rare works of art) the architect has
carved a hideous figure in the attitude of contempt, to mark his hatred of
his successful competitor, who designed the Hotel Le Valois. In the Rue
de I'Academie, No. 1, may be seen the remains of the Presbytery of
St Martin, where Bcrnardin St. Pierre, afterwards author of 1 aul and
Virginia " outwitted the guardian dog and the terrible Jeanncton, and
secured the three tempting figs which had kept him awake for nights, as
they hung on the waU opposite his window. The figtrce stdl flourishes.
In those merry days he cast longing eyes upon three delicious ripe and
purple figs, which hung temptingly in the priest's garden, opposite his
window, but were guarded by a ferocious Cerberus, and, like the apples ot
the Hesperides, by an incorruptible she-dragon, a stout servmg-maid,
named Jeanncton. Long were his struggles, sleepless his nights, untu he
178
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 1, 1861.
deriMct s plan which promised success. After dinner his schoolmates set
ont for vespers, and Bernardin ensconced himself in a safe hiding-place to
follow out his adventure. To his horror, the door was closed and locked,
and he was a sate prisoner in the garden. However, he climbed up the
tree and actuallv touched the prize, when Cerberus began to bark, and the
terrible Jeanneton appeared. She turned her eager eyes in every direc-
tion, nw nothin);, and went back into the house. Bernardin descended,
and tied two strings, one to the bell of the refectory, the other to that of
the street-door. He pulled the first, and the active Jeanneton flew to
attend the summons ; he pulled the second, and Jeanneton ran off in the
other direction ; the refectory bell once more sounded, and Jeanneton
obeyed the call again ; but, seeing nobody, now left all the doors open,
believing that the foul fiend at least was in the place. While she filled the
house with her cries for help, the thief came down with his figs, joined
his returning mates, and nearly died of laughter to hear the fine story
related by the bewildered maid.
Every town has its drawbacks: CaenisnotwcIUightedand veryfewof its
(treets have trottoirs, most are nearly impassable after a heavy fall of rain,
owing to the torrents of water which sweep down them, doing the work
of scavengers better than the old women with housemaids' brooms, who
at other times discharge the offlce. The electric wire runs along the
fronts of the houses of the Rue St. Jean, but the diligences are still badly
painted and slow ; their horses retain their heavy sheepskin adornments
and bells, and the drivers are still disposed to crack their whips as dis-
cordantly as in days of old. There are no street fights and disturbances,
no hand-organs, no tipsy people, no disorders. After the last Angelas has
rung, and the drums and bugles of the retreat have nearly broken the
drums of all the ears of the unfortunate neighbours, (3aen is a deserted
city. Its theatre opens for the three days of the races, and occasionally
in the winter, but the band of the regiment quartered in .the chateau and
barracks plays three times a week in the Cours de la K<?ine, so named
after the unfortunate Marie Antoinette, or before the best" hotel in the
place, Hornby's by name, on the Place d'Armes. On market dsys, on the
promenade St. Jullien, groups of laborers may be seen standing to -he hired
but carefully prevented from indulgence in a fight, by a guard of soi'diers
opposite. The regatta takes place on the Emperor's Fete ; w&,en
tribunes decorated with Venetian flags, pavilions, and palisades accom'-.
modate his lieges, and when the boats have been rowed and the prizes
adjudged to the winners, contests are maintained with the old accompani-
ments of the greased pole, duck hunting, and water-skates, an extra-
ordinary nautical construction between a canoe and a catamaran. The
races, when English jockeys ride, occur in the hippodrome, on the last
Sunday and two following days of July ; but the games on land and water
are far inferior to the amusement afforded by the Michaelmas fair on the
course, when sabots, household furniture, agricultural implements, and,
aave the mark ! onions enough to turn any comedy into tears, attract the
old, and merry-go-rounds and cakes the young : and to the sound of the
baas drum and a brass drum beaten by a young gentleman dressed like a
Zouave, the traveller dentist whips out teeth with a marvellous speed and
dexterity.
The peasantry have no regard for flowers ; gardens there are none,
except!^ those of nurserymen, although bouquets are abundant on gay
days. Tlicre are no pretty plats of flowers such as those which surround
the cottages of English laborers ; but the country-women in the hamlets
and Tillages form little groups at the corners of the streets, chattering and
Uoghmg merrily as they ply their nimble bobbins, while engaged in
inakmg lace. Women, however, have not always such quiet occupations;
the men tmt stockings, but their wives and daughters cleanse the streets
TTiUi long brushes, and toil, prematurely haggard, iu the fields.
Those who want additional amusement may takea lesson in cap-making
at Loaieuz, wander to the quarries at AUemagne hewn in the sides of the
^Hs, or descend the stone pits near Beaulieu, visit Than, or Lasson, or
Falaise the birthplace of Buke William j may spend an hour on the
almost perfect abbey of Ardennes, pic-nic at Fontaine Henri or Harcourt,
^f^^ v.*!*j "" '''^ *"''*" °' I^*y''"'' *"<! 'o the examination of the tapestry
of JVIathilde, or at St. Aubin or Luc, there as their taste leads them, to
compare the three exquisite spires of Langrune, Douvres, and Bernieres, or
watch the lucomparable dress of the bathers issuing from rude fishermen's
cottages at the seashore. A permis de chatse costs 2.') francs, and the
neighbourhood of Caen is not preserved j trout and salmon, quails, snipe,
and partridges, there are in abundance to satisfy the most eager
cportsman. "
Such are the inducements offered to the traveller by Caen, long a
tavorite residence with English famiUes. It has naturally and necessarily
% .^'' 'Pt^rtst for every Englishman. The blood which flows in the veins
01 tne JNoruian is common to him and the men of Caen, who are easily
distinguished Irom their countrymen, both by size and feature. To the
deacent of Duke William, who was laid to his rest within St. Etienne,
jmglaod owes litr subsequent advance in courtesy of manner and refine-
ment 01 taste, in arts and architecture and manufactures. Caen, which is
jleservediy the capital of a land of castles and churches, lias been described
t *l<Ijiie. de .S'Vigne as "that pretty town, most convenient, most
cneenul, with lovely situation, fine streets, noble buildings, and beautiful
Churches, with praine and promenade, the home of our first geniuses."
It ha. another recommendation— it is very cheap j and better still, it main-
tains a kind and cordial feeling towards England ; long may it continue !
i>i . ■ ,.1 '■" ^^'^ "■'» ^'''" conjunction
I iMit ncighljoiirhood and Chrl«tian-like accord
Jr, '5, ''i."'''* *x"">nii<, that never War advance
m« bleeding sword 'twlxt England and fair Prance :
i hat never nwy ill office or fell Jealousy
Thrust in between the pardon of these kingdoms.
To make divorce of tbi-ir incorporate leasrue.
That KntfHsh may as Frencli, French Enp;llBhmen,
Receive each other ! God speak this. Amen ! ' '
M. E. C. W.
P.S. I must acknowledge the kindness of my esteemed friend Mr.
Charles le Vardois in giving me valuable introductions, and directing me
to every object of interest.
THE FINE ARTS SEEN FROM A NEW POINT OF VIEW.*
No. 8.— The Two Laws of the Fine Arts.
SOME may deem this article rather lengthy and dry; but as it is, 1
believe, new, and, I hope, true, may I beg the reader's close
attention ? Hereafter the ideas expressed may cast a deeply in-
structive and interesting light on some of our recent performances.
Having explained that the beautiful in man's works consists in the ex-
pression of the sentiments with which nature is regarded, and dilated on
the artistic languages as developed in olden times, I shall now state my
view of the laws which govern the cultivation of the Fine Arts. These
are verbal or abstract, and tangible or material. Poetry, the drama,
novels, music, oratory, &c., are included in the first class, and architecture,
sculpture, and painting, which we are now chiefly considering, in the
second. They all involve the exercise of the imagination, as well as of
reason and feeling, in depicting individuals and societies. The general
character of a people — philosophical, religious, moral, political, and social
— constitutes what is here designated their polity, this being simply
another word for collective, generic characteristics. These definitions of
the scope of the Fine Arts, and of a comprehensive term for the subjects of
representation, lead to the enunciation of the first law of the expression
of polity. Genius is the power of creating; and taste is the union of
judgment and feeling, guiding the execution and appreciation of
works, correctness of taste being proportioned to its degree of truth.
Now, truth in art is a relative term ; for, as the scope of the Fine Arts
consists in representing the polity of a people, and this is changeable,
what is appropriate in one age or country is ofteti unsuitable in
another.
But in all nations and in all times there are both good and evil. A work
.of art, then, may be true without being good or great. Thus, discrimina-
tSsffi is requisite in delineating the polity of a people. It is the artist's
vocation, not merely to appeal to the ideas and emotions of all, but to
selecSiiii so doing. He has to portray the good, the true, and the beautiful
in relalijon to his own country and age. The evil, false and repulsive are,
as a gerkeral rule, to be cast aside, and the intellect and heart addressed,
instead olf the lower senses. For art to be great,' something noble and
elevated ipiust be expressed worthily and faithfully. The art of savage
tribes is trlie but not great, while the best art of the Greeks is both noble
and veracioVs.
Next,' the\polity of a people at a particular age may or may not be fully
developed. jThat is, it may have distinct characteristics, or it may be
vague aud cdiufused, being in a state of transition ; sects, classes, or parties,
having suflicJent influence, not to settle things, but to create discord, ren-
dering it extpemely dilBcult to say what are the main points on which an
overwhelmii^l? majority, if not all, coincide, and which constitute the
matters require particular attention, as they considerably
ivation of the Fine Arts. For society to exist in harmony,
more or less in opinion, this general coincidence consti-
lolity. There is always a polity, although it may not be
it consists. When there is a common standard, round
there must necessarily be more oneness in the artist's
must have a clearer conception of what he has to do than
is confused by doubts and difficulties, arising from the
; polii
: culq
resultant
These tw(
affect the
men must agi
tuting their
known in wl;
which all rail
studies, and
when his mind
at
IheX
clash of opinion^) aid preventing his stamping so plain and convincing a
character on hisl works as to satisfy the community. Thus we perceive
the differences tfO be anticipated when there is a developed polity, and
when men, hesititing and perplexed, are approaching towards, or receding
from, generally atcepted ideas. In the first place, there will be unity of
aim, manifested! by a universal style ; and, in the second, striking
dissimilarities, ar 'sing from difficulties in depicting a polity, will prevail.
In proportion, then, as a polity is developed may its exponent art be
made satisfactori y expressive, being also marked by a conjunction due to
the aggregate eff( Tts of many artists, fully comprehending wliat they have
to do, thinking mainly in the same way, and working together with
identical aim, tho "gh ""t copying one another. It is clear that one man
cannot establish an universal style ; for to succeed he must meet with
comparatively ui exceptional sympathy consequent on his embodiments
coming home to t I'e feelings of the mass of the people. Otherwise, some
may admire, other ^ disapprove, and in this opposition the style will probably
be lost. Althoui ?'' there may be much in an artist's works denoting the
polity of the age/ they can never be accepted by all until the polity is fully
developed and Admits of clear exposition. If an original mode of ex-
pression suitabipe to the times is invented it will be taken up by others,
and obtain an jascendency proportioned to the sympathy felt. But the
only reflect the exclusive peculiarities of artists, or those
hus be deficient in general application. As unity in art
Spatcd until men are more unanimous, so modern artists
■•lamed for failing to produce a universal style, the defect
'\t what similarities do exist generally arise from copyism.
new style ma;
of a class, and
cannot be antii
must not be
being now thi
* The right of'^cpubllcation and of translation ofthls series of articles is reserved
by the author. ^"-
March 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
179
The reader wUl bear in mind that the development of polity is a matter
of degree: at certain periods of history there has been sufficient consonance
on important subjects to constitute a developed polity, which is not the
case at present.
The second law is that of progression, which animates humanity
generally. It follows from the definition of the object of the fine arts that
the progression of ideas leading to progression in art is not originated
by the artist, his function being more one of expression than of conception.
Consideration of the law of the expression of polity settles the scope of
that of progression, which is subsidiary to the first law, and marks the
degree of its fulfilment. Progression is manifested in two ways : in an
undeveloped polity in the struggle towards genuine expression ; aiid in a
developed polity in giving unity, elevation, and refinement to such ex-
pression.
Neglect of the two laws stated constitutes retrogression, one form of which
is owing to undue reverence for old types of thought, leading to eiforts to
approach their spirit as nearly as possible in the execution of new works.
To resuscitate an archaic spirif it would be necessary to live in the past,
modern influences neutralising the aim. As, then, an old spirit cannot be
seized it follows that ; from the adoption of ancient examples as models
copyisni results : such is practically the fact. It is clear, therefore, that
it is impossible so to ignore the present as to revive truthfully an effete
style. If there are certain points common to an old and new polity, as in an
age of transition like the present, an eclectic process is permissible.
Another species of retrogression is due to the love of novelty. No change
for the better ever was made for the sake of change. New developments
of art are to be tested by their significance ; and inquiry should be made
whether they have truthful meaning, harmonising with the requirements
of the time. Love of antiquity and love of novelty for their own sakes are,
perhaps, equally hurtful.
We have next to fix the test which marks the degree of truth in artistic
works.
It will be found that whenever individual observation and thought are
exercised; whenever an artist looks at nature with his own eyes, instead
of seeking to regard her as others have done, and deduces conclusions
founded on his own reasoning, instead of slavishly following that of others,
and when an object is to be attained sets about compassing it in his own
way, with sole reference to what is appropriate to actual requirements: in
proportion to such artist's knowle-ige and power will the existing polity
be expressed, so far as it is defined.
This is an historical fact. The Egyptian, Greek, Koman, and Gothic
artists present its full exemplification. The Hindoos, Chinese, Moors
and Mexicans, even barbarous tribes, never failed, when acting intuitively
on the principle of doing things in their own way, to produce results truly
reflecting the ideas and feelings with which they were animated. On the
opposite system much of modern art is based; and it is not diflScult to ex-
plain the reason of its utter failure.
To each link of the chain of influences leading from antiquity to the
present time new phases of thought and feeling are found to be succes-
sively hung. A process of development more or less rapid, though some-
times interrupted, is observed ; the past moulding the present, and the
present teeming with the future. Man best fulfils his mission by aiding
this development so far as he can as an individual, the conjunctive eflibrts
of thousands carrying it onward. He is, indeed, a result of the past,
which, so far, is in the present ; but it is to the latter that he peculiarly
belongs. Many things are common to both past and present ; certain
mighty landmarks and man's nature are always the same ; but the
intellectual and social condition of humanity constantly vary. Man may
seek principles in the works of old, and the experience treasured for his
use. But he cannot live really in the past, think just as the ancient
men did, and look at nature with their eyes. With the present some
change always comes. To adopt as a standard and try to revive any
particular past is as anomalous a retrogression as for a man to seek to
live the life and to think the thoughts of his infancy. The stream
of life may be forced, but will not naturally flow out of its proper current.
Although an artist may succeed in representing an undeveloped polity
as clearly as circumstances allow, it is by no means easy to apply an im-
partial test, because the critic must be competent to judge. That is, he
also must be free from undue influences, and roust observe and think
for himself, to comprehend the existing polity, and thus be enabled
to distinguish the appropriate from the inappropriate. Although there
is great difficulty in determining the position of thoughtful productions,
there will be found to be none whatever in considering much of
present art, our architecture especially being based on copyism of archaic
styles.
■ In modern literature, as in art, there are many men who exhibit truth-
ful individuality, and yet their works are far from meeting with universal
acceptation. Nay, they are often less appreciated than the productions of
writers who repeat what has been said, and thus please sympathising
learned readers, who prefer the exposition of the pasttothat of the present.
This non-appreciation of truly original works is attributable to three prin-
cipal reasons, all involving perplexity in applyingthetestexplained. First,
the present undeveloped polity precludes such clearness of expression as
all can understand. Secondly, there is more or less mixture of what is
old and inappropriate with what is new and appropriate, rendering it
extremely difficult to separate the two. Thirdly, many of tlie public are
incompetent to judge an artist's works, not observing and thinking with
him, or looking at nature as he does, but being unduly influenced by ancient
polities. A man may thus think for himself, and fail in obtaining general
sympathy, because his works are only partially and indistinctly reflective
of the actual polity, and are not comprehended by the public Our politr
IB progressing towards full development ; and in approaching this it will
be evident who are the exponents of sentiments most free trma the
tamt of antiquity, most suitable to the present, and most in accord-
ance with that unity which will acquire definiltntsi in adrindne ia
maturity. •
No doubt also there are many thinkers who have floating notions of the
more prominent traits in the polity of the age without being able to eWe
utterance to them either tangibly or verbally. But this will be
comparatively easy when general ideas become settled. Ccasiiie to
be isolated sentiments a reigning style will result, to be further
developed or lost, according to the progress or retrogression of outward
circumstances.
There will now, it is apprehended, be no difflculty in coming to the
conclusion that, when individual thought and observation are exercised
in the sense explained, wliether a polity be develo|)ed or not, art is alwrys
as truthful as is permitted by the state of the people among whom it is
cultivated, taking into consideration correlative circumstances. The
greatness of art depends on the elevation of the civilisation and the
discrimination and talent of the artists.
The artist's mission is evident He has to express the good and tme ia
the polity of his own age. His success is manifestly proportioned to the
degree in which he depicts the existing undercurrent of thought and
feeling, and to the amount of sympathy which he thus excites. If he appeals
to a class only, he narrows his field ; for he should illustrate what is
participable by all the community. To describe such polity, he most
observe minutely and widely, small as well as great things, compare,
discriminate, acquire modes of expression, and, above all, think. It may
be said that he should appeal to all the world and to all time ; but to do
this effectually it would be necessary for him to live out of, as well as in,
his own country and age, and to possess prophetic powers. He can deal
certainly only with the polity of the people to whom he appertains.
Nevertheless, there are many things common to all races and times ; and
these are observable in the works of the greatest men. But observation
and thought must relate chiefly to the present ; for if, in obedience to
sectarian demands, the artist endeavours tn reproduce eflTete modes of
expression he is false to his art ; as his productions are valueless in the
chief requirement of being exponents of the existing polity.
It may, perhaps, be hastily concluded that in the case of an undeveloped
polity the artist is justified in repeating old works, because of the
difficulty in determining what is to be represented, and that in the instance
of a developed polity there is little scope for originality. If either of these
propositions be accepted there is an end to true art ; and it is, therefore,
desirable to explain in what artistic invention consists, thus showing tliat
there is about equal opportunity for it whether or not a polity be
developed, and defining the right use of old types of thought.
In an undeveloped polity such as the present, consisting of a mixtore
of old phases of thought singularly complicated with modem, but not
fully amalgamated with them, an artist will show his originality by fusing
suggestions taken from antiquity with observations deduced from actuu
requirements, so as to elicit results harmonising with the existing state of
things. The true artist uses the works of others as stepping-stones to hit
end, seeking principles and methods of procedure in them ; while the
inferior artist is apt to consider their reproduction as the end itself,
instead of working out fresh developments. Compromises, or mixtures of
the old, chosen in an eclectic spirit, with the new, is a first step in the
delineation of a polity. To eflfect such compromises appropriately requires
much observation and thought, which, when independently exercised,
result in the expression of a man's own ideas or view of things, which, so
far, is original.
Next, in the instance of a developed polity, artists may come to the same
conclusion without copying one another, on account of idiosyncrasies
which exist in the minds of men who think for themselves, no matter
what harmony may prevail. When a universal style is established; it is
always known beforehand what will be the general character of the artist's
production ; but, although he describes only what is/e/< to be in the age,
still he may put the matter in a new light, seen from his own point of
view. Let several persons glance at a landscape : no two arc affected in
precisely the same manner ; but the landscape is still the same. So, in
the case of a developed polity, each true artist's works may be strikingly
original while consonant with a main unity.
Finally, I arrive at the following conclusions:—
1. All artists who observe and think for themselves express their own
ideas and feelings.
2. Artistic works are moulded according to external mfiuences; and
thus the polity of a people at a particular period is reflected in the pro-
ductions of quaUfied artists who observe and think for themselves.
3. The distinctness of expression of such works, and the extent to which
they are understood, depend on the degree in which the concurrent polity
is developed. Their consonance in aim with the works of contemporary
artists also depends on the above circumstance ; in other words, on all
thoughtful artists being free from undue influences, and consequently pro-
ducing homogeneous results. . , „ ,.
4. Progression is estimated according as the artist follows the progrei-
sion in civilisation, and it is manifested : first, in efforts to represent the
polity of the age ; and, secondly, in giving unity and refinement to such
representations. ^ j • ,. ■
.5. Kctrogrcssion consists in a violation of the laws stated, either in
endeavouring to revive the spirit of old works, or in seeking novelty for
its own sake. It is not entirely useless, as it may mark the existence of an
180
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March !, 1861.
nndeveloped polity, teach the law of the expression of polity, and urge to
progression.
6. The present discordancies in thoughtful artists' productions are due
to the undeveloped polity, and to some artists being more independent than
others ; and the variation in the acceptance of such works by the public
is owing to its being similarly situated, and also failing to distinguish the
appropriate from the inappropriate.
7. An artist's rank depends : first, on the elevation of the civilisation ;
■econdly, on his observation, thought, and power of ej:pression ; thirdly,
on his selection of the good and true, instead of the evil and false, and the
manner in which the former are depicted ; fourthly, on his freedom from
undue influences, whether ancient or modern, and his consideration of
(uitability to time and place ; and, fifthly, on the beauty, refinement, and
technical excellence of his works. True inspiration consists in the expo-
tltion of a man's own ideas, and plagiarism in the repetition of those of
other men.
8. When observation and thought are exercised in the sense explained,
art is as truthful in each stage of its development as is permitted by the
concomitant state of humanity, taking all circumstances into con-
sideration. It is great according as the good and true are selected and
treated.
9. While science is concerned with fundamental conceptions, or explana-
tions of the laws of the universe, or the nature of things, the function of
the arts consists in expression, or depiction of the appearances of things.
Their object being the representation of an existing civilisation, they are
not, in many respects, answerable for the right or wrong in external
circumstances, provided the true and good, so far as they are known, are
depicted. A polity may be generally barbarous, and induce corresponding
art, compared with that of other times. Such art may be true, but is not
great; for, to be the latter, something noble and elevating must be
delineated. There may, however, be but little good in the civilisation j
and degraded art is consequent on defects in education, to be reformed by
first influencing public ideas, the reaction telling on artists, who do not
originate, but follow. High or low, good or bad, the value of the Fine Arts
is proportioned to their truthful utterance of the best which a people
possess.
10. Although the Fine Arts are incapable of originating a national move-
ment, their aim being to follow and not to lead, they are, when properly
cultivated and rightly understood, as eminently conducive to the history
of civilisation as to the elevation and refinement of humanity.
EcwAiU) L. TABsncK.
ON THE CHARM OF NATURAL FOLIAGE, AND NATURE A
MUSEUM OF ART DETAIL.
DURING the winter the study may assert its predominance, the mind
attracted by our books, or photographs, or the buildings we
may visit, may for a time be carried away by the grace of the Early
English or the richness and fertility of design of the purer periods of
Benaissance, but when the spring begins to put forth her first flowers, and
the primrose and the snowdrop first begin to gladden the earth again, then
the true lover of nature begins to return to his allegiance, and all his love is
again given to her; and his learning and his books keep only this influence
over him — namely, to guide and instruct him in the necessarily formal and
conventional manner of arranging selections from the countless stores
wbicli fruitful nature lays before him.
This nge will be marked among all ages for many things, but by none
more than by the facilities given to art study, by the periodical and
permanent collections stored up for the instruction of the public, and the
use for more close and practical instruction of the students of all kinds of art
and science; and great is the service rendered by the promoters. All honor
be to their noble and disinterested efforts for the furtherance of art.
Much beautiful and useful result has already come from them. Much
more, as years go on in the constant use of those precious opportunities
may be expected. Combined works of science and art, constructive skill
and artistic beauty are daily being produced. A si)ccial change in archi-
tecture may be noticed as month by month and almost day by day
gradually developing itself— namely, that of buildings constructively built
without disguise, and appropriately, and in the best and most effective
places, adorned with rich and varied carving and sculpture.
By these collections artists are instructed in the history of their art
and in its practical results. By casts of the various architecture and
sculpture from ancient buildings they are doubly taught, what the build-
ings were that were erected in that particular age, and what principles
and manners of work and design were really effective and had the beauti-
ful result which the designers and workmen of those buildings of course
wished to produce.
By collections of casts they also see the defects of those designs, and
where the failings were, for human nature was not then perfect any more
than it is now, and the most skilled artists, either from erroneous principles
or inability to carry out in their perfection principles that in themselves
•were good and true, often fail in all ages to produce the beauty they fain
would.
Museums of casts from old buildings and all executed designs then have
this great advantage, that they show the student, in one building, and
within the reach of immediate comparison, the effect of executed detail in
all styles, whether bad or good ; for, of course, there were bad and good
designs in the Classic, the Romanesque, the Norman, the Early English, the
Decorated, the Perpendicular, the Renaissance, and the Italian, as well as
tb«rc are bad and good designs in the present day. And the collections of
the smaller works of art, such as chimney-pieces, cabinets, chests,
tryptics, plate, and book covers, are in the same manner most useful, they
enable the student to study and judge for himself what modes and prin-
ciples of design and execution are really most effective and best for him to
adopt as his own. And as the casts of details from buildings and the
things themselves, as artistic furniture and fittings, are invaluable as in-
structors to the art student, so are the collections of photographs and
drawings of entire buildings as regards general composition and construc-
tion ; so that in the winter and for those whose occupations and circum-
stances prevent them leaving London and other great cities, there are
brought home, almost to their doors, facsimiles of those wonders of art,
that formerly they must either travel to see, or expend much money on
illustrated books to know. Collections of paintings, sculptures, manufac-
tures, and building materials, are all so many store-houses whence artists
of all kinds, and architects whose art particularly necessitates wide and
extended knowledge, may draw instruction and experience ; but going
through these storehouses of ornamental and practical art and science,
one thing must strike forcibly the merest pleasure seeker and general
observer.
In long studying, and in days passed in studying or copying from the
various works of art so brought from all parts of the world, and con-
centrated in one building round him, one thing must forcibly strike the
artist-student, nature-loving as he in his peculiar nature is. That before
these collections could be got together; before the buildings from which
these treasures come could be enriched with ornament; before those rich
candelabra could be covered with spreading and gracefully curving
leaves ; before the most conventional of Early English foliage could
have its existence ; before the lovely twining ivy leaves and graceful
maple could take their appointed place in the most beautiful of all
the Gothic capitals, the Early Decorated, such as those in the
chapter - house at Southwell Minster ; before the most conventional
of I?erpendicular carving, or the most formal oonventionaUsm of our
earliest Renaissance work, the Elizabethan, or the least conventional
foUage of the earliest Italian Renaissance, such as on tlie lovely gates of
Lorenzo Ghiberti, could be carved in the stone or wood work, or cast in
the bronze ; before the festoons of fruit and flowers could be suspended in
the mouldings and cornices of the later Italian work, as at St. Paul's and
others of Gibbons's celebrated works, and the most Classic and con-
ventionally designed of Italian work, up to the present time, and before
the most conventional and accurate copies of old Gothic foliage
could be placed once more on Gothic capitals, mouldings, or label
terminations, in the first revival of Gothic architecture ; and be-
fore we can now, in the happy revival of truer architectural sculpture
in all styles, than has been seen for many a long year — before I
say any sculptured ornament of any kind, even the most conven-
tional, could be used for any ornamental purpose, either by the
ancestors of the artist family in all ages, or by those of that family
living, thinking, and working now, a museum must have been visited,
open to all nations, never changing during all the changes of all the styles,
always open, always exhibiting something worthy of study, but yet
especially an annual exhibition, with this difference from any other, that
the same things are exhibited year after year, so as to give the oppor-
tunity to the student to study this year what he neglected last ; and yet,
though exhibiting the same things year after year, so that you may know
the names of the things exhibited, and expect their return, yet never
repeating itself in the eyes of those who examine the detail closely. Yes,
this museum must have been visited before the first idea arose that
suggested the first conventional departure from its forms. Yes, this
museum must have been visited, or none of the decorative portions of the
numberless works of art that fill the other museums could have had their
origin.
And this museum is Nature, always open, always free, reopened each
year with a fresh stock — fresh, and yet the same dearly-remembered old
friends, regretted at the close of last year's exhibition, the same, yet ever
new.
Walk through its galleries in every part, those near home and those
abroad, during all the years of your life, copy, select, adapt what yon
will, and yet when you close your career, having adorned countless build-
ings from the vast stores of this museum, countless stores remain ; and
what is my object in pointing out this which all my readers well know ?
— that Nature is the primary source of all we admire and study from so
much in art.
Why do I insist on that which no one denies — that Nature is lovely in her
leaves that will soon begin to bud, in her flowers that even now are sending
forth their pioneers to see if the frost is gone, that they may come forth
and color the earth again. That Nature is lovely in the clinging ivy atid
the fruitful vine—in the lovely briar in the roadside hedge ; tliat about
the country path from spring to autumn are flowers and weeds, in such
wondrous, ever-changing forms, numbers, size, and arrangement ; it is
because there is a greater love of sculpture shown in our churches and other
buildings than there has been for many years, because sculpture is once
more becoming considered not merely accessory to architecture, but neces-
sary to and part of architecture itself ; It is because it is once more being
put in the right and best positions on the buildings where it is used. But
still because, although architectural sculpture is becoming more and more
recognised, and more and more rightly used, yet the foliage does not yet
show that variety of kind, form, and arrangement that naturally follows
the study of natural foliage in its own home, because the carved foliage
still has a conventional, pecuUar character, which savors more of the art-
museums and the study of nature, either second-hand from ancient
March 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
181
examples, from plates in books, or from single leaves plucked and taken
to the work — a good expedient and a necessary, but not enough. Con-
ventionalism there may be and must be of style, from adaptation to pecu-
liar positions, and from circumstance and from design ; but the more in
real accordance with the spirit of the original founders of the style will be
your yielded conventionality, the more, both in accordance with nature
and art, will be your adaptation ; and the more beautiful will be your
design, the more personally and intimately acquainted you are with the
wondrous contents of the Museum that Nature will once more open again
this coming spring for your delight and your instruction. For as.Kuskin
beautifully says : —
All the wide world of veg-etation blooms and bends for yon ; the leaves tremble that
you may bid them bo still under the marble snow ; the thorn and the thistle, which
the earth casts forth as evil, are to you the kindliest servants ; no dying petal nor
drooping tendril is so feeble as to have no help for you ; no robed pride of blossom so
kingly but that it will lay aside Its purple to receive at your hands the pale immor-
tality.
J. H. D.
^
THE BRITISH INSTITUTION.
rthe present Exliibition cannot boast, with respect to its leading
pictures, a more than ordinary success, there is, we are happy to
observe, a decided improvement in the minor works of the present year,
both as regards a more painter-like style of coloring and a more elegant
manner of arrangement. When we say the large pictures have achieved
an ordinary success, it is, perhaps, rather more than they deserve, because,
if the honest truth must be spoken, they are — considering the rank in art
held by the names attached to them — more than usually failures. In one
instance, where the position of the artist does not stand so high as the
otlier, the want is made up by the height of the price demanded for his
production. We will, therefore, commence with an extensive canvas in
the middle room, representing " The Fortress of Masada, on the Red Sea,"
by Mr. Edward Lear. Now, here is a subject which should have stimu-
lated a painter to emulate the poetical train of thought which, under
similar circumstances, would have aroused the imaginative powers of a
Turner ; it is a subject fall of interest, but that interest, being of an his-
torical nature, cannot be suggested by a mere representation of the locality
exactly as it happened to be seen when the view was painted. The fortress
was built by Jonathan Maccabeus in the second century before Christ.
After the destruction of Jerusalem, it was the stronghold of nearly one
thousand Jews, who, when they found the place must yield to the Romans,
destroyed their wives, their children, and finally themselves, so tliat when
the victors entered the place, they found nothing but silence and death.
It has never been inhabited since, and its site has only been identified since
1838. The painter who could sit down and coolly transfer to his canvas
a place so full of exciting interest, and not attempt to elevate it above
topographical illustration for the use of travellers, had better either have
left it unpainted altogether, or have considerably reduced the size of his
picture, and certainly in neither case have demanded five hundred guineas
for it. As it is, we have a vast amount of blank space occupied by the
sandy ascent to the few ruins that remain, a large extent of barren plain
a harshly colored, a part of the Dead Sea, and the distant mountains of
Moab. Now, if the reader will imagine what would be his feelings, if well
informed of the facts connected with the scene, when he stood in silent
contemplation before the reality, he will form some idea of the inability of
the artist to gr.apple with so grand a subject. At the same time, should
there be any doubt on the point, the supposed spectator will perceive the
distraction which really exists in art between mere local truth copied from
nature, and the same scene enriched by historical or poetical reflections in
the mind ; and he will also understand, if not previously well informed on the
subject, the great endeavours of Turner to invest his compositions with the
most strange combinations of color and effect, also with a splendor and a
power equal to the importance the composition, in its highest suggestive-
ness, demanded from his fervid imagination.
It is with regret that our censure must fall on a still more celebrated
name than the above, but as tlie picture sent by Sir Edwin Landseer has
been so generally condemned, we feel less hesitation in expressing our
candid opinion upon its demerits. In the first place, it is a painful subject,
and worse still as regards the taste of the artist. It inflicts unnecessary
pain, inasmuch as it is entire invention, and has no reference whatsoever
to any particular event ; and no doubt the truth is, as has been stated,
that having made a study of a goat bound head and hoofs together to
make a picture of it, a blazing pUe of logs was painted beneath it, wliich
gave it a " local habitation "—a most unpleasant one—" and a name "—a
most improper one ; and so it came to be exhibited as a complete picture.
Sir Edwin Landseer has of late shown an increasing tendency to small
conceits, even in his large and important works, and particularly so in his
great picture exhibited last year at the Royal Academy ; and we have a
continuance of that indulgence in low art, to meet instead of to elevate
the popular feeling, by the introduction of burning embers flying about
the goat and some slicking in his hair, as if, besides being burned alive, it
■was thought necessary to celebrate his roasting by a shower of squibs and
crackers. With respect to the general execution of this unfortunate sub-
ject, the hinder quarters of the animal are very poorly understood, and
the tufts of hair on the lower part of his back are more rugged and solid
than the stems of the burning trees, and much rougher than the bark that
covers them. The pencilling is, therefore, not equally sustained through-
out, and the taste displayed in the accessories is quite on a level with the
feeling that induced the contrivance of the subject.
The animal painters are not successful in this exhibition. Jlr. Ansdell,
although just raised to the highest dignity in art, does not justify his
promotion to an RA. by his picture entitled "Seville." All we Ha <tf
that celebrated city is part of a church in the dirtancc, which. beinTDut
mto angular perspective without our seeing the base line, and oppZ/bY
positive parallelism of the water trough in the foregror,", U^Ji
piece of composition, becaose it disturb, the repose of an unimbwant
iTr^tf %1 P"='.?,'"?.' "°1..«'''" » '■^"''" '"'<' "'^kety appearance to th.
whole. The st.ll-hfe object, are the perfection of illnsiVe painting, b«t
the touchmg of the animals is coarse and unfeeling, if not in kuL
instances medieval or puerile. The gr.,uping is, beside., a cloK-ly-packed
mass of confusion, the painting of the female is hard in the exlreiirtud
the muleteer's face is more like leather than anything else
Mr Duflicid exhibits a large picture of a dead buck, surrounded by
dead birds, which is laborious enough, but although there isplenty of con-
trast between dark and light, there is no unity of effect J- '«"
Of some of the other principal pictures we can speak more faTomblT.
but cannot give them unqualified praise. Mr. Gilbert'., of •• Rembrandt'.
Studio, we think shows more care in the drawing than usual, and tb«
execution upon the whole IS more than usually sustained, but there are
several signs of want of careful consideration and patient elaboration in
many of the important details, a. the heads of the visitors watchinir the
progress of the portrait Rembrandt is suppowd to be painting, b^idn
which, instead of the characteristic repose, the figure., eMcpt the old ladr
sitting, come out too bright and spotty, and as a proof of the want of doe
consideration, the great Dutchman is represented looking most intently at
his model, but according to the direction ol hi. brush he must be at work
on the background near the edge of his canvas. Opposite to thi. is a eood
picture by Mr. Lee Bridell, of " the Villa d'Este, at Tivoli " The lore-
ground consists of a spacious terrace and noble fountain, beyond which are
some dark trees as a powerful contrast to the out-stretching plain illu-
mined by the mid-day sun. The crimson cloak of a cardinal who is about to
descend the steps of the terrace into the garden, attended by monk, and
others, forms a point of positive color as a contrast to the surrounding grey-
ness. This vividness of the red combined with the intense darkness and
solidity of the trees, renders the sky with the sun in the centre so poor in
color by being opposed to the red and pale when compared with the
trees, that it does not accord with the rest of the subject, and hence, although
a very excellent and meritorious production, it Kem. to want both unity and
finish to produce a satisfactory whole.
Mr. Dawson's " Harvest " is, perhaps, a more generally plcaaing picture
but certainly not a decidedly vigorous piece of painting compared
with his former productions. He seems besides devoted to a peculiar
line of clouds, regardless of the sentiment of his subject, and con-
sequently In this picture there is a direct antagonism between the
direction of his clouds, forming an acute angle with the principal line in
his foreground, which disturbs the quietude that ought to reign over a
harvest field. The suhlight on the water in the middle distance is a pretty
point of effect, and the fertile country in the extreme distance form, a
pleasing boundary to the lower part of the subject.
Among the smaller subjects are Mr. F. Goodhall's reduced repetition of
" Felici Ballerin reading Tasso," charmingly painted ; " The Early Sorrow,"
by Mr. Houstan, a young girl grieving over her dead bird, displaying much
feeling and excellent color; Mr. G. Smith's " Baby's Breakfast," admirably
drawn, most carefully painted, and harmoniously arranged, without
exaggeration in the tints. The figure of the child in Mr. S. B. Clarke'.
"Cat's Cradle" is very pretty and natural. There arc a great maoj
pretty faces, and two laughably humorous ones, by Mr. Nicholl, of an
Irish beggar man, and of the same individual when he quietly drinks your
health with the money he got from you, both small pictures, but well
painted in nicely chosen and subdued tints. A larger work, by the same
artist, entitled the " Chiropodist," where the poor patient screams with
pain from the rough treatment of the rude operator— the villagL- cobbler.
There is an over-painted and rather theatrical subject of a country man being
fieeced by Loudon sharpers, but showing considerable ability, by Mr. E.
Barnes, entitled "Rus in Urbe." Mr. lUtchie has bestowed a great deal
of work upon the " Young Chiefs Wedding Day," but not enough for so
complicated a subject; he seems to have lallen into the mistake committed
by Foussin and others in believing that an unsystematic arrangement of
figures would represent a scene of movement or confusion. Mr. Ritchie
certainly errs in good company, but still he does err, for art, like acting, as
laid down by Shakespeare, requires, that even in the torrent and whirl-
wind of passion, a certain calmness; but in the picture before us, there i*
no rest for the attention, and no repose for the eye of the judicious,
and there is not enough close attention to finish in the details to amiue
or astonish the ignorant.
We mentioned at the commencement of this notice that there were Kveral
small pictures, landscapes and figures, showing a decided advance towards
classical and refined treatment. Among them we recollect " Braid's Hill,"
by Mr. C. Marshall, brilliantly and prettily touched ; " Viege," Switrer-
land," by W. N. Hardwick, a very artistic little bit ; " The Anglers," by
E. T. i'arris ; " A Welshman's Home," by J. Mogford ; a sketchy but
clever subject by II. Shirley entitled " Drifting firom Shore " ; a pleasing
and calm study of clear daylight from the Thames near Medmeuham by
W. W. Gosling ; a winding road beneath some fresh and leafy trees which
will improve with age, by J. Adam ; " Near Burham Beeches," a clever
adaptation from the photograph, by G. Sant ; a simple but elegant subject
entitled "The BesonS Makers," by E. Taylor;" "On the Borders of
Ashdowne Forest," rather full of subject, but well painted by T. J. Soper ;
" A Repast in the Hayticld " deserves praise for the eten tone of color by
which so pleasing an eflect is produced, it is from the pencil of T. U.
Cooper ; " Making a Rick," by H. Birtles is generally painted with
182
THE BUILDING NEAVS.
March 1, 1861.
delicacy, but is particularly remarkable for tbe breadth obtained in so
saiall a space by the warm tints blending into tlie warm, and the cool tints
spreading into the cool. There are some bold and broad studies of flowers
bv Mrs. Kimer, two well painted fruit and flower pieces by Miss Stannard,
and a picture or two of similar subjects by Mr. Lance, executed with more
than his usual skill. There are still a great many pictures worthy of
notice which, with those we have enumerated, will afford the visitor to
■this E.xhibition considerable amusement.
FRANCE AND ARCHITECTURE.*
IN our last notice we reviewed the ecclesiastical architecture of France,
both in its richest developments, and in the earlier stages of its
growth, endeavouring to point out the differences that broadly distinguish
different provinces. The only supplementary observation that it may be
desirable to make refers to the vaulting of the earlier churches. Three
systems prevailed in the Romanesque period in France, the most general
l>eing the employment of a waggon-vault over the nave, in which case
either aisles were omitted, an arrangement of frequent occurrence in both
the south-east or Provencal district and the south, or else where they
occurred a kind of semi-vault over the aisle abutted against the springing
of the complete vault of the nave. Mr. Pettit in his very readable and
interesting volume on France considers that this continuous waggon-head
Tault, or as it is sometimes called barrel-roof, has been better carried out
in Auvergne than in any other architectural district.
The second description of vault is one formed of a series of domes, of
which the church at Pcrigord, mentioned in our last, is the typical e.xample.
The third arrangement is that of cross-vaults one over each distinct, com-
partment, such as for example at Poi<;tiers, giving the first step in the
direction that was later pursued by the architects of the North.
These varieties in structure and the equally interesting variations in
moulding and decoration render the early works of the centre and south
of France most attractive and suggestive to the student, and lead us to
hope that a number of the travellers whose visits we are anticipating will
bend their steps in that direction.
If, although in the most cursory manner, we now turn to the domestic
architecture of the middle ages we shall find that the field is in this point
of view also inviting.
Of very early domestic work there are naturally not a large number of
examples left. Cluny retains, perhaps, more good early dwellings than any
other citj'.
In Vcrdier and Cattois, or in de Caumont, very good illustrations of the
dwelling houses of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries are to be found,
and it is a most instructive study to compare them with the church-work
that was going on at the same time.
At Cluny in the north-east, Vauclair near Laon in the centre, St. Gilles
and St. Gaudens in the south, very early examples are to be found, such
in fact as date from the time of Charlemagne or near his epoch. Scattered
through France many remains of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth
centuries still exist, both in the form of isolated dwelling-houses, and in
monastic buildings and castles. Up to the middle of the sixteenth
century the dwellings of the nobles and feudal chiefs, and even many of
the monasteries were fortified; in that century, however, the taste for
laxurious and extended chateaux set in, and a large number of examples
late in detail, nay debased to a great extent in architectural treatment,
might be cited, which notwithstanding, are full of picturesque beauty.
In the smaller country houses of the sixteenth century, we have models
that would suit remarkably well with all modern requirements, and could
with great advantage be made use of here. The Hotel de Cluny and de
Latremouille in Paris, the Hotel de la Bourgtheroulde at Rouen, the Hotel
de Ville at Compiegne, are familiar examples of the style of work we
mean, though to see its thorough adaptation to the purposes of modern
rural architecture, the student must look out for examples in the villages
and small towns through which he passes.
The great castles, such as Vigny, Chamhord, and Blois, are full of
interest, and from the rich fragments of architectural decoration that they
often contain, are, perhaps, of more practical value to the student than
the fortifications of an earlier date. There is, however, great antiquarian
value attached to these fortifications, to none more than to the cM of
Carcassonne, a medieval town rich in the possession of a very picturesque
and singularly irregular cathedral, of the most tortuous, filthy, and narrow
of streets, and of a very perfect and complete wall cncircUng the city,
with towers, battlements, and machicolations, in a very complete state of
preservation. This town supplies a complete illustration of the medieval
system of defence and as such is instructive ; a second most interesting
specimen exists at Villeneuve near Avignon, though the rocky hill sur-
rounded with fortification is in this second instance so much smaller, that
no large number of houses was capable of being included in the precincts
of the enceinte.
Of half-timbered structures, France must have possessed an immense
number, and spite of the ravages of fire, decay, and innovation, a number
of precious examples are left ; it will sufllce to refer to Rouen, Tours,
Caen, and Angers as containing good specimens. There will ordinarily
be found more grace and finish, especially about the dormer windows, the
metal and other finials, and the enriched portions of the fronts than in
the general run of English specimens.
These houses and the larger chateaux with the Hotels de Ville, and other
large buildings continue to interest and instruct long after the period
when Church architecture has begun to decline. Opinions may vary as to
• Concluded from page 130.
whether the French Flamboyant be a more or a less admirable " decline and
fall " than our English Perpendicular, they both arc undoubtedly how-
ever corruptions of the purity and beauty of the style which in both
countries was carried not only to perfection, but past it by the ardour and
skill of the middle-age architects, and it will probably be admitted
willingly that both manners are more fitted for domestic than ecclesiastical
buildings.
Having now in a hasty way pointed to a few of the many rich fields of
study open in France to the English architect, it only remains to redeem
a promise given some Numbers back, and make a few suggestions as to
travel and travelling, of which suggestions part are applicable to all con-
tinental countries, though thrown out especially for the consideration of
travellers in France.
It is useless to say — begin by knowing the language ; but it may not
be equally unnecessary to say resolve to make use of whatever you do
know. It is no use to mind being found out to be a foreigner — however
familiar you are with the language, that is sure to be the case with every
Englishman, and, therefore, if your acquaintance with French be even
very limited, make use of all you know. A Frenchman will never laugh
at your mistakes either before your face or behind your back, and will
have much more pleasure in serving you or assisting you, if you make use
of his mother-tongue ever so imperfectly, than if you show no
acquaintance with it at all.
Respect the views of the people among whom you travel with regard
to the proprieties to be observed in their places of worship, even if you
differ from them in creed. Do not walk about making a great noise, and
laugh and talk at the top of your voice in a church. Avoid needlessly
turning your back on the altar, and if you have a lady with you do not
give her your arm while in a church or cathedral, this is viewed as a
great breach of decorum, and will be in any of the larger churches, pre-
vented by the beadle with more energy tlian you will quite like. \Ve
cannot, lastly, expect or wish that you should kneel with the congregation
during the celebration of the mass, but do not needlessly and conspicu-
ously place yourself in their midst if you cannot share their worship.
Ordinarily there is no" obstacle to sketching in or about any building
in France. If, however, any difilculty occurs, or you wish to see apart of
a cathedral not usually shown, address yourself to one of the higher
clergy, you are sure of a courteous and respectful reception (for students
of the fine arts are better thought of across the water than in this
.country), and of every facility you may require. It is always advisable
to ask to see the sacristy (tresor), as very often this is a part of the building
into which ordinary vi.sitors are not introduced, and in which articles of
the greatest interest, such as illuminated missals, rich vestments or fine
church-plate are preserved.
For the ordinary purposes of an architect as well as any other traveller
"Murray's Guide "is admirable; but any one famiUar with French and
purposing to remain a few days or weeks in one locality or town will do
well to procure a local guidebook. There are few districts of France
that have not been thus illustrated and tliat with accuracy and ability,
and consequently from these handbooks much useful information is to be
obtained. It is, perhaps, needless to add that the more preparation made
beforehand in the way of looking up the authorities that refer to the
district about to be visited, the better will the traveller be prepared to
derive instruction from his trip. Pettit's book contains a very long list
of hooks that might be consulted. Perhaps if a district is to be visited
that has been well described by such a writer as, for example, Morimee, it
might be useful to have the book as a travelling cjmpanion.
Means of travelling in France are plentiful and not dear. The most
luxurious conveyance is the Malle-poste which still runs on a few roads,
and quite equals the speed and dispatch of our old English mails. In
many cases where the rail or river navigation will not serve, the diligence
will be found useful though slow, but where there is a party it is almost as
cheap and far more pleasant to take a voiture, a mode of travelling akia
to that by vctturino in Italy, but much more comfortable.
In any case the less luggage the better, and if you must have baggage
take one good-sized package in preference to two or three smaller ones; the
travellers having one package are always passed through the Custom-house
before others ; the most comfortable outfit is, however, a small knapsack
lightly filled, a plaid cape or over-coat and no other encumbrance.
In any part of France, even in the meanest village, comfortable accom-
modation can be got if the traveller is not fastidious, and above all clean
linen and good cookery ; if lie is desirous of washing with soap he will
find it essential to carry a piece with him, as this necessary is hardly ever
provided at even good hotels and often not forthcoming if asked for.
The traveller in France will find the people vary so much in character as
to give almost the appearance of two races. In all large towns especially in
Paris, they are civil and loquacious and at times courteous, but seldom or
never obliging, kind, or trustworthy, and upon the least provocation are
unbearably insolent, and are always exacting. In the rural districts
though not uncourteous the people are less polished in manner, but they
arc honest, trustworthy, and straightforward ; accordingly with the
Parisians it is necessary to be civil, somewhat patient, and always
on one's guard, and something the same conduct is desirable in all places
much frequented. Off the beaten track a traveller may feel much more
at his ease, and will meet with much real kindness. It will constantly be
necessary on all well frequented roads, and in both the inns and shops of
all large towns to object to the charges made for articles, and unless
this process is gone through, the traveller will not only pay " through the
nose," but be despised into the bargain. We well recollect once cutting
down the charge of one sharp woman of business at a busy inn wX
March I, is6l.
THE BUILDING KV.wa
ViW or TUB DENBIGH HMLWAX STXn^^^^~DM.M
STItEKT.-Msssits, LiOTD W^itLiAas and UNnEHwn,
ifin A or-tii-pr
March 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
185
posting-house from fourteen francs to eight, and paying the money, which
was received with a smile and a courtesy, and many thanks, and the
observation, " Monsieur is, I perceive, accustomed to travel."
On modes of sketching and study some pretty extended observations
were offered some time ago in this Journal,* the only suggestions that we
wish to make, or to repeat here are that it will be found of great advantage
to sketch standing rather than sitting, that a sketching block is of more
service ordinarily than a book, and that it will be of great use, if the
student keeps a concisely written journal with descriptions of the build-
ing that he visits. These descriptions should be of careful exactness,
penned while the impressions are fresh on the mind, and when prac-
ticable gone over by the writer on the building itself or compiled
from notes so gone over or prepared ; in fact any method and every
method ought to be adopted which promises to enable the student
to fix in his memory the things he sees, for, however, valuable sketches
may be, let it be always borne in mind that the best thing for a traveller to
bring back, and in fact the only thing worth travelling for, is not a well
filled portfolio or a complete diary, but a richly stored mind. E. S.
* •
DENBIGH RAILWAY STATION.
THE accompanying view of Denbigh station is from a photograph
recently taken, and before the arches which carry the line were
completed. At present Denbigh is the terminus of the " Vale of Clwydd
Kailway," which joins the Chester and Holyhead at Khyl, but an exten-
sion to Corwen is in course of construction. The station is built of lime-
stone, with limestone quoins, copings, and corbels. The doors, windows,
and chimneys caps being of freestone. The arches are of brick with
limestone facings and abutments.
The architects are Messrs. Lloyd TVilliams and Underwood, Denbigh.
The builders (for station only), Messrs. Burnsley and Sons, Birmingham,
the Company's workmen executing the arches.
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF 1862.
THE arrangement for holding the second International Exhibition of
Industry and Art in 1862 are steadily progressing. A Royal Charter,
incorporating Earl Granville, K.G., the Marquis of Chandos, Mr. Thomas
Baring, M.P., Mr. C. Wentworth DUke, and Mr. Thomas Fairbairn, Com-
missioners tq conduct the Exhibition, has passed the great seal, and it may
be useful to state briefly, for the information of the public, what are
the powers of the Commissioners under that Charter. After reciting the
prayer of the Society of Arts, and constitutingthecomraission, it proceeds to
state that, for the purpose of enabling the Commissioners to carry out the
Exhibition, it is necessary that they should be enabled to borrow the sum
of £250,000 ; this they are empowered to do upon a deed of guarantee being
signed for that amount. The funds raised are to be expended on the
erection of such buildings as may belnecessary, and in the general expenses
attending the enterprise. Of the buildings to be raised, one acre only is
to be of a permanent character, and upon this portion the sum of £50,000
is to be expended in its erection and completion, should the Exhibition be
attended with a profit, in which case the permanent building is to be
vested in the Society of Arts, and used by them for the purposes tending
to promote arts, manufactures, and commerce; but in case of a deficiency
at the close of the Exhibition the Society of Arts is to have power to claim
a lease of the same upon its undertaking to pay to the Commissioners such
sum as the buildings would be likely to realise if taken down; but in case
the Society of Arts shall not claim a lease, then the Commissioners are to
sell the one acre of permanent building, and to convert into money all
properties and effects belonging to them, which can be sold and converted,
particularly all the buildings erected by them for the purposes of the
undertaking.
Sliould there, however, at the close of the Exhibition after the payment
of all liabilities, be a surplus of profit remaining, then the one acre of per-
manent building is to be completed and the land retained for the purposes
of future exhibitions, by the payment of £10,000 to the Royal Commis-
sioners of the Exhibition of 1851, on whose land the Exhibition of 1862 is
to be held, and all further profits are to be applied to such purposes con-
nected with the encouragement of arts, manufactures, and commerce as
shall be determined by the guarantors at a meeting to be called for_^that
purpose.
Such are the general powers of the Commissioners under the Charter,
and the guarantors cannot, therefore, be called upon for contributions
under any condition, except a deficiency remain after every description of
property belonging to the Commissioners has been converted into money.
Since the Charter passed the Great Seal the Commissioners, in a letter
addressed to Sir Thomas Phillips, Chairman of the Society of Arts, state
that they gladly accept a Charter which conveys to them her Majesty's
gracious assurance that she is earnestly desirous to promote the holding
of an International Exhibition of Industry and Art in 1862, and they
being unwilling to lose valuable time have taken such provisional steps as
their position permitted, and have, therefore, considered the more pressing
point, namely, the building required for the Exhibition ; and on Saturday
last it is stated tliat they came to a final decision as to the character of
the building intended to be erected for the Exhibition of 1862, the liability
of the Commissioners in respect of the building being limited to the sum of
£200,000, and so soon as the guarantee deed is signed the Bank of England
will be prepared, from time to time, to advance the necessary funds, ana
Messrs. Kelk and Lucas, the eminent contractors, who sent in jointly
the lowest tender, will proceed with the erection of the building.
* In May and June, 1859, under the heading " A Word to Students and Pupils."
It is also stated that the Commissioners have received the awarance of
the French Government of its support of the Exhibition, accompanied by
a statement that it had been the intention of the Emperor to hold an
International Exhibition in Parit in 1862 had the project not been enter-
tained in England.
The Duke of Newcastle, Secretary of State for the Colonies, haa
addressed a communication to the governors of her Majesty's coloniea,
announcing the intention to hold the Exhibition. In England some of oar
largest manufacturers are already actively engaged in preparing for this
second great world's fair ; and so soon as the Society of Arts shall hare
completed the guarantee deed, the signature of which is progressing moat
rapidly, we may expect to see the building rise, and our great leata of
industry actively engaged in preparing for the competitive display of
industry and art to be exhibited in 1862.
MONUMENTS IN EXETER CATHEDRAL.
TWO military monuments have been dnring the past year erected in Exeter
Cathedral. The larger of tlic two has l»en placed there by the offloem of
the 9th Laneers, who have been quartered at Exeter for some monUa after tbdr
return from India.
The monument, more than 20 feet long and about 5 feet high, is on the north
wall of the nave aisle, consisting of three slabs of veined marUe. The central
of these has three columns of narats, and is commemorative of the oiBceni and
men who have lost their lives during their many years' service in India, particu-
larising those who were killed in action, tliose who died of their wounds, and tboae
who fell from the effects of the clunate. Over this inscription is a lion's bead,
and from it issue slender acanthine branches, on which are hung medals ana
crosses in consistent bronze as won by the raiment. Two stiff palm-trees fn
bronze cover the joining of the central and two side slabs, each of which is occu-
pied by a mounted lancer in metal in high relief. The whole is enclosed hi an
ogee metal frame, and as foreign to the character of an appropriate cathedral
monument as is the arrangement and style of the whole composition. The work
is by Marochetti, and is said to have cost £800. The Exonians arc unanimoos
(whether high church or low) in condemning tlie manner in which their cathe-
dral has been disfigured by this striking and inharmonions specimen of tlie
sculptor's art. To complete the description. In the window above are labels
inserted in tlie old and rather commonplace glazing, with the name* Cawnpore,
Punniar, T)elhi, Sobraon, Shumshurbad, ReUef of Lucknow, Agra, Dude, Chil-
lianwallah, &c.
The other memorial, of more recent erection, by Richardson, is on the yntt
wall of the nave. It is a wall monument, with the u.sual dark patch to isolate
the white marble, which here consists of a tablet with inscription, and an
enriched cernice, supported on two brackets. Above the cornice a lion is seated
(rather playfully, it would seem^ strangling a viper, an idea certainly more
poetic than suited to a Christian church. The memorial is raised oy the
comrades and friends of 448 ofiicers and men of the thirty-second, or Cornwall,
regiment of light infantry, who died in defence oi Lucknow and Cawnpore in
1^7 ; also to the sufferers in the massacre at Cawnpore, 4 ladies, 43 aoldlei*'
wives, and 55 children.
Two banners in folds complete the p}Tamidal obelisk-like form, and between
their points is a lozenge with the number of the regiment, and an ornamental
device. This, though the work of a talented scnlptor, does not certainly
harmonise, as it should do, with the cathedral which it is intended to adorn.
DECORATION IN THE NEW LOUVRE.
THE apartments of the Minister of State in the new portion of the Louvre
have just been inaugurated by a grand /rfe, and it may not be uninteresting
to show the extent to which sculpture, painting, and ornamentation have ben
called in to decorate this new ministerial palace.
The grand salon is a magnificent apartment, both as regards size and decora-
tion ; a bold cornice, supported by pilasters in white and gold, forms a tnae
for the painted ceiling, and supports the arches of four retreating lyiupans,
ornamented with illustrations of the history of the Lou^-re, tbe tteet of the
arches bearing cameos painted in agate tints. The paintings bl this room »" hy
M. Marechal, the younger, aided by M. Louis Duveau, from the designs of »e
former. Over the chimney-piece, which is very massiye and handsoine, U a
semicircular recess containing the presentation of the first project for toe
Louvre to Francis I. PieiTe Lescot, the architect, explains the plan to the King;
Jean Goujon and Paul Ponce Trebati, who contributed so much by their chiseU
to the ornamentation of the edifice, ate standing near the architect ; and the
Duke of Orleans, afterwards Henrj- II., Diana of Poictieis, and aemait Harot
surround the King. In a semi-elliptical compartment on one side of the room is
depicted the presentation of the plan of the Tuileries to CaUienne de Medjcis,
who exhibits her interest in the work by explaining it herself to the membm ot
her suite. Philibert Delorme bends over the plan he h.ns traced, Qerrara FUon
presents a wax model of his Three Graces, and Roosard shows the courHm an
epigram whicli he has just ivritten on his tablets against the arclutect of wbMie
favor he is jealous. In the semicircular penetration opposite to that first
named, is the presentation to Henry IV. of the plan for unit% the I^T* «nf
the Tuileries. In building the long gallery, the object of the lOng M said to have
been to have a covered communication with the exterior of Paris, which then
ended with the Tuileries. The King is giving mstructions to Solly and the
architect Androuet Ducerceau. The other figV^,.»re thrown into two poups,
one dressed m sober and the other in inore bnlhant style-Protestanta and
Catholics. Philippe de Momay is watching with a fixed ^ance "f "'^'f*^
of the Catholic Lords, who seem to be sneenng at t^e "King s tbooghte. TOe
production of tlus picture will, perhaps, remmd those who arranged the inscrip^
tions over the new face of the old Louvre that the name of Henrj IV.
rconspTcuous by its absence; the world is mformed that Napoleon III. united
The LoSlTand the Tuileries, and naturally asks who then built the famous long
eallerv ' In the second semi-elliptical compartment, and completing tbe mna,
is the nrcsentation of the design of the colonnade of the Louvre to Lonis JUV . ;
aro^fhrMtfosty are De Mo\tespan, De la Valliere, »f,™»l^4^*«c^
quis de Puyguilhem, and opposite are the architects Claude Perrault, l-onoe,
Colbert, and the Alarechal de Grammont. . , .,,„.„t
The ceding is covered with some all^oncal horror, whidi b said to tepnaaa
186
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 1, 1861.
Wisdom and Power, svinbolised in Minerra and Hercules, as presiding over the
execution of the grand desiens of the present reign. The Emperor and Empress
are seated on a throne, and the plans and models of the new Louvre are presented
to them by painting, sculpture, architecture, and mechanics ; while the angles
are filled by Neptune, Mars, and Sebastopol, and Europe, Africa, India, and
China, bringing the products of tiieir soil and industry to the universal exhi-
bition ! An immense scroll, in the form of a rainbow and supported by figures of
fame, bears record of the great acts of the reign of Napoleon III.; in short, the
whole ceiling is splashed over with sprawling and curved figures and hetero-
geneous ornaments in the most approved and abominable style of that high art,
which plants tlirones where tliey could not stand and twists gods, goddesses, and
humanity into the most painful contortions.
The ceiling of a smaller room .idjoining is charmingly painted by M. Geudron,
the subjects being a circle of nymplis with their arms interlaced and floating in
di«aniy delight in a liquid sky ; some of the figures appear to be captives, for
they have their arms bound with wreaths of flowers, the effect of the composition
is certainly exquisite. Tills ceiling is framed by a cornice in various tinted
gilding, yellow, red, and green, which is extremelv effective, and forms a fine
contrast to the airiness of the composition on the ceiling.
The ceiling of the dining-room is painted to represent an open sky above a
balustrade, troni which drapery is suspended ; tropical birds are introduced to
give effect to the com|)osition which, however, belongs to a very poor class. The
pajiels of this room are decorated with wild animals, the boar, wolf, stag, and
roc, by the able artist Godefroy Jadin, whose work, however, is too bold, too
good," in fact, for wall decoration : over the panels are lunettes containing
episodes in falconry by the same hand ; at the end of the room is an elliptical
compartment, which is now being filled by a large work also by M. Jadin. This
dining-room is a very noble apartment, and a screen or partition which, when
need«i, shuts it off from the other rooms, executed in ebony and ornamented with
gold arabesque work, is both novel and beautiful.
name ; a name that we regard with respect ; a name that we look up to with Joy.
Yes, I say, a name immortal— that will never die ; no, never untlllthis world of ours
snail have ceased to revolve on its axis, and all this beautiful creation lies buried in
oblivion."
After a few remarks from other members, and the following papers for the three
next meetings being announced by the Secretary, viz.,
Mr. Webster, on *'thc Science of Architecture."
Mr. Sliaw Aitkin, on " The Limits of Truth in Relation to Architecture."
Mr. II. Fisher, on "Chemistry in Relation to liuilding."
The meeting was concluded by a vote of thanks to Mr. Darbyshire for his paper.
MANCHESTER ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION.
A MEETING of the Association was held in the rooms of the Young Men's Chris-
tian Association, 55, George-street, on the evening of Wednesday, February 6th,
the President being in the clwir. Mr. Thomas read the paper for the evening, on the
subject of Timl)cr, which was followed by an animated discussion.
The letter from the Northern Architectural Association, relative to the Architec-
tural Alliance, was then laid before the meeting for consideration.
The meeting was concluded by a vote of thanks to Mr. Thomas for his paper.
The usual meeting of the Association was held on the evening of Wednesday, the
20th inst., at the Young Men's Christian Association rooms, 55, George-street, the
President in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting haWng been read, and the business of the evening,
viz., the ballots for members and nominations for honorary and ordinary mem-
bership, having been transacted, the President called upon Mr. Alfred Darbyshire to
read the paper for the evening, " On the Life and Times of Michel Angelo. "
After a brief review of his early life, alluding to tbe influence on his after career of
his connexion with Lorenzo di Medici, and his celebrated Florentine academy, the
writer remarked "All honor to thee, Lorenzo: by this one institution thou hast
achieved for art what will render thy nameever famous on the scroll of history ! All
thy thoughts and actions were for the benefit of thy fellow-creatures ; but little didst
thou dream that thy gardens were to become the nursery wherein was to be reared
that great and noble spirit— that most precious jewel in the diadem of art. 'Twas
thee who in the plenitude of thy wisdom and generosity stretched forth the helping
and guiding hand to struggling art ; thee who received with open arms those three
Bisters, Literature, Science, and Art, took them by the hand, encouraged them, led
them, made them useful and instrumental as civilising, taught men that by loving
them they would increase their own happiness, elevate and purify their miuds
socially, morally, and rt-tigiously. Yes, 'twas thee who recognised the genius and
noble spirit of the great Buonarroti, aud in those beautiful and classical gardens
took him under thy wing, and gave to the world a man who, " take bim for all in all,
we ne'er shall look upon liis like again."
In considerin*^ Slichel Augelo as a sculptor the essayist made the following ob-
servations—" The light of morning was jiist opening on this delicious art when
Michel Angelo arose and poured upon it the full and dazzling light of noonday.
Oh ! is he not a grand example to us ? He did not approach a block of marble with
the idea of getting his work done as soon as possible and receiving his pay. No, he
thoroughly digested his subject ; made himself complete master of anatomy;
assiduously studied human nature ; gave proof of what was his miud and disposition
in his noble works ; he commenced his undertaking with an ardent love for his art ;
and, as might be expected, his works bore evidence of a great and pious mind, arous-
ing the sympathies, overwhelming with their sublimity and grandeur, teaching some
lesson and awakening the deliglit of an admiring throng."
After expatiating at some length on his wonderful genius as a painter, in the
course of which nis great masterpiece, the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, was
especially described, the author proceeded to discuss the third division of his sub-
ject, viz., Michel Angelo considered as an architect ; and dwelt priucipally on the
part he played in the great drama of the building of St. Peter's, and referred in the
following terms to the alterations and additions subsequently made in this great
fal)ric— "But lo! and behold what grand improvements have taken place since his
time, oh ! tell it not in Gath, the nave has been considerably lengthened, a Latin
cross is now the plan. Ob ! ye wise men and magicians, did ye not sec that this
beautiful addition would cut your fine dome nearly in two halves perspectively ? Did
It not strike ye that your external facade would present very much the appearance
of a man in his nightcap, his head having sunk into his shoulders and finding a
resting-place somewhere in his chest. Oh I foolish and perverse generation, why
have ye done this ?"
After briefly alluding to his poetic mnse, and also contrasting him with the youth-
ful KafTaelle, the writer concluded his paper by saying—" Finally let meexhort you to
take this wonderful man as your example ; I would not say to imitate, but to follow
and admire him. Come, let us, as professional brethren, go and sit by the tomb of
this our great brother ; let ua shed a tear on the old man's grave, and sigh when we
reflect that his noble spirit could not live for ever. Yes, let us reverence and cherish
his memory, and, when times of discouragement and despair come upon us (for
assuredly they will, whether in our every-day life or in our professional walk) then
I say, let us think, for onr comfort and encouragement, that he also was a mortal,
and underwent the same trials and troubles in a pre-eminent degree ; let us cheer
op, for
* Lives of great men all remind us.
We may make our lives sublime ;
And departing leave behind us.
Footprints in the sands of time.'
" Oh ! come, let ut weep upon his urn, and think of the sublimity of bis life, and the
footprints Indelible which he has left behind ; come, let us light our lamps at the
flame of his genius, that perchance we may have our souls illumined by the glare of
that wonderful light.
"Dead, have I said 7 No. not dead— he only sleepeth ; his spirit may liave flown from
Us frail and earthly tabernacle, but be has left behind him a name— an imperishable
THE EXHIBITION BUILDINGS FOR 1862.
APAEAGRAPH in the last number of the Observer, which evidently
proceeds from an official source, settles all the doublings and refutes
the allegations of Sir Joseph Paxton with respect to the structure. There
was time sufficient for responsible contractors to obtain the necessary data
whereon to frame proper estimates; the tenders have been duly sent in,
and the lowest accepted. No one was favored with private, secret, and
prior information, or admitted to an inspection of the drawings before
tenders were advertised for; and the liability of guarantors is limited to
i200,000. Sir Joseph need, therefore, no longer be apprehensive for his
pocket, even if the Commissioners have not already liberated him from
liability by erasing his knightly name from the list of guarantors, which,
if they have any regard for their dignity, they ought to do. Seeing that
the accident at the Crystal Palace resulted from the arcliitcct having
omitted to supply a substitute for the top-weight (on the scheme being
modified) that was to have steadied the structure, people will not regret
that an architect capable of such forgetfulness was not entrusted with
designing and carrying out the forthcoming Exhibition building.
There is some soreness in the architectural profession at not being called
upon to compete for the designs ; but if architects will reflect how loudly
they have complained of the system of public competitions, and con-
demned it because of its occasional abuses, and how some of them went in
deputation to the Premier to protest against the terms of competitions
being adhered to, they will not fail to be convinced tliat it is their own
fault if this opportunity for distinction and reward has been lost to the
profession, and if an officer of Engineers has been preferred over all their
heads. This is the first, and, perhaps, the finishing, blow to Government
competitions — an undoubted evil, against which we have repeatedly warned
the profession.
THE CEMETERIES OF PARIS.
THE extension of the limits of Paris to the fortifications has brought the three
great cemeteries of Pere-Lachaise, Montmartre, and Mont-Parnasse, within
the city boundaries, and thus broken the law which prohibits burials in the in-
terior "of cities; there is little doubt, therefore, that tlie authorities will cause
new cemeteries to be established at a greater distance from the centre of the town
and, probably, on the lines of the railways, radiating from it. Such being the
ease, various propositions are afloat as to the mode of carrying out the burial of
the dead in such a manner as shall present the least difficulty and objection wiUi
regard to the living. The French have the habit of vLsiting the graves of their
relatives, not only on the anniversary of the interment but also on the day after All
Saints' day, which is called liere the f6te of the dead. Each little cliapel erected
over the graves of the more prosperous classes is then opened and tenanted by the
surviving members of the family, who decorate the cold chamber with fresh
chaplels of immorfelle.i or leave on the little solitary altar some memorial of the
lost one or other evidence of the pious pilgrimage. But the most touching scene
is that which occurs in tliat portion of the ground where the poorer classes are
interred, and the spectacle presented by thousands of poor mourners on their
knees on the bare ground, at the foot of the little mounds that cover the remains
of the loved and lost ones, is amongst the most impressive that humanity presents.
It is complained, and justly, that the national sentiment is wounded by the mode
in which the burial of the mass of the people is conducted, the indigent are placed
in the common fosse, where all identity is at once lost, and those next above them
in worldly position, the great body of the working classes, rest in their graves but
a few years and are then removed to make way for new inhabitants ; it is argued
that in a land of equality the place of every human being's sepulchre should be
as sacred as his personal freedom while he moves on the lace of the earth, which
must eventually veil him from mortal eyes. Such a desire is deserving of all
admiration, and the subject has, at present, a better opportunity of being attended
to than upon any former occasion.
It is argued that it would be easy to take advantage of steam to convey the
dead to a distance of ten or fifteen miles from the city, by means of special lines
of railway, to two or three vast cemeteries, for which the poetic name of chavips
lie repoKW chosen, wliich the relatives of the deceased might reach at any time
in the course of half an honr. In these sacred groves the land would be much
cheaper than in the interior of the city, and consequently more space might be
allowed to each grave ; the rich might have their spacious sepulchral gardens and
every human creature, it is argued, might possess his narrow home distinct and
in perpetuity, and liis remains be preserved from the profanation which, under
pre8<Mit circumstjinces, is from time to time unavoidable. This is a question
which certainly possesses as much interest for London as for any other city m
the world, and, therefore, the means suggested cannot but deserve consideration.
In the first place, it is proposed that the existing cemeteries shall be
religiously preserved and embellished by new plantations, but that except in the
family vaults, no fresh interments shall be allowed to take place. The new
cemeteries, it is suggested, should each cover a space nearly as large as the Bois
de Boulogne, or roughly about 200 acres each; these, it is calculated, would
afford spacious burial-ground for at least a century to come. This land, selected
where the value is at the lowest, would, it is said, cost about ,£.300,000, or when
enclosed about fourpence per square yard. The plan is that one-tenth part only
of this land be enclosed at a time, and iliat the wiiole should be planted so that
when the new cemeteries in their turn are fully occupied tliey would be veritable
sacred forests or groves. It is proposed that eiicli person should liave a r'g"' fo
about one square yard and a half, wliicli would give space for 13,000 burials to an
March 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
187
acre, and that in the cose of the poor there should be no charge ; these simple
graves, it is suggested, are merely to be marked with a headstone, bearing a
number which shall correspond with the entry in the register, and in the plans
kept in duplicate at the Mairie of the arondiitsmcnt in which the deceased lived,
and at tlie cemetery itself; and a tree is to be planted at the foot of each, so that
when the ground is all filled, the plantation will also be completed. Those who
desire to erect mortuary stones or monuments over tlie remains of their relatives,
are to pay a single sura of 50 to 100 francs respectively ; while families may
purchase plots of ground from 10 to 100 yards in extent, and surround their
dead with something like the pomp and luxury to which they were accustomed
on earth. The price of these plots is set down at about 20 francs a square yard or
fifty times the cost of the land, and thus cover all expenses, and leave a con-
siderable margin of profit to the municipality. The burials in Paris, as it now
stands, amount to 120 a day, and allowing for the growth of the population, about
six acres a year would supply the necessary space.
Without entering into the details of the scheme, it must be admitted that they
include nothing extravagant, and the plan is conceived in a spirit that does honor
to a Christian people in the age in which we live; the crowded state of the
existing cemeteries demands immediate attention, the extension of the boundaries
forcibly reopens the question, and as the city of Paris is called upon to make a
change in the matter, it is to be hoped that it will do so in such away as to induce
and aJmost to enforce imitation iu other capitals.
THE SURVEY OF DANGEROUS STRUCTURES.
AT the last meeting of the Metropolitan Board of Works, held in the Council-
chamber, Guildhall, on Friday, the Board received a report from the
Building Act and General Purposes Committee on letters from Sir R. Mayne,
Chief Commissioner of Metropolitan Police, relative to the cost of surveying
dangerous structures, and recommending that the following fees be the fees to he
demanded and received by the surveyor appointed by the Metropolitan Com-
missioners of Police and the district surveyors iu the City of London, for the
undermentioned services performed in respect of dangerous structures : —
For making a survey of the structure reported to the Commissioners of Police
of the Metropolis, or to the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London
(as the case may be) as boin'^^ danfrerous, and certifying opinion thereon —
If the structure surveyed do not exceed five squares in area s. d.
and two stories in height 7 ft
If exceeding five B<iuares 10 0
And for every additional story 2 6
The Commissioners' notice not having been complied with, visiting
the structure before tlie hearmg of the case, attending the police
court to give evidence, and obtaining the magistrate's order
against the owner 6 0
The owner having failed to comply witli the magistrate's order,
visiting- the structure before the hearing of the case, attending
the police court to give evidence, and obtaining the magistrate's
order against the occupier 5 0
For every adjournment 2 6
For giving instructions and superintending the erection of shoring
(including needling when requisite) and hoarding to a dangerous
structure, and examining and certifying the contractor's account
for tlie same 10 0
For shoring without lioarding, or hoarding without shoring, and
examining and certifying the account 7 6
After some conversation, the recommendation of the Committee was agreed to
by a majority of 22 to 6.
.^
STATUE OF HAXLAM IN ST. PAUL'S.
THIS statue is to be executed by Mr. Theed. The decision was the
result of a competition to which several sculptors were invited. Some
of these declined at once. Among these were Mr. Foley, R.A., and Mr.
Bell, and probably some ethers. We do not wonder at this as, indeed,
the system of competition for single statues is too onerous on the
sculptors ; also, it is somewhat exceptional. What would six or a dozen
barristers think of an application to them to compete for a brief ? and, to
come closer, portrait painters are not applied to to compete for the execu-
tion of a portrait. Such proceedings are not dictated by a true love of art.
A common excuse for them is that each of a committee for the erection of
a memorial statue may have a friend among the sculptors, wliom he may
wish to do it; and to settle this, a competition is the only resource. This,
however, is by no means the only resource. There is another one, more
ready and more just. We will suppose that no sculptor would be invited
by the committee but sucli as would be capable. Then let them not be
called on to design a dozen or half-a-dozen statues, while only one can be
executed ; but let the ballot decide it without further delay ; or, let their
names be folded and put in a hat, and let the chairman draw one out hap-
hazard, and let the work be entrusted to him thus indicated. We are now
speaking of single portrait-statues in which competition is needless, and to
which its application is too onerous on the profession of sculpture. On large
national occasions, where great variety of design comes into play, competi-
tions are, perhaps, for several reasons, essential, and it may be considered the
duty of every one to join in tliero. But for not douig so, even in these cases,
there may be excuses derived from experience, such as the example afforded
in the misconduct of the well-known competition for the Wellington
Monument in St. Paul's. On this occasion it was required that the designs
were to be made to suit a specified situation, one of the arches between the
nave and aisle ; and lithographed drawings of the arch were issued to en-
force this ; and yet, before the award was made, the authorities had changed
theirmindas to the place, which, as we know now, is to be quite a different
one, and made their selection wholly irrespective of the conditions — and,
moreover, had the hardihood to acknowledge this in the award! Imagi-
nation must be very vivid to conceive anything to surpass this! So there
is an excuse to be found, even for those sculptors who will not compete on '
any occasion. We believe those who decline to compete for single statues
act in accordance with the best interests of the profession. However, on
the present occasion of the Hallam statue competition, the result is better
than it deserves. Mr. Theed will do a good statue, only he ought to have
T
rnbjr
read,
of
had it without liaving to compete for it. Uallam U aa honorable iuuim
among historians, and none will rejoice more than we, to tee a wortbr
statue of him in our great national church.
♦
THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY AND MR. MORRIS'S BOLAR
GREENHOUSE.
II E Royal HorticDitural Society hare already removed their offleet from St
Martin's-place to the new ground* at South Kenelnstoii, wiicre the aicadad
screens and the royal pavilion are in active progRM, wbile the encloMd ana k
the scene of earthworks and transplantations, in coune of rapid aeUerement bv
almost innumerable gardeners, on the basis of Mr. Neafleld'i admirable plan.
Two committee meetiDn took place on the 12th iutant In tfae venr pleaiU«
hall, which, we presume b iatcuded to serve the doable puipaw of a gnnS
entrance on public days and a place of meetini; for the memben— a UM towUeh
it can be instantly accommotUited bv clming some half-doien aiebat with the
new self-coiling shutters. The architectural arrangementa thraagbout, I ' '
appear well calculated to increase the laurels of .Mr. .Sydney Smfrke.
At the Floral Committee the subjoined paper by Mr. Morrii, who b known I
" A House for the Suburbs," " On tlie Constructiou of Gnenhoun," t
and obtained for its author what we consider to be the well-deierved
the body, for there is undeniably great room for improvement in the i
taste of garden structures, and there is a twofold advaatage when taste 1
bined with the development of natural science.
Suggestions on the Conntmction of J'lant Hornet, with a view (p tht Seamtmltalint ^
Solar Heat. ^
Beat being a natural principle or iofluence of the hlghMt iaportuee ia hortt-
cultural pursuits, its consideriitloa become* an object of eommensorate iateieM, hat
it is only of that which is derived f^am the great source of utiire that It U ben
proposed to treat.
The laws of optics by which light is governed arc applicable in nuajr poiata (tod
especially with respect to rellection) to lieat also, and the great defect in the eon-
structiori of many buildings for horticultural purposes, appears to me to have viMea
from the neglect of such tfoverning natural laws.
It is not my int-ention to dispute the yimU it may be primary, importaooe of light
iu buildings of this nature, but to show tliat there is a practicable medium by wQeh
the greatest benefits of heat aud Ught may be assoeiated. Light, however, has beta
so largely insisted on by horticultural writers that the cmplormeat of gUw hie
been carried to the utmost possible limit, plant-houses baring been constroetod as
far as could be, with all the sides and all tht- roof of that materuL
It is my purpose to show that this maximum quantity, so far fhun being neoesMry,
is positively injurious. Light, it must be recollected, is emiDcntlr dtShsirc, to that
as illustrated in the t'antheon at Itome, a single foot of glass is found to iUomlnstc
in an agreeable manner three thousand cubic feet of apace; end the atteaUwi
devoted m modern times to the subject of picture galleries, has enabled arehltcetf to
remove, by a moderate employment of^ glass, shadow froiu every part of the
internal surface of large rooms and galleries, from which aide light ia altogether
excluded.
The late Mr. Loudon, whose acqualntaure with such subjects is well known, states
that every superficial foot of glass is capable of cooling one aud a quarter coble feet
as mauy degrees per laiuutc as the degree of the cxterual atmospbt^re fails short of
that within a building. To make a house, therefore, as 1 hare said abore, with all
the sides and all the roof _of j^lass, is virtually to construct ^a frigidarium, of which
the cooling powers throughout a larjic proportion of the year, can only be orercome
by an immense supply of artificial heat. It must be uuneceasery, therefore, to iaibt
on the value of any plan, by which the admission of light and the retenUoB of beat,
may be to the largest practicable extent demonstrated and secored,
'The optical law of refiection is, that any incidental ray of light ia thrown trom a
refiecting surface at a corresponding angle to its own, bat in the opposite dlreetloa.
It wiU not, therefore, bo dillicult to conceive the pos.'iibility of so placiag opaqoe.
reflecting surfaces (1 do not necessarily contemplate or imply poUsfacd planes or glasa
mirrors) in a building, as to prevent the escape, and throw back Into the interior the
more vivid soutiiern" rays, aud thus to increase the positive amount of light within
such building, and in so far as those refiecting surfaces may l>e formed on a criiolar
system, or with materials unfavorable to the conduction and loss of heat> the eeooo-
misation of that valuable agent will also be efi'ected.
The means by which this great object may be secured are, fortunately, of the moat
simple and inexpensive eliaraoter.
I will suppose, for example, that it is necessary to erect a boose for the reception
of plants in the form of a long parallelogram, whose chief dimension shall ran north
and south. It will be a quo.stion in such a case dependent on the value accorded to a
due east morning light, whether that aspect should be treated on the tnnspereat
light-admitting, or the opaque heat -retaining principle, and this may be 'B'taer
subject to a consideration of other special objects, but it will never, I beliew^bo
disputed that the northern aspect may be treated on the principle of pnterrtag
internal heat, rather than of straining to catch afewextraraysof dlmdiaaslveUgnt
According to this view the north side of apUut-house should alwaya be a w*U.and
when circumstances permit, the eastern side may be a similar construction cltfier
wholly or in part, but the south and the west would inrariably hare a large propor-
tion of glazing. , . ,
It now remains to consider the roof. Taking the general average angle or the mn s
rays throughout the year, together with the necessar)- coodlUons for throwlngjOT
rain, and general convenience, the ordinary pitch of forty-flvc degrera «PP*»"Jfg[J[
suitable, but instead of carrying the ridge of such a roof along the eontrooctae
paraUelogram from north to south, 1 propose to divide the length Into a naniber ot
bays or compartments, such as proportion or other considcraUons may oletel^
These divisions would then be covered each by its own ridre;roof runnlM; ojet eaa
west, with gutters between them in tlic same dir .li rcgaru to uc two
sloping sides of each ridge-roof, I propose to nuke i nth of glasa, tUUCO
the north of a cellular construction which may be Im '..nor witli ccmmon
boarding plain or painted, or it ra.iy beplastcred. covjTia witbtwcelata W«, or
should I higher effect be yet desired, it may be lined with ailrercd gUea, while ex-
ternally of the ordinary covering materials of a mineral non-conducUng character
such as slates and tiles may be employed. „..•., _k«- ti,.. ~.
If a sUght diagram be constructed it will be at once apparent that whoa tfie ray
of light come from the south, and do not form with the borijon a Bfe***/ "?'«'?»?
forty-five degrees, not one single particle of liL'ht is obstracted by « f«>fn»^e nnon
this principl?, while on the other hand, a clear half of the radiating heat-waetlng
surface will be replaced by the non-coudiicling reflector. ^^
The plan, it may be mentioned, is equa'Jy appUcablc to ca.ses in which theto^
line of ?hc n.walle1of.Tam may run east and west but it would not then he necewy
to divide the length into compartments, as the ordmary span-roof, transparent on tae
south and opaque towards the north, would effect the same purpose.
Although the advocacy of a simple, natural, and economic pnBCiplc Is my caig
object, tl?e method of construction wwild not uenerally luterfere w«h»«f~J
decorative features, and in order to ex. = in some moderate degree 1 may
deferentially refer to the accompany^ but a P"TO»f. "^ V^^' " than
that of mere- decoration will have been .i.-. been 'hown that More ri;,ort-
ing to expensive artificial expedients in lu, .u.H^nourto siuronnd »«dnable suiy^s
of^the vw'table kingdom with cliuiates assimilated to then- native regions; mum.
very much, may be accomplished by a fuUer appreciation and more ey^*" f°:
ployment of the simple means placed at our command by the beneficent Autttor oi
Kature.
188
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 1, 1861.
LIVKRPOOL ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY.
THE eleventh meeting: of the thirteenth session of this Society was held at the
Koyal Institution on Wednesday evening', Mr. J. M. Hay presidinf:.
Mr. IWLLT road his paper. "t)n'the EducAtion of the Student, with special
reference to a Diploma," of which the folIowiuR^ is an abstract :—
If I un right in Bnppo6in<:r that educjition and experience are the best instruments
by which a man mar be rendered most litfor tlie honorable practice of ourprofeseion,
it is manifest it is oi the utmost importance that architectural students, upon whom
the future character of the profession depends, fbould be assisted and stimulated to
obtain as much oducation andtxperienceas their intellectual faculties can digest and
assimilate. Now, I think it will be admitted that the few years usually spent in
articles cannot yield anything like the modicum of education and experience
required. In many offices the pupil is restricted to the simple routine of in-door
duties. He squares dimensions, stretches paper, traces drawings, and sometimes
even copies drawing. If he writes neatly he translates the hieroglyphic shorthand
of his master's drait specifications into fair English roundhand ; and, if very pro-
ficientf he makes out the details and working drawings before copying them, or gives
them to some youuger 'prentice hand for that purpose. Jor, seeing that his
drawings are put into execution, tor obtainmg practical and familiar acquaintance
with those materials and workmanship which the specifications, so frequently
reiterated, were to be of the best quality, his opportunities are restricted to the
hours before the office opens and after the office closes. His services in the
office are too valuable to allow of his absence during the business part of the day,
and, therefore, he must away at time mentioned. But In London, for example, the
distances are so great it is almost impossible for the most zealous to accomplish any-
thing in that respect, especially now, when the workmen so generally leave ofi" at
the same time as the office is cloiicd, or even earlier. There only remains then the
time before office hours commence, and for six months In the year this is a negative
quantity. Even in Liverpool, though it be a pigmy to the great metropolis, it is very
difficult for any architectural student to visit works in progress under his master's
supervision, and from the drawings and specifications with which the youn^- man is
most familiar, and where, therefore, he can watch the development of the building with
most advantage to himself. To the student of any profession it seems as if a com-
petitive examination would be very valuable, especially if he be an earnest, hard-
working student, desirous of being really qualified to discharge the duties of that
profession. Without an examination the results of his assiduous study are known
only to himself and a very limited circle of friends, who, under ordinary circum-
stances, are unable to give him that opportunity which is too often confounded with
genius. An examination gives a national opportunity, once in the life of every
student, upon which he can show how far he has availed himself of the opportunities
already granted him ; and his diploma gives him a natural introduction to the confi-
dence of those who otherwise might adopt the usual course of seeking some well-
known and long- established practitioner. That such an introduction is generally
felt to be essential seems proved by the wide-spread support which is given
to what is called architectural competition, but which would usually
be more correctly designated as architectural swindling, in which the pro-
fession are usually the first victims, and the building committee the next. Young
architects rush into these so-called competitions like young esquires eager to win
their first spars. If they succeed the prize becomes their diploma; and whether
employed as architect or not, that amount of success is trumpeted forth in all
directions as a claim for confidence. We, alas ! know such a claim is frequently most
fallacious. We know that the design which, on paper, may delude the building com-
mittee, may be universally condemned in execution. We also know that a young
architect may be very competent to make an excellent sketch design, who is quite
incompetent to reduce it to practice, and therefore we know that a diploma such as
this is apt to prove a delusion and a snare. And why ? Because the attempt is made
to test by examination precisely those qualities which do not admit ot being so
determined. In a design on paper the salient features embody those subtle elements
of art which, as before suggested, elude any other test than that of experience. Yet
such is the inconsistency of men, those who object to a competitive examination
because the element of art cannot bo eliminated by that process, actually counte-
nance, if they do not support, so-called architectural competitions, the essence of
which is that very element of art wbicbf we all agree, is of a nature too subtile for
such a test.
The I'REsiDEWT said he had much pleasure in tendering'the thanks ol the Society
to Mr. Boult for his interesting paper. It was a subject on which considerable
difference of opinion existed.
Mr. Howard had not the slightest objection to every professional man being
educated to the highest point ; but what he objected to was subjecting any man to
the examination which Mr. lioult proposes to place in London. Who were to be
the judges ? Who was to decide upon the principles of architectural taste and Rkill ?
He had no objection to the examination of bnilders, if that was meant. Mr. Boult
had alluded to public competitions for beat designs. What were public competitions
for ? Simply to starve the artists -to get the design at the lowest price, and then to
put it into the hands of a builder— to cheat the architect of the percentage he was en-
titled to— (No, no). That was the "eneral result. Besides, if the proposed plan were
adopted, students would be " coached "' and " crammed " to enable them to pass the
examination. But in these days of liberalism and free trade, and all that sort of
thing, he did protest against fetters being put on anybody.
AMehbeb stated that in a part of Germany the system of competitive examina-
ions was carried out successfully.
Mr. John Hay agreed with Mr. Howard that it was impossible to bring any man
to a test on a point of art, as art ; but it was quite possible to reduce a man practising
as an architect to the multiplication table.
Mr. Howard.— And make him a builder.
Mr. Hay thought it was important for every man professing to be an architect to
know the mathematical quantities and proportions that were requisite in forming an
estimate for a building. These were qualitications upon which every student who
was not a thorough coward or an ingnoramus would wish to be examined. The So-
ciety were much Indebted to Mr. Boult for bringing before the student members
the expediency and desirability of acceding at once to a system of examination.
Mr. C'allihan repelled the idea that the students were cowards if they declined
an examination when they could sec no benefit in it. He thought it was the duty
of an architect to teach his articled pupils their business ; and if that were done
the indentures would be the best diploma. Some of the greatest buildings in
ancient and modem times were designed and erected by men who were never even
articled
Mr. Hl'giieb wished to know whether the examination would be compulsory or
Toluntary.
The rRESiDEjex. —Ultimately it would be compulsory.
Mr. Heffeh supported the idea that the Indenture should be the diploma;
and suggested that the master should give his student a certificate, sUtiug his
proficiency.
Mr. Bout-T replied generally to the arguments adduced against the scheme ot
examinations. That there were student members who would shrink from the
examination he did believe ; but the student members of this Society had no occasion
at all to dread an examination. Articled pupils were too often kept to the drudgery
of the office; and tlierefon- it was necessary to introduce some remedy, so as to
compel gentlemen to whom young men were articled to give them a belter education
and fit them to obtain a diploma. Sir. Howard had a peculiar propensity for putting
up obsteclcs to knock them down a^ain. He (Mr Boult) said nothing about com-
pulsory residence In London or a self-elected board. If the student mc^mbers would
MR. E. B. LAMB ON ARCHITECTURAL PROGRESSION.
ON Tuesday evening a lecture was delivered at the Architectural I'hotographic
Exhibition, Conduit- street, Regent-street (Mr. G. Godwin in the chair), ou
"Architectural Progression," by Mr. E. B. Lamb. The Lecturer said—
IT will scarcely be necessary, in the few observations I am about to make upon Archi-
tectural Progression, to occupy your time in any speculation as to the origin of
the art. We must all admit a bcfjinning, and that by the successive wants oi man
the progressive development of the useful in building, eventually merged into the
ornamental when luxury, ease, and affluence increased. That these developments
were by slow degrees must be conceded; but what kind of architecture existed
before the full blown art of the Egyptians or other early nations it is now hardly
possible to conceive, but that that art came at once from the Druidical, Celtic, or
Cyclopean, and the means of producing It, with all its elaboration of ornament, not
only in wealth, but in implements, cannot be credited. The fact is as difficult to
propound and date as that of the fossil state of organic nature. Sweeping, there-
fore, the whole vast periods of time and space of all the tUhris that can have little
real existence, except in a fertile imagination, we come to that period which is gene-
rally acknowledged to be the earliest prototype of the art of succeeding ages, so far
at least as any regular system was carried out. That a systematic mode of procedure
was adopted the evidence of existing remains amply testifies.
The characteristic progression of architecture may be traced in the diagram
exhibited, but this must not be taken as applied to all architecture, but only as the
accepted development of the art.
Previous to about 2,000 years before the Christian era, probably all those buildings
with any really artistic character were marked by the horizontal lines of the com-
position—then we may fairly arrive at the Egyptian period— at least, so far as most
authorities allow ; but such remote periods are dlflicult to date, nor do I consider it
necessary now to go into that question— 2,000 years is time enough for our present pur-
pose ; and when we look at the great gap in comparison with the presumed date of the
next progressive change, about 600 years B.C., there appears a large amount of some-
thing wanting. The whole character of the Egj'ptian art is horizontal, flat, and
spreading. The Grecian, in its fully developed form, inchning to a gradual rise, yet
horizontal in principle, but less spreading. In the next division, the Roman, the
progress is more clearly and naturally defined ; then follows the greater upward
tendency of the forms, and greater mixture of curves. The succeeding period of the
Basilican forms multiplied groups, but bearing still further rising tendency. And
so on we may trace the progressive development of our art, through the Lombardic
and Norman periods, to the time of the general introduction of the pointed arch in its
full luxuriance which seemed to create a further and almost unsatiablc desire for
loftiness in all the parts of a structure. At first, by the acute arches, and then by
the lofty spires, these continued in varied detail till the close of the fifteenth century.
In the sixteenth century architecture, at least in the public and religious edifices,
commenced a downward and retrogressive pr(^e69, for in this case, retrogression
was a state of progress, a movement, an advance, but not in the same healthy condition
as science ana manufactures. First the Italian art became a fashion, in this country
at least, and its forms were gradually infused into the previous types of art in its
earliest stages in such a degree that it ninalgamated consistently, harmoniously, and
picturesquely. Somewhat later its forms were blended so as to create that interesting
period of art called Renaissance, but unsettled and changed even as the capricious-
nessofman. At this time Gothic art was fast going into disuse, and high gables
gave place to pediments. Windows were denuded of their muUious, and the
lintel usurped the position of the arch. Till the beginning of the nineteenth
century all architecture was esteemed bad that did not partake of some
of the leading features of the Athenian art. Thus we may fairly say
from the sixteenth to the end of the eighteenth century the forms again went
back to early types and independent design was entirely ignored— but what shall he
say of the short period of the revival of architecture?— the art of the nineteenth
century. If we put the buildings of that time into a diagram, the hues indicate a most
fantastic succession of forms ; and if we inquu*e into the state of the art, how little
shall we find that can deserve to be called original or characteristic of the times or
its customs ! Unlike all preceding periods, there has been no mark shown to identify it
with the vast discoveries, researches, and learning which in all other arts has pointed
out the nineteenth century as a period of wonder, and, in proportion to other periods,
of centuries! Yet, how fares architecture in the Hst? With all the great amount of
knowledge in art from the remotest corners of the earth, we have been so crammed
with styles that we have had no time to merge from the period when architecture was
one style— even in its transition— but we have apphed the thoughts of others to our
edifices, howevfr inconsistent, until we have, at the present time, such a jumble of
architecture that every new building in a new position becomes a blot — even though
it may possess every architectural merit ; it is either so obtrusive as to oITend us by
destroying all harmonious combination with other works, or so faint and finnikin as
to be obliterated by its juxtaposition with a building of totally opposite character.
Having run through, in a very hasty and imperfect manner, some of the leading
lines of the progression of architecture and the succession of the various styles. T
propose pointing out, as well as my feeble powers will allow me, the uses to which
the Architectural Photographic Association have applied their powers, prefacing
these trite observations by a conBideration of the art of photography, and the advi-
sabihty of Its application by architects or artists as a means uf study. Photography
as applied to architecture, should be used as a means of knowledge of art in all
countries, by which we could test artistic skill and the power of producing those
effiectB which have rendered the works of remote ages famous in all periods and to
the present time; the means of giving power to the critic, to the antiquary and the
amateur. 1% should be the grammar of thought, and the mode of preserving the
records of antiquity. As aids to the restoration of great works of art ; as decorations
in the drawibg-room or study, or stores for the portfolio ; as a means of infusing
general knowledge in art, and humanising the ignorant, photography is invaluable.
In how many other ways this great discovery may be applied for the universal
benefit it is im possible to say. To the student in architecture in many ways photo-
graphy is inV'Aluable, yet should be used with caution. The young student, if he
acquires the airt of manipulation, in too many instances, I fear a more important
branch of the airt would be neglected. My own experience tells me that photography
is too frequently substituted for sketching— where the pencil was formerly most
active, now the .photograph is most sought for and obtained— but such substitution
will be to the dijtriment of free sketching, as well as useful study; for there can
be no doubt thiit the most perfect way of acquiring a knowledge of forms is by
the exercise ofithe mind through the pencil. Nice points, delicate touches,
and brilliant ciTedts are only to be accjuired by the analyzation of details, and such
analyzation is njioBt perfectly rendered by a greater or less degree oi facility in
sketching ; too rtmch stress cannot be laid upon this very important braucii of our
art, the neglect 6f whicli, in former times, has been the cause of many a dry, tame,
fiat, and mouoto^ious composition.
Architecture i.s not a mere mechanical science of line and rule, which many persona
consider it: the flaws of the orders, the laws of the styles, and the trammels of pre-
cedent will ueitjiier make a good arcliitect nor a great critic. A V"owledgc of all art
and a ready meiiins of transmitting its forms to paper is essential to the student
The inquiry inrfo the causes of the great efforts by thr master minds, even now, Iresh
through the lajjse of ages, should form the text of his studies. From these works, he
should learn td) think, to actiuire a power of divesting past works of all superfluous
matter, so as, jat length, to clutch at the great principle which causes these works to
be so deeply icnpn-ssed on tlie memory of time. To many critics too. if^I ^a>'^'7<^"-
'■■"" "' ' If. ■ ■■* - - ' " " '
turc to trenclji on tliclr ground, a. like means of study would enable them to dress
their reviews in more suitable attire. We should hear less of dojfmatical authority,
less of ridiciilous comparisons, and less llkenini; vast forms to trumpery' iileas—
there might be more of reason and less of ribaldry. The sound critic wields a lash
, which cuts, more deeply than anything the mere pretender can assert, who
The paper at tlie next meeting will be by Mr. Robert Uawlinson, entitled " JJotej cloaks his ienorance under insignificant comparisons. We all smart under the
ArcbJiectural and on Sanitary Queetione." ' lash, at tl/ines but the world gains nothing unless the wound 1« deep, aim
cootlnue to consider this quention in a candid spirit, they would find that the result
of the ayiu-m could not but be beneficial to the profession, as well as to themselves
indlridiiaUy.
"■ attlienex „ ^
I Sanitary Questions.'
March 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
I
upon the priiicmie of llic siicrifice of one for tlio o-ain of mauv we slionl,!
^ ank'/IJ^^nn,. n'"" " ■""■" «'"'''^""'"t<"-y "Otin. arising from "rJju'diror party
is alike unwortliv the censor and unjust to tlie artist. I speak strongly on these
matters as I would desire to niace o.ir art on the hi^Oust pinnacle of e „ nence and
woudtaketrora It, If possibio, all those grovelling' notfcns"Xieh ever keen it^n
leading strin-s. For tfcis reason too I speak ofphi.lngra hy Arc! lt"ts buy nhoto
Sn^'wUh y„"ur peneS'"''''"''^''"" ' """""^ yo..r''sto'res'; but dlve"/„''to"tL'' ptt
Send to oblivion the battle of the styles by the development of new ideas
on-endered only by the exigencies of present tluie and circunslanecT Fo?
;;.lPwil?r' f„^ '"." ^"I",' "■"''"' "V"' P""' '« »™>' '•'bj""t« aTarl" displayed ««
these walls; inquire here the cause of the admiration we bestow upon I lem whv
they were designed in such forms, and why, when thev had attalnLfftlie V^^'ith „^
perfection, thejf declined and merged into oiheri whichf in tirel?tu™' passed ?hi^^^
a similar ordeal, and so on in all past periods of art I'assta iiirougB
ceased' "ifloft 'iK^^.e^'V!!''' °*' '" .'"'t'' • " ^'^'^"- ""<' flourished, it declined and
S^mrif the ™"st[.\itrn'ol"l^^;rnt%l'ait'"'''""'' ""'"^''"''"' '""' '•'' '<"■'-•'»"'
andtf 'w? evam)ne"ti'?;. nil'','''''"' V' """ J'-'^^'ibitions of the Association in these rooms-
the ^^sTamounf o? ii^ftfr^iM^"!''"; T i''" "'*'"• " ""'•= mvestlgation will show us
tne^asD amount ot information laid before you. Each neriod of art Is a atnHvnf
S?W,',»ri!.rlJ'h"r"-r.,°f/'"'"'' ■"»"•"••"- ^-"l oonstructfon "n uS ty'Ut Sniy l/its
uiduidual parts, but with the surrounding scenery and its neighbour nff edifices Tn
anTflrmne^s. llZlliuTr. ''!,'' ^''"r^'^T^K^''"''^ """^ «> ""Ite with certainly
auunrmness. How the lengthened blocks of stone harmonise with the low flat
wLlert&rnd" '^{?,?w' ir .""S"""^™''" 1""'« W^d with the ilatgroi"nd-«pSn
will fh r,,'^*'?' .-.1, "."'? ';""P''" squareness of the contrasting fornis still a<Jree
S'> ,1^ I'^l "' tlie niatenal and the mode of construction ; witfi what deep rcSose
who^ wtk ?orXre 's"a"d^,';""" ?'"''««,'"«.")">*,' i" the simpk 'dignSt? oFthI
«0l^inTnIp^/^s'^^^n^."a^n;,%^^irTv\Ven"?t''Sge1,^'^
"Awestruck,
n .„in i,» V J ,. ■*"'' "^ ^'"' P"*' w worship."
lines nf .if ''"'''■ """""''"'"™'>'« "«•« of the same great form as the general
haraionvn^r.^P"""?'' ?■" ^POi'"-* part of the gen-eral design in whkh the
nni^milnet^o^kf""'*"""'"".' """^ material arc so admirably ble^nded ; there wag
si^nlarwKe ?nL°L" "?'',''"?, "PP^r^S style; the whole was almost painfulty
Mine nn !v nf^^i"J^-"r'"' '" "'" ''"''^ "^ "^""t ''■om the surface of the ground the
tesrer d^ t«^ls fi,"°"P''= '^^ preserved ; and what varietv is presented to us is in thi
effect fn 1 v^ • tv l,n',°!;,' 0"".' ','"" J*?'.""'-., ^''>'-'»'^ ""o"! '^''""ble illustrations of
Rniirfi.S^f.i. '^'^ "'..'^'"''' *"" retaining the same relationship. The immense
Id mir^m^L, .rTV""""" i""".""' ■almo9t^ndestructible materiii^ create a w"nde?
overiw.^ 'P,'" ''ow and why, and by wkat means, such gigantic works were
CTidene^nf .heH?",' °° ?<"■", airfed here, as in all other nations, but tlTere is ^"S
SL"wt'd''e'rf1,?rsThr t'o'cSIII'e. '""'^ ""^ ""''"^"=°*^ '" "^^'^^ "■"" "''"
Indi-,n'n'',t''!l'i?i!l?'"=^i''*'"''H!K™'"''' I <^'">°ot P«98 unnoticed the photographs of
zmalALmrin/'-;,''''''''''''''''? '"''•. ^"'"^ """•"''"» specimens of tfc art the ho,?-
?h?n on Sw Jn"/ "" ■ <=on'Po«ti.on is most remarkablcTthe exceeding elaboration of
closfatten ,*^n H "^^^^ may SO Call it. of the design dese"v?s
€ Xratelv orn,™ nf''?*'"?'"''""""^ compositions of the Hindus, their^varied and
fii Ihel^^^r^sof .,e^1™''""w?'Jf'''^"''^ remarkable difference in the construction
cnllimnl nf?!l- the various Hindu nations, the rock-cut temples, with their massv
.s"LartaDd IWe ;%n''T1 "'"' f'-V'l"™")' beau"'"' design. Hitherto we have h"d no
Si bStfrom I,enhA/°"'f°'^ measure these works, and present them to us in
by a studv n?«,^> i^.°'P"™J'y'' '°,""^ ■"<""" '"' evident that much might be gained
tfie h^,^,.ie . "'.e'r detail, not for the purpose of reproduction, but as sJir^estions for
to ntrnrt ,„" """ P!"^'"'-e?T'e. The field is still open, and, as there is Z^muciiae,Yrl
t?atl^^ the .reMf"*?"' ' t™'' ^ ""^y "avc many subjects froni Indhi fully nSs-
havc nrodneed , rf, r'' »'V Yell as the principles' of composition by which they
mTre I'omXv ^ vocXlary""'' P'^'^^^l"'-- '^'^O'S^'- '^''"-^y "'« ">»rks of stud/i
wWcT. t^i'e'' fo1-mer*''ct"''J'°" ^J°™ ""^ Egyptian to Grecian, when the purpose for
SianJies w™eeIMe „'^rn'',tr'"'r^^^^^ was passed, was one of new foVms and
S'art" andtlM.v».f il„ ""^^"'f '^°'" development of the presumed next period
my task"n tl. s nlacAZ ""1 "J"'' "ow wipe from the world of architecture rSers
a neonle^n.n n.iPJ somewhat unsatisfactory ; that, in the various ramiflcations of
?hCf in addl tan rt'he"?^.^er 'o^elu/den cause, who may have taken with
ftTo «,...„? .i" I- ^ implements of industry, some of the recolleeliona n<
required to fi!Tn?he'biank'h'/"''y ultimately, io traced a seriesT traSn"
onh^ The rreef.i"''"?". '":'""'"» "'« Kgyptiau character in its broad Sdples
absoiutlfeatarethai'ean be'^'ii 'f ^™ ""<» " '""."''"" development, posSeTim
d?Sl"enee bX"i^n'th'e Ft"n,i'n'and'i- "[" ""{P'^ "'"strat^e. One ^rcmarkaWe
w?ieLaTi"cW?nSl ihos'^T the /.'i'"?" noticeable, that the Egjiptian colunms
KXSlf-^-^nli^aan'^Kra^^alS^
l„ri,;,l'^»-".^"' ™""t™etion. During Ihis period of the relgi, of .i?t^Vbecame creatlv
from he J™^*!'"";?" ""''', '"^ considered the great transition per od-a Kngone-
ar^hJ „ P'^,""'' complete form of the Greeks to the full development of tl^
styt \hc {.'asll cTs'^fo'?™ ^"' K:!"'" '^'^'T"^' '">"' ""= fabcatedtrth" curved
Bty ( . I ut basilicas form some of the most interes ng specimcDS of the tranailin.,
and for variety of form and simplicity of construction aVord useful studies of the
necessary progress occasioned by the different progressive chan"49 and reo Semen*
?hl?^;iJ"tV'°r?'"" f"™" '""' "'="«'■"' "P^'r" tendency of the arch tectureot
this period, the features were becoming small and complicated, the coKs aud e^-
^ 189
Norman art, several 8ne",„"n»X°hfci; 7^ 'l7*^'"'"jJ?'^'''"*J° ">« Loii,b«r<Ue i^
to lofty bulding irfullv rievHo.?,! 1^ .T''''™"'1L'''J''**''- ""^ l>i«r«Me<J t«i<I«ne,
es.me/n outline^a^d rlcl^ne s liTt lVl7e«'^'^^^^ ■""'"'' .'A*' ^ ^•
and profitable study renders th« «a of tlicw period* • pfSSat
time this tendency re.chc/ii„ l"g|K" t ^i^,,%T:rV, L'^?'"'^' ° T*"™ '» * "«»*
art from the earliest protofy es iSe maJ^v,. v",. .?"^ '5''. t"!","' ''''^'•lopaait of
fragile structures of^ the fourt'ee itranrt lo-'"^ '"" *?'' '"« ".'•''" ""'' "Piorently
colnmns of the latter period?^ Kd, T-ch i, in m S^i^Ii ,VT:. .""■. <^^^-M
changes of society, the different L-rnS.Mnn- 1 ' w? ""' ""* ^''^'' ''^ "*• »«rk«i«
ject, appears to have nSct^ S^S .h!?,?r„^ r.'j.'"'' *"" P??' ''"">•" ""'"« f* «»>-
brougfi to maturH^one onts attemf..^.rf h?' '' i*"' P*?"' «™"''' ""'' i-ultiv*ted ind
descent much thanvas r^de "oarae .lm^?e''r„H ""* '" thl. long gen..loa*S
refined and cultivated by science an"a'D«S?M;ir .T''''" L'" "* •'••''••SmBmo
descent to these times it is eqiiaUy wort?.^f rem.r'J ';7"T'r^"^'- , '? thi. mda.!
of the materials of construction was Jnallv In Z^ """ ".'; ■■>^'"""» '■> 9«e lUe
detestable Perpendicular • has a greater general fend?ncv to TerticSt. ■ In hSSi
the genera outlines -are less pointed than in tl™prSinVMri<3 The'.lil^
zeS tlf^'of'T'^'' tendency still more striklngly'^forS^^f. 1-hc .e»entintbf?S
zenith of the Kenalssance period, deserves a few words from the drni^^nM
den vr?„^&h''',?°'^^'"='^'*l'""""' "o""" detail, and th?» tiSjn . ^??^~
dently required by the circumstances of the period: it is a step townrda onr owl.
time, when the advance of the manufactures', and the lncrea»& M^rt? rf^
?™heat';on'of";t\"^^'"*'''.'"""," necessary.'and when culMv'a'ted ~p^.r.toB^'
f^tilrl- of the native materials, a progrcssl.m in tine art. Hero, then we dS^d
iL^'^i r"""" '^r-'^"'" "f '^™'- fl"' bv the Italian portleoea, and endeicT to^?
fhfSoH^rv'^'''''' V°'^"°"'^^d duringtfie eighteenth'century, ml""ng"he ro^^
sudvof the.,^"?/^"^.'".?*^'"'.""^^"'''' ^""" "» '■'"■■e'y different mod^ liS
ViLZf "'?"rt. Up to the sixteenth century. In all nations, architecture wJa
^d rfe£., A""' °^ necessity, and the improvements arising from the wants of mw'
tries «,.«„?dJ^S'^K'^"' m previous times. Knowledge of the works of other ooSI-
JrLm J^ f ^%u '¥ "■"' f™™ aitliors not nreviously known, ami the desSc to
wnr^^^f ^'"V""'^ '■"'''5 "'"^ "? prineiples, reJucecl us to the practice of copyta«p»rt
» en^LlH"'""!!*^;/'"'' overwhefming us with precedent, whiih ultimately "ntroS Jced
a confused application of all known art, as the caprices or prejudices dictated to the
nreiSSlT."' """y "^ ^""^"iS """^ harmony'^ of forn!: At the p "sent time
fv^tf^V ll ''"P^e our better judgment, and Instead of studying Oe
rin mtif hi* P?-' *'. Si0Tl<>m examples of mind for cmuUaioS. In
do little better than transplant a window, a gable, a tower, or serie*
of mouldings from ancient authority, and consider we are giving Ihat^^
of fine art to the nineteenth century, with all the proud distinctions of pVevloua eru
i 'nose times the transitions were natural, and even linked in harnionious bond*
with two distinct periods. At the present time there is no fault In deficiency of
knowledge of what has gone before ; there Is no fault in the power of delineating anr
subject ; there is no fault in constructive knowledge and mechanical skill, vetthere
18 a lault somewhere. We have the same means, the same ground, the same will
and infinitely greater studies for reflection and analyiation, but our ener<nes have
been too much directed to the emulation of other styles of art, without previously
studying the principles by which those marvellous works were produced. The time
19, however, fast approaching when modem art will so far be retraspeclivc u to
leave the shackles of precedent, except so far as to yield to a natural and progreMire
transition which will blend the ancient and modern In such manner as was tbe
natural progress of former periods. There will be fewer combinations in our atrecti,
which look like architectural plenipotentiaries jostling together In the same oomt,
the representatives of opposite nations, tastes, and habits.
On the motion of the Chair.man, a vote of thanks was passed to the lecturer ;
and a similar compliment having been paid to the Chairman, the meeting separated.
..^ —
THE PRIZES AT THE AKCHITECTDKAL MrSEl'M.
rpHE prizes offered to artist-workmen for modelling, wood carving, colored decor*-
J. tion, &c., will be presented to the successful competitors in the Theatre of the
.South Kensington Sluseum, at eight o'clock on Wednesday evening next, by tbe
President of the Architectural Museum. Art-workmen .-ind others who may de«lre
to be present may obtain cards of admission by letter to the Honorary Secretary,
Mr. Joseph Clarke, at 1.% Stratford-place, lixford-stri-et.
The Metropolitan Underground RailuMy. — In coDseqiicncc of the
progress of this railway along Praed-strect to the £d)(ware-road, from the
terminus adjoining the Great Western Railway Hotel, directions have been eiven
to Messrs. Pullen, Home, and Co. to sell several houses in Chapcl-street, Liason-
grove. Upon these Ijeiug cleared away, a direct communication will be formed
throughout the whole lengtJi of the line from Paddington to King's-cross, for
the operations of the navvies in the construction of the archway over the railway.
much lower than any other portion of the line, and tor the formation of the level
the ground has to be raised. This is now being carried on towards tlie Sessions-
house, there having been several feet of carln deposited on the surface. The
earth is brought in carts from the mounds at the end of the Hampstead-road,
wliicli used to form the reservoir for the water of the New River Company, and
whicli is now of no use to the company, in consequence of there being lO many
better-constructed reservoirs at Harapstead, Homsoy, and other places.
190
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 1, 1861.
OUR ARTISTS IN STAINED GLASS.
THE art of painting on glass has been greatly stimulated in England by the
fashion of erecting memorial windows. A tablet on the church wall too
freqoently disfigures the interior of the chureli, and fortunately we know now
what constitutes disfigurement in an ecclesiastical building. A painted window
i< almost as durable a record, and is a cenuine ornament to the whole ot the
edifice. We have outlived the times when a fragment of " warm gules " was
looked upon as a badge of the scarlet lady, when every portrayed angel was
considered a fallen one, and when no cherub was thought orthodox who could
either kneel or sit downi. Even the Evangelical pai-ty in the English Churcli are
drifting towards the prevailing fashion, and, pro\ided the cross and the nimbus be
banished, they do not think it altogether irreconcileable witli the severity of their
religious practice. The Dissenters may also in time see the folly of abjuring a
lieautiful means of decoration, and that a window bearing representations of
Christian emblems and Christian saints, through which the sunlight daily shines,
difiusing a caliu and solemn tone throughout a building, may remind the con-
gregation more forcibly of a departed fellow-worshipper than a slab of marble,
with black letters and border, and incised with heathen urns, scythes, hour-
glasses, and sculls. Besides, the glass memorial benefits the living at the same
time tliat it bears tribute to the virtues of the dead, and helps to restore our
churches to their olden splendor. That the practice of erecting memorial
windows is vastly on the mcrease is evident by the activity which prevails in
every studio devoted to it. We have recently paid a visit to two or three of
them, and have found that the practice we have alluded to has also to a great
extent improved the quality of the work. It is all, of course, due, in the first
instance, to the revival of Gothic art ; but " memorial windows " are one of the
aids which Gothic art has created to urge on our designers to nobler work and to
deeper studv than thev would otherwise have been able to aftbrd. The labor of
years in collecting money for windows is condensed immeasurably by the piety
and common sense of individuals, and as our glass painters reap the advantage,
they are forced to fit themselves for it. Thus, also, the experience which would
otherwise be spread over many years, is collected into a few months, and the art
is permanently and rapidly advanced.
Our glass-painters have of course each their peculiar style, consequent upon
their early studies and their own individual tastes. In some studios the ill-
sbapen deformities of the medievalists are scrupulously imitated ; in others the
" natural" style prevails; in some the artist's attention has been more especially
directed to the harmonies of color ; in others, again, color has been made a minor
consideration to good drawing and religious sentiment. All, however, show a
marked improvement over the work which was executed but a few years ago.
We lately visited, by invitation, the back garden of Mr. Charles Gibbs, 148,
Marylebone-road, which has been temporarily walled and roofed in, to display
the glories of a window, 12 feet wide and 20 feet high, about to be erected in the
chancel of All Saints' Church, Hastings, to the memory of Earl Waldegrave. It
represents the Crucifixion, with the ever-present Magdalen at the foot of the
Cross, the faintmg Virgin, St. Peter, St. James, and holy women on one side,
whilst the other is occupied by a theatrically dressed figure of a Roman soldier
dipping a sponge — which in those days it appears was formed like a modem mop
— into the vinegar plate. There is beside him a companion, drawn from the same
authority and with equal power and propriety of costume, holding a spear, ready
to pierce the Saviour's fide. On the right-hand side St. John is seen hiding his
face; a couple of kneeling women and some of Christ's disciples are behind. In
the background the City of Jerusalem, with its well-known Gothic castles,
Towers of Babel, and stupendous domes is portrayed in pale and purple, against
the crude blue sky so often seen in Eastern climates. There has been, the artist
unnecessarily informed us, no desire to imitate or copy Overbeck. Originality
has been the aim, and it certainly has been achieved. TTie eyes of the group are
not, as is generally the case, directed towards the suffering Saviour, but they are
di^KKed in different directions, to accord with the painter's point of view. The
nimbus is banished from every head except our Lord's. This is, we think, a
slight mistake, because it necessitates a guide to point out the saints, and they
would have given a solemn character to the scene, which it is now rather deficient
in. There is however, instead, a gorgeous display of brilliant color upon the
tunic of the Roman soldier ; upon it Mr. Gibbs has lavished all the resources of
his art ; the labor which has been devoted to it must have been immense, and
renders it, we think, the most striking portion of the picture. There is no con-
ventionality about the work. The figures are drawn (seemingly from lay figures)
as well, evidently, as Mr. Gibbs can draw them, and he has drawn on all his
knowledge for the costumes and architecture of the period. Neither is altogether
correct; but the congregation in a country church will not know that, and they
will the more readily recognise the different features on account of their similarity
to cheap and familiar illu^t^ations of Diblical history. There is, most decidedly,
nothing in this window to " offend the most sensitive Protestant."
In the studio of Messrs. Heaton and Butler we find works of a very different
character to that which Mr. Gibbs produces ; and the contrast of styles
which they relatively exhibit may be rendered instructive. It would be even
more so if their works could be displayed in juxtaposition. Each studio has its
peculiarity — that of the latter may be seen by our notice of the artist's greatest
work ; that of the former seems to us in perfect harmony with the test ofniodern
Gothic architecture. It occupies the same position with respect to old glass as
our modem churches occupy when compared with the old buildings which have
been studied to produce them. The extreme richness of color is occasionally
wanting; but, to compensate for this, they show better drawing, a complete
unity of design, and the religious sentiment of our Reformed English Church.
Every inch of the glass has been studied carefully, and every line is rightly placed.
There is Gothic character without any Gothic ugliness or distortion, and a good
arrangement of the figures, canopies, emblems and other adjuncts which the old
painters never equalled, much less surpassed. The beautiful disposition of the
drapery is another quality in Messrs. Heaton and Butler's glass. In a four-light
window in Wolston Church, near Coventry, the four Evangelists are seated. The
group in each opening is almost precisely the same— a seated figure holding a
scroll, with two apostles standing behind under a canopy ; but sufficient variety
is introduced by the skilful management and the contrasting linesof the drapery.
In the memorial window recently erected to the late Archdeacon Spooner, in St.
Michael's Church, Coventry, Messrs. Heaton and Butler again show the freedom
with which the drapery in their figures is drawn. This example contains eight
distinct groups in the four openings. The lower four groups are taken from the
New Testament, and the corresponding subjects above are the foreshadows of
them in the earlier history. For iuitance, in tlie first opening we have the
Birth of Christ, by whom the law was fulfilled, and, above it, Moses with the
Tables of the Law ; in the second opening, the Baptism, and, above it, the
Smiting of the Rock by Jloses; in the third, the Saviour at the Well, and, above
it, the Passage of the Red Sea ; in the fourth, the Sacrament of the Last Supper
and, above it, the Feast of Manna. The design of the canopies in tlus window
are in the best Medieval manner, not mere copies of ancient examples, but the
production of a man evidently imbued with the spirit of the old Gothic art and
capable of giving it fitting utterance. In a fourth window, designed for St.
James's Church,"Dover, the composition is confined to the three central lights,
whilst the two side openings contain figures of the Evangelists to a smaller scale,
to give prominence to the principal group. All the accessories — the canopies,
foliage, and foliated branches evince the same amount of excellence as the figures.
There is nothing trivial nor commonplace in any of the wimlows. The diaperings
of the background are wrought witli the same care and bear the marks of the
same good taste as any other portion of the window.
In Slessrs. Heaton and Butlei-'s show-room in Marylebone-road, a fine window
in three lights is exhibited. It is about to be erected at Abington, Northamp-
tonshire. In the centre is Salvator Mundi, with St. Paul and St. Peter on
either side of Him. They are all standing under well-designed canopies with a
diapered blue background to the central light, and diapered purple to the
outside ones.
We likewise had the pleasure of inspecting there a scries of full-sized colored
studies from different plants and flowers, which showed plainly the " authorities"
to wluch these artists went for their work. The rose, the butter-cup, the
daisy, the passion-flower, and even the liranches of common sea-weed were
pressed into their service, and subjected to the influence of artistic power.
The general excellence which characterises Messrs. Heaton and Butler's glass
shines likewise through that of Messrs. Clayton and Bell. There is in it the
same appreciation of the value of good drapery lines, a hke facility of design, the
same true Gothic spirit pervading every part of it ; but we have recently,
in noticing St. Michael's Church, refiirred sufliciently to it, and we pass on to
the studio of anotlier very successful glass-painting firm— the Messra. O'Connor,
of Berners-street. In our description of All Saints' Chureh, Margaret-street,
about two years ago, we mentioned the beautiful specimens of grisaille which
these gentlemen had inserted in the clerestory windows there. We are glad to
see, now that in the higher branch of the art they are not less successful, and that
the Old College Chapel at Eton, amongst many other buildings, has been enriched
by them. Twelve windows there have already been filled, and the remaining two
will shortly he finished. The general design of the windows^represents a brief
consecutive history of the chief characters in the Old and New Testaments.
Entering from the antechapel, looking eastward, the first window on the north
side contauis figures of Adam and Noah, with badges of the Royal Tudor Arms
in the side compartments. The second window contains figures of Abraham and
Isaac, with subjects connected with the history of both of them. The third
window contains figures of Jacob and Joseph, with badges at the sides. The
fourth has Moses and Aarou, with subjects illustrative of their acts. Then
returnmg to the south side of the chapel next the arch, the first window contains
figures of Joshua and Samuel, with badges at the sides; the second, David and
Solomon, with subjects; the third Ilezekiah and Josiah, with badges; the fourth,
Elijah and Daniel, with subjects. This completes the Old Te<itament series, and
and underneath them runs the following text :— " Hi omnes testimonio Fidel
probati, iion accipernnt repromissionem, Deo pro nobis melius aliquid providente,
ut non sine nobis consummarentur."— Hebr. xi., 39, 40. Turning again to
the north side, over the door, in the fifth window, the New Testament
history begins with a group of angels — as at the Saviour's birth —
with a scroll inscribed " Gloria in altissimis Deo," and above it the Angel of
Peace with " Pax in terra," whilst at the sides are angels with musical instru-
ments. The sixth window contains figures of the Saviour and St. John the
Baptist, with subjects from our Lord's early life. The seventh window has
figures of St. Mark and St. Luke, the Evangelist, and sacred monograms occupy
the side openings, 'f he eighth, ninth, and the east windows are the production
of Mr. Williment. They represent our Lord's Baptism and the Transfiguration,
the Crucifixion and the Ascension, with the Apostles at the sides, and the Last
Supper and the Resurrection. In the tenth window (by .Messrs. O'Connor) we
see the figures of St. Paul and St. Barnabas, with sacred monograms. The
eleventh window is occupied with the Blessed Virgui and Holy Child, with
subjects taken from her history. Above are three groups of the other Manes-
Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus, Mary at the Sepulchre, and our Lord appear-
ing to Mary Magdalene. The twelfth window, over the organ, contains a group
of angels singing Hallelujah, and the Archangel of the Resurrection. It wiU
thus be seen that every other window only is occupied with subjects connected
with the figures; the others, to prevent the chapel being rendered too dark,
having figures only in the central light, and in the side ones badges on grisaille.
Each figure is enclosed in a canopy, and stands on a pedestal. The figures are
drawn with remarkable power. There is less, perhaps, of the olden Gothic spirit
in them than in the figures of Jlessrs. Heaton and Butler and Clayton and Bell,
but they are not the less artistically and accurately portrayed, and the coloring
seems to us richer. There is also a degree of grandeur in them which we do not
recollect to have seen before in any modern glass-painting. The same distin-
guishing characteristics run through all the Messrs. O'Connor's works in the
memorial window at Binfield to the wife of Charles Parker, Esq. ; in the group
of Dorcas distributing alms, erected at Westbury-on-Trym, near Bristol ; and in
the Faith, Hope, and Charity, which are the leading features in another of these
artists' windows. The principal works upon which they are now engaged are —
first, the east window of the Memorial Church at Lucknow, having representa-
tions of our Lord in Glory in the centre, lud of the Resurrection and Ascension
at the sides ; and secondly, tlie window to he erected to the memory of the late
DukeofRichmondatBoxgrove,byhis Sussex tenants. It will refer, by judiciously
chosen subjects, to the two pursuits to which the Duke devoted hiinself, arms
and agriculture. These will fill the side lights. The central light will be filled
by three illustrations of the principal events in our Lord's life, the Nativity, the
Crucifixion, and the Ascension. On the right will be three subjects from the
Parables of the Sower— referring to "Him who is the Word," the Good
Samaritan, referring to Him "who was wounded for our sakes," and the Tares,
referring to "the gathering of Christ's people." On the left are three types of
victory— first, that of Gideon over the Midianites ; second, Abraham's Victory
of Faith ; and third, the Victory of Joshua over the Amalekites. The concep-
tion of the window is excellent, and we have no doubt, from the specimens and
the cartoons which we have seen in Messrs. O'Connor's studio, that it will be as
ably executed.
March 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
191
HEREFOKU CATHEDIt,lL UESTOUATION.
UNDER the able directiou of Oilbert 8cott, Esq., arcliitect, tliis work is pro-
ceedinjt satisfactorily, and recent portionti exhibit a iiiarlied iinprovemeiit in
taste and style. Unavoidable delays have occurred (the longest of whieli wa.i for
a period of eip;ht years, expiring in that of 18.W), owing to the usual difficulty,
scarcity of funds ; still, the whole is proceeding satisfactorily, and if it does not
harmonise in every particular, owing to the variety of architects employed upon
it, the contemplated restoration will embrace the entire structure. At present
very little progress is perceptible, but it is expected that shortly the trifling
monetary difticulties will be overcome, and the exertions of the worthy dean, who
takes a great interest in the work, will be rewarded.
Hereford Cathedral may be said to present a history of Anglican Church
Architecture initself, having, by addition from time to time, assumed so many varie-
ties of style, each succeeding architect completing in the style of his own perio'd the
work left unfinished by liis predecessors. Founded in &i'), by Milfrid, as a Church
of Secular Canons, it was subjected to repeated depredations of the Welsh, and
dedicated as a Cathedral in 1110. In 1131-48 the first north transept was biult,
and .soon after the year 1200, the first central tower, and another over the west
end. In 13'20 the central tower was enlarged to its present dimensions, whieli
was surmounted by a spire rising <J-i feet above the battlements. In i;S10 the
north transept was enlarged to its present size, and in 1327 Jolianna de Bohun,
Countess of Ilereford, bequeathed a large property, which was expended in the
erection of a chapel and crypt, as also an additional transept south of the choir,
these extensions being in the Decorated English style. The chapels of Bishops
Stanbury and Audley, chapter-house, vicar's college, and cloisters in the Per-
pendicular style; the porch of Bishop Booth was erected early in the sixteenth
century.
The most important part of the restoration have been the pillars of the central
tower. In consequence of the decay of the former piers, they were promptly re-
placed, or perhaps the whole fabric would have become but a mass of ruins. The
weight of the tower is 8,000 tons, the masonry having been nearly all replaced iu
the piers ; the arches being 08 feet in height from floor-level, and to the painted
ceiling of the belfry floor it is 96 feet. The tower (above the arches) is sustained
by 53 columns ; it contains ten bells which are not used, being out of repair. To
give a general idea of the extent of the restoration contemplated, it will be neces-
sary to mention the dimensions of the princinal portions of the structure. The
total exterior length is 344 feet; interior, 325 feet; length of nave, 130 feet;
length of great transept, 147 feet; length of smaller ditto, 109 feet; length of
lady chapel, 93 feet; breadth of nave and aisles, 74 feet ; breadth of nave, 38
feet ; breadth of lady chapel, 24 feet ; breadth of tower (exterior), 43 feet ; breadth
of tower (interior), 31 feet; height of nave and choir, 70 feet ; height of lantern,
96 feet; height ol tower to battlements, 141 feet; height of tower to top of
pinnacles, 100 feet. The expense of Mr. Wyatt's repairs in 1788-97 was about
£20,000 ; of this £7,000 wassubscribed at the lime, and £13,000 now nearly, if not
quite cleared off, charged on the cathedral estates. Mr. Cottingham's repairs
executed under the auspices of the late Dean, cost very nearly £27,000, which
was mainly contributed by the Bishop (Musgrave), Dean and Chapter, clergy,
and gentry of Herefordshire. A further amount of £17,000 was estimated to com-
plete the prevent stage of the restoration.
The most remarkable objects of interest in Hereford Cathedral are the monu-
mental brasses, the brazen lectern which was exhibited in the Great Exhibition of
1851, the altar-screen, the choir, which is one of the finest specimens of Norman
arehUecture extant, and executed under Bishop Lozing in the reign of William
the Conqueror ; the south transept, south aisle or ambulatory of the choir, the
vaulted entrance to the present chapter-house, are supposed to have been the
work of Athelstan. The old organ built by Renatus Harris, in 1686, is still
correct in tone, though weak in power and somewhat indistinct, exhibiting
unmistakable .symptoms of internal decay ; it stands under the northern arch
nearest the choir, is nearly covered with Elizabethan panelling and moulding,
and surmounted by a canopy.
The stones on the exterior of the cathedral, i.e., on those portions which have
not yet been restored, seem to break otf in flakes, as if they had not been laid in
the natural course of their strata. Those used in the restoration under Messi-s.
Wyatt and Cottingham, as also at present under Mr. Gilbert Scott, are procured
from Caplar Quari-y, near Fawley.
0
S^.S'^'"^;*^''',"*^ OK THE NORTH WING OF THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
N limrsday last, about half-past seven, p.m., during one of the fearful gusts of
.i "'".J''"''" which then swept the country, some men in the carpenters' room, in
the north wh:;; of the Palace, heard a little crashing of (flass and iron, and im-
mediately ran out on to the terrace garden. In another minute, with an appallin"-
crash, the huge tower fell over among some trees, and lay smashed into millions of
Iragnicnts. In the course of two or three minutes more the rest of the wino- went
by thn-ty or forty yards at a time, till a total length of about 110 yards strewed the
larll), a mere mass of splinters of glass, wood, and iron. Anything more complete
than the destruction it would be difficult to imagine. A tremendous explosion could
not possibly have shattered the place more effectually. The woodwork is all iu small
jiieces, the cast-irou columns are broken up like glass, and the tie- rods twisted and
torn into every shape, l-ortunately, there was nothing in this wing but the empty
pens used at the late poultry show and a number of garden-seats. As far as can be
judged, It would seem that the corner column, nearest the railway must have had to
sustain the thrust exercised upon it by the other columns yielding to the force of the
gale. As the wind came in gusts, it fs supposed that the tower must have oscillated
to Buch a degree as to force the comer column, on which the main strain came, out of
its perpendicular, when, of course, it snapped at once, and the tower, thus deprived
of its mam support, tell instantly before the next blast. The 8trcn<'th of either of
these wings, however, is not to be compared with the enormous strength and com-
pactness with which the main building is put together, iu which not a sinele pane of
glass has been broken. The cost of rebuilding the north wing, it is stated would not
amoimt to more than ,^0,000. '
Pebpection of Art in Watch Manufactures.—" The stranger in London
cannot fail to bo struck with the magnificent establishments of goldsmiths with
which the City abounds. Such displays as are presented to the eye are rarely to be
met with in any other city in the world, indeed whole fortunes arc concentrated in
their windows. Foremost among such establishments is that of Mr. Jtensou, :« and
.34, Ludgate-hill. which may truly be called the home of art. Everything exhibits
the most perfect taste ; and while the beautiful is thus cherished, the useful is also
carefully studied. Mr. ISenson lias gained a high position for the superior maou--
facture and artistic designs of his watches especially."— Cid/ Press.
Benson's Illustrated Pamphlet, post free for two stamps, is descriptive of every
construction of watch now made. Watches safe by post to all parts of the globe --
RO^AI, IN.STITl TE OK HItlTISIl Al(( IIITECT.S.
/-vW >f '','"'^"'*'',»fK'"'«;-AWABD OP MKI1AI.M AMI (ITIIKH I'KIZtd.
0 tutenf {tHH^-'i "r' """"■'"' ^''^""f*',;"!'^!"!.' of the meinliern of the Uoyal Ia«U
tuteof llrilisl
street, "To take h
to tile award of tin-
year isfio, and the
was held iu thu rooms, '.i. ( .)ndult-^lre. t. Itegent-
:<in the rfcommeud»llon ol the < ouneil with rtupeet
1. the med»l« and other l'ri/i~otiUe Institute for tlio
K.M •. 1. r ,',■■ ^^"■'""""ndations with reference t.j th. medal, for the year
1M,1. Irofessor Donaldson, V p., occupied thechiiir
,.,1" '"^™''''""<;<-' *'<h 'he reeomiiiend«lion» of the Council, the foUowimr «w«rd«
were (we are informed) made:-ThB Royal Gold Medal for tha yw l&u. w«»
ireliltecte, Paris, Honorary and CorreopoudtoK Member: lb.- -mi .t. i-irV? i*T,„
"'.^""^".ws awiirded toMr. Walter I'AUm, for hi- I |
.^eientitic Institution i the Students' ..Second Prize In Ito. ;
n. (arpeiitcr for his Design for the same .ubjcct. P. i ,
.skefcheB, the J irst Prize In liooks and Mr. Hansard's IT ...... r
l'...I.rARVF.H; andaPriieof Merit toMr. WALTr.itl'Ai;! Mr >. i
sketches w;ere considered worthy of roenlion.-Thc r.. .i-.muu.Ju- ',^
agreed to "■'^''"■'"'^ ^ UioKoydf and other Medal* for the year i««,W«»re.d uiid
Mr""? "if w^S'""^^,,"""'','''^"*' ""^ '"»«'"»« will be held on Monday cent. wh. n
"\t th. .;,JI° .^^^ will read a paper "On Koraane«inc Art In the South of Fr..:
rVaibrsirGifrZ-r^wliar""'' ' "*'*""' "'''"«»"= *«"'«««"" " «■ '
A Manual of Monumental Braasei ; coiiiprUlny an Introduction to Iha
Study of the.^c Memoruiln, and a List of thoti- Tumaining in the British
Isles. With 200 Illustrations. By Oie Rev. Hebbkbi Hainb8 U.A.
O.xford and London : J. H. and J. Parker, 1861. ' '
^PHIS is a work intended to servo as a collection, within one single Tolume of
-L those many descriptions of monumental lirai>s<s. which have of late jitt»
been published by individual autiquaries, and by the several local architecttml
societies. The writer observes of this cla«8 of memorial of the dead, that it is
now almost peculiar to this country, and certainly It is highly desirable they
should not perish, for to say nothing of the arcliltectural value of monamenui
brasses, the recent study of them has been of immeose service to our historical
painters and sculptors; consequently, all will feel interested in such a wo^ a*
Mr. Haines's. Tiiere can be little doubt that these monumental brasses ttammit
to our times faithful representations of the costume of our ancestors; that tile
material in which they are executed, as it is at the same time both valuable and
portable, has oft'ered and still offers too attractive a spoil for the thief or tbe
fanatic— witness tlie many slabs of stone all over England, that bear matrice* of
the rich brasses, which have been torn out of tlicin : a collection of engiaTinga of
these memorials is therefore not only interesting to the arcliseologist, butlt is
exceedingly valuable, as a record more enduring than will be the brasses them-
selves. When such things, to apply the words of an old writer, " decay, wear
out, are defaced, unfixed, are returned to the founder, or sold to the tinker,"
they may all be preserved on a sheet of paper — a veritable vwnumeHtum ten
pcrennius.
Such a record, then, will be Mr. Haines's book. It consists of two parts:'*
an Introduction to the Study of Monumental Brasses, and a List of examples
remaining in these islands, "each part designed to illustrate the otlier, and the
whole to form, in moderate compass, a complete history" of these memorials.
The introduction, or first part of the work, extends oyer 3().3 pages, and is
beautifully illustrated with wood engravings by Messrs. Orlando Jewitt and
R. B. Utting. It is copiously annotated ; and treats of the origin of braaae* of
their different kinds, foreign and British, directions to artists of hrasses, palimp->
sests, restored and duplicate brasses ; tlieir several varieties of coetome and in-
signia, inscriptions with their contractions, their several ecclesiastical emblems
and heraldic devices, arms of the London companies, artists' and inerchanta'
marks, rebuses, &:c. ; a distinction of the medieval periods and of the several
classes of these monuinents,— priestly, military, and civilian; the last-mentioned
class again subdivided into bra.sscs representing ladies and children ^ and tlie
letter-press throughout the Manual copiously interspersed with highly interesting
extracts from old records, relating to the subject oi the work.
The second part ol the work comprises a list of existing ancient brasses, alpiia-
betically arranged under the heading of their respective counties (in England)
with a list of modern brasses, ending with a most complete index of family names,
that will doubtless make Mr, Haines's Manual a popular.dictionary on tlie
subject.
Many of the examples engraved are extremely elegant; and goreiyftrtft
prove that, our medieval foretathers were possessed of far better slull in delioM
ting the human form, drapery, &c., than many writers on art are disposed toglre
them credit for. We warmly recommend Mr. Haines's work as creditable to the
publishers, Messrs. Parker, aud a valuable addition to our architectural
literature.
A Treatise on Gunpowder-proqf Locks, Gmipowdtr-proqf Loek-chamberi,
Drill-proof Safes, f-c, S;c., ^c. By Gk i.'.oE Pricb. _ 8vo. London:
Spon. 1860.
ALTHOUGH written mainly with tie view of proving the u- - and
locks to be the best manufactored, really imparts some cxtr. .ing
information. A lock to be gunpowder-proof, as may be readily ..„.,s.- ■■, must
contain no cavities to serve for the deposit of any considerable quantity of powder.
There are many of this description, more or less perfect, in existence, and their
construction and defects are described at some length, including the author's n«
plus ultra. Locks by Bramah, Tucker, Milner, Xettlefold, Cottenll,and Chubb,
arc illustrated and explained, and what the author considers to be tlieir defects
are pointed out. , , , . . r jt .u.
AVe also find a description of burglars' methods of opening iron safes and tb*
various means adopted to prevent them. Tlie burglars' drilling madiine is favored
with a page illustration, showing the mode of apphing it. The Pri""I»^'3*
which Mr. Price's locks and safes are constructed certainly appear to Be good.
How much better they are than those by rival makers we must leave others to
determine ; at any rate, we niay advise all to whom absolute security is desirable
to obtain the pamphlet, which cannot fell to convey a verv sufficient amoimt oi
information for its moderate cost.
192
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 1, 1861.
STONK PRESERVATIOX A'EUSTJS STONE PAINTING.
SiB _i am jfiad to find that gome one has had the conrag;c to protest agiainst the
tamp^in;; with the specimens of induration on the river front of the New Palace at
As stated at the meeting? at the Koyal Institute of British Architects, the Govcm-
nient has granted such portions of tlic bulldinjf that certain inventors might fairly
submit to a reliable test the efficacy of their processes, leaving it to time to prove
either their several successes or ftilurcs. ^ . , .,. ^ , , ^ ,,
1 also oan boar testimouy with your correspondent to the brushing and other means
nsed to remove the appearance of decay fron» the surface of the stone said to be
indurat*>d.
If the attention of our First Commissioner were direeted to the importance of this
enbject through your influential pages, doubtless some means would be adopt«d for
arrestin^'^ this system of deception, otherwise how can any commission or committee
fairly ju'dge of the efficacy or otherwise of the means already adopted.
I-*.-. I <J. . lam, &c.,
...,1^!:^, , A CI.XBK OF Works.
Febmary 2eai.'lS«L ■■■■
PRESERVATION OF STONE.
Sib,— I have (tone through your reports oi the three meetings at the Eoyal Institute
of British Architects, and although I beg to call your attention to one error in your
issue of the Sth inst., where you report Mr. G. G. Scott as having stated with
reference to my process—" In some of the parts the stone became exceedingly black,
f>om what causes he did not know," whereas Mr. Scott said, in one case the
blackened appearance of my process was the result ot accident, I must render you
my thanks for the straightforward aud impartial conduct of your reports through the
very long aud tedious mscussiou^ upon the above vexed subject.
I am, &c.,
J. B. DAiNEa.
5, Utae. Argyll-street, W., February 2nh, 1861.
../r J. V -THB DURHAM COMPETITION.
Sni,— A competitor in the above competition wishes through your paper to know
whether anv of theS5 architects who gave in designs, for the chance of getting .£10,
can give him any information on the subject. I beg leave to inform him my design
has been returned long ago, after lying there only three months. As, however, to
any further information, such as, in whose possession the £10 may be just now, I
am quite unable to enlighten hun. If he has not yet received his drawings back
again, I should suggest his taking a trip to Durham, and seeing whether or no they
may not have executed it according to his designs for him— peftiaps to save him the
trouble. I certainly think that it is but due to competing architects to publish the
names of the successful ones always^JWthiUitbei'wiWJnff Netcs and Builder.
I,'. »Mii\ i>i<l^ jw '^\' • lam, &c.,
One of the Foolish 55.
SOMETHING ABOUT ESTIMATES WANTED.
Sir,— Permit me to express regret that your correspondent, who wrote so ably on
estimates a short time ago, did not pursue the subject a little further and in another
direction, for the benefit of those who are contiaually tendering for works, by show-
ing how far persons, comp-inies, committees, trustees, &c., are responsible for the
use they make of the tenders submitted to them. I have lately been myself the
victim of one of the grossest outrages of the kind ever heard of, and am about taking
legal proceedings to recover compensation for the very Improper use made ol a
tender which I submitted. Such a course on the part of your correspondent would
not only have been advantageous to me, but to the trade in general, by checking this
growing evil, and putting tlus competition system on a more wholesome footing.
, ' ; . I am, &c.,
Febniau 3Mi. ,. : . . . ' ^ ■*^-^-
i'ORKSHIEE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
Sin.— Knovring your kindness in making Inquiries for your numerous readers, I
take the liberty of asking whether you have heard anything of the competition
drawings for Cottages and Farm Buildings, sent in last November to the above
Society ?
I being pni6 of the competitors should be glad to know If the matter is likely to be
settled, and when. '. , I am, &c.,
February 2Sth, 1801. .bMoiiJ-'-. ■ ^*"-
STONE ON ITS NATURAL BED VERSUS BED WAY OUT.
Sir,— Allow mo to suggest the above heading for your correspondent's letter of
the 15th inst., in place oftlie one he has adopted.
It seems a distinction without a difference to say that a stone, instead of having
been laid on Its natural bed, has been laid bed way up. If it had been stated bed
war out I could then have understood his meaning.
The greater labor of cutting stone through the bed, and the ease in splitting it
with the bed accounts for the common practice.
There are also many cases where the thickness of the beds are such as not to
allow In dimensions for the stone being put any other than bed way out.
There cannot be a doubt of the Impropriety of stone being laid otherwise than on
its natural bed. I am, &c.,
Bradford, February 26th, 186t B. J.
EOYAL ENGINEERS.
Sib,— I believe the first letter that appeared under the above title in your Journal
■was for week ending December Ul, I'iGo, signed "Civilian," and since that time
letters from two others only have apvrar'il on the same subject.
Now there seems to be a great want ol tjn.'-jrv on the part of tliosewhose duty calls
them to speak out and tell the public at large tlie lidiculous and expensive system at
present being carried on. and, unless a stir Is made, will continu<; to be so.
It Is my opinion that If the majority of those composing the civil service of Koyal
Engineers were put to the test (say tlicir opinions on certain iioinls taken by ballot),
the public woulcf find that they would aglrce on one grand fact, the rottenness of the
present system. ^-j ij ■; i.
There are a few, I am afraid, who, for fear of being " squeezed" by the powers
that be would prefer the present order ol things, but that will not alter the case. I
beg to suggest thai you, as a public man, should do your part of the work and give
an article' on the subject in your Journal, so that it may be ventilated and well brouglit
before the notice of that ill-used individual" John Hull." I feel sure that if you were
to receive letters from tiiKi out of about 300 profcBsional men wlio compose tlie civil
staff they would a^ree with the main points that have been brought forward by the
writers in your .Tuumal, to whose opinions 1 am bound to subscribe.
As *' Petard" justly observes, at this time, whrn reform in tliis and retrenchment
In that Is being talked .'iboul. surely a matter of this magnitude and importance will
not be allowed to go unnoticed but will be thoroughly silted during the present
session of Parliament.
I understand the Royal Engineers arc to be augmented by a certain number of
junior officers of the Artilleiy, on account of the great want of officers in the above
corps, if they are required for military si-rvice all well and good, but if to take
charge of stations or large works over civil ofTicers who, perhaps, are old enough to
be their fathers in every thing but assumption, 1 can only say it is a further waste of
public money, and perpetuating an enormous shaiqe.
I believe that if the military officers of the Koyal Engineers were engaged on their
legitimate duties, there would be very little need of augmenting tlieir numbers, but
the fact of so many holding sinecure positions creates, apparently, vacancies which
do not in reality exist.
In conclusion, I hope you will do me the favor of inserting this letter in your
columns, aud, if necessary, you may bear agalu from
Yours, &c.,
, I Opbbbm Investor.
., , f ,. THE STRAND IMPROVEMENTS.
Sin,— rt Igfllc 6tistom as well as the policy of our countrymen to give a generous
welcome to foreign talent and enterprise, and in return we arc entitled to honorable
and fair conduct in the competition in which we permit foreign architects to run
with us.
Puffing ever has and ever will be relied on by a certain class as the most rapid ana
certain mode of "setting up a character," as it is called by our American cousins ;
and we Britishers are learning the art, but as yet, we use it neither fictitiously nor
surreptitiously, nor do we call that " smart" which ousht to be called "unscrupulous."
These remarks have been originated by the perusal of a letter from an architect to
the Editor of the Daibj Tdeyraph which appeanid on Monday last. In which complaint
is made of a statement in a leading article of tliat paper, that Mr. George Francis
Train, the American gentleman who is endeavouring to obtain an Act of Parliament
for street railways in our metropolis, was the chief promoter of the projected
Strand Improvement and of the proposed palace hotel on the site now occupied by
Holywell-street and Wych-street.
A statement thus imposed on the editor of the DalUj 'J'elef/rfp^i and to the present
time left uncontradicted by Mr. Train, is likely to make our Transatlantic cousins
rather vain, aud they will, perhaps, boast that England's capital needed a decent
hotel, and that a special ambassador was despatched to New York, per fast train and
steamer, to procure one. , , .
English architects and English engineers have always held their ground, and their
fame has spread too widely over the globe for their skill to be questioned even by
Brother Jonathan. The Strand Improvement scheme possesses great merit ; it
has been well matured, at much cost of time and labor, by a well known and
respected metropolitan architect, and 1 see no reason, Mr. Editor, why any tarnation
screaming Yankee should step in and realise on a scheme long since well guessed
aud totted up by a wide-awake Cockney of London in OJd England.
I am, &c.,
,. , I ■..■.,:i\ li(_. SuuM CuiQCE.
" I'l ■i-'jih.idiiii 7!u-|! ■
ON THE PRESERVATION OF STONE FROM DECAY.
Sib,— This most important subject has had a very lengthened discussion, and it is
to be hoped that after so much has been said, something positive will be acted upon
in working operation by a real working committee of intelligent practical men, who
will search tfiligently for the facts, which shall prove what is the best mode of in-
durating the faces and edges of stonework to buildings, in tlie metropolis especially ;
for it is certain that the same blocks of material which will perish quickly on the
banks of the river Thames (or great common sewer), will stand well if used on Prim-
rose-hill or Highgate. Your correspondents " W. R.," and " H. A. W." and " R. M.,"
all agree, I see, with my stated opinion in a former letter (Building News, Dec. 7,
18iiO), that a great deal of the defects and quick decay of .stonework arises from its
being worked and bedded on the wrong face or side of the stone ; but the main
destructive is, 1 am convinced by close observation and watching, to be traced to the
escaped gases from the streets and sewer gullies ot the metropolis. Until the Thames
is embanked thoroughly, and the river is reclaimed from the sewage inflow from a
population of six million persons in and around the metropolis, we may be safely
assured the causes of rapid decay on river-side buildings of stone will not be re-
moved. The embankment of the Thames from Westminster-bridge to London-
bridge, on one side of the river only, will not accomplish this is certain. A great
waste of money will be made in making a railway in front of properties where every
inch of wharfage frontage is wanted, and a constant passage in and oat of barges is
needed for the merchants' business. , , . ,.
The thorough conveyance of all the sewage from the both sides of the river by
under-shore tunnels, down beneath the embank walls, extending from Chelsea to
the Thames month, would be a work really and truly worth the concentration of
the energies of the most practical and influential men of this age, and the results
would be good and beneficial for ages to come.
.,■,> > ,jj -.,(10 [<i\ti .^.!^l^l»IIlv<M).,' n i'
Southsca, February 26, 1861„![,^„ri he') «!iiiq ibimi not ^^- AuariN.
'■;,; '!!.', 'r"',"',,!'!-' STOKE-UPON-TBENT.
A SHORT visit here enabled us to inspect the new Miuton's Memorial Building,
recently erected. It is a plain unpretending structure, of the continental
Gothic, not very attractive externally, but well calculated in its internal arrange-
ment, to answer the purpose for which it was intended. E.'vtemaUy, it presents
a plam paralleloffram with a high hipjied roof. Tiie front, to the principal road,
has the main entrance, flanked on each side by three window openings, square-
lieaded, on the ground floor, the upper having equilateral arches. The whole of
the frames are square-lieaded, the upper ones liaving a circle filling in the
tympanum of the arch, but of a very plain Byzantine character. The porcli has
but a slight projection, the inner panels of which (about 7 inches wide) are filled
in with Minton's encaustic tiles. The arch is a two-centred one, the whole being
very plain. Round the ground floor oi the building are ranged stone bands, the
arches of windows being slightly relieved with blue bricks in addition. The upper
floor is intended to have bands of encaustic tiles, space being left for their inser-
tion, and here and there one being fixed. Round the arches of the upper windows
also a similar enriclimeiit is intended. We would urge upon the Committee the
desirability of finishing tlie work as speedily as possible, to get rid of the desolate
and neglected appearance it now presents. It seems as thougli the cost was not
calculated before they commenced to build, and that they were unable to finisli.
We know this is not so, but to one unacquainted with the facts of the case such
would bft his impression. , , . ,
The side of the " Memorial" is a reflex of the front, being relieved in tlie centre
by a chimney-shaft of anything but an elegant design. The centre of the principal
fa<fade has a bell-tuiTet to break the long line of eaves ; this also is far too stjuatty
and heavy to piesent an agreeable appearance. A chimney-shaft is contrived on
one side, with a very unpleasant terminal. Tliis may liave caused the design
to partake, in some little measure, of the heavy appearance which so
struck us. ,,,,.,,.
The baths constitute a se])arate building at the back, and is a low plain
structure, evidently never intended to be more to the general desijcn than <> very
liumble accessory. The arrangement of baths is good, and tlie flttiiigs suitable
and substantial. , . . ,
Entering the building iirom the front we fonnd onrselves in a comparatively
spacious hall, the wall decorations of which consisted of plain piers— we may per-
haps call them pilasters— carrying a girder, the projection of wliich formed
a not unpleasing cofl'er, though it is devoid of ornament. On the right hand we
entered the modelUng-room, a nice apartment about 40 feet by 21 ieet, pretty
March 1, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
193
"well lighted, but far too low for its size. Tliis was decorated, and tlie ceiling
coffered in ft manner somewhat similar to tlie liall, and is liglited by seven win-
<lows. We observed one prreat detect connected with the arrangement of this
room, and tliat was the absence of lavatory accommodation and water supply.
For the purposes to which this room is applied such adjuncts are absolutely
essewial.
In the hall were very good casts of ancient heads, and hall decorations, while
the collections of figures, busts, panels, Sec, in the modelling-room was far
superior to what we expected to find.
The room to the left hand of the hall is for the committees, and at the back of
this rises the stairs, with spacious' treads, easy risers, and good well-hole The
walls are hung by colored specimens of Italian, Byzantine, Sic., architecture,
more particularly of architectural decoration, and most of them are very excellent
and valuable. The landing is spacious, and from it opens the principal room for
the stu<Ients of the School of Art, and a class-room. The latter is of moderate
dimensions, more suitable, however, to its original appropriation, that of master's
room.
The principal room is, as far as regards size, a noble one. The ceiling is deeply
coved and slightly coffered, having two [openings and lanterns above to assist in
the lighting of the room. In addition to the roof-liglit there are seven windows
in the front wall and windows also at each end. Although the apartment is well
proportioned and of pleasing appearance, yet it has one great defect which should
have been cautiously guarded against, it is the abominable cross light by which
the students are pl^^jued, take up what position they will. This arises from the
improper combinations of side and roof lights. By themselves the roof lights
would be inadequate, that is, presuming they were left as they now are, but by
the side lights plenty of light could be obtained ; this, however, is very undesir-
able, as the wall space on the three sides is completely spoiled for its legitimate
Jmrpose. The external appearance, we presume, led to the adoption of the
fenestrations of the upper floor, but that would have been added to, instead of
detracted from, if by a proper and judicious treatment the building had been so
designed as to be truly indicative oi its purpose. The objections we have urged
as to the light have not been made in a captious spirit, but based upon our own
knowledge, and upon the experience of some of those who have for some time
used the room and suffered the inconvenience — nay, the torture of such an
arrangement. It is not irremediable, and if the building is to be thoroughly
adapted to its purpose, the enlargement of the roof-lights and the blocking up of
of tliose in the walls should be forthwith effected. Connected with this room at
the end by a large lobby, is a class-room of convenient size, but lighted wholly from
tlie side. In the lobby are two separate lavatory conveniences and a good closet,
the lack of a store-room of ample dimensions must be, however, much felt. The
collections of casts, drawings, paintings, &c., is very good, and some of the works
of the students (available to our inspection) are of ii promising character. An
exhibition of these works, and of a collection of othere from different Schools of
Art, will be held in the course of a few weeks, the result of which, we hope, will
stimulate the students to renewed exertions.
Xi.irly opposite the "Memorial" building, a drinking fountain has been
erected, possessing some very good features. The style adopted is Gothic. The
archway and gable over being supported on polished granite shafts, with
enriched foliated capitals. The coping of the gable is crocketted, as are likewise
the hips of a sham high roof by which the general design is backed. This
detracts from the beauty of the other portion of the design. The wall under the
arch is filled in wth tiles from Minton's works, having, in colors, the leaves and
flowers of the water-lily tastefully arranged. From the central flowers sur-
rounded by its petals a small and short pipe projects from which the water flows.
This pipe is not readily discemable, and does not disfigure, as in too many cases,
the general design. Too much praise can hardly be bestowed upon those who
designed and manipulated the tiles.
Round the principal arch is carved a band, with the following inscription,
" Erected for public use by Colin Minton Campbell." There were no cups, the
chains having been apparently broken off. The bowl was supported on a square
shaft rising from the splayed base of the plinth, and having an enriched capital.
It is built in the splay of a wall at the comer of two streets, and the tout ensemble
is very crediiable.
Another drinking fountain has been erected in the fence of the parish church-
yard, but the least said of this tlie better.
TENDERS
I*CBLIC Bdildings, Croydon.
For the proposed improvements of the Assize Courts, Croydon, and Town-hall
generally. Mr. K. C. Koblns, architect.
A. B. c D. Tolol.
Dover ;Cl,(i08 £:w ^240 £108 £2,363
Jackson and Shaw . . 1,5U0 i'M 2(» ?8 2,;)2.'}
Newman and Mann.. 1,573 284 193 88 2,138
King. Burton & Co.. 1,560 400 225 70 2,255
Ward 1.550 .338 .300 78 2,186
Stevenson 1,48« 309 213 71 2,079
Marsland and Son .. 1,470 .3:» 216 67 2,087
A. Reprcsenthifj the cost of the alterations and improvements to the courts,
including the hot- water apparatus to the civil court, and the enlargement of Corn-
market.
Ii. The general repairs required f n the building, inclusive of the proposedflniBhings
for retiring rooms and surveyors' offices.
C. The enlargemeut of the basement of cellarage and the construction of public
urinals and waterclosets on the groimd-tloor, and topmost landing of north staircase.
1>. The Improvements to the principal staircase.
Al.TEnATIONS. CoRNinu,.
For alterations at 48, Conihill, for Messrs. Vincy and Son. Mr. Samuel Field,
architect.
Brown and Koblnson £308 | Cock £305
Inn, Selling. Kent.
For new inn at Selling, near Faversham, Kent, for Messrs. Shepherd and Mares,
Faversham lirewcry. Mr. Benjamin Adkius, architect, Faversham.
Orpin. Faversham £684 10 0
S. M. Shrubsole, Faversham 666 0 0
Broadbridge, Bougliton 635 0 0
Creed, Faversham 630 0 0
L. Shrubsole, Faversham 618 0 0
Sherwood, Oare (accepted, with surety) 5.10 19 10
Boorman.Ospringe (received too late) 0:17 10 0
., .. Keseatino, Ac, Church, Homckto.n.
lor the reseating, Ac, of >Ioncktan Church.
IfayncHand Klgar, Kamsgate £74« »
W. K. Smith and Hon, Kamsgatc 731 10
Slessrs. Cox and Son. I^ndon, chancel (eaU and deiks (In pitch
^.Plne) *;.... 40 0
Aave (seating In pitch pine) MM 0
., .. Schools, Pendleton, LANCAiiHiaE.
!■ or the erection of day and Sunday tchooU, Pendleton, LueaaUre. Hayler ud
Son, .Manchester, architects.
Cochran and Co £2,552 | Sonthem and 800 «,479
*,*"» •••• 2,M» Grundy 2,29$
statham and bong 2,600| Barlow , i;aO.
., . ., ., DwELLIN<l-nOl'8E. Ac, Oalway, Irelaxd.
t or building a house and olDces at Oorbeen, County Oalway.
Thomas U. (,'arrolc ^4M
Michael Kelly 8,275
Henry Stone 3,194
Francis Madden i'wo
O'Brien and Keller (accepted) ijan
,, ,,.„,. . Infibmahy. Bucks.
i or the Buckinghamshire General Inttrmary. Mr. David BnadOB, arehltcet.
DurleyandSon £9,210
Uummins S,496
Cooper .,, aoio
Winfield 7(84
Conder ...., 7,J77
Clock Tower, Cliefi>E!», Berks.
For new clock tower, Ac, at Cllcfden, Berks, for His Grace the Dnko of Sntlier-
land, K.G. Mr. Henry Clutton, architect, 9, New BnrUngton-street The qoantilln
by Mr. Crocker.
I'Anson £3,143
George Smith, Pimlico 2,M8
rritcbardand Shelton 2;SH
Myers 2,3m
■Villa, Headincley, near Leedr.
For the erection of a vllhi at Hcadingley, 'near Leeds. E. HUnct, £m., tnblt«et,
Bradford.
Contract No. 1.
Excamton, Masom, and BricHauert.
John Bailey, Leeds £4M 0 0
William Wilson and Sons, Headingley (without stable
buildings) 520 0 0
Charle« Jackman, Leeds (complete as per plans) * S90 0 O
Carpenters and Joiners.
B. Illin'rworth, Bradford 389 0 0
J. Khodes. Headingley S30 0 0
WilUam Hillas, Headingley • 3.10 0 O
Christopher Raper, Farniey 310 0 O
Slaters.
Hill and Nelson. Bradford £44 5 O
Joshua Hill and Sons, Bradford * 43 10 O
Plumbers and Glaziers,
James Keighley, Bradford * £1S0 0 0
Braithwaite and Myers, Leeds 143 IS 4
Plasterers.
C. Howroyd, Bradford £100 0 I Jas. Wilson and Son £88 IS
B. Dixon, Bradford 95 0 I .Tas. Doekworth, Bradford 88 o
J. T. Barker, Leeds 91 13 j J. P. Mountain, Leedi* 78 o
Painters.
F. Jackson, Leeds • £16 7
Marshall and Beaumont, Leeds , 14 0
• Accepted^
Contract No. 2 postponed.
Chcrcit. Wandsworth.
For enlarging St. Mary's Church, Summer's-town, WandsworllL Mr. John W.
Dennison, architect. Quantities supplied.
Gaston , £831 7
Scott 811 O
Adamson and Sons* TW O
Morris and Son £938 0
Aviss and Sons 882 0
Williamson 866 10
Nicholson and Sons 845 0
* Accepted.
Chapel, New Broad-street, London.
For alterations, additions, and painting. Mr. J. K. Saunders, architcet.
Devereux £408 0 u| Gordon f*>5 '*
Colls 340 0 0 Keeps (accepted) 230 o
Cocks 330 G 2
'<;oHPETrnc(Ns open.
MARKKT AND HALL.
Ilfracombe.— For designs and plans for the erection of « public market and hall,
with suitable offices thereto. A premium of £25 will be paid for the deilgn and
plan selected, to be sent to Mr. Langdon, solicitor, clerk to the Board, to Uarcb ii
information may be obtained of Mr. Laugdon.
— ♦
CONTRACTS OPEN.
CLUBIIOISE.
SiiEFFiELD.— For the various works riquired in the erection of a newhoaBc [or tba
ShofTieUl Club. IM.ans, &c., at the office of the architect, Mr. M. L. Hadfleld. < om
Exch.-inge, Sheffield, from Ist to 15th March, IStJI, on which day sealed tenders arc
to be sent in, addressed to the committee.
CORN E.VCHANGE.
Bury St. Edmond's.— For erecting the new com exchange at Bnry St. Edmund ».
Plan and speciflcation at the Town-hall. Bury St. Edmunds; or at the office of
3Ir. Edward Ellis, 131, Fcnchureh-street, London. Scaled tenders to town clcrK s
office. Bury, by 12 noon. Jlarch 21. „ . ,, ,,_....,
Norwich —For the erection of the mtendcd new com exchang?. Norwich, excluslvo
of the iron-work in roof and columns. Plans, Ac., at the offices of -Mr. "arrr,
city surveyor Norwich ; and in London, at the offices of Messrs. Goodwin ana
Butcher aVili'itects, 37, Bedford-row, W.C. Quantities and forais of teuder^on
application to the architects. , Tenders addressed to Mr. Isaac Bugg, Bank-chamben,
Norwich, to March 7.
CLOCK TOWER. ,,.,.,
Ireland.— For supplying materials, and erecting a towerforapubllc clock in tno
market square of Lcttcrkenny. Plan at the Town Commissioners' office. Letter-
keuny. Further information as to details may be had on application to John Storey,
town'-clerk. Tenders to 12 o'clock noon. March 4.
\
194
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 1, 1861.
Blrton-on-Trent.— For the repair of the tower »nd spire of I.ulliiifjton Church-
Spceifications at tlie Vicarasc-house, from the iith inst. Tenders to Mr. Smith,
Churchwarden, LuUinsrton, Ilurton-ou-Trcnt, to March 'J.
HoDi>i.ESDF.N.— For the se\-eral works in the erection of a new church at Hoddles-
den, near Over Darwcn. I'laus, Ac., with Ucr. G. Vf. Keynolds, Over Darwen,
and at the office of the architect, Mr. K. G. Paley, Lancaster, to 4tli March. Ten-
der*, under cover, to Mr. Taley, to Jlarch 11.
CUURCHKS, &c.
llEI.GOatBE- Regis.— For the enlar-^eiuent and repairinfj of the churcli of St. Mary,
Melemiibe-Ke^s. Xames. witlilrcferenees, licfore l;ith of Mavh, to Ewau Christian,
Esq.. 10. Whitehall-plaw', London. S. \V. Plans, and specifications, at the office of
•Mr. Rickman, 2A, Keppol-street, London, W.C, from tlic 25th inst., to March 25;
and at the office of Mr. Crickmny, T7, St. Thomas-street, Weymouth, from the 5th,
totheUthMarclL
CHURCHES, Ac.
l^IiANCWK. NEAR U8K. — For the restoration of the parish church of Llang^wm, and
for alterations to tlie parsonage. I'lans, >tc., at the Rectory. Tenders to Messrs.
Prkhard and Seddon, 'Whitehall. l)efore March 9.
SCHOOLS. &c.
CoLcnESTER.— For the erection of tlio intended new school buUding^s. at Colchester,
designed for 4(<0 children. I'lans, &c., at the offices of the architect, Mr. H. W.
Hay ward, Bank-buildin$rs, Colcliester. Tenders to the Ect. Henry A. Olivier, All
Saints' Rectory, Colchester, to March 8.
HoasiNCTO'.— For a new school and teacher's house, at Horsington. Plans, &c.,
at the Bull Hotel,, Homcastle. Tenders addressed to the rector, Horsing^ton,
Homcastle, to March 9.
DOCKS.
GlX)UCESTER AKD BERKELEY CANAL.— For the enlargement of the docks at Glou-
cester. Tenders to the committee of manaKement, Canal office, Gloucester, on
March 13.
BRroGE.
West Derbt.— For the erection of a new bridge in the township of .Tyldesley and
Atherton. Plans, &C., may be seen at the office of W. H. Gee. bridgcmaster,
Barned-Buildiugs, 15, Sweeting-street, Liverpool, where tenders are to be delivered
by April 1.
VILLA, &c.
Herts. — For the erection of a villa residence, lodge, and stabling, at Hampstcad,
midway between St. Alban's and Watford, Herts. Plans, &c., at the office of Mr.
W. Coats. Horbnry-terrace, Jiotting-hill, London ; or at Mr. Edwards, contiguous
to the site. Tenders to Mr. W. Coats, at his office, by March 7.
CARCASSES.
Obeenwich.— For the erection of six large carcasses at Greenwich. Quantities
(onpaymtnt of lOs. fld.)attheofflceof Mr. Brown, No. 2, Robert-street, Adelphi,
W.C.
RAILWAY WORKS.
ZiOndon and North Western.— For the construction of the branch railway from
iMt'chill, near Liverpool, to Garston, a distance of 4| miles or thereabouts.
Drawings and quantities at the Engineer's office, Euston Station, on Feb. 25,
between ten and four. Sealed tenders addressed to the Secretary at bis office, to
four p.m. on March 6.
Caledonlan.— For the construction of the Douglas branches of the Caledonian
Bailway :— 1. A branch railway (called the Douglas branch) commencing by a
junction with the Lanark branch of the said Caledonian Railway, and terminating
near the 27th mile-stone from Glasgow, of the turnpike road from Glasgow to
Carlisle. (This branch is about seven miles, eight chains and a half in length). 2.
A branch railway commencing by a junction with the Caledonian Railway, and
terminating by a junction with the said Lanark branch. (This branch is about
nineteen chains in length.) 3. A branch railway commencing by a junction with
the Lanark branch, and terminating by a junction with ;the Douglas branch.
(This branch is about twenty-three chains in length.) These three branch rail-
ways are to be let iu one contract, to be called the " Douglas Branches Contract."
Flans, &c., at the office, in Glasgow, of Mr. George Graham, the company's
engineer, whcro duplicate schedules and blank forms of tender may be had on
uipUcation, price one guinea. Scaled tenders, addressed to the secretary at
Glasgow, must be lodfjedwith him by March 11.
ISTERNEss.— For the construction of the remaining portion of the Inverness and
Boss-shire railway line, unlet, extending from the shore road of Dingwall to the
west end of the village of Invergordon, a distance of 12 miles 5A furlongs, or
Iherebv. The works comprehend :— 1st., About 400,000 cubic yards of cuttings and
embankments. 2nd. AlM)ut 24 overway and underway bridges, and bridges over
streams and burns, the largest being fio feet span. The rails, sleepers, and fencing,
Ac, for the permanent way, will be supplied by the company. Drawings, &c., at
the offices oi Mr. Mitchell. C.E., Inverness, from whom, or from Mr. Paterson, the
assistant engineer, m:iy be obtained duplicate schedules, at 40s. each. The cost of
the detailed measurements shall be paid by the successful contractor. The whole
line is staked out at distjtnces of lOo feet between Dingwall and Invergordon, ac-
cording to the working section, and an assistant engineer will attend at Dingwp.ll
on Tuesday the 5th day of March, and Tuesday the 12th day of March, to accom-
pany contractors along the line, and point out the sites of the bridges. Sealed
tenders,. addressed to the secretary, A. Dougall, Esq., and marked "Tender for
luTemen and Boss-shlre Railway Works," must be lodged at his office. Railway
staUoD, InTemess, by noon of March IM.
SEWERAGE.
Bt. SIart, rsLiNCTON.— For the day and jobbing works in connection with the con-
struction and repairs of sewers and gullies for the vestry of St. Mary, Islington.
Form of tender and contract (which alone'will be received) 2s. 6d., may be had at
the vestry office. Upper-street. .Sealed lenders, before 10 a.m., March 6.
Hackney.— For the execution ofthe sewer works, under contracts numbered 13 and
14, in the parishes of Hackney and Stoke Newington. No. 13 contract will com-
prise 0,180 feet of brick and 540 feet of pipe sewer, or thereabouts ; also twelve
ventilating shafts, and three side entrances to existing sewers in Hackney parish.
Ko. 14 contract will comprise 1,700 feet of brick and 730 feet of pipe sewer, or there-
abouts, in.th?' parish of Stoke Newington. Plans. Ac. , seen, and forms of tender, with
any informatictn, upon application to Mr. James I^ovegrove, C.E., surveyor to the
Board, Town-hall, Hackney, between nine and eleven a.m. Tenders, scaled and
endorsed " Tenders for Sewer Works No. ," addressed to the clerk, to be de-
livered at the Town-hall to March 12. Parties tendering, or their representatives,
mult attend at the Board on the 14th March, at 11 a.m.
BOADWORK, &c.
Bacit.— For the formation of the approach road and drain of the western entrance,
also all the roads within the cemetery, at Bactip. Plans, &c., at the office of the
clerk of the works, and further information of Mr. William Gay, surveyor, Brad-
ford, Tenrttrs, under cover, addressed to the chairman of the Board, at the
office of Samuel Hall, clerk to the Board, Irwell-tcrracc, Bacup, by 12 noon of
March 7.
PAVING, KERBING, MATERIALS, Ac.
BLAByleboke.- For the supply |to the vestry of stoneware sewage pipes, bonds,
jonctlons, Ac. A 6-lncli, a 9-inch, and a 12-inch pipe, to be dclR'cred, free of all
charges at the SL Marylebonc Court-house, on or before March 7 Any peculiarity
in the form or construction of any of the pipes to be specllled, as also whether
such peculiarity appertains to all the pipes or to only a proportion of the same, and
to what extent Further particulars and form of tender from the vestry's sur-
veyor, Mr. Robert Scace, at the Court-house, from twelve till one o'clock. Tenders
(on the printed forms) at net prices, sealed on or before eleven a.m. of March 9.
Marvi-eiione— For the supply of gravel, hoggin, hmc, cement sand, and Thames
ballast, for the vestry of the parish of St. Marylebone, Middlesex, for one year,
trom 25th March, 18t)l. Particulars and forms of tender, from the surreyor, Mr.
Robert Scace. at the Court-house, from twelve till one o'clock. Tenders (on the
jirinted forms), sealed, accompanied by samples, before eleven a.m., March 9.
St. Saviolr's.— For paving the streets, and other passages and places in the
borough division of the parish of St. .«aviour, withm the district, under contract
for three years, from the 25th day of March next, with power to determinettie
same at the end of the first or second year: also for re-paving the footways of
the streets and places within the same division, under like contract. Separate
tenders for each class of works, specification draft of contracts, and all particulars
at the Board-room, where printed forms of proposal can be obtained. Tenders
(on printed forms only) sealed and endorsed "Tenders for Pavior or Mason's
Work." to the board, before half-past iive p.m. of March 13.
Marvlebone.— For Guernsey, Groby, or Whitby chippings, or other hard materials
calculated for the repairs of roads much in use, for granite carriageway paving-
stone, for Yorkshire footway paving, and for granite footway paving, for the vestry
ofthe parish of St. .Marylebone, Middlesex, Saturday, the 9th day of March, 1861,
at 11 o clock in the forenoon, to receive tenders for one year, from the 2rith day of
March, 1801. The quantity of chippings required is about 10,000 tons during the
year. The materials to be delivered at the parish stoneyard, or on the streets, as
may be required. Particulars and forms of^teudcr from the surveyor, ]VIr. Robert
Scace, at the court-house, from twelve till one o'clock. Tenders (on the printed
forms) sealed, before 11 ajn. on March 9. Samples of the matsrlalB will be required
with the tenders.
Destruction of a Theatre. — On last Tuesday night the old and
spacious Teatre Nuovo of Naples was burnt to the ground. The conflagration
burst out at midnight, by two o'clock the roof fell in — the other portions speedily
following. The Nuovo is one of the oldest theati-es in Naples.
TTie New Street in the Borough. — Very rapid progresshas been made
during the past fortnight in the works for ths formation ofthe new street leading
from High-street, Southwark, to Blackfriars-road. In addition to the extensive
openings effected by pulling down a large number of houses at various points in
the line of route, the materials of the warehouses and other buildings in Red-
cross-street and Castle-street wDI be sold by directors ofthe Metropolitan Board
of Works in a few days, and the sites cleared. It is intended by the Board to
complete each portion of the new line as the buildings are removed by
constructing the sewers, laying gas and water mains, and paving the foot and
carriage way.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and communications to be addressed to the Editor ofthe Building News, 80,
Old Boswell-court.St. Clement's, Strand, London.
The Editor cannot midertake to return unused manuscripts.
T. Bonham.— We believe that such a work Is now In course of preparation by a well-known
architect.
C. J.— It would hardly be fair to the trade to single out cases for recommendation In these
pages.
L. M. N We see no objection to the new street entering LIncoln's-inn-flelds at Great Tam-
stllc ; much has been said against It. without reason, as we tliiuk it appears to us the best
point. We are unable to engrave plan.
T. SiLLEKY.— Siifer by far to give notice according to the custom of the locillty.
A RuiLDER.— No great cause for alarm at present.
S. W., T. W, a, A Respecting the new French Opera House. We learn from Oalignant t
Messenger, that the Committee appointed to examine the designs sent In competition for
this building have awarded the premiums in the, following manner.— To M. Jlnahi, design
No. 6, the first premium of 6,000 francs ; MM. Creplnct and BotroII, No. 34, the second
Sremlum of 4,000 francs ; M. Gumaud, No. 17, the third premium of 2,000 francs. M. Due,
lo. 29, the fourth premium of l.soo francs; M. Carnler, No. M, ihe fifth premium also of
1.500 francs. It also appears that no design, in the opinion of the judges, was found suffi-
ciently complete to receive t\\cprix rf' execution, but the MInisterof State, in consideration
of the great amount of care with which the designs have been prepared, has added a sum
of 5,000 francs to the amount named In the first instance.
T. V. (Vork) The custom varies too much for us to lay dowii an established rule of
practice.
J. M.— Under consideration.
K. M'Al-ley.— We cannot say ; improvements seom desirable. No hope at present we fear.
.1. V 2J per cent, is the usual charge In ordinary works, but circumstances may render a
much higher charge barely remunerative.
E. .1. W.— The builder was right, we see. In the whole proceeding. Nothing like an attempt
to take advantage ofyour being v\-itliout an architect; but the chances are you would have
been a gainer by securing the services of a professional man.
A. Alfield.— Shall appear.
M.— 1. Itisnnrterstood that Messrs. Kelk and Lucas submitted the lowest tenders for the
Exhibition building, and thai they have Jointly agreed to carry out the works. In the event
of their tender being accepted. 2. Previous remarks will have sliown our correspondent
that we do not in any way agree with tliose who have sought to bring the proceedings Into
disrepute. 3. We are already making our arrangements.
H. RAWLi NO. —Thanks lor sketch ; shall bo engraved : a plan and elevation would assist to
an understanding of certain parts which are not quite so clearly shown as we require for
our purpose.
MuLTPM IS Parvo.— Letter has not reached us.
F. P.— M U.St not too hastily assume the wall in question to be a party wall; we arcmcUnea
to think It is not so, but, of course, cannot say .^ without inspection.
ENuriHER (nirmlnghaml The wood of the yew-tree Is said lo be hard, compact, and of a
very flue grain. It is flexible and elastic. Tlie sap-wood, which is white, is very hard,
ami does not extend to a great depth ; the heart-wood is of a fine orange or deep brown
color. It renulres a long time to dry thoroughly, and shrinks but little in so doing. It 18
a fine wood lor cabinet.iiiakiug purposes, but is usually used in veneers.
Francais will find an article by IJoiiguer " Sur les i.ignes Courbes propres a former Ics
Voutesen lioinc," in the volume ofthe "Transactions of tlie French Academy of 1734.
We arc unable to reply to the next.
W. W In type.
K. Newton.— Not a subject for our columns.
J. Wellbuhn — Very desirable, but at the same time very difficult to carry out.
B. H.— We cannot engage 10 engrave any drawing until we have seen it.
D. fiiNCEH.— llelow our mark.
Exhibitor.— Orawliigs must be sent in ou the 18th Inst. .,.p„.t.,.
A StiBscKiBER (Runcorn) -Our practice Is to deduct the top of head. If stone is of full thick-
ness of wall, and If, as it usually is, the head Is of greater depth than two courses of brick-
work ; anv rule to the contrary might lead to error. , „ .^
A Three Yeaus' Subsciiibek (Doncaster).- Wo Imagine your only remedy is to decline the
work ; keep tracings : plans for cottages cannot bo very costly, they coiUd be copied in London
and sent to you for a small amount.
J. .I.G.— In our next.
M.R — We cannot say. .... . . ..... ..,.•_,
O.sE Green, ruoM tue ConMaT.— Digging is measured by the yard cube ; the price diffenln
special works. . „ . ,, _..
Patent BnxMiNisED Pipes.— A corrcspoudentfrom Kingstown asks for the address ofthe
patentee. „ . . . j.
J. K., Architect (Birkenhead).— No rule of payment for such services; charge accordmg
to the value of your time. We are always happy to advise. , ^ ,. , . ,
.lAMES Pahxeii— Probably not, if strike continues from causes over which he has no control,
as, for histancc, in a general movement ; if strike be limited to a particular yard, or even
twoorthree, we think yes. .,
F. I'AiiBETT.-Thanks; has appeared; alwaj-s glad to receive reliable Information.
ItEcElVED-S. S. R.; V. and P.; T. I'attcson ; R. W. ; N. L. O.; B. C. ; A. J. W.; A
Carpenter (Rugby); T. W. T. ; C. M.; W. P.J.; S. O. (lielgate.); F. R. (Rochester):
James W. : O. ; T. Phillips; W. Williamson; A. W. M.; Tyro; Architectural Student
(Leicester).
March 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
195
THE ORGANISATION AXD REPRESENTATION OF
ARCHITECTS.
MID the various appeals
that liave been made from time to
time for help from tlie Legislature
or public to improve* the xtaliis of
the profession and reform its abuses,
scarcely one can be remembered
that was not undignified, almost
mendicant, and impracticable. Nor
could they well bo otiierwise,. for
they were like the waggoner's cries
to Hercules. Architects, instead
of putting their shoulders to the
wheel, besought assistance from
above to drag them out of the rut
into which they bad fallen by their
selfish indolence and indifference to
Uhe future. If architects would not
protect themselves, it Iwas ridi-
culous to call on others to afford
them protection. It was even
worse, since it was unmanly and showed a
miserable want of courage ; for the evils against
which they required to be shielded were entirely
of their own creation. Good may arise by the
establishment of " Homes for the Intemperate,"
where ladies and gentlemen who have carried a
love of conviviality to excess are protected
against its continuance. But no one would ever
think of applying to Parliament for a vote of
means or to the public for subscriptions to assist
the ultra-ccnvivialists in working out their own
cure. Architects have been very intemperate in
their greed for gain during several years past.
Por the sake of premiums they have overstocked the profession, and to
obtain commissions they have underbid one another in the most huckster-
like spirit. As no man or body of men can do wrong with impunity, so archi-
tects are now suffering for their misconduct. Misconduct may appear a
liarsh term, and it is one which is happily inapplicable to many members
of the profession ; but we know of no other to designate the proceedings
of those who trade upon the articled-pupil system or engage in unfair and
underhanded competition.
The articled-pupil system was denounced in strong and indignant lan-
guage, nearly twelve months since, at the quarterly meeting of the
Northern Architectural Association, by Mr. J. P. Pritchett of Darlington.
Thij gentleman stated that the over-stocking of the profession was caused
by architects in practice, in too many cases, carrying on their office work
entirely by pupils, taking any number, with any premium they can get, or
no premium at all, so that they can save the expense of an assistant. One
must have very little acquaintance with the present practice of the pro-
fession not to know the allegation to be perfectly true. There are many
self-styled architects whose incomes depend largely upon premiums re-
ceived with pupils. Their conduct is very degrading and detrimental to
the profession at large, but it is far more injurious to the public, and by no
means honest towards the pupils and their guardians. Pupilage is but
another name, thought to be more genteel of the two, for apprenticeship;
and the same regulations, whether binding by honorable understanding or
by law, ought to rule both systems, whicli are in reality identical when the
flimsy travestiment of gentility is stripped off. According to the tra-
ditional and honorable regulations of trades and handicrafts, apprentices
are indentured to keep up the supply of workmen, and it is an engage-
ment understood and very generally observed that the apprentice, when
out of his time, shall, if he choose, be employed by his old master. That
is, in fact, one condition of the bargain, for which in part the premium
was paid and the indentures served without or at inadequate remunera-
lion. No respectable tradesman thinks of sending his apprentice adrift
when out of his time: there is a sense of moral obligation incurred to
make provision for the future, and our old laws and customs invested the
master with a portion of parental authority and ofSce. The appren-
tice was of the househoU, interested in the success, reputation, and
respectability of his master. We have discarded many old forms and
customs established by the wisdom and in consequence of the experience
of generations of our ancestors, but it does not follow that we have acted
■wisely, prudently, and honorably in so doing. Indeed, foreign writers on
England assert that the superiority of our handicraftsmen, over those of
other countries, in finish, good workmanship, and speed, is produced by
our having adhered more closely tlian they have done to the old appren-
ticeship system — the introduction of no more hands to trades than is
necessary to meet the requirements of extension of custom and supply the
place of old hands, and the employment of journeymen in the house where
they have served tlieir apprenticeship. It will scarcely be necessary to
remind the reader that journeymen, feeling their future interests were
bound up with the apprenticeship question, have interfered, and that in
the printing trade the number of apprentices is regulated by the nxmiber of
journeymen employed, according to mutual arrangements between them and
masters.
In reply, we shall doubtless be told that the practice of architecture is
not a trade, and that to restrict the number of pupils would be an inter-
ference with the liberty of individuaU, and in Tiolalion of the priociplM of
free trade.
If architecture be not a trade it is not much more artutic than the
goldsmith's craft, and wliat regulations are deemed desirable for the one
should also be imposed upon the other. Besides, there i* a large portion
of architectural practice which is technical, and is transacted bjrawistanta
having no pretence to artistic qualifications. As for the picas respecting
freedom of individuals and freedom of trade the conditions of society
impose innumerable restrictions upon them. On becoming a mcnilicr of
society, every one surrenders a portion of his individual liberty for the
sake of the protection and advantages accruing to tlie commonwealth in
which he is a participator. He is not allowed to coin money, though he may
give the intrinsic value of metal, or to carry letters, or to fire his freehold
dwelling should he wish to try Iamb's receipt for cochon au tail o la
Chinuise, or to denude himself of clothing, or, in fact, to do anything that
may be a nuisance or inconvenience to his neighbours. The common weal
is supreme law. But architects pay no heed to their interests in common.
Then, again, there is the understanding implied, if not expressly stipulated,
that the pupil is to be initiated into the profession in return for tlic
premium and gratuitous services; and initiation means something more
than allowing pupils to pick up what rudiments of architecture they can
during office hours. If there be any doubt upon this point, let it be
distinctly stated to guardians that when architectural pupils are out of
their time they will be sent adrift to shift for themselves, and we shall
then see what the public will s.ay on the subject, and how many applica-
tions will be made to architects to admit pupils into their offlces.
If the view we take in common with the Northern Architectural Asso-
ciation as to the working and results of the pupil system be correct,
then undoubtedly all the evils which are sapping and lowering the pro-
fession must be traced to this source, and for which neither the institution
of diplomas nor professional examinations will afford remedy. It is
from the supply of pupils being greater than the demand for architect*
and for architectural assistants that imperfectly educated and otherwise in-
competent persons intrude on the profession. It is the demand that
should regulate the supply, but the profession acts as if it believed the
very reverse of the well-known axiom of political economy. When
manufacturers produce a supply exceeding the demand there is a glut
in the market, prices fall, and financial crashes ensue. Now, this i<
just what we are witnessing in the manufacture of architects — we can-
not call it the education of architects — the price or remuneration is
falling fast from the regular old-fashioned five per cent, upon outlay to three,
two, and even one per cent. ; and we fear that were Asmodeus to initiate
us to the secrets of houses in London as he did the Spaniard in Madrid,
we should discover something looking very like insolvency in the homes
of many architects. The state of things is very lamentable, for architects
are presumed to be gentlemen, and to have received a polite education, so
that they cannot dig and to beg they are ashamed. Neither the public nor
the individual is respofasible, it rests with the profession as a whole.
Diplomas, examinations, and any artificial status or distinction that
may be devised cannot remedy the mischief so long as the supply of
pupils is in excess of, and not regulated by, the demand for assistants.
Supposing the schemes put forth by the Institute and Association to be
carried oat, they will not check the excessive supply, because it would be
impossible to fix a limit to the number of diplomas or examination
certificates. All who came up to the standard would be entitled to them.
Then as the Legislature is not likely to prohibit the practice of architec-
ture by those who do not possess diplomas, the situation and standing of
the profession will not be improved. There will be no means of preventing
pupils that have been plucked from setting up as surveyors and architects,
or as builders and architects, or as auctioneers and architects, or as civil
engineers and architects, just as certain parties do now. These will then
be even more undercutting and more keenly competitive to diploma
architects than they are now, for they will regard them in the light of
personal enemies. They will exert themselves to acquire local influence
and ensure local commissions, and to them the public will have recourse,
not having much faith in diplomas or examination certificates as
guarantees of genius, capacity, and integrity. Personal acquaintance will,
in nine cases out of ten, decide the question. On the other hand, it may
so happen— indeed, it is far more than probable— that from among the
plucked or uncertified practitioners of architecture the cleverest architects
may arise, men exhibiting the roost original and cultured tastes. Then
the public would not unjustly conclude that the examination system was
propitious to mediocrity and adverse to genius, and that diplomas were
the badge of respectable common-place. Consequently diplomas will come
to be regarded as a mere dodge of the "ins" to exclude the "outs," and as
an excuse for architects not doing their duty to the profession. To limit the
number of pupils would be to entail a sacrifice of premiums on a tolerably
good number of architects, and to this they are not disposed to submit. They
would rather take the pupils' money to educate them for the profession,
they subsequently exclude them from its practice by diplomas or other
imaginary safeguards. By this proceeding they would continue to pocket
premiums and monopolise architectural practice among the " ins."
The remedy for the evils which beset the profession must proceed from
the profession, and not from the external influence or enactments of the
public and parliament. By the regulation of their internal economy must
the members of the profession cure the gangrene which is likely to prove
so detrimental to tlieir healthy and vigorous action. We cannot expect
that individual members should proceed to deprive themselves of a
profitable source of income unless their brethren do the same. A struggUng
architect may reason with himself that he is not called upon to debar bw»-
196
THE BUILDING NEWS.
Mauch 8, 1861.
self from the advantages arising from the receipt of premiums and the
employment of gratuitous labor, wlien his professional rival does not. He
may conclude that to do so would be foolish and improvident on his part,
placing himself on an unequal footing and at a disadvantage as compared
with his competitors. Isolated action is not to be expected except in a few
cases, and the remedy cannot be effectively applied but with the concur-
rence of the profession at large. It is now as patent to the public as it
has been for a long time past to architects themselves that the profession
requires to be organised and reformed, and supplied with a representative.
The means for carrying out these much-needed imp.-ovements have been
carefully and ingeniously devised by Mr. J. Pritchett, and are now under
consideration by a committee of the Northern Architectural Association.
Beaders of the earlier Numbers of the Bcildisg News may, perhaps,
remember our repeatedly urging the union of all architectural societies
and the constitution of a representative body. It was no part of our duty to
suggest a plan or elaborate details. It was sufficient that we should
indicate the want and point out the necessity as well as the advantages of
promptly and efficiently supplying it. The plan proposed in the north
has been carefully and completely studied. It proposes to bring all
architectural societies into union and intercommunion by means of an
Architectural Alliance, so as to establish between them what the French
would term solidarity of interest and purpose, while they would maintain
their local independence. The members of Associations would col-
lectively and individually be members of the Alliance, whose executive, so
to speak, would consist of a chairman, vice-chairman, secretary, and
deputies, elected annually to represent the Associations — one for each —
and to be the medium of communication between their constituents and
the Alliance. It is also suggested that the Associations should each send
in addition two delegates to the annual meetings, to take part in- the pro-
ceedings at the annual meetings. Such, in broad outline, is the scheme
submitted to investigation by the Northern Architectural Association. That
it will be modified in some unimportant details is very probable, but the
main features we believe and trust will be maintained. The questions
■which the Alliance would discuss would be those that affect what may be
called the material interests of the profession — a limitation, if practicable, to
the number of pupils admitted to the profession, and regulated by the
demand for architects or their assistants ; the publication of conditions upon
which alone architects would send in designs for public competition;
fixing the amount of commission, and determining a scale of professional
charges from which an architect would not be permitted to depart, except
by forfeiture of his professional standing. Questions relative to art, the
styles, archaeology, and other matters of taste, would necessarily not come
under the cognizance of tlie Alliance. They would be left to the Institute
and the Association. As already stated, the Alliance would be occupied
with the material interests of the profession, and with no others. It would
be the real substantial representative of British architects, the high court
of appeal against Government or corporate injustice towards architects.
It would be the watchful guardian of their interests, and the only
recognised and authorised medium of communication between the pro-
fession and Government, the lack of which has proved so disastrous to
many architects, and caused public opinion to be grievously misled.
As the expense of establishing the Alliance will be triding — not extend-
ing beyond the hire of a room or so, and cost of stationary and postage —
we cannot doubt its receiving the support of all architectural associations
in the three kingdoms. Nor do we see why in next May or June the
architectural parliament should not hold their first session in London for
the dispatch of public business.
GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, OTTAWA, CANADA.
IN our illustration we publish one of the buildings of the Government
offices, of which there are two. This design, and its companion building
of the same area, are those for which the first prizes were awarded to
Messrs. Stent and Laver, in October, 1859. They contain all the depart-
mental offices of the Government, and include, also, offices for the Governor-
General and his staff, with the Executive Council, numbering together
upwards of 300 rooms of large size, with corridors, safes, record-rooms,
telegraph and post offices, messengers' and porters' living rooms, and all
the appointments necessary for the various departments of the public
service. The sides of these buildings are about 350 feet in length, and
are arranged, in connection with the Parliamentary building, to form three
sides of a quadrangle. The style of architecture being the same as
that adopted for the Parliamentary building, and the whole faced with
the beautiful sandstone of the district, will form, when completed, a
magnificent group unequalled on the Continent of America, and in every
respect wortliy of the greatness to whi.;h Canada is rapidly advancing.
The designs and arrangements for the buildings and the laying-out of
the grounds received the unqualified approbation of his Royal Highness
the Prince of Wales, during his recent visit fc) Ottawa, on laying the
comer-stone. The arrangements for heating and ventilation are being
made on the most extensive scale and on the most approved principle — the
Tault system being that adopted. The buildings are being made fire-
proof; the floors constructed of iron joists, of Fox and Barrett's patent,
and laid with concrete and cement. The contractors are Messrs. Jones,
Haycock, and Co., who arc carrying out the work with their usual energy
and spirit, so as to ensure the completion of both buildings by the be-
ginning of March, 1862. The heating and ventilation form a separate
c ontract, and have been intrusted, together with the Parliamentary build-
ings, to Mr. Charles Garth, of Montreal. The buildings are being carried
ont by the architects, Messrs. Stent and Laver, to whom also the second
prize for the Parliamentary building was awarded.
OX THE PLANNING OF LUNATIC ASYLUMS.
WHATEVER may be the immediate cause (and it is not our
province, but that of the physiologist to incjuire into it) the
fact is too clearly demonstrated that, the sad evil of lunacy is fear-
fully on the increase in this country. Whether therefore we will it
or not, we ate all as mere citizens concerned in the efficient construc-
tion of those vast hospitals for the insane, which are already built, or
are being built, in every county; more especially as that efficiency
relates to the serviceable arrangement of the day and sleeping
rooms, wherein the unfortunate inmates pass the greater part of their
time. Some of these edifices are Icnown to have been planned, not
by professed architects, but by medical men, who Lave devoted
their attention to the treatment of the insane ; but the plannino- of
the greater part has, we think, been confided to architects ; and this
by the process of local committees adjudicating in cases of public
competition — the designs selected by them being moreover approved
by a Government Board of Lunacy Commissioners^ and each transaction
being referred for ultimate sanction and approval of the Home Secre-
tary of State.
And yet lunacy is on the increase : not particularly in those counties
— few if any in England — that are as yet without a new county asylum ;
but in those which have asylums, and large ones (such as Hanwell,
Colney Hatch, and Brentwood), already provided for them. We have
just spoken of the designs of most of these asylums as having been
obtained by public competition ; but these are all ostensibly based upon
certain principles of planning, laid down by the Lunacy Commissioners,
after careful digest of the several medical reports, issued by local and other
authorities from time to time. Certainly there is no class of building
that demands so much caution in its arrangements, and none in whose
arrangement as to plan it would be more injudicious in the authorities
to leave the architect altogether to himself. Between him and the
medical superintendent, who is to occupy the edifice when completed,
there should be perfect accord ; and this the more, because, albeit there
exist Commissioners' printed rules for the guidance of architects,
medical men themselves are by no means in accord with one another
on the question, How to manage a lunatic asylum.
It is indeed melancholy, under all the circumstances of the acknow-
ledged increase of lunacy, to find that, even now " doctors difler " so
greatly on this important question as to make it not improbable that, in
a few years it may become indispensably necessary to materially alter
the construction of the large lunatic asylums, which have, particularly
within the last fifteen years been erected at such cost to the seversl
counties.
Our attention has been forcibly drawn to the importance of this
question, by a pamphlet, " On some Principles in the Construction of
Public Lunatic Asylums," written by Mr. J. T. Arlidge, the substance
of which "formed the subject of a chapter on Asylum Construction in
the Asylum Journal" (vol. 4, 1858, page 188), and which the writer says
have been " strengthened and confirmed by extended personal observa-
tions made more recently, on the plans and organisation of most of the
principal asylums of France, Germany, and Italy."
Mr. Arlidge draws up a fonnidable indictment against our English
asylums : if it be a just one, we conceive the Lunacy Commissioners-
ought to bear the brunt of it, i-ather than the architects, who have but
worked to their printed instructions. He complains that
"All the public asylums of this country are, with sliglit variations, constructed
after one model, in which a corridor, liaving sleeping-rooms along one side, and
one or more day-rooms at one end — or a recess (a sort of dilatation or offset of
the corridor at one spot), in lieu of a room, constituting a section or apartment
fitted for constant occupation, day and niglit, forms — to use the term in vogue —
a 'ward.' An asylum consists of a larger or smaller number of these wards-
united together on the same level, and also superposed in one, two, three, and
occasionaUy four stories. • • • • The perpetuation of the ' ward system '
has been an anomaly and a disastrous mistake. The explanation of the error is
to be found in the facts — that medical men in England, engaged in the care of
the insane, have contented themselves with suggesting modifications of the
prevailing system — than which indeed they found no other models in their own
country ; and that the usual course has been to seek plans from architects, who,
having no personal acquaintance with the requirements of the insane, and the
necessary arrangements of asylums, have been compelled to become copyists of
the generally approved principle of construction, which they have only ventured
to depart from m non-essential details, and in matters of style and ornamen-
tation,"
and he urges that "the grand object" to be kept in view, when pro-
viding for the accommodation of the insane, is to " assimilate their
condition and the circumstances suraounding them as closely as possible
to those of ordinary life.
The ward system Mr. Arlidge utterly condemns : this is a pity ; for
it is perfectly true that hitherto it has greatly prevailed, and there are
icvi of the recently built county asylums, whose'Jnternal arrangement*
will not be found to correspond with the sketch here given.
" We may say of the ' ward system,' that it is about as wide a departure from
those conditions as can well be conceived. It is an inversion of those social and
domestic arrangements under which English people habitually live.
" The new-comer into the asylum is ushered into a long passage or corridor
with a series of small doors on one side, and a row of peculiarly-constructed
\
Mahch 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
197
\
I
windows on tlie other; he Amis himself mingled with a number of eccentric
beings, pacing singly up and down the corridor, or perhaps collected in unsocial
groups in a room opening out of it, or in a nondescript sort of space formed by a
bulging-out of its wall at one spot, duly liglited, and furiiislied with tables,
benches, and chairs, but withal not a room within tlie meaning of the term, and
in the patient's apprehension. Presently, he will be introdHceil through one of
the many little doors around him into his single sleeping-room, or will find
himself lodged in a dormitory with several others, and by degrees will learn that
another little door admits him to a lavatory, another to a hath, anotlier to a
scullery or store-closet, another to a water-closet (with which probably he lias
never been before in such close relation), another to a unnctum sanctorum — the
attendant's room, within which he must not enter. Within this curiously con -
strncted and arranged place he will discover his lot to he cast for all the purposes
of life, excepting when out-door exercise or employment in a work-room calls him
away : within it he will have to take his meals, to find his private occupation or
amusement, or join in intercoui-se with his fellow inmates, to take indoor exercise,
and seek repose in sleep ; he will breathe the same air, occupy the same space,
and be surrounded by the same objects, night and day."
Having condemned in this hearty style our present mode of arrange-
ment, he proceeds with some very intelligent, and as we conceive un-
answerable remarks, on the obstacles it offers to efficient ventilation and
supervision ; and proceeds with an explanation of his own plan for the
remedy of the alleged evils. He says : —
" The principle of construction we contend for is, the separation, as far as
practicable, of the day from the night accommodation. Instead of building
wards fitted for the constant habitation of their inmates, we propose to construct
a series of sitting or day rooms on the ground-floor, and to devote the stories
above entirely to bedroom accommodation."
Such rooms, he adds, admit of being arranged and furnished as such
apartments should be ; whilst, whatever money may be laid out in fur-
nishing and ornamenting corridors (a special instance of this may be
seen at Brentwood, in Essex), they can never be rendered like any sort
of apartment to be met with in the homes of English people ; and he
contmues : —
" The separation of the sleeping rooms from the day accommodation also has
the similar advantage of meeting the wishes and habits of our countrymen, who
always strive to secure themselves a sitting and a bed room apart ; and, alto-
gether, it may be said that in a suite of day-rooms disposed after the plan advo-
cated, and in the perfectly separated bedroom accommodation, there is, to use a
peculiarly English word, a comfort completely unattamable by the ward system,
however thoroughly developed."
Having ourselves some personal knowledge of the difficulties attendant
on the effective warming and ventilation of these asylums, we cannot
help being struck with the cogency of the author's plain comments on
this important feature of the arrangement of these edifices. He urges,
with much show of reason, the propriety of separating the apartments
for use by day from those occupied at night ; observing
" In a ward occupied all day and all night, the air is subject to perpetual
vitiation, and, whilst patients are present, it is, especially in bad weather,
difficult or quite unadvisable to attempt thorough ventilation by the natural
means of opening windows and doors — a means which we believe to be preferable
to all the schemes of artificial ventilation of all the ingenious engineers who have
attempted to make the currents of air and the law of diffusion of gases obedient
to their behests. But ' the wind bloweth where it listeth,' and all the traps set
to catch the foul exhalations, and all the jets of prepared fresh air sent in from
other quarters, will not serve their bidding : the airy currents will disport them-
selves pretty much as they please, and intermingle in spite of the solicitations of
opposing flues to draw them different ways."
Mr. Arlidge's pamphlet is too valuableto induce us to regard its
publication without apian as anything short of a loss to the community.
We have endeavoured to realise his plan, by perusal of his letterpress.
It certainly deviates greatly from the orthodox asylum plan ; and as
we understand its author, presents us, in Ueu of the usual corridor and
rooms branching from it, a series of " associated day rooms " on the
ground floor, and on the floor above a series of dormitories, single or
associated, as the cases may require. It strikes us that this arrange-
ment is hable to one grave disadvantage, viz., that in the absence of
corridors the withdrawal of an occasional refractory patient would be
attended with much trouble and confusion. We give, however, the
author's idea of classification : it differs altogether from the prevalent
system : —
"Owing to the sleeping apartments being quite distinct from those occupied
by day, the rule usually observed in a ward, as a matter of necessary convenience,
of keeping the same group of occupants in it both night and day, need not at all
he followed. On retiring from their sitting-rooms, where they have been placed
according to the principles of classification pursued, the day association would be
broken np, and tlieir distribution in the sleeping-rooms might be regulated
according to their peculiar requirements at night."
There are, it must be evident to any one who will read the pamphlet,
very sensible reasons for this plan. Mr. Arlidge assumes it would have
several advantages over the present one. These he proceeds lucidly to
review ; as for example — Greater assimilation of the patients' condition
to that of ordinary life ; better facilities for ventilation ; easier access
to the airing courts, offices, workshops, &c. ; easier supervision ; more
perfect classification ; easier cleaning of the rooms and distribution of
the food ; easier management of the patients ; diminution in the st^ff
of attendants ; diminution in cost of building ; and compatibility witu
the erection (always a difficulty) of a thbd story if needed.
eatier management of
Of one of these many alleged advantagi
the patients " — he observes : —
" To turn refractory patients tooie into a large corridor, we hold to lie mne-
rally objectionable. Its climensiong iraggett movement: the patient will walk
fast, run, jump, or dance about, and will, under the spur ol bin activity, m«<ldle
with others, or with furniture, and the like ; and if an att> iidaut follow' or inter-
fere, irritation will often euauc. But In a room, with an altentlanlat hand, than
are neither the same inducementa nor aiinilar opportunities for uieli irrMro-
larities."
And of another — " diminution in cost of building " — he says : —
" The professional architect who assisted us made a most careful irlirn.nte of
the cost of carrying out the pnrticnlar plan we prepared (de«;
date 220 patients), and calculated that every expense of eoi! ;;;
drainage of the site, gas-apparatus, farm-buildings. Ice., woum ...; .m,^hu tiy
£19,000, i. e., at the rate of less than £«0 (£«7) per head."
We do not undertake to say that Mr. Arlidge's views of the tn-at-
ment of lunatics are the correct ones. If they bo, his pamphlet botlcs
no "ood to the county ratepayers; for nine-tenths of the existing
English asylums will be found to have been built on a false plan ; but
he has evidently given much thought to the subject, and his remarks,
written with great clearness and precision, deserve attention. Our own-
object in noticing them is to commend them to architects, who are con-
cerned in the construction of these hospitals for insane persons. As to
their adoption in this country, involving an entire reconslruction of the
day-rooms and dormitories, there may be insuperable objections to such
a course ; but, granting the soundness of Mr. Arlidge's theory, it may
well be worth the consideration of our authorities, whether in our vast
spreading colonies it is even yet too late to adopt this gentleman's sug-
gestions. At all events, they ought to receive consideration in tne
proper quarter, and that without delay. The pamphlet is accompanied
with another on the condition of lunatics in Jamaica, which is so exe-
crable as to demand state interference, and the compulsory construc-
tion, as is the practice in England, of properly contrived asylums.
♦
THE ASPECT OF STAFFORD.
fExtractcd from the SlnffbrdMrr. Ailveriiser.]
EVERY one at all acquainted with StaiGird.and who is in the habit of perusing
the Builder, must be surprised at the description of the town given m tlw
columns of that journal. In these days of cheap periodicals, and the consequent
employment of inferior literary agency, the public are unfortunately accustomed
— and not without good reason— to place little reliance upon the accuracy of the
information supplied by a number of journals. The Bwiirfer belongs to the supe-
rior class of journals, and has for some time been ju.stly appreciated as a reliable
authority upon those matters more especially falling within the province to which
its columns are professionally devoted. The knowledge of this fact induces us to
call attention to the article upon Stafibrd, ])ul)lished in last week's number of the
ii«(7rfer, with the view of pointing out a few inaccuracies by which it is di^
racterised, and of supplying several important omissions. We are naturally
anxiousthat the world at large shall not be led to think worse of Stafford than it
deserves. Properly to accomplish our object we think it necessary to reproduce
the article in question. The following is the view of Stafford presented to the
readers of the Builder : —
The first impression which a traveller now receives of a town is that imparted to
him by the railway station and its accommodations. A large well-ordered statton
sug^gests a thriving^ town : confusion and scanty aecomniodation indicate the ;it«{piaat
second-rate county borough : in other words, the station of a county town jjives to
the modern traveller the same clue to its wealth and Importance that passcnKcrs by
sta<,'-e-coache8, a few years since, found in the stylo of the principal inn. Now, toe
impressions imparted by the Stafford station arc very unsatisfactory. It is a central
junction station, where trains dash up from dUTercnt quarters in rapid succession.
involving a great accumulation of luggage, and a constantly cbaiu^ng crowd of
passengers. No less than tlirce expresses, besides a slow train, arrive and depMt
in one short hour, at mid-day, all y^oing the same way. To meet the exigencies of
this extent of traffic suitable accommodation should be provided ; but we and UtOa
better than that afforded at an unimportant roud-sidc sUtion. In the first Pjaee, a»
station is uncovered, and the roofs over tbc platforms do not protect them sninclently
from the weather, consequently every passenger who alights hi rainy seasons s^p«
into a rivulet. In the second place, horses are riciuircd to move the carnsgas apoat,
and, the space being so limited as it is, they arc oWiiied to come upon the narrow aM
crowded platforms— an invasion which, although the do<ilc animals msy Ix; as Ugav
trained as Astley's steeds, occasions considerable U-rror and confusion to llmM
Sasscngers. The traffic appears to have overgrown the provisions for It to a
angerous extent, . , .i . _. _._
Crossing the river Sow by a new foot-bridge, on onr road to the town, we puf
another suggestion that we are in a land to which modern progress has not as M
laidsiecc-a large old-fashioned water-mill, with the snug mansion andneatgromiM
of tlie miller close at hand. We next thread a mean district of poor hooses, «B0M
floors are four or five feet below the level of the nrcr, which flows pMt Hieiiu
Numerous large out-privies indicate that, in addition to the damp deposited ana
percolating from the river, other evils are in full operation. _,.i.i.
in keeping with the depressiug train of rellecUons luducedby thecondltlon ofthM
neighbourhood, is the first sight of a decayed group of domcstlo JaMbean paUdmg.
tha^ wo find to be the twelv almshouses built V Sir Isaac Noel in 16^"M a shelto
for some of our aged necessitous poor, with s garden : and who gave ^..,««o i»™2
bibles to the poOT, with one church bible and eight folios. These bmldinga form
three sides of a quadrangle, having for a centre a dhapel, and in the two aM[le« quatat
and cunning doorways, the whole being Pl<:«"'''^.«1''^ ."^'1 ™"""^ „^.i?S
diamond quSrry lattices and dormers, and ogee and pointed gables. Tbe nc«r« we
approach the niore evident become the signs of ruinous dilspldation. 'The ro«»«f
bent in ; the tiles are loose and falhng off; the modern brick chimneys are in«*a««,
besides being a vulgar contrast to the liclicn-eoycrcd stencwork of the rest of tM
building ; weeds are sprini^ing up In unwonted pUces ; and the graeral "P«' 'j*^
of a haunted house. JIrs: Katc^iffe would have assigned it at least three cho^
Here, notwithstanding, arc lodged several poor persons, jirto receive (Vom the clarij
imkt,/ sums, now dwindled down to amosnts varying (Wim .Jd. to 's- J'f^S"
to cliat with one of the inmates, a witliered. spectral, tall. t.-^fbUngoU
man-flt tenant for such a neglected tenemcnt-and learn "JJ'^J^
this tmall stipend there is a plot of garden ground attached to ^f ^*we^*
which would be serviceable indeed if the scanty means at their disposal «rtB
procure the necessarv manure to re-fertilise the ground. Mo';'; 'f;' ™^i
that m this age of anUquaiian societies and appreciation of architecture, as weu
198
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 8, 1S61.
as of charitable fefUnc. so fivorablc a spcoimcn of the Domestic Brcliitecture of tlio
early part of the seventeenth century sliould be thus suiTcrcd to decay j so littie, too,
■eemintrto be required to rescue this pleasant relic uf olden charity from the dc-
stmction that apparenllv awaits it. The rooms are large ; and the masonry is as
perfect and expressive as when the eves of good Sir Isaac or his executors first
surveyed it. We lift the latch that should adinit us to the chapel ; but find, from
the wailing voice that cravinf,'lv invites us to enter, that it has been converted into a
dwelling. The voice, that of a' starved woman, corroborates all that we have heard ;
—that the chapel is not maintained, the weekly pittance scarcely keeps body
uid soul tpjether, and tliat the winds jind rain make free to brinj,'^ with them
rheumatism for a fellow-inmate. We ask concerning the commissioners appointed
to inquire into the management of charitable trusts, and a e told that they have
visited Sir Isaac Noel's charity, but without any improvement resulting to its
condition, or any ausrmentation of the weekly dole. This brinofs to mind the case of
the Almshouse of Noble Poverty, the Hospital of St. Cross at Winchester, on which
Sir John liomilly decided that, notwithstanding the lapse of a hundred and iifty
Tears sinco the departure from the original terms of the trust, moneys received must
De aceounlel for, and the buildings kept in a state of repair; whence we hope that it
isnottoohile to put in a plea for the preservation of these Jacobean almshouses.
The race of Sir John Noel mav have ceased on earth, but there are as good men and
true sliU to be found. Could a more graceful or grateful tribute be paid to his
memory by the town he loved and benefited than a reverent care of his valuable
and us*'ful "bequest ? Surely, in this rich neighbourhood. Ivounded on one side by the
irou-yielUing district, and on the other by the art-fostering and wealth-giving
Folteries, there must be men with charity in their hearts and power in their hands,
irbo would be proud to associate their names with so good a work. Made prim, and
neat, and green, and sunny, by a judicious application of the overflowing of a good
man's purse— the inmates rejoiced and fattened with the crumbs from a rich man's
table— what a pleasant nook it would be for him, the rich man, to remember on a
sick couch !
Stalford is particularly fortunatc'in its indigenous building materials ; the red bricks
and the cream-colored "bricks, and tlie profusion and cheapness of the variegated
tiles, permit the efl'ective grouping of colors, and give the means of producing very
pleasing results. We gee a new liaptist chapel and school-room, which, by the
simple and appropriate adjustment of red and black bricks in the rims of the window
arches, would be satisfactory to the eye. but for the omission of a bell turret (to indi-
cate the ecclesiastical nature of the building), and the necessary unsightly substitu-
tion of a notice board, with " liaptist Chapel and School " inscribed thereon. Cheery
in every direction are tlie red tiles, with their setting of green fields and hills, after
the long ride through the dingy smoke-hued country in the manufacturing
districts.
Is the Noah's Ark Inn we find another .Tacobean building well worthy of prescrva-
tioti- But this really magnificent remain of manor-house architecture appears to
be neglected and despised, eondemned, perhaps, because it is old and old-fashioned ;
or because the rooms are gloomy, with the myriad small square panes of bad glass
in leaden frames, with wliich the window openings are filled. The large> many-
mullioned and transomed bow-window openings ofi'er every facility for the insertion
of sheets of gl.ass— a simple expedient which, without destroying a feature of the
architecture, would render the interior light and gladsome. So convenient in its
neignbourhood to the church, what a delightful and appropriate rectory-house it
"would make. Too often these fine old buildings, from being patched with modern
tasteless additions, get comparatively worthless, and afterwards ridiculed by some
anomalous so6r/7Mc< as "Noah's Ark," but in this instance there is little to remove
and, with the exception of roofs and chimneys, but little restoration needful.
Like her neighbour, Wolverhampton, Stafford adorns her Market-place with a
Rnssian cannon ; not, however, mounted or guarded by railings, but having rather
the appearance of beinji left till called for. Its isolation and unprotected condition
are m some degree modified by the contiguity of the police station-house, which, like
the County Hall— a square building with square doors, square windows, and square
everything, of the Adam's stylo of the last century— is situated in the 3Iarket-place.
The scale upon which police stations are now built in country towns is a noticeable
featurecf these latter days. Tiraewaswhen the lock-up, or *' Kitty," as they have
It in the north, was a mere cage. The present structure in some towns might be a
•* Palais de Justice." That at Stafi"ora occupying the next best site in the town to
the County Hall, is no exception to this new rule. The Market-place is paved with
kidney pebbles, laid down with a precision rivalling that of the small square blocks
in the streets and roads of modern Rome. The effect of the extreme regularity is
almost oppressive, from the idea of the never-ceasing repairs which it suggests ; and
the pebbles, being in semi-relief, afford, like the ISirmingham streets, painful and
toilsome walking. The fact of the Market-place being pebble-paved is not so objec-
tionable, if the streets were not paved to match, with bricks for kerb, which are inva-
riably more or less loose. On looking round the market-square, and down the two
main streets that slope away from it, at the Queen Anne-ish houses, with here and
there an overhanging gable or a dormer intermixed with them, there is not the
least indication that the inhabitants have heard of the now general application of
sheet or plate glass to dwelling houseB, nearly all the windows being filled
with the small panes and wide prison-like bars of bygone days.
There are two ancient churches in Stafford ; with this difference between them :
on one has been lavished decorations of the choicest description, whilst the other
has, apparently, with the exception of the chancel, rarely occupied a thought or care.
St. Mary's, formerly a collegiate church, has an elegant and peculiarly shaped
octagon tower, with pinnacles at the angles, which, rising above the neighbouring
liousetopg, guides the stranger to its portals. It was originally a cruciform building
of an early and severe Transitional character, having subsequently been provided
with a clerestory and additional height to the tower, in the Perpendicular period.
The interior of the building is in Ijeautiful order ; the woodwork in the stalls, pews,
and pulpit, rich in design and execution ; the risers to the eight steps leading from
the nave to the sanctuary, the pavements and the reredos, are profusely enriched with
encaostic tiles. Rich effects arc also yielded by the abundance of stained glass, con-
cerning which wo must regret the too sparing use of white, as tending, as in the
Bipon glass and elsewhere, to give gloom instead of light. The long lancets in the
south transept, the five-Ught east and west windows, with geometrical tracery, are
noticeable instances of this want of relief and light as furnished by a judicious use
of good sparkling white glass. We mention this, because there is an opportunity on
the other side of the church to remedy this defect— where the large plain glass lights
intensify the effect of the utter absence of white In those described. The clerestory
windows present the same obscurity, nullifying in some measure the view we ought
to obtain of the very clever decorations in the spandrels between the beautiful
acutely-pointed arches beneath them, which divide the nave from the aisle. It is in
the Bscritty of this church that we observed the record of Sir Isaac Noel's pious
gnu. We must note, too, the crowded state of the churchyard, which is literally
packed with tombstones, and shows cvldenco beyond a doubt of the necessity of the
Extramural Act. A peal of fine old tjells, one of the precious rareitles of our belfries
that we cannot too highly prize, exists In the tower here, and from which a beautiful
chime floats as we move away.
The Norman church of St. Chad would appear to be hidden under a bushel, so
difficult is it to find it. It certainly possesses a most unenviable site, being sur-
rounded on four sides by back premises, back yards, and backs of houses. It appears
to have been a Norman erection, to whicli a tower was added in the Perpendicular
period. The ancient walls have been cased with brick, through which the original
windows here and there protrude. The tower, present iiiL' features of great archaeo-
logical Interest, having an unusually pretty panelled and banded parapet. Is frayed,
and mouldering away.
A handsome set or school buildings and masters' residences have been recently
btillt near .St Mary's Church, forming, like the almshouses, whose cause we have
pleaded, three sides of a square. The style adopted is Esrly Domestic (;othic. The
only adverse remark we have to make Is condemnatory of the too frequent repetition
of one idea in the cusped window heads, all of which are precisely of the same stereo-
typed form. The stonework of the building is artistically diversified between the
quoins and rubble, and the roofs are picturesquely and substantially formed.
Stiifl'ord is comparatively free from the evil of overcrowding. Would that every
poor man in a town had as pleasant a home as those in Eastgate, a wide street of
small houses of one story, with gabled dormers to the attics, made into a sort of
miniature " Champs Elysees,'' with a sprinkling of trees ! But the same praise is
not due In the matter of sewerage. A drainage system is in partial operation ; but
cesspools still prevail to an oiloriferous extent ; and we have already mentioned a
district l.iid out on the b.iuk of the river with such utter ignorance of the laws of
sanitary science as to be several feet below the water's shining level. It has other
black spots ; but we pass them by just now.
The staple manufacture of this ancient town is that of boots and shoes- with
which, we presume, the Crispin Inn has some appropriate associations. Tanning
is also carried on ; and we must not omit to mention, Stafford, that " thou brew'st
good ale."
Tlie impression randc upon the writer of tlie above article by the apjiearanee of
the railway station evidently exercised an unfavorable influence upon him during
the whole of Iiis visit. Had he, liowever, made a little better use of liis eyes,
and instituted a few inquiries wliilst at tlie railw.ty station, be would have ascer-
tained that the defects commented upon are in the course of being remedied. lie
might have seen that two new bridges had recently been erected, sufficiently
wide to adinit of four lines of rails being carried through the station ; that a new
and commodious goods station was nearly ready for use ; and that a new pas-
senger station, the erection of wliicli will entail a large outlay on the company,
was about to be commenced. Our author, however, hastily quits the station
■without pausing to make inquiries, which the building operations in progress
would, one would think, themselves suggest to him, above all others, and rusUc;
into the town " through a mean district of poor houses whose floors are four or
five feet beloii} tlie level of the river wliicli flows past thuin !" fr'trangers will
naturally infer from this that the inhabitants of one district of Stafford are con-
stantly exposed to the danger of being flooded out of their houses. Our author
has, however, deceived himself: the floors of the houses to which reference is
made are four or five feet above the level of the river; and we may perhaps do
him some little service by cautioning him to be more careful in future how he
takes his levels. The mistake into which he has fallen in this instance is attri-
butable, perhaps, to an oversight of the dam at the mill which attracted his atten-
tion in passing. Ourauthornextflndshisway to the almshouses, to the dilapidated
condition of which he properly calls attention, though that condition is some-
what overstated. It will be some consolation to him, perhaps, to be informed
that the chimneys described as " insecure " withstood the fierce gale which
recently swept over this neighbourhood. The house known as the " Noah's Ark "
elicited his special attention — whether because it is not well preserved we cannot
say ; but another and a nobler specimen of ancient architecture, "The High
House," and upon the proper repair of wiiieh the owner justly prides himself,
failed to attract his attention. The outside of tlie Shire Hall is next glanced at,
as is also the Guildhall, the latter of wliicli — iiiucli, we imagine, to the disgust of
the mayor, aldermen, and town council — is called the Police Station! The two
ancient churches of Staflbrd, St. Chad's and St. Mary's, the schools belonging to
the latter church, and the Baptist schoolroom (incorrectly named a " chapel ")
are also noticed. With respect to St. JIary's a mistake is made, whicli a little
inquiry would have prevented. It is intimated that bodies are still interred in the
churchyard, whilst the fact is that it has been closed for several years, a cemetery
h.iving been provided outside the town. The above-named are all the buildings
calling for notice from the writer of the " Aspect of Stafford." For the infor-
mation of those not acquainted witli Stafford we may be peiinitted to state that,
besides the public buildings mentioned, Stafford possesses within its limits and
immediate neighbourhood tliree churches — St. Paul's, Christ Church, and
Castle Church ; a Roman Catholic chapel and several Methodist and
Independent chapels; two lunatic a.sylums, an infirmary, a gaol, a Lj-ccum,
a grammar school, and a baronial castle. Stafford Castle, as is well
known, may be seen at a considerable distance, and is a most picturesque object;
the gaol is a model establishment for the punishment and reformation of
criminals ; and one of the lunatic asylums, that at Coton-hill, is a beautiful piece
of architecture, and its internal arrangements are most complete. These are
some of the things which the contributor to the Builder could or would not see,
but which, we think, deserve mention in any paper professing to give an account
of Stafford. We may also observe that the macadamised streets of the town and
the plated shop fronts of the tradesmen failed to attract his notice. The streets,
he says, are paved with '* kidney jiebbles," and "there is not the least indication
that the inliabitants have heard of the now general application of sheet or plate
glass in dwelling-houses," The statement is a libel upon the authorities of the
town, and upon the inhabitants generally. The article, in fact, is chiefly re-
markable for the gross carelessness of the writer. We must, however, do him the
credit of having discovered something worthy of praise in the good old tovpn.
" Stafford," he says in conclusion, " thou brew'st good ale." "We admire him
for his candour in this instance, but we cannot help wishing, for the sake of the
reputation of Stafford and the credit of our contemporary, that the discovery of
the good ale had been deferred to a somewhat later period of his visit.
ARCHITECTURAL MUSEUM.-DISTKIIiUTION OF PHIZES TO
ART-WOKKMEN.
ON Wednesday evening a crmrersmjione of the members and friends of the Archi-
tectural Museum, and distribution of prizes to art-workmen, took place in the
Lecture Theatre of the South Ivonsington Museum, which was filled by a hiij'hly
uspectable audience. The chair was occupied by A. J. J!. Hebesford-Uope, Esq.,
nd amongst the gentlemen present we noticed the Earl Powys. Sir Walter C. James,
Hart.. Jlr/ James' FerguBson. Mr. S. C. Hall, Mr. Joseph Clarke, Mr Wra. Burges,
Mr. Benjamin Ferrcy, the Rev. William Stott, Mr M. J. Lomax, &c. The meeting
was addressed at groat length by the (;iiairman, who presented the prizes to the snc-
cissful candidates, who. as we announced in our Issue of the Ist of February, were—
Messrs. J. Allen, of Wellesboume, Warwick; J. Ilatehett, Sutherland-sciuare-east,
Walworth ' " ■ " " ■ ^- . . ... j»- .
B. L. Boulton
J. J. Laing, \. — *...„.„.. ...^^.. „- . - ". ■ ^,
Simkin, Lambeth ; and A. O. I'. Harrison, of Eustou-road. The meeting w.as then
addressed by Mr Fergusson, Mr. S. C. Hall, the Rev. William Scott, Sir Walter
.lames, Bart., Mr. G. Godwin, and Lord Powys. From want of space we are obUged
to postpone a report of the proceedings to our next.
. Allen, of Wellesboume, Warwick; J. Ilatehett, sutneriann-sciuare-easi,
i; II. <). Hale, of Stamford ; H. Reynolds, Kirby-street, llatton-garden;
ilton. New Church-street, Birmingham ; J. Seymour, Tower-lane, Taunton ;
ig, West Preston-street, iOdinburgh ; E. Sedding, Clifton, Bristol; W.J.
Metropolitan Board of WorJs.— Tn consequence of Mr. E. H. W oolrvch
having been appointed a magistrate of the Thames Police Court, a vacancy has takeu
place in the olncc of legal adviser and standing counsel to the Board.
March 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
199
i
A FEW REMARKS ON STREET AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE.
No. in.
IN our last p.iper we wandered from the subject of planning somewliat
sooner than we originally intended. As we have before remarked,
however, we never liad an idea of entering deeply into the subject; but
there are a few heads on wliich we should like to touch for a moment
before we abandon it. We spoke of the principal rooms in a house, of their
position, and of their general treatment; we now come to the offices. On
the arrangement of these will depend the comfort and convenience of the
domestics, which is an important item not generally looked after so much
as it should be. Next in importance to the kitchen comes the scullery.
Its position should also bo near it, and where possible should, in our
opinion, open into it, having another door leading into the yard or open
court. If the house be built of brick, plastering here will be unnecessary,
and to have the brickwork well pointed and whitewashed will answer
much better, and, if done carefully, will look equally well, besides preserving
its appearance much longer, for plaster on scullery walls is continually
being broken-off and damaged. When the walls are of stone, plastering
becomes more necessary, and it has also the advantage of being much
cheaper than working a good face to the stonework.
The drainage and supply of water to sculleries should be well attended
to, and the experience of the late severe frost should be an extra induce-
ment to keep the pipes as much sheltered as possible, for we have all seen
the numerous inconveniences and annoyances that have arisen from their
exposure. The floors should be laid with a good fall in order to allow the
water to pass off" rapidly without lying on them in pools and thereby con-
stantly keeping them in a damp and moist condition. We have seen
sculleries whicli are continually in this state, and which present a most
miserable appearance, all occasioned by the flatness of the floor, from which
the water has no chance of passing away. Sculleries, in addition to this,
should he well lighted and well ventilated, as should every other portion
of the house, light in this case being very essential. The pantry and
larder should also be placed near the kitchen, and should have a north
aspect, their principal requirements being a dry and cool situation, and one
in which fresh air can be easily obtained.
There is no greater convenience in a house than a watercloset when
properly managed, or no greater nuisance when improperly attended to.
Their position in the plan of a house should bo well studied, care being
taken to place them where they can best be lighted and ventilated. We
do not like the plan of placing them where they are dependent on
borrowed lights; but their proper position is against the outside wall of a
house, where the window will open into a yard or unobstructed space.
The window should be carried up close to the ceiling, if the watercloset
be not provided with ventilation, in order to allow of all the foul air
escaping from the house, and not into it, as is too often the case. These
windows should be left partly open during the night, for it is then even
more than during the daytime that the close, unhealthy air from a water-
closet pervades the house, and is kept within it by every aperture being
closed. The practice of papering the walls of a watercloset we do not
think so advisable as painting them. Paint can be more readily cleaned
and,kept in order, and is for obvious reasons more suitable for this purpose
than paper. The plan of having two doors to each watercloset is an
excellent one, and is becoming pretty general. The space between these
doors is made to answer the purpose of a small lavatory (a desirable
accompaniment), and added to its convenience it has a suitable appear-
ance. There should, we think, be a watercloset on every floor, the one
above being situated over the one below, without necessarily disturbing
the arrangement of the rooms on either floor. Independent of these there
should, in the case of a villa or country residence, be a privy to every
house. It should be situated near the main building, but screened from
the more frequented portions, and be constructed on the principle of a
watercloset, having the vault some little distance from it, in order to
render it as healthy as possible, and also prevent its becoming a nuisance
to the house to which it is attached. There are many persons who
object to waterclosets in a house; but the generality of people think
otherwise, and it would, we think, be an act of folly to design or carry out
a building without one, which, whether used by the household or not,
would be found of great use in the case of invalids or aged persons. It is
hard to remove a prejudice, and the question of introducing these oon-
veniences into our houses has before now been warmly contested ; but it
is now almost universally allowed in the civilised world that they are in-
dispensable, and the objections urged against them have been overruled by
the advantages derived from them.
The size and position of bed-rooms will, to a certain extent, depend on
the apartments under them. A south-east aspect is considered the best,
and it would be well to place the principal rooms in th.at part, if there is
nothing to prevent the arrangement. Every bed-room should open into a
landing or passage, audit should never, under any circumstances, be found
necessary to pass through one in order to reach another. Dressing-rooms
should, of course, be placed next the bed-rooms for which they are in-
tended, and should open into them. The necessity of crossing a lobby or
passage to reach them should be prevented, as nothing can be more incon-
venient or annoying. It is needless to add that a dressing-room should
also be provided with a door opening into the passage or landing, and that
a fireplace is indispensable.
Bath-rooms are now seldom thought of except in superior houses, but in a
few years they will belooked upon as necessary toevery house in the oceupa-
tion of themiddleandupper classes. It is somewhat remark.able that apeople
so advanced in refinement as we are should be so insensible of the pleasures
and benefits of a bath. Even our public baths, where everything is con-
ducted on the most approved principle*, are not attended but by a Terr
small proportion of the population. In country place* they are almoat
unknown, and, though a stir is being made in some of the larger townt,
yet it will be some time before they become general and be
appreciated by every class. We would strongly recommend their mon
frequent introduction into our larger houses, and, in fact, into every honse
where the funds will permit. The additional expense is not heavy, and It
IS only a proper estimation o( their real value that is necessary to indaoe
our building owners to include them in their list of requirements. Some
writers entertain the opinion that the state of enlightenment and of
civilisation of a people may be known from the number and niagnificeoce
of their baths. We certainly have the examples of the ancients to support
this theory, but if Jhis be the case, where do we stand in the scale? Our
vaunted refinement must be ideal, and wo must' have been deceiving
ourselves with the notion that we are elevated liigher than we really are.
Without, however, entering into this view of the case, we cannot help
feeling that there is some little truth in it, and that there ii a blank whicn
must be filled up before we can be lulled into a siesta of contentment.
Having now spoken of the planning of the principal apartmenta aud
offices of a building, we quit that part of the subject without entering
into the consideration of minor offices and out-house>, and their relative
positions, as there is very little difficulty experienced in placing them tatii-
factorily, and where they will answer every purpose for which they are in-
tended. We think the opinion of Palladia, given in the first chapter of
his first book, worthy of the notice of every architect. lie says : — "Three
things in a building ought to be considered, without which it will not de-
serve commendation. These are, usefulness or accommodation, lastingneu,
and handsomeness ; for that work cannot be accounted perfect which i»
useful but only for a short time, or not convenient for a longer, or, having
these two, hath not decency;" and in another chapter he says — "Every
house well composed ought to have in the middle and chicfest part some
place to which all the other parts of the house may relate and appertain."
Here, then, is at once a guide for the arrangement of plans, and one which
we recommended in our last paper. It appears to us to be the best foun-
dation on which to work, and the most likely to be productive of an edi-
fice which would combine convenience and accommodation with beauty
and elegance.
Until very lately the attention of the profession does not appear to have
been directed to the decoration of floors of private residences. Even in
cathedrals and churches in England we do not often find floors of colored
marbles or encaustic tiles. Those originally laid have either been entirely
destroyed or concealed by others of a later date. On the Continent this
is not so, but in nearly all the most important buildings the floors are of
great beauty, and of most costly materials. We have there an oppor-
tunity of observing the beautiful eflects produced by an artistic arrange-
ment of colored materials in the construction of a floor. The works of
the Byzantine architects afford innumerable specimens of the happy
effects gained in the combination of differently colored marbles and other
stones in the paving of their religious edifices, and in the brilliant mosaics
on their walls; and, though we have fewer examples of this work in
Domestic architecture, yet we have sufficient to induce us to make use of
the suggestion, and avail ourselves of the means offered for making those
flat surfaces which are now bare and colorless, a feature possessing much
real beauty, and not inferior to the other portions of an edifice. But in
private houses we find the fioors chiefly of wood, and, therefore, the use
of marbles and tiles is somewhat limited; the consequence is that we must
depend on timber for the effects otherwise produced by stone, and this
material is susceptible of an equally varied and harmonious treatment.
In Somerset House is, perhaps, one of the earliest examples of this kind
of work in England, and it is rather surprising that the time which has
elapsed since the erection of that building has not been productive ot
more specimens of it. In ancient Rome the practice in superior houses
was rather general, and it is to be regretted that it has not been more
general here. In dining-rooms, landings, balconies, and passages, borders
of this work have v. most pleasing effect, and can be carried out in almost
any design. Dados and skirtings are now sometimes formed of these
colored woods, and are in many cases highly effective. In street archi-
tecture our shops oflTer a great opportunity for their introduction in floors,
counters, &c., but more particularly the former, where parquetry would
have an exceedingly beautiful and appropriate appearance. Encaustic tiles
are now much used, not only in pavements, but frequently in the facades of
houses, where great caution is requisite, or they have quite a contrary
effect to the one intended; in fact the greatest judgment is required in the
employment of color and colored materials in any place, or in any part of an
edifice, for if it should prove a failure it would be a failure of the most
glaring kind, and would always force itself into the notice of every one.
The interiors of our private buildings are generally much inferior to
the exteriors, and this may be traceable to the practice of the architects,
who prefer making all the show outside, where it can be seen by the
world, to distributing it inside for the benefit of the inmates and the few
visitors who may enter. This docs not meet with any serious opposition
from their clients, who appear equally proud of the external grandeur and
beauty of their residences, and who are generally plentifully supplied
with that love of outside show which abounds in this and other flourish-
ing nations. Some, on the contrary, insist on having all the money
expended on the inside decoration for their own individual benefit, and
suffer the outside to be as plain as possible. Now, these two extremes
should be avoided. Let the outside be in character with the inside, and
avoid pauperising one to enrich the other. Let the whole edifice partake
of the same treatment throughout, for what Palladio applies to the face of
200
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 8, 1861.
a building is applicable here : " Tlic handsomeness will arise from the fair
form and correspondence between the whole and its parts, of the parts
among themscWes, and of them to the whole ; iKcause that a building
ought to appear an entire and perfect body, wherein each member agrees
with the others, and all the members be necessary to what you design."
Ventilation is a question which cannot be too much urged, but which is
too often neglected. Anything which is so closely connected with health,
and eTCn life itself, should receive every attention which it is in the power
of the architect to give. Medical men have given us tne stern facts of the
case. They have shown us the injurious effects of impure air upon the
human system, and of the absolute necessity of providing means for a
constant supply of firesh air, and for the escape of foul. It is tlien our
doty to see that every room be provided with these meSis, which in some
cases may not be a very easy matter, but which should be effected it within
the limits of possibility. The great difficulty is to find a place into
which the rarefied air can escape, and another from which the pure air
may be admitted, without creating a draught, which may be even more
prejudicial than the want of ventilation itself. But these difficulties may
generally be overcome by a little thought, and the evil, if already existing,
be remedied. It is, however, in this as in many other things much easier
to prevent than to cure, and by a proper provision being made in a new
building much after trouble and expense may be saved and much annoy-
ance prevented. The fact of rarefied air ascending is one which must
always be borne in mind ; and the simple experiment of placing a lighted
candle at the top of a door when closed, and then at the bottom, where we
shall find it blown in one direction in the one case, and in an opposite one
in the other, will give a pretty good idea of the direction taken by air
when it enters a room. Notwithstanding this, we have seen a plan for
ventilating a room, in which the ventilators for the escape of the impure
air were placed within a few feet of the ground, instead of near the
ceiling, where they might have been of good, but being situated where
they were they had only the effect of increasing the draught without
being of any service whatever. Absurd as this may appear there are
other plans equally ridiculous, and the ignorance of some members of the
profession on this subject is in some instances absolutely startling.*
D. S.
MODERN I'ARIS.t
IN the centre of the Square des Innocents, the little fountain of Pierre
Lcscot has, after enduring many vicissitudes, obtained a suitable
resting-place. Its original position was at the angle of the Rues aux Fers
and St. Denis. It then consisted of three arches, forming a kind of Italian
loggia upon abasement. No water issued from un(lerthearcades,butacouple
of jets came from lions' jaws fixed against the basement. After a lapse of
238 years, it was, in 1788, removed to the centre of the Marche des
Innocents. A fourth arch was then added to it, and it was decorated
with nymphs and bas-reliefs, carved by Goujon. It was placed upon an
enormous pedestal, and basins were added to receive the water, which fell
from a vase fixed under the arcade. The demolition of the Marche des
Innocents in 1858 to make room for the Ilalles Centrales, caused once more
" I>a Nymplu'o '' tn be removed. Under tlie supervision of M. Davioud,
the six naiads and the six bas-reliefs of Goujon have been taken down,
BJlicatized and replaced, the mouldings, capitals, friezes, and ornaments of
Lescot have been carefully reproduced in hard stone, and the lovely
fountain has been restored, as far as possible, to its original beauty. The
restoration is confined to the decorative portions. The basement, in the
form of a pedestal, is reduced to the exact height of the primitive
fountain. A bronze vase occupies the centre of the composition under
the arcades, and basins arc placed against each of the four sides of the
pedestal, conducting the water to the lower basin built in the ground.
Returning to the Boulevard de.Sebastopol, we find that the Rue de la
Bcynie is opened on both sides, but the buildings, after having been
commenced, are, for some reason, at a standstill. A large block is now in
course of erection at the corner of the Rue des Lombards. No. 6, just
completed, has some finely carved window-heads, but the composition
consists chiefly of persiennes and balconies. Before arriving at the point
where the Rue Rivoli crosses the new Boulevard, we notice some doorways
on the west side, with figures introduced upon them, and the corner
block is one mass of carved stone. The trusses which carry the
mezzanine balcony are closer together than we have hitherto noticed
them, and have patera: in panels between them. From the centres of the
first floor windows carved heads rise and project, to support the balcony
above. Trusses flank each opening, and the space outside the trusses is
filled with panels and foliage. A somewhat similar arrangement is carried
out in the upper stories. The attic is set back even further than usual
to allow of a wide promenade on the upper balcony. The roof to this
block must be very roomy, for a second story is seen in it. No. 1 in the
Boulevard is conspicuous from Its being entirely free from balconies on
every floor. jThcre is a simple cornice and frieze over the mezzanine
»tory, and thence rises a series of fluted Doric half columns, coupled at
the angles. Windows, with curved pediments and trusses, are between
them. With the substitution of Ionic for Doric, and pointed for curved
pediments, the design of the second story is the same. This building — the
return front and entrance of which faces the Place du Cliatelet — is appro-
priated to the Chamber of Notaries, founded in 1539, by Francis I., and
confirmed by Napoleon 1 It has three openings on the return front, and
a corresponding elevation to that in the Boulevard de Sebastopol faces the
Rue St. Denis. Opposite to it in the latter street a new building is worth
• To be continued,
t Continued fl-om pagfe 134.
notice, on account of the happy disposition of the balconies. The corner
is, as usual, canted off. The balcony over the mezzanine floor is
continuous throughout the cant and both fronts. Over the first floor it is
repeated on the cant, but continued only to the first window on each
ttont, whilst above, over the second floor, the window on the cant alone
has a projecting balcony. The other windows have simple railings
inserted between the openings. This pyramidal arrangement of the
balconies has a very good effect, They are all supported by carved stone
trusses, but the rest of the design shows no striking feature.
In the Place du Chatelet, to which we have now arrived, two new
theatres are being built — the Theatre du Cirque on the western side and
the Theatre Lyrique on the eastern side. The latter has an arcade of
eleven arches on its ground story, with three stories and a mezzanine
above, whilst an additional story, set back considerably, rises from the
roof. We are unable at present to judge of the design as it is in block, all
the carving on the Parisian houses being done after the stones are fixed.
The Theatre du Cirque has a return front of twenty arches on the quay.
The palm-tree fountain, so-called from its decoration, erected in 1808 to
commemorate the victories of the Republic and of the Empire stands now
in the centre of the Place du Chatelet. It has recently been moved in one
mass some 40 feet to the south-west and then raised 15 feet or 16 feet,
whilst a new pedestal was built beneath it. The column is girt with bands
bearing the names of the most celebrated of Napoleon's victories. Upon
the capital, which is formed in imitation of a palm-tree, a gilt angel with
wreaths in each hand is placed. Upon the pedestal are statues represent-
ing Justice, Strength, Prudence, and Vigilance. They join hands and
encircle the column ; cornucopia) are fixed against the angles, the ends
of the horns are dolphins' mouths, and thence the water flows quietly.
This was the old portion of the fountain. On each of its four sides an
Egyptian sphinx resting on a lower pedestal has now being added, which
throws water into an outer circular basin. Quadrant basins at each
angle, within the outer-line of the sphinx pedestals, catch the water from
the cornucopia above. The front of the main pedestal bears the Imperial
eagle surrounded by a wreath in bas-relief.
From this "place "a fine view is obtained of the buildings of the old
oity. The towers of the Palais de Justice and of the Sainte ChapeUe are
seen in front, and, slightly to the left, the towers of Notre Dame rise
grandly over the lower houses in front of them.
Passing over the Pont du Change, which is still in progress, we have the
Palais de Justice on our right hand, and on our left extensive preparations
for new buildings. The Pont St. Michel which conducts us to the south
side of the river is like the Pont du Change, a stone bridge with three
elliptical rusticated arches. The spandrels are ornamented with the
Imperial cypher encircled by a wreath. The new fountain of St. Michel
at the north-west angle of the Boulevard lies now immediately before us.
It has already been fully described in our last Volume, page 671. As it
has a northern aspect, colored marbles have been extensively introduced,
but the grandest feature in it is the source and quantity of the water. It
comes from a horizontal space between the large blocks of black marble
and falls in a large volume into concentric basins below. It resembles a
natural spring, and the black rock is left to be shaped by the ever flowing
stream. The artist has done well in thus leaving this portion of his^ork
and bestowing his labor upon the figures above, and the disposition ot
colored marbles around it. The two recumbent lions on either side with
jets from their jaws show, at least, how much more grandeur there is in
the broad stream from the rock. Having served this purpose, the water
may now with advantage be turned off from them, and their mouths
closed for ever.
The corner of the next street, after passing the fountain, is very original
in its ornamentation. The window-heads and the balcony-trusses are
designed with remarkable elegance and freedom. In another variety of
the Franco-Italian style, the doorway of No. 11, on the opposite or eastern
side, is uo less skilfully treated. Just beyond, No. 19 exhibits a beautiful
arrangement of ornament in the door-head. A mass of corn and corn-field
flowers springs from behind the shield which bears the number of the
house, and spreads itself in lovely lines over the head of the door.
The next object which attracts our attention is a splendid doorway
which embraces the mezzanine story at No. 18. It is flanked by caryatides
standing on bold trusses. The foliage in the spandrels springs from the
key-stone of the arch, and is twined with great skill. The cornice and
every moulding and enrichment evince the same power and knowledge.
It is one of the most successful doorways in the whole street. A little
beyond this the new Boulevard St. Germain is commenced. It will lead,
on the right hand or western side, to the Church of St. Germaine des
Pros, and on the left hand, past the gardens of the Hotel de Cluny and the
Church of St. Nicholas du Chardonnet, to the llallcs aux Vins on the Quai
St. Bernard. We now pass a group of the old buildings whose sentence is
recorded but not yet executed. Between it andtheLycce St. Louis, masons
are at work on a nearly completed block of new houses, hewing the rough
masses into graceful foliage and well-studied forms, but preserving still
the same general character of the work. Nearly opposite to the Lycee we
are struck by the novelty of stone balconies. The central three openings
have on the first floor a stone projecting balcony running their entire
length. Single balconies of the same description are put to the two windows
on either side of them. The doorway is arched, and rises to the top of the
mezzanine story under the principal balcony.
Between the Lycoe St. Louis and the old Place St. Michel the houses are
all pulled down. New ones are being built at the corner of the latter place
and the Boulevard, and at the two corners of the street which leads to the
Place de la Sorbonne. The block at the north-west corner of this street
March 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
201
sliows extensive study. The under sides of the trusses supporting prin-
cipal cornice are elaborately carved, and the sliglitly relieved festoons,
peculiar to French architecture, hang from patera; hetween the upper
portions of the third floor openings. In the other windows the architraves
are dropped about 18 inches from the heads and then run horizontally across
the piers uniting witli those on either side. The square space thus left is
filled witli panelled foliage.
The remainder of the Boulevard exhibits a confusion of re-erection and
of desolation of large wall-surfaces seized upon by bill posters and specu-
lating advertisers and of accumulated materials which proclaim that the
work is not yet completed, and tliat the uniformity of the street is not yet
perfected. The student who desires to study good detail can profitably
devote some time to this new street and to the neighbouring Kue
Rivoli.
Not only in their carving, fcut also in the outlines of their mouldings,
the Frencli architects evince an amount of care, an extent of knowledge,
and an educated refinement which are altogether foreign to our English
buildings; hut with all this they are not works which any painter, either
now or in futui-e times, would for an instant expect to make a picture of.
We have heard a painter say tliat lines of infantry on parade are great
obstacles to pictorial effect. The same difiiculty seems to be presented in the
uniform files of unbroken architecture which lias been inaugurated in Paris
by Napoleon III.
Law offices (whicii arc in the line) have been set back 14 feet from the old Uae
of frontage towards cifecting tlils great iriiprovemcut.
.luhii Lanihert, Esq., II . M. i'oor I.iiw Iuii|icTtur, lias examined the new board-
room and offices, and has report<:<l them to be admirably adapted for the pur-
poses for wbicb they ore designed.
YORK POOR LAW UNION.— OPENING OF THE NEW BOARD-
ROOM AND OFFICES.
LAST week the guardians of the York Union held their first weekly meeting
in the new board-room, at the comer of Blake-strcet and Museum-
street, and, as might be expected, there was a more numerous attendance than
usual.
The Yorinhirc Gazette observes that the site upon which the building stands
is of a most eligible description, one of the best in the city for the erection of a
public edifice. A comraoaious inn, known as the Royal Hotel, formerly occu-
pied the site, but upon the death of the proprietor (the late Mr. Etridge) the
hotel was not relet, being much out of repair, and the estate being involved in a
Chancery suit, under an order of the court the old premises were purchased by
the guardians of the York Union for the sum of £775, a very moderate amount
considering the extent of the property. Before the proceedings in Chancery the
property was sold for £1,200 but "litigation occurring, the purchasers wisely
backed out, for feai- of being made parties in the suit.
Rawlins Gould, Esq., of this city, was appointed architect, and directed to
prepare plans of the proposed new board-rooms and ottices ; the same having been
submitted to and approved of by the guardians, the contracts for the necessary
works were entered into by the following York tradesmen, whose tenders were
accepted, namely: — Mr. .1. Keswick, mason and bricklayer; Mr. Wm. Bellerby,
joiner; Mr. H. Young, plasterer; Mr. R. Walker, plumber and glazier; Mrs.
Wood, slater ; and Mr. George Wood, painter.
The new building is of a substantial and ornamental character, and is erected
in the Italian style of architecture. The exterior has a commanding and agree-
able appearance, and presents an imposing front to Blake-street and Museum-
street. The walls are of red stock bricks, and the decorative parts are com-
posed of stone from Hare Hill, near Leeds. Upon the ground floor the building
contains two offices for the accommodation of the clerk to the guardians and the
registrar of births and deaths, with a fire-proof strong room of ample dimensions,
for the safe custody of the registries, and also an application-room and relieving-
office. There is a spacious entrance-hall, and also a side entrance into the build-
ing for parties having business to transact with the board. At the further end of
the entrance-hall there is a handsome and convenient stone staircase leading into
the board-room and offices above, and another staircase is provided at the ex-
tremity of the side entrance. The board-room is a commodious and lofty apart-
ment, 39 feet in length by 27 feet in breadth. The rooms adjoining to it comprise
a committee-room, an audit-oflice, an ante-room, a muniment-room, andawait-
ing-roora. The ceiling and cornice of the board-room are appropriately orna-
mented. There are two flre-i)laces in the apartment, the chimney-pieces being
of grey marble, plain and substantial, and supplied by Messrs. Skelton and Son,
Micklegate. The ranges have been furnished by >Ir. W. Walker, Walmgate ;
and Mr. Wm. Dove, Pavement, hiis supplied the general ironmongery. Thesuite
of apartments in tlie building are finished in a neat and workmanlike manner, and
in every respect appropriate to the purposes they are intended to serve.
The furniture and fittings in the board-room are plain and good. The apart-
ment is carpeted, and sets of mahogany tables are placed round the room, with
plain substantial chairs and seats, covered with leather. There are three fixed
seats elevated upon a dais, that in the centre being for thechairmanof the Board,
and the other two for the vice-chairmen. The representatives of the press have
not been forgotten, a desk and seats being provided for their accommodation in
front of the clerk's table. The furnishing of the rooms has been executed most
satisfactorily by Mr. Hodgson, Petergate; Mr. Wilson, Railway-street; and Mr.
L. Brown, Petergate.
The original tenders for the building amounted to £2,085, exclusive of the
value of the old materials, and the works have Ijeen completed for a
sum not much in excess of that amount. Including every expense, the purcliase
of the site and the furniture and fittings, the cost of the buihling will be under
£3,000; and probably it has been erected at a less cost than any other public
building of corresponding size and extent in the city. Mr. Gould, the architect,
has added to bis professional reputation by the talent be has displayed in the
preparation of the plans, and the zeal and assiduity he evinced in superintending
the works from their comnienceuient to the temunation. The several tradesmen
engaged have faithfully fulfilled their contracts, and the guardians generally are
well satisfied with the excellent building they have obtained.
The edifice has an extensive and commanding exterior. Its appearance will be
greatly enhanced wlien the new bridge across the Ouse at Lendal is completed,
and the improvement carried out by the removal of the unsightly block of liouses
in Little Blake-street, which now obstructs the view of the fine west frout of
York Cathedral. There will then be a splendid wide street, perfectly scraight,
from the railway station across the river Ouse to the Minster, and the new Poor
MAXIMS AND MFJUORANDA RELATING TO THE ARRANGE-
MENT OF FARMHOUSES, AND OF COTTAGES FOR AGRI-
CULTURAL LABORERS.
No. V.
76. Next in importance to the building of new cottages is that of
improving the old. Indeed, it is questionable whether a more generalljr
improved state of matters, with reference to cottage*, would not be brought
about more speedily by attending to tlie improvenieot of old rather than
the building of new cottages. A* this could be effected at less cost, and
the improvements rapidly carried out, attention would be more quickly
drawn to the matter, and the advantages more obviously seen of having
arrangements calculated to secure tlie requirements at will of domestic
comfort and social decency. " It is," says a writer in the Quarterly Revittc
for April, " at times a much greater kindness, and far more economical, to
add to or repair an old house than to set up a bran new one. • • • The
special convenience of tenants can tlius be much better met ; and we
should not find, as is the case sometimes in model cottages, some poor old
body moaning over the uselessness of a large cold room, or the desolation
of unoccupied bed-chambers. Every sort of accommodation, from one
room to six, is needed for a village population. No one could be expected
to erect new buildings to meet all these contingencies, but a considerate
attention would easily find means of satisfying all reasonable require-
ments by repairing and altering existing houses." " We would give up,"
says the writer we have already quoted, " much of the regularity and
trimness of a martinet village for marks of individual kindness and con-
sideration. While new cottages, built here and there, take the place of
those that are utterly decayed, we should like to see this cottage patdied
up for Widow Toogood, where she and her old man have lived for more
than half a century ; that bed -room added for poor Tom Longlcgi'
increasing family j tliat little shed knocked up for Jolter, the carrier ; an
extra bit of green allotted to Dame Twoshoes, who takes in the washing ;
a little lean-to permitted next his son for old Master Creep|er, who ne^a
no house of his own, and cannot hobble up-stairs. These things show* the
real personal superintendence of one who cares for the people committed
to his charge, and not the mere activity of an agent."
77. Thus, taking Fig. 1, Plate IV., as illustrative of the form of cottage
which gives the minimum of accommodation with the maximum of dis-
comfort, we perceive that, without adding to the extent of walls, or in any
way altering the external appearance, considerable comfort would be added
to the inhabitants if tin internal porch, a, were taken off the room, in which
space might be taken for a small cupboard, 6. Additional light would be
obtained by another window put in at c, and another advantage, and by no
means an unimportant one, would be gained by this, that a thorough cur-
rent of air could be maintained through the room, thus securing its venti-
lation. To avoid the loss of space by taking the porch from the room, it
might be added to the end, as at a, Fig. 2, making it large enough to adtnit
a small cupboard, as b. In this case the original door, c, is closed up, the
entrance-door being at d. We prefer the porch being at the side wall of
the building, rather than being at the front, inasmuch as the window to
the side would be comparatively shaded. Still further accommo<lation
would be given by extemiing the walls of the set-off, or lean-to. a b. Fig. 2.
up to a level with the back wall ; this would give space for a small scul-
lery c entering from fhe room ; in this a slop-stone might be placed, well
lighted by a small window in the wall at /. Further space might be
obtained for a small pantry, g. Now, for an old couple, whose children
have all left them, or for a couple without children, this arrangement
would really give a very comfortable cottage : for the living-room could
then be kept tidy by all slop-work bemg performed in the kitchen, while
" tidiness "—a place for everything, and everything in its place— could De
observed by having the advantages of the cupboard in the porch at 6, and
the pantry at g. Further comfort and cleanUness might be secured Dy
having a coal-place at 1, and an ash-pit at t. , .• _
"8 Thus far for a cottage of the class where the least accommodation
would have to be provided j but where a family would be met with,
increased space would be required, this being in the shape of sleeping
accommodation ; the living-room, scullery, and pantry remaming, as
illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. If the family were a very young a single
room ornursery might be formed at the back wall " "' ° °-J 'f ; '^^ * *
being the windows by which it is lighted, and c the door entering from the
living-room. This room, aa, could easily be made mto two rooms-one
for tlTe boys and the other for the girls--by running up a partition <^
and knockine out another door, e. by which entrance could be gained from
the living room //, corresponding to d. Fig. 1. This accommodation
vvouldTow te aipie for a married laborer with a small family but mauy
disadvantages would be attendant upon the arrangement shown ; thus
the en ranee to both bed-rooms would always be through the Iiving-room,
Ir ng ng ab'ou? disagreeables in time of sickness. Ut us see the^fore
how by still retaining the original part, as «»>own in Fig. 1-that iMhe
™nTple square building-we can obuin a living-room and two bed-rooms
wUh separate entrances with porch, scullery and 1""?'^^ f ~""'^"°?;
The most obvious way. perhaps, to secure these desiderata would be to
car?v out a part, a b cd. Fig. 4. making the porch at e, with cupboard at/,
and^heWes a?"; the bed-r^m. A, being ente'red from i, bed-room, j, from
202
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 8, 1861.
PLATE IV.
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March 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
203
, the scullery being placed at m, and lighted by window, n, shelTes being
laced round it to hold crockery or provisions ; living-room door at /.
*
placed . _ _
79. Where a third bed-room is required, it may bo placed at a. Fig. 5,
entering from the passage, 4, by door, c, while a scullery is made at d,
entered from the living-room by door, e. A small pantry being placed at/,
the scullery, d, and pantry,/, being hghted by window, g.
80. Fig. 6 shows another arrangement in which three bed-rooms are
obtained, the original square room, a, corresponding to d in Fig. 1, being
still retained. In Fig. 6, a is the living-room, 6 the entrance passage, c a
bed-room entered by door d, and having a closet, e, off it ; /, bed-room,
with closet, t/ ; h, a pantry off passage, 4 ; c, scullery entered from living-
room, a, by door, J ; h, small bed-room.
81. Still retaining the original square room, a, as in Fig. 7, we can have
another arrangement : where two bed-rooms, 4 and c, are placed at the
back of a, with a passage, d, between them, the entrance-door being at e.
The living-room is thus placed at the back, the two bed-rooms, b c, at the
front. Entrance is obtained to the living-room, a, by the door, /, at
end of passage, d; gia the door to small bed-room, h, with closet, (', off it.
The scullery, k, is entered by the the door,,/, I being a pantry off scullery,
both being lighted by one window. The door — corresponding to e in Fig. 1
— may be blocked up in living-room, a, Fig. 7, or the arrangement in
Fig. 1, with porch and pantry, aab, being made, thus liaving a back door
to house.
82. All these arrangements have reference to single-storied cottages.
We shall now give a few suggestive sketches, illustrating how two-storied
cottages may be made by improving the " type" illustrated in Fig. 1 with
its single room d. In Fig. 8 is the ground plan; Fig. 9, the chamber plan.
In Fig. 8, a is the porch, b the door to living-room, c the living-room,
d the entrance to a pantry, e under landing of stairs, / the stairs, g the
scullery. In Fig. 9, a is the stairs, b the bed-room, c bed-closet, d linen-
closet.
83. In Fig. 10, we give ground plan, and in Fig. 11, chamber plan of
cottage. In Fig. 10, a is part of the room corresponding to d, Fig. 1,
entered by the door 4 from the porch, c, d passage to back bed-room c, /
front bed-room, g stairs, h scullery, entering from living-room a by door i.
In Fig. \l,a stairs, b landing, c large bed-room over living-room, a. Fig.
lu. d e bed room, / store-closet.
84. Let us now take up the subject of " combined cottages," so to name
them ; that is, arrangements as recently suggested by which two cottages
are placed together, but having unequal amount of accommodation— one
being suited to a large, the other to a small family. This system possesses
many advantages, and these so obvious that it is unnecessary further to
take up space by dilating on them. We pass, therefore, to the considera-
tion of plan of which, in Plate IV., we give a few suggestions.
85. In Fig. 12, a is the living-room of the smallest cottage, 4 the porch,
and c the scullery, d pantry.
In the largest sized house, d is the living-room, e the small bed-room,
entered from the porch/, from which also the scullery g is entered.
86. In Fig. 13, while the small cottage remains as before, we have two
bed-rooms to the largest sized cottage. Tlie porch is at a, the scullery at
6, the living room at c, the small bed-room at d, one the second bed-room
at e ; / a closet.
87. In some cases the small cottage might be required, with a bed-room,
the large one with two bed-rooms, as in Fig. 13. In this case it will per-
haps be better, at least more economical, as far as^roofage is concerned, to
give the extra accommodation in a second story, in place of spreading out
the ground space. Fig. 14 sliows one arrangement which might be
adopted. In this a is the entrance porch of the smallest cottage, 4 the
living-room, c the scullery, dthe stairs, e a closet to second story. In the
largest sized cottage /is the entrance porch, g the living-room, h the bed-
room, i the scullery, 7 the staircase. Fig. 15 gives the second-floor plan of
this, in which a is the bed-room of the smallest cottage, with a closet 4, c
the stairs, d the bed closet. In the largest sized cottage e is the stairs,//
the landing, g the front with h the back bed-room, i is a small cottage off
bed-room g,j a linen closet at hea<l of stairs.
_ 88. In fig. 16 wo illustrate a rectangularly-formed single storied " com-
bined cottage," in which two rooms are provided to the smallest sized and
four to the largest sized cottage. In the smallest sized cottage, a is the
entrance porch, b tlie living-room, c the bed-room, d the scullery. In the
largest sized cottage, e is the entrance, / is the living-room, g scullery, h
closet or larder, i,j, and k bed-rooms.
BECONSTEUCTIOiV OF PARIS.
THIS is really almost the only expression that represents the mass of alterations
that have already been made, and are in progress or in contemplation in tlie
imperial city. Tlie season has commenced upon a grand scale, and the plans to
be carried out are gigantic. It is difficult to know where to commence, whetlier
north, south, east, or west, for at the present moment demoUtions are going on
everywhere. Walking down the Rue de la Paix the other day we suddenly
missed two houses on the eastern side and found in their place three acrobatic
gentlemen, one balancing a pole some 30 feet long on liis forehead, a lady selling
cravats at a franc each, and several other peripatetic adventurers ; we must,
however, defer any mention of tliis new opening for the present.
_ We noticed, some time since, that an opening had been cut tlirough by the
side of the Elysee Napoleon, so as to isolate the little palace from the Iiotels that
adjoined it. Within the last week or two the work of reconstruction has com-
menced, and is proceedinj,' rapidly ; tie front or screen of the building, wliich
gives on tlie I'aubourg St. Honore, is being continued on the side of the new
transverse street so as to balance the guard-liouse at the opposite flank t(nd bring
the entrance-gate into the centre of the wall, wliicli it is not at present; two
wings are being added to the palace itself, on the side of the new street, and on
tlic opposite side of the Utter aoiiie other waetjoDS are about to be aude The
new system oflmilding under oo»er, that is beneath a woodeo fmoe-vork M
higli as the mtended ediflce, and covered with tarpMlilw, or in toae rnw whli
a waterproof material stretclied on a number of oblomr tnmm, eaeh aboot 10 tet
long by 0 feet wide, exhibju the work to be done in • mncb mon eoiapl«ta auoer
than ordinary scaffolding ; tliis covered eyetem ii now been applied In tlmoit aU
cases here, not merely for the sites of Uie house* tbemacWee but for the picMi*.
tioD of the stones, mid during the hite wet weather the ad*aotafK of witHntoit
sheds for the atonemasona muet have been found very great.
The alterations of the city'pruMnt many pohiti of intercat in an hiitorieal viaw s
in many cases streets and localities wUeb recall tbe nwit interstiog naiMgw is
the history of Paris are being ntterlv obliterated, wbila auny edifleea that ha**
hcretofon; been hidden and neglected are bebig brought out caoipieaoailr
The Boulevard Sebattopol, which is approachmsr eomplatiaa, deaerrc* to b*
noticed first, on every account ; it rons through Uie veiy heart of the old dty,
that of the Roman period, and the d.molitlons which an b*iag made, briiw to
light eaeh day some remnant of a bygone age which. In thr matirltT nf raifa. h
doomed to disappear for ever. We archseologists were horrtte^the other day ta
hear that the last remaining portion of the wall ereeted roond what oonttitulad
Pans in the reign of PhiUppe Augoste wai disappearing under the iconoehMtie
picks of the demolishers ; it was true that a hole liad been made hi the baa* of
the wall, but the reUc is not to be destroye<t. It itande fai a nnlen to the CMt
of the old Place St. Michel and between the latter and the rue de Clnay "«fr
the rue Soufflot, and consists of a round tower which has la*t iu crenellated bat-
tlements, but in which may still be seen the long embrasure* tbroogfa which tha
men at arms pointed their arrows and liolts ; the tower is eonnectea with a piece
of wall, or curtain, of some length, which was found to be apward* of rix ImC
thick. The wall of Philippe Auguste, of which this formed apart,WM COM*
menced in 1190 and occupied nearly thirty yearsjin construction, that portte
which was on the south side of the' river stretched from the Tonr de Ifcale, <£
notorious memory and which stood on the present site of the Institnte of Franee,
to another tower also on the bank of the river higher up, called La Toomelle ;
the northern portion also had two corresponding towers, on the other side of tka
river. The oval space thus enclosed wasjust the length of the two islands of the
Cite and Saint Louis in the Seine. Tlie Toumelle stood at the end of the quay of
that name on a site now included iu the wine depdt. The wall was tortmed
throughout its whole lengUi and bad thfrteen openings ; Paris of the present day
has, like Thebes, a hundred gates.
In the same Boulevard on the Lsland of the Cite, and oppoeite the front of tha
palace de Justice, the foundations of a lar(;e buiMiii;.', intended for the Chamlwr
of Commerce, are nearly tinished ; tliis will consist of three stories and be aar-
mounted by a dome — it will harmonise witJi the Palais de Justice, and affiird ac-
commodations not only for the Tribunal of Commerce but also for a Court of
Bankruptcy and for the mectmgs of the Council of Pnid'hommes. One other
very important feature deserves notice, it consists of a hirge hall for the exfaibiUaa
of industrial designs and specimens of fabrics.
The new Chamber of commerce stands on the spot lately occupied hjr tlwt
famed resort of students and grLsettes, the dancing-room known as the Piado,
and which had itself replaced the ancient church of Saint Bartholomew. Not ttt
off are being removed the ruins of three Gothic arches which once formed part of
the convent of St. Klagloire. It is curious that the latter building should alwt
have been used for the first commercial tribunal in France, and which wa* c*-
tablished by Cliarles'lX under the following circumstances : — ^Two merchants lud
supported for two years a suit licfore the Piirlement and were at length defeated ;
the King determined, as we are told, to free coounerce from the shackles Impoaed
upon it by the Royal Courts, and established the above-named tribunal, beftra
which the cases of merchants could be trieil by their compeers. The dncree wa*
issued in 1563 and c.irried out in the following year. Thus the new Chamber of
Commerce will stimd within a few hundred yards of the spot where its progenltar
was established three centuries since. The Parlement was very indign.tntat ttie
breach of its privileges committed by the King, but the latter jiersisled aa4
established similar tribunals ui many parts of the country; bis sucoesaora fol-
lowed his example, and when the revolution occurred th€Te were aUtjf<*cvaa
commercial chambers in [France. The CoiuieU </<■ Prud'hommer, meBtJooed
above, is not so well understood in England ; it originated daring the first empire,
ard is to manufacturers and workmen what the Tribunals of Commerce are to
merchants and traders. Here employers and employe<l sit together a* Judges of
all questions between master and man.
The demolition for the purpost* of the Boulevard in question have given tin
to great repairs and additions to the Churcli of St. Leu and St. tiilles, which
stands between the new street and the Hue St. Denis. This church was built in
1320, on the site of a small chapel of the same name; it was created a poijab
church by Henri de Gondi Cardinal and liishop of Paris, early in the seventeeodl
century, when it was entirely or partially rebuilt ; during the revolution it waa
converted into a saltpetre warehouse, and waa not again used for religious pur-
poses till 1802. In 1727, when it was repaired, a carpenter named Guillaiime
Gueriu performed what, at that time, was a great feat; he removed the doct
tower, whicli contained a bell wii<'hing two tons, from the top of a 'o]J]2^JI^^
was in an unsafe condition to another which had been erected at a distanee of
24 feet; a scaffoldmg was erected, and the belfry was moved along on rollers
without disturbing even the leadwork with which it was covered. The old church,
which was almost completelv buried amongst houses, has now an entrance from
the new Boulevard, and presents a very pleasing appearance, but a considerable
portion of the building had to be reconstructed; the whole of the interior has been
renovated, and the total expense to the dty has been £32,000. .
The Boulevard Sebastopol is carried along the side of the Luxembourg gardo^
from wliich a slice has been taken off, and a magnificent iron nuling lias upland
the old wall which ran ii-oni near the palace to the observatory; when the me
d'Enfer is wiilened the Boulevard de Sebastoixjl will form the great tliorongbto*
from the north to the south as the Rue Rivoli does from the west to the east Of
The average width of the new Boulevard is over 90 feet. In cnaaiiThm
with it, openings are being made in the quarter last referred to, whii-h will com-
pletely transform tlie tortuous and narrow streets in the neighbourhood of the
Odeon Theatre. ■ . v. ^__
The new Boulevard St. Germain, in tlie quarter of that name, is to De oon^
tinned across the Boulevard de Sebastopol and the river as far 'as the Plana
de la Bastille ; it will cross the Seine at the eastern end of the httle island of
Samt Louis, and two uew bridges will have to be built for the purpose, in the
204
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 8, 1861.
construction of this new street a curious old part of tlic city between tlie rue
Saint Jacques and tlie place Maubert will be ileniolislied. In the little narrow
street called the rue du Platre, erected on the spot where in 1247 was one of the
quarries that then supplied Paris with stone and now forms a portion of the
catacombs, formerly stood the college of Cornouailles united in 1763 with that of
Louis Le Grand ; in the rue Saint Jean-de-Beauvais were once the schools of law
and medicine and the college of Lisieux of which Hollin the historian was
principal and the chapel of which was decorated by Lebrun ; in the same street
stood the printing-house of the famous Kstiennes who used to exhibit a copy of
each of their new works with an offer of a certain sura of money to any one who
should discover the slightest fault in ihe printing.
Here also stood the college of Beauvais, founded by Charles V., and of which
s portion, including a Pointed bell-tower still stands; it is at present used as a
barrack entered from the rue de Carroes. Lenoir and Guilhermy give descriptions
of this curious relic of the fourteenth century, and the statues of the Seigneurs
of Bormans, the founders of the college, are in the museum of Verseilles; it is
positively asserted that the fi^re supposed to be that of Heloise on the tomb of
Abelard in the cemetery of Pere Lachaisc, is actually that of one of the female
members ef the Dormans family from the choir of the chapel of the college
Beauvais. Saint Fran(;ois Xavier, and Cardinal d'Ossat, and Hollin Cr^vier the
historians were professors of Beauvais. At No. 22 in the same street is the
passage St. Jean de I^itran which communicates with the last remains of the
Commanderie de Malte ; of that Co^tr ties Miracles, as it was called, nothing
now remains but the chapel, used as a common school. In 1702 the Prince de
Conti was grand Prieur ol the order.
Amongst the streets to be demolished is the rne des Anglais which is said to
have taken its name from the number of English scholars wlio were attracted to
Paris by the fame of iis university ; it was commenced in the time of Philippe
Augnste.
Jaillot, however, says that the street was named after the English long before
the reign of Charles VI., and Guillebert de Jletz in 1434 spoke of it as a place
in which good cutlers lived, and as the EngUsb were even tnen famous for their
manner of working steel, some people believe the name to have been derived from
a settlement of our countrymen engaged in that trade. The street is a curious
specimen of those of the middle ages — extremely narrow, without side pavements,
and with huge posts bound with iron, to enable pedestrians to escape from being
run over. The ancient character of the houses had been but little altered, and
the narrow passages, dark entries, small enclosed courts and open wells recall the
etchings of Perelle and his contemporaries. In a very short time the whole will
have disappeared.
In anotlier part of the town, that is between the Rue Blanche and the Rue de
Clichy, a work of considerable ma^itude is about to be commenced, namely a
church to replace a provisional building known as the Eglise de la Trinite. This
building is to be in the style of the Renaissance, and, amongst its other features,
! s to have a colonnade under which persons may descend from carriages under
cover — an arrangement much required, we are told, in the ease of baptisms and
marriages — a square clock-tower on an octagonal base, and large underground
chapel for special ceremonies and interments The church, with its chapels and
tribunes, is to be capable of containing about 4,000 persons, the superficial area
of the whole will be 2,8i30 metres, the length of the exterior, including the porch
and tower, 92 metres, and the interior 78 by 34 metres.
Judging by the manner in which this church is spoken of by the authorities, it
■would seem that the new Eglise de la Trinite is intended to be a perfect chef-
d'oeuvTe.
Lastly, extensive works are now going on for the formation of another grand
road to be called the Avenue de I'Empereur, which is to carry; on the Cours la
Reine to the Bois de Boulogne, with this are to'be connected two branch avenues
to difierents points of the Bols. In connexion with this is the formation of a
large Place, to he named after the King of Rome, on the high ground called the
Trocadero oposite the Champ de Mars. This ground is very high, and the slope
between it and the river is to be formed into a spacious esplanade on a gentle
slope, so that from it and the place above many thousands of people may witness
the militar)- manoeuvres and grand fetes on the Champ de Mars and the neigh-
bouring quays.
It may give some idea of the cost of these alterations, even in the oldest quarters
of the town, to state that 52 houses in the old streets to be pulled down for the
new Boulevard St. Germain cost the city more than £150,000, and that in ad-
dition the sum of £17,680 was paid to It) tenants by way of compensation.
ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION.
AN ordinary meeting of this Association was held in the rooms, 0, Conduit-street,
Kcgent-street, on Friday evening; T. Rooer Smith, Ksq., the President, in
4be chair.
Hr. Abthl'B Smith, hon. sec, read the minutes of proceedings at the last meeting,
which were found correctly entered and confirmed.
Neuj Members. — The following gentlemen liaving been duly balloted for were
elected meml>ers ot the Association :— Mr. Benjamin Backhouse, 14, Southampton-
street, Strand ; and Mr. Deacon Wyatt, who was formerly president of the
JlssocUtion.
Mr. Tile's Prizes.— the Chairman stated that the subject of Mr. Tite's prizes
having been referred to the Committee of llic Association, the Committee had fully
consloert-d the matter and agreed to certain rules for the guidance of competitors.
The rules would be read by the secretary.
TheSECHr.TARv then read the rules, from which it appcaieil that out of the £5
offered by Mr. Tite for prizes, a prize of tlie value of £a is to ijc given for the best
design for a Club-house, all members of the Association to be eligible to compote.
The remaining £,z to be given as a prize for the best set of sketchos sent in to the
Class Of Design up to the lith of April inclusive, members of the Class of Design
who have contributed drawings upon five or more subjects only to be eligible to com-
pete. The Association prize is to be given at the opening of the next scHsion lor the
set of sketches conniderid by the judges the best sent in to the Class of Design
daring the whole of the present session ; but the member who shall receive the Ap-
prize above mentioned will not be eligible to compete for the Association prize, and
members of the Class who shall have contributed drawings upon eight or more sub-
jects only to be eligible. In the competition for the £3 prize, for a club-liouse, the
lollowing drawings only will be received:— A perspective view of the building
upon a sheet of paper, imperial size, one sheet of the same is to contain plans of the
floors to a scale of lO feet to an Inch, and such sectional and other details as arc
necessary to indicate the general construction and height of the rooms, or any
descriptive particulars most be written upon this sheet. The style and mode of
execution of the drawings to be left to competitors; the competitor to guarantee
that the design, drawing, and coloring of any arc bis own production, and executed
after the meeting on p'riday, 3Iarch Int. The drawings should be transmitted flat ;
they may be mounted on strainers or mounting boards, but must not be framed or
glazed, nor have ornamental borders. The name of the designer must be writttn on
the back or front of eacli drawing at his option. The drawings to be delivered at the
rooms of the Association, No. u, Conduit-street, not later than o'clock, p.m., on
Friday, April I'itli, The rules issued by the Committee arc offlcially signed by
Messrs. Arthur Smith and E. Wirabridgc, the Hon. Sees.
The Chairman stated that the rules laid down by the Committee would be rigidly
adhered to by the judges of the competing designs.
j>/«so«r,v.— The Chairman said Jlr, New, oiie of the members, was to have read
a paper that evening on "lirickwork," but was prevented doing so inconsequence
ol^ being out of town. In his absence, Mr J. If. Christian, at a short notice and
great inconvenience to himself, had come forward to make some remarks on
" ^lasonry," in order to supply the vacancy.
Mr. Christian said he stood in need of their indulgence, as he bad only had three
days' notice to prepare a lecture which required a great number of facts well
arranged and set, both from books and memory. He thought, abiidlio.hu should
dotiue masonry. He found masonry deiincd In the "Encyclopaedia lirilaiinica,"as the
art of building with stones, &c. He found iu a dictionary a very singuliir derivation
of the word masonry; it was stated to be from an old P>euch word, signifying a
mallet or a club. Another authority gave masonry as meaning to mix or mash in
mortar, which he did not think was a very good authority. It would have been
better for the remarks on Masonry to have followed Brickwork, and, if possible,
to have followed another paper on Stone, for stone, as a material, was such an
important subject, and was now receiving so very much attention, owing to failures
as well as successes, that it would have been a very fine and useful and important
subject to lay before a meeting of practical men. He thought he ought to say a word
on the dignity of the subject. And it indeed was a great pride to him to make
some observations before the Association on "Masonry," for it was certainly the ■
finest mechanical art we have. It was, as an art, the oldest, and there was no other
art to compete with it except carpentry. Very soon after our earliest forefathers
began to put stone to stone, he thought they began to get an inkling as to what
masonry was. As to materials in masonry the first was stone, the next mortar, and
theu, of course, the men to put them together. He had just lia<l time to look
through a copy of the report of the Parliamentary Commissioners on Stone (which
had been lent to him by the Chairman), and he thought it left an incorrect idea on
one's mind. It praised all the limestones in opposition to sandstones. Now, though
that might be justified by reference to a very fine building, the Houses of Parliament, it
was not so with all buildings. He thought sandstone was useful in domestic build-
ings and those of a non-ornamental class. He would instance the sandstones of
Avarwickshire, and though they sometimes failed, the failure might be accounted for
by the stone not being cliosen out of the proper bed of the quarry. He had seen old
buildings (with one of which he was tolerably well acquainted) of the sixteenth and
seventepntli centuries m.ade of Warwickshire stone taken from the sanie'quarries as
stone which had afterwards beerf used in buildings and had failed. The stone of
the old buildings to which he had referred had acquired a hard weather surface, and
below that it retained its original softness. The stones subsequently used which
gave way, had been taken out of the wrong bed of the quarry, and hence the mis-
chief that followed. The deepest stone was not the best; and he thought that
chemistry should help them in the selection of the beds of stone in a quarry, although
observation would do much more. First, they wanted an even-grained stone, one
in which the sharp matter was sufficiently mixed with the combining matter ; unless
there were proper proportions of both, the stone would decompose and the water go
clean through it. Then he would like to draw their attention to the seasoning of
stone, and that was a subject which was not properly appreciated. Tliey knew that
timber ought to be seasoned, and he thought it was as perfectly necessary to season
stone as it was to season timber. The most disastrous consequences resulted from
the non-scasoniug of stones. But he believed that if non-laraiuated sandstones
were well seasoned they would stand frost, whereas the Box stone failed under the
pressure of frost. Then, again, another great advantage of the use of the sandstone
in the country was that many of the softer kinds of sandstone obtained a wonder-
fully weathered face from the growing of lichens, which covered the crevices and
prevented the water getting into the stone, which was thus preserved. He had seen
that in buttress weatherings and also in ashlar. Such was the case, too. he
believed, in some kinds ot limestones. Then about masonry — stone worked by
man's hand and put in buildings. The earliest process of masonry he ever saw was
in Malta. It was in a structure which was clearly a Phcenician building. It was
situated on the top of a hill, and the stones used in its construction, which were,
some of them, 25 feet by a feet 6 inches, had been rolled up the hill ; they were never
lifted up properly oif the ground, but rather dragged into their position, and the
interstices were filled up with smaller stones. The door-jambs, and altars were
certainly wrought on the face, and probably that was effected by rubbing stone by
stone. The more selected points, the great altar for instauce, which was ot a curious
form— a truncated pyramid turned upside down — were worked with much greater
care. There was a great altar at one end, and behind that, perfectly hid. was a hole
in the wall, there being also a covered passage to this hole for the purpose, probably,
of speaking oracles behind the altar. Then came the consideration of Egyptian
work, which was rather a large field. But there must have been an infinite number
of stages before the Egyptians arrived at the construction of buildings with which
we were acquainted. They must have had niasons for centuriits before they
worked the buildings with which we were acquainted. And it seemed
strange there were no buildings in Egypt to show the stages through which
masonry went before it arrived at the perfection exhibited in the build-
ings with which we were acquainted. Some of the Egyptian masonry
was as perfect as masonry could be, and evidently the result of very con-
siderable design, both in general effect and in detail. It was quite possible some of
the older buildings, being constructed of inferior materials, gave way and decayed —
tliough it was strange tlicre were no buildings left to give us an idea of the stages of
progress. Then it was found that in Greece and Italy masonry was carried out. He
could speak of the Cyclopean masonry of Italy. No doubt the fir.'^t walls were
built in a rude manner of the first materials they could get hold
of But step by step they would arrive at a miniature Cyclopean j
their masonry was constructed of huge blocks perfectly irregular. The
first stones were laid down on the ground, then they saw a space between
the two roundings, and cut a stone to fit It. The buildings which were con-
structed without mortar went on very slowly. Then came flat-bedded masonry, and
the (Jreek and Etruscan were, perhaps, the best examples. The (jrecks, no doubt,
followed the Egyptians ; but having a greater taste and being fondir of delicate for-
mations, they gained for their buildings greater beauty, harmony, and grace in the
smaller details, though thuy did not reach the magnitude of the Egyptians. He did
not think the Grieks knew much of construction— that was, getting the greatest
possible strength with a small amount of material ; they had great difliculty in cover-
ing over great openings ; and he thought that, though their temples were perfi-ction
of building without arches, and were wonderfully fine for their beauty of projiortion
and delicacy of detail, they were not buildings to be copied in this day, when they
knew a little more of construction. The Romans went a step further, as compared
with either the Oreelis or Egvptiuns. Though their buildings were not so gigantic,
yet they could throw arches with small stones, which could not have been done by
the Greeks. He would allude to masonry plain, not masonry ornamented, which
should follow ; and it they wanted to sec some line masonry, they could not do better
than go to Rome, and see the Coliseum, the theatre of Marcellus, and some of the
aqueducts. They would also find some interesting Roman masonry in l ranee;
sonic of the masonry of the Koman Renaissance only could equal it. The masonry
of the Farncsi was inagniHceut ; it was well constructed, well worked, and lieautl-
fuily set. There they had one great advantage, and that was that they had their
stone well weathered. Among the French Roman work he would call their attention
to the I'oric de Gar, which was a splendid work of construction and of mosonry. Ho
thought they ought to include walling in masonry, and such stones were generally
braced witli quoins. Then he proceeded to notice a very tine period of masonry \\k
March 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
205
March 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
207
the Koman days, that of the Kings and of the Kppubh'c ; buthc thought that of tlio
Kings \va8 the greatest. They built joint masonry, whieh was worked die square,
with a little mortar, stone to stone, and cramped witli bronze. It was unfortunate
that the bronze was used, for the real Goths drilled holes iu the faces of the wall for
the purpose of extracting the bronze, and thus were destroyed the faces of some of
the finest of the buildings thus constructed. As to the masonry of the theatre of
Marcellus, the beds of the stones were solid, and no thrusts could drag the stones out
of their beds. Then masonry, as masonry, in Home began to fall off after the best
days of the Republic; they be^an to have recourse to rubble, and the stones were
bonded together with bands ol brick and tile ; the bands often went right through
the wall, and wondert^illy stilT and stout they made the walls. As to the seasoning
of stone, the Eomans were said to have had their stones two years beside them before
they were used. But they used stone which had begun to decay for foundations,
which was a very bad plan. Then what made a point m Roman masonry was this,
that they began to work curved hues In masonry, and that made their masonry more
eoientific as well as the construction. The lecturer then proceeded to refer to
Norman masonry. Though the Normans had left good specimens of masonry, yet he
thought that generally they were not good masons, for they built their walls of
anything but good constructed ashlar, and filled in with the most arrant rubbish.
But the great vice of their system was building large piers with a thin surface of
ashlar not sufficiently bonded. And to a similar cause was owing the loss of the
spire of Chichester Cathedral. That calamity arose wholly from the bad building of
the Normans, or rather the Transltionals. There the piers were absolutely
rotten, and had the structure been built some 300 years later than it was
built very likely it would have been standing now. Then there was another
point concerning the Normans which he had to complain of, and that was
that they false-jointed their work. In Carlisle Cathedral there were suj)plementary
arches to the clerestory arches, there being a covering in with false joints. That
was not fair masonry. Another great defect of the Normans was their want of
foundations. He had seen buildings which had been erected on the dead surface of
the earth, and the consequence was that they failed lamentably. It was possible
that some of their failures taught their successors to adopt a better style of building,
and that was seen in the Early English. He thought our present lack of good
masons was owing to the older men having been educated in t!ie school of Renaissance
masonry. The following styles, he thought, improved in masonry up to the I'erpen-
dicular, so he need not to mention them in detail. Of course, there were specimens
in all the styles of good and of bad masonry, and the later they got in date the more
knowledge of construction they liked to show in their works. There was one
peculiarity he had seen in Decorated works, and that was that in very carefully
finished works, as in a chapel in connexion with a large chiu'ch, they grooved out the
beds of the stone. That showed a great amount of carefulness up to a certain point ;
in that ease the beds were most carefully grooved and cross-grooved, to give, as he
supposed, a sort of key to the mortar. The Venetian Gothic marble masonry was
very beautiful, but thougli it was very beautiful in Venice, he should not recommend
its adoption in this country, where the masonry would be liable to injury by frost.
After some IWther remarks, the speaker advanced to the time of the Reformation,
when masonry got a little down in the world. After the Reformation the buildmg of
churches In a great measure ceased, the country was in a somewhat disturbed
state, and very few masonry works went on, although, taking the country
over, there were some exceptions, where masonry work was proceeded
with. But the masons so employed soon got out of their proper work, and
got into brickwork, nntil the Renaissance called for fresh masons, who had to do
work different from that of the Gothic masons. Some time ago he was admiring a
specimen of beautiful rich Enghsh masonry finished from the tool, and an architect
who was connected with the work told him that it was the production of a young
man. And the opinion of that architect and himself was that the young masons
were decidedly the best. The young men who had been educated m Gothic masonry
were better men than men who had begun in Classic masonry and changed to the
Gothic. As to the marbles in masonry ; some of the mouldmgs in recent German
pulpits were real marbles in masonry, most beautifully done. Some of the late
Gothic German pulpits were wonders of masonry. A plan had recently risen up in
Paris of building with stones worked in the beds and joints, but 'eaving the moijdd-
Ings and ornaments to be done afterwards ; he did not approve of that plan. He then
spoke of the importance of masonry in the production or architectural effect. Two
towns he knew which depended chiefly for their beauty in architecture on their
mesonrj', and when he spoke of masonry he included some of the architect's feeling
in it, but not the general design. He supposed thatKome without its masonry would
lose a grea t many of its visitors, but he was sure that Edinburgh and Glasgow would.
As for Edinburgh, he was no Scotchman, but he considered It was the finest modem
city in the world, and one of the greatest beauties was that the houses were built of
fine Craigleith stone, beautifully worked and very well set. Glasgow also had ex-
ceedingly fine stone buildings in it, showing, he thought, the modern Scotch were good
masons. He then spoke of the importance of great care beino: taken in
choosing the stone, not only as regarded the -quarries but the beds, ana they should
have nothing but the best bod in the quarry. The greatest possible care and the
greatest amount of information ought to be exercised in the selection of stouc. Every
one who had opened a quarry ought to take notice of the stone that came out of it,
to mark where the best beds were, and whether the best stone was in the top or lower
beds. And after they had chosen the stone they should be sure to season it wherever
possible for two years. Let the stone stand in its quarry bed, and they should reject
any portions tliat gave evidences of decay. The question of seasoning was one of the
utmost importance and though it was one whicli it was difllcult to carry out, they
should carry it out as often as they could. After the stone had been chosen It ought
to be well worked, and that, he feared, must be left to the mason. Then the next
important point in doing the work was bonding it. If they had a hard, non-
absorbent rubble material and a soft absorbing material to deal with, especially in
building buttresses, their only plan was to insist on bonding right through the
buttress. Then in bonding ashlar to rubble work, the only thing lie would advise
them to do was to bond it in courses. Then in coursing the ashlar itself, he thought
om- forefathers had principally looked to sec ashlar in regular courses ail round and
round. He did not like to see it himself, because in it they lost an important matter
in bonding, vertical bonding as well as horizontal bonding. Then as to the
building of piers, Chichester spire was in his mind, and he dared say
it was in the minds of many others. Long before the fall of Chichester spire he had
been of opinion that if they wanted a tower to carry weight they must build it of
homogeneous and equal materials. Then the question was often discussed about
keeping back the joints in masonry. He thought some stones were better for being
bedded on the face, and others, such as sandstones, were better for haviu"- their
joints kept back. If they got a good evenly laid, truly thick bed, he did not tlnnk the
stonework ought to flush unless it was a very soft stone. Then some architects pre-
ferred having sheets of lead between the stones. That was requisite in some cases,
but he would sooner see that the beds were of true masonry, witli a true mortar bed
between. The lecturer then referred to sills, ties, cramps, and other such tilings.
Ties were in some cases necessary, but in his opinion the use of tics in ordinary
masonry was wrong. He admired Italian Gothic, out did not like putting ties from
arch to arch. It might be good architecture, and so it was, but he sliould not call it
good constructional masonry. As to cramps, ho would soonernot use cramps unless
absolutely necessary, and then they should bo copper. There was one form of
masonry that they had seen very little of even in old days, though it might be seen
in Italy and France, and that was stone roofs as exterior coverings. He' supposed
they might become expensive, but opportunities might occur now and then for an
architect, when he had a good chent, to introduce a new feature. After referring to
the amount of weight a pillar of good hard stone properly buiJt could bear, he drew
attention to the masons, the men who worked the stone, and in his opinion they
ought to be thought about seriously. He thought that no sot of men were injuring
themselves so much as a class as the masons. As a body the masons were the
proudest set of men architects had to deal with, and they adhered with the utmost
tenacity to their societies, whose serrlce w«» miserable boniUge,«ndtlwmea«t^
were fleeced most miserably. Maaters would tell them that th«y faaid th* I...
difficult men to deal with were the maaona, though •ome elerer men la tbe tnda,
skilled in the management of the men, could alwaya find nuuona. Tba rautmi wcra
more wedded to and under tho control of their weletles tban my mta ud th*
societies kept a severe screw upon them. The lecturer then proceeded to ••y tlutki
thought it was a great shame that we who were once great ai a natloB of BaMML
should be turning ourselves into a nation of bricklayers. As to Icamiiw niaMmr
he thought every architect ought more or leas to know masonry.
The Chairman, In reference to the remarks o< Mr. Christian about tbceamlo^
ment of particular kinds of stone, thought they might employ sandstone wlt£ ai-
vantago In London, and particularly iJarloy stone, the quarry of which bo had
visited, and had to some extent used tlie stone. That stone was now belns used, and It
presented the advantiices of great durability, of hayincaTcrT good color, andorbdnK
to be had in any size the railway could convey away. It coiuabe bad In large bloeki,
and (worked to an extremely fine face. There were a few btdldlngs of tnlj itona
to be found in London, and it had been used to some extent throughout the eoontrr.
He was sorry that the stone had not been used In the Houses of I'arllameat. He
then urged as a point;worthy of being attended to In reference to bulldingi, that It waa
of great advantage to;use the local stone, and spoke In fkvorof work bdng done with
the natural face of the stone being left, which was a practice very common In York-
shire. He did not know a more bcautiftal wall than one In wfakb the beds andlobila
were carefully squared, and the face of the stone left as rough aa It eonid possibly be,
left without a tool touching it all. As to what had been said about piers, and tliatr
unequal bearing, the Pantheon was an instance of the disadvantage of uneqnalbear- -
ing. Mr. Christian spoke of tho superiority of the Medieral masons orer the Claaiie,
and that was seen in the enormous structures erected with small stone*, and tha
great sparing of large stones, while the G reeks and Egyptians, Instead of nalng imall
stones, transported immense blocks from theqnarriesto their boUdlngt. HettuiMltt
their friend Mr. ('hristian did not remind them of the great neeeasity of seeing VW
all stones were laid on their natural bed ; there were few points more essential tbn
that. He had heard that many of the stones used at the Houses of Parliament wen
laid the wrong way, and that might probably account for a portion of the ditairtfir
which had occurred. He thought Mr. Christian had bei^n rather bard on themasODa.
who wore better informed and more intelligent than men in most other callings, and
ho would commend then to Hugh Miller and to his " Schools and Schoolmastcn," aa
to the character of masons.
Mr. Chkirtian said he spoke of masons as a body, not as men : a more Intalllgait
class of tradesmen he did not know. Masons individually were the most Intelligent;
and very often the most interesting, men among the building trades ; his remaika
applied to the masons as a body, and he should only be too glad If they wonld seethe
great harm they were doing to themselves as a body, for they were cutting the work
but of their hands by working conjointly with their societies to their own disad-
vantages.
After a rote of thanks to Mr. Christian for his lecture, the meeting separated.
EOTAL INSTITUTE OF BEITISH AKCHITECTS.
AN ordinary general meeting of this body was held on Monday evening In tba
rooms, 9, Conduit-street, Regent- street. G. Godwin, Esq., V.P., in the chair.
Mr. T. Hatter Lewis, Hon. Sec., read the minutes of proceedings at the lait
meeting, which were approved of and confirmed.
Professor Donaldson drew the attention of the meeting U> two ancient vaaes
found in Egypt, which had been sent over to him since the last meeting at tba
Institute (when the Professor gave an account of a recent journey in Egypt) by Mr*
Rous, the engineer of the railway at Alexandria. Mr. Rons had found a groat
number of vases during the excavations for the railway in the catacombs and aoeh
places. One of the vases sho^vn to the meeting was similar to those whieh he
had seen used in Egypt for carrying water from the Nile, the vase when filled being
of necessity carrlecl verticallv, and when empty horizontally. Tlie other ▼anew
which was smaller, was one of much greater curiosity and interest. It waa aeiao-
rary vase with the calcined ashes, indeed it was half fuU of bones. Thatappeand,
to be of the age of 2,000 years before the Saviour, and in the Greek period.
Mr. AsHPiTEL thought they ought to be very much obliged to Professor DonaUaOK
for having brought before them such interesting specimens of vases found In BgypL
There was not to be found at Home, at Florence, at Paris, or in the British Unasni
anything like so fine a specimen of a vase used as a cinerary urn a* that before thea.
So very Targe a specimen of a vase being converted lo a cinerary lun was very seldom
soon. He had a vase that he brought home with him trora Naples, and which was similar
to the larger specimen before the meeting, but the smaller vase with the bonea waa
certainly a unique specimen. And that added another consideration to the very ouioaa
foint whether the Greeks by preference burned the dead, instead of burying them.
t was not impossible that the cinerary urn before them contained the bones of SOBH
Greek who died in Egypt, the bones being so deposited that they might be taken
home to their relatives. He thought they w*re very much obliged to Mr. Donsldian
for having brought such interesting spectmcns before them.
Mr. James Beli, (Hon. Sec.) announced the following donations to the Institute:
—From Mr. C. Mayhcw. "A Course of Mathematics," by Charles Hntton,LL.D.,*«..
Sth ed. vol. 2 ; also "A Course of Mathematics," m 2 vols., by Charles Hut<on,I.I..D. ;
&c. ; from the Royal Geographical Society, " The Journal of the Society," toI.30;
from the Editor, " Examples of London and Provincial Street Aichileeture of toa
Victorian Age," published by lYederick Tallis ; IVom the Canadian InstltntJi^Tlie
Canadian Journal; " fVom the E.xeter Diocesan Architoctunil Soidety. ••■»*■•-
actions of the Society ; " fVom the Array and Navy Club. "The Balsa and Keg»-
lations, and List of Ulembers of the Army and Navy Club." ....
On the motion of the ChaihmvVN, a vote of thanks was passed to the donors.
The Chairman said :hc was requested by the CouncU to state thiU a dcDutatilia
from the Council, consisting of five or six members, had walled upon Oic Right Um.
William Cowper, Chief Commissioner of Public Works, to convey to him the rara»>
tion the Institute came to with respect to the issuing of a Parllammtary Cciiniiinln^
after the discussion wlUch took place in respect of the dwsay of stone at the UOOMI
of Pariiament. Mr. Tito as a member of the InsUtufc u>d also aa a monbar « ni-
liament,-introduced the deputation, and stated generaUy the Tlewa of the Inrtltata.
He was followed by some members of the deputation, and Mr. Cowper then at ooi-
siderable length expressed his views. He approved of the ophiion oqieeeMd ^tte
Institute, although he was not quite certain any good would result fitna the «»aia(-
ment of a Comuusslon, and thought that mor.' advantage would acenie bv direatinK
the attention of inventors of processes for the preservation of ««?»•«« t»«.™J5i
and the Chief Commissioner thought that the discussion at the InsUtote, ^^ "fM
of which he acknowledged very fully, would have that rfDM^^idwonidlmtooe
chemists to tliink of the subject, which would probably lead to «\e discovenr rf aoajB
other nresorvativc of stone than had yet been madepubhc. And the Chief Com-
missioner further stated that in the meantime nothing hif""'.'' '"~''l^,'*ih*iih iSS
wav of usin" nreservative processes beyond tlic carrying out of a contract whubUaa
Ki en"ere'd?nto with Mr. Szerelmey in reference to the induration of someporUoM
"'."^.''"Sf^.-The following gentlemen I}»^,l>ecn bjdiofed lor vnwdn^
elected members of the Institute .-Messrs. J. H. Hirst, Associate, of Brtotol ; f**"""
Henrv Howell, Associate, of Norwich Union Office, Blackfrlars ; E. Kyrke r
Associate, of Ferryside, Kidwelly ; AlOrcd ■W'at«housc, of Manchestw; .
Shonnard Scott, of W. Kensington-park-gardens ; Richard Popplewell PnUU, «(
Wimborne; Charles Forster Hayward, Associate, of », Adam-strcct. Ad^UiM
Fellows Messrs. Theodore R. Green, of 35, CoUegc-hill. E.C. ; Charles Backerids^
of Oxford; Richard Phcne Spiers, of Oxford ; as .Vssociatcs.
The CnAiRMAN called upon Mr. J. W. Papwobth to read a paper wWchwsa
entitled, " Notes on Romanesque Art in the South of France, by Mr. J. B. W akiso,
who was unable to be present.
208
THE BUILDING NEWS.
Before reading the papor. Jlr. rArwoKTU asked for the indulsrcnce of the meeting
If he should not perform his task ofBoienUv.ou the ground-fust, because he coulS
not endorse all Sir. Warin)? had advanced m his paper, and seooudly, because he hi
common with the other professional candidates for theoflice, felt disappointment atthe
election on Saturday last, by the Council of the Jtoyal Academy, of Mr .loscph
Bonomi. a sculptor, to the curatorship of Sir .Tohn Soane's Museum, although the
Act expressly required that the office should be held by a British architect Mr
rAPwoRTH then read the followinjr paper :—
^^ NOTES ox BOSlANESUL'i: ART IN THE SOL'TII OF FRANCE.
OOME fHends have suggested to me that it would not be unwe'iome if I were to
ij KiTC to the Institute a few notes which I made during a late trip through France
mostly concemiug matters relating to architecture ; and although I am fully aware
how very slight and superficial tliey are, still some of my brethren in art may find
Uiem of mterest and of use in future days ; and now that a complete line of rail joins
Paris with Slarseilles. Marseilles with Toulouse and Bordeaux, and thence by An-
gouleme and Poitiers, to I'aris again, such a trip becomes merely the pleasure excur-
Blon of a summer holiday. The main object of these notes will be todirect attention
to the Komanesque sculpture and architecture of the south of France, as seen in some
ciUcs of 1 rovenee, Languedoc, and the .adjoining districts. Leaving beliiud us
the noble examples of Jlcdieval art at ¥,■ ir, iJijon, and Auxerre, which last
«8 regards Its architecture, painted glass itliirteentli and sixU-enth century), and
▼ery beautiful sculpture, will repay the tediousness of a trip en voiture. wo will inako
Lyons onr starting point. It is true tliat there is not much here in the llomanesque
style, but what there is is very interesting. The principal monument is the abbey
church of Ainay. a cross church with an cnlrauce tower, and a lower tower over the
dome; narts of this buildinf, including the entrance tower, have been ascribed to
the Carlovingian period. Experience has led me to be very diflident as to assigning
,hif '^""'".' '■'"^ Kood «ut lonty ; and although parts may be of an earlier cpoclf,
the entrance tower may, I think, be safely assigned^ to the earlv part of the eleventh
^frSf^r .ht^°„/nr%'* ''^' ",l'°i'!*^<' «■•';>' «■«•'« details of a inore decidedly Koman
character than can be found elsewlicre in the work, and is possibly an insertion at a
^}.?l.S?'^^• ""^'m ' S*^ ""^ ''•;!''.'"- '" J"'"" ""I "'"s-'ivei the iutirnal archivolts are
?J?i™„ ,•<"'. ,*J"'.''°T- ■"'',"='' '■'^*''' o" •■"■*?'« squinches, is supported by antique
colomns, cut in half, to which the other columns of l^ie nave are roughly assimilated
Like other ancient monuments in France, it is undergoing complete restoration. The
Insertion of red tiles as an ornamental feature, so remarkable iu the tower is to be
seen again on the fa?ade of the Bishop's palace, a portion of wliicli (now blocked up)
stillremains and as this corresponds with similar Romanesque arcades of domestic
w-chitecture in France, all very much of the same class, we may take the approximate
date, above given, as by no means too eiirlv; the sort of acrotcria to be s6en at the
S^lr..i„ ^hA"^*'' *'"', bee" supposed to indicate a very early date, but that this is
2? V J^ ?*"?,". ".?^' ''« Judged from the fact that they occur also on the tower of
rJkTSSS^ ? • "/.'^""."'"■■A?'"'^'' ™»y be ascribed to tlic latter part of the eleventh or
the l)ecinning of the twelfth century.
A^L^"^^/^'""^ °^?^- Pierre :orily the portal remauis in its original state; well
designed^d massive, it appears to be a work of the eleventh centuryT and exhibits the
laiKe cuspmg so Ireq ucntly seen on the Romanesque churches of the Khone and of Ccn-
«^rfi„^1^*H,? ; l^''lf"l''-«;«'n8 a (food octagonal belfry and apse of this style. Itis
h1^ hn, T »i fM "^^"1" V"""^'*"'-,""' ?P ""ler well known Pointed buildings of this
city but I would add that no one should fail to visit the Museum, which lias been
^JJ^hnfht X? ".■""^'jntcresting collection of works in ivory, enamel, metal, &c„
bequeathed by M. Lambijt, amongst which the statuette in ivory of the Vir"-in
i^^J^!i£ ^K^^'^r.'"'."^ -^'^ ^"'K'° '« preserved in the Museum of the
l^I^ ^tS^^V '° ^^ l"i'" ".P'Otjoaary of Furniture," p. VVi ; but tliat of Lyons
S?f(5^„^» of somewhat earlier date, and may be ascribed to the eud of the
iTfmi^fh^fif/' *''°" I-yo"' to Avignon-followmg the course of the Khone-there
.■n^iW A •>•?»" °\Ko™'"'/«l<'e art- At Vienne, the towers of St. Andre le Bas,
Sefew nlrt wrfiif'''",''„^'';?^?'/'?'T^' "'^ "<"^ examples of their class. Amongst
theno^h^irt^ i"'* '" '?•" Cathedral I would draw notice to the external arcade on
hifin,? »„^,i.^'i,„^> """i?"^ P'' '^iK'' (f™™ ""= interior), which is remarkable as exhi-
«me"ch,Sl?r, "l'""""' ^°™/; L'''i'=^ '"' "^ •*»"'"• "*"' ••o'o'-'id substances, of the
M^nvJiZ^^JV^"^" Childeric's sword-sheath at the Louvre, on the lately
hr^he. Ac^ ,^ ,''P1'''L'''^"'"', "' "•'^ """1 Cluny. and on the Anglo-Saxoii
n?^,e ;;5it; f 'h"'?'" ""= '"'^rio"-) a very curious frieze formed by the signs
Z>r^h ,^'^^' > '° 'T" ""^.y '''"'^'' ""1 mutilated statues in the lateral
Kfhont*^?i^^»,'il^'"^.'?u ","*"'""'''" "5"='- I ^™'''<' not leave Vienne
Sir2?i.^fi fi.^^°*""jK'"""'l*r8ecusping8 of the tower of St. Pierre, similar in
mSSIh A,^iSS„ T !?? ^S'*?\°l^^- P"*"''- "' ^'J"""- J"*' mentioned, and BO
thS, lill^ m^o v/°' V\V"i ',**,• ''""^ "^^ ^''^' fi"" *'"=•" 0° 0"f wy south ; and
iXre^h.f ,nv^n5 ""'' t'""J'J<> "o' think, as Mr. Street suggestid in his late
;?f.. r^' iJ J Influence came from the south into Auvergne, but on the contrary
^tV^.iZ:?u "P'',^»'<>«i«'« "c right in making Auvergne on'e of the t^eat centres
of Komanesque art, the waves of which, decreasing in power as they spread in cir-
cumference, died away about tliis point in a southern direction The cathedral at
nnhlie . ,h,V?„,"-J5°'"fc' ™'"P'<'''-' ■■estoration, and its curious porch is closed to the
S^rlv n»« ^; .if„ T- '•°"""'"' .""d "■« api"? "«li Its chapels, appear to belong to the
S wltV »i f.fi'rf ""' f "'."'■y ' everything here is plain and massive, and the
TtS^liev,. hi. .„■!.""' ?'■?''•■• '"" ! P«"l'arly Ilispano-koresque character, though
™^^«- this arises only from constructional necessities. With the exception of Tts
SKf fhee.^rHT.r'"?'"'''.^'''!'''??."''!""''' J° "'tain the architect, the only por-
tlOT or the cathedral not modernised is the south side porch
,.^1°?.^.,^.'"5 t" Avignon, that queen of medieval towns, with its grand old
March 8, 1861.
EJi^ '.^'rt tL M '^T'"- "«'""aled wa Is, frowning portals, chapellcd bridge, the
«DW?th, v„^?j" m'^'Tj."?'' r^/^;"* "■'^J"' '"'o™ "" »' "hich rises like a protecting
tfi ?l.nnd.n„ h»^. ■ '^^"'•-•''ra^ of Xotre Uame des Dons, The early date to whicC
FeJ™i^i^%^i„^''? ?f f I'^w^ ^/ 'TS """""•* (amongst whom, I believe, is Mr.
ioXnTif ,^? • } 'i''"''' '"' toV"""*?. "" '"'5' "'^ e™""** ■' the portal shows the
InScXn if ^^■^ * '^'?'" ';?",'' late Itoman work to its present purpose, and is no
tte 5 readlSj.^ " 'f '""l""^ '" » district where Koman remains are common, and
SM^nrySrr^„?* '"".''", 1'";''P":"y*'"''1"<^°t! "' to 'hc body Ol tllC building, its
toJVanee ^7i,^^,^V'S°'',''?""l' »"/ constrnetion resemble so closely other works
iMtlil«rmH»..T''','',^'"' '" ^.S^^^^ eleventh and twelfth century, that we are
i!Sbe1sLrilidt„L/T''^'" *•'";"'■ i?^ "r "";" impression is thlt no part ol it
tater^«t^"m„rv,?„ 1, f '"'■'" .P."';'i'- ^^"^ tlie altar is preserved the curious and
iT^J^ed In low r^nff' " ^''.'i.'' ""^ '^"B"?- '^""^ b""" '' »'tre shaped, and the sides
JJSS^t AvtZ^!"' T.',"' ""' ,'T"?^'"' "O" »'"1 "'"ff'^'l bull; the first Pope who
thWrl^ T^r,, *' Clement V in 1305, and the chair would appear to bdong to
fSnXnVhef,^if% °'"''™'''""J?"Vtt'-actiTe, relic of ecclesiastical art is tS be
i?^ne of the fewt»l^„'iJ"PV°.';"^ V>' ^"'i ^'omns- four angle, and one central. It
iem day aln,o« nnlnh,? rt" "' -.",'" '''""'' "'L'^'J' *"»"• "'at has comedown to the pre-
bundim^ h„ tw ^1 ^ f ^- ■ ^ "'" '""' "tber interesting subjects in tliis picturesque
« briiht'.nmm r ^[T\" '^,'^".^ ?' '" '•™<'<-'' " "'most impossible, unless i«rhapsou
a oriifht summer day, U> get satisfactory drawin"8 i i-
ciBSm.°M^'."m, n*;^.']';'." ''"'■"' '™,? "'"■"'^« to'niake several most interesting ex-
^SS^n fo?i?fv,TV ;'".' T'l^"} particularly recommend a visit to Villeneuve les
b^Z'j^rlAZ^Zr^J^"""^ '""'"I ""•' "oble entrance gateway, and the rich and
noBili^JJ^hrf ^^"."AT^T"^ to Innocent VI., in the chapel of the Hospital,
rtont im "^""""bcnt eflSgy of the I'ope with his fot resting on a lion. It dates
•i^'i^^^ePof'iTUh^fh?''^''- «" "''f' interesting llomanesque work is the
5St. rf a &i2hll"f*'^*u".?^Tf''''?°"'.''' belonging to It^ ruinea castle; it con-
swtt of 8 plain barrel vaulted ball, entered by a round-headed portal under a square
tower with lean-to sides, the openings to admit light are very small round headed
and p aln beaded the masonry of the usual goodlliomanesque character consfsts of
smaflish square blocks neal^ly worked, the cSrbels and arch band formii<^ thrprin-
Xie°;ni""'o!,ci?rgT' '"*"""■ '^ now completely gutted, and seizes a? the
At Tarascou, on thi opposite bank, we meet with the first indication of a complete
ttfL?! '«*■''' '"•'"■ fonth porch of the Cathedral, rich in mouldings and ornament
dog-tooth, flower, ovolo, and nail-head, with ample columns, and a once riclilf carved
frieze (now quite destroyed) above which runs a blank arcade, and sculptuSstring-
course, exhibit_ing unmistakably the influence of the Arlesian style. I'^ie date Senl-
raUy ascribed to it that of the close of the twelfth century, is probably a co?recf one
I may here remark that perhaps nowhere is the influence of local styfes moreclearty
defined than in the south of France. At Avignon and Nlmes we Imve a close
approx mation to la e Roman work with pediments, columns, and friezes the mass
being plain At Aries, St. Gilles, au,l Tarascon, deeply recessed and many nioidifcd
portals richly sculptured ; and at .St. Trophime, Montmajour, and St Rem/, do sters
of a distinct type; at Narbonue, Carcassonue, and Toulouse, the Isingle broad-
spanned interior and long lancet windows of a later date are quite peculiar : and the
Ifoitiancsque buildings of Toulouse, with their high and many stagea brick towers and
angle-headed openings, are of a marked local character u one*, lowers ana
But let us retiirn to Aries. The interiors of the churches here are very simple and
l!r^i'flT'" i^"""m *"' P'i''"h At St. Trophime the piers are plain an/ square, the
caps flat and roughly worked, the archivolts plain and semicircular ; between them
arc corbels supporting piers with angle colonnettes, from which spriig the plain flat
bands of the barrel rooh but it is to the sculpture that I wish particularly to allude.
The centre of the portal contains the Saviour and the emblems of the Four Evan<re-
lists with the fwelve Apostles below, the archivolt being ornamented with rows of
rainistering angels. 1 he great frieze represents, to the right of the Saviour, the goad
w .i?A!;fn'-'f''' J,""^,"" '"" 'o"';''" '"'"'"i.l strung together with a rope and dragged
by the devil to Hell ; beneath these arc the large statues of the Apostles (the Kur
rcJ^cl'^'j being oil large lion pedestals), the statue of St. Trophime, the Martyrdom
of St. Stephen, and the Ascension of his .Soul to Heaven .j'"^'""
. On the sides of the porcli are, to the left, Adam and E've at top, beneath them an
angel weighing the souls ofmen in scales, beneath that, the devil holding the con-
demned upside down, \vliich seems to have- been a favorite idea of punishment with
the sculptors here ; under this again, along the pedestal of the columns, is a lar<>-e
reclining figure nude, with but an animal's skin above his back : he holds a lion on
another side of the pedestal by the hind leg. This subject, the man, however being
dressed, occurs in the same position at St. Gilles, and clearly means Samson On
the other return of the porch are represented goats, a ram, a dog, &c., probably sym-
bolic of wickedness, beneath which stands a great fiend, holding his victims upside
down, and in other unpleasant attitudes; he stands upon a dragon ; and beneath the
whole are the flames of Hell.
Such are the main features of this porch. Let us now enter the cloisters, the
capitals of two sides ot which are historiated, or carved with scriptural and
legendary subjects aud foliage. The angle panels of the piers on entering are carved
vvith the Saviour s Ascension, angels at the tomb in the centre, soldiers sh-epine at
the tomb beneath ; on the return arc, above, the three JIaries, ,Tudas receiving the
price of blood beneath. At the next angle, to the left, are angels eraerginc from
the clouds ; the Transfiguration in the centre, the Disciples beneath ; on the "return
the Martyrdom of St. Stephen, to whom the church was originally dedicated At
the next angle the Kiss of Judas, the Last Supper in the centre, and the Saviour
Washing the Disciples' Feet beneath ; on the return the Temptation on the Mount,
and below .lolin Baptizing the Saviour.
Such are the principal subjects portrayed on this building ; and they are so inte-
resting in point of subject and style, the date also being probably posterior to the
year ]1;,2, when the remains of St. Trophime were transferred here, that I would
place by their side some notes from other sacred buildings of the same period, and
by the comparison we may arrive at some suggestive conclusions. 1 propose, also,
to separate from this class of sculpture, that represented by the corbels, which, when
brought together and compared, will open, I thhik, another view of their particular
meaning. *^
We are now standing before the three very richly-sculptured portals of St. Gilles,
about ],> miles south of Nimes. similar in style to St. Trophime, but more profusely
ornamented, the round-headed entrances being rich in column, moulding, and
ornament. In the centre is the Saviour, seated in an oval aureole, on a rainbow in
the clouds (Heaven), his head encircled with a glory of alternate star point and
flame. Round him are the usual emblems of the Evangelists. The left semicircle
contains the Adoration of the Magi ; the right, the Crucifixion. Beneath there runs
a great frieze, containing the Life of the Saviour ; beneath this is a band containing
crouching animals, lions, bulls, and others, and human heads. On each side of the
great entrance are two Evangelists on lion pedestals, and four Apostles to tha right
and left of them. On the extreme right and left, carved on the wall are two arch-
angels standing on and spearing the dragon and the enemy of man respectively.
Ihc small subjects on the pedestals represent Samson, Cain and Abel, Centaur and
Stag.
An old lioness and her young, disturbed by a figure, now destroyed, David and
Goliath, and David feeding sheep ; other smaller and less - important subjects
are partly scriptural and partly symbolic.
At Jlolssac we have another very interesting sculptured portal, in the abbey church
of St. Peter and St. I'aul, also a work of the twelfth century, the arches of which are
broad Pointed ; the entrance consists of a recessed porch, on the left side of which
are represented, at top, a figure pointing to a scroll, meaning probably " It is
written ;" next to him is Lazarus represented in grave-clothes and of infantine
size (as departed spirits are always shown) resting on Abraham's lap ; then comes
Lazarus reclining (but of the same size now as the other figures) with dogs licking
his wounds aud angels watchhig overliim; then Dives feasting at table; beneath
tliese are large groups of devils punisliing Avarice and Lust ; the soul of the miser
IS being carried off by one demon, whilst his bag of money is taken from him by
another, he is on his deathbed, and his wife vainly weeps over his corpse, whilst
grinning demons Iwatch his death-throes ; beneath arc two large figures of the
devil seated on the miser's shoulders grinning horribly, whilst by his side a naked
woman has her breasts sucked by serpents, whilst from the mouth of the demon
by her side springs a toad ; amongst the monstrous corbels of this side may be re-
marked also a goitred cretin head, popular belief of that day having adjudged this
unfortunate people to bo the devil's own. Two of the caps on this side' have amongst
the foliage demons with bellows fanning the fires of hell, torturing the condemned ;
there is a certain grotesque horror about all these figures which may have served in
early times to have impressed tlie beholder with fear and awe. This is the side of
the wicked, and on the opposite wall is represented the salvation of the good.
First, at top. is the Flight into Egypt, Mary and Joseph approach the city gates and
the idols fall from the high places, as narratJ'd in tlie Apocryphal gospels ; next
comes a group, apparently the Return to Palestine ; beneath is shown the Adoration
of the Magi, in two groups; and below these the Annunciation and the meeting of
Mary and Elizabeth.
In the centre of the arch is the Saviour in an aureole with crown and nimbus ; the
winged animals of lievelations, symbolic of the four Evangelists, seraphim, angels,
and ten elders with lutes and vases, or as it is described in I{evelatinu, " Having
everyone of them harps and golden vials full of odours whicli are the prayers of
saints," these are all surrounded by clouds indicative of heaven ; the remaining
fourteen crowned elders witli lutes and vases minister beneath to the Lord, forming
a frieze or sculptured lintel ; on the left of the doorway is St. Peter with the keys,
and on the right, St. Paul, probably, with a scroll, inscribed *'Ecce virgo conferet,''
*' J'ehold a Virgin shall conceive " (the prophecy of Isaiah vii., 14). The central
pier of alternate lions and lionesses resting on each other's backs, and with a figure
witliout the nimbus at each return, holding one a book, the other a scroll, I do not
pretend to explaiu; besides the sketch of it here shown, some rather black photo-
V
March 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
209
graphs may be seen in tho Kxhlbition domi-stairB. Thn external mouldinps anil
splays of the arches are carved with separate sinfflc pieces In reUef of truit, leaf, tish
(acme of which have the heads of diiclis and foxes), birds, and lastly, next to the door
anf le, animals, the whole forming t0j,'elher a sort of epitome of the creation, i.e., tlie
days of ve^'etable, piscatorial and animal creation,
Altliough out of our immediiite province I cannot pass by the richly carved cloister
of this abbey without remarliiug also a curious illustration of tho liook of Revelation
found on two capitals ; one is formed by tlie symbols of the KvanKeiists, a cable
neckins, scroll anjjles, and an abacus carved with folias:e, and eiflit lions with ttieir
tails intertwined ; on the other cap an angel dcscitnds from a cloud (heaven') and leads
a dragon captive by a chain, with the inscription " Serps anticus qui est Diabolus ;"
whilst on the other side of tho cap, after his tliousaiul years' imprisounient, ho issues
forth from the porcli of his prison to meet two men, who appear to receive liim with
upraised hands expressive of astonisliment or fear ; imder the dragon is written
"Goliah;" under the men Gog and llagog (Kevelation xx., v. 1,2, 7 and 8) ; the
necking is aplaiu torus, and thejabacus ornaiuentcd witli scales and foliage. This is
merely mentioned as evincing a couuected idea and appropriate ornament ; the
subject of scidptured capitals would carry us into a wide rtiKijuisitiou, my own im-
pression is that a complete investigation would prove that certain subjects were
chosen as a general rule and applieil to dilTercut parts of the sacred cdiHce ; doorways,
windows, capitals, bases, and corbels, each having certain classes of subjects adj udged
to them, either by absolute rule or by traditionary custom.
We will conclude this, 1 fear, dry catalogue of subjects on the Romanesque fajades,
with a brief notice of St. Croix at Bordeaux, probably of a somewhat earlier date,
i.e., of the eleventh century.
The extrados of the centre arch is carved with angels; next come the Klders crowned
and worshipping with music and incense (harp and vase), a central figure, at the
apex, intended for the Lord ; the next broad band has the beginning of the zodiac,
but this was apparently a mistake of the workman, and was never carried out ; after
this comes a row of kneeling iigures pulling a rope which binds together two seated
figures at the apex, probably the marriage of the .Saviour and the Church.
On the arch to the left. Avarice is represented in five groups, each consistingof the
miser and the devil in various stages of downward fall ; and on the right arch arc five
groups, representing Lust, each of a woman (clothed and not naked as at Molssac),
with an attendant demon, and the usual toads and serpents.
The first thing to be remarked in this enumeration of subjects is that, in the main,
they are entirely Scriptural— illustrations, in fact, of the Old and New Testament.
The Virfjin JIary never is found as a prominent figure, and legendary subjects are
not usual. The great points are purely Christian, such as the glorification of the
Saviour, Lord of Heaven, and Judge of^this World, as described in Revelation, and
the power of the Apostles, amongst whom, naturally, the Kvangelists are especially
honored ; besides this Scriptural sculpture, we have Moral sculpture, reading a lesson
and holding out a warning to what the Church considered the two great vices of
avarice in man and lust in woman ; a very luiifand curious illustration of what the
priesthood naturally considered most innate with each sex, although our own sex did
not always escape reproof, as shown by the very coarse and matter-of-fact illustrations
of lust to be seen in the Churches of St. Paul at Narbonne ; St. Scrnin, Toulouse ; and
St. Jean at Valence.
We have also Symbolic scnlpture, such as the small pedestals of columns at St.
GlUes, and at Aries, in which bears, lions, centaurs, &c., play an important part,
without going to the extent of Durandus, Caliier, Lewis,* and that school, it is
impossible to think I deny a meaning more or less definite to these apparently
fanciful subjects, and I should feel much obliged to any member learned In symbolism
who would explain the centaur and stag, from St. Gilles.
Concerning the style of art shown in these works, it is most decidedly of a
Byzantine type ; in the earliest, such as the very cnrious marble reliefs round the
choir of St. Sernin at Toulouse (probably of the ninth century), the folds of the
dresses are few and raised in a crease, this method holds good at Jloissac (three
centuries later) although tlie heads of the figures naturally show a great advance in
art. At Aries and at St. Gilles, the folds are minute, peculiar, and of strongly
marked Byzantine character, and this is more evident on a statue in the Museum at
Toulouse preserved from a destroyed church there, and which, besides, its value in
point of execution and style, is interesting as being signed by tho sculptor Gilibertus,
or (as he signs himself on another statue) Giiabertus.
My impression is that these works were chiefly executed by French sculptors after
a mod<l or illustration given to them, whicli, if not actually Byzantine, was formed
on a Byzantine sampler.
The figures on the fajade of St. Croix at Bordeaux are most curiously Assyrian in
character ; the same remark holds good to some portions, especially drapery, of the
sculpture on the catliedral at Angouleme, and it is a question whether Greek or other
workmen were not actually employed on some portions. Mr. Lewis (this time it is
onr excellent secretary that is meant) in liis very interesting paper on Arab archi-
tecture, speaks of tlie impressment of all kinds of workmen by the Spanish Moors,
and it is not unlikely relaliations took place on the part of the Christians, or that
Greek workmen (then the most skilful of their time) were here and there employed
expressly.
The subject, however, which most took my attention in these Romanesque churches
was the corbel, since its explanation was the most difficult, and, I believe, has been
but ll'tle considered by arehajologisis. Let us compare some of tliem. First, on the
facade of the Beaucaire Chapel, we have a goat's head, a cock's head; a leaf, an
eagle, a lamb, a leaf, a lion with a human head in its month, a monster (mutilated),
and a demon's head roaring, nailed to the corbel. Next, at tlie cloister of Mont-
majour, near Aries, a bear, a goat, a bull, monster human heads, a leaf, a lion's
head with a human head in its mouth, and a lion's iiead devouring a small naked
human figure. Then, in the cloisters at St. Trophime, a goat, a figure (man) in
somersault, a bird, much mutilated, but apparently a cock, a mnning figure, a
donkey s head and neck, a lion with a human head in its claws, a female figure in
somersault, a lion, an anojel, and a long-horned goat. And at St. Gilles (facade) a
small ano-el in ioliagc, a human head in foliage, a ram, an eagle with a sheep in its
claws, a hon s liead. a bull, a running figure, and a leaf. The corbels on the facades
of .M. Trophime are nearly the same as those in the cloister.
Now I am not going to assert tliat nothing but these subjects arc found on the
corbels of tho Romanesque churches ; for. not to mention numerous others, at
Moissac alone may be remarked a man and woman kissing, a figure holdino- its mouth
open with its hands, a head with water apparently over one eye ; one figure laughing.
another scratching his head, a fox, monsters, grotesques, and foliai'C, which hardly
can seriously bear interpretation (I mean Scriptural interpretation). But it does seem
most probable that these animals and figures, so constantly repeated, allude to the
animals present at the birth of Christ, and tliat the peculiar bars sometimes seen on
the corbels, as at St. Sernin at Toulouse, and Notre l)ame at Clermont, represent the
manger ; as the old church hymn has it —
" Cognovit bos et asinus
II, magnus mundi dominus."
Indeed, most of the minor incidents connected with tho birth and yonth of tho
Saviour are seen, just as at a later date, the accessories of the Crucifixion, the spon"^,
the nails, &c., were brought into use, °
The domestic animals are those present at the birth ; the ass bore the Holv Child
into Kgypt (at Aries it is represented kneeling) ; the falling figures, male »nd"female,
are the gods and goddesses that fell at the Ciiild's approach ; the angel in foliage
appeared to the Wise Jlen of the Kast ; tlie running figures are the messengers fVora
Herod; the lions with figures or heads in the moutli and the claws arc Herod, as
temporal power, destroying the infants; the monster heads are cnragetf demons
whose doom is now come ; and the nailed devil's head, which occurs at Beaucaire, at
Aries, and later still at Dijon, where he has a ring in liis mouth, typifies his fall
through the birth of the Holy One.
• Not the hon. sec. to the Boyal Institute of British Architects.
I However thli may be, a most interesting collection of sculptured cortMlt mtakt ba
[ made, the result of which would Ik, I think, to show that the esrUaat enmlarMar
; directly or indirectly on the birth and youth of the Saviour ; that otbtr rabi«M« «««
gradually introduced until they became as varied as at Moissac ; and thstwbait tka
1 ointed style look shape and gave greater scopo tothu individual sculptor, new OBM
were introduced at will, whilst the old tmifltlonarr snbjcoU were stai rotalaad.
Thus, in tho Cathedral at I'oltlers (dattn the thlrtoenth eeatory, a ~in
noble monument of the Karly I'ointed a: n about three hnndrea (mbuU
of the interior a mass of purely secular m! ; !m»-s characlcrlsed by a pomr
of caricature and broad fiiu which would ' •
Havlngjust allied the lion's head wit) i frem
saying a few words on the lion, and hi . MTe
must remember that the lion may fiv ' cc«««rTto
discriminate, by his position and m rs only, wo
find him, on the band running ben . .lud eroocb-
ing with his head to tlie ground au<l mi im ii< : nma in eompaar
with tigers and serpents and dragons; wliii wttb an Intaua
expression of fear, turn away from him ; he h i nuuBloir aboot lika
a Uon, seeking whom he may devour, but crou i and fear beaarth
thefeetof tho Saviour and his Apostles. Nowi' , in asccalarwoM,
always signifies force or power: the Byzsntin. in" with raoriar
lions, is minutely described by historians. Th. ' ' ' leat "IntS
leones"; and the lion's head, head and claws. v.rsiilly on
thrones, Ac. as allied with power, seeularaati ■ ii, I think.
Justified in taking the lion with a human heati. ... i. uru m m- ' w«, to
typify the abuse of power. At St Oillet, the Four EvaogcHata .-■ lided
brackets, which rest on lion's backs; and although one is too mof': nake
out, yet we have still remaining three of these lions of tho ehiircu. ■ ■ -t
are tearing to pieces human figures — a woman and a man— wli
to represent a heathen god and goddess ; the most perfect la a maa u *
waist and thence clad in a sort of antique trowscr : there Is no mistake her
savagely clutches one arm with his mouth, and with his right paw, th.
out, drags the naked flesh of the man's side in stronarly mincod creases ;
head is unfortunately broken ofT. but beneath it and procc<"i''"* •"■'•■»
from his mouth, creeps away a dracontluc creatarc symbolic ■
from his hold. Next to this a lion holds a lamb (or ram r:i:
horns), he, however, does not in this case destroy, but protci :
claws retracted, on the sheep's back, and the other on h
attitude of protection and the head is placid : here we havt
ready to defend the Christian ("ye are my sheep ") who r* ~
at ease beneath his fostering care. The bases of the small co!i:
rest on two lions coacluint, who ^vith reverted heads g'
is probably the power of the wicked which the Church V-
for ever biting its bonds. Itesldes those interpretations we ■•
times employed as a type of David (the Lion of Judah), :i i
from any figure of Samson or Daniel. I say not far ren; ... >
sculptors were not very particular in keeping tho lions of the heroes togei .
be seen at St. Trophime and at St. Gilles in the case of Samson, and on '
St. Porcnaire, at Poitiers, and in the cloisters at Moissac, where, if mv in
not deceive me, tho lions are shown on one side and Daniel on the ■
Porchaire portal, at least, Daniel is In an aureole with angels ov :
to the right, and the lions on a capital to tho left with the inscrlptij-. L ^ _:_;-
Leones. "
I will nowrcvert to a still earlier period of Christian art, as exemplified In thereiy
important and Interesting series of sarcophagi preserved In the Hosenm at Aries ;
dates unfortunately are wanting, and the names, which arc Roman thongh the
persons were probably Gauls,'afford no aid ; they may, however, be generally assigned
to between the third and sixth century ; they are or the usual Roman sarcophagns
shape, carved with subjects from the Old and New Testaments. Tbosemost lorogne
were the Saviour and the Apostles, sometimes In a oontlnnoos row, somethMS
separated by columns ; once here, and once at Narbonne, we find trees. Instead of
columns, very tastefully arranged with birds in the foliage ; the trees atv apparently
olive, and the birds are doves, the miracles of the S.ivlour ; these also arc sometimes
continuous, sometimes divided by colonncttes, in the centrels usually a female figure
with hands outstretched. Intended no doubt for the Virgin Mary. From the Old
Testament we have mostly Moses striking the Rock, IMjaroah In the Bed Sea,
Daniel in the Lion's Den, and the Sacrifice of Isaac.
The tomb of the labariim is carved with the twelve Apostles withont divisions, a
line of cloud passes behind their heads with stars, and over each head a lion's claw
holds a wreath or crown!; in the centre Is a large wreath contalniu'' the monogram of
the Saviour resting on a cross with two doves ; two soldiers kneel at the foot of the
cross, one each side ; over the Apostles are two gonil or angels, supporting circular
medallions containinga male and female bust ; and again two genii holding an oblong
tablet without an inscription. Each angle terminates In a large mask, the facial line
forming the angle ; on one end is St. John baptising, and on the other Moses strikUig
the rock. This tomb is known locally as that of Consfantlne; it not improbably
belonged to his family, and we may conclude It to be a work of the second half oftDo
fourth century. Sculpture is here seen founded on a good model, bat somcwnat
rough in execution and heavy in proportion ; the faces are singularly rt Vamque,
sonie of the Apostles are also of a Jewish cast of the best kind. No nimbi occur
here, or in any other example (except one rough and unimportant one) In the col-
lection. The dress consists of tunic and sandal, all the eyes have holes in the pupU,
and generally also at the angle of the nose, to give expression ; the whole character
is strongly marked Roman, and though the heads are large, the hands clumsy, and
the style conventional, yet there Is a certain simplicity .anrl nobleness about them
by no means to be despised ; soma few of the heads .ir -t-rate, exmolung
such peculiarities as to lead one to conchidc they arc p "iv rate we9aA
hero a school of sculpture at an early Christian mri^ ' "honld say then
existing, and which ranks much above the stupid faces .in I
hair and stiff drapery, the minute folds and jewelied border-
same district, which reached its bathos in the twelfth c.-nt-:
it IS, I must not continue my medit.itiou amom; ""'
at Narbonne, -Toulouse, Lyons, Viennc, anil ™aj<
sarcophagi, in which foliage and Christian eml'. •ilcii
fell into disuse, probably from want of good scuii.tors, ami yvi n is cur..>u» to sec
how closely the same model conch-shcll, columns, and figures, waa^lbllowed at a later
period, i.e., the eleventh and twelfth centuries. ... , . .v.,— -»
No one should leave Aries without paying a visit to the ruined AWi^rof
Montmajour ; not to speak of Its situation-perched on a rocky island as It wm.
rising from the well-watered plain, encircled with the olive and laurestina^ earned
by the frownini' tower of lUfence and refuge, the palatial mins of the Italian style
and the gray sombre Romanesque abbey with its rfarfc, viwt, mystcnous ervpt and
sculptured cloister, alone would well repay the walk ; bnt bcsldestherc are the ijock-
cut church of a most primitive and remarkable type, and the mortuary chapel of the
Holy Cross The latter was built in the early part of the eleventh oenturr, sqiKne
on plan with four semicircular apses and «, western porch: the roof eeoslstt.ar a
funnel shaped dome, there are no openings for light ; and whoithe amemvjmmB
the door violently, a whole park of artillery seems to be dl8chaigedt<«toliig M»»V
away into solemn silence. Villi the exception of the UfP^SeT,**™- "jf!™?*?
the most extraordinary reverberations I ever heard, and if Mr. BogrSmltn a ewr
in that part I recommend it to his notice, the masonry of thlsbUOBgu a pen«n
model of execution. I'roceeding from this to the primitive MPW. *» r^Py^thg
rock honeycombed in all directions with open graves; tbef<inj«ro««gJ»sorwmeii
in their simple devotion sought to be interred as near as po**** f* MSS^Sif^L'
vain however, was the hope : their resting places are now ban, ^P ■■•* ••■•J,*?^
scattered to the wind, whilst the Holy Cross. If any true portjon of "J**"''* *■*'*
served probably to light a fire in the revolutionary troubles of the elgueeaia
210
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 8, 1861.
century. Descendio^ by steps in the rock, we enter the narrow passage of tlio
ori^D&l church, and a few steps bring: ws to an oblonfr spaoe with circular roof cut
tn the rock, on one side is a plain window -opening, vn tlie other two are graves.
Above which are cut two round headed hollows or niches, now empty ; beyond this
portion is the church divided into two aiiUes by columns; on one side arc three
Toond-headed windows, on tlie rock Fide is a long: low stone seat, there is a small
•emicircalar apse to one aisle, and in the other is an altar in tlie wall with an open
•pace beneath, probably a place of interment. Passing: beyond this, through a
pauage barely lai^*^ enough to admit one person, we come to four separate apart-
menU quite plain, with only one small li<:ht at the end of tlic passage, a curious
rough stone chair by the window, two stone seats, and a so called rock-cut bed. The
round roof is formea by the rock itself, except in the chapel, where it is built ; it is in the
cfaapel also that the only ornament isfound. and wliieli we might assign to the tenth
aBdaerenth centurios. "Tradition ascribes this rock-cut church with its graves, altars,
COnAvsloiiid, stone seats, and sleeping apartment, to the saints of the early church at
Arlea. and more especially to St. C'lesaire, bishop of Aries, in the sixth century ; nor do
I think bat what its existence may date (rom that epoch, although probably enlarged
and ornamented at the time of the foundation of tlu' great abbey in the early part of
the eleventh century, for thiacuriou^monumentof Christianity contains in itself on a
small scale, catacombs, chajjel. hermitage, and place of refuge and defence— the
whole ser\ing as a place of safety from the Goths and Saracens who overran Aries
in the seventh and eighth centuries, and bearing a marked analogy to the crypts or
ctibiciUti of the catacombs at Home, which served as mortuary chapels and places of
instruction for the fff^ccAi//Hf»w, having stone benches for pupils and penitents, and
stone chairs fbr teachers and confessors.
The entire group of buildings here form a most interesting study for the archseolo-
gist and architect, and I hope if any member of the Institute visits Aries he may be
enabled to dedicate a few days to their pictorial and descriptive study. Nor must we
leave this district without saying a few words about the curious medieval village or
town of Les Hanx : the traveller leaves Tarascen by omnibus for St. Kemy, and must
wend thence about ten miles en voiture to Les Baux. As regards picturesqueness,
nothing can exceed it ; a fortified town perched on the natural fortification of a
rugged rock, and surrounded in all directions by upheaved granitic masses, it is the
ideal of a robber knight*s eyrie ; its value, however, to the antiquary has been much
overrated, for, except the ruined castle and hall which appear to belong to the
thirteenth century, most of the remains bearing any impress of architectural art are
of the sixteenth century. The rock-cut houses, which may belong to any period, and
ar« of the rudest arrangement, form the most striking and curious feature of the
locality. They are, however, quite plain, with the exception of a few ruined chimney-
pieces of the fourteenth and fifteetn centuries. A curious columbarium or pigeon
and dovecote— that necessary larder of live-stock for the besieged— formed by
nameronB holes, partly cut in the rock and partly built, still remains.
The only Komanesqne remains atNimes are to be found in the cathedral facade,
and at a house on the place; of the former very little remains, but what there is ex-
hibits a close following of a Roman model, with frieze and pediment, not often seen
even In this last home of Komau architecture. The frieze, very roughly executed,
illustrates the first books of the Old Testament, commencing with the serpent twined
round the tree of knowled^'e ; on one side Kve, whom he addresses; on the other
Adam, who seeks to hide his nakedness : this combination of different points in one
story is common with the early artists. The next subject is d^aced. In the third
Adam and Eve are hiding themselves in trees, their busts only being seen ; the Lord
addresses them ; we have then the Kxpulsion ; the offerings of Cain and Abel ; the
murder of Abel ; Koah and the Ark ; Lot and his Sons, and so on, all these subjects
being continuous, as in the early Christian tombs. This fact, and the general cha-
racter of the figures and drapery, lead me to conclude them to be of a very early
date. We in England and the north of France have perhaps been to apt to
fix on the first haff of the eleventh century as constituting a clear line of demarcation
In the history of architectural and sculptural art ; it was so with us, no doubt, in a
very great measure ; but in the south the course of art was more even ; and in
this particular example I think we may discern one of the earliest efllbrts
of native artists at constituting a style founded on the Romans models left
them, and which finally received a peculiar character from its combination with the
semicircular arch, which we remark also on this facade on a small scale and quite
devoid of moulding or other ornament. The base of this cathedral appears to have
had, also, a large frieze on which some remains seom to indicate tne form of the
grifBn, but all the rest of the building is too mutilated or altered to admit of investi-
gation. What remains of the house, which was, no doubt, the Bishop's palace, shows
some very good sculpture, which is so essentially similar in style and subjects to
certain parts of the church of St. Gilles fcirca lOiH)) that we may .ascribe it to the
tame period. I am happy to say that M. Henri Rcvoil, the Government architect at
Mimes, is engaged in publishing a work, with carefullv measured drawings and with
letter-press, on these monuments of Romanesque architecture in the South of France
(the first part of which will appear this summer, published by Bance, at Taris), and
which I venture to recommend to the notice of the Institute. \o complicated system
of construction fs to be found in these buildings ; the semicircular arch and dome in
various combinations give, m this respect, its only claim to anything like science ;
and these arc frequently heavy and not well adjusted— solidity and simplicity are,
however, no bad substitutes for the more complicate and often less reliable systems of
after times ; the mouldings are generally Greco-Koroan, combined with the; hollow and
torus common to Romanesque art everywhere ; the oruament-s of the mouldings are
generally Roman, the ovolo, leaf, fret, dentil. &e. The caplUls of the columns,
where not historiated, are mainly founde>d on a Corinthian or composite type, and
tike bases are usually Attic. The sculpture, as a rule, is stiff" and lifeless, and the
drapery, especially on the more richly-clad statues, of a thoroughly Byzantine cha-
racter. The masonry is of medium-sized blocks, [slightly oblong, well worked, and
carefully set In thin beds of mortar. No ornamental inlay is found, as in Auvergne
and at Lyons ; no combination of brick and stone, as at Toulouse ; and we may
affirm that few more interesting classes of buildings arc to be found for the architect
and archKOlogist than these Itomanesque churches of the South of France. It is
^possible to leave this district witliout putting in a word also for the grand remains
of Roman architecture which ornament its soil— the noble walls of the theatre at
Orange the grand arcades of the arenas at Nimes and at Aries, the richly sculptured
tonmphal arches of St. Remy and Orange, the colossal aqueduct of the Pont du Gard,
ue maosoleums of St. Remy and Vienne, bear witness witli a force stronger than
™ nwjj powerful oratory to the manly genius and profound feeling for what is noble
to architecture which chara<:teriBcd the old Roman race. However admirable, plc-
taiMque. and striking, however full of Interest to the lover of Christian art, the most
u^tious works of medieval Europe may be. yet, owing to the littleness and con-
nwoo of their parta, they appear as the work of pigmies In comparison with the
grsAd simplicity and indestructible strength of these labors of the giants, against
wbicb the violence of man and the corrosive envy of time have expended themselves
in vato. ' *^
On the direct route bitweenNimes and Toulouse there is not much Romanesque
work; the interior of St. I'aul. atNarbonne, exhibits in the sculpture of the capitals
some curtoos applications of the palm combined with figure subjects, among which
appear some very coarse and matter-of-fact representations of the vices of men. The
exterior of thiachnreh is in the i'ointe<! style, as are all the other principal monu-
menu offbis old but somewhat unintirn-sting city. The museum, however, besides
the early Christian tombs before alluded to. contiiins some good bits of Romanesque
Brtjn the shape of capitals and fragments from buildings now destroyed— two
rtchlT worked bronze censers, and a pastoral staff in ivory, very plain, ending in the
osnal serpent-headed crwjk, on which stands an angel regarding an empty chair or
Msbops throne. The eighteenth century Is also peculiarly well Illustrated in this
musenro, owing to the bequest of a local collector who confined his attention almost
enttrelT to that period. * rom this point the traveller should by all means endeavour
w visit I'erplgnon with its Mozarabic and Spanish style of architecture, and the
adjacent church and cloister of St Elne, so remarkable for the Egyptian character of
several of its capitals executed early In the eleventh century.
At Carcassonc, with the exception of some unimportant portions of the cathedral
In the old town, everything is medieval. Carcaasone is M. Le Due's pet patient, he
is busy trying to brin^the old body to life, and rehabilitate its decayed and shrunken
form, but although the doctor appears to have it all his own way, and to prescribe
regardless of expense, I cannot say that the result is satisfactory, tht^re is something
ludicrous to my mind in this expensive and useless restoration of the old fortifica-
tions, nor can one approve of the wholesale manner in which old work is pulled
down and carted away to make place for new. I must add that here, as in almost
every case, where this distinguished architect (to whose research, taste, and industry
we are all so much indebted) has added designs of his own, whether in stone or on
metal, they appear to me to be of the most eccentric and emasculated character— tho
same rather anomalous result struck me also during a late tour through Germany, as
regards Herr Heideloff^s designs.
At Agen, some good bits of Romanesque architecture remain in the choir and apse
of the cathedral ;Dut more interesting than these are some old arcaded streets which
still exist in the centre of the town. The breadth of the pavement is about 25 feeU
that of the street about 40, and the width between arches about ^0 feet ; the houses
themselves are modernised or rebuilt, but the plan still holds good, and as the
weather was very wet, and I had not an umbrella, my blessings fell on the departed
manes of the old municipal authorities. The same remark applies to the Bastide or
Freetown of Libourne, near Bordeaux, the great square of which measures about
180 feet each way, the passages are about 21 feet broad, and the width between the
arches about 14 feet. This example, though more complete. Is ruined in effect by the
lowness of pitch and narrowness between the piers of tho arcade. The rest of the
town, though of modern construction, still retains the right angle arrangement of
the streets common to most of these, what may be termed "model towns," of the
fourteenth century.
But we are hastening on somewhat too fast, for we have got beyond Toulouse, a
city which, besides its very remarkable Romanesque churches, possesses decidedly
the most important and interesting museum of antiquities to be found in the South
of France. These arc deposited chiefly in the cloisters of the suppressed church of
the Aujnistin friars. The most numerous and varied selection relates to Romanesque
art, and we have here tombs, capitals, statues, and friezes ranged round the open
traceried cloister in a manner which recalls pleasurably to mind the charms of the
Campo Santo at Pisa.
I do not mean to uphold the design or contours of these capitals and ornamental
bands as exhibiting any remarkable degree of study and refinement, but they have
hardly received the attention they deserve ; their character is in a high degree rich,
bold, and effective.
The museum contains numerous most interesting inscriptions, and It is to be
remarked that in one of the oldest— that on the very curious slab tomb of St. Victor
at Marseilles (1048)— we find the same style of abbreviation by placin<r small letters
within large ones, as at the Abbey of'^Molssac on the sculptured figure of Abbot
Ansquetil (1100). This custom, with the use of Roman letters, continued down to a
comparatively late period, and one of the earliest examples of the use of Gothic or
German letters is to be seen on a tomb in the museum, dated 1347. Two of the
figures on the portal of an ancient church now destroyed- that of La Daurade, I
beheve— retain the sculptor's name ; they are the best of the series, and the sculptor
clearly was proud of his work. One has " Gilabertus me fecit," the otlier.
"Uuincertus (?)me celavit Gilibertus." These statues are draped thoroughly in tho
rich Byzantine style, witii small folds and gem-studded borders. Amongst the more
fragile treasures of antiquity np-stairs- although it will not be shown without some
trouble probably— the archaeologist should not fail to see the so-called Horn of
Roland, which (if It really belonged to him) may be the one the hero died blowing, as
he vainly sought with Its notes to retrieve the rout of the Paladins. It appears to
be the work of a European sculptor after the Byzantine manner, and was probably
a tenure horn.
The most noble monument of Romanesque art lu Toulouse, and, indeed, of the
south of France, is the celebrated church of St. Sernin. It is built of brick and
stone as a three-uisled cross basilica, with a semicircular apse and five apsidal
chapels. There is a west entrance, witlitwo north and two south ones. The general
character is large and massive, the ornament pure and good Romanesque, and the
brickwork very carelhl, judiciously relieved by courses and dressings of a warm-
colored stone. The whole is surmounted by the peculiarly fine brick tower, of five
tiers of arcades, with which we are so familiar through engravings and photographs.
The church is stated to have been finished and consecrated A.D. 1090. The best
sculpture is to be found on the doorways, and I take the subjects of the south porch
(nave entrance) as an example. The cornice of the projecting wall shows the
peculiar ornament and paterae of Nimes Cathedral, combined with the brackets of
Notre Dame du Pont at Clermont. The archway Is semicircular, and in the centre is
the Saviour m glory, attendant seraphim end angels, and the Twelve Apostles
beneath. The angle corbels of the doorway are formed by David seated on a lion's
back, playing the viol on one side; on the other two men, seated cross-legged and
caressing lions. The capitals of the columns are carved with subjects from the life of
the Saviour, monsters, foliage. Ac. There are two columns on each side; the
mouldings are the plain, hollow, and round; the corbels of the cornice show in
succession a monkey with a lion's head in his paws, a bunch of grapes, a lion, a
monster vomiting his own legs, a young woman's head with wild, dishevelled hair, u
matron hooded, a goat, and an animal too much broken to be made out. It would
bo diflUcult to explain the two saints carved on each side of the portal, with allegorical
sculpture above and beneath.
iiut, however interesting the exterior may be, the interior Is equally remarkable,
and the marble slabs of the Saviour and the Apostles on the choir wall, stated to be
saved from the old church built by Charlemagne, particularly merit notice.
It is with great regret that an accident prevents my giving a more detailed de-
scription of this church. I understand that M. Le Due Intends dedicating a mono-
graph to it.
Toulouse is rich in buildings of the Medieval and Renaissance periods, the brick
towersof the churches of the August ins (»??/«<■>) and the .Jacobins (t'rt5(?n?*') are modelled
on and rival the tower of St. Suturnin. The cathedral contains many portions of good
I'ointed architecture of various dates, and some good painted glass of the 15th and
10th centuries ; the triforium Is peculiarly rich and effective. Adjoining St. Sernin
is a large brick house of tlie 11th century crenellated and arcaded, with angle
turrets, it formerly stoo<l within the wall which surrounded the church precincts,
and Is still In fair repair externally. The present Lycee retains many picturesque
remarkable late I'ointed portions, while its Renaissance court is peculiarly striking .
the " pestilent " Renaissance buildings of Toulouse (mostly mansions) are. indeed,
as a rule, very broadly desfgned, noble looking, and well calculated to satisfy the eye
of every properly educated architect. There is not much Romanesque art. except at
Molssac, on the direct route between Toulouse and Bordeaux, at which city the
monuments of Medieval architecture, civic and ecclesiastic, are very bcautifXil and
interesting, the artist and architect will find plenty of work there, but we have now
I)a8eed almost beyond the boundaries of the south of France, and, however tenapting
the subject, I must leave for a future day the Romanesque buildings of the;centre
and the north ; and conclude what I am afraid will already have been toi many
present a twice-told tale.
Mr. James FERotisHON, liaving been called upon by the Chairman, as his name
was mentioned in his paper by Mr. Waring, said he had not seen the place referred
to himself, but had examined the drawings very carefully. The ornaments v ere not
Roman, but a debased style derived from the Roman, and the probability was that
they were of the seventh or eighth century. If Mr. Waring had been present he
should have asked him on what he founded his opinion. He (Mr. Fergusson) thought
on the whole, taking the church referred to and other churches of the satjUe style,
that in all probability it belonged to a period before what we called the Medieval
March 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
211
i
(isrc. Hut without very detailed drawings and new facts he could not »ay much
about it.
Jlr. Jroniiis thouglit there was evidently an infusion of a arcat deal of the
Saracenic in the buildings ruferrcd to in the paper. The south of France was invaded
in thesivcnth or eighth century by a large Arabian amiy. That army wan defeated
by Charles Martel. In many of the sketches by which'the lecture was illustrated
there wuh ii very clear trace of the Saracenic element. The Arab army, which wan
said to have been :J00,0<K) in number, was, according to the statement made on the
subject, dispersed by Martel. The army was so great that a number might have
been left in the south of France, and that might enable them to account for some of
the features of the architecture. In respect of which they had some ditnculty in
endeavouring to derive them from Roman examples. As to the centaur, there were
in the choir of Bipon Cathedral some lino stones, which were very much disllgured
by carvings of a very profane and indecent character, and very Improper for tlie
Interior of a sacred edihce : they were most grotesque and indecent. Amongst the
carved stones there were carvings said to represent the caricatures of tlie re'^ular
clergy on the seculars. He had in his oflfice now a cast of a human head with the
body of a beast, and the figure was clothed in the canonicals of the time as a cari-
cature of one kind of clergy or the other.
Mr. (i. K. Stkeet, having been called upon by the Chairman, said the Romanesque
■works which he had seen on the bunks of tlie'lllioue were exceedingly beautiful in
sculpture and foliage, and he thought that the sketches before them that evening did
not dojustice to some of tlie subjects. He supposed he was called up by the Chair-
man because liis name was mentioned in the lecture, but in that reference he
thought Jlr. Waring misunderstcrad what lu- (Jlr. Street) said in the paper to
which allusion Iiad been made. He proposed a vote of thanks to llr. Waring for
his paper.
Jlr. AsnpiTEL seconded the motion for a vote of thanks. When in the district to
which the paper referred he was very ill, and therefore had not the opportunity of
looking so closely at the churches there as he otherwise should have done. He agreed
with Jlr. Fergusson iu saving that there was a very strong Classic element in the
buildint'S iu that district of Finance. As to the centaur and other productions of that
kind they must not suppose that everything was gross because It had a grotesque
Idea. He was sure they ought to give tlieir sincere thanks to Mr. Waring for his
excellent paper.
Jlr. JSuRGK.s referred to some buildings on the Continent where the grotesque
abounded: one in France having the whole of the metamorphoses of Ovid with a
Christian moral drawn from each ; and another in Italy having the minotaur— half a
man and half a bull.
Jlr. .lAiiES liELt agreed witli Jlr. Ferguason as to the date of the buildings re-
ferred to in the paper, but if he understood Mr. Waring's lecture rightly, he fixed
the date some centuries later. In the country referred to they saw the Roman ele-
ment everywhere, and he thought they ought certainly to be very much obliged to
Mr. Waring for calUng- their attention to the buildings of a very interesting district
of France. He regretted that, owing to absence from town, he was not aware
Mr. Waring's paper would be read that evening, otherwise he should have brought
some sketches of his own illustrative of some buildings in the country referred to.
The whole of the country was full of the most interesting remains, both of the
Itoman and Byzantine periods.
Jlr. AsnpiTEL referred to some of the curious figures described as having been
found in various countries by Marco Toio and other eminent voyagers and travellers,
and thought that it might be found, upon further inquiry into the subject, such
figures were not so absurd or so wild as they were supposed to have been.
Jlr. ,J. 1'. Seddon spoke of some of the buildings which he had visited in the
country referred to by the lecturer, and denounced the system of pulling down old
churches in order to restore them, a system which was far too prevalent iu the pre-
sent day.
Mr. C. F. IIaywabd expressed his disgust at the ruthless spoliation which a short
time ago he liad witnessed, of the magnificent sculpture on the north side of Amiens
Cathedral. Then as to the Abbey of St. I>enis, near Paris, the magnificent collec-
tion of tombs in the crypt were being entirely removed, in order that they might be
set in due historical order in the choir. The floor was l)eing lowered, in order that
the whole tiling might be made like a show or museum, and lie was told that there
was tfl be in the centre of it all a great inonmnent, in which were to be deposited the
remains of the First Napoleon. He did not know whether that was the fact, but
everything he saw going on at St. Denis seemed to confirm it. Pie thought the
Institute ought to exert itself in the endeavour to put an end to this work of
destruction.
Professor Donaldson said there would be no loss in the removal of the tombs at
St. Denis. They were not so old as Jlr. llayward imagined, and about 20 years ago,
when lie saw tliem, they were all rubbish.
Jlr. .1. W. I'ArwoBTH thought about one-half of those tombs were constructed
about tlie end of the seventeenth century. They bore a representation of early work
and looked exceedingly like portions of early work ; but there was a system of
restoi-ation going on from the north to the south of France which was very detri-
mental, for everything was being scraped in the most remarkable manner. That was
particularly noticeable at Koueii, I'aris, and other towns, where everything was
scraped, and the original mouldiugs removed.
Jlr. G. K. Street spoke in deprecatory terms of the destruction of old buildings
in France, owing to the mode of^ restoration. If we were to follow the course which
the French were taking, he thought we might as well at once destroy our cathedrals
and eliurehcB.
After a few words from Sir. Keur,
Jlr. liiROES said he might quiet Jlr. Hayward's fears, for there was now no St.
Denis, all St. Denis, inside and outside, everything had gone by restoration.
Jlr. A.sHi'iTEi. hoped they would take a lesson from this, as something of the same
kind of destruction was being carried on in our own country.
The CiiAiR.MAN said he thought they were very much mdebtod to Mr. Waring,
both for his lecture and the sketches by which it was illustrated.
A vote of thanks to Mr. Waring was then passed by acclamation.
The l!o</al Colil Medal.~'V\\e CliAinMAN read a note from Sir Charles Phipps,
dated Buckingham I'alace, intimating that Her Jliyesty the Queen had been
graciously pleased to approve of and sanction the award by the Institute of the
Jtoyal (.iold Jledal to Jlons. J. 1). Lesueur, of Paris.
The meeting then separated.
THE CURATORSHIP OF THE SOANE MUSEUM.
AT the meeting of the Council of tlie Royal Academy, held on the 2nd inst.,
Mr. Joseph Bonomi was duly elected Curator of the Soane Museum. The
following is a copy of a circular issued by Mr. Bonomi : —
5a, Ports'down-road, Jlaida-hill, W., JIarcli, ISGl.
I should not have presumed to offer myself as a candidate for the curatorship of
tile Soane Jluscum but for the conviction that 1 was qualified so as to come wlttiin
the meaning of the Act.
I am aware that considerable diflerencc of opinion exists as to what really does
constitute an arebiteet. and it is, therefore, a duty which I owe both to you and to
mvself to explain the grounds of my claims.
In the first place I am the son of an architect who was an Associate of the Royal
Academy, and the brother of an architect formerly in' considerable practice. Jly
boyish days were spent in the oflice of my father, where the bias which infiueuccd my
future oecupatlons was confirmed ; for, although circumstances led me to stldy as a
sculptor. I subsequently applied myself to architecture and archgeology. Nt.vt, my
researehes in Egypt and most of my published works are almost exclusively devoted
to architecture ; and lastly, a.-* regartfs *' praetice as an architect," I have designed
and furnished the drawings for a large buildirg with an Egyptian facade at Uolbeck,
near Leeds, for T. G. Mamhall, Kw)., of HeadlnKlay, who hufoimnlad !•■••■
complimentary testimonial. . I have bi^en engaged, and am ttill «aplo]r«d, aft
architect by.luhn l.re, Kso., I.L.D., of Ilartweir who has alio glTen me tgntByte
testimonial; and I am at (lie present time preparing for T>r I.er thp dMl^i (far aoaw
• ulBg nUDiwr. t
ILA., and ia tlw
I'^toral works st
schools and adjoining dwelling-houses, to be erected d
have likewise been employed In the oBee of Prohss'
ofncc of Jlr. Owen .loncs, and have assisted the latU-r
the Crystal Palace.
In conclusion, a large number of the Fellows of the Ronl Inatituir of British.
Architects have addressed to the President and Council of the Koyal Academy a
memorial very strongly urging mv claims snd fitness for the oOloe.
rhare the honor to be, yonrotiedlent ■rrraot,
3ontn BoMoiu.
THE SOANE UCSKUH CURATOBSHIP.
IT is to be hoped that the Tmstees of Sir John Sosna'a Mttsenm will Institute a
strict inquiry into the quaUfieatlans possessed by the gmtlemaa that It aeema has
Just been appointed Curator by the Council of the Itoyal Aeadeay. Mr. Joac|»h
lionomi is usually regarded as a sculptor, at h:ast tus name appears with that
adjunct on several title-pages. The architects may now very reasonably be ugry
with the Royal Academy, unless the Trustees confirm the appointment: and. by
such a step justify the decision of the Council. There is so doubt thai the eleetloa
of a gentleman who is not an architect (as Is now tite case. If Mr. Bonomi bo not aa
architect) would be injurious to the interests of that profession which it was obvi-
ously Sir John Soane's intention to serve ; snd. although people may ssy. "Xercr
mind now, it will not lisppun agsin," we know too well tlie value of preeedeot in
such cases. We ask, is Jlr. lloDonii, in the words of the Act of Parlluncnl wUeh
we have before printed, "an Knglisb architect who has dlstlognished himself or
gained an academical prize".' S. C. 8.
ALTERATIONS TO THE NATIONAL GALLERY.
THERE are few buildings which liave lieen more generally abased tbin tbst
which Wilkins placed some thirty-five years ago npoa the " finest site ia
Europe." The many diliiculties which the architect liad to roiitend with bam
been but slightly considered, and the genuine merit in the structure has been
altogether disregarded. Year after year a clamour has been raised agaiiut it,
and when the m.inageraent of the collection has been attacked, the baUdlnK
scarcely ever escaped a side-blow. It found no friends, or but feeble ones, UM
its opponents did not spare it. The " pepper-boxes " dbtc become a byword,
and its dome has provoked a contemptuous smile. There is no denying that it
has many and very glaring defects, but our surprise is great, when we conrider
the fetters in which its author worked, tliat it had not more. The txcxaet widch
may be urged for the architect, a,s regards the exterior, cannot, however, be ftiAj
brought forward on lielialf ol^ the interior. Every visitor to the gallerie* mmt
have remarked the unequal quality of the admittetl light, and the gloomy sliade
which enveloped the upper portions of the walls. To hang a picture high up was to
consign it to obscurity, and to hide wlmtever it poasessedof good or ill. For thia
the architect, and the architect alone, is to be blamed. He knew, or ought to
have known, the efiect which his lanterns would have produced. The sixe of the
rooms and the bad accnminodntion, the octagon room, the scnlptupe-cellar, and
the dark corridors were, perhaps, tieyond his entire control. Many luive been
the suggestions thrown out to remedy the evils complained of. Last year we
had an elaborate plan, extensively circulated, which contemplated the remodeUinc
of the whole of the interior, as well as the removal of the objectionatrie and
ridiculed external features. The alterations of the interior would have b^
valuable. The drawing of the proposed alteration to the frontjalmost recondlea
us to it present state. The expense of the contemplated works was, however,
most likely the stumbling-block which'prevented its realisation. But for tlut, the
" finest site in Europe " would probably have been improved upon by the olBoerof
Engineers who designed the Brompton boilers, and architects would have
mourned and grumbled at the loss of an opportunity to place a suitable building
It wa8,''nevcrthcless, felt that something must be done. The National Collec-
tion was getting too large for the space given to it, and the Royal Academy
were not ready to move. Mr. James Penncthome was applied to in the coune
of last autumn, and from his designs and under his superintendence the present
alterations have taken place. Little will, we believe, be done to the exterior,
bcvond piercing a few of the upper niches by the side of the portico, to provide
light to some upper rooms. The main alteration consists in uuhzing the vast
hail in the centre of the building. Tlicre are three doorwS)-s under the porUM.
The central one -was, we believe, never used, and now it never can be, for a coupM
of small rooms are built behind it for umbrellas, &c. The side entrances, ■<>Dfw>>
lead to the Royal Academy and the National Gallery, but Idirretly we V^»^»
portals, the change is at once apparent. The arrangement <" '"«'*'»™ J?^
cases has been entirely altered. Tlie general disposition "f ""« .™™*,*LTf
Academy Exhibitions are tolerably lauiiriar to our readew. The "iS'". ?,' ™™
led from an irregular hall to the corridor between the miniature and architectar^
rooms. The stairs are now brought nearer the entrance, ,»»" ™" ''' J?1~J?'
direction into the old miniature-room, disturbing the q""' "^."^ SS
parasols, walking-sticks and umbreUas were stowed 'e.rajP;""'^ ^'"f^- JJf.i^
iorridor'isthen thrown into the architectural r«>m,whicfiforn«j,byH-m»dd^t»^^
a fine apartment very nearly 40 feet square. A "e^^/kyUgM has been put toit
-a lantern with slopingrsidcs-anda cove ™°»,"""<','«*r«°jL'^ rf SSfS
below. All shadow is thus avoidi^d on the walls, a^d <J2^^^^!S^
sufficiently lit. The sides of the lantern are «''Sh"yJ«~"*~, T?!^^^
which are repeated on the .soffit, and V^^^^J^J^^^^^^ ^^Sl
ventilation of the room. The walls will be boarded and painted. The warming
Thy meaSs of pirbeliind the skirting. ^ do<«j«^ h« b«j|fomed to c^^^
municate eventually with the long gallery ofwhlch ^f '^ P™*""?'"^^;^'
it is bricketl up fir the pn-sent, to shut off the Academy from the I>atiooai
^ Returnins to the ground-floor we find that a space of something like 35 or «
fecUias Sg^incd hy^ the contraction of the halTbecause a similar altoi^n to
that whidfwe^iave .lescrihed has likewise been earried out on the onpodte OT
National Gallery side, where the northernmost of the small »'''« B*"f^. J"
bee enlaiied to the 'same extent as the architectiira room. T^'S^'k"
gained ha^e«n thrown into the sculptur,- gallery, wjiicli is now «PP"^f*J2
a St of eirht steps on the left hand of the hall, and thence by oneoffoiffit™
at ri^ht angles with'^the upper flight. This leads to a scilpturegaUay. '5 feet
b - 1» feet, with a central (.Sy 40 feet wide at the north side, »" ^be site otlie oW
simicircle This latter deviation from the original plan was made »» admitoJ
windows being inserted on each side to light the .nam P"'-'!^" ° « i^iSn^:
The bay itself has curved recesses at each end, and is covered b) an iron waggon
212
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 8, 1861.
headed glazed roof. The whole of this space, with the eiception of the central
prmeotin^ bay, is iieT0te<i on tho upper floor to a new gallery for the National
Collection. It is approached from tlie newly formed square gallery we have
before mentioned. Its length Is the same as the new sculpture gallery, and its
bei(:ht is 33 feet. The floor is carried on iron girders and brick arches. Hot-
water (Hpes are laid down in the floors on this side of the building to warm the
apartments. The walls art? papered with paper corresponding with that in the
old rooms of the National Gallerj- — a sulidued crimson tint. The ceiling is
waggon-headed and glazed with embossed ground plate glass. The lighting is
perfect in every way. There is no cornice or projection to cbstruct the rays.
The decoration consists of a guiloche firieze pickea out with crimson and gold, and
of beautifully desii^ied circular panels of carton pierre and wood, pierced for
Teniilation. This portion is quietly and tastefully tinted in talraon color and
grey. The new pallery will form a very valuable addition to the rooms for the
National Collection, and will stay, for a time, the demand for increased space.
The next move will be to appropriate the whole of the rooms now tenanted by
the Royal Academy. Provision has, as we have shown, been made for this by a
new doorway leading to them from this long gallery. The alterations have
necessitated others ot a minor character, such as the removal of the clerks' and
other rooms, but they are of no great importance ; new back staircases have been
built behind the principal stairs, leading to either end of the sculpture gallery,
which, when the Academy is closed, will be devoted to class-rooms, and smaller
Staircases have been constructed to lead to the upper rooms.
The whole of the alterations will be completed — at all events, on the Royal
Academy side — by the latter end of April, so as not to delay the opening of the
annual exhibition.
The works have been executed by Messrs. Cubitt, of Gray's Inn Road, and it
is but simple justice to those eminent builders to mention the satisfactory manner
in which it has been done. It has rarely, if ever, been our lot to see better
work. The materials and workmanship are evidently the best that could be
procured, and they contrast strongly with the majority of the buildings which
competition has torced upon the public. The clerk of the works, under the
architect, Mr. Pennethome, is Mr. Street.
THE GUARDS' MEMORIAL, PALL-MALL.
IF a monnment like that which Mr. John Bell has erected at the end of Regent-
street bad been built in France, a state procession and a ministerial, if not an
imperial, speech would have attended the unveiling of it. The deeds of the
departed heroes would have been loudly trumpeted forth, the Napoleonic cipher
would have been conspicuously carved upon its base, and the sculptor would nave
been decorated with the Legion of Honor. We manage these things differently
in England. Tlie monument was raised by no Government grant, and no
OoTemment parade inaugurates it. The sacking which covered it one day is
removed on the next, with no particular ceremony, and no other assemblage than
a few curious idlers. We grumble at our lack of good public monuments, and at
the want of recognition by our rulers of departed worth ; but a good statue is
produced to the memorj' ot' noble men, and we receive it coldly and silently, or,
rather, indifferently. We English are, we suppose, a difficult people to move,
and we incur, consequently, the sneers of Continental nations; but they should
remember that, although we seem apathetic about a memorial and about honoring
a sculptor, we were not so when our assistance was called for as the Guards were
earning this lasting tribute in the Crimea. The nation then was worthy of its
soldiers, and echoed back their shout. It would be the same to-morrow, if
needed, although it scarcely notices the tribute which the survivors pay to those
who perished by their sides.
Mr. Bell's monument consists of a group of three Guardsmen— Coldstream,
Fusilier, and Grenadier — on a curved granite pedestal, with their flags above
them, backed by a pyramidal pedestal of the same material, and crowned by
a figure of Victory. The other front has, instead of Guardsmen, a group of
cannon taken from Sebastopol. The figures are all in bronze, and are modelled
With remarkable vigor, and display artistic knowledge of a high order. The
expression of the principal poup is that of dignity and repose. Without inter-
fering with this distinguishing characteristic, the sculptor has varied them most
dexterously. Tliey are all in full marching order. Without any violent contrast
in their attitades, there is enough of difference in their arrangement to display
their individuality and to avoid anything like repetition or monotony. The cos-
tumes, heavy great-coats and bearskins, are treated very ably, and the lines are
drawn with eqnal beanty and freedom. Their position is" perfectly easy and
natural, yet so far idealised that the grand spirit of the three regiments seems to
be cast upon those three bronzed representative men. The female figure of Vic-
tory above, with laurel wreaths in either hand, is equally well composed, and is
worthy of being the central feature to this grand work.
We have often reproacheil ourselves with the bad design of the pedestals to
our metropolitan statues. They are generally rude oblong blocks of granite
with a common-place cornice and a simple plinth. Even that of Charles I. is
not a thing to boast of. It is too narrow when seen directly in front, and is
apparently weak. In this respect also Mr. Bell has been, we think, eminently
anccessful. The general form of the pedestal, like that of the whole of the monu-
ment, is pyramidal. The beanty of it is augmented by the introduction of a
variety in the shape of carved pedestals, in front and rear of it, for the three
Gnardsmen and the cannon. These varied forms are linked together by a
common base, and the unity of the monnment is thus preserved. 'There is little
attempt at surface decoration, for Mr. Bell's design has not been fully carried
out— a little cheese-paring economy has crampol the gtnius of the sculptor.
Mr. Bell has, however, acted wisely ; he was not allowed to finish his work as he
would have wished, but he has refrained from petty ornamentation, and
has simply cut incised lines to enliven the sides, and in the centre of
the circles thus farmed are the words "Alma, Inkerman, and Sebastopol," the
only inscriptions on the work, and they are the only ones It needed. Tliose
three words alone will ever n-call the valor which victory crowned ; and if no
other work of Mr. Bell existed, these three Guardsmen and the goddess which
smiles proudly upon them would suffice to place big name in the foremost rank
of British sculptors.
i:hj.— The Local Board of Health have put down an additional engine to
thfir prtffnt engine, and new boilers of ao-horse power; also Iwive ereited new
chimney shsfl, 1>«) feet high, and other Improvements at their pumping station. The
eoelnc and boilers were manufactured by the Klrkstall Korge Company, and tho
other works carried out by Mr. Uichard Freeman, of Kly. The crglneer was Mr.
Baldwyn Latham. '
MR. J. P. SEDDON ON THE GKOTESQUE IN ART.
ON Tuesday evening Mr. ,T. P. .Seddon delivorcd, iit the Arcliitectural Photo-
graphic Exhibition. Conduit-street, Uejfcnt-strcot, a lecture '■ On the Grotesque
in Art, when the chair was occupied by Mr. G. E. Street. The lecture
was illustrated, in addition to photoi;^rapha, by a j:rcat number of drawinfjs and
sketches, some of which excited corisiderablo merriment. Tlic Chairman having
briefly introduced Mr. Scddon to the meeting, the lecturer delivered the following
address : —
Although I do not think that there can be any great difrcrence of opinion as to the
nature of the subject upon which I have undertaken to address you this evening, I
have found it somewliat difficult accurately to define the meaninc: of tlie term Gro-
tesque ; as it has. in common parlance, a far wider siguiUcationtlian its derivation
would suggest, or its original application justify.
The word is an adaptation from the Italian Grotesche, and is explained in the
"Oxford Glossary of Architecture" to be " a name given to the light and fanciful or-
naments used by tho ancients In the decoration of the walls and some of the subordi-
nate parts ot their buildings, so called from their Iiaving been long buried ; the
Italians call any subterranean apartment by the name of grotto." It further says
that " this kind of ornament is also called Alabcsquc, and by ."panish writers Plu-
teresque," and that " a very similar style of decoration is found In Arabian archi-
tecture, and was extensively used about the period of the Renaissance."
Now it is evident, that this definition assumes that " tlic grotesque " is simply that
particular class of nonsensical decoration which has been very aptly described by
Mr. Kuskin as " an artistlcal pottage composed of nymphs, eupids and satyrs, with
shreddings of heads and paws of meek wild beasts and nondescript vo^^ctablca."
It is perfectly true that such system ot decoration was brouf,'ht into the world
about the time that the corrupt art of Rome reached the uttermost depth of its de-
gradation, and that RalTaelle stood godfather to it at its second birth ; since when
it has run through several stages of its pernicious existence, until it has at last
almost turned out of doors real and healthy art, and now seems to be considered the
only possible means of enlivening a lady's boudoir, and at the same time the only
sensilile and appropriate food for the reflection of merchants in their halls of com-
merce and excliange.
Had this been the sole meaning of the word, and such trifling the best phase of its
development, I would gladly have left it and all its belongings in the grottoes which
arc said to have given it its name, fervently wishing that there it had remained buried,
and that it had never been seen out of them, and certainly I should never have
troubled you with the subject.
As I take it, however, the title of my paper, " The Grotesque in' Art," has a far
wider and nobler meaning ; it comprises all the influence upon art of that spirit which,
natural to man, has led him, either in jest or in symbolism, to combine in a fanciful
manner parts of dilTcrent animals and things around him, and to invest them with
various attributes of bis own creation. A spirit which causes the most uncivilized
savage, while fashloninghis idols ontofstocksand stones, to give theiti an absurd un-
couthness, meant to satirise some vice, perhaps to caricature some enemy, and which
redeems bis work from the charge of being simply hideous.
The same spirit invented the beautiful mythology of the ancients, and peopled in
imagination the earth, sea, and sky with forms which might represent in a tangible
shape the forces and springs ot things which were seen and felt, but not understood,
and which symbolised even the arts, as, for instance, riding by the Centaur, and sail-
inn- by the wings of Dsedalus.
Hence spring also that still wilder and quainter Scandinavian lore, the parent of all
the Norman and (iothic grotesque imagery that I shall have to call your attention to
in the photographs around you, as being, while rich iu humour, yet serious in purpose
and successful In aim.
But the " light and fanciful ornaments " of the Roman and Renaissance styles are
a mere caricatureof this spirit, and a caricature not full of wit like that upon Chivalry
in "Don Quixote," fulfilling its end by exposingand laughing at absurdities, but one
that can only sec and imitate the absurdity, and misses all the point of the true
grotesque, and that can only excite a smile by its ridiculous and inherent want of
purpose.
The presence of tho true spirit of grotesque is ever a signof ahealthy'and vigorous
condition of life in an art, and, as you will generally find that there is not much wrong
with a man who is able to laugh heartily, it maybe also said of man's work that if it
shows plenty of humour it will be found not to lack in quality and power. Letns,
from this point of view, consider the character of a chimera or gritnn, in the com-
?osition of which grotesque creature men seem to have busied themselves in all ages.
t is not so much to the purpose whether it combines parts and features of the
noblest and grandest animals, such as the body and limbs of the lion with the head
and wings of the eagle, as whether the wings, whatever they may bo, are set on so as
to look as If the creature could fly with them, the limbs as If he could strike, and the
claws as if he could clutch with them ; if they do so, and if he snarl and scowl as
if he meant to bite and not bark only, you may feel pretty sure that he is a good
grotesque. So if he go delicately on all fours and grins as if but to show his teeth,
and condescends to pat jars with his paws, he is flt only to be heivn in pieces, for he
is a false grotesque.
Thus also with a gargoyle, such as I am able to show you a specimen kindly drawn
by my friend Mr. Rurges. If ho bo really a "grisly wiry, brute," looking flt to dis-
charge tho water from the root as (juiekly as may be, and as if he by no means
relished the task, then we can forgive him his seeming want of capacity to retain the
water, seeing that he is not required to do so. Rut with the modern gargoyle there
s generally but little room for sympathy; ho is usually a moreexcresceuce, with no
purpose to pcribrm save the exhibition ot his own ugly self, and has lost all heart
and nerve In consequence. A friend lately told mc that while he noticed a lack-
lustre and want of spirit about tho restored gargoyles on parts of TSeauvais Cathedral
in comparison with tlie old ones, it was some timo before lie could discover wherein
the diflorenco lay, as at first sight they seemed to have been copied faithfully enough;
but at last ho perceived that whereas the originals dug their talons into the stone
cornice and clenched their teeth and scowled their brows, the restorer had not
noticed or had failed in giving these traits, and that the claws of his rested inertly
upon the stone, and the formless wrinkles on their faces conveyed no similar ex-
pression.
There is nothing which more truly than the grotesque reveals the full character of
its auther : if he had any energy of mind, .any love or feeling for his work, he will
have put the whole Into it. No theories of the beautiful, no traditions of the sublime,
will have restrained him in this part of bis work ; his most terrible monsters will be
found to have some touch of humour about them, which will disarm fear, if his own
character were genial ; but if he were false and cruel, his creatures will be found to
bo false; and cruel too in their expression, and if filthy, as we have proof of his
having sometimes been, his work will be found to bo filthy too.
Thus the brazen hull of I'halaris, down whose horrid maws tho wretched soon-to-
be-cook(;ii victims wore jocularly tumbled, was doubtless in some sort a grotesque, of
fiendish and mocking aspect, as vile in art as cruel in purpose. And no other than
hideous can be tho features of .Tiiggernaut, that dread idol from under whose car-
wheels streams Indian blood like grape juice from the wine-press. Far diiferent
are the bulls of Nineveh and Colossi of Egypt, which are noble examples of such
combinations of the parts of different animals which constitute the grotesque, even
though unenlivened by humour. These may be called symbolical grotesques, and by
their grandeur and calm dignity claim no low rank as works of art.
Those splendid winged bulls of Nineveh were stationed as stem guardians at the
portals of the royal palaces, to impress those who approached with a due sense of
awe for the kingly power which could wield as great and as deadly a force as that
which those massive limbs seemed to possess, and could reach offenders as far and
as swiftly as those furled sails of wings seemed capable of doing.
Nor was the symbolical grotesque of Egypt loss majestic, or at all more calculated
to promote amusement than that of Assyria. It was. In truth, more awful in
Character, having been Intended to convey to the worshippers at the shrines of the
March 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
213
national gods something more than a respect for regal pomp, which needed but
small comment from art, bo long as the fell swoop of the swords of the king and his
legions was at hand to avenge every indignity, but which, if tho blade were known
to lie gathering mat in the scabbard, was not to be sustained by more parade ot
graven images. The impression which the Kgvptian priests songlit to strike into the
minds ot tlie people was a fur dill'erent one ; it may have lieeii that their kings moved the
pnppets for their own ends, and to crush more tlioroiiglily independence of spirit ;
luitii so, they carefully kept the machinery out of sight, and played npim the fears
of the superstitious more completely than it has been done anywhere else. The
devotees who approached the stately pronaos, and passed tlicnee towsrds the shrine of
the sacred ox tlirougll mile-long avenues of colossal sphinxes, and through courts
and forests of columns everywhere sculptured and ;«ainted with th(' traditional
forms of their deities, such lis the bird-headed and quaintly-attired examples seen
in photograph No. 147, all which, though strange to us, were fraught with signltl-
eance enough to them, had become awed in the transit by the material grandeur
around them, into sulBcient veneration for his bovine majesty so nobly stabled ; and
though we, more sceptically inclined, can scarce refrain from smiling at. we cannot
refuse our admiration to, such stately colossi as that in photiigTaph No. l.W, from
Abonsimbel. There was, however, but little that seemed humorous in tlieir visage
to the eyes of the shrinking crowd gathered beneath them in those days ; the priests,
who knew that all this parade but led to a cow-house or birdcage of their own con-
triving, or to some potted mummies, may have laughed in their sleevts; but the
men who wrought on tlie temples, pouring ont their lives In the work, saw in them
nothing to laush at, and if any atheist among them strove to raise ajest at their
expense, the despots, no doubt, took care tliat they should laugh only upon the
wrong side of their mouths.
Theintillcctnal and highly cultivated art of the Greeks gave little scope to the
development of the spirit we are discussing. The highest human beauty formed
their ideal of the unknown gods, nor can we, who know^that God made man in his
own image, cavil at their notion. They seem to have evaded, or put aside from them
as far as possible, ttie darker side ot the [licture of humanity, and they appear there-
fore not to have sought to represent in actual form the evil in nature, which yet has
its place in their poetry and mythology.
So, while we give our glad homage to tho consummate excellence and refinement
of their senlpturc and other work with which we are acquainted, we are obliged to
confess that it is labored, and that it lacks the spirit which, as Lord I-indsay has
well shown, informs Christian art, and that it might have been better had some
portion of grotesque been introduced as a contrast in the manner in which we shall
find it to have been by the artists of the Gothic period.
It mav be objected that the centaurs of the Parthenon supply examples, being a
combin.-ition of man and horse in one ; yet they are so entirely devoid of both humour
and symbolism, that we cannot admit that they advance a claim to be so con-
sidered.
We now then turn to Rome in order to see whether, since Greece was not the
fatherland of the grotesque otherwise than by the exquisite motives that she
supplied for such In her fables and mythology, the denizens of the imperial city of
the world were the "ancients" whose "light and fanciful ornaments " the writer in
the Glossary maintains to be its origin.
At first siglit we should hardly expect to find that those stem and warlike robbers
and tyrants were the men to invent any light and fantastic art, but a closer exami-
nation will discover that, as soon as they had leisure for relaxation and to enjoy
their plnnder. they turned to revel in luxury, and sent for the enslaved artists of
Greece, and bid them to sing their graceful songs in a strange land ; so these were
set sadly to carve to order idiotic chimerse amidst monotonous wreaths of foliage,
and cupids with highlv arborescent tails pouring libations from goblets into bowls,
apparently for the behoof of the aforesaid tame and patient monsters, to prevent them
from burning their mouths. The acquisition of casts of those interesting subjects
being generally the first ambition of our schools of art, and the Kensington collection
boastingof .several of them, they are, doubtless, famibar to all; photograph Xo. 518
presents us with some in tho frieze of the Temple of -\ntoninus and Faustina.
If such be the quality and purpose of the highest class of decorative art which these
Romans patronised, what shall we say of their lighter and more fanciful ornament in
which they indulged in the declining years of the empire, such as the weedy, trashy
decorations of I'ompeii. \vith their caricatures of the personages and creat ures of that
mythology which had become a mere sport for an' infidel generation, but that they
arc a mere parody upon (Jreek art, or of their furniture as we sec it in Tatham's
etchings, where heads and legs of the lion, king of beasts, are set bodiless to do duty
as dumb waiters, and so forth—but that they are mere senseless scoflings at nature.
These it was, and other works worse than these found now in veritable "grottoes,"
into which time has charitably converted the baths of .IJiocletian, and which are
altogether better fitted for the contemplation of tiieir present tenants— the owls and
bats— than of would-be revivers of art that'UalVaclle took for his type for the false gro-
tesque of the so-called lienaissance.
Since the soul of true art is sincerity, it isno matter for wonder that it should liave
died in the hands of those who neither believed in God nor cared for man, and who
scrupled not to wring the necks of their sacred geese, if they cackled not so as to
please them— it did die then and there, and in a later and equally intidel and vicious
age Its bones were gathered up and galvanised into a semblance of hfe, and dubbed as
Kenaissance, and we have not yet even been able to shake off its corpse, that, still tied
to us, shackles all our efforts. May it soon, however, be decently re-interred, and for
the present we must pursue the course of our inquiry.
f )ocval wit ti tho decay of this Pagan art there was the birth of another and better,
even Christian art, being cradled in tlie catacombs, and hidden awhile from persecu-
tion, yet about soon to emerge with the vigor of youth, and to proclaim in the face of
the world the inspiration it had ilrawn from that faith which supplies subiimer themes
to represent than man had ever conceived, and which, having love rather than fear
for its guide, did not attempt to suppress the genial mirth of man's nature, but
afforded full scope for the development of the spirit we are discussing.*
PKOGBESS OF THE MAIN DRAITfAGE WORKS.
IN his last monthly report, Mr. Bazalgetfe, the engineer of the works, stales that
the five great contracts for the main drainage are now actively progressing, and
the amonnt of work executed may be expected to increase each month as the days
lengthen and the summer advances. The demand for bricks of a superior quality is
insufficiently supplied by last year's stock, and the arrival of the ensuing summer's
make will, if successful, be a great boon to the works. On the Northern High-level
Sewer £l,.'i70 have been expended during the past month in the finishing work of the
contract. The Northern Outfall Sewer is completely fenced in, and tho excavations
for the concrete embankment commenced, and active preparations are being made
for the full development of this work. The contract for the Middle Level Sewer
having been signed by Messrs. Rrassey and Co., they had received instructions to com-
mence the work. On the south side of the river the Sonthem High-level Sewer
is now in progress nt five difTerent places, three on the main lino and
two on the nulwich or Effra branch. The value of the work done is about £0C,()Ofl,
and the total length completed nearly four miles. The bricks employed upon this
contract arc still very rough, and a better sample will have to be produced in future.
The Southern Outfall Sewer works continue to be carried on in a satisfactory
manner. The tunnel under Woolwicii is about one mile in length, and varies from
4.5 to 75 feet In depth. I-'our shafts have been sunk, and ;j..'i.>0 feet of tunnel
completed, the headings being lighted with gas, and the miners working- day and
night. Two of the shafts have this week been connected by a heading driven
through between them. The two sections were found to agree perfectly in Ihio and
level.' The rest of the work is, with trifling exceptions, being constructed in open
* To be continued.
cutting, and abont 83«*) fe«t have been completed, ni^ ind
open cutting. The value of the work done!, sIkiuI i r tho
Low-level Sewer under the Surrev ' lupauy's prop' riy have been
rompleted, with tlie exception of r» on the surface, which arc
walling for the delUslon of the Din . : as to how they will hare the
surface left. Themd Earl oytlet, ii' nrogreiseaalowly.owlnfr
to the work tadng uncovered by t)i only at and near low
water. The injury done by the ship / .
• —
SOMK THOUGHTS ON "NOTES uri|i..i r rtvc •
Sir,— The author of " Notes without Text ' f. ha« eoo-
sulted his indolent eoni'cuience in tlie manner t-\ He lays
his game before us, and leaves the odour to axi , wo aluul
get the "pith and (Miint without any preparatory talk: r'irlkMBB
that we have all thu talk, without the tubstance ; his ir - .me thirty
lines and all it conveys is the old story, that niinoua n>...,„. .■ii,r«-.|mj
than smart new ones. He playe about his subject, like a fly .in^
told, what perhaps some of us do not know, that mushrooma,'' -'it-
tages have not the same natures, and that the law> which fm ■ i"-
one do not apply to the others. In the second not« be Is
nothing. " Very much more than haa hitherto been tbonsrbt '
shop fronts." that is true enough ; but instead.of indulgini-
marrow of his new thought, we are treateil to the observat,
so if the front can hi; tn-ated in such a way " as is entirely ou
for an exceedingly few exceptional cases," What follows „ -. ,
what has been repeatetl dozens of times before, and the pith and point ts -
invisible. He does not touch the obstacle or attempt to say how it can lie ■
A shop-front is, by the shopkeeper considered as a means of dtsplayloff hia w
more they are shown (not the more architecturally correct the front i< i
better he is pleased. The visible sopports occupy space which might, '
keeper thinks, be utilizeil by the employment of^ invisible or lesaer sour.'
note-writer gives no hints to overcome the difllculty, and 1 fail to s*-- '
note on the subject. His third note Is a mere paraphrase of Mr. <• .
at pages 17 and -18 of the " Principles of Design In Architecture," ai
thing more ought to be found in a " note," than a dilation of the " te ^
My object in writing is simply to protest against this looae way ■ )b-
servations. If the author wishes U8 to take tho trosble to reail ho
should at least take some trouble to write them. The indolence may be very eoo-
vcnient to him. but it is nol profitable to ns. If hedocs not labor to put thought, and
new thought' Into his work, I shall really think he Is like the pletureaqne cottaae.
" many tinted, and weather beaten," " with an utter absence of aught like design."
I am, &e.,
J. T. N. O. T. G. A O. T. V.
ARCniTECTUKAL OLD-FOGTflSH.
Sin,— The writer of the article in your last imprcasion, headed " I'ropoted Ajmi--
gamation of the Architectural Societies," enunciates a proposition fVom whlefa I
wholly dissent, and against which I shall be glad if you will afford me an opportnnttjr
of recording my protest. He says, •' An architectural society, to aucceed, should be
so constructed, that its senior members can always Bay, ' I have, by belonging for ye«»
to this society, not only done something to aid my younger brethren in <hetr cam^
but have myself acquired professional consideration by my long membership, WDM*
I should have forfeited had I not years ago enrolled myself a member. '•fjSI?
stated in the preceding sentence that people became tired of belonging to aiOAHty
when they saw others drop in at the eleventh hour, and claim perfect equality and
fellowship with the fii^t comers. . ,,. ,. , .^ .>.»._
I will not pause to notice the illogical reasoning (?) of the writer further than to
remark that ho evidently is one of the most emerald green of boll -makers. »?'■'"'*
anarchitecteouldforfeit his "professional consideration' by not harhig Jolnedn
society, when ho "acquired " it by having enrolled himself in the society, snrnaMia
all Saxon understanding, lint I am desirous of polnUng out the absurdity and mis -
chief of suggesting that length of membership should confer professional considera-
tion. Smiore.i prions is all very well to decide who is to be served first of "'^■J»w
among school-boys, but even among them consideration and prizes arc not given to
the elder but to the cleverer lads. . ..,__
I apprehend that in the architectural, as well a» in every other profc«sion, «'"■»
to equality and fellowship must be admitted when based upon professional capaaiy.
and mtliout the slightest regard to length of membership. ""J™ » y"""P JSSI^J
sador was reproached by the sovereign to whom he was accredited with >«"■«•
beard, tho presumed indication of a ripe intellect, he replied, •; Sire, if my "fJ^^-S
imagi
of
a'^ined that you judged the capacity of ambassadors by the length and gieynew
or '.heir beards, he would have sent an old billy-goat to pay his respects to your m»-
jesty." Were the writer's proposition carried out, professional """""JJ""™."''^
noton architectural genius huton age. If architects arc to be »"""5™ ™ •J?*Sii
don't see why the reverse of Lloyd's system should not be "J^^i "l/KilSSd
danapalna Jones, when vermngon second childhood, announce hUnaeiraa enaousuna
1801, Al, copper-bottom and fastened. ^^
Y.U.A-8.
SiH,-Ihave waited In the hope that some one else would •>»!;■ "J^JJ.*^ l^KT
read by Mr. Hay, before the Liverpool Architectural Society. I ^"'i"'* *"' «J.Xi
whilst reading it that there was a great deal too much in the way of Y"?»«r'^'-™*
his design for the baths at Lockhead was mount,;<l on too arge »", de«^8^
The lecture was headed "On the foilstrnction of Turkish Bath^ J^htcmStl?flSS
of Turkish baths occupied not a twentieth part of it ; ••■«_;«f'7" " VhS^ to the
writing, an elaborate notice of the author^s own «»|;k- «»■» • ",^"^P '^°™,12 Vot
people of Liverpool. The idea of the "Florence "f f-nSfl*"* J^iTid^. X mSt
krencouragem'<nt of the fine arts! To be the "/ '',7",<* "^ImS «S show iSd
have become noted for the production of the bt^t art « '■^■'' ^"f '"« ^^^Z;. Sr
not simply a city with onetamous build ng and a ^7;-^, ™™I^',f '.^/VJi^^ ^J
peculiar merit in Mr. Hay's baths. In all fairness, let ' ■•'""' ,>^^i^t^
expatiate upon them to his Liverpool brethren but I. !lJStin^hc^
title, let him put the common sense in first, and then .^ ^ iiH What
will tend to spoil it. What need had he to mention tli. - " •' ' J^ »JJ
need had he, tefore a company of architects, to go I ^ ."sIkiw •
grow tedious about the laws of our physical being. Tl, 'r, , that
solullonofwas, to produce a scries of chambers of. •■■■
ofthoopcnairtothatofl.-.Ocr IWdegrees will ;^
instead of wandering into dreary unauthentic d. -
strictiv to the real subject of his lecture, I for om. _ ,,Jrt
S"es8ai^ to raise the room to the required temperature the Boor b**?™" «»" ."»' S'J
thJfeet^ln the best-heated of the London baths they have a warm flne J»r>^d round
the rwm This certainly seems tome the preferable plan, and I should think was the
'"AnotrrToin'/ worthy of consideration 1. the lining of the «^,V«- •»«•>«'«*• ^'^J
mav^ reflected instead of absorbed: and again, are hoUow walls better «'•"'"»'>,
ones ? Of what material should the domes U built to prevent a great loss of heat ?
214
THE BUILDING NEWS.
— i« it even economical to have domes at all .' A great many questions of this liind
arise on Tiew of this subject, and I certaiuly expected to see them discussed by Mr.
Hay ; perhaps it is not too late now. If he will but g-ive us the result of his obser-
vation and experience, and omit all quotations and sounding sentences, he may
benefit the architects who are called upon to build these grand moral, social, and
physical purificators. It ia a pity, by the way, that they have not purilied the Turk.
As to preventing crime by the use of the Turkish Ifnths, let Mr. Hay go to Turkey,
and he will there witness a degree of lassitude and filth unknown, thank Heaven,
to the inhabitants of the "Florence of EnMand." I do not say that the baths
cause this vice, but I wish to show that they do not cure it there, and may
not be expected to cure it here. Every one knows how to cure intemperance
even without this mai;ic bath, but the men who will not take to the cheap
remedies of simple diet and good exercise are not likely to adopt the dear one of
being half-eooked. l!ut as Mr. Hay says, when on a similar taek, " I am growing
tedious." Ikfore I couelude, however, I should like to know where Sir. Hay got
his description of the Turkish Hath. It is amusing onaccount of itsinaccuraev. He
most have learned it from those books of Oriental travel, which tell us that all
Turkish ladies are closely kept under lock and key, under the supervision of a
^ntleman of the neuter gender. I have asked J[r. Hay to make a great sacriflee— to
avoid fine writing, and to give us a statement of facts. I will, thetefore, devote a few
Hoes to set him right about the real Turkish liaths.
First :— a day in every week the bath is used exclusively by women. They go there,
perspire, talk scandal, sip coffee, smoke, and indulge in luxurious laziness. It is not
announced to them before hand, similar to a ball in England. They can take it as
often as the regular day arrives. The men are not "prohibited from approaching"
nntil a certain hour. They may walk past and approach the bath as often as busi-
ness or inclination le.ids them there, Ijut they certainly must not enter, any more
than they would be allowed to do here, on the days devoted expressly to the women.
The outer hall is lit by no fainter light than the ordinary eastern SaUmlik. Very
often there is an opening to the sky in the centre of the dome like that in the Pan-
theon at Rome. In this hall the clothes are left and liither the bather returns to
to enjoy his "kef "—rest, coffee, and pipe. The domes of the hot chambers are
pierced by small star-shaped apertures, filled with divers colored glass. The walls
are truly veneered with marble, but the chief ornaments thereon, as in the houses,
are splendidly cut or written texts from the Koran. There is a great deal of vapor
in the Turkish Bath and it is not so hot as they make it in London. In fact, the
London system is a niodllication of the Itoman rather than the Turkish Bath. In
the hot chamber in Turkey there are generally recesses for hot and cold water taps,
for removing the hair from tlie body, and for the planing of the supple skin. I never
saw "half an inch of water " on the floor of a bath, and fancy Mr. Hay must here
also have misquoted his authority. I have no time to describe the various processes
of rubbing the muscles, erackmg the joints, lathering the skin, harrowing the head,
rinsing the body, and finally enveloping it in a warm eloth, with another twined
turban-fashion round the head, and being led back to be once more left luxuriously
alone. The manipulation is the great thing which needs acquiring in our London
Turkish Bath. When we get this in a bath built purposely for it, it will be time
«nough to ask people to go willingly into it. But as baths will continue to be built
80 long as they are remunerative it would be as well to know the be.st manner of
building them, and the best materials with which to do it. Mr. Hay has had experi-
ence in the matter, will he lay it before his professional brethren?— without the
garnishing.
_:I must apologise for the length of this letter; Mr. Hay's example must be my
excuse. I am, &o.,
Ebn-el-Shaitan.
ARCHITECTS AND THEIR BETUACTORS.
Sni,— The letter of " Wat Tyler," in the liuilder of last week, is a most extraor-
dinary and unfair attack on the character of the architectural profession. "Sur-
reptitious commission," "allowance to architect," "So-and-so allows me 10 per
cent," "so much per cent, added to the estimate 'in confidence,'" "subtle pro-
cesses of dishonesty," "tacit understandings," "dishonest architects," "plunder
of the public," are the delleacies of phraseology with which this letter is adorned.
" Wat Tyler " professes to be '• a manufacturer with some public notoriety ;" but
It is difficult to imagine more than one source from which such a letter could have
emanated, .-.nd that polluted source is associated with a notoriety certainly of the
most extensive and unenviable kind. "Wat Tyler " enters a large town, assesses
the fees to arise out of the buildings in progress, divides the sum by the number of
architects in the place, (liids his own quotient below a fair professional income, and
■writes the profession down forthwith for a set of rogues ! Such a process would
be eq^ually prejudicial to most chisses, and is utterly absurd and fallacious in
principle.
Architects are unquestionably placed at a great disadvantage in point of rem une-
ration and etiquette with the sculptor, who may, without loss of status, execute his
designs, however much of mere block masonry they may comprise, and Chantrey
had one of the most complete foundries in London for casting his bronze statues.
W hat would he have thought of the pure art practice with no interest in materials ?
Sir Robert Smirke is said to have refused all works under £10,0(X), and it is well known
tliat small commissions are not remunerative at the five per cent, scale, so that men
of no mean reputation have to eke out their hvellhoods by the performance of vari-
ous duUes of a subordinate, it may be repugnant character ; but there is no dis-
honour in this, and it is really wonderful that so gross an attack should have been
allowed to disfigure the professional press. If "Wat Tyler" (instead of dozens)
only possesses a few, or even one authentic case of surreptitious practice, why does he
not communicate It to the Institute, whose Council would know how to deal with
delinquents ; but to adopt the paltry expedient of countenancing particular builders
or manufacturers for a few thilllngs a year would be to commit a worse mistake
than that of allowing its half dozen visitors to pay for their cofi"ee—
T ho' not so wrong a path to choose,
t.. . ,. So false a step as all confess.
Of putting down a printing press
To elevate an organ.
So yours, good Jlr. Building News,
A Voice from t'other bide of Jordan.
ARCHITECTS' FEES.
^"'•~'" your leader of last week, while noticing the proceedings of the Northern
Architectural Association, you have alluded to the vexed question ot architects' fees,
and the appointment of a committee by that Society for consideration of the subject,
remarking, - We shouM much like to know more of this scale of charges, and of the
proceedings of the special meeting convened to consider them. \f the Northern
Association succeed in agreeing to a good, intelligible scale, we advise them by all
means to print it for the office use of, not northern architects alone, but of others,
sontbeni, western, and eastern, who may possibly adopt it, and for this reason— «Aere
it no other publicly recoiiuisi-d Kcale to be had."
Yon seem not to be aware that the body of architects here, feeling the necessity
that existed for some such understanding, about twelve months ago agreed upon a
nntform practice, and adopteii the scale contained in the enclosed printed card.
These rates do not ineludi- taking out quantities.
By Its insertion in your valuable .lournal it may be useful In assisting the pro-
feMlon tai other districts to a similar course of action. I am, &c.,
Glasgow. 4th March, 1S«1. A Glasgow Architect.
Table of Fees.
" Public bandings, churches public works, warehouses, counting-houses, gentle-
men s residences, and such like, to be charged at the rate of 0 per cent, on the cost
Of Ine bmlatng.
•■ Kangci ofdwelllng-houic property, of every description, to be charged at the
March 8, 1861.
rate of 3 per cent, ou the cost of the buildiujjs ; but where the same plau is repeated
in any Sucli range, 1 per cent, only is to be char-ed on the cost of the buildings
erected on said repeated plan, when executed for the same proprietor.
"Comph^e sketches—^ per cent, on the probable cost.
"Plans and specifications alone to be charged at the rate of 2i per cent, on the
ascertained probable cost of the buildings.
"IMans. specifications, obtaining estimates, and preparing detailed drawings, to
be charged at the rate of :ii per cent, on the ascertained probable cost of the
buildings.
•• Travelling expenses to be charged, besides a fee of one guinea per day, when
visiting country work.
"Wlien engaged professionally on any other business not comprehended in
any of the above items, three guineas per day and travelling expenses to be charged.
'•The payment of fees to be as follows-viz., one-half when the building is com-
menced; one-fourth wheu roofed; and the remaining fourth when the architect's
professional labors are completed."
THE DEPARTMENT OF ROYAL ENGINEERS.
Sir,— At last the duties of the Royal Engineer Bepartmeut (judging from the
letters that have lately appeared in your admirable paper) appear to bo attracting
pubhc notice, and they (the public) have had an opportunity of knowing how business
is conducted in this "Royal" Establishment.
It may not be possible to totally separate the civil from the military officers at
present, as suggested by some of your correspondents; but soon this must be a
reality, or the same extravagance and mismanagement as are now witnessed will
continue. To remedy this state of things, I would suggest that the position of the
civil officers be made a real one, and not, as now, imaginary; where professional
men of thirty years' experience, with the relative rank of captain, are subject to the
orders of a second lieutenant of Royal Engineers, wlio is, perhaps, a mere lad, and
probably only a few weeks from school ; and yet this last-mentioned oflUcer is sup-
posed to be competent to carry on works of large extent, to superintend their con-
struction, and give orders pertaining thereto. What is the result ? The works are
carried on in an unbusiness-hke manner, costing more than they should do, and often
stupid blunders are perpetrated. Surely there are many in the Royal Engineer
Department competent to carry out the works now in hand without the assistance of
a young military officer. Then, if so, let him have entire charge oi the particular
work, and let him be responsible to the Commanding Royal Engineer only for its
proper execution.
Tustead of augmenting the corps of Royal Engineers, it could then easily be
diminished, thus helping to reduce our enormous army estimates ; the works would
be carried out cheaper, with greater expedition, and in every respect more satisfac-
torily to the public.
1 should think some of the civil officers could tell us of the mysterious doings of
this department, so that the readers of the Building Nem's and tte public generally
might know how their money is spent, in order that the subject may be well dis-
cussed, and means taken to put a stop to the evil. I am, &c.,
4th March, 18C1. Fiat.
Sir,— I enclose you "a card " recently issued by a firm of pseudo-Architects, &c
Ac, &c., at present open to engagements in an extensive trading town. It is the first,
specimen of the sort I have setiu, and as I know you wish to raise the profession to
its proper standing, and to keep it tliere, I send it you for an opinion. I believe
until last week thejfrm was unknown, perhaps it may have existed in embryo, and
It would have been more creditable to themselves had they remained there. They
appear to regard architecture as a trade of about the level of shoemaking or umbrella
mending, and this "card" shows their trading propensities well ;— Took on this
picure ! — "AJCard. Messrs. and , Architects, Estate Agents,
AND Valuers. Plans and specifications of works made upon the most reasonable
terms. N.B.— No percentages charged to Builders." And on this!— "MessrB.
Owls and Wildgoose, Cordwainers, Umbrella Menders, and Makers
OF THE ORIGINAL EvERTON ToFFF.E. lloots and shocs made to order on the
most reasonable terms. N.B.— A Liberal Allowance to the Trade." There is no
address on the "card," which at least proves the owners to be asliamed of it, and
also enables us to discuss the more freely, and without fear of wounding the too
susceptible feelings of these immaculate tradesmen, who "make" (in the sense of
"manufacture") "plans and specifications on the most (superlatively) reasonable
terms," and, doubtless, "on the shortest notice" ; imder whose disinterested eyes
"repairs " will, in all probability, be "neatly executed" and in transactions with
whom one may no doubt expect " a liberal discount for cash."
Then, again, mark well ! " No percentages arej charged to builders " : Unheard-of
generosity! We have no quantities to ofler you (not being able to take them out
ourselves, and having no work to induce a surveyor to do it), and we won't charge
you anything for them. That appears to be something like the truth, for 1 don't
know any architect of standing who lias works of greater value than a cottage or
two that can get contractors to tender for them unless the quantities are supplied
(of course, 1 don't include all persons who will tender under "contractors " ; and it
is but reasonable that they should be paid for, I think. 1 know no other percentapfe
that can be referred to by tliese '*multum in parvo " people. Perhaps you, Mr.
Editor, can throw some light on the subject.
Probably some may think that such a bilious advertisement were best unnoticed,
but I think that as every one cannot be expected to understand its insinuations, it
deserves making an exhibition of.
ilow would this worthy, unselfish couple stand had the Institute its way?
I am, &c.,
March.*), 1801. Anti-Cant.
THE NINE HOURS' MOVEMENT.
Sir,— In the spring of last year the workmen in the building trades presented a
united Memorial to the blaster Builders, asking for a reduction in their hours of
labor. This year, for various reasons, they have decided to send a Jlemorial from
each of the five branches of the building trades. I beg to enclose a copy of the one
sent by the carpenters and joiners, and shall led obli"-ed if you will kindly insert it
in your next impression. I am, &c.,
Geo. Potter, Secretary.
00, Denbigh-street, Phnlico, S.W., March 7, 1801.
" To the Members of the Central Association qf Master Builders.
" Gentlemen,— In the spring oi last year we approached you respectfully, in the
hope that you would favor with your assent our request that our hours of labor
should be reduced without decreasing our daily earnings.
" We would submit to you that the manner in which this was presented should not
have done less tlian have favorably recommended it to your notice, inasmuch as it
migtit have demonstrated to you that our desire was entirely in accord with the
efllbrts of the wise and good who are seeking by every legitimate means to bring the
working: classes under the infiuence of educational enhgntenment, for wliich, it must
be admitted, the time we seek for that purpose is an inevitable condition.
" You, gentlemen, however, considered our reciuest as only a demand for an in-
crease of ten per cent, on our wages. Taking this view, we consider it quite un-
necessary that any apology should be offered, in our character of 'sellers,' for
endeavouring to enhance the value of the article we have to ofler, finding, as wc do,
our justification in the first principles of 'pohtical economy.'
'* Upon the occasion referred to you did not deem it consistent with your interest
to accede to our proposition, and we were ultimately obliged to accept your own terms
for our labor.
•* The time has now arrived at whicli we, the carpenters and joiners, feel it necessary
to renew the request then made for nine hours as a day's work, and we desire to do
March 8, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
215
no no less respectfully thrni before, assuring you that, in our belief, by aceeding to
our wishes, the wealtli and mtelligtnce of the workman will be Improved, and a
more friendly feeling betweiim employer and employed will be establisbed.
An answer to this memorial by the 5tli of April, 1801, is solicited.
Your* Wry respectfully.
The Carpenters and Joiners of London.
BO, Denbigh-itrsel, timlico, S.W., March 7th, 18«1.
Geokge Potter, Secretary.
THE ROYAL ACADEMY AND THE SOANE CURATOKSHir.
Sir,— It Is sincerely to be hoped that the architectural profession will show pluck,
and not tamely submit to the contempt thrown upon it by the Council of the Uoyal
Academy, wlio, quite contrary to its founder's wish, have bestowed the appointment
of Curator of the Soaiie jMuscum upon one who is not an architect. That the
Academy has no sympathy at all for areliitecturo is notorious, since it has ail but
quite kicked it out from its KxbiMtions. Still, it might have been supposed that it
would hardly venture to openly violate the express conditions of an Act of Farlia-
ment, if only because, if that can be done with impunity, what is tlicir own Koyal
Charter worth? It even becomes a question if tlie appointment of Curator, as now
bestowed on a sculptor (of whom, however, very few have ever heard before), might
not be set aside as illn/al. That the manner in which the appointment has been dis-
posed of is a matter of no immediate personal concern to others than the actual can-
didates is all the stronger reason for their taking the matter up and making a stir
about It.
Will the Trustees ratify the Academy' s'choice of a Curator ? Probably they will,
as being the most expeditious way of getting rid of all further botheration about the
matter. Y'et, though at Urst the least troublesome course of proceeding, it may not
in the end prove the safest and wisest.
Looker-on.
TENDERS-
HOHPITAT,, ClIATlI.VM.
For the construction of the St. Bartholomew's, at Chatham.
J. Edwards, Folkestone £14,700 0
.1. Wilklns, Chatham 13,707 12
<i. Myers, Lambeth 13,5W) 0
F. Rummons. London 12,900 0
S. Jennings, Rochester 12,125 0
J. G. Nay ler, Rochester 11,557 0
G. J. Watts, London 11,367 0
A. Stump, lirompton (accepted) 11,311 8
T. Parkhurst, Chatham 11,000 0
DwELLisG House, Wimbledon.
For a dwelling-house at Wimbledon. Mr. IS. A. C. Herring, architect, 1, Dancs-
inn. Strand. Quantities BuppUcd.
Marsland&Son £1,.524 I Coleman A Son £1,466
Maeey 1,490 I Browne & Robinson l.:)86
Dawus 1,476 I Turner & Sons 1,363
Orchestra, Bath.
I'or new Orchestra, in Sydney Gardens, Bath. Mr. C. J. Phlpps, architect
Mercer .'.....' £247
Hoper 2.11
Buetell 213
Hay & Son 118
Castle £175
Rawlings 174
Matthews & Hewiah (accepted) .... 165
Chapel, Loncport.
!• or alteration and enlargement of Wcsleyan Chapel, at Longport, near Bnrslem.
Mr. G. B. Ford, architect. r , b»~ .
Blaekburst, Bnrslem' £672 10
Woolrich (accepted) 640 0
Glebe-hoi'se, Ireland.
For works in the erection of Finlagan Glebe, County Dcrry. Mr. J. M'Curdy,
Barker, Dublin /2,189
M'Elmee. Derry 1,924
Ivirkpatrick, Coleraine 1,780
Given, Newtownlimavady (accepted)1 1,735
Paving, Marvlebone.
For Paving footways and carriage-way of Marylebone-road.
3-incii Yorkshire "
PaTinp
Per 100 fwt
Laid complete.
„ , Ft. In.
Mowlem (accepted) 68 0
Mallcott 09 9
Aspinall C8 9
Coisens 73 o
Booth 71 0
Sewell 72 10
Circular kerb
12 by 8
Set
Per foot run.
Supply, Marvlebone.
For the supply of Monntsorrel granite carriage-way paving, 0 by 3, with concrete
foundation.
Mowlem (accepted) Peryard £0 13 11
Sewell „ 0 14 7
Church, Hunts.
For rebuilding Holme Church, Hunts. Mr. Edward Browning, architect, Stamford.
Rudd, Grantham £2,519 0 0
Baker, Slcaford 2,300 0 0
Richardson and Sons, Stamford 2,083 0 0
Sneatli, Biiston 2,0"29 5 0
Cogswell and Day, Peterborough 2,012 0 0
Wilson, Graufliam 1,945 0 0
Bradshaw, Stamford (accepted) 1,926 10 0
Timms, Castle Bytham 1,807 0 o
Addition, &c., Commercial-road.
For new shop-front and additions at Nos. 30, 31, and 32, Sidney-place, Com-
mercial-road, E, for Mr. George Emery. Mr. Charles Dunch, architect.
Extra for Brass Sashes.
Blackburn £543 0 0 ;... £68 0 0
Brown 524 0 0 62 0 0
Wood Brothers 496 0 0 70 0 0 >
Ennor 485 0 0 72 0 0
Ebbage 450 0 0
Hearte 445 o 0
Curtis 410 0 0
DaveyandCo .'KO 13 7
_ , . , Supply.— Hampstiud.
For supply of paving and kerbing, &c., to the Vestry of the Pariih of St. John.
Ilamnstcad, »vu».
• If' A?P'''»". ^oTth Western Stoncwharf. Camden-town.— ('<( per 100 tun.
jett). Aortft ""•mm Stone, squared: 3 In. thick, 02«. ; '4 do., .«•.' 2 dO-.M.
VUto, unsquared : 31n. thick. .57». nd. ; 21 do., 4I«. Oil. ; 2do. 15». South Otmm,
sqaared: 3 In. thick, 62*.; 2J do.. X,t.: 2 do.. 48s. IMUn, nnsqiuicd: 3lini.
S7». 6d. ; 21 do., 518. fld . i 2 do.. 4.«. Ellaad Kdr/e, squared : 3 In. thick. flSa. ;
ft do. 33«. J 2 do., 4S8. IJiUo, unsquared : 3 In. thick, 57». M. i '4 do_
61s. 6d J 2 do. 45b.— (^' per/ool Ihtral). dranite Kerbt, Aberdeen : 12 by 8 In..
ls.8d.; do, circular. Is. 10(1. ; 12by 0ln.ls.3M.: da, circular. Is. 51<L llavlor:
12 by 8 in.. Is. (A. ; do., circular, Is. 8d. ; 12 by « in. li. 2ld. ; ditto, eiteolar..
Is. 4Jd.— (^f /Kr Um\ Granite parings, each not less than 9 nor more thair
14 in. long. Abfrdren : Ist cubes, 9 In. deep by 4 In. wide, 'iSs. ; 2nd rubei, > br
3, .368. ; .3rd cubes (1 sovereigns). 7 by 4. 27». ; 4th cubes (i sova.), '6 by i.
Ms. (id. ^Tount Sorreil : 3rd cubes, 7 by 3, .35s. Cd. ; 4th cubes (pltchlngtl « by
3, 35s. Cd. ; 5th culies (souares). 4 by 4, i7s, ; flth cubes (squarea). 3 by 3, 3*.
Messrs. Ellis and Everard, MarkScId Granite Quacriea, near Aahby-dc-la-i^oiKb,
Leicestershire.- (Granite, as above required, at per ton). MarhlM: t «o»i.,
7 by 4, 26e. i do., 0 by 3, 35s.; pitchlngs, 3.58.; aqiure*. 4 [by 4, 2«H.; do..
3by3, 30«.
Mr. Wm. Aspinall, North-western stone wharf. Camden-town.— (Granite, u
above). Harts-hill : pitchlngs, 6 by 5, 208. ; squares, 5 by 5, 20(. ; ditto. 4 by 4..
258. «d. ; ditto, 3 by 3, 28s. • .< • . / .
For the supply of road materials to the Vestry of St. John's, Himnstead. all at per
cubic yard. Delivered, for Ist price, east and north-east of FInehlry and Arenne-
roads, &c. ; for the 2nd price, west of those roads, 4c ; and for the third price at
the wharf, with assistance.
Best broken Guernsey granite, to pass through 2-Inch ring. J. and A. CuItct-
house, I'urfleet-wbarf, Camden-town. 208. 3d., 20«. 3d., Ifia. »d.
Best broken Markfleld granite, to pass through 2-inch ring. Ellis and Ererard
16s. lOd., 10s. lOd., 1,')S. 4d. ' -' » ».T«u,
Best broken Kentish rag stone, to pass through 2-inch ring. G. Cumoek, Haw-
ley- wharf, Camden-town, 8s. Id., 88. Id., 0«. fld.
Best pit flints, to pass through 2-inch rinp. G. Curnock, 8«. Id.. 8«. Id., 6a. 3d.
Best screened gravel. W. and J. Studds, 9 Wharf, North side. Paddlnzton
basin, Os. 2d., 58. 8d., 4s. 2d.
Best screened shingle. Mr. Mitchell, 234a, Maida-vale, Paddlngton, e*. Od.,
68., 4s. 3d.
Best Screened Hoggin. Mr. Miteheil, Os., .58. 6d., 4s.
Good hand-screened brick rubbish or dustyard pickings. Mr. UUeheU..
2s. 6d.. 2s., Is.
Good Thames ballast. G. Comock, 5«. 4d., 5«. 4d., .3s. 9d.
„ Dorking Lime „ 12s. fld., 12». fld., 10*.
Alterations, Jtc, Kingblakd.
For attentions and additions topremises. High-street, Klngsland, the property of
Messrs. H. J. Smith. Mr. James Wagstaff, architect and sorrcyor, 170, Upper-street.
IsUngton, N. / . - i-i- — .
Dove Brothers £9$5
Brice ns
Brown and Robinson W7
Over 8S9
Menzies 8M
Hill and Son gM
Lincoln Grammar School.
For erecting matter's-bouse. Messrs. Bellamy and Hardy, architect*.
Ashton £1,990 0 0
Fretwell 1,900 0 0
Jackson 1,900 0 0
Huddleston 1,884 0 0
Stiles and Robinson 1,877 0 0
Architects' estimate £1373
Young £1.870 0
Hobson and Taylor 1,8S< 10
Slingsby 1.830 0
Barnes and Birch (accepted).. 1.823 0
Additions, Poplar.
For building new coffee-room and club-room at the Sun and Sawyers public -honse.
High-street, Poplar, for Messrs. Taylor, Walker, and Co. Mr. Charles Dunch,
architect.
Ebbagc £604 10 | Wilson £540 0
Wood Brothers 580 0 I Brown S'« 0
Ennor 508 0 Blackburn 499 0
Hedges 547 0 | Lester S50 lo
Additions, Commehcial-road.
For building new party-wall and making an addition, Ac, at No. 1a. Waterloo-
place, Commercial - road - east, for Mr. John Ashbridge. Mr. Charles Dunch,
architect.
Wilson £479 I Ebbagc ^1«
Curtis 400 Brown '•W?
Ennor 347
coMPE-nrioNS open,
INSTITUTE.
HuNSLET.- For plans and specification for a building for the Mechanics' Institute,
Hunslet, not to exceed £1,400. exclusive of the site. Particniars of Mr WllUam
Rothery, Moor Cottage, Hunslet. to whom plans and speoiflcalions by March 18.
A premium of £20 will be given for the plans selected by the Committee.
Market AND HALL. v . .• vji
Ilfraccmbe.— For designs and plans for the erection of a public market ana n«u,
with suitable offices thereto. A premium of £25 will be paid for the design and
plan selected, to be sent to Sir. Langdon, solicitor, elerk to the Board. toMaren 12.
Information may be obtained of Mr. Langdon.
CHAPEL, ftc.
Sheerness.— Plans, specifications, and tender for buildiBg a congregational chapel
in Alma-road, Sheerness, to seat 500 persons, with suiUble school-itwm attached.
Dimensions of ground, 41 feet front. 90 feet deep. Particulars from Mr. O.
Elliott, 61, High-street, Mile-town, Sheerness. Sealed tenders, fcc, free, by
March 18.
WATERWORKS.
Galway— The Galway Town Commissioners will receive plana, estimates, and
specifications for the construction of works required for supplying dwelling-houses
and market-places of the town ; also floating dock and public fountains to be
erected, with pure water from the river Corrib, at a point beyond Newcastle, and
brought by suflicient pipes through the various streets, lanes, and alleys, from the
WooTl-quay to Eyre-«quare. and from Prospect-hill to Nell-lodge. The f'pra-
missioners will pay £-iO for the plan which shall be approved of by them. Plana
and working plans, with the speciflcatious, estimates, full and clear instructions,
Ac, to be addressed,. under seal, to the chairman of the Galway Town Com-
missioners, on or before the Ist day of April, 1861.
TOWN HALL.
Hull.— For the approved design. *c. , for a Town-hall and public ofllces. at Kingston
upon-Hull.to be forwarded with plans, sections, and estimates of coat (sealed and
addressed to the town clerk, Hull, and marked outside, " Design for Town-hall.V
to May 31. The sum of £100 is ofl'ered for the design selected as the best, and £50
216
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 8, 1861.
for the design selected as seeond best. A block plan of site, and printed statement
of offices, rooms, and conveniences required, at Kobert Well's ttown clerk's) oflice.
Town-ball, Uull, between 11 and 1.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
COUX KXCHANGE.
Bl-BT St. Edmcsd's— For ereetins; the new corn exchange at Bury St. Edmund's.
rian and specilicaiion at tin Town-hall, Bury St. Edmund's ; or at the office of
Sir. Kdward Ellis, I.il, Keuehureh-street, London. Sealed tenders to town clerks
office. Bury, by 12 noon, JIarcb til.
' ■" VIADUCT.
London Brighton, and South Coast Kailway.— For the construction and
erection of a brick, iron, and timber viaduct, over the navig-able river Arun, at
Ford, Sussex, including a wronsht-lron drawbridge, and the towing paths, guide
Siles, and other w^orks necessary for the completion of the intouded viaduct. I'lans,
c, atthe offices of the engineer, Mr. 1!. .Jacomb Herd, ~, Parliament-street, West-
minster, S W., from Jlaroh 11. Copies of the specifications and quantities will be
Bopplied upon payment of two guineas for each set. Tenders must be delivered to
Frederick Slight, secretary, at the London-bridge terminus, by l'.i noon of
Jttithio.
ENGIKE UOUSES, &c.
Deptpord. — For Ithe construcuon of two engine-houses, boiler-house, chimney,
fllth hoists, coal-sheds, dwelling-house, iron wharf wall, brick and iron sewers;
and for the execution of other works in connexion therewith, on ground adjacent
to Deptford-ereek and the Greenwich branch of the South Eastern Kailway, Kent,
for the Metropolitan Board of Works. I'lans, sections, specification, form of
tender, and other particulars, upon payment of £1 Is., on application of Mr. .1. W.
Bazalgette, engineer of the Board, at the office ol the Board, Spring-gardens.
Tenders, addressed to the Metropolitan Board of Works, must be delivered at the
office of the Board before 4 p.m. of April 11.— No tender will be received after that
hour.
BRIDGE.
West Derby.— For the erection of a new bridge in the township of Tyldesley and
Atherton. Plans, &c., mav be seen at the office of W. H. Gee, bridgemaster,
Bamed-BuUdings, 15, Sweeting-street, Liverpool, where tenders are to be delivered
by April 1.
VILLA.
Leeds.— For the erection of a villa residence at Headingly. [Plans and specifica-
tions at the offices of Thomas Shaw and Son, 2, Bclgrave-square, Leeds, from
Uarch 13th. Tenders on March 19,
DWELLING HOUSE.
Lincoln.— For the erection of a house to accommodate the steward at the County
Asylum, Braeebridge, near Lincoln. Plans, &c., at the office of Mr. Parry, the
Kestevea County Surveyor, at Sleaford. Tenders, sealed and endorsed, to be de-
livered to Mr. P. Moore, clerk to the visitors, Sleaford, by March 19.
COUNTY POLICE STATION.
Glolcestershire.- For the erection ef a police station, at Cliipping Sodbury.
Plans, &c., at Mr. ,1. Medlands, the county surveyor's office, Clarence-street, Glou-
cester ; or at the town hall. Chipping Sodbury. Tenders, sealed and endorsed,
to be sent, imder cover, to the Clerk of the Peace, Shire Hall, Gloucester, by 10 a.m.
on March 18.
GASWORKS.
MiRFiELD.- For a gasholder for the Mirfield G asworks ; 100 feet diameter and
40 feet deep, in two lifts. % Plans, &c., at the offices of the Company
on March 9. Sealed tenders, marked " Tender for Gasholder," to the offices of
the ompany, addressed to the engineer, by Jlarch, 18.
WATERWORKS.
Merthyr Tvdfil.— For completing a storage reservoir, cottage, boundary fencing,
and other works, for the Local Board of Health of Merthyr Tydfil, on or before
the first day of November ne.xt, and in other respects in conformity with the spe-
cification prepared by Thomas Htiwkesley, Esq., C.E. so far as relates to the
works remaining to be done and completed. Further information at the office, in
Merthyr Tydfil of James Ward Rnssell, clerk to the Local Board, where the plans,
Ac, relatiug to the contract may be inspected, and where also inventories of plant,
tools, materials, and form of tender may be obtained. Tenders, delivered at Mr.
Russell's office to March 20.
GcisELEY.— For making a service reservoir for the Guiseley Waterworks Company,
the reservoir to be a round one, and of fifteen yards internal diameter. Plans, Ac. ,
•nd forms of tender from i:ith Mar;h, at the offices of Mr. James Lumley, C.E. ,
Shipley, near Bradford. Sealed tenders (upon the forms to be obtained at the
<rfBce of the engineer) Mr. John Padgett's, chairman of the committee, HawkhiU,
Gniselcy, near Leeds, by 2 p.m. of March 19.
SEWERAGE.
London.- For the supply of materials, and the execution of the day, jobbing and
measured works of the Metropolitan lioard of Works in respect of the main sewers
and incidental works within the limits indicated upon maps now deposited at the
office of the Board, Spring-gardens, S.W. Tenders must be made sciiarately for
each of the areas shown upon such maps, viz. :— Area colored pink, and marked A.
Area colored yellow, and marked B. Area colored green, and marked C. Tenders
to be upon the basis of schedules of prices, and to be made for one year from the
date of the contract, subject to determination. Forms of tender '(price 5s.), con-
ditions, &e., on application to Mr. J. W. Bazalgcttc, engineer of the Board, at the
office. Sealed tenders delivered at the oflice of the Board to 4 p.m. of March 14.
Hackney.— For the execution ofthe sewer works, under contracts numbered 13 and
14, in the parishes of Hackney and Stoke Newingtou. No. 13 contract will com-
prifle 6,180 feet of brick and 510 fetjt of pipe sewer, or thereabouts ; also twelve
ventilating shafts, and three side entrances to existing sewers in Hackney parish
Ko. 14 contract will comprise 1,700 feet of brick and 7;i0 feet of pipe sewer, or there-
abouts, in the parish of Stoke Newingtou. Plans, &c. , seen, and forms offender, with
any information, upon application to l^Ir. James I..ovegrove, C.E,, surveyor to the
Board, 'I'owu-hall, Hackney, between nine and eleven a.m. Tenders, sealed and
endorsed " Tenders for Sewer Works No. ," addressed to the clerk, to be de-
livered at the Town-hall to March 12. Parlies tendering, or their representatives,
must attend at the Board on the 14th -March, at 11 a.m.
_ „ ROAD WORK.
WE»i Hau.— For making and completing a road and footways at West Ham, lead-
ing from the Lord Gouifh Inn, Plaistow-lane, to the Abbey-road, and for laying
and bedding, in straight and circular edge, Guernsey granite kerb. Drawings,
Ac, at the office of the surveyor, Mr. John M. Dean, Turner estate office, the
Grove, Stratford. Tendirs to be delivered at the said office, endorsed " Tender for
Boul-making," by four p.m. of March 12.
LlTEBPOOU— For a road, thirty feet wide, to be constructed with rough metal
pUeblnt^ macadam facing, and Yorkshire kerbs. Section, Ac, on application to .
Mr. T, Mercer, surveyor, Ac., 45, Church-street, Liverpool
WHARF.
LOIIDOH.— For piUag, planking, earth-work, and other repairs to Lett's wharf, on
the Thames near Waterloo-bridge. Speciflcations with Mr. Atkinson, at the
wharf, aeaied tenders addressed to Mr. E. Leader WiUiams, Civil Engineer, Wor-
cester, l^r March ».
St. Satioub's.— For paving the streets, and other passages and places in the
borough division of the parish of St. Saviour, witbhi the district, under contract
for three years, from the 'iUb day of .March next, with power to determine the
(on printed form(5 only) sealed and en<lorsed "Tenders for l*avior or Magon's
Work," to the board, before half-past five p.m. of March 13.
Hackney.— For the supply and execution of the undermentioned works and mate-
rials, for the period of one year, from the 2Jth day of March next, for the parishes
of Hackney and Stoke Nowington : — Stoneware pipes— For the supply of
"lazed stoneware sower and drain-pipes. Ballast— For the supply and defivery of
ballast, shingle, and hoggin. Cartage— For the carta^'e of materials, slop, rubbish,
and road grit, &c. Mason'swork- For the supply and laying down|of York paving,
and granite curbing, also for repairs to tlie existing footways. Gas-fittings — For
the supply and fixing of lanterns, lampheads, stand-pipes, and service-pipes,
removing, altering, and fixiug lamp-posts. Iron caBtings— For the supply of 100
east-iron street posts, also for cast-iron covering, plates, &c. Lighting — For the
supply and lighting of uaptha lamps, in the parishes of Hackney and Stoke
Newingtou. Watering- Newington Ward; De Beauvoir Town Ward; Daleton
Ward (part;of): South Hackney Ward (partjof); Sliacklewell (part of). Forms of
tenderjat the oQiec of Mr. James Lovegrove, C.E. Surveyor to tlie Board of Works
lor the Hackney district, Towuhall. Hackney, between 9 and II a.m. Tenders
sealed, endorsed, and addressed to Richard Ellis, Clerk, to be delivered at the Town-
Lall, Hackney, to March 12.
RAILWAY WORKS.
North Eastern Railway.— For the erection of an engine shed, workshops, and
sixty dwelling-houses, near Hull. Plaus, &c., from the 11th inst., on application
to Mr. Prosser, the Company's architect, Y'ork. Quantities not supplied. Sealed
tenders, marked "Tender for Works at Hull," addressed to J. Cleghorn, the
secretary, to be delivered by 12 noon of March 27.
atthe end ofthe first or second year ; also for re-paving the footways of
tha streets and places within the same division, under like contract. Separate
IMders for each class of works, spcciflcatiou draft of contracts, and all particulars
t the Board-room, where printed forms of proposal can be obtained. Teudere
In a competition of several Manchester architects for a New Church to hebtiilt
in the populous district of Bradford, Lancashire, the designs of Messrs Hay ley and
Son, were selected, and those gentlemen are instructed to proceed at once witii tlie
work. The church will have nave, chancel, and transepts, with vestry and organ-
chamber. There will be sittings on ground-fioor for HOO, and the cost is estimated at
about £3,300. The walls are to be brick, tlie canabihties of which material are but
but beginning to be understood in the neighbourhood.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
S. R. R.— An article wliicli lias appeared since the receipt of yonr communication will show
that we "take an interest in llie proposed amalgamation of tlie architectural societies,"
and are disposed to use our influence to bring about wliat appears to us a very desirable
arrangement ; no hann can come of it, while it is difficult to predict where the advantages
arising out of such an amalgamation may find a limit. The establishni^it of an under-
standing on the question of professional practice in certain cases, and of an intelligible
scale of charges, promises to be one of the first results, and no greater could be achieved
at the present moment of doubt and want of anything like unanimity in those subjects.
If the amjilgamation becomes a fait accompli, as there is not the slightest reason to doubt
that it will, seeing the energy and straightforward manner with which it has been taken
up, the Northern Architectural Association, with whom the scheme has originated, will
take high ground Inthefuturehistory of architecture. We have no likings or disllkings of
architects, no foes to write down or condemn to silent obscurity, no favorites to puff up— to
their certain dainageinthecyes^of the milnitiated; and whatever may be said or done in this
matter, of importance to tlie entire profession, so long as it be worthy of beiiijg recorded,
shall always be accorded space In our columns, with all the prominence it fairly claims,
S. S. K. need be under no apprehension that we shall suppress comnninications If not
strictly In liarniony with our own views; we have long since seen that it is desirable in
the interests of architects to publish even the crude Ideas of all who have anything to say,
so long as the subject he of more than Individual interest.
Tyeo -In our columns. We have before stated that the price-book or " Schedules of Con-
tract, &c." may be obtained by the public at Clowes aud Sons', 14, Charing-cross. The
price ls4s.6d.
A. W. M.— Thanks, shall be happy to hear again.
W. Williamson.-" Itecoverable as liquidated damages," preferable for several reasons.
T. Tatteson.- We had no Intention of taking*such a course ; you have been misinformed :
besides we do not usually publish such matters.
R. W.— Yes, if suitable.
N. L. O.— The first equestrian monument erected in London ' Is said to have been thatof
Charles I., at Charing-cross. It was cast by a Frenchman in 1633.
11. c.— How can we answer such a query ? Wonderfiil questions are sometimes addressed to
us ; the Interior of every house in London aud its history ought to be as familiar to us as our
own, to satisfy some.
A.J,W.-lntype.
Abchitect's Chabqes A correspondent to whom we have been Indebted on former occa-
sions, sends us a tariff publl-shed in liicautl's work on " Rustle Architecture." Wo add it
to those previously given,
"ilr. Klcantl having observed In many instances that gentlemen are deterred fVom
employing a 'professed arcldtect, because they do not know Into what expenses it
might lead them.' he here Inserts his terms for [making designs of buildings, and for
superintending the erection. If, however, the estimate of a building should exceed
£1,000 no charge Is made for the drawings, but the architect receives a conmiission of
6 per cent, on tiie cost ; aud his travelllug expenses. In all such cases, arc charged to
the employer.
" In preoaring a set of drawings, the style of architecture In which they are designed
will not In the least degree heighten the following charges, which are Itaiinicd upon
the relative proportions, and quantity of work required. In making out the drawings,
&c., for various designs.
" For making plans, elevations, sections, and perspective sketch of a small build-
ing, such as a gate-lodge, green-house, laborer's cottage, &c., the estimate not
exceeding £100 sSS 3 0
"For mailing the working plans of ditto s 2 0
" For a building, the estimate not exceeding £150 4 4 0
" For making the worXing drawings of do 3 3 0
" And so on in proportion, adding one guinea to the expenses of the drawlngsfor
every £50 added to the estimate.
"For a visit of superintendence, or to examine and report upon the site for a
building, requiring but one day 8 time, Including traveiiing and all expenses ..440
" For a visit to any place requiring two days' time, and travelling expenses — 8 8 0
" And so on in proportion, adding four guineas for every additional day, whidi include
tlie charges for travelling and all expenses."
It Is not Intended to offer the examples we have printed and shall hereafter Instance, as In
all cases suitable for adoption, our object is, In compliance with the reiterated request of
several correspondents, to collect as many examples as may be pr,acticable, with a view to
their subsequent consideration. Oiir readers will oblige us by forwarding copies of any lists
they may have, or a reference to tliose with which they are acquainted.
T. rniLLips.—Must obtain the consent of the freeholder.
O. - Too late ; has appeared elsewhere.
James W DevlatloH, to such an extent, from the perpendicular, would be dangerous in
, most cases. We should think there is no remedy short of rebuilding ; probably claim could
be contested on the facts.
F. It. (Rochester).— OeclinedjWitli thanks.
a. O. (l{eigate).~We will make inquiries. , , „
W. 1". J.-Wc are not responsible for the opinions of our correspondents ; shall wo print
letter'
C. M.—Sve arc unable to make a special visit to notice your drawing ; must wait until the
Kxlilbitlon opens.
A CAKrENTEii(Rugby).-Wc arc quite aware of what Is going on in certain quarters, yoo
had better remain where you are.
T. W.T We cannot say. . . ..^ ... , .^ v
W. AXD P.-The duly of^answcring the numerous Inquiries addressed to us compels us ta M
brief sometimes. Write again. . ...
(1. W. M.-ilas appeared ; nevertheless a 'desultory reader evidently.
En«i iKEH (Kllburii). -Such a map has not been published ; doubtless It would be of scmce.
W. KoaEKTS —Shall appear. „ , ,,.„,,,
J.J. < J.— See the " Art of Masonry and Stone Cutting," by E. Uobson ; published In Weale s
Rudimentary ijerie-s, at W, High Holborn.
RECF.ivEn -An Amateur; O. V.; W. M.; F. N. (Leominster) ; D— — c (Cork); AConsUnt
Header (Tenby): An Architect in the North; B. S. K.: Penny-wise, &c, ; M, A, ; A
Smoky Tenant ; T. W. T. ; P. Q. i J. K. M, ; S. and Co.; H.
March 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
217
ARCHITECTS AND ROYAL ACADEMICIANS.
EW public bodies have greater oppor-
tunities of deserving well of the country
than the Royal Academy of Arts, but
few, if any, have made less use of their
opportunities or shown a greater dis-
regard of the sacred trust committed to
them as the guardians (at least the nomi-
nated ijuardians) of the fine arts than that
not only venerable but antiquated Corpo-
ration.
It is always a matter of regret to be
obliged to speak in terms of censure of
the acts of any public body which includes
among its ranks men who nave so deserved a
claim to our highest admiration and esteem as
have many of the Academicians ; but, after
all, regard or respect for individuals must not
blind us to the shortcomings of the society to
which they belong, and may even cause those
shortcomings to stand out only the more con-
spicuously by their contrast with what it would
have been in the heart of those individuals to do had their position not
hampered instead of aided them.
To this general consideration, which would always make it painful
to have broadly to censure such a body as the Royal Academy, there is
added, in the case that has provoked these observations, a further
embarrassment, because it is the conduct of the Academy towards two
gentlemen, for each of whom the public have undoubted respect, and
■each of whom we have every reason to hold deserving of public esti-
mation, which must be censured as wanting, as it has been in that
consideration for the interests of the fine arts which ought to be para-
mount to every other, certainly to every purely personal motive.
Let us for a moment examine what the Academy has in its power —
and hero we will not dwell upon its well organized system upon which,
by a judicious and well devised extension of its scope, it might have
afforded instruction in the arts to all or most of the arts-tudents in the
metropolis, nor upon its power of securing as professors the very first
men in every branch who might have formed a system of professional
education, such as would have furnished thorough and valuable courses
of instruction in every branch of artistic knowledge — such courses we
mean as the indefatigable Professorof Perspective actually has organised,
nor upon its power of encouraging rising artists, and the most praise-
worthy efforts of painters struggling to elevate some branch of their
art, a power that it might exert by conduct such as would make it
understood that every good picture, even by an unknown artist, would
be received for exhibition, and that every picture of high merit would
be hung where it could be seen, even at the expense of excluding
entirely or putting into second-rate positions paintings whose chief
merit is that they represent wealthy men and women. Upon these and
many other opportunities we will not enlarge, for it must be obvious to
all that the Academy has them. Alas, that it should be equally obvious
that it has wasted them !
What we now wish, however, to point out is the power of the
Academy to mark real and proved excellence with a reward, the value
of which none can question. No artist in any branch could feel other
than proud to be elected a member of the Academy, and none
connected with the arts can fail to consider that any reward marking the
approval of this ancient body is an honor. Whether justly or unjustly
conferred, the general public consider the letters K.A. so infallible a
mark of distmction, that any artist must feel anxious to attain them.
How important then that this power should be employed in the truest
interest of art, and of all the arts ! It is the rapid succession of two
events proving that in the distribution of their honors the Academicians
have not regarded the interests of the ai-t of architecture that provokes
from us these observations.
An Architectural Associate had lately to be chosen, and still more
recently one of the very few posts of honor and moderate comfort open
to the architectural profession has had to be disposed of by the members
of the Academy. The profession were startled to hear that the first
honor had been conferred on Mr. Edward BaiTv ; they are astonished
to hear that Mr. Bonomi is recommended to the" trustees of Sir John
Soane's Museum as its future librarian.
Against Mr. Barry himself we have not one word to say : but his
selection as the new R.A. lies open to the very grave objection that he
is very far from being the best man that could have been chosen.
Energetic, accomplished, and successful, he has already done great
things, and may possibly in time stand among our very first architects,
and then we should have hailed his admission to the Academy gladly, as a
reward due to active, artistic, and skilful exertions ; but Mr. BarrJ- is
as jet very young, and he has not yet had the opportunities of dis'tin-
gmshing himself that others have both enjoyed and made use of.
Mr. Barry is best known to ns I7 hb great thettre and Us St 0U<^«
bchool ; but as works of art these arc regpectivcly surpassed and left
far behind by Mr. P. C. Hardwick's Great Western Hotel and LincolnV
inn Hall ; so that, if it was desirable to elect the son of an Academicioo
we may fairly ask, why was not that gentleman selected? The general
accomplishments and classic research of Mr. Penrose ; the many and
successful architectural works of Mr. Butterfield and Mr. .-street in one
du'ection, or Mr. Pennethorne in another : the jrroat exertions and dis-
tinguished ability of Mr. Owen Jones or Mr. Dijjby ^Vyatt ; and last,
but not least, the learning and the labors of the veteran Donaldson,
ou"ht not to have been passed over to promote a rising man, certainly,
and an able man, but not yet the most distinguished architect out of
the Academy.
This, however, is done, and cannot be undone, and we should
probably not have alluded to Mr. Barry's fortunate accession to his but
half-earned laurels except to express a hope that this anticipation of
his due reward would stimulate him to greater exertion in the future ;
but in the case of the curatorship of Sir John Soane's Museum the
recommendation of the Academy has vet to be endorsed by the
trustees, and we do hope thev will pause before they endorse with their
approval a recommendation that we cannot but regard as at once a wrong
to the professional candidates for the position, and a flagrant disrespect
to the profession, and, through the profession, to the art of archi-
tecture.
It is not that we suppose Mr. Bonomi not to be a person in every
way fitted to discharge the duties of librarian ; we have no reason to
doubt his being so, just as we should have had no reason to doubt the
fitness of any well-recommended candidate totally disconnected with
the practice of the arts. But the terms of the trust deed retiuire that
the librarian shall be an architect, and shall have distinguished himself.
Now what we object to is that Mr. Bonomi is no architect, and if,
on his own showing, he is admitted to be considered such, then that
by the very achievement which constituted him an architect he has so
unfortunately distinguished himself that the recognised protectors of
the Fine Arts ought to be the very last to reward this remarkable feat
with a mark of their approval.
In our Number for the 8tli of March we printed Mr. BonomTs
circular, in which he rests his strongest claim upon " a large building
with an Egyptian fagade at Ilolbeck, near Leeds." Holbeck is a long
way off, but we gather from a letter reluctantly inserted in a con-
temporary that this building is a place of business for " some enter-
prising cotton-spinner " in that district.
Does this mean that it is a cotton mill — an Egyptian cotton mill,
or only an Egyptian cotton warehouse, or is it, perhaps, both ? Good
heavens ! has it come to this that the Academy marks with its sanction
and approval such a mode of " distinguishing " one's self as this ? We
suppose there is a propylon, not, of course, built solid, but arranged to
accommodate a time-Keeper, with a dwelling for him on an upper
story, lighted by skylights so as not to betray the utilisation of the mass
of masonry. Perhaps, too, there may be a weighing machine here ;
and we had almost forgotten the obelisks, of which, no doubt, one may
have been hollow, and employed as an accumulator for hydraulic rams
inside, and the other — well, the other may, perhaps, he hollow also, and
form a spare accumulator for use if the first bursts ; and then the
temple behind — well, we will not go further, except to express a hope
that there is a fine sculptured sarcophagus to act as a cash-box, yerj
large and very well filled.
Now writing in this manner may be called very unfair, and what we
have suggested may be different from what the building really is; but is
not this'the natural tone of thought that it occurs to any man ncqusunted
with ai-chitectural propriety to follow when he hears of any building of
modern erection and for modern use, being built in a style so un-
alterably ancient and monumental as that of Egypt? We most
unhesitatingly affirm that the architect, if such he be, who has
exerted himself to promote the adoption of the Egyptian style for any
building in modern England, except one of a purely monumental
character, has not been advancmg the true interests of the art, has not
distinsuished himself favorably as an architect, and has not deserved
that this his misdeed should be marked by the approval of the Royal
Academv.
The o'ther portions of the claim were equally unfortunate, and when
we have the names of the men who were competitors, and recognise
many who were articled to architects brought up as architects, have
practised as architects, and who have exerted themselves uniformly,
constantly, and at great self-sacrifice for the good of the architectural
profession and the art of architecture, men too who have practised it
always, and do practise it now, who have not merely been en^ed.
drawing sculptural enrichments or doing sculptural modelling " m the
offices of" distinguished architects, or on their works, but who themselve*
are distingushed architects, when we remember that among them were
many known and proved to have every essential qualification for the
complete discharge of the duties, we cannot conceal our astonishment
218
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 15, 1861.
that the Royal Academicians should have thus thought it right to
declare that a sculptor's acquaintance with architecture, some employ-
ment on architectural works, and a very inconsistent employment of a
style of architecture the most unsuitable of any to our modern require-
ments should constitute a man an architect just as much as education,
practice and talent of an undoubtedly legitimate character.
It is to be hoped that the trustees will not confirm this decision, even
if they can legally do so ; and it is worth serious consideration whether
in the event of its being confirmed, a strong protest ought not to be
iraised in defence of their own art and profession, by the body of archi-
tects throughout the country. We have no doubt it would be almost
■onanimously signed, and we are quite sure that as fortunately the case
stands on public and not personal grounds, it is the duty of the public to
look to it.
■♦
THE "VICTORIAN AECHITECTURE " CRAZE.
OUE column of Reviews contained some few weeks ago a notice of a new
architectural serial, entitled Examples of London and Provincial Street
Architecture of the Victorian Age. In that notice we spoke of tliis new
work, as it was at the time laid before us by the pubUsher, as devoid of
letter-press by way of explanation of the engravings it consisted of But,
more recently, there lias been are-issue of the part first sent us j and it now
appears as one of the March Monthlies, with an additional engraving and
some considerable letter-press matter. We therefore propose to enter on
a further notice of this publication; and the more so as the letter-press is
of such a character, as to demand the special comments of the architec-
tural journals.
We may say then at the outset that, this new publication is "outward
bound " and inwardly composed with such a superabundance of loyalty,
that, to say one word to its disparagement seems really profane ; and yet
we are impelled by the very boldness of the style it is written in, to do
something of the kind.
The entire part before us teems with jubilant chirrupings and crowings
about " Victorian architecture ;" and we have the word " Victorian "
occnring above a dozen times on the first page of the book. In the body
of it we have " The Victorian Age," "A true Victorian Style of Archi-
tecture," people " striving to render their architecture Victorian," " Our
own Victorian Era," "Highest Order of Victorian Bridge Builders," "A
Particle of Victorian Feeling," ■' Grandest Achievements of Victorian
Science," " Victorian Brickwork," " Thoroughly Victorian ;",'and so on,
throughout almost every page of the book, the outside wrapper of which
is very appropriately adorned with an enthroned figure of " Our Sovereign
Lady the Queen." All this, as we have just hinted, is a " leetle " over-
powering ; nevertheless we shall not be deterred firom walking straight up
to it, and demanding what it all means.
It means, as we glean from the pages of this first part — appearing, by
the way appropriately coincident with " March hares" — that we need give
ourselves no more trouble about the invention of a new style of f rchitec-
tnre; for, a certain set of gentlemen have already discovered the very tiling
we are in search of ; and, what is more to the purpose, are actively occu-
pied at this moment in practically realising it under our very noses.
Sorry are we to speak lightly of a style, that we cheerfully admit has
some really clever professors ; but we owe a duty to our readers, who are
by this time no doubt anxious to learn what is this new style of architec-
ture, bight by the authors of this book " Victorian." It is, gentle readers,
the streaky bacon style of Architecture, vulgarly so called j and, as we learn
by this publication, a special sample of the article is to be seen in the
facade of the house and shop No. 26, South Audlcy- street, Grosvenor-
square ; which, as we ourselves have engraved a view of it, the readers of
tb cBciLDiKO News already know all about. This building is again
IQustrated in the book we are reviewing ; and the engraving is accom-
panied by a descriptive account, gravely setting forth that, " the design is
an original conception of the architect ; " and winding up, after much
praise of what seems to us a simple and not handsome structure, with
the following complimentary notice of its two next-door neighbours ; both
of which, for aught we can see of beauty in the subject of the memoir, are
quite comely enough to return the tu quoque rejoinder.
" The aAiolmng baildlnL'S, which are faithfully represented in our lithograph are
characteristic examples or the use of bricks and stucco in the production of London
■treeta by the mile, without the etiffhtest gembl<ince qf any street architecture whatever.^*
We have italicized the concluding words of the sentence, whatever they
may mean, because they will give the reader a pretty fair insight into the
literary style of the book. It is written throughout (if we except a few
articles, of which we hope to find space for commendation) in the style —
not the " Victorian " style let us trust — of a quack medicine pufiT ; and,
like that class of composition, is by no means sparing in denunciation of
the works of those unlucky architects, who delight not in the streaky bacon,
or Victorian style of " our Victorian age,"
That our 'readers may see we do not overstate the case, we will give
another quotation, showing the vicious nature of the work — we say "vicious,"
which it is. In a two-fold sense — unjust in its comments on the recent
efforts of an esteemed architect, and fraught with positive mischief to the
student, who, by such arrogant criticism, is tempted to ignore a class of
architecture, to which London stands indebted for one of the most charming
fayades in Europe. All honour to good Gothic architects say we, and
" more power to their elbow " by all means ; but what a Goth that man
must be, who can look on the new wing of Somerset House, and pen such
eriticism a> the following : —
" On onr way eMtwards we pus Welliogton-street, with its new west-front oj
Somerset-house. It is an extensive raiise of building-, desiirncd in the Corinthian
style (sic) in careful conformity with the original portions of the edifice. Mr. Venny-
thorne (I'enuethorne?) was the architect, and be lias done this work nuite as well as
might luive been expected from him (J) It is thoroughly rc'i;)fc(nite, perfectly insipid,
looks precisely like a seveuteenth century work that has just been carefully scraped ;
and has not about it a particle of Victorian feeUng."
"Marry," we may respond witkHbfapKr, "and we are glad of it with all our
heart." We have no fear that Mr. Pennethorue's reputation wUl suffer by
this frightful falling short of the particular " Victorian " sort of thing, or
veritable " Victorian " kick, as the author of tliis wretched critique may
choose to phrase it j but we put it to the common sense of our readers,whether
an architectural writer of this type deserves any mercy or consideration at
our hands. There is nothing in the publication so momentous as to quite
justify our actually " breaking a fly upon the wheel;" but the opinions,
put forth in this first number of it, are so unmistakable in their — their
" bumptiousness," that we are compelled perforce to attack them, on the
very threshold of its existence. We are curious to know how many
English architects of any repute are concerned in the success of this work :
there cannot surely be many, who hope to gain the i>ublic attention by this
kind of monthly criticism.
The article from which we have made this elegant extract is entitled
" London Streets ; " and pretty liberally it deals out its praise and its
blame. That both alike are of little value may be seen by the blunders
with which the article abounds. It is clear enough that the writer knows
little of his subject; for he tells us not only of " a building designed in the
Corinthian style " (a somewhat disorderly phrase for an architectiu'al
writer to use) but of (Mr.) " Charles Gray's effective mass of building"
at the corner of Chancery-lane and Fleet-street ! It is well known that
our friend Mr. Gray had nothing to do with this work ; but that it is a design
of Mr. Knowlcs's. We mention a blunder like this in order to show that,
there is no accident whatever, but pure ignorance on professional matters to
dictate the concurrent mis-spelling of Mr. Pennethorne's and Mr. Currey's
surnames ; and that no consequence can be attached to the article. The writer
proceeds to state that, " the warehouses of the south side of St. Paul's-
churchyard and Cannon-street may be grouped with the^finest buildings of
the same class at Manchester and Liverpool." It is well known to any one
who has really visited and examined the •.rarehouses here spoken of, that
there is nothing of the class in Cannon-street or St. Paul's-churchyard to
be compared with the warehouses in Manchester. If there be any one of
these former, it is certainly the warehouse on the north side of Cannon-
street, occupied by Messrs. Devas, Minchiner, and Eoutledge, the designer
of which we are sorry we cannot name. Even that one wareliouse
has no pretensions to a comparison with several we might name at Man-
chester; and it moreover is but a standing refutation of this very article,
" London Streets," having nothing whatever of the streaky bacon, or (we
beg pardon), " Victorian," clement in its composition.
The typography of the work is excellent, and so are Mr. Dudley's
drawings of the architectural details of tlie Promoter Life Insurance
Office. The only pity is that so costly a serial, which might have been
made instrumental as a means of architectural progress, has unluckily
taken up an untenable theory — a downright architectural heresy in fact,
— evidently with the very naive idea on the part of its promoters that, its
monthly "Victorian" assumptions will arouse no gainsaying on the part
of the maligned architects, who, like Mr. Pennethorne, are utterly damned
(as on page 4) for not having about them "a particle of Victorian feeling,"
whatever that may mean (and conscientiously wo can offer no clearer
solution of the phrase than the streaky bacon theory aforesaid.) Of course
we form our ideas of " Victorian architecture " icem the engraved illus-
trations.
An article on " The New Government Offices " is equally mischievous in
its tendency ; and we have the key-note of the work pervading it all, in a
way that is really calculated, if widely spread, to do Mr. Scott little
benefit, and very likely to bring Gothic architecture itself into disrepute.
Let us take a sample of the article : it may be very fine writing — we can
only confess it is much beyond our own English comprehension.
" Our architecture has no other claim for our allegiance than its sympathy witli
the era of Queen Victoria, such sympathy being in association with an intrinsic
excellence of its own. Had Mr. Scott's design for our New Government Offices been
more S'ictorian than it is," &c., &c., &c. (I'agc 10).
Mr. Scott, we are told, " was appointed to build these ofBces because he
was the right man to build them " — an arrogant, injurious mode of stating,
or rather mis-stating, the case, which we are sure a really clever architect
like Mr. Scott would himself be too modest to endorse. We have no
language strong enough to express our condemnation of this style of
writing, side by side with the before-quoted sneer at the able architect of
the west wing of Somerset House, whose beautiful design for these very
Offices, exhibited a year ago at the Architectural Exhibition, must have
found many admirers.
We are unwilling to close our comments on this work without adducing
something to commend. There is an article on the " New Public Monuments
and Sculpture in the Streets of London," which will repay perusal ; but we
cannot advise our readers to purchase the Part for the sake of this article
alone ; more than that, we deem it incumbent on us (and we are quite
serious) to warn such of them, as have pupils, from leaving about their
office a publication replete with arcliitectural " Essays and Peviews " so
likely to mislead the student, who may incontinently get hold of them.
Other writers in our Journal will possibly take up the subject of them —
" Victorian architecture," and demonstrate that it is a mere brick-and-
mortar craze ; if not, we ourselves may, perhaps, return to it again, for it
would seem that we are likely to have a plague of " Victorian " archi-
tects ; and if so it behoves all " good men and true " to be up and doing
something to annihilate them.
March 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
219
NOTES WITHOUT TEXT*
IV.
TAKEN in the general, architects are not — or, to put it less offensively,
in the past tense, have not sliown themselves to he — the most astute
of mortals. They have affected to look down, d'haut en has, on those
whom they are compelled to look up to for patronage and employment,
with wliose taste tliey must accordingly comply, and to whose (lictates
they must defer. Or else how happens it that we meet with the many
instances of bad taste and crude abortive design we actually do ? Surely
it is owing in very great measure — it is to be hoped the largest one — to
the inability of the public to discriminate between worthy and unworthy
design. Sucli inability on the part of non-professional persons may have
its advantages, but they are paid for very dearly. No doubt a very great
convenience it is that people should be blind to defects, yet, unluckily, the
concomitant inconvenience is that they are equally blind to merits, which
are not to be appreciated without diligent and thoughtful examination. It
is anything but an advantage for architecture that so very few except
those who follow it as their profession— and perhaps not every one of
them — are competently acquainted with it in its character of art. Such,
however, is the case. Westminster Hall would hold the whole of the
public who take any sincere, unaffected interest in architecture, and are
capable of enjoying it with real relish. The general notion seems to be —
and a most unlucky and derogatory one to the art it is— that architecture
is for the most part something so purely technical and mechanical that
only those who are perfectly conversant with all that belongs to the
modus operandi can judge of it ; nor do architects show themselves parti-
cularly solicitous to disabuse the public of such fatal mistake. They are
not indeed, quite so insanely suicidal as to say to the public it is for you
to encourage an art which is so singularly constituted that you who
have not served a regular apprenticeship to it cannot possibly understand
it. That would be letting the cat out of the bag at once, and a very ugly
black cat it would be.
IT would cause no surprise were Mr. Tite, who, besides being one of the
members for Batb, is a member of the architectural profession, to
rise up and call the attention of the " House " to the circumstance of a
sculptor having been elected by the Council of the Royal Academy
curator of tlie Soane Museum, evidently contrary to its founder's intention
and to an Act of Parliament — which ought to be something stronger than
a cobweb. It is true Mr. Bonomi endeavours to make out that he is
amphibious— is architect as well as sculptor. Yet even according to his
own showing, his claims to the former character, as it is generally under-
stood, are very slender indeed. His personal character, as being a very
amiable and deserving man, is, no doubt, far better founded, and in itself
no small recommendation. The objection, however, still remains of his
being an " outsider," who has applied to architecture only as a secondary
pursuit. It may be said, and very truly, too, that such objection is no
better than a mere technical one ; nevertlieless, when we have to do with
Acts of Parliament, their letter must be abided by. Of candidates for the
appointment, it is said there were no fewer than seventy; so very large a
number that it is difficult to guess what reasonable pretensions the
majority of them could put forth, or what expectations they could enter-
tain. Surely some of them must have looked upon th6 competition for the
curatorship as a lottery, and have trusted to mere good luck for success —
not but that every one of those who solicited the appointment may have
been quite competent to the due discharge of an office which requires no
special qjalifications, and is, in fact, very nearly a sinecure. Will any
change now be made to render it somewhat less so by the adoption of more
liberal regulations, that would allow the museum and library to be made
use of for purposes of study ? Under certain necessary restrictions, one
day in the week throughout the year might be very well set apart for the
admission of those who want to be more than sightseers, and to study
leisurely and quietly, when mere " visitors " are excluded. By-the-bye,
one would like to know l>ow many visitors there have ever been in the
course of a season. In fact, the house was never intended for its present
destination, it being in itself of no greater size than its neighbours, thougli
afterwards enlarged by the gallery and picture cabinet being added to it
on the space in its rear. As the private residence of its architect, it was
admirable, but for the purpose to which it has been converted it is all but
impracticably unfit. To add another " by-the-bye," one would like to
know whether any extraordinary precautions are taken against fire, since
the " Gallery " itself is of rather inflammable constitution, and none the
safer from ignition for being almost in contact with the houses in the
narrow lane behind it, which, thougli it is by no means a specimen of the
rus in urbc, delights in the sylvan, arcadian name of Whetstone-park, and
80 far claims to be reckoned one of the parks of London.
IT was not without sufiicient reason that, in one of his recent lectures at
the Royal Academy, the Professor of Architecture animadverted-
stringently on tliat ill-regulated love of decoration which has become one
of the characteristics of the present day, and by no means the healthiest.
We are running from one faulty extreme into another — from tlie most
parsimonious plainness into indiscreet and ill-judged pretentiousness of
design. What are confessedly no other than warehouses, or something of
that kind, are now-a-days frequently tricked out with would-be palatial
&;ades, which surely partakes largely of untruthfulness ; for, however
honest the buildings themselves may be as regards their materials and
• By the Author of " Chifb op Cbiticism." Continued ttom page 176.
construction, they are made to exhibit themselves in raaiqncnule, betidM
being, quite as often as not, greatly overdressed, far more showily than
becomingly, with the merest architectural frippery. There is some
reason, then, for apprehending that plainness is likely to be affected by
way of aristocratic distinction. The economy of decoration is by no
means so well understood among us ns could be wished : we get too mnch
of that showincss which, though it serves well enough to catch the eye at
first sight, will not bear examination, and which, though it may win tlw
applause of " the groundUngs," cannot but make '•the judicious griere."
Such showiness, which is in architecture just upon a par with the tawdiy,
inflated style of a penny-a-liner, is not richness, but the cheap substitute
for it. Want of sobriety is, unhappily, a too prevalent fault ; another if
that of littleness of manner and confusedness also, arising from crowded
and squeezed-up composition ; either of which faults is fatal to nobleness
of character. Harmony of composition is too mucli disregarded ; it i*,
indeed, a quality that does not tell at all in description, for, like what is
justly said to be the best part of beauty, it is indescribable and eludes the
grasp of language, and, when attempted to be embodied distinctly in words,
evaporates. In one of his funny moods, Mr. Kuskin has asked, " Will your
proportions of facade heal the sick or clothe the naked ?" — a rather queer
and quizzical question, best replied to by another of the same stamp: —
" Pray, Mr. Ruskin, did you, when at Venice, find that by merely g^^iog
on either of your two pets, St. Mark's and the Ducal Pahicc, you could
dispense with a dinner ?" Proportion, not of the mere separate' features,
considered individually, but as regards ensemble, is one of those imponder-
able qualities in architectural composition which are so subtile as to be
beyond the grasp of language to describe, which inability on the part of
language to define, or of the most painstaking teaching to teach, goes far
to prove that architecture is art,
vn.
IN all professions the great prizes are far more tempting tlian numerous,
nor does that of architecture form an exception to the rule. The
architect is, in fact, very peculiarly circumstanced in comparison with
other artists. He is especially dependent upon opportunity, which itself
may depend upon quite fortuitous occurrences. Had it not been for the
Great Fire of London, Wren would not have been able to rear that noblest
monument of his genius, St. Paul's. Had it not been for the destruction
of the old Houses of Parliament, Barry could not have signalised himself
by the New Palace of Westminster. Whereas the painter executes liii works
entirely with his own hands, and when completed sends them forth to find
purchasers, the architect can of himself do no more tlian produce ideas /or
a building, which, be they ever so excellent, may never be carried out, at
least not in their full integrity. He is ever exposed to harassing interfe-
rence on the part of those who employ lilm, and to which he must, there-
fore, submit, however reluctantly. From such annoyance the painter is
quite safe, for even when commissioned to paint a particular subject he is
left to treat it according to his own judgment and make the best of it he
can. Be they, too, whatever they may, pictures once executed are allowed
to remain untouched by any other hand than that of Father Time. They
are secure from alteration, and never are destroyed merely for the sake of
their material. Very different is it with buildings : tliey are ever
exposed to unforeseen casualties. Sometimes, indeed, alteration is iniprore-
ment, and a conflagration like that of the old Houses of I'arliament,
which might have been prevented, at least arrested, had not Mrs. AV right
— on whom Barry, no doubt, bestowed the most sincere benedictions-—
persisted in protesting that she could smell no indications of fire. Had it
not been for the singular obtuseness of that good lady's olfactory nerves,
never would Barry have always given " The Queen and Jlrs. Wright's
nose " as the first toast at his own hospitable table. It would be rather
mteresting to obtain an oflicial "return," as it is called, of the numerous
buildings that have either perished through accident or have been pur-
posely destroyed. This note promises to be the progenitor of another.
M.
THEATRICAL MACHINERY ASD FOOTLIGHTS.
BARTHELEMY, of the theatre at Nancy, has for some time Hem
• engaged in reforming the entire system of stage arrangements. One of
the effects of his improvement is the obtaining not only a regular and even stage,
but oue that can be raised or lowered, and moved in various wavs by m!ictUnery.
He can lift it to the height of about 8 feet if necessary, or inchne it in various
directions without breakmg its continuity. The whole is, m feet, divided into
rectangles, and each Une of these is worked separately or conjoUiUy witH the
° WUh the aid of two or three men or n windlass, a hollow, a hUl, or othCT
eflects may be produced. The whole stajre, with 400 pe..ple 8^'°? "C"!' '»'
may be raiked by tlie machinery, worked hy sev™ men, several f«-t in ttrc or
six minutes; and there is a plentiful provision of traps, which may b.' opened
entirely or partially, and also turned round on their own axis when neora»ar>%
It is very difficult to understand the arrangements trom the deicripuons
given, but it appears that the scenes are nU worked ^™°' '^ove by mauM of
balcoAies furnished with rails and runnmg carnages, somewhat after the manner
of scaffolding with traversing crabs, and that the scenes are drawn up with ■
prevent noise. The svstem L« extended not only over the stage but also overjAe
scene-loft, so that each piece required may be taken up m the latter and placed
downron the former whenever it may be required The inventor savs that he
can, if necessarj-, produce as many as twenty complete clianges in lialtan hoiu^
and he expects therebv to be able to produce marvellous results in spectacutor
pieces Aees and other accessories are manoeuvred by screw machinery at tneu-
bases, so as to be able to bring each piece into its place with great exacutude.
220
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 15, 1861.
A new svstem of foot-lights has also been tried at the Opera in Paris, in
order to avoid the numerous accidents which have happened by the actresses'
clothes catching fii«, and also to get rid of the heat and unwiiolcsome gases
which are evolved, and to remove all obstacles to the free play of the waves of
aound. A proposal had previously been made to remove the stape ligrhts to the
aide, but it has been considered necessary for effect to retain them in the site
which they at present occupy. The manner in which the objects thus set
forth are obtained under the new system is as follows: — The lights are placed
below the line of the stage and in such a manner that tliey can be provided with
rentilators, and the light is sent upwards and backwards by the aid of an exten-
sive svstem of reflectors. The original arrangement has been modified in several
ways," and, at last, it is believed that a practicable plan has been worked out.
The gas jets are each placed at the bottom of an inverted conical reflector, the
air is supplied through a hole at the bottom, and the products of combustion are
carried off through the chimney-glasses into a small iron trough which runs
alone the whole line, and into which the tops of the chimneys fit; at each end
of this iron trough or pipe is an escape for the vapors produced. This portion of
the arrangement might be most advantageously replaced by the system intro-
duced many years ago by Professor Faraday, in which each light was provided
with two glaM chimneys, the inner one being of smaller diameter and rather
shorter than the outer, which was covered with a piece of talc, the products of
. combustion being carried off downwards by means of a pipe which communicated
with the interval between the lower ends of tlie two chimneys, this would get
rid entirely of the dark line caused by the iron trough placed over the glasses in
" the system above described.
The polished conical reflectors are, of course, left open on the side of the stage,
• but in order to prevent any unpleasant glare from the bright metal surface in
tlie eyes of the actors, a very slightly ground glass is placed opposite the opening
of each reflector. An arrangement is made within these reflectors for producing
'- changes in the color of the light.
It IS admitted, as indeed must be evident, that the consumption of gas is con-
siderably greater with the new than under the old arrangement, but the absence
of all danger to the performers, the prevention of the evolution of smoke and
gases in the face of actors, and especially of singers, and the removal of the
- whole of the apparatus from out of the view of the audience are certainly most
important objects to be obtained, and will well repay the extra consumption of
THE BUILDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF 18G2.
DRAWINGS of the proposed buildings for the International Exhibition are,
for a few davs, on view at the offices of the society, in West Strand. They
comprise a block plan, a detailed plan of the ground story, a perspective view of
t 1 e nave, a view of the machinerj- gallery, and a rough sketch of the approach
to one of the domes. They are sufiicient to give a general idea of the extent and
nature of the structure, and to show how far the inconveniences and defects, un-
a\oidableinthe first building erected for such a purpose, have now been obviated.
If the attractions of next year's exhibition surpass those of its predecessor as
iKUch as the building will outshine the hastily-designed and hurriedly-erected
one of '51, the best wishes of its promoters will be realised. It will want one
charm, however, which the old building possessed — that of novelty ;
and it will require great efforts to counterbalance this advantage, still clinging to
the memory of the former work.
As an example of constructive skill and of daring enterprise, the Hyde-park
building remains unrivalled, but it had few architectural merits. The
drawing of the first design, the amplification of the famous " blotting-paper
gketch," made in a railway carriage, was unmistakably ugly. Improvements
subsequently introduced gave it its only artistic features— the arched roof of the
transepts and the masterly treatment of its internal decoration. The desire which
was evinced to make it a permanent structure sprang, perhaps, entirely from the
associations connected with the objects it sheltered, and an unwillingness that a
place where so many pleasant memories lingered should be swept away. Doubts
were also entertained whether Englishmen would again exert themselves to plant
a similar structure and issue invitations for a like accumulation of the artistic,
inechauical, and natural treasures of the world.
Ten years have passed away, and another long list of guarantors is published ;
another design is prepared, of greater magnitude and splendor ; and the time has
arrived for artists and manufacturers of every kind and of every nation once more
to measure their strength.
The site of the new building is the laree space between the southern arcades of
the Horticultural Society's new grounds and the Cromwell-road, and between
the western arcades and" the Prince Albert-road. This latter portion is devoted
exclusively to the machinery. The main block occupies an area of 1,152 feet in
length by'an average width of GOO feet, but going back some 100 feet further at
the wings, which make the shorter elevations in the Exhibition and Prince
Albert roads each about 700 feet long. The block for machinery is 870 feet long
by 200 feet wide, and extends northwards beyond the western wing. The build-
ing is shorter than that of '51, but in eveiy other respect — in area, in height, in
convenience, and in picturesque form — it far outstrips it.
The principal entrance will be in the Exhibition-road, by a series of arched
openings, altogether 00 feet wide, and leading at once to one of the grand domes,
which will rise over the intersection of the transepts and naves. A similar
entrance is provided in Prince Albert-road, at the opposite extremity of the
building. The nave, which runs down the centre of the building, is 85 feet wide,
and 100 feet high (some 13 feet wider and 40 feet higher than that of 18.J1), and
transepts, of the same width and height, cross it at either end. Tlie main channel
for visitors forms a widened letter H, and (he domes spring from the junctions of
tlie lines. On either side of these main avenues there are forests of iron columns
to support the galleries. Tlie whole length (1,150 feet) of Cromwell-road, to the
depth of 55 feet, with the exception of 105 feet in the centre for entrances, is
devot<>d to picture-galleries. These galleries are constructed of brick, as also
are the offices and galleries which abut on the other roads. The rest of the
building is one mass of iron columns and girders. The domes at either end are
built of iron and glass ; they are octagon on plan, 135 feet wide, and rise to the
height of 2.J0 feel. From each side of the octagon space under the dome broad
flights of steps lead down to the nave and transept, with smaller ones from the
diagonal lines of the octagons. The kitchens are at the north side of the block,
in • reoeaa formed by the arcades of the Horticultural Society.
The per»pective view of the nave shows the architectural character of the
interior. l"hc columns which support the sides are coupled ; the back ones
support the gallery with lattice-work front, the clerestory above it, and the
sloping roof. The front columns, which have ornamented caps and bases,
support circular iron ribs. They are linked to those behind with rings, by the
base and abacus to the iron piers dividing the windows, and by stiffening- pieces
to the rafters. These stiffening pieces cross the spandrels, and project, with
ornamental terminals, from the sothts of the ribs. The ribs are pierced through-
out with a series of small diamond-sliaped openings. The nave is lighted on either
side by windows in the clerestory. The principal rafters lie on these ribs, and
the roof is boarded and covered with felt. Small oriflammes are introduced at
the sides and front of arch springings.
The effect of this roof will be very beautiful. The circular lines of the ribs will
be preserved in the general view, whilst the raking hnes of the rafters will
form a subordinate contrast to them, and produce an endless variety of
light and shade. There is no view of the interior of the domes ; but their
immense size — larger than any hitherto constructed, except, perhaps, that of the
British Museum reading-room— is, in itself, sufiicient to insure a grand appear-
ance. Extenially the domes have an eastern outline, the convex form being
changed into a concave one at the crown. The longest elevation in Cromwell-
road has a triple arched entrance in the centre, altogether, with its piers, 150
feet wide. The openings will be between 50 and CO feet high. The piers dividing
them are panelled, and have pedestals with groups of sculpture at their bases.
There is a blind attic above, with trophies over the piers, and in the centre a
niche with a statue. On each side of this central entrance there is a series of
eighteen arches, the ninth and the end one being appropriated to additional
entrances, and the rest divided into two stages, one of whicli is pierced to light
the picture gallery. The piers are panelled, and circular niches are introduced
in the spandrels. A high plinth skirts the building on all sides.
A sketch is exhibited of the gallery devoted to the macliinery. It appears
constructed entirely of wood. The sloping roof rests on strong supports braced
diagonally togetlier, and arch-shaped timber ribs, with their springings only a
few feet above the ground, turn under and are bolted firmly to them. It seems
an enlarged edition of the roof to the drill-room, recently built by Capt. Fowke
at South Kensington, and illustrated by us about two months ago.
We have not space at present to give more than this brief account of the
building, but shall return to the subject when we have had an opportunity of
inspecting more of the drawings. We must not, however, forget to mention that
the design is by Capt. Fowke, R.E., who deserves great praise for providing so
commodious, so extensive, and so worthy a structure for the Art Treasures of
1802. The contract, as our readers are aware, has beeu taken by Messrs. Kelk
and Lucas.
THE NEW OPERA HOUSE IN PARIS.
THE Monittur publishes the text of the report presented by M. Hittorf on
the competition for a plan of the new Opera house in Paris : —
"After alluding to the various great works which, by order of the Emperor,
had been executed for the embellishment of Paris, the report stales that the
Sovereign who had completed the Louvre did not forget that the prosperity of
the fine arts was reckoned among one of the first glories of a nation, and in con-
sequence the erection of a new Opera-house had been ordered. The great
number of plans sent in and the crowds who flocked to examine them at the
Exhibition Palace were strong proofs of the interest taken by the public in the
work. After mentioning the numbers of the plans which were fixed on by the
jury for the prizes, the report goes on to state the motives which induced
the jury to make their award. Plan 6, by M. Ginain, which received 0,000r,
was considered both ingenious and novel, and jiarticularly the arrangement of
the first tier ; the communications were wide and easy between the different
parts of the house, and were means of giving noble fronts to all the
sides of the building. No. 34, by M. Crepinet, who had been awarded
4,000f, was well conceived, the outward appearance of the building being
appropriate to the purpose for which it was intended. The other plans were
also well designed. The report then goes on to say that viXmt appeared to the
jury to be wanting in all the plans was good covered approaches, easy and without
danger for persons in carriages and on foot. It also points out as a great defect
that the wide staircases stopped at the first tier of boxes, instead of going up to
the upper ones. Most of the competitors had failed in giving sufiicient dimen-
sions to the stage and to the part of the buildings approjjriated to the adminis-
tration. M. Hittorf then states that from the merits of the plans which have
received premiums, an expectation may naturally be entertained of favorable
results from more developed studies, 'rhe fronts, as represented in the plans,
are, however, wanting in that grandeur attached to the idea of an Opera-house,
and what appeared in many of the fronts as injurious to the good effect was the
projecting porticos forming terraces. The jury also pointed out a serious incon-
venience— the absence of unity in the building, a fact which destroys those effects
of harmony which distinguish the finest monuments, both ancient and modem.
Each front ought to offer a certain degree of regularity, and to appear to belong
to one and the same edifice. The rejiort concludes by expressing its regi-et that
no grounds existed for awarding the grand jirize, and its wish that a fresh com-
petition, which would have for recompense the execution of the edifice, should
take place between the authors of the five best plans, the result of whicli might
he the construction of an Opera-house worthy of the capital and of France."
A
NEW MISSION CHAPEL FOR ST. MARTIN'S-IN-THE-FIELDS.
NEW chapel has just been commenced in St. Marlin's-in-the- Fields, for the
poorest and most densely-populated part of that parish. The new eliapel is
commenced on an excellent freehold site at the corner of Hop-gai-ilens,purchased
for £1,020, and some further expense has been incurred in the purchase and
clearance of another piece of land immediately adjacent, on which it is proposed
to erect schools. The architect, Mr. A. W. Blomfield, of St. Martin's-place, son
of the late Bishop of London, has furnished a design, in wlucli something of a
church character has been given to the building, while the strictest regard has
been had to economy. The walls are to be of briuk, stone being only used in the
windows of the chapel. The chapel will be on the ground-floor, the school-room
above : the former will be 50 feet in length, 36 in width, and 20 m height, with
sittings for 220 ; the latter 48 by 22, and 20 high, capable of holding 130 children.
The total outlay is exjiected to be about ,£4,(i()(». . . , t
It is expected that the new mission chapel and schools will be ready in about
six raontlis from the present date.
March 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
221
THE FINE ARTS SEEN FROM A NEW POINT OF VIEW.*
No. 9. — The Critical State of AnciiiTECTURE.
ON the banks of the Mersey, in one of the greatest cities of the age, and
which may be considered as a representative of the commerce, the
science, and the sterling good sense of modern times— in the Tyre of
England, " whose merchants are princes, and whose traffickers are the
lionorable of the earth" — there rises a stately and a costly pile. That a
Music-hall and Assize-courts should be jointly dedicated to a Christian
saint, in obedience to the Pagan temple precedent continued in Protestant
churches, nothing need be said; but I complain licre of the Pagan style of
art, the characteristic of a nation and creed which have disappeared for
centuries, and of the reproduction of the symbolism of a people whose
thoughts were not our thoughts, and whose aims were as distinct
from our own as the nineteenth century differs from the first.
The Corporation of Liverpool long levied on the shipping which seeks
its port about £80,000 per annum, of which it appropriated to maritime
purposes one year's income in the course of 25 years. The remainder was
devoted to the improvement of the town ; and St. George's Hall is one of
the improvements.
This edifice has excited such a burst of admiration that it may be
fairly taken as a type of the anachronisms now sought to be perpetuated
in architecture. As if to expose in the most glaring manner the ab-
surdities in which this nation delights, the father of the architect of the
pile avers that the structure is in a style " such as Ictinus would have
used had he flourished in the Augustan age of Rome, or as Vitruvius would
have invented had he been associated with Phidias in building the temple
of Jupiter Olympius in the golden age of ,Fericles."t It would be
difflcult to state more felicitously a violation of the proprieties of
time and place, of consistency and of common sense. The golden age of
Pericles, the Augustan age of Rome, and the present age of Victoria are
very dissimilar. The differences between the first and second periods are
illustrated by the divergent systems of art ; and the present period, pre-
senting greater differences still, exhibits total cessation of natural thought
in soulless efforts to copy slavishly archaic styles, going backward instead
of forward, and thus virtually professing that no advances can be
made.;]:
I cannot repeat too often that a truly noble work of art never was pro-
duced by one who did not seek to depict the spirit of his age. The great
artist thinks for himself; not as he imagines Phidias, Vitruvius, or
Giotto, would have thought. Ages change, either advancing or retro-
grading ; our civilization is superior to any old civilization: thus it is
degrading to an artist to repeat the types of ancient races. The architect
should consider the past as past, that he is looked up to and presumed to
know best what is required, and that a trust is confided to him. If,
therefore, he aspires to be a genuine architect, he will remember that he
has as great a right as the old men had to think for himself and to express
his own ideas. He never will consent to be fettered by precedents.
Although he may respect the words spoken tangibly by those who ex-
isted long ago, he will scorn to copy their work for it is " carving a lie in
stone."
Having stated the laws which govern the Fine Arts, I shall next exhibit
the failure which results from their contravention. The most obvious
mode of doing this consists in an examination of the developments of
modern architecture. First, because, as before explained, architecture is
little in itself without sculpture and painting, with these, in its superior
generality, comprehending all material art ; and, secondly, whether taken
in this inclusive sense, or limited to what is called proportion, of all the
arts it now most requires revision. In this and some following articles
architecture will then occupy the principal place, although painting and
sculpture, as isolated from architecture, will also be fully considered.
The position of architecture is peculiar. While the object of the painter
and sculptor is to portray natural forms, the architect seeks principles in
them, or suggestions to give expression to utilitarian, or other, structures.
He must modify natural forms in applying them to purposes for which
they are unsuitable without alteration : in fact, he recasts nature in his
own mind to a far greater |extent than [other artists. Sculpture and
painting attain perfection sooner than the more ideal art of architecture ;
and sculpture, being limited to form, is simpler than painting.
The guiding principles of architecture are easily deduced from what has
been stated. We have two great laws ; the expression of polity, and pro-
gression. The first principle resulting from them is fitness. Fitness is
construction to attain the proposed end with certain materials in accor-
dance with the science of mechanics. This is building, which may be con-
sidered as limited to structures in which utility only is considered : a mis-
taken limitation, so far as respects the exclusion of beauty, but which now
exists. Civil Engineering, is the most scientific part of building on an
extensive scale. Fitness in decoration and ornament to define the purport
of an edifice, the period of its erection, the ideas and feelings of the
designer, and the polity of the age. This is architecture, or a superinducing
of expression on construction by means of architectural proportion,
sculpture and painting. Decoration applies to objects in which utility is
considered before beauty ; while with respect to ornament utility is secon-
dary to Ijcauty. A builder, it may be remarked,' is now generally a
capitalist who contracts to execute the ideas of others ; and an architect
• The right of republication and of translation of this series of articles is reserved
by the author.
+ The Builder, No. 526. '
I Ferpusson remarks that "St G»orgc'8 Hall, at Liverpool, is the most exact
copy in modern times of a part of the Baths of DiooIcti.au. "—" Handbook of Archi-
tecture."
or civil engineer, is an artist, or mmn of tdimct, gifted witii powen of
design or invention.
Let me now endeavor to apply theie principles to present developmcnti
of architecture. A philosophical history of the art, compriiing lonictbing
beyond a dry catalogue of styles and edi6ce>, has yet to be written. No
one has hitherto explained fully and satisfactorily how it is that while
nearly every nation of antiquity, and a grand Institution which flourithed
in its greatest splendor during the Middle Ages, devised styles peculiarly
suited to the purposes for which they were required, in these days men
appear to be so deficient in vigor of intellect and inventive power aa to
be able to do little better in architecture than tamely copy the worki of
those whom, in so many respects, they have long far exaelled. Edifices are
not now in any Christian country what they formerly were in almost
every country, indigenous and characteristic of the age to which they
owed their existence. More buildings have been erects! during the last
two hundred and fifty years than in any other equal period In the history
of the world ; yet, in following supinely archaic syttems, hardly an/
progress has been made in the development of a style appropriate to pre-
sent conditions of society. Instead of progressing, men retrace their
steps, and, in this its manhood, go back to the youth of the world.* They
attempt examples out of number of Grecian refinement, of Roman splen-
dor, of Arabian gaiety, and of Gothic impressiveness ; but we seek vainly
for a single instance of genuine modern British architecture. Even in our
Crystal Palace, with new materials, which should have edaced novd
design, forms two thousand years old are adopted ; but this mushroom
structure is suggestive rather of a confused collection of immenae bodldna,
or of a colossal glazed bird-cage, than of architecture; such a deatitation trf
art never having been exhibited before on so extensive a scale. Th«
" sermons in stones " in olden edifices are preached in vain :
they tell us to think for ourselves, and we only transcribe and steal the
discourse. That peculiar and unmistakable object in view, evident in
the ancient structures ; that appearance of fitness, that effect produced by
them per se, and proving that they rose out of and answered their pur-
poses, are now not sought to be attained. All appear to have forgotten
that the essence of architecture is expressed in the word realism. A fabric
being required for a certain object, it may be made to appear, or not to
appear, devoted to its destined use ; may, although modem, *«eni a struc-
ture of past ages, and yet, independently of appearances, answer many of
the requirements. The skill of the architect is shown in avoiding such an
anomaly : he has to add decoration which shall promote truthfiilly utili-
tarian exigencies. The difficulty of doing this is evident, even in articles
of domestic use, in which, when expression is attempted, the aim is
deception. Objects represented without regard to relative proportion ;
attempts to give flat surfaces the appearance of projecting in moulded
forms, shadows were none could be thrown, and horses, dogs, ballet-girls,
ships and trees scattered wildly about, without connexion with other
objects, are but a few of the incongruities which may be remarked. In
architecture villas are built like temples, pagodas and Gothic chapels ; and
" country boxes " exhibit generally little more design than deal boxes.
Lecture halls are masked by facades of Medieval churches ; churches in-
tended for Christian worship are planned like Pagan temples, in which the
statues of Jupiter and Minerva were placed ; halls of science are copied
from Mahometan mosques ; schools and hospitals are modelled after the
royal palaces and lordly mansions of olden days; and workhouses may be
mistaken for the baronial halls of Elizabeth's nobility. '' In no one
instance has the purpose or destination of the building formed the ground-
work of the composition : Grecian or Gothic, ecclesiastical or civil, it has
been a system oj adaptation. One man has adapted a temple, another a
castle, a third an abbey ; but temples, castles and abbeys owed their
existence to other wants and systems, foreign to those for which they have
been employed, and utter failure is the natural result. "f
Constable remarks that the genuine products of art, like those of
nature, are always distinct ; and that no two days, hours, or leaves, are
alike. If the reader considers this when glancing at modem buildmgs, he
will marvel how so many doors and windows exactly similar are tolerated.
Architects have become collectors from archaic works of" elegant extracts,"
which they put into a certain order, but add little really their own.
Again, we may consider them as men who attempt impossible translations
from one language into another. Even when partially successful we can
no more depend on such tangible translations of the past tlian on those m
literature, the spirit of the original being rarely seized, although the forms,
or words, may be given. As a general rule, the analogy between modern
architects and Sir Walter Scott's "Antiquary" is complete : he pretended
to some skill in poetry, only he never was able to make vers^ So they
pretend to be architects while little better than antiquaries and draughts-
men. The most skilful commit to memory the details of archaic styles,
just as a schoolboy learns his multiplication-table and Greek alphabet;
and, not exercising their own minds, " give us, instead of a Uving whole,
a patchwork collection of dead bones." , . », . • • , ,i,., ,„
The ancients knew that few copyists understand their origmal ; that to
a thoughtful mind reproduction is impossible ; and that no two men of
genius arrive at the same end by precisely the same means. Tbey did
not copy ; but they studied the best models, and deduced their own con-
elusions. Thus, their edifices expressed their destinations, the pCTiods of
erection, the ideas of the designers, and the polity of the age. wb nm.
We pro-
a computation backward from ourselves. -Bacon s Advanctmeni oi i-eMTuug.
Book I.
t rugio's "Apology."
222
THE BUILDING NEWS.
ceed on a precisely opposite course, and tlius produce precisely opposite
results. Our architecture is, in fact, one great " sham." As I have said
elsewhere : — " The reputation of an architect is not now based on his
own excellence, his intuitive genius, but on that of others. He applies
only his material learning, his objective knowledge of the tangible thoughts
of other men ; not any idiosyncratic subjective power of treatment he may
possess. Choked in the dust which his industry has raised, he rarely
dreams of thinking for himself ; and the public do not require hira to do
so. His merit consists in ability to select with Cire and taste the best
features from approved archaic exemplars ; not in looking into his own
mind and to nature for inspiration ; but in approaching as near as possible
to the feelings dictated by ancient fabrics ; without considering whether
it is appropriate to reproduce them, and to unwind, as it were, the cere-
cloths of a life which has passed away."*
A few words on the similarities between ancient edifices. Many may
say that numerous olden structures are so alike that the preceding ones
being designed it was easy to produce the others. Setting aside, at
present, the fact that the resemblances are more apparent than real, the
litRiliirilies are not absolutely objectionable. Desire of novelty for its own
sake never characterises great artists : appropriate expression is the first
requirement in art. There is this difference between parallel structures
in ancient and in modern times : in the case of the former whatever
similarities exist are of the iame pulily, not, as at present, repetitions of
polities which existed centuries previously. Kesemblances in ancient times
arosefrom thefact ofmen thinking together I those in modem times are
due to their coinciding in not thinking at a I. Between imitating legiti-
mately a fabric suited to the age, and copying illegitimately another un-
suitable to the age, for the purpose of obviating thought, there is a very
considerable diBerence. The similarities of old were often essential for
correct expression of the destination of structures. The prototype being
suitable for its purpose, and the times and other circumstances being
favourable to subsequent reproduction, this was so far justifiable, as no
other treatment would have been appropriate.
The resemblances in ancient edifices have however been much exagge-
rated. Professor Donaldson remarks:—" The ancients themselves were in
nothing bound by mere precedent. No two monuments of the Egyptian,
Greek, or Roman, artists, were precisely; alike yet each was imbued with
the leadmg feature of iU style or period: and this feeling was progressive
not retrograde. "t In Medieval architecture we observe a succession of
styles, there being as great a diflcrence between any" two styles as
between the Classic orders ; and Ruskin observes, that, " Every building
of the Gothic period differs in some important respect from every
other."t ■'
Considering the present system of education, we can scarcely marvel at
the anomalous position of modem arehitecture. Any " genteel young
gentleman with a taste for drawing"— to quote the advertisements of the
day— whose " parents or guardians " will pay a premium of X200, may,
by means of certam macliinery, be rolled into an architect, satisfying
a^ual requirements, at the end of about four years' attendance at the
office. " Dost thou think, man," said Sir Godfrey Kneller to his tailor,
who proposed his son as a pupil, " Dost thou think, man, I can make thy
son a painter? No! God Almighty only makes painters." The
ediBces which the " genteel young gentleman " subsequently erects are
the results of a .tystem oj manufacture, as mechanical and as much a
matter of rote as putting together Chinese puzzles or producing bales of
cotton. Art is turned into a trade, and the means of instraction are
neglected.
Whether the institution of certificates of proficiency in the present
chaotic state of architecture will remedy the above evils is obviously
doubtful; and it is transparent that diplomas are proposed rather with the
object of enhancing the respectability and gentility of architects than
with that of educing worthy art. An architect must educate himself ;
and the first valuable lesson which every truthful artist of modern times
—notably fumer and Millais— learat was to discard the orthodox system
of teaching and practice.
If the modem architect thinks deeply at all it is generally only in the
arrangement of his plans and sections, since he is forced to attend to con-
venience and construction. As to the decorations and ornaments, if he
cannot retain the old forms in his memory he has but to have books and
sketches by his side, and cover his drawings with facsimiles of doors,
windows and so forth, sometimes passing them through a kaleidoscopic
series of changes, to effect his remarkable task. Occasionally one edifice
Is picked out as the model to be copied, or parts of several are adopted.
or course a certain amount of ability is requisite to practise the
above, or other mechanical crafts ; but the difference between inventing
and manufacturing on the basis of another's invention is that between
archaic and present developments of architecture. It will soon be
evident that modern edifices generally may be reduced to three classes
exhibiting the following characteristics.
Simple coptfitm, when the parts are taken from one or two precedents in
an ancient style. Complex copyism, when the parts are derived from
several precedents in an ancient style, and there is obvious novelty in the
distribution of the details, although they are not recast in the mind of the
artist. Ecleclwum—nni the word is used here only In the following sense
—when the edifice is the result of the study of two or more styles, and
thus presents more originality than when one archaic style is copied. The
Pi^^tcSSmo;^^"""""'**''"^''^^'^'*'""" ="•«'' K^«. rrogress. and
t "Architectural Maximn."
1" The Stones of Venice."
March 15, 1861.
rank of eclectic works depends on the degree in which the present, or the
designer's own ideas, preponderate over the past, or the ideas of others.
Eclecticism is followed by indigenous, original and truthful design, to
which modern .wchitecture has not yet advanced
EdWABD L. TABBnOK.
W^
HOMES AND RAILWAYS IN THE METROPOLIS.
HEN the father of the canal system was asked of what utility he con-
ceived rivers to be, he replied without hesilation, " To feed canals, to
be sure !" and evinced so much surprise at the question, so much astonish-
ment that reasonable men could for a moment suppose natural streams
were ever destined to serve any but artificial purposes, that it was evident
he fancied Providence had bidden springs to burst from the bonds of earth
and flow seaward to conduce to the success of Richard Brindley's inven-
tion. In a similar spirit a Spanish friar bade his hearers admire that Divine
Wisdom which ordained rivers to flow by large cities. We smile at these
illustrations of how a hobby may be ridden to death, of how men of genius
may so identify themselves with the one particular subject of their study,
as to grow ridiculously obtuse with respect to everything else ; but we
must not forget that the present time abounds with far sadder examples of
the same tendency. Thereare men, lacking the genius of Brindley and the
naive faith of the Spaniard, who adopt as their rule of conduct the sacrifice
of the general good to individual profit and convenience. Our forefathers
built churches, colleges, and schools for the instruction and happiness of
posterity. We, conceiving ourselves to be wiser in our generation than they
were, take no heed of those who are to come after us. Lord Castlereagh
once ironically inquired why should he be held to do anything for posterity
seeing that posterity had done nothing for him. Railway men appear to have
mistaken his sarcasm for a moral axiom, and to have adopted it for the
rule of their professional conduct. So, as they have taken upon them-
selves to make our ways, in consideration of handsome salaries, perquisites,
and patronage, they lay down as one common universal law that the health
and convenience of the public, as well as the architectural effects of cities,
are to be set aside to promote the success of their schemes. Doubtless, if
asked, they would say that capitals were founded and towns built for
the special reception of railway termini, and that we ought to admire that
wisdom which inspired King Ludd to lay the foundations of the metropolis
where the Blackwall, Eastern Counties, Great Northern, Great Western,
South Western, South Eastern, and Brighton Railways may discharge
or receive traflic.
Railway speculation is, in all probability, a chronic affliction of engineers,
contractors, lawyers, and the fools who constitute the majority of what is
termed the moneyed class. It is, perhaps, like the cholera, never totally
absent, but is malignant at regular intervals, or it occurs periodically with
the like symptoms and the like results— enthusiastic demands for economy
of time and the impoverishment of the golden egg-laying geese to the
fattening of their ensnarers. It therefore manifests itself under different
forms in various classes, though the symptoms and results in each are
invariable. Thus those who were rich grow poor, while those who were
poor grow rich. Men of station, social position, education, and good incomes,
gradually disappear beneath the dull level of poverty. Their daughters
are sent out as nursery governesses, and their sons seek means of livingin
the New World. The simpleton who risked his all upon the fair promises
of railway promoters, retires to moulder away in a quiet street in a suburb,
consumed by the memory of his past folly, and longing for the forgetful-
ness of the past which comes not in this world. In place of such men
there arise others, of whom the least said the better perhaps. Railway
directors, lawyers, engineers, contractors et id genus omne, are gene-
rally speaking ignorant, vulgar, selfish, and offensive. Sprung from
the working classes, they strive to make their origin forgotten by
systematic ill-treatment of their former fellows. They are ambitious of
figuring in public life because it gratifies their inordinate vanity,
and now and then puts a good job in their way. A seat in Parliament
will facilitate their obtaining the concession of foreign railways in return
for which they are ready to place their Parliamentary services at the
disposal of the conceder. They are charitable, provided their names are
advertised. They are anxious, above all things, to get into good society,
but being fat, splay-footed, large red-handed, gross -feeders, awkward,
loud-talkers, and pottle-deep drinkers, their presence is not desirable. If
admitted to society, it is for the sake of tlie capital they represent, and,
in turn, they are preyed upon. As they forget to aspirate their H's they
exasperate their polite and noble hearers, who, as compensation for the an-
noyance they undergo, deem themselves justified in lightening their money
bags. The world has not gained socially by the substitution of sharp Rail-
waymen for credulous gentlemanly simpletons. The sharpness, shrewdness,
and eye for business which characterise the first do uot outweigh the sense
of honor and contempt for falsehood which accompanied the foolish credulity
of the others. The men who have been made by the development of the
railway system, John Sadlier, George Hudson, and Samuel Laing, together
with others whose peculiar mode of transacting business has not yet been
made public, are not quite the representatives of English uprightness and
honor in the middle of the nineteenth century. They are not the types
we should the most wish to exhibit of society in our day. We would rather
be judged by the simpletons who did not suspect the existence
of sharp practice and misrepresentation, whereby they lost their
fbrtnnes.
These reflections, which proceed almost involuntarily, will be thought
senile and out of date by the concoctcrs of the Omni-Termini Grand Junction
Railway. But let the reader glance back through the last fifteen or twenty
years and count up how many of his friends and acquaintances have been
March 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
223
rutne<l by bubble companies; let him remember their private worth, their
pleasant families, their unostentatious and genial hospitality, their conver-
sation enlivened by touclies of quiet humour, and graced by memories of
literary studies. Then let him contrast these qualities with those possessed
by the successful blowers of bubbles, with the obtrusion of wealth, the
affectation of plain speaking to disguise impertinence, the crass ignorance
of all the arts except that of making money, and selflshness so intensified
as to convert the individual into a species of hedgehog, repellant at all
points. There is, however, one consolation. Men so puffed out, in the
end collapse. Whatever position they acquire is soon lost, for as "the
money wliich is got over the devil's back is lost under the devil's belly,"
their social standing and their wealth, to which it was solely owing, both
go together. Where are the railway magnates of 1845 and 1846 ? Many
of them are sunk to a lower depth than their dupes.
We used to be called a law beridden people ; we are so still, and have
taken up a fresh incubus. We are a law and engineering ridden race.
Instead of one we have two Old Men of the Sea to carry, and can
discern little prospect of being able to cast them off". All things and all
men are to be sacrificed to these twin incubi, and whole sections of one
class, of the poorest and least able to bear transplanting, are to be driven
from their homes to permit of unprofitable speculations being attempted.
The mania of '45 is reviving, and unless strong measures be adopted im-
mediately it promises to be as wide spread and disastrous in its conse-
quences now as it was then. In addition to the 9,000 or 10,000 miles of
railway worked in the United Kingdom, and the 3,000 miles in the course
of construction, 3,000 more miles are submitted to Parliament for its
sanction. The speculation is so gigantic and so preposterously costly that
it might be left to be dealt with by the simple operations of the money
market, did we not know from melancholy e.xperience how easily fools
and their wealth are parted. Although they can obtain 8 per cent in
secure investments, they will sink their capital in enterprises that at the
most will give 4 per cent, and in all probability nothing. However with
railways in the provinces we have not to deal, we shall confine our atten-
tion to those which propose the permanent disfigurement of the metro-
polis, and the forcible displacement of a large proportion of the popu-
lation. From what Lord Derby stated in the House of Lords there are
projected between 60 and 70 miles of new railways in the metropolis
and suburbs, and most of their termini converging within a restricted
area in the heart of the City.
It is practicable to have too much of a good thing ; railways are very
good, but too many of them, as it is proposed to give Londoners, will prove
detrimental to their health, trade and convenience. A great deal of
ridicule and smartness is indulged in at the expense of the proposed
to confine railway termini to a remote circumference of the capital, and
of the proposition made by Lord Canning's commission in 1846 that when
railways should be allowed to penetrate further into the metropolitan area,
they should do so in compliance with a well ordonnanced and uniform
plan. Now we believe the placing a limit to the intramural advance of
railways, except in compliance with a regular and well defined scheme, to
be about the wisest thing ever propounded by Royal Commission ; and
for this reason,— most of the railways are competing schemes whereby
railway property is unduly and disastrously depreciated. Companies are
engaged in what is figuratively called cutting one another's throats. They
are more occupied with damaging and attracting traffic from a rival, than
in earning good dividends, and it is not to the interests of the common-
wealth that Parliament should foster so suicidal a policy.
If there be one thing in which the writers of City articles in public
journals concede the French have greatly surpassed us, it is in the laying
out and management of their railways. They have not constructed com-
peting lines or suffered projectors to get up schemes without regard to the
■value of the investment or the satisfaction of public requirements. The
consequence is, we are told, that the regular channels of traffic are well
supplied, no branch or extension is worked at a loss ; the system is well
combined, the parts admirably coordinate, the lines are tolerably direct, and
— best of all — good dividends are earned, which give to railway property a
higher value there than here, although French railways are held on short
leases, while English railways are the property in perpetuity of the im-
poverished shareholders. The best paying Knglish line is the Midland,
whose £100 shares are quoted at £126, while the one that runs through
the richest district— the London and North Western— is depreciated 5 per
cent. Across the channel the Northern shares have risen from £20 to £38;
the Mediterranean nearly the same amount, and Orleans sl-.ares from £206
to £257. Tlie value of the investments in these three lines has augmented
by from 100 to nearly 200 per cent. The reason of this great superiority
of French railways over English ones is stated on all sides to bo from the
absence of competing schemes, of unprofitable extensions, and of their
being carried out in obedience to a systematic arrangement of the whole.
With regard to railway termini in Paris, the Ponts et Cliaussees adopted
the rule of the English Government, not allowing them to penetrate into
the centre or traverse it. The only instance of what may appear to be a
relaxation of the rule, is the construction of the Vincennes railway with
its terminus near the Place de la Bastile. But in reality the line
is not in contravention of the general rule, because the Place
is as remote as Euston-square from the centre of business, and the
district it traverses within the octroi wall — now remove>l — is but thinly
built upon. The Rouen station is the nearest to the great tide of traffic,
but when looked at in respect to its advance witliin the walls, and ;he
district passed through, it will not be found to violate the general rule.
The French system for regulating the position of railway termini in the
capital, which, we are told, works so admirably and with such great
pecuniary advantages to the shareholders, is precisely that recommended
by Lord Canning's commission fifteen years ago, which is now virtually
set at naught. If we take the Parvis in front of Notro Dame for a
centre, it will be seen that the termini are upon a tolerably remote circum-
ference. To obviate the inconvenience that would arise from the break in
heavy and goods traffic, a girdle railway has been constructed, which bring*
all the termini into communication. Thus, when there U a preature
on one of the lines, the rolling stock of the others can be borrowed without
difficulty or loss of time, as was done during the Italian war. With tlii*
experience before us, we submit that we should adhere to a system devised
here that has been copied so successfully in Paris. Were thia done we
should have nothing to envy our neighbors.
If all the metropolitan railways were connected there would be no
break of traffic, and our streets would be relieved from the pressure which
leads to congestion ; while, by carrying out four schemes, three of which
are near completion, and the other pretty sure of being sanctioned, we
should be in a much better position than our neighbors. If the reader
will glance at a map he will perceive that the portion of the girdle
railway on the north bank of the river is nearly complete by the
India Docks and Birmingham Junctions and Kensington Railway.
The South Western viaduct over the Thames affords an opportu-
nity of connecting the northern and southern railways j what re-
mains to be done to complete the girdle is to connect the Bricklayers* Arm*
branch with the South Western and to supply meant for connecting
railways below bridge, either by a floating steam bridge like the one in
use at Gosport, or by means of that monument to public folly and engineer-
ing recklessness — the Thames Tunnel.
Supposing this done and the railway along the Thame* embank-
ment constructed, it will then be seen that this last will constitute the
great diameter of the metropolitan area and form a line of communi-
cation east and west ; with railway stations at London-bridge, Black-
friars, Waterloo-road, Charing-cross, and Pimlico; the south river traffic
would be amply accommodated, while the requirements of the north river
traffic will be satisfied by the underground railway and its terminus near
Smithfield. We submit that nothing more is requisite ; railway extension*
within the metropolis do not pay. It would be a great mistake to concen-
trate the various tides of traffic in one common centre, became all pat-
sengers do not want to go to the same place and because such concentra-
tion would produce confusion worse confounded. It is an even greater
mistake to suppose the destruction of the dwellings of the poor is attended
with advantage to themselves. To compel the working classes to live at a
distance from where they are employed is to impose upon them unneceiaary
expenditure, to impair family relations, and to encourage drunkenneii.
If a man cannot go home to his dinner he is ,in that respect keeping two
establishments and compelled to incur additional outlay, while be is driven
to an eating-house, or worse — a public house, where habits of estrangement
from home are gradually fostered and a tendency to indulge in strong drink*
encouraged. For the sake of the homes of working classes in the metropolis,
the domestic happiness of their families, the architectural and sanitary im-
provements of London, and the pockets of shareholders, we trust the
Legislature will sanction none of the schemes this session. The Thames
embankment and railway have been referred to a commission, why not
refer to the same body the question of metropolitan railway termini ?
Leslie Suttok.
THEATRICAL SCENERY.
THE new opera of the " Amber Witch" has been put on the stage by
Mr. E. T. Smith with his usual liberality and completeness. The
music is composed by Wallace, and the scenery is painte<l by Beverley.
It is, of course, with respect to the latter that our observations will be
made. The first scene is the interior of a pastor's house, wherein dwells
the heroine of the opera. This scene, like many others of the humbler kind,
presents artistic merits which are very little, or scarcely at all, either appre-
ciated or even perceived by persons who generally frequent our theatres;
which neglect being so prevalent is one of the causes which have induced the
writing of this series of articles; for in the proportion that art can be better
understood as it is presented to the public on the stage, so will the pleasure
and amusement of the audience be increased, and the ingenuity as well as
the artistic merits of scene-painting be rewarded. Besides the skill dis-
played in this quiet-looking interior, Mr. Beverley has had, as is usual »n^
such scenes, to encounter a choice of evils. The difficulty has always been
in large theatre?, to reduce the comparatively vast area about the stage-
both in height and width, to the real size of cottage or other humble in-
teriors. The attempt has been] made with respect to the lormer in the
present instance, but, we think, with no very great success. In order to
lower the ceiling of the room, the beams so common in the period and in
the country in which the scene is laid are made to descend so acutely to
the opening into the street, that the houses on the opposite side of the way
appear too like the roofs instead of the entire buildings, when compared
with the size of the room, because the beams in question which unavoidably
commence at the full height of the proscenium, show that to be the true
size of the room upwards, and their rapid descent to meet the top of the
wall fivcing the audience, instead of producing diminution of elevation,
merely succeeds in suggesting an impossible ceiling. In these realistic
times artists are tempted to make various experiments; but we think, par-
ticularly in scene-painting, which few persons trouble themselves to
criticise or examine too closely as to probabilities, unless a decidedly
successful improvement can be made, it is better not to disturb the
accepted conditions of difficulties, leaving the artists time to employ
224
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 15, 1861.
their energies in a more practical direction. We mean, as theatrical
•adiences are accustomed to accept the stage of a large theatre,
however high and wide it may be, as the interior of a cottage
or any other small apartment, however much too spacious in both
directions it should really appear, and as it is not possible to remove
the absurdity, it is wise to leave it in undisturbed possession of the
privilege it must and will retain. Having pointed out that which we
consider a serious mistake, we have much more pleasure in addressing
ourselves to the artistic merits of this scene. The houses seen through
the wide opening in the pastor's house are painted quite in the feeling of
the old masters, as Ilobbinia or Ruysdael would have treated them ; and
the interior of the room itself forms an admirable foreground to the dis-
tant part of the picture. The tints in the former are cleverly subdued,
contrasted, and distributed. The warm color is on the reddish-tiled roof
in the centre, below it the weather-boarding over a shed is of a cool but
mbdned grey ; the projection of this casts the depth and breadth of
shadow, which at its sharpest edge meets the whitest portion of the old
plastered wall of the house behind it, the principal and local white being
repeated and distributed on what appears to be the remains of an ancient
chfttcau in the background, on one side, and is balanced by some dark houses
on the other, which serve to spread the dark shadow already mentioned,
while a gallery running horizontally across the back gives steadiness to
this part of the picture, and at the same time, by its parallel lines, con-
trasts with the irregular and picturesque forms of the houses. The paint-
ing of the interior of the room, as we have said, produces an excellent
foreground. On the left of the wide doorway leading into the street is the
old pastor's bookcase, in which some folio volumes, not in very regular
order, serve to connect the interior with the irregular forms of the ex-
terior, and the vivid colors of their bindings give life and point to the
general effect. The light is supposed to enter the room from a window to
the left of the bookcase, partly closed by a dark green curtain, and between
the two is a bright gleam of light, thrown on the white plaster of the wall,
which brings the local whites from the back scene into the foreground, and
by its brightness causes them to keep their places in the distance; and this
key white is balanced on the right of the doorway leading into the street
by some white papers lying on an escritoire, which also serves as a counter-
poise to the bookcase near the window. The ceiling is grey, relieved by the
pale warm tints of the beams, and the walls of the room, being also grey,
keep the eye from wandering away from the point of interest formed by
the back scene. But the picture is not complete until the heroine stands
in front. The vivid red of her dress, as a key-spot, gives unity to the
whole, the grey apron giving it point by contrast, being at the same time,
in comparison with the surrounding greys, and the superior whiteness of
her collar and cuffs controls all the other local whites In the composition.
This dress has still more power when supported by the black clothes worn
by her father the pastor, whose black cloak thrown over a stool behind
them, connects these figures with the background. The story upon which
the opera is founded records an event supposed to take place in the small
town of Coserow, in Pomerania, the time the seventeenth century ; sothe
quaint style of the buildings and the dimness of their colors are highly
&vorabIe to picturesque treatment — an advantage of which Mr. Beverley
has availed himself with great tact and skill.
The scene changes to an apartment in the house of tHe commandant.
This is very characteristic of the period. In the centre is a long per-
spective of open doors leading through spacious apartments, and in the
front of this succession of retiring and simple geometrical forms is a square
table with a lighted candle upon it. The employment or rejection of
elementary forms is a severe test in pictorial composition. On the right
of the audience is a projecting or enclosed doorway, while on the opposite
side, not coming so forward on the stage, is the wall of an adjoining apart-
ment. The woodwork is oak, carved in pillars supporting semicircular
arches; in the upper panels, which are square, is tapestry in grey, sur-
rounded by borders in a still lighter tint of the same color, which, con-
trasting with the warm color of the wainscoting, produces a very agreeable
effect, the whole l)eing kept in subordination by the rich crimson cloth
and the lighted candle on the table. The white parts of the costly dress
worn by the commandant, and the dark red costume in which the female
traitress appears, find repeats in the tapestry and woodwork; and the
middle distance receives relief when the listening attendant stands by the
side of the table in the gloom beneath the pillar which supports the
ceiling, by wearing a brown dress, with red stockings appearing above his
high boots, which tend to diffuse the warm colors and oppose the cool
ones. There is, also, a window on the left in this scene, but the curtain is
of a rich crimson broadly covered by shadow. The light on the table,
placed in direct opposition to the retiring grey of the avenue of open doors,
it an artistic point of the arrangement.
The third scene of the first act is the market-place in Coserow, and as a
eomposition is both learned and picturesque. The principal mass of light
is thrown upon a large cloud rising above some quaintly formed and orna-
mented buildings on the distant sideof the market-place; their light fronts,
supported by the darker part of the sky behind them, continue the light in
a milder tone downwards. Partly before these, in the middle distance, is the
market-house in dark colors of rich and varied tints, casting a grey shadow
which reaches nearly across the stage. As a foreground object; and as a
contrast in tone and size to the mass of light houses at the back, is placed
an ancient fonntain of very peculiar form. Around its basins are water-
vessels, and garments to be washed ; this brings the rich colors forward,
which are at the corner of the market-house, consisting of a white water-
bottle, which/as a point of interest, balances against a building in half tint,
with stone steps partly seen on the left, while a piece of rich red cloth,
the yellow of some straw having the light thrown upon them, find their
complementary color in the green of the surrounding vegetables, and the
warmer tints are conveyed upwards by the tiles of the shed over them.
The means by which this pleasing arrangement is obtained are, perhaps,
more conventional than probable; but the artist has compensated for that
by his forbearance from putting the slightest disturbing sparkle of light
on the jets of water issuing from the fountain, which would have destroyed
the repose of the scene. The arrival of the King, followed by his retinue,
villagers, &c., although very splendid as a pageant, in itself does not
accord with the quaint simplicity of the buildings, nor does the bright
yellow dress worn by the heroine in honor of his majesty's arrival assist
in bringing the discordant masses into union. Thus it appears that, how-
ever excellent large masses or striking points may be in them-
selves, unless they are of such a kind as to assimilate with
others, affording mutual help towards one great result, they become
antagonistic and naturally destroy each other. The second act commences
with a view of the Streckelberg mountain by moonlight. It is of singular
form ; too much so, indeed, to compose with any other object agreeably.
The artist has, therefore, made it occupy nearly the whole surface of his
canvas, and attracted the attention of the audience from it by placing a
brilliant moon on one side, and above it the interest has further been con-
centrated on this point by an excellent imitation of light fleecy clouds
passing beneath and across it. The constant change effected by this
arrangement not only gives interest to the scene by the continued move-
ment going on in the progress and drifting away of the mists and clouds
which render the dark and gloomy mountain more massive by their small-
ness, and by the contrast of their motion seem to fix its rocky and pon-
derous base more firmly upon the ground. The only other resource the
scene -painter had at his command to relieve the angular and peculiar form
of the mountain he has availed himself of by placing some clouds beneath
the moon midway between the earth and the summit of the mountain (which
is blended with the dark blue of the sky); and parallel to the horizon, the
parts of which in shadow serve to distribute the darkness of the mountain,
while their illumined edges do the same service for itsligiiter portions, and,
besides diffusing both the lights and shadows on its surface, connect as far
as possible its huge and gloomy form with the moon-lit sky. The stage,
being quite as dark as the mountain, gives extraordinary brilliancy to the
moon, but there is too much space lost in darkness until the witches
appear, and then the local colors of their dresses, dark grey and red, break
up the nearly all-pervading obscurity: their figures give size to the
mountain, [and complete the picture by occupying the stage foreground.
The edges of the gauzes that pass over the face of the moon are not
always very nicely cut, but upon the whole the changes are very well
managed, and are judiciously allowed to remain quiet when the business
of the stage demands the attention of the audience. The homely dress
which the heroine has resumed is equally effective in this scene as it was in
the first, and for the same reasons, except that the local whites tell with
more point against the dark mountain, by comparison increase its dreari-
ness and the brilliancy of the light near the horizon of the back scene.
The deep-brown dress of the lover when close to the heroine, like the black
dress of her father, gives additional point and force to the local colors of her
humble costume; and the subdued but low-toned and rather warm lights on
the mountain give delicacy, brightness, and distance by comparison and
opposition to the diffusion of cool moonlight in the sky.
In the third act we return to the pastor's house, but it is the exterior,
and, beyond some old-fashioned buildings very well painted, offers no
opportunity for further remark. A prison scene follows, in which the
simple but artistic arrangement deserves a brief notice. The heroine is
cast into prison as a witch. There the vast area of the theatre serves to
give the effect of gloom and solitariness to the prisoner, chained to a massive
pillar in the middle of the stage. The skill of the painter has thrown a
positive light upon the pillar, close to which her couch is placed. The
vastness of the prison is increased by a semicircular arch, which extends
from one side of the stage to the other; near her, and reaching to the top
of the theatre, is a dark green curtain concealing a hall of justice. The
cloak which partially covers the prisoner as she lies on her pallet is pro-
bably a rich deep brown, as it just relieves against the cooler dark of the
curtain, and forms a rather positive opposition to the low-toned grey of
the masonry of the prison. The principal light being confined to the
pillar over head, it was necessary to connect the equally positive dark of
her cloak with it; this has been judiciously done by painting a rusty ring-
bolt in the centre of the light; and a more extensive union of the figure
with the surrounding scene is obtained by the grey part of her dress being
repeated in the subdued grey lights of the stonework. The bright red of
her bodice again tells well against the surrounding coldness and gloom; and
all the local colors worn by her receive support, as before, from the black
dress of her father, while its extreme blackness, assisted by his white collar
and cuffs, as so many spots, throw the whole of the back scene into breadth,
air, and distance.
The fourth act commences with another dungeon, in which the hero is
confined. Here the arrangement is the reverse of the above, for, instead
of the light on a pillar at his back, a gay banner bearing all his heraldic
distinctions is placed. This requires no further comment beyond observing
that the same purpose is answered by totally different means. In the
preceding scene the interest was concentrated by the figure being placed
against the principal light, and in this the attention is attracted and the
composition completed by a banner, brightly colored, placed in the same
situation for a similar purpose. The last scene of the opera is the Streckel-
berg, with a distant view of the village of Coserow, seen by daylight.
Here a stake has been erected for the execution of the heroine. The scene
March 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
225
itself evidently does not satisfactorily answer both purposes, for when seen
with a daylight effect the mountain looks harsh, black, and cold, all of
which the sky partakes; the general effect is, therefore, neither natural
nor picturesque. But those scenes which we have found worthy of praise,
being the greater portion of the scenic department connected with the new
opera, are sufficient to show that the management, as well as Mr. Beverley,
deserve the applause which is bestow^d upon them every evening when
the " Amber Witch" is performed at Her Majesty's Theatrs in the Hay-
market.
MR. J. P. SBDDON ON THE GROTESOUE IN ART.*
TlIF!; earliest essays of Christian art were, liowever, simply of a symbolical character,
and although sometimes calculated to raise a smile by the quaint rudeness of
their execution, and altliou<^h among their symbols they employed and pave a new
signification to many of the fanciful conceptions of the aniique, there is no intentional
grotesque in them. Nor, Indeed, do we meet with this till long after the days of t'on-
stantine, at which time Christianity, having no further need for the shelter of the
catacombs, became the established religion of the empire, and took possession of, and
adapted to her own rites, the old basilica of the Romans, and began to build churches
after the same type. For Art seemed yet to be in swaddling-clothes, and not able to
walk alone, and the distraction which ensued prevented her progress. While rival
popes and emperors, self-elected heads of the now triumphant church, hurled
anathemas at each other from Rome and Byzantium, artists in the former city were
striving to realise, as far as their imbecility allowed them, the dignitled traditional
form of our Lord, those in the latter, in a spirit of perversity, were endeavouring to
portray him witli the utmost amount of hideousness. Both the failures of the one
class and the successes of the other supply us with works which may amuse or
disgust, but with nothing that we can recognise as proper grotesque.
When, however, the Barbarians from the far North and East came down like suc-
cessive torrents upon the decaying empire, they brought new life and energy into the
arts of that Christianity to which they became converts, and which otTered to them so
rich a field of history and symbolism for them to weav,i into the imagery they
delighted in. Under their hands arose the true humorous grotesque. They were
men who did whatever they undertook to do with all their might and main ; thus,
when they fought, they recked neither of tlieir own lives nor of those of others, and
in their fury they destroyed so utterly what came in their way, as, for their day at least,
to make good the boast of Attila, that the grass grew not where tlieir horses trod ;
but the battle being won and the country conquered, they mixed with its people as
eqiiils, not tyrants, and willingly learnt from them their arts and infused into them
their own strength and vigor; so that, mingled with their quaint versions of the
sacred and legendary 'lore of the church, we find chronicles of their wars and scenes
of the hunting-field, and can read in their own writings in stone how they lived and
worked, and iu what manner they joked and laughed, sometimes wisely and some-
times not, as I shall be able to show you in the carvings of their porches and capitals.
The period of which I am speaking was that when the dread year lOOO after Christ
has passed, and -.vith it the nightmare of the anticipated end of the world, which had
been previously oppressing men's minds, and restraining their efforts in the erection
of monuments which they deemed so soon to be involved in the coming doom. Now
throughout Christendom men began to build with astonishing rapidity, and this
Romanesque style spread over Italy, and thence along the banks of the Rhine into
France, and into Normandy and England in that modified phase known to us as
Norman ; in each country showing the same nervous and manly character, andevery-
where revelling in the grotesque. The nomenclature of styles has become so fixed
that it would be inconvenient to alter it, yet the title Romanesque is not altogether
suitable to the architecture of this period : it might have been far more appropriately
called the Renaissance, for it alone in the whole history of art was really such ; for it
was the new birth of one sprung from theashes of Paganism, and which, phoenix-Uke,
soared on the wings of the Christian taith heavenwards, till inthe fulness of its power it
reached the utmost sublimity man's work has ever yet attained in the glorious in-
teriors of the Krencli Gothic cathedrals of the thirteenth century, such as that of
Amiens, and in the sculptured Te Deums of such portals as that of Rlieims (photo-
graph No. 9) ; nor did it once stoop from its higli aim until, over-ambitious, it ran to
seed, as in the lofty choir of Beauvais, and. palsied by looks cast backwards at Roman
paganism, it stands congealed as it were in Its last expiring efforts in the bossy and
Infinite richness of the stately Flamboyant pillars of the wcstfrontof Rouen Cathedral,
as seen in photograph No. 1.3.
While searching in the Exhibition for examples of grotesque work from the archi-
tecture of the Romanesqe and (Jothic styles to bring to your notice, I have tailed to
discover much to represent the phase that it assumed In Italy, and must pass that,
therefore, with but merely an honorable mention of it and of those prime favorites of
mine, the monsters guarding the entrances of most of its Romanesque churches,
bearing the pillars of the porches ; but in photographs Nos. SOU and 510, you will
find a grand winged griffin on the angle of the string-course of the west front of
banta Maria, Toscanella.
I think in a former exhibition we had views of the front of S.JIichele, at Lucca, and
therefore some of you may possess copies which I would have you guard as the apple
of your eye, ashaving, perhaps, the most characteristic and oneof the richest facades
of this style, covered with grotesque sculptures, but which is, I understand, threat-
ened to be taken down and rebuilt, or, in other words, restored in the wrong sense of
the word, unfortunately prevalent abroad. Should such be the case, I would suggest
that the Committee for the Architectural Museum might beg tobe allowed to purchase
the old carvings taken out, rather than, as at LLsieux, they should be used for mending
the roads with ; or a protest, however useless, might be at least a melancholy satis-
faction to the Koyal Institute of British Architects, if they could be prevailed upon to
feel interest in any other Italian work, besides that scheduled to be such by that
eminent and positive architectural authority. Lord Palmerston.
Photograph No. 44 gives us the entire west front of the church of Notre Dame, at
Poitiers, and No. 4.5, a portion of the same to a larger scale. This facade, like that
last named, 18 encrusted all over with grotesque sculpture. Every stone seems
writhing with animal life, the capitals of the columns and the archivofts are thickly
studded with quaint birds and beasts, the spandrels and larger niches are filled with
subjects irregularly arranged and with statues ; the cornices are composed of cor-
belled arcades, every corbel of which Is a grotesque head, and from beneath the
shadow of every arch peeps some queer creature whom one can fancy one hears
chattering and jibing at his neighbors or the specutors, like so many monkeys in a
menagerie.
Photograph No. 3.3 gives the tympanum of the doorway of the church of St. Ursin,
at Bourgcs, with its three tiers of sculpture, of which Mr. Pullan in his lecture gave
a description. The uppermost tier represcntsjthe adventures of Keynard the fox, the
centre one, a spirited hunting scene, and the lowest, emblematical figures of the
months ; below is the name of the author on a tablet, thus,—" Giraldus fecit istas
portas."
No. 39 shows the elevation of Nos. 03 and M, the sides of the western portal at
Hoissac. so admirably described both by Mr. Pullan and by Mr. Waring last night at
the Royal Institute of British Architects, that I need only refer you to what they
have s.iid respecting it, and call your attention tothe wealth of minor grotesquedctail
which it presents, as in the fishes with animals' heads coursing each other up the
mouldings, an excellent enlarged drawing of a few of which has been kiudly made for
me for tile occasion by my friend Sir. Barber.
In the photographs No. :ir.l and 302 you will find some really good Norman 6x-
amplcs from capitals in Canterbury Cathedral. In the former, upon the side to-
wards the light, are two winged beasts with dogs' heads ; they are clutching at the
• Concluded from pag^e 213.
sides of the pmel and Mwin to be Iwrklng at PMh oMHr, jMt ■• don te la
Upon the darker side is a tgan. hall-liuiuan itad hnir-na. •Imat lo do iMltlJStt
two terrible ghoBtly looking monsters, which seem to bare Juaptd (wt aDM kS
unawares, but which, though apptrcDtIv sonMwbat taken abnck, hevnomiStmSi
manfully with the weagions he Is gruplni;. ()■ the other capital Cmrda the uS
IS a lion with a comic cuougli brad, but whoM bcrtllDg brows, slarlnit eniballa. ivS
*",!:?,•*!? »''"?8y n"""?. ""h well moulded trunk and qoartcn ibow no lack atoiwmr
while his tall curls round his loins nervonily and branehea into conrcDtlonaloraa.
mcnt with a good and vigorona Unc. On tlie darker aid* there Is a truly noble r*^m
who 18 carrying some unhappy wiirht of the alUntor bnwl, who baa eridmiUr ba4
his (luantum for this life, for. though nearly a« bkr aa hia oaplor, ha la held la hS
mouth like a wretched cur by a mastiir: oneriems to hear the teeth entoeUnclhtOMk
gristle and bone, and to leel that though the atrunle haa been a din one all laoaM
over and that the griffin 1. about to fly awaywith the earcaae (aa doaMleM be h weU
? ,1? '?■ '".2,"'"'' """•= K'*"* '^ffs o' bla) to itoek the larder of Mn. OrUln and (be
little Grifuns at home.
In the very fine photograph (No 15 in the ooUeollon) of the noble north doonnir
of the western front ol Rouen Cathedral-a work of r.tern Early Gothic eharaeler-ls
arelicfof Herodias dancing before Herod. The posture of the dancer is ao curloa*
that even if it be a simple matUr-of-fact representation of the atyle of ballet daaelaa
ot the day, (as would seem probable by Us occurring In other ootenporarr readcvSi
of the same event) we may be pardoned now for consldertne to be ■omewbat MO-
tesque : and, though Herod and his friends seem to be enjoylnr It. we cannot iiTw
our sympathy to John the Baptist wliose bewl was taken to pay for ao aorTT a
performance. "^ ' — ..j .
The facades of the transepts of the sane cathedral are of the more eompMa
hrench Gothic, and if less manly and vigorous than the above and other works of
the noble Early Gothic of France, it is perhaps more refined. The EfOlewra*
element is still to be found in its sculpture, but less pronlnentlT-aadwiselriOL
because it would not have been well that attention sboold be dlttmeled tram
from the serious sculpture of the several sacred events preeented In the trmpanma.
or from the stately etatues in the niches, yet at the same time theae having been weU
read and the general efl'cct sufficiently studied, we mav be thankful to find that the
smallest details are deserving of close examination and that they are foil of a cha-
racter which may afford relaxation and amnaemeat after the sterner studv of the
former. '
And we ought to remember that even if we onrselres feel not aoeh a neceasltr
having plenty of resources which existed not when this poem In stone was written'
itis yet a human necessity, and was rightly recognised as such by those ratbcdnd
builders, whose intention it was to engage and retain the minds of the people, who
had no substitute for "Charivari" or "Punch." but such as they chose to give to them,
and who could not be expected to be always reading serious sculptures, any mot«
than we can serious books' without finding them dull at last.
The south transept is well represented in Photograph No. 47. but the grotewinei
can hardly be seen without a micro.scone, by using which it will be discovered that
all the minute angles of the quatrefoil panels, forming the diaper of scnlptiircd
bas-reliefs upon the pedestals and round the lower part of the entrance, are filled br
humorous httle animals, many of which arc really wonderful for the amonnt of
expression which has been put into them. Some of these have been admlrablr
described by Mr. Ruskin in his •' Lamp of Life " but as he statea that there are 280 tf
them, they will supply something fresh for many an admirer. I srleeted a few In
sketch, some of which were in positions so difficult to get at that I donbt If anroaa
else has seen them since they were left by the nculptor, and probably langhed over
by himself and his companions. There is one spandrel in which are two little half-
human creatures ; thelowerone, upon whom the weightof the quatrefoil panel may be
supposed to rest, appears to be sufl'ering from pressure, while the other, more
fortunate in his place, is bawling, aa if in mockery, Into the ear of his male, asmaiiT
a malicious school-boy would now-a-days at a friend in like trouble.
If there were, however, no other and higher object in the grotesque than that of
mere amusement, the question might still be put as It was once by St. Bernard In a
letter written by him to the Abbi- of St. Thierry, in the following words:— "Of what
use are these grotesque monsters? and what 'is the meaning and purpose of these
huge apes, these furious lions, and monstrous centaurs, or of these quadrupeds with
serpents' tails, &c'?"
Whether or not that some of these may bo open to the charge of extravagance, B
is nevertheless certain that the general conception of art in the medieval system waa
that it should be a means of instruction In the mysteries and doctrines of the
Christian religion, and in days before printed books existed, and mannsoripta were
but scarce and too precious for general use, a most efficient and valuable means it
proved. M. Bidron tells ns that In the Cathedrals of Chartres, Rheims, Paris,
Amiens, and others, there were often from 2,000 to 4,ooo statues in stone, and la
some instances as many as ."i.ooo figures painted on glass, not merely ornamental, bot
presenting and explaining a complete encyclopaedia of theological and natural
science as then understood or believed in ; and in this the principle of evil, with the
wages thereof, deatli and hell, was portrayed, .as well as that of good, with heaven
its reward and ail the hosts thereof Now, upon examination it will be found that
the grotesque has an important part to play in this scheme ; first. In an artistic sense,
as a relief and contrast to the beauty which might pall without such a foil, and also
a satire upon vice, in order to render the same disgusting in the eyes of men. and aa
a means of mitigating the horror which would hav,' otherwise render. -1 the cc-tips of
eternal punishment too awful and revolting for them to have their i
The fine photograph. No. 00, of the portion of the scene of the l.-c from
Notre I)»me, at Paris, gives a good example of its use. an,l thi' 'lere,
modern %vork, it is conceived in the true ^lertieval spirit. '11 fun-
usual one of the weighing of souls in the balance, and the l'i i' the
evil demon and his imps redeems them from ln-ingsimply Iuh' i hare
prevented the whole from receiving the attention it deserves, and the slmpi'-grandeor
of tile opposing angel ft-om appearing so impn»BSlve as it now does. ,..,__
Even our old friends the gargovlea are not to be looked upon aa havtny bMB
merely intended as ornamental and' comic waterspouts, but as emblematic also of bad
men and spirits, not admissible within the sacred edifice, bnt as existing— not to be
ab-scnttVom the iconography of the building altogether, and, therefore, gibbeted np
in high places outside, to perform good and useful service of some sort, aa it were,
against their will, as is the impotent wrath of the wicked, orcr-roled by the Creator,
to serve liis mysterious purposes. ,,. , . ^ .^, ,. .
Itis to be observed, while upon this part of the subject, that these Gotmc homi-
lies, liowever grotesque in parts, in general very sufflciently convey the lessons and
warnings intended ; and that, notwitl'standing the somewhat comic character of
their devilships, there is no mistaking them, or the repivscntatlcina of the places of
eternal punishment and reward, the former lieing made manifestly most uncomfort-
able and altogetlier to be avoided, while the blessedness of the Saints and their part
of the scene is equally attractive. This is not so in all renderings of the subject, if
we may credit ('urzon, who, in his "Monasteries m the Levant." tells of sundry
Byzantine works as conveying almost an opposite impression, the Saintsbeingrangea
like jars on a shelf, looking most miserable, with a prospect ot having nothing to do
durin" eternity, and if it were not for the honor of the thing, the condition of the
more jovial looking demons below appearing far preferable. How far this results
from absence of the feeling of good grotesque I cannot say, bnt I suspect it has somc-
The spirit is one. however, which is liable to abuse, and there are, donbtless, manf
works of the Gothic period open to censure for irreverence. The fancy of the carvera
was often suff'ered to run riot, and particularly in the misereres of the stall seats In
the church choirs ; we not unfreqnently find in these, subjects which are profane. not
to say obscene, and very generally with such as, from their comic nature and spirited
treatment, might elsewhere be admirable, though not fit for contemplation within
the house of (?od. A few excellent examples of such have been grouped together
and photographed in No. 233, in this collection.
226
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 15, 1861.
For spvfJmcns of the '• Orottesche " of the Reimissance, as the revival of
Classic art in tlie sixteenth centurv was tailed. I find I have left myself but little
apace, which is perhaps as well, tis 'I mi^ht become spiteful on the point ; and, for-
tanately, rou have but few examples here to describe. Of Kaffaelle's arabesques in
the Vat'lcan, the pet store whence modem decorators draw their inspirations, I
have already spoken, and of similar trifling I intend presently to show you an
example from a carving at Siena. I will now only call your attention to some tolerable
grotesques of the period, namely the [i^iianodon-lilce salamanders upon the stair-
cue of the Chateau of Blois. (PhotOf;raph8 No. '^7 and 28) which are not badly
oonoeived, and are well sculptured ; they are nevertheless heavy, senseless looking
animals, doimr notbin<; .*ind all exactly alike : they -look almost as if their carvers had
been gifted with prescience, and had forestalled some of the modern palaiontological
discoveries of geolopsts ; and they sug^rest to modern students of the grotesque the
advantage, in this point of view, that they might gain from an afternoon's ramble
among the restorations of the pterodact'ylos and such like in the grounds of the
Crystal I'alace, for some of those antediluvian gentry look as if, were it possible to
instil into them some spirit and life, they might be made very grotesque indeed.
A beautiful series of photographs, as photographs, taken expressly for the
society, for what purpose I am at a loss to imagine, of sundry details from St. Paul's
Cstliedral willintrocluce us to the works of more recent days, and I think the two
cherubim in No. 247 may be taken as very fair specimens of the grotesque of that
period. They are amusmg' in one sense ;Dut the blubbering booby and his smirking
companion ought to be turned out of the church, and, indeed, should never have
been admitted in that light and airy attire. Cherubs' heads pinched off at the neck
and nailed up, like bats against barndoors (photograph 242) and ugly, and I had said
empty vases, but that they are only sham ones set up in high places as an improve-
ment upon gargoyles, constitute the prevalent notion of tlie grotesque at this date.
Subsequently, for the decoration of the keystones of Somerset-house a goodly
number of venerable sea-gods were decapitated, and their heads exposed in the
manner that those of traitors once were over Temple-bar, and the idea seemed to
have found such favor that the sea must be pretty well depopulated by this time, as
in club-houses, auction-rooms, and other buildings innumerable, the same fashion has
been and continues to be followed. In the church of St. George's Bloomsbury, how-
ever, the beaten path was once more quitted, and in the lions which St. George in
Roman costume on the top of the spire has evidently kicked down its steps, and in
the unicorns which appear about to clamber up them to avenge the
insult, we really are presented with some extraordinary grotesques ;
the mantle, however, of their gifted designer has fallen since upon
no worthy follower, and the best examples of modem times seem to be
hit upon by accident, so that tor their classiScation I find myself obliged to
coin a new term, namely, that of unintentional grotesque. One lamented specimen
we have latelv lost, the weird-like woman in whitey brown, who watched all the
winter over the triumvirate of Guards at the bottom of Regent- street, and whose
memory yet lives in a back number of Punch. In the usual state of our London
atmosphere. Nelson, like Simon Stylites on his column, in cocked hat and atniable
contiguity to what seems then a huge boa-constrictor at his side, is curious enough,
and the exceedingly peculiar view we obtain of the Great Duke and his horse oppo-
site Apsley House is, from the position, equally queer ; but by payment of sixpence
yon may really revel In grotesques of this class in Westminster Abbey, their effect
being enhanced by their contrast to the noble medieval monuments around them.
But profitable as a contemplation of tliem might prove, I must leave you, guideless as
far as I am concerned, to the running commentary of the officials of that place,
having, before I conclude, to make a few remarks upon the general characteristics of
the grotesque gleaned from the slight and rapid historical survey we have been
taking of the subject.
There appear to me to be two points which may be taken as axioms as to the
qualities which distinguish good from false grotesque.
Firstly. The display of real wit and humour is the principal characteristic of good
grotesque, and with a certain amount of savageness or picturesqueness distinguishes
It from simple sculpture on the one hand and from false or affected grotesque on the
other.
Secondly. The supernatural combination of parts of different animals has been
always the main feature In which this spirit has displayed itself, and as seen already
may without wit or humour constitute symbolical grotesque. The difference between
the good and the false in this particular consists in that the former gives the con-
centrated essence, as it were, of^ the quality of the creature or part thereof which is
represented. Thus the lion and his limbs should be eminently and visibly endowed
with strength, the eagle or eagles' head for keenness of sight, as if able to look the
sun in the face, the wings as if they could soar up to it. The greyhound should be
as swift as the wind, the horse with his neck "clothed with thunder," and he
shonld look as if he could "swallow the ground with fierceness and ragcj" the
behemoth, or his geological representative, as if "his strength were in his loins,"
and as if he could "drink up a river and haste not." But in the false grotesque
these parts are merely joined together to look pretty or queer, and the whole, there-
fore, is an absurdity and without meaning.
In order to illustrate somewhat the truth of these axioms, I have sought how to do
80 without going over the ground which may fairly be said to have been exhausted
by Mr. Rnskin, and having found that the distinction between "noble and ignoble
grotesque " heads has been completely set forth in his memorable plate in the 3rd
volume of "The Stones of Venice," I have taken some pains to find out what other
part of an animal might be considered next in importance and signification, and
might sufficiently exemplify the difference in character I have pointed out. After
much deliberation I have come to the conclusion that this is the tail ; nay, I am even
inclined to think that a greater amount of expression is usually put into this
appendage than Into any other part, and certainly in the false grotesque it is often
the whole point of the performance.
Here are sketches of two from Classic examples, the first being from a chimera on
the temple of Apollo, at Branchida; which is twisted with but little ingenuity and no
grace; had it now been twisted into a true lover's knot, as it might have been, there
would have been some pleasing significance ; as it is, it certainly has no wit, and if
we try it by our second canon there is no concentrated essence, indeed no essence of
a tail at all in it For utall, you are aware, has a structure and a bone, in fact it is the
prolongation of the backbone of the animal, but this could only have assumed such a
™ ■? ", " ''■<^'''-" made of wire. The other is from a chimera attached to the statue of
Caligula, at Rome, and has been bent into the Roman ideal line of beauty, and has
become affected by chronic cramp in that position, so that I suppose it can be
b'>'norous now neither to its owner nor to any one else, and being unable to switch
itself about as the manner of tails is, we may assume that Ijoth it and the former, as
w^l as the possessors thereof, belong to the order of the false grotesque.
Here I have a sketch of the lion on the top of St. Mark's Column, at Venice, whose
tail is a better example of what a tail ought to be ; you will see that this has a back-
bone, and the line that It takes is the same which a natural one would, the weight
bearing it downwards the further it gets from the point of support and junction with
the body, forming a natural line of beauty somewhat better than the Roman ideal j
it is a tall moreover, within the range of which it seems advisable not to venture,
lest an accidental or malicious switch thereof should break one's legs if it happened
to reach them.
Somewhat different therefrom is the tail of the Hon on Northumberland House,
which points Strand-wards, wriggling In a manner inconsistent with its possessing
anv proper caudal structure, unless its bone has become dislocated. Of talis
elBoresccnt, I named a good example from the Canterbury capital, whicli so long as
it continues to be one behaves itself well as such, and is wrapped round the lion's
loins right nervously, nor forgets itself till it comes to the tuft, which then in a
humorous manner turns into the conventional foliage of the period, yet without passing
the bounds of moderation. -= • ^
In pure oraamint, however, in contradistinction to sculpture, we must not insist
upon too rigid an observance of rule, and we shall find on examination that in this
case one or other of our canons may be dispensed with, but never, I hold, both,
without its degenerating into false grotesque. Thus, much of tlie subordinate
Romanesque and Gothic ornaments, as constantly the initials in manuscripts, are
composed of fanciful creatures whose tails are the first consideration, as they consist
almost entirely of such ; but we shall find them replete with humour and wit, though
devoid of the natural essence of tail, and as merely as ornament. They are full of
beauty and of nervous good lines and foliage. Tliere is one from Shaw's " Decora-
tive Arts of the Middle Ages," taken from a Latin copy of Josephus of the latter
part of the twelfth century or the beginning of the fliirteenth, which 1 think you
will agree with me is not deficient in the qualities I have named. As contrast thereto
is one from a panel of the pulpit in the Cathedral of Siena, a work of the cinque-
cento Renaissance, taken from one of the Architectural Publication Society's plates.
As the name of the style would import, it seems radiant with spring life, flourishing
like a cabbage run to seed, curling hither and thitlier in an astonishing manner, not
nervously, but oruameutally, till it has somehow exactly filled the spandrel. At each
curl an image of the parental animal, with variations, is producetl ; but the parent
seems to have as little control over his jirogeny as power over his own extremities ;
and this enlarged sketch I have made of a portion represents his second hopeful off-
spring actually scowling somewhat idiotically at his own father below. Now, as
spontaneous generation is not the end, object, nor essence of a tail, it conforms not
to my second canon ; whether or no it does so to my first, and bo really witty and
humorous, I leave you to decide; but my judgment would be that the whole kit of
them are utterly false as grotesque and ornament as well.
Having, however, 1 fear, completely exhausted your patience, I will, by your leave,
conclude this my own rather too lengthy tale.
On the motion of the CHAinjiAN, a vote of thanks was passed by acclamation to
the lecturer, and a similar compliment having been paid to the Chairman on the
motion of Mr. £. I'Anson, the meeting broke up.
RUTLAND CHURCHES.— No. XV.— North Luffenham.
THIS village consists of one long street, the whole of the houses being on the
gently sloping north bank of the river Chafer, and probably built on the ancient
British trackway that usually followed the course of valleys. The final syllable of
the name of the parish shows that we are indebted to the Anglo-Saxons for its ety-
mology. "Whilst "ton " signified originally the enclosed land, and thence the houses
situated in the enclosure, the sj liable "ham," designated primarily "the home,"
"the dwelling," and thence a town, a village. There is some land in this parish
known by the name of " LufTs Hill," but whether this land had anything to do with
supplying a name for this parish must remain a matter of conjecture. The study of
the words of a language often throws much light on the origin of names of places as
well as on other sultjects. Our remote ancestors showed excellent judgment m select-
ing this site for their dwelling places, commanding as it does a southern aspect, sur-
rounded by beautiful scenery, which, as we have before observed, abounds in this
little county. Before entering the village by the road leading from the railway-
station a magnificent prospect across the valley is obtained, tlie land on the south
side of wliich gradually rises, extending far into the horizon, and forming a regular
mountainous ridge for a considerable distance, partaking of the form of a large sec-
tion of a vast amphitheatre, at the base of which is the Syston and I*eterboro* rail-
way. The church of South Lnffenhamis seen in a recess resembling a creek.
" They lie in valleys buried deep.
They stud the barren hills ;
They're mirror'd where proud rivers sweep,
And by the humbler rills ;
A blessing on each holy fane.
Wherever they may stand :
With open doorfor rich and poor,
The churches of our land.
Whilst the view on the south side of the valley may be described as grand without
being beautiful, that on the north side is picturesque, there being a greater variety of
landscape, profusely dotted with the mnjestic elm and graceful and lofty lime, their
foliage hiding from the view of the passengers travelling by the railway the whole
of the buildings in the village, excepting the spire of the church and the roof of the
adjacent hall. The church is dedicated to tit. John the Baptist. It consists of
various styles of architecture- Early Romanesque, and Early, Middle, or Third
Pointed, known also as Norman, Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular-
styles that prevailed respectively in the 12th, i:!th, 14th, and 15th centuries. The
nave pillars and some lower portions of the tower are Norman, the tower and broach
spire are late first Pointed, tlic arches of the nave and the whole of the chancel are
Middle Pointed, and the clerestory is Third Pointed. There Is a foliated Early
English corbel at the east end of the south aisle, the high position of which on the
wall renders it improbable that it served as an altar bracket. The plan of the church
consists of nave, north and south aisles, chancel, north and south jiorchcs, and tower
at the west end. The capitals of tlie low Norman cylindrical pillars are moulded and
foliated, the arches which they support being chamfered, the hoodmoulds having
head terminations of various characters, amongst them being the head with the
wimple or chin-cloth, characteristic of the Edwardian period. Tlie responds in the
south aisle consist of clustered shafts. The flat nave roof is plain ; the wall plates
are supported by. corbel heads, and the intermediate principals (are enriched with
whole-length carved figures, colored ; the intersections have bosses. The octagonal
font is quite plain. A singing gallery blocks the tower arch at the west-end of the
nave ; it contains an harmonium. The modern pews are high, and in good condition.
The pulpit exhibits some elaborate late Romanesque carving. The chancel
roof is ceiled, but bosses project through the plaster from the ridge-
piece. In the usual position in the chancel there are very ricli sedilia;
for two priests, and a piscina, exhibiting a profusion of ornamentation, the
ball-flower predominating. A portion of the foiled water-drain has been cut
away. Tlic walls within the altar rails are panelled. The east window Is
of five lights. It Is blocked below by the board containing the commandments, and
the tracery above .Is not ;allowed .to admit light into the fabric. The stained
glass of the fourteenth century was very rich, and this window contains some very
beautiful specimens of this date, consisting of shields of arms and pictures under
foliated canopies : the destroyer's hand has made havoc with some of these interest-
ing examples of the medieval artist, and it is to be feared that unless precautions be
taken to preserve that which remains it will gradually disappear. The original
chancel screen consists of three open panels, with tracery above. There is a low
Bide window in the south-west part of tlie chancel, and another in the north wall,
immediately opposite to each other, both being blocked. These lychnoscopes were
used in every style of Christian art, from early Romanesque to Third Pointed, those
here being Middle Pointed (fourteenth century). Tlie use of these windows remains
a vexed question with ecclesiologists. Amongst the theories advanced respecting
them are, that they were exterior confessionals, openings for lepers to assist at mass,
for watching the Pasch-light, offertory windows, symbolical of the wound in the
Saviour's side, &c. The following inscriptions are on slabs forming the floor of the
chancel, within tlie altar-rails:— " Vnder this stone lyeth the bodye of Samvel
VVyntre, Doctor in Divinitye, who departed this lifethe 24th day of December, itHX."
Here lyeth Colonel Henry Markham, who was very instrumental in ye happy
ition of King Charles ye II., and was one of ye 418 Gents, of ye Privy
■ - - ■■ " " "Here lyeth the body of the
restavratlon _ , ,
Chamber to ye said King of ever blessed memory. __, _ __ ^
Lady Sarah Cony, wile of Sir Sutton Cony, and daughter of Sir Richard Wortley, of
Wortley, in Yorkshire, and the Right llonble. Elizabeth the Countess of Devon, who
departed this life the 2lBt of December, 107:!."- " Here lyeth the body of the Hon.
Henry Noel, second son of the Right Honble. Baptist Noel, Viscount Campden,
Baron Noel, of Ridlingtoii and Elmington, Lord Lieutenant of the county of Rut-
land, who departed this life ye 20th of September, WT7, in the 35th year of his age."
— On the north wall is li bust of a young and handsome lady, within a circular-
headed recess, the whole being of marble. Beneath is this Inscription ;—" To tUe
March 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
227
V
March 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
229
sacred memorie of Mrs. Svsannah Noel, davghter and hcyre to Sir John Howland, of
Strctham, In the coTUty of Svrrcy, Knight, who was married to Mr. Henry Noel,
second Sonne of Edward Lord Noel and Ulcks, Viscount Campdcn. Shee deptcd
this life the 10th of October, a.d. KHO, havinc had only one davghter, hvsannah, that
died the third day alter shoe was borne." Westward of the above is a marble tablet
havinc this inscription;— "Near this ulaec lye the remains of John Uifrhy. Ksq.,
llneallv descended from an ancient family whose residence has been at this town
near 400 years He married Deborah the daughter of John Fardcll, citizen, to whom
he was a tender and affectionate husband, and to his memory she erected ys monu-
ment His generous and benevolent temper rendered liim beloved and his deatli
lamented He died May the lOtli, 1758, in the lilst year of his age." A slab on the floor
of the chancel marks the spot where his remains are interred :— it contains tliis re-
cord- "John Dii'by, Esq., 17.58." Another marble tablet on the same wall bears
this i'noription : -" Near this place lie the remains of the Rev. Wm. Hardyman, B D.,
who was during 30 years the Rector and faithful pastor of this parish. He died
Anril the2,'!rd, 18:)7, aged 71 years. Molly, the aflVctlonato wife of the Rev. Wm.
Hardyman, who departed this Ufe September 5, 1836. in the 73rd year of her age.
On the south wall of the chancel, upon a black marble tablet :— " Under the stone
below lycth interred the corpse of Colonel Henry Markham, who departed this life
at Ketton, in this county, the 15th day of January, 1072, and in the
foure and fifty yeare of his age; whose widow, Hester, the daughter
of Christopher Weaver, Esq., out ot her deare affections to his memorial
hath caused this monument to be erected. 1763." On the floor of the chancel
a slab contains this inscription :— " Here lye the body of Elizabeth yo relict
and widdow of the Honble Henry Noel, who dyed the 11th of Jan., 1681, leaving issue
one daughter, Juliana, now Countess of Burlington and Corke." Another slab eon-
tains this ;— " Richard Clarke, B.D., 36 yeares Rector of this parish. Bvried ye 24th
of June, 1678, ajtat sva; 74." There is also a slab recording the memory of his widow,
but the Inscription is partially obliterated. Also on the floor, near the south waU,
is a brass inserted in a slab containing the following inscription in black letters :—
"' Kobart Jhonson, Bachelor of Divinitie, a painfull preacher, Parson (Rector) of North
Lufl'enham. Had a Godlie care of religion, and a charitable mind to the poore. He
erected a fairc Free Grammar-schoolc iu Okeham. He erected a falre Iree
Graramar-schoole in Uppingham. He appointed to each of his sehooles a school-
master and an usher. He erected the Hosnitalle of Christe, in Okeham. He erected
the Hospital of Christe, iu Uppingham. He procured for them a corporation and a
mortmain of fewer hundred markes. Whereby well-disposed people maie give unto
them as God shall move their hartes. He bought lands of Queue fclizabeth towards
the maintenance of them. Ue provided place in each of the Hospitalles for xxiiii
poore people. He recovered, bought, and procured the Hospitalle of William Ualby,
in Okeham, and caused it to be renewed, established, and confirmed, which before
was found to be confiscate and consealed, wherein divers poore people be rehevcd.
Ue was also beneflciall to the towucof North Luffenham. And also to the townc of
Stamford, where he was borne of worshipfull parents. It is the grace of God to give a
man a wise hartc to lay up his treisure in heaven. Theis be good fruitcs and efltcts of a
justifleing faith, and of a trew profession of religion. And a good example to all other?
to be benefactors to thcise and suche like good works. That so they may glorihe God,
and leave ablessed remembrance behind them. To the comfort and proflteof allposteri-
tic. All theglorie, honor. praise, and thankes be unto Godfor evermore. Amen. Sicluceat
luxvestra. Let your light so shine." The date of the above munificent benefactor s
death is not given in the brass, but a small modern slab above has this inscription: —
" Robert Johnson. Rector, temp. Elizabeth." It appears by the parish registcrthat he
was buried on the24th of July, 102.') (1 Charles I.), in the shrievalty of Guido Palmer, and
the members of the county In Parliament being Will. Bulstrode and !■ ran. Bodenham.
He was also Archdeacon of Leicester.— In the north aisle is a tablet containing this
inscription : -" Neer this this place lye interr'd the corps of the two loving brothers,
Jonathan and .John Barker, Gents., being ye 1th and 6th sonns of bamvcl Barker,
late of South Luflenham, In this county, Esq., whereof the first dyed ye 6th of Jan-
nary, 1668, the last the 2nd of November, 1675." A similar tablet records the death
of .Samuel Winter, son-in-law of Christopher Weaver, Esq., who was Provost of
Trinity College, Dublin. The oldest monument in the church is inserted in the wall
of the south aisle : it has this inscription :— " Mere is bvried Simon Dlgby, Ksqvier,
Gent. Pensioner of King Henry Eight, second sonne of Sir .lohn Digby,. Knyght
Marshal, which Simon married Katherine davghter of Xpofer Clapham, of Bea-
mesley, in Yorkshire, Esqvier, their sonne and heir, who married . • . •. •
davghter of John Theyne, of Shardelows, in Hvckinghamshire, Esqvier. The above
is followed by some lines in Latin, which translated read thus :—
"Bom man, subject to death, I lived to length of years.
Life was death to me, death was life.
Uncertain, short is death, or the image of death,
To die in Christ is true and certain life."
" Mary, lately wife of Roger Digby, erected this monument." The enclosed vault
that contains the remains of the Digby famiiyis situate afcw yards from the east end
of the church, with Mr. Henry Heathcotes private grounds, upon the summit of
which there is a conservatory. The interments in the churchyard arc confined to the
south side, where there is a table monument containing this inscription :— " Here lie
the remains of the Rev. Robt. Alfounder, B.D., 33 years Rector of this parish. He
was religious without hypocrisy, charitable without ostentation. A kind relative, a
good master, and a sincere friend. He eminently exemplified in his practice that
gospel of peace which he preached by a universal benevolence and most unofTensivo
behaviour, .ind acquired the esteem of all who knew him." He died in 1775. A
portion of the north side was enclosed by a high wall by the Rev. W. Hardyman,
the preceding Rector, an appropriation that was not efTected without some murmur-
ing by the ratepayers : it is now the kitchen-garden belonging to the rectory, and
the enclosure excludes the parishioners Irom the north side of the chancel and the
east side of the church. At the next vacancy of the living an eflbrt should be made
to restore this land for the benefit of the parish.
The Doomsday Survey says that the King held Luffenham and Scnlthorpe. There
were at that time accounted for seven hides and oneyardof land, of arable 14 carucates
(a carucate is uncertain in extent, probably consisted of houses, mills, pastures,
meadow land, woods, &c.), 12 sockmen (yeomen), and 16 bordarii (cottages), wiih a
priest having 12 carucates ; there were also two mills of 40 pence rent, and 10 acres
of meadow. The Empress Maud bestowed this manor upon Wm. Beauchamp, of
ISlmley, who had been steward to her father (Henry I.) .-.nd her faithful adherent in
her wars against King Stephen. From this Beauchamp descended the famous Earls
of Warwick of that name. The Harringtons held this manor, from whom it passed
to the Nods, iYom the Noels to the Burtons, and from the Burtons to the Heathcotes.
The loyalty of Mr. Noel (who was second .^on of Viscount Campden) is thus referred
to in "Wright's History of Rutland^"— "That truly loyal and noble gentleman, in the
times of the Rebellion, resided at North Luffenham. Hcyiaving refused to give up his
house, arms, and person to the Lord Grey, of Grooby, who demanded them for the
Parliament, was forced by fire and batteries to capitulate. Though the articles were,
that the rebels should sec the fire quenched, that all in the house should have liberty
to depart, that none should enter the house but commanders, yet, not regarding any
obligation, promise, or agreement, they entered the house as well common soldiers
as officers, robbed, plundered, wasted, burned, and destroyed his good accounts,
writings, and evidences, ravished his maid servants, entered the adjoining church,
and there defaced a goodly monument erected to his deceased lady ; and having thus
ransacked all, from the living to the dead, they carried Jlr. Noel prisoner to London,
where he remained a long time in Peter-house, a constant sufferer for the Royal
interest." The order of the Knights of the Royal Oak was instituted in 1660. Itwas
intended by King Charles II. as a reward to several of his followers. The Knights
were to wear a silver medal, with a device of the King in the oak, pendant to a
ribbon, about their necks ; but it was thought proper to lay it aside, lest it might
create heats and animosities, and open those wounds afresh, which at the
time were thought prudent should be healed. The following, belonging
to the county of Rutland, were of the order, the figures denoting [the
annual value of Iheir eatatc* :— Ab«I Barker, Beq., C1,0M ; U«r. r«»lwui
£sq., Uppingham, £600; Christopher Browne, Keq., Tolethorpe, MOOi SMmt^
Halford, Esq.. Kdithwesten, .fSOO; Samnet Bruwn. Eeq.. MoeUng H»)L MOOi
Henry Noel, Esq., North Lnflenbam, £1,000. No Hat of them wm pabUslieil till
1741. A branch of the family of Dlgby, of Tllton, had • ted here; It wu palled
down nearly sixty years ago, and the material* eold by the late Sir Gilbert Heath-
cote, Bart., the lord ot the manor, to three tradaemen of Htamford for 4M0, and It la
said that they realised more than that amout fbr the old lead alone. The stable* and
dog-kennels still remain, being oooaptod bjr Mr*. King, farmer. The following
members of this opulent family bare held the ofllee of SherMTof Ratlaad :— Evrrard
Dlgby, 145U; Kverard Digby, 1486; John Uighy, IMl ; Kverard Dlgby. 14W; John
Digby, 1.502 ; Kverard Dlgby, ISl.'l ; John D&tiy, ISt7 i Kverard Dlgby, ISI8 ; John
Digby, 1.523; Everard Digby, 1S28; Ereraid Dlgby, 1832; KeneUn I>lgby, IMl i
Simon Digby, 1548; Kenclm Dlgby. IM«; Konelm IMgbjr, ISM; tHmoo Dlgby, l«U(
Kenelm Digby, 1561 ; Konelm Dlgby, 1007: Kenelm DIcbjr, ItM; Kanelm Dtoby,
1729 ; John Digby, 1757. Then Is in BnrslileT-hoiue, the ieat of tbe ]tan|afi it
Exeter, a portrait of Venetla Anaatatia Stanley, duigtHeT and eo-helra** of Sir
Edwd. Stanley, K.B., of Tonge Castle, Shropshire, and the wMb of Sir Kenelm
Digby, Knight She was a lady of extraordinary beauty and funes she wore
different hair-dresses and different colored eyebrows, to see whieh suited her
complexion best. Sir Kenelm was so enamoured with her beauty that be atteapled
to raise her natural charms, and presiTve her health by a variety of whiMsieal
experiments : he fed her with capons, fattened by the flesh of vipem, and Inkodoeed
into England the great snail (pmnaiui) as a medicine for the oae of U* lady. He waa
always inventing new cosmetics, and it Is thought she fell a rtoUm to theae
unnatural arts, for she was found dead In her bed May 1, III33, la her SSrd year.
There is a portrait of her at Althorp, the seat of Earl .'^ncer, done after ab* waa
dead, by Vandyck. The present lord of the manor of North Lnflhoham I* Lord
Aveland: his brother, Ily. Wm. Ileathcote, Esq., who married In MM Sophia
Matilda only daughter of Thomas Wright, Esq., of Upton Hall, Notia, reside* at the
hall Ibrmerly occupied by the Noels, and it is said also by some members of the
Digby family. Frances daughter of Sir Edward Noel, afterward* created Earl of
Gainsborough, was married to Simon, Lord Dlgby, and died in 1684, and Jane, her
youngest sister, to William Lord Digby, brother of Simon. It was erected when the
Pointed style of architecture was disappearingto make way for the Ute Komaneaqnc,
there being a mixture of twth these styles here. In one of the lower panelled rooma
there is some elaborate Elizabethan carving. On the north-east side of the mansion
there is a spacious building used at the present day for exerelsing horse*. The
walls are very massive, and it was evidently built for defence. It has the date ISdA
over the entrance, the year when an Act was passed making it compulsory npoD all
gentlemen in the receipt of a certain annual income to find armour for forty men.
This was in the short, but " bloody, reign " of Queen Mary.
North Luflenham was the birthplace of Vincent Wing, who lived in the relgni of
James I., Charles I., and Charles II. Two years after bis death, which took plaee on
the 20th September. 1668. "A Brief Relation of the Life and Death of the lata
famous Mathematician and Astrologer, Mr. Vincent Wing, together with hi*
nativity, as it was done many years before his death by bis hand, and now for
general satisfaction made public." was Issued from the press by J. Gsdwav, lyom his
" study in Brick-court, by the Dean's-yard, Westminster." He says, "Mr. Vlnecnt
Wing was born at North Lufl'enham, in the county of Rutland, in the year of our
Lord 1619, on the 9tli day of April, at 5 hours 48 minutes p.m., or afternoon. He waa
a branch of an honest and virtuous stock, as proceeding from parents rather good
than great, who, with their ancestors, have been long seated In the said town of
Lufl'enham, enjoying a greater blessing In their continued and settled condition than
many others in the multitude of riches, a fixed habitation behig even the mightiest
mercy that fortune can bestow upon mortality, and so characterised by God hlmaelf
to Moses on the Mount. Mr. Vincent Wing's ancestors came out of W^ and
settled at Great Ponton, near Grantham, and neariy 100 year* since planted them-
selves in North Lufl'enham. ... He was a person of very ready, ripe, and
pregnant wit. What he read waa his own, and thence he began {« hf » ""1"'*;
matician in his younger years, being capable of understanding all the partt or
arithmetic, of the several ways used in surveying land, measuring all sorts of belght*
and distances, Ac. : as also of making all kinds of dials, with many otho- neat and
commendable acquirements, being then only 18 years of age. He appeared Bret apon
the theatre of the world in his ^--'nd year, beginning then to write and print hi*
annual books or almanacks. His writings found a most excellent welcome Into the
world among ail sorts of ingenious persons, and if the C:ompany of Stationer* aia
not sell 50,000 of his almanacks they deemed it an indifferent sale. • He was also
author of the 'Celestial Harmony of the Visible World,' an ' Ephemeris for 20
years,' 'Computatio Catholica,' • Astronomia BriUnnica, » ' "''e*"«S °° °,°,"f iL-
I'ng,- &c. He died on the 'iOth of September. 1068, in his 40th year His residence
it is said, was on the site of the maltfeiln now occupied by .Mr. W K. Morris, on the
south side of the street. Just below the road that leads to Morcott. The
above-named gentleman has in his possession a book of MS. """^n.,^ "J;
Vincent Winf. the writing of which fs excellent : it gives the admeasurement
of all the land in the parish and the names of the owners thereof The title-
page of the book (bound iH original calf) reads «h»» ^ p 75« '°"f /„ »'
ih? fields of North Luffenham. wherein is contained a particular of aU th« l»»af ,
leves, meadows, pastures, and 'inclosed grounds, according to an exact mcnsuniUon
Sd an" made of 'every min's ground there by ye perch of lOJ f^t- ««"'?'°^^.y«
statute de terris mensurandis. By Vincent AVing. 16o0." J"" °'™«'i"f)J^°J"5,*'
that date were. Mr. Weaver. Lord Campden Mr. Barker. Mr. "^ «'• ^gJ'/'^T'
Vincent Wing, Mr. Thos. Munton, the town, the parsonage the B«'>^*<>"»?(f"''V°« ?
Hospital Stamford), Mr. Freeman, and Mr. .Johnson. The nam.» of the v^^
lands (and which are retained at t''?, P-j^'^'t day) w_ere Beck Held, Flaxman
Slade. RedhiU Furlong. Blackmoor Furlong, Short ►"'""S. Brokcn-back-way
Coleswood Field alias Cockpit Field. M.d.lesey-way !■ urlong, /.«/■» "'"'.ST.Jli;
lands (and which are ' retained at' the present day) were. Rfck^^Fielld. Flaxman
Slade. Redl ■■ " '
Coleswood tiem anas i^ocauit r itiu. ....u>.ii=^j-..-, K.7i.%'i,r An«rt ftim
Furlong. Weston Meld, Duke's Bush Furlong, and Honey ''"'9°f- Apart nxm
th s book being in the handwriting of such a celebrity it is a very mierestfng record
ofThXds oTthe par h" In Vh? chSrch and cfiu-rihyard there are t«1ou, slabs
?ecordlSg the mem^ory of the Wing family but the, n'crlptlons on Kveral on^he
floor of the church are almost obliterated. One near the »»:'''*<»' ^,15'"v''l'i,"P
Here lyeth the body of Elizabeth, wife of James Wing, who died ''f.hjn";y
jieicijct" n»^ u" / . . thrta*! itia<trintlons :—" Moses
recording the memory of the wing lamuy oui. "'"'"'•-^''i:"""" ■"",, ■^ii.-ir-i.-.crtS;
church are almost obliterated. One near the north <><»' 5»?,i3'?.'.'l'i,"P
lon — -xiere lyeth the body of Elizabeth, wife of James Wing, who died l'™""y
1690." Inthrchurchyari,on an upright «'«b.«re these .nscnptlon.:-"Mo«*
Vino- iiiort Nov 5. 1677. a-cd 68 years. Aaron, his son, died Dec. .1. 1751. «^»
j:i"r?'?'^.?»?o7esV?^g:^;i '^:f,',? t^F-'If '"nMi;! 'felsss
A verv^nteresting discovery of Anglo-Saxon Antiquities was made '■f'^J^.
asro InJwS arc being carefully prescrve<l In a cabinet by Mrs. »»"'"• th«'™e°'
W R MOTris Es'q (Who served the office of Sheriff of <t>ls ''"""tT «" 1»58, and his
father who also resided here, served the same offlc; in 1824) : they consist of-a swort
blade measurtaa- 2 feet 6 inches in length, made for cutting and thrusting, and is
Kr'cilinary purpose?; a cinerary urn of dark clay, rude n shapc^ and badjj baked^
flbulffi of various shapes ; tweezers and earpick, apparently of gold, J"PP<"«" to nave
been suspended froiS the girdle of the A-f °;^axon fern, c ; »«'^«^;,('hc »^?£J
bead was supposed to have operated as a charm m P™*'^^''""?;^" The following
evil spirit) ; "^another cinerary urn, and various fragments of ditta The following
account of ihe discovery of these antiquities is f™"" 'j'^.P™ ^' d^'fj. of the road
remains were discovered in the spring of 1855, on the right-hand sldeol tne roaa
230
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 15, I86I.
C
leuUn^r tmm North I.uffcnham to the Tillage of Kdithwcston (which is a mile distant),
in a aand pit on a piece of pround beloni:inj: to Mr. Morris. The road is rather lower
than the field, which rises gradually ou each side of it, and is open field land, plonghed
9mA eewn with a succession of crops ; so that heavy implements, such as rollers and
ivaggons. La harvest time have passed over it many hundreds of times. The surface
is uUformly level for more than half-a-mile, and there is no inequality to mark the
aite of a barial-groimd. In the place where the remains were found is a tine bed of
white sand, which a gentleman connected with a glass manufactory, who saw it a
^ort time ago, told os was of excellent quality for that purpose, and far surpassed
what was ordinarily use. It is dug by us for building purposes. Four or five skele-
tons, with the same number of fibulte and a quantity ot beads, were found first,
about one foot and a half belo^ the surface ; also two or three jars. I knew nothing
about the discovery till I accidentally met the cart goiuL to the railway station,
when one of the men told me they had found a quantity of bones, and had taken a
at many, mixed with sand, in a former cart-load. I stopped to examine it, and
-•-*— d oat several pieces of jars, and gave me three or four fibula?, which I kept,
> some beads. They said that the jars and bones were all broken ; their
J to the surface, and the ploughs and heavy waggons having passed bo closely
over them, would account for tneir being in that state. The man who took up the
jars said that two of them held skulls, but they broke to pieces as they were touched.
1 thought he must be mistaken. I told the men to be \ery careful in future, and
bring me everything they found. I went there, and staid several hours one day, but
nothing was then found. Afterwards, when digging further on to the eastward,
about six yards from the spot where the first four were discovered, they found two
more skeletons about six feet below the surface ; also the sword, &c., which was
found near one : the arrow-heads and the spear-head were found all together, and
near the other, with one of the handsomest of the fibulse. I think each skeleton had
a fibula, and some beads were scattered about. A flat stone was placed over each:
they were very near together Stones were over the first four also, which were found
near the surface, about 10 inches square : one evidently bore marks of the action of
fire. The two jars were met with at the depth of fi or 7 feet ; they were full of sand
saiddarL- colored earth, of which there is nothing like near, as it is all sand. When
the two lowest skeletons were removed, a strong ammoniacal smell proceeded ftom
them ; and when Mr. Slorris went afterwards on horseback, the horse showed
strong signs of disgust, and resolutely refused to go up to the sand-pit, though he
was in the habit at other times. The first skeletons found were about a foot or a
little more apart, but the men did not take exact notice. ProbabK there were more
than four, I as they took two cart-loads with many bones, betx)re 1 s&w them ;
and they were quite ignorant of the nature of the place. The jars were not very
near the laat two skeletons ; the fibulae and beads were found with the skeletons
both times, and I imagine each skeleton had its fibula; and necklace of beads. Pro-
bably there were many more beads lost. The skeletons crumbled to pieces, so that
the men found it very difficult to preserve or carry them. It has been suggested that
many other graves may exist not far from those that have been opened.
rSSTITDTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.— MahchS, 1861.
George P. Bidder, Esq., President in the chair. The first paper read was
" Description of a Pier erected at Southport, Lancashire," by Mr. II. Hooper, Assoc.
Inet.C.E.
This pier was constructed at right angles to the line of promenade facing the sea,
on an extensive tract of sands reaching to low water, a distance of nearly one mile.
Its length was 1,200 yards, and the breadth of the footway was 15 feet. At the sea
end there was an oblong platform, lOO feet long by .32 feet wide, at right angles to
the line of footway. The superstructure was supported upon piers, each consisting
of three cast iron columns, and each column was in three lengths. The lowest
length, or pile proper, was sunk into the sand to the depth of 7 feet or 9 feet These
Elles were provided at their bases with circular discs, 18 inches diameter, to form a
earing surface. A gas tube was passed down the insideof each pile, and was forced
4 inches into the sand ; when a connection was made with the Water Company's
mains, a pressure of water of about 60 lbs. to the inch was obtained, which was found
sufficient to remove the sand from under the disc. There were cutters on the under
side of the discs, so that on an alternating motion being given to the pile, the s-and
was loosened. After the pressure of water had been removed about five nunutes, the
piles settled down to so firm a bearing, that when tested with a load of 12 tons each,
no signs of settlement could be perceived. The upper len^hs of the columns had
cast-iron bearinir plates, for receiving the ends of the longitudinal lattice girders, each
60 feet long and 3 feet deep. The centre row of girders having double the duty of the
outside ones, top and bottom plates were added. The weight of wrought iron work
in each bay was 4 tons 5 cwt., and of cast-iron work 1 ton 17 cwt. The second bay
from the shore was tested by a load of .35 tons, equally distributed, when the mean
deflection of the three girders, in twenty-four hours, was 1 J inch, and there was a
permanent set of J an inch, on the load being removed.
Th(! advantages claimed for this mode of construction were : Isf. Economy in first
cost, especially in sinking the piles, which did not amount to more than 4Jd per foot.
2nd. The small surface exposed to the action of wind and waves. 3rd. Similarity
of parts, thus reducing the cost to a minimum. 4th. The expeditious manner of
obtaining a solid foundation— an important matter in tidal work. Two hundred and
thirty-seven piles were thus sunk in six weeks.
The estimated cost of the pier and approaches was £10.400. The works had been
completed for £9.319. being at the ratc> of £7 ISs. 4d. per lineal yard. The pier was
desired by Mr. Brunlces, M. Inst. C.E., and the superintendence of the construction
was entrusted to the Aathor, as Resident Engineer, Messrs. Galloway being the Con-
tractors.
The second Paper read was " On the Construction of Floating Beacons," by Mr.
Bindon B. Stoney, Assoc. Inst. C. E.
The various forms of floating beacons hitherto employed were first referred to, in-
cluding, among those wliose axis of symmetry was horizontal or oblique, the barrel
and the can buoys ; and among those whose axis of symmetry was vertical, of which
the cone might be considered the typical form, the Itcll Beacon of Liverpool, the
nun buoy, and the egg-bottomed buoy. All these buoys were characterised by
want of conspicuonsness and by instability. These defects had. however, been
greatly remedied by Mr. Herbert's cone-bottomed buoy (ride MIn. of Proc. Inst.
C.E.. vol. XV., p. 1). In this arrangement It was originally proposed, that the
mooring-chain should be attached either to the centre of gravity, or to the centre of
the plane of flotation. But this wasfsaid not to have been attained In practice, as the
mooring-chain was fastened to a point nearly half-wav between the plane of flotation
and thfi lower edge of the buoy, and considerably below the centre of gravity. If it
were fastened to the centre of the plane of flotation, the author believed the buoy
would become much inclined, under the Influence of currents, in the opposite direc-
tion to the current, from the lateral pressure being below the centre of mooring. In
plate of alx)ve it. as was usually the case.
Being aware that additional keels, or bilge-boards, tended to prevent ships of
certain forms from rolling, by the inertia of the mass of water constrained to move
along with the ship, and that advantage had been taken of this circumstance in some
light-ships, the author suggested that a similar arrangement might be applied to a
floating beacon, and the result was the keel buoy. The superstructure might be of
any of the ordinary forms, the dome-shape being preferred for conspieuousness.
The sides were prolonged below the bottom so as to form a circular keel, within
which a Urge body of water was contained. Thus, a buoy C feet diameter and with
a keel 1« inches In depth, would contain a mass of water weighing about one ton, or
the same weight as the buoy. The bolt of the mooring chain, where it passed
through the mooring ring, divided the surface exposed to lateral pressure into equal,
or nearly equal portions. Hence the keel buoy would float erect m tideways or river
corrents, as an equal pressure was exerted both above and below the centre of
mooring. The keel also gave this buoy a greater hold In the water, and the tcn-
l«ncy to pitch was diminished, it also acted as ballast placed in the best position
to secure stabihty. In consequence of the peculiar form of the keel buoy, and of its
stability, the superstructure might be 25 p i jcent, higher than that of other buoys of
equal diameter, with the same conflguraticn above the water. The mooring ring
had a shank which projected through an aperture in t h . wrought-iron bottom. It
was firmly riveted on the inside ot the bottom, so tha I f h i straining of the chain
could not tear it away, or loosen the rivets. The author believed, that in the keel
buoy there was a greater freedom from abrupt motion, than was possessed by other
floating bodies having the same amount of displacement. If a buoy were made very
Avide in proportion to Its height, and with slight immersion, It would float upri"-ht
because it would float like a board on the surface of the water ; but stability thus
gained would be at the expense of inanageableness. If, on the other hand, stability
was sought for, not by breadth of beam, but by ballasting the bottom, the buoy-
would not only be unwieldy but expensive. The keel buoy was light, was easily
handled, and, on board ship, only occupied so much room as was sufficient for
it to stand on end ; thus contrasting favorably with the can and e<^-bottomed
buoys.
In the course of the discussion a regret was expressed, that the paper contained
no details of the experience of the use of the keel buoy, and that there was so little
additional information to what had been given in Mr. G. Herbert's paper In 1855
It was contended, that it was incorrect to call the circular prolongation of the casing
'• a keel ; " that no comparison could be fairly instituted between such a casing and
the usual bilge pieces, and, that what was called the keel could not have the material
efl'ect attributed to it by the author. Also, that the keel buoy was so triflino- a modi-
fication of the cone-bottomed buoy introduced by Mr. Herbert, as not to be entitled
to any great degree of merit ; and that f lie latter was the stronger form of con-
struction, as the strain of the mooring chain would be upon the cone, whilst In the
other it must be resisted by the flat diaphragm, or bottom of the buoy. The cone-
bottomed buoy was extensively employed by the Trinity Corporation, as well as by
foreign Governments, and only two instances were known where such beacons had
been injured by breaking from their moorings, and then they were destroyed by
being thrown among rocks. At Liverpool, buoys so constructed, 20 feet in diameter
and standing 20 feet out of the water, safely rode out the late gales, and on no occasion
had there been the slightest failure in that respect.
The beacons made use of by Admiral Sir Edward Belcher, in the survey of the
Western coast of Africa, were likewise alluded to. A cask of 60 gallons had a spar
driven through it, which projected 3 feet on the upper side, and 9 feet below. To
the upper end a topmast was fitted, and the lower end of the spar was ballasted m
such a way, that the beacon always maintained a perfectly erect position in very
strong currents and tides.
^
LIVERPOOL ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY.
AT the twelfth meeting of the thu-teenth session of this Society, held at the
Royal Institution, Colquitt-Btreet, Mr. James M. Hay presiding—
The President reminded the meeting of the announcement'made with regard to
the prize, that the student members who intended to become competitors should send
in their names to the Secretary. The Secretary had not yet received any, and
intending competitors would do well to make the Secretary acquainted with the
fact. On the table the members would observe a bust of their late worthy and
respected friend, Mr. Charles Verelst. He had received a letter from Mrs. Verelat
presenting the bust to the Society. He was sure it would give them much pleasure
to be possessed of a memento of their late friend, who was one of the early uiunders
of this Society, and who took a great interest in its welfare.
The Secretary read the letter from Mrs. Verelst. She stated that the bust was
executed by Mr. Macbride ; and as the late Mr. Verelst had been identified with
the Society as one of its first founders, and through life as one of its most zealous
members, she was sure they would appreciate the work, and find a place for its
reception.
Mr. Stubbs said that there was no necessity for him to say one word in praise of
their late friend, at whose loss universal regret had been felt. They had all had
opportunities of appreciating his worth ; and there was not one of them but would
join in expressing thanks to Mrs. Verelst for her kind donation to the Society. He
moved, " That this Society beg to thank Mrs. Verelst for the bust of her late
husband, Mr. Charles Verelst, and to assure her that it will be appreciated and
treasured by them as a memento of one of the Society's earliest friends and most
zealous supporters."
Mr. John Hav seconded the resolution, which was cordially agreed to.
Mr. PiCTON said he had received a letter from an architectural friend in London,
which contained some matters of interest. He would, therefore, read it to the
Society. [The writer stated that Joseph Bonomi had been elected to the curatorship
of Sir John Soane's Museum. Bonomi was a sculptor, but the Act required the per-
son to be an architect of ability. Some points, ne thought, might be raised upon
that. He also desired to know why architects in Liverpool did not join the Insti-
tute in London.] It certainly did seem singular that a gentleman not at all
connected with architecture should be appointed to the office. With regard to
Liverpool architects not joining the Institute, he did not see that there would
be much advantage in their doing so. The mere pleasure of putting F.R.I. B.A. after
their names would not be a sufficient inducement ; but if some arrangement could be
made by which they could be affiliated with that Society, and be considered as a
branch, something might be done.
Mr. BouLT said the constitution of the Institute was extremely narrow. Ail
architects who had acted as surveyors were ineligible, and there were other restric-
tions which debarred almost every provincial architect from becoming connected
with the Institute.
Mr. PiCTON said they had the honor of Colonel Brown's presence at their meeting
that evening, and he might state that that gentleman had been making experiments
at Richmond-hill with a sort of cement for flat roofs.
Colonel Bkown explained that Mr. Griffith, a neighbour of his, an ingenious man,
though, perhaps, not well known to architects, had been experimenting nearly all his
life as to the best mode of making roofs of cement. He had built two houses with
flat roofs, and those roof swere perfectly tight under summer's heat and winter's
frost ; and he (Colonel Brown) had been encouraged to make a similar experiment at
Richmond-hill, and in a recent addition to his house he had had the roof covered
with this cement. The cement consisted of several layers— Welsh lime, cinders,
with acoating of cement, and another cement put over that. When combined they
appeared to be a solid flag, and the material was impervious to water. It was cheaper
than slates, and it was a well known fact that slates often broke, and that lead
was constantly blistering. He invited the members to Inspect the work at Richmond-
hill.
Mr. tToiiN Hay thought that this was a very important subject. He had seen
the cement used by Mr. Jones, and he thought it would be decidedly useful, at least
for floors.
Mr. Rawlinson thought the liability to fracture would be great upon alarge area,
but they might get a cement roof, anasphalte roof, or a lead roof upon small areas.
If they were dealing with a large area it was possible to multiply a number of
small areas into a large one, but it must not be a homogeneous flat.
Mr. BouIjT was afraid that using a material so impervious as the cement had been
described to be would tend to cause the dry rot in the timbers.
The subject then dropped.
Mr. Robert Rawlinson, C.E., then proceeded to read his paper, "Notes on
Architectural and on Sanitary (Questions." He said : — "These notes, strung together
at random, cannot claim to convey entirely new Information — most of them are not
original. A student might have written some of them, they are so common-place
and self-evident ; and yet I think many of my professional brethren will allow that,
in practice, sufficient attention is not iiaid to common-place requirements. Houses
are continually being pIaced;on improper sites, and bad plans are often repeated, both
I for public buildings and for dweUlng-houses. Every violent thunderstorm floods
March 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
231
some roofs and sott^fs In tho district, every snow storm blookn up some valley
gutters, and every frost stops and bursts some water-pipes and house oisteros ;
wiien, on a thaw taking place, the liberated water dfnani^ca wall, ceilinjj, doors,
carpets, and furniture— the money loss, in some cases, amountini; to a lar^jer sura
than would liave been required in the first instance to have provided against all such
contingencies, the public sulTers and complains, but it is onlv on special occiisions,
when some sensitive individual has come to grief, and that individual commands the
thunder of the press, that tlie echo is reverberated througliout the land. The recent
severe frost and the succeeding thaw gave us a specimen clap of press thunder in the
TVme.'J. directed against the iguoranceof enoineers and architects in general. I do
not propose to write a defence of the professions assailed. Engineers and architects
of .reputation can alford to remain quiescent ; they know their own shortcomings
far better than any outsider can indicate to tliera, and are over jotting down 'over-
sights ' and ' failures ' that they may, if poseible. work more perfectly in future. The
public is far more to blame in its parsimony. Dwell ing.-i arc more frequently designed
by builders than by architects. There is a proverb which says any man will have * a fool
for his client ' when he undertakes to be his own doctor or his own lawyer, and the
same may. with equal truth, be said when a man will be his own architect. A work-
ing knowledge of architecture is not to be gained in books, but in practice. Such
meetings as these are useful, because members coutribute each, at least a mite to the
common treasury ot knowledge, f'lease to accept the following ' notes ' as my mito. "
The writer then went into various details, giving directions, derived from the result
of his extensive experience, in reference to tlie site, construction, internal arrange-
ments, &c., of public buildings, dwelling-houses, &c. These details consisted ot a
series of axioms, mostly Icnown to experienced architects and engineers, and
valuable hints. They were eacli briefly and tersely worded, though voluminous as a
whole ; and as it would be impossible to give a condensation, we regret that wo cannot
afford space to give the valuable paper in e^ctenso. Mr. Hawlinsou concluded thus :—
■' I will close these random notes with a few words of advice to the junior portion
of my audience. Young architects and young engineers, you arc engaged in pro-
fessions which demand serious attention and constant labor. Head the lives of men
■who attained to eminence in these departments, and you will find sobriety, recti-
tude, thought, and work were combined. No man has ever become great by accident ;
true excellence can only spring from self-culture. Every 'great man has been
an 'original man,' ancl every 'original man' was a 'self-taught man,' wliatever
country gave him birth, or whatever college or school assisted to give him education.
There is no royal road to true knowledge ; this can only be attained by study and by
experience. 1 venture to ask student members to become (If they are not so
already) note - takers and note-makers ; observing a fact is only half the
duty, writing it down secures it for future use. Read the lives of great
arcoitects and great engineers. They were note-takers, and, consequently, have
become men of note.
" Lives of great men all remind ns,
We can make our lives sublime.
And departing leave behind us.
Footprints on the sands of Time."
The President tendered the thanks of the society to Mr, Bawt,in80N for his
excellent and valuable paper, which was, in fact, a set of architectural canons that
would be invaluable for future reference.
Mr. GoODALL hoped that the long list of common-sense rules would be printed
for the benefit of them all.
Some general conversation followed on matters of detail referred to In the paper,
in the course of which Mr. Boult said he hoped that Mr. Kawlinson's proposition for
dispensing altogether with lead piping would not be carried out by the substitution
of iron pipes, as he had found, from experience, that iron pipes were intolerable and
unmanageable.
Mr. Kawlinson replied that it was not a specnlativc matter that ho had put before
them, but the result of actual experience. Uehad used iron pipes for the entire
supply of some nine or ten towns, and he might say for the internal supply of thou-
sands of houses, and these iron pipes were made to pass into all sorts of corners, and
he had no difficulty in using tliem or in repairing them. There were few waters in this
country that did not act upon lead in a manner that was injurious. Iron was much
more durable, and it was not liable to be injuriously acted upon as lead was.
A cordial vote of thanks was given to Mr. Uawllnson, and the proceedings
terminated.
THE AECHITECTURAL MUSEUM.
DlSTHIBUTION OP PRIZES TO ART-WOHKMEW.
AS we briefly announced in our last, the Annual Distribution of Prizes to Art- work-
men by the Council of the Architectural Museum took place in the lecture-
theatre of the South Kensington Museum, on Wednesday sc'unight, before a crowded
and highly respectable assemblage of ladies and gentlemen.
The chair was occupied by the President of the Architectural Museum, A. J. B.
Behesfohd-Hopf., Esq., and amongst thcother gentlemen presentwe noticed.— 'The
-Earl Powis, Sir Walter C. .lames, Bart., Mr. James Fergusson, Mr. .loseph Clarke,
Mr,!S. C.Hall, Mr. William Burges, Mr. Benjamin Ferrey, the Kev. William Scott, Mr.
Slater, Mr. M. J. Lomax, &c. There was a numerous attendance of art-workmen
who appeared to take great interest in the proceedings.
The Chairman said they were again assembled that night on one of those
!°teresllng occasions which brought them together foil and joyous into that room,
indeed he might say they were there that night on two occasions. Hitherto they
had had in the depth of winter, when they were often frozen and sometimes snowed
up, the distribution of prizes ; later in the year, when tlicy were pretty well melted,
namely in July, they had the annual conversazione. And the consequence was that
between the severe inclemency of the one occasion when the distribution of the prizes
took place, and the oppressive heat of the season when the conversazione took place,
neitlier of the meetings came off as the friends of the Institution wished. This year
the Committee had taken a middle course, and had combined the two meetings at a
less inclement season of the year. The Committee had thought it desirable in every
way to unite the two anniversaries. It was hardly kind enough, it was htrdly
attentive to their friends, whom they were only too glad to see there that night, and
. J^'^'IP,'''''''"""^'"'* "'"' '""* ^"" their prizes, to give them their award of merit,
without leaving it ope_n to discuss freely iind fairly the principles of the adjudi-
cation. The giving of prizes previous to the lectures was not what was to be
expected ; .ind then the converm^mie happened at the close of the session, after
many engagements had been made by the promoters of the Institution, and the con-
sequence was that it never came off with that brilliancy which would have been the
case had it been held at an earlier season. That was the reason why they were
called there that niglit, not to hear a lecture, but to have a full and free discussion,
and to renew the consideration of the Architectural Museum, which had now existed
about ten years, and he thought that all present would agree with him when he
said that it had been a most successful enterprise. They knew what the object of
the promoters of the Museum had been; it had not been to bring together both a
collection and school into a raree-show to bo stared at, but to have a real exhibition
of specimens of art, to make these specimens useful, and to put them out at com-
pound, aye, usurious interest for^their use, in order to the creation of art- workmen
and art-artists. For their principle was not there to have those broad rough lines
drawn between different departments of art. They did not wish to make the archi-
tect who constructed the entire building, the man who created a flower, or the man
who blazed a window— they did not wish to make them enemies and antagonists, but
to show that they combined in one great element of art. And so they set up the
Architectural Museum, and generally the Museum had done admirably. Other
Museums had things in glass cases, aud they were dumb and specoblcss, antl that
reminded him of one of the lines of a couplet—
And sure the fairest of dames is a glass one- ^A laugh).
But the Architectural Museum, on the contrary, was exceedingly loquacious.
They had a regular oourao of lecturoi, and the leetoie* dillTOred at Um 1_
would, he trusted :wd believed, in the oarrylngout (^arrsageeuata do* la pnwna*,
but about which he could not tell them more that evening, woold be Bon DrUUaat,
more practical, more stirring next year even than tbejr bad been la preeadlag Team
As to the prizes which hail been awarded to art-workmen heiboold Bare MaHlklaK
to aay by-and-byc. Hu would tell them why the Areblteetoral Ifaiw aattad
some approbation at their hands, and that waa be<^aaw It lUrted oa ttae IrnlnnMllwl
system, and it had carried out that aystem in tpite of Ibe temptatioaa oa toe rIgM
hand and on the left. In tlioso good old days, when thejr irere joaag ai a KonaM,
they lived up in a cock-loft in Cannon-row— oayi ther were acTer Una of talking of—
there they were their own mulenu tbey nUffht do wbat tbejr liked, tbaf sight
display any wisdom or commit any folly without reapooslblllty to aay, exsept tbat
portion of the public who were their paymaeten. Well, tbey left Caaaon-iow and
came down to South Kensington and had tbelr lodging than; bat ba aopaalal to
every one there if tlicy did nut come down to tbat (ubarban and beaatfiU aelgb'
bourhood, abounding in green trees and green grau, witb the MUna determhunon to
maintain their independence as tbey dliT whcnlu the cock-loft on tbe banks of tba
Thames. If they had not dona so they should not have had such agatberlag as tbay
had that night. They had oomo down from Canuon-row to Kenalagton wllb tM
same determination in their love and views of art, the same detennlnatlon to gtva
them force aud expression, and the same determination to giro a balping band to
the workman, and the reward was tlie continuous encoaragenent tneCoBunlttea
received at their hands, an encouragement which, he believed, would be enntlniMid
even in a larger measure in future days, when people would sea that thongh tbaf
took the name of a Museum they produced higtily important resalts ; and be tBoagllt
they did themselves injustice in taking the name of a Moseam, fbr tbejr wefa a
teaching and competing School of Art. What proper art-teaching was be woold not
detlue, nor was it requisite to defend their course of prsctlee In making the minor
details, the moulding, the coloring, and other details of a building tbor prlaelpal
study. They did that, not because they placed the minor befofe prinelpals. Dot
because there was a merit, a reality, in people taking up those sobslaiary Draaebaa.
There were schools and academies enough to deal with the great matters, bat there
were not schools ciiougli to deal with the minor details. That work, bowerer hambla
and minor it might lie, they had taken upon themselves. Tbey were a great aebool
of the minor art in Loudon, and though they were a great school, tboogh they had
no charter- no ornamental adjectives to afllx to their names, no constitutional exist-
ence, nothing in the world but a corporate detennination to carry out tbe duty they
bad imposed on themselves, tliey tioped to be successful, and the duty they bad Im-
posed on themselves must be tested by theoapscliy oftlie men whoopentad. As to the
capacity of the men, they would allow him to go down from the platform oawhieh he
stood for an instant— for a few minutes — to address them, not as an oflkerof the Ma-
semn, but as oncof the general company who had come there that night. Andsaoneof
the general company he saw, looking at the fmnt benches and to the right and left, one.
great reason why they stood where they were. They were a school of arehtteeture.
The Architectural .Museum was a school of architecture which had been set op and
had been governed by those who knew their own business. There were ecrtaia
amateurs like himself on the Committee, wisely enough he thought, bat the gnat
staple of the Committee were the men who early and late, in sommer and winter,
in fine weather and foul, and sometimes in seasons of great physieal anxiety and
doubt, had followed out, earnestly and conscientiously, their profession — men who
had studied, drawn, published, and given to the world those mfnatest details In order
that their fellow-men might study in the lines they had chalked out. In short. In
those particular styles of architecture the Architectural Museum had followed, and
had most studied, the Museum did bring together the most renowned, the ablest,
and the most trusted architects. They were a free corporation of architects ch«r-
tered and incorporated by their common love of art, and surely that was a recom-
mendation of tbe Museum to the public confidence. Whatever might be hi eontem-
plation, and they knew not what might or might not be so in reference to the general
study of that architecture it was their function to give effect to, he told them and the
world that no body of men, no advisers, and no incorporated society ooold be found
with more alliance or with more assurance that ttie money, wherever It might eom-
from, would be properly spent ; he told the meeting that no body of men could be
found so descrvingof trust in laying out the money of subscrllwrs or the hjrpotbetioae
trust of a nation ; no body of men could be found so worthy of the conduct of thel
Museum as the professional gentlemen wilh whom it was the honor of the amateurs
to work in the Architectural .Museum. In the year that was coming there was,
perhaps, no great work pending, notliing in the year ISfll that particularly attracted
their attention. They liad all of them .studied the year before, with an almost painful
interest, the vicissitudes of their honored Treaaurcr (Mr. George Gilbert a€ott>^ho
was unavoidably absent that evening, in that commission which he jeeelred so
deservedly for the building of the Foreign Ofllce. In the bolldlng of the Foreign
Office tiiey saw the anticipation of a free development of English art hi architeehire
such as they had not seen before. That Foreign Office was not in the clouds, bat la
the sewers and foundations. The old Foreign Office was pulled down and had to be
rebuilt, but how it would be rebuilt no mortal man could tell, but that was a matter
that would have their attention. Then their attention had been caUed to the down-
fall of one of the noblest arcliitectural monuments of England, the downfall or toe
spire of Chichester Cathedral, but that was a misfortune which was no one s rsuij,
and a friend of the Architectural .Museum then present, Mr. SUter, with much scir-
devotlon and l^nt, attempted, with all praise, to '"PPOJ' ""^ . ';?"t"i'f
pile and prevetiWhe catastrophe wtiich had occurred. He felt itDut ngni
to say that the downfall of that cathedral spire, wliich all so much 'y»|«",'J>"
human perseverance or ingenuity could have prevented, and he o«''!''^>'"'i^
fessor Willis, who had recently visitxid the building. "OHW- ""„"???!; E^SS.
have borne him out in that statement. He believed the calamity •»"",* °«P°*2W[
have been averted, for if it could have been averted all »"<•?»« "jflTSJSS^olt
to prevent it. Next year there was to be a grand scheme that """"•.J^.^^^JS^ "!"
on a site not many yards from the place in which ''>»? ",«"*^ '*,!'l,*f?S™2atK
referred to the International Exhibition of ISf^, and while he f^''™ *»»*«™f
wished it to be understood that he only referred to it as °°f, °L}'>«,«2£?{
public. Speaking personally for himself, and speaking, he believed he aatght
say, for the whole '^Architectural Museum, they knew nothing abeotatetr more
of this exhibition than the general pubUc who paid f""^!*^ J""^ , Aa^-Jd^'
or a penny for one of the cheap papers might make ' ' "°"*='^ 'ff "J^!!^
So they might approach the consideration of '^is qu-^t^on "''h a p^e^^Was^
d a perfecUy impartial mind. And approach n^ it wi"» an ""^UMed and Im
rti.lm.nd he thomrhtthevmiirht safely assert that there was agreat deal De
and
partiafmind, he thought they might safely assert that '",«? ."" •^^JL^Sb on
said on l,otl. sides of the question Of course a great I°«^™^°»^i^^X'^
would lie had no doubt, to use the phrase of the ''•T' be » ?^ ^i;^i?^''i2
a most happy fact. The Exhibition of If I''" »erf*»,fj~^ i^S?to5eeS« aSd
every one responded to. it was ■' Sf^eat gsla, a g«at juWatlon^a T«nr toejMM. and
when it broke up every one was sorry it was »"' ""f'J^oj^.^SSSf^hS'Kxbl-
regretted that from unavoidable circumstance, he <"£«* •" ''^"™»i jTto«ttie
birion of France in ISSi". was also in its way very '»«"«^„]™X -KlSiiS^ld
Exhibition of 186.: may be equally so, and he »>^^ «?»' J^* "^S-^^S^iSSS
not entertain that hope. At the same time when J^"°J^ *" «~''i??L'SS^"^
in everv direction, when it was only eleven years since the Great """"""""gLi^h
was shut up as the 7Vm« told us the other day, and only six ?SSl'mW.Vte. ibiS
Exhibition of 1&55 was also shutup,, r''™?-!^'?^ •".^'°.''k?S'I*^"^I^ " "
no one knew about,
so many broad,
lug of the Exh
verv interesting and ail that, yet it uii^m uui. i.j,ti,,- u|, ™ ,..- r'^;...Ju.. t.
St be that tliey would ail iery much regret the circuinstance »»^ "f »°|*J; "j
Tnd it mteht be tllat persons might b.- temptcl. if the K-^hlbi ion should °"' 3
that ofl^l-personu might be tempted to draw comparisons, but '" ''"P^ '£;'l"^
would not be the case. But speafang as one of the general pubUc. and knowing
232
THE BUILDING XEWS.
March 15, 1861
nothing more than what appeared in the papers, and epeakius: in behalf of the
Arehitectural Museum, ho could not in duty cry up the thinjj as asuecess, orapplaud
the thine beforehand. But ho hoped nud trus'tod the commou-sense. the persever-
ance ana moderate oxtH'ctatioiis of Kn^'liehmen would convert what was at that
moment a hazardous sohemo into sure and certain success, fi'om the practical utility
of the contents of the future buildinjr. The Architectural Museum was prepared to
take nart in the Kxhibition or not, according to circumstances, and be was justified
in telllnjj them what it proposed to do. If it saw before it a distinct and practicjil
line of what it mij^^ht carry out with advantage to architecture and success to the
Exhibition, if only time permitted at all, it would take a part in the general develop-
ment of the scheme. On former occasions when they had met In that room they had
dwelt on the details of their own special functions in their relation to art-workmen
and art-workmanship. Uis opinion was that they had so thoroughly indoctrinated
themselves with that as a jrreat matter, and further that they had better established
themselves that night In the eyes of the meeting as an acting institution for the
development of architecture in one particular branch, and so from their own apex
look at other matters around, that he had not dwelt on their own special mission.
The circular table before him was surrounded by specimens of modern ingenuity,
the production of art-workmen. But before he proceeded to the distribution of the
juizes he had to state that it was his great honor and pleasure rather more than a
J ear ago to receive a letter from a gentleman who had been in the eyes and ears of
Is fellow-countrymen for some years past as one of those great statesmen who ruled
our Indian empire— he meant Sir Bartle Frere. The letter which was dated
2Cth November, 1859, was addressed to him (the Chairman) as a friend of the
Architectural Museum, and stating that the writer had forwarded from Kurraehec n
number of cases containing fragments ol Hindoo sculptures, of the tenth, eleventh,
or twolftli centnry, which he wished to present to the Architectural Museum. The
writer added that the objects referred to were said to belong to an ancient city which
was overwhelmed by an earthquake. In answer to Sir Bartle Frere he most grate-
Itally accepted the offer on behalf of the 3Iuseum. There were certain details under
which only they could receive the collection, he hoped they could preserve it, how-
ever. He was ignorant as to the contents of the cases, which were fifty in number,
beyond this that the contents of one of the smallest was on the table, but he hoped
that their friend, Mr. Fergnsson, would enlighten them upon the subject. He had,
which he showed to the meeting, some photographs of the sculptures sent from
India. Those sculptures they ought to be proud of. Though they had a gathering
that night most numerous, most ample and successful, yet many friends had from
unavoidable causes been prevented from attending the meeting, including the Duke
of Bnceleucli. Earl Dartmouth, Earl de Grey and Ripon, the Bishop of Oxford, Mr.
E. B. Donlson, Q.C., Mr. Cole, C.B., Lord Overstonc, Mr. White, Sir Francis Scott,
Bart., Mr. George Gilbert Scott, R.A., &c. Before giving away the prizes he had an
Important communication to make to the meeting ; the Committee of the Museum
had a surplus in its exchequer, and it had adopted a resolution which would more
than double the pecuniary value of the prizes they would offer next year. The prizes
hitherto had not equalled the intentions and desires of the Committee, but he hoped
that they should be able to bring them both to a parity. They had to thank, amongst
others. Sir Francis Scott, and Mr. S. C. Uall, the Architectural Museum that found
Itself safflclently on the right side of the banker to justify it in making very large
additions to Its prizes. The Museum had received as a donation a collection
of Toasts presented to them by the ArchKological Institute, through the
Instrumentality of Mr. Albert Way to whom they owed a^debt of gratitude for the in-
terest he had taken in the matter. The collection of casts included, castsfrom crosses
discovered at Shrewsbury and Lancaster, and from specimens in the fsle of Man j
a cast of a portion of the inscribed coffin slab which covered the tomb of Gundrada,
the wife of William de Warrenne, in Lewes priory— one of the best examples of
foliage ornament of the Norman period, and also of lettering ; casts from the sides
<«ra leaden font In Brookland church, Kent, probably Norman, the subjects being
the signs of the zodiac, and the corresponding occupations of the seasons of the year
-^ very curlons relic of metal work ; a cast of the upper portion of a sepulchral
effley of fine character, namely, a figure In mail armour, found in digging foundations
In Exeter in 182B, in or near to the site of the Dominican Convent ; a cast of a figure
carved In oak, representing the Eternal Father— theoriginal was found in the debris
of the old chapel on London-bridge; easts from the stone aflixed to the fishing-
house at Bercfford-Hall, Derbyshire, with interlaced cyphers I. W. and C. C. (Izaak
Walton and Charles Cotton). The chairman said he did not know how that dona-
tion had got Into the hands of the Archjeological Institute, and, though he was
glad the donation had been made to the Museum, he did not previously know that
there had been poaching in his waters (a laugh). The Archaeologieal Institute
further contributed casts from numerous small sculptured ornaments, foliage,
heraldry, Ac, believed to be chiefly from Westminster Abbey j they were
originally in the collection of Sir Eichard Westmacott, and taJcen from the
originals under his direction The Archaologlcal Institute also presented
models of the fonts In six churches in Stamford, and one at Fotherlngay,
besides many specimens of detail. The specimens were for the most part
described ; and illustrated in the Arckarofogical Journal and a detailed
description had been most kindly, and at great trouble, fumishcd to the Council by
■; *'''*" y'J' '"'" o*' "'^ corresponding members. Amongst the additions to the
collection of the Museum he might mention presents by Mr. Billing of casts from
Kouen Cathedral, and from Mr. Pope, their honorary local secretary at Bristol, of
casts of the cathedral In that cit;r ; also casts from sculptured capitals from the nave
of Kimpton Church, Herts, obtained through the kindness of the honorary secretary
of the Architectural Museum, Mr. Joseph Clarke. He would now proceed to dis-
tribute the prizes to the successful candidates. There were two prizes oficred by the
Council of the Architectural Museum for metal-work, of £.5 Os. and £3 38., as first
and second prizes, for the best specimens of a key, either Medieval or Renaissance
in style, hammered, pierced, or punched, not filed, and not more than 12 nor less
than 8 Inches in length, with an ornamental handle, each specimen being required to
be designed by the competitor. No speoimens had been received, but the honorary
secretary was inquiring amongst art-workmen as to the reason, and it was hoped
that in future the conditions of the metal-work prizes would be such as would be
eagerly responded to. As to prizes for modelling in clay, the Council of the
Architectural Museum offered three prizes of £5 .Os., £3 3s., and £2 28., as first,
second, and third prizes (the second prize being given by Mr. S. C. Hall, F.S.A.), for
the competitors who shall show themselves most successful in designing and
executing a model for a circular or a vesiea-shaped medallion, fitted for execution In
stone, of the head of the late Duke of Wellington, enclosed in a border of foliage or
mouldingsof the Firstor Middle Pointed styles. The medallion, including the border,
to be not more than 1 foot 6 inches, nor less than 1 foot 3 Inches in Its largest
diameter, and to be executed In high relief. Eleven specimens were received, and
one came too late. When the Council came to the adjudieatlon of the prizes they
experienced a difficulty which they had not anticipated. There were two styles of
executing medallion heads-one giving, as It were, a beheaded head, stopping short
at the >i«-ek- That was the style of Classic antiquity. The other was a style which
architects of the middle ages adopted, that of a three-quarter face, as It wore, peeping
221 .1. K^""""' opening, as If It were growing out of an imaginary body behind.
When the case came iKfore the Council they gave the second method the preference.
But, as thev had drawn no distinction in the matter, as they had not defined to which
stvie the prizes should be given, the Council made no exclusion as to the candidates
who went in in the Classical style. Personally, he was glad that it was so, because
Jt would not have been fair when there w»s a vagueness in the matt<r that the com-
petitors in the Classic style should be punished for it. In the adjudication of the
pnzei, both styles had been dealt with, and dealt with as worthy of their considera-
tion. And he hoped, if ever they proposed a similar subject again, they would be
more precise and definite in their instructiona. He supposed most present would
remember the venerable face of the Duke of Wellington, to whom Europe was
indebted more than any other for the liberty of the worldnot being crushed under the
iron heel of tyranny. And, perhaps, they would all of them have been prejudiced '
by the candidate who was most successful in the llkcncBS of the venerable face, but
such was not the intention ol Mr. J. Allen, of Wellesbourne, Warnick, who had
obtained the first prize, not from an ideal Duke of Wellington, but a likeness of the
great man as he was in his triumph and his glory. A friend of Mr. Allen then
stood up and received from the Chairman the first prize of £.5 66. and a cortifl-
cate of merit. The Chairman sold he had much pleasure in giving the prize to
Mr. Allen, who had adopted the plan of a medallion head as if looking
out of a body behind. The border was very simple, but exhibited good taste. The
frame was not made more important than the man the frame held ; and it was the
head ol the Duke of Wellington, not familiar to them, but it was the Duke of Wel-
lington who fought at Waterloo. He had great pleasure in presenting Mr. Allen
with the first prize and a certificate of hie success. The second prize was awarded
to Mr. .J. Hatchott, Sutherland-square-east, Walworth, who had adopted the plan of
a bust as in the Classic style in the form used in the coinage of the land, and he had
produced a very good portrait of the Duke of WelUngton in his older days, and he
had arranged the proportions very well. He was sure Mr. Ilatchett well deserved
the prize and certificate of merit which had been awarded him. The third prize had
not been awarded to its full extent, but a prize of £1 Is. had been awarded to
Mr. H. O. Hale, Stamford, for a design he had sent in. The next prizes were for
wood-carving. The Council of the Architectural Museum offered two prizes of
£3 3b. and £2 2s. as first and second prizes (the second prize being given by
Mr. S. C. Hall, F.S.A.) for the best specimens of a carved oakrpanel. for one side of
the binding of a Church Bible. Each panel must be designed by the competitor, and
be 1 foot by 8 inches in size. Three specimens were roeeivod, all showing sufficient
merit to meet with an award. The first prize was awarded to Mr. H. Reynolds,
Kirby-strcet, Hatton-garden j the second was awarded to Mr. B. L. Boulton, New
Church-street, Birmingham ; and an extra prize of .£1 la. was awarded to
Mr. ,1. Seymour, Tower-lane, Taunton, for a beautiful design ; it was a carving of
great feeling and taste, and as such deserved the prize awarded to it. The Chairman
remarked that in future the objects sent in for adjudication Would be anonymous, and
not have the names of the producers attached to them, so that there might not be
the shadow of a shade of bias in favor of any competitor. The next prizes were for
the cartoon for painted glass. The Council of the Architectural Museum offered a
prize of £3 3s. for the most meritorious cartoon of a canopy-head for painted glass,
supposed to surmount a figure ; the cartoon to be original m design. First or Middle-
Pointed in style, in chalk without color, and on paper. 2 feet 6 inches by 1 foot
8 inches in size. Seven specimens were received, and the first prize was given to
Mr. J. J. Laing, West Preston-street, Edinburgh ; and a second prize of £I Is. was
awarded to Sir. E. Sodding, Clifton, Bristol. The next prizes were those in which
the Architectural Museum had only a share, with liniited liability, as the Ecclesio-
logical Society made a copartnery for the purpose of giving a prize for colored deco-
ration. All the other prizes were awarded by the Architectural Museum ; this was
awarded by the Committee of the Ecclcsiological Society, but It was given through
the Museum, and the present was the third year of the prize being given, and an
extra prize of £5 58. had been added. The prospectus stated that " The Committee
of the Eeclesiological Society (of London) offer, through the Council of the Archi-
tectural Museum, a prize of £5 5s. for the competitor who shall show himself most
successful in coloring, according to his own judgment, a cast of a group of figures
from the great hollow moulding in the arch of the Porte Rouge, Notre Dame, Parig.
Mr. Borosford-Hope will give £i 3s. (increased to £5 5s.) in one or more extra prizes,
if any works appear deserving of such reward. This being specially a color prize,
the same cast for competitive coloration is proposed to all the competitors. The
candidate may adopt that medium for applying his colors which he prefers, but he
is expected to treat the panel as forming a portion of an architectural composition,
and not as a cabinet piece. The original is m stone. Casts from this panel will be
supplied on application to the Honorary Secretary of the Architectural Museum, at
5b. each, at the Museum, or by jpayment of 2s. extra for packing and case. Duplicate
easts will be allowed. The Committee of the Eeclesiological Society wilf itself
adjudicate." The first year a gentleman got the prize with avery admirable specimen
of coloring; the next year another gentleman got tlie prize [with another admirable
specimen ; and the prizemen of the first year got the second prize. This year there
were two equal specimens and the productions of the prizemen of the first and second
years. The names of the successful candidates were Mr. M. J. Sirakin, Lambeth,
and Mr. A. O. P. Harrison. Euston-road. The productions of both being equal the
prizes were also made equal in value, being £5 5b. each. The works represented, one
the G erman and the other the Italian School, and both represented with great feeling
and accuracy the several designs.
The Chairuan then presented the prizes and certificates to Messrs. Harrison and
Simkln.
Mr. James Fergiisson, having been called upon by the Chairman, remarked that
he should be most happy to say a good deal about the Indian sculptures presented
to the Museum by Sir Bartle Frere, but he had not seen any of the specimens until he
came Into the room that evening, and though photographs had been handed about
they were so small and so slight as not to give any idea as to what the sculptures
were. From to the tenth to the twelfth century between Rfupootanah and the Indus,
there was a great degree of success in building, and the sculptures were to be fotma
everywhere lying about in acres for miles and miles. The sculptures were of very
considerable beauty, but they were mere architectural ornaments, and always
subordinate to the architecture. In the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth century they
would find Indian sculpture in great exuberance and beauty, but the art Itself was
neither very high nor very beautiful, but as an architectural decoration it was ex-
tremely interesting and beautiful. The labor on those sculptures was like jewellery
work, and gave It great effect. But as there was only one specimen before them, he
would only say this, that the collection sent by Sir Bartle Frere would be an extremely
valuable addition to the Architectural Museum, and if they could got any means of
ascertaining the gradual progress and decay of art, they would find a very valuable
addition to their knowledge of sculpture in India, for it was not used as Greek sculp-
ture, but was made subordinate to architecture, and put on a building for the sake of
the architecture. Gothic sculpture was extremely interesting and beautiful, but
Indian sculpture was of a lower tone, and it was sensual. When they contrasted the
Indian with the Gothic sculpture It added to their knowledge of architecture, and
afforded moans of comparison exceedingly interesting. When the Indian sculptures
which had been presented to the Museum were available for illustratiou, he should be
happy to say more on the subject. In the meantime he could not but cougramlate
the Architectural Museum on the donation they had received from Sir Bartle Frere,
and he would move that a vote of thanks be passed to that gentleman.
The Chairman said the Committee hud taken .the lilxTty of making Sir Bartle
Frere a vice-president.
Mr S. C. IlALL having been called upon by the Chairman, observed that he had
really very little to say to them, and he felt some regret at having been called upon
to speak to them, as he really would rather have given way to the gentlemen who
were prepared to give them much information, for he could give them none. He
could not, however, but express his sincere pleasure at being present on that oc-
casion, and at the success of the JIusoum, and the progress the Institution had
made. He had been a very earnest friend of the Institution from a very early
period. He was one of those who attended It In the cock-loft In Cannon-row; he
saw there the germ of a great society, which was only now in Its midway, for he
was sure that in a few years' time the Society would have much more to show, and
they who were its advocates would have much more to say. It was delightful to
think that so great progress had been made In the highest of all arts, architecture,
and to see present at that meeting so many intelligent art- workmen, and to believe,
as he did, they Were taking a deep interest in the .Society, and working for it, giving
it their aid and receiving from it aid In return. He was not an architect, he was not
connected with the AESociation, he had no sort of knowledge or interest as an ad-
vocate of architecture, but he had a great interest In the progress of art workmen
In whatever position an art workman could be employed. He was a friend of the
Society because it, of all others, might make the name of the art workman honored
March 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
233
■and respected. To those he addressed it was as well known as it was to him that
when they saw a t;reat work bearing the name of some great man they
knew that to the art - workmen belonged the main proportiou of
the interest and Iionor of the buildin<]f. Vn that principle Ite bad been
a friend of the Society, liad watched it, had advocated it, and would
continue to aid it as far as his liumble means would permit. lie had certainly
been sorry to see, oi. several of those annual occasions, how very few prizes were
awarded. When ho saw seven or eight prizes awarded he could not but think tlmt
that bore a very small proportion to the number of competitors for the small sums
oflercd as prizes. There was no doubt that was because the funds of the Society
would not justify the ^vinjr of a largfer number of awards or lartjer sums for the
prizes offered. He had undertaken to send ten or twelve illustrated books next year
as prizes, and they should be good, useful, and valuable books ; but he would send
tnem on one principle— njimely, that they should be ten or twelve e.\tra prizes, and
be for those to whom the more important prizes of the Society could not be awarded
for want ot funds. He trusted that they would see the day at no distant time when,
intead of ten or twelve, they should give away sixty prizes of considerable value.
He hoped to see the day when the competitors would be very numerous, and the
prizes would be very numerous too. He did wish with all his heart prosperity to
this very valuable mstitution, and he congratulated its members on the great
advance it had made, and he wished art-workmen the success to which they were
more and more every day becoming entitled. And he hoped that ami>le, and fair,
and just means would be afforded for bringing forth the productions of art-workmen
at the coming Exhibition of 1802.
The Kev. William Scott thought the Architectural Museum had done a great
4cal of work, as might be seen in process of execution about the streets in the way
of ornamentation, especially in the application of sculptured decoration to buildings.
In very many cases tiiey would iind workmen who could invent work, without copy-
ing figures, or bosses, or foliage, or other ornaments, and who made the ornaments a
component part of the building.
Sir W.VLTEK C. .lAME.s, linrt, had very little to add to what the Chairman had,
with so much good taste and kind feeling, said to the successful competitors for the
prizes which had just been delivered. There was one remark, however, which fell
from the <_'hairinan which suggested to him a few others ; It was this one— that It
was the desire of this excellent architectural society, this Architectural Museum, to
render " small by degrees and beautifully less " those differences that prevailed
between the diilerent steps of society In art— between the workmen and the
highest artist ; so that, instead of going up painful steps, they should substitute a
gradual and inclined plane, so as to give to the lowest workman working in the
metropolis the honest. Independent hope of reaching in due time the top of the tree.
And it occurred to him how much that revealed to us the true theory of art
and of work. I'crhaps no writings on art and work had been more admired
than those of I'ugin, and, at a later date, of Knskln. I'ugln had said
that all beauty lay In utility, that It was only In ornamenting the usefhl we
could arrive at the beautiful. Ruskin took up the contrary side and said it was not
in the useful but in the superfluous beauty was to be found. Now, In both theories
he (Sir Walter James) believed truth existed. It would be difficult to prove the
utility of a line painting or a beautiful statue ; but in the word art-workman or
workman-artist they saw at once that the true theory was in a medium between the
two theories of I'ugin and Ruskin. With the art-workman was associated the idea
that there was no beauty without utility, nothing beautiful but what was useful ;
and in tlie work of the artist they saw that every work, however low It might be,
znight be impregnated with a true genius and true sentiment of beauty.
Mr. G. CiODWiN in moving a vote of thanks to the c;halrman, said he took a rather
more hopeful view of the Exhibition of 1S()2 than the I'l-esldcnt had. Looking at the
results of the Exhibition of 1S.51, which were seen in all departments of our manufac-
tures, looking at the success of the I'arls Exhibition in 1855, looking at the advan-
tages derived from the Schools of Design for the Instruction of the youth of both
sexes, he thought he was justified in tlie expectation that the Exlilbitlon of 1802
would be a most gratifying one. As to some remarks which fell from Sir M'alter
James, he said he recrardcd the beautifid as the highest aspect of the useful ; what
could be more useful than that which was perfectly beautiful? He said that to
alight the beautiful in any degree because It was not useful was an Immense mistake,
because, he repeated, the beautiful was the highest aspect of the useful. He should
be glad and he was sure the Council would be very glad at seeing the Sluseum made
more useful every day by young men. He then referred to the zeal and perseverance
displayed by the late j'rnst Rcitsehel, the great Dresden sculptor, who had great
Eecuniary difficulties to contend with, but who gradually worked on until he found
imselft'he greatest sculptor In Germany. With perseverance and determination a
man might go almost anywhere he would.
Earl I'owi.s seconded the motion for a vote of thanks to'the Chairman, He had
been very much gratified to see bow closely the room had been filled, to see the large
audience, and the great Interest attracted by the Society, whose Intentions and ope-
rations Mr. Beresford Hope had described so accurately in the course of his remarks
in the earlier part of the evening. And his remarks on the necessity of practical
attention to detail, and to the execution of the smaller parts of ornaments in archi-
tecture, were very much to the purpose of the Society ; because In a climate like
ours, which prevented sueh an elaborate ornamentation outside our buildings as ex-
isted in (ireecc or India, It became the more necessary that the genius and ability of
our workmen should qualify them to take part In the ornament of the Interior,
where it would be less effected by the elements ; and, as It would be more closely
examined by the eye, greater delicacy and refinement were requisite. Nor by attend-
ing to ornamentation would their appreciation of the higher principles of a building
be less. The various specimens of art before thein that day contributed very much
as accessories to the general appearance of even the largest and most magnlHcent
buildings. It was not everybody could design a great Ijuilding, and as in every
large national building the space for smaller works and ornament was, comparatively
speaking, almost boundless : It was plain that every excellence In detail was calcu-
lated greatly to promote the art of architecture.
Au Aht-workman supported the motion, which was carried by acclamation.
The CiiAiRM.VN acknowledged the compliment, and shortly alierwards the meet-
ing separated
.♦
THE ARCHITECTURAL E.XAMINATION COMMITTEE OF THE ROYAL
INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
THE following members have been appointed on the Architcclural Examination
Committee:— Messrs. A. Ashpltel, F.S.A., W. Burges, C. liarrv, C. Gray, R.
Hesketh, J. .Jennings, R. Kerr. F. C. I'cnrose, M.A., J. J. Scoles, G. G. Scott, R.A.,
S. Smlrke, R.A., G.>;. Street, F.S.A., J. Whlchcord, W. White, F. Marrable, W.
Tlte, M.l'., W. Wlgglnton, C. F. Hayward; Messrs. A. Allom, G. M. Hills, C.
Fowler, Jan., and J. Roger Smith, Associates; Messrs. T. H. Lewis and J. Bell,
cx-ofllcio; J. W. I'apworth, Honorary Secretary to the Committee.
THE INSTITUTE MEDALS AND OTHER PRIZES FOR THE YEAR 1801.
A CIRCULAR of which the following Is a copy has just been Issued : -
"It, (.'ondult-street, Hanover-square, London, W.
"At the Special General Meeting held on Monday, 20th February, 1801, the
following recommendation of the Council with reference to the royal medal for the
year ISOl, was read and agreed to :~
"•Her Majesty having been pleased to grant her gracious permission that the
royal medal bo conferred on sucli distinguished architect or man of science of any
country, as may have designed or executed any building of high merit, or prod^ieed
a work temling to promote or facilitate the knowledge of architecture, or the var':»us
branches of science connected therewith, That the ('ounell do proceed in January,
1802, to take Into consideration the appropriation of the royal medal.'
" The followitig recoramendaUoni of the Council wen- alM read ud fntd lo:—
'•ImlUule MeAtul.—'TbU the allvvr medal of the InitlluU: b« awarded to the
author of the best cisay on either of the following taldecU :—
"Ist. The proper application of wrought and caat Iron, oonttruetlrcly and artiati-
cally. 2nd. The application of limber work In England, eooatrueUrelir and arUati-
cally, from the vear IMi to the present time. 3rd. The Uttrodaelloo of IlalUa
architecture Into England. Ilh. The principle ofthe appUcatlaa of Iron-work lo th*
construction of floors and roofs, llluttrated by example*. (Tbe ettayi lo be
written very legibly on alternate paget, and to be aooompanled by aultatile iUna-
tratlons.)
"That the silver medal of the iDstltuIr, with £S 5a., be awarded for tbe beat Ulaa-
trations, geometrically drawn from actual raeaanremeot (with dlaieiukHM flgafcd.
lK>th on the drawings showln;^ the ceneral arraDKement* and on tbedetaUi),taKetb«r
with descriptive particulars of au abbev gateway, a bridge, or other medieval buidlag
in the United Khigdom hitherto unpublished in that manner.
" The drawings to consist of at least one plan, an elevation, and a section, drawn
to the scale of one-eighth of an inch to the loot, with details to a larger scale
The elevations to be In line, or black lined only, and tbe plans and sectlona to bt
tinted In sepia only. I'erspective drawings may be also sent, and mar be either etebed
"" — "■* '- - ■- ~ ■ ■■ -■• fff, • -
^ ^ - hese medals are oiwn tn all mptnher* of lhf>
limitation as to flge.)
in, or tinted in sepia, or Indian ink. The Jointing of tbe masonry. If any, to be par-
ticularly marked. (These medals arc open to all members of the profession, without
" .Soaiic MeiUiUmL—TliAt the Soane medallion be awarded for the best design, well
Illustrated by a sufficient number ol drawings, for—
" A museum of sculpture and pictures, ancient and modem, with leetnre-room to
hold 500 persons, and library lo hold S/xio volume*.
" The drawings to consist of plans, sections, and elevations, drawn to tbe seale at
one-eighth of an inch to the foot, together with a bird's-eye view of the whole
arrangement, and a blodi plan. Each of the two latter drawings lo be to meb a
scale as a sheet of double elephant paper will admit. The plsns and section* to be
tinted in sepia only, and the elcTations to be In line, or black lined only, rerspeettre
drawings may also be sent, and they may be tinted or etched.
" The successful competitor, if he go abroad witiiin three years after rcechrtng the
medallion, will be entitled to the sum of £.>0 at the end of oneyear's abscnee, OB
sending satisfactory evidence of his progress and his studies. (The competlttoa fbr
the Soane medallion Is open to all members of the profession imdcr the (ge 0(
thirty years.)
" Tlie I'resMenl'a /'rfcc- That the prize of ten guineas offered by the Preaideat. be
awarded to the author of the most approved set of architectural drawings, eonsUttnK
of plan, elevation, and section, executed in the best manner. In color, and sbede^
and occupying not less than a sheet of Imperial paper. The scale to be one-fifth of
an inch to the foot. The subject to b>' a building of an admired example, or of
original design, such as a chapel, a pleasure-house for a garden, a park gate eatraaee
lodge, a moderate sized villa, or a small market-house and room above.
" The plan of ground Moor to be In dark Indian Ink, with plinth, steps, rallingi,
pavings in slabs or mosaics, flooring or parquet, expressed thereon, internally ; and
externally, the terrace or parapets, grass or gravel approach, to the extent of 10 or
15 feet, to be expressed, slightly colored.
" The elevation to be Bhaded and colored. In course* of stone or marble, rostlca,
or ashlar; the architectural sculpture, vegetable or animal; the slates or tile* ; the
profiles, movldlngs. enrichments ; and landscape; to bccareflilly Indicated,
"The section to be In dark Indian Ink, interior and exterior, and construction
(where possible) to be indicated and expressed.
" The whole to be a fair set of drawings in the best manner. (The above priie to
be open to all students, whether of the Institute or not)
" That a prize of books be kIvcii by the Institute to the author of the design that
may be considered the second in merit.
"Mr. yiYe'sy'nw.-That a prize of £10108., announced at the Ordinary General
Meeting held on the 6th November, liWO, as having been offered by Mr. Tlte, M.P.,
F.R.S.. Fellow, be awarded to the author of the beet set of sketches or suggesUona
in the Italian style of architecture for public buildings adapted to modem want*. t.g.,
churches, town halls, railway stations, public of&ces, ie., in P^nglsnd.
" The sketches m.iy be either in outline, or colored, or tinted only, and they may be
drawn either in perspective or geometrically. If in perspective, they are to be of the
size which a sheet of imperial paper will admit. If drawn geomeUically, they must
be to the scale of one-eighth of an inch to the foot.
A plan tinted in sepia, of the principal floor of the building, drawn to a scale ofpne-
elghth of an inch to the foot, is to accompany each set of sketches. The competition
is open to all Associates and students of the Institute. Each competitor Is to sendla
not less than two, and not more tliau three sets of sketches. „ ^ ^ ., .
"'Jfr. Alexander's /'me.— That a prize of ten guineas, offered by G. Alexander,
Fellow, will be given for the best essay on the four Ancient Camps near Swindon,
Wiltshire, viz., Blundsdon, Ufflngton, Llddlngton, and llarbury, showing bow.
without injury to the ancient remains, works of a temporary character might be
added, to render them available for defence by rifle volunU'ers and others ; t^i^
advantage of the resourcesof modem science, the railway, telegraphs, Ac, andortoa
large engineering works at Swindon. 1 .,. _ .„i«\ «#
" The essay to be accompanied by a plan and section (drawn to the same scale) «
one at least of the old camps, and diagrams and sketches of the proposed worxs. ims
competition is open to all members of the profession. j„i„k~,v.
'■Stmlents- T'riM.-That the subject of the design for the Students prize In hooU
for the year 1861 be : 'A Dispensary, suited for a Manufacturing Town.
"The drawings to be executed to the scale of one-eighth of an Inch Jo the foot , the
plans and sections to be tinted In sepia, and the elevation to be In outline, etched «
tinted in sepia. I'erspective drawings are not necessarily requhwi, but may oe scni,
and be in outline etched, or tinted In septa. , , . , •„„„ ..i^imI tnr tlu.
" Sludfnts ilo»thhj ,«f(oft«.-The ftnowlngs"^"*' .'■"« '^?,^Crcou«led
sketches for 1801, and they may be taken In any order, »'»'°"«°, '»i''Jf '%'"'?f!,'3
to their being forwarded to the Hon. Sees, at as regular intervtls a* possible. Ust or
'"-r Ba7e of a Column seen iVom above, (Janopy. Corbel, Ac.nlhu. I-e»f.^.
Cornice, Mouldings (with Sections), I'lnnacle ■•^"^"''';^»'^^,'° '^'""i, "f foiSSS'
Scroll-work in Iron or Wood, Capital. mouldcKl. s«n from btlowj^^^
The sketches to be made from actual buildings, or from casts, or otiier exampiea m
""Any student may send a study or studies from the hum«^« •" P^f^J^
or any of the above subjects, provided only that the said studies do not exccea in
number one-half of his architectural sketches. imnerlal wOladmlt
••All the sketches to be at least as Urge as »h.l -sheet of Imperial wUl admit.
igaMied
Istobe
••Ail tnc sseicnes lo oe ni lewiri »d .....,...- ---. .i„.™i
"They may be in outline only, or etched in. ™'«T^^ °' "Pj*"'., to be dUUmratall
.•i;|r^c,-o«V-Compc{i/or.-Eache^^^^^^
r Li7anic?£ ^Te,rr 's%M w'li^'iM.nk s,.l and h.^^
mark or motto as that attached to the essay or 'J'**'°»^' "J"* "'^ ^ 7i^,^. ™^
with an address to which " oommunication ™ay be ^n /^"hRe^,.'-^ m«ked
and marked
Koomi
contain-
by the In.tituJ.- VsuSfl^m.ori. aiid impk'?"- '^i-.-ifr^^i^f i'lrrSl-SrliSh
234
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 15, 1861.
Institute, to be published by them if tiouglit lit In case tlie essays are not published
within six mouths after the award of the medals, the authors will be at liberty to
publish them. The drawings for the Soane Medallion will bo returned to all the
candidates, on aupUeation ; to the unsuccessful after the adjudication, and to the
successful alter the presentation of the medal.
*,* Strict compliance with the above directions is required.
AKCHITKCTS' BENEVOLENT SOCIETT.
ANN DAL MEETING.
ON Wednesday afternoon the annual meeting of this Society was held at the rooms
of the Royal Institute of llritish Architects, 9, Couduit-street, Kepent-street,
when we noticed the following gentlemen present:— Messrs. George Mair, C.C Nelson,
Sancton Wood, Horace Jones, John Turner, C B. Thurston, Henry Mawley, Wyatt
I'apworth, — Mocatta, G. Godwin, James Bell, T. Hayter Lewis, Uobert Kerr,
C- Fowler, jun., Itobcrt Hesketh, A. Ashpitel, G. E. Street, E. O. liakewill, &c.
On the motion of Mr. Mawlev, George Mair, Esq., was called to the chair.
The Chairman explained that the I'resident of the Society, Mr. Sydney Smirke,
was, owing to a particular eugngement, prevented from attending the meeting, for
which he had, by letter, expressed regret, along with a further expression of hia
continued desire for the welfare of the Society.
Mr. Turner (Honorary Secretary) read the minutes of proceedings at the last
annual meeting, which were approved of and conlirmed.
Hr. TuRNEB then read the annual report, of which the following is a copy :—
BEl-ORT.
On entering the second decennial period of existence of the Architects' Benevolent
Bociety, the Council has heartfelt satisfaction in being able to congratulate the Society
on its mcreasing strength and stability.
On a comparison of the balance-sheet of the past year with that which preceded it.
It will be found that in all material respects a continued improvement is
observable.
The amotmta of subscriptions, donations, and dividends have Increased, the amount
of arrears diminished, and the invested capital hag so increased as now to havereaobed
npwards of £1,000.
The Council point, also, with particular satisfaction to the fact that in almost every
item (f expenditure a triHing diminution has been effected. The pecuniary position,
therclore.Sif the Society is perfectly sound and satisfactory. Only three deaths have
occurred among the members dunng the past year ; one, however, of those deaths,
that of Sir Charles Barry, Iwe have especially to deplore, as it has occasioned us a
most serious loss. The great architect, who suddenly died last May, had been among
the early and most permanent friends of the Society, and lent us Ithe aid of his
eonntenance and support at a time when such aid was of the utmost value. So sudden
ft bereaveinent in the midst of apparent health and strength, whilst it cannot fail to
Impress a striking lesson on every reflecting mind, seems signally calculated to
lUnstrate the benefits derivable from an institution like ours, one of whose chief duties
Is to administer aid and consolation to the bereaved families of those who die thus in
the midst of life.
Although the Council have congratulated the Society on its sound and satisfactory
financial state, they must not neglect to refer to what it has annually had occasion
to deplore, that the funds of the Society are utterly incommensurate with the de-
mands made upon them, and they cannot too earnestly urge on the whole body of
members the duty of furthering the benevolent ends of the Society by every means
in their power, Itmust not be concealed that, though [on the Treasurer's general
statement now to be submitted, a larger balance appears to be now on hand than on
the previous year, that balance has, since the commencement of the present year,
been very seriously diminished by the urgent calls for assistance that were made on
the Coimcil at the recent distribution. The extension of the list of members, in
order adequately to carry out the benevolent ends of the Society, continues, there-
fore, to be the greatest objwt of sohcitude on the part of the Council.
In conclusion, the Council have the pleasure to announce that the Royal Institute
of British Architects has again evinced its pympatiiy and approval by according to
us, for the ensuing year, the use of its commodious place of meeting, and the Council
has the further satisfaction to record the gratifying fact that the accomplished and
distinguished friend of our art, Mr. A. J. B. Beresford-Uopc^has become one of the
patrons of this Society.
The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report, remarked that the duty of
the Council of the Society bad been somewliat laborious since the commencement of
the present year, and they could only regret that they had not larger funds at their
disposal for the relief of applicants ; but they must be thankful, and he was sure the
recipients were thankful, for the .turns the Society was able to afford them. From
the list of their contribntors it would be seen that there was a large number of the
members of the Royal Institute of British Architects who had not sent in subscrip-
tions to the Society, and he regretted fliat there were so many Fellows and Associ-
ates of the Institute who were not subscribers. He (the Chairman) had spoken to
four of his friends who were members of the Institute, and whom he was in the
habit of constantly pieeting, and they had, through his instrumentality, willingly and
readily joined the Society. He moved the adoption of the report.
Mr. SIawlet seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously.
Mr. Turner then read the Treasurer's balance-sheet, which was as follows : —
Dec. .3l8t, 1859. Balance at the Bankers £147 8 11
Dec 31st, 1860. Arrears of subscriptions, 18S8 £ 1 1
1859 13 13
Bubacriptions for the year 1800 130 2
144 16 0
Donations made In the year 78 15 0
Dividend on £UIO 10s. 2d. to April 5tb,
1860 £13 7 5
Dividend on £993 V». «d. to October
loth, 1860 14 5 7
27 13 0
.£398 12 11
The cash at the Bankers, .3Ut December, 1860 .£187 2 7
The amount of stock 993 0 6
Subscriptions due 18.'i8, 1859, and 1860 70 8 0
General AccomtT.
C'ush Paid Expenses.
Advertisements £10 8 7
Stationery and printing 9 12 9
I'etty cash, postage, &c 8 8 6
WrUing,8MJ S 7 6
— — "-^ 33 17 3
Collector's commlBSlon 10 2 7
Cash returned to collector overpaid last year
to Bankers 110
Cash invested in the Funds 83 9 6
Cash paid gifts to applicants 83 0 0
Balance at Bankers .'list, Dec. 1860:
Of Society's funds £186 1 7
Donation to be invested 110
187 2 7
£396 12 U
We the undersigned have this 18th day of January, 1861, audited the above
account and find it be correct.
(Signed) James Lockyer.
Fer James Morant Lockyer,
(Signed) Charles Fowler, Jun.
Mr. Mocatta moved the adoption of the balauee-shcct which had been read, and
in so doing spoke in favor of greater publicity being given to the proceedings of the
Society. Through the individual exertions of Sir. Slair a large number of contributors
had been added to the Society, imd he tliought that a very strong appeal shoiUd be
written by the Council in favor of the Society and fonvarded to every member of the
profession. Nothing could be more uusalisfactory than that the funds of the Society,
after ten years' existence, should be so exceeduigly low. He. therefore, called upon
the Council to prepare, as early as possible, an appeal in behalf of the Society for
circulation amongst the general body of architects. He moved the adoption of the
statement of accounts.
Mr. Wyatt Fapworth seconded the motion, which was unanimously agreed to.
Mr. G. Godwin moved that Mr. George Gilbert Scott be elected a trustee of the
Society in the room of the late Sir Charles Barry.
Mr. Sancton Wood seconded the motion, which was agreed to.
The Chairman announced that the following gentlemen retired from the Council
by rotation : — Messrs. T. Hayter Lewis, C. C. Nelson, Teulon, I'oynter, and
Whichcord.
Mr. C. C. Nelson moved that the President | and the remaining office-bearers of
the Society be re-elected for the ensuing year.
Mr. Mawley seconded the motion.— Carried.
It was moved, seconded, and unanimously agreed to, that Messrs. Richard Suter,
Edward Cox, G. E. Street, Ewan Christian, and J. H. Good, be elected members of
the Council in room of those who retired by rotation ; that Messrs. John Norton and
Wyatt I'apworth be appointed auditors for the ensuing year ; that the best thanks
of the meeting be given to the Tresidcnt and Council for their attention to the inte-
rests of the Society.
Mr. Nelson moved a vote of thanks to the Treasurer of the Society, William Tite,
Esq., M.P.
Mr. Mocatta seconded the motion, which was carried.
Mr. BouLNOiB moved a vote of thanks to Messrs. Fowler and Lockyer for their
services as Auditors during the past year.
Mr. Mocatta seconded the motion.— Carried.
The Chairman announced the following donations to the Society : —Mr. W, C.
Lochner, £4 ; Jlessrs. Atkinson, of York, 15s. 3d. (being the contents of a bo.x in their
office) ; and Mr. G. E. Street, £5 5s.
The Chairman I hen moved that the best thanks of the mectingbe given to their
valuable and estimable friend, the Hon. Sec. of the Society, Mr. Turner, to whom he
was sure they were all most grateful for his great exertions.
Carried by acclamation.
Mr. Mocatta moved a vote of thanks to the Chairman. No person had taken 80
warm, so hearty, and so disinterested care in any institution as Mr. Mair had in this
Society~(Applause).
The Chirman briefly returned thanks, and the meeting separated.
ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGR.\PHIC EXHIBITION.
Mr. Wm. BURGEfJ ON THE COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS GENERALLY.
ON Tuesday evening Mr. William Burges delivered a lecture at the Architectural
Photographic Exhibition, 9, Conduit-street, Regent-street, " On the CoUectiou
of Photographs Generally :" Mr. R. Brandon in the chair.
We shall give the lecture In our next issue.
ARCHITECTURAL INSTITUTE OF SCOTLAND.
A MEETING of the Architectural Institute was held at Edinburgh on Monday
night. Mr. Davii> M'Gibbon, architect, honorary local secretary to the
London Architectural Photographic Association, gave an outline of the objects of
that Society, and described several of the photographs belonging to the Society which
were hung round the room. He stated that the photographs had been sent down
from London for exhibition, to give the public an opportunity of seeing what the
Society could do, and also to enable the Society to increase their numbers and extend
their influence to Edinburgh. As honorary local secretary, he had undertaken the
duty of explaining the objects of the Association, It was established in London in
IS-i? by some eminent architects. The first meeting was held in their rooms on the
29tli April, 1K;")7, and a provisional committee was appointed to estabUsh a society..
The thing was taken up at first by the most eminent London architects, and a reso-
lution to tlie following elfect was moved by Sir Charles Barry :— "That the objects of
the Association are eminently calculated to be of benefit to the architectural pro-
fession and to the public, thereby promoting increased interest in and love of the
art" The committee expressed their conviction that not only would the Associa-
tion obtain for architects their photographs in better condition, but also at a reduced
cost. The Association had been going on for the last five years with considerable
success, and in the year 1859 there were no less than 1,2.'<0 subscribers. Mr. M'Gibbon
concluded with a brief notice of the photographs.
On the motion of Mr. Cousin, seconded by Mr. Anderson, a cordial vote of thanks
was awarded to Mr. M'Gibbon for having procured the photographs and laid them
before the Society.
MANCHESTER ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION.
A MEETING of this Association was held on the evening of Wednesday, March 6,
at the rooms, 65, George-street ; the President being in the chair. After the
preliminary business (viz., reading of minutes of previous meeting and election and
nomination of members) the President called upon Mr. John Webster to read
the paper for the evening, on the " Science of Architecture."
In the course of his essay Mr. Webster alluded to the simple but permanent con-
struction of the Greek and other early styles, and showed that the arch principle,
although rarely used by them (owing to their belief that it was thoroughly opposed
to that sentiment of repose and stability which was so essentia! a feature of their
arcliltecture) was yet known to them, and having referred to the further development
of this principle by the Romans, he proceeded to notice its consummation during the
best period of Gothic art.
He tlien alluded to constructive truth as being peculiarly characteristic of this
glorious style. In Illustration of which he referred to the necessity in ('lassie build-
ings of concealing the buttresses and other means of resistmg lateral thrust, while
in Gothic they are made prominent and ornamental features.
The paper was followed by a general discussion, in which the respective merits of
the two leading styles were freely referred to and supported by various members.
The thanks of the meeting having been presented to Sir. Webster for his paper,
and the following subjcctsfor ensuing evenings intimated by the Secretary, viz. : —
Slarch 20th.— Election of Oflicers and general business meeting
April :!rd.— Mr. George Shaw Aitken, on "The Limits of Truth in relation t»
Architecture"
April 17th.— Mr. Fisher, on "Chemistry in relation to Building"
New Post Office, Perth. — The Government some time ago purchased
a piece of ground, approved of by the local authorities, for the erection of a new
post-office; and the Board of Works has accepted the tender of Mr. J. Ower,
amounting to about £2,400. The design for the edifice, which is in the Italian
style, was prepared by Mr. Matheson, Edinburgh.
V
March 15, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
235
d^orrcspudena.
THE AMALGAMATION PROPOSAL.
Sir,— I have read with great intertiit an article on the "Amalgamation of the
Architectural .Societiea ;" I conceive it to bo a matter of deep moment to the profea-
Kion at the present juncture. That no soi'ioty exists capable of treating witli the
authority 01 the profession any question that may arise of more than ordinary im-
portance, will be acknowledged by most persons, for it has often been shown ; evi'n
the Institute have more than once proved themselves inadi'quate to tlie task of deal-
ing successfully with wide professional questions— tor instance, compctiliona, pro-
fessional practice, exauiinalions, and diijlomaa.
This alone should teach us that something more than we have la wanted: indi-
vidual societies are comparatively powerless -utiited, we should have the better half
of the profession in one body to make one law, or code of laws, for their own
guidance. The idea is a happv one— honor to the Northern Association, who arc
endeavouring to give it a tangible reality, and thanks toyou,8ir, who alone of the
architectural press came forward and put your shoulder to the wheel right manfully
and in earnest, just at the rif^ht moment when a "lift" waa most wanted. The
JiuiLDiNG Newb is already high In the estimation of the men of the north, it will
rise yet higher, for its aims and purposes arc assisted by generous; Impulses which do
not sleep.
We look to you. Sir, to represent onr profession in a worthy and dignified manner ;
and there is but one opinion among the architects with whom I have conversed on
the subject— namely, that, assisted by you, there is every i)robabdlty that the
*' Alliance " will take deep root, spreading over the laud from north to south to bear
good fruit in its future influence on arebiteeturc.
I am, &c.,
March 11th. A Nobtbebn Arcbiiect.
THE INSTITUTE'S REPLY TO THE "NORTHERN."
Sir,— It was mentioned incidentally in your admirable article on the "Proposed
Amalo^amation of the Architectural Societies," that the Northern Architectural
Association had corresponded on the subject with, and had received replies from,
certiiin other societies— among them the lloyal Institute of Ilritish Architects. Now
1 should very much like to know the nature of the Institute's reply. Let us hope
that the Northern Association will allow the whole of the correspondence to be
printed. If, as is likely to be the case, the Institute has shirked the question, as it
appears to have done that of the diploma, it would be interesting to see how it has
been done ; while on the other hand, if it has returned a frank and open reply,
either for or against, there is no reason whatever why such reply should not be made
public. VVe want to know a little more of the doings of the mysterious Council of the
Institute; and I hope the Committee of the "Northern" will enable us, through
the medium of your columns, to read such portions of the correspondence as may etc
of a public nature. J. am, &c.,
London, 0th March. An Architect.
-♦^
ARCHITECTURAL IMPROVEMENT.
Sip,- I have read with much interest of late, the many dlfl'ercnt modes propounded
by many architects of the day, for a sure and ciTectual improvement of the profession.
They are all very excellent in their way, and I have no doubt, if only ^carried into
execution, would be of great benefit to the profession.
I find that they are all set forth by the elder members of the architectural pro-
fession, and therefore it appears tliat they are not calculated to be of so much interest
and advantage to them as to the rising generation of architects.
Now it appears to me that these gentlemen, and all practising architects would
confer a much greater boon upon the profession if, instead of discussing the
advantages to be derived from an architectural examination and the diploma, they
would devote a little more of theirtime to the instruction of those young gentlemen,
whom they promise to instruct to the best of their ability in the profession of archi-
tecture, and in consideration whereof they invariably receive a very handsome
premium.
Let them employ assistants, and pay them to do the drudgery of thi office, and let
them do that which is lawful and right towards their pupils, by devoting at least a
certain number of hours a week to their direct instruction.
By so doiii^, I believe that every young man who wishes to become an " architect,"
would be able to pass any examination that he might be put to, after he has served
his time, and we should certainly have a great improvement in the quality of those
who are about to become members of the arcliiteetural profession.
I am, &c.,
An Arcbitectubal Pupil.
Liverpool, March 11th, 1801.
THAMES EMBANKMENT.
Sir,— I have read the advertisement in last- week's Bullding Nem-s headed
"Thames Embankment Commission," and think the Invitation to parties to submit
plans, &c., for this really gi^^antie undertaking is very meagre in its detail of re-
quirements. For instance, what constitutes the range of the Thames within the
metropohs ?-does that embrace both sides of the river .' Again, if the lewer (the
Low-level one, which is to be the recipient of all other discharge sewers) is to be
constructed in and under the embankment walls, what is to be the continuation of
works beyond the range of the metropolis ? Oris it to be stopped short at that point,
and the sewage run into the river as of old, and the nuisance be perpetrated after
hve or six millions of cash has been thrown away .'
These are simple, plain, honest inquiries ; but It is to be hoped that whatever Is
done will be done openly, honestly, and for petmanent and lasting benefit and
advantage ot the metropohs and its environs as well. Economy, in the sense in
wliich It :s looked at now-a-days, means pinching and screwing down to a submitted
offer of some unprincipled contractor, who becomes bankrupt before he has made a
few months or weeks' progress, and the trade is cut down to such a low ebb that all
sorts of shifts and petty contrivances are resorted to in order to meet the evils
created by this vile system. If this Thames embankment and sewage removal is
really combined, and done aa it ouglit to be, so as to reflect credit on all concerned.
It must be done m the very best manner that labor and materials can be combined
together, and this can only be done by fair remunerative prices, decided on by honest
practical surveyors. As to the mode of doing it, I, as well as many others, have sent
in the fullest piirtieulars oi mode and plan of operations. Mine have been published
In the Parliamentary Blue Books, and also printed and illustrated in the Buildinc
News.
And I and several others cannot see our way clear as to sending in fresh plans,
which may possibly be retained to help some other party to know now to do ft— no
guarantee being made as to the return of such plan.
bouthea, March 12, 18«1. VT. Austin
♦
TURKISH BATHS IN ENGLAND.
Sir,— 3Iy attention has been drawn to an anonymous letter in your Journal, con-
taining an ill-natured criticism on Mr. Hay'sDaperon " The Construction of Turkisli
Baths." I have had some experience on the snbject, both in the East and in this
country, as the pamphlets which I send by post will show, and I must say that I do
not think it fair that the only paper which has appeared on a subject of such great
interest should be treated with so much contempt. ^
Ebn-el-Shaitan makes some statements himself, which, I think, require a litt-'c
explanation; e.<7., "everyone knows how to cure intemperance even without this
loagicbath?" He surely would be most useful in Liverpool, for it is an absolute
" sink of hilemperanoe," uid, moreorer, there i* lo be (oand in it a drunw of flUk.
and vice, and misery, which I biTO soen no parallel of in niv v mlt to the Eaat. Uo
further says " there u • (rreat deal of rapor Id the i " If be badaakt
there may be a great deal of vapor no would hu ■• correct, a* It la
only when a great deal of water falls un Uic floor i a tme de*ci1i>t>an
of the condition of the atmoaphere of the hath, lie li< al/.u. |,robably. not aware
that the expression, " halfaa mch of water " on the floor, la uxd by no Ins a potion
than Alphonse de Lamartlne, In bis descriiition of a bath at Ifayroot. It la a Kicat
pity that Ebn-el-8haitan has " no time to describe the Tkrioua proceaaea at -eraok-
ing the joints,' ' harrowing the bead,' ' rinsing Ibe body,' Ac," aa I am asre tba ■>•
initiated must be completely mystiflcd by Uieac expreailons. I And la Webstar*!
Dicliunary that rinse means "to cleanse by the introduction of water ; applied par-
ticularly to hollow vesacla." I should very much like to know the meaalas oC
" harrowing the head,' ' and also what part or tlu- Interior Is " rinsed " In thcTnnllll
bath 1 Possibly It may refer, In the case of certain critics, to the Interior of the
cranium. I am, Ac,
Edwd. Hal'GIiton, lLD.,Ae.
$«m^U78.
The Convict Service : a Letter to Sir Georye Conuu>aULewU,Bart.,0n the
Adminiiitriition, Senults.and Hx-perue vf the jtruent Cmtmet SytUm;
with Suggestiims. By C. P. Mearor. Esu.j Ueputy-OoTemor of Coathaib
Convict Prisoa. 8vo. 1861. Ilnrdwicke, \vi, Piccadilly.
CORDIALLY do wc agree with the author who, in face of the facta that during
the last few years the service for the convict system have been paaaod wiUwut
discussion by the House of Commons, and that the annual reports of the uttkocU
ties have recorded their coinplelu satisfaction of tlie syatem as now and for Hae
time past practised— cordially, we repeat, do we agree with him that thereeziftas
stron;; under-current of public mistrust, which Is brought outinq)ecialcaMa,wbeie
the position of a convict is publicly commented ou as a Indicroua anomaly in tU*
Iiard-workiiig world, and almost a burlesque punishment, and not nnfreqMBdir
manifested even by magistrates ou the bench in severe animadTenion on the too
lenient treatment which is pursued towards old otfenders. Recent events at the
prison of which the writer is deputy-governor, will not dispoae the public to Tiew.
as deserving of particular indulgence, the class comprisecl under the term " cM
otfenders "—and no greater proof could be adduced of the insofiicicne; of the
present system than tlie fact that, whereas the leaeer crimes punishable by im-
prisonment in gaols, Sac, decreased from the year IKJO to 1669 m the proportioo
of 31-7 per cent., higher offences punislied by death, tranaportation, or paial
servitude have decreased during the same period of time in the proportion of 9rl
per cent, only ! In other words, during tlie ten years referred to. other minor
criminal [offences have decreased a third, while no very appreciable or propor-
tionate diminution has taken place in that clasa of offences which is treated in
convict prisons.
Another point is wortliy of notice that whereas the estimated population ot
the English home prisons has, by the partial cessation of transportation incrcMed
from 6,190, costing £190,689 in 1851 to 8,268, coeUng £3-23,.|41, in 1860; the
estimates for the cost of the Colonial Convict Establiabments have in the mmt
time only been decreased from £2(K),146 to £193,827, while the .difference in tbs
number of convicts abroad must he very considerable.
It is not considered that the present system is calculated to accompUih the
purpose at wliich it profes-ses to aim— that "great object of reclaiming the
criminal "—which isordered hy the Secretary of State to be kept in view by craiy
prison officer. That a convict's position as regards work is really not much punlih-
nient will be admitted by most people, when they learn that the hours of laboor
on public works are nine in summer and little more than seven in vrinter, while
they sleep from nine hours iu summer to nine and tliree-guartera in winter. It
is quite true that " nn honest labouring man has certainty leas rest and time of
leisure, and many more hours of work." We might add others besides Ishouring
men are not so well off in those respects. It is shown .that full advantage i* not
taken of convict labour, and the author's suggestions are not without value, albeit
not altogether free from difficulties in their practical application.
Let the convict service be looked upon and In every respect treated hi the light of
contractors by the Admiralty and War Departments. A certain work hM to be dona,
let the plans of it be given over to an engineer appointed by the Convict Dcurtmrnt.
upon wHiom lot the wliole application ofthe labor rest. Let a fair f stunate be agreM
upon between the two departments, the necessary plant be provided by the oonvlet
service, the work be 8lu^eyed as often as Is needful ty the engineers of the depart-
ment for which it Is being executed, and a transfer be made of a stipniated sumDom
the accounts of one department to the other as progress Is made. Ihere wui not
then be two sets of officers, one to control the convicts, the other to cmplwr them,
both with their excuses against the hmdrances of the other, and neither sufflclenUjr
interested in the progress of the work. The credit of the convict service alone WUI
be at stake, and a proper stimulus will be carried downward to the prisoners thcm-
Plans ol fortifications will shortly have to be carried ont, which wdU '•"J'^JJ*"
nation in tJie expenditure of many millions, and which could not ^J'^**,^'^
mically executed than by the judicious application ol the confiscated Ubor <tf pdnacnk
ReaUy, removable prisons could cMily be constructed, P™»'^..SP^_-?"
accommodation for two or three huudrcl orisoners. "[hich coidd be P""™, ™,»"*i
position as regards any new fortification that access fVom «''«""« "J"'*? ™JJS
for years coufl be easy ; and as there is uo kind of labor •<>,,""««£j";,SSJlIS
convicts so easily faU, as earth and stone work, under a •""'^'f '^.SiS'S^LSf
the instructions of an experienced engineer, a partof the new nattonal «enaMi wowa
be found to progress steadily and economlcaUy. i,w,.ini«. h, — iii>k
The prisons of Chatham and Portsmouth ue both near «° '»«« •o«^"!L^ '"^
it is proposed to construct new works on a large scale, »»J. •'"«{ "gP^.™
woufd. t^icrefore, alford great facilities as th* hes.d-io"**"^' f"*" "''•"J^I^SS
Let the plan be tried with the better class of pnsonera, »hose who have not olgB
^scondueted themselves, and who have served jbove oj,e.h^ Sf SSJe^vS^
exclusion, of course, of men of too long sentences; any, to ttot, of above six 3r*"»'
We have hinted of difficulties, and should be ^ad to learn if they are reaDy
insurmountable.
Again, we find at page 43 :—
It is not a little strange that a system, which commences with u»el"«'r ,»«™
se"aratiSS emifwith thcTndiscrimin'ate congre«tlon ofcr^m^^^
seems to have reached its cu minating point in the construction of the ustmoom
Sn for public works, at Chatham, «\iere there are 1,10* o^f^Vf'^^O'^f^
&on?en8 ^none undivided building, the consequence being that n" b^-J"*^
^ri°oners ca"n ^conduct themsHvcs. by maklngyisoM^^^^
heexamnlcis communicated to the enUre prison. *;■-,— •-■■-:—, -iV—'_Kn».iit It.
■Ir.^r.'.";!"!.. gfl-ect. and is generally thought, particulariy by the ladies who vislt.K.
a prettv light fc ^ - , - -,
very much to resemble an aviary on a large scale, --------. , ,, ^^ .-...„., .^.
tested its capabihtics as a prison must concur m the opmion that it U a sieaieg>«
The interior of this building 1
.iculariy bv the ladies who vm" ^
but all those who have practieally
236
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 15, 1861.
Ktructional mistuke, multiplying the difflcultios of mauagvmcnt, aud on an>- occasion
of sreneral diMflcctlon amon^ tnc convicts, not unattended with positive danger.
The pamphlet is written with a practical knowledge of the subject which much
enhances its value.
Tlte Architectural Asaoeiation
HAVE just issued tlieir annual ]iamphlet containing a memorandum of the
objects of the society, a copy of the rules and regulations, the syllabus of
papers aud sketches for the session 1800-61 ; a list of office-bearers for the same
session, and a list of members. Comparing the latter with that in the publication
issued for the last session which happens to lie before us, we observe with satis-
faction that the Association continues to draw new members with its circle. It
is not so stated, but we have uo doubt that those intending to become candidates
for admission may obtain a copy on application to the secretaries, at 9, Conduit-
street.
The Economi/ of Steam-poioer on Common Boads, in relation to Agricul-
turists, Jtailu,ay Companies, Mine and Coal Oumers, Quarry Pro-
prietort. Contractors, Sfc, icith its History and Practice in Great
JBritain. By Cbarle^i Frederic T. Young, C.E. (Mem. Soc. Engineers),
and its Progress in the United States, by Alex. L. Holley, C.E. and
J. K. Fisher. 8vo. London : Atchley and Co., 106, Great Russell-street.
IN this volume, consisting of some 420 pages, the whole question of steam
locomotion is very fully discussed, witli a keen perception of the require-
ments of the present age, and a no less intimate acquaintance with the history
of the subject. As it is from the latter that the final successful idea will in all
probability be CTolved ; we think the author has exercised a wise discretion in
placing before ns in one view, so many of the abandoned schemes that are now
well nigh forgotten. The public are apt to look upon the introduction of steam-
power on common highways as a new thing, and consequently to be ridiculed out
of the way for a time. Such is not, however, the case ; so early as the year 1759
Br. Robinson, subsequently Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University
of Edinburgh, then a student in Glasgow, mooted the idea of applying steam-
power to wheel carriages, but the earliest account the author is aole to give us
of the practical application of the power is that of an invention by one Cugnot,
a Frenchman, who completed his contrivance in 1769 : it was on three-wheels, the
front one being put in motion by a steam-engine composed of two single-acting
.•cylinders, whose pistons acted alternately on the front wheel. It gives us a gocS
idea of the imperfect construction of this machine, when we learn that loaded
with four persons, it could not travel faster than two and a quarter miles per
hour, and at that rate for only twelve or fifteen minutes, in consequence of the
small size of the boiler. In the year .after, the inventor constructed anew machine,
which was more successful in its results, but the scheme was finally abandoned.
Nicholas Joseph Cugnot was bom at Void, in Lorraine, on February 26th, 1729,
and died at Paris, in 1804. His second carriage is now iti the " Conservatoire
des ,\rt» de >Ietiers."
From an illustration and description of the first steam-coach constructed in
this country to run on common roads, it appears that the carriage was made by
Julius Griffiths, of Brompton, who took out a patent for his invention in 1821 :
it is considered to have failed in consequence of the boiler not being constructed
<o generate regularly the required quantity of steam. Mr. Gordon in 1824
patented an arrangement of machinery, by which an action similar to that of
horses' feet was obtained; the engine may be described as an iron horse with six
hollow legs, but the legs were obliged to be raised by lifting rods ; this scheme
also failed. Detaib of many other inventions arc given by the author, including
that by Mr. Hancock, who, as some of our readers may remember, actually ran a
steam-carriage between Paddington and the City for sixteen days ; another
between Finsbury-square and Pentonville daily for four weeks, and another
between the City, Moorgate, and Paddington, from the 18th August until
the end of November, 1834, carrying nearly 4,000 passengers. The same maker,
in 1«:JC, " put the whole of hiscaniagra on the Paddington-road, and ran them
<Uily without any intermission for upwards of five months." As many as nine-
teen steam-coaches and drays were being constructed in London in December,
1833, about which time considerable impetus appears to have been given to the
idea, and we find that in 1834 Mr. fjcott Hussell established a line of steam-
coaches bet^veen Glasgow and Paisley which ran for many months ; an accident,
however, induced the Court of Session to interfere, and they interdicted the
whole set of carriages from running. From this time to the August in last
year, when the Earl and Countess of Caithness and Mr. Ross drove
In liis steam-carriage from Inverness to Clashmore, a run of seventy
miles, in a crowded road for some part of the distance, owing to its
being market-day; the qnestion has been tried over and over again — how
is it then that we appear to be but little nearer to the practical application
of stecm-power Jon common roads? The writer thinks it is not very
difficult to account for this long delay, and explains it thus : — Firstly, owing to
the attention of scientific men aud capitalists having been absorbed in other kinds
of conveyance, next because its economy in application would not allow large
arlvantages to a certain class who live by promoting speculative undertakinprs;
then, on account of the excessive tolls on steam carriages, arising from the
erroneous idea that they must be more injurious to the roads than traction by
horse-power, an idea which " has acted in such a manner as to totally prohibit
their use in some parts of the country, if put on with a view to making them a
i>rofltable investment." The subject "of tolls is examined very carefully and at
•ome length. But the greatest, " the most determined, and at the same time the
most contemptible obstacle it has had to contend with is PREJUDICE; than
this I know of none greater except imjionfibiliti/. Engineers, as a body, seem to
have been wrapped up in the belief that it was impossible; and they have not only
believed it to tw so, l,ut have sjjread and promulgated this opinion with great
w»al and ix-rseverance." We are unable within our limits to give an adequate
idea of the contents of Mr. Young's book, which at once treats of the subjects of
transport, roads, canals, niilroads, comparison of roads, railroads and canals,
the snbstitutirm of steam for animal power, steam on common roads, concentrated
weight, distributed weight, Boydell's traction engine and endless railway, cost of
working, taken fr(jm various data, steam in the United States, passengers by
steam on common roads, the conclusions of the House of Commons, why steam
traction i> not more general, attemnts to reduce tolls, &c. But wc liave said
enough to direct attention to a work which, to use a stereotyped phrase, should be
in the hands ol all interested in the subject of which it treats. We also observe
a list of published works in which in conjunction with the present, nearly all the
recorded information on the question may be found— a useful feature that we
ibould be glad to find more frequently in scientific works.
The Thames Embankment and the Wharfholders. By R. A. Arkold,
Surveyor and Land agent. Saunders, Otley, and Co., 50, Conduit-street.
IN these few pages we have, in a condensed form, a very lucid description of
the three several schemes now under consideration, or rather the tteee from
which it is at last possible that one may be selected for adoption. It appears
that the author has been professionally engaged in the matter, in what direction
does'not appear ; he acknowledges in the minutes of evidence taken before the
Select Committee, and in the plans attached to their report, his authority for
tlie details of the designs. The only schemes mentioned are those by Mr.
Baaalgette, Mr. Bidder, and Mr. Fowler, being " pre-eminently distinguished
from the rest, not only by the greater reputation of their authors, but also by the
greater finish of their designs."
We confess ourselves somewhat disappointed at finding half a page only
devoted to the subject of" the Wliarfliolders," the great stumbling block in any
embankment question ; and are unable to agree with the writer if he thinks that
the " claims for compensation may all be avoided, or nearly so," by any possible
means ; at any rate, such is not the result of our experience of such matters. We
hope Sir. Arnold will give us something more in another issue on the compensa-
tion aspect of the question.
TENSERS
Public Hall, Eeigate.
For the erection of a public hall for the Keifate Public Hall Company (Limited).
Mr. John Lees, architect, Reigate. Quantities not supplied.
•John Holdsworth £3,914 10 0
Fisher and McLean 3,050 0 0
Carruthers (accepted) 3,127 0 0
Church, Westboukne-grove.
For a Fresbyterian Church, &e.,in Westboume-grovc. Mr. W. G. Habershon,
architect.
Matthew £5,038
Adamson S,SU7
Simpson 5,530
I'atman and Co 5,525
Todd 5,490
Tarrant £5,000
Myers 4,980
Kudkin, jun 4,980
Moore 4,794
CnuHcn, MouKTAiN Ash.
For the various works to be done on Mountain Ash Church. Prichard and
Seddon, Diocesan Architects, LlandafT, and 0, Whitehall, London.
Evans and Stone, JJarbath £2,008 0 0
. Chinnoek, lirothers, Ihuinster 1,809 10 9
H. P. Bolt, Newport 1,844 0 0
Hugh Pritchard, Aberdare 1,700 0 0
Thomas Williams, Cardiff 1,095 0 0
Almshouses, Brighton.
For five almshouses to be built near the Level, Brighton, for Miss Wagner. Mr.
T. Simpson, architect.
Bushby, Littlehampton £798 | Winder, Brighton £075
Cheesman and Co., Brighton 708 1 Fabian 672
Villa, near Leicester.
For villa at Honeygate, near Leicester, lor Thomas Sargcant, Esq,
snpplied. H. J. Paidl, architect, Burnley
Cox £1,400 10
Osborne Brothers 1,424 0
Coltman 1,397 10
Porter 1,.395 0
Thurlby 1,381 0
Kussell 1,379 0
Quantities
Hutchinson and Smith 1,375
Kuskin and Son 1,375
Jarrom 1,373
Du.vbury (accepted) 1,350
Sketeblcy 1,330
Church, STALvnniDGE.
For Congregational Church, Stalybridge. Messrs. Poulton and Woodman, architects,
Reading.
Southeron, Manchester £2,869
Neil!, „ 2,750
Terras „ 2,692
Clark and Jones, Manchester (accepted) 2,488
Gasholder Tank, Loughborough.
For the erection of a brick gasholder tank for the Loughborough Company. Mr.
A. C. Freeser, engineer.
Fielding Moore, Leicester £912
William Clifton. „ 845
J. and G. Tomlinson, Derby (accepted) 700
Thomas Taylor, Low Moor 096
William Moss, Loughborough 695
Institute, Chatham.
For the erection of a building at Chatham, for the purposes of a soldiers'
Institute.
Foord and Sons, Rochester £4,198 Os.
Wllkius, Chatham 4,082 0
Carpe, London 3,775 0
Dove Brothers, London 3,775 0
•Stamp, Chafliam 3,498 9
Naylor, Rochester 3,493 0
Additions, Bow.
For additions to Grove Hall Lunatic Asylum, Bow, Including credit for 20,00
new stock bricks and the materials of the buildings to be taken down : for B. Byas,
Esq. Mr. James Tolley, architect, 13, Angel-court, Bank.
Hill £1,313 I Ashby and Horner £1,238
Little 1,308 Hedges 1,494
I'erry 1,207 [ Ennor 1,123
Engine House, Christ Church.
For an engine house for the Parish of Christ Churcli, Middlesex. Mr. James Tolley,
Architect.
J.Langmcad £310 0 0
J. Norman and Son 285 13 7
J. Pritchard aud Son 2M 0 0
.J I'age 263 0 0
J. Page
H. Toll
ley .
247 0 0
Alterations, Ac, Islington.
For alterations and repairs at Messrs. Smith and Sons, No. 1, High-street,
Islington. Mr. James Wagstaff, architect, 170, Upper-street, Islington.
TVUliims rr. £274 1 Brice £258
Hill and Son. (Accepted) 258
MaIich \5, 1861.
THE BUILDINa NEWS.
237
ScrtOOI., HORSINGTON.
For a new Bch-oollioiise and teacluTq' TCTidenee, at Horsinijton.
Mr. Anthony liclliimy, of Horncastle j MesiJs. liooth ami Sons, liostoll ; Messrs.
■J. and S. Lee, C'o:iiug:8by [ Messrs. Beltoa and Gant, Metlieringhamj Mt. C. A.
Smith, Honicastto.
The last named competito!r, iraoae tender is the lowest In amount, has been selected
for tlic contract.
BiiiLDiNG Works, Wimpole Street.
IFor works to be cTo'ae at 30, Wimpole-street. Mr. Bales, architfct.
Battertury £91!>
Clark and Mannoche ftlO
• Clemcnce 799
Airey and Jlclliw^hani 795
I-onj;mii-e and Itenge 7lH
Simp.sou 780
Morris 751
rhUlips ';;'..,.'...... 748
109.
Dwelling-houses, Leicester.
For the erection of six houses iu Granby-street, Leicester, for Mr. Jones. William
Hillican, architect.
Digger, SrkK-layer, Carpenter, <fc.
Kcale £2,150 | Osborne £1,9«8
Diqger, Bricktai/er,i^-c,
I Thnrlby '...£1,038
Duxbury 987
I Hutchinson, Juu. . . 975
CarpeiUer, <}c.
Clifton ...£1,091
HadBeld 1,030
Swain and Orton . . I,oa0
Shilcock £1,092 I
Wykes 1,050
CUfton 1,013
W. Cox £921
Cox 900
Rudkin 850
Ward £996
Sketchlcy 986
Coltman 978
Jarrom £1,197
Tim. Smith 1,187
Ashby l,I.iO
Wykes 1,130
Sfotie7rui3orj.
Yates £205 I Johnson..
Plumber and 0'la:.ler.
0 [ Norman and Un-
7 derwood £230
OlWiddowson 231
Iron/ounder.
Law £26 18
rainter.
Kodkin £65 0| King £49 U
HUI £2.37
Kozzard 228
Adlard 250
£197
ISbardlow £242 10
olCatlin 258 10
0|
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
_ TOWX HALL.
Htol.— For the approved design, &c. , for a Town-hall and public offices, at Kingston
upon-HuII, to be forwarded with plans, sections, and estimates of cost (scaled and
addressed to the town clerk, Hull, and marked outside, •' Design for Town-hall,' )
to May 31. The sum of £100 is offered for the design selected as the Iwst, and £50
for the design selected as second best. A block plan of site, and printed statement
of offices, rooms, and conveniences required, at llobert Well's (town clerk's) otBce,
Town-hall, Hull, between 11 and 1.
THAMES EMBANKMKXT.
For plans for embanking the river Thames within the metropolis, which will
provide with the greatest efficiency and economy for the relief of the most crowded
streets, tend to the improvement of the navigation, and afford an opportunity of
making the low-level sewer without disturbing Fleet-street and the Strand.
Plans to Henry Kingscote, secretary to'the Thames Embankment Commission, 2,
V ictona-street, S.W.
LAYING OUT GROUND.
bALTBHRN-BY-THE-.SEA.— For designs for laying out the grounds and streets at
baltbiirn. A premium of £50 will be given for the plan approved of. Conditions
from J. E. Mac Nay, secretary to the Saltburn Improvement Company.
„ , SCHOOL.
1 BESTON.— For plans and specifications for a Sunday school, with class-rooms and
porter s residence, at a cost not exceeding £1,200. Ten guineas will be given for
the best. Particulars ft-om Mr. G. Teall, Preston, Lancashire.
WATERWORKS.
CiALWAT.— The Galway Town Commissioners will receive plans, estimates, and
specifications for tlie construction of works required for supplying dwelling-houses
and market-places of the town j also floating dock and public fountains to be
erected, with pure water from the river Corrib, at a point beyond Newcastle, and
brought by sufficient pipes through the various streets, lanes, and alleys, from the
Wood-quay to Eyrc-square, and from I'rospect-hill to Nell-lodge. The Com-
missioners will pay £20 for the plan which shall be approved of by them. Plans
and working pl.ans, with the specittcations, estimates, full and clear instructions,
&.C., to be addressed, under seal, lo the chairman of the Galway Town Com-
missioners, on or before the Ist day ot April, 1861.
, the Ecclesiastical C'ommiasionen for
CONTRACTS OPEN,
„ „ .^ CORN EXCHANGE.
BliRY St. ED.MBND B.—For erecting the new corn exchange at Bury St. Edmund's.
I Ian and specification at the Town-hall, Bury St. Edmund's ; or at the office of
Jlr. iMlward Ellis, l.il, I cnchurch-street, London. Sealed tenders to town clerk's
ofnce. Bury, by 12 noon, March 21.
VIADUCT.
LONDON Brighton, and South Coast UAiLWAY.-For the construction and
crectionofabrick, iron, and timbr-r viaduct, over the navigable river Arun, at
J'ord, Sussex, including a wrought-iron drawbridge, and the towing paths, guide
piles, and other works necessary for the completion of the intended viaduct. I'^lans,
&c., at the offices of the engineer, Jlr. R. Jacomb Hord, 7, Parliament-street, West
minster S \V ., from Marc^h 11. Copies of the specifications and quantities will be
suppliedupon payment of two guineas for each set. Tenders must be delivered to
Jrederick blight, secretary, at the London-bridge terminus, by 12 noon of
-ilarch 2o.
CHURCHES.
Ireland.— For enlarging the church of Taney, county Dublin. Plans, &c in the
hands of the resident minister of the parish. Tenders, sealed, prepaid and ad-
dressed " I'roposal for the Churcti of ,;the Ecclesiastical Commissioners
for Ireland, Dublin," to March 21.
Lavham.— For the restoration of Layham Church, Suffolk. Plans, &c., at the
chnrclnvardons', and at the office of the architect, G. E. Pritchett, 4, Great St
fJcn s, E.C. Tenders to he delivered to the architect to March 23.
Hindlev, near Wioan.— For the execution of the various works required to be
done in erecting and completing a new church proposed to be built at Hiudley
near VV igan. I'lans, Ac, at tha Parsonage, Hiudley ; or at the office of the arclii-
tect, 3Ir. G. Paley, Lancaster. Tenders, addressed, "The Rev. P. Jones, the
I'arsonage. Hmdley," to March 21.
Ireland.— For repairing.and enlarging f !ie church of Colnghtv, county Fermana''-h
and lor repairing the churches of Drnmkeoran. county Fermanagh, Badony
opper,Cappagh, Dromore, county Tyrone. Plans. &c., in the hands of the resi-
dent ministers of the parishes. Tenders, sealed, prepaid, and addressed
" Proposal for the Church of —
Ireland, Dublin," to March 22.
NoRTHAMPTON.-For tlie restoration of the church at Sutton Bassett. Northampton-
shire. Drawings, &c., at the offli» of Henry Goddard, architect, Leicester.
„ CHAPELS, .kc.
BOLTON. — !• or the various works required to be done In tlio erection of the new
Wesleyan chapel and schools, Chorley, New-road, Bolton. Drawings. Ac, at the
offlccsof George Woodhouse, architect, St. Gcorge's-road, Little Bolton. Sealed
tenders, endorsed, " Chorley-roud Wesleyan Chaix-l," to be delivered to the archi-
tect, by 12 noon of the '2Sth insf.
BucBFASTLEioii, DEVON.— Kor the Immediate erection of a chapel of ease (to hold
370 persons), in the parish of Buckfastleigh. near Ashburton, .South Devon. Plans,
&c.,at the Vicarage, Buckfastleigh. Tenders to bo forwarded (endorsed) to the
architect, John Norton Esq., 21, Old Bond-street, London, W., to March '-'j.
„ SClIOfH.S.
CRANBROOK.— For erecting and completing a building for an infant school at Craa-
brook. Plans, &c., at the national school. Tenders, sealed and endorsed " Tender
for Infant school," to be delivered at the offices of Cliarles Williams, solicitor to
the trustees. High-street, Cranbrook, by noon of March 30.
Battle.— For the erection of an infant school, and other additions to the present
national schools at Battle. Plans, &,e., at ilr. Carpenter's offices, .30, Robertson-
street, Hastings. Tenders to be addressed to the L)eau of Hattie, to Marcli -2.5.
VICARAGE.
Magor.— lor the immediate erection of a vlcarage-house at Maeor, near Newport,
Monmoutlishire. Plans, &c., at the Wheatsheaf Inn, Magor. Tenders to the
architect, John Norton, esq., 24, Old Bond-street London, W. to March 25.
CEMETERY.
Battle.— For the erection of two cliapels, drainage and laying out the ground and
forming the road, Ac, to the cemetery. Plans, Ac. and further p.articulars at
the office of Mr. Henry Carpenter, architect, :i6, Robertson-street, Ilastlnfn.
Sealed tenders (separate) to be sent to Mr. Charles Arnold, of Battle, clerk to the
Burial Board to the 25th inst.
ENGINE HOUSES, Ac.
Deptford.— For the construction of two engine-houses, boiler-house, cblmnej,
filth hoists, coal-sheds, dwelling-house, iron wharf wall, brick and iron sewers;
and for the execution of other works in connexion therewith, on ground adjacent
to Deptford-creek and the Greenwich branch of tlic South Eastern Railway. Kent,
for the Metropolitan Board of Works. Plans, sections, specification, form of
tender, and other particulars, upon payment of £1 Is., on application of Mr. J. W.
Bazalgette, engineer of the Board, at the office oi the Board, Spring-gardens.
Tenders, addressed to the Metropolitan Board of Works, must be delivered at the
office of the Board before 4 p.m. of April 11.
BRIDGE.
West Derby.- For the erection of a new bridge in the township of Tyldesley and
Atherton. Plans, &c., may be seen at the office of W. H. Gee, brldgcmaster,
Barned-Buildings, 15, Sweeting-street, Liverpool, where tenders are to l>e deUvered
by April 1.
DWELLING HOUSES.
Dumfries (N,B.)— For executing the following works on the Queensberry estate
viz :— In the Parish of Kirkconnel: 1. Alterations and repairs on dwelling-house,
and steading at M'Crierick's Cairn. 2. Do. at Nether Cairn. 3. Do. at Upper
Cairn. 4. Do. atCrichton's Glenmuckloch. 5. Do. at Dempster's Glenmuckloch.
6. Additions, alterations, and repairs on dwelling house and steading at Hail of
Glenmuckloch, 7. Alterations and repairs, do., at Nether Glenmuckloch. 8. Build-
ing of new offlce-houses at Spango. In the parish of Sanquhar:— 9. Alterations
and repairs on dwelling-house and steading at Dalpeddar. In the parish or
Crawfordjohn :— 10. Additions, alterations, and repairs on dwelling-house and
steading at Whiteclench. Plans, Ac, with Mr. Howitt, clerk of works, Drumlan-
rig. Mains, Thornhill. Sealed offers will be received by Sir. JIaxwcll, chamberlain
to his Grace the Duke of Buccleugh and Queensberry, until March 26.
Dumfries, (N.B.)— For the mason. Joiner, and other works required in erecting a
dwelling-house at M'Cheyneston the property ot Robert Swan, esq., of Brae.
Plans, Ac, with Alexander Crombie, architect, with whom tenders must be lodged
by March 27.
Dumfries, (N.B.)— For the erection of a dwelling-house on the Hills property, hi
the Parish of Lochrutton, Plans, Ac, at the office of Mr. Alexander Eraser, ar-
chitect, by whom offers will be received to March .30.
Leicester.— For the erection 'of eleven 7-roomed houses, together with boundary
walls, iron fencing, and forming the gardens. &c., near the New Church, Leicester.
Plans, Ac, after the 15th inst, endorsed "Tender for New Houses," to Francis
Drake, Architect, 30, Market- street, Leicester, by 12 noon of March 22.
RAILWAY WORKS.
North Eastern Railway.— For the erection of an engine shed, workshops, and
sixty dweliiug-houses, near Hull. Plans, Ac, from the llth inst., on application
to Jlr Prosser, the Company's architect, York. Quantities not supplied. Sealed
tenders, marked '-Tender tor Works at Hull," addressed to J. Clcghorn, the
secretary, to be deUvered by 12 noon of March 27.
North E.vsTERN Railway.— For the erection of an engine-shed, work.sliops, and
forty dwelling-houses, near the Tyne dock. Plans, Ac, on application to Mr.
I'rosser, the company's architect. Central Station, Newcastle. Quantities not sup-
plied. Scaled tenders miirked, '■ Tenderfor Works at Tyne Dock,'' addressed to the-
Secretary at York, J. Cloghom, Esq., by 12 noon, March --'7.
London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway.— For the fcrection of a block
of new- workshops at the Brighton station. Drawings, Ac, at the office of Sir. K.
Jacomb Hood, C.E. No. 7, Parliament-street, Westminster. Tenders to i rederlcK
Slight, Secretary, London Terminus, by noon the 25th inst.
ROADWORK.
DUMFRIF.S (N.B.).— To make a road, upwards of Ij mile long, commencing at Upper
Rusko Bridge, and terminating at the Dromore Summit, near the 19th mile-post of
the Portpatricktrailway, in thenarish of Anworth, and Stewartry of hirkcudbright.
Plans, Ac, with Mr. Alex. Ingram, Writer, Stranraer, to whom tenders t»
Slarch 22.
JIILITARY WORKS.
Birmingham, Ac— For the performance of works and repairs at Birmingham,
Coventry, Nortliampton, Nottinsham, and Wecdon, for three years, froin 1st April
1861, toSlst Slarch, 1804. Schedules, Ac,, at the office of the Commanding Royal
Engineer. 90, Belmont-row, Birmingham, The tender is to include every descrip-
tion of builders' work, and to be forwarded to the Directorof Contracts, >\ ar-omce,
London, S.W., by Slarch 27. . . ,., >
York.— For erecting soldiers' quarters, stables, Ac, for 140 men and IM horses, at
York Barracks. Parties desiring to tender must leave their names at the Royal
Engineer Office, York, on or before the 25th inst and pay half a guinea lor bills of
quttiilities. . . ,
Portsmouth, Ac— For the several works and repairs to the fortifications, barracKs,
and other buildings, required by the war department, at the places undermen-
tioned, upon a contract for one year, from the 1st of April next, printed schedules
of prices, price lis. .Id., and the condition of the contract, with every information
at tlie Royal Engineer ofBce, Portsmouth. Stations for which separate tenders
will be received :— Portsmouth, including Portsea Island, and detached works, not
cxcecdinn- five miles. Gosport and detached works, not exceeding five miles.
Southampton (Pensioners' Establishment), Slarcliwood, Hurst and Calshot castles.
Winchester, Chichester, Christchurch, Isle of Wight, Trowbridge. One con-
tractor only will be accepted for the whole of the trades for each of the above-
named stations, but the rates of percentage at which the parties tender may be
different for each trade, at their option, but such rates must be shown In the
proper place on each of the schedules. Tenders to be delivered at the War Office ,
238
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 15, 1861.
Pall Mall. London, addreosed to "The lUreetor of Contracts," and endorsed
•■ Tender for Artificers' Work ' ' in tlu- lefthaud corner of tJje enrelopc by noon of
Hanh-JO.
SALES AT GARRA WAY'S AND THE MART.
FRF.GIIOI.D.
By Hr. ^cmaEU..— 1, Lansdowne-road, Wimbledon, residence, rent per annmn £1S0 : sold
tartusm.
J;Lansdowne-rd.. at present unlet, but of the estimated value of £90 per onn. ; sold for3£l.2SO.
S. IrfUMdowne-road. at present on band, but of the estimated riUue of £80 peranuum : ^old
Ibr<l,tt0. '^
4, Lansdowno-rd., at present on hand, but of the value of £1(K; per ann. ; sold for £1,.^.
5, Lansdowne-rd., at present on haud^ but of the value of £100 per ann. ; sold for £1,600.
6, Lansdowne-rd-, at present on hand, but of the value of £100 p^r ann. ; sold for £1470.
T, l«ansdowne rd., at present on hand, but of the value of £H)0 per ann. ; sold for£i,44o
8, Lanadowne-rtl., at present on band, but of the value of £110 per aim,; sold for£l60o'
9. lianadowne-ruad, let at £IM per auuum ; sold fur £2.020.
10.Laiudowne-road, mansion, (unfinished), and when complete will produce a rental of
iCMO aer annum : sold for £241011.
11. Lansdowne-road residence (unfinished^, and when complete of the same annual value ;
Mdd for £2,7t».
U, Lansdowne-road, residence, requires little to complete, of the value of £140 per annum :
aoklfbr£Lr».
U, Lansdowne-road, let at the annual rental of £110 ; sold for £1,580,
14, Lanadowne-road „ „ „ tua; sold for £1,530.
U,Lanidowne-road, „ „ „ £115 ; sold for £1,010.
K, Lansdown«-rd., at preaent on hand, bnt of the value of £120 per ann. ; sold for £1,780.
17, Lansdowne-rd., at present on hand, but "of the value of £UW per ann. ; sold fOr £1,540.
IS, Lansdowne-road, let to a hit;bly respectable tenant at £59 per annum ; sold for £1,220.
19, Lansdowne-rd. , at present ou Imntl, and of the value of £90 per ann. ; sold for £1,240.
90, Lansdowne-road, rent per aununi £110; sold £1,840.
By Mr. OoDDAKO.~8. Charles-street, liromptou-ruad. Brompton, residence, at present on
hand, Imt of the estimated value of £:» per annum ; sold for £480.
By Mr. Botes.— 7 and 8, Broadway and 47, Water-lane, BlackfMars, 3 houses with shops,
term 21 years from December, 1859, rent per aunuin £160 ; sold for £3,500.
Leasehold.
, By Mr. Mcueu..— 7, Rldgway-place, Kingston-road, Wimbledon, residence, term 93 years
trom Mlrhartmas-day, 1858, rent per annum £52 10s,, ground-rent per anntim £8; sold fbr
ft, Ridffway-place, rent per ann. £50, same term and ground-rent ; sold for £.535. '
iLKMgway-place, „ £50, „ „ sold for £500.
10, Bidgway-place, „ £50, „ „ sold for £540.
H' 5}d«»ay-placc, „ £60, „ : ground-rent per ann.£9 2s. ; soldfor £«10.
IS, Kldgway-place, „ £60, „ ground-rent per ann. £9 ; sold for £580.
17,Rtdgway-place, „ £80, „ „ „ sold for £600.
JS'S!3«^*y-P'''"' " **"• " " .. sold for £630,
1^5W»'™y■P'''"• >• *^' " >• .. sold for £«00.
n.Udgway-jplace. ,. £ao, .. „ sold for £600.
By Mesan. Oealns and Taebant — 8, 9, and 10, Ireland-yard, St. Andrcw's-ldU, Doctor's-
commons, dweUing-houscs, term 21 years from December, 1850, at a rental of £40, rent ner
annum £78 ; sold for £135. ■ i-
By .Mr. Botes.— 9, NotlinKham-placc, Eagle-wharf-rd.,New-uorth-road, Hoxton, residence,
teim 81 years (Tom Septeml>er2>lb, 1840, rent per annum. Including the rent pf 10 adjoining,
Which the purchaser is entitled £32 los., ground-rent per annum £9 ; sold fbr £200.
1, Granby-terrace, Hornsey-new-road, and the residence No. 2, Oranbv-terrace adjoining
Shop, dwclUng-housc, and premises, term 73 years from Christmas, I860, at a grounrt-reut of
S12 per annum, rent per annum for No. 1, im, No. 2 being now on liand ; sold for £180
By Messrs. Kenkedt and lioNNT.-iHS, Camden-road villas, Camden-town, residence
term 96lVoars from Lady-day, 1841, rent per annum £70, ground-rent per annum £5 5s.
sold for £750.
30, Arlington-street, Hampstead-road, residence, term 99 years from Michaelmas, 1800
rent per annum £48, ground-rent per annum £4 4«. ; sold for £470.
Arlingtoii-stnei, a plot of building land, term 99 years from Michaehuas, 1800, rent ner
annum £18; sold for £22.5. ^
By Messrs. Chinnock and Oalswohtht 32, ITnlon street, (irosvenor-row, Plmllco
honaeand shop, term 26 years, rent per annum £.'!2, ground rent £.5 ; sold for £150.
a, Highbury-terrace, Islington, residence, term ISj years, rent per annum £73, groundrent
per amimn £8 17s. ; sold for £600.
«, Highbury-terrace, Islington, residence, term 13} years, rent per annum £53, ground-rent
per annum £6 I7s. ; sold for £360. ^ • e .e ""^u 10m.
*yMr. Stbvknb — Victoria-road, Clapham, residence, known as Devon Lodge, term 94
?*"" fr?™ Midsummer, 1860. at ground-rent of £17 a-ycar, rent; per annum £130 ; sold
.^y Me»r«. PlBWs, Lewis, and Teaoct.— 11, Jnbllee-placc, KIng's-road, Chelsea, residence,
OTma years rVom Michaelmas last, rent per annum £24, ground -rent per annum £4; sold
H, Gnll<Kord-5t.. RuB«elI.»<)uare, residence, term 301 years, rent per ann. £28 ; soldfor £270.
l»,>cwBridge-Bt., Blacklriars, residence, term 5 years, rent per ann. £150 ; sold for £330.
The Adelphl, 10 vaults under, held for 2 terms each of 96 years (Tom March 25, 1771, rents
per annmn £S8 lOs., grounds-rent per annum £3 ; sold for £225.
THUR.SDAY.
rHEEHOLD.
»y Mr. MooftE.— 1, Klng-st., Poplar, house and shop, rent per ann. £30; sold for £400.
LEASEHOLD.
By Mewrs. VranoB and Son — 20 and 20, Urdnance-road, St. John's-wood, residence
nm 14 years, rents per annum £3«and £4o, gromid -rents per annum £8 each house ; sold for
C4oo each.
M, 37, and 49, Ordnance-road, three residences, terms 74 years, rents per annum £30 and
SM, gTOond-renta per annum £10 and £4 ; sold for £400 and £.150, in 2 lots
15 and 17, Castle-terrace, New Hampstead-road, Kentish-town, two residences term 74
years, rents per annum £S6 each, ground-rent per annum £12 ; sold for £300 each.
17 and 18, yictoria-road, Kentish-town, two residences, term 75 vears, rents per annum £30
each, ground-rents per annum £11; also two houses in the rear; and adjoining 12 and IS
i*wis-8t., same term, rents per annum £24 each, ground-rents per ann. £9; sold for £660.
14 ana 15, Kussell-street, Robert-atreet, KIng's-roail, Chelsea, two dwelling-houses, term
«j years, rents per annum £22 and £4, ground-rent per annum £8 ; sold for £180.
Southampton-street, Camberweil, re«ideno.c, term 29) yeatx, at a ground-rent of £14 178. ed
ptT annum, (stlmatcd value £.'« per aimum ; sold for £196.
i_?ii V' "*"•"' '" '■■'• I'Ower Cornwall-street, Cross-street, St. Ocorgc's-In-thc-East,
Sd fOT £5™''''' '"™ ""* ^'"'' """ ''"' »""'"" *"" 8s.,ground-rent perannura £12 12s. ;
irr^S^'iJ'^^''''''"' Rommerdal-road, dwelling-houses, term 32J years, rent per annum, £84,
ground-rent per annum £4 16s. ; sold for £.'i20. • -^ i r ■ •> •
™'i',ii _:'"■?'• '''"dstow-grove. West Ham, seven houses, term g4)yeais, rent per
nm £100, ground-rent per annum £17 5«.; soldfor £700. ^j • «~
Effra Mutual Benefit nuilding Socieltj.— The Second Annual Meet-
ing of tint ivx^ipty was held on Monday last, at the Offices in Carcv-street,
Lincoln s-mn, and was well attcndetl, Mr. William Hall, presided. The Report
stetedthat the Society continncd to nrojfrcss satirfactorily, and the subscriptions
*r 1860 were more than double the amount received the previous year ; that
propCTly built by a memlR-r to whom an advance bad been made was let, nndiiro-
dnced 13 per cent, on the outlay, and tliat an estate at Hrixton, allotted by the
Westmnister Freehold Ijind Society had, in consequence of this Society's opera-
nt, incicued in vaJue 100 f^er cent. It appeared by the accounts, that the
working expenses were exceedingly low, which in a great measure accounted for
lt»proiipCTtty. A unanimous f«elin^' seemed to pervade the meeting, the officers
JTiZ* *'*"' aduitional share.', Mibscribed for. applications for advances invited,
and tlie meeting terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the Chairmin.
The Maso?is Strike at Bath.—The master builders and masons o
Bath have, at a public meeting, declared their intention to resist the demand of
the operatives now on strike to leave work at four o'clock on Saturdays but
intimate their willingness to abide by their former resolution to allow the men to
leave work at halt-past four, and to give an increase to their wages of 4d. a day.
The Charitif,'-cross liailway. — In consequence of the progress made
in the construction of the bridge across which it is intended that the Charing-
cross Railway shall pass, adjoining the Suspension-bridge, the directors of tie
company have given instructions to Mr. Marsh to put up for sale by auction as
many as thirty-tliree bouses, which are to be cleared away to' make room for the
above railway. These buildings are situated in the York-road, Ann-street
Agnes-street, Frances-street, and Vine-terrace, Waterloo-road. These are
mostly occupied by the working classes, and it is stated that between fifty and
sixty families will be deprived of habitation. But to counterbalance this there
are many vacant spaces of ground at a short distance, on which it is intended to
erect a large number of small tenements.
The Foreign Office. — There is at length some prospect that the
rickeh; building in Downing-street will be vacated in a few weeks by Lord
John Russell and the subordinate officials of that department of the Government.
Workmen are now employed in making ready Pembroke-house (recently the
head-quarters of the War Department) and the Earl of Malmesbury's house
adjoining, which the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and employes will
occupy until the intended new office in Downing-street is built.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES
All letters and communications to be addressed to the Editor of the Bcu.ding News. JO
Old Boswell-court.St. Clement's, Strand, London.
The Editor cannot undertake to return unused manuscripts.
.VnAmatedr — Will find hot-pressed drawing-paper more agreeable to work on If It is
strained in the ordinary manner ; the water destroys its liighly polished surface. We
cannot counsel the manufacture of tracin;; paper at home ; better to purchase it ready
made.
A Constant Keadeh (Tenby) — An old reading. Gibbons savs, " It was at one time decided
that if the work was finished, no matter how unskilfully or improperly, the workman was
entitled to the contract price, and the employer's only remedy was by cross action for the
negligence • • but it Is now settled that wlien the work Is not performed in all respects
according to the contract and duties of the workman he is not entitled to recover the
contract price ; but tliat a deduction siionld be made from the contract price, equal to the
diflerence between the value of the work as it would have been had the contract been
performed, and that of the work actually done." Tims, in an action for work in rebuilding
the front of a liouse, which, it was alleged, was improperly built and in dan"er of falling
down. Lord Elienborough said, " This action is founded on a claim for meritorious service
Tlic plaintiff is to recover what he deserves. It is, therefore, to be coiLsidered how much
he deserves, and if he deserves anything. If the defendant has derived no benellt Irom
his services, he deserves nothing, and there must be a verdict against him. If the wall
will not stand, and must be taken down, the defendant has derived no benefit from the
pialntiirs service, but has suffered an injury. In that case he might have given him notice
to remove the materials. Ketaining them he is not likely to be in a much better situation
than if theplaintilf had never placed them there; but if it will cost him less to rebuild the
wall than it would have doue without these materials, he has some benefit and must
pay some damagca." We are unable to comply with .vour last request.
D E. (Cork)— The Architectural Exhibition Is held at 9, Conduit-street, London. Draw-
'Pre-
ings must be sent in on Monday, the 18th inst.
C. V — See works on specifications by Bartholomew and Donaldson, and Walker's
cedents."
E. N — Wc cannot say.
W . M — Works at the National Gallery were described in our last Number.
F. N. (Leominster).- Wc shall be glad to see your photograph of the town-hall.
G. M. J.- Stanfleld's picture of *' The Canal of the Guidecca" has been admirably repro-
duced in chromo-lithography ; wc think by Messrs. Kowney and Co.
Av Akchitect in tue Nokth.— Thanks, shall appear If we can find space.
B. 8. B — Particulars of the competition have reached us ; we shall give a translation in our
ne.Tt.
Pennt Wise, &c — It is not too late to place the business in the hands of an architect.
A Smoky Tenant — Plan has been tried, but fails as often as it succeeds.
M. A — We caimot find a house for you ; apply to any estate agent.
T. W. T.-Yes. .; . iw .; s
H. — We must In all cases decline to recommend.
P. J — Is thanked for his note of thanks. Correspondents sometimes put us to an infinity of
trouble— coolly pocket the information we have obtained for them at considerable cost to
ourselves, and do not dream of adoptmg that courtesy which we have to acknowledge
from P. J.
A Ctpuer By arbitration.
B. B.— Your communication was not printed because revision as desired would have
amounted to rewriting the entire article.
P. Q.— The meetings of the Royal Institute of British Architects were tlrst held at the
Institute Cljambers, Khig-street, Covent-garden. We are not aware if the earliest meet-
ings of the Architectural Association were held in Lyon's-inn. Perhaps some of our
readers will Inform us for the Information of P. Q. We think a work of the nature you
describe would l,e of Interest— Whether It would " pay " is another matter.
v.— Plan and view are In the baud.^ of our engraver, and will appear in due course.
An Akchitect — We believe the Dublin Bmlder Is still published; we do not receive It:
several notices have appeared in our pages.
SI. A. W — Plan may be engraved hereafter.
Orlando— Our own opinion is that a license is not required in such cases; there is, no
doubt, however, that architects frequently do make valuations which by law require a
statnj), and, therefore, the arcliltect ought to hold a license.
A Col'nty Survetoe — It has been decided that when an architect employs a surveyor, with
the knowledge of the client, to takeout quantities, the surveyor cannot claim his charges
iVom the arcldtect, but from the client.
S. & Co — Thanks, but has already appeared.
A Stl'dent — Must try again. We cannot assist. Look to our advertisement columns.
Z. A — Below our mark.
Sir E. C. C — The contract should. In all cases, be prepared by a solicitor.
R A.— We shall be happy to see drawings.
A. WonKMAN — We advise you to decline. We arc unable to " take up your hard case." On
the Information you send it appears a " hard case " certainly, but we must hear from you
again with name and address.
S. S. ; W. J. R. ; T. W. ; B. F. Z. ; A NoHTUEnN AncHiTECT; One in Practice ; W.; L. and B.
(Yorkshire); Hon. Sec; li. and U Our correspondents are thanked for their kindly
expressed appreclatUm of the course we have taken with regard to the Amalgamation
question ; several will sec that we cannot, in good t-aste, print comnninlcatlons of so
flattering a nature as those they have addressed to us ; but it is always pleasant to find
our laljors appreciated.
TaoKiAs M — Sec above : wc cannot insert your communication ; too complimentary to our-
selves, and too damaging to a contemporary.
T. Meldon — Thanks, but we buvc already printed the example j-ou send ; wc shall be glad
to receive scale of charges mentioned .
A YouNO Pbactitiokex.— The business of an estate agent rather than an architect.
Decline It.
W. O.— In type.
• * «.- Such services can be charged foroiUy by time.
(,. WiLMER, M. S.-lf suitable.
Baxter — Yes, In a week or two; In course of preparation.
Looker On — Building will be noticed in detail when completed.
Anti-Smoke — We cannot give you the names of writers In the Building Kews.
Received.- S. Levton, V. A. (Glasgow), W. M. 0.,F. J., E. O., T. Wells, W. Dursley, C. T.,
B. O. L., R. Z. R., Subscritar (Dover), A. M. W., L. T., H. F., Fanny W., C. P. N., A
Header (Wandsworth-road).
Books Received — ■•steam on Common Roads," "The Convict Strike," "The Thames
Embankment," " The Architectural Association," "History and Practice of -Art," "Com-
panion to the Writing Desk."
March 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
239
WHY DO NOT ARCHITECTS JOIN THE INSTITUTE ?
E are told that, " a straw thrown up
shows how the wind blows ; " and
whoever cares to know how blows
the wind architectural, may learn
something by reading in our last
Numljer the proceedings of the
Liverpool Architectural Society.
A little incident turned up in the
short colloquy preceding the reading of
the paper of the evening, and we purpose
working a moral out of it ; especially as
it afforded a remarkable confirmation of
all we have lately said about the Institute,
and about the "British" architects to
whom it should, but does not hold, kin-
dred and relationship.
It appears that, some London architect
has written a. letter to Mr. Picton, a well-
known influential member of the Liver-
pool Architectural Society, which letter
that gentleman proceeded to read to the
members. The writer of it desired to
know of Mr. Picton, how it was
that, architects in Liverpool did
not join the Institute in London.
\^ We give the writer's query as we
j,^ find it put down in the report of the meet-
"'ing; but, if this were the precise tenor of it,
we should be disposed to call it an exceedingly
cool way of " popping the question " with
regard to a matter so very naturally doubtful : at all events we trust
that if it were put in this way, the querist prefaced it with sundry good
and substantial reasons why architects in Liverpool should join the
Institute. We should ourselves like to know some of these reasons.
A few possible ones occur to us as we write — " London," for example,
■begins with L, and so does " Liverpool" — but reasons of this kind
hardly impress themselves on one's mind : they are simply local and
peculiar to London and to Liverpool. What we should like to see is a
batch of good general reasons why not " architects in Liverpool " only,
but architects in Manchester, architects in Newcastle, in Sheffield, in
Birmingham, in Bristol, in Leeds, in Gloucester, in AVolverhampton,
and in London do not join the Institute.
The Liverpool Architectural Society appears by what followed to
have taken much the same view of the question ; and here let us not
forget, Liverpool was designated by Haydon "the Florence of
England; " and is a city which, for its extent is, owing to local causes,
incomparably richer than London, in modern works of architectural
excellence. Mr. Picton observed of the query he had read : —
With regard to Liverpool architects not joining the Institute, he did not see
that there would be much adoantaye in their doing so. The mere pleasure of
putting F.R.I. B. A. after their names would not be a sufficient inducement; but
if some arrangement could be made, by which they could be affiliated with that
Society, and be considered as a branch, something might be done.
With the first part of this observation we quite concur. No possible
advantage (save the possession of the annual volume of the Trans-
actions) can accrue to Liverpool architects, who may be willing, at an
expense of two or four guineas a year, to join the Institute ; and as to
the F.R.I.B.A. Mr. Picton very correctly describes the members of
the Institute, not as bearing any title conferred by others, but as them-
selves putting these dread letters after their names. It is precisely
this, and nothing else. The Institute has no title of merit whatever to
coniln- on its members, unless indeed it be L.I.B.A. (Licentiate of the
Institute of British Architects), which in reality though not nominally
it confers by Act of Parliament on certain gentlemen, qualified thereby
to serve as District Surveyors in the metropolis. The initials
F.I.B.A. and A.I.B.A. are purely gratuitous assumptions of dignity, on
the part of a munber of gentlemen, who happen to subscribe to the
London society. These initials may be seen in the " Post-office London
Directory," with a heading note, that may be read in any sense the
public please ; but to all architects it is well-known, they mean nothing
beyond this — F.I.B.A., four-guinea-architect; A.I.B.A., two-guinea-
architect. Mr. Picton and his friends of the Liverpool Architectural
Society have the very same right to affix F.A.L.S. {Fratcmitutis
Architectonics Liverpudlieniif Socius) after their own names ; and to
have themselves so designated in tlie Liverpool Directory, if they
like. We presume they have all been duly balloted into their respect-
able society of architects ; and there can be no question about the
validity of the title — iilways supposing that, as " Liverpool gentlemen,"
they give the public a chance of knowing that it is quite self-invented
and self-imposed. This might be done in a quiet way— say once a
year; in their annual report — a course which we venture to recommend
ithe Council of the Institute to adopt, till such titles as F.I.B.A. and
A.I.B.A. shjill have been so modified by them as to possess a truly
meritorious significance.
jMr. Boult, another member of the Liverpool Society was even less
dis])osed to join the Institute than was Mr. Picton. This gentleman
declared that, the constitution of the Institute was extremely narrow ;
all architects acting as surveyors being ineligible : a restriction that
virtually rendered nearly every provincial architect ineligible to the
Institute. We observe that in the Builder's report of the proceedings
this observation of Mr. Boult's is followed by an editorial note of
interrogation. Does our contemporary question the accuracy of Mr.
Boult's assertion ? It is somewhat unfortunate for the subscription
roll of the Institute that, at a meeting of so excellent a society as the
one at Liverpool, an impression so unfavorable should have lain unre-
moved ; for we hear of no architect rising to call Mr. Boult's words in
question, and the society simply passed on to the other business of the
meeting.
Now we cannot help feeling that this little conversation anent the
Royal Institute of British Architects was of great consequence to the
solution of the questions now agitating architects in London and the
provinces. We do not think that the query or " feeler" put forth by
Mr. Picton's London fi-iend should be so summarily disposed of as it
was at the meeting ; neither do we conceive that Mr. Boult's observation
has been adequately met by the mere note of interrogation put forth by
our contemporary. We think this absence of all union and of all sym-
pathy between the Institute of Architects in London and the architec-
tural societies in the provinces ought to be looked fairly in the face ;
and either the Institute be "joined," or be understood to abandon alto-
gether its pretensions to " British " consideration. It is not British : it
is barely metropolitan : it is abominably a mere matter of money.
We are no enemies to the Institute — nay more, we have done much,
and written much, with a sincere wish to see it become what it calls it-
self, -the Institute of British Architects. There are doubtless very
many estimable men in the Society ; and, what is more to the purpose,
there is in it a large proportion of the architectural talent of the me-
tropolis ; but, though it has been now some half a century in existence,
there is by no means all the talent, nor all the practice of the metro-
polis. It would be invidious to give names in illustration of our theory ;
but we think no one acquainted with the metropolitan practice will deny
that, a very large number of practising and (qua practice) influential
architects in London do not belong to the Institute at all. This fact we
say is undeniable — we could verify it in an instant by giving a list of
even the principal edifices now building in London, the architects of
which care nothing about, and hold no communion with, the
Institute.
Superficial readers may say — " What does the unpopularity of the
Institute matter to us ? — It affects only the subscription roll of the
Society." If this were indeed true, we should never take the trouble
to discuss, as is our wont, the proceedings and constitution of the
Institute. But its unpopularity is a matter of far greater moment, as
we will endeavour to explain ; and we entreat the attention of the
Council and members to what we are going to say : they may rest
assured that, our open ventilation of their Society's short-comings is far
more likely to serve its advancement, than a timid reticence ; well
meant, but ill conceived, with a view " to make things comfortable."
Our say then is this : The Institute confers honor on no one by
affiliating him to its Society : more than that, it lazily neglects to dis-
tinguish even those architectural students, who since its formation have
come forward to compete for the prizes, which deceased architects
have confided to its administration. In plain parlance it is the sad
tendency of the Institute to depress talent and to ennoble mediocrity.
Take the Soane medallion for an instance, we are reminded at once of
a student who, years ago, competed for it, and gained it (twice, if we
remember aright) : this gentleman, though well-known to the archi-
tectural world, is not a member of the InstitiUe at all — that is to say, he
is not down in the " Post Office Directory " as either F.R.I.B.A. nor
even A.R.I.B.A. — he has the medallions in some favorite chest of
drawers, no doubt ; and most useless baubles they are ; for, the very
Institute that conferred them has, since his time, done all that in it lies
to sink him in public estimation as an architect, by electing, year afler
year, hosts — or, as the phrase is, " no end " — of nincompoops, to flaunt
about the kingdom, with that precious F.K.I.B.A., which even an
intelligent architect like Mr. Picton, seems to think so much of; and
to which, we deeply grieve to say, the uninitiated public are really
bcinnin" to assign a contraband significance. Is this hard fact disas-
trous to British architects, or is it not ?
We could go on with our illustration, but we forbear ; for our space
is nearly exhausted ; and a few words are due to " a wiser and a better "
movement, which we think we discern in what we will term, " the rising
in the north."
Tlie Newcastle men or Northern Architectural Association are just
now endeavouring to amalgamate the architectural societies of the
country. We i ay to them, " Publish your correspondence u-ith the
Institute ; and, as it is a Royally chartered Listitute, give it a fair trial i
240
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 22, 1861.
but, should that trial end (as we are sorry to say most Institute matters
do) in moonshine, do not be deterred by that Koyal Charter; but,
setting aside the Institute, and its blandishments — F.R.I.B.A. (let at
-64 a year) and A.IJi.A. (let at £2 a year) — proceed rigorously to
canvass the architects and architectural students of England ; and
establish an amalgamated Society of Architects, of whose members it
shall be said, as of graduates of the Universities, " once a member always
a member ;" and whose motto shall be — not the luckless " usui civium,
decori urbium," but, " Vitius est sola nobilitas."
THE SYMPATHIES AND USES OF ART.
HAVTKG on a former occasion ventured to differ from Mr. Bell, as to
the degree of hospitality offered to sculpture by Gothic architecture,
I trust I may be permitted on the present occasion to state my hearty
concurrence in what he said in his recent admirable lecture on the "Re-
lationship of the Fine Arts," at the Architectural Museum, without being
deemed liable to the charge of inconsistency or of aesthetic " ratting."
There is this in Mr. Bell's written and spoken compositions about art
which invests them with a charm and interest rarely found elsewhere — the
impress of sincere and unselfisli love for his subject. When to this quality a
lecturer joins deep and careful study, a refined taste, catholic sympathies,
and a richly-cultivated, poetic nature, he presents a special combination
and fitness to expound the doctrines and teach the true practice of that
which softens the manners of a people, and no longer allows them to be
barbarous.
The main features of the discourse upon the " Relationship of the Fine
Arts " I take to be the exposition of the sympatliies and uses of art in its
broadest sense, the restoration of architecture to its true and superior
position with respect to the other grapliic arts ; the demonstration of the
necessity of intimate and cordial union among all j the recognition for
almost the first time of the status and claims of decoration, and the
suggestion for the establishment of a Universal Architectural Museum —
all objects having strong claims upon the attention and support of the
professors as well as of ;the lovers of architecture.
The Fine Arts may be taken as varying embodiments of the same senti-
ment which is innate to man, but which is difficult to define otherwise than
by the vague terra of poetry. To be more precise and accurate, wo should
say perhaps that they— meaning the graphic fine arts — are formal poetry,
or reaUstic expressions of the same ideal. But it can scarcely be deemed
correct to characterise this ideal, as some writers on aesthetics have done,
as the love of the beautiful, or as the love of the sublime, because it oftea
happens that neither the beautiful nor the sublime is present in the idea
or in its substantial interpretation. The grotesque, for instance, in archi-
tectural sculpture is not beautiful or sublime in conception or execution.
Hogartli's and Wilkie's delineations of scenes from real life, Poussin's pic-
tures of the vagaries of Sylvan deities, Zurbano's ascetic subjects, and
many other examples, may be quoted to prove the truth of this proposition,
and almost to justify a French writer's assertion, that "the ugly is the
beautiful." Works of art there are of the highest order of artistic merit
that are painful to behold, and yet they possess a something which fasci-
nates the spectator and captivates his admiration. In this category we
may place the "Last Judgment," the "Dying Gladiator," and the
"Laocoon." So that the ideal in art, or what constitutes fine art,
is not always the love of the beautiful, but oftentimes the reverse.
In poetry, proper or informal, if the term may be allowed, we find the same
thing. There is nothing beautiful or sublime in Virgil's description of the
Harpies, or Milton's scene between Death and Sin, or in parts of Dante's
Inferno, or in Shakespere's Richard IH., and Lady Macbeth. Yet these
very passages are perhaps the finest creations of poetical genius. Con-
sequently the love of the beautiful and its corporal manifestations do not
constitute high art in all its branches. The author of " Notes With-
out Text " appears to be tending to the same conclusion whenhe instances
how subjects— pigsties and beggar boys— m themselves and au naturel
repulsive, may be refined and translated into poetical and artistic
forms. Mr. Bell may be nearer the mark when saying that the fine arts
address us through our sympathies. He then struck upon the path
which I fancy leads to the source of what constitutes poetry and
art May it not be that the faculty of awakening human sympathies,
OT of drawing forth a responsive chord from human sentiments is
that mdefinite something which we term the ideal ? If the hypo-
thesis be correct we have an explanation why works of art and
poetry may indicate the reverse of love for the beautiful, for human sym-
g^'Wes may be attracted to what is morally and physically ugly.
Bichard III, vicious and deformed, creates more sensation than the
virtuous and well-favored Henry VL; and as our passions arc not all com-
mendable, they are not mute when touched sympathetically. " Don Juan"
"""""lered more readable than the " Whole Duty of Man," even by well
ordered minds ; Tom Jones is a greater favorite than Sir Charles Grandi-
son; Pamela is insipid, though almost supcrnaturally virtuous— where-
fore. It would be impossible to explain if the theory of the love for the
beautiful be admitted. Men do not sympathise with the bad more readily
and heartily than with the good : the secret lies in the way in which the
responsive chords in human nature are awakened. Beneath the touch of an
artist they swell into rich and glorious harmony : they are altogether
mute or tuneless under the fingers of one who is not an artist.
If the Acuity of communicating intelligibly with our sympathies and
passions by language, as in poetry, or by forms, as in architecture, sculp-
ture, painting, and ornament be admitted, to be the ideal, or that which is
the characteristic and main constituent of art, then it will be seen that
the Fine Arts have a common origin, and cannot be sundered without
detriment. For as the waters of the Rhine form a noble river while
they flow on m imion, possessing depth, breadth, and volume, but are
reduced to comparative insignificance when they diverge into different
streams, shallow, sluggish, and diminutive, so do the Fine Arts appear
when united and when separated. In the one case they gave the world
the Parthenon and our Gothic cathedrals ; in the other naught that can
be remembered with pleasure and for ever as a thing of beauty. Architec-
ture IS the means whereby the union of all the arts into harmony may be
effected. She gives her more pleasing but less utilitarian sisters, a shelter,
a protection, and a purpose. Under her fostering care they may be saved
from cold chilling neglect, or what is worse, from perversion. Without it
sculpture and painting fall away from one another more and more, and lose
the object of their being. There is no sympathy between them : their
respective professors and admirers do not understand or appreciate one
another. The separation from architecture was the confusion of tongues
among the arts, so that none could understand what his neighbour said.
By their union with architecture the sister arts become, if not useful, at
least motived. A statue in a niche, or a fresco or basso-reUevo in a panel,
seems called for and appropriate, for a void had to be filled: — and a space
which, if left vacant, would cause a sensation of something wanting, can-
not be better devoted than to the reception of what is pleasing, and does
not require to be removed for use.
Mr. Ruskin was, I believe, the first to point out that it is the office of
architecture to provide a home for sculpture. So far as regards architec-
ture taken in the sense of an art it is true ; but the proposition should be
extended and made to embrace painting as well, and as Mr. Bell eloquently
put it, the fourth sister, or decoration, is the uniting of all. Arising
directly and chiefly from architecture, it may partake of the qualities of
sculpture and painting in a subordinate degree. It is the punctuation, so
to speak, of artistic composition, and we can no more understand or
adnoire undecorated architecture than we can unpunctnated literary com-
position. The plain system of construction which is identified with
Baker-street does not attract attention or provoke comment j it is passed
by unnoticed. But who can walk with like indifference down Pall-mall,
or before the Houses of Parliament ? These structures speak to our sym-
pathies ; they call for notice ; and whether we be Gothicists or Clas-
sicists, attentiou is awakened, reflections suggested, and we are made to
think.
The vindication of the propriety and use of decoration will, I trust,
draw more attention to the fourth sister than she has hitherto met with,
and lead to her being treated in a more refined and catholic spirit. To
point the necessity of this improvement, and of decoration being made to
conduce to the better appearance of sculpture, the lecturer referred to the
character of pedestals for monumental sculpture. Take the instances — those
most recent and familiar to the reader,— the Exchange Wellington Monu-
ment and the Cheapside Peel statue. Can it be denied that their bald and
undecorated appearance detracts from the artistic ensemble ? The Peel
pedestal was, at the time of its erection, ridiculously lauded as a superb
example of simplicity in design. It may be simple, even to idiotcy, but of
a design it does not exhibit a trace. Where are the indications of thought,
study, and elaboration, of invention, grace, and refinement ? It has no
character of appropriateness or of being designed for the purpose
it is made to serve. It is just such a thing as might be manufactured
wholesale to support a statue of Peel or Spurgeon, or a cluster of gas-
lights, or a monster indicator. Whereas the pedestal should have an
appearance of special adaptation to the purpose it serves. It should be an
harmonious, though subordinate, part of the monument as a whole. The
character of the design should be in keeping with that of the chief feature of
the monument — the statue — and it may be made to continue and emphasise
the story the figure is intended to tell. To do this, recourse must be had
to decoration, and one can imagine that if the Peel pedestal had been
designed by an artist, he would have found in certain natural forms — ears
of wheat, for instance — the motives and eloquence of artisticjdecoration.
For conventionalised and treated artistically, they would, while serving
ornamental purposes, have pointed to, and emphasised the chief act of,
the legislator whose memory the monument is intended to commemorate.
With respect to the proposition for the establishment of a Universal
Museum of Architecture, I regret Mr. Bell was not more explicit, for it is
a noble and useful idea, especially if it means, as I suppose it does, the
erection of an edifice wherein arcliitecture would give cordial and generous
hospitality to her sisters. The fault may, however, rest with me for
having omitted to read, or failed to remember, some one of Mr. Bell's
previous lectures, in which the suggestion was developed at length. But
much as every lover of art would rejoice to see architecture provide
a worthy home for her sisters, I fear we are not destined to witness the
realisation of the scheme, nor our children's children cither. We seem to
entertain as great a dislike of centralisation in artistic as in govern-
mental matters. We scatter collections of works of art in holes and
corners, and split them up again into fragments. In one instance we
jumble sculpture with stuffed birds, and, in another, place paintings in an
anatomical museum, while we spend £15,000 to construct a make-shift at
the National Gallery that in a few years will be useless. We are mere
patchworkers and expediency-mongers. We admire the simple, and
above all things, the cheap; but I fear we care little for art by herself,
unless she can aid us to make money and advertise our wealth.
E, F. S.
March 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
241
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S GROUNDS, SOUTH KENSINGTON.
THE Council of the Horticultural Society last week invited the Fellows
and their friends, to inspect the progress of their works at South
Kensington. A large number of the members took advantage of the
oi)portunity to view the magnificent architectural frame in which the
clioicest flowers will in future be set, and to anticipate on the spot, the
delight of subsequent visits. The long lines of carriages waiting in the
Exhibition-road, would have led one to believe that something besides
large unfinished works was to be seen. The Queen, the Prince Consort,
and other members of the Royal Family were there, minutely inspecting
every part of the grounds, under the guidance of one of the most
distinguished members of the Council. The large gathering showed the
interest which is felt in the undertaking. Many, no doubt, were attracted
there in order to look upon the site of the New Exhibition Building,
which lies immediately to the south of the grounds, and thus gain a better
idea of its enormous dimensions than can be obtained from any written
description. There is now no sign of preparation there. A few men are
cutting turf for the Horticultural grounds, but that is all ; it is very
difficult to realize in our minds the facts that in little more than a year
the largest building ever erected will cover that field, and that the selected
treasures of the world will be accumulated there.
We have, in the last Volume, laid before our readers a full description
of the works being carried out by the Horticultural Society. It will be
enough for our present purpose, to state that the ground is enclosed by
arcades, the upper ones being semicircular on plan, and the lower or
Bouthern ones glazed, to form winter gardens. A large conservatory stands
on the high ground in the before-mentioned semicircle.
The sloping ground is disposed in terraces. Basins are being excavated
and fountains made.
A memorial of the 1851 Exhibition will be built in front of the con-
servatory.
Tlie upper arcades are now all but finished, the caps of the pilasters and
the interior plaster work being alone necessary to complete them. The
portion under the conservatory is about half-built, and the main supports
of the conservatory are fixed. The greatest activity prevails in this as in
every portion of the grounds. The earth is excavated in every direction,
drain-pipes are stacked ready for being laid down ; tramways are made
for the easy conveyance of materials ; shelving banks of turf are being
formed, basins cut, and saplings planted. Turning to the arcades, the
quartering which will form a temporary back to them is being rapidly
fixed on the eastern side. That on the western side is already done. The
arches are being turned to the arcades at the side of the entrance-hall,
now used as a board-room, and the terra-cotta columns which carry them
justify their adoption by their elegant appearance. The lower arcades, to
be filled with glass, have the front finished. The caps are being fixed on
the Corinthian columns, which form a portico between the hall and the
gardens. The hall itself is finished with the exception of the coloring, one
side of it has been tinted as an experiment, but it is not altogether satis-
factory, and is unequal to the excellent character of the architecture. The
terrace walls are built of white and red brick, and circular niches are
provided for busts. The whole of the garden works have been arranged
with great taste, and the variety in the architectural details and the diver-
sity of color in the materials are extremely suitable to the sparkling nature
of the exliibitions which they have been designed for.
The works are being carried out by Mr. Kelk from the designs of Mr.
Sydney Smirke, E.A., and Captain Fowke, R.E.
MUSIC HALLS.
IT was a Continental assertion that the English were not a musical
nation. To foreigners there was a doubt as to wliether we were
competent to appreciate music either vocal or instrumental. It appeared
to them impossible that such an exquisite recreation should in any way
be agreeable to a commercial people, whoso sole purpose of existence
apparently consisted in making money. Taste may lie dormant till called
forth by some cause not hitherto known. The present certainly warrants
the assertion, for there was a time when good music could only be heard
by paying good prices, far beyond the means of the artisan or middle-class
tradesman. The Opera, Hanover-square, and Willis's Rooms, were the only
places where the compositions of our best masters could be heard. The
telling portions of these performances were retailed to the multitude by
indifferent street organs; at times by three— at the most four— outside,
midnight (pubUc-house performances, a cornet taking the leading part,
embellishing his performance by the execution of some noisy and impos-
sible cadence, waking the whole neighbourhood with his inharmonious
noise. However, out of this evil came good ; these street performances,
accompanied by wandering minstrels, were taken into the houses, and
from that moment dates the birth of the music-halls which are now being
erected in every district of London.
The most important of this class is the one now in course of erection
(and rapidly advancing towards completion) at the corner of Oxford-
street and Tottenham-court-road, at the rear of the Boar and Castle
Tavern— the name of which is to be " The Oxford,"— the old tavern used
to be a noted coaching-house, and had very extensive stabling at thcback.
All the old building has been removed to obtain a site for the music-hall,
while the entrance through the tavern lias been considerably altered to
give more loftiness to the entrance. This part at present is filled with
scaffold poles, and is not in a sufficiently advanced state to enable us to
offer any remarks on its architectural merits; but from the information we
gleaned from the clerk of the works, there arc to be detached Ionic
columns with entablature over, and semicircular arches, the crown of
which will be about 16 feet from the floor. The whole is divided from
the tavern by a fireproof ceiling and floor. The latter will be laid with
some of the tiles manufactured by the Poole Pottery Company.
The staircase has a very architectural appcarauce, it is 25 feet square
and 25 feet high, the stairs start on the right and left, and meet on the
landing leading to the gallery. We propose giving a view of this portion
of the building, to enable our readers to judge of the general effect. The
hall is a large and well proportioned building. The hall itself is 44 feet
wide, 90 feet long, and 40 feet high. Beyond the columns supporting the
outer walls there is a promenade 6 feet wide. The columns and
entablature are of the Corinthian order. The columns are coupled
together, this feature being maintained in the ceiling by means of pro-
jecting ribs of an highly ornamental character ; the details are exceedingly
bold and well designed ; they certainly would have told out better from
below, had the coloring or decorations been of a more decided character.
This is particularly noticeable in the ceiling — but tlie large panel has a
most unpleasant appearance, large masses of grey always look cold and
cheerless unless broken up by other colors. The orchestra has great
architectural pretensions, but we will reserve our remarks till such times
as it is completed, for should the same style of decoration be applied, a
satisfactory result can hardly be expected. The promenade and picture-
gallery is nicely arranged ; advantage ha>! been taken of the arches abut-
ting against the main wall. The face, so far as it is carried out, appears
to be well treated ; it is to have bold Ionic columns and pilasters. Great
care generally appears to have been bestowed on the details of the various
parts. The building may be fairly considered as the finest one of its class;
it is to be regretted there was not better judgment displayed in the
decorative part, for should so large a building look cold, it must always
appear uncomfortable, and we think the success of the music-halls may be
traced to the warm, comfortable appearance they present.
As we may have occasion to return to the subject, we may close our
remarks by stating the building is being erected for C. Morton, Esq., of
the Canterbury Hall ; the architects are Messrs. Finch Hill and Paraire,
Messrs. Holland and Hannen are the contractors, and Mr. Clark is the clerk
of the works ; Mr. Anstes the leading foreman.
LONDON BRIDGE RAILWAY TERMINUS HOTEL.
THE monster hotel mania, which we have caught from our Transatlantic
cousins, has lately broken out with much vigor in a part of the metro-
polis where of all others it is most likely to prove useful to those who
have no local habitation in London, and where there is every reason to ex-
pect a very profitable percentage will be returned on the amount of capital
subscribed.
The London-bridge terminus is almost the only one that has not a good
hotel in proximity to the station, though, from the fact of its being the
great thoroughfare to the Continent, the want of hotel accommodation
has been more felt here than elsewhere ; this want, however, will be
remedied thoroughly when the extensive building (a view of which forms
the Illustration to our present Number) is completed ; and if it continues
to make the rapid strides that way it does at present, completion is not
many months distant.
The hotel is being erected by a company formed for the purpose, on a
plot of ground purchased from St. 'Thomas's Hospital, and formerly
covered with small and dreary houses built in the once fashionable hole-in-
a-wall style.
The design of the new hotel can be referred to no particular style, and
so much the better. Mr. Currey, the architect, has displayed much
originality in the manner in which he has dealt with a mass of building so
nearly approaching a cube in shape. We shall at some future period,
when the building is more advanced, publish a detailed description. At
present a general notion of the arrangements internally will not be out of
place. The basement is entirely occupied by cellarage, and the amount of
good liquors capable of being stowed away there will not be trifling.
The ground floor is appropriated to domestic offices, and the principal
entrance is on this floor, with the top and back entrance from Joiner- street
for the tradespeople. The one pair contains large billiard-rooms, res-
taurant, smoking-rooms, and private rooms.
Two pair plan (which we engrave) contains coffee-rooms, public, and
also for ladies, drawing-room, &c. The whole of the upper floors are
occupied by private sitting-rooms and bed-rooms, making upwards of 150
private rooms, besides those occupied by the hotel staff of attendants, &c.
Mr. Henry Currey, of 4, Lancaster-place, Strand, is the architect ;
Messrs. Lucas, the contractors. The materials to be employed are white
bricks, with Portland stone dressings.
The first stone of the new hotel will be laid to-morrow (Saturday,
March 23rd), by Richard BaggaUay, Esq., the Treasurer of St. Thomas's
Hospital.
The New Street connecting SoiUhwark and Westminster. — On Monday
and Tuesday the materials of a large number of houses, hop warehouses, and
other buildings in Counter-street, Coflin's-yard, lied Cross-street, tk)uthwark,
were sold by Messrs. Pullen, Eversfield, and Home, auctioneers to the Metro-
politan Board of Works, and notices of removal were given to the occupiers of
premises in Castle-street, in the Southwark-bridge-road, the sites of winch are
required for the fonnation of the new street, the works of wliich are inakuig
rapid progress m several points of the line. On Tuesday afternoon workmen
were engaged in pulUuz down the buildings, the materials of which were sold.
The sites will be cleared immediately and an opening, extending from the High-
street to the Southwark-bridge-road, completed
242
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 22, 1S61.
THE THREATEXED STRIKE AND ITS AVOIDAXCE.
*' QTRIKE, but hear mel" said tlie purest patriot and greatest goneral
O of ancient Greece. "Strike, but hear us!" say the employers of
labor in tlie building trades, and common fairness, if not a feeling of
courtesy, should compel us to listen to propositions for terminating the un-
happy differences which hare set class against class, liave given birth to the
suicidal idea that the workman and his employer have antagonistic
interests, ami have been the cause of wide-spread misery among several
sections of society.
Although the last strike failed to achieve the purpose for which it was
resorted to, it cannot be said to have been wholly unsuccessful. Public
attention was attracted to the state of relations between masters and
men, several minor abuses were remedied, and an umpire was established
to decide between the contending parties — one that always sympathises
with tlie oppressed and weak, is generous, and in the end infallible— public
opinion. It would be to repeat a common truism to say that both parties
were riglit and both were wrong. Faults existed on either side that might
not have been imagined to exist, and certainly would not have been dis-
coverol, much less corrected, if they had not been dragged into light and
investigated. It came to be pretty well established that if trades' unions
employed coercion to obtain unanimity among the men, the masters were
not without well understood arrangements among themselves to take and
keep tlie whip-hand, and that they were occasionally disposed to carry
matters a little too haughtily, without that just and honorable considera-
tion for the rights, feelings, and prejudices of those who were in their
dependence. Again, the strike taught to each party the force and extent
of resources possessed by the other. The result has been that greater
mutual respect has been learned and practised, while all have recognised
the wisdom and expediency of an amicable settlement, once and for all,
of the difTerences that have arisen between capital and labor. The impe-
diment to the earlier arrival at this desirable conclusion has been with
respect to which party should make the first move. Neither liked to appear
to give way lest it should be taken as an indication of weakness, and that
silly, noxious feeling which is rightly called false pride might have operated
as a bar for Heaven only knows how much longer. Like Lord Chatham
and Sir Richard Stracham, the masters were waiting for the men
to make an advance, and the men were waiting for their employers
to yield. Fortunately for all parties and for the community at large.
Two or three of the most important firms in the building trade have taken
the initiative by making an offer to operatives, which is a larger
measure of concession than it was possible to have anticipated, is fair
to all, and is couched in straightforward, kindly language that
cannot fail to elicit corresponding feelings from the men. Tiiese
gentlemen have issued a notice to the workmen employed in their various
establishments, that from to-morrow they propose to increase the wages
and alter the time of payment. A skilled mechanic now earns in
London, 33s. a week for 58i hours' work, which is at the rate of about
efd. the hour. A laborer earns 20s. a week for the same period of work,
or about 4d. an hour. The proposed increase will raise the hour's wage
to 7d. in the first instance, and to 4Jd. in the second j and be an addition
at the rate of Is. Ijd. and 8Jd., to the weekly wages of the two classes
respectively. With respect to the duration of the hours of labor, the em-
ployers leave that to be settled by the men themselves, for the adoption of
the arrangement for paying men by the hour will enable every man to
work the number of hours he thinks fit, and not one second longer. He
may work ten or twelve hours a-day, as his necessities prompt and bodily
strength will permit, or nine or eight hours if his pocket will afford to
give way to his desire for recreation or instruction. While the measure
w. we think, very fair towards the men it is one of justice to the masters,
who will pay for the time men actually work, and who will not be liable
to be defrauded by skulkers. Thus, then, is offered to building ope-
ratives an important augmentation of wages, and the nine hours are virtu-
ally conceded; for no man can pretend to desire more than to be his own
master.
It is just possible that objections may be taken to this offer upon
two grounds— the inadequacy of the augmentation of wages and the
not imposing a limit to the duration of a day's work. As we believe it
would be very uofortnnate for the men not to accept the offer, seeing the
equitable base on which it stands and the kindly language in which it
has been made, we will examine the anticipated objections. The amount
of increase is a fair and legitimate subject for debate. It may be too
mtich or too little : that is not for us to decide or even to pronounce an
opmton on, except to say that the increase is in reality and proportionately
greater than would appear at the first glance and from dealing with small
sums. It is an increase on the wages for labor of nearly 4 per cent., which
'k°?'i,'° ^^' ''"' *'"' ™*'^''""'''^ wi" receive within a fraction of X3 and
the laborer nearly £2, in addition to their present annual incomes. From
the earnings of so large a section of the community, as the building
trades, being increased 4 per cent, yearly all classes will benefit, for
J ' i" '"' nearly the same by increased expenditure in food, clothes,
"m ^ articles of consumption or use, and it is to be hoped that there
will be a proportionate accumulation of national wealth in invested sav-
"?!?■ "'' ^^^'y "'•°''° operatives engaged in building trades there will be
X30,000 a-year additional income to be diffused through the various
branches of home industry to augment the well-being of themselves and
jamilies. If the reader will take the trouble to ascertain how many of
tncsc operatives there are he will I;e able to estimate easily the increase of
national income and reproductive national expenditure. Still, on this
,Vfl L*"""""' ^ ^''''='' *»8^« are raised— we have no desire to
innuence the view, of workmen. We think it fair and liberal, but that is
a matter of mere personal opinion. It is n question of barter between
sellers and purchasers of labor, and to them must be left the determina-
tion of its character.
I5ut, as regards the system of allowing every man to work, as lon<' as
he pleases, it is easily susceptible of being demonstrated to be just and
rational. W ah the operatives themselves will rest the settlement of the
nine hours' question, and to them will be remltteil the determination of the
duration of a day's work henceforth. Under this head they will be, as tliev
ought to be, entirely their own masters. To object that master builders
ought to have adopted the limit of a day of labour of nine hours was all
very well, so long as the rate of wages were calculated per dav. But now
the case is altered, and, being so, it would be an arbitrary act, a tyran-
nical invasion of individual freedom, to refuse to allow men to work as long
as they pleased ; for, whether the hours of labour be curtailed or augmented
by compulsion on the men, it is equally an infringment of the liberty of the
subject. Men who take a socialistic view of the matter may argue that it is
for the physical and moral benefit of the operative that he should not ex-
haust his strength and faculties by excessive continuous labour. Granted,
and it is proper to take precautions against men being compelled to excessive
labour. But we cannot compel them not to work as long as they please,
or, in other words, not to earn as much money as they wish. It might be to
their benefit, .and to the advantage of the community if men were not allowed
to overtax their corporeal and mental energies. Then there would not
be so many early deaths, and so many young families left unprovided for.
Poet.", statesmen, lawyers and journalists might hope to reach a green old
age instead of dying in their youth and prime, like Keats, BuUer, FoUet,
and otliers ; but we cannot compel men by Act of Parliament to study
and work moderately. We cannot enforce continence, or chastity, or
sobriety or economy by legislative means, although if we could do so we
should almost extirpate disease and suffering, social-evilisms, and drunken-
ness, pauperism and poverty, and put an end to premature mortality from
natural causes. AH these are objects far loftier and more important than
the curtailment of the hours of labour, but we cannot hope to encompass
them by laws made for that purpose, because we could not enforce them,
and because it would be reducing men to worse than Egyptian bondage to
place these restraints upon them. Love laughs at locksmiths : men
get intoxicated in Maine, and here at temperance hotels, and some
will squander this week what they know they will require next
week to keep them from want. Still, if it be thought advisable not
to work more than nine hours a day, the men are free to do so. They
can combine for that, as they have done for other things ; and if they
choose to agree among themselves not to work for the present period,
piasters will not interfere, for they have abandoned all control and interest
in the question. The men may sell as many hours of labor as they please.
What more can be required to obliterate the remembrance of past dif-
ferences, and to restore "that hearty co-operation and good feeling"
between employers and operatives which are so necessary to the welfare
of all.
To the bold and at the same time praiseworthy efforts of two or three em-
ployers we shall probably be indebted for the termination of building strikes
henceforth during many years ; for there can be no doubt that their arrange-
ments will be universally adopted. The nine hours' agitation must die to-
morrow, for the object sought to be attained by it is achieved.
^
THE ARCHITECTURAL EXHIBITION.
MONDAY last, as our readers are aware, was the day appointed for the recep-
tion of drawings at the rooms in Conduit-street. It is understood that
the representatives of the press will not be admitted until tlie whole of the draw-
ings are liung. We may, however, without any violation of confidence, mention
a very cheering fact— namely, that, so far as they have been examined, the
drawings appear to be above the average degree of merit, and are, besides, so
numerous as to place in the hands of the Committee a discretion they liave not
before possessed — that of rejecting inferior drawings— or, we should rather say,
inferior designs — such as it has too frequently been our unpleasant task to con-
demn or pass over in silence. The Committee have hitherto had no power to
reject these drawings, because by so doing they would only have exhibited so
much blank wall to visitors. We sincerely hope the Committee will be very firm
on this point : we are certain the Exhibition will make its way more with the
Siblic by one hundred good designs than by two hundred bad or indifferent,
esides, liow is the grand object of making the jiublic familiar with good archi-
tecture to be accomplished by hangin;; betbre tliuin such productions as we have
occasionally seen ? But verbum acq). The Committee have it now in theirpower
to reject such ; and we repeat we sincerely hope they will do so wlierever It
seems desirable.
The coiivoraazione is, we believe, fixed to take place on Wednesday, April 3rd.
♦-
ARCHITECTURAL MUSEUM.
LECTURE BY E. A. FREEMAN, ESQ., M.A.
ON M'ednesday evening, a lecture was delivered in the lecture-theatre of the
South Kensington Museum, by E. A. Freeman, Esq., M.A., the subject
being " .\n Architectural Journey in Aquitaine." Notwithstanding the
inclemency of the weather, there was a numerous audience. The lecture, of
which we shall give a full report in our next, was illustrated by a great number of
drawings and sketches made by Mr. Freeman. On the motion of the Rev. J. L.
Patterson, a vote of thanks to the lecturer was passed by acclamation.
Si. George the Martyr, Southwark. — At a meeting of the officers of
this parish on Thursday last, Mr. John Davis Paine was duly appointed to the
survey and valuation of the Bethlehem Hospital, lor the purposes of parochial
assessment, and at the same time was instructed to sustain the forthcoming
appeal of the vestry against the County Rate, to be heard at Reipate, 9th
April. This latter appointment will involve an aualytical survev of the entire
parish.
March 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
243
A FEW REMARKS ON STREET AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE.
No. IV.
WE have hitherto said little of style, thinking it better to leave our
few remarks on that portion of our subject until the last. We have,
however, no intention of becoming a combatant in the fierce battle that is
raging between the supporters of style and style, but our purpose is that
of a mediator, whose wish is to see ill-feeling and bigotry swept away,
and true art, whether Classic or Gothic, appreciated and upheld by every
member of the profession. A friendly spirit of rivalry is advantageous
to art, but when that feeling changes to narrow-minded prejudice, and a
stubborn determination to maintain one-sided views, whether right or
wrong, it becomes positively injurious, and prevents that onward roll of
advancement which, at this time above all others, is so highly necessary.
We cannot believe tliat where this feeling exists a true love of art can be
found; it is more the offspring of selfishness, where individual interests
and personal prosperity are alone the motive powers, and where an anxiety
for tlie promotion of art is never felt. The man who would deny the
existence of beauty in the works of the fourteenth century, when Gothic
was at its height, cannot possess a refined taste, and, on the contrary,
he who is blind to its presence in the monuments of ancient
Greece cannot know what beauty is. Till we can appreciate
those glorious examples to their full extent, and share the feelings
of the artists who produced them, we can never hope to do
more than thev have done, or surpass what they have carried out.
We must thoro"iighly understand the principles before we can make those
modifications which all are striving to make, or introduce those originali-
ties which all are searching for. Chambray, in bis admirable work printed
in England, A.D. 166.3, says :—
It is the vcrv least of my tlioufrhts to broach novelties ; on the contrary, 1 would
(were it possible) ascend even to the very source of the orders themselves, and
derive from thence the imaijes and pure ideas of those incomparable masters, who
were, Indeed, their first inventors, and be instructed from their own mouths, smce,
doubtless, the further men have wandered from their principles, transplanting them,
as it were, into a strange soil, the more they are become degenerate and scarce cog-
noseible to their very authors.
The profession of his day seems to have been thirsting after something
new, for he says : —
Nay things have arrived to that pass, that a man shall hardly find an architectwho
disdains not to follow the best and most approved examples of antiquity. Every
man will now, forsooth, compose after his own fancies, and conceives that to imitate
them were to Income an apprentice again, and to be masters, indeed, they must of
necessity produce something new.
Two hundred years have passed away since this was written, and yet we
find the same fault abounding in profusion. It is the secret of the many
and wretched failures that have been gathering round us for so many
years— failures that have filled the country with monstrosities of the most
contemptible kind, and which threaten to inundate us with edifices that
will gain no present admiration, and will only draw down ridicule from our
posterity. Speaking of the old masters, the same author says : —
Would we now do worthily? Let us not, then, forsake the paths which these
excellent snides have traced before us. but pursue their footsteps, and generously
avow that the few gallant thmgs which have yet reached down to us are due only as
derived from them. » • • For even the very best books extant on this
arguraeni are the works of the old masters which remain to this day, and whose
beauty is so perfect and so universally received as has for almost two thousand years
been admired by the whole world. It is to them we should repair to learn to
accustom the eyes and to conform the imagination of young men to the ideas of those
excellent spirits, who, being born in the midst of the light and serenity of the fairest
climate under heaven, were so desecate and enlightened that they discerned those
thinsrs, as 'twere, naturally which we discern with so much pain after a long and
laborious indagation.
Palladio's remarks in reference to novelty are worthy of notice. He
says : —
Although variety and novelty should please all, yet we are not to go against the
precepts of art and that which reason demonstrates ; whence we see that, although
the ancients did vary, yet they never departed from the general and necessary rules
of art.
To bring any style to its original state of excellence or to raise a new
one to the height of perfection, it is imperative that the principles of that
style should be the main study and the foundation for the future edifice.
To work without any regard to them is to work in vain, and it should
never be forgotten that every portion of a building, let it be ever so unim-
portant or apparently trifling, must partake of the character of the parti-
cular style in which it is designed. Tliis character should be visible and
seem to live in every portion of any work. A mixture of styles is of all
things to be avoided ; they cannot be made to harmonise, and without
lianuony among its parts a building can never be perfect. We should, at
least, aim at perfection, for then, even if we miss, we shall not, perhaps,
be so distant from the "centre " as if we aimed only at the " outer ring."
By accustoming ourselves to the study of the beautiful we eventually
become unable to admire that which is not, and so purify our taste that
our works will, as emanations of our fancy, partake of the chastity of our
ideas. There appears to be one great difference between us and tlie
ancients which doubtless contributes more to our present inferiority than
anything else. We are working for gold and pecuniary advantages while
they worked for glory and honor. We know that they labored for
imperishable renown, but we are looking more for present and temporary
benefits. We do not search so much for fame as for compensation : we
yearn more for affluence than for immortality, and it is because we are
not inspired by the nobler feelings of the soul that we fail to convey
inspiration to the souls of others. The remark that " a man may be
known by his works " is peculiarly applicable to the material productions
of an architect. We cannot look upon a noble building without feeling
that the caloric of a noble mind breathes throughout the work — tHat the
poetry of thought has, indeed, been transferred from the mind to the sub-
stance, and that a grand and ethereal conception has been materialised
and given to the world for the example of this and succeeding ages.
Gothic and Classic are, whatever people may think to the contrary,
equally susceptible of artistic treatment and equally favored with the
presence of beauty. There are positions in which the one is more suitable
perhaps than the other, there are buildings in which one is more appro-
priate than the other ; but in this, as in their respective claims for pre-
eminence, the " honors arc divided," the faulty portions of the one are
balanced by those of the other, and when looked at in an impartial way
by competent judges they have equal claims for admiration. Wc would
wish to see the existence and prosperity of both ; all wc demand is that
they shall receive a proper amount of attention and a careful and correct
treatment.
In villa architecture the scenery, as we have before said, should, to a
certain extent, influence ns in the choice of style. Where we find a land-
scape of that thorough English character which we so often meet with in
our land, then let our own style be chosen j but, on the other hand, when
the scenery partakes more of an Italian character, then let Classic be pre-
ferred. In the h.ands of a skilful architect either will be effective and
either will be admired. Around a Classic villa let the gardens and
pleasure-grounds be laid out in the Italian style, with terraces and balus-
trades, broad open gravel walks, and ornamental lawns ; but round a
Gothic building the case must be reversed. To produce a picturesque
effect must here be the object. Luxuriant foliage, with winding paths and
secluded retreats, will be the most fitting to enclose the villa, and thus let
the character be even extended to the department of landscape gardening.
In street architecture, where an opportunity presents itself of erecting a
row of houses, the Classic will be found well suited, as, indeed, the Gothic
wotdd, for a regularity of design is in any style pleasing when properly
managed, but we think more so in the Classic. Even a bad design,
when repeated in .a number of adjoining houses, has a some-
what imposing effect, and when that design is pure and in
good taste, the effect Is increased in proportion. Our French
neighbours seem to have a tolerable idea of this, and make use of it
accordingly, but with them the facilities are greater than with us, a new
street being ordered and carried out at one time without any delay, while
we build one house at a time, and generally employ a different architect,
wlio thinks it his duty to produce a different design, and thus it is that
we find such a variety in one row. Many entertain the opinion that
Gothic is unfit for street architecture, because they believe that it is
necessary for a building in this style to be broken into a number of faces,
with almost as many gables, but it is an error which will be seen in time
when some of our men of genius shall have an opportunity of displaying
their powers. It is somewliat surprising that we have so few examples
of Gothic shops, when we consider the beautiful effect which may be pro-
duced by doing away with the old brestsummer and substituting an arch
which may be as depressed as it may be thought desirable to make it.
The look of safeness which it has over tlie flat beam is of itself sufficient
inducement to adopt it, without taking into consideration its real strength
and durability compared with timber. Either one arch could be made to
span the entire window, or several could be employed. The sides and
arches could be well moulded, and marble shafts could be introduced with,
much additional effect, ample room being afforded by the glass being kept
well back from the face of the wall, as it should always be in any style,
for it has then a much better appearance, and assists to destroy that
superficial look so much to be avoided. Shop windows, too, should be
carried down to within a foot or eighteen inches of the ground, as when
this is done, the beauty of them is so much enhanced as to make this
incomparably superior to the other mode of keeping them higher. Plate-
glass is a most valuable improvement over the old sorts, and should
always be employed where money forms no obstacle. Both to private
and public buildings it imparts a look of magnificence and elegance which
is pleasing in the extreme, and does away with that littleness which the
numberless sashbars formerly used gave windows of every size and of
every style or design.
In the " good old days," when football was played in the Strand and
London resounded with the cries of the apprentices, architecture wore an
entirely different aspect from what it does now. The streets were then
really picturesque, and that very picturesqueness almost counterbalanced
the bad effects of the inferior taste which then prevailed. But those days
are gone ; the old houses, with each floor projecting and overhanging the
portion underneath, the moulded timbers, the carved work, the barge-
boards, and the plastered compartments, have been nearly all swept away,
the picturesque attractions have become almost extinct, the manners and
customs of the people have changed, and now art is struggling to replace
what once was, and become, as it ever should be, the acknowledged aim of
every class. We must now look for higher and better things ; we must
be satisfied with nothing short of perfection, and " Excelsior " still must
be our cry ; shams must be exploded, and everything must be real. The
days of plaster and whitewash have passed, it is hoped, for ever, and with
them all those shallow imitations and " hollow mockeries " which have
been the wretched characteristics of our works so long. Bricks, which
have hitherto been concealed and hidden from the pubUc gaze, have now
become an important material in the construction of our modern works.
In fact, there seems to be a little enthusiasm astir, wliich almost resembles
a mania and that which was once absolutely discarded is now seized upon
as being capable of producing wonderful effects. Wonderful indeed some
are— nay, too wonderful for our hking, and what has been graphically
termed the " streaky bacon style " is becoming a little too fashionable. It
must not be inferred from this that we are against the use of brick ; far
from it, we are not insensible to its claims and advantages ; but let there
244
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 22, 1861.
be judgment and discretion in its use, and do not let us ride our hobby to
the death. We hare learned much from the examples in Italy, but we
must yet learn more -, we must study the laws of color, the effects of con-
trast, and the influence one color has on another, before we indulge
our tancies to their full extent. Our modern designers are somewhat
afraid of brick mouldings, but it would be well to be less sparing with
them, for they are pleasing in the extreme; a moulded Gothic arch com-
posed entirely of this material has a very satisfactory appearance, and if
the raouklings are bold and well cut they cannot be otherwise than suc-
cessful. In Classic the appearance of brickwork is not so eflective, and we
woald always advocate the use of stone, where it car, be procured. Inigo
Jones's house in Great Queen-street can scarcely be looked upon as a buc-
cessfnl attempt, for if we consider what would have been the effect of that
facade had it been composed of stone, we must see that the introduction
of brick there is anything but an improvement. We do not mention this
example as a specimen of what can be done in the way of a Classic edifice
of brick, although the fact of its being the work of such an able master
must have some little weight ; but it was the first we thought of, and we
therefore made mention of it.
There is yet much to be done in the way of colored stone as well as
colored brick. The idea does not seem to have Jbeen generally acted on,
although no one can question the effect it would have when properly
managed. Every one who has travelled on the Continent, especially in the
South, must have noticed the examples of it there, and must have been
struck with the charming appearance it has when treated with a master
hand, ilarbles and polished stones of various hues give life to a building,
and relieve it from any monotonous look which it perhaps would otherwise
have. To scatter them over every part would be to destroy the breadth
which it should be the study of the architect to preserve, and without
which a facade would fuil to give those impressions of grandeur and repose
so very desirable. It is here that our street arcliitecture is weak; too
much is sought to be obtained by a profusion of ornament, and a broad
and masterly treatment seems to be forgotten, and seldom attempted, and
in neglecting this we all sink into littleness. Ornament sliould not
be used to hide defects, but te heighten that beauty which already
exists. A building may be entirely void of ornament, and yet possess a
certain beauty which it is the office of that ornament to increase, and thus,
as it were, to beautify the beautiful. Chambray, whom we have before
quoted, says: —
'Tis not io the retail of the minuter portions that the talent of an architect appears ;
this I« to be judjfed from the general distribution of t!ie whole work. Tiieso low and
reptile souls who never arrive to the universal kwowledjre of the art, and embrace
her in all her diiDensiouB, are constraiued to stop there for want of abilities inces-
santly crawliDs after thsae poor little things, and as their studies have no other
object, being already empty luid barren of themselves, their ideas nre so base and
miserable that they produce nothing save mascarous wretclied cartouches, and the
like idle and impertinent grotesques, with which they have even infected all our
nodem architecture. As fur those others to whom nature has t>een more propitious,
and are. indeed, with a clearer iraagiuation, they very well perceive that tlie true
and essential beauty of arclutecture consists, not simply In the minute separation of
every member apart, but does rather principally result from the symmetry and
economy of the whole which is the union and concourse of them all together, pro-
ducing.'as it were, a visible harmony and consent wliich those eyes that are cleared
and enlightened by the real intelligence of art, contemplate and behold with excess
of delectation. Kut (he adds) the misery is that these noble geniuses are in very small
numberf. whireus the vulgar workmao.'like to ants, swarm prodigiously in ail places.
The relative merits of Gothic and Classic have been so ably discussed in
previous Nuuibtrs of the "Buii,dikg News," that we think it would be too
much like repetition to name them. From what we have said it will be
understood that we recommend the study and practiceof both, their claims
being, in our opinion, equal. Beauty dwells in the soul of each, but we
most penetrate to that soul before the beauty shines out in all its majesty,
or before we feel its inspiration and power. To confine our efforts to the
surface is to remain ignorant of that influence we all know it possesses,
and to deprive ourselves of that inspiration which we must all feel before
we can liope to produce a work cqtial id excellence to the monuments of
antiquity.
AVc liave now drawn our remarks to a close. We have endeavoured to
treat of those portions of our subject wliich have received the least atten-
tion and to which we think more should be paid. We have purposely
avoided speaking of those things which have been frequently written on
before and which are generally better understood. Our desire has been
to direct the aim of every professional man to the centre of art — to urge
him onward in the path of purity, and to exalt, if passible, the aspirations
of those who may be influenced by a love of lienor. When our apprecia-
tion of the beautiful has become more firmly established and more imiver-
sally acquired, we may look for a more healthy and vigorous tone in the
employment of taste. May that time be not far distant! We have lingered
long enough on the boundary; we have produced enough failures to act as
a warning, and enough to give us an idea of the immensity of the under-
taking we have commenced. If we now labor in the right light success
must follow, and we, perhaps, shall see another day of excellence, bright
as the one that has been so long lost in the gloom of night which has
hung over our art since the setting of that .day gone by.
^
Little Cawlhorpe Churcli, Lincolnshire. — A. memorial window and
mural monument havejust been erected at the west end of this church, in memory
of the late L. Parker, Esq., lord of the manor, and a very liberal donor to the
new church, which he liveil just long enough to see completed. The window was
dcsigiml and executed by .Messrs. Layers and Barraud, and contains the subjects
of " The Kntrance of Noah into tiie Ark," " The passage of the Red Sea by the
Iwaelites," and " the Baptism of Our Lord," well drawn and colored. The
monraient was carved by Mr. T. Earp, of London, and the brass engraved by
Mr. SUdmore, of Coventry. Mr. Withers was the architect employed.
ELECTION OF SUPERINTENDING ARCHITECT TO THE METRO-
POLITAN BOARD OF WORKS.
IN consequence of the resignation of Mr. Marrable, the election of a Superin-
tending-arehitect to the Metropolitan Board of Works in his room took
place on Friday last, at the offices of the Board, Spring-gardens; J. Thwaites,
Esq., the chairman, presidmg. There was a very numerous attendance of the
members. The candidates for the office were arranged iu alphabetical order, as
follows : — Thomas D. Barry, John Billing, John Blore, H. E. Cooper,
Richard Dixon, Christopher Eales, Charles Fowler, Thomas Goodchild, Joseph
Hansom, Henry Hart, L. H. Isaacs, Robert Kerr, A. Kirkland, Joseph Liddiard,
Thomas Monis, H. B. Richardson, H. P. Salmond, Edward Salter, J. E.
Saunders, George VuUiamy, Frederick R. Wilson, Sancton Wood, and John
Young.
It was arranged that at the close of the first voting the six names having the
highest number of votes should be retained on the list, and the remainder struck
off. Tlie following was the result of the first voting .-—Thomas D. Barry, 0 ;
John Billing, 26; John Blore, 2; H. E. Cooper, 0; Richard DLxon, I;
Christopher Eales, 11; Charles Fowler, 23; Thomas Goodchild, 3; Joseph
Hansom, 0 ; Henry Hart, 12 ; L. H. Isaacs, 2G ; Robert Kerr, 27 ; A. Kirkland,
0: Joseph Liddiard, 4; Thomas Morris, 2; H. B. Richardson, 5; H. P.
Salmond, 0; Edward Salter, 7 ; J. E. Saunders, 20; George Vulliaray, 32;
FYederick R. Wilson, 15, Sancton Wood, 29 ; John Young, 20.
The following was the result of the second voting :— John Billing, 17 ; Charles
Fowler, 15; L. H. Isaacs, 23; Robert Kerr, 25; George VuUiamy, 31;
Sancton Wood, 30. The name of Mr. Fowler liaving the smallest number of
votes was struck off the list.
At the third voting the numbers were:— John Billing, 21; L. H. Isaacs, 21;
Robert Kerr, 21; George VuUiamy, 29; Sancton Wood, 24. Three of the
candidates having each the same nutnber of votes on this occasion, another vote
with respect to them took place, with the following result : —Mr. Billing, 18 ;
Mr. Isaacs, 19; Mr. Kerr, 19. The name of Mr. Billing was then struck off
the list.
The result of the next voting was as follows : — Isaacs, 10 ; Kerr, 20 ; VuUiamy,
28; Wood, 28. The name of Mr. Isaacs was then struck off the list.
On the next voting the result was : — Kerr, 15 ; VuUiamy, 25; Wood, 23. Mr.
Kerr's name was then erased.
At the last voting the members were, for VuUiamy, 23; Wood, 16. Mr.
Wood's name havmg been struck out, the Chaibman then put the question,
"That Mr. VuUiamy be elected superintending architect of the Board." For the
motion 35 hands were held up.
The Chairman, addressing Mr. VuUiamy (who was present at the election
along with a number of the other candidates), said — I have the pleasure to in-
form you that you have been duly elected to theoliice of superintending architect
of this Board.
Mr. Vulliamy thanked the Board most gratefully for the kindness tliey
had shown him in placing him in the proud position he then occupied. He
trusted that his conduct in the discharge of the duties of his office would ensure
for him the same confidence which the conduct of Mr. Marrable, his predecessor
had secured ior him.
On the invitation of tlie Chairman, who cordially congratulated him on his
appointment, Mr. VuUiamy took his seat at the table.
Tenders. — The Board then received and opened the following tenders for the
execution of the general works in the western, eastern, and southern districts
of the metropolis for one year: — Western — William Layers, at 3 J per cent,
under the schedule of prices ; R. Robinson, at the prices fixed ; Edward Thirst,
7^ per cent, under ; Thomas Pearson, at 1 per cent, above ; Robert Mann, 5-5 per
cent, under ; Adam and Hopwood, 4 per cent, above. The tender of Mr. Thirst
was accepted, subject to the usual inquiries. Eastern — R. Robinson, 14 per
cent, off the prices fixed ; Thomas Pearson, at the prices fixed ; W. Dethick, 12 J
per cent, under ; Adam and Hopwood, 4 jjer cent, above. The several tenders
were referred to tlie Main Drainage Committee to consider and report.
Southern — William Laver, 65 per cent, under schedule prices ; John Walker,
7i per cent under; Edward Cole, at the prices fixed; R. Robinson, lOJ per
cent, off; Thomas Pearson, 3 per cent, under; W. Dethick, at the prices fixed.
These tenders were referred to the Main Drainage Committee to consider and
report.
City Improvement. — The Works and Improvements Committee brought up a
report, recommending " That the Board do contribute one-third of the cost of
enecting a public improvement in Lothbury, carried out, or to be carried out, by
the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London, by setting back the house
numbered 37, estimated at £1,500, such conti-ibution not to exceed £500 ; and
that such amount be paid to the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London,
on a certificate from the architect of this Board of the completion of tlie work."
After a somewhat lengthy discussion the recommendation of the Committee was
adopted by a majority of 22 to 13.
THE AMSTERDAM SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTURE.
AMSTERDAM, although not in any way remarkable for its arcliitectnre,
has the advantage of possessing a very energetic architectural society,
which endeavours at once to stimulate the energies of tlie younger archi-
tects, and to improve the character of their buildings. It is working very
quietly, but is this year enabled to do what, we fear, iew of our architec-
tural societies wiU attempt for some time under their present organisation.
Few have the funds at their disposal, and those that have find other chan-
nels for that in one way or another. We are led to these remarks, seeing
that the Society of Amsterdam has issued the particulars of a competition,
open to all the world, for designs for a university. The programme has
reached us from the obliging secretary, A. N. Godefroy, and we give a
translation for the use of those unable to make use of the original.
Society of Jrchiteciure at Amatenlam; Extraardinarji Competition for the
year IWW-tfJ.
Programme of an edifice for the university of a principal town, to accommodate
theftvcfaculties— Theology, Jurisprudence, rhllosophy. Natural Science, and the
dependent .Sciences.
'The building will occupy an open space of 200 metres in length by 100 mitres in
width, the principal facade fronting a grand avenue, or a place of thenrst order. The
maximum number of students is nxed at 000.
March 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
245
The sfround floor i» to comprlBe five hulls for the orilhiary courts, with rooms for
the professors ; five rooms for ttie examiniition of students, a {^rand hall for public
occasions, with a throne for the speaker, and seats to accommodate 1,50J to "-^,000
persons ; a (irand reception hall, and an entrance for the public.
The first floor is to contain museums for the collections in the mineral, vegetable,
and animal kingdoms ; for philo.souliical and medical apparatus and instruments ; a
library for the various branches of science ; with lecture-rooms and rooms for tlte
collections of antiquities, of numismatics, and of manuscripts.
Hesidcs these, there must be arrani^ed in separate buildings, but connected with
the main buiiflin^ by covered {galleries, a chemical laboratory, a theatre for anatomy,
with a dissecting-room, a trallery for anatomical preparations, and the various ortices
necessary to those departments. Accommodation is to be provided for the director,
the custodian, the librarian, reception-rooms for foreiy:n visitors, a room for the
archives, ofhces, &c., for the administration, and rooms lor the keepers of the
museums, attendants, servants, &c.
There must also be rooms for preliminary examinations, for the as8istan,t pro-
fessors, and refreshment rooms for the students.
Interior communication to be by means of vestibules, ft:allerie8, corridors, stair-
cases, &c. Care nmst be taken to indicate on the plans airy waterclosets and urinals,
fuel cellars, and other necessaries. The whole to be spacious, well lighted, and con-
veniently accessible.
An isolated ob.servatory Is to be shown, in a suitable position for astronomical
observations, with tlic necessary offices. &c.
The surrounding- j^rounds are to be arranged for gardens and promenades, with
conservatories, and accommodation for the head gardener and servants. The botani-
cal parden is not included in the dimensions of the site.
The wliole is to be designed in a monumental style, with decorations and painting
and sculpture in harmony with the purposes of the structure, the mode of heating
and ventilation must be described, and the position of the apparatus indicated on the
drawings.
The drawings required are a general plan to a scale of ."i millimetres to a metre,
plans of the various floors to a scale of 5 millimetres to a metre ; elevations and
sections to a scale of "i millimetres to a metre, and such details as the author may
consider necessary.
The finishing of the drawings, whether in colors or m line only, is left to the
choice of the competitors, the designs must be accompanied by an explanatory
notice, which, together with the desoriptions on the drawings, is to be written in the
French language.
A prize of five hundred florins of Holland and a certificate of honor will be
awarded to the author of the best design.
The competition is open to national and foreign artists.
GENERA!. CONDITtONS.
Art. 1. — The designs are to be addressed, carritir/e paid^ to the Secretary of the
Society at Amsterdam, before the Ist November, 1801.
Art. 2.— They are not to be signed with the signature of the author, but are to be
marked with a motto, to be repeated on the envelope of a sealed letter, in which the
author of the design will make himself known.
The letter accompanying the premiated design only will t)e opened.
Art. 3.— The authors must take care that the descriptions on the drawings and the
explanatory notice is not in their own handwriting. Those who may make them-
selves known in any way whatever will not be admitted to the comjictitiou, or will be
deprived of any prize awarded to their designs. Drawings framed or mounted on
wooden frames will not be received.
Art. 4. — The premiated design is to remain the property of the Society ; the others
will be returned to the competitors who claim them, a'fter the publication of the
decision of the jury.
Art 5.— The author of the premiated design is to co-operate in the reduction of the
drawings to a convenient scale, for the engraving and publication of his work.
In the name of the Society,
A. N. GODEFBOY,
Oude Turlmarkt, B SC, Amsterdam.
ISTHMUS OF SUEZ CANAL.
WHILE rumour declares that Manchester is negotiating the purchase of the
land in the hands of the Suez Canal Company with a view to the produc-
tion of cotton, M. Lesseps, in his own Journal, named after the Isthmus, speaks
of the admirable means that have been adopted and the great progress that has
been made with the canalisation.
The one fact is quite compatible with the other, and the former would be a good
reason for saying a great deal about the otiier. However, we liave nothing to do
with the political or even the commercial question, but only with the mechanical
means which are said to be in tise for the performance of the work.
The accounts come down to the 23rd of February, at which date, it is said,
there was no decrease in the vigor with iwhich the work was being pushed
forward.
At Port-Said tlie fourteenth railway had been laid down, tlie embankments
were being pushed forward, fifteen new rafts had been constructed, eleven of
which had been sent on to the line of Lake Menzaleh to aid in the opening of the
canal to Kautara ; the four others are used at Port-Said for the landing of goods
coming by the lake, as the water was then too shallow ,to permit of the use of
ordinary boats.
At the Seuil d'Elguise a quantity of machinery is being erected, and villages
are being constructed for the laborers ; and it is mentioned as evidence of the
extent of tlie works that 14,000 wheelbarrows are in use at that place.
A falling off in the number of native workmen is feared during the Ramadan,
which lasts from the 10th of March to the 10th of April, and even should the
men continue to work, the contractors must not look for very much from men
■who fast from sunrise to sunset. Eight dredging macliines are at work or being
erected on the lake, in order to establish communication between the northern
extremity of the Seuil, or entrance, and the lake Menzaleh, now connected with
tlie Mediterranean.
Tlie execution of tlie piercement, says the Journal in question, of the Seuil
d'Elguise will solve the question raised by certain persons. The dav that the
communication between the Mediterranean and the LakeTisraah shall have been
established, the possibility of the whole project will have been proved for the
other portions have been already executed, under one name or other, at four
different times. The paper then contains a description of the appliances made
use of in the work. The first named is the " flying wheelbarrow," which con-
veys the earth from the place of excavation to the place of emlj.inkment and
returns empty without any attendant. The arrangement is thua described : —
Two mre ropes are stretched acros,s the space between the canal and the place
where the earth is to be shot, a distance of more than -200 yards; tlie ropes are
fixed at each end to poles, a great lever raises and lowers each of the ropes
alternately, so as to change their incline ; the wheelbarrow, or rather small
waggon, runs upon the wire ropes. When the barrow is filled, the cable is lilted
till it inclines towards the shooting place, and the barrow descends ; when" it is
emptied the lever is reversed and the barrow returns. The lever can be worked
by women and even by children. Each of these apparatus, with ten men, ii
capable of removing on an average 80 cubic metres in 10 hours. Hut it is only
apiilieable to a depth of about ten feet. After that the second machine Is made
use of, which is called Brouette il Corde,'nnd consists merely of a rope nuiinground
a pulley, by which two men descending pull up one with a loaded barrow ; this
is calculated to work down to a further depth of 15 feet. With this means 10 or
12 men are said to excavate and remove about 70 cubic metres of earth in 10
hours. Another thing in use is the endless cloth witli pockets for carrying the
earth. This has been used in the Seine, and in other places, and is said to answer
well ; it is stretched over two drums and put in motion bv horses. When the
excavations reach the level of the water the dredging macliines will be brought
into operation. It is contemplated to use in connexion with these machines,
endless cloths, worked by an engine of 5 or 0 liorse-power, to lift the soil to the
top of the banks.
Tne arrangements are said to be equal to raising 1,000 to 1,200 cubic metres
of earth in ten hours.
T
THE GREAT RAILWAY BRIDGE OVER THE RHINE.
HIS important work of which the commencement and progress have been
noticed at various times in our columns, is now completed, and it is
expected that the line from Strasbourg to Kehl will be opened to the public in
the early part of next month.
The other day the Director of Roads and Bridges in the Grand Duchy of
Baden invited the French engineers and officers of the Eastern railway to an
c.\perimeutal trial of the new work, in company with the officials and scientific
men of Baden. The former having arrived from Strasbourg the whole party
proceeded to the bridge, where the swinging and stationary portions were care-
fully examined. The moveable bridge on the French side weighs nearly 350 tons,
and was easily opened and closed by eight men : the operation was then performed
byibur and finally by two men, and the way in which it worked is said to have pro-
duced great satisfaction with the manner" in which this important part of^the
work has been accomplished
The two swing bridges were then closed and bolted, and a train composed of
five locomotives, weighing about 35 tons each or 175 tons in all, or nearly 3J tons
for every yard of the line covered by the train, was run on one of the lines of
rails and brought to a stand on the fixed portion of the bridge on the French
side. A second train, consisting of fifteen wagons, each charged with stones and
amounting in all to about If ton per yard of the line, was then put on the other
line and brought to a stand -still on the central fixed part of the bridge. The
two trains were then brought together, first on one portion and then on another.
Two trains composed of five locomotives each were then brought up and were
halted together on each portion of the work successively. The total weight of
these was 350 tons, or equal to nearly seven tons per yard of the line covered.
Lastly these two trains were driven at full speed in contrary directions, passing
each other on the bridge.
Throughout the whole of these experimental trials the deflections of the bridge
did not average more than from 8 to 10 millimetres, or between a third and two-
fifths of an inch; the greatest deflexion was equal to four-filths of an inch, and in
this case the part thus depressed rose again to its former level within about a
quarter of an inch. These results certainly prove tliat the work has been well
done.
Of course, and very properly, Ithe proceedings terminated with a banquet at
which the civil and military authorities of Kehl and a number of officials were
present ; and high compliments were paid both to the French and German engi-
neers who had achieved this important work in such a satisfactory manner, in
less than two years and a half. It is gratifying to know that the workmen were
not forgotten, and that 350, headed by their foremen, were sumptuously regaled
at the Salmon and Flower hotels.
Very little remains to be done to get the branch line and the bridge into practical
condition, and no doubt is expressed of the whole line being thrown open^to the
public by the fifteenth of next month.
No particulars are given of the cost of the work, but these may be forthcoming
at a future period, and we shall not fail to lay them before our readers as soon as
they reach us.
CANALISATION IN FRANCE.
WORKS are now in progress for canalising the Upper Seine, the great high-
road down which travel the wines, charcoal, and wood of Burgundyto the
greedy metropolis Paris. Similar operations are proceeding with respect to tlie
Slarne, which brings the champagne and other valuable, though not equally
delicious, products of Epemay to the heart, or, as it would be better, perhaps, to
sav, the head of France.
From St. Maur to Charenton, where it falls into the Seine, the Mame is
divided into two streams by a chain of long islands : the smaller branch is shut
off from navigation, and supplies power to a number of mills and other works ;
the other, or left arm, is the highway, but it is very dangerous, lull of whirl -
holes and rapids, and a good pilot of the Marne is a man of con-sideraWe
importance in consequence. At Charenton especially, just above the bridoe,
there is a place called the gulf, where accidents are constantly occurring, and the
people of the neighbourhood have a firm belief in an old legend that tlie gulf is
nothing less than the entrance to the grand reservoir of water m the centre oi
the globe, for, they argue, nothing that goes down there ever comes up agam,
and it must go fomewhere— which is, of course, quite unanswerable. The gulf
of Charenton is the terror of the cockney scullers of Paris.
The plan which has been adopted is to cut a canal through the Islands m the
centre of the river, so as to form an entirely new channel fi-om St. Maur to
Charenton. This canal will connect the former place with the Seine, and will
thus complete the line of navigation which unites Holland and Germany with
Paris, and of which the canal from the Rhine to the Marne, between Strasbourg
and Damraerv, below Epernay, and that of the Marne itself will form the other
portions. This work, together with that of the railway over the Rhine at Kehl,
will render very complete the communication between the two countries.
•During the week ending 16th March,
246
THE BUILDING NEWS.
MK. GEORGE K. BCRXELL ON THE APPLICATION OF THE BEAUTIFUL
AT i-/>n<T-i,<. TO DETAILS OK BUILDINGS.
LSCTIRE w«g dellTercd on Wednesday se'unlght, before a crowded audience
at tbc Institution of Builders' Foremen and Clerks of Works. Lvon's-inn'
^ew<•MtU■-8tIwt, Strand, hy G. R. Blksell. Esq., C.E., "On the Application of the
icltnce of the Beautiful to the Common Details of Building. Previous to the
deliTery of the lecture, Mr. Burnell presented the Institution with conies of " The
SSJ:\o?.^^iLfKforV86?■""''""'' '"" '"*'■" ""* '"^'"^ Englueer'^s and Con!
Mr. BuRXELL then delivered the following- lecture :—
ON THE AF^UCATIO.N OF THE SCIENCE OF THE BEAUTITUI, TO THE COMMON
DETAILS OF BlILDINOS.
n^HEEE are times when the choice of the subjects to be laid before meetinee such
Jl. asthe present one. does not entirely depend upon eiti.er the speakef or the
•od ence. Ucausc certam questions wUl occasionally arise which so powerfully arrest
S^^'^Kn,','*^"".?.? ■" "> compel aU of us to Investigate them to the utmost extcn" of
ourabihty. Ihe question of the nature and direction to be given to art -education
whether voluntary or endowed, seems, at the present day, to be essentially one of
thiidesmpuoui and you yourselves have avowed that one of the great objects of
jrourAMocia.ion is to provide for yourselves means for advancng ySSf knowledge
ofttie arts you .re direcUy connected with. Now this knowledgS you seek is oTI
TO7 complex nature, being, in fact, quite as much of an abstra^ as of a technkiU
^araoter j and you must be aware that the practice of even a mechanical art caSn^
•f PSl"''.','' ""^i''' «"' "nl-^ss the principles on which it is based are clekrlV und«-
Btood by thosewho cultivate it. The building arts, in so far as they mCTitth? title
of arts, must be directed to the satisfaction of the nobler tasteT of our race, rathe?
I..wJ.''lr„'°T *'"""°'' ""^""^ requirements of convenience and comfort of the
parties who set you in operation; and unless the works you produce bear the
Impress of thought and the external characteristics of beaut,-, they wiUnass from
the nobler degrees of the scale to the lower one of mere tradesmK product ™?
fr„^n?L' '.""r '"" '^/"^J'^l *" y"""" '»' »° ^"-^ipn ">e buildings upon wffch you™ e
employed: but even if this be so. it is not the less true that your power of annS
dating the artistic princ pies of the design put before you, and o?^ronvevinl^^
?..?i!; "'"'""" ?^, yo"r„ knowledge and perjeption ot the degree of bS^hat
design may contain, will be the best tests of /our merit, and of your clltas to be
considered ar -workmen It behoves all of'us. then-enrfneers wclSs and
workmen-seriously to address ourselves to the investigation of the Sve orobl^s
connected w.th the application of the laws of beauty to our pursuiti -^Sd esSc X
so, inasmuch as art-education is now-a-days made a subject of^such generSl di^Son
cfbeant^ and of their apphcatiou, are not correct, and that they are IMv to do
S^i^w^f- "^^T ■"/'•".' --hallenged before .an audience like yourselves who are
1?^^,'"*"''^'^ ' "."''■" '' *•"■ "'«'« '•'■''«»"« <"■" I I'svc felt it almost imperative
ijon me to mv.te you to inquire firstly, into the real nature of the qualit76eautJ^
^eh"7;,!" ^ Its exhibition in building works ; and thirdly, into heTst manner^n
which lou. in your capacities of loremen and clerks of the works can aoDlv the
principles we may thus be enabled to ascertain "orM, can apply tne
«.,.K^'"^J, ' consider to be an objective quality. Inherent in certain bodies which
SJi^''J'i';" '" P'^"'''" '"."V" '°''"'" the sensation that the external form ofThose
fS^.^i,^ *"r ™"^f ponds in an agreeable manner with the idea we ha™beenaWe
to •Migu to them It is a quality producing sensation, mainly mdcnondent of our
^r^.'.'"l? ''f™"»"3' phenomenal, that is to say, that the eXnalTorms of bod"es
I^^rd w h . le'iT."/ ""/ P^POrtio''^ "'hich induce us to consider liaUbey a?c 'n
accord Willi the Ideal perfection they are intended to typify, and that nhvsicalbeautv
S^?„L .'■'?"'''■' !k ''";T- " '" '" "°"i»e connected wit I utility jKSusefS
things, swh as the vital organs of the human body are, at first si^Iit esSalW re-
pulsn-e, ,snd as bemg so, cannot be called beautiful : whilst on tS" other han7 the
P'^Tf? "^ '"7?'," ""' ''?™ "'"' -^"'o'' of plants, fi^q. ent y strike us a, tS?ne re-
SS^J^i^iv.^"'>"l''/ "■™ "'"^Sh the^ have no n^essary conneetfon w" tlithe^d'fl
charge of the vital functions of the exfitences to which they belono- I™t f beautv
S^J,n^.,°,MT. c-^tcnt independent of ourselves, its perception can onlv t^e pl^e
SE. Jh h'°'K?'5 inteihgent beings; and just preciiely as we cult^ate'^^e
ftcnlties which enabled us to distragulsh the mutual relations of the for^s and Ideas
we consider, will be able to distinguish the beauty which thev dossms Beantv Hne«
£1 -;? ?r ?- eo°nsU^.?oSrih^ir,CK x i^SsSSS
S^..?on. loT'^'J'' "'™. .arc parts of them, andlre by no me<ms conferred by the
2Ef^ A°«.' "' V'"" 9b»cr>crs intelTect. Beauty is objective, not subjective -we f^l it
we do not confer it by any act of our own minds ; and objects wouM be beanOm if
"ive rhe'^rTlatlT"' «'"'»P»°'^'=1 *"" ^<^^ 'dea, even /f there "were no onetoji^rf
onrsttiiiMtlon thus attains perfect regularity and symmetry, the faces of the crvstala
■lUNild be able to reflect, refract, or decomnoiie r«vii nf liri,* o.,ii.i„„ .t "-rysiais
«oarce rfbeautiful effect, is added. lu Hr^^^tabV- wortd th, elZfn, """f .' "I"
S^.I?„^I"„T?h'° '"T" "'"' «"»'• """"" formsSu of^jil /r edi'maSd vtrtety"S
SSlil. Jh ^ the colors :are apparently more directly produced bv the plants tiem-
IfJl J^i Wi^"- CO ors of crystalline bodies ; the fearful and wonderlffiea of Se
^ begins to thrust itself upon us when we contemplate even the "west for^s of
to»Jorg«nic world, and the objects of these classes which man fbst thc^ost
length inThTh^ma^ I ei'';rh„".';' ?' ■'"""H' ''crivablc from color decrease, SLuI at
Kty to the exrre»Ri^Sf,f .heii/n™/^'','^"'?.'^ '"^''"r subordinate as Causes ol
ieladre di^J. & 1^ ? ^' ntelkctual faculties. The same gradation in the
tte mo.t^lti^^l^Xh.l'ih''""" '" "IM"^"' ""'' "»■'' "'■■ «''•« to satisfy our minds
«U.Too.b?^?^ th ""^^^^^^^ ??""" """ ''>■ t'>™ «■•'■ expressed the
wSlZTofwlSintshr.MMiS. '^J"".".'*'^.'''* ?''J?"«, represented, and our ideal con-
n» li autv t^rtak, « ,i,.^,.l. f Architecture deals almost exclusively with form, and
rlimini^l}Z^m,.r7^\lU^^ m"™' "l-ovc stated to belong to inorganic nature,
motion form MdcSor'^i.v,/ ''.''''' '■" J" "'Sections, because it represents lifr.
to b.veT?e^«.?f l^..fX" °/""''':P*'"?P'''''"'™i '""^ thus may be considered
SitSt elM^Vnlij^fr^^.r"'"*^"?^'" ","" "■>"'■'' "■■c''«"« in aminal life of the
SSttSr^,ut^frZV^rJ^\'"f"^ *' ''•'*',' "•'»'"» "'« '™"» of Intellectual
SinS.«the«l«Hnn^twl?'i^rf°'^ '"'*"■ 7",'"^ said to do so, simply because!^
SW miammt rf ?„li^^r f ^^ *^°"" "'"' "'« '^cal, without the aid of any adven?
March 22, 1861.
music because both those sources of intellectual enjoyment appeal to other senses
than the sight, and strictly speaking, it is only by extension tfiat the woS teauti
can be apnlied to these moral perceptions. -Ou? immediate inquiry is connS
solely witii visible objects, and (t would lead us too far were we to dwell ra th^in-
purc Ki"ation! " '" ^ ^"'"'^ ^"^ <""" *'^''«'» *>"" thelighror Urn
Now it seems to me that if this theory of what constitutes the beauty of visible
objects be correct, an architectural work can only be considered to nossess that
'}^^J^%'",}!Vlf f'P'Tr' "■^' »'-^"r*' ""t«« '■» the mind ofXr spectator toe no-
^^"A^n"'" "'"f ' perfection It is mtended to typify. In other worSs, consistency is
eSfiii^i ♦''^*jy™,' '''™™'f °'^ f/oh'tectural beauty, ind no building can be conSed
entitled to that merit unless it expresses unmistakably the purposes for which it was
erected. Truth is another element of the merit of a design or perhap«^ it may te
more correct to cons der it but a modification of consistlScy. ?Mc?Zsquene8^s of
outline, plav of fancy m decoration, variety of color, are merely supplemcnfaUourceB
of p easura-ble sensations which will add greatly to the charm Tabuildhg they
wUl not, however, redeem, even though they may partially hide, the incomDiete ex-
pression of the relation between the external form and the id a perfeedSn of the
aesign, should such really exist. It thence follows that the btlautrof onrdSs of
bui ding must differ from that of another, and that the ap^Ston of the pr'ndples
of taste requires to be modified according to circumstances, and even accordiiifto
tunes and modes of faith, or of national existence. A Grecian tempi? for n stance
such a one as the Temple of Zeus, at Eleusis, will always be beaSuMnsomuch as
itrepresen s the ide,-il perf-ection of a building destined for the performance of the
rehgious rites of a higfily civilised race, who had finally resumed their benrf in m
immoral anthropomorphism, or had, in other words, " made their gods in their o^
^^iT^.^f l"h""" "temple would not be consistent with our faith; and the ve"y
nature of Its beauty, a finished and strictly limited beauty, would sufBce to render ft
discordant m our eyes because it excludes all expression of the longing we feelfor
communion with infinity This observation would not apply with the same foree tS
w.'i'i";^""' M*"? 1 *"*'>'??" 9f Kome, if it were applied to one of the mS of"pro-
^/itfo'^o^bip because Its simple grandeur and unity of effect do excite the notion
=,<,, S?'''^,\,'if ""= >°*roduction of jTie side altars in such a building renders it incon-
sistent with the uses to which it is devoted, and gives rise to a feeling of incongruity
just in thesameway that thesmallchapels beyoncf the aisles of our Medieval catSafs
render them inappropriate for the Protestant services. Again, tlTmagnmcent
v?,r"''r"f,°f ^^^ "'"'"?,' '^.^"^y "^ Burgmidy, and of the Gallic and LonSdprS-
eilZ,r,„i„^';i"""P'''t''-"^ m accordance with the political organisation of* the
communes of those countries, and of the times when the buildings were erected for
^ff^IL" f'^f? in those days seems to have been forced to inte?est himself in' the
affairs of his own town, and to have assisted, often in arms, at the tumultuous
general meetings in which public affairs were settled. The reproduction of such
bi^"g^l,°?''1^'''V''-'"*^''P'L'''^.°.' ^^y- ^"en t'"' business formeriy coSductld-^
^ r™ „w* °i' ""P *° =°<l""'''-by the general body of the citizens, is handed over to
?h^'rreSi?t„TAr''^°'*HT' ■"""'/ •''='''' "tachronism, and greit modifications in
the treatment of Medieval forms of art would be required before it could be adapted
bun^n"..'''fKriLTI™f^„.^^.\«f°,':?.it«»y.W_e^Pre?s by the external form of^the
the Ideal we should be likely to form of a modern municipal structure.
m«i.-;. h„.llL„,,"fi '"'^''* ^"^.^'^l" "*' ">'' connexion of ideas we unconsciously
S?nn„sn7^riL'!"fnP'"'P'""^f ""'^ **"> '^""'y of architectural productions; but the
^'''„'i;!Si5."'.w'"»*'''^''"''!.''''<='l°,"°*'''™°"«°°»besubject of the necessity of such
iL^?]',^!.'^''?.: t'l**. " «"'.y. ".I sxfely taken as an admitted law. All the parts of a
do not combine to form a wliole which should be able to convey the notion of a per-
;,.2i^^„ ? f°J' "^ our Ideal of the purpose they are designed to fulfil, thev cannot
LS^^f h" "".,*'"/ JS"^"*"*" of beauty- Tl'e eye may be pleased for a time, the mind
cannot be satisfied by .-.ny such incomplete expression of its own requirements.
«ceord1L"£,^i1„„ J^ V*^ ''PP''??'t°° "( ,*'."= principles of taste requires to be modified
^T^l^f^ ^ circiimstances," I would beg distinctly to observe that I by no means
S r m,f.h ff '"on >?troduced as a rule into the world of art. Wealrea'dy seem to
suffer much from this mischievous influei.ce, and the history ot architecture
n,/str ,.?nn ^■",1?''?' "l""?^ 1'" last sixty years, may especially be referred to as an
il ustration of the fact. In England alone we have seen, within that short period,
fLrm«^ th„ i^e -Adams give way before the pale insipid imitations of classical Greek
»r^M?;M,,l i was superseded by an unreasouing imitation of the modern Italian
architecture, in which the characteristic distinctions of the Florentine, Roman.
Venetian, and later Roman schools were all jumbled together In strange confusion ;
""? "97' we seem bent on the reproduction of the styfe of the Middle Ages, as ii
^nlilil * '/..'°,,'''i?'"''^:^"'° '""ds. without any reference to the conditions of our
S,.^„'*». :,,!'"'! "."d requirements of the age we live in. I believe, for my
own part, that all the styles that have thus flitted before us, contain the elements of
beauty it used in their proper places, and for the buildings whose ideal corresponds
the most directljr with their respective tendencies. The style of the Adamses, as we
see It cxiiiuitect in 1 itzroy-squarc on the southern and western sides, was, perhaps,
the feeblest and the most deficient of any in the qualities of high art ; but it has a cer-
tain amount of elegance, and it is well-fitted for domestic purposes. The pure Grecian
style of the Post Office and of the louio Chapel on Claphain Rise, thougti "cold as a
moonbeam, has a stately dignity which adapts itself well to the requirements of a
large public administration or to a form of worship in which little room is left for the
expression of individual liberty. The Italian architecture, of the early Renaissance in
[particular, seems to be especially appropriate for the palatial residences of our aris-
tocracy, for our clubs, and for our modern municipal buildings ; whilst, in their turn.
the spirit and tendencies of Medieval architecture are. unquestionably, most In accord-
.ince with our ideal.of buildings devoted to the service of one "who miist lb worshipped
in spirit and in truth, and "-whom eye has not seen, nor has it entered in the heart of
any one to conceive. An eminent foreign critic, who is a devoted admirer of Mcdie-
v.Uism, by the way, declared that, in his opinion, " eclecticism (or a reasoned selection)
was the curse of art ; and there are,it Is to be feared, many very able and sincere men,
ot Ills opinion, amongst ourselves. It seems to me, however, that any such exclusive
cultivation of one series_ of forms, of one mode of artistic expression, proceeds from
an incomplete view of the question, and from an incapacity to perceive the beauties
of the various styles hitherto adopted. I may myself he guilty of an error In the
opposite din-ction to the one thus referred to ; but certainly I am inclined almost to
believe Ihat nothing was ever fashionable even, for any length of time, without
possessing some e ement of beauty, or without. In some way or other, coinciding with
the iirevalont ideal of pertection in art at the time of its reign. It is the duty of the
arciiitect to diccover the universal element, so to speak, in all the accidental exhi-
bitions f,f art, and to apply it, when found, to his own practice. He can only do so
by a cnreful study of all styles, and the eflectof such ahroad and universal mode of
inves.igation will be, I am fxilerably sure, to destroy anything like the exclusive cul-
tivation of any one of them.
I dwell upon this part of the subject under consideration, because you, who are,
ait(T all, executors of other men's designs, not designers in an independent capacity,
rer,nlre especially to feel that you are not laboring against the interests of truth
when you are striving to carry out a design in a style which may be opposed to the
Iirevailing taste of your day. No true workman ever worked well when he disliked
I lie work he was employed upon; and you may be sure that if you cultivate an
exclusive tasti- for one phase of architectural expression, von will hardly be able to
tierform your duty when you are employed upon a work designed in another spirit.
J should be the last man . to advise you. however, thus to expend your time and cnergtcs
in the endeavour to seize the subtile principles of the beauty of the diflerent forms of art
practiKid III your generation, were I not convinced that such a course is the wisest
and best that you could adopt— not only in order to advance your own proficiency as
workmen, but also in order to advance the interests of true art, which always was,
and always will be, influenced by the feelings of the great body of its cultivators.
Makch 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
247
It is precisely because I Itnow that the class you represent exercises a very potent
influence on the formation of pubUc opinion on these questions, that I leei 't to De
Incumbent on you to examine the abstruser parts of the science of the "ts y™ ";-
connect,.rt witli ; and I am equally sure that !f you enter upon such f" ^''"'"'^ .'»»
in a candid spirit you will ultimately arrive at the conclusion that it is POf W^ »
express by the outward forms adopted by almost every pure style, the Ideal
perfection which ought to prevail in a building:.
There are two other points to which I would wish to call your attention, before
Droceedinir to illustrate what I consider to be your especial duties in the attempt to
SppW the ascertained laws of beauty to your pursuits. One of these is the ">fluencc
of tlie materials you employ on the artistic expression of yonr work ; the other is
the precise nature of the distinction between conventional and natural ornamenta-
tion or to quote the commonly but Incorrectly received words ;of the day, between
the realistic and the idealistic schools of architecture.
Now as to the former of these points, it may be observed that It is intimately
connected with the considerations before alluded to with respect to consistency : ttie
materials used must be so used as to satisfy the spectator that they arc not only able
to discharge the (unctions they are designed to fulfil, but they must also appear to
be, and actually be. the most fitted for their respective positions. Ihroughout the
commercial cities of Europe, and, I fear, also in other parts of the world, the recent
applications of iron, for instance, have furnished illustrations of the use and ot tnc
abuse of which it is susceptible ; and I go a little out of my way to call your attention
to this matter, because it is notorious that in many cases you, or men liKe
yourselves, are the only ones consulted by the public. The lepitimate use ot
iron in great eng-ineerinpr works is now, thanks to Messrs. Hodgkinson, liarlow,
Tate, Kennie, Stephenson, Fairbairn, Morin, Flachat, and others, tolerably well
understood ; and ft is applied openly and avowedly as iron, without any attempt at
hidin" or disguise. In shop or house architecture (for when we arc talking ol the
application of general laws we must seek the most familiar illustrations), we hna,
however, that as though the designers had taken literally the proverb, arsest ceUire
artem, they strive to conceal the means by which they are enabled to produce their
effects ; or if the iron supports must be shown, they are painted to represent marble
or bronze, or anything but what they really arc. To my mind there cannot he a
more striking illustration of the converse of beauty than some of the modern street
architectureof such towns as London, Paris, Brussels, or Amsterdam, precisely on
this score ; for the aim of the designers of many of the most attractive shops seems
to have been to produce the effect of having placed soUd, heavy structures upon sheets
of glass, which every one must feel to be insulBcient to bear the load they seem to
carry. In these cases there is evidently a discrepancy between the lorm and the idea;
the means employed do not correspond with the end supposed to be attained ; so
that the first elements of real beauty are wanting in these uncomfortable-looking
structures. What may be the commercial value of the few inches of show room
lost by exhibiting the points of support of the buildiug above it is hard to say, but to
any educated eye, a shop-front entirely composed of glass must always be repulsive,
because it always looks unsafe. Again, in much of the modern ecclesiastical archi-
tecture of the day it is the fashion to execute the sheltered parts of the walling with
the hard, resisting stones, such as the Iventish rag, whilst the quoins, parapets, hnials,
&c are executed in the more peri-shable Bath or Caen stones. The conjunction ol
tlesu materials would, to an educated mind, destroy the beauty of a building, particu-
larly of a building devoted to the worship of Uim who is emphatically
the "Eternal," because it must suggest the notion of a temporary character
in the structure itself, and thus give rise to a discrepancy between
the external form and the idea which should attach to every such structure.
In other cases also the materials used for the body of the works may be of such a
nature as to render it advisable— nay, even necessary- to cover them with some pro-
tecting coat of cement, mastic, or plaster. If this were done honestly and openly
there would be no reason to complain of the use of this class of materials, and even
the most bigoted Medievalist, who objects to cement shams, is "a little blind " to
the analogy between them and the roughcast, so liberally employed by the very men
he delights to honor. The fact is, that the objection to the use of cements arises Irom
their having been made shams, from the absurd mania for scoring the surfaces with
the vain hope of making them look like stone ; and so long as the cements are used
simply as protecting coats, without any attempt at the imitation of the effect of other
materials, they cannot be considered objectionable as art-materials even. The real
condition to be aimed at in all these cases is, that no part of a building should be
exposed to efforts which would manifestly exceed the powers of resistance of the
materials emploved ; and there mnst be a distinct relation between the more or less
permanent nature of the materials and the more or less permanent character of the
building. The conviction of the durability of the granite employed in the pyramids
of Egypt muBt add to the sensation of beauty they inspire : the plaster ceiling of
Milan Cathedral destroys the pleasure which, perhaps, might have been derived from
its design. Our ideas of the beauty of the latter are marred by the discrepancy
between the actual state of the building and of our ideas of what it ought to be as a
permanent temple to tlie honor of the Eternal. Truth and consistency must, in
fact, be the ruling principles in our use of building materials ; and as for the intro-
duction of color by their means, it may be dismissed by observing that to us English-
men it can never be a matter of great importance, especially in our great towns ; for
our atmosphere effectuaiiy'prevcnts our seeking, with any probability of success, for
beauty from this adventitious and (I cannot help suspecting, for my own part) this
inferior element of that quality.
One of the most brilliant authors of the present day, Mr. Ruskin, lias in his recent
work, "The Two l*aths," endeavoured to establish a distinction between the
respective schools of art which resort to the imitation of natural objects in one ease
or to the repetition of conventional forms in the other, and he has applied the desig-
nation of the "realistic" school to the last of these, in contradistinction to the other,
or the idealistic one. lie avows his preference for the so-called reaUstie school, and he
earnestly recommends art-workmen to "study the grass of the field " for models
of their ornamentation ; at the same time he gives, with a degree of consistency
which is remarkable in him, some illustrations of the spirit in which he would desire
to see his recommendations carried into effect. Now there cannot be a shadow of
doubt as to the advisability of a study of the forms of natural objects by all those
who seek to excite the sensation of beauty in any of its manifestations, and archi-
tectural ornamentation designed upon principles opposed to those prevailing in
nature must always be opposed to sound, true taste. The Elizabethan columns, with
their small bases and enlarged tops under the neckings ; the Louis XIV. foliage and
profiles of consoles ; the rococo buildings of Rome and Vienna of the eighteenth
century, with their interrupted pediments and tormented details, arc all of them
characterised by this neglect of sound principles, and this contempt for the study of
natural forms, and atrociously ugly they all are. But the Grecian foliage, principally
copied from the honeysuckle and lotus, but onljr very remotely copied from nature,
and the ornamentation of the columns and cornice of the Temple of Jupiter Stator
is strictly conventional ; the details of both of these illustrations are, however, beau-
tiful in themselves, for the foliage comes fully up to our idea of an harmonious, con-
sistent decoration, which adds, in fact, to the general effect of the buildings. To my
mind there seems to be something inconsistent in the attempts to fix in the
Btone, marble, and iron we employ the passing ephemeral grace of the plant
and the flower. We must know that "to-day they are and to-morrow they
*re cast into the oven ;" so that their perpetuation strikes upon the mind
as involving a violation of the laws of nature. When sculpture is intro-
duced it should be perfect of its kind, and foliage ornamentation should
bear traces of having been carefully studied, and freely, naturally, handled.
But It is a mistake thus to force details into such importance, and to bestow upon
them so much time and attention, as to produce works of art able to distract attention
from the general design. Strictly speaking all architectural ornament must be con-
ventional, for it is only by convention that we can reconcile to ourselves the notion
of flowers or leaves, growing in the positions where they are usually introduced.
Conventionality need not, liowcver, dccenerate Into inflexible mannerism, and the
architect would certainly do well to refresh his mind by the observation of natural
forms, before he designs his details ; and you, as executors of the desfgna, would do
well also in endeavouring to form clear notions of the principles nature adopts when
she desires to clothe her productions with grace and beauty. Properly understood,
conventional ornament (or it would be better to limit the word to foliage), is merely
a reprcHCntation of ideal objects able to contribute to the ideal perfection of the design,
natural ornament is the reproduction in Incongruous positions of Imitations of objects
which have no relation to an entirely artificial work. The modes by which the
architect is enabled to excite the sensations of beauty and sublimity are, after all,
mainly conventional, and his manner of treating details would seem to require also
to be conventional. To me, therefore, it seems almost as reasonable to ask him to
apply the laws of geological succession in the choice of his boildini; materials, as it
would be to ask him to reproduce in his foliage the beauties of natural plants. This
imitation of nature, it may be observed, is a favorite theory ot amateurs and young
students : old practitiouers-the men. in fact, who have learnt by experience tliat
architecture is both an art and a science— prefer conventionalisms. Perhaps, after all,
truth lies midway between the extreme opinions of both schools, and liotli would
agree that whatever attention be paid to ornamentation, on whatever models it may
be designed, the manner iu Which the building to which It is applied fulfils our idea
of perfection, is the vital question to be considered. Some ot the most Iwautifol
buildings in the world are absolutely without ornament of any kind ; certainly the
sublimest buildings are so. Beauty is relative, it is not absolute ; and its type, there-
fore, cannot be sought in any special class of natural objects when the objects to
which it is sought to communicate that quality are only susceptible of » relative
degree of perfection.
The last portion of our inquiry, viz., the one concerning the best manner in wlilch
you are able to apply the recognised principles of the science of the beautiful, will
resolve itself practically into ascertaining tue best method of carrying Into effect the
designs of your employers, because, as I said before, your province is not so much
to design as it is to execute. You cannot, however, execute properly unless you
understand the whole scope of the work entrusted to you, and you cannot impart to
your productions the full portion of ideal perfection of which they are susceptible
unless you understand thoroughly whereby they may be made to produce the sensa-
tion of beauty. There is nothing so small or insignilicant iu a work ,of art, or even
in a work of simple commodity, which may not be rendered the means of expressing
desifTi, study, and feeling. The contour of a moulding, the mitreing of a joint, the
franTin" of a piece of panelling, are capable of degrees of excellence which in our
modern haste to " knock off" work we are far too apt to think of small importance,
but which may in their measure add very considerably to the impression of a perfect
adaptation of the means adopted to the end desired, or of a harmony between the
external forms, and the ideal we may have formed and attached to the work ; »nd
thus these mere mechanical details may contain the real elements at least of the
relative beauty of their class of objects. In all your art workmanship the great aim
should be to attain, firstly, consistency and truth : taste and fancy, however de-
sirable,"are but addltaments to those qualities, and they will follow inevitably,
if you 'strive earnestly to understand the meaning of the work you have
in hand, and if you carefully observe the conditions of external ex-
pression you are able to communicate to it. Do not fancy that you can do
anything, even in the way of sticking or running a moulding, which may not
be made to bear the impress of your own individual character. They who are
accustomed to observe can detect shades of merit in these apparently mechanical
works ■ and on that score, even if not on the higher one of striving to do perfectly
whatever you undertake, it is your duty to study the meaning intended to be con-
veyed by these deti
branches of your (
veyed by these details, and to endeavour to give it full expression. In the higher
branches of your calling there is less necessity for dwelling on this obligation,
because you must all of you be aware ol its existence ; and all that need be said is
that you yourselves will find your own reward in the study and in the application ot
the laws of beauty. They are of a singularly wide range, even m your departinen^
for they involve the investigation of the laws of proportion, ol perspective, ot lignt
and shade, to some extent also of those of construction, and of the nature and pro-
perties of materials, because the violation of any of these laws must give rise to s
conviction of the existence of some discrepancy, of some want of harmony between
the means and the end, which must effectually destroy the beauty of the w'ork con-
taining such violation. I would guard against being understood to say that any
absolute rules exist for your guidance, of the kind usually known under the sonoroug
but vague phrases of "symmetry or ot balance of parts." A dfs '«]'"!'» 3' \''"L
beautiful without presenting either of those characteristics, and the stiff formality or
Classical architecture is perhaps attributable to the slavish adherence to such rules ;
and certainly the irregularity of outline and of plen admitted in romantic architec-
ture is often a source of beauty, in the sense t attach to the word But there are
some laws of proportion that we cannot violate with impunity, and it behoves all or
us"o seek to understand why it is that certam lengths, breadths, and widths must bo
observed in the parts of a composition ; why it is that vertical and ^"n"°«^
lines require to be treated in peculiar manners i "nd why It is thatthe protlles or
mouldings require to be modified accordingly as they may receive light directly, or
by reflection, from above or from below.
Your work cannot be beautiful unless you apply the knowledge obtained by your
udy of all these conditions, and as they are test studied by pract cal m™ 1 kc your-
.1..' . o„Mt„„ mvonKefiillessonstnthemore theoretical architectural student.
They are.
selv/s"vou mayottcii'give useful lessons'to the more theoretical architectu
Do not fancy that these matters are exclusively the »r<^hitects business. ,
no doubt, mainly so ; but as art-workmen, as men having more than im re j rt''»r»
nterest in vour pursuit, yon must feel a degree of interest, nearly equal to <he arcm-
ecrs iniSeVrf'ction of ^he expression of fhe .deal by the visible forms you^roduce
You must strive to fix the fine, airy vision of beauty upon your "^f,"^^- ""' 'i'^^„,^°5
concise way of stating how that Is to be done is to say that the exteruH character m^
must, under your hands, l>e made to convey the^notion
excellence it was capable of receiving. When you refiect tha_t_ bemity ^
concise way of stating now inai is lo oe uoue « ^u ^o, •"",!"•; ..."notion of the ideal
the minutest detail must, under your hands, l.e made to convey the "ot onoi tnc loeai
excellence it was capable of receiving. When you refiect «•»' he»uty i^Uts as^^
Duality of physical objects, not as an emanation of the mind ol the person ooservinK
Sat in the lineuace of metaphysicians, it is ontological, not psycliologlcal ; objcc-
Wvr'not sub ?Xe-) you must ftel that its creation depends, in a great degree upon
n a very summary manner consider with you on the next occasion,
I-'t^rCiTty ot^ProportZ^S.d^of Light and Shade fn Architectural l.et.ils"-
'""on'the motion of Mr. Webster, seconded by Mr. Gtovi:!., a cordial vote of
thanks was passed by acclamation to the lectorer.^
™rif"flirmnrt'eminenTenKineers and architects in the metroiiolis. The l
l"onposslsseriwoi worth ^of funded, property, and probably that would
creased by £400 by the forthcoming festival.
After a vote of thanks to the Chairman (Mr. Rai-ph White) the meeting sepa-
rated.
248
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 22, 1861
-The following g'entlemen having" been balloted for, were duly
of the Association:— Mr. h. Ii. Isaacs and Mr. Wiiljain JI.
ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION.
THE UBual fortnightly meeting: of this body was held at the rooms, 0, Conduit-
Btrect, Regent- street, on Friday evening: ; T- Roger Smith, Esq., the rresident.
In the chair.
Mr. WiMBRiDGE (Hon. Sec). TC&d the minutes of proceedings at the last meeting,
which were found correct and signed.
New Members.—Ti
elected members of
Simpson.
7%e Intemaiumal Exhibition of 1802.— The Chaibman said he had to draw their
attention to a subject of considerable importance to the architectural profession— he
alluded to the Exhibition of 1862. That would be an exhibition not only of arts and
manufactures, but the tine arts were to be admitted. And that being the cai^e, it
Kerned to be their duty to talcecare that the art of architecture should be well repre-
sented at the Exhibition. There were ditSculties alwut the representation of archi-
tecture which did not apply to other portions ot the fine arts, such as painting. A
man having a large building could not very well send it to the Exhibition, and it re-
quired a great deal of care and cost to have drawings prepared and sent. Those
who went to the Paris Exhibition of 1855 would remember the very splendid col-
lection of architectural drawings, including some from Great Hritain, and it formed
ODe great attraction of the Exhibition, And it pcemed to him of great im-
portance that architects should both exert themselves to procure the best works tliey
eonld tbemselvcH repreBcnt, and do what they could to induce individuals who were
CMsessed of important public or private buildings to have them represented at the
Exhibition either by drawings or photographs. For instance, several ot the clubs
might be induced to have their buildings represented either by models, or drawings,
or photographs ; and such mi^ht likewise be the case in reference to cathedrals and
important private houses. All that would take time and trouble, but by timely
forethought it might be accomplished. Under these circumstances he had to
move:—
**That in the opinion of this Association it ts highly desirable that in the forth-
coming Exhibition of isfl'^ the art of architecture should be worthily represented,
and that meaaurcs should be early taken to secure this object ; that this Association
offer* ita co-operation towards any genera! measure for promoting the completeness
of the architectural department of the forthcoming Exhibition, and hereby invites
the other architectural societies of Great Britain to do the same : that the President
and Strretaries In- reoueslcd to forward tliis resolution to the Commissioners for the
Exhibition, and to ask them to favor us at as early a date as possible with any sug-
gCitioDB to guide us in carrving out this object, and that this resolution be commu-
nicated to tne various architectural socleti* s."
*'''• Bi-OMFIELD (Vife- President) had great pleasure in seconding the resolution.
J**y*hout;ht no time should !>e lost in a measure of this sort, because whatever was
to be don*- must be done by co-operation with other architectural societies, who, he
nad no doubt, would co-op<,Tatc with them.
The motion waa then carried unanimously.
Plan for a Coxtnlry House.— The Chairman said that in the unavoidable absence of
Mr. Thomas Allom, who was prevented by indisposition from lecturing that evening,
Mr. Robert Kerr, an old friend of the Association, had consented to supply the
vacancy, by giving an address on a " Plan for a Country House."
Mr. RoBEKT Kerr wished it to be distinctly understood tiiat what he was going
to read had not bceu prepared for that occasion, but at the same tinn' it might prove
interesting to many gentlemen present who were students of architecture. And in
appearing before tliem that evening, he need scarcely say that he was always ready
to nil up a gap that existed in the completion of the syllabus for the sesRion of the
Architectural Association— (Applause). In laying before the meeting some observa-
tions respecting the plan of a country house, he would draw their attention to a
matter of great practical importance to students and to men of business. There
was, perhaps, no subject by u knowledge of which an architect could more decidedly
n)akc his way, than that on wliicli ho was going to treat. And in treating of the
plan for a country house he was not going into the whole subject, but would lay
before the audience some general maxims which, in his opinion, it would be very
well for young men in the profession to bear in mind, and make some remarks on the
Ijrincipal family rooms of a country house ; further than that he should not be able
lo go that niglit. Ity a country house he meant a liouse that was intended for the
liabitation of a gentleman of the better class, and It was the duty, as well as ad-
vantage of arcliitccts lo study English habits. Mr. Kerr then proceeded with his
lecture, of which the following is a synopsis : —
Referring, somewhat in detail, to tlie classification of apartments as dwelling-
rooms, sleeping-rooms, supplementary-rooms, children's-rooms, offices, and
thoroughfares, it would be st-t'n, the lecturer said, that there are certain of these
which, fitly arranjjed, form the etssential system of a gentleman's house, even on the
smallest scale; and that the remainder, and others of tlieir kind, are but the amplifi-
cation of the- same essentials, according to the wealth and dignity of the owmr ; the
character ef a gentleman-like residence being, not matter of magnitude, or of decor-
ation, but of preciHion of arrangement, and contrivance. Tlie cliaracteristies which
an English gentlemen of the present day especially values in his house, he would set
forth thus, namely— Quiet comfort for his f^imily and guests, thorough convenience
for his domestics, elegance and importance without ostentation.
Taking, as the first point for discussion, that of privacy, he pointed out the prin-
ciple as moat essential with the better classes of EiigUsh people that there shall be a
distinctive and complete separation between the family and the domestics, the
underlying idea being this: that there are two communities, each entitled to shut its
door upon the other, a i)rinciple not so much regarded in an inferior class of houses,
but acquiring increased importance as the style of the establishment advances.
Speaking secondly of comfort and convenience, it was absurd that, although the
comfortableness ot a house, in the more ordinary sense of the phrase, implies exemp-
tion from damp, smoky chimneys, draughts, kitchen odours, vermin, summer
suliriness, and winter eold, Ac, yet that, in its larger sense, proper comfort included
the idea that every room shall be for its special purpose carefully contrived, as an
lut^erofplan, itbeingagood rule that no apartment should pass muster in the
March 22, 1861
THE BUILDING NEWS
March 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
251
desi^Ti until the furnitnro had boen plotted upon it and its conTenlcnce proved.
Spaciousness throufrhout, with abundant liglit and perfect ventilation (both from the
external air alone), were always most important.
Thirdly, treating of aspect and prospect, the lecturer pointed out the great impor-
tance of a ffood aspect and the singular neglect of this principle in most cases,
observing that everv room whatever has not merely a right aspect as opposed to a
wrong, but generally, a very limited range of suitable aspect as against the entire
remainder of the compass, more or less unsuitable. He also alluded to the great
value commonly assigned to coneiderations of prospect, for which those of aspect
were probably too often sacrificed, without, at least, sufficiently drawing ujion in-
genuity to accommodate both demands. The general question of aspect, lie further
said, is threefold, as regards sunshine, weather, and prospect. The sun being south
at noon, east at 6 a.m., west at 6 p.m., and so on, such rooms as require coolness and
shade at any particular time of the day, must be aspected accordingly. As to weather,
west being generally the wet quarter, and cast the dry, north gloomy, south sultry,
south-west exposed to boisterous winds, south-east the quarter of mild winds, and
so on, the various rooms must be again aspected with reference to this. Lastly,
speaking of prospect, aa a southward view in the day-time has the sun in the pic-
ture, while a nortliward view has the landscape in full light, and the like with other
quarters at different hours of the day ; there must thus be one more question with
reference to whicli the aspect of windows ought to be determined, the problem here
being to secure at a given time an approved chiaro-scitro for the landscape in view.
Taking up , fourthly, the matter of elegance and importance, i t was carefully pointed
out as being a fundamental consideration witli the class of Knglish gentlemen, and
their ladies no less, that decoration and display mustbe confined mtbln strict limits,
architects being aa a rule difficult of restraint in this respect, and somewhat perti-
nacious in introducing precisely what their clients desire to avoid. Perfect neatness
and grace must ahvaj^s be studied, but ambitious artistic effect decidedly spared ;
that (here may be no interference with homely comfort, and no suspicion of ostenta-
tion suggested. Even in cases where rank and wealth surround themselves with
costliness and luxury, simplicity and subdued power will still be preferred, and the
glare of mere pomp despised. An elfect of duo importance, however, will always be
expected to be produced ; exaggeration being distasteful, but the exact proper value
for the cost expended, exhibited in a spirit equally removed from ostentation and
meanness, being the rule. In the interior something like license might be taken,
although not with the rooms, witli the thoroughfares, such as the hall, corridor, and
staircase ; indeed, as matter of dignity, this would often be not only permitted, but
encouraged, the instances being many where an injudicious management of these
portions of the house have given to a mansion the inferior appearance of a cottage,
while, on the other hand, a little expansion in other cases have conferred upon a
cottage all tlie importance of a mansion.
Turning now to the detailed characteristics of apartments, the lecturer proposed
to touch briefly upon the principal of these, so far as time would admit
The dining-room of an ordinary mansion was described as a spacious and com-
paratively stately apartment, to be cool and free from the glare of sunshine at the
liour of evening dinner, and as ref;ards external position, somewhat retired. The
beat aspect would be north or north-east, or east but for the east wind, or south-east
but for the sunshine during the day ; south, south-west, or west being altogether ob-
jectionable. The lecturer then explained the preference for side windows over end
windows, as primary light of the room; the advantage of end light in addition in a
large apartment (looking east rather than west) ; the compromise of aspect for ^pro-
spect, and the danger of over-estimating the value of the latter, and the great service
of the bay window as a means of accommodating conflicting demands of this kind.
The process of determining the width and length of a dining-room was then de-
Bcribed, and the principles of arrangement for the sideboard, fire-place, and door-
way; the uses of the service-room were also set fortli, and the relation of such an
apartment to thej dining-room on one hand and the kitchen on the other.
The case of a dining-room used as the family sitting-room was likewise treated of,
where what may be called drawing-room elements must be introduced, not only in
furniture, but in aspect more especially ; the south-eastward bein^ now decidedly
preferable, the fire-place also requiring to be disposed on new principles— namely,
those of the sitting-room and the tire-side. The general design of a proper dining-
room, it was also remarked, oug^ht to be massive and substantial, as if oi masculine
importance, although not devoid of cheerfulness.
speaking of the morniug-room, it was remarked that this served to relieve, in a
manner, both dining-room and drawing-room, being U3ed as a breakfast-room, and
also as a sitting-room for the ladies during the early part of the day ; and in more
homely establishments beinj^ stiU;more used. For breakfast tlie aspect might best
be eastward, a south-east window taking, at 9 a.m., the sunshine full in front ; but
for a sitting-room south-oast would be preferable, keeping the sun from momingtill
1 P.M. due soutii — being the extreme.
The drawing-room was next discussed, as essentially the ladies' apartment, the
modern form of the ladies' withdrawing-room of the olden time, its purpose being for
the reception of visitors, the assembling of the family and guests before dinner, the
evening circle afterwards, the reception of evening parties, and so on. This room
might bo said to be, perhaps, the simplest in the house, as respects principles of
Slan, there being only one kind of dramng-room with little difference, except in
imcnsions and luxury, between that of the duchess and that of the homliest
gentleman. The character to be aimed at must be especial cheerfulness, refinement
of elegance, and lightness of style ; decoration, therefore, requiring to be compara-
tively ramnte and delicate, and the whole effect, so to speak, entirely ladylike. The
dining-room and drawing-room would thus be in contrast. As to aspect, this must
avoid equally the wet west, the bleak east, the afternoon sultriness of the south-west,
the shadow of the opposite quarter, and so on, the .south-east becoming thus the
ncareat approach to perfection, cheerful and pleasant early in the day, shaded from
the level sunshine of the evenini', and exposed onlv to the mildest winds; south
being sultry, and west taking little else than the evening glare and the rain. The
principles of side windows, as laid down for a dining-room, would still apply with
end windows in addition for large rooms. Prospect would be always worthy of
serious consideration, although best to be dealt with by end windows (if compromise
of aspect be required), which may be south-west or even west if necessary, east or
north-east ; the eastward views having the especial advantage of presenting the land-
scape in the afternoon and evening, well-lighted pictorially, and the southward views
for full daylight effects being placed at a disadvantage. I'he use of the bay window
mght now be still more advocated, the most serviceable form being not threebut five
sides of a regular octagon, whereby it is always possible, by closingthrce sides against
the sun, to have two uncovered. Further remarks were made in explanation of the
particular prraciples of plan governing a sitting-room so as to produce a comfortable
flre-side by the judicious relations of fire-place, light, and entrance, a result often
found to b(i extremely difficult of accomplishment, especially in a small room, unless
It be nearly square. The question of doors of intercommunication generally was
also touched upon, these being frequently demanded for family convenience but
nevertheless, as a rule, to be discouraged by the architect.
After describing the library and boudoir, the lecturer treated of the gentleman's
business-room, and of the study in such a case as that of a parsonage; adverting
to the difficulty sometimes experienced in finding a place for writing which shall be
properly situated as respects the light, the door, and the flre, and laying it down as
the best rule that the occupant, when seated at his desk, shall have at his back a
blank end wall or bookcase ; on his right, the fireplace near that end ; on his left,
the window, near the other end, and in front the door. The secondary entrance for
the business-room was also described.
Speaking briefly of the family thoroughfares, attention was first directed to the
porch, more particularly as to the correction of a blustering aspect for the entrance—
Bonth-west, north-east, or the like ; the plan in such cases being to place the outer
doorway with an aspect at right angles to that objected to ; the north-west being
however, particularly unfortunate in this respect, inasmuch as both the aspects at
right angles to it— namely, north-east and south-west, are equally bad with itself.
The entrance-hall was alluded to aa an apartment existing in so many etunutcr-
istic varieties as to be a sort of criterion of class for the house as a whole. Two very
different principles of plan were to be found developed In contrasted buildings j In
the one case the route of entrance being central, leading directlv forward through a
symmetrical hall and vestibule to the staircase or some other cnief object ; while In
the other case, symmetry and directions are avoided, the outward doorway being in
one corner, for instance, the inward doorway at some point of contrast rather than
correspondence, and the latter entering the corridor in an equally one-sided manner.
The first plan must always be more classical and stately, the other being considered
to exhibit more domestic convenience ; but although it may not be desirable to
sacrifice comfort for mere symmetry, yet to carry Irregularity into affectation must
be still more unrefined.
The gallery or corridor of a mansion was next spoken of, the desirableness of
side windows rather than end ones, the objections to celling light as cheerless, the
propriety of a centrical position for the principal staircase, the necessity for avoiding^
complex forms of plan, and so on. The internal relation of the rooms to each other
beinjj the relation of their doors. It must be always best to place the doors of the
chief apartments in prominent positions, so that they cannot be mistakonj The
route between the entrance and the drawing-room ought also to be well arranged ;
the same of the route between the diningand drawing-rooms, avoiding that twlstlnif
of the line which occurs, for example, when both doors are on one side of the
corridor. The preservation of the corridor as far as possible in privacy was also a
thing to to be carefully attended to, the routes of the servants being kept clear of
those of the family as far as possible.
After a few remarks on the principal staircase, Mr. Kerr concluded his lecture by
again expressing his regret that time prevented him from going further into the
detail principles of plan, as relating to the sleeping-rooms, for instance, and the
domestic offices, but earnestly recommending to the younger members of the profes-
sion the study of this subject as a whole in all its intricacy and minuteness, such
study constituting one of^the shortest roads to professional usefulness and even
eminence.
Mr. Kerh, in conclusion, said his object had been simply to explain to
the younger members of the profession some of the principles upon which
a country house ought to be planned, and to impress upon them the extreme Import-
ance of studying those principles ; for the most successful architects, both of the
past and of the present day, as respected emolument and position in society, were
those whose practice had been confined almost exclusively to the building of country
houses. Therefore it ou^ht to be borne In mind by those who aspired to distinction
in their profession, that the building of a country house was probably the best task
to which he could apply his mind— (Applause).
Mr. Blomfield thought none of them had any remarks to make on the admirable
and practical lecture of Mr. Kerr. There was, perhaps, one point in reference to
which he might differ a little from Mr. Kerr, and that was in having a door of
intercommunication between the fdrawing-room and an adjoining room. Ladles
frequently complained that, by not having a second door in the morning or drawing-
room leading to an adjoining room, they could not escape from their morning
visitors. The result of Mr. Kerr's experience would be useful tu all of them, and he
heartily proposed a vote of thanks to that gentleman for having so kindly come
forward to fill up a gap, and to read a most admirable paper.
Mr. BLA8HILL seconded the motion.
The Chairman said he held it to be the duty of an architect, not only to carry
out his own views, in contradistinction to those of everybody else, including his
client, but also to do the best he could for his client. The observations of Mr. Kerr
had been exceedingly valuable and complete, and none were more so than those which
had reference to the habits of English gentlemen, and the propriety of building
houses to suit their tastes. Mr. Kerr dwelt on the subject of aspect, and that was,
perhaps, of greater consequence in town than in the country. After some further
observations, the Chairman put the vote of thanks, which was carried by accla-
mation.
Mr. Kerr, In briefly returning thanks, said it had given him very great pleasure
to come before thein that night, and it always gave hira pleasure to attend a meeting
of the Architectural Association. lie spoke from experience and observation, ana
he thought there was no subject to which an architect could more advantageously
direct his attention than the plan of a good country-house ; and he was sorry to see
so great a reluctance on the part of the leading gentlemen of the profession to ex-
hibit their drawings for the benefit of the profession. The more they communicated
of that which they had ascertained by study and acquired and discovered, the more
they assisted the progress of society generally, and the more they extended that
basis on which their own inventions would obtain much greater results.
Shortly afterwards the meetmg separated.
T
MH. BUEGES, ON THE PHOTOGRAPHS IN THE AKCHITECTITEAL
PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION OF 1861.
HE committee of the Architectural Photographic Association, not content with
.... supplying a very large and fine collection of^photographs to their subscribers to
choose from, have moreover had the good fortune to secure the services of several
gentlemen, very eminent for their attainments in the various styles of architecture.
These gentlemen have successively addressed you upon various subjects, taking the
photographs themselves as their text. It now falls to my lot to attempt the com-
pletion of the work, by pointing out photographs which may not have come within
the scope of these individual lectures, at .the same time taking in a general remme
of the collection. ' ...
You will not of course expect me to attempt to reconcile the various opinions or
the different lecturers, for it is no part of the scheme of the committee to possess the
luxury of having opinions or convictions. Indeed, committees generally very
seldom are troubled with cither. We do, indeed, profess to have a conscience, but
our funds, although by no means in a bad state, are not yet sufficiently overflowing
to allow us to have opinions and convictions. The consequence Is that every gentle-
man who is kind enough to offer us his' services is quite free to express his own
individual opinion ; and you must not therefore be surprised when you hear two
different dicta on two diflerent evenings, and those even upon the chief object ol our
Association, viz., the use of photography architecturally considered. Thus my Inenn
Mr. Pullan suggested that an architect should travel about with a pistolgraou
(whatever that may be), and bag his sixty pieces of detail per day. Mr. Lamb, on tue
other hand, tells us,— "If the student acquires the art of the manipulation (ol photo
graphy), that a more important branch of the art (of architecture) will be neglected,
-"and that photography is but too often substituted for sketching. Now
my own conviction differs from that of both these gentlemen, and if I may be allowed
to add a third opinion to the other two, I should suggest that both photography and
sketching are but too often substituted for drawings measured on a ladder, and
very least (1 have heard of a dozen having been done before breakfast). Again, how
much more satisfactory it is to be able to show your twenty or thirty negatives as the
result of your day's labor, although it be but a negative result. However, there is tms
consolation that the measurer will know all the ins and outs of the building, why
this detail is treated in a particular manner, and why that method of construction
was employed ; while the sketcher will simply have an idea that such and such ele-
ments form a picturesque group, although he will probably be quite ignorant or the
construction which determines the form of such elements and the necessity for their
peculiar "rouping. As to the photographer, poor fellow ! the extent of his know-
ledge will probably be that, under certain circumstances, the honey process is tne
best, and that under others the collodion answers better. _ .i.
Indeed, the sum of my advice to my fellow-students would be— Measure much
252
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 22, 1861.
■ketch little, and, above all, keep your fingera out of chemicals. If you want plioto-
sraphs— and very useful things they arc by the way— go and boy them where you can
get them best and cheapest, at the prtisent Association, for instance, which is estab-
lished for this very purpose. But all the photojjraphs in the world won't nialie you
an architect, and I am only too Rlad of it; for it it were otherwise, it is evident that
the wealthiest man, who already enjoys too many advantages in the opportunities of
leisnre, of travelling, &(.•.. which are denied to his less favored cuiifrire. would be the
best irchllect. If at any day. and I hoi)c that day may come, we have a national
archifectuR', and all practice in one style, as in the days of old, the grammar of the
art will l>e taught iu the architcct'8 office (where, by the way, not much is taught
now), in the stone-yard, and the carpenter's shop. Hence, I say, we shall all, richer
poor, start fair, and men will be able to direct their attention to composition, and
expressing their thoughts iu stone, instead of passing their Ives in trying to master
the detail and principles of half a dozen different styles, all of which, being
intended for different cUmates and conditions of society, are at variance with each
other.
The latter condition, however, being our lot at present, the committee have en-
deavoured to afford a choice of photographs which may be useful to those practising
in almoat every style under the sun. Thus, if any gentleman has a penchant for
Hindoo architecture, he will And some most excellent studies by Dr. Murray and
Captain Dixon. Should he, however, think the Egyptian a particularly neat style,
and especially fitted to the exigencies of our climate and of our building materials,
hecanchoosefrom thirty-one capital photographs by 5Ir. Frith, which nave, more-
over, the advantage of having been illustrated by a lecture by Mr. Ilonomi, who has
pointed out in the clearest manner the ages of the different capitals, so that our
architect may be saved the anachronism of putting, in the same shop-front, a
column of the time of Sesostris supporting an entablature of the date of the
Ptolemies.
Again, he may range through the Roman edifices illustrated by Macpherson, the
Venetian Gothic by Pontl ; the wonderful French work of the 13th century by Baldus;
and, lastly, a very large collection of the buildings erected in our own country by
Fenton, Bedford, Dolomore and Bullock, Thompson, and others. To the amateur
the collection is particularly valuable, as it enables him to grasp the various
characteristics of the different styles without wading through an immense mass of
books and plates, the latter being but too often incorrect and worthless. As to the
architect, I am not quite sure whether much knowledge of this kiud is very desir-
able. His business is to act, not to talk ; and I very much question whether he will
gain much good by studying other styles than the one he practices in. I am, how-
ever, certain of one thing, viz.. that the time would be much better spent in making
himself acquainted with the figure, and that until he has mastered it, and undergone
a long course of measuring from the buildings of his own style, he had much better
lay aside the intricacies ot the Indian, Egyptian, and Arabic styl'efe, as well as the
various theories of what Sir Edward Lytton Bulwer calls the ideal and the beautiful.
In fine, let us adhere to one style, and perfectly master itby dissection ; for measure-
ment is to the architect what dissection is to the medical man. You may possibly
manage to rub on withont it, but In that case I do not see that you can ever claim to
take tne higher ranks.
I will now go very shortly through the photographs, making a very few observa-
tions upon each batch. I shall have, however, to jump from one number to another,
as the arrangement has been dictated by the exigencies of the room, and not by the
chronological order.
The first I shall notice are the Egyptian photographs, which, as I said before, have
been admirably illustrated by Mr. Bonomi. It is true that, both from its style and
its material, this architecture is utterly unsuited to our climate, yet we may obtain
hints as to the treatment of low reliefs from it, while the color (of course not shown
on the photographs) is particularly deserving of our study. The Egyptian stone
being, tor the mosi part, very hard, the artist, therefore, sank the figures from the
surface, and thereby saved an immense deal of labor, while the contour of the column
was not injured by the figures projecting, as it is in the Renaissance work. Again in
that luminous climate where there would always be some shadow either thrown
directly by the sun or by reflection, the figures being thus sunk in by a sharp edge
would always be well aefiued, or, as it were, black-lined at all periods of the day.
Again the relief sculpture, however low, was always kept flat and square, and we shall
see this obtain in nearly all the best architectural sculpture in all ages of the world.
The difference between us and the Egyptians in this respect is just ttiis, that we are
obliged to bring the figures more forward in order to get the proper effect, our climate
being so much more obscure. As there was little variation in Egyptian art, and as
the son was obliged to follow his father's profession, the figures were drawn
according to certain recognised proportions, and with certain peculiarities. Thus
M. Durand, of Chartres, showed me tracings of Egyptian heads lii profile where the
section of the upper lip was drawn like a cyma recta or a reversed S. This, it is
true, is a manifest exaggeration, but doubtless it gave great clearness and distinctness
to the mouth when viewed from a distance.
Altogether the Egyptian was a wonderful man, whether we regard him in the light
of an architect, an euMneer, an astronomer, or a law-giver, he evidently reached a
hi^h state of civilisati^on quite as high as our own, considering the difference of
climate, for the warm sun of Egypt would render many of our discoveries perfectly
useless. On the other hand, we have no less an authority than the Right Hon. Ben-
jamin Disraeli, who tells us that we mistake comfort for civilisation. In the present
case we may very well abstract the comfort, but wc shall find that every Egyptian
shaved his head, and wore a wig, exactly as we did in the last century ; wlule the
discoveries in the tombs show us that he was quite up in the abominable art of
graining one wood to make it look like another. After this, who can deny his
civilisation ?
The next batch of photographs comes iVom India. As Sir. Fergusson's lecture
upon them has not;been published, and as I had not the pleasure of hearing it, I must
plead guilty to knowing very little about the subject. They are, of course, very Inte-
resting in showing a particular phase of the architectural mind, but beyond that I
can scarcely imagine that we should be able to derive many hints from the study of, at
least, the Pagan portion of them, and the sculptures, like those of our own St. Paul's,
to which I shall presently allude, would apjiear to bo examples rather of what we
should avoid than of what wc should follow. At the same time a great deal is to be
learnt from the work of the Mohammedan period, where the exquisite traceries of
the windows and balconies, as in lf>5 and 170, put to shame our Western efforts in the
umc direction. See the traceried window— i.e., a window all tracery, from the
Church of Santiago, at Bilboa, 114.
We should not, however, pass over the Pagan sculpture of the Horse-court, at
Beringham (4.14), where rearing horses and their riders, together with wild beasts
trampled under foot, are used as caryatides. There is here a very valuable suggestion
for a similar court, say to a palace, only we must use better art.
I must pai-K over Oreek art, for I am very sorry to say that It is very inadequately
represented this year ; in fact, beyond one or two very small views iu the Carthage
collection, we have literally nothing of It at all. Our Secretary can probably tell you,
although I cannot, why there arc photographs of the finest sculptures iu the world
mz., the Elgin marbles) at the Exliibitiou in Pall-mall, and why there are none here,
jraae they would be so useful and arc so much wanted ; for the principles of
GreeUs and Medieval sculpture are the same, and one Illustrates and teaches the
other. This Is remarkably the case in the pre-I'hidian art.
In the Acropolis at Athens there is preserved a bas-relief of a female figure In a
chariot, which, but for the costume, might easily have been taken for the work of the
twelfth century; while there are, I believe, some French antiquaries who have been
bold enough to assert that the lions over the gate at Mycena; are really Medieval
beasta, and not Classical.
The photographs from Carthage, as they consist simply of cisterns and aqueducts,
dp not throw very great light upon the architecture, and simply prove that the Car-
thaginians most have been very thirsty souls.
Among tlie subjects which have been left from former yeais will be found several
of Roman sculpture .-ind Roman architecture, by my friend, Mr. Macpherson— I liad
almost said our friend, for almost every one who visits Rome experiences his
courtesy and kindness. The architecture consists of the usual stock subjects which
persecute the student all the while he is in Rome, and, I may add, for years after-
wards ; for instance, the temple at Tivoli, which is always turning up, either iu the
shape of an inkstand, or on a mosaic, or painted on a table-top.
However, no Christian can look without interest upon the Arch of Titus (515),
with its sculptures, showing the golden candlestick and other instruments of Jewish
worship ; while the house of Rienzi (517), the man with a strong cause and a weak
head, will be equally welcome to the historical student, even if it be only to bind up
with his Gibbon, who, by the way, was the reverse of Rienzi, having a strong head
and a weak cause.
Tlic two subjects, 609, St. Maria at Toscanella, and 511, Cloister of St. Paul with-
out the Walls at Rome, belong to Medieval art ; but are due to the same photographer,,
and display most charming examples of Medieval Italian. The Roman, or rather
Greco-Roman sculptures, of course will not do after the Elgin marbles ; still they
are reminiscences of the pleasant hours one has passed years ago in the'Vatican or iu
the Studii, to say nothing of the weary days one may have plodded over them at the
drawing-school. Let us take them, therefore, as remembrances, but carefully avoid
studying them.
Mr. Macpherson also presents us with a photograph of a fresco by Perugino,
which, if it be from the fresco itself, has come out remarkably well. I't is greatly
indeed to be regretted that there are not more photographs of frescoes and stained
glass. I am perfectly aware that they are both very difficult to do, more especially
the latter, where every thing depends upon the color ; still, although the photographs
might come out badly, yet wo might obtain some valuable information as to the size
of the piece of glass, the thickness of the enamelled lines, the direction of the lead,
and the distance of the saddle bars, which at present we can only secure by drawing
and measurement. As to frescoes, they are much easier, and most people will
remember those of Orcagna's "Last Judgment," in the Campo Santo, at Pisa,
published a year or two ago. No drawings can possibly equal the pliotographs for
fidelity, the only objection oeing their well-known property to fade alter the lapse of
some years. Whether this will ever be got over is a question for science, not for art.
We now come to the great school of Medieval architecture, which may, for the
present object, be divided into two parts, viz.,— The French school, and that of our
own country. The other schools are either not represented at all iu the jiresent
collection, or are very imperfectly so, as in the case of Italy. To begin witli the
French, which has been the subject of a late lecture by Mr. I'uilau. If I were asked
which I considered the most imposing piece of architecture in this collection,
I should certainly (putting aside, for the moment, the west front of
Rlicims) say that it was the west front of the cathedral of Angouleme,
and after that the west front of JJotre Dame de Poitiers ; in them we see the great
desideratum in the simultaneous employment of sculpture and architecture, and not
mere foliage, and which by the way it is very easy to pour over a building, but
as to figures, liistories, or iu other words thoughts, which yQu cannot insert them
by the dozen iu the contract or describe iu the speciffcation.
Now the west front of Rheims is all sculpture and very little architecture, but at
Angouleme there is as much of the one as of the other, everything being balanced
and in its proper place.
The Greek temple was the same, for although the sculpture was confined to the
frieze and pediment, yet the histories and figures were carried down to the ground
by means of the paintings on the walls of the cella.
In the present day, owing to the prejudices of the public and to our own faulty
education, we m.ake buildings all architecture and with no figure sculpture. It
strikes me, however, and I have every reason to believe that my opinions are fully
shared by the rising generation of architects, that we shall never have good art until
the mouldings and foUage in a building are reduced to a minimum, and the figure
sculpture and mags of constructional material advanced to a maximum. But to
return to Angouleme, one very curious feature is the presence of those long, high
arches which run up to the eaves of the building, and which when they are badly
treated, take off so terribly from its scale, more especially when they are filled
up with ugly Perpendicular windows as at Tewkesbury and Lincoln. At
Florence and at Pisa where they equally occur, the field is occupied by panelling
or stripes of different colored marble and thus the requisite amount of dccoraliou and
scale is obtained. In England they were perhaps pierced with windows, or they
may even have been treated as at Angouleme, where they are occupied by a suc-
cession of groups of figures. In this edifice the central arch, which is much wider than
the others, goes right up into the pediment, but then it projects but very little
and the sculpture stands nearly as forward, and thus prevents the arch
catching the eye as afeature by itself In Eastern work, however— and you can see it
in some of the Indian photographs— this arch is deeply recessed, and to my idea
destroys the scale and consequently the good effect of tlie whole building.
Again at Poitiers see how all the figures are containedin strong, massive although
very richly decorated arcades, how the figures in the spandrels stand out until
they are on the same level as the edge of the label, and are not sunk into and
taken out of the spandrel stone. Again look at No. 23, the cloisters of St. Tronhime
at Aries— how richly decorated it is, and with what a variety of subjects ! and how
suitable it would be for a palace or nobleman's mansion, if it were glazed. See how
the deeds of worthies long ago dead, but whose remembrance liveth ever, might be
carved here; Fancy a cloister thus sculptured with the deeds of good kings
(i.e. as many as could be found) while the lesser parts, such as the corbels, the bases,
&c., might contain subjects, say the fables of Asop, bearing upon the great figures
carved above. Such a gallery or passage would certainly be worth a dozen of those
comfortable looking thoroughfares papered with flock paper, furnished with buhl
cabinets and tables, and ornamented with doubtful full length portraits, which are
lighted by a sickly skylight of ground glass. But I must confess that I do not think
the public are altogether to blame for this latter state of things; the architect
should I think take his share of the odium. It is so much easier to draw the regular
passage, and then to hand it over to our friend the upholsterer to work his will upon,
as regards the furnishing, than it is to think out subjects, to read up histories, and
lastly to make designs for the sculptor.
The worst is tliat one does not get paid more if one does so ; but this is an evil
which will right itself, let only the movement be begun, and after a time it will be-
come fashionable, and the architect will of course be properly paid as his services
become more in demand. The only difference will be that he will have to be paid
the game sum for doing one work well, as he now is for doing a dozen indif-
ferently.
Mr. Pullan and Mr. Scddon have so well described the doorway at Moissae that
there is no need for me to say anything about it ; beyond that, 1 confess I do not
admire the very thin columns and the equally thin archivolls which are in
fact a continuation of the column. A column ought certainly to support something
heavier than itself, and where it does not it always appears deficient in energy and
as if it had no work to do.
One of the most beautiful photographs is that of the doorway of St. John
the Baptist, at Rouen. Every detail is most exquisite, and when it was colored as
it certainly was, for the gold background remains, it must have been most wonderful
and we can certaluly not thank the Cardinal d'Aiiiboise for replacing the centre door-
way (which was in all probability of similar workmanship) by his own late work No.
16, rich though it be, like the finest point lace.
The sculpture of this St. .lolin the Baptist door is what we should fry to work up
to ; it has all the vigor of the Romanesque without any of its stilTncss. To do this we
should study the Romanesque first of all and then add the superior knowledge of the
figure as known in our days. How successfully old work may be imitated we may see
in No. OH, representing the lower part of the tympanum of the central door of Notre
Dame at Paris, which was ruthlessly destroyed by one Sufllot a pagan of the last
century. So well imitated or rather composed in imitation ot i:Jtli century work la
this, that It Is very dilUcult, if you are not acquainted with the circumstance, to dia-
March 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
253
tincuisU it from ancient work : tills, however, is not what I conceive to be wanted ;
wo must take the old work of the best period, learn from it, and then use it in our
own way. It is very possible that wc may have to copy for some years, but when
once wchave settled down to take one particular style as our jimnt de ilipartviK
shall not copy much longer. At present we all seem agreed that the IMh "'utury is
the best to start from ; but we shall never get on until we work solely in tli s one
style and introduce sculpture wherever we possibly can : but I do not very clearly see
how this i.s to be attained when one man builds an Egyptian villa and another some-
thing iu the Arabian style, while another has a predilection for late German Oothic
and its stump tracery, while a fourth goes in for Sli- Christopher Wren and what is
called the City style. „ . . »,
There are very many other charmiBg French photographs— for instance the por-
tals of Chartres and Rheims-but as they are well known and have often been
described, it is hardly worth taking up your time by saying more about them. I
would point out simply No. fil, the paviliou above the staircase of Louis All. at Jilois,
which is historically iutcrestiug as having been the room where the bodies of the
Duke of Guise and his brother tTie Cardinal of Lorraine were burnt after their as-
sassination ; of course the roof did not come over the parapet in former times. The
ether staircase at Wois, which Francis I. built, is equally worthy of notice, and
although it has txjen in a great measure restored, it has been well restored, which
is saying a good deal in these days. ....
The last part of my subject relates to the photographs illustratmg the architecture
of our own country. Of these there is a very large show, although, as a general rule,
the sizes are not so large as those of the French. As I before said, the Lnglisli pho-
tographs are very numerous, and I will therefore go through them as they are
numbered and not chronologically.
Mr. Barnes and Mr. Nichols lead off with photographs of that wonderfully over-
praised building , King's College, Cambridge.'which can hardly be placed before the
architect as an example to be studied. The Iglass is good of ita.kmd, so are the,
iienaissance west stalls and screen, while the root is a pretty puzzle iu stone-cutting
all the rest of the building is, however, positively bad. as far 1 can judge. Mr. Dela-
motte illustrates the charming Chapofof St. Joseph at Glastonbury, Tewkesbury
Abbey.Shiffnal Church, .Shropshire, and Winchester Cathedral, while Mr. Annan gives
the antiquities of lona, including the very beautiful crosses. These latter one would
certainly like to have seen photographed to a much larger scale.
Mr. Fenton contributes no less than 17 views of Furncss Abbey, but even these
are open to the objection of not being to a sufficiently large scale for architectural
purposes ; he also presents us with five views of Southwell iSIinster. No. 224 is Hare-
wood house, another illustration, if it were wanted, of how very unfitted Italian archi-
tecture is for our climate. Here yon ascend to the front door by a long double flight
of steps, so that if a shower of rain came on you must either get wetted in going up
the said steps or sneak in through the kitchen offices on the ground-floor.
Mr. Bedford next presents us with a choice of 41 subjects of the most varied de-
scription. He begins witli the west end of SaUsbury Cathedral which still retains
some few of its figures. The best subject is part of the excavations of Wroxeter,
showing the hypocaust which the country people were allowed to remove, and which
has since been put togetlier as best may be. Bristol Cathedral follows and is prin-
cipally noticeable for 2.33 and S3.3: 232 is a photograph of sundry tracery panel-heads,
»nd 233 shows sundry misereres with carved subjects of the most curious descrip-
tion. No. 1 is a man lighting two animals who are armed with shields— he is evi-
dently the Van Amburgh of his day. No. 2 is a mock tournament between a man
seated on a hog and a woman on a cock. These mock tournaments would appear
to have taken place occasionally : witness the Tottenham tournament in the Percy
ball.ads. Another represents Samson and the lion, a very comraon;subject: Samson
wears the jawbone of the ass in his girdle as he would a dagger. Adam and Eve
occur in the last.
Now these two photographs just show the relative interest of masons' work and
sculpture— the tracery panels we pass over at a rglanoc, the carved misereres arrest
our rattcntion until we have mastered the subjects.
2.34 is the tower of St. Mary Eedclifl'e ; it certainly looks in a very decayed state
and yet one is half unwilling to see it restored— could not one of the indurating pro-
cesses be tried here with advantage ? The tower could then be restored if the process
should fail. 2:15 is the beautiful north porch, lately restored by my talented and
amiable confrere, Mr. Godwin. I would only venture to suggest to that gentleman
that he should not allow the citizens of Bristol to stop short in their work, but that
he should insist upon their allowing him to put up the statues which are so necessary
for the due^effect of this piece of architecture ; at all events, he might perhaps persuade
thein to piit one or two up to try, and then the rest would follow.
The Committee' of the Architectural Photographic Association have not only
supplied their subscribers with photographs of examples of what to study, but have
also kindly furnished them with what to avoid. Thus fourteen subjects are taken from
the details of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, and present us with the usual Kococo
ornament and sprawling cupids of the period. In one will be seen two acrobatic
Individuals of this genus who have no place to rest their legs on; two other cupids have
therefore kindly glued their heads to the back-ground for this purpose— where their
bodies are it is impossible to say, but it is evident that they have left them behind.
Let us hope that tiiey may find them again and'that neither may take the wrong one.
No. 240 is principally remarkable for a most eccentric mitre which forms a sort of
flnial. The iron-work is, however, very good of its kind, and one door is almost
Medieval in treatment. The restoration or rather decoration of St. Pauls is now oc-
cupying ratlier a prominent place in ecclesiologica! circles, but I think it will puzzle
even the very clever architect who has charge of it to make a good job of his work,
Some of the architecture. 8u?h as the side arches under the dome, is very bad, and
the dropping of the apse windows below those of the clerestory is another fatal
mistake. As it is, I am not quite sure but that the best thing would be to chisel off
all the projections, mouldings, foliage, Ac, everything, in fact, from the interior,
and then to cover it all over with painting or, better still, mosaic on a gold ground,
like St. Mark's, at Venice, the piers and walls below the windows being plated with
precious marbles.
The exterior might be refaced with new ashlar, and the upper story taken down so
as to show the flying buttresses, while the sham lead dome being destroyed the brick
cone would be decorated like the dome at Chiaravalle, near Milan, which Mr. Fer-
gusson, witli great reason. I think, supposes to have been the type of the original
design for the dome at Florence. I am afraid, however, that both these
suggestions are rather too sweeping ever to be carried out, at all events in the present
age, and that Mr. I'cnrose will have a much more difhoult task, having to deal with
the present architecture, and still worse with very slender meansofcarryingout his
ideas. However, for a wonder, the right man in tliia case is in the right place, and I
for one wish him God speed .and every success.
I should not omit to mention that the committee very mercifully tell us in the
catalogue that the St. Paul's series will not he offered again to the subscribers.
But to continue, Mr. Bedford in No. 2.51 gives us the best west front we have in
England, viz.,tthat of Wells; the doorway is certainly too small, but putting that aside,
1 do not know anything more glorious than this facade, at all events that part of it
which is original, but what would it be without the sculpture ? No. 253, the north
porch, is a most beautiful piece of pure architecture, being different columns, variously
grouped, and supporting arcades. If we look at 202, the west doorways of Exeter,
we shall see how much less architectural the sculpture had become. The architec-
ture, by the way, is not much better, as it is a mere screen tacked on to the building,
whereas at Wells all is homogeneous. 2fi6 shows the minstrels' gallery, where the
figures are very bad and the crockets, pinnacles, and tracery very rampant and
overpowering.
I must very slightly allude to the views of Ely Cathedral, and of the New Museum'
at Oxford, by Messrs. Dolamore and Bullock. The latter edifice is particularly inte-
resting, from the details of the foliage, where natural types have been most success-
fully introduced. These are excellent for a museum, where the originals are kept
dried, and are the subjects of lectures, but I confess I should like to see aomctliliig
more conventional In a church.
Captain Uustin gives us a very valuable series of views from the beat of all cor
cathedrals, viz., Canterbury, In fact there is hardly any part of this Cathedral which
migltt not be studied with a<lvantRge, always, of course, excepting the Perpen-
dicular parts. 31r. Thompson likewise has several photographs of the same cathearal,
so that Canterbury would appear to be well Illustrated.
Time will not allow me to do more than simply name the views of Glasgow
Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, Beaulieu Abbey, Exeter, r'arlisle, and HolyrooiL I
wouUI, however, suggest to the illustrators of English architecture and sculpture the
expediency of doing them very much larger, so that they may be more osefiil to study
from ; as it is they form capital illustrations of the bmldlnga for the amateur, but
they are not large enough for the architect. I hope next year we may see more of
our English sculpture from Wells, Salisbury, ana Lincoln, as largely lUastrated as
the French examples are. It will all help on the good tlmCf and although that good
time will not be in our day, we ought and must do onr beat to tonrard Ft.
ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
AN ordinary general meeting of this body was held at the rooms, 9, Conduit-Street,
Regent-street, on Monday; Georue Godwin, Esq., V.P., in the chair.
Mr. T. Hayter Lewis, honorary secretary, read the minutes of proceedings at the
last meeting, which were approved of and confirmed.
Saracenic Architecture.— VrofeAoor Donaldson then read a paper by Sir Gardner
Wilkinson, and regretted that his friend Sir Gardner was unable to be present him-
self to read the admirable production. The title given to the paper in the agenda was,
" On Saracenic Architecture," but the proper title was "The Saracenic style distinct
from the Byzantine style." The learned Professor then read the following paper : —
THE SARACENIC STYLE DISTINCT FROM. THE BYZANTINE.
The various styles of architecture have their history, and their rbe and progress
are as necessary an inquiry, in studying their development, as are their peculiarities
of character when arrived at full maturity. They are sometimes treated as if each
were a distinct creation of its inventors, mdependent of any elements derived from
an earUer source ; and we hear of the origin of the several styles as if they had been
autochthonous in their respective countries, and the offspring of the native mind un-
aided by any foreign or adventitious influences. But few— I might, perhaps, say
none— of the various styles of architecture so originated ; for I do not includo under
that head the primitive efforts of man, when in an untutored and barbarous state ;
and though man at first supplies his wants by the humble dwelling required as a
shelter, and erects some religious emblem or sacred enclosure to his God, no sooner
is he sufficiently advanced to give to his building an architectural character than he
is open to receive impressions from more civilised people with whom he comes in
contact. No architecture, therefore, reaches its full development without being in-
debted to one or more older styles. It is true, each has its distinguishing types,
which give to it a particular character ; but much is always superadded to its original
elements ; and even the Egyptian, though apparently so very distinct and peculiar,
is not an exception to this general rule.
It is sometimes difficult, iu tracing the progress of Egyptian architecture, to ascer-
tain how mucl- was added to it from other styles, since no monuments older than, or
even as old as, those of Egypt remain ; but it is evident that foreign elements were
admitted into it, and many details introduced at various periods are found not to bear
the stamp of native origin. In the sacred ediflces, however, the character of the
architecture was essentially Egyptian, though it varied much at different periods,
particularly between the 1th and 19th dynasties ; and it is in the highly decorated
tombs that a new style ot architecture and of ornament is most discernible. These
tombs admitted of great variety, and thus the semicircular or round arch, unknown
in the temple,* was there introduced, constructed of brick or of stone, or represented
in the hewn rock. Indeed, we even find the form of the pointed arch there used in
this imitative and conventiDuai manner.
Both these arches were invented in a country where the problem of covering large
spaces with bricks had to be solved ; and the two brickmaking districts where they
were first employed were unquestionably Egypt and Assyria : and though, from our
knowledge that the round arclit was commonly used in Egypt as early as 1500 B.C.,
and probably more than .500 years before that period in the brick pyramids of
Memphis, we may conclude that it was an Egyi)tian invention. Still I believe the
pointed arch to have been invented in Assyria, and to have been imitated from that
country in a hypogeim at Thebes, which dates about 14('iO. For there is no evidence
of the existence of a constructed pointed arch iu the valley of the Nile, until long
after its round or semicircular companion had been commonly used ; and the oldest
pointed arch now known there forms the roof of one of the chapels or sanctuaries
attached to a pyramid at Gebel Berkel, the site of Napata, the old capital of Ethiopia,
which, though built by a native architect, appears to date during the early part of
the Roman empu-e. It is constructed with the keystone, and the blocks are arranged
lengthwise, as were the bricks in the oldest round arches. J
I must not, however, allow myself to deviate from my principal object; and I only
mention these facts connected with the architecture of that most conservative people,
the Egyptians, to show how even they borrowed from a predecessor, or from a con-
temporary ; as did the Greeks, in their architecture, their vases, and many of their
decorative designs; and as the Etruscans and Romans borrowed from the Greeks.
It is in the latter periods, when the Romanesque, the Byzantine, the Lombard, the
Saracenic, and others, formed themselves out of the elements of those which pre-
ceded them, that I wish more particularly to notice the gradual production of new
styles of architecture ; and of these I shall content myself with the Saracenic, wmcn 1
am induced to do by having (not, indeed, without surprise) heard it stated that tnere
is no Saracenic style, and that it is merely Byzantine. , ^, . . „ , »
That the Saracenic borrowed from the Byzautiue is perfectly true, and tnis. as i
have already observed, is quite in accordance with the history of other styles, but
though any one of them may be originally derived from a predecessor, it is not on
that account precluded from assuming a new and independent character when It
has remodelled and adopted those elements it found suitable to its requirements, and
has made them its own, and in all cases it may be safely predicated that «»«« "f «^
style is derived from more than one parent. The architecture and arlistic ornament
of ancient Greece are sufficiently decided in ibcit<^\iiincter.>mdy<:ti{^mwento
claim from them all they derived from others, we should deprive them of rnany most
essential features, and should prove that we had not observed how this very habit of
adoption and adaptation was one of the merit, of the Greeks. They perceived the
beautiful wherever It presented itself, and they scrupled not to borrow even from the
so-called " Barbarian," who in early times was "smuch more advanced in taste than
the Greeks, as the Saracens were than the Crusaders who aflected to despise thenj;
and it is this very habit of adoption and adaptation which we should do well to
practise at the present day in preference to the too frequent effort; to mtroduce some
. I* Except one or two solitary instances of Roman time,ta out-of-the-way places,
*Ylt is TOmmon in the brick tombs at Thebes. The oldest stone arches yet dis-
covered are of the time of I'sammetichus, about tiSO B.C. i, n„ lojo l>..f
J It had been unfortunately pulled down before I visited Gebel Berkel inl|49; but
a drawing of it was made by the Duke of Northnmberland and V.^°^™„,^ rL'»°
which I " ' ----». T „
stone,
arches there ana ai jTxeiuv. ii mt oi.u..v.^ ..-.^ ..,,- ,«w .„ .- -—; — ------ ^ „„j«*,,j
joints, they could not be placed together as they are, lengthwise, to f<>™ a poinlid
arch, unless the arch had a keystone: and the necessity for this meinber is clearly
shown in the early pointed arches of Christian time in Egypt, which are constructed
on the same principle, with the bricks placed lengthwise.
awing of it was made by the Duke of Northnmberiand and General J-eiix, o
^h I am happy to be able to give a copy. Mr. Hoskins gives it ''vithout a key
e, as does CaiUand, but all agree that it was pointed, and not round like the othei
es there and at Meroe. If the stones were not cut to a considerable angle at tn(
other
the
254
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 22, 1861.
novelty, twm « luve of variety, or of notoriety, or the mistaken notion of invention
in »rt, , , , f -rchitecture beeause it Iwrrowed from another,
Todenytheexisten<^ofa.tvleof «rem^^^^^ might we deny the existence
i.toisnior^.'lH-^efy h;ft«7»f r^^^^ owed its first ideas to the Byzantine
ofthe lt«l'«n^hool of paintng ixiaus Florentine, Sienese, and llsan
2^- a""ciSrGiwo,'a^dV.rnto,«ith many others, derived their earliest
le«o».'lVom those of ton^^ arehitectnrc commeneed. how it advaneed. and
Any one « ho l,i o« s ""w . a ^^ ^^^^ through the usual phases
of »"n»f»™f'Xt ?t"dV wed by a verv reasonable transition from its first eond ition
d«ei.sors ;»nf'h»'„"^„a] dependent state. But though the Saracenic was beholden
of pupilage to J ^^"^""r of nroireuitors, perhaps in a greater degree than any other
5^V„pila^> to a n.nv an^ .n«epen^en. s ..^^^^
forlto origin <°«""^^;^es it wa^ actual^ not Indebted to Byzantine influences, .-
t'hJ u.«l ™tio""t the Ti^^e when its first germs were developed. It sometimes merely
borrowed <^f'»''' °';"f^"^"\'|'sl''cSnmlest9, when the Arabs advanced into Syria, and
^'•.'ifl^tllS^scu ta the ™mme?TfSlA.D., neither their wants nor their taste
£!5 Jll^ied JSthe e^?tion of buildings dignirted by beauty of design -, and the practice
bad asp'red '" '"^ '^'Ti.S "ntnown to Them They were only acquainted with a very
°L'^''"'^f,rmTboi dS^ iS^ieir 0^ eountry. and for some time after they had
P'^'^r'i'i XemselvCT^" Syria and°in Egypt they employed Christian architects
*'',f^lre^o th?rseWes sufflSt'racqnaiT^Jd with the arts of construction toerect
and were n'''.'Sf"^'^"f. the cariy Christians adopted the basilica, or in some cases
fh.?I Sn wnp?°ihe Moslems sometimes adopted^the Christian ehureli or borrowed
!5i..TmmtKpaVan predecessors; and in many instances the churches of a
Ideas from '"i^'J. ^ "6'?,';i„„ teen relieved of the distinguishing emblems of
conquered P™J'°'f/.f*""g„^JL™,e5o the unadorned services of Islam. Indeed
Chrfstianity, werereadily a^propria ed^ Christians half a church as a
they were sowe*'"^' ,he wat ehurc of St. .7ohn the Baptist, at Damascus, con-
pUee of worsh p, ""^ **'.^.ST^,"' of the two religions from the capture of that city, in
J^"f D S^the rK o'^^^.Z Ommiade Vahph VeleM, AD. 706 ; and though said to
034 A.U., totne r'V" ,'""- ._^ r<..,i«ee.i hv the nresent mosque, and to have received
Webeenthen puUed dov™ a^d ng aeed^^^^ <>»»'»» ^PP"^'''' 9""»'»''i-
the n»™'=,,of jf '*X- wli m"reW iltered by him ; and the decay of the whitewash
founder, it 7'*4°">!I!fo?'of * fie walls supporting the great dome, with which the
and stucco on the exterior oj^tnew^^^ ^^^ ^^^5^
scruples ol the *^'l„/i^ h.'re and there the original ornamentation of a Christian
§"mr5"^«V'?™m th'^e a^pearan^ rf this^ec^ building, it is evident that
?iJS w,^f .We its TCdimenVwas heightened at the time when tlie dome was super-
the roof »'»^^,"\P! ,?,, ihc side and end wails, including the pediments, are of
Imposed noon «• »"f »hU ^°« ™ «"ceh-e how lineli has been introduced by the
«„'S'-.^'°.rch«ec?s i^nThe once eoStinuous line of the roof bet»-^en the two pedi-
™n^.K Mr Porter iSo states that on its inner walls and piers this part was coated
"..h.S,««n„;t marbles in beautiful patterns : while on portions ofthe wall above,
with '»>^, «"f„l* J^^Tthe dom7inay be seen fragments of fine mosaic, representing
SfmTr^s akdpXes TbeK isTsoa Greek inscription of Christian ,mie,of which
■K^iv^i TOP? 'and which, with the mosaic and its general plan, sufflciently csta
bhshes ?he dat'fif the building. The dome, according to Mr. I'orter, is nearly SOfee
'%tc'?ew 'mosqu?^e"eJlTalutS^^^^^ by the Arabs in Syria were m,arked by
1 he lew "■V^l,"'"' „f J^yVhristian Btvle and certan Byzantine features continued
f \"^»»Xd'to them in t\« eo^^^^^^^ ehiefly confined to the cupola
to be «"»<-'»'^*°'^em in tnat country ,^^ building acquired that variety
SJeXewhch'^rouT their extended couoicsts, was speedily introduced into
orreature wnicii.Tiiruu " LUC j,,„_. ijarbary, and other countries, the same
the "«h'V=j'"^ »( t^'litmcnts d'd noZInd a placef even in the eariiest mosques, and
?,,T^:;^wSs ent wUh what m^^^^^ expected, since their style was at first
Zt ofcacVcouXy wtoetee^^^ to be erected, and we are not therefore
.^.rnrisedtofindRt in those of the oldest time the dome IS wanting m Egypt and
surpnsea to nna inai lu iiiuo ehapaeterlstics of Bvzant ne architecture are rarely
n Barbary : ?"'l'^e principal characteristics o ' v ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^
If ever, to ^e traced there. J^»'}^«^5^^'"„"e, and tombs of Cairo, and the oldest raised
tt1?e'^e^Those"ltkh bore the le?st Affinity to the Byzantine style as I shall pre-
i^nm-YaveoMasiontoshow. Nor do Saracenic mosques present the mostdistm-
sentl) "»" °'^'^''""'; ,;;';"", ,„„*_„ We look in van for that arrangement so
'^'*r^%'^^1t"'offh?unS"ht waU with it row of arches standing o^ver others
peculiar to H-of the "P"?"],,™. g^ well-known in Sta. Sophia at Constanti-
'„PonU?"in s"nVita\eatBavenC(b^^^ time of Justinia";!, A.D. 534). and
rther chSrches; nor Ire the bridge-like galleries or eolumnar screens, so
"SllVlfl^ert^nt^ne^^:^^^^^^
.S?r^^n^'i'bS!&w^
^/^dl^-^D aJthetWrdLlOo" A " of which did the founders
°'su^V'l!?p"?iranoS with their surrounding colonnades bear a nmci. nearer
5!SS^?^thZi;^«iSS£-l^
to have a claim to be the prototype of those Mos em .courts. bvcntntcoM^^^^^
Ctre^-orrheToliriTM^^^^
•Asn^rcfs-rTrern?/ i^e 1^^^^ SLm L¥f
peenlUrities of Byzantine architecture, and the «"Pol'', Of kobWi^ in tlie area ot
Ihe mosque of Ahmed-ebn-Tooloon was not put up "U the reign ot the MeitK
Muns.-«r-He»am-e'deen-I,ag|--en, A.H. 896 in the month of baffer, (answering to
A.D. Vxn-W) as recorded in the Arabic inscription it bears indehtpd to it
One stvle may borrow many features f™™ »"other without beng Indebted to^
for its origin. Hus. the first id<!a of the pointed arch may have come to ^strom
the Saracens, with whom it was in common use at least »» ^"''j »*,f * •^"l • f^
numerous other iKCuliarities of their architecture may ,'?^, o''f '^11" """"a other
Gothic; v.rions Arab characteristics found In eariy buildings of France, ana otner
parts of Europe, being common In those of Cairo and every Arab city ; and the
Sorch built by the (frusaders at Belroot (now converted into a mosqne) has the
pointed arch decorated with the Norman chevron.}
• It wa« found in Herod's temple at Jemsalem, and other buildings, and some-
thlne of the kind occurs in our cloisters. t. ii„„ .nH Vmrlish
t iroW»-AorC-/*'^*a"dome"l.the origin of the Spanish, I^l'^"' >°''. *:"SJi , .
words for cupola icubola) implying a hollow form, like the Arabic kutiai a cup,
hif "the palm of the hand," and the Greek «t,/3r), Kvfoc, Kvfn, i^vvCSXov, KV^<fKfl,
as well as captula. and our own cup anil cap, the Celtic capan (coopan) ic.
1 The chevron Is the commcm moulding throughout the I'alace of Diocletian at
SpUato. It U also found slightly modified In the mosque of Abmed-ebn-Tooioon,
derived of eotine from a similar Koman source.
But neitlier these, nor St. Anthony's church at Padua, with Its minaret-like
steeples and its borrowed character, come under the category of the Saracenic style ;
nor does the introduction of certain peculiarities into any architecture suffice to
confine it to that particular style from wliicli they were derived. The long sojourn
of thcCrusadiTS in the Kast, and tlicirwarsland.occnsioiial alli.inces with the Jloalems
of Syria and Egypt, will readily account for the introduction of a new feature into
European arclilucture, and the pointed arch, a very dominant one in our Gotliic
buildin>'8 came to us from the Arabs ; but the mere introduction of certain forms or
peculiarities does not atfect the style of any arcliitecture and the manner in which
the pointed arcli was adapted by the Gothic builders, its bar- tracery, so different
fVom the pierced or plate tracery of the Saracens, and the constructive purposes to
which It was made subservient m vaulting and in covering large spaces with small
niateriala ••'ave them a claim to originality in its use, and made it a new element in
European "arcliitecture. And here we have another of those very remarkable
instances of the adoption and adaptation of a feature under new conditions which
prove the genius ixnibitcd in its application, and mark the practical talents of those
who develop an idea obtained from a foreign source. , , , „
I cannot here enter into the lengthy question of the pointed arch, and I shall only
notice its use incidentally as it bears on the present subject ; but I may observe that
the Earlv English arch is so distinct in form and treatment from the Norman, that
It could not possibly have arisen out of it, and no modification would lead from the
former to the latter. The two are totally distinct from each otlier, and the notion of
the intersection of two Norman arches having originated it, is opposed to reason as
well as to fact for the pointed part accidentally lying between them is not an
arch it is the mere intersection of lines ; the only arches there are the two round
ones'- and no one would construct an arch on that principle, i. e., with the arrange-
ment of the stones as they there stand in relation to each other. This supposed
pointed arch is no arch at all, and he who would build one in imitation of it would
have a strange notion of the principle of a pointed arch. It has no more claim to
that name than any round arch seen in perspective, or any accidental intersection
of ornamental devices, or the meeting of the boughs of trees, whieli have, indeed,
been put forward as the origin of this arch. Besides, pointed arches had been used
loii"- before the Normans had any intersectingarches, or had even settled in France ;
and^would indeed, be an anachronism to derive them from what was not yet known,
esDceially as tliey were already common elsewhere at the same period.
The marked change from the Norman, Lombard, and other round to the pointed
arch could only have been owing to the sudden adoption of the latter from an
established style, and as we know where it was in general use, and that it was found
by file Crusaders in the East, and adopted by them in the churches they bmlt there
before it came to Europe, wc have no difficulty in determining the source whence it
was derived But though the original idea was borrowed from the Saracens, the
Pointed style in Europe became a distinct architecture, and claims this merit, as the
Saracenic claims to be independent of the Byzantine. In examining this point it la
well to bear in mind that it is not Syria, but ratlier Egypt and some other countries,
where the Bvzantine element was far from dominant, which lay claim to the earhest
development of this new style, and the oldest mosques in Egypt of known date are
totally at variance with the form, as well as the constructive, and other main
features of Byzantine buildings. .„„,_, ~ j ,ijx,».„j
The Conquest of Egypt began in 638 A.D. Babylon, afterwards called Fostat, and
now Old Cairo, was taken by Amrin 639, and Alexandria at the end of 6t0 ; and soon
afterwards the whole of Egypt fell into the hands of the Arabs It was at this
period A D 042, that the two mosques were first founded, which still bear the name
of Gia'ma-t-Amr; one near old Cairo, the otlier at Asoian ; and the tent of Amr,
like those commonly used by the Arabs, of goat's hair, being called J< ostat, gave its
name to the new city which took the place of Egyptian Babylon. . ^ , ,^
The mosque of Amr, therefore, being the first erected by the Arabs in Egypt, or
indeed, in any of the conquered provinces, is of the highest interest in the history or
Saracenic architecture. Nothing, however, appears to exist of the original
structure; and the only part which dates during the first century of the Hegu-a is
probably a portion of the exterior wall on the south-eastern side, • which bears the
impress of a mode of building common at that period. Indeed, the whole edifice
was altered and apparently rebuilt between tlie years 642 and /la AD.; and as at
first it measured only about 75 feet In lengtii by 45 feet in breadth, its plan must have
undergone considerable changes ore it reached its present dimensions.
In the rei-n of Abd-el-Mflek (the son of Merawan I.), great alterations were made
by his brother. Abd-el-Azees. about A.D. 099, and by Weleed in 712-.12 as well as
by the Abbaside Caliphs ; and under Mamoou, the son of Haroon E Rivsheed, its di-
mensions had increased to about 4.35 feet in length by 225 feet in breadth t It wag
also repaired bv Ahmed-ebn-Tooloon, and bv his son ; by El Hakem-le-Omr-Iliah;
by Yoosef-Salah-e'deen (Saladin), and by others. Extensive additions appear also
to liave be made at the beginning of the 1400 A.D., and other repairs date as late as
thetimeofMurad Bey. at the close ofthe last century. .
It has been suppost-d by some that the arches of the interior, which TOrmgfrom
columns and form the hypostyle of the Slelikeh end, are « portion of the ear y
building; but this Is an error, as they are bmlt against an older wall, and aetuaUy
cover part of the old windows (since blocked up), as may be seen by the accompany.
'°5'hevTrc°not even of the date of the Abbaside Caliphs ; and their style at once
priclaL" thereto be about the time of Soltan MoaiuS, A ^J^ 1412-1421-an opinion
confirmed by the' fact of the mosque having been repaired at l;he beginning of that
century. The windows in the wall itself are of mucli earlier time, and others, aJso
of early character, form above them an upper tier ; but the latter are not visible from
the inside, as the roof intervenes between tliem, and it is only from the outside that
they can be seen, together with the whole elevation ofthe wall, which risesconsider-
""^T^irs^'upper tierconslTts of windows, having alternately round (inclining to oval)
and pent-roof heads, and in some are the remains of the stucco which.once held the
• painted glass with which they were filled, probably bv some early restorer of the
building; who raised the roof. This upper tier of windows was then added to the
lower wall, in which, ranged at intcrvala, are the clusters of one large central, ana
two small lateral round arches seen in the interior. , _■» v„„„
The portion of this south-eastern wall, which is at its eastern extremity, bears,
as I have before stated, strong evidence of being the oldest f'=™»;°'°t- Pd't„w«rda
mosque,: and you at once perceive where later repairs have been introduced towards
• IcaU it the south-eastern, though these mosques do not face exactly to the
south-east; and the dh-ection of this end In the mosmies of Ca^ro is more to t_l^e
south than south-east. That of Ebn-Tooloon stands about 20° east of south, or ,0°
'TThf court of the mosque Itself is now about 380 feet bv 3,55 feet, and the length
ofthe whole building is about 550 feet by 355 feet. Macnzi. according to Sir.
Stanley I-oole, states that about 211 A. II. (A. D. 827). the mo8<)ue, witliout the two
additions, measured 190 (architect 's) cubits in lengtii and 1.50 cnbits '"width
J Through the kindness of my friend Mr. Stanley Poole.who has sent me thedctai ed
aciountof this mosque by Macfizi and Aboo-.Saced-el-Hiniyeree I have been enable^^
here to inlroduce a correction of the statement I had made tliat this south-eastern por-
tion belonged to the original structure raised In the tune of Amr lam sUll inclined to
think that the lower part of it dates as early a^»3 A.H (712 A^D.V-lst because
Macrizi speaks of the " niche existing In his day," which had been built by k;""ah.
In the rei-'n of Weleed • and 2nd, because it is evidently the oldest part of the mosque.
UnftruimtelvMaerrzi's account is not suffleiently detailed to fn^hle us o ascertain
the dates of the several parts added and repaired. I particularlv reconimend the
valuable remarks of Mr Stanley Poole to afl who are Interested in Arabian .irchi-
teeture) on which lie wr te^so a^ly, and his authority is of the greatest weight in
all matte?" COTiucted with the history and literature of the Arabs. They arem the
appendix to the last (fifth) edition of Mr. Lane's " Modern Lgyptians.
March 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
2o5
li. aftor some dllapidiUioiis had occurred on this side, Imlf of an arcli bcin^^
'd up bv the more recent brickwork.* There, too, an imitution of the older
the north,
there filled .... ., , - ...
part is sufliciently obvious, and tlie difference In the construction of tlic arches in tlie
two iKjrtiong at once pronounces the later one to be a copy of its older neijjhbour.
Thoy imitate, but thi'y do not perfectly resemble tlie older arches, haviufflhcir jambn
hi^^lier, and their heads (especuiUy those of the pent-roof form) less lofty, or of u
more obtuse an''le ; and a ditference of construction may also be observed in the wall
below. Tliese nicts appear to conlirm the account {;lven by 5Iacrizi of the raauner in_
which the mosque was onlarfjed. They also accord with the modern tradition, and if
the hit tert asserts that it was built Ju imitation of tlie Temple of Mekkeh. This could
only have arisen from the notion that its open court was copied from the enclosure
of that holy place, as neither the tnternal arran«i-ement nor the cubical-shaped sanc-
tuary of tlie kabah were here adopted. But in fact the sacred enclosure ol Mekkeli
and the open court of the Mosque of Amr were both later additions, and the former
was in Omar's time merely surrounded bv a low wall of separation, afterwards
replaced by tlie arcades with cupolas then added round Its hypiethral court, a form of
peristyle said to have been first introduced from Persia, instead of the simple archi-
trave and flat roof of au earlier time, which last was supported on columns made of
the trunks of palm-trees.
The occurrence of round arches alternating- with those of the pent-roof, or
angular head, will readily call to mind the niches in the Tiicatre of Taormina, in
>Sicily, which have a similar appearance and arrangement; they are also of brick,
and of t!ie same character, with a liood over the arch, or layer of bricks intervening-
between those of the archivolt and the superincumbent wall.
Of this altcrnatJou of the round and an»ruliir-headed arch many instances occur in
lioman times of a more ornamented character in the form of pediments, over windows
ornicbcs, in stone, as at Nismes of the time of Augustus, at Uaalbek, in the smaller
temple ; at Diocletian's Baths at Kome, and other buildings ; it Is also seen in the
wall of Constantinople, and in the IJaptistery of Kavenna, built A.D. 451 ; and it has
long been fashionable over the windows of modern European houses. And as it was
employed at so early a period we are not surprised to find it in a building evidently
erected by the Coptic Christians of Egypt.
The style of constructioa in the old portions of the Jama-t-Amr is the same as
that in the neighbouring convent, M-hich still remains within the old Konian station
at Babylon ; and as its brick windows, added by the Christians In the upper part of
the stone wall above its southern gateway, have the same character as those of the
mosque, they at once proclaim the source whence the latterwerederived, and the very
usual and even necessary assistance obtained by the Arab conquerors from nfitive
builders. § One ot its peculiarities consists in the hood placed over the arch already
alluded to ; and as it is found in several early Christian buildings of the time of the
Arabinviision of Egypt, we know ittohavebeen commonly adopted thereeven before
this mosque was erected ; and the same style of construction appears in the small
pointed arches built by the Christians in the same century. It also occurs (some-
what stilted) over the windows of the lied Convent, near Soohag, in upper Egypt— a
building supposed to be of early Christian time, though completed much after its
pretended date, the reigaof Constantino. This hooded pointed arch coutiuufd in use
a .long time afterwards ; and it not only appears in the south-west front of this
mosque, wiiich is probably of a rather later date than the above mentioned portiDn
at the south-eastern side, but is found in Arab buildings, (as at Asouan) over stilted
arches of about 1070 A.D.,and at other later periods.
The south-western front of this mosque is remarkable for another feature which
soon became so marked in Saracenic architecture— the pointed arch. It here alter-
nates with the round one in the lower, as that with the pent or angular head does
with the round arch in the upper tier ; and though the pointed arch had been occa-
sionally used of very limited dimensions, as already stated, before the Arab conquest
^A.D. ()38). this was probably one of the earliest instances of its regular employment
m the walls of any large building. It may have been introduced on some few occa-
sions, as in Assyria, and at the l*yramids of Napata, and in subordinate positions to
cover passages and spaces of limited span, at a much more remote period, but its
first development was unquestionably due to the Arabs ; and in little more than 200
years after their first conquests, it became an established feature of Saracenic archi-
tectures
In the earliest periods of their history the Arabs were satisfied with imitations, or
modifications of the buildings of each district where they settled, and this explains
the diversity that exists in tlie character of those raised by them, and by the native
architects they employed in different countries, while it accounts for the subsequent
combination of various elements in their architecture when they became sufficiently
advanced to form a new and independent style. For we must recollect that the
Moslems, from the time they conquered Syria. Egypt, Western Africa, Persia, India,
and other countries, about 80 years after the death of Mohammed, had added whole
populations to their ranks, they had long ceased to be merely rude invaders from
Arabia; and their converts, long practised in the arts and architecture of their
respective provinces, brought with them the knowledge possessed by the Byzantine
Greeks, tlie Copts, tlie Persians, the Indians, and others who had joined their ranks.
No wonder, then, that with such varied contributions to the common stock the new
architecture was marked by the remodelled types of so many different styles. The
Kyzi'.ntlne (t reeks gave it many of its earliest ornamental devices and other features ;
the Copts, more in favor in J'^gypt than the Greeks their religious and political rivals,
were constantly emploved in that country by the Moslems as builders; Persia, as
history and the infallible evidence of style proclaim, :i had the greatest influence on
the character of its oldest buildings ; an{l we know that architects from that country
had long before been employed by Justinian at Constantinople.
India, too, furnished numerous marked features, among wnich maybe noticed the
minaret, tlie mehrab or n icbe of prayer, the bracket, and other peculiarities of its monu-
ments ; and many instances might be adduced of the spread of the prevailing charac-
teristics of diflVrent styles throughout the most distant countries conquered by tiie
Arabs. Some were less readily adopted in certain districts, owing to previous predi-
lections, or to the natureof the climate. In one place covered buildings were a necessity
—in another they were not required; and thus, while previous habit suggested the
adoption of the dome in Syria and some northern countries, the Egyptian Moslems
did not admit it till a later time, and then only as an adventitious feature gradually
welcomed by them, through the influence of*^ the Kurd, Turkman, and Circassian
Soltans, ? who succeeded to the throne of Egypt after the dissolution of the
* The oldest appears to be— 1st, the lower part of this wall; L>nd, the portion
above with the small windows ; and, ;Jrd, the restoration, which may be coeval with
the south-western side.
t It is not an idea of Europeans, but of some of the Cairenes themselves, and
though erroneous, it is only right to attribute it to its real authors. Indeed, it is
obvious that the Moslems rather than Europeans would be desirous of supposing
ont; of these mosques to resemble that of Mekkeh.
I It is in the convent over this gateway that the curious inscription on wood, of
till- time of Diocletian, occurs, over a doorway once leading into the church.
§ I cannot subscribe to the opinion that the pointed arches of the mosque of
El Akyjih, at Jerusalem, are of the f-ixty-uinth year of the Hegira, A.D. (iS'j, or that
that building is in the condition in which it was when built by Abdel Mt-lek. The
walls and the columns with their capitals arc probably of Christian time, but the
arches of the churcli (I do not speak of the vaults) are neither of Christian, nor of
the earliest ^loslcm time.
II For proofs of tliis I refer to Mr. Fcrgusson's admirable work, the "Handbook of
Architecture."
F The mosque of Soltan B^rkook has. by some oversight, been attributed by
M. Coste to year 1149 A.D., and to Ct'^7 A.U. answering to 1130 A.D. It should have
been i:j.s2-i;j'.f»j A. D., which 240 or 250 years in the history of architecture make a
material difference. Soltan Berkook was the first of the Borgite or Circassian
Memlook kings, who reigrned from 1182 A.D. to the conquest of Egypt by the Turks,
Fatemite Caliphate in 1171 A.D. For the oldest mosqae* In C»Jn) of 87» and lOai, aa
we have already seen, have no dome or other distniffufsblng feature of Byzantine
architecture; and the small one in the court, coveriug the font for ablutiom*, is of
later time. They consist, as I have bt^fore stated, of the hypaithral court surrounded
by colonnades, with a minaret on one side or at two or more of the corners; and the
Iiypostylar portion at the upper, or prayer, end, was covered by the same kind of flat
root as the corridors of the court.
Of the architecture of the Abbaside Caliphs we know little, thongh the distin-
guished leaders of that dynasty were great encouragers of architecture as <if all the
sciences and arts ; and the only building now remaining of that period in Egypt is
the Mekeeas, or Kilometer, in the Isle of Uoda. which, founded by the Caliph
Mamoon. was rebuilt by El Motawukkel-al-Allah-Gafer, tht- tenth prince of that
dynasty, A.D. 802; and the peculiar characU^r of its Cuftc Inscriptious prove it to bo
ot that age. M. Coste thinks they are of IW A.U. (814 A.U.). and of 233 A.II. (>«8
A.D.), but they are. at all events, not later than the timo of El Motawukkel, or
802 A.D. ♦
Its arches rest on engaged columns In a manner wlilch recalls those of oar
Aorman time, and the capitals have a simple character approaclifng to the Roman-
esque, without any abacus or impost, but with a heavy, unornamented base.
In the summer of 18:J2 I obtained permission from Mohammed Ali to remove the
upper steps of the staircase, wliich covered the end of the Cufic inscription, In the
hope of finding the date ; but though ray search was fruitless, I have no doubt, from
the simple style of the Cufic, that it is of the Calipli Motawukkel. and the fact of the
pointed arch having been in general use at that period, is fully confirmed by the
mosque of Ahmed-Ebn-Tooloon (afterwards enclosed within the walls of Cairo),
which has that feature throughout, and was erected in K79 A.D., as recorded by
history, and by the inscription still remaining there which contains the date 265 of
tlie Hegira.t
There is another mosque in Cairo of great antiquity, the Azhar, founded by 06her-
el-Kaiid, the General of El Moez, the first Fatemite Caliph of Egypt, A.D. U72 ; but
of the original building, which was very small, no part remains except tlie niche,
which stands in the middle of the Great Colonnade. The western part, with the
minaret, is of E' Niiser Mohammed, A.U. 730 (A.D. 1330). Kaedbay added to it about
1470 A.D. ; and it was completed by Abd-el-Kahman Kehla, m 170'» A.D. who at the
same time enlarged the small but liighly-venerated mosque of El Hassanin. Bat
another remarkable edifice of the Fatemite Caliphs, founded by the second successor
of EI Moez, still remains in its original state ; and this mosque of 8olta.a-el-IIakcm-
bc-Amr-lIlah presents throughout the same kind of pointed arches on soUd piers,
with engaged columns, as that of Ehn-Tooloon. and, like it, is built of brick. J The
span of the arches is 10 feet 0 inches; those of Ebn-Tooloon 14 feet 6 Inches, and they
have both a slight spur, so well known in the round horse-shoe arch, which last form
of arch, though little used at Cairo, occurs at the Toolooneeh, in a wall introduced at
a somewhat later time between the mosque and its whimsical spiral minaret.
The pointed arch being the one in ordinary use at this period, it is found, as might
be expected, in the palace of the well-known Eiyoobite Caliph Yoosef-Salah-E'-Deen
(Saladin), adjoining the modern Cadiz Court, at Cairo, springing from solid piers. It
dates about 1180 A. D. ; for though this was a portion of one of the Kasriy n or " two
palacea,'' erected by Goher, the founder of Cairo (A.D. 970), it was probably an
addition of the Eiyoobite Caliph, who lived there at the time he added to Cairo its
citadel, and replaced with stone the brick walls of its former circuit ! The site of one
of the two paLtces is now occupied in part by the Cadi's Court ; and the spot where
they stood is still recorded by the name Bayn-el-Kasrayn (" between the two
palaces "), applied to the space which intervened between them. Tlie same kind of
arch continued to be used in the public buildings of Cairo throughout the reigns of
the Eiyoobite and the Memlook Soltans to the conquest of the country by the Turks
in 1517. But while this was bo marked a characteristic in the mosques of Egypt,
together with the hypjethral court, the dome did not become a prevailing feature
there till after the accession of the Eiyoobite or Curd, the Baharitc or Turk, and
other dynasties, and it was then made subser\-ient to the style already established,
being derived from a cognate branch which had developed itself in Syria and other
countries. It was thus, too; that the minaret had been adopted by the Moslems from
India; and though the bracket may have been introduced from the same country,
there is sufficient evidence of its having been aljto copied, as by the Moors, from
Koman buildings; and arches bracketed, or resting on projecting imposts, may Iw
seen in a Roman Kuin at Udine, near Tunis. Indeed, the custom of using ancones
or consoles is of very early date and of Greek time; and columns, as well as other
members, are supported upon them in many Koman buildings, as in Biocletian's
palace at Spalato, and elsewhere. They answer the purpose of our corbels, derived
also from Koman architecture. At Diocletian's palace, too, the arches spring from
single columns, without any intervening member between them and the capitals.
If the minaret came from India, it was speedily improved by the Arabs; and
nowhere does it possess the same beauty of proportion and elegance of form as in,
the mosques of Cairo, particularly those built in the time of the Circassian Memlook
Kings, as of El Berkook, i:J82-13i«J A.D. ; of El Kaiidbay (or Kaitbey), 14(;s-14iW;
and many of the preceding dynasty, as of Saleh Eyoob, 1249 A.D. ; of Baybers,
1270 A.D. ; of Kalaoon, 1285 A.D,; of Naser Mohammed, 1209 A.D. ; and of EI
Ashraf-Eenal, 1453 ; and of the Emeer Kcbeer. They ofl'er a pleasing contrast to
those of the neighbouring Syria; and at Damascus every one admires the minarets
introduced there during the rule of the Egyptian soltaus. The difference of type
displayed by the minaret in severaUcountries is, perhaps, more striking than that of
any other member of an Arab edifice; and nothing can be more dissimilar than those
of Cairo, or of India, and the tower-like Ghiralda, at Seville, whose type is socommon
throughout the Barbary states, and which differs so widely from another minaret
common at Tunis, as well as in Syria and some other countries.
I would gladly enter into the merits of these also, but I should extend this paper
beyond its proper limits. If. however, I omit all mention of the extinguisher form
of the Turkish minaret, or the gfrand mosques of Constantinople, imitated so de-
cidedly from St. Sophia, I feel less regret, as their architecture does not properly
come under the head of Saracenic, and is foreign to my inquiry. ^ *. *t.
I have noticed the general use of the pointed arch in Effvpt at the latter end of the
ninth and beginning of the following century. It is said to have been employed at
the same periods in other countries of Islam ; and in India an instance is said to
have been found of the time of ilahmood of Ghiizni, who reigned from 997 to
At kairawan. in the modern Regency of Tunis, the old capital of the Fowatem or
Fatemites, the founders of Musr-el- Kiihirah or Ciuro, the pointed arch is thought to
date at a very early period, and one which I was shown at Kairawan, In a budding
covering a well, is reputed to be coeval with the Sahaba or ceinpanions of the
I'rophet. I need scarcely say that this is more than improbable. %A e cannot believe
it to be of the age of Moiiwiah. in whose reign the city and the great mosque were
founded by Ogba (Okba). A.D. 070, according to Leo Africanus; and though the
simple corbelling of the dome, in the upper part of the bu Udiug, give.s it an early
appearance, it does not seem to date as eariy as Ibrahim-Ebn-Agleb (Akleb), who
established the new dynasty of the Aglebites in Africa, A.D. 800, and who added so
under Soltan Seleem, in 1517; and by those kings the ^ombs were built m^^^^^
walls of Cairo which have erroneously been styled tne tombs of the Cuhphs. The
Calinhs were buried where the Khan Khaleel now stands in the city. ^ ^ j..
* I am glad to find from Sir. Stanley Poole that this opinion is confirmed by the
valuable authority of Mr. Lane. . r. ■-.. ™»,«u ♦i.«„rr>, ^n
+ The position of this work may be seen from my map of Cairo, which, though en
finished may serve to show. the locality of the principal works, and the original, as
well a^ present extent of the city, aftt-^r the Kahi-t-el-Kebsh, or Kuttaeca. in which
the Toolooneeh stands, was enclosed with its preemcts. u -,* i « r««t
t Mr. Stanley Poole states that the mosque of Ebn-Tooloon was built by a Copt
Christian.
256
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 22, 1861.
maeh to the city that he w-ag considered its second founder. He was the same who
built the soborb called ttasheed ; and the port of Malideeh was founded by El
Hkhdee, the first of the Fatemite Kinsrs of Africa, about A.D. 910 ; and if I mention
the«e two places, it is because future travellers in that part of the country may have
opportunities of making inquiries there, which I was unable to do, being obliged to
return to Tunis in time for the departure of II. SI. ship Beaton, in which my lamented
fi-ieud, I'antaiu Graves, had kindly dven me a passage from Malta. Unfortunately
the ditficulty of examinins any buildinp- at Kairawiin and the neishbonrhood has till
lately been very great, owijig to the prejudices of the Moslems, who look upon it as
a holy ciiv, and are everywhere in Barbary averse to European intrusion ; and when
I went there in l>iJ only two other Christian travellers had been permitted to lodge
within its precincts. I was. however, enabled to make man- more observations than
1 had expected, owing to my speaking Arabic, to my travelling in the Eastern dress,
and to tlie opportunity I had of meeting and overcoming the objections of the people,
which last happened in this manner : On leaving the Governor's house I was warned
to Ik' very prudent, and not to excite attention by attempting to draw or write while
any one was in sight, particularly while going near the mosques. I took care, there-
fore, whenever I ventured to make any memoranda, to do so under the cover of my
capacious bornoos ; and I had succeeded in avoiding all suspicion, till, on coming
opposite the eastern gateway of the Great Mosque, I stopped to examine its pointed
arch. Thinkmg that no one was within sight, I proceeded to make a hasty sketch of
it, when some of tlie faithful, whom I had not perceived within the {jateway, came
forth iu great anger to inquire into my most suspicious proceedings. It was too late
to stop and'afl'ect mnocence— my offence was too evident ; therefore, without waiting
for the outburst of their indignation, I advanced to meet them, and, after tlie usual
salutations, told them I had come from Cairo, where the learned declared that the
Egyptians had invented the pointed arch, but that as the Fowatem princes went
from Kairawiin to Jlnsr-cl-Kahirah (Cairo), and used the pointed arcli at that time
in their buildings, there was a possibility of its having been employed long before at
Kairawan, and I was therefore anxious to know if they could produce any proofs of
a prior claim. This so disarmed their prejudices that, with a view of maintaining
the claims of their city, they took me to every pointed arch in the place, except, of
course, in the interior of the mosqneB j and though disappointed in my hopes of
meeting with some of great or well-defined authority, I was enabled to see the one
already mentioned, and to copy the Cuflc inscription at the city gate, as well as to
make other observations and even hasty sketches of the buildings themselves.
The Great Mosque is rectangular, surrotmded by a high wall, with numerous pro-
jecting buttresses and towers, at intervals ; 174 faces north and south, by 101 east and
west, having had originally eight entrances, four on the east and four on the west
Bide, some of which are now closed, and over each gateway is a cupola. The interior
I beIieve_ito consist of the usual hypjethral court, surrounded by colonnades, with a
deep hypostylar hall at the south, or Mekkeh end. There is nothing on the out-
side which has an appearance of great age ; and, from what I could learn, it has been
often repaired ana probably remodelled at various times, though they pretend that
it ;was always restored in exact imitation of the earlier work. The principal
minaret, which is c^cd Soma, stands on the north side, towards the north-east
comer. It is a square tower, consisting of three tiers or stories, capped by a small
dome or cupola, and is said to be the oldest part. It has round-headed arches, but
one over the door on its western side, has a slight inchuation to the pointed form.
Over the eastern and western doors of the mosque the arches are pointed ; but these
are probably of no very early time, though the corbelling ofthe cupolas is very simple.
They are not very unlike in this respect to the cuboletta at Palermo, and St. Giovanni
degli Eremiti, built about 1132 ; and in one place under the side arches, before the
eastern gate, is an Arabic inscription. The round horse-shoe arch generally pre-
vails throughout the exterior of the mosque, and though some are of an oval form
nearly [resembling the pointed, few are decidedly of that character except those
before;mentioned. In the centre of the court is a lofty dome, visible above the walls,
similar to, though higher than those in the mosques of Cairo, where ablutions are
performed before prayers. I afterwards visited another mosque with three arches in
front, which are round, inclining slightly to the pointed form, and with a certain
appearance of age, but which is contradicted by the date of the Cufic inscription above
them, showing that they were erected A.H. 840, A.D. 1443.
Two Cufic inscriptions on a Shekh's tomb are of late date, and of a very florid
style, but contain no date; and the oldest in that character which I met with at
Kairwiii is at the gate called of Tunis, bearing the date of 437 A.H., or 104(i A.D.
The walls of the city have been rebuilt, and bear the record of their last restora-
tion in A.H. 1185 (A.D. 1772), which was made by the uncle of the Bey who governed
the Kegency in 1845. They are surmounted by an ordinary round-headed parapet,
and strengthened at intervals with semicircular towers, or buttresses. In point of
antiquity, Kairawan does not apjpear to possess any monuments of that importance
which we might expect to find in so ancient and so sacred a city ; nor does it offer
any satisfactory proof of the early use of the pointed arch. All that can be learnt,
on this point, from the people is vague and uncertain ; and as permission cannot be
obtained ;by a Christian to enter the Great Mosque, it is not possible to ascertain
whether any vestiges are there to be found of the carUer portions of that building.
Sufficient, however, may be determined, from its external aspect, to show that the
general character of Arab arcliitecture prevailed here as elsewhere, and it was not
of a style to be mistaken for the Byzantine.
The facts already stated are, I trust, sufficient to disprove the opinion that the
Saracens had no style of architecture, and that it was merely Byzantine. They also
explain why, m the remotest parts of Islam, one edifice was found to resemble in
many of its characteristics, another founded in Barbary or in Egypt ; at the same
time that they show why others were different, and why certain countries had their
own peculiarities. Indeed it is easy to perceive how it happens that, though the
Saracenic borrowed from the Byzantine, its character was so distinct. Kor is it a
singular instance of a career quite independent of the predecessor to which it was
indebted for its earliest features.
It has been thought, because the Greeks were sometimes employed by the Sultans
of Egypt to erect or embelUsh their mosques, that these must necessarily be Byzan-
tine ; but, so far fi-om this being the case, they fail to be a counterpart of that style,
either In their plan or their elevation. Moreover, Copts were at one time as much, or
probably more, employed in Egypt as builders ; and certain characteristics prove
now greatly the Arabs were Indebted to the Persians for their assistance and cx-
?J°^P'c. I may also observe that many domes of thei r mosques have mor(^ of a Sassanlan
than of a Byzantine character ; as may be seen from the palace of Serblstan, and
i KT*-'"' mosque of the Tak-Kesra (given by Mr. Ecrgusson, in his Handbook of
Architecture), which last was built by Mushirvan, or Chosroe (Khosrou), the con-
tranporary of Justinian, calls to mind the large vaulted recesses ofthe Arabs of later
tttDes, such'as we sec in the:mosqne of Soltan Hassan, at Cairo ; and it is^not Impro-
tth K^V^u'"'*'*'* taste, welcomed by Justinian while raising the numerous edifices
witn which he beautified Constantinople, may have also had its influence on Byzan-
tlne arehitccture. r • j
'nuLSi^ Saracens on their first issuing ftom Arabia adopted the churches of the
Chrlstfansas places of worship, or availed themselves of the assistance of Greek,
Copt, 1 crslan, and other architects, in erecting their mosques, they did not object at
much later periods to profit by similar assistance, nor disdain to borrow from the
•rclutecture, and even the materials ofthe churches ofthe conquered provinces, and
a mosqnc at Cairo, which by the iuscription it bears, proclaims that it was built by
JNascr Mohammed, in mw A.H. (lii'jy A.D.). has a doorway brought from one of the
cnnrches at Akka (Acre), in .Syria.* In other parts it displays throughout the cha-
racteristics of the Saracenic style ; but the doorway is singular among those of
Jigyptian buildings, being of Christian (so-called Gotiiic) style, with clustered columns
*J •"> Indebted to Mr. Stanley Poole for this fact, derived from Macrizl's account
ttrchltjur - "q'P<»«d it to have been bull for Naser Mohammed by Greek
supporting a cusped trefoiled head, such as might be met with in one of our churches.
It IS probably of the early part of the thirteenth or the close of the preceding
century.*
This work is also remarkable for the character of its cupola, ornamented with the
fretwork which afterwards became so elaborate and florid in the Alhambra and
Alcasr in Spain, and which is rarely seen in the mosques of Cairo.
If the golden and colored mosaics were used at Alexandria, and obtained the name
oiopjts Alexandrimtm, they were simply derived from the same source as those of
Constantinople, and were quite unconnected with the Arabs and their architecture,
of which, indeed, they never became marked features, except in the houses of Aleppo
and Damascus. They adorned a niche of prayer, and a few isolated members of a
wall, as of a pulpit or some portion of an early Italian church, and neither these nor
any other solitary features are of any importance in the consideration of an identity
of style.
The fact is, the term " Byzantine " has been often used in a vague and inconsiderate
manner, and it has been too hastily supposed that every building. In which the dome
is a dominant feature, was indebted for it to Constantinople. But not only was the
dome not confined to that style, but it was not even first used by the Byzantine
(Greeks. In Italy, and in some other countries, it descended directly from its first
originators— the Romans, without being derived through an intermediate Byzantine
channel, and if it passed through the Greeks of Constantinople to the eastern
provinces of the empire, it was trausraitted to them with certain modifications
merely, by tlie followers of those by whom it had been originally invented, and the
credit of its first application on a grand scale belongs very evidently to the Komans.
The Byzantine style has certainly its claims on the gratitude of the Saracenic
architects for having transmitted to them certain architectural features, of which
they availed themselves during the formation of their own \ but it must also be
admitted that they soon learnt how to develop and improve upon, and that they
were as much or more indebted to the Persians and others for the early formation
of their style. The changes, too, which the Arabs introduced into the dome, were
such as to give it a new cnaracter. At the same time, all will allow that Byzantine
architecture was less removed from that of Kome than was the Saracenic from the
Byzantine ; yet no one thinks of questioning the existence of a Byzantine style, nor
sliould we doubt the propriety of giving a new name to any one of those styles which
has partly grown out of a predecessor. If we refused to admit this we should deny
the well-known progress and development of art, and should view architecture as ix
it had no history, and it would be as reasonable to disbelieve the existence of varionB
languages, because they had proceeded from one common origin.
In conclusion, the Professor observed that Sir Gardner Wilkinson was in Derby-
shire, and not well enough to be present, otherwise he would have been at the
meeting.
Mr. James Feegusson asked who said that Saracenic architecture was only
Byzantine ?— on whose assertion was the statement founded?— for the paper was
based upon it. , ■
Professor Donaldson said he did not know, but Sir Gardner Wilkinson took that
as the theory,
Mr. Fehgusson did not think that Sir Gardner Wilkinson had in his paper qnlte
seized what was the origin of a mosque ; and he would explain what he thought was
the origin of a mosque. The precept of the Koran was that all true believers, when
praying, should turn towards Mecca. There was no form of worsliip, except that a
man shall pray five times a day, and pray turned towards Mecca. There were cer-
tain bowings to be gone through, and the idea was that there was only one sacred
place in the Moslem world, which was Mecca, and that was the origin or the mosque.
The consequence was that people in India and other countries always prayed with
their faces turned toward Mecca. The origin of the mosque was simply tliis, that
the worshippers should have something turning their .attention to Slecca, and then
pray when their faces were turned towards Mecca. A great many mosques in India
were nothing more nor less than a wall, with niches put in here and there. Then the
next stage was to erect a platform, or mere stone pavement. Of course, it was con-
venient in cities to enclose that with various entrances. The next stage was, of
course, to cover the mosque with arches or columns, enclosing the courtyard with
arches and colonnades. A wall was a mosque, if it pointed in the direction of Mecca.
After referring to the places for .iblution, and the minarets of mosques, Mr. Fergusson
remarked that in the principal niche the pulpit was erected, where one of the priests
read the Koran, but there was no sermon or ceremony, and people went in and came out
at all periods of the day. Afterwards, in Spain, for instance, there were mosques whore
cover was more requisite, the whole courtyard beinjjcovered over, making the building
into a mosque, representing a Byzantine temple. With regard to the dome there was
no place for a dome in a building of this sort, but a dome was an essential part of a
tomb. And at Rome and other places, wherever they found tombs, they would find
circles. At Cairo and in the cast they would find the dome applied to a tomb, but
very rarely applied to a mosque. But they used forced mosques over the domes in
India, which made a pretty architectural form used in the mosque as being possessed
of decorative features. In a tomb the dome was the essential part of the roof.
With regard to the pointed arch, he thought it was tolerably clear that the pointed
arch was used in the East before it was used in the West— (Hear, hear.) But it wa»
used by the Greeks and others as a horizontal arch, and it was found among the
Etruscan tombs and other places before the Cliristian era. He did not think it was
used in the West as a decorative feature till the eleventh or twelfth century, but it
was used as a vaulting feature in the eighth or ninth century. But when people
began to build better they used the circular arch, and afterwards the pointed arch
was gone back to in the Gothic architecture ; the pointed arch grew in this country
where it was introduced from the necessity of the country. He then referred to a
drawing of a very magnificent mosque, one of the finest mosques in Egypt, which
was well worthy of attention, but it was of a late age, and did not tell them much of
architecture. As to the famous mosque of Amroud, in Egypt, it contained decora-
tive pointed arches and straight line(l arches alternately, and he beheved that it was
of about the year (KO or (iflO. It had Corinthian capitals copied from Byzantine
buildings ; the pillars were not made by Saracenic architecture, but copied n*om old
buildings, and such was the case with old mosques, the pillars being copied fl"om old
Roman buildings, which afterwards they put into their own forms.
I'rofessor Donaldson said, with regard to the question of the shafts of columns
he had examined them very much himself, in order to ascertain whether they were
taken from ancient buildings, but thev were so rough that he had come to the con-
clusion that they were ofthe period ofthe mosques themselves. The capitals were
very roughly copied from the early Byzantine period, and done expressly for those
buildings. He never saw in Greece or any place where he had been such rude
capitals as were to be found in the mosques.
Mr. RoBEHT Kekr moved a vote of thanks to Sir Gardner Wilkinson for his
excellent paper, and to Professor Donaldson for reading it. He thought that
sufficient attention had not been paid to the science of the vault and the origin ofthe
arch.
Mr. J, W. Papworth seconded the motion, and in so doing suggested that Mr.
Fergusson should some night explain how the Saracenic name got appUed to all
sorts of styles throughout the world.
The Chairman in putting the motion, remarked that the profession of architecture,
and the Institute in particular were very much Indebted to Sir Gardner Wilkinson for
the valuable services he had rendered.
The motion was carried by acclamation.
New Members.~The following gentlemen having been balloted for, were duly
elected members of the Institute : — Mr. Anthony Salvin, jun., Associate, of 4, Adam-
street, as Fellow, Mr. William George Jackson, of Freemantle, Southampton; Mr,
' ♦ It Is, of course, imconnected with the history or progress of the Saracenic style,
as a tUnllar removal and reconstmctioD of a doorway might be made at the present
day.
March 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
257
CiEsar A. Lony, of 2i), Uiiion-Btroet, Ilackupy-roiid ; Mr. Uobcrt ■lameB Johnson, of
10, ISelgrave-street south, I'imlko ; Mr. Alii'cd 1". btrong, of 40, Stauhope-atrcct,
Gloucester-gate, N.W., as Associates.
The Chairman announced that a paper will be read on the 8th of April by
ProfcBsor Willia, on Chichester Cathedral, with special reference to the spire which
recently fell.
The names of some foreign'gentlemen haviutj been, read over, as recommended for
eltctiou to membership of the Institute, the Cuaikman said the members would
recollect tliat one of the t^entienien recommended, M. Lepsius, of Berlin, was sent
out by the King of I'russia to iuvestijjute tlie worlcs of ancieut Egypt, wiiich be had
done and illustrated in a large volume, of which a copy had been sent to the
institute, and which would be more interesting to tliem when they received a copy
of the text now in course of preparation by 31. Lepsius. And as to M. Mariette,
another gentleman recommended for election, he had great control over Egyptian
antiquities, and in the interest of British arcliitects it was desirable that those gentle-
men should be elected members of the Institute— (Hear, hear).
The lioyal Gold Medal.— '^v. I'iinrohe, Honorary Foreign Corresponding
Secretary, stated that he had received a letter from M. Lesueur, of i'aris, to whom
the royal gold medal had been awarded, expressive of his higli sense of the remark-
able honor conferred upon him, and stating that he sliould come to I^ondon in person
to receive the medal, as he was wishful to meet with his brethren in art ou this side
of the channel,
Professor Donaldson CiUled the attention of tlie meeting tea letter signed •' Wat
Tyler," which appeared in the liidldvrow the ZatX of ilarch, referring to builders and
architects' contracts. The statements therein made cast a great reproach on the
profession, generally to the elfect that tliey were liable to l>e corrupted by accepting
a percentage from persons employed by tliem. The writer of that letter, or any other
person, would do much service to the profession by furnishing documentary evidence
to prove any such conduct, so that the Council of the Institute might take such steps
Willi relerence to any members of the Institute who might be guilty of the alleged
deliniiuencies, as might be thought desirable according to the rules aud regulations
of the Institute, so that they might get rid of all such contamiuatiuu.
The Chairman announced the death of one of their honorary fellows, the Duke
of Sutherland ; he was not aware that his Grace manifested any great interest in
the Institute, but he was a client of their late esteemed friend Sir Charles Barry. The
Council had received a requisition signed by eight members of the Institute, calling
upon them either to express an opinion on the recent appointment to the Curator-
snip of Sir John Soane's Museum, or to call a special meeting of the Institute for
that purpose. The Council did not feel themselves in a position to take any steps
upon the matter themselves, and preferred that whatever movement might be made
should be made by the members at large. Accordingly, it had been arranged that a
special general meeting of the members of the Institute should be held that day
week, to take into consideration any proposal of those who signed the memorial. As
to the International Exliibitlon of 1802, any suggestions with reference to the repre-
sentation of ai'chitecture would be acceptably received by the Council of the Insti-
tute. The Chairman then inlimated that some of the most eminent building lirms
of the metropolis had come to an arrangement to pay their workmen by the hour, in
order to do away with the slightest excuse for another strike on the nine hours'
question. The rate of wages is to be 7d. per hour for skilled mechanics, and 4Jd. per
hours for laborers, wliereby an advance will result of about Is. 2d. per week to me-
chanics and 8d. per week to laborers, assuming they work 58^ hours per week, as at
present. He was quite sure that the Institution and tlie profession at large would
join in the earnest desire of the masters, that efforts should be m.ade to prevent any-
thing so disastrous as the strike that took place about two years ago.
Mr. BouLNOis said he believed that since the strike a clause had been introduced
in building contracts to save the masters from damage in case of any strike taking
place, and he thought that in a matter of that importance it was only due to the men
that they should l;now the fact. And if the men were to take a step in opposition
to the masters just now, particularly after the conciliation of the masters, he thought
thev would place themselves in a very serious position.
Mr. Fekret agreed with the last speaker.
Mr. .James Bell said he had been informed that one of the most valuable and
beautiful architectural monuments in the neighbourhood of London was destined to
immeiiiate destruction, he meant the hall of Budington I'ark, close to Croydon. He
hud been informed that the park had been sold, and that the house was on view
preparatory to its being taken down : and he supposed that nothing could
be done to save it; although it was one of the (inest halls in England.
Mr. Fehbey knew the building well, it was a magnificent hall, not inferior to
Iilton or to Hampton Court, but the question was whether that was not a matter
rather for the considcraiion of archaeological institutes than the institute of architects.
He then spoke, with regret, of the proposed demolition of another old hall in Somer-
setshire, a building of extraordinary beauty. Its plan was excellent, its elevation
was perfect aud more beautiful than any building tliat had been illustrated, and he
was not aware of any person who had done justice to it. He saw the structure about
a month or six weeks ago, and it was then in such a state that any tempest would
destroy it It was a building of great interest, he.should say it was of about the time
01 Ueury II., and he wished that before it was taken down they could get some good
illustration of it. job
Professor Donaldson referred to the destruction going on in Paris of theatres,
cuurciies, and a great variety of magnificent monuments, which would be sufficient
to Ulustr.ate awhole reign, but which were to be taken down to makethecity of Paris
more Uealtliy and more salubrious. As to the cases of destruction in England, which
liad been referred to, he shoula say that if we liad a Government that took much in-
terest to architecture, they might appeal to Mr. Cowper, the Chief Commissioner of
Works, to endeavour to prevent so much spoliation.
Ihe meeting broke up about half-past 10 o'clock.
— • —
TUEKISH HATIIS AND EASTEHN POPULATIONS.
Sir,— My attention has been drawn to a ridici-.;,:rs letter in your .Journal, signed
"tdward Haughton, M.D., Ac," animadverting upon the very fair exposition, by
Jibn-el-hhaitan, of the (ludicrous blunders perpetrated by Mr. Hay in a paper on
"The Construction of Turkish Baths." I shall confine myself to the statement of Dr.
llaughton. He says he saw no parallel in the East to the filth, vice, and misery of
Liverpool. Tlicn ho must be as blind as a mole. From my medical knowled"e of
bastern populations I assert, without fear of contradiction by any who have made
use of their senses wliile travellmg in Asia, that the vices prevalent among them are
80 horrible as to ha unimaginable by Enghshraen, and impossible to allude to more
plainly. The horrors of the Turkish harem are revolting ; abortion and infanticide
are common and unpunished occurrences. The daughter of the Sultan died mad
from being made the repeated victim of these crimes, whUc hundreds of men are
rendered impotent by causes which the doctor oughtto be able to guess. The French
troops in lieyrout are suffering terribly from a certain malady. Drunkenness is a
vice more frequent among Moslems and Christians than is imagined. The former
get drunk in their harems. The late I'acba of Damascus was notoriously addicted
to this vice, while the Christians and their priests indulge in rakl till they are
rendered maudlin and fuddled. The Ulthiness of the Christians is greater than
that of the Moslems, from the latter keeping their heads shaved, but all are cursed
with vermin. Small-tootlud combs there are none, and women may be seen hunting
for vermin in the heads of their liusbauds and friends witliout shame or attemjitat
concealment. It is the occupation of their leisure moments— what the French te.-m
their distraction. There are two Turkish baths in Beyrout, and as the floors are laid
witli drains, it is simply impossible for there ever to be half an inch of water on the
floor. And, indeed, water is far too costly in that city to be used otherwise tluu
most economically. Kefereuce to *' no less a person that Alpbonsc de Lamartlne " is
siugularlv inapprojiriate, for his description of file East is so poetic or imaginative ■»
to be entirely untrustworthy. This French statesman and poet describes his joomer
to the cedars, and how he carved his and his daughter's names on one of the trees.
The names are tliere, but it is perfectly well known that M. di- Lamartiue never went
to the cedars: he remained enjoying the hospitality of llummaua.
Dr. llaughton is mystified by reference to "harrowing the head." Tlien 1 am
very sure he never had a Turkish bath, or he would ree<»;nl»e a [wllte term for an
operation which consists in the attendant scratching witli his nails the head of the
patient after it is well soaped. As for "rinsing," if the Doctor should ever
Iiave heard of a dictionary of tlic Englislt language, edited by an Englishmau— a cer-
tain Samuel Johnson, LL.D., and could obtain reference to a copy of tlic work, he
will find therein that to rinse means " to wash, to clease by wasliing, to wash the soap
out of clothes," and, therefore, out of hair.
One word as to the Turkish bath. European residents in the East rarely InduJgo
in it, and a reference to Porter's " Handbook for Syria and Palestine, " intro. p. SI,
will show what opinion that well-informed OrientallBt entertained of it. During
seven years' residence he never but once entered a Turkish bath, and reports tlie
opinion of a medical friend that the " torture process " " may have the ell'ect of Irri-
tatiug the cuticle, and weakening tlie frame." which I fUlly believe.
During a tolerably long residence in the East I have reftalned from these baths,
to which I impute my freedom from boils, diarrhcca, and fever, although when in
Russia, North Germany, and even Paris, I freely indulge in Russian baths, which
arc as refreshing and invigorating as the Turkish ones are enervating and abomi-
nable.
I am, &c.,
' Alpiionse de Leacpbaiohe.
ARCHITECTURAL PIIOTOGRAPiriC ASSOC;iATION.
Sir, — As one of tlie earliest subscribers to the Architectural Photographic Associa-
tion which has just closed, I may be allowed to advert to what I think nianypcrsons will
agree witli me, to be a nianifeiit defect. I allude particularly to what may be familiarly
termed the " continually going over the same ground." Ajuple jiuitlce has no doubt
been done to Rome in tlie numerous and beautiful photographs of Macphcrson, and
Venice has received due consideration at the liaiids of two ditVerent artists. Our
neighbours over the channel cannot certainly complain that we have ntglected them,
as the Exliibition just closed suiBciently demonstrates, though the churches of
" southern " France have hardly received a due share of attention compared with
tile favorite portals of the " north." But in England, Tintern Abbey, beautiful as it
is. has been repeated "ad nauseum," and 1 cannot help thinlung that lievcrley
Minster and Seiby might have received some of that attention which has been
bestowed exclusively upon Furness. And now that " interiors " are made accessible
it may be hoped that in next year's exhibition, York, Lincoln, and Durham, will not
be wanting. Spain, a few specimens excepted, has now been " left to itself," and
Jerusalem has been withdrawn without any previous notice, doubtless to the regret
of many. Belgium, though rich in its hotel dc viiles and other buildings, has been
comparatively neglected, and (not very complimentary to its nationality) been
annexed to France in the catalogue. But what I would particularly remark upon is
the absolute neglect of Germany, for though the ecclesiastical architecture of that
country ma/ be inferior to tliat of I'ugland and France, yet in its ancient to%vn8
there are ricii stores whicli would amply repay the pliotograplier. An arcliitcctoral
society should not surely pass these over in silent contempt.
1 am, &c.,
U. P.
Cheltenham, March 13th, 1861.
ROYAL ENGINEER DEPARTMENT.
Sir,- The letters that have recently been addressed to you concerning tlie combined
civil and military organisation of the Royal Engineer Department, have provoked a
very earnest discussion of the subject amongst the civil officers with whom I am
associated at one of our principal stations.
The evils of the system have long been patent to us all. They are indicated only
in the recent letters, for nothing short of a searching investigation and exposure
will enlighten the public and compel tlie Government to adopt a system that shall
be more in harmony with the practice of modern large establishments, conducted by
private enterprise.
Who, for instance, would place a young gentleman who had but recently made his
appearance iu a place of business, in a position superior to that of an old and ex-
perienced servant, wlio had proved his fitness for carrying on his work b^ many
years of successful labor ; yet this is the state of things in the Royal Engineer
Department, and this experienced servant would have to submit to tln' authority of
a military officer, who sliould be attending to military alTairs, and fitting hiuLself for
the discharge of a soldier's duty, of which building and all kindred work forms no
part. How frequently does it happen that time is spent in preparing estimates for
work that can never be carried out for the money I'hat is likely to be granted for
them ; and how often does it not happen that tliey are pared down to luoet the views
of the military oiBcer : and again how often has it not happened that the work when
completed has proved to have been totally unfit for the purpose it was deseed
to answer ; and only because the skilful servant was not consulted— he had out
to obey '. _,.,
If you will but take the lead and lend us the assistance of your own pen. we mil
afford such aid as shall induce the public to insist upon the immediate relormation ot
tills branch of the service. It is they who are the sufferers by the absurd waste;;that .
annually takes place of very large sums of " hard earned money."
I am, &c.,
March 14, 1861. '^- ^- " •
RAILWAY TUNNELS. . .^ o .v
Sir,— Such extraordinary facts were elicited in a recent trial betwixt the boutn
Eastern Railway Company and their contractor, that I |am much surprised to imtt
no further notice taken of the subject, either by the pubUc papers, or as suggested
by the learned Chief Baron who tried the cause, by some active member ot 1 arlia-
The trial, "South Eastern Railway Company rerswa Warton," is reported in the
public journals of the iTth ult, when a verdict of £3,500 is given against the
defendant, as damages for defecUve work to two tunnels on the Tonbridge V, eUa and
Hastings branch. ...^ , ^ ■ x *v r^ -««
How far the verdict may fairly settle the money difference betwixt the CompM^y
and their coniractor, the public need not mquire, but as to what extent the Uvcs
and limbs of the passengers were jeopardized m these tunnels it is rather imgu^uit
we should know, as likewise wliether the remedy applied in tins instance is sutBcient,
and to what extent it is probable defective aud dangerous tunnels may, from similar
malconstruction exist. „ ,, . .^ r^^.^ tue^
It appears by the evidence that the intention of the engineer ■^»« '» j?™*?^
tunneS through rock, by lining the excava.tion with solid brickwork, 4 haU--bricK3
or 18 indies iu thickness, all bedded and worked in cement, and that this solid arch,
when completed, should be what is teclinically termed • backed m, tliat is, ">^ to a
over the completed arch, caused by the necessity of making tl^lf ^f »Y" « n S i„ ^'tK
larger than the brick tunnel to give room to the workmen, should be h"™. ">!"'?
earth or rock, in case any disturbance of the superincumbent earth or rocK mignii
cause them to fall and crush or displace the brickwork. ,„„„,. i„.b.ui
I!v the evidence of Mr. Asiicroft it will be seen that, in one of the tunnels, instead
of 4 half-bricks there was only " one half-brick " (about 4i inches in thickness) set
in cement," " the second, tliird, and fourth rings were stacked in dry, no backing-
np appears to have been done. Another witness, Mr. Cary, says, " there were largo
258
THE BUILDING KEWS.
March 22, 1861.
spaces without backinc, and between tlie upper surface of the crown of the tunnel
and the rock above, the apace was so large that he believed ho couUl have made his
way from one end of the tunnel to the ollur." Mr. Day says that, " a pressure on
the erown would have caused it to fall down altogether, and there were signs of
crushing; in both tunnels." , ^ « .. , ,. .
It appears tliat the work was completed m 1S49, and for four years it was in this
condition used for' traffic, without any failure, but a suspicion beino excited, it was
exaniiiu-d, and provin? to be constructed in the manner stated, the Company imme-
diatelv applied what they considered a suBlcient remedy, by adding: two rings of
cemented brickwork inside the existing one rin^-so that a total of three rings of
sound work now exists instead of the four intended, the tunnels being inconveniently
reduci-d in height and width, but it does not appear that any solid backing m has been
effected.
It requires neither engineering science nor practical skill to understand that the
tunnel, as at first constructed, with a solid arch of only 44 inches in thickness, could
hare offered no resistance to a mass of rock or earth falling a distance of 2 or 3 feet,
the height of the void over it. The brick lining in rock is used for the sole purpose
of protection against any displacement that may occur over it, and had any occurred
during the four vears the tunnel was in use, it is fearful to contemplate the loss of
life that might' Iiave been the consequence. I confess that it appears to me that
the public are entitled to full assurance from the best authorities that the
present construction, without solid backing, is entirely free from danger. But
this is not all ; a very wide field is opened for an inquiry of vital importance to
railway travelling. What is the nature of the inquiry made by the Government
Inspector before he certifies a new line to be safe, completed, and fit for public
traffic ? It is quite clearly not such as enables him to detect the fearfully dangerous
construction here exhibited. Similarly constructed tunnels may at this moment be
in use. and the fact remain unknown until divulged by some fearful catastrophe.
How is such construction to be avoided in future ? Nothing more difficult under
the present system ; the workman intending to commit the fraud can conceal it as
he progresses', .dmost brick by brick, so that each dishonest workman would require
an honest supervisor. Nothing tends to demoralise the workman so much as the
«V8tem of subletting by contract, and task-work at the lowest possible price. It is
this svstem that produces the acres of wretchedly-constructed dwelling-houses with
their leaking roofs, trembling floors, offensive drains, doors and windows which
refuse to open and shut ; it is a matter of choice w ith those who are tempted by a
low price to purchase or inhabit such houses, but there is no choice as tb travelling.^
So it is to be hoped some means may be discovered of ensuring in the construction of
tunnels the best materials and the best workmanship without stint, so that they may
l)e works of present and enduring safety.
I am, &c.,
30, Camdsn-ioad-TiUas, March 20, 1861. G. A. Young.
SifiClJflUS.
Companion to the Writing-Dcsk or Sow to Address, Begin, and End
Letters to Titled and Official Personages; together with a Table of
Precedence, Copious List of Abbreviations, Mules for Composition and
Punctuation, Instructions, on Preparing for the Press, Sfc. 16 mo.
London : Robert Hardwicke, 192, Piccadilly.
THIS pretty little volnme admirably printed, contains as much information on
the subjects comprised within the scope indicated by the title-page as could
well be condensed into so pHitc a form, and we have no doubt that it will lie
with many a carefully concealed, but often consulted, miniature copy of " John-
80D," for somehow people do not like to acknowledge the necessity for refering
to works of this class. We particularly commend the following extract to the
notice of some of our correspondents — who appear to think with the author of
" GisippiLS " who wrote, " I verily believe that if I shut my eyes, or flung tlie pen
at the paper, so asto make any kind of mark, the London printers would know
wliat I intended to say ": —
*' Before sending the manuscript t« the printer, the writer should run his e^e care-
folly over it for the purpose of detecting ambiguous letters. The undotted t may be
mistaken for thee; it is difficult to distingtiish the uncrossed « from the/; Mand«
may be often confounded ; c and e are apt to pass one for the other. In proper
names, that man is guilty of petty larceny towardis the printers who adds no tail to
his capitaU, so that the compositor has to stand doubting between that and the i
A little care on these points will save the printer an infinity of trouble, and the
author much consequent vexation. * • • • Let your manuscript have
a broadish margin on one side, so that if you have occasion to make alterations in
what you have written the corrections may appear distinctly in the margin ; no
writing over or under, the source of unavoidable error. Write only on one side of
the page, and use slips of paper not larger than an ordinary copy-book, or smaller
than the page of an octavo oook. If your manuscript extends to more than one
page take care to number them."
There are few who do not sometimes feel the want of a book of this kind at
hand.
A Monograph on the History and Restoration of the Parish Church of
St. Mary, Callington, Cornwall. By jEneas Barklv Hutchison,
B.D., Cantab et Oxon, Peijietnal Curate of St. James, Devonport, etc., etc.
MR. HUTCHISON is well and lu\ oriibly known in the West of England as
an energetic and laborious clergyman, and an active and intelligent member
of the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society. His writings always claim
attention in his own neighbourhood, and they are worthy of a wider than a
merely local circulation. The present little work on one ol the most interesting
churches in Cornwall, which nas recently been the subject of an admirable
restoration by Mr. Piers St. Aubyn, is a most valuable contribution to our
antiquarian and ecclesiological stores, and a model of what such monographic
descriptions of an old building should be. We trust that it may be the fore-
runner of many similar works trom the pen of Mr. Hutchison and others equally
competent to undertake the task, and looking upon it as such rather than as an
imiated brochure, we propose to notice it at some length.
Callington Church is peculiarly interesting as being, Lostwithiel excepted,
the only church in Cornwall possessing a clerestory, ho far as we know. It Is
also interesting for having been entirely built at one time— viz., in the first half
of the fifteenth century, the dedication having taken place on the 31st of August,
1438. Moreover it was erected solely by the munificence of one man. Sir
Nicholas AsshetoD, whose fine brass still remains in the church, and has been
lithographed for the present work.
Externally, our reverend author assures us, the church presents an imposing
appearance, being built almost entirely of large granite blocks. It appears to
have retained its original form with the exception of some alterations of the
clerestory roof and internal fittings up to the period when the late repairs were
nndertaken. It is of uniform Thirrl-Pointed or "Perpendicular" character,
coniisting of chancel and nave, the clerestory extending over both. The roofs,
accordingly, arc ot uniform height and character, and are not divided from each
other by a chancel arch, a feature very rare in Cornish churches. The arcades,
of five arches on the north side and four on the south, are uniform. There is a
south porch, and a tower at the west end.
Again, we are assured that, until lately, the condition of tlie building was the
most miserable that can well be imagined : the slating of all the roofs had com-
pletely perislied , and the flijit aisle roofs had been taken off and lean-to roofs
substituted, thereby blocking up the clerestory windows.
Of the inside we are told that its condition was still more unsatisfactory ; the
galleries occupied a space equal to one-half of the whole area of the church, and
were within seven feet of the roofs of the aisles ! The tower was blocked off from
the church, and was the receptacle of all sorts of rubbish. The floors were
uneven, in consequence of the burials which had taken place within the church.
The pews were mostly square and very liigli. The pulpit was of a cumbrous
size, and rendered further intrusive by a huge "sounding-bo.ard." The plastering
was rough and bad, and the ceilings of the aisles were flat and plain.
Upon this most unpromising subject Mr. St. Aubyn has wrought a wonderful
transformation by merely bringing out the orii>inal merits of the disguised and
disfigured church by a thoroughly conservative restoration.
Externally not much has been done, as the funds were limited. But the roofs
have been entirely renewed, the walls pointed, and the accumulated soil removed
as far as was practicable from the foundations.
Internally, however, the restoration may be considered complete, if we except
the tracery of some of the windows. The huge masses of pew and gallery, with
all their accomiianying pollutions of dry-rot and mustiness, have been wholly
swept away and replaced with uniform fittings, to the great increase not only of
the comfort of the parishioners, but also of the amount of accommodation. The
chancel has been fitted with stalls, &c., for the use of the clergy and choir. The
clerestory windows have been completely restored and reglazed, the timbers of
the roof repaired, and the floor relaid. The masonry of the granite arcades,
which were much mutilated, has been restored and thoroughly cleansed from
accumulated whitewash. In fact, all things have put on a new face, and care and
beauty reign where once neglect and squalidness were triumphant.
The more remarkable features of the church of interest to the antiquarian may
be briefly enumerated.
In the chancel the east window should be noticed ; it is large and lofty with
good tracery, and is constructed of Caen stone. The sedilia are undivided, below
the south window under an arch which has been destroyed. The piscina, which
was attached to them, has also been destroyed. The staircase to the rood-screen
remains in the south wall of the south aisle.
In the north aisle is a piscina. In the south aisle a plain stoup or benatura.
The font stands at the south-western pier of the nave. It is very interesting,
as being a relic from a much earlier church, in style Norman Romanesque, square,
with a round base and an octagonal shaft. It is carved on all its sides.
The tower is a fine building, square, and of three stages, with buttresses, good
windows, and numerous carvings. It contains six excellent bells.
There are only a very few remains of stained-glass coeval with the church, all
the windows of which were once undoubtedly resplendent with various colors.
In addition to the brass of Assheton, this church contains a very fine high
tomb with effigy of Sir Robert Willoughby, the first Lord Willoughby de Broke,
who died in 1502. It stands between the sacrarium and the eastern bay of the
north aisle, and is a remarkably pure example for a comparatively late date.
The dimensions of the church are as follows :— Chancel, 24 feet 6 inches by
17 feet 6 inches ; nave, 42 feet 3 inches bv 17 feet 6 inches; north chancel aisle,
24 feet 3 inches by 9 feet 10 inches; north aisle of nave, 36 feet by 9 feet
10 inches; south aisle, the same; south chancel aisle, 13 feet 6 mches by 9 feet
10 inches. This is used as a vestry. The tower is 21 feet square, and inclines
away from the direction of the church considerably to the north.
Such is the church of which Mr. Hutchison has set so complete a picture be-
fore us. Nor must we omit to mention the actual pictures by which his very
pictorial and descriptive text is illustrated. These alone are worth the five
shillings at which the whole is priced.
They comprise an excellentpair of comparative ground-plans, showing the great
advantage in every way of the restored arrangement over that which it supersedes.
We are glad to see from one of these that, although the sittings are all fixed
benches so far as the general distribution of tlie plan is concerned, nevertheless,
room has been found in stray nooks and corners, for no less than six-and-thirty
movable chairs. .p t. v i
Another comparative woodcut shows the hideous change in the roof, by which
the clerestory had been blocked up, and the effect of the restoration of
the old arrangement, besides giving a small but intelligible section of the whole
church. -it, 1.
The third woodcut represents the arms of the family of.Assheton from the top
of the mace of the Portreeve of Callington.
The lithographs by Spreat, of Exeter, are admirable. Besides the brass of
Assheton, to which we have already alluded, there is a very fine tinted
lithograph of Lord Willoughby de Broke's tomb, drawn from a photograph with
photographic exactness.
The frontispiece represents the interior of the church looking east, irom a
photograph taken after the restoration, by R. P. Yeo, which leaves nothing to be
desired as an illustration to an architectural work.
The merely scientific reader will not regret to find that Mr. Hutchinson has
devoted the few last pages of his work to an account of the reopening of the
church, or to hear that, "' Whereas the church in its dilapidated state was very
thinly attended, itisnow constantly filled to overflowing by a thoughtiul, reverent,
and (ievout congregation." We are glad to see that the Rev. H. M. Rice, the
Rector of Southill and Callington, has taken a lively interest in this publication,
and has given his assistance towaixls its production. There are few parishes m
which the incumbent could not, with the aid of some ecclesiological friend, com-
pile a brief history of his church and parish, interesting not to hiinselt and
his parishioners only, but to an infinitely wider circle of readers than he might be
inclined to suppose. A moderately complete collection of such, in themselves
separately almost trifling works, would be of vast value; " Trifles make Per-
fection, and Perfection is no Trifle."
CasselVs Elementary Handbooks. London and New York : Cassell, Fetter,
and Galpin, 1801. _ . ...
MOST of our readers are familiar with the useful Rudimentary Treatises, which
have been issued within the last dozen years by Mr. Weale : their excel-
lence has long been admitted. What Mr. Weale's little books have done for the
March 22, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
259
architectural student, these " Elementary Handbooks " of Mr. John Cassell are
designed to etfect for tlie general pulilic. Tlie volumes already issued relate to
themes, on which most people would desire to Icarn something ; if that something
coold only be imparted to them with brevity and simplicity. Wc have before us
three of the volumes; andean only express the wish that, they may as well
remunerate their enterprising projector, as they are likely to' popularise the
topics they treat of; for some of them are so profusely illustrated with wood-
cuts that nothing but a very extensive circulation can make them remunerative.
The Handbook of Natural and Experimental Philosophy for example
contains no fewer than ninety diagrams : the sulyect is completed in the single
volume; the properties of matter being first briefly defined; then the laws of
motion explained; and finally the interesting phenomena of the elements are
illustrated in the most popular and accurate manner of which the subject admits.
Thusniany of the experiments introduced are expressly selected for tlieir extreme
simplicity of application ; requiring no expensive apparatus, but rather the
knack of applying to the purpose the ordinary utensils of the household.
The other Handbooks treat of such subjects as Investments, Booh-lteepi7iff &ni
Susiness ; this last mentioned beinga Dictionary of the Terras and Technicalities
used in Commerce ; and descend to even subjects of Juvenile Amusement, such as
Instructive Experiments, and the like. These little treatises will doubtless
have an extensive sale, and they well deserve one.
TENDERS.
Corn Exchange, Xorwicii,
For the Norwich Com Exchange. Arcliitects Messrs. T. D. Berry, Norwich, and
Goodwin and Butcher, 37, Bedford-row London. Quantities supplied by Mr. J. S.
Benest, Norwich.
Oak Floor.
Cashing. Enfield ...£8,100 £800
Spinks and Youngs, Norwicli .... (1,248 (500
Stanley, Norwich ."i.SCO (iOO
lacey, Norwich 5,5B5 550
ling and Balls, Norwich 5,398 700
Church, Hoi.me.
Forrebnilding Holme Church, near I'eterborough. Mr. E. Browning, architect,
Stamford.
nudd. Grantham £J,519 0
Baker. fJloaford 2,300 0
Richardson and Son, Stamford 2,083 0
Sneatb, Baeton 2,029 0
Cagswell and Day, retcrborougli 2,012 0
Wilson, Grantham , 1.945 0
Bradshaw, Stamford (accepted) 1,925 10
Timma, Castle Bytham ],S07 0
Mathews £5,ffii8
Adamson 5 597
Simpson. r>,53B
Peterson and Fotheringham 5,526
Todd f,496
_ .. DWELIING IFOL-.SE, HAMPSTEAD.
i or the erection of a house at Ilampstcad.
Mr. Chamberlen. Hammersmith
£2,87(5 03. Od.
Mr. Kabv, Kingsland 2',697 0
Mr. W. 1< . .Stevenson, Camden-town a'soo 0
Jiessrs. Biggs and Son, St. Albans 2,244 13
Sir. G. F. Arnold, St. Albans
:,085 0 0
,,„ ,. ., . Alterations, SuoREDixcn
For alterations at sn, Shoreditch,
Brown .and Sons, IMiil-slrcet £«» ] Elstan, Wormwood-street £083
Catling, Bethnal-green £530
T-n, ■„.. .. ,„. . Chircu, Somerset.
For restoration of Chelwood Church, Somerst, Jno. Norton, architect.
Nave, porch,
Henry Hughes £<xis 0
.Jno. Spillcr f,22 0
.las. Diment 678 0
Wra. Baker .'iUO Itf
Geo. W. Chinnock . . 497 10
Benj.amin York 495 0
Wall and Ilook 490 0
E. Slieeter (accepted). 420 0
Chancol.
£108 0
195 0
137 0
123 4
106 12
139 0
139 0
115 0
Tower.
£180 0
182 0
127 0
11(5 5
151 0
1.30 0
130 0
85 0
Totals,
£1,014 0
999
942
839
814
7(54
752
020
TT^, „^.i,. ., ^EWER Works, Hackney District.
Jamesro^yvt llTriur^e^J' """^ ^'°- " '" *"«' "-''-y I'""'"''- *''•
, Surveyor.
v„„„„„ 'i.",' i?.f """*"• !«"• H Contract. Tot.l.
^X YIV\ *! "•'» « 5-229 10 0
cole 4,1.53 3 4 924 0
Cattell and Hills 3.820 0 0 937 0
Tottle 3,730 0 0 896 0
S^oey — 1,1(58 10
Abbott and Hopwood* 3,744 0 0 802 0
„ „ • Accepted.
Surveyors Estimate £5,118.
5,077 3 4
4,763 0 0
4,626 0 0
4,545 0 0
„ CoLcnESTER National Central Schools.
* or the erection of the above schools. Quantities not supplied.
Allowing for
Lee and Raker, Colchester £2,9-39 0 0 i'To"''
John Start, Colchester
Everitt and Shepherd, Colchester .
K. Hawkins. Monks Eleigh
Mr. .Tames I'rown, Boclting
Kayner and Kunnacles, Halstcad* .
• Accepted.
2,so:) 5 0 ....
90
2,762 10 0
50
2,743 12 1
SO
2,737 0 0
... 120
2,554 16 0
... 100
Additions, Brockham.
, For additions to Brockham Home for workhouse girls, for the honorable
Mrs. Way. John Norton, honorary arcliitect.
Carruthers £200 1 Batchclor £193
Barnes 175 | Tliornton. (Accepted) 172
ClIERCH, WeSTBOURNE GROVE.
For the erection of United Presbyterian Church, Westbourne-grove-terrace. W.
It. Habershon, architect, 38, Bloomsbury- S(iuare,tLondon.
Tarran £5,000
'tyers 4,986
Kudkin 4,980
Moore 4 794
General Works for the Metropolitan Board or Works.
For the execution of general works at a seliediilo of prieos.
District A ( IVeslern JJivision 0/ the Mitroijolin).
i'rrcnit. I'rr mit. Attbeprie*
aboTH. b«l',w, in HchMule.
Robert Mann 5J
Ttiomas Pearson 1
Abbott and IIopwoop 4
E. Thirst (accepted) 7}
R. Robinson . . at price
District JHEaatem Divition of the MetropoUs).
W, Dethick Vii
T. Pearson '.. .. at price
Abbott and Hopwood 4
R. Robinson 14
District C (Soutliern Division of the MelropoUt).
.T.Walker 71
T. I'earson , , ,, .'j ,,
K.Robinson " loj
W. Lavers (d
Tenders for Districts B and C referred to the Main Drainage Committe for Inves-
tigation and report.
Supply, Holborn.
For the supply of timber for the Holborn Union.
12 feet pine plank, 3 cuts
12 feet 1 inch deals, white i
12feet do. do. yellow |
Very best yellow deals 1 inch 1
Very best deala ; 1
• Accepted.
Putney.'
4«. 9(i.
Crow.
Ss. Od.
1 3
1 2
1 11
1 S
Mansion Pertiibhire
For the erection of Duncrul House, and ofiiteB, Perthshire. For the right hon.
Lord RoUo, W. G. Habershon, architect, 38, Bloomsbury-square, London. Opened
on Monday 18th instant.
Neilson, Glasgow £21„'iOO
Craig, Glasgow £20,499
Stephen Hair, Glasgow; 20,445
Adam, Glasgow 20,097
Murray, Perth 19,972
Scott, Montrose 19,a35
Readdle, Perth 18,32*
BrownHe, Glasgow I7,0<I9
Moore, Newport 16,800
Parker and Sons.Ltverpool 16,582
Griffiths, Newport 16.200
Weatherby, Y'ork 15,830
_ £rra(<i,— In our list of the Tenders sent in for the Soldiers' Institute, Chatham,
1 we misprinted Mr. Carter's name as Carpe. The accepted Tender was that of Mr.
Stump, Chatham, for £3,498 98.
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
TOWN HALL.
Hull.— For the approved design, &c. , for a Town-hall and public ofllces, at Kingston-
upon-Hull, to be forwarded with plans, sections, and estimates of cost (seal^ and
addressed to the town clerk, Hull, and marked outside, ** Design for Town-hall,")
to May 31. The sum of £100 is offered for the design selected as the best, and £50
for the design selected as second best. A block plan of site, and printed statement
of offices, rooms, and conveniences required, at Robert Well's (town clerk's) office.
Town-hall, Hull, between 11 and 1.
THAMES EMBANKMENT,
For plans for embanking the river Thames within the metropolis, which will
provide with the greatest efBciency and economy for the relief of the most crowded
streets, tend to the improvement of the navigation, and afford an opportunity of
making tite low-level sewer without disturbing Fleet-street and the Strand.
Plana to Henry Kingscote, secretary to the Thames Embankment Commiasion, 2,
Victoria- street, S.W.
LAYING OUT GROUND.
Saltburn-bv-tiie-Sea.— For desisms for laving out the grounds and streets at
Saltburn. A premium of £,50 will be given for the plan approved of. Conditions
from J. E. Mac Nay, secretary to the Saltburn Improvement Company.
SCHOOL.
I Preston. — For plans and specifications for a Sunday school, with class-rooms and
I porter's residence, at a cost not exceeding £1,200. Ten guineas will be given for
, the best, I'articulars from Mr. G. Teall, I'reston, Lancashire.
I WATERWORKS.
I Galway. — The Galway Town Commissioners will receive plans, estimates, and
specifications for the construction of works required for supplying dwelling-houses
' and market-places of the town ; also floating dock and public fountains to be
erected, with pure water from the river Corrib, at a point beyond Newcastle, and
brought by sufficient pipes through the various streets, lanes, and alloys, from the
Wood-quay to Eyre-square, and from Prospect-hill to Nell-lodge. The Com-
missioners will pay £20 for tile plan which shall be approved of by them. Flans,
and working plans, with the specitica tions, estimates, full and clear instructions
&c., to be addressed, under seal, to the chairman of the Galway Town Com-
missioners, on or before the 1st day ot April, 1861.
CONTKA.CT8 OPEN.
CORN E.XCHANGE.
AVolveriiampton,— For the sundry alterations at the Wolverhampton Corn
Exchange, including taking off" the dome, constructing new roof, new covered
ceiling, new galleries, new orchestra, covered entrance, and other works.
Drawings, Ac, at the office of Edward Banks, Architect, Wolverhampton.
Tenders, endorsed and scaled, to Mr. B. Savage, Chairman of the Directors, by
JIarch 28.
CHURCH.
LLANfiWM, NEAR UsK.— For the restoration of the Parish Church of Llangwm. and
for alterations to the parsonage. Plans, &c., at the rectory. Tenders to l*richar(l
and Seddon, Diocesan Architects, 6, Whiteliall, London, to 3Iarch30.
CHAPELS, Ac.
Bolton.— For the various works required to be done in the erectionof the new
Wesleyan chapel and schools, Chorley, New-road, Bolton. Drawings, Ac, at the
offices of George Woodhouse, architect, St. George's-road, Little Bolton. Scaled
tenders, endorsed. " Chorley-road Wesleyan Chapel," to be delivered to the archi-
tect, by 12 noon of the 2Sth fnst,
Yorkshire.— For the works required in erecting and completing a new Primitive
Methodist Chapel and School, at Kirbymoorsidc, York. Plans, Ac, with Mr. W.
T. Lumley, Kirbymoorsidc, from tlie 25th to the 28th inst Sealed tenders to
the Rev. T. Dearlove, I'ickering, by 10 a.m., April 1.
SCHOOL.
Cranbrook— For erecting and completing a building for an infant school at Cran-
brook. Plans, Ac, at the national school. Tenders, sealed and endorsed " Tender
for Infant school," to be delivered at the offices of Charles Williams, solicitor tO'
the trustees. High-street, Cranbrook, by noon of March 30.
PUE.SBYTERY', "
Scarborough.— For the erection of a presbytery, or residence for the clergy, ad-
joining the new church o( St. Peter, Scarborough. Plans, at Mr. Wilson's, Castle
Hotel. Queen-street, Scarborough, and at the oflice of George Goldie, architect, 9,
King-street, Westminster. Scaled tenders to the architect, by March 27.
260
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 22, 1861.
WAKEUOrSK.
WELi-iNGBOKOL-r.ii.— For n corn wiuvhouM' at the Midland Station ■Wellingborough.
Drawings. Ai-., with Edward Sharman. architect, Wellingborough. Tenders to
Hr. Shannan by l^irch JT.
JlANSrOX.
KCLL (X.B.)-For the Tarious works rcquiri-il in the erection of a mansion-house at
Glcnfor»«, near SaUne. Mull, for I), (iriuiiliill. Esq. Plans, ,vc., at the oflice of Mr.
Aogn* Grc-orson, writer, < >l)a«, ami of Jlcsars. Peddic and Kinnear, architects,
3, South Charlotte Street, Kdtnbursli. to the latter of whom offers by April 3.
IIWELLIXG HOUSES.
IBELASD.— For the erection of a dwelling-house at Ilartlands. county Jleath.
Plans, ic, at the olBce of Mr. S. Symes, architect. No. 58, Lo.rcr Doininick-street,
DubUn. until the 3(«h in."it., on which day tenders are to be sent to Itichard Douald-
BOD. Esq., Bathaldran Castle. Xavan.
Di'SiFBiES. ^^".B.)— For the erection of a dwelling-house on the Hills property, in
the Parish of Lochmtton, Plane, &c., at the ofnce of Mr. Alexander Frascr, ar-
chitect, by whom offers will be received to March 30.
IBIXASD.— For the erection of a dwelling-house for Frederick Malcomson, Esq., at
Portland, county Watcrford. Plans, A-c, at the office of .John S. Mulyany, archi-
tect, ao. Lower backviUe-8tre<>t, Dublin.
ENGINE HOUSES, Ac.
Peptpord. — For the construction of two engine-houses, boiler-house, chimney,
filth hoistfi, coal-sheds, dwelling-house, iron wharf wall, brick and iron sewers;
and for the execution of other works in connexion therewith, on ground adjacent
to D^ptford-creek and the Greenwich branch of the South Eastern Railway, Kent,
for the Metropolitan Board of Works. Plans, sections, specification, form of
tender, and other particulars, upon payment of £1 Is., on application of Mr. J. W.
Bazalgette, engineer of the Board, at the office oi the Board, Spring-gardens.
Tenders, addressed to the Metropolitan Board of Works, must be delivered at the
office of the Board before i p.m. of April 11.
BIJIDGE.
West Dehbt.— For the erection of a new bridge in the township of Tyklesley and
Atbcrton. Plans, Arc, may be seen at the office of W. H. Gee. bridgemaster,
Barned-Butldlngs, 15, Sweeting-street, Liverpool, where tenders are to be delivered
by April 1.
EAILWAY WORKS.
KoRTii Eastern Railway.— For the erection of an engine shed, workshops, and
sixty dwelling-hon.ses. near Hull. Plans, &c., from the 11th inst., on apphcation
to Mr. Prosst'r, the Company's architect, York. Quantities not supplied. Sealed
tenders, marked " Tender for Works at UuU," addressed to J. Cleghorn, the
secretary, to be delivered by 12 noon of March 2".
North Eastern Railway.— For the erection of an engine-shed, workshops, and
fbrty dwelling-houses, near the Tyne dock. Plans, &c., on application to Mr.
I*ro8ser, thecompany's architect. Central Station, Newcastle. Quantities not sup-
plied. Sealed tenders marked. " Tender for Works at Tyne Bock," addressed to the
Secretary at York, J. Cleghorn, Esq., by 12 noon, March 27.
Inverness and 1*ertii Junction Kailm'ay. — For the construction of a viaduct
across the river Divie, in the parish of Edinkillie, about S) miles from Forres.
This work is to consist of 4 arches of 4.5 feet span, and of considerable height.
Plans, &c., at the offices of Mr. Mitchell, C.E., luTemess, to whom sealed tcnderu
by April 2.
Ui^sTER Eailwat.— For the erection of a passenger station at Portadown, and
other works in relation thereto. Plans, &c., at the Engineer's office, Belfast, and
sealed offers, marked " Tenders for Portadown Station," will be received by F.
BroDghton, up till the 8th prox.
GASWORKS.
Sunderland. -For the several malleable iron roofs, cast iron columns, girders,
flooring, hydraulic mains and connexions, scrubbers, washers, condensers,purifier8,
Ac, required at the intended new station at Hendon, of the Sunderland Gas Com-
pany. Drawings, &c., at the office of the company, 61, Fawcett-street, Sunder-
lano, and at the office of T. Hawkslcy, Bsq.,C.E.,30, Great George-street, West-
mlnster, S. W. Tenders delivered at the office of the company by April 2.
ROADWORK.
Stockport.— For keeping the roads, footpaths, and ditches and fences, &c., respec-
tively belonging to the Stockport and Warrington, and Washway Turnpike Roads
in good and complete repair for a pcriofl of five years. The length of the Stock-
port and Warrington road, including tlie Edgcley Branch, is 14 miles and iJ32 yards
and the Washway Road .1i miles and 270 yards. Particulars from Mr. B. S.
Barber. Longford, Stretford, lor the Washway Road, and Mr. John Kinsey, Hale,
near Altrincfiam, for the Stockport and Warrmgton Koad, and also from Mr. Wm.
Devercux NicboUs, Solicitor, Altrincham, to whom tenders endorsed " Tender for
repairing the Washway or Stockport and Warrington Turnpike Roads" by
April 22.
MILITARY WORKS.
BntMiNGHAM, &c.— For the performance of works and repairs at Birmingham
Coventry, Northampton, Nottingham, and Weedon, for three years, from 1st April
ISCl, toSlst March, 1801. .Schedules, Ac,, at the office of the Commanding Royal
Engineer. i<o, Belmont-row, Birmingham. The fender is to include every descrip-
tion of builders' work, and to be forwarded to the Director Of Contracts, War-office,
London, S.W.,by March 27.
Cleydon Church. — This parish church, which has during the last few
months been to a considerable extent rebuilt, was reopened a few days since. Mr.
■Wilson, of Wardmgton, was builder ; Mr. Kimberley, of Banbury, erected the
pulpit and reredos ; whilst the tracery of the windows and gables, and the crosses
andsedilia, were tlie work of Mr. A. Claridge, of Banbury. The execution of
the whole of tliesc details reflects credit upon those engaged on them, who have
well carried out the designs of Mr. White, of London, the architect.
Cutting Veneers by Steam. — We have recently had the pleasure of
closely inspecting a steam vcnccr-cutting knife, at Gorton's Steam Sawmg and
Catting Mills, Lett's Wharf, Lambeth. The machine is somewhat similar to
those which are, or liiive been, employed in Paris, is simjile in its construction,
and may thns sliortly be described : — It is worked in a strong iron frame, firmly
set in brickwork. The machine consists of a knife, about 9 feet long, working in
a&ame ranch in the same way as the knife of an ordinary carpenters plane. The
cnttuig is done on an inclined plane, ■with a travelling spacejof some 10 or 12 feet,
actttated by two large and one small cog-wheels, driven as usual. The two large
cogs bchig attached, by proper shafting, to the knife fiarae, causes the frame to
traveise rapidly up and down the incline, taking off in each descent a slice
of veneer from the wood operated on, which log, during the ascent, is made to
rise on its bed by jnst as much as the thickness cut off— this movement
being managed by means of a " f<«d " at the back and lower end of the machine
having a shaft running diagonally across and behind it, connected with the
upper portion of the bed. The knife taing adapted for various thicknesses of
veneer, the " feed " is repilated for a charge by altering the size of the small (or
centre) cog-wheel constituting the "feed." When we saw it operating the
machine was cuttuig 22 to tJie inch from oak and walnut, but it is capable of
cmtting over 40 to the inch. Tlie saving of wood by this operation is very con-
siderable, there being no waste of saw-dust, and the cutting is so rapid, clean
and true, that we fency there can remain Uttle doubt as to the excellence of the
" patent." The machine, we believe, can be seen in operation, and is certainly
well worth in.spcetioii. We may add that thu^timber, previous to Ixing cut, is
placed in a steam f.ink for a period vai'yiiig from 24 to GO hours, ana by this
means cracking in cutting is prevented.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
AH letters and communications to be addressed to the Editor of the Bdilding News, 90
Old BoBwell-court, St. Clement's, Strand, London,
'rhe Editor Cfmnot uudcrtake to return unused manuscripts.
A Stranger (nclfast).-l. Could doubtless obtain a copy of " Dobson's Manual," on
application to Wojiii-. yj. High llolboni, London. 2. We cannot siiy, unless " sworn" to
give evidence. 8. DilVcrs somcwbut.
A KEAnER (Wandswortli-road).— Wc should say by means of a pump, its power to vary
according to tlie work to be done.
U. 1). Davis Ucfer to almost any work giving the result of experiments on the stieugth of
wroucht-lron.
O I* N^ .^We cannot say.
Fan'nt Sv.— Our fair correspondent is referred to " Bradley's Manual of Illumination," pub-
lished by Wlnsor and Newton, Ratlibone-placo. , , ,
Sdbscribeb (Dover).— The color yellow is still emblomaUcal of royalty In Japan, Persia, and
E. Z. K.— 1. Proposed In " London and Westminster Improved," by John Owynn, 1700. 2.
Lately reviewed in our pages.
r. J.— Shall receive attention. ,. ^, .
AiicHiTECTUBAL STcnENT (Leiccstcr).— Whlto flr or Norway spruce wood is mostly imported
from Christiana in deals and planks. The trees felled for this purpose are usually of about
80 years' growth, and are cut into lengths of about 12 feet eacii, these lengtlis being then
sawn into deals and planks ; before being sawn tlicy are usually about 9 inches square, the
standard thickness is an inch and a half. Considerable quanUtlcs are also imported from
America; received at various ports. ^ . ™. j ^ .
H, ]■■ Because subject was better treated by an earUer correspondent, wc may do so, but
cannot promise.
L. T. "120 deals are counted as 100. ., . . , ,
y. A. (Glasgow).-Flr hi bond denotes timbers built into walls— as bond thnbers, wall-
plates, llutels, &c.
SlLEX.— Very little has been done at present. ,^ ^^ , , ■
Joseph b.— the regular line of frontage is not always very evldant. Take professional
advice.
R. WiLLODonBy Shall hear from us.
A rcriL See Garbett's " rrinciplcs of Design."
D. C;oWELL.— Shall appear. .... „ .. . , ,_,
C. T.— Mr. I'alrbairn gives a useful tabic in his " Information for tngmoers; as it is valuable
for refereucc wc have no hesitation iu giving it. The llgurcs reprcseut the crusluug foi-co
in lbs. per square inch.
Iron and Steel: —
Cat Iron (white, 14 meltmg!) ?ll"5!?
llilto (12 Uieltiog.) 1^,744
Ditto (ordinary castings) » B»,ouu
Stone;— .ft.,-
Porphyry f».JJ»
(jrauwucke, Penraoenmawr ,,....,,,,.......,,.....•.•••••• 1D,WJ
Granite, mean of three i'?S5
Sandstone, Yorkshire ...■■•• ••••• W|127
Ditto, mean of 9 experiments .. o'loj
Ditto, Runcorn Z<^
Limestone S,»2B
Ditto, Anglesea Vihl
Ditto, Ma)(uesian~mean .*zit
Brick, hard hf^S
Ditto.red 805
Ditto, mean of 4 experiments 1,424
Timber :— - __,
Box ^'"t
English Oak (dried) ».»»
Ash (dried) |.3^
Plumtree (dried) S»*H
Beech «.«»
Red Deal fi"?
Cedar '.»*
Yellow Pine - °.37S
The author adds, the above summary gives pretty correct data for the giiidance of the
nractical builder in the adplicatlon of these materials when subjected to a srniple crushing
force. The experiments might be greatly extended to stone from other localities, but the
specimens are of a sufllcicntly varied character to afford the necessary information to those
employed in the constructive arts.
S. Levton Deferred for want of space. j . . ^
vr Dcbsley Fire-offices may elect to reinstate themselves if they desire to do so.
B.B._In Saxon MSS. the terminal line, usually formed the border somewhat In the manner
of your sketch, but the vellum you have discovered is evidently of later date.
W TuoMAs.— 1. Measured over all, no deduction. 2. Add extra price lor superior facings.
W M. O.— Painting should be left until the work is thoroughly seasoned. Indeed in the
situation named the wood would be much better preserved If simply oUed every three or
loNoBAMOs.'— A Dog-legged staircase has no opening or woU-hole between the ends of the
steps.
EXHiBiTou Next week If possible.
S. I). K._In type.
Y f'nwiN X - iGfi
a', m.- The prices'givcn are usuallyfor good sound wood,lfiti3 required to bo picked or to
of a very superior grain, the prices should be Increased.
KiKKHAM I'BioEYANn CuEY CuDHcii A correspondent asks if illustrations of either of
the above examples of English arcliitocture have been published.
A Young Aechitect (Scarborough) — See above. ,t . j. .,. .
AncniTECT Jlr. Wvatt calculated that In the arrangement of London audiences, a theatre
whose plan was three-quarters of a circle, with a stage opening ol 36 feetj would contain
78 boxes in four tiers, holding 1,004 persons ; 4 boxes of larger size, on each side next the
stage, holding 188, a pit capable of coutahiing 911 persons, and two galleries holdmg 1 60,
being a total of 2,so9 persons. „ ,,.„,„
E. O. (An Auctioneer) .-Yes. by 40 George 3, c. 4.'!, sec. 4, "Every person who shall value
or appraise any estate, or property real or personal, or any interest m possession or rever-
sion, remainder or contingency. In any estate or property, real or personal, or any goo^
orclTects, for hire or fee, slioll bo deemed an appraiser within this Act. Aiiu by tJie .jtn
section of the Act it Is provided tliat " No person shall exercise the calling of au appraiser
without taking out a license as herein mentioned; and such license shaUsUte tlie name
and abode of the person taking out the same, and two coinmlsslonors or stainps, or any
person authorised by them, may grant such licenses, and such licenses issued between the
Uh July on sth August, shall be dated lith July, and when issued at any other time on the
day granted : and such hcense shall be in force tUl the .'jtli JiUy lollowlng. The 8lli sec-
tion enacts that every appraiser shall write. In words or llgurcs, every appraiacnicnt made
by hlm.oranypersolifijrhlni, and the full amount thereof: and, witliln lourtecn days
alter making It, deliver the same to his employers, so written on duly stainpcd paper, &c.,
on pain to forfeit for neglect therein the sum of £50, Auctioneers hceuscd may act as ap-
praisers without tttkhig out this hcense.— Sec. 40 George 3, c. 43, sec. 7.
B. J. W.-Too late ; better try the effect of an application to the secretary.
T. SiMsoN.— Declined, with thanks. . . , . ,„ ,*,-., v-
SoBsciiiBEE (E.G.).— Will see, by this time, that our opinion has been fully JusUflcd by
subsequent events. . . ,
W. M.— Will And some Information on the subject In our first ana second volumes.
KnwAKD K.^We cannot interfere.
ADJOINING Owner.— May appeal.
T. Wells Heceived; shall name aiipoar? . ... , . ,. , „ .»,„
A HoLsEuoLDEii.— If party structure is dangerous the usual notice need not be given as tno
wall will be conderaned'by the police.
C. V. X.-The name of the patentee of bitumluised pipes has not reached us.
T. R.— Should exercise greater caution In sending couimimlcatlou.
A. A — Shall appear In due course. „„,,„,, . „.. t. ty a n^ i t
Keceived.-S. Crane, T. Chetwynde, W. M., T. O. M. E; Barret, Sidney, E. K. S.,T., Z. Z.,
Thomas Wilson, J. V. (New York), R. B., T. Catter (Bay8wator),ASubscrlberftomNo. 1,
H. Armltage, A. Cameron (Lelth), W. Jones, P. 'Voleur, A Churchwarden, Q.
March 29, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
261
ARCHITECTURE AND THE FINE ARTS IN THE
EXHIBITION or 186-2.
O apology is neeeded for bringing before the readers of
the Building News any matters connected with
the proposed Exhibition of 1 862. It is a national
undertaking and of national interest, and there
is also a very large proportion of our readers who
will be personally concerned in the success of the
enterprise, either as being themselves exhibitors,
or as having an interest in departments of manu-
facture and industry where others exhibit.
To those who are thus personally concerned,
and to almost all classes, it is a matter of serious
importance that the fine arts, and particularly the
art of Architecture, should be well represented
on this great occasion. In a recent Number of
this Journal* attention was directed to matters
believed to be of groat importance with regard
to the exhibition of construction and building
materials ; but there seems — judging by the Exhi-
bition of 1851 and that of Manchester — to be more
probability of a shortcoming in the architectural features
of the Art department — one which it might have been sup-
posed would be best cared for — than in any part of the indus-
trial division.
The great omission in 1851 was the neglect of the fine arts; and the
special attention devoted to them in the Paris Exhibition of 1855 gave
an interest to that occasion which went far to redeem the many indus-
trial deficiencies there noticeable, when a comparison was instituted
between that and our own Exhibition. Since then, we have, at Man-
chester, witnessed a most spirited and successful attempt to form a Fine
Art Exhibition, and to bring together the art-treasures of the United
Kingdom.
What was the share granted to architecture on these three occasions ?
On the first, architectural drawings, like paintings, were only smuggled
in as specimens of water-color, or drawing-paper, or of the art of
mounting drawings, or in some such way, and the principal appearance
put in on this head was by some very fine models especially that by
Mr. Salter, of Mr. Scott's Hamburgh Church.
Not so, however, with our French neighbours ; they had an archi-
tectural department, and they exhibited models and drawings not as
specimens of modelling and drawing, but as the best means of display-
ing architecture as part of the Fine Art Collection, and those who then
visited the Falais des Beaux Arts in the French capital will probably
remember the very fine collection of architectural drawings brought
together.
How was this example followed at Manchester ? and how was archi-
tecture there represented ? AVe leave it to any of our readers who
contributed architectural drawings or who went to look for them to
answer. That there were some drawings there is quite true, and that
some of them might be found after a long search is true also, but they
■were a meagre collection, they were placed in a badly lighted and in-
conspicuous part of the building, and they formed in no respect such a
collection as, compared with the vast galleries of paintings, and endless
profusion of curiosities and articles of antiquarian interest and of vertu,
corresponded for a moment to the importance of the art of archi-
tecture relatively to the other arts there represented.
AVe English have thus, in our two previous great Exhibitions acted
as though we cared nothing for architecture. In the first we bore out
the character of a " nation of shopkeepers," and recognised only the
arts to the exclusion of the^^ne arts; in the second, which may have
been considered a virtual supplement to the first, we almost proclaimed
that our notion of fine arts was limited to painting, sculpture, and the
ceramic art. Is tliis as it should be ? — will the architects of England
and the lovers of the fine arts allow it to be so again ?
It must be admitted frankly that there is a difficulty attendant upon
the exhibition in any gallery of works of architecture that does not
obtain, with regard to any other objects of the fine arts, with the
exception of, perhaps, fresco painting and mosaic — namely, that it is
impossible to exhibit the works themselves. S,culpturo, oil painting,
water-color drawings, and all portable works can be collected into one
place ; and every excellence that each one of them possesses can be dis-
played, andevery excellence displayed goes to increase the merits of the
work in the class of art which it professes to belong to. Now, unfortu-
nately, architecture can only be exhibited through representations which,
whether they be drawings, models, or photographs, labor under the
double disadvantage that they can but very imperfectly and partially
exhibit the characteristics of the architecture, and that a large
proportion of the excellencies they may display will be as likely as not
to draw away attention from the architecture ; for the spectator is not
■ ■ - — — — -, -
* December 7th, 1800.
left to unmixed admiration of the building represented, if the merits of
the representation, as a good piece of drawing, or modelling, or
photography, as such, are so prominent as to force themselves conspicu-
ously on his notice.
We labor, then, under this disadvantage, that at best works of archi-
tecture can but be partially shown, and if the representation is bad, it
conveys an inadequate idea of the building, while, if it is good, it excites
a divided interest instead of concentrating attention upon the archi-
tecture only. There is, it is true, a mode of exhibiting architectural
works which, to an architect, conveys a better idea of their merits than
any other, and that is the display of a series geometrical drawings with
views appended to them. But it requires some attention, even for an
experienced eye, to make out the excellencies of a building in this way.
There seems a growing distaste in this country to this mode of exlii-
biting works even to a professional audience, and for the general public
these sets of drawings would have no interest whatever.
We have yet, however, to learn that the existence of technical diffi-
culties, or of any difficulties, is a serious obstacle to the attainment of
any object which Englishmen think worthy their eflnrts. Our archi-
tecture ought to be represented in 1862, ought it not? If the answer
is in the affirmative the only thing left is to take care that it is as fully
done as circumstances admit.
But the technical difficulty we have alluded to is not without its ad-
vantages. Architectural drawing is an art ; so is architectural model
making, so is photography. Architectural sculpture and modelling are
also arts, the works of which admit of being either actually exhibited or
perfectly represented by casts. We may hope, then, that these six
subsidiary arts, with, perhaps, that of colored decoration, will be so
represented as in themselves alone to command attention ; and we trust
every effort will be made to secure that this shall be the case, and
especially that cflTorts will be made to bring together the best sets of
drawings sent in to the most famous of our competitions.
All this, however, is but of subsidiary interest and importance. An
exhibition of architecture proper, that is to say of the best and most
complete representations of buildings actually erected, or in progress,
is earnestly called for, and it in all probability rests with the architec-
tural profession to draw general attention to the fact. That the pro-
fession can themselves alone be expected to bear the burden of such
an exhibition is not to be expected.
No doubt many gentlemen have in their possession good drawings
of the principal works they have executed, and might be willing to
exhibit them.
But if this were the only source, coupled with such a supply of
drawings as may be prepared purposely for exhibition, we should be
likely to fall short of' the full requirements of the case. It is much to
be desired that the wealthy patrons of architecture should see fit to
exhibit at their own expense, representations of works that they have
caused to be erected. The camera of the photographer affords an
opportunity of doing this with such correctness and at so moderate a
cost, that it is fairly to be hoped that a large gallery of photographs
from modern buildings may be forthcoming.
In works of great importance, a model, photographs, perspective
views, and plans are all wanted, to give a complete idea of the structure.
Perhaps it would only be possible in a very limited number of instances
to obtain a combination of all these, but there are buildings in Great
Britain of importance enough to rander it desirable for them to be
thus shown in all their completeness. Take for instance St. George's
Hall at Liverpool, where English art encounters Continental on its
favorite ground and beats it out of the field. How well bestowed
would be a small portion of the ample funds at the disposal of the
Corporation of that city, if expended upon an illustrative series of
representations which should bring that building in all its grandeur as
impressively as possible before the beholder !
There may be less need for costly expenditure upon representations
of buildings in the metropolis because they will be themselves visible to
the mass of visitors ; else we should have at once turned to the New
Palace of Westminster as, more than any other, clauning to be illus-
trated completely. There is, however, one building of which the inte-
rest, to the minds of many, is greater than that of the New Palace, and
which we cannot hope to sec completed— hardly, perhaps, commenced —
by 1862. AVe allude to the new Foreign Office, a building the design
for which has probably not been as much appreciated as the beauty of
the details (of which some have appeared in this Journal) warrants. If
there is foundation for the rumour that the exterior is being recast in
the Palmerstonian style, we hope that both the original and the revised
designs will be presented to view.
This theme might be pursued to a great length, and will probably
attract further notice from us at a future day. There are many points
about exhibitions of architecture that have never been taken up in the
way they merit. Such, for example, are the exhibition of architects'
autograph drawings and sketches, which, in the case of some indi-
viduals—as, for example, the late Sir Charles Barry — would form a
collection of the most interesting description; or the exhibition ol
262
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 29, 1861.
deUils of ornament, specimens of carving, modelling, or casting, and
models of bits of groining, corbelling, roofing, &c., demonstrating the
expedients adopted for meeting artistic or constructional difficulties.
These, however, are matters of detail ; the great question of a good
exhibition of architecture once affirmed, the rest will all be sure to
tollow. The Architectural Association have already taken up the sub-
ject, and in a resolution, which will be found embodied in the report of
their proceedings in our Niunber for the 22nd March, have expressed
their own readiness to aid in promoting the interests of architecture in
the forthcoming Exhibition, and have called upon the other Architec-
tural Societies to do the same. We sincerely hope this call will be
extensively responded to.
♦
ON THE GENIUS OF DONATELLO.
WITH a change, and development in architecture, when only one style
at a time was known, all the accompanying arts upon which the
decoration of tliat architecture depended changed too, as well as even the de-
sign of the furniture, and other accessories usually seen in conjunction with
the building ; but now, when as well as the development of style, which
still undeniably exists, there is yet in that development a great amonnt
of choice in each progressive step, owing principally to the greater
abundance of material information and precedent on which to draw, and
also when the progress and choice is influenced by written advice and
opinion, as well as by practice, it is often useful when a certain important
step or advance has been made to endeavour to pave the way to further
progress, and point out to those who have already done much in their
works towards that advance, certain studies, and examples that may seem
specially useful to them and adapted to secure success, and fiirther sure
advancement on the foundations already laid.
A style of Gothic has been arrived at peculiarly suited for the display
and fitting use of sculpture which is now being much used— peculiarly
fitted, as I have elsewhere pointed out, for the use of the representation of
natural foliage.
But this style is not only fitted for the use of the representation of
natural foliage, but, although Gothic, it is pecuUarly fitted, for the first
time in England, for the use of correctly drawn and almost entirely un-
conventional representation of the human figure.
The time is come when cur buildings, Gothic although they may be,
may give scope for as high a style of the sculptor's art as the Classic build-
ing or the drawing-room, and when the highest and most gifted sculptors
may, without loss of fame or caste, bring the highest study of the human
frame and its sublimest proportions, to work on the figures of Gothic
buildings.
I said above that this style into which we have worked or drifted, ad-
mitted and would harmonise with correctly drawn and ahnost uncon-
ventional representation of the human figure.
But I said " almost :" there is a certain slight characteristic, a certain
mannerism or conventionality which the style requires, to harmonise
thoroughly with it, and in order to make the figure sculpture, especially
if it is large or life size, one with the buildings in which it is used.
It is difficult to explain or describe what that something, that peculiar
character, is, but this I think will show what I mean :— If you were to
take a statue out of the sculpture-room at the Accademy this coming
May, and place it in a niche or other fitting place in one of our most
recently erected Gothic buildings, by way of experiment, we should all of
us be very glad when it was down.
Again, if we were to go to the British Museum for the same purpose,,
and fetch one of the best of the old Greek statues, we should not like it
any better than the modern when we had raised it into its position.
Again, if were to take a journey of search to all our English cathedrals,
churches, and other of our Gotliic buildings, I think we should find when
we had selected the best and placed it in the same building, that it looked
either too rude, or else had too marked a Gothic character to accord with it.
If we visited the French or German Gothic buildings, and returned with
an experimental figure from either of them, we should I think again remove
it, as expressing so strong a Gothic character, either with French or
German conventionalities or peculiarities as not to suit our present stvle
of building.
Then what do I think would suit it ? Let us|limit our sphere of search,
and then I think I can show you ; and that by examples of which you can
easily judge yourselves.
• ^•. ^"''"'8 to choose a figure to suit this present style of Gothic
in which we are now designing, with samples of the sculpture used at
all periods and with all kinds of architecture collected close around us, we
were to roam through the Architectural Courts of the Crystal Palace, I
think we should reject the Byzantine as too rude, the Gothic of various
nations as too strong in the Gothic character, with whatever national
peculianties it might be tinged ; the Greek as too severe and too exclusively
associated with its own manner of building, and therefore, never likely to
appear as if designed for those in which we wished to place it ; the modem
as unsuitcd for our peculiar purpose for the same reasons and also for a
peculiar drawing-room ornament and unarchitectural character, which
seems to me to unfit it for use with architecture of any style. Michel
Angelo would not do, and certainly not Bernini, but I think having what
we wanted clearly unpressed on our minds, we should instinctively pause
at the St. George, the David, and St. John, of the early Florentine
Kenaissance sculptor Donatello. I think we should there find that
mystenous something suited for our particular purpose, which all the
others lack ; mind, I do not cite them as perfect, although I do think them
very beautiful, I do not say that many of our present sculptors cannot,
and do not produce in many respects finer works ; they have had many
new opportunities of study, and much instruction from masters that have
lived and worked since Donatello's arm and chisel have been still— but 1
do say that to fit themselves to produce works that would suit the build-
ings that we are at present designing and executing, and to enable them to
bring into the service of architecture as at present practised, the great
knowledge and skill that they possess, and that now they seldom bring
into that service, and to found such a school of religious and architectural
sculpture as, perhaps, in perfection of execution and depth of feeling, has
never before existed, they must drink deeply of the peculiar character and
inspiration of the sculptors of the early Florentine Eenaissance, and
especially of Donatello.
I do not ignore the superiority of the drawing, and the correct representa-
tion of the human figure of the Greek. I do not undervalue the sentiment
and religious feeling and the quaint and bold character of the diiferent
schools of Gothic. I admire much Michel Angelo's combination of the
correctness of the antique, with a poetry and fiery vigor not to be found
in it. I am a great admirer in their peculiar way of the modern separate
I figures cr groups, distinctly marked though they be as separate and movable
pieces of ornament. I am simply now speaking of the works of Donatello
and the school of early Florentine Renaissance of his time, as peculiarly fitted
for the higher class of architectural sculpture, to be used in combination with
the present Gothic style compounded as it is of English and French Geo-
metrical Gothic, modified in form, detail, and arrangement by hints from
that school of Italian Gothic which was still in vogue when Donatello
executed the earliest of his works.
Therefore, the date at which he worked would itself point his works out
as worthy of our attention and study as likely to be fitted for our pur-
pose. For to have worked at a time when the human figure was once
more successfully imitated, and yet to have employed his talents in
statues for the niches of a Gothic building, as the Or' San Michele un-
doubtedly is, surely in itself is enough to recommend his works to our
notice ;in these days when we can produce such perfect imitations
of the human form, and yet we have not yet tried the experiment of
correct and perfect figure seulpture with Gothic forms-of details, at least
as especially suited to our present style. And when we ifind that our
expectations that the works of the men of genius of that rising but
considerably developed school of figure sculpture, executed at that
peculiar era of art would be suitable to our peculiar stage of development,
and the peculiar relations of architecture and sculpture at the present
ime are borne out by the harmony of those works with the buildings in
which they are placed, as seen in Florence, from which we have
drawn many broad characteristics, and by their being the works of all
others in a place like the Crystal Palace, that that, in my opinion, would
strike you as peculiarly suitable when in search of sculpture for our
modern school of Gothic. I think I need not say much more to recommend ,,
to those who have at heart the artistic development of the present style
of Gothic architecture and the improvement of the art of architectural
sculpture of the highest order, the study of the works of the whole period
of this Pisan and Florentine school, for as a greater or lesser amount of
Gothic feeling is often required and useful in the treatment of different
subects, and different kmds of buildings, the whole range of the school,
from Nicholo Pisano down to Donatello, is greatly worthy of study.
But it is my particular object in this article to point out the peculiar geniuB.
of Donatello, and his works, fine specimens of which may be found at the
Crystal Palace, without theexpense and trouble of crossing the seas, open to
the poorest art-workman as well as to the most prosperous sculptor, as of
especial value when it is required to place in Gothic buildings, statues of
saints or apostles, or kings or queens, or men eminent in the art-pro-
fessions, sciences, or public services, executed in the most perfect manner
known to our best sculptors, and yet, when it is the wish of all concerned
that the statues so placed, should harrannise with those buildings, in style
and design unite with them and form an evident part of the decorations
of those buildings without which those buildings would appear incom-
plete, for it is in the large life-size figures or statues to be placed in
niches or on pedestals that Donatello's peculiar genius seems to fit him
to be our instructor and master.
His St. George, which still stands in warlike repose in his niche at
the Church of the Or' San Michele, at Florence, is the perfection of archi-
tectural figure sculpture, which I think the cast at the Crystal-palace,
although unfortunately as iu my opinion not, in his niche, will, even with-
out it, from its peculiar character, sufficiently prove. His David and St.
John, the only other large works of his of which there are casts in Eng-
land, are evidently designed for close inspection, from the extreme beauty
of the manner in which the hair is executed, as well as other details; but
still they are fine and useful examples of sculpture fitted for union with
architecture when that sculpture is near the eye. I cannot take leave of
Donatello, without especially recommending for study, for medallions near-
the eye and where liable to injury, the fine examples in the Renaissance
Court of the Crystal-palace of his peculiar manner of executing heads and
figures in low relief. I think much might be gleaned from them adapted
to the decoration of the lower parts of our buildings, tombs, and pedestals
of statues or other memorials.
Michel Angelo, after standing for a long time gazing at the St. George
of Donatello, admiring the wonderful efifect of life and vigor combined with
repose, with one word expressed his admiration and its cause, by ex-
claiming out loud " March 1" I would have you, like him, gaze long at
Donatello's works, and when before them I would say, " March ! study,
and advance." E. D.
March 29, 1861.
THE BUILPING NEWS.
263
NOTES WITHOUT TEXT.*
VIII.
IF nn nnecdote may be trusted, it was a royal duke who once said to the
historian of tlie " Decline and Fall "— " Well, Mr. Gibbon, I suppose
it> Is still scribble, scribble with you." Still scribble, scribble it certainly
is with the writer of these " Notes," and it would seem not entirely to the
satisfaclionof every reader; which is so far from being strange, that it
would be far stranger were it otherwise. Much more might here be added,
but enough. It is some consolation for those who do not like these
" Notes" perhaps have some private, personal reason for disliking them —
that they are not compelled to read them. The present scribbler is glad to
find that he does not stand quite alone as regards his estimation of
Bonomi's claims to be all at once considered an architect, according to the
meaning and intention of the founder. Mr. Bonomi damaged his preten-
sions not a little by laying stress upon the accidental circumstance of his
being tlie son of one architect and the brother of another. What then ?
Taste and talent are not, like hereditary diseases, perpetuated from sire to
son, generation after generation.
'' Xo second Srarlborough springs from Marlborough's loins.
No second Wellington on Britannia shines."
But such reflections may be reserved for some other and better oppor-
tunity. What is more to the present purpose is to say that Bonomi is, at
the best, no more than an amateur in architecture; and there ought now
to be not only hundreds, but thousands, and even tens of thousands, who
could fairly arrogate to themselves the title of lovers of architecture— a
title that certainly cannot be claimed by the Royal— or why not now the
Imperial?— Academy of Oil Painters. Had they anything at all like pluck
In them, all the members of tlio architectural profession would openly and
unanimously condemn the recent decision of the Academy, with respect to
the disposal of the Soane Curatorship as being in direct contradiction with
the testator's intentions. If architects do not care, as a body, to resent
the indignities put upon them in their collective character as artists, so it
must be. It does not at all concern myself personally, or I should either
bring them (the Academy) to their senses, or expose their stultification.
Who and what are the Academy, that architects should be afraid of them?
However, there is no accounting for tastes; so, if architects have no ob-
jection to being spit upon by the Royal Academy, so let it be.
IX.
WERE there anything like sufficient materials for such a work— which
it is to be apprehended there are not— a history of scenery and
scene-paintiug, including that of all the improvements which have taken
place in tlie arrangement of the stage itself and all its appurtenances,
would be interesting — curious, certainly. In the infancy, as it may well
be called, of the stage proper, albeit it was in the palmy days of the drama,
it used to be the custom for " persons of quality " to sit upon the stage —
an absurdity so excessively gross that it is astonishing it should ever have
been tolerated. Perfect illusion is impossible : in spite of all improve-
ments, there is much ((uite at variance with vraisemhlunce which must be
overlooked. People do not walk in or out of a room through the side-
walls, as actors do between the side-scenes ; neither is it at all usual for
them to converse standing and walking about, or, if it is necessary they
should be seated, for a man to bring in two chairs and plant them in the
middle of an otherwise quite unfurnished room. There is and ever must
be a great deal of unavoidable and incurable unreality in all dramatic
representation ; and the unreality is sometimes made all the more apparent
by attempting to mend it. As has just been pointed out by another con-
tributor, one great difficulty is that of contracting or enlarging the stage
opening accordingly as circumstances may require ; yet it is not, perhaps,
wlioUy insuperable. Surely the contraction might be effected by the en-
largement or extension of the proscenium, or architectural frame of the
stage— to wit, by means of a cut drop-scene, representing columns and
drapery, in continuation of the fixed proscenium, and therebj' reducing the
actual opening to less extravagant dimensions for showing the interior of
a common-sized room. In such case the scene proper would have to be so
near to tlie opening in front of it as to allow no more space between them
than what convenience requires. So far from being an advantage, depth
of stage is a sad drawback on artistic effect. There is nothing equal to
what is technically termed a drop for exhibiting a scene-painter's artistic
power of producing a picture. Such production of the pencil it was, re-
presenting a magnificent hall of Greek Ionic design, that used, every time
I beheld it, quite to enrapture me. Although in the theatre of a provin-
cial city, it was painted by a first-rate artist in the metropolis.
X.
ALTHOUGH speclaclc is so highly in favor with the public, our theatres
are far from being so arranged as to allow all the visitors to be spec-
tators. Instead of all being seated directly facing the stage, half of them
are placed sideways to it, an inconvenience greatly aggravated by their
being packed together and piled up almost to the very ceiling ; so that
from the uppermost tier of boxes only a sort of bird's-eye view of the
stage can be obtained, and as far as the back scene is visible at all, its
intended perspective effect is completely marred. These serious defects
are not to be attributed to architects, who, be they ever so clever, cannot
achieve impossibilities. So long as they are compelled to provide as many
seats as is at all practicable, they cannot help themselves. It is in vain
for them to expostulate — to say to the lessee or manager, " If I am to
bring the side boxes almost up to the verge of the curtain, how are
peraons so placed to see ?" To which the response would probably be,
• By the Author of "Ciups or Criticism." Continued from page 219.
" You dunce, if people are content to pay just as well for not seeing as
for seeing, so much the better j the very best sight of all here Is that of
their money."
Of all places in a theatre the stage-boxes are assuredly the very worst
for seeing, except it be seeing the paint upon the actors' faces, and obtain-
ing a view between those slices and fragments of scenery denominated
" wings." Nevertheless, for such preposterously located scats people are
well content to pay, not, indeed, for the sake of seeing, but for the more
important purpose of being seen.
IT is with the scene-painter as it is with the actor : the triumphs of both
the one and the other are, although immediate, but transient and
ephemeral ; applauded by the contemporary generation, they are to
posterity no more at the best than emblazoned names of the greatest and
most artistic actors : all but their names has evaporated into nothingness.
Shakespere will breath to ages yet unborn ; not so a Garrick or a Siddons.
Yet although not in that of the actor, it is in the power of a sceno-paintcr
to transmit to after-times some record of superior talent. Do not such
painters preserve their sketches ? If they do, why do not some of them
work up the happiest of their productions, and rescue them from oblivion
by publishing them ?
XII.
NEITHER Bonomi himself nor any of his friends can be much surprised
at what they ought to have been prepared for by anticipation — namely,
that if he obtained the appointment (the curatorship of the Soane
Museum) it would provoke a rather scrutinising inquiry into his preten-
sions, which are so exceedingly futile and weak as to amount to nothing
better than a sentence of disqualification, unless what, though not .so well
expressed as it might have been, was yet sufficiently obviously Soane's
real meaning and intention, is to be disregarded on the very first oppor-
tunity there has been for doing so. Mr. Bonomi's "circular" betrayed
a consciousness of the weakness of his cause, and the equivocal nature
of his claims to be considered a member of the architectural profession.
The accident of birth— his being the son of one architect and the brother
of another— does not confer professional status upon himself. If mere
relationship be sufficient, the appointment might just as well be bestowed
upon an architect's widow as upon an architect's son. The duties annexed
to it are no more than what an intelligent, well-informed woman who had
been the wife of an architect could discharge equally as well as a man.
Such a lady as the late Mrs. Jameson, for instance, would not be at all
out of her element in the Soane Museum. Mr. Bonomi, however, is not
only an architect, but a traveller, one who has visited Egypt, and studied
its monuments— to what sort of purpose is only too evident, from his
having parodied and burlesqued that style, by concocting out of it a
design for a Yorkshire cotton mill, or something of that kind, which was
nothing less than a solemn mockery, a wholesale sham, and make-believe.
" To what base uses may we not return, Horatio."
Probably that absurd idea did not originate with himself; but at any rate
he was an accomplice and accessory in carrying it out, and, moreover,
piques himself upon having been so. Had he been content to remain m.
obscurity no one would have disturbed him; it is his presuming to put
himself forward as competitor for a prize intended for a bona fide profes-
sional man that now justly causes him to be looked upon as a mere pre-
tender and interloper.
-♦-
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION BUILDDJG, 1862.
"TTTE are enabled this week to publish in our columns a view of the nave
W of the new buildmg for the International Exhibition. It has been
transferred from a photograph of the original view exhibited with the
contract drawings a fortnight since at the offices in West Strand. Its
accuracy may therefore be relied upon. Li our Number for March 15,
page 220, we gave a general description of the building. The carefully-
prepared engraving in our present Number will allow its pnncipal
feature to be more fully realised. The spectator is supposed to be
standing under the dome at one end of the building, and to be lookmg
towards that which occupies a similar position at the other. Flights of
steps, 5 feet high, very skilfully planned, lead from the octagon hall, over
which the stupendous domes are reared, to the nave. There are pedestals
at the side, as shown in the engraving, for equestrian or other luge
figures. The domes are 250 feet high and 160 feet in diameter. We
described them as 135 feet wide in our former notice; that dimension was
the smaller diameter of the octagon beneath it. The nave is 85 feet wide,
and the 100 feet in height to which it rises is thus subdivided:— 26 feet to
the underside of gallery; 25 feet to the ceiling of gallery, on a Ime with
the tops of the columns; 25 feet to the feet of principal rafters; and the
remaining 25 feet thence to the underside of ndge-picce. ,„ . , .
The hollow iron columns carrying the semicircuhir ribs we 12 inches m
diameter. They are in several places strapped and bolted to the iron
piers behind them, so as to form a compact and sohd mass of buUdmg.
The semicircular ribs are of wood, instead of iron, as previously stated ;
they are two feet deep, and are strutted and bonded to the rear supports
and to the principal rafters. The nave is lighted entirely through the clere-
story, and provision is made over the windows for efficiently ventilating
the building. The roof is boarded and covered with felt.
We believe that no decision has hitherto been arrived at respecting the
colored decoration ; but whatever colors are adopted, they should without
doubt be so subdued as to form a background to the rich masses of
gorgeous work which will be scattered over the colossal galleries, mere
264
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 29, 1861.
will even then be ample opportunity for artistic treatment, nni Captain
Fowke, whose constractire ability is unquestioned, will, we hope, show,
on the completion of the work, that it is a worthy production of the
Department of Art and Science.
KING'S COLLEGE HOSPITAL.
THE new works, so long suspended by the last year's strike, at the King's
College Hospital, are now drawing to a close. The second contract will thus
be carried out. "The friends of the Institution will subsequently ouce more have
to bestir themselves, and furnish the sinews of building, in order to rebuild upon
a uniform plan the old block at the cortier of Portugal-street. The success whicli
bis attended former efforts will doubtless stimulate them to further exertioiis;
the public will see in these stately buildings the embodiment of charitable deeds,
not wastefully perishing, but transmitted from generation to generation, to
ameliorate tlie sufferings and heal the diseases of the poor. The London hospitals
are really public monuments, not of individual, hut of collective worth; records
of unostentatious, munificent, and genuine charity. The result of accumulated
offerings presented by this home for the sick and the maimed will, we trust,
encourage those who have not previously contributed, to give of their superfluity
to the good work, so that this additional memorial of English sympathy with the
soaring poor may be quickly and worthily finished. The very bricks in the
building point a moral — singly each is but a small rectangular block of baked
clay ; laid together, they constitute a. hospital adorned witli blessings and con-
templated with wonder and astonishment by the wise and good throughout the
civiuzed world.
Some objections have been made to King's College Hospital, on account of its
position in a confined neiglibourhood ; but, even if the objection were a sound
one, which we are not prepared to admit, it will soon be removed, for the erection
of the New Law Courts, and the cutting of the new street, in its immediate
vicinity, will ventilate thoroughly the crowded districts and leave it in the en-
joyment of as much breathing room as cither of its sister hospitals. A large
space has already been resirved for a front court in Portugal-street, where the
entrance is considerably set back from the line of the street. It is a simple, sub-
stantial-looking building, and, on closer inspection, we find it as well built as it
appears to be. There is no useless decoration, there is neither wasteful
ornament nor wasteful stint ; whatever is done is done well. The bricks are
well chosen and well laid ; the stone is carefully selected, prepared, and fixed.
The floors are half-battens, laid to avoid great and prceptible shrinkage. The
walls are stuccoed with Parian on Portland. The u-on castings, by Lavyrence,
are as good as castings can be. The floors are fire-proof (Fox and Barrett's
patent). There is nothing like bad work in any part of the building, and it is
creditable alike to the architect, Mr. Bellamy, to the builders. Messrs. Lucas,
and to the Clerk of the Works, Mr. James Buckle.
The elevation towards Portugal-street is, as we have already said, very plain,
and built principally of brick. It is altogether six stories high, including base-
ment. The windows are simple openings, with beaded arrises and flat gauged
arches. The keys of the arches are stone, as also are the quoins, strings, and the
black raodillion cornice over the fourth story. A flight of some eight or ten
Portland stone rounded steps leads to the entrance, which is flanked by j-Doric
columns and pilasters, with vermiculated bands, 'fhese columns and pilasters
are elevated on pedestals ; over each of them, in the irieze, there is a shield with
the hospital initials, and on the frieze between them the respective records of the
foundation, incorporation, and rebuilding of the hospital, 1839, 1851, and 18(51.
There are stone finials on the cornice over the centres of the columns and
pilasters.
Passing through the principal doorway we find ourselves in a hall 23 feet
6 inches by 20 feet : it is very quietly and becomingly decorated ; the single in-
cised line at the sides of the trusses are evidence as sure of an educated hand as
if thev were extensively elaborated. The three arches in front mark the line of a
corridor which runs 8" feet wide to the right and left of them. The floor of this
corridor is laid with square slabs of Warwickshire blue lias, bordered with York
atone. On the opposite side of the corridor to the hall, there are a series of
reception-rooms for patients, with a bath-room, and two lifts which communicate
with the wards on every story above, and by which means a patient is gentlv
transported to the loonlily assigned to him. To the left of the entrance-hafl
entered from the corridor before mentioned, are rooms which will be devoted to
the clerks' and secretaiy's offices ; the space to the right of it will \>e appropriated
to the board-room, 26 feet 0 inches by 23 feet 6 inches. Tliis board-room has an
oval panel ceiling, the enrichmenta show no marked originality, but, instead
thereof, a general elegance in every line and moulding which is, perhaps, even
more pleasing. The corridor leads, on the right, to a suite of two or three rooms
apportioned to one or other of the hospital othcers. This arrangement is repeated
on each floor, so that the chaplain, the resident surgeon, the lady superintendent,
&c., inhabit respective floors in the western wing of the builtling. There is a
bath-room attached to each suite of rooms, and a staircase contiguous to them
leading to the different floors.
The corridor leads, on turning to the left from the cntrancc-hall, to a vast hall
and staircase, 43 feet by 31 feet 0 inches. As the staircase, 6 feet 6 inches wide,
rises next the wall on one side, the whole extent of the hall is at once exposed to
the visitor. Near the centre a statue of the late Dr. Todd will be fixed. At the
first glance, a good deal of space appears lost in this hall ; but on a more detailed
survey we find that it is the centre of communication between the several por-
tions of the hospital : one door leads to the old buildings at the corner of
Portugal-street; another opening conducts us to the block rebuilt in Carey-
street ; another to the out-patients' department and to the lecture and operating
theatres in the rear, which abut on Grange-court. Besides the facilities thus
afforded, stone galleri<«, carried on trusses and let into the walls, are continued
along the remaining three walls, and Jire connected on each floor with the prin-
cipal stairs. Thence access is gained to the different wards, with the advantage
of open instead of close corridors. Tliis feature is preserved on each story, for,
apparently, a very sensible reason— that there was the same requirement for it,
each of the three upper floors Iwing planned in a precisely similar manner. They
each consist of a long ward over the reception-rooms which we noticed on the
ground-floor, M feet long by 24 feet wide, lighted by nine windows in the rear.
On the opposite side of this ward— «. e, over the entrance-hall, board-room, and
secretarj's offices— two large convalescent wards and a bath-room, 30 feet square,
are plactal. These communicate, by means of open arches, with the ward, and are
lighted trom tlie front in Portugal-street. A good circulation of air is thus kept
up, and, to prevent anything approaching to a dianght reaching the patients,
shields are put to the sides of the windows, and as they open above on centres a
third of the way clown, an upper current is produced and maintained, without
the possibility of harm to the sick people below.
The rooms in the roof are devoted to bed, bath, and gener.il sitting-rooms for
the lady nurses. To gain as much room as possible, the roof-ribs are arched, or
rather so bolted and framed together as to obtain that form. The ends fit into
the iron shoes of the ties which run through the floor, from wall to wall, and the
whole mass in both roofs (for there is a valley in the centre) is thus held
compactly together, and the largest amount of space is gained in all the rooms.
Such is a general description of the works now approaching completion. The
first contract, which comprises the lecture theatre, the chapels, tlie operating
theatre, the post-mortem theatre, &c., was commenced in 18.52 and finished in
18o4. The portion towards Carey-street, already occupied, has two large wards
on each story. As soon as the general service of the hospital is transferred to
this new jwrtion of the building, the attention of tlie Governors will be directed
to rebuilding the corner of Portugal-street, and thus bring the several parts into
one uniform block, covering a site of no less extent than 208 ft. by 150 it.
Whether this consummation be delayed or not, the work already done
is no less noble— no less considerable a boon bestowed by the great and good upon
their poor and suffering fellows.
BODELWYDDAN CHURCH, NEAR ST. ASAPH.
WE give two portions of the external detail of the above edifice. The
tower window is that in the western elevation over the entrance,
and wliich internally is seen from tlie nave through the lofty tower arch,
it lights the children's gallery and is filled with stained glass, and is
10 feet in diameter. Over the window is a tracery panelled gablet, in which
is the shield of the Dowager Lady Willoughby de Broke, at whose cost the
entire church has been erected and endowed, in the most durable and
costly materials, the woodwork being wholly in carved oak, with a profu-
sion of polished marbles, &c., neither paint, plaster or distemper has been
used ; in a future number we shall give an internal view, in further
illustration.
The engraving of the junction of the tower with the spire shows the
character of the exterior, which is all executed in a stone, not unlike, and
as hard as granite. The Architect is Mr. John Gibson.-of Westminster.
THE VENTIL.\TION OF DWELLINGS.
THE Medical Officers of Health under the Metropolis Local Management Act,
at the suggestion of Lord Shaftesbury, are exerting their influence with the
several Vestries and District Boards of the Metropolis that they may urge the
insertion of the following cliiuses into the Metropolis Management Amendment
Bill to provide for the more complete ventilation of dwellings.
Every notice directed to be given by the 70th section of the said firstly recited Act
Bliali, when such notice relates to any building intended to be used as a dwelling-
house, slate the proposed size and plan thereof, and the extent or quantity of open
space which it is proposed that the said building shall have in the rear or on the side
thereof exclusively belonging thereto (unless all the rooms of the said building can
be lighted and suflficiontly ventilated from a street or alley adjoining, which must be
shown in and by such notice to the satisfaction of such vestry or board as herein
mentioned). And whenever the Medical ofHcer of Health for the parish or district
of the vestry or board to which such notice is given, shall certify to such vestry or
board that the proposed space is insuflicient for tlie purposes of health and ventila-
tion, and that a certain larger space is required for such purposes, then (notwithstand-
ing tliat such proposed space may comply with the requirements of the Jletropolitan
Building Act, 1855) the said vestry or board shall in such order as they may make
under the said section of tlie said firstly recited Act, require the per.'ion giving such
notice to provide such larger space in such manner as they may direct, or in default
shall refuse their consent to sucli intended building. Aiid the said vestry or board
shall have all such and the like powers for enforcing such portion of their said order
as are given to them in relation to the other portions tliereof, under the said section
of the said firstly recited Act, or by this Act.
Provided always that in no case shall it be lawful to require such space to be of an
extent greater than the vertical area of the front or other greater side of such in-
tended building, if such area be greater than 100 square feet. Provided that nothing
herein contained shall repeal or lessen any obligation imposed by the Metropolitan
Buildings Act, 1855, or any powers or authorities conferred by the said Act for the
purpose of euforcing the same.
DEFECTIVE HOUSE DRAINS.
DR. GIBBON, the Medical Officer of Health for the Holbom District, has
reported that his attention has been called to a house in Powis-place,
which is constantly infested with offensive smells, and the medical attendant of
.the family states that vomiting with diarrhoea frequently occurs amongst the
inmates. Tlie stench arises from an old briek drain running beneath the wooden
floor of the kitchen, which floor is badly laid, inasmuch as it does not allow
the air to flow below it for ventilation. There is no more frequent source of
illness and preventible death than those brick drains, containing, as they
generally do, a copious deposit of decomposing sewage running immediately
under the houses. It is well known, says Dr. Gibbon, how porous a brick is
to water ; it is, as I h.ive seen, much more so to sewer gases. It is not surprising,
therefore, that these pernicious gases should find their way through a brick
sewer into the interior of houses, especially when they are under a strong drawing
power, viz., the kitchen chimney from above, and are much eonipnissed in the
drain. None but glazed stoneware pipes, well cemented at the joints, should be
placed under dwelling-houses ; and even then it is desirable, for sanitary as well
as other reasons, that a free current of air should pass between the drain and the
floor of ba.sement.
The District Board of Works have directed that the old brick drain be replaced
by a 0-inch glazed stoneware pipe drain, with a D or syphon trap.
March 29, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
265
DETAILS OF ST. MAUGAEET'S >'E\V CHURCH, BODELWTDDAN, ST. ASAPH.— Mb. John Gibson, Architect.
FRENCH GALLERY.
TTTE always take an interest in the opening of this Exhibition because
T V the greater number of pictures it generally contains are intelli-
gible examples of legitimate art, and among them a few not unfrequently
present us with poetic conceptions. These pleasing and instructive qua-
lities become more readily apparent in this gallery owing to its not being
overcrowded with pictures, the unassuming tone of color in which they
are always painted, and thus, as it has been frequently stated, the collection
of Frencii and Flemish works in this exhibition afford retreat and repose for
eyes which have been wearied almost to blindness by the violent contrasts
of yivid tints and the obtrusive style of treatment wliicli struggle in
fierce contention for public favor and attention in the galleries of pictures
by native artists in the surrounding exhibitions of the season. Small as
the number of foreign productions may be which form the collection for
the present year, we do not pretend to notice each picture, but merely to
select those which will in any way tend to elucidate the principles of legi-
timate art as practically applied to the current subjects of the present
time. The first picture in the catalogue, and the largest landscape, is a
waterfall by Andrien Achenbach, in whose productions we always admire
the science displayed in their arrangement, although we occasionally cannot
approve of his treatment ; but the example before us we can sincerely ap-
plaud for being excellent in both respects. The principal feature of the
composition is the mass of water, which as it falls throws up some
spray, giving to that part of the picture the greatest attraction, as the
leading white, well supported by some barns or cottages in shade
behind it in the middle distance, which is thrown into air, and its darkness
in some degree concealed, and that point in the composition is besides
rendered interesting by the introduction of two figures darker than the
mass of shade alluded to. The perturbed state of the water below a fall
we do not remember to have seen so skilfully distributed and connected
with the rest of a picture. It is done by a few angular, straggling and
bare branches of small trees being introduced about the banks, forming the
foreground, which produce an effect of restlessness on the eye, they thus
continuing the sense of motion in the water about the lower part of the pic-
ture, which is also carried upward and assimilated to the background by
a slight and elegant little tree, reminding us of Constable by the way,
in which it is blown about by the wind. The gable ends ot the sheds near
the foreground and the pieces of brickwork are not arranged so
as to satisfy an eye trained to perspective, nor are they suffi-
ciently irregular to compensate for that failure by producing a pic-
turesque effect. They should have been either more accurate or more
boldly drawn in " admired disorder." The smoke from the chimney
being driven down at an acute angle is an unfortunate concession
to the crotchety and realistic notions of the day, for although a true
true picture represents but one moment of a scene or one instant of an
event, no represention should be given of a momentary action in that
scene or event. The absurdity, when explained, will be apparent to minds
open to rational impressions. A picture is intended to last for many
years, but the gust of wind which drove the smoke down as represented
in the picture under consideration would not have continued even while
the painter made a sketch of it, and yet there it will remain while the
picture lasts. If a mistake of this kind were decisive what would become
of the saying " as fickle as the wind ? " for according to the painter it is
the emblem of constancy. He is however not singular in this matter.
We saw the other day a well painted picture by a celebrated Scotch,
artist entitled " The Pibroch," a most solemn scene, but to be natural
he drew the piper standing on one leg, the other being put forward,,
as if taking a step in advance. Having seen the picture a few y^ars.
previously, we of course found our friend the piper still standing with
one foot up in the air when we saw it recently, and there will he remain
standing upon the same leg, until time or the cleaner destroys the
picture. Can the real, or rather the false, be worth attempting when it
involves such an absurdity ? But to return to our catalogue. The next
subject deserving attention in this wjy is a cleverly painted study-
entitled " Venus and Cupid," but in truth it is neither the one nor the
other, for they are both academic models without the slightest ideal or
mythological character.
Of Mdlle. Rosa Bonheur we arc most unwilling to speak, except in terms,
of the highest praise, nor do we now intend to censure her except for al-
lowing herself with her fine and rare talent, which ought to make her
independent, to be made the cat's-paw to get small and common chestnuts
out of the fire, because these peculiar chestnuts may happen to be saleable
just now. " Scotch Cattle " and "Shetland Tonies " are subjects utterly
unworthy of her pencil, and, never having been accustomed to such,
animals during her early days of serious study, we must in candor say she
cannot paint them well. Of course the surrounding landscape is rendered
as she can paint landscape, but that is not enough to sustain the fame of
the artist who painted the " Horse Fair." " The Intercepted Letter," by
Carolus, is in most respects a clever production, but here again mischief
has been done at the shrine of reality. Because the young lady happened
266
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 29, 1861.
to wear a very large flat and peculiar straw hat, like those worn by the
common Chinese, or perhaps because it happened to have been the fashion
in Paris, it is placed in a chair at her side; but it is so singular in form that
when compared with the rest of the accessories it entirely disturbs the
unity of etTect, besides which the bright light seen between the curtains,
which are equally divided in the background, cuts the composition down
the middle.
In the •• Meeting of Early Flemish Keformers," we find some clever
heads, but in the arrangement there are points of affectation not sufficiently
disguised in the garb of accident, and which bring the rules of art into
disrepute. The young man standing on a stool arranging a lantern so
evidently put there to form the apex of the pyramid, much inj ures the
subject, because it is not probable that during so serious a proceeding a
household duty of that kind would be performed ; and another specimen
of palpable affectation is the bright red cap lield by a young man
in the foreground ; it is not only a plagiarism from.Teniers, but is
antagonistic to the general
I
effect. These are the principal
faults which we have thought
advisable to point out for the
improvement of students and
amateur j, but must at the same
time remind them that the pic-
tures in which these errors are
to be found are works of consi-
derable merit in all other re-
spects— indeed the waterfall by
Achenbach is really fine.
In the landscapes by Lam-
binet we find nothing but what
deserves approbation, unless it
be an approach to the EngUah
style, wliich we would rather
•ee avoided. The " Towing
Path on the Seine," by this
:,rtist is very clear and luminous
— the elegant curve of the path
is an excellent feature. " The
Punt " is one of those coraposi-
tioos in which the simplicity
and little opposition among the
leading lines suit admirably
with the quietude and serenity
of the subject, and " The Com
Field — Evening," is decidedly
poetic in the sentiment con-
Teyed by the general aspect of
the scene. The principal linos
here oppose each other in
curves, this form being neces-
sary to confine the light in the
■ky and its reflection in the
water as much as possible, the
antagonism of the curves being
concealed by the breadth of
shadow and the powerful masses
of light. Amidst the approach-
ing gloom, as the sun descends
below the horizon, the droop-
ing and weary figure of a
mower with his scythe over
his shoulder going to his home,
is most happily and appro-
priately introduced, and gives
the culminating point to this
charming composition. There
is a very suggestive arrange-
ment in the picture entitled
"The Recruiting Party," by
Tcnkata. One side is a young
man suddenly in love with war; ~^ "T ' ' ," ' ' ^
behind him his wife in tears, and her cUld, afldlk the extreme corner
of the foreground, on the opposite side, sits, in shade rendered more
poetical by deep toned tints, [a veteran, who, while calmly smoking
nil pipe, looks across the picture at the recruit and seems reminded
rfthe time when he began his military career, but as a clever resource
X)i art this incident serves to mentally connect together the extreme
and most distant features of the composition, and as an expression
of feeling approaches high art. It is this unobtrusive employment
of thought in their compositions which renders the foreign artists
superior to our own. Another instance of the kmd will be found in a
picture full of meaning, called in the catalogue " the Fisherman's Cottage
durmg a Storm," where the old father sits with his hands joined upon his
knees, and with his eyes fixed on the floor, appears by
the assistance of his experience, to be reflecting what may
or may not have become of the boat and his son. The
rest of the family, like the surrounding persons in " The Kecruiting
Party," do not excite the mind of the observer beyond the act they are
'Jcrforming, but the old father in the cottage, and the veteran soldier in
-■<niard-room carry us beyond the present before us into the past, sug-
gestive of the perils from which they have escaped, and shadow forth
what is to be endured by those on whom their thoughts are fixed.
It is the same investing with thought, and the same unobtrusive
manner in which the French painters express their ideas — " il faut me
chercher," seems to be their motto — aided by low tone of color, purity of
form, and nalveti of pencilling which render the domestic interiors, and
the occupations of children in humble life so truly delightful, such as
they may be seen in the works of Frere, Duverger and others in this ex-
hibition— from among whom we regret to miss the works of Henrietta
Browne this year. Then there is another pleasing style of art which at
present the French artists have made entirely their own, we allude to the
elegant interiors and boudoirs, or costume scenes, at the head of which are
ileissonier, Plassau, Chavet, Fichel, Lanfant de Metz, Trayer and
Ruiperez — all contributors to the collection, and in most of whose works,
although in miniature, will be found pictorial eflfect, variety of textures,
marvellous execution of features, preserving all the flexibility of nature,
and the whole painted with a
freedom, ease and breadth of
touch that would qualify them
for pictures of much larger
proportions. Again, how su-
perior to anything of the kmd
produced by English artists are
the poultry yards, duckponds,
and flocks of geese we see from
the pencils of Coutourier, the
Bonheur family and that class
of painters, which are all works
of art, not the labored, dry ex-
amples of ignorant and direct
imitation we see in the attempts
at subjects of this sort by our
native exhibitors.
WINCSBSTKR CATHEDKAL, WEST FKONT.
HANDBOOK TO THE
ENGLISH CATHEDRALS.
WHEREVER English-
men may wander,
amongst Indian temples or
Northern fiords, or in any
civilised country which lies
between these widely-situated
objects, he is sure to find a
safe guide in the red Hand-
books of Mr. Murray. Every
foreign town has its attractions,
its interesting spots, its local
associations, its connected his-
tory, and its peculiar develop-
ment of architectural art, and
all have found a faithful chron-
icler in our great English pub-
lisher. There are no guide-
books to be compared to
Murray's in any language or
in any country — either for
accuracy, completeness, porta-
bility, or for the straight-
forward manner in which the
several authors give the de-
sired information.
Having worked up foreign
nations, Mr. Murray has at
length seen a field for his
labors in our English counties,
" and has rendered the same
good service to home tourists as continental travellers have for some
considerable time enjoyed. His foreign Handbooks are the best
companions abroad, and his domestic guides to difiTerent districts of
England show travellers that there is something equally interesting and
equally worth seeing in our own country. The natural beauty of each
district, its antiquities and its history, are fairly told, and contrast most
favorably with the pretentious nonsense which local guide-books are
too fi-eq'uently garnished with. Whilst the latter strive to swell the
importance of their single town at the expense of all others, Mr.
Murray's authors evidently desire to fix its proper position with regard
to all others. This even-handed justice is seen even more strikingly
in the volumes with which Mr. Murray is following up his guides to
the counties — viz., "Handbooks to the English Cathedrals." By
reference to other cathedrals which show a divergence from the plan of
that under description, he enables the reader to appreciate the value of
the peculiar feature. Thus, in noticing the transformation of the nave
of Winchester Cathedral from Norman to Perpendicular — a very clear
illustration of which, by the way, is given on one plate, showing side by
Mauch 29, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
267
side the original state, the intermediate state, and the present state —
he institutes a comparison between the manner of cutting it away and
that adopted in the choir at Gloucester, which is purely Norman in
design, and, like the former, has been overlaid with a veneer of masoni-y
in the Pointed style ; but the work at Gloucester is of a later age, and
executed by far less vigorous hands, so that the complete amalgamation
seen at Winchester does not appear there. Again, further on, the
author suggests a comparison between the nave of Winchester and that
at Canterbury, both of which were being constructed at the same time ;
but to prevent any misunderstanding he explains that the lightness of
the pier arch mouldings, and the slenderness of the piers at Canterbury,
result from the old Norman nave having been entirely pulled down.
In this way one building illustrates another, and renders its features
distinct and clear ; but al-
though apparently simple,
when done, the research, whicli
has been condensed into this
form of description, deserves
to be noted by the architec-
tural student, because to him
a great labor is saved, and
upon him a great boon is thus
conferred.
Of these new Handbooks to
the Cathedrals two volumes are
already issued. They comprise
the southern cathedrals — Win-
chester, Salisbury, Wells, Ex-
eter, Chichester, Canterbury,
and Rochester. These will be
followed, with as little delay
as possible, by the eastern
cathedrals — Oxford, Peterbo-
rough, Ely, Norwich, and Lin-
coln ; subsequently by the
western — Bristol, Gloucester,
Worcester, Hereford, and
Lichfield ; by the northern —
York, llipon, Dm-ham, Car-
lisle, Chester, and Manchester ;
and lastly, by the Welsh cathe-
drals. They are thus divided
into contiguous groups. Tlie
account of each has been written
after a personal examination,
and the history has been
brought down to the year
1860. The descriptions, being
intended as well for local guides
as for architectural histories,
are kept free from all techni-
calities, whilst to increase their
value, contributions have been
freely levied upon the histories
of Professor Willis, and they
are given with that ready ac-
knowledgment which forms so
striking a feature in Murray's
foreign Guides. The account
of each cathedral is divided
into two parts, the first era-
bracing that portion which a
visitor would wish to read in
the cathedral — its history and
details ; the second comprising
the history of the see and of
the archbishops and bishops
who have filled it, which can, of
course, be perused at leisure
after the personal inspection is concluded. By this arrangement
the pages are not laden with information which, however valuable,
the tourist would be sure to skip when on the spot, and a com-
plete record of the cathedral and all which belongs to it is
preserved. No space has been reserved for ornamental writing or
would-be eloquence : the author in every instance goes straight
to his aim. Before the first half-page is over we are ac<juainted
with the dates and builders of every portion of Winchester Cathedral,
and by the time we have read the next ten lines we know not only that
it contains good specimens of Early Norman, Early English, and Per-
pendicular, but also in what part'and parts of the cathedral we are to
look for each style. The best points whence views can be obtained of
the pile are tlien mentioned ; and, after a few judicious remarks, the
reader is led over every portion of the building, and each detail worth
notice is spoken of, with the circumstances which lend it interest or
value. The reference to other cathedrals is constantly kept up. " The
great length of the church," we are told, " as at Ely and Peterborough,
is pleasingly broken by the bold projections of its transepU, which here
extend, as usual in England, three bays beyond the aisles, their section
being the same as that of tlie nave." And again, before entering the
cathedral, we are directed to the grand view of the interior through
the open central door, and told that the length of Winchester (520 feet
from this entrance to the extreme eastern buttresses), exceeds that of
any other cathedral on this side of the Alps, with tiie exception of Ely
(560 feet), and of Canterbury, wliich is about 5 leet longer than
Winchester, and in the note we learn that these three cathedrals are
the largest that exist, except St. Peter's at Rome. Thus the author
happily contrives to introduce
a number of facts to us indi-
rectly connected with his sub-
ject, but enabling us to com-
prehend it readily and fully.
Mr. Murray was not, how-
ever, content to make his books
mere local guides ; by the aid
of Mr. Orlando Jewitt he has
transferred to their pages care-
ful engravings, either li-om pho-
tographs or original drawings,
of every object referred to, so
that, seated leisurely in our
studies, we may turn to the
different plates, as we should
on the spot look up at the
building, to understand a re-
ference or to realise a descrip-
tion. When the work is com-
pleted these plates will form
a series of unequalled architec-
tural examples from the earliest
Norman to the latest Perpen-
dicular, and the monumental
efligies which are and will lie in
future engraved, comprise the
greatest variety of costume,
armour and architectural de-
tail. Every cathedral has, in
the first place, a good com-
prehensive plan, drawn to
scales, with references at the
side. General views are then
given, intermingled with a
large number of details, illus-
trative of the descriptions as
well as of the cathedral; so
that, even as the characteristic
and distinctive features of the
cathedral are jotted down in
the text, they are carved on
the wood, and placed in the
same truthful manner before
the reader. The text and the
wood-cuts thus mutually assist
each other. Through the kind-
ness of Mr. Murray we have
obtained casts of some o'" these
blocks, and are enabled to give
our readers specimens of these
admirably compiled volumes.
Our first illustration is theAVest
front of Winchester Cathedral,
we extract the description of
^ it from the " Handbook :"
The west front (now, 1860, in process of restoration) was originally tlie work
of Bishop Edingdon (1.345—1300). Bisliop Walkelin's Norman nave extended
about 40 feet in advance of the present one, forming "two western towers or a
kind of western transept."— Willis. Tlie extreme western portion seems to have
been in a ruinous state when Bishop Edingdon pulled it down, and built (as is
generally asserted) the present west front, with the great window and porches,
together with the two first bays of the nave on the north side, and one on the
south. There is strong reason, however, for believing that the porches, the
muUions and tracery of the windows, and the central gable, are all considerably
later than Edingdon's time. Tlieir Perpendicular character is, at all events,
distinctly marked. The peculiarities which distinguisli the work usually assigned
to Edingdon from that of his successors, who continued the nave, will best be
pointed out from within. The design of the great west window is very simple,
" reducing itself to the merest stone grating."— Willis. Figures of St. Peter and
St. Paul formerly occupied the tabernacles" between the porches; and a statue
of William of Wykeham still remains in the niche at the top of the gable above
the window. Over the porch is an exterior gallery, as at Exeter.
268
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 29, 1861.
The whole of Wiiicliester is illustrated in tlie same eftective manner,
the admirable stalls in the choir, probably the finest wood carving in
England, the details of the font, and the effigy of William of Wykeham
are all drawn and engraved with Mr. Jewitt's habitual fidelity and
delicacy.
Passing on to the notice of Wells, one of the most lovely, and in
many respects the most remarkable of our English cathedrals, we find
the same carefiil intelligence in our guide, and the same accuracy in
the delineator. The view of the west front from Bro'me's Gate, at the
end ef Sadler's street, is a model of minute engraving, indicating its
rich sculptures and its slender shafts with wondrous skill. As a
specimen of the work, we have selected, however, the plate representing
■the central portion only of it, where the sculptures and general features
are more clearly seen. The front consists of this centre, in which are
three lancet windows, and above them a gable receding in stages with
small pinnacles at the angles; and of two wings of western towers pro-
jecting beyond the nave, as at Salisbury.
The identification of the "populus statuaram " wliich throng the front of the
cathedral is:itill most uncertain, not-
withstanding the great labor which
ha5 been so lovingly bestowed on the
subject by Mr. Cockerell. Below the
central gable six distinct tiers of sculp-
ture may be recognised, all of which
encircle the north-west tower. The
firet, or lowest, now nearly empty iu
front, consisted of full-length figures
under canopies. Tiie second is a series
of small quatrefoils, in which are
angels vanonsly arranged. The third
contains a series of subjects from the
Old and New Testaments. The fourth
and fifth tiers are full of full-length
statues; and the sixth exhibits the
final resurrection in a series of small
figures of most remarkable character
and design. The three stages of the
central ^ble have statues representing
the celestial hierarchy, the twelve
aposUes, and above all,' the Savioui in
Majesty. Only the feet of this last
figure remain.
The number of figures on the entire
west front is upwaris of 300, of which
158 are either life-size or colossal. Of
the lareer figures twenty -one are
crowned kings, eight crowned queens,
thirty-one mitred ecclesiastics, seven
armed knights, and fourteen princes
or nobles in costumes of the first half
of the thirteenth century. It is not
impossible that color may have been
formerly applied to these statues (as to
the small figures within the porch), and
tliey may, perhaps, have been iden-
tified by laliels with inscriptions. It
may, however, be said at once that
" amongst all the statues on the his-
torical tier not one can now be iden-
tified, and but one (Edward the Mar-
tyr) with any probability guessed at."
This is the conclusion arrived at by
Mr. Planche after due examination,
and asserted by him in a very able
paper read at the Congress of the
British Archaeological Association in
1857. It is one in which every unpre-
judiced archaeologist will agree, al-
though it is impossible to deny the
merits of research and ingenuity to
Mr. Cockerell's learned " Icono-
graphy," in which a name is given
to every statue.
The figures of angels in the first
stage of the central gable no doubt represent the nine orders of the celestial
hierarchy first set forth in the work of the pseudo-Dionysins (the Areopagite),
and speedily adopted throughout Latin Cliristendom : seraphim, cherubim,
thrones, dominations, virtues, powers, principalities, archangels, angels. In
the stage above arc figures of the apostles, St. Andrew and St. John occupying
the two central niches, immediately under the feet of the Saviour ; and in
the uppermost stage was the Saviour in majesty, supported on either side by
the Virgin and St. John. The circles of the snn and moon, attended by
smaller stars, occupy the spandrels above the central niche.
Another fine specimen of Mr. Jewitt's work is the cut of Bishop
Bubwith's chantry. Tliat and Dean Sugar's chantry arc both situated
between the second and third piers of the nave, counting from the
east. " The screen-work and cornices of Bishop Bubwith's chantry
(died 1424) are of extreme grace and delicacy. The canopied niches
at the east end of the altar, dedicated to the Holy Cross, contained
figores of the founder's patron saint. The arras of the Bishop — a fess
engrailed between three groups of conjoined holly leaves — appear on
different parts of the chantry, all the details of which are well worth
examination." The subsequent description given of Dean- Sugar's
chantry is a capital example of the easy, unassuming manner in which
the author imparts his information :
The chantry of Hugh Sugar (died 1489), Dean of Wells, and one of Bishop
Beckington's e.\eeutors, although of the same general character as Bishop Bub-
with's, exliibits many indications of a later style. The fan-tracery of the roof,
and the canopied niches above the altar, dedicated to St. Edmund, deseive notice.
On the corniee are angels (compare those on Bishop Beckington'.s chantry)
bearing shields with the five sacred wounds, the cypher of the founder, his arms,
three sugar-loaves surmounted by a doctor's cap, and the arms of Glastonbury
Abbey. (The three chantries may be compared in succession : Bishop Bubwith's
(died 1424), what remains of Bishop Beckington's (died 1464), iu the eastern
aisle of the south transept ; and Dean Sugar's (died 1489) ; they well illustrate
the gradual change and deterioration of artduring the fifteenth century.)
We have several engravings of the interiors of different chapter-
houses. There are the remains of the old Norman one at Rochester,
the delicate octagonal building at Salisbury, and the famous work at
Wells.
From the east aisle of the north transept a door opens to the fine staircase
which ascends to the chapter-house. It is lighted by two geometrical windows,
west. The corbels supporting the first
vaulting-shafts on either side, repre-
senting a monk and a nun trampling
on serpents, should be noticed. The
staircase is not unworthy of the mag-
nificent chapter - house to which it
leads, the finest example of its date
in England. It is generally assigned
to the episcopate of William de la
Marchia (1293— ISCi), and is, at all
events, nearly of this date, l>eing
throughout early Decorated (Geo-
metrical).
Like the crypt below, the chapter-
house is octagonal, and has a central
pier with sixteen shafts, from which
the ribs of the vaulting radiate. Other
radiating ribs spring from grouped
shafts at the angles between the win-
dows. These are eight in number,
filled with very fine geometrical tracery,
and surrounded by hollow mouldings
enriched with the ball - flower or
" hawk's-bell," a characteristic orna-
ment of the early Decorated period.
Some fragments of stained-glass re-
main, among which are the arms of
Mortimer, andof France and England,
quarterly. Below the windows an
arcade runs round the walls, with
Purbeck shafts and enriched canopies.
At the springs of the arches are
sculptured heads full of expression,
kings, bishops, monks, ladies, jesters ;
and at the angles, grotesques of various
kinds. A line of tiie ball -flower orna-
ment is carried round above the
canopies.
The double arches at the entrance
show traces of a door on the exterior.
The inner arch was apparently always
open. Remark the curious boss in the
vaulting, composed of four bearded
faces. The diameter of the chapter-
house is 50 feet, its height 41 feet.
Its unusual, and indeed unique, fea-
tures are — its separation from the
cloisters, • from which the chapter-
house generally opens ; and ite crypt
or lower story, which rendered neces-
sary the staircase by which it is
approached.
A most striking view of the chapter-
house is obtainedfrom the further angle
of the staircase, close to the doorway of
the Vicars' College. The eflect of the
double-door arches with their tracery, of the central pier, the branched ribs of
the vaulting, and the fine windows, is magnificent; and when the latter were
filled with stained glass, must have been quite unrivalled. The chapter-house is
by no means the least important of the many architectural masterpieces which
combine to place Wells so high in the rank of English cathedrals.
The account of Exeter Cathedral is In every way equal to the others :
its merits are noted, its defects are not ignored, and its splendid misereres
in the choir, its pier arches, its corbels, its cflSgies, are all exquisitely
illustrated and described. We have selected a view of the west front as
a contrast to that of Wells, and we extract the clear description of it.
The west front, usually regarded as the latest work of Bishop Grandisson, who
died in 1309, is of very high interest ; and althougli it cannot compete with those
of Wells or Lincoln (both of earlier date), may justly claim great beauty as an
architectural comnosition. It recedes in three stories, the lowest of which is
formed by the sculptured screen ; the second contains the great west window, on
each side of which is a graduated arcade ; and in the third, or gable, is a tri-
angular window surmounted by a niche, containing a figure of St. Peter, the
patron saint of the catliedral. The screen deserves the most careful examination.
It is pierced by tin'ee doorways, and surrounded by a series of niches, in which
are the statues of kings, warriors, saints, and apostles, guardians, as it were, of
March 29, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
269_
choir-screen of York Minster (<(?ni^. Henry VI.^ nearly a centnnr later). The
earlier work at Wells and Lincoln is, perhaps, of higher and more ideal character ;
but this at Exeter is fully entitled to air. Cockerell'a praise of it as " remarkable,
characteristic, and beautiful sculpture." ..
The platform above the screen, no doubt served, as in many foreipi cathedralt,
as a station from which the Church minstrels and choristers might duly welcome
distinguished personages on their arrival; and.ih>m which the bishop miglit
bestow his benediction on the people.
The first great church built in England in the Early English style
has found a worthy and just chronicler in Mr. Murray's author, lie
alludes very fairly to its great rival, Amiens, commenced in the same
year (1220), and completed nearly as at present in 1272, and institutes
a comparison with it. He notices its escape from material profanation
during the civil war, and its subsequent misfortunes under the archi-
tect Wyatt (1782 — 1791), when screens, chapels, porches, ancient
paintings, and stained glass were swept ruthlessly away. These, as
well as the lovely portions still remaining, are noticed in detail. The
"silent finger" of its spire
is compared with that of Nor-
■wich, St. Paul's, Amiens, and
Strasbiu-g ; and notwithstand-
ing the fact of its being in-
ferior in height to the two
latter, the writer claims the
first place for it in general
efiect and grace of proportion.
A very full description of
the chapter-house sculpttires
has been extracted from Mr.
Burges' pamphlet on the sub-
ject:
In the centre of the eastern walk
of the cloisters is the entrance to
the chapter-house, dating, as has
already been said, early in the
reign of Edward I. It is " a noble
octagonal bnildini^, having an in-
ternal diameter of abont 58 feet.
Each side is occupied by a large
window of four lights, with an
arcade of seven bays below it;
the vaulting - ribs fall upon a
central pillar, and their filline-
in is composed of the same light
concrete found throughont the
cathedral. Whether there was or
was not anciently a high-pointed
roof remains a disputed point. All
we know is, that the present roof
is modem, and that the poinqon
has evidently formed part of an
older roof contemporary with the
building. The great dticct of the
structure is its want of boldness ;
externally, the buttresses do not
project far enough, and internally,
the small columns at the angles
look flat, and resemble reeds. Alto-
gether, the impression is left on
the spectator that the architect,
whoever he might have been, was
by no means up to the mark of the
designers of Westminster, Canter-
bury, or Wells."— W. Burges.
We likewise give an illus-
tration of the exterior of the
chapter -house, with another
extract from Mr. Buries'
well- written pamphlet descrip-
' tive of it :
The key to the whole scheme of iconography, according to Mr. Surges, is " the
quatrefoil in the tympanum of the inside face of the entrance arch. From the
fact of the evangelistic emblems occupying the annles of this panel, we may well
infer that it was adorned with a seated figure of our Lord. . . . .4^round, and
starting from the quatrefoil as a centre, run first a series of heads, representing
the various conditions of life at the time the edifice was constructed. Thus we
see the shaven monk, the in and out-door costume of the fine lady, the nun, the
merchant, the sailor, the countryman, and many others. Then, above these,
and filling in the spandrels of the arcade running below the windows, is the his-
tory of man, from the creation to the delivery of the ten commandments on Meant
Sinai. It will thus be perceived that the series begins and ends with the minis-
trations of our Lord." The windows, in their original condition, seem to have
continued the "poem." At all events, each of the quatrefoils contained an
angel, bearing one of the objects used in the celebration of the Eucharist. Ten
of these remain scattered in the west windows of the nave.
Our seventh illustration is the frontispiece of Mr. Murray's first
volume. It represents the chantry of William of Wykeham in Win-
chester Cathedral,, which occupies the entire space between the two
piers of the nave in the fifth bay from the west end.
This chapel, to which Wykeham refers in his will, was built by him on the site
of an altar dedicated to the Virgin, his especial patroness, the mass at which he
9.
10.
the entrance to the sanctuary. These figures are arranged in three rows. From
pedestals, crowned with battlements, spring angels, each of whom supports a
triple pilaster, with capitals. The statues on thfse capitals, fonning the second
row, are, for the most part, those of kings and knights ; above the canopies
which surmount them appears the third row, chiefly saints and apostles. The
positions of the angels are admirably varied. It is difficult to identify, with cer-
tainty, the statues in the two upper rows ; and the following list, which exists in
MS. in the chapter-house, can only be accepted as possibly accurate. It will be
seen that some of the figures are repeated.
In the lower row, beginning on the left hand at the north, are thirty
figures: —
1. Canute.
2. Edgar.
3. Ethelred.
4. Justice, "l
5. Fortitude. > Small figures above the north door.
C. Discipline. )
7. Edward II.
8. Henry III.
I unknown bishops.
11. Richard I.
12. Henry II.
13. Stephen.
14. Henry I.
15. William I.
16. Robert of Normandy.
17. William II.
18. A king, unknown,
20 { bishops.
2L John.
22. Edward I.
23. Edward III. ) .,
34. The Black t ""^J ^'"'^'
Prince. j '^<^'^-
(These two are busts.
The screen, if.Gran-
disson's work, was
erected during their
life - time. See title-
page.)
Godfrey de Bouillon.
Stephen, Count of Blois.
(Remark the very rich
armor. This has also
been considered the
effigy of William Lord
Grandisson, father of
the Bishop.)
27. Guy de Lusignan.
28. Ethelwold.
29. Alfred.
30. Edward the Elder.
In the upper row (beginning at
the north) are thirty-five figures; —
1. Samuel.
2. Samson.
3. Jephtha.
4. Gideon.
5. Barak.
C. Deborah.
7. Noah.
8. St. Matthew.
9. St. John.
10. St. Jude.
11. St. Bartholomew.
12. St. Matthias.
13. St. Philip.
14. St. Andrew.
15. St. Peter.
16. King Richard II.
17. King Athelstan.
18. St. Paul.
19. St. John.
20. St. James the Greater.
21. St. Thomas.
22. St. James the Less.
23. St. Simon.
24. St. Luke.
25. St. Mark.
26. St. Auguslin.
27. King Ethelbert.
28. St. Birinus.
25.
26.
29. St. Boniface
30. Kenigils. I
31. Cwichelm.
32. Kenwalch.
33. Kentwald.
34. Ceadwalla.
35. Ina.
Kings of Wesse.\.
The two statues with shields of arms m niches above the upper row are certainlv
those of Athelstan and Edward the Confessor, the Saxon king who " expelled the
Bntons" from Exeter, and the founder of the existing bishopric.
In all these figures the general arrangement of the hair, as well as the fashion
ot the crowns and of the armor, are these of the reign of Edward III in which
the work was probably completed. The hawk on the wrist (Godfrey de Bouillon),
the hand grasping the beard (William I. and II.), and the crossed legs (Ed-
wai;d 1.), are attributes or actions frequently assigned to royal personages in
ancient romances and illuminations. The dog seen at the feet of one or two of
the knights (Robert ot iVormaudy) is, perhaps, meant to indicate fidelity. The
figures ot William the Conqueror and of St. James the Less are modem imita-
tion^ by Stevens, of the ancient statues, which crumbled to pieces, and A> last
Jell from their mches. All, indeed, are now battered and time-worn ; but the
work may be compared, advantageously, with the series of English kings on the
270
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 29, 1861.
it is one of the best remaining specimws of a fourteeutli-century monumental
chapel. The
foundation of the
al tar is still
visible. The
Bishop's effigy,
the "comelinras"
of which, it has
been suggested,
ma; have in-
doKd Anthony
Wood to describe
him as liaving
been of " courtly
presence, " re-
poses on an altar
tomb in the cen-
tre, arrayed in
cope and mitre.
The pillow at
the head is sup-
ported by two
angels. At the
feet, three monks
are represented
offering up
prayers for the
repose of the
departed soul.
(They are said,
butquestionably,
to represent
Wylteham's
three assistants
in the cathedral
works — William
Wynford, his ar-
chitect ; Simon
de Membury,
his surveyor of
the works ; and
JohnWayte,con-
troller.) The
tomb is kept in
repair by the
members of the
Bishop's two
foundations, at
Winchester and
Oxford.
Among the
monuments i u
the south aisle
are those of Br.
Warton, head-
master of Win-
chester College,
died ISOO: it is
by Flaxman, and
graceful in de-
sign, although
the boys whom
the Doctor is in-
structing must
have been chosen
for their peculiar
nglineas ; the
epitaph was
written by Dr.
Parr; of Hen-
rietta Maria
North, also by
Flaxman; of
Dean Cheyney,
died 1760; of siir
George Prevost,
died 1810; and
of Bishop Tom-
line, died 1820.
The last is by
Richard We»t-
macott, jun.
Against the riier
nearest the clioir
door, on the
north side, and
cu t i nto its
fabric in a dis-
graceful manner,
u the monument
of Bishop Hoad-
kx?:tkr cathedral, west fkont.
ley, died 1761.
Besides a medallion of the Bishop, the monument exhibits Magna Cliarta
side by nide with the Holy Scriptures, and the cap of liberty jostling the
pastoral staff. The flags of the 97th regiment are fixed in the comer near
the aouth-west wall; the wall adjoining which is painted with memoiials,
more interesting than artistic, of the losses of that gallant regiment during the
Crimean war. The west window of the south aisle also is filled with stained
glass to their memory.
From the nave we pass into the choir through a screen of stonework (by
Garbeh),erected
some years since
in place of a
Corinthian
structure de-
signed by Inigo
Jones. On either
side are bronze
figures of James
I. and Charles I.,
w h i c h formed
part of the older
scrcen.Thefigure
of Charles is
said to have
been much de-
faced and injured
by the Parlia-
mentary troops,
who, so runs
the tradition,
" stabled their
steeds" in the
cathedral, after
the fashion of the
old Northmen.
(It is also as-
serted, however,
that their cap-
tain on this occa-
sion was an old
Wykehamist,
and that he inan-
■ aged to prevent
much mischief,
although suffl-
cieiit harm was
done to the ca-
thedral. Waller,
who in the win-
ter of 1643 had
taken and given
up to plunder the
city of Winches-
ter, afterwards
regarded his ill
fortune in the
succeeding year
as a divine judg-
ment upon this
proceeding.)
The choir itself
consists of the
old choir of the
monks, under
the tower, and of
the presbytery
beyond it. This
portion of the
catliedral is of
various dates ;
the tower, late
Norman ; the
piers, arches, and
clerestory of the
presbytery, De-
corated (temp.
Bishop Eding-
don, about 1350);
the screen en-
closing it. Per-
pendicular (the
work of Bishop
Fox, about 1524),
the vaulting of
the presbytery is
also the work of
Bishop Fox ; and
the ceiling under
the tower dates
from 1034.
The tower, the
enormous piers
of which at once
attract atten-
tion on entering
the choir, was
rebuilt after the
year 1107, when
SALISBURY CATHEDRAL, ENTRANCE TO THE CHAPTER HOUSE.
the older tower of
Walkelin's cathedral fell. William Hufus had been buried under it seven years
Iwfore; and many thought according to the old chroniclers, "that the fall ol
the tower was a judgment for his sins, since it was a grievous wrong to bury in
that sacred place one who all his life had been profane and sensual, and who died
March 29, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
271
without the Christian viaticum." Tlie great size and massiveness of the piers is
probably a result of the panic caused by the fall ol t heir predecessors. " Tliey
are at present most unwieldy and intrusive, from their excessive size and
awkward squareness of form, and are tlie largest tower-piers in England in
jjroportion to tlie span of the arches that rest on them." — Willis.
The very narrow arches opening to the transepts should be remarlced. It is
common in churches with a central tower to give less span to these arches than to
those opening east and west, in order to leave the view from one end to the other
of the church unobstructed. The system is here carried to a very unusual excess.
The tower was originally intended to serve as a lantern, but was ceiled over in
the reign of Charles I. In the centre is an emblem of the Holy Trinity,
surrounded by the sentence, " Sint domus huj us pii reges nutritii, regime nntrices
piae." The larger letters are painted red, and form the date 16.34. Medallions
of Charles I. and Henrietta Maria, with their arms and devioes, also appear on
the ceiling.
The stalls, which extend from the eastern tower-piers to the first pier of
the nave, are of oak, as black as ebony, and probably exhibit the very finest
woodwork of their date and style
(which is the best) in the kingdom.
"They arc early Decorated (geo-
metrical) work, and their canopies
and gables bear considerable resem-
blance to those of the tomb of
Edmund Crouchback in Westmin-
ster Abbey." — Willis. This would
place their date about 1296. The
beauty and variety of the carvings
are wonderful. There is no repeti-
tion ; and the grace and elegance,
as well as the fidelity, with whicii
the foliage is represented, are no-
where to be surpassed. Tlie human
heads are full of expression, and
the monkeys and other animals
sporting among the branches have
all the same exquisite finish. The
mode in which the cusps of tlie
circles in the canopies are termi-
nated is worthy of attention ; and
in short, at this period of the revival
of wood-carving, no better examples
could be found for study and imita-
tion. The misereres below are of
early character and interesting.
Their date is rather later than those
(Early English) in Exeter Cathe-
dral— the most ancient in the king-
dom. The desks and stools in front
of the upper range bear the initials
of Henry VIII., Bishop Stephen
Gardiner, and Dean Kingsmill ;
and the date 1540. The rich
pulpit on the north side bears
the name of its donor, " Thomas
Silkstede, prior," on different parts
of it. The episcopal throne is
modem, from a design of the late
Mr. Garbett. The organ, a very
fine one (which figured in the Great
Exhibition of 1851), is placed under
the north transept arch.
Passing beyond the tower piers
into the presbytery, the eye is
first caught by a plain coped tomb
of Purbeck marble, in the centre
of the pavement, between the north
and south doors. This is the tomb
of William Rufus(died I100),wliose
body, after his death in the New
Forest, was brought by "certain
rustics" in a cart {rhcda cahal-
lariu) to Winchester, the blood
dropping from the arrow wound
throughout the whole distance.
He was buried under the central
tower, which fell seven years after-
wards, and his tomb was then pro-
bably removed further to the east.
It no longer contains the ashes of
the " Red King." The bones were
removed by his nephew. Bishop
Henry de Blois, in the twelfth
century, and are now mingled with those of Canute, Queen Emma, and two
Saxon bishops, in two of the mortuary chests above the screen work. The tomb
itself was opened by the Parliamentary soldiers, who found in it a large gold
ring, a silver chalice, and the ashes of a human body, indications apparently of
some later interment. Tlie chalice, at all events, would not have been placed in
the tomb of Rufus.
The piers and arches of the presbytery are Decorated, the extreme eastern
portion (the north arch and ea-steru; arches) dating from about 1320, the i-est
from about 1350 {tenip. Bi>liop Edingdon). Bishop Lucy's work, beyond the
presbytery, east, to be afterwards noticed, had Ijeen already completed : and the
new work of the presbytery was connected witli it in a manner worth notice.
(It may be examined at the back of the raised platform beyond the reredos.) The
magnificent reredos which rises at the back of the altar, cutting ofl" tlie polygonal
part of the choir (which occupies the place of the IVorman apse, and owes its
form to its keeping the line of the original foundations, as may be seen in the
crypt below), is probably of the latter end of the fifteenth century ; its certain
date has not, however, been preserved. It is of the same type as the altar-
screens at Christchurch in this county, at St. Alban's, and at St. Mary's Ovcric.
The empty niches give it a somewhat bare appearance, but a seriis of Grecian
urns, with whicli they were filled in the early part of the last century, have since
been happily removed. The whole screen has been reston:d, in part, it is
believed, by Inigo Jones; for the magnificent tabcmacle-work, which had been
partly broken down, has been chiselled with an eye to CUissical architecture.
Above the altar is a tolerably good picture of the Raising of Lazarus, by West.
The vaulting of the presbytery (of wood) is the work of Bishop Fox (lfiOO-1520),
and displays on its bosses a massoflieraldry, besides (at the east end) thevariotu
emblems of the Passion, together with a number of faces, representing Pilate
and his wife, Herod, Annas and Caiaphas, Judas, Malchus with the sword of
Peter dividing his ear, Peter himself, and many others. All are curious, and arc
best seen from the gallery of the east viindow.
The east window of the choir, best seen from the part under the tower, is filled
with Perpendicular glass, a little earlier than 1525, and the work of Bishop Fox,
whose arras (four times repeated, and impaled mtli the arms of each of the sees
he held in succession, Exeter, Bath, Wells, Durham, and Winchester)^ and
motto " Est Deo Gratia," are intro-
duced in it. " The only part of the
glass, however, now in its original
position, consists, as I think, of the
two figures which occupy the two
southernmost of tlie lower lights,
and of that in all the tracery lights,
except the top central one, ana the
three immediately below it. Tlie
top central light is filled principally
with some glass of Wykeham's
time, and all the rest of the window
with glass of Fox's time, removed
from other windows." — C. Winston.
The window must have been mag-
nificent in its original state. "In
point of execution it is as nearly
perfect as painted glass can be. In
it the shadows have attained their
proper limit. It was at this period
that glass painting attained its
liighest perfection as an art." —
C. W.
The presbytery is closed at the
sides by screens of stone tracery,
mostly erected by Bishop Fox, and
bearing his motto " Est Deo Gra-
tia." There are also the initials of
Cardinal Beaufort, with his motto,
" In Domino Confldo," and the
initials W. F., with the motto, " Sit
Laus Deo," belonging to some un-
known contributor. The date 1525
also occurs here. Uponthese screens,
on either side, and under each pier-
arch, are placed mortuary cnests
(also the work of Bishop Fox), con-
taining the bones of West Saxon
kings and bishops, originally buried
ill the Crypt of the old Saxon
Cathedral, and removed into
Walkelin's church by Bishop Henry
de Blois, who, it is said, mingled
the bones together, since there were
no inscriptions on the old monu-
ments by which kings could be
distinguished from bishops, or bish-
ops Irom kings. By him they
were placed in leaden sarcophagi.
The present chests, six in number,
are of wood, carved painted, and
gilt, and in the style of the "'Re-
naissance," which was beginiiingf to
appear in England in Fox's time.
The names inscribed on the chests
are (beginning from the altar on
the north side, and returning to
it on the south) : 1. Kynegils (first
Christian king), and Eadulph (or
Ethelwulf, father of King Alfred),
kings. 2. Kenulph (orKenewaloh,
son of Kynegils), and Egbert (the
so-called consolidator of the Anglo-
Saxon monarchy), kings. 3 and 4
(opposite each other). Canute,
Rufus, Queen Emma, and the Bishops Wini and Ahvyn 5. Edmund (not a son of
King Alfred, as is gerierally said, but possibly Edmund Ironside)
king. It is known, however, that thechests were opened dunng th,= c... ..,..■.,
and the contents scattered about the church ; consequently it would be unsafe to
relv on the identitv of the contents of each chest, although the visitor may
fairly believe that tlie actual relics of the Saxon kings are laid up withm them.
On either side of the altar, a door opens to the space behind the reredos,
forming the polygonal part of the choir. (Carvingj in the spandrels of these
doors represent tlie .\miunciation and the Visitation of Ehzaoeth.) 'This space
behind the reredos was the feixfov!/, a place for the /ereirn or shrink of the
natron saints ; and before the construction of the reredos it must, of course, have
been visible from the extreme western end of the church. This arrangement of
the shrines at the back of the hid. altar was and is a very usual "ne, bDth in
En-^land and on the Continent. (We have a good example of it in Edward the
Confessor's Chapel at Westminster Abbey.) At the east end of the feretory is a
raised platform 7 feet broad, and extending quite across. It was originally mncli
higher than at present j and " in front are the remains of a hoUow place, which,
272
THE BUILDING NEWS.
Mafch 29, 1861.
from the piers aud other iudications that remain on the floor, evidently bad au
arcade in front of it.'* On this platlbrm was, no doubt, the sbrine of St
Switbnn, and that of St. Birinus, who converted Kynegils. Smaller relics were
poanbly displayed in the arcade below. Beneath the platform is " The Holy
Hole/* as the door was named which formerly led from the retro-choir into the
crypt, where the bishops and others were buned.
No pains seem to have been spared to make these volumes that
which they undoubtedly are, worthy of Mr. Murray's reputation and
creditable to every one concerned in their publication ; authors,
engravers, and publishers are alike deserving of the highest praise. No
tourist to oiu" glorious cathedral cities should go without them; no
architectural student should think his library complete without them.
They are admirable educational books, they are trustworthy guides,
they are concise histories and well-arranged books of reference, and
they are the only works in .^
anything like a portable form
which have done the slightest
justice to our noble cathedral
architecture.
AX ARCHITECTURAL
JOURNEY IX AQUITAINE*
THERE are two ways of Bludving
ancient buildings, both of wnicn
must be dilif^cntly practised by
every one who wishes to reach
to a thoroti^'h historical know-
ledge of architecture. A man may
sit down to study some one or
more particular buildings: he may
get up every measurement ana
every detail, he may make bim-
aelf acquaiotod with every fact in
its history wht'tbor as written in
contemporary chronicles or in the
very stones of the building itself.
Or apiin. he may pass, lightly and
rapidly, through many lands aud
many cities ; he may see such build-
ings as come in his way and may
note down whatever strikes him as
beautiful, as singular, or as bearing
on the general history of the art.
He may thus fill his sketch-book
with those details and general views
which -please his eye, and may fill
bis mind with many new facts and
new ideas, without entering into a
minote historical examination of
any one building whatever. Each
of these two ways of studying
architecture is alike necessary.
If, indeed, human IJfe were long
enough to allow a man to get
up in detail every bnilding whose
intrinsic merit would repay the
labor of so doing, it would doubtless
be the part of a wise architectural
Student boldly to enter even upon
80 gigantic a task. But as sncb an
undertaking is clearly hopeless, the
next best thing to be done is for
the student to go through as many
countries as he can, to see as many
buildings as he can, and here and
there to examine in special detail,
some particular examples to which
ehoico or circumstances directhim.
Neither mode of study will do by
itself. The^ buildings which a man
selects lorspecial and minute study
will be almost certainly in his own
country, and most probably in
his own neighboBfhood. Now, if
a nun never carries his studies beyond his own neighbourhood or even beyond
Ikis own oonntry, a certain narrowness of local or national feeling is almost
sure to be the result. Nay more, from want of the power of comparison
with a large stock of other buildings, he will not thorongfaly understand
even those with which he is most familiar, and will continually make mistakes
aboattbem, which will be at once corrected, sometimes a little to his annoyance, by
any stranger whose inquiries have been more enlarged. On the other hand, he who
looks at many things superficially and at nothing thoroughly will never gain a real
knowledge of architecture or anything else. IJut be wno has examined some
things in minute detail will gain by the process habits of observation, which will
enable him to extract a great deal oi real knowledge from an examination which to
another man would be a superficial one. It is exactly the same wifh reading history.
Ko man whose life is limited at the outside to fourscore years, can read through all
Itletory in the original authorities. Every one must take a large part of his know-
ledge at second-hand. But hewho takes all his knowledge at second-hand— who never
studies any i>eriod in original authorities— will never get beyond a very slight and
superficial knowledge of niatory. if, on the other band, a man really gets up some
two or three periods by conscientious study of the chronicles and documents of the
time,fae will thereby acquire an historic sense.asort of critical tact, which will enable
him touse and to judge of second-handhistorie.s of other periods In a way which 1«
quItebevondthepowerofonewhoM-wholeknowh dge is second-hand. Our architectural
Btndcni, then, must see many buildings hastily, and study a few attentively ; he
most know something of every building and everything of some buildings. The
one process enlarges his views, the other Ktrengthens and condenses his powerf.
The great masters of our subject have all practised lx>th methods of study alike ;
though, of ccurse, each has its own votaries who follow it, not m exclusion of, but
still in preference to the other. As the great mastt r of minute knowledge of parti-
cular buildings, every one who hears me will at once supjily the illustrious name of
Professor Willis ; while Mr. I'etlt may no less undoubtingly claim the first place
among those who have gone rapidly through many lunds wiih a keen eye alike to the
• A Paper read by E. A. Pretman, Esq., at the Architect ual Museum, on Wednes-
day, March Vi,
artistic beauty of particular buildings, and to the essential characteristics of successive
styles of iirt.
I mention all this because, while I have at different times and places endeavoured
to carry out both these methods of inquiry, in what I have to say this evening I
shall give vou the results of one method only. What 1 have seen in France and
Aquitainc I have seen, I hope not carelessly, but still iu a certain sense cursorily.
In a foreign country, especially in one whoso architectiu-e diflers so widely from our
own as that of Aquitaine, wo shall commonly learn more by seeing as many build-
ings as we can consistently with anything like a careful inspection of each, than by
stopping to get up any one in very minute detail. The latter ta.sk belongs rather to
the antiquaries of the country, who have time and opportunity for it, while the
business of the passing traveller is rather by observing as many buildings as
possible, to find out the leading peculiarities of the local style and to compare it with
that of his own and of other lands. But of course, as I have before said, one who is
already accustomed to examine buildings in detail will, even in this comparatively
hasty sort of examination, find out a good deal about the history of particular
buildings. For my own part, I have seen and drawn as many Aquitanian churches
as I could, enough I hope to give me some fair notion of the peculiarities of
Aquitanian architecture. But there is nolone Aquitanian church which I have
studied in the same minute way
in which I have studied many
churches in England. There is no
building in Aquitaine about which
I would undertake to talk and
dispute in the same way that I
would undertake to talk and dis-
pute about St. David's, Llandaff,
Wells, Malmesbury, Leominster,
or Waltham. 1 mention this that
my hearers may know what they
have to expect— a general account,
historical and artistic, of what I
have seen of the architecture of the
duchy, but not any minute his-
torical description oi any one^parti-
cular building.
I have another remark to make
by way of preface. The study of
architecture ought always to go
hand in hand with the study of
general history. He who studies
the history of any particular country
really leaves out a very important
part of his subject if he does not
obtain some knowledge of its suc-
cessive forms of architecture. What
sort of churches and bouses people
built at any particular time and
place is as mucli an integral part
of history as what language they
spoke, what weapons they_ used,
what was tlie nature of their law-
courts, or of their political assem-
blies. But still more is the student
of architecture bound to be also a
student of history. He cannot learn
the first rudiments of his subject
without attending to geography and
chronology; he must know where
such and such buildings are, when
and by whom they were built. And
this ouj-'^ht not to be a mere dead
knowledge of names and dates; he
should know something of the real
condition of the country at the
time when the buildings were built
what kind of people they were who
built them, what language they
spoke, what religion they believed,
of what government they were sub-
jects. A chronological table of styles
and a model map will not do for
this ; really to untferstand architec-
ture historically a man must g'o
through a good deal of general his-
torical reading, and must, above
all things, thoroughly master the
fluctuating boundaries of various
states at various times. Without
this a man may be able to admire a
building as a beautiful object ; he
may even be able to reproduce its
likeness or its development in stone and mortar; but he had better not talk or write
about buildings or styles of buildings historically, because he is sure to make blunders
if he docs. Writers of general history very often make blunders when they touch
incidentally on architectural matters; writers of architectural history constantly
make still greater blunders from not knowing the first rudiments of general history.
And about no possible tubject have more such blunders been made than about the
architectural history of Gaul.
I say Gaul advistdly, not France. I use the old geographical expression, not the
modern pohtical expression. Gaul is a certain terrilery boundtd ty certain seas,
rivers and mountains. France is whatever Frenchmen can annex or conquer,
whether within the limits of Gaul or not. The boundaries of France have changed
from century to century ; how flexible they are we have all seen with our own eyes
within the last twelvemonth. France, Francia, in history, has two great meanings.
It means first a Geiman kingdom of the early middle age, of which Karl the Great,
whom Frenchmen call Charlemagne, was the most famous King. Karl was a Frank,
a German ; he spoke German aud had his capital at Aachen, wliich Frenchmen call
Aix-la-Chapellc. His hereditary kingdom included central Germiny and northern
Gaul. This was the Francia olthosedays; Aquitaine, Saxony and Italy were con-
quered countries. When his great empire was divided. Central Germany and Northern
RAXISBURY CATUISDIiAL, THE CHAPTBB^HO^K. 1
Gaul fell to diflVrent rulers; but each kept the old name. We read of Eastern
' '" '" - ■ - " ' lin Francia. Nor are all
'aris France, we also still
ly Kranconia. The modem Kingdom of France began in
cpt
I Fr
Francia and Western Francia, Teutonian Francia and Lalin Francia,
traces of the name quite gone ; if we call the Kingdom of Paris Frani
call a district of Germany Franconia. The modem Kingdi
the ninth century under Charles the Uald ; it was fully established as a kingdom
wiih Paris as its capital and C" " . -. , ^ . . -. -
tenth
Old French sa its langucge by Hugh Capet in the
-may be rouehly described as Gaul
i^aone. Withm that limit, from
France then— that is, Western or Latin France-
north of Ihe Loire, and west of the Maas and the
at least the tenth century onwards, the prevailing tongue was that which has grown
into modern French, and the country was held ])artly by the King of the French at
I'aris, partly by Princes who owed him at least a nominal homage. From the Loire
to the Pyrenees also the King of the French claimed also the like nominal homage
but the posilion of things was wholly diflereut. The language was difTerent ; the
language of Aquitaine aud Provence, the ttugue of the old Troubadours, and
VIEW OF THEJNAVE OF THE; INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION BUILDING FOR 18C2. -Designed by Captain Fotke
March 29, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
27-')
I
which 18 still tlio lana-nagc of tho people, in not French at all; it is, of
course, closely aicin to French, just as Spanish and Italian arc, all beinff derived
from the I^atin ; but it is as much a distinct languatje as Spanish and Italian
are, and it is quite a mistake to talk of people in those countries speaking " bad
French," simply because they still speak tlieir own tongue, which was a written and
a polished language before French was. The blood was diflerent; the Franks settled
to a certain extent in Gaul, north of the Loire, though they settled in such small
numbers, that the Franks in Gaul, instead of Teutonizing Gaul, became themselves
Komanized. South of the Loire the Franks did not settle ; whatever Teutonie blood
is there is not Frankish but Gothic. In the extreme south too the Aboriginal blood
is different also. The Frenchman is a Celt with a slight Frankish infusion, the
Gascon is a Basque with a slight Gothic infusion. And if the king of the French did
claim a superiority over Aiiuitaine, itwa.s yet more nominal than his suprriorityover
Normandv. Flanders, or the Uuchy of Burgundy. With tho sovereign of Normandy
and Flanders, his nominal vassals, he liad at least relations of some kind, warlike or
peaceful ; but with the Uuke of Aquitalne and the Count of Toulouse he lind no
practical relations at all ; h(^ had no authority within this dominion, and they did not
even think his worth making war upon. East of the Uhonc is the soutii, east ot the
Maas is the north ; the I'arisian kings down to the thirteenth century had not even a
nominal superiority ; cast of the Khone lay the kingdom of Burgundy (I'arefuUy to
be distinguished from the Duchy), at first independent afterwards united with
Germany. In the north Lorraine and vMsace were not French but German. Alsace
is still German in speech, and Lorraine was also joined to France in the last
century.
All this historical sketch is really necessary if we wish thoroughly to understand
our architectural subject. You must try and reahze that, during the whole
Romanesque period, and a great part of the Gothic period, Aquitaiue was no part of
France. Therefore we must not look for French architecture in it till the later days
of the Gothic period. The Itomanesque and early Gothic architecture of Aquitaine
is utterly unhke French architecture, there was in truth no more reason why it should
be like it than why it should be like German, Italian, or Spanish architecture. The
Aquitanian buildings were not built by Frenchmen ; they were built by nien of
another race and another lanji^uage, and living under another Goveniment France
and Aquit.aine have their points in common ; both were subject to the old Uoman
empire, both were subject to Karl the Great, botli have been subject to the Parisian
kings since the fifteenth century. But the two former facts are too early to have any
effect on Aquitanian architecture, the last is too late to have much. In talking of
Medieval architecture we commonly mean the architecture of tho period from the
middle of the eleventh century to the middle of the sixteenth. Of those six
centuries, during the first five the greater part of Aquitaine was French in no possible
Bense.
The name of Aquitaine, like so many other geographical names, is used in history
in various senses at various times. Like the words France and Burgundy, the word
Aquitaine is far from always expressing exactly the same extent of territory. It will
be most convenient for me to use the word in the widest sense in which I find it ever
to have been employtid— namely, as denoting the whole of Gaul south of the Loire
and west of the Ithone. It will thus include the two great principahiies of Southern
Gaul— the Duchy of Aquitaine, so long one of the ifairest possessions of our own
kings, and also the great county of Toulouse. During the whole of the Romanesque
period, both these two countries had no sort of practical connexion with the Crown
of France, and it was only towards the close of the Romanesque period tliat the
Duchy of Aquitaine came, by the marriage of Henry II. and the Duchess Kleanor,
into the hands of the same sovereign as England and Normandy. Eleanor had, indeed,
already been the temporary wife of Iviiig Louis, of France, but so sliort a connexion,
the time of which, too, was largely occupied by Louis's crusade, could have had
little effect upon the province. Up to tliat time the Duchy had been ruled by its own
independent princes. From that time — that is, from the middle of the twelfth
century to the middle of the fifteenth century— the Duchy of Aquitaine remained
annexed to the Crown of England, and after the peace of Bretigny, in l.lfiO, it was held
in absolute sovereignty, without even a nominal subjection to France. The
boundaries of the Duchy were, however, gradually reduced, and in the great French
war of Henry VI. 's reign, its last relics were finally lost. In 14,>2 Bourdeaux and
Bayonne became, for the first time, French cities. The county of Toulouse or
Lan^fuedoc was annexed to France in the thirteenth century, but it long retained
much more of local Independence than most parts of the kingdom.
We see then that, during the Romanesque period, Aquitaine was perfectly inde-
pendent, while, during the Gothic period, it became gradually more and more ex-
posed to foreign influences, English and French, I do not scruple to say English
influences. Nothing, indeed, is more inaccurate than the common wfiy of talking as
if England, as England, had, say in Henry II. 's time, held nearly halt^France. The
truth is that a great French prince, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, was
also King of England, and ruled England pretty much as a dependency of his French
possessions. But when John lost all his French fiefs north of the Loire, matters
were quite altered. England had before been a dependency of Anjou, Aquitaine was
now a dependency of England. The English influence is less than one might have
expected, but it docs exist. Now, the result of this brief sketch of Aquitanian
liistory, perfect independence during the days of Romanesque architecture, close
connexion with England and France during the Gothic age, is visibly written on the
stones of the Aquitanian churches. The Romanesque of Aquitaine is something
utterly different from the Romanesque of England or of Northern France. The true
native Gothic of Aquitaine is also something no less different from the Gothic of
England or of Northern France. But while the native Romanesque stands by itself
and is the only form of Romanesque known in the conntrv, the native Gothic is found
side by side with examples not widely differing from the'Gothic of Northern France,
and with a few in which a distinct English influence can be discerned.
It has often struck me that, during the Romanesque period, the buildings of dif-
ferent countries differ more in the shape, plan, and outline of the buildings them-
selves ;than in strictly architectural details ; while, during the Gothic period,
there is also a considerable difference in shape, plan, and outline between the build-
ings of different countries, yet tho moat important differences are to be seen in the
details. This is certainly true as regards the Gothic architecture of England and of
Northern France. The outlines of a great English and a great French church differ
a good deal, but the difference of outline is far less striking than the difference in
detail. The difference in outline resolves itself chiefly into this. The French archi-
tect gave his building an enormous height, which forbade any predominant central
tower; the English architect preferred a moderate height, wliich allowed that
greatest of all ornaments to be the chief feature of the building. Also the French
architect preferred an apse and tho English architect a square end, and on this dif-
ference followed a dillerent arrangement of eastern chapels. But the really
important features of the building, within and without, in elevation and
in ground plan, are pretty nearly the same. Each has nave, choir
and transepts, with aisles at least to the nave and choir ; each has
arcade, triforium, and clerestory. The only really striking difference is the greater
comparative height of the French building. I say comparative height, for it must
not be suppos«d Uiat the commonest of French cathedrals and abbeys at all attain
to the enormous height of Amiens or Beauvais. There are a good many very fine
French churches whose heights range from 70 to 80 feet, the common height of our
own cathedrals. But then those churches are, in other respects, what we should
call second-class churches ; while the English churches ot a height from "0 to 80 feet
cover as much ground as any churches in Christendon. The detail of a French and
of an English church is far more widely different. In the early form of Gothic the
development look an utterly different course in the two countries. England out-
atripped France in some things, and France outstripped England in others.
Salisbury and Amiens cannot be said to be in the same style. Salisbury has as far
outstripped Amiens in its mouldings and in the sections of^ its pillars, as Amient has
outstripped Sahsbury in its windows. In the later Gothic again, though I'erpen-
ojcular and Flamboyant have much affinity iu prmciple and reeemblancc In general
effect, they have hardly a minute detail in common. In Romanesque, on the contrary,
an English; an Aquitanian, a liOmbard. a German, and a Ityzaotine chorch differ far
more widely from each other in outline and in general effect, than they do In archi-
tectural detail. And snch differences of detail as exist admit of a very CMjr
explaiiatioii ; the differimce consists In the imitation of those classical modela whioti
are common to all, being mort; or less exact. Tliia probably explains the distinction.
The Romanesque architects in each country followed Roman models with more or
less success. For the plans of their buildings they had to consult the objccta of
those buildings, and they hit upon different plans in different coontnea. For their
details they imitated such Roman modols as they had acceta to, and this Imitation
was of course more or less exact as such Itoiuan modus were more or lew familiar
to them. If we go from England to Italy we tiiid the Romanesijuo of each country
becoming more and more Classical at every at<>p. The Romanesque of Aquitaine la
more Classical than the Romanesque of Franc*, as that ajgain is more classical than
the Romanesque of England, but it is losa Classical than the Romanesque of Italy or
even than the Romanesque of I'rovenee. Still, though the detalhi of an Acjuitanlan
church come decidedly nearer to the Roman model than those of our own famiUar
Norman, still these are not tho peculiarities which at once strike the eye of an
Englishman. What does strike him at first sight Is the ntter difference In outline,
ground-plan, and proportion, from the churches of his own countr>-. So too it la
with tho native Gothic ; the general idea of the building is so different from any-
thing EngUsh or French, that one hardly stopa to compare the details. The
windows of the wonderful cathedral at Alby are nothing very wonderful ; their
tracery is much the same as common French tracery of the same date : but certainly
no one north of the Loire ever saw anything to likeu to the ground-pLan and eleva-
tion of the building.
The Romanesque churches of Aquitaine may bo divided Into two great clasaea —
those with and those without the home. Such a division as this at once shows how
utterly different they must be from anything in England or Normandy. With ua
the cupola is a modern invention ; our only domical cathedral is that built by Sir
Christopher Wren, in a large part of Aquitaine, especially in the county of reri-
gord, the dome was used as freely as ever it was at Byzantium. The abbey of
St Front, the present cathedral of Rerigueux, is thoroughly Byzantine in Its concep-
tion : it is a Greek cross, with a central dome,, and one over each limb, just like
St. Mark's, at Venice. I leave to M. de Vemeith and to Mr. Rarker to descrllH; in
detail the history and the pecuUaritics of this wonderful and venerable church, and
the fragment of yet more venerable antiquity which Is attached to it. The church
itself is of the eleventh century, but relics of a far earlier basilica are worked into ita
western portions. St. Front may be taken as the fullest development of the domi-
cal principle in Aquitaine ; there we have the Byzantine forms of structure and
arrangement fully carried out. I do not remember to have seen another church with
the principle consistently carried out In the five cupolas of the Greek cross ; but there
are many others with a single central dome, or with a series of domes down
the nave,' the vaulting of each bay taking a domical form. The dome seldom
stands out boldly, as it seems to have originally done at St Front ; it is com-
monly covered by the roof, or a central dome is externally veiled by a central
tower. The dome reaches, in isolated examples, through the whole extent of
Aquitaine in the widest sense ; indeed, it actually crosses the Loire and appeara
in the noble church of St. Nicholas at Blots, which has no other Aquitanian featurea.
But the dome here is of comparatively little account. A church with three towera,
much such a one as many in England and Normandy, has its central tower vaulted
in a domical shape instead of any other. That is all something very difl'erent from
the— internally, at least— predominant domes of the South. Every one will readily
understand that, between two countries so architecturally distinct as p'rance and
Aquitaine, a border region must necessarily lie. This region is the valley of the Loire.
the more so as, though we speak roughly of that river as the boundary of style and
language, the actual political frontier ran a little to the south of it. I'oltou, Anjon,
Touraine, Berry, are border lands, In which the Aquitanian peculiarities begin to
show themselves, but are not so confirmed as in Gascony and Languedoc. For
instance, the common vaulting of the Angevin and Poltevin Churches is not domical,
but it is an approach to the domical idea. Bourges, for instance, is a French city,
south of the Loire ; it stbod on what, in earlier times, had been Aquitanian ground,
but it had become French, at least, as early as the twelfth century. Now, the metro-
politan church at Bourges, is quite French, except that the omission of transepts in
so vast a church seems to bespeak an Aijuitanian influence. The Church of St. Peter,
in the same city, is also French ; I'leinpied Abbey, just on the border— the border, I
think, when I'leinpied Abbey was built— is still essentially French, but I thought I
could discern a few Aquitanian touches. It is well to remember that, if architecture
has its chronological transitions, it has its geographical transitions as well.
The Romanesque churches which are without domes, thonerh, of course, they differ
less from Northern forms than the domical buildings, are still very unlike what we
are used to in England or even iu Northern France. With us a large Romanesque
church has the triple internal division strongly marked i there Is an arcade, a
clerestory, and between them a triforium which is not uncommonly almost as large
as the arcade below it. A small church omits the triforium. and sometimes the
clerestory also. In a small church, the piers are moat frequently columns— columns
doubtless by no means of classical proportions, but still actual columns, with
distinctly marked bases, shafts, and capitals. In larger buildings nothing is so
common in England as the vast cylindrical pier, not a column, but a round mass of
wall. This, as far as I know, is peculiar to England ; but both in England and
Normandy we find the rectangular pier with shafts set in the angles, the parent of
the clustered pillars of the Gothic times. Vaulting scarcely ever occurs, except In
the aisles of large churches, and in the chancels of small ones. To throw a vault
over one of the four arms of a great minster, seems to have come into the head of no
English architect till late in the twelfth century, when the style was transitional
rather than pure Romanesque. The barrel-vault of the chapel in the White lower
is not a real exception, the size of the building Is so small. In Aquitaine, all la
utterly different; piers are strictly and sternly rectangular, commonly without even
attached columns, and these piers very commonly run up the whole heigot without
triforium or clerestory; a perfectly plain barrel vault over the whole is almosw
universal. The Abbey of St. Satarninas or St. Semhi at Toulouse, the great glory
of the style, and one of the main objecta of my pilgrimage, foUowa a type
utterly strange to English eyes. We have many even Romanesque
churches which have a clerestory without a triforium ; at St. Semln we
find the (to us) strange portent of a clerestory without a tnforlnm. The arches
are of two order.s, plain and rectangular, without shafts or mouldings; bntaUlI
shaft with a capital runs up to support the barrel vault. The triforium is the most
English-looking thing in the church, but the Tolosan architect has not fully graaped
the northern idea of several orders with rook-shafts This magnificent church, one
of the noblest in Christendom, was consecrated by Pope Lrban II. in 1096, but the
work had been begun as much as forty years ejiriicr. In smaller churches wc find
the rectangular pHnciple carried out still more fully ; the vault rests not on shafts,
but on plain flat pilasters. In the great churches we sometimes find double ais ei
as at S*t. Sernin and in a fine church at Ba^^ndrea de Luchon, which was being
destroyed when I was there. Among churches of moderate size none struck me
more than St. Aventin, near Bagneres de Luchon, a church with a <'™'™' »"» »
western tower, though without transepts. The piers and vau ting pilaaterssre
sternly rectangular, but there is a clerestory, and the vault is cellular 1 hod f««
doubts of its f!^nnineness. Serge, near Arrean in Gascony, is a perfect example or a
small church m the local Romanesque : a nave and aisle terminating in apses, no
tower or transepts, plain square piers, and pilasters of the orders snppoi|tlng the
barrel-vault 'The church claims a Carlovingian antiquity, which, without soinc
historical evidence, I can neither assert nor deny. The west doorway cannot be
earlier than the eleventh century, and looks more like the twelfth, but it may qnlW
possibly be an insertion in an earlier building, hke the very fine doorway at St
Aventin certainly is. ,..,,. jin-„-
As I have already said, the details of these churches, when they have anj , diOcr
276
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 29, 1861.
f«r leu ftom northern tvpofi than do the outlines and g:round-plan8 of the bmldin^s.
There is many a shaft and capital, many a small window, many a corbcl-Uble,
which wouid not swra tho least stran^^e in any of our familiar Norman churches.
But there is with all this a tendency to a more Classical character. The most Italian-
looking thin^ 1 saw was the facade of the Cathedral at An^uleme, which in some-
thing utterly different from the body of tlie church which, though domical, had
differed in its detail from Norman work. But it is of the doorways mentioned just
above that I wish ppecialiy to speak. The prand Norman doorway, with its many
orders and many small shafts, is, in its fulness an idea eseentially English ; forei^
examples, even in Normandy, seldom approach its full bolduees and richness. They
gCBO-aliy retain 6<Hne Testie*?^ of the days when the real doorway was square-headed
with an arch over it. In Knjrland. the tympanum either unite altogether or become
a mere semicircular stone in the top of a round-headed open'ng. Now I saw in Aqui-
taiue two tvpes of Romanesque doorways. Ctnc is far more C'lassical than the other,
and I conceive it to be the genuine native type. Instead of the many receiving
orders, a single cohimn on each side, of a much nearer approach to Classical propor-
tions than wt" are used to, supports the archway. Mr. Petit has drawn several ex-
amples In Provence, which I have not seen ; there is also a fine one at .St. Selvi at
Alby. Of this I only know one example in Kngland— the very remarkable west
doonray of St. Woolos, at Ne\vport, Monmouthshire, where I have always fancied
that the two pillars must really be Roman columns from Caerleon.used up again and
fitted with Norman capitals. There is quite another, and, indeed, more common
type which, though not exactly like our English examples, comes very
much nearer to them. This type has, like the English doorways, many
receding orders, but they are 'not so regularly marked by a single small
shaft in each order. Thus, in that at Serge, already mentioned, most of the orders are
left rectangular ; in that at Aventin, some of the orders have coupled shafts. This
last is an Aquitanian characteristic of which I shall have to speak again ; the coupled
shaft is common enough in England in some positions, but it is far more extensively
nsed in Aquitaine, and I should doubt whether any English architect would have
applied ft to one of the orders of a doorway. Still, these doorways at once strike us
as naving an English look, as compared with the other things about them. Is it
possible that they can be memorials of the connexion between England and
Aquitaine under Henry II. , the more so, as some of them— that of St. Aventin most
certainly— are additions to earlier buildings ? I merely throw this out as a point for
consideration, without at all asserting that it is so. still more without deciding
Whether, il it be so, English ideas were imported into Aquitame.or Aquitanian ideas
into England. On the whole it looks more like the former; but I ought to mention
that one of the finest and most English-looking doorways, that of Lescure church
near Alby, is in a district which was never permanently held by any English king.
Now, going inside this same church of Lescure, we may remark another allghtly
Classical tendency. The church, though I suspect it was designed to be domed,
has in its central tower and in the absence of anything worthy to be called
transepts, a good deal of affinity to our own churches or the Iffley or Moorsay
t3T>e. But we miss the splendid receding' arches under the tower of Iffley. At
lescure the western tower arch has a single shaft of far more Koman proportions,
the eastern arch has coupled shafts of the same sort; the arch into the apse is left
square. In short, the tendency to a single shaft of something like Classical form
wherein England we should find two or more slenderer ones, meets us in every-
thing. The capitals are of all sorts, as might be expected, the mere sculpture is
commonly better than in £ngland.*
LIVERPOOL ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY.
THE thirteenth meeting of the thirteenth session of the Liverpool Architectural
and Arehffiological Society, was held at the Royal Institution, Colquitt^street.
on Wednesday evening. Mr. J. M. Hay, President, presided, and tnere was a
numerous attendance of members.
3!r. W. H. I'JCTON, secretary, announced the receipt of two numbers of the
Building News, a donation from the Editor, also the annual report of the Royal
Institution.
Mr. W. Witter, who had been proposed by Mr. Bradley, and seconded by Mr.
"W". H. PiCTON, was elected as an associate member.
Mr. AcDSLEY said he had had an interview with Mr. Digby Wyatt a few days ago,
and that gentleman told him that at the meeting of the Royal Institution of British
Architt'cts, when the diploma question was discussed, the memorials from Liverpool
were called for. That of the professional members of the Architectural Society was
read, and subsequently that of the student members of the same society. It was
observed that the memorials counterbalanced each other, and no vote was given on
either question.
Mr. F&AKK Howard would only remark that it was an exceedingly easy mode of
getting^ over the difficulty- (Laughter).
Mr. JcariN exhibited drawings of some French sash fastenings, and explained
that in all Continental towns the windows opened inwards.
Mr. HcGGiNS observed that it struck him that climate had a good deal to do with
those windows.
The Chairman reminded students of the competition for the prizes offered by
Mr. Audfiley, and expressed bis astonishment that only one competitor had yet sent
in his name.
The Secretary ur^ed intending competitors to send in their names immediately.
Mr. Hlggiss exhibited his '* Chart of the History of Architecture," with additions
and improvements, and drawn on a smaller scale, to render it more convenient for
publication and reference. He had no sooner, he said, completed his first fair copy
than he perceived how much more complete and simple, as well as more correct in
geographical disposition of the styles, it might be made: and the very favorable
manner in which it bad been received, both by that Society and by several eminent
architects and crltlca In London, had rendered him anxious to make it as correct and
complete as it was possible to be, and which, he believed, it now was. He humbly
thought that it conld not now be improved in arrangement, or, In the present state
of our knowK dtje of the subject, rendered more complete or correct. He pointed out
the various additions and those features in which it was an improvement on what he
bad previously exhibited.
The Chairman said the Society was very much indebted to Mr. Huggins, and
hoped that gentleman would take the opportunity of getting it printed, so that
members might study it at leisure.
Mr. Lewis Hornrlower read the paper of the evening, which was entitled "A
Peep into Futurity: or the Future Building Sites of Liverpool." Mr. Hornblower,
in the cfjurse of his remarks, said :— "Talk of castles in the air, Mr. President, my
ideas of the future of Liverpool exceed the most sanguine expectations of the most
genuine Dicky Sam that has yet seen the liglit. How, and by what rule, can we
etter anticipate the future than by an appeal to the past? Look at the plan of
Liverpool in 17ii5-only i:if) years ago. Why, sir, your Workhouse, In IJrownlow-
blll, would nearly hold the population at that time. Watch the gradual progress of
the town ; view it again in 1785. The progress made in the CO years that intervened
was comparatively trifling, but still showed a steady and increasmg population. In
180Q afresh impnise seems to have been given, and the good old town steadily in-
creased in size and importance; for in this year the first stone of the new Kxchangc-
buildingM was laid, stated to be a great architectural ornament to Liverpool, and tlie
flneht commercial building in the empire. In this ye&r (en pangant) I may observe that
five \ olunteer corps were raised in Liverpool ; and that two years afterwards Mr.
Thomas Johnson, belonging to Colonel Williams's corps, was fined i:274 48.
for non-attendance at dnlls— a fate that dws not, I hope, await any of the dlstln-
Siished volunteers of the present day that I see around me. In 1836, you will see by
r. Gage's map that Liverpool bad Uken great strides, and iucreased botli in im-
• To be continued.
portance and in the number of its inhabitants (the number of inhabitants at this date
was 174,88"). From 1836 up to the last census (1851) the population was 2.J8,OOOfor
the parish only ; but if the adjoining townships are included, which now justly form
component parts ot the town, the population will be ;ir6,065, exclusive ol 1L',0()0 sea-
men. At the present date, I have no hesitation in saying that the population of
Liverpool, with its out-townships, is nearly half a million. She has also populated
the Cheshire side of the Mersey to the extent of fully 80,000. I have drawn upon the
past of Liverpool for these statistics, Mr. l*resideut, with a view of strengthening my
argument (if necessary) for the future. No one can calculate upon the increasing
demand for buildings and sites in the neighbourlwod of Liverpool. Look, Sir, at the
state of the docks at this moment; ships have been many weeks in the river and
cannot get berths. During the last season cottonfehas been stored in yards and hay-
lofts, and I know of one intelligent broker who found it worth his while to go to
considerable expense to fit up his hay-lolts, in order to store cotton. As long as our
noble river is kept open, and so long as Liverpool is backed by the manufacturing
districts, the town must increase. If I might take a liberty with the bard of Avon,
and slightly alter what he puts into the moutlx of Portia, in the "Merchant of
Venice," I would say, ** The quality of Mersey is not strained ; " and no one knows
this better than our excellent and talented dock engineer. The channel is con-
tinually shifting, and the banks o utside, like some of our late monetary depositaries
on shore, are unstable. Still we have a sluicing power in the upper walcTS of
the Jlersey, that will tend to keep our communication with the sea free and open.
The iirst care of a mercantile public is to provide for the storage of the valuable
commodities that are shipped to them. A great improvement in this respect has
been adopted by our authorities in the erection ot warehouses on the aide of
the docks. Still, if every dock were surrounded with warehouses, sufficient scope
would still be left for private enterprise, and, consequently, much additional ware-
house room will be required for the future development of Liverpool. I do not sec
why specific trades and importers, such as the importers of tobacco, corn, cotton, and
other merchandise, should not build warehouses on a large scale to suit their various
purposes and trades, on the limited liability principle. If this were done, greater
architectural effect might be obtained, and the town vastly improved. In the various
improvements that have lately been effected in the town, many of the dM'ellings of
the working classes have been rased to the ground. This has, of necessity, driven
them to the outskirts, nor do they begrudge the extra mile or two's walk, even after
a hard day's labor, to which they are thereby subjected, in order to enjoy the purer
atmosphere thus obtained. On the other hand, the same beneficial result cannot be
noticed with regard to that unfortunate portion of our female population— against
which a fierce crusade— undertaken, I am sorry to think, more in "anger than in
pity,"— has lately been waged. On the one hand, the artisan is benefited in his
removal from the close courts and alleys of the town to the salubrity of the country ;
but, on the other part, the closing of the homes of the latter class (dens of infamy
though they be) with too stern a hand is very much like rfrym*/ a specific ulcer, and so
spreading the disease over the entire body. Attempts have been made to erect
blocks of dwellings for the artisans, similar to those in Scotland, but there appears
to be an insuperable objection in the Knglish mind to occupy a house in common
with another. An Englishman's home is his castle, and each and all teel the inde-
pendence consequent upon a separate and distinct dwelling. In the future of Liver-
pool care must be taken for the position of the dwellings of our work-
mg classes. Many sneers have been levelled at that industrious and hard working
race, the Welsh builders. H it had not been for their foresight and industry t do
not know where the working population of Liverpool would have been housed.
Great and marvellous improvements have been made in the sanitary improvement
of the town, under the direction and superintendence of the worthy and talented
borough engineer and his able assistants. But still greater improvements must be
made. Urge, Mr. President, all your infiuence, and urge, too, gentlemen, your
individual influence to improve the thoroughfares of the town. Easy access must be
obtained from north to south, from east to west ; trade must not be curbed by selfish
or niggard views ; the old cry of what has posterity donefor us should be stilled. We
must seek our own and also another's good— look prospectively. It is a fact that this
town of Liverpool has not one good approach. The best is that by Scotland-road»
and what is it when you get past the wider portion ? You arrive at a long, narrow,
dull, insipid street, leading to the centre or the first commercial city of the world.
Approaches must be made ; the different sections of the suburbs must be connected.
A well-devised scheme by means of boulevards was propounded by a liberal section
of the community. This scheme was defeated, and the cry raised, let posterity pay
for Itself. Mr. President, this Is a short-sighted policy. It would pay the landowners
to give the necessary land ; and surely posterity might be lugged in for theirsharc of
the expense, for the desirableness of the step proposed is undeniable. With regard
to the future leadin«^ thoroughfares many improvements have been suggested from
time te time, and I doubt not but they will in the end be carried out. A good wide
street should be carried from Castle-street to St. Luke's Church, at the
foot of Leece-strcet, with a curve to Great George-street. By this means
the traflic would be accommodated, and the extra value of the property
purchased would more than pay the expense of the improvement. The site for
additional shops would naturally be in this locality. Leece-street has already become
a street of shops ; II ardman -street and Rodney-street must follow. Great George-
street, and onwards to the Park, must always be desirable as a site for shops. M'ith
regard to the advantages of the remaining sites of Liverpool, as residences for the
middle classes, I can point to the vast property of the Earl of Sefton bordering on
the road to Prince's Park. This will, on the south side of Liverpool, provide ample
space for good and substantial dwellings, and if properly arranged and designed,
will form what may be called the West-end of I-iverpooI. I do not know a town in
England better situated for diversified tastes as to sites for building than Liverpool.
You have the choice of pastoral or sea side sites for your residences. Aigburtli, with
its charming views of the upper reach of the Mersey, backed by Cheshire and the
Welsh hills ; Hale, Woolton, VVavertree, West Derby, and Crosby, on the one hand,
and Waterloo and Southport on the other. While;, if you cross the river, you have
the peaceful glades of Kastham, New Ferry, llock P erry, Birkenhead, Claughton,
Oxton, Storeton, Bidston, Egrcmont, and New Brighton. What view can possibly
be finer, or what site better for a Liverpool man to choose, than the upland near
Kalnhill station on the London and North western line,— a view is commanded almost
equal to that of Richmond. Wood, water, and hill, with the beautiful vale of Gate-
acre as a foreground, and a dry soil for a foundation. The railways that diverge
from Liverpool offer numberless advantages to the wealthier portion of tha
Inhabitants, who, with the natural instincts of the Anglo-Saxon race, sigh for the
delights of agricultural life. Two hours'journey suffice to place the weary merchant
or trader on the Vale of Clwyd, in the centre of Cheshire, Shropshire, and Stafford-
shire, or on the borders of Yorkshire or Cumberland, where he may rest his
excited frame, and freed from the cares of niscounts and bank Interest, indulge his
prurient fancy in the beauties of nature. When the pending arrangements are
matured for the easier crossing of the river, you will be enabled to drive down to the
landing- stage, thence on to the boat, cross to Woodside, and drive to your country
home, wheresoever you may pitch your tent. Many beautiful sites for villas exist
on the Cheshire side of the Mersey. The views from Bidston, Noetorum, and
Storeton are unsurpassed for their loveliness. I have taken gentlemen who have
travelled over many countries, and they have expressed themselves astonished tliat
we possessed views so magnificent as are those ootainable from those heights. The
finindation is of rock ; a plentiful supply of water will shortly be obtainable, and the
approaches to the site are unexceptionable. Mr. President, there are many
advantages attached to this good old town of IJverpooI, and one of the most extra-
ordinary is tliatits inhabitants are composed chieHy of emigrants. It has been said
that the wealthier portion merely sojourn here for a season till their purses are filled,
and that then they return to their native places to spend the fruits of their success.
There Is one glorious example to the contrary in this town, and it reflects
credit not only on the head of the enlightened employer, but also upon the talent
of the gentleman employed. I allude. Sir, to Mr. William Brown and our
March 29, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
277
good friend Mr. Picton. A great improvement for the better has tfiken place in the
commercial btiildin^B of Liverpool ; and I think great credit is due to the hberality
of the client and the skill and tasto of the arcliitcct. We are now, gentlemen, only
on the threshold of prosperity. 1 see before me the g-erm and embodiment of future
talent. The architects of Liverpool will have a scope hitherto unparalleled. The
influences of a correct taste are abroad ; people will not be content with second-rate
work, their appreciation of which ia improved ; everytliing- shows this : the style of
the furniture, the desiy^ne of the different fabrics, the decorations of the dwening:8,
the taatc that is displayed in the commonest articles of use or ornament—one and all
speak unmistakably to the progress of the appreciation of art. And shall architec-
ture slumber? No. It has been too long the custom of our townsmen to seek
foreign aid in the preparation of designs lor any building o( importance, instead of
fostering local talent. I trust, from the acknowledged skill of the rising members of
the profession, our opulent townsmen may follow Mr. Brown's example, and find it
to be their interest to employ the talent which ia at their doors. Yes, Mr. President,
there will be an opportunity for all, more especially when the leviathans of the pro-
fession m our town seek tliat repose which their wealth, gained by untiring indiistry
and honesty, so justly entitles them to. Then will the time arrive for the rising
youth so admirably depicted by Longfellow, and they will say with him :—
" Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing.
Learn to labor and to wait."
The Chairman tendered the thanks of the meeting to Mr. Hornblower for his
very interesting paper.
Mr. HoKNiii-owER, having thanked the meeting, proceeded to sugoest that the
time had arrived when the Blue-coat School and the Workhouse should be removed
from the town to the country.
Mr. lIuGGiNS said the Blue-coat School must soon be removed. It was perfectly
ridiculous to let it remain where it is.
Alderman Bennett at great length reviewed the improvements effected in Liver-
poal during the last century, lie mentioned that one of the great improvements
contemplated by the present bill had been upset in consequence of one landowner
only refusing the terms that had been accepted by all the others concerned. He
(Alderman Bennett) was of opinion that, unless the town was greatly improved, it
would not increase as Mr. Ilornblnwer had anticipated.
The Chairman, whilst admitting the necessity of further improvements, said it
was astonishing what progress had been made in widening the streets.
Mr. ricTON held that, improvements or no improvements, the commerce of Liver-
pool had increased, was increasing, and would increase in the^ future in a geome-
trical ratio. Liverpool was increasing; and, if unfortunate events in the United
States should not give it a check, it would far exceed our expectations. Our internal
improvements had not kept pace with the demand for them, owing to increased
commerce ; and perhaps one cause of this was that buildings of a very valuable and
substantial description were erected for ordinary purposes, making it difficult to get
hold of property for the purposes of improving our thoroughfares.
Mr. Weightman held that much time was lost by the circumbendibus that people
had to make in getting from, one street to another, and ur^ed the necessity of cutting-
wide and direct roads.
The Chairman advocated a comprehensive scheme of improvements, which.
should be carried out year by year.
Some further discussion ensued, in which Mr. Frank Howard and Mr. Lea took
part.
The Secretary announced that the paper for the next meeting would be by Mr,
Stubbs.
ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS,
The Election of Curator to the Soane Museum.
A SPECIAL general meeting of the members of the Royal Institute of British Ar-
chitects was held on Monday evening at the rooms, 0, Conduit-street, Regent-
street, " To consider whether, in the recent appointment made by the Council of the
Koyal Academy to the Curatorship of Sir John Soane's Museum, selection appears
to have been made of ' an English Architect who may have distinguished himself
or gained any Academical prize ' in conformity with the terms of the Act of Par-
liament,—or otherwise : and to take such steps as may seem desirable for the
interest of the profession." The meeting was not open to the representatives of the
professional press, but we have been favored at official quarters with some particulars
respecting it.
The chair was occupied by the venerable President of the Institute, Professor
COCKERELL, R. A.
The notice convening the meeting-, and the requisition to the Council asking them
to call the meeting {which requisition was signed by Messfs. St. Aubyn, Griffith,
Shout, Edwards, Hopkins, Hansard, Newton, and Devey) having been read, a letter
was read from Mr. J. Tidd I'ratt, as senior trustee of the Soane Museum, stating
that the trustees had not yet admitted (we presume "instituted" is meant) Mr.
Bonomi into the office of Curator of the Soane Museum.
It was then moved and seconded that an adjournment of the meeting should take
place, but the motion was negatived.
There was then read the clause in the Act of Parliament (concerning the settle-
ment of Sir John Soane's Museum) regulating the appointment of the Curator, which
provides that it shall be lawful for the President and Council of the Royal Academy
for the time being, within three months from a vacancy occurring in the office of
Curator, to select and nominate and appoint as such Curator an English architect
who may have distinguished himself, or gained any academical prize, &c. The
reading of this clause was followed by the reading of the testimonials in favor of
Mr. Bonomi. and his memorial, together with title-pages on which Mr. Bonomi's
name appears. After further motions for adjournment, and for the direct support
of Mr. Bonomi. the following resolution was carried by a large majority.
"That this meeting has every respect for the private character of Mr. Bonomi,
and for his high talent as an artist and archaeologist, but does not consider there is
evidence that he is qualified for the appointment of Curator to Sir John Soane's
Museum under the terms of the Act of Parliament as ' an EngUsh architect who may
have distinguished himself or gained any academical prize.' "
Numerous drawings by Mr. Bonomi were laid upon thetabl
upon the walls during the discussion.
I upon the table, and others were hung
A
ECCLESIOLOGICAI, SOCIETY.
COMMITTEE meeting: was held at Arklow llouac, ou Tuesday, March lOtli.
I'resent, A.J. B. Bercsford-Hope, Esq., President, iu the chair, J. S. Forbes,
Esq., Rev. S. >S. Greatheed. Rev. T. Helmore, Rev. H. L. Jeuner, Rev J H.
Sperling. J. G. Talbot, Esq., Rev. W. Scott, and Rev. B. Webb.
The minutes of the last nieetinp were read and confirmed.
R. J. Johnson, Esq., of 10, Belgrave-strcet, South, was elected an ordinarv
member. ^
Mr. Slater met the Committee, and laid before them accurately-measured draw-
ings of the Chichester spire, taken just before the fall. He mentioned that Professor
Willi.s had been lecturing 011 the accident, explaining its cause, and showino- it to
have been inevitable. Mr. Slater cxliibited various drawings of the college at
Lancing, Sussex ; and, iu that for the hall, it was advised to leave out a circular
wmdow iu oue gable, m order to give ample room for a fresco-painting, and not to
interfere with its effect by the glare.
The Committee approved the choice of the cast of an angel from a spandrel in the
north transept in Westminster Abbey, as the subject for the Societv's prize
for colored ornamentation, for 1862, given in connexion with the Arohiteotb-al
Museum.
Mr. G. M. IIiLLS met the Committee, and, after some conversation on the fall of
Chichester spire, exhibited his desigus for a new glrla' acbool in the chutcbyard of
Kensington', and for some almshouses at I'ulborou^, Sussex.
Mr. lioi>i,EY met the Committee, and urged the importance of some steps being
taken by English eccleeiologists to protest against the wholesale destruction of the
original architecture, and especially the sculpture, of the finest French churcbei,
under pretence of restoration. After much discussion, it was agreed that tbeolBcerg
should be appointed a sub-commtttee, to draw up a memorial to the Royal Instltate
of British Architects, requesting them to make a formal appeal to their French
bretliren on the subject. The Committee examined Mr. Bodlcy's designs for the
new church of All Saints, Cambridge, to be built opposite the gate of Jesus College.
A strong opinion was expressed against moving the site of the church, and in favor
of an alternative design for the tower, which nad a lofty spire instead of a gabled
capping. Mr. Bodley stated that it was proposed to make a kind of Campo Santo,
with cloisters and a central cross, on the site of the present church.
Mr. Withers met the Committee, and exhibited his designs for achspel school at
Castell, Cardiganshire ; for rebuilding the church of St. Nicholas, Monnlngton,
IVmbiokeshire ; for the rebuilding of St. Dogfael's, Mellne, Pembrokeshire ; for the
rebuilding of St. Teilo, Kilcheyded, I'embrokeshire; for the remodeUing and partial
rebuilding of St. Mary the Virgin, West Torrington, Lincolnshire ; for a new school
and masters' house at Burg-le-Marsh, Eincolnshire ; and for a monument to the
Lord of the Manor of Little Cawthorpe, Lincolnshire.
Mr. W. M. Teulon met the Committee and laid before them his designs fora
private mortuary chapel at Bryu-y-Pys, near Wrexham, and for a well-house at
Rossiugton, Yorkshire.
The Rev. J. H. Sperling exhibited photographs of his church at Wlcken,near
Bishop's Stortford, which was restored and enlarged by the addition of a western
tower and spire from his own designs. lie also snowed photographic views of the
rectory house built there, in which he was his owi> architect.
Mr. BuRES met the Committee and brought a letter for the EcclesioloffUt contain-
ing his observations on. Florence on a late visit. He stated, in conversation with
respect to the French mania for destructive restoration, that Avignon was about to
be taken in hand by 31. Viollet Le Due.
The Committee examined some specimens of a method of needlework, inde-
pendently invented by Mr. A Bell, which proved to be of the same kind exactly as
that used at Cologne, for the hangings behind the stalls, noticed in a recent number of
the KccU-siologist. The work sent was part of a pianoforte hanging, faucitully de-
signed with singing-birds, and also a more ambitious design l^r a banner of the
Annunciation, which was unfinished, but showed the method of working. Mr. Bell
announced that he had taken the advice of the Committee, and meant to ejchibit the
specimens at the Architectural Exhibition, in friendly rivalry with the Cologne
specimens, brought over by Mr. Bcresibrd-Hope, and sent by him for exhibition
in the Conduit-street gallery. The following is an extract from Mr. Bell's
letter : —
" As far as I am concerned, however, the idea is quite original ; but so far from
taking any credit to myself for the discovery, I wonder that I did not think of it
before. It seems so perfectly natural and reasonable in every way to me,
occupied as I am in the study and treatment of glass, to apply the same principles of
design to another material which offers advantages so precisely similar. The
peculiarities and advantages of this system of working in silk and other textile
fabrics, are so clearly stated in your publication, that there is little left to be said In
those respects. The materials chosen may be expensive or the reverse, as circum-
stances may determine, and the work may be as elaborate or as simple as one likes,
without materially affecting the general look of it, especially at a moderate distance.
The colors to be attained are various, and always more or less brilUant and beautifal ;
and the ease with which they are to bo worked up into figure subjects makes one
quite impatient of the mere diaper and sprig ornamentation with which we have
been fain to content ourselves. I might perhaps just mention, that I am somewhat
inclined to demur to any kind of shading as such. It seems to me that a perfectly
flat treatment would be most suitable, and I think the black outlines should be kept
so narrow as not to look like the lead in a window : otherwise the appearance would
be simply that of a cartoon for glass, which should be carefully avoided. Great
things can be done in thcf diaper way on dresses and background, Ac, by means of
stitching. Gorgeous altar vestments might be made in this way, and from its being
susceptible of any amount of boldness, it is certainly most suitable for curtains and
liangings. I am anxious, however, to see this kind of thing adopted for domestic as
well as «ccicsias«cai purposes, choosing, of course, appropriate subjects in either
case." ,
A letter was read from J. Norton, Esq., enclosing a new prospectus of the Arundel
Society, announcing the appearanceof the publications of the Society for 1860, and
I giving the information that for 18(11 the Society would berfn the series of frescoes
I from the Brancacci Chapel In the church of the Carmine at I lorence.
I Letters were read from J. P. St. Aubyn, Esq. (announcing that notliing more had
been done about the Temple Church porch), from Messrs. Lavers and Barraud ; from
I W. E. Flaherty, Esq. ; from Joseph Clarke, Esq. (about a fresco for St. Alban's,
' Rochdale, and a new church at Point de Galle, Ceylon) ; and from E. R. Robson, Esq.
(urging the Committee to depute one of their body to visit Hexham, Brickbum, and
Durham). The following letter, also from Mr. Robson, relates to the pavement of
St. Remi :—
" To the Committee of the Ecclesiologkal Sonety.
" Gentlemen,— At your request I have considered, more fully, the subject of the
publication of the tracings taken from the pavement of St Remi at Reims. The
suggestion made by a member of the Committee to photograph on wood for the pur-
poses of wood-cutting, appears to me incapable of reaUsation. I do not Know
whether, as yet, the first process has been salisfactorilii accomplished, and assuming
even that it has, the second would be found difficult, and the result inaccurate, because
the wood-cutter would have no sharp lines to work upon. It is my own opinion tliat
the entire pavement is worthy of publication in the form of full-sized outlines, with
a plan and description accompanying. The price might be one to members of the
Society and another to the general pubhc. If you think that this is within tue limits
of possibility I should be happy to visit Kheims again in the course of the year, ana
complete the set of tracings. The subjects are in number forty-eight, and make,
with the squares of foUage, altogether sixty-six compartments. Some of them
fiuper Flumim and others, being cut in two, render it more than probable that the
pavement is not now in its original position.
"I am. Gentlemen,
" Y'our most obedient servant.
'i
•E. R. ROBSOS."
"Durham, March 0th, 1801." „ , , ^ .j- ,ii.„„™«.
The Rev. R. V. CoATES, of the Precinct, Rochester, wrote respecting a aiscovwy
on the south side of the sanctuary in Cobham church, Kent.
He was requested to
e sanctuary in vouuam ^-uun;!!, ^y^.*,.. .
furnish the particulars to the next num.ber of the ^crfc.iiofeWM*. .v„,„h^i„
Mr J S Walker forwarded a prospectus of his architectural sketches in
Worcestershire to be published by subscription. ^ t,. r. r 1 A™i,if„»t„r»i
Letters were read from E. S. Griudle, Esq., Secretary of the Oxford Architectural
and Historical Society, from J. W. Clark, Esq., and from JI. J. Lomax, Esq.
The Commftt?eexa';;.ined the designs by %. S*- Anbyn for an inexpensive new
church, estimated at only £700, to be built at South Thnngstone, Whitwick,
''nie Committee also examined some drawings by Mr. G. Tniefitt, for a Pointed
house, now™uildinff at Muswell-hill, at a cost of /soo. Mr Truefitt also sent a
series of desi.ms for works in brass, which have been executed by Messrs. Johnston
Brothers, andwhich will be exhibited in the Architectural Exhibition for the pre-
A letter was read fromJIr. R. J. Johnson, expressing his regret at beinghindered
by business from meeting the Committee, and explaining to them 'nP«"on a series
of beautiful architectural draftings of Uexham Church made by him before the
|278
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 29, 1861.
rrccnt •• restorstion." Tho Committoo could not but wish vory stroUBly that these
admirable drawinifii might be published. An extract from Mr. Johnsoa s letter is
subjoined : —
" The iCMon wbr I submit them is, that, as I have lately seen several controversial
papers in the Eaiiiiotogitt on the subject of the recent restorations at Hexham, it
occnrred to me that it misht be of use to the Committee to liave before them
accurate drawings of the bulldingto enable them to form a conclusion as to the points
at issue The Idrawinns wen- for the most part finished on the spot, and may bo
relied on for their accuracy. When thev were made it was my intention to publish
them, but I gee Mr. Dobson, the architect who has built the new east end, proposes
to issue illDstrations of the buUcUn-;. and it therefore seems unnecessary, as it would
also be unbtcoming in me. to pursue my original project. The restorations were
going on while I was engaged in these drawings „ . ^ , , ,,
" Vmong the drawings sent is one of the curious "I'ried b*oo1 or sanctuary-seat,
which used to be fixed in the north aisle of the choir, before the restorations. It
baa been removed along with the remains of two curious chantries, and laid aside
(at least, wlien I w«s lut there it was so) in the south transept, having been broken
in two In the proeeaa.
" I am, dear Sir,
" Yours faithfully,
" HoBEHT J. JonNsoir."
The Committee examined some cartoons of st.iined glass by Messrs. Lavers and
Barraud, for the following churches :— A window at Mroinsgrovc Church, Worcester-
shire, containiug medallions of fourteen scenes from our Lord's life. A window,
just completed, for Landford Church, Wilts. Two cartoons fl-om windows lately
sent out to Baltimore. Sketches and photoj^raphs from windows for Cobhara aud
Wrotham Churches, in Kent. The designs of these, by Mr. Barraud, Mr. Allen, and
Mr. Westlake, are of high excellence.
A letter was received from the Abb<5 Xavier do Montanlt, suggesting an exchange
of publications, which was agreed to.
It was agreed to hold the anniversary meeting at the rooms of the Architectural
Union Society, in Cflnduit-street, on ,Iune .5th or iUh ; find the subject for discussion
was settled to be the " Destructive Church Kestoration encouraged by the French
GoTemment"
♦
MR. TRAIN'S STREET RAILWAY.
*' T ONDON, the Queen City of the World " — to quote the American picture
Jj of our smoky metropolis — inaugurated on Saturday last her first street
railway. The event was celebrated by a crowd of idlers in the Bayswater-road
and by a turtle lunch in St. James's-hall. The New American President, Mr.
Lincoln, the Lord Chancellor, the Duke of Cambridge, the Editor of the
ClerkenxBeU Xeicg, and other celebrities, were invited there to sing jubilee on
the anspicions circnmstance. Neither the President, the Chancellor, nor
the Duke made their appearance, and the jubilate resolved itself into " Camp-
down Races" by the host and an expression of confidence in the "bob-
tail'd nag." Oar business lies, however, with those who watclied the
work in Bayswater-road, where, permission having been obtained from the
Commissioners of Highways, Mr. Train has, during the last few weeks,
laid down, in order to exhibit the working of his system, two lines of rails. They
are iron plates, .5 feet apart ; each plate is about 5 inches wide, with an external
ridge to fit the flange of the omnibus wheels. This ridge is repeated on the
underside, so as to aSow, we presume, of their being turned when worn by the
constant trafBc. The top of the ridge is flush with the roadway. The plates
rest on Baltic timbCT, longitudinal and transverse sleepers, the latter being 5 or
6 feet apart. The plates are in lengths of 24 feet, bolted and screwed down at
the ends and pinnal down at every yard of the intervening space. There is a
siding at each end and two loops in the course of the mile which is now laid
down. The carriages, built expressly to run on this tramway, are American,
tastefully decorated, very roomy, and glide most easily and rapidly along. There
is an entrance at each end and a socket for the pole at each end. The carriages,
consequently, are not turned round, but the liorscs and poles are taken out and
reversed. There can be no question aboutthe superiority of accommodation In these
omnibuses to that of any other now running in the London streets ; but there is
a question, and a great one, whether one proprietor should have an advantage
exclusively accorded to him of laying down a tramway to the gauge of his
wheels, which is an annoyance more or less to every other conveyance which mns
upon the road. In very wide streets, or in thoroughfares where there is no great
trafBc, it would not much matter ; hut it is a serions consideration when the
proposal is mooted of introducing this system extensively in all our highways.
THE NINE HOURS' MOVEMENT.
AJIEETINGof the workmen in the building trades was held on Wednesday
evening at 8t. James's Hall, Piccadilly, in furtherance of the nine hours'
movement. The Hall was 611ed, and Mr. Howell, a bricklayer, was called to
the chair. The Chairman addressed the meeting at great length, and in so doing
gave a history of the nine hours' movement, and justified the men in refusing to
accept the proposition of Messrs. Lucas and Kelk, because, first, that it would
take away from them the hour and a lialf on the Saturday, and then because it
entirely demolished a recognised day of work for the artizan.
Mr. Gkeenhlade moved the first resolution : —
Besolved — That, in the opinion of this meeting, long hours of toil, and the physical
exliaustion which they produce, are incompatible with the proper cultivation of the
intellectual capabilities of the workman ; and that ten hours labor is no longer
necessary on account of the introduction and prevalence of macluncry.
He spoke at great length in support of the resolution, and especially against
working overtime.
Mr. Spearman seconded the resolution. He said that the operatives in the
building trades were determined to agitate for and to have the nine hours per
day, and spoke at some length of the hardships endured by the operatives in the
bniloing trades in having to walk such great distances to and from their phces of
emploj^fflt. He contended that the nine hours' question ought to be settled, in
the interests both of the employers and of the employed.
Mr. George Potter supported the resolution. He said the principles of
the nine hours' movement were gradually making way in the minds of the work-
ing claiies and of the public of this country, and pleaded for substantial support
to the.men who had been locked out, remarking that if 100,000 working men
subscribed a penny per week they would raise an annual sum of £22,000, wliich,
he thonght, would he enough to make Messrs. Lucas and Kelk give way. He
read the names of a number of towns the building trades in which had promised
to rapport the men locked out. The list mcludcd Birkenhead, Liverpool, Leeds,
Staflord, Chester, Macclesfield, Shrewsbury, Gosport, Newcastle, Hull, Darwen,
Manchester, Dublin, Glasgow, Wolverhampton, Blackburn, Preston, &c.
TTie first resolution was put from the chair and carried unanimoiuiy.
Mr. Wbioht moved thesecond resolution : —
Resolved— This meeting is of opinion that a reduction of the hours of labor would
greatly benefit the working men, aud at the same time would not be injurious to the
mterests of any other class of the community, and this meeting pledges itself to use
all legal means to obtain a maximum day of nine hours at the present rate of wages.
Mr. Cbemer seconded the resolution, which was carried unanimously.
The meeting then separated.
WORSHIP STREET.— THE NINE HOURS' MOVEMENT.
CHARLES HUGGINS,23, describing liimself as a porter, and Joseph Cliisnelf,
30, a chair maker, were charged before Mr. Leigh with riolently assaulting
James Dunn, a carpenter. Mr. Vann, who attended for the complainant, stated
the facts. Dunn was in full employment, and had, while so engaged, been
taunted by the defendants with respect to the nine hours' movement, and a tlireat
to tell Potter of how he was engaged. This Mr. Potter, it would be recollected,
was a man who last year made himself notorious by agitating for the strike to a
very unfortunate extent, and it would appear, therefore, that he was again in the
field for that purpose. How materially the matter affected both masters and
men was too well known, and any approach to intimidation must be mot by a
strong hand. In this instance there apparently had not been any direct act that
would bring the defendants under the powers of the statute relative to the inti-
midation of workmen, and therefore they had only been charged with the assault;
but it was one of a very aggravated character, and he, Mr. Vann, trusted that
the magistrate would mark his sense of the same by his judgment on the perpe-
trators of it. Complainant, whose eyes were blackened and shirt collar and waist-
coat soaked with blood, then said upon oath : I work for Mr. Mears, a builder in
the Hackney-road. About three o'clock this morning I was on ajob near there when
the defendants, whom I do not know, came up and said, " You are a nice nine hours'
man!" Another man was with them. One of them said, " I'll tell Mr. Potter about
you." I made no reply. I don't know Potter, and don't wish to see him. —
Mr. Hurlston (chief clerk) : I am very glad to hear you say so. — Complainant:
He is secretary, I believe, to the Trades Union strike. I was sawing floor boards
at the time tliis occurred. Defendants did not call me any name, but all three
set on to me. I was struck with some of the boards. Don't know who hit me.
It caused the injuries you see, and I bled profusely. I am likely to lose my
work. — Defendants : We did not toudi him, and know nothing about the strike.
We are of different trades to his. — Mr. Hurlston : This is a misdemeanor, and in
law all implicated are equally guilty. Mr. Leigh ; Was there any threat ?—
Complainant : Not any, sir. Robnet, 103 N : I heard a' great disturbance^ at
Nichol-square, and on reaching there saw defendant standing as though waiting^
for some one to come out of a house. They appeared as though waitinsj to strike.
Complainant on seeing me came from a house ; his features were quite covered
with blood — they were really not distinguishable. He gave defendants into
custody.— Mr. Leigh (to complainant) : At the time this occurred, were you im-
pressed with a belief that they were angry with you for working? — Com-
plainant : I thought it was from what they had read in the newspapers. It was on
my mind so, and I thmk so now. — Huggins : You struck me on the head with a
mallet. — Complainant: I don't deny itj but it was not until you had attacked
me.— Chisnell : You flung a piece of wood at us first ; that's how the bother
began.— Complainant : Nothing of the kind.— Mr. Leigh: This man (com-
plainant) has been considerably injured, and I am bound to tell you that, if the
solicitor had proceeded against you for the intimidation, I should have dealt with '
the case under the powers of the 6th of George IV., whereby an imprisonment of
three months would have been the result, accompanied by hard labor. Laborers
must not be interfered with by intimidation. 'They must be permitted to work
when they please, where they please, and at what price they please, without
being dictated to by other workmen. It is clearly my opinion that, by your words
and acts, you meant to intimidate. Those who are in the daily pursuit of their
work to obtain their daily bread are not to be knocked about and coerced with
impunity by the thoughtless and undeserving. I repeat that, if the solicitor had
deemed it requisite to place you before me charged with the greater offence, I
should have dealt the law stringently, aud now order you to pay the full penalty
attached to the commission of violent assaults — viz., £5 each, or, in default, two
months' imprisonment.
Freehold Land in Hertfordshire.— In consequence of the late dis-
cussion in the House of Lords, respecting the removal of houses required by the
various railway companies in London, the demand for building land in, around,
and at a considerable distance from, the metropolis will, no doubt, materially
increase. The Conservative Land Society is already increasing the number of
its valuable suburban estates— its last purchase being the forty-thii-d and the
third in Hertfordshire, in the town of Hertford, adjoining the estate lately
allotted. It is situated close to the railway station, fronting the main street of
the town.
Bothieell. — The new Free Church here is now rapidly approaching
completion, and Thursday the 28th current has been fixed on as the day for
opening it, when the Rev. Dr. Gutlirie, of Edinbm-gh, will officiate. The
former church having becometoo small to meet the increased demand for church
accommodation, it was resolved that it should be taken dqjvn and a more com-
modious one erected on its site. The designs for the present building, which
will accommodate 880 sitters, are by Messrs. Hay of Liverpool. The
style is the Early English, and, with its beautiful octagonal spire
rising to a height of nearly 130 feet, the church forms a striking object
in the landscape, and is a decided ornament to the neighbourliood. The
well-lighted interior, with its fine proportions, its massive timbers, and
lofty vaulted ceiling, presents an imposing appearance. In the east
gable there is a handsome large window, of five compartments, filled with
stained glass, designed and executed by Ballantine of Edinburgh. The pulpit is
ofsolidoak, the timber for which was presented by Charies Tennent, Esq., of
Wellpark, in addition to a liberal subscription towards the building fund. The
total cost of the church is about £3,000, a considerable portion ol whicli has
been raised by subscription among the members of the congregation ; and when
it is considered that since the disruption they have erected, Iree of debt, a fine
manse, a large school, with schoolmaster's house, and that this is the second
church they have been compelled to erect, if must be allowed that they have not
been backward in their liberality. As, however, a considerable debt will remain
on the new church, a collection is to be made at tho opening, as well as on the
foUowmg Sabbath, so as to reduce the burden as much as possible.
March 29. 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
279
flJ^rrwDondena.
ST. CLEMENT DANES CHURCH.
Sir,— I bp£r permission through your columns to draw attention to a most unjuBtt-
liable nrofrctding by the Churchwardens of this paripli, in having: had their names,
together ^vith that of the rector, the Kev. R. H. Killlck, cut into tnc stone tablet over
the tower doorway.
It is the custom, though in vain glory and bad taste, to set up inside an old church
the names of the churchwardens in whoso reign a beautifying has been done ; but to
cut them into the walls of the fabric, as lately done here by Mr. Little and Mr. Chap-
man, with, at least, the consent of the rector, is, I hope, unprecedented. I have been
told that the new names only replace others of former churchwardens. Is that an
excuse? Where will this end ? Arc every annual pair of ofTicers and every new
incumbent to be allowed to cut into or to disfigure the architecture of our churches ?
Try it on the new Gothic ones, and see the result. Are Wren's less valuable ? ' But
it ]8 on public, and not architectural grounds only, that this protest is made
through you.
Now as to the law. I have searched, and I cannot lind that, besides repairs, any-
thing can be done to the church or eiuirchyard without the sanction of the ordinary ;
and to him I propose to appeal, unless the rector and churchwardens of St. Clement
Danes should retrace their false steps by havincr their names erased (though they
cannot restore the tablet), or shall satisfy you that such consent has been given. The
vestry's passing the charge is not enough. I enclose my card, in assurance of my
good faith and intention.
I liud that churchwardens may, without the consent of the ordinary, erect any-
thing, such us bells or a clock, for the benefit or curiosity of the parishiouers. If this
is relied on, may not Mr. Little and Mr. Chapman proceed to add their trade or busi-
ness for their own benefit and for our curiosity?
I cannot conclude without telling something amusingly absurd. On the front of
the organ-gallery of St. Clement's the usual beaut iti cation memorial was set up in the
recent incumbencj^ of Mr. Mason. When 31r. Killick came, Mr. Mason's name was
painted out, and his oivn gilt over it, making a false entry ; but, more than that, in
order to make it conspicuous, like a shop-front, a date was added before to match the
one behind. Thus it stands now, as ridiculous as incorrect : —
" This church was repaired and beautified 1857.
1860. Reverend Richard Henrv Killick, Rector. 18G0."
The names of the churchwardens in the third line are, of course, still those of 1857 !
What will churchwardens do next ? I am, &c.,
Harold.
THE TURKISH BATH QUESTION.
Sir,— Your correspondent (who made the attack on Mr. Hay)has at last sho^vn his
colors, for he is probably no other than "Ebn-el-Shaitan " himself. This appears
from the generalstyle, and from his quarrellin*^ with the ordinary use of words, as
defined in the best dictionary in the language. He has taken up a great deal ot your
valuablt' space with questions quite beside the point at issue, such as the secret vices
of the Turks, and " the horrors of the harem." My reference was to what I saw in
the East, and I did not profess to know anything about the domestic habits of the
racha of Damascus. But I state the literal truth when I say, that during a month's
residence in Constantinople I never saw a drunken man, or the slightest exhibition
of open vice or indecency ; whereas here you must shut your eyes very hard Indeed
if you wish to avoid seeing every one of the three.
With regard to the supposed error of M. de Lamartine, I believe it to be qnite
possible ihat he did see half an inch of water on the floor of the
oath at Hey rout, as I have known a similar thing to occur in one of
the Western baths from accidental stoppage of the drain ; and I have no
donbt that on the occasion referred to it was also the result of accident. M. de
lieaufraiehe thinks that person very ignorant of a Turkish bath who does not know
the meaning of " harrowing the head," which, he says, ''consists in the attendant
scratching with his nails the head of the patient I" 1 have often had Turkish baths
in the East and in this country, and yet I never met anyone who had been "a
patient" in this operation, and I do not think your readers will attach much
importance to the statement of an individual who (by his own confession) "has
refrained from these baths," and consequently gives them a second-hand account of
that which cannot bo completely realised by the most accurate description. The
public are fortunately not dependent (for a knowledge of the bath) upon the accounts
of Eastern travellers who are too prejudiced and self-sufficient to personally inves-
tigate the customs of the countries through which they pass. The invigorating and
healthful influences of the bath have now been described by so many writers that it
would be trespassing on your patience if I were to waste time in talking of them.
There are now a good many establishments in operation in England where your
readers can judge for themselves. M. de Leaufraiehe admits tliat the Russian
vapor-baths are "refreshing and invigorating," whilst another party (running into
the opposit"; extreme) is for having nothing but dry air baths at an enormous tem-
perature ; but I believe that the truth lies between, and that the hot-air bath, with
a proper supply of moisture in the air, is that best adapted for use in this country
and climate, both in health and disease. I am, &c.,
Edwari> Haughton, M.D.
104, ilount rieasaut, Liverpool, 2ard March, 1861.
WHY DO NOT ARCHITECTS JOIN THE INSTITUTE?
Sir,— In your last Number, in an excellent article under this heading, you observe,
**Mr. Boult, another member of the Liverpool Society, was even less disposed to
join the Institute than was Mr. I'icton." Permit me to say there is a shght error
here. I am not indisposed to join the Institute as soon as I am satisfied it is doing
the work which appears to lie before it, and I do not think there is any greater
indisposition on the part of 3Ir. Picton.
The Institute is too exclusive in its constitution, and keeps too much aloof from
the active, every-day interests of the profession, whose sympathies are diverted into
many channels instead of being concentrated in one. \Ve have the Architectural
Union Company, the Architectural Exliibition. the Architectural Photoo^raphic
Association, the Architectural Publication Society, and the Architectural Associa-
tion, all in London, and all in addition to the Institute. This diversion in lieu of
concentration seems to me a radical defect: a provincial architect is distracted
by all these diilereut societies, and he does not know to which the pre-
ference is due. The profession needs a head and a heart— a head to
advise and act, and a centre for professional sympathy. As re^-ards pro-
vincial architects I regret not to be able to recollect any occasion on^which the
Institute has been cf the slightest service; if I am in error I shall rejoice to be
corrected. On the other hand, attempts have been made to regulate competitions
and examinations, but hitherto without any success. No doubt the Institute would
have been more successful, if it had been more [of a representative Institution; as
it is, it has no hold upon the profession out of London, and has, consequently, no in-
fluence to wield in any movement of professional importance. It is more of a step-
parent than the head of a happy family.
Like yourself. Sir. I am no enemy to the Institute ; on the contrary, whenever it
has evinced a disposition to take the position of being the head of our fatherless
family, I have rejoiced to see that disposition ; but, as it is at present constituted,
and with its present objects, I confess I am at a loss to know why provincial archi-
tectB should join the Institute. ,
I am, &c.,
24, North John-Street, Liverpool, 27th Mareb, 186L Joseph Boult.
TOWN HALL. HULL, COMPETITION.
Sir,— Forlhe satisfaction and instruction of many of your readers, I have great
pleasure in asking the worthy town-clerk of Hull a few questions relative to this
competition. Ist. Pray, Mr. Wills, Is it the intention of your corporation to employ
the successful competitor in the uHual manner ? 2nd. What is the probable luuount
your corporation mtcnd expending upon their intending works? :ird. Will you.
Mr. Wills, unhesitatingly say, to the best of your belief, there is no individual in
particular to whom undue interest will be shown, to the serious detriment of other
competitors? You will, I know. Mr. Editor, agree with me, that if Mr. Wills is
courteous enough to answer these queries it will do an intense gratification to In-
tending competitors. You have shown very great interest, from time to time, in
competition generally, and those that prove to be swindling transactions In partlcoiar.
Do you not think, with me, the most simple mode of ascertaining whether a compe-
tition is really to be fair is by asking: the plain question through our leading
(professional) papers ?
Iam,&o.,
An (Iktekded Coupetixg) Abchjtzct.
SCAMPING RAILWAY WORKS.
Sir. — Y'our correspondent, " G. A. Y'oung," has done good service in calling public-
attention to the defective construction of railway tunnels. And I can fully 'udorse
his statement that it is owing to sub-letting and taskwork at the lowest positiblo
prices. Take an instance. In JWr-8-y I was engaged as Company's inspector upon
H rail way in Cheshire, and found the greatest difficulty in keeping the " subs " to
the specification. Upon my length of three miles, the works consisted of heavy-
retaining walls, viaducts, bridges, culverts, &c. The retaining walls were put in by
sinking shafts, and the cutthig executed after tiie brickwork became consolidated;
time being an object, much night- work was done, and although I was very desirous to
do my duty to my employers, it was next to impossible to do so, in consequence of
this vile sub-subletting system, which was again let by the sub's sabs as taskwork
to the men. Examples were made of them from time to time, but to little purpose,
the succeeding batch being sometimes worse than llieir predecessors. I frequently
found, upon taking up portions of the brickwork, three and four courses put in dry,
especially in counterparts of bridges and the back courses of retaining walls, where
the work could be buried and hidden out of sight quickly ; in tact, without the help
of a navvy's pick no good could be done, as the " crow " was on the look-out for the
inspector, and the moment he hove in sight, "larry up" was the word, and when,
he arrived upon the spot everything looked most unexceptionable, but it is just in.
such cases when an inspector ought to look beneath the surface. Well, I have no
doubt that at the tunnel upon the Sonth-Eastern similar human tele^aphs
were at work, or that, as was often the case, some inexperienced person was in
charge of the works ; in fact, in those days anything was.considered good enough for
a railway inspector, and I could amuse you it I were to give you a few instances of
the antecedents of men who, because they had interest with c-ertain parties, were
placed in positions of trust and importance during the construction of railways.
But let not the whole of the odium ot scamping fall upon the subs ; take another
instance— When my engagement terminated in Cheshire I was recomended by the
resident engineer to the agent of a large contractor for cmploymentt who offered me
a number of bridges to;,con8truct sub-contract : my knowledge of the data, wages, &c.,
was perfect, and I at once told him that I could only agree to take the work at his
prices upon tv.o conditions, and those were, that I must be allowed to cheat the mea
and scamp the work. And all who are conversant with the construction of railways
during, aye,' and since the "mania," know full well that such was the common
practice, subs took the work at any price, and drew all they could upon foundations,
walls, and abutments, and when they came to arching and parapets, where the work:
showed two faces and did not cube much, made a final draw, and bolted with a
month's wages belonging to the men, after scamping the work.
What is the remedy ? Forbid subletting and taskwork in the specifications ; let en-
gineers and architects see that their clerks of works and inspectors possess sound
practical knowledge of construction, and that they are of good character, and insist less
upon more showy accomplishments, by this course you will obtain what is wanted,
viz., sound honest work, and practical supervision.
I am, &c.,
H. M.
Portland, March 27th, 1861.
STATUE OF GENERAL HAVELOCK. IN TRAFALGAR-SQUARE.
SiR^_AlIow me to call attention, through tlie medium ot your excellent Periodical,
to the pedestal now being erected in Trafalgar -square for the statue of General
Havelock. Although standing in a corresponding position to that of Sir Charleft
Napier, it is different in form and character ; and if each statue Jis erected is allowed
by those who have the direction of these matters, to have any form of pedestal the
committee may choose to approve, we shall have such a mass of discordant matter in
Trafalgar-square as will make it a disgrace rather than a credit to London,
A few suggestions from you may lead to tlie adoption of some general design, which
will prevent such a misfortune.
I am, &c.,
March 27, 1861 *' SET SquaBB.
TENDERS.
DWELIilNG-HOUSE, LEICESTER.
For ten honses, Leicester. Mr. Francis Drake, architect, 30, Market-street,
Leicester. Quantities supplied. „, ,^,
Sills :. £1,770 1 Rndkin ^}^^
Ashby 1,329 1 Ward }*?2
Hutchinson and Son 1,301 | Stafford and Eagle i,wf
Sketchley I,:i73 j Chambers l.wa
Russell 1,^49-1 Hadfield ^.Wl
Hill 1,238|
Warehouse, London. « ^ « t.
For erecting warehouse, No. 3, Little Knightrider-street, fbr Mr. G. M. Boyet.
Mr. W. Hudson, architect. Quantities supplied. « . .- ^
Abbott and Hopwood £l.e« 16 0
Foster U^ 0 0
Lawrence *'^^ ~ „
Pritchard 1^086 0 0
Brown and Robinson 1,066 0 0
Child, Son, and Martin (accepted) 1,0W 0 0
Corn Exchange, Bury St. Edmiwd's.
For the general work exclusive of ironwork to roofs, with an addition of 6 feet u>
the length of the Corn Exchange, Bury St. Edmund's, and cellars under, aiessr*.
Edward KUis and J. Woodard, architects.
Edward Gibbons, Ipswich £4,926
Thompson and Buddie, Peterborough 4,750
Rednall,Bury 4,590
Henry Luff. Ipswich 4,443
Jackaman, Bury 4^421
For the Ironwork.
Lawrence, Brothers, Iloxton ^^?S£
Cottam and Co., Oxford-street W
Ransome and Sims, Ipswich.... 750
280
THE BUILDING NEWS.
March 29, 1861.
Chapel, Bcckfastleigh, Devon.
For Clupel-of-Eue at Muokfastleigh, Devon. Mr. John Norton, architect.
BxearaUQif, BrirkTftyen', Carpentere', Joiutrs',
Jl«aoas% Stitt«n', aud Bath 8ton« SmiUis', Plumber's
TTasMS. PUstcnn' work. irork. Punten' and (glaziers' Totals.
work.
FumeanxandWdlcocks ..£633 IG .. .. " ..
Robert Willcocks «50 0 IMS £535 10 £1,300 10 0
Chinnock, lirolliera .. .. 1,425 10 6
K. Deauia .. .. i,605 0 0
Cbatel, &c., Notting-hiu,.
For the building of Ladbroko Chapel and Lecture-room, &c., Notting-hlU. Mr.
Charles G. Searlc, architect.
Jloore '£5,021 I Macey £4,475
Wm. HIgga 5,000 I Wm. HiU 4,470
G.Myers 4,893 i Hewlett and Brown 4,411
Turner and Sons 4,809 I Keycs and Head 4,350
linnor — 4,r~4 j K. Kobinsou 4.323
Boward 4,493 |
Railway Works, Brighton.
For bailding: new workshops at Britiliton for the Bxighton Railway ComnanT.
Qnautities supplied by Mr. C. U Driver.
Reynolds J. Brishton .£8,2(55
.Sawyer J. W., Dulwich 7,945
Stap K., London 7,(558
.iiatching- R., Brighton 7,610
Bushby K., Littlehampton 7,391
Cheesman and Co., Brighton £7.260
Fabian J., Brighton 6,785
RoweAVm. Hy., London 6,359
Chinnock Bros., Southampton 6,211
Cottages, Plymouth.
For ten cottages at Plymouth. Mr. MolTatt C. ^y. Home, architect.
Stevens, Newton Abbott £3,938 0
Lavers, Plymouth 3,50o 13
Matcham, „ 3,105 0
Clark, „ 3 056 0
Elliott and Mitchell, Plymouth 2,925 0
COMPETITION AWARDED.
Leeds.
The competition for the Leeds Infirmary was decided on Thursday last in favor of
ihedcHgns marked "Experientiadocet," which were submitted by Messrs. Lock-
wood, Mawson and Mawson, architects, of Leeds. Accommodation is provided for
MtO m-patients, 40 convalesants, and an out-door relief department for 200 patients
TThi? plan includes all the requisite accommodation for the patients also for the
Jnedical staff, with board-room, library, museum, chapel, &c., &c., and the estimated
outlay exceeds ^£20,000.
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
_ TOWN HALL.
HcLL.— For the approved design, &c., for a Town-hall and public offices, at Kingston-
upon-Hull, to be lonvarded with plans, sections, and estimates of cost (sealed and
addressed to the town clerk, Hull, and marked outside, "Design for Toivn-hall ")
to May 31. The sum of £100 is offered for the design selected as the best, and £50
lor ^e design selected as second best. A block plan of site, and printed statement
of offices, rooms, and conveniences required, at Robert Well's (town clerk's) office.
Town-hall, Hull, between 11 and 1.
„, THAMES EMBANKMENT.
Plans cannot be received after 12 noon of April 8.
„ ^ BRIDGES, Ac.
isTArroRD.— For plans, speciflcations, and estimates of a proposed new cart bridge
over the nver Blythc at Lower Leigh, in the county of Stafford, within about 100
yards from the Leigh Railway Station, with the approaches and all other require-
ments appertaining thereto. To be sent in before 10th April addressed to Mr.
Bndgwood, Leigh, Cheadle, Staffordshire.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
_, MANSIONS.
«EHEF0RD.-F<5r the erection of the mansion of Broxwood court, Hereford, for
Richard fenead Cox, Esq. Plans, &c., from Thursday until 11th April, either In
Hereford or in Bristol. Application to be made to the architect, Mr. Charles F
Hansom, Rock House, Clifton, Bristol. Sealed tenders under cover, to the archi-
tect, on or before April 1.3.
^f';'- 1.^''*)-'''"'' ''l? varioua works required in the erection of a mansion-house at
Glcnforsa, near Sahne, Mull, for D. Greenhill, Esq. Plans, «.-c., at the office of Mr.
Angus Gregorson, writer, Oban, and of Messrs. I'eddie and Kinnear, architects,
J, South Charlotte Street, Edinburgh, to the latter of whom offers by Anrii 3
„ SCHOOLS.
>V EDNESBCRY.— For the enlargement and repairing of St. John's Schools, Wedncs-
r^y- ..!;'??'• *"■• »t tho offl<:e of Messrs. W. and S. Horton, architects, Wednes-
Dury, till March 11. Tenders, endorsed "Tender for School Building," to Mr T
Bill, secretary of committee. Bridge-street, Wednesbury, by April 12
„ .„ BATH.'S, &c.
m-RST.— For the separate works required at baths and cottages, &c., at Hurst, near
Ashton-under-Lyne. Plans, &c., at the office of llayley and Son, 25, Cross-street,
Manchester.
_ ^ DWELLING HOU.SES, &c.
Dl^FRrEsPi.B.)— Forthema8on8',joiners',fand otherworks required in enlarging
the dwelling-house, and nlfering and erecting new office houses at Carses of^,
rarlsh of linwald. Plans, ie., wi'h Mr. James Barbour, architect, Dumfries: and
wiu be received by Mr. Craig, soiiciioi- to 0th April.
„ ^ BRIDGES, Ac.
i»CMFRiEs (N.B.)— For making a new road, fence walls, and building a small bridge
fl„^ °T.'u ^^"'^ «^<:-.with Alex. Crombie, architect, Dumfries, who wiU receive
tenders, either together or separately, to April 0.
T»«« T> GASWORKS,
^^.t."""'" • Z"?*^**'''? * *»"''• building piers, and boundary waUs, and otler
rftmn„n?^^^«**«*''fP^'J"'', I*'»D8, &c., at the office of the Doncastcr Gas
i,ompan>,to8th April Sealed tenders, addressed to the {Doncastcr Gas Cjm-
-- fJivl:-lvttLiZ"^ to the Chairman of the Gas Committee, and endorsed "Tender
«„_ *-*<■«'»""£ and Bricklayers' Work," by 10 a.m., April 9.
fl^ri^I;'*h.^H;;, r'' , """"f^ malleable iron roofs, cast iron columns, g'rders,
noorlBg.hjdraulic mains and connexions, scrubbers, wa8hers,condcnser8,pTrificrs
n«n'vT.l.'^if„l «,'"*'".'';■!' ""I ^""'™ «t Jltndon, of thcSuuderiand dns Com-
L„/»n^,..^? ;,«."■' ?V*','l"*,<^«,«' "le company, 6), Fawcett-street, fjunder-
StJ^? s «' iVnSf™ H •,."*"'^'''^5'l '■'"'i:^*'-. ■». (i'-eat George-streef, West-
minster, fe.W . lenders delivered atlhe office of the company by ApriU'.
T ,^ RAILWAY WORKS ' ' ' i
acro.»X'*rive,?if.L" ,^"^Jlf'"'«'.KA";WAV.-For the construction of u viaduct
• ThT. «n,t u..f ?Ji'^'l°r*]"' '"t"'*' °f Kdinkillle, about 9 miles fron- Forres.
Pli^. *i »..h/;2S"A**'Ur'"'«,t'..°(,*'"'™t "P""- »°« of considerable height,
by Apr* 2." • ""'^•»'"' ^■^- Inverness, to whom scale d tenacrs
Ulster Railway.— For the erection ol a passenger station at Portadown, and
other works in relation thereto. Plans, &c., at the Engineer's office, Belfast, and
sealed offers, marked " Tenders for I'ortadowu Statiun," will be received by F.
Broughton, up till the 8th prox.
ENGINE HOUSES, &c.
Deptford.— For the construction of two engine-houses, boiler-house, chimney,
filth hoists, coal-sheds.dwelling-house, iron wharf wall, brick and Iron sowers;
and for the execution of other works in connexion therewith, on ground adjacent
to Deptford-eieek and the Greenwich branch of the South Eastern Railway, Kent,
for the Metropolitan Board of Works. Plans, sections, specification, lorm of
tender, and other particulars, upon payment of £1 Is., on application of Mr. J. W.
Bazalgette, engineer of the Board, at the office ot the Board, Spring-gardens.
Tenders, addressed to the Metropolitan Board of Works, must be delivered at the
office of the Board before 4p.m. of April 11.
ROADWORK.
Stockport.— For keeping the roads, footpaths, and ditches and fences, &c., respec-
tively belonging to the Stockport and \Varrington, and Washway Turnpike Roads
in good ■md complete repair for a period of five years. The length of the Stock-
port and Warrington road, including the Edgeley Branch, is 14 miles and 932 yards
and the Washway Road 3J miles and 270 yards. Particulars from Mr. B. S.
Barber, Lourford, Stretford, lor the Washway Road, and Mr. John Klnsey, Hale,
near Altrincliam, iorthe Stockport and Warrington Road, and also from Mr. Wm.
Devereux Nicliolls, Solicitor, Altrincham, to whom tenders endorsed " Tender for
repairing the Washway or Stockport and Warrington Turnpike Roads" by
April 22.
iVi?!o Church, Bramcote, Notts. — On Thursday last the foundation
stone of a new parish church was laid. The church is an extremely tasteful
design, of the Decorated period of Gothic arcliitecture, and consists of nave,
aisle, chancel, and vestry, having a tower and spire about 130 feet high, open to
the chureli inside, and porch on the south side. The stone used is chevin for the
window tracery and principal dressings, Stanton stone for inside ashlar, columns,
&c., with Caen stone for pulpit, font, and inside carvings. The roof is an open
timbered one. The chancel, stalls, and seating generally, is in deal, stained and
varnished. Convenience is also provided for heating tlie church in the most
perfect manner. The whole of the works have been placed (without competition)
in the hands of Mr. John Firn and Mr. William Clifton, of Leicester, and the
progress wliich they have made in theshort time since its commencement, and the
substuntial manner in which it is being executed, give ample evidence of their
(jualification for the work with which they have been entrusted. The design of
the building is by Mr. Johnson, Adelphi, London.
The Council of the Society of Arts have given to tlie Female School
of Art permission to liold an Exhibition of Fine Arts in their great room in the
Adelphi during the month of June. The profits of the Exhibition will be applied
to the building of a new School of Art.
Watches as a Branch of Fine Art Manufactures.— "Having extended
our search through the West-end and the City, after an ordinary good English
watch , possessing an artistic design, we have come to the conclusion that but very
few of our English watch manufacturers have yet properly appreciated the advance
of the public taste for a higher order of ornameutation from improved designs.
Small though the watch is, it yet aflbrds ample scope lor the display of the genius
of an artist. It is, therefore, with mucli pleasure that we can mention one manufac-
turer who has given especial attention to the artistic ornumentation of watches, and
whose productions manifest a decided advance in regard to rules of art and the re-
quirements of an educated taste. The manufacturer here alluded to is Mr. J. W.
Benson, whose recently enlarged show-rooms, at 33 and 34, Ludgate Hill, form one
of the conspicuous features of this great City thoroughfare. The display of gold and
silver watches, together with ormolu clocks of rare designs, is quite imposing to the
passer-by. Here the purchaser of a watch is nflorded every facility of choosing one
suited to his purpose and means, and possessing at the same time all that can be
desired in finish, taste, and design." — Globe.
Benson's Illustrated Pamphlet, post-free for two stamps, is descriptive of every
construction of watch now made. Watches safe by post to all parts of the globe.—
Advertisement.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and communicatious to be addressed to the Editor of the Building iiEWS, SO,
Old Boswellcoul-t, St. Clement's, Strand, London.
The Jiditor canuot undertake to return unused manuscripts.
(J.— Your plan is not in itself sufficient for us to advise upon. We should require sections ;
and even with tliem could hardly determine without inspecting the site. Employ aa
architect.
A Churchwarden.— Drawings must be deposited at the office for approval.
P. VoLEUB.— Kot a subject for our Journal.
W. Jones — Hesult of competition has not reached us ; we will make inquiries.
A. Cameiion (Leith) — A question for a lawyer to give an opinion upon.
A Subscriber from Ko. 1 will find that the opinion of a contemporary on the subject will
now be subject to some modification,
H. Armitage.— Thanks ; shall receive attention.
K. It.— UndoubteUiy. It is the custom of architects to have their quantities taken out by
surveyors, whose charges are added by the contractors to tlie aniuuiu of the contract. If
the party proposing to build refuses to emj)loy any builder, he is liable to the surveyor em-
I)loyed by his arcliltcct, it being considered that the architect has authority from him to
employ the surveyor.
T. Catteu (Bayswater) — We do not desire to offer an opinion.
J. 1'. (New York) — Send name and address to our publishing office, and we will answer by
letter.
Thomas Wilson Next week.
S. Ckane — lleconsider the matter, and let us hear from you again.
T. Chetwvnde.— The Committee appointed by the Goveriinient to Intiuire into the causes
and remedy of the decay in the stone used in the I'alace of Westminster, met on the 23rii
Inst, at Itlciimond-terrace. Present— Sir R. Murrhison, Jlessrs. 'i'ite, M.P., O. O. Scott,
KydneySmirke, G. Godwin, C. 11. Smith, G. K. IJuniell ; Professors Franklund, Ilofmann.
i . A. Abel, and Ansted ; and Mr. I). Wyatt. The Conmilltee appointed Mr. Tite chair-
man, and ilr. Boiiham Carter, M.P., is the secretary of the Coniinittce. The Commitiec
adjourned to Monday, the Hth April, at 12 o'clock, when tlie.v propose to make an exami-
nation of the budding Itself.
W. M.— Impossible to say at present.
T — Show ific drawings to the District Surveyor.
O. M. K.— We cannot say.
T. Barret.— Subject of communication is not new.
F. Williams.— Multiply the area by the number of half-bricks In thickness, and divide hy
three.
W. O.-Shall appear.
ItBCEivED.-M. P., W. X.'Z., B. E., S., L. Q. N., E. Slocnmbc, T. J., H. J. H., and W., F.
Phillips, A. A., Subscriber (Yarmouth), K. B. J. B. S., R. Barrow, G. Jlarlcy, W. W. S.,
A Joiner, J. Uobson, ()., O. W.. 8. M. and S..E. and Co., R. Kobcrls, G. Callow, E.N. W.,
G. Holmes, Rev. <i. W.,Z. A., N., T. Naish, A Workman, W. Petley, S., James S.,Y.O.X.
Anonymus, Dcinocritus, A Pupil.
ApniL 5, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
281
THE EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES.
HE vast metropolis, with its
constantly increasiiij; bulk and
extending traffic, is daily pre-
senting new problems to the
ingenuity of its inhabitants,
80 that scarcely has one difB-
culty been overcome when
another starts up in turn, and
the labor of encountering and
successfully providing for the
various wants, social or sub-
stantial, which press for
attention, is even to some extent
ao-nravated by every advance made;
for the greater the general pro-
gress, and the more perfectly indivi-
dual departments are supplied with
what they require, the more striking
does the contrast appear between
the portions that have been brought
up to the standard of the require-
ments of the present day and those
that have not, the more natural
does it seem that those grievances
or defects which have not as yet
received attention should be im-
mediately redressed, and the more
unwilling is the general public to
admit the force of obstacles and
objections which sometimes are
really worthy of consideration.
Thus, now that we have secured some amount of sanitary superin-
tendence, have commenced the construction of a complete system of
drainage, have a salutary control established alike over decayed and
dangerous structures and over new buildings, and have girdled the
metropolis with railways and covered the river with steamers, the
crowded state of our principal thoroughfares calls in a louder voice than
ever before for relief.
Nor is it only in consequence of the accomplishment of many metro-
politan improvements, and the inauguration of others, that this question
has assumed a pressing aspect ; there can be no doubt thatit is not
merely because relief seems more practicable, now that other improve-
ments have been effected, but also because of an actual increase in the
amount of traffic that we are driven to face the problem of how best to
facilitate communication between the principal portions of London.
The cutting of new streets is one of the great means of improving a
city, and this has been for many years in slow but still in satisfactory
progress.
A more important mode of relieving traffic-crowded thoroughfares
and facilitating communication is now being taken in hand with
activity. We allude to the bringing of railways into and across the
heart of the City. A new railway is better in many respects than a
new road, for it can carry off more traffic and can transport it at a
more rapid pace. •
The experiment of street railways, now being tried, is a measure for
encountering another phase of the difficulty which the enormous extent
of London presents ; but as the subject under consideration has
reference to the relief of the crowded thoroughfares in the heart of
London, and not to the best mode of connecting that centre with its
distant ramifications, we are not quite sure whether street railways,
even if they be found to be of great advantage to the suburbs, can be
included among the measures taken or projected for facilitating traffic
in the heart of London.
A more tangible and very practicable mode of diminishing pressure
on certain points consists in the scheme, often recommended for con-
sideration, of taking means for throwing open free of toll the private
bridges. The central situation of Waterloo-bridge has secured for it a
considerable amount of traffic, but Southwark-bridge is very little
used, and there can be no doubt tliat, were both of them free of toll, a
considerable amount of heavy cartage and many lighter vehicles would
be taken over them which now crowd the avenues to London-bridge
and Ulackfriars-bridge.
These do not, however, exhaust the possibilities for improvement. A
very old proposal, as old as Sir Christopher Wren, has been revived for
embanking the Thames, and has appeared at a time when circum-
stances give it more than ordinary chances of success. There is not
merely the constantly increasing pressure upon the streets, and the
constantly increasing indisposition to put up with the grievous incon-
venience occasioned by this pressure at a time when remedies for
many lighter evils have been or are being devised and applied ; thej-e
has been a threat of so heavy an aggravation of these discomforts, ia
the prospect that the Strand and Fleet-street would be rendered
impassable for heavy traffic during many months, owing to the exca-
vations necessary for carrying out the main drainage scheme, tliat y
plan whi-ih promised a reUef from this formidable prospect would be
certain to secure at least a hearing.
Under these circumstances it was that the idea was brought before
the public and favorably received, and it is to be hoped that this species
of double pressure will cause a speedy settlement to be come to. If the
embankment be not made, and so made as to afford an opportunity of
carrying the main drains under it, then the Strand and Fleet-street
must be stopped ; and if the Strand and Fleet-street are stopped, with
no new outlet for the traffic provided, the inconvenience and loss that
will arise become a matter for grave anticipation — not to say appre-
hension.
Whatever the precise scheme that may be adopted, the embankment
cannot fail to add a feature of great beauty, as well as great utility, to
London. It will essentially consist of a bank or terrace on the north
(or Middlesex) side of the Thames, narrowing the river somewhat, and
presenting on that side an artificial steep boundary to the channel, in
place of the shelving, slimy banks now visible, and rescuing from those
banks a broad, level belt of ground, available for a series of quays, or
for foot-passengers, or heavy traffic and carriages, or for all of these.
The present river-side wharves and wharfingers' warehouses will, of
course, then cease to abut on the main stream; and in the necessity for
providing them with a means of easy communication with the river
ties the difficulty, and the only serious difficulty, of the scheme. It
would be very undesirable to interpose a solid platform, one or two
hundred feet wide, or even wider, between them and their landing-
places, both on the ground of interference with public traffic along the
embankment, and because the wharfingers' business would be thereby
hindered, and consequently claims (reasonable and unreasonable) for
compensation provoked, the settlement of which might probably double
the expense of the undertaking ; and it will be on the other hand
difficult so to combine the necessary roadways and waterways as
to leave both unencumbered and both efficient.
In the early part of last month the " Thames Embankment Com-
missioners" advertised for plans for the intended embankment, not
offering a premium indeed, but rather expressing their readiness to
receive the opinions and suggestions of any persons who might have
made this important subject their study ; the time for receiving plans
being about to close, they will no doubt shortly be brought before
public notice, and it seemed, therefore, appropriate that the public
attention should be drawn to the features they ought to expect to find.
The advertisement sums up the requirements of the Commissioners
as " plans for embanking the river Thames within the metropolis, which
will provide with the greatest efficiency and economy for the relief of
the most crowded streets, tend to the improvement of the navigation,
and afford an opportunity of making the low-level sewer without dis-
turbing Fleet-street or the Strand."
It will be obvious that no scheme could be worth execution which
does not, at least, provide for the accomplishment of these objects ; but
there are one or two other requisites already hinted at which the Com-
missioners might have done well to insert in their advertisement, and
which they certainly will do well to bear in mind in the scrutiny of the
plans.
Among these are especially the maintenance of effectual water com-
munication with existing warehouses, together with the preservation of
an uninterrupted thoroughfare, and the securing a work of noble
character worthy of the metropolis.
As to the character of the work, it must, to be successful, be designed
on a liberal scale, and executed in the most solid manner; little orna-
ment is requisite, but the existence and the appearance of strength and
space are essential. The little glimpses that London affords of some-
thing like a quay here and there give but a faint idea of the beauty of
a continuous embankment when nobly carried out. We have the
terrace before the Custom-house, the Temple Gardens, and the embank-
ment recently made at Chelsea, and, small as is the space afforded by
either of them, they are all favorite resorts and objects of genume
admiration. ,
The quays of Kouen, of Frankfort, of Bordeaux, and some other
continental cities afford, however, a far better standard than any frag-
ments of embankment extant in London of what would be the effect
of a weU- arranged and liberal plan ; and there is no reason to doubt
that the formation of a noble promenade and a good carnage-way,
commmicatintr with all the principal streets from AVestminster-bridge
to London-bridge, would be speedily followed by the reconstruction of
many of the tenements abutting on the river, and the erection of a line
of suitable buildings in their place. ,.,,,.
Into the practical points raised by the Commissioners, and the otber
requirements implied, but not definitely expressed, it wUl not be possible
now to enter. There is more than one of them that presents a diffi-
culty but none of the difficulties are such as to be likely to prove m-
surmountable, or even very formidable ; and the undertaking, if car-
282
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 5, 1861.
ried out, promises to enrich the metropolis with a new and a useful
feature, not less conspicuous or less ornamental than any that has been
added to it, either in the shape of new streets, new bridges, new parks,
or new public buildings, since the rebuilding of St. Paul's.
♦-
innVEESAL MUSEUM OF ARCHITECTURE.
FEW things are more gratifying than sympathy. I beg to thank E.F.S.
for his extremely flattering e-xpressions contained in your Number for
March 22, under the head of " The Sympathies and Uses of Art." I am
exceedingly glad that he approves of my lecture of the 6th February, at'
the Department of Art, on the "Four Sisters," and rejoice that he holds
bimilar views with myself, as to the importance of decoration viewed in
its larger sense. 1 rejoice because in liim exists so powerful an
advocate. Questions like these require being constantly brouglit before
the public before it can be made to feel their importance, and illustrations
like those of E.F.S. are proportionately valuable. One passage of his, there-
fore I would fain see again in your pages, and therefore quote :
The vindication of the propriety and use of Decoration will, I trust, draw more at-
tention to the fourth Eistcr than she has hitherto met with, and lead to her being
treated in a more refined and catholic spirit. To point the necessity of this improve-
inent and of decoration being made to conduce to the better appearance of sculpture
reference is evident to the character of pedestals for monumental sculpture. Take
the instances- those most recent and familiar to the readers— the Kxchangc, Wel-
lington Monument, and the Chcapsidc reel statue. Can it be denied that their bald
and tindecorated appearance detracts from the artiatic ensemble ?
Again, E. F. S. speaks of the usual type of British pedestals being
without specialty, often equally appropriate for supporting " a monster
indicator or a cluster of gaslights as a statue !" He speaks of examples of
these pedestals " as being simple even to idiotcy, but of design as not ex-
hibiting a trace " :
Where [he says] are the indications of thought, study, and elaboration, of Inven-
tion, grace, and retinement ? They have no character of appropriateness or of being
designed lor the purpose they are made to serve. Whereas a pedestal should have
an appearance of ypertal adaptation to the purpose it serves. It should be an
harmonious though subordinate part of the monument as a whole. The character
of the design should be in keeping with that of the chief feature of the monument,
the statue ; and it may be made to continue and emphasise the story the figure is
intended to tell.
I make my acknowldgements to E. F. S. for these excellent expressions
•with respect to the shortcomings of the monumental art in this country.
1 hare also to thank him personally for another thing, viz., for his tender-
ness in not including among liis illustrations the pedestal of the Guards'
Memorial, which, in its present state, and before it receives some
modifications in the granite, and those additions of bronze-work to
the sides and to the trophy at the back which formed part of the
original design, is, in my idea, the most glaring example of crudity of
pedestal existing in the metropolis. It is, perhaps, rather a visitation upon
me, who have been always advocating decoration on pedestals, that I
should put forth, even for a time, in the centre of London, one in its present
state so opposed to my principles ; and the public of course know nothing
o{ the circumstances. I am glad, however, to be able to say that at
Woolwich, in the Crimean Artillery Memorial there, the bronze decora-
tions of the pedestal will be put up at the same time as the statue.
Begging your readers' pardon for this personal digression, I would return
to the remarks of E. F. S. :
Mr. Buskin was, I believe [he says], the first to point'out that it is the office of
■rehltectnre to provide a home for sculpture. .So far as regards architecture taken in
tbe sense of an art, it is true ; but tlie proposition should be extended and made to
embrace painting as well as also the fourth sister, Decoration, as the uniting of all !
Until we feel this we shall never be an art nation. People
aeem to think of decoration as a separate thing from the other arts, and
even those who will give large, and occasionally even extravagant, prices
for a work of mere decoration, as a vase or china bowl, or a piece of gold-
smith's work of a particular age, will not perceive or acknowledge the
value of the quality of decoration applied to higher subjects. This has
always struck me as a strange inconsistency. For works of decoration,
by themselves, people will bid high and compete with spirit at sales, and
yet the same quality applied to enhancing a more important sub-
ject, as a national tribute of respect, they are apt to vote gingerbread
and trumpery ! The real weak place, I conceive, often exists in people
seekmg to say, and to hold to, that which they think other people will
laud and which is the fashion, rather than to say outright what they think
themselves I In this question therefore, I believe, as in all others, that
honesty is the best policy. H people will do more justice to themselves
they will do more justice to art— but simplicity is a good cry— simplicity,
as E. F. S. says well, " even to idiotcy !" This is a good expression,
Ijut oh that Punch could hit upon some still more excellent name for this
Bimplicity, of which we are often hearing so much for tlierearo some things
that are only to be reached by the shafts of ridicule. Suppose that we were
to represent a new fashion in which, in order to attain the utmost simplieitv
in head-dress, it became the mode for ladies to shear their lovely tress->s
from their heads and to appear bald ! An old story of Diogenes tells tliat
on hearing of Plato's definition of man, " that he was a two-legged creature
without feathers," he plucked a fowl hare, and threw him into the Aca Jemy
laying, " There is Plato's man for you !" If some Punch or Diogenes of tha
present day would do as much for the inconsistency of the jseudo-
rimplicity of the present day it might be a help to art. It may 'je well
held, indeed, that true simplicity is not baldness — it is not even n small
number of parts. — But it is unity : and this, to return more closely to our
subject, is what a true view of decoration affords to the just union and
expression of the combined arts.
The Universal Museum of Architecture, the idea of which E. F. S.
approves as directly useful, would, among its other advantages, aid directly
the recognition of this principle, for it, the proposed Museum, is only part
of that Universal and Systematised Museum of all the Fine Arts together,
which I hope is in the horizon for this country.
Years ago I talked on this subject with some of those connected
with the British Museum, who readily agreed that that establishment was
deficient in that respect. The same thing attaches to the Museum at
South Kensington, but that establishment is comparatively very recent,
and has not had time yet to put its house in order. That it will do so
eventually is pretty certain, when we notice the amount of well-directed
energy which has within so few years produced for the public within its
walls so interesting, varied and instructive a display and collection. As re-
gards the illustration of fine-art the tide seems markedly setting westward,
and there appears more scope for development in that quarter than the old
one. We who are hopeful to see the plans we dream of take form, must
be patient to wait tide and time. We might even do harm by attempting
too rigidly to define the form of development they should take. I, for one,
merely attempt suggestions, to be shaped, if they are worth it, by those
more authorised. I say this in response to the remark of E. F. S. when
he remarks, " With respect to the proposition for the establishment of
a Universal Museum of Architecture, 1 regret Mr. Bell was not more
explicit." My proposition, however, as far as it went, was definite,
I believe. First, as an epitome and a commencement, I suggested that
that portion of the Kensington Museum called the " Brompton Boilers "
should have the galleries taken away, and be set apart for this epitome
and commencement of this Universal Museum of Architecture. I do not
desire to go into its details further than as given in my lecture, nor do I
presume to allude to the names of any who might not be desirous to be
mentioned in the matter, but I may say that there is a plan for the carry-
ing out of this already in existence in the Museum. Also, I may say that a,
plan is likewise prepared for an arrangement involving far more
space and a far larger building, an arrangement in which the history
of all the other fine arts might be illustrated, together with that of archi-
tecture as thek vertebrated column, so to speak. When this will be
carried into effect of course I cannot tell, but I confess I indulge a strong
hope of its not being so very far distant as E. F. S. seems to imply. It
promises much public benefit to art if it can be realised. Such subjects
however, require to be well winnowed. If anything I have said induces
such minds as that of E. F. S. and others to lend their valuable aid to
keep this subject of the Universal JIuseum of Architecture before the-
public from time to time, as a preparation for its realisation, I shall he
amply repaid and much gratified.
John Beix.
VICTORIA CROSS GALLERY-EGYPTIAN HALL.
THE third season has now commenced at this gallery, and the interest-
ing collection has been enriched by the addition of several new
subjects. There are two well painted whole-length portraits of Major-
General Sir Archibald iWilson, Bart., of Delhi, painted for the Bengal
Horse Artillery, and of Lieutenant John Grant Malcolmson 3rd Bombay
Light Artillery. Lieutenant Malcolmson appears also on the scene where
rescuing Lieut. Moore he obtained the Victoria cross. Picture No. 15
represents Capt. Luke O'Connor, 23rd Welsh FusiUers, who, although
wounded, carried the colours which fell from the hand of Lieutenant
Anstruther, mortally, wounded at the Battle of the Alma, until the action
was over. No. 16 is an excellent painting of Ross Mangles, Esq., of the
Bengal Civil Service, Assistant Magistrate at Patna, who volunteered .ind
served with the troops, and who received the cross for gallantly carrying
a wounded soldier out of danger through a most destructive fire of
musketry. A small canvas depicts Colour-Sergeant Henry McDonald,
Royal Engineers, who received the honour for carrying on the sap against
Sehastopol, after aU his superiors had been disabled, notwithstanding the
furious attack of the enemy. Private Henry Ward distinguished himself
as represented in ;No. 20, in being the cause of Sir H. M. Havelock and
Private Pilkington, both desperately wounded, being conveyed by the
natives out of the battle into a place of security. No. 40 records the feat
of Captain Andrew Henry, Land Transport Corps, in defending the guns
of his battery, and continuing to do so until he liad received no less than
twelve bayonet wounds. Doctors Jce and McMaster received the Victoria
Cross for heroic self-devotion in bringing in from under fire and attending
to the wounded at Lucknow, and Lieutenant Macpherson, for, at the head
of his regiment, capturing two brass guns at the point of the bayonet.
These pictures are all painted in that firmly and evidently trutliful stylo
which has previously distinguished the paintings by Mr. Desanges, of the
preceding works in this gallery, and who has had the good sense to arrange
his subjects in obedience to the descriptions given by officers and others
who actually saw performed on the field of battle the daring deeds which
are painted upon these canvases ; they have therefore besides their artistic-
merits the advantage of being faithful transcripts of the events, and
assume a position in historical illustration.
Llanarth, Cardiganshire.— A new school and master s house have
for some time been in progress here : the former was completed and opened in
November, and the latter is drawing near completion. The school-room is
GO feet by 17 feet, with lobbies and all necessary conveniences, and fitted ac-
cording to requirements of Committee of Council ; the roof is open inside and
surmounted with a bellcot and spire ; the walls are built of local stone, with JJath
stone dressings. The house contains three rooms on the ground floor and three
bed-rooms, and is built to correspond with the school. The works arc bemg
carried out by Messrs. Griffiths and Thomas, builders, of Aberayrow, trom
the plans of Mr. Withers, architect. The school will accommodate about 120-.
children, and the total cost will be £700.
April 5, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
283
A PLEA FOR THE CLASSIC PRINCIPLE IN ARCHITECTURE.
NOTWITHSTANDING the great efforts whfch have been made within
the last twenty years, to secure for " Pointed or Cliristian Architec-
ture " a monopoly of application to modern buildings of every kind, it is,
we think, beginning to be suspected that, a beautiful style, so popular
with many of our cleverest writers on Art, is by no means the best for
ever;/ class of edifice. That it is beautiful, and for some structures the best
to adopt, we are far from denying; but it certainly is not the style to adopt
for ever;/ purpose, in evert/ situation, under all circumstances; or, to speak
less invidiously, and steer clear of the fearful anathemas of its able advo-
cates, there are certain purposes, certain sites and certain circumstances
that may well suggest to the architect a style in which the much-maligned
horizontal principle predominates.
This fact— if it be one, as we are disposed to contend — is at once fatal to
the outcry about Christian and Brick Architecture, as it is called, being
the only appropriate mode of building for our public thoroughfares. It is
a fact which wo are too likely to lose sight of, carried away as we are apt
to be with the iine writing of a class of men who have but two colors on
their palette — uncompromising black, or immaculate white, and who can
discern nought but ugliness in any other than their own favorite style.
One writer will tell us of its admitted playfulness of sky-line, or its
facilities for attaining to the picturesque ; while another will expatiate on
the alleged </«// uniformity of Classical structures, as we propose to desig-
nate all those which have for their guiding characteristic the horizontal
principle of composition.
Now these gentlemen require to be reminded that, picturesqueness,
though undoubtedly valuable in its place, is by no means the quality to be
coveted for every kind of building ; while in some buildings uniformity
of the masses and horizontal continuity are especially desirable as con-
comitants of architectural beauty. In other words every phase of archi-
tecture has its own peculiar excellence ; and it is the province of the
judicious architect to work with that, which pertains to the horizontal, or
that which is common to the vertical, phase, as may be best for the parti-
cular class of building, ho is commissioned to design.
We will endeavour to illustrate this position by citing two well-known
examples. The river front of the Palace of Westminster has been severely
censured by architectural critics ; and tliis too in the most truculent
manner by the very writers, who urge upon us the necessity of applying
for all purposes the style of architecture in which it is composed. It is,
we are told by one, " a Gothic building in an Italian dress;" by another,
" a work designed when Gothic architecture was very little understood in
this country ;" and by a third (and he the most uncompromising Goth of
all) that this facade, the work of a man of indubitable skilfulness in
architectural composition, is " the most effeminate, most effectless heap of
stones, ever piled together by mortal man "!
But let any one seriously consider, whether or no all this abuse is to be
laid to the door of the great artist, who has so recently passed from
amongst us. Let him who regrets the Italicising of this fa(;ade, censider
whether or no the process was not indispensable ; let him (and he is no
mean artist) who regrets that this work was designed in such un-Gcthic
times, show us any long-drawn Gotl'.ic facade of his own, which wUl bear
comparison — proportionately of course — with this lengthened facade of
Sir Charles Barry's ; and lastly, let Mr. Ruskin, with liis out-spoken
anathema, that reads with its characteristic alliteration so "trippingly
o' th' tongue," tell us how much more of bitterness he would have added to
it, if those towers and spires, that eke out the effect of the " effeminate "
composition, had never been constructed. They are features by no means
indispensable to the purpose for which the edifice was built ; no more so
than they were deemed by Sir William Chambers, wlien he built the river
front of Somerset House, the other edifice we propose to allude to in these
remarks.
Now the river front of Somerset House has some very glaring archi-
tectural defects ; and yet almost every one admires it ; whSe not a few
prefer it greatly to the river front of the Palace of Westminster, aided as
it is by its extrinsic background of lovely turrets and spires— we say
" extrinsic," because it is pretty generally admitted that, high extracting
shafts are by no means necessary to effective ventilation, any more than it is
necessary to deposit records in a high tower, or to elevate Big Bens and
big clock-dials on a place of legislature. We do not quarrel with these
features as parts of the great whole, but in close argument with our
Gothic friends we submit that, the river facade of the Houses of Parlia-
ment owes very much to these features, and would look very tame indeed
without them ; while Somerset House looks well, when even deprived of
such accessories.
And we ask the question of our Gothic friends— how is this ? It is no
complete answer to it to remind us of the want of that high terrace, on
which Chambers' building is raised : it doubtless does something to create
the difference between the two fa9ades, but it is only something. The
difference has a deeper source, or we are mistaken: it lies in the unsuitable-
ness of Gothic architecture for structures like Somerset House and the
Palace of Westminster, whose length is very greatly in excess of their
altitude. In such edifices picturesqueness and " the vertical principle "
are by no means the natural desiderata .- the mind of the beholder is teased
and fretted with the discordant interruptions of those upright lines, so
serviceable to a tall composition ; and instinctively yearns for that
continuity of horizontal lines— nay more, for that uniformity or " equality
of halves [' that (say the Goths what they will) impart such interest and
such loveliness to some structures at least, to whose beauty Gothic archi-
tecture could never have ministered.
With a tall, upright composition the case is rery different. Let any one
look at Barry's turrets and spires at Westminster— especially the central
one— and he will agree with us. Here the style of architecture wot
congenial with the subject to be designed ; and well able was Sir Charles
Barry to make the most of his opportunity. Though a skilful artist of
the Classic school, we do not believe any architect of his time has
excelled Sir Charles Barry in devising a graceful turret ; and if Ac failed,
as he undoubtedly did, to impart grace in the ensemble to the river front of
the Palace of Westminster, the failure must be assigned, not so much to
the incapability of the designer, as to the incompatibility of the style Of
arcliiteoture in which he was commissioned to build. To ensure even
partial success, and to give homogeneity to his work, there was nothing
for it but to preserve that continuity of the horizontal lines, that has
earned for his edifice the reproach, that it is a Gothic building in an
Italian dress. A serrated assemblage of high-pitched gables and dormer
windows, although it might have been more consonant with the genius of
the Pointed style, would never have presented, what Barry doubtless
sought to present us, tliat unique air of longitudinal grandeur in the
ensemble (so to speak) which people see and are charmed with in the river
front of Somerset House.
There is yet a third building, which occurs to us as we «Tite : we
adduce it to propitiate the angry Goths, and to show them that onr
recognition of Classic beauty, and our advocacy of Classic architecture in
its right place, do not suffice to blind us to the propriety of Pointed
architecture in its right place. We are free to confess that no Classic
structure, however rich in material or ornate in design, would have
equalled in architectural grandeur that mere brick building, which Mr.
Edward Barry, wisely choosing the Pointed style, has just raised in the
High-street, St. Giles's. There is an engraving of it in our last volume.
THE PREEDOM OF LABOR. *
AN instructive investigation might be undertaken in a braucb of social science
which has hitherto been neglected, and which is quite fresh and almost
unknown. The philosophy of strikes is well worthy of teing analysed by the
acutest minds, for they have exercised an influence upon the state of society, and
are probably destined to exercise a still greater one upon the social condition of
future generations, of which we seem hardly conscious, or, at all events, not
fully informed. If we listen to newspaper writers and other superficial observers
of social phenomena, we should conclude that strikes are provoked by the over-
lieariug and unjust conduct of masters, and by the greed of capital to purchase
labor at unremunerativc prices, or the seli-seekiug intrigues of demagogues, who
find agitation a more congenial and profitable occupation than work, or by the
turbulence, ignorance, and discontent of working men. Doubtless these may
contribute to the production of strikes ; but, if they do, it is in a much less
degree tlian is generally imagined. They are rather symptoms than causes of
what appears upon the surface, for as strikes are as ruinous to labor as to capital
while they last, it is impossible to believe that masters are so short-sighted as to
sacrifice their profits and imperil their fortunes to gratify a liaughty inclination,
or to obtain a temporary advantage from the source — at tlie risk of its perma-
nently drying up — which gives motion to their business, whereby they live and
make money. Were 'they guilty of such proceedings they would be more
imprudent and improvident than the simpleton that killed the goose for her
golden eggs, or than the sot that spends his week's wages in a Saturday night's
debaucli.
On the other hand, let demagogues be as self-seeking, eloquent, and im-
scrupulous as they may— or as Mr. John Bright ; the men as i^orant, turbulent,
and discontented as a Paris mob or the College of Cardinals, stdl it would surpass
the credulity of the greatest gohemoiwhe to suppose they would forsake tlie means
of living, put themselves and families on short commons, even to actual starva-
tion, to pleasure their leaders or obtain an outlet for their discontent. The Pi-estoa
strike of 1836, Mr. Smiles relates, drove one-third the spinners from the town,
or deprived them of employment, subjected 5,000 persons to severe sufferings
during the winter from cold and hunger, and caused the deaths of several by
starvation. Fourteen years later anotlier strike in the same town occurred, and
with like results : " The great mass of Preston operatives rapidly gravitated
towards absolute destitution, homes were broken up, furniture was sold to the
very last stick, and women even disposed of their marriage rings to buy food for
their children. * * The only results of theb worse than fruitless heroism were
broken hearts, ruined homes, and moral and physical desolation." The
Manchester strike of fifty years ago threw 30,000 persons out of work for four
months, and exhibited " starved children wandering about in search of food, men
and women and children standing idle in the streets, soldiers and police (special
constables ?) called out to guard property agamst attacks made in the desperation
of want— such sights, m short, as recalled to mind the picture of p beleaguered
and famished town." Now no demagogue could ever persuade men to voluntarily
reduce themselves to destitution, no turbulence can stand out upon an empty
stomach, no ignorance can mistake starvation for plenty, and no amount of dis-
content can make want without labor preferable to a sufficiency with labor.
Strikes must have their origin in another source. , . ^ i -i
Fully admitting the melancholy and mischievous results which strikes pro-
duce to those who are concerned in them, either on one side or the other, we are
not prepared to allow that they are absolute and unmitigated evils so far as
society at large is concerned, and as regards the future progress of civilization.
They provoke, and are the concomitants of the gradual evolutioq of the new order
of things— of successive steps towards a better state of society; and although
they may be inevitable, it is nevertheless practicable '.to so increase the lapse
between their periodical occurrences as to reduce their mischievous influences to
a minimum, and even to pluck the venom from their sting. M'hen masters and
men become more amenable to reason than they are now, more inclined to submit
to moral than to physical force, and more disposed to guide their conduct by
logical deductions than to invoke the aid of Acts of Parharaent, the te™s of
barter between labor and capital will be more easily settled m a friendly and Chris-
tian spirit on both sides. For, after all, it is a mere question of buying and selling,
and if a bargain cannot be made between the two parties that is no reason or
• " Workmen's Earnings, Strikes, and Savings." By Saucel gsto-Bs, Loodn
Murray.
284
rfSrikSV,^.^ll!!F'''T. "*'•"'-"■"'' ""<' *■<"• "■^'•'!"^ «« "»lence. The main obiecf,
holiday are not direcdv traceable to strikw Thl v ,f ,' vj ""'''J' ''"'f-
children of twelve and fourteen hours' labor nf.l^tJ"?"" ^"""8: women and
cognised the mischief and^di^areSv'hr.nlr ''''''"■■ ^^ '"'"'"'^ ' " ^-
term of female and infant fabor, ™d tte suo^nhf ofrl^^ ? limitation to the daily
do not rememlv-r any strike in fa™rr.7ffi "" 'o'' education. But we
Shafteburj-is identifi.^ asLon^ A/hley A^ain XTh? 'S- ^'''='' "-^^ ^"' "^
JiUiDed that in consequence of masteNn«v^5 ?>,' .. •""'?'"? operatives com-
S^Uon often honi^' work on S^tnSil^/ o^ft f" "'? ^^^^ ""'"^^ «' 'he ter-
in the streets while "t teritheir wiv^^i'""^? '■"/' ''^'■P'"^ ""i waiting idle
economical laving outof monerbTt ot.lTc^fn .'"^ ^° '° ?"•"''"' ''»'• '^"^ "o™
mominp at a cfnsidemSe ?dVance Kce^nJj^l^ ''™'^^^^
disagreement of opS!' TSeadXtis y^rikesV^^''^^ '"f^ '^ ^^'
them; their opponents, that they ha° e owered t em Mr sliVf ^ have raised
admitting the power of combination, tnriif„ 11 ■";"• Smiles says— " Even
consequently to reduce profits to tl^frJ^- ''^?' *," *^''' maximum, and
tendency oJ^theTpSon i? t^^check predr/ion ^L'^'r' *"'•"','= '"^"'^^'-^
5ir«-tl'^^stni^rrn.'^iH
halfpennvfor spinning a pound of ™tT„nTh¥'' '"i""^ "" advance of a
hatters struck for an extra shilling n^,/!-, '^'^°"'=™'' °' ^ V^r cent. ; London
shilling l^s, after Mng ouTfoS^mo^nt'b In I8^"MT ^''^IP-^"^'* 'o take a
tailors struck for an advance of wa^es «nrf „ '^..thTteen thousand London
They stood out several ZnthranS^sa^rfficediloOMr^ "T" "'.!?""''•
whife, women were introduced into the trade and tCv^tr^7 ""V"" , *'?"-
work a<Jopted, which eventinllvl^rfVlo.!-' f '"e .system of wholesale slop-
a reduction of 10 ^7^01 itTw^ses tm^Kf '"'"\ .","''? *'""« '° ^^^^ led to
fact as proving that w^rkin^3 i- ±*n'K,'^"*°*^"''^ b^M^a noteworthy
if allow'anee b'c made for reTucS Tthe hours rf hZ% ^"'' ^»'«'^"™t'y.
advance of 14 per cent, upon tlic nricM of T847 n. if?' "'^''^ I"^ "" "/""^^
of w^ paid fobre the rSduction'in^a? v™ ' ?n lli"^^! p™'', "P"" *'"' .™te
asked for a further advance of 10 per cent wl.'i^h ^1!^ the Preston operatives
thirty-five firms. They required t^ealntinn^?^ , ^^^ft *° "^ ""'"y ""' "f
the masters refused, tl^ strTkp tnnrtlL 'lu-''"''".'"'' "^t of prices, which
obliged logo back unon the ddterLt ? they" U'lfm^tlS'the^"','"^ "iH^'T
advance of wages tiey would have obtainal i^ ThlX \,l ''•='"?nds to the
crease of 34 j^ cent, upon theTic« of l^ tTn^ have given an in-
agents, the rates of pay of armrani ^ oft'cer« hnTi ™ "^^ arch tects and
and seeking. t» tres;'assln\h:'p:c"Sai;7rovince7cI^p'S """'" """'^ ""- "-"
proSn'Snnot";rc«S;l!!' ?^irthev llSTo'f '!? 1•^'"■^" *"''' ^^'^ S""-'
what occurred arPrestoTif/riftt^l i^. a reduction of wages, even when
which thev took pla^el^e. bfvl ».?»,n "^""^P"""' ^"^T <>"""» " P«"od in
or from 18.34 to i&o.r^ f steadily advanced. In the last twenty years
1^ Percent a^^dk^^ottrs'^^r/c'l'"'' T'""^'* '"'^■" "^" '" »ome bS^
cent, while the dS.r^'?nK.^V, Ah "''.'" V"'^?"^."' """•« ''"'" ^1 Pe'
factures the incr^e^„^ "'1^, Si'f ""^ ''?1 •*•-'" "'"« •"»■"• I" ""k manu-
an average, 20 pS cent ^J\^ !^ '^°"? ' I P^"" '=™'- '» =« P<'>' cent., or, on
At the^n'e TimTthe "nn'ml^^'^of't nr'^^/" '^l^'^f' ' 'f"" ''»« "-^c" « "oin,.
will be evident from the "wt «iat the nTn?h!r f''''« '*=V"i:^' ^ augmented, as
21 percent., and of silk fMto4s 7 ner ™^f "h™"^!! ^""^""^ ■"" '""<='»«<>
propoeition that strikes reduce wa JcwWhT; f ,^'}^''"'- ™°.''' reconcile the
occurrence wages have rwukrlvTA., Jl i ? {^^''''at during the period of their
cent, per annum, while S ctt of ^^1^' ,"'* ""5 '"^, ^ P*'.'™'- ""^ ^ per
portioii? I-or instance atthe^irfnn n^^f .f decreased almost in the same pi-o-
fcLoDdonwere iS r^e^kfwU^wh "fat^^"^!^;"",'^*''* ''ages for a good mJson
«« paid 33,. a week--mrre than doubt i^-i *'''•/'''' '^Ha'-ter. To-day the mason
« quarter. Taking the btUldSg t^is ■;Ttb ' r'^ ' " «^'""''''y ''^' ""'" ^'■
ccmed, witUn thirty yearT from l^Jom™ V """ "^ "ore specially- con-
j jrcors, irom iKW to 18j9, the wages of masons, bricklayers,
THE BUILDING NEWS.
Abril 5, ls6l.
soap from 7d 0 4d. J^r poun'd an^"" '"l"'/^''- V" "'''•' "'^ '■■•''™ ^- to Ss" 61:
oon^udes that" the SempCdrnttCZ^rtli^ '"f^' '^•' ^r. Smiled
within the last thirty years Sred an inpilT'^i ' ""^ '*'? "S'"""?''''' have
equivalent to from 30peicent. to 40 percent ^^ remuneration for their labor
sitK Sulci; =trur si.'Tv i!?/' i'"t '''■ «-''-' p^po-
creased. It may be a Question whAti,„^«,^ ^''"' '*"*"» wages have in-
incrcasefi^nbeingsoVreafa kwo^^^^ !?'',"<= not tended to' prevent the
100 instead of 30 per cent." but thrt is sim,7v . ''" ""'•''"' ">™-froni being
los3--a speculation on probabUies tha canS h„P.T''M?'i''.' .""^ ""' '''" a<=t"ai;
I the same time, the examples qS show tT^^^ ^^'""''^ ''''"'"• A'
when applied'to a temporarHate XhinL"^ K ^ V^'T''™"^ ™"-"f.
perhaps, that strikes exercise no permnnenffnfl.Jni '' '''="'^' conclusion is,
fore, utterly useless when r,?orteJ^ o™o, t," t purn^ ''^ZT^''' ""'' T ' ""^'^-
upon other conditions-not alone as some "^^ImlZ; .f?.'^^.'™?'""'^ •''"Pendent
insisted, upon the supply and demand of hiTorThJ!,.'^?'"'^ economists have
is an important element. If the mmoe irinn oVfl • "'"'' °,' "'", P™''"ce "'a'ket
of profits too narrowly, thfenplmrofXrn^^f^;" ^"^ t if"""' ""= '"argin
tion, or cease to produce. T rPreston nnnrJ?;.!. """'f ' * "^ ""'^ °*' P'-od'ic-
they assented to tL reduction of the wag'c"^!";, ^^^c nt witl"'/"" "■"™
ranging, and d minislied profits let the «imnlvV,f ili'^ i V '"' '"^ P"ees
it may^be, that will not augment Ihe ra e'of^unUf T '"" ^'.t' contracted as
can be spread only over a c'eSamou^foftrSb^^^^^^ '"^ '''' "^ '''"or
chl'rrh^;Tre7t:nf--i^j%r,*™^ r^-^-^T^ ""•'-
^ITtlJ^en^ijfSlS^^^^??
Bradford strikes were he necessi^v l^clHn ma<! .*'" !,?'-'"=*'''« "•"'c, and til
machine. No man now-a-daTs wTll y^n H,lf?/7^ *"■■,"' ^° ""^ wool-con.bing
state of hewers of wood aid drawer^ of wa?er In ,? ? ȴ 'educed to the barbaric
intelligent directors of machinS For as M'r <^^> "l "f '"^' "^ '^'P "'"" '^'''
A philosophical study of the origin and results nf Btmt„<. ™:„i ^
chance, that they are incidental to the transitional staLs,rflhn^?n] "■"*"''• P'^"
of the successive progress of civilisation TirhnvP^ii^.' '' concomitants
which comnelled the'inventioT of /aC-sav ng machine?"tL'^Z tlZ^'T^t^
innumerable advantages which have flowed thlrefrm l„ ?. ".'•* "^ """
tin^^tnn^''?^^^?'"""'^*^*"''^'' "' Hushall.-Thh building, the founda-
AnT; is" VTa?sTt: ^"^ Pe^ons. Ve'^ay'l';.':! Iha'ttelrch'it'it. I.^j!
the'cTtion a\^;'e^ir^s'mU'Ihe l'^^^^^^^^^^^
April 5, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
285
THE FINE ARTS SEEN FROM A NEW POINT OF VIEW*
No 10.— The Critical State of Arciiiiectuke, continued.
THE misuse of books partly accounts for the present manufacturing
system of arcliitecture. "All the ponderous tomes of examples,
specimens, &c., from Adam and Stuart downwards, hare been intended,
or received, as substitutes for tliouglit ; and, as such, are not only totally
wortliless. but extremely prejudicial ; although invaluable as materials
for analysis, free criticism, and search into principles,— for which pur-
poses thcv liave nerer yet been used."t We have very few auttiors on
architecture, altliough there are plenty of books. The modern architect
is buried in a lieap of precedents ; and lie illustrates the truth of Forsyth s
remark that " Deep learning is the grave of taste." When a boy, on
entering tlie office, he is set to copy Classic orders, or Gothic windows ;
and when a man, in full practice, he can do but little out of his library.
He retires with fortune and fame ; —
'* Insenuitque
Libris."
Books, books, nothing but books ; no idea of referring to nature ; no
notion of original thought ! With plans, elevations, sections and details
of effete exemplars, wliat occasion to think, when the public are satisfied
with reproductions ? Sliaded elevations and perspective views are more
difficult to copy than outlines ; so the last are adopted for really une/ul,
practical books which will repai/ the sum invested. Speaking of Britton's
" Chronological and Historical illustrations of the Ancient Architecture of
Great Britain," a Quarterly reviewer naively observes :— " He has not sup-
plied the want, which is so grievously Jelt, of such a collection as will enable
tlie architect to do his work. For this purpose, simple but accurate out-
lines are alone required." % , v i
Another glaring fault in the current mode of practice is the little
judgment which is exercised in the distribution of old details, the mistakes
of the ancients being copied as indiscriminately as their triumphs. As
hardly a single archaic feature is exempted from appropriation, so scarcely
one lias escaped being transferred to the situation in which it can be least
appropriately placed.
To such a mechanical, routine position is architecture now reduced !
The architect rarely dares to think for himself, if he hopes for business.
In Gotliic architecture especially progression has been overtly stopped by
men imbued with maudlin love of an effete Medievalism, yet often dis-
tinguislied for historical learning, and aware that the arts of Egypt and
China ceased to progress because tlie old models were deemed perfect.
Practitioners in Gothic architecture fear to depart from precedents lest an
anathema should emanate from some powerful members of archa!oIogical
or ecclesiological societies. Bishops, deans, canons, rectors, curates,
together with pious laymen of lofty Puseyite ideas, constitute the
antiquarian inquisition ; and its ramifications so permeate the land that
few churches can be erected without some mischievous persons influencing
the arrangements and decorations. The commissions of the Anglican
Protestant Church have probably never induced the production of original
and noble works ; simply because hardly one clergyman has indicated
that he understands art otherwise than as archaeology. " Every year,"
says Fergusson, " that we continue in this path, and that our knowledge
of the Gothic style becomes greater, the heavier will our chains become,
and anything like originality or progress in this important branch of
architecture more absolutely impossible."
The laws I have stated would still be in legitimate operation did men
study the philosophy of art. But architects exclusively versed in a parti-
cular style have long fiercely contended as to the merits of their
respective systems ; and, self-interest being connected with the triumph
of one or the other sect, misrepresentation has abounded. Some practitioners
recommend Gothic for all purposes; Pugin gravely asserting that
" true principles of architectural proportion are only found in Pointed
edifices ; "§ and that, — "the excellence of art is only to be found in Catho-
licism." II Others are enthusiastic for the Egyptian, Grecian, Roman,
Moorish, or Byzantine style, to the exclusion of other modes of artistic
expression. The uncomprising advocates of an archaic style are usually
versed in it alone, their want of knowledge of other systems accounting
for the exclusiveness of their views. Attention is attracted to the beauties
only of the favorite style, and to the defects of that which is denounced.
Works are not judged by the standards of their respective periods ; but
one style is condemned by testing it by the principles of another totally
dissimilar. Lastly, present requirements are virtually ignored, the pre-
sumption being that they are analogous to those which existed in the
palmy period of the style commended.
The ignorance of Classic art manifested by the modern Medievalists is
surprising. " Five orders ! " exclaims Ruskin — " there is not a side
chapel in any Gothic cathedral," continues this circumspect and discrimi-
nating authority, " but it has fifty orders, the worst of them better than
tlie best of the Greek ones, and all new ; and a single inventive human
soul could create a thousand orders in an hour."*l Yet Garbett pronounces
the inventor of the Doric order alone "the greatest mind that has ever
been directed to architecture." But Mr. Street tells us artlessly : —
" Greek architecture was the art of men in a state of nature, unskilled in
science, but well skilled in lovely outlines, and possessed of a most delicate
appreciation of form ; rude therefore in their contrivances and construction,
• The right of republication and of translation of this series of articles is reserved
by the author,
t K. L. Garbett.
I No. XLIX.
§ "True I'rinciplcs." •
II "Contrasts."
H "The Stones of Venice."
but delicate and refined in all their ornamentation."* Is tliis writer, who
talks of science, aware of Penrose's demonstrations respecting the optics!
and mathematical principles displayed in the Parthenon ; an edifice
which Fergusson justly observes, — " for intellectual beauty, for perfection
of proportion, for beauty of detail, and for exquisite perception of the
highest and most recondite principles of art ever applied to architecture,
stands utterly and entirely alone and unrivalled — the glory of Greece,
and the shame of the rest of the world." So Penrose concludes :— "When
we reflect upon the studious harmony of the proportions, the delicacy of
feeling evinced in the optical corrections, and the exquisite taste shown in
the selection of the mouldings, and in the colored ornaments so far as they
are preserved to us; and, above all, the unrivalled sculpture, to which the
architecture of the -temple served as a glorious framework ; it must, I
think, be conceded that the architecture of the Greeks, humanly speaking,
is perfect."!
Sir William Chambers inaugurated the controversies on styles in thii
country by an attack on the architecture of the Greeks, maintaining its
inferiority to that of the Romans. Pugin introduced the religious element
into the dispute ; and, in the aim to conform to the spirit of Medievalism,
unfortunately succeeded in attaining that degree of zeal and fervour to
which knowledge and wisdom are usually opposed. Thus, he could see no
beauty in any system but that of the Middle Ages ; becoming so blind to
the requirements of the nineteenth century as to beUeve them to be
identical with those of the fourteenth. Speaking of the Cistercian
Monastery of St. Bernard, in Leicestershire, he considers — " It must be no
small consolation to every Catholic mind, that in the nineteenth century
a community of men flourish in the very heart of England, bound by the
same laws, practising the same austerities, and in all respects like to the
devout men of old, whose works and lives are yet the theme of admiration
and respect among men of true piety and antiquarian research."i 4 For-
getting that profound, though neglected, maxim of his own Church, "In
necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas," he was not over
punctilious as to the means of promoting his views, publishing in his
" Contrasts" a selection of the best ancient Medieval remains placed side by
side with some of the worst modern Classic productions— as St. George's
Chapel, Windsor, opposed to the Chapel Royal, Brighton— in order to prove
the superiority of Gothic architecture. The good sense of some of Pugin's
observations contrasts remarkably with the inconclusiveness of his argu-
ments in support of the Medieval movement. "Now that the
Pointed style is reviving, we cannot successfully suggest anything
new, but are obliged to return to the spirit of ancient work.
Indeed, if we view Pointed architecture in its true light as
Christian art, as the faith itself is perfect, so are the principles on
which it is founded. We may indeed improve in mechanical contrivances
to expedite its execution, we may even increase its scale and grandeur ;
but we can never successfully deviate one tittle from the spirit and principles
of Pointed architecture. We must rest content to follow, not to lead ; we
may indeed widen the road which our Catholic forefathers formed, but we
can never depart from their track without a certainty of failure being the
result of our presumption. "§ It is not very encouraging to know that
"as the faith itself is perfect"— or the view taken of it by the bigots
and ruffians of the Middle Ages— we must "rest content to follow
the Medieval masons ; and that, however the world may otherwise pro-
gress, architects " can never successfully deviate one tittle" from their
principles. As to Gothic art not being developed till so long after the
rise of Christianity, nothing can be said after the following argument.
"It has been frequently objected by the advocates of Paganism, that the
Pointed style, especially Christian, was not developed till several centuries
after the crucifixion of our Lord ; but this is measuring the ways of God
by mere human capacity. How long were the chosen people allowed to exist
before the erection of the great temple at Jerusalem was permitted ?' J
Such a logician of course regards all advances in which hts Church had
no share with suspicious dislike ; and we cannot thus be surprised to
learn that,—" mechanics' institutes are a mere device of the day to P0'«0"
the minds of the operatives with infidel and radical doctrines ; the Church
is the true mechanics' institute, the oldest and the best."f
John Ruskin, Pugin's great successor ui the defence of Gothicism, can
scarcely be considered to possess more liberal views of the proper reqmre-
mcnts of the present age. No stronger proof than that deducible trom his
writings is requisite to show the opposition of the Medieval school tO
progression. Speaking of originality and change, he observes,-- We
want neither one nor the other. The forms of arcliitecture already known
are good enough for us, and far better than any of us; and it will be time
to think of changing them for better when we can use them as they arc.
The reader will appreciate the philosophic tone of this advice, and neea
only look around to see the results of using the ancient fornis as they
are." According to Ruskin, a new style is impossible. All the archi-
tects in the world will never discover any other ways of bridging a space
than these three," lintels, round, and pointed arches. These are the
"three good architectures in the world ; and Mere never can be more, n
Many improvements which distinguish us from the Medievalists are
strongly condemned. Of raUways it is said,—" We have just spent a
' Brick and Marble in the Middle Ages.' , ,^ . . , ,, . ,_ „
' An InvestiRation into the Principles of Athenian Archltectare.
< The Present State of Ecclesiastical Architecture In England.
'True rrinciples.'*
•Apology."
'True Prit
r ■• I'rueTrincipIes."
** " The Seven Lamps of Architecture.
tt "The Stones of Venice."
286
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 5, 1861.
hundred and fifty millions, with which we have paid men for digging
ground fronione place and depositing it in another." " We have maintained
besides a number of iron-founders in an unhealthy and painful employ-
ment]' '• Suppose, on the other hand, that we had employed the same
sums in building beautiful houses and churches."* As to tlie use of iron,
which promises to aid the development of a style appropriate to the age,
" The force of the image of the corner stone, as used throughout Scripture,
would completely be lost, if the Christian and civilised world were ever
extensively to employ any other material than earth and rock in their
domestic buildings."t Again, work cast, or machine made, or produced
without the exercise.of special thought, is deemed almost a sign of depravity.
"Every young lady,' therefore, who buys glass beads is engaged in the
slave trade, and in a much more cruel one than that we have so long been
endeavouring to put down."J
Although Ruskin generally states his most doubtful opinions with as
many loop-holes for escape as in the oracles of old, still the manner in
which he obviously contradicts himself is astounding. After allowing
that " every form of noble architecture is in some sort an embodiment of
the pohty, life, history, and religious faith of nations,"§ and that, with
respect to the Medievalists, " We are a different kind of people from them
— as different as moths are different from caterpillars,")! we are yet
tol i to " build henceforward only in that perfect and Christian style
hit herto called Gothic, which is everlastingly the best."^ In other words, we
are to ignore truth in expressing, not our own polity, but that of Medieval-
ism, and this to the end of human existence.
Perfection, too, is said to be the characteristic of Gothic architecture.
It is " not only immeasurably superior to all that had preceded it, but
demonstrably the best architecture that can exist; perfect in construction and
decoration, and fit for the practice of all time." Yet, in the same work, we
read that " imperfection" is one of the merits of the style; and it is laid
down as a " universal law, that neither architecture nor any other noble
work of man can be good unless it be imperfect." Again : — " Accurately
speaking, no good work whatever can be perfect, and the demand for
pti-fectioa is always a sign of a misunderstanding of the ends of art."**
Bat I cannot leave liuskin without endeavouring to indicate some of !
his merits. He is the most eloquent writer on art that ever Uved. The •'
beauty of his style, the grace of his imagery, and the suggestiveness of his
dreamy speculations strike all readers. The mountain and the dale, the
ocean and the stream, the sky in the tempest and the calm, the forest
tree, and the simplest flower rarely had a more affectionate lover. Than
he, fe«- men, even in Medieval days, gazed upward at the cathedral tower,
or pondered over the minutest carving at its base, with fonder regard. But
lie has loved the good in Gothic art, not too well, but unwisely. He
sought to explain the laws of all architecture. Fascinated, however, by
one style, with views always colored by it, and thus incapacitated to survey
dispassionately, without undue partiality and religious sectarianism, that
orderly labor which has given us the temples of Egypt, Greece, and Rome,
the Saracenic mosques, and the Gotliic cathedrals, he necessarily failed.
Men read, admire, and wonder: few, indeed, are convinced. Buskin's
books are, doubtless, exceedingly valuable, especially as exponents of the
prmciples of Medieval art; but his so-called "universal laws" are often
applicable to it alone, and are frequently recipes rather than laws. The
truth is that he has mistaken his remarkable power of perception, or
noticing things, for one of reasoning upon them. But, however deficient , , , .,_.-,,
in philosophic grasp of intellect. Buskin is a man of strong feeUngs specu- I Pbotography ; at its birth the public wore puzzled and incredulous,
lative impulses, and powerful ideality; in fact, a poet in prose of 'a high ' }>eUeved in it, some did not; general curiosity was excited, and as the
order. We have what might be expected from such a one: imaginative i i°,X^°*'9° spread and people saw the fruit, that curiosity was for a time
classifications which might be put in fifty other ways; impressions purely
idiosyncrasies of his own, fanciful dreaming," and vague sentimentalities
naturally and truthfully. It is mournful that so many able men fail to
perceive that all the archaic styles were appropriate in their time and are
none of them appropriate now ; and that they should advocate the
abolition of one anomaly only to substitute another ; for the talk about
points de depart is virtually putting into other words what has been
attempted ever since the first Classic revival. They might as rationally
propose to finish incomplete fragments by Sophocles, Virgil, Dante, or
Sliakespere, as the authors would have done. There have been continua-
tions of " Don Juan " and the " Sentimental Journey," as successful as
the continuations of the ancient styles of architecture.
As to the argument that it is impossible to advance beyond the beauty
and appropriateness of the old styles, and that we should, therefore, rest
contented with their reproduction ; substituting the word " architecture" for
" the sciences." Lord Bacon has said suflicient: " Let no man afiirm that
the sciences, increasing by degrees, have at length come to a certain full
stature, and have at last, as having finished the course allotted to them,
fixed themselves in the works of some few authors, so that now nothing
better can be found out, and it only remains that what has been invented
should be cultivated and adorned. It were to be wished, indeed, that such
were the case. But the more correct and the truer account is, that this
enslaved condition of the sciences is nought else than a thing bred from
the audacity of a few, and the sloth and pusillanimity of the rest of manhind.
For as soon as any particular science has in parts been somewhat diligently
tilled and labored, some one has usually arisen, confident in his talent, and
accepted and celebrated on account of the compendiousness of his method,
who, so far as regards appearances, has established the art, but in reality
has corrupted the labors of his predecessors. Yet what he has done is wont
to be well pleasing to succeeding generations on account of the easy
utility of his work, and their wearisomeness and impatience of renewed
inquiry. And if any one be moved by the inveterate agreement of
opinions as if it were the verdict of time, let him know that he leans
upon a very weak and fallacious consideration."*
Edward L. Tabbuck.
PHOTOGRAPHY AND ARCHITECTURE.
THIS may truly be said to be an age of inventions. Each year that passes
supplies its increasing catalogue and swells the number that already
have been brought before the world. The records of patents have become
voluminous, and improvement follows improvement with wonderful rapidity,
some standing out from the motley back-ground, and meeting with general
employment and patronage, while others sink in the crowd of failures,
and are lost for ever. Our successes.^however, have been many and great ;
works have risen around us of a magnitude and importance which would
entitle them to a place in theranks of the wonders of the world, and which
have so completely changed the aspect of things and so altered the
machinery of action, that scarcely a single thingremainswitharesemblance
to what it was fifty years ago. The introduction of steam-engines and
their adaptation to every use, the telegraph and its accompanying
advantages, and the many other magnificent conceptions, have for a while
caused the heart of the civilized world to palpitate with wonder, awe, and
admiration, but the excitement soon cpols down when the thing becomes
general, and each wonder partially ceases to be a wonder, and is at last
looked upon as nothing out of the common. So it has been with
followed by amazement, which gradually settled down as the cause became
_ _ more general and more universal We now look on photography as an
made matter of argument and excessive gene'ralTsationiand weary'mys- j exceedingly useful and cheap addition to our other instruments for the
tieal explanations of what is only supposed to exist, or'fancied to be seen. '"PP"/ of henefits and gratification^ to the people ; wo see the miniature
"He draweth out the thread of his verbosity finer than the staple of his
rn-iimcnf " TK..- .1,... J.^fl«; r _i »; _ , . . * . . . ,
argument." Thus that deficiency of sterling sense and sustained logical
power which at once strikes the man of habits of exact reasoning, and
that diffuseness, arismg from indistinctness of mental vision, which deters
many readers from perusing his voluminous tomes, and learning how clear
and accurate is that bodily vision — concentrated on particulars, while often
missmg the whole— which has produced that extraordinary work on
landscape art, " Modem Painters."
Returning to the disputes on style?, at the instigation of Ruskin there
has latterly been much talk about what is called a point de depart for
modern architecture ; and architects are desired to fix on a particular
phase in a past style, and work from thence as a basis. But scarcely two
writers agree as to the period of such point de depart ; Grecian, Roman,
and Gothic architecture, the Italian Quattro-cento, the French
Renaissance, and the English Elizabethan contending for the mastery.
No one appears to have yet realised the truth that the Tight point de
depart is in the present, in nature as it now is ; that, with our undeveloped
pohty, all styles should be studied for suggestions ; and that to take a
particular past, as, for instance, the thirteenth century, and to try to
throw ourselves into the same frame of inind as the old men is simply
impossible ; as a man cannot divest himself of modem influences so as to
go back any number of centuries, and then expect to be able to work
• •' Seven Lamps."
+ " I^ectures on Archlteetnrc and Patatlno' '
I "The Stones of Venice." ^'
i " Seven Lamps."
II " Lectured on Architecture and Faintio^."
T "Tlic- Stones ot Venice."
•• "The Stones of Venice."
representations of scenery and buildings, of nature and of art, and we
admire them ; we admire them as pictures and as reduced fac-similes of
the original. Artists look on them with artists' eyes, they study from
them light and shade, and are doubtless much;benefited by that study,
for in them we find a real chiaro'oscuro, which being natural and not
artificial, cannot fail to be of advantage as safe copies from which to work
and from which natural effects may be more easily understood and more
correctly followed. Architects, who should also be artists, look on them
in pretty much the same light, but they go further — they examine each
building as only an architect can examine it, and seek to derive knowledge
not only in the department of art, but also in that of science. Tiie general
public look on them merely as pictures and as pictures only; they have not
been accustomed to search for real beauty, and they consequently do not
search for it here. They are pleased by subjects suited to their tastes, by
representations of things familiar to them, and by objects to which they
have been long accustomed ; but they go no further. They are blind to
the beauty of form, and remain unmoved by those influences which fire
the soul of an artist. The uneducated eye can never fully enter into a
just and real admiration of the pure and chaste. Meretricious designs and
gaudy colors have more weight with it than all the refinement and grace
of the better works, and it is only the taste which has been cultivated by
proper training and study that can ever do justice in the admiration of a
great work.
But our object in this paper is not to enlarge on the effects produced on
the uneducated portion of the public, but to inquire more particularly
what relation photography bears to architecture, and what effect it has, or
is likely to have, upon it, and to offer a few suggestions which may be
useful to the professional student.
• "Prolegomena" to the "Instauratio Magna."
April 5, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
287
The first question tiiat presents itself appears to be— Is photograpliy
advantageous to arcliitcctonic art ? It may appear a simple, but it is,
nevertheless, an important one, and one which it should be the aim of
those interested in the welfare and advancement of our profession to well
consider. We are of opinion that if it be looked at in a proper light, and
a proper estimate be formed of its worth and the object for which it is
intended, it will be productive of good ; but if, on the other hand, its
importance be over-rated or its value over-estimated, there is a fear that it
will prove rather disadvantageous than otherwise. Should the abundance
of pliotographs of the most famous buildings in every part of the world
have a tendency to satisfy the student, and lessen his desire for travelling,
by giving him the idea that he has seen, or is able to see, all
without leaving home, then it would be decidedly injurious tor indi-
viduals, and to art itself; but if it serve to increase that desire and
promote a wish in our students to visit the monuments of a glorious age
of excellence that has long passed away, then will it be of incalculable
advantage, for it is only by seeing the originals that we can feel their real
grandeur and beauty and become thoroughly alive to our own state of in-
feriority and comparative ignorance. A photograph of the Parthenon
could give no idea of the impressive majesty and noble beauty of that
splendid pile. It could not convey to the beholder that appearance of
immensity and size which it possesses, or that look of massive simplicity
which so enraptures the pilgrim who wanders beneath its shades. What
miniature representation could make that deep impress on the mind and
on the art which we feel when we pass within the sacred
portals of those cathedrals in our own land, where the genius of
the medieval architect has been brought to bear in all its greatness, and
where the sweet harmony that dwells within an artist's breast has been
poured forth among those avenues of stone, and become what has been so
happily termed " frozen music." What picture can subdue the feelings
or move the soul with that power or intensity with which these ancient
temples bind us, or fill us with those exalted emotions and entlmsiastic
yearnings after excellence by which we are impressed when we linger
among tlie noblest and most sublime works of man? There is an irre-
sistible influence which wafts over the finest sensibilities of the heart,
and warms it with a lofty love for the remains of former greatness, ren-
dered dearer and more beautiful by the mellowing of time. It is there
and there only that we can inhale the pure fragrance of art, and invigorate
the imagination by those glowing realities which possess so great a power
and which emanated from so high a source. Visiting these silent and sacred
abodes of beauty should be looked on as an important part of a young archi-
tect's education, and should never be omitted or forgotten when opportunity
offers. There is much to be learnt by this which notliing else can supply — real
effects which no copy can possess, and peculiar charms which cannot be
transferred. Then, too, in photography we lose the glorious charms of color,
from which every eye derives delight, by which every observer is pleasurably
impressed. We have the beautiful and brilliant hues of the stained glass
or the mosaic converted into a sombre shade, and the soft warm blush of
nature swept from the time-worn walls ; when this is gone what a
difference we find ! That which before had been so steeped in gorgeous
beauty is now flat, dull, and insipid ; that which had been splendid as an
Eastern sunset and bright as nature's brightest robe, is now a shadowy
Toid, and, like in the change from summer to winter, or from day to
night, the spot wliicli possessed the greatest loveliness then is dark and
gloomy now. The mightj' power of color has an influence on all. The
savage in liis forest home is moved and softened by it, and the man of
high refinement and education is affected too. We all feel its fascination,
from the highest to the lowest, from the most learned to the most igno-
rant ; and throughout our lives, from the " cradle to the grave," we are
indebted to it for much of that pleasure which we feel when we look on
the blooming face of the earth. When this is sacrificed what an
immensity of effect is lost ! In many buildings color is the chief point of
attraction, beauty in form being nowhere found within them ; and we do
not unfrequently find that in those where the one is not to be seen the
other IS found in almost perfection. What photograph could convey the
slightest idea of the magnificence of those works of the old Byzantine and
Arabian artists, which still exist as proofs of the high feehng and genius
of the men and the luxury and glory of the age ? Where would be the
dazzling gleams of color thrown off by the frescoes, the mosaics, the
colored marbles, and the precious stones ? Where would be the glorious
richness of the gilding which is so thickly strewed over every portion,
pving the entire edifice the costly appearance of a Solomon's Temple and
the fitting dwelling-place of a god ? These cannot be reproduced, they
can be seen only in the works themselves, and in them only can they exist.
Photography, then, supplies us with the reduced form and with the
natural liglit and shade ; but there it stops. It fails to produce the
grandeur, the imposing effect of size, the noble simplicity, the solemn sub-
nmity, and the gorgeous coloring, or the warm, subdued tints blending
with each other and spreading like a mantling blush of beauty over the
whole ; and m depriving a noble work of these, what remains ? All the
poetry is gone. All the music hushed— the spirit that seemed to live is
dead ; the fire that warmed the soul is extinguished, and the form that
appeared to breathe with the breath of a glorious art, is lifeless and still,
btudents must, therefore, not imagine that the introduction of photog-
raphy has lessened the necessity of travclUng, but they must look upon it
in a different light ; they must bear in mind that no copy can supply the
place of the original, and that it is impossible to form an adequate idea of
the real appearance of any building without a personal inspection. There
are many who mistake the real object of travelling ; some do it mtrely to
satisfy a cunosity, others merely to sketch. Many travel for pleasure,
and pass from building to building, and from town to town, without an
idea of deriving more than a slight advantage or an ordinary amount of
information from their pilgrimage ; but all of these are, aa it were, laborintr
in a barren field and passing over an opportunity which may never again
occur. Sketching is undoubtedly of great importance, but it is far from
being the principal aim : there is an object higher and greater to be
attained, one which will be more permanent and enduring, and one whioh
will eventually prove of infinitely more advantage. To simply look on a
building with a careless glance and pass over its parts with a rapid and
superficial examination, is to look in vain. To profit ouraelvcs, we must
leisurely survey the whole— not so much to search after the blemishes or
the faults, as to discover the beautiful and make it our study ; we luujt be
moved by that which is lofty, and, not like ordinary critics, be attracted
and engaged by that which is bad. We must drink in the ethereal
draught of beauty, and not quench our thirst in the stagnant pools of
debased art— we must feel the same kind of inspiration that those old
authors felt when they conceived the design, and look on their works aa
mediums through which we may possess ourselves of their
ideas of beauty, and as examples by the study of which
we may be enabled to take up the golden chain which
they have dropped. We must endeavour to treasure up in memory those
features which are most worthy of admiration, and which may expand
and strengthen our ideas without destroying the germ of purity and truth
which may have been taking root in our minds. Thus it is evident that
it is only by travelling we can answer those purposes for which it is
intended; and it may be seen from what we have before said, that
photography does not, and cannot, lessen the necessity of so doing. There
are many students now who photograph instead of sketch; but we think
this objectionable in many respects. It is something like collecting a
number of notes without troubUng to remember them, or without studying
their real meaning. The merely transferring the outline to the glass or
paper, as the case may be, is not sufiicient to make a deep impress on the
memory, and if this is not done little is gained. Sketching, on the
contrary, assists materially in fixing it indelibly on the mind ; and it is
this circumstance that makes it so valuable to every member of the
profession. If we sketch a building our attention is called to every
portion — no details escape us, no effect is overlooked ; but in making a
rapid examination, or taking a casual survey, we frequently lose much
that is valuable, and more readily forget that which we have noticed.
Besides which every sketch we take makes us more ready with our pencil,
and gives us a greater mastery over it ; and we all know the importance
of this. It is for these reasons that we do not approve of the photograph
superseding the pencil in the case of young men who are applying them-
selves to the study of architecture in its highest form.
There is yet another danger which is to be avoided ; it is that of the
temptation to give way to copyism, which is more hurtful than can be
well imagined. The question is, will photography aid and abet this
injurious practice,, or will it not. We hope that it will not tend to
encourage or assist so contemptible an indulgence, but that it will raise
the mind and elevate the thoughts higher — far higher than that level to
which a man must have fallen who gives way to so mean and slavish a
practice; yet we fear that there are many who will avail themselves of
the facilities afforded by it for transferring by wholesale the works of
others, and apply them to themselves. But let it be remembered that a
true artist will never be guilty of servile copyism, and that he who does
so is not one, but is merely a piece of mechanism without a soul that is
capable of feeling those burning throbbings of enthusiasm which gives such
a dignified and exalted pleasure to the artist. The object of studying the
works of antiquity is not to learn them by rote and reproduce them with-
out alteration, but to take up the train of their ideas, and to mould their
principles to our requirements, and clothe them in a modern garb of fitness
and truth, which shall possess equal beauty with those works which all so
much admire. Fergusson says, in speaking of Greece, "Had she not done
this, neither five nor ten centuries would have enabled her to emerge
from barbarism, but thus appropriating, as she did, all the knowledge
which preceding generations had accumulated, and melting it in her
crucible so as to mould it to such forms as were wanted, is the only process
by which any nation can ever hope to surpass those who have preceded
her, or to advance her own peculiar views." This is perfectly true, and
it would be well if all would remember it, for, as the Chinese say —
" If every man would see to his own reformation,
ilow very easily we might reform a nation."
The claims of photography are great, but like other things it has its
abuses, there are times and seasons for its use, and there are occasions
when it can be well dispensed with ; let it be kept in its place and within
its proper bounds and it will render much valuable assistance ; let it be
prized for its real worth, and not be either under or over-estimated ; let
it be made to further the ends of art and not to impede it, and then we
may expect much fruit from this flourishing tree, wluch without this care-
will produce only leaves ; let us seize every means to purify and raise'
our fallen and neglected art, and let there be another flag unfurled whicli
shall " brave a thousand years the battle and the breeze," and amid w hose
graceful folds, as they wave and glitter in the morning light of another
glorious day, the eyes of all may sec in characters of gold, " Architecture,'*
written indelibly, imperishable, and with a lustre never to be dimmed by
ignorance again. Let it occupy that high position which it once held, and
let those embers of ancient fire which still remain be fanned into another
flame which shall never be extinguished.
288
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 5, 1861.
A\ ARCHITECTURAL JOURNEY IN AQUITAIXE*
THE pointed arrh was introduced curly, and it is by no means necessarily a sign of
transition or of anv IJothic tendency. Everything that I saw in Aqnitaine con-
llmi«l me more and more in mv old belief that the use of the pointed arch was
introduced from the East ; that it was employed tirst in occasional positions where it
was found more convenient, and afterwards as the usual form of the main arches,
but In both cases at first without any chanj^^ in Itomanesque detail ; that, finally and
sradiMllT, a system of detail more suited to the form of the arch was developed, and
Uina Gothic Architecture arose. Now the first of these stages, where the pointed arch
i» not avstematically used, is not transitional, nor docs it show any Gothic tendency.
It wa« first Introduced in barrel vaults and in the arches under domes. 3Ir. I'etit haa
well pointed out the manifest advantages of the pointed arch in the former case.
So in the lat ler. you gain a grreat advantage of height in a position where it is much
wanted, and cou8e<iuentIy the pointed arch is used invariably, or nearly so, under
the cupolas. I say nearly so, to be safe. I have myself never seen an Aquitanian dome
reeling on any but pointed arches, but it is quite possible that there ma^ be some
round ones, the moreso as at Lescure, which looks so much as if it were designed to be
domed, the arches are round. M. Felix dc Verneith, the great expounder of Aquitanian
domical architecture, has lately discovered a class of domical churches in Westphalia
in which the arches under the domes are round. But the pointed arches under the
cupolas of I'erigueux and Angouleme in no way give them any Gothic feeling ; they
raUier make the Oriental cupola still more Oriental, they point to the influence of
the Saracen far more than to the influence of the Teuton. The cloister of Moissac
Abbey may, perhaps, be set down as a later stage. Taken in itself, it is, like the
pointed churches of Sicily, not Gothic, but Saracenic ; but all buildin<^s of tins sort
must have given a great impulse to that systematic use of the pointed arch which,
in the end, produced Gothic. The Moissac cloister dates from the year 1100 ; happily
it has the date inscribed on one of its stones. Detached coupled shafts grouped
nnder one aba«-us support pointed arches. The eflect is quite Arabian. There is a
plainer cloister of the same Kind attached to the great church at St. EmiUon ; another
very fine one, but with round arches, at St. IJertrand de Comminges. Now, this
couplingof shafts under one abacus is b}r no means peculiar to Aquitaine. there are
English examples of it : but it is in Aquitaine that it is far more usual and looks far
more natural. And it is a feature thoroughly Saracenic. Of course, even in
Aquitaine, it does not present the wild eccentricities which it does in the actual
Mahometan bnildiugs. The Aquitanian architects had good taste enough to keep
them from great stilts overhanging the capitals, and from arches again overhanging
the stilts. lint surely these cloisters give us a Saracenic conception tamed down
into something like European proprietj,-. The only question is, are the Saracenic
models followed by the artists of Aquitaine to be looked for among the eastern or the
western .Saracens* Is the Saracenic influence Syrian or Spanish?- Are these
Mahometan features trophies of the Crusading warfare of Duke William of Aquitaine,
and of Count Raymond of Toulouse? Or are they vestiges of the Saracenic Empire
in Spain, of the temporary Saracenic occupation of part of Aquitaine itself?
Geography looks one way ; architecture may or may not look another. The Spanish
Saracens commonly— 1 will not, for fear of error, say invariably— used the round arch
down to the latest times. The pointed arches of Moissac and St. Emilion are surely
direct importations from the East. But the general conception of a cloister with
conpled shafts may well have existed before. Trobably in the round arched cloister at
St. Bertrand we have the earlier type, developed purely from Spanish models, while
in the pointed arched cloister at Moissac we have a furthcrdevelopment from Oriental
models. And observe that, in so saying, I do not at all rule that the St. Bertrand
cloister is itself necessarily older than the Moissac cloister. I know the date of
Moissac; I do not know the date of St. Bertrand, but St. Bertrand might be in
actual age as late or later than Moissac, and yet belong to an earlier type.
So much for Aquitanian Romanesque. Tl'ic native Aquitanian Gothic, as I have
already said, is mainly distinguished from the Northern Gothic by the outlines and
proportions of its buildings, or at least their diflercnces of this kind press themselves
BO much more forcibly on the mind that diiferences of detail are hardly thought of.
The Gothic of Aquitaine, in short, though widely dilTerent from the Gothic of Eng-
land and France, and though clearly adapted to a more southern climate, is still true
Gothic : it is not like that pseudo-Gothic of Italy, which it just now is fashionable to
mn after. An Aquitanian church has more blank wall and less strictly architectural
detail than an English or French ckureh, but what detail it has is perfectly pure and
goocL The gloty of the style, the Metropolitan church of Alby, is, as a piece of
building, exceedingly plain, as, indeed, a brick building can hardly fail to be ; its
internal decoration is due entirely to the paintings M'hich cover every inch of wall
and roof. But the windows at Alby, and whatever little architectural detail there is,
are as good and pure Gothic as anything in Normandy or Northamptonshire. If we
must run af (er a southern Gothic, if the rich stores of England, France, and Germany
will not suffice, it is surely not in Italy, but in Aquitaine, not among utter strangers,
but among neighbours and fellow-subjects, that we should look for our models.
And I believe that the churches of Aquitaine may afford us some very practical hints
for church building at the present day. I must be understood to be speaking archi-
tecturally and not theologically when I say, that if French buildings give us the
finest examples of the High Church, Aquitanian buildings give us equally noble spe-
cimens of the Broad Church. A true Aquitanian church, cathedral, conventual, or
parochial— for all these classes follow the same type— consists of a large spacious body
often positively lofty, but with breadth as its dominjint dimension, no transepts, no
aisles, one huge vaulted hall, its walls on each side broken only by small chapels
between the buttresses. The material is often brick, the windows are small, so that
large blank spaces are left. Now it strikes me that these great churches, with no
aisles, no transepts, no pillars, arc exactly suited to receive the great congregations
of our special services. The details may be made Early English, Decorated, or Per-
pendicular, as we please, and in our climate there is no reason why we should copy
the narrow windows of the south. The chapels between the buttresses may be
omitted, but I really believe they might have a use. As long as people will set up
busts, tablets, and such like ugly things — when attempting Gothicism
they are ugliest of all— It Is better that they should be stowed quietly
away In little comers of this sort than that they should impudently parade
themselves on the main walls and pillars. But if anybody wishes to raise a i'er-
pendicular Alby in the middle of Manchester, he must remember that it is abso-
lutely essential to give it that feature, that *' special ornament," of which English
bnildcrs seem to have been more or less afraid in all ages, •' It is the goodly vault
of stone,"— I believe more truly of brick— which makes Alby one ol the noblest
churches in Christendom; the walls of Alby crowned by a wooden roof,
eren by the grandest trefoil roof In Norfolk or the finest cradle roof in Somerset,
wonid be something fearful to think of.
I have before said that the Aquitanian Gothic is found side by side with examples
of northern Gothic. As French influences increased, especially after the final French
conqnett, the native style died out. And though English influences may be seen, yet
even In the English provinces, the architecture, when not native. Is commonly far
more French than Engli«li. Bayonnc Cathedral, in a city which saw no F'rench
ouuter till 14.V), Is mainlv French in style : so is the eastern part of the metropolitan
church of Bordeaux. Here we can sec something of the juxtaposition of the two
styles, and something more in the other great Aquitanian metropolis of Toulouse ;
though unluckily In neither do we see the native style in its purity. Bordeaux
Cathedral consista of a broad nave, whose lower stage is Romanesque, while the tri-
forium and clerestory are of a rather English Early Gothic. East of this comes, on
a scale at once much more lofty and much narrower, the traiiB(^pt, choir, and apse of
a beautiful French Decorated church, aflbrding a most curious contrast to the old
nave. This cathedral has nilther central nor western tower, but four transept
towers, the southern pair crowned by spires, and a largo Flamboyant detached cam-
panile standing near the east end. Toulouse Cathedral Is more extraordinary still.
' /^ ^''S"' J"^ ^X K.,A- Freeman, Esq., at the Architectural Museum, on Wed-
nesday, March 1.3.— Concluded from page S!74.
Here we have the nave, or part of the nave, of the old church, a most singular in-
stance of what Aquitanian Gothic was in its transitional days. It is very low and
broad, without aisles ; flat pilasters with capitals have a more Classical look than is
usual even in the Romanesque of the country, but tliese pilasters support, not the
barrel vault of the earlier style, but decidedly Transitioual groined cellular vaulting
with pointed arches. Tlie windows are still more ndvancecl. being two-liglit Early
Geometrical examples, not very dilTerent from those coinnion in French work of the
same date, probably early in the thirteenth century. Doubtless the Aquitanian
architect found it easy enough to imitate single features like windows, while he found
it very diflicnlt to emancipate his general conception of what a church should be from
lingering vestiges of the earlier style. To the north-cast of this strange nave has
been built a choir on a far larger scale in late French Flamboyant, presenting the most
marked contrast to the native style. It was doubtless intended to destroy the nave
and to rebuild it to match the choir, but this never having been done, these two utterly
incongruous elements remain parts of the same church, the south wall of the nave
ran<j:ing with the outer wall of the chapels surrounding the choir, and the nortli wall
of the nave coming to about the middle of the choir itself. The effect is most strange
and perplexing.
The tendency to broad churches without aisles comes out much more strongly in
the Aquitanian (iothic than in the Aquitanian Romanesque. Indeed, in the Cathedral
of St. Bertrand, it is perfectly plain that the Romanesque church, of which consider-
able portions remain, was divided by piers, which have been removed, and the wliole
thrown into one enormously wide body. At St. Beter, Orthez, in Beam, I do not
remember any Romanesque vestiges ; tlie style is, throughout, good Decorated Gothic,
and of a much more English than French look. The windows especially, are quite
English, and show hardly any French peculiarities. But a most remarkable change
seems to have taken place since the erection of the building. The choir is of common
English proportions, if anything partaking a little, not ot Aquitanian breadth but of
French loftiness ; it has aisles, and a three-sided apse, much like the few English apses
we have, such as that at Slarden in Herefordshire. Now, it was evidently designed
to carry the church on westwards on the same plan ; the responds are there, and the
springers for the nave-arches and for the vaults both of the nave and its aisles. Tliis
design, however, was give up, and the church has been flnished, without any ch,ange
of style, upon a wholly different plan. The nave was made of the full width of the
choir and its aisles together, into which it opens by, so to speak, three chancel arches.
There is something a little like it in my old parish church of St. Mellon's in Mon-
mouthshire, where the wide opens, by two arches, into the chancel and a northern
chapel. The custom of wide naves without aisles is almost as common in Wales as
in Aquitaine, but it is not carried to the same degree, and it does not extend into
churches of so high a class. There is nothing, for instance, like it in the great minsters
of South Wales, while in Aquitaine it attains its clima.x at Alby, and in the monastic
churches of Toulouse.
There is, perhaps, some English influence at Orthez ; it may be seen much more
plainly in the noble church of St. Michael, at Bourdeaux. I do not exactly know
why, out the outside of this church reminded me of Tintern,~and the inside of
St. Mary RedcliiTe. There is certainly something English in its general ellect, and
its east end is a plain compromise between English and French ideas. The choir has
a flat end, a large east window, more Perpendicular than anything else, .ind a single
arch below it, a good deal like the east end of St. Mary lleddift'e. But just beyond
it, by way of Lady chapel, is a little three-sided apse, apses of the same kind forming
also the ends ol the choir-aisles. But there is something more curious still : there
are a great many Flamboyant windows, apparently inserted at diflerent times. One
of these has the letter H clearly wrought in the tracery ; two others have, as is so
common in French tracery, the fleur-de-lys. Are not these historical monuments,
dating respectively immediately before and immediately after the French conquest ?
H. is surely for Henry— Uenry, King of England and Duke of Aquitaine. It shows
the faithful city of Bordeaux still clinging to her ancient princes against the French
invader, perhaps in the very moment of renewed loyalty when, after she had tasted
what French domination was, she again revolted to the easier sway of her natural
duke, and when Talbot was striking the lust blow for Aquitanian iVeedom beneath
the walls of Chastillon. In the other badge we see the trophy of the conqueror ; we
see the city, once rather the ally of England than her subject, trampled down in the
common bondage ; we see the proud capital of Aquitaine reduced to the same dead
level which was soon to swallow up imperial Aries and free Massaha, to degrade
Strasburg and Cambray and Besan?on into subject cities of a despot, and at last to
extend the yoke over Savoy and Nizza before our own eyes.
I have now tried to point out the most characteristic features of the local style of
Aquitaine, both Romanesque and Gothic. I will now briefly run through my own
travels in the country, mentioning the most remarkable churches which I saw at
various points. I do not profess to give a minute history, or even a minute descrip-
tion of any single building, but simply to mention what struck me most, especially
such points as bear on the peculiarities of the native styles. I mean to confine
myself to my own stores ; Mr. Petit's beautiful volume on " French Architecture "
contains many examples which I have not seen ; on the other hand, I have seen
some which do not appear there. As the order in which I happened to see the
places does not ranch matter, X mean to roll my two real journeys into Aquitaine into
one imaginary one.
The whole Loire region, as I have before said, is an architectural as well
as a political march. Mr. Petit is inclined to see something of an incipient
southern character even so far north as Estarapes, in the middle of the Royal
Domain. Certainly the wonderful church oi Our Lady, which seems to have
been originally a .lews' synagogue, is very unlike other churches French or English,
but its pecnliarlties are as likely to be of Ilebrew as of Aquitanian origin. Perhaps,
howevt^, the very tall clustered pillars, without triforium or clerestory, may be
taken as a sign that we are approaching the frontier ; and the southern doorway has
a Classical look. Of the other three churches of the town, all highly curious, St.
Giles' has a flat east end and a Perpendicular east window, which may possibly be
owing to the Enghsh occupation in the fifteenth century. St. Basil and St. Martin
have much fine Romanesque work, but quite of a Northern character.
Reaching the Loire at Orleans, I remember nothing suggesting an Aquitanian
origin ; but descending the river to Blois we first find a distinctively southern
feature in the dome of St. Nicholas. This shows that now wc are really in a border
land, but the rest of that noble church is French Transition ; the architect imitated
a single Aquitanian feature, but in no wise designed his general plan after Aquitanian
models.
(ioingdown to Tours, wc find ourselves within the dominions of the Angevin
Kings of England and Dukes of Aquitaine. The Jletropolilan Church is a noble
study of the whole development of Gothic architecture. It exhibits every stage of
that development, from the Transition of its eastern apse to the Cinque cento of its
western tower. But it is throughout French, not Aquitanian, Gothic. The ruins of
St. Martin's also show that that too was of Northern Romanesque. We must
remember that the political connexion of Touraine with England and Aiiuitaine only
lasted about half a century. Now, the Romanesque of St. JIartin's is doubtless
earlier than the marriage of Henry and Eleanor, and by far the greater part of the
<;athcdral must be later than the confiscation of the Northern fief s of their son John.
Yet in the third principal church at Tours, St. Julian, I think we cannot fail to see a
rather 'English look, especially in the flat cast end and large east window. Yet,
with Its fully developed Geometrical tracery it must surely be later than the French
conquest in 1204.
Augers I have never visited, a most unpardonable omission in one professing to
investigate the difl'ercnces between French and Aquitanian arcliitecturcas it is there,
according to Mr. I'arkcr, more than anywhere else, that the two come into contact,
collision, and commixture. Crossing the Loire, the first important city wc reach is
I'oitiers, so long the capital of all south-western Gaul, the rival of Toulouse as the
scat of the poetry and refinement of the Lingua d'Oc. At Poitiers the sovereign
Dukes of Aquitaine long held their court ; the greatness of Bourdeaux rather belongs
to the later days of connexion with England. Here, then, wo arc fairly on Aqui-
April 5, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
0 J-^'A TT.SC.^^^
April 5, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
291
Unian ground, and yet the Aquitanian peculiarities arc not so fuUjr developed as we
And them farther south. Thus in the church of Our Lady, a glorious Eoioancsijue
pile, we have tlie Aquitanian barrel-vault as perfectly developed as at St. Seruiu ;
we have alao the lofty pier without triforium or clerestory, but the pillars arc
clustered loss freely clustered and formed of larger shafts than they would be in
England, but still they are clustered, and not rectangular like St. Aventln. The
cathedral, with its tall clustered pillars and aisles ot the full height, approaches the
same j,'i'ncral type, but the date is later, being Transitioual ; its interior reminds us
somewhat of Our Lady's Church atEstampes. Instead of the barrel-vault of its
neighbor, there is cellular vaulting, but it is of the Angevin type, approaching to
the domical form, and the transverse arches are very bold and prominent. The
outline of this cathedral is strange and awkward. It has no central tower: the
enormous height of the great French churches commonly hinders the existence of
that finish, but this long and comparatively low church really cries for
it ; the west front has two unequal towers, strangely placed, they project beyond the
aisles, like Wells and Itouen ; at the same time they project in front of the termi-
nation of the nave and aisles in a way which 1 do not remember to have seen else-
where, except in some Scotch churches. The east end is, hke St. Michael at
nordeaux, a compromise between English and French ideas, but the compromise is
effected in a different way. The east end outside is flat, inside it has three apses
formed in the thickness of the wall : the same thing may be seen in Komsey Abbey.
The aisles of the full height begin to bring in the heavy Aquitanian buttresses, but
there are no chapels between them. In St. Kadcguud's they come out more strongly.
Here the church is Komanesque.'.late Komancsque doubtless, bordering on Transition.
But the nave has the complete proportions, the one tall, broad, unbroken body, ot
the Aquitanian Gothic, but instead of the barrel-vault of our Lady's Church, it has
the Angevin cellular vault of the Cathedral. The western tower is hne Romanesque,
rather more classical thcin we arc used to in England. liotli here and in the cathe-
dral, large Geometrical windows have been inserted, much broader than we shall
find further south. The other principal church, St. Hilary, is much mutilated, and I
could not make it out so well as the others, owing to repairs. But it too begins to
have marked, though not fully developed, Aquitanian features. A more venerable
building than all, the Carolingian monument, called the Temple of St. John, does not
immediately concern us. It is clearly akin to the Laurisbelm gateway, and to our
own Anglo-Saxon churches.
Advancing south to AngoulSme, wc first find the domical principle carried out on a
grand scale. I have already mentioned some of the more remarkable features of this
Cathedral. I must now speak of the noble side tower. I believe it once had a fellow,
which certainly could not have improved the effect. It rises high, stage upon stage,
like an Italian campanile, utterly unlike anything in the north. The apse, strange to
say, has a marked cast window set in a buttress. This we do not find, as far as I re-
member, in our few English apses, but the late Gothic east ends in Scotland make a
desperate attempt to combine the French tradition of the apse with the English tra-
dition of the large cast window. Another church in Angouleme, St. Andrew, has a
broad Aquitanian nave with barrel vault. The choir is mainly French, with pillars
with discontmuous imposts, but it has a flat east end and a rather English east
window.
Entering within Aquitaine, in one of the narrower senses of the word, the later
French province of Guienno and Gascony, one of the most remarkable places is St.
Emilion. It is like a city of the dead. Medieval houses. Medieval walls, iledieval
gateways, churches and cloisters, ruined or disused, one of the latter he^vn out of the
soUd rock, meet the visitor atevcry step. What is more remarkable still, I did not see
there a single soldier or a single geridarme,and the walls of the little inn were still hun^
with pictures of the Revolution of lSt8. StEmilion in indeed one of the most wonderful
spots in Christendom ; it reminds one not a little of an inland St. David's. Of the
rock church I know not the date. There the Aquitanian Uoinanesque makes itself; the
square piers and barrel-vault appear in their most primitive and yet their most perfect
type. A few simple Romanesque ornaments carved on some of imposts form the only
original decorations ; but a fine Early Gothic tower and spire have oeen built over the
chancel, and a nch doorway— Flamboyant, I think— attached to it. The desecrated
Trinity chapel is a very pretty piece of Transitional work, but 1 do not know that
it specially suggests anything bearing on my immediate subject. Of the smaller
churches, chiefly Friaries, the remains are scanty, except that of the Cordeliers,
where the church is not very remarkable, but there is a Saracenic cloister with round
arches, a miniature of that which I have already mentioned at the Collegiate church.
The Jacobin church, like the greater one which I shall have to speak of at Toulouse,
seems to have had two bodies, but it is on a very small and humble scale. The email
fragment remaining of the Dominican church seems to point to a tall, single-bodied
building, with the vaulted roof and long narrow windows of the true Aqiiitanian
Gothic. So far south as St. EmiUon, we no longer see the broad windows of England
and France such as we have trac^?d as far as Poitiers. But some of the tracery in the
St. Emilion churches has quite an English look. The numerous military and domestic
remains of this most interesting town I willingly resign to Mr. Parker.
But the main architectural glory of St. Emilion is, after all, the great Collegiate
church. Externally it suffers much from an irregular outline and from its only
tower, at the west end, being unfinished. The nave is of plain but good native
Komanesqne, or rather Transition, for the pointed arcii is not confined to the roof.
The belfry arch and that of a curious constructive gallery beneatli it are pointed also.
The nave has three bays, without aisles, the western bay has cross-vaulting, the others
liave domes; the vaulting shafts show a curious mixture of shafts and rectangular
pilasters. The choir has aisles ; it is of Early Gothic, in which I fancied that I dis-
cerned a mixture of French and English details ; except in being rather wide it has
little resemblance to the native Gothic. There are many Flamboyant alterations,
including, as 1 think, the addition of the present apse. I suspect that the choir had
originally a flat east end like Poitiers cathedral. Of the cloister of this church I have
already spoken.
We now reach the capital of Aquitaine, the noble city of Bourdeaux. An English-
man can hardly help, whether with or without reason, lamenting the loss of what
was once so fair a jewel in the crown of our own kings ; still it is pleasant to mark
in its Roman remains, in its Medieval churches, in its stately modern buildings, and
in its broad river still covered with the ships of all nations, the signs of a prosperity
which, for at least fifteen hundred years, has been interrupted only by Scandinavian
devastation in the ninth century, and by French conquest in the fifteenth century.
Of the metropolitan church and that of St. Michael I have already spoken. I may,
however, mention more especially the two noble roses of the cathedral, and the de-
tached campanileofSt. Michael's. The other two principal churches arc St. Severinus
or Seurin and St. Cross. St. Seurin has been much altered at various times ; a noble
doorway rich with statues was added in VM'2, .ind more barbarous changes were made
inside in l.'ififiand in 1700. but it still remains for the most part a flne example of a
very pecuhar sort of Romanesque or rather Transition. The church has aisles, aisles
the height of the nave, and yet the feeling is rather that of a building without aisles.
There is nothing that can be called a pier-arch ; the aisle is like a series of cliapels
with transverse barrel-vaults springing from the piers. I do not know whether I
have succeeded in explaining my meaning, but I hope the drawing will make it
clearer. The vault is cellular. There is something English in the free clustering of
the shafts and in the flat east-end. Some of the capitals, especially under the tower,
are ver>- odd. In the small churches of St. I'eter and St. Helen, I tliink some
English features may be discerned. So in the noble abbey of St. Cross, the Roman-
esque is tor the most part not very unlike English Norman. The tower and the
principal apse, which is polygonal, have a southern look in their many shafts with-
out arches, and we see the same tendency in the projection in which the great west
doorway is set ; but the doorway itself and the clustered piers are not unlike
English work. There is cellular vaulting and a later clerestory. The chnrcit is
altogether a very flne one, but, hke all the Bourdeaux churches, it sadly wants a cential
tower.
At Daxwe shall find nothing to help our inquiry. The Cathedral," now such in
rank no longer, is an Italian church on Medieval foundations. The great antiquarian
attraction of the town is the town-wall, which I took for Roman, but which I bare
since heard is really a Medieval Imitation of Roman work. Still more lately hare I
heard that a large part of this has been barbarously destroyed since my tlalt.
Bayonne I have ah-cady mentioned. The Catliedral, heavy and awkward outnlde, a
vision of perfect beauty within, is more French than English, not at all exaggerating
iTcneh pecuharities, but still, though the arms of England arc still blazoned on it»
keystones, more like a French than an English building. Our immediate point
is that, whether EngUsh or French, both the church itself and its noble clolattr are
purely exotic and not Aquitanian.
We will now plunge into the mountains of Beam and Gascony. The town of
1 an 13 very poor in churches ; its position reminded me of Brecon, but, strange to
say, in cemparing a Welsh and Aquitanian town, the buildings of Brecon surpam {ho«o
of 1 au, at least as much as the Pyrenees surpass the" Bn^ekuock Beacons. In Beam
1 missed the little cathedral of Lescar, described by Mr. Petit, but I saw a few
curious parish churches, one at Laruns, an excellent specimen of a broad vauUcd
Aquitanian chancel or a very small church. It was in the nelglibourhood of
Bagneres de Luchon that I saw more of these sm.all mountain churchea than else-
where. They arc all curious ; some are remarkable for piiiiilings, and for Inscrip-
tions in Lingua d' Oc; the only ones of much architectural importance. Serge and
St. Aventin, I have already mentioned. What struck me most was that so many of
the small church towers had midwall shafts, a good deal like those of oar
" Anglo-Saxon " churches, but I believe the resemblance to be quite accidental. The
Enghsh and the Aquitanian architects hit on similar forms, while independently
imitating common Italian models. Of the larger churches of this district 1 have
already mentioned the mountain cathedral of St. Bertrand, the church of Aquitanian
Gothic, with its Saracenic cloister. Arrcau has two curious churches, with both
Romanesque and Gothic porches ; one of them has an elegant octagonal tower and
spire. The church at Luz is chiefly remarkable as a fortified church and for its
noble porch among the mountains ; but it Is a good specimen of the local liomanesque,
and a Lady chapel has been added between the original church and the wall In a
most sing;ular way. St. Savin's Abbey is one of the best in the country ; a cross
church, without aisles, with three eastern apses, all pure Aquitanian Romanesque,
stem and rectangular, except that, instead of the central dome which one would
have expected, is a late octagon ; all the arches are round. An external gallery
runs round the church, like St. Sernin at Toulouse. I'ortions of conventual
bmldings remain, especially the approach to the chapter-honse, a l>eantliul vaulted
substructure, with an elegant Romanesque central shaft. Not far off, among the
hills, is a curious little transverse triapsidal chapel. Tarbes Cathedral is mueb
modernised ; but its three Romanesque apses and its central octagon are not unlike
St. Savin's. There is another church at Tarbes, very broad, and with a curious flat
east end, but this too seems to have been much tampered with.
By a considerable leap we will emerge again at Toulouse. I have already done
something like describe both the metropolitan church and the far nobler Abbey of
St. Saturninus. The other churches, both monastic and parochial, are mostly of
brick, broad, vaulted buildings— admirable examples of thenative Gothic. The noble
Church of the .Jacobins alone consists of two equal bodies with a row of pillars down
the middle. The conventual buildings attached to this church, now forming a barrack,
arc worth attentive study. But the most beautiful piece of ecclesiastical-domestic
architecture at Toulouse is the cloister of the Augustinian church, now the Museum,
The arches are of advanced Gothic, pointed, foliated, and foliated again, but they
rest on true Saracenic coupled columns, though with capitals adapted to the later style.
The use of brick in the T olosan churches has produced a class of towers of which we
see the first form in the central octagon of St. Sernin, tall, octagonal towers, taper-
ing in stages, and with a very free use of straightsided openings which are so con-
venient in brickwork. They struck me as not confined to any particular date,
especially as the churches to which they are attached exhibit both early and late
Gothic, though in both cases of an Aquitanian type.
Of the metropolitan church of Alby I have already spoken, as well as of the small
church of Lescure, in its neighbourhood. But let me add that to see Alby, and Alby
alone, would amply repay even so long a journey ; and if any architect or founder
should think my hint as to the ground-plans of the Aquitanian churches worthy of
attention, it must be at Alby, where tne Aquitanian style appears in its greatest
perfection, that its principles must be chiefly studied. The Archbishop's Palace also
18 a noble rich building, and the church of St. Salvin would challenge attention were
it not outstripped by its sublime neighbour. It has some Romanesque and some late
Gothic portions, and a remarkable cloister.
We will begin our return by an irregular course. At Montanban the Cathedral is
modem ; the Church of St. James is a large broad building, with a Tolosan west
tower ; in Toulouse itself they are commonly at the side. Castel Sarrazin {Ctistnim
Saracenorum) has a very curious church, chiefly of Transitional date, and in some
things, the narrow aisles especially, a good deal hke St. Severin, at Bordeaux. It
has an immensely massive western octagon, which looks as if it ought rather to have
been in the middle of the church, like those of St. Savin and Tarbes Cathedral, to
gay nothing of St. Saturninus itself.
Moissac Abbey is a wonderful pile. I have already mentioned its Saracenic
cloister. The nave and choir are of Aquitanian Gothic, of the type with which we
have become familiar at Toulouse and Alby, though certainly of very inferior merit.
But the enormously massive Romanesque tower is marvellous indeed ; the southern
portal is gigantic, loaded with sculpture. But the tower, with the curiouB military
additions, in late Romanesque, would require a monograph rather than the fag-end of
a lecture. I hasten to the less known church of St. Macaire. This Is chiefiy Tran-
sitional, though with many later insertions; It is transverse triapsidal in plan, with
polygonal apses, polygonal side tower, no aisles, gorgeous internal paintings,
three of the arches of the lantern being clearly left flat to receive them. I do not
know a more interesting church.
We must now dash across to Perigueux. Of St. Front I have already spoken.
The elder cathedral, St. Stephen, commonly called La Citt, has two domes, of the
eleventh and twelfth centuries respectively ; the east end is flat and most unchurch-
like ; a third dome to the west has perished. I'erigueux is a most interesting city in
every way, rich in Roman rrtnains and in medieval houses ranping from Roman-
esque to Cinque cento. Less known, doubtless, than the buildings in the town of
Perigueux are some others which I saw in the neighbourhood. Chancellade Abbey
la a fine cross church, with extensive conventual buildings remaining. It is essentially
Romanesque, but with many inserted windows, and the central dome is masked by
an Early Gothic tower. Ilard by is a small but pretty and neat rich desecrated
chapel. Though the style is advanced Romanesque, or rather Transitional— the fine
west doors having a pointed arch— it has the baluster-shafts of our own Anglo-
Saxon buildings. At Bourdeillo the castle is the great object, but the church 19_ an
admirable specimen of a domestic Romanesque church on a small scale, Brantome
Abbey is a most extraordinary building; the tall wide bays, of advanced Transition,
almost Early Gothic form the whole church. A tall Romanesque tower of very
curious and I think early detail, stands at the north-cast angle. The cloister, in-
stead of being as usual against the north wall of the nave, stands at the west or
south end, like an Itahan cortile, or like the cloister of New College. The cast
end is flat.
Limo"-cs has several fine churches. Of the Romanesqnc Cathedral nothing remains
but the lower part of the tower, with a sort of round cupola. This is cased by a
Traditional or Early Gothic tower of great height, its upper stage being hexagonal.
Now a beautiful church of French Gothic— French rather than English that is, and
utterly unlike native work— was begun to the east of this tower, which, if completed,
would necessarily have carried with it the destruction of this thoroughly local
tower. But the choir, transept, and two bays of the nave are all that was built, so a
large "ap remains between. I trast that a design to finish it and destroy the tower
may b"e averted. The other two churches, St. I'eter and St. Michael, seem to me to
imitate the cathedral tower in a rather later form, and with the addition of spires.
Both are flne churches. St. Michael has a widish nave, but with aisles and clustered
pillars in four or five irregular ranges. The choirs of both churches, I think, are
292
THE BUILDING NEWS.
Aprils, 1861.
cone. The Collcgr chupel has a space of 4*s feet wide traced out for Taulttng-, the
date, unless I am mistaken, being as late as ISiS. Limoges is as rich as I'lrlgueux
in ancient houses ; some are very earlv, but 1 thought I saw l)oth at Limoges, and
elsevhere a good deal of late imitation 'of Uomanesque. But the domestic antiquities
of all these towns, cren of Bourgcs. with its noble House of i*aqaes C'teur, and Its
other splendid mansions, I willingly resign to Mr. I'arlcer. I make one remark only.
Xo English city at all riyals these French towns— for French they had become when
the finest houses were built-in their stores of domestic work. But I do not think
that this proves that France was at all more advanced any way than England j it
rather proves the contrary. It shows, as all history shows, the disturbed state of
the country long after Kngland was peaceful and orderly. (.>utside the walls of a
town there was no safety for any one out the lord of a fortified c-astle. In England
the owners of these beautiful nouses would have rather lived in those country
dwellings of moderate size which form so attractive a feature in our late Medieval
and ElizalKlhan architecture.
We now approach the French frontier. The church at Vizerno is wide, but has no
vault, save iu the apse; the sonth side has three large chapels with distinct transverse
gables. Pleinpied Abbey, I must mention again, both for its own sake and because of
the welcome I met there, perfect stranger as I was, from the venerable Cur^ M
I'Abbe Thibaud. lowed my first knowledge of this church to Mr. I'etit's "Archi-
tectural Studies in France," and it is not the least of my obligations to that beautiful
volume. IMeinpied is a triapsidal cross church with central tower, and aisles both
to nave and choir. The eastern part is purely Romanesque, and curiously combines
northern and southern ideas. It has tne clerestory of a northern church and the
barrel vault of a southern one. The result of this is that the walls are raised a good
way above the clerestory windows, and the space being decorated with a black
arcade forms a stage whicli is decidedly more important in the outside view than the
real clerestory. The roof seems to have been raised, as it encroaches on the central
tower; probably it had originally a low pitch which, I believe, 1 forgot to mention is
common in both the Romanesque and tlie Gothic of Aquitaine. The principal apse
forms a distinct building, a good deal lower than the rest of the church : this greatly
increases the wonderfully picturesque effect of the view from the east.
The choir piers arc a clear compromise between the rectangular pier of the
south and the clusters of the north ; the attached shafts are large, but what
is specially distinctive of Pleinpied is a sort of heavy roll continued 'all
round both arch and pier. I believe that this part of the church is of an ascertained
date in the eleventh century, but there is, above ground at least, no signof rudeness
of work. On the other hand there is no great richness, except in some of the deco-
rative arches round the apse, where we see something like both the flat pilaster and
the double column. But the crypt below is in quite another style, having baluster
columns, which I do not remember to have seen before on so large a scale, with rude
capitals. The nave at IMeinpied has suffered much from a fire and from the repairs
which followed it, but it is easy to see that Aquitanian elements were stronger in it
than in the choir. The arches are pointed, and there is no clerestory. The vault
has perished, but I think it is clear that it was of the pointed ibarrel-form, resting
or shafts. The aisles, both of nave and choir, have cross vaulting.
"With this fine border church I will end my series, as at Bourgcs we shall find our-
selves on really French ground. I have gone hastily through a great subject, but I
hope that I have done something to set forth the general propositions that the
study ol general history is imperfect without some knowledge ot^architecture, and
that the study of architecture is still more imperfect without a careful attention to
general history, and also the particular propositions, that Aquitaine is to be looked
upon historicalljr and architecturally as something wholly distinct from France, that
its history and its architecture must be studied as those of an independent country,
that the historical study of Aquitanian architecture is one of the most curious
branches ol our general subject, and, finally, that some of its buildings may give
very practical hints to architects and churchbuilders among ourselves.
CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL.
THE following is Mr. George Gilbert Scott's report to the Provisional Com-
mittee for rebuilding the tower, spire, &c., of Chichester Cathedral : —
" My Lords and Gentlemen, — Agreeably to your directions, I have carefully
examined the cathedral for the purpose of forming an opinion as to the extent to
which the fall of the tower has endangered or damaged the existing portions of
the building, the best course to be taken in the reconstruction of the fallen
parts and in providing for the present and permanent security of the fabric
generally, and as to the probable cost of effecting these objects. The more
direct and palpable results of the recent lamentable catastrophe are too simple
and obvious to need any lengthened description. The tower and spire have
ceased to exist, and in tlieir fall have carried with them the first bay or com-
partment of three out of the four arms of tlie cruciform structure, namely, one
compartment of the nave and one of either transept. Towards the east the two
piers which supported the tower still exist to a certain height, and the adjoining
compartment of the choir has coasequently been preserved as high as the base of
the clerestory, above which it has fallen. The eastern piers have also sustained
in some degree the adjoining portions of the eastern walls of the transepts,
though these are much shaken, and their upper parts in a great degree destroyed
to the extent of their first compartments. It is a remarkable and very happy
circumstance that, in a disaster so tremendous as the fall of a steeple of
nearly ."WO feet in heipht, the destruction of the adjoining parts of the building
should have been so limited in Its extent, and the more so as the same infirmity
of construction which has led to the disaster pervades in a greater or a less
degree other portions of the edifice. It was, however, inevitable that a concus-
sion 80 violent, and the sudden removal of the centre of the cross on which
all its arms in some degree trusted for steadiment, must have a very
injurious eft'ect upon the building. We accordingly find symptoms here and
there throughout the building, of the rude and sudden shock which it has sus-
tained; and even where these arc not visible but where the labric has been long
suffering from injuries and defects of far earlier date, I would strongly urge the
necessity of a thorough and substantial reparation, as it is clear tliat an ancient
and defective structure, though it may remain long witliout sliowing symptoms
of danger while suffering from no special cause of^disturbance, can by no means
be viewed as being in the same position after the fall and rebuilding of its great
central feature. Those who^are acquainted with the history of the cathedral are
aware of the fact tliat, within less than a century after its original building, it
wa» most sevOTely damaged by fire, and that its present architecture mainly con-
sists of the portions of the old structure which escaped, overlaid by the later
work by which the injuries were then repaired. This ancient injury was, no
doubt, one cause of [the weakness which seems to pervade the older portions of
the building; and even now the effects of the fire may be seen in the triforium
galleries, in the ragged, discoloured, and half-ruinous condition of the stone-
work. I am of opinion that this state of dilapidation, increased, as it
had liecome by the lapse of time, would have soon demanded general
reparation, had no accident occurred to shake the building; but under
circumstances so extraordinary as those from which it is now suffering,
I feel sure that its permanent safety imperatively demands that every structural
defect shall now be made good. The roofs also, particulariy that of the choir, and
those of the aisles both of the choir and nave, demand very extensive reparation,
as their present most defective condition exposes tlic walls and the vaulting to
continued injury. The fii'st thing, however, which demands attention is the
immediate security of the four arms of the cross. In tlieir present exposed and
unsupported state it is impossible to consider them as safe ; indeed, any suddeil
gale, acting at once on the internal as well as on the external surfaces of the
walls and roofs, might produce some serious increase of the damage already
sustained. The danger is, I believe, now being effectually provided against by
substantially shoring up the difterent portions, and I only allude to it as being a
portion of the work immediately necessary, and to urge the importance of dealing
with it in a liberal spirit, as any attempt to economise in this part of the works
might lead to serious and costly failures. I would also mention that, till this
lias been effectually carried out, the heap of debris, which now acts as an
abutment to the great arcades of the church, ought not to be removed below its
present level. In rebuilding a tower which is to form the central abutment of
four arcaded arms — which were never very firmly built, and which, through the
effects of fire, of age, and of a shock' such as that which they have now
sustained, are in a condition far from substantial — it is of the utmost
importance to lay its foundation so firmly, and to construct its walls
of materials so immovable, that, if possible, no settlement at all should
take place during its erection ; and at the same time to render it so self-
supported that instead of trusting for its own abutment to the arms of the building,
it should afford to them the support which they require without bringing any
pressure upon them. To effect this the work must be done in a much more
massive way and with better materials than is necessary in an ordinary work.
The foundations must be carried down, at whatever cost, to a stratum of
undoubted firmness. They must he spread unusually wide, and be constructed
of large and massive materials, laid in the hardest cement. The piers and arches
must be of solid and closely-jointed block stone, and that of great hardness and
strength ; and the whole carried out with an excess of strength beyond what, iu
an ordinary structure, would be deemed necessary. No soft stone or rnbblc-work
should be admitted in any part of the work. This will naturally increase ;tlie
cost, but it is, I am convinced, necessary to its safety, and particulariy to the
permanence of the remainder of the building. The same remarks apply to the
bays adjoining the tower which will have to be rebuilt — including, of course,
the first bay of the choir, which, though not wholly destroyed, must of necessity
be taken down. It will be needlessly occupying your time to particularise the
defects in and the repairs required by the different parts of the building.
1 have very carefully taken note of them, as necessary to the correctness
of my estimate, but to enumerate them here is needless. I will men-
tion, however, that the parts which are in the most critical state
appear to be the transepts. I am most unwilling to condemn any part
which can be saved, and would urge the extreme desirableness of saving every
fragment of the original structure, which is consistent with the security of the
whole, as the renewal of any part detracts seriously from its interest ; but there
can be no doubt that these parts will demand the most careful treatment to render
them permanently secure. In estimating the cost of restoration I have supposed
every part to be an exact transcript of what is lost. There may be cases where a
wise discretion should be exercised in this respect, as it may not in all cases be
reasonable to reproduce in exact detail a work whose design was the result of
alterations, repairs, and reconstructions, spreading over many centuries; but I
have in my estimate calculated on simple reconstruction. In what I have
calculated upon for the repairs of existing parts I have aimed at strength and
security rather than architectural restoration, and have consequently in no case
reckoned on work where needed for beauty only, when unnecessary for strength
and safety.
" I calculate the probable cost as follows; —
The rebuilding of the tower and spire £25,000
The rebuilding of the four adjoining bays 12,000
The necessary repairs of other portions 7,000
The cost of shoring up and of providing temporarily
for the services 2,000
£48,000
"When to this is added the cost of superintendence, and of other incidental
expenses, I fear that it would be unsafe to reckon upon an outlay of less than
£50,000.
" I have the honor to be, my lords and gentlemen, your very obedient servant,
"George Gilbiirt Scott.
" London, March 19th, 1861."
A
STROUD CHURCH.
NUMEROUSLY attended parish meeting was held at Stroud, on Thursday
-^ the 14th ult., to receive the report of the Committee appointed in Septem-
ber, 1850, to take such steps as might be necessary for the rebuilding of the jiarish
Church. The Chairman, the Rev. T. H. Tarlton reported that having ad-
vertised for plans for a new church, upwards of thirty designs had been sent in ;
from these the Committee selected three— those of Mr. Bland of binningliam,
Mr. Wilson of Hath, and Messrs. Medland and Mabberly of Gloucester and
London. After mature consiileration it was unanimously resolved by the Com-
mittee that the premium of twenty pounds offered in the advertisement (which
appeared in this .louriial) should be awarded to Mr. Bland.
'' In order to be the more assured in any plan which they might ultimately
recommend to the parishioners, the Committee decided on seeking the advice and
counsel of Mr. George Gilbert Scott, who visited and examined the present build-
ing "and eventually submitted a design for a new church. "The Committee did not
feel themselves at 'liberty to adopt the design thus submitted, owiiiL' to the pro-
posed removal of the tower and spire, which it was thought desirable to retain.
"The Committee then felt that they could with increased confidence submit to
you a modification of Mr. Bland's prize design, and they now present for your con-
sideration the design now exhibited, and recommend it for your adoption."
The church is estimated by measurement to acommodate one thousand one
hundred and fifty adults, and to cost five thousand pounds exclusive of carving.
Reliable subscriptions have already been promised to the amount of upwards ol
four thousand pounds, exclusive of one thousand pounds which the feoffees have
applied to the Charity Commissioners for leave to appropriate to this purpose.
Grants may also be fairly hoped for from other societies and gifts from other
sources.
April 5, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
293
The Chairman staled further that the Committee were prepared tlioroughly to
recommend the plans of Mr. Bland, and in his presence he was liound to say tliat
though they had liad the great advantage of the genius and large experience of
Mr. Scott yet Mr. Bland had displayed a skill which entitled him to the largest
confidence and support. .
A Committee of twenty two gentlemen, with the churchwardens ex-ij^no for
the time being, was appointed to carry into eifect the resolutions passed by the
meeting who were requested to appoint a sub-committee of five of their number
to form a building committee.
A resolution was passed to authorise the eliurchwardens to take such steps as
may be necessary to apply for a faculty to take down the present church and to
rebuild according to tlie plans laid before the meeting.
.^ .
THE SOANE IMBROGLIO.
THE plot thickens : for between the Academy, the Trustees, and the In-
stitute, matters seem to get perplexed more and more at every step.
It was a most unlucky wliim of Soane'a to give the Academy any autlio-
rity whatever in the election of a Curator, unless, indeed, he had pointed
out the course to be taken in the case of a collision between the Koyal
Academicians and the Trustees. If the judgmentof the latter could not be
relied upon for bestowing the appointment upon a person both properly
qualified for it as a member of the profession, and otherwise deserving of
it, they ought to have been empowered to call in six architects — or what-
ever the number of them fixed upon might be — to act as their assessors
and advisers, hut as nothing more. Whereas the Academy — though it is
what Soane could hardly foresee— ha? now all hut completely turned
architecture out of doors, as being, if not exactly a loathsome ghoul or
vampire, an oppressive incubus upon its exhibitions. At the time he got
his Act of Parliament passed, he could not foresee that not very long
afterwards the Institute would he hatched, much less that architects would
ever venture to institute an exhibition of their own.
What will be the issue of the now complicated affair is at present very
uncertain, but surely the Council of the Academy cannot have been taken
by surprise, since they must have been prepared for something more than
passive disapprobation— even resistance to their choice of a Curator, on
the part if not of the Trustees, on that of the architectural profession.
Doubt there can be none as to Soane's intentions, and that the gentleman
who has been elected, be his merits in other respects what they may, can-
not claim to be recognised as being " an English architect." Hitherto he
has invariably written himself " sculptor," without so much as attempting
to dub himself "architect." Now, it is a very good thing to have " two
strings to your bow," but, on the other hand, the unlucky consequence of
sitting upon " two stools " is proverbial; and such seems to be the actual
position of the Curator elect.
What looks rather queer is that many weeks before the election of
Curator took place, we were shown a letter from an exceedingly influential
person, in which, in reply to a solicitation for his interest in behalf of
another candidate, it was said, It is all settled, " a sculptor is to have it."
We thought at the time, from much more, that the writer of that letter
must, when inditing it, have been in that state of mental haziness which is
apt to be superinduced by too liberal after-dinner potations. Finesse, or
attempt at it, there certainly was none. With more of true blunt Jolm-
BuUisni than of astute diplomacy, the writer blurted out what it now seems
was the truth. One question, then, that arises is, why was not a meeting
of the Council of the Academy held at once, just to save appearances, and
tlieir foregone decision formally announced ? That would have spared
the other competitors much anxious suspense.
Erom some of the " little birds " who are now flying about in archi-
tectural quarters, we have heard a good deal — in fact more than we can
credit, as, for instance, that it is likely there will be a suit in Chancery in
consequence of the opposition now made to the Academy's election of a
Curator. As little can we believe that there is any serious intention of
applying to Parliament to cancel the present " Soane Museum Act," and
allow that Museum to be removed to and incorporated with those at South
Kensington. In fact, the house and its contents are to be considered as
inseparable- the former being not the least interesting part of the entire
exhibition. Hardly possible is it to doubt that it is to Soane's solicitude
to preserve intact what is a speaking record of his own especial and pecu-
liar talent we are indebted for his donation of his Museum to the public.
In no other way could he, with such certainty to himself, have ensured the
careful keeping of his own proper work, even supposing he had bequeathed
his collection of works of art to the British Museum under the express condi-
tion of its being kept together, and designated the " Soane Gallery,"; that
would.indeed, have perpetuated hisname, but what would have been the fate
of his house ? Stripped of their treasures, the gallery, picture cabinet, &c.,
would have been rather a disadvantage than a recommendation. The
house itself is by no means a spacious one, and though its situation is a
rather enviable one, inasmuch as it commands a view of the most perfect
cpecimen of a London rus in vrbe, the locality has gone down astonishingly
in fashionable estimation. Once emptied, the gallery would never be re-
plenished by another occupant, but would probably be converted into a
warehouse, as a separate tenement apart from the residence. The great
object with Soane was to preserve his own work, and secure the whole
place, being kept up in perpetuo just as he left it. That explains all his
solicitous precautions to secure that end ; or else, very probably, he would
have bequeathed his collections to Dulwich College, as did his friend Sir
Francis Bourgeois, and for which Soane himself erected the gallery.
Others, also, besides Sir Francis, have freely given to the public
and to posterity munificent donations, unencumbered by ungracious
restrictions. To Riidcliffe, Oxford is indebted for one of its archi-
tectural ornaments and noblest features ; as is the sister university
to Earl Fitzwilliam for a valuable collection of pictures, enshrined in a
building of most lovely Classic physiognomy. The names of Vernon,
Sheepshanks, Turner, and some other generous benefactors to the public
and to art might be quoted, and, among them, that of the still living
W. Brown, of Liverpool.
Pope's smartly antithetical, alliterative line —
Die, and endow a college or a cat,
might here suggest sundry doubts as to the disinterested benevolence of
such public benefactors ; but in such cases we hare no right to scrutinise
motives too closely. Men, many men— nay, perhaps, most men who can
reasonably hope for success in their attempt — will readily submit to any
sacrifice, will voluntarily undergo any toil, merely in order to embalm that
shadow of themselves — their name. What is it that impels, or even compels,
those who possess already far more than they can enjoy to toil for a greater
superabundance of " too much "? What is it that nails the miUionnaire
merchant to his desk and imprisons him in his counting-house ? But a
truce to reflections of this kind, and let us come back to our proper
subject.
Mr. Tidd Pratt, the senior Trustee, is, we understand, most decidedly
opposed to the Academy's choice of a Curator, as being contrary both to
the letter and the spirit of the " Act of Parliament " — which might, by-
the-by, have been better drawn up. Not a little strange is it that a can-
didate for an appointment which ought to be the reward of well-tried
diligence and merit should be eligible at the immature age of twenty-five,
when few young men have sown all their wild oats. And who, at that age,
has ever, let his talent have been ever so. great, had the opportunity of
"distinguishing" himself in such a profession as that of architecture ?
Well, but he may have gained some "academical prize ;" yet to look upon
such prize as an earnest of future distinction is little less than ludicrous.
Many have ere now, and no doubt many more will in time to conic, win
gold medals from the Academy, but whose names have never afterwards,
by any chance or accident, been heard of.
After the singular turn which matters have taken at the very outset,
even those who are not at all interested personally in the denouement will,
no doubt, now watch further proceedings — not, indeed, with anxiety, hut
with excited curiosity. Is the strong arm of law to cut through the
Gordian knot ?
.^
THE ABCHITECTUKAL EXHIBITION.— THE OPENING MEETING.
milE opening meeting and conveTsadone of the Architectural Exhibition for 1861
Jl took place on Wednesday cvenmg in tlie Architectural Galleries, Couduit-street,
lleg-ent-street. The weather was exceedingly unfavorable, but. despite of that, there
was a crowded assemblage of ladies and gentlemen in evening dresa. Amonirst the
gentlemen present we noticed Mr. Arthur Ashpitel (treasurer of the Exhibition),
Mr. James Feigusson and Mr. James Edmeston (hon. sees, of the Exhitjition),
Mr. James Bell (hon. sec. of the Royal Institute of British Architects), Mr. William
Burges, Mr. E. B. Lamb, Mr. J. Wylson, Mr. Robert Kerr. Mr. John Barnett,
Mr. R. Brandon, Mr. J. K. Colhng, Mr. J. W. Penfold, Sir. Randall Druce, Ac, &c.
The company having for a length of time inspected the various drawings, photo-
graphs, specimens of manufactures connected with architecture, ice, at a given signal
the visitors congregated in the great gallery, when
Mr. Ja.mes Edmeston said the chair would be taken by Mr. James Boll.
The Chairman (one of the hon. sees, of the Institute) said he was extremely sorry
that he should have been called upon to take the chair that evening, though, under
other circumstances, it would have been extremely gratifying to liim to do so; but in
consequence of the absence of their esteemed friend Mr. Cockerell, the 1 resident ot
the Royal Institute of British Architects, who was so unwell that he was unable to
attend and preside over the meeting, the duty devolved upon him. He would not
detain them by any observations upon the Exhibition, as the present meeting was not
intended to be one for business, but simply for the inauguration of the Exhibition.
He might, however, say that the Committee had good grounds for coiiL'ratu ating
themselves on the result of their labors. Every year the Architectural Exlubitiou
seemed to be improving, and it was very pleasing on the present oeeasion to see tuo
walls hunn- with so manv drawings, and that the galleries contained so many excel-
lent specimens of manufactures connected with the art of architecture. He had now
to call upon Mr. Ashpitel to address the meeting. ,,».„«
Mr. Abthlr AsiieiTEL (Treasurer of the Exhibition, whom we were glad to see
looking so well after a severe indisposition), said the duty which devolved upon him
that evening, according to the annual custom, was a short one, but it was a very
pleasant one. He thought he might, without vanity on the part of himself and col-
leasues, congratulate the meeting on the exhibition they saw around them, ana ou
the positien they now held in the eyes of the public. It was not many years ago,
they must all remember, when all their Interests were very much »<•«'«<■"•''• T*"™
they had no general point of congregating, when there was """"'? V;^"f'''=°y'^„^
fairly said to represent in this large city architectural ""'•■■",'»-;°'«[^' » ?io«^„
very great importance. He thought they might now <^«,"«fa,'"'a'j-; "f,"'*''!,?.'.?,"
being an Architectural Exhibition, recognised" and very ^mdly patron scu by the
pubhe. He thought their Exhibition that year would be very ''»f'«f''^''^'^> *?,»"• ""^^
n his opinion they had been going on from year to year hi'-rfasing; ""djohig fn m
importance and excellence. Of course, it was not for him to speak critically of the
diiwings which appeared on the walls, but he hoped 'hey would ""^^ »'!''' *^«
character of the 'f^xhibition. had been .^-ea^^ed^m -erj^^way. ^^^hato_el^ their
attract notice, aou ipuru ui muiit;ti~ •" "-"^ "•- ;•: — ♦ "i ,...j„"*i,'m in»(i- nn wnv
them that night.. On an occasion like tliat^.l-wouM^-t f^^^-J^^.^^l^^^l
eleven
t have
exquisite
skiTl" and' workmanship combined with taste and excellence i_iiai snowed, he
tlimiffhtthTthc labors' of tlie Committee of the Architectural Exhibition had not
been th^'owf away b^ra he" that they had been successful. As to the catalogue
referrinKO new materials, there were several very interesting things exhibited, one
nf wlVi,.k w»s a verv curious adaptation of what they commonly called concrete.
There was a natent h*v wh ch it would be made useful ti ordinary matter, at an ex-
tremely diean rate In the artistic matters, they had now imitations of ^rW--" »»
Sa new nrinciple, which would enable them to add color to decoration, and of a
"Si and peKanSt character. There was another new feature in the *-'^l'"' »".
whi, h mitSif int,.rest ladies as well as architects, and that was an improvement in the
manuffirVo'/emUoidery. They all know how important th^t was m buildinga
as a decoration, and they all kuew_ the length ol. '.'me ana _iu<.
labor it cost to produce, It appeal
v?rygreat*e'4c"Thrt1h7hekl'n^^^^^^^
labor-it eosrto produce. It appeared that Cologiie a method had bed. invented
294
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 5, 1861.
fine specimens of tliat imbroicicry in tlie Kxliibition. Other productions m maon-
Ikctarcs most be left lor tin- inspection of the visitors thcniBelves. As to the officers
of the Exhibition, every officer should bear his burden properly ; now his (that of
Treunrer) w»s a very light one. As to season tickets, it was fonnd they produced
Immense good, not ao much from the receipts thereby derived, as from their being
the means of bringiui; persons to see what architects were doing. And the com-
mittee of the Institution felt that, although, as they believed, the Exhibition had
done considerable good in advancins: public taste, they could still do more good had
they more funds at their disposal. He regretted to say that some few of their leading
men— and it was a very few— had not contributed to the Exhibition. There was no
doDbt it was a difflcult thing for a man in the enjoyment of a large practice
•Tatematically to set up show drawings on any occasion, but if some of their friends
had gathered together some scraps and put them on a screen, it would have been".to
the Kxbibition a very great advantage : when a man did a thing heartily, it was
enough, and he was sure they would all have regarded the will as the deed. He was
afraid that some inconvenience had been caused to their friends ; the committee
could not get out the cards and circulars at the time they wished, and he thought
that some of their friends had been prevented from coming to the present meeting
from that circumstance, but it was a matter which tlie committee could not help,
although it was one for which they were sincerely sorry. He thanked the ladles for
their attendance, and hoped that the committee of the Exhibition would, on future
occasions, again and again have to report that tlie institution conthiucd to flourish
and prosper under all circumstances— (Loud Applause.)
The Chairman advocated the more general adoption of season tickets. The
object of the Exhibition was not to collect shillings at the door, but to spread and
popularise a taste for arcliitecturc, and the more season tickets that were sold the
greater was the probability of that object being achieved. They wished to spread
such a taste in architecture amongst tlie public generally that any architect who put
np a bad building should not do so again. He thought they had to thank the Royal
Academv, for it had been the cause of the foundation of the Exhibition ; by con-
fining architecture to a small room it had compelled architects to open an Exhibition
for themselves, and now, instead of having architectural drawings killed by some
flashy picture they had architectural drawings properly arranged together.
The company then proceeded some to partaltc of refreshments and others to
promenade in tiie galleries.
THE DRAWINGS IN THE GALLERIES.
A BRIEF examination of the drawings collected in Conduit-street; and now
open to the public, will, we think, lead to the conviction that the present
Exhibition differs in character not only from that of last year, but also very con-
siderably from those of previous years. A collection of architectural designs, as
it always appears to us, may be very readily divided into three distinct classes —
first, the bad ; second, those of an average degree of merit — such works as we
more commonly see carried into execution around us ; and lastly, those of a
higher order, such as we more rarely see realised in solid stone, either from con-
sideration of cost, or, as we are disposed to think is more often the case, owing
to the want of a due appreciation ofltheir merits. How often does not the exhibi-
tion of competition drawings sliow that a second-rate design has been adopted, to
the exclusion of works of higher art ? and that, too, when the cost of carrying
out the latter would certainly not have exceeded, if it equalled, the sum
eventually expended on the design selected. In former years we have found
these three classes variously represented, but generally with an undue proportion
of the first named; this year, however, tve are disposed to think the majority of
the designs rather belong to the second or average rate of merit. There is
decidedly an absence of those atrocious productions which all but the
authors must have felt were not worth their enclosing frames and glass,
but which the committee were compelled, in defiance of their better
judgment, to bang, simply to avoid showing the public bare walls;
out, at the same time, we cannot but remark the absence of many works
of a higher class, of which, even in the worst seasons, we liave always
found some dozen or so to encourage the hope that the Exhibition would in
time do better things. We may possibly, on closer inspection, find that, on a
necessarily short generjJ inspection, we have arrived at the conclusion named
with respect to the present ixhibition somewhat too hastily. Should such prove
to be the case, we shall have opportunities of correcting the impression in our
subsequent notices of the works exhibited.
But that the Architectural Exhibition has taken a good step towards the reali-
sation of the hope above referred to there can be no doubt ; the drawings, the
designs, taken as a whole, are better than those of last year — better than those of
any previous years ; and we are very glad to be able to say that the collection
approaches more nearly than has yet been the case to one that is likely to be fre-
quented by the public.
There is anotlier matter for congratulation, and it is that, while the mass of
designs are better, the number of those e.thibited exceeds that of previous years.
Last year the catalogue ceased at No. 362 ; this season it runs on to 400, including
in both cases the materials department, which does not, however, in itself contri-
bute the difference. The use of photography for the purpose of architectural
illustration appears to be increasing, not only for the representation of works in
progress and coinplcted, but also for the reduction of both geometrical and perspec-
tive drawings. Mr. Gray's " Profiessional Census " (134), and Mr.Clutton's Minley
Manor House (S0) arc examples. In noticing the increased number of drawings
we must not omit to remark that the list of contributors is increased from some
130 in last year to 166 In the present, but at the same time we look in vain for
the names of several old contributors to the Exhibition, and who this year withhold
their works — hardly from want of interest in its welfare as most of them may be
found in the list of subscribers. We know that these gentlemen have produced
woriu daring the past year that if here representiid would have still further
added to the attractiveness of the rooms. We hope next year again to find
Messrs. Pennethome, Scott, Donaldson, T. H. Wyatt, M. Digby Wyatt, Srairke,
E. Barry, D. Brandon, E. Roberts, Kerr, Penrose, Bellamy, Cockerell,
BUtchley, Garling, Pownal, and others, contributing as of old.
Taking the drawings in rotation as entered in the catalogue, we find near the
entraoce, Jfo. 1., Design for proposed rebuilding of a Grummar-scliool, by Mr.
G. E. Street ; no plan is attached to the view, which is drawn in Mr. Street's cha-
Tacteristic style, so that we arc unable to judge how far the rebuilding is con-
trolled by the existing school, probably to some extent, as the design is hardly so
soecetsfhl as are the author's works generally. The chimney-shafts on the right,
sooewbat conspicuous features, are excessively ugly.
No. 2, by Fred. Chancellor, is a view of the National school in course of erec-
tion at Moulsham, near Chelmsford. It appears to take on plan the form a H,
the top of the T being the principal fchool-room, irom which the other rooms
branch at right angles. The school-room is lighted by well-proportioned
windsws in the side, rising aliove the eaves and terminated by a deep arch in
colored brick, which seems to require some walling above to make its use ap-
parent, instead of merely supporting the rafUrs of a small-hipped roof. The
effect of the school-room would be much improved by terminating these windows
with gables. The entrance and, as we take it, cap-room is attached to one end.
It is rendered squat and ill-proportioned by a band of colored brickwork cutting
it in two.
A view of Eavesham Bridge, erected by James Samuel, C.E., is exhibited by
E. C. Robins, No. 3. The cornice is not sufliciently raised above the crown of the
three arches ; the result is a loss of much of the apparent solidity and strength
which is desirable in works of this class. ■ The drawing is neatly executed, evi-
dently by an artist.
No. 4 is a large frame containing a selection of sketches by the Class of Design
of the Architectural Association, session lljo9-1800, of which Mr. Druce con-
tributes. Sculpture to commemorate a National Event, the perspective of which
seems open to correction, and a Clock-tower designed with spirit, but would be
better for the omission of the arch surrounding the dial. Mr. W. T. Sams, a
Town-hall Drawing-room ceiling, too heavy in color for ordinary purposes, a
Factory Chimney, hardly indicative of its purpose, and a Clock- tower, which looks
weak directly below the balcony ; the best portion of the design is that from the
baltony to the cornice, where it is treated with considerable taste. Mr. Lewes, a
Drawing-room Ceiling, a Draper's Shop-front, and Bay-window: and Mr. S. C.
Rogers, a Font, very suggestive, the columns rise out of the conventional
foliage very gracefully, and a Bay-window, not so well treated.
In No. 5 we have a design by Mr. A. W. Blomfield, for the Godolphin School,
submitted in competition and illustrated by a bird's-eye perspective ; the main
building is well proportioned, and the entire design bears evidence of consider-
able study, the principal entrance is under a tower-like feature of three stories
with a turret staircase at the angle, the end window of school-room partly shown
in the view is very effective, but is this portion of the building in two stories as
the window appears to indicate ?
No. 6, by Mr. C. J. Phipps, is a frame containing six subjects ; three of them
are unworthy of the designer of a Drinkiiig-fountain for Boston, which is
admirable treated, although no more than a recess in an old wall, with a basin
and opening next the ground for thirsty dogs. This is the most artistic suWect
in the frame. The Fountain erected at Weston-super-Mare at a cost of £100 is
hardly equal to its humbler companion, but has good points about it. One can
hardly believe that the domestic examples exliibited are designed by the same
hand.
Mr. J, Clayton gives us in No. 7 a carefully-drawn view, showing the pro-
posed restoration of the old Town-hall, Hereford, as submitted in the Clock-
tower competition of last year. The author remarks thaf the building, when
perfect, was one of the most remarkable specimens of timber architecture to be
met with. It had originally three stories, the upper one finished with the very
singular continental features of tourellcs, or angle windows. Mr. Clayton
proposed "to remove and restore the two lower stories of the building at the
wider end of the High-square, when it would have efficiently carried the tower
clock, and answered many other useful purposes." We scarcely imderstand the
oroposal, so pass on to
No. 8. Design for " Devon and Cornwall Bank, Exeter," by E. Appleton,
which gives two elevations — one Gothic, the other a modification of Italian. In
both the ground story is equally divided into five bays, of which the three
centi'e are windows, and the two sides form doorways ; on the first floor the
three centre openings are subdivided by columns and cusped arches, and are
flanked by smaller windows over the doorways below ; the same arrangement is
followed in the upper story, altogether with good effect, but the design is some-
what injured by a gable over the central openings, which, from want of height
or excessive width, has a depressing effect not in harmony with the other parts of
the composition; the upper stories have a good effect, but the lower does not
appear to have received the same amount of consideration.
No. 9. A " Chalet in course of ei'ection at Lexden-park, near Colchester," is
illustrated with a view and plan elevation and section to small scale, by the aid
of which the entire arrangement may be cofnprehended. This is noticeable as
the first instance we have yet met with of the view being accompanied by plans.
It is much to be regretted that the practice is not more general. The structure is
small, but is designed with care, and exhibits several decorative features. It
may, however, be questioned how far the introduction of the characteristics of
a Swiss chalet in England is desirable. Mr. C. F. Hayward is the architect.
In No. 10. "St. James's Schools, St. Marylebone," by Messrs. Willson and
Nicholl. It is not very clear how the boys' and girls' entrance is separated at
the staircase. The plan takes the form of an inverted 1, of which the upper side
is 44 feet by 19 feet, and the lower 60 feet by 24 feet, internally.
The lithographs, No. 11, show part (of the " Lady Chapel of Lichfield Cathe-
dral," with a portion of the intended reredos to the choir, from an evidently very
careful drawing by J. D. Wyatt.
The short time available for the examination of the drawings before the
necessity of preparing our article for the press compels us to defer further remw-ks
until next week, when we shall resume our notes on the drawings and building
materials.
OUK ILLUSTRATION.
OUR illustration this week is a composition of architectural features
which, though taken from various sources, are thus grouped in a
picture under the belief that some such arrangement of varied detail may
not on occasion be unacceptable, as relieving the somewhat dry and hack-
neyed " plate of bits," and also, to some extent, rendering the individual
design and purpose of each subject introduced more comprehensible, both
as to situation and aggroupracnt.
In the present plate, the entrance gateway introduced is (with very
slight modification) a representation of one at Rome ; a beautiful example
and remarkable for simplicity of design and excellence of effect. The
boldly projecting corona is a hint not always taken, yet one peculiarly
needful of observance in our diluvian climate. This gateway has been
drawn from a sketch kindly lent by James Murray, Esq., of Portman-
street, Portman-square.
The bay-window is a design, introducing at the angles, as ornamental
features, the elaborate shafts and pedestals (somewhat modified) forming
portions of a doorway (of similar semi-octagonal plan) at the fine Hotel
de Ville, at Oudenarde, in Belgium, and which doorway was constructed
in 1530, by Paul Van der Schelden.
April 5, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
295
The gable and its group of chimney-sliafts are similar in design to an
arrangement of such at Burghley House, Northamptonshire, from which
grand old mansion we, some time since, selected an illustration in the
noble examples of wrought-iron work forming the great gates of the
inner court.
The roof windows, or dormers, are designs. The introduction of roof
windows seems to us scarcely to have received the attention which we
think should have been bestowed upon features so capable of giving
picturesque sky-lines, and even of imparting character to a building. For
example, in our modern terraces of palaces, surely something might be
designed (even without coming under the clutclies of " The Building
Act") to relieve us from the eternal and monotonous parapet balustrade
which seems to run completely round " Albertopolis," acting as an ex-
pensive darkeuer to the palpable and poverty-stricken " servants' garret "
windows.
The street lamp, &c., introduced in the foreground, are also designs.
♦
THE OLD CHURCH OF ST. CLEMENT D.4NES.
OUR last Number contained a communication, signed " Harold," which im-
plied that the Rev. R. H. Killick, the present rector of St. Clement Danes,
had caused the name of a former rector to be removed from the front of the
orfjan gallery, and that his own name had been placed in its stead. We are now
informed, by good authority, that Mr. Killick is perfectly innocent of this
breach of good taste. So far was the reverend gentleman from giving his consent
or sanction to the absurd doings in the old church that he was quite unaware of
the removal of the name of his predecessor, and of an inscription having been
placed outside the tower entrance, until three weeks after the vandalism had been
perpetrated. We rejoice to hear this : it is pleasant to tliink that the rector of
the fine old church of St. Clement Danes is free ii-om all blame in the matter.
The only thing now remaining to be settled is whom we are to blame. That in-
scriptions have been altered and new inscriptions cut is plain to any visitor of the
church ; that these alterations have been made without the consent of the rector
is evident. Who, then, planned the alterations ? Who directed them to be
carried out ? and who is to pay for them ?
AMEEICAN STREET RAILROADS.
[From All the Year Hound],
STREET railroads may be said to be at last in Train with us in England. That is
to say ; after our American cousins h.ive enjoyed the advantages of street tram-
ways for years and years, their merits are just beginning to be slowly and timidly
admitted by Englishmen.
I fear, it this tardiness to receive good things because they are new, increase
among us, if this slugf^ishness to welcome imi)rovement9 strengthen, if this Chinese
torpor to advance on better paths because they are untried, deepen, we shall soon be
justly branded by our enemies as the Confuciarmts of Europe, Let us learn, then,
ere the full paralysis of Cliinese' conservatism and cessation of all growth set in,
that no good institution is really a good institution if it be incapable of growth,
moditication, and development; when the fruit is ripe it begins to rot, and nothing
in nature, whether tlower, cloud, sea, earth, or human being, ever remains in a fixed
and unimprovable condition.
American street railways, so complete, admirable, pleasant, and adaptive in them-
selves, are now being talked of in England as dangerous, uncertain, experimental,
costly in trial, and doubtful in result. Without tiring my readers with discussions
on T springs, or with diafjfraras of wheels and tiresome expositions of the law of
forces, I will briefly describe how simply, perfectly, and quietly the thing " works,"
to use an eminently practical man's technicality, in America.
In Boston, Philadelphia, and New York, street railroads have long been common.
In the first and third city, less universally than in the second— that marble city of the
Quakers— the city of Babylonian rectangles, the city meted out like a chess-board.
In all these cities, the street railroad is a perfect success, which never can be done
away with till air-balloon omnibuses or steam Hansoms finally supersede horses and
all other four-legrged tractors.
In comparison with the order, method, and harmony of American streets, the
whirlpool and storm of London Is what the confused mind of a ploughboy is to the
regimental organisation of such a brain as Brougham's. The American's is the
aspect of a wiser order ; it is what our street physiognomy fifty years hence will be.
After our perpetual charges and polings. our jerking stoppages, our wheel-lockings,
and our oreakings down, our delays, and our impatiences. New York is a kind of
heaven on earth. American streets are what London streets should be and will be
soon, if conservative stupidity, pi>,'-headed bigotry, or unreadiness, are not allowed
to cast all good and new things into the Slough of Despond. Mr. Ruckle declares
that scepticism is tlie healthiest condition the intellectcan be in ; to me it seems that
no national mind can be healthy and growing which is not rather receptive of than
antagomstic to new truths. New errors let it grind and crush, but new truths let it
embrace and welcome.
Let me fancy myself, as in that lost time last year, a wanderer in New Y'ork, a
trampler of the pavement, a "loafer," walking out ground-plans of the sea-side city,
as if, Jike a certain ancient Roman, I had been ofl'ered as much land as I could set
my footprints on in a day.
What does it matter where I have last come from ? Perhaps from Baltimore by
railway, and then across from New Jersey, by steam ferry, with breezy wave and
churn of froth—perhaps from the half German town of Hoboken, where I have been
playing cricket with the English residents, and talking of Eng-lish ways and manners
—perhaps from the sulphur springs in Virginia, or from Saratoga ball-rooms-
perhaps from some village on the beautiful Hudson, thinking of Washington Irving's
old Dutch legends, or talking to some poor Delaware Indian crone under a wayside
trce-perhap.s from the trim wooded dells that take away .all painful sense of death,
m Greenwood t emetery-pcrhaps from watching the landings of Irish emigrants, or
from observing the gyrations ot trotting spider waggons in the magnificent drives of
the Central Park.
I am in Broadway near the Battery, and I want to go up, miles ofl-. into Bowery,
and to slant off thence to some side avenue. The cars of the street railroad arc what
1 wait for. I am near the dull red pile of Trinity Church, and desire to overleap
space and to be in time for dinner with my friend Judge Stuyvesant, at Henderson-
street, by five. I know that to take a cab or hackney-carriage in New York would
evmce a tolly almost criminal. In the first place, Americans never use these costly
conveyances, which are so expensive, partly because they are drawn by two horses
and partly because the drivers are bullies and scoundrels. Their costliness I know
because 1 puce paid four shilhngs to go less than a mile— from the Astor House
Hotel to the New York Hotel at the upper end of Broadway— and when I paid it the
American friend whom I was with, congratulated me on having escaped so cheaply
Jn tact. It IS not the custom in New York to hire a hackney-coach, and only
loreigncrs and greenhorns ever do so, and they learn to rue it.
rUe ordinary frequenter of the streets uses the ordinary omnibus or the street
railway car. Nor has he any cause to complain of either, for the Americans are a
nimdred years beyond us in both sorts of conveyance-in simphcity, m accommoda-
tion, and la organlsaUon of times of transit, f J, wmuiuu.
As the system of laying the rails seema not understood in England, and Its
dillleulty is a special stumbling-block of its ojiponenls fcbiefly mrsons interested
in the existing public conveyances) let me briefly describe the street railroad
The rails are sunk a little below the surface of the street, so that the cnrriaec-
wheel sinks down upon them, Its hollow surface flttlng into the sunken rail, as Intlio
ordinary tramroad way. As the earrhigcs go at a sure steady safe p.ice, the rail
is little worn, and does not often require renewal. When It does, the JpHComposurc
of the road is less than the fuss produced in our London streets by laying down a
single gas-pipe. These slightly sunk rails, wlilch reijulre no bristling array of
dangerous points or switches, no complicatiHl and expensive machinery of dial-plates
and turn-tahli.s, are hardly visible till you are olose upon them. They rut the road
less than a gutter does, or a rain-gully. So far from being an Impediment to general
traffic, they aid It ; and it Is a common thing in New York to sw a heavily laden
cart, full of iron, or hogsheads, following the street railway car : the carter using the
rails to ease his steaming horses. But of course only those carts wlilch are of the
hght gauge, and whose wheels are not too broad for the rails, can obUIn this
privilege. Really to hear the Chinese of Europe talk about this excellent modem
invention, you would think that at the sight of a street railway car all the horses
within view became unmanageable, and all the riders were at once thrown off. In
realitv, a street railway car is far less dangerous to face than a Hansom cab, or a racing
omnibus ; it comes on at a quiet, even, sliding pace, and la so easy to avoid, that I
never heard of even a child or an old woman who was Injured by one.
But here comes a car— to retnm to my personality— gliding on at some nine mlle»
an hour, slackening as I approach, to let out a batch of passengers. It moves on
again before I can well reach It ; but a moment's trot "at the double," and I over-
take it, and while it moves, I leap on to the broad steps, catch hold of the balcony
rail, and pass into the interior.
It resembles a huge omnibus, it is loftier than ours and full twice as long, and Is
corporeally of a cheery vermiUon or glowing sun-flower color— hues not mitigated by
the ardent sun and bright sea air of New York city. Outside It will generally bear.
as badges of some company, I suppose, varnishy portraits i>t Moorish beauties, or
grotesque heads in cocked hats, representing the Knickerbocker whom Washington
Irving made immortal in America, or the great general who was George the ThBd'a
special bugbear, with his grand calm face, his thin cold lips, and his grave massy
face.
The carriage has two doors about the size of ordinary summer-house doors, Iwtbof
which either shut or slide close. The rows of windows, always open in summer— for
American heat would roast ice Itself— puU up and down much as ours do at home.
The driver, wearing no uniform or Hvory, but in plain paletot and wide-awake, stands
(never sits) on the low small platform in front of his door, driving his two horses
quietly, but with perfect ease. In summer he generally pushes back the door behind
him, and chats with the nearest passengers ; with that <iuiet, frank, manly ease,
pecuhar to Americans in such ranks of life. More generally, if the passengers are
inclined to be silent or want the door shut, he slides the door, and tiUks to somebody
who stands beside him, or to the conductor, who having collected his cents, has saved
time for conversation. Talk to the driver. He will stand no nonsense of EngUsh.
pride, but you will find him sensible and well informed, full of quiet self-respect and
the confidence that arises from it.
The conductor has his own coteries, his gossips and familiars, on the platform at
the other end of the car. It is guarded by a low partition four feet high, against which
passengers preferring the open air can lean, or on which they can sit : though sitting
is rather unsafe, unless you hold tight, as a sudden jolt or a sudden increase of speed
might make you fall backward. The platform is wide enough to hold another pas-
senger beside yourself, if he choose to keep himself together, and lean against the
opposite side of the carriage on either side of the door. Without crowding, there
might, with the conductor, be room (on the two steps and all) for about six persons
on the outside car and platforms; but in the evening, when merchants are coming
home to dinner on the river-side railways, I have seen a dozen or more clinglngon to
dilferent parts of the small enclosure; but this is exceptional. The conductor is a neatly-
dressed man, in no distinctive dress, difl'ering in no way from the passengers generally ;
quite as well mannered ; and manifesting no servUc deference; never impertinent,
and with no mean tricks. When you have been seated on your red velvet cushion
for perhaps ten minut<5s, you will see him walk up and down the centre of the
carriages, collecting his six or ten cent fares. If he want to tell the driver to stop,
he pulls a leather strap that runs along the roof of the carriage, and this strikes an
alarum, and warns the driver to pull in his horses. When the car is stopped, another
pull of this roof-strap tells the driver to go on. The use of this strap is not confined
to the conductor ; any passenger is entitled to pull it if he wants to stop ; or if any
thing- disagreeable has happened in the carriage, such as a quarrel, or the admittanoe
of a drunken man.
There is no uneasy stir and anxiety to make sure of being put down in the right
place, as in Engljind; no necessity to probe and puncture the conductor, as in
London. It is all methodical, simple, complete. K you are young and alert, you do
not stay to pull the string, but quietly drop from the back step (which is not a foot
from the ground) without haste and withoutfear.
The inside of the carriage holds some forty or more people without crowding. It is
a little room in width, and there is no fear of your toes being constantly trodden upon
as in English omnibuses ; there is no annoyance from other people's dirty boots and
dripping umbrellas. The conductor, when he walks down the centre brushes no-
body's knees. There is, indeed, no Umit to the numbers— seventy or eighty or one
hundred— these cars will hold at the same time. The extra number are not, how-
ever, jammed and driven Into rows of scats already filled, but they stand comfortaljly
in the centre of the carriage, holding by leather loops attached at intervals from the
roof for this purpose. For short distances, many people prefer standing to sitting.
There are no scats on the roofs ot the street railway cars ; it Is too hot in summer
and too cold in winter for such an altitude to be enjoyable ; and the risk and trouble
of scrambling about an omnibus roof is never very enviable, even it the mode ot
sitting were pleasant, I should mention, also, that the windows of these cars have
always effective blinds. The fare, too, is fixed, and very dieap.
These cars have also, lilce those of the Paris boulevards, another great advantage.
Every Englishman must remember the unpleasant moment when he jumps into m
omnibus ; before be can get a seat, on goes the vehicle, sending him tumbling bead-
long over a sufl'ering path of toes and corns, and dank dirty straw, and at last Into a
seat, between two angry, hurt, and reluctant people -- perhaps a ruffled
old maid and a gouty millionnaire, fresh from losses on the Stock E.xchange.
The French, mathematical and organising by nature, orderly Quakers in com-
parison to us business slovens, have long since got over this, as all people wlio
have been to Paris will remember with pleasure and gratitude. They have a lomt
brass rail running on either side of the roof, the full length of the carriage. "The
Americans have overcome the same difficulty, equally simply, by means of the
leather loops depending from thereof, before mentioned. But, mdecd, the soft, easy,
gUding motions of the street railway car, neither jerking, nor leaping, nor
joltingly abrupt, does not so much need thl s precaution, though It is still a comfort.)
The American street cars run from well-known terminal depots, at certato well-
known intervals of time, and never at any other. They do not rush ofl" brutally, ten
together, like a pack of hungry curs, to fight and wrangle for the same twenty
passengers, but are orderly as the planets. They run at gradated hours, and with
proper intervals between each other. Each horse, each carriage, each driver, eacn
conductor, performs so many journeys in the day. The horses are never jaded, and
the carriat'e full or empty, never lingers at crossings, side streets, or public-houses.
You never'have to wait twenty minutes for a conveyance. I have already said that
these street railroads require no turn-tables or other mechanical appliance, me
reason of this is, the ingenious construction of the carriages, which are provided on
either hand with iron holders for the traces, and with boxes to receive the pole ; thus
wheu the driver gets, say to Haarlem, and wants, after resting his prescriDca
quarter of an hour, to return to the city, the grooms of the terminus stables merely
296
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 5, 1861.
unfMtea the horses (Americans, on account of the beat, use very little harness) trom
the front, and attach the animals in two minutes to what was just now the rear.
There is no bawling of scurrilous conductors in American streets. Every one can
read the names of places in large legible letters on the street cars i if a stranger
wants to inquire Dis way, it is woith ten cents to leap on tlie step, ride for a few
minutes, and learn the road from the conductor, who, if he sees him to be an
£Bglishman (and they always find an Englishman out), will be delighted to have a
few minutes' talk with him.
The American omnibuses arc not much better than our own. They are small and
the tare is dear. ThevlareircniTally, in Jscw York, of a white color, which frives them
a singular appearance of cleanliness and briglitness. They rule in Broadway rather
insolently, because the street railroad has not yet reached that Regent-street of the
American commercial capital. Vested interest has been too strong, but a day will
come, and probably soon i(for the Americans are not slow-handed when they see a
good thin" within reach), and the omnibuses will pass away out of sight like a flight
of white butterflies.
In two respects only, do the American omnibuses difl°er from ours. In
the first place they have no roof-bench seats ; secondly, you do not pay
Ihe conductor, as with us— for there is no conductor— but you touch a
hell to Inform the driver, and then slip your silver cents into a little
locked red glass monev-box just below the driver's seat, and where he can see
what you put in— though he seems generally, I observed, to trust to a passenger's
honor. You ring the same bell if you want to stop. On the outside, these omuibnses
•re generally adorned with paintings of Indian chiefs, portraits of Knickerbocker and
■iVashington, alh-gorical figures of Liberty waving "the star-spangled banner " over
a very blue and narrow Atlantic. I believe that sometimes when Cuban planters, or
old irascible, controversial, and rather pompous Louisiana gentlemen owning " cotton
kands " are present, there is a stir made if a negro gets into a street car j but this,
within my knowledge, seldom happens in the North, though sometimes rowdies,
black sheep themselves, excited by liquor, have been known to try and turn out
black passengers. The very last time I was in a New York street car a perfect flock
of blaeka got in. We were coming from the Central I'ark to Broadway, a long
distance, past several old Dutch-named streets, and 1 had plenty of time to watch
the passengers' behaviour.
Opposite me sat a very poor old grey negro plasterer, with his bag of tools at his
feet ; there were spots of whitewash on his grizzly hair and pathetically grotesque
features. A poorer and more jaded son of toil one could not meet with ; his thin blue
linen clothes were patched and spotted and threadbare ; his eyes were worn and pale ;
It was evident that the sands of the poor old uegro plasterer's life were all but run.
Death would soon claw him in his clutch. He would soon be cast into the great black
iusthole where no color can be seen, for the sun is not there, neither the dawn, and
there liing and slave alcep side by side without grumbling at each other. No one
pushed the poor old negro, no one moved from windward of him, no one struck him,
no one turned np bis nose at him. The conductor took his fare, as he did that of the
«tber passengers. He even chatted with the poor old soul about to be gathered to
bis unknown black fathers. There was nothing either disturbed or intrusive about
the old plasterer.
There were seated, also, not far from " this old image of God cut in ebony," three
young Creole girls, smartly dressed, who, from the bandboxes resting on their knees,
I set down as milliners. 'Ihey, too, were quite at their ease, sUghtly contemptuous
of the old plasterer— not because of his Ethiop skin, but because of his poverty and
grime, as 1 presume. Still there is no doubt that had a hard ungracious Southern
man entered the car and complained of colored people's impudence, the conductor
would at once have sent the poor black sheep of the human race to the right about,
and turned them on the outside balcony.
Apropos of the separation of the black and white pieces on the United States
chessboard, 1 will here mention what I saw one day in the South. X was there in a
time of blood-heat excitement. There were rumours of negroes burning villages and
poisoning the wells in Texas. A Wesleyan preacher, suspected of being an itinerant
Abolitioni.«t ngent, had just been hung by Judge Lynch's stern myrmidons some-
where in Jlissouri. I had pointed out to me, at every railway station in Kentucky,
spies watching to see if any Northern travellers or English passengers whispered or
drew aside the negro railway porters. I could not stir without finding a sallow eye
angering into me. I was afmid almost to speak kindly to the negro slave waiters at
the hotels in South Carolina. The local papers were full of news of Palmetto
regiments with red-starred banners enlisting in Chiirlestoii ; of Virginia men buy-
ing guns and powder; of .\labama purchasing cannon; of Louisiana burning to take
arms. I looked particularly, in all the Southern railroads and stage cars, to see if the
blacks were kept can-fully separated from the whites. I did not find the distinction
very severely maintained, though there was generally a special car in which, partly
by prescription, and partly from custom, the blacks seemed to congregate.
On an Alabama river-boat, I remember two slaves, sturdy young men, just bought
in a New Orleans slave store, and going down with their purchaser, a small holder,
to Montgomery. Sclpio and .Juba were dressed exactly alike, in jacket and trousers
of coarse blue cloth ; such suits as slave merchants are accustomed to throw into the
bargain, tending as they do to set ofl' their planter's purchase. There, day after day,
for I spent many days aboard that terribly frail and dangerous steamer, the Ilickcyry
Ata, sat, on a bale of cotton just outside the dining saloon door, those twin negroes,
Juba and Sclpio, like two bkck turtle-doves ; always in the same place from mornin"-
till night ; always whispering in the same quiet, passionless, imperturbable way, their
conjectures, I suppose, about their new m.-i8ter and his plantation, or quiet sarcasms
on the last master, now probably employed in Uberally dispensing tobacco-juice over
the quays of New Orleans. We " wooded," we glided on, we stuck on sand-banka,
■we got olr sand-banks, still the twin ravens sat whispering on the cotton bales. It
was a great relief to me when suddenly at "Nash's landing" the master got out,
followed abjectly and gravely by the two blacks : Scipio honored by his trunk ; Juba
by h!s carpet-bag and umbrella. They passed up the red-sand cutting in the steep
river bant, and disappeared down a distant street. Jlut I have every reason to
suppose th.-itMr. Ezra Harbottle is still wandering over the world, followed at a
respectful distance by Scipio and Juba. For, a week after they left the boat, I met
the three in Montgomery, walking processionally in exactly the same manner— only.
this time Scipio carried a green parrot In a brass cage, and Juba a hat-box and a
rifle.
To return to my subject of street railroads. I saw them in full operation, not only
In Hew ^ ork. but also in Boston and I'hiladelphia. The latter city is divided by
streets intersecting each other at right angles. Here, if anywhere, confusions and
•toppages might be expected to arise from street railroads, but no such confusion
w*"""- f "c street car is stopped more easily than an ordinary vehicle. If another
**^.w.''*^''''i'^'"'''""' "'e'onductor pulls his bell, and the one car waits at the crossing
nntll the oilier has passed. It is true it cannot move off the rails to avoid obstacles,
but It can stop for them. At Boston they work equally well, running deep Into the
faihlonabic streets, and running out again into the far-distant suburbs, past Long-
Icllows pleasant home, and up to the beautiful cemetery on tlic steep banks of the
fcehuykiil. J here must come a time when street railroads will be found all over the
Luropean world.
«
TEOYAL KNGI.NEKUS
SiB,-Tlic letter from "A. C W." which appeared in the Building News of 22nd
?„* '2"*/i**''* ITT^'i'^ ".. *^ ^^^^ cousidemtion on the part of a few of thoBC directly
Jl!n-llV**;i**l'* ^Z"^**/'" 2''^*^ inUrcat myself and others have been favored by
ingUieCT nU«^^^ various lettera on the ortfanisatioji and working of the Jioy al
i hope "A. C. W." will do what he can to help himself and his brother civi
officers out of their present position. The advice of Hercules must be followed.
Oulsidera may write letters ; editors leading articles, but. as 1 said in my letter of
18tli February, the civil officers themselves must expose the present system in all its
deformity and rottenness, before they ean hope for a searching investiyfation and
proper recognition.
It would not be much trouble for any C.AV. to ascertain the opinions of those
with whom he is directly in contact, lie might also write to some other C.W.
at another station, who again couid write to another, and so on, till the number of
those who are in favor of a change could be ascertained. One from amoofj.stthe
number could then be deputed to embody the whole of the facts of tlie case, and lay
them before some independent member of l*arliament, keeping nothing back, but
allowing the case to stand on its own merits; and, however much the alteration from
the existing state of things maybe opposed by the military officers of the Koyal
Eiiffineers, and by a few of the civil officers, I am certain a change must be made,
which would give to the civil officers their proper position, and be an immense
saving to the public.
The opposition to be anticipated from the military officers is natural, as it is not
to be expected but that they [will throw all obstacles in the way of a change, which
would take from them what they never ought to have had— the credit which belongs
to the civil officers ; and would give to the latter wliat they have never yet had— the
credit of their own works, and also their proper position.
Opposition from a few of the civil officers would also be but natural, because there
arc some of them, no doubt, who are wedded to the existing state of things— who
have been drilled into it, who dread a change, whose motto is " Subserviency and
SubmiBsiou," rather than *' I'rogress with the Times."
I am quite willing to admit that there are difficulties to be overcome in effecting"
such a radical change as the separation of the military officers from the civu
officers ; but I maintain that these difficulties are anything but insurmountable, and
further that they bear no comparison to the advantages to be derived.
I was in hopes that some admirer of the present system would, ere this, have
taken up thej cudgel, to endeavor to refute wuat has been stated in the Building
News by all who have written to yon upon the subject. No one having done so, I
tbinkit may fairly be assumed that there is not much for them to say, and feeling
their weakness consider "discretion the better part of valour," and wisely relraia
from saying anything.
It has not been my wish in anything I have written to say one word against the
military officers of the Koyal Kngineers as military officers ; but I do protest
against men and youths who are not (and cannot, by their education, be) qualified to
perform the duties which belong to the civil officers, taking the credit and the con-
tingent etceteras from those to whom it belongs. And I would therefore urge upon
the civil officers as a body to insist on having their rights, and that without taking
from the military officers any of their legitimate duties, or even any of the duties for
which they are qualified, amongst which cannot certainly be included "The civil
duties of the Koyal Engineer department."
I am, &c.,
April 2nd, 1861. - rETABD.
WHY DO NOT AKCniTECTS JOIN THE INSTITUTE?
Sir,— I have placed this heading simply with the object of connecting this com-
munication with that of Mr. Boult's In your last publication. The realpomt at issue
is not as thus stated, but should be, " Why do not the Liverpool Architects joiu the
Institute ?" At almost every meeting of the Institute recommendations are read of
one or more country architects for election at subsequent meetings, to say notlimg
of the many London architects. It has often been a matter of surprise that those of
Liverpool should not have yet placed their names upou the books of the Institute ;
but it has generally been surmised that tlie attractions of a local society prevented
such co-operation ; and to me this appears a suflicient reason, for the payment of
two guineas, which is, I believe, tlie sum required from Fellows in the country, i»
very dear for the small return in the sliape of the volume of the " Transactions to
those whose professional avocations do not occasion their coming to London very
often, BO as to attend the meeting^s.
Tliat •* the Institute is too exclusive in its constitution," is. I consider, an incorrect
Impression in the mind of Mr. Boult. It was established about 1834, to afford the
opportunity of showing to the public wlio were, or were not, architects, in the proper
meanmgof the term, at a time when the profession was in a most detjraded po-
sition. This has been achieved so succesBfullv that many local Societies nave arisen
to follow the example. That the Institute "keeps too much aloof from the active,
every day interests of the profession," is, witli all due submissiou to 3Ir. Boult, not
quite the tact, for be himself admits that "attempts have been made to regulate
competitions and examinations, but hitherto without any success." Undoubtedly,
this is not the fault of the Institute, but of the difficulty of dealing with subjecta
which have proved themselves to be beyond the control of^tbat body.
On another point in the letter : I am sure the Institute would be glad to be of
assistance, however slight, to any "provincial architect." But then comes the
question, how is the provincial architect to be assisted, to be identiliod, unless he be
a member of the Institute, or, now, of a local society ? Can Mr. Boult instance the
application of a provincial arcliitect and the refusal of assistance to him. Such
matters are, probably necessarily, kept to the two parties in question.
With regard to the many kindred societies mentioned in Mr. Boult's letter, he may
not be aware that the earlier ones were ori^^inated at a time wheu the funds of the
Institute were not in a fiourishina" condition, and that on all such questions there
are great diversities of opinion. The Association, the Exhibition, the Fublication,
the I'hotographic, and the Union Societies, all required special funds far beyond the
purse of every member of the Institute or of the Institute itself. The Fellowship i»
four guineas ; the other societies are also four guineas, making a yearly subscription
of eight guineas, had the Institute started all oi' them. As it is, they are each sup-
ported by the profession in the country as well as in London, and, being separate,
they derive the advantage of additional support from the public generally. Concen-
tration of these with the Institute would be a difficult, if not a dangerous.
proceeding. That "the profession needs a head and a heart" is a fact
with wliich I most cordially agree, and hope at some early day to see all
the local societies in union with the chartered body lu London ; but I think
tiiat, generally, more is expected of the Institute than it can posflibly. by
any means In Its power, perform, or can even recommend for adoption. In these
days of diversity of opinion, what subject can be broached in which a Society ean
take an interest or the^lead.with the approval of eveu a majority of its members ? -the
Liverpool Architectural Society, to wit, in the case of the question of Architectural
Examination, submitted by the Institute, when the Liverpool Society was divided in
itself, and each section sent uj) its own decision ! Personal feelings, local interests,
want of corporation, and a host of other such "sympathies" arise and scatter all
attempts at the formation of a representative Institution of any kind.
' have taken up more than my share of your pages, but the question is one that
* ' 'I beg to enclose my card, though 1 only desire to sign
may well be ventilated ; and
myself.
Yours, Ac,
F.i.aA.
THE NINE HOUKS' MOVEMENT.— A PROPOSITION.
Sir,— The great evil of another general strike lu the building trades appears so im-
minent, that we think it is quite tiuH- 1 Iiatsomelwdy should try tonianngclliedifl'crencea
which seem to exist between the employer and the employed ; iiiul as the press, in gene-
ral is quite at sea in the matter, in advising first one plan and then another, and none to
the purpose, we would suggest that a committee of clerks of works— men who imve
Invariably Ixien working men themselves, and from their position would act without
any prejudice on either side— should liave all grievances laid before them, and
try to arrange this most unfortunate affair between the employers aud the employed.
Noble lords, M.P.S, and lawyers are not the men to settle such questions, as they
know nothing whatever about the wants aud customs of tlie working men iu tUc
April 5, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
297
buildinff trades ; whereas the very nature of our calling brings us every day in close
connection with both masters and men, and wc 1i«\t iio doubt that a committee of
our class could easily be formed, who ^^^ould he proud to be mediators to settle these
most unfortunate matters, which not only upset the regular current of the trades,
but also degrade the men in the estimation of the public ; and if this unhappy dif-
ference can be broUL'lit to a successful determination by us, we shall feel ourselves
amply rewarded for any trouble that we may be put to in bringing it about.
We, the writers of the above paragraph, are not men of a few years' experience as
clerks of works, but of long standing, and well known to all the taade.
We are, &c..
Two Clebks of Wobks and FAxnEES of Families.
April 2nd, 1861.
THE STIIIKE.
RUJTOUKS have been prevalent for a day or two that the perplcxlnglaborqucBtionB
connected with Messrs. Lucas Brothers, Belvedere-road, Jlr. Kelk, I'lmllco,
and other firms, were in process of settlement, and that consequent thereon a general
quietude would soon be extended over the buildmg trades. We regret to say
that such anticipations have not been, and are not likely, speedily to be realised. It
appears that on Tuesdaythe masons, who maintain a distinctorganisation and entire
independence of tlie other branches of the building trades, having heard that the
Messrs. Lucas Jtrothers were wishful to see |a deputation from their branch,
caused two or three of thcirbody to wait upon the principal of that firm. Mr. Lucas
received the deputation with the greatest courtesy, although he frankly stated that
he had not given expression to any desire to see them. A conversation followed
respecting the adoption of the proposed .system of working by the hour, a system
which the men stated they respectfidly solicited Mr. Lucas to withdraw. Mr. Lucis,
in reply, stated that along with other employers of labor, he had made up his mind
to enforce the hour system. The deputation objected to the hour system (which they
said would involve tlielr dismissal at an hour's notice), but stated that the
masons were wiUing to resume work, until the present differences were
settled, on the terms and conditions existing previous to the strike or lock-out
which took place a fortnight ago. It is stated by the masons that Mr. Lucas suggested
to them that if the men were to propose a half-holiday on the Saturday, beginning at
one o'clock on that day, on the other live days of the week ten hours work per day,
at sevenpence per hour being executed, he thought the masters would favorably
entertain the proposition, which, if carried out, would bring in to the skilled artisan
the same amount he now realises when in full employment. The employers say that
the proposition originated with the men, who, on the contrary, indignantly deny the
imputation, and state that it came from the masters or from some men in their em-
ployment who have not adhered to the rules of the " societj-." A similar deputation
waited upon Jlr. Kelk upon Wednesdav, and with the same results. And it has been
arranged that the whole question shall be submitted to a general meeting of the
masons, which is to he held this (Friday) evening in the Temperance Hall, liroad-
way, Westminster. The carpenters and joiners and other branches of the building
trades on strike whose representatives assemble at Kochester-terrace, Westminster,
do not seem to have been at all consulted in the negotiations now pending between
Messrs. Lucas and Mr. Kelk and the masons.
TENDERS.
Waterworks, Guisf.let.
For the labor required in constructing the service reservoir at Guiseley, for the
Waterworks Company— the Company finding stone, clays, flags, and other materials
except tools.
Jeremiah Millwaters £M2 16 6
PcterJawitt 26i 0 0
Sflas Abbay 228 0 2
Speight and Cravon (accepted) 216 19 Ci
William Williams and Blair 179 2 l|
Parsonage, Newport.
For building parsonage-house at JIagor, near Newport, Monmouthshire. Mr. John
JiOrtoo, architect.
Bolt £1,9.55
Wall and Hook 1,670
(If dressings Bath stone instead of local sandstone). . 1,620
Darby 1,580
Moore 1,195
Durk (accepted) 1,125
RoADwoRK, &c., Stratford.
lor making new road and footways on the Turnerestate at West Ham, under the
superintendence of -Mr. John M. Dean, surveyor to the estate, the (irove, Stratford.
(Juantities supplied.
Jf»'!'t £I,Ca3
xeomans X 66.3
Powell.. l|,573
Cattell and Hills 1472
i^taecy j 3.J4
Surveyor's estimate £1,193
Tottle 1,187
Cordery. (Accepted) 1,179
McKie and Mansergh 1,(H8
Marncy 780
_ ,^ „ , Cilrheyden Church, T'E.MBnoKEsHiRE.
For reballdlog Cilrhcyden Church. Jlr. Withers, architect.
Evans and Stone, N.irbeth-road £1,179 Os. Od.
D. .Tenkins and Co., Cilgcrran 943 7 0
C. J. Davies, Newcastle Emlyn 911 9 10
„ ., , ^ ,. Cotton JIili,, Yorkshire.
For the foundations, retaining wall, Ac, to prepare site for new mill .and ap-
purtenances to be erected near Halifax, Yorkshire, for the Skircoat Cotton Spinning
^""J'aoy- J- !■'• "Od J. D. Gates, York and Halifax, architects. Quantities sup-
J. W. Waterworth .£1,113
George Hardy I,a37
Joseph Mann (accepted) 1,020
J. and G, Woruop 750
&
•'. Foster and Co £1,200
Birkby and Houldsworth 1,200
H.Pratt 1,200
JohnFarrar 1,189
W. and G. Harrison 1,140
Church, Wilts.
„, '"'<,";^ partial restoration of the church of St. Cyriac, Lacock, Wilts. Mr. A. W
iilomiield, architect.
.Tones, Bradford £l,4.jO 0
Futcher, Salisbury 1,135 10
Watts, Chippenham 936 18
Gale, Lacock 910 0
Mullings 800 0
Additions, Ac, Berks.
, '^Sr alterations .ind additions to Windlesha'm Court near Sunningdale Berkshire
lor Sir George Lee, Jlr. K. W. Drew, architect. Quantities supplied by Mr. J. A.
Bunker
Hillery, Andover £4,893 j Hollis, Windsor £4 OfrD
Downs London 4,190 Futcher, Salisbury .3,090
lodd, London 4,180 1 TroUope and Sons, London 3,935
Church, JIanciiester.
For the erection of the new Catholic Church, Manchester, for the ICeverend J. Fox
Mr. £. Welby Pugin, architect.
„ , Benches.
Molyneux £2,390
Farrell and Ledger 2,407 £120
Eaton, Ashtoo 2,45(5 130
Penk, Cheetham Hill 2,825
Fogget, (meetham Hill 2,826 118
Y'ates, Liverpool 2,915
James Ward Hulnie 3,183 149
Kobert Nelll, Slanchester 2,927 115
Geo. Glalster, Liverpool 3,050 H8
♦
COMPETITIONS OPEIT.
VILLAS.
BARNfiT.vrLE.— Some members of the BamsUple Freehold Land Society wish plans
and speciflcations for the erection of semi-detached villas, at a cost not exceedinir
£4.50 per pair, and offer premiums of £6 and £2 10s. for the first and second best
designs that may be sent to them, and can be executed for the above amount.
Particulars of the site, and cost of materials, on application to Jlr. I. W. Tatham,
Joy-street, Barnstaple, to whom they should be sent not laUr than Aoril 18
TOWN HALL.
Hell,— For the approved design, &c.,for a Town-hall and publicofflces, at Kingston-
upon-HuU, to be forwarded with plans, sections, and cslimalts of cost (sealed and
addressed to the town clerk, Hull, and marked outside, " Design for Town-hall ")
to May 31. The sum of £100 is offered for the design selected as the best, and £50
for the design selected as second best. A block plan of site, and printed statement
of offices, rooms, and conveniences required, at Uobcrt Well's (town clerk's) office.
Town-hall, Hull, between 11 and 1.
BRIDGES, Ac.
Stafford.— For plans, speciflcations, and estimates of» pmpos«d new cart bridee
over the river Blythe at Lower Leigh, in the county of Stafford, within about 100
yards from the Leigh Railway Station, with the approaches and all other require-
ments appertaining thereto. To be sent in by 10th April, addressed to Mr.
Bridgwood, Leigh, Cheadle, Staffordshire.
COMPETITION A'WARDED.
Chapel, Eastbourne,
There were 36 designs submitted in competition for the new Chapel at the old town
of Eastbourne, out of which 7 were selected for further consideration, vtbcn one sub-
mitted by Mr. Blessley, architect, of London and Eastbourne, was adopted.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
CATHEDRAL.
Worcester.— For the works to be done in the further restorations and repairs of
Worcester Cathedral. Drawings, A-c, at the Offices of Mr. A. E. I'erklns, archi-
tect, Colle.'je-yard, Worcester. Tenders, sealed, to the Very Kev. the Dean of
Worcester, at the Chapter-room, at 1 o'clock p.m. of April 24.
CHURCHES, Ac.
Greenock.— For the erection of a new Catholic Church and Presbytery, to be buUt
at Greenock. Plans, &o., at No. 20, East Shaw-street. Greenock ; or at the OlBce
of the architect, George Goldie, Esq., 9, King-street, Westminster, until April 10,
on which day sealed tenders are to be forwarded to the architect.
Lincolnshire.- For the restoration of the parish church of West Torrington, near
Wragby, Lincolnshire. Plans, Ac, at the Vicarage, West Torrington, Tenders to
be forwarded to Mr. R. J. Withers, architect, 51, Doughty-street, London, W.C.,
by April 20.
Ireland.— For erecting a new chnrch at Piltown, County Kilkenny. Plans, Ae.,
with the Rev. W. Gregory, Fiddown Glebe, near Fiddown Railway Station.
Tenders to be sent to Mr. John Blacket, Piltown, secretary to Building Committee,
by April 21.
Bramlev.— For the erection of a new chnrch at Bramley, near Leeds, to seat 1,000
persons. Plans, Ac., may be seen at the ofliees of JL ssrs. Perkiu and Backhouse,
architects, Pease's-buildings,.?, Sojith Parade, Leeds, from Aprils. Tenders to the
architects by April 19.
Canterbury.— For completingC he work at the parish church of St. Mildred, of
Canterbury. Plans, Ac, at the Vestry. Scaled tenders are to be delivered
(addressed to the churchwardens) at the office of Mr. Churchwarden Boorman, Wm-
cheap-street, by April 20.
CHAPELS, Ac.
Leeds. — Forthe various branches of work required in the erection of a chapel, with
a lecture-room and vestries attached, near Sheepscar, Leeds ; and also for the
fencing, draining, flagging, Ac, in connection with the same. Drawings, Ac, at
the vestriesof Brunswick Chapel, Leeds, till April 12. Copies of speciflcations. Ac.
from the clerk in charge of the drawings, or from Jlessrs. Pritchett and Son,
Architects, Darlington. Tenders addressed, marked "Tender," to Jlr. Willhun
F. Smith, Honorary Secretary, 8, Bishopsgate-street, Leeds to April 12.
Chipping.— For the works required in the alteration and enlargement of a dwelling-
house and schools at Chipping. Plans, Ac, at the Talbot Inn, Chipping, until Uio
10th April. Tenders to be addressed to Mr. John Hornby, St Mlchael's-on- Wyte ,
near Garstang, by April 13
VICARAGE.
Sussex— For the erection of a vicarage house at Bolney, near Cuckfleld. Specifica-
tion, Ac, at Hill House, Bolney. Tenders to Rev. W. H. Stallan', vicar, by
April 17.
EXCR.\NGES.
Newbury.— For the works of the Newbury Corn Exchange building. Plans, Ac,
on application to Mr. J. S. Dodd. architect. 148, Fnar-slreet, Reading, on aud after
15th April. Tenders for the whole or for the separate trade work, to be sent to
R. F. Graham, Clerk to the Local Board of Ilcaltb, Newbury, under cover
endorsed "Tender for Newburv Corn Exchange," by twelve a.m. of
April 29. Tenders for the whole of" the work to state tlic prices of the respective
trades work.
Blackburn.— For the works necessary to the erection of the Exchange Buildings,
Blackburn, Lancashire. Working, drawings, Ac, at the offices of the architect,
Mr. Brakspear, 14, Kidgefleld, Manchester. Sealed tenders, to ¥. C. Ains-
worth, Esq., Town Hall-buildings, Blackburn, on April 16. Bills of quantitiea
will be furnished to contractors on depositing two guineas.
HOSPIT.U..
Banff.- For one or more of the following departments of work, vii :— JIason work,
Wrights' work plumber work, slater work, plasterer work, required in the
erection ofChalmers Hospital in B.mir. Plans. Ac., to 22nd April, on application to
Mr. Edward Jlortimer, solicitor in Banff, or at the office of Jlr. W. L. Jloffatt, archi-
tect, 4 Fettes-row, Edinburgh. Scaled tenders must be lodged withMr. Mortimer
by twelve noon of April 25.
JIANSIONS.
Hereford.— For the erection of the mansion of Broxwood court, Hereford, for
Richard Snead Cox, Esq. Plans, Ac, from Thursday until 11th April, either in
Hereford or in Bristol. Application to be made to the architect. Jlr. Charles F.
Hansom. Rock House, Clifton, Bristol. Sealed tenders under cover, to the archi-
tect, on or before April 13.
FARM-HOUSES, COTTAGES. Ac
Gbavesehd.— For the erection of new farms, bailiffs' houses, laborers' cottage*.
298
THE BUILDING NEWS.
Apbil 5, 1861.
repftirs to cxistine buildings, and other works on the estate of Arthur Z. Cox, Ksq.,
at SlackiDg. m-ar Gravescnd, Essox. riaus. &c.. at the Goorjfo and Drajron Inn,
Hucldne. Essex, and duplicate copies of the same at the offices of Messrs. llanneU
and Kobbe. architects. 3farkot.pUce, St. Ives. Hunts. Tenders to be delivered at
the Geor^'e and Drajron Inn. Mucking', by IJ nwn April 12. ^ .. „
Hainaclt.— For a new farm-house nt Fence I'lece, Uamault, Essex, for the Com-
missioDcr of AVoods and Forests. I'lans, Ac, on application to Mr. John Clutton,
Ko. 9, Whitehall-place, Westndnster. Tenders to be addressed to the Hon.
Cbarles A. Gore, office of Woods, 1, Whitehall-place, Westminster, S.W.,
endorsed "Tender for New Farm House, at Fence Tiece Farm," by 12 noon
Keigatf,— For the erwtion and completion of four pairs of improved cottages, for
the KedhiU and Keigate Cottagrc Improvement Soeiety, Limtteo, on a site close to
the Reig ate junction on the South-Eastern and Briffntou Kail ways. Drawings,
Ac. on application to the architect, Mr. K. Boxcndell, :.', Addiugtou-place, Camber-
Weil, S. : or of Mr. Alexander Uoss,of Gatton, near Reigate, on and after Tuesday
next. Aoril 2nd. Tenders to be delivered to the architect by April 12.
^ ALMSUOUSKS.
S8a£X.— For bnlldine seven almshouses in the parish of Barking, Essex. Speciflca-
tlons at the office of Mr. George Martin, Surveyor, Broadway, Barking. Tenders
to Mr. E. Flit, churchwarden. Barking?, by April 20.
Putney. —For the erection of 12 almshouses, in the Upper Kichmond-rond, Putney,
and the enclosure of the ground. Drawings, &c., at the office of Mr. Charles Lee,
architect, 20, Golden -square, to the 18th inst. Sealed tenders, endorsed '* Futney
Almshouse Committee,*' to Mr. K S. Watlin, Churchwarden, High-street, Futney,
by 12 noon of April 24.
COTTON MILLS.
Coventry.— For the various works required in the erection of mill, engine-honse,
boiler-house, warehouse, shed, chimney, and otlier appurtenances, to oe built at
Coventry, for the Coventry Cotton Spinnini,' and Weaving Company (Limited.)
Drawings, Ac, at the offices of Mr. Thomas Browett, solicitor, Coventry : and also
at the offices of George Woodhouse, architect, St. Gcorge's-road. Bolton, to 15th
April. Sealed tenders, endorsed '* Coventry Cotton Spiiming and Weaving
Compony (Limited)," to be delivered to Mr. Thomas Browett, by twelve, of
April lOtb.
Nuneaton. — For erecting a cotton mill, weaving ehed, warehouse, boiler-house,
chimney, and other buildings connected with the works for the Directors of the
Kuueaton Cotton Spinning and Weaving Company (Limited). Plans, &c., at the
Company's office, Church-street, Nuneaton, to Hth April. Further particulars from
Mr. John Holt. Nuneaton. Sealed tenders, addressed to the Directors of the
Kimeaton Cotton Spinning and Weaving Company (Limited), to 12 noon of April 12.
RAILWAY WOKKS.
Festiniog. — For the construction of a line of railway, of about 3l_ miles in length,
from a junction with the Festiniog Railway Company, at Duifirs, m the parish of
Festinic^, North A\'ules, to the Conipany's Estate at Khwbach, for the Festiniog
Slate Quarry Company (Limited). Forms of specification, &c., with the secretary
of the Company, at the offices, Carlton-buildin»g, Cooper-street, Manchester. Plans,
Ac, at the offices of the Company, or at the office of C. E. Spooner, Esq., engineer,
Portmadoc North Wales. Tenders must be made by properly filling up and signing
tlie printed form of tender supplied by the Company, and returning it, with its
accompanying forms of specification and deed of contract, to the secretary.
Tenders mu?t be sent in to the secretary by April 9.
IBEI.AKD.— For the execution of the Works of tlie Finn Valley Kailway Company
(13 miles). Plans, &c. , at the offices of P. W. Barlow, esq., the engineer in chief,
26. Great George's-strcet, Westminster, S.W., or at the offices of John Bower, Esq.,
resident and acting engineer, 28, South Frederick-street, Dublin, and Strabanc.
Venders, endorsed, "Tender for Works," and addressed to the Rifjht Hon.
Tisconiit Lifford, Chairman of the Finn Valley Railway Company, Cecil House,
Wimbledon, London, S.W.. till April 18.
ENGINE HOUSES, &c.
Deptpord.— For the construction of two engine-houses, boiler-house, chimney,
filth hoists, coal-sheds, dwelling-house, iron wharf wall, brick and iron sewers;
and for the execution of other works in connexion therewith, on ground adjacent
to Deptford- creek and the Greenwich branch of the South Eastern Railway, Kent.
for the Metropolitan Board of Works. Plans, sections, specification, form of
tender, and other particulars, upon payment of £1 Is., on application of Mr. J. W.
Bazalgette, engineer of the Board, at the office ot the Board, Spring-gardens.
Tenders, addressed to the Metropolitan Board of Works, must be delivered at the
office of the Board before 4 p.m. of April 11.
HOADWORK, &c.
BLACKDEATn.— For the formation of roads and sewers on the Bennett Park
estate, Blarkheath. Plans, Ac, wlthMr. J. Ashdown, architect, &c., 42, Charing-
cross, to whom tenders, on prescribed form, by 12 noon of April 10.
Stockport.— For keening' the roads, footpaths, and ditches and fences, &c., respec-
tively belonging to the Stockport and Vi arrington, and Washway Turnpike Itoads
in good ind complete repair for a period of five years. The length of the Stock-
port and Warrington road, including the Edgelcy Branch, is 14 miles and 932 yards
and the Washway Road :ii miles and 270 yards. I'articulars from Mr. iJ. S.
Barber, Longford, Stretford, lor the Washway Road, and Mr. John Jvinsey, Hale,
near Altrincham. for the Stockport and Warrington Road, and also from Mr. Wm.
Devereux NichoUs, Solicitor, Altrincham. to wliom tenders endorsed "Tender for
repairing the Washway or Stockport and Warrington Turnpike Koads" by
WATERWORKS.
GuiSELEY.— For about 4,000 vards of cast-iron socket pipes, vertical castings, varying
in diameter from 6 to 2 inches. Plans, &c., at the offices of Mr. James Lumley,
civil engineer, Shipley, from 10th ApriL Sealed fenders to Mr. John Padgett,
chairman. Uawkhill, Guiseley, near Leeds, by 2 p.m. of April 10.
MILITARY WORKS.
laELAN©.— For the performance of such artificer's work as may be required at the
undermentioned stations (from the date of acceptance tothe^lst March. 1861, in-
clusive—viz. :— Dublin district, Carrick-on-Shannon {as per schedule B) Curragh
district, I'arsonstown, Banagher Barraektand Towers, and Fort EU/a, with 5 per
cent, in addition for Keelogne Tower and'shannon-briclge, and for Rifle range near
Parsonstown, as per sche(lule B. Contracts to be determinable at any period after
flrat year, on either party then giving to the other three months' notice in ^vriting.
Every information on application at the Itoyal Engineers' « >ffleea, Dublin, or to the
terrack masters at the several stations named; and printed schedules of the
prices, with the terms of contract and letter of tender, may be obtained upon
making a deposit of ten shillings. The letters of tender to be scaled, and trans-
mitted under cover to the " Director of Contracts," War Office, London, marked
on the outside *' Tender for Works at ," by April V.
^ SEWERAGE.
Babhmjct.— For the conatniction of certain sewers within the district of the fol-
lowing description :—
164 yards of brick sewer, 4 feet in diameter.
^ i> <i .. 2 „ 0 inches by 1 foot 8 iDcbea (egg shaped).
855 „ „ „ 1 foot 6 „ in diameter.
13fl „ stoneware sewer 1 „ 3 „ ,,
1.250 „ „ „ 12 inches „
130 .t .. „ 9 „ „
And the other works connected therewith. Plans, Ac, at the office of Mr. John
Richardson. Surveyor of the Board, St. Mary's-place, Barnsley, to the 13th of
April. Sealed tenders, marked " Tender for Sewers." to be sent to the Clerk of
the Board, Wm. H. Peacock, of the Bamsley Local Board of Health, by 4 n.m. of
15tbof April. • * r
Taunton District. —For building certain brick sewers, and laying down stoneware
pipe sewers, and for other works connected therewith within the Tauntou district,
either in one entire contract or in any or cither of certain portions or contracts,
particularised and set forth in printed hand-bills to be obtained at the Olfices of
the Board. I'ersons tendering will be nquired to sttite the amount for each con-
tract, and also the i)iicc per yard lor each size sewer, including diggers, road and
other works, in accordance with printed form of tender, to be obtained at the
oilices of the Board, East-street, Tauntou. Plans, &c., at the office of Mr. Har-
grcives. Surveyor to the Board. Sealed tenders, in the form referred to, to be
delivered at tlic Clerk's Office, East-street. Tuunton, endorsed "Tender for
Drainage," to state the number of the contract or contracts for which the tender is
made, by 3 p.m. of April 17.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters amt communications to be addrcsaed to thcEditor of the Buildi»o News. 90
Old Boswell-court, St. Clement's, Strand, London.
The Editor cnnuot uudortako to return uuusud manuscripts.
J. R. 8 Considered to be purchased partly bv premium and partly by an Increased rent.
K. Baeeow — 1. Faversham Abbey was founded by Stephen and Matilda In 1147. 2. The
Chapter-house of Wells Cathedral dates about 1290. 3. Temple Church, London, about
G. Marlet.— We cannot advise on such matters.
W. W. s There is no doubt whatever on the subject. Numerous cases might be cited to
prove the accuracy of the opinion we expressed.
A. PcPiL.— Drawing will be noticed in its turn, if deemed advisable.
Democuitus — AVu hardly like to say.
ANONYMOUS — There are many courses open to you, all preferable to the one proposed, which
wc sliould say is about the worst you could have selected.
An AnrniTECT.— The following remark by Oleu, in his " Work on Contracts," may assist :—
"How far an architect i."* justillcd in ordering' extra works, not contemplated by the
contract, depends entirely upon the uuderstanding come to between them on the subject.
Where, however, the architect is not directly empowered to make alterations in the plans
without the concurrence of the eni»Ioyer, itwtiuld be his duty to inform the employer of
the expcnditiu-e exceeding the contr;ict. especially if it he liKcly to do so to any great
extent. If the architect neglect to do this, much misunderstanding between tlie parties
may arise; and although employers do, and must, to a great extent, trust to tlic dis -
cretion of their architects, t!ie hitter should not entirely rely on that trust fur an exone-
ration of their having, on behalf uf their principal, and unknown to him, incurred large
bills for extra works."
Y. O. X.— The removal of the glass in a few months will be much facilitated by the mixture
of nlittle animal oil with the putty, before glazing; it will then remain soft for a very
considerable time.
James S.— Mr. Scott's "Half Hour Lectures on the Fine Arts" is published by Messrs.
Longman and Co.; a review of the book is waithig for want of space; our opinion Is
favorable.
W. Petley.— Shall hear from us. by letter, at the proper time ; meanjvhllc, thanks.
T.Naish.— The proposed mode of construction is contrary to the provisions of the Building
Act, and will not.be allowed by the District Surveyor.
K.— The best illustrations of Sta. Sophia arc those published in M. Fossati's work.
R. Harlow (Xew jYork.)— A mi-stafcen notion; very near to the date named, viz., 1820,
Michaux wrote: " Seventenths of the houses, except in the larger capitals, are built of
wood, and about three-quarters of these are built of white pine, and even In the cities, the
beams and principal woodwork of the houses are of that wood. The ornamental work of
the outer doors, the cornices and friezes of apartments, and the moulding of flre-placcs. all
of which in America are richly wrought, are of this wood. It receives gilding well, and is,
therefore, selected for looking-glass and picture frames. Sculptors employ it exclusively
for the figure-heads of vessels, for which they prefer the kind called the pumpkin pine ;" be
also states white pine was selected for its duVabllitv in the construction of tlie bridges over
the Schuylkill, at Philadelphia, the Delaware, at Trenton, and also In the bridges uniting
Cambridge and Charlestown with IJoston, the former being l.-VW feet In length, and the
latter 3,000 feet in length. We shall be glad to learn the result of experiments.
Z. A.— Is thanked for his good opinion of our endeavours ; we regret;that the nature of his
communication does not allow us to print It.
Salop.— Too late, as the conversazione took place before letter was received.
J. DoDsoN.— Wesay what we think upon the subject, and are quite prepared to learn that
our remarks are not relislied by those more immediately concerned, wo cannot help It.
G. Holmes.— An ^xpar^e statement, and, as we have reason to think, not altogether a fair
statement of facts.
O.— We believe the rule is to send tickets to all exhibitors. Write to the Secretary.
A. Workman.— Try the effect of potash and water.
C . W. —Refer to the " l*o.st Office lJ4rectory." We cannot spend our time in finding out
addrci-ses which any one may do for himself.
M.r.~l. The principal churches erected by Sir Cliristopher Wren were St. Paul's Cathedral,
1676 to 1710, costing about £747,7fi2; St. James's, Westminster, In IflSy, costing £8,500 ; St.
Mary, Somerset, in WJr>, cost £0,-579; St. Murtin'Lt.Ludgate, in ir^. cost £5,378 ; St. Mary-
le-Bow, in 1673, £8,071— the steeple, erected in 1080, cost £1,38S ; St. Clement Danes In 1680,
dt8,78«; Christ Church, In 1687, £11,778; St. Antholhi, in 1682, £5.68.'! ; Allhallow.s the Great,
In 1697, £5,641; Allhaliows, Lombard-street, in 1694, £8,058; St. Margaret, Lotbbury, in
3690, £.'>,:i4ii; St. Nicholas, in 1677, £5,0.12; St. Andrew, Wardrobe, in 1692, £7,060 : St.
Andrew, Holborn, In 1687, £0,0(10; St. Mary, Aldcrmanbury, in 1677, ^5,237; St. Swlthen.
in 1679, £4,ti87 ; St. Dlouis, inl674, f-VS?; St. Michael lioyal, in 16;m, £7,.''m5; St. Olave,
Jewrj", inl673,£5,,!i80; St. Ilride,in 1680, £11,430 ; St. Kdmund the King, iulfi90,£5,207 ; St.
Lawrence, Jewry, in 1677, £11,870 ; St. James's, Garblt-hill, in IfiHS, £^,357 ; Si. Magnus, In
lH76,£:i,579; St. Peter, Comhill, in 1681 £.--.,647 ; St. Stephen's, Walbrook, &c. 2. Perhaps
the principal public works were Greenwich Hospital, Temple Bar, the Monument, Tlieatre
at Oxford. College of Physicians. Ashmolean Museum, College at Chelsea, Hampton Court
Palace, Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, Paiace at Greenwich, Palace at Winchester
the Towers at We-stminster Abbey, &c.
W. X. Z.— There is no sewer in the road named.
S._We have visited the works, and shall give the result of our inspection in a week or two.
It. E.— Had better have the work measured by a professional surveyor before taking legal
proceedings.
L. Q. N.— Wc cannotsay.
George W.— Ditto.
J. S.— Sketch has been received, and shall be engraved ; no address was enclosed.
E. Slocumbe.— The first person who seriouslv turned his attention to the principle, lately
adopted with some .success bv Str. Itoydell in lila traction engine, was a Mr. Lovcll, in
,T, „»..„i.,„,i 'en t fur a ] ' " ' " -*-'■-'-' ' '■ ■" "• ■
. , riage to w _, __ _._,.. _ „ „
amount of Information on the subject ui his work, "The Econorav of Steam Power on
1770. He obtained a patent fur a portable railway, or artificial road, to move with and
be laid down by the [carriage to which It is applied. Mr. Young gives a considerable
Common Roads," lately reviewed in our pages.
IL and W.~Three months' notice is required to he given by law, but an arrangement may
be made.
T. J. (Dublin) Communication hud not reached us up to the moment of going to press.
H. must send name and addr(;ss before wc can publish his letter.
F. Phillips.— Thunk.4; shall appear.
PaoFESsioNAi, Chahces.— Inwood says, "The charges for surveys and valuations made in
respect to the extensive iniprovcme'nt-s wliich have taken place in London -Ilogent-street,
Strand, tlie (;onimIs«Ioners of Improvements of Westminster, the Citj' and Nyw London-
bridge, St. Katliarine's Docks, and other improvements have been at the rale of one-half
per cent., and three guineas for each surveyor attending to give evidence liefore a judge
and jury ;" lie adds, '* it is usual to cliargu one per cent, for the first thousand pounds and
the remainder one-half per cent.
A ScBscniBEii (YannouUi).— We are unable to advise; refer the business to a solicitor.
E. B— Try the etfect of aco:iting of boiled oil; It has l>een found to answer.
E. N. W— St. Paul's Cathedral cost ^7i{6,752, exclusive of the enclosures, wlilch cost some
£ll.00fK SeealK)ve.
G. CuLLow.— Tiio best mahogany Is Imported from St. Domingo ; Cuba and^Hondoras supply
wood more or less inferior in quality.
Rev. G. W.— Keceived; thanks for notes.
S. M. AND S— Thanks; shall bo kept In mind,
PniLO P.— Below our mark.
T. O. P.— Ditto.
R. RoBfmTs.— Next week.
A. JoiNEK.— Thanks. __ „ „ „
Keceived.— T. Wylson, J. S. B., M. W., F. Phillips, W. M. Naggerst. Tyro. J. A. P., B. Z.
(Uarraouth). W. and Co., T. Legge, Edward M., A Subscriber, An Exhibitor. M. 1,B. A„
A. Northern Architect, M. L. Society, X. A. N., A Constant Header, L. T.,E.B. S.,
Thomas M b.
April 12, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
299
DECORATIVE DESIGNS IN BRICKWORK.
E are told by Mr. RuskJn in his
" Stones of Venice" that the best
academy for English architects
for some half-century to come
will be the brick-field ; and that
we may rest assured that, until
they learn how to make judi-
cious use of clay, they will never
know how to use marble.
One is half-disposed to question the
safety of this assertion of Mr. Ruskin :
he is a fine writer on Fine Art, and his
antithesis reads well enough as a rhe-
torical flourish, albeit reason and
practical experience do not altogether
confirm it. We are just now inundated
with brick ornamentation.
Black bricks and white bricks,
Red, yellow and gray,
Mingle, mingle mingle ;
Tou that mingle may.
Whether this be owing to Mr. Rus-
kin's remark above, or to Mr. Street's
"Brick and Marble Architecture
of Italy," it may almost be said
that one comes on a staring parti-
colored brick building at the
comer of every street. We apply the
phrase "staring" advisedly and of "malice
prepense," for there is no better one at
band to express the quality, that in nine cases out of ten distinguishes
these architectural productions ; and we ask at the rate of progress
their designers are making, how soon they will be qualified, conformably
with Mr. Raskin's remark, to essay the application of the richer
material, marble ?
We cannot help thinking that, this designing in brickwork is by no
means a preparatory school operation ; but that, tout au contraire, it is
just such a crux in architectural design, as developes at once the
difference between the profound artist and the bungler. It is in fact
one of those operations, in which mind is called on to triumph over
matter ; and wherein we require to lose sight of the meanness of the
material, in the contemplation of the architect's tasteful manipulation of
it. Some instances of this happy result may be met with here and
there : Mr. Edward Barry's new schools at the corner of Endell-street,
St. Giles, may be mentioned ; as may also most of Mr. Street's works
in this material ; and one of them, a village school at Colnbrook, in
Backs, affords an excellent example of— Me capability of the material ?
— no :— of the capability of the architect. It is, indeed, not a mere
question of fit or unfit building material : it is one of architectural
power. We are tempted to lay some stress on this fact ; for it happens
at this ti;ne to be overlaid with some fallacies of a very piebald nature ;
and we have even had of late an architectural journal specially devoted
as it would seem, to the glorification of decorative designing in brick-
work.
There is, of course, nothing new in the application of this material
to architectural or artistic purposes : our forefathers of the middle ages
have done enough to prove that ; witness Hampton Court Palace and
many mansions m Norfolk and Suflblk. Mr. Wild's church at Roupell
Park, Streatham, and his schools adjoining the rear of St. Martin's Hall
afford good modem instances of this kind of building ; but we question
if it has ever before been so generally prevalent as it is at the present
tmie. It is to our modern architects what crinoline is to their country-
women, an unreasoning rage or mania. The two may both pass away
m the ordinary term allotted to " a nine days' wonder " : the one may
be forgotten; but the brick mama— or rather the substantial results
of it, will not so easily pass away.
By that last expression we are reminded of one very excellent quality
of the material — its great durability : we will proceed to notice some
of Its excellencies, and then to animadvert on some of the objectionable
methods in which it is being applied.
Of its great durability there can be no question. The perishing of
the stone at the Palace of Westminster is supposed to be a failure
especially modem; one, too, which could not have befallen our
medieval builders; but this is a mistake. Let any one, who doubts it,
examine the stone and the brick-work of Lambeth Palace : he will see
that the latter remains to this day in admirable preservation ; while
very much of the former has long ago miserably decayed. There \i a
lovely niche in the river front o< this edifice, whose detail, as it is built
of stone, is quite lost to us.
Brickwork has, however, what is more to the point in this article,
excellencies of a more architectural kind— we are speakiiig of archi-
tecture as a Fine Art.
It gives bv the frequent recurrence of the bricks a semblance of
vastness to whatever happens to be essentially petit. Mr. Street's Coln-
brook School is an instance of this quality, intensified perhaps by the
circumstance of the edifice standing on a secluded, rural site, around
which arc seen only natural objects, as trees, rustic fencing, and the
Uke. Perhaps the juxtaposition of a large brick warehouse would
seriously detract from their effect : so subject to accident are even the
chefs-d'aiuvre of the architect.
It i3_ useful for imparting contrast of color, either by combination of
the brickwork with other material, or by that of different kinds of the
material itself. The necessity for this contrast will best be known to
the best artist, and it would be a subtile matter to lay down precise
rules for the guidance of the student. It may, however, afford an
intelligible instance of our meaning to adduce any street edifice, having
only one fa9ade, and that looking to the north — such as the College of
Physicians, the Oxford and Cambridge University Club House, and the
Guards' Club House, all in Pall-mall. On buildings so situated the sun
is never seen : no shadows are possible ; and, as contrast of chiar'osuro
is denied them, the want should be made up by polychrome or contrast
of color ; and in such buildings parti-colored brickwork, where richer
polychromatic material cannot be had, may be most usefully applied —
m fact is almost a necessity.
These are some of the artistic excellencies of the material itself: the
mode of applying it is a far wider question, and the operation belongs
as we have just stated to the profound artist. Nay, more than this, we
would strongly advise the incompetent to leave the material alone ; or
at least to sedulously avoid meddling with fancy arches, bands and
piebald patterns in brickwork. He may peradventure succeed in
putting them all together — we dare hardly say composing them — very
ingeniously ; but ingenuity is not always art ; and there is always one
thing to bear in mind, namely that, whatever there is of vulgarity or
commonness in this homely material, will be rendered repulsively obvious
by any unlucky failure that may befal the manipulator. Let him keep
to plain brick, pure et simple ; if he cannot (pace Mr. Ruskin !) hide
the poverty of his own conception, as does the chimney-piece maker,
behind ample slabs of richer marble.
Perhaps the best species of brickwork ornamentation is that which
is confined to the arrangement of flush diapers, or, better still, hori-
zontal bands within the surface of the walhng. Brick panelling, brick
projecting stringcourses and cornices are seldom successful ; and brick
projecting dressings and quoins, particularly if they at all simulate
stonework, are abominable.
It must always be borne in mind that, design with it as he may, and
let Mr. Ruskin say what he will, brick is at best an inferior material to
stone : we speak of course of bricks as they are ; and with a salutary
fear of the exciseman before our eyes, in which fear we see Mr. Ruskin
does not participate. There are many reasons why it should be
accounted inferior ; and of these not the least is the invariable gauge,
9 X 4^ X 3, which dictates the proportions of every member of the
architecture, however ornate. Bricks therefore should be applied for
architectural purposes where little else but that material is to be had.
It is an absurdity to bring variegated bricks, at vast cost, into a locality
where good stone is readily accessible ; but how often do we see this
done, and that simply because, in the town or city where the architect
resides, brick architecture is most in vogue.
It is an absurdity, we think, to apply orickwork to purposes wherein,
owing to the large amount of labor involved in its use, it is likely to
become more costly than actual stonework ; and yet examples of ttis
are by no means infrequent. How common is it to see expensive cor-
nices, put together with brick, the cost of which would have been
smaller in handsome stone; or, worse still, set-offs of buttresses,
usurping the proper place of stone, and presenting theu- frequent
courses on the slope, for the passage of the moisture over a most im-
practicable inclined plane, terminating at bottom without nosing or
throating to discharge the water ; which in one famous cmc we could
mention has actually to be conveyed away from the set-off by a smaU
metal eaves gutter and down pipe, specially suited to their diminutive
roof. In the same building may be seen chetjuers and other patterns m
brickwork set flush with the face of the waU in blocks of stone, mortised
to receive the brick. Here surely is an idle conceit, or an affectation of
homely ornamentation to be reprehended in the architect. « e are at
once reminded of Person's lines in " The Devil's Walk —
A cottage he spied with a double coach-honse;
Full of tan, full of taste and gentility j
And the devil he laugh'd, for hia favorite vice
Is the pride which apes humility. ,. j i
Again ornamental brickwork can hardly be successfully applied t»
builSini's of vast size. Here the motive for its introduction, which
holds good in the case of small structures— the obviation of littleness-
is wantin"; and the object of the architect should be to make the most
of the actual greatness of his edifice. He will not attain this object by
so designing his fa<;ades, as to be ever inviting the beholder to remember
300
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 12, 1861.
the ptiit material of which they are composed : it should rather be
kept in abeyance, and be lost sifiht of in unilbrm or rather monochrome
masses of it, so disposed as to give breadth to the composition ; and
ornamental brick strinfjcourses, or brick cornices, should be very
cautiously introduced in it. ,,,/-,
Here we must terminate these remarks : their general truthlulness
will we hope be recognised. Much more might bj said upon the sub-
ject ; but here is at least sufficient to remind our architects of a fact we
are being tempted to disregard, namely, that successful designing in
ornamental brickwork is by no means so easy a task as some of us
appear to consider it.
E
THE ARCHITECTURAL EXHIBITION. •
ESUMING our survey of the works exhibited, we find in No. 12 a " View of
^. the new Assemblv Rooms iind Music Hall, Newport, Monmouthshire," now
being erected hy Mr.XV. G. Haberahon, and, judging; by tlie drawing, a structure
of considerable size. The end or front consists ot a portico of six Corinthian
columns, elevated on a basement story, with circular-headed windows, which
appears to be devoted to shops or offices on the flank. Engaged pilasters, of the
same order as the columns of the portico, arc continued down the sides, with
windows in each intercolumniation. The entrance is through a doorway in the
centre of the basement story under the portico, surmounted with a curved
pediment on coupled Ionic columns. The building appears to be of two stories
above the basement, and the consequence of treatmg it externally as if one only
necessitates the introduction of a deep stone band across the middle of the tall
flank windows— an expedient seldom entirely satisfactory. The defect may be
caused by a gallery ; but, as we find neither plan nor section, it is impossible to
say. In any case, the treatment is to be regretted, as the building is otherwise
very satisfactory. The pediment is shown to be filled with sculpture, which,
with the acroteria, should be further considered.
No. 13 is an elevation to a large scale of the " Proposed Entrance Front to
the Cambridge Guildhall, being part of the design, by Messrs. John W. and
"Wyatt Papworth, which obtained the second premium of £100. It is drawn
with great care, and exhibits some peculiarity of design. The composition
consists of a centre and two wings, dividing the facade into three, about equal
parts, of which those at the side have recessed and rounded angles. Each wm^
is pierced by one small circular traceried light, surrounded by an ornamental
band, with a small drinking-fountain below. There is much originality in the
treatment of the wings, which would probably look better in execution than in a
drawing ; but we cannot say as much of the central portion, which is common-
place.
Mr. Sorby's design, No. 14, sent in competition for " Padsey Unitarian Chapel
and Schools," somehow brings to our recollection Mr. Scott's design for Halifax
Town-hall, which, nevertheless, it does not much resemble. The chapel is
approached by an elevated porch in the centre of the side ; the room or rooms — it
is impossible to say which, owing to the absence of a plan — set across the end of the
building does not improTe the design, which is much disfigured by the favorite
elongated bell-cote of the roof; setting aside the fact that the building hardly
indicates its purpose of a chapel, the design possesses some merits.
It is curious to observe that any peculiarity of desigii or drawing exhibited on
these walls is certain to be followed by a number of imitators, for at least one or
two seasons ; thus Mr. Street some years ago adopted a style of drawing peculiar
to himself, and, in his hands, very effective ; since then, pen and ink drawing have
been affected by many, hardly in the best taste, but, if we remember nghtly,
always inferior to those imitated. We have another example of this copyism in
No. 15, which simply serves to remind us of Mr. Burges's fountain of the year
befmrelaet.
No. 16, one of the largest drawings in the rooms, is by Mr. Joseph Clarke,
and gives a view of the " Great Malvern Estate Company's Land," including
file hills beyond. The villas of Gothic and Italian character are generally of
good design, but too small a scale to criticise. Judging by the fountains, the com-
pany have an admirable supply of water.
No. 17 is chiefly noticeable for the open timber roof; the principals are filled in
with cusping, from the points of which the tie beams are carried across. The
design was submitted in competition for the western branch of the Portuguese
Jews' Sj-nagogue, by Messrs. Willson and Nicholl.
A lady ejdiibitor, Elizabeth Travers, contributes two pretty little colored
drawings. No. 18, " Door in the Tower of St. Nicholas Church, Deptford," and
No. 30, " Font in Prittlewell Church, Essex;" the former is the better selected
<abject.
Mr. I'Anson, in No. 19, sends some valuable drawings of " Notre Dame,
Dijon," consisting of figured plan and section, two views and details. A capital
In the entrance porch is curious ; the abacus represents a castellated building,
octangular, with towers at the angles.
No. 21 is a well-finished soutli-west view of "St. Lawrence's Church, Ludlow,"
by Mr. Drayton Wyatt.
The proposed restoration of the " Abbey Gateway, Reading," is not favorably
represented iii No. 22, and will lead to the impression that it scarcely deserves
the interest that has Ijeen taken for its preservation.
The arrangement of the upper stories in No. 24, the " Elevation of a Shop and
House in Great Tower-street," by Mr. Parris, is certainly more successful than
fittt of the shop-front below, in which the upper part sets very awkwardly ;
conned rusticated pilasters rise from the fascia on each side to the upper cornice,
having consoles at the level of, and stopping the band under each tier of windows,
which extend across the whole width between the pilasters, but divided into three
openings by twisted metal columns ; a balustrade terminates the composition.
Mr. West (No. 27) shows the "Entrance Lodge at Glifiaes, Breconshire,"
erected by him. It is successful so far as the object has been to imitate the clia->
racter of certain works of a similar class in Italy ; but the purpose of the tower,
throiigh which the road docs not pass, is not very clear, as it does not appear In
the view to form an entrance at all, unlessit be to thelodge, for which it is tioo
large.
No. 29, " Houses erected in Harbour-street, Folkestone," by Messrs. Walton
and Robson, in the Pointed style, and of three stories, exhibit points of interest ,
but do not conquer the invariable unsatisfactory effect of insufiicient apparent
support on the ground floor.
Nos. 30, 31, and 32, by Mr. J. C. Colling, give us "Views of the Chapels sub-
mitted in Competition for the Liverpool Cemetery." That for the consecrated chapel
has a nave, chancel, transepts, and north and south aisle, with a tower rismg
over the intersection of the cross and terminated with a slated spire ; the uncon-
seerated chapel has a square tower at the west end attached to the chapel by
means of an arcade forming the entrance ; the upper portion of tower is octan-
gular, with well-designed two-light windows ; except for the angle pinnacles,
which seem rather too large, the tower is well-proportioned; indeed the designs
for these chapels have every appearance otcon amorc works, and indicate a true
appreciation of the exact value of Gothic detail.
Returning to No. 26, which we have passed without remark, we find another
of Mr. W. G. Habershon's drawings, snowing the "New Bank-buildings and
Lord Tredegar's Estate Offices, at Newport, Monmoutlishire," now being
erected under his superintendence. Mr. Habershon thoroughly understands the
art of preparing a design that will please the public, and we are often disposed to
overlook defects in detail on seeing the general effect. The dormer windows are
treated as important features, and contribute to modify the horizontal character
of the Italian style ; albeit, they must be looked upon as serving to light the attics
only.
Mr. Raphael Brandon contributes, in No. 33, an artistic view of the lower
part of Regent-street, showing the "Proposed Tower and Spire of St. Peter's
Church,"of which we gave an illustration in our last volume. The tower and
spire, evidently intended to be of great height, ai-e treated with a recollection of
similar works in the North of France, but in a manner peculiarly the author's
own. Carried out as shown in the drawing, the work will add great picturesque-
ness to this part of the metropolis, and we hope that want of funds will not retard
No. 34, by Mr. J. L. Pearson, a " View of St. Peter's School, Vauxhall," is
chiefly noticeable for tlie flank windows uniting with the skylights in the roof ;
we imagine the internal appearance must convey an effect ot weakness.
Mr. C. J. Phipps' " Design for Cemetery Chapel, Birmingham," has an unsatis-
factory square porch, gabled on each side and attached to -the north-west angle
of the chapel by means of an open arcade, with cusped and moulded arches sup-
ported on columns that do not look equal to their work, and convey an im-
pression of affectation, as do the buttresses of the tower, which seem to indicate
very thin walls on a very insecure foundation. Examine these buttresses and
then turn to Nos. 31 or 03, both of which are designed with an intimate know-
ledge of the Gothic style. We discern good points in the designs which are
likely to be passed over by casual observers owing to the exaggerated " effect
introduced into the drawing.
In Mr. Cuthbert Broderick's " Leeds Mechanics' Institution and School of Art"
(36), which obtained the first prize in competition, we have one of the most
meritorious productions in the rooms, showing care and knowledge apphed in
the right direction ; no little praise, as might easily be proved by an examination
of at least half a dozen designs now on the walls, which exhibit no want of either
knowledge or care, but a lamentable deficiency in the power of applying either
or both in a satisfactory maimer. Three small plans and an mterior photo-
graph serve to illustrate the interior arrangement, and from them we learn that
the edifice is neariy square on plan, with a circular lectui-e-liall attached to— for
the purpose of description we may say the rear wall, but contained within the
square. The principal entrance is in the centre of the main front, as shown m
the view, and gives access to the lecture-hall by means of a vestibule and en-
trance hall. Galleries and rooms suiround the lecture hall on tliree sides, the
upper stories being lighted from the roof. Externally the composition consists
of a splayed basement story rising some eight feet above the level of the pound,
with square- headed windows having boldly rusticated piers between them set
close under a moulded string course from which the windows of the
principal story rises. These windows are circuhir-headed, with a capping runmng
across the piersbelow the springing of the arched heads; above this we have a
massive stone wall, with appropriate cornice and balustrade c^ourse, with mst
sufticient decorative features to give value to this portion of the design. The
principal entrance is under an enriched arch, spnngmg from caryatic figures, two
on each side, forming a loggia, from which tfie vestibiUe is entered under two
arched and highly-enriched doorways, the whole forming a most picturesque
arrangement. The windows are somewhat closely spaced, probably in consequence
of internal requirenieiits ; but the mode in ■whi^^l'_ *!I,iS^*^'f^ff^„J;i'^rpn°
those arc" "" ' " '
and the i
weakness ;
ig we have refe
! the cornice are sauoiauiuij m^^^^-, «--..- p-., , , . ^
author's judgment, if, as we doubt not. is the case, lie ht« considered "'^ pomt.
Perhaps ou7opinion is biased by our inspection of No. 3b but the only idea
conveyed to our mind by No. 38 is that it is not like a church, and that it is like
a building designed with the aid of a kaleidoscope.
No. 40 is a useful sketch of a portion of the « Palaiza delta CanceUeria, Rome,
drawn by Mr. J. T. Christopher.
We must return to the drawings next week.
• Ebbatdk.— The demrlpticm of the " lioston Drinking Fountain," No. 0, wafc in-
•erted in our last in error. It sliould upply to No. 4:; No. 6 is detached, of stone.fwith
anial of metal work. Our remarks thereon rcmam unaltered. Continued /from
ALL SAINTS' CHURCH, KENSINGTON PARK.
\TN adreary4aste:tomewliat to the north-west of ^f^°^^-f^''l^^l±
i the south of Kensall-green Cemetery, a half-hnished ch"™^ has lor years
stk)d neclected. The title-deeds were in the hands of the Ecclesiastical Com-
3one?rand the tructnre, with a debt hanging upon it, in the possession of
ttiSdcr. All sorts of conjectures were liaziuded as to the cause of its deser ion ;
S rumours were afloat concerning it; the "nly uncontradicted statoen^
circulatinir were that it was begun some ten or dozen years ago by Dr. Walker,
and t^Luf'fomed part of the grind building scheme conceived by tha^^^^^^
for coveriag the wllole of the adjacent property. The 7«'a°«''o^y J'^'*nLf f °V°«
wreck of that disastrous enterprise are not yet whoUv ckared away The naked
carcases, crumbling decoration, fractured walls, »»'\/'™{ "^"^fjfj'^'Vs mav
which tlie summer's heat and winter's ram have left t'^^n- <i?>"asmg ""^^^^
still be seen on the estate. Courageous builders have occasionally touched them
April 12, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
301
and lost lieart and money by the venture. They " might hnvc been had for a
sonp," at one time, but the notes were kept locked in the chest, and no one would
warble the wished-for melody. With misfortune came iosult, and the oppro-
brious epitliet of " Coffiu-row" was fixed upon the dead street, where the
windows had that ghastlyform. The "Stumps" was a term given to anotlier range
of what was intended to be gentlemen's residences. The whole estate was as a
graveyard of buried hopes around a towering mass of choked magnificence, for as
with the houses so was it with the church. The same financial frost which struck
the growing dwellings nipt also the blowing temple, the same sad tale is written
alike upon all their withered walls, the same damp wretchedness lay upon
thein. It was the more regretted on account of the church, because the errors
manifest in the conception of the private houses form no part of it ; it was de-
signed on a gi^and and costly scale, and still remains, spite of the misfortunes
which left their traces upon it, a noble building. It was, however, stranded in a
desolation like that of Balclutha ; no worshippers pass through its portals ; there
was no trodden path towards them, no traces of goers-ln or comers-out ; no
prayer had been ever offered within its walls, no hymn-echoes had ever lingered
In its roofs ; no bell in that high piled tower had sent its summons across the
desert which surrounded it. A few curious idlers occasionally visited it, as they
would visit some ancient cromlech. They found it an Early Decorated church,
over 300 feet in length and seme 110 feet in width. The interior consisted of a
nave and aisles in tour bays divided by clustered marble columns and moulded
caps. The easternmost tay projected slightly on either side to form transepts.
The chancel, about 0-5 feet long, had side aisles for about two-thirds of its length.
There was a porch at the south side and a high tower at the western end. The
roof was of timber. It was calculated to hold somewhere about 900 people. In
whatsoever direction they turned, they saw evidence of good intentions, and of
innovation on the ordinai-y run of Gothic revival. It was not so common when
this church was commenced as it is now to see a foreign element mingled with
our English Gothic, and to witness the introduction of colored material' into the
exterior of our buildings ; but Mr. White, wlio, we believe, designed this build-
ing, not only put red voussoirs to the external arches, but built, with Devon and
CJomish marble, the column shafts, and made the spandrels, both inside and out,
riitter with sparkling mosaic ; and there can be no doubt, from what was done,
that had the church been then completed it would have more than rivalleil its
namesake in Margaret-street, Cavendish-square.
Within the last two years speculating builders have gradually and timidly
approached the church. What has been so long deemed a quicksand has turned
out good solid gi-ound, and roads are now being cut, and buildings are risin"
north, east, south, and west, around it. The church itself has likewise been re-
claimed. A Committee of gentlemen in the neighbourhood, under the secretary-
ship of Mr. Ilarrj- Bell and the presidency of the Rev. Mr. Light, have taken
the noble building in hand, and have expended £4,000 upon its restoration and
completion, relying on the inhabitants of the new parish for assistance in the
dischai-ge of their responsibilities.
_ A large portion of the expenditure was unfortunately occasioned by the neo-lect
into which the church had iallen. The whole of the exterior is of freestone with
a considerable amount of carving, all of which had to he rubbed down and
entirely restored. Ihe tower remains unfinished. A spire, as originally intended
will eventually surmount it. The vestry is at present merely temporarv Tlipiv
are no gal er.es in the church. The seats are of deal, stained, and openf but on y
a fifth of them are free. Those for the choir in the chancel are richer in desic-n
ajid carved in oak. The brass gas brackets are fixed in a very elegant way around
the marble clustered columns and have a capital effect. An orMmentalnecking
fits close to and follows the horizontal outline of the columns, and thence on each
side the brackets project. ^"cu>.c ou eatii
The font is composed of a fine block of Derbyshu'e alabaster with carved foliated
pandson raeh side, and is supported on a standard of Devon and Irish black
nmrble. The floor around it is paved with tiles in elaborate patterns The whole
rftte passage-ways are paved with black and red tiles, and in the chancel tte
nch and parti-colored patterns are again resorted to. i-uancei tne
The organ is placed in the south transept; it is a splendid instrument »n,l
lWqnff°''''"'-,J''?,P"'n' i^ hexagonal, with figLs o? re™geS
and the Saviour on the sides. It is mainly formed of Derbyshire alabaster wfth
Cornish marble supporting shafts and black Irish marble Imse It strnd
^iT Flr'*'';-ff' pi"- of the nave. The reredos is decorated in color and
It was originally intended, we believe, to dispense altogether with altir ™n.
which would have generously thrown open the wliole vipwnf fhii "'^^Z^''^'
added considerably to the apparent^e of the buUdinr Z ^l It "^^"H' ^"'i
the BUhop of London this hFeV in the chUeh wlut^'reluct.^'tlVaddffto u" "'
lowerTor ion'^tiiVw^li." n'c^H^J^^L^r T''."'™''''"- °">-
yellow'^tU^, pointed white 'of ".rTmrh^igltS'a-"'^^ '"^''' ""'
to about C feet from the ground. Thev ar^ verv ta»Lf, i7 '''''"S the walls
effect is as good as the contrivance is ^glmZ anTec^^mkl"™"^'"'' ""'^ ""=
The sum of £4,000 which, as we have already stated, has been evm..^.^ .. .,
committee seems at first sight a large outlay to render a ch,?^'^if^ ^y"'"
ah^adyhuUt fit to receive a congregation and to be cmsecrAj, w ^1"'='' ^'^
remembered that of this sum flSoO was needed ?o proft" an 'old ,!el '? V'
Myers, the builder, without which possession of tlie buHdinl Pn^M '° ^l'"
obtamed, and that the orcan alone costal inn i»o„,o. ""'.""°g could not be
effected Wh the balancIThitremalnfdVm^^^e^^ 17/^0^^^^^^^^^^ JS'!'=l!
has been done has been done effectualy. The committee Iiare Sly ^ilf '"''!
from spraiding mediocrity over a buUding which was dSedli ' » ^'ff '""^
spirit As the budding was commenced, so it llf teen^Ims kt i'^T"!'
Whether it becomes, by a worthy comnletion nno r.eih^ „ S . u '"'^ nnished.
metropolis mast depenLpon til? fnS^^^^^^
labored hard and have fitted the building for its consecration whiM/u,''™
on Tuesday last The progress and weliSre of the church now He i^i h?. iP^T
of the congregation; they must work euermticallv nrtiV,. ^.L -.1 ," ''^"''^
thus to demonstrate their apprSon ol' its Sl.^hll / •""'"''^^
respond to the appeal which hTreSiconfidently'mSothem^^^^ '"" *"* '"
IMPOKTANT TO SURVEYORS AND mil.DKKS.
CLERKENWELL COUNTV COCRT.— IIAESETT AND ANOTIIKR V. i:r i \\
R. SrAMMKRS.barristcr-at-law (instructed by Mr, Moon, nuliiii
mn-flelds), iippearcdfor the plaintiffs, and Mr. Field, barrlstcr-nt!
M
by Messrs. Cbeltoii, Burton, and Co., solicitors, Chancery -ranc), wa»
aant. The plaintiffs were Mr. James Darnutt, surveyor, Guildford- ,,-
Muare ; and Mr. Robert L. Curtis, surveyor, Union-court, Old lirn; A
the defendant was Mr. John Glenn, builder, Cambridgc-tormce, Lr . ..d
Isbngton. • . >-.
The learned Judge (Sir. Jones), before the case was called on, said this Court was a
most unsatisfactory tribunal for the trial of a builder's case, as, Indeed, all courts of
justice were, and advised the parties to see whether It could not be Bottlol by mutual
arraiijjcmcnt out of Court. IV paiiics then retired to a private room ; l.ut, after
remaining there a short time, returned Into Court, being unable to come to an amicable
arrangement.
Mr.stammers, in opening the case for the plaintiff, said tlUs was a ault in which
the plaintiffs claimed from the defendant the sum of £30, as commission for supplying
him With quantities in order to the erection ol a warehouse for Mr. J. 11. Cnff Cale-
donian-road, Islington, and they also made a claim of £» lOs. for certain llthOKrapba.
Ihc claim was for what was technically called taking out quantities with a view to
the erection ot a building, a branch of the business of a eurycyor in which the
plaintiffs particularly practised. In March of last year Mr. J. H. Cuff was dealrona
of erecting a warehouse and premises In the Cakdoiitan-road, and he .■mployed a
gentleman named Bowden as his architect, and the plans and specification having been
prepared, he sent out, as was usual, circulars inviting tenders from several builders, and
stating that the tenders would be opened on the ICth of Jlarcb. One of th..-^ .ir.nUrg
wasaddressedtoMr. Glenn, the defendant. Now, it was necessary for a 1 vo
sending ina tcnder.to employ such persons as the plaintiffs, forthcpm i
out quantities. One oftbe plaintiffs, Mr. Barnctt,havinghcardof tlieini. i a
the warehouse, went to Mr. Bowden and obtained from him the names ol tin- buil<jer»
to whom the circular had been sent, BIr. Glenn, the defendant, being one, and then
he applied to the builders to employ him in taking out the quantities. Amongst
other builders, he obtained the consent, or vote, of Jlr. Glenn, the defendant, to take
out the quantities, in a letter which Mr. Glenn addressed to Mr. liowden. Mr.
Curtis, the other plaintiff, had obtained the votes of some of the builders to take out
the quantities, and it was accordingly arranged that the two plaintiffs should take
out the quantities jointly. A circular, giving notice of tlie arrangement, was Rent to
the builders who were invited to tender. The matter having proceeded so far, the
builders met, on the 10th of March, at Mr. Bowden's office, Arundcl-square. and that
meeting was adjourned to the 20th, when the builders again met at Mr. Bowden's
office, witli the view of producing theu- tenders and haying them opened. Besides
the builders, Mr. Barnett, who had furnished various quantities of the work to the
builders, attended that meeting, but Mr. Curtis was not there. As Mr. Cuff declined
to accept any of the tenders, although the builders had the tenders in their pockets,
not one of them was opened. The whole intended contract went off so far as the
builders then assembled were concerned. Then the question was, who was to pay
Messrs. Barnctt and Curtis for supplying the builders with the quanlilies? The
whole of the demand, including lithographs, was for £38 18s.
His Honor.— Is there not a well-known rule.
Ml'. Stammers.— Where the tenders were opened and the lowest accepted, the
rule was that the sum charged for taking out the quantities was added to the amouat
of the tender. But in this case no tender was opened and no contract entered into.
The usual rule intended that the principal or proprietor should pay the surveyor's
charges, but it could not be so in this case, as there was no tender opened. The
question, then, was, who was to pay? Now, he submitted to the Court that the
persons liable under the circumstances were the builders who employed the plaintiffs,
mcluding Mr. Glenn, the defendant.
After a brief conversation between the learned Judge and counsel, 3lr. Tidd said
tlie custom of the trade was, and in this case it had been provided, that the charec
for taking out the quantities should be paid out of tlie first instalment given to the
contractor. Therefore, his first point on behalf of the defendant would he that his
learned friend (Mr. Stammers) by his opening was out of count ; because the cuarge
was to be paid by the builder whose tender was accepted, and it was to be paid out of
the first instalment, when he received it.
His Honor— That was a well-known rule of the trade, but then Mr. Stammers
said that was not his case, inasmuch as there was no tender acceiited.
The following witnesses were then called and examined : —
James Barnett— Is one of the plaintiffs and a surveyor, haying an office at
2, Guiidford-street, Russell-square. He had had much to do with takim.' out quan-
tities for builders' contracts. Having seen a copy of the circular sent out by 3Ir.
Bowden to builders, inviting tenders for the erection of Mr. Cuffs warehouse, betook
pains to get the names of all the builders so invited. Mr. Glenn, tlie defeudant, was
one of them, and there were seven others. Called on each of the builders, and re-
ceived a letter from Mr. Glenn to Mr. Bowden, giving him his sanction to take out
tlie quantities. Afterwards saw Mr. Curtis, the co-plaintifl^in this case, who Is a
surveyor, and accustomed to taking out quantities. Saw Mr. Curtis after he got the
letter from Mr, Glenn, and made an arrangement with him to take out the quan-
tities for Mr. Cuff's warehouse jointly with him. A letter was sent to the buildcis,
stating that the quantities were being prepared by Mr. Curtis and himself. He took
out the quantities after Curtis had done so, Curtis took out the quantities first, and
witness went through them again, when he I'onnd that Curtis had not been at the
site to find out the nature of the excavations, but he had, and found that the fouB-
dations were bad, being- of loose earth, and eonsequeutly more binding would be re •
quired than described by the specification. The calculations were made from the
specifications and the plans. He took out the quantities with accuracy and skill
after Mr. Curtis had done so. The only difference between tlie two was a.s to the
foundations, and there witness increased' the quantity to make up the deliriency ot
the foundations. One of the terms of the specification provided for such ijeiug done.
Having taken out the quantities, lithographed copies of the same were sent to the
delciidant and the other builders invited to tender. Mr, Glenn was aware tliat witness,
and Mr. Curtis wereito'take out the quautities. Tenders were.it was first arranged, to be
received at Mn Bowden's on the Kith, but that was altered to the 20th. When witness
attended at the meeting in Arundei-square, Mr. Glenn was there and the other
builders. Mr. Cuff and Mr. Bowden, the architect, were also there. There was a
long discussion. Mr. Cuff would not be bound to accept the lowest or any tender.
There was a long discussion among the builders, who said it was a very improper
thingto be brought there and no tender received after all their trouble. The builders
took their tenders and walked away ; no tender was delivered. 2J per ceut. on the
tender was a fau- charge for the work done j £30 for the taking out of the quantitie*
was the usual charge for work of that class. Mr. Curtis paid £8 Ids, for iiliioirraph-
mg, with a view to the carrying out of the work. The form of tender was sent by
witness to each of the builders, —Cross-examined: Was formerly a clerk with Mr.
Glenn, some seven years since, and had had business transactions with him both
before and since the present matter. Mr. ;Curtis was formerly a builder. (The
witness was cross-examined at great length, but it is not requisite to give the whole
of the answers,) Mr, Curtis had had bis quautities lithographed before tlie altera-
tion .about the foundations was made. Witness made the alterations in red ink. Did
not tell Mr. Glenn that if he would give him his vote or sanction to take out the
quantities he thought he could up.sct Mr. Curtis. Showed Jlr. Glenn the letters he
had received from a majority of the builders Invited to tender. Did not tell Mr.
Glenn that if he got his vote he could get rid of Mr. Curtis. Sir. Glenn, jun, showed
witness a letter from Mr. Curtis, asking for his father's vote, but his father declined
to give him his vote ; the son said he beUcved liis father would not vote for Mr
Curtis. He then applied to 3Ir. Glenn for his vote, but did not tell him that if he
got his vote he eoufd beat Mr. Curtis. Mr. Glenn said he did not intend to give
Curtis his vote, bat he did not tell witness that he would rather not have any quan-
tities from him. Mr. Glenn immediately responded to his application and gave him
302
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 12, lS6l.
m Ictterto Mr. Bowden, for permission to take out the quantities, lie did not tcU
wttaCM that he bad already examined tlie plaoo, and had made up Ms mind what
WIS the amoimt he abould tender for. Thou^it 31r. Glenn said he had seen the plans
and specifications but he did not toll witness he had made up his miud as to the
junooBt he could do the work for. Uad on many oeeasions ealled on Mr. Glenn,
««M»i0 lum fQf iu5 yQto (q reference to similar building contracts. At the time he
made the alterations in the quantities they had already been lithojrrnphed. Thinks
that there was achanje of £"~ ','s. in consequence of the alterations iu tne two sets of
lithographs. Mr. Itowden thought that in witness's estimate the brickwork was in
.excess, and his answer was that he thought the foundations would require more
•than appeared m the clause in the specilieatiou, and Mr. Ho .vden said that his opinion
was it would not. Sir. Itowden did not complain of the zinc work being in excess,
nor did Mr. Cuff. Mr. Cuff complained of banisters which were in the estimate and not
in the specification, but the specification provided that everything should be com-
pleted, provided t ho architect had neglected to specify what was requisite to make tlic
.iMiUding perfect— though the work was not particularly mentioned, out essential and
•requisite. Never saw a staircase without a banister, as a child might tumble through
the staircase. Rails were specified, but;there was a clerical omission in not specifying
the banisters. On the Tth of March he saw Mr. Bowden, and asked him if nc would
allow him to take out the quantities at tlic expense of Mr. Cuff, stating that it was
. usual in the profession if an architect gave the exclusive right to such services
to make liim a compliment Mr. Bowden did not indignantly refuse the
offer, but said that he was not at liberty to employ witness iu that way, and that he
^ad not received instructions to have the quantities taken out. About the 13th of
Karch witness called on Mr. Bowden, who told him that Mr. Cuff complained of his
.estimate of the work ; he complained of the excess of the brickwork, but he did not
complain of the zinc-work as well. Witness did not say that Mr. Cuff must be in
error about the zinc-work. Mr. Bowden never complained of his charge for taking
out the quantities, but Mr. Cuff complained of the cnarge as being excessive. Mr.
Bowden did not say that Mr. Cuff complained of the charge for lithography.
Mr. Bowden told witness that Mr. Cuff thought £20 a liberal sum for taking out the
qoaatlties, and that he was willing to allow that amount. Witness did not upon
Uiat say that he would endeavour to settle with Mr. Cuff; he had no doubt he said
he would endeavour to explain to Mr. Cuff that the charges made were fair. Mr.
Gleim did not tell witness that his tender would be founded on the plans and specifi-
cations, and not on the quantities. Mr. Gleun did not tell him that he cotisidered his
charges excessive. Witness said he would be present at the opening of the tenders.
and should t>e wUling to make any amicable arrangement with Mr. Cuff, and that, if
the eharee was excessive, he would take anything that was reasonable. On the 20th
flf Mareb, when the builders met at Mr. Bowden's, a long discussion took place
amons them. Did not remem'oer having had any conversation on that day with
Mr. CnlT; he had with Mr. Bowden, but not in Mr. CufTs presence. Did not recol-
lect that a conversation took place between him and Mr. Cuff on the 20th, at Mr.
Bowden's office. Believed Mr. Cuff said something to him, just before the builders
came in. about his charges ; be said that he thought the charges were high, and
Mr. Cuff told him that he considered the quantities excessive ; but he did not say
he would not be bound to accept any tender founded on the quantities.
Will swear he never said so to witness. When BIr. Caff complained of the quantities
behiif excessive, witness told him that they were not. Mr. Cuff, be bcUeved, said he
would not object to pay £20 lor the estimate, if the builders made the tenders on the
quantities and put tne sum in the contract— that was instead of £38 168., the charge
made. The builders did not object to make the quantities part of the contract. At
the meeting referred to, witness refused to accept £20 for the taking out of the
quantities. He considered that Mr. Cuff was liable to pay the expenses for the
auantities Did not say that Mr. Cuff should pay the expenses £38, whether any of
le tenders were opened or not. The dispute about the charge for taking out the
qnantities, was not tne cause of the meeting breaking up. Had applied to Mr. Cuff
for payment, and threatened to sue him, but he had not paid the charges. Mr. Cuff
wrote in reply, stating that he did not employ the plaintiffs. Believes Mr. Cuff had
carried out the building ; he should not be surprised if witness's quantities were in
excess as to the brickwork six rods, as the building had.'bccn erected); and if it was to
tumble down he should not be surprised either.— Ke-examincd : He employed all the
sklU he could in taking out the quantities. The alteration with regard to the founda-
tion was necessary. As to the lithographs, Mr. Curtis paid for them £8 16s. ; they
had no profit on that. It was not on accountof the dispute about the quantities
the meeting broke up. Mr. Cuff declined to accept the lowest or any tender. Mr.
Glenn told him that it was the impression of the builders the job was to be given to
somebody else, and that all that had been done was done merely to suck their brains
in order to get the work done for less.
Bobert L. Curtis, the other plaintiff, stated that he was a surveyor in Old Broad-
street, and had been in the habit of taking out quantities a great number of years.
Having heard of the intention to erect Mr. CufTs warehouse, one of the builders
applied to him, and he applied to the other builders, to be employed to take out the
quantities, lie had known Mr. Barnett a long time, and he was a skilful surveyor
with reference to the taking out of cjuantities. tie and Mr. Barnett made an
arrangement to do the work in question jointly. He never attended on the site, but
took out the quantities from the plans and specifications. The section of the
boundary walls bad no foundation whatever shown upon it. The specification was
defective in that particular. The charge of £38 16s. was sent in with witness's con-
ctirrence. The charge was a reasonable one. Witness paid for the lithographs, upon
which he only had a commission of S per cent.— Cross-examined : One and a-half
per cent, was not a reasonable charge for a building like that in question ; in all
probability witness stated that be should give Mr. Bowden a commission in respect
of the taking out of the quantities if he was engaged to do so.— Ke-examined : It
was CUB omary to make some such a compliment..
William Waller Gwyver stated that he was a surveyor, and accustomed to take on*
goantitics. He thought the charge made by the plaintiffs was a reasonable one. Was
tormerlr a clerk witu Mr. John Barnett, brother of Hr. James Barnett, one of the
plalntiifb.
This was the case for the plaintiffs.
Mr. Field submitted there was no case. There was noproof of a joint engagement
of the plaintiffs ; Mr. Glenn positively refused to have anything to do with Curtis,
but wrote a letter which he gave to Barnett only. Then there having been no tender
accepted and no first instalment payable, there was no liability on the part of any-
jxidy. And by the plaintiffs' own case it appeared that the quantities taken out were
la excess of the specification, which would of itself disentitle the plaintiffs to
teeoTer.
lb. Stammers said originally Barnett was first employed, and then Barnett and
Cnrtis sgTced to do the work jointly. That was well known to Glenn, the defendant,
u wen as the other builders. But if the Court should entertain any doubt about
there being a joint engagement, then he should apply, under the 97th rule of the
Conrt, to have the name of one of the plaintiffs struck out.
BIr. Field reminded the Court that his friend (Mr. Stammers) admitted that the
original contract was with Mr. Barnett alone.
His Honor thonght the first point was the principal one ; he did not see anything
to siqiport a joint engagement of the plaintiffs. »~ • i b
Mr. BtammcTS then applied that the name of Mr. Curtis should be struck out, and
the cUlm made be lorjCSfi, omitting the £s )6s. paid for lithographs by Mr. Curtis,
MdUie plainUffs would request the Court to state a case for the opinion of a superior
Mr^ield contended that the present was not a case to which the rule of the Court
NfeRcd to bTjtr. Stammers applied, and asked for a non-suit.
•SM?f"7 ^*.!r?hl ^'iff " '° '5'"'' 'hat If pressed to a decision, his decision
S^^ntllT. .^H^Sm ^.?.;^"'JP. °'*.?" '"' ""^ application of the 97th rule, but
he was anxious to avoid further Utigatlon, and it would no doubt be more satis-
factory to all parties if the case could be disposed of that day. It was very ques-
tionable whether the rule of Court applied in this ease, especially after the evidance
which had been given.
After some further conversation it was agreed that the name of Mr. Curtis should
be struck out, on the understanding that he was not to bring any future action,
having reference to the subject-matter of the present plaint.
Mr. Field, in addressing the court for the defendant, said his friend Mr. Stammers'
remarked tliat the plaintiffs had done some work, and that tiierc was nobody to pay
for it if the builders did not, and he considered that that was a monstrous state of
things. His (Mr. Field's) answer was that quantity-surveyors, like house-agents,
auctioneers, and others, were exceedingly eager to get work on the chance of a future
profit. Mr. Cuff wanted to bnild a warehouse, and wanted a builder to erect it for
him. It was necessary that the quantities should be ascertained by somebody, and
who was the person first moving iu the matter ? Did Mr. Glenn go first to Harnett
or Curtis? No, but they found the surveyors going to the builders to solicit their
votes or sanction to take out the quantities. Long before either Barnett or Curtis
heard of this job. Mr. Glenn had been applied to by Mr. Cuff, had seen the ground
and the place where the warehouse was to be built, had fully made up ;hi8 mind as to
the cost, and had never used the quantities taken out by the plaintiffs. The learned
counsel explained at some length the defendant's case, which will be gathered from
the following evidence.
John Glenn, the defendant, stated that he was a builder, and had had thirty-five
years' experience in building. On the Cth of March he received a letter from Mr.
Curtis, and in the evening of the following day be saw Mr. Barnett, who pressed him
to give him his vote to take out the quantities. He told him that he had already had
an application from Mr. Curtis, which he declined to take, and that he would much
prefer having no quantities, as he had already had an interview with Mr. Cuff and
Sir. Bowden, and had, by word of mouth, put a price on the building. Barnett said
witness ought not to stand in his way if he had an opportunity of earning a few
pounds, and hoped that he would give him a letter to Mr. Bowden. Witness con-
sented to do 80, and Barnett said if he gave him a letter he should carry the migority
of the builders and upset Curtis. He gave Barnett the letter. It was the custom of
the trade to give such letters to a surveyor to enable him to take out the quantities.
The usage of the trade was that the lowest competitor, if his tender was accepted
—the sum charged fortaking out the quantities naving been added to his tender-
was to pay for the taking out of the quantities on his receiving payment of the first
instalment. Mr. Bowden made a commuuieation to witness with reference to Mr.
Cuff's dissatisfaction about the quantities taken out. Mr. Barnett asked witness to
use a form of tender which he had prepared, but he objected to it altogether because
he was quite certain that if his tender had been based on those quantities there
would have been a very large amount of deduction in the event of its being gone
into, and he told Barnett so. Witness tendered for a gross sum and never used the
quantities. He told Barnett that the charge of £38 16s. was too mucli for taking out
tile quantities, and begged of him to reduce it. Had an interview with Mr. Cuff,
who in the first onset was unwilling to pay anything for the quantities, but after-
wards was willing to pay £20. Told Barnett that Mr. Cuff was willing to pay £20,
and added that he would add £20 to his tender in the event of its being accepted.
Barnett said he would be present at the time appointed for the opening of the
tenders, and would endeavor to arrange with Mr. Cuff. Witness was present on
the 20th of March when the builders assembled with their tenders. Mr. Cuff and
Mr. Bowden were present. Barnett said he would not consent to take £20, and that
he thought the charge made was a fair and proper one. Witness said ho could not
allow his tender to be opened, because it was in accordance with the plans and speci-
fications, and not in accordance with the quantities. Mr. Barnett urged on Mr. Cuff
to accede to pay the amount charged and let the tenders be opened, but he wouldnot.
'The builders then came away. The dispute about the quantities was the reason the
tenders were not opened. Barnett told Mr. Cuff that he would be liable to pay
thereafter, if he did not pay for the quantities then. Believes Mr. Cuff had executed
the work, but witness had not done it. Had often seen Mr. Barnett since, and he
never intimated to him that he should be liable for payment for the qnantities until
just about Christmas time. The usage was to pay for the quantities on the payment
to the builder of the first instalment. About IJ per cent, was the usual charge for
taking out quantities. In cross-examination tlie witness stated that he really
believed if Mr. Barnett had said at the meeting on the 20th he would take £25 for the
quantities Mr. Cuff would have had the tenders opened.
By the Judge.— At one and a half per cent, the sum would have amounted to about
£18, and then there would be £2 allowed for the lithographs.
Zaehariah Bowden stated that he was a surveyor, and was employed in the capacity
of architect on this occasion by Mr. Cuff, having let liim the ground. On the 7th of
March Mr. Barnett called upon him, and solicited him that he might be allowed to take
out the quantities irrespective of the builders, to make Mr. Cuff liable for the amount,
and witness to share in the profits. Witness declined. Mr. Barnett then asked him
to assist him in obtaining the votes of the builders, by obtaining the plans and speci-
fications. The previous evening witness had allowed Sir. Curtis the drawings and
specifications. He gave Mr. Barnett a note to Mr. Curtis, and the quantities were
taken out in the way which had been explained. Witness's attention was first drawn
to the quantities by Mr. Cuff stating that he had seen the quantities in one of the
builders' hands, and speaking'of the excessive nature of the quantities, and the
charge made for them. Witness satisfied himself of the excess. He took out the
quantities himself, and made five rods less in the brickwork. £12 10s. per rod would
be a reasonable price. He made about six squares of zinc in excess, about £15 m
value. It was not the intention of Mr. Cuff to have banisters for the warehouse, as
it was never intended for a dwelling-house. A very strong rail was specified. Mr.
Cuff objected to those excesses, and also to the charge made for the quantities, which
charge, witness thought, was not very reasonable. Thought one and a half per cent,
would have been a good payment. The proper mode was to make the quantities out
of the plans and specifications. Called Mr. Bamett's attention to the excess of the
zinc work. Mr. Barnett declined to accept £20 for the quantities, but he left witness
to understand that he would himself arrange it with Mr. Cuff at the meetin"- cai the
20th. Mr. Cuff determined that he would not accept the lowest or any tender upon
the qnantities which had been taken, and that was the reason the matter went off.
Never knew of a builder being liable to the charge for quantities under the circum-
stances of this case. He thought that according to the usage of the trade the builder
was not liable.- Cross-examined : Did not thhik that in this ease any one was liable.
Mr. Barnett and Mr. Curtis ought to be the losers. Had done a great deal in taking
out quantities and in measuring. There was no condition m the siieeiflcation that
work not provided for might be carried out, unless an order m writing was given by
him to be added to the contract, and if there was any omission then that would have
to be deducted from the contract. Witness would havedonc as muoli work for a guinea
as had been done in this case by Mr. Barnet and Mr. Curtis -Ke-examined : He
superintended the erection of Mr. Curs warehouse, and Instead of there being 35
rods of brickwork as estimated by Mr. Barnett, there were under .SO.
Mr. J H. Cuff stated that he objected to the qnantities and the charge made for
them. Was present at the meeting of the builders on the 20th. He agreed generally
with the account given of it by Mr. Glenn and other witnesses. He objected to have
the tenders based on the quantities, or to have any measurement afterwards. He
said so to Mr. Barnett.— Cross-examined : He objected to the tenders aa being based
on the quantities which had excesses.
The was the ease for the defendant.
Hr. Stammers having replied,
His Honor said he was clearly of opinion that the defendant was entitled to the
judgment of the court, and of all the builders connected with the case a worse selec-
tion could not have been made than iu making Mr. Glenn th» defendant.— Verdict
for the defendant with costs.
April 12, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
803
SUFFOLK STREET GALLERY.
THE first look round these rooms, as it finds no striking work on which
to rest, receives an impression decidedly unfavorable to the general
contents of the collection. A more patient survey, however, will gradually
reveal a vast number of meritorious works, of second-rate importance as
regards subject, it is true, but in a style of art deserving of warm com-
mendation. Tills opinion, which may be rather indefinitely formed in the
hurry and confusion of a private view, becomes strengthened very greatly
on a second visit, and we have found that a third examination leads to a
positive conviction that the number of pictures possessing consider.^ble
merit is far greater than is believed at either of the preceding examinations
of the gallery. We find, too, the want of more intimate acquaintance
with the works by old-established artists and well-known members of this
institution, for they are frequently, after a cursory glance, condemned col-
lectively as " much as usual," whereas, in several instances the pictures
by the constant exhibitors sliow a palpable advance in composition and
treatment, the examples of which we will point out as we proceed. This
improvement is, no doubt, very satisfactory as regards the present exhibi-
tion, and also a most cheering hope for the future may be derived from
the fact that as a rule, as far as the annual exhibitions have yet shown,
pre-Raflaelitism is going, or rather gone, out of fashion. We do not pre-
tend to say that its influence cannot still be perceived, but the thing itself
has disappeared, and the time may be even nearer than we had ventured
to expect when we warned srtists, critics, and purchasers that pre-
Rafiaelite pictures would be turned to the wall or hidden in the lumber-
room, and the writings of Ruskin, elegant and poetical as they may be,
would lie in dust on bookshelves as unheeded as they will be unquoted.
We have, therefore, although the exhibitions at present opened do not
display any bold or successful attempts in the higher walks of art, every
reason to expect that true and legitimate painting will gradually resume
its position and enjoy its due respect with our painters in every branch
of art.
After having had the pleasure of indulging these anticipations it is not
very agreeable to commence our remarks on the pictures with an excep-
tion, but Mr. Hurlstone, the President of this Institution, has willed it so.
Our readers will, we hope, remember that this artist painted last year the
best and most powerful historical picture of the season ; we regret to find,
however, that he has not pursued that success, and, instead of concen-
trating his talents upon one great effort, has divided his labor upon six or
seven separate works, the subjects for which he has obtained by a recent
visit to his former painting ground — Spain ; and his great aim seems to
be merely a rich and vigorous combination of color. In several of his
present pictures his drawing is as dry and hard as usual, his sunburnt
hues of the flesh as muddy and as opaque as ever, and in most instances
his execution of texture and detail is quite as slovenly as formerly. There
is one picture, as regards subject, unworthily occupying the post of honor
in the large room, but as an attempt at forcible and brilliant coloring it is
both new and successful. It is the portrait of " Josepha, a Spanish Gipsy
of Cuesta of the Alhambra." The principal masses are a dark blue sky,
opposed most violently by a rich red scarf worn over the shoulder and
crossing the figure. The density of the blue is modified to the eye by the
black hair of the gipsy coming against the upper part of it, while its
blueness is enforced and its depth made to retire by a vividly crimson
bow worn amidst the black tresses at the side of the head. Yellow is in-
troduced! as stripes on the scarf, and the white light near the horizon is
brought into the front of the picture on some parts of the dress and on
the fan in the hand of the gipsy. In order to secure the utmost force and
prominence to the leading colors the white parts are all considerably
and advantageously lowered, with perhaps raw umber, so as not to in-
jure the intended richness of the eflect ; but in our opinion the most
novel and interesting artifice will be found in the treatment of the fan,
the blue of the sky, and the red of the scarf being faintly and deli-
cately repeated upon it as its ornaments, and the yellow being used as
the bright and sudden lights on its gilding ; thus the fan absolutely
glitters and comes brilliantly off from the surrounding and powerful
contrast, the whole arrangement being most forcible, sparkling, and
harmonious. Still Mr. Hurlstone 's picture of last year, whicli hung in
the same place, was quite as powerfully painted and more masterly
exeeuted, if not so harmoniously combined in color, and, being a subject
from English history, in comparison with which the portrait of a
Spanish gipsy must show a falling off from his former high ambition.
Our hopes from Mr. G. Cole's picture are certainly not derived from
his animal painting, as it appears in tlie present exhibition, by his " Pride
and Humility" nor his " Interior with Welsh Cattle." The large turkey
in the foreground of the former picture is, although well studied, so hard
and labored as to deprive it of the grandeur it might have possessed, and
in the latter production the same hardness prevails, to which is added a
raw, unfeeling tone of color, besides the greater part of the subject being
executed in a slovenly manner. Therefore it is not from these works,
although in point of size they ought to be considered important, that we
entertain hopes of Mr. G. Cole's return to a better style of painting, but in
his picture entitled " Cattle — Evening," having more tone and focus,we
think signs of reformation may be discovered. In the painting of his
animals we would advise bim to take a hint from the broad pencilling of
Morland, whose neglected example might prove equally beneficial if applied
to the figures of Mr. Cobbett. -'Market Day," for instance, owing to
every part being so obtrusively clean, the females look like young wouien
of tlic middle class dressed up for peasants, and the distant country, as
well as the donkey and cart, have all tiie appearance of being scrubbed
clean for the occasion: but in the "Girl Sewing" there is a decided step
in the right direction ; as regards the style the countenance is better
drawn, and ithe delicate features, if not exactly suited to the situation
in life to which she evidently belongs, may be passed over as possible,
particularly while admiring the happy and reflective mood in which
she proceeds with her work ; but the most favorable sign we find in
the pictures by Mr. Cobbett is in the general effect of his contribution
entitled " On the Look-out," where two little girls are resting on a bank
looking towards the sea. In this there is a breadth of half-tint with well-
employed light, together with the glow of evening sunset, which show that
he lias a better eye for tone, keeping, and subdued color than any of his
recent works have led us to expect; and hence we derive our hopes for the
future, that he and others will see the error of their ways and yield to the
influence of the general change in painting which we flatter ourselves has
now commenced. Accepting Mr. Alfred Clint's rather peculiar colouring as
his perception of nature, which, to our eye, rather mar the excellence of
his execution, we may congratulate him on the increased brilliancy of his
foregrounds, the spirited touching of his details, and the happy choice of his
subjects.
Mr. Alfred Woolmer, from the number, peculiarity, and the indefinite
nature of his compositions, we were much inclined to criticise collectively
and briefly as " much as usual"; but, as far as we can remember so many
works from the satne hand founded upon subjects possessing so little
meaning, we think they are much better and more complete as pictures
than hitherto, and there is more care displayed in the drawing ; but the
hair of the lady in the scene entitled " The Wedding Wreath " is certainly
in no condition to receive that coronet of maiden ambition ; and in
" Jealousy " — in which that uncomfortable feeling is well expressed by the
pose of the figure and the turn of the head — there is a thickness of arm
which reminds us of Mr. Woolraer's former delinquencies in drawing.
Such errors might be easily avoided with a little trouble, if he would
accustom himself to outline the general forms of his figures before he puts
the drapery over them ; but his present practice evidently is to paint in
the dresses and afterwards add so much of the limb as he thinks necessary,
without following the direction of the lines and calculating the kind of
form they really indicate. Upon this principle, if the drawing of the arm
belonging to the principal figure in " Jealousy " be continued in the
" mind's eye " to the elbow, not only a decided disproportion, but an abso-
lute deformity, will be discovered. Mr. Shayer has been as industrious as
ever, and we think that no injustice will be inflicted upon him by saying
that his productions are no better than ever ; for, if we must speak the
truth, we fancy that they are blacker and more mechanical than we ever
remember them. Most persons who visit the exhibitions in this gallery,
except the firmly initiated, find a difliculty in detecting the difference
between the pictures by Mr. Henzell and those by Mr. G. Cole, particularly
the out-door scenes of humbe life ; but we think that difficulty is greatly
diminished this year by the advance the former artist has made towards a
more legitimately pictorial style of treatment, greater ease and play in the
features, and more breadth and atmosphere in the general effect. Mr.
Henzell's " Hush-a-bye, Baby," possesses all those merits in an eminent
degree, as the result of less hand-labor and more head-work in producing
the effect of reality according to the rules of art. But, although we also
admire his " Feeding Time," we think in " Going to Market," while appre-
ciating the pretty style of drawing, he has relapsed into, the cleanly scrubbed
method we have censured in Mr. G. Cole. Of Mr. Zeitter we may say
that we admit his constancy to his Hungarian haunts and affections, and
perceive the change in his mode of pencilling ; but the loss of the ragged
picturesqueness of his former touch, by inviting closer examination, only
shows more plainly than ever the extreme poverty of his drawing and
deficient mastery over the undulations of form. We are constrained, con-
sequently, in this case, to express a regret that we cannot compliment
him, although he displays more finish, upon being the same as usueJ, when
the change for the worse is so evident.
In Mr. Baxter's heads of expression, as the French critics aptly term
such pictures, we think they are less like portraits this year, and there-
fore more proper for the manifestation of sentiment. " The Queen of the
Claddach, Galway, Ireland," is a pleasing example of this, and for the
simplicity with which it is treated, besides the appropriate arrangement of
the colors when compared with the more elevated character and expres-
sion in the head by the same hand on the opposite side of the room, which
will show the feeling with which Mr. Baxter can vary the application of
his powers to the character of his subject. This latter head, as it hangs
near to the portrait of the " Spanish Gipsy," already noticed, affords an
opportunity of studying the merits of the extreme opposites in painting.
In the picture by Mr. Hurlstone we have an extraordinary specimen of
the utmost force the palette can bestow upon canvas for the purpose of a
brilliant and harmonious combination, having no positive human passion
to support, but a merely smiling and strongly marked expression; in fact,
having no higher aim than a daring tour deforce, which would, however
successful in itself, have been destructive to such a head as that by Mr.
Baxter, illustrative of some lines from Moore descriptive of a love-forsaken
maiden, the coloring of which, although equally harmonious with its most
powerful neighbour, is perfectly in accordance in tone and treatment with
the sweet and melancholy words of the poet, and thus we see how the
style of drawing and coloring should vary according to the prevailing
sentiment of the subject. These remarks bring us to the picture of " The
Emigrant's Letter," by Mr. Hemsley, in which the coloring and composi-
tion tell the story remarkably well, and sustain with great success the
leading idea. The interest is centred in the face of the young woman,
whose anxious countenance and tearful eyes show that the contents of
the letter being read by the village postman are of a melancholy nature, and
304
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 12, 1861.
oontrast with his somewhat cvnical look. Tlie espregsion of attention and
anxiety is next seen in the countenance of the young laborer seated beside
the young woman; the boy behind them neglects his bread, cheese, and
onion to hear the news ; and the old mother lays the knife on her
knee and leaves off peeling turnips, that she may put her hand to her
" good " ear. in order that not a word may be lost; a young girl, leaning on
her chair, attends with earnestness, and a little child on the floor plays
heedlessly with the cat, and as a Unk in the composition, brings the subject
roimd to the postman as the point from wliich it commenced. The old
woman's face might be improved in character, but the coloring is suffi-
ciently subdued to support the subject, without predominating injuriously,
and the serious intention of the artist is consistently carried out.
We think, if equal power of concentration had been exercised by Mr.
Bromley in his picture of a school-room, and the boys had generally been
attending more to the principal figure — evidently the stupidest clodpole
among them — under punishment, it would have given more unity of
impression to tliis otherwise clever composition. In this also the coloring
is very properly free from either bright or even positive tints, the whole
being graduated from the yellowish green smock frock worn by the boy
receiving the cane on his open palm. We like all the beads except that of
the schoolmaster, wliich is unnecessarily vindictive in expression, dry,
poor, and hard in the conception, drawing, and execution. Without being
advocates for what is miscalled " the real thing," we should have pre-
ferred more character in the clothes of the boys, and we noticed that those
of the elder boy on the extreme left appeared to be painted from a full-
grown model ; the folds are badly indicated, one of which, on the jacket,
runs very inartistically into the creases formed by the bend of the arm
opposite the elbow. We think our recent observations on the snioke from
the chimney in Achenbach's picture at the French Gallery may be applied
to this respecting the upraised arm of the schoolmaster about to strike
again the hand of the boy. Now, whenever the picture is looked at he
will be always holding up his arm ; therefore, it is a question worth con-
sidering whether the subject, being constantly before the eyes of whom-
soever may possess it, would not have been more pleasant and satisfactory
if the painter had represented the arm down, the lowering of the pyra-
medal ibrm notwithstanding, as if the blow had just been struck. This
indication of being about to do an act which we never see done we think
worthy of more serious consideration from both painters and sculptors
than they at present bestow upon it.
There is in this exhibition only one little picture by the veteran Pyne,
which lias all the graces of his delicate style; but we think the compo-
sition would centre better if the group of figures close to the edge of the
&ame on the left were omitted, or, at all events, considerably subdued in
importance. We have only space left to notice the most striking picture
of the kind in the large room, entitled " The Cornfield," by Mr. Vicat
Cole, and the " Scene on the Coast of Wales," by Mr. Syer. In the former
the artist has followed up his success of last year in a similar subject, and
i;vc:i improved upon it, both in breadth of arrangement and in the execution
of several parts. The com takes a fine sweep across the whole of the
composition; the distant hills on each side, which are of a bold and massive
character, are well connected, and the eye of the spectator judiciously con-
fined to the interesting portions of the scene by the line of clouds, which
extends from nearly one side to the other. There is, perhaps, a little too
much of that up-hill and down-hill style of putting together we see more
frequently than we like in landscapes by Mr. Hook at the Royal Academy.
We allude to the cottage and lane on the right — an arrangement more
anggestive of an earthquake than of rural comfort; and the pre-liaff°aelite
making out of each straw of the stubble in the foreground is antagonistic
to the painter-like execution prevailing throughout the rest of this
excellent picture. In reference to the other picture, we are always puzzled
to know why the works by Mr. Syer apparently attract so little notice,
especially from the press, for really they are productions of considerable
learning and unquestionable ability. They are admirably composed, have
all the requisites of the class of art to which they belong, well-ordered
arrangement, appropriately colored throughout, truly conducted aerial
perspective, masterly in tlieir execution, and touched with a firmness and
spirit by no means common, and yet the name of this artist is as briefly
as possible mentioned or huddled np in " the ruck " at the end of critical
notices. What the public may think or say on this subject we know not,
but we are quite sure that the pictures by Mr. Syer ought to be ranked
highly as works of art.
"THE DESIGN," BUT NOT "THE SUPERINTENDENCE."
F turning over Murray's " Handbook to Northern Italy " the other day,
to find some information I required, I came upon the following
puMges. After describing the additions by Falladio to the Basilica, or Hall of
ivritec, at Vicenza, it goes on to say, " The decree for building this fa<;ade
w«« Made by the Council of the city in 1560, and Palladio was engaged
to superintend the execution of his own designs. When the Palazzo
PrefcUizio opposite the Basilica was built, this precaution was neglected.
Palladio was at Rome when it was in the course of construction, and
hence, as it is said, those who had the direction of the work departed from
hia designs."
Oh : thought I at once, that competition committees in this and other
countries— for the evil, as we saw in the Lille competition, is not confined
to our own— could see the full force of the lesson to be derived from these
simple passages— oh ! that they could sec that it is not alone a great in-
justice that they do to the selected competitor, but an entire frustration of
tneir own wishes and intentions as they were at the time they selected the
design, and a great injury and loss that they occasion to the town and
kingdom that the building belongs to.
Oh, that they could, or would, see that the second of the two latter
passages, in which the error is related, where it is stated that those that
had the direction of the work departed from Ms designs, is an inevitable
and inseparable sequel to the first, in which it said that the precaution
was neglected, of specially engaging that Palladio should superintend his
own designs !
Oh, that they would see that, if they really looked after their own
interests as responsible for the satisfactory result of their labors, of con-
sidering the requirements of the building, and selecting the design that
they think best suited for their purpose — oh, that they would see that if
they really wished that those labors should have a satisfactory result, they,
instead of stipulating in their particulars of the competition, as they often
do, that they are not bound to employ the successful competitor to super-
intend his own design, would take, on the contrary, every care to bind
over every competitor to superintend, if his design is selected.
Oh, that they would see, what is most undoubtedly the case, that even
if they employ a more clever man, that to employ any other man than he
that designed it is sure to ruin the building, and that it is therefore them-
selves, and the country or community that they represent, that they are
wronging, as well as the successful competitor.
And yet what is really the case ? Just the contrary. In the majority
of cases they either especially state that they are not bound to employ
the successful competitor to superintend, when they ought to bind liim to
superintend; or without honestly stating that they reserve the right, give
the superintendence to some one else, directly the design is selected. Now,
it is not my intention here to show how great an injustice is done to an
artist so treated ; how great the deprivation inflicted on him ; how neces-
sarily underpaid he must be for the thought and labor he has
bestowed; how they purchase from liim, for an inadequate remuneration,
brains for another to profit by ; how little they give him for one of the
most precious of gifts given to man — creative genius ; how necessarily
they involve Mm in loss of fame and risk of misrepresentation ; in how
awkward a position they place the man to whom they give the
impossible — I repeat perfectly impossible — task of endeavouring to complete
a work begun by another; for it is irrevocably begun, if it is once
resolved to build on that design, and consequently the result must be
the well-known result of trying to mix oil and water — for one has begun
and another is to finish.
I say it is not my object to point out and insist upon the evils caused
to others by this short-sighted practice, or to say anything of the reasons
why it is done, but to point out, that when the committee have liad their
way ; when all this loss and injustice has been inflicted on the successful
competitor ; when much dispute has been occasioned and reams of paper
have passed through the printing-press, and been covered with complaints
and controversies on the subject ; when the man that the committee, for
whatever reasons they may have had, wished to appoint has been
appointed ; and when, in spite of the profession, the aggrieved parties, and
the press, the committee seem to have triumphed, they have not triumphed !
Have not ? — when they got their way in everything they wished, in spite
of all opposition. I say no ! — most emphatically no I — they have not
triumphed ! Then who has ? — The artist that they have deprived of his
duo, if revenge and his still keeping the key to the success of the build-
ing which they have foolishly thrown away could compensate a true artist
for the spoliation of Ms art-creation. The profession, if seeing and being
able to discern the utter failure and discomfiture of an apparently
triumphant opponent could supplant the grief at a slight to a brother
artist and a loss to the nation of a work of art. The writers of the press,
if pointing out to their apparently triumphant opponents the utter failure
of their short-sighted policy, and the being right in their predictions, could
make up for the grief of seeing the result in failure where they
wished for and tried hard to produce success, and of being at last believed
only when it is too late to remedy. Why is it that these have triumphed,
and not the committee, who seemed to have got their way in everything ?
Because having their own way in appointing a man to superintend who
did not design was contradictory to their first wish, as expressed by
having a competition at all, and by their selecting one design out of the
result of that competition.
For it is to be presumed that at the time they selected the design they
wished to have a building erected exactly the counterpart and fulfilment
of that design, and that because it was, in their opinion, the best of those
put before them in the competition ; whereas, in appointing another man
to superintend, they take the very course to ensure their not getting what
they themselves desire ; therefore is it that I say that, were it not for the
vexation that they feel at the unhappy result, it would be their opponents,
not they, that would have cause to triumph ; and I should have thought
that a very little consideration on the part of the committees themselves
would convmce them of this. Do they they think that a single set of
competition drawings are sufficient to erect their desired building from?
No, they would probably say ; but our superintending architect will do
the rest: he will make what fuller or working drawings are required. But
I ask again, if they admit that the builder or practical man cpu'd not
erect the building from those first drawings of the original arts.t who
designed them, how is their surveyor, or practical man, or superii.tonding
architect to apprehend entirely, from those same drawings, .ill the inten-
tion of the designer, so as to carry out to the full the same building that
was intended to be erected with all its author's meaning? Very likely he
cannot, then there it is. If the only drawings prepared by the mind and
head that conceived the design which is to become a building aie not
April 12, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
305
sufficient to give the superintending architect an entire apprehension of
the designer'8 fullest intention of what that building was to be, how can
he produce it i So the committee, by their chosen course, cannot obtain
the building that they themselves chose, as in many Instances, out of
eighty or a hundred designs.
But perhaps they will say, though they may not get precisely the
same building, yet they will get most likely asgood a building, with all
the principal features that struck them in the drawings, and if their
superintendent is a clever designer, perhaps the alterations will be im-
provements. But this I utterly deny, and will proceed to show, that if it was
so granted, that even then the course they take is the wrong one, and' there
is a better open to them; for all the deviations being grafted into features,
that were not intended, and consequently not fitted by the original designer
to receive them, will be incongruous; while, if we grant that you have hit,
in selecting your superintending architect, on such a genius as with these
disadvantages still to produce a better building, what would he not have
done if lie had sent in for the competition, won the prize, and carried out
in harmony his own uninjured work ?
Then what is the only safe course, and why ? Take care to give the
superintendence of the building to the man who made the design, because
he alone can go to the full intent, and beyond the intent of the draw-
ings; he alone knows what he intended, when he could not express half he
meant on his first drawings, which, when he comes to draw again on a
larger scale, he does not alter but develop ; he alone can alter and
improve, for he does not alter unless to improve on second thoughts.
Depend upon it, all that a designer means, when he ftrst takes up a soft
pencil and roughs out his first idea, does not fully come out except day
after day as the working drawings are made, day after day as the work
proceeds, day after day as he walks round, and has a contour or chisel-
touch altered while yet there is time. Once more I ask, how can another
do this for a man's own creation?
Oh, ye committees! oh, ye architects ! asked to take the carrying out of
another man's ideas, remember the passages I turned up by chance the
other night.
"And Palladio was engaged to superintend the execution of his own
designs.
" When the Palazzo Prefettizio opposite the Basilica was built, this pre-
caution was neglected.
" Palladio was at Rome when it was in the course of construction, and
hence, as it is said, those who had the direction of the work departed from
his deaigns." R. J).
♦^
THE INSTITUTE— THE CURRICULUM.
TO all external appearances, there is dead silence respecting the Diploma question
at the Institute — a silence which is causing the Profession to believe that
the result of the late series of debates respecting the proposed architectural ex-
amination will end in nothing but smoke— furnishing an additional reason why
provincial architects should not join the Institute. Previous matters which have
been discussed by this body have remained unaffected by their decision. The
elaborate disquisitions of certain learned members upon the Competition ques-
tion have been consigned to that limbo which is stated to be a pretty secure
receptacle for good intentions. The wisdom of the Institute in this matter having
availed nothing in its elucidation, placed the matter upon no firmer a basis than it
before possessed — nay, not efiiicting even a titlie of the interest which attached
itself to its discussion by that junior Societv which is now domiciled within its
walls.
Yet, injustice to the Institute, we are forced to say it is not idle in the question
of Architectural Examinations. One step has been taken by the Council which
has tended to relieve it of a little of the opprobrium which has hitherto signalised
it — that of appointing an "Examination Committee" to deliberate and report
upon the shape it may be thought desh'able that the examinations should assume;
and the Council has had the good sense to avail itself of the powers vested in it by
its charter; of selecting a large number of the members of the Institute who have
not hitherto figured in the " house list," and, therefore, have not had a seat at its
Board. For tliis unexpected hberality— aithougli in a measure forced upon it
by the pressure from without— we must give it credit, and testify also to the
wisdom displayed by it in the choice of the members of that Committee. We
think all parties are fairly represented, and Gothic as well as Classic can have its
say, adduce its arguments, and aid in securing a thorough, good, and qeneral
curriculum.
We are glad to learn also that the Committee have commenced their labors :
that they have, in fact, had many meetings, at short intervals ; and that their
solution of the problem has made good headway. Further than this we cannot
say, the deliberations being in secret and their suggestions " confidential."
We wait for the result— patiently we can say ; mail wc say hopefully also 1
As, however, we cannot aid them in this matter, we will try to enlighten our
leaders as to what should be, in oar estimation, tlie course of examination to be
pursued, and the nature of the curriculum to be adopted.
We deem it absolutely necessary that principals should themselves institute an
examination as to the proficiency of the youtlis offered to them as pupils in all
the branches of elementary knowledge which go to make up what is familiarly
known as a liberal education. This, as a starting-point, we deem of great
unportance, as without it the principal must always be battling with difficulties
more or less insurmountable, and prevented (however willing he may be — nay,
however able— to discharge his duties) from doing that justice to his pupil which
is expected of him from the parents on one side and the profession on the other.
Thus it would be absolutely necessary that the intending pupil should possess
a fair knowledge of two languages — say that of Latin and French, for in these
two most of the valuable works of reference he would have to consult are to be
found. It is not necessary that it should be limited to this, but the possession of
these two should be the minimum, because also in most of our public and private
schools these languages are generally taught. We presume the pupil to be,
therefore, in addition, master of his own language and a tolerable grammarian.
Next to languages, we may class arithmetic and algebra— both of which are
essentially necessary to him who would fight his way up the ladder of fame, or
even wish to attain mediocrity in his profession. He should be able also to work
out the first four books of Euclid, proving himself, thus, acquainted with their
principles.
Simple as is the next requirement, "drawing," how often do we find what is
termed "a taste for drawing " entirely absent in candidates for the honor of the
T-square and compasses ! As often, perhaps, as we meet with young men whose
only qualification, as urged by their fond parents, seems to be "a taste for draw-
ing ! ;" Free-hand drawing, and the use of the sable with water colors, is one
great requirement for a successful pupilage ; and this rudimentary knowledge is
now deemed essential to the curriculum of schools professmg to give a " liberal
education."
The examinations themselves should be divided into three, as follows : —
1st. Examination of students, on the com])letion of their articles, for a certifi-
cate of competency to act as junior clerk-s.
2nd. Examination of junior clerks at about the age of twenty-five or earlier
for a certificate of competency to enable them to act as general assistants, and to
practise as architects, and for admission also to the Institute as Associates (or
other name if thought desirable).
3rd. Examination of such as desire admission to the Institute as Fellows, and
to entitle them to a degree as such, or to one equivalent thereto.
Of these three several degrees we recognise the first as the most important, as
it would he the only stepping-stone to future honor, and to a worthy position in
the profession. The faithful training, besides, by the jirincipal to enable his
pupil to pass it, would be a natural consequence, as a failure here would in nine
cases out of ten reflect the greatest dishonor upon him who had neglected the
onerous duties and responsibilities attending upon the receivhig a premium for
their due performance, and the only method of checking that wholesale traffic in
pupils, too common, alas, in the present day.
This examination should be strict, without being too severe. At first it should
be comparatively light, to enable the chan<^e it would necessarily effect to be
worked out gradually and successfully. It is of the greatest importance that the
line of study recommended for the attainment of this object should be clearly
defined ; that all principals should know what would be expected at their hands
at the completion of their duties, and thus enable them to devote their attention
thereto. Ten years after these examinations shall have been recognised, it should
be gradually made more stringent, so that ultimately the great end and aim of
the present advocates for a diploma may be attained, and the groundwork laid
for an application for those powers which would be necessary for the issue of a
diploma having the same value in the eyes of the public as those of the medical
profession.
Where there must necessarily exist such a diversity of opinion, we should be
wrong in speaking dogmatically, but we will venture to draw a brief outline of
a scheme which we know would have the support of many, and which, by its
moderation, would possibly recommend itself to all.
Should the candidate not have successfully passed University examinations,
or taken degrees, regulations should he made "requiring an examination in such
general branches of knowledge as they may deem necessary, and no such person
should on any account be admitted to a further examination unless producing to
the Advanced Exanuners a certificate from the Preliminary Examiners of his
proficiency therein. Should due care have been exercised by the prin-
cipal in selecting his pupils, this portion would be of trifling importance —
its retention acting only as a caution and safeguard in case this care should not
have been taken. A certificate of having passed the middle class e-xaminationi,
or the " moderation " examinations, preliminary to taking a degree at Oxford
and Cambridge, should render this part of the curriculum unnecessary. Similar
certificates from the Queen's University Ireland, or the Colleges of Dublin,
Belfast or Cork, should be held equivalent to those before namS, as also from
the College of Preceptors.
After a time these examinations might take place prior to the binding of a
pupil to his articleship, the majority of principals being, we should presume,
wilUng to consult the Institute Examiners upon these points and to induce tlie
parents to consent to such a course. Ultimately, this proceeding should become
the rule and not the exception.
The examination for the first degiee should therefore embrace the following
subjects — the limit being of course fixed by the Examiners, as they may deem
expedient : —
English Grammar. — Analysis and parsing.
English Composition. — Consisting of an impromptu article upon 8 given
subject.
Arithmetic. — The ordinary rules — simple, compound and vulgar fractions.
Accounts. — Kind of, to be fixed by the examiners.
Geography. — General and local.
History. — Ancient and modern — but more particularly of our own country.
Languages. — Translations of given portions of two standard works in any two
of the following — Latin being in all cases one of them — Latin, French, German,
Greek.
1. Latin. — "Csesar's Commentaries de Hello Gallico." (Book II.)
2. jFVencA.—" Charles the 12th" " Fenelon's Telemaque."
3. German.— Schiller's " Revolt of the JVetherlands."
4. Greek. — Xenophon's Anabasis." (Book II.)
The books and subjects to be of course varied at the discretion of the
Examiners.
MathcTnatics.— Euclid, Books 1 to 4. Algebra, to simple equations inclusive.
— Plain Trigonometry.
Mechanics.— To a limited point, fixed by Examiners.
Drawing. — From the flat, round, and human figure ; scale and perspective
drawing; shadows.
Design. — One given subject in the Classic, and one in the Gothic style.
Periods and character of building to be fixed.
Construction. — Each design to be accompanied by details and working draw-
ings, with a detailed specification of the method of construction, ventilation, and
decoration. Such drawings, &c., to l)e a practical example of the author's know-
ledge of the principles and practice of construction, furtlier exemplified by plana
and specifications of given alterations to an existing building, whose locality
should be defined, with methods of securing dangerous portions by shoring, &c.
Construction of arches generally.
Quantities and the elements of land surveying.
Chemistry, Geology, Hydraulics, Sfc., to a limited point.
306
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 12, 1861.
StnKtfth of the diSkreat materials used in the coiistmction of
Hiitaruof Artlatteture. To a defined period. General knowlcdOT of the
imtmmAmtAm (ad Biia fattm« of the Grecian, Roman, and Anglo-Gothic styles.
rtWIwi^lh llilii iir« linn of the examinations may, at a first glance, be thought
laAcr (tiff, Tet, as it would not be adrisable to go into each too deeply, it would
ia Mklity not be so. There is no one item defined above upon which an arehi-
tmmtmrm\ wu^ ahoiild be ignoraut at the period of the completion of his articles,
Mid BaBT npon which, unless his time bos been wasted, :.e should be tolerably
■w^ ap. It would be undesirable to publish a curricnlnm of the actual exami-
aotkos DMinths before tlie time apiwuited for tliese examinations to take place,
tet it U dairable that a good insight into the probable line of examinations
AoaU be ghren, that a general study of those subjects should be undertaken.
A Tery short time then would be suflicient to work np any particular portions
I which the examiners might lay great stress. This would prevent " cram-
and would facilitate the progress of the pupil towards perfection by
^ the principal rightly to direct his studies.
Upon obLiining a certain number of marks in this examination, the candidate
to receJTe a eertiiicate of competency to enable him to enter an office, not as
" Improver," as is too often the case now, but as junior assistant.
Ike second examination may be open to all who have served one fiJl year as
jniiar instant, this short period being fixed because many at that time may be
mml infinitelv more fit for the trial than others at a much more advanced age.
Hard study, tfierefore, should entitle any young man to challenge an examina-
tion in the second degree, after this short probationary period.
The second examination having for its aim the certifying the candidate as
competent to take the general management of an office, should be an enlarge-
ment oft lie subjects of the first degree, with certain important additions, as
ibUows: —
The Principle and Practice of the Profession. — The responsibilities of an
architect as between client and bndder, as surveyor of work, as valuer of pro-
perty, the law of dilapidations, fixtures, rights of adjoining owners as to light,
puty walls. Sac, law of contract, building Acts, sanitary requirements, aivhi-
tectural jurisprudence generally.
Workinij hctaiU. — In wood, stone, marble, brick, the precions metals, glass
and iron. Essays also on the use of materials.
Art. — Essays and answers to questions on the styles. Pagan art. — Egyptian,
Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Renaissance, &c. Christian Art (Proper).-^Gothic
of Great Britain, France, Germany, and Italy.
Candidates not to be examined fully in more than one style, but generally in
the leading features of all. Peculiarities in ornament and detail.
Archieoloyy. — Svmbolism, iconography, Shr.
A certificate of thorough proficiency m these two degrees should enable the
candidate to practice fully as an architect, and entitle him to a diploma as such.
It should also open wide to him the doors of the Institute.
A partial proficiency, (if we may so use the term), up to a given point, should
entitle the candidate to a certificate enabling him to accept tne office of general
assistant, competent to take the occasional management of the practice in the
absence of tlie principal, but not to practise himself until the full examination
lud lieen passed.
Should ambition fire the soul for a further trial of strength, and determine it
to obtain that which should be a very high honor to its possessor, a further
examination sliould be instituted, the reward of which should be the " Fellow-
ship" of the Institute. In these " good times " to come, the constitution of the
Institute would necessarily be very difierent to the present j it should then stand
out as the recognised and legSl head of the profession, not only by name, but in
fiu;t ! The honor of fellowship with her then, would be as great as that now
eqoyed by those of the Royal College of Physicians ; would be as hardly earned,
and as noblv worn.
He would, perforce, be required to show his thorough proficiency in acoustics,
dtemistry, (as applied to building materials, the laws of health, &c.) geometry,
indnsive of conic sections, geology, mineralogy, hydrostatics and mechanics.
Algebre including quadratic equations, and plane and spherical trigonometry
dionid not be omittol.
We have thus briefly sketched an outline for our readers, which may not be
nninteresting even to those among them who form the Architectural Examina-
tion Committee, and if there are any suggestions which they may deem service-
able we shall not be sorry for having made them. In the meanwhile we may
lemind our readers that the above outline is made for the purpose of eliciting
from some of them remarks upon this question. As the labors of the committee
will doubtless extend over some few weeks, an open discussion as to what could
with advantage form the curriculum, might not be useless to them, if only to
show wtiat the opinion of a few outsiders might be. It is a very important
matter, and upon the result of the deliberations of the Committee depends greatly
the failure or establishment of the whole concern. We hope they are fully alive
therefore to the responsibilities they have incurred, and to the criticisms wludi
their report will be subject to when emerging from the "confidential" to the
"public." H. J.
THE GREAT RAILWAT BRIDGE OVER THE RHINE.
A FORTNIGHT since we gave an account of experiments made to
test the strength of this magnificent work, which was opened to
the public on the 6tli of April. Tlie engineers and directors wisely
determined to submit the work to much more serious and continued tests
of its efficiency than those which we have already detailed ; and as too
much care cannot, for the sake of the reputation of the engineering pro-
fession, as well as for that of humanity, be taken in such matters, it will
be interesting to lay before our readers the definite trials which have been
carried out with respect to this great work. The definite and official experi-
ments commenced on the 27th of last month, and were carried out under
the direction of an international Commission appointed by the two
Oorenimenti of France and Baden. 14 locomotives and 80 trucks, 60
faring loaded with rails, were provided for the purpose, and afforded the
"""y <rf placing a weight of about 8 tons on every yard of the line
iiuuiiiig over the fixed and swinging bridges. The total load was about
960 torn ; the deflection of the fixed bridges averaged about lialf an inch,
which wai maintained throaghout the whole of the trials ; the turning
bridges exhibited a deflection of less than a quarter of an inch.
In one experiment a weight equal to about four tons per yard
was left on the chief points of the bridge during a whole night,
the bridge being thus loaded in its lines to the extent first indicated,
namely, about eight tons per yard. This load caused the fixed bridge
on the Baden side to deflect nearly an inch, but tlie line is said to
have recovered its level completely on the weight being run ofi" on the
foUoiring morning. In some cases the load was carried as high as ten
tons per yard, and yet the report says that no change whatever occurred
in the levels of the work which remained perfectly uninjured and unaltered
after the trials. We have not yet received the report on the final experi-
ments with rolling weights, or, in other words, trains in motion, but the
following is the programme laid down, and no doubt whatever is enter-
tained of the result. Two trains, each composed of two Enguerth locomo-
tives, five trucks loaded with twelve tons of iron, a carriage of the second
class and a luggage van, and forming together a load of about 240 tons,
were to be run together over the work at the rate of about 21 miles per
hour, and afterwards to repeat the journey at same rate, but in the opposite
directions simultaneously. After such a series of trials the railway union
of France and Baden may be looked upon as fairly accomplished, and the
Kehl bridge may certainly take its place amongst the engineering lions of
Europe.
♦^
ALPINE RAttWAY TUNNEL.
A SARDINIAN Commission has been appointed to inquire into the
method of carrying the railway through the Alps which divide Italy
from Switzerland. There are several projects which liave been submitted
to consideration, one proposing to pass through the Saint Gothard, another
the Lukmanier, a third through the Splungen, a [fourth by the Little
Saint Bernard, and the last by the Septimer; and the Commission is now
occupied in examining into the relative advantages of the various pro-
posed lines. The road through the Lukmanier seems to be in the highest
favor. This mountain is not so high as either Saiilt Gothard or the
Splungen, which alone are considered to stand in;any rivalry with the first-
mentioned. The culminating point of Lukmanier is about 735 feet lower
than that of the Splungen, and it is hoped that the difference in the
expense of the tunnelling will be in proportion. On the other hand, the line,
if taken through the Lukmanier, would be more than 96 miles, while by
St. Gothard it would be just over 83, and by the Splungen but 75 miles
long. The road by Saint Gothard would have about 17 miles of levels
and 34 miles of incline of about 1 yard in 40; that by Lukmanier about
15 miles of level and about 24 miles of incline at the rate above men-
tioned; that by the Splungen would have about 26 miles of levels and
63 of incline. These steeps would require fixed engines to work that part
of the lines. The cost of the road by the Splungen is estimated at one
hundred millions of francs, or four millions sterling; that by each of the
other lines ninety millions of francs, or £3,600,000. The selection of the
line is a matter of great difficulty, for Italy has now many capitals that
have a claim to consideration. Turin, Milan, and Genoa may be consi-
dered as having equal rights. The task is, then, to choose that line which
will present the nearest approach to an average advantage for all these
capitals. It is argued that if the object were simply to place Italy in
communication with Central Switzerland and Bale, the route by Saint
Gothard would certainly be selected; but if the formation of an easy com-
munication with Germany and Belgium be taken into the account, then
Genoa and Turin would advocate the line of the Lukmanier, and Milan
that of Saint Gothard. These arguments seem to promise that for the
present, at any rate, the famous pass of the Splungen will not be super-
seded by a tunnel through the heart of the mountain. Whichever line
may be chosen, the works of tlie Alpine railway will be well worth a
holiday trip to see them in operation.
ARCADES AT THE HORTICULTURAL GARDENS, SOUTH
KENSINGTON.
THE upper or north arcades are circular on plan and built of Portland
stone and brick, the rusticated pilasters being of moulded and rubbed
red bricks.
The enrichments of frieze and spandrels, &c., are to be of glazed and
colored terra-cotta. The height to the top of balustrade is 26 feet, and
the clear width of arcade within 23 feet. The middle arcades on the east
and west sides of the gardens are each 630 feet in length, 23 feet high to
the top of the cornice, and the clear width within 20 feet. These arcades
are built of moulded and rubbed red and yellow bricks, the caps and bases
of piers, upper members of cornice, and margins round niches being of
Portland stone.
The niches and enrichments of frieze and spandrels, &c., are to be of
colored and glazed terra-cotta.
The upper story building, shown in the engraving, is a suggestion by
the architect, and not proposed to be carried out at present.
It is expected that these open arcades will form a convenient and
agreeable enclosure to the gardens, affording a place of refuge in case of
a shower, and when the sun is too powerful. There are also many objects
of art and nature which would be advantageously exhibited under these
open arcades.
New Quarters for Married Soldiert. — Mr. G. Naylar, the Govern-
ment contractor at Rochester, has entered into an arrangement with the War
Department for the erection of a large range of buildings at Slieemess for married
quarters for the non-commissioned officers and men of the Uoyal Engineers, at
an expense of £10,000.
308
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 12, 1861.
April 12, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
309
April 12, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
311
ON THE AROiriTECTTIBE OP THE ELEVENTH CENTURY.*
THE eleventh century forma a very importnnt era in the hintoiy of arctiitectnro,
and yet it is one which has been commonly overlooked. We have lonj; been in
the habit of considering bnildinjjs as cither Roman or Early Saxon, of the time of
iiede and Anc-uwtine, or else Norman ; bnt there is strong ground for believing' that
the nsual habit of the Anglo-Saxon people vpas to build in wood only, and that stone
ImiMiiiga before the eleventh century were extremely rare. The language itself
.iffonls good evidence of this: the Anglo-Saxon word for a buildingof any kindis
: vmbre ; and to build is getymberea.
' There Is also good groimd to believe that the Inhabitants of Gaul were very little in
adviinee of those in England at the same time.
During the tenth centnry the general belief in the Millennium Is supposed to have
exercised consirterablelnfluence, and made people averse to any substantial building.
Ill the words of Dean Milman ;— "In many parts of Cliristendom there prevailed a
(it'op and settled apprehension that with the thousandth year of Christ the world
would come to an end. Men hastened to propitiate the coming, almost present.
Judge, by the'sacriliee^of their ill-gotten, now useless, possessions. The deeds of the
time, the donations of estates, and of all other gifts to the church, arc inscribed with
the significant phrase, *the end of the world being at hand.' "t
Rudolphus Glater, who \vrotc in the early part of the eleventh century, records
under the year lOOli that "All over the world, but especially in Italy and Gaul, the
number of new buildings that were being erected of stone was so great that it ap-
peared as if the world were clothing itself with a new white robe. In every town
and village, churches, monasteries, or bishops' seats were in the course of erection ;
and even in the hamlets small oratories."
From the beginning of the eleventh century the history of the Medieval architec-
ture really begins, \yhatever the cause was, whether thcdisturbed state of all the
countries of Europe during the two previous centuries, in which we read of nothing
but w.arfare and pillage everywhere, or whether the general belief in the Millen-
nium and the prophecies of Bernard the Hermit really had much influence— the tact
is certain that we have scarcely any remains of buildings of the ninth and tenth
centuries in Europe, .ind very few records of any having been built during that
period. At Rome itself we do not find a single building recorded iVom the middle of
the ninth century to the beginning of the twelfth, the great revival being there a
century later than in Fnance and England. In all the rest of Italy we have only two
on record of the ninth century, and two of the tenth.
In France the examples of this dark period arc scarcely more numerous, and
fVom the time of Charlemagne to the beginning of the eleventh century is almost a
blank.
In England, where our records are more perfect than in any other country, we
have just seven churches recorded to have been built of stoncduring the same period,
in terms which show that the building a stone church was an event to be recorded.
Rut we find no mention of thejbuilding of castles or palaces, or houses; and many
other churches are mentioned in such terms as to show that they were built of wood
only. In 10.52 Canute's charter to Glastonbury is dated from the wooden church
there. As this was one of the most wealthy and important abbeys in England,
situated in one of the most fertile and peaceful districts, the case is rendered par-
ticularly strong by this evidence, that such was the general custom.
It follows that when a people had been accustomed for two centuries or more to
build almost entirely of wood, the arts of quarrying stone, of cutting it smooth, and
Btill more ofcarving it, must have been almost lost. The appearance of the build-
ings which we find coincides exactly with what we are thus led to expect, both in
England and France. All the buildings of the early part of the eleventh century
are a rude imitation of such Roman btiildings as were then standing ; and in parti-
cular parts of France a provincial char.acter was formed, diu-ing the eleventh and
twelfth centuries, from the imitation of the particular Roman buildings in each pro-
vince. In Kngland the Roman buildings had been so generally destroyed, that
when the fashion of building in 'stone was revived, there was a difficulty in finding
models to copy from, as well as workmen capable of executing them.
The long-dreaded year, 1000, having passed, it was concluded that'the world had
been granted a new lease, and the people now became anxious to build in the most
substantial and permanent manner. In England their efforts were, at first, very
rude, and the work appears more like that of carpenters than of masons ; some of
the early towers, such as Earl's Barton, look as if they were copied from timber
buildings; andoneof the characteristics of the Anglo-Saxon buildings, technically
called long-and-short-work, in which one long stone is placed up the angle and
another through the wall as a bond, is more like carpentry than masonry.
Our fathers called all our Norman buildiuf^s Saxon, and, by a natural reaction, we
have gone to the opposite extreme, and called everything of this style twelfth century.
There are, however, a numerous class of buildings which really belong to the
eleventh ; and the gradual development of the skill of the workmen from their first
rude efforts when the building movement eorainenced, at the beginning of this
century, to the consummate science of the thirteenth, afl'ords a remarkably inte-
resting subject for study.
At first, from ignorance of the quality of their building material, stone, they
thought they could hardly build their walls thick enough, or make their pillars heavy
enough ; the masonry, also, is very rough, and the joints of mortar very wide. A
gradual, slow improvement takes place in all these respects, and before the end of
the eleventh century we have very good masonry, and walls and pillars of more
moderate thickness, as the workmen gradually acquired more confidence in their
own skill, and in the strength of their material.
These general remarks ajiply to France quite as much as to England. In some
parts of France, the progress was more rapid than in others ; and during this century
Aquitainc and the western provinces appear to have taken a decided lead, probably
from their more intimate connexion with Byzantium, one of the high roads of
commerce being at that period through those provinces ; and a settlement of
Byzantine merchants appears to have been established at Limoges and Perigueux.
The inliabitants of England were actuated by the same spirit as their neighbours
on the Continent, and were equally anxious to erect substantial buildings of a
permanent character, but, for want of models, were driven more upon their own re-
sources ,-ind invention, and soon developed a style of their own, the idea of which,
being taken chiefly from the wooden structures to which they were accustomed, their
towers are of a more lofty character than the buildings of the corresponding period
in Normandy, although the masonry is not so good.
The Norman masons had the immense advantage of an excellent buildiu"- stone
easily worked, and found in the clifl's of the navigable river Orne, so that it was
easily transported by water carriage, and a good deal of It was brought over to
England even before the Conquest.
In a grcAt part of Aquitainc these early masons had the same advantage. The
stone of Angoulerac and some other quarries is as good and as accessible as the
better- known Caen stone.
Consirtiring the comparative disadvantages with which the English had to contend
their biiildiugs of this period are remarkably good, and have an original character
which we find nowhere else. ".Their towers liave been compared to the campaniles
of Italy, but the resemblance is very slight : both are tall and slender, but that is all.
In It.ily they are all of brick, and aU of one stereotyped pattern, and not one of
them is of this period : some may po3.sibly be earlier, many are certainly later, and
all, from the earliest to the latest, are almost exactly alike, even to minute details.
The Italians were such admirable copyists, that it is almost impossible to tell which
are early and which are late.
Of our English towers, on the contrary, no two are alike, and there is an evident
steady progress in them quite as rapid as we could reasonably expect. They hawe
* Read by Mr. .1 H. Parkeb, F.S.A., at the Architectural Museum, on Wedncs-
a«jr evening, April 3.
t Mllman's "Latin Christianity," book v., chap. 13.
not yet been sufficiently examined and compared with each other to arrange them In
strict chronological order, but I have no doubt that it may be done and wlllbc done.
The tow^ers of this period have more commonly been preserved than the otber
parts of the churches ; being used for the belfry, ft has b<!en convenient to preserra
them when the rest of the church has been rebuilt or altered.
We have not a single perfect church of this periml remaining, bnt we have enonsb
remaining, by taking; different parts from different churches, to make oat MrtTs-
factorily what these cliurches were like, which is more than we can say of an earlier
period.
One of the characteristics of the buildings, the long-and-short-work for the groins
on the angles, has been already mentioned. Another is the use of a kind of stoBO
baluster to divide the windows in the place of a shaft or a mnllion ; these balnster*
have evidently been turned in a turning-lathe, which Is Jnst what we should expect
a carpenter to do, but what a mason would never think of dotog. The constniotion
of tlie walls is rude and coarse, either of rag or rubble, or sometimes partly of
herring-bone work, and often plastered on the outside.
The use of what we call pilaster strips on the surface of the wall instead of
buttresses, is another imitation of woodwork. There arc sometimes several tiers of
these used as ornamental arcadeS. What is called the straijght-sided arch, or the
triangular head to an opening, as at Barton-on-IIumber and Earl's Barton, is also
obviously derived from placing tAVO pieces of timber to meet at the point. The
windows are usually placed in the middle of a thick wall, and the opening splayed or
spread out, both outside and inside, as at Cavcrslield ; and when there arc two ll^hta
to the window, a long stone is carried through the wall, and supported In the mMdlo
by the baluster, as at.'^t. Benet's, Cambridge.
The frequent use of Roman tiles in the masonry, or rather in the rubble walling, la
hardly to be considered a characteristic. The use of old materials is not confined' to
any style, .and the earliest builders in stone would naturally use the remains of Roman
buildings whenever they could find them, as they did in all countries. The use of
plain square blocks of stone for imposts is, I believe, peculiar to the earlier specimens
of this style, and belongs obviously to the rudest kind of construction.
The peculiar moulded imposts, as at Hamock, are quite as much like pieces of wood
let into the wall horizontally for bonding, as they are hke Roman mouldings, of
which they are supposed to be a rude imitation. In the later examples, such as St.
Benet's, Cambridge, Corhampton, &c., the moulded imposts are of very decided
Norman character.
I cannot find any special peculiarity in the plans of these churches, and the circular
staircases, which Mr. Rickman considers one of the features, appear to mc to be eren
more common in Norman work.
They have no buttresses. The arches are quite plain, square in section, and not
recessed, except in the later examples. They are often formed of tiles or thin stones
used edgeways, like tiles, as at Britford, Wilts. WTien there is any carving it is rudo
and shallow, and an unskilful imitation of Roman.
One of the most perfect churches of this century that we have remaining, has only
recently been noticed ; it is at Bradford-on-Avon, in Wiltshire, .and stands side by
side with the present church, apart of which is Norman, though late. The two
churches stood originally in the same churchyard, but a road has been made between
them.
It was not an uncommon practice to bnild the new and larger church by the side of
the small old one, in order tn.at divine service might not be inteirupted ; and the old
church was sometimes retained for a school-room, the purpose to which a part of the
one at Bradford is now applied.
This church is built of ashlar masonry (that is, of cut stone, as distinguished fh>m
the rubble walls of the earlier work), and is more ornamented than usual in this
style, having an arcade cut on the surface of the stone along the upper part of the
exterior. There is a large porch on the north side, which is unusual ; but tiii.sposltIon
was probably dictated by convenience, as the church stands on the slope of^a steep
hill. The chancel arch is very small, which is commonly the case m all Early
churches, and may be considered one of the characteristics'of the eleventh century,
though sometimes found afterwards. The doorways and imposts and pilaster-
stripes are of the usual Anglo-Saxon character, as at Corhampton and Stomton
Lacy.
In the very first year of the eleventh century " King Ethelred gave the monastery
and village of Bradford to the nunnery of Shaftesbury, in Dorsetshire, to be always
subject to it, that the nuns might have a safe refuge against the insults of the Danes,
and, on the restoration of peace, return to their ancient place ; but some of the family
to remain at Bradford if it should be thought fit by the prior."
We usually find that, when any manor or village was given to a monastic establish-
ment, the church was rebuilt within a few years afterwards. Each monastery
usually had, as we know, a gang of workmen in their regular employ, as part of the
necessary establishment ; and, by always doing a little each year, great things were
ultimately efleeted. As the country was in a very disturbed state at that time. It is
hardly probable that a stone church would be begun until things had settled down
under Canute, which was twenty years after the donation ; and as such a church was
an important work for that period, it would require some years to build it, so that it
was probably near the middle of the eleventh century before it was completed. The
masonry is unusually good for that time ; but Bradford stands on a bed of fine
building stone, and was, therefore, likely to be in advance of other places In Its
masonry.
It is remarkable that of the churches that have been described by Mr. Bloxam and
others as Anglo-Saxon, and which amount to nearly a hundred, fiuly one-half are in
that part of England in which the Danes were settled, and they are fa» more
numerous in Lincolnshire than in any other county. This was, as we all know, pre-
eminently the Danish county.
It seems probable that the churches burnt by the Danes in their piratical incursions
were almost all of wood, and that those which they built under Canute to replace
them were of stone, and are for the most part the earliest churches wc have now re-
maining, or rather of which we have .any parts remaining, for none of them have
been preserved entire.
We must remember that Canute was the greatest of the Scandinavian kings ; that
he was not king of England only, but of Denmark also ; he was a man in advance of
his age, and justly called the "Great." Undcrhis firm sceptre England had breathhig
time, and enjoyed more tranquIlUty than she had for a century before ; and in such
circumstances we might naturally expect the arts of peace, and especially architec-
ture, to revive with new life and vigor. - „ „
It is recorded in the "Saxon Chronicles" that In the} ear 1020, " King Canute caused
to be built at Assingdon, a minster of stone and lime, for the souls or the men who
were tliere slain, and gave it to one of liis priests whose name was Stigand."
William of JIalmesbury adds that "Canute repaired throughout England the
minsters which had been partly Iniured and partly destroyed by the military incur-
sions of himself and his father, lie built churches in all jjlaces where he had fought,
and more particularly atAschendome. and appointed ministers to them, who through
the unending revolutions of ages might pray to God for the souls of the persons there
At the consecration of this church he himself was present, and the English and
Danish nobihty made their ofl'erings. " It is now," says Malmcsbury. in 112,% " an
ordin,ary church, under the care of a parish priest" (B. ii. c. 11). This church has,
unfortunately, not been Identified by modern antiquaries. There arc several places
of the same name. „ , , , .. „ -
A. D. 10.3'3, " Over the body of the most holy Edmund, whom the Danes had killed,
he buiit a church with princely magnificence, appointed to it an abbot and monks,
and conferred on it many large estates. The greatness of his donation, yet entire
(in ll'ii), stands proudly eminent at the present day ; for that place surpasses all the
monasteries in England' (B. 11. c. 11). This relates to Bury St. Edmunds, in
Sufl'olk, of which I shall have more to say when it was rebuilt, about fifty years
afterwards. , ._ w - « .
A,D. 1011, the chorch of Stow, In Lincolnshire, was founded by LcofHc, Earl o
312
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 12, 1861.
Hereford, and his wife GodiTa. There are considerable remains of the church of this
period, consisting of the lower part of the walls of the transepts, and of the arches
of the central tower. The walls have been raised and the arches rebuilt. The
church has been much altered at different times. The nave is early Norman, only a
few years later than the earliest part, and was probably executed about 11)91, when
the estabUshment had been ehang:ed from secular priests or canons to regular monks
of the Benedictine order, and were richly endowed. This monastic establishment
was removed to Ensham, in Oxfordshire, in 1109, and the estate of Stow was
annexed to the see of Lincoln.
A. D. lOoii, a church or chapel was built at Deerhurst, in Gloucestershire, by Earl
Odda.
In the year 1675, a stone was dag up in an orchard near the present church, on the
Bite of the church wiiich has long been destroyed, with an inscription commemora-
tive of the dedication. It is now preserved among the Arundel marbles at Oxford,
viz:—
" Odda dux jussit banc reglam aulam construi atque dedicari in honorc Sanctis
Trinitatis pro anima germani sui Elfrici, que de hoc loco .isumpta, Ealderedus vero
episcopus qui eandem dedicavit ilj. Idibus Aprilis. xiiii autem anno S. regnl Ead-
wardi ngis Anglorum."
From the forms of the letters, and also from the letter S. indicating sancti, placed
beiore refpti^ which would not have been said had King Edward the Confessor been
alive, it is evident that this inscription is oi a later date than the event to which it
refers ; but as all the circumstances therein mentioned are correct, its authority can-
not be doubted, and the inscription Is not later than the end of the eleventh
century.
Odda, who was also named Agelwin, according to the " Saxon Chronicle," (ed. Dr.
Ingram, p. 23:i), "was appointed Earl over Devonshire, and over Somerset, and over
Dorset, and oVer the Welsh." In 1051.
The priory of Deerhurst was given by Edward the Confessor to the Abbey of St.
Denis, at Paris, and the grant was confirmed by William the Conqueror in 1009.
The same authority (p. 247), informs us that " in 1050, died Odda the Earl, and his
body hes at I'ershore, and he was ordained a monk before hjs end ; a good man he
was, and pure and right noble. And he died on the second of the Kalends of Sep-
tember " ?i.e., the 31st of August). Florence of Worcester, who gives a high cha-
racter of Odda, says that '* he was a lover of churches," and adds, that "he died at
Deerhurst, and that he received the monastic habit at the hands of Bishop Ealdred a
short lime before his death;" so that it was probably on that occasion that the
church was built. We learn also from the same writer, that Alfric, Odda's brother,
died at Deerhurst on the 22nd of December, 1053, so that this place was probably the
residence of the family.
All the details of this tower agree with the style called Anglo-Saxon : the pro-
portions are lofty and comparatively slender ; the doorways are small and plain,
with the usual clumsy imposts j the lower window is of two lights, with the tri-
angular heads divided by a strip of wall, on the face of which is a fluted pilaster. The
npper part has been altered, and a spire was blown down in 1666.
SarTiach, Northooats.~Vie are told by Ingulphus, that the village of Bamact was
ravaged and laid waste, with the whole of the neighbourhood, by the Danes in 1013,
and that it lay desolate until 1048, when after a long law-snit it was recovered by
Siward, Earl of Northumberland ; and by his son Walthrop, Earl of Northampton,
it was given to the Abbey of Croyland. It appears to me to have been rebuilt at
that time ; the work appears of the middle of the eleventh century j corresponding
with Deerhurst, and others. The sculpture is of the thirteenth century ; part of the
same work is the spire, which is built upon the old tower.
About 1060 was rebuilt the church of Kirkdale, in Rydale, Yorkshire, as we learn
ftom the curious Danish inscription still preserved over the south door, which may
betran8lated—"0rin, son of Gamal, bought St. Gregory's church, when it was all
ruined and fallen down, and he caused it to be made new from the ground to Christ
and St. Gregory, in Edward's days, the king, and in Tosti's days. The Earl Tostl
was Earl of Northumberland from 1055 to 1065. ' ' Orm was murdered by Earl Tosti's
order in lO&l.
" As this inscription has been removed from Its original place, It is now no evidence
of Itself as to what part of the church is Saxon ; but as the western door, now stop-
ped, and the arch to the chancel, are both of them very rude, though in some degree
Korman, they may, on a careful examination of them, be considered portions of the
old building," according to Mr. Uickman.
In Oxford, the only .building supposed to be Saxon is the tower of St. Michael's
church, in the Corn-market; this has many of the features considered as cha-
racteristics of the Anglo-Saxon style, balusters in the belfry windows, a rude door-
way with clumsy imposts, on the west side, blocked up efl'ectually on the outside, but
distinctly visible within, and a rude single-light window over it, placed In the middle
of the very thick rubble wall. Still this tower is so nearly of the same character as
the tower ot (Jxford Castle, which we know to have been built by Kobert D'Oiley, in
the time of William Rufns, that I cannot believe St. Michael's Tower to be any earlier
than the time of the Conqueror. Both are built of rubble, and both of these towers
batter considerably ; that is, they are larger at the base than at the top, and the walls
slope gently upwards. St. Michael's tower:was close to the north gate of the city,
and probably formed part of the fortlflcations of the time of the Conqueror. It is
mentioned fn the Domesday Survey, hut that, we are all aware, was not
made until late in the reign of^the Conqueror, being finished only In the year before
his death.
Having now supplied all the historical particulars that I have been able to collect
respecting buildings in England before the period of the Norman Conquest, some-
thing remains to be said respecting the other buildings closely resembling those
WhOM dates we have ascertained by historical evidence.
We know that, from that time to the present, a particular fashion of building
Beldom lasted more than half a century, If so long ; a continual change of style was
going on. Each new generation seems to have re<iuired a new stWe, and to have
considered the buildings of their fathers as old fashioned and ugly. This seems to be
a rule of human nature, and there is no reason to suppose that It did not apply before
the Conquest as well as alter. Wherever we find the same mode of construction, and
we same style of ornament used, we may be pretty certain that the buildings are of
the same age, or that there are not many years between them.
We have now ascertained that some of the best examples of this style belong to
the eleventh century. The celebrated manuscript of Caedmon, in the Bodleian
llbjary, the illuminations of which afford rude drawings of buildings.of this class,
and have been much relied on as an authority, is i\%o a MS. of the eleventh
century, probably of about 1020, according to Mr. Coxe, whose opinion is high
anthority.
With a few exceptions of very rude work, we have not been able to fix an earlier
date on any of these buildings. About a hundred churches or towers of this
character have been observed and described, in various parts of the country, and
nearly the whole of them may fairly be ascribed to the eleventh century (A.D. 1066.)
The next question is whether all of them are before the Norman Conquest, and
whether that Conquest produced any immediate change of style 1 am Inclined to
5.1? °°'' •'^"''"'^c'uri-' in general Is little InHuenccd by the political circumstances
ot the country. An enlightened ruler may have assisted in sitting the fashion, or
Introducing improvements, but in general the intercourse of the people with others,
the oijportunlties that they had of seehig the changes and Improvements which were
going on elsewhere, had much more to do with the progress of architecture than the
will of the ruling power.
The Int-.rcourse with Normandy began Ijcfore the Conquest. It Is distinctly re-
corded that Edward the Confessor built Westminster Abbey In the Norman style,
and the existing remains bear out the fact. But it is very rude and early Norman,
and onlv one step In advance of such Anglo-.Saxon buildings as Deerhurst; and,
although after the Conquest, there was more intercourse with Normandy, and the
^* number of castles which were built to keep the Saxon people in subjection, arc
ulln the Aormaa style, and far better masonry than had been used before in Eng-
land, yet for the first ten years these castles seem to have furnished enough work
for the Norman masons, and thoy had not time to build many churches. It is
probable, therefore, that the Saxon people continued to build their churches, where
they wanted them, in their own style, only taking such hints as they could from the
Norman masons, and improviug their own masonry accordingly. But it was not
until about '20 years after the Conquest that the Normans began to build many
churches. We know that the English people long retained their own language and
their own customs, and It is highly probable that they kept up their own fashion of
building, altliough for some time after the Conquest.
Some of these towers exhibit such excellent masonry that they could hardly have
been built before the middle of the eleventh century ; and thier architectural cha-
racter indicates that several of them were built after the Conquest. The towers in
the lower part of the city of Lincoln, afford a good example of this, and agree re-
markably with the history of the city.
i'he original city was Roman, the walls of which still exist in great part on the top
of a steep hill forming the extremity of the high ground overlooking the fen country.
The city continued to be thickly inhabited by the Danes down to the time of tiie
Conquest. The Conqueror took possession of one-fourth of the city to build his
castle, and the first Norman bishop, Remigins (or St. RemI), purchased another fourth
to build his cathedral upon. The inhabitants were thus driven out of half the city
on the hill, and, in order to remain as near to their old houses as they could, they
drained a part of the fens at the foot of the hill, and built themselves a new town
there, connected with the old one by a very steep street ; and in this town they built
several churches, the towers of which remain to our day, and are distinctly
of the so-called Anglo-Saxon type,* but of a later character than most of the
others.
Of the work of Edward the Confessor at W^estminster we have none of the church
remaining, but we have the substructure of the dormitory, and the walls of the dor-
mitory itself : the latter is so much altered and patched that only one of the original
windows remains, which is plain Early Norman, with shafts in the jambs. We have
also a considerable part of the walls of the great refectory, and other domestic build-
ings. The vaulted substructure of the dormitory is very curious and interesting.
The vaults are groined without ribs, carried on round arches square in section, as is
usual in all Early Norman vaults : the material of which it is constructed is chiefly
tufa, which, from its porous volcanic nature, combines lightness with strength in a
remarkable degree, as is frequently used in early vaulting.
These vaults are supported by a row of short pillars down the centre, which are
precisely of the same diameter as they are high, about 3 feet. We must bear in mind
that such proportions as these are the beginning of the Norman style in England,
and as we advance we shall find the proportions become gradually lighter. The
capitals of each of these pillars have an abacus of remarkable thickness, and the
capital itself is as remarkably short in its proportions; those which are In their
original state consist of merely a square stone, with the angles rounded off, and
scarcely any thicker than the abacus. But the greater part of these capitals had
been carved by the monks at a later Norman period, being just at a convenient
height for a man to stand and amuse himself with carving. This fact is proved by
different sides of the same capital being of different patterns, and parts of^ the same
capital left in their original state, which Is further accounted for by the two sides of
the capital having been in different apartments, for these vaulted substructures were
always divided into a number of small store-rooms or cellars, as they evidently were
at Westminster ; and in this instance the partitions remain for the most part in
their original situations, though some have been altered.
Similar substructures remain in many of our ancient monasteries, though none are
of so early a character as this at Westminster ; and the partitions have commonly
been cleared away by ignorant persons, thinking to make a great improvement, the
space thus thrown open being called the ambulatory— a modern name for a modern
idea. The old monks required no other ambulatory but the cloisters.
In the substructure at Westminster there » an original doorway of the same plain
early character as the rest. This Is at the extreme south end, and appears to nave
opened Into some of the oflices beyond, as it is not an external doorway ; and the ex-
ternal wall of the room into which it opened remains, with a small loop window in it,
with long and short work In the jambs. The head of the early window Is cut off by a
plain barrel-shaped vault of Norman character. This vaulted cellar Is about 50 feet
long, and seems to have been an enlargement of the confession buildings, at the ex-
treme south end.
It should be mentioned that the dormitory joined on at its north end to the south
transept of the church, and there was a passage and staircase from It Into the church,
for the monks to descend for the night services. A part of the substructure, near the
transept, is ;the celebrated chapel of the pix, formerly the royal treasury ; aiid
although it now contains only empty chests, the old formahties respecting It are still
kept up. It can only be opened in the presence of a representative of the Treasury
and another of the Exchequer.
The portions which remain of the walls of the great refectory are extremely
interesting. The whole of the north wall remains up to the roof, or nearly so, though
much altered in appearance by the Insertion of large windows by Abbot LItllngton
at the end of the fourteenth century. The lower part of the walls at the east and
west ends, and a portion of the south side, also remain. This great Norman hall or
refectory was ornamented round the lower part of the walls by an arcade, which still
exists, although blocked up with rubble stonework.
We have no evidence that Edward the Confessor built more than the choir of the
church, which was consecrated the day before he died. The nave, or vestibule as it
was called, was clearly not then built, and it is quite possible that the monks who
had to perform the service In the new church were at first accommodated In tempo-
rary wooden buildings, as was very commonly the case; but the permanent do-
mestic buildings would be proceeded with before the nave as more necessary, and
these buildings can hardly be more than twenty years later than the death of the
king.
Their style and character is very early Norman ; the capitals are all of the kind
called the cushion capital, merely a cube with the corners rounded off, which is
generally the earliest kind of capital. The scalloped capital did not come in until
near the end of this century.
Whether the English copied their style from any foreign country, and. If so, from
which, or only copied their own wooden buildinfrs. Is an Interesting question not
easily decided. I have myself searched diligently in many parts of Europe, and
have made inquiries among the best Informed persons for any buildings corre-
sponding with them, but In vain. With a few rare exceptions of a partial resem-
blance, I think we may conclude that the buildings of this class are peculiar to
England, and my own opinion is that they arc mainly copied from timber build-
ings. Still we know that the archbishops of the Anglo-Saxon Church had to go
to Rome for their palls, and as each was accompanied by a numerous retinue,
and the journey occupied some months, they had every opportunity of seeing^
what v/as going on in other countries, and were ready enough to bring homo
anything new which they thought likely to be useful.
■Williora of Malmesbury has given a letter from King Canute in 1031 stating that
he has been to Rome, and, amongst many other things, that " The Emperor assented
to my request, as did Rodolph, the King, and all the princes, and confirmed with an
edict that my subjects, traders, as well as those who went on religious account,
should peaceably go and return from Rome without any molestation from warders,
or barriers, or tax-gatherers, /gain, 1 complained before the Tope, and expressed
my high displeasure that my archbishops were oppressed by the immense sum of
money which is demanded from them when seeking, according to custom, the .apos-
• For these particulars respecting the history of Lincoln I am indebted to my
lamented friend the late Mr. E. J. WiUson, of that city. I'rofessor Worsaac observes
that the names of several Danish clergymen are mentioned in the Domesday Book,
" In the old Danish city of Lincoln."
April 12, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
313
tolio roBidenceto receive tlie pall, and it was determined that it stiOiUd be flo no
longer."
'rhcsc frequent journeys to Kome throughout the middle ages had the advantage
of keeping the Engliali cler^'-y always acquainted with what was going on in other
countries, and they were always ready enougli to maice use of tlielr information.
.iiut :it the period of whicli wo arc now treating, I believe it will be found on in-
vestigation that the otluT countries of Europe were in much the same state of
oivilisatioB as the English, and that buihiings of stone were as rare in other
countries as In England. At the end of the eighth century, in the time of Charle-
magne a spasmodic effort was made to revive the art ui building in stone, but it soon
died away.
^Vo have a few isolated buildings of that period remaining in Franco and Germany,
curious and interesting links in the history of art. As might be expected from the
history of Charlemagne and his era, tliey present a curious mixture of debased
Koraan and Jiyzantjne— two of the most perfect are the gatehouse of the convent of
liOrseh, in the Bcrgstrasee, on the banks of the Khine, whlcli is debased Roman,
and Germigny, on the b.-rnks of the Loir, near Tours. This is a mi-xturc of Byzantine
and Koinan, the plan being a Greek cross with a central lantern and a sort of
cupola, but with details rather of debased Roman than Byzantine.
After the time of Charlemagne for two centuries it is very difficult to find a stone
building anywhere in the West of I'^nrope. In Normandy there is one church which
approaches in some degree to the characterof the Anglo-Saxon churches. It is called
Vieux I'ont (in Calvados), it is built of Roman materials in a very ru^e style,
with herringbone work and some other points of resemblance, and it has an inscrip-
tion but one which does not give a date ; it is probably quite at the beginning of the
eleventh century, but may possibly be of the time of Charlemagne.
It is probable, however, that there are many churches still remainin*^' in different
parts of France, or, more properly speaking, of Gaul which belong to the iirst half
of the eleventh century, and of several of these the history is so well preserved that
it is necessary to give some account of them here.
Perliaps the most remarkable of these is the church of St. Front, at I'erigueux
which is a regular Byzantine church, with its flue domes. A considerable part of it
has lately been restored, which means entirely rebuilt from the ground, but I was
Jortunato enough to see it before this was done and again while the rebuilding was
ffoingon. The original work was of rubble only and very rude, and a quantity of
fragments of Roman buildings were used as old material in the mass of the walls, the
Boman capitals were also used again. This church was consecrated in 1017. The
nave of an earlier church still exists, and forms a vestibule to the present church,
and the west front of it is tolerably peiYeet, though concealed by a house built
against it. The work of tliis earlier church is debased Roman. The nave had a
timber roof only, which has been destroyed.
The domical clmrch bears so much resemblance to .St. Mark's, at Venice, that my
friend Mr. FeUse de Terneith, who has studied it very carefully and has published a
work upon it, has no doubt tliat it was copied from that church. I consider it more
probable that both were copied from a common type at Byzantium, as Venice was
then only a subordinate city of the Byzantine empire, and the resemblance is not so
exact as M. de Verneith imagines; at .St. Front the arches are pointed, at St.
Mark's they are round, and tlnro are other variations. In that part of Aquitaine
called Perigard, of which I'origuoux is the centre, there are about forty of these
Byzantine churches with their domes, some of which have inscriptions recording
their erection in the latter part of the eleventh and beginning of the twelfth centu-
ries. These domes also exercised a considerable influence on the vaulting of the
Whole of Aquitaine, and a few straggling instances extend as far as Normandy.*
ARCTtlTECTURAL ASSOCIATION.
A MEETING of this body was held at the rooms, 9, Conduit- street, R^nt-atreet,
on Friday evening ; T. Rogkr Smith, Esq., the President, in the chair.
Mr. AnxnuRS.MiTH, hon. sec, read the minutes of proceedings at the last meeting,
which were found cofrect and signed by the Ciiairman.
New Memliers.—Ihe following gentlemen having been balloted for, were duly
elected members of the Association :— Mr. G. R. .Julien, Neville-terrace, Honnslow-
squarc : and Mr. W. C. Brangwyn.
77ic Exhibition of I8frt.— Mr. Smith, hon. see., stated that he had transmitted to
various architectural associatious throughout the country, the resolution agreed to
by this Association in furtherance of the adoption of steps for securing a proper
representation of architecture at the forthcoming Exhibition, and inviting the co-
operation of similar institutions, and had received from severitl favorable replies.
Mr. Tile's /'rises.— Mr. Arthur S.mith moved that Mr. T. Roger Smith, Mr.
Blomfleld, Mr. Arthur Allom, and Mr. John D. Wyatt be appointed judges of the
designs produced in competition for the prizes to be given by Mr. Tite on the 19th
Instant.
Mr. C. 11. F. Lewes seconded the motion, which was unanimously carried.
TIk AssooiatioH Conivrso.jiime.—Tlie Chairman took the present opportunity ot
asking the members to exert themselves as much as possible in order to make the
e<»Wfirsa5iOTic, which was to take place that day fortnight, as successful as possible.
The Honorary Secretary would be happv to supply gentlemen witli tickets for distri-
bution amongst their friends. He had a'Iso to inform them that next Friday was the
last day for sending in drawings in competition for Mr. Tite's prizes : the drawings
would be received up to 10 o'clock on that day. Mr. Tite had written to him to say
that If not prevented by Parliamentary business he would be happy to attend the
conversazione imd present the prizes, but he could not for certain pledge himself to
be present so long oeforehand.
/friciwort-.— Mr. G. B. New read a paper on " Brickwork," which was Illustrated
by specimens of a great many varieties of bricks. From the lecture, which was a
very able one, we make the (ollowing extracts :—
ON BRICKWORK.
Jly subject, you all know, is bricks, allow me, therefore, without irreverence, to
openit by saying that I hope the members of this Association will ever be, m the
fullest sense of the word, "regular bricks, so well cemented and bonded together
that this Association, in the metaphorical character of a most substantial edifice,
will last time immemorial."— (Applause.)
In appearing before you to-night, permit me to express a regret that my unavoidable
absence from London should have prevented me from following up the excellent
remarks on foundations, made by our worthy Associate Mr. Bunker for unhappily
It has broken the wished-for, uninterrupted line or series of discussions on J'ractical
Architecture ; and while we can all agree with Mr. Christian tliat it would have been
far better for the remarks on masonry to have followed brickwork we are equally
convinced that it would have been far better for the remarks on brickwork to have
followed those on foundations ; under these circumstances it would appear advisable
to retrace the question of foundations, propounded by Mr. Bunker, on which occasion
we came to the conclusion that "gravel " was the best natural foundation, with the
exception of rock, which was not always to be depended upon, and that concrete
ranked among the best artificial foundations— not omittmg the large or broad blocks
of stone, which our goo<l friend Mr. Billings so humorously designated " the man
with a big foot."
.1,^."' '■.^"^'^ <"■ two before I proceed.— Our syllabus for the present session sets forth
;,,>"•,. ■■^P,<'''.''<'!ll be read by Mr. Bunker, myself, and others, on " Foundations,"
Brickwork," "Masonry," and "Carpentry." Now I, for one, with others whonro-
posed the introduction of those subjects on practical architecture, never mtended
they should be presented in the form of what is usually termed a "paper." At the
same time I hope you will not misunderstand the intention of these remarks ana
runaway with the impression that I object te the reading of papers ; far be It from
me to oliject to so excellent a medium of imparting informatiou, and for one, I
• To be coutinucd.
heartily thank those gentlemen who have BO kindly favored us with the result of
their researches in so concise a form as a paper thereon ; not excepting many ex-
cellent ones we have heard this Session, that of Mr. Kerr, the hutone read, will repay
us all for a perusal again and again.
Butpuramng my remarks, our intention on these evenings was merely to introduce
the subject in a conversational form, upon any points of importance that mIghtstrUcc
us ;would bo interestiu); and instructive to the junior members of the Association,
based, in a great measure, upon the experience of our own practice, and by that
means draw iortli some practical remarks from our senior membera, and thus prove a
golden opportunity of gaining a good deal of practical information trom each other.
I am glad Mr. Bunker did not write a long paper ; you will, therefore, not be surprised
when I say that I am not come prepared with a long paper to read to you thin
evening, nor is it my intention to enter intoany of the abstmnegeomctrical principles
of the 8cience;of construction, such as would be necessary to develop the formation of
vaulting, doming, arching, and groining, &c. All this is very necessary for the
student of architecture to know, at the same time the treatment of such subjects
would bo very much out of place to-night, our object being to elucidale to a certain
extent the everyday practice of bricklayers' work, and following out the excellent
suggestion of Mr. Kerr, we will confine ourselves to the limit of such works as would
be required in the erection of a country house.
I will now, therefore, only briefly advert to the definltkins of brickwork, and then
proceed.
I find in Gwilt's " Encyclopa!dia of Architecture," and in Nicholson's "Dictionary
and Practical Builder," brickwork or bricklaying is defined as the art of building
with bricks, or of imiting them, by cement and mortar, into various forms for par-
ticular purposes.
According to Gwilt, a brick Is a factitious sort of stone mannfacturcd from argil-
laceous or clayey earth (the principal property of which Is well-known to be alumina).
After being mixed with coal-ashes or breeze, &o., it is well- tempered and squeezed Into
a mould ; when so formed, bricks are stacked to dry in the sun, and finaliy burnt to
a proper degree of hardness in a clamp or kiln.
On the best of authorities, the use of bricks is of the greatest antiquity, and the
cement used in the earliest periods was a kind of bitumen, it is said, lu tfiis manner
the city of Nineveh was built by Nimrod, and the Justly celebrated walls of Babylon,
estimated by the Greeks ag worthy to be nnmbered among the wonders of the world,
were erected by the same materials.
One author says, " For the purposes of building, bricks claim a decided superiority,
not only as being lighter and more easily worked but also because thelrporous texture
facilitates their union with the mortar, and makes them less hable to attract or retain
damp and moisture ;" an assumption which I question the admittance of by many.
Be that as it may, there is one thing very certain, and that is, that good brickwork
is far superior, in point of durability, to much of the stoneworkof the present day.
Tlie names of the bricks in general use in our modern works are — gray stocks, red
stocks, washed stocks, place bricks, marls or malms of two quaUties, called first and
seconds, red rubbers or cutting bricks.
The gray stock is tlic most useful brick we have— made of good earth and
burnt ; it is well adapted for any work where strength and durability is required, as
in external walls, counter or discharging arches, piers or tmderpinnmg, andf forms a
very good front when carefully selected of a uniform color.
The red stock which is so freely used now in the fronts of our modern structures,
is made of a clay containing much oxide of iron. The finest description of this
brick, made from the purest clay, is called a red rubber or cutting brick, used only
for gauged arches and very superior work.
The washed stock is made of a purer clay than the common stock, is of a yellow
tone and equivalent in appearaucc to the marls seconds for facing of fVonts.
The place brick consists of half-burnt clay, and consequently what Is termed
saaimcl or soft, is of a dark red color, and readily crushed and crumbled ; of late
years the place bricks have been so exceedingly bad that, in my opinion, they are
worthless as a brick and only fit to be broken up and used as burnt clay for paths or
beds for pavings, drains, &c., and should strongly recommend the rising members of
the profession to prohibit tlie use of them in their specifications.
The marl or malms as they are sometimes called, arc tine yellow toned bricks of
two qualities, firsts and seconds, both of which are much used as facing bricks.
There is another description of malms a harder degree of brick used for the purposes
of paving, and called malm paviors. There is another description of bricKs called
Dutch clinker, which are exceedingly hard and vitrified, are sometimes used for pav-
ing stables and yards, but more frequently for building ovens or furnace work, but
the best bricks for such purposes are what are called fire bricks ; they are chiefly
made at Uedgerly, and hence they are known by the name of Hedgerly bricks.
There are two more description of bricks worthy of notice, which ot late years
have been extensively used in our modern structures.
The first, the fine white brick made in Suffolk, and denominated White SnffolkB,
expressly made for facings ; some liave of late been Introduced In moulded forms,
which form when judiciously treated forms a verypleasing effect in window drcsslnga,
strings and cornices, superseding the necessity of cutting and rubbing bricks to
splays and other forms, which while they look well to the eye, the process of cutting
and rubbing injures the brick as an external material, as the crusting or outer sur-
face of a brick is more durable than the interior, and, therefore, better calculated to
withstand the ravages of time, jiarticularly in our changeable climate.
Again, the moulded bricks in window dressings, strings, and cornices, are superior
in appearance .ind durability to cement dressings, and I have no doubt, when they
become more generally known and more extensively applied, that they will alto-
gether supersede cement mouldings, for the greater the demand the cheaper will the
manufacturer be able to supply them.
Last, but not least, are the patent machine-made perforated bricks, invented by a
person of the name of Beart ; hence they are known by the name of Heart's Patent
Bricks, and they are readily moulded at a very moderate expense to any pattern or
drawing you like to send them. They are notequalln appearance to the white Suffolk
brick, but much cheaper, and in that case a desideratum when the question of expense
is to be studied. Burrs do well for foundations, being often as hard as clinkers. The
lecturer then proceeded to refer to mortars, including those composed of chalk lime,
stone lime, Dorking sand, Thames sand, pit sand, and road gnt, and to their being well
tempered and beaten with a mort.",r beater. When the materials arc well mixed,
employ the composition quickly, as the least delay may render the application imper-
fect or impossible.
As to mixing and blending, M. Fclibien obserres that the ancient masons were so
scrupulous in this process that the Greeks kept ten men constantly employed for a
long space of time to each basin. This rendered the mortar of such prodigloas
hardness that Vitruvius tells us the pieces of plaster falling off trom old walls served
to make tables.
The same Fclibien adds— it was a maxim among old masons to their laborers that
they should dilute it witli the sweat of their brow— i. c, labor it a long time, instead
of drowning it with water to have done the sooner.
As to cement, the best for constructive work is Atkinson's proportion— half and
half. The choice of fit and proper materials is a very important duty devolving upon
the architect, and the adaptation of such materials to the specific work intended to
be performed requires great care on his part. At the same time, it is his duty to see
that the works are carried out in the most workmanlike manner, based upon the best
principles of architectural construction.
I think it may with Justice be said there is no portion of a building that requires
more care and attention to these essential points than the walling of the structure,
whether of brick or stone.
The foundations having been treated of, footings arc our first consideration. Walls
composed of bricks .should be so constmcted that the component parts should form
one eomjiact mass. Too mnch attention, then, cannot be paid to the best mode of
disposing the bricks in a wall, so as to form such a bond as shall constitute the wall a
compact mass.
314
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 12, 1861.
Old English bond is decidedly the best, alternately composed of headers and
ttretehers.
Flemish Bond.— the same course consists alternately of headers and stretchers.
Facing's are bad as they break the bond.
The lecturer then referred to perpends belnp: kept true, to king closure 'in
reveals, quien closure, to keep the bond uniform, to birdsmouths, piers over
openings, grouting: with liquid mortar, iron bond discharging: or counter arches
•Ter lintels, arches— front face over apertures, bow arches which should be cramps
to lintel, discharging arches in old work, Ac and stated that the tops of wall should
have throated copings. Brick on edge and tile coursing is not good. He next
alluded to courses put on sand for stone landings, to oversailing^, underpinning, and
pointing, including tuck-poinling with plaster inserted in the joints with a regular
projection, and neatly pared to a parallel width.
lie then spoke in favor of our flues from every room, and of the advantages of
cavity walls. I'roceedmg, he said, Xear to us is a fine specimen of good brickwork,
though the smoke of London has made it look very dingy ; that is at the south-west
comer of Hauover-sqnare.
Another flue specimen of mofltem brickwork is to be seen at the St. Katherine
Dock, built by George Clements. That poor man is now provided for in his old
days by the Builders' Benevolent Institution. Lord Alexander Baring Ashburton's
hou8e,;82, 1'iccadilly, is generally considered to be the finest specimen of modern
brickwork, built by.George Harrison.
Mention might be made of the church in Margaret-street— All Saints',— and of the
schools at the corner of Endell-street, which are built in old English bond. As to
smoky chimneys, the lecturer recommended that the flues should be contracted
towards the centre, and have a wide opening near the fireplace, so as to admit of a
free current up and down.
Mr. Xew resumed his seat amidst loud applause.
The Chairman was happy to notice the appreciation by the meeting of the very
excellent paper which baa been read by Mr. New, and suggested that gentlemen
should put to him such questions as might present themselves respecting bricks and
brickwork. There were one or two things to which he wished to draw Mr. New's
attention. In the first place, he had left out of his paper any notice of black bricks,
and then he wished to know whether Mr, New could say anything as to the mode of
forming a judgment in the selection of bricks. He had learned to become very
cautious in the selection of local bricks at any place, as they often turned out to be
extremely unworthy. Again, he should like to know whether Mr. New approved of
mortar being kept for a length of time, or whether there should only be as much as
was requisite for a day's consumption.
Mr. New, in reply, said he should approve of the mortar being kept a week or a
fortnight, provided it was well raked up for the day's work and then covered up,
not bemg left exposed to the weather. As to the choice of bricks, good bricks, par-
ticularly stock, were easily known. If they rang when knocked together they were
good bricks ; when the bricks were bad, if they clapped two together one of them
would break into halves, and they would not ring, a strong proof that they were not
sound and not well burned. In regard to appearance, bricks were very deceiving.
A good plan for the testing of bricks was to take a trowel and break one in half, and
if It was well burned it would be found that it was a good one. All bricks that ring
are sound and good. As to the black bricks made in Sufi'olk, which were of a glazy
sort of color and very hard, they were very difficult to be got. He wanted some of
those black bricks once to cover a wall as a coping. He waited for them for some
considerable time, but at last he gave it up and had some stone coping. Those bricks
were difficult to be obtained, but still thev were to be had.
The Chairman.— Don't let Mr. New 'deceive you into the Idea that brickwork is
cheaper than other work, for when it becomes ornamental it also becomes very
costly.
Mr. New said he referred to ornamental work. A rich brick front was much
dearer than an ashlar front But he thought that if improvements were
eflected in the making of patent perforated bricks, they would ultimately become
generally used.
,. Mr. C. H. F. Lewxs thought that the extreme fineness of the patent bricks was
objectionable.
Mr. New said those bricks as now manufactured made a very fair front.
Mr. Lewes observed that the EngUsh bond bricks had been used at the schools In
BndeU- street
Mr. New.— Yes, and very successfully.
In answer to a question pnt by Mr. Lewes,
Mr. New said, for some time past slate had been much used for damp courses.
But cement would not unite the slate, and therefore, it should not be used. The best
thine he had seen adopted instead was the pouring in of a compound on two joints of
the brickwork, one above and one below, the compound consisting of the best Stock-
holm tar, a httlc pitch, and a fine marshy grit, wnich became a most excellent thing
for keeping out the water.
After a few remarks by Mr. Adams, who made several diagrams on the black-
board, representing schemes for the curing of smoky chimneys, a vote of thanks was
passed by acclamation to Mr. New for his interesting lecture.
ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
AN Ordinary General Meeting of this body was held in the rooms, 9, Conduit-
street, Kegent-Btreet, on Monday evening ; G. Godwin. Esq., V.P., in the
chair.
Mr. T. Haytee Lewis, hon. sec, read the minutes of proceedings at the
last meeting, which, after a slight alteration, were approved of and confirmed.
Donations.— AmoBggt others the following donations were announced by Mr.
Jahes Bell, hon. sec. :— From Mr. George Low, Fellow, Des George Low,
ArchitecktonlBchc Zclchmungen der Deutsch-Lutherischen Kirche Zu, Camberwell,
London ; from the Koyal Society, Proceedings of the .Society, Vol. XL, No. 43 ; from
the Eoyal Geographical .Society, the I'rocecdTngs of the Society, Vol. V. No. 1.
Afeto Members.— T\k following gentlemen were unanimously elected honorary and
Mrresponding members of the Institute by a show of hands :— Herr C. R. Lepsius, of
Beriin, and lions. Mariettc, of Alexandria, Egypt. On being balloted for, the fol-
lowing gentlemen were elected members :— Mr. G. E. I'rifchett, Associate, of 4,
Great St. Helen's, Blshopsgate j Mr. John Henry Chamberlain, of Birmingham ; Mr.
Henry I'arsons, of Gresham House Chambers, f)ld Broad-street, as Fellows j and
J^ " ■''*''" Bodman, of East Dean, Hampshire, as Associate.
mie Chairman announced that ,Slr Francis Scott had intimated his intention of
g™* a premium of £10 annually for five years, to be awarded to the author of the
Best set of sketches for a building devoted to civic or domestic purposes, in accordance
with the wants and habits of the day, with other conditions. The making the
Institute the recipient of such premiums, which now extended to almost all styles of
architecture, was calculated to efiict a large amount of welfare to the profession, and the
Council felt very mnch Indebted to Sir Francis Scott for his kindness. He then
dh-ectcd the attention of the meeting to another matter of importance. When an
ancient building was threatened with destruction. It had been the custom of the
Council of the Institute U, protest by letter or otherwise, with the view of preventing
U. and preserving the building for posterity. And they felt that when the Uoyal
Exchange was threatened witli an alteration that would entirely destroy the cha-
racter of the inner court, they would not be doing too much, with the sanction of the
present meeting in asking the Gresham Committee to hesitate before such a step
was taken. He thought the Council would not be doing wrong in asking that what-
nS'.J'wl?'"'^ '"^^^i be^done in accordance with the character of the architecture,
and that thus a very fine building might not be destroyed.- (Hear, hear.)
ilr. M. JJiOBT Wvatt thought the proposillon for an alteration in the Exchange
was a suicidal thing on the part of the Gresham Committee, for merchants would
nave to transact business In the dark when snow fell upon the proposed roof. He
thought the Institute ought to sanction the Council in taking some steps in the
matter, and that a resolution to that effect should be agreed to by the meeting.
The Chairman did not think a formal resolution requisite at the present time.
The conversatien then dropped.
CMchester CatheilraL—VvoicssoT Willis. M.A., F.R.S., then delivered a lecture
" On the Architectural History of Chichester Cathedral, and on the Fall of the
Tower." The Professor said, before he began his lecture he might as well state,
with their permission, and in a few words, what was his acquaintance with this
cathedral, in order to justify himself in taking up the subject, and presenting it be-
fore a bo<ly of men so well acquainted with the structure of the Wlding. About
eight years ago there was a meeting of the Archajological Institute of Chichester,
when he visited the cathedral and gave on that occasion, for the first time, a complete
architectural history of the building. He did that eight years ago, and the lecture
was immediately put into type and would have been published long ago by Mr.
Mason, of Chichester, but for what followed. The volume to be published was to be
got up in a kind of partnership j three persons were to furnish the papers, but the
third, whose name he would not mention, did not, and the history had remained In
Mr. Mason's warehouse from that time to the present ; he hoped, "however, and had
good grounds for believing that It would be pubUshed soon. He, therefore, had made
himself acquainted with the Cathedral of Chichester long before the fall of the spire.
And before he said anything with respect to the fall of the spire he must give them
a sketch of the history of the cathedral and of the nature of the building. He had
got on the wall before them a variety of drawings or diagrams intending to illustrate
the points which he wished to explain. Amongst them he had a plan of the cathedral
which he made eight years ago. The cathedral was essentially Norman: it was a Nor-
man cathedral to the backbone. The see was removed from another place to Chichester
about 1078. In 1114 there was a tire which did some damage, but the cathedral was re-
paired. There was another fire in 1186, which was said to have consumed the wholechurch
and a large portion of the town. The nucleus of the building itself was Norman ; there
were the Norman nave and transept, one Norman tower, and then they had the Nor-
man choir, other portions being nascent Early English, the date being from 1180 to 1204.
The learned lecturer proceeded to describe and explain the diagrams to show that
the cathedral was a Norman building. In the Norman compartment were found
windows, but most of the Norman windows had been cut out after the fire, although
one, at all events,remained. Above the Norman windows was another range of windows,
which lighted the triforium. The lecturer then proceeded with much minuteness to
explain the diagrams, and observed that it was a most gratifying thing to see the
ready manner in which persons of all ranks and religion had come forward to sub-
scribe for the restoration of the cathedral ilfter the recent fall of the spire. The Nor-
man church suflfered much from the fire, and was rebuilt, and it was clear that In the
case of rebuilding the structure at Chichester the people had no money to spare. He
then referred to trie drawings, and explained the way in which the repairs were
carried out. When one of the fires happened it seemed to have produced this effect,
that it left the middle part of the walls very little damaged. They found that In re-
spect to the upper part of the walls the thinner wail of the clerestory was destroyed,
but there were left Norman portions of the building standing ; and after the resto-
ration they found the Norman and the Early English. The people engaged in the
business patched up the cathedral without harmonising one style of architecture
with another— in fact, they repaired the cathedral decently according to their own
method— and that principle prevailed throughout the middle ages. He then again
referred to thedlagrams.pointing out that the Norman church contained apsidal chapels
at the east sides of the transepts, ana afterwards proceeded to show how liberal the
deans and canons of cathedrals were in contributing towards the restoration of such
structures. Whatever might be said of the ingenuity and taste of the medieval
architects, they had very little judgment and no science. Though he was a great
admirer of Medieval architecture in every way, he was not blind to the rashness
exhibited in their mode of building. Having rapidly glanced at the history of the
churcli he proceeded to consider the history of the fall of the spire at Chichester.
In 1859 the removal of the choir or rather the opening of the choir was determined
on, so that the nave might be thrown open for the public services, which had become
so common in our day. It was also determined to take the stalls down, and to
examine and repair them. The removal of those stalls disclosed at the back of the
wall the great liberties which had been taken with the piers when the stalls were
erected, the piers having been hacked away. When the choir screen was taken away
it was found that some of the piers were in fissures and in a very insecure state.
The piers of the tower had settledT upon the foundations, and in fact had settled down
Into the foundtitions several inches. The piers were not at all strong, they were
mere portions of a wall. The spire when it collapsed went down all at once and
very gradually, it was, as people who saw it describe it, very much like the shutting
up of a telescope. The piers below might have crumbled under at first, it was the
piers that were weak and not the tower. The great existing mountain of ruins was
the result of the fall, nearly every stone being detached from the other, with some
exceptions. The phenomena connected with the detaching of the tower piers from
the rest of the wall were usual with Norman cathedrals. If they examined the
history of Norman cathedrals they would find that those falls were the characteris-
tic of nearly all of them. Several of them fell, and others were prevented from
doing so by being repaired. From a recognised reproduction of a lecture delivered
by Professor Willis a short time ago at Chichester, and which was similar to the one
dehvered at the Institute on Monday evening, we make the following extracts
being substantially used In continuation of the previous portion of this lecture: —
" He would refer to a few accidents to buildings of the kind erected during the
middle ages. The Normans especially seemed to have a peculiar way of erecting
their towers, and these towers had been much in the habit of falling. The first of
these he found to be Winchester. Winchester Cathedral was one of the first Norman
cathedrals built ; much as it had since undergone transformation, it still preserved
its Norman central tower, standing on Norman piers. It was built by Bishop Walke-
lin, one of the first Norman bishops who came to England. William Rufus was buried
under it, and the monks asserted that the tower fell on account of the wickedness of
the king buried there. If they examined It now, they would find the present tower
supported by tour piers of great magnitude, plainly erected after the fall of the great
tower, and of more strengtli than there was need. He would show that Norman
cathedrals began to fall down soon after they were built. There was a curious con-
nection between Winchester and Ely. Ely was built by Simeon, Walkelin's brother,
and, singularly enough, the central tower of Ely fell in 1541. There was given in the
chronicles of Ely an account of the fall of the central tower. The history given was
so curious, that he had thought it worth while to translate from the chronicles a
short passage relating to it, which he would read to them. It seemed that when Alan
de Walsynghani, a skilful architect was made sacrist, in October, 1341, the tower was
threatening to ruin. The words of the chronicle would show they then set about
remedying It:— 'The monks were afraid to carry on the service in the choir on
account of the threatened ruin. On the night before the feast of S. Etheldreda, after
they had made a procession in the shrine In her honor, and the convent were return-
ing back to the dormitory, a few only of the brethren had entered their beds, when
suddenly, and without warning, the bell-tower fell upon the choir with so much noise
and crashing that it appeared Tike an earthquake— [They could understand that in
Chichester, having suflercd an earthquake from a similar cause. ]— but neither wound-
ing nor crushing any person. Another wonder happened, rather to be attributed to
a miracle than to a natural cause— namely, that in that horrible ruin and collision of
stones which shook the whole city of Ely, the large and beautiful canopy which
covered the sepulchre of the Holy Virgin escaped even the slightest injury.
[This was also characteristic of the present time.] At this dreadful and lamen-
table damage, the aforesaid sacrist, sorrowful and grieving exceedingly, knew not
whither to turn, or how to repair so great a ruin. But at length, taking courage, and
trusting to the Divine assistance, and confiding in the Vigin Mary and the merits of
S. Kthcldreda, he set to work manfully. First of all he caused all the stones and
timber which had fallen In that ruin to be carried out of the church,'— the very thing
they were doing now—' with great labor and expense. He then cleared the church of
April 12, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
315
the excessive dust which covered It.' Their own cathedral was wholiy covered witli
dust in a most marvelious manner. 'He divided tiie place in which the new cam-
panile was to be built into eight parts, measured with architectural skill, and caused
it to be excavated and examined, to reach solid ground to commence the foundation,
npon which ci<,^ht piers were to be erected to support the buildinf^, within which the
choir and its stalls were to be constructed. These eight places havinir been carefully
examined, and made strong with stones and sand rammed in, he began the eight
piers with the work above, which was carried on for six years, and completed up to the
upper stringcourse A.D. 1328. Forthwith that skill'uUy-deviscd wooden structure of
tlxe new campanile, invented with marvellous iugeuuity to cover the aforesaid stone-
work, was commenced and carried on with great and burthcnsome expenses,
principally incurred in seeking far and wide for beams suitable to the said
structure, which, when found with great difflculty, had to be bought at a high
price, carried to Ely by land and sea, and there carved and framed into
the structure by skilful workmen. The wooden structure was carried on
fourteen years, from 1328 to 1342. The whole cost £2,400.' Thus the rebuilding
occupied twenty years. He had read the above to show them as to tlie fall of Nor
man towers. He then showed, by reference to plana of Ely as at present, that there
were erected outside of the four tower-piers eight othef piers, in order to form the
octagonal portion. He was not recommending them to pursue this style ; he did not
think they would tolerate clearing away existing piers, and erecting an octagon in
the middle of them. A curious point connected with this octagon was this: Sir
Christopher AVren was nephew to Bishop Wren, who, in tlie time of Charles I., suf-
fered persecution from the I'uritans ; he was Bishop of Ely. Sir Christopher had
opportunities of adniirin'T the plan of that cathedral, and when he contemplated the
plan of the dome of St. raul's, he doubtless was guided by that of Ely. The tower
of Gloucester fell in llfiO, without warning, at the time when one of the bishops came
to preach, and it fell when the bishop was about to deliver his solemn benediction
to the congregation, who had all crowded for that purpose into the choir : and thus
it was so ordered that no loss of life or limb occurred at that time. Worcester, built
in 1084, fell in 1175; Evesham fell in 1213; two towers of Dunstable priory in 1221;
two small towers of Worcester in 1222; the tower of Lincoln In 1240; Norwich
steeple was blown down by a hurricane in 1301 : Selby fell in 1690; the west front of
Hereford in lt<Ofi ; and, lastly, to close the melancholy list, theh- own cathedral.
Thus he had shown that these falls were no uncommon events. It would now be
curious to sec how towers, threatening to fall, were attempted to be arrested by the
medieval masons, many of the buildings having been brought into perilous posi-
tions by erecting successive towers thereon, l^ie first idea in constructing towers
was to admit light above the roof. Then the fashion began of erecting lofty central
piers, where it was meant to cwry only low towers. Thus the custom arose of erect-
ing towers on these Norman piers, in the fashion of the architecture of the time, on
piers neverintendcd to carry such weight. He then referred to plans of Wells, Salis-
Dury, and Canterbury, showing the way in which the medieval architects endeavoured
to prevent the fall of their towers. AtWells, in 1318, a central tower was thus built ; and
in 1.321 it was found to be falling. They were obliged to raise a deal of money ; the
Dean and Canons exerted themselves, as they were still to be found exerting, in
obtaining funds ; and, though the building was in a state of ruin, it was not allowed
to come down, for by building invert arches, supported on arches built between the
tower piers, they were prevented from collapsing, as shown in his diagrams. Thus
the whole centre of the building was obstructed by these enormous masses of 'struc-
tures, and the view from one end to the other destroyed. He hoped to see the
cathedral of Chichester restored, and it would be if they went to work with courage
to overcome the difflculty ; but he hoped they would not imitate these obstructions.
Salisbury was another mstance : a mason, named Kobert Waitc, there introduced
enormous arches, recklessly interfering with the view. After referring to another
diagram, and pointing out similar erections and obstructions In Canterbury Cathe-
dral, the Professor referred to well-executed diagrams of Chichester Cathedral,
showing the nature of the fall and damage done, the portions injured, and the por-
tions remaining intact. He had been favored with accurate information, and he
hoped to put on record the mechanism of the fall and the reasons which he supposed
led to it. A slight movement was perceptible about the top of the spire, irregular
fissures ran along the face of both tower and spire ; the spire retained its perpendicular
for a few seconds, when it leaned over to the south-west, and about 30 fietof the top
fell across the roof of the record room, a portion of the spire striking against the west
gable of the room, detached the eap-stone,which bounded over the room, and fell across
one of the flying buttresses, nearly over the roof of the south porch, fell on to the roof of
the south porch, the spire righted itself, collapsed, and settled down in a heap of
ruins. As one of the causes of the fall, he would mention that the medieval
masons, especially the Normans, constructed their walls of rubble, enclosed in two
■walls of ashlar and smooth stones, the wall being from 5 to 7 feet thick. The stones
were of smooth surface, and there were no bond stones running through and through
the wall, as in later times, so as to form ties binding the whole together. The weight
which pressed on these piers was so great that, considering the careless way in
which the foundations were prepared, itwas not surprising to find, in most instances,
JJorman towers descending bodily into their foundations 5 or C inches. He had never
seen a Norman tower not exhibiting this in a greater or less degree. On examination
!j w j '"^ found that these piers had gone down 3 or 4 inches. He was much in-
5™'cdtothe assistance and information given him by the able clerk of the works,
Mr. 'Thompson, who had told him there was a declension of 4 inches, and a
great fissure completely cutting oif one portion of the masonrv from the other. They
might remember in the history of the cathedral there was the record of the Are in
Il/o ; m consequence of that fire various alterations had to be made, and the cleres-
tory to be rebuilt, because the Are had so destroyed the roof. This sinking of the
Norman piers took place before the tower was built, let alone the spire, as was
proved by an ingenious contrivance in the stringcourse of the clerestory, to continue
Jt a ong the part which had given way. After the fire the sinkingwcnt on, the piers
sank stjU lower, the effect of the whole being to tear away the piers from the com-
pany of their adherents, and thus depriving them of support as far as crushing in-
wards was concerned. In addition to this they set upon it a lofty spire, which, of
all things in the world, was the most dangerous thing to set on an edifice of extreme
height, from the leverage caused by the action of the wind. He instanced the vibra-
tion, by adducing the case of a flag-staff on a lofty building causing the building to
yiDratc. He then spoke of the contrivance of SirChristopher Wren, and of his putting
m the spire the curious pendulum stage to counteract the efToct of the wind. Unless a
building was very flrm.the vibration of a spire shook it as much as the vibration of bells.
It was a curious but certain fact, that if they took a short cylinder, put it into a press
and crushed it, the crush would cause a diagonal fissure, dividinf it into two slant
pieces, the upper piece slanting down the other. That was the case with the cathe-
dral, the excessive weight of the tower and spire acting thus, the piers were crushed
and dislocated, the walls having been sinking from century to century, the detached
piers becoming more and more isolated, and too weak to sustain the weight, they
therefore began to crash, and this could not be arrested. If it was merely disloca-
tion. It could be repaired, but when crashing came onUo these diagonal planes no
li"niaji power could prevent it. He believed this to be the real history ; he believed
th.at the spire and tower had been merely suspended over their heads for centuries,
only wanting some concussion to bring it down, and that, therefore, all the precau-
tions that could be taken were useless. He must remark, however, that the
precautions taken were the ordinary precautions, and, as such, considered to be the
most cfrectual. The same were used at Hereford—that was in a bad state ; the west
front was propped up by Mr. Wyatt at the beginning of this century, but it fell down
twenty years ago; after this Mr. Cottcnham was called on to devise means, and
succeeded in supporting the edifice, but then the tower was low, and there was no
spire on the top. The spire was a dangerous element. Salisbury Cathedral
threatened extremely. After the experience of this last fall, they might feel at any
moment warranted in saying that. It was quite absurd to say that any of the works
In progress had anything to do with it. He had heard It said that the removal of the
Arundel shrine assisted the fiUl This wa» wropgly caUed a shrine ; it w«8 merely a
screen or porch, it was not connected In any way with the plera, it wu ootr a vault
between two other vaults. If it had been erected to prop up the piers as In Wells and
Canterbury, it would have been carried up so as to protect the piers. If they had
consented to the erection of a range of unsightly arches, they might have averted
the catastrophe, but he felt sure they would nevcrhavc consented to that ; they would
rather it were rebuilt. This sort of propplng-up was to be respected only ascnrlous
and as a specimen of Medieval work, but in all cases he would gladly see It taken
away. Nothing short of such a system could have prevented the falling-hi of
Chichester tower; itwas In a state of disintegrity, which nothing could arrest, caused
by the formation of those diagonal planes. Thus, he would say that his conclusloa
was, from all he had seen, that no blame could possibly be attached to any Individual
connected with the alterations in the structure from beginning to end. It was a good
cause, a fashion of the day which had been found to work well; it had done good lo
the cause of true religion, the clearing away the choirs and throwing these edifices
more open. Other objections were started by persons ignorant of the laws of
mechanics, but they were hardly worth discussion. He had thus endeavoured to
sliow that the very construction of these Norman cathedrals necessarily brought
them to ruin ; had also shown them how other tottering edifices had been bolstered
up in a most awkward manner. He observed these fissures presenting themselves
at Carlisle and in otlier buildings ; they were so familiar to him that he always looked
for the tower detachiii" itself from the walls. It was fortunate for them that some
of the earlier falls led that gentleman who fliledthe post of architect to take accurate,
correct, and minute drawings of every portion of tlie edifice at Chichester; and by
so doing, and having all these in his possession, they had a man ready better fitted
to restore the building than any other person. For now conid they restore without
the person attempting to restore knew what the tower was he was called on to
restore ? The tower had vanished, but that gentleman, from a pure love of art, had
accurately preserved copies of every part, by the help of which they would be able to
restore the building accurately."*
The learned lecturer hoped it would soon be restored, and stated he was
persuaded that the spire of Chichester was before Its fall in a state of continual
vibration, every wind having effect upon It from the rottenness of the piers;
he was perfectly persuaded, then, that the piers had come to that state of
disintegration that they must have given way at some time not distant from
the period oft he fall. And to say that the removal of the choir was the
cause of the fall of the spire was perfectly absurd. It was not impossible,
however, that the presence of an immense number of workmen in the cathe-
dral hammering, putting up shores and so on, might have accelerated the fall
of the tower and spire a few weeks or months. 'The fall, ;so to 'speak, was a provi-
dential one ; a great warning was given, the spire must have fallen sooner or later,
and the fall could not have taken place at a better time. The structure would in all
probability be rebuilt soon and become stronger than it was before, and no one had
been injured by the fall ; it did no damage, not even to the new stalls to be erected
under it, the spire merely came down without accident, and it was destined to come
down. He then spoke in favor of the consideration of proper en^ncering appliances
for adoption in cases where falls of buildings are threatened. There were several
other towers in danger. Salisbury spire was in a damaged, trembling state ; the
west front of Ely was in a very bad state ; and several other towers were in a critical
condition. And it became the architects and engineers of London to take measures
calculated to prevent the occurrence of such disasters. In the present state of architec-
tural and engineering skill he thought some more efficient means might be obtained
than had hitlierto been tlie case. A careful consideration of the subject might be the
means of accumulating a vast mass of useful information lor the guidance of our-
selves and of our successors— (f.oud cheers).
Mr. A. J. B. Bebesford-Hope moved a vote of thanks to the most learned and
eloquent lecturer of the night. And he ventured to rise on that occasion in order to
express a feeling of personal relief, he might say, from some of the statements Pro-
fessor Willis had made, he (Mr. Hope), having been himself one of the persons who
were directly and immediately responsible for the removal of the jube, improperly
called the Arundel shrine. ^ As a friend of the Dean of Chichester, and as a Sussex
man, he had the honor of ' being a member of a small committee appointed for the
carrying out of the restoration of the choir of the cathedral promoted by the late
dean, and partly by his munificence. The removal of the Arundel shrine or screen
was necessary in order to the opening out of the whole cathedral for the service and
of the nave for the congregation. All the benefits proposed by the alterations would
have been utterly annihilated — would have beeu utterly useless, and, indeed, impos-
sible if that solid screen remained. None of those concerned in the work were people
who wantonly disturbed an ancient monument or took away an historical monument
in an aueient buildin|^-. But it was a clear case that in the restoration of the choir of
Chichester Cathedral the Arundel shrine must go, if the proposed alterations were
to be gone into ; and Mr. Slater, the cathedral architect, was of opinion that the
shrine must go. But the committee were so anxious to stand well before the world,
that they decided, in the absence of Mr. Slater, the architect, to take ihe opinion of
another professional gentleman, an engineer, who should look at the tower with the
same eye he would on a railway bridge that showed symptoms of spUtting.
An engineer of eminence was accordingly called in, and he reported
that the screen might be taken away, but that it In no way affected
the stability of the lantern above; he reported that it should be
taken away, and it was taken away. These facts should be made public as
far as possible, as the committee had been made the victims of foul and unjust
aspersions. He rose up 'to declare the truth, and to thank Professor Willis for the
eloquent and manly lecture he had that night deUvered, The fall had been provi-
dential, as was well remarked bv the learned lecturer, and no one had been hurt. As
to the charges against the committee, they were many of them made from some
local quarter, from some restless, fldgetty discontent, which delKhted In any un-
fortunate catastrophe that might happen ; but that feeling would die away, and
people would become satisfied that in ;these days there were professional men. archi-
tects and engineers, who were capable of dealing with accidents of this kind, and the
lecture threw much light on this incidcntiu the history of Chichester Cathedral. It
also threw a clear light on the history of architectural enterprise and architectural
science during those long centuries in which our cathedrals arose. He had great
pleasure in proposing a vote of thanks to I'roicssor Willis. , „. , - ,.■.
Mr. Sharp seconded the motion, and as one of those who at the close of the
meeting of the Archaiological Institute held at Chichester eight years ago, undertook
to contribute to an archieological volume referred to by Professor W illis, he might be
permitted to confirm him in one respect and to correct him in another. Three of
them agreed each to contribute a paper which should illustrate the architecture of
the county of Sussex, and which should bo published in one volume. Pixifessor
Willis was incorrect in stating that the three papers were not ready for pubUcation
within the twelve months. One of the three undertook to perform a much more lor-
midable task, and that was to give a classical list of the whole of the churches in
Sussex lie (Mr. Sharp) devoted some months in order to get an account of the
churches in the county, but he found the task was much more onerous than he at first
anticipated. But the Uat of the churches was not absolutely essential to the triple
work which was originally contemplated. It appeared to him that the three papers
would be published without the history of the churches, which might be pubhslied
scDarateiy the publisher had reserved the publication of the three papers, waiting
for the history of the churches, which his (51r. Sharp's) engagements had prevented
him from finishing. The three contributions, however, were to be published con-
jointly When he received a notice that Professor Willis was about to lecture on
Chlcliestcr Cathedral that evening, it occurred to him that the interest of the subject
mi"ht possibly be enhanced if it was looked at in a totally different point of view,
an3 if the history of the cathedral might be considered by means of its moujiunga
and chronological development, descending step by step. At that late houi of the
evenin'', however, it would not be convenient to enter upon such a discussion, but be
* "Ecclcsiologlat." p P- 88— K2.
316
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 12, 1861.
should be happy on Bomc future woasion when it suited the convenience of the
Institute to contribute such an illustration of Chichester Cathedral. It was his
eameiit hope that in the restoration of Chichester Cathedral they might see the
whole of its characteristic feature!? restored iu their entirety.
Mr. Slater (architect of Chichester Cathedral) was invited by the Chairman to
address the meethig. but he stated that he had nothing to say.
Mr. Thompson (engineer) said, a few days after the accident at the cathedral he
made some expenmouts as to the streu'^tli of tlie stone of the piers. He found that
the stone was a shelly limestone from tlie Isle of Wi^ht. having^ a specific gravity of
1-Slo. When laid on bi-d it cru^ihed with a weiy:ht varying from tliO to 500 lbs. the
square inch. When placed vertical to bed the stone crushed at 8(i0 lbs. to 1,070 lbs.
per square inch. The experiments proved that If the stono had been placed vertical
to bed it would have hod double the crushinf^ force. The tower and spire weighed
COOU tons, Riviug 1,''*W tons to each pier, ana 331 lbs. to the square inch. Lookin^c
St these facts, and that the walls were only cased with ashlar, and fitted lu with
rabble and mortar, some of which was very bad, the wonder was not that the spire
came down, but that the piers should so long have supported so vast a superincum-
bent weiy-ht. The piers were infinitely too small for the great weight upon them.
The specilic gravity of the stone, was also the lightest on record. The stone was a
puxv carbonate of lime ; a more improper stone could not have been adapted for the
earryiDg of a great weight, and which showed the non-scientific abilities of the
jnedjeval architects, as had been remarked by I^rofessor WiUis. The mortar was
exceedingly good in gome parts, but iu other parts it crumbled, and there seemed to
be uuartz sand .mixed up with mortar. The stone of the piers was placed in the
we^t'st way.
Mr. CiEOBGE R. BuRNELL remarked that architecture was as much a science as it
was an art, and in the particular instAuce of the fal! of Chichester spire the questions
involved were wliolly scientific, resolving themselves into the quality of the material
employed. Itut at that late hour such ([uestions could not be gone into as they
merited. The question of the presenzition of other buildiugs was one of great im-
portance. In tYance some ratuor remarkable works had been executed, and in the
course of being repaired the central tower of one of the cathedrals had been under-
pinned with remarkable success. He could not help thinking that if the same prin-
ciples had been adopted at Chichester that cathedral might have been standing m its
entiretyli and If the discussion could be adjourned he should make a collection of all
the facts connected with the works that had becn^oiug on at Bayeux, and endeavour
to ascertain the causes which had led to all thu fauures that had been referred to. He
should be happy to communicate all the information he could collect on the subject, if
that met the views of the Institute.
The CiiAiKM AS said the Council at once gladly accepted the kind offer of Mr.
Burnell, and that some evening would be devoted Tor the discussion of the
subject.
Alter a few remarks from ilr. J.W. Papworth, Mr. Morris, Mr. G. Hills, and
the Chairman, a vote of tiianks was passed by acclamation to Professor WiUis.
Shortly afterwards the meeting separated.
MAEBLE MASOXS V. MAKBLE SAWYERS.
CoLi-iNS AND Green v. Kead.
THE above is an action recently tried in the Brompton County Court.
The plaintiffs are marble masons in Albion-place, Blackfriars, and the defendant
a marble eawyer In Pimlico.
The action was brought to recover £14 for damage done to marble of a fine quality
entrusted to the defendant to be sawn into slabs.
Evidence was brought on tlie part of the plaintiffs to prove that they sent two
blocks of marble to the defendant to be sawn, and that when the blocks were rc-
tomcd the slabs into which one of the blocks had been cut were stained. Several
witnesses were called to prove that this could only have been occasioned by negli-
gence in sawing on the defendant's part, and that the stains extended the whole
lengtli of the slabs. 3Ir. Bramweli ^well-known in the trade), was called by the
plaintiffs, and positively affirmed to Ilus being, in his opinion, the cause of t!»e injury.
The plaintiff's foreman also proved thiit the slabs were lu the condition complained
of when returned by the defendant, and that they could not have become so while
under his (foreman .s) care, and that the plaintiffs had never before had slabs po
damaged in their possession, as they always employed first-class materials ; also,
that cuJmney- pieces made up of the marble thus stained they had taken back from
Windsor, from Sunderland, and other quarters on this account.
The defence was that the injury was not caused by the defendant; that the
plaintiffs had allowed two monthi* to elapse before they complained of the injury ;
and that the damage would have been trivial if certain steps had been taken to remove
It. The defendant deposed that the injury could not, in liis judgment, have been
done during the progress of the work, and several masons wore called on the
defendant's part, who swore that they thought that portions of the slabs produced
Wtjc not part of the slabs returned by the defendant.
The advocates for the parties having addressed the jury,
The learned Judge summed up at great length, and pointed out to the jury that it
■was proved that the injury was not don(- while the slabs were in the plaintiff^B
possession, which naturally led to the conclusion that it must have occurred while in
the sawvL-r's bauds, and that althougli there might have been no actual negligence
on the defendant's part, yet the plaintiffs were entitled to have their marble returned
in good condition, and had/proved that it could not have been afterwards stained in
their hands or in process of manufacture. He alt^o observed that the lapse of time
bfore making the complaint, althougli a subject for obsi-rvatJon, as it raised a pre-
sumption that the claim was an afterthought, and might, but for subsequent circum-
stances. havel>een overlooked by thcplaintiffs, yet formed no legal bar.totheplaintiflTs
recovery in the action.
The jury retired to consider their verdict and after having been locked up some
time returned, and, to the surprise of everybody In Court, found a verdict for the
defendant— Mr. Chamberlain appUed to the Judge to fix a day for the plaintiffs to
move* for a new trial.— His Honor said that the time for the motion for the same
would be arranged by the Registrar,— We have not heard the result of the further
Iffoctedings. ^
(Comspndcnrc.
HISTOEIAKS AXD STUDENTS.
Sib,— I think that I have reason to complain of the manner In Tvhlch I have been
treated tins week by the Committee of the Architectural Kxhihition in Conduil-
(trect. Ify lecture on the "Architecture of the Elevcntli Century " at the South
KcDniD^on Museum had been announced for tlie last three months to take place on
Wednesday evening, April 3rd, and at three days' notice the Committee chaui^cd the
evenlne for the eoirte and the opening of their Kxhibition of Drawin;,'s— always an
attractive occasion— to the same evenlnt,', which several of the momberH of their Com-
mittee bad fixed for me so lonj; before, and which was fully advertised in the HuUiler
and lluilding Xete» of the Saturday previous ; whereas no notice of their chancre of
day appeared until Monday by rircular only. 1 had also borrowed drawlnj^s of some
members of the Committee to illustrate my lecture, and they were quite aware that
1 had been preparin-/ it for several weeks. This sudden change of their evening to
the one st-lected forme by some of theniselves had very much the appearance of a
■todied Insult. I do not believe tlmt anything of the kind was Intended, and if it
were a matter of private feeliiitr, I slioukl say no more al>out It. But why I wish you
to call public attention to thi- matter is the strong additional evidence it affords of
the entire ignorance on the part of the Kreat body of the profession of the history
of their own art. We arc all perfectly indifferent to any subject of which we are
entirely ignorant : when we imow a little about it, we wish to know more, and we
take an interest in it ; when we know nothing about it, we care nothing. And this
is just the case in point; this indifl'erence made them forget all about it. The great
body of the architect 8 know nothing and care nothing about the history of their own
art, and this is the reason that the architoctaro of Kngland has been so lamentably
bad for the last half century. The few architects who have really studied the history
of their art have risen rapidly to the head of their profession, but these arc the rare
exceptions. Such men as Scott, Street, Kerrey, and liurges, and a few others, are
really well acquainted with the history of architecture in their own country. Some
of them, perhaps, have paid too much attention to that of foreign countries, but
these men who have distinguished themselves so much arc as distinguished for their
superior knowledge as for their practical skill. And thei/ were not indifl'erent to the
subject of my lecture. I am now on my way to I'aris, where I know by experience
that I shall be treated in a very diifi-rent manner. The French architects are g-entle-
men and well-informed men, and, consequently, are warmly interested in the history
of architecture. Such men as M. Viollet le Due will at once give me the right hand
of good fellowship, and receive me as a brother student In their own favorite study.
I am, &c,
377, Strand, Friday, April S, 1861. J. H. Faskeb.
ST. JAMES'S SCHOOLS, ST. MAKYLEBONE.
Sir,— We regret that the necessarily small scale of the plan which accompanica
our sketch for St. James's Schools, St. Marylebone (No. 10 Architectural Exhibition
Catalogue), prevented us from making suificientiy clear oar intention with regard to
the entrances, viz., that tlie staircases are to Ijc double revolving round a solid wall ;
tlie boys entering at the front and the girls at the back. We have lately erected
similar staircases to the East London Catholic Schools, in Red Lion-street, Wapping,
to the satisfaction of ourcUcnts, as by this simple contrivance two separate entrances,
staircases, and lavatories, all well lighted and ventilated, are obtained, with great
economy of space, and further by taking advantage of the point at which the stair
cases coincide, a door of communication octwcen the Behoofs is provided for the use
of the managers.
We are, &c.,
126, Marylebone-roadjN.W., April 6, 1861. Willbon and Nichou..
AN ANSWER WANTED.— SEND IT EARLY.
Sir, — I should be much indebted if you, or some one of your correspondents, would
inform me, as to the construction of dials by which the bands of the clock and the
numbers are, or appear black, on a white dial by dayUght, and when lighted at night
the hands and numbers become white on a blacK dial.
I remember having seen a clock of this construction in a church tower in Pisa, and
again one other like it on the pier at Havre, and have often wondered why such a
most useful invention was not better known, or more often taken advantage of.
Your notice of this query will much obhge.
I am, &c.,
D. T.
153, St. Yinccnt-Btreet, Glasgow, April 9th, 1361.
THE PAMPHLET ON VICTORIAN ARCHITECTURE.
Sir,— I read Mr. Harris's pamplet on Tictorlan Architecture, but having no prac-
tical knowledge of the subject, I do not feel competent to express any opinion of its
merits. Jly attention was again directed to the matter by your very forcible article
in the Number for March 16th ; and, being much interested in architectural ques-
tions, I feel anxious to see a refutation of Mr. Harris's theories. As 1 infer, from
the tone of the article in your valuable Journal, that the fallacies of Mr. Harris's
system have been clearly exhibited in some previous Number, I should feel much
obliged if you would direct me in my search, and inform me in which Number such
a refutation appeared. No doubt, if you have not yet taken the matter in band, it is
your intention so to do ; for if Mr. Harris's theories are, as you sny, so likely to mis-
lead the student, they deserve to be thoroughly and systematically demolished, and
perhaps my letter may induce some one to take the matter up. 1 do not write this
as one who has any claim to express an opinion of bis own, but simply as
An Inquirer.
WHY DO NOT ARCHITECTS JOIN THE INSTITUTE 7
Sir,— When I saw your correspondent " F.I.li.A.'s " letter, I hoped he would
either point out the errors of my views or would show how the omissions on the part
of the Institute would be remedied. He has attempted the former ; but, I am sorry
to say, with as little success as has attended the labors of the institute with respect
to competitions and examinations.
The excuse, be alleges, for the ill success of the Institute in these matters appears
' to me to be the very reason why the Institute does not occupy a higher position in
I the estim.ition of the profession at large. "F.I.IS.A." thinks the want of success is
I not the fault of the Institute, but of the difficulty of dealing with subjects which
have proved beyond the control of that body.
I Where, I ask, is the proof? Surely "F.I.B.A." will not Bay the failure is the
I proof ; for there are innumerable Instances on record in which repeated failures have
been the prelude to a great success : and it may be so with respect to the Institute's
attempts to regulate competitions and examinations Besides, examhiations have
been proved to be within the control of the chartered associations of the medical
and legal professions. Wliy should the chartered association of the architectural
profession be the only and inglorious exception ? The want of success, I fear, arises
from the absence of well-directed earnestness on behalf of the profession. The
Institute, instead of striving to be, as its name indicates the design, a national
society, seems to be content with the sphere and operations of a merely local asso-
ciation.
** F.I.B.A." says the other architectural associations and societies were originated
when the funds of the Institute were not in a flourishing condition'; and that they re-
quire special funds, far beyond the purse of every member of the Institute. My refer-
ence to these societies was for the purpose of showing by what a perplexing variety of
choice the provincial architect was prevented from joining the Institute. But
" F.I.B.A." must excuse me If I deny that it would be necessary to have a subscrip-
tion of eight guineas a-year, if all the societies were consoUdated with the Institute ;
for I anticipate, if such a consolidation be practicable, there would be a considerable
saving in what are called establishment charges, which would authorise a reduction
in the subscription.
"F.I.B.A." seems to misunderstand my idea of the Institute being of "assist-
ance " to a provincial architect. I did not speak of the latter as the individual, but
as a member of a profession. I wish to know in what way it is to the advantage of a
provincial architect to join the Institute as now constituted 7 Your correspondent
admits that the sum required from Fellows in the country is very dear for the small
return in the shape of the volume of Transactions, to those whose professional avo-
cations do not occasion their coming to London very often so as to attend the meet-
ings, which is precisely the answer hitherto given by provincial architects to the
question proposed.
" F.I.B.A.'' asks me how is a provincial architect to bo identified? I do not see
how any architect is to be Identlned except by his works, or a diploma, and my belief
is that the Institute would render important service to the profession throughout the
country by steadily directing its efforts to securing the dijiloma ;' but then it must not
discuss th(! question witli closed doors, which is taking the most certain means of
preventing provincial architects from joining the Institute, as they cannot become
acquainted with, nor Interested In its proceedings ; nor can the Institute secure their
confidence. To give full publicity to any diversity of opinion is usually tlic best mode
of securing unanimity, as the causes of diversity are ehminated by dlscua'slon and
calm reflection.
Another important subject to which it does not appear that the Institute has given
adequate attention. Is the power conferred upon local boards to enact bye-laws for
' regulating the construction of buildings- that is, the practical part of architecture.
April 12, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
317
Local Hoards are becoming very Biuncrons, and their codes of bye-laws are likely to
be as numerous and almost as oiverse, much to the contusion and annoyance of the
architect ; but the Institute has not yet directed its attention to this important
subject.
I quite agree with your correspondent that the subject of this letter should be well
ventilated, and hope he will again lend his assistance. When he does, perhaps he
vnH have the fjooduess to say how many architects in Mancliester. Birmingham, and
north of Birmingham, arc members of the Institute ; and why the prwession in
Liverpool are singled out as the chief of sinners.
I am, &c.,
21, Kortb Jolm-Btrcct, Liverpool, AprU IG, 1861. J08EPB Boult.
KOYAL ENGINEERS.
Sir. — I am ap-ain Induced to address you on this subject, and must express my
satisfaction at the excellent manner in which "Petard " has treated the matter,
How is it that but one *'C. W." has come forward to advocate the cause of the
civil officers ? It really looks ha if tliere were no grounds for complaint, or surely
many letters would have appeared ere this from other "C. W.'s " in the depart-
ment, and I fear tlie public irenoraUy will arrive at this conclusion. It is pretty
evident, however, that the " C. W.'s" are afraid to move in the matter, fearing it
may injure their interests, and so are content to be snubbed daily by young military
officers. I believe that if as a body they laid their case before the proper authorities,
the present state of things would speedily be remedied, by their own position being
vastly improved, the public money more economised, and business carried on In
accordance with the spirit of the age.
Now is the time to carry this into effect, and if the present opportunity be neglected,
the "C. W.'s" will continue for many years to occupy the ridiculous position they do
at present.
It may scarcely be credited that, in addition to the " lioyal Engineer Offlcers " em-
ployed on civil duties, there is a class styled " Assistant Uoyal engineers," whose
duties are similar to those of the regular corps ; they are officers of the line, and on
account of the supposed s«flrcityof "Koyal Engineer officers," are emiiloyed to carry
out the important works how in hand connected with the defences of this country.
What possible use can tliey be ? Certainly they are as much use as the yoimg Koyal
Engineer officers, and that most people know who have seen their doings, that they
are of no use at all, but on the contrary, are a positive hindrance in the iurtherance
of business. Instances are known where these same gentlemen have been placed in
charge of contracts amounting to .■i;:iO,(XiO ! Of course it is a line thing for them, as
in jiddition to their regular military pay, they receive **working pay," "lodg^g
allowance," &e., and so, on the whole, are drawing a considerable amount from the
Army estimates ! As for their abilities as engineers, they do not possess any ; and
is it to be expected that they can have any knowledge of bricks and mortar, when
they have been for years wltli their regiments, and now are brought forward as
" engineers," and actu.illy entrusted to the extent mentioned above? Can one be sur-
prised then, that bunglingis so often perpetrated in tlio Koyal Engineers' department,
when works are left to such gentlemen as these, who scarce know brick from stone,
and who could not, I am Batisfled, distinguish yellow deal from " spruce ?"
I am, &c.,
April 9th, 1801. Fiat.
THE STKIKE.
Tyro change has taken place in the relative positions of the employers and employed
Xi since our last. On Friday evening a general meeting of the masons (whicu was
not open to the representatives of tlie press) was held in the Temperance Hall,
Broadway, Westminster, when it was determined not to resume work until the pro-
position to pay the men by the hour was abandoned by Messrs. Lucas, Mr. Kelk,
and Mr. Smith. The men, however, are wilUug to return immediately to their work
on the same terms as existed previous to the promulgation of the system of payment
by tlie hour. The other branches of the trade remain firm in their determination to
resist the hour system. We are mformcd that only about a hundred masons are out
01 employment.
TENDERS.
CnuRcn, Monmouthshire.
For restoration of Llangwm Church, Monmouthshire. Messrs. Prichard and Seddon,
diocesan archileets, Llaudaff, and 0, Whitehall, London.
Thomas Jones Chepstow £760 1 H. Kamm, Abergavenny £680
D. Lewis, Kaglan 750 | E. Doule, Lansey 500
For rebuilding No.
Airey and BciUngham £1,797
Macey 1,730
ISatterbury 1,679
Laurence and Sons 1,620
I'Anson 1,592
DwELimo Houses, London.
Union-street, Middlesex Hospital.
Mr. C. Bales, architect.
Clemence £1,572
Hallett 1,506
Matthews 1,397
Kudkin 1,355
Hyde 1,353
,, . ,,. Villas, &c., Bradford,
i or budding a pair of semi-detached villas, fencing, &c., at Buckhurst-hill,
Woodford, Lsscx, lor E. Steel, Esq. Mr. J. H.Kowley, architect. QuantiUesnot
supplied.
Houses. Fences. Total.
C»ae.. £905 £50 .-£955
Scwcll 879 52 9S1
Klvctt 880 43 923
Brake 840 37 877
Pursey 750 40 770
Salmon 660 50 706
DwELLtNG Houses, Forest Hill.
For the completion of four houses at Forest Hill. Edmund Strevens, architect.
I'armcr £1460 1 Luxtord £799
Drake (accepted) 895 Bnmnln" 796
Humphries 828
ClLVPEL, ToTTENHAai.
For chapel at West-green, Tottenham, to hold 300 persons.
Myers, Lambeth £1,184 | Clarke, West-green £889
Kider. Southwark 1,120 Williams, I'ottcr's-bar* 885
Humphreys, Tottenham 980 |
* Accepted.
DWELLING-HOCSES, TOTTENHAM.
For restoring two houses at Tottenham destroyed by fire.
Wilhams, fotter's-bar £419 1 Wood, Tottenham £355
Chapman, Tottenham 3K9 Harradine,* , 332
Mplasxd, , 305 I
• Accepted.
CnuRcii, Notts. '
For restoration of Sutton Bassctt Church, Northamptonshire, Mr. Henry Goddard
architect, Leicester. Quantities supplied.
BturdJt't'^' £415 I Stanyon. (Accepted) «29
„ CUUINEY, UOZIOII.
For factory chhnneyat Hoxton.
Foster, Whiteftiars
Woodward, Finsbury (accepted). .......
.;e90
ENaniE-nouHE, &c., Hull.
For engine-house, chimney, engine-bed. and other works tor Mesan. EUerthaw
and Sons, Scnlcoates, Hull. Mr. W. Bottcrlll, architect. Quantities not supplied.
Jlr >ck uorl:—G. Jackson £676 5 4
Stoiie ll'ork.—T. Eeles 375 10 0
Carjintters' n/ul Joiners' Works.— StepUeuiOU ani ClAik 78 12 »
PluvMngaml Gla,-dn;i.—V.3. HtLirisoa 27 0 O
SWijiy.— H. Newmarch ig 15 0
£K<(Ve JTorto.—B. WooUcy and Son, Leeds (accepted) 1,176 0 0
Church, Suffolk.
For restoration of Layham Church Suffolk. Mr. G. E. Prltchett, F.8.A. architect
J. H. Kinghom, Ipswich £1,110 78.14.
J. I. Wolham Knydon, Suffolk 840 0 0
Spooner and Cook, Hadleigh 800 0 0
J. It. Hawkins, Monks Elelgh. (Accepted) 701 7 4
Villa, LracoLNSiiiRE.
For villa residence at Burton-upon Slather, Lincolnshire, for Sirs. E. Waterlaod
Mr. W. Botterill, Hull, architect,. Quantities not supplied.
Excavator, Brickluj/er, and Flatterer.
G. Lnmley and Sou .'. £323 10 0
Mmon.
T. Eeles '.....£8110 0 j E. Boards 7117 0
Carpenter ami Joiner.
.r. Jackson £324 0 0 I A. Stamp .1 £262 9 0
J. Stanewell 269 0 0 | T. Stubbins 280 0 0
Plmitber and Glazier.
C. Smith (accepted) £51 0 0
Slater.
W. Dawber and Son £40 10 0 I F. Wilde and Son £33 0 0
H. Newmarch 37 0 0 1
Painter,
J. Godson 16 0 0
Entire Works, except Ptumieratul Glazier.
G. Lnmley and Son (accepted) £663 7 0
Schools, &&, Lancashibe.
For Wesleyan schools and master's residence, Blackburn, Lancashire. Mr. W.
Botterill, Hull, architect. Quantities not supplied.
Entire Works.
E.BeU £1,855 I Dent and MarahaU (accepted) ..^,792 13
■Brichwork.
1. HUton £537 I R. Bell £450
Masoti's Work.
A. and J. Spence £350
Dentand Parker 530
K. Blackburn 500
Carpenter's am,
W. Whalley £.592
G. Baron 585
W. Baron .540
Arkwright £470
W. ScUcrs 452
Joiner's Work.
K. Bell £530
J. Wolstenholme 525
Dent and Marshall 490
Plumbing ami Glazing.
J.Bell £120 5 11'. Walsh £80 0
J..Woolfall '..... 99 10 I S.Shaw 85 10
Slating.
W. Forrest .....dn29 5
Painting.
J.Entwisle £45 | T. BeU £31 19
Dwelling House, London.
For rebuilding No. 5, Maddox-street, Regent-street. Mr. C. Ealea, architect.
Ilaward > £1,000
Airey and Bellingham 1,370
I'Anson . 1,324
Clemence 1,311
Lawrence and Sons £1,270
Batterbury 1,2!9
Saunders 1,223
Hallett 1,200
Brown £1,113
COMPETITION AWARDED.
Hotel, Saltuurn.
The prize of £60 for the Saltburn hotel, recently advertised among the competitions
has been awarded to Mr. Thomas Naden, architect, Birmingham.
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
VILLAS. _, ^ ,
Barnstaple.— Some members of the Barnstaple Freehold Land Society wish plans
and specifications for the erection of semi-detached villas, at a cost not exceeding
£450 per pair, and offer premiums of £5 and £2 109. for the first and second best
designs that may be sent to them, and can be executed for the above amount.
Particulars of the site, and cost of materials, on application to Mr. I. W. 'latbam,
Joy-street, Barnstaple, to whom they should be sent not later than AprJ 18.
TOWN HALL. ^ . ,.. .
Hull.— For the approved design, &c. , lor a Town-hall and public offices, at Kingjton-
upon-Hull, to be forwarded with plans, sections, and estimates ol cost (sealed and
addressed to the town clerk, Hull, and marked outside, "Design for Town-hall. )
to May 31. The sum of £100 is offered for the design selected as the best, and £50
for the design selected as second best. A block plan of site, and prmted statement
of offices, rooms, and conveniences required, at Kobort Well s (town clerk s) office.
Town-hall, Hull, between 11 and 1.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
EXCHANGES.
Newbury.— For the works of the Newbury Corn Exchange building. Plans, &c,
on application to Mr. J. S. Dodd, architect, H8, Friar-street, Beading, on and after
15th April. Tenders for the whole or for the separate trade work, to be sent to
K. F. Graham, Clerk to the Local Board of Health, Newbury, under cover
endorsed "Tender for Newbury Corn Exchange," by twelve a.m. of
April 29. Tenders for the whole of the work to state the prices of the respectiTO
Blackburn -^For the works necessary to the erection of the Exehan"* Bnildingg,
Blackburn Lancashire. Working, drawings, &c., at the offices of the architect,
Mr Brakspear, 14, Ridgefleld, Manchester. Sealed tenders, to r. C. Ains-
worth. Esq , Town Hall-buUdings, Blackburn, on April 16. Bills of quantltiea
will be furnished to contractors on depositing two guineas.
HOSPITAL. .
B.VNFF.— For one or more of the following departments of work. vi» :— Mason work,
wrichts' work, plumber work, slater work, plasterer work, required m tne
erection of Chahners Hospital in Baufl'. I'lans. &c. , to 22nd April, on apphcaUon to
Mr. Edward Mortimer, solicitor in Banff, or at the office of Mr. W. L. Moffatt, arcm-
tect, 4 Fettes-row, Edinbiirgh. Sealed tenders must be lodged with Mr. Mortimer
by twelve noon of AprU 25.
31S
THE BUILDING NEWS.
Abril 12, 1861.
ALMSHOUSES.
KssEX.— For building seven almshouses in the parish of Barking, Essex. Specifica-
tions at the office or Mr. Gi-orgt,' Martin, Surveyor, Broadway, Barking. Tenders
to Mr. E. Fitt, churchwarden, narkinp, by April 20.
PUTSET.— For the erection of IJ almshouses, in the Upper Kichmond-road, Putney,
and the enclosure of the ground. Drawings, &c., at tlic ofHce of Mr. Charles Lee,
architect, '."O, Ciolden-squarc. to the 18th inst. Sealed tenders, endorsed " I'utney
Almshouse Committee," to Mr. K. S. Watliu, Churchwordou, High-street, Putney,
by 1'.: noon of April 24.
CATHEDRAL.
Worcester.— For the works to be done in the farther restorations and repairs of
Worcester Cathedral. Drawings, &c., at the Officer of Mr. A. E. Perkins, archi-
teet, CoUege-vard. ^Vorcester. Tenders, sealed, to the Very Key. the Dean of
Worcester, at the Chapter-room, at 1 o'clock p.m. of April 21.
CHURCHES.
Keskiwoton.— For reseatin?, roofing, and otherwise restoring the parish church of
all Saints, Ruskineton. Plans, &c., at the office of Messrs. Kirk and Parry, Slea-
ford. Sealed tenders to Messrs. Kirk and Parry, by noon of April 22.
IRELASD.— For erecting a new church at Piltown, County Kilkenny. Plans, &c.
with the Rev. W. Gregory, Fiddown Glebe, near Fiddown Railway Station,
Tenders to be sent to Mr. John Blacket, Piltown, secretary to Building Committee.
by April 21.
Bramley.— For the erection ofa new church at Bramley, near Leeds, to seat 1,000
persons. Plans, &e., may be seen at the offices of Messrs. Perkin and Backhouse,
architects, Pease's-buildlngs, South Parade, Leeds, li-om Aprils. vTenderstothe
architects by April 19.
Ca>terblrt.— For completing!, he work at the parish church of St. Mlldred,cfo
Canterbury. Plans, :&c., at the Vestry. Sealed tenders are to be deliverd
(addressed to the churchwardens) at the office of Mr. Churchwarden Boorman, Win-
cheap-strcet, by April 20.
PARSONAGE.
Leeds.— For the several works required in the erection of a Parsonage at Greenhow
Hill. Plans, Ac, at the office of Mr. George Corson, 5, South-parade, Leeds,
until 13th April, and at the George Hotel, Patcley Bridge, until the 2()th, on which
day sealed tenders are to be delivered to Mr. Corson, 20, Cooper-street, Man-
chester.
SCHOOLS, &c.,
Atrsiiire, (N.B.)— For the mason. Joiner, plaster, plumber, and slater works of
school and schoolmaster's house, proposed to be erected at Carsphairn. Plan , &c.,
with 5Ir. Hannah, schoolmaster. Tenders to Mr. Hannah, or Mr. Kennedy Smith,
Bcrbcth Mains, Dalmellington, by April 18.
DWELLING HOUSES, &c.
ATKsniRE.— For the mason, joiner, plaster, plumber and slater works of dwelling-
house and offices proposed to be erected at Muirdrockwood, parish of Carsphairn.
Plan, Ac, at Muirdrockwood, by;applying to Mr. Paterson. Tender also for the
mason, joiner, plaster, plumber and slater works of office houses proposed to be
erected at Strahannah, parish of Carsphairn. Plan, &c,. at Strahannah. Sealed
tendcrsKseparate) with Mr. Kennedy Smith, Berbeth Mains, Dalmellington, by
Bradford.— For the erection of a block of seven houses, purposed to be
bnilt in Ash Grove, Great Horton-road, Bradford. Plans, &c., with T. C. Hope,
architect, 31, Kirkgate, Bradford, to Thursday, April 18th, on which day tenders
are to be sent in before 4 p.m.
Herts.- For pulling down and rebuilding a house and premises, known as Aldenham
Grove, Aldenham, Hertfordshire. The estate is situate one mile from Elshee
and four from the Harrow Station. It is presumed there will be sufficient heavy
material on the works, which can be viewed. Plans, Ac, at the Wrestlers, Alden-
ham i and architects' offices, 176, Upper-street, IsUngton, London, N. Tenders
tm April 23. ■ B .
Harrocate.— For the erection of a residence in Victoria Park, Harrogate.
Plans, Ac, at No. 15, Devonshire-place, High Harrogate. Tenders to Perkin and
Backhouse, architects. Pease's-buildings, 5, South Parade, Leeds, on April 22.
BRIDGE, Ac.
Leeds.— For the works required in the widening of Timble-bridge. Plans, Ac, at
the office of Thomas Shaw and Son, 2, Belgrave-square, on April 22. Also for
the supply of Skipton-road and foundrv stone, or other stone equally good for
macadamised roads. Tenders for wheeling, piling, and breaking the same at
P|r ton boat weight. Tenders for leading broken stone from the town 's depot,
Whitehall-road, to the different macadamised roads in the township of Leeds,
and for carts and horses by the day. Tenders for supplying 3 inch self -faced
ilags, 5 inch boasted curbs, 10 by 8 tooled curbs. Best double-dressed setts, not
more than 18 inches long nor less than 12, 8 inches wide and 9 deep. Common
setts, not more than 18 inches long nor less than twelve, from 8 to 9 inches deep ;
not more than 8 inches wide, and 6-inch cube pavers. Tenders to be delivered at
the sarveror's office, 3, Commercial-street, Leeds, addressed to the Chairman of
the Board, and marked, " Tender for stone," Ac, as the case may be, by 12 noon
of April 27.
WATERWORKS.
Guiselet.— For about 4,000 yards of cast-iron socket pipes, vertical castings, varying
in diameter from 6 to 2 inches. Plans, Ac, at the offices of Mr. James Lumley,
civil engineer. Shinliv. from loth April. Sealed tenders to Mr. John Padgett,
chairman. Hawkhill, Gulbtli". renr Leeds, by 2 p.m. of April 16.
ROAIJWORK, Ac.
fiTOCKronT.- For keeping the roads, footpaths, and ditches and fences, Ac, respec-
tively belonging to the Stockport and Warrington, and 'Washway Turnpike Roads
In good and complete repair for a period of live years. The length of the Stock-
port and Warrington road, including the Kdgeley Branch, is 14 miles and 9.32 yards
and the Washway Road 3} miles and 270 yards. Particulars from Mr. B. S.
Barber, Longford, Stretford, for the Washway Road, and Mr. John Kinsey, Hale,
near Altrincham, for the Stockport and Warrington Road, and also from Mr. Wm.
Devereux Nicholls, Solicitor, Altrincham. to whom tenders endorsed "Tender for
repairing the Washway or Stockport and Warrington Turnpike Roads" by
April 22.
RAILWAY WORKS.
IBELAiiD.— For the execution of the Works of the Finn Valley Railway Company
(13 miles). Plans, Ac. , at the offices of 1*. W. Barlow, esq., the engineer In chief,
26, Great George's-strect, Westminster, S.W., or at the offices of John Bower, Esq.,
resident and acting engineer, 28, South Frederick-street, Dublin, and Strabane.
Tenders, endorsed, "Tender for Works," and addressed to the Right Hon.
Viscount I.ifTord. Chairman of the Finn Valley Railway Company, Cecil House,
Wimbledon, London, S.W., till April 18.
^ „ CAISSONS.
Kewport. For the constmctlon of an iron caisson, with extreme dimensions 71 feet
by 21 feet, by 28 (eet 6 inches, for the Newport (Mon.) Dock Company Specifications,
Ac, at the dock omce.'N'ewnort,or atMr. James Abcmethy's,C.E., 3, Parliament-
street, Vi estmlnster. Tenders to Henry R. Footc, Sccretarj-, Dock Office, New-
port, Monmouthshire, by April 24.
„ „ . MILITARY WORKS.
WooLwicn.— > or the following trades in the Woolwich Royal Engineer District,
from Ist June, 18«I, to the Slst Slarch, 1862, viz r-bricklayers, masons, paviors,
carpenters and upholsterers, plaaterers, slaters, plumbers, smiths and iron-
mongers, painters, glaziers, pajM-rhangers, and gasfltters Schedules and forms of
tender at the Royal Engineer Office, Mill-lane, Woolwich, to April 20. The tenders
to be delivered, or forwarded, prepaid, to the Director of Contracts, War Office, Pall
mall, London, 8. W., marked " Tender for Artificer's Work, Woolwich District,"
07 noon of April 26. Each party tendering may specify the perccntsge on each
« T. .». A. SHOPS, &c.
HANLEY.-For the erection of tjiree Bhop premises and the alterations to another In
theroarket-square, Hanley. for Mr. JoLn Docksey, Grocer. Plans A-cWIls of
quantities, an^ all necessary information at the o&es of Wm. and M. c' Palmer
^rcluteets, fehakspcre-buildiDgs, Hanley, Staffordshire to whom sealed tcnderTby
The Bdter s Desideratom.-- The buyer's dcMderatum is to find an ostablish-
ment where will be presented to liim ample choice of artistic d.-signs. without
having forced upon his attention a host of mere ingenious ones, and dcstitu e of any
other merit, witli a tariff of prices adapted to the means of the economic or those tJ
whom price is no object. Such an establishment is that of Mr J W Benson
situate at 33 and 34. Ludgate-hUI, whose recent enlargement of his premises has
made his show-rooms more conspicuous than any other in the neighbourhood of St
laulB. His four wmdows contain such a variety of gold and sUver watches as tf»
leave nothing to be desired but the money to buy them with. The higb standing of
Mr. Benson as a London manufacturer must secure him a large amount of Dublic
p&tconagc."'— Standard. ^ puwuv.
Benson's IlluBtrated Pamphlet, post-free lor two stamps, is descriptive of everv
construction of watch now made. Watches safe by post to aU parts of the globe.—
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and communications to be addressed to the Editor of the Building >'ews, 30,
Old Boswell-court, St. Clement's, Strand, London. -^'*"»t **.
The Editor cannot undertake to return unused manuacrlpts.
Wat Tyler tue Second.— Complains at some leiiRth of the course pursued by a con-
temporary in publishing a letter, containing "such disgraceful and sweeping accusations
agamst architects," with reference to their aileged demands for "a pcrcentaKe from
tradesmen. We are unable to print Wat Tyler the Second's communication, but must
remark that but for the publication of the letters referred to architects would have had no
opportunity of answering llie charges tiierein brouglit forward.
Thomas M b.— Sliall liear from us, meantime thanks."
E. B. S. -Furnish the adjoining owner with a detailed account of the proportion of the
cost fairly chargeable to him, he cannot, however, be eonipelled to pay for any part of
additional wall required by you, in consequence of the increased height of your premises.
L. F.— Iron ornaments, &c., were formerly covered with brass by preparing tlie surface so
as to remove all organic raatter^vhich would prevent adhesion, and then pUuiging them into
melted brass. A thin coating is thus spread over the surface, which admits of being
highly polished or burnished. The process now usually employed is the electro-magnetic.
A solution of brass for the purpose may be prepared by dissolving 8 oz., Troy weight, of
cyanide of potassium, 2 oz. of cyanide of copper, and 1 oz. of cyanide of zinc in one
gallon of rain or distilled water ; then add 2 oz. of muriate of ammonia. The solution 'is
to be used at 160 deg. Fahrenheit for smooth work, and Irom 90 deg. to 120 deg., with a
compound battery tf tVom three to twelve cells.
A Constant Header.— The*' Standing Orders" directed that in all eases where it is pro-
posed to divert into any intended cut, canal, reservoir, aqueduct, or navigation, orinto any
Intended variation, extension, or enlargement thereof respectively, any water from any
existing cut, canal, reservoir, aqueduct, or navigation, whether directly or derivatively,
and whether under any agreement with the proprietors thereof or othenvise, the notices
shall contain the name of every such existing cut, canal, &c., the water supplying which
by virtue of any Act of Parliament will either directly or derivatively, flow or proceed into
such intended cut, canal, reservoir, &c., or into any intended variation, extension, or en-
largement thereof. The plan is to descrttw the brooks and streams to be directly diverted
into such intended cut, canal, &c., or any variation, extension, or enlargement thereof
respectively, for suppjyin" the same with water; it is also to show the height of tlie
several embankments, and the depth of the several cuttings respectivelv, on a scale
specified thereon. We are disposed to think favorably of the scheme named, which has
not, so far as we are aware, been before proposed, and shall be happy to receive further
particulars.
AnExhibitob— Communication relative to drawings In the Architectural Exhibition has
been received, but is too much in the nature of an advertisement for publication ; we may,
however, make some use of it hereafter.
X. N. A.— We cannot possibly give you " an idea of the cost of building a house containing
about fifteen rooms r' consult an architect.
YoDNG Engineek.— The contrivance known as the *' differential worm wliccl and tangent
screw," consists of two worm wheels, differing by one tooth in the number which they
carry, placed side by side and close together, so as to be capable of engaging with a single
endless driving screw. It follows that one wheel will turn relatively to the other through
the space of the extra tooth. In a complete revolution, and that a very slow relative motion
will be introduced. If one wheel carries a dial-plate and the other a hand we can obtain
the record of a very large number of revolutions of the tangent screw. We have no space
for such a communication at present.
Society.— Would doubtless be able to recover wages for work done during overtime, under
the afrreement sent
M. L.— The authorities do not agree as to the exact area of a hide of land; some consider It
to have amounted to as much as 120 acres, while others consider It to have been no more
than 20 acres; it probably difl"ered with localities. Hutchins. In his work on Doomsday
Book, says the hide was the measure of land In tlic Confessor's reign ; the carucate, that
to which it was reduced by the Conqueror's new standard. Tolydore Vergil supposed the
term hide to have been derived from the hide of a beast, as Carthage *' quantum taurino
possint circumdare tergo ;" but Bishop Kennet says, with more reason, that it was derived
from the Saxon "hyd, a house or habitation, from hydauto cover, and from which it has
been supposed we have the word " hut," What Bede calls famillas, a circuit of land su f-
flcient for the maintenance of a family , his Saxon translator. King Alfred .calls' *hyde lander"
The extent was afterwards described to be as much as was sufticientfor the cultivation of
plough, hence the term "ploughland." Spelman cites the Malmesbury MSS. as computing
a hide of land at 9G acres, while the " Dlalogusde Scaccario " mentions it as containing 100
acres.
M. I. B. A.— Erratum shall appear at the proper time.
A . SuBscHiBER.— Must refer to our notices of the works exhibited.
Edwabd M.— Does not appear to be a carefUl reader of the Buildino NEWS, or he would
have seen that the subject has been discussed In our pages.
T. Leoge.— Sorry we are unable to assist.
J. A. F.— We cannot treat of such subjects In the Bdildino News.
W. and Co.— Shall appear.
J. 8. It.-Ditto.
Tyro.— All sashes should be double hung, ».*., made so as to open at the top. We shotdd
think no respectable contractor would object to make them bo In a superior house, because
they were not so described in the specification.
M. W.— Must favor us with his name and address before we can print his communication.
F. Phillips.— Tlianks ; view shall be engraved.
W. M. Nagoerst.— Shall receive attention.
T. Wylson— Plaster casts may be bronzed In various ways. Ure says—" Plaster of Paris,
paper, wood, and pasteboard, may be made to resemble pretty closely the appearance of
articles of real bronze, modern or antique. The simplest way of giving a brilliant aspect
of this kind is with a varnish made of the waste gold leaf of the beater, ground upon a
porphyry slab with honey or gum water. A coat of drying Unseed oil should be first
applied, and then the metallic powder Is put on with a hnen dossil. Mosaic gold, ground
up with six parts of bone ashes, has been used In the same way. When It Is to be put on
paper, it should be ground up alone with white of eggs or suirit varnish, applied with a
brusli and burnished when dry. When a plate of iron is plini;,'ed into a hot solution of
sulphate of copper. It throws down line scales of copper, which being repeatedly washed
in water, and ground along with six times Its weight of bone ashes, forms a tolerable
bronzing. Powdered and sifted tin may be mixed with a clear solution of isinglass,
applied with a brush, and burnished or not, according as a bright or dead surface Is
desired. Gypsum casts are commonly bronzed by rubbing brilliant blacklead upon them
with a cloth or brush.
S. P M.— Declined with thanks.
A Northern Architect.— In type. _ „. , « »
Beceived.-S. W. M., T. K. T., Exhibition In Conduit-street, J. M.,E.R. a..W.J. O. L.,
K. Phippson, W. B., E. Moore, The Contractors S. S. S., A.. V. X., Tilleytony, In-
vestigator, Q., P. I., F. A., M. I. B. A., B. C. N., One on Strike, L. M. 0.. Samuel T.,
B. and S.
Ai'RiL 19, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
319
SUKVEYORS" QUANTITIES.-
NDER the
-BARNETT V. GLENN.
heading "Important to Sur-
veyors and Builders" we last week
reported pretty fully a case, Barnett and
Another v. Glenn, tried at the County
Court at Clerkenwell. Wc quite concur
with the conclusion of the learned judj^e
before whom it was tried that, of all the
builders connected with the case a worse
selection could not have been made of a
defendant than the builder sued in. this
particular case ; but, viewed in the
abstract, there are points about the case
that render it quite as important to
architecls, as to even surveyors and
builders. Moreover it brings one face
to face with the entire question of
quantities ; which is, owing entirely to the
supineness of architects themselves, and to
that of the Institute of Architects in particular,
so beset with irregularity and confusion as to
have become a scandal and downright
nuisance in building transactions, especially in the metropolis, where a
better system ought to prevail.
Some of these irregularities were brought to light in the course of
this Clerkenwell case ; and there are very many others which a little
unity amongst architects (if even amongst those who form the Institute)
would easily obviate.
The plaintiff in this case was a surveyor of some standing and of
great experience as a " quantity-taker" ; a calling which, like that of
a civil engineer, has in great measure sprung into existence of late
years, and become separated from that of the architect ; and this owing
to our architects abdicating their proper functions. If a bridge has to
be built we no longer send for an architect, as we did in the days of
Mylne, of Gwynn and Harrison — we invoke the civil engineer; and,
again, if a house has to be estimated, we send for a building or
"quantity" surveyor. In this particular case the surveyors do not
appear to have been sent for : they came of their own accord ; but this
again was an irregularity for which— not the surveyors but— architects
are to blame. When an architect has designed a building, and knows
well that competition tenders are to come in, and that in consequence
quantities are needed, he ought either to prepare the quantities himself
and be paid for doing so, or if incapable of taking them, he ought, as
controller-general of the entire building scheme, to decide how they
should be taken by others, and how paid for.
But, at the bare idea of an architect taking out his own quantities,
some of our town readers may exclaim, « What will Mrs. Grundy say?"
We for our own part desire to put the question to the Institute of
British Architects, which we heartily wish could be goaded into action
m this and many other questions affecting the welfare of the pro-
fession ; especially questions like this one of quantities, which is an
every-day question ; and one touching which disputes and litigation
amongst builders are continually arising. The Institute of Architects
IS mightily ofHcious in matters, which do not in the least concern it— as
an institute of architects rather than of architecture, which it professes
to be : gives itself much trouble to memorialise ministers of State,
deans of cathedral, chapters, and abbeys (even threatening to extend
-- sort of fussiness to continental ones) : it volunteers advice to
this
municipal corporations about open spaces in the City of London ; and
last Monday, conferred a morsel of this commodity upon the Gresham
Committee— things all well enough in their way ; but which have no
relation whatever to the condition, as useful citizens of the State, of
those " British Architects," whose well-being ought by rio-ht to be the
object of Its first and most special care. There are plenty of architec-
tural societies, or clubs of literati, capable of offering wholesome advice
about ancient and modern edifices at home and abroad : advice quite
as valuable as the Institute's, and far more disinterested : what the
Institute of British Architects has really to do is* to look to the rin-hts
and to the wrongs of architectural practice ; and to tell us Brftish
architects, if it can, when it is regular and "respectable," and when it
IS irregular and " unprofessional." If the Royal Institute of British
Architects cannot, or will not, do this, let English architects fairly
understand the fact; and let them witliout delay establish another
mstitute, that will serve this end. Let us now return to the Clerkenwell
case ; and see whether it is not of more consequence to British archi-
tects, than the last momentous question, proposed ex cathedra for the
m* « VV°hTT''w 'A'^i';^-^-", '^''"?'= '?"" "^^ '"'«•■""' »' P- 296, under the head-
«?!., .. >^ u ".°' Architects join the Institute?" says, "It (the Institute) was
Sd w?m'w,!',?.''no "^^ to afford.the opportunity of showfni to thi public «^^ 'were
and who were not, architects in the proper meaning of tlie term." If this be so
i,„™^' "lif" n"'^ ".?>^ """• "'" Institute has existetTtwenty-seven years a id done
nothujif-literally nothmg-to reaUsc its mission. Can anythlbg be clearer thim this »
Council of the Institute-the question to wit, of putting, or not puttina.
a shjhghfocer the area of the Royal Exchange.
According to the evidence of the parties in this case, who (setting aside
incidents peculiar to it, but of no consequence to the profession) seem
to have had much experience of building contracts and architectural
practice, there appears to be amongst architects the wildest confusion
and misunderstanding about several professional questions, which as
they are of every-day occuiTcncc, ought to have been long ago settled,
and to be now clearly understood and agreed upon. The architect
appears to have prepared his plans and specification ; but to have made
no arrangement about or provision for the quantities, which the
surveyors appear to have thought absolutely indispensable, but the
client and the defendant did not think at all necessary— albeit, oddlv
enough, the architect allowed the surveyors to prepare them at a claimed
commission of 2\ per cent. The surveyor proposed that the architect
should share in this commission; but this the architect steadily
declined, notwithstanding the fact, averred over and over again on
oath by the two experienced surveyors, that it was usual and cmtomary
for surveyors to allow architects these little commissions or " compli-
ments."
This is pretty well, one may think, as it concerns the customs of
tendering, and the customs of architects and surveyors. We give it as
we have it deposed in court by the two surveyors in the case ; men
well used to taking out quantities, and supposed of course to know the
customs existing in the metropolis. What we desire to know is, how
did it come about that, the architect in question declined to avail him-
self of a custom so general. Possibly he considered that, as he had
not himself prepared these quantities, he could not fairly receive a pay-
ment for service he had not rendered his client. We commend hun
for his uprightness ; but then there is the custom, which the surveyors
told the court, and doubtless told him, is so usual — how came the archi-
tect to withstand it? Peradventure it may be a custom sanctioned by
the Institute ; and this gentleman may be an Associate, or better still a
Fellow, of the Institute — in that case his declining to fall in with this
" custom " of the profession only makes the matter more puzzling than
before.
Then there is the question of the proper commission or percentage
for taking out these quantities : we put it as a quiet question for the
Institute, what are the public who build to think, alter hearing or
reading the evidence in this Clerkenwell case ? The surveyors in this
case made a charge of 2^ per cent, on the amount of the tenders ; and
this both of these gentlemen, with another surveyor to corroborate
them, swore was a fair and proper charge for preparing the quantities ;
but then we have the architect, who also deposes on oath that, not 2J
but 1 i per cent, would have been a proper payment for the work. He
" had done a great deal in taking out quantities," and yet declared
( " oh, confusion worse confounded ! " ) he would have taken out these
quantities, which the surveyors valued at £38 16s., and he himself
swore were worth £18,— for a guinea ! We ask — and we particularly
ask the Institute of Architects — what on earth are the public to think
of the practice and the professional charges of architects and surveyors?
AVell might the unfortunate judge who tried the case ask in sheer
despair of getting at the bottom of it, " Is there not a well-known rule f "
A rule there certainly is, if this case is to be our guide — it is the good
old rule of roly-poly.
With regard to the particular merits of this particular case, we care
little about them, being more interested as journalists in its bearin" on
the well-being of what ought ever to be an honorable profession. We
have just now commended the architect (if the thing is irregular) for
declining logo snacks in the surveyor's commission, and we are indis-
posed to discuss the proceedings of the surveyors ; but we cannot help
thinking that, architects as a body and the Institute in particular are to
blame for the irregularities, that surround this question of " taking out
the quantities," as it is called. Either the quantities are necessary, or
they are not. If they are (and there is no doubt of it in all cases of
competing tenders) it ought surely by this time to be known how they
ought to be taken ; by whom and at what charge. In this particular
case we think that, they ought to have been taken out and charged for
by the architect himself, who of all men must have best understood
the drawings and the specification ; and these it is clear, from the
evidence about the balusters and handrail, the surveyors did not clearly
understand. Of course if an architect is incapable of taking out
quantities, there is nothing for it but to call in a surveyor — perhaps two
surveyors, as there were in this case ; but such was not the case with
the architect in question. He deposed on oath he was quite conver-
sant with the task. Why then did he not take them out, chai'ging his
client I i per cent., or " a guinea," as he might feel inclined. It would
have been a legitimate job, honestly accruing from a clear transaction
in his own office, over which, knowing all the circumstances, he might
have exercised — and wisely for his client — despotic control. Instead of
this, he sits quietly by, and allows a really necessary duty he is able to
perform — nay perform so cheaply — for his client, to be the object of an
undignified scramble between two surveyors, ending in a befoolment of
320
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 19, 1861.
all the builders tenderinpr for Lis job, to say nothing of a bootless action
at law in the Clerkenwcll County Court. There are dozens of archi-
tects in the metropolis, who can scarcely find employment the year
round: — let them learn how to take out the quantities of the few
buildings that fall to their lot to design : the operation will wonderfully
aid them in discovering the imperfections of their working drawings and
specifications; and they will rise from the task not only richer in
pocket, but far clearer in their ideas of the true cost of their building
and of its constructive peculiarities, than they were before sitting down
to it. There is, short of executing the work, no better test of the
perfection of a set of drawings and a specification, than the taking out of
tlte quantities.
LONUOX STATUES.
THERE is a peculiar trait of English character which has been frequently
noticed but never fully analysed. It is the calmness with which we
Britons make and receive disparaging remarks and caricatures of our
public men, our public monuments, and our national institutions. Ko
people in the world can endure it as we do. There seems nothing done
rightly in free England, and everything seems performed in an unexcep-
tionable manner abroad. We exaggerate our deficiencies until foreigners
and natives believe the exaggeration to be truth ; we ridicule our great
men for their insignificant weaknesses until we forget their sterling merits.
The comical features of a man like Brougham are more familiar to the
large mass of his countrymen than his profound learning and his brilliant
talents ; it is only when he shall have passed away that the cobwebs of the
small jokers will be swept from his name. We were dubbed a shopkeep-
ing people by our great enemy, and Engliahmen repeat the sneer. We
have plenty of money, but we must go abroad, it seems, to purchase art ;
and yet, when England invited all nations to meet her, in 1851, at Hyde-
park, she held a foremost place in art as well as science, and the work of
Gibson was worthy to stand beside that of Pradier or of Kiss. Other
nations set up indifferent statues, but they do not immediately make them
the objects of joke and ridicule ; the humour would not be appreciated,
even if the joke were made. "Halloo, boys, here's another guy!" once
adopted by the street boys, is shouted at everything to which it can by
any stretch of imagination be applied— to patriotic volunteers, to vene-
rable deans, to every statue. " He she playing at quoits ?" was another
quaint shaft fired at Bell's fine statue of Victory. We all laugh at the
joke ; the sculptor himself has probably laughed as loudly as the rest of
■as. Everything done in England is exposed to these humorous sallies.
They do not wound us as they would more tender-skinned people : " It
amuses her, and it don't hurt I," is an expression of the spirit with which
Blight attacks are received by us. Whilst other nations varnish over their
ahortcomings, we manage to be always exposing and exaggerating ours.
An impartial listener would think, from what we say, that we alone made
mistakes, and that other nations were faultless— that there were no Bala-
clava blunders committed by foreign generals — no high-poised statues or
bad paintings in Continental capitals, and nothing good in England. We
grumble and make jokes at whatever is done, and foreigners naturally
believe what we say against ourselves. Frenchmen, educated in the belief
that our best artists were only equal to tlie second or third-rate men of
Trance, were as astonished at the pictures which were sent by us to the
Paris Exhibition in 1855, as are Englishmen at seeing no mention of the
country of Reynolds, Hogarth, and Turner amongst the national schools
recorded over the hemicycle of De la Roche in the Theatre of tne Beaux
Arts.
With our public buildings it is the same : no matter what their style,
some one is sure to abuse them roundly, and to apply to them a half
jocular, half contemptuous adjective, and yet we may safely assert that
no city in the world can boast such a display of varied and genuine
■works. Our statues could not of course escape ridicule : each of them
has had a small joke made about it, all have been condemned. Whether
they wear hats or are bareheaded, whether they be seated or standing,
placed on high columns or lowly pedestals, clothed in " their habit as they
lived," in Roman, Grecian, or primaeval costume, they have all equally
been made a target for the professional humorist. The toga has been
called a "hair-cutting wrapper," the scroll of the statesmen " a flabby
and innocuous instrument," a "tiresome accompaniment of his oflicial
position ;" the unmentionables of Sir R. Peel's statue "Sydenham
trousers ;" the equestrian statue in St. James's-square is " a super-
naturally horrible object, to which even cats give a wide berth,'' and that
in Golden-square is "alarmmg" on account of its "supernatural
cleanliness ;" the lion on the pedestal of Charles I.'s statue at Charing-
cross is "grinning at the spectator as if he thought royalty a joke ;" Sir
Charles Kapler has a " beautiful hooked sword, like the outline of his own
eagle nose ;" the Duke of York seen from below is dressed in " a mantle,
S breastplate, a pair of drawers, and a lightning conductor."
There may be a small amount of truth in this kind of criticism, but it
professes to be the whole truth, and it is not so. No account is taken of
the study which was devoted to those works, no mention is made of the
meritorious portions of them. The humorist has no eye for anything
Trhich he cannot twist into a joke. Executed at different periods, there is
of course a variety in their costumes, conformable to the fashion which
prevailed at the time they were carved, for there exist fashions in sculp-
ture as in everything else. There are likewise degrees of merit according
to the ability of the sculptor. 7/ they be really inferior to those in
foreign cities, Jt is more because such monuments are there set up by
means of Government grants and not by public contributions, than from
lack of talent in our sculptors. Nelson and the Duke of York are cer-
tainly placed too high to allow of their features being minutely scanned
and jested upon ; but Napoleon is at the same altitude in the Place
Vendome without incurring a like censure. The fact is, sculpture is an
art the merits of which the public are incapable of appreciating, and the
difficulties of which they do not understand. Foley has recently, in the
statue of Lord Hardinge, produced the grandest equestrian statue which
has ever been modelled in England. It is to be fixed in Calcutta, but why
cannot a duplicate be erected in England? Why was Marochetti's
splendid figure of Richard Cocur de Lion so long neglected ? Because the
public were indifferent to sculptured art. The " discriminating " public
crowded around the child with a broken drum and the veiled figures at
Hyde-park, but gave a passing glance only at Gibson's hunter. They
could not see its beauties, but they could comprehend a little joke upon or
a caricature of it.
When Trafalgar-square had but one monument in it tlie public called
loudly for more; when the " First Gentleman " occupied a vacant pedestal
there was a demand for some one out of the royal circle. When Jenner
was placed there, there was dissatisfaction ; when Napier stood beside
him, grumblings were still heard. Before the'statue of Havelock is un-
covered, reproving lips are opened and complaints are made that the
pedestal differs from that which supports the Scinde hero. This little
matter is plainly visible, even to uneducated eyes, but the cause of such a
thing is beyond their perception. The Committee entrust the design of
the pedestals to the sculptors. We conceive this circumstance to occasion
the want of character in the pedestals. An ordinary sculptor cannot be
supposed to have deeply studied architecture. He, perhaps, thinks the
pedestal of no importance as compared with the figure upon it. His
notion of a pedestal is a simple repetition of one or other of those given in
an elementary treatise on the five orders: a block of granite with moulded
cornice, base, and plinth, or a short obelisk with base mouldings and a
plinth. Such are the general outlines; the details and the proportions of
one moulding to another are just what might be expected from inexpe-
rienced hands. The sculptor ought to have nothing whatever to do with
the pedestal beyond settling the height of it. Its design should he en-
trusted to an architect, in whose province it lies, "the e.tpense of em-
ploying him would not swell the cost of the work, for the sculptor's time,
wasted in unsuitable labor, has to be paid for. It is as profitless to allow
a sculptor to design pedestals as it would be to permit architects to model
statues. Each profession has made peculiar studies, and is especially
fitted for different tasks. It is the duty of Committees to see that their
Commissions are given to those men best able to e.xecute them. Were our
suggestion acted upon there would be less complaint against our monu-
ments— or rather less cauxe for complaint — aud our sculptors would soon
see that in transferring this portion of their work to abler hands, they
were removing a defect from the monuments which they study to make
worthy of their own fame and of the men whose greatness they com-
memorate.
THE ARCHITECTURAL EXHIBITION.*
BEFORE resuming our consideration of the drawings in the galleries we
cannot help expressing our regi'et at the very small number that are
accompanied by plans or sections. Our country readers who may not have
visited the Exhibition may judge of the aspect of the collection in this respect
when we say that in our previous and present notices we have specially alluded
to plans wherever we have found them, which, in examining nearly 100 works,
has been, perhaps, some half-dozen or ten times only. We fear there is fast
rising an ambition to make the Exhibition one of jrictures rather than of archi-
tectural drawings. The error of this course cannot be too soon nor too strongly
pointed out. In its own proper direction, as an Exhibition of arcliitectural
drawings and designs, there is nothing to prevent its becoming the first in the
whole world ; as an exhibition of pictures, it will always be low in the scale, and
will, moreover, have abandoned the very object for which it was established.
Numerous photographic representations of works com pleted and in progress
are hung to the right of the door leading to the committee-room ; they serve to
show what it is in the power of architects to make the Exhibition if they would
give us, say only one photograph of every building erected under their superin-
tendence ; the cost would be trifling compared with the value of such a series.
First among the present collection we notice two by Mr. Edmeston, showing the
entrance porch (42) and a window (47) from a house erected at Knight's-hill,
Norwood, both of which exhibit considerable freedom of design combined with
good taste, and deserveattentive study, the ironwork too appeal's to be very good.
Mr. E. Appleton in No. 43 sends three subjects, being " Drinking Fountains
at Torquay ;"of which, in our opinion, the simplest is the best; it is constructed
of local limestone varied with colored bricks, the back of the recess being lined
with glazed bricks in bands. Simple as it is, being in fact no more than an arch-
headed recess in an old wall with a polished bason above, and one nearer the
ground for dogs and other animals, we have rarely, if ever, seen a drinking
fountain so entirely satisfactory. The cost is not stated, but we have no doubt it
was less than a tithe of that of some of the structures which disgrace the streets
of the metropolis and some provincial towns. The fountain with lamps is also
designed with a right appreciation of the purpose to which it is to be applied.
The same architect, Mr. Appleton, sends, in No. 44, three plans and a view of
the " New Fever Wards at Torbay Infirmary." Existing arrangements appear to
have interfered with the proper planning of the new wards, which have windows
on two adjoining sides; 1,500 cubic feet of air is provided for each patient, but
the staircase appears to do double duty.
Mr. Cutlibert Broderick is hardly so successful with the " Corn Exchange, at
Leeds "(No. 45), as with the Mechanics' Institute, in point of external effect.
Oval on plan, the Exchange is surrounded with offices, approached on the second
story by means of a gallery running round the interior of the hall, which has a
domical roof— not a good feature as drawn in the external view; there are
• Continued from page 300.
April 19, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
321
two semicirculnr entrances or loggias, one on each side, each consisting of
seven nrclics with engaged Doric columns against eacli pier. The exterior of tlic
Exciiange sliows two ranges of arcli-lieadert windows, witliout ornament or
dressing of any kind. We lire inclined to think tliat this is one of those huild-
ings w-liich cannot be shown satisfactorily in a view, the lai^e drawing
is "elucidated with photographic reductions of two plans, two sections, and an
interior view.
Mr. G. E. Street's "Chancel and Reredos, Church of St. John, Howsham,
Yorkshire " (40), is not favorably represented in the photograph of the interior ;
the reredos itself is admirably designed, and evidently is well carved.
\os. 48 and oi are " Photographs of Tombs," by Mr. Edmeston, both good in
design, but that at Kensal-grcen is disfigured l)y the abrupt way in wliich tlie
coping and crockets are as it were cut ofi'; and they have that eifoct entirely.
Scnlpture is introduced in a panel, but the head of Christ is not well treated.
The " Tomb in Highgate Cemetery " is triangular on plan, witli truncated angles,
against which are placed two columns with a sculptured figui'c between
them ; the sides are panelled and filled with sculpture, the comuosition
is crowned with a cross. Of the two examples, this appears to be the most
satisfactory.
Mr. Street gives us, in No. 50, " Photographs of the Church recently founded
at Whitwell, Yorkshire," by Lady Lechmere, showing the works in progress
and as completed; and in No. 61, a " Photograph of the Church of St. John,
Howsham," before referred to. Neither, however, shows sufficient detail, being
small and not well taken.
No. 51. " Pulpit in St. Mary Stone, Kent," now bein^ restored by the same
gentleman, is a most interesting specimen of old work. It does not appear how
Jar the "restoration" extends; if to any considerable extent we must con-
gratulate Mr. Street, as the new work, as regards character, is scarcely discern-
ible from tile old.
Mr. Richardson sends photographs of two Medieval Tablets (53), and of a
Tomb with Recumbent Etiigies (50), but neither are represented with sufficient
clearness for close examination. Nos. 54 and 55, also photographs, represent
sculptured work by Theodore Phyfi'ers : a " Madonna and Child," executed in
Caen stone, 0 feet high, and the " Crucifixion," executed in wood for the rood-
screen, St. John's, Limerick, 8 feet high, designed by Mr. Hardwick. Judging
fi'om the photograph, the subject is very well treated.
No. 58 comprises tracings to a quarter scale of the elevations, plans, &c., of a
Half-timber Lodge near Norwich, by Mr. Jeckell. It appeal's to be built on the
side of a steep embankment some 16 or 18 feet deep.
Mr. Henry Clutton, in No. 59, sends fimr views and a plan of " Minley Manor-
house, near Farnborough" — all photographs, and remarkable for thedeamess and
precision with which they are executed, particularly the lower example in the
lelt-hand corner. The plan shows an entrance-hall, 21 feet by 14 feet, approached
from a court-yard, and leading on the right to a library 26 feet by 18 feet, on
the left to the" passage to offices, straight forward across a cori'idor, 37 feet by 13
feet, is the drawing-room 30 feet by 22 feet, and the dining-room 24 feet by
23 feet, exclusive of two bay windows in each room. The most prominent features
of the exterior are, perhaps, the roofs, which are, in our opinion, somewhat too
heavy, as is also the treatment of the dormer windows, otlierwise by no means
ineflective; in fact, the whole design is injured by the exaggerated treatment of
the upper portions : we may instance the balcony round the turret roof. The
corbelling under the oriel window is peculiar and suggestive. Mr. George Row
Clarke sends nine photographs (02) which do not, however, appear to call for
any particular remark.
No. 63. " Design for a Church," by Messrs. Hooker and Wheeler, apparently
prepared for a competition, has a well proportioned tower and spire at the south-
west angle of the nave ; the tower is divided into five stages, and the treatment
of this and some other portions of the design shows a thorough acquaintance with
Gothic detail, but Mr. Wheeler could design better features for the south
transept than the present windows often lancet lights of equal height. Certain
portions of this design are, in our estimation, scarcely inferior to any in the
rooms — albeit not an executed design.
Mr. Thomas D. Barry exhibits, in No. 64, the south front of " Burton,"
Derbyshire, the seat of W. Allcard, Esq., of which the octagonal turret, witli
garden entrance below, and richly decorated upper stories, are, perliaps, the best
features. The design is well known to our readers, as we gave an illustration of
this, south, front in our last Volume.
No. 05 is a well-colored drawing of the " Old Hall at Fountains Abbey." The
upper part of the bay window is worthy of notice, but can scarcely be drawn
quite correctly with reference to the sill of the three-light window above.
Mr. J. H. Brown sends, in 00, photographs of two views and the contract plan
of Happisburg Schools. The schoolroom is 31 feet by 17; the class-room
14 feet by 1 1 feet 5 inches ; there is also a teacher's residence. The materials are
red, white, and black bricks. The side of the master's house is admirably treated,
but we cannot ajiprove of the practice fast gaining ground, as may be seen in
several works exhibited, of cusping the principal arch of a window of several
lights; theefi'ect must be not only an apparent, but a real weakness in con-
struction.
No. 72, " School at Leigh, near Worcester," by Mr. Hopkins, is a plain half-
tunber structure, with a bellcote overhanging the face of the gable in a not very
satisfactory manner.
No. 71 is a sketch by Mr. E. C. Robins illustrating the use of Davis's " Mar-
molite" and Jackson's "Carton Pierre," in the internal decoration of wall
surfaces.
The " South-west View of the West Midland Hotel " (73), now being erected
at Great Malvern under the superintendence of Mr. Elmslie, though on enterin"
one of the most striking drawings in the rooms, fails on closer inspection to confirm
a favorable impression. There is an entire want of proportion observable through-
out the whole of the details, winch is most painful to contemplate. Could any-
thing be worse designed than the squat windows in the tower ? As we have inti-
mated, the outline of the building, seen from a distance, is better. It is much to
be hoped that the state of the works will admit of some modification of the details
nd tlie upper part of the tower.
_ No. 74. " A Competition Design, by Mr. W. J. Green, for the Houses of Par-
liament at Ottawa, Canada," is scarcely improved by the buildings in the rear,
and, as treated in the drawing, the ce"ntral feature rising over the portico, is
common-place and altogether unworthy of the rest of the facjade, which is v«ry I
rffectiye. The central portico of eight Corintluan columns is flanked on either I
side with__a colonnade abutting against an advancing wing, having on its prin- '
cipal face a recessed colonnade of three intercolumniations. The windows on the
ground story are terminated with pedimental heads; those on the upper story
having moulded architraves only. The pediment is filled with sculpture, not,
I however well designed. Taken altogether, the design, although very unequal in
its parts, must be looked upon as showing the result of extended study of good
' examples.
Mr. John Tarring's " Design for Congregational Church about to be rec ed at
Bayswater" (No. 75), at first sight strikes one as being very clumsy and heavy.
A more careful examination, however, will show that this enect is mainly attri-
butable to the practice of drawing the figures too small, in order to give' size to
the building, no uncommon expedient, but, as we take it, more injurious than
beneficial to the design. Of course, it is not easy to tell the exiict lieights of the
figures, but we strongly suspect those shown m this drawing — l>y no means
dwarfs— to be less tlian 4 feet in height ! Returning to the design, we remark
that it is honestly a two-storied building, and that rising above the main cornice
are two towers or cupolas admirably treated — in fact, the best portion of the
design.
No. 76, by Mr. I'Anson, shows some " Cottages at Mamden, Essex," of which
the two first present overhanging stories on the first floor, with sliglitly pro-
jecting bay windows on tlie ground floor.
Nos. 77 and 78 are " Views of a Villa near Worcester," by Mr. Hopkins, and
of a " House at Great Malvern," by Mr. Horace Field. Tlie materials used by
Mr. Field are Malvern-hill stone, rubble walling, Cradley sandstone dressings
and chimney-shafts, and Broseley tile roof. The internal fittings are of deal,
stained and varnished ; but in neither of these drawings are we able to dis-
cover any points of special interest.
Mr. Owen Jones sends tlie original designs for his illuminations to the " Para-
dise and the Peri," iu two large frames (79 and 80). The illuminations are now
well-known, and exhibit the utmost amount of care and invention both in the
drawing and design.
No. 09 shows the design for the binding of the work, most carefully drawn.
No. 81, " Beechfield, Birkenhead-park, Cheshire," by Mr. Boult, has been
designed with care, but seems to want visible roofs.
No. 82, " Elmsleigh, Princes-park, Liverpool," by the same architect, is no-
ticeable tor the balcony over the bay window.
No. 83, "Competition Designs for the Leeds Institution," three tinted eleva-
tions in one frame, is by Mr. L. De Ville. The ground falls rapidly across the
principal front, from the centre of which the leciure-rooni, apparently, projects,
of a semicircular form on plan, and flanked by towers terminated wi'ili cupolas,
with entrances below.
Mr. G. Bidlake sends an effective group in No. 84, " Middle School, and
Lodge," about to be erected at Haiidswortb. There are two principal gables on
the front, one at each end, with four smaller gables or dormers between, over
three-light vindows; the entrance is under a low square tower, which rises into
an octagon on the upjier story. Some of the windows, althougii treated similarly
to those we objected to in No. 60, are less objectionable on account of the
greater solidity of the stonework w itliin the arch.
The best portions of No. 85, •' Head Master's House, Grammar School, Fel-
stead, Essex," by Mr. F. Chanceller, are the chimney-shafts. Here again, as
in 75, the figures are too small ; the practice is altogether a mistake; the result
in a building drawn to a large scale is not increased apparent dimensions, which
appears to be the object, sought but simply a clumsy, heavy effect.
No. 87 is a frame containing a series of photographs of sculpture from the
Cathedral works, Worcester, by Mr. Boulton, the centresubjeet " Bearingof the
Cross," is now in progress. The lieads of the figures St. Paul and St. Jolm are
too small ; compare them with the statue of Moses.
No. 88, shows a London street front, now nearly completed, by Mr. Arthur
Ashpitel.
Jlessrs. Blackett and Rowe in No. 89 give a small photograph of " Proposed
New Parsonage, Bayswater," it has been taken from a very rough drawing,
wiiich shows little detail, but seems not ineffective.
A large " South-west view of Lincoln Cathedral " (91), drawn by J. Spenee
Hardy, is a work of some labor, the greater part of wiiich, however, is thrown
away; owing to the injudicious selection of the point of sight, it is not easy to
think that any vanishing points have been made use of^the upper lines of the
towers, and the ground lines are so nearly parallel on both sides. It is an
ambitious drawing, but has much the effect of a copy from an old engraving.
No. 90, design submitted in a limited competition for " Arundel Chaiwl, Isling-
ton," by T. W. Conslantine, is drawn with care. No. 92, a competition design
for the " North-Riding Infirmary, at Middlesbro'," by Messrs. Walton and
Robson, drawn in Mr. Street's manner, is not satisfactory, and the drawing is
much disfigured by the paltry balustrade in the foreground, inserted as it appears
to us, as are diminutive figures, in order to give app'irent size to the building.
Architectural drawings demand great care in execution; scratchy pen lines, alike
on walls and roofs, may be very artistic, but certainly cannot properly be called.
good drawing.*
THE BUILDING MATERIALS, PATENTS, INVENTIOSS,
MANUFACTURES, &C.
Manufacturers, as a body, do not yet fully avail themselves of the publicity
to be obtained by exhibiting their respective works in these galleries ; why is
this ? Whatever may be the reason, and we think we can form a pretty shrewd
guess respecting :it, we hardly think tliat those who do not contribute to this
dejiartment of the Exhibition, are aware that, at least on every lecture night, the
galleries are crowded with architect.'!, the greater proportion of whom have works
in contemplation or in progress, for which they are only too glad to find new and
approved materials or inventions submitted to their notice.
It may be thought that advertisements in professional papers arc sufficient for
the purpose ; they are so to a great extent, but an architect cannot always, from
an advertisement alone, judge of the suitability of an article for his purpose. If
the advertisement stated tliat the material or contrivance could be seen at the
galleries in Conduit-street, an architect would naturally, and with no trouble
avail himself of his next visit to the rooms, to examine the work itself, wiiile he
might be induced, but seldom, to make a special journey to the manufactory.
We have no wish to imply that there is any dearth of articles exhibited in this
department, as in reality the whole of the best space is occupied ; but the varied
nature of biiildmg materials, iScc, would admit of the walls, floors, and even
ceiling, beins crowded with specimens. There is but one exhibitor of paper
* To be continued.
322
THE BUILDING NEW?.
April 19. 1861.
banitacs, none of slate, plain or enamelled, none of stable fittings, tiles, drainage
coaniraaees, irood stain», flre-proof construction, or cottage contrivances, no
vorto in marble or stained (cian, and, though last, on a list wliich' might be con-
•jderablv enlarged, not the least, good and inexpensive decorations for the
riwaper'deKriplions of houses.
la notidiig the works now exhibited we must, of necessity, owing to many
* tt IictIi^ remaiited in the rooms since the Exhibition of last year,
Tirious examples then described by us at some length. .Adopting the
xn have followol with regard to drawings, we firstly notice No. 1,
■pnflBrni ilf " Martin'* Cement," lettcretl in tlie catalogue from " A " to "G,"
bat the letters are missing on the work in several cases. The specimen B,
•hawfaig tbe cement as painted upon in the room within iwenty hours after
it w«» put upon the lath, does not appear to have bi«n retouched since last year,
utdstili brars no marlis of any defect beyond the natural effect of dust,"&;c. ;
tke cement is, however, now too well known to need further comment.
Meairs. Bellm.in and Ivey, of Buckingham-street, again exhibit their
niecimens of Scagliola marble of various descriptions — Ginllo Antico, Paonezetto,
Bdlfeaeaabe, anil Verd Antique, with the Canaelabruiu of Sienna, Verd .<Vntique,
tad Porphyry. The Verd Antique specimens .ire particularly effective, and all
atnw eanfiil finish ; the junction of the sliaft and base of tlic candelabrum is not,
bowercr, a* reijania design, well managed, and we think the selection of a wliite
base nnder a dark-colored shaft in the pedestal for a statue, is open to objection,
tat these are points which, of course, do not affect the merit of the manufacture.
Mesm. Peard and Jackson, of Holbom, whose illustrated price-list we
reviewed some short time since, send various examples of medieval metal work,
a monumental brass, wrought-iron grille, altar raihng, crosses, hinges, terminal,
alms-box, brass hinge, altar desk, gas standards, brackets, star-light gaselier,
and a well-made bioe steel lock ; apparently sent by the same exhibitors are
several spedmem of Brown's patent cloth "padded wood strips, for rendering
window-sasbes, casements, doors, museum and showcases, air, dust, and water-
tight, with models showing tlie mode of applying the principle. Passing down
the lobby in which are all the specimens we have named, we find that Mr.
Ransome contributes several articles in his well-known patent stone.
The Poole .ilrchitectural Pottery Company, Cannon-row, show their orna-
mental tile pavements of Bale's patent mosaic tiles, mth others of tessclated
tUej for entrance halls, churches, ice. The well-known pavement in the lobby at
the entrance to the galleries was laid by the company from designs by Mr.
Raphael Brandon, the catalogue further enumerates letter tiles ter streets,
shop entrances, small tiles for ceilings of churches, which by the wav should be
more securely fixed than we sometimes find plaster-work tobe. White glazed
tile* lor wall linings of dairies, baths, &c. ; white glazed bricks, and the com-
pany's patent orange-tree boxes. The last, if tiles of proper pattern and color
be Introduced, will add considerably to the effect of an ornamental garden.
Some models of " Improvements in Zinc Laying," whereby, it is said, zinc of
■oflicieDt thickness will last as long as ordinarj- lead, are sent by Mr. Tyler, of
Wood-street, Westminster, who has laid the roofs of Sidmouth Church, Patent
Qranar>-, West India Docks, the Synagogue, Bryanston-street, &c. Tlie system
is that adopted by Mr. James Edmeston, and the zinc used that of the Vielle
Montague Zinc Mining Company. Most of our readers have perused Mr.
Kdmeston's repo: t on the use of zinc ; the models show the mode of laying the
material very clearly. We noticed a very useful packet of specimens of zinc of
various gauges, neatly arranged for easy reference, and recommend tlie proprietors
to send specimens similarly arranged to every architect in practice. There is
nothing so necessary as to keep these matters constantly before the notice of
architects, and the specimens would be precisely the thing to lie at one's elbow
for reference.
Mr. Tyler also sends a model of his " Patent Octagonal Chimney-head," for
the cure of smoky chimneys. We should be better able to endorse the opinion
that it is " invaloable " if it cured two refractory chimneys that we happen to
know of.
Messrs. Hewett, Allot, and Walker, of Sheffield, exhibit Wright's patent
self-acting watercloset, as last year. It appears to be good, but as the apparatus
cannot be seen, we are unable to give a more positive opinion. The same
Jemarks apply to those sent by Messrs. Chantrell and Dutch, of Liverpool, the
mtent economic self-acting watercloset and water waste preventer ; and Messrs.
Hharpe, Brothers, and Co., of Burton-on-Trent, and 10, Crosby-hall-chambers.
Tlic former combines a glazed earthenware cistern, with measuring box, double-
action valve, with vulcanised india-rubber washers, overflow and aJr pipe, white
ply, self-
, and
, - , ,. . . 7 ..».«, including
padtages, delivered at Liverpool is £2 16s. The cistern is said to contain water
sufficient for flusliing llie closet seventeen limes. In Me-srs. Sharpe and Co.'s
apparatus tlie rim of the pan ia form««l into a tulie, which conveys the water
entirely round the upper edge, and Ijeing there acted upon by the pressure in the
supply pipe, it descends vertically over every part of the surface; the openings
in the tube are made of various shapes and sizes, so as to determine the quantity
of water which sliall pass over the several parts. In ordering an apparatus the
dtMription of flow required should be mentioned, if heavy or otherwise. On
tning the flashing powers of the several apparatuses, the last ap|)eare<l to give
the greatest amount of flushing power, possibly, however, owing to the nature of
«"• •••"•upply in the galleries. The price is not mentioned.
uSSSm'^'" "'* "PP^"" ''de of t'le lobby, we did not observe Mr. Hood's
SONe Fitungs," although they find a place in the catalogue. The castings
TMMe are lamp-posLs and lamp-pier caps, tbuntain basins, &c. Tliere is also a,
SSS . P"^P'*> but very ugly, " R*gUtered .Staircase Panel " or Ijallusler,
wMch Is, without cutting or alteration, equally applicable to level landing
railingand to any rake or of level handrail." This is cflected by the peculiar fanu
^Lif; V , ^ °' *'"= "''^P* of " Q. admitting the screw at any angle
'!?S™1^ I ■, ^* P"^ '* 21»- per ewt. The finishing of most of these
arutiea is unpleasant hi effect, the most satisfactory being a cast of a boar.
The only collection of ball-valves, &c., is that of -Messrs. T. Tylor and Sons, of
Warwick-lane, who srad patent regulator valve, pan, and self-acting water-
closets, tovatories. high-pressure stop, bib, and tell valves, &c. Tlie regulator
valte al ows of the quantity of water to be used being regulat/xl with accuracy
by torning a small tap-the price, with white basin, Sat plate, and handle, h
£2 9s. H e may mention that this firm publishes a very useful illustrated pril-e-
Tbe Belling Abbey Concrete Works, of Beading, are represented by a few
specimens of their productions, the most noticeable being a drain-;)ipe, oval in
section, 3 feet 0 inches high in the clear. It is in two pieces, and seems to be too
weak and flat at the sides to withstand much lateral pressure.
The general absence of prices in this section of the Kxhibition is very striking,
and cannot be productive of a desirable result. There can be no secret in such
matters.*
*-
FRENCH ADMIRATION OF EN'GLISH WORKMEN.
SLOW enough, certainly, is the gi'owth of the knowledge of England and the
English in France, but there is progress, nevertheless, and it is pleasing to
find that the character of the great industrial community of Great Britain is
being studied by our neighbours on the other side of the channel; and such study
cannot but bear good fruit, not only to those who are thus engaged, but also to
those who are the objects of it. The late strikes have been carefnlly watched by
the best friends of the laboring classes in France, and the result of their ob-
servations is highly gratifying to all who love England and especially those of her
sons whose toil has aided so nobly in making her what she is. 'f here has been
a good deal written and said in England, much twaddle by men who, knowing
little of the laboring classes at home, yet feel themselves quite competent to
describe the condition of those of whom they know stiUjess abroad, and it is there-
fore well to know what sensible men in France say upon the subject. Amongst
others, a writer named Eugene Chatard has just written an article in the Presse,
of Paris, in reference to the strike. He says that the question of wages has long
occupied the attention of statesmen and economists, and that it begins to disen-
gage itself from the errors and prejudices which have so long surrounded
it, and approaches a definite solution. Whether this be or be not a rather
sanguine view of the matter may be questioned, but this is not our business at
the present moment. The writer bases his hope on what has recently taken place
in London on the subject of the strike in the building trades. In France, he says,
truly enough, the Procureur Imperial— the Government prosecutor— and the
gendarmes interfere much too frequently in the settlement of difficulties
between employers and workmen; this, he says, is not the fault of legislation —
another point upin which important queries might be raised — but of the folly of
the workmen, who, instead of discussing and defending their interests in a
reasonable manner, or of submitting them to the judgment of the tribunals, allow
themselves to be too easily led into creating disturbances and acts of violence
leading directly to the police courts. In England, he says, matters proceed
differently ; there are certainly some exceptional cases of reprehensible conduct,
but generally speaking it is a fair struggle between coalitions of^the two opposing
interests, workmen on the one hand and employers on the other, and they keep
as much as possible on the ground of legality, liberty being the same for all. The
associations of workmen in England are, as he truly says, more numerous, more
powerful, and richer tlian they are in France; and" they are also far more
completely organised ; but he omits one important element in the case, namely,
that the laws of England tend to facilitate this, while those of France have a
directly contrary tendency. He touches upon this fact, however, when he says,
in reference to England, that workmen do nothing contrary to the law when they
meet and concert measures for fixing the price of their labor, and refuse the work
when offered at a lower rate than that determined on ; and that, so long as the
two parties do not offend the law or trouble the public peace, the magistrature
and functionaries remain tranquil, and leave to time and reason the task of
bringing about an equitable arrangement. To arrive at such a conclusion, be
adds, it is necessary to bear in mind two axioms— first, that all work ought to
support its doer; and, secondly, that the price of labor, like that of everything
natural, or fabricated by man, is forcibly regulated by the laws of supply and
demand, before which both people and sovereigns must bow. The writer then
speaks of the strike of last year in London as having risen to the height of a
public calamity, and he states the case for the benefit of his own countrymen
with perfect impartiality, and adds that the Engli.«h workman in his struggles
exhibited that indomitable courage and that singular perseverance which are the
characteristics of the Saxon race ; but that even stoical resignation could not
prevent coffers from being emptied and families reduced to a bare pittance.
Then, coming down to more recent events, he says that both parties
appealed to public opinion, that sovereign judge whose authority no
one can impugn — where the monarch has not been dethroned — and
the result is known. He states the late demands of the workmen
of England and the offers of the employers, and hints clearly enough
that the wages recently agreed upon, taking into tlie account the clieapness of
the ordinary articles of consumption, would be considered very high in France,
but he does not use this as an argument against the English workman, but would
doubtless, like every patriotic man, wish to see French workmen raised to the
level of their English brethren, and not the latter depressed to the condition of
the former. He accords high praise to the English press for the manner in
which it dealt with a very difficult and delicate sulyect, and both to the employers
and the workmen for the good sense which they have exhibited, anil concludes
that their respect for the law, their deference for public opinion, and the proofs of
wisdom and moderation that they have exhibited, do honor to the working popu-
lation of England, and show the immense progress which they have made in
moral and intellectual education. We are quite certain that hard-working men
of England will derive some consolation, in the m'dst of any disaijpointmeut
which they may at present feel, from the fact that their claims and tlieir troubles
create sympathy in the breasts of Frenchmen, that their conduct calls forth such
disinterested applause, and that their example may be of some avail in awakening
their fellow-laborers in another country to a truer sense of their own rights and
duties.
Scarborough.— The Church on the South Cliff at Scarborough is
about to be proceeded with. The edifice will be built entirely of Whitby stone;
and the style of the architecture will be that of the latter part of the thirteenth
century. The plan will comprise nave and aisles, chancel and its aisles, tower,
and vestry. The amount of the contract is upwards of £0,tiOO. The architect is
Mr. G. H. Bodley, of London, and Mr. James Kirby, of Scarborough is the
cohtractor.
Loughborough Infirmary and Dispensary. — Workmen are busily
employed in pulling down the old premises in Baxter-gate. The architect is
Mr. Slater, of London, the designer ot the Town Hall.
* To be continued.
April 19, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
323
NOTES WITHOUT TEXT.*
EVEN should the following remarks on spires and domes have been anti-
cipated by some other writer, at any rate they are not borrowed.
Were there no other difference between those two highly expressive
features — the spire and the dome— there is this important one, that whereas
the former is no more than an external appendage to a church or other
building, and does not so much as give any indication of itself within the
edifice, the dome contributes very largely to internal character and effect.
It is, moreover, of positive and obvious utility, inasmuch as it is the cover-
ing of the space beneath it. A spire, on the contrary, is, comparatively,
no better than an architectural expletive ; and it is well if, merely for the
sake of obtaining it, the interior and other parts of the structure have not
been pinched. In the country indeed, a church spire is not without ser-
viceableness, because there it becomes not only a feature in the landscape,
but also a useful landmark to travellers and strangers. In a town it is
different, for there, unless it be a lofty one, a spire can hardly show itself
at all above the surrounding houses, or except in the street where the
church to which it is attached stands, and which can readily enough
be found out without any direction-post to indicate its whereabouts. As
to Wren's steeples and spires in the City, I frankly confess I have never
been able to detect particular merit either architectural or artistic in any
one of them, which is, of course, very heretical, yet not anything like so
bad and unpardonable as Mr. Burges's denouncing the outer dome of
St. Paul's, and suggesting, by way of improving that noble pile, that both
that and the upper order which screens the buttresses over the side aisles
should be removed ! Strip off the external dome, and the noble Corinthian
peristyle which forms its tambour must go likewise, which done, adieu to
the grandiose architectural feature that now shows itself so impressively
from afar in every general view of the metropolis. Granting that the
outer dome is no more than a covering raised over the inner one, it is not
■without its purpose, and it fulfils it admirably by enhancing the majesty
of the entire pile with its emphatic climax. The fact of its being only
a covering to the other dome within does not constitute a sham, or else,
at that rate, the external roofs over stone-vaulted cathedrals deserve
similar reproach. Instead of St. Paul's itself being deformed by the Van-
dalism that has been suggested, the amorphous area in which it stands
might with great propriety be reformed, by being made regular in plan,
conformably with the cathedral, and uniformity observed for the surround-
ing houses, which ought not to be permitted to rise higher than the first
order of Wren's edifice. As lieform seems to be now stalking abroad, why
does it not walk into St. Paul's Churchyard ?
YERY well may one be excused for not agreeing with those who hold
architecture to be incomplete without the addition of sculpture, if not
painting also ; it being quite capable of dispensing with, though it need
not therefore reject, their services on suitable occasions. The alliance
between the three arts is not always to their mutual advantage. It is very
possible for a building to look overlaid by a profusion of parasite sculpture,
while, on the other hand, the sculpture shows rather too much like mere
garnish to the architect's work. It has been complained— and as if it
were the fault of those who design them — that very few modern edifices
make any display of sculpture, yet most certainly that cannot be fairly
attributed to any reluctance on the part of architects to see their buildings
embellished with it. They are perfectly aware that even if they introduce
it in their designs, and so judiciously as to show effectively, besides
emphasizing the general character, there is very little chance of its being
adopted. Eeither the entire design will be put aside, as by far too
extravagant, or the sculpture omitted as what, if not exactly de trap, may
safely enough be left out, as adding enormously to expense. The con-
sequence is that very many buildings which as originally designed were, or
professed to be intended to be, finished up by the addition of sculpture,
have now more or less of a bare, unfinished look, and show no better than
as " shorn of their beams." Niches intended to be tenanted by statues,
are left empty ; panels to be filled in with reliefs, are converted into
blanks; pedestals placed for the reception of either single figures or groups,
where they would show conspicuously against an architectural background
in forcible prominency, will never be surmounted by any. The architect
of St. George's Hall, Liverpool, for one, cannot possibly be charged with
having been oblivious of sculpture, or insensible to the value of its
assistance, because the principal fa(;ade of that edifice shows that if he had
not actually calculated upon it, he made ample provision for a rather
extraordinary display of sculpture ; and so applied as to be seen very
advantageously. The usual mode of introducing statues as adjuncts to
architecture (externally) is any thing than complimentary to sculpture,
they being generally so placed as to be more or less out of sight, visible,
indeed, but not seen ; except when looked at throua:h a telescope, and even
then seem as if they were not intended to be looked at too curiously. The
planting a row of figures on a balustrade at the top of a building, where
they can be viewed only di sotto hi su, is hardly the happiest idea. The
elevating what pretend to be works of art to that preposterous height is
not the way to encourage high art, but a practice " more honored in the
breach than in the observance," inasmuch as it calls for no more than
mediocrity of talent and very inferior execution. Placed, or rather mis-
placed on the summit of an edifice, statues contribute scarcely anything
towards general embellishment, or do more than just serve to break the
sky-line. Architect and sculptor ought to work in concert ; the former
ought to bring in sculpture as an integral part of his own composition, by
providing situations expressly fitted for it, where, besides giving vigor and
vivacity to the building, it would pronounce itself both distinctly and
effectively.
OUTLINE engraving has been now adopted almost universally for all
the best architectural works published on the Continent j yet, how-
ever well they may be executed, plates of that description may be classed
with photographic negatives. All that gives life and animation lies sup-
pressed— kept quite out of sight. No account is taken of that most
important element of effect in architectural composition, light and shade,
nor of the proportion of solids and voids, upon both of which so very
much of the genuine artistic quality and expression depends. Elevations
are at the best only technical and conventional modes of representation ;
for who ever saw, or can see, or will ever be able to see a building as so
delineated abstractedly ? Of course those who are perfectly familiar with
geometrical drawing can make out what ic so shown, even though it be
merely in outline, — atleast with the assistance of a plan ; yet even they must
draw upon their imagination for what is not visible. Whether assisted by
shadow or not, an elevation becomes a still more arbitrary, unnatural,
and, therefore, a more unpopular mode of graphic architectural descrip-
tion in the case of curved forms, when all the horizontal lines are unavoid-
ably represented by straight ones. Nevertheless, confessedly unnatural as
they are, drawings of that kind possess an interest of theit own, as in
fact, does each of the several modes employed, from the block plan to the
pictorial perspective view, that of the model (which gives a miniature
facsimile of a structure) not forgotten. Being at least intelligible to every-
body, even to those for whom plans, elevations, and sections, are little
better than hieroglyphics, models speak a universal language, even to the
child who is not an idiot, notwithstanding which, the Royal Academy has,
with its usual astuteness, for several years past excluded architectural
models from its exhibitions. Although it is not all-sufficient, therefore
does not dispense with the other auxiliary modes of representation, the
stereoplastic one or model is by no means the least interesting. No other
can compare with it for studying every possible variety of effectas regards
either that of light and shade, or perspective appearance. For explaining
and teaching practically the fundamental principles and rationale of per-
spective, the model is most useful. It may be placed in any position; and
light can be thrown upon it in any direction : so that a single model may
be made to afford not only one, but a series of studies.
XVI.
BY means of a model well selected for the purpose, and accompanied by
drawings, both geometrical and perspective, the whole arcana
of architectural representation might be revealed in a single lesson.
And although they themselves do not seem to think so, it surely is a mis-
fortune— at any rate a great disadvantage — that so very few except archi-
tects can really comprehend all that goes to make up a complete design
just as well as themselves can ; and wherefore should they not learn to do
so ? Decidedly better would it be for the architect were those who do not
belong to the profession fully capable of clearly understanding, and conse-
quently of taking an interest in, and enjoying other drawings than pictorial
perspective views. Just as well as most other people, architects can tell
where the shoe pinches : they feel and deplore the ignorance of those who,
however, unfit for such office — to some of whom perhaps, a section is a
puzzle, sit in judgment on competition designs. Nor is it greatly
to be wondered at that such is the case, because — and it is rather
unaccountable — there is not a single elementary publication expressly
intended to give a popular explanation of the several technical modes
of representing them, indispensably necessary for describing either
buildings or designs thoroughly and completely. Such a work for
the instruction of those who have not been trained up in the
" office " is a desideratum. Were they but put properly into the way of
fully understanding such drawings, technical though they be, there is
nothing to prevent people gifted with ordinary common sense from reading
designs just as well as those whose profession it is to make them — " con-
summation devoutly to be wished," if only for the sake of architects them-
selves. To the latter it must be not a little mortifying to witness the
stolid indifference with which those to whom they show a design, do no more
than just hurriedly glance at what has cost them the moit study. There
are those, let us hope they are but few — who, no doubt, feel that the
ignorance of the public is their panoply of armour and defence. Such
have, of course, a natural instinctive dread of criticism, and deprecate it
as nothing better than invidious fault-finding ; whereas those who can
show /or*e in the art they practise, whatever it may be, welcome sincere
and honest and conscientious criticism as their frend, even as their cham-
pion and defender. Both in literature and art there are owls who have a
natural aversion to daylight ; but there are some who have reason to
lament the popular darkness in matters of art which, though it may not
entirely obscure their superior artistic power, prevents its being recognised
as it might be, were the torch of genial criticism to cast its rays upon it.
• By the Author of " Chips or Ckiticism." Continued from page 263.
Cathedral for Goulboum, New South Wales. — The inhabitants of
Goulbourn, says the Sydney Mail, are about to erect a cathedral. Some time
ago plans were invited for the erection of this edifice, and a premium of £50 was
ottered. Mr. Goold, architect, of Sydney, has secured the prize. A number of
plans were tendered, and finally submitted for the approval of the Bishop of
Sydney ; his preference was decidedly given in favor of the plan of Mr. Goold ;
we understand that measures will bo taken to carry it into early execution. The
design is said to be a very fine example of the ecclesiastical architecture of the
middle ages, and will require lor its completion an outlay of more thau £10,000.
394
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 19, 1861.
UNION CHURCH, PUTNEY.
THE "iBCTnoriar stone of thfcbnnrting:, now in conrse of erection near the
nilvay sution, Putney, was laid on the 26th ult. by Sir S. Morton Peto,
Btft,M.P.
ne want of additional accomniodatios for worship has long been felt by
ITiBiwifci ■hill at Putner. Thereisonlr an Independent rhapel, and that being:
■ I |i| Ij aaaB, gftnatedin an nndesirahle neifchbourhood, and difficult of access
ikoB tt* appw pwt of tka town, is wholly inadequate to the wants of the growing
Wlthm the bat few ijiean a new town has been gradually springing upon
tha OBt^irts of the ou population, and several estates hav i. recently been laid
«■! far biiildiujr iiurposea to meet the increasing demand for houses.
nit eniorpri*e lias been commenced liy some friends of the Independent and
Biytiit bodies, who, two years since, erected a temporary iron chapel — the great
•■seal attcadingr this effort enabling them now to proceed with the erectiou of
At JLIIIIMI t buildins. which is in the Decorated stjie of Medieval architecture.
Iks rits to • Boet eligiMa oae, baring a frmtage to the Upper Richmond-road of
IM fi 111, aad t* the New-raad of 80 feet, ioneaaioj: at the back to lOi feet.
Ikr eteicii to 78 feet long, and 41 feet wide, clear of walls, besides a deep
neta at tlK went end liaviag a lofty moalded areb and circular windows; tlie
KBBM affinding space for an organ, and the raised platform in front containing
the kaftisten. The entrance is 1^ two porches in the east wall leading to inner
iablto, bedtfa* two other ways of exit.
71» wails are being built of brick, with Kentish rag facings, and Box-hill
Bath atone draainga. The roof will be open and ceiled Delow rafters wSit collnr-
beaou, with large stained arched principals, and hammer-beams resting on stone
^■^'■*^ a<Nl mai^le shafts.
ne rtinreh will s<-at .VW adnlta on the ground floor, and provision is made
ftr gaHeries, when required, to seat SOU more, with separate entrance and stair-
eve hatha tower.
There wM be mlatofci'i vmi lieaena'a rastries, and waterclosets in the rear,
nc hctaic hall, with open roof^ to accommodate 200 persons. .
r and afxn will rise to the height of 130 feet.
uier to the Building Fund is Joseph Gumey, Esq., of West-hill,
lltedBwarth.
Mr. 8. yt. Arise is the contractor, and Mr. Charles R. Gribble, of 22, Spencer-
, Pntaey, 8.W., is the architect.
METKOPOLITAN IMPROVEMENTS.
Tins ralqcct, alwaya interesting, derives increased importance at tiie
ptcient time, owing to tlie number of projects in agitation, and likely
in part to be set in operation before many nionths have expired. A few
remarks may, therefore, not be considered out of place. On 25th March,
1859, there appeared in the Bt"ii.Dix& News two schedules of works pro-
posed to be done by war of improving London ; and these lists amounted
io the aggregate to nearly ten million pounds sterling. Such a total of
expenditure endorsed by a Committee of the Metropolitan Board of
Works as necessary or desirable in order to improve the thoroughfares of
tlie metropolis, and render them in some degree competent for the daily
traffic, is suffiviently alarming to the tax-payer, and likely to fill him with
despair of the funds being funnd, or to doabt the practicability of the
schemes being ever carried out. As we have had occasion to remark
before, architects and eneineers are apt to run a little too far into the ideal
and sesthetic, not reflecting sufficiently on the pounds, shillings, and pence,
and of consequence their projects often turn out too costly, and nothing is
<]oae at all. But perhaps, by a little consideration, by clipping the wings
of oar fancy, and sternly refusing to indulge in anything but what
is actually reqnirnl, we may be able to do much with the
moderate meant that are really available. It is urgent on us to
decide at this juncture, with the Thames embaukment, numerous new
railways and great hotels, all on the tapis together ; and let us hope that
the Legislature will seize this admirable opportunity of making such
arraagemcnts with the railway companies as will conduce greatly to the
imptOTcments needed. We are far from thinking with Lord Derby that
railway companies can be consistently required to build houses for the
woricing classes, or any other classes, and are surprised that a statesman
of his ability and experience should suggest anything so out of place.
Suppose they were compelled to build houses, could an Act of Parliament
fix the rentals bcforeliand ? for if not the law would be nugatory. It is
evident, however, that companies may be fairly required to provide good
and sufficient approaches to their termini, both for their own interests and
tor the public convenience, and in this consists the favorable opportunity
to which we allude. For instance, a railway company proposing a terminus
in Thamcs-strctt, might reasonably be called upon to widen that street in
their immediate locality, and to widen some other streets forming a
thoroughfare into Camion-strect. And the several companies proposing
stations in or near Finsbury-circns, might be compelled to widen the
timseut narrow streets opening into Bishopsgatc-strcet, while the
Ifa^opolitan line having a terminus in Victoria-street, Farringdon-street,
might be required to carry bridges across the valley of that street, and
eSBmbnte towards a viaduct at the foot of Holborn-hill. Ex uuo discc
«neb Let us hope this subject will have the fullest consideration of the
Otmtt of Common's Committee, as the present is probably a rush of rail-
ways In London which will not be repeated for very many years.
It should be Ixime in mind that besides a good acquaintance with the
I5_S2*iZ^_2Si*°'' ""^ '"■"""» of traffic, a large and very accurate map
MOWM beCMfefliHy examined— the ordinary maps of London are highly
«nanaau io poiat of scale and proportion of the streets, and perhaps un-
mrm^y so. Cbeapside, for instance, in almost aU current maps, is
"^^^i?* 1? "^ ""^ " Begent-stiieet, whereas the latter is more
^' n ** '**''* "yto— M* the wretched lanes and streets crossing the
^ia laty thwoimtodinis spfwaron. ma^s of most respectable dimensions,
wbereaa, in lealUy, the majority almost admit of the denizens shaking
hands across from the opposite windows, or, at all events of as easy con-
verse as that of gentlemen at the opposite ends of a dining table.
These items premised, let us consider what can be done in London im-
provements at an c.vpense which is actually within possibility. Reading
over the schedules before referred to, we see at once proposals whose cost
is far beyond their utility, or which may safely be left to the next genera-
tion rather than this. It is proposed to make a straight street from the
Mansion House to Earl-street, Blackfriars, at the moderate expense of
£900,000— «t cMi bono ? No doubt it is desirable to have a noble road from
every place of importance to every other place of importance, but if we
proceed on this plan half the houses in the City pulled down would not
afford space for the improvements. There are very good roads already
from the Bank via Cheapside and Cannon-street to Blackfriars-bridge, and
we cannot undertake to " make every road straight" on this side (he
millennium— the trifling circuits at present nccossnry are not great, and if,
as the compilers proposed, the Ponltry were widened there would be very
little delay in passing to and fro. Another proposition is to make a new
road from Bow-street and Long-acre to the City at another inconsiderable
outlay of £1,100,000 — to this also there are strong objections, the chief
being that it is so little needed. Holbom and the Strand are in general
quite sufficient for the traffic, and do not require a third street between
them ; it isin the City where is the pinch, and which thisproposed thorough-
fare would not relieve. Other propositions are, at an expense of more than
a million, to widen existing thoroughfares and continue new ones from Hart-
street, Bloomsbury, to the Eastern Counties Terminus via Clerkenwcll and
Old-street. Improvements are required here, but not very uracntly and
not nearly to so expensive an extent. About three millions are thus struck
off as easily as they were raised ; and so of other propositions. Now, let
us consider what outlay would be reasonable and consistent under exist-
ing circumstances, and looking rather to those parts which most urgently
require opening up. Here is a list of improvements to the extent of about
one million, a sum which might be borrowed forthwith, and would soon be
paid off by the coal tax or other rate.
PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS.
Gate-Street, Lincoln' s-inn-fields. — Continuing this street through
into Holborn, passing by Weston's Music Hall • £25,000
This would open a thoroughfare from Piccadilly to Hol-
born.
CAaneei-y-knc— Widening the north end ; only three houses
to take down, and a trifle, if any part of the Law Court 14,000
Carei/street. — Widening the east end into Chancery-lane, the
ground being already vacant 3,000
Middle-row, Holborn. — Removing this entirely 46,000
Drury-lane. — Widening the south end into Newcastle-street,
passing the Olympic Theatre, a miserably narrow and incon-
venient part ■ 20,000
Strand. — Removing Temple-bar and setting up in the Temple
grounds or at the other City boundary in the wide part of
Holborn . 10,000
Leicester-square. — Widening the north side of Heming's-row,
so as to open a line from Coventry-street, via Leicester-
square and Green-street and King William-street into the
Strand 30,000
St. Paul's Cliurchi/ard.— Setting back the iron rails 10 feet at
west end, opposite Ludgate-street, there being always stop-
pages there 10,000
St. Paul's Churchyard. — Improvements about the east end, St.
Paul's School, so as to make a practicable road from New-
gate-street aad Cheapside into Cannon-street 100,000
Newgate-street. — Completing the alterations in such painfully-
slow progress • 100,000
GresAam-*<;cet.— Making a branch from this street at its junc-
tion with Wood-street diagonally to the vacant ground at the
south end of the Post Office, with further improvements in
Greshani-street itself 150,000
Poultry. — Widening this street to 20 feet more than at present 250,000
Gracechurch-street — Taking down two opposite houses at the
"four-way meet" end of Lombard-street— another spot
where there is always a blockade 20;000
liishopsgate-slreet. — Widening the western side from Grace-
church-street to the Wesleyan Centenary Hall 120,000
Commercial-road. — Widening Church-lane into Whitechapel or
into Little Alie-street 100,000
Tower-hill. — Removing Postern-row, at present there being only
space in portions for one vehicle to pass at a time 50,000
Total £1,048,000
No doubt some parts of the Strand, Fleet-street, and Ludgate-hill
require widening, but in general these are tolerably good thoroughfares,
and if a wide road and a railway are opened along the Thames embank-
ment, the traffic would be much lessened in the old streets.
The object of the street from the Post-office to Greshara-street, which
we do not remember to have ever seen suggested before, would be to
divert traffic from Cheapside and the Poultry — that is, all traffic from
Holborn and the Strand towards Moorgate-strcot, Finsbury, and Shore-
ditch. It is curious to observe how some parts of the City are thronged
to desperation, and in other parts we seem wandering in a deserted
village, with scarce a passenger or rehicle to be seen. It is diffusion of
traffic that is wanted.
That some restriction should be put to the height of buildings in
April 19, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
325
London, or at any event in the City, has been advocated more than once
in this Journal; and two additional reasons may be offered now — first,
that it would tend to bring buildings to a uniform elevation ; and second,
that it might be expressed so as to lead towards the gradual improvement
of the metropolis, through the enterprises of private owners. We mean
that proprietors rebuilding on the site of an old house might be prohibited
from carrying new erections to a greater height than that of the previous
existing ones, or that of those remaining on each side, unless the new
building were set back a proportionate distance from the line of frontage.
This is reasonable on the face of it ; if proprietors are already interdicted
from advancing their building line before others, vrhy not interdict them
from towering above the roofs of their neighbours, causing smoky
chimneys, and obstructing light and ventilation ?
The effect of such an enactment would be that many proprietors would
elect to set their new buildings a few feet back, in order to secure per-
mission to carry them higher; and thus, in time, the City would be
improved without expense to the public. Nay more, it would scarcely
touch the interests of owners, for although sacrificing a small piece of
ground their buildings would be better lighted and more letable, and as
the street became gradually widened the value would increase. As affairs
now proceed it becomes a serious consideration how the minor streets will
be affected by the modern buildings. In passing down a narrow lane we
see here and there edifices towering 50, 60, or 70 feet above the pavement,
which certainly look very imposing; but, let us ask, what will be the
result when the lane is entirely rebuilt, and we have houses on each side
throughout of that elevation, with a distance between them of perhaps
only a dozen or fifteen feet ? It will be intolerable ; and irrespective of
sanitary considerations and the comfort of occupants, we shall expect to
see passengers walking about with the lanterns or daylight reflectors
necessary for their personal use. H. and R. Powell.
RECONSTRUCTION OF PARIS.
TAKING up this subject at the point at which we left it, on the 8th of
last month, we may mention, first, that the hoarding which has for
the last eighteen months enclosed the north aisle, with its seven chapels, of
the cathedral of Notre Dame from the nave and the public, has just been
taken down, and all the lately enclosed portion of the edifice is now com-
pletely renovated. The great door of the church is decorated with thirty-
four statues of angels and saints ; there are eighteen statues of the kings
and queens of France of the second dynasty, in the niches of the gallery of
the kings, over the doorway, and ten more still to be placed ; the great
altar of the choir is finished ; and workmen are now employed in fitting up
the stalls and a handsome new railing across the entrance of the choir.
The model of the statue of the late Archbishop of Paris which has been
executed, as all such works should be, in the position which it is to occupy
in one of the chapels, has been removed to the studio of the sculptor, M.
Debay, in order to be transferred to the marble. It will still take about
two years to complete the works of Notre Dame ; and when these are done,
if not before, it is proposed to remove the old hospital, and throw the fine
cathedral open to view.
Before quitting the subject of churches, we may mention the fact of the
interment of the remains of Napoleon Bonaparte in the sarcophagus
beneath the dome of the Invalides ; this latter has been finished for about
five years, and the coflin has stood ever since 1 840 in a small chapel, named
after St. Jerome, beneath the same dome ; and it was generally believed
that the sarcophagus would never receive the Emperor's remains, especially
as a large mausoleum for the present dynasty has been constructed at St.
Denis ; and a Bonaparte mausoleum without the founder of the dynasty
would be rather illogical. The recent interment was ordered suddenly,
and performed with little ceremony, and no publicity ; and it is fully
expected either that the cofl3n will be removed from its present lodging or
that the crypt of the Invalides will be announced as the temporary
resting-place of the last of the dynasty— the remains to be removed to St.
Denis when those of the next monarch are ready to replace them. This
will be following the rule of the Bourbons— the ashes of one king remain-
ing under a cataphalque behind the grand altar of St. Denis until the next
arrived ; those of Louis XVIII. were to be seen in the place referred to
only a few months since.
Another work just about to be commenced is the enlargement of the
Hospital of La Charite, which stands near the junction of the Rue Jacob
and the Rue des Saints-Peres ; the hospital at present occupies a plot of
16,000 square metres, and contains 494 beds ; the addition to be made is
equal to 380 miStres, and the new buildings will afford space for a hundred
more patients ; the additions will also include a chapel. This cliaritable
institution was founded by Marie de Medicis in 1602 in another place,
but was transferred to its present site in 1606. In 1613 Marie laid the
first stone of the chapel attached to the hospital. In 1638 the monks of
La Charite obtained an extension of ground, and entrusted Antoino, the
architect, to raise the present large apartments ; this artist decorated the
porch with what he pretentiously called a pure Greek colonnade, but
which only proved how few opportunities the architects of that day had
enjoyed of studying a style which they aimed at reviving. The subject
of this Greek facade was seriously discussed by Saint Victor, whose
work is well worth turning to in order to obtain an idea of the state of
art at the period referred to. The chapel was not finished till 1633, the
work being performed by Robert de Cotte. Antoine constructed the
grand staircase of the Palais de Justice, and many other well-known
works. Cotte's reputation is of a very chequered kind : he built the'dome
of the Invalides from the designs of his master Mansard, also the chapel
at Versailles, and part of the Abbey of St. Denis, and he finished the
Church of St. Roch ; but he is unfortunately chiefly remembered by the
mutilations which he inflicted on the choir of Notre Dame, in 1C99, when
he constructed the high altar, cutting and transforming the edifice in a ter-
rible manner ; he stopped up the ogives, or replaced them by arcades,
cut away the columns, overcharged the walls, scraped the gilt bronze
ornaments and incrustations of red marble, till all their value was destroyed,
and tore up the pavement and disturbed the remains of bishops and magis-
trates, which had slept at the foot of the altar for four centuries, lie was
architect to Louis XIV., and is said to have owed the favor he enjoyed to
a bon-mot ; brought up under Mansard he emulated his master's daring
style of proceeding, but was not always very successful. Upon an occasion,
having made an opening in order to produce a fine view, he managed to
place his point of sight exactly upon a windmill ; the king could not con-
ceal his surprise, but the then pupil did not lose his presence of mind, but
said — " Sire, be under no apprehension for the effect. Mansard will have
it gilded !"
It was this architect who first introduced looking-glasses in place of
pictures or bas-reliefs over mantel-pieces; the manufacturers of plate-glass
ought to elevate a statue to his memory, for the consumption of glasses for
that purpose in Paris must be something enormous ; it is not generally
known perhaps that all unfurnished g-partments, above those of the
meanest kind are ornes de glaces, not only as regards the salons, but also
the bedrooms, generally from the mantel-piece to the ceiling.
A new square is about to be formed near the fountain of the Chateau-
d'eau, in front of the new Caserne du Prince Eugene. This square, which
will be anything but quadrangular or quadrilateral, will supply a place of
refuge for pedestrians where it is much wanting, namely, at the meeting of
the Boulevard St. Martin and Boulevard du Temple, and where the new rues
of Prince Eugene, Magenta and Amandiers, are also to debouch : to make
way for this square, and also, to clear the perspective, the corners of the
two first-named boulevards will be taken down. The first portion of the
new Boulevard de Prince Eugene, which will sweep away the Theatre
Lyrique, the Gaite, the Cirque Imperial, the Folies-dramatiques, the
Funambules, the Delassements-comique, and the Petit Lazary, and the
Boulevard du Temple, or du Crime as it is popularly called here, will be-
come shorn of its present curious characteri;tic, that of containing seven
theatres, nearly all abutting on each other.
One of the most notable improvements is just about to be commenced —
namely, the formation of a great circular road or outer boulevard round,
or nearly round, the city. The removal of the octroi wall from between
the old outer boulevards, and the circular road within the former boundary,
has left a fine opening, and the new road is to be, with some exceptions,
136 feet broad throughout ; it will be provided with two roadways for
vehicles, and a footpath, 10 feet wide, on each side next the houses. In
the centre, and between the two carriage roads, there is to be a maU
planted with four rows of trees, which will in a few years furnish a well-
shaded promenade.. A portion of this extensive work, that which lies
between the barrier de Clichy and that of Chopinette, including all the
line from the BartignoUes to Belleville, has been put up for tender at an
upset price of 1,780,000 francs, or £71,200, and has been undertaken at a
discount of 10 per cent, on that sum. This first part can scarcely form
more than one quarter of the whole.
Still further from the centre of the city a similar work is about to be
undertaken — namely, the widening of the military road which skirts the
town just within the fortifications. This road is at present only about
22 feet wide, with sideways varying with the position of the adjacent
buildings. It is to be enlarged, converted into a boulevard averaging
130 feet in width, and planted with trees as in the former case. This new
road will be complete on the left side of the Seine from the Quai de la Gare
to that of Javelle, but on the other side it will be interrupted in one place
by the circular railway, and also by the heights of Belleville, which are too
high to induce anyone to mount, unless he be a very ardent explorer or
compelled to do so.
Recent adjudications with respect to property required for the carrying
out of the various projects in hand, afford a scale of the present value of
ground in the several quarters of Paris, and the difference is certainly
enormous. In the Rue Madame and other streets, at the further side of the
gardens of the Luxembourg, we have eight cases in which the indemnifica-
tion was fixed at 4 francs only per square mfetre (39^ inches English) ; in
the Rue des Tournelles, in the neighbourhood of the Place Royal, the
figure rises to 7 and 10 francs ; in the Rue de Vincennes, it is 50 francs ;
in the Rue Valois-du-Roule, about half a mile from the Champs Elysee, it
is 100 francs ; in the Rue de Larochefoucault, it rises to 200 ; in the Rue
del'Arcade, behind the Madeleme, to 300 ; in the Rue Richelieu, to 400 ;
and in the Rue St. Denis, to 450 and even 500 francs the square metre.
But the most astonishing thing in connection with this subject is the
list of works now under hand or set down for the current year, which we
will indicate in as few words as possible, omitting all those touched upon
above : — The completion of the interior of the Louvre ; the building of
the Tribunal of Commerce ; the bridge Louis Philippe ; the covering in of
the canal St. Martin ; the Theatre Lyrique and du Cirque; the restoration
of the church of St. Etienne du Mont ; the completion of the Boulevards
Sebastopol and St. Germain ; the Grand Opera ; two new barracks ; the
enlargement of the Elysee Napoleon ; the restoration of the churches of
St. Germain des Pres and St. Leu; the construction of three new churches,
one being all but completed ; the completion of six new boulevards now in
progress ; the reconstruction of a large portion of the Theatre Fran^ais ;
the completion of the great central market ; the reconstruction of two
quays ; the formation of a second square in the Rue St. Martin ; the
326
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 19, 1861.
plmxQag-oC trees of from twenty to forty years old in all parts of the city;
tbe completion of the extensiTe works in tlie park of Monceau, wliich
descTTes » full description on a future occasion ; the almost complete ro-
bailding of tbe Bibliotb^qne Imperiale, well advanced ; the restoration of
the Isstitut, a heavy job, progressing rapidly; the construction of an
additional wing to the Beaux Arts, nearly completed; the embellishment
of the Oonservatoire des Arts et iletiers ; and the restoration of the crypt
of the old Abbey church, now forming part of the former cstablislfment.
Soch are the works, with many others of lesser importance, which the
anthorilies have already commenced or announce for tis present season !
Certainly, whatever may be said against Paris and the Government of
Louis Napoleon, the former is, at present, the paradise, and the latter the
tutelar divinity of architects, builders, and all who cam their bread by
falling down bouses or building them up and beautifying them.
DOCKYABD ARCHITECTURAL WORKS.
ON > former occasion we gave an account of the building enterprises of
the Army and Navy, and worked out some curious results, as to the
disproportionate cost to the nation of certain details. Our comparisons
and conclusions were borrowed, as usual without acknowledgment, by
Col. Uunne, and introduced by the honorable member to the notice of the
House of Commons as the fruits of his own researches. We are too much
accustomed to this systematic plagiarism on the part of legislators to
think of complaining, much less of attempting to obtain redress. We
■imply desire to suggest to Col. Dunne and honorable gentlemen like him,
who borrow the arguments of their parliamentary speeches ready made,
that they would produce more effect by giving wliat they appropriate in
its integrity when they do not choose to indicate the source whence they
derive their information. On these conditions we shall not complain of
the galUint colonel occasionally making a raid upon our columns, and, like
his valiant prototypes — the moss-troopers of long syne, carrying off what-
soever he can appropriate to his own purpose. We shall be able to better
■apport the loss of what is due, than he will the positive detriment to his
reputation as an original thinker.
The reader will probably remember that in the article referred to, it
was shown that the architectural constructions of the Navy cost very
much less for supervision than similar works undertaken by the Royal
Zngineers fbr the army. The comparative economy was worthy of note
and commendation ; but we felt we could only speak relatively, for of the
system under which buildings were designed and carried out, the public
loiew little or nothing. Occasionally the daily press startled the public by
reports of new docks being built, or of old ones being repaired which, on
completion, were discovered to have too shallow a depth of water upon the
sill to allow of large ships being admitted. Of course the fault was with
those who built men-of-war, drawing 28 feet, and not with the architects
of the docks. .So persistently was this asserted in certain quarters that
one would imagine ships ought to be built for docks, not docks for ships.
However, some people were incredulous upon the point, and objected to
the expenditure of public money upon works which could satisfy no more
than a small proportion of naval requirements. Accordingly the Royal
Commitsioners appointed to inquire into the control and management of
naval yards directed their investigations to ascertain the system on which
building operations are initiated and carried out in the dockyards. From
tbe minutes of evidence taken before them, we learn that the Director of
Xogineering and Architectural Works is Col. Greene, having under him a
deputy director Mr. W. Scamp, and a clerk of the works in each yard.
The ofBce has grown up within the last fifteen years, during eleven of which
it has been filled by the present incumlicnt. Being of such recent date
its duties have not yet been clearly defined and laid down by a code of
instructions, such as is provided for each of the principal officers of the
Admiralty. There has been no time to introduce order and method,
though to draw up precise, intelligible instructions would not take half an
hour._ But when could half an hour be spared in fifteen years, when
Admiralty levfet most be held, or the service would go to the dogs ?
Althoogh Col. Greene has no system of " instructions or code of regula-
tions to enable him to know what course he ought to pursue in the dis-
charge of his duties," he has been able to ascertain and explain the nature
and extent of his duties with tolerable perspicuity. They consist in the
entire control, in every part of their detail and from first to last, of all
bnilding works of evcrj- sort and description in all the dockyards at home
«d abroad. But though he has thisentirecontrol, in practice the mniority
of eases for new works and repairs, are first of all brought under the
notice of the Admiralty by requisitions from local officers. The works
•re nnmerous and of a very heterogeneous character, and it is not until
they have been more or less sanctioned by the Board " in a cursory way "
that the Director takes them up. After the cursory sanction— whatever
that may be— he goes fully into the building schemes, revises the plans
?*■■'**""' •°'".«''>nes remodels them from those sent up from the yards.
JUyMparet estimate* and specifications, we presume, preparatory instruc-
y"** ">""«• tenders, draws contracts, and then the subsequent details in
«Mi7ing ont the work* are entrusted to his hands. In all these matters
, "'^'^ " ""°"" t"f instructions of the lay I^ord who, as a general
ffilto, knows nolhmg of architecture or the principles of construction, or of
dockyard requirements. Instead of corresponding with his chief, the lay
^rd,aa common sense and ordinary business routine would dictate, the
Mrector comspond* with the Secretary to the Admiralty, who endorses
Ite eotnmnnintions to the lay Lord. To say the least of this system, it
ill nnnece.*M«y complicated ; it is what the French call a rou<we, and
niMt caoae deUy. For there is no reason why the Director should not
address his communications and reports direct to the lay Lord without
the intervention of the Secretary and his endorsement.
The first thing that presents itself to the mind is that the office of
Director of Engineering and Architectural Works for the Navy might be
filled with advantage and economy to the public service, by a properly
trained, widely experienced, and thoroughly practical architect. We do
not mean to say by this tliat Col. Greene is not quite as well suited,
perhaps better, for the post than any member of our profession. If he is
ills qualifications must be exceptional. He is, we presume, an officer of
Royal Engineers, but the buildings he has to superintend are of a civil and
not at all of a military character. They are docks, basins, slips, factories,
barracks, dwelling-houses, hospitals, and victualling establishments — all
that come within the especial province of a civil architect. The great
works at present in hand are — a now dock at Pembroke, a very large dock
at Devonport, another large dock at Portsmouth and marine artillery
barracks for which the bricks are making, and extensive additions are
being made to the Chatham oarracks : we leave aside minor works. It is
evident that the education of a Royal Engineer does not qualify him to
design and carry out the works designed. He can have little or no ex-
perience or practical knowledge until appointed to the office of Director.
Consequently he must qualify at the nation's expense. Should it be
insisted that civil architects have generally no experience in the construc-
tion of docks, we reply that there are some who have, and that as docks
are built of masonry, they constitute an integral part of professional
knowledge and practice. If the authorities are not of our way of thinking
there are members of the profession of civil engineers who make the con-
struction of docks their specialty, and from among -whom are recruited
the dock engineers of private establishments. From the most able
members of this branch the Admiralty might select a thoroughly qualified
person, and defer the construction of dwelling houses, hospitals, &c., to an
architect. No confusion or extra cost would result from this arrangement,
as the Board now employs a Director and Deputy-Director at salaries of
£1,000 and £800 respectively.
Let us now look at the result of the present system. When Pembroke
New Dock was discussed between the Comptroller of the Navy and the
Director of Works, the latter made his designs to suit the requirements of
a building yard, and not of a repairing yard, and proposed to lower the
floor two feet. The Comptroller desired greater depth, and 24^ feet at high
water, neap tides— in reality 22i feet, on account of the blocks standing
over the entrance, was obtained. But these two gentlemen never con-
sidered the question of its being desirable, as it would in war time, to be
able to dock a man-of-war with guns and stores on board, drawing 28 feet.
It is alleged as a reason for not obtaining a greater depth, that the place
was a very difficult one to deal with, in forming the coffer-dam and in the
construction generally. Three or four feet of solid rock, under Rab rock
have to be cut away outside the masonry, to get the same depth of water
there as on the sill. But Pembroke, from the great capabilities of Milford
Haven, its facile access from the ocean, its close proximity to the South
Wales coal-field, is the best adapted of all others for a fitting and repair-
ing yard. It will soon become one, and then what will be the use of the
new dock ? En parenihese professional men would be glad to know why
the Admiralty does not test the advantages and economy of building docks
out into the water, where any required depth may be obtained, instead of
excavating them from the land and sacrificing valuable sites ?
The works at Keyham were estimated to cost a million and a quarter;
they have already cost £100,000 beyond the original estimate, and will
cost £100,000 more before they are completed according to present designs.
Considerable changes have been introduced, the factories have been ex-
tended 100 feet, and so has the basin from 700 to 1,000 feet. But the
boiler-factories and store-houses, instead of being on the quays, are so
remote from the ships that a railroad has had to be laid down and teams
employed, for there is not a locomotive in the yard, only a traction-engine,
which the ground is too soft to admit of being used. In spite of the ex-
traordinary outlay, there is only one dock at Keyham that would admit a
ship dr.iwing 28 feet, and to do that it would be necessary to raise the
level of the water in the basin by pumping. Colonel Greene says it has
been done, but omits to mention at what cost — which is the essential point.
In the event of a naval action it is reasonable to suppose that several
line-of-battle ships would enter so severely damaged as to require imme-
diate docking, but it appears that our facilities for docking are next to
none everywhere, and that our dock accommodation is totally insufficient.
Docks should be constructed, not for the ordinary requirements of peace,
hut for the extraordinary exigencies of war. While peace remains un-
broken we require neither army nor navy. They are maintained against
the contingency of its disturbance, and very properly so, and all our
establishments, especially those which take a long time to create, should
be ordered with the same wise forethought. Although Colonel Greene
admitted it would be most desirable to have a dock capable of receiving a
first-rate with all stores on board, and having direct access to the harbor
without the delay and inconvenience of passing through the lock, we find
nothing of the sort exists. To meet the difficulty the vessel would have
to be docked in the lock, which would prevent ingress to and egress from
the basin, in fact, bring matters to a dead lock. To supply the deficiency
two docks, 450 feet long, were proposed two years since to accommodate
first-rates, hut no steps have been taken to carry the plan out although so
greatly needed.
The smitliery at Pembroke is so ill-designed and built that the venti-
lation is very bad. Various small methods have recently been tried to
correct it, but without success. It has been suggested to collect all the
flues into one large chimney, and to get rid of the smoke iu that way.
April 19, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
327
The proposition has not been carried out, yet it is recognised that
nothing but a very expensive construction of that kind would be effectual.
At Portsmouth the smol<e is collected from the smiths' flres, and carried
through an iron trunk into four corner chimneys 100 feet high. At
Devonport the same system was tried and utterly failed. It has been
tried to get rid of the smoke by means of a fan, which has also been un-
successful, though it appears by no means positive that the experiment
has been properly tried. A coal depot is in the course of construction at
Keyham, at a cost of £7,000, on the model, but on a larger scale, than the
one at Woolwich, witliout consulting the engineers and officials of the
yard. Besides furnishing the factories with fuel, the depot is intended to
supply ships, which would be left in the basin, so that the coals would have
to be carried to them in carts or on men's backs, instead of hauling the ships
alongside the <lep6t and filling them up therefrom direct. Certain local officers
are said to think it more economical to carry coals to the ship than to take
ship up to the coals, principally, it would seem, because of the arrange-
ments on board with regard to the size of the scuttles, "but the officers of
ships on whom depend coaling arrangements have never been consulted,
though it would be more reasonable to do so, than to suit the crotchets of
certain nameless dockyard folks. The late Mr. Rendal was consulted as
to the practicability of delivering direct from the coal store into ships
brought to a particular berth in the Woolwich basin, but the dockyard
people objected. There is one point left untouched; that is, would coaling
be effected more rapidly direct orj indirectly from the store ? Portland
breakwater may afford an answer. Meanwhile we- see nothing in what
Col. Greene has done that an architect could not do as well.
No better illustration of the working of the system could be afforded,
than by the following well-known circumstance. A boat-house was to be
built at Sheerness where there happened to be a quantity of iron ballast,
■which since the introduction of steam in men-of-war, was rendered un-
necessary for the purpose for which it was originally intended. Capt.
Watson, superintendent of the yard, suggested that the iron pigs should be
employed to floor the boat-house, whereby a space would be cleared that
was required, and the ballast might be taken up again if wanted. The
Storekeeper of Sheerness yard had no objection, the Deputy-Director of
Works approved, and the Board of Admiralty, througli Lord Clarence
Paget, sanctioned the strange proposition. The original estimate in
1858 was £25,000, but two bays in the original design were sup-
pressed and the estimate reduced to £20,000, for which the house
was to be built, to contain about 300 boats, with travellers complete,
but exclusive of raising the slip and constructing the wharf. Before the
application of iron ballast to flooring was suggested, wood paving was
specified from offal ship timber in the yard, at an estimated cost for laying
of £468. The cost of laying iron ballast, including cartage was £401 3s. 6d.,
so that at the first blush there would appear an economy of £66 16s. 6d.
But the actual cost was £21,040 9s. lOd., being an excess of the estimate
al £1,040 9s. lOd. Nor was this all. The ballast flooring consumed
17,472 pigs, which, at the rate of 70s. the ton, represented a value of
£8,736, so that the real cost of the boat-house was £29,776, or just upon
one-half more than the original estimate. In extenuation it was urged
that the iron was unfit for foundry purposes, but that was never ascer-
tained, and even admitting that it was unfit to produce the quality of iron
required for the dockyard, that is no proof of its unfitness for the ordinary
trade. Further there are plenty of sailing craft afloat, in the hands of
private individuals, that would employ the iron ballast, and be quite as
willing to buy of the dockyard as of the trade. If tlie ballast had been
sold and the proceeds applied in part payment of the cost of theboathouse,
4he expenditure of the latter would have been reduced to below £13,000,
and a saving effected of £16,000, not altogether an insignificant amount.
For some years past it has been customary to use wood offal to make
floors, whereby tlieir cost is much reduced ; but that is applying to a
useful purpose a comparatively worthless article, whereas making an iron
ballast floor was supplying a very costly material. The Deputy Director
admitted that it was not a good system to put down ballast of that value
to make a floor whicli it might be necessary to take up ; that he should
certainly be against recommending it (though from the published letter of
Captam Watson, it appears he entertained no objection to it) ; that if he
had been a shipowner he certainly should not have adopted cast iron of
that description for a flooring, and that he should certainly not have
recommended it, nor should he have adopted it if he had any power to
have controlled it. We should think not indeed, nor by any man in his
senses, except an Admiralty official. It would be going but a little further
if the Bank of England were to pave the court-yards with bullion in bars,
because they are not used in the cellars, and might be taken up when re-
quired. The whole history of the boathouse exemplifies the excess and
extravagance of our administration, and is a melancholy illustration of the
insincerity or incapacity of the quondam financial reformer after he had
gained the Admiralty secretaryship.
THE RESULTS OF DEFECTIVE HOUSE DRAINAGE NEAR
SMITH FIELD BARS.
THE Local Government Act office has lately directed the attention of the
sanitary officers of tlie Holborn district to a cesspool at the Queen's Head,
public house. St. John-street, near Smithfield Bars. About two montlis since
the wife of the then tenant died, and her medical attendant stated his belief that
her death was caused by the results of defective drainage. A notice from the
district office of works was thereupon served upon the tenant requiring him to
empty and fill up the cesspool and to construct a new brick drain, but tliis was
not pressed because the tenant assured the officers that the whole house was to
be pulled down and rebuilt at once. This, however, was not done, the house
being only repaired, and the old tenant left it. Dr. Gibbon, the medical officer
of liealth, as an instance of the defective state of the hou.se drainage in the
older portions of the metropolis, states that only last week in this house, as the
barmaid was walking across the cellar, the ground gave way under her and her-
fett went ancle deep into what she believed to be the soil of a hidden cesspool.
On examination it proved to be a very old brick drain having a sewage de-
posit iff it to the extent of about 6 or 7 inches in deptli. Tlic cellar is without
ventilation of any kind. The district Board of Works, on the above facts being
stated to them, issued an order for the execution of the works required for the
sanitary improvement of the premises.
WORCESTER CATHEDRAL RESTORATION.
WE are now enabled to report progress in the great work of restoration at our
Cathedral. The contract entered into with Messrs. Hennett and Son, of
Birmingham, is on the point of completion, and we congratulate the conservators
of this fine old edifice as well as the diocese at large on the improved face which
the venerable Cathedral is already putting on. The east end, internally and
externally, the Lady chapel, and the south-east transept, are the principal
restorations, while at the west end another item of the repairs has been under-
taken out of its course in consequence of the urgency of the work and the
unsafe condition of the Norman turret at the south-west angle of the building.
Tills, together with the arched entrance into the cloisters at that point, has been
substantially restored to its original form.
It should be stated that the work of restoration throughout the building has-
been strictly a conservative one : there have been no fanciful introductions — no-
copying of examples from other Cathedrals, but the individuality of the work
has been preserved by a careful observance of such relics as have been discovered
in the removal of the dilapidations, and these old remains have generally
supphed a sufficient basis wherefrom to execute the new carvings, mouldings,
&c. Great credit is due to Mr. Perkins, the architect to the Dean and Chapter,
for the rigid care he has exercised in the supervision of the work with a view to
this result, aud he has been especially fortunate in securing the talented assistance
of Mr. Boulton, formerly of London, but now of this city, who executed the
splendid reredos at Hereford, and whose car\-ings in the arcade-work of Our Lady
chapel will be justly admired by all lovers of art. They could only have been
produced by one who had made the Ear'y English period of architecture his
genial study, and had caught the spirit of its finest sculptors. The arcade running
round the chapel walls generally contained sufficient portions if not the entire of
the carved subjects in the spandrels to render their restoration comparatively
easy, but immediately under the great east window the work Ls entirely new
and heve the subjects chasen for Sir. Boulton's chisel, under the architect's
direction, have been types of the Saviour, taken from the Scriptures, including
Moses and the brazen serpent, Abraham offering up his son, Joseph sold by his
brethren, the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, Jonah and the whale, &c. The
workmanship of this range of subjects is most skilful, the figures and foliage
standing out in admirable relief, and even at a considerable distance each group,
though BO small, tells its own tale.
Two huge bedstead monuments which hitherto completely filled the two flrit
arches right and left of the east end have been removed and placed underneath
arches near the west end of the nave, so that now an unrestricted view may be
had of the magnificent proportions of the Lady chapel and its beautiful decora-
tons. Indeed when the restoration here is complete it will be difficult to point
out a finer specimen of Early English in the United Kingdom. The two monu-
ments above-named are those of Dean Eedes, who died in 1604, and Bishop
Thoniborough, who erected his own in 1627, fourteen years beibre his death.
The latter monument has excited curiosity among the learned from time to
time, owing to its extraordinary inscription, whicb, according to the Rev. O.
Fnx, is a specimen of the Pythagorean philosophy so fashionable at that day, and
which found all the modes of space in the relation of numbers. The pedantic old
prelate however, at the time of its erection, did not dream of migrating so far
west as the march of improvement has now occasioned. On the monuments
being taken to pieces, no bones or even dust was found in the stone coffins form-
ing the body of the tombs.
Two new stained glass windows, we are informed, are to be inserted in the
Lady chapel, one at the east end of the north aisle, to the memory of the Iste
t anon Cocks; this is by subscription of the friends of the deceased, aud will
form a greatly improved termination to the long perspective of that aisle, as«een
from the west end of the nave; tlie window is to be by Hardman, and tliesubjects
will be incidents in the lile of Oiir Lord. The masonry of the window— a triple
lancet, restored from a debased Perpendicular— is completed, and the glass wiU
be inserted in the course of a few weeks. The other window will be to the memory
of the late Colonel Unett, who distinguished himself in ihe recent Indian
campaign; it is at the cost of the survivinor officers of the Colonel's regiment,
and will be placed in the centre window of the south aisle of the Lady chapel.
The floor ot the chapel is also to be newly laid, with dark marble and white
Aubignj- stone, in lozenges, alternately. The debased Perpeiidiculai- windows in
tlie aisles of the Lady chapel and south side of choir and the clerestorj- have given
place to lancets, with an improvement of the general effect which is most
striking, in unifying the style and restoring entu-e harmony and beauty of
proportion.
A great feature of the restoration is apparent in the south-east transept, where
much dilapidation had existed ; a large portion of the walls, buttresses, and
window masonry, has been rebuilt, and a frightful semi-Italian square pier or
prop, which with its arches had long supported the building, has been removed.
The scaftblding erected in this transept alone tor the prosecution of the works cost
upwards of £100.
We are pleased to learn that fresh contracts wiU be immediately entered mto
for the further extension of the repairs, which will embrace the nortli-east
transept— that beautiful portion of the edifice which most passer.s-l)y canuot !ail
to admire as they go from High-street towards the College Precincts. Tlie works
on this side will also be carried as far as the tower transept, and on the south
side to the end of the vestries. This is a very heavy work, and we feel assured
that it is in the right hands to be effectually and judiciously executed, and like-
wise that due care will be taken to protect the monuments and other ancient
remains of art during the progre-s of the restoration.
* JTrom tbe Worcester HenUi.
328
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 19, 1861.
GROUND
PLAN
^
10 — ' ao -li'^'to
^
' so
^
^
,^^
100
=1=
CHESTER UILITIA BABBACKS. For Elevation, tee page 308 ante.
A Ko. 11. Sergfeuits' cottage*, nltli three
bed-roonu over.
B No. 12. Sergcanta' cottages, with two
bed-roonuioTer.
C QuartefB for nine buglers on ground,
and one and two pair floors in gate-
way.
D Gateway.
£ Adjutant's House.
F Terrace.
G Wash-house.
H Tank for flushing.
I Privies.
K Stable.
L Saddle-room.
M Coach-house,
N Manure and ashes.
O Stable-yard.
1' Court-yard.
Ist ROYAL CHESHIRE MILITLA. BARRACKS, CHESTER.*
THIS building is situated in close proximity to the Government Barracks
and Castle yard. The latter being available for the purposes of drill
and parade, it was determined by the Justices tliat the new building should
occupy as small a portion of the open ground opposite the castle entrance
as consistent, particularly as a portion of the county buildings adjoining
the assize courts was available for the regimental stores, guard and orderly
(ooms, and other requirements.
The present boilding was consequently designed for the dwellings of the
permanent staff alone, which consists of twenty-three sergeants, eleven
buglers, and the adjutant. Upon reference to the plan, it will be seen that
each sergeant has a separate dwelling. The buglers occupy the building
right and left of the gateway, and the quarters over the same. The
adjutant's bouse occupies the south-east angle of the building, and contains
dining and drawing-rooms, a private ofSce, kitchen, back kitchen, &c., and
six bed-rooms.
There is also a general wash-bouse, and a laundry, for the use of the
several occupants of the dwellings, with stable and coach-house for the
adjutant.
The buildings have been constructed of the local red sandstone, with
dressings of Ilelsby stone, which is of a lighter tint, the interior of the
several quarters for sergeants and buglers being lined with pressed bricks,
and colored.
The contract was taken by Mr. Thomas Stone, of Newton, for a sum
under £8,000, and has been satisfactorily executed under the superintend-
ence of .\Ir. Lockwood, the clerk of the works.
The design was selected by the Committee, under '-motto," from a
lunited competition, invited by them, from several architects of note, and
Mr. r. M. I'enson, whose plan was adopted, has, by successfully grouping
the several buildings, produced an effective public work, characteristic and
appropriate for the purpose for which it is intended.
rn^iTiv ■ ■* GLANCE AT TORQUAY.
KUUAY once known as a picturesque and retired little waterlne place on
tne northern side of Torbay, Devon, has of late yiars become so fashionable,
busa iocreaaed iU streets and suburbs, that the beautiful locality we remem-
beretl thirty yean since can scarcely be identified with the present overgrown
«fl« rather iiioUct town. The march of civilization certainly here causes in the
spectator a sad fselfaig of regret.
Cootiraous IoOk town, and forming the shore of the bay, lies the domain of
l^wS^'J. "ST^ retaining interesting relics of the once famous monastic
SSr\^ u ^""J^"^ on it* "ite, an old ivied gatehouse and grange,
^M^i!^ tT' "^'"' ^- '■''" ^^^y ha" la<«ly yielded its park to the
■ercUoi band of the unprovem, the Immediate consequence is
"EaeiUaeaadcverT alley green,
i. ™t „„ ....1 ju—?^'!?™"'"'.''''"?"''' "•'"""<» wood"
H cot op and dbgniseJ by a series of red shaggy limestone fence-walls. The
* for lUnstrathm see page 306.
sea beach is blocked out by a wall retaining a road to a new railway station.
The new edifices are not easily described, they exhibit a blending together of the
features of Tudor and Elizabethan mansions with aspire of the variegated Italian
Gothic that so " rules the roast " everywhere in colored materials, but certainly
is not successful here in stucco.
The round arched Italian cottage window is here seen in the same front with
the heavy corniced and trussed Venetian one, and chimneys heavy and light in
enviable variety.
We ascend tne hill towards the once rural rockwalk on our right. As we look
to seaward we cannot avoid a bird's-eye view into the back premises of Abbey
Crescent based on the beach below, aft'ording a display of dormer windows,
chimney-pots, &c., which, favored by the sea-breeze, soon make us aware, nasally,
of their unpleasant proximity.
Turning away from this prospect of water-closet, cisterns, kitchen chimneys,
to., we look up the once wooded height of Waldon, and see it crowned with a
crowd of houses, which project so tar over the steep side of the hill as to require
veritable stilts in the shape of stuccoed piers terribly tall to carry the verandahs
that crowTi them. Leaving
" Tne baseless fabric of this vision,"
we ascend to the floor level of these " excelsior " residences and find that a
street has been pioneered amongst the pine-trees, and each villa has its street
door audits name printed, as "Glan y Mor," " Redclyffe," " Falkenstein,"
" Hawthornden," "Florence Villa," "Ettenheim," &c. Amongst all this
novelty a new church offered a few months since to a select number ofcompe-
tors (premiumless), is now erecting under the direction of Mr. Bloomfieid who
was the successful competitor.
The houses on the opposite side of this street stand higher and have higher ar-
chitectural pretensions ; one will be battlemented and machicolated but overtopped
by Tudor shafts and windguards whose utilitarian outline destroys the castle cha-
racter of the composition. Of less recent date is the spoliation of the base of the
Waldon Cliff, wliere a turnpike road and toll-house have been formed on the
fringe of the massive rocks where tlie breakers formerly gnashed their white
teeth with so picturesque an effect.
The same description may apply almost to the other outskirts of the town.
The once wild and romantic Meadfoot Sands, where a few years since no work of
man's was to be seen, are now overlooked by an imposing crescent and tribe of
detached villas and winding roads.
The village of Mary Church is growing up into a town, and the stately chancel
erected by the Rev. A. Watson to the parish church from Mr. Hugall's
designs is now completing with an appropriate nave and aisles.
MASTER'S COURT, TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
THE visitor to Cambridge must have observed the great improvement
made in Trinity-street by the removal of the dilapidated premises
for many years in the occupation of Messrs. Matthew and Gent, and the
substitution of the fine building for the accommodation of the students of
Trinity College, a view of which forms our illustration this week. The
building is now completed, and forms a very favorable specimen of
collegiate architecture, and a roost interesting addition to the public
buildings of Cambridge, The street in which the building is situated has
been considerably widened by placing the new edifice some distance back
April 19, 1861
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 19, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
331
from the adjoining houses, in order to effect which the master of Trinity,
voluntarily and with a commendable spirit of generosity, gave up a con-
siderable portion of the necessary ground without compensation.
The building contains 24 sets of rooms with porter's lodge, &c., the
relative distribution of which may be seerl by reference to the ground-
plan accompanying the view. The building is faced with Casterton stone,
and has some finely executed carvings in the front portion. The whole
cost of the erection was about £10,000, exclusive of the purchase of the
ground. The architect is Mr. A. Salviu, of London, and the builder Mr.
George Smith, of Pimlico. A portion of the building is already occupied
by the student of Trinity, and the rest will be occupied next term.
Although, from a resemblance to collegiate buildings at present or for-
merly existing in the University, it might be called a hostel, it cannot
strictly be called so in the sense of the recent Act of Parliament, for the
hostels there described are institutions separate from the Colleges this
building, however, Is recognised both by the College and the University as
part of Trinity College. It is called " the Master's Court." Tt is con-
templated at some future time to extend this collegiate building the whole
length of All Saint's passage.
ON THE ABCHITECTURE OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY.*
The charcli of Bemajr was founded in 1024, by Judith, wife of Richard II., Duke of
Normandy. It is now a market-hall and has a west front of the seventeenth
century, but the greater part of the walls are original, with the triforium and elere-
story. These are very rude work, with baluster shafta. The aisles are vaulted with
a series of email domes under a wooden roof; these are considered by Mr. I'etit as
original, and I am disposed to a^ee with him, although the French antiquaries
consider them as part of the work of the seventeenth century built at the same time
as the west front. They are quite plain, rather flat domes of rubble, or at least of
small uncut stones, not of ashlar.
The celebrated and line church of Tournns on the Saone, was built between 1000
and lOlii, and a portion of the original structure remains. The nave is vaulted with
transverse barrel vaults across each bay Irom north to south, instead of the usual
longitudinal vault. This arrano;ement is^said to be unique. It is many years suice
I saw the church, and I did not then know the history of it, and did not clearly make
ont to what period the different parts belong, but it seems not improbable that the
transverse stone arches originally carried a wooden roof only, as in many other
examples, and that the vaults were put on subsequently, perhaps after a Are had
destroyed the wooden roof.
The Cathedral of Auxerre was founded in 1005 and the crypt appears to be not
long after that date ; it i» very rude, with wide jomted masonry and plain early
capitals, which correspond with othci-s in some of the other early crypts.
The church of St Germam les l>r6s at Paris was rebuilt after its destmction by
the Normans, by the Abbot Morard, who died in 1014 ; a small part of the nave is
eaid to belong to this period—it is plain and early looking.
The Cathedral of Nevers was;founded in 1028, and parts of the existing building
agree with that date, these are the western apse and the crypt under it and the
transepts with their chapels,;tlie capitals are exactly the same as those in the crypt
of Auxerre. The arches are square in section, the piers are square and massive,
with heavy shafts attached to them, carrying a large round moulding under the
eotht of the arch ; the vaults are groined without ribs, and without transverse arches.
The original church was small and cruciform, with a very short head to the cross
terminated by an apse. A new church was added eastward of It, in the thirteenth
century and the eastern arm of the cross entirely rebuilt.
The church of the Ronceray at Angers was founded in 1028 by Foulques, Earl of
Anjou, and a considerable part of the existing church is of early character, not long
alter that date.
The church of St. Hilary at I'oictiers, was rebuilt by Agnes of Burgundy, wife of
Wilham III., Duke of Aquitaine, and was consecrated in 1049, A partof the existing
church belongs to this period, the greater part has been again rebuilt, but the plan
and arrangement of the fabric probably belong to this century, though most of the
ornamentation is later.
The tine Abbey church of Lumieges was consecrated in 1067, and a considerable
part of the existing ruins belong to this period, the capitals are plain and early,
they have been covered over with plaster and painted.
These are all the dated examples of the first half of the eleventh century that I
have been able to identify, I have a list of many others either founded or rebuilt
during that period, but have not been able to ascertain what portions remain.
The churches of the Pyrenees were admirably described here by Mr. Freeman a
fortnight since, they are of early character, and have belfry windows with midwall
shafts and balusters resembling tliose in England, and some of them are probably of
the eleventh century, others more probably of the twelfth ; their history has not been
Investigated, but in remote and mountainous districts the earlier style is generally
continued to a later period than in more central places.
In Switzerland there are two or three churches which partake of this character.
The tower of St. Maurice is built of Roman materials, at the beginning of the
eleventh century, and the belfry windows bear a resemblance to the Saxon baluster
windows, but they are formed by using Roman columns taken from some older
building, and these columns being too long for the windows, the lower part of them
is built into the rubble wall as more easy than cutting the marble columns.
In Germany occasional instances of resemblance are found, but it seems to arise
more from their belonging to the same rude period than that one is copied from the
other. The idea that the ancient Lombards wore great builders in stone and the
predecessors in the artof the;Normans, I believe will be found, ou examination, to be
altogether groundless. I have searched in vain in Lombardy for any work of any
Importance between the Roman period and the eleventh century. The absence of
any examples of this period at Rome has been already mentioned.
The buildings of Pisa and I.ncca, ignorantly attributed to the ancient Lombards,
very commonly bear inscriptions recording theu- erection, and of others the history
is perfectly well known.
They are the glory of the Pisan republic of the 12th and 13th centuries, with some-
times portions of older buildings of the eleventh or earlier built up in them. At
Ravenna, at Rome, and in the cities of Central Italy, the buildings are almost
entirely constructed of brick cased with marble, and they present nothing whatever
from which the Anglo-Saxons could have derived the pecuUar features of their
buildings.
1 believe th.-it the style called Lombardic has as much to do with the ancient Lom-
bards as the Gothic had to do with the ancient Goths, and no more. Both are con-
venient terras as indicating the races by whom they were used, but wo must be
careful not to be misled by these names into erroneous notions about the dates of
these buildings, which is very frequently the case, even with popular writers who
ought to know better. The buildings of Italy so constantly bear dates inscribed
upon them, that a httle examination of them is all that is required to ascertain this
point.
To return to England and our supposed Anglo-Saxon churches, it is remarkable
thatout of nearly a hundred examples spread over twenty-nine dilTerent counties,
there are so few of which we have any account or even any mention in history ; they
• Read by Mr. J. H. Parker, F.S. A., at the Architectural Museum, on Wednes-
day evening, April 3. Continued from page 313.
arc nearly all obscure village churches. The large number of 63 Benedictine monas-
teries were founded in England before the year 1000, but of this large number not
more than three or four are found to have any existing remains of early character,
and there are not altogether more than six out of the hundred early churches that
remain to us, of which we have any mention before the year 1000. These are the
two crypts of St. Wilfred at Hescham and Ripon, the walls of the church in the
castle at Dover and of the church at ISrixworth, both built of the fragments of some
Roman building, and in the rudest manner, and some portions of similar walls at
Lyrainge, Kent, and at St. Martin's. Canterbury. These exhaust the list of buildings
which we can at all authenticate for the long period of five centuries. When we
come to the eleventh century, the case is widely different; the great building era now
begins, and we have a number of buildings remaining which we can identify and
authenticate ; and several of these are before the Norman conquest, as we have seen.
The Normans did not bring over an army ot masons with them ; and although
many of their soldiers were inadons also, there is no doubt that their buildings were
erected mainly by Saxon hands, and as the Norman rule was not very readily or
quietly submitted to they were obliged in the first instance to turn their attention to
building castles to keep the people in subjection. Forty-nine castles are enumerated
in the Domesday survey, which was made about 20 years after the Conquest, and of
these one only— that ot Arundel— ia mentioned as having existed in the time of
Edward the Confessor. It is said that William attributed the facility of his conquest
chiefly to the circumstances of the Saxons having no strong places to keep the
Norman army in check, and that he set about providing tliem as soon as possible.
These early Norman castles are all built in the same type, a square massive keep
or donjon, with the ground floor vaulted for store-rooms, or stables, or prisons, ac-
cording to circumstances ; the entrance on the first floor, with sometimes an external
flight of stone steps, in other cases a drawbridge to an outwork.
These keeps do not appear to have been originally enclosed with stone walls; the
custom of raising fortifications of a trench and vallum surmounted by wooden pali-
sades was not yet abandoned, in fact, it was used occasionally long afterwards, and
these keeps seem to have been usually surrounded by a double entrenchment, the
inner one enclosing the inneriballium or bailey, or principal court, in which the keep
was situated, the outer one enclosing the outer bailey or yard, and this was frequently
of considerable extent, in order to drive the cattle into it m case of need for protection.
This custom of enclosing two courts or baileys round a castle was continued
throughout the middle ages, and in later times farm buildings were erected in the
outer bailey, and by degrees in more peaceful times this was changed into the farm -
yard for the Manor-house.
The Norman keeps were so massive and so well built that a large number of them
have been preserved to the present day, often upon no other ground than that it
would cost more to pull them down, from the great strength of the mortar, than the
materials are worth.
We have, however, very few castles remaining'that appear to have been completed
in the time of William the Conqueror. During the 21 years of his reign his hands
were generally full. They seem to have been completed for the most part in the
tune of his successor.
William the Conqueror, either from real piety, or in order to'make his peace with
the Pope and with the Church, founded several magnificent abbeys which he richly
endowed, but to say that he built them is generally a mistake, the monks erected the
buildings with the help of the funds which he gave them. The two most celebrated
of these abbeys are at Caen, in Normandy, St. Stephen's or the Abbaye aux Hommes
was founded 'by Wilham in 1066 and dedicated in 1077, which shows that in eleven
years so much of the church was completed as was necessary for the perlormance
of divine service. It was the usual custom of the middle ages to consecrate a church
as soon as the choir was completed, leaving the nave and other parts to be completed
afterwards, but the foundations for the whole were generally laid at once, and the
west front with one of the towers to hold the bells ; and the transepts were commonly
begun at the same time as the choir or very soon after it, and as the monks or priests
must have some place to hve in to enable them to perform the service, the domestic
buildings of the abbey were generally begun at the same time as the choir, but they
were frequently obliged to be content with temporary wooden buildings for a con-
siderable time.
A careful examination of this building shows not only that the choir has been re-
built in the thirteenth century, and the spires added at the same time, but that there
is work ot three periods antecedent to this, all belonging to what we call the
Norman style, and that the whole of the west front which is so famiUar to us from
engravings, belongs to the second period ; the original work terminates at the back
of the western towers, which are placed against it with a straight joint all through.
The original work can be distinguished on examination, more especially by the wider
jointing of the masonry,' but very little of it is visible to the casual observer. The
main walls of the nave and transepts in reality belong to it, but they have been en-
tirely concealed, and cased over In the interior to carry the vaulting, and the whole
of the ornamentation of the interior belongs to the third period. The original con-
struction no doubt belongs to the time of the Conqueror, 1006 to 1077, but a consi-
derable interval must have elapsed between this and the second period, as shown by
the diff'erence of masonry and ornament, and it belongs in all probability to the last
ten years of the eleventh century. It so happens that in the course of my investiga-
tions into the history of Waltham Abbey I have come across a bitter complaint
of the monks of the robbery of that Abbey of all its treasures by WilUaiu
Ruf us for the purpose of transferring them to the abbeys founded by his father and
mother at Caen. The date of this complaint agrees so well with what I should
expect to find from the architectural character for this second period, that I think
we may with confidence assign it to that date. We have so long been accustomed
to look on the West front of the Abbaye aux Hommes at the startmg point, the
type of the earliest Norman work, that this proof of its belonging to a period thirtv
years later than had been supposed, makes a complete change in our chronology of
early Norman work. These western towers aff'ord us further evidcLce, they contain
a portion of the triforium of this second period, quite diff'crent from that now
existing in the nave, and prove that the existing triforium and clerestory and vault
which all belong together, are of the third period, which is probably about 1160. A
further examination of the pas6.age through the clerestory makes this quite evident;
the outer wall with its wide jointedmasonry remains, but the whole of the inner face ot
the wall is of fine jointed masonry, and the junctions in the work arc very evident,
while neither the masonry nor the ornamentation agrees with the west front. My
friend Mr. lioult of Caen has made mo a set of drawings of these details which will
I think make the matter clear, even to those who have not the opportunity of
examining the building for themselves. Another peculiarity in the arrangement of
the clerestory of this church has long been observed but not explained. Each of the
windows has only one sub-arch bv the side of it instead of two, as is the universal
practice. The cause of this appears to me to be this— the original church had no
vaults, these were added to the aisles in the second period, but to the central space
not until the third ; the original timber roof was carried on stone arches at intervals,
as was the case in the Abbey church of Cerisy of about the same period, and in
several English halls. , ... ,.
When the stone vaults were put on, these early stone arches interfered with the
arrangement of them, and they were obliged to bo accommodated to^the spaces which
they had to occupy, hence the apparent irregularity of the plan.
The character of the masonry of the earliest period is exactly the same as that or
the early work at Westminster, which we usually attribute to the time of Edward
the Confessor, but which may perhaps be twenty years later, as we have none of his
Church remaining.
The church of the Holy Trinity, or the Abbaie aux Dames at Caen, was founded
by Queen Matliilda in l(m, and the church was dedicated the same year, which is
almost a proof that it was a temporary wooden church only, for a stone church
would not have been built in the time, and there could be no reason why one of the
two churches should require eleven years before it was ready for consecration and
the other only one.
332
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 19, 1861.
The work of the oxistlDLj church is evidently of later date than the Abbalc aux
Homme?. It was built at two different times during: the course of the twelfth
centorj, but hardly any of this church can be considered as belonging to the
eleventh.
I have entered Into the particulars rospeeting; these two churches because they are
considered by many persons as the foundation of all ecclesiastical architecture in
England, ana are appealed to as testa of the style in use at the time of the Conquest,
for which purpose they are almost as fallacious as Malmesbur^ Abbey was to Carter
and the antiquanos of the last century, who considered the existing buildings there
ms the type ol the Saxon stvlo.
I take tfaia opportunity also of reminding you that in travelling on the continent it
isneeetsaiyto be very cautious how you receive the dates which are given you by
loeAlnide«.oreven by Mr. Murray's excellent hand-books, wJich are necessarily
eompUed in a great degree from local guide-books and other foreign works. The
dates usually assigned in such works are those of the original foundations only,
without taking any notice of subsequent rebuilding, which has taken place every-
where.just in the same manner as In England. In many foreign countries the suo-
lect of Medieval architecture has not j-et been studied, and very few buildings have
bees subjected to the same searchmj' investigation which Trofessor Willis has
given to Canterbury (.'athedral. his work is really the only safe guide to the history
of all the great churches in Kurope.
Wherever we go and examine the buildings carefully with their history we find it
amount to much the sami.- story, the character of each century is distinctly marked
everywhere, and although there is in each country and in each province a strong
national and provincial character, yet these are altogether subordinate to the charac-
ter of the age in which the building was erected.
King William also founded Battle Abbey, in Sussex, on the site of the battle of
Hastings, the year after the battle, but we have no work of his period remaining
there.
In 107(^71 Archbishop Lanfranc rebuilt his cathedral at Canterbury, but within
60 yean afterwards the choir was again rebuilt by Conrad and Ernulf. and the nave
snoBeqaentlr. sothat wehave none of Lanfranc s work remaining from which we
nay infer that the work of this period was still very inferior to that of the twelfth
eentnry. or the architect would not have thought it necessary to rebuild work so re-
eentlr erected. In further confirmation of this it may be mentioned that of the 32
Benedictine monasteries founded In the eleventh century there are only three or four
of which we have any buildings remaining that belong to this period. Of the
Clnniac priories four only belong to this century, Lewes, Castleacre, Wenloek, and
Bermoadsey, and in neitner of these I believe are there any remains earlier than the
twelfth eentory.
In the years from 1070 to 1005, the Abbey of Bury St. Edmund's was rebuilt by
Abt>ot Baldwin, assisted by the sacrists Thurston and Tolin. "The church of the
Monastery, consecrated in 1035, having been tor the most part, like its predecessor,
bollt of wood, though not finished, was still unworthy both of St. Edmund and of
an establishment endowcdtwith such magnificent revenues as St. Edmund's Bury;
aecordlttgly under the auspices of Abbot Baldwin, the 'sacrists Thurston 'and^Toiln
demolished the church which had been so recently constructed. King William the
Conqueror on this occasion Issued his precept to the Abbot of retcrborough, com-
manding that the abbot and convent of St. Edmund should be permitted to take
toiBclent stone for the erection of their church from the quarries of Bamock in
Northamptonshire, granting at the same time an exemption from the usual tolls
cbaiveable upon its carriage from that place to Bury." Baldwin was a monk of St.
Bents, at Paris then I'rior at Deerhustln Gloucestershire, a eel! to St. Denis. Lydgato
says "he was greatly expert in craft of medicine." King Edward the Confessor
granted to him for his monastery the privilege of a mint. He was also In great favor
with Kin^ William the Conqueror: under a charter from whom he made consider-
able acquisitions to his monastery."*
The new edifice was completed in 1005 and the body of St. Edmund was translated
into it in 1096. t
The square massive gateway tower of the abbey is standing and probably, belongs
to this century ; the shallow porch and rich doorway on the west side are evidently
insertionsof a subsequent period.
The building of the Churches of Jarrow and Monkswearmouth in the county of
Durham is recorded by Bede, and the dedication stone of Jarrow has been preserved
recording the date of 685. It was long coasidered that the existing towers b<lon«:ed
to that early period, but the researches of the late D'Kaine, have demonstrated that
they have botn been n*built subsequently to the Norman Conquest. The original
ehorches were destroyed by the Danes in 867, and had laid waste for above two
Iraadred years, when some monies from Durham endeavored to restore them to
dJrlne temee, they found the walls alone Btanding without a roof, and choked up
«1th trees, briars, and thorns, as we are told in the Chronicle of Simeon of Durham,
who was llTin«; at the time. This was in 1078 and " shortly after" when the bishop
•aw the monks wishful to rebuild the church itself, and the ruined monastic dwelling
plaees. he gave them the will of Jarrow and its appendages," There is little doubt
that they carried out this intention ; the masonry of the existing tower is of early
Norman character, but not earlier, and a portion of a Saxon cross is built in as old
material.
Tlie history of 3Ionkswearmouth is the same as that of Jarrow, but here it would
•eem that the new church was not on the site of the old one, for Dr. Kaine has found
mention of the old church used as a barn in 1360 in an inventory of the cell of Monks-
wearmouth preserved at Durham, and again in 1447, where it is called in English
"the Alde-Kirke." These inventories have been printed by the Surtees Society,
edited by Dr. Kaine-J
A.D. 1077-111.5. the Church of St. Alban's Abbey was entirely rebuilt by Abbot
Paul.Caen, according to the distinct evidence of William of Malmesbury, Ilenry of
Huntingdon, the "Saxon Chronicle," and the "Annals of St. Edmund's Bury." lam
parttealar in mentioning the authorities in this instance because the fact nas been
■iwh donbted and the character of the work is earlier than we should expect to find
^ this time--parUking very much of the Anglo-Saxon character, and built partly of
Roman tiles from the neighbouring city of Verulam. mixed with rubble-stone work,
*h<' Joint** of mortar, very wide, and baluster shafts used abundantly In the windows.
*^i*w ' I'*"I died in 1093, and the work was completed by his successor, Uichard dc
■AJbinl, and consecrated in 1115, in the presence of King Henry I.
The Church of Wawton Warren in Warwickshire, which Is of the style called Anglo-
JJJ*"'*^ Jiiven by Bobert de Toms, standard-bearer to the Conqueror, as a cell to
toe Abbey of Couches in Normandy, not long after the Conquest, and was probably
b«at about that time. ** » f j
A.D. lOTJ-lotn. Winchester Cathedral was entirely rebuilt by Bishop Walkelynona
new Bite, the crvpt and the transepts of this period remain, and the work is of very
early JVorman character, closely resembling the orfijinal part St. Stephen's at Caen,
"2.1*'^ "'*' '" advance of St. Alban's, or of the Confessor's work at West-
miBster.
«j?55.i*J?*i'*'' ff^^^f '**® **"*^ simple form— merely a cube with the angles rounded
u Aitr t*"*"*^ *"* cushion capltal-but the abacus has the Norman chamfer under
lt.aadt&e Mses are moulded ; the masonry is still wide-pointed, but not quite so rude.
Zr«i.** S2 *J*t. church wan on the same magnificent scale as the Norman churches
S-.K ™? <*nti"7 generally are. but the ideas of the architect seem to have been
^A iiJ^^'^f ^ ***^ "''"* "*■ *h'- workmen, for the central tower fell down In 1107
rSiJI '**"*" *n » <nore ■ubstantial manner.
JzHS*^ 2L^^°^i "^*' ^^ *^*- P'*^*"" of *he new tower is enormous, the workmen
evMently were determined that it should not fall again, and compensated for their
\ ^Thi-^lt/S'fh P. '1'* »n^»he extract from the Register of the Abbey, pre-
i^H.rfTS? ^"*« '"*'']y Of Lancaster, fol. 84. ibid, p 162. ' ^
.». narL 447. also Mon Antr w/.i t „ ^nn ' '
•See 3
***^Si « ij"r"i7^ "". "";- ""^ "y *Ji i-nncaster. lo
t M.8. HarL 447. also Mon. Ang. vol 3 p 102
: Infentortea of Jarrow and Konks \Vekrmoath. 8vo. Durham, 1864.
own want of skill by the mass of material they wasted ; in the new work the masonry
is fine jointed, and this serves to distinj^uiph it from the old.
The crypt belongs to the original work, and the pillars of it are nearly as short and
as massive as those of the substructure at Westminster, nor are the capitals much.
if at all, in advance. Some of the capitals in the transepts have evidently been carved
at a subsequent time.
Ely Cathedral was commenced by Abbot Simeon, brother to Bishop Walkelyn, in
1083, and was dedicated in 1106 ; part of the nave and transepts belong to this work,
thouu'h probably built after the dedication of the choir, and, therefore, belonging
rather to the twelfth century ; the work is somewhat in advance of the early worK at
Winchester.
The chapel in the White-towcr, London, is said to have been built by Bishop Gun-
dulph in 1081. The original work is extremely plain and massive, but not rude, it
was tlie chapel of the Royal Palace, and, therefore, might be expected to be the best
work of the age. It has a plain barrel vault, the arches of the triforium are perfectly
plain, with square piers, without any shafts or imposts, the pier-arches arc also plain
square-edged and not recessed, but they are carried on round pillars with capitals
and moulded bases.
The original capitals are of the cushion form, with the Norman chamfered abacus,
sonfc of these have been carved afterwards, being like those at Westminster, just of
a convenient height for the purpose, others have the peculiar Tan cross in the centre
which is one of the characteristics of the latter part of the eleventh century, and
seems to have been intended to be carved in imitation of the caulicoli of the Classical
capitals. This chapel is on the second and third floor of the tower, the aisles of it
are carried on the solid walls of the first-floor, a waste of material which betrays
unskilful workmen ; there are no passages in the thickness of the walls excepting in
the upper story. The council chamber which adjoins the chapel is still more plain
and rude, it has no arches, but wooden posts in two rows to carry tlie floor above,
and this seems to have been the original arrangement. Nearly all the windows
throughout the building have been modernised and enlarged ; only one remains in its
original state in the chapel. On the exterior the only original features are the early
plain flat buttresses and the masonry.
The Cathedral of Worcester was rebuilt by Bishop of Walstan who had Increased
the number of monks from 12 to 50. The foundations were laid on a new site in 1084,
and the church was consecrated in 1089. As five years was not sufficient time for
building so large a church, it is evident that the choir only was completed when it
was consecrated according to the custom of the age. William of 3Ialmesbury records-
that when the procession of monks took place, translating the relics from the old
church to the new one, the bishop wept instead of rejoicing, saying that he feared
the EumptuousncsB of the new buildings would make them forget the simplicity and
piety of the primitive times. This is evidence of the larger scale of the new build-
ings, their greater magnificence and that they were on an entirely new site. The
crypt of this period under the choir remains perfect. The choir itself was rebuilt in
the thirteenth century, and the nave is ot several dilferent periods, begun at both ends
and meeting in the middle with a very clumsy junction.
That the country had suffered severely from the long unsettled state it was In
during the reign of the Conqueror is evident from many passages In contemporary
documents, especially from the Domesday survey, and this sufficiently accounts for
our not having many buildings of this reign, and not much progress visible in those
that we have. For instance in the city of Oxford there were in this last year of his
reipn 24.3 bouses paying the tax to the king, and 478 houses so waste and decayed
that they could not pay the tax. These were evidently wooden houses only. The
manner in which the taxes had been increased is also shown by the statement of the
Commissioners, that in the time of King Edward, twenty pounds a year was paid by
the City, and now in 1086 it pays £60, equal to about £1,200 of our money, and as the
number of inhabitants according to the usual reckoning of five to a house had been
reduced to one-third of this number, or from 3,600 to 1,200 the tax amounted to a
pound a head on the average. Besides the houses enumerated there were twenty
mural mansions paying only lis., because they wore liable to keep the walls in repair.
These walls were probably earthworks with wooden palisades only, which were con-
tinually wanting repairs.
The last ten years of the eleventh century belong so completely to the twelfth in
the style of architecture that no line of distinction can be drawn, and the architecture
of the twelfth century the great era of the Norman style when fully developed, is far
too wide a field to enter upon at the end of a lecture, which I fear has been already
far too long. If I have succeeded in awakening, any degree of attention to the eleventh
century, which has long been too much neglected, I shall have accomplished the
object that I proposed in addressing you.
IRON COXSTRUCTIOX*
THE golden age is past ; we are now in the iron age. The framework of our country
is iron ; her sinews are iron. Through iron arteries her vital fiuid is forced by
the pulsations of a thousand iron hearts ; her nerves are iron, stretching their wiry
fibres in a network from the great brain, and flashing injunctions to the most remote
extremities that are almost analogous to the dictates of the human will. This is the
feature of our age. Glass may strive for partnership or follow in the wake, and share
the clory of its elder brother, but iron must inevitably succeed to the title and honors
of this century. It is only by directing the attention to it that the prevailing presence
of iron in our daily lives becomes properly evident. Such things as railways and iron
ships are too conspicuous to be noticed, and one seldom remembers that the lamp-
posts are iron, and the iron roots from which they grow are spreading unnoticed for
miles under our feet. What should we do without fire-grates and down-spouts?
What would joiner's work be without nails 7 Send a bagiuU to the backwoodsman,
and you may then Jearn to appreciate them properly. Even the humble scraper at
the door U an invention that cannot be surpassed, and in the quality of fitness is un-
excelled. The way to appreciate both nature and art is to keep your eyes open, and
think about it. An architect usually has but little to do with iron until he finds it
on the ground at his work, as it is almost impossible for him to attend at the melting
to see if the metal is of tlie right sort, but in most cases it is usual to insert strong
scarecrow clauses into the specifications about the particular mixture of cast iron,
the absence of cold shuts, and other ills that castings arc heirs to; or perhaps
the brand of the wrought iron bars and plates is named, and as a check
upon both, test bars and tension per square inch mentioned. This is
all very necessary for security, but, as I have suggested, is. In practice,
only the cave canem of the Romans, w^o seldom xept a dog that would
bite. Almost the only power the architect has Is to ascertain if the form of his cast-
ing is what he intended, unless by a few experienced taps he can judge of the metal
by its ring, ibr external appearances are very little to go by, if the airholes are
neatly 8tr>ppcd up with lead or putty. It is the same with wrought-iron to a great
degree ; imperfect welding or rolling may be all concealed by a well-worked surface ;
and although the facilities for testing wrought-iron are greater than for cast-iron,
there is still a perilous amount of uncertainty, for I have seen a piece of Iron stand
fifty tons well at one moment, and within half an hour afterwards break with a load
of ten. Under these circum.'^tances I feel justified in directing my attention to iron
construction as a subject requiring much more elaborate study than construction
with material whose acting force usually depends upon gravity alone. It may, how-
ever, be truly said that gravity i.s the ultimate source of all the strains that arise in
building, but for convenience it Is necessary to resolve the resultant into compression
and tension. It was formerly usual to employ iron chiefly to resist the latter, but
economy of space and length of bearing have brought in its services for both. The
mere names of cast-iron and wrought-iron imply two separate sciences, which, in
themselves, would take a lifetime to learn, and I can do little more in this paper
* Abstract of aPapcr read by Mr. William Stubb at the Liverpool Architectural
Society, on Wednesaay evening, April 3.
April 19, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
333
than offer a fi'W brief notes upon tho main principles and difficulties in the more
ordinary forms of iron constTUOtion which come within architectural practice. The
firHt point to be conHidcrediu obtaining a casting is to find out accurately what it has
to do. This ie, in some cases, easy, but more {generally ditRcult, and fre-
quently instances that appear simple are, on consideration, found to be com-
flex. One common example may suffice to explain the sort of difficulty to which
allude. Suppose a shop front of more than the Building Act width, in which the
inevitable column has to be fixed, and suppose that the ijroprietor, since ho has to put
one there, determines to make it work. To effect this end, the beam is reduced
in strength bo that it would not carry the superincumbent weijjht unassisted, a por-
tion of the weig:ht falls upon the column, but how much? It is only a poor
approximation to ascertain what the beam will bear, and then say that the column
carries the remainder. But suppose this to be done, it is not cnoufirh. Suppose the
column to be in the position shown in the drawin**-, the greater length of the beam
on the one side will nave more deflexion than the other, and the strain on the cap of
the column is greater on that side, thereby throwing a diaj;onal strain upon the
column, for which it should be prepared. If cores were always in the centre, and
cinders absent from the metal, or at least equally distributed through it, this prepa-
ratiou could be made, as it is found a column deflects in a definite station to a known
power of the length and diameter. All this, however, is not done. The usual plan
is to look out for something nearly like the case in point, that has stood well, and—
follow the leader. In the (example before us such a course is as good an one as can
be adopted, from the fact that the case is simple, and examples are numerous. It
illustrates, however, the remark 1 commenced with— that an apparently simple case
may, on rcfiection turn out to produce complex strains, and hence the difficulty of
what work the casting has to do. In the production of an article in cast iron,
three things should he borne in mind— firstly, the object and strength re-
quired; secondly, how is it to be moulded; thirdly, how is it to be fitted
together. Tho paper then went into various details, and concluded as fol-
lows:— The practical man wants simple tools, and when the results are liable
to so much uncertainty, an approximate result is sufficient to be a safe
guide for an educated architect. I do not for a moment depreciate the utmost
refinement of science. Science is always consistent with all successful practice; but
I maintain that although the architect may with care and skill work out the form of
a casting most correctly according: to theory, neither he nor the man who makes it
will know much about it until it is smashed in two. IJndcr these circumstances,
then, I say. that simple rules are sufficient; and as an instance I may quote one for
the strength of pipes that has never been printed before, but whicli I am certain
answers perfectly well for ordinary sizes. It is based upon the fact that a 10-inch
pipe, 1 inch thick, will stand 10*) yards pressure of water. The coincidence of 1-inch
metal, 10-inch diameter, and 100 yards pressure, are sufficient. For every inch in
diameter increase or deduct by one-tenth of an inch, and for every yard of pressure
add or deduct one-hundredth of an inch. For columns, calculation requires care,
as the circumstances vary very much, but a safe plan is to find the diameter of a
Bolid column necessary to bear the compression, and then distribute the same area of
metal in a tube to form a hollow one, and if the thickness of the metal is propor-
tioned so as to be one-seventh of the external diameter, the strength of the column
wilt be increased by more than half. The diagram shows also a simple plan of doing
this. The line B.C., which is simply a tangent touching the inner circle, is the diameter
ofasolid column, containing the same metal as tho hollow one. A convenient example
to remember, as a guide, is the remarkable fact that a column of this sort 10 feet long,
having an area of 10 inches of metal, will bear ton tons. These are the kind of rules
which can be cari led about for use at a moment's notice; for, after all, it is really
not so much what we know as what we can make use of that is valuable. I fear that
the ambitious title which has, without sufficient caution, been affixed to this paper,
has raised expectations which are now disappointed. The subject is so wide in its
grasp, and requires so much elaboration to be perfect, that it has seemed more
prudent to limit the illustrations to the simplest every-day examples, as the same
principles govern both large and small undertakings. The capabilities of the
material 'are immense, and it is a special blessing upon our island that it produces so
plentifully the three important elements of its production— ore, coal, and lime.
Those liave made our country the nursery -ground for mechanics to supply the whole
world, and this character has become now naturalised to our race. The nation is
made up of individuals as a faggot is of sticks. If we all, even to the smallest, try
to do our best, and each one contribute his little power to the general strength,
then, with ordinary care, we may still maintain our position, as the workshop of the
world.
THE IR0N3I0NGERS' ASSOCIATIOK
ALECTtTRE was delivered on Friday evening in the Assembly-room of the George
and lihic Boar liotel, Holborn, before the members of the Ironmongers' Asso-
ciation, by the Rev. C. Boutell, M.A., the subject being "The Great Exhibition of
18«'^, with special roierencc to the Metal Manufactures of England." There was a
numerous attendance, and the chair was occupied by Mr. J. Crowtiier. The rev.
lecturer, having been introduced to the meeting by the Chairman, remarked that
there were certain points having reference to the subject of the lecture which struck
him as being of sufficient importance to render it worth while that such a subject
shonldbe studied, although at present the Exhibition was far ofl". One of the ablest,
♦^ f ^ ^^ would allow him to say so, one of the sharpest of the weoklv periodicals,
the Saftiriiay /?criV?y, spoke against the proposed Exhibition, and aske'd if the pre-
sent was the time for preparing for a great international Exhibition, when Conti-
nental Europe was threatened with so much political storm and convulsion. He
thought, however, that none of those portentous omens affected England, and saw
nothing to prevent our having a great international Exhibition in 18(j-2. lie thought
the proposed great Exhibition was calculated to make improvement at home, and to
excite att«'ntion and cultivate afriendlv feeHng towards this country on the Con-
tinent. Ihe circulars on the subject which had been addressed to foreign ministers
had met with most favorable responses, The time, then, appeared to him to be very
well chosen for holding another Great Exhibition in 18fi2-for many reasons that
seemed a very desirable time for holding such an Exhibition as that proposed. But
there was one matter of great importance in which the proposed exhibition would
Si?r ^^2^. '^^ predecessor of 18.51. The great difference Wwoon tho Exhibition of
1851 and the one we looked forward to in 1S62, was that the first was an experiment
absolutely, and no one could toll what it would prove to be, what succcis it
YiP'^^k'^^^^'..**^ ^^*'^* *^"*^*^*=^ ^*^™?'**"'^ produce alter it had been closed. Now,
that had all passed away. Tliey knew what a Great Exhibition could do, and
they knew what should be done in the way of preparing for it. Before the Exhibi-
tion was an experiment, but now it must be a suoject of calm thou'^ht The pre-
parations had begun in good earnest; the guarantee fund was novr more than
Butficiont. As to the proposed building itself, it did not appear to him to be creditable
to tlie country by any means whatever. What could the engineer-architect mean by
haring two domes, one at each end of the building, though probably one in the
centre might have been of some service ? In an architectural or engineering point
ot view the building was by no means satisfactory. At the same time there was an
amount of preparation in active exercise which would unquestionably secure the
erection of a building that would be suitable to contain what was to be exhibited
and they might be sure it would be ready at the time required. Then they wanted to
see what was doing in the way of preparingfor its contents. The former Exhibition
contained an enormous proportion of singularities and eccentricities, odd thino-s
many essential, many remarkable, and many worthy of the attention paid to them'
Ail things found a place in the marvellon? Exhibition, but many of them weroof
such a character as should not be sent again. It must now be shown that the first
i^xhibition had had a practical effect on their minds. He came now to the subject
? h^ . specially before htm, the representation of the manufactures of metals.
iney must make all they made as examples which might be copied ten thousand
times if required. All the things prepared for the Exhibition, if they wished them to
be creditable to themselves, must not be exceptional, but they must be typical speci-
mens of what was done every day. They must not be eccentricities or curiosities,
but specimens of what conid every day be done In metal-works — never
mind how simple the object or how slight the apparent use. If that
idea was carried out the Exhibition would not only be a grand display,
but a monument of the high position of the workmanship of England. With refer-
ence to the metal manufactures they stood In a most prominent position among the
manufactures of England. In fact the hard metals were endless In their varieties
and use, and possessed almost a national character. The iron and copper of England
worked up in the form of brass had been for ages especially regarded as English
work ; England certainly stood well in the frontof the producers of themanutaotures
of irons. But in the coming Exhibition it was not one great producer that would
have to encounter another great producer, but all would have to encounter a keen
rivalry from the workmen in iron in foreign countries. But he was sure they would
not allow the manufactures of iron of foreign countries to beat the manufactures of
iron in this country. In the Exhibition of 18.01 the art character of the objects ex-
hibited was infinitely inferior to the manipulative skill employed in their production.
All the best metal work produced in our time was made with the apparent intention
of showing that it did not belong to this ago, but to make it appear to have been the
production of medieval times. Now, they shoiUd not desire to produce good medieval
work now because good metal work was produced in the middle ages, but they should
show that good metal work could be produced at the present day. They should
study tho art- feeling of the medieval times, both in design and execution, and take
hints from them, but they should make their metal works unquestionably modem
works, though Gothic, and let them not call it medieval. We wanted our works to
express the sentiments of our own times and to be suited to our own wants. They
ought not to copy, but to exorcise fresh, independent thought. They must not take
up an old design and copy it without thought of their own, they ought themselves to
produce, and not to imitate or copy something which a Gothic or Greek master did,
though, by the way, it was not found that much in metal work had come down from
the Greeks. They should take the best things in all styles by way of example, and
then use their own thought and form of expression— they should exercise their own
thought, their own brain, their own mind. He was most anxious that tho metal
manufactures at the Exhibition next year should stand pre-eminent, and show to
the world that English metal works were the best. The lecturer then spoke in favor
of wrought work as being superior to castings ; the more they got rid of castings the
more successful would be the results of punching or cutting either by hand or
machinery. They must aim at producing everything that was produceable, and the
commonestthingof whatsoever kind should, along with the more important, bear
the impress of the same mind and the touch of tho same hand. Ho hoped that that
would be one of the characteristics of the coming Exhibition. If the Great Exhibition
of 18G2 was to be successful its contents must be specimens of what skilled workmen
could do, and also illustrate what was popular amongst the people. Wherever there was
anyimportantarchitectural workthey were sure to find some cleverly-designed and
well-executed metal work, and in the simplest portions of it. such as the stanchion of a
window.as well as in the highest there should bo evidence of the same thoughtand ar-
tistic touch. After remarking that the banisters of staircases mi^^ht be very well executed
in metal- work, the rev. lecturer said architectural accessories in metal-work should be
well reprcponted at the coming Exhibition ; and then referred to the novel appliances
of iron in naval and military architecture, which, in his opinion, ought to have their
close attention. He did not think it was necessary to coat a vessel with five or six
inches of iron— that seemed to him to be very much like Norman architecture. Surely
modern science and skill ought to be brought to bear upon a matter of such national
importance, and ho hoped that some moans would be invented for making a vessel
shot-proof without adding inch to inch of iron upon it. Mr. Boutell sugcrested that
iron might with advantage be more used in the construction of both gentlemen's and
railway carriages, and sat down amidst loud applause.
The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Boutell for his enthusiastic and
eloquent lecture. He felt confident that every one of the audience had benefited
more or less by what the leeturer had said. The Chairman then complained that the
rising, working, generation in their trade had not sufficient schools or a proper place
for improvement, and that there was not sufficient protection for the designs brought
out, many of them which cost much money having been pirated.— The motion was
seconded and carried by acclamation.
Tho Rev. C. Boutell, in returning thanks, referred to the remarks of the Chair-
man upon the great want we have of art-schools. The Directors of tlie Crystal
Palace had established a school which they called a school of art, science, and
literature, but which had reference at present only to a very exclusive teaching for
which high terms were paid, the pupils being only ladies. But the directors were
very anxious and the lecturers were very anxious to render the school available at
very low terms for students of art for art-teaching. And if in the course of the
summer a class for the study of art was wished to be formed he was quite ready to
undertake the formation of that class, and to secure the sanction of the directors.
He meant a class that could be formed in accordance with the wishes of the
students, and an endeavour would be made to meet their requirements in the
general character of the information communicated. The class might have twelve
lessons, once a week, for, say Ss. He was quite certain that an evening class
might be formed during the summer quite late enough to be available for people
engaged during the day, and a special train might be secured for the accommoda-
tion of tho class if it was sufficiently numerous. Any communication on the
subject addressed to him at the Reading-room of the Crystal Palace would be
attended to.
After a vote of thanks to the Chairman, the meeting broke np.
ARCHITECTURAL INSTITUTE OF SCOTLAND.
A MEETING of this Institute was held recently in the Institute's rooms,
89, George-street, Edinburgh, Mr. Peddie, architect, in the chair. A communica-
tion was read from the Architectural Association, London, regarding the Exhibition
of 1802, which set forth tho benefits to be derived from having the architectural
branch of art fully represented at the Exhibition. Tho subject was remitted to the
Council, with a recommendation to take what stops seemed to them right to promote
thisobiect. Mr. John Lessels, architect, read a paper entitled. "An Inquiry as
to the true Principles for our Guidance in the Restoration of Old Buildings." The
general views of Mr. Lessels, as sot forth in his paper, were, that if one would be an
honest restorer, he should be content to follow closely the steps of the original
designer, not only in the spirit but in the letter, preserving its architectural charac-
ter as closely as possible, adding nothing and taking nothing away. Sir. Lessels
remarked that much discussion had lately taken place regarding the restoration of the
Old Cross of Edinburgh ; but if wo might form a correct Idea of this structure from
the description and engraving given by Arnot, he thought we might be grateful that
we were spared the trouble of its removal, for a greater piece of barbarism could
hardly be conceived to have existed. If we were to have a cross, there could not be
any reasonable objection to taking tho shaft and placing it on a few steps to raise it
sufficiently above the street, as in so doing we would not be violating any principle ;
but to restore anything more would be a perfect degradation. If the wants of the
town really demanded a cross, with a gallery for proclamations, let it be done, and
have the rest entirely new ; but they should not trammel architecture with old mate-
rials which are unfit for tlie purpose. The paper was listened to with much interest,
and at its close a cordial vote of thanks was awarded to Mr. Lessels, which was
moved by Mr. Cousin. The names of the successful competitors for the Institute's
prizes were then announced, but some difficulty having arisen as to the names of the
persons who had sent in some of the drawings, it was stated that tho complete list
' would be read at the next meeting, at which time also the prizes would be awarded.
334
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 19, 1861.
THEATRICAL SCENERY.
TTTE recently devoted some space to a description of the scenery painted
W for Mr." Wallace's admirable opera entitled, " The Amber Witcli," as
it was produced for the first time at Her Majesty's theatre. But as scenes
generally become the property of the theatre for which they are executed,
on the removal of the performance to another theatre, it becomes
necessary to nse those which have not been seen for some time by the
pablic and to jiaint new ones for the peculiarly striking situations in the
new piece so transplanted. One of those striking points in " The Amber
Witch " is the Streckelberg mountain by moonlight where the lovers meet,
and which excited so much applause during the run of the opera at Her
Majesty's. In our notice of this scene as it was used twice in the course
of the performance, first by moonlight and afterwards with
a daylight effect, we remarked that althongh in the former it was excellent
in the latter it was too black, crude and cold in color to give any idea of
'being under the influence of daylight ; that objection has been removed in
the view of the mountain at IJrury Lane, and it appears as well by one
light as by the other. But we fear in proportion as it has been rendered
available for both purposes it has lost in character, in appropriate gloom
and in mysterious fitness for the local superstition connected with it. The
present mountain is extremely well painted and designed, but it is a
common-place mountain, neither suggestive from its peculiarity nor is it
Ro dark, nor so grim, if the expression may be allowed, as its predecessor,
it does not consequently require that diffusion of its dark mass into the
lower part of the sky which gave pictorial solidity and mystic power to
the general effect, and there was in the original scene a remarkable sin-
gularity in the almost uninterrupted and severe diagonal line which
described one side of the mountain from the apex to the base. This was
one of those merits which although vaguely felt at the time are nbt truly
appreciated until they are lost. We now find that the first idea was
conceived much more in accordance with the legend than the second, as a
meeting place for witches, and was consequently more poetic and painter-
like. However the clouds passing before the moon are equally well
managed as they are on the former occasion and the whole scene is ex-
tremely well painted for a mountain — without a legend.
The interior of the Count's residence, which in the first instance was
no doubt more suited to the country in which the story is laid, but we
think that which is now substituted for it, without vouchingfor its absolute
novelty, is a scene deserving of a brief description, because we believe it
to be a valuable suggestion, which might be more extensively employed.
It is a room with bold architectural features of square columns and
projecting cornices, enriched by very florid ornamentation. The decided
but heavy appearance is relieved by a large opening in the centre, through
which another apartment is dimly seen, but in the same style of decoration.
The peculiarity, however, to which we wish to draw attention in this scene
is the unusual breadth and quantity of shadow which partially obscures
so large a portion of the walls. There is a window on the left, from which
the light is represented as entering the apartment. It strikes i)rincipally
on a green panel near to the window, it is then spread across the canvas
in a few broad and fitful gleams, while the only relief to just above the
middle and the entire upper part, is obtained by very subdued and reflected
lights, bringing out the more salient points of the scrolls and other
ornaments of the architecture. The vast extent of shadow being of a
warm and retiring tint, keeps up the tone of the crimson curtain and its
massive golden tassels nearest to the window, and receives a pleasant
contrast from the green panel, while for variety the curtain on the
opposite side of the opening shows only its white lining, the still
deeper crimson of the table-cover throws the whole into breadth, and
the oaken legs of the table bring the color of the shadow down to the
stage. 'The bold, dark, and rich effect of this scene has great fulness
in itself, it gives an extraordinary prominence to the dresses, and we think
presents a valuable hint to artists who paint antiquated interiors with
figures in quaint and picturesque costumes.
MADAME BODICHONS DRAWINGS.
AS this lady possesses considerable talent as an artist we must claim her
as a countrywoman, her maiden name having been Miss. Barbara
Leigh Smith, and it is by marriage only that she appears before the
public as a native of France. A similar exhibition from the same
hand was formed at the French Gallery, in Pall Mall, about this time last
year, and consisted of studies, sketches, and views taken from nature in
the neighborhood of Algiers. The present collection at the same gallery
consists of between thirty and forty similar productions from the same
locality. We felt it necessary to remark on that occasion, and we feel it
equally necessary on the present occasion, to repeat that the peculiar color of
'^]'j^'^i!°" *''°''' Algiers appears to our eyes of a peculiar coldness and
added to that, these drawings being executed in distemper, or body colors,
'"^^*u^ " "^^^ * weight and opacity by no means agreeable. This
will be particularly felt in the studies from flowers, shrubs, and plants,
as the aloes, asphodels, acanthus, and blue iris, which arc touched in an
artistic manner, and have all the appearance of being botanically correct.
i! ^ attention to the individual characteristics of simple objects may
to the critical eye prove injurious when introduced as the component
part ot a general subject, as, for instance, where a Moorish Girl, in draw-
"??.?°' ''• ", I"'™"'*'' •""ounded by some of those plants, presenting
all their pecniiarities known only to scientific men, but distract the at-
tention of the ordinary observer, and instead of supporting, as far as his
conception is omccrned, asiist in destroying the unity of the scene. When
weharesutcdthatwe think Madame Bodichon is unsuccessful in her
•w Ticwi, especially so when an attempt is made to represent waves
breaking against rocks, the surf ascending their rugged sides and losing
itself in the air, we shall have got rid of the disagreable part of our duty,
and may now proceed to the more agreeable office of bestowing unqualified
praise on the rest of the collection, and if the visitor would follow us in
the order in which we are proceeding, it will be found on arriving at the
larger and more important drawings, and those in which atmospheric
effects are produced, the coldness and opacity of color is no longer per-
ceived, and the talents of this lady shine out unencumbered in general
effect with not only clever pictorial force, but in many instances with true
poetic inspiration. The former merits will be found in the large drawings,
entitled respectively, "View of Sunrise looking over Kuba in March,
when the Fruit Trees are in Blossom," and " Snow on the Little Atlas in
February from the Hill above the Hydra Valley." It appears by the
catalogue that it is a custom of the Arab women to visit the graves of
their relations and there tell the dead the deeds of the living. This prac-
tice is not entirely confined to the women and many nights are frequently
passed in this solitary manner. Several of these scenes have invited
Madame Bodichon's pencil, and they are treated in a tone of color re-
markably appropriate to the .sentiment of the scene — a merit which wil
be found in all the other drawings representing the performance of sacred
rites by the Arabs. But however feelingly this artist has entered into
the spirit of those sacred subjects, we think the true poetry of art mani-
fests its power with still greater effect in the scenes from the desert,
where expanse and solitude seem to be gradually increasing as the ruddy
sun descends to the long line of the horizon. There are several very in-
teresting drawings of this kind showing various states of the atmosphere,
and all of them treated with equal skill and sentiment. In short, it is,
though small, an exhibition for variety of subject and painter-like ability,
well deserving the attention of the public.
VERBOECKHOVEN'S LAST PICTURE.
UNFORTUNATELY in stating this to be the great Belgian's last
picture, it may prove to have the force of a two-fold truth. It is
certainly the last picture he has painted, and since it was completed he
has been afflicted by loss of sight, and it is feared it will be the last he
ever will paint, as no hopes are entertained that any relief can be obtained
from that heavy affliction. The nature of the picture now being exhi-
bited by Mr. Amos, the proprietor of it, at No. 3, the Auction Mart, in
Hanover-square, is entitled " Cattle Leaving the Farmyard," and was
undertaken by Eugene Verboeckhoven, with the intention of producing
a work that should create an excitement in the public mind equal to that
which resulted from the celebrated " Horse Fair," by Madlle. Rosa
Bonheur. Beyond the purpose of obtaining an equal share of public
approbation, there is no resemblance between the picture by the veteran
competitor and the successful work by the talented lady with respect to
the means by which that public opinion was to be divided. With regard
to the conception of the two pictures, no comparison whatever can with
propriety be instituted. Each of them is an admirable specimen of the
respective schools of art, and diametrically opposed to each other both in
thought and execution. We will, therefore, confine our remarks to the
picture now being exhibited. It originated with Mr. Amos, who offered
the artist his own terms, for a picture of suflicient size and subject to
excite as much attention as that obtained by Rosa Bonheur in her
" Horse Fair." Beyond this all was left to the painter. He immediately
resolved to compose a subject that would enable him to show his learning
in art — contain all the objects he had been in the habit of painting —
manifest his kindly sympathy with the animals ho had so often studied, and
display his powers of invention in combining them in an interesting, in an
appropriate, and in a picturesque subject upon one canvas. Hence in this
picture are introduced cows, a horse, a donkey, a bull, cocks and hens,
ducks, old and young, sheep and lambs, pigeons, and dogs, besides a goat
and her kid.
Then we find the periods of human life represented, from the baby in
the arms of the grandmother, between whom and the patriarch of the
farm intervene youth, manhood, and womanhood — in the boy holding the
goat, in the young men of various degrees employed about the farm, and
in the young mother feeding the poultry while her child is being
nursed by the old woman standing within the cottage door. The affectionate
tone of mind possessed by Eugene Verboeckhoven with which he likes
to treat such subjects, when a full opportunity was afforded him of doing
so, will be seen in the idea that connects the extremes of the picture
together by the boy engaged on one side holding the female goat that she
may not see the market woman on the other who carries her kid to market,
the lambs in the centre of the composition playing with their mother and
the dog endeavouring to attract his master's attention on the right. But
the delicate care with which the painter avoided anything that might
suggest a painful emotion will be best understood in relation to the com-
position of one part of this picture. The only original study for the boy
holding the goat represented him as having seized the animal by the horns
and pulling her away by main force, but Verboeckhoven immediately felt
this incident jar on his humane feelings, removed it from his canvas and
substituted the present arrangement instead of that, which he said " was
an unnecessary cruelty, and would disturb the unity of his subject" — a
valuable hint that might be taken with great advantage by many of our
native artists. In addition to all the various objects already enumerated
as forming parts of the painting we have to mention those of still life and
an admirable landscape background radiant with the rising sun and still
misty with the morning dew. In the midst of this brilliant yet delicately
luminous atmosphere which sheds its rays in broad masses on the thatch
April 19, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
335
of the barn and cottage in its passage to tlie foreground, where it falls on
tlie slieep and Iambs, being followed by the she|)herd to the field, the cow-
herd issues from the barn as the last cow advimcea to join the rest of the
herd, and the stately black and white bull walks in solitary dignity at the
side of tlie group, the ducks and drake have collected their little fleet
of ducklings "in the pool as a safe harbor from the hoofs of the advancing
herd, and high above all, the plumage of the fighting and fluttering
pigeons glitters in the morning sun. The eye finds repose from the general
movement in the grey horse waiting till his seated driver has finished his
morning's gossip with the old man standing within the deep shadow cast
by the gable end of the cottage, which invests tlio whole scene with the
sentiment of calm and liappy leisure amid the heatlily, domestic, jind easy
occupations of rural existence.
With respect to the technical merits of this picture as regards light and
shade and coloring, we think it so perfect a model in each particular that
it may be studied with great advantage by young members of the profes-
sion. The light is very broadly diff'used and we recommend attention to
its eflect on the roof of the cottage, and the delicate and well chosen tint
witli whicli the thatch has been painted so as to assist, not obstruct the
jassage of the light from the sky, the foreground to the powerful
mass presented by the upper part of the barn, which acts in the double
capacity of giving air and delicacy to the sky, both by its depth of shade
and warmth of tone. The mass of yellowish color is formed by the sheep
in the centre, supported by the reddish group of cows, the breadth of cool
color is, of course, in the sky, brought into the subject by the gray and
white liorsc, which receives point and becomes the key of the composition
by being vividly compared and strongly opposed by the red jacket of the
young man who sits close to it. This powerful arrangement is balanced
by the black bull, relieved with white spots on the opposite side coming
off strongly from the delicate hues in the distant horizon. The leading
colors find a low-toned echo in the group of kitchen utensils lying among
the dock-leaves in the foreground, the pool of water near them, and
the dark gray and red find tliemselves repeated in the smoky brickwork
just below the top of the cliimney above the cottage. The ground on
which tlie animals are walking is admirably chosen, for while by its
warmth it is suggestive of light, it by the lowness of its tone and peculiar
•quality, relieves the objects upon it, gives solidity to the general effect, and
by comparison increases the luminous and aerial character of the sky,
which, by the way, including the trees, is most charmingly executed, and
the latter are also very gracefully formed. Many will admire the ex-
cessive care with which the detail has been carried throughout this
picture ; the foot-prints of the cattle in the fore-ground, the dew-drops on the
dock-leaves and the shadow of the harness on the horse's hind-leg, to
which and other points of the same elaborate kind we do not object, as
they may be considered belonging to the general feeling ; as, too, they in
no way are rendered obtrusive, and made to interfere with the prevailing
breadtli of effect, it becomes a harmless piece of assiduity on the part of
the painter, and perfectly consistent with the practice of the school of
which he is so distinguished an ornament. We have said enough to show
that this is an excellent picture of its kind, and has the merit of realising
in an eminent degree all the painter intended that it should accomplish,
and when with its undoubted artistic merits we reflect on the awful
visitation to which he has to submit with all the resignation possible
nothing more can be required of us to induce the public to yield him, in
his visual darkness, all the gratification which is now left him from the
last great effort of his laborious life, namely, their appreciation and
applause by visiting the gallery in such numbers as shall assure him that
his "Cattle Leaving the Farmyard," still maintains his well-earned repu-
tation as the first Belgian animal painter.
STATIONERS' SCHOOLS, BOLT COURT, FLEET STREET.
THE date wlien the various guilds or companies of London first assumed positive
shape and efficiency is unknown, but they have more or less influenced trade
and society for the last 400 years. The large charities connected with many of
them have, more than anything else, prevented their complete extinction. Eight
of the eighty-nine London companies are already practically defunct. The Gold-
smiths and Apothecaries alone now exercise any efticient control over their
respective trades. Several retain the right of search and the privilege of marking
wares, as, for instance, the Stationers, where all books must be entered ; the Gun-
makers, who prove all guns made in the City ; the Founders, who test and mark
weights; and one or two others. The Company of Carmen is the only fraternity
which consists exclusively of persons belonging to the trade, andbutthreeor four
of the companies have even a majority of such members. One of the earliest
objects sought by these companies was the foundation of a common stock for the
relief of poor or decayed members. The variety of these charities is equal to their
extent. Pensions to poor members, schools, almshouses, hospitals, prisoners in
gaols, donations to distressed clergymen, loans of different sums to start young
tradesmen in business, are all comprised in the list. Upwards of one-half of the
entire income of the Fishmongers' Company is disbursed in charity. This in itself
will give an idea of the magnitude of the charities.
Of all the companies, however, there is perhaps none which preserves its
vitality so well as the Stationers'. This is no doubt owing to the enlarged and
ever-increasing sphere of its usefulness in having to register the titles of all new
publications, as well as all assignments of copyrights. Whilst other companies
liave seen their duties pass away from them, and now, year after year, show no
increase in the annual sum of good deeds, the Stationers' is still vigorous and
flourishing, and bears witness that the more actively it serves the community at
large the more it benefits the less successful of its members.
A large school has just been built and opened in Bolt-court, Fleet-street, to
furnish at as small a charge as possible a liberal and useful education for the s&ns
of liverymen and freemen of the Stationers' Company. It is what is called a
day-school ; that is, the children are not boarded in the establishment. The
scheme was approved of by the Court of Chancery in 1858, and the school Is
under the government of the Master, Wardens, and Court of Assistants of the
Company. Bolt-court is in one respect a most appropriate position for the
Stationers' school. It is lined on either side with the publishing offices of different
newspapers, and the master's house, which adjoins it, was formerly a printing
establislimcnt, whilst the entrance of the thoroughfare is dedicated to the illus-
trious Dr. Johnson.
The master's house is an old building four stories in height ; at the angle of it a
winding staircase leads to the doonvay of the new schools. From the entrance-
hall, paved with stone, a descending staircase conducts us to the lavatories, &c.,
in the basement, and, by a corridor, to the play-ground in the rear. By means of
another opening in the entrance-hall, we pass into the school-room, an apart-
ment 50 feet in length by 30 feet in width. It is lighted by 5 windows in the
north wall, the centre of which is wider than the rest and externally gabled.
The walls are lined with match-boarding to the height of 5 feet, grained wainscot.
The roof is a queen-post one, plastered under the rafters, thus leaving the posts
and tie-beams visible. There are two rooms on the south fide adjoining the
entrance- hall, both lighted by skylights; the central one is devoted to a class-
room, the other to the reception of the boys' hats, &c.
The play-ground is very spacious considering the value of ground in the
neighbourhood, and a portion of it is roofed to allow of the recreation of the
scholars in wet weather. Fivery convenience seems provided for the efficient
ventilation and warming of the building.
The school thus fairly started will, we trust, soon take rank with those older
institutions — Merchant Taylors', City of London, and St. Paul's schools, which
are au honor to the citizens of this great metropolis.
NEW CHURCH MISSION HOUSE, SALISBURY SQUARE.
AMONGST " the things of fame that do renown this city," the immense and
perfect organisation for missionary enterprise takes a foremost place. It is
not liere in London so conspicuous as it is abroad to the English wanderer.
Wherever the traveller goes lie sees and recognises the branches and fruit of that
freat tree whose roots lie hidden in a quiet-looking house in Salisbury-square,
leet-street. The reader will be surprised to learn that over £160,000 is received
and expended annually by this gigantic society. The business connected with it
lias accumulated to such a degree that larger premises have- become absolutely
necessary, and the society has acted wisely and with true economy in building for
itself new premises suited in every way to its requirements.
These new premises occupy the sites of No. 15 and 16 on the west side of
Salisbury-square, adjoining the present offices, and have a frontage of 51 feet
8 inches, a back frontage in Hanging Sword-alley of 67 feet 2 inches, and an
average depth of 70 feet. The works have at present reached the first floor.
The first tiling which strikes us on an examination of the drawings is the great
convenience which the architect, Mr. Bracebridge, has afforded and the ingenious
manner in which he has overcome several great difiiculties in the plan. Other
noteworthy features are the quiet elegance, the modest decoration, and the
durable character which every portion of the building possesses. Its beauty
dependsmore on justness of proportion than on carved ornament, more on the
study which every moulding has obtained than on the quantity of thera. _ The
building appears neither poor nor ostentatiously rieb. It possesses that dignity
which becomes so great a society witliout a display of wealth which would be
inconsistent with the disbursement of charitable funds. The building is of Port-
land stone up to the top of ground-floor. Thence it is built of the best white
Suftblk bricks with stone-dressings, strings, and cornice. Tlie ground floor con-
sists of a range of 5 arches springing from moulded imposts ; the arches are rusti-
cated, and a panelled string runs over the beads of the key-stone. The doonvay is
in the centre, with a flight of steps leading to it, and piers bearing standard lamps
at the sides. A rich iron railing encloses the area. The five openings are regularly
repeated on all the floors. A continuous pedestal runs under the first-floor
windows with the title of the society cut into it. The first-floor windows are
square openings with moulded elbowed architraves and carved trusses carrying
the several cornices. The second and third floor windows have simple square
moulded architraves round them. A string runs under the third-floor %vinuows,
and a deeply moulded dentilled cornice over it. This completes the elevation
towards Salisbuiy-square.
Ascending the broad flight of steps, we enter a stone-paved vaulted entrance-
hall, 7 feet 6 inches square, and thence into an inner lobby of about the same
dimensions. On the left of this lobby is the financial department, 19 feet square,
with a door at the back, communicating withan assistant secretary's ofiice, like-
wise about 19 feet square. A strong-room, 12 feet 3 inches by 6feet3incto,
paved with stone and fireproof, is placed between these two apartments. TTie
assistant secretary's office has another doorway, opening into the staircase haU,
situated immediately beyond the lobby before mentioned. Thence access is gamed
to another secretary's oHice at the right of the entrance.
The staircase is of stone, 19 feet 9 inches by 15 feet, with ornamental iron raid-
ing and carved soflits. Everything about the building seems designed in the
best manner. There is nothing like inferior work to be seen throughout it. lo
the right of the principal staircase there is a back staircase, 0 feet wide, leadmg
to the porter's rooms and to the dormitories in the upper ston,-.
Crossing the staircase hall we come to a porter's room, and to a waiting-room
on the right of a corridor which leads to two additional secretaries' othces in the
rear. On the left of it there are lavatories, &c., lighted and ventilated ft-oni an
enclosed court. Adjoining one of the back secretaries' offices we find a muniment
room, 14 feet 3 inches by 10 feet 3 inches, rendered thoroughly fireproof for the
pi-eservation of the valuable documents belonging to the Society. oo <• »
Ascending the principal staircase, we enter a spacious board-room, JH teet
6 Indies liy 20 feet 4 inches, extending over the financial department and the
assistant secretary's oftice, with the windows looking into Sahsbury-squaye. The
other two rooms in the front are devoted to a secretary and Ins clerk. IBe
number of the secretaries employed shows more than anything else the varied
character of the Society's coiTespondenee : that they are all workinjr secretanes
is proved by the fact that so few clerks have had to be accommodated. Proceea-
ing towards the back of the building, we come on the right upon lavatories, .Sec.,
and a " Central Secretary's" ofiice behind them, and in front of us is an ante-
room, entered also by a separate door from the board-room, which conducts us
to the library, 33 feet bv 19 feet. The disposition of the several apartments on this
floor, simple" as it at first sight appears, is found, when minutely examined, very
skilful and highly creditable to the architect. . ,
On the second floor, we have more offices for secretaries, an abstracting ano
336
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 19, 1861.
copying office, 22 feet by 20 feet ; and in the rear a couple of rooms devoted to
editorial clerks, who, we presume, superintend the publication of the Society's
Ma£:auue. There are lavatories and waterclosets on this as on all the other floors.
A portion only of the block is carried up on the third floor. In the front the
rooms arc devoted to a kitchen, sitting-room, and two bed-rooms, and at the
tadt of them, on the left or southern side, there are two missionaries' dormitories,
each 10 feet by 10 feet.
The basement is devoted to store-rooms, the majority being flre-proof, for
papers and publications.
The floors are lofty and the apartments well proportioned. The ground floor
is 15 feet in height; the first floor, IG f.'et ; tho second flo'T, 11 fi'Ct i) inches;
and the tliird floor, 9 feet (3 inches. The basement is 10 feet 6 inches high.
"The walls are of good dimensions and their broad footings rest on deep
beds of concrete. The stone used is of excellent quality, and it is most worthily
worked.
No expense seems to have been spared to procim; a good and substantial
building. One of the best firms in London, Messrs. Lucas, have tlie contract,
and their work here is in keeping with their high and deserved reputation.
Without any competition the Society has a better designed building than it would
most probably have obtained if it had invited fifty architects to submit plans and
dissatisfied forty-nine of them. It gave its commission confidently to Mr. E. L.
Bracebridge, of Poplar, and the result is a thorouglUy good building, which fully
justifies the opinion entenaiued of his ability to meet the varied requirements and
to roilise the expectations of the Society.
^
THE PARIS OPERA HOUSE.
AFTER half a dozen hitches, the preparations for the new opera house and the
improvements in connexion with it are being pushed forward witli activity,
the ground already obtained i^ being cleared, the great new hotel is about to be
commenced, aud last, but very far from least, the juries are busy settling the
amounts to be paid lor the ground still to be acquired. Tliis part of the subject,
not only in connexion with the opera house, but as relates to the alterations
eoing on in all parts of the citv, has grown to such a gigantic pitch tliat notliing
bat quotations from theotiicial reports could warrant belief in the sums said to be
awarded to the proprietors of bouses, land, shops, and other property. How-
ever, there is no room left for doubt. We have the jury returns before us, and
while we ii.ay well speculate as to what it will all end in, we cannot entertain the
■lightest doubt about the facts set forth. Here are the actual totals of the various
amrds as published : —
Thirty houses in the Rue Caumartin and adjoining streets 12,074,UG0f.
Tliree tenements belonging to the Paris, Lyons, and Mediterranean
Railway Company 3,750,000f.
Six lielongingto the Orleans Railway Company 5,000,000f.
Three other houses 5,07o,000f.
Bemuneration to twenty shopkeepers and others l,513,000f.
Making a positive total of 27,412,000f.
To which is to I)e added about three millions allotted by the juries, but de-
pendent on the decision of the courts as to the rights of the claimants, making a
total of over thirty millions of francs, or £1,200,()00, for less than fifty houses to
be pulled down. The value of tlie land in the quarter referred to is indicated by
the fact that 4,125 square metres cost the authorities 4,014,932 francs, or 1,118
francs per metre, bemg equivalent to nearly £45 per square of 39^ inches, or
between £37 and £!» per square yard. In four instances the municipal
authorities offered twen^ francs only for a small portion of a property; the
demands of the proprietors were very difiereut, and the jury took a view coin-
ciding much more nearly with that of tlie claimants than of the authorities,
awarding in the four cases respectively 74,000 francs, 140,000 francs, 40,000
fianca, and 417,0J0 francs, or G71,000 francs in lieu of 80 !
Some opinion may be formed by the above figures of the real cost to Paris and
to France of this and other improvements, embellishments, and alterations
cfficted or projected. We may here add also that the jury has just awarded
IJBIUfSSfi francs for three houses to be demolished in the Champs Elysees, and
1,700,000 francs for a single house on the Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle. In another
instance a highly respectable tradesman has been compelled to move twice within
ten months, after having built a large warehouse on the second spot, and has just
obtained more than a million of francs for his new house and show-rooms in the
Champs Ely see*.
Apart from the economic (juestion, some benefit is to be hoped for in a sanitary
point of view from the erection of this new opera, should it ever be completed,
which, from the time occupied about the site, the plans, and the other circum-
atances connected with it, seems almost beyond hope. The press is doing good
aervice in drawing attention to the glaring faults of construction which exist in
aearly all theatres and other buildings for jmblic purposes here and elsewhere, the
««treme narrowness of the space allowed for each nerson, the closeness of the
aeats to each other, and the difficulty of seeing ana hearing, are all dwelt upon
wiUi emphasis, but not with more than the occasion demands. One desideratum
insisted upon is the erection of all such buildings in a large space, so as to allow
ample means of entrance and exit, as well as of ventilation. Much stress is laid
•n the injury which most arise to the health of those who frequent the present
dose, ill-aired, and incommodious buildings. The plan of the new opera meets
one of these requisites, the building being placcci, as our readers Know by a
diagram which we published some time since ni the Building News, in the
Oenbeof a large open space, as the Italian Theatrealone of all those in Paris does
•tjpefent. We hope that the definite plans now being made will also afford
•meient space to the corridors and staircases, as well as to the audience
^ntion of the house, and if so a great l>enefit will be cenferred upon civilised
aociety in general, for nothing is so fikely to keep families away from theatres as
tiie linowledge that they can scarcely spend an evening in one at present witliout
ranning a great risk of sufferine afterwards from the constraint and the unwhole-
■ooenea* of the air which tbey are compelled to breathe for four hours
or mora. Tlie proprietors of theatres are deeply interested In these matters,
Mpeaally in EngUuid, where the theatre is not an institution as it is in France,
2" where people have to be induced to leave comfortable homes to go to the
Piay, whereas in Paris and many other cities the theatres may almost depend
goo that part of the public which can scarcely be said to possess more than a
B«l In a hole-in- the- wall of a closet, and whose real home is the caf6 or the
The attention of young English architects cannot be directed too forcibly to
the subject of the arrangements and sanitary conditions of public buildings of tdl
kinds, for the encouragement of architecture is hi no way so likely to be furthered
as by making thinking and careful people feel that they can attend a public
meeting, a concert, or a dramatic peribrniance without suffering from lassitude,
headache, or worse evils on the following day. The English are not an out-of-
doors people, and the constantly increasing comfort of their homes tends to
render them less and less so ; the business of the architect, therefore, is to pay
special attention to the matters above referred to, for they may depend upon it
that London will never become a monumental city, the work for architects will
never greatly increase there, the people generally will never trouble themselves
much about Gothic, Classic, or any style until they acquire a respect for |mblic
buildings, until they have satisfactory proof that they can enter them without a
struggle, sit and breathe within them without discomfort, and quit them at any
moment without injury to their clothes or their tempers. When temples had no
roofs, and in climates where a curtain represented a door, the architect's business
was coraparativelv simple as regards construction, but he who pretends to build
tlicatres and halts in Europe in the nineteenth century must be a natural
philosopher as well as a constructor and an artist.
SOCIETY rOK THE ENCOUKAGEMENT OF THE FINE AETS.
ON Wednesday evening this Society held its third Coiwersazim^e of the season in
tiic Suffolk-street Cilleries, i'all-miill, when there was a numerous attendance.
In the course of the evcnintr 3Ir. W. West ^ave some readings from his lecture
entertainment entitled "A ni^flit with the Clowns and Fools of Sliakcspcare." Mr.
H. Ottley, Hon. Secretary of the Society, in introducing the lecturer to the meet-
ing, unuouuced that the next, conversazione would talic place in the Egyptian Hall,
Mansion House, on tlic 23rd of May next, and the Council had appointed a com-
mittee to make arrangements in order to give due elTect to a meeting to be held in
premises so well adapted to the purpose. They were desirous that artists and con-
noisseurs of pictures sliould contribute works of art for the conversazimte ; circulars
would be issued in a few days, and any information on the subject would be grate-
fully received by the Council. A fortniglit ago the rules of the Society were finally
adopted, and would be issued in a few days to all the members with a list of the
members. In pursuance of the rules there would be an adjourned general meeting
lield on the 20th of June for the election of officers and [Council forj the ensidng
year.
Mr. West then proceeded with his readings, of which the following was the
programme :
Introduction. Shakespeare— Unrivalled extent of his Genius— Dryden's Por-
traiture— His various characters considered— Clownis and Fools of the earlier English
Drama— The successor of flic Vice of the Old Moralities, Mysteries, and Miracle
Plays— Anecdotes of Shakespeare's Clowns— Tarleton— Wilson— Kempe— Held in
high estimation— Liberties permitted by the Stage Clowu or Fool.
He faggottcd his notions as they fell.
And if ilicy rhymed and rattled all was well.
Schlcgel— Comparisons— Shakespeare— JEschylus— Sophocles— Court and Stage
Fools extinct temp. Charles I.— Description of— From Middleton's Mayor of
Quidlinbo rough.
Merclumt of Venice. Launcelot Gobbo — His quaintncss— Cunning— Argument
witli liis conscience.
The Merry Wives of Windsor. Fund of Comic Humor concentrated into this
I'lay — "Warton and Johnson's opinions of— Slender — Simple — Shallow — Sir Hugh
Evans— Anne Page.
Hamlet. The Grave Diggers— Hamlet— Snatches of Old Songs and Ballads.
A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. West for his excellent entertainment.
The following was tlie programme of the music performed during the evening :—
Part 1. Duett. "March and Presto," Concert Stuck," Weber (I'lanoforte, Mr.
P. Beringer and Mr. O. Beringer). Song, "Ave Maria," Miss Hemming, Schubert;
Ballad, " Erin is my Home," Miss Julia Daly. Lover (By kind permission of B.
Webster, Esq., Theatre Koyal, Adelphi). Aria, Solitudino Cuiclic, " Idomeneo,"
5Iiss E. Wilkinson, Mozart ; Song, "Far away where Angels dwell," Mr. Suchet
Champion, Blumenthal ; Trio, "Lift thine Eyes," Mendelssohn; Madame Gilbert,
Miss Fosbroke, and Sliss Palmer. Grand Caprice, " Hongrois," Pianoforte, Mr.
Kobt. Beringer, Kettercr ; Song, "Rose softly blooming," Miss Fosbroke, Spohr ;
Aria, "L'Addio," Miss Palmer, Mozart ; Song, "Ocome with me," JIadame Gil-
bert, B. Gilbert (Horn Obligate, Dr. Bennett Gilbert.) Trio, "0 Memory," LesUe;
Madame Gilbert, Miss I'aliiicr, and Mr. Suchet Champion.
I'ART II. Duett, " Zuleike and Hassan," Mendelssohn ; Miss Fosbroke and Mr.
Sucliet Champion. Ballad, " It was Fifty Years ago," Miss Palmer, J. L. Hatton ;
Song, "Regret," Miss Hemming. Linley; AriaBuffa, " Jlici rampolli," Signor
Jlerciiriali, from Her Majesty's Theatre, Donizetti ; Solo, " Home, sweet Home,"
I'lanoforte, Mr. Oscar Beringer, Thalberg ; National song, " The Star-spangled
Banner," Miss Julia Daly ; English song, "My Pretty Jane," Mr. Suchet Cham-
pion, Bishop J (Serman song. " On every Tree," Miss E. Wilkinson, Schubert ; Aria»
" La aria Letigia," Signor Mcrcuriali, Verdi ; Duett, Panoforte, Mendelssohn.— Con-
ductor, Mr. Alfred Gilbert.
At intervals during the evening, which was very pleasantly spent, the company
partook of refreshments.
WHO IS MR.
Workmen, who and what are
They who squeeze you out ?
Wlio's this Jlr. Potter
Pottering about ?
Is he some hardworking.
Honest artizan.
Or a labor-shirking
Lazy, talking man?
Does he earn his living?
Is he kept, instead ?
And are you mi-n giving
llim your children's bread.
Him their bread-and-butter.
Both sides plastered thick.
Taking thus an utter
Humbug for a Brick ?
POTTER ?
Does he kind attention
Render you unpaid ?
Or on your dissension
With your masters, trade ?
Gain from strife deriving
Strife does he foment,
Fattening and thriving
On your discontent ?
Is this Mr. Potter
Trustworthy and true ?
Or is he a plotter
Doing, diddling you.
Bleeding you by suction ?—
Let llim, if you like.
Urge you to destruction.
Keeping up your Strike.
PmKk.
Architectural Association. — The second Conversazione of the season
of tlie Architectural As.sociation takes place this (Friday) evening, in the spacious
Galleries of the Architectural Union Company, Conduit-street, Regent-street.
Bvdston Church. — This church, which has been undergoing a very
complete restoration, at a cost of £2,000, will shortly be reopened. A memorial
window is being erected to the memory of the late Lord and Lady Macdonald,
and one to the memory of the late Mr. and Mrs. Bosville. Five other memorial
windows are being designed by Capronier, of Brussels. Tlie works have been
designed and superintended by F. Jones, Esq., architect, York, who has already
restored upwards of twenty churches in the county.
April 19, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
337
TUK DISPUTE IN THE BUILDING TliADKS.-CONVICTION FOK
INTIMIDATING A AVOKK.MAN.
TUOJIAS BURTON, a tall ami poivirful mau.was broujjlit before Mr. Leigh, at
Worahip-strect, on Tuesday, ou a warrant obtained aj^ainst him by Mr. Alfred
Jones, a builder, in Chapel-i-oad. Staniford-hill, for having, on the l'.ith (fay of March
last, by certain threats, unlawfully endeavoured to force .Iante» Woodbridpre, a
journeyman bricklayer, cn^&ged and employed by the naid Alfred Jones, to depart
from his living: und employment, contrary to the Oth (ico. IV., an Act to repeal the
laws relating: to the combination of workmen, and to make other T)rovisiouB in lieu
thereof.
Mr. Beard (for the prosecution), havinpr opened the facts of the case, observed— It
is scarcely rt^uisite, sir, to make any allusion to the fearful results likely to arise
from acts of intimidation to workmen—results atl'ectini); not only such misled men
but their employers ; it may, however, be worth while mentionlus that when s>im-
monses were obtained against this defendant for the offence in question he failccl in
attending to them, and the consequence became imperative on me to obtain the pre-
sent process. I shall call witnesses to prove the ju.>tieo of this proceeding, and then
leave him to be dealt with by you according- to liis deserts.
The following evidence was then received :—
Alfred Jones— I am a builder. Burton has been In my employment about three
weeks. At that time James Woodbridge, another bricklayer, and William Cox, a
laborer, were also in my service. On the Ilth ult. defendant left the work he was at
uncovered. On the following day he came with the others and asked for the re-
mainder of the money due to them, adding-, " I had better tell you that we are now
on the strike." I told them to go about their business, and paid them what was due.
Cox was taken away from his work on that day. 1 afterwards obtained a summons
against defendant for threatening Woodbridge, -who was at work on another job
quite apart from his. He failed in attending the order, and a warrant was griinted
on the loth, but he has only just been apprehended.
James Woodbridge- 1 live in Devonshire-street, Mile-end. On the l-2th of March
my job, under the prosecutor, was at Stamford-hill. Defendant was not on that job.
but on another near it, divided by a liedge. Ou that day he came to me and said,
"Two or three of us have left our work, are yougoing to leave yours?" 1 replied,
"No," and ho then rejoined " Very well," and went away. When I went to my
dinner 1 again saw him. He then observed, " If you go back to your work I'll break
your legs." I did go back to my labor, and did not mention this to my master.
This testimony was given with apparent reluctance.
Cross-examined by defendant-The first conversation on this matter occurred
across a hedge dividing our work. On the second occasion it was In the tap-room of
a public-house.
liy Sir. Glfford's Clerk— Defendant was in liquor on both occasions when he spoke
to me, but not so much on the first as on the second.
William Cox— I was laborer to a man named Eurt. but in the employ of Mr. Jones.
I heard him say that he and another were on the strike, and he added, " Put up your
tools and come away." Burt paused for a minute, then did as he was asked. I left
also, as It was not any use my staying without a bricklayer, 1 being only his laborer.
Another man was with defendant at the time I speak of.
Mr. Leigh- Was defendant very drunk?
Witness— He appeared to have had a good deal of drink.
Mr. Beard— But lie was sober enough to ask the question you have mentioned and
to speak of what had been done ?
Witness -Oh yes, sir— quite.
Woodbridge recalled, and examined by Mr. Leigh— Defendant could walk, but ho
could not have been very sensible to propose what he did.
Defendant— If I had not been intoxicated it would not have occurred at all; and if
Mr. .lones had given Ss. Od., the same as other masters. Instead of only 58., none of
the men would have left oH' work.
Mr. Beard.— The last assertion negatives the former one. Which is it you mean'
Defendant was silent.
Serjeant Crisp, N 3.— I failed in apprehending the defendant on the warrant nntU
two o clock this morning, when I met him in .Stoke Newington-road. He told me
that he had done only three days' work since the time he had struck.
Defendant.— I belong to no union or strike. I was iu liquor
Mr. Beard.— This Is the whole case, sir.
Mr Leigh.— It appears to me that nearly all men who strike from their work
somehow or other contrive to spend money in drink ; and I will not accept the fact
of a aian being m liquor serving as an excuse for his threatening others if they do
not consent to adopt his opinions, and coalesce with lilm.fAny person is perfectly at
hberty to argue and advise for the purpose of inducing— although I tlilnk that upon
such a matter It would be far better to desist from that— hut when threats are
adopted, the interference becomes of such magnitude as to render a salutary step
against the offender absolutely imperative. Men have a right to work without fear
of molestation, and at any price they please. The law expressly permits this; and
each man is himself the best judge ol what sum is remunerative and BufBcient for
the requirements of his wife and family.
Defendaut— I have a wife and four children.
snfferin^'t^iT*"'''' "l-''"' ^f'^'i /hen I should wish so to deal with you as to prevent
same f,5»lr*t''TfK°'' '° ',"""' ""iJ "',''■ ^ *'""• " '^ Impossible to do, and at the
same tune protect other workmen. You listeu attentively to me. The very defence
J^ri,?^„."'' ."'""' '^■'* >■?" ^'^"^ ^'""^' ™'' '"■o deceiving yourself, but I beg you do so
S,„r?. £ ,• -f ,"." """""^ ^ protect men in the exercise of honest labor, Snd it is far
^°IITI„ S.}° 'j.''">'.<»".;lie letter of the law, without pause, that o hers may be
the Act "nZ 1 "'(!•'"?"& ";, i fi-der you to be imprisoned for the full term uider
li'^ \r"-'?' *'"''^'' mouths, with hard labor.
Detendant, who appeared much astonisherl nf
cells most dejectedly,
10 appeared much astonished at the decision, left the Court for the
THERE is no new feature to notice "this week. 'The number of the nneranlovcd
•H,,,?™""'-''' ^S^" """J^ "''=?''• ""= diminution being caused by-Cl hands obtaining
Situations in shops where the system of payment by the ImurlS not enforced I -Tsf
week the number of masons out of emploUent was about a hundred thfs we. k Hie
number is only between seventy and eighty. Fresh hands; w" o have no ejection to
Kel^'^anTMr'smU™ ^^"' °"'"°°""''" '" ^^ ^"g'^ed by Ssrs Luca tMr"
0„ ^ , ^ CITY COMMISSION OF SEWERS.
N Tuesday, at a meeting of the City Court of Sewers held it ihn ^„i^Ah«^\ «,„
. medical offlcer Dr. Letheby, reported on ?he stlte of 1' 1 houses Hia had"v,»pn
prrement!"""'" '"' '''"'''' "'"' '"^ ™'^"'""^'' " "»» "^ "/ pli^t.^foV s^nSSy^'to"
fh^fvS"^'.'''''""*''*'??.'!''"' Purposes Committee, recommending the payment bv
the Commissioners of £120 among the survlvinn- relalives nf th . f„ ,X. ?.„'!!?. V
a?cfZ t rT '■■'' '°.- '^^'' <■<"""; "ce stated that the matters connected w-itl?tlinfftal
accident in question were st.ll under inquiry by them. In the meantiine havhil
Tvw "'vv ""^ ,*",'' "•"^P"'' »*' ""="" ™Sin«''- that there is on the pS, e" rf Mess","
Tylor, lu VVarwick-lane, a large shaft or opening leading down loan old sewer which
has an indirect communication with the sewers Running towards the Fleet Jli« con
IhZ.fw "S''"^*'"". .1" '"''' "■■•^g"'--"- ^■nmunica'tlons with he pubiic sewe?s
1 1. ! "j/'deslroyed, and they recommended the Court to direct the engineer to have
the Shalt m question closed up accordmgly. The Court made the neMslMy order
Corri'spiulcncc.
A PICTURE ANALYSER.
Sir,— I would now impart to the public a simple method of analysing prints
paintings, and delineation of every kind, which will, 1 thliik,',be useful both to those'
who work at, and those who can fully inspect this branch of the line arts. It Is for
the purpose of bringing tliese objects more under scientific observation.
If a common print is taken In whicli the various objects represented are at con-
siderable distances apart, and a number of lines forming the same angle (equidistant)
bo drawn from the centre of the lower margluul line, which would be the supposed
place of a spectator, to all parts of tlie drawing, these lines being thin according to
the remoteness of the parts over which they pass, that is their apparent remoteness
and not as measured from their initial point, its perspective character will at once be
perceptlbleif this condition is known, and thus no room will be left for conjecture
upon this very important point. It is not possible precisely to understand the
perspective character of a badly executed drawing or any other delineai ion, or indeed,
of any human work of this kind, seeing tliat no endeavour in this direction is an
exact representation of nature, even as far as it can be imitated bv a process which
only admits of length and breadth, so that this method would la every case be of
some use, and this increasingly of course in proportion to the ImperfccUon of the
^
The first diagram represents either a print or pictnre thus treateii, or a plate of
glass or some other transparent substance, which should be placed over a painting
or engraving or other delineation, to which the lines marked upon it are corre-
spondent. The thick part of the line rf, with the line upon the right of It, which is
of one thickness throughout, which is that of the thick part of r/, denote, and this
evidently, some object, as a house or tree, in the foreground ; and the thin part of d
is a sign that the view beyond is not obscured by any front object, which would
occasion any doubt as to the perspective character of the distant parts of the work.
The parts a, b. and c, also show that the view Is obscured by objects in the fore-
ground ; and the distance and consequently the size of these can be decided upon by
their length and breadth. It cannot, of course, thus be determined what they
represent.
rile second diagram represents a piece of glass or some other substance ready to
be placed over any picture. It is clear that when completely filled up, an analysis
of the picture would be obtained, and that this would enable a person to have some
notion of It, who never had seen it, or had it described to him.
It is stated ("Imp. Diet, of Univ. liiog.. Art. 'Desargues,' ") that Desargues
constructed a scale by which every Imaginary sketch can geometrieally be viewed,
and analysed in all its relationships, and the works of Abraham Hosse are there said
to contain his views upon this subject and others, hut what they were I do notknow.
It would, I think, conduce to the better understanding of the works of artists, and
therefore to their credit, if they were to furnish every painting- or other work which
they submit to the inspection of the public, with the contrivance which I have here
described.
I am, &c.,
J. Alexander Davies.
April 9th, 18(31.
CLOCK DIALS.
Sir,— Having published a few years ago the particulars of a clock somewhat
similar to that described by your correspondent " D. T.," I have much pleasure in
conveying to him, through your pages, a brief description of the Invention, which
may probably answer his purpose.
I am (not acquainted with the ^nature of the construction of the clocks at
Pisa and Havre named by him ; but the mode of construction pointed out by me
a few years ago will produce the effect he requires.
The principle of construction is the reverse of that usually adopted for illuminated
clocks, and has great optical advantages. The clock dial is formed of copper or
some other opaque material, divided into three concentric parts, the outer one of
which being a fixture with perforated figures. The two inner parts of the face
are made to revolve ; the minute and hour hands being perforations. The perfora-
tions for the hands and figures may, or may not, be tilled in with glass or other
transparent material. By this arrangement the following advantages :irc insured: —
an additional weightto counterpoise the hands is not required, and the time Is visible
at more than double the distance of that of clocks constructed in the ordmary
manner.
The plan above pointed out was recommended to be adopted for the illuminated
clock at Westminster Palace, but I presume the recommendation arrived too late.
I am, &c.,
Southampton, April 16th, 18(31. Geo. Guillaume, Architect.
High Treason.— Asking King Th-waites to " stand a drain."— n^cA.
THE COTIRICULUM.
Sir,— As an architect's pupil, I have read with a certain degree of interest yonr
article containing suggestions as to the subjects of the proposed arcliltectural exami-
nations. I beg you will accept a few observations I have to make on them — the
views of one placed in a position wliere the wants of the student can bo best judg-cd.
Your contributor places arithmetic and algebra next to languages. Now a know-
ledge of the latter subject is of purely mythical importance to an architect, while
the former is most essentially practical. No principal would ever think of
measuring the value of an assistant bv the amount of Greek or French he might
know ; while any one who could pass tlie algebra and trigonometry in the examina-
tion would, even if he had paicl but little attention to Latin or Greek, be able to
translate any portion of " (I'ajsar. Book II.," or of " Xenophon," so that this portion
of the examination (in the dead languages) is needless, if instituted with the view of
excluding those who have not received these imiiortaut elements of a liberal educa-
tion. Is it to be expected that any architect will superintend the study of
languages ? And yet, it^ the pupil does not keep up what he has learnt at school, he
will forget them at the end of^ three or four years' of articles, though he may still
derive benefit from the knowledge he has acquired of them.
Latin and Greek m,ay be very useful to the archaeologist, and French and German
to the travelling student, but the practical architect cannot devote too much time to
the study of drawing, arithmetic, and mathematics.
French can be of service when' abroad without cramming in the mythological
adventures of Telemachus.
Rut what standard does your contributor propose, with regard to drawin":, arith-
metic, and mathematics '.' Arithmetic is placed first.'; decimals an(l duodecimals should
certainly form as important a part as simple, compound, and vulgar fractions.
Mathematics— " Euclid" Books, I. to LV. An architect ought to know more Euclid
than this— a boy from any of the City schools is capable of passing .an examination in
the first six and the eleventh books, without which he cannot know much trigono-
metry.
Algebra to simple equations inclusive, this is all that Is required ui the examinations
338
THE BUILDIJ^^G NEWS.
April 19, 1861.
of <ho medical profossion, where it is reckoned of little importance! surely the
extent of the science which your contributor proposes for the fellowship examination
cannot be loo dilficult. nor is it too hijrh for the knowled<;e of meclianics or plane
trigonometry, but U'sides these importiint branches of mathematics mif^lit not some
exAmlnation take place in hii^her one^. such as conic sections, or the calculus,
"wliirh are required in the military examinations, where art is not higher than in the
j>rore<sion ?
Drawing: That from the hnman figure ought not to be made a sine q^id non, as
it requires more lime to attain any amount of perfection than the student can spare
fh>m the more Important branch of plan drawing, which would be better understood
were plane and solid geometrical drawing studied beforehand, and in which also it
would be desirable to have some examination.
Construction : This is a point of great importance, especially in the case of making
alterations to buildnigs. and should receive the greatest at;ention. resign is too
often regarded as the first attainment, but we all know that a good design will not
compensate for ttie results of bad construction.
And now we have made our course of study— our curriculum— and are supposed to
be tolerablv well up in it, bo as to be able to attain a certain number of marks, what
is the result ; Why we receive a certificate of competency, to enable us to enter an
oflce as a junior a.s8is1ant. at X.V) per annum.
Cannot some of the subjects of the second proposed examination be included in
the first, and a degree awarded to those who paasj? A degree is but a name : however,
when the public bi'come aware of the difficulties of the examination, the position of
an architect will command its duo respect.
I am, &c.,
Another II. J.
ALL SALN'TS' CHCRCn, KESSINGTOX PARK.
Sir,— After what has of late passed in your columns respecting polychromy, some
of your readers may be led by your notice of this church to look at the painting
upon the walls of thesacrarlum as a specimen of the principles which I desire to
mamtain.
Without wishing to express any kind of opinion as to its merits, 1 trust that you
will allow nie to say that 1 had nothing whatever to do with that painting, nor with
the coat of coloring applied to the naturally colored surface ol^^the banded and
-clustered shins in the north aisle, and of the tile lining surrounding the interior.
. I am, Ac,
Wimpole-street, April !«, 1861. William White.
MR. NEWS LECTURE ON BRICKWORK.
Sir.— In yonr report of my lecture, the remarks on Brickwork made before the
Architectural Association, at Conduit-street, on the evening of the 5th inst, I regret
to find several errors which, in some instances, altogether destroy the sense, and in
-others tend to convey meanings vice term to those intended. For instance : on page
313, line 'JO from the bottom, " Uorking sand " should be " Dorking lime," and the
following ought to have been added to the same sentence : " M. Loriot, of I'aris, in 1774,
bad a method of making mortar in the following manner : Take one part of brick-
dnsi finely sift«i, two parts of line screened river sand, and as much old slacked lime
as may be sunicient to form mortar with water in the usual method, but so wet as to
serve for the slacking of as much powdered quick-lime as amounts to one-fourth of
the whole quantity of brickdust and sand."
On the next p^, in the fourth paragraph from the top of the column, •' our
flaes should read " air flues ;" and in the next paragraph but one, it should have
«e«n said, "the lecturer recommended that the flues should be contracted at tlie
■bcUom, aid have the opening near the tire-placo formed by a division of brickwork or
sheet -iron Into two aiiertures so as to admit of a free current up and down." Inline
18 from the end of the report, -perforated bricks ' should be " moulded bricks."
and five lines lower ought to read "Mr. Lewes observed that the old Kngilsh bond
Md been, &c." There are also two corrections in the last paragraph but one, where
the>ord " Joints " is put.for •• courses." and " marshy " for '• washed." Several other
"rrors will be too obvious to need pointing ont.
I am, &c.,
_ , George B. New.
2, Dorebestcr-place, Blandford-sqnare, N.W., April 17th, 1861.
ROYAL EXGIXEERS.
"'■•"" ," I)oS8ible that ofllcers of the line are now employed to assist the Royal
l-Dgtncers In carrjing out the works in connexion with our national defences 7 If so.
What mar we expect next ? Last year, whcn;the Secretary of State for War issued
lilsclrcular dirirtiug the officers of Engineers to the rudimentary principles of their
profession, a reflection was cast upon the civil branch, and the military ollicers were
told that it was " illogical " to expect civilians to be capable of designing and carry-
ing out military works. The observation had reference to a railway constructed tbr
the conveyance of iniwder, Ac.
Kow the members of the civil branch (speaking generally) have been specially
edoeated for their profession. They must have had years of practical experience, and
all reasonable means by examination and otherwise have been employed to test their
Hfli?* 1 "^"^ before they received their appointment ; if, therefore, it is
Ulogical to expect that those gentlemen are capable of carrying out such works as
the above, how utterly absurd it is to give officers of the line any control over the
iinportant works now in progress in connexion with our national defences I What a
reflection upon the architectural profession of the country 1 This, however ridiculous
as it may seem, adds nothing to the absurdity of the common practice of handing
over to the tender mercies of even Engineers' offices, the management of all the
archltcctdral works n-guired lor the army, for they arc not a whit beyond their
hrothers in arm-the officers of the line— in business tact or professional skill.
I do not now refer merely to the young officer just qualified by his course of drill
at Chatham for the duUes of an engineer, and who elatal by his first grasp of
authority blindly wields It without the light of prudence or experience,' at the
apenaeof' the nation, but I take the higher grade, the officer who having obtained
the rank of first capUlu. leaves his company and with it all his mihtary engage-
ments, devoting himself for the future to the duties connected with the building and
r^unng of barracks- the construction of fortifications and all those heavy works
ijon Which are annually squaudcred such enormous sums of public money. What
prorcssional knowledge docs he bring with him ? There is absolutely nothing in his
wiy career calculated to qualify him for the efficient discharge of his new duties,
fhiL fcTj. '"' »"'"""• '•''cs upon himself the expenditure of the public money.
iSJ.iJ?^ .. ."" headlong into inevitable extravagance, his plans are issued without
emna^atlon. his contracts are so loosely framed that they fall to pieces In the con-
aanors nanuii. heexposes his ignorance to the workmen by silly questions, and he
iSSJSt ! 'jV '" ""= '■■"" ""3 cunning of business tactics.
ril22«ir1. .*."''•"." *"" •''>'«'l ^y »'"= SecrcUry for War in the House of
«ft« *«» «/vi? S ' that lla- works executed under the engineer department do
JSJlSfi^fh^tV^ "imilar works in civil practice. This, like many other official
It?.-' ii..nM!n?*V* *"*;"'t>ly. thouKh literally true, may "cover a multitude of
Sni.l.«1ft?.n; t^- '-lianited ori.l altered in the course of construction, and when
5^1^ Jii lw''',:.r^''*'^'" H^^'''' ">tt»'»<>d uses-works carried out one year and
^^lmJ^^lf\7i^^*' •P«^>ncations. and estimates prepared by the dozen, with-
Sli th? vi^Slif S^oiU'''*"^'**'^^ *^«^ »« ™»ch In civil practice a« they now
my|^ Si'^nn?.^?"*"'!'";' ^l''' «"•"«* 'l"<-'«tion is. could the works essentially
S25Su/^rf^. it^^vn ? '^'ii" *^''r''I^«^8 ''f fortifications, be executed mori
S^/Jwi^ p;jlf.m^,!;r.in"? ""-'^ "^ • "^^^^^^ «»"« ^^^^non is answered, let
-SJ^f.^if^S^L^'lif'''.'' '•*^*"'"° ^'■*»»« amounts of all the accepted
.^LITfithl i^»,J^r ^^"^ '''•payment for the last five years, and also the
I ptld to tb« wntractort according to their respective contracts, and the
excess of the latter over the former will give some idea of the cost of blnnderius: mis-
management. Numbers of instances may be quoted, but coming irom anonymous
writers tliey would be looked upon as iuvidiuus slanders, put forward in qratiGoation
of ill-will to the officials concerned; besides, prudence obliges a certain degree of
reservation to be observed in publishing sucli matters, whicli would prevent the
possibility of putting them in their true Hglit or with full force, so tliat nothing
short of a thorough probing, a.'8earching!inquiry. can lay bare and expose the rottenness
of the system, which maintains in civil capacities and at increased pay, double the
number'of Engineer officers required for the service of their corps, lor the purpose,
nominally, of performing duties that are virtually carried out by a subordinate
branch of the public service; and yet the professional existence of this latter branch
is practically ignored— perhaps with some uhow of reason, as the civil branch has no
head belonging to its own body. IJut why is it that the members of the civil depart-
ment should prepare nlans, specifications, estimates, superintend the execution of
works, and perform all the functions of civil architects, and yet be subject to the
control of gentlemen whose professional knowledge is incompatible with their
assumed autliority? and who, in the exercise of the power with which they are
entrusted, regardless of expense, enforce the execution of fanciful whims, perpetrate
the most glaring absurdities, and interfere with and alter according to their ideas,
the suggestions of the more practical and business-like officers of the civil branch to
the manifest detriment of the public service ? Such are facts beyond contradiction,
and may be confirmed by your correspondents. I am, &c.,
Civil. lAK.
THE DIPLOMA EXAMINATJONS.
Sir,— In your last impression were 8ug«:e8tion8 upon the proposed Examinations
for a diploma, and, as 1 difl'er in some points from your correspondent, I shall avail
myself of this opportunity of pointing out my objections.
I shall confine myself to the hrst division : "Examination of students on the com-
pletion of their articles, for a certificate of competency, to act as junior clerks," and
will remark upon the subdivisions in the order in which they are presented.
First comes, "English Grammar— analysis and parsing. I should imagine that
" li. J." has a very bad opinion of architects' pupils ; for what boy of twelve, who
has never been to any other than a charity school, cannot undergo an examination
in the above? But no fear of the "Examination Committee" admitting this
as a subject. I guess they would have to rub up a bit themselves. 1 do not mean to
say that that the members of the Institute are not well-educated men, but how few,
although they might write strictly in accordance with the riUes of grammar— but hovB"
few. I say again, would be able to repeat those rules as they arc written in a school-
book, and what need ?
" English Composition."— I think that a young man might be perfectly competent
to act as juuigr clerk, even as a senior, although not able to write " an impromptu
article upon a given subject." Better would it be for the profession had we more
working men. How many propose things with their pen which they cannot put in
practice.
** Arithmetic."— The first part of my remarks upon the subdivision " Analysis and
Parsing," will apply equally to this.
"Accounts."— 1 cannot see the necessity of an examination in this branch. I may
not understand the proposition, but I take it that we are all to be examined in single
and double entry, &c. An architect never need keep more than a diary, or at most a
diary and ledger. It may be said that an architect has to examine and correct
builders' bills, but surely that requires no system of book-keepino-, and he who can
do anything in algebra (as that is one of the subjects which " II. J.'s" examination
embraces) would be accountant enough ; but the main knowledge required for
checking builders' accounts can only be acquired by actual experience.
" Geography and History."— Architecture, I consider, consists of a mixture of art
and science ; surely, although a man could pass an examination in *' Geography and
History," he would not be any more able to design or construct.
"Languages." — A knowledge of "two languages — Latin in all cases being one."
This, thank goodness, is the Inst scholastic subject (if I may use the term), I
mean what every boy learns at school. It seems to me that were these to be allowed
the Institute would nave to change its name from that of Koyal Institute British
Architects to that of Institute of Schoolmasters, — and why should an architect be
master of three languages ? there are an immense number of architectural works in
our own tongue, eitiier translations or originals, and I think that rather than a
dearth of Entjlish architectural works existiiig, there is a dearth of readers.
"3Iatliematics— Mechanics."— I agree with "H. J." as to the desirability of having
a sound knowledge of mathematics and meclianics,— and perhaps would go further
than II. J. Had architects studied this branch more we should have never known a
civil engineer, and perhaps would have seen more beauty in the works which are
now done by C. E.'s (our fine Exhibition that is to be, par exemple. With the
rest I have but few objections. Your correspondent would wish us to draw from
the " human figure." Now, this is the most difficult part of drawing, and tew ever
attain in it anythin* anproaching perfection. Kemeraber the old proverb, " First
creep andthcngo;. if you make this examination too difficult at nrst no one will
attempt to pass, but let it be moderately severe now, and if it answer, then it will bo
time to increase the severity, and if one can draw from the " flat and round " with a
thorougli knowledge of " scale and perspective drawin"- and shadows." I think
that would lie a pretty fair beginning. The next slight objection I Iiave is to
"Chemistry, Geology and Hydraulics, As junior clerk it is so rarely that one
would need this, it would be quite advisable not to press this point but leave it for
the next step.
Thus you will see that in the main points I agree with "II. J.,'* but cannot consider
that it is necessary to send all the poor architects' pupils to school again. And I
think that it would be very wrong to set any limits as to the age oi candidates.
Some would be as able to pass tlie second examination at 22 as others at 25. And
lastly, let us remember that all our reforms have come by degrees"; so, should the
Institute give us a tolerably good measure, let us accept it thauicfully, and when ne-
cessary we shall get better, but do not let us expect too much.
I am, &c„ P. J.
TENDERS.
Roads and Sewers, Blackiieatit.
For the formation of roads, and laying down 2,200 feet of Creeke's patent Capped
Drain-pipes, on the llennelt Park Estati
tect and surveyor, i2, Chariug-cross.
Tottlc £l,;H(i 0
Blackheath. Mr. John Ashdown, archi-
M'ilson
Lee ,
Cook
Home
Assell
Belton and Clark .
Dowell
1,000 10
974 8
010 0
802 1
7115 4
793 1
792 0
round £784
Cole 711
Hartlandand Bloomfield 610
Liniver 015
Aird 550
Sharon 530
Symes 337
E. and J. Fraser (accepted) .. 305
9 11
Drainage, Bow.
For laying down 740 feet of 12-iuch Crcekc's patent capped dr in-pipes, with gul-
lies and junctions, In Roman-road, Bow, for the Poplar Board of Works. Mr. Robert^
Parker, surveyor.
Flack
£164 0
Pound 145 0
Stewart 145 0
Payne 130 0
Denning £133 0
Salt 130 0
Cole 120 0
Wilaou (accepted) 103 10
Appal 19, I86l.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
339
I'arm Huit.DiNcs, &c., Hoi;oiiTON-Lr.-SrRiNC.
For Farmlioused. dtlices, &c., at Houf.'liton-le-Sprmtr. for tlic Hon. and Kcv. John
Grey. 3Ir. John E. Watson, architect, Ncwcastle-oU-Tyne. Quantities supplied.
J'^or the whole tc'oH\
R. Fairclough and Sons ....£4,05B 8 4 I C. tlarrlson £2,950 10 10
John Lowes 3,8fij 17 0 | Itart and Humble 2,W2 10 2
For masonry vml carpeittry.
Forster and Lawton £2,007 10 6
For portion of works.
Minns and Cullon £2,129 1 0
For masonry.
W. and R. Allison £1,408 0 0
For ctirpentry, painting, tf c.
W. Ncwby £1,497 10 0
For carpentry.
"J. Dunlop £1,01.'? 0 0
J. and W. Wliite -878 3 10
D. A. J. Hanlten 802 3 10
T. Gowland
JohnRndshaw.., £1,259 13 0
G. H. lloilfrson 1,245 0 0
Waite and Howard 1,181 11 6
R- Curry 1,080 3 2
For portion of carpentry.
E. Codling- ^878 18 0 1 W. and J. Gates £398
T.Smith 054 9 3 J. Smith 390
J.Elstob 50110 3|
For slating.
833 10 0
\V. Dawbcr and Son £292 2
T. Sanderson and Son 280 13
E.Bcck £314 0 0
E. Preston 302 11 0
W. Wylie 298 13
.„ _ For pUisterinq.
KPearson ilftcj o 0 I J. Charlton £10110
J. G. Aitliin 191 o 0 J
• «, t . ^^^ plumbing.
J. Glaholm and Son £88 0 0 i G. Humble :£80 4
.„ „ , For painting and glazing.
E. Herbert £101 0 0 I W. Smith £90 0
B. Taylor 88 8 0
Metropolitan Main Drainage.
For the erection of the pumpinff-station, Deptford. Metropolitan Board of Works.
Edward Thirst £163,371 0 0 I Wifiiam AVebstcr £113,900
HillandCo 151,049 0 0 John Aird 11.3,1.30
GeorgoMyers 124,705 18 3 | Randall Steep 104,285
The estimate of the Engineer of the Board was £115,000. The tender of Mr. Aird,
was accepted.
„ , CiiuRcii, Stafford.
For the new Catholic Cliurch, Stafford, for the Kcv. M. O. SuUivan. Mr. E. Welby
Pugin, architect. Quantities supplied by Sir. S. Marples.
Hevinsham £2,237 I JeiTries (accepted) £2,124
Katcliffe 2^200 1 v i- '
OHpnANAGE, Liverpool.
For the Boys' Orphanage, Liverpool, for the Orphanage Committee. Mr. E. 'Welby
Pugnn, architect. Ihe quantities supplied by Mr. Marples.
Glaister ....: £3,.390 Yates (accepted) £3,030 14 0
Farrell and Sedge 3,l<.i3
Lodge, Ac, Ripon.
For building a lodge, fence-walls, and gate, near Kipon, for J. F. Sharpin, Esq.
Plans by H. Sharpin. of Ripon.
Webster and Mitchell £.302 10 I E. Carr £250
C. Auton 272 14
Club-house, SiiEmELD.
For a new club-house for the Sheffield Club. Quantities supplied
Hadfleld, architect, Shefflcld.
Larder, Sheffield £5,250
Mycock, „ 4,91)0
Wade, , 4,.j40
Carr, „ 4,717
Sir. M. E.
Bradbury, Sheffield £4,086 0
Powell, 4,450 0
ChadwickandSon,Ma8brough.. 4,400 0
Craven, Sheffield 4,294 10
Alterationa, &c., London.
For alterations and additions to premises in Aldermanbury, for Mr. S. B. Morris.
Messrs. Tillott and Chamberlain, architects. Quantities not supplied.
Turner and Sons £<.I20 0 1 M'ills „ £800 0
§.™t" 900 0 Cannon 849 10
i"der S94 0
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
BRIDGE.
JtiLRENKV.— For plans, specifications and detailed estimates for the erection of a
bridge over tlie river Nore, in tlie city of Kilkenny. The cost of construction not
to exceed £3,000 £20 will be given for approved plan, &c. Plan, &c., to be sent
to Mr. 1 . G. Dillon, city grand jury, Kilkenny (of whom particulars) by May 27.
„ ^ ,^ TOWN HALL.
HcLL.— For the approved design, &c. , for a Towu-hall and public offices, at Kingston-
upon-iiu l,to be lorwardcrt with plans, sections, and estimates of cost (sealed and
addressed to the town clerk, Hull, and m.irked outside, "Design for Town-hall,")
to May 31. The sum of£l(iO is olTered for the design selected as the best, and £50
tor tlie design selected as second best. A block plan of site, and printed statement
nf offices, rooms and convcnfcnces required, at Robert Weil's (town clerk's) office.
Town-hall, Hull, between 11 and 1. \ / •
CEMETERY WORKS.
MANCHESTER.-l'or plans, sections, elevations, and estimates, for the necessary
works, consisting of entrance gates, lodge and two chapels, and laying out the
ground, consisting of OJ statute acres, near to the Urookland station, at Sale for the
Sale Burial Loard. Tlie buildings to be laced with par-point stone, and the cost
of them not to exceed £2,000. Tlie plans, &c. must be delivered, without the
S™, Z??'",''^ but with a motto, accompanied by a sealed letter containing tlie
name, to Mr, Gould, clerk to the Hoard, 22, Cooper-street, Manchester (Irom whom
all lurtlicr miormation may be obtained,) to April 30.
COJIPETITION A'WARDED.
Plans or Farm Buildings.
lORK.— Tlie Council of tlie Yorksliire Agricultural Society have awarded the first
prizeof f.-jOtoMr. S.E. M'atson, of Newcastle-on-Tyne ; and the second, of £25 to
Messrs. Hicks and Isaacs, of Bath. There were 27 competitors in the first class and
19 m tlie second. '
contracts open.
^ ., :e.\change.
Newburv.— For the works of the Newbury Corn Exchange building. Plans? Ac,
on application to Mr. J. S. Dodd, architect, 148, Friar-etrtet, Reading, on and aiter
16th April. Tenders for the whole or for the separate trndc work, to be sent to
R. F. Graham, Clerk to the Local Board of llealth, Newbury, under cover
endorsed " Tender for Newbury Corn Exchange," by twelve a.m. of
April 29. Tenders for the wliole of the work to state the prices of the respective
trades' work.
MECHANICS' IXSTITUTK.
HVDE.— For the whole or any portion of the various works required In the erection
of the new Slechanics' Institution, proposed to be built upon a plot of land sitnatc
In Hyde-lane, Hyde. Drawings, &c., at the offices of Mr. William Walker, archi-
tect, 34, St. Ann-street, Manchester. Quantities will be supplied. Tenders to be
deUvered to the architect, endorsed "Mechanics' Institution, llyde," to April 27.
HOSPITAL.
Banff.— For one or more of the following departments of work, via :— Mason work,
Wrights' work, plumber work, slater work, plasterer work, required In the
erection of Chalmers Hospital, In Banff. Plans, &c., to 22nd April, on application to
Mr. Edward Mortimer, solicitor, in Banff, or at the office of Mr.W.'.L. Moffatt, archl -
tect, 4 Fettes-row, Edinburgh. Scaled tenders must be lodged with Mr. Mortim er
by twelve noon of April 25.
BANK.
Camberwell.— For the erection of a savings' bank on the terrace, CamberwcII.
Plans, cfec, at the office of James J. Laforest, architect. 11, King's-road, Bedford-
row, W.C. between ten and two from 22nd to 25th April. Tenders, scaled,
addressed to the secretary.of the Savings'-bank, Church-street, Camberwell, before
6 p.m., April 25. Bills of quantities will be provided, for which a deposit of lOs.
will be required, to be returned to all tendering.
SMITIIFIELD.
WELcnpooL, MoNTGOMERYsniRE.— For the formation of a Smlthfleld, in the
borough of Welchpool, In the county of Montgomery. Pl.ans, &c., at the office of
Alfred Meredith, town-clerk, in Welchpool, or duplicates of the same, at the office
ofthe architect, Mr. Robert Griffiths. Bridgnorth, until the 13th May. Tenders
under cover, addressed to Mr. Meredith, by 10 a.m.. May 14.
PUBLIC BUILDING.
Prestwich. — For the erection of a pnbUc building, as board-room, offices, &c., for
the Guardians "ofthe poor ofthe union. The building will be situated between
the Chectham Town-hall and Assembly-rooms. Plans, 4c., at the offices of the
architect, Mr. E. Bates, Albcrt-chambors, Corporation-street, Manchester. Sealed
tenders to be addressed to the Chairman of the Board, and to be delivered at the
Union offices, 55, York-street, Cheetham, by April 27.
ALMSHOUSES.
Bristol. — For.the masons', bricklayers', carpenters', tilers', plasterers', plumbers',
and other works required in the enlargement of Foster's Almsnouse, St.
Michael's-hill, Bristol. Plans, &c., at the office of the Surveyors to the Bristol
Charity Trustees, Messrs. Fosters and Wood, No. 0, Park-street. Tenders to A. K.
Miller, Secretary, 14, (Jueen-square, Bristol, by April 25.
Putney.— For the erection of 12 almshouses, in the Upper Richmond-road, Putney,
and the enclosure of the ground. Drawings, &c., at the office of Mr. Charles Lee,
architect, 20, Golden-square, to the 18th inst. Sealed tenders, endorsed " I'utney
Almshouse Committee," to Mr. R. S. Watlin, Churchwarden, High-street, Putney,
by 12 noon of April 24.
CATHEDRAL.
Worcester.— For the works to be done in the further restorations and repairs of
Worcester Cathedral. Drawings, &c., at the Offices of Mr. A. E. Perkins, archi-
tect. College-yard, Worcester. Tenders, sealed, to the Very Rev. the Dean of
Worcester, at the Chapter-room, at 1 o'clock p.m. of April 24.
CHURCHES, &c.
B.\Tii,— For excavating, concreting, foundation walls, Ac, forming contract No 1,
for the new Cafcjiolic church, South-parade, Bath. Plans, Ac, with the Rev. John
Worsley, 2, 1'ierrepont-place, Bath ; or at the office of Charles F. Hansom, archi-
tect. Rock House, Clifton. Tenders to the Itev. .1. Worsley, by April 27.
G^\J.LOWAY(N.B.)— For the proposed repairs and painting, including the building of
a porch, for the parish church of Kells. Drawing, &c., on apphcation to the Rev.
Dr. Maitland, Manse, New Galloway j or to Hugh H. M'Lure, architect, Glasgow.
Tenders to Dr. Maitland to April 25.
PARSONAGE.
Leeds.— For the several works required in the erection of a Parsonage atGreenhow
Hill. Plans, Ac, at the office of Mr. George Corson, 5, South-parade, Leeds,
until 1,3th April, and at the George Hotel, Pateley Bridge, until the 20th, on which
day scaled tenders are to bo delivered to Mr. Corson, 20, Cooper-street, Man-
chester.
SCHOOLS, Ac.
Essex.— For the erection of new school premises, at Bradwell-juxta-Mare, Esse.x.
Plans, Ac, at the offices of Mr. F. Chancellor, architect, 25, Old Broad-street,
Loudon, and Chelmsford, Essex. Tenders to the Rev. J. Warner, Bradwell-juxta-
3Iare, to April 27.
Kent.— For the erection of boys', girls', and Infants' schools, with a teachers'
residence. Plans, &c., at the present school-house in New Rents, Ashford, Kent.
Tenders to Mr. H. Headley, High-street, Ashford, to May 1.
VILLA.
Leeds.— For the different works required in the erection and completion of a villa
residence, with stabling and lodge. Ac, at Weetwood, near Leeds. Drawings. Ac,
witli Mr. William Hill, architect, 71, Albion-street, Leeds. Tenders to Mr. Hill, by
April 30.
DWELLING HOUSES, Ac.
Clifton.— For the erection ofthe head master's house, in connection with the new
college, Clifton. I'lans, &c., with the architect, Mr. Clins. F. Hansom, Rock House,
Clifton. Bills of quantities have been prepared, and can be h.id on payment of
half a guinea. Tenders to John Page, Esq., secretary, at the office of the company,
Guildhall, Bristol, endorsed " Tender for Head-Master's House," by April 30.
Chelsea.— For finishing the carcase of an eight-roomed house, and building a small
addition to the same. Plans, Ac, at Sir. I'earce's, Cooper's Arms, Queen
street, Chelsea.
Stafford.— For the erection and completion of certain additions and alterations
to the Judges' House, in Stafford. Plans, Ac, with 3Ir. Charles Trubshaw, county
surveyor. The Hollies, Stafford, from Mouday, April 29 to May 4. Tenders to the
Clerk ofthe Peace's office, Stafford, endorsed "'Tender for Additions to Judges'
House." by May 11.
Leeds.— For the erection of eight first-class houses and outbuildings, adjoining the
Leeds Grammar School, Woodhouse Moor. I'lans, Ac, with Tlionias Shaw and
Son, architects, Belgrave-square, Leeds. Tenders to be delivered on .\pril "20.
Herts. — For pulling down and rebuilding ahouse and premises, known as Aldenham
Grove, Aldenham, Hertfordshire. The estate Is situate one mile from Elshee
and four from the Harrow .Station. It is presumed there will be sufficient heavy
material on the works, which can be viewed. I'lans, Ac, at the Wrestlers, Alden-
ham; and architects' offices, 170, Upper-street, Islington, London, N. Tenders
till April 23.
FARJI BUILDINGS, COTTAGES, Ac.
Pontefract.— For the several works in the erection of cattle sheds, bam, Ac, at
Purstonc, and a gardener's cottage at Ackworth Park, near Pontefract. Drawings,
Ac, with 3Ir. Wm. Paley. I'urstone, to the 25th inst. Sealed tenders to be sent
to George Kuowles, 'NVilliam Wilcock, architects, Leeds-road, Bradford, by
April 20.
Hertford -For the erection of two pairs of model cottages, near Hertford, for
The Hertford Building Company, (Limited). I'lans, Ac, at the office ofthe archi-
340
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 19, 1861.
t«t,Mr. Scxtus Ihball, Xo. IS, Bucklersbury, E.C. Tenders to be delivered at
the »bovo addn-ss'bv Mav 3. or at the company's offlces, Messrs. feuasons and
Groombridge, Market-place, Hertford, before 12 noon. May ■».
FARM BUILDINGS, &c.
Aknas (N.B.)— Contractors vrantod for cxecutins the followins works, on the
Queensberrv estate, viz. :— In the parish of Torthorwald,— 1. Alterations and re-
pairs on dwellin"-house, steudiut; and mill, at Torthorwald. 2. Building new
dwellins-house and office houses at MUIburn. 3. Addition to dwelling-house at
Gre«ub«;. 4. Building part of steading at Woodlands. 5. Building barn and
Byre at Hcmplands. fi. Building dwelling-house at ThistlehoUn. 7. Building
dwelling-honsi- at Longrig. S. Additions, alterations, and repairs on dwellmg-
bonse and steading at Oalrloch. U. Building mill-shed and cart-house, at \\ hitc-
sidc. 10. Additions and repairs at Oxhill. In the parish of Tiuwald :— 11. Re-
pairs on dwelling-house and steading at Tinwald Shaws. 12. Biulding barn, byre,
and reuairing dwelling-house at Tinwald village. In the parish of Cummertrecs ;
—13. Repairs on dwelling-house, and additions and repairs on steading, at Charles.
Held. if. Additions and repairs on dwelling-house and steading at Winterseugh.
riaus and specitieations for Jtillburn (the others shortly) on application to George
Bell, lactor on the estate. Tenders to April 20.
MILT..
BlSHTOX.— For the several works in the erection of a cotton mill, engine-house,
boiler-honse, chimney. &c., at Kishton. near Blackburn, for the Kishton Victoria
Cotton Spinning and Slanufacturiug Company (Limited). Plans, speciiications,
*«., at the office of Mr. George Clarke, fire brick manufacturer, Kishton, from the
aotb to the iOth. Sealed tenders addressed to Kdwin Andrew, architect. Stack-
steads, near ganchestcr, statmg " Tender for Kishton Works," till the evening ol
April 30.
BRIDGE, Ac.
Lbkdb.— For the work* rcqnircd in the widening of Timble-bridge. Plans, &c., at
the office of Thomas Shaw and Son, 2, Belgrave-square, on AprU 22. Also for
the supply of Skipton-road and foundry stone, or other stone equally good for
macadamised roads. Tenders for wheeling, piling, and breaking the same at
per ton boat weight. Tenders for leading broken stone from the town's depot,
Whitehall-road, to the dilTcrent macadamised roads in the township of Leeds,
and for carts and horses by the day. Tenders for supplying 3-inch self-faced
flags, 5 inch boasted curbs, 10 by 8 tooled curbs. Best double-dressed setts, not
agore than IS inches long nor les-s than 12, 8 inches wide and 1> deep. Common
setts, not more than 18 inches long nor less than twelve, from 8 to S) inches deep ;
not more tlian 8 inches wide, and li-inch cube pavers. Tenders to be delivered at
the survevor's office, 5. Commercial-street, Leeds, addressed to the Chairman of
the Board, and marked, " Tender for stone," &c., as the case may be, by 12 noon
of April 27.
PAVING, &c.
HoLBECK.— For paring the streets mthe township of Holbeck. Particulars from
Mr. William Pinder, Chairman of the Board. Tenders, as above, bjr April 19.
AtTBisCHAM.— For levelling, paving, flagging, and channelling or the carriage-
ways, and footways, of all or any of the following streets, within the district.
Til. :— .John-street, Half-street, and Russell-street. Plans, &c., at the offices of
the Local Board, 14, High-street, Altrincham. Sealed tenders to be addressed to
the Surveyor of the Local Board, by April 29.
Maschesieb.— For sewering, levelling, paving, flagging, and channelling so much
of Sloane-street and the footpaths at the sides thereof as lies between Moss-lane
and Great Western-street. Plans, Ac, at the ofllce of the Board, No. 21, Cooper-
street, Uanchester. Tenders to AprU 29.
EAILWAT WORKS.
IjOSdox, BRiGnTON, AND SouTH CoAST RAILWAY.— For the cxecntion of the
following works, viz. :— No. 1. Cast and wrought iron roofing over the passenger
pUtfomis and station at Brighton, to cover about 7.30 squares. No. 2. Retaining
and roof walls, platforms, new cab road and approaches, goods tunnel, and other
works connected therewith, for the enlargement of the Brighton station. No. 3.
Booking-offices and clerk's houses at West Grinstead and Southwater, and a block
of three cottages at Itchingfield, near Horsham, in the county of Sussex. Draw-
ings, kc. at the office of the engineer, Mr. E. .jacomb Hood, No. 7, I'arliament-
Btreet, Westminster, S. W. Tenders, upon prescribed form only, must be delivered
to Frederick Slight, secretary, London-bridge Terminus, by 12 noon of April 29.
Ih;BLiii AND Dnor.HEDA Railway.— For the construction of a line of railway from
the town of Kells to the town of OldcasOe, in the county of Meath. Plans, &c., at
the office of Matthew Blakiston, Esq., civil engineer. No, 9, Eustace-street,
DnbUn. Sealed tenders, endorsed " Tenders for the Ivclls and Oldcastle Extension
Railway," to J. P. Culverwell, secretary, Amiens-street, Dublin, by May 9.
SEA CUT.
Hdrto?i asi> Tedihghah Drainage.— For additional earth-work, timber, and
pile work, mason and stonework required in the repairs of other portions of the
sea cnt not included m contract A, between Ncwbj^-bridge and Whitby-road,
bridge, near Scarboro'. Plan, Ac, at the office of ./osiah Forster Fairbank, Esq.,
C.E„ 74, Newbro'-street, Scarboro", until .30th April next. Tenders to bo sent in,
endorsed •• Tender for additional work in Sea Cut," and addressed to the Directors
of the Muston and Vedingham Drainage, under cover, to .Tosiah Forster Fairbank,
or to A. and W. tiimpson, clerlyS to the directors, Malton, by April 30.
CAISSONS.
Hewtobt.— For the construction of an Iron caisson, with extreme dimensions 71 feet
by 21 feet, by 28 feet 6 inches, for the Newport (Mon.) Dock Company .Specifications,
*c., at the l)«k office, Newport, or at Mr. .lames Abernethy's.C.E., 3, Parliament-
street, Westminster. Tenders to Henry R. Foote, Secretary, Dock Office, New-
port, Honmontbshire, by AprU 24.
MILITARY WORKS.
DocKTABDs.- For the extension and improvements of the works of fortification
roimd the principal dockyards of the country. It Is intended to call for contracts
from time to time, from any persons of known competence who may be willing to
tender for the same, and contractors desirous of tendering for such works are to
(end their names and addresses, with any necessary references as to competency
to the Director of Contracts, AVar-office, Pall-mall, London, in order that, if ap-
prored of, they may be included In the list of contractors to whom invitations are
nrwarded when contracts are required. Parties applying to stale the nature and
the extent of the worli, and the localities for which they would wish to be invited
to tender, asopportunitles offer.
Tabmocth — FtirputtlBgon new roofs, and laying new floors to the mlUtia depot,
at Great Yarmouth. Plans, &c., at the office of R. SL Phipson, Architect, County
flanreyor of Norfolk, King-street, Norwich. Tenders to Mr. Phipson sealed and
(■doned, " Tender for New Roofs and Floors, Yarmouth Militia Depot," to
April 26.
_ MILITARY WORKS.
WOOLWICH.— For the following trades in the Woolwich Royal Engineer District,
from 1st .Inne, I8fll. to the 31st March, I8«2, viz. :— bricklayers, masons, pavlors,
^tcrs and upholsterers, plasterers, slaters, plumbers, smiths and iron-
n, painters, glaziers, paperiiangers, and gasfitters. Schedules and forms of
rat the KoyalEngincerOflice,Mlll.lane, Woolwich, to April 20, Thetendcrs
to be delivered, or forwarded, prepaid, to the Director of Contracts, War Office, Pall
inall, London, S. W., marked ■• Tender for Artificer's Work, Woolwich District,"
mr noon of April '.^. Each party tendering may specify the percentage on each
waoe Kparately, yet there will be only one contract for the 'Woolwich District em-
*-"^f aU the aboTe trades.
Itusholme—New Catholic Church and Schools.— On Thursday week
the foundtttion stone of tliese new buildings were laid, with some ceremony. The
site is in Tliurlow-stroet, Rusholrae. Mr. Pugiu has designed tlie building,
wliicU is to beereeted by Mr. Eaton, of Ashton. The style will be Decorated,
of the Edwardian period, and the dimensions 90 feet long by 47 feet wide on the
outside. The nave and side aisles are to be divided by au arcade of Derbyshire
marble columns, with Sicilian marble bases, forming an apse at the eastern end.
The clerestjry will be lighted by circular windows, cinque foiled. Transverse
arches are to be thrown from the buttresses, inside tlie edifice, to the piers of the
nave, and on these arches the roofs of the aisles will be raised. A_ tower and
spire are to form part of the erection, the latter reacliing to the height of the
side walls of the nave. The building will possess accommodation for about 600
persons, and the cost is expected to be about £2,500. It is dedicated to St.
Edward tlie Confessor, the last of the Sa.\on kings.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
ASuBscRlBEB TO THE "BUILDING NEWS" (Sandwich.)— A question somewhat difficult to
decide on such limited information as you send. In tlio first place there must be a division
or partition of some kind between the nouses , you must not cut away or injure any part of
It which belongs to the middle liuuse, or you will be liable to an action for djimaRC. Has
not the owner of the " middle house "' an eeiual right to the partitiou with yourself '/ If it
belongs wholly to vou, you may give him notice to protect his own property, and pull down
that which belongs to you. Send us more detailed information. It has, however, been
decided that where several houses belonging to the same owner arc built together so that
each requires the mutual support of the adjoiidng house, and the owner parts with one of
the houses, the right to such mutual support is not thereby lost. The reason for this is that
the law presumes that the oiviier reserves to himself such right, and at the same time
grants to the new owner an equal right; and, consequently, if the owner parts with several
houses at different times, the possessors still enjoy the right to mutual support, the right
being wholly Independent of the question of the priority of their titles.
S. W. M.— You cannot at present under the clause in the contract, as sent to us, take any
proceedings to enforce the penaltv, until the date named has expired. The production
of the architect's certificate seems to be a condition precedent to payment of any sum
Avll^tcvcr
T. R.' T Wo cannot say. The discussion of such matters soldoms leads to desirable results.
Let well alone. . , ^ . . , ,, ,*. ,,
J. N.— The resulntions of the civil service do not apply to appointments in the Britisn
Museum ; they are made by the trustees or by the principal Librarian, M. ramzzi.
Frank (LBicE3TKB).—Wccanuot say ; refer to published works on the subject.
" Opening New windows. "~A communication on this subject has reached us without
signature ; if the writer will send one, we wiU endeavour to reply.
E. ft. S.— Published by Weale, High Ilolborn. . , ^^ * r
H. C. BBENDLiNO (Tuubridgo Wells).— Is the name of a professional man wanted, or that or
a tradesman to execute the work? . ^ . ... .,
V. B. (Mlddlesborough).- 1. Will do well to make himself thoroughly acquainted with Uie
article in the " Eneyclopredis Britanulca." 2. We should hardly recommend you to
purchase Stuart: and Revctt's book at present. 8. Chambers' work, now being Issued with
the BuiLDiNO News, contains notes by the editor of the present edition.
W. J. O. L.— Shall appear on receiving name and address.
W. B.— Depends on the levels, the quantity to ha raised, and the time available for tno
purpose.
Exhibition in Conduit-street.— Yes.
K. Phippson.— Lord St. Leonards, a good authority, says tliat If you are likely to build, or
otherwise improve your property, it would be advisable first to redeem the land-tax ; but
if you have no such intention, by paying the land tax you would simply assist the Goveru-
ment in imposing a new tax on the land, wlueh they will, no doubt, do as soon as the laml
tax is generally redeemed, without regard to the large prices paid by the landed interest
for the redemption of the tax, or of the fair acres which have been severed from estates ,or
Uie noble timber foiled upon them to raise money for the redemption, and without regara
to the heavy impost on land under the Succession Duty Act. In order to induce persons to
buy up the remaining land-tax the price of redemption has been reduced by £17 10s. per
cent, below the terms fixed by the 42 Geo. Ill, c. 116. It appeared to me that this enact-
ment would enable strangers to buy up the land-tax on other men's estates, whicn wouia
cause great dissatisfaction. To meet tliis objection, another Act was passed in the same
session, which excludes all persons and corporations fVom the right to redeem land- tax
except those having an interest in the land, and to whom preference In the redemption or
land-tax was given for a limited period by the 42nd of George III. This protects youlVom all
intruders. lint then the Government tacked on to this Act a clause that upon the completion
of any redemption, the property shall be wholly exonerated from land-tax, and Irom
any yearly rent-charge in respect of the price. This was a serious alteration of the
law and will load to some Inconvenience. The object, as I have said, was to exttnauun ail
the land-tax as quickly as possible. You should keep in view this enactment, which will
operate upon every redemption made since the Act, and, therefore, upon all future ones.
Y on cannot buy the land-tax on your settled estate, and keep It on foot to be redeemed by
the person who succeeds you, and to form part of your personal estate; nor can you buy
the land-tax on the rectorv of which you have the advowson, and keep it alive as a c large
for your own benefit. In those, and In aU other cases, if you purchase the land-tax, It wlU
bv force of the Act become extinguished. If you determine to redeem you should apply to
the Clerk of the Land-tax Commissioners, who will supply you with printed papers con-
taining fuU directions, and you may at once, if you please, transler the stock, or pay the
money price so as to save yourself any further trouble, and the contract will finally De
delivered to you properly executed.
The Contuactoes.- You are in error, the article appeared in a contemporary.
E. MooKE.— We cannot at present make any promise, so much will depend on clrcumBtances.
INVESTIGATOB.- Win find Ulustratlons of the building in " The Public Buildings of Loudon,
edited by Mr. Leeds.
Q.— Too late to appear this week. ,, . . , «,, , *
V. T.— Line the walls wl th a cheaper paper until they are thoroughly dry. The employment
of any application or covering to keep moisture in the wall is objectionable.
Samcei, T— P. C. in siieclflcations means prhne cost ; i.e., the trade price of the article with
no allowance for profit to builder. .„ ., ^ . * *, ,
B.C. N Will be required to alter the existing arrangements if tlie facts come to the know-
ledge of the Inspector of Nuisances. , , . , ..„ , ^ . . ,.
F. A.-It is impossible to give a" complete set ofrules"forthe admission of light into picture
galleries in our answers to correspondents, even If such rules existed. It is evident that
everything depends on local circumstances and the design of the galleries ; certainly light
from the celling Is the best.
One on STniKE.— Shall receive attention at the proper time. . , ^. „ , ,,,„,„ „,
B. and S.— Wo have no reason to think that any delay in the opening of the Exhibition or
p'.(;2 will take place in consequence of recent events. ,...4.
V. X.— Shall hear from us. Will find a onslderablo amount of information on the subject
in our third Volume. ,, ,, ^ ,,.,„*
Enuuires.- The back numbers of the Buildino News contained in yoiu- list can be had at
our publishing office.
TlLLEYToNV.— Tliauks ; shall appear In due course. „
S. 8. S.-The first part of Mr. fairbalrn's new work, on " Mills and MUIwork, has Just
been Issued by Messrs. Longman and Co. A review will appear in our next.
B. 1' We cannot attempt to decide such disputes.
O.-Is bound by his contract to provide materials of the several kinds and qualities therein
speclflcd-they certainly must not bo inferior, but probably uo objection would bo raised to
their being superior to those intended in the first instance. Y on should have examined the
contract more carefully before signing ; not having done so, you appear to have engaged to
provide materials of a kind very cilfflcultto proeiure ; try and make some arrangement.
W. Jones In typo ; waits for want of space.
t t Send name and address.
A. IIEADEB.— We sluUl notice the works exhibited in due course. . .,. .
A. K.- Messrs. Debenham and Storr's now premises have been erected by Mr. Arthur
Allom.
O. (lirlstol) Below our mark.
W. W. W.— Has already appeared.
J.i 0 We cannot decide wagers on any subject whatever.
KECEIVED.-J. W. Thompson, S. T. 8., W. M. J., L. I!-, Sir C. E. J OS., W., H. P. &
Co., V. K., W. W. W., E. i. K., T. Coleson.'Z.X., A Constant subscritier CiarmouHi),
A Subscriber (Glasgow), Antl-Strike, E. L. 8. O., W. N., One In Difflcultles, P. B. M.,
A Railway Clerk, H. N. I, C. C, No. 26, A Reader Ctom No. 1, Antiquary, O. I'., An
Employer, H. J. C.
April 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
341
the
THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.
REAT as was the success of the Universal
Exhibition of Works of Industry in 1851,
' there is just cause for believing that the one
of next year will be a still greater triumpli
— a nobler monument of English adminis-
trative skill, and of our constant, marvellous
progress in trade manufactures and art.
Ten years ago we were totally ignorant of
how E,\:hibitions were got up and managed
— excepting, of course, those of the Royal
Academy and artistic societies ; and' what-
ever information they might have afforded
would have been utterly useless, for the very
good reason that paintings were excluded
from the Crystal Palace in Hyde-park. We
had nothing to guide us in elaborating and
carrying out the scheme to success beyond
.,„^ scraps and information gleaned here and
there from what was allowed to transpire with
respect to Paris Exhibitions. The data so ob-
tained were meagre and contradictory in the extreme, and the little
service they could be was further diminished from their resultmg from
the action of the Government, whereas here the Government stood
aloof, and the work was left to the organizing capacity, zeal, and good
sense of private individuals. Again, Paris expositions had always been
closed to foreigners ; ours was thrown open to all the world, which
created fresh difficulties by adding to the unknown element and
augmenting the labor. In spite of all these disadvantages, England s
first Exliibition outstripped all compeers, whose organisation and wants
had been studied and known for years. The last in the field, we in one
bound, per saltum, took the first place, leaving our rivals " nowhere,
to borrow the language of the turf. The work was national, for the
nation did it without delegation, and it was therefore a national
triumph— the prelude, we hope, to a mightier and more complete one
next year. . . .
If we did so well, when ignorant and without experience, it is no
more than feasible and reasonable to anticipate that we shall do better
with the vast knowlet^e acquired in 1851 to guide us in the right path
and warn us of dangers to be avoided. Chief among the managers are
Lord Granville, Mr. Wentworth Dilke, and Mr. Fairbairn. They are
no longer 'prentice hands, but skilful, practised working men. Lord
Granville's talents for administration and liberal mind, his suaoiter in
tnodo et fortiter in. re in control of others, and his business experience
as a large iron master ; Mr. Fairbairn's rare and lofty attainments in
physical science, with Mr. Wentworth Dilke's Stirling sense and high in-
tegrity are calculated to inspire well-deserved confidence among sub-
scribers, exhibitors, and the general public. They are guarantees that
impartiality, economy, and efficiency will be attained, so far as it is
practicable for mortals to reach, and not the faintest shadow of jobbery
■will rest upon theb policy and actions. What little of their doings
that has yet transpired sufficiently indicates the satisfactory course they
intend to pursue. They have already gently, but resolutely, put aside
the pretensions of certain individuals who sought to make their con-
nection with the last Exhibition a claim for being preferred to employ-
ment in the next. At the same time, while fully admitting the justice
and wisdom of what has hitherto been done, we venture to submit to
the consideration of the Commission the expediency of employing
those subordinates, or heads of departments, in the Exhibition of 1851,
who evinced aptitude for the work, and diligence and earnestness in its
execution ; for practical experience is half the battle. The brilliant
theorist doubtless has his value and place in affiiirs, but he seldom can
descend to labor and its tedious details. He generally considers them
beneath him, and he is consequently distanced by the least showy, pains-
taking man of business. It is the fable of the race between the hare
and the tortoise mise en pratique.
No harm can possibly accrue, but much good may, perhaps, result
from discussing at this early stage, through the medium of the public
press, suggestions for rendering the forthcoming Exhibition more suc-
cessful and instructive than its predecessor ; and it is in consequence
of this belief that we are encouraged to trespass on the attention of the
reader with certain notions of our own.
The first great question is the division of objects exhibited — are they
to be classed according to their nationality, or according to their cha-
racter and purpose? In 1851 the geographical or national classifica-
tion was adopted as a general rule ; but in numerous instances it was
violated, and the result was some confusion and unsystematic arrange-
ment. The French department did not exhibit all that was sent from
France. Machines that had to be driven and others had to be sepa-
rated and grouped with those of different nations. It was the same in
the Paris E.xposition Universelle that followed our own, and we believe
it will inevitably be the same next year. Under these circumst anoes,
seeing that geographical classification cannot be thoroughly carried out,
it is well worthy of examining the advantages and disadvantages of
establishing the division of objects exhibited according to their cha-
racter and purpose. The instruction offered by an Exhibition in
derivable from a comparative examination of its contents. The educa-
tional results of travel are the fruits of this comparison. Tlie Exhi-
bition is nothing more or less than a scheme for giving to those who
stay at home the facilities of travellers, or for bringing into closer
juxtaposition the products of other countries. The traveller, if he
wishes to learn from comparative investigation, goes from France to
Brussels, Germany, and elsewhere. , He must be blessed with a reten-
tive memory to encompass the full benefit of his observations. It is
certainly easier for the student to walk from one department to another
than to travel from one country to another ; but would not study be
rendered all the more easy if products and producing means were placed
in the same class, so as to allow of their comparative examination being
instantaneous ? It would certainly be less tedious and fatiguing.
Most, if not all the difficulties to carrying out this system of classifi-
cation may be obviated by combining with it natural subdivisions. For
instance the Commissioners have promulgated their classes of goods, or
objects exhibited, which would imply that to each class is to be allotted
a separate portion of the building ; but the geographical division did
not and will not allow of it. The building is apportioned according to
nationality, and then each compartment is to be arranged according to
the Commissioners' classifications, which looks very much like reversing
the position of divisions and subdivisions. If on the contrary the
building be divided after the classification of character, we do not
see any impediment to each portion being subdivided geographically.
The powerful locomotive of Austria might stand near that of our
Great Western, and the locomotives of Cruzot, Kcechlin, and Gouin
by side those of Stephenson, Wilson, and Hawthorn; the marine
engines of Call and Mazeline next those of Penn, Maudslay, and
Watt ; the hollow brick machine of Borie, beside Bearts' perforated
brick machine, Minton's, Rose's, and Copeland's china in the neighbour-
hood of similar products from Sevres and Dresden without there being
a chance of confounding one with another, or interfering with their
respective superintendence. Our artists, manufacturers, and working
men will benefit greatly by comparative examination, and any arrange-
ment which will facilitate it, merits consideration at the hands of the
Commissioners.
It will be no disparagement of the labors of the compilers of the
last catalogue to say that it was susceptible of great improvement. It
was a trade speculation, and under this condition profitable to Messrs.
Clowes, but still deficient in that information which would have been
most useful. It ou^ht to be a catalogue raisonne, which does not imply
that it need be very bulky; that is to say, in addition to the character,
nationality, and name of the exhibitor of the object, the catalogue
should state its price and distinguishing features or novelty, which
could be done in a couple of lines. The catalogues of the Sydenham
Crystal Palace are models that might be advantageously imitated, and
it would be desirable that each class in the Exhibition of 1862 should
have a separate catalogue, to offer greater ease for handling and refer-
ence, and to come within the means of working men.
With respect to the building itself, it is to be hoped that the flooring
will not be composed of planks with spaces between, as in the last one,
because it is very fatiguing to walk upon ; the foot does not find a flat
and uniform tread, and the muscles are strained and tired. The reason
for leaving these spaces was to allow of dirt being swept down them
and labor saved ; but no real, or, at all events, noticeable economy re-
sulted. It would be little more trouble to sweep the dirt into heaps
and remove it, and in that case a non-inflammable material might be
employed for the flooring, which would be an advantage ; for too many
precautions cannot be taken against fire. The roof, we are told, is to
be of timber, Kyanised, or saturated with some material to render jt
non-absorbent of moisture. It will be an improvement upon Sir
Joseph Paxton's glass ridge and valley roof, for which he took out a
patent, by being less heavy and offering an impediment to the penetra-
tion of solar caloric into the interior of the building. But a timber
roof, especially if it be impregnated with tar, will increase the fire risk,
and is, therefore, highly objectionable. The cost of zinc, its hability
to rapid corrosion, and being a good conductor of heat, might militate
against its employment in the roof; but would it not be practicable to
ule for roofing sheets of thinly rolled iron, enamelled or glazed on both
sides ? The glaze would be similar to that put on the iusides of iron
saucepans, and might be of different colors, as the iron would not be
exposed to high temperatures. The glaze might be a leaden one, such
as put on conimon crockery, to run at a low heat. If a large order
were given, Wolverhampton and Birmingham would turn out glazed
roofing sheets of iron at a price not so much exceeding the cost of pre-
pared timber as might be at first imagined. This is a financial ques-
tion into which we have no occasion to enter ; it is one on which the
Commissioners are alone competent to decide. But we do know that
an iron roof of this description would not be combustible, and that the
342
THE BUlLDlxNG NEWS.
April 26, 1861.
glaze, while preserving the roof for almost any period of time, would
reflect the heat of the sun and not allow it to penetrate into the
interior of the building. Further, by making the enamel or glaze of
diflerent colors, theroof may be made susceptible of producing a highly
artistic and pleasing effect like what may be seen in some of the
Moorish structures of Spain. Taking these things into consideration,
they may be thought to outweigh extra cost at the commencement,
since in a few years there must be considerable economy from the
absence of repairs.
As next year the Exhibition will cont^n works of art, there is not
too much time to commence their collection and selection. Some of
the chief works of the most celebrated English artists are the property
of corporate bodies, who, when the time comes, may not feel themselves
authorised to lend what has been confided to their trust. To obviate
delay, and perhaps disappointment, a short Bill should be prepared and
passed through Parliament empowering corporations to lend their
artistic property to the Commissioners during the period of the
Exhibition. A gallery of English art would be incomplete if Hogarth's
pictures in the Soane Museum and Foundling were absent. Windsor
Castle and Buckingham Palace will, we know, yield its treasures.
Perhaps Hampton Court may send some that are worthy, but what
about.the British Museum, Lawrence's, Reynolds's, and Gamsborough's
pictures in provincial Town-halls ? It is a national object to make the
gallery of English art as complete and comprehensive as possible, to
show our countrymen what English artists can do, and to convict
foreign critics of their ignorance of our capacity and resources.
Ave trust a large and adequate part will be given to architecture
and to all the arts and trades in connexion with it in the Exhibition.
We should like to see opportunities allowed for the proper dis-
play of new systems of construction and decoration. On the last
occasion the Prince Consort built a specimen of laborers' cottages, with
Eoberts' bonded bricks, and a great stimulus was thereby given to
the improvements of working men's dwellings. The utility of several
modem inventions might be demonstrated to the eye if proper scope
were afibrded to manufacturers. For instance, Minton might fit up a
covered cortille, or modification of a conservatory, such as could be
erected in connexion with most houses in towns. We can imagine an
apartment, roofed in with glass at top, in which flowers and fragrant
shrubs would be arranged as ornaments. The floor would be paved
with brilliant encaustic tiles, with a foimtain in the centre, that, having
the fear of water-rates before our eyes, need not play except when the
family were present. The walls might be faced with tiles also, ar-
ranged in colored designs. A slightly-raised bench would run round
the sides and be provided with cushions, like a Turkish divan. After
the toils of the day, the hard matter-of-fact struggles of daily life, it
would be a change of scene and relaxation to spend an hour or two in
an apartment which would be to Londoners what the Potio is to
Spaniards, where the eye would be pleased and relieved by the play of
colors and the green of vegetation ; where the scent would be gratified
by the fragrance of tlowers, and the ear soothed by falling water ; the
most mystic and thought-impelling of all sounds. For the time your city
man wotild be in drcamlana. He would forget stocks and teas, sugars
and fats, railway bonds, and perchance the income-tax : and who can
maintain that he would be any the worse for the change and novel
direction of his ideas. In a similar way, Maw might fit up an entrance-
hall, and the Poole Company a bath-room. These are but a few illus-
trations of how the Exhibition may serve to show us how to build our
homes and make them enjoyable.
SOME NOTES ON THE CONVENIENT ARRANGEMENT OP
BUILDINGS.
ARCHITECTS are often supposed " to bum the midnight lamp ;" and
tme it is that, in great mcastu-e, the architect must be a man of
reading ; a man of studious solitude. Even in travelling — so necessary
for developing liis latent powers of design—too frequent intercourse with
society is pernicious j and will prove fatal to liis advancement. His object
in travelling ibonld be, to gain knowledge by personal inspection of ex-
isting monuments of art; and in doing this, it is not always the safest course
for him to " nm m harness," as the plirase is : if he really desires to attain
it, his visits roast for the most part be made alone; and alone he must pore
ovw and sketch the works of great men, who have preceded him. It is a
pecnUar property of art, as contradistinguished from science, that it ad-
ORMes Ittelf at met to the imagination of each individual. It needs little
ofthe interpreter. The works of tlic dead architect (of course we speak of
endurmrj works ; in brick or in stone, or in marble) speak for themselves ;
and appeal alike to the ancient contemporary, and to posterity.
Hot— alas for the poor architect— he has a paradox to surmount. For
hiro, although as an artist he must indeed burn the midnight lamp, there
are other tasks, other duties also j and to qualify himself for these, he
must perforce tear himself from the blandishments of the itudio, and mix
active y with the worid. His art is truly a Fine Art j but the practice of
» (vulgb, " the profession ') has very much to do with science ; and it is
ettentialiy necessary, be should be a citizen of the world ; a man, accus-
tomed to mix in many companies ; to converse with all classes of his
fellow-men ; witli quick perception of their mode of life, of their customs,
and their daily wants. Without this he will be constantly at fault in the
contrivance of his buildings for all purposes of mere utility ; or fitness for
the uses to which they are to be put by liis employers.
Some few architects pass their lives in one special branch of professional
practice, and have little or no need of the cosmopolitan virtue we are
advocating. The late Mr. Beazley — a true cosmopolite, by the way — was
always building theatres, or altering them : the late Mr. Pngin was
always building churches and conventual buildings for Roman Catholic
uses.
To these and such as these exceptional practitioners, no process of
induction was needed, ere they entered on the task of contriving a new
building of their special class : a few hints from their respective clients
amply sufficed for their purpose ; and, far from following in the wake of
their employers to rightly comprehend their beau ideal of a convenient
building, these gentlemen were, from long habit and experience, enabled
to lead the way in suggesting contrivances for the convenient use of their
edifices.
The general run of architects have not this facility; and many a young
architect is sorely harassed by finding his practice is so very mutable, as to
be hardly ever bkely to afford it him. He is commissioned to erect a
country shooting-box; prepares his plans with scrupulous attention to all
his clients' requirements, and, by the time his task is ended, finds how
much he has had to learn, and to unlearn meanwhile. He has grown by
that time learned in rural domestic architecture in general, and shooting-
boxes in particular. Mentally determining to profit by experience, he
sighs for another shooting-box to practice on — but cruel fate denies him
the chance : he never builds another ; his next commission comes suddenly
on him to disturb — nay, to disperse — his shooting-box reveries — 'tis to
design a railway station. Forthwith he is hurried deep into the mysteries
of up lines and down lines, of narrow gauges, and " six foots," of arrival
and departure platforms, with all the other incoming and outgoing
etccetera. All these he happily masters; acquits himself of his task with
credit ; sees its imperfections, however. " My next commission " (he
soliloquises) " shall be free from these defects." That next commission is
— a High church, in a low city thorouyhfare. Our readers know the rest :
our poor friend, who has but so lately been thinking of turn-tables and
switches, is ruthlessly plunged into ecclesiological agenda : — is suspected of
incompetence for expressing a questionable opinion of lychnoscopes ; is
snubbed for knowing too little of hagioscopes ; and so on. By the time he
has sufficiently extended his own scope to comprehend these and their
congenial matters, he is ready for another church ; and is commissioned to
erect — a brewery I
From all that has here been said, it will be obvious that, though book
learning and travel are excellent things for an architect, he must not in
matters of convenience rely on either ; but rather ou an intelligent obser-
vation of social customs and requirements. Nothing should come amiss to
the architect : he ought now and then, at least, to forsake his study, to
seek out the busy haunts of men, and to know what is transpiring in, the
world.
To effect this end there is no surer course for an architect, on finding
himself commissioned to erect a new and, to him, strange kind of building,
than, before drawing his own plans, to visit such buildings of the kind as
are accessible ; to put himself in frequent communication with his client ;
to (especially if that client be intelligent on that point) avail himself of
all his client's knowledge of the requirements of the building ; and by all
means if possible, to avoid puzzling him with showy drawings and ques-
tions of taste ; to, in fact, in the first instance confine himself to the
production of a perfect plan, irrespective of elevations or sections. This
can hardly be done in the case of Classic buildings ; but with an irregular
{i. e. picturesque) Gothic building it may be very easily done: indeed this
very irregularity is esteemed one of the prevailing characteristics of the
styla It has never been disputed. We believe even My Lord Palmerston
would concede the fact — that to a well digested ground plan, contrived
without any reference to its elevations, a good set of elevations can always
be subsequently made.
It is the plan that mainly regulates the convenient disposition of the
edifice: there is no document so uninteresting to the client as the plan ; and
yet it is the plan that he best comprehends, and which moreover is to him
the most harmless and most safe to deal with of all the architect's
drawings. The section is unintelligible to most clients ; perspective views
are often deceptive, and the elevations are proverbially calculated to
mislead him. To the plan alone therefore it will be wise in the architect
to confine the client's attention, and on it solely to study those points of
convenience which, if lost sight of, no amount of beauty in the fagades
will atone for.
These points of convenience then are best to be attained by communica-
tion with the client, or, as it has been well expressed by a Committee of
the Institute of Architects,* "ample consultation with the employers, and
a careful observation of their practical views, wishes and ideas ; which
the architect, having attentively gathered, then moulds according to the
rules of art. Every experienced man knows that, this confidential
communication of ideas is in truth the groundwork of the design."
• Report of Committee of Institute, appointed to consider tlie subject of Publle-
Competitions for ArcUtcctural Dcsijnis, Jan. 7, 1839.
April 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
349.
THE ARCHITECTURAL EXHIBITION.*
OE the vnrious proposals for roofing the open area of the Royal Exchange, we
find two only represented in tlie present Exhibition. Mr. Jaines Stapleton's
(No. iO) sliows a glass and iron roof whicli springs from the lower level, leaving
the building scarcely recognisable. No. !)7, hy Mr. L. De Ville, is better treated,
hut' does not satisfactorily solve the problem.
Mr. J. M. Rogers' design for Clifton College (No. 94) would look much better
if drawn in a more simple and truthfal manner; the least satisfactory part of
the design, as seen in the elevation, is perhaps the centre. Some of the rain-
water pipes terminate at the level of the first floor ceiling, resting on carved
heads, the effect is far from satisfactory.
No. 95. A design sent in competition for the Leeds Institute, by Mr. Alfred
Else, is not a satisfactory application of Venetian Gothic. The design for Long
Ashton School (98), contributed by Mr. E. \V. Godwin, is, except in respect of
excessive width in the lower part of the chimney shaft, very effective.
No. 99, Messrs. Newman and Billing's second selected design for Faversham
Almshouses, is of a moderately plain but appropriate character, the greatest
amount of enrichment being on the church, in the centre of the composition, and
approached from all parts of the institution under a covered way. There are
also good points observable in the mortuary cross, by Willson and Niclioll
(No. 100.)
No. 101, a sketch of the gateway to St. Augustine's College, Canterbury, is
carefully drawn in parts, but has a spotty effect, and the near turret is not in
correct perspective.
In 10'2 and 109 Mr. Broderick sends ^iewsof his "Design for St. Martin's-on-
the-Hill, Scarborough." The author's predilection for the horizontal character
of the Italian style is observable throughout the greater part of the design,
although in the Pointed style. The tower and spire are good, but the true effect
of the other portions of the exterior can be seen only by hiding with the hand the
chancel end drawn on the same paper. In the interior the capitals of the piers
are sadly out of drawing; in fact, tlie view bears evidence of hasty completion.
No. 103, contributed by Mr. Pritchett, shows " Views of Upper Sapey Church,
Hereford," before and since the addition of a tower and spire, and of " White
Ladies Aston Church, Worcester," before and since the addition of an aisle and
vestry-room.
No. 106 is a large tracing of one of the cast-iron bridges, 87 feet span, erected
in the public parks at New York, by Mr. Calvert Vaux. The application of an
enlarged guilloche for the purposes of a balustrade is not to be commended.
No. 107 is another of Mr. Broderick's works, "A Design for the Midland
Hotel, Leeds." The dormer windows to Mansard roofs are prominent features,
as also are the chimney-shafts.
Mr. Blomfield's " Sfission House, St. Martin's-in-the- Fields" (108), is illus-
trated with an external view, two sections, and a plan. The upper part of the
tower seems to need revision in some respects.
No. 110. "The London-bridge Railways Hotel," by Mr. Currey, lately illus-
trated in our pages, is accompanied with a small view showing the design
originally proposed, with low campaniles at each angle. Both this design and
Mr. Broderick's Midland Hotel are good examples ot street architecture. Both
are carefully studied, and express their purpose in an admirable manner.
No. 111. The design as first proposed for Mr. Button's '•'Coffee-room," in
Chancery-lane, by Mr. F. H. Fowler, shows the value of the slightest variety
on plan. The glass and iron roof, however, looks weak ; and the drawing
wotild look better for the omission of the badly-drawn table in the foreground.
No. 113, by Mr. Walter Robinson, gives pencil sketches of " Romsey Abbey
Church" and "Salisbury Cathedral," both drawn with spirit; but the true
proportion of the grand tower and spire at Salisbui'y is not well represented.
No. 114, by Mr. Edward Appleton, shows the " Master's House," apparently
detached from the Torquay National Schools. A plan without figured dimensions,
shows on the ground iioor a parlor, kitchen, scullery, pantry, &c. The kitchen
seems approachable only through either the parlor or scullery
Mr. George Goldie sends in No. 115, "East and West Views of the New
Church of St. Bridget, Ballymote, Sligo." A small figured plan shows a nave
100 feet by 26 feet, north and south aisles each 100 feet by 13 feet, north and
south porches, a sacristy on south side of apsidal chancel, which is about 2.5 feet
by 24 feet, and a tower at the north-west angle.
We are again fortunate in finding a plan accompanying two views and two
elevations of Mr. W. S. Barber's design for " Congregational Church at Lower
Clapton " (No. 116). The arrangement on plan seems well adapted to the site.
This is a striking example at once of the insufficiency of geometrical drawings
alone to give, even to architects, an exact idea of the effect of a design when
seen in perspective ; and of the absolute necessity there is for geometrical drawings
to be exhibited in conjunction with perspectives. The elevations exhibited give
little promise of the excellent effect seen in the view. We strongly recommend,
at any rate, our younger readers to examine No. 116 very carefully.
No. 117, a " Design for the Leeds Institution," by Mr. Frances Lee, is crude in
color, and of so unfinished an aspect, that it seems to forbid close exami-
nation.
No. 118, by Mr. Henry Dawson, shows a " Block of offices at the corner of Fen-
church-street and Hood-lane, City," apparently of four stories, although there
may be a fifth, lighted by skylights; if so, the arrangement should have been
made evident. We cannot think the colored bricks over the windows are hanDilv
introduced. "^"^ ■'
Mr. Pritchett, in 119, sends a view of a " New Church and School-house now
being erected at High Wych, Herts ;" and Mr. James L. Laforest a colored
drawing of most unnatural tints, of a " House at Oatlands-park Walton-on-
Thames " (120). The Italian porch is the best feature in the desiiu
Mr. F. Chancellor's design for " The Corn Exchange at Bury sf. Edmund's "
is colored in too forcible a manner to allow many points of merit to be fairly judged
of. The pilasters to doorways look very much out of place, and do not harmonise
with the rest of the design. In showing the use of coloi'ed materials, there can
be no object in representing them of as cinide and raw a color as they may be
when first cleaned down : it is difficult to judge of any design so treated No
121, however, is not the most glaring example of this style of coloring.
In No. 122 Mr. J. H. Parker sends some interesting drawings on tinted naner
Of the " Eglise St. Pierre, at Touques, and other buildings, in Normandy "
apparently by foreign artists; the careful manner in which the detail is rendered
deserves lengthened examination. There is also a plan of St. Pierre.
No. 123 is another design for " Lower Clapton Congregational Church,'% by
' Continued from Page 321. ,
Messrs. Lander and Bedells, showing in design a marked approach towards
church diaractcr. Mr. T. W. Goodman's design for the same Ijuilding (126),
differs from the last considerably as regards the surrounding scenery. Which is
correct ? both cannot be, and both might easily have been so.
Mr. Cole sets a good example in the employment ofphotoirraphy for illustrating
portions of buildings, in 124, " The principal staircase, Amesbury, Abbey Wilts,"
for Sir Edmund Antrobns, Bart., shown in a colored and carefully drawn
geometrical section, and the second or bed-room staircase, shown by a detailed
drawing, and further illustrated with two photographs of the ironwork.
No. 12;') is a view of the second premiated design for Clifton College, by Mr.
E. W. Godwin. The staircase roof in the angle does not compose well with the
contiguous gables, and the tower over the entrance is faulty eitlier in design or
drawing. There arc, however, some good features in this drawing, although it
does not appear to be equal to iVo. 98, by the same author.
No. 127. Mr. R. Brandon's view of a "Honse Erected at Chiswick for J.
Pullman, Esq.," is much damaged by the blood-red color intended to represent
red bricks, and which extends even to the roofs of the turrets. Correctly drawn
and better colored, we think the design would convey a very different impression
to that now forced upon the mind ; but the introduction of machicolations round
the cornices to tun-ets cannot be looked upon as evincing correct treatment. A
plan is attached, but it is small, and without references, is not of much use.
No. 129 is a drawing by Mr. T. C. Clarke of "A Ilouse now being erected at
Shereheath, Surrey."
No. 130. " Design for the German Evangelical Church at Islington," by Mr.
Constantine, is drawn with care, but we are at a loss to understand what
particular feature recommended it to the committee for selection.
Mr. George Bidlake sends another of his admirable groups of school bnildings
in No. 131, " School and Residences at Holly-hall, near Dudley," erected at the
sole cost of A. B. Cochrane, Esq. The materials are red brick and stone dressings,
with red and blue tiles for the roofs. The tinting of both of this gentleman's
works contrasts favorably with some works we see hanging near.
" The Diocesan Trauung College, Winchester," now in course of erection by
Mr. John Colson (132), has a too heavy roof over the small entrance gable. The
principal entrance, if it be that shown in the drawing, is not sutficiently marked ;
the facings are of Swanage stone, with box ground stone dressings.
No. 133, drawn in Mr. Street's manner, shows the " Design for the Restoration
of Monkton Church, Kent." Traces of the thirteenth century arcade are
preserved. The ceilings are removed so as to show the oak roofs. Mr. C. N.
Beazley is the architect.
No. 134. "A Professional Census — 18-51 to 1861," shows well-known buildings
designed by Mr. Charles Gray, in a series of photographs of the drawings, repre-
senting churches at Knightsbridge and Tottenham, and a design for the memorial
church at Constantinople, houses in Henrietta-street, Covent-garden, South-
ampton-street, Buckingham-street, and Dudley-street. Of tne latter, our
readers will remember, we gave an illustration in a former Volume.
Mr. Goldie sends, in addition to his works before notice<l, Nos. 13.5 and 136,
"Designs submitted in Competition for the Liverpool Cemetery Chapels." The
best design appears to us to be that for the mortuary for twenty-five bodies, the
estimated cost being £856. The Church of England chapel, to accommodate
400 persons, with mortuary at the west end for 40 bodies, is estimated to cost
£3,301 ; the Roman Catholic chapel, to accommodate 300 persons, with mor-
tuary for twenty-five bodies, is estimated at £2,644 ; the superintendent's honse
at £1,.520; and the lodge and gates £761. The arrangement of the buildingsis
shown in five plans of the various structures.
Before leaving the west gallery in which the works we have noticed are
exhibited, we should mention that Mr. Trehearne sends a drawing of the " Great
Hall at Mudie's Library " (37) ; Messrs. Heaton and Butler, in stained glass, a
" Design for the East Window, St. Philip's Church, Kensmgton " (39), and a
" Design for the Centre Light, East Window, St. Andrew's Church, Watford"
(128) ; while Messrs. O'Connor contributed a cartoon of " David, from part of a
Window in Christcliurch, Westminster " (137).
In the great gallery Mr. E. Bassett, Keeling, Assoc, Instit. Brit. Arch., con-
tributes no less than eleven works, mainly, as we understand, with a view of
directing attention to them as drawings. They comprise (139) the " Grove
Wesleyan Chapel, Southwark," shortly to be executed by the architect ; (303)
" Competition Design for the Hereford Clock Tower," the best portion bein^
the central shaft with chamfered edge ; above and below it there is hardly a
good feature to be detected, and the vivid colors could be preserved only by
periodical and frequent painting. Does the architect seriously think tlie design
could be executed as shown for £1,000 ? (344) "Wesleyan Chapel, Strood," a»
first proposed, and as executed at a cost of £400 ; (345) " Competitive Design
for Filey Congregational Chapel (exterior view)," (346) " Interior of the Same:"
(347) " Proposed Wesleyan Chapel, Knutsford ;" (348) " Competitive Design for
a Wesleyan Chapel, Scarbro';" (353) "Wedgwood Memorial Com])etition,"
bearing the motto "Pencil Sketch by an Assoc. Instit. Brit. Arch.;" (354)
" Design for a Church," shortly to be erected in the neighbourhood of London;.
(355) " Interior View of Design for Wesleyan Chapel, Manchester," selected in
a limited competition; and (356) "Exterior of Competitive Designs for a
Wesleyan Chapel at Scarbro'."
No. 140. Contains in one frame a series of interesting old architectural
drawings— comprising a design for a ceiling by Sir James Tlioruhill, "The
Chateau of the Gendarmerie, Caen," and "The Church of St. Jean, Caen," both
by Cotman; and a sketch of a portion of the Round Church, Temple, by Harry
Oliver. Some faint pencil lines on the last drawing show the process adopted by
the artist, to determine the spacing of the railings and some other features follow-
ing the circle or plan.
Mr. Thos. Page sends a very elegant contribution in No. 141, containing four
small prettily colored sketches of villas, each further illustrated with three plans
to a small scale, and a view of the district schools for boys, girls, and infants,
with teachers' residences, all recently erected on the Spring Grove estate.
No 105. A similarly ai'ranged contribution by the same gentleman shows five
other views, with numerous plans, of buildings erected on the Spring Grove
estate. Considerable taste is displayed in the production of the series.
Nos. 142 and 143 show warehouses, No. 44 Friday-street and 60 and 61, Fen-
church-street by Mr. H. E. Cooper the designs are more satisfactory than some
of the street-fronts exhibited, the result of greater appearance of strength on the
ground-floor.
Mr. R. J. Withers sends six anastatic views of churches (No. 144), carefully
printed by Messrs. Cowell and Co. of Ipswich. " Hathconnell Church, Coimty
344
THE BUILDl^U JNEWS.
April 2(5, Itbl.
Westmeath," shows an enlarscement by the addition of a chancel, the others ex-
hibit designs for rebuilding or restoration and comprise—" West Torrington,
CharchTLinTOlnsWie." " New Quay Church, Cardiganshire," " Cilthejden
Church, Pembrolieshire," " Monnington Church, Pcmbrolteshire," and Meline
Church in the same county.
No. 145 shows, in a carf ful drawing, the " Decoration of the Tympanum over
Chancel Arcli, Salterhcbble Church, Yorkshire," by Messrs. Clayton and Bell, we
should perhaps rather have saiit a careful reproduction of the old manner of
drawin£. The blind adoration of the short comings as well as the merits of the
Medieval styles, otservable in the literal reproduction of old work, and of which
we have here an example, cannot be defended on any plea whatever. If the old
architects could have drawn better than they did, would they not have done so?
Architects and artists in stained glass have not, however, always their own way
in these matters. . „ ^ »r „ ,
No. 146 is a " Design for the Darlington Markets," &c., by Mr. C. N. Beazley,
which would be endurable only when half ruined and crumbling away with age.
Certainlv we have seldom seen a design with so little of a market-like character
about it'as this has. Where can the light requked for a market-place come
from? The plan, too, shows deficient entrance accommodation.
Mr. John Whichcord sends, in No. 147, a laree drawing of 27, Leadenhall-
street, extending to lime-strect-square, now being erected under his superin-
tendence, and
Mr. Cffisar A. Long (148), a sketch of a Drinking Fountain to be erected at the
railWBV terminus, Shoreditch, of Portland stone, red and blue granite, and
col<n«J marbles. We can only express a hope that tlie design will undei^o a
thorough revision before being carried into execution. We want to sec some-
thing better than this in drinking-fountains, which might be made interesting
features in our streets.
erected
design i
by 11 feet 6 inches, scullery 10 (eet by 10 feet, with pantry and lobby and three
bed rooms 10 feet by 10 feet— 11 feet by" 7 feet 3 inches, and 8 feet by C feet9 inches
respectively; the pantry does not appear to be conveniently placed, by the side of
the entrance doors. The same frame also contains designs for the Rectory House
for the parish of St. Nicholas, Worcester.
No. 150 is a dedgn submitted in competition for " Camberwell Savings' Bank,"
by Mr. F. O. Lee; and 151 an Interior View of the New Church, now m progress
at Ripple, near Deal, showing a chancel arch of Norman character. Mr. Arthur
Asbpitel is the architect.*
THE BUILDIKG MATEEIAL8, PATENTS, INVENTIONS,
MANUFACTURES, &C.t
WE observe that, since our last notice was written, Mr. Hood's " Patent Stable
Fittings " have been fixed in the lobby (No. 8) tlie advantages are said to
be, first, that waste from the rack is prevented by the spring rack top which opens
back to the wall, while the rack is being filled, and descends as the hay is being
withdrawn, always so compressing it that the horse is unable to remove it waste-
fully. This object'would appear to be more efiectually accomplished if the bottom
of the rack was more curved in form so as not to allow a greater space between
it and the rack top at the lower part than there is at the upper; care should be
taken to have the spring strong enough to prevent the horse pulling it down if
left open by accident. Second, a perforated cover is applied to the water cistern,
working in slots, so contrived that only persons acquamted with the use of it can
open and dose it; third, the tubes containing the noiseless tying apparatus act
as brackets for supporting the stable fittings, and also keep the.halter.balls away
from the horses feet, the price varies fix)m 35s. to 1258.
Ho. 11. " Brown and Green's Improved Patent Kitchen Range " is said to con-
fome only one-balf the fuel of an ordinary range ; is warranted a certain cure
for a mokv chimney, and is equally adapted for the consumption of either coal
•or coke, frhen in use, the upper part of the front of the fire is enclosed with a
perforated iron plate, through which "jets of air arc directed upon the smoke.
get ont of order, and not projecting beyond the line of the front bars, it
economises heat by preventing a draught of cold air over the fire, the sliding plate
orer the fire ii also much more convenient than covers that lift oif." When not
cooluDg, the front of the fire may be perfectly open. There are two circular
ventilatuig pipes, to carry off the odours of cooking, and which probably do
much towards preventing the unwholesome condition of the air observable in
most kitchens. The grate itself is, very propcily, shallow from front to back,
thus presenting the largest amount of available heat, with a moderate supply of
fuel. There is a ventilated oven, heated on all sides alike by means of an iron
flue snnounding it, communicating with the fire, and a hot plate and boiler. It
appears that the range can be made with one or more ovens, boilers, and hot
clOMts. The patent range and stove may be seen in daily practical use in the
show-rooms at the London depot, 81, Uisliopsgatc-street within. The same
exldUtors send their " Improved Self-Acting Midland (Jottage Range ;" the ovens
and boilers are self-acting, and " are quickly and effectually heated with a
remarkably small quantity of fuel." The price of neitlier of the ranges is stated
an omission, a* in other cases, likely to be of some disadvantage to the exhibitors.
Mo. IS. "Chantrell's Economic Watercloset and Water Waste Preventer"
WM aotioed at page 922.
Ifo. 13. Mander, Brothers, varnish manufacturers, of Wolverhampton, show
a ' seat prepared with their " Hard-drjing Tacklcss Varnish," and a light-
colored panel covered with their " White Coburg Varnish." This is the third
year the panel has been exhibited, and the varnish shows very little, if any, deep-
ening of color. Both specimens are highly satisfactory.
No. 14. Moore and Bons exhibit their " Patent Pressed Glass Clock Dials,"
for chnrcb and other docks — transparent in any colors for illuminating by night,
and having a solid opaqne appearance by day ; " Patent Self-shadowed Glass
for Windows;" "Interior Decorations, &c. ;'' and their well-known "Patent
Movable Glass Ventilators."
J»o. 15. Sbarpe's " Patent Closet Pans" we noticed at page 322.
Wo. 16. Specimens of " Godwin's Inlaid Encaustic llles and Self-colored
Teaeis for Pavements, suitable for churches, entrance-halls, corridors, con-
*Tobeeontinaed.
t Continued from page 322.
scrvatorics, &c" The exhibitor refers to Mr. Boyd, at the entrance, for
particulars and prices.
No. 17. George Wright and Co., Burton Weir, Sheffield, show "Wright's
Patent Gill Calorifer," consisting of a number of metal jilates, constructed in
such a manner as, when rolled together, to form a cockle. The inside of the
stove being corrugated is said to acquire heat from the fire with great rapidity,
while the large extent of surface presented by the projecting wings warms a
considerable volume of air at a low temperature. The stove exhibited is one of
the smaller sizes, and is calculatod to warm a building having an area of 60,000
cubic inches. This would be a very small building; we presume feet are
intended. We have found this stove to answer.
No. 18. Bond and Scammell, King-street, Snow-hill, have a case containing
a variety of locks and lock furniture, of china, wood, brass, glass, &c., many of
good pattern.
No. 19. Hobbs, Ashley, and Co., Cheapside, exhibit a similar case containing
specimens of their various descriptions of locks, including the changeable key
bank lock, the patent protector lock, and the improved lever lock. Architects
and builders will do well to examine the new mortice lock, in which the latch is
made to work independent of the crank, the peculiar form of the frictionleas
follower and crank preventing friction, thereby conducing to durability. The
workmanship and finish of many of these locks is admirable. Cheap and good
locks are much wanted in these times.
No. 20, exhibited by Mr. Bridell, Great Portland-street, is Oie " new substi-
tute for marble, scagliola, &c.," recommended to notice on account of its
"beauty, strengtii, durability, and comparative cheapness," it is manufactured in
imitation of cverj' kind of marble, granite, porphyry, &c. ; the veins and colors
are embodied in the substance, not being merely superficial, and it is said that
the polish is not affected by time or climate, and that the material bears
exposure to heat, cold, and damp as well as marble. As it is capable of being
worked into mouldings and other ornamental forms, it seems desirable that the
invention should be better known than it appears to be. Having been in use for
some six years at least, we ought to know a little more than we do of its fitness
as a material to be generally employed. Slabs of any moderate size can be made,
but it is usually manufactured in slabs for Uning walls, 2 feet G inches by 1 foot
0 inches, or 1 foot 6 inches by 1 foot 3 inches, and three quarters of an inch
thick. The price for these sizes in Griotte, granite. Sienna, black and gold,
&e., is from Is. 9d. to 2s. per foot super, and in self colors of all tints Is. Cd. per
foot ; slabs of larger size require to be of greater thickness, and are charged 6d.
per foot super for every additional quarter of an inch in thickness. The patent
marble would seem to be available for many purposes, but we are not aware to
what extent it is capable of resisting a blow.
In the lobby leading to the cast gallery is No. 21, specimens of a mode of
decorating wood with any patterns that may be desired, suitable in certain
situations; the ornament is burnt inwith a heated iron of the proper pattern, and
then varnished or polished.
In the East gallery, Messrs. Hart and Son, of Wych-street, exhibit (No. 205)
numerous specimens of their well-finished Medieval metal work, ecclesiastical
and domestic— including gas standards, coronse, flower vases, candlesticks,
flagons, patens, alms basins, clocks, paper, and envelope cases, blotting cases,
inkstands, salvers, lamps, call bells, pastile burners, fire dogs, irons, and stands,
tec. The contribution forms an elegant group, showing good workmanship and,
for the most part, good design.
No. 206. Messrs. Minton and Co., of Stoke, Staffordshire, occupy one end of
the gallery, with specimens of encaustic and other tiles, showing various arrange-
ments for halls, conservatories, and church pavements; examples of majohca
tiling, and mosaic for mural decorations, reredos work, friezes, encaustic medal-
lions, letters for naming streets, and earthenware tiles, printed and enamelled.
The application of diaper or chequer work in this manufacture is likely to be
further developed. Messrs. Minton and Co.'s productions are, however, well
known.
No. 270. Messrs. Maw and Co., of Broseley, Salop, occupy a still larger space
in this gallery, having covered nearly the whole of one side with their mosaic and
encaustic tiles, many arranged as pavements in large fi'ames. Their elaborate
pattern book was noticed in our last volume, and many of the designs then referred
tomay here be seen in actual execution. A kind of efflorescence appears on some of
the (we apprehend, newly-laid) specimens; it is but right to say that this dis-
appears after a short tune.*
■♦■
CHAPEL AT CAMBERWELL FOR CONVERTED JEWS.
THIS Chapel has been lately erected in Cold Harbor-lane, Camberwell,
for converted Jews.
The style may be called Lombardic rather freely adopted. The front
elevation is simple and well-proportioned, the detail being very carefully
worked out. Probably the funds were limited, as the sides are exceedingly
plain. It is built of brick in two colors, with stone dressings. It is
enclosed by railings of appropriate design.
Internally the chapel is very plain, with an open roof, stained dark.
Decay of the Stone Work of the Bank of England. — The stone
employed in the building of the exterior of the Bank of England has manifested
evidence of a rapid decay, of a similar character to that which has recently
become so apparent in the stone used in the erection of the new Houses of
Parliament. With a view to arrest the insidious progress of the decomposition,
a coating of a newly-invented composition is now, by way of experiment, in
course of being applied to the surface of that portion of the building in Thread-
needle-street fronting the Royal Exchange, where the princmal entrance is
situated. The buildings of the establishment of the Bank of^ lingland were
erected in 1732, enlarged in 1771, improved in 1796, and partly rebuilt in;i824.
Dean Church, Cumberland. — Mr. C. Eaglesfield has just completed
the various works of renovation and alterations in the interior of this church.
The seats, pulpit and reading desk are now of red pine, varnished. Stained-glass
windows have been put in, with good effect. The old principal door has been
removed, and a new one substituted, ornamented with Gothic hinges. Sec. A new
font has been supplied, and altogether the interior presents a new and pleasing
aspect, though the cost has been but £300.
• To be eeotinued.
April 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
345
THE FINE ARTS SEEN FROM A NEW POINT OF VIEW.»
No. 11. — MoiiKRN' Continental Art.
IN the early part of the sixteenth century, while the Tudor style was
flourishing in England, Gothic was rapidly disappearing in France,
Germany, and Spain. Going further back,' in Italy in tlie twelfth century
we find versions of the Romanesque and Lombard styles in the central
and northern parts, and in the south, in Sicily, a mixture of Greek,
Roman, and Saracenic, even the inscriptions in the last style being pre-
served. At the commencement of the thirteenth century Gothic archi-
tecture was imported into Italy, its prevalence in different parts indicating
the amount of the German population. Thus the style was cultivated in
Lombardy, Venice, Genoa, various parts of central Italy down to Orvieto,
and also in Sicily, until displaced towards the close of the fourteenth
century.
Modern art rose in Italy, while Gothic rose in northern Europe, pro-
bably in France. Medievalism never thoroughly permeated the minds of
the southern Italians, who at no time really loved the Gothic style, which
was, in a manner, forced upon them when developed as a manifestation of
northern feeling. In the Gothic architecture of Italy, while the vertical
principle was adopted the horizontal was retained ; and ItaUan Gothic is
Classic Gothic. Northern Gothic was never fully comprehended by the
Italians, who committed various errors in adopting a style which could
never be permanent among men whose minds were imbued with Classic
associations. A feeling very different from that shown in the compara-
tively consistent styles of France, Germany, and England— virtually one
Gothic community — manifestly isolates the development beyond the Alps.
In Venice we perceive a Byzantine element ; in central Italy a Roman-
esque feeling ; and in Sicily a Saracenic sentiment. The footing of Gothic
art in Italy was precarious ; and it endured but for a short period in
Venice where most popular. In the western part of the country the
Romanesque style never was extinguished ; and at Rome only one Gothic
structure, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, remains. In that great city the
polity of the time of the Csesars slept, but the mighty works which re-
flected it remained. They always influenced the ideas of its citizens ;
and, after crumbling for centuries in neglect, so swayed the mind of
Europe that it absolutely reverenced the Roman style.
A change had come over Christendom. Gothic art sickened and died.
But, while men loathed Gothicism in its entirety, they had no immediate
choice but to develop a new branch of it, return to Classicism, or base on
the two archaic modes of expression and reference to nature a modern
system reflecting the antagonistic elements in the civilisation, and serving
provisionally until the gradual development of a new polity evolved an
appropriate style. Those who say that it was shameful to revive anything
Classic do not reflect that the object of the Fine Arts is to reflect the
polity of the age, and that, at the period we are considering, there was
much of Classicism almost as vigorous as ever. So long as the Italians
kept their admiration of antiquity subsidiary to the law of progression,
they succeeded as fully as the undeveloped polity permitted. " Antiquity
deserveth that reverence, that men should make a stand thereupon, and
discover what is the best way; but when the discovery is well taken, then
to make progression."! The Italians were in the right track, though their
ideas were not clear, not knowing precisely what was wanted. Confused
with the opposition of the theology and traditions of Medievalism, the
mythology and philosophy of Classicism, and the spirit of scientific in-
quiry, the works they produced are noble examples of what thoughtful
men may accomplish in an age of transition. While, however, painting
continued to be developed, in architecture and sculpture a principle of re-
trogression was proclaimed. Antique works were viewed as models to be
copied ; or, in the aim after novelty for its own sake, various anomalies
were produced towards the close of the movement which will next be
described.
Tre-cento (so named from its mean time, 1300) is a term applied to
the phasft of Italian art which, following the Latin conquest of Con-
stantinople in 1204, appeared, contending with the Gothic style, in the
thirteenth century, and became developed in the fourteenth. Numerous
ancient productions — including the bronze horses placed in front of St.
Mark's at Venice, where eastern mosaic workers were employed in the
latter part of the eleventh century — were transported to Italy ; and the
skilful Byz.intine or Greek artists, migrating from their native country,
found ample occupation, especially at Venice, Pisa, and Siena, in the
execution of works of art and the instruction of the native Italians. Thus
Niccola Pisano, an architect, and the first great Italian sculptor since the
time of the ancient Romans, was a pupil of Greek artists, and owed much
to the study of Classic bassi-relievi. Among the contemporary or
successive painters, sculptors, and mosaic workers are Giunta of Pisa,
Guido of Siena, Andrea Tafi, Cimabue, Duccio of Siena, Gaddo Gaddi,
Margaritone, Andrea Pisano, Taddeo Gaddi, and Giotto. The last-named
was the first painter who succeeded in escaping from the Byzantine
manner ; and he displayed so much thought, originality, expression,
pathos, simplicity, and natural truth as almost to induce us to forget the
deficiencies in selection and technical execution common to him and all
the Tre-cento painters, notwithstanding their depth of sentiment. Dante,
Giotto's contemporary, is the great poetic representative of the period.
Giovanni Pisano — sou of Niccola — Arnold di Lapo, and Andrea
Orcagna are other Tre-cento artists. The Campo Santo at Pisa, by the
first, and the foundations of the Uuomo at Florence, by the second, belong
to the latter part of the thirteenth century. Giotto's Campanile and
* The right of republication and of translation of this series of articles is reserved
by the author,
t Bacon's "Advancement of Learning." Jjook I.
Orcagna's Loggia de'Lanzi, both at Florence, were erected about the
middle of the fourteenth century. Tre-cento decoration is composed of
Byzantine, Classic, Gothic, and Saracenic elements ; the orders, round
and pointed arches, natural and conventional foliage, often in scrolls and
interlacing tracery, were used, while symbolism was neglected.
Of the popular appreciation of art, as expressive of the polity of the
age, we may judge from the pomp with which the first stone of Giotto'g
tower was laid, and the rejoicings which took place when Cimabue'g
colossal Madonna was carried in procession to the Church of Santa Maria
Novella ; the district in which the painter lived being called the liorgo
Allegri, or joyful suburb.
Next QuATTRO-CENTO (mean time 1400), antico-modemo, or fifteenth
century, art arose. The results of subordinating to individuality the
study of Classic art are strikingly manifested. Before Masaccio's time,
little choice was exercised between beautiful and ugly forms ; but, learn-
ing from antique sculpture to select the former, his productions were so
natural, true and elevated that they materially influenced subsequent
paintingsj; Da Vinci, Fra Bartolomeo and Raphael studying the celebrated
frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel. Fra Angelico portrayed the religious
expression suitable to the age ; Filippo Lippi was the first great master of
light and shade ; and Pietro delta Francesca cultivated perspective : tech-
nical excellence, however, rarely equals the depiction of sentiment in the
works of any of the Quattro-cento painters. The sculptors Lorenzo
Ghiberti and Donatello share with Masacciothe merit of the improvements
in form. The dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, by Brunelleschi, is the gran-
dest, as the Ricardi palace, by Michelozzi, and the Strozzi, by Benedetto
and Cronaya, are smaller edifices of the period. Quattro-cento decoration
and ornament are marked by the preponderance of Classic over Gothic,
with much of Saracenic, Byzantine, and Lombard feeling : cartouches, or
scrolled shields, and grotesque arabesques were introduced. The best
examples present much originality, the old forms being recast in the minds
of the artists. A fusion of Gothic spiritualism and Classic beauty is seen
in Ghiberti's Baptistery Gates ; natural displace conventional forms ; and
the arabesques are remarkable examples of the effort rather to raise admi-
ration, by appealing to the feelings, than to teach ; or of aisthetic Instead
of symbolic meaning. They are properly kept subsidiary to the historical
bassi-relievi ; but the arrangement of the latter on the principles of paint-
ing, involving distant effects and chiaroscuro, is a decided blemish. Pietro
Baseggio, Filippo Calendario, and Antonio Ricci were occupied at Venice
on the Dogt's palace, which — together with the church of Santa Zaccaria,
by Martino Lombardo — illustrates strikingly the mixture of Classicism and
Gothicism. Among the distinguished Quattro-cento painters, sculptors
and architects are Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio, Francesco Squarcione,
Giovanni and Gentile Bellini, Andrea Mantegna, Baccio Pintelli, Andrea
Sansovino, Francia, Bernardino Luini, Agostino Busto of Milan, and the
Lombardi of Venice. The most celebrated representatives of art literature
are Petrach and Boccaccio.*
Cinqde-Cento (mean time 1500), or sixteenth century art, is, so far as
relates to painting, connected with Quattro-cento by Luca Signorelli, Fra
Bartolemeo, Giorgione, and Leonardo da Vinci. The works of the Cinque-
cento painters exhibit the highest perfection which art has attained in
modern times. All the requirements of painting were balanced judiciously:
profound thought was exercised ; sentiment was exquisitely rendered ;
nature was closely studied ; form, color, light, and shade were elaborated;
and ideality and dramatic power were raised to the utmost. In the
collective works of Michael Angelo, Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, Correggio,
Parmigiano, Titian, Tintoretto, Paul Veronese, and many of their followers,
including the Carracci, who, dazzled with the splendor of the scene set
before their eyes, sought to combine its various beauties, the undeveloped
polity of the age was variously expressed. In poetry Tasso and Ariosto
shone brilliantly; and in sculpture Michael Angelo dwarfs completely his
contemporaries and followers. Unlike the ancient Classic sculptors, he
subordinated form to expression; he attained in quite an opposite manner
to them the sublime and the superhuman; and he displayed in the marble
his own vehement, fiery, and passionate nature, lie was so great a man
that we may pass over his faults ; censured too as he is chiefly for the
defects of his copyists. The Moses is unapproachable and inimitable; and
the statue of Lorenzo de Medici, in its dignified respose, feeling, and mind,
rivals the works of any age or people. It is justly called the " thought "
of Michael Angelo.
Of the production of the Cinque-cento decorators, or ornamentists, the
examples in the Vatican Loggia, by Raphael, in the Villa Madama, by
Julio Romano, and in the Certosa of Pavia, are the most remarkable. In
the first mentioned especially, the fusion of Christian and mythological
symbols illustrates the undeveloped polity of the period. But the forms
were not adopted as symbols, but for their beauty ; art being virtually
separated from religion. The symbolic had ended in the sensuous ;
and selection of ancient forms predominated over the invention of new ones.
The authors of the above works were less instructors than artists, in a
limited sense of the word, concerning themselves with the beauty more
than with the teaching of forms. Their peculiar productions have received
the name of arabesques. Raphael derived the idea of them from the
Baths of Titus, which, together with those of Diocletian, and the houses at
Pompeii, were covered in this manner. Count Caylus traces the style to the
* Witli reference to the term " Pre-Kaphaelite," now applied to the Tre-cento and
Qnattro-cento artists, and adopted by their modern imitators, Wornum (to whom I
am much indebted) obseryes :— " The innovated term gives a false importance to
Kaphael which he is in no need of, and is inaccurate and uncritical, as Leonardo da
Vinci, Luca .Sijrnorelli, Michael Angelo, and Giorgione are all, strictly speaking, prc-
Itaphaclites, and yet display in their works the qualities of which the term is assumed
to DC a negation."— "Catalogue of Italian Painters,"
346
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 26, 1861.
Egyptians, and thence to Greece, whence it was introduced at Rome in
the Angustan age. Animals and fi)Iiage — natural, conventional, and
grotesque — were commingled with architectural forms, in a graceful, fan-
tastic, and playful manner, fall rein being given to the imagination, and
gorgeous colors aiding the effect. But the greatest absurdities crept in :
birds were perched on stalks quite JnsufBcient to carry their weight ;
gnch matters as gravity and the laws of mechanics being often ignored,
and adhesion to the principles of natural forms continually neglected.
Pliny and Vitruvius justly deprecated these compositions, as wanting in
ineaiiiiig and consistency, however concretely bea-itiful and pleasing to
acme persons. The style spread from Italy over Europe ; being observed
in the French Renaissance, the English Elizabethan, and the latest
examples of Classic architecture.
Cinque-cento architecture, as illustrated by St. Peter's, the Farnese
rPalace, Sansovino's Library, and Palladio's churches, is remarkable in two
letpects. First, it indicates a retrogression to Classicism, in adopting its
Smbolism without regard to meaning; secondly, it is impossible to ignore
e technical ability manifested.
I apprehend there can be no doubt that the architecture of the period
▼as not rightly expressive of its polity. The reader will allow that
ancient Roman architecture reflected the polity of the ancient Romans. He
will also admit the difference between their polity and that of the Italians
in the sixteenth century. It follows that the respective styles of architec-
ture should differ proportionately. But the architecture of modern Rome
is so clearly a forced reproduction of that of the ancient city — one glance
at parallel illustrations proving this — that it is needless to dilate on the
fiiCt. It is true that the Quattro-centisti could not, or they might, have
copied the antique. They thought for themselves, and, fortunately, did
not, or were unable, to go so much to ancient examples as their successors
did: the proceedings of the former were legitimate, while the latter abused
■their facilities forcopyism. Tliercligion, the science, and the general ideas
of the time, even the pictures in the churches, were at variance with the
•rchitecture. It is wonderful that men so great in painting as Michael
Angelo and Raphael, did not detect the anomalies in their structures ;
although it is less surprising that those who were only antiquarian
draughtsmen, as Palladio, should have published foolish books encouraging
the retrogression.*
Bat architecture was destined to a greater fall. It was felt that eternal
repetition of antique forms was not altogether right. Novelty, as novelty,
■was sought and attained. The dome of St. Peter's is original ; but its
prototj-pes are seen in the Pantheon, Santa Sophia, and Santa Maria. At
length, capitals were used as bases, bases as capitals ; the natural appro-
priation of forms was forgotten, and their uses reversed. Thus Bernini
■nd Borromini worked. With these men Italian architecture may be
said to have reached its lowest level in the latter part of the seventeenth
century.
As to painting, although with many of the Academics drawing, color,
light and shade — the mere materials for the expression of thought —
together with the manners of preceding masters, occupied exclusive atten-
tion, and the sensuous generally predominated over sentiment, still, during
the seventeenth century, Italy produced many painters of decided genius.
But after the time of Caravaggio — the leader of the Naturalist!, as opposed
to the Eclectics — Domenicliino, Guido, Albani, Guercino, and Claude, few
tmtbfiil delineators of the polity of the age appeared. Bernini — the lead-
ing sculptor of the seventeenth, as Michael Angelo was of the sixteenth
centtiry — was the last who can be said to have expressed it in the marble.
He viewed art chiefly with technical ideas, and aimed to surpass the antique
in energy and Michael Angelo in grace and delicacy j but, referring too
little to nature, seeking originality for its own sake, and applying the
principles of painting to sculpture, in vain efforts to extend its boundaries,
he produced few satisfactory results. Bernini's European influence was
overpowered in the following century by Antonio Canova, an eclectic, who,
Taciliating between the antique and the manner of Bernini, exhibited little
of his own save effeminacy and want of elevation ; his men, as it has been
observed, scarcely ever looking manly, or his women modest. Yet he was
called the Phidias of his time, and has still numerous admirers in the un-
■atitfiictory condition of modem sculpture.
Edwabd L. Tabbuck.
WHY IS HAVELOCK IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE ?
PERHAPS even this statue is over much decried, and will be thought
somewhat better when the present bright coppery gloss has subsided:
bnt be that as it may, why was it placed there ? A public subscription
WM got together to raise a statue as a tribute of respect to Havelock, and
• most boDorabIc situation was accorded to it in the centre of London —
for ■why? Because Havelock was a pious man, as well as a brave and
intelligent general. Because he was a CBBiSTiAy Soi.dieb. Does a
•park of this sentiment appear in the statue ? Assuredly not: and why
ii this ? Is it the sculptor's shortcoming ? Was be incapable of seizing
thia evident salient point of his subject and writing it in bronze ? The
other works of Mr. Behnes are sufficient answers, probably, to this.
a *'5J;?"'"" "'•*"'>■ »<'op»*d «« a text-book. The first printed edition, that of
5fy'"S;J!P'^*^° I'"""' ■"'■'■ """l wa» followed by one printed at Florence in H'.«,
«Bd » tnird «t Venice in the next year; while in the first h>lf of the sixteentli
•Mttnr tranilaUoaa were mailc Into Spanish, I-ronoh, and Oerman : Newton's
SKI!£lf!SlSi^Iti?.".l^"'"''' '» ''*'• ••'erffUsHon remnrks :-"Krom the first patrc
£,«J.^!l2«2T#_ t.: JJ" ■' ""'on" cxpi-eislon that shows he had moreBympathy
■mr Vtt9mmat» or «f ehl tectnre than might be poBaetsed by an unedncatid honec-
*'>*"!** ^?2!!2i?S • "* ■""elf collects a setofdry, formal rules from observed
iSSS offiJatltTUiSS-^ ""* writing a catalogue of miocrals."-" True
Then how comes it that of so gallant and pious a spirit as Havelock, a
representation should appear so commonplace, when, on the other hand,
there was the opportimity for one so soul-stirring ? The answer, we
conceive, lies in the following sentence: — There was an Art-Committee of
selection, and art-committees are essentially prosaic. The lineaments of the
man they knew are impressed on their recollection, and they look no further
than for a representation of those 1 We have no doubt that the face in
Trafalgar-square is like Havelock's, and that that good man and great
general was in the habit of standing, just as the bronze stands, with its
thumb in its belt ? But what is that to us ? That would be all very
well in a photograph, but what wo wanted was a soul-stirring work of
art that should embody those characteristics of the man, which make him
abright example and a glorious name. This the wisdom of the Committee
seems wholly to have overlooked. We say overlooked, because there was,
in the first instance, a number of statuettes of Havelock competitive for
this memorial, which were exhibited to the public in the Suffolk-street
Gallery, and we went to see them. Now, among these were some models
which, we recollect well, did embody this sentiment, and yet even their
presence could not remind the Committee of the essentials of their object.
We regret all this much. We regret it because there was a great oppor-
tunity lost to the public and to art, and a great opportunity gained by
those small critics who think they are quite safe in abusing a new statue
if it be done by an Englishman ! If the sculptor of Havelock had
produced at the competition a poetic, instead of a prosaic, statue, he would
not have got the commission, and probably he was well aware of this, and
modified his work accordingly. On the other hand, had the sculptor been
left wholly unembarrassed by these considerations, we have no doubt he
would have produced a more characteristic work. In the debate in the
House, of August 15th last, on the additions to the Royal Academy
Galleries, Lord Palmerston took occasion to pay a handsome tribute to
the genius of British sculptors. We should be glad to hear his lordship's
opinion of the genius of British art-committees ! A careful attention to
tl'.e sculptural competitions of late years leads us to lay, almost without
exception, the shortcoming of our public sculptural works, when such
shortcomings exist — not on the sculptors who make the statues, but on
the committees that restrain their freedom of design and coerce their
execution.
^-
DRAWING.
TTTTIAT the pen is to a writer, the brush to a painter, or the chisel to a
W sculptor, the pencil is to an architect. The power of drawing is as
essential to him, if he wish to put on record his ideas, or to embody them
in actual execution, as is the power of writing, painting, or carving to the
other artists we have named. We are not even satisfied to say that the
cases are, all of them, parallel. The pencil is more to the architect than,
at any rate, the pen and the chisel to the writer or the sculptor, for it not
only embodies ideas but it helps to create them. In this respect, perhaps,
the operations of both painter and architect are akin, for the work of each
of them only can be said to be eyen fairly conceived when it is being put
on paper.
It is quite possible to think out any literary subject thoroughly, or to
discourse upon it orally without committing a single word to paper; prac-
tice and a tenacious memory will render this easy. It is not impossible
with a sketch in clay, and it is easy with a finished model in the same
material, for the sculptor to form a thorough conception of the figure, the
head, or the group as it will appear in marble. But it is not easy, and
hardly possible, to form anything beyond a very crude general notion of
any proposed building till it be put on paper.
The principal cause of this is the very complex nature of all buildings
except the most rudimentary, and the great variety of considerations that
enter into the design of any building. The arrangement, the internal
disposition and means of access, and the external appearance are all to be
harmonised; and though it is quite possible for a man with a good head
to form a tolerably good idea of any ono of these separately, it is quite
impossible to combine them without having recourse to paper. So much
are these three characteristics dissociated in study and design, though
harmonised in building, that three distinct species of drawings have been
devised, and are universally employed with the express object of giving
form to each of these characteristics separately.
Thus we have plans, which shew arrangement and little or nothing
beyond arrangement. It is true that a practised eye can glean from them
a hint as to the capabilities of the exterior and interior for effective
ornamental treatment, but this is quite a different thing from depicting or
even absolutely prescribing that treatment. Again for internal disposi-
tion of rooms, meaning by this phrase their height, ornament, and general
characteristics and for the means of access for which space has been left
on the plans, we have sections. Lastly for exterior treatment we have
elevations.
These drawings are produced separately, and studied separately, and
though each one of them must be partially provided for in the course of
the preparation of the others, yet, after all they are very distinct. Now
as these drawings are mutually dependent, one cannot be carried out very
far without some progress being made with another ; and it is this triple
series of ideas, each worked out separately and yet each one dependent
upon the other two, which complicates the process of architectural design
to such an extent that it is impossible, as wc just now said, to advance the
idea of a building at all beyond a quite rudimentary stage without the
help of the pencil.
If the power of drawing is then essential to the architect, it is no less
necessary that he should draw rapidly and correctly.
April 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
347
Speed of execution and freshness of thought seem so much combined to-
gether tliat it is liardly possible to conceive of an architect entirely unable
to produce a first sketch with rapidity and yet making designs displaying
power, originality, aud fancy. These qualities if not rapidly fixed are sure
to evaporate.
Correctness, however, is more peculiarly necessary to architectural
drawing than to the majority of other styles of graphic delineation. By
the word "correctness," however, we are to be understood to mean a quality,
often termed by artists severity, that is to say, careful accuracy and
minute finish. In the broader sense of the term correctness, this quality
is no less indispensable to the painter than to the architect. A tree or a
cloud must be correct to be good, as correct as any architectural subject
whatever, but the sort of correctness required in landscapes is a truthful
rendering of character, not an accurate delineation of individual details.
In architecture, however, not only must the character of each part be
faithfully given, but it must be spaced out, and fined, and put down in
exactly tliat spot for wliich it was intended with mathematical precision.
Drawing being, tlien, so all-important, and rapidity aud accuracy so de-
sirable, it remains to inquire what scope there is for peculiarities of style.
This stylo of drawing is a matter of no small moment, and has received of
late marked attention. The observations addressed to the members of the
Architectural Association, by Mr. Tite, on the occasion of his meeting
them to present prizes to some of their members, were worthy of attention.
We have had in our notices of the Architectural Exhibition, to deplore
the increasing tendency to get away from true architectural drawing into
the region of very moderately successful pictures there manifested, and
Mr. Tite, in calling attention to the importance of drawing and of the
manner selected, drew a comparison, for wliich there is but too good ground,
between ourselves and the French, showing that they in many respects
have habitually surpassed us in their architectural drawings.
The French, no doubt, are open to the charge of sometimes lavishing
labor upon their drawings to an unnecessary extent, but then they finish
them so honestly and thoroughly in the many cases where finish is essential
that a little extra care m.iy be well forgiven them. Nor are they deficient
in love for the picturesquej; a glance at one or two of the principal
illustrated works that have been lately published in Paris, such as for
example, VioUet le Due's " Dictionary," will prove the truth of the cha-
racter now given as far as engravings are concerned, and their drawings
when we see them, correspond closely in character with their engravings.
It is not long since the art of architectural drawing was made the
subject of a paper by Mr. Surges, read before the Institute. The use ot
heavy thick lines vi'as there strongly advocated, and the employment of
any other method blamed, in terms which have met with not unnatural
dissent. Xothing is more desirable in any drawing than vigor, but we
hold that the efl'ect ordinarily produced by heavy lines is not vigor but
heaviness, jilit as shouting conveys the idea, not of emphasis, but of loud-
ness. Nor is it right to prescribe the same manner to men whose hands
may differ widely, or to require uniformity in the treatment of a great
variety of subjects. There is just the same difference between the touch
of two or three men that their handwriting displays, and the facility that
whether from circumstances or from natural aptitude.
The most serious objection, however, to advocating the employment of
heavy lines or any other such peculiar manner is, not that it may not be
quite compatible with good drawing to use that manner, but that it is a
manner. Mannerism is a great evil, and though tolerated in the works of
men of great talent, is only to be tolerated even in them; in those of their
followers it is earnestly to be discouraged. The unfortunate result of a
peculiarity of manner belonging to any writer, any painter, any architect,
is that his followers think that in order to copy his excellences, it is only
necessary to simulate his peculiarities, and by catching the trick of some
peculiar effect, or some perhaps unfortunate fashion of working, they
fancy they have also reached the level of their original in far higher
qualities.
We would then urge architects very strongly to avoid a peculiar manner
of drawing rather than to court it. If they draw much and draw well, no
doubt by degrees a peculiarity will show itself, and it will then be allow-
able, and will be the manner which unquestionably that individual artist
ought to pursue. But in early days, especially in student life, and as far
as possible onwards, it is of great importance that the architect should
strive to make his architectural drawings very good, and should keep
them very architectural, but that he should also do the best he can to
avoid anything fantastic.
Few of our readers can fail to be familiar with the architectural draw-
ings of Mr. Pettit, conspicuous as they are no less for their effectiveness
than for the peculiarity of their execution. These drawings will serve
excellently well to illustrate what we have said. No one will suppose that
either Mr. Pettit, or the late Mr. Prout, attained the power of so correctly
giving the characteristics of architectural work by commencing with the
heavy broad touch by which both of them ultimately succeeded in abridg-
ing the labor of their work . No one will believe that it would be other
than ruinous for a. young student at the outset of his career, and to suppose
that because these skilled artists after many years of constant study had
arrived at a knowledge of what is the minimum of labor necessary to
produce a desired effect, therefore he at the commencement of his career
might hope to obtain the same effect without ever doing or attempting
more. The only reason why accomplished artists can omit work is be-
cause they are thoroughly competent to do not only all that they rfo,.but
all that they omit ; and they only acquire this power by frequently
laboriously and patiently drawing complete architectural subjects wfth
great care and great finish.
We beg therefore to urge very strongly the avoidance of any attempt to
copy mannerism; we also urge that it is most ill-advised to attempt to in-
duce men who really are experienced and skilful to change from a man-
ner which they themselves have adopted to some other ; and we would
finally invite great attention to the execution of all architectural drawings,
convinced that in the prosperity of this auxiliary art we shall have the
best possible security for the well-being of architecture itself.
ARTESIAN WELLS AND RAIN-WATER TANKS.
MGRIMAUD DE CAUX, a French scientific man, has given con-
. siderable attention of late to the question of wells, especially for
the supply of farms, and in the course of his inquiries he has produced an
ofiicial report on the Artesian wells of Venice, which gives a very un-
satisfactory result. According to this document, an attempt was made to
supply the city with water by the means in question, and the borings
were pushed to the depth of about 450 feet ; the soil was peaty, and the
water impregnated with organic matter charged with carbon, carburetted
hydrogen and nitrogen. Seventeen wells were sunk, nine of which have
already ceased to flow, and the water from the others is daily diminishing
in quantity, which only give 400 litres a-day, instead of 1,250 litres which
they at first yielded. It appears that the authorities are now engaged in
seeking some more efficacious means of supplying the city with water.
M. Grimaud de Caux has a theory that the rain supplies ample pro-
vision for the wants not only of the inhabitants of towns but also of
country districts. He says that the well is the only source of general
supply in agricultural localities, but that the water derived therefrom is
very seldom wholesome, and he recommends the formation of reservoirs to
receive the rain water and replace the old wells. He puts a simple case,
as follows : Suppose a farmer has but an acre or two of land, his house will
contain an area of roof equal to something like 90 square yards, and as the
average of the downfall of rain is 76 cubic centimetres, the surface above
named would produce 60 cubic metres of water per year. As regards con-
sumption, he says, — "An adult requires 10 litres, or, let us call it, about
2 gallons of water per diem, or 3 cubic metres a year ; a horse five times
that quantity, or 50 litres ; horned cattle 30 litres a head, sheep 2 litres,
and pigs 3 litres. He supposes the farmhouse to be occupied by a man
and his wife and two children, and the live stock to consist of one horse,
one pig, and one cow ; according to the previous statement the wants of
the little establishment would only amount to 44j cubic metres per annum,
and a reservoir 1 6 metres square and 4 metres deep would, he argues, be even
larger than required. After the first expense, the farmer, he says, would be
put to no expense but that of maintaining the roof of his cistern and the
conduits leading to it. It must be admitted that the rain water lost, or
worse, allowed to ruin the foundations of houses in the country, might and
should be economised, but the furnishing and maintaining in serviceable
condition a complete set of eave and conduit pipes, to say nothing of the
reservoir itself, would entail an expenditure which to small farmers, such
as exist in France by hundreds, men possessing the extremely small
quantity of land mentioned above, would he something terrific if not
impossible. Still the subject deserves attention, and applies equally to
England as to France or Venice, and M. Grimaud de Caux is conferring a
service on society by his examination of the subject.
GREAT RAILWAY-BRIDGE OVER THE RHINE.
NOW that this magnificent work is open to the public it will be in-
teresting to give the dimensions and other particulars of the work
which have only been published partially heretofore.
In the first place, the four great piers which support the work have
their foundations 65 feet beneath low water mark; they are 75 feet wide
at their base and 23 feet wide above the water line ; they are composed
entirely of granite, and built in the strongest possible manner to resist
the effect of the stream, which runs sometimes at the rate of nearly 1,000
feet a minute. The mode adopted for their construction was described in
the Building News at the time of the commencement of the work, and it
is, therefore, unnecessary to repeat it here. These four piers were executed
in nine months.
The bridge itself consists of five portions, of which three are fixed and
two movable; these latter, like the doors of the temple of Janus, are to
be kept closed so long as peace exists between France and Germany, and
it is to be hoped that the trains may never be interrupted by the swinging
of these bridges.
The fixed parts of the work are each 182 feet long, and the movable
portions, 85 feet, the total length of the work, with the piers, being about
760 feet. The fixed parts are formed of straight wrought-iron trellis
girders, which support the bed-plate upon which the rails rest; the trellis
girders are rather more than 16 feet high, and are connected in the usual way
over-head by cross bars. The wrought and cast iron, of which the framework
of the bridge is composed, weigh about 1 ,200 tons, aud 150,000 rivets, driven
hot, were employed in the work, which was performed at the Creusol
works. The parts were put togetlier on the French side, and the whole
moved, en mas«c, a distance of more than 1,600 feet, and then on to the
piles of the bridge by means of an arrangement due to M. Beuckiser, of
Baden, and which consisted of four series of triple pulleys, or rather
drums, each worked by two windlasses furnished with a system of wheels
giving a multiplying power of 1,000 to 1; each windlass was worked by
four men, so that the force employed was equal to that of 32,000 men.
The huge mass moved at the rate of about a hundred feet a day on
the average, and the operation lasted a fortnight. The lightness of
the trellis, situated as it is at a height of from 22 to 23 feet above the
348
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 26, 1861.
level of Uie water, and supported only at intervals of about 100 feet, gives
the work almost a fragile appearance from a little distance, but the trials
which have been made of its stability arc conclusive as to its solidity. It
will be remembered that the testing weight, stationary, as well as rolling,
■mouoted to about 960 tons, or 8 tons per yard, and that the deflection of
the fixed portions was only about half an inch, and that of the shorter
. swing portions less than half that amount
The two swing bridges, which are of the same dimensions — namely,
1(M feet long, with an opening of 74 feet, are each composed of three plain
wrought-iron girders supporting two ground plates, and weigh from 200
to 300 tons.
At each end of the central-fixed portion, and consequently between it
and the two turning-bridges, are elegant cast-iron Gothic arches in the
style of Strasbourg Cathedral, but they are not of sufficient height for
effect : that on the French side is ornamented with figures emblematic of
the Rhine and the 111, and the other with similar representations of the
Bbioe and the Kinzig, and each bears the arms of France on one side and
-those of Baden on the other.
The whole of the work has been executed in two years and seven months,
and the cost is said to be eight millions of francs, or £320,000.
The construction of the piers was entrusted to the Company of the
Eastern Railway, M. Vignier being the engineer-in-chief; the superstruc-
ture was also performcil by the same Company, M. de Kageneck being the
engineer, andM. Keller, superior counsellor of the Baden roads and bridges,
lieing entrusted with its supervision.
NEW SOCIETY OF WATER COLOR PAINTEES.
THE present Exhibition of this Society gives assurance that some of the
members— among them are two recently admitted, Messrs. Tidey and
Carl Werner— arc determined to attempt a flight above the dead level of
annual repetition of the same subjects executed in the same manner.
Indeed, we are induced to think that the determination to make a sensation
on the present occasion has not been confined to those gentlemen, if we
may jndge by one of the drawings sent, to which we will allude more
particnlarly presently. But we must first hail, with satisfaction, a seces-
sion from the perverts among the members of the pre-Rafliaelite persuasion,
at least, we have for a few years past always considered Mr. Edmund
Warren as being a determined member of that sect. It will, no doubt, be
•aid that his present success is the result of his recent practice, but we
insist that that need not be necessarily so, because for his present style he
might have found excellent warrantry and admirable examples in the
Dutch school, Vanderhuyden, for instance, who painted every brick of his
houses without destroying or injuring the general breadth, exactly as Mr.
Warren has treated the dried leaves in the foreground of his picture in
this year's Exhibition; but that any Dutch painter of eminence ever
indulged in the absurd vagaries of our pre-Raffaelite pretenders is a charge
that cannot, with justice, be made against the lowest delineators of even pot-
house interiors. However this may be, Mr. Warren's landscape in this
Exhibition promises to be the best of tlie season, not only for rural senti-
ment and brilliant efiect but in its successful vindication of the power
inherent in the legitimate rules of art. This picture is entitled, "Rest in
the Cool Shade of the Wood." The name does not convey a very accurate
idea of the picture because it is more like the entrance to or the exit from
a wood; a great part of the scene consisting of a corn-field and an exten-
■ive range of distant country. It will probably be within the recollection
of our readers who visit the annual picture exhibitions that Mr. Warren
has recently delighted in representing sudden gleams of sunlight, strongly
defined foliage and grass of a remarkable greenness. The leaves frequently
overpowered the other parts of his drawings, the gleams of sunshine were
frequently mere dabs of crude color, representing nothing but themselves,
and the grass was green enough to baffle the botanical instincts of a hungry
iorse or a starving flock of sheep. Now all this is changed, and changed,
too, for the better. The picture, writing from recollection, consists of
three broad and well-defined masses. The foreground mass consisting of
a large expanse of dried leaves and the trees belonging to the wood; the
middle distance or second mass is formed of the corn-field and the distant
country, while the third great division of the composition occupies the
part devoted to the sky. The arrangement of the colors is very skilful,
and at the same time perfectly legitimate. The artist retains his favorite
.gleam of sun, which is placed upon the reddest portion of his equally
favorite dead leaves, but besides the truthful imitation of the light, the
illumined red spot which it renders prominent throws the whole composi-
-tmn into breadth and air. It also assists the sentiment by giving coolness
■to the half shade cast by the trees, and perfects the primitive harmony
with the yellow of the corn and the blue in the sky. This is effected by
the brilliant spot of light on the red leaves, while the low and warm tone
• K I, " ^^^^ ™^"* '" *''^ foreground contrasts, by its warmth,
'!^ 1- i. °^* °^ ^^° supplied by the trees, and both assist the breadth
•Of light on the com in the field, the distant country near the horizon and
«ie atmosphere above the whole. The dark green of the trees is prevented
from cutting too harshly against the sky by the fresh greenness of the
transparent foliage on the upper part of the sky. Here again Mr. Warren
indulges in one of lus old peculiarities, a vivid green, but in the present
instance, with excellent effect, and the cool grey tint which delicately
overspreads the redness of his dead leaves brings the cold color of the atmo-
sphere into the foreground of his picture, and increases the refreshing
comfort of "A Rest m the Cool Shade of the Wood." The only remains
ofhis pre- Kaffaelitc tendencies we can discover in this picture we will
«mtidet an oversight in composition. The children in the foreground
being of the same number as the laborers, reposing in the shade at some dis-
tance from them, two and two, and the heads of each group are at equal
distances apart. But it is, nevertheless, a beautiful picture, full of the
intended sentiment, and an admirable work of art.
The picture next in rank for perfect execution is a scene before the
Inquisition, entitled " Venice in her Pride and Power," by Mr. Carl Werner.
The same frame contains a set of medallion subjects, intended to be
explanatory of the principal subject ; it is, however, a practice of which we
cannot approve, and will confine our praise to the drawing, coloring, and
expression in the attitudes of " the dreaded three," in their black masks,
and the wild terror displayed in the countenance of the accused, who stands
in chains before them. 'There is a sense of completeness felt on looking at
this drawing, undisturbed by the perception of pains-taking finish, and
the whole has an elegant effect if not too much so for the impression such
a scene would produce on the mind of one not personally interested in the
proceedings. Mr. Tidey bids boldly lor public attention this year in
perhaps the largest figure subject in water colors we remember liaving
seen. It is entitled "Dar-thula," and the scene is taken fromOssian. The
heroine is supposed to be watching the battle in which her lover Etha falls.
Behind her is dimly seen " the gloomy Cairbar," who reminds her of his
death. Upon this she lets fall her shield, being herself wounded by an
arrow still in her side. Large as this drawing is, the entire point of interest
is in the face of Dar-thula, and the wild character of her head, with her
hair streaming in the wind. All the anxiety in her features and vivid
sparkling of her tearful eye, endeavouring to pierce through the dust and
confusion of the distant battle, is finely relieved and contrasted by the
helmeted head and the calmly sullen features of her " gloomy " monitor
close behind her, solemn and mysterious in effect. The rest of the draw-
ing is broadly generalised in color and forms, the figure of a dead warrior
lies foreshortened in the foreground, beneath the feet of Dar-thula, which
is quite sufficient to show that a fight is taking place. The tone of the
upper part of the picture is of that cool and rather of that moon-light
effect in which this artist seems to take pleasure, but is very appropriate
in the present case, as it requires no great force of tints on the other parts
to arrange with it ; this has enabled Mr. Tidey, as we have said, to throw
the whole interest into the expressive face of the heroine. Many will, no
doubt, wish for more decision in the details, both as to the colors and the
forms, and we freely confess that we think the latter might be improved
by taking a more classical character, and there is certainly deficiency of
power in some parts|of the drawing. The right-arm of Dar-thula is not quite
satisfactory in its outline, and the presence of the upper arm of the warrior
on the ground is not even indicated. But as a whole this is, as we have said, a
bold attempt, and this rising artist has displayed praiseworthy courage in
the broad simplicity with which he has carried out his conception, and as
Mr. Warren's landscape may be the " lion " of the season in that branch of
subject, so, for height of aim in the more elaborated walk of art, imbued
with poetic feeUng, Mr. Tidey's " Dar-thula " may not meet with many
rivals.
The desire to create a sensation on the part of the artist to which we have
promised to refer more fully, appears in the drawing by Mr. J. Abaolon,
without a title in the catalogue, but the extract which is there inserted
from " Lamartine's History of the Girondists " informs us that it repre-
sents Mdlle. de Sombreuil about to drink a glass of blood warm from the
body of an aristocrat, in order to preserve the life of her father from the
savage fury of the sans-culottes. That such a subject is eminently calcu-
lated to excite a sensation, we are not prepared to deny, but that it will
create any sensation which ought to be created by the exertion of
legitimate art we are most certainly not inclined to admit. It may be a
painful duty enforced upon the historian to record a fact so horrible and
BO degrading to human nature, but after a lapse of years for the painter to
drag it again to tlie light of day, and embody the reality before our eyes
in a public exhibition, betrays an opinion of public taste as insulting
as it is wantonly disgusting. That a rapid sketcli of such a scene, after
laying down the book, should be discovered among the scraps of a
deceased painter, who possessed an energetic mastery over the human
face and figure, and had struck his ideas off at a heat, and had thrown the
rude sketch aside, we can well understand, but where, as in this case, the
artist possesses not any such exculpating pow^er of drawing, dwells so
long on such a subject as his poor means of execution would force him to,
and after all 8u;h protracted labor has not extracted from the long con-
templation of his work, sufficient good taste to induce him to destroy or
conceal it, manifests a state of mind not consistent with the refining and
humanising influences universally attributed to a close alliance with the
fine arts.
It is an old tradition that royal patronage sits like an incubus on the
artistic mind. Certainly the drawings which are exhibited in this gallery
by Mr. Edward H. Corbould, produced under the command of Her Majesty,
prove no exceptions to the rule. We feel, however it is but fair to the
royal influence to decide whether the present failures are due to that or
to the incapacity of the artist. We incline to think that upon this occasion
the fault lies with the latter. The subjects are both of them susceptible
of very simple treatment, and easily rendered subservient to the ordinary
laws of composition. That beingso, let usask whoever saw so plain a subject
as " Hetty," the whole of which relates entirely to two figures, completely
lumbered up with an enormous piece of machinery in the foreground,
crossing destroying the figures and occupying so much space as to leave
them no room to move? This maybe worthy of a mere drawing master, pure
and simple, but It is certainly not the work of a man who understands
composition. We can have little hope for the cultivated taste of the royal
children when their teacher perpetrates such monstrosities. The drawing
April 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
349
of "Dinah " shows that he possesses no power in the development of facial
expression, and in the attitude of tlie female preacher he lias mistaken
stiffness of position for enthusiastic action, and has made the mistake m
composition of showing more skill in the subordinate heads than expres-
Ision and fervor in the principal one. In both drawings the simplicity of
the subjects is destroyed by the riclmess of color and the vivid sparkling
of lights. In " Elaine," from the Idylls of the King, Mr. Corbould seems
' to have aimed at nothing but eccentricity of treatment. The prodigious
patches of black, presented by the pall hanging over the side of the boat
or barge, render anything like artistic arrangement impossible; the whole
is, therefore, beyond clever execution, a confusion of parts with no
approach to unity. ,< -r. > i.
Mr. Henry Warren exhibits an excellent drawing of the "iord ot
Jordan — The Greek Bathing-place." Its chief merits lie in the freshness of
the scene, and an unusual combination of the figures with the landscape.
Mr. L. Haghe sends two elaborate drawings, one of them representing an
artist's studio and the other the interior of " The Cathedral at Milan."
In the former the artist has made for himself an opportunity of displaying
his power of painting .armour, costume, furniture with the vivid effects of
light upon them such as is produced by the smallness of the aperture left
for its entrance by the confined limits of an artist's window. The
whole displaying an amount of labor and skill beyond the importance of
the subject. The other drawing is of large'dimensions, showing the vast area
of Milan Cathedral and acknowledged architectural beauties; the lower part
is enriched by a well arranged congregation being addressed by a preacher
from the pulpit. This is decidedly a very fine production. The drawing
of " Sir Kenneth and Saladin," by Mr. G. H. Laporte, we think deserving
of the elevated position in which it is placed. There is a great deal of
good arrangement of the groups in the " Harvest Scene— The Last Load,"
by Mr. George B. Campion, — the turn of the road near the foreground is
well conceived, to give form and variety to the line of the procession, but
the rustic simplicity of the subject we think greatly injured by the con-
ventional heat and weight of colours so positive as those employed.
There is a pleasing example of subdued tints in " The Maiden's Prayer "
by Mr. Aaron Punley. We should have been perfectly satisfied with it if
the sfraceful feeling and refined execution had found a culminating point in
the i.ice. In a larger drawing than that noticed above, entitled " A Zwing-
fest on the Western Alp," in the background is the Jungfrau, also by Mr.
Henry Warren, we miss the fresliness and combination we so much admired
in the other, and from what we see going on, Zwingfest means a wrestling
match, in which one individual appears likely to have a swing that will
last him for some time. There are a great many figures, but in several
instances they are poorly drawn, and very few of them are paying the least
attention to the proceedings which no doubt they have purposely assem-
bled together to witness. While Mr. John Absolon can produce drawings
so light, pleasing and smiling as "Berne," " Unterwalden," and scenes from
the Lago Maggiore we hope he will eschew for the future the horrors of the
French revolution. Mr. Charles Vacher sustains his fame in " Moel
Siabod — North Wales," which presents a fine mountainous piece of scenery;
and there is great delicacy of treatment in another drawing by the same
artist from " Lake of Llanberris, North Wales." On the second screen
there is an elegant and charming subject by Mr. J. H. Mole of a country
boy with a pistol in his hand lying concealed behind some sheaves of
wheat " Waiting for a Shot " at some unsuspecting crows. A larger
subject in another part of the gallery from the saine hand, has some
excellent foreground details, and the story told represents " A Hopeful
Parting " by a young fisherman lingering with his sweatheart and being
called by an older one to come on board the boat rolling in the surf and
ready for sea. There are a great many drawings deserving of favorable
notice which must wait until a future opportunity.
♦
ON COLOR IN CHURCHES.
THE same feelings, that in some people call strongly for color in the
decoration of the interior of churches, form in otliers the ground of
their objection to it. For in some minds the bare wliiteness found in
churches where this means of ornamentation is not used, is of all things
the most antagonistic to that solemnity of effect which we most of us con-
sider requisite for a place of divine worship, while in others the very
idea of color is unavoidably suggestive of a gaudiness and gaiety, equally
at variance with that solemnity; and both these classes of thinkers are
right, and furnish us with the best cine to success in our treatment of this
difficult subject, by showing us, in the first place, what to avoid; for by
seeing that the two apparently diametrically opposite opmions both
spring from the same feelings, which from their origin ought to be
respected, and which wo as church designers would wish to produce by
our work, we are provided with two important limits, which if we wish
our work to be rightly and intellectually expressive of its purpose to all
who enter it, we shall take care not to pass. And these two limits
are, coldness on the one hand and gaudiness on the other, and
useful limits they are in general art, as well as in church decoration,
we will then proceed to consider the several means of color at our dis-
posal within these limits. And firstly, by means of flat tints laid on the
walls, and other parts of the building. These should be as delicate as
possible, and if no more expensive mode can be adopted, this method is, in
my opinion, very preferable to the white plaster with which the walls of
so many churches are, as a matter of course, covered, but this when
carried to any extent requires more care and more knowledge of the rules
of color than any other mode, as directly the color is allowed to be in any
way stronger than a pale tint, or the different colors used are not in
harmony, it either becomes gaudy or disagreeable.
Secondly, by colored stone. This is in itself a wide subject, the means
of decoration under this head ranging from the simple leaving of the
walls unplastercd and giving the church the benefit of the rich gradated
grey, or warm gradated brown or pale yellow of the various building stones,
to the elaborate, and in this country almost recently revived, art of inlaying
walls with the choicest marbles. Under this head may, from the material
used, be classified that to my mind most perfect of all the means of color,
that of mosaic, when it is not the modern glass mosaic.
This coloring of a church with colored stone is, in some respects, the
safest of all means. We cannot, in my opinion, by this means err on the
side of gaudiness, and if we really use colored stones we cannot err on the
side of whiteness, but it seems to me that, from the nature of the material,
we may sometimes err on the side of coldness and want of variety of color;
yet surely this must be from our want of taste in selection, not from a
dearth of variously colored materials in nature. It appears to me also that
our failing in our modern attempts at this kind of coloring, both as
applied to our special subject as well as to the exterior coloring of all our
buildings, springs from a want of delicacy in taste and a consequent love
of violent contrasts of black and white, and their kindred colors, and the
use of too strongly defined, geometrical, and other forms, attracting our
eye to their forms more than their color, and consequently distracting our
attention from the general forms of the building, and the richness of varied
light and shade in the sculpture, which ought to be a contrast to the
flatness of the unsculptured portions of the building.
Thirdly, by the use of variously colored bricks, tiles, and other kindred'
materials, such as variously colored terra-cotta of all kinds. This, although
the color is obtained from different kinds of clays, and consequently from
natural materials, seems from our modern experiences to be more dangerous
than the last, and to have the objection, as a material used for the interior
of churches, of having a common appearance, a want of costliness in its
effect, and which prevents it harmonising with stone, even of the least
costly kind, much more so when marble is used. The contrast of colors
also, as the red and black, seems too violent; yet, with care and study, the
clays and their manufactured results must surely be capable of giving a
wide range of sober color suited for our purpose; but as far as they have
been used at present, their poverty of appearance and their vulgarity of
color seem a great objection to their use: they seem more suited for shops
than for the interior of churches, and yet I tiiink they ought not to be so.
Fourthly, by gilding. This is so dependent on our sixth means of color,
or rather means of toning and solemnising color, and is so important to
our next, and its legitimacy so depends upon them both, that I can hardly
dare to advocate its use without them, and can hardly speak of it without
saying part of what I have reserved for them. When sparingly used, even
when the church is only decorated with natural materials, or in delicate
tints, it is a beautiful and solemn means of decoration, but it should either
in its nature be dead or from its position not allowed to shine. The gold in
the modem glass mosaic, although I have seen even it in positions where
it was toned down so as not to be very objeotionaMe, usually from its
glitter and from its commonness, although no doubt cajwible of great im-
provement in these respects is, in its present form not at all admissable in
a church interior; but as all my recollections' o( colored interiors abroad
are nearly and dearly associated with golden grounds, in conjunction with
the means hereafter to be treated of, I must pass on at once to the next
means, or I shall say here that which belongs more properly to it.
Fifthly, by means of the painter's hand. Glorious are the examples
which we have left, especially in Italy, of this glorious art; but, although I
love so much our present modern paintings, I am compelled to say that
the nearer we approach to modern art, the less success do we find in the
decoration by painting of the interiors of churches. In spite of all the
beauty of the Renaissance school of painting, yet we must for our models
of, or rather studies of, painted decoration, or of decoration of church
interiors by the painter's art and hand, in which we may include mosaic,
go back to the mosaics and paintings on a golden ground, of the Byzantitie
churches. Gold seems to me the only color, which may greatly predomi-
nate with success; it seems to have the special property of softening and
harmonising the tones of the other colors, used with it. In this means
as in all the others, it seems to me that the safest guide is delicacy ; as
long as each of the colors, all their contrasts and combinations, are delicate,
we can hardly err; or if by human weakness we do err, we shall not so
greatly offend. And let me here urge; as others have done before, the extreme
value to architects of the study of the laws and properties of colors; bat
delicacy is the thing of all others to remember, and with regard to pevfeat
form and drawing, it appears to me that as long as the coloring is delicate,
and the relief and shadow not too strong, that the most beautiful form» of
men and angels may be drawn as well as the painter can draw them hut
that it is necessary that the painter while executing them should always
remember that they are part of the architectural decoration.
Sixthly.— Perhaps my sixth means of color for the interior ol churches,
will hardly be admitted as such, and yet it always appears to me one of
the most important of all that are in the hand of the architect. By its
magic aid he can alter, and control all the rest ; he can use it as a sottener
in the hands of a discreet and experienced painter. By it is a color too
bright ? would otherwise the gilding glitter — would the color go to the
confines of gaudiness ? a delicate grey and softening darkness can be
thrown across it: by its agency all the means that I have enumerated
can be used together, and yet the building may be solemn,-—
ay, so solemn that the painter, in after years, may portray it
with affection, over and over again, and from all points within its glow-
ing walls— ay, so solemn that those who would not otherwise worship, may
by its eflect, be helped to worship — ay, so solemn that the spectator cannot
350
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 26, 1861.
help laying of a building decorated and toned by tliis means, as Mr. Street
does of' St. Mark's, Venice. " I think I never saw an interior so thoroughly
religious, and religion-inspiring as this." He attributes this entirely to
" the lavish expenditure of art and precious materials throughout its
fabric." Most true it owes most of its grandeur to these ; most true that
that grandeur could not have been attained without them j most true that
what ho calls '• this grand display of mosaics upon a glorious gold ground
makes the work appear to be both larger and better than it is," but I
cannot now, and did not when I was there, attribute the whole of this
unusual solemnity and " religion-inspiring " effect entirely to these most
glorious of all our means of colored decoration; but felt then, and
still feel, that our sixth and last means of decoration has a large
share in the honor of producing so great a result. It is the
power of comparative light and darkness at the disposal of the
architect in the number, size, and position of the windows.
1 think that at St. Mark's the peculiarly solemn effect is pro-
duced by that gorgeous decoration under the influence of the " dim
religious light" from the small windows, shining like stars from the
golden arches of the roof. With this means of coloring and toning the
building, we may include that important means, coloring by stained glass;
and in no way are painted windows so effective as when the building is
skilfully darkened, till they shine out with many times their original
brightness." I only know one modern church where this important power
of subduing the light has been skilfully taken advantage of so as to give
proper value to the painted glass, and tone down the color and gilding
used on some portions of the building, and consequently the varied effects,
on different days and at different hours of the day are as beautiful as in
the buildings of old, and this one is .ilone among the modern churches,
" thoroughly religious and religion-inspiring," although the materials are
not costly and no gold-grounded mosaic glows upon its walls.
E. D.
ROYAL IXSTITUTE OF BUITISH ARCHITECTS.
AN ordinary ^neral meeting of this Ijody was held at tlie rooms, Conduit-
etrcet. Regent-street, on Monday evening ; rrofessor Cockerell, R.A., in
the chair.
Mr. James Bell, lion, sec, in the absence, through illness, of Mr T. Hayter
Lewis, hon. sec., read the minutes of proceedings at the last meeting, which were
approved of and eonfirmed.
btath of a Mimbfr.—'Ihe Chaihman announced the death of General Sir Charles
Paslcy, one of the members of the Institute.
l*rofe88or Donaldson observed that the deceased was difltin^uished for the part
betook in construction, and particularly in the composition of cements and mor-
tars. He followed that up to the close of his life ; at all times he took a great
interest in construction, and aided in bringing a knowledge of it among engineers
to a higher degree than it had previously attained. He always took a great
interest in the Institute, of which he remained a member to the last.
fJoiiatiott^,—ilr. Bell, hon. sec. having auuounced several donations,
Sir. G. Godwin said, through the kindness of Mr. Henry Stevens, late of Belmont,
and now a respectable inhabitant of this country, he bad to present to the Institute,
fVom the Government of the United States, the working drawings of various public
bnildings, such as modern hospitals, custom-houses, post-offices, and court-rooms,
executed in the different cities of the Union for the Secretary of the Treasury, or
under bis direction. These were lithographed, and the specifications were piiiitcd
and tiound in two volumes, upon which the builders bad estimated and made their
tenders, or, as the Americans called them, their "bids."
A vot« of thanlis was pas.'^cd to the donors.
The late Sir Cliarlejt /f«?*r//.— Mr. Bell then stated that it was intended to erect a
monument in the Xcw I'alace at Westminster, to the late Sir Charles Barry, and
read the following circular referring to the subject :
^'Memorial to thf Utte Sir Charks Barrjl, Ji.A., F.R.S.
" It is proposed to erect a marble statue of Sir Charles Barry, in the New Palace at
Westminster.
" As there is reason to believe that the requested permission will be granted for
the execution of the work under the direction of the Royal Commission of Fine
Arts, as soon as the requisite funds are provided, noblemen and gentlemen who
may desire to do honor to the memory of the late eminent architect of that building
are invited to forward their subscriptions to ilessrs. Dritmmond, bankers, Charing-
cross, with whom an account has been opened for "the memorial to the late Sir
Charles Barry." in the names of tlie Right Hon. W. F. Cowpcr,M.l'.,Major-General
the lion. Sir Kdward Cust, K.C'.H., K.R.S., Sir Charles L. Kastlake, President, R.A.,
Charles R. Cockerell. Esq., It. A, President R.I. B. A. William Tite, Esq., F.R.S.,M.P.,
who have consented to act as treasurers and trustees.
"M. DiOBVWVATT )„ u
"CiiABLES C. Nelson J"™' ^'^^■
Towhomallcommnnlcations are requested to be addressed at the rooms of the Royal
Institute of British Architect*'. No. '.», Conduit-street, Hanover-square. Subscribers
are particnlarlv invited to make their intention known to the lion. Sees., in order
that a correct list may be fortliwith prepared for circulation."
The CliAiUMAN having said a few words in favor of the object,
Mr. C. C. Nelson stated that within a week the amount promised to be subscribed
amounted to more than JC800. But what was wanted was names rather than the
money, (or he ..ad a letter in his pocket guaranteeing any reasonable amount for
t If statue, Gentlemen held back, wishing to know what their fellows wished to do
tostead of subscribing largely. The subscriptions of architects ranged from five
Sjneas to one guinea, but he believed that working men intended to subscribe, and
e great object was to get as many names as possible In order to confer greater
honor on the memory oi Sir Chas. Barry.
IHitrUmtion of I'nzet.— The I'resident then proceeded to distribute prizes to the
following Kentlemen.— The students' first prize in books to Mr. Walter Paris, for
U* design for a Mt«-ary and Scientific Institution ; the students' second prize in
books to Mr. R. H. Carpenter, for his design for the same subject ; for the students'
monthly sketcbei. the firet prize in books and Mr. Hansard's prize to Mr. E. J.
Tarver ; and a prize of merit to Mr. Walter Paris. The prize of £ftO, claimed by Mr.
Vangfaan, the sucecsafal competitor for the Soanc Medallion in iura, was, in his
sbsenee, presented to that gentleman's father, the President remarking that the
prize wonld be a luting honor to the son.— The father stated that his son was at
present at Naples and that his prolesslon was his sole delight. He thanked the
Cooneil for their great compliment and liberal prize.— Mons. J. B. Le Sueur, archi-
tect, Paris, was then presented to the President to receive the Royal Gold Medal lor
the year li^W. The President, who was very Indistinctly heard, expressed the
pleasure he had in presenting the medal to M. Lc Sueur. They were all acquainted
with his works, and no doubt by the name zeal and devotion to his profession In the
fatnre which he had hitberto evinced, he would enhance his already illustrious cha-
racter. Her .Majeetjr had been graciously pleased to acknowledge the distinguished
position he held in the profession, as was shown by her approvalof the award of the
Royal Gold Medal to him; her MiOesty followed the advise of the Council of the
Institute on this occasion with very great interest. The President then presented
the medal to M. Le Sueur amidst loud applause.
M. Le Sleur returned thanks in French.
Air Francis E. Scott's Prize— \t was announced that this was a prize of ten
guineas, offered annually by Sir F. K. Scott, Bart, for the term of live years, be
awarded to the author of the best set of sketches for a building of moderate dimen-
sions, devoted to civic or domestic purposes, In accordance, throughout, with the
advance of modem civilisation, and designed In harmony with the constructional
and ornamental principles that prevailed in the architecture of England, France,
Germany, and 1 landers from IL'OO to 1.500, and in that of Italy from 1250 to 1400.
The sketches may be either in outline, or colored, or tinted only, and they may be
drawn cither in perspective, or geometrically. If in perspective tlicy are to be of the
size which a sheet of imperial paper will admit. If drawn geometrically, they must
be to the scale of one-eighth of an inch to the foot. A plan, tinted in sepia, of the
principal floor of the building, drawn to a scale of one-eighth of an inch to the foot,
is to accompany each set of sketches ; and details of some part of the furniture,
flttings, stone- work, metal-work, &c., arc to be sent in drawn to scale in perspective,
and hnishcd In any manner chosen by the candidate. The competition is open to all
A.'tsociates and Students of the Institute. Each competitor is to send in one set only
of sketches. The time for receiving the Essays and Drawings in competition for the
medals and prizes of the Institute w extended to December Slst, instead of December
Ist, as previously stated.
A'eic iVcmders.— The following gentlemen having been balloted for were elected
members of the Institute :— Sir. Frederick R. Wilson, associate, of Alnwick, as
fellow ; Mr. William Eden Nesfield, of l.'i. Bedford-row, as associate.
Architectural Accessories of Moiutmentat Sculptures. — Mr. F. Pepvs Cockerell
read a paper on the artistic treatment of pedestals and architectural accessories of
monumental sculpture. It is the intention of Mr. Cockerell to revise and amplify
his paper at his earliest convenience, when it will be sent to the press, and we shall
publish it at length in our pages. The lecture was illustrated by a great number of
drawings. The lecturer said he thought the alliance between architecture and
sculpture should be more clear and mutual than it was at present, and that they
ought to co-operate with more reciprocity. In the best times of art the artist was
skilled both in architecture and sculpture, but in the present days they were separated.
A more friendly union between the two arts would be productive of great advantage
The lecturer proceeded to refer to monumental and decorative sculpture, comparing
the practice of the ancient with that of modern artists. Due relation between archi-
tecture and sculpture was too often lo.'^t sight of, and as to a pedestal some
fixed principle should be adopted in regard to it. There was a great necessity
for more attention being paid to the pedestal, in reference to the size, character, and
proportion of the statue. It was desirable that greater attention should be paid to
tlic study of the composition of antique monumental sculpture, in order to approach
the excellence it exhibited.
The CiiAiBMAN thought they 'were obliged to the worthy lecturer for drawing
their attention to this subject, for in modern times the sculptors had taken extra-
ordinary liberties, showing no corresponding scale or contrast In some of their
works, and taking forms which had never been seen in ancient times. For that they
were not to be applauded, and he thought it would be very desirable to form an
alliance and compact with sculptors so that architects might "be allowed to give their
notions or ideas as to the importance of a study of the antique. The sculptors might
say, "You architects think you are all-suflicicnt, but we can give you much better
designs than you can give us," and architects would be very much obliged to sculp-
tors for that in giving variety of action and design. He thought they were obliged
to the lecturer for having put before them some of the ancient exemplars— (Hear,
hear).
Professor Donaldson wished to make a few observations on the very interesting
and suggestive lecture which Mr. Cockerell had placed before them on the subject of
architectural accessories to sculptural monuments. He should say be thought the
lecturer had hardly done justice to our architects when he said that architects and
sculptors worked apart, for he was sure there were no departments more friendly
than architecture with sculpture. They found that when architects made their de-
signs in which provision was made for sculpture, such provision was looked at by
some committees as a matter of extravagance, that extrava'jance consisting in
sculpture entering at all iuto architecture. That day he had bi en with his friend
Mons. Le Sueur to the British Museum, where there were four magnificent pedestals
doubtless intended for statues of great men, but where were they ? When they had
no occasion to make provision for a statue, architects left the statue out of the
question. But statues ought to appear in many jilaccs where they were omitted,
and architecture suffered because they were not thought to be artistic architects.
If, however, the genius of the architect was fully carried out we should have much
more sculpture. "There were other matters connected with this subject of a very inte-
resting character, and some of them had been enlarged upon by the lecturer. The lec-
turer seemed not to think that the laws of architecture and sculpture could be recon-
ciled. Now it seemed to him (Professor Donaldson) the laws of all parts of the Fine
Arts could be reconciled. In illustration of this he referred to a beautiful fountain at
Nismes, which showed mathematical lines and points like architecture itself. There-
fore, be said that architecture was very much reconcilable with sculpture. In
Medieval architecture sculpture had been combined with the architecture so har-
moniously that it was one with the architecture, as if the architecture itself formed
the component part. As to pedestals, whether a pedestal should be larger or smaller
depended very much on its locality, position, and on everything which might be
connected with it. As to the statue of^Charles the First at Cliaring-cross, which had
been referred to by the lecturer, seeing that It was placed in such a vast space as it
was, it would have been lost if it had not a pedestal of a larger kind. As he was
passing l*ortland-place the other diiy he could not help thinking that the statue of
the father of our Queen placed there was a disgrace to the nation, to the capital, and
to the iJoard of Works, which had now the cliarge of all the public statues. The
Duke of Kent was a prince who was much respected and beloved, both for his own
qualities and as the father of the Queen, and he said that that statue onght to be
attended to. They saw also that George the Third's statue— a very fine one— looked
a little small, but had it been placed where the statue of (ieorge the Fourth was it
would not have done, as it was in a larger space. He held it as a maxim tliat they
should less consider the size of the statue itself than the position in which it was
placed. They must take care that in making the pedestal they did not allow
the statue to crush the pedestal, and at the same time not allow the pedes-
tal to overpower the statue. The learned Professor then referred to a pedestal in
front of the Acropolis at Athens, which was very peculiarly composed, the surbase,
the base, moulding, and so on, being very nice. As to the large colossal statues in
the temples at Athens, Olympus, and at Ells, they must have been inspired by the
ancient statues of the Egyptians. He was inchned to believe that, when the (irecks
went to Egypt, they were so struck with the appearance of the statues they saw there
that they determined to introduce them into their own temples. He thought those
statues were the result very much of the inspirations derived by the artists on tlieir
visits to Egypt itself As to another subject, there could be no doubt a pedestal
without a cap moulding always seemed insufliclent ; there was something wanted to
break the straight line, so as to produce the requisite harmony with the statue itself.
It appeared to him that a pedestal without a cornice was an ini])ropriety in the con-
struction of that sort of architectural feature ; but they ought to draw a distinction
between what might be called a mere plinth and the pedestal in relation to architec-
tural feature. Wiere bronze statues were introduced all the figures should be flue.
When he passed through A'icnna, in .lanuary last, he saw a statue erected there in
honor of the Archduke ( liarlcs ; it was oue of the finest productions of modern art,
and had also a very fine pedestal. Referring to the subject of the color of bronze
statues, the learned Professor said that among the ancients there was not a single
bronze statue that was not gilt. After inviting their attention to the collection pre-
sented to the nation by Lord Palmcrstou's brother, he said there could not be a doubt
that all the ancient sculptures in bronze were gilt, and instead of having a dark.
April 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
353
blaek. heavy mass, they had a brilliant statue showinf,' every part of the sculptor's
art, aud briuging out the peculiarities of the iudividual represented. In conclusion,
he betiged to propose a vote of thanks to Mr, Cockerell for his excellent lecture.
Mr. 0. (ioDWiN seconded the motion. He was quite sure all would agree that
what had been done lately amouKst us in the way of statues had been, to use the
mildest term, unfortunate. As to the Crimean monument in Waterloo-place, the
pnnhiotion of their friend Mr. Bell, who was respected by them all, and who was an
anift to the backbone, at present the aspect of that monument was most unfortunate,
and could uot bo left as it was. The huge mass of granite forming the pedestal was
enormous and unsightly, and the figures themselves, as one came down Waterloo-
place, were exceedingly disagreeable. It showed a want of care in placing the
monument ; with the monument in an alcove, and the granite out up in lines instead
o( being an eyesore, as it was at present, we should have had a monument doing
credit to the metropoUsand to the sculptor. He was not sure that Mr. Bell had had
his own way with the monument, and perhaps a few words spoken in public mi;jht
lead to some improvement. He hoped that in future when there was a subscription
for ft statue it would be a subscription for a pedestal as well.
Mr. 0. F. Haywakd said Mr. Bell had stated that it was most irafortunate for
him that the pedestal should be put up in its nakedness, as he had prepared a large
amount of ornament whicli had not been adopted. The speaker then proceeded to
say that he should like to have some sort of authoritative opinion on the question,
whether a statue should be placed on a column, whether such a thing was artistic or
not, tor some writers in.the public prints sneered at it.
air. F. P. Cocii.ERELL said there were examples in Greek vases of atatues in
columns, but they were small.
Mr. J. W. I'APWORTii made some remarks, in the course of which he was
understood to say that gilt bronze Tvaa one of the greatest enormities that could be
carried out.
Mr. C. H. S-Mith referred to the monnmont of WllUam IV., facing London-bridge,
which was by an architect of considerable merit, and which was the only instance in
this country of the pedestal and the statue being erected in granite. If that statue
had been in bronze the time might come when it would be melted down— (A laugh;.
If the Elgin marbles had been made of bronze he thought they would never have
reached the British Museum— (Continued laughter). But no one would take down a
granite statue for the sake of the material, and he regretted that so much bronze
was used in this country at the present time. In churches they saw that the brass
was taken away. The pedestal of WiUiam IV.'s monument was designed and
erected under the superintendence of Mr. Kelsey, a young man who did not do much
in architecture, but who was possessed of great ability in the sketching of the
luiman figure. He (Mr. Smith) had walked over London-bridge and found that the
effect of the statue was destroyed by the immense mass of shadow from the cornice
—the grer.t cornice east such a shadow that it swallowed up all the delicate tints of
the statue itself
The Chaibman was happy to find that the lecture had given rise to criticism, and
to some thought on the subject of pedestals.
The vote at thanks to Mr. Cockerell was carried by acclamatiOD, and the meeting
sepaxated.
-^
ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION CONVERSAZIONE.
THE second Conversazione of the season of the Architectural Association was held
in the Galleries, 9, Conduit-street, Regent-street, on Friday evening, when there
was a numerous attendance of ladies and gentlemen in evening dress. Amongst
the gentlemen present we noticed, Mr. William Tite, M.r., Messrs. T, Hayter
Lewis aud James Bell (Hon. Sees. Royal Institute of British Architects), Mr.
J. W. Papworth, Mr. Robert Kerr, Mr. T. Roger Smith, Mr. Morris, Sir. Blashill,
Mr. Randall Druce, Dr. liarlow, Mr. C. F. Hayward, Mr. New, Mr.
C. H. Smith, Dr. Hyde Salter, Mr. Capes, Mr. Mllnes, Mr. Thomas Scott, &c.
The Committee had received letters from several gentlemen, including, among
others, Mr. George Gilbert Scott, Mr. Ferrey, Mr. Ashpitel, Mr. Edwin Nash, and
Mr. Boulnois, expressing their regret at being unable to be present owing to other
eng.igements.
The President of the Association, Mr. T. Roger Smith, said it was fortunately
not his duty, on the present occasion, to occupy any lengthened share of their atten-
tion. The object of their meeting there that evening, in addition to meeting one
another in the friendly way of that and similar societies, would be, he dared say,
recollected by many of them. Mr. Tite was good enough, at the commencement of
the session, to place at the disposal of the Association a sum of money as a prize,
which was to be devoted in any way that might be thought best, for the advance-
ment of the art of design amongst the young men connected with the Architectural
Association. The money it was thought best to divide into two prizes, of which one
was to be offered to the author of the Dest series of designs sent in fortnightly to the
Class of Design, and the other to be offered to the author of the best design on a
specific subject. That being the case, it now became his (the Chairman's) duty to
read to the meeting the report of the judges of the desfgns, and then it would be for
Mr. Tite to present the prizes to the gentlemen who nad been so fortunate as to
obtain them. The following was the report of the judges :—
Report of the Judges apjminted to aiaard the Anmml Prizes placed at the disposal of
the Architectural Association, bi/ Mr. Tite.— To the Members of the ArchUectural
Association.
Gentlemen,— Having received your instructions to award, in conformity with the
regulations previously announced, a prize of the value of £.3, to the best design for a
Club-house, and of the value of £2, to the best series of sketches on not fewer than
five of the subjects arranged for the Class of Design ; we have exainined'the drawings
submitted to us by the secretaries of the Association and of the Class of Design, and
report as follows ; —
A total number of 102 drawings have been submitted in competition for the two
prizes, by 17 different competitors ; of this number % drawings by \& authors and on
12 subjects, have been submitted for the prize for the best set of sketches, and 0 draw-
ings by 3 authors, of whom one is also a competitor for the other prize, have been
submitted for the Club-house. Refore stating the results of our examination of the
drawings, we wish to express our regret that a larger number of members did not
engage In the competition for the prize offered to a design for a single subject (the
Chib-house), and to suggest that it is worthy your consideration whether, in a future
year, you ought not to devote £3 only to this purpose, and the larger prize to the
Class of Design ; or give two prizes, one to the best, and one to the second best scries
of sketches produced in that Class. 'We find Mr. K. (J. Harris to be entitled to the
prize for the design for a Club-house, for the following reasons :— In his design, as
shown in his view of the exterior, the general forms are good aud well balanced ; a
good eye for proportion, and a talent for architectural composition are evinced, and
the sky-line is picturesque and well composed. This view, as a drawing, is well put
into perspective, and extremely well drawn and etched up. We feel it right, how-
ever, to advert to some defects in this design, lest the fact of its receiving the prize
should be held to mark those defects as unimportant. The most serious fault is the
crude and defective character of the plans supplied, a blemish that we extremely
regret. Some undesirable inconsistences in style and especially in detail arc also
apparent, and the elevations are open to criticism as being rather too much crowded.
The Club-house submitted by Mr. Walters has many points worthy of praise, but
is inferior In general design, the sky-line is not in any way broken, even chimneys
being omitted, and there is a want of variety in the features. As a drawing the
view is well executed. Some details have been in this instance furnished, an example
which oflght to be generally followed on any future occasion of the same sort. These
details are on the whole satisfactory. The plans of this design if not open to severe
criticism, are still very far from perfect. The third Club-house by Mr. A. Smith'has
less artistic merit than the others, and is not done justice to by the manner of draw-
ing, which shows great maris of haste ; we wish, however, to record with marked
approval the care that has been bestowed upon the arrangement of the plans for the
building, which evince careful study of the subject, and are so much better than the
others submitted, as to provoke regret that the design and drawing are not as a
whole such as we feel justified in recommending for the prize. For the prize to b«
awarded to the sketches of the Class of Design, we cordially recommend the series
contributed by Mr. Tarver, although they are fewer in number than some other
series, the set consisting only of six designs upon five subjects. The sketches are
distinguished for a uniform excellence in desi^u, drawing, and coloring, and a play
of fancy united to a practical view of the subjects illustrated, which we have grea
pleasure in recommending to the Association as dcseiS'ing of reward. As any or al
of the remaining sets of designs m.iy be eligible to compete at the close of the session
for the Association prize, we have not though it right to enter into any discussion ot
their merits, which at the same time we williiigly recognise as being in many instances
very considerable.
The prize designs, as well as the others in competition for the prizes, were ex-
hibitea in the Great Gallery.
Mr. Tite, M. P., said he had very great pleasure in attemUng there that night,
because he felt it was the encouragement of the young and rising architect That
brought them together, and it was with that view he gave the small sum he offered—
it was with the view of encouraging young students to beffin and to persevere in a
very anxious and arduous pursuit [llr. E. .1. Tarver having been called up to
receive the prize awarded for the best series of sketches contributed to the Class of
Design, Mr. Tite continued :— ] Ue was very happy indeed to find so young a man
as Mr. Tarver stand up to receive, perhaps, the first distinction te had met with In
life— and be had not yet passed through the ordeal of his articles, being only In his
third year ; on hearing the report read, he did not wonder that the Committee
appointed to judge the designs found it difUcult to say much on a subject of this kind,
or to regret that the competitors were so few in number. But, for a young man in
the third year of his articles, the sketches produced by him were works of remark-
able judgment, aud instead of there being wonder that there were so few competitors
in that class, the wonder was that there were so many and that their productions
were done so well. There was great skill in perspective, and very great skill in the
drawings, and these were promises that would, he doubted not, lead them to hope
Mr. Tarver would be a credit to the profession, and that the present designs would
be followed by others of greater importance. He was sure the meeting would think,
with the judges, that Mr. Tarver was well worthy of the distinction he had attained
at so early a period of his life. He had much pleasure in presenting Mr. Tarver with
an architectural volume by VioUet le Due, which was characterised by great taste and
research, and he bad no doubt Mr. Tarver would find it of great usefulness. fThe
prize was then presented to Mr. Tarver. Mr. R. O. Harris, to whom was awarded the
prize for the best design for a Club-house, having been callediforward,Mr. Tite said :— ]
This was the principal prize, and it had been obtained by agentleman who was out of
his articles. The design of Mr. Harris was a work of very considerable merit. One of
the books with which he had to present Mr. Harris was " Fergussou's Hand-book
of Arcliiteoture," the work of agentleman who had brought so much skill, learning,
and research to bear on the art and science ot architecture, he knew no book to
which an architect could more readily or more usefully refer than to Fergusson's
Hand-book. Another book he had to present to Mr. Harris was a series of illustra-
tions by Shaw, illustrating what^was very fashionable at the present day, he meant
the re-introduction of the architecture of the Medieval times. In the tietails would
be found a great deal that was inconsistent with the general forms and peculiarities
of English Cothic architecture, but it was a book which, with its great beauty of
illustration and skill of drawing, was deserving of much attention. [Mr. Harris was
then presented with the prize.]
The President of the Association said, it now became his pleasing duty to ask
them to join him in returning their best thanks to Mr. Tite for placing the prizes
which had been distributed at their disposal, and for his kindness in coming down
there that evening to be present amongst them, and to present the prizes. The
prizes had given a great stimulus to the members of the Class of Design, and he had
no doubt that that would be of great advantage to them in time to come.
Mr. Robert Kerr had very great pleasure in seconding the motion, and scarcely
knew in so doing what to say in addition to what had been already said in its
proposal. They all knew who Mr. Tite was, and what he had done for the profession
m past years. And it must be satisfactory to them to find that at this period of his
career he was still Inclined to support such an Association as the present by such
prizes as had been given away that night. Mr. Tite would not wish him to enlarge
on his merits, and in his presence it would be bad taste to do so. He (Mr. Kerr) had
had much satisfaction in looking that night at the drawings of the students of the
Architectural Association, and he remembered the time when no such drawings
could have possibly been produced by the younger members of the profession to
which they had the pleasure and honor to belong. He had observed that the sketches
had improved year by year, and he was sure that some of the sketches before them
that night were so near perfection for young men that he was afraid they could not
be Improved much for some length of time to come. He was gratified to see so large an
assemblage to meet the Architectural Association, which showed that it was
appreciated, and he hoped that it would continue to exert its influence in the raising
01 young men aud students, a class for whom it had already done so much. He was
sure that under the presidency of Mr. Smith and those about him, young men might
feel confidence in joining the Association with the certainty of a favorable result.
The vote of thanks having been carried by acclamation,
Mr. Tite said he was very much obliged to the meeting for the complimentary
way In which it had passed the motion, and to the mover and seconder for the terms
in which the proposition had been made, lie was friendly to architectural asso-
ciations, because he recollected that in early life he owed something, and not a little,
to an association exactly parallel to that which he, had attended (hat night. At the
period of time to which lie referred— and he would not tell them how long ago It was
—(a laugh)— he was himself a student, and a few of them young students Uke him-
self, determined to get up an association for mutual improvement and information.
Such an association was formed, and one of the studies was to huve a sketch made
off-hand at their meetings. He was afraid that there were not many of that class
remaining, but he could reckon among the members Professor Donaldson and him-
self That association lasted ;some years, and it certainly introduced him to one of
the best styles of drawings and sketches he ever saw. They had amongst them in
that association Thomas Lee, a most accomplished architect, and the best draughts-
man he ever knew. He died about twenty years ago, after executing many works,
and amongst them the 'Wellington column. In Somersetshh-e. Had he Uved there
was no doubt he would have been one of the first architects of the day, as he was the
worthy brother of a noble painter. At that time the books for the student were
few, having, however, amongst them Stuart's "Athens," and the " Archajologia,"
and they were very costly : the only library at that time accessible to
students being that of the Royal Academy, of which he availed himself mth
advantage Now there was universal cheapness in publications both In this
country and in France. At the time George HI. was king, architecture did
not assume the prominent place it now occupied; still there were then
eminent architects, such as Soane, the elder Smirke, and Dance. The number
of subjects that crowded upon young men In the architectural profession was
an embarrassment, and the necessity almost of becoming acquainted with various
styles of architecture required a great deal of energy, perseverance, and industry.
However, the success which had attended the efforts of^ the Architectural Associa-
tion was, he thought, very creditable Indeed to the gentlemen who took an active
share in its management. He was not only happy, but proud to say all he could in
favor of such associations as this, and particularly this Association, Mr. Tite then
proceeded to warn his young friends against Indulging the idea that they could never
succeed In the architectural or any other profession except by genius. As Sir Joshna
R^^ynolds said, nothing but labor would carry them through a very large portion of
their profession. At the same time elegance could only be obtained by studying the
works of those who had obtained excellence in former days, and by studying tile
354
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 26, 1861.
prinoiplr* by the obserrtnce of which ther attained to that excellence. The rooms
m whirh they that evenlnjr met (the Airhitcotiiral Kxhibition) was a proof of the
SositioD of architecture at the present day. He saw much to admire, much skill in
rawinc. bat lie did not »ce so much of the proper research and acquaintance with
the art In the works which appeared on the walls ; there was too much of prettiness
and too little of intelli^nce in them. He did not mean to say that a man should
slarishly copy the churches, buildiuiis, amphitheatres, or mass of buildings to be seen
In Rome, but It was perfectly certain that by studying^ they inif^ht find out a great
de*l that was gratifying: to the mind in the combinations that were so agreeable and
•O tmlversally acceptable in the history of Europe. These were reflections
Khkb crowded on a mind which like his bad been accustomed to consider them
for fbrtr vears. As to the style of drawing a great deal had l)een
gidned htim France, and the French as architectural draughtsmen were
nneqiulled. He regretted that there was not in this country that proper
combination of architecture and sculpture which might be seen at Berlin.
The pedestals of some of our public statues exhibited great want of taste, and one
of them, which was near the House of Commons, was perfectly execrable. And yet
a proper knowledge of the base moulding and of other mouldings might be got as
well as a knowledge of the Greek, Latin, or German laugiuiges. Such defective
Imowledge of pedestals was not to be found in France and Germany, in proof of
which he referred to the statue of Frederick the Great at Berlin, and to that of the
Duke of Orleans at I'arls. He otTered to have the moulding of the pedestal of the
Duke of Wellington's statue in front of the Exchange altered at his own expense,
but he was not allowed, being told that 3Ir. Mackenzie, of Aberdeen, knew better
than he did, and thus the moulding remained in the wrong place. Mr. Tite then
spoke in favor of the drawings in the room by a gentleman named Watson, which
g^ned a silver medal, of the morning chapel of St. Paul's, one of the best works of
Wren. The whole story was extraordinarily well told by those drawings. It was
all very well for a young artist to make a dashing pen-and-ink sketch, but if a
student wanted to be a ^od drawer, he must draw carefully, closely, and accurately.
He referred to the productions he had pointed out as fine specimens of architectural
drawing, and ,he thought ithey were quite equal to any Frencli architectural draw-
ings he nad ever seen. In conclusion the hon. gentleman, in complimentary terms,
proposed a vote of thanks to the President (Mr. T. Roger Smith) and Committee
of the Architectural Association, who had done so much for its welfare.— Carried by
acclamation.
The President briefly responded, after whioh the company proceeded to partake
of refh^shmcnts and to promenade in the galleries.
COLOB ON STATUES, COLOR ROUND STATUES, AND PAINTINGS AND
SCULPTURE ARRANGED TOGETHER •
COLOR ON STATUES.
rUarch of the vear before last, the subject of coloring statues was brought before
the notice of this Society by a paper read in this room by Professor Westmacott.
This paper went carefully over a large portion of the subject. It treated of the de-
See in which there were evidences of the old Greek sculptors having added color to
eir statues. It also argued the subject, whether or no this was an improvement to
sculpture. It also registered the profcssor's.valuable opinion that it was not. The
Dean of St. Paul's presided, and gave the weight of his learning and testimony to
the view that there was no proof of the Greek statues having been colored, except
when forming parts of architecture. Professor Donaldson and Mr. Crace, however,
who took part in the discussion, inclined to the coloring of statues.
Even with the chance thereby of leaving my argument incomplete, I would avoid
recapitulating what passed ; all which also is to be found duly reported in the
Society's Journal for March 2nd, l&o9. In what follows, indeed, I wish, as much as
possible, to avoid going over the same ground, content rather to supplement
than to cover the whole subject. My remarks, therefore, will be chiefly addressed
to considering firstly, with what object the Greeks colored their statues, when they
did so— wliich was by no means their constant practice— and secondly, to submit the
only way in which I conceive that color can be suitably associated with statues at
the present day ; thirdly, with a few words as respects the joint exhibition of paint-
ings and sculpture (as being part of the subject of color associated with statues),
these notes will conclude.
In order, however, to attach them to Mr. Westmacott's address, I must go back
allttle to make them overlap and unite, but will repeat as little as possible.
On the occasion I speak of, the Dean of St. Paul's remarked that there was a
pmssage in Plato which was a stronghold of Mr. Westmacott's antagonists, to which
however the professor had not alluded. With your leave I will quote this now ; it is
fi:om" Plato de Repub." lib. iv., and is contained in a rejoinder of Socrates. We
may remark, by the way, as this gives more authority to the point of the passage,
that this revered Greek philosopher was not only the son of a sculptor, but for some
time himself wrought at the profession. This is the passage: Socrates speaks—
''Just as if," he says, "when painting statues, a person should blame us for not
placing the most beautiful colors on the most beautiful parts of the figure— inas-
much as tlie eyes, the most beautiful parts, are not painted purple but black ; we
should answer him by saying. Clever fellow, do not suppose that we arc to paint eyes
■o beautiful that they should not apitear to be eyes." This passage, we may well
admit, alludes to the painting of statues. The word for statue being "anurias."
But it does not say that the flesh was painted, nor that these were marble statues
which were so treated. We ourselves, in our towns, possess painted statues of wood,
as those of that distinguished North Ilriton, of wliich we still remark images in
■ome of our old snuff shops. The Greeks also, as Pansanias informs us, had in their
gardens and groves figures of plaster and wood which were painted. By this people,
however, without doubt many statues were painted of a much higher order than
these, and even occasionally (hose of their gods.
Another remarkable passage from the ancient authors (brought to bear on this
snbjwit by the polychromists) is thattrom Pliny (Book xxxv. cap. 2), in which he says,
(speakingofNieias the encaustic painter) that Praxiteles, the Athenian sculptor, when
asked which of his marble works best satisfied him. replied, "Those which Niciashas
had under his hands." "So much" says Pliny " did he prize the finishing of Nicias"—
" Tautiim circumtUione fjta tribiahaV' Now, the whole force of this passage turns upon
the meaning of the word " circumlUio." In the dictionary this word is translated
"polishing " as"indeed, its derivation points out. But the polychromists say that
Praxiteles could not have meant polishing. Nicias, they say, was an encaustic
^nter, i.e., one who painted in wax, laid on with heat, and that therefore
eireumUtio must have meant painting the statues in encaustic ! This, you see, how-
CTer, contains no evidence, and may be taken as an example of what is called " beg-
gttiff the question." A little circuit perh-ips may bring us round to a truer (explanation
MTuw passage. At times of festivity the Greeks delighted to oil their bodies, as did
»« Bpmans also, a somewhat barbarian practice, as it seems to us now, but so they
md. To give a similar shine and gloss to their statues, they occasionally waxed them,
aa the Romans did also. Nicias, as no doubt he used the best wax for his pictures, may
probably have superintended this process for such of Praxiteles' statues as that
acoJptor prized the most ; and there ends the whole story, for not a word is said about
eotor In ft. Moreover, the question put to Praxiteles was rather a searching one,—
"which of your statues do you like the best?" Also a direct answer might have
gjren ofl"encc in some quarters. Thus, however, did he parry it gracefully, by saying,
Wrhose which Nicias lias had under his hands."
The whole misapplication of this passage seems to arise, not from what Praxiteles
nfmselt said, but from what Pliny has volunteered—" Taiitum circumlitione ejus
tnbudxa." "So much did he attribute" or ascribe "to the polishing of Nicias."
jJj^^ntT read by Johk Bill, Esq., at the Society of Arts, on Wednesday, AprU
The truth is, that it was a pretty arf cn^(aii*(m speech— just such a one as Pliny
loved to record,aHd as such has been handed down with a force and meaning
attached to it to which examination shows it has no claim.
In the two quotations I have made exist the principal strongholds of the statno-
polychromists, as regards ancient authority of this kind in evidence of Greek prac-
tice. Having thus given precedence to these, I will now proceed to mention one
or two on tlio other side of the question.
In the discussion after the paper here, on the occasion I have referred to, the
Dean of St. I'aul's brought forward a valuable and to me, a new passage, bearing on
the subject, namely, one that occurs in line 400 of the Agamemnon of ^Ischylus, in
which Iphigenitt, when about to be sacrificed, is compared to a statue " from the want
of life or speculation in her eyes." "This simile," the Dean justly remarked,
"would not have been used if the eyes of statues had usually been colored."
Now, however, I would return to the practice of i'raxiteles so much advanced by
the statue-polychromists. In support of Mr. Westmacott's views on the occasion I
have mentioned, in the course of the discussion 1 alluded briefly to the following il-
lustration, which now, however, I will give a little more iu detail, in the following
story :— In the yEgean Sea, not far removed from each other, arc two islands, the
island of Cos and the island of Cnidus. The inhabitants of the former island— that
of Cos— desired to have a statue of Venus in the finest marble, and they commissioned
Praxiteles to execute it. Anxious to give satisfaction, the sculptor, in response,
made, not one statue, but two of this divinity, one nude the other draped. Having
done so, he gave his employers their choice. The inhabitants of Cos selected the
draped version. Perhaps there was an art-committee on the occasion, for, as it
appears, they did not choose the best. At least, the other one afterwards purchased
by the inhabitants of the neighbouring island of Cnidus, became eventually by far the
more celebrated of the two. At that time, some ;)00 or 400 years before our Saviour,
pretty nearly every island in the Mge&n had its celebrated statue of its tutelar di-
vinity ; but this Cnidian Venus was by far the most celebrated of all. It was, how-
ever but life-size, was in Parian marble, and was no doubt exquisitely conceived and
worked. A small temple was built for it in the midst of a beautiful garden. "The
temple was open on all sides, so that it could be seen in all views. The Cnidians
valued it beyond all their possessions. The regard for it was not limited to them,
however, Nicoraedes, King of Bithynia, a neighbouring state, having offered to
remit a very large public debt which the Cnidians liad contracted with him, if he
might become the possessor of it, but the ofl"er was dechned. Moreover, it was not
merely "the cynosure of neighboring eyes," but strangers came from all parts of the
world to see it. "Many persons," says Pliny, whom 1 have been quoting pos.'^/m,
•' sailed to Cnidus with no other object but to gaze on this statue." " It was." he
adds " not only the finest statue of Praxiteles, but the finest statue in the world."
Now, was this statue painted ? Not a bit of if. At least, not a word is mentioned
of color or tint in all Pliny's account of it, or in the still more detailed one by
Lucian. Is it to be supposed that if the eyes, for instance, had been painted blue or
brown, or the hair dark or fair, that neither of these two authorities should have
made the slightest allusion to it ? Pliny says, that in every point of view this statue
was beautiful, and that visitors remarked that "whichever way they approached her,
the goddess smiled benignantly upon them." Also Lucian, in [his "DeAmore*'
Division i;i, vol. v., tells us that the mouth was a little open and somewhat smiling.
In another part he expatiates on the beauty of the hair and forehead and admires
the precise, yet delicate, eyebrows ; but not a word about the color of the hair .ind
eyebrows, ile then makes special mention of the swimming softness of the eyes,
but not a word about their hue, which surely he would have mentioned had tliey
been tinged, however slightly. The position of one hand of this statue was simil.ar
to that of the Venus dc Medicis, as we see by some coins of t'nidus containing
representations of her, for, alas ! the statue itself no longer exists, having been taken
away to Rome, and thence eventually to Constantinople, where it is said to have
perished by fire. The other hand held a pendant of drapery that fell over a vase, but
there is no mention of color on either of these accessories.
But the part of the evidence wliich is yet to come is far the most important, as it
has direct reference to the surface of the undraped portions of the figure haviugbeen
left uutouched by color. "This statue." Lucian adds, "was of Parian marble,
and a blemish or stain on the left thigh was the more remarkable on account of
the extraordinary brilliancy, " Xa^;rjOori/f " or "splendor" of the marble, this is
the peculiar characteristic of Parian marble (far more beautiful than the Luna or
Carrara marble we now use), and it illustrates that its native surface and hue were
untouched. There is a very fine specimen of Parian marble in the British Museum
of a hand holding a butterfly, probably that of a I'syche, in this marble. There is an
exquisite creamy glowworm-like look about this marble, that is most charming. It
has just the degree of transparency of young fiesh itself, and possesses, as it were,
a native seml-lucency of its own, like that of the milky- way, or of a summer sea.
Let us, however, look to the further pertinence of Lucian's description. There
was a stain on the marble, he says, but adds that the efl'ect of this was only like that
of a foil which rendered the brilliancy of the rest of the marble more re-
markable. Now, however much this fancied foil, but real blemish, was converted
into an additional charm by the lovcr-Iike attachment and consequent special plead-
ing of the admirers of this cherished work, you may be sure that the sculptor
himself, when he made it, was not of this way of thinking. Solicitous, as wo
sculptors are. to obtain the purest and most spotless marble, especially for this class
of work, we may be quite sure that Praxiteles would have been very glad, if he could,
to have concealed the blemish in question, and that if his frienu Nicias had really
been in the habit of coloring his statues, it was on an occasion like this that his
services would have been especially in requisition.
Painted, therefore, as regards the flesh, certainly it appears that this chef-d'wuvre
of ancient art was not, or tlio blemish in question would have been the
first thing to have been concealed. Neither could it have been stained, both
because there is no mention of this, but also the word Xa^TTpcnjz
is conclusive on this point. Also, I would submit that it were as vain to paint the
lily, or gild refined gold, or varnish a diamond, as to attempt to add to the poetry of
pure Parian marble by any color enhancement whatever.
When also this remarkable instance of the non-coloring of this ch^f-d'ceuvre of
ancient art is brought to bear upon the general practice of those times, in respect to
coloring marble statues, the evidence afl'orded by the passages I have quoted is
the stronger, just because it is negative. Had Pfiny or Lucian felt called on to say
that the Venus of Cnidus was not painted or stained, it might have been argued
that she was an exception to a rule that otherwise prevailed ; but not a word appears
on this subject. Instead of this, both writers treat the subject just as we should
now, or at any other time wlien the painting of marble statues has been, as now, not
the general practice. There are various other points which, having been gone into
before, I avoid repeating, and I rather look to upholding my views by contrasting
two, as it has happened, on each side, of the principal passages on this subject, than
by an elaborate array of various authorities. Nevertheless, I am prepared to allow that
archaic and vKginetan sculpture may have been frequently treated with direct color,
both from the force of old precedent, and from each art, painting and sculpture, not
having been originally sulticiently advanced to go alone. Hut assuredly 1 do not
believe, as indeed there is no proof, that in the best times of Greek art independent
marble statues were ever painted, nor indeed any highly wrought statues at all
painted, except for purposes of idolatry. And this brings me at once to one proposi-
tion I have to put before you. It is this— that the ancient Greek statues were only
painted when tliey were idols, and when they were intended to be worshipped ; and
thus when these statues were painted, in Greece, that it was priest-craft, and not art-
craft that painted them. " t »i.
Having now laid this distinct proposition before you, for you to consider whetner
it is right or wrong, 1 will proceed more in detail. Doubtless, there were many
ancient (ireek statues, that at any rate, were not monochrome, but on the other hand,
of various colors, and iu many cases, I believe, painted up to full tints. These, how-
April 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
ever, were not, I conceit, usually in marble, but their chief examples come under
the head of the Cruseo-clephantiue art of the Greeks used in the temples. These
Greeks, like the Egyptians, m:ide (fiijantic statues of their deities, Jupiter, Juno,
Minerva, Apollo, &c., not, however, in granite, but Homotimcs in marble. Usually,
however, these very large figures were made in metal, either cast or beaten work, or
in ivory and gold, that is, with a surface of thin veneers of ivory and plates of gold
laid over a framework of wood, so fashioned as just to allow their thickness to make
up the substance, form, and surface required. This seems, no doubt, a strange
patchwork way of making up a god, like a piece of upholstery, and vastly inferior in
dignity to hewing hira out of granite or marble ; aud indeed, had we not reliable data
355
aigniiy to uewmg mm out oi granite or marble ; aud indeed, liad we not reliable data
for the practice, we could hardly have believed thatsuch a people as the Greeks would
have so wrought. However as my audience are not perhaps conversant with
Quatromere de Quincy's or MUlIer's account of these proceedings, I wiUgive a few
sentences on the subject drawn from what they say. First, I would premise that these
r!,-„ann-„i.;phautme, or gold and ivory statues, were not uncommon in (ireeoe and C
lands, and indeed that it was a received way of making a god in tho«e da
aoreover they were not unfrequently of great size. The Jupiter of K
icated, was 00 feet high ; and the Jlinerva of the Parthenon, standing
1 of these were hV I')lidi»l3 Amnnrr varin,,^ nt\,n» !»»,,.. ..,,.»»,»l..., ..f *1
seniences ou me suujeci arawu irom wnat they say. First, I would premise that these
Cruseo-elephautine, or gold and ivory statues, were not uncommon in (ireeoe and the
Grecian islands, and indeed that it was a received wav nf inatina- n anri in fl,n^n,I„„o
and that more
although seateu, was uu leec nigu ; and the Minerva of the Parthenon, standing iO
feet. Both of these were by I'liidias. Among various other large e.\;ample3 of this
art were the,runo of Argos, by i'olyeletus ; the Esculapius at Epidaurus, by Thasy-
medea ; and the " Groat Goddesses," at Megalopohs, by Damaphoon
The first thing to be done in making these giant works, after the model was pre-
pared, was to put together a great framework of wood as a core, yet hollow within,
so that tlie workmen could get inside to adjust the work and rivet the veneers of
jvory and gold which were to form the surface ; and no doubt for convenience, they
iiad stages and staircases within these great statues, the wooden framework of which
was, as MuUer informs us, strengthened across with rods of metal. But ho shall speak
tor himself. In division 312 of his elaborate work on ancient art, this author thus
informs us;— 'The ancients received from India, but especially from Africa, ele-
phants teeth of considerable size, by the splitting and bending of which, 'a lost
art, but one which certainly existed in antiquity, they could obtain plates of
S°'jJ'9'^ H ',"„?? '?,°'"^'' ,'° breadth. " I may here bo allowed to remark that in the
Ji-xhibitiou ot 18ol, this " lost art," so called by MuUer, seemed to have been revived
?w JJ","; M '"' ^""i^S' 'I'."" ^I )'"= Greeks. A prize medal on that occasion was
awarded to Messrs. .J. Pratt and Co.. Merdan, Connecticut, United States forsneci-
mens of ivory veneers cut by machinery. " These veneers were exceedingly delicate "
—1 am quoting the official report-" one piece alone being 13 inches in breadth and
40 inches in length, and having been sawn from a single tusk. Perhaps some of those
present may remember this remarkable example of the ingenuity of our brothers
over the water, pendant spirally, Uke a great carpenter's shaving. But to return to
these great Greek statues. " In execuUng one of these," says llailer, " after the
surface of the model was distributed in such a way as could best be reproduced in
theseplates, the individual portions were accurately represented by sawinf, planin"-,
STi^i'i!^ V"^ '^i^' *"? "^ afterwards joined together,especially by the use of isiSglasB ovlr
Ji kernel of wood and metal rods. The holding together, however," he adds " of the
pieces reqmred incessant care," as indeed we may well conceive, as ivory is apt to ex-
pand and contract, and warp, and curl, in changes of moisture and temperature. Indetd
jt must be acknowledged tfiat the whole process and sham nature of the work thus
of f/^^f/' "PP'-es^es us with want of digiity. lack of permanence, and thrneeessi^y
of repair. Prom a passage in Valerius llaximus, it appears that Phidias desirc'd to
make this figure of Slinerva for the Parthenon, not aft?f this fashion, but in marble
but he was overruled. Had the sculptor had his way, we should probably have had
JrZ.S'",""^- """^ «^''?,'* ^-xlooble remains of it, in addition to those invaluable
ftagments of some of the subordinate statues which we possess in the British
Museum. But the priests had their way. Idolatry had its Way instead of art and
in eonsequenee-oh, just retribution l_not a pinch l{ dust remafns of Ireir Dtughter
or Jove, ^ow, aeteris paribus, the priests must, we may aupnose have de"sired
permanence for their god, and must'^have been well awLe that this upholserv
manufacture mode of making it was not likely to Ust like marble Also this mode
could not have been selected, as has been su/geeted, merely because ofMtssunSr
«^fl!iH'^'- ^r'^''"' the introduction to a greater degree of geLs with the gold as was
fw VrT '•'""'• y?»l<l.,ea«"y have made the marlle work as costly as Ir more so
than the ivory. Also, the untouched surface of ivory is by no means more l^antifni
as a representation of fiesh than marble, much less soinde^ed as reo-ard^nermanene?
fSr ,^»^- ^"^"Z """ <"8e° "fed. But then, on the other hanlit"uhi<?hrv suitable
for reeeiTiug the most delicate and pure Unts. It is, therefore mSchu,ed I v
JT la e li?Wi r'"- ^"'' "'■ *""= •'".'"""'"' "'»■••'« exhibited l^t year in"his room o^f
the late bir WiUiam Eoss, were pa nted ou this material it iS ™v. ki i '
ttf^r''?7 ''i'if'"^^^ f ''''"' ^""'^^^l «°"'"es' wefeTaler s ain''ed''t'han' nZZf-
and Ivory takes these stains evenly aud with facilitv which maJhio ,i„ „ „Pf 'm '
examples, indeed, which I have seen of cXring Sbte espedX with tin ted wav"
liave 6een singularly unfortunate. Marble is apt to be unequal in its ctL and tZes
Xm"}^'!?^ """f eapriclously. In the imitation of flesh a grefsv inSleataS?
^?»Lvi^i./d''^'^f' "■"' 5'"7?, t""^ S™" »'■ the marble shows coSdv whit t
ISrt"bi''So?di^;f''''= "'^^'^ appearance is produced, which is "eertaiSVneShe?
XvTsStteVrortS-^o^Tv^oi^^^^
accept that I do not do thi, dogmatIca"lyrbu? on y'f^ diseussfon '^''"'''' '''" ^^^
ge?»teSl?mXravt\fbt;St:sli^^^^^^^^^
fcsTl''n^tefre;;fd"a1o^^±n7uVS^^^^^^
we'^have an instmctive reruTance'^ fhis Sndeerf wmn^ ^/V""' *'°'- '""'"'
object which the priests had in "few that of mnr^ssir^h l'*™, .defeated the very
as far as it could work at such a Sdvant^e^fn dnSS « """■tude. Indeed, in
Greeks was also .applied to the finish orthe^;,^rk "i" e-^q>i™te taste of the
was no mere sham of a great woma b ut in ?hThmd „f p?^!?"''™ °' "'e Parthenon
a coerced attempt to reafise tl7eTuteIar divinUv Si" Ithnn^nf ' ""' " bo'J. though
Wisdom -a being solemn and impassive fir aLvl thi i? ' "'" ,™mortal Virgin of
whose veins course, not blood, "rceSaMchor"^ ^™''" '*'™'' ""<• ^^'""S^'
Dramatic efluct in their worship was ever sou"-htbv the rro„tc i •» , .
special tunes that their divinities were unveiled at aU to th?'*''''''^' T'* " J™s "nly at
occasons every means was taken to work upon the senses *^r^w ^1""'^.
the light, ceremony lent its irapn-ssion, and musfc and hV T'"^ curtains tinted
Censers filled the air with their ambrosia s?reaiS?and 8°^Hftoi?, ",^*!i' their charm,
the divinity, ike those of bis own imaginary Kven from beS\T''£'^ ^'i',''-
T^Z::" ™'"^' '"'" "'=" ""^ -"^^"^ '?°'J a'-^o^tlr'qSte'se'e'iS'Sfbr^^rh^e; t^^"
fame"of7h\;;^"oT?n"?;:^L?tro'fl^eri°n.?,%'?;^|'';:^^*^. Pr'««'«- f- ^en the
impressions likl these, do&s°L° it RfuSere great^ta^^^^^^^^ J° effect
^^ZfJ'"""" ^^"J "'"eh assuredly could lot-hlvefeen reached bv^b"/™ "P.'" ",
tints of ivory and gold It was toanenrnn1i«h ti,i= .hof »i; y !^"e ™ere natural
were thus coercedrand it "rnndrr a7tl lese devle?^ .hJ^.r" "^ »"'='' "'' P'"<"»'
r^ards, however.^the Btatues^'lfers"e;l^efin"JL7eTuSonT^h^e''?^^^^^^^
probably conflned to that obtained by difference of material, ai in shields .word,
helmets, and bridles of metal, and not by added surface cilor rVu r ng MMtant
fmcH^ Tgiros"-'"*'" ""' °"''*'"" °' """^ '"""' '" ""=«'- " "'" '2e "asl wlto the
rf iJ^!!''i„''lff """"."i™ ""*' '^"' ^'■'"'''^ <^"' eolor some of their statues, and that thev
nvpe,?«L f."""'"^??'' """'^' however, maybe divided into two general styles o'f
?„r fhfh^i, ""P ""^' th,.p4uting or staining them more or less t J imitate reality
S.Lf^ r''°f t^^V ''^, ''""eh work it was, I TOnocive, that ivory was used, as In ffi
dfff r^^^'f "!'= ^T^lSf- /'"•' *°™"'' "»' the obtainUigof variety of color by
difference of material. The former of these treatments can only, I conceive and its
of ,"hf;hLf.r'" ' "*'', •"= •"'S''^''- '" "'e "lolatry of the time ^Thc second J.«take1
an art HI, f.'.' "f m^saie work, and is perhaps less objectionable in principferbut as
an art It is assuredly more curious than beautiful, as may be remarked of several lata
experiments in this direction by our neighbors the French ""^"'^"'^ "' """'"' '»te
While, however, it may be readily acknowledged that Greek artists coerced bvnolv.
onTh?,f,her T.^h""'??^ ""^ "ecasfonally color-some of thl.> morp?S worU yS
st-itues tfseaSairv'ovid,T.'tT,rh^ the highest class of their Independent mirftc
statues, II IS equally evident that they were left untouched in this resDcot as we have
seen was the ease with that most cherished work of them all?" The VeuusofC^id^ "
worL"rf art"and''tft them's^'l'^'^d '1^K"f' "'*''° ''^^""f^' »tStues-uneolorod-ks
worxsoi art ana lett thein so— and that it was Greek DriestcralY that mud.. tii»m
such, 1 venture to submit it to you as a clue to what I readUy acknowledge to have
been the varied character of old Greek practice in this respect '«""""'"='«'• *« »"^«
SitselfZl^!fyr^h^'^Si;?aTof tt q^i?! ^''^ ^ "^^^'^ -TraliS^lfe
In the lienaissance, or revival oftho arts in Europe, we hear nothln'^ of coloring
marble statues. In the time of the learned Leo. arto da Vinci Michel An-euF
Kaffaelle, John of Bologna, and others great in art, we find no instance of mJrb?o
statues having been colored. Michel Augelo, who Was so remarkable fo? the un^on
m his one person of all the arts, being at the same time an admirable arch"?e?t
painter, scuptor, aud decorator, never'attcmpted to color his marbe statues It is
true that colormc. was afterwards appUed to statues and relievi, even of considerable
ISn?'^ Luea defla Kobbia and others ; but these works were not in marble but in
porcelain, and more subordinate than any fine work of sculpture can ever b4 how"
ever harmonious with the situation in w&ich it is placed, ihe marble Moses fjr
ItJ^f^.Z^^^^r- ""J""^ wonderful groups of the Medici monumeats, have come
down to us In their native monochrome, untouched by chancre of tint excent such m
l\T„ dM '"'PPl'?1-, ¥'ehel Angelo, that representative in one of ill the a?ts of hif
tune, did not mingle m one object the two arts, nor does it appear that in the more
l3'"^°ir/H'''f "'?^""f''°'^.™"' that marble statues weroever ei°ored ;Tor
fvere ^^wa^he attention given to the works of ancient sculpture that at this period
tliaf^faTii„TR^n^™J''^''?''''''''''''.T"='''"»'°^ <"■ Italian towns, especially in
Th.?. nLt . ? ^°?''- "^""^ " *PP';'"' that these great masters ever contemplated the
rel a i^« .f"! ""*" "/'"'= S''?"' ""J"'"^- It appears, therefore, improbable that any
hrXilli?= °h'^''fi''^r°2 '" the Apollo, the Venns, the LkocoSn, or other cele-
brated works when first exhumed, nor does any color seem to have been found on
the statues in Herculaneum aud Pompeii, although the colors on the walls rf the
apartments in which they were discovered were still fresh and vivid Thus, neither
IL"^ „r?."' ""f ^■°'^"?- I^'^y "I^"" there appear any proof of the prevalence at any
^"^S°^,^^1^«^OTmso{m<it:psnioat marble statues, any more than in Greoee ^
,.„:„^ f » ? ^I'/^/S "lyview asito the practice of the ancient Greeks in this
respect, namely, that they did not color their statues except for purposes of idolatry
wt^r„ Ttl™/n '^i"'' ""' treatment only connected with their temple archil
lecture, and that not always, we naturally come to the consideration as to whether
oSr?'Zrrtr„''ot°„n'"";"/'i''f- At any rate, in these isles we are not id"lators
fl/f „^^ ' "?* °°°. ?' idolatry, and therefore we have not, as I have said before,
that e.TCuse such as it is, for coloring statues that the pagans had.
mSSy'^inZ'™ue'st^'n*"°""™' '''*"'*=' ^™"°'^''' "' '^"^'^^ "•« """"
.^1i^! .first consider is the addition of coloring to statues to be looked upon as an
w1,TfL mSn ' f " '^'rtrogresBion ? The polychromist will hold it to be the torme"
those arf,Th^^h„°'^'?''?',™'P^''''.°'^'''"P""''^ent that it is rather a confusion of
?ntndUH„^TV°''*^°°'*'*l','-"'""'J'''"'"''"y separated, in the progress of civilisation,
f^i,,^ ? iJ^,h*"f'"'''''°P"f°""''i''Pu'''''"'"- 1'''e polychromrst will claim honor
f2.„^^,i "'5" eharms of color with those of form, as the evidence of .idvance and
»?J^LTT"^'^?"''^"'°. monoohromist will point with a significant finger to the
earliest efforts of art, when the arts of form and colo-. each barely sulBcieSt in itself
to even suggest an animal, a man, or a god, were obliged to olUb their means to
produce anything like a clear result. lu.^ua lo
of^Jr,';f»?„°^M'^'K''°';M"'''''"'''i°"! "*''''''' ''™" •'''''• i° our most inferior specimens
?ma°P. nf ehUdrp ""i '"" "T''^ to cottagers by the " Cheap Johns," in crude little
^fSLi ^'^?^ ?°'^, "?'' Pafots, Ac, of which the form is so incomplete that
the intention could hardly be recognised but for the aid of color.
„f? P/Joiie^ al times, the first thing that men attempted in art was probably in the
way of hero worship, in the making of images of their ancestors, or of great tyrants,
^ t^ of guardian to their houses, and to be prayed to and propitiat "d in thechac^
or war. The more hvmg these could be made to look by the artist's hand, and the
more ferocious, the more effective, no doubt, was deemed their mystic power, and
hence from these beginnings arose that evil feature that has played ao large and
lamentable a part m the history of man— the idol » >*
• u? I^t"? °^ superstition we have, I trust, thrown off for ever, except in a reeion
in Which I have no doubt we shall all allow there is no objection to it— in thenuraery
—where it appe-irs with but little change of name, that of the doU. Doll Is only an
abbreviation of idol. It is an infantine abbreviation. It is the way a little child would
strive to say idol. In the original Greek the word is EiSuXov ; in the Latin Idotum ■
in the English, idol ; and In the nursery, doll. Tou may recognise readily that these
httle images are, to all effects and purposes, colored statues. Also, wo may say that
in tne nursery they are to a great degree worshipped, especially when they are new
A now doll IS to a certain degree a divinity for the time being. However, these kinds
01 Idols arc no longer "ferocious." On the contrary, thev are produced as prettv
as wax and carmine and silken tresses can make them. They even open and shut
tneir eyes, which is an advance even beyond the cruseo-elepliantine statues of the
ancients. At least, I have no recollection of any record of winking divinities in those
days. We can have no objection to the harmless and intorestiu" idolatry of the
nursery towards these little images. There is nothing that breaks any command-
ment m that. I would here remark that these Utile figures possess one "-reat ad-
vantage over any colored marble statues that I have seen, viz., in bavin" evelashea
The want of these natural aud beautiful fringes to the eye in such colored marble
statues as I have seen is very un pleasing. Of course, in a pure marble statue you do
not leel this, but when colored the want is sadly apparent, and I do not see how it
can be got over. There are some evidences of bronze eyelashes haviu'i- been added
m some of the ancient -works, hut the effect of these could not be very happy one
would think. The children's favorites are more fortunate in this respect Prav do
not conceive that I introduce the nursery statuettes in any way for tlio purpose of
throwing ridicule upon the subject of colored stiitues, but only as an illustnition of
the sole phase of the "colored statue" which I conceive to be at the present time
legitimate as a matter of art or regard.
^^J''7?u- ^ ^V't not let this happier phase of the idol draw me away from our
raTpi^^'i""; rT.'",3' type, or from the broad consideration I desire to illMTrat"
«,S.rr^'i H ''=""°'"^'"" an* 'lolators have been and are more or less polychromists
KM ";. ^ i -S Tt"*^ seu pture. They have all colored, and, while they remain bar-
barians and idoKators, will continue to color their statues »emaiu oar
.LlTT^": ""erpfoi-e. that in these civilised days, the coloring of statues is not an
advance, but a palpable retrogression towards eirUer times of less intelligence, and
356
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 26, I86I
of » lower dispell sation, and. moreover, as far as art is concerned, that a decadence
voold at once ensue ou a«,'eneral adoption of such a practice. A colored statue or bust
now and then can do no lianu, perhaps rather jrood. as tliey may serve to show
they will not do. But there is a *.'rt at deal of fashion in art. Fashion is often very
unreasouabK\ and it a fashion wore to set in for idols instead of statues, I believe it
would do for the time a deal of mischief Sloreover. aa a matter of sense and pro-
babUtty, Is it possible to consider that the uucolored statues of the Venus of Cnidus,
and of the Moses, and Ni<;ht and Jlorninj;. of Michel Angelo. and the noble works
of Thorwaldsen and Klaxnian are but incomplete steps, half-way us it were (and as
havin-^ left the trne track of the arts) between the first strugrgrlingidolatrous attempts
when imag^f s wito all painted— and a more advanced and perfect period, forsooth,
■ lie barbaric principles are to be reproduced and practised ?
COLOR ROUND STATUES.
when the same I
■\Vhlle, however, for the above reasons, I am opposed to placing- various colors on a
statue, especially a marble one, I have no idea of underrating the value of color in
connexion with statues. On the contrary, I am sure that this subject of the associa-
tion of various treatments of color with statues has not received nearly^ the study and
attention it deserves. My difference with the statuc-polychromists is not that I do
not desire color and statues to<;cther. In that we both a^ee that it should be so.
Oar difference only exists in the mode in which this should be done— they desiring
to place color on the stAtue itself, so as to make it harmonise with the surrounding
objects, while I submit that this harmony is to be effected far better by other means,
namely, by arranging such colors around the statue as require the natural, pure,
ereamy, seini-transparertt, local tint of the marble to complete the composition of color.
And the same, mutnfis mutandis, may be said of statues in bronze, which is indeed a
quality of color fretiuent iu the tincst paintings, as in those of Titian and Giorglone,
and in the landscapes of (iaspar Toussin, audour own Wilson and Crome. It is thus
I conceive that the picture should be made up. with the statue as the eye of the com-
position, and that the surface ot tlie statue itself should not be deteriorated by any
color treatment, which, if ouce commenced, you know not where to stop, and which,
if treated upon tlie full color of flesh, only looks like a wax image.
I do not attempt to enter now on the treatment of color and statues in edifices of
which they form an illustrative and integral part. That were a very wide field in-
deed, including the whole subject of architecture, painting, sculpture, and decoration,
andtheir relation, enough, indeed, for several addresses. On the present occasion I
Umitmyself to that part of the subject alone which attaches to the treatment of
color with statues in art exhibitions, under such arrangements as are practicable on
such occasions. A few weeks ago I touched briefly on this subject, in some notes I
read at the Department of Art, Kensington, entitled the Four Sisters ; but, perhaps
you will permit me now. for a few minutes, to go into more detail— the more so, inas-
madi as I submit that the inadequate treatment of color, iu connexion with sculp-
ture, has hitherto formed an important item in the shortcomings of our current
exhibitions of this art.
In situations in which, round a statue, color presents itself, are below it, behind it,
and above it : on the floor, the backgrround and the ceiling. Of these, of course, the
back-ground is the most important to the statue, as it is that against which it is seen,
and which contrasts immediately with its outline. Now it has been the prevailing
custom, at least till (luitc of late ycars^ to make this contrast a very strong one, and
for this purpose a very strong dark red has been the favorite color, as at the Royal
Academy. I conceive this to be an error, and as far as I have been able to influence de-
cisions on the subject I have done my best to Introduce a change. On being called on,
at the time of the Great Exhibition of 18.51 in Hyde-park, to arrange the British
sculpture there, I made it a stipulation that I should be allowed to depart from the
Tlolent red used and proposed up to that time as a background for statues, and to
select u modified tint. Again, in ISS."), being employed with Mr. Kedgrave,
by the Board of Trade, to arrange the British sculpture in the International Exhi-
bition in Paris, I used the same color, which, however, on that occasion was seen
under every disadvantag:e. from the darkness of the room allotted to that
purpose. Since this a similar tint has been adopted in the Exhibition of British
sculpture at South Kens'n^on.
Also it hail been partially used in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, as a background
for some of the ancient statues, and I believe that portion is best liked. Thus it may
be said. I think, that this treatment of tint has been to some degree endorsed by
experience. This color is not in a violent key, but a mild one, being a middle tint,
warm gray not too dark or sombre. This, while it affords a sufficient relief for the
ontlines of the figures placed before it— more, however, from its atmospheric charac-
ter and quality of retreating from the eye than from its direct contrasts— softens the
ontlines agreeably, and makes the forms before it look round and fleshy.
If yon notice the effect of flesh in nature, you will find the outlines never harshly
projecting from the background, and in fine paintings, accordingly, you perceive this
natural softness imitated. If we desire, iliercfore, by a background so to gain the
same a^ecable appearancf; in .statues, why should we not use 9irailar|means— viz., by
a softening of the outline ? If the background is such that the edges of the statue
melt into it, then the statue looks round and like nature. But If, on the other hand,
the backg^round asserts itself too much, and tumbles forward, as a strong red is apt
to do— instead of retreating, like gray— and is, moreover, harsh and violentin its con-
trasts, then the outlines of the statue all round are thrown out upon you, and the
figure looks flat, harsh, and unnatural. You know how inferior is the appearance of
a plaster statue to that of one in marble, greatly from the opacity and, therefore,
harsh edges of the one, and the semi-transparency and comparatively soft edges,
like those of flesh, of the other. As a consequence, by a harsn treatment of back-
ground you may thus make a marble statue look like a plaster one; while, on the
other hand, by a suitable tender background of sufficient contrast, and of a retreating
atmospheric character, you may make a plaster statue look almost like a marble one.
For this purpose delicate mixed tints are more appropriate than any more positive.
However, pray do not conceive that I think this individual warm gray the only color
suitable for the background of statues. By no means is this the case, and lonly putit
forward as one example of the class of colors, and not the sole color suitable for this
purpose. The material, however, in which these are presented is also important.
Texture is important as well as tint. In these cases no material, perhaps, is more
favorable for the background than drapery of some unglazcd material, arranged, not
rigidly, but in easy folds, whereby it affords a more natural adjunct to the statue
before it, its lines being adjusted bo as to compose with the lines and masses of the
statue, thereby advantaging its effect.
Let u.s suppose the drapery woollen, of some simple, richtexture, and graceful fall,
ud of some ti'nder atmospheric tint, and let it be suspended along a wall-space to
be occupied Iu front by a few statues. Let the drapery hang comparatively plain
immediately behind each statue, but in the intervals between be gathered somewhat
toeethtr^ so as to form columnar perpendicular folds. Thus is a semi-architectural
effect attained without rigidity. In which plain panels are simulated behind the
•tataea and columns l)etween them. The result of tliis is pleasantly regular and yet
gracefoUy varied, and is capable of the most easy adaptation to the various breadths
andscalesof statues or groups placed beloreit, and also to any changes of their places
which may occur in the course of arrangement. Taking tliis as an example of the
principle of arraniging drapery as a background to statues, it may be recognised as
capable of practice in so many ways, in simulation of forms of architecture, as to suit
it to the exhibition of any kinds or classes of sculpture. No doubt, when a statue
is composed especially for some express architectural space in a building, it ought to
look best there, associat^'d with the actual architecture for which it is designed,
but m exhibitions where the placing of statues is comparatively unrehearsed,
statues will probably harmonise better with drapery accompaniments than with
more rigid and prerlae forms in relation to which they have not been originally
e<^posed, and iu which congruity is difficult if not impossible.
This also is a semi-pictorial treatment of sculpture, inasmuch as thereby a
varying artlficUl atmoHjiheric background is formed and composed behind
Mch statue as a simulation of nature's sky and clouds behind a portrait or
flgnre hi a picture, whereby the prhiclpal object is enhanced. On several occasions
I have suggested this mode of cnhancinj; statues by ample drapery backgrounds,
and on more than one, only considerations of expense have prevented its beinij
done. It will be recognised that a mere flat tint, distempered or painted on the wall.
Is not cah'ulated to give much idea of the effect of the same tint presented with the
variety and grace of drapery, and therefore it were prejudicial to judge of the
ultimate effect of drapery except by drapery itself In the Louvre, behind the
famous fragment of the Venus of Jlelos. drapery has been hung with excellent
effect, and seats arc placed at the best points lo view it from, a mode which, in a
gallery of exhibition has many advant^es. But the background is not the sole
consideration. Supposing in a statue gallery a warm gray has been adopted for the
background, and the creamy white statue stands before it, we have then to complete
by the choice of tints for the other parts, the composition of color. With this
starting-point of warn gray for the background, I believe that the pedestal of the
statue might well be covered with cotton velvet of a deep bronze green. The floor
ou which it rests might then be stained deep red and black, of a mosaic character,
as seen in encaustic tiles. The ceilings might then receive some light, delicate
retreating atmospheric color, with u little yellow introduced, which were best done
by light eilding. This is one key of tint for the arrangement of light colored statues,
which will rarely, I believe, disappoint the eye. Perhaps it is aifificient as an illus-
tration of the principle I advocate.
In cases where statues are darkened and embrowned by time, a different key alto-
(jether may be required. This, however, is the reason which I have received for the
intense and almost furnace-like color placed behind some of the darker works iu the
British Museum.
The whole question, however, of the effects of statues with color, presupposes a
good light, namely, for most statues, at an angle of 45 degrees, or thereabouts, falling
on them from above. Kecumbent statues are more favored by a lower light, slanting
down so as to show the features.
Colored lights, as iu the Napoleon tomb in the Hotel des luvalides, in the Princess
Charlotte's tomb in the Chapel at Windsor, or in the Ariadne room at PYankfort,
may not appear consistent with the dignity of art. In the case, however, of their
being admitted as an aid to effect, as probably was the case in the Greek temples,
all the other adjustments of color might have to be reconsidered. In these remarks
I only contemplate uncolored light.
As regards bronze statues, a positive key cannot so well be given, as their tints are
various, extending from dark Florentine bronze to the light golden browns of Paris.
However, as a general suggestion, it may be remarked that a golden green is usually
an harmonious background for a bronze statue. A polished black marble pedestal
also is effective in taking the dark out of the bronze which stands on it, lighting up
its shadows by contrast. In the absence of black marble, a covering of black velvet
affords an agreeable substitute. In the immediate neighbourhood, vigorous warm
colors may come iu agreeably, as a Turkey carpet on the floor, and hangings round
of rich velvet, looped up with ^old cords.
Aa a general rule, perhaps it may be said that tender colors in the backgrounds
harmonise best with marble statues, and full colors with bronze, as we see toe dark
races the most attached to brilliant and powerful tints. With marble statues
delicate greens, azures, and purple grays, citrons, lilacs and chocolates supply charm-
ing backgrounds, the effect of the composition of color being, of course, supplied by
the other adjuncts. It may, however, be held generally that there should always be
some strong color somewhere. Of course these modifications of mixed tints are, in
art, almost inexhaustible, as they are in nature. Yet, in connexion with this subject
of the due exhibition of sculpture, they require special means and scope for their
presentation. Therefore I have not attempted ocular illustration to-night.
As I observed just now, I have on this occasion only had the opportunity of con-
sidering, at all closely, the subject of color and statues in exhibitions. The same
general considerations, however, hold when they are associated more intimately and
substantially with architecture. Thus, I would hope, that although restricted by my
limits from going into the whole subject, yet the position taken to-night to some
degree illustrates my whole view, namely, that while the harmony of color of statues
with their entourage is highly important, that this does not necessarily entail the
desecration of the surface of the statue itself, but that, on the other hand, this is more
justly to be done by so selecting and adjusting the surrounding colors that they may
require the natural tint of the marble itself to complete the picture.
ARRANGEMENT TOGETHER OF PAINTING AND SCULPTURE.
I am now nearly at an end, and have but few more words to add, which, however,
will take us a little beyond the consideration of color as merely subordinate and
subsidiary to sculpture. I now allude to such cases wherein color is presented by
the sister art of painting when exhibited together with sculpture in one and the
same gallery. First, however, we will give a preliminary thought to that mode of the
presentation of painting which still may be considered subsidiary only, however, from
the method and material in which it is worked— I mean tapestry. We well know that
Kaffaelle did not consider his master- mind and hand debased by designing for tapes-
try. The noble cartoons in Hampton Court are a suflicient evidence of this, having
been'executed by himselfand his assistants expressly for thiapurpose. It is not, how-
ever, because the colors are produced iu tapestrv by the needle or loom, instead of
the brush, that I speak of it as subordinate, but only iu accordance with general
custom. Pictures in fine needle-work as hangings have usually been considered of
the nature of furniture as well as art. Their textile rich surface expressly fits them
for their subsidiary purposes. We may well suppose, for instance, that a beautiful
classic group in I'arian mnrblc of Cupid and Psyche, would appear admir-
ably on a pedestal of polished Sienna and other marbles standing in a room which
should be surrounded withrich tapestries pourt raying their story, as toldby Apuleius
and other classic authors. Actually iu practice, indeed, tapestry with its varied
lines and texture and subjects of interest will often unite admirably with sculpture,
as some of those present may have had the opportunity of observing.
We wiil now, however, pass on to the harmony of works of the two arts, painting
and sculpture, w hen they meet on a level of direct equality, as in galleries for their
reception. This is a point not for the sculptor iilone to consider, but also for the
painter; also for the general art-lover ; also for the public; for opinions are various on
this point. My own is that they may be made to harmonise perfectly iu combined ex-
hibitions, which thereby may be made the more attractive. Still, however, I conceive
that this would require special arrangements, so that on the one hand the white tint
and brilliancy of the marbles may not injure the effect of the pictures by too close a
juxtaposition, and on the other that these may not injure the effect ofjthe .'^tatuub by
the cross-cutting lines of the gold-frames which surround them. Therefore, aa a
general rule, this might point to the conclusion that in a picture gallery where
sculptures are introduced, the hitter should be at intervals, where special arrange-
ments should be made. In the centre of saloons :ilso. such statues and groupsaslook
well in a downright light might well have situations also at the meeting of cross-ways.
Also busts, or even statues on each side of doorways, but in these cases it
would appear that they should have suitable backgrounds afforded by draperies or
other materials.
Of the direct association, however, on a dignified scale, of works of painting and
sculpture of a high class but few examples exist in galleries of exhibition. Those
which most readily occur'are afforded by the celebrated Uflizi Gallery in Florence.
This was adjipted by Vasari, in the early part of the seventeenth century, to the
reception of works of art. It consists of tVFO long corridors and about .10 rooms, iu
which works of painting, 8cul])ture, and decoration are variously arranged. The
Niobe room contains that well-known series of Greek statues. It also contains
some historic pictures by Itubeus, some portraits by Lely, and some hunting subjects
by Snyders. ..
The most celebrated apartment, however, in the Ulhzi gallery is the Iribune,
which also affords the best example of the exhibition tngetlier of works of the two
arts. The works therein exhibited are of the highest excellence, reputation, and
value. The works of sculpture contained in this room are five in number, the cel3-
brated Venus de Medicis, the Apoilino. the Dancing Faun, and the group of the
Wrestlers, boxers or pancratiasts. as they are variously called; also the Kndc-
April 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
357
grin<ler or sliivc wiictting his knife. Tlie pictures arc almost of equal celebrity, and
are from forty to fifty In number. Among- them is one picture by Michel Angelo,
and several by Kaffacllc ; as the Madonna with tile GoIdAncli, St. John preaching in
the Desert, and the portraits of I'opc Julius, the Fornarina, and of a Florentine
ladv. Titian also has here his celebrated Venus, also another Venus, and a portrait
of an archbishop. Paul Veronese has a Holy Family with St. .lolin and Ht. Catherine.
Also, tliere are examples within these walls of the works of other celebrated painters,
as Annibal Caracci, Spagnoletti, Guercino,'Daniel di Volterra, Correjjgio, Andrea del
Sarto, and Vandyke, as well as the ^rand Isaiah and Job, by Fra Bartolomeo, so that
this room presents an associated exhibition of works in both the arts, not to be sur-
passed for beauty and excellence. Although I acknowledge I have met with some
who have taken exception to the arrangement of this room, yet by most It is highly
admired. 1 think it may be said generally to be by far the most interesting room of
art in the world. One more of ten hears it spoken of, and that with high admira-
tion, than any other room of art, and in this the works of painting and sculpture are
associated.
There are some other examples on the Continent of galleries of exhibition (for to
that section I restrict myself) in which works of painting and sculpture arc asso-
ciated more or less happily. Occasionally, also, on a very small scale, we have seen
this done in London, as at the Jtritish Institution. Also, in the International Ex-
hibition in Paris, In 1855, this was done with good effect. In some degree, indeed, we
fiet the example on that occasion, as mentioned at page 81 of our bound reports of
that Exhibition, m which it is stated "After many applications, the Imperial com-
mission at length assented to statues being placed down the centre of our picture
gallery ; when arranged, the general effect was so satisfactory that it led to a like
treatment being adopted for foreign statues in the corresponding galleries of the
building. This theory, however, of combination is I conceive, capable of much more
development than it has as yet attained ; and that in practice, with due attention and
scope, the exhibition together of the works of these two sister Muses of the fine arts
may be made eminently attractive and complete in effect, perhaps more so tlian by
any other method. As such I would submit it as a worthy subject for discussion.
The time, however, warns me of my limits, and I now leave this subject in the hands
df those who, I hope, will oblige the audience and the Society with their remarks and
experience in elucidation of the above subjects.
NOTES WITHOUT TEXT.*
XVII.
IF our Anglo-Italian be not an indigenous style, neither can it now be
considered an exotic one, seeing that upwards of two centuries have
elapsed since it was first introduced among us, and that since then it has
not only been acclimatised, but taken such firm root through the whole
length and breadth of the land, that it could hardly be extirpated without
such a conflagration as would devour the three capitals that make up the
tiara ofourProtestant,ycttripled-crowned Britannia. During the last cen-
tury we had a style considered pre-eminently fit ferallbuildings of any im-
portance, whether secular;or ecclesiastical. It is now, however, the fashion to
speakof the eighteenth centuryasoneof comparative intellectual dulness ;
and yet, if no more, there were at least two brilliant, though somewhat anti-
thetical, stars in its literature — Pope and Cowper. At any rate, too, it
■was that same sneered-atcentury which was signalised by the birth of the
English school of painting, when our yet unrivalled Reynolds shone with
morning's cheering brightness and meridian blaze. Dismissing what reads
too much like rant, it may safely be affirmed that in architecture— do-
mestic architecture at least — very great improvement took place durmg the
last century, to wards which the fraternal Adams contributed rather largely.
Towards the middle of the century something more indispensable than
parade began to be studied — to wit, convenience and comfort ; and although
*• comfort " is but a homely word, it is one which for want of another to
express its meaning, lias been adopted literatim, and without change by
every other European language, no other [having any equivalent term.
Domestic architecture is, in fact, the index or thermometer of
civilisation as regards refinement in habits of living. The
middling classes are lodged better now - a - days than were
nobles in the times of our Edwards and Henries. Nevertheless,
there are some who would fain have us revert to those comparatively
barbarous ages for models— or, if not precisely models, for the elements of
a future national style of building. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries
ought, it seems, to be our point de depart. Now this craving for a change
of style is in itself a very unhealthy symptom, and moreover betrays
Ignorance of the formation of styles of architecture. It serves only to
encourage the most crude and abortive attempts, in which it is well if
almost every principle of congruity and harmony be not violated. To
expect that anything worth being called a style can be struck 'out at
heat, and is to be had merely by being asked for, is a delusion equally sad
and ludicrous. A bran-new style— even one to be hailed by the name of
' Victorian," is the refuge of iucapables— of those who despair of showing
forte of any kind in the established style. Those who can't swim find
fault with the water, and in like manner those who are unable to show any
artistic power shelter their incapacity under the pretext of the inca-
pability of the style in which, quite contrary to their wishes and better judg-
ment, they are compelled to work. The unlucky style is made the scape-
goat of all their architectural sins and blunders.
T XVIII.
HE natural and common-sense point de depart is the point where we are
now standing. What we have now to do is to go forward in archi-
tecture conformably with the onward course of advance in our social
habits and institutions. Almost every day carries us a step further from
Medievalism. Russia has proclaimed freedom to its serfs, and is it, then,
for England to seek to revive the empty phantom forms of a bygone and'
exploded feudalism? Is it for the architecture of the nineteenth century
to go to school and take its lessons in liouse-building from the thirteenth ?
to look back, like Lot's wife, with the difit'rcnt result of being putrified
intead of petrified? It is to very little purpose that we study the history
of styles if we have not learnt that they arc not to be taken up and laid
down again at pleasure, just like so many fashions. Every style with
• liy the Author of "Cnips of Ckiticism." Continued from page 32.'J. 1
which we are acquainted has necessarily been of slow growth ; has been
developed by a variety of influences totally beyond the power of human
calculation or control. Conquest and commerce have had their share ia
bringing about changes in architecture consequent upon changes in the
social system. The invention of gunpowder, and that also of printing, has
not been wholly inoperative upon architecture. Hitherto architecture
has generally been looked upon as a tolerably faithful exponent of " the
spirit of the age." But now we are, for the very first time, exhorted to
go in directly the opposite direction to the spirit of the age, by marching
backwards from our present position, by mimicking, as far as it is possible
to do so, the domestic and secular architecture of the owlish darkness of
Medievalism. Of rampant Medievalism, Sir Francis Scott, for one, comes
forward as a patron, by offering premiums for designs of secular and
domestic buildings in the styles of that pAiodj yet, even were it possible
for the contemplated change to take place, it would give us nothing better
than the masquerade of Medievalism, which would hardly be in accordance
with the general spirit of the present time.
CHANGE is inevitable ; whether we will or no, it is forced upon us by a
tide which no mortal power can avert or resist. The coming-in
waves did not obey the mandate of King Canute to retire, and not wet hig
royal feet. It was to no purpose that Dame I'artington plied her mop in
the hope of being able to repel the invading fury of the Atlantic ocean.
There is not a single invention or discovery of any importance at all that
has not occasioned moreor less of perceptible change ; gas has extinguished
flambeaux. The coach and six, and also the distaff and spinning wheel,
are now completely bygone things. John Moody's relation of the Wrong-
head Family's journey to London reads now like something fabulous.
Hogarth's pictures have become historical — no doubt, rather too highly
colored — yet upon the whole and with some allowance for exaggeration,
tolerably trustworthy records of costume and manners which, happily, are
now no more. Change is inevitable even in architecture ; " But," as
Fergusson says, "it ought to arise out of, and proceed onward, as the
result of progressive inventions and improvements." At this time of day
Medieval secular architecture is no better suited for us than Medieval
ship-building would be. Few will have the hardihood to deny that many
changes, greatly for the better, have take place within a century or even
less in domestic architecture. One innovation that is a most decided im-
provement is the introduction of hypcethral fenestration for picture
galleries and similar rooms, which show to far more advantage when so
lighted through their ceilings ; besides which, not only is a much greater
extent of wall for hanging pictures obtained, but the light is more
equable, and the pictures themselves are better seen. Windows
generally are now fittted up in a very superior manner to what
they used to be not very many years ago ; the sashes are less
clumsy, and plate-glass is no longer an extravagant luxury. Embossed
and other kinds of ornamental semi-transparent glass enlarge the cata-
logue of the various uses' to which that most valuable material is now
applied — to say nothing of looking-glass, which can now be had of dimen-
sions that would formerly have been considered altogether fabulous.
Improvement has intruded into almost every hole and corner of a comme
ilfaut mansion, from the kitchen and domestic offices upwards to the very
attics. Culinary apparatus and all connected with it have been greatly
improved. Lifts, ventilating shafts, and many et castera besides, have all
contributed towards perfecting the abodes of the opulent in this nineteenth
century. There are many now quite familiar conveniences of whose origin
and first application history is by far too dignified to take any notice.
Among them is hell-hanging. Unknown to fame remains the cunning wight
whose fertile imagination first devised a mode of rapid communication
between the opposite regions of a house that seems to have been dimly
prophetic of the electric telegraph.
Who was it first.
Piercing the walls, the vocal wires hung.
To summon from afar the lacquey, prompt,
At least perforce, the summons to obey ?
Ingenious wight was he. Nor, certes, less
The one who planted Cloacina's shrine.
Commodious and innocuous, beneath our roof.
WILL any one pretend to say there, has not been a very perceptible,
even strongly marked advance in English domestic architecture
since the time of Wren — in the interval between him and Barry ? Will
the Hampton Court Palace, and Marlborough House of the former bear
any comparison with the Club-houses of the latter for finished elegance,
and studied completeness in all their appointments ? Of course it was im-
possible for Wren to avail himself of improvements that had not then been
thought of. Whereas church architecture isstationary, domestic architecture
is progressive. Whatever be its merits in other respects, a church neither
is, nor can be, more than a single large hall whose arrangement is stereo-
typed, so that combination of plan and contrivance are out of the question.
In a large mansion, on the contrary, containing a multiplicity of rooms for
different and opposite purposes, plan is apt to tax an architect's
ingenuity, or else to betray his lack of it. Yet, notwithstanding that so
very much depends upon plan, whether as regards accommodation or
effect, scarcely any notice is taken of it by professional writers on archi-
tecture ; or ever more than amounts to a few meagre and superficial re-
marks. Errors in plan which consideration and thoughtful foresight
would have prevented are not easily corrected after a structure is once
raised. Or if not positive errors, there are generally shortcomings and
oversights. Much that is not positively faulty might often by a little more
358
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 26, 1861.
■tlldl7 haTeJbeen rendered decidedly excellent. In regard to plan the princely
BMOsion of Holkham in Korfblk is a perfect chef d'auvre, never approached
liefore nor riTalled since. At the same time it must be admitted that even
Holtham would have been still more admirable in some respects had many
things which have since come almost into general practice been known a
century ago.
XXI.
rpO contend that what for distinction's sake, may be called Anglicized
JL Italian is not suited to our climate, is nothing else than to assert
what is disproved by fact, since experience convinces us to the contrary.
Constitutional difference there is none between our plain John Bull
" Vernacular" (as seen for ins^ncc in Russell-square), and the Italian
facades which grace Pall-malL oo far from their being unsuitable, it was
their improved convenience that catised the modern forms of apertures to
be universally adopted. Modernising has, no doubt, in many cases, not
at all improved external physiognomy. To the horror of antiquarians,
■ash-windows have frequently been introduced with far more regard to
the convenience and comfort of the insiders or indwellers, than to the
satisfaction of the outsiders — those especially who not only admire, but
actually venerate the mouldy rust of medievalism. What few remains of
Elizabetlian London are still extant as examples of domestic and street
architecture serve at least to reconcile us to our present " "Vernacular ;"
which homely though it be, and however much it may now be sneered at
by some, is upon the whole, the mode of building best of all fitted for
house-building in generaL That it is of very Quaker-like quality is not
to be denied ; but at any rate in plain brick-fronted houses pierced with
openings for sash-windows there is no sham, neither any ridiculous pre-
tentiousness ; — nothing to admire, and just as little to laugh at. It is
idle to expect that streets manufactured by the mile, can, if architectural
character be aimed at for them, exhibit aught better than a repetition of
conveniently ready cut and dry " design," or else of such as is crude and
unstudied. In the street architecture of many continental cities there is
more of the " ruffles " than the " shirt ;" brave display outside, and sad
ack of accommodation within ; and what are in fast mere lodging-houses
1st oat in floors, or sets of rooms, and tricked out with architectural " pina-
fores," that are, perhaps, " cover-sluts" also. Aa a safe rule, street archi-
tecture should be characterised by sobriety — which though a most
commendable quality is too often sadly disregarded, not in architecture
alone, but in decoration generally.
THE INSTITUTE.— TIIE CUBRICTJLUM.
ALTHOUGH not of that suggestive character that we could have wished,
yet we are glad that our article on the above subject has drawn forth
communications from " Another H. J." and " P. J." But, the subject is
of 80 much importance that we hope it will be further and well ventilated
before the members of the Institute (that is, those of them who are able to
vote, namely, the Fellows) are called upon to discuss the scheme that
may be laid before them by the Architectural E.xamination Committee.
We must again repeat that our observations, and the programmes of
examinations that accompanied them, were merely suggestive ; that we did
not wish to submit a code in such a shape as to make even ourselves deem
it desirable that it should be adopted in its integrity, but that our readers
might be brought to think seriously upon the subject, and draw up for
publication such amended code as they might deem advisable, and
suggestive of the true objects for which the examinations should be
instituted.
" Another H. J." does not do this. Contenting himself with a running
commentary, and that, by-the-bye, none of the clearest, he takes away
without adding to. So far he has not, in his letter, furthered our views,
save by drawing attention to that which is, to him, objectionable.
A knowledge of language is not of " purely mythical importance." On
the contrary, it is essentially necessary to him who would have architects
occupy their proper social position. "Another H. J." may deem this of no
importance ! To one who is content to wear out his existence within the
four walls of an office, ambitious of nothing further than getting through
the mere drudgery of office business, it may not be of quite so much
importance as "algebra and arithmetic," but to him who wishes to
searcli for himself, and to draw instruction from every " fountain," it is of
great importance. To him who aims at conducting a flrst-class practice
and rising in his profession, it is of paramount importance. An architect
has to deal at times with patrons who are among the noble of the land, in
a literary as well as aristocratic sense of the term, and it is essential that
he should possess such literary qualifications as to enable him to sustain
in their company the rank and position of a gentleman. This can never be
done, however well his purse may be filled, if deficient in " language."
Can it be supposed for one moment that one of these learned or noble
patrons would entrust a commission to one who was totally destitute of
those vehicles of knowledge which are deemed essential by all the
conductors of our public schools ? Assuredly not. " Another H. J." may
urge that but few have the distinction of being thus employed. Granted ;
bat will " Another H. J." point to any pupil and say, " Such a one will
not attam this eminence "? The adoption of the views he has given in
his letter would have a very disastrous eflfect— especially assuming, as he
seems to do, that all pupils arc to be mere automatons in the hands of
their principals.
How an acquaintance with mathematics alone will enable its
possessor to " translate any portion of Ca;sar, Book II. or Xenophon " is a
problem that those who are very deeply skilled in that science would be
unable to solve. " Language " should be acquired by the pupil before
entering an office, and the prospect of au examinaticu therein would have
the effect we should desire, that is, of preventing that knowledge from
being lost. The works named were selected from being" standard " books,
and not because the subject matter contained in them would be of much
consequence per se. As to the point of salary, " Another H. J." surely
does not forget that one object of the examination is to raise the efficiency
of "junior clerks," and that, although now £50 is ample, yet that with a
certificate of competency, his position would be improved, and a much
larger salary be easily attained by him.
In " P. J.'s " communication we have more practical remarks, and,
moreover, remarks that are dictated in a very good spirit (not that the
anmms— will he understand that word ?— of " Another II. J." is deficient
therein), but at the same time there is a great inconsistency in some of
them. " H. J." certainly has no very exalted opinion of some architects'
pupils, inasmuch as he knows full well that in addition to " language "
they are deficient also in that correct knowledge of their mother tongue
which alone would enable them to draw up a creditable "Impromptu
article." To be able to repeat the rules of grammar as a mere parrot
would, is not the object, he should prove by his impromptu article^ that he
is fully versed in the true principles of composition, and is sensible
thereby of the importance of those simple attainments — " analysis and
parsing" — "which" "P. J." says, " any boy of twelve could pass an ex-
amination on."
But " P. J." raises an objection, and then takes great pains to render
Ms objection of no .eflTect. Pari passu, if a boy of twelve were 'able
to " undergo this examination " — a boy of twelve would be competent to
examine him. But with " P. J." unfortunately, the longer wo live the
more we lose, for when passed the age of discretion, and on the sunny side
of forty, he says the examiners would have to " rub up a bit themselves "
ere they could discharge a duty which he assumes to be so trifling as
to be passed over as of no moment. It is not so much the verbatim
repetition of " rules " that is required, as the correct application of
the principles inculcated by those rules. It is therefore of great conse-
quence that a pupil should be well grounded therein, so that he may not, at
an advanced period of his existence, get inconveniently " grounded " upon
the shoals and breakers which beset the course of an illiterate.
We have not underrated other attainments, but laid some little stress
upon this, as we have witnessed some errors in " Reports Arcliitectural,"
which have caused us to blush for our professional brothers, and to wish
heartily that they had been properly trained in that elementary knowledge
required in the drawing up "impromptu articles " in a correct and satisfactory
manner. We think " P. J." will agree with us in the substance of our
remarks, and hope he will, in his next letter, alter our wording of this sec-
tion, so as to put us in possession of his full meaning and intention.
" Accounts " we purposely left indefinite, as that is a point which will
rest with the examiners. We had no intention of requiring such a
knowledge of "book-keeping" as would qualify a "junior assistant " to
transfer his allegiance from the T-square and pencil of his studio to the
qum of the merchant's counting-house. There is, however, a system of
accounts required, which is a little more complicated than " the diary and
ledger " — namely, that of making a proper balance-sheet between the
builder and his employer. Simple as this is, some architects manage it in
a very primitive way, and doubtless cause many a smile to illumine the
faces of the commercial friends who employ them. Still more is this
knowledge required in those who have to deal with valuations, and who
have to compute from the " 6 per cent." and other tables, losses through
fire, and a multitude of other like matters. " Experience " would facilitate
this matter we know, but to an ignorant man the "experience" "P. J."
refers to must necessarily be a sealed book.
We are sorry we cannot agree with " P. J." as to the unimportance of
geography and history. True that they will not of themselves enable a
man to " design or construct ; but without a knowledge of " history "
upon wliicli to base a thorough knowledge of the history of art, how
difficult, indeed, would it be — nay, how impossible — to design in accordance
with the true and correct principles of the style he might adopt. We will
go further still: how impossible to know any style in which to work if
ignorant of the " geography and history " of the people who adapted that
style to their wants, or who created it. Without a knowledge of history
would the Greek have ever reared the magnificent buildings which have
lasted as imperishable monuments of their skill, taste, and construction —
of their knowledge, in fact, of the " history and geography " of the
Egyptians and Assyrians, and their country ? Certainly not ; and the
Institute has recognised the importance of this study by promoting it
through the " Pugin Fund " — a tribute of respect to one who felt the
necessity of " historical lore," and its great and intimate bearings upon
our beautiful art.
" P. J." would go further than ourselves in " mathematics and me-
chanics." The limit assigned to the first degree would be extended in the
second, and be still further enlarged in the third, so as to make that full
and complete.
It has been our object to make the first and second degrees comparatively
easy, which " P. J " admits in several parts of his letter, although he winds
up with a caution against making it too severe. The severity of the ex-
amination would doubtless increase year by year, as the examiners would
possibly recommend, so that ultimately it would be all that it should be.
Instead of restricting the age of the candidate for the second degree to
25, we properly lowered that age, giving as a reason that studious, hard-
working young men would be better able to pass it at 22 than plodders at
25. We have such in our mind's eye now, and it was the knowledge of
this which caused the suggestion we made.
April 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
359
If the curriculum that should be finally resolved ujion embraces too
much, wo believe with " J. P." that it will be as so m\ich waste paper.
The examination' being " voluntary " must have something to recommend
it, and must hold forth in its scheme something to induce young men to
come up and endeavor to pass. No matter how weak it may be in itself —
how superficial — yet the start will be everything. If they can be creditably
passed the first year by the few who will try, many will be induced to
enter their names for the second year, and so the scheme will go on pros-
pering, as well as enlarging, for it may then venture to partake more of
the character of a scientific examination. Commence with it, however, in
a very stringent shape, and but few will try it ; but let the majority of
these few be plucked, and all hopes for the advancement of the " volun-
tary " scheme will be at an end, and a " compulsory "examination further
oflf than ever. H. J.
NEW CITY BUILDINGS.
THE most opulent portion of London has always been the district which lies
norOi-east of the Mansion House. For the last 300 years, it has been the
beart of the credit system — the centre of the monetary power of the world. No
speeuiation can be made, at home or abroad, tliat is not controlled by it ; no
town can be pointed to on the map which does not feel its influence. It is the
support of foreign and domestic mdustry, trade and enterprise, and a reliable
barometer wlien the political sky is overcast. This great motive power has made
the English capital the metropolis of the world, and the City sovereigns the
rulers of it.
As some of our wealthiest men often affect aQuakcr-likesimplicity of costume,
so Lombard-street, until recently, liad a most sober areliitectural aspect. It
looked dark and mysterious, but there was no other indication of riches ; of late
the banking firms, stimulated perliaps by important new buildings in the neigh-
bourhood, have bestirred themselves, and there have been periodical removals
into temporary buildings whilst the old offices have been pulled down to be
replaced by nobler and more commodious premises. In a few years the street
will be as different in its architecture from what it was a quarter of a century
ago as it was then fr«m the old thoroughfare which Stow described. It cannot,
unfortunately, be widened, and the strangers who assemble tbere will ever be
jostled by the hurrying crowd of money agents ; the narrow thoroughfare will
never allow the buildings to be seen to advantage, but the eruption of costly
establishments is none the less certain to take place. The commencement has
been made, and we may rest assured that the builders will not leave until the
street has been entirely transformed.
The latest demolition lias been that of the offices of the amalgamated firm of
Robarts, Curtis and Co., and Lubbock and Co., which are now being recon-
structed on a largely- extended area, although still preserving the old site. The
works have not reached higher than the ground line, and nothing beyond a rough
idea of their extent can be gathered from an inspection of tliem. We shall give a
lengthened notice when tlicy are further advanced. The design has been pre-
pared by Mr. Hardwick, and is being rapidly carried out.
A little further eastward, in Lombard-street, the new premises of the London
and County Bank exhibit the architectural magnificence which has been hitherto
seen almost exclusively in the club-houses in Pall-mall. The frontage is small—
28 ft. 6 ins.— but the design is not the less meritorious. There is another front
in Nicholas-lane, but the connexion is externally broken by the premises of
Messrs. Hall and Co., the gunpowder manufacturers, which are situated at the
comer. The ofiices, with this deduction, occupy a site 83 ft. deep by about
61 ft. wide. It is a pity Messrs. Hall's premises could not have been thrown
into the Bank. Negotiations were opened for the lease of the ground, but
exclusive of Messrs. Hall's interest, the enormous ground rent of £400 per
annum was demanded for this small frontage. The Bank was compelled to
declme it and to content itself with a moderate display in Lombard-street
There are three openings on each story, and there are three floors above the
ground floor. The ground floor is divided by lofty Doric columns, belted with
rusticated bands. The openings are rounded at the comers and have carved
hntels.
On the first floor the side openings are surmounted by curved pediments
supported on massive richly-carved trusses ; the central window has no pedi-
ment, but a balustrade is placed on the cornice, which is furnished with the same
hanosome supports as those beside it. The centre window on the second floor
13 a repetition of the side windows below, whilst its side openings are less orna-
mental. This same general feature pervades the whole facade. The third floor
shows in the centre the segment-headed window seen in the side windows of the
second floor, whilst still less ornamental windows flank it. The enrichment is
thus gradually reduced in each story till it reaches the entablature, where it aeain
oreaks out magmfieently in the boldly-carved foliated frieze. Alternate short
and long quoins enclose the front. The roof is designed of unusual steepness, to
allow of ite beingseen in the narrow thoroughfare. The stone used on the front
18 Portland, from old Westminster-bridge.
The frontage in Nicholas-lane is altogether plainer. The ground floor, with
Its banded Doric columns, is the only portion which has a similar dewee of
richness to the Lombard-street front. The upper story is lit by dormers. The
building IS here faced with Jennings' patent rebated brick: the strmgs, kev-
stones, cornice and quoins are of Bath stone. a > j
The whole of the gi'ound floor is thrown open to the Bank, with only dwarf
partitions to subdivide it. ^ otwithstanding the large area, there is but one
column to support the heavy floors above. The girders are, consequently of un-
usual sti-ength, and two or tlirce of them are of original construction, beinff formed
of puddled steel and cased. They were designed, we believe, by Mr Jordan
the burveyor and acting Clerk of the Works to the Bank, and they were tested
witli the most satisfactory results, showing but the most trifling deflection They
were made entirely with steam machinery, by Brown and Brass, of Sheftield
ana are splendid specimens of scientific construction. The iron column on
which these girders rest, is calculated to bear, when the floors are all occu-
pied, the enormous weight of 200 tons.
T)mo°''n'"'' floor and first floor are both built fireproof, and a cistern, lioldmg
!S1 S I'T' ■''.P'^'^'^'' on the roof, having communication with each flior.
. ihe hrst floor is devoted to the board-room, 29 ft. by 19 ft. 3 in., three wait- ,
JIEJ'""""'' '"^P'=<='0'''>' »nd inspeetor's clerk's room, secretary's, additional
clerk's, committee, transfer and dividends, and porter's rooms.
The upper floors are devoted to the residence of a confidential clerk in the
Dank. Messrs. Jackson and Shaw are the contractors, but the basement was
built by Mr. Myers.
Mr. Colley is the carver employed on the stone work.
The architect, froju whose designs and under whose superintendence the
whole of the works are being executed, is Mr. C. Pamell, of Pull-mall. 'Tlie
Lombard-street front is teautifully proportioned ; but it is largely indebted for
its magnificence to the great care with which every detail has beeii studied, and
to the absence of any weakness of design or trifling eccentricity. 1 1 is rich without
being overladen with ornament, and each mass of decoration is boldly fixed in
the right place. It is a design which we should hardly have expected to meet
with out of Pall-mall.
The adjoining premises of Messrs. Hall have lately been rebuilt. The ground
story consists of stone Doric pila-sters; but they are dwarfed by the loftier and
more imposing ones of the London and County by the side. Tlie floors above
aie faced with white brick, with Portland cement dressings. The architraves
are heavy, and the break in the horizontal portion of them, to admit square
panels, is a piece of originality which does not repay the labor of its conception.
The best feature in the front is the proportion of the, side door, and of the cor-
nice and panel interveniug between it and the fanlight, which has been designed
skilfully.
In 26, Lombard-street, red polished granite and green serpentine has been
very successfully introduced, and there is a deal of meritorious originality in the
front. It is built mainly of stone. Carved trusses are placed on the Corinthian
pilasters at the sides to receive the ends of the shop eoiiiice. The shop li'ont is
very well arranged. It is in the centre of two doorways, and the whole con-
sists of three semicirculai' arches, springing from the same horizontal line ; but
as their difference of diameter causes a consequent difi'erence in height, circles
containing the number of the house are introduced over the side arches.
There are three windows on each of the upper stories ; the jiiers on the first
floor are of red polished granite, and columns of the same material stand between
the windows of the second floor. The archivolts are of green serpentine, enclosed
by enrielied stone mouldings. The front is further decorated by panels of
coloured material ; a very meritorious piece of street architecture is marred only
by undue heaviness in the principal cornice.
The new offices of the Royal Insurance Company, 29, Lombard-street, at the
corner of Clement's-lane, has a feature rarely met with in our London streets,
although universally adopted by our French neighbours. We allude to the iron
balcony extending the whole length of the principal cornice in front of the attic
windovre. The front is built of stone, and has two bays towards Lombard-street, and
five facing Clement's-lane. There is an unusual and unnecessary amount of panel-
ling introduced, and the heavy string-course, with Vitruvian scroll over the second
floor windows, interferes with the effect of the main cornice. The openings of
the three lower and attic stories are arched, and those of the other story square-
headed, with rounded comers. The stone balustrade to first floor windows is
not sufficiently important, and the iron balcony on the cornice might with
advantage have been considerably richer.
On the opposite side, and further eastward, at No. 45, Lombard-street, a small
stone and brick front has recently been finished. The windows of each story are
in couples, separated by detached shafts of green and red marble. In the
spandrels over those of first floor the monogram of the proprietor has been
introduced in an ornamental circle. The two windows are enclosed by an arch,
the keystone of which forms the central support to the projecting balcony above.
The shop is flanked by Corinthian pilasters, with red poUshed granite shafts.
We trust the time is near at hand when tlie adjoining premises of Mr. iS'icoI wUl
be denuded of the startling and excessively ugly green glass panels, which com-
pletely cover the front and disfigure the street, and that something more in har-
mony with the improved architectural character of Lombai'd-street will be
substituted for them.
Whilst in the neighbourhood we may as well pass onwards and make a note of
the immense block of building at the corner of Kood-lane and Fenchurch-street,
where Mr. Dawson, of Finsbiiry, gives mi extensive display of parti-colored brick-
work, in a style of architecture which reminds us somewhat of the early Florentine
palaces, especially in the flush quoins and pointed outside line of the arches. The
disposition of the openings and ornament on the fii'st, second and tliird floors,
are precisely similar. The narrow frontage faces Fenchurch-street. It consists
of two large arched openings, and a still larger subdivided one in the centre
of them forming a double window. Tliis latter has a square column in the
centre, from which two stone-recessed arches spring, with a monogram and
carved spandrels between them. All the openings have a half column of the
same design attached to the jambs. Over the recessed stone arches there are
deep arches of red, yellow, and black brick, with an outer rim of red brick,
which is continued over the horizontal stone strings. There is a stone angle
column on each story, stopped on a level with the arch springings. Tliis is a
feature which ought to be very cautiously introduced, or it interferes sadly
with the apparent strength of the angle where stability should )f all places
be most strongly manifested. The stone -cornice is very deep, and has a ten-
dency to heaviness, but it is originally designed. The parapet wall is studded
with bricks of different colors, hut the design of them is s<-arcely suflicieutly
marked. The main block of the bmldiug is faced with white brick.
In Rood-lane the same style is carried out, without any diminution of the
ornament. There are five windows looking into this thoroughfare, four of
which are double ones. At the southern end of the f'a<;ade the large cornice
is stopped, and the strings alone are continued through it. The arches here
project from the face of the wall, as also do the pilasters which support them.
Tile ground floor forms a warehouse, some 65 ft. by 30 ft., boarded on all
sides, and the upper floors, approached by a broad^stone staircase, will be let
off in suites of offices.
Mr. Axford, of Coleman-street, is the builder.
The design is not entirely satisfactory ; there is a want of variety in the or-
namental portions, but as an attempt to introduce into street architecture
something beyond the ordinary run of Portland cement mouldings, we welcome
it cordially. It is better to see a building of this kind bearing the evidence of
thought and study, than a lifeless east of old ideas.
Retumiaer by way of Comhill, where the palatial buildings occupied by the
Universal Marine In.surance Company, with its gorgeous masses of stone carving,
high pitched crested roof and dormers, have set a good e " ample to the adjacent
owners, we notice a front nearly completed at No. 73, tor the London, Scot-
tish and Australian Bank. Tlie front is narrow, and a segmental rusticated
360
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 26, 1861.
arch of red polished granite, resting on piers of the same material, spans it
entirely on the ground floor. A deep string, Avith double plait ornament in
the panel, takes the place of a cornice over it, and is supported at the sides
by massive double consoles, with shields in front of them. The windows of each
story are in three lights, the divisions on the first floor «re bv Ionic columns,
having red polished shafts. There is a curved pediment over the central light,
and small panels with he.ids in high relief over the cornices of side lights. The
middle wuidow on the second floor has also a curved pediment, but, instead
of the columns, panels filled with colored tiles decorate the piers, and coupled
trusses support tne cornice. The balcony to this window curves outwards with
verv good effect.
■fhere is a deep strmg over second floor windows, and a bold well-designed
cornice crowns the building.
Iliere are ouoins on each side, the wholeheight of the building, which was
designed by Mr. Henry Baker.
At No. 50, Comhill, a stone-fronted building has been erected for Messrs.
Dimsdale, Drewett, Fowler and Barnard, three stories high above the ground
floor. It is raised four or five steps high above the pavement, which allows
(pace for the pedestals of the columns which divide the ground floor into three
bays. The capitals of these columns are the rarely employed Tuscan order, but
the proportions, the arch mouldings and the pedestals are Doric. The arches
spring directly from the capitals— an arrangement seldom seen in good archi-
tecture. Another adoption of an unfrequent feature in the best specimens of
Italian art is the continuation of the horizontal strings on the rusticated coins.
There is a slightly projecting cornice over the ground floor, with a dispro-
portionately large ovolo moulding in the bed mould. The first floor windows
are square headed, with ordinary architraves and cornices. The sills are
moulded, and a truss is placed on each side under them, but, with the moulding
petuming upon it, it is not only useless but proclaims itself immediately to be so.
An ornamental string runs over the windows of this floor, and another, decorated
with a scroll ornament, surmounts the arched openings of the second floor. The
third floor windows are rather Jacobin in the style of their framework. An
entablature, with foliage in the frieze, crowned by a balustrade, completes the
design, which is more suitable to a cement than a stone front.
w
THE STRIKE.
E have some new facts to note in reference to the dispute existing between
■.J '^™P'oy<^" and Employed in the building trades. A meeting of the master
bni.ders has been held, at which the existing position of affairs was fully discussed,
and the feeling of the employers present was almost unanimously in favor of the
adoption of the system of payment by the hour, but no resolution binding upon the
members of the Association was come to, it being considered more convenient that
«ach employer should e.vcrcise his own discretion in the matter, and act according to
the circumstances of his own case. A member of the firm of Messrs. TroUope and
.' 1 ""anx^nt-street and I'lmlico, stated at the meeting that he understood a
requlMtlon by the men in their employ was in course of signature, the request of which
was that they might be put upon tlie same footing as the men in the employment of
Messrs. i,ucas, Kelk, and Smitli, namely, 33s. wages per week for working ten hours
per day for five days in the week, and up to one o'clock on Saturday, the arrange-
ment bemg made that payment should be made at the rate of 7d. per hour, and that
deductions for loss of time should be made at the same rate. Two or three
other representatives of firms stated that similar requisitions were in course of sig-
S* i[L*' ""'"' '^"P^- At the establishment of the Messrs. TroUope the requisition
nas Deen presented to the employers, who have assented to the request it contains,
we understand the requisition has been signed by a large body of the hands in the
employment of the Messrs. TroUope, and that others have witlihcld their signatures,
altnough favorable to tlie system of payment by the hour, only through fear of their
names being printed in tlie "black list" It is the impression of the Messrs.
J. rouope, that the great body, if not the whole, of the men in their employ approve of
the new system, which they will commence carrying into effect to-morrow
(Saturday) at one o'clock, and such, it is understood, will be the case with other
nnns. After strict inquiry into the matter, we were informed yesterday afternoon,
ti r a good authority on the subject, that the payment by the hour does not, and is not
intended by the employers, to involve the discharge of a hand at an hour's notice,
i"'i.t 'f"" • '^""'"■■y. the workmen will receive under the new system the same
«^n"tn 01 notice they do at the present time. The masons and bricklayers express
tnclr determination to hold out against the system of payment by the hour, but wc
understand that a great many carpenters and joiners have given their assent to it.
At present only 50 masons arc out of employment, and in the same category we under-
stand there arc only about 62 bricklayers.
— • —
THE CONDITION OF NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
bIB,--l our contemporary, the /iuilder, of the 13th insfc. contained a leader on its
pet subject of "Swamps 'and "Social Bridges," in reference to the condition of
Aewcastle-upon-ryne. This has given rise not only to considerable local discussion
and paper warfare, but has been followed up by two other letters In the Iluilder. The
well-known character of the i/fatWrnsr A'ctcs for veracity and fair-play induces me
to offer a few remarks on this very inviting subject, in the hope that you may afford
me a little space m your columns. f j i
,J','^'°.P<'">o''^l'''>ovrle(i(;t; of the locality, I am reluctantly compelled to admit the
it.., '"""'' ?^ ""; «'"<''">•«'' contained In the articles referred to. There is, un-
?S „,'■.■ 5?"J'','"'«'' "f a •norc comprehensive system of drainage, and also of an
efficient naff of inspectors, whose duty it should be not only to prevent the casting
J?,,^ . ' and offal into the streets, but also to attend to tlie proper cleansing of the
Wm , i''iT"»^'^"';'' ' fTJ' 'S evident that much of what Is so loudly complained of
mtebt be simply obviated by the more liberal use of the besom and water-cart.
w.11.1 ''^? ',*' ">at people rarely pick out the beauties or defects of their own
«^t. /fvii"'".,"'' * ""-anger to do this, and I feel sure that but few of the inhabl-
iSiit h. .i,,",^!;?,!' "".''.'•■ '',!"^r5 "^ *,!"= " '"'"■»" " »■"! " Pla?"" »P0'8 " brought to
lS^!.r ?,f ihr;i*','" i'"" •«"''rf«-- To the uninitiated It must be a mystery how the
"U^i.uK .•,*'?'.'' became acquainted with those deposits of " fojtld slush " and
JSn«h,;tfl.,.r. .?,!?" f";'!""' "'"'.''"'"' •"» """'■l''^ partiality for the unclean, it
c^ nntouchfd his natural Instinct to smell out all the dirt and leave the
thit'iI'drfec''t?v^'";iin''l,"''''''',L' "-oally too bad, because, although there is much
S^M.llfh^.,,„Hn. L"° <^a'""<i person can deny that within the last few years,
to mh^d t<« thnt^n'- »„ " ^S-fy ••onslderablc chauge.for the bctter.'It must beiorne
1nfl^rMi,^'».^?.w^^ ancient .o«n like this, the difficulties to be overcome are
irf^S.^" oroM^'burid^lnT^t™ "'~"-.'-';;i^"^'-°^- «» i°^t"i« --. "-e entire removal
ThisiroV course a rZv/'»'° accomplish one comprehensive sanitary scheme,
the writ< r in ihT«,1.W,i ^i/^'*''*!!' '^"'' "^n Only be the work of time. I contend that
h^enrtr^MZu,thr,,^Z \°^'''''"^P^^ of the improvements which have
England ha^ Ue^so^n/ldlvT.*-'.'" """lit" condition a few years ago. No townin
ni l»^her<^.m, J^wSI,?'AuL"'j'ri;P/'"'">f'y modernised within the Uke period,
of ttl. .1^Lm,^f ^^llT'^'^'f '"■■ afohitectural emMlishment. In couflrma-
of thl. statement, I need only refer to the splendid streets built by Mr. Grainger,
tion
to whom Newcastle owes lasting obligations for the enterprise and energy which
produced those "whole streets of palace- 1 ike shops and houses," "before their
time," and who yet lives to reap the ample reward of his labours. He is also a
better judge than the Inspector as to the madness of his speculation.
Since Mr. Grainger's retirement his mantle seems to have fallen on the shoulders
of others. I may particularise Mr. llalph AValters and Mr. T. G. Gibson, who are
carrying out works of a palatial character at the quay side, the new street of s
approach to the high-level bridge, and In other parts of the town. These works are *
if possible, even on a grander scale than tlioso of Mr. Grainger,' and will require I
the demolition ot Sandgate, the scene of one of your contemporary's graphic
sketches. Other public and private buildings are also in course of erection, amongst
which may be mentioned the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb onjthe North-road • the
Boyd Memorial Church in Shield-field, by Sir. Iloigliam, showing tlie most careful
study both in mass and detail ; the Clayton Memorial Church, just finished by Mr
Dobson, is also a very creditable structure, wliicli would be much improved however
by the addition of a spii-e. Your contemporary, in error, states that the sph-e is
already built, evidently confounding it with that of St. Peter's, in Oxford-street by
the same architect. "^
1 trust that the attention now being called to the defective state of the "canny"
town may stir up the authorities to renewed energy, and thus render it more in
accordance with the views of the vital airthorify on Wanitary reform, who should he
again come north and honor us with another notice in the Builder, would do well to
be more correct in his architectural criticisms, particularly as regards the " styles "
and also to avoid making his article so much the advertising medium of a local
architect. 1 am, &c.,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, April 22, 1861. Faib-Plat
THE PEDESTALS OF STATUES.
SiH,— A writer in your last Number states, under the head of "London Statues"
— " The sculptor ought to have nothing whatever to do with the pedestal beyond
settling the height of it. Its design should be entrusted to an architect in whose
province it lies."
The pedestal of Sir Robert Peel's statue in Cheapside was designed by an
architect— Jlr. Tito, M.P., &c., &c. Will the author of^" London Statues" obUge
me by stating if that pedestal demonstrates the truth of his proposition, and how :
also what are its artistic merits ?
Nay, will he point to any one out of the numerous pedestals designed by architects
that IS a work of art ?
I am, &o.,
St. Paul'B-churchyard, April 23rd. A Common CoDh-cn.MAN.
ON ARCHITECTURAL PROPORTION.
Sir,— Permit me to lay before your architectural readers a law of science which, in
my opinion, would throw some light on this subject ; it is as follows :—
It has been found.by experiment that when the eye is directed to any particular
object one ray settles upon the most prominentpoint or feature in thatobject, this ray
or rather principal ray forms tlie axis of a cone compounded of similar rays, differing
only from the principal ray in this respect, that while Fig. 1.
the principal ray is that wliich conveys the most j^
distinet image to the retina, tlie remaining rays also «^rN
convey an image to the retina, but legs distinct in ^t j \
proportion, us they approach nearer to the jcircum- ^/ / j *
ference of the circle, the base of the cone of which ^.'' < / i i
the principal ray is its centre. ,^' ' / I \
A sketch may, perhaps, better illustrate the for- y' \ ! '
mute, supposing a to be the spectator's eye, and y i ! |
c ft rf the object in view, and a 5 to be the principal -^S^- ■! jo \c
ray of vision, then will a c rf be the cone of^ rays or '''\ I ! I
field of vision, and each ray will convey a less distinct
image to the retina, in proportion, as they approach
nearer the circumference a c d, of which h is the
centre.
Now, the outline of this cone, a c d,\% an equila-
teral triangle whose base is a circle, and whose axis
is a 6, the principal ray of vision. ^
Let now this circle be divided into six parts (a well Fi^r- S-'-
known property of the circle, and also a multiple of 3), fTN
and join each alternate division and each opposite -'- "' -^
division, and draw a ray from each point of division ta
the spectator's eye, and we have a figure composed
entirely of equilateral triangles, and whose plan and
elevation is triangle upon triangle. Why, then, need
we wonder at the freedom exercised in the use of the
triangle in ancient examples, with such
effects ? for I have reason to believe that this tl
not unknown to our forefathers. But before i
the subject I would say a few more words
circle.
All the minor rays are governed by the principal ray, \ \ •*/' '
thatiswhentheprincipalrayisdecidedupon.theremain- ^,^\ il; /
ing minor rays arrange themselves as has been already ^^\ \ /
described. In a circle. It is evident, therefore, that the best balanced figures would be
those which could be inscribed in a circle, and still more so when that part is promi-
nently marked on which the principal ray should be directed. Premising this to be
the case, I applied it to several elevations of our best cathedrals, and strange to say
I found that the centre of this circle circumscribed about their outline, to fall
exactly at the intersection of a principal window or other important point in that
elevation.
IIow far this principle holds good, I am not prepared to say, but I say this, as far
as I ventured I met with a satisfactory result, and I should recommend a more
careful investigation as I am certain that there is something beneath all this.
1 am, &c.,
._ T. W. T.
Hoofing the Royal Exchange. — On Tuesday, at a meeting of the
Gresham Committee, convened to consider the ultimate mode in which the
quadrangle of the Iloyal Exchange shall be covered, a resolution was passed
empowering the Lord Mayor arid Mr. Farrington, the Master of the Mercers"^
Company, to confer with the Committee of Lloyd's, with the view, if possible,
to prevail upon them, in deference to what appears to be the weight of public-
opinion, so far as it has been elicited, to waive the objections they have hitherto
felt it tlieir duty to urge against roofing the building at the higher level, on
the ground that it would interfere with their light and air. The Lord Mayor and
the Master are to be at liberty, if they think fit, to avail tliemselves of the advice
and assistance of Mr. Tite, the architect of the Exchange, and Mr. .Smith, the
surveyor to the Mercers' Company, in the interview; and so the matter
remains for the present.
Mr. Henry Hunter, architect, of Hobart Town, has been awarded
the first prize for a design of a buildint,' for the Museum of the Roval Society,
Tasmania. The second prize was awarded to Messrs. Campbell and Kaadall.
^x \ \ ■
X > 1 /
H /
Fij. s:.
h beautiful ^-^p-- l.V!..^I;'..J.4
3 theorywas "''l"^^- I iV /jN •", !
ire quitting n;-^^;--„ ' / i' | •,' \ <
rds on this 'v^ -..^ f"V}- ' '>i'
April 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
361
TENDERS-
Chdrcii, Lincolnshire.
For the restoration of nave and new chancel to West Torrington Church, Lincoln-
shire. Mr. K. J. Withers, architect.
C. Clarlte, Louth £844 10 0
C. Kcnd.all, Market lUsen 748 0 0
C. Fox, Lincoln 700 0 0
W. Smith, Lincoln 69C 0 0
Chapel, Ratcliff.
Reinstatlnjr damage by fire at Queen-street Chapel, Ratcliff. Quantities supplied
by Mr. K. L. Curtis. Mr. Charles Dunch, architect.
King £1,350
Hill 1,.343
Hedges 1,337
Hack 1,300
iUvett 1,293
Perry £1,270
niackbum 1,2S9
Wood Brothers 1,237
Ennor 1,193
Brown Charles (accepted) 1,022
FAK.M BUILDINOS, &C., EsSEX.
For the erection of new farm buildings, bailiifs' houses, laborers* cottages, and
repairs on an estate at Mucking, Ksscx, the property of A. Z. Cox, Ksq. Messrs.
Hanncll and Kobb, St. Ives, Hants, architect,
Naylar £5,376 I Smith £4,902
Stephenson 5,237 | Sharpington and Cole 4,562
Several other tenders were delivered for separate contracts, but not for the whole
of the works.
Fittings, Hanlev.
For gas fittings for Potteries Mechanics' Institute, Hanley. Mr. Robert Scrivener
architect >
Kigby and .Sons, Manchester £118 10 | K. Spence, Burslem £96 10
Wood and Davis, Hanley 117 0 | H. Scarratt, Hanley 94 0
Chapel, Leeds.
For the erection of a Methodist New Connexion Chapel, Dcwsbury-road, Leeds.
Mr. William Hill, architect, Leeds.
.Bri'ciK'oW.-.— Abraham Swallow £.'525 10 0
Masom' }V'ork.—J. and B. Pounder 215 0 0
Carpenters' andJoiners' JForyt.— M. A. Oakes 609 0 0
i'(««(crcrs' (Fort.— James Wilson and Son 69 18 0
Plumbers' ami Glaciers' ICorA-.—R. Heaps 48 0 0
S/afers' Wori.— William Watson 52 3 6
/ron/oOTirfers' Wort.— J. and C. Heaps 125 5 0
Painters' fFor*.— Thomas Leach 39 10 0
Total £1,484 12 6
Chapel, Leeds.
For additions and alterations at the Wesleyan Chapel, Holbeck, Leeds, Mr. William
Hill, architect, Leeds.
Thomas Bedford £1,490 I Benj. Woolley & Son (accepted) .. £1,280
W. D.Boothman 1,380 |
Shops, Hanlev.
For the three shops, and the alterations to another, in the Market-square, Hanley,
for Mr. John Dockaey.
Clewes, Hanley £3,770 I Hammerslcy, Hanley £3,599
Matthews, Hanley (accepted). 3,647 |
Quantities supplied.
Schools, Kent.
For additions and alterations to the Congregational Schools, Lewisham, Kent
Messrs. Lander and Bedells, architects. Quiintities supplied.
Child, .Son and Martin £1,200 Os.
Coleham 1,187 10
Hill and Son 1 175 o
Dove, Bros £1,175
I Patmen 1,169
I Pritchard 1 093
Dwelling House, Clapha.m.
I'orndditions and alterations to house and premises, No. 22, Clapham-rise, for
James Barclay, i,sq. Messrs. Lander and Bedells, architects. Quantities supplied.
Hill and Son £728 I Nixon .r£697
J^otloy- 719 Patman :.... 075
Dove, Bros "15 | Child Son and Martin 630
Offices, London.
lor (he erection of a new building in Old Broad-street, for the "Ocean
Insurance Comp.iny." Richard Bell, Ksq., architect, 17, Gracechurch
Quantities supplied by Mr. E. J. Austin, 4, Adelphi-terrace.
J. raylor £10,370 .1. and J. Coleman
? ,5m ••■' 10.300 Myers
J. Wilson 10,284 Trollope
*■'" •" 10,267 Edward Conder
Adamson and Sons 10,247 | T. Little (accepted)
Marine
■ street
. £9,888
. 9,783
. 9,760
. 9,420
. 9,397
„ , Alterations, Clerkenwell.
mJ: WUuIm Btr'etlSit^cr"- ^^''"°S'™-'-^'. Goswell-street. for Mr. Smith.
DawBou .^.°itrr- .. ""^^T- .. .r^r-o
C-after 97 0 .. 55 0 .. 152 0
Mart'" 97 15 .. 38 0 .. 1.35 15
Brako 83 0 .. 3I 10 .. 114 10
Villa, Headinglt.
For a villa residence at Headingly near Leeds. Quantities supplied. Messrs.
Thomas Shaw and Son, architects, 2, Bclgrave-square, Leeds.
Masons' Work^ if-c.
Richardson £581 | Milner tKm
Wright and Sons 616 | Wilkins* .V. .'.'.".V.V.V." 400
Plumber and Glacier.
Standish £108 I Braithwalte and Myers* £107
Slater.
Pycock ........ £46 0 OILawson £40 10 n
Ileavyslde and Son* 42 5 0 | «.iv lu u
Joiners' Work.
Potter £398
Beckwith 380
Hoggart 375
Lpfd 350
Chaffer 3,30
AVhitehead £320
Rhodes J 315
Hearon *" 296
Ksrry ".: -i^if,
Moxon* 270
Painting.
Kershaw £28 I Leach £15
Simpson 18 | •••^•1
„ ,. , Plasterer.
\'^^\Ky^ £125 0 0 1 Senior «8»
ISarker 89 13 0 I Branton* 8?
•Accepted.
Warehouse, London.
For rebuilding Messrs. Parkin and Co., tea warehouse, Beford-strect, Corent-
garden. Quantities by Mr. GnfBths.
Bunkell, Holloway £7,870
Bird, Hammersmith , 7,218
Charles Fish, Pimlico 6.980
J. Willson, Guildford-street, Borough 6,720
Nicholson, Wandsworth 6,670
Patman and Fotheringham, Theobald's-road 6,575
W. Sawyer. Millbank , 6,491
Arthur Robinson, Blackman-strect, Borough 6,274
J. Clcmence, Villlers-street, Strand 6,105
W. Howard, Chandos-street, Strand 5,987
♦
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
ASSIZE COURTS, &c.
Guildfobd.— For designs, plans, &c. for Assize courts and ofBces for the Guildford
Institute and Guildford Working Men's Institution, Guildford, Surrey, Designs,
plans, sections, and estimates of cost sealed and addressed to Messrs. Ebcnezer
Apted and William Carpenter, secretaries to the County and Borough Halls
Company, North-street, Guildford, by May 20. A tracing of a block plan of site
and existing buildings, and printed statement of officers' rooms and conveuiencea
required, on application to the secretaries.
BRIDGE.
Kilkenny.— For plans, specifications and detailed estimates for the erection of«
Bridge over the river Nore, in the city;of Kilkenny. The costof construction not
to exceed £3,000. £20 will be given for approved plan, Ac. Plan, ic, to be sent
to Mr. P. G. Dillon, city grand jury, Kilkenny (of whom particulars) by May 27.
TOWN HALL. • 1 1
Hull.— For the approved design, &c.,foraTown-halIandpublicoface8,«tKing»ton-
upon-Hull, to be forwarded with plans, sections, and estimates of cost (sealed and
addressed to the town clerk, Hull, and marked outside, •' Design for Town- hall,")
to May 31. The sum of £100 is offered for the design selected as the best and £50
for the design selected as second best. A block plan of site, and printed statement
of ofBces, rooms, and conveniences required, at Robert Well's (town clerk's) office.
Town-hall, Hull, between 11 and I.
CEMETERY WORKS.
Manchester.— For plans, sections, elevations, and estimates, for the necessary
works, consisting of entrance gates, lodge and two chapels, and laying out the
ground, consisting of 6J statute acres, near to tlie Brookland station, at Sale, for the
Sale Burial Board. The buildings to be faced with par-point stone, and the cost
of them not to exceed £2,000. The plans, &c. must be delivered, without the
author's name, but with a motto, accompanied by a sealed letter containing the
name, to Mr, Gould, clerk to the Board, 22, Cooper-street, Manchester (from whom
all further information may be obtained), to April 30.
COMPETITION A'WARDED.
Ashton.
For the new building of the Ashton and Dukinfleld Mechanics' Institution, there
were 21 design-, submitted, from which the plans marked " Finem Besplco " were
selected, the architects being Messrs. Starkey and Cuffley, of Manchester.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
BANK HOUSES.
IH ELAND.— For the erection of the new National Bank house and ofBces, at Castlerea,
county of Roscommon. Elevations, Ac, at the office of the architect, W. P.
Caldbeck. Esq., 24, Harcourt-street, Dublin, and copies of same may be seen on
application to James Mahony, Esq., manager of the National Bank, Castlerea.
'Tenders to H. B. Hyde, Esq., secretary, the National Bank, 50, Old Broad-etrcet,
London, E.C., endorsed "lender for Building New National Bank House at
Castlerea," to May 14.
Ireland.— For the erection of a new National Bank house, at New Ross, county
Wexford. Elevations, Ac, with the architect, W. F. Caldbeck, Esq., 24 Harcourt-
street, Dublin, to 13th May. Tenders to H. B. Hyde, Esq., secretary, the National
Bank, 50, Old Broad-street, London, E.C., endorsed "Tenders for Rebuilding the
National Bank House, at New Ross," by May 14.
ALMSHOUSES.
Prescott.— For the erection of nine Almshouses, outbuildings, boundary walls, and
gateways, at Prescott, Lancashire. Plans, Ac., with Mr. Jacott, Prescott Sealed
tenders to the architect, Mr. G. Shaw, St Chad's, Upper Mill, Manchester, en-
dorsed " Almshouses, Prescott," to April 30.
CHURCHES.
Blackburn.— For the superstructure of St Michael's New Church, Blackburn.
Lancashire. Plans, Ac, at the school-room, near the site of the church. Tenders
sealed and endorsed, to the Rev. J. W. Pengelly, St. Michael's Parsonage, Black-
burn, to May 6. Copies of quantities on appUcation to Stevens and Robinson,
architects, 22, Sackville-etreet, London, W.
Gloucestershire.— For the restoration of Saint Oswald, Rockhampton, near
Thornbury, Gloucestershire. Plans, Ac, with the Kev. W. U. Coates, Rector of
Rockhampton. Tenders to'the architect, Mr. Frederick R. Kempson, No. 18, S.
Owen-street, Hereford, to May 6.
Forest Hill.- For the complation of Christ Church, Forest-hill including the
erection of a north aisle, tower, and spire. Ac, apply by letter, giving references
to Mr. Christian, 10, Whitehall-place, London, S.W., before the 30th inst.
Ireland.— For repairing the churches of Boveva, Descrtmartin, Tamlaghtocrllly
and Tamlaghtfinlagan, Co. Dcrry; .Mvshall.and Hathvilly, Co. Carlow; Maryboro,
and Rathsaran, Queen's Co.; and at j;irkc and Mothel. Co. Kilkenny j also for re-
pairing and painting externally the churches of Ball) modan. Skull, (Chapel of
Ease,) Abbeystrewry, Tullagh, and Whitechurch, Co. Cork ; and St >Iichael's Co.
Limerick. Specifications with the resident ministers of the parishes. Tenders
sealed, prepaid, and addressed thus :—" Proposal for the Church of
•' The Ecclesiastical Commissioners for Ireland," No 24, Upper Merrion-street;
Dublin" to May 2.
WiiiTTiNGTON.— For anew church at Whitttngton. near rheslerfleld, Derbyshire.
Plans, Ac, with Giles and Brookhouse. architects, Victoria-chnmbcrs, Derby, from
May 1. Tenders, endorsed •' Tender for New Church, at Whittington," delivered
to secretary of Church Building Committee, Whittington, by 10 a.m. May 9.
Norm ANTON.— For rebuilding the Parish Church, Nornianton, near Derby. Plans,
Ac, with Messrs. Giles and Brookhouse, Derby. Tenders to John Shaw, Esq.,
College-green, Derby, by 3 p.m., of May 7.
^ ftVKM BUILDINGS, Ac
Derby.- for erecting farm buildings, restoring residence, Ac, at the Lodge Farm,
and adjoining farms, Belper Lawn, Derbyshire. Drawings, Ac, with Messrs.
Giles and Brookhouse, Derby ; to whom tenders, endorsed " Tender for new Farm
Buildings, Belper Lawn," by 10 a.m. of May 6.
COTTAGES.
Haltwhistle.— The building and finishing of 20 brick cottages, for the Coanwood
Coal Company, at Herdley Bank, four miles from Ilaltwnistle, on the Alston
branch of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway. Plans, Ac, at the Company's
office, Herdley Bank. Other information on application to Mr. Whaley, the agent,
by whom sealed tenders will be received, either for the whole or in trade depart-
ments, up to May 9.
CHAPELS.
Folkestone.- For the several works comprised in the proposed enlargement and
362
THE BUILDING NEWS.
April 26, 1861.
p«rti«I rebuililini: of the liaptist chapel. Folkestone. Drawinjis. Ac, at tlic present
chapel, and furilur paitieulars on anplieatjon at thcofllces of Peck aud Stephens,
Architects. Maidstone. Tenders endorsed •• Tender for Chapel," to be delivered
totheKcT. Darid Jones, Folkestone, to May 1. , „. , „
TOUSHIBE.— For the ervctiou ol a Primitive Methodist Chapel at Cottinsham.
Dnwian, *e., «t No. 1. Vestn-. Clowes's Chapel, Jarratt-strect, Hull. Sealed ten-
den.'^doned' ' Tender for Ch'npel at Cottlnirfiam," to Mr. William Garner (Super-
lateadcnt JQiiister), 3:2. Kichmond-terrace, Hull, to May 1.
PAKSOXAGK.
IC^IDSTOXE. For the erection of a Tarsonag-e honsc for the parish of .St. Peter's
Maidstone. I'lans, Jtc.at the office of Mr. Mtirtin Bulnier, architect, Maidstone,
when? copies of the'bills of qnantilies can be obtained on payment of live shillJnL;:8,
with « form of teiidcr for the work. Sealed tenders endorsed " Tender for bt.
Peter's Fanonagc," to be delivered at Mr.;Bulmer'B ofiice, by 10 a.m.. May 3.
SCHOOLS, Ac.
Kxyr. — For the erection of boys', grirls', and infants' schools, with a teachers'
residence. I'lans, &e., at the present school-house in New Rents, Ashford, Kent
ImderstoMr. H. Headley, High-street, Asliford, to May 1.
VILLAS.
SOHXBaET.— For baildin-ira Villa residence on Brent Enowl, in the county of Somer-
set, iboat 2} miles from Uighbrid^e Station of Bristol and Exeter Railway.
Plmss, Ac, with Bf r. Charles Kuowles, architect, Bridg^^vater. — Sealed tenders
to Mr. Knowles, to May 1.
I.XED8.— For the different works reqtiired in the erection and completion of a villa
residence, with stabling and lodge, &c., at Weetwood, near Leeds. Drawings, Ac,
with Mr. William Hill, architect, 71, Albion -street, Leeds. Tenders to Mr. Uill, by
April 30.
DWELLING HOUSES, Ac.
CUTTOB.— For the erection of the head masters house, in connection with the new
ooUege, Clifton. Plans, &c., with the architect, Mr. Chas. F. Uansom, Rock House,
Clifton. Bills of quantities have been prepared, and can be had on payment of
half a guinea. Tenders to .John l*age, Esq., secretary, at the office of the company,
Goildhall. IJristol, endorsed " Tender for Head-Master's House," by April 30.
HxRTFOBD.— For the erection of two pairs of model cottages, near Hertford for
The Hertford Building Company, (Limited). Plans, Ac., at the office of the archi-
tect, Mr. Sc-\tus Dyball. So. 18, Buckiersbury, E.G. Tenders to be delivered at
the above address by May 3. or at the company's otlices, Messrs. Simson's and
Groombridjre. Market-place. Hertford, before 12 noon. May 1.
fiTAFPOBB.— For the erection and completion of certain additions and ' alterations
to the Judges' House, in Stafford. IMans, &c., with Mr. Charles Trubshaw, county
surveyor. The Hollies, Stafford, from Monday, April 29, to May 4. Tenders to the
Clerk of the Peace's office, Stafl'ord, endorsed "Tender for Additions to Judges'
Hooce." by May 11.
lABDB. — Forthc'worksrequu-edin the erection of six shops and houses in Leeds.
Pinwia, &«.. with Thomas Shaw andSon, architects, Belgrave-square, Leeds.
iBXLAXD. — For the erection of two dwelling-houses at Ballybrack, near Bray, for
E. Courtney. Esq. Plans, Ac, at the office of the architect, W. F. Caldbeck, Esq.,
24, Harcourt-street, DubUn, to Stay G.
TbfJ.axd.— For the erection of a dwelling-honse between Booterstown and Black-
rock. Plans, Ac, at the office of the architect, W. F. Caldbeck, Esq., 24, Harcourt-
Btreet, Dublin, to May 0.
SMITHFIELD.
Wei^hpooi., MoNTGOMUiYBHrRE.— For the formation of a Smtthfleld, In the
borough of Welchpool, in the county of Montgomery. Plans, Ac., at the office of
Alflrcd Meredith, town -clerk, in Welchpool, or duplicates of the same, at the office
ofthc architect, Mr. Itobert Griffiths, Bridgnorth, until the 13th May. Tenders
tmder cover, addressed to Mr. Meredith, by 10 a.m., May 14.
MILL.
BiBHTOH.— For the several works in the erection of a cotton mill, engine-house,
boiler-house, chimney, &c., at Rishton, near Blackburn, for the Rishton Victoria
Cotton Spinning and Manufacturing Company (Limited). Plans, specifications,
&e., at the office ol Mr. George Clarke, fire brick manufacturer, llifihton, from the
20th to the 2mb. Sealed tenders addressed to Edwin Andrew, architect, Stack-
Bteads, near Manchester, statmg " Tender for Rishton Works," till the evening of
April 30.
MALT HOUSE.
Klf AXESBBO'.— For the erection of a large malt-house, at Tockwith, for Mr. Robert
wogden. Plans, &c., at the Commercial Hotel, Knarcsbro'. Tenders to John
Child and Son, architects. Tenter Lodge, Knarcsbro', to May 1.
GAS WORKS.
BABII8I.EY.— For detailed plans, specifications and tenders for gasholder, 40 feet
diameter, retorts, purifiers, condensers, mains, on the premises, and the entire ap-
paratus capable of^siipplying 2,000 lights, including the fixing of the same, for the
Directors of the Worsborough-Dale and Worsborough Gas-light and Coke Com-
pany. Also, the price per yard for 5 in., 4 in., 3 in., 2 in., and 1 in., mains, de-
livered at Worsborough Dale. Plans, &c., to be delivered to Mr. W. Batty, the
Company's secretary, to May 6.
POLICE STATION.
BlBMnscHAM.— For the erection and completion of the new police station, in
Kenyon. street, Birmingham, for the Corporation. Drawings, Ac, at the office of
Mr. W. Martin, architect, Christ Church-buildings, Birmingham. Tenders ad-
dressed to the Watch Committee, endorsed " Tender for Police Station, Kenyou-
Btreet," under cover, to Thomas Standbridgc, town clerk, Town Clerks' Omce,
Temple-street, by May 20.
ROAD MAKING, &c.
StrFTOLK. — For the road making, absorbing wells, &c., reqxdred to be constructed on
the Conservative Land Society's Felixtowe estate, coast of SulTolk. Working
drawings, &c., at the office , of the society's Surveyor, Mr. James Wylson, 33,
Korfolk-street. Strand, London, W.C. ; also at the Bath Hotel, Folistowe.
Tenders to the surveyor, endorsed " 'Tender for Works at Feli-xtowc, by May 4.
RAILWAY WORKS.
DUBLIK AKD Dbo<;hei>a IlAitWA y. — For the construction of a Unc of railway from
the town of Hells to the town of Oidcastle, in tlie county of Meath. Plans, Ac, at
tte office of Matthew Blakiston, Esq., civil engineer, No. li, Eustace-street,
DnbUn. Sealinl tenders, endorsc^d "Tendersfor the Kells and Oidcastle Extension
Ballway," to J. 1". Culvcrwell, secretary, Amiens-street, Dublin, by May 9.
„ SEA CUT.
MccrroH AKD YEDiKOnAM Drainaoe.— For additional earth-work, timber, and
pile work, mason and stonework required in the repairs of other portions of the
•« cut not included in contract A, between Newby-bridgc and Whitby-road-
WWge, near .Scarboro'. Plan, Ac, at the office of Josiah Forstcr Falrhank, Esq.,
C.E., 74, Newbro-strcet, Scarboro', until 30th April next. Tenders to be sent in,
S k'''^, " '^'^'"^' ■■ ''"'■ additional work in Sea Cut," and addressed to the Directors
of the Jluston and Y edinglmm Drainage, under cover, to Josiah Forstcr Fairbank,
or to A. and W. .Simpson, clerks to the directors, Malton, by April 30.
„ „ MILITARY WORKS.
DOCKYAHDi.— For the extension and improvements of the works of fortification
round the principal dockyards of the country. It is intended to call for contracts
mfiom time to time, from any persons of known competence who may be willing to
tender for the same, and contractors desirous of tendering for such works arc to
•end their names and atidresses, with any necessary references as to competency
totlie Dlnctor of Contracts, War-office, Pall-mall, London, in order that, if ap-
, proved of. they may b«; Included In the list of contractors to whom invitations are
forwarded when contracts are required. I'arties applying to state the nature and
J^tttortent of the work, and the iocaUtles for which they would wish to be invited
** *"■"■, aa opportuniUes offer.
Statue of Sir John Franklin. — Mr. Charles Summers, the sculptor,
has completed two plaster models for the statue of Sir John Franklin, which the
Tasmaniiin Governinent purposes erecting in Hobart Town, in memory of the
great explorer who was for some years Governor of the island. In one of the models
Sir John is represented in naval costume, leaning with his right hand on a chart
lying on the capstan of the ship, around which part of a cable isc oiled. In his left
li'and .Sir John holds a telescope, which rests against his thigh ; a cloak fastened over
tlie shoulder droops behind. In the other model Sii- Jehu is dressed in full
uniform, with sword, and various decorations on his breast. The left hand has
hold of the hilt of the sword, which hangs forward from the belt. A long cloak
is fastened over the right shoulder, and partly gathered u]) by the right hand,
falls in eJegant drapery at the hack. In both of the models the counteniuice of
the gallant explorer with his bald head is well executed, the face, however, not
being quite so full in the second model as in tlie first. Both statues have
been exceedingly well modelled, the second one being the more striking of the
two, in consequence of the attitude being, perhaps, a' little more easy. In the
first the body appears to lean too much on the supporting capstan, and thus
throws out the left hip, making the position not quite so graceful as it would
otherwise seem. Credit is due to Mr. Summers for the manner in which the
statues have been modelled, and doubtless they will be duly appreciated by the
authorities to whom they will be submitted in Tasmania. — Melbourne Argus.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and communications to be addressed to the Editor of tUo Bdildimo ijEWs, 30,
Old lioswcll-court, St. Clement's, Strand, London.
The Editor cannot undertake to return unused manuscripts.
lilTCMlNizED Pipes.— Sir, I shall feci obliged to any of your correspondents who will kindly
state the result of any experience they may have had of liitumimzed pipes — W. J. 1.
n.— See notice in our present columns.
B. and S.— The fact was adverted to In our columns some time since ; use Is too frequently
made ofinformation that appears in the nciLDiNo News, without acknowledgment.
L. M. 0.— 1. It may be rendered sufficiently soft by beins immersed in boihng water for a
few minutes, but eonsiderable pressure will be required to produce a sharp impression. 2.
We cannot tell ; depends on the quality wliich varies very considerably.
Samitel T.— Thanks ; subject is good but nut drawn with sufficient care for our purpose.
li. C. N.— Various compounds arc employed by different fomiders. Ure says that tne
bronze ofbells or bell metal, is composed, in 100 parts— of copper, 78; tin, 22. This alloy
has a fine compact grain, is very fusible and sonorous. The other metals sometimes^ added
arc rather prejudicial, and merely increase the profit of the founders. Some ot the I'.uglisn
bells consist of 80 parts of copper, Wl of tin, 5'0 zinc, and 4-3 of lead ; the latter metal,
when In such large quantities, is apt to cause Isolated drops, hurtful to the unilorinlty
of the metal. We are not disposed to think that you have hit upon the rignt
explanation.
One on Stkike — Letter has not reached us.
M. I. B. A.— Not at present, at any rate. ^ . „_
F. »..— Place or samel bricks are the refuse from the klhi, such as have not been perfectly
TU.LETTONY.- Perfectly correct, as Tllleytony might easily have learnt for himself without
raising the question. , -^
O Judging from the number of letters we have received, the subject has attracted a gooo
share of public interest. We assert there Is not at present the slightest reason to
apprehend that any delay will take pLice.
P.I Thanks for sketch ; but why on the day named ? ,, . ^
V. X.— In measurhig irregularly shaped glass, it must bo taken the extreme dhaensions each
way.
A — Yes; parcelmaybcleft at ourpublishlng office. ,
Investigator The vulcanisation of India-rubber Is effected by kncadmg the pure caout-
chouc by powerful machines, rendering it soft, when sulphur is iucorporatcdin itby means
of a masticating process. The mixture of caoutchouc and sulphur retains all thesojuDui^
of the pure material. In the different menstrua, the property of becoming hardataiow
temperature as well as that of uniting with itself; but as soon as it is expoaea to a
temperature of about 30O Fahrenheit, the matter is found to acquire new Propc""'?;,", !,*„??
longer soluble (n the menstrua which dissolve caoutchouc, but is Impregnated «'"> Jf"^
by contact, and swells out like an animal membrane that is moistened ^"U water ,it^
Buralug its priniitiye properties on being dried. It no longer becomes rigid when exposou
to cold, nor does it unite with Itself, and it resists without any .ilteration a teinptraiuro
wliicli would have sufficed to transform the ordinary caoutcliouo Into a sticky maiier.
This absence of the tendency to adhesion Is so decided, tliiU In actual manufaeture no use
whatever can be made of thesliavlngs of the viUcanised India-rubber. « e are uuauie lo
reply to your second question.
The Contkactobs S. S. S. shall hear from us.
K. Moore — Weekly, until concluded. . . , ,,, „„™,„„ni
W. B.-Deelined, with thanks ; we think we recognise an old acquaintance in the commum-
cation forvviirded,
W. J. h. O— Breakingweight of gh-der would be about nine and a half tons.
It. PuiPPsoN Below our mark. . ,. , .,,-Vrt
A Hencu Hand.— We are unable to recommend any beneflt society in particmar , mano
enquiries among your friends.
S.W.— A very objectionable mode of obtaining estimates. , j,., .„.„ ,„„nv»r
JI If the value of the materials exceed the cost of removing them the bmlaer may recover
the difference.
T. It. T We arc unable to advise ; consult a solicitor.
E. «.— Use flake white and weak gum water ; but practice is necessary.
.1. M Not the usual custom of respectable practitioners. * u t^ov
E. R. S.— 1. An opinion has been strongly expressed by Professor kuhlmann, that "may
some day be found possible to obtain artificial ultramarine from barytes. 2. we snuuiu
hardly like to say. , tnrtOTrtii
W.K. A.n.Y.— Many of the causes which lead to serious discrepancies In tenders are too weu-
kiiown to render the publicatlonofyourletterdesirable. . ,„_fl„
A ItEAUEE.-The best and cheapest cement for your purpose that we know of, maj be mauo
by calcining oyster shells, aud reducing them to very fine powder, flue """fc'"; ":° K??„
through ordinary muslin, mix as much of the powder as may be required for immeoiaio
use with white of egg to form a paste. ♦, « „nU,./.f nf
INVENTOH.— As you must be aware, tlie preservation of wood has often been tne s"iv''-V'^'
experiments more or less successful ; doubtless any " improved process wouiQ meci wiv"
sufficient attention. We are uuable to offer an opinion at present.
ExniBiTioN IN CoNDUlT-STliEET.— Shall receive attention If found desiraolo.
CoNTEACToa.-The machine invenlert for raising bricks, by M. Pierre Jounict, was >iso« for
some time at the new Houses of Parliament ; it Is described as conipriamg a strong irame,
on the ground, containing the yvinch wheel; and on the second mouon a notcnea wneei,
on the scaffold frame above Is a smaller notclied wheel, and round those two wlieols an ena-
less chain travels, made of flat links and cross pins, which arc held by the notcnes in tne
wheels. The buckets for mortar and hods for bricks are hooked upon these transverse
pins, and are raised liy the winch motion below, to the landing above ; the buckets and nods
are removed by laborers stationed to receive them, while otliers attach tlie empty nods,
&c., to the deseendiiiK chain; a speed of about 10 feet per minute lor the chain to travel
was found to be a eonvonieiit rate for tlie men, at which rate one man at the wlncli couia
raise 10 feet high s.iikj bricks per hour; 20 feet high, 2,700 bricks per hour ; 30 feet, 1^0
bricks; 40 feet, 1,300; M feet; 1,000; and CO feet high, about lioo bricks per hour. The
construction of the machine admits of Us being adapted to raising materials to a greater
height as the works proceed.
R. TuoMAS.— In type.
CONTHIBUTOH l>ltt0. ^ ^ ,,
Kev.t. W.— What is the local custom? Law appears not to be the question.
E. B. M— Declined with thanks.
M. V. Z. 0 If suitable, not otherwise.
IticnAED H Must let us judge for ourselves
BECEIVED.-X. M. L. i C. P. ; J. V. V. S. : M. M. M. ; A. Black ; Thomas V n ; T. Q.R;!
jVssociate; W. ; K. Foley; 11. 11. U.; O. U. ; L.M.N.; Q In a comer; Observer; William
Poster; E. W. ; P.P.andCo.i C.E.K.; C. W. Crane; A Bricklayer ; Mam Drainage;
A Little Uuej U.
May 3, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
363
I
PALACE OF JUSTICE.
r 1 ER upwards of twenty years'
agitation for the Concentration
of the Courts of Law, the publica-
tion of three reports of two Select
Committees of the House of
Commons and of a Royal Com-
mission of inquiry, all decidedly
favorable to the scheme, we
appear to be upon the point of
settling the question in accord-
ance with the wishes of the great
majority of the legal profession
and of Suitors - at - law. The
present Chief Commissioner of
Pubhc Works and Buildings and
Sir William Dunbar have pre-
pared and brought in a Bill " To
enable the Commissioners of her
Majesty's Works to acqiiirc a Site for the
Erection of Courts of Justice and of the
various Offices belonging to the same." Sir
Eichard Bethell has charge of a Bill to pro-
vide the funds for purchasing the land and
building the Courts, which would have been
already introduced but for the wearisome dis-
cussion on the Budget, and may still be before
these remarks are in the hands of the reader.
To these important measures of real, practical
law reform the obstructives in the House of
Lords under the leadership of Lord St.
Leonards, and their rare affiliations in the Commons — the faded remnants
of old [jarties — are determined to offer uncompromising and vexatious
opposition. That they will ultimately be successful it would be absurd to
suppose, but that they may delay the measure and throwit over to a subse-
quent session is not impossible, for they are deeply versed in temporising
devices and pi-actised hands in the baneful art of procrastination. The
safest course to adopt to defeat this manoeuvre is to interest the public
in the measure which has for its primary object the more speedy and
economical administration of justice, the saving of suitors' time, money,
and patience. And it is for this purpose that we return to a question
■which many of our readers may fancy was exhaustively treated in
previous remarks.*
The Bill, lately brought in, which when passed is to be entitled " The
Courts of Justice Building Act, 1861," is unfortunately rather indefinite
in certain important particulars. It refers to the report of the Com-
mission for "inquiring into the expediency of bringing together into
one place or neighbourhood all the superior Courts of Law and Equity,
the Probate and Divorce Courts, the Court of Admiralty, and the
various offices belonging to the same ;" and it apparently adopts the
recommendation of the Commissioners with respect to the site for the
new courts, but omits to specify the boundaries. We are told the site
is to be in the parish of St. Clement Danes, the Liberty of the llolls,
and in St. Dunstan's in the West, and is, therefore, the space bounded
by Carey-street, Bell-yard, Pickett-street, Strand, and Clement's-inn.
But why not have stated so in the Bill, or have annexed to it a small
outline plan ? for it is but very few who can affijrd to inspect the plans
and books of referencs which have been deposited with the Clerks of
the Peace for the County and City.
The measure submitted to the Legislature by the Hon. Mr. W.
Cowper and Sir William Dunbar proposes to incorporate, for the pur-
poses of tlie Act, the Royal Commissioners, for the time being, of
Works and Public Buildings, who are to be invested with lands "and
buildings thereon which they are to construct with proper furniture
and conveniences out of moneys wherewith they may be provided. They,
and persons employed by them, are to be empowered to enter upon the
lands to survey and value them at all reasonable times durimf the dav,
after giving 24 hours' previous notice in writing beforehand. ° We can
well imagine they would cot care to penetrate into the locality which
Lord St. Leonards has taken under his special protection at night. In
the Act are to be incorporated the Lands Clauses Consolidation Acts,
■with the exception of the clauses which provide that the capital is to
be subscribed before compulsory powers are put in force, and that a
certificate of justices be given to that eiiect. The Act is to be deemed
a special Act, and the Commissioners are to be deemed the Promoters
of the undertaking, the bond required is to be under their common
seal, and shall be sufficient without addition of securities. Errors or
omissions in the Book of Reference with regard to the names of
owners, lessees, or occupiers, are not to prevent the Commissioners from
purchasing, taking, and using the prescribed lands. The right of
sewerage under the lands, all other rights and easements are^to be
» See ante page 151.
extinguislied. The soil and property in drains to be vested in the
Commissioners' who will have to pay compensation to parties dispossessed.
The compulsory purchase of lands is limited to five years, so that
should the Act be passed this session, one of the vilest neighbourhoods
in London will be swept away before the end of 1866. To make pur-
chases the Commissioners must be previously authorised by the
Treasury, but they are not to be bound to produce such authority to
vendors or parties >uying from them. Notices, summonses, writs, and
documents, issued by the Commissioners may be given by their solicitor
or secretary without the common seal, and in writing or in print.
Orders to be made by the Master of the Rolls, and by any of the Vice-
Chancellors sitting in chambers, in relation to money paid into the
Bank of England in the name and with the privity of the Chancery
Accountant-General, or to the securities in which it may be invested,
or to the dividends thereon. Parties who wilfully obstruct persons
acting under the authority of the Commissioners in the lawful exercise
of powers vested in them under the Act to be liable to a penalty of not
more than £5 for every offence, to be recovered in a summary manner.
The deeds, bonds, &c., in which the Commissioners are concerned, are
not to be liable to stamp duty ; they are to be enrolled in the Court
of Exchequer, and copies of the plans signed by one of the Com-
missioners are to be deposited in that office, and to be open to inspec-
tion by the public on payment of a shilling.
Should an apology be necessary for trespassing upon the readers'
time and attention with the dry details of a Parliamentary Bill, it will
be found in the importance of the measure itself, which, whether we
regard it as a law reform, or as an improvement in the sanitary condition
of the metropolis, in its architectural appearance, or in the means of
communication, is second to none that has been brought before the
public for many years. There is one point on which^'we think, the
Bill might have been more explicit and comprehensive. A communi-
cation between the Strand and Holborn, or between the river side and
the district of which Euston-square station may be taken as the
centre, is urgently required. Wellington-street and Endell-street do
afford communication, but it is circuitous. Chancery-lane terminates
in Holborn, and is, moreover, so contracted as to offer serious impedi-
ment to traffic ; and between these two lines there is no means of
driving from Holborn to the Strand — the two great channels for the
flow of trafric east and west — except by Drury-Iane, where congestion
is the order of the day, and which, after all, is a very roundabout
course, to say nothing of the character of the neighbourhood. The
construction of the new Courts of Justice, by clearing away the houses
near Clement's-inn, will afford an admirable opportunity of esta-
blishing broad and facile means of communication between the Strand
and Holborn, which will lead in an almost direct line to the North
Western Railway and' to the Hampstead-road.
Leading up by the north-eastern extremity of Clement's-inn from the
Strand there must be a broad space to isolate the new Courts from the inn.
To continue the broad street thence to Holborn would not be very costly,
and would be absolutely necessary to give easy access to the Courts from
the northern and north-western districts. Were it not for the obstruc-
tion of certain leaseholders and proprietors of houses in Lincoln's-inn-
fields, all that would be necessary would be to widen Gate-street
and carry it through into Holborn. The expenses would thus be
reduced to a minimum. But certain parties interested in Lincoln's-
inn-fields, object, through their representative, Mr. Harvey Gem, to
the construction of a thoroughfare over and above what exists on their
property.
The history of the transaction on which this dog-iu-a-manger pre-
tension is based is worthy of notice The open area, said Mr.
Gem, was former out of two fields — Cup field, the eastern half, or a
little more, and Purse field, the western part. AVith respect to Cup
field the Act states an agreement, dated 1657, which recites that Sir
William Cowper and others were interested in the inheritance of Cup field,
and had designed to continue two rows of buildings on the north andsouth
sides and that the BenchersofLincoln's-inn were interested in the benefit
and advantages of the prospect and air of the field, but were willing that
SirWilliam Cowper and others (the owners) should proceed with their
undertaking, making provision for adorning the building, levelling the
field, and preventing future buildings thereon. The Act then recites a
feoffment of Cup field (pursuant to the agreement) by Cowper to the
benchers in fee upon trust that they should forthwith grant to Cowper and
others a lease of the same for 990 years at a nominal rent, subject to a
proviso for the re-entry in case the lessees erected any building thereon.
Pursfield was anciently open ground, and is now vested unconditionally
in the trustees of the fields under the Act before mentioned, whicli,
after reciting the then neglected state of the fields (1734) gives power
to the residents and proprietors of the houses to take an assignment of
the term from the representatives of the lessees of Cup field, and con-
stitutes them trustees for the management of the whole fields on behalf
of themselves, and the other residents and proprietors with power to
elect successors, giving them the duty of paving, lighting and general
conservancy of the square, with power to levy rates. From these facts —
364
lUH. DVlLiUlSSyx iNi!iWk5.
MAY 3, IStJl.
'which we are inclinwl to fancy prove an unjustifiable invasion of public
rights, so far as IMrse field is concerned, by appropriating this
" anciently open sround" — it is argued that the whole square, including
its streets,' is a private estate, and that the public can acquire no other
rights of road than have been conceded to them over it. These have
been limited for quietude. To open thoroughfares from north to south
and convert the two sides of the square into two Chancery lanes would,
it was alleged, entirely alter the character of the square and injure tlie
property. The gentlemen who entertained these views with that strange
inconsis'tencv and contradiction which mark proceedings dictated byper-
sonal interest in defiance of public advantage, professed to be alarmed
at the new courts being erected on the Strand site, as it might bring on
this evil," one which "'evei-y one havingany regard ortenderness towards
our square would deem a great calamity." Yet they were anxious
to locat,- the new courts in the centre of the Fields themselves which
would throng the locality during term time with cabs and omnibuses, that
— from there being no adequate thoroughfare — would stagnate and create
unparalleled confusion, noise and bustle ; but the lessees and proprietors
of houses in the fields would find the value of their tenements advanced
50 per cent., which would amply compensate loss of quietude. No
regard, or tenderness for " our square " could resist the seduction of a
rise in rents.
The motive of this policy was soon revealed, and although it has
very fortunately not succeeded in obtaining the erection of the Courts
of Justice in Lincoln's-inn-Fields, it will prevent the construction of
suitable thoroughfares into the largest square in London. The thorough-
fare, consequently, that we are thrown back upon is the one designed
years ago by Mr. Bellamy, the architect, to proceed by Little Queen-
street and Clement's-lane to the Strand. After all, it is the best line,
ofiering the greatest facilities for crossing Holbom, which inay more
than compensate for additional cost. Under these circumstances we
regret the Bill before the House did not deal with the question of a
new north and south thoroughfare. Perhaps it is left to the Metro-
politan Board of Works as coming within their province, but the Board
nave no money, are such inveterate jobbers, so vexatiously slow, and
go prone to blundering, that a matter of this importance ought not to
be left to them. If it is, they are sure to make a mess of it, and post-
pone the execution until Thwaites, the King, is Gartered or made
Groom of the Stole. The question of the new thoroughfare is so
intimately connected with others — with the new courts, the widening
the Strand and Fleet-street, and the Thames Embankment, that it
most not be allowed to fall into the hands of the incapables of Berkeley-
house, unless we would see another opportunity for improving the
architectural appearance of London missed or perverted.
Sir Charles Barry's plan for the Courts of Justice, which, we appre-
hend, will be adopted, so far as rerards the ground plan, proposed
widening the Strand, or rather Pickett-street and Fleet-street, to
100 feet. Temple Bar might be left standing or not, just as the
authorities decided. Were it allowed to remam, it woidd certainly
give a lop-sided appearance of the thoroughfare, but yet not be in a
worse position than the arch of Titus. Air. R. Lambert Jones stated
sixteen years ago, as chairman of the Committee for City Improve-
ments, that he believed the civic authorities would require boundary
gates, but that he did not think there would be any strong objection
against removing the present gates and substituting others. There
is really no reason why Temple-bar should be allowed to injuriously
contract the chief artery of metropolitan traffic. Although con-
structed by Wren, its architectural qualities are of the lowest. It
is^ not a work of art at all, but the very opposite. It has no
historical association to plead for its preservation, save the detestable
one of having been disgraced with a frieze of human heads belong-
ing to the faithful and unfortunate adherents of the Stuarts. It
is not an old City-gate, for it was built after the gates had been
removed, and the time for their necessity had passed. Wherefore it is
an ugly modem sham, neither ornamental nor useful, but simply an
inartistic construction and a nonsense Tradesmen in the City are
great sufTerers by its maintenance. People living at the West-end will
not run the risk of injury to their horses and carriages by passing
through the '' gut," or of great loss of time, and still less will they
▼enture the perilous ascent of the Ilolborn route. The best customers
are virtually shut out from the City by Temple-bar.
When the Courts of Law are erected the parish of St. Clement
Danes will lose most of its parishioners ; and when the abomination of
Holywell-strect is swept away, as it will be in a year or so, St. Mary-
le-Strand will be much in the same predicament. It will then be easy
to apply the Bi.shop of London's scheme for the union of benefices.
The two parishes may be with great advantage united and one of the
churches suppressed, or rebuilt elsewhere. When Holywell-street goes
it will scarcely be practicable to maintain St. Mary's church in its present
position, where it is an obstruction to traffic, which, on the other hand,
materially interferes with the solemn and calm perfonnance of Divine
service. For the sake of churchgoers the site should be changed;
were this done, the Strand would become a magnificent street up to the
City boundary, which, from its offering no obstacle to the flow of traffic,
would admit of natural expansion. The north side of the Strand would
improve in character from there being no Holywell-street to be
threaded, and in a short time structures would arise on both sides equal
in architectural character to those which adorn New Cannon-street
and the neighbourhood of the Exchange. The oval consisting of the
site of St. Clement's Church and burying-ground, together with the
side streets, would admit of a handsome place being formed. AVhen
the Thames embankment is constructed, it will be necessary to con-
struct an approach to it somewhere between Blackfriars and Waterloo
bridges ; Essex-street or Milford-lane would be the best line for this
approach. We are inclined to prefer the latter, because it would clear
out a bad neighbourhood, and would be in a line with the new thorough-
fare up to Hampstead. There would doubtless be strong objections to
making a road through the churchyard and over the site of the struc-
ture ; but there would be no absolute necessity for such a road : the
traffic going north and south would pass round the site, which might be
preserved intact, though the edifice should be removed in consequence
of the suppression of the greater part of the parish. Nay, it might be
planted with pleasant trees and flowers, so as to appear an oasis in the
stony Strand ; its aspect then would be less melancholy than it is now,
and by no means more revolting to the feelings of those whose friends'
remains rest there, beneath broken gravestones and rank grass so thinly
grown as to leave visible in places the black greasy mould. In his evi-
dence before the Select Committee of 1845, Sir Chai-les Barry stated
that the clearance of this neighbourhood would of itself, irrespective
of the future appropriation of the site, be one of the greatest public
improvements that he knew of in London, speaking with reference to
the health and beauty of the metropolis as well as of its morality.
With respect to the building of the Coui-ts of Law, it is not a bit too
soon to say a word in the interest of the profession, as to the manner in
which the structure should be designed and carried out. Sir Charles
Barry's original scheme contemplated the purchase of the site — 700 by
480 feet — bounded by Chancery-lane on the east. Fleet-street, the
Strand, and Pickett-street on the south, Carey-street on the north, and
Clement's-lane on the west. Somewhere about the centre of this site,
between Bell-yard and Pickett-plaoo, were to be the new courts, having
a frontage of 300 feet on the Strand, and a depth of 440 feet back to
Carey-street, which was to be widened to 60 feet. On the east side of
the courts was to be a new street, 36 feet wide, and on the west side
another new street, 60 feet wide. 'The rest of the site was to be occu-
pied by buildings for law chambers. The area was estimated at 7J acres,
and to cost ^£675,074 ; but from this would have to be deducted the
value of the ground-rents that might be obtained for the proposed
chambers, £316,500, and also the value of offices now scattered about,
estimated at £100,350, or together £416,850, leaving the cost of the
site £258,224, and thereby saving nearly half-a-million. This is what
might have been done sixteen years ago, but the loss of time and ini-
provements which have been effected in Chancery-lane render Sir
Charles Barry's cheap and comprehensive plan impracticable now. The
eastern boundary of the site is driven back to Bell-yard, which wUl re-
duce the frontage to about 520 feet, yet the cost of the site thus dimi-
nished will be the same. The purchase money for not quite six acres
will equal the price of 71 acres, and there wUl be no chance of recu-
periiting any part of it by ground-rents for chambers as suggested.
Although the system of public competition happens just now to be
under a cloud and is particularly obnoxious to Government officials
through the misconduct of a noisy section of the profession, we sincerely
trust that the Commissioners of Public Works and Buildings will throw
open the designing and construction of so important a monumental
structure as the Courts of Justices ought to be to the whole profession,
and let bygones be bygones. Whether prizes beyond the commission
to build the courts should bo given or not we shall not attempt to
determine, except to say there is a great deal of maudlin cant
in the pretension that it is a grievance to spend time and money
in competitions without assured remuneration. For the very same
thing exists in every profession and trade. Nay, the architects
outlay is lowest of all ! The shopkeeper must lay in a stock, decorate
his premises, advertise, and make a show, in order to compete for
trade, which, if it does not come, makes him a bankrupt. Literary
men and journalists expend, in the aggregate, much more time, thought,
labor, and study in competing for public favor than do architects. If
every man is to be paid the value of his work it would be impossible
to give prizes, though there are some among us who insist on fixed
payment and prizes, and cry because they cannot eat their cake and
keep it too.
Should the Hon. Mr. Cowper decide to invite competition, we trust
he will make the conditions more definite than they usually have
been. We have good reason to know that the present Ministry have
apartipris in the question of styles, that is to say a strong prejudice
against Gothic, and a stronger prejudice in favor of " light, airy and
cheerful architecture." It would therefore be quite as easy, and much
' more satisfactory to publish the style in which the building is to be
May 3, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
365
designed, bcibro the competition than after. The area to be occu-
pied, the accommodation to be provided, will of course be given,
but why not also lay down at the outset the material that is to be em-
ployed— whether brick or stone, or both combined, and the maximum
of cost that will be permitted ? The competing architects would know
what to do ; their work would be cut out for them, and they would
place a limit to their inventive genius in mere decoration. Govern-
ment happens to be in possession of the best stone that it is possible
to procure for building purposes. There are the materials from old
Westminster-bridge that have been long enough exposed to our dis-
integrating atmosphere to get thoroughly case-hardened, and not be
liable when built up again to corrosion. There are also hundreds of
thousands of cubic feet of stone that have been extracted from the- best
beds in Portland by convict labour while excavating materials for the
breakwater which have been set aside for years past to harden by ex-
posure to weather, and that would suffice for the new Government
offices whenever they are to be built, and for the new Courts of Law .
If bricks and stone should be employed for the sake of economy, which
would be perfectly legitimate in a Gothic edifice,— and might be desi-
rable, when it is remembered that we have not a handsome brick
structure, save Mr. Ilardwick's library in Lincoln's-inn, although plenty
of common-place vulgarities with stone facings, — a novelty might
be effected in the architectural appearance of the Strand. With the
great improvements that have been made in the manufacture of bricks,
the diversity of colour they afford, there is no doubt that a thoroughly
artistic design may be produced.
The structure it is said will occupy about six acres, of which about
three acres will be required for the Courts and their offices, and one
acre and a half for the Depository of Wills and its offices, or four acres
and a half to be covered with buildings. In the general arrangement
of (he ground plan it is probable Sir Charles Barry's design will be
carried out. It consisted in a Central Hall 200 feet long, 80 feet wide,
and 60 feet high, to serve the purpose of Westminster Hall or a
salle des pas perdus, where lawyers and their clients were to walk and
talk as in academic groves. Hound the hall are to be arranged the
courts, some 55 feet by 45 feet, and the others 35 feet by 25 feet,
and all lighted from above. Each would have in connexion with it,
judges'-room, clerks'-room, ante-room, barristers'-room, solicitors' -room,
and jury-room (for Common Law Courts). There would be besides,
a room for the grand jury, law libraiy, consultation and refreshment
rooms, &c., all of which would be arranged round the courts to the
exterior of the building. The basement would serve as a depository
for deeds, and Sir Cliarlesgave it as his most decided opinion— although
he had originally designed a Classic structure to stand in the centre
of Lmcoln's-inn-fields— that it would be desirable the design for the
Palace of Justice " should be in the Medieval style of architecture,
and that the loftier the building is made, provided no practical incon-
venience results from the height, the better will be the external
effect." In the exterior of the building he proposed four stories. The
centre of the building would be lower, as the great hall and surround-
mg courts would be lighted entirely from above.
Not in itself alone will the building of the Palace of Justice effect great
architectural and sanitary improvements. Sir Eichard Bethell's Bank-
ruptcy Bill will render available for other purposes the structures in
Portugal-street and in Basinghall-street. The City courts will be aban-
doned, and it will then be open to the Corporation to undertake the
reconstruction of Guildhall, so far, at least, as regards the exterior, and to
throw out new wings. Here, if the Metropolitan Board of Works had
not committed the signal foUy and indefensible extravagance of going
to Berke.ey-house, they would have found ample accommodation! ]fi
constructing the Central Hall wo trust large and generous hospitality
wi 1 be provided for painting and sculpture. The profession will be
deliglited to have an appropriate locale for erecting monuments to
distinguished lawyer3._ Clients might, perhaps, subscribe for painting
to Illustrate the miseries of law suitors, and a future Hogarth mi^ht
delight to depict a smtor's progress from happiness to poverty and
suicide, i or ourselves we suggest that above the portal of the biuldin"
should be mscnbed, » Leave hope behind who enter here '" "
HOUSE-TOP TELEGRAPHY.
nUES'TIOKS will arise on this subject which cannot be too speedily
y decided. Firstly. Will the insurance by tlie fire-offices cover any
damage to tlie house that may be caused by ignition from lightniue ?
Secondly. Will tlie legal plea of "the act of God " hold good in favor of
Hre assurance companies when damage is done by an apparatus set up by
man ? Thirdly. If the leaseholder permit such setting-up and cannot
msure against fire, how can the real landlord depend upon his house being
rebuilt or repaired should an accident from lightning take place "> Fourthly
IJo persons know, who permit telegraphic poles to be erected on their
roots that in proportion to tlie number of them, so is the danger increased
in a multiplied ratio from that which is termed " lateral discharEe"?
lor the flasn that would have struck but one house may injure or destroy
a aozen or more ? Fiftlily. If such events cannot be insured against in trie
last-mentioned possibility, which householder is to repair the damage done
to the premises of his neighbours ? Sixthly. As the straining of the wire»
on the poles creates great pressure on the roof, the pressure l)eing not only
great but constant, so much so that many roofs cannot bear it if any part
of the support should be injured by lightning, would not the upper story
of the house be more or less destroyed ? Tiiese, we think, are serious-
questions for the public, landlords, and assurance companies.
THE ARCHITECTURAL EXHIBITION.*
rjOXTINUING our survey of the drawings in the Great Gallery, we find that"
\J Mr. W. G. Haberslion (1.^2) gives us an interior view lookinir east, showing
the roofsaud restorations of St. Nicliolas Church, Hoclilie, Bedfordshire.
T 1 i-^w' v^ *'''■ *''^'^' ^ Monument erected in the burial-ground, Cowes,
Isle of Wight, shows some very ridiculous columnB, in the upper part of the
design ; the height of the shafts really appears to be less than thdr diameter.
JS 0. lo4, the design submitted in competition for the Superintendent's Residence
at the Liverpool Cemetery, by Mr. J. K. Colling, is drami with care, and
exhibits some good points, particularly in the upper part of the clock tower;
adjoining this frame the same gentleman shows (15o) his design for the
mortuary.
In 156, Mr. H. E. Cooper exhibits his Design for the Wedgwood Institute,
submitted m the second limited competition. Windows are shown to one story
only; it appears to us, overlooking some errors and defective drawing, to con-
tain the germs of a very good design. The absence of plans, however, does not
allow us to remark on its fitness for the purpose. The sculpture, too, in con-
sequence of its indifierent treatment, disfigures rather than improves the draw-
ing ; but it is not without companions in this respect. Mr. Cooper evidently can
do good tilings if he likes.
No. 157, a block of three Houses at Canonburj', has some good bay windows,
of which the roofs, if we rightly comprehend them, do not seem to be drawn
quite correctly. No. 158, a House at Canonbury, has a well arranged plan, con-
taining a drawing-room, dining-room and library on the grouna-floor. Here
again the bay windows and porch are the best features. By the way, what has Mr.
Edmeston done with his chimneys?
No. 159. Three Sketches for Mural Monuments, by Mr. J. Lewis Andre, do not,
throughout, exhibit a right treatment of stonework, the sharp thin manner in
which some of the details lire drawn suggests metal work ; in point of design, too,
they are very unequal.
Mr. Charles H. Cooke's ^ective design (160) submitted in competition for the
new Almshouses at Faversham shows an extensive range of buildings of red
brick with stone dressings ; the chapel in the centre of the composition exhibits a
somewhat undue development of crockets on the spire, the arrangement of the
plan appears to take the form of an m, the central projection beinc the chapel.
No. 161. The design ibr Alterations to St.' James's Vestry Hall, bv Mr. Pearce,
and which received the first premium, is very carefully drawn and colored, but
the pedestals and terminals at the angles are much too heavy. It will be re-
membered that in the conditions of this competition, it was specially stated that
the author of the|8uccessfui;design would not be engaged to superintend the work
— some diflijrence of opinion was expressed at the time, as to the best mode of
providing for the increased internal requirements. No plan is shown to enable us
to judge of the manner in which this has been accomplislied.
Messrs. Willson and Nicholl (163) in an " Interior View of the Chapel, St.
Patrick's Cemetery, Ley ton, Essex," cannot be considered to have been successfiil
in the application of color; the dra-ning too does not seem to be correct.
No. 1G2 is a competition design fif " Keeth Friends' Schools," to which a pre-
mium was awarded. The buildings are plaui but appropriate, exhibiting no
special points of merit or defects : it seems probable that the plan, if one had
been sent, might have deserved examination.
Messrs. Lauder and Bedells (164) sends a view of the selected design for the
" German Evangelical Church at Islington." The hell-turret terminating the
gable looks somewhat thin and weak, but other portions of the design are
satisfactory.
No. 166. Mr. Joseph James's " Design for Heigham Church, Norwich," one of
the first four selected in competition, is very unsatisfactory, as shown in the
north-west view with the ugly tower; that taken from the nortli-east, in which
the tower is omitted, is much hettei'.
A curious production is No. 107, "An Interior View of Unitarian Chapel,
Bath, opened in 1860," by Mr. J. W. Green. A modification of Classic columns
are attached to the walls. The front of the gallery is Elizabethan in character;
the seats are Gothic, and the apparently Italian windows have an inner moulding
enriched with Early EngUsh foliage; the effect of the ceihng, too, is very
depressing.
Messrs. T. D. Barry, Goodwin, and Butcher, send two views of their "Design
for the New Corn Exchange, Norwich." White and red bricks arranged in
bands are employed on the exterior, showing at the end three eiitruuees with
broken pediments; over the central doorway is a large semicircular-headed
window of four lights, the division being of iron with semicircular and inter-
secting heads ; a pediment terminates the central portion, which rises above the
sides or aisles. The interior view, very effectively touched in, shows a glass and
iron roof, supported on iron columns, with a considerable amount of ornamental
work of the same metal forming spandrels.
No. 170. " A Competition Design for Cemetry Chapel at Birmingham," by
Mr. C. J. Phipjis, has the same exaggerated eficct that we noticed in No. 35.
There is 1 ittle ecclesiastical cliaracter about the tower, which is otherwise well
designed. The ornamental spandrels attached to this drawing should have been
placed in a separate frame.
No. 171 is an " Episcopal Cemetery Chapel "—a design, we presume — by
Mr. J. P. Jones, who also sends (in 184) a design for the Superintendent's House
and entrance-gates.
No. 173, " Design for a Country Church," by Mr. Randall Druce, is not satis-
factory either in design or drawing.
No. 174, "A View showing the Additions now being carried out at Nnntclwyd
Hall, Denbighshire," by Mr. J. K. Colling, apparently designed to harmonise with
the older portions of the structure. The roofs are not agreeable features. We
are tired of continually adverting to the absence of plans.
Mr. J. T. Jackman sends his design for tlie Hartley Institution, in No. 175, and
• Continued from page 344.
366
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 3, 1861.
Messre. Raphael Brandon and Henry M. Evton two views of the " Cliureh of
the Holv Trinity, Knightsbridcre " (176 and 182). Mr. Brandon's thorough
acquaintance with Medieval art is well known, and it is too little to say that the
design is, as a whole good. The laree window is, however, not altogether satis-
factory in the drniriiig of the exterior : and the gable over the entrance has too
much' the effect of an afterthought, owing to its cutting abrnptly into the other
-work. Of course, old examples of this treatment are far from rare, but they are
to be aacribed to the practice of designing much of the work as it progressed —
a reason that cannot be found to any' extent in our modern practice of designing.
Mr. Raphael Brandon contributes also (179) a " North-east View of Datchet
Church.'' with its octagonal central tower (190), "Vicarage House at Nether
Heyfonl, Xorthants," and (229) an original sketch for the interior of St. Peter's
Church. Westminster, which, apparently ns the result of the author having had
bis own way, is most admirably treated as a design, and is no less commendable
ai a dnwirig.
Mr. E. B. Lamb contributes eight drawings. 173 is a View showing the pro-
posed Restorations and Additions to Melbury, Sampford, Dorchester, for the Earl
of Ilchester; it is impossible, however, for any one not acquainted with the
baOding to say how <ar the restorations and additions extend, both the new and
old portions ha\Tng the same appearance of age in the drawing. Melbuir is an
interesting house, erected in the early part of the reign of Henry VIII. Leland
mentions that Sir Giles Strangways', "avaunced the inner part of the house
with a lofty and fresch tower." 196, a View of the New AVing at Nun Appleton,
near Tadcaster, now erecting for Sir William Milner, Bart., shows the applica-
tion of brick corbelling, as was exhibited more fully developed in Mr. Lamb's
design for the New Pufilic Oilices, and the treatment" is somewhat original and
usually contributes to boldness of elfect. It seems, however, open to the grave
objection of giving the greatest appearance of solidity at the upper portions of the
building ; the window reveals, in those situations, having a depth some three or
four times greater than those on the ground story. No. 260. " The Chapel of
the Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, Victoria-park," showing the corridor
eoonectinK it with the hospital, is not shown to advantage in the drawing — in
&ct, the coloring of most of Mr. Lamb's drawings does not assist them in any
way. No. ^fia " View of Hodnet-hall, Market Drayton," a half-timbered
picturesque group, but the drawing docs not show us which are the alterations
and additions. No. 289, *' Episcopal Church. Castle Douglas, N.B.," now
erecting, appears to be small, but has a thoroughly-well designed tower and
spire, foth of stone. It is interesting to observe how, with few materials, proper
treatment has produced an admirable design. No. 364 is an outline drawing of
the " Proposed New Chancel, Somerton Church," showing the roof supported
ky a bold .ircli of stonework ; the " Exterior of th»Proposed Chancel, with the
Old Tower," is given in 367. No. 370, the eighth of Mr. Lamb's drawings,
shows a "Sketch for Whitton Church," in which the tower and spire is treated
almost as satisfactorily as that in No. 289 ; the lower weathering, however, seems
to require further consideration.
THE BUILDIXG MATERIALS, PATENT.*, IKVENTIOKg, MANUFAC-
TCRES, &C.
WE observe in this department of the Exhibition that our remarks on the pre-
vailing absence of prices, has, in some instances, induced Exhibitors to
append a card or label to their productions, showing the cost thereof. We hope,
in taking a general survey at the close of our notices — a survey necessary, in
consequence of several exhibitors having sent additional contributions — to find
the practice much extended.
In No. 208, A. Desachy shows specimens of Patent Plaster Casting, a material
now well known and much used, on account of its extreme lightness.
No. 209, George Jackson and Son, Ratlibone-place, send various examples of
their Carton Pierre and papier inacbe work ; comprising several room cornices, in
Carton Pierre, one as executed under the direction of S. Angell, Esq., who also
designed ti.e door cap frieze, enriched wilh shield and festoons of fruit, and a
group of chimera for Clothworker's Hall. There are also in papier mache pat-
tern, ceiling jMine!?, pilaster capitals, and a good selection of moulding of various
degrees of enrichment. In Carton Pierre there is also a corbel designed to carry
a reilcony of four ornamental bands of fruit for the decoration of ceilings. For
the most part the specimens shown are moulded with care.
Under No. 210, Messrs. Scott, Cuthbertson and Co., the only exliibitors in this
class, show specimens of the best descriptions of paper-han^ngs, for dining and
drawing rooms. " The novel feature of the specimens consist of the pilaster so
printea in flock as to become in relievo, upon which two golds are applied, thus
producing a raised ornamental design, not hitherto executed' in paper-staining,
capable of being applied to stars or set figures, generally over the walls." There can
be no doubt as to tne excellence of these specimens of paper hangings, both as re-
gards design and execution ; we hope their cost is moderate. A panel over the lobby
door, shows a new process of printing, and of repeating the printing of one Hock
■upon nnnthir, a process capable of producing a very high relief. When hung
upon the wall, it exhibits a relievo pattern, which may be painted of any desired
color, and then shows no joint. The price commences at 8d. per yard; conse-
quently its use is likely to be limited to a superior class of houses. We see no
reason, however, why "the principle should not be employed in the production of
a cheaper paper.
211. Pierce's " Fresh Air M'arming, Purifyinfc, and Ventilating Fire-lump
Stove Grate," has, it appears, been in constant use in all the wards of the London
Hospital, Mile-end, for upwards of seven years, and was strongly recommended
by the Board of Health in their last report on the merits of the various schemes
and plans of grates for warming and ventilating purposes. The " fresh air
grates "are descrilied as being specially adapted for various purposes in which
pare air is of the utmost importance, as they are continually giving into the rooms
a constant increasing supply of warmed air, and always show an open fire. They
are fitted together in parts and made so that they can be put up by any ordinaiy
mason or bricklayer, being sent prepared for fixing vrith suitable air gratings for
the admission of fresh air to the back portions of tlie grate, and with regulation
valves for its distribution. They are made of four sizes, and the prices are 9.58.,
110>., 192s., and 1408., respectively.
The " Fire-lump Grates " for nurseries, bedrooms, &c., vary in price fi^m
12«. 6d. to 2.JS., they have been found to answer well. Tlie same exhibitor sliows
"a plain, simple pattern" register stove, that requires little or no cleaning, as
the front part is polished and afterwards oxidized, producing a rich brown color,
similar to the manner in which gun-barrels are sometimes treated; it is said that
the color will last for years and cannot rust. The back portion of the grate is
made of fire-lumps moulded so as to give a powerful radiating surface ; the stove
is considered to be suitable for baking-houses, public-rooms, or dining-rooms;
the same principle of ventilation employed in the grate first mentioned may be
applied to this manufacture. A very "useful conti-ivance is the newly invented
grate for burning peat, culm, or turf; the bars are so arranged that the fire
space may be reduced or enlarged at pleasure. It requires no fixing, and has a
trivet for cooking-vessels, &c. The price witli trivet is 22s Gd. Its width is
2 feet 4 inches.
No. 212, exhibited by Mr. Forsyth, is a Medieval bookcase and writing-desk,
executed from the designs of Mr. Norman Shaw. It is of oak, inlaid with
various kinds of wood. Every portion of the work is executed in a masterly
manner, and the design shows Air. Shaw's knowledge of the Medieval styles; but
we can hardly look upon the bookcase and writing-table as one we should like
to use, and we take that aspect of the question to be of some importance in pre-
paring any design for furniture.
No. 213. Models in plaster, comprising nine subjects, executed by Theodore
Phyffers. All possess considerable merit, although there is rather too much flat-
ness and angularity about the drapery to be altogether satisfactory. A gi-oup of
the Holy Family, a portion of sculptures executed in Caen stone for the Lady-
altar, St. John's, Limerick, and two angels for the high altar of tlie same church,
by Mr. P. C. Hardwick, exhibit the air of stiffness referred to. Two sketches in
clay show statues six feet high, carved in wood, for St. John's Church ; it must
be remembered that they stand about thirty-five feet from the ground. Tliey
are admirably treated. From works by Mr. Clutton we find six angels, executed
in alabaster, a group representing Adam and Eve, and three statues of Moses,
Elijah, and Melchizedech, all from Farm-street Church. From Mr. Teulon's
Church of St. Paul, Hampstead, the four Evangelists, executed in alabaster for
the pulpit ; and a monument to Lady Suffield, by Mr. Burgess.'*
GILT STATUES.
SIR, — I notice in the report of the discussion on Monday, the 22nd,
at the Royal Institute of British Architects, that the subject of gilding
public statues was introduced. Perhaps the expense of such treatment
is not generally known. Some time ago my opinion was asked about the
gilding of a figure which forms the surmounting feature of a drinking
fountain proposed to be put up in front of the Royal Exchange. I was
for its being so treated, but I believe the expense of this has hitherto
stood in the way of its being done. If I recollect right, this figure
is about 4 feet high, and the price for gilding it was £100 or £120.
The amount of surface in a 10 foot figure would not be less than 10 times
this ; so that at once there would be £1,000 or more for the gilding of a
figure of that scale, which is that of the Havelock and Napier in Tra-
falgar Square. As regards modern portrait statues, however, I should
hardly think of their being gilt ; but emblematic figures might well,
perhaps, receive such treatment. Of this class, however, it must be con-
fessed, but few examples exist in the open air in London, but such as there
are would assuredly be more decorative if so treated. We are under pe-
culiar disadvantages in this city as regards public statues in their getting
so soon black, even Sicilian marble soon becomes more or less black, and
bronze soon takes the aspect of a silhouette against the sky, depending for
its effect solely on its outline. Against the blue sky the effect of white
statuary marble is very charming, but this material will not endure in our
climate, except under cover. Bronze, while it is bright, looks admirably
in a bright sun, against the blue sky, and gold still more so in a decora-
tive point of view. Moreover, gold is the only material that will really,
perhaps, keep its color in London. It may be noticed, for instance, that
the weathercocks, and hands of public clocks, which have been gilt, retain
their color. Therefore the question of gilding statues in London well
merits attention. Nevertheless, I doubt whether this will ever be admis-
sable for portrait statues, at least in the representation of those per-
sonages whom we may ourselves have known. Statues of any of our late
great men, as Stephenson, Brunei or Barry, would not, probably, be accept-
able if gilt, but such a treatment for statues of Archimedes, Nicomedes,
or Vitruvius, were they desired, would not, perhaps, be equally open to
exception. Thus so highly decorative a treatment as gilding for statues
would seem to be acceptable only in proportion as their subjects were
removed from ourselves, wliich accords with the view that of all classes
of statues the most suitable for such treatment are the emblematic and
strictly poetic. In old times it is said that the name of" merry England"
was more appropriate than of late. However, in one respect it may be
acknowledged that we act up to our original appellation, inasmuch as no
nation is so ready to make merry about its public works, especially its
public statues, as we are. From whatever cause this may arise, whether
it be from our statues being really more comic than other peoples', or
from the " vis vomica " existing to a greater degree in our critics than in
those of other countries, it is not for me to judge, but no doubt such a
project as the gilding of any public statue may bargain for much oppo-
sition, at least it would be the butt for many a shaft of ridicule. " Gin-
gerbread " is a term of very common application to any amount of deco-
ration upon a public work beyond a few recognised mouldings, and in this
case the addition of " gilt " would be too inviting to be resisted. Con-
siderable critical capital will no doubt be made out of the first public
statue in London that may hereafter be gilt. But is that any reason why
it should not be done ? By no means. John Bell.
Washingley Hall, Huntingdonshire, the property of tlie right hon.
the Earl of Harrington has been recently extensively altered and restored. The
centre of the mansion has been entirely remodelled and the south-west wing re-
built. The works have been executed in a satisfactory manner by Messrs. Sams
Bridge, builders of Holme, under the direction of Messrs. Giles and Brookhouse,
architects of Derby.
• To be contioBOd.
May 3, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
367
(
STRIKES.
ONE of the distinguishing features of the present age is the system o( en-
forcing, or endeavouring to enforce, the claims of tlio workmen against
the emplojer by their uniting in a body and demanding what they consider
to be their riglits. refusing, at the same time, to recommence work until their
demands have been met. Tliese organisations for the benefit of the work-
ing classes have been termed strikes, and are now generally spoken of
under that name. A few years ago they were comparatively unknown,
and it is only within the last two or three years that tlicy have become
SQ general as they now are. It is not only one trade that is incon-
venienced by them, but every one in which numbers are employed.
Workmen seem all at once to have awakened from a listless state and to
have become aware that there are many and great grievances which they
must remove, much injustice which must be endured no longer, and many
oppressions which must cease to weigh so heavily upon them. Little
things are looked at through a magnifying lens, and are exaggerated
into imaginary great ones. Trifles appear to have become affairs of
magnitude, and everything productive of the slightest unpleasantness is
seized on as an additional argument in support of their demands. These
demands generally amount to this,—" More Pay for Less Work." There
are, however, real grievances to which workmen have been subject for
years, there are real oppressions which it has been their lot to endure, and
there are acts of injustice on the part of employers to which they have
been compelled to bow in silence for so long. Strikes will doubtless have
the effect of removing many of these, and it is only right that this should
be done ; but there are extravagant claims frequently made which should
not be granted and which cannot be complied with without proving in-
jurious to the employers themselves. These should be met in a decided
manner, and be opposed firmly and without quavering. Much depends on
the conduct and attitude of employers, in fact, the long continuance of
many of these strikes is owing to their weak and wavering policy. They
have to thank themselves for much of the inconveuience and loss oc-
casioned by the stopping of their works. They are too apt to plunge into
either one extreme or the other, either too fearful and subdued, or too
stubborn and defiant, they either betray too great an anxiety to come to
terms, or adopt too harsh a course and fly too high. When one side acts
unreasonably it is very often that the other side follows suit ; when one
party becomes pompous and stubborn the other follows, or endeavours to
follow, tho e.xamplc, and then commences a long and ruinous warfare,
which often ends in the victory of neither, and the almost total ruin of
both. The employers are thrown into a state of anxiety as to the result
of a movement which occasions them serious losses, and which stops for a
time their prosperous advance, yet they remain in an undecided state as
to whether they shall grant the requests of their men, or whether they
shall endeavour to bring them back to their original conditions. The men,
on tlie other hand, are gradually sinking deeper into poverty, and as the
funds become smaller they suffer all the miseries of a pauper life ; their
families are sinking under the horrors of starvation, their own health and
strength are gradually giving way, and sickness and disease waste their
once powerful frames. Their intellects become weakened by a long con-
tmuance of misery and want, and finally settle into a morbid state of in-
difference, deadened to the higher feelings of morality, and sometimes
desccndmg even to the level of crime. These are some of the results
whicli are produced by the modern system of strikes, and by the power of
mtimidation there are numbers of men who are made involuntary sufferers
and who, though they are innocent of the cause, have to drink deeply of
the bitter effects. In most cases the majority governs the minority, the
scruples of a few are sternly silenced by the many, and the weaker voices
of the satisfied are drowned in the clamor of the discontented. Fear in-
duces many to join the movement who would otherwise prefer remaining
as tliey are to risking their settled condition for a worse with only a bare
chance of a better, but their objections are forcibly overruled by threats
and menaces, and they are pressed into the ranks by the supporters of the
cause. We occasionally meet with instances in which some have resisted
both bribes and threats and have remained true to their employers, but
how often are they subject to insults and even fierce assaults from those
who have struck? Such cases as these should be dealt with severely by
the authorities, and the extreme punishment which tho law sanctions
should be inflicted on the offenders. Intimidation under any circum-
stances should bo effectually prevented, or if persisted in, should suffer the
lull penalty which justice can demand.
As we have before said, much depends on the attitude of the employers.
Were they to deal with the case systematically and firmly, there would be
a smaller number of " turn-outs " than there now is. On the first
intimation of the intention of their men to strike, the most sensible plan
would be to meet and consider the matter deliberatelv, and decide how
lar they are m a position to meet the demands made up'on them, how much
they can grant without great injury to themselves ; and fix at once on
the outside imit they are prepared to allow. This being done, they should
at once make their decision known to the men, giving them till a certain
aay to decide whether they will accept or decline, and make it clearly
understood that if their terms are not agreed to by the men, all connexion
ana correspondence between them will hereafter cease, and one and all
will be refused re-admission to the works on any conditions whatever and
their names finally be cut out from the list of the employed. This course
would speedily bring the affair to an end. The men would be compelled to
decide one way or the other without delay. If they rejected the terms
onerea tlicy would know what the consequences would be. There would
be but one opening for them, and that would be to leave altogether <ind
seek employment elsewhere. This would be a step which the majority
would not be prepared to take, and many would consequently bo induced
to return to work under the conditions proposed; but should they all deter-
mine to act otherwise, and quit the works, the employers would then have
to procure hands from some other quarter. Their improved code would
bring many from other towns, and the deficiency could easily be made up
by foreign workmen, who are always ready to come in any numbers, and
even pay their own expenses, so eager are they to find employment ia
England, where wages are higher than in their own country. Thus, a
delay of only a few weeks at the outside would take place, before the works
were again in full action, instead of the many months which now drain tho
exchequers of masters and men. Besides this it would have a tendency
to check the system of strikes, and entirely do away with the great in-
conveniences arising from a long continuance of them. When the employers
waver, and show symptoms of giving way, the workmen of course gain
courage, and renew, as it were, their determination to have their own way,
and thus encouraged, they persevere in their designs, and perhaps
eventually succeed, thus giving encouragement to others, and forming a
precedent which is totally against the interests of the masters. Our
remarks are not confined to one department of trade in particular, but are
meant for all; the causes and effects of strikes are nearly the same in every
instance, and the cotton spinner is affected as much as the builder, the
weaver as much as the carpenter. There are, perhaps, cases in which the
employers are so much dependent on their men that they cannot pursue
the course we have marked out, but these unfortunate instances are not
so numerous as to affect the whole body, and their weakness would be less
if their brethren would stand firm and assert their independence. Do not
let it be understood for one moment that we are endeavouring to persuade
them to oppress and trample on the working-classes, but on the contrary,
that we would wish them to act justly and honorably,everkeepinginmind
tho golden law, that they should do unto others that which they would
have others do unto them. We would wish them to benefit as much as
lies in their power, the men in their employ, and to better their condition
as much as possible. We would wish them to use every exertion to
strengthen them morally, physically, and intellectually, and to raise and
ennoble them as far as circumstances will permit ; but we say oppose all
unfair or unreasonable demands, and adopt a rigid policy that will triumph
in the end, and will prove more beneficial to themselves and all concerned.
It is not a satisfactory state of things for the master to be so completely at
the mercy of the men, and so dependant on their whims and fancies. It is
neither right nor justifiable, and yet in the present day we find that in
nearly every case it is so. Something should be done to alter this position
of affairs, and it is only an unbending and strong policy that will do it.
Perhaps now (of all other times), during the prevalence of strikes, would
be the fitting time to effect the change, and we feel certain that the plan
we have proposed would have a healthy infiuence. It may not be practicable
with all, but when we consider the saving that would be effected by these
decided measures, and the comparatively trifling inconvenience that would
be felt, we feel certain that where it can be adopted it would succeed. In-
all strikes, disaffection is spread throughout men by the misdirected
influences of a few, who have little difficulty in persuading their fellow
working-men that they are being imposed on and taken advantage of by
their employers. It is under this belief that they are induced to take part
in the movement, and subject themselves to all the trials which ensue from
an insufllciency of cash ; or, in other words, they bring down upon them-
selves and their families the sufferings and misery that follow in the train
of poverty. It would be far wiser and better for the employed to moderate
their demands, and claim no more than what is really just, instead of
demanding concessions which are absurdly extravagant, as they so often
do. Their notion, perhaps, is that entertained by a plaintiff who claims
double the amount of damages he requires, feeling sure that the j ury would
make a point of cutting down the sum, even if he only claimed what he felt
was really correct. So with them ; they appear to think that they would
be expected to give way, however moderate their notions were, and so they
take these precautions to guard against a defeat.
Strikes most assuredly are not favorable to progress, but they, on the
contrary, have a tendency to retard it ; and, therefore, for the general good
of the public, it is most desirable that they should terminate ; but with the
present mode of proceeding it does not seem likely that this will be the case
for some time. In the manufacturing districts the mania seems to be
spreading rapidly, and in the provinces we are constantly hearing of its
breaking out. It is difiicult to see where it will end ; for unless some check
is put upon it, we shall find that by the time the latest in the field will
have settled their claim, the others will have found other grievances, and
then will commence another series, to be repeated in a third, and so on, for
one success generally creates a desire for another. It will never do for
trade to be fettered in this way, and therefore it would be sound policy to
take steps at once for putting an end to these outbreaks, which so disturb
and unsettle every department of labor.
We trust that these differences will soon cease, and that masters and
men will become more united, the former doing all in their power for the
good of those under them, and the latter endeavouring to their utmost to
promote the interests of their employers, by faithfully discharging the
duties entrusted to them, and proving real supports to the establishment,
instead of contributing to its downfall. Unless unity prevails between the
two classes, things will remain in an unsatisfactory state. While the two
forces are opposed to each other, the effects of both are neutralised, and no
advantage gained, but when they are directed towards the same end, they
move forward and keep pace with the times. We would urge the necessity
of employers looking well into the condition of their workmen without
delay, clearing away those grievances which now oppress them, and doing
368
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 3, 1661.
as much as they consittently can to better their position and improye tlieir
drcamstances. Let this be a labor of love, which would have tho effect of
cementing the good feeling and harmony between themselves and their
•errants, for there are few wlio wonld not appreciate any kindness or ex-
pression of sympathy, and who would not feci grateful for it, and do their
beat to show their gratitude by increasing their efforts to meet the wishes
•f their superiors.
To workmen we would say, Do not allow yourselves to be led away by
misrepresentations, or by the colored pictures presented to you by artful
men, who are influenced only by selfish motives, and who, in reality, seek
to better themselves at your expense. Claim nothing -which is unreason-
able, and seek only to obtain that which you feel justified in doing, both in
duty to yourselves and to your families. Remember that your prosperity
is, to a great extent, dependent on that of your employers, and that your
aim should be to increase your own by adding to theirs. Look on them
more in the light of friends than as enemies, and above all, do not allow
yourselves to be blinded by prgudice, but act in accordance with reason
and common-sense, keeping in view the insurmountable difficulties which
lie in the way of your too fanciful hopes, and the consequent absurdity of
expecting them all to be realized.
It is to be regretted that such bitterness and ill-feeling exists between
masters and men, and it is to be hoped that ere long the aspect of affairs
▼ill change for the better. If the strike mania does not abate, art itself
will sttffer, and civilisation will receive a check. The question is a serious
one, and it is high time that a mutual system of moderation be adopted,
and party differences ended. This is desirable, not only for individual
welfare, but for national prosperity. In the critical state in which art is
now placed, it is most advisable that nothing should arise to impede it, or
difficulties spring up to arrest its progress, and everything which has a
tmdency that way, should be guarded against, and removed from its path.
B.S.
i»
THE REMAINS OF ANCIEXT ROMAN BATHS IN ENGLAND.*
MUCH curiosity exists as to the natnre of the ancient Roman Batb, the aeconnts
which liavo been given of it belng^ often full of discrepancies. This arises to
some extent from actual difTerences in the Roman system of bathin^r at different
periods, but jfcneraUy speaking it arises from blindly copying- what others have
written, without any investigation wlmtever of the sources of their information.
Fortunately we arc not altogxjther dependent tipon the '* tender mercies " of eom-
Eilers of classical dictionaries, but have means ofinforming onrsclvcs on the subject,
y the investiuration of ancient rtilns at)our own doors, pregnant with relica of the-past,
and conveying to the educated eye much which la invaluable for helping us in the
decision or present difficulties.
It may, perhaps, bo supposed that there are no ruins now existiug which are
capable of affording: accurate information on the subject, and, to a certain extent,
this cannot be denied, but when the ruins recently excavated are compared with
those of which detailed descriptions have been laid before scientlflc societies, many
'tfifflculties are ^t rid of which otherwise would be insuperable ; and the entire
tptem of bathing: practised by the Romans becomes sumciently manifest. The
/Wealillfg in which the most perfect ruins have been found, are so distant from one
anotber, and so well distributed over the country, as to prove that the custom of
mlnjgf thermal baths had become national, as will appear from the mere mention
of the places, viz :— Lincoln, Chester, Boughton parish, Kent ; Carisbrooke, Isle of
Wipht ; and more recently, Uriconium near Shrewsbury.
Those enumerated have been found in a tolerable state of preservation, but traces
of similar buildings occur in almost every district of the country.
The bath at Chester has been a pood deal talked of lately, and was described by
me in detail, at a meeting of the Royal Dublin Society <Lord Talbot de Malahide in
.iheehair). I viiiitedit personally on the 30th November, 1857, while bringing an
iMvalid from Dublin to Florence, and it was owing to my not being able to find any
•Where a correct account of it, that I undertook to bring the subject before tho Royal
I>oblin Society, which I did on the 8th of January 1839. The ruins of Uriooniam
'are worthy of far more attention than has yet been given to them, and the most in-
-teresting portion of them is fast disappearing under the hand of time. "With a view
of utisfvin^ my own mind as to the nature of the buildings found there, I made
a special trip to Shrewsbury about three weeks ago, and walked along the beautiful
▼aUey of the Severn until 1 came to the site of the ancient city. When pretty near
the spat, 1 asked a man who was digging, if he knew whereabouts the old Roman
eity was ? He replied, that there was no such thing there now ; but he could direct
me to "what they called the excavations." When I arrived, I was a little disap-
pointed at the small extent of ground which had been excavated in the space of two
years, but I was rejoiced to see five distinct systems of tile pillars, belonging to as
many hypocausts, which, according to Mr. Thomas Wright, and the most competent
authorities, belonged to the baths, or therma:, ocenpying (with their appnrtenances)
nearly half the apace which bad been uncovered.
That Uriconiom was a city of considerable magnitude admits of no doubt, as the
Cact may be proved in several ways. Whether we consult ancient records, or the
aecoonts of buildings formerly discovered in the same locality, or visit In person the
•xeavations lately made on the property of the Duke of Cleveland. These cxcava-
4i0BS were commenced on the 3rd of February, 1859, and a person is continually in
charge in order to prevent the speedy demolition of the buildings, &c., by
"cockneys" of an inquiring mind, who not merely stumble against the ricketty
pillars, but generally pocket something or other, as a trophy of having "done " the
city of Uriconium !
I cannot say whether the disintegration which the tiles arc undergoing la owing to
the effect of exposure to the weather, or the original quality ; but it is certain that
they are rapidly falling to pieces, and many parts now supposed to be in situ
kave evidently fallen down, and been built up again. That the Romans knew how
(tonuumfactore good tiles is well known, for those In tho bath at Chester and else-
where are very hard, and of remarkably j^ood quality ; but tliey are perforated with
auall holes at regular intervals, which those of Uriconium are not. In the latter
iMtf there are no bricks visible, such as we manufacture, but stone is freely used, and
Uea are emp]oyL-<l In all places were nice workmanship is required. They are not
however by any means accurate in either sire or shape ; but are rough, uneven, and
Irrefnilarln appearance. The general sizoof those forming the pillars of ;the alveus,
«>r DOdy of the bypoeanst) is about 7 inches square, by l^-inch thick, standing
■poD others about a foot square, and each pillar surmounted by another tile of the
lame size. In the most perfect of tho hypocausts I counted 16 tiles in one of the
pillars, cemented together, and making a total height of 3 feet 6 inches. Most of the
pillars showed no trace of cement between the tiles, and were cither originally laid
without cement or had fallen down and been rebuilt. In each hypocaust there were
a good many pillars, and the largest measures 43 feet in length by 35 feet in width. In
-haVbt they were sbontS feet, counting a layer of concrete which was laid on the
• A paper read by Edward HAcanroN, M.D., before the Arehitcctnral and
Arclueological Society of Liverpool, 17th April, 1861.
upper tiles to a depth of from 14 to 18 inches, and appeared to have been put down
in two distinct operations.
In order to make somewhat more distinct the manner ol heating employed by
the ancient Romans, I have had two diagrams prepared, in which the principal
features arc well broug^ht out. One represents a hypocaust accidentally discovered
at Lincoln, bv Mr. T. Sympson, in the year l?O.I. The explanation of tho letters is
as follows. The room marked A is the Prefurnlum (or stoking room); B the
Fornax (or furnace) ; and C the Alvens, (or body of the kiln). HI is the Testudo,
or floor of the sudatorium ; composed of tiles at top and bottom, with concrete
between them, as represented in iig 2. Many persons finding charcoal or ashes in
the alvei of dilforent hypocausts have come to the erroneous conclusion that the
whole of the interior was intended to contain fuel, but the evidence at our disposal
goes decidedly against this supposition. For, in every bath hitherto discovered the
fornax itself and the pillars next it have suficred much from the fiames, but neither
fuel nor its efl'ects are found in the body of the alveus. Of course it would be im-
possible to prevent small pieces of charcoal and ashes from being sucked in by the
draught ; but this fact proves the nature of the alveus even more plainly, as it Is
only such " debris " that is ever found in it In the diagram before you, two shafts
arc represented going down a depth of 13 feet before they reach the hypocaust, and
through one of them a little boy was let into the alveus, who, after groping about
amongthe pijlars, presently returned as black as a chimney-sweep. Tho dimensions
of the whole have been taken with the greatest accuracy and care, viz :— Length of
the furnace, or from E to G, 5 feet (i inches ; its height 3 feet at E, but i feet at F,
rising gradually : 3 feet 6 inches lonfj from E to F, and *.; feet wide between E and F ;
2 feet long from F to G, and but 19 inches wide between F and G. The upper tiles
represented in figs 3 and 5 are those of which Testudo was composed, and were
23 inches long by ^.21 in width. In fig. 6 the four corners of each tile reach to
the centres of 4 adjoining pillars, and have above them a layer of cement
() inches thick, in which are set tessellsc of a whitish color. L and 51 are two tubuli
or flues (for carryin": off the smoke) which run level about l.'i feet under another
room, by the side of the hypocaust, and then turn upwards . Mr. Sympson further
describes the room, thus, " The walls of this room were plastered, and the plaster
painted red, blue, and other colors, and its floor tesselatcd white. This
pavement is about 13 feet below the present surface of the ground, being on
a level with the testudo of the hypocaust, so deep was old Lindum buried in Its ruins.
The workmen in digging up this pavement struck into the flue M, 3 feet from the
north-east corner of the hypocaust, and opened it into the corner K, and so the whole
was discovered." The same gentleman In allusion to another hypocaust (of which
I have here a lithograph), says " the hypocaust above mentioned must have been a
much hotter room than this, for instead of the flues being carried under another
room, the walls of the sweating-room itself were hollow or double, and a great
number of flues carried up between them all round the room. A curious model of
this is still to be seen in the Museum of the Royal Society." The same author men-
tions that pieces of woodcoal (i.e. charcoal) were ',found in tho fornax. At Uriconium
the guide showed mo a piece of charcoal which was found in one of the furnaces
there, and which differed but little from the charcoal commonly sold in France as
fuel. Some ordinary stone coal was also found in the western prefurnlum. When
at Uriconium, I also endeavoured to ascertain the dimensions of the furnaces there,
but found it extremely difficult to decide the points from which to measure, as there
was 60 much loss of substance in the most important parts. As near as I could
guess, the largest furnace was 14 inches wide and 3 feet 2 inches high, and the next
in size. 2 feet 6 inches high by the same width. The only flue remaining was in the
eastern hypocaust, and measured 1 foot in width by 2 feet in height. You will observe
in the foregoing description that a confliderable thickness of concrete is spoken of as
forming the chief part of the roof of the hypocaust, or floor of tho sudatorium. The
object of this was to ensure equality of temperature, as when thoroughly heated it
took a long time to cool, and therefore the temperature of the bath was little affected
by any temporary neglect. The modern Turks adopt a somewhat similar plan,
f laving their bafhs with solid marble flags, which retain the heat for a considerable
ime.
It is not easy to say what was the exact arrangement of the public baths of
Uriconium, as almost nothing is left of the flooring of the heated rooms, but from its
general appearance I am quite satisfied that they comprised two distinct systems of
rooms, one devoted to men, and the other to women, a kind of duality being ob-
serv.iblc in most of tho arrangements. The most westerly hypocaust was pretty
well preserved, and measured 37 feet by 26, and contained 120 pillars, which (when
complete) stood about 3 feet high, exclusive of the concrete which was placed above
them. Many circumstances concur in proving that the city was suddenly and
violently destroyed, being sacked and burned to the ground (probably by the Plots
and Scots in the middle of the .5th century), and It is very remarkable that the most
perfect;building8 arc the public baths or therma.-, and the basilica or town-hall, ini-
mediately adjoining one another. This alone is sufficient to show the estimation in
which the baths were held, and the importance to the state of their proper adminis-
tration.
The bath at Carisbrooke was attached to a villa, and does not need any particular
description. The soot of 13 centuries was found still adhering to the tiles in large
quantities, and the walls and ceilings were painted in the most gaudy colors (as red,
blue, yellow, green, white and black). At Uriconium, it is said that some of the ex-
terior walls of the buildings were found painted red with stripes of yellow.
The date of Vespasian's Invasion of the Isle of Wight is believed to have been
A.D. 4.3, and its subsequent taking by the Saxons, under Ccrdic, took place nearly
.500 years afterwards, so that we are thus enabled to form an idea of tho time during
which the Romans had possession of this country. The small lithograph to which!
have alluded represents a bath found 160 years ago, near the modern village of
Wroxcter, very close to the site of the late excavations, and presents in a complete
form the system of flue bricks running up the sides of the apartment, so imperfectly
traced in the eastern hypocaust of Uriconium, and evidently belonging to the same
city.
A mere glance at the picture suflices to convey a tolerable Idea of the nature of the
heating apparatus, although it is difficult to ascertain exactly how the floor was sus-
pended over pillars which only occupied the central portion of the basement, or, at
lca3t,did not come to thesides or near enough to one another to admit of tiles extending
from one to the other, as in the former illustration. The side flues are obviously in-
tended to run up the walls, and in this manner would be sufficient to heat the apart-
ment very efficiently, even were no heat applied to the door ; so that it Is manifestly
Impossible that this could have been intcntled for any other purpose or use than that
of a sudatorium or sweating-room. Besides this, analogy is a very strong argiiment,
and when wc arc satisfied that the modern Turks derived theirlknowledge of bath-
building from the Romans, and find that they likewise adopt the same or similar
contrivances, it becomes as morally certain that this was a Roman bath as that a
watch gives evidence by its construction, that it was intended to keep time. I have
myself seen the flues in the walls ol Turkish baths, and was struck with the fact that
they contained but little soot. Perhaps this is owing to the nature of the fuel em-
ployed, which is largo billets of dry wood. In the picture taken from a fresco of the
Baths of Titus, the fuel :iB obviously wood, so that we have evidence that they need
three kinds of fuel, viz., coal, wood, and charcoal. No doubt the abundance ot wood
made it formerly the universal fuel, and as Turkey cither contains no coal mines, or
the Turks do not know how to work them, there is an obvious reason why wood is
employed as fuel in the hamams of ('onstantinople. They do not use fire-bricks, as
we do, in the construction of their furnaces, but a kind of natural hre-stone, which
is obtained In the country, and is universally employed there for the purpose.
The two plans which I have already spoken of give distinct ideas of the hypocaust
seen sideways, and from above In perspective. The next. Fig. 1, gives a complete
ground plan, drawn on the spot by a professional architect, and with the dimensions
accurately marked on it. With the exception of Carisbrooke and Uriconium, it is,
I believe, the most modern discovery of Roman civilisation in England. The account
Of It was communicated by Mr. Clement Taylor Smythe to a member of the Society
Mav 3, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
369
ILLUSTBATIONS TO MR. HAUGHTON'S PAPER
ON ROMAN BATHS.
(OS 0
SCALE OF I '■•' '"" '-i ^ I
10
20
— t—
\FEBT
SCALE OP t.
ot Antiqnarlce, in the year 1841, and the ruin in qncstion on th
Wykcham Martin, Esq., MP., in tlic parish of Bonghton Win
nt, 1 m'"'''",', "■ "0''"' to Bonth was atout CO fett, and from
nnH fl.^^™,;"ii ""C" "*"o'* '""""»" "ooauwuLuu iut-i, JUIU IIUIII cast to wcst 30 feet,
d?a,4i^" ^ /m°"' ^ **?* *? ^^'^^^ •'y ^ <*«t '" ""ckness. The explanation of the
aiagram le as foUows :-A, the Btoking-room and furnace, on each s.de of which wks
the property of Charles
■'Chelsea, in Kent.
found a large quantity of nnconsumed charcoal; B, the hypoeanst, over which WM
the CAldariimi {or hottest room) ;C. tlie tepidarium {or middle room), heated by a sin^e
flue ; and I>, the frijfidarium {or cooling-room) with a batli for water at one end of it.
The destruction of the roof of tliis hypoeauat leaves ua in the dark as to the arrange-
ments for ablution in the hot room or caldaiium, but if wc are to judge from iae
370
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 3, lS6l.
08u»l «rr»ngemcnta of Roman b«tli8 found elsewhere (as at I'o.mpcii), the roccBses
in the western sides of the sudatorium were probably reserved lor this purpose, or
for the hot water Tessels, labroni, and solium. But the sink is placed at the opposite
aide of the aMrtment, so that water must run entirely across the room m order to
flow off Thai we see that the only room iu which the atmosphere was not moist
was the tenldariam. and that it had no hypocaust under it, but only a single flue, so
that iU ohiect was that of seasoning' the skin for the higher temperature of the cal-
darium. rather than the production of free perspiration. If any nation was ever
fitted for the endurame ot high temperatures in dry air. It certainly was the Uoinan
nation for the ooustant practice of symnastio e.terclses (as a kind of prelimiunry to
the bath), rendered the skin capable ofpcrformlne its functions with great activity
wheocvcT ucco^sity arose for it.
It does not appear that it was their practice to indulge In that kind of " roasting "
which is now so fashionable, nor do we Hud mentioned by uiyr author any such
thini; as the modern practice of drinking; immense quantities of water In the bath.
On uie contrary, wo actuallv find felsus warning his patients against reraaininj' too
knur In the bath, on the ground that Tapour baths were debilitating when Indulged
Into excess He might have said the same of any bath ; but it is the use made of
•orthini' which determines ita influence on society. When luxury was rampant and
dwencv''noi inculcated by the prevailing form of religious belief, it was not to be
expeeted that the Komaus would have made any better nsc of the bath than they
dlaTwhcn an unhallowed clTilisatlon had reached its climax, and the city of abomi-
nations was living at its ease, and enjoying the spoils of many conquered countries.
In Britain, however, the case was diflcrent. The hardy soldiers who ventured so
far were not the men to spend their days in idle luxury, but they used the bath as a
nieans of invigoration during the most arduous achievements ; and it seems to me
that, inasmuch as an Kn^Ushman is neither a Koman nor a Turk, the use of the bath
in this country will ueitlier be accompanied by the laziness of the one nor the
sensuality of the other. On the contrary. I congratulate myself on whatever part I
have taken in its Introduction into the country, and believe that every man who has
aided the cause may justly t>oast that he has assisted In giving the people a harmless
enjoyment, which is capable of curing disease, preserving health, and giving new
capacity for labor. The
only true way of check-
ing the intemperance
an"d vice which unfor-
tunatcly so much
abound, is to increase
the number of our in-
nocent recreations, and
thereby diminish the
temptations of the
people. ^V--'
AceouTti qfthe Oriental
BfUlu in MuUterry-
strteit and descrip'
Hon o/tke Plan.
For the information
of those who do not
understand the nature
of the process gone
through in the ancient
Bomau bath, I will
illustrate the details by
reference to the ground
planof thenewOriental
Bath in Mulberry-
Btreet, and show what
Is intended to be done
in each room. As I
have said before, we
are vastly snpcrior to
the Itomans in our
knowledge of the re-
Quirements of public
decency ; and, there-
fore, we find it neces-
sary to make special
arrangements to en-
sure it, which did not
exist In the ancient
Boman bath. You will
observe in the fresco
of Titus's baths, tliat
the bathers are being
washed in the middle
of the room ; and a
little more drapery is
given to them tnan
appears in the original
The Turks meef this
objection by never re-
moving the ciunmer-
suds, which is washed off by a succession of bowlfuls of warm water, mixed according
to fancy in the marble basius of the lavatorium. Then follows a process which is not
Turkish, but which is recommended for this climate, namely, cold alTusion, either by
water lifted with the bowls provided for the purpose, or by the spray from a rain-
douclie, or the column-douche for those who are roDust, and possess good reaction.
When this is not used the Turkish system of remaining a considerable
time in the cooling - room must be followed in order to ensure the
closing of the pores ; but after a ^ood douching no one need be afraid to
go straight out of the bath, and engage in either business or pleasure, according to
circumstances. I anticipate that this plan will be the most followed of all, espcciiUIy
by those to wliom time is an object, but those who desire to go through the whole
Turkish process will not be disappointed ; nor can anyone say that we have not met
the wishes of tliose who have a desire for dry air at a high temperature, as a room
has been specially added for medical use, which can be used by any bathers who
desire it, after their own fashion ; but the Company do not hold themselves respon-
sible for any mode of bathing except that wliich they recommend.
Private rooms have also been added for the conveuieuce of noviciates who may
have prejudices against bathing in public, although we cannot understand how tlie
frequenters of the public plunge batlis of this country can have any scruples against
a mode of bathing in which the bather is partially clothed during the entire process.
Neither in sea-bathing nor in the public baths already established throughout the
country is there anything approaching to the scrupulous delicacy which is observed
in the Turkish bath.
The illustrations of this paper have been traced by me from the original plates in
the philosophical transactions, &c., and have been accurately trauscriliea by Mr.
William CalUhan, a talented young architect of this town, to whose skill I am also
indebted for the larger diagrams used at the Uoyal Institution.
THE PEOPLE'S HALL WOKKS, BIRMLNGHAM.
bund or waist-cloth, during their ablutions ; but I imagine that the beat plan
of all is the addition of private lavatorla for douching and soaping and basins
curtained off in the corners of the room. This accordingly is the plan adopted
in Mulberry -street, and you will observe that this washing goes on in the
inner-room or caldarium, and concludes the bathing process in the heated rooms. I
am not going to give you a poetical description of the advantages of the bath, or to
compare it with other contrivances for making the people clean ; but simply to tell
TOt't as practical men, the nature of the process gone through In the bath. First,
the Mtber leaves his clothes in a private stall (closed by a curtain), having pre-
TiODsly given his trinkets to the bath superintendent, who i.i responsible for anything
that maybe lost. The bath costume is put on before leaving the dressing stall ; and
consists, for gentlemen, of a kind of colored kilt, or large towel, fastened round the
iil'".fc''' J° ""^ """^ °' ladles a kind of toga is used, descending from the shoulders
A ^h °™"'"''y bathing dress, and made according to the fancy of the wearer.
As the floor is heated, it becomes necessary to put on wooden pattens beforecnter-
ing the next room, which is callM the .tepidarium, and is moderately heated. In
JSzif S? 1 Turkish fashion, couches are provided in this room ; butthe Komans
were not so luxurious, and contented themselves with sitting down. Here the bather
rrrnuns until the perspiration begins to start, and then goes into the caldarium or
!Ifl ?"" i. 'T "l '' "'"o called the sudatorium. Here he does not lie down,
ezeq>t wnen being shampooed, which is an Invention of those days of luxury which
ccmmeneed the downfall of the Koman empire. In I'ompeU the caldarium was very
SSer ^iSSfi '"'-w^'cr baths at both ends, leaving an open space in the centre, for
iS?S£^!*^r' 5"° ^'i''"? ""■oush other manly exercises ; but the Turk likes to get
au ua ezCTdae done for him, and accordingly never misses being shampooed. It
S u S!^°*i?.°?J?°*f*. however, that this process is as necessary to an linglisliman
ILlLSr!?'"**Lt *? V?"'' ; although for those whose habits arc unavoidably
•eOenUvr It eannot be too highly recommended. An important part of the bath is
uerraoT^ or a quantity of Ioom scales, which the moist hot atmosphere detaches
^S^!£:ii!« k' "S.MS "i" •^t**^ «>0>er by systematic hand-rubbing, or (more cx-
SS^fSaVi. °^JL,° "' '■ough glore specially made for the purpose. This is done
Mier tHe •bampooing, and is followed by a thorough eoaphig with a froth of soap-
THE PEOPLE'S HALL WORKS, LOVEDAY STREET AXD PRIj\CIP
STREET, BIRMINGHAM.
AMONG the public
buildings of Bir-
mingham there was
one which had for
some years past been
partly unoccupied, as
well as being- exter-
nally In an unfinished
condition. This build-
ing, situate in Love-
day-street and Prin-
cip - street, and well
known as the People's
Hall, originated with
a body of politicians,
who united themselves
together to advocate
and spread Radi-
calism.
The governing
Sower in Birming-
am upwards of
twenty years ago,
prior to its incorpo-
ration, was the Street
Commissioners, who
steadfastly refusing
the use of the Town-
Iiall for a political
meeting of the Radi-
cal party, led to a
movement — by those
whom this denial had
freatly incensed — to
uild an edifice which
could be devoted to
their peculiar use
freefrom thoserestric-
tions to which they
had been subjected.
Tlie method adopted
to procure the neces-
sary funds was that
of one guinea shares,
from the donations of
hacked with such assistance as could be obtained
the wealthier patrons of the object, and among these was the late distinguished
philanthropist, Joseph Sturge; also his brother. Alderman Charles Sturge,
Alderman Baldwin, Mr. William Barlow, and others, well known for their
liberality and zeal in such matters.
A remarkable feature attending the building of this hall was, that laboriiiK
men, whose trades were those of masons, bricklayers, plasterers, &c., impelled
by their zeal in the cause, gave their labor in exchange for shares, and in very
many instances, as opportunity offered, threw in their service gratuitously.
Alter an earnest and persevering effort, the work progressed untu it attained
the basement story, and thus remained more than a twelvemonth, owmg to
exhausted funds. Again operations commenced, only to be succeeded by a second
stoppage or more ; but ultimately the structure was completed, excepting its
externS embellishments, and for a time served to answer the jiurposes intended
by its originators.
A considerable sura had now been expended in the erection of the hall ot that
it was estimated to cost when finished; but in consequence of the speculation
being affected by those changes which, in the course of time take place in the
impulses and feelings of men, and the lukewarmness thence ensuing, the attair
became a failure, and the property itself passed into other hands, to satisfy pecu-
niary demands. ,. ^
This large building has lately been purchased by Mr. William Greenway,
and converted into extensive works for the manufacture of locks, bolts, bars,
latches, door springs, hinges, espagniolette and other fastenings, suitable lor
the mansion or the cottage. .
The central or main block of building shown in the view comprises, on the
upper floor, warehouse 65 feet by 50 feet, and 40 feet high, Ughted by large
May 3, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
371
/
May 3, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
873
central lantern and side windows ; on the four sides of this room are galleries
12 feet wide, finished witli ornamental bronze railing and brass moulding ; the
whole of the walls are covered witli compartments lor the reception of goods,
and counters are fixed round gallery, and round central light to packing-room
lielow ; at one end of diis room are tlie clerks' oflices, separated by glazed screens,
by whicli aiTangement the chief clerk is enabled to commaad a view of the
numerous staff of clerks and assistants in the department. The galleries are
approached by spiral staircases, and a lift is provided to communicate with eacli
story ; below "this warehouse is the packing-room, of similar size, 14 feet high.
Tlie" workshops on one side extend about 150 feet deep, and about 40 feet wide,
the front portion in Loveday-street being five stories high ; tlie entrance to
oounting-liouse anil offices two stories high, is by a wide flight of steps from
Loveday-street, the manufactory department being on the right hand, and tlie
order and warcliouse department on the left, witli waiting-rooms, clerks and
pay offices, private-room for principal, safe closets, retiring-rooms, &c. The
entrance for the delivery of goods and materials is in Pnncess-street, with
tramway for lieavy goods to and from tlie mamifactory. A porter's residence is
provided in the basement, also requisite convenience for the numerous clerksand
workpeople. The engine and machinery are placed in the rear in rooms about
l.JO feet Ion", 40 feet wide, and 20 feet high, lighted from the roof. The manu-
factory is also fitted with machinery, invented and adapted for the manufacture
of builders' ironmongery and every description of metal work and building
fittings.
The whole of the buildings are wanned with steam pipes, supplied from engine
boiler, wliieh have been executed by workmen of the proprietor, Mr. Greenway,
under his superintendence. Each portion of the work is arranged and fitted up
with every convenience for carrying on tlie very extensive business both for home
and foreign trade.
The whole of the works have been carried out under the superintendence of
Mr. J. J. Bateman, architect, Birmingham, by Mr. Thomas Pashby, builder,
Birmingham.
,«
THEATRICAL SGBNEHY.
IN the first scene of "IPuritani" will bo found a truly painter-like
efiect and an admirable example of how mucli may be produced by
very simple means. The scene itself represents portions of a castle, as
such buildings can be represented by the vast expanse of stage possessed
by the Koyal Italian Opera. The immense height over the stage enables
the scene-painter to execute castles and similar buildings of such propor-
tions that tlie performers really appear of the proper relative size when
acting in front of them. But the moment to which we wish to draw
particular attention is when the large body of chorus singers, dressed as
Puritan soldiers, kneel down to pray. The breadth of effect is then very
remarkable, and a little observation will show with how simple means it is
produced. The yellowish color at that time would represent their leathern
jerkins, which, if mixed with the black of their hats would very nearly pro-
duce the various degrees of cool tints employed in painting the castle, wMch
unites the large mass of figures dressed all ahke in the foreground with
the back scene, while the local whites of their rufifs, the blacks of their
hats, and the approach to positive color in their buff jackets, bring the
figures off and give life to the general effect without destroying the vast-
ness of its breadth . This fine arrangement is beautifully varied, as the
changes of light take place during the prayer, to imitate the advance of
the morning. To any one interested in effects connected with art, this
extraordinary scene alone is worth a visit to this aristocratic theatre.
TKE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.
AT Mr. Hogartli's print establishment. No. 5, Haymarket, two excellent
drawings of the Houses of Parliament, by Mr. Nash, are now being
exhibited. In that representing the House of Commons during a debate
the general effect is kept down to suit the simplicity of the scene, and
agree with the unavoidable monotony of tone where a large mass of dark
local colors are necessary to the truthfulness of the representation. The
black or dark coats of the members producing that quantity of sombre
tint. The general effect, therefore, resolves itself into dark opposed to
light and varied tmts of color can be introduced only to raise the drawing
by their assistance above the plain cAiaroscuro of a print. The light is
appropriately eoft and weU diffused over the whole scene. The com-
panion drawing of the "House of Lords on the Opening of Pariiament by
Her Majesty affords an opportunity to the artist of introducing a verv
different style of treatment. In this the entire effect is more brilliant,
gorgeous, and full. The crimson robes of the peers, the court dresses of
the ladies, and the splendour of the retinue attendant on Her Majesty,
wiU find a community of richness in the gilding of the interior, the color-
i8g of the frescoes, and the brilUancy produced by the beams of sunlight
desoendmg from the windows, and finding a contrast and support in the
dark green carpet which covers the foreground leading to the bar of the
House. "The division caused by the bar cuts their lordships off from the
public, and is, therefore, well introduced in comparison with the uninter-
rupted entrance to the House of Commons, as suggestive of the exclusive-
ness of the one and the comparative facility of access to the other. In
some instances the figures might have been more elegantly drawn ; but,
tipon the wl^le, when the number of them is Ukcn into consideration,
they are suaciently well executed to answer every reasonable purpose,
especially when seen from the proper distance, indicated by the Unes of
the perspective. They serve, besides, to make that which without them
would be dry architectural designs a very intere.'?ting pair of drawings
Which thus are quaHfied to rank among works more generally acceptable
tor decorative purposes, and with this view exceUent chromo-lithographic
copies are in course of preparation, specimens of which are exhibited in
the same room with the drawings, where books are open for the reception
of the names of those who may wish to possess repetitions colored after
the originals.
»
SUFFOLK STREET GALLERY.
THE first look round these rooms, as it finds no striking work on which
to rest, receives an impression decidedly unfavorable to the general
contents of the collection. A more patient survey, however, will gradually
reveal a vast number of meritorious works, of second-rate importance as
regards subject, it is true, but in a style of art deserving of warm com-
mendation. This opinion, which may be rather indefinitely formed in the
hurry and confusion of a private view, becomes strengthened very greatly
on a second visit, and we have found that a third examination leads to a
positive conviction that the number of pictures possessing considerable
merit is far greater than is believed at either of the preceding examinations
of tlie gallery. We find, too, the want of more intimate acquaintance
with the works by old-established artists and well-known members of this
institution, for they are frequently, after a cursory glance, condeimied col-
lectively as " much as usual," whereas, in several instances the pictures
by the constant exhibitors show a palpable advance in composition and
treatment, the examples of which we will point out as we proceed. This
improvement is, no doubt, very satisfactory as regards the present exhibi-
tion, and also a most cheering hope for the future may be derived from
the fact that as a rule, as far as the annual exhibitions have yet shown,
pre-Raffaelitism is going, or rather gone, out of fashion. We do not pre-
tend to say that its influence cannot still be perceived, but the thing itself
has disappeared, and the time may be even nearer than we had ventured
to expect when we warned artists, critics, and purchasers that pre-
Raffaelite pictures would be turned to the wall or hidden in the lumber-
room, and the writings of Ruskin, elegant and poetical as they may be,
would lie in dust on bookshelves as unheeded as they will be unquoted.
We have, therefore, although the exhibitions at present opened do not
display any bold or successful attempts in the higher walks of art, every
reason to expect that true and legitimate painting will gradually resume
its position and enjoy its due respect with our painters in every branch
of art.
» ■■
A CHAJtCEBY SUIT ON A BUILDING CONTKACT.
TAWLEY r. TURNBULI. AND HET.
THIS case, which was heard by Vioe-Chancellor Sir 'John Sthaht last week,
occupied the attention of the Court five days, and was not brought to a conolu
sion until Saturday afternoon, when judtrment was delivered. The plaiutifT in the
case was Charles Pawley, builder. Lone ton-road, Sydenham ; and tlie defendants
were Henry Benjamin Turnbull, of Wilton-street, Belgrave-square. and William
Hey, architect. New Kent-road. The counsel for the plaintiffs were Mr. Matins, Q.C.,
Mr. Crai^.Q.C, and Mr. Kddis (instructed by Messrs. Sutcliffe and Summers, solicitors.
New Bridge-street, Blackfriars); counsel for the defendant Turnbull, Mr. Bacon, Q.C.,
and Mr. Baggalay, Q.C. (instructed by Messrs. Hawks and Willmott, solicitors, High-
street, Southwark) ; for the defendant Hey, Mr. Fischer (instructed by Mr. J. H.
Triston, Barge-yard Chambers, Sise-lanc, Bucklersbury, solicitor).
This bill was filed by the plainttlT, Mr. Pawley, a builder, against the defendant,
Mr. Turnbull, a hop merchant and a gentleman of considerable means, to recover the
balance of an account for building four houses at Forest-bill, which the plaintiff
tendered to build by contract in July, 185S. According to the statement of Mr.
Malins in his opening there had been nothing but bickerings and disputes between
Hey, the architect, arid Pawley, the builder. Circular letters inviting tenders were
Issued to six or seven builders, and amongst them to Mr. Pawley, who tendered to
build the four bouses for .£2,590. That being the lowest, the tender of Mr. Pawley
was accepted, and the houses were to be built under the superintendence of Mr. Hey,
and according to certain plans and specifications. The tender was accepted on 2B(h
July, 1868, and possession of the site of the houses was to be given within a
week of the signing of the contract, but a delay took place in obtaining possession
of a portion of the ground, which one of^ the tenants would not give up
until he had secured ms grapes. The four liouses were to be erectea of the
best materials and built in the best manner. The architect stipulated
that the four houses should be finished and completed by the 30th of
November, exactly four months from the acceptance of the tender. In the contract
there was a clause by which Hey was appointed sole arbitrator of all
matters in dispute between the builder and the defendants. The plaintiff, who at
the lime of the signing of the contract was suffering from infiammation of the ey«s
and could not read it, stated that he was not aware of there being in the contract
such an arbitration clause, or he would not have signed it. The learned Vice-
Chancellor did not think that any man with his eyes open would have signed a
contract whicli contained so strict and binding aclausc as that in tbe contract. There
appeared to have been from beginning to end a continual sort of quarreling between
Hey and Pawley. It was alleged on the part of the plaintifl' that by Hey's arbitrary,
capricious, and harsh conduct in undoing and re-doing portions of the work. In
making alterations in his plans, and in making departures from the plans and speci-
fications, great delay was caused in tbe progress of the works, and much additional
expense incurred by him. The 30th of November arrived, but tbe houses were not
flniahed. Seventy-five per cent, was to be paid upon the work done as it proceeded,
but it was alleged by tbe plaintiff that he had gTeat difficulty in obtaining certificates
from the architect, who, it was further alleged, was constantly at the worka day by
day, altering his plans, causing to be undone what had been done, and finding fault
in an arbitrary manner both with the materials and workmanship, much to the
annoyance of workmen engaged on the building, some of whom left in cousenucncc.
At last, the houses not being finished, notice was given to the plaintiff by Hey, on
the iJSth of January, that unless the work was finished in twelve days he would take
possession of it and complete it— such notice being in accordance with the terms of
the contract. I'osscssion of the houses was accordingly taken by Hey on or about
the 12th of February. Hey then proceeded with the completion of the houses, and
in so doing spent £1,2C0. The whole amount received by the plaintiflTwas £l,4-.>0, but
it was contended by him he had executed work to theextent of £2.000, Icavinga balance
of £1,180. Tbeplaintifl",on receiving Hey's letter of tbe 29th of Januarv, applied to Mr.
Owen, who supplied him with timber, and to Mr. Brine, who supplied him with stones,
for their advice under the circumstances in which he was placed, and asked them to
see Hey. They accordingly had an interview with Hey, and asked to be piTmitted
to finish tbe work on behalf of Pawley. To that proposition Ilev objected, but Owen
and Brine stated that at the interview Hey admitted that about £1,000 was due to
Pawley for work done, that between £200 and £300 would be sufliclcnt to complete
the work, that it could be done in from two to three weeks, and that the matters in
dispute between himself and Pawley were of a trifiing character. All this statement
was denied by Hey, who stated that one of the gentlemen who waited upon him said
374
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 3, 1861.
•K.> tho^ h.rf hiv»n mrnrmod hv PhwIcv that £200 would be sutBcicnt to finish the
S«S fhX^evJr m™t^n% th^t s5n' but. on the contrary, said he eould not
S?er lito .n?h T/ubJ^t »t th.t time. In this statement lley ^ya8 borne out by hs
wife who. It WM ViS overheard the conversation in a room adjoining that where it
SJk p'«^. H^ t<Sk'pJs8ess"S of the houses on the 11th or 12th of !• ebrnary and
tbev wSc not fiblshed until the following September, Hey, according to the allega-
tion ^ffhcpl^ntiS- making alterations which were not necessary and lutroducmg
thines whicV were not in the plans and specifications. When the houses were
J^^ldMven months after they were taken possession of. it was stated that he
SSJTrff 1 5«fili^UH*n exnended in completing them, instead of £200 or £300, which
It^il^ bv th?plai^ Iff WO" d haTe'^been''sufflcient to finish them within two
or™4^^s 6f ho Siy "vien they were Uken possession of The defendants further
rt.^d The pla°n iff with penalties after the rate of £10 por day durin- the time
n^SiwI in the completion of the houses. The learned counsel for the plaintiff
?SStKd that noTonalties could be recovered for the non-f^ilfilment of the contract
at the end of four months after it was signed, inasmuch as possession of the whole site
was not obtained as stipulated within a week of the siening of the contract, and further
that no penalties eoulcfbe recovered from the plaintiff after possession of the houses
was takJn bv Hey in F'ebrnarT. When Hey objected to Owen and Bnnc flnislilnfj
the worki, l-'awley called in Mr. Reddall and Sir. Meeking, surveyors, to inspect and
report upon the state of the buildings when possession of them was taken by Hey.
Mr Reddall invited Mr. Hey to meet him on the premises and accompany liim while
he made his sorvev ; but this Hey declined, on the ground that he was the sole judge
under the contract «8 to whether the houses had been properly built, what remained
to be done, and in what manner it should be done. Mr. KeddaU, Mr. Mocking,
Mr Legg, and Mr. ISadger, architects, were called in by the plaintiff to examine the
building; after possession of it was taken by the defendant Hey, and they stated that
the work was well done, that the materials were sound and of average quality, and
that £200 or thereabouts would be snfBclont to complete the houses in two or three
weeks. The claim of the plaintiff, therefore, was for the amount of the contract
price. £2,5SKi, minu.s.i; 1,120 paid, plus £200 lor extra work, and minus the snm that
onirht to have been properly expended, according to the contract, in the finishing ol
the houses after possession was given up by the plaintiff. The defendant Hey stated
that he could not get the work done as he wished it to be done, or the materials used
which he desired should be employed ; that there were great defects in the construc-
tion of the houses ; and that in many cases the materials were bad, had to be remojed
and tmh ones substituted for them ; and that the plaintiff was in the habit of frc-
aucntly changing his hands, which led to much inconvenience and delay. . As to the
ereat length of time occupied in the completion of the houses after they were taken
poiseesion of by the defendant. Hey stated that that was caused by necessary alte-
rations, undoing and re-doing, removing bad work and material, and replacing them
by good. The plaintiff, on the other hand, contended that such alterations were not
Within the meaning of the contract, and that they were extravagant and uncalled
for. It was also stated in behalf of the defendants that the necessary alterations m
the building occupied more time than their erection in a proper manner from the first
would have done. On the part of the defendants, Messrs. Roberts^ I Anson, jind
Hoy were made by the plaintiff untU the bill was filed, and the counsel for the
defendants contended that the bill was filed too late, long after the works were In
course of completion, to entitle htm to the relief craved by the plaintiff, who ought
to have come to the court sooner, if, as he stated, he found that Hey was guilty ot
extravagance in the finishing of the houses. We hare omitted any notice of some ol
the minor details. . , .. , ^ 41,
The VicE-CiiASCELLOR (who stated he would not trouble the counsel for the
plaintiff to reply) said. In delivering judgment, the plaintiff I'awley was a builder
who entered into a contract for building at a certain price certain houses for the
defendant Turnbull. By the terms of that contract, as was usual in cases of the
kind, an architect and surveyor, who in this case was the co-defendant Hey, liad
exteosivc powers committed to him. He was to stand between the contractor and the
defendant Turnbull, who was entitled to have the houses built in a proper and
satisfactory manner according to the contract, and his position was one that required
the exercise of great discretion and great fairness. The plaintirs ease was that the
powers of Hey were exercised In an arbitrary, capricious and improper way. Alter
Bome further observations referring to the origin of the case, and to the jurisdiction
of the Court in cases of this kind, of which lie had no doubt, the learned Vice-
Chancellor said the evidence in this case had been fully gone into and ably com-
mented upon by counsel on both sides. Upon that evidence he had arrived at the
conclusion that the plaintiff was not fairly dealt by, and without imputing anything
so gross as fraud against the defendant Hey, it was proved to his satisfaction on the
evidence of at least five careful, rcspecUble witnesses, to whose testimony there was
no contradiction in the weight of evidence, that the conduct of Hey was not of that
discreet. Impartial and fair description which it ought to have been. Lp to the 10th
of February the works were proceeded with by the plaintiff, and on the 10th of
February powers possessed by Hey under the contract were taken possession of and
Pawley the plaintiff was ousted from the works. What the plaintiff did seemed to lilm
to have been very proper and discreet, and what Hey did evidently deficient
of his duty both to the plaintiff and to the defendant Turnbull. '1 he
plaintiff, finding he was about to be ousted flrom the work and would not
be permitted to finish the buildings, called In first two surveyors of unchallengeable
reputation to examine the buildings, and whom the defendents had not even attempted
to cross-examine. It appeared that the plaintiff was determined, feeling that he
had done his work properly up to that point, to have unprejudiced evidence of what
the state of the works was when he left them, the evidence of surveyors of un-
questioned repuUtion, and the defendant Hey was desired to meet them at the
works, which he declined to do. The thing to be considered was, what was the
position of the parties when the survey on the part of the plaintiff was made, when
the threat was made to take possession of the works, wlinl; was the state of the build-
ing, how much work had been done, what was doing, and how much time and money
would be required to finish the work 7 To these points the attention of both parties
had been turned before the visit to the premises of KeddaU and Mocking. The
defendant Hey declined to have any communication with these surveyors, and when
he (the Vice-Chancellor) looked at the evidence of the defendant Hey himself to see
what he did with reference to this then all-important question— what the then state
of the works was. whether the works were satisfactorily done, and the materials ot
a proper quality, how much remained to be done, and how much money and time the
completion would take— he found Hey stating that he made no detailed account in
writing of what remained to be done when the plaintiff abandoned the work. Could
there be any greater neglect of duty than that ? and he could not state what pro-
portion of the £l,2fi0 charged for the finishing of the building after the defendants
took possession of it was required for alterations or for the completion.
It wa« needless to go beyond that to sec that the plaintiff pursued
a diaereet and honest course, and that the course pursued by Hey
wa« eminently Improper. It was proved to his satisfaction that In January,
when the plaintiff thought he was unfairly dealt bv, that justice was not done to him
andthat injustice was done to him, he complained to Mr. Owen, his timber mer-
chant, and ifr. Urine, his atone merchant, that he told his complaints to these two
men, and that these two men thought they would have an interview with Mr. Hey In
order to ancertafn what the position of matters really was. Well, both Owen and
Bnne saw Hey, and they swore in the clearest and most distinct terms— and they
seemed wholly unprejudiced witnesses—that Hsy said (when he was about to take
possession of'^thc works) that two or three weeks more would complete them, and
that the expenditure for completing them would not be more than £200. That Hey
denied ; but from the weight of evidence, and looking at the strong impression which
the intejwiew-Tftust have made on tlic minds of Owen and Brine— and they had been
^Examined— bis opinion waa that that was proved. Now, if that was so, if
Hey, whose duty it waa to know the state of the works, and to have a clear view of
how much remained to be done, how long it would take to do it, and what money
would be required for the purpose, if he never said anything to those gentlemen on
tile subject and never said he had any opinion in his own mind on such a subject,
considering the mission of Owen and Hrine, what the purpose of the interview was,
what did Hey say on the subject, or did he say anything ? Hey said, in his affidavit
on further consideration, that either Owen or Brine stated that the plaintiff
said £200 would be sufficient to complete the works, that he told them he
could not enter into particulars with them, but would write to Mr.
Turnbull on the subject. What was the use of Hey seeing Owen and
Brine if he did not enter into particulars with them. Taking the
most favorable construction of the conduct of Hey, looking at his own account
of it, it was not that fair; discreet, and proper conduct which a man In his position
ought to have shown. Then, who appeared on the other side ? He had referred to
the evidence of KeddaU and Mocking, but, then, there was other evidence. On the
part of the plaintiff were caUed Mr. I.egg and Mr. Badger, eminent surveyors and
men of unchallengeable character, who proved that the work had been well done.
That the state of the works was such when possession was taken by the defendants,
that it required £1,200 to complete them, was not a view which could be adopted by
the Court. He had come, therefore, to the conclusion that the plaintiff had estab-
lished against Hey, and, through Hey, against Turnbull, a'.clear case of unfair and
oppressive conduct. That being so, the only question was as to the form of the
decree. He thought the case sliould be adjudicated and decided much in the same
way as an action at law, and on quantum meruit for labor done and materials found
by the plaintiff. In this case, he thought there were means of arriving at a satis-
factory result without directing a complicated>ccount, or inquiry at chambers, ex-
cept on one point. Upon the whole, there were some things which were quite clear
as to the relief sought by the plaintiff. The contract price was certain ; the plaintiff
bound himself to complete the works in question for £2,590. WeU, that was a
certain sum, and the right of the defendant Turnbull was, when he had paid that
sum to have the houses properly finished and built according to the contract. The
next thing that was made sufficiently certain by the evidence, was the state of the
works at the time they were taken out of the hands of the plaintiff. Looking
at the evidence of the witnesses Keddal, an eminent surveyor, Meeking, an eminent
surveyor, Legg, an eminent surveyor. Badger, an eminent surveyor, and looking at
the evidence of Owen and Brine, all bearing upon the statement that between *,200
and £300 would have been sufficient to flnisli the building after it was taken posses-
sion of by the defendants, what the plaintiff was clearly entitled to was the amount
of the contract price, deducting therefrom £200 or £300 for the completion of the
works What the defendant proved was that he had expended not £200 or i,!0fl in
Ihe completion of the works, but £1,200, and he called in on his behalf a certain Mr.
Koberts who carefully abstained from swearing that what he stated in Ins report
was true. There was ample evidence of the most wanton expenditure and unfair
conduct on the part of Hey in the completion of the building. Part of the evidence
for the defendants was that the work was so badly done that in one case a mantel-
niece was put up with brown paper instead of being properly set up, and that a
stove was set up with chips and shavings of wood. But tlieu there was the evidence
of the men who set up these things, who totally denied the allegations made ; and
he believed their evidence. How the brown paper came behind the mantel-piece, or
how the chips and shavings caine to be inserted about the stove it was inipossible to
say, but in order to substantiate the allegations made, what the defendants must
show was not that there were brown paper and chips and shavings about these
things, but that the plaintiff or his workmen put them there-and that the work was
left in that condition was notproved ataU. In a question of this kind it was not pro-
bable that any two men could arrive at the same result, but by the weight ot
evidence it Was proved that when the building was taken possession of by the
defendants between £200 and £300 would have ''ony^leted it. He was disposed
think that £2« would be the proper sum to be allowed, and not £l,2oO for h" Bliing
the building, but he could not refuse an inquiry to theldefcndants on this eubject_^
they wished it. On the whole case it seemed to him the proper decree to make
would be to declare, that It appeared from the evidence that the defendant Hey
acted improperly and unfairly in the exercise of the powers conferred upon bim by
the contract entered on the pleadings, to declare that the plaintiff was entitled to the
sum of £2,590, the contract price, minus the sum properly expended in the completion
of the work, and to £190 for extra work. The defendants made a claim for P™^"ieg,
but that was not sustainable in the present case, and he had satisfled his mind that
the defendants were not entitled to deduct anything for penalties, and he was also
of opinion that the plaintiff should be allowed £190 for extra work, which, tojether
with the contract price, would make the sum which would be m<=n''o°™ ^^S
decree, subject to the deduction of such a sum as was fairly necessary on "''-'»» »'
February, 1859, for properly finishing the works in accordance wit the contract.
Then, if the defendants wished any further inquiry, he thought 't/bould bo whether
£248. or any, or what, larger sum was proper to be allowed to the d<;f?°'J'"'' J"™*^""
for the completion of the works after the 10th of r<;bruary i^^g. Any further
inquiry of account would involve an immense amount of expenditure to ^all^ parties
inquiry 01 account wouia involve an imiuiriint: ,iii.v«". ."'.r * :, ^.jia „i,n„i,i
coicerned. He should direct an inqniry to inquire whether more than £2«»^^^^^
be allowed to the defendant for completing the work, and if the dcfendait 8'ioceeded
in proving that he was entitled to more than £248 as a sum to be P^P^'y ,'^-^Vended
in LcordSncc with the terms of the contract then, of <=™'-f • "'»V,f S/ted asZTn^
he deducted from the cToss amount of the two sums which he had stated as being
due ?o the pUmUff wSarwould remain to be done. would be »» ascertain how .nucS
remained due from the defendant to the P'a'ntiff, includliy mterest at 4 per cent,
from the Ist of Mav 1839, and he had fixed upon that date for this reason, that lie
wTs atisfled the wlk^uld have been completed, and the amount became payaWe
under the contract, and ought to have been paid at that time A f"ftl'<^■■ duectlon
was to tax the costs of tlie plaintiff up to and at the hearing, an«, "^"'r.n?,"
defendants, Turnbull and Hey, to pay the costs. He crave l^aj« f°J»Pfi f »*'°"i''^^^^^^
further costs in the event of the inquiry to which he Tl.^d previously aUuded buns, g^
into, but he advised the defendants to take the amount Pyop'^^y ^^P^»^"]u'^t ^^
£248, and thus save further expenses. But for the unfair y'<; '™P™P" "^ "rmoSs
Hey this suit would not have arisen, and the P'a'ntiff had bct^n put to cnormon^^
expenses in obtaining this decree. No costs would be a 'owed for the alBdav ol Mr
Summers, solicitor fSr the plaintiff, wli ch ought never to ""o been made ^^hlcll he
had not allowed counsel to read, and which was not evidence in the case^^M
there was to be an appeal, he should recommend that it 6« ."nade at once to tin ^
of the court, in order to prevent litigation and expense. -The parties then rctii ed.
St. Stephen's, South Lambeth.— On Tuesday mo™'"* ^lus cliurch
wlilch haslbeen erected at the sole cost of the R^v.CliarlesKembleM.A rector
of Bath, was conseerat^d. The church is situated off the Clapliam-road irom
VauxhaU, at tlie back of Albert-souare. It is to some extent cruciform, and
comprises nave with transepts, small chancel, and vestry f t'«-'/»^' ^"«- J^l
main entrance is at the west end, but there are two side c"t'-^"f,f f™" .'Jl.*^".
septs. The dimensions are as follows :--Length 122 feet wi.Uh of nave 45 feel^
height (from floor to ridge of roof) 55 feet; length of transepts 88 feet by 36
wide; heighthof transepts 45 feet; chancel 22 eet 'f"?' .^y 13 w'de, »nd 40
feet high ; tower 14 feet square, and in four stages 53 feet high ; height of tower
and spire "O feet. The interior is nea anilunnretentioiis. There aic rose
windows 'at the west end, and over the altar, filled with pecuhar stained gl^s,
by Haillle and Co.; in the transepts there are tracericd winJows, 14 .f-^jf ''■«!' -
in tlie nave, five gabled windows, 22 feet high, " ^''^^^ ''"™""™^ V ^rjo*^ u'e
colored, and marked with diamonds. There is ^ P''"°n?,^fj''^^';^l"}„'„'"'
church The arcliitect is Mr. John Harnett, of Verulam-buildmgs, Gray s inn.
May 3, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
375
SOME NOTES ON THE CONVENIENT AERANGEMENT OP
BUILDINGS*
THE architect of general practice can scarcely over-rate the value of tliis
" ample conaultation " with his client, or employer. The employer
does in fact in great measure create the plan of the structure. He suggests
its general distribution — we are supposing him an intelligent capitalist —
and looks to his architect to correct or to confirm his own crude ideas, to
reconcile them with the rules of art, and to fill in his skeleton project
with tl>ose details of construction, and those refinements of form, of pro-
portion, of color, and tlie rest, that are needed to give it perfection.
There is yet another source of information, external to his ofllce or
studio, to which the architect would do well to have recourse. This is, to
the patentee or tradesman, ever offering to public attention, those improve-
ments in building-materials or fittings, wliich are so rife in these days.
Architects are too prone to ignore them ; and to repeat year after year the
old appliances, which from time to time have held a place in their
specifications. The advertisements, which weekly enshrine the archi-
tectural periodicals, are too little noticed by architects ; and, it is too often
the case that, a really useful invention becomes known, appreciated and
applied by the capitalist and the speculating builder, long before the archi-
tect may have even heard of it. This is a subject of reproach to architects;
and it will have more or less weight with the employer, in proportion as
he forgets or remembers the numerous and varied other matters, which
are constantly demanding the attention of his architect. In our present
advanced state of civilization, it is no small matter for the architect to
acquaint himself with even those processes, that minister to the daily
comfort and convenience of the moderner's dwelling, his place of business,
of detention, of worship and of public resort : it is, we say, no slight task,
to learn them all ; and yet even a profound knowledge of all these matters
of mere convenience, forms but a very trifling proportion of theaggregate,
that makes up the architect's compliment, or curriculum, of professional
lore. The fact may be urged en passant and by way of apology on the
client ; but equally true is the fact that to the architect the knowledge we
are alluding to is indispensable.
These improved building appliances or patents are, like the edifices of
the general practitioner in arcliitecture, continually varying from time to
time : the study of them, by help of the advertising covers of his periodi-
cals, is not always an inviting one ; and yet it is as necessary to the
architect, as are those consultations with his client, on which we have
insisted. The metropolitan architect has the advantage of an excellent
biennial display of them, in the department of Building Materials, Patents,
Inventions, Manufacture, Sfc, in connexion with the Architectural Exhibi-
tion. The very mention of this Exhibition well-nigh serves to verify what
wo have j ust said of the apathy, with which architects as a class regard
all improvements in mere building. Who is there, acquainted with the
Architectural Exhibition in Conduit-street, that cannot, on any day while
it is open, reckon up on his fingers the professional visitors, that resort to
it even /or curiosity, as do the unprofessional public ; and of those archi-
tects, who really resort to it /or itiformation, how few are there to be seen ?
This ought not to be : our professional friends should walk this Exhibition,
just as we have maintained the architect ought to go through the world—
with their eyes open, not only to the artistic merits and demerits of the
gay pictures on the walls ; but to the doings of other men, in whom they
ouglit to feel equal interestf — the ingenious contrivers of those improved
buililing appliances, that minister so signally to the convenience and the
comjurt of an English edifice. Even foreigners, who most vehemently deny
Mr. Bull the possession of artistic power and taste, are quick to appreciate
our comfortable appliances— nay to even press that strange adjective into
their vocabulary. Let not our English architects be so absorbed in emu-
lating the foreigner in taste, as to lose sight of that other ingredient, so
dear to Mr. Bull, convenience.
With due attention paid to these two changeable sources of information
— consultation with his client and cognisance of new inventions the
architect may safely assume, there are some rules of guidance in reference
to convenience of arrangement, which are altogether fixed, and un-
changeable. We have elsewhere urged the utility of every architect
observing, during his own individual practice, what these rules are. We
are alluding now to those general principles of convenience, which should
be observed in the planning or arrangement of every edifice, some in a
greater, and some in a less degree than others ; but whicli pertain in their
respective degrees, to all edifices.
A general review of the most obvious of the requirements of a con-
venient edifice would not unfrequently remind the architect of the short-
comings of his design in their regard : points of convenience, which the
client himself, could he but read the design with the facility of his architect
would at once perceive he had lost sight of and neglected, not criminally
though fatally for his work ; and owing perhaps to his frail human
intelligence being at the time absorbed on some other more abstruse point
of constructive excellence, equally or even more necessary to the perfec-
tion of his task.
Such errors, we for our part might deem venial in the architect of any
great work; and, knowing the cyclopa;dic nature of his duties, urge his
* Continued from Page 342.
t '° '•'"* urffing upon town architects a more frequent and more intelliorent use of
tliia <lc|>artmcut of tlie Architectural Kxliibitioii, we invite the attention of our
country readers to the elaborately written notices of the materials, inyentions and
raanulaciuies, that arc always given in the liiiLDiNG News. These are so written
with ivfcn-nces to the pages, on which previouB notices appear, as to prove highly
serviceable to those architects and builders who, residing in the provinces, are unahlo
to visit the K.xhibition ; but who annually bind up oar volumes.
patron to review it charitably, wondering the while with Goldsmith's
rustics,
" That one small head could carry all he knew ;"
but this is the very last thing which a disappointed capitalist, or a build-
ing committee, will ever think of doing. The error is fatal to the work ;
it is an error in mere '• common sense," which, now it has been perpetrated,
every booby is capable of perceiving; and, what is worst of all, it is per-
petrated, past all power of remedy, in enduring brick and mortar, in most
provoking, " perpetual, memorial of the thing." Alas for the poor archi-
tect: he is never forgiven!
Now, these matters of common sense, however variable may be the
wants of the particular client, and however changeable may be the
inventions we have alluded to, are immutable. They apply to all build-
ings, without distinction.
Every building, for example, requires a certain amount of space for its
several apartments, passages, staircases, &c., anything short of which will
make it absolutely inconvenient, or, it may be, useless to its occupant.
In the planning of small tenements, or of many-roomed large ones, it is
by no means an uncommon thing for architects to contrive bed-rooms in
which no bed can by possibility be placed, waterclosets (with doors open-
ing inwards) into which no person can enter; and the like errors of
" common sense," which none but a " heaven-born " studious architect
would commit.
Take again the question of ingress and egress. It is a most important
one, easily settled when the architect's attention has been once directed to
it ; but, for want of its being so, it is often that most absurd errors arise,
by the known requirements of the buildmg being set at nought and for-
gotten. They are best understood by such circumstances as the impos-
sibility of the poor Vicar of Wakefield's painting being conveyed within-
side his house, for which it was destined ; or the famous cutting short of
Lord Nelson's funeral car, in order to make practicable its triumphal
entrance under Temple-bar — a necessity said to have been pointed out to
the executive only a few hours before the pageant, and by a little boy.
Again the convenience of the client is not always regarded by the
architect in the matter of property rights, local enactments and the like ;
and thus we not unfirequently see a building shorn of some favorite archi-
tectural projection; or, worse yet, its progress towards completion brought
to a dead lock, by a squabble with the local authorities ; and all this about
some plain matter, which the architect ought to have foreseen.
So again with the question of a building's position or aspect. How often
do we not see its known requirements of convenience ignored, till their
neglect is past remedy — churches so planned that, their position due east
and west on the site is found, on setting out the work, to be impossible ;
porticos stuck against north walls, making what is in itself a dingy part of
the edifice more dingy still ; larders put southward, and vis a vis all day
with the sun, streaming into them, and broiling prematurely their con-
tents; with the like.
Under the head of convenience, the question of the acoustic properties of
a building may often be ranged. It Is unnecessary to specify the many
kinds of edifice, in the planning whereof attention to this point is of the
greatest consequence. Without it in fact the building may be made
something worse than simply inconvenient — it may be rendered absolutely
useless for the client's purpose. Light also is of the first consequence as
a matter of convenience — we have known it so ignored by an architect in
erecting a large church that, its occupants have been compelled, not only
to take out all the quarry lights, and to substitute sheets of vulgar rough
plate-glass, but even to insert skylights in the roof
Once again, there is the element ot proportion. Proportion, we all know,
is one of the elements of beauty in architecture. But proportion is also
one of the elements of convenience in building. In planning his staircases
there is a desirable limit or proportion of steps to each flight, and a pro-
portion to be observed between the treads and risers of each step; and of
such proportion every violation will assuredly destroy the convenience of
his building.
There are many other matters, which make for the convenient arrange-
ment of buildings. They will at once suggest themselves to the practising
architect; and all of them claim his attentive consideration, more espe-
cially in the planning of an Englishman's fireside or " castle." We have
enumerated such as have occurred to us while penning this article; and
here we desist, leaving our readers to fill up the catalogue for them-
selves.
GLOUCESTER COURT OF PROBATE.
ERECTED by Thoma's Holt, Esq., tlie diocesan registrar anil secretary to the
Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, from designs funiislied by Fulljames and
Waller, of Gloucester. Mr. Oliver Estcourt was the builder, and the cost was
£1,100. In addition to the offices connected with the Court of Probate there
are other private rooms. There is a large strong-room covered with a fireproof
roof, situate at the back of the premises, but connected with the main building.
A Good Watch at a Moderate Price. -" The stranger, in walking through
the City of London, must be astonished to see so many eatablisliments whose
windows are filled with watches and Jewellery of the most costly description.
Among these there is one fast risiUL' into celebrity for the beauty and excellence of
its productions— we mean the establishment of Mr. J. W. Benson, watch manufac-
turer, of 3.3 and 34, Ludgate-hill. As a good watch is admitted on all sides to be
indispensable to the man of business, we have great pleasure in pointing out a watch
manufactory where our friends can purchase tke article without paying au exorbitant
price. ' '— iiniV.v Tehgraiih.
Benson's Illustrated Pamphlet, post free for two stamps, is descriptive of every
construction of watch now made. WntcHes 8»fi; by post to all parts of the glot)c.—
Advehtisemext.
I
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 3, 1861.
SOCIETY OF PAINTERS IN WATER COLORS.
THE present Exhibition, although it presents nothing new in style or
subject, will, we think, more than sustain the long-established repu-
tation of this Society, particularly when compared with the last of its
annual collections. Although there is no departure from the traditional
•Iwdineas and sameness of the subject, we notice an absence in this year's
Bxhibition of straining at peculiar and striking effects and over-elaboration
of detail, one or two instances of which still linger in our memory, and
which partook so largely of the fashion created by pre-Rafiaelitisni, if not
actually the delusion itself, that we are extremely happy to find them dis-
tinguishable only '• by their absence." No ; if we cannot compliment the
members of the " old " society on flights of fancy or romance in important
works, we can direct attention to the fact that there are few absolute
&ilnres, which is more than can be said of any annual exhibition yet
opened. As each well-established member sustains his former credit by
the display of his pictures this year, and as he could not have attained to
that reputation without great skill as an artist, the present collection may
be recommended to students and amateurs as a mine of knowledge of the
various kinds connected with art, from which much valuable information
may be acquired. In the landscape department this Exhibition is very
fruitful in valuable examples. The drawings by Mr. Richardson are too
well known to require much comment from us; but for a graceful style,
delicate, harmonious coloring, and finished composition, they may be
(tndied with great advantage. Even the adaptation of the size and
shape of the paper on which he draws in accordance with his subject is
well worth serious consideration. The view of " The Castle of Ischia,
Sea of Naples," is a fine drawing, and the retiring effect of the buildings
on the right is well managed, and they are nicely colored and cleverly touched.
" Cottages near Benairc, on the River Locky, Argyllshire," is also worth
looking at, although some of the details are too hard for the general tone ;
but in the view of " Salerno " all the merits of this artist will be found.
Mr. Callow adopts a more vigorous style. The aerial effect in the upper
part of Mount St. Michel is very successfully treated. The sea is well
painted in the view of "Yarmouth Roads — a Day after the Storm," and
the atmosphere in the drawing of " The Moselle at Coblentz " is very clear
and refreshing. His larger subject, entitled " The Chops of the Channel —
Signalling a Pilot " is, we think, carrying monotone rather too far. The
ship rides well on the wave, and feels the breeze, but the sails are not the
color of canvas, however dirty it may be, and they partake too much of the
tint in which the dark clouds are painted. A proper attention to the
quality of color required would, without disturbing the breadth, or
destroying the ai'rial effect, have given the point and interest so much
wanted. Mr. Evans, of Eton, exhibits a view of " Windsor, from Dornly
Common," which, besides being clever, we notice for the sake of the
arrangement. The foreground is rather loose and feeble, but in the middle
("istance there is a flock of sheep forming a horizontal line running parallel
to a similar one, formed by the roofs of the houses beyond; it heing neces-
sary to have a third line, the artist has skilfully driven the smoke from
the town in the same direction, and thus obtains the necessary variety in
number. We have omitted to direct attention to a drawing by Mr.
Callow, which he has made from some lines in Mr. Dickens's "Italian
Dream." The writer is dreaming of Venice as it was in the days of
its greatnesswhen busy sailors worked at the cargoes of the vessels, quays
were strewn with merchandise, and great ships lying near riding at anchor
in stately indolence. Now, here was a subject we should have thought a
marine painter would have revelled in, but Mr. CaUow has merely given
lis a feeble and distant view of the Place of St. Mark, and instead of the
forest of masts suggestive of great mercantile commerce he has drawn a
few small vessels with all their sails unfurled to save the trouble of putting
in the necessary detail, the consequence is that the drawing neither sug-
gests Venice as it was nor Venice as it is.
Mr. Carl Ilaag sends some admirable examples of harmonious coloring,
careful drawing, and well-arranged chiaroscuro. The pencilling also de-
serves attention. The " Rehearsal, Cairo," presents a specimen of his
artistic powers, and possesses in a remarkable degree those merits of his
style which we have just recorded. " The Acropolis " has great breadth
of contrast in the mass of red produced by the ruins, surrounded as it is
by the cool colors of moon-light, while the moon itself serves as a spot to
give space and air to the whole. " The Ancient Vestibule to the Southern
Entrance beneath the Temple Area, Jerusalem," is another example by
the same artist of simplicity in the masses, the effect of subdued but warm
light being contrasted by the coolness of the gloom within the cavern.
The figures are represented at prayers, and the whole has an excellent
effect Mr.Edward Duncan's drawings are as delicate and artisticas formerly.
The view of " Whitstable Flats," " Thames Barges Waiting for the Tide,"
is very elegant in style of treatment, eflfective without violent contrast.
The clear light breaking through the clouds, and illumining the horizon, is
well opposed by the figures standing near the boat in the foreground.
There are also space and atmosphere in this drawing, there is much clas-
sical feeling in the composition of the view " On the Thames, near Ship-
lake," and the group of cows is advantageously introduced, and there are
some excellent effects in the drawing of " The Moorish Tower of the G iralda,
Seville," by Mr. E. A. Goodall. The scene is luminous, and the breadth of
light is well opposed by a proportionate mass of shadow, the whole enli-
vened by well-arranged tints ; the appearance of atmosphere is equally
well maintained. The same artist exhibits another elegant drawing of
" Rome from the Monte Pincio," and m which the forms of the masses are
very tastefully^treatcd.*
• To be conUnned.
114, NEW BOND-STREET.
IF any one wishes to sec a large amount of good architecture pressed into a
small compass, he should take a stroll down New Bond-street, and look upon
the front which has been put into Messrs. Dickinson's shop. Tliere was very Uttle
space, not 20 feet, and many difiiculties in the architect's path, hut the toughest
of them was but as clay in the potter's hand. The architect has regarded them
as so much material with wbicll he had to work, and forced them into worthy
service, "to be correspondent^ to command, and to do his spiriting gently.
One good shop-front of this kind, executed in a street which men of taste are
said to frequent, is of more value in proclaiming what ought to be generally
done than a dozen essays on the subject, and wc therefore direct attention to it.
Many can design a respectable church or villa, who are altosethcr at a loss over
ashop-iront. In the former case an imposing mass may detract the eye from
minor matters, but in the latter the minor matters become major ones. Every
portion is of equal importance ; nothmg can be shirked, and every little over-
sight or neglect will " out as sure as murder."
The shop-front displaced by the one now under notice projected from the main
face of the house some 1 8 inches or 3 feet, and the supporting breastsummcr was,
like that of all old shops, very low. Tliis has been turned into an unobtrusive
enclosuro to each of the shop windows; and, although but slightly interfered with,
the architect, in touching it, has left even there the impression of a master's
hand.
The foremost expression of the work is one which seldom appears in a shop
front — and for that reason, perhaps, so immediately strikes us — its strength. It
is built of brick and stone, plate-glass, and English oak. Two sturdy white
brick buttresses flank and form the boundaries of it. They are carried above the
shop cornice, and are there weathered off in stone to the face of the wall. The
space between them is divided into two windows and a central door by two shafts
of green serpentine resting on a basement of brick, which is pierced under the
shop windows by segmental openmgs to light the underground rooms. The stone
capitals and bases of these shafts are beautifully carved and moulded. The bases
are on a level with the window-sills — that is, about 2 feet 9 inches above the
ground. Instead of the usual brass stall-board plate, there is a simple deeply
splayed stone sill. The doorway in the centre is set back, and the converging sides of
the external lobby are glazed with that same admirable eftect, although on a
smaller scale, seen in Mr. Owen Jones's shop (Ostler's) in Oxford-street. In the
fanlight, also recessed, the name of the shopkeeper is \vritten. Three segment
arches span the front ; they spring from plain stone blocks placed upon the
carved capitals, and have bold angle mouldings. The sashes, of varnished oak,
have very judiciously been kept a little backward so as to receive some shadow,
a concession very difficult to extract from our modem shopkeepers ; but a still
more important one remains to be mentioned. The space over the windows is
plain without being disfigured by the proprietor's name and calling and the maul
of a " ready writer." There is no cornice: none was required; but what was
needed is supplied — a coping for the protection of the wall. On this there is a
low iron railing, with the central portion fashioned into a mass of intertwined
scroll-work.
The story over the shop is connected architecturally with it. It consists of
three openings in the main wall, behind as well at above the shop front. They
are divided by iron columns bearing moulded segment arches with a semicircular
pediment over the centre light. The dressings round these windows are in Port-
land cement, which, spite of recurring lines and features, prevents the work
harmonising thoroughly with that below it. A trifling additional outlay would
have made it perfect ; but it is, nevertheless, a good pace in advance, and we
hardly know which is more commendable and noteworthy — the ability of the
architect, Mr. W. W. Deane, of Maitland-park-terrace, Haverstock-hill, or the
good sense of the proprietors in wandering from the beaten track to welcome
and adopt it.
LECTUKES AT TUB AECHITECTUEAX EXHIBITION.
I. Architecture in London.
THE first of a Course of Lectures at the Architectural I3xliibltion, Condnit-street,
was delivered in the Great Gallery, on Tuesday evenino, before a numerous
audience, by A. .1. It. Beresfoud-Hope, Esq., the subject being *' Architecture in
London." The chair was occupied by George Gilbert Scott, Esq. The Lectitter
said, when he talked of " Architecture in London " he did not mean to convert him-
self mto an architectural reviewer and go from building to building and criticise each
of them, as an art critic would criticiso the pictures on the walls. What he did pro-
pose to; do Wivs to take up London as an existing and a great whole ; and taking
London as a whole, taking London past, London present, and if he might say so
London future, to deduce from that whole panorama certain teachings for future
buildings, thus touching on its actual condition both physical and no less architec-
tural. He wished to stir them up to become coadjutors in improving London in the
way he believed it could be improved. London wa.s an ancient, a northern, and a
picturesque city. There was good authority for saying it was an ancient city, and he
did not say it was a northern city in a contemptuous sense, for they were all of them
northerns in descent, language, and constitution, and in every relation of life, in
everything that made either individuals or nations historical and great. Then let
tlicm not be ashamed of being northerns, nor did he think that being northerns was
any great damage or detriment. Let it be granted then that London was an ancient,
a northern, and a picturesque city. London was a picturesque but not a monumental
city, and why was London not a monumental city ? There became the dirticulty of
lecturing on a sclentilic subject, on what architecture now was. No term of art com-
prehended, no single word could be so explicit, so precise, and comprehensive
as to clear a whole ground for itself, and exclude something else from trespassing on
its own ground. The incomplete, and lame, and halting distinction he drew
between a monumental city and a picturesque city was this, that a monumental city
was thrown out as if by one cifort of its builder, as one building was thrown out by
one effort of its architect; a picturesque city was a city that had grown up under
the instructions of different architects, and was a series of pictures, each picture
differing from the one they came to. London had distinctly In revolving centuries
frown up to be a picturesque city; it was also northern and It was also ancient.
Veil, suppose they had to do with a city that was neither of the three; suppose
their accomplished Chairman was to be called upon to design a federal capital of
Australia; what would he do? He would there have to build a modern city, a
soutbcrn citv, and a monumental city. Well, how would the architect raise this
capital 1 O'f course he would have streets of buildings or single buildings standing
by themselves. In AustraUa, a semi-tropical climate, the trees were ever green, but
he believed that neither Mr. .Scott nor any architect of eminence at all, would in
building a new city fall back on that clumsy, vulgar, and odious plan of buildhig
towns, bnlldlng the streets at right angles, which were the maximum of ugliness ana
inconvenience. Any one who was building the new city woulil adopt thatother plan
which had been adopted at Washington and other to^vns, that was building the town
with streets radiating from various centres, the centre of every street being a public
building. Well, that was a monumental city, the streets were broad ana straight,
they saw a public building at every crossing, and they were bordered with trees.
Mays, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
377
Could they do tluit m London ? He believed not. Had they to repent of not bcinfj
able to do that in London ? He believed not. Tliuy ouglit not any of tliem to dream
of buildinj,' a new city of jiernpeetive eminence, of speculative niafrniUcence. I'liey
had another course before them equally tjrami, crpially worthy of the whole soul of
every one who had the broadness of heart to deal with architecture as science. They
had to conduce to the convenience, and to the health, and to the beauty of their old
town. Louis Napoleon mierlit have and no doubt had made sjand streets with boule-
vards, and he might have and no doubt had swept away vestiges of old grandeur.
Whether we liked it or not, we must submit to our position. If they liked to
take France with its constitution let them take it ; but he for one was
satisfied with the British constitution, and with London as it was- -(Applause).
In Ififiti wc lost the opportunity of having a monumental London, when Sir Chris-
topher "Wi-en made a grand plan on the radiating principle* of rebuilding the city of
London, after the great tire, but that went to pieces and came to nothing. But we
had London as it was, rebuilt with its old inconvenience and picturesqueness, and
the rest of the town growing up at hap-hazard ail round it. Well now, could
they do any great heroic work to regenerate London ? Great works had been done
in the present century. Kegent's-park was a great work, Kegcnt-strcet was a very
great instance of piercing a great artery, and Cannon-street was a great artery tao.
There were two eyesores, however, in the; shape of streets— one to the north of Snow-
hill and the other to the west of Westminster Abbey, both, he was sorry to say,
bearing the name of the Sovereign. Then there was tlie new street forming a com-
mtuication between London-bridge and Westminster-bridge. A future generation
might accomplish much : he doubted if they saw much in their own day, except that
one great, necessary, and noble work which had been a dream for many years, and
wasj about to become an imperative reality— quaying the Thames. Sir Frederick
Trench, wlio died about a year ago, 80 years of age, dreamed of this quayiog of the
Thames for years and years, and though ho was pooh-poohed, which he did not care
for, published books advocating the sclieme. And in a debate in the House of Commons
in 1825, ;t(> years ago, in which the ministers and ofheials took a part. Sir llobert Peel
saidho thought the Thames scheme could never do, because, were it carried out, it would
deterior.ate the value of property in Essex-street, Arundel-strcct, and other streets
in that neighbourhood. Ju ISZ-t Lord Palmcrston saw difficulties about the Thames
Bcheme, as in 1S59 he saw difficulties about the I'oreign Office — (A laugh). He
believed one of tlie grandest iraprovemen*8 of London would be the construction of
a river-side park between Westminster Abbey and ('liaring-cross. But putting
aside many magnificent schemes that suggested themselves, let them look how they
might improve London as it stood, not by great measures of recasting, but by
bit and bit reforms, small in each, but all combined producing a great etfect by the
number of contributions thrown into the common stock. Just look at London as it
was, see what the pliysical advantages of the great town were. The lecturer then
referred to the noble river, which, though muddy and polluted, yet that would be
remedied by the measures of scientific men, and to the elevations and valleys of the
town in all directions. London was not a picturesque city of the first-class, it was
not like the old town of l-^tlinburgh and other cities, but we had a compensation for
that in this, that I*]dinl3urgh, old and new together, was a town of under 20O.f)00 in-
habitants, while London was a town of three millions of inhabitants, and in the
superfluity of space we had a great compensation for any inferiority there might be
for any picturesque abruptness in any particular site. London was not hke Edin-
burgh ; but take Venice or Amsterdam, about the most picturesque southern and
northern ^cities- London compared with cither of these towns was a series of broken
and almost a mountainous country. The accidental fact of btiildiug having gone
from the liauds of proprietors to middle men, and to double middle men under them,
was disadvantageous to the architectural appearance of the town. And it had thus
reached that painful superfluity of area, even compared with its population, that
would, he hoped, induce them to pull up, and to have buildings more upward to the
sky, more healthful and more airy. London being a northern city was one that
depended upon atmospheric efTects, and these atmospheric etfects were of great
advantage to us in constructing our new London. They were, in fact, what the
northern architect ought to rely upon, and on the other hand the northern architect
mustnot rely too much in combining fohage with his buildings. In London the
combined elTecfs of cold, smoke, and of a coldish chmatc, made the trees come out very
late and very early turn black. The best way to deal with foliage was to mass
it in great lumps with broad spaces of tnrf between, as was illustrated in
some of the squares. In this London of ours, in building for the future, while they
must not rely on our trees as an element of beauty, they might help them in parks
and boulevards, yet they c^uld not be a mainstay. While great schemes of recon-
Btructiou were not to be thought of, yet by the widening of streets and making of
small improvements, a great deal would bo done : the various means to an end that
would be highly satisfactory. Then what were to lae the main principles of our future
architecture in London ? Under the head of design could they come to any main
principles at all. He contended they conld come to two main principles;
the first was to take the sky-line and deal with it boldly, as a most im-
portant feature of the whole building, and the second was to construct every house
as m itself a unit standing by itself, looking more to its height than to its width.
The system of building hou.ses in terraces could never be satisfactory ; in short, in
building a town, even if they were to bnild a new street as straight as an arrow, they
could only get a sham appearance after all. The sky-line resolved itself into three
special forms, the pyramid, the tower, and the cupola. The first thing was to see
how far the elevation or front of the house was all in all. They knew it was very
effective to have a very pretty geometrical elevation, but it was very frequently a
mockery, a delusion, and a snare in the building of a town, because every building
had a front, a back, and two aides. Look what London was— blocks of houses en-
closing hollow squares within-and they would often find a side that in no way cor-
responded with the front Cornices were about the worst temptation that conld fall
m the way of a frail and erring architect ; let them avoid cornices, unless they could
carry it round, but if they could; carry it round, let them carry it round. Let them
deal with the sky-line ; let them look at the building, if running up into a cupola, a
tower, or a pyramid, and then they would place the cornice in its proper position.
But a cornice must be subordinate in a building. As to buildings for towns they must
not look at them in elevation, but they must consider what they were
at any point three-quarters of a mile off. From want of this precaution the great
Westminster Hotel, as seen from the north-east corner of the Green-park, at Devon-
Shire House, was a huge deformity, although it might have been made to haveavery
fine effect. The Victoria Hotel, near Buckingham I'alace, was entitled to high praise
Those who looked at the Euston and Westminster Hotels, and then looked at the
Victoria Hotel, conld not say that architecture had not been progressing in London.
The lecturer then referred in terms of praise to a building which had been erected
under the superintendence of Mr. Wilkinson, architect, nearly opposite Crosby Half
In Bishopsgate-strcet, and to the schools erected by Mr. E. M. Barry, in Endell-
Btreet. which was a work of great merit, and in a neighbourhood where several
buildings of more than an average character were found. In the City there were
many sumptuous premises, and in one of the worst and most wretched parts of
Bethnal-green, Slis.-J liurdett Coutts had built a palace, in the shape of lod"-in"-
houses, which had solidity and beauty, and were full of inhabitants. He had directed
their attention to many parts of London ; but he had not taken his audience to
Belgravia or Tyburnia, or to what used to be called North Brompton, but what was
now designated .South Kensington ; there there were large houses and straight
streets, but tliere were points about the buildings which Aid not admit of nineh
praise, especially in reference to the use of the material eompo, rectangular streets,
and palaces where houses were wanted. In .South Kensington there wasabuildintf
not yet risen above the ground, but which would be completed by the 1st of May
ISffi, ho meant the building for the Great International Exhibition, which is to take
place next year. He should have wished, in a lecture on Architecture in London, to
have wonndiup witli a glowing panegyric on tliat structure, but with every desire to see.
the Exhibition euccessfal, he conld not be very florid or enthusiastic in his laudations
0fthatde9)gu-(Applause). He feared they must express something not very far
distant from profound disappointment at the design— (Continued a|)plause). The
lecturer then briefly referred to materials used in building in London, which ought
to be of the best sort, and to the polychromatic development of materials, especially
noticing bricks. He had exclusively dealt with secular architecture, and lie had done
so because he believed the front of the battle rested with that departmi iit of archi-
tecture ; our ecclesiastical architecture had gone on improving and improving. Ho
had not insisted on style, and though he was a Goth and a Northern (joth he wa»
willing to give credit to the best teachers of all styles. He was a Northern Gotli
from conviction and not from prejudice. There was the very highest architectural
talent in London now, as well as the secondary amount ol talent, and if there was
only something like unity of intention, an idea of the conformity of the ground, and
of the view of the building from any point at which the perspective might be gained,
and proper building, much would be gained and London would become infinitely
picturesque, and by such means tliis city might be converted into a metropolis which
might, in a century or two, be a name all through the world for inlinlte variety,
beauty, quaintne^s, and gracefulness in architecture.
On the motion of tlie Cii.viH.MAN avote of thanks to Mr. Beresford- Hope for his
able, instructive, interesting, and suggestive lecture was carried by acclamation.
The meeting then separated.
THE THAMES EMBANKMENT COMMISSION.
ON Tuesday the Commissioners appointed by the Crown to inquire into and take
evidence on this important subject, met for the first time at the Offices of the
Commission, No. '-i, Victoria-street, Westminster. The ('ommissioners were the
flight Hon. the Lord Mayor, chairman ; Sir .Joshua Jcbb; Captain Gallon, ll.£., of
the railway department of the Board of Trade ; Captain Burstal, K.N., of the Thames
Conservancy ; Mr. J. Thwaites, chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works ; Mr.
H. A. Hunt, and Mr. J. U. BIcLcan ; Mr. Henry Kingscote. hon. sec.
There were several City, scientific, and other gentlemen interested in the inquiry,
present. A short time ago, it will be remembered, the Commissioners, on their
appointment, issued invitations to the public for the sending in of plans and estimates
for the embankment and improvement of the Thames ; and the result has been, that
np to this period, not fewer than fifty projects for that purpose have been submitted
to the Commissioners ; audit is upon these, or the most important of them, that they
now propose to hear statements and take evidence; the instructions under which they
are constituted, declaring that it is expedient to provide, with the greatest efficiency,
for the relief of the most crowded streets by the establishment of a new and spacious
thoroughfare for the improvement of the navigation of the river, which will afford
the opportunity of making the Low-level Sewer, without disturbing the Strand or
Fleet-street, with the cost and means of carrying the work into execution. There
were models dehneatiug the water way of the Thames, upon the table, and
each of the designs dealt with were illustrated by large descriptive drawings.
The first case considered was that of the Thames Embankment and Kailway Com-
pany, who were represented by Messrs. Baxter, Koae, Norton and Spofl'orth, and the
Engineers Jlessrs. Fowler. Fulton, and Hemans.
Mr. Baxter informed the Company th,at it was proposed to construct an embank-
ment protected by a river wall from Westminster to Blackfriars-bridge, carrying a
road or street 80 feet in width, commencing at Westminster-bridge, and joining a.
little beyond Blackfriars-bridge, the intended extension of Cannon-street to Bridge-
street, Blaekfriars ; and a railway, with suitable stations at the bridges, running
nearly parallel with the roadway, and joining the London, Chivtham, and Dover
Hallway in Bridge-street, Blaekfriars, by its connection with which and the Metro-
politan Ilailway with the Great Western and Great Northern railways between
\7estminster and the City, at the Finsbury-circus, immediately behind the Bank,
and to the entire system of the London, Chatham, and Dover Kailway to Kent and
to the Continent. The quantity of land proposed to be reclaimed from the river
would be about 49J acres, and docks would be constructed within the embankment
covering 7^ acres, leaving 42 acres, which it is proposed to vest in the Commissioners
of Woods and Forests, in return for their payment (out of funds to be placed in
their hands by Parliament) of the compensation consequent on the construction of
the embankment. It had been well remarked that this, with "the mud banks
removed, the railway under cover, a broad road and promenade covered with trees—
and that would answer the purpose of a park in the very heart of London— would be
one of the greatest metropolitan improvements of modern times.'' It was
proposed to construct the low-level sewers witliin this embankment. At
present the low-level sewer of the main drainage system was to be carried
along the Strand and Fleet-street, aggravating the present overcrowding, of
those thoroughfares, stopping the business, increasing the cost of ratepayers, and
endangering the houses. It was calculated, moreover, that the compensation
payable along the Striuid, Fleet-street, and Ludgato-hill would amount to an
enormous sum, and that the construction of the sewer would ruin nine-tenths of the
tradespeople .along its route. The proposed undertaking would remove the pestiferous
mud banks, and substitute ornamental grounds, give a new pubhc street, .■<0 feet wide
from Westminster to Blackfriars-road— a cheap site for the great London outfall
sewer, and these great public advantages could not be obtained without a contribution
of public money, and it was understood that the Government would sanction a con-
tinuance of the coal duties at 6d. or 8d. a ton, and which expired this year to meet
the expense. The total estimated cost (exclusive of compcnsai ion, put at ,4200,000)
for the railway, road, and embankment, was £7<X),000. Towards this amount it was
proposed that the Metropolitan Board of Works should contribute, in respect of the
site for the sewer, £150,000 ; that the coal duty fund should defray all compensation,
and contribute .£230,000 for the construction of the new road. The saving by this
arrangement to the Metropolitan Board of Works wonld not be less than £100,aX),
and the total contributions of £400,000 ;would leave £300,000 of open capital lor
the railway. The Bill of the promoters now before Parliament would be modified
and altered in the event of Parliament deciding that the Metropolitan Board of
Works or any other public body should carry out the measure, and no doubt tne
House of Commons would refer to a select committee any plan that might bo approved
bv the Commissioners. The plan he represented might be made over upon payment
oi" the costs incurred.
The Lord Mayor.— Can yon tell the Commissioners the amount ?
Sir. Ba.xtek— Not more than the costs incurred by any other pubhc body la pre-
liminary expenses and in going to Parliament. . . , . .,
Mr. Hemass, one of the engineers, then went into a variety of engineering detaUs
in reply to questions from Captain Gallon .and Captain Burstal, and m reply to a
question from Mr. Thwaites, it was elicited that the facilities offered by the proposed
plan for the foundation of the low-level sewer, would only extend froni the Strand
as far as Great Carter-lane beyond Blackfriars-bridge, but the sewer might be earned
thence further on by means of the proposed new street, though that formed no part
of the plan under consideration. Had not omitted in estimating the traffic to come
upon the railway, which must of necessity be very lar"c, as an intermediate hnk ot
less than two miles between all the great centres, the competition of the penny
.and halfpenny steamboats. The arrangements, however, were such that tho
gentlemen might take up the scheme, and carry it out either with or without the
railway. , . .
JIi-. H. W. Shields, C.E. of Parliament-street, next submitted his plan for mi
embankment behvecn Westminster and Blaekfriars. The embankment would he
formed by a face wall next the river, and by filling in the space enclosed between the
wall and the present shore ; the face wall extending from Westminster-bridge to
Wliltehall-stairs, and continuing by a sweep of uniform curvature to the upper end
of the Temple-gardens, and terminating at Blackfriars-bridge, touching the first
piers of Hungerford and Waterloo-bridges, and being a Uttle beyond the line of low-
water. Through the space between the river wall and the shore there would be
carried a road or thorouprhfare of SO feet wide. It would give an additional mam
thoroughfare, improve the river, and afford facilities for the construction of the low-
lovel sewer. The embankment wonld contain 1,000,000 cubic yards, and cost £68,999 ;
378
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 3, 1861.
IL S.CM rods, or £2«.312; concrete, r,,4S.) cubic yards. £1,782 ;
. cubic feet, £8,-2« ; iron in pilins, 'J,.Vl-2 tons, £».),420. Total cost
briclkvork of face wal
•^tsmte coping. 33.A^s , . .. . .^ _ „, _
of face waM and embankment, f ltn,7ir. I.ow-lcvel sewer, ilNOOO; approach to « ater-
loo-bridgc. £7.000; formation of new roads, £10,243. Total cost (witU i20,000 for
contiu.-enciea). £350,000. .,.,_....... .^
Jlr. H. W. SiCH was next called, and explained that by his plan it was proposed
to run a roadway on an embankment in the same direction, crossiuff (Jueenhithe and
terminatinr' at Southwark-bridste. It would be (iO feet wide, and be supported uiion
columns, with facilities for barges to unload at all times, The embankment would
be»feet above Trinity hlgrh water-mark.
Mr. H. R. Newtox submitted and jjave a descriptive account of a viaduct he pro-
posed to construct on both sides clothe river, and which would have the elTect of
reducing it to 700 tect in width. He proposed upon this viaduct to erect public
offices for Government, and terraces of first -cla.'is houses. He also proposed to carry
the ground 140 feet further into the river at Somerset House, so as to give the
Government an opportunity of extending the wings of that structure. But at this
point.
The Lord Mavob (interrupting) intimated that however beautiful and elaborate
the plan before the Commissioners might be, it did not come within the scope of
their instructions, and consequently could not be entertained.
The fourth and last plan was that of Mr. A. M. Ucndel, C.E.. who proposes an
embankment with docks, for the ingress and egress of barges, and a Low-level
sewer to be carried underneath. The embankment would run from Westminster to
beyond Blackfriars-brldge. The cost, including the construction of the sewer, being
estimated at f6.jo.000, not inclusive of compensation.
The Commissioners having intimated that after having duly considered the plans
before them, they would near the wliarfingers and other owners of property
along the route of the river to be affected by the proposed embankment, then
a^joumed.
On Wednesday the Commissioners resumed their inquiry upon the subject of
carrjing an embankment, railway, roadway, and low-level sewer, along the northern
aide of the Thames.
Captain W. A. Brooks. C.E.. of Newcastle, and Great George-street, West-
minster, explained his plan for embanking the Thames by means of a noble range of
granite quays on the north bank of the Thames, in its course through the metropolis,
■from Westminster-bridge to Queenhithe. 8.580 feet in length. While looking at the
question of the embankment of the Thames as a navigation work, he also proposed
tne construction of a low-level "railway," capable of extension westward by a
tunnel between the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, and a similar
arrangement at the other end, so as to unite with all the railways at the east end of
London. The costof the railway would be £127,'^12, and it might l>e looked upon as
self-supporting. The cost of the quay would be £140,760; making a total cost of
f.'7.!.l'7-'.
Mr. E. B. WAX-JigLET, of Hammersmith, proposed what he termed an " Isolated
embankment," or, in other terms, a detached embankment, the space between it and
the shore forming a canal, in which the water would be maintained at high-water
level, so that the existing wall would remain undisturbed, and he.avy compensation
for property be avoided. He would also give a public quay for vessels to load and
onload along the whole length of the embankment, run an intercepting low-level
sewer underneath a railway or tramway on the road, and erect a " crystal arcade " of
shops on either side, with a grand public promenade.
Mr. Bardwell. architect and eivil engineer, of Great Queen-street, Westminster,
described his viaduct from Westminster-bridge to Queenhithe, 100 feet wide, with
an up and down tramway, with wh.arf basins and pleasure-grounds, at a total cost
of £500,000, including the construction of a low-level sewer in conjunction with the
embankment.
Mr. T. K. Wei.ler, C.E., proposed an Embankment commencing in a line with
tlie Houses of Parliament and ending near (Queenhithe, with water spaces behind,
which may be formed into tidal or floating docks, with a viaduct 12 feet high on the
embankment from Whitehall-place to Brokenwiiarf, and thence to Southwark
Bridge, avoiding any encroachment on the narrowest part of the river. He also
makes provision for adding a railway to the ordinary roadway, the traffic on which
he calculates would pay the cost of the embankment, which would also include a
■low-level sewer.
Mr. (;. AicKiN. C.E., submitted a design for embanking both the north and south
of the Thames, with a low-level sewer, to be carried on the inner sideot the northern
■hore. The upper part of the roadway would be 60 feet wide, with footpaths of
12 feet, leaving a space of 10 feet between the embankment and a series of public
buildings and shops along the whole length, with the exception of the ;Temple,
Somerset House and Whitehall, at a cost oi £844,000. On the south side he proposes
n roadway and a railway.
Messrs. Wilkins, I'aice, and Co., of the Dover-road, had a design for an embank-
ment from Waterloo to London-bridge, with an encroachment of 30 feet on each side,
thereby providing accommodation for two tunnels tor an up and down railway ; also
providing for a sewer and warehouses, supported on stone columns, with tidal basins
and other accessories at intervals, at a cost of £2.000.000.
Jlr. J. DvEB, of VVj'ch-street, Strand, explained his plan for locking and damming
In the upward tide of^the Thames by means of an artificial reservoir canal formed by
locks in the bed of the river, several miles long, and 15 feet wide, so as to furnish the
navigation at ebb tide with the retiuisite water power.
After some examination in detail the Commissioners adjourned.
KOYAL HOETICULTUEAL SOCIETY.-ANNIVEESARY MEETING.
ON Wednesday afternoon the anniversary meeting of the Royal Horticultural
Society. South Kensington, for the election of council, officers, and auditors for
the ensuing year, and for receiving the report of the Council for the past year, was
held in the Council -room of the Society, at the Gardens, in South Kensington. There
wa.H a numerous attendence of members, amongst whom we noticed the Earl of
Ducie (who presided). Earl Grey, Earl of Fowys, Lord Llanover, the Bishop of Win-
chester, Colonel Higgins, 3Ir. Westmacott, Sir. H. M. Hope. Right Hon. T. K.
Kennedv, Mr. C. ^\ . Dilke, Mr. V. .Stevens. Mr. .lames Heywood, &c.
Mr. Murray, Assistant-Secretary, read the minutes of the last Council meeting,
which were confirmed.
The noble Chairkan having congratulated the members of the Society on being
established on their own premises at Kensington, called upon the Assistant-Secre-
tary to read the report or the Council.
Mr. Mlrray then read the report, from which it appeared that, notwithstanding
the obstacles presented by the wet season of last year, the frosts of winter, and the
strike of the building workmen, the gardens will be opened on the 9th June, of course
in an uncompleted state, but still iu a very forward condition. The Council who
framed the report left it a question for the new Council to decide whether the garden
should Ije closed after the opening, for the finishing of the various works, and con-
gratulated the Society on the acquisition of new Fellows, as during the last two years
©37 had kM;en elected. The funds have thus been largely recruited, the subscriptions
represcntiii'' a sum of £i;i,:iOO. The expenses, however, had been large, and the
Council had applied for authority to raise £10.000, in addition to the £40,000, for
raising which authority had previously been given. A new Charter had been applied
for. which is shortly expected to pass the Great Seal.
The report then goes on to sute that the ordinary working of the Society has been
going on satisfactorily during the last twelvemonths. Several ballots for seeds and
flants Lave taken place, and this mode of distribution has found favor with the
ellows. The confining the ordinary ilistribution of flower and vegetable seeds to
those who apply for tliem is acknowledged (now that the rule is understood) to be a
proper regulation. By devoting the large conservatory at Chiswick totlie cultivation
of vines, an admirable collection of the best kinds has Ijeeii secured, from which the
Inferior sorts are being, by degrees, ellmluated, and a very large number of cuttiugs
of the now recognised best sorts, and of other fruit-trees, have been distributed.
This has been felt by the Fellows, more than ever, to be a solid advaatage. The
Flower and Fruit Committees have, under the superintendence of their respective
Secretaries, Mr. Moore and Dr. Hogg, carried on their investigations in a most
satisfactory manner, as is shown by tlieir reports in the Society's 'IToceedings.'
The Council state they have reason to know that these reports are regarded as
valu.ible sources of reference :by the gardening eommuuity. The Council, however,
think that the time has now come when the publication of something of a more im-
portant character may be tried, and they are taking preliminary steps with this view.
They have arranged to send a collector to an interesting district in South Brazil, and
have also made arrangements with a collector who is already iu South Africa, to
collect and transmit seeds and plants to this country. The Society, it appears, has
been indebted to the liberality of various individuals, who have oflered or preseuted
them with plants," seeds, and other donations. Some of these they have been un-
able to accept, others are not yet received or accepted ; but a list of those who have
so kindly testified their interest iu the Society is appended.
From the financial statement— taking first the Chiswick General Account, there
appear liabilities to the amount of £3,202 3s. i)d. and assets, including arrears of sub-
scriptions, to the same amount. The Kensington-gore account exhibited liabilities
to £37.tHi2 4s. 4d. ; and, including a balance of £2,yiiii 10s. lod.. assets to the same
value. There is appended a return by the income and expenditure (Chiswick General
Account) of the Society for the year 1800-61, as compared with the years ]n.'>8-5'J, and
lS59-()0, exclusive of Exhibitions, from which we find that the income for lsiW-61 was
£4,027 Os. 9d.— expenditure, £.'i,484Ss. 3d. ; income 1859-00, £3,702 4s. 5d.— Expendi-
ture. £2,649 19s. 2d. ; and the income of 1858-69, £3,008 4s. Id., with an expenditure
of £.3,214 OS, Id.
Earl Grey moved the adoption of the report.
Sir John Doileau seconded the motion, and in so doing congratulated the
members of the Society on its present position. — The motion was agreed to.
The meeting then proceeded to elect members ot Council in room of those who
retired, and to appoint auditors for the ensuing year.
The CHAIR.MAN stated that the Flower Show would be held on the 5th and 0th of
June. The contractor most positively assured the Council that the buildings, which
were making rapid progress, would be ready by that time for the show. But even
if the worst came, and the conservatory should not be ready for the holding of the
Flower Show, there would be ample covered space under the arcades. The first
show would take place on the 5th and 0th of June, and subsequent ones would be
held on loth .July, lltli September,and Cth and 7thKovember. The Council regretted
that her Majesty would be unable to open the gardens on the 5th of .June, as she had
intended to do, but it was expected thatH.R.H. the I'rince Consort would be present
on the occasion.
After the usual compliment to the Noble Chairman, the meeting separated.
*
A MONUMENT TO SHAKESPEARE.
Sir,— Just twelve years ago, a project was on foot to raise a monument in the
metropolis to Shakespeare, and it was strongly advocated by several of the leading
journals of the day, but from some cause, I believe wholly unexplained, the project
was abandoned.
The fact of this great city lacking, as it docs, a memorial to one of the greatest
poets that ever lived, whose works are, and will remain, the admiration of this and
future ages. Is a slur upon the enlightenment of the age we live in, and must, or
ought, certainly, to raise a blush at the want of respect betrayed by us to our own
boasted intelligence, in that we have so long deferred doing honor to him whoso
genius lias been tlie benefactor, and is the glory of his country, by raising a national
tribute to his memory, for such surely ought we to record to the man whose works
we are but too proud to note at the bar, the pulpit, and the senate.
The ways and means to carry out this much desired object are within our reach,
and I do not doubt ot the easy accomplishment of the subject if properly discussed
and placed upon a proper and unshifting footing. Appeal mignt be made to the
public to aid in a suDscrlptiou through the medium of the theatres through-
out the three kingdoms, and I am sure that those who have the
intellect and sensibility to appreciate and enjoy his works will re-
spond to the call. Is there a manager or actor who would refuse his
one night's earnings towards the fund for this purpose ? and I think that our friends
on the other side the Atlantic would also tlirow in a handsome donation. A consi-
derable sum of money could be raised by these means, and aided by private sources
a suflicieut amount might be provided to erect such a memorial as would be worthy
this great country and our idol bard.
Let architects and sculptors of Great Britain and America only be invited to send
in designs and that there may be an inducement for a grand display of such works
of art. a graduated scale of prizes should be oflered for the best designs. Let com-
petent judges selected Irom literary men and architects and sculptors be appointed
to adjudicate upon the several designs, and award the prizes ; and the amount raised
by an exhibition of these works should be apportioned for this purpose.
1 am &c.
Newington, April 24th, 1801. J. E. Eeid.
THE LONDON AND COUNTY BANK.
Sir, — Referring to your notes on the new premises of the London and County
Bank, in your last week's impression, we take leave to state that the greatest part of
the steel plate girders were supplied by ns. We are. &c..
Samuel Hood and Son.
08, Upper Thames-street, London, April 27th, 1801.
THE ARCHITECTURAL CURRICULUM.
Sir,— I fully agree with the observations made by your correspondent " H. J." in
his article on the curriculum that should be adopted, if any examination be ever
instituted i
before in '
holds,— tliat t . r -.. „
racter— that it should be a test of a candidate's education as a professional roan and
le on the curriculum that should be adopted, ii any examinaiion oe ever
d in our profession,— indeed, they entirely agree with remarks I have made
I your Journal. I there stated, what I am glad to see "H.J." strongly np-
that the examination should not be special merely, but general in its cha-
gcutleman. not simply of his aptitude iu those practical acquirements) or rule-of-
thumb duties, which are common alike to any builder or workman : and winch would
not distinguish the profession from those immediately under it. Foremost, 1 would
put (asll see "II. J." does in his sketch of the curriculum) such elementary subjects
as would give an educational color to the examination, and which should be demanded
of all previous to their taking a diploma in the more special requirements of tho
profession of an architect.
I'arHlng, analysis, and structure of the English language should not be thought too
scholastic. An impromptu article on some architectural subject would certainly be
the best way of proving a candidate's proficiency in the composition ot his
mother tongue. Next should come such an acquaintance with Greek and Latin as
would enable a student to translate freely such books as "II. J." has alluded to,
which would bo suflicent for all purposes. French and Italian would also be
important acquisitions to an architectural student, though perhaps all of those would
be too much in a preliminary examination. History, ancient and modern, especially
our own, should, as " H. J." says, form a principal part of the elementary course.
These studies should have a chief reference to architecture through all the principal
periods and phases of the art; and thus history and architecture would be made to
go hand-in-liand. This would be a great help to the student, and a lurtlieranco to
true art-progress It was truly remarked in a letter which appeared in this Journal
May 3, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
379
some weeks since, llmt many |of the profeBSion (a sbame to ray'.) arc entirely
Ignorant of the history of their own art ; liiit the value of such knowledge was
proved bv referring to many of our leading architects, who arc invariably men well
acqimiutod with history, especially that of their art. The most beautiful forms
architecture hasevr assumed are so interwoven with history as not to be understood
without its aid. Arc not the Grecian, Roman. Byzantine, Komanesfiue, Saracenic,
Medieval, (iothie, and Renaissance styles inseparably linked with history'
, I'ure and (ipplied mathematics, the principles of statics and dynamics, building,
the nature of materials, and the elements of construction generally, should, of
course, form conspicuous sabjects in the preliminary examination. In the second, or
higher ";;xamination, I ^vould introduce such subjects as relate more immediately to
the science and art of architecture, as hydrostatics, acoustics, geology, equilibrium
of arches, vaults, and bridges, trigonometry— plain and spherical, equations,
besides architectural jurisprudence, accounts, measuring, and valuing, and other
branches connected with the every-day practice of the profession. If a third, or still
higher degree, be instituted, I think it should aim more at the esthetics and the
artistic qualities of the art— the principles of beauty and proportion. Drawing tVom
the flat and round, perspective and sciography, besides tlie study of the human
figure, should here be called into requisition. This, then, is the order I would
suggest in the contemplated institution of architectural degrees ; so that, while the
ro^orit.y— the mediocrity — would reach the diploma in the first and second courses
(these being compulsory), the minority— the lew gifted with the sparks of genius-
would soar still loftier in the subtler regions of art, to attain a higher title, and a
climax to their ambition. I am, &c.,
Southampton, April 30, 1861. 6. H. 6
tenders-
Repairs, Ac, London.
For repairs and alterations of premises, 144, Oxford-street, for Messrs. Spark and
Co. Mr. H. McCalla C.E., architect.
Humphreys £340 10 1 Mantle £184 0
James and Ashtoa 335 0 I London lluilding Company
John Ashby 238 Oj (Accepted) 169 10
Sheepscar Wesleyan Chapel, Leeds.
Messrs. Pritchett and Son, architects.
Fence mils, (irai'ns, (j-c.—H. Smith £416 14 6
Iron railing, (uToitght iron). — Lewis and Co 127 0 0
Masonry, (including spire).— H. Smith 1602 0 0
Slating, {Westmorelan<l).~FTe8ioTL 277 0 0
PlaMering.—Wnaon and Son 124 15 0
•folners work. — Tomlinson 925 0 0
Plumbing an/l glazing, {iiicliuling Cathedral glass). — Lindley 180 0 0
Painting.— Yieish 45 0 0
Heating apparatus, (including res^ries).— Brook 105
Farm Buildings, Leicester.
For farm steading at Thorpe Satchville, in the county of Leicester.
Johnson, architect. Melton Mowbray. Quantities supplied.
Osborne, Brothers £714 0 0
Clifton B.M
Duxberry 6.17
Hall 613
Hayes and Barnes (accepted) 503
9 0
Mr. E. W.
0 0
0 0
0 0
6
CiiuRcn, Ac, Bath.
I'^or foundations of church and presbytery, being contract No. 1, for new Catholic
church, Bath. Charles F. Hansom, architect, Clitlon.
May and Son, Bath £1,500
Samuel G. Mitchell 1,431
Kdwiu Hill I,,3o0
Bladwell and Ambrose (accepted) 1,(>48
Architects estimate given previously £1,025.
Additions. &c., London.
For additions and alterations to I'ark House, Kegent's-park, for Joseph Black-
stone, Esq. Mr. Henry J. Lanchester, architect.
Foxley £4.34
Lawrence 410
Fish 395
Batterbury 387
Supply, Guiseley.
For the supply of 4,000 yards of cast-iron socket pipes, &c., for the Guiseley Water-
works Company.
Per length.
Cwt. Ore. Lba.
2 3 24
2 0 23
1 2 15
1 0 10
0 2 4
L.npth.
C Inch 9 feet 8-16 thick
5 ,
9 „
7-10
4 ,
9 „
7-16
^ ,
9 ,
6-16
2 ,
9 „
6-16
y»rd«.
570
180
610
880
780
Per Yard.
I. d.
6 6
£ •. d.
Itii 7 0
36 0 0
91 10 0
88 0 0
58 10 0
Joseph Cliff, Old Foundry, Brad/ord (58. coating).
£428 7 0
6 ,
9 „
8-16
5 ,
9 „
7-16
4 ,
9 „
7-16
s ,
9 ,
6-16
2 ,
9 „
6-16
270
180
610
880
780
3 10
3 2
2
1 10,
1 6
109 5
29 1
85 15
82 10
58 10
£:i65 2 0
Bolclcowand Vaughan, MidiUcsborough-on-Tees (is. 6d. coating).
8-16
7-16
7-18
6-16
0-16
1 24
0 23
2 15
0 10
2 4
670
180
610
880
780
4 0}
3 it
2 1
1 7
154 7 6
36 7 fi
95 6 3
91 13 4
61 15 0
£439 9 7
Clapham Brothers, Wellington Foundry, Keighley (5s. coating).
Dwelling-houses, Bradford,
For a block of houses in Ash-grove, Bradford.
Highest.
A/rt«c»w— .lamesBurnley & Son8£l,005.
,/oiHcr^— Booth Illingworth £1.187.
Plasterers— li(^u}gLmiQ Dixon.. £317.
/"(umftfrs— Walton and Brear.. £405.
AVaters— Hill and Nelson £203.
7'ai«<er»— rrickard £60 17.
Accepted.
David Moulson
James Neill
Cliarles Howroyd....
.Tames Keigl. ley
W. Hill and .Son
Briggs and Meusforth
£1,688
£1,021
£2S4
£380
£173
£03
Chapel, &c., Bradford.
For a chapel, school, and vestries, Stickcr-laue, Bowling, near Bradford, for the
New Connexion Methodists.
Masoni-Mumt £680,
./oi/(crji— Bngg and Sons £442.
I'lastcrera — I. and M. Bland .. £97.
/V;(»*/w'r.'i— Walton and Brear. . £65 15.
Stall rs-3. Hill and Son £97.
Painters— V/m. Hird £43 12.
reel
Charles Neal ...
John Bolton
JohnSchotleld...
James i^mithles .
I'lckard.........
£600
£81)
£43 9
£92
£25 10
Dwelling House, Ac, Hull.
For dwelling-house, offices, &c., Anlaby-road, Hull, for Miss McBride. Mr. E. G.
Smith, architect.
T. Clarkson £1,0.';0 0 0 I .L Jackson £1,000 0 0
J. Morrell l,o:i« 0 0 E. Brown and Son 983 0 0
A. Lotherington 1,0«) 15 6 1 W. Barritt (accepted) 980 0 0
G.Holmes 1,000 10 o]
Hotel, Ac, Liverpool.
For Post-office Hotel and Offices, Park-lane, Liverpool. Messrs. J. W. and J,
Hay, architects.
Richard Barker £4,048
Isaac Roberts .3,985
James Burroughs 3,740
J. H. Mullln 3,710
Haigh and Co £.3,«85
G. Rome .%a«0-
Holme and Nicol .Ml*
W. Tomkinson and Son (accepted) 3,535
Villa, Wimbledon.
For villa residence to be erected in Wimbledon-park, for James Butler, Esq. Mr.
Charles K. Gribble, 22, Spencer-villas, I'utney, architect. Quantities by Messrs.
Lausdown.
Downs .■ £4,620
Fatman and Ca 4,2.56
Aviss and Sons 4,183
Trollopeand Sons 3,933
Adamsonand Sons : 3,733
COMPETITIONS OPEIT.
CEMKTEKY.
Milan.— For plans and specifications for a grand monumental Cemetery to be
formed in the city of Milan, (Lombardy), open to all nations. An area of 180,000
square metres has been allotted for the purpose. A plan of the site chosen will be
given ou application. Not less than 120,000 square metres must be reserved for
interment, part of which must be laid out as a garden, and another portion set apart
for the burial of Protestants and other religious denomination. The distributlou
of monuments, tombs, and niches, is left to the judgment of the projectors. They
may be placed either in the open airj or under cover, and correspond with the styie
of architecture chosen. Their number must however be considerable. Appro-
priate buildings must be erected for religious ceremonies, for the service and nabi-
tation of the officials attached to the cemetery, as also for judiciary inspections and
anatomical operations ; but for these buildings no particular form is prescribed.
A maximum of three millions of francs is fixed, which sum cannot be exceeded :
the projects must be regulated accordingly. In this sum must be included the
above-named buildings, together with inclosure walls, alleys, Ac. ; but the pur-
chase of the site and the necessary earthworks are not comprised. All plans and
specifications must be presented on or before the 3l8t December, 1861, after whicli
date no plan will be accepted. They must be presented or forwarded, addressed,
"To the Municipal Council of the city of Milan," — "Alia Giunta Municipale della
Citta di Milano." Each plan must be signed by some motto and be aceom-
panied by a sealed letter containing in full, the name and address of the
author, and bear on the outside the same motto ffixed to the plan. Each
project must comprise the ground-plan, the elevations, and sections. The
ground-plan must be on the scale of at least 1 -250th of the real measure, and the
elevations and sections double that scale. For the details the scale must be
l-50th. A detailed description of the buildings and their parts must be given
with each plan, pointing out the dimensions, the materials to be used, together
with a lull estimate of the costs. All plans presented will be exposed to public
view for two months previous to awarding the prizes, and afterwards for another
month, during whicli time the authors may append their real names to their pro-
jects. To the eight best plans a premium of^ 1,000 francs will be awarded, as a
compensation ; and to the three or this number considered most worthy of merit
will be assigned a reward of 10,000 francs to the first, 8,000 to the second, and 6,000
to the third. The prizes will be awarded by a special Commission, named by the
municipal council from among the persons most renowned in art in Italy. The
three projects rewarded will remain the property of the municipality ; which how-
ever, does not bind itself in the execution to adhere strictly to any one plan. A
public competition is likewise open for plans and specifications for a new ceme-
tery for the special use of the great hospital of Milan, the area of wliich comprises
90,000 square metres. Plans of the site chosen may also be had on application.
The cost of this cemetery must not exceed 500,000 francs. In this amount is com-
Erised the cost of buildings already mentioned for the other cemetery. It must
e observed, however, that in this a small space only will be set apart for the mo-
numents and tombs of benefactors and persons connected with tlie hospital. A
prize of 3,000 and one of 2,000 francs will be given to the two best plans presented.
The same commission will award the prizes to the projects to the two cemeteries.
The time and manner of presenting the plans, the exhibition and awarding of
prizes, will be the same in this as in the preceding instance.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
BANK HOUSES. „ ,
Ireland.— For the erection of the new National Bank house and offices, at Castlerea,
county of Roscommon. Elevations, Ac., at the office of the architect, W. F.
Caldbeck. Esq., 24, Harcourt-street, Dublin, and copies of same may be seen on
application to James Jlahony, Esq., manager of the National liank, Castlerea.
Tenders to H. B. Hyde, Esq., secretary, the National Bank, 50, Old Broad-street,
London, E.C., endorsed " Tender for Building New National Bank House at
Castlerea," to May 14. , „ , , ^ »- „ »
IRELAND.-For the erection of a new National Bank house, at New Ross, county
Wexford. Elevations, Ac, with the architect, W. F. Caldbeck, Esq., 24 Harcourt-
street, Dublin, to 13th May. Tenders to II. B. Hyde, Esq., secretary, the National
Bank, 50, Old Broad-street, London. E.G., endorsed "Tenders for Eebmlding the
National Bank House, at New Ross." by May !♦•
CEMETERY.
Dewsiiurt.— For the works required in the erection of two Chapels, registrar's
house and entrances to the proposed new cemetery at Earlsheaton, near Dews-
bury Plans Ac at Messrs. .T. Marriott and Sons, architects and surveyors.
Tenders to Ch'arles'oidroyd, clerk to the Soothill Nether Burial Board, Dewsbury,
endorsed "Tender for Chapels, Ac,, for the Cemetery at Earlsheaton," before
4 p.m. of May 10. CHURCHES.
Lincolnshire.— For the restoration of the Tower of St. Mary's Church, at Hun
dleby near .-ipilsby. Specificationsof George Smith, surveyor, Spilsby, to MayS.
Tenders te the churchwardens of Ilundleby, to May 10.
Kent —For the following works to St. Nicholas Church Rochester, Kent. 1. Res-
toration of windows. 2. Erection of New Galleries. 3. Renewing of ground
floor Drawings, Ac, at the vestry of the church, bctw^een ten and four, until May
380
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 3, I86I.
11th. Scaled tenders to the Hev. A. C. Adams, Boley llUl, Uoehester, to 7 p.m.
May 16.
WoBCESTERSiiiKE.— For restorinp and refitting the parish Church of Bockelton,
near Tcnburv, Worcestershlrv'. riaiis, &c, at the office of Mr. Thomas Sale, soli-
citor, Leomiiistcr. IMan.i, Ac, to 13th of May, Sealed tenders directed to the
Kector of Ik^kkion, bv May •-■<>.
LrscoLNSHiRE.— For sa'ndry works to be done in reseating .ind otber^vise restoring
the parish church of St. JIary, Wilsford. I'lans, &c., at the office of Messrs.
Kirk and Parry. SIcafonl. Scaled tenders to the Kector, the IJev. J. 1\ B, Younge,
Wllsford, on May 13.
SCHOOLS, Ac.
Boston. —For the erection of school and class-rooms, &c., in Witham-place, Boston
for the trustees of LauRliton's Charity. Plans, &c., preipared by Messrs. Kirk and
Parry, Architects, Sleaford, at the offices of Messrs. Jebb and Son, solicitors, Bos-
ton, from May 10. Scaled tenders to be sent to their office directed ' The Clerk to
I^uehton's Charity Trustees," and marked on the outside " Tender," by noon of
Hay 23.
CHEiDLE.— For the erection and completion of new schools and master's residence
at C»Ter»wall. Plans, &c., at tho present school house, Ca- erswall, and duplicate
copies at the office of Kalph Dain, architect, Liverpool- road, Burslom, where bills
of quantities may be obtained. Sealed tenders properly endorsed, to bo sent to
the Iter. fl. B. Greenwood, Caverswall, Cheadle to Jlay 11.
EccBT.— For.the erection of school buildmgs and master's residence, at Stretton-on-
Dimsmore, near Rugby. Plans, &c., at Mr. Blockley's. <Stretton-ou-Dunsmore,
and further information on applioation to the architect, Thomas Nicholson, Here-
ford. Tenders to the architect, to Blay 15.
Fbestox.— For the enlarjiement of St LiUtc's school, Preston. Plans, &c., at the
officeof Mr. T. W. Carter, architect, 1, Cross-street, Preston, to May 10.
SMITHFIELU.
WELcnpooL, MONTGOMEBTBHIRE.— For the formation of a Smithfield, in the
borough of Welchpool, in the county of Moutgomery. Plans, &c., at the office of
Alfred Meredith, town-clerk, iu Welchpool, or duplicates of the same, at the office
of the architect, Mr. Uobcrt Griffiths, Bridgnorth, until the 13th May. Tenders
under cover, addressed to Mr. Meredith, by 10 a.m.. May 14.
BRIDGES, &c.
Makchester.— For the supply and fixing of the girders required in covering over
a portion of the river Medlock, at tho No. 1 gas station, Gaythorn. Plans, &c., at
the city surveyor's office, Town-hall, Slanchester. Sealed tenders, addressed to
the Chairman of the Gas Committee, to be delivered at the gas office, York-cham-
bers, King-street, by 10 a.m., ilay 10.
RAILWAY WORKS.
Nobth-Bkitisii R AJtwAV.— For the erection of the station at Bellingham, on the
above railway. Plans, &c., at the office of John F. Tone, 10, Market-street, New-
€a>tie-upon-Tyne. Tenders received at the office olJC. V. Laws, Grey-street, New-
castle, by noon of May 13.
DtTBUKAKD Urogiieda Railway. —For the construction of a line of railway from
the to^m of Kells to the town of Oldcastle, in the county of Meath. Plans, &c., at
the office of Mattliew Blakiston, Esq., civil engineer, No. y, Eustace-street,
Dublin. Sealed tenders, endorsed "Tenders for the Kells and Oldcastle Extension
JKaUway," to J. P. Culverwell, secretary, Amiens-street, Dublin, by May 9.
WAREHOUSE, Ac.
JLoimoK AKD Nortii-Westekn Uailway.— For the erection of a goods warc-
boue, at Ueatley, five cottages, viz. :— one at Timperley junction, one at Beans-
gate crossing, one at Thelwall, one at Sankey-bridge, and one at Crosby-bridge ;
and alterations to Dunham Station, all on the Timperley and Garston line. Draw-
ings, Ac., at the engineer's office. Stafford. Tenders addressed to C. E. Stewart,
secretary, secretary's office, Euston station to May 15.
GAS WORKS.
BlAKCHEBTEB. — For thc execution of the several works required in the diversion
and covering over of a portion of the river Medlock, at the No. 1 gas station, Gay-
tbome. Plans, &c., at the city surveyor's office, the Town-hall, Manchester.
Sealed tenders, addressed to the Chairman of the Gas Committee, to be delivered
at the gas office, York-chambers, King-street, by 10 a.m. May 10.
PUDSEV,— For excavating, puddling, and building a gasholder tank, for the Pudsey
Gas Company, 88 feet 6 inches, by 2j feet. J'laus, Ac, at the Company's offices, in
Pudsey, to 9th May, when, by 0 p.m., scaled tenders must be delivered.
AVATEUWOKKS.
BiBMDrcHAM.— For the following works, viz. :— Excavating and filling in groimd
reqtilred for laying down pipes from pubUe baths in Kent-street, along Gooch-
Btreet, Bromsgrove-street, Jamaica-row, Spiccal-street, tlie Bull-ring, Moor-street,
and Park-street, Birmingham, for the purpose of conveying water for watering the
said streets and neighborhood. Also for engineers' work required in providing,
laying down, and fixing tlie conduits or water pipes through and along the said
streets ; providing and erecting a water column or stand pipe and rising main at
the public baths. Also ci-^terns in market hall of the borough, together with the
necessary principals, girders, beams, columns, pipes, and other materials and
works connected therewith. Plans. &c., on application to Mr. Pnmell, at the
public baths, Kent- street. Birmingham. Tenders, addressed to the Baths and
Parks Committee, endorsed " Tender for Excavator's Work," and "Tender for
Engineers' Work," to be forwarded, under cover, to Thomas Standbridge, town
clerk, town clerk's office, Templc-fitreet. Birmingham, to May 21.
DWELLING HOUSES, SHOl'S, &c.
Btaptord.— For the erection and completion of certain additions and alterations
to thc Judges' House, in Stafford. Plans, Ac, with Mr. Charles Trubshaw, county
surveyor. The Hollies, Stafford, from Monday, April 20, to May 4. Tenders to the
Clerk of the Peace's office, Stafford, endorsed "Tender for Additions to Judges'
House." by May 11.
Leeds.— For the works required in the erection of six shops and houses in Leeds.
Plans, Ac., with Thomas Shaw andgon, architects, Belgrave-square, Leeds.
IHEI.ASD.— For the erection of two dwelling-houses at Ballybrack, near Bray, for
E.Courtney, Esq. IMans, Ac, at thc office of thc architect, W. F. Caldbeck, Esq.,
24, Harcourt-street, Dnblin. to May 0.
IBELAKD.— For thc ercctlon of a dwcllhig-honsc between Bootcrstown and Black-
rtwk. Plans, Ac, at thc office of the architect, W. F. Caldbeck, Esq. , 24, Harcourt-
street, Dublin, to -May «.
DCBLIB.— For rebuilding two houses in Grailton-street, Dublin, for William Long-
fleld, Esq. Plans, Ac, at the office of the architect, W. F. Caldbeck, Esq., S,
Harcourt-street, Dublin, to l.tlh May.
Eeiih.— Forthe two small detached houses, at Enth, Kent, 8.E., near the railway
station. Quantities not supplied. For particulars, Ac, apply to Mr. C. F.
Maltby's office, 7.!, ('olcman-strcet. City, EC.
liBEDS. — For the works required in the erection of six shops and houses in Leeds.
Flans, Ac, with Thomas Shaw and Son, architects, Uelgrave-square, Leeds, to
May 8th. . t, m i
FARM BUILDINGS, Ac
KHIT.— For the erection of a farm-house at Winchetthill, Gouldhnrst, Kent. Draw-
bgs, Ac, at Mr. George Huntley's, Horsmonden. Tenders to be sent to Mr.
Thomas Wickham. Grove Hurst, Ilorsmonden, Kent, to May 14.
DiKBT.— For erecting farm buildings, restoring residence, Ac, at the Lodge Farm,
and adjoining farms, B(-lper Lawn, Derbyshire. Drawings, Ac, with Messrs.
Giles and Brookhouse, Derby ; to whom tenders, endorsed " Tender for new Farm
Bidldings, Helper I^wn," by 10a.m. of May 6.
„ COTTAGES.
Haxtwiiistle.— The building and flnlshlngof 20 brick cottages, fdr the Coad wood
Coal Company, at Herdley Bank, four miles from Haltwhigtle, on the Alston
branch of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway. Plans, Ac, at the Company's
office, Herdley Bank. Other information on application to Mr. AVhaley, the agent.
bv wlioni scaled tenders will be received, either for tho whole or in trade depart-
niients. up to May li. •
VILLAS.
Harrogate.— For the ercctlon of a rtlla residence in Victoria Park, Harrocrate.
IMrtiii*, Ac. with I'erkiu and Backhouse, architects, Pease's-bnildings, No. 5,
Souili-parade, to May 11, to whom tender.s on 3Iav lOtli.
Tottenham.— For the several works iu (iiiisliing,'flt for occupation, two pair of
villas, at Tottenham. Plans, Ac, at the office of the architect, Mr. K. H. Moore,
10. Walbrook, until May sih, when the tenders are to be delivered.
POLICE STATION.
BiRMixmiAM.— For the erectiou and completion of the new police station, in
Kenyon-street, Birmingham, for the Corporation. Drawings, Ac, atthe office of
Mr. AV. Martin, architect, Christ Church-buildings, Birmmghnm. Tenders ad-
dressed to the Watch Committee, endorsed "Tender for Police Station. Kenyon-
street," under cover, to Thomas Standbridge, town clerk, Town Clerks' Office,
Temple- street, by May 20.
SEWERAGE.
Chester.- For the construction of a sewer, from Bedford-road, in thc district of
Higher Bcbinofton along the Rock Ferry Esplanade, to the southern boundary of
thc Rock I'ark Estate. Plans, Ac, at the office of the Local Board, No. '.), King-
street, Rock Ferry, on Tuesdays and Fridays, between eight and twelve noon ;
and at the ofhcc of Sir. Thomas C. Clarke, North Crescent-chambers, :), Lord-
street, Liverpool. Tenders to the office of thc Local Board, Rock Ferry, addressed
to Thomas Woodburn, to May 11,
Bradford.— For the sewering, drainage, Ac, of Gibbons-street, extending from the
Ashton New-road to Mill-street, in the township of Bradford, near llancliester.
Plans, Ac, at thc office of the Hoard of Health, Bradford, and further particulars
from Mr. R. J. Lawton, surveyor, 13, Cooper-street, Manchester. Sealed tenders,
addressed to the chairman, to be delivered at the aforesaid office, by noon Slay 20.
Bath.— For the supply of glazed stoneware sewage pipes for 12 months for tho
Sewers Committee of^ the Local Board of Health, of the city and borough of B.ith.
The probable quantity required will be 2.000 feet of 12-inch, 4,500 feet of '.t-inch, 500
feet of G-ineh, with junctions and bends. The pipes to be best quality and make, to
be supphed Irom time to time in such quantities as may be reqiured, from a depot,
to be provided by and at the cost of the contractor, in Bath, where a sufficient stock
must DC kept in hand to meet the demand. Tenders from Mr. Slitchell, tl, t>range-
grove, Bath, upon the printed forms, sealed and endorsed, "Tenders for Pipes," and
addressed to the Sewers' Committee, 0, Orange-grove, Bath, to be scut in by 11
a.m.. Slay H. A sample, 0-inch, a 0-inch, and a 12-inch pipe, with maker's name
painted thereon, also to be delivered with or before the tender, free of all charge.
London.— For the construction of new sewers iu Billiter-street, Billitcr-square, and
Great Tower-hill, and works in connexion therewith. Plans, Ac, at the office of
Mr. William Heywood, Engineer to the Commission, 39, King-street, Cheapside.
Tenders before 1 p. m.. May 14.
London. — For the supply of materials and execution of jobbing and measured works
required for thc sewers and drains within the parish of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields
from the 9th May, for one, two, or three years. Printed forms of tenders, Ac. , may
be obtained of Sir. Burstall, surveyor to the vestry, at the vestry hall, between tea
and twelve, on payment of 5s. Tenders, sealed up, to be delivered at the vestry-
hall, endorsed, " Tender for Sewer Works," before six p.m.. May 9.
PA'VING, Ac
Manchester.— For the levelling, paving, flagging, Ac, of a portion of Gibbons-
street, in the township of Bradford, near Slanchester. Plans, Ac, at the office of
the Board of Health, Bradford, and further particulars from Sir. R. .1. Lawton, sur-
veyor, 13, Cooper-street. Sealed tenders, addressed to the chairman, to be deli-
vered at the aforesaid office, by noon. May 29.
London.— For paving Lucas-street, in the parish of St. (Jeorge-in-the-East, Mid-
dlesex. I'lans, Ac. at the office of Mr. A. Wilson, surveyor, 126, Cannon-street-
road. Tenders before 6 p.m., May 16.
SUPPLY.
London.— For the supply of materials for the Commissioners of the Metropolis
Roads north of the Tliames, particuLars of which maybe had at thc Metropolis
Roads office. No. 22, Whitehall place. Sealed tenders for the above (on printed
forms only) addressed to the commissioners, and marked "Tenders for Materials,"
to be delivered at the aforesaid office by 11 a.m.. May 15
MILITARY WORKS.
Dockyards.— For the extension and improvements of the works of fortification
round the principal dockyards of the country. It is intended to call for contra cts
from time to time, from any persons of known competence who may be willing to
tender for the same, and contractors desirous of tendering for such works are to
send their names and addresses, with any necessary references as to competency
to the Director of Contracts, War-office, Pall-mall,' London, in order that, if ap-
proved of, they may be included in the list of contractors to whom invitations arc
forwarded when contracts are required. Parties applying tostiite the nature and
the extent of thc work, and the loeahtles for which they would wish to be invited
to tender, as opportunities offer.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
A Reader (Hhigham .)— C. would appear to be entitled to no more than was given by B. to
A. m 182ii. It woulil not bo legal to put the entablature without consent.
X. L. M Shall bear from us In due course.
C. P.— Too trivial.
Newcastle-on-Ttne.— Perhaps.
J. K. V. .s.— 1. The proposal to form a roof over the area of the Royal Exchange
originated some years ago ; wc do not recollect if it was mooted at the time of erection. S.
We cannot say.
M. M. SI.— Not for us to find an explanation of the omission. IWrlte to the Editor of the
paper in question. . ,, ^,
T, y. B.— Seems good in theory. Let us know the result of a little practical application.
Tno.uAB V N Will be rclerred to in our last notice.
A. Black.— We are unable to learn from your letter what you wish to know.
II. It. II .\llowancc must be made fur tho difference of level, the rainfall bemg much
greater on the (rrouiid ihan at a considerable altitude.
O. H. has arlfjht to sue for thc diircrence.
L. SI. N The eondltiou known as thc spheroidal state was first investigated by M.
Boutigny.
It. Foley.- Canhardlybe aware that we have long advocated the adoption of thecoiu-so
proposed. „ ^ . ,
W.— 'riic Jlordant varnish, as used in France for fixing engravings, Ac, on wood, contains
of saudarach 2.'i0 parts; m.astlcln tears, M parts; rosin, 125 ; Venice ttu'pentme, 250 ; and
alcohol, l,fjoo parts, by niea.sure.
Associate.— Letter shall bo printed on receiving name and address.
Q. IN A OoaNER — Kefomi Is much needed.
Observer Shall be considered In detail at the proper time.
William Foster.— Thanks Cor sketches ; look for a notice In two or three weeks.
E. W We believe tho machine has been eiu|)loveil with considerable advantage.
V. P. AND Co.- Our attention is being directed to thc class of houses erecting on the estate.
• Existing regulations appear to be scarcely sulhclcnt.
Crane — In type.
A Bricklayer Shall appear.
-\ Little 0-ve.— Declined with thanks.
Keceived.-
C.C. D,
holder, ,
Books itECEivEO Fairhairn's " JIllIs and SliUwork;" Bcresford Hope, "The English
Cathedral :" " Handbook of Civil Service ;" Viollct le iJuc's " MUltarj- Architecture of the
Middle Ages;" J. u. Parker's " Introduction to the Study of Gothic Architcctorc ;' The
Art J<rttrnal,
Little 0-ve.— Declined with tlianks. _ _ ,, „
iCEivED J. SI. K., W. liogcrs, T. K. S., V. V., M. Kobcrt Sibley, Edward M., J. F. X.,
::. C. D., L. A. S., J. O., p. B. N., A Constant Reader (Portsmouth), F. E. N., A Houae-
liolder, A. Z., P. L. B., M., W. W. and Co., A Subscriber (Ely), A Constant Reader (Hull),
May 10, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
381
AIICIIITKCT-UMPIRES.— THE LATE CHANCERY
DECREE.
£1 DEEM it desirable to invite the
special attention of architects to
a building case, tried in the
Vice-Chancellor's Court before
Sir John Stuart ; and reported*
last week in our Journal. It is
the case of I'awloy (a con-
tractor) versus Turnbull (the
owner) and Hey the architect, of four
houses, which the plaintiff had. con-
tracted to erect at Notting-hill.
There is no necessity for recapitu-
lating the circumstances of the case.
Its decision by the Vice-Chancellor
would seem to have turned on the
assumed arbitrary conduct of the
architect ; and so far they are of some
interest to builders, who may be said
to have in Sir John Stuart an Equity
Judge, not indisposed to take a con-
siderate view of the contractor's posi-
tion in a building contract. Indeed
so strong were the animad-
versions of the Vice-Chancellor,
and so unmistakable was the
expression of his opinion that,
an architect should be rather an impartial
umpire between his client and contractor
than a partisan of his employer, that, we
shall not be surprised to find this case of
Pawley w. Turnbull and Hey made the precedent for other appeals in
the Equity Courts. We have no opinion of our own to express as to
the merits of this Notting-hill case — nay can well understand the
delicacy of an architect's position, and his natural dread of any imputa-
tion of colluding with or leaning to the builder in a contract ; never-
theless it is too true that, there is a class of architects, who totally
dissent from this view of Viee-Chancellor Stuart's ; who look on them-
selves, not as impartial arbiters between the builder and employer, but
as captious partisans of the latter, ready on any opportunity to display
their professional zeal for his interest, by pouncing on any stray misin-
terpretation of an agreement, or flaw in an estimate, and involving
the unhappy builder in pecuniary loss. Such architects there are :
thev are a scandal to their profession. They find unfortunately con-
genial clients; and so, even make good capital of their nefarious
propensities. All this we observe by the way, and without reference
at all to tlie parties in this action, of whom indeed we have no know-
ledge whatever.
Our present object is to direct the notice of all architects to the
state of uncertainty, in which the Vice-Chancellor's comments on this
building agreement is likely to leave them, in drawing up their future
specifications. We refer especially to the custom of making the
architect sole arbiter in all matters of dispute— to, in short, the
necessity or non-necessity for the " arbitration clause." Here and
there it is true some architects insert an arbitration or reference
clause in their building contracts ; but as a rule nearly every architect
in the kingdom is accustomed to so word his specifications, as to
constitute himself sole umpire in all matters of doubt or dispute. The
clause, by which they reserve to themselves this power, is too well
known amongst builders to need repetition here ; but its recital seems
to have quite amazed, not only the builder, but the Vice-Chancellor;
as will be seen by the following extract from the report of the case :—
"In tlic contract there was a clause, by wliich Hey was appointed sole
.i'rJI! i"^- '"! ™^"«" '1 dispute between the builder and tlie defendants."
t he piaintiff who, at the time of the signing of the contract, was suffering from
uiHammation of tlie eyes, and could not read it, stated tliat lie was not aware of
there being in the contract such an arbitration clause : or he would not have
agned It." '
"The learned Vice-chancellor did not think that any man, with his eyes open,
would liiive signed a contract, which contained so strict and binding a clause as
that in the contract."
We can_ only say that, were the plaintifTs and the learned Vice-
tancellor's views of this clause to be realised to-morrow, nearly every
arge building, erecting in the metropolis and the provinces, would be
It once brought to a dead lock There are capitalists, who now employ
puilders to construct works under an architect's control, who would
ever think of building, could they reasonably foresee that the operation
(■as to eventuate in the setting aside of their architect's certificate, and
he calling in of an arbitrator, whether architectural or forensic. There
I also architects, and we verily believe builders, who would shrink
Page 373.
from entering into contracts at all, if it were made likely that the
bother o{ adjusting them would have to be repeated, with all the costly
paraphernalia of written and oral evidence, to be resuscitated by lawyers
before a referee.
The ordinary course pursued is, to make the architect sole umpire in
building contracts. It is too often the case that, clients greedify avail
themselves of this arrangement, so far as the contractor is to be
concerned ; but for their own part decline to sign a contract, seeking
thereby to play fast and loose in the affair ; and this, by-the-bye, S
generally so when lawyers, not architects, draw up the agreement. To
constitute the architect of a building sole ai-biter of all disputes arising
out of its construction is certainly not a perfect arrangement ; for the
architect may possibly prove an unfair arbiter ; but it may be asked
what mundane tribunal is {>erfect ; and what aflairs are there, of all
mundane matters, more intricate and difficult of solution than buildin<r
contracts ?_ In nine cases out of ten even an architectural referee wfl
fail to arrive at the real merits of a building dispute, and prove
physically incompetent to adjust it with equity ; while a forensic referee
may flounder on, sittinn; after sitting, in chambers ; and, after abso-
lutely bewildering all the architects, builders, and surveyors engaged
on it, arrive himself at no more intelligent idea of the business, bliried
as he finds it in technical jargon, than, "Ca3sar.and Pompey very much
alike— 'specially Pompey :— leCs toss up ;" or, he may adopt the more
dignified, time-honored course of awarding each litigant one- half his
claim — " a shell each "—and a very costly shell it will invariably prove.
'Bating a trifle of flippancy here, there is really not much exaggeration.
Arbitrations do very seldom terminate in a clearing up of a disputed
building-case ; and a frequent repetition of them would soon give the
uninitiated public an insuperable aversion to building by contract, and
as a necessary consequence a death-blow to architects and builders.
We should all return — that is to say, the capitalists would return — to
the old exploded course of building by day-work, or, by measure and
value. Buildings, instead of being, as now they are, pretty well considered
in their design before erection, would be begun, as they used to be,
thirty years ago, on only a crudely devised ground-plan, and be carried
up, no one knows how ; sometimes with an architect, but oftener with-
out one. AVe could name many buildings, which have been thus
erected — especially in the provinces. In those days there were few
" builders," and few architects. The lump-contract system has made
both of these necessary to the community ; and, looking back on the
English architecture of the last thirty years, we see no reason to doubt
that, taking one thing with another, they have both — architects and
builders — subserved very satisfactorily the public good. Our buildings
may not always be what they should be ; our mode of architectural
practice is very imperfect; but they are both of them very greatly
improved since the introduction of general contracts, and architect
umpires.
We have no vulgar prejudice against lawyers, nor, as a collective
class of men, any particular veneration for architects. We simply
desire the two should keep tlieir own respective places ; and that the
architect, who knows more about his building than any other man,
should be kept in his true position of sole referee between the builder
and his em])loyer ; to accomplish which arrangement it is, of course,
indispensable that, the client as well as the contractor should abide by
his arbitrament. This he should exercise impartially between the two,
ofwhomwewill assume he is wholly independent : if the architect is
merely to act as his client's alter ego, the oftener we call in the Vice-
Chancellor the better.
We conclude then that, on the whole it will be best for all parties
that, in building transactions the architect should continue to hold the
position, which Sir John Stuart deemed in this case of Pawley v.
Turnbull so very indefensible. But, it is of course of the first con-
sequence to that end that, the architect himself should be sans peur et
sans reproche. Let the Institute of Architects see to that — beginning
of course with its own members, and, wherever the contrary is found to
exist, adopting a fearless, vigorous course of expulsion.
With architects of unexceptionable character we think contractors
will need little of recourse to references. When the matter becomes a
serious one, and a reference is necessary, there are always the two
Courts of Equity to apjieal to. What these are one may readily judge,
by the concluding words of Sir John Stuart in giving his decree : it is
of the first consequence that parties should have facilities for entering
into building contracts without anticipation of those heavy law expenses,
which he warned the parties of Here are his warnings.
" Any further inquiry of account would involve an iinmoisc amount of ex-
penditure to all parties' concerned. * • * He advised the defendants to take
the amount properly expended to be £248, and thus sare further expenses."
Just so ; and we can fancy an honest intelligent architect, sitting in
his office (or little Court of Equity) and saying the same thing, to a
dissatisfied client or contractor ; with this difierence that, he of all men
may be the best qualified by personal knowledge of the business, to
thus utter his dictum.
382
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 10, 1861.
TUB USE AND ABUSE OF ESTIMATES.
OUR readers mar recollect that in the autnmn of last year Estimates
forraeil the subject of three articles * in which we attempted to show
the nature of estimates, and to describe briefly some of the methods of
framing them. It is now intended to consider the legitimate employment
of them in the conduct of business, and the mistakes and errors to which
the use of them is open.
It will be remembered that we laid down the principle that an estimate
was an expression of opinion as to the cost of a proposed work. The
yaloe of this opinion depends upon the known character and position of
the person from whom it proceeds, or upon some other consideration by
which it is, so to speak, endorsed.
The estimate of a man who is known to have experience will be received
a« worthy of more attention than that of a novice. The estimate of an
architect, a surveyor, or a builder, will be received as worth more than
that of a person unconnected with building, and an estimate backed by
an offer to perform the work proposed for the sum named, will usually
carry more weight than anything else.
This is the state of the case with regard to the public. We shall pro-
ceed to show that as this view of estimates is on the whole reasonable and
sound, and is certainly natural, there are tacit obligations laid upon those
who furnish estimates, binding in honor whether or not they may have
been literally expressed in words. The obligations similarly laid upon
those who cause estimates to bo made will, as a matter of course, also
claim attention.
It is certainly reasonable that the public should conclude that, when a
man makes a thing his business, he must be competent to do it. It is also
agreeable to common-sense to suppose that one who has been at work
upon any employment for years should be more competent than a beginner.
So much is the feeling in favor of experience prevalent that important
business is naturally sent, especially by persons who are, in' any sense,
trustees, to persons long known; and in every department of business an
" old established" concern has ordinarily the preference.
To those persons who wish to stand well with their constituents, be
they a board acting for ratepayers or a committee acting for subscribers,
we have not much to say on this point. It is natural they should wish to
be able to say, " We did the best we could; we got the most experienced
advice, we were assisted by a man whom you all know." To those, how-
ever, who are acting on their own responsibility, with no one to please but
themselves, we would venture to suggest that if they are seeking an
estimate for any work, their greatest safeguard against being led astray
lies in the skill and honesty of the person they employ and the care with
which his work has been done rather than his position or his experience.
The same observation applies with the greatest force to the use of esti-
mates furnished in the form of tenders. Men can be found willing to
undertake work at almost any sacrifice, without anything like a know-
ledge of what they are about, and with no prospect of being able to fulfil
their engagement if called upon to do so. A guarantee to an estimate in
the form of a tender ought therefore manifestly not to be looked upon as
an infallible test of its correctness. Kthe person furnishing the tender is
responsible, trustworthy, and careful, his estimate is probably a safe one ;
if he be reckless, unprincipled, or desperate it is extremely likely to be
erroneous.
This, however, is by-the-bye ; what it is wished now to urge is the tacit
obligation, if a man in making an estimate assumes a character which he
knows the public will trust, that he should take care his estimate is really
trustworthy. This principle is part of the great fundamental law of all
business, that all transactions ought to be bona fide. If a man in mercan-
tile life raises money on bills, trades upon a fictitious capital which has
no existence, or in some other way succeeds in obtaining credit to which
he has no claim, we all know what the end of him is likely to be, and we
feel no pity when he is gibbeted as a fraudulent bankrupt.
Ifa surveyor, an architect, or a builder, knowing that his profession
gives him a claim to be believed when he states a sum as the probable
cost of a future work, names an amount which misleads those who put
confidence in him, he sins against his own credit, and the credit of his
calling.
This is often done carelessly. Nothing is more common than for a man
to be asked ofi'-hand to name an amount, as the probable value of such and
such works. A prudent man will always decline to do so at all; for the
Kuns named, though they may be aaked for as approximations, will be
treated, owing to the standing of the person from whom they come, as
rehable calculations. Architects often do not think of this ; they name
sums of money for which the work might possibly be done, under some
cxtraordmanly favorable combination of circumstances, or for which they
hope to get it done, and they are liable to disappoint their clients
accordmg y. An architect is not always bound to know the cost of work-
he u not disgraced by giving the answer, "I have not estimated this work,
and I decline to guess at its cost," and he wiU find great advantage &om
follow mg such a course.
There is a further and apparently a more pardonable source of error in
S r««I?. tw i'ii ^r'°» * ^""'^'^ Ei>es3, but it is one likely to lead
to resiilts that will be very unpleasant. We refer to tacitly or openly
Si .,'ff n T'' '"^'''' ^^ "'« ^"^"' '"■"««"'• If «° inexperienced
man ga>s to one of some experience, ■• I consider that I ought to be able to
iffS^'?S£x:sSe'^'^i^'»'~''^^'^S!.
complete this for such an amount," and then proceeds to propose that the
work referred to shall be undertaken, it is pretty clear that if the person
so addressed be the adviser of the one thus addressing him, it will be his
duty to clear up the question of estimate at an early period. The probable
cost of work forms, and ought to form, a great feature in all preliminary
preparations, and if an architect knowingly allows his client to form and
retain an opinion on this subject that is wide of the truth, he is, we submit,
failing in his duty.
There is often, under such circumstances, a temptation which it requires
some honesty to resist. The client would recoil from encountering the
expense of a proposed building, if he knew it beforehand, but he can be
" led on " from item to item, without his, perhaps, remonstrating strongly,
and, many men will add, " when all is done, he will be glad that he has done
as much as he has." Of course, a man who has commenced any building
will sooner complete it at a sacrifice than abandon it, and when it is done,
if he is a prudent man, ho will make the best of his bargain, and if the
building is a good one, will turn his mind rather to its excellences than its
expense. But, we ask, is this the duty of an architect ? The client
would never have become a client had he known he was going to be " led
on " in tliis way, and it is most unquestionably as much a part of the duty
of his professional adviser to consult his wishes as to expenditure, as it is
to meet his requirements and tastes as to accommodation.
The architect, then, we repeat, because he is an architect, and conse-
quently is trusted, is bound to inform his client correctly as to contem-
plated expense, or if he cannot do so, not to pretend to inform him at all ;
and he is bound further to prevent his deceiving himself by forming an
incorrect estimate, and interpreting his architect's silence into a con-
currence. Duty to the profession, to his own good name, and to his
employer, demanded as much of him.
There is, however, it will be;;urged, such a thing as an unreasonable
client who will not give up his views as to what he ought to get for his
money. From experience we can safely say that even men of this class
are very seldom indeed driven away by a courteous but firm opposition on
the part of their architect, and even if this were to happen it is better to
lose a client than to lose honor. If one man is unreasonable, that afforda
no sufficient cause why another should be dishonest.
The most difficult case of all is that of competitions, and the duty of
competitors. It is no uncommon thing forthecontemplated expenditure to
be such as will not prove equal to the requirements, in some cases such as
will not go half-way towards meeting them. The only rule that can be
laid down here is if requirements are manifestly contradictory, as it is im-
possible to comply with both, do not attempt it, comply with the demand
the satisfaction of which will give in your opinion the best chance of
success, but don't profess to have harmonized both. It may sometimes
happen that persons will take care to select a design that can be built
for their money ; if this is likely to happen, keep within bounds, and
neglect some of the requirements. It ordinarily happens that the design
will be selected which is thought to meet the requirements
best, regardless of cost. Ordinarily, therefore, it will be prudent to prepare
a design of this character.
Unfortunately, it will usually happen that the design chosen will have
not only features exceeding the limit, but an estimate greatly below the
mark. We can only record this with regret: it may be, and often would
be a valid reason for abstaining from competition in all cases where
inadequate amounts are named; but it is no excuse to a man who ought
to hold dear either his personal honesty or the character of his profession
to be able to say, " I have only done as my neighbour did." It would be
perfectly legitimate in such circumstances to send a design that could not
be executed for the sum of money prescribed, because in cases where there
are csnflicting requirements it is manifestly excusable to select those that
are the most urgent. It would not be legitimate under such circumstances,
because it would not be legitimate under any circumstances, knowingly to
make a statement that is contrary to the truth.
We have observed that it is not obligatory on an architect in all cases
to know what work will cost. He ought, however, in the majority of
instances to satisfy himself on this head, and, if he does not do this himself,
but delegates the duty to a surveyor, a course pursued by many architects,
he ought either to check the correctness of the estimate or to give it as
the surveyor's estimate, and not as his own.
Surveyors are, on many accounts, less likely to mislead or to be misled
than any other class of men ; and above all, as was shown in our former
notice of this subject, because they approach an estimate dispassionately.
The principal risk is that, as their detailed estimates are very difficult to
check, surveyors should allow themselves to be induced to take dimensions
and quantities " full," so as to make themselves safe in case of any
difficulty. This is an unfortunate circumstance, and we cannot but hold
that the extremely minute detail into which surveyors' estimates often run
in London is a misfortune also. The character of accuracy and of keep-
ing close to the truth is one which of all others it is desirable for a
surveyor to maintain, and one which, if he has it, will do him more service
in this profession than any other.
It is less, however, with surveyors, who are the accredited preparers of
estimates than with architects, builders, tradesmen, and the public, that
we have to do when considering the misuse and the use of estimates. We
have in what has now been said cjiiefly referred to architects; we shall
have to draw attention in a future article to the other classes named, and
shall hope to be able to put in a clear light certain obligations and duties
which are too often neglected, let us hope because for the most part their
existence has not been recognised. B. S.
May 10, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
383
ROYAL ACADEMY EXHIBITION.
BESIDES being enabled to compliment the Council of the Royal Academy on
the improvement in the building, we can, if possible, more joyfully indulge
in the pleasure of complimenting them on the change in the selection of their
quotation on the title-page of their catalogue, for it is not only in English but
from an English authority, and one who is, at the least, quite as good as any
Latin, Greek, or German writer on art who could have been chosen, with the
advantage, instead of being an unintelligible language to many, conveys valuable
and practical information to all. We are too well pleased with the change to
charge the Academicians with ingratitude, but we must say that after having
encouraged the pre-Hniiaelites by exhibiting their labors and by bestowing upon
the sect, in one or two instances, Academic honors, it is rather unkind to so
deliberately condemn them as is done by printing an extract from Sir Joshua
Reynolds' fourth lecture, in the following words : — " The value and rank of
every art is in proportion to the mental labor employed in it, or the mental
pleasure produced by it." This we hail as a deliberate blow aimed at the
absurd waste of time bestowed by pre-Rafi'aelite painters upon garbage and
garden-stuff to the neglect of the higher purposes of hue art. But, unfortunately
for the state of art generally , the above extract, while it censures the labors of
those crotchety pretenders it reads as severe and well-deserved a lesson to the
Academicians tliemselves, for although in several instances they show improve-
ment, which we shall describe with pleasure, there is not a single example
emanating from the members of the Royal Academy this year that displays any
" mental labor" which rises above the dead level of preceding Exhibitions or
suggestive of more than a clean palette, a clean picture, and a becoming frame —
the whole got up with the view of qualifymg such productions or such manu-
factures to hang on the walls of the cleanest of clean-papered apartments. Take
for example, the picture by Mr. Paton, entitled " Dawn— Luther at Erfurt."
If this is like the monk's cell in the Augustine convent at Erfurt, we can only
say that that establishment was blessed, or the reverse, with a housemaid of
eternally-scrubbing propensities, for even the face of Luther has not escaped her
scrubbing-brush, and so suffered, it would seem, from that infliction and soap
that his eyes are running with water. Now, taking the quotation given in the
catalogue, such a worn, wan, cadaverous face is totally at variance with the
important lines which say, " Straightway, I felt as if born anew; it was as if I
had found the door of Paradise thrown wide open." The artist has failed entirely
in expressing the enthusiasm of the countenance so natural on such an occasion ;
be it remembered, too, it was the turning point of Luther's important and
extraordinary religious life, and yet the color which, by the way, is not true, and
features, which are poorly treated, would better become a miser who has just
discovered that his strong box had been broken open. Glance across the room
to the left, and there we see Mr. Hart's picture of "St. Elizabeth, Queen of
Hungary, distributing alms to the Poor," and again we find the perfection of
cleanimess ; even the poor look as if they had been dipped in tmted batter to
render them worthy of the royal presence, but seek for artistic feeling, either in
color, execution, or power, there is no such thing. Again, take the landscapes
by Mr. Lee ; there the atmosphere has been scrubbed so bright that the distant
mountains come forward, and. instead of appearing large in the distance, are
remarkable for their smaJlness by connecting- themselves with the foreground.
Another work of the same kind, by the same artist, is a view of "The Signal
Station, Gibraltar, the Spanish Mountains in the Distance," and in this a per-
fectly clean and acutely angular piece of rock stands cut, in all its angularity,
against a brightly clean blue sky. We may say, also, in passine, this is the most
inartistic treatment that could be imagined; for the pyramidal form, however
valuable it may be as a geometrical aid in general composition and concealed
greatly by repetition or accessories, is always poor and crude as a distinct
feature, because it leaves so much unfilled space on each side, and when those
sides are so managed as to give it relief by the most violent opposition of color,
It becomes, as in the present case, both ugly and monstrous. Mr. Lee painted
in good taste formerly, and by so painting he obtained his position at the Royal
Academy, but he seems, since that achievement, to have deliberately kicked
down the ladder by which he rose. Let us now refer to the intended picture of
the season, Mr. Ward'srepresentationofthe " Antechamberat Whitehall, during
the dying moments of Charles II." Here we find a crowd of persons dressed in
costume, all as iiesh and new as if just from the tailor and milliner. It is all as
clean as clean can be. In point of composition it is, however, but half a picture,
because the most interesting portion of it, the death-bed and the chamber of
death, are entnely out of sight, and only suggested by a hand appearing through
the narrow opening of the nearly closed door receiving a glass of water. This
"j — "* """•■&'-»"v.»i- icii»ca iiic cuiupusinuii iiiiperieci, prouucing, as
we have said, but half a picture. With respect to the antechamber by Mr. Ward,
It is, besides, a subject which should not have been painted at all, because it was
an entirely exceptional state of things, 'and is not a prevailing custom requiring
the severity of the satirist, and being besides an incongruity in reference to the
prevaiUng tone where death takes place, we say that it has been conceived in
Dad taste, while the general effect causes such an impression of finery and con-
fusion as would only arise from the distempered brain of an artist after a visit to
Madame Tussaud's extensive collection of waxwork, or after a masquerade, when
he fancies all the company gone home to bed and the grinning masks and fancy
costumes are enjoymg a saturnalia on their own account. Proceeding in this
direction round the principal room, we come to a picture bv Mr. David Roberts,
Jt.A.jjntitled "A I-ete-day at St. Peters," and we re^t to find that he is
iBllmgpnto the prevailing vice of too much brightness ; had he not done so he would
have given us the fine, dim, religiouslight of that vast interior, with moresoliriitv
m the architecture and less of the garish and fitful gleams of sunlight nlaviu"-
about the massive columns. = r j o
But passing on without further remark, we come to one of the gems of the
Jixlubition, and by a Royal Academician too. It represents "The ShrewTaraed,"
and is painted by Sir Edwin Landseer. It frequently occurs with pictures by
this celebrated artist and others of various degrees of merit that their subjects
would be incomprehensible, could not explanation be found in the catalogue, or
elucidation derived from passing events, and this work is no exception to the
rule lo understand this picture the spectator has to rely on his recollection of
the feats performed by Mr. Rarey on vicious horses, and then to stretch his memory
»ti 1 further, if he ever happened to know the fact, and recollect that Miss
Uilbert, the accomplished horsewoman, has adopted the practice of Mr. Rarey
with great success; we then get at the necessity for the individuality of the lady's
face (it is a portrait of her), the meaning of her lying playfully and we may add
gracefully, on the side of the highly groomed mare wliich has just been tamed, the
cause of such "a state bed " of straw trusses — they were for the mare to fall
upon without injury ; the strap thrown upon one of them is the means by which
the miracle has been wrought, and the reason the little pet dog had for taking
up a position of observation and security on the most distant and elevated of
those straw trusses, so far from the side of his mistress, was to be out of danger
while the final subjugation of the vicious mare was being effected ; by this kind
of reasoning from the facts tiefore onr eyes we arrive at the intention of the
painter. As an example for artistic study, this picture will afford as much or
more " useful knowledge " than any other picture in the present Exhibition.
The waving line formed liy the figure of Miss Gilbert composes well with the
curve which descrilies the position of the mare ; this group is the base of a
pyramid, the apex of which is the little dog sitting high in the distance, and the
whole is connected, as far as the appropriate means at hand will allow, without
the introduction of any conventional object, by the strap, which lies as if just
thrown aside. In the arrangement of the colors there is also a good lesson, and
especially valuable during the present rage for light and gaudy painting; for
here to the ordinary eye there is not a positive color to be seen, the whole effect
being produced by subdued lights and little more than monotone when compared
with the color-shop show-boards by which it is surrounded. The necessary
warmth and breadth of tone is obtained by the large quantity of straw, which,
besides its local or real color, being of course yellow, the lights upon it are. of the
same color somewhat more positive, particularly in the foregi-ound ; the dark bay
of the mare answers for the red or warm color, and the still darker blue of the
lady's riding habit completes the derivatives from the primitive concord,
which is enriched by the dull green of the cut glass. The telling white and
black are given by the black velvet tie round the neck of the lady brought
close against the bright light on the collar of her habit shirt. The black is dis-
tributed by the dapples on the mare, and the shadows are repeated and carried off
by the spots on the little dog, while the whites are diffused by the patches of
hair of that color on the back of the mare ; the lights on the straw mingle with
the spots on the distant dog, and are most delicately repeated in the gray and
glossy lights on the hide of "the subdued animal. With respect to the execution
of this ])ieture it is more solid and perfect than any work from the hands of this
perfect master of his art that we have seen for a long time. The mare i8
beautifully groomed but no more, and not, as it too frequently happens with Sir
Edwin, a satin horse whose stable must be in a lady's boudoir. "There is no thin
smear of colored oil to represent shadow, but the entire fonn is well rounded
in substantial colors without any of the usual display of manufacturing facility ;
we must, however, admit that the breadth of touch and looseness of treatment of
the straw in the extreme foreground, however we may admire the evidence of a
masterly hand, attracts too much attention, and separates itself more from, than
it assists by combination in sustaining, the unity of this, in all other respects,
most complete, elegant, and learned picture.
While we are commenting on this now uncommon style of art, we must enjoy
the pleasure of describing the merits in that respect and directing the attention
of the visitor to the lieauties generally, of a small and unpretending little picture
which we have had also the gratification of discovering for ourselves, placed by
the Hanging Committee nearly ou the floor in the west room. The number is
506, its title " How I Envied the Happy Groups!" from Washington Irving's
" Buckthorn." The principal figure is a schoolboy, who, according to the lines,
envied the people on the tops of the stage coaches as they "whirled by the school-
house on their way to the metropolis." The subject is not much, but it is the
treatment of it which we admire, because there is much poetry with very little
color. The greater part of the conipositiou consists of three boys at a desk, the
nearest one is supposed to be looking through an open window at the " chatting,
and joking, and laughing " outside passengers. The school-room is in gray half-
tint, the breadth of which by contrast gives great effect to the distant country
seen through the window which is, as we have said, open. Here we have the
principal masses or divisions of the picture, the delicate and yellowish outside and
the mass of warmish gray inside the room. Here we also have one of those un-
common merits with painters of the present day — the merit of omission and for-
bearance in obedience to the dictates of refined taste. To make up the complement
of prismatic colors, most artists who paint pictures for sale would have given the
principal boy a bright red jacket. Mr. Carrick has evidently too pure a feeling
for art to do anything so customary or so monstrous. The boy is therefore of no
positive color, and only made dark enough without exaggeration to form the
point of contrast against the brilliant light of the mid-day sun shining on the
distant landscape ; but the martinets of the spectrum will not lose their spot of
vivid red, for it will be found on the signboard of the village inn ; close to it they
will also discern the requisite bit of bright yellow on the vine-leaves through
which the sun is shining at the window, and to complete the triad, as nearly as
possible, without " o'erstepping the modesty of nature," or purposely introducing
any accessory not proper to the scene, they will see placed near to the red and
yellow a bluish slate lying on the desk at the elbow of the boy looking out at the
window. This slate also, as far as we recollect, serves as the dark spot to throw
the breadth of half-tint into atmosphere, which purpose is admirably assisted
by the corner of a white handkerchief peeping out of the second boy's pocket.
The brilliancy of the sunlight outside receives great support, and its luminous
quality is equally increased by the local color of the straw hat placed in shadow
on the upper part of the school wall for that purpose. With respect to the
primitive geometrical foi-ms, just as essential to a good composition as are the
primitive colors to a perfectly painted picture, they are duly represented by the
square slate, the round straw hat and the triangidar form obtained from the gable
of the inn. The principal square is repeated by the window frame and the distant
signboard ; the circular straw hat finds sufficient resemblance in the contours of the
boys' heads, besides which it is so placed as to carry the idea of the subject into the
upper part of the picture, and the triangle is so faintly introduced that it would
reipiire little repetition, which in so perfect a composition has no doubt been
attended to, but in the hurry and confusion of a private view we find that we
neglected to take a note of it. The main opposition and comparison of lines are
in the curve of the boy's figure as he kneels on the form, and leanson the desk to
look out at the window, in the long straight line of the desk, taking a diagonal
direction to prevent uniformity with the frame of the picture, and in the serpen-
tine curve of the country road which leads the eye into the subject. The sentiment
of this work consists in the pleasant gloom of the schoolroom and the sunlit beauty
of the charmingly painted landscape — the former harmonising with the feelings of
the schoolboy who envies the happy groups seated on the stage coaches, " chatting.
384
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 10, 1861.
«nd joking, and laughing"; the riant character of the latter is perfectly consistent
with the cause othis envj-, and the retiring modest)^ of the whole is in most
|ii(wilig conformity with the simplicity of the original intention.
How important is the proper nianagement of geometrical forms in a landscape
may be Kanud from an otiierwisc tine picture by Mr. Creswick, R.A., entitled
•'Trent side, a Kecollectioii ; the cattle by Mr. J. W. Bottomley." In the extreme
foreground of this scene is a piece of wood-work, which presents so acutean angle
tiiat it attracts the eye from everv other part of the composition, of which, by the
way, it constitutes no essential feature, and there are no means in tlie subject of
lepoiting so positive an arrang-ement of lines; it therefore stands alone in unlawful
aingulanty, injuring instead of contributing to the general effect. As a mere stand-
ing place for a supposed spectator, as a dark spot to throw back the distance, and as
a contrast in texture, color, and stability, to give clearness, transparency, and
uotion to the water, equal help could have been obtained by a similar accessory
of a lei* acute and of a less peculiar shape. The repetition of the squares in the
woodwork of the bridge do not accord witli it, and the severity of its angles are
only increased instead of ameliorated by comparison with the roundness of the
tree tops, carried off by the forms of the upper clouds, while the horizontal
direction of the lower ones sene only to connect the two banks of the river, and
the group of boats and figures on the distant shore merely act as a balance to the
wooden bridge, forming part of the long sweeping line ol the composition. Tliis
picture, which is beautifully clear and aerial, derives those qualities from the
prevalence of cool colors, contrasted by the dark reddish cattle and by the yellow-
lah tint of the clouds, repeated by reflecting them in the water, and by the
sparkling lights on the sandy earth of the tow-path in the right-hand fore-
^xiund.
With respect to the collection generally, we may say that there is an immense
amount of good painting, all exceedingly clean and clear. Indeed, putting aside
the " forlorn hope " of pre- Rafiaelite absurdities, we do not at this moment
remember having seen a picture which caused us to wonder how it happened to
be admitted, which is saying much when it is remembered that there are about
900 pictures in ttus year's Exhibition.
THE ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS.
ALTHOUGH Mr. Pennethorne, has conferred a great benefit upon the
Academy, we see no evidence of gratitude in the provision it has made for
architectural drawings, which yearly liecomes less and still less. The collection
reminds us of those toys which on each successive opening exhibit a diminished
<S9 of the samec haracter. We annually expect to come to the end of this kind
the^'splay, but there is still as little to observe and chronicle. Last year the archi-
we hav^ drawings, although lessened in number, were unusually meritorious.
be able to say; have not even that quality to console us for the want of quantity.
advice, we were assflrchitects should " commit suicide to save themselves from
ever who are acting oiT words, should abstain from forwarding drawings to a
theinseWes we would vl* f**™ '■' ^ lundignified a manner, and should devote
estimate for any work, thei"g?^a'lt*« Architectural Exhibition so that it
lies in the skill and honesty of the V^r^S^'iI,'''^J^tl"l TA i*. ""• n
which his work has been L. rath^ than^l ^Tl^^^^n lefot^lT^mlny!
The same observation applies with the greai<e the originals. The want of
mates furnished in the form of tenders. Men ection is only equal to that
undertake work at almost any sacrifice, without an^ .drawings might have
ledge of what they are about, and with no prospect of bel "f » room is now
their engagement if called upon to do so. A guarantee to P"^ '" 'fj'* ™.'"''
the form of a tender ought therefore manifestly not to be loo '"^^ attractive
an infallible test of its correctness. If the person furnishing i^ bv buildintr
responsible, trustworthy, and careful, his estimate is probably s-'ji bg for jtg
if be be reckless, unprincipled, or desperate it is extremely likbnmaculate
erroneous. ing, or of
This, howcTer, is by-the-bye ; what it is wished now to urge is tins of the
obligation, if a man in making an estimate assumes a character whky have
knows the public will trust, that he should take care his estimate is i<>s was
trustworthy. This principle is part of the great fundamental law (}-^^^,
business, that all transactions ought to be bona fide. If a man in merJ ^^°
tile life raises money on bills, trades upon a fictitious capital which •,.■
no existence, or in some other way succeeds in obtaining credit to whit,gj
he has no claim, we all know what the end of him is likely to be, and wi,e
feel no pity when he is gibbeted as a fraudulent bankrupt. ,e
If a surveyor, an architect, or a builder, knowing that his profession-
gives him a claim to be believed when he states a sum as the probable
cost of a future work, names an amount which misleads those who put
confidence in him, he sins against his own credit, and the credit of his
calling.
This is often done carelessly. Nothing is more common than for a man
to be asked off-hand to name an amount, as the probable value of such and
such works. A prudent man will always decline to do so at all; for the
■Qnu named, though they may be asked for as approximations, will be
treated, owing to the standing of the person from whom they come, as
leliaUe calculations. Architects often do not think of this ; they name
cams of money for which the work might possibly be done, under some
extraordinarily favorable combination of circumstances, or for which they
hope to get it done, and they are liable to disappoint their clients
accordingly. An architect is not always bound to know tlie cost of work;
he if not disgraced by giving the answer, "I have not estimated this work,
and I decline to guess at its cost," and he will find great advantage from
following such a course.
There is a further and apparently a more pardonable source of error in
estimates than the giving a hurried guess, but it is one likely to lead
to results that will be very unpleasant. We refer to tacitly or openly
endorsing an estunate made by the client himself. If an inexperienced
man says to one of some experience, " I consider that I ought to be able to
•See Btrn,i)iKc News for Oct. 12, Oct. a), and Nov. », 1800. Slacc that date
enrcspoodents and friends have repeatedly urged the resumption of the subject.
TJU* request wc luve pltiuurc in complying with.
on a baliistrated terrace, with solid niiigs rising rather higher than the central
portion of the facade. Tlic main entrances seeiiiingly are from this terrace. The
approach to them is by a double flight of steps in front of the wings. There are
entrances also in the face of the terrace, and rusticated piere divide the openings.
The piers which flank the steps support "lions couchants." Tlie wings, solid and
stiong, are free from any opening which would give them a [ijiarent weakness;
but a niche in the upper part of each equally avoids unbecoming plaimiess.
Columns, with returned cornices in front of these wings, bear seated figures, and
statues are placed upon the piers of the balusters over the columns of the peri-
style. Tlie building stands upon sloping ground, and the arrangement of a ter-
race story may perhaps have been adopted on that account, as, at the back of
the buildiug, the top of tlie terrace seems on a level with the street. Tiie design
of the flank elevation is in accordance with that which we have already noticed.
There are some ill-fashioned trusses acting as buttresses against the lower story,
which rather disfigure the design,*
THE PRESIDENCY OF TIIE INSTITUTE.
THE discussion at the Institute on Monday must have astonished not a
little most of those who were present. It might have been supposed
that the Council would have known how to meet the emergency caused by
Mr. Cockerell's regretted retirement, and would have proposed some person
for the office of President, whose claims would have been admitted on all
hands. There are such men to be found ; and it was a perverse ingenuity
alone which could have suggested the course which was, in point of fact,
adopted. The Council first of all send out voting papers with no name
suggested for the office of President, and, at the last moment, come to the
meeting, and by the voice of the Chairman, announce that they recommend
Mr. Tite for election, but that his name has not been announced because
he would only consent to be elected on the extraordinary condition that —
the provisions of the Charter of the Institute notwithstanding — there
should be no ballot !
What were Mr. Tite's objections to the ballot did not appear, and per-
haps some of his Radical friends at Bath may be curious to be enlightened
on the point. It is enough for members of the Institute to know that the
rule on the subject is explicit, and that no reason, or shadow of a reason,
was alleged for its infraction. The fact is that Mr. Tite's assertion that
he did not wish to disturb t!ie peace of the Institute, and, therefore, would
not go to a ballot, was a mere pretence, and one, moreover, of the most
transparent kind. Por, when another gentleman was proposed for the
office, Mr. Tite had the bad taste to propose that there should be
no ballot ! Nor was tliis all ; for, during a long and very animated de-
bate, the extraordinary spectacle was seen of a candidate for the seat of
President recommending himself for the office, descanting upon liis own
qualifications — among which, by the way, he included his own complete
knowledge of " all about Gothic architecture before he was twenty years
of age!!" — protesting against the fitness of the gentleman proposed in
opposition to him, ami, in point of fact, actively taking upon himself all
the duties which should have been undertaken by one of his warmest
friends and admirers, but never, unless he wished entirely to destroy all
his own hopes of success, by himself.
The result of the meeting on Monday was (as many of our readers are
aware) the carrying of a motion for the adjournment of the election until
Monday next by a majority of one, Mr. Tite himself voting with and
making the majority ! There was not a shadow of doubt that a majority
of the Fellows present would have voted for the other candidate, and as
there was no reason whatever given for the postponement of the election,
so it can hardly be supposed that a week's reflection upon liis strange
proceedings in the matter will improve Mr. Tite's position. After what
has passed, it would, indeed, be suicidal were the Institute, wearied out by
debate and adjournment, to consent to Mr. Tite's election .is president.
There would be no peace under his sway, no harmony, and no cordiality.
We want a president of the Institute of large views, of liberal education,
courteous and conciliatory in his manner, standing well witli the world,
and thoroughly interested in all artistic questions. Not one word was
said or could be said against the election of Mr. Beresford Hope, and it is,
indeed, incontcstible that he possesses in an eminent degree all these
qualifications. He possesses, too, that degree of leisure wliich would
enable liim fitly to fulfil .all the duties which will devolve on the
President of tlie Institute in connexion with the approaching Ex-
hibition of 1862, and it is to be hoped that before the adjourned
(meeting Mr. Tite's friends will withdraw handsomely from the contest,
#nd so restore to the Institute that peace and harmony which his
jjroceedings on Monday were very little calculated to produce. He will
(.improve liis own position by such a course, and stand more chance of
jfilection to the office lie so much covets on some future occasion. The
peeling of tlie Fellows generally appeared to be with Mr. Bercsford-IIope's
^supporters in the suggestion thrown out by them tliat the office of
j,.'re8ident should, as far as possible, be held alternately by professional
i^nd non-professional men. And when those distinguished architects to
fWhom the Queen's medal has been awarded, or on whom the Academy has
jconferred the honor of its membership, have passed the cliair, Mr. Tite's
turn may come. But the time is not now, and it was ill-advised and
unfortunate that his friends should have proposed his name, whilst it was
doubly unfortunate that he should so far have forgotten himself as to have
outdone his warmest supporters in his display of confidence in his own
fitness for the office, and in his open antagonism to his distinguished
competitor. L. T. V.
* To be continued.
May 10, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
385
THE BIRTH AND MUTATIONS OF STYLES.*
ARCHITECTURE is one, not a multitude of dissimilar ami
detached arts, but one connected and comprehensive whole. It
is one spirit or principle, working in different ways and under different
circumstances, and showing itself under various similitudes. The
styles are but different external phases or expressions of one soul —
divers tongues uttering the same truths — variations of the same
celestial air. Like different musical instruments, which, though vary-
in" in compass and perfection of intonation and unequal both in com-
prehensiveness .and inflection of sound, may, any one of them, touched
by a master hand, " the soul of music shed."
What is here said of the styles aesthetically, holds good historically.
Though known to us as separate and unlike streams of art, they bear
to the initiated, amidst the diversities which alone strike the untaught
eye, the impress of a law of relation which bespeaks their common
origin from one fountain-head in antiquity, and unites them into one
harmonious system.
We are unable, it is true, to trace the relationship and common
source of the three very diverge styles to which historical research now
points as the parent sources in antiquity of all architecture — viz., the
Egyptian, Assyrian, and Pelasgic, whose origin is lost in the night of
time beyond the ken of historic or monumental record. But it is, I
think, beyond dispute that they are from one common progenitor, the
Adam of all architecture, which, notwithstanding the unquestionable
and extreme antiquity of the Egyptian remains, was most probably the
earliest phase of what we know as the Assyrian, a style which arose on
the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris, to which the Bible and all
tradition point as the cradle of civilisation, but whose earliest examples
must have been lost through the perishability of their materials. Nor
is it less philosophical to suppose that the Buddhist, or whatever was
the parent style of the group or family of styles of pagan India, had
its origin directly or indirectly from the same source in Western Asia,
from whence civilisation spread in every direction, into the far East as
well as the far West.
That the branches or varieties of architecture should be numerous
and diverse was, from its very nature, to be expected. As the geogra-
phical distribution of plants in the vegetable world is influenced by
conditions of soil, heat, moisture, light, and many other causes, so the
geographical arrangement of the styles of architecture is ordered by
conditions of climate, scenery, and geological structure ; by the political
and soci.ll state of communities, the quality of their mental organisation,
or natural aptitude for architecture, their literary and scientific status,
their pecuniary resources, the nature of their religious belief and
national propensities. Without these there is no reason why styles of
architecture should not be identical, or why the style of one country
should differ from that of its neighbour or any other. On the other
hand, if all these conditions were fixed and unalterable, a style ot
architecture once formed would never change. S*ome of them are so.
But since others alter with the course of time, as the political and social
state of communities, for instance, their literary and scientific status,
pecuniary means, and sometimes their religious creed, it follows that
architecture not only differs in different countries, but is unlike in
unlike ages in the same country, and changes in each with the
mutations of society, participating in the revolutions in man's political,
social, and intellectual condition, and running, like an organic struc-
ture, through a continuous variation of phases from its birth to its
decline and dissolution.
A very cursory glance over the history of architecture will suffice to
show, that it is nothing else but a history of successive changes from
the earliest period at which we become acquainted with it to the pre-
sent time. The architectural styleof the Pelasgi, the early inhabitants of
Greece, mingling for some centuries with Egyptian and Assyrian elements,
is sublimated into that of the Greeks, a style which seems to have con-
tained within it more vital and enduring energy than any other, the
entire subsequent history of architecture being little else than a history
of the various successive transformations which it underwent. The
Greek style, after a career of incessant development and progress,
involving always either the refining and perfecting of one order or the
putting forth of new ones, is expanded, on meeting with the Etruscan
(a style identical with or derived from the same Asiatic source as the
telasgic) probably through the medium of an early Roman, of which
it was the basis, into the main trunk of architectural history, the broad
flood from which all Medieval architecture East and West — Christian-
Romanesque, Gothic, Byzantine, Saracenic — was more immediately to
issue, wherein the free use of arch and dome relaxed the severity of
the trabeated ordinance of the Egyptians and Greeks into a magnifi-
cence more consonant with the Roman genius. And thus was formed
what was the all but universal style for some centuries — and that
contained within itself the germ of almost every element of subsequent
architecture. During its Augustan period, no other style of which we
• Contributed by Mr. Samuel Huggins.
have any account was practised in the world, with the exception of the
Egyptian, the Buddhist of India, and the Chinese.
From the very birth of the Roman style began the transition — the
gradual supplanting of the entablature by the arch, by which it became
what is properly called the Romanesque, a preparatory form of the
Christian Romanesque into which, in the fourth century, by the genius
of the new religion, it is raised and idealbed.
The Christian-Romanesque is scarcely formed before, under Greek
and Oriental agencies, the Eastern branching out of the Byzantine style
commences, which may be considered as the first bending off from the
central Roman trunk, of which the Pagan and Christian Romanesques
were but continuations and sequences. For a while this Oriental
Christian style shows strong reminiscence of its Roman progenitor, but
the Classic character gradually gives way, especially among its more
Eastern branches — the Western Asiatic, the Armenian, and Georgian — to
Oriental influences ; till at length, and soonest in the extreme East, it
loses all trace of its Roman origin.
Meanwhile the ancient Egyptian, after various vicissitudes, generally
of decline, has died out some time in the third century of Christianity.
The Assyrian has become Babylonian and Persian, which latter has
almost entirely perished during the subjection of Persia to the rule of
the Seleueidaj of Syria and the Arsacidaj of Parthia, and contributed
but few recognisable elements to the revived art which arose on the
accession of the native Sassanian dynasty ; a Persian art which if it
reflected but little of the magnificence of the Palatial stylo of Persepolis
and PassargadsB was destined to play an important part in the future
history of architecture in the East, not only in the formation of the
Mahommedan style which succeeded it in Persia, but also in that of
the Christian Armenian to which it contributed as early as the fifth
century, and other branches of the Byzantine to which we must now
revert.
Besides Venetian Gothic, an off-shoot of European Byzantine brought
into conjunction with Lombardic and Saracenic, and the Russian of the
Armenian, the Byzantine gave birth to the earlier Moslem styles : in
the seventh century to the Egyptian and Syrian, and in conjunction
with the Sassanian to the Persian ; in the ninth century to the Sicilian,
and in the fifteenth to the Turkish. These styles soon came to show
but little trace of their source, and on the conquest of Asia by the
Seljukian Turks in the eleventh century, the national Tartar feeling
gave fresh impulse to their mutations. On the conquest of Cabul, &c.,
by Mahmud, in the tenth century, Persian Saracenic mingling with the
Jaina (a Pagan style which, along with the Northern and Southern
Hindu styles, it seems probable arose out of the Buddliist) engen-
dered the Indian Saracenic which, as well as the Turkish, is altogether
a Tartar style, partaking of no Arabian element or character beyond
what it may have indirectly derived through its parent style.
From the Sicilian Saracenic combined with Italian-Romanesque sprang,
on the Norman conquest of Sicily in the eleventh century, the Norman
Sicilian style.
We return to the main trunk of architectural history, where we are
soon led to another — a Western bending off in the fifth and sixth centuries
into a new Style — the Gothic, not so gentle and gradual, nor so total a
one, as that in the East, where there was a universal separation from
Roman types ; the Byzantine becoming the sole architecture of the
Greek church. In the west the Christian Romanesque did not every-
where change into Gothic, but continued to flourish in several parts of
Italy — Pisa, Rome, Naples, Amalphi, and Bari, which the Lombards did
not conquer or long retain, and in those parts of France and Spain to
which the Franks, Burgundians and Visigoths were unable to penetrate,
and which became, in consequence, the refuge of Roman civilisation. In
different countries its duration was different. In Rome it lingered
longest, till the fifteenth or sixteenth century, when it lost itself in
the Renaissance with which it was almost identical. Its character also
varied with its habitat to the extent of exhibiting several local varieties
— Italian Romanesque, Pisan Romanesque, Apulian, which latter from
its Eastern situation became deeply tinctured with Byzantine and
Saracenic ; French Romanesque, which branched into such varieties
as Provencal, Angiovine, and Spanish Romanesque ; which varieties
collectively may be considered a ramified but direct continuation and
sequence of Roman architecture flowing uninterruptedly down from
the Christian Romanesque of the Empire ; of which it may be regarded
as a remnant after its change into Byzantine on one side and Gothic on
the other. From the Spanish Romanesque flowed out under
Mahommedan and Arabian influence the Spanish Saracenic.
With the faith which had called it into being the Gothic style spread
over the different countries of Europe, where, through the modifying
action of local circumstances, it exhibited local varieties, called respec-
tively Lombardic, Rhenish, Norman, Burgundian, Anglo-Saxon, Swiss,
Belgian, Spanish, &c., the Classic spirit predominating in Italy, and
gradually growing fainter and dying away with increase of distance
from it. Each of these varieties, again, under various agencies, the
chief of which being the introduction of the pointed arch from the
386
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 10, 1861.
East, is warmed and brisihtened into the successive phases of the
Pointed Gothic — a stvlc of which, as France took the lead in its foima*
tioo, the French may be considered the central or typical form.
From beirinning to end it is all transfonnation from one style into
another, which led to such entire changes that all trace of resemblance
to the great original seems lost. Place such fairy-like Gothic as the
church of St. Ouen at Uouen beside the Temple of Corinth, and who,
unacqu.ainted with architectural history, would suspect that one was a
lineal descendant of the other ? The non-professional traveller in
Egypt would start at being told that the elegant mosques of Cairo were
the ollspring of the solemn pile at Karnak ; as would the sojourner in
Spain at any hint of relationship between the Alhambra and the Par-
thenon.
A careful review of the history of architecture shows us, I tliink,
that the most potent influences that have been brought to bear upon
hs career are those of religion and race. Certainly the most marked
diversities of styles are the result of religious and national distinctions.
While climate, local scenery, and geological structure only give rise to
Tarieties, religion and race produce diflerent species, and even genera.
The two greatest styles of the ancient world, the Egyptian and Greek,
were chiefly embodied and reached their perfection in edifices arising
out of the needs of religion; and though it is, as I believe, a mistake
to suppose that, because its earliest known monuments are temples, that
architecture itself was bom in the service of religion — as the temples of
paganism could only have originated in the corruption of pure religion
mto idolatry — it is, nevertheless, religion which guided and determmed
the form and course of development of all ancient styles, and is the
potent cause why, while temples are almost the entire archi-
tectural manifestation in one country, temples do not appear
at all in others. In the earliest ages men believed in and wor-
shipped one supreme God, though they paid adoration at the same time
to the stars or angels and intelligences which they supposed to reside in
them, and to govern the world under the Sovereign Kuler. When and
where this worship prevailed, which it did to a great extent in
Arabia, and Mesopotamia, and ancient Babylonia, whose priests
were called Chaldees, no temples would be built, and the archi-
tecture would flow into other channels, chiefly palatial. But in
course of time this pure Saba;an worship of the stars became
-corrupted. Images were made to represent the angels or spirits of
the planets, and the consequence was that the unthinking came to
worship them as gods, which led to the polytheism and temples of the
Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. The palaces, however, to which
Sabaism confined architecture at an early period in some countries,
were not uninfluenced in their form and character by religion, for both
in Egypt and Assyria, as men believed, not only in the divine right but
in the divine nature of kings, regal state partook in some measure of
religious adoration, which caused the palaces to assume much of the
temple character. The Magian rehgion, or fire-worship, which some
writers erroneously confound with Sabaism, though it probably grew
out of the Sabian, which encouraged also a veneration for fire, did
not degenerate into idolatry, which caused the perpetual absence of
teinplcs, properly so called, among the Medes and Persians and others
of its votaries, and even influenced, as Mr. Fergusson has pointed out,*
the earlier a^es of the architecture of the Mahommedan Persians, who
did not begin to build mosques till the thirteenth or fourteenth
■centuries.
The distinctions of religion distributed the styles of the world, as
■they existed in the middle ages, into four groups or species of styles,
each showing many varieties — viz., the Gothics and Romanesques, the
styles of the Western or Latin Church ; the Byzantines, the styles of
the East or Greek Church; the Saracenics, the styles of Mahommedan-
ism ; the Indian and Chinese, the styles of Paganism. And there are
no instances of any community adopting, for any length of time, the
style of another religion unmodified, though styles of different religions
sometimes migled their elements — viz., the Moresque, a cross between
Spanish-Gothic and Saracenic ; Norman-Sicilian, formed by the
engrafting of Italian-Romaneg(}ue on the Sicilian-Saracenic, and a
mixed Indian style, which, from its constituents, may be called Moslem-
Hindu.
But man has given expression in architecture to his national feelings
as well as to his religious ; and the influence of the inherent mental
peculiarities of race is everywhere seen, and makes as broad a general
distinction in the chart of architectural history. Races incapable of
the loftier flights of artistic inspiration have had a comparatively
humble architecture, whatever their religion may have been. But
those nations in whose mental organization the higher faculties have
had full development have given the highest material expression to the
nobility of man's nature ; in other words, have produced architecture
of the loftiest and sublimest qualities. It was an infusion of energy
from a new race, nncorrupted and undebilitated by the luxuries and
▼ices of old ciTilisations, that gave vigor to the Lombard and Norman
• Id hi» " Illiutrated HandlMok of Architecture," to which I am lnd«bted for much
informatioD rmplojrcd in this Ksssjr.
styles. It was distinctions of race that chiefly caused the difference
between the Gothic and Byzantine styles, which were for very similar
versions of the same religion. The architectural revolution, produced
by the Norman invasion of Apulia and Sicily in each of these countries,
were the result of race. It was the propensities of race which led
several cities of Italy, though their Celtic populations were of the same
religion as the Gothic tribes, to preserve along with Roman civilisation
their Romanesque architecture in its Classic spirit, centuries after the
same architecture had become Gothiclsed elsewhere. It was the same
national propensity of the Italians which infused so much of Classic
feeling into the Italian-Gothic, and rendered it so dissimilar in spirit to
that of Germany, France, and England. The round towers of Ireland,
and the dismantled churches with wliich they are connected, are foot-
prints in that country of the influence of race upon architecture. It was the
tomb-building propensity of certain races to which we owe the pyramids
ofEgypt,and nearly all that remains of the architecture of the Pelasgi and
Etruscans. The propensity to build tombs, which are the most durable J
monuments erected by man, rendered the style of the Pathan and *
Mogul Tartars in India one of the noblest and richest architectural
systems in the world, while the absence of such structures, and of
the stone domes, which are the offspring chiefly of the round tomb, from
the architecture of the Spanish Moors, who had no Tartar blood in
tlieir veins, imparted, as a recent writer has remarked, to their whole
style its ephemeral lath-and-plaster character.
NOTES WITHOUT TEXT."
TO lay to the charge of a style the incompetency and had taste of those
who practise it, is most decidedly unfair, even to absurdity. If,
indeed, it can be shown that no one has ever succeeded in making any
thing tolerable of it, that it is utterly unfit for present purposes, and can-
not possibly be accommodated to them, why tlien its unsuitableness may
be fairly admitted. Hardly can it be expected that every one should be
gifted with the same exquisite taste, with the same eye for the euniorphie
as was Charles Barry, who did so much to advance and refine our Anglo-
Italian, but who, though he died too soon, lived long enough to find many
of his own ideas coarsely parodied and caricatured ; and to see the most
unsavoury rinsings of effete Medievalism come into vogue. After this, some
will, perhaps, expect here to find an unqualified panegyric of Anglo-
Italian, yet, if adverse to the style, they will be rather agreeably dis-
appointed by the frank acknowledgment that very many examples of it are
of most humdrum, prosaic quality. With the anti-Classicists, it is now
the fashion to speak of it, without any sort of qualification, in the most
contemptuous terms ; and some whose olfactory nerves are peculiarly
acute, have smelt out paganism in Classic or else quasi-Classic columns
and entablatures. The more common allegation against Classic is, tliat it
requires too much of " red-tape," and almost excludes originality, by
rendering copyism inevitable ; to which notion, unlucky as it is, modem
practice does certainly lend some color. Yes, most undeniably there
has been too much of the most barefaced copyism. During the
" Greek mania," as it has not undeservedly been called, buildings which
in point of design were no better than so many dog-kennels, were stuck
over with scraps of Stuart and Revett's " Athens," oftener than
not applied in the most barbarous manner. About the beginning
of the present century, literal copyism of Greek examples was
all but completely made the sufficient substitute for design. Soi-
disant Classic porticoes were the order of the day, and most absurdly
were some of them introduced. The architect, if so he may be called,
who erected as a secundum arlem bit of Classicality and an appropriate
feature to Bethlehem Hospital, an Ionic portico, deserved to have been
lodged as a patient in one of the cells of that building. Until it was re-
shaped by Barry, the front of the College of Surgeons, Lincoln's-inn-
fields, was a perfect monstrosity of unmitigated hideousness, notwith-
standing that critics (?) not over-intelligent, or else not over-scrupulous,
had professed to admire its " noble columns." Even those from whom
something like artist conception, feeling and treatment might have been
looked for did not show it. Downing College says very little indeed for
Wilkins. No small mistake it surely was on the part of those who first
introduced Greek to attempt to exhibit that style, as far as was at all prac-
ticable and possible, in its purity. Instead of purifying and refining modern
Classic, and infusing a fresh and better spirit into it, it was found much easier
to discard the latter altogether than to take the trouble of correcting its
faults, while retaining all that is really valuable in it— all that renders it
a more copious language of the art. Perhaps it ought to be only
whispered, but confessed it must be, that Greek architecture, as far as it is
known to us, is such an exceedingly limited style, that to retain it in its
purity is only to make manifest its poverty, and general inapplicability.
It affords very little more than columns and entablatures. Notwithstand-
ing, too, their several technical nommal distinctions, Greek temples were
all alike as to their general configuration, which was so exceedingly
simple as completely to exclude what is now termed "composition." The
poverty of pure Greek has been made most disagreeably patent by some
modern architects who have actually stuck thin slices of plain Doric antae
upon the face of a wall, where they are neither useful nor ornamental.
Even in Greek itself there are some things that are in questionable taste ;
in the order of the Erechtheum, for instance, the cornice is so far from
* By the Author of "CHIPS op Criticism." Continued from page 358.
May 10, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
387
corresponding with the elaborately finished capitals of the columns, as to
present an offensive contrast to them, obvious as ought to be the principle
that, being tlie crowning and concluding division of the entire order, the
cornice ouglit to be to it, what its capital is to a column, — to be so in some
degree at least, although precedent indisputably Greek authorises anti-
climax.
IT has of late been the fashion— for it is no more than fashion— to speak
rather contemptuously of Roman arcliitecture as being rude and
coarse in comparison with Greek, nor is it possible to deny that the
Romans showed less feeling for delicacy than for luxuriance of detail. It
must further be acknowledged that they emasculated the Doric order, and
depraved the Ionic— its capital certainly, which they also attenuated and
impoverished. But, on the other hand, if they did not exactly invent the
so-called Corinthian capital, they employed it .almost exclusively, and
developed the third and last of the Classic orders, whose most proper and
proudest title should be Roman. Some, perliaps, will here remind the
vrriter that Roman is the name assigned to wliat is otherwise style! the
Composite order, which, however, besides being no distinct order at all—
no more, in fact, than a mere variety, and by no means the happiest, of
the Roman proper, lias all along been put upon the superannuated list by
modern priicticc. Its rank is merely nominal, its office a mere snug sine-
cure. It is still allowed by those who belong to the " Five Orders" school to
retain its place and its title; and like some and sundry who need not here
be named, be well paid, that is, well privileged to take rank as an order,
although laid upon the shelf. With all their faults— which, instead of
copying, it is for us now to correct— the Romans enlarged wonderfully
upon the system of Greek practice. It is to them we are indebted for tlie
arcli, the vault, ;the dome, and very much more besides, to say nothing of
their greater fertility of invention as regards plan and combination of
plan, their circular temples and other rotundas. Most incontestably, the
Romans had an eye for the picturesque and the impressive; and if they
were comparatively negligent of detail, they were studious of ensemble
and aggregate effect. Nay, were architects to study more and copy less,
they might derive not a few valuable hints for decorative detail," from
what, besides being only mere fragments, are in very questionable or even
positively bad taste. To attempt to improve upon perfection may
deservedly be deemed presumption, but to endeavour to refine what has
evidently a great deal of dross in it is not so presumptuous as it is meri-
torious. " Roman" is a mine that contains many veins of precious un-
touched ore. For its nameless charm of effect, what interior has Greek
architecture to oppose as rival to the Pantheon! How the Partheuon and
other hypaethral temples were lighted is still a matter of dispute, at least, of
doubt. Fergusson'a idea is so ingenious as, in the absence of direct evidence
to the contrary to satisfy us that some such mode of lighting the interior
must have been adopted. As to the Pantheon, a single aperture admitting
a copious flood of light is so vastly superior to any other mode of lighting
that, as far as internal effect is concerned, modern domes will bear no
comparison with it.
ITALIAN or modern Classic has much of that element of the romantic
in it which is observable between ancient and modern literature ; and
it would have had much more had it not been for the withering influence
of Vitruvius, who, if not exactly a humbug, was a poor, plodding hum-
drum creature, apparently without the slightest feeling for art. Had the
early Revivalists been left to think for themselves, and to study the remain-
ing examples of Roman antiquity, with unprejudiced eyes, they would have
endeavored to catch their spirit, and perceiving what very great diversity
there was between the several examples of the same order, &c., they would
have shown greater freedom, and so far, more artistic power of design.
Unhappily, however, the writings of Vitruvius chanced to be discovered
about that time, and though they have an interest for scholars, they
operated as a blight npon the Revival. The orders were to be treated
" accordmg to Cocker," arithmetically, and after so many receipts for
measurements. What we are indebted to " Italian " for is not its treat-
ment of the orders, but for fenestration as a natural and also fertile source
of varied embellishment, not to mention very much besides, including the
pilastrade, the balustrade, the ornamental stringcourse, decorative rusti-
cation, the dressed niche, the small semicircular niche, the medallion, the
festoon, the panel, and, though last not least, the ample and commodious
staircase. It is not pretended that the style itself, taken generally, is
perfection, or anything like it ; rather mav it be likened to an unweeded
garden, where other products than flowers attest to the luxuriance of the
soil. To speak without metaphor, even some of the most accredited
cxaraples of Italian architecture are not free from disagreeable blemishes.
Palladio, who used to be so much cried up here in the last century, is by
no means an exemplar of well-considered, homogeneous composition. In
every style there always has been, and no doubt always will be, a good
deal of "Grub-street." In our own time we have had both Grub-street
Greek and Grub-street Gothic; Grub-street Italian also, between which and
Barry s not every one can perceive the enormous difference. Most cer-
tainly Barry was eminently gifted with a quality that, in spite of all
instruction, is not teachable, and does not seem to be hereditary— namely,
taste, or tlie keen perception of the esthetic and the to kuXov- It lias
been said that the Pall-mall front of " The Travellers," is only borrowed
and adapted from the Palazzo P.indolfini at Florence. Happy and greatly
to be envied are they who can so borrow, and give the rose they have
transplanted
" A brighter bloom and more ambrosial sceot"
People often say, " Oh! that is only matter of taste," ns if taste were not -i
very great matter indeed in fine art arcliitecture and decorative design
Cheap It may be held by some, for the sufficient reason tliat " the grapes
are sour." It almost seems, in fact, to be a natural gift rather than an
acquirement, because, notwithstanding that diligent study can do very
^^ ^°u '^°''™'''K or improving taste, it cannot possibly teach the unteacli-
able ; that which is, " although no science, fairly worth the seven "
owing, perhaps, to his possessing a finer organisation than most others
a larger development of what phrenologists term the organ of form, Barry
most unquestionably did in his Italian works display more than ordinary
feeling for fomwsity. '
.«
HOLLOW CEMENT-BLOCK WALLS.
A PARISIAN architect has invented a new system of constructing
hollow walls, by means of blocks of various shapes, which he calls
Pierres-ciment Breton. The declared objects are cheapness, with dura-
bility equal to that of stone, the formation of the chimney-shafts by means
ot hollows in the blocks themselves, great facility in the ventilation of the
apartments without draughts of cold air, rapidity of execution, great
saving of time in tlie drying of new houses— a very important object in
Pans, where no respectable tenant will occupy a house until it has been
? ,', "i*^*""' "^ account of the exudations of the stone work— and absence
ot all efflorescence and discoloration within and without, on account of the
continuous ventilation.
The composition of which the blocks are formed is not communicated,
but it is said to be patented. The blocks themselves are declared to be at
least as solid as the stone of Arcueil, Bagneux, or Chatillon, and incon-
testibly superior to the ashlar used in the construction of thick walls.
Their power of resistance to a crushing force is stated to be 32 kils. the
centimetre, or about 430 lbs. to the square inch ; and they are declared
to be perfectly fit to replace both stone and brick in almost all cases.
As regards comparative cost, the following figures are given : Arcueil,
Bagneux, or Chatillon stone, transport and laying included, are set down at
an average price of 88 francs per cubic metre ; Paris brick, including
pointing, at 57 francs ; ashlar, at 30 francs ; and the patent blocks at 19
francs. These are the statements of the inventor, and must, therefore, be
^ken as such, as we have not the means of corroborating his assertions.
That which concerns our readers principally, namely, the manner in which
he casts and poses his blocks, we are enabled to explain, we hope with
perfect clearness, by means of a few simple diagrams ; premising tliat the
under courses are marked by oblique shading lines, while the upper are
left white, and the openings ruled perpendicularly.
The first th/ee examples are of walls 50 centimetres, or 19 J inches thick,
and the other figures will show the dimensions of the blocks and
openings.
No. 1 is formed of blocks of the following forms—
I - soc
No. 2 is built up with blocks of the follow
i II'
ing forms :
r
"1
Fig. 2.
No. 3 is composed of the following blocks :-
368
THE BUILDlivJG NEWS.
MxY 10, 1861.
Fig. 3.
i^-
- 1
-
!
„_^....
-'
tL_-
O"^
III '■
•N;^.:/^
JPartition walls are constructed in a more simple manner, of which Noa.
4 and 3 will afford examples—
FiR. i- i'ig- 5.
gjP^r^
f- 25
* 2S- I
PICCADILLY.
MIDWAY between Arlington-street and tlic Green-park, at 153, Piccadilly,
an iinportant-Ioolving building has lately been erected. It towers high
above the low cement houses forming the Bath Hotel, and the equally low build-
ings with tiled roofs, which separate it from the Green-park. Built of white
ami red brick, with a plentiful supply of stone dressings, it sparkles the brighter
from its juxtaposition with its dingy, time-stained neighbours. Its masses of
chimnev-shafts, of diverse size and varying heights, give it an extremely pic-
turesflue and agreeable outline. But that it is wedged in between shops, we
should imagine it to be a large public building, or nobleman's mansion j it is,
however, built partly to shelter a nobleman's horses. One portion is devoted to
this latter purpose, another to a coachhouse, a third to a shop, a fourtji to cellars
for an adjacent wiue-merchant, and a fifth to additional rooms for the Bath
Hotel. Appropriate<l to so many and such widely differing purposes, it is, never-
theless designed with a uniform frontage, and, if it does not distinctly declare
its ma'nv '''specialites," it proclaims "strikinjily the skill of the architect,
Mr. E. B. Lamb, who has so thoroughly masked them all in a single block.
It has three divisions on the ground-floor, forming together a frontage of
63 feet. The one nearest Arlington-street is devoted to a coach-house and
harness-room, IB ft. 3 in. wide ; the stable, 24 ft. wide, is in the middle ; and the
corresponding 18 ft. 3 in. on the Green-park side is arranged for a shop, with a
parlor and W.C. behind. All have an average depth of 32 ft. The coach-
house and stable communicate with each other, and are connected by a staircase
and passage on the ba-'ement with the house of Lord Walsingham, which is sepa-
rated from the new buildings by the garden attached to his Lordship's mansion.
The stable is lighted by windows on either side of the doorway in Piccadilly ; it
contains five spacious stalls and a loose box, and is, like the coach-house, paved
with stone and fireproof in its ceiling ns well as in its floor. From the stable a
flight of stairs leads to a room on the first and second floors, which may be used
by a groom. There is a kitchen underneath the shop parlor. The rest of the
basement, with the range of vaults under the pavement, is let to the wine mer-
chant whose premises are three shops distant— at the corner of the park. Iron
columns carry the brick arches which support the floor of coach-house and stable.
All the walls rest on deep beds of concrete, and are built in a most substantial
manner.
The upper floors, with the unimportant exception which we have already
alluded to, are let off to the proprietor of the Bath Hotel. They form large and
lofty apartments, varying in height from 12 feet 6 inches on the first floor, to
10 feet on the fourth floor. On the first floor a doorway in the party-wall links
the new rooms with the old portions of the Hotel, which has already absorbed
the upoer storie* of the intervening houses. A passage, 3 feet 9 inches wide, runs
thence" through the centre of the building, parallel with its front wall. Imme-
diately on the left, that is, in the south-east j;omer, there is a principal staircase
and lift. The apartments are ranged two on either side, and two more at the
end of the passage. The disposition of the floor into six rooms (varying in size
from 18 feet by 16 feet to 12 feet by 11 feet), and a water-closet is repeated in
the upper stories, but with this addition — that on the third and fourth floors, a
houwmaid's closet is provided in the place of the discontinued stairs from the
stable. The building ls covered by a queen-post roof, and advantage is taken of
this arrangement to contrive a laundry t>3 feet long, and from 7 feet to 12 feet 0
inches wide in it.
The exterior is symmetrically and tastefully designed. We have already
alluded to its picturesque sky-line. The other features in the composition are
equally good, notwithstanding the absence of individual character, necessitated
by the crowd of mingled occupants.
'On the ground floor the coach-house and shop arc made to balance each other.
They each consist of coupled segment arches with a stone column in the centre.
The angles of the stone arches are boldly splayed and moulded, and have triple
kej-stoncs. Tlie piers between each of these coupled openings, and the staole
door in the centre of the block are comparatively plain. The design is none the
worse, but rather better for this. It requires more knowledge and talent to leave
blank spaces in the midst of ornament than to decorate plain suifaces. Mr. Lamb
has done both judiciously. The plain surface is pierced only by small windows to
, light tlie stables, and in these windows some cleverly designed ironwork is intro-
duced. Iron brackets rest on the caps, and carry a projecting balcony running
the whole length of the building. There is a novelty worth mentioning in these
brackets— additional iron brackets at rijiht angles to the principal ones are
attached to the projecting portion of them so as to give greater apparent sup-
port to the stone balcony. They are not yet fixed, and we cannot judge of their
appearance, but the m<f<«/" seems sound and good. The balcony will have an iron
scroll railing.
The shop is arranged to match, generally, the coach-house. There are
coupled openings, one for shop window, the other for doors. The lower panels of
the iloorK throughout— of coach-house, stable, and shop— have been r^ulated by
the height of the shop stall-board. The fa(;ade above the ground floor is pierced
with three triple windows, corresponding wi^h the three divisions below. Each
has one large and two smaller lights, with square columns between them. The
moulded lintek of the lesser lights are continued along the front, and form a
horizontal string. The lower opening is somewhat hicher than the side ones, and
is slightly arched. Clorbels over the square columns carry a stone slab and iron
railing placed in front of each central wimlow in the second story. The second-
floor triple windows are plainer, but possess the same general features. On the
third floor the windows in each division are united in one arched opening, and
divided only by chamfered muntins. On tlie fourth floor, which is a kind of
dormer, the windows are in couples instead of threes. The springing stones for
the arehes are placed on the square columns and curve inwards, narrowing the
openings at ;the top. A flat gable with stone finial covers each pair of windows.
Thus, there are three gables in the entire front. A panelled brick parapet unites
the dormers and the chimney stacks. These latter rest on corbels about a third
oi the way down, and give variety to the upper portion of the building, whilst
the absence of them causes breadth to be visible in the lower part. Instead of
being hidden or rendered insignificant, they unite with the dormers to form a
crown, and a fitting one, to the structure. They are tastefully decorated, Uke
the rest of the iront, with occasional bands of red brick, 0 inches deep, suflicient
to give color and warmth to the building, without overpowering its general tone.
The whole of the works are being ably executed by Mr. Roberts, of Islington.
Mr. E. B. Lamb, of Hinde-street, Manchester-square, is the architect of them.
— ♦
SOCIETY OF PAINTERS IN WATER COLORS.-*
" Pont-y-Pair, North Wales," by Mr. CoUingwood, is an excellent example
of subduing all the parts of the scene to maintain the cbaracterof the intended
effect. The waterfalls are numerous, and the principal object has been to
represent the spray from them taken up by the wind and mingling it with
the brilliant light of the sun, and to give this combination all the point possi-
ble the colors are subdued with great skill, leaving nothing to attract the eye
of the observer but light, watery mist and atmosphere. The treatment of
the tombstones in " Tonning Churchyard," by Mr, George Dodgson, shows
good taste on the part of the artist. The difliculty in such instances con-
sists in the same form being repeated so many times; it has been overcome
in this drawing by throwing them into a mass of middle tint and modula-
ting the subdued colors in a very clever and an agreeable manner. We
also admired the breezy look of nature in the view of " Tonning on the
Thames," " Showery Day," by the same artist, as well as the freshness of
the general effect.
The drawings by Mr. Birket Eoster are so peculiar to that artist that
they stand alone, not only in this Exhibition, but cannot be approached in
all respects by tlie contents of any other gallery. There is a refinement
that affects the eye at the first glance in their general aspect, and an
elegance in the treatment of the parts that is very gratifying on further
contemplation. Tliey have a charm about them which fascinates and
dazzles, so that although the reality is refined above all rational possibility,
the scenery and accessories are so true in form and place and so appro-
priate to the local characteristics tliat a full, satisfactory, and gratified
impression is the result of either a near or distant examination of them.
The cottage scenery suggests quiet content. The resting gleaners create
envy at their humble occupation, and the scene of the group of children
running down the hill is the very perfection of air, light, and motion.
Mr. G. A. Fripp sends several excellent drawings; "Laugharne Castle,
South Wales," is classically picturesque in the treatment and general
effect. The same merits will be found in the view of" Glen Erocliy, " Ben
Vracky in the distance, and the drawing of the " Marshes, near East-
bourne, Sussex — Evening," is true in effect, and has been conducted by a
truly classical feeling. The still more sombre and classical mind will be
found in the architectural and moonlight scenes by Mr. F. 0. Finch, they
take us back to the early and best times of the English school. There is
an occasional blackness about them which we do not quite admire, but
they are certainly very quiet and luminous. " Landscape — Afternoon,"
is, we think, the best of his daylight scenes. It has not the heaviness to
detract from the merit of his other productions ; but, as a hint in com-
position, we think that the foreground in this drawing is too much broken
up by fragments of architecture, upon which the spectator could not walk
with sufficient ease to enjoy the tranquillity of the more distant landscape.
We must not forget to direct attention to a very elegant and learned
drawing by Mr. S. P. Jackson, of St. "Ive's Pier and Bay." The masses are
broad and simple; the principal and most positive color is the blue of the
water, the extreme edge of which cuts sharply against the horizon, which
gives freshness to the scene. The chief contrast is in the warm color on
the roofs of the houses. The water is nicely graduated from the extreme
depth of color near the horizon, until it becomes nearly white on the
shore forming the foreground, the delicate tint blends with equal delicacy
by mingling with the warmer color, which combination increasing in
warmth as it passes over the left side of the composition, finally forms the
large mass of reddish tint contrasting with the deep blue of the water.
But this mode of blending the two extremes of hot and cold colors would,
although very harmonious, be tame and insipid, had not life and point
been given to the whole scene by the positive white line on the side of the
blackish vessel lying " high and dry " in the midst of the mass of middle
tint. This line of white is all-powerful in its effect on thegcneral composition.
Mr. Samuel Palmer contributes his usual number of drawings, which still
present his well-known merits; but we are happy to say on a more modi-
fied style of art. The work entitled " Distant Mountains " is not quite so
good as some of the others. " The Chequered Shade " is a much more
pleasing and successful production, in which the light is brilliant, broad
and well distributed, lading in its vividness, and increasing in its fitful-
ness on the figures in the foreground. The composition, entitled " After
the Storm," is also very brilliant, and the first motive is more than usually
sustained. The figure subjects must be left for a future opportunity.
• Continued from page 376,
i
May 10, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
389
THE ART JOURNAL.
THE current immber of the Art Journal is at once a characteristic spe-
ciinen of our able contemporary, and it also possesses claims for especial
commendation. It is a number characteristic of the Art Journal itself,
inasmuch as it exemplifies in a striking manner both the intrinsic merits
and the less attractive features of the publication. Thus, it contains a
really admirable engraving after one of the national Turner's, a pretty
plate after Smith's pretty picture of the "Royal Sisters,'' and a pleasing
representation of " Temperance " — a statue by the Messrs. Wills, Brothers,
gentlemen who have taken an active part in producing designs for drink-
ing fountains ; and, besides these steel plates, there is a numerous series of
clever and effective wood-cuts. In addition to the descriptive notices of
the engravings and to the lesser articles on miscellaneous subjects, and the
reviews, there is one of Mr. DafForne's agreeable papers on " British
Artists," T. S. Cooper, the Academician, being the artist whose " stylejind
character " are described and illustrated. Mr. Fairholt has one of his
always clever and always acceptable illustrated papers, which is entitled
" A Kamble of an Archseologist amongst Old Banks and in Old Places."
There is along, an able, and a truly valuable article on the "Royal
Academy and its Influences " — an article which all true lovers of art and
true friends of British artists onght to read with thoughtful attention.
The Society of Arts E.xhibition of Inventions is noticed in exactly the
manner which becomes the Art Journal, and the Architectural Exhibition
is disposed of with a single column of fair, critical, and descriptive notice
as far as it goes, which necessarily is not very far. Mr. Robert Hunt has
a scientific and agreeable (Mr. Hunt's science is always agreeable) " visit "
to "Smith's Ornamental Wood-works ;" and there are articleson the Great
Exhibition of next year, on " Art in Scotland and the Provinces," and also
in Foreign States," on " Artistic Researches in JEgina and Arcadia," &c.
Then there is a critical notice of the Exhibition of the " British Artists,"
which, more sua, our contemporary assimilates by far too closely to such a
catalogue as ihe Messrs. Foster would issue. And the Hudson drags on
its slow and weary length " from the wilderness to the sea," in a 16th part
— a subject well adapted for a miscellaneous illustrated periodical, but
altogether out of place where it has established itself The opeuing article
of the number, a fifth paper upon the " Antiquity of the Likenesses of our
Blessed Lord," might be appropriate to an archasological, but it cannot be
so to an art-journal — besides, the treatment of the subject is far frombeing
satisfactory. The remaining article, which aspires to being con-
sidered important, is another which we could gladly have dis-
pensed with — it is one of Mr. Thornbury's Imaginary Dialogues
of artists upon matters in some way or other connected, or
which the writer supposes to be connected with art. The Art Journal, in
our opinion, might deal with matters that really are intimately connected
with art in a much more satisfactory and effectual manner. Our contem-
porary might most happily sixbstitute such articles as the one on the
Royal Academy for Mr. Thornbury's common-place fictions, which no
true artist or true lover of art would think of reading, and its valuable
space might be most consistently and advantageously devoted at much
greater length to the works of art and the art-manufactures, to the art-
facts and art-progress and art-exigencies of the day, if it were to leave
American rivers to wend their way without devoting to them one-eighth of
its entire space, and if it were to ignore all archajology which has really
little, if anything, to do with art. We confess that we are at a loss to
account for the " Guards " and the " Westminster " Memorials and the
Architectural Exhibition occupying between them only two columns and
a half, while four whole pages are assigned to the opening article and as
much more to the "Hudson." What the Art Journal does say about the
" Memorials " is well said and to the purpose ; we should have been truly
glad had these articles been much longer and more detailed.
THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
Tile new season of the Crystal Palace has commenced auspiciously. The
opening day of the season. May 1st, was distinguished by a grand
performance of Haydn's "Creation; " and on the very next day, the first
of a series of twelve " Opera Concerts " was given with signal success.
After the fashion of former years, some grand Flower and Fruit Shows
occupy prominent positions in the year's programme; and these really are
the triumphs of the Crystal Palace. The new programme also adverts
with becoming satisfaction to the progress of the " School of Art Science,
and Literature," which was inaugurated last autumn. This school, at
present having its various classes formed only for lady students, is
gradually assuming an important character: indeed, all that it now wants
to ensure its complete success is a more energetic and definite administra-
tion of the school, as such a school as it both professes to be and really is,
together with a less exclusive system— that is, together with a considerable
reduction in the scale of fees.
The Palace itself looks well, and its permanent attractions are being
rapidly developed. The trees, plants, and flowers within the building are
truly delightful. The park and gardens also give promise of being this
summer more beautiful than ever. In like manner the business depart-
ment of the Palace itself now shows evident signs of decided improve-
ment, under the able and judicious direction of Mr. Bousefield. In
connexion with this department, we observe with much satisfaction that
it is proposed to form a small collection of art-manufactures of the higher
order for exhibition on every Saturday. The first collection of this series,
consisting exclusively of works executed in the metals by the Messrs.
Elkington, was exhibited on Saturday last, and it attracted much
admiring attention. The idea for thus popularising the best works of art-,
manufacture, and so cultivating the public taste while promoting the
interests of producers, is worthy the highest commendation. The
Picture Gallery at the Palace remains without much appearance of
change, either for better or for worse. Mr. Wass does all that he can for
it, but the Gallery is too narrow for him to make a success of it, and
besides it is situated in a position which forbids its attaining to a high
popularity. Why do not the Directors build a first-rate new Picture
Gallery, which might become a permanent exhibition of noble works ? —
they have ample space at their disposal between the main building of the
Palace and the broad road that passes the building itself from end to end.
We should have been glad to have seen some stronger indications of
energetic life, in the direction of the Crystal Palace— some such evidences
of advance as are shown either by the introduction of fresh collections, or
by the more effectual use and application of those that have long been
formed. For example, we should liave liked to have found a collection of
naval models, of the highest excellence as illustrative of the naval archi-
tecture of our times. And, on the other hand, we should have been
equally glad to have welcomed the formation of an establishment for the
popular illustration of the arts of printing and engraving in all their
branches.
Again, why does not the Palace " School" comprehend the teach-
ing which is so much needed by art-manufactures, and also by artist-
workmen? Why does it not form classes for architecture, and for art-
education in its most comprehensive range? And, for what possible
reason can the Directors persist in leaving their collection.s and courts
without popular and descriptive lectures, and without popular descriptions
and illustrations in the courts and in the midst of the collections tliemselves?
This is the strangest of the Crystal Palace omissions and mistakes, as it
is the one that might most easily be corrected. If the Directors wish
their institution to hold its own next year, in competition with the Groat
Exhibition, they must take a bold step forward in renderingtheir collections
at once popular and useful. And it becomes them to secure the cordial
co-operation of all who might advance their interests. The Crystal
Palace Directors cannot afford to neglect a single friend, or to lose a
single supporter. While maintaining their own position, they are bound to
seek and to secure every available alliance. This can only be done by
a judicious liberality, associated with genuine courtesy and becoming
attention.
PARIS EXHIBITIOA" OF MODERN WORKS OF ART.
THE building in the Champs Elysees, known as the Palais de I'Industrie, is
once mor<- filled with the productions of painters, sculptors, engravers, and
architects, and the catalogue contains upwards of four thousand entries— a larger
number than appears in that of the last Exhibition which occuiTed in 1859.
The arrangement is almost precisely the same as upon the last occasion, that is
the whole of the front and a portion of the end galleries are converted bv .screens
into a series of spacious rooms, in which there is plenty of space both for the
pictures and the public, and there are moreover these further important
advantages — first, that no pictures are hung too high or too low to be easily
seen ; secondly, that the light is almost invariably good, the ^lass roof being
partially covered with calico or canvas in order to shut out all glare and temper
the rays of the sun, the only drawback being that the stuff used is extremely un-
sightly, of various colors and in some parts much too dark ; and thirdly, that
there being a large unbroken space overhead, the ventilation is excellwit. It is
atnazing what an effect these circumstances have in producing a pleasant state
of mind in those who visit the Exhibition, and especially in those wljo do so as a
matter of duty. As regards the arrangement of the pictures themselves, an
excellent rule has been adopted, each room is indicated by two or more letters,
and all the works of the exhibitors arc, therefore, to be found in as nearly as
possible alphabetical order, which is also that of the catalogue ; and generally
s])eaking all the works of each artist are hung in a group. This arrangement is
earned out with thorough impartiality, the only exceptions being a selection of a
number of remarkable works for the central salon.
The sculpture is placed, as it has always been, in a garden in the centre of the
building, the only difference being in the style adopted. Heretofore the ground
has been laid in the picturesque or English method, with serpentine walks,
grass-plots, and an artificial stream of water; the last feature has been omitted
this year, and the ground is occupied by rectangular flower-beds and straight
gravel-walks, the sculpture being arranged at the angles and symmetrically
along the lines. The great faults, as regards the general effect, are the use of
dark green glazed calico, which forms the boundary of the whole space, and of
the same material, of a dingy brickdust hue, for the covering of the pUnths upon
which the sculpture stands : these are eyesores which it is impossible to avoid, and
they mar what might easily have been rendered a very effective whole. General ly,
it may be remarke'l that the Exhibition opened, on the 1st instant, in a very
incomplete condition, and much remains to be done at the present moment to
give the Exhibition a finished appearance. Something ofthis may arise from the
extent of the place, but as it almost universally happens in public exhibitions
here, it must rather be looked upon as a radical defect in the nature of French men
or things. The bare, littered condition of the entrance and exits, the slovenly
appearance of those portions of the building not occupied by the present Exhi-
bition, and the total want of garnish which is visible everywhere, are rather
inconsistent with the reputation which the French have for taste and extem-
poraneous decoration, Ijut, in spite of all preconceivec notions upon this subject,
perfectly in accordance with the practice; in nearly all such cases here.
Upon the last occasion the ^rand room by which the public enters the Exhi-
bition, the Salon Carre as it is called, after its prototype in the Louvre, con-
tained the gems of the Exhibition, and produced a fine effect, while it caused far
too great an assemblage of visitors in that part, and thus gave a desolate air
to the rest by comparison ; now, the central room is devoted almost entirely to
representations of the heroic deeds of the French army in Italy, it is not very
attractive in an artistic point of view; it is, consequently, nmch less crowded,
hut the impression it produces at the outset is not at all promising ; it is, in fact,
a dull room, and leads to the feeding that the Exhibition is weak, and we think
it must be admitted that that impression is unfortunately well founded, and that,
while there are undoubtedly a very large number of respectable, and a fair
390
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 10, 1861.
sprinkling of admirable works, there are but very few which will raise any
enthittiasin.
A cooaiderable number of eminent names are missing from tlie catalogues —
Horace Vemet, Inert*, Couture, and Rosa lionheur are all absent ; neither of
the aboTe often exhibit, but we cannot well spare the lady, although her brother
has sent some half-a-dozen capital works; Isabey, who astonished us last year by
his Ship on Fire, over which the smoke hung like a frightful black bird of prey,
has not sent us a drop of his limpid, ripjiliug water to cool our eyes after gazing
for hours on glaring colors; EuKone Delacroix, who supplied eight pictures in
1859, has not one in the present Exhibition; Knanss, whose " Silver Wedding "
mttncted conaiderable attention last time, is also missuig; Tro^on has not sent a
ringle fiat-backed peasant woman, a cow, or even a calf with comical gait ;
Breton, Capelle, Ifaanen, Signol, Diaz, and wc know not how many more, are
amongst the absentees. We had hoped, too, that some late productions of poor
Decamps might have appeared, but his name is missing from the Exhibition list,
as he biniself is, alas ! from that of this world. However, our business is with
tlie present, ana, instead of vain regrets for the lost and the absent, we must
give our attention to what is provided for our entertainment.
The great room, as we have already hinted, might almost be called the Campaign
of Italy room ; in the first place, Yvon's picture of the Battle of Solierino,
occupies an enormous space on the side opposite the entrance. Nearlv all battle
piews are terribly alike, and M. Y'von, in attempting to give a special character
to his work, has certainly not improved its character ; the picture might be called
Louis Napoleon on his toy charger, with some of his generals in the comers, and
a few troops in a ditch at his feet. The horse occupies the centre of the picture,
and its attitude and exalted position, on Mount Feuile, reminds one rather un-
pleasantly of that of another wan'ior near the Green-park. The Emperor is
supposed to be giving General Camou the order, for Maneque's brigade of the
Imperial Guard to go to the support of General Forey, whose position in his
attempts to gain possession of the hetghts of Solferino was extremely critical. In
the distance is the tower of Solferino and a monastery, the whole line of the
plateau twing commanded by the Austrian Artillery'; to the left is the cemetery,
which was taken after an obstinate conflict, by the division Ladmirault, in the
intervening hollow is the village of Solferino on fire ; General Forey is in front
of that place. The Emperor's face wants both expression and manliness, be seems
to he .sitting for his portrait, and to have been slightly rouged for theoccasion ;
his officers are sadly huddled together to the left of the picture, while to the right
of the centre in Iront General Caraou's horse is .scmnibling up an almost im-
possible bank, while facing him a captain is arriving with a standard, taken ii'om
the enemy, the captain's horse and a numlier of troops lieing just visible behind
the hill on which the Emperor's horse is posed. The background of the picture,
the effect of distance, and the perspective, are admirably managed, and give an
excellent notion of the movement of an extensive but not compact engagement.
This portion of the picture is even pleasing as a landscape, which received life from
the deadly struggle that is supposed to be going on around those burning homes ;
but the group in the foreground, faultless in detail, present nothing noble or
pleasing either in the composition or the execution, and it is impossible to avoid
wishing that a good deal of the labor bestowed on uniforms and trappings had
been given instead to the faces of the principal actors in the scene. M. Yvon has
made a courtly picture of Louis Napoleon at Solferino, and to thishe has sacrificed
his own genius as well as other men's claims ; this is neither well for art nor for
history, and a man of M. Yvou's position might certainly have done much
better.
The same painter has also in the same room a portrait of the " Prince Imperial
in the Park of Saint Cloud," with two large spaniels. The boy looks considerably
older than he does in reality, and this is made especially evident by contrast with
another picture by Pichat, lianging close at hand, in which the Prince has a
remarkably cliild-like expresssion. M. Yvon's work is, however, far more solid
and satisfactorj- than his neighbor's, and there is a repose and simplicity about
it which are highly commendable.
M. Yvon also suffers sadly as regards his great picture by contrast with his
visUv'ui, M. Pils, whose "Battle of Alma," painted by order of the Minister
of State, is a peculiarly sober and admirably toned work of about the same size
as its rival. M. Pils has taken a very military vie%v of the matter — a working
▼iew we might almost say. There is no prince, no general, no staff in the fore-
ground, no meretricious coloring, nothing but a simple rendering of a difficult
operation in which officers and men, horses and guns, are industriously, earnestly
engaged in a most laborious work. He has chosen the moment when General
Bosquet, having crossed the Alma and ascended the heights, is followed by his
artillery ; foot and horse are crossing the stream with cautious steps, and
winding up the steep hill which rises to near the top of the canvas. The attitudes
of men and horses are energetic, but in no way exaggerated. The uniforms and
trappings are treated with bold simplicity, the quiet blue of the artillery being
set off judiciously by the introduction of a few brighter uniforms, and by a
straggling party of drummers who are climing up the steep with bodies bent fonvard
in easy, natural attitudes ; and in the foreground is a soldier extended on the
ground filling his canteen from the stream. A few small figures on the top of
the hill mark the height and the perspective. To the left the English red-coats
are seen here and there through tlie smoke which tells how hot is the work they
are engaged in. The picture is simple, natural, and effective, vast in its apparent
extent, little crowdM, yet perfectly satisfactorj', instead of the eye being
bewildered and dazzled by hundreds of bayonets amid the eternal repetition of
uniforms and accoutrements. The spectator is, on the contrary, inclined to ask
himself how so much effect has been produced by such commonplace and unpre-
tending means. The praise bestowed upon M. Pils's work is very general and
cordial, and in every point of view, except that of those who regard a tour tie force
with more interest than honest painting, it is certainly well earned. The work is
a great advance on his "Defile of Zouaves in a Trench at Sebastopol," which
attracted much attention iu 1859.
The next best battle pieces are those of Cbarpentier; one is a large canvas
repreaenting the " Attack of Carviana, Battle of Solferino, with the Emperor on
Mount Fontana," at four in the afternoon. This picture has the same fault as
M. Yvon's work— namely, an over attention to details, too much of the theatrical
style in the composition, and is altogether wanting in the artistic treat-
ment of the background, which is so strong a feature in the former. M. Char-
pentier's other work is much smaller, a cabini;t picture in fact, painted for, or at
any rate belonging to, Marshal Kegnaud de Saint .Jean d'Augely. It represents
the " Attack of the Bridge of Magenta, by the Grenadiers of the Guard," who,
as the official report has it, " defended the position for four hours against the
effortsof the Austrian army," and the corpse-strewed ground between the com-
batants shows most effectively how fierce must have been the struggle and how
welcome must have been the arrival of aid on the side of the French.
Besides the above, there is a large " Magenta," by IJigaud, ,ind opposite it
another "Solferino," by Patcniostre, an "Ambuscade of French Chasseurs
lying in wait for a Battery of Austrian Artillery " coming along a sunken road
to certain death, but totally unaware of their danger, by Armaiid Dumaresq ; a
" Combat in the Streets of Magenta," by Bcllinge ; the " Death of General Es-
pinasse," by Cousin de la Fosse ; and the " Congratulation of General Ferey by
the Army after the Battle of Montebello," and the " Salutation of the same by
the Emperor shortly afterwards," both by Philippoteaux, none of which call
for any special observation.
The list of military records closes with a picture painted for Versailles, by
M. Ginain. It represents the triumphal entry of the troops into Paris on the
14th August, IS-M, after the conclusion of the Italian campaign. The scene is
laid in the Place Vendoine, and the moment is when the wonndcd, who marebed
at the head of the column, having passed the Emperor and Empress, are about to
emerge from the square. The canvas is large enough, but the figures are diminu-
tive ; the young lieutenant who can-ies botfi arms in slings looks more like a doll
tlian a man, and the whole of the army, from the Emperor included, with the
exception of three or four right in the foreground. Next to the Column Veu-
dome, or the Venetian masts which dispute the pre-eminence, a mass of people
on the right hand of the foreground is the most conspicuous part of the com-
position, and of this group, if not of the whole picture, the most noticeable
object is a new shiny hat, which its proprietor is waving in a frantic manner, as
if he were trying to attract the Emperor's attention and obtain an appointment
as sub-prefect. The houses of the I'lace, bold and telling as they might have
been made, look like houses of cards or confectioners' stuff, and everywhere
velvet and calico of a dingy, dirty, brickdusty hue offends both the taste and the
eye, the whole being toned down to a monotonous mixture of red and white,
making the picture resemble, more than anything else, a huge dish of ill-mixed
strawberries and cream, the fruit being of a very nnsafi^i■actoi•y color. The pro-
duction will be quite at home in the Palace of Louis XIV., and will range admi-
rably with some hundred other square yards of canvas, spoiled for the purpose of
informing future generations of what they care not a farthing, and which exhibit
to the world the marvellous effect which the patronage of Sovereigns has upon
the fine arts.
The only historical picture in the room is that of Madame Letitia Bonajiarte,
in her retreat at Rome, dwclHng with weeping eyes, on the picture of her lost
son ; a full-length portrait of Napoleon stauds to the left, and is scarcely visible
to the spectator, and Madame Mere is seated on a sola, the work upon which she
has been engaged has slipped from her hand, and her spirit is far away, on the
bridge of Areola, in the glittering galleries of the Tuileries, or in the barren rock
of Saint Helena; her idol is no more, and she but a sorrowful old woman,
waiting for the summons that was not long in coming. The room in which she
is seated is lighted from a high window, giving the apartment something tomb-
like in its aspect, and the only other persons introduced are two old Corsican
ladies who were her usual attendants, and who like Madame, are dressed in
black. There is something rather bare and cold about the work, but the face of
the bereaved mother is painted with great force and is very touching, and alto-
gather the pictured deserves more attention than it seems to draw.
Then we have a representation of the enthusiastic conduct of the people of
Chambedy, on the occasion of the Vote for Annexation to France, by M. Houssot ;
a scene at Plombieres, in which the Emperor is attending mass in the open air,
with a crowd of extremely pretty women in the most charming costumes, set off
by three sisters of mercy and a bare-legged peasant boy seated on the east side,
by M. Perrin ; another of " The Empress at the Glass Works of Saint Gobain,"
by M. Laudelle, all of which may, perhaps, please some people ; a landscape, by
G'renet, called the " Lake of Beauport, in 13rittany," too minute and too woolly
in surface, but with a charming fresh and natural glow of light — altogether a
most refreshing oasis in the midst of the deserts of blood and dust by which it is
surrounded ; and lastly some fine portraits.
Of these the best is, beyond all question, that of " Prince Napoleon," by
Flaudrin, in his usual quiet drawing-room style, an admirable likeness, only
flattered to an allowable extent, and faultless in the handling ; a full-length of
the " Princess Mathilde," in court dress— white ornamented with gold lace, and
a crimson velvet train — a very courtly production with much merit, by M.
Dubrife fils ; a capital likeness of " Victor Emmanuel," in all the pomp and
panoply of the re ijallanto homo, by Lepaull; and a full-length portrait of his
daughter, the " Princess Clotilde," pleasing, but slightly medieval in style, by
M. Hehert. Here ends the list of Imperial and Royal portraits — for strange to
say there is not one either of the Emperor or Empress in the room of honor,
although we must not forget one of " Pius IX.," by M. Hardtmuth, of Vienna,
extremely well painted, but in which it is difficult to read the character in the
face of the Pope ; and Englishmen may not understand Italian physiognomy,
and thus the curious mixture of opposing expressions which seems written on the
face of the holy father may be merely the result of our own ignorance, and we
will refrain from further enmment, for fear of doing injustice either to the
painter or his subject. There is also a fine full-length likeness of the " Minister
of Commerce," by Cabauel ; a very good one of the " King of the Belgians,"
by de Winne, of Brussels ; one of " Caurobert," by Beauce ; and two or three
others, the names of which, with the exception of '" General Espinasse," have
escaped our memory.
Having introduced our readers to the Exhibition, and done the honors of the
great room, we must defer our remarks upon the other portions till a future
opportunity.
ST. LUKE'S CHURCH, HEYWOOD.
IN early times Hevwood was a hamiet to Bury with a few scattered houses, it
now exceeds 'iO',(K)0 people. A chapel is named on this spot in Saxton's map
of Lancashire in 1.J77, and by will dated 10th July, Vm, Mrs. Agnes Radclyffe,
of Marland, widow, leaves "for the repaircs Rochdale and Myddleton
Churches and every of them vi. viii. and to Hey wood ijs." In 1645 the Parlia-
ment assigned the tithes of Heywood, Bamford, Whittle, and Lomax, to this
chapel, there being no glebe lands and only the use of £5 to the minister, but
this endowment was really never effected. The old chapel, after repeated additions,
being galleried all round, became at last too small for the wants of the inhabitants,
and after no small amount of labor the sum of over £10,000 was raised tore-
build the church, The Committee applied for plans to Mr. Joseph Clarke, F.S.A »
VIEW OF THE INXEKIOK OF ST LUKE'S CHCIiCH, HEVWOOD.-JI'b, Joseph Clarke Akchitect.
May 10, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
393
of 13, Stratlbrd-place, London, and the present building; is beinjj carried oat,
from his designs and under his directions, by Mr. Hughes, of Liverpool. Mr.
Radeliffe being tlie clerk of worlts.
The churcli comprises a parallelogram of nearly 140 feet by 70 feet, divided
into a chancel 42 feet long and 22 feet wide : a nave with aisles extending the
whole length of the nave and chancel ; a vestry with the heating chamber under
on the south side of the chancel ; on the north side, next to Yorkshire-street, and
approached by a wide flight of steps, is a detached tower 14 feet square, ex-
clusive of the buttresses and a spire of the total height of 190 feet, forming the
principal entrance into the church; on the south side next Church-street is aporch
with an entrance from this side : attached to the north chancel aisle is the chapel
belonging to Baniford Hall.
The character of the church is Early Decorated, and is being built In the most
solid and substantial manner with Yorkshire parpoint facing, Staffordshire
ashlar-stone externally, and Bath-stone ashlar internally. The roofs will be
open and of pitcli pine, springing from a lofty clerestory on shafts with bands and
pillars of colored stone. The east window is of seven lights of noble proportions.
The west window is also very large and of six lights, and both in time will, it is
hoped, be filled with stained glass. The clustered columns in cliancel with the
shafts of the chancel arch, and as well as the shafts and corbels supporting the
roofs, will be of local colored stones mixed with marbles and serpentine as
the funds allow with a certain amount of polychrome throughout. The seats are
solid and of pitch pine varnished, with raised stalls of rich character in the
chancel. Tlie chancel will be paved with tiles and the other passages with stone.
Tlie carving will be rich, but a great deal will he left till after the church is other-
wise completed, when it is hoped funds for this and other costly and appropriate
fittings will be found to complete the church, in a manner worthy of the spirit
which has prompted the good taste and munificence displayed in other buildings
erected in the neighbouring districts.
The church acconiinodates over 1,000 sittings without any galleries.
A heavy peal of 8 bells is now being cast by Messrs. Mears, and will be bung
as soon as tne church is ready. The churchyard will also be enclosed in a suit-
able manner.
»
THE WOODS OF NEW ; ZEALAND.
OUR attention has been invited to some specimens of decorative woods, natives
of New Zealand, which have recently been discovered and brought to
London, and which prove to be suigularly beautiful and valuable. A wood of a
peculiar knotted grain, of a rich color, and of singular general beauty, known to
the New Zealanders as toteree, claims the precedence in all those qualities which
are of the greatest importance. A noble sideboard of this wood has just been
completed for the King of Prussia, by Mr. Levien, of Davies-street, Grosvenor-
square, by whom the woods of New Zealand have been introduced to this country.
Mr. Levitn has long devoted his thoughtful and earnest attention to tlie selection
and introduction of such foreign woods as would be peculiarly calculated to prove
of value to the cabinet maker, and in the important colony of New Zealand his
success has been most complete and most gratifying. We have sincere pleasure
in congratulating Mr. Levien on the result of his honorable enterprise. He has
brought into notice several woods that are pre-eminent in every most excellent
quality, and which cannot fail to become popular for woodwork of the highest
order. We cordially recommend our readers to pay Mr. Levien a visit, and we
are convinced that they will feel grateful to us for our recommendation.
THE ARCHITECTURAL EXHIBITION."
RESERVING some general remarks on the drawings exhibited until we have
completed our examination of the entire series — a work of no ordinary
amount of labor, as any of our readers may ascertain for themselves by taking
some twenty or thirty drawings and devoting, say, ten minutes only to* each, a
process that will show pretty clearly the small amount of consideration which
tialls to the lot of competitive drawings — we return to the results of a careful
examination of the drawings yet remaining unnoticed in the Great Gallery.
Resuming the consideration of the drawings in series we find two vigorous
water-color sketches by Mr. C. L. Eastlake, " Courtyard on the north side of
Rouen Cathedral " (177), and a sketch at the foot of the Tour de Saint Remain,
Rouen Cathedral (180). Apart from the color, which is not altogether truthful,
both drawings exhibit very considerable artistic power.
No. 178, exhibited by Mr. J. H. Parker, in continuation of his series of Conti-
nental drawings — shows a " View and Section of the tower of Langrunes." Three
plans 1o a large scale show the arrangement and detail very completely.
Mr. E. C. Robins (180) sends a " South East View of Coombe Cliffe House,
Croydon," in the Italian style, with a campanile having an open upper story or
lelve(lere,viith balcony. The cost,'^nc!uding stables and lodge, was under £0,000.
" The Entrance to 1*5, Tooley-street," by Messrs. Newman and Billing (181) is
of a cold unpleasant colour, in the drawing, which does not sufficiently indicate
the materials employed.
No. 183, .by Mr. J. L. Pearson, a good drawing, but apparently unfinished,
judging from the lofty spire, shows a church proposed to be built in London. There
are several good features in the design, which deserves a little study.
No. 185 is a bird's-eye view of "All Saint's Church, Parsonage House and
Schools," now being erected at Denstone, Staffordshire, by Mr. G. E. Street •
surrounding the forger circular drawing, are four small sketches of portions of
the design.
Mr. Hadfield's " South East View of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Stockport "
(186), shows on plan a nave with two aisles, tower at the north-west angle, and
a sacristy. The spire has a weak, wiry, effect.
In No. 187, one of the selected designs for the Bamsley Cemetery, by Mr.
Stapleton, Jun., the end windows appear to be too small.
In No. 188 we have "St. Stephen's Church, Congleton, as rebuilt in 18G0 by
Mr. Joseph Clarke," and in 191, " A Villa at Highgate ; " but we should hardly
have ascribed the latter work, particularly as a drawing, to Mr. Charles Gray.
Mr. Elmslie's " Interior Views of the Large Coffee-room and Entrance-hall of
the West Midland Hotel, at Great Malvern," before referred to (192), do not
serve to impress us with a more favorable opinion of the work in point of design.
No. 193, described in the catalogue as " An Elevation of a Design for Music-
hall or Assembly-rooms, Birkenhead," by Mr. J. J. Thomson, jun., shews a
perspective view which is dependent for effect mainly on a row of windows
• Continued from page 360.
surmounted with pedimental heads. The drawing raises a question as to sufficiency
of light.
194. The best design Mr. Goldie exhibits, is an " Interior View of St. Pancrai
Church, Ipswich." A small plan shows the nave to be 63 feet by 30 feet, the
north aisle 75 feet G inches by 14 feet 6 inches, south aisle 68 feet by 13 feet, with
a sacristy 20 feet by 14 feet. The drinoivij is faulty, but the arrangement on
plan of the cast end is most praiseworthy, for the channing variety of effect
obtained with little cost. Compare the result of the two simple arches cutting
off the angles with the effect if terminated with a flat wall, no matter how highly
enriched. One never tires of examining the ins and outs of an "artistic bit"
like this east end. The perforated roof principle over the altar rails suggests
various admirable modes of giving interest to this feature. The great object will
be to avoid an appearance of weakness. The same architect's " New Church of
St. Mungo, Greenock," (195), shows on the accompanying plan a nave 94 feet
by 32 feet, north aisle 100 feet by 13 feet, and south aisle 91 feet C mches by 13
feet. Both views would be improved by more correct drawing.
No. 197. " Narford Hall, Norfolk," by Mr. R. Kitton, shews a large Italian
structure. The outline drawing does not, however, enable us to judge how
much is being restored or added.
ane
Kent.'
besides, a very proper amount of architectural character.
In 217, which we passed in following Mr. Lamb's drawings, we find Mr. John
Norton's " Design for the Proposed New College at Clifton," which received the
first prize. Two large outline elevations show the main buildings, of Gothic
design ; a plan, elevation, and section of the porter's lodge is attached. The
building, as seen in the south-west view (236), shows some want of unity of parts ;
the absence of a main striking feature to connect the various portions of the
design is strongly felt. The drawings, however, exhibit most of the qualities
usually appreciated by committees. 'The interior view of the schoolroom, as
shown in No. 2.32, is very satisfactory.
Close by No. 217 is a View of the Interiorof a Proposed Church at Torquay, by
Mr. Buckridge. Another contribution from the same gentleman shows three
external views, apparently of the same church. We do not observe that either
finds a place in the catalogue.
Mr. Joseph James sends two capital drawings (218 and 222) of a competition
design for the "Congregational Church at Lower Clapton," more imposing in
character than most of those we find for the same church. The junction ofthe
tower and spire is open to objection, but the general treatment of .the subject is
very effective.
No. 220, a design for the " New Church at Torquay," is by Mr. £. Appleton,
but we cannot speak in its favor.
No. 219, a competition design for the " Girls' School, Ealing," .by Messrs.
Hooker and Wheeler, crude in color and somewhat streaky, is well managed
as regards grouping, and in most of the forms is carefully designed. The open
chamber in ..he small tower, if arranged for a view room, is useless on the sides
next the roof ; if intended for a bell-chamber, it hardly expresses its purpose.
The materials are white and red bricks and tile roofs." The same architect's
design for " Schools, Brook's Charity, Thome," shown in No. 221, is of black
and red bricks with slate roofs. Both of these designs exhibit a most judicious
choice of roof covering. They are worthy of attention if only on that account.
Many other points of merit will, however, force themselves to notice. No. 223
is another good design for " De Arton Church, Market Rasen," but not up to
the two previous design^. The lower part of the spire is overdone.
No. 224, "The Hartley Institution, Southampton," now being erected, by
Messrs. Green and De Ville, shows in a tinted elevation an Italian building of
three stories above the gi'ound level, of which the lower is rusticated, having
three doors under a loggia of four carj'atic figures supporting an entablature and
cornice. The principal floor has a range of red granite columns with arches
over, and square-headed windows between. The upper story above the main
cornice is treated as .in attic, for which it is, however, somewhat too heavy.
No. 225, a design for a Hospital, to accommodate 250 patients, designed by
Mr. C. Hawkins, F.R.C.S., and drawn by Mr. Metcalf, is shown |in four plans,
an elevation and section. 'The plans take the form of an y\. The building is four
stories high, and contains ten wards each, intended to accommodate twenty-five
beds, being 100 feet long, 24 feet wide, and 16 feet,— giving 38,400 feet cube in
each ward, or 1,500 cubical feet of air to each patient. In the centre of each
ward there is an open fire-place with ventilating shafts, and the windows on each
side open to within 15 inches of the ceiling — "the only w.iy by which perfect
ventilation can be secured." There are two day wards 45 feet by 18 feet for con-
valescent patients, a small room for the nurse is placed in an angle of each ward
With a window for supervision.
Messrs. Manners and Gill, of Bath (226) show plans, and a view of a Hospital
now being enlarged under their direction, the new building externally is very
similar in character to the original structure, with which it is connected by a cor-
ridor. The plan shows the addition of a chapel, board-room, dispensary, &c., the
hospital will contain beds for 95 men and 59 women. The ill-advised correspon-
dence of the new with the old design is much to bcregrutted as regards external
effect.
Four sketches for " Witton Cemetery Chapels " (228) have httlc to recom-
mend them to notice. The materials proposed were local stone with Hollington
dressings.
Mr. G. E. Street's " Church of St. Paul, Wymering, Hants " (230) a goodex-
ample of a village church, shows some peculiarity in the arrangement ofthe bell
turret.
No. 231. The " New School and Master's House at Kew," has scarcely a re-
deeming point.
Mr. Burges's " Bird's-eye View of a Medieval Town " (233) is a quaint
conceit, cleverly drawn, and welcome as a rarity. We venture to predict that
this style of drawing will have many imitators next year, unless the remarks we
lately inade on copyism do more towards checking the practice than we can
hojie for, seeing how deeply it is rooted.
No. 2:34 shows the interior ofthe new Chapel, Arundel Castle, by Mr. M. E.
Hadfield. The amount of blue in the drawing gives it a very cold effect. The
castle gateway and church is shown in 2.55.
A desin-n submitted in competion for new public buildings, at Ross (235), by
Messrs. Edis and Curzon, shows the main cornice broken to allow the window
heads to rise above its level ; an objectionable mode of treating main features
394
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 19, 1861.
although its occasional iiitrcduction in subordinate situations has often a good ]
result.
Mr. Joseph Clarke sends three drawings of Farnham Cliurch. No. 237, a
most effective drawing, shows the old structure ; No. 2(3, a south-east view of
the new cliurch ; and No. 24!) an interior view of the new cliancel. There is a
painful impression of newness conveyed by the two latter drawings, which are
too weak in color.
No. 238, by Mr. Barges, who sends us only two drawings this year, contains
a plan and v-iew of detached water-closets at Gayhurst, Buckinghamshire ; the
central ventilating shaft round which the closets are grouped is terminated by a
Cerberus.
No. 329, by Mr. George Goldie, is a mural monument to be erected to the
memory of the Right Rev. Dr. Browne, at Rosscommon. Colored marbles are
iotroduced. In the centre of the composition is a portrai'.. medallion, in a circle,
under a trefoiled arch.
Mr. C. F. Hayward also sends 240, an " Interior View of Holy Trinity School
Church, at Reach, Cambridgeshire," which, seeing that it cost unrfer £700
complete, seems to leave little room for criticism ; but the arrangement of the
walling and timber work at the chancel arch is weak in appearance and has a
for from good effect. The external design is much better. Mr. Hayward's sketch
design for the " Vaughan Memorial Library, at Harrow," (242) shows a good
upper story at once effective and appropriate, but the lower story is irredeemably
ugly. No. 246 is a rough pencil sketch of the interior, which is treated as
appropriately as the upper story of the exterior.
No. 241, " Cemetery Chapel, Great Warley," by W. Knightley, has a bell-
turret rather confused* in design, but offers externally a good example of a small
country church.
Mr. G. Truefitt gives a series of sketches in one frame, (243) comprising a
" House now being Erected at Muswell-hill," a " Group of Gravestones/' and
" External and Internal Views and Plans of Houses erected on the Batson
Estate, Camden-town-road," these houses are easily accessible from most parts
of London and will well repay a visit. The drawings give little idea of the actual
appearance of the houses, constructed as they are of brick with a limited em-
ployment of stone.
No. 244, a study made on the spot, by Mr. Worthington, of the " Vestibule
of St. Mark's, Venice," is faithfully drawn, and the detail rendered with the
greatest care. The next drawing by the same gentleman, No. 245, a " Design
lor the Binningharo Cemetery Chapel," bears evidence of a recollection of foreign
examples brought into good use, the curious roof of the campanile is, however,
very bad.
Mr. Teulon sends (247) a small " View of a Morning-room erected in 18.54,"
we look round the room in vain for any of the numerous works recentlycarried
out by tliat gentleman.
No. 248 is a large drawing, showing general and detailed plans of a design
for " Infantry Barracks," submitted in the late competition, by Mr. Parsons.
"The Cabinet Manufactory and Show-rooms, Liverpool" (2.50) by Mr. H.
Sumner, is an example of a Gothic treatment in Italian, and serves to illustrate
the necessity, or otherwise, of uniformity of parts in that style.
Mr. G. G. Scott sends, in No. 251, an " External View of the interesting
Old Church, in the Castle, Dover, as restored." The work is very properly
placed in thoroughly competent hands.
Perhaps the most artistic contribution in the present Exhibition is No. 262,
showing seven views of the " New Roman Catholic Church at Lanark, N.B.,"
by Mr. G. Goldie, arranged as a triptych. The drawings are certainly most
charmingly executed, though the large view of the interior seems rather too
heavy in color. The series has been prepared for R. J. J. Monteith, Esq., of
Carstairs, by Mr. H. W. Brewer.
No. 2M, " Dalesford Church, Worcestershire, " by Mr. Pearson, has
evidently been designed with care. The entasis of the spire is, however, too
great.
254, a "Competition Design for Hill Church," by Mr. J. Giles, is too
" drawn out " an effect to please.
" A Design for a Mausoleum," by Mr. J. Codd (250) has a good general
effect, albeit somewhat too florid. Ilie high arches of the entrance-porch are
certainly defects.
In 257 Messrs. F. and H. Francis send a good drawing of the " Parish Church,
Warrington," as rebuilt in last year. It is a structure of some architectural
importance; and Mr. Whichcord, in 258, an "Entrance and Screen Wall to
Lime-street-square," now being erected.
No. 259, of Italian Gothic character, is a design, by Mr. Lightly, for the
" Hartley Institution, Southampton,"'which would be much improved by greater
thickness in the walls, as seen in the arches.
Messrs. Nicholl and Willson's "Sketch of a Cemetery Chapel" (261), has a
very suggestive plan, hut the view is characterised by too much eccentricity to
be satisfactory.
" The new Victoria Hall, Sheffield," as seen from the approach to the station.
No. 263, by Mr. Hadfleld, is, perhaps, as effective as so plain a building could
well be.
No. 2e2A, by Mewrs. Bateman and Corson, shows the " Engine-house at
Cosford Bridge, Wolverhampton Waterworks," erected in 1857. The structure
is plain and appropriate, but one naturally looks for the chimney-shaft.
No. 264 shows sketches of works in progress, by Mr. George Goldie. The
Presbytery adjoining the new church at Scarbro', has a good bay window. The
Entrance to the Mortuary Chapel, new church, Lanark, also has same commend-
able features. Of other works there are the " Doorway of Scarboro' Presbytery,"
"Porch of St. Pancras Church, Ipswich," "Presbytery new ('hurcfi,
Greenock," " Drinking Fountain, Mortuary Chapel, and Monument, Lanark,"
and " Pulpit, St. Vincent's Church, Cork."
From its truthfulness of color, deserving of more notice than its position is
likely to obuin for it, is No. 265, by Mr. C. H. M. "Milebam's Western Door-
way," part of a design sent in competition for the church at Heigham, Norlblk.
The drawing leads us to regret that other portions of the design are not ex-
hibited.
Mr. Thomas Vaughan maintains his position as a careful draughtsman, as may
be seen in No. 266, " Flying Buttresses on the North side of Choir at Amiens ; "
in No. 274, " Houses in the Rue aux Fevres, Lisieux," date Francis I. ;" No.
275, " View of Aisle and Apsidal Chapels in the Chcvet of S. Etienne, or Abbaye
aux Hommcs, Caen ;" and 2r5, part of the ".4rcade des Rois," west front of
the Cathedral at .\miens. The drawings, it must be remembered, were made on
the spot.*
IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDOW SASHES.
WE never see a person engaged in cleaning- windows, but we feel an
involuntary shiver pass over us, and steer clear of the locality as soon
as possible. Certain of our 'prentice legislators have tried their hands at legisla-
ting for window cleaners, male and female, which has led us to infer that not
alone did we shiver. Be that as it may, in this country our necessities often
produce more effective remedies than legislation can provide ; mechanical genius
IS ever watchful and no sooner is a want expressed tlian, to a OTent extent, it is
supplied. Among other wants, that of a window which could be cleaned from
within a building has long been felt, and various contrivances — good in their
degree — have been put forward and accepted by the public as decided improve-
ments. Tlie last patent submitted to our notice is that of Mr. John Askew, and
is deserving of notice. As in the ordinary window there are two sashes, so in
this ; but the side bars are formed of two pieces instead of one, these being con-
nected at their centres by means of fixed screws, on which the sash proper
revolves. To keep the double side bars tight, whilst the sash is performing ordi-
nary window duty, there is inserted in a suitable groove, made at the top, a
brass wedge, to wliieh is attached a small ring, to facilitate extricating the wedge
when the sash is required to be " swung." It is obvious that, as the lower sash
can be swung in or out for cleaning purposes — leaving ventilation out of the
question, to get at the top to perform the same service— all one has to do is to
nrst bring the parts of the side bar into juxtaposition, slip in the wedges, run
the bottom sash up in the ordinary manner, pull the top one down, and go
tlirough the same performance of cleaning, without the necessity of putting any
part of the body outside the window. Of course, as may be readily understood,
this improvement of Mr. Askew's can be readily and cheaply applied to any
window formed on the old principle. One part of the patent is very old ; thirty
years ago we saw it applied in scliools for the purpose of ventilation, and where
Its action was very effective. The portion we refer to is the " swinging."
The patentee also claims that by his window the "idle wind" passes without
making the accustomed clattering. We did not notice that part of the
invention, therefore can say nothing in the matter. So far as the wind is con-
cerned, doubtless the window, when in position, would speak for itself. As an
improvement it is well worth inspection, and we have little doubt of its being
extensively adopted.
ARCIIITECTURAL ASSOCIATION.
A SPECIAL Business Meeting of the Architectural Association was held at the
rooms, ii, Conduit-street, Regent-street, on Friday evening; T. Roger SMiTir,
Esq., tlie I'resident, in the chair.
>rr. JiLAsniLi,, ill tlie absence of Mr. Arthur Smith, hon. sec., read the minutes o4
proceedings at the last uiccting-, which were approved of and couiirmed.
Xomltmtion.—']L\\Q following fjentleman was nominated for membership :— Mr. E.
D. Jackraau, Red Lion-square, proposed by Mr. Thomas Brown, and seconded by
Mr. W. S. R. Payne.
The Chairman, after observing that a fortnight a»o the second convermxione of
the Association for the session took place, and that at it Mr. Tite was present and
presented the prizes to the successful candidates, stated that previous to the last
meeting he received a letter from Mr. Scott in which he referred at some length to
the class for modelling which had been established in the Association, and said that
he thouffht it a very admirable tiling, and that nothing would be more conducive to
their general success as architects than increased attention to the branches of the
fine arts subsidiary to architecture, such as architectural sculpture and architectural
decoration. He had no doubt Mr. Scott would take an interest In the welfare of the
class, and that if his assistance or advice was asked for he would be glad to afford it.
The Chairman then announced that an old member of the Association who had left
them had expressed a desire to contribute the value of the Bubscription as a prize tor
the modelling class. Ue was not at liberty to mention the member's name.
Mr. Blasuili, then read a circular announcing the proposal to erect a statue in
the Palace of Westminster in honor of Sir Charles Barry. The circular has already
been published in the Building News.
The Chairman thought English architects of the present day should mark their
sense of the greatness of a man who was not appreciated in his own day but who
would be more thought of by posterity, and hoped that the members of the Associa
tion would according to their means subscribe in behalf of the object in view.
Mr. Blashill then read letters which had been received from different societies
in reply to a circular from the Association inviting co-operation in order to a proper
representation of architecture at the Great Exhibition of 18(V.;. One of the commu-
nications was from Glasgow, approving of the object ; another from the Architectural
Institute of Scotland, stating that the circularof the Association was submitted to the
Council, who expressed an opinion in favor of the resolutions passed by the Archi-
tectural Association, and asking whether the Association had put itself in communi-
cation with the Commissioners of the Exhibition, and If so with what result; a reply
from the Manchester Architectural Society, which deferred taking the subject into
consideration until the next meeting, after which a further communication would be
duly forwarded. There was next read an answer from the Northern Architectural
Association which stated that the circular of the Architectural Association
was laid before the members, and that they would be glad to co-operate
with the Architectural Association In the proper representation of architecture at
the Exhibition of 1802. There was also read a letter from the Royal Institute ot
British ArcbitectB, inviting the Association to send two of their members to a meet-
ing of a Committee appointed by the Institute on the subject of a proper represen-
tation of architecture at tlie approaching Exhibition.
Tlie Chairman thought they ought to co-operate with the Institute, as being th«
central body of the architectural profession. •
Mr. Bunker thought they could not do belter than ask the President and A ice-
President of the Association to represent the Archltectaral Association on the com-
mittee appointed by the Institute. He therefore proposed that Mr. J'. Roger
Smith and^Mr. A. W. Blomficld be requested to act on that Committee on behalf of
the Association.
Mr. New seconded the motion, which was unanimously agreed to.
Mr. Bi,OMFiELD said tlie President and himself would do all they could to render
the representation of architecture at the coming Great Exhibition worthy ot tlie
country and of the time. He believed the Central Committee would advise as to
the way in which drawings or pliotograplis were to be scHt, and it would be expectea
that only the very best productions would be sent in.
Mr. Blasiiili, read a communication from the Northern Architectural Associa-
tion on the subject of an Architectural Alliance, stating tliat they had received
favorable replies from various an-liitectural societies throughout the country, and
suggestingthat delegates should be sent from the Association to a general meeting
to be held on the first Tuesday In June next. .„ ,, , j.
The scheme proposed by the Northern Architectural Association will be found in
another column.
* To be continued.
May 10, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
395
Mr. Capes moved that this subject be referred to the Committee of the Association
with a request that they report tliereon at the next meeting, to be hold that day
fortnijrht.
Mr. Blomfield seconded the motion.
The CiiAiHMAN hoped that at tlie next meeting ^^cntlemen would come prepared
to decidu upon the course of action to be taken in rej^ard to the scheme proposed by
the Northern Architectural Association.
The motion was then a^'reed to.
The Jiegistrt/.— Mr. Ulashill, as locum tenens of the honorary secretary, read the
foUowinf? coiiinmnication from the Committee on the subject of the Iteglstrar's
report which was published some time ago :—
" Your Committee having duly considered the Itegistrar's report wliich was referred
to them some time since, beg to lay before the Association the following scheme, con-
sidering as they do that the working of the Registry as it is at present is tar from
fiiatisfactory.
" In the iirst place they are of opinion that it should be kept at the rooms of the
Association, and that a person be appointed on the premises annually to take the
charge of the books and do all the correspondence.
" They also consider that by offering something to the profession which would be of
real practical service they would be raising the Association very considerably in the
eyes of the public and it should, therefore, be free of charge and open to all that may
{ny assistant wishing to have his name on the books shall be required to fill up a
form stating his name and address, age, number of years' professional experience,
qualifications, where and how obtained, and the amount of salary required, and
references, which will be entered in a book kept lor that purpose, and the Kegistrar
will then send a letter to the references given to know if such a person possesses
such qualifications, the answer will be copied in the same book on a space allotted
for that purpose by the side of the form filled up.
•' Any person requiring an assistant and wisliin"- to place his name on the Registry
would fill up a form stating the kind of assistant he required."
Mr. Capeh said the report came very much within the suggestions which he, as
registrar, made some time ago. He thought it would be very advantageous to have
the Registry kept at the rooms of the Association, so that those who had business
with it, especially people from the country, might come there at once. It was very
desirably the Registry should be kept there, and that all information that could be
obtained should be supplied both to the architect wanting an assistant, and to the
assistant wanting an employer.
Mr. Blahiiill thought they could make an arrangement with Mr. Moody to act
as registrar, and that the Registry should be free of charge, and open to all architects
and drauglitsmcn alike.
A lengthened conversation took, place, having reference chiefly to that portion of
the report of the Committee bearing upon the subject of writing to the references
given by assistants, and the disposal of the answers received.
Eventually, Blr. Capes moved the adoption ol the report of the Committee.
Mr. OuGii seconded the motion.
Mr. LEMT.S moved, as an amendment, that the report of the Committee be adopted
with the exception of that portion of it which bore upon writino; to references,
that that be left out, but that a column in the Registrar's book be kept for
references.
Mr. Green seconded the amendment.
The motion was negatived and the amendment carried.
Mr. Capes then moved that the report be referred to the Committee to be carried
into eflect in the best manner they thought proper.
The motion was seconded and agreed to.
On the motion of Mr. Bunker, seconded by Mr. Reeves, it was agreed that the
whole of the property of the Association, now in the hands of the Curators, be brought
to the next meeting with a view to its being deposited in a proper place.
Shortly afterwards the meeting separated.
NORTHERN ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION-
THE quarterly meeting of this Association was held on Tuesday evening, 10th ult.,
in the Old Castle, Keweastle-upon-Tyne, Mr. Dobson, president, in the chair,
Mr. William Hill, of Leeds, was elected a Member, and Mr. Hudson Reah, of Sunder-
land, an Associate, and several other gentlemen were nominated. The Society pro-
ceeded to consider a letter from the Architectural Association ol London, respecting
the Great Exhibition of 1862. The document was referred to the committee, the
secretary (Mr. T. Oliver), being instructed in the mean time to acknowledge the re-
ceipt thereof, and express the willingness of the society he represented to co-operate
with the London Committee in carrying out the object.
In accordance with a previous notice, on the motion of Mr. Pritchett, the following
new rule was added to the code of the Association :— " That local secretaries be ap-
pointed for diflerent districts in the northern counties, to be elected by ballot, and be
€x o^io ^members of the Association." Mr. Johnson, of London, exhibited some
drawings and sketches of early French buildings in the departments of Oise, Aisne,
and Marne, and after a few remarks on the special architectural charactcristicB of
the examples brought forward, proceeded to describe them Individually. Amongst
other buildings were the cathedrals of Laon and Moyon, the church of Notre Dame,
at Chalons-S';r-Marne, the abbey churcli. of S. Leu d'Esserent, churches at Creil and
.Senlis, and a number of smaller churches situated in the surrounding district. After
a vote of thanks to Mr. Johnson, a special meeting was held to consider the scale of
professional charges suggested by the committee, and the proposed outline of scheme
for Architectural Alliance. The scalt' of charges was adopted, with theexcei)tion of
one clause which was referred to the committee, and the following suggested out-
line of scheme for forming an Architectural Alliance was unanimously adopted, and
the secretary was instructed to forward copies to the other Architccturaf Associa-
tions:—
Northern Architectural Association, Old Castle,
Newcastle-on-Tyne, April 18, 1861.
Proposed Architectural Alliance.
*' Dear Sir,— I am directed by the Northern Architectural Association, to inform
you that they have received favorable replies from every Association to whom they
Iiave addressed coramunioations on this subject.
"Although very unwilling to take any steps which might appear like dictation
on their part, the members of the Northern Architectural Association feel that,
having introduced the subject to the l*rofc8sion, the onus of takmg the next step
rests on them, as indeed some of the replies they have received intimate. With this
feeling they have prepared a scheme which they put forward as a suggestion to be
considered by the various Architectural bodies.
" I enclose you a few copies of such sug^gested scheme for circulation among your
members, and shall be glad if your committee will call an early meeting to consider
the question ; and should your Association approve its general principles, I trust it
will be convenient for them to appoint delegates to meet in London, on the first
Tuesday in June, and discuss the details of the scheme.
" Your advising me will oblige, in order that I may make the necessary arrange-
ments, for appointing the place and hour of meeting for the delegates firom the
various Associations.
" I remain, dear sir, yours faithfully,
"Thomas Oliver, Hon. Sec."
Su////ested Outline, of a Scheme for forminff an Architectural Alliance.
1. That it be called " The Architectural Alliance."
2. That althoufj-h for the present it is desirable to confine it to the United Kingdom,
the extension of its operations to other countries sliall be kept in view.
3. That its object shall be to promote united action among the otherwise isolated
architectural societies, and to aid the establishment of new focal aocieties where not
now existing.
4. That it shall take cognisance of all matters affcctinir the Interests of the pro-
fession. That for this object it shall especially direct lis attention to the present
unsatisfactory mode of conducting competitions, and shall endeavour by thepublica-
tion of a scale of charges to regulate the rates of professional remuneration.
5. That all architectural societies giving in their adlierance at or before the first
meeting, shall coiiNtitute the nucleus of the alliance; and in 'future all architectural
societies shall be eligible for election in the mode hereafter provided.
0. Thatauy society wishing to join shall be proposed in writing bv a society al-
ready in the Alliance, through their secretary ; that such proposal shall be sent
to the secretary of the AlUance at least one month before the annual meeting, and
shall state the title of the society proposed, and the names of its chairman and
secretary. The name of the society so proposed shall be Inserted in the notice con-
vening the meeting, when the election or rejection of such society shall be decided
by ballot.
7. That the business of the Alliance shall be conducted by a president, vice-
president, treasurer, honorary secretary, and delegates, from each society iu the
Alliance."
The delegates shall consist of the chairman of each society in the Alliance (ex
ojicio), four members appointed by the Royal Institute of British Architects, three
members by the Architectural Association of Loudon, and two by each provincial
society, or any less number they may see fit to appoint ; all to be appointed an-
nually.
The president, vice-president, treasurer, and honorary secretary, to be elected
annually by ballot by the delegates. All correspondence shall be conducted by
the secretary of the Alliance and tlie secretaries of the various societies composing it.
8. That the annual meeting shall be held on the first Tuesday in June in each year,
and other meetings may be held as hereafter provided for.
9. All members of each society in the Alliance shall have the right to attend the
meetings of the Alliance on introduction personally by any delegate, or by a card of
introduction from one of them ; but delegates only shall have the power to speak or
vote.
10. Questions may be brought under the cognizance of the Alliance by any society
writing through their secretary to the secretary of the Alliance, who shall then
ascertain the views ot the other allied societies and report to each the general feeling.
On the requisition of a majority of the councils or committees of the various allied
societies, the secretary shall call a special meeting of the delegates for the considera-
tion of any question that may arise. To such special meetings, provincial societies
may send all their delegates, or one delegate with three votes, or may exercise their
three votes by proxy through any other delegate.
11. That the officers of the Alliance shall prepare a report of the proceedings of
the Alliance for each year, to be laid before tlie annual meeting, and it shall be
competent for such meeting to alter or amend it, and to order it to be printed if
they see fit, in which case a copy shall be sent to each member of every society in
the Alliance.
12. That every society publishing a report of its proceedings, or of any paper read
before it, shall present a copy to every other society in the Alliance.
T.i. That any member of a society in the Alliance shall have the privilege of attend-
ing (but not of speaking or voting) at 'the meetings of any other society in the Alhance,
provided such member be introduced by letter from one of his own delegates, or
personally by a member of such society.
14. That each society shall pay the expenses of Its own correspondence, and
shall make arrangements with its delegates as to their expenses, and the expenses
of the Alliance (stationary, postage, printing, &c.) shall be borne equally by .the allied
societies.
.^
PROGRESS OF THE MAIN DRAINAGE OF THE METROPOLIS.
MR. BAZALGETTE, Engineer-in- Chief of the Metropolitan Board of Works,
in his report on the progress of the Main Drainage works, presented on Friday
last, states that the Northern High-Level sewer contract is now substantially com-
pleted. The Northern Outfall sewer works progress satisfactorily, the excavations
for the concrete embankment progress, and concrete in large quantities is being
filled in. Cover dams ar§ in course of construction, for the foundations of the
bridges over the several water-courses to be crossed. The temporary roadway at
Stratford is formed, ready to receive the granite coating, and the traffic will shortly
be turned over it. Firebrick culverts are being built along the line of the works on
the lines of the open ditches. Five stationary engines have been erected for
pumping and grinding lime, and one locomotive is now at work upon the tramway.
The total value of the work executed is about £18,(XK). The Middle- Level sewer
works are now in a position to make a fair start, the unfinished and defective
portions under the late contract having been reconstructed and made good. About
480 feet of sewer, 12 feet by 0 feet 0 inches, have been ccnstructed at Old Ford, and
about 100 feet of tunnel at I'addington ; the value of the work done under this
contract being about .£10,000. Of the Ranelagh Overflow about 1,009 feet of sewer,
<» feet 0 inches in diameter, have been constructed in open cutting, and 7.J0 feet in
tunnel. The value of the work executed is about £11,000, As to the Southern
High-Level sewer, about 24,.100 feet, or about 4J miles, are completed, at an
estimated cost of £79,000. Of the Southern Outfall sewer, about 10,500 feet, or
nearly 3J miles have been completed, including 4,700 feet, or nearly one mile'*of the
tunnel under Woolwich, and it is expected the tunnel will be completed by Mid-
summer. The value of the work executed is about £150,000, and tlie Engineer states
that he has every reason to feel satisfied with the mode of conducting this work, and
the progress made. The contract for the Deptford Pumping Station and works in
connexion therewith, was about to be commenced. The St. George's-wharf Outlet
was on the point of completion.
LECTURES AT THE ARCHITECTURAL EXHIBITION.
II.— Sir Christopher Wren and his Times.
ON Tuesday eveningthe second of a series of lectures was delivered by air. Robert
Kerr, in the Great Gallery of the Architectural Exhibition, Couduit-street,
Regent-street. The subject of the lecture was "Sir Christopher Wren and his
Times." There was a full attendance, and the <*air was occupied by Mr. Arthur
ASHPITEL.
The Chairman said he had much pleasure in introducing to the notice of the
meeting that evening Mr. Kerr who would read to them a paper on a subject which
he was sure was full of interest to every Enghshman.
Mr. Robert Kerr, who was received with loud applause, then read the following
paper :—
£N laying out an hour's gossip about Sir Christopher Wren and his times, let our
point of departure be the middle of the seventeenth century— say the year 1650.
In public history the previous year marks the execution of King Charles 1., and the
establishment of the Purit^m ascendancy. In the history of our particular art the
year following marks the close of the career of Inigo Jones. This year. liwD, itself
finds the individual who was destined to be the more illustrious successor of Jones, a
youth of eighteen studying at O.\ford.
I need not tell you that the England of that day was not the England of this, and
London then a very difi'erent thing from London now. Tlie population of the king-
dom in 16.")0 was not more than double that of its metropolis in our day; not, perhaps,
more than five millions. Full half the surface of the country lay waste as forest,
moor, and fen ; and wild deer in thousands roamed within ten miles of where we are
now assembled. London, although as at present the largest city in Europe, held but
one-fifth of its present population. Amsterdam was its rival. The second cities of Eng-
land were Bristol and Norwich, each containing about 25,000 inhabitants ; York and
Exeter followed with about l0,0(X); while Liverpool, Birmingham. Leeds, and Man-
chester, were little towns of from four to six thousand souls. The metropolis itself was
396
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 10, 1861.
chiefly .collection o« timber houses. «ith . dilapidated Gothic oat lu-to^^
m&mmmmm
mmmmmm
rSiSv dav erabkd°t o sail composedly dowu the gutters to the river. Xewspapers
?h?r^wei^: none nor iwst-offlce. Jxceptin embryo ; nor even oollee-houses where the
riwI^nTo7.noth;" % leratiou used to chat over public affairs. The poods of commerce
^'?lrr.Jdo.pac^k horses. The first stage-coach in England had not yet set out
S^?»-^tv years.*^ The days of Queen Bess were scarcely ha fa century b>s:one; and
aJothe? half centurv carried back well-remembered traditions to the tune of bluff
SnirlUrrv which lay bevond the reign of Uloody JIary. Well-remembered tradi-
UoSf we mav well sav ; f6r the blood which was the life of them stil flowed n. the
Trins of >"*lishmen; aid the struggle of tradition with tradition, and hate w.tli hate
bid now atlength oily come to a crisis. The divine right of kings had perished on
SJc scaffold, and straight-haired Theocracy reigned in its stead. And thus we may
consider ourselves introduced to •' Sir Christopher Wren and his Times. , , ,.
Wth regard to the arehiteetural practice of^the period this may be explained in
Tcrv few words. The modern Classic style of design which, upon the overthrow of
tite obsolete Jledieval systems, alike of society and of art, I'"'',?™'" "P '" "fi^ '"
the rixteenth century, had spread westward by degrees over the whole of >- 'rop?;
5 lUly itself Bramante and San Gallo, Vignola and Buonarott.,,had given place to
Suadio and Seamozzi. and these at last to Bernini and Borrommi. In *'?«'"• ^7
Sto Ume a waning power, the new manner had long established itself, although
Serhaps to little purpose. In France, now rising into great influence under the
?Snth?nl l-ouis Quatorze, that which Yignola and Serlio l'»d ■ntroduced and
tK^Lorme and BuUant adopted, I'errault, !.eVeau. I.eMercier, and 5Ia"S«fd «"«
preparing to carry still forward. In England tlic introduction of the new style had
fceS later. Under James I. and his unfortunate son. In.go .Jones had e.xhibited the
f^rts of Italian travel in the Whitehall Banqueting House, in Somerset House and
jnnumerous other more or less excellent works ; and now. or in another ten years.
It was to be discovered that his mantle had fallen "P?" Christopher Wren
Further to connect and compare together England, France, and '^ly "^ '^at d.^^^
let it be remarked that not more than two or three years before »■"• «*«^^"f-P,'""«°5
1650, the great cathtKlral of St. I'eter, at Rome, had been P™"»>'°<='=d f ""P'"^'?- "^^f
ihV aborl of nearly a century and a half ; it having engaged the attentmn of nine-
teen successive Popes, and more than half as many architect^, of whom Bernini was
the last Fifteen y^ars after our date, in 1065, we sliall find Wren a traveller to Fans,
where he obtain, an introduction to Bernini, and by that means a g^^nW;. y'"' b"'
little welcome however, at his designs for the Louvre to prepare w^ich the famous
lUlian had be<n specially invited to the French capital by the King. Two ya" more
aS we shall find the bm'lding of the Louvre, which had been brought to a etand at
The foundations by the departure of Bernini n dudgeon. S'^™'"''! ""fer Perrault-
Still six year* forward and Wren is at work upon the design for *'». I aul s, the
foundation-stone of which he lays after two more years, '" }^' •>•.-» X''"' 1'^°"',]^,^
completion of St. Peter's by Bernini, and 111 years from the death of great old
*'Thu8 much for the condition of architecture at our datum point. But if we are to
deal with the entire character of Christopher Wren, it will be desirable that we take
a glance none the less at the condition of general science at that time * «' t»c
mlrits of our great architect as a philosopher are such asnot only to shed additional
iMtre on his architectural name, but to reflect honor on the very art itself with
which so great u man in science is identified. ^ t , i ,i.„_
Taking again our point of view at IftiO, look a quarter of a century back, and then
a qnarter of a century forward. At the past date died Bacon ; at the future date
there will appear Xcwtin. The memorable principles of inductive philosophy have
beenestablisWd by the former; the latter, by application of those imiiciplcs, will
show the way to the laws of the universe. The jiosition of scieiice, flierelore, at our
date of mw is in a manner midway between these points, midway between Bacon
and Newton, between the A-onim Ori/anon and the Prinapia. During the lifetime ot
Bacon the new method of thought was not universally or even generally understood ;
but already the minds of educated and thoughtful men are bent earnestly upon it in
the initiative problems of positive science. „ , , . .
There stands in honorable rank amongst these thinkers an Oxfordshirec^^ergyman.
a learned, accomplished, unobtrusive gentleman, by name Dr. Christopher V\ rcn.
Dean of Windsor and Wolverhampton, and liegistrar of the Order of the Garter.
He is the younger brother of a still more notable, idthough less pacific churchman. Dr.
Matthew Wren, Bishop of Ely. who is in the Tower, by the bye, at our date of 1(!.>0,
and has been there for 10 years back, and is destined to remain there for ten years
more for conscience sake, as he sternly considers It.-for reactionary, superstitious
and Popish practices, say the other side, and remorseless persecution of the saints.
The voune student at Oxford, who is our subject more especially, is the son ol Dean
Wren and the nephew therefore of the Bishop. And already, at eighteen, ho adds a
third distinguished name to the family, and great expectations are entertained ol Ins
future eminence. Many years afterwards, when this youth has passed through a
very long and famous career, and passed away to the rest of the honourable and tne
lust, his son records the lives of these three celebrated ancestors m the well known
book the "Parentalia ; " and if the following peroration of his preface is character-
iaed bv a good deal of the euphuism of the Ome, its compliments are at least not un-
deserved :-" The memory of some men," he says, "is like the rose and other
odoriferous flowers, which cast a sweeter and stronger smell after they are plucked ;
the memory of others may be said to be like the poppy "n"! such vegetables that
make a gay and specious show while they stand upon the stalk ; but, being out and
gathered, they have but an ill-favoured scent. The worthy persons exemplified in
these records may be compared to the first sort, as well for the sweet odor of a good
name they had while they stood, as also that they were cut down by the common
''■The only'son'o'f'Dean Wren was.ifrom his childhood, of a diminutive and weakly
frame ; but the min.i is the stature of the man , and the worthy clergyman and corre-
.«»«.ioni «( «i>ii/..n.iho™ Hiiu./.rr...H in lils hov the cv dcnccs of a ouick and powerful
" which 1 have made of late is this: I injected wine and .^le into the mass of Wood
in a livin-' do-, by a vein, in good quantities, fill he became extremely drunk And
coming r.iisS last to our damra point of UttO, an intro.li.ctio.i on "« P»f' "^ » '''"i!
Wilkin* to the Elector Palatine of Uie Khme, produces an epistle roin the juvenlc
sm'ntoth distinguished visitor, from which ft may be worth whi e to read an e.v-
??act as a sample both of the literary style of the period and the mmd of the
^The'i^cturer then read the letter signed "Christopher Wren" In P»SO .^f "f the
" Parentalia" to " His Most Illustrious Highness Charies, Prince Elector 1 alatiue of
"■{"n hl's"e'i-htee'nth year he was Bachelor of Arts ; at 23 he becomes Fellow of All
sou s and Sastt" of .Vrts ; he has been for years a Leading spirit in t^tose learned oo-
«rw-fe»<ont of which, ten years afterwards, arose the Koyal Society ; and tlie
aiVffunge wWch is used ' concerning him in the Diary of Evelyn '';«<■';.«« t''^,-
Tliat urodin-ious young scholar," " that miracle ol a youth, Mr. Christopher
Wrcn!,.eprwoftheBisTiop of Ely," "that rare and early prodigy of universal
^''tS return now to architectural matter, let us notice the death of Inigo Jones.
When his royal patron stepped forth from that melancholy window; of Whitehall, the
mustrious Sirveyor-GeneraThad attained the age of 77. llut for the d.sti;act,ons of
e times during the latter part of his life under the unfortunate <-'h"lo8, the refl,,cd
tastes of the Court, operating through the genius of so great an artist, might ha>e
se hi mo on on a much inor^e effectfve seal? the progress of the I'^'l^ditu manner of
desL'n In England i but the troubles of the State prevented the growth "f "t, and
fhe uUimatetriumph of the Puritans came Uke a blight upon it. W hen dragoon-
horses were stabled in cathedrals and the lecture-halls of science, we are not
urTr sod to learn that the only consideration accorded to such t^^XllrM^'^y
wai his rcco'^nition as a Papist, the intiiction of a ruinous hue, neglect, and obKHjuy.
Wcmi"lit say that when he died England possessed no architect worthy of the
namTof his successor ; It might be more to the purpose to remark that a ffove^nment
composed of men who, to use the words of Macaulay " sn-oaned m spirit »' the sight
of yack-in-the-Green, and thought it impious to taste plum-porridge on Christmas-
Iv" who closed the theatres and flogged the players, and cl.riste.u^ their ehildren
oSt of the Book of Nehemiah, would have had only more kicks than halfpence lor so
worfdly-minded a dog as an architect. With no desire to disparage tie mcriU of
Oliver tromwell we may be permitted to believe that it was a beneficial thing for
S whatew^k may have been for religion, or even for English honor, when the pro li-
feite Ind meln-spS son of the slaiS king was restore! to the throne «.th acela-
"At'tli'e date of this event, 1600, after twenty years of Puritanism, it seems really
qu'^stionaWewherer there existed in England a single individual who professed
"■n^~ fpSted'sur''viyoTGeneral in the room of Jones, long deceased, was
selecteSrponn'i^ri^^htheoretlLl grounds but upon the purely practical consito^^^^
of servicerrendered to the royalist cause ; he was Denham the poet. Accordingly,
when the new kUig and his co^irtiers began to make themselves at home and ? look
rout them, and tS contemplate grand operations, the f^P»7''°n of St 1 an s, the
improvement of Windsor Castle, the building for his niost o-^««''on* M^J'^^ty ol «
new Palace at Greenwich, and the like, it necessarily became a question of some
?inMrtancewlierethey weretolookfor a person to do the work pertaming to the
oZni^worthVs^rolm Denham. In this'^quandary it appears that some JU ■'•'o«»
friend adTv^ed^the Sovereign to send for a certain Mr. Christopher Wren, nephew to
the old Bishop of Ely just liberated from the Tower ; a prodigious scholar, t^o doubt
U was siid, am?JaclJ'of genius, a young man vastly skilled in the knowledge ol
".fo'siSaTnr of^^-'scienlflc "areer of Wren, his reputation during the last f^w
years of the Puritan time, was still advancing. In 1(167 he removed 'f"" Oxford to
London having been elected professor of Astronomy in Gresham t-ollege H" "S^
was thSi Slbut such was his celebrity, that his inaugural address was "le event of
tlie day amongst the learned. But it is curious to note in this diaoourf o of his js an
indication oflliecharacter of thought at the time, in the midst of wll"* '%f f " f?J
cZest reason n"- a proposal of several hypotheses whereby to account for the going
b.ck of t^esSn "ten "degrees on the dial of King Ahaz. as also a ?« "t'on of the pro-
po,ition that Christ was three days and three nights in the tomb between a Friday
aid a Sundayron the ground that he died for people "' » >o,f "t^pode '^» «on as here
BO that when it was a day on one side and oonf'*^"™"/ '\n S^^ .» 7,//;^^^^^^^^^
the day and the night ought to be counted separately. 1" .''»*' ,^V.l^^r™\, 'J,'
died and the disorder whicFi ensued compelled tfic young professor to 8^0151"='''',^
r«a1nin0.xford. Gresham College became <iuarters for the soldiery r"'f "aj
writes a friend to him. "I went to visit Gresham College bu' found the pmc^^a
the capacity of an architect. A^^^
deSee atCambrid °e H ag "is we Imve' before remarked, ^«»« ">on only 28.
Spiak'ngo" hircinnexioSwith the progress of «oience. we must not om^
iy ria7tMrlnsa%l!^»iX'young phflpsopherwas o
^^^S^fSiseveryprobabi.!^^^^^
erhaps. his expectation, in seeing nis laoors oear nuii. .j«.^w..i._
ulde «uch a circumstance as the Invention by the youth at the age of thirteen of
what i« called an astronomical instrument, and its dedication to his father in pom-
DODS Latin verse, it appears to be unquestionable that when sent to Oxford in ins
Jburtccoth year, such was the power of his genius, that he speedily came to be looked
upon, not only as a favorite, but a prodigy even amongst learned men. Betore tne
age of slxUin one of the most eminent anatomical lecturers of the age, Dr .icar-
borough, was able to employ him as demonstrating assistant; he had also by tnis
time taken out a patent for a /leiinrt duplex, or double writing instrument: he had
also produced a weather clix!k. and he produced a treatise on spherical trigonometry.
By hi« eighteenth year there seims to have been a continual succession of learned
mathematical essays and ingenious mechanical inventions bearing his name of
which the versatility was marvellous. He made the drawings for Dr. Willis s
"Treatise on the Brain." In conjunction with tlie after-celebrated llooke, be
worked out a novelty which he called " MIcrographia "—namely, the delineation ot
microscopic objects on the magnified scale. As a Imathematiclan he presented in-
Tesllgationsof the newly discovered cycloid ; in astronomy, he offered a theory of
the planet Saturn ; in mechanics he is considered to have done something towards
perffcting the telescope and the barometer; and in anatomy he claimed tohaveori-
^nated the process of transfusion. " The most considerable experiment." he says,
...„_ „ very probability that tne court pairouus-- .."■-■■-"--•- .
Wren in the character of an architect was, "'.some degree at 'o«^ • d'^o *» "^^ .■^,,
fluence, whether personal or not, vvhich his ""cle the „ stored Bishop ot w^
notfuiUto possess at Whitehall. Xothing .«»? ,»'«'Vf^„^'"''™'ers™ so gentle and
at the time than the family relationship oxisting between a F"on so gen
even retiring as we 'understand our yo"?!? «™"<, '0 '''™ be--n (to ^I^X n »
of our stroSg suspicion 1 that he was of }'0« ^^^i rch v.e« s wm^ a vmi^^^^^ .^
compromising zealot like thiso d Churehman. ^ho '' «*ory ot 1 r Ma™
one which becomes graph c w>tl'0"t an eflort Lcomi'LT the youn" prTnce to Spain
pointed him chaplain to his son, that he "I'gbt accompany tiic >'»'■'- P^'" .^ ' j
and give him the beneflt of his astuteness n dealing with a f !^y P; "P'^„„ „„
years afterwards, in IfiM, King Charles made him Ishop of lu^^^^^^^
more and the See of Norwich frl'/^i^an^fo that it became de,,ra^^^^^^^^
years, and then exchanged it for the »oe of E^. If one darted to 1 intn^^^
May 10, 1861,
THE BUILDING NEWS.
397
a time as had Dr. Itiitthow Wren done at Norwich during Ilia three brief years'
of government. He had Hct up idolatry and superstition, and had himself praetised
the same. No fewer than .">0 "godiy, learuod. and painful ministers and powerful
preachers," he had excommunicated, deprived, and banished; 3,U0<J weavers of
tender consciences, who declined to agree with him In opinion, he had driven out of
the country, so that they had to seek hospitality of the Hollander, to the great
detriment of trade. He had established I'opisli ceremonials, and, by even pulling
down and reconstructing the church pews, had compelled the people to face the
cast in spite of themselves. Lastly, he had exacted tithes literally at two shillings
in the pound. So he was east into prison, and there being as yet no ilabeas Corpus
Act, there he remained. The writer of the " Parentaha" calculates with what liurke
calls "delightful horror," how many times the circuit of this great globe the in-
domitable martyr had accomplished in pacing up and down a certain lead flat in the
tower during :,*0 years. He also tells us of what might seem a very fair offer which
he had of liberty, and of what must bo called a very unceremonious way in which he
received it,
" Some space before the decease of Oliver Cromwell, Mr. Christopher TTren (only
son of Dr. (Jhristoplier Wren, and nephew of the liishop of Ely) became acquainted
with Mr. Claypole, who married the usurper's favorite daughter. This gentleman,
being a lover of mathematics, had conceived a great esteem for him, and took all
occasions to cultivate his friendship, and to court his conversation, particularly by
frequent invitations to his house and table ; it happened upon one ol these invitations,
that Cromwell came into the company aa tliey sat at dinner, and without any
ceremony (as his usual way was in his own family), took hia place ; after a little
time, fixing his eyes on Mr. Wren, 'Your uncle (says he) has beeu long confined in
the Tower.' ' He has so, Sir, but bears hia affliction with great patience and resigna-
tion.' ' He may come out if he will.' 'Will your Highness (so he was called) permit
me to tell him this from your own mouth ?' ' Yes, you may.' As soon as he could
decently retire he hastened with no little joy to the Tower, and informed the Bishop
of all the partieulara of this his interview with Cromwell ; upon which hia lordahip
expres.sed himself warmly to thia effect :— 'That this was not the first time he had
received the like intimation from that miscreant, but disdained the terms projected
for his enlargement, which were to be a mean acknowledgement of hia favor, and an
abject submission to his detestable tyranny. That he waa determined patiently to
tarry the Lord's leisure, and owe his deliverance (which he trusted waa not far off)
to him only.' "
The problem has long been one of difBculty how to account for the circumstance,
that when a man liad to be found who should stand in the shoes of Inigo Jones, this
was a young professor of astronomy, a demonstrative anatomist, a micrographist.
and what not— anything and everything, in short, but an architect, or even a
builder.
Now, this seems to me to be the explan.ation. It may be affirmed that it was in
those days more or less a matter of mere Classical erudition that a man of learning,
if he possessed the faculty of imajji nation in any degree, or even the elements of
antiquarianism, should understand somethingof the orders of architecture. And no
doubt there would be many such who, draftsmanship apart, might understand more
or less of their application and criticism, in either case a comparatively simple system,
as we know, in that style of design. It is possible that, even in the instance of
Medieval works this suggestion might furnish a favorable theory for the explanation
of those traditions which so often assign the composition of the moat important
monuments of architecture to leading men in the church ; that is to say, leading
men of learning, in whom leisure, and scholarship, and a cultivated taste so often
have led to the always fascinating study of the grandest of the arts. At all
events, as regards the seventeenth century, it is matter of certainty that
such men as Dr. Aldrich, Dean of Christ Churcn, Oxford, and Sir James Burroughs,
Master of Cains College, Cambridge, ol our own day, were accomplished critics, and
that in the paucity of professional skill, these learned amateurs were even obUged to
act as practical designers and constructors. And such a person, in less degree, there
appears reason to believe was the worthy Dean Wren, of Windsor. There is even a
tradition of hia having been entrusted with the preparation of a design and estimate
of cost for a domestic work for the queen of Charles I. Without absolutely reasoning
in a circle, I think it may be said to be not at all unlikely, viewing the career of his
sou, that such a tradition may be fact ; and if so, that such a fact may well explain
the origin of his son's aptitucle for the art. Amongst other subjects of interest, I
conceive, to which the learned and accomplished Dean had directed the attention of
his boy, there would be architecture, very probably aa illustrated in the volumes of
Talladlo, and amongst, those subjects of which in subsequent years the worthy father
would encourage the study on the part of a son so versatile in the whole range of
scholarship, there would still, I think, be this. Indeed we may go even further, and
assert that the extraordinary ingenuity of hia construction in after life, and the
equally extraordinary grace of his design, may be held to prove to demonstration,
not only that the young philosopher had early attached hunself to the maatery of
architecture, but that he posseased also that inherent genius which compelled him to
the study, and rendered its mastery of easy attainment. Accordingly, if all this be
fair argument, we have thus, I think, a reaaonable clue to what must otherwise be
merely marvellous, and therefore uninstructivc. When, in short. King Charles was
advised to apply to young Sir. Christopher Wren as an architectural adviser, it was
because he had lonof been an amateur of architecture, and posaeasing as he did such
unusual powers of ingenuity and taste, was well known to be capable of the
accomplishment of any task upon which in that province he might choose to exercise
his mind. It seems only to be matter of regret that good Dean Wren himself did not
live to see the day.*
. . ^
LIVERPOOL ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY.
* T the annual meeting of the above Society, held at the Royal Institution, Col-
JX quitt-atreet, the President, Mr. James M. Hav presiding,
Mr. Andrew Malcolmson waa elected as an Associate member.
The Sf.crf.takv announced some donations to the library.
_Mr, BouLT proposed, and Mr Chantrell seconded, the nomination of Mr. Wm.
Hay as a professional member of the Society.
The .Secrjjtahv announced that he had received a letter from the Architectural
Association of London, enclosing a copy of resolutions, unanimously passed at a
general meeting of the Association on the LOth ult.. In reference to the Architectural
Departmentjof the Exhibition of 1803 ; also that he was in receipt of a communication
trom, the Northern Architectural Association on the subject of a proposed Archi-
tectural Alliance, and a prospectus of the Alliance.
The President said the tenor of the prospectus was a good one
On the motion of Jlr. Boi lt, seconded by Mr, Bradley, the consideration of
these communications was deferred for a fortnight.
The President then awarded to Mr. Raphael Isaac the nrize of two volumes of
Klchardsou's "Old English -Mansions," presented by Mr. William Milner for the bet
deaign for a fireproof and holdfast safe-door.
Mr. Isaac suitably acknowledged the receipt of the prize.
The Secretary read^the annual report of the Council, which congratulated the
hociety upon the great and increasing interest taken by the individual members in
the meetings.
Mr. BouLT moved, and Mr. Howard seconded, the adoption of the renort and
accounts, which waa agreed to.
The following gentlemen were elected by ballot to be officers of the Society for the
ensuing year :- President, J. JI. Hay, Esq. ; vice-presidents, Jlessrs. Wm. Stubba
and Ceorge (ioodall ; council, Messra. G. F. Chantrell, G. A. Audslcy, .1. A. Picton
John Hay, and. loseph Justen; hon. librarian and curator, Mr, E. A. Heffer- frca-
8urer, Mr. Francis Horner j hon. secretary. Sir. M'm. H. I'icton ; delegates to the
• To be continued.
Committee of Management of the (ialiery of Science and Inventions, tbe Presidcutr
the Secretary, and Messrs. Chantrell, F. Horner, and Welghtman.
THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.
Gentlemen,— In closing the business of the thirteenth session of thia Society, per-
mit me to thank you for the universal kindness and courtesy which I have at all
times received at your hands. While eonacious of my deficiences in many respects
to worthily perform the duties of this office, and support the dignity of this chair,.
I have ever endeavoured to promote the interests and secure the welfare of the
.Society. In listening to the report of our active and energetic Secretary, aa wellaa
that of our faithful 'freasurer, it must be a source of gratification to us all to know
that the star of our prosperity and usefulness la still crescent. The interest of our
meetings has been maintained and kept up by communications and papers, embrac-
ing great variety of subject— practical, metaphysical and critical— and exhibiting both
literary power and architectural ability. 'The general attendance has Ibeen good,
and it has always afforded me pleasure to see so many of our students, as well as the
generally large sprlnkhng of our non-professional members. It is one of the ad-
vantages of tills Society that it is not exclusively professional, and In this respect
exhibit" the wisdom and foresight of its founders. Instituted for the promotion and
improvement of architecture, with all its accessory arts. It seeks that object, not
simply In the discussion of matters architectural and technical, by andiamongst archi-
tects themselves, but is desirous that its voice be beard and undcratood by the public
at large, and that all who choose may become members and take part in the reading
or discussing of papers.
Architecture is a fine-art, and like Its sister arts exercises a refining and elevsting
influence upon the liuman mind, but in order that Its influence be felt and enjoyed, it
is abaolutejy requiaite that some knowledge of its principles and its powers be
obtained. This knowledge can only be acquired by study, but its acquisition Is like
the acquisition of a new sense or;avenueofpleasure, or the entering upon a new world.
Travel then becomes doubly interesting, and the embellishment of our own Itown
by noble buildings and spacious and well planned thoroughfares, a desirable object.
We have outlived those ages when the study of oui' art waa confined to the guilds of
the Freemason, when its language was intelligible only to the initiated, when its
principles were secrets, and all round it wore the air and aspect of myatery. We, on
the contrary, invite and encourage inquiry, knowing full well that it is.'malnly, if not
entirely, through the fostering patronage of a discerning and appreciating public,
that our art can advance. We would raise and foster public taste to such an extent
that the artistic powers of the architect would be stimulated to the uttermost in
order to gratify that taste. But such a taste can only be acquired by individual
study, and that of nearly aa laborious and extensive a kind to the layman as the
professional. A pure, elevated taste, and sound critical judgment must be based on
a thorough knowledge of principles and their general application.
Architecture la moreover an art thoroughly conventional and constructive, and
demands, in order to judge wisely of its works, even greater critical acumen than is
requisite to judge of those of paintingand sculpture, which are moredirectlyimitative
of nature. Von will, however, meet with lew who hesitate to hazard an opinion on
architectural works, unprepared as they may be by previous study from forming any
opinion.
I believe that the grudging spirit in which the services of the architect are some-
times remunerated, and the grumblings and not unfrequently absolute refusal to pay
for those services, are chiefly attributable to a deplorable ignorance on the part of a
large portion of the public, of what those services actually are. The architect is con-
sidered a sort of angelic creature, living on ethereal food, cheap and choice as the air
of Heaven, or else, rejoicing in a private fortune. Is independent of the fruits of pro-
fessional toil, and is ready to draw out pretty pictures for any one, simply to amuse
himself.
The architect. I need not inform any here, is not this lusus nnturce ; but one who,
on the groundwork of an expensive education, has spent his youth in study and
research, his later years in exploring the great monuments of former civilisation, at
home or abroad, and is qualified and prepared to carry into execution the instructious
of hia client, for which he ia entitled to a certain remuneration. If his client be a
gentlem.an of education, and possess a knowledge of architecture, he will not have
any serious difficulty, for every objection will be intelligible, and every suggestion
worthy of consideration. If, on the other hand, his client be ignorant and conceited,
there la no means of illustrating the absurdity of his whimsical notions, uiileaa the
architect possessed the magic power of calling into existence two buildings, one as
desired, and the other as it ought to be. Some of the irregularities with which the
profession is charged arise, in a great measure, from a prevalent impression that an
architect's commission is just so much money lost or thrown away, and a great
saving is thought to have been effected when his services are entirely dispensed with,
and a builder employed in hia place. An unwise proceeding ia sometimes adopted
of striking a bargain at aomething below the regular commission. At other times a
greater ^olly i.s perpetrated, when a man has just that Imodicum of knowled<fe of
building matters sutticient to engender the notion that he may be his own architect.
The most wilfully blind and conceited generally find out somewhat, but seldom
know or admit the full extent of the folly and extravagance resulting from these
practices.
Architects have be 'U exceedingly remiss in not having determined ere this upon a
scale of charges and fees to place in the hands of a client when their services are
about to be engaged. The usual commisaion of 3 per cent, on the outlay is an ex-
ceeding vague one, for while, in some cases, as that of a large warehouse involving
an expcniliture of some thousands of pounds, it may be too high ; In others, as that
of shop-fronfa, where a hundred pounds or two only is expended, it is very much too
low, for here tlie same process has to be gone through of making drawings and large
details, specifications, superintending tlie operations and settling up the tradesmen's
accounts, as when fifty times the coat has been incurred.
I need not pursue this subject further, but shall reserve further observations till
another opportunity, it haying been taken up with great energy by our sister society,
the Northern Architectural Association. We have this evening received their report,
and at a special meeting to be held shortly, shall take it into consideration. Com-
petition is also a question completely within the power and competency of architects
themselves as a body to deal with. I cannot believe that there are any insurmount-
able obstacles in the w.iy of drawing up certain rules, or stating fair and equitable
general principlea, on which competitions ought to be conducled. AVere no architect
to engage in any competition when sucli principles or rules were ignored ; were no
architect to exchange his services for less than the publi.'died scale of charges, and
were everv one who accepted and agreed to abide by those rules and charges to form
themselves into an "Architectural Alliance," as suggested by our indefatigable
contemporary of the North already referred to, it would do much to raise the cha-
racter of the profession and fortify its position.
It would h.ave been desirable to have seen the only chartered body we have— The
Royal Institute of British Architects— take up these questions, along with that of
the diploma, with a determination to establish them on such a clear and distinct
basis, as to command their recognition by the wliok of the profession throughout
the kingdom.
Is it too late for her yet to do so ?
The periodical return of strikes or those combinations amongst onr building
operatives, to raise wages or shorten the hours of labor ia threatening to. become a
serioua impediment in the way of building speculations.
The masons have the strongest union, and so arbitrary have the conductors of that
union become, and so uncertain are contractors of how they may be situated six
months in advance, that mason work is increased in price, and in many instances
partially or altogether abandoned. The question of labor and wages is a diflicult
one, and one upon which every Government wisely abstains from legislating, but
though left entirely free it maybe dangerous to push this liberty too tar, for Nemesis
the Avenger follows close upon the heels of every wrong, whether perpetrated by
the maatera or men.
The trade of the mason iatoo important ever to become obsolete the time, I pre-
398
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 10, 1861.
8ume. will never arriTe when we shall entirely dispense with it. but the uncertainty
resulting from thoso periodical oontcets is assuredly transferring much of that em-
ployment to the hrickl;ivir, which would naturally fall to tlu mason.
Brick architecture offers a wide field for novelty and ori«,MUftlity m design. Were
nunufkcturer^ able to produce at a moderate price moulded bricks, true and carefUly
nude, and of uniform t^iie. stone drossinss mi^^ht be ^iven up with great advantage
to unity of desivn and improvement in coustructiou. The introduction of orna-
mental brickwork, though of comparatively recent date, is not a novelty even In our
own country, and it is a department of our art not unworthy of our more careful
stndy. There Is a norelty however in the violent contrasts resulting from the use of
partic<»lored brickwork, as generally seen in modem designs, which is not always
productive of the bent effect, especially when combined with wood projections, as
they interfere too much with the architectural lines. The same objection applies to
the very prevalent use of stone of a light colour for quoins and dressings, along with
one ranch darker for the <^'neral facing. . „ ,
The Archiu-ctxiral Exhibition is a great boon to the profession, as it will anord op-
portunity ot comparing before the public eye the capabilities of styles which are
better tested bv the pencil than bv the pen. It is proceeding from words to things,
from theory to' practice, ft is to be regretted, however, that there it* not more im-
portance attaehiHl in this Exhibition to plans and sections, which ought to be as
publicly and prominently set forth as elevations and perspective views-, as the merit
of a design cannot be estimated ftom the latter alone. Without plans and sections
it may bo an Kxlubition of Water iCoIor Drawings, but it is not au Architectural
Exhioition.
The prospects of the profession, notwithstanding many evils which only the
united action of architects themselves can remedy, are promising and satisfactory.
Kuitding operations are vigorously going forward on both sides of tlie Mersey, and
throughout the countrv generally. In the good old town, and especially in the
neighbourhood of the l^xchange, old buildings are being replaced by edifices more
fitted and adapted to the spirit and enterprise of the present day, and our streets
and thoroughfares are slowly, but steadily, undergoing the process of improvement.
It is singular that the system of building in flats— so common in Edinburgh,
Glasgow, and Taris— has never been introduced here. It has great advantages,
especially in a large town, where land is dear ; and I am convinced that were the
attempt fairly made, it would succeed not only as a money speculation, but in the
houses being preferred as places of residence. Instead of honeycombing over a
whole district w ith small cottage property and miserable narrow streets, as has been
lately done in the once beantmd township of Everton, we should have buildings of
about four stories high, giving complete accommodation for a distinct family on
each floor. The rooms might Iw of considerable height, with windows close up to the
ceiling, affording ample means for thorough ventilation. A larger population on a
given area would be by this plan better housed and at a smaller rental than by any
other ; while at the same time the external elevation of the buildings might possess
an imposing appearance from size alone, very different from that perishable character
so painfully impressed on all cottage property.
During tht- past session the office of Curator of the Soane Museum became vacant
by the deatli of Mr. George Hailey, and has been refilled by election. As it was of
much importance to the profession and study of architecture that this oflBce should
be worthily filled, and by a gentleman who would, coii amore and with diligence,
apply himsell to the task of rendering the noble bequest of 8ir John Soane fully
aTaifable for the designed purposes, the election was looked forward to by the pro-
feesion and lovers of architecture with considerable interest. The hopes entertained
on the subject I need not say have been disappointed by the rlecision ot the Council
of the Koyal Academy, with whom the election rested, who, contrary to the Act of
Parliament which required that an architect [of some distinction be appointed, have
elected a sculptor, Mr. .Joseph Bonomi, who, though well known to the profession
and public as an artist of taste and talent, yet can scarcely be expected to have that
feeling for the rich treasures of architecture confided to nis care tha would have
characterised an enthusiastic and devoted architect. This is the more to be regretted,
as among the candidates were the names of several distinguished members of our
profession whose lives have been devoted to their art ; among whom I may mention
that of Mr. J. W. i'apworth and our own member. 3Ir. Samuel Huggins, to whose
fitness for the office this Society testified so warmly when appealed to by that gen-
tleman on offering himself as a candidate, and who we should have been all gra-
tified to see installed in the gallery in Lincoln's-inn-fields, well knowing that in his
hands the architectural antiqnities would have been in good keeping.
Let us hope, however, that Ur. Bonomi vr\\\ duly feel the responsibilities of the
office he has undertaken, and set himself diligently to dissipate any fears which may
be entertained regarding his fulfilment of its important duties.
To the profession of architecture many, and some of our most valued members,
bare now combined that of arms.
Having joined the service when the first blush of enthusiasm coeval withtheorigin
of the movement had passed away, they justify and corroborate the conviction that
the Volunteer Service is not the creature of a day, but has now become one of the
Institutionsof this countrv. The corps to whicli these gentlemen mainly belong-
viz., the Engineers, though intimately connected with our own art, will require long
and arduous study and practice to arrive at proficiency, but I hope that for the future
the periods of drill and parade will be so arrangeti as not to interfere with our
meetings here. For although there is no inconsistency in the union of the two pro-
fessions, but the contrary, and though we can point with pride to distinguished
names who have been famous in both : yet, as architects, our first allegiance is to
art, oar second, to arms. The arts of peace should not suffer by a movement which
is intended to secure to us the pleasures and refinements of peace, it they do we are
foi^etting the imporiant end in the mere means.
It is very important that each man should get into the right sphere of action, and
take his proper place in the vineyard of art ; important to his ustfulness, and to his
reputation and happiness. He does this \\\n-i\ he applies himself to that which he
likes best and can do beet. "Each man," says Emerson, "has his own vocation.
The talent is his call ; there is one direction in which all space is open to him; he
hac faculties silently inviting him thither to endless exertion ; he is like a ship in a
rirer, he runs against obstruction on every side but one, on that side all obstruction
is taken away, and he sweeps over God's depths into an infinite sea. This talent and
this call depend on his organisation, or the mode in which the general soul incarnates
itself in him. lie inclines to do something which is easy to him and good when It is
done, but which no other man can do. He has no rival, for the more truly he
consults his own powers, the more difference will his work exhibit from the work of
another. When be is true and faithfXil his ambition is truly proportioned to his
powers. Every man has this call of the power to do somewhat unique, and no man
nu any other call." This passage is fraught with most important su^'gestion and
sdrtee to the young student, who may throw the reins on the neck of his natural
genins, and give his mind its natural bent. If he has a strong love for a certain
at>le or walk of art. let him not abandon it because obloquy has been thrown on it
by its foes. If he has a love for pointedness in architecture let him study Gothic
mod devote himself to the practice and elucidation of its principles, If he has not a
lore for pointedness, let him not try to love it because he Is told that as a Teuton he
nmst lore it. If he love the architecture that came to us from the South, let him
CttJUrate his natural or acquired taste, and use every means to increase his
snseeptlWlity to the sublimity and beauty of the world around him, and to every-
thing beautiful in the world of art, because that every man who aspires to be an
artist should In a greater or less degree profess
But there arc elementary studies which are a necessity to the architect and ought
to be mastered, though he may not feel any particular liking for them— such, for
instance, as the study of the mathematics and mechanical construction, architectural
sUtlcs. and dynamics. These are most important to the architect, whatever style
bepursues, and some degrecot proficiency every youth who would excel in archi-
teetnre sboold attain to. They form a golden key to unlock the treasures of all
styles, by which he Is to acquire a mastery of their latent principles and laws o'
composition.
The student must not be content with precept, however eminent may be the tongue
or pen from which it flows. He must master tlie great ruling principles of art, which
he can only do by the exercise of thought and reflection, by throwing? himself on Ms
own mental resources. If he cannot grasp the great principles of his art, no know-
ledge of precept or rules will maKC him an architect, properly so called. Literature
and learning are valuable only so far as tliey lead us to the knowledge of principles
and inspire and give impulse to the thoughts within us. A real sincere seeker after
truth will refuse to be led by any authority or precedent, however eminent or ancient
its establishment, and will himself arraigii and sit in judgment on the legislators of
art, knowing and feeling that their authority, which can only be resolved into
opinion, must succumb to that of nature. Too much authority has, perhaps, been
yielded to Vitruvius, whose volume nmst be infinitely inferior to tlie everlasting
volume of nature. It is to be feared that much'valuable time, time that might have
been better speut, has been thrown away upon the writings of Vitruvius, who, pro-
bably, had not one spark of artistic feeling in his whole composition.
Vitruvius, there is much reason to believe, has betrayed his admirers, and not ren-
dered them the profit he promised and they expected from him, wliich cannot be
said of nature— she never yet betrayed the heart that loved her. Remember, that
architecture is the danchter of philosophy and sister of poetry, and not a creation of
soliolastic lore, though it may derive nourishment, and receive illustration, comment
and confirmation, from archaeology and literature.
Let the student of architecture not he discouraged by any aspect of the times, or
suppose that the great days of architecture are past never to return. >Ve shall not
again build cathedrals, and pyramids, and amphitheatres— the spirit of our age does
not call for them : but it will call for groat works still, for works which will bring
every faculty into play. Architecture must manifest itself in forms very different to
what it assumed either in ancient Greece or medieval Europe. But it is the same
thing in its essence that it was in ancient times, it is the art of the beautiful in
building, and being connected with a higher state of humanity, and made subser-
vient to loftier aims of social advancement, may become more powerful.
During the recess wo expect that our students shall not be idle. It is unnecessary
to remind all who love their profession, that in all their excursions the sketch-book
ought to be their rrtrfe mcc?/?/), wherein everything beautiful or interesting in plan,
composition, design or detail, should be registered and treasured up. I have, in
many instances, found a reference to an old sketcti-book of more assistance In de-
signhig than in published works, simply from the fact that I more readily recall the
original from a sketchof my own, however imperfect, than from a drawing made by
anotlior. It is ardently hoped by the Council that the students will exhibit some
emulation in the competition of the best sketch-book during the summer months.
Sketching from nature is an exercise fraught with pleasure and usefulness, and is a
practice which should ever be kept up by tiio architect. Let us imitate the example
of that glorious old Michel Angelo, that (iod-inspired artist— if ever artist were so
inspired — who, at the age of ninety, still boasted of being a ntndent, and down to
the close of his wonderful career, and with that humility characteristic of geniue,
used to draw from the life, along with the veriest tyros in art, acting up with reli-
gious fidelity to his favorite motto of nncora imparo.
Mr. KouLT moved, and Mr. Parslow (student member), seconded a vote of thanks
to the President for his address and for the very excellent manner in which he had
discharged the duties of his office during the session.
The motion was carried by acclamation, and having been briefly acknowledged by
the I'resident, the session closed.
MANCHESTER ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION.
A MEETING of tliis Association was held on the evening of Wednesday, May 1st.
at the rooms, 55, George- street, the vice-president in the chair. The minutes of
the previous meeting, having been read and confirmed a communication from the
Northern Association respectingthe Architectural Alliance was brought forward and
a special meeting called for Wednesday, May 8th, to consider the matter in detail.
Other preliminary business having been transacted, the chairman called upon Mr.
Henry Fisher to read the paper for the evening on "Chemistry in Relation to Bull-
ding."
After noticing the small attention usually devoted to chemistry in the education
of the architect, the essayist referred to the action of the weather and other influences
on the various materials used in building, and pointed out some of the best methods
for preventing the delay and dilapidation whicii result from this cause ; he described
several reactions whicn take place during the setting of mortar, cements, &c., and
called attention to the fact that slate and stone are the only two materials used on
the exterior of modern buildings, in a natural state, unprotected from the weather,
and that it appears prohable.that the coating of one of tnese, with some impervious
preparation will ere long be deemed indispensiblc in all cases where durability is
desired, ,, , ,
Among other means of preserving 'stone, he alluded to the generally received
opinion that this end is attained by setting it on its natural or quarry bed and shewed
that under many circumstances stone bedded vertically offers more resistance to the
penetration of wet, and is therefore preferable. The essay was concluded by abrief
reference to the value of photography to the architect.
After an animated discussion, the tlianks of the Association having been presen-
ted to Mr. Fisher, the meeting was concluded.
Several Donations towards the formation of the library were received.
ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES.
ON Tuesday the Royal Commissioners resumed their sittings at the offices of the
Commission, in Victoria-street ; the Lord Mayor presided.
Mr. Bird, C.E., proceeded to explain his plan, which consisted of an embankment
with a railway, docks, &c. The embankment was proposed to be on the north side,
from Westminster-bridge to Queenhithe-dock. The embankment would be 3 feet
above Trinity- high-water mark, with wharves, a road, and railway. The docks to be
retained within the embankment, the water level in them to be maintained by a com-
pensating reservoir at Fulham. A railway to commence at Queenhithe-dock, passing
under Blackfriars, Waterloo, and Ilungerford-bridges, and then passing at the end of
Manchester-buildings, through Parliament-square, up Victoria-street, in a covered
way, to join the Victoria-station of the London, Brighton, and South Coast Kailway,
The estimated cost of the works would be £70(J,000, with borrowing powers taken in
the Bill for a million. He proposed to form large docks near Waterloo-bridg^
Temple-gardens, and Blackfnars-bridge, for the accommodation of the barges instead
of lying in the river. By his plan little mud would find its way into tlu; docks, aa the
water would be nearly_|)ure before it entered into the docks. If the works of the
Metropolitan Board of Works were carried out, there would be no appreciable deposit.
1'he docks would be entered by 20 feet locks and 40 feet tidal gates, so as to allow
vessels to enter at all periods of the tide. Too much stress had been laid upon the
subject of getting into the docks at any period of the tide,' as when the tide was
ebbing the barges could not get up, and those that were up had gone in at the top of
the tide. He also proposed to have dummies in front of the docks to which barges
could make fast and easily get into the docks. By making fa.st to these dummies it
would be of great assistance in gett.ng into the docks, and would not at all interfere
with the navigation. He also proposed to form what he culled a " compensatioa
dock " on the Sliddlesex side of the river, opposite to Battersca Church, That dock
would cover a space of twenty-two acres, and he proposed that the water there col-
lected should at times be let out so as to increase the scouring power of the river.
The cost of the land and walls were all included in the estimate he had put in. He
did not think that any space taken from the width of the river below Blackfriars-
bridge would be permitted, and to meet the trade, which was very large up to Queen-
hithc, he proposed to erect a river wall, which would give accommodation to the
May 10, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
399
owners of the wharves to carry on their trade there. It would K'lve the wharflngern
a dock hi which their barges could lie out of the wash of the steamers, and yet en-
able them to gH out when they required. In forminj,' his plan lie luid consulted tlie
wharfintierjt, who carry on a large trade about I'aul's-wharf, anil they told hlni that
if hecouid fonn a dock there they would support the plan, but if not, that they would
oppose it by every means in their power, us it would entirely tipoiltluir trade. lie pro-
ceeded to explain his scheme by referring tonunn'rouRdrawintiH. InfrontoftheTemple-
gardensthe railway would be entirely concealed, and would form no ob.'»tructlon to the
view. With regard to compensation to whiirlingers, he had made a provision in aliillto
be submitted to Parliament, by which [any land embanked should be made over
to tiie occupiers, reserving the right of entering upon it i'nr the repair of works. A
large piece of ground would be enclosed in front of Whitehall-gardens, which he
doubted not, if the Koyul (Jommissioners sanctioned his plan, her Majesty's Govern-
ment would be willing to give up to the public as public gardens. The same in
front of Somerset House. In laying out his plan he believed no large amount of
compensation would be required, and all that woidd be wanted would be tor temporary
damage. He had put down £700,000 as the total expense, but he believed that the
railway would be quite self-supporting. The North J.ondon llailway was constructed
for a goods railway, but it had been since converted into a line for the conveyance
of passengers, and six millions of passengers had been conveyed by it. If this rail-
way was formed he had no doubt that the number of passengers would be in increase
oyer the North London Kailwuy of at least 50 per cent. Two Committees of the
House of Commons had had thi.s plan before them, but when gentlemen met for a
Ibw hours in the day, with, perhaps, a dozen plans before them, without any one to
oppose them or point out t,heir defects, it was almost impossible for them to come to
■anything beyond a general recommendation. He believed that capital would be
forthcoming if the Koyal Commission should be of opinion that this plan was one
that ought to be carried out.
The Lord Mayor said the explanation had been so lucid and clear that he so
thoroughly understood the scheme as to render any questions unnecessary.
By Captain Galton.— Fresh water would be admitted to the docks. The sewer
would be about 7 feet in diameter, butit could be enlarged If deemed to be necessary.
The size of the sewer must mainly depend upon the pumping power. If this work
were undertaken by a public body it could be carried out at a very considerably
reduced cost. He mentioned as an instance of what could be done by'a public body,
the present Battersea-park bridge. He was engaged for the promoters of that
bridge, who were private parties, but the Government afterwards took the work
into their own hands, and the result was, claims of compensation of £17,000. The
smallest sum that the owners of the property would consent to take were settled for
£500. The Attorney-General took the precaution of having inserted in the Bill a
clause establishing the principle that, in estimating the amount of compensation,
regard should be had to the value of the property before and not after the works
bad been commenced. On the railway there would be a station at each of the
bridges. There would be three lines of rails, two for passengers and one for goods.
The velocity of the river would be increased where the embankment took place.
The river would be dredged to preserve the area.
By Mr. Tiiwaites.— A Bill is before Parliament, but it is deferred from time to
time, waiting the result of this commission. He proposed to bring out the line of
the embankment to the second arch of Blackfriars-bndge. The wharves would be
brought out (W feet into the river.
By Sir Joshua .Jebb.— In forming the railway he should adopt pile driving, and
with re-spect to engineering difficulties, they were not admitted as existing in the
present day. He did not anticipate quicksands, having watched the driving of piles
in the river for some time; and, judging from the way in which those piles yielded to
the fall of the "monkey," lie knew pretty well what soil it was that the work
would have to be done in.
Mr. EvANH next presented his plan, and proceeded to describe it. He said it
consisted of an embankment, in which should be placed the low-level sewer, with a
higli and low-level road. There would be a granite tramway for heavy traffic, with
a footpath on each side. The roadway would commence at the foot of Westminster-
bridgo> communicating with Whitehall-place, Essex-street, and the bridges, and so
on to Queeuhithe-dock, where the low-level sewer would turn off. If there were
made, from this pomt, anew street to Cannon-street, it would be of essential ser-
vice, as it was by no means desirable to increase the traffic about London -bridge.
For the liigh-level road he would take the top of Waterloo-bridge as his level, pro-
ceeding on to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, and on to Southwark-
bridge. He should also construct an embankment on the south side of the Thames,
commencing at Vauxhall-bridge. The roadway should be only ;iO feet wide, giving
two sets of tramways and a footpath next the river. The river-bed should be formed
to a uniform shape as near as possible, which could not be done safely, unless both
sides of the river were embanked. The cost, for the north side, he estimated at
£55.1,280 : on the south side, £298,480— making a grand total of £851.76<3.
Mr. A. DouLL proposed a plan for an embankment from Whitehall-place to
Queenhithe, and a roadway continued from Queenhithe to London-bridge by means
of iron columns, so as to allow the entrance of barges to the river. In the embank-
ment he would put the low-level sewer.
Captain Plumner and Mr. Bush also presented similar plans, and the Commis-
sioners adjourned.
On Wednesday, the first plan proceeded with was that proposed by Mr. G. F.
Lyster, C.E., consisting of an embankment from Westminster-bridge to Southwark,
five feet above Trinity high-water mark, with a main roadway 120 feet wide, divided
into sections for light and heavy traffic, together with a tramway and a river promenade
20 feet in width. There would also be a roadway for the use of the wharfingers, with
docks to be constructed between the sewer and outer roadway, provided with tidal
and lock entrances. Under the high-level roadway it is proposed to carry a canal as
a receptacle for barges, with capacious reservoirs, to be filled from the up-stream
source where the tidal influence ceases, to supply the docks with water power and to
Bcour the canal ; at a total estimated outlay of £ 1 ,070,000.
3Ir. Turner, C.E., of Newcastle, submitted;his systemforamodificatlon of the lines
of the river embankment proposed by the Admiralty, and for keeping th' docks next
the river, without iuterferaig with the streets, and furnishing the necossa. ■ facilities
for a main outfall sewer.
Mr. GiJtns, C.E., adopting the datum of the esplanade in front of the Palace of
Westminster, would continue the embankment, which would thereby be advanced
further into the river, to its proposed destination, with a railway parallel and on the
same level, and a roadway of 60 feet. He would purchase up rather than give com-
pensation for the present inferior class of property on the river side, and construct
upon the site a new and uniform range of valuable property.
Mr Lane, C.E., combined with his embankment a high level railway through
Westmmster, uniting with the railway east and west, so as to remove the dead lock
that at present existed in connexion with the metropolitan traffic. Underneath this
railway on a great iron gallery he would carry a continuous street or promenade.
Mr. ruoRNBURY, C.E., and contractor, proposed to run a river wall ^ miles long,
from Vauxhall-bridge to the Tower, and with a road and low-level sewer 20 feet in
diameter, to be ultimately carried on for conveyance of all the sewage into the
marshes. He was of opinion that the embankment might becarried outfurther than
was proposed in general, as was the case with the embankments of the Parisian
rivers.
The commission then adjourned to next week.
THE STRIKE.
IN our last notice of the Strike, we referred to the determination of Messrs.
f rollope and Sons, in accordance with a requisition presented to them by a large
nuniber ofhands in their employ (to follow the example of 3Iessrs. Lucas. Brothers,
Mr. Kelk, and Mr. Smith), to commence the system of payment by the hour, after
the rate of 7d. per hour for skilled hands, the men leaving off work at one o'clock
on Saturday!). They have carried out the!ByBtem, which theylfind to work admirably,
and although a number of masons, bricklayers, plasterers, andjonicrs left their eata-
blishm(mt when it was first enforced, the places of those who left have been
supplied, and the firm have a full complemt^nt of hands in all the departments of
their trade. The workmen who left the shops where the system of payment by the
liour is enforced, state that the men engaged to supply their placed are inferior
artisans, and not worth the money they are paid.
This week a deputation from the masons (of whom only about thirty-eight arc out
of employment) waited upon Mr. !Moore, of Paddington, in consequence of negotia-
tions which had previously taken i)lace between that gentleman's establishment and
them. The deputation, in accordance with autluirity deputed to tliem by the society
of the masons, asked Mr. 5!oore whether he would agree to either of the following*
propositions for payment of tliose who handlecl the mallet and the chisel :— First,
payment of six shillings per day of ten hours for five days of the week, and three
shillings on Saturday up to twelve o'clock at noon, when the men should leave off
working ; second, would he be willing to concede nine and a half hours per day
(instead of nine hours as now askeil for), the men leaving off on five days of the week
at five o'clock, and on Saturdays al four o'clock (as at present), at the present rate
of wages, thirty-three shillings a wiek for skilled artisans. Mr. Moore, in reply to
the deputation, stated that he would accede to either of the propositions the men
might prefer, and a meeting of the masons is to beheld this (Fndav) evening to come
to a decision on the question, as an answer is to be given to Mr. iiioore' on Saturday
(to-morrow). We arc informed that Messrs. Lucas and Kelk have an agent in
l''rance, the object of whose mission is to get skilled workmen to come to their service
in this country. Six French masons were engaged; one arrived in London on
Wednesday, but on Thursday (yesterday) he had an Intervie^v with the masons*
committee and having, through the medium of one of tin* masons, who is a French
scholar, heard the explanations made, determined upon declining the offer made to
him, and also to write to Iiis confreres across the Channel to prevent their coming Uy
London. Meanwhile the masons' committee have succeeded in obtaining a sitiution
for the stranger at a shop where the hour system is not enforced.
ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
THE annual general meeting of the Institute was held in the rooms, Conduit-street,
Kegent-street, on Monday evening, to receive the report of the Council on the
state of the property and afi'airs of tile Institute, and an account of the funds, to-
gether with a balance-sheet of the receipts and disbursements ; to elect officers of
the Institute, and examiners under the Metropolitan Building Act, for the ensuing
year, and for the general despatch of business. The meeting was not open to the
representatives of the professional journals. We understand, however, that the
chair was occupied by Professor Donaldson, V.P. The report of the Council was
read and agreed to. We shall give it at length as soon as it has been revised. The
following gentlemen were elected officers of the Institute : —
Vice /*restrfc;t/s.— Messrs. T. L. Donaldson, M. I>. Wyatt, andG. G. Soott.
Honorary Secretaries.— Messrs. T. Hayter Lewis and James Bell.
Ho7iorartf Secretary Jor Foreign Correspondence.— Mr. F. C. Penrose,
Ordinary Members of Council.— Mesfirs. B. Ferrey. W. Haywood, C. C. Nelson, J,
Norton. E.* M. Barry, J. Fergusson, R. Kerr, W. Slater, and J. B. Waring.
'Treasurer.— ^iT W. K. Farquhar, Bart.
Honorary SolicUo7'.—M.T. w. L. Donaldson.
Auditors.— Measra. Horace Jones and Arthur Cates,
The election of examiners under the Metropolitan Building Act was postponed to
Monday next.
We are informed that a long discussion took place on the question of the election
of President Professor Donaldson proposed Mr. William Tite, M.P. ; and Mr.
G. E. Street nominated Mr. Beresford-Hope. No decision was arrived at, and
the discussion was adjourned at a late hour to Monday next.
CONVERSAZIONE AT IRONMONGERS' HALL.
ON the evening of Wednesday last the Hall of the Ironmongers' Company was the
scene of such an assemblage as we trust may often be hereafter brought together
within the walls of our mefropolitan civic guilds. We use the word "assemblage"
in a twofold sense— first and foremost, with reference to the distinguished gathering-
of guests who responded to the invitation of the master and the members of the
Company ; and, secondly, in regard of the man'ellous and admirable collections of
works of art and curiosity which the guests found to have been formed for their
entertainment. We are not aware that a conversazione of the very highest order
in an intellectual point of view had ever before been held in a civic hall, so that to
the Ironmongers' Company we believe we may accord the honor of having initiated
as well as brought at ^once to the most complete perfection a truly admirable
project.
Having once conceived the happy idea that collections of "works of art of vanoufl-
kinds, together with objects of arch Ecological interest and curiosity and illustration*
of the acnievements of modern science, might provide an evening's amusement for
their guests, the authorities of the Ironmongers' Company set themselves in earnest
to the^work of giving effect to their design. They were met on all sides with a prompt
and cordial response. Contributions, rare and precious, and costly, and infinitely
varied in their character, poured in from collectors. Her Majesty, with her customary
ready kindness, opened the royal collections to the conversazione ^committee. The
Herald's College, the other Companies of the City of London, and many associations,
as well as individuals followed the Queen's example in the same spirit. The resnlt
of the whole, accordingly, we may characterise a demonstration of the riches of the
cabinets and collections of England, and of the readincssof their proprietors to make
their treasures available for the gratification of their countrymen. With the sole ex-
ception of the Manchester Great Exhibition, the collection that has not yet been dis-
persed from the Hall in Fenchurch- street, certainly is without a nval. It i»
absolutely unique when its extent is taken into consideration, for assuredly never
before was a collection formed which comprehended such a variety of objects, every-
one of which was of such first-rate excellence. We have said that it remains for the
present undisturbed, and until after to-morrow it will cuutinue to remain for the
purpose of enabling the Company to admit their friends durmg three days to an ex-
hibition which they will not readily forget. This is a most judicious arrangement,
and it is only to be regretted that the three days could not have been extended
into as many weeks, for the benefit of proportionately increased numbers of
visitors to Ironmongers' Hall. We hope to avail ourselves of the
opportunities we shall have for paying another visit to the Hall ot
the Ironmongers' Company, for the purpose of bemg thus enabled to
furnish to our readers a more detailed notice of the contents of the temporary
Museum which, as a whole, is so strikingly impressive. Now we must be
content to specify, in addition to the renowned Cellini shield, and to a group of
noble swords the property of the Queen, the unrivalled historical miniatures of the
Duke of liuccleugh, the sword that the Scottish King— the gallant " Fitz-Jamea
of Sir Walter Scott— still grasped as he lay dead on the fatal field of Floddeu. the
very dao^ger that struck down Wat Tyler, and which* has ever since been represented
in the arms of London as the becoming memorial of the loyal Walworth, groups of
civic regaha pieces of armour and various weapons of the utmost rarity and inte-
rest coOections of ceramic works both British and Foreign, Venetian j,'!as8 audits
Enc'lish rivals, the productions of Ansley Pellatt. rich and curious embroideries,
Beckett's mitre, a marvellously beautiful small fuU-len gth portrait of Mary Stuart,
curious and quaint jewellery, relics of the arts of the Egyptians and the Romans, ivory
carvings the t-namelsbothof Byzantium and Limoges, including Mr. Hope's cross, are
plate, books no less rare as examples of the binders art thanof the printer's skill, and
illuminated MSS.,andilluminations,andengraving8of the most choice kinds illustra-
tive of the history of their art, a few very beautiful pictures, numerous scientific appU-
400
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 10, 1861.
anres, including the latest iinproTements in telcsraphy. in stereoscopic iustrumcnts'
microscopes, &c. ; also various models of steam and other machinery, and examples
of early metal-work. It is most satisfactory to us to be able to add. that these collec-
tions, however varied their character, exhibit a definite aim at illustrating the arts
that have worked in the decoration of the metals. This is eminently consistent with
the title borne by the Ironmonjrers* Company, and it is to be hoped that this idea
may be more fully developed in time to come, with the express object of exalting:
the character and so iraprovin<j the condition of the art-manufactures in the metals
of our o«Ti times. In now taking- leave of the Ironmongers' conversazione^ and when
tenderinjr our most cordial conaratulations to the Master, Mr. Birkett, to Mr. Beck,
the able, indefatigable, and courteous Secretary, and to all the members of the Com-
pany on their most successful entertainment, we venture to express the opinion that
these archaH>logrical collections might have had even their inherent attractiveness
enhanced by direct association with examples of the ability and skill of living
metal workers.
The arrangements, which were imcxceptionable in every respect, were made under
the direction of Charles Bailey, Esq., the well-known architect and accomplished
arch«oloe-i8t, who was supported by Mr. CheiTers.t and the other sources of enjoy-
ment were increased by some excellent vocal music, and the hospitalities of the
erening were fully worthy of a civic reputation.
HAMMERSMITH.
THE International Exhibition of 1S6-.> is Danger.— Mr. John Kelk, the
well-known builder and contractor of the intended International Exhibition of
ISK, in South Kensington, appeared before Mr. Ingham, on Monday, to answer the
complaint ofMr. T. L.l>onaldson, district surveyorfor South Kensington, for unlaw-
fully commencing a building on the north side of the Cromwell-road, before giving
two days' notice thereof, as required under the 13th section of the Metropolitan
Buildings Act.
The Complainant's case was as follows :— The building in question was intended to
form part of the Great Exhibition of 18G2, as the picture gallery, and was one which
required the supervision of the district surveyor. Under the 6th section of the Act
certain buildings were exempt, and it was contended that this was not one of that
description, it was also contended that public buildings came under the supervision
of distric t surveyors, as fire-proof staircases, Ac, were requisite.
-Mr. Ingham inquired what was done on the former occasion, when the Great
E.xhibition Building was erected in Hyde-park. He wished to know whether that
building came under the supervision of the district surveyor.
Mr. Donaldson said he could not answer that question : it was built on Crown
lands, and before this Act was passed.
Mr. Kelk said he could answer, no.
Mr. Ingham said that according to the Act, Crown lands were not exempted.
Mr. Donaldson was then sworn for the purpose of raising the question. He said
that the works commenced about a week ago for a building of 1,200 feet long, on the
north side of CYomwell-road, for which he had not received any notice.
The Defendant, on being called upon for his answer, said he had not come prepared
to argue the question in a legal point of view, as there had not been time to summon
the Commissioners together for them to consider what course should bo taken. He
attended for the purpose of asking tor a postponement.
Mr. Ingham w^as ready to grant the application, and said that it appeared to him
there was an omission in the Act, as it never could have been intended that abuilding
or this nature should come within the supervision of a district surveyor, but, as the
Act stood, it seemed that it did.
The Defendant said he did not wish it to go forth to the world that he had been
wanting in courtesy in not giving the district surveyor notice, and he read some
ana rs to show that there had been a correspondence between them on the subject.
V _?.„C/'"'° ^'*''l '' ^'"^ "°' supposed for a moment that there had been any want
characterisvpn the part of Mr. Kelk.
Ili!Sl^?l„*^>,™» *"'" '*"*• '^ Mr. Donaldson had waited a week longer the consent
Pw^Mr T w Pnn'rnlih'i^?'''^^ «'»"'<' ^^""^ bceu Obtained. In cSrtain cases the
fltaesffoJihe Office tCi5cie*yte9t'5ffit™' <"■ ^h" district surveyors, and he would
fi™!„ ^^ !>ff.5^„ hilnfoir ;L I'^r.lnHiii^Jo" 1"^ Horticultural Gardens adjoining the
tleman on offertng himself as a candidate, a.. , ,,^^ hnildinir nnrt the RnnriT hoH
tifled to see Installed in the gallery in I^incoln's-'u'.^*' ^u 'm
bands the architectural antiquities would have been il" ™," '"„!!j''„f ' , r'rl fl?
Let ns hope, however, that Mr. Bonomi ,vill duly fee/nO^'^'he supervision of the
office he has underUken, and set himself diligently to dissit?° ^''JO"™™™' f°' tlie
b« entertained regarding his fulfilment of its important liutiel;' _,. „,j.,„, •„,i,ji„„
To the profession of architecture many, and some of our n?l^,"<^'Jl'';r*' °'"'<"?S.
have now combined that of arms. ^"^^ ^"^^ referred to
Having joined the service when the first blush of enthusiasm coeva/iiat time would
of the movement had passed away, they justify and corroborate the c
the Volunteer Service is not the creature of a day, but has now becoi as o-oing on.
Institutions of this country. The corps to which these gentlemen mai- be allowed!
viz., the Engineers, though intimately connected with our own art, will r-hem down"
and arduous stud)^ and practice to arrive at proficiency, but I hope that for *
the periods of drill and parade will be so arranged as not to interfere
meetings here. For although there is no inconsistency in the union of the tij^t the
fessions, but the contrary, and though we can point with pride to distinj^
names who have been famous in both : yet, as architects, our first allegianc^ation
art, our second, to arms. The arts of peace should not sulTer by a movement ^jcjiit
is intended to secure to ns the pleasures and refinements of peace, if they do wt,{^y
forgetting the important end in the mere means. tl,e
It is very important that each man should get into the right sphere of action, aat
take his proper place in the vineyard of art ; important to his usefulness, and to j
reputation and happiness. He does this when he applies himself to that which id
likes best and can do best. "Each man," says Emerson, "has his own vocatloij
The talent Is his call ; there is one direction in which all space is open to htm ; hi
has faculties silently inviting him thither to endless exertion ; he is like a ship In a
rirer, he runs against obstruction on every side but one, on that side all obstruction
istaltenaway, and he sweeps over God's depths into an Infinite sea. This talent and
this call depend on his organisation, or the mode in which the general soul incarnates
ttaelf In him. He inclines to do something which is easy to him and good when it is
done, hut which no other man can do. He has no rival, for the more truly he
conmlts his own powers, the more dilTerencc will his work exhibit from the work of
OOther. When he is true and faithful his ambition is truly proportioned to his
powers. Every man has this call of the power to do somewhat unique, and no man
baa any other call." This passage is fraught with most important suggestion and
adrice to the young student, who may throw the reins on the neck of iiis natural
genias, and give his mind its natural bent. If he has a strong love for a certain
st>le or walk of art, let him not abandon it because obloquy has been thrown on it
by its foes. If he has a love for pointcdness In architecture let him study Gothic
and devote himself to the jiraeticc and elucidation of its principles, If he has not a
lore for pointedness, let him not try to love it because he is told that as a Teuton he
must love it. If he love the architecture that came to ns from the South, let him
cultivate his natural or acquired taste, and use every means to increase his
snseeptibllity to the sublimity and beauty of the world around him, and to every-
thing beautiful in the world of art, because that every man who aspires to be an
artist should in a greater or less degree profess
Bat there arc elementary studies which are a necessity to the architect and ought
to l)c mastered, though he may not feel any particular liking for them— such, for
instance, as the study of the mathematics and mechanical construction, architectural
statics, and dynamics. These are most Important to the architect, whatever style
bepnrnies, and some degree of proficiency every youth who would excel in archl-
. tboold attain to. They form a golden key to unlock the treasures of all
Ion, or quarter-cask as they are called, into which the finer ales are iput, but in thl*
case to be nearly filled with water and to stand on end. The air-vessel is then to be
suspended directly above it by a chain or line passing over a pulley, and away to
some convenient place, whore a rack of a corresponding length, and provided with
studs or pins dividing it into six spaces, is to be secured, to receive a string loop or
ring attached to the end of the suspending hue. The air-vessel being weighted
round its mouth, or open end, \vould descend into the water-cylinder, unless upheld
by the line, as an opening must be made for the insertion of a common wooden
spigot, to which is to be attached, like a fire-eugine hose, as much small gutta-percha
tube as may reach from the guard's usual position on the train, quite to the engine,
where its other end is to be attached to a railway whistle of any power desired.
To put the contrivance In working order, the air-vessel is to be elevated as shown
in the annexed diagram, and sustained by the loop or ring at the end of the line or
chain which passes over the pulleys, being put upon the lowest stud or pin in the
rack. Any variety of whistles or signal screams may now be sent forward to the
driver by the guard.
i:.7lif
V, valve. W, closing weight to it. H, handle to press on to open valve in draw-
ing up air-cylinder. L, loaded collar to sink the air-vessel, and force the air to
whistle.
We shall suppose, for the purpose of exemplific ation of the working of this simple
apparatus, that the whole descent of the air-cylinder would take a minute and a
halt fa gallon of air to each quarter-minute) then a quarter-minute call obtained by
merely moving the ring E at the end of the line, to the pin No. 1, might indicate
caution,' or "attention," or to momentarily shut-oflf steam. A second quarter
minute call, bymoving the ring R, from 1 to 2, might indicate " danger more apparent
-yput on breaks;" and a third call to "stop her," each call being produced by
simply moving the loop or ring up to the next stud and so depriving the loaded
air-cylinder of its support, when, of course, in its descent, according to the weight
acting on it, the air contained in it would be forced out, with more or less force,
through the air tube into the whistle.
It is obvious that a code of signal sounds could be made out to suit the apparatus,
such as a continuous scream or whistle for the time of the total descent of the air-
vessel, to mean '■ Danger behind ; lose no time, coming train likely to run Into us."
On this, the driver would put on his steam -whistle, and united, the warning and the
expedition would be likely to avert the majority of accidents that occur from suc-
ceeding trains running Into those before them. All communications to have the
prelude of a quarter-minute scream or whistle, meaning, "caution," or "atten-
tion."
Twenty-five years since a continuous blow-pipe was in use in the atelier, or busi-
ness-room of the writer on the principle here described, and something similar, but
much more complicated than was necessary, was adopted subsequently at the Euston
Station, on the opening of the Birmingham railway line, Its use being to notice the
manager of the stationary engine, when the going-out train was "all right," for
hauling up the inclined plane out of that terminus. There is a diagram of the con-
trivance, with a description in Osborne's cleverly written " London and Birmingham
ISailway Guide," pp. 73-4. (London: Simpkin and Marshall; and Darton and
Clark.)
Independently of the gradiating weight being placed at the top instead of at the
bottom of the air-cylinder, the complication arose from its being conceived that a
second air-chamber was required, under the water-cylinder, the connexion with the
second air-chamber being by a tube fixed upright In the water-vessel, and extending
up, through, and to a little over the top of the water, there then being no opening In
the upper cylinder or air chamber, but one closed by a valve, which should open in as
shown at V in diagram, it Is obvious that the air would be forced down the tube and
on to the whistle by a connecting tube, as I have described.
To raise the air-chamber with facility for fresh use, a suflicient valve, as at V, to-
admit the air, would be required In both cases ; and when not in use, open. It may be
kept close by a spring, or more than a counter-balance weight to aid the air-pressure
—the lever \V H easing the adjustment so much that a child could put the apparatus
in working order after being exhausted of Its supply of air ; and ordinary wear and
'«ar excepted, it would not be possible to disarrange so simple a mode of effecting
his much required Additional Caution.'
'May 3rd, 1801.
^, IS IT POSSIBLE TO PLEASE EVEKYBODY?
"Sir,— If the pages of your .Journal be the appropriate channel of discussion for
"y point of professional polity, they seem especially suited to the question by
„,.ich the Institute Is at this moment agitated, and upon winch opinion of every
.J^ de ought to be frankly stated— namely, the election of I'resldent for the ensuing
^ilhe rooms in Conduit-street presented, on Monday night, a scone of unwonted
j:."'nation when this subject was brought forward. The Council had obtained fVom
•'"Tite a promise to serve the office If called thereto by the general voice, though
rrjTOuld not enter Into a contest. The Ecclcslological party, who had mustered in
"_?>, proceeded to put Mr. Beresford-Hope in nomination, and that gentleman.
,, 'jessing no repugnance to the ordeal of^ the ballot-box, an unseemly display of
"vjry was only to be avoided by the postjioiiement of the selection for another
\i°i', during which It may be expected that some (expression of the general
~P-Sg may be elicited, and some arrangement made by which unanimity may be
Tved,
be
The,'
?"? ■. Tite's high standing and extensive experience are everywlierc admitted ; few
Pjjj have pursued their course more prudently than he, and still fewer surpass him
"'"he qualities essential to promote the corporate interests of his class, or to
May 10, 1861.
TtlE BUILDING NEWS.
401
advance the profession to the status it ought to enjoy, anrt cannot fall under proper
guidance to attain. It Is furtlier only fair to say that Mr. Tite ranks among the
honorable few who, liaving made their harvest sure, desert not the field, but with
the true inherent love of art, encourage those yet busy in their arduous work.
Jlr. Beresford-Kiijie lias many advantages over a professional candidate, because,
while highly endued with a love of architecture, lie stands on the vantage ground of
a patron aloof from the jealousy of rivals, and 8upporti>d by the recipients ol an
extensive bounty dispensed by the party in which he is so distinguished.
It appears of the first consequence that the President of the Institute should take
not only a warm, but a broad and g:eneral, interest in tlu^ art and its professors i
bnt how is such a characteristic to be reconciled with the Architectural Museum, of
which Mr. Hope is the head? How is it to be reconciled with the memorable
competition for the church at Constantinople, where, if I remember rightly, after
the three advertised prizes had been bestowed, a fourth design was distingnislied by
a supplemental prize, and then all four turned out to be by members of the
Kcclcsislogical Society ? One cannot say that partiality prevailed ; one cannot deny
the possibility of that l^ociety having absorbed the wliole talent of the profession ;
one cannot deny the possibility of such a coincidence, but one can express a wish to
see such coincidences as seldom as possible.
It is altogether iiupoasible, therefore, to detach Jlr. IlApe in thought from that
party with which he is so thoroughly identified, and equally impossible to shut out
of view the change, involving, in all probability, a degradation from its now proud
position, that must befall the Institute whenever he is called to preside over it.
I am, &c..
Watchman.
OUR CRITICISM ON THE EXHIBITION OF THE NEW SOCIETY OF
PAINTEHS IN WATEK-COLOKS.
Sir, — Your critique on the E.xhibition of the New Society of Tainters in "Water
Colors, although admirable in many respects, is, I think, hardly justified in giving
me credit for dragging a long-forgotten horror before the public with a wish to
wantonly disgust it. .Surely the devotion of snch a daughter as Madlle. de Lom-
breuil is worth trying to illustrate ; the effect of her self-sacrifice upon the poor un-
educated creatures, madly thinking freedom liberty to slay, proves it ; and, al-
though I miiy have failed in depicting the strength of the emotions such an event
must have called forth, I do not regret having tried to add to the feelings of pity
and admiration which so devoted ah action must give rise to, and is one of those
bright spots which occasionally stud the history of that momentous period.
I am, &c.,
15, St. Augustine-road, N.W., 6 May, 1861. John Absolon.
tenders-
Dwelling HOL'SE.S, KlNSAL GREEN.
For three hoQses at Kensal Green, for W. Tovey, Esq. Quantities not supplied.
Wicks £680
Judd OKI
Jones and Richards 645
Dwelling Houses, Streatham.
For erecting and flnislung a new house, at Streatham, for D. Norton, Esq. Mr.
R. W. Drew, architect. Quantities supplied by Mr. J. A. Bunker.
Downs £1,620
Hill l,.'jM
Deacon i,ma
Redecorating, Ac, London.
For"redecorating Canterbury Hall, and improving the ventilation, for Messrs.
Morton and Stanley, Mr. Samuel Field, architect. Quantities suppUed.
I'Anson £86() 0
Sanderson 821 10
Villa, We.stwood.
For the ereetioff of a villa residence, stables, &c., at Westwood, near Leeds, for
Henry Oxley, Esq., Jlr. William Hill, architect, Leeds.
AffKcms' and {SrickUiyers' work.— J. .and B. Pounders £1.572 0 0
Carpenters' and Joinem' u-ort.—T. Hall and Co 810 0 0
Plasterers' work,— 3. Wilson and Son 166 18 0
I'lunibers' and fllaziers' work.— J. Story 325 10 0
Slaters' ioork.—\'V. Ellis , 138 18 4
Painters' work.—F. Jackson 30 10 0
. £3,052 16 4
Cottage, Hertford.
For two pair of model cottages at Hertford, for the Hertford Cottage Building
Society (Limited). Mr. Sextus Bybale, architect.
Elliott, Chelsea £877
Cook, Waltham Abbey 600
Collins, Hertford 690
Andrews, Hertford .560
, Doarsley, London 499
Ekins and Sons, Hertford (accepted) 490
Parsonage, Elton.
For Elton Parsonage. Messrs. Pritchett and Son, architects.
Bourne, Stockton, total £1,040
Schools, London.
For proposed Industrial School in|Redcro8s-street, Cripplegate, for the trnstecB
of Lady Holies' Schools. Air. John Foster Pickering, architect. Church-court-
chambers, Old Jewry. Estimates for the above taken in two ways— first, the whole
of the principal elevation in Portland stone, being about 64 feet frontage and 50 feet
high ; second, lower portion of elevation in Portland stone, 64 feet by 13 feet, and
the upper portion m Portland cement, 64 feet by 37 feet. Quantities furnished bv
Mr. Enoch. '
Portland Stone.
Prince £3,787
Turner and Sons 3,637 . . 3,245
Lawrence and Sons .. 3,880 .. 3,180
Larke 3.420 .. 2,»33
Brown and Robinson 3,400 .. 3,032
Hack and Sons 3,367 .. 3,057
Brass and Sons* 3,237 ., 2,'922 '
• Accepted, and to be executed in Portland stone.'
Portland Cement.
£3,288 difference £499
392
400
448
368
310
315
, . , Lock-up, St. Albans.
For works m the creeUon of St. Albans' Lock-up. Mr. Thomas Hill architect.
'^"n'"am £232 10
Tiouog . 3,5 g
Bri^gandSon . 209 0
W«ob :.; 201 10
^,?^«. 108 17
M'*""", 193 0
Jarap* (accepted) 180 0
Chapel London.
Additions and alterations to Union chapel, Compton-tcrrace, Islington. Messrs.
Lander and BedaU, architects.
Woodward £3,461
Tolly 3,445
Perry .' 3,242
Greenwood 3,2:i7
Smith £3,208
Stephenson 3,165
Maun 2,91^
Parsonage, Maidstone.
For St, Peter's Parsonage, Maidstone.
George Chambers, Maidstone £1,265
Messrs. Sutton, Walton and Goodwin, Maidstone .... 1,25(>
Sutton and Vaughau, Maidstone 1,217
James Clements, .Maidstone , 1,148
J. G. Naylar, Rochester (accepted) l.HO
Parsonage, Notts.
For building a Parsonage-house, at Langford, near Newark, Notts. Mr. Goddardj
architect, Lincoln.
Wm. Milnes, CoUingham £1,192 0
Stiles and Robinson, Navenby 1,075 0
H. Clipshaw, Norwtll 1,025 10
T. (i. Mackenzie, Newark 1,025 0
Charles Fox, Lincoln (accepted) 1,020 Q
Mansion, Malvern.
For a mansion at Blackmore-park, Malvern, for I. V. Hornyold, Esq. Mr. David
Brandon, architect. .
1. andC. I'Anson £18,446
George Smith 10.910
Wood and Son 1.5,970
Lucas Brothers 15,100
Myers 11,503
Villa, Leytonstone.
For villa residence at Leytonstone, Essex, for Mr. Richard Carpenter,
Andrew Wilson, architect.
Joshua Wilson £1,080
Master 983
Rivett 972
Palmer 945
Mr.
Tarrant £940
Perry 894
Warskitt (accepted) 892 10
Chimney-Shaft, London.
For erecting a chimney-shaft. Old Gravcl-lane, for Messrs. Knight and Son. Mr.
Andrew Wilson, architect.
Langtree £344 | Johnstone (accepted) £307
Warehouse, London.
For new warehouse. No. 11, Warwick-square, Newgate-street, for Charles James
Heath, Esq. ; Messrs. John Young and Son, architects.
Brass £1,440 j Chessum £1,290
King 1,420 Colemau 1,28»
Hardlman and Sandon 1,387 Hart 1»285
Perry 1,335 |
Quantities supplied by Mr, C. T. Shoppee.
New Front, London.
For new front to premises. No. 11, George-yard, Lombard-street, for the British
Gaslight Company (Limited) ; Slessrs. John Young and Son, Architects.
Geneial WorlcB. Alterations. Total.
Mansfield and Son £1,095 .. £297 .. £1,392
Brass 994 .. 349 .. 1,343
Ashby and Horner 1,036 .. 288 .. 1,324;
AxfordandCo 1,017 .. 293 .. 1,310
AshbyandSons 1,015 .. 276 .. 1,291
Lawrence and Sons' 942 .. 270 .. 1,212
Quantities suppUed by Mr. C. T. Shoppee.
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
SCHOOLS.
Nottingham.— The Trustees of the Nottingham Free Grammar Schools seek far
designs, plans, specifications (not in detail), and estimates for the erection of new
schools, of the foundation of Dame Agnes Mellers, together with a master's resi-
dence, porter's lodge, fence wall, entrance gates, and approaches thereto, upon a
pieeeoi ground situate in Goldsmith-street, in the said town. A lithograph plan
of the land, with the levels of the same, and printed instructions and particulars for
the guidance of competitors, will be forwarded to theui on application to Mr.
Christopher Swann, solicitor, and clerk to the said trustees. £50 will be given for
the best design which may be selected, and £25 for the second best that may be so
selected, such designs to become the property of the Trustees. The designs, plans,
and other particulars are to be sent to the office of C. Swann, Church-gate, Not-
tingham, on or before June 15.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
MECHANICS' INSTITUTE.
Staleybridge.— For the erection of the mechanic's institution, Staleybridge. 1 lans,
cSic., from M. Blackwell and Son, architects, 8, Essex-street, King-street, Man-
chester, from 13th May. . Tenders to be delivered not later than May 20.
ASYLUM.
Liverpool.— For extensive additions to the Catholic Blind Asylum, Brunswiek-
road, Liverpool. Plans, &c., at Mr Culshaw's office, 11, Rnmford-place. Sealed
tenders to be dehvered as above by noon of May 26.
CHLRHCES.
Worcestershire.— For restoring and refitting the parish Church of Bockleton,
near Tenbury, Worcestershire. Plans, &c., at the office of Sir. Thomas Sale, soli-
citor, Leominster. Plans, &c., to 13th of May. Sealed tenders directed to the
Rector of Bockleton, by May 20.
SCHOOLS, Ac.
Boston. -For the erection of school and class-rooms, Ac, in Witham-place, Boston,
for the trustees of Laughton's Charity. Plans, &c., prepared by Messrs. Ku-k and
Parry, architects, Sleaford, at the offices of Messrs. Jebb and Son, solicitors, Bos-
ton, from May 10. Sealed tenders to be sent to their office directed 'The Clerk to
Laughton's Charity Trustees," and marked on the outside " Tender," by noon of
May 23. , „
Manchester.— For the erection of new schools attached to St, John's Church, Low-
hill, Oldham. Plans, &c., at the offices of Messrs. Pennington and Bridgen, archi-
tects. Bank-chambers, Essex-street, Manchester. Tenders to be dehvered to
Benjamin Lees, Esq., Werneth, Oldham, by May 20.
DWELLING HOUSES, Ac.
Lincoln.— For the works proposed in the alteration of the house and shop. No. 311,
High-street, Lincoln. Drawings, Ac, with Michael Drury, architect, 1, Bank-
street. Lincoln, on and after May Kith. Sealed tenders to Mr. Drury, by May 24.
Du.\iFRiE.><.- For the various works required in building a dwelling-house at Upper
Locharwoods, for William Dickson, Esq. Plans, Ac, with Alex. Crombic, archi-
tect, Dumfries, who will receive tenders to May 22.
402
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 10, 1861.
BATH AND CLOCK TOWER.
HimsT.— Forthcfrettlon of a swimniiiijrballi, and the completion of a clock tower,
at Hurst, near Ashton midiT-I.vuc. l>r«\viiif.'s, Ac, with Hnyley and Son, arcbi-
««et», 45, Cross-street, Manchester, to whom tenders by 10 a.m.. May 17.
VILLAS.
Harrot.ati:.— For the erection of a villa residence in Victoria '*ark, Harrogate.
I Plans, *c., with Terkin and Backhouse, architects, I'case's-buUdinjrs, No. 5,
Soath-parade, to May U. to whom tenders on May Kith.
FARM BUILDINGS, &c.
Kbkt.— For the erection of a farm-house at Winchetthill, Gonldhurst, Kent. Draw-
iag*, *c., at Mr. Gcorsc Huntley's, Horsmonden. Tenders to be sent to Mr.
Thomas Wickham. Grove Hurst. Horsmonden, Kent, to May 14.
WoMELEV.— For the erection of farm buildings at Moreton Lauc, Wolscley. rians,
4c., at the office of ilr. S. Ginders, Injjestre, or at the office of Mr. C. Trubshaw,
The Hollies, Stafford, to May 18. Tenders to 5Ir. S. Ginders, Ingestre, endorsed
"Tender for Farm lluildingrs', Moreton-lane," (those lb*- excavators', bricklayers',
tilers', and masons', work, to be kept distinct from the carpenters', glaziers , and
painter's work,) by May 22.
STArroRnsBiRE.— For tlie additions to the house, and the erection of a farm stead-
ing, at Spink House Farm, parish of Leigh, Staffordshire. Plans, &c., with Wm.
and M. C. Palmer architects, Shakspeare-bnildings, Hanley, Staffordshire, to
16tb May, on which date tenders must bo delivered.
MILLS.
Tadcaster.— For the several works required for rebuilding the Tadcaster Mills.
Flans, &c., with .John Harker, engineer, Driffield, until the 20th, and at Tadcaster
Mills to the 25th May. Tenders to be delivered to Mr. Harker, by May 28.
GAOL.
Portsmouth. — For certain repairs to, and the painting of the whole of the exterior
wood and iron work of the Borough gaol at Portsmouth. Specification at the office
of Mr. Plneo, High-street, Portsmouth. Sealed Tenders marked "Tender for
Repairs and painting of Borough Gaol," to be left at the office of John Howard,
town clc]^ Guildhall chambers, belore the 17th instant.
POLICE STATIONS.
Banbcrt. — For building a county police station at Banbury (on the site in Newland-
road.) Plans, Ac, at the office or Mr. W. 'Wilkinsou, .5, Reaumont-street, Oxford.
Copies of quantities can be obtamed by writing to Mr. Wilkinson (and on payment
of the usual fee). Tenders to John M. Davenport, clerk of the peace, county hall,
Oxford by May 18.
BiR.Mr«GHAM.— For the erection and completion of the new police station, in
Kenyon. street, Birmingham, for the Corporation. Drawings, &c., at the office of
Mr. W. Martin, architect, Christ Charch-buildlngs, Birmingham. Tenders ad-
dressed to the Watch Committee, endorsed " Teuder for Police Station, Kenyon-
Btn-et. " undercover, to Thomas Standbridge, town clerk, Town Clerks' Office,
Temple-street, by May 20.
SEWERAGE.
Hackxet.— For the execntlon of the sewer works under contract numbered 15, in
the p.arish of Hackney. No 15 contract will comprise about 000 feet of brick sewer,
8 feet by 2 feet in size, m the parish of St. John, at Hackney. Plans, &c., and
forms or tender obtained, with any information, upon application to Mr. James
IjOvegrove. C.E., surveyor to the Board of Works, at his offic«, or at the Town-
hall, Hackney, between nine and eleven a.m. Tenders sealed and endorsed,
"Tenders for Sewer Works, No. 15," addressed to the clerk (Mr. R. Ellis) and
deUvercd at the Town-hall by May 21.
I^ONDON.— For the construction of new sewers in BiUiter-street, Billiter-square, and
Great Tower-hill, and works in connexion therewith. Plans, &c., at the office of
Mr. William Heywood, Engineer to the Commission, 39, King-street, Cheapside.
Tenders before 1 p. m.. May 14.
Bradford.— For tne sewering, drainage, &c., of Gibbons-street, extendingfrom the
Asbton New-road to Mill-street, in the township of Bradford, near Mancheater.
Plans, Ac, at the office of the Board of Health, Bradford, and further piirticulars
irom Mr. R. J. Lawton, surveyor, 13, Cooper-street, Manchester. Sealed tenders,
addressed to the chairman, to be delivered at the aforesaid office, by noon May 29.
TRENCHES.
Liverpool.— For excavating, fllling in, and paving over pipe trenches, within the
borough of Liverpool and its suburbs, until Ist June, 1803. Specifications (5s. each)
on appUcation at the engineer's office, Hotham-street. Sealed tenders, to be de-
lirered at the offices, Hotham-street, addressed, "To the Chairman of the Water
Committee," by May 18.
GAS WORKS. ■
llAKCnESTER.- For the execution of the several works required in the diversion
and covering over of a portion of the river Medloek, at the No. 1 gas station, Gay-
thome. Plans, &c., at the city surveyor's office, the Town-hall, Manchester.
Sealed tenders, addressed to the Chairman of the Gas Committee, to be delivered
at the gas office, York-chambers, King-street, by 10 a.m. May IG.
MoHLEY.— For the supply and erection of four dry lime purifiers, 10 feet by 8, with
9-lnch in and outlet pipes, with centre hydraulic valve, sieves, &c., complete
also, a 5-inch condenser, for the Morlcy Gaslight Company. Plans, Ac, at the
works. Sealed tenders to Wm. Smith Secretary, at the works, Morley near Leeds,
by 4 p.m.. May 15.
WATERWOP.KS.
BiHMiNfinAM.— For the following works, viz. :— Excavating and filling in ground
required for laying' down pipes from public baths in Kent-street, along Gooch-
•treet, Bromsgrove-ntrect. Jamaica-row, Spiceal-strcet, the Bull-ring, Moor-street,
and Park-street, Birmingham, for the purpose of conveying water for watering the
said streets and neighborhood. Also for engineers' work required in providing,
laying down, and fixing the conduits or water pipes through and along the said
■treets ; providing and erecting a water column or stand pipe and rising main at
the public baths. Also cisterns in market hall of the borough, together with the
necessary principals, girders, beams, columns, pipes, and other materials and
works connected therewith. Plans. Ac, on application to Mr. Pumell, at the
?nblic baths, Kent-street, Birmingham. Tenders, addressed to the Baths and
arksCommittee, endorsed "Tender for E.xcavator's Work," and "Tender for
Engineers' Work," to be forwarded, under cover, to Thomas Standbridge, town
clerk, town clerk's office. Temple-street. Birmingham, to May 24.
_ RAILWAY WORKS.
BORTH-BRiTisn Railway.— For the erection of the station at Belllngham, on the
above railway. Plans, Ac, at the office of John F. Tone, 10. Slarket-street, New-
castle-upon-Tyne. Tenders received at the office ot C. U. Laws, Grey-street, New-
CMtle, by noon of May 13.
„ PAVING. Ac.
K^CHEaTER.— For the levelling, paving, flagging, Ac, of a portion of Glbbons-
■trect, in the township of Bradford, near Manchester. Plans, Ac, at the office of
the Board of Health. Bradford, and further particulars from Mr. R. J. Lawton, sur-
veyor, 13 Cooper-street. Sealed tenders, addressed to the chairman, to be deli-
Tered at the aforesaid office, by noon May 29
I-OKDOH.— For paving Lucas-street, in the parish of St. Gcorge-in-the-East, Mid-
'"*',*''■»,' '^'•.*''- »t the office of Mr. A. Wilson, aurreyor, 126, Caunon-street-
road. Tenders before 0 p.m.. May 16.
SUPPLY.
LosDOH.— For the supply of materials for the Commissioners of the Metropolis
Boads north of the Thames, psrticulars of which maybe had at the Metropolis
Iloads offioe. No. 22. Whitehall place. Sealed tenders for the above (on printed
foinu only) addressed to the commissioners, and marked " Tenders for Materials,"
to bt dcUrered at the aforesaid office bjr 11 a.m. May IS
MILITARY WORKS.
PoRT.^MOCTn.— For the erection of two batteries, together with a connecting parapet,
Ac. at Eiistney, near Portsmouth, in tlio county of Hants. Persons desirous to
teiKlerinust leave their names .at the Rova! Engineer Office, Portsmouth, on or
before 3Iay 15th, aod pay one £1 for bills of quantities.
Tlie Kinippleian Perpetual Drainage System. — ^Wc understand that
a new system of Drainage has been invented and patented by Mr. W. B.
Kinipple, C.E., of Limehouse, which has for its object tlie total abolition of
plumbers' work, cisterns, closet apparatu.ses, pans, traps, &c., &c. It can be
worked by the mere dripping of water, is also said to be perfectly self-acting,
and not liable to get out of order. In addition to these advantages, it can be
applied at oue-third the cost oi any present system now in operation. An
apparatus (intended to be applied to about forty houses at West Ham) was tested
at the Poplar Iron Works on the 24tb ultimo, "in the presence of a large body of
scientific men, and if the result of this trial is to be taken as a criterion, there
Kinnersley Schools, near Hereford. — The new schools at Kinnerslcy
have recently been formally opened. The building consists of a school room, 32
feet by 17 feet, by 25 feet high, with spacious entrance porches for boys and
girls. The materials used are red bricks, the windows and other openings being
relieved with stone and bricks of a darker color. The roof to school-room is of
open timber work. The amount expended, exclusive of site, has not exceeded
£300. The architect is Mr. John Clayton ; the builder, Mr. Evans, of Kin-
nersley.
AN.SWEUS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and communications to be addressed to the Editor of the Building i^EWs, 20,
Old Boswell-court, St. Clement's, Strand, London.
The Editor cannot undertake to return unused manuscripts.
The Liveipool Akt Exhibitions— J. M. R. ; Sobsckibee ; R. W.— There seems now
little probability of the amalKamation of the Academy and the Society of Fjue Arts being
accomplished— at any rate, for some time— as, for the present, all olllcial conference on
the subject is closed, the negotiators appointed having issued tlio following notice :— " At
a meeting on the 11th April of tlie undersiirned, appointed by tlie friends of the Liverpool
Academy and the Liverpool Society of Fine Arts, lo recommend a basis of amalgamation
of the two institutions, the resolutions uuaniuiously passed by the negotiators, and the
resolutions thereupon received by them, having been read, it was unanimously resolved to
forward a copy of the whole to the committee of each institution, with the expression of
the regret of the negotiators that their functions have ceased without their having accom-
plished the desirable object— a union of the two institutions." The result has elicited
some strong expressions of opinion on the course pursued by the Academy.
.T. tr.— Not *Iiat we are aware of.
Elgin Cathedhal.— Bend a narrow strip of lead, say an inch wide, round the mouldings,
lay It on the paper, and trace the outline, correcting any errors, undercutting, or sharp
arrises by the eye; if the groupiof mouldings be large, portions must l}e taken at a time and
carefully joined.
William R.— The number of visitors to the South Kensington Museum in 1800 was G10,696 ;
the number of visitors to the National Gallery In the same year being 684,639.
Alost.— We cannot advise on such matters.
A Constant Reader (Portsmouth) The process of tinning apart from the first cost of the
apparatus is not of a costly nature ; sheets of the best iron, of proper thickness, arc laid one
on another in a pile, with a small quantity of sawdust between to prevent contact : tliey
are then "pickled'* or immersed in dilute sulphuric acid, and afterwards placed In the
annealing pot, and left in the furnace for about 24 hours ; on being taken out, the plates then
being passed through cold rollers, are found to be not sufficiently ductile, Imvmg acquired
some of the properties of steel ; they are therefore again annealed at a low heat, washed In
dilute sulphuric acid, and scoured with sand and water to clean them thoroughly from
rust ; being perfectly clean and bright, they are taken to llie "stow," an apparatus with
six vessels or pots, with furnaces, and subjected to tlie following process :— The cleaned
plate is firstly dipped in a pot which Is full of melted grease, until It is completely covered,
then dipped in the next i>ot, a bath of melted tin, a process afterwartls repeated with purer
tin jilseveral immersions in grease pots, and a little polishing completes the operation.
M.— Occasionally, but not often. ;
r. L. B Better not send parcel on such terms.
A. Z A has no right lo build the wall as described ; if erected it would become your sole
property.
F. E. N.— The change cannot be effected In such haste, ratience.
W. .\.— Shall not be forgotten.
P. N. B.-No.
J. O.— If suitable.
W. Rogehs It is not all artificial stone that stands exposure to the weather.
N. O. T Seems to be hard to please ; we cannot try the plan proposed.
W. M In the hands of our engraver ; will shortly appear.
S.— Garilenlng matters arc not within our province.
A Constant Readeu (Ilnllj.— Letters received from several correspondents do not bearout
your statement. We must inquire for ourselves : there Is no great hurry.
W. W. & Co We can only repeat, probably.
AtSuBSCKlBEa (Ely) Yes, if suitable.
RoBEKT Sibley Yes; refer to our earlier volumes.
T. K. S We are strongly of opinion that the projection is illegal.
W. RoGEits.— It is no unusual occurrence for diversity of opinion to arise on some of the
clauses In the Building Act.
A IloiisEHoLDEn — Must consult a lawyer.
F. F. F Has no remedy ; the company have power under their Act to divert the traffic for
the period named.
Silo Shall hear from us Meanwhile, thanks.
W. R. O.— Papers have not reached us.
p. p.— It Is impossible to form an idea on such slender Information as you send.
A Young Engineer. —The powerful crane at Keyham was, we believe, designed by Mr.
Falrbalm.
ENoriitEB.— Yes ; subject to approval : send name and address.
A STUDENT. -Dolomites, or magnesian limestones, are produced abundantly In Durham,
Yorkshire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire.
James Ross.— 1. Bar steel is used for manufacturing shear steel. It is heated, drawn to
lengths ;i feet long, then subjected to a welding heat, when six or eight bars are welded
together, producing a compound known as single shear. It is further retlncd by doubling
the liar, and submitting It to a second welding and hammering ; the reshlt being a clearer
and more homogeneous steel. 2. Under certain conditions such a result would be quite
possible ,
L. A. S Because our remarks, If we had offered any, would I'.ave been unfavorable ; you
ought to fee! very much obliged to us for our forbearance.
X Will appear; deferred from pressure of matter just now.
J. F.— Thanks for information ; always glad to hear from the North.
C. C. 1).— We scarcely Uke to say, but under the circumstances, think such a course very
unlikely.
Edwahd M.— Amount of premium varies ; depends ou the professional reputation of the
architect.
Anon IIlnt.s as to the Intended proceedings have reached us from various quarters ; the
affair is in good hands. ,, ,
V. v.— Wo are unable to explain the course adopted by the editor of the periodical
mentioned.
W. W. Bales We are obliged to be verj- carefUl.
W. S. H. A Will be compelled to do so should the circumstance come to the knowledge of
the Inspector of Nuisances.
Feederick W.— Below our mark.
16 TEAKS Ineligible.
Contributor Has alread.v appeared in print.
Keceived.-K. Turner, C. VV. M., U. V. S., W., C. 11. W., X., L. C, W. Thonipson.O. O. S.,
A. 11., J. W. 11. (Falimmth),T. Incc, Paporknlfc, A .Subscrilier (Slough), (Jeorgc Phillip,
R. T., Wright or Wrong, Trevor, L, T. A., M., An Inhabitant of Brompton, An Artist,
Joume;mau Bricklayer, Y. J. F., T. W. E., J. Jones.
May 17, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
403
IN MATTERS
GOVERNMENT MISMANAGEMENT
OF ART.
O W vast arc the undertakings, -which have in
these our days been projected and (what
is more) brought to a creditable issue by
the force of mere unaided, private enter-
prise ! Nearly all the scientific works of
our age owe their development, ,if not
their origin, to its simple influence. And
as it is with science, so with art : how is
art fostered and encouraged in this country ?
— mainly by private enterprise.
They manage these things otherwise in
France. Our lively neighbours find, not
in the enterprise of private individuals, a
market for their painters, their engineers, their
sculptors and their architects, but in a despotic
government, that, with a rare intelligence in
matters of public improvement, commissions
this man to clear a certain site, this other to
construct some vast palace, and a third to adorn it,
regardless of cost, with painting or with sculpture,
as the dictator may, after judicious consultation with eminent artists,
determine. We on our side have a constitutional government. Magna
Charta and the Bill of Rights, all which the English artist must naeds
applaud to the skies with the rest of his countrymen, albeit a suspicion
may all the wliile cross his mind that these State immunities do little
— nay nothing, and worse than nothing — for him and for his ai't. Does
he wish to be recognised as a great painter, he must, look — not to his
Government, but — to the private patronage of his countrymen, some
one of whom is sure to purchase his really good works oft the easel;
or, in any case, off the walls of the Exhibition. So it is with the
architect : does he hope to embellish the land with an enduring " thing
of beauty," that shall haply be to posterity what the Palaces of Venice
are to us, — he must seek a Mecsenas, not in the national executive, but
in the committee of some West End London club ; or, in what is
perhaps better still, some rich, enterprising, Manchester warehousemen.
That this is so, few we think will be disposed to deny. When our
friend Mr. Punch runs short of an artistic abortion to cry down, he can
always have recourse to some notable blunder of the British Govern-
ment. One day it is a one-armed, mast-headed Nelson, whose ill-
proportioned fragment of a portico stands, year after year, on its lion-
less pedestal ; then it is a gigantic Iron Duke, perched, in stolid
defiance of every artist's fore-warning, on a triumphal arch, and even
when perched at all, perched astride the tcrong wmj on, a laughing-
stock to all Europe ; and again it is a Pimlico Palace, built regardless
of cost, but which no expenditure and no after emendation has sufficed
to rescue from utter dowdiness, and commonplace character.
Reasoning from what we are accustomed to see accomplished by
private enterprise in this country, we think the chances are that, had
the structures we have just named been raised by an individual
capitalist, or by ajoint-stock company, instead of the state executive of
this mighty empire, the art-result (to use a Germanism) would have
been in every way better. Somerset House, to be sure, is an edifice to
confer credit on any government ; but, with exception of that noble
structure, what have we of recent Government works to point out
-(vith pride to the foreigner ?
There is the building for the Great E.xhibition of 1862, what are
we to prognosticate of it, as a work of art ? English architects have,
during the last twenty years, signalised themselves in every foreign
architectural contest ; and even foreisn judges — not amateurs but
architects — have placed our countrymen in the front ranks of art : had
a private committee managed the Great Exhibition venture, there
would doubtless have been an appeal made to the professed architects
of the country ; when, it is no reflection on any oflicer of Royal
Engineers to say, something vastly more effective than what is being
raised at South Kensington would have resulted from the process. We
wait of course (for there is no help for it) to see what we shall see ;
but, notwithstanding the glowing eulogy of the Times, we have not as
yet seen any published view of the Great Exhibition building, that
suffices to warrant our own endorsement of our great contemporary's
imprimatur. We all remember the flourish of trumpets with which the
Hyde-park Crystal Palace was hailed as a sample of a bran-new style
of English architecture ; and how its several beauties were forsooth
pitted in comparison with Wells, Exeter, Lincoln, and weknow not what
other ofour famous cathedrals.(!) This species of Brummagem criticism
is very common with our American cousins ; and too common, we are
sorry to say with our Milesian compatriots. For our own part we
prefer to suspend our judgment for the present ; not being quite so
sure of tlic magnificence to come of those two enormous domes, and all
the rest of it. A sound piece of construction we of course desire to
see, and that we shall surely Lave at the hands of our Royal Engineers ;
but we desiderate for the credit of the nation a striking work of art;
and this we know is onljf to be got by calling in the arti«^arcllitect, whose
handiwork we fail to discern as yet in the Great Exhibition building of
1862. The building will no doubt be made, as the phrase goes, " o*
magnificent as money can make it;" but that is all, we fL-ar; and that
there is too much truth in the remarks that fell from Mr. Beresford-
Hope the other night in his lecture at Conduit-street on Architecture
in London. He observed,
" In South Kensington there was a building, not yet risen above the ground,
but wliieh would be completed by tbe Ist of May, 1862: he meant, the building
for Tlie Great International Exhibition, which is to take place next year. He
should Iiave wished, in a lecture on arcliitecturc in London, to liave wound up
witli a fflowing panegyric on that structure ; but, witli every desire to see the
Exhibition successful, he could not be very florid or enthusiastic in hia laudations
of tliat design. He feared they (t!ie lecturer's audience) must express sometliing
not very far distant from profound disappointment at the design."
Unfavorable to our national credit as were these observations of
Mr. Hope, they elicited considerable applause from an auditory, chiefly-
composed of artists and architectural connoisseurs. AVhy need this
important edifice have been commenced with so unlucky an augury ':*
We are accustomed usually to speak hopefully of a building just com-
menced, and why should this important national sti-ucture be an e.x-
ception to the rule ?
Let us wish with Mr. Hope we could speak more encouragingly of
this great work begun — nay, let us express a hope that, it may be well
ended. We can only say that, very little study would seem to have
been given to its design : every one of course knew that a great edifice
would be needed for the Exhibition; and, whilst everyone — particu-
larly every architect — was wondering what shape it would a.ssumc and
under what architect's design, suddenly the whole scheme started up
into being before the public, with the plans (of a gallant officer but no
artist at all) " ready cut and dried " for the builders to tender from !
Much indecent haste was made to even " get in " these very tenders, but
that is not our present concern. The design really is a matter for
anxiety ; and to judge from the external views published of it, it would
seem to be a very ill-considered, half-digested aflaii', and tha prospect
of a handsome structure far from encouraging, to say the least of it.
But let us now turn our attention to another Government building,
not yet commenced. We mean the new Foreign Office. Is it con-
ceivable that any private patron of architects, or any joint-stock com-
pany of private individuals, would perpetrate such an absurd error as
we see being committed by the Prime Minister of England, and his
Office of Works ? Here is a structure about to be raised by an archi-
tect of European fame as a Gothic architect, but which after appoint-
ing him (Goth as he was foreknown to be) to raise it, her Majesty's
Government insist shall not be a Gothic building at all, but a building
designed in a style it well knows beforehand the architect doesn't
understand. The clique of Classic architects who waited on Lord
Palmerston at Cambridge House sure never anticipated such an un-
natural issue of their efforts as this ! Let them, now that it is defini-
tively settled that Mr. Scott is to build the edifice, all go back in peni-
tential array to the Prime Minister ; and, as men with any pretension
to good taste, implore him not to insist on the architect stultitying him-
self by trying " his 'prentice hand " at an unwonted style on so impor-
tant a public — nay national edifice, as the Government Offices. As the
woman before Solomon besought the King to rather give up her infant
whole to her rival, than to cut it in two halves, and so divide it between
them, let our Classic friends, now that it is clear a Gothic architect is
appointed, beseech the Prime Minister to allow that architect to raise
an entire work. It is the only course. Let them take it.
We know that there are people who say—" AVe really don't like
Gothic ; and, though perhaps Mr Scott never designed a Classic build-
ing, and doesn't care to learn how, there are plenty of clever assistants
in London, who can make him a Classic design ; " but surely none of
our statesmen are so dead to all knowledge of art as to reason in this
way ! Lord Palmerston, though no artist, is a scholar : what would he
think of a poem composed in this way ? "iVere he better acquainted
with art he would know, there is little or no difference between com-
posing and realizing in its minute details the design of a gi'cat edifice,
and composing a poem : that the two are identical as works of the mind,
requiring alike a unique .'^entiment, hatched — so to speak — in the
intellect of some one individual ; and to be sustained from its first
conception to its culminating touch at completion by that one mind. It
is thus only that we can hope to see any great work of art brought to
a creditable issue : it is not in the nature of events that, a Classic archi-
tect should on a sudden create a successful Gothic building ; or, that a
Gothic architect should (as Mr. Scott is asked to do) compose success-
fully in an uncongenial style. There is no mincing words about the
matter — it is absolutely monstrous for our Government to insist on so
absurd a condition of its patronage ; and in a century hence, though
the unhappy misbegotten structure may be standing in derogation
from the fiiir fame of a now justly esteemed architect, no one will be
found to give credence to the tale that, the solecism was perpetrated li>
404
THE BUlLDli^G IJEWS.
order, at the instance of the Prime Minister of England. In that day
the officious deputation will have been forgotten. Let the architect
■whose valued professional traditions are being thus ruthlessly, barba-
rously ignored, bew;ire how he allows himself to be identified with a
glarin:; Government blunder. Is it even now too late for the Ministci
to retrieve it ?
• ♦
ART COPYRIGHT.
PROPERTY in works of art has been ever since art existed in an un-
sonni), unsatisfactory, and indefinite condition. In fact, it may be
■aid not to have existed until a hundred and six years ago, when under
the second George, 1755, an Act was passed "for the encouragement of the
arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints, by
Testing the properties thereof in the inventors and engravers during the
time therein mentioned." Important as was this step, it was but an
impartial recognition of the right of every man to the property in his
own worlcs. Step by step we have gradually advanced towards the defini-
tion and establishment of copyright in works of art, and the Bill intro-
duced by Mr. Massey, the Home Secretary, and the Attorney and Solicitor-
General is looked upon as the complement, the crowning finish of
legislation, but which, we regret to say, falls far short of what is needed
and has been anticipated. No one will venture to deny the difficulties
that beset the subject. The drawers of the Bill were in an unexplored
territory without the slightest data to guide them, save the landmarks of
antiquated and insufficient legislation. They had the interests of artists to
conciliate with the interests of the public — a difficult and delicate task. To
say that entire success has not been attained is not to impute blame, for if
the Bill in question does not remedy all existing evils it will form an
admirable basis for future legislation by reason of its clearing the ground
of several incumbering Acts, and consolidating what is allowed to remain.
In advocating the Goverment Bill and asking for its extension, we are
inre to be met at tho outset by the objections of some conscientious,
sincere art-lovers, of traders on the necessities of artists, and of those who
like Lord Granville advocate free-trade in everything, that the more artistic
copies or plagiarisms are spread abroad the greater the artistic education
of the people — that to prevent a man copying or imitating the works of
another is to interfere with freedom of trade, and that it is destructive to
art to introduce pecuniary considerations into its practice ; lastly, that
the great artists of the past achieved their master-pieces without the
incentive of copyright. To these objections we reply, that it is arguing on
an unwarranted assumption to maintain that artists would charge such a
royalty for copying their works as would impede their being known to the
public. They would be enabled to prevent false, inartistic copies being
taken by Wardour-street manufacturers whose circulation so far from
contributing to the art-education of the people, would be much more likely
to give it a wrong direction, pervert and falsify the public taste. It is
monstrous that artists should have no means of preventing their works from
being misrepresented and their reputation, so to speak, slandered. It is
worse that the public should be liable to have spurious works palmed off
on them for originals without a chance of redess, except by the tedious,
costly process of a law suit.
To say that to prevent pirates from manufacturing and selling copies
of works of art is to interfere with the freedom of trade, is to give
to the term a nefarious signification, to facilitate the approach to forgery.
As well might coiners of base money, and concocters of forged notes,
■warrants, bills, cheques, and acceptances, protest against the interference
of justice with the freedom of their trade. What moral difference is there
between the man who says this is Mulready's picture, when it is not, and
the one who asks a publican to cash Mr. Blank's cheque for £6, when the
signature is a forgery ?
It is true that the great artists had no copyright, but it is also true that
the copies of their works were made in their studios, under their di-
rection, and for their profit. The duplicates or replicates of Titian,
Raffaelle, Rubens, Vandyke, and others were executed in this way They
•were little short in worth of original works, and were paid for almost on
that footing. Consequently, the great masters had what was fully
equivalent to copyright — the certainty that during their lives their works
would not be produced without their knowledge, consent and profit. The
yery few exceptions that may exist serve to establish the general rule. To
imagine pecuniary considerations, easy circumstances, and comfort, detri-
mental to art is contrary to the teachings of the history of art. Instead of
poverty being a stimulus it is often an extinguisher. Artists of old were
comparatively speaking better paid than those of the present day : we
know that they were more highly honored. Leonardo da Vinci was waited
on by nobles, and he died in the arms of Francis I. j Charles V., Emperor of
Germany, King of Spain, master of the Low Countries, Italy and the Indies,
frequented the studio of Titian, where he esteemed it an honor to pick up
the artist's pencil ; Michel Angelo had court paid to him by Kings, Popes,
and Sovereigns— so had Raffaelle, at whose death Rome went into mourn-
mg J Rubens was the ambassador of the United Provinces. So mucli for
their consideration. The correspondence of Raffaelle and ot Rubens show
that they were quite alive to the money side of their art. Take the men
plater days and it will not be found that the ease which Gainsborough,
Eeynolds, Laurence, Chantry, and Wilkie enjoyed injured their creative
faculties, or that their right hands had lost their cunning after they
knew the touch of gold. We know that honorable gain was a strong
incentive to exertion with them, and that they were by no means neglectful
of proper remuneration. Their best works were executed when they
had ceased to be harassed with the care of providing food for the
morrow. Who can say how far the money cares of Barry and Haydon
May 17, 1861.
may have chilled their imaginations, confused their ideas, and enfeebled
their powers of execution ?
Tlie desire to earn money was the great stimulus to Byron and Scott
Had they been despisers of wealth tbev would have left few works behind
them. The munificence of Mecaenas called forth Horace's odes, and Cxaar
— Deus nobis hajcotia fecit— woke Virgil's lyre. The well-paid journalists,
pamphleteers, and political writers of to-day, will not suffer in comparison
with the poverty-stricken denizens of Grub-street in the last century.
There is no greater mistake than to suppose want is the nurse of genius,
and the stirring influence that developes art; for poverty is barbarism. Any-
thing, therefore, that will tend to ameliorate the condition of artists by
placing them in a position sufficiently affluent to remove the care for to-
morrow's food, and allow them to devote all tlieir mental energies, thought,
and resources to their art, must result in the improvement of their works.
For this reason, we look upon the Copyright (Works of Art) Bill as con-
ducive to the progress of art and of national importance.
Before criticising the measure and pointing out its shortcomings, it will
be as well to submit to the reader a brief description of its chief features.
In the first place, six Acts of Parliament are wholly repealed, and three
partially so ; they are the Act of George II. previously referred to ; Acts
of George III., 1766, " to amend and render more effectual an Act made in
the eighth year of the reign of King George II., for Encouragement of
the Arts of Designing, Engraving, and Etching Historical and other
Prints, and for Vesting in and Securing to Jane Hogarth, widow, the
Property in certain Prints;" 1777, "For more Effectually Securing
the Property of Prints to Inventors and Engravers by Enabling
them to Sue for and Recover Penalties on certain Cases ;" 1798,
"For Encouraging the Art of Making New Models and Casts of
Busts and other things therein mentioned;" 1814, to amend and render
more effectual the preceding Act " and for giving further encouragement to
such arts," and an Act of William IV. to extend the protection of copy-
right in prints and engravings in Ireland. The Acts partially repealed
are, 1844, "an Act to amend the Law relating to International Copyright,"
insomuch of sections 6 and 8 as relates to works of fine art; 1850, "An Act
to extend and amend the Acts relating to Copyright of Designs," sections
6 and 7 ; 1852, "To carry into effect a convention with France on the
subject of copyright, to extend and explain the International Copyright
Act, and to explain the Act relating to Engravings," section 14. The
Acts to be retained are those passed during the present reign, 1842, 1843,
1844, 1850, and 1852, relating to copyright. The repeal of these is not to
interfere with subsisting copyrights, nor affect any right or contract in
respect of such copyright, except as it may be enacted. With respect to
infringement of copyrights before the commencement of Act under notice,
penalties imposed and remedies given under the wholly or partially re-
pealed Acts, are to be still applicable ; but infringements of the copyrights
previously subsisting, after the commeucement of the present Act, wUl
receive the application of penalties imposed and remedies provided imder
this last, as if the copyrights had been created by it.
The interpretations of terms are curious, and we think incomplete.
They are however susceptible of alterations when repugnant to, or incon-
sistent with the context. " Design '' is to mean a conception, idea, or compo-
sition embodied in any work of fine art—" author," he who embodies his
own design in a work of fine art. Now if we substitute the interpretation
of design (the embodiment of a conception, idea or composition) in this last
sentence we shall have an illustration of the absurdity and confusion that
will be created by this legal jargon ; for the sentence will read that
an author is he who embodies his own embodiment of a conception, idea
or composition in a work of fine art ! What is the embodiment of an em-
bodiment, or he who embodies his own embodiment ? Surely, it would
have been much better to have let the interpretation of design stand, and
to have said that an author is he who embodies for the first time a con-
ception, idea or composition in a work of art. If it be insisted that the
idea should be the author's own, artists' copyright will be singularly
Umited, for they are accustomed to borrow largely the ideas of prose
writers and poets. Take for instance Leslie's picture of " Uncle Toby and
the Widow ;" the conception or idea is Sterne's — would the painter have a
copyright in its embodiment ? Where subjects are taken from modern
poets and writers the question would be more intricate and difficult to
determine, for they have grown to be pen-painters.
" Picture " is to mean every drawing, painting, photograph or other (ex-
cept engraving as hereafter explained) which on flat surfaces embodies
any design or represents any scene or object by means of any process
or material. The use of the term "jFlat surface " opens the door to
evasion, for if the drawing, painting &c., be made upon a concave
or convex surface, that is to say, on a portion of a sphere,
which is quite practicable, there would, according to the terms of
this clause, be no infringement. We fall into this absurdity, that a picture
upon a curved surface is not a picture.^ Original designs may be produced
on vases or china goods not having flat surfaces, with perfect impunity.
" Work of sculpture " is the embodiment of a design on surfaces not flat in
marble, stone, metal, wood, wax, clay, or any other substance, by all or
any of the processes of carving, casting, modelling or any other process.
"Engraving"istomean the embodiment of any design, or the representation
of any work of fine art, by any means or process upon metal, stone, wood
glass or any other material whereby copies may be multiplied on flat
surfaces. Here again the substitution of curved — no matter how
shghtly — for flat surfaces will authorise evasion, and it would be
hazardous to say, that to do so'would be impossible. It does not appear clear
that bassi relievi would be included in the definition of works of sculpture,
or that repoussee would be comprehended either. Enamels will certainly
I
May 17, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
405
escape, so will mosaics and incised worlcs wlicre tlie hollows are filled in
with composition to give a flat surface, to make the design more apparent.
The terms require to be plainer and more definite unless the Act is to
fall through and the door opened to piracy.
" Architectural work " is to signify the representation of any design for
any edifice or building, or any part thereof, by any picture, plan, section,
elevation, or model, made by any process or processes. And we are told,
further on in the Act, that the author of every architectural work, which
shall be made, or for the first time sold or disposed of, after the com-
mencement of the Act, and his assigns shall have the sole and exclusive
right of copying, reproducing, and multiplying such work or the design
thereof, or any part of such work or the design thereof, if such part be
original, by any means, of any size, or for anyipurpose, for the term of his
natural life, aud thirty years after his death ; but when any building shall
have been constructed, nothing contained in the Act shall preclude any
person from making plans, sections, elevations, or models of the same, or
any part thereof, and constructing any building therefrom, provided such
plans, sections elevations, or models be made and executed, not from those
of the author of the design, but from the building itself. Disengaged of
their verbiage and legal phraseology, the interpretation and the clause
appear to secure architectural copyright iu the graphic representations
and models of designs, but not in the designs themselves. Will the
profession be satisfied with this restriction ?*
THE MODERN EGYPTlANS.t
NO man better qualified himself to write an account of the manners and cus-
toms of the Modem Egyptians than Mr. Lane. He resided altogether
seven years in the country, studiously watching every peculiarity, losing ho
opportunity by which information could be obtained and carefully hiving every
noteworthy circumstance which passed before his eyes. Tolerably well acquainted
with the language before he visited the country, he soon, by diligent application,
completed his knowledge of it, and made a vast accumulation of valuable material
which, refined in the scholar's brain, is now presented in a sterling book. Four edi-
tions have already piissed through the press. The most distinguished Orientalists fail
to detect an omission or an imperfection, although visiting Cairo for that e.xpress
purpose ; yet the fifth edition appears cnlianced in value by numerous additions
from the author's annotated copy, and edited by a nephew who seems to have
inherited Mr. Lane's peculiar qualifications. The work may therefore now be
deemed complete.
Previous to Mr. Lane's first sojourn amongst them, little indeed was
known, even of the outer life of tlie modem Egyptians; th^t and their
domestic life and every shade of character, is now revealed to us with micro-
scopic accuracy. With the e-xception of " Burchardt's Travels and Proverbs,"
and that marvellous series of tales the "Arabian JVights' Entertainments,"
we had really no trustworthy account of a nation who had for centuries lived
an unaltered life so widely difitTent from our own, of a people whose
ancestors carried to a higli degree of excellence the arts of civilised life and
indulged in the most refined luxuries, whose history links our own to the days of
Moses, and wliose ruined monuments have astonished us by their extent, awed us
by tlieir grandeur, and inspired us by their example ; but who now, irora various
causes, have been gradually perishing in afflicting poverty. Many circumstances
have joined to produce this sad state of affairs; the wantof a steady government,
the army conscription, and the abstraction of the skilled workmen by the Turkish
rulers, are amongst the number. But what has tended more than anything else
to destroy the manners and customs so minutely recorded by this volume is the
traffic rid the Isthmus of Suez to India. The almost diiily influx of foreigners
into Egjpt and the construction of a railway, has, within the last few years,
altogether changed the aspect of Alexandria and Cairo. Hotels built according
to European notions of comfort, men in broad-brimmed felt hats and unveiled
Englishwomen have now ceased to shock the kohl-bordered eyes which look
from latticed windows. For a genuine undiluted Arab city we must, in these
days cross the Mesopotamian desert to where a hat which shades the eyes from
God's light is regarded with contempt, and wonder is excited that English
ladies should cover their heads with " old baskets." Perils environ the
traveller iu that direction, and dirt and vermin surround him always. Without
these Uttle inconveniences, no man can rest beneath the " black tent " of the
Bedowees or gain a knowledge of an Arab city which is iree from European
Influence and modem civilisation. There is, however, an exception, and that is
by wandering earcfuliy over Mr. Lane's descriptions in the present volume. In
fact, he will in these pages find detailed accounts of customs which, owing to
various circumstances, tew men could acquire personally, even when mingling
intimately with the hihabitants. The private houses, the mosques, the festivals,
tlie religion, the women, their dresses, their tatoo-marks, all are chronicled in
such a manner as to leave nothing more to be added. The value of such informa-
tion is incalculable, especially as the customs are now rapidly melting away be-
fore the light of modern life, or becoming trampled out by the feet of English
travellers. The ditticulties in obtaining the information cannot be estimated by
those who have not visited the East. We would venture to say that not a single
note was made or object sketched before an obstacle had to be surmounted, and
an objection smoothed away. The admired artist who, seated on a camp-stool,
draws leisurely in an Italian city, would be stoned in an Eastern town or need a
couple of guards to protect him. Mr. Lane gives us, nevertheless, no less than
131 illustrations to his text. He commences his book with a general description
of the country and chmate, the houses and population of the country ; thence goes
to an account of the personal characteristics and dress of the Muslim inhabitants.
He then in successive chapters, commencing with their infancy and early educa-
tion, details their religion and laws, government, domestic life, their language,
superstitions, character, industry, games, music, dances, magic, recitations of
romances, festivals, and ends with their funeral rites. In a supplement he
devotes chapters to the Copts, the Jews, to the female ornaments, late innova-
tions in Egj-pt, and other important matters; whilst the editor, Mr. Poole, adds
a valuable treatise on Arabian architecture. ,\11 these several subjects are treated
in the fullest manner possible, and are most lucidly explained.
• To be continued.
t The Modern Egyptians. By Edward ■William Lane. Fifth Edition, 'edited by Ms
Kepbew, Edward Samuel Poole. John Murray, Albemarle-street, 1S60.
Cairo itself occupies a space equal to about three square miles, and is divided
by narrow, iri-egular unpaved streets. The great thoroughfares are lined with
shons. The upper apartmentu do not communicate with them. The foundation
walls of the houses to the height of the first floor, " are eamd externally with the
soft calcareous stone of the neighbouring mountain. The surface of the stone,
when newly cut, is of a light yellowish hue, but its color soon darkens. Tlie
alternate courses of the front are sometimes colored red and white— with red
ochre and limewnsh— particularly ih large houses, as is the case with most
mosques. The sujjerstructure, the front of which generally projects aliout two
feet, and is supported by corbels or piers, is of brick and often plastered. 'The
bricks are burnt and of a dull nd color. The mortar is generallv composed of
mud m the proportion of one-half, with a fourth part of lime, and the remainder
of straw and rubbish. Hence the unplastered walls of brick are of a dirty color,
as if the bricks were unburnt. TIic roof is flat and generally without a parapet.
It is covered with a coat of plaster."
" The ground-floor apartments have small wooden grated windows next the
street, placed sufficiently high to render it Impossible for a person passing
by in the street, even on horseback, to see through them. Tlie windows oT
the upper apartments generally project a foot and a half, or more, and are
mostly made of turned wooden lattice-work, which is so close that it shuts
out much of the light and sun, and screens the inmates of the house
from the view of persons without, while, at the same time, it admits the air.
They are generally of unpainted wood : but some few are partially painted red
and green, and some are entirely painted. A window of this kind is called a
' roshan '."
The houses are in general three stories high, enclosing an unpaved court or
" liosh." There is a stone seat, calUd " mastabah," just inside the front door,
occupied by the door keeper, and other servants who have nothing to do. The
principal apartments look into this court, and a door thence leads to the hareem.
There is a reception room — the " mandareh " — for male visitors on the ground-
floor. It is in large houses, partly paved with marbles and tile, and provided
with a fountain. 'JPhe ordinary furniture is a mat or carpet, a few mattresses
and cushions, and a " sufteh" or shelf for utensils in ordinary use. There are,
likewise, generally two or three shallow cupboards in the walls. The walls
are plastered and whitewashed. The roof is of wood, with carved beams, some-
tuues gilt. No chambers are furnished as bed chambers, the beds being rolletl
up in the day-time and placed on one side. There are no fireplaces. The rooms
are heated by " mangals " — chafing dishes, with burning charcoal. The floors
are in general very lofty. The houses are generally ii-regular in plan, and are
constructed to obtain as much privacy as possible, and to prevent one apartment
being overlooked from another. It has lately been the fashion amongst the
wealthiest classes to construct houses with liuropean glazed sashes, having a
sash of close trellis-work outside the lower half.
When shops occupy the lower part of the house the superstructure is divided
into distinct lodgings, let to families who cannot afford the rent of a whole
house.
Every detail connected with the houses, the varieties of trellis-work, the pave-
ments, the fountains, the exterior door, and even the latch of it, is illustrated
most clearly in Mr. Lane's volume.
We must pass over a large amount of interesting matter, in order to gain a
little space for a description of the Egyptian shops, referriug our readers to the
book itself for iurther particulars; but we should like, by the way, to ask Mr.
Poole whether there is no difterence at Cairo between the tatoo ornaments of the
town and country women I In other Arab districts the women who perform that
operation decorate the girl in accordance with her station — i. e., a Bedowee girl
is not talooed like a dweller in the city, and we have found that in diiferent dis-
tricts they have marked and distinctive ornaments, altogether foreign to the
others.
The shops at Cairo closely resemble those of all Oriental cities, excepting that,
by an order of a late Governor, much of their picturesque appearance has been
taken from them. The *' mastabahs," or raised seats built against the ironts,
have been taken away, and the planks and matting which covered the "sooks,"
or markets, have been removed. The latter made the markets dcliciously cool
during the hot weather, and diffused an agreeable subdued light in them. In
Constantinople, as everyone knows, the " sooks," or bazaars, are arched over,
with the same result. Each market or bazaar is devoted to a distinctive trade,
and goes by the name of that trade. Tlie shops are small square recesses, with a
magazine behind them. The front of the shop is furnished with folding shutters,
commonly consisting of three leaves, one above another; the uppermost of these
is turned up in front; the tno other leaves, sometimes folded together, are turned
down upon the mastabah, and form an even seat, upon which is spread a carpet,
with, perhaps, a cushion or two, and upon which the shopkeeper and his cus-
tomers smoke a pipe, sip coffee, and go through what, to a stranger, .seems the
tiresome process ol buying and seUing. The thoroughfares which ai't lined with
shops seem always crowded; what with heavily laden camels, asses, and porters,,
swaggering irregular soldiers, water-carriers, waddling women, and dirty petty
traders, one is jostled in every direction. The large wholesale merchants, and
what we should call " commercial travellers," are accrmmodated in Cairo in
" wekalehs." There are buildings surrounduig square or oblong courts, with
vaulted magazines on the ground floors, and lodrfngs, entei-ed from common
galleries, above. Similar buildings in other parts of Arabia are called " khans,"
but they are not to be confounded with the buildings erected for the accommo-
dation of pilgrims to the holy shrines at Meshid. There are about two hundred
of these "wekalehs " hi Cairo alone.
There is a capital description of the " bath" occupying Chapter IC. There are
sixty or seventy of these estabUshments in Cairo. Within the last year there
have been almost as many opened in London, but the expense of the luxury, well
performed in Cairo, is about one-twentieth part of that paid for the indifferent
operation here. Mr. Lane accompanies his description with a plan and section
of a " bath," as well as with sketches, of the foot-rasps.
The building consists of several apartments paved with marble and red tile.
The inner apartments are covered with domes, which have a number of small,
round, glazed apertures for the adinissiou of light. There are threi- principal
rooms of graduated temperatures. The outer room is furnished with cushions,
a coffee-stall, and, generally, a fountain. The hot chamber, or " hararah'' is
generally in the form of a Greek cross, with domes over each branch, and a
larger one over the centre. The angles of the square which would include this
cross are devoted respectively to the first warm chamber, the " maghtes," and
406
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 17, 1861.
"hanafecveli" (the one containing a tank, ami tlie other, water-tanks), and to
the chamber which contains tlie fire, over which is the boiler.
The bather, on entering the warm chamber, soon perspires profusely, and the
" inukevvisatee," or operator, takes Iiiin in liand. The first operation, as
described bv Mr. Lane, u the " taktakali." It is tliat which a learned writer
and lecturer on Turkish baths, in a letter in our pages a few months since,
amongst other things confessed his ignorance of; it is " cracking the joints."
" The operator cracks almost ever}- joint ol the bather'j frame ; he wrings the body
flnt one way and then the other to make several of the vertebra; crack ; even
the neck is made to crack twice, by wrenching the head round each way, which
produces a sensation rather alarming to an inexperienced person, and each etir is
generallv twisted round till it cracks ; the limbs are wrested with apparent violence,
But witl'i such skill tliat an imtoward accident in this operation is never heard of.
The main object of this process is to render the joints supple." Tlie bather's
flesh is then "kneaded," and the soles of his feet rubbed witli baked clay. The
next operation is the " tekyees," which consists in rubbing the flesh with a
small coarse woollen rag. He is then lathered with " leef," and soap and water,
warm or cold water is poured over him, and he returns to the outer chamber to
smoke for half an hour or an hour, then dresses and goes out. We always found
the " taktakali," or joint-cracking, to be supplementary to the lathering and
flesh-rubbing processes. It will be a long time before our English bath
attendants attain the skill of the Eastern operators, and longer still, we suspect,
before English bathers submit to it.
We have Ihigered so long over these fascinating pages that we have not
space to do more than direct our readers' attention to the " Essay on Arabian
Architecture " in the Appendix, ivhich traces it from its earliest development,
and examines it by the ligut of several rare -Vrabian authors. Mr. Poole has our
best thanks for this, as well as for the manner in which he has edited his uncle's
work. The " Modem Egyptians" is a condensation of seven years ' intelligent
labor, forming an epitome of manners and customs which have taken centuries
to reach perfection, and which are now falling fast from contact with European
civilisation.
EOY^VL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
I AST week we made some remarks upon the election of President, at
J the Royal Institute of British Architects. This week we have to
cbronicle the fact that Mr. W. Tite, m.p. for Batli, has carried his point
and obtained the long-coveted presidential chair : though after an oppo-
sition which, if we look at the character, position, and number of his
opponents, must have read him rather a severe lesson.
The members of the Institute assembled on Monday last in such num-
bers as was, perhaps, never before seen, and among them were not a few
who have long ceased to make their appearance among their professional
brethren. Among those, too, who were admitted as Fellows for the first
time we noticed Mr. Waterhouse, Mr. Seddon, Mr. Chamberlain, Mr.
Colson, and others of the rising school of Gothic architects. Upwards
of 120 Fellows and about 20 Associates testified, at any rate, their interest
in their party, and some of them — if we may judge by the warm re-
ception awarded to Mr. Beresford-Hope— their interest in their candidate.
There was a very proper abstinence from speech-making, if we except
a long speech (as was to be expected) from Mr. Tite, on his own behalf.
Our readers will remember that Mr. 'i'ite had refused to be a candidate
if he was to go to the ballot ; and as he was at once answered by the
nomination of Mr. Beresford-Hope, it was generally supposed that he
had ceased to be a candidate, and that his place would be taken by Pro-
fessor Donaldson, Mr. Scott, or Mr. Smirke, any one of whom would,
of course, have been elected without any opposition, if nominated by the
Council. The lapse of a week, however, and the discovery that tliough
his supporters were.'not very complimentary or cordial, they were, never-
theless, prepared to vote for liim as the party candidate, brought about
a change in his views, and in Iiis speech he announced (and we hope
Mr. Berkeley will make a note of it) his re-conversion to the cause of
the ballot, and wound up by a vigorous appeal to the Council to vote
heartily for their own candidate.
Mr. Beresford-Hope, when called on, with characteristic tact and good
taste, said but two or three good-humoured words, and then the ballot
was taken. The result was for Mr. Tite, 66 votes ; for Mr. Beresford-
Hope, 51 votes. And if we strike out the number of the Council who
(as Mr. Tite said) had unanimously asked him to serve, we have the
rather awkward and noteworthy facts that Mr. Tite was really in the
minority, so far as independent votes were concerned; and that out of
upwards of 200 Fellows, 66 only, including the old Council, could be found
to record their votes for the candidate recommended by the Council.
Mr. Tite has had a rough lesson, and it remains to be seen whether he
will profit by it. If we may judge by the tone of his own remarks at the
conclusion of the meeting, we think we may assume that he will do so.
It ought not to be very difficult for any man of ordinary good sense to rise
to the level of such an occasion, for what is mainly required of the Pre-
sident of the Royal Institute of British Architects is that he be courteous,
conciliatory, and impartial. The good terms on which the Fellows gene-
rally live with one another, the harmony of their meetings, and the small
extent to which professional rivalry affects their behaviour to each other,
have always struck us as being signally creditable to the good sense and
good taste of our English architects. Unfortunately for himself, Mr. Tite
has contrived to raise an all but universal feeling that be is wanting in the
qualities which thus distinguish his brethren, and hence this vigorous and
most remarkable opposition to his election. He will have himself alone to
blame if the peace of the Institute is again disturbed next year. In the
mean time it is gratifying to see so large an interest excited in its welfare,
and we trust that some of those whose faces were seen at the Institute for
tbe first time on Monday may henceforth be frequently in attendance
below the chair which they have contributed to fill. Mr. Beresford-Hope,
by his behaviour in the matter, has won the good opinion of his opponents,
and at some future election will no doubt take without opposition the seat
which he would so worthily fill.
THAMES EMBANKMENT AND KAILWAY.
ON Monday tlic Commissioners anjiointed by the Crown to inquire into and report
upon tliis question had several important plans placed before them.
Mr. .1. Sewei.l, C.E., propo.si'd an embaukmcnt ij feet above low water mark, to be
constructed, sloping up to the existing whancs so as to alFord a bed for barges to lie
ou. Under this is to bo a sewer, and a Thames Kailway is to be carried on piles over
it, Icavinsf access to the existing wh,irve8 underneath. He al.io proposes a bed for
barges and a sewer on the south side. The railway is to consist of four lines of rail-
way running from the Victoria and Pimllco Railway to London-bridge, in front of
tlie Houses of I'arliamcnt, with a goods and coal station at Hungcrford. and statious
at all tlic bridjrcs at a total estimated cost of £1,000,000. The railway would be four
miles long, uniting- all the southern and western railways, and, besides being self-
supporting, its revenues would pay the cost of construction, and also yield a
dividend.
Sir W. WonsLEY explained his plan for flic purification of the Thames, in con-
junction with a Tlmnu's embankment with Intercepting sewer and rain-lalt culverts
down eacli side of the river, communicating with the existing metropolitan sewer.s,
built in terrace embankments faced by quay walls from a suitable distance above the
river down to London-bridge. These terrace embankments on the high-water dock
principle, it was stated, would be comparatively inexpcusive, commercially
advantageous, and very ornamental.
Mr. T. I'AGE, C.E., delineated ou diagrams and drawings an embankment from
Wcstniinster-ln-idge to Blackfriar."*, with side channels entered through openings in
the embankment, provided with single gates. There would be a low level sewer
underneath, a road on the embankment runniug from Whitehall-place to Black-
friars-bridge, communicating with Norfolk-street, Strand, and passing under
Hungerford and Waterloo-bridges. There would also be a railway between the
embankment and the shore, communicating with the London, Chatham, and Dover,
and other railways, and a new street from theeast end of Temple-gardens to Tudor-
street, lilackfnars, so as to open up communication with Fleet-street and Bridge-
street, Blackfriars, at a total estimated cost of .£4J0,000. The principle of his plan
was based on the requirements of the wharfingers and the public, and for this pur-
pose he gave a preference to a detached over a solid embankment. The sewer would
be on the foreshore, between the wharfs and the embankment.
Jlr. IS.vzALGETTE proposed an embankment on both sides of the river, that on the
north side extending from Westminster-bridge to Queenhithe, and that on the south
to Baukside, with docks giving access to the existing wharves, the level of the em-
bankment being 4 feet abo^-e Trinity high-water mark for the wharves, with a road-
way over and a lieadway. The roadway ■will be 100 feet wide, and the low-level
sewer, commencing at the outlet of the Victoria-street sewer, would be carried along
the whole length of the embankment to Cannon-street in tbe city, and thence onward
by the system of sewerage ho was now carrying out for t!io Metropolitan Board of
Works. Tlio estimated cost of an embankment with docks, sewer, &e., to Queen-
hithe, and a new street to the B.ank, would be £1,200,000.
Mr. BuRGE suggested a roadway 150 loot from the wharfs on columns, with a
bargo-bed below, witli a low-level sewer in it, and the Commissioners adjourned.
The Commissioners resumed their inquiry ou Tuesday.
Mr. Carphael, adopting the lines laid down by Walker, contemplated the con-
struction of an embankmcut ou each side of the Thames, the river iaces of the em-
bankment walls bein<; raised :1 or 4 feet above Trinity high water, with a terrace road
on iron columns 100 toot wide, and a space of 10 foot between it and tlie river for
landing-quays, uniting with the leading land thoroughfares. The cost of it he eon-
tended, would be comparatively small as contrasted with plans where docks or float-
ing basins were required.
Sir. J. Sproul designed to cut oflf from the river as far down as Deptford a belt of
l:io feet wide, and front it with a solid wall of stone, 00 feet to be devoted to ranges of
public buildings, and 00 feet for pubhc promenades. He also contemplated quays,
bathing-grounds, and a low-level sewer under tlie embankment.
Mr. Leach, engineer to the Thames conservancy, gave evidence as to tiie desirable-
ness of constructing a Thames embankment, and with reference to dredging the
river and improving the navigation.
Mr. H.vgget's idea of an embankment was that of allowing easy access to
the existing wharfs by moans of main docks, together with a sower and an arcade
railway.
Mr. I{. Tlrser, C.E., suggested an embankment with open wharves under a
capacious roadway for the through traffic, and a low-level street to communicate
with the wharves. He also proposed a low-level sewer, streets, and a railway, at a
total cost of £-m,(m.
The Commissioners then adjourned.
On Wednesday the Koyal Commissioners resumed their sittings at the office in
Victoria-street. The Lord Slayor jiresided.
Captain Vetch was examined, and gave scientific evidence as to the effects that
an embankment of the Thames would have on the tidal area of the river. If there
were to be a uniform width of the river, ho believed it would improve the current.
Wlicn old London-bridge was removed it made a ditVerence of five feet at Chelsea at
low water, but at high water the tide rose iive inches more than it had ever done
before. The reason of the water remaining higher before old London-bridge was
removed could be accounted for in consequence of the starlings of the bridge extend-
ing lor a considerable distance, and thus preventing the water from getting out. As
regarded the set of the current, there would always be deep water on the
the concave side. He ; had ' proposed a plan for the embankment of the
Thames, extending from Westminster-bridge to (iueenhithe-dock, following nearly
the line of the plan laid down by Jlr. Walker. Tliis was the line which would meet
the requirements of the Board of Admiralty. The line of embankment would take
in two arches of Waterloo-bridge, and one of Blackfriars-bridge.
Mr. Worslev explained his plan for the purification of the river, which was by the
construction of gates below London-bridge, by which means the water above that
bridge would always be kept in a perfect state of purity. With regard to any ob-
struction to the steam-boat traffic, he proposed that large boats should stop at
London-bridge, and that passengers who required to go up the river should then get
out, and go to the other side of the bridge, where smaller boats should be in atten-
dance to convey them up the river.
The whole of tlie plans having been gone through, the Commissioners adjourned
at an early hour until the 20th instant.
THE ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION.
THIS (Friday evening a lecture will be deUvered before the Architectural Associa-
tion, at the rooms, «, Conduit-street, Regent-street, by Mr. T. Blasiiill ; sub-
ject of the lecture, " Originality." The chair will be taken at eight o'clock.
South Remington i»/a«e am .—During the week ending 11th May,
18G1, the visitors have been as follows:— On Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday,
free days, 4,780 ; on Monday, and Tuesday, free evenings, 3,881. On the three
Students' days (admis.«ion to the public 6d.), I,a32; one Students' evening,
Wednesday, 142. Total, 10,030. From the opening of the Museum, 2,02C,4o2.
May 17, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
407
THE BIRTH AND MUTATIONS OF STYLES.*
DIFFERENCE of race, like diflerence of religion, lias divided the
styles of the world into groups, and given them a general ethno-
graphic arrangement as well as a theological, which may be expressed
thus from West to East : Teutonic, Celtic, Slavonic, Arabian, Tartar.
The Teutonic branches being those of the Gothic styles ; the Celtic of
the Romanesque ; the Slavonic of the Byzantine ; the Arabian of the
earlier varieties and developments of the Saracenic, the Tartar of the
later.
The generation and development of all the great styles of the world
— West and East — Christian Romanesque, Byzantine, Gothic, Saracenic,
from the great Roman stem, was indeed almost entirely the achievement
of the influences of religion and race. The introduction of Christianity
among the Romans, who were already possessed of architecture, in
engendering a spirit of hatred to Paganism and all its associations, and
originating new material wants, in the shape of a new kind of temple,
gave a new direction to the style, and produced, from the womb of the
Pagan Romanesque, the early Christian Romanesque ; which was not,
however, so new a style as was afterwards generated when, added to the
genius of the new religion and its architectural requirements, the
moral energies and characteristics of new races were brought to bear
upon the Classic element. These produced the Byzantine and the
Gothic, which were completely new architectural creations. From a
desire on the part of the architects of Constantinople to raise their
architecture to the height of its great subject, operating on Greek
feeling and Oriental imagination, came the electric spark'which gave hfe
and motion to the former — a style pecidiarly fitted by its great
solemnity of e.xpression and other attributes for devotional erections.
And from the genius, moral energies, and national peculiarities of the
various Teutonic tribes who overthrew the Roman empire, and esta-
blished themselves within its different provinces, on their conversion
to Christianity came the various Gothics of the north. It was the
national characteristics of new races, combined with the spirit, creed
and requirement of a new religion, that called out of the wombs of the
Byzantine, Roman, Romanesque, Middle Persian, or Sassanian and
Hindu — the various Saracenics ; which were generated by the mighty
influence of Mahonimedanism, operating in various countries, among
various nations, and on various prototypes, influenced no doubt by
principles and elements of more ancient Oriental arts and literature —
Egyptian, Assyrian, Persepolitan, Arabian and others, of which we have
neither vestige nor record ; while the later modifications of Arabian
architecture were owing to the introduction into the Mahommedan
community of nations, of new races — Seljukian and Ottoman Turks,
Pathan and Mogul Tartars, &c.
If either the fate of religions or the migrations of races and tribes
had been different, it is plain that the career of architecture had been
different aloo. If, for instance, Mahomet had never assumed the pro-
phetic office, the Saracenic styles would never have existed, and we
should see on the east side of the great central stem of architectural
history so many more branches or varieties of Byzantine, the style of
Eastern Christianity, or Sassanidas Persian, the style of the Fire
Worship, which would, like their respective religions, have probably
divided the East between them ; while the absence of their influence in
Western Europe would, perhaps, have enabled the Gothic to retain
more of the attributes of Lombardic and Norman simplicity andgrandeur,
qualities which were too much overlooked in the progress of its Pointed
development.
If, on the other hand, Charles Martel had nr)t stemmed the tide
of JIahommedan conquest in Europe in the eighth century, by his
victory at Tours, the Gothic might have been nipped in the bud or
never have existed ; and we should find, instead of its numerous
branches, so many western counterparts of the Saracenic styles. But
the Gothics would never have existed had Rome retained her power in
the West a few centuries longer. The place they occupy would have
been supplie<l by so many Romanesques, which we can scarce doubt
would have been elaborated by a succession of Classic architects, whom
reverence for their great predecessors would never have suffered to
take sufficient liberties with the proportions of the Greek style for its
conversion into anything approaching to what we recognise as Gothic,
a style so different in its spirit and principle of composition from the
Classic. Great and beautiful as is the Gothic system of architecture,
it could never have come to us but through the artistic darkness and
barbarism of the middle ages. For none but men who knew nothing
of Classic canons of art, and over whom Greek and Roman tradition
had no authority, could have made so bold a departure from the archi-
tectural style that was at the time all but universal, as the Lombard
and other Teutonic tribes made. We ai'e indebted to an outburst of
barbarism in the fifth century, which destroyed the civilisation of the
ancient world, and plunged Europe for ages in mental gloom, for the
greatest system of architecture that has arisen since the Ilellenic
Greek ; and to the rise of an illiterate Arab in the seventh, calling
* Contributed by Mr. Samuel Hcggins.— Continued from page 386. •
himself a prophet, and propagating his doctrines by the sword, for
another which beautified and gave additional charms to the fairest
countries of the globe, and which, if not so great and sublime as
the Gothic, is nevertheless an art framed in the true spirit of poetry,
wherein purity and elegance of form and detail, splendor and perfec-
tion of coloring have been carried to their utmost limits.
I have alluded above to the influence of styles upon each other,
which is a powerful agent in their development. Next to that of
religion and race upon styles, the most potent influence is the mutual
one of contemporary styles. A remarkable instance of this is seen in
the effect of the Oriental styles upon those of the West through the
medium of the Crusades, which emptying all Eiirope into Asia must
have brought back much of Asia in return. The reminiscences of
Saracenic art in Syria and Palestine, and of Byzantine in Constanti-
nople, of the soldiers of the Cross who brought home with them on
their return from Asia a taste for that gorgeous use of color in archi-
tecture, which the Greeks and Arabians had so successfully made in the
various countries which they respectively ruled, may be looked upon as
an orb which, though its light was but a reflected one, exercised a
powerful influence on European architecture. It led to the introduc-
tion of the pointed arch, and to the perfection of the Gothic styles in
the various European nations ; events which were simultaneous, or nearly
so with the outburst of modern vernacular poetic literature in the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries in the same countries. In Spain
Saracenic art, through its actual existence in that country, had a more
direct power on the Gothic, which drank so deeply into the spiritjof the
Moorish art as to show a striking difference from the contemporary
styles of England, France, and Germany. But in other countries
besides Spain, styles have shown evidence of the insensible action upon
them of other styles practised in their neighbourhood, or of the inter-
course of artists through that of nations practising different stj^les.
The Sassanian style it is believed owed much to inspiration and enrich-
ment from Constantinople, between which and the court of Persia
great intercourse existed at the time, while the Sassanian style had
an influence in return on the Eastern Christian style. The influence
which the latter exercised on the formation of the round Gothic, and
which is chiefly exhibited in the Lombard and Rhenish churches is
well-known. The predilection of the Scotch for continental nations,
especially Prance, rather than England, owing as Mr. Pergusson thinks
to the Celtic element in the population, caused their Gothic style to
show more affinity to the French than the English. And it is pro-
bably for like reasons that Irish Gothic exhibits a similarly foreign
physiognomy. The close proximity of the revived architecture of the
Romans in Italy to the Italian Gothic pervaded it with a Gothic feeling,
and produced what is strictly and properly the Renaissance.
Events involving changes in man's political and social condition or
literary or scientific status exert, for good or evil, an influence on styles.
The iconoclastic persecution in the Eastern empire, which depressed
the arts of decoration in the East, and drove out over Europe a host
of artists to propagate them elsewhere ; the rise and progress of Venice
and the Italian Republics, the Norman conquests in France and Eng-
land, the crusade against the Albigenses, the capture of Constantinople
by the Venetians in 1203, and by the Turks in 1453, which caused
each time a migration of Greek artists to the West ; the revival of
ancient literature, which awakened a taste for ancient art ;_ the discovery
of America, an event that gave to Spain almost unlimited means of
architectural enterprise ; the Reformation, which was something besides
a religious revolution ; the invention of printing — all these have had
an influence, some of them an immense influence, on the career of
medieval and modern architecture throughout the world, though we may
have found it very difficult, and sometimes unpossible, to trace the
footprints of their respective agencies. A style cannot but become
impressed with the character of surrounding influences, either for the
better or the worse : as the immortal spirit of man writes its own
character on the walls of its clay tenement and chronicles from time to
time its heavenward aspirations or its grovellings in the dust, so does
the spirit of an age or a country communicate its character to its
architectural productions.
When a change comes over a nation's mind a change comes over its
style. If the national mind has shown growth in taste and intelligence
or made advances in poetry and literature or discoveries and inventions
in mechanical science, these will be reflected in the national architecture,
which will have experienced a corresponding expanse by the influx
into it of new moral, intellectual or physical elements.
In the multifarious mutations of architecture in different countries
and acres we have a reflex of human feelings and human genius, as in-
fiuen(^d by the various circumstances under which man is placed in the
world. If their history is not identical with the history of the world,
it is at least an eftlorescence of human history, and constitutes an inte-
resting illustration thereof. A knowledge of it is, I think, highly
necessary to the architect, not only for the light it sheds on the prin-
ciples of architecture, but for the inspiration and suggestion it yields.
Suggestions and lessons of high import, I am persuaded, may be
408
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 1?, 1861.
gathered from it by him who brings to the subject that philosophical
spirit which sees in the changes of the past principles and laws for the
guidance of the future. One all-important lesson may here be referred
to, which addresses him at every step, and to which the character and
propensities of the present age give additional significance ; it is that,
as animals and vegetables cannot be produced from the mere tenden-
cies of their cliemical elements, but must be organised into such bodies
by an extrinsic agent of suflicient intelligence and power, so the mere
mechanical junction of the elements of two or more styles cannot form
a new one, which requires for its generation a power analogous to that
which infuses the breath of life into organisms ia nature — in other
words, the artistic energy of thought and feeling, the capacity of making
harmonies — a power which, like heat and moisture in vegetation, is not
only necessary for the germination of its seeds, but for their growth
and after development.*
ON LABORERS' DWELLINGS.
EVERYBODY, whatever may be his rank or condition, likes, if he can
get it, a comfortable home, and everybody in England that is well
to do lia^ the same, according to his particular opinions on the subject.
In this country, therefore, where it is so much esteemed and the true
nature of comfort so well understood, it should be the wish, seconded by
active endeavour, of everyone, to see every man, woman, and child in the
country comfortably, reputably, and cleanly housed in as far as it is in
their power to provide the means. Now, this is a subject in which good
service can be done by everybody in their different spheres of action.
Rich men who are not landlords can do this by aiding the admirable
societies formed for the purpose ; rich men that are landlords, by erecting
well-designed and improved dwellings for the double purpose of Tise and
example; those who are not ricli, by tliinking carefully over the matter
and making public any suggestion or improvement that may come into
their minds, and by using their influence, if they have any, with the
laboring classes, to induce them to take advantage of the improved
dwellings offered to them; and lastly, the laborers and their families
themselves by inhabiting such improved dwellings, and making the right
use of the increased accommodation.
Oh! you wlio come day after day from your work to your comfortable
fireside, you little think how much the house has to do with your comfort,
how much the misery of want of ventilation, of want of sufficient accom-
modation, has to do with driving the working man to the public-house. It
is all very well to educate him ; all very well to say to him. Take home your
book — when there is no comfortable room for him to sit in; to expect him
to bring up his family honestly and well when the only dwellings he can
afford to rent do not contain rooms enough for them to dwell in health
and decency, and force them into the company of those sure to do them
liarm. Much has been done, much is doing, but much more requires
doing. No more useful subject can be selected by architects anil others
for showing their talents at the forthcoming Exhibition of 1862 than the
best systems, plans, materials, and sites for improved laborers' dwellings,
and especially in London and large towns; this appears to me, upon
studying the subject, to be by far the most difficult branch of it.
In the country, landlords have, of late years, been doing much, and are
in a position to do much more.
Agricultural and other societies have done good service, although few
can make it a paying speculation; which fact has, however, one advantage
— namely, that if they could, speculators would take it up in their usual
grasping way, and would not do it well.
But in London ground is so dear that rent must be so too; and the same
class that could in the country obtain a comfortable and separate cottage,
can in London only afford a single room in a large and crowded house.
Then those that could afford a house of the same accommodation as
those now built after the most improved plans by landlord or society in
the country — namely, a living room, scullery, and three bed-rooms —
within the crowded parts of London, near their work, find but few such
separate houses. It will not pay to raise so small a house on the groimd
its base would take.
Then the lodging houses. No doubt the model lodging house is a good
move, and the inspection is necessary, but the laborers do not like it; and
I think it very desirable, as much as possible, to teach men self-control,
which you lessen by too much overlooking.
The system of flats seems the only practical and feasible plan, although
the laboring classes do not seem to take kindly to it. But I think
there if no doubt that they would soon get over the strangeness of it.
These separate tenements, of about the same accommodation as that
mentioned above, arranged in large town-like dwellings, must be the best
and most economical mode for large towns, but as much the feeling of
different distinct small houses, in streets of various levels, should be
given, and all appearance of charitable or public institutions should be
carefully avoided, or else you will not find your exertions and outlay
appreciated or taken advantage of. If possible make it pay, even if ever
lo little. Yon would not like the feeling of John Smith at his loss having
cheapened your house-rent, built the row like a workhouse, and made
strict rules, putting in his own beadle to see them enforced : no more does
the independent working man. Find out a way in which good and wholesome
separate dwellings— whether attached horizontally or vertically, will not,
after a little while matter — will pay the cost of their outlay at a rent that
• To be continued.
the intended tenant can afford, and place them under no more feeling of
obligation than to your good wishes and intentions in undertaking the
work, and make the tenements as free and as much the dwelling-places of
reasonable and civilised beings as those in Victoria-street, and the end
■will bo attained. I fully acknowledge all the difficulties that are in
the way, but think it useful to point out that, in my opinion, these are
the objects to strive for.
Perhaps the [strangeness of the flat system would be best got over by
each row opening into an exterior balcon\-, so as to be as exactly the same
as a row of cottages, except the difl'erence of level; but no doubt there are
many objections to this.
Surely it is a disgrace to this enlightened age, to this wonderful nine-
teenth century, that every improvement in London, every destruction of
the foul courts, and crowded houses of the poor, instead of adding to the
accomodation for them, instead of being hailed as opportunities for better-
ing their dwellings and condition, only ends in doubly filling other similar
haunts, and thereby doubling the evil. Surely every plot of ground cleared
should, when covered again yield, not only the handsomerow of rich men's
houses or handsome shops, but also another row behind them, equally
large, equally imposing, equally high, equally well built, containing tier
upon tier of small well-planned, well built, well fitted, separate tenements,
many times outnumbering in independent cheap, and decent accomoda-
tion, and on the same spot and equally near their work, the dwellings
destroyed in the improvement, which would then be a real one, and not one-
sided and one-classed.
With regard to the country, the matter seems to me to be in a very
different stage of progress, many societies are at work, many landlords
have built many good cottages ; several first-rate plans have been arrived
at, suited for the comfortable and decent accomodation of the laboring-
classes, and therefore, all that is requisite there, seems to be for those that
have begun the work to persevere, and for those that have not to profit by
their example and their experience, and begin, and then for them to
persevere, till wholesome and decent dwellings are provided for the whole
laboring community. Some of the societies have set what seems to nie a
useful example, that is, buying up and altering old cottages, heightening a
room here, adding one there.as the special urgency of the case may require,
and these societies pay the best, and must render great immediate aid,
which, however, will by no means do away with the necessity of new
dwellings on improved principles. And what are those principles ? Upon
studying the matter they appear to me to resolve themselves into these : —
That the cottage should contain a living-room, scullery, small pantry
or larder, and three bed-rooms. That the living-room should not be less
than U feet by 12 feet ; the scullery not less than 12 feet by 8 feet, and
contain a copper and small range, and be not larger than this or else it
will be used as a living-room, and the other will be kept for state occa-
sions, and the advantage of the two be lost ; that the three bed-rooms
should be about the following dimensions:— 12 feet by 11 feet, 11 feet by
9 feet, and 10 feet by 8 feet; that all the rooms should be 8 feet in height;
that the chimneys should not be in the exterior of the wall ; that air
bricks be placed under the floors, and perforated tiles with communication
with the chimney or separate ventilating pipe be placed close under the
ceiling ; for ventilation sake there should be fire-places in all the rooms;
that gutters be placed to all the roofs with accompanying rain pipes;
that if the bed-rooms are in the roof, and slates or tiles be used, a layer
of reeds, straw, or felt should be layed under them ; that the offices
should be detached.
Now, the principal fault of modern laborers' cottages is that the walls
are too thin. Often when all else in them is much better in every respect,
they are not so warm and comfortable in the winter as the old ones, and
this goes a great way with their occupiers. The doors may open directly
into the room (although I think that this ought to be avoided), and they
will not care, nor do they, for one room opening out of the other, but they
do complain of the want of thickness, and consequent want of warmth, of
the modern walls. Where brick is used this may be obviated by buUdmg
them hollow, or using hollow bricks.
The materials of both walls and roofs will mostly be, and should be, that
which is cheapest and most easily attainable in the particular place, if it
is fit for the purposes, and stone is preferable for the former where it can
be got, as the walls are usually thicker, and consequently warmer. For
roofs tliatch would be good as well as pretty, as it is cooler in the summer
and warmer in the winter, but that it is constantly getting out of repair;
tiles, to my mind, are very preferable in appearance to slates, especially in
the country, and certainly appearance ought to be consulted. The inmates
will naturally take much more pride in a pretty cottage than an ugly one,
but all unnecessary ornament should be avoided, also everything that
makes them appear as if part of the ornaments in the park of the great
house; also uniformity of design should be avoided, each cottage or each
pair of cottages should, if possible, have something different, as if owned
and inhabited by different and individual beings, and not made to corre-
spond with the hall, like its farm buildings, stables, dog kennels, &c., and
this we owe not only to the independence of the tenants but to the traveller,
who should not have seen the whole village, when he has seen the first
cottage, but should be led at once to expect something different in eacli
cottage he comes to, and then should not be disappointed.
As regards the interior of the cottage, although plaster is objected to by
many, I confess I cannot bring myself to wish to see the walls covered
with anything but a good bright, cheerful paper, and m these days good
prints can be obtained very cheaply to hang upon them. I do not think
tiles can be good or comfortable for the floor of a dwelling-room, and must
think that wooden floors are best.
May 17, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
409
In most districts it is useless to provide any other living room but the
kitchen. If you do not make it like a kitchen they will live in tlie scullery
and save the best room; so a good kitchen with a good range, a small
scullery, and smaller larder or pantry is the best arrangement.
Windows divided by mullions and filled with casements, of either lead
or wood, opening outwards, are much the prettiest and, I think, the most
suitable for their usual size.
The door should be in front and open into a small lobby and have a small
porch of some kind, up which roses should climb; a small garden about 1 8 feet
square, not laid-out or stocked by the park-gardener but left to tlie
cottagers' taste and skill, should be in front, defended by a hedge or strong
oak paling— nothing fancy or ornamental about it. Kature, helped by
planting, will soon ornament it; behind, should be garden, good and
profitable, about a quarter of an acre, which should be a source of comfort
and profitable employment to the cottager. Well, this is what cottages
in the country should be, and many hundreds of such have been built in
different parts of the country.
I said above that what is wanted there is only a continuance, and a more
general adaptation of an improved style of building ; would tiial we could
say the same of the building of suitable dwellings for the laboring classes
of London and other crowded towns. I have put down these few remarks
and have addressed them to the readers of this Journal, because it appears
to me to be at present an architectural difficulty, a problem to be solved
by the practical, how to produce rows of buildings with separate tene-
ments, containing sufficient number of dwelling and bed-rooms to be
wholesome and decent, at a rent that will enable the poorest father of a
family, to avail himself of them, and independent, comfortable, and suffi-
ciently in accordance with their prejudices to be inhabited willingly by
the laboring classes when they are built. I say that this is an architect's
problem, and when it is satisfactorily solved that charitable men and
capitalists will be more readily found to further such schemes for the im-
provement of laborers' dwellings, as they will then be more sure that they
are really lessening the evil that cries so loudly to us from our crowded
streets. „
R. D.
THE FINE ARTS SEEN FROM A NEW POINT OF VIEW.*
No. 12.— Modern Contixental Art : Fra>xe.
1T7"E have seen the decline of Gothic and the rise of modern art in Italy.
W Turning to other European nations on tlie continent, in the latter
part of the fifteenth and the first half of the sixteenth centuries, as in
England during the early years of the seventeenth century, a race of
vigorous-minded men sought to blend Classic and Gothic elements, in
aiming to evolve truthful styles of art reflecting the undeveloped polity of
the times. But they followed too closely in the steps of the Italians. Not
only the tangible arts of Italy, but her drama and sonnets, types, method
of keeping accounts, and even her cookery, were adopted, first in France,
and next in other countries. As before indicated. Classic art was, in some
degree, appropriate in Italy ; the natives never having quite lost its spirit,
their language also being of antique character. Not so, however, in France,
Germany, and England, the especial theatres of feudalism and chivalry.
The northerns had invented Gothic art, with its deep meaning and wonder-
ful symbolism ; but a change came, and they lost all artistic truthfulness
in ceasing to think for themselves. The Germans and English reformed
religion and paganised its temples. In continuous efibrts to purify religion,
they ultimately introduced such dissensions that it is now difficult to draw
the line among the sects which separates Catholicism from Protestantism,
and Protestantism from infidelity. Formerly there was a main consonance,
uncertain, but a very different thing from the confusion which ensued.
Men became too perplexed, and too much occupied with other affairs, to
care much about the degree of truth with which their creed was tangibly
expressed ; and, whether Protestants, Catholics, or unbelievers, copied the
Italians.
The term Renaissance is applied to the development which succeeded
Gothic architecture on the continent on this side of the Alps. In France
it arose from the connexion of that country with Italy during the wars of
Charles VIII., Louis XII., and Francis I. Through the patronage of these
monarchs numerous Italian artists visited France, including Leonardo da
Vinci, Benevenuto Cellini, Andrea del Sarto, II Rosso, Primaticcio, Niecolo
dell 'Abate, and Serlio. At Fontainbleau Francis I. founded a school of
art; and the above artists were more or less occupied in the decoration of
the celebrated palace. This, and the Chateau de Chambord— the latter
commenced by Primaticcio, who was also employed at Meudon — may be
cited as presenting examples of the new style. In Paris one of the cha-
racteristic monuments of the Renaissance is the church of St. Eustache,
commenced in 1532. Of this edifice M. Le Roux de Lincy remarks: —
" Bati h. la mfime epoque que I'Hotel de Ville de Paris et peut-etre par
les memes hommes, c'est le premier example, dans notre capitale, d'une
eglise 6u Ton ait mele le style Gothique a celui de la Renaissance, et
tente de mettre en harmonic les exigences du culte catholique avec les
regies prescrites par I'architecture des anciens."t Forms derived from
Gothic architecture, buttresses, tracery, pillars, vaulting, pendants, even
the fleche on the roof, are moulded into Classic details. The Hotel de
Ville, commenced in 153-3, indicates the increase of Classic predilections,
more evident in the works of Philibert Delorme and Jean Bullant. The
former is chiefly celebrated for his constructive knowledge ; and the
• The right of republication and of translation of this series of articles is reserved
by the autljor.
t " EgUse de St. Eustache," by Victor Calliat.
latter, called the French Inigo Jones, is too exclusively Classical to re-
present the merits of the transitional school. The lower order of Ionic
columns in the central pavilion of the Tuileries is by Delorme, together
with the Chateau d'Anet, erected about 1548, but now demolished.
Chambrai remarks that he had " un pen trop vu les plus belles choses de
Rome, avec des ycaux encore preoccupes du style Gothique." Bullant de-
signed part of the Carousel fa(;ade of the Tuileries, and the
Chateau d'Ecouen, begun about 1540 : he practised until 1573.
The Chateau of Blois, restored by M. Duban, Chenonceaux and the
Chateau of Gaillon, arc other works of the French Renaissance,
but few have escaped extensive alterations : of the last only a few frag-
ments are preserved. Jean Goujon, author of the Caryatides in the Louvre,
and the sculpture of the Fontaine des Innocents (1550), of which Lescot
was the architect, Germain Pilon, and Jean Cousin, all of dcci<led Classic
tendencies, arc the most eminent Renaissance sculptors. Of the early
paintings, those of the last-named artist and of the three Clouets, resemble
the Gothic style of the Van Eycks.
The detail of French Renaissance presents a mixture of Classic, Gothic
and Saracenic elements. Both natural and conventional foliage are used,
together with figures of men and animals, often grotesque in character.
Orders, tracery, shields, cartouches, jewel forms, and circular and pointed
arches are combined, the whole resulting in a brilliant and effective
medley.
But the picturesque and graceful designs of the early Renaissance
architects were superseded by " coldly correct and regularly low " tran-
scripts from the Roman, Florentine, and Venetian schools. These epithets
will be indignantly repudiated by the enthusiastic admirers of Cinque-cento
architecture ; but it is remarkable that, while often qualified to point out
the errors of systems to which they are opposed, they continue insensible
to incongruities in a favorite old style presumed to be e.xclusively suited to
modern requirements.
As the introduction into Franccof the Italian style of paintingwas owing
to the artists invited into that country by Francis I., and the increase of
mannered imitations of Michael Angelo was due to the followers of the
great Tuscan, so the spread of Cinque-cento architecture is to be imputed
chiefly to Vignola and Serlio. While, however, many of the French
painters and sculptors displayed mich power, the architects fell gradually
intocopyistio reproduction ; so complete was the prostration of intellect of
the successors of the men who designed Notre Dameand the Sainte Chapelle.
Vignola and Serlio left behind them rem*rkable books, and that of the
former especially was adopted as a handy manual from which to manu-
facture designs. Mary de Medicis, a native of Florence, brought indi-
genous predilections to France, and compelled Jacques de Brosse to repeat
in the Luxembourg Palace the decorations of the Pitti. This fashion being
once set, lesser architects were glad to follow the easy example. Bnt, not
content with copying the edifices of Italy, the French must needs continue
to import its architects. Bernini had acquired reputation by the colonnades
which still stand in front of St. Peter's and the campaniles which fell
down ; so Louis XIV. sent for him to complete the Louvre. The artist is
said to have been disgusted with the wretched workmen he found in Paris ;
but, however this may be, he soon left the city rewarded splendidly for
designs which were never realised. So low had French architecture now
sunk that Perrault, a physician by profession, displaced Le Vau, the king's
architect, in completing the edifice respecting which Bernini had been con-
sulted. His fayade is in the Cinque-cento Venetian style; and, with respect
to taking this as a model, it is apprehended there will be little dispute as
to the difference between the polity of Venetians in the time of I'alladio —
who misrepresents it — and that of Frenchmen in the age of Louis XIV.
Perrault, however, was probably a better architect than physician, since
we have no records of his skill in the latter capacity; and it cannot be denied
that his design for the Louvre presents a simplicity and a correctness of
copyism which redeem it from the list of vulgar transcripts. To J. H.
Mansart we owe the dome of the Invalides and the Palace of Versailles,
which indicate command of old materials, facility in their combination, an
eye for picturesque effect, and far more inventive power than is shown
in the cold precision of Perrault's productions ; that " purity " of
style which is but another term for tame reproductions of the simplest
forms.
Gabriel and Antoine were leading Parisian arcliitects in the eighteenth
century. The Government offices in the Place de la Concorde by the
former are equal to Perrault's facade in purity of copyism, and superior to
it in novel arrangement of ancient details. In L'Hospice de la Charite
Antoine introduced the Grecian Doric order in France. Le Roy's work,
"Les Ruines de Plus Beaux Monuments de la Grece," appeared in 1758,
leading to another remarkable phase of modern taste. But people admired
Antoine's proceeding, oblivious of the difference between the requirements
of ancient Athens and modem Paris. The Pantheon, by Soufflot, is an
eclectic work, combining Grecian with Cinque-cento feeling. As a speci-
men of the simple copyism of the time, the church of St. Sulpice, by the
Florentine Servandoni, may be named. Gondouin was the architect of
the Ecole de Medicine, and of the skeleton, without the sculpture, of the
Vendome column ; an exceedingly bad copy, entirely missing the beautiful
entasis of that of Trajan.
Two styles of decoration which, from their periods, are called respec-
tively the Louis Quatorze and the Louis Quinze, claim attention as
original artistic developments ; but we see little in them besides the
frivolity and corruption of the times. In France the first arose about
the middle of the seventeenth century ; and the second prevailed from
soon after the commencement till the latter end of the eighteenth. They
were derived from Italy, however modified in French hands ; and Wornum
410
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 17, Ism.
mentions the Chiesa del Gesu, at lionie, as their type. Tliis edifice was
decorated by Giacomo della Porta, Pietro da Cortona, and Fatlier Pozzi,
author of the Jesuits' perspective. At Versailles we may judge of the
blaze, glitter, pomp, and utter banisliment of refinement in the Louis
Qaatorze style. Decorative painting was superseded by gilt stucco, in the
most cxtraTagant forms that scrolls, shells, and acanthus leaves could
suggest to an artist who was deprived of other natural objects, forgot flat
surfaces, but still retained an eye for light and shade, while oblivious of
symmetry and structural propriety. Such was the " mode " adopted in
interior decoration and cabinet-making. The Louis Quinze is a less solid
and more efleminate development. Leaves were elongated into wlint was
supposed to be elegance, but symmetry was disregarded until, in the Rococo,
an incarnation of riot was presented. Le Pautre, Claude Ballin, and
Meissonier were architects variously distinguished in the above systems.
Painting and sculpture were much encouraged by Louis XTV., who
established academies, professorships, and rewards for their cultivation:
an institution for training French artists was founded at Rome in 1675.
But the monarch's patronage failed to educe worthy results, faithfully re-
presenting the good and true of the age. Leseur's religious paintings,
approximating to those of his model Raphael, were unsuited to the pre-
vailing spirit; but the ferocious battle-pieces of the vigorous, ostentatious,
and coarse Le Brun; the indecent operatic, pastoral girls of the impure,
yet elegant, Boucher ; and the /eles champtires of the affected Watteau
found enthusiastic admirers.
In sculpture imitation of Bernini was substituted for that of Michael
Angelo ; the Louis Quatorze sculpture, notwithstanding glimpses of
nationality, fancy, and natural truth, being marked, like the decoration, by
affectation and false pretension. Puget and Girardon — tlie former absurdly
■called the French Michael Angelo— founded schools which materially
influenced succeeding sculptors. In Louis XV.'s reign Bouchardon,
author of tlie Fontaine de Grenelle and an equestrian statue of the
above king, was the leading sculptor; the Louis Quinze style , being
represented by Pigalle, Falconnet, Slodsz, and Lemoyne. The well-
known skeleton figure of Voltaire is one of a series of statues of great
Frenchmen commissioned by Louis XVI., who early evinced a disposition
to promote the Fine Arts.
The political convulsions which commenced in the reign of the last-
named monarch were partially reflected in art, more especially in painting.
The French school had continued, in the main, a branch of that of Italy.
Classic historical and mythological themes liad always been popular ;
and, at the period to wliich we now approach, there was an increased
sympathy with the ideas of the old Romans, especially with their political
institutions : for republican and next imperial sentiments rapidly gained
sway. In 1789 the Revolution took place ; in 1793 Louis XVI. was
guillotined ; in 1802 Bonaparte was declared chief consul ; and in 1804 he
was named emperor of the French. In art, as well as in politics, the
painter David— a friend of M.irat and of Robespierre, and a proUgi of
Napoleon — took a prominent part in illustrating the period. His master
Vien had inculcated the study of the antique, afterwards so exclusively
considered by tlie pupil, who, when in Italy, was powerfully influenced by
the doctrines of Winckelmann and the discoveries at Pompeii and Her-
calaneum. Admiration of the arts of the Greeks and Romans led David
to sympathise with tlieir political sy.^tems. He became a leader of the
republic ; ordered its festival, with the Classic costumes, eagles, fasces,
and other insignia ; and afterwards arranged, in the form of a Roman
triumph, the processioo of works of art brought from Italy. From the
severity of his taste he acquired the title of "Le vrai Lycurge des Arts;"
and. towards the end of the eighteenth century, he was generally deemed
the first painter in the world. His pictures, " The Brutus," " The Horatii,"
" The Paris and Helen," and " The Death of Socrates," exhibit the false
taste of the period : genre painting received scarcely any attention. The
early productions of Gerard, a painter of battle-pieces, and the works of
Drouais and Guurin, especially those of the last, further illustrate the
antique manner. The retrogression from Rome to Greece took place in
1799, when David altered the Roman dress, in his picture of "The
Sabines," to tlie Grecian ; all ancient works executed since the time of
Alexander the Great being then undervalued. In justice to David it must
be added tliat, on the restoration of the old government, he contributed to
the discontinuance of the false ideal taste he had fostered, by discarding
theClassic costume in a subject relating to his own time, as" his English
contemporary. West, dared to represent the death of General Wolfe with
characters in appropriate dresses.
Turning to architecture. Napoleon's return with Denon from Egs^pt in-
duced enthusiasm for Egyptian antiquities ; and Paris saw a Place du
Caire and a Rue des Colonnes ; but the Roman style ultimately prevailed.'
The arch of the Tuileries, by Peroier and Fontaine, begun in 180C, is a copy
of that of Constantine, with figures of soldiers in the French uniform. In
the same year the Arc de I'lltoile, the largest in the world, was commenced
by Chalgrin,and completed by Dcbret in 18.36, when the Madeleine, begun
in 1804, was finished. Vignon, Huvc, and other architects, were
engaged on the latter edifice, which is externally a Roman temple,
with doors copied from the gates of Ghiberti, and internally vaulted like
the Roman thermae.
The Medieval revival in Germany and England was inaugurated in
France in the reign of Ix)ui» Philippe, under whose auspices some Gothic
rubbish was executed in the Classic region of Versailles ; and "restora-
tion " is still the pretext tor mutilating cathedrals and churches. Mr.
Street observes naively that, " the revival of Christian art seems, as it
were, to be only skin-deep in Paris ;" and it is difficult to conceive how it
could be otherwise.
Napoleon lll.'s magnificent architectural projects have hitherto failed to
elicit results worthy of the age. In the additions to the Louvre Visconti
has shown artistic skill in transcription and destitution of real genius. The
works of J. J. Hittorff' in tlie Place de la Concorde, the church of St. Vincent
de Paul, the Hotel de Louvre, &c., are average specimens of the power of
design of contemporary French architects.
The domestic street architecture of Paris is the best of our time.
Delicately finished detail, exquisite carving in low relief displaying much
fancy, columns and pilasters used with little regard to proportion, happily
contrived arcuation, ironwork of elegant character, lofty roofs, and masses
deficient in boldness, everywhere meet the eye ; and vulgarity is rarely en-
countered. In the interiors decoration, often of the kind seen at Pompeii
and in Raphael's arabesques, is skilfully applied. The whole recalls ancient
days, and depicts a refined people wanting in artistic truth. In sculpture
the voluptuous and ferocious often preponderate ; but much grace and
exquisite technical finish are displayed, while deep thought and feeling are
rarely observed. Great praise is due to the paintings of Robert, Gericault,
Paul Delaroche, Horace Vernet, and Airy Scheffer ; and the foremost
French painters manifest considerable power, invention, and dignity,
marred, however, by defects which will be noticed on a future occasion.
Edward L. Tabbtjck,
THE IRONMONGERS' HALL CONVERSAZIONE.
"pEPEATED visits to Ironmongers' Hall, while its conversazione coUeo-
Xt tions remained untouched, have served to corroborate the first
impression produced by those collections relative to their remarkable and
also their varied excellence. Everything was the best and the most
interesting of its class and order. Whether you felt any particular
interest or not in the kind of objects immediately before you, the individual
spcimens in themselves were so striking and so remarkable, that it would
be impossible not to have examined them with careful and admiring atten-
tion. At the same time, more mature reflection upon this extraordinary
gathering of precious specimens and relics, could scarcely fail to demon-
strate the practical uselessness of the collection as a collection, and its
utter inability to leave behind it any definite result or any permanent
impression. It was, in fact, a master-stroke of conversazione policy — but
it did not aspire in any respect or degree to being an art-museum : every
object had something to say with peculiar emphasis,— but then they all
said their say at once, without either order or object, and so the general
effect proved to be a splendid confusion. It was only natural that it should
have been thus, when it is considered that the collections resulted from
appeals for loans of whatsoever might possibly prove attractive and agree-
able to the expected guests. This pleasing the Company's guests was the
motive alike of the conversazione itself and of the collections that were
formed in connexion with it ; and certainly the motive was one which
deserved the signal success with which it was rewarded. The importance
of the collections, however, leads on inevitably to considerations that
range far beyond the widest limits of conversazione enjoyment, and which
associate the hospitable jiroject of the Ironmongers' Company with a
grand movement in popular art. The collections that last week were
formed in Ironmongers' Hall showed with what facility the choicest and
most valuable art-treasures, may, under favorable conditions, be brought
together for the public benefit and satisfaction. It is impossible to
separate this fact from speculations upon the amount of benefit that might
be obtained from sicnilar collections, provided the collections themselves
were formed upon a definite plan and aimed at specific results.
For example, suppose the Ironmongers' Company were on some future
occasion to devote their attention principally, if not exclusively, to the
formation of collections of works in the hard metals, and were to take care
that such becoming Ironmongers' collections should represent with equal
completeness and fidelity the productions of the metal-workers of the past
and of the present ; ivhile thus providing with certain success for the
enjoyment of their visitors, the Company would be doing a positive and a
lasting good. We had been led to expect that the recent collections would
have included many works of our own times, as examples of modern
metal-work, which might at once have shown what is now being done in
this important art-industry, and also might have enabled the producers of
modern metal-work to institute comparisons between their own produc-
tions and those of tlieir greatest predecessors. Unfortunately, through
some misapprehension, or from an undue antiquarian reverence for early
relics to the prejudice of more recent productions, the modern art-works
in the metals did not make their appearance, and so the conversazione
collections were deprived of what must have proved to have been one of
their most interesting and attractive components. We dwell upon this
circumstance in order to induce the Ironmongers' Company to make good
their oversight, and to lead them to institute a first-rate exhibition of
works in the metals of every kind .and of all periods. If any disappoint-
ment should have been felt by our own producers at the omission of their
works, they may console themselves with the reflection that they will
derive infinitely greater positive benefit from such a collection and exhibi-
tion as we have suggested, than from any association with the temporary
archajological museum of last week, however excellent and admirable that
museum may have been ; and besides, there is always a most gratifying
source of consolation in the consciousness that one's absence is felt and
regretted, and this is most certainly the case in the instance of modern
metal-work at the Ironmongers' Conversazione.
While thus animadverting upon the short-comings and omissions which
we have noticed, we gladly repeat our last week's congratulations to the
Ironmonger's Company, on the general success of their project ; and we
also feel that these congratulations must be the more welcome to the com-
May 17, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
411
pany from the very circumstance thattheirmiscellaneouscollections should
point so ;impressively to future efforts having a higher aim. By all means
let the ironmongers' Company regard their conversazione as a precedent
for themselves, and if possible, let tlie other civic guilds follow their
example. Jt has been demonstrated tliat these civic guilds possess vast
powers for good — let them, therefore, exercise those powers under the con-
ditions best calculated to effect the greatest possible amount of good. The
collections that we have admired so greatly, while we are compelled to
admit that they have taught us little beyond the fact of the possibility of
their being formed, ought to lead on to the establishment of a systematic
course of action on the part of the companies of London for the furtherance
of the national industries with which, in name at any rate, those companies
are associated. Wo shall be greatly disappointed and greatly mistaken
also, should such ultimate result fail to be realised from the magnificent
conversazione at Ironmongers' Hall, on the evenuig of May 8th, 1861.
EXHIBITION OF PAINTERS' WORKS IN THE HALL OF THE
PAINTERS' COMPANY.
THE project, successfully inaugurated last year by Mr. Sewell, for form-
ing an Annual Exhibition of the productions of Decorative Painters
in the hall of the Painters' Company, in Little Trinity-lane, Cannon-
street, appears to have firmly and securely established itself, and it
promises to be productive of results that are at once gratifying and
important. The second in the series of Exhibitions is now in preparation,
the intention being that it should be open free to the public on the first
day of June. To this second Exhibition we accordingly invite the atten-
tion of all decorative painters, to whatever special subjects they may
devote their particular care, whether surface coloring, marbling, graining,
arabesque, glasswork, medieval ornamental work, herald painting, or
ecclesiastical, and other architectural decorations. The Company give
the free use of their hall, and the services of the Company's officers are
also gratuitously offered, with the view to render the exhibitions as bene-
ficial as possible to the exhibitors. The Company further offer prizes for
the most meritorious and interesting works exhibited, and they have
secured for a selection of such works the privilege of being subsequently
sent for further exhibition to the House of the Society of Arts. Last
year, tliirty-five exhibitors sent to Painters' Hall 166 specimens of decora-
tive work ; and these specimens were generally considered to he
meritorious in themselves, and creditable to the state of the trade. It is
to be hoped that, this year, the numbers, both of exhibitors and of objects
exhibited, will be very largely increased, and that the Exhibition as a whole
will prove to be altogether a more decided and also a still more satisfactory
exponent of the existing condition of the decorative arts as they are now
practised in London. We shall not fail to revert to this subject, when
the exhibition shall have declared its actual character ; meanvrhile, the
preparation for this E.^hibitiou claims from us our present support and co-
operation, which we tender to it with the most cordial good-will, and we
gladly avail ourselves of the occasion for so doing to record our sympathy
with the movement which thus has been set on foot.
It is quite certain that very important results may be anticipated, as the
direct consequences of the initiative taken by the Painters' Company in
the effort to render the ancient and apparently almost obsolete civic guilds
of the metropolis available for existing practical purposes. The painters'
trades, and with the trades the workmen who are connected with them,
will necessarily derive immense advantages from the course adopted by
the Company. The Exhibition will declare who are the best workmen ;
and, by a comparison between the works of different workmen, it will at
once cherish a salutary emulation, and will convey valuable teaching. The
Company, in its turn, will not fail to receive from the Exhibition increased
powers for effective action in the good work which it has undertaken. Its
aim and efforts must secure for this Company, not approval merely, but
the most substantial sanction and support. It will assuredly find its
ranks greatly augmented, both in numbers and in efficiency, and the means
at its disposal will receive a proportionate increase. And thus again, the
Company will be in a position to develope more fully and more effectually
its admirable project, through the very success which that project will
achieve, by reason of its own excellent aim and beneficent purpose. But,
the enterprise of the Painters' Company cannot be restricted to benefits
conferred only upon decorative painters and their works. It must
necessarily act as an example, as well as in the capacity of a definite means
to a certain end. The other companies of London cannot fail to " take up
the tale," and to work out the project of Mr. Sewell, each after its own
fashion and in its own distinctive line of action. Thus, the London
companies collectively may again assume eminent positions at the head
of the art-industries of England, and may vindicate their claims to be held
in at least as high esteem in our own days as ever they were in their palmy
era of the olden time. We shall watch carefully over the progress of the
movement, and the share that niay be taken in it by those other civic
institutions, which we trust to find entering into a confederacy with the
Painters' Company for the furtherance of objects, in which they all ought
to feel a common interest.
With a view to render their plans better understood, the Court of the
Painters' Company have issued a brief but significant pamphlet, entitled
a " Notice of the Measures Proposed to Aid the Operative Painters by the
Establishment of an Annual Exhibition of their Works, and Otherwise to
Promote the Decorative Arts." This pamphlet, distinguished throughout
by a smiple and hearty earnestness, and also by a thorough appreciation
of the true character of the work that the Company has taken in hand,
concisely sets forth the origin and original sphere of the Company'^ action,'
and then shows how, under an altered condition of things, the Company
gradually ceased to exercise its ancient functions. Then follows a record
of the conviction entertained by the present officers of this worthy guild,
" that the powers they still possess, and the influence left to them, should
be exerted for the promotion of the arts their guild represents, and thus
for the true interests of the masters and operatives of the trade of painters
and decorators." A notice of the practical form which was given to this
sentiment by Mr. Sewell then follows, together with the report upon the
Exhibition project of a Committee, appointed to consider this subject by
the Court of the Company. This report cordially accepts Mr. Sewell's
plans, and declares that the Company is " not only justified but called
upon to make a judicious and vigorous effort" to give it full and permanent
effect. The pamphlet proceeds to state the circumstances under which
the Company seek for public support and co-operation. It states that
" Mr. Sewell, at his own charge, fitted up the hall for the last year's Exhi-
bition;" and that the same gentleman "has most liberally promised to do
the like" for the Exhibition now in preparation. Other members of the
Company have also individually subscribed, and the Company in its cor-
porate capacity gives further aid; still, the funds of the Company being
now almost exclusively devoted to charities, chiefly annuities to blind
persons, the Court most rightly appeals for assistance to those who are
" emment and successful in the trade, and also to those public-spirited
individuals who take an interest in the progress of Decorative art, in the
ingenuity and skill of English artificers, and in encouraging and rewarding
those who show talent and zeal in their calling.
With a constitution sanctioned by centuries of existence, and with its
Hall admirably adapted for an exhibition, the Painters' Company is ready
to assist in the movement to the utmost by bestowing prizes, by granting
certificates of merit, and by admitting effective artificers to the freedom of
the Company at reduced fees, and to such immunities and advantagesas
this guild at present possesses, or to those which the movement itself in tiine
may create. By such means an excellent basis will be laid for the renewal
of the Company in a manner suitable to the times, and serviceable to all
concerned in the decorative arts. These " decorative arts," as we are-
well reminded, formerly included what are now especially known as the
" fine arts," the same artists having been employed, in early times, on all
branches of painting, the art owning no distinction but that of degree.
Accordingly, at the first establishment of the Englisii Guild of Painters in
London, it embraced the most eminent artists of the period, and it had in
view the purity and elevation of art. The early connexion between all
branches of painting must necessarily be pointed out and enforced when
making an effort to infuse into the English artisans of the present day
that feeling for art which may elevate tliem into artist workmen. With-
out vainly seeking, then, to compete with (and much less to supersede^)
institutions which in our own times are especiallj' devoted to the culture
and patronage of the fine arts, the Painters' Company rightly conceive
that tliey act in full accordance with their vocation, and with the spirit of
the age, when they strive to give an artistic impetus to the more
mechanical of the decorative arts, and when they aim, as far as is
practicable, at reuniting them with the higher branches of the art and
mystery of painting. May a full, and, indeed, an overflowing measure of
success attend their honorable enterprize! In concluding our present
notice of this interesting subject, we have the utmost pleasure in recording
the valuable services that Mr. Sewell and the other members of the Court
of the Painters' Company have derived from Mr. P. N. Tomlins, and his
Cousin, Mr. F. G. Tomlins, the joint clerks of the Company, who have acted
as honorary secretaries of the Exhibitions, and to whose unwearied
exertions and judicious zeal the entire success of the movement, both
past and present, is largely indebted.
MEMORIAL TO THE LATE SIR CHARLES BARRY, R.A., F.R.S.
¥E have been requested to draw aftentiou to the proposal to erect a marble
statue of Sir Charles Barry, in the New Palace at Westminster.
As there is reason to believe that the requested permission will be granted for
the execution of the work under the direction of the Royal Commission of Fine
Arts, as soon as the requisite Funds are provided, noblemen and gentlemen, who
may desire to do honor to the memory of the late eminent architect of that
building, are invited to forward their subscriptions to Messrs. Drummond, bankers,
Charing-cross, with whom an account has been opened for the " Memorial of the
late Sir Charles Barry," in the names of the Right Hon. W. F. Cowper, JI.P.,
Major-General the Hon. Sir Edward Oust, K.C.H., F.R.S., Sir Charles L.
Eastlake, President R.A., Charles R. Cockerell, Esq., R.A. President R.LB.A.,
William Tite, Esq., F.R.S., M.P., who have consented to act as treasurers and
trustees.
All communications are requested to be addressed to the honorary secretaries,
M. Digby Wyatt and Charles C. Nelson, at the rooms of the Royal Institute of
British Architects, No. 9, Conduit-street, Hanover-square. Subscribers are
particularly invited to make their intention known to the honorary secretaries,
in order that a correct list may be forthwith prepared for circulation.
THE ROMAN CITY OF URICONIUM.
THE excavations at Wroxeter, which have been suspende<l during the winter,
are about to be resumed with increased activity. Mr. Botfield, M.P., who
has so liberally contributed to the excavation fund during the last three je.ir.",
offers a third subscription of fifty guineas, conditionally, timt fifty other sub-
scriptions of not less than a guinea each can be obtained. A considerable amount
has already been promised towards making up this complement, but as with the
present intentions of the committee it will be quite inadequate t() meet the
expenses of their operations, during the season, it is hoped that a much largersura
will be contributed. The rich collection of relics, including coins, bronzes,
pottery, tesselated' pavements, &c., &c., which have been deposited in theSbrews-
412
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 17, 1861.
bniy Musenm, attests the interest of the site under exploration. It is intended
that the operations of the present season shall include the examination of the site
of the Roman cemetery in addition to the remains adjacent to " the Old Wall,"
but until further funds are obtained, the exca%'ations must of necessity be on a
limited scale ; it is hop«l, therefore, that the archsDolopical public will again come
forward to supplv the means of continuing an investigation which lias hitherto
been attended witli so much result, and is likely to add lai^ely to our acquaintance
witli tlie liistory and archaxdogy of the country at the close of the Roman
occupation.
SnWriptions are received by Dr. Henry Johnson, of Shrewsbury, the Hon.
Sec. to the Committee.
♦—
ROYAL ACADEMY EXHIBITION.
THE ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS.'
ANOTHER important drawing is that of a proposition by Mr. H. R. Newton
( No. ;0t)) for " Forming pei-nianent Canals on both sides of the Thames," in
which the water might at ebb tide ]>e retained 6 feet below high-water mark.
Mr. Newton submitted his plan last session to Government, but apparently did
not meet with much encouragement. He proposes to build open viaducts, with
or without locks, and that the low-level sewer shall run through the centre of
them. As far as we can solve an eniginatical and ungrammatical description,
the Government would, he says, reclaim between 50 and 100 acres from the
Thames, and, by a concentration of public buildings, Government Offices, and
Law Courts, draw towards them a complete metropolitan establishment, and
these works "oujA< not to entail the slightest additional expenditure." The
view of the suggested works— a very fine one by the way— is taken from the
Victoria Tower at Westminster, and shows the viaducts covered with buildings
on either side the river. They are stretched alonp the river like the rails on a
railway. We cannot, of course, judge properly of it by a bird's-eye view. Now
that the general embankment of the Thames is seriously resolved upon, the
project may be worth consideration.
Mr. R. W. Billings is a regular contributor to the Academy, and in Nos. Co4
and (ioC we have a couple of views of the " Court YanI at Dalzell Castle." There
is a repetition of that peculiar style of architecture which Mr. Billing has in-
vented and identified himself with, in which stepped gables, massive masonry,
diamond-shaped windows, and heavy corbelling, play important parts. These
are, however, the best blocks which we have yet had out ot that quarry.
Mr. J. Taylor's new mode of timber construction, adopted in villas erected
from his designs at Roupell Park (6o5), is hung so high that it is impossible to
examine it. The drawing shows only as a group of ordinary half-timbered gables.
The architect has shown more, but no man, without a ladder, can gain the in-
formation which Mr. Taylor has doubtless been anxious to communicate.
" Dnncrub Castle, Perth, N.B." ((>57), now erecting from Mr. Habershon's de-
signs, is a square grey mass of stone buildings with stepped {rabies, .ind a roofed
embattled tower in the centre of the principal front. There are turrets at the
angle of the tower, and the building is covered with slated roofs.
Messrs. Hooker and W^heeler's " Design for I-'aversham Almshouses and
Chapel (t!j8) is in red brick with yellow stripes and a stone turretted chapel.
" The Clock Tower for the High Tower at Hereford," designed by Mr. F. B.
Kempson, is a very fair specimen of Gothic work. Wc should like to have seen
it at the Architectural Exhibition, where it might have been compared side by
side with those of his competitors. It is a square tower covered with a spire.
The wails an; diapered very cleverly, and the openings on the four sides below are
well balanced by the strong buttresses. There is a turret at the angle and a
conspicuous clock.
Mr. J. Giles contributes a small white brick Gothic villa, with red brick
dressings, a high pitched tiled roof, and pointed window openings. There is a
semi-octagonal porch in the angle. The red brick is judiciously introduced in
the work.
" Killyleagh Castle," the seat of Lord Dulferin, has lately been restored by
Mr. B. Ferrey (661). The frowning defiant battlements of the outworks scarcely
accord with the doorway in the tower, by whicli entrance can be so readily ob-
tained. Tlie whole of the enclosure, with its angle and central towers, would we
fancy, in these modem times, be better swept away. Such a clearance would
throw open to view a picturesque castle, with angle towers and spires, now
almost hidden by the high surrounding walls. The castle is built of grey stone
with free-stone dressings, and in this drawing composes very beautifully, but in
reality the principal external object \vould be the plain uninteresting out-
works.
Mr. Boulnois exhibits another of his Swedish designs in the " Interior of the
Grand Staircase now being erected at Gottenburg, for Oscar Dickson, Esq.,"
662. Tlie style is Italian with an open arched corridor on one side on the first
floor, and two open corridors aliovc. They give an immense variety of light and
shadow, and great tjoldness to the desiijn. The ceiling is coved and in the
centre of it there is a skylight. The sides of the staircase are Sienna marble.
Tlie piers of the corridors are panelled and filled with white foliated ornament
on a blue ground. The staircase railing is in ornamental ironwork. 66a is a
mapiificent design by one of the best and most original of our Gothic architects,
"The ^ew Chapel— Church of the I iniiiaculate Conception, Farm-street," by Mr.
H. Clutton. Those who think that Gothic architecture consists merely of pointed
mjches, slender columns, and crude color, should examine this drawing well.
The true fire of Medieval art shines in every part of it. The supports of the
areli are peculiar— small columns resting on corbels. The external face of the
arch is coIore<l black with incised red ornament distributed in long flowing lines.
Tliere U an arcade on each side of the chapel, that on the left-hand side contains
a monuinent.ll eltigv. In the sjiandrels of these arcades there are boldly carved
figures in high relief, and on the string above it the marble shafts rest which
support the vaulting. The surface behind these shafts is decorated with colored
marbles. The reredos is a gorgeous mass of color distributed in diamond pat-
terns. The pavement is likewise profusely ornamented witli colored tiles. The
sur-altar, there being no winclow in the wall, is arranged for painting in three
spaces, tlie.centrai one is trefoil -headed and the side ones are half-archen. This
IS the only unsatisfactory part of the work. It was right to make the middle
space larger to receive the principal subject, but the sides in such accomplished
hands could surely have tieen better ib;signed. There are circular panels in the
upiHT arch-head appropnately carved. The vaulting is colored blue and red.
The whole is a charming piece of color and design.
* Continued ttom page 3M.
661 is a " Study for a Cliancel " by Mr. J. Bentley, very similar to the chapel
just noticed by Mr. Clutton. Indeed, we cannot divest ourselves of the idea tliat
it must have been studied by Mr. Bentley before he produced his own work. The
general disposition is very like it. It has the same peculiar arch supports,
the same ornament in several instances, and the same general effect. The color-
ing of the vaults is, however, in bands instead of in flowing ornament. An organ
is introduced at the side in the fii-st bay and a window in the second, where Mr.
Clutton has simple, decorated wall-surface. The end wall is also unpierced, but
the divisions for painting are rather better inanage<l than in the Farm-street
Ciiapel. The wall over the external chancel arch is likewise devoted to colored
subject, but in Mr. Bentley's design it is covered with regular fi-esco painting,
the most striking feature in which— the long array of nimbi at the back of the
Srofiled heads of the angels— provokes a smile. The woodwork introduced is well
esigned.
Hanging very near these drawings is the "New East End of Waltham Abbey,"
lately executed by Mr. W. Burges (G73). Although necessarily much plainer in
workmanship than the Catholic chapel, and the unfettered design, it is equal to
both in the rich quality of art and in true Gothic spirit. The style of it is
Transition, retaining the massive character of the Norman work with the more
elegant forms of the Early English. There is nothing little about it. Every
part is distinguished by breadth and freedom. The decoration at the side of the
altar is not clearly drawn, but there is one feature worth notice, the " inscritjed
tables "are placed at the extremities of the wall, leaving the middle space for
decoration. A row of three pointed arches stand on sturdy black marble shafts
over the altar. They support a parapet pierced with quatrefoils, from the ends
of whicli columns rise to carrv an enclosing semi-circular arch. A circular
window suiTounded by seven otlier circular connected openings is placed within
the arch. The ceiling is flat and colored, hut there is not sutficient of it shown
to judge of its design.
674 is the doorway of a building which has received a large amount of praise,
"Archway of the New Museum, Oxford," by Mr. J. H. Pollen. It really does
not merit the title of a work of art. As it is here represented it does not possess
any design at all; it has in the spandrels a conglomeration of starved figures
which would lead the spectator to fancy that only ileiormed people became angels.
There is no corapf'sitiou — no artistic distrilnition of them. The archway is not
well proportioned, and the drawing is on a par with the work it illustrates.
Mr. F. Marrable, the late architect of the Board of Works, sends a couple of
drawings of his proposal for bridging over the Fleet Valley (664 and 672). One
view is from the corner of Skinner-street and Snow-hill, the other from the top
of Holborn-hill. His notion is to leave the south side of the hills as they now are,
making use of the roadways to approach Farringdon-street, but to pull down the
north side and build a high level viaduct from Hattou-garden to St. Sepulchre's
church, entering it by a curve at either end from the present thoroughfares. He
disposes of the arches of the viaduct by letting them lor shops, and he proposes
to erect a new line of houses on tlie north side of the New-road. The central
arch is left open for the transit of vehicles from Farringdon-street to Victoria-
street. The proposal seems to us by no means difficult of execution, and is far
preferable to a mere bridge across the valley. The question remains, however,
of who is to do it, or rather who is to bear the expense of doing it.
The " Beauchamp Almshouses," to be erected at Newland, near Malvern, by
Mr. P. C. Hardwiek (655) is a red brick building in the form of | | covered
with tiles. There are large hoarded galiles to the dormer windows. 'There are
triple arched windows witli stone dressings to each house, and archways common
to two houses leading to the doorways. An archway surmounted by a tower
leads to the ground in the rear, and a turretted stone chapel is built in the inner
right-hand angle.
No. 667 is a view of the " Chancel of Bodelwyddan Church," erected from the
designs of J[r. J. Gibson. It is a finely proportioned Gothic design, with marble
shafts and carved capitals to carry the chancel arch. There are blank arcades
with elaborate canopies over tliera on both sides. The pulpit is of carved oak,
with figures of angels supporting it. We have a reduction of this drawing in
our engraver's hands and shall shortly publish it.
'fhe deep red brick building which shows us the "New Blind Asylum, at
Brighton" (668), is scarcely equal to Mr. G. Soniers Clarke's former works.
The windows are studies "from the Foscari Palace, at Venice: the Venetian
dentil which encloses them is rather too large. The windows form two groups
of four lights on each story. The doorway is in the centre, with an elaborate
arch moulding. It is a square block with slated hipped roof and ornamental
chimney-stacks on the flank walls. The bands of black bricks are artistically
introduced. With the good detail seen in all Mr. Clarke's buildings, it will
doubtless look better than it does in this heavily colored drawing.
There is a clear bright drawing of the " Butter Tower, at Rouen Chathedral,"
exhibited by Mr. S. J. Ilodijson (676) and a " West Front of Burgos Cathedral"
(669), by Mr. J. Dobbin, which, if this drawing of it be truthful, has a most
unpleasant tint.
The " ArniKlel Chanel, Islington," by Mr. J. James (675) is a common-
place reclmnffii! of cold Gotliic, with ordinary buttresses, pinnacles, windows,
&c., and a slated roolj having ornamental hands.
Messrs. W. and A. Moseley send us from Liverpool a fine block of Itali
building devoted to a new hotel (670). The ground and mezzanine fioors are
devoted to shops. There are five stories above them. The building has a
projecting centre and wings, with massive quoins. The entrance is in the centre,
flanked by caryatides. The piers of the upper stories are panelled. There is a
bold deep cornice, with conspicuous dormers over it. The roofs are steep and
finished with iron cresting. Tliis being a small drawing is placed unusually
high, so that it cannot be examined in detail. It appears a very fine design.
From the rival capital of the North, Manchester, we have another view of
Mr. Waterhouse's "New Assize Courts" (696), in which a very judicious
alteration in the side front of the original design is lisible. The curtain wall,
formerly near the angle, has been entirely removed, and a well-designed porch
occupies its place. It makes a great improvement in the building.
Mr. Owen Jones sends another of his beautiful designs—" The ceiling of Mr.
Ilimcock's Show-room in liruton-street " (685). It is executed in patent
canvas jilaster. Nothing can exceed it either in design or color. The ceiling is
divided into a central panel with circular ends. The manner in which the rich-
ness of the ornament is graduated from the centre is marvellous. The ornament
is a kind of Byzantine or Moresque, but it matters little what the style is
because it is so thoroughly harmonious. Tliere is not a feeble or false line in the
whole work. Mr. Jones has been equally successful in the color. White, blue,
May 17, 1861.
THE BUILDING NP]WS.
413
VIKU- (IF Tin-; tO.NDLlT AT TlIINm VOU.K^iK. CA.MIUtUXiE,
May 17, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
41S
and red, with a little gilding, have alone been employed, but the effect is
exceedingly cliaste and elegant. The centre, as with the line ornament, is the
richest portion, but the wliole is linked most skilfully together, and it is only
after attentive examination that one is enabled to detect the secret of its success,
or to realise its full value as a work of art.
Mr. J. II. Wallis's " Architectural Drawing as completed " (902) shows a
building with a tower in the centre, Gothic arches and gables, but it is hung too
high to be seen properly.
Mr. A. Aslipitcl contributes a drawing of a very unpretending church at
Ripple, near Deal (906). It has a nave, chancel, porch, and spire. Neither
feature exhibits any irregularity.
Tlie" SchoolsatAIlhallows, Barking" (907), erected from the designs of Messrs.
Aitcliison and Son, have seemingly a shop on the ground story. They are built of
yellow brick, witli red arches over the wmdow opening.
The " Rocliester Almshouses " (908), built from Mr. VV. Webbc's design are
also placed too high to be examined. They are in red brick, with stone dressings.
The outline is broken agreeably by the stone chapel in the centre. Tliere is an
oniaraental enclosure wall and gateway.
Mr. H. A. Darbyshire's " Drinking Fountain (920), is more ambitious than
artistic. He has tried to design one different from any tliat we have before seen,
and in that he has succeeded. There is an octagon central pier ; four of the sides
have niches with sculpture. This pier is surrounded by an arcade with red shafts.
Color is introduced into the panels, and tlie plinth is black. The whole is covered
by an ogee dome. There is want of harmony both in the color and the orna-
ment. Mr. Darbyshire should study well the ceiling by Mr. Owen Jones, which
we have already noticed.
The portfolio of Mr. E. Falkener appears inexhaustible. There seems no por-
tion of the civilised world which he has not visited, and in which he has not
been industriously occupied. He contributes this year three sketches, notquite
so highly finished as those we have formerly had from him, but very valuable
as illustrations of distant and rarely visited buildings. The " Vezeer-Khan, at
Aleppo " (924), is as accurately reproduced as it could have been in a pho-
tograph.
We shall notice the rest of the aichitectural drawings next week.
THEATRICAL SCENERY.
THE revival of Rossini's grand work of " Guglielmo Tell," after the late
destruction of the theatre by fire, rendered it necessary to paint the
scenery again for the present occasion. This has been done in a style
consistent with Mr. Gye's well-known spirit and liberality, and worthy of
the reputation for taste and skill so long enjoyed by Mr. W. Beverley.
The first scene represents Tell's cottage in the mountains. Difficult as it
may be to treat such a scene with any degree of novelty, we think the
painter has in that respect succeeded in this imaginary view. The prin-
cipal divisions of the composition are a huge mass of rock, bounded by a
diagonal line descending from the right at the top of the stage to the stage
itself on the left. This includes a mountain torrent, the rude arch of a
bridge, and a rural chapel. The second mass of the scene consists of the
lake and the snow-topped mountains rising one above the other from the
tlistant shore; and the third division is a luminous sky; but the whole
may also be described as separated into the masses of dark which includes
the foreground, and that mass of light which envelopes thelake, the distant
mountains, and the sky. The whiteness of this portion of the composition,
if not its luminous effect, is brought into the foreground by the local or
real color of the foam on the mountain stream rusliing down amidst
over-projecting pieces of rock, the local color or white plastered walls of
the little chapel standing between the light sky, the foreground water
serves as a bond of union, and being white with little or no light upon it,
gives, by comparison, increased luminosity to the sky, and to the rays
diffused over the mountains and reflected in the lake by its own deficiency
of light. The legitimate three masses of daylight may be said to be the
light in the sky, its reflection on the water, and the large illuminated
masses of rock Iiigh up in the foreground. The great point of contrast
between light and dark will be found in the deep shadow under the pro-
jecting roof of the Swiss cottage on the left, which is artistically placed
against the lightest part of the sky. This principal mass of shadow is
distributed by the dark roof of the little chapel and by the almost black
spots representing its open door and window, which again, by their small-
ness and by being placed nearly in the centre of the view, give, by com-
parison, magnitude to all around them, and, by contrast, light and air to the
luminous and atmospheric portions of the scene, as well as magnitude and
distance to both the near and far-off mountains. The principal masses of
color have been arranged thus : — the large portion of blue and its grada-
tions in the sky and on the lake around the part occupied by the reflected
light — the yellow generally on the piece of rock high up in the foreground
division, also lower down on the right, both of which are distributed in more
delicate tints on the lower parts of the distant mountains by some barkless
pine-stems lying at the base of the principal mountain in the foreground,
carrying the eye to the pale yellow shore in the distance, and made to bring
the extreme blue and yellow into unity, being mixed into green, which
represents the vegetation of the lower and upper portions of the
nearest mountain, and which green also serves to blend with the grey
shadow, relieve the yellow part projecting from out of it, and connect it
with the cold color by partially covering it, which also connects the fore-
ground mass with the most distant and delicate divisions of the compo-
sition. The complementary color is placed near the stage in the bank of
dark red earth behind which the mountain torrent passes along and the
bank on which the chapel stands above. The large body of dark and
warm tints on the cottage prevents the general tone of coloring from being
too cold, and the piece of dark blue drapery in shade hanging over the
balcony, although perhaps rather conventionally introduced, is a valuable
accessory in giving warmth by opposition to the color of the cottage; it
brings also the blue into that part of the subject, and being bo near
really to the distant mountains serves to make them appear far away.
When the stage is occupied by the vast number of performers, the
exoent painter-like principles on which Mr. Beverley has so admirably
constructed this scene, will be found carried out and varied in a most
interesting manner, as the characters arc grouped or happen to
group themselves during the business of the piece. A few leading
features among the many we noticed must suffice. The dark dresses
of the peasants who conceal the deep red earth of the bank do its office
well to the general effect of the painting. The positive red and yellowish
dress of Tell serves very properly to make him the principal point
of the picture ; the red acts as a spot of contrast to the whole and
the yellow brings the warm colors of the same tint from the most distant
parts to the front of the stage, thus increasing the vast extent of the whole
arrangement. The blue skirt of Eduige gives vividness to the red of
his dress, and sends the cool colors at the back into air and distance ; the
white sleeve of his son has the same effect on all the lighter tints in the
back scene, from the snow-covered glaciers far off to the foot-lights in
front of the stage, and the red cap he holds in his hand repeats that part
of Tell's dress which is of nearly the same color, and the dark cloak worn
by old Tell equally subordinates all the blacker portions of the picture.
There are constant changes of effect, as we have said, being produced, as
the groups form and reform themselves, but the colouring of the scene is
so admirably managed, and the artificial light so carefully regulated that
even when the whole arrangement of tints is entirely changed by a large
mass of rich yellow and black produced by the sudden appearance of the
Austrian soldiers, the general harmony is enriched instead of injured by so
powerful an addition of positive color.
The scene painted for the second act is a moonlight, with the lake seen
between the mountains looking over the roofs of a Swiss village, and the
stage with rocks on each side of it may be considered as the foreground.
This view, although in the same neighbourhood as the preceding one, has
been very judiciously changed in its general appearance to that of a wilder
character than that associated more directly with the habitation of man
and by the precipitous and angular forms of the rocks, and by the abrupt
manner they are thrown across each other, more suited to the rising of the
discontented Cantons. Mr. Beverley displays great taste and refinement
in the execution of such scenes as this. Instead of that shining ladder
of bright silver or brass we too often see laid upon the water to re-
present the moonbeams playing on its surface, and that sharp and clear
light by which every object becomes distinctly visible, this talented
painter, on the contrary, arranges the glittering reflection from the moon
on the water with a delicately fitful appearance in admirable taste, and
diffuses a softness of light over the whole atmosphere, into which the
edges of the most acutely angular rocks blend in charming reality, and
their entire masses seem bathed in pellucid light. Another example of
good taste in this painting is the omission of any attempt of imitating the
motion of clouds passing across the moon ; for the sentiment of the scene
is that of tranquillity, wliich is not only in accordance with the mental
delight afforded by the reality in nature, but being particularly appro-
priate to the silent assemblage of peasantry meeting in secret before
fighting for their liberties. Tlie general tone of color, too, is much
warmer, and more natural than moonlight pictures are always painted
The Jprincipal mass of rocks is on the right of tiie audience, the greater
portion of them sending their acutely angular points to a great height,
anil lower down is a bold piece, which may have fallen and been arrested
half-way, projecting across the rest very abruptly. This part is enriched
by pines, and the broad, dense shadow cast by this projecting piece of rock
is very valuable to the general effect. This peculiarity of the rocky out-
lines is consistently carried into those in the distance, and the pointed
character thus produced is very judiciously repeated, and prevented
from being too singular by smaller portions taking the same form,
and by the steeple of the village church as well as by the row
of pines which separate that part of the view from the foreground.
We think the moon is well placed in the canvas, because it com-
poses well with the mountains on each side of the lake, and is easily
brought into closer composition with them by the faintly dark and light
line of clouds stretching across that part of the scene forming a bond
of union between the whole of the principal objects in the view. The spire
of the village church, by crossing the outline of the village and rising
against the lower part of the lake, connects that part of the middle
distance with the village. The line of reflected light from the moon on the
lake is conducted into it by a winding stream of water on which its rays
also glitter in the centre of the village, and there is a brilliant spot of light
reflected from the water which gives magnitude to and focusses the whole.
There is a mass of extremely well painted rocks on the left, presenting
excellent harmony of low-toned colors both warm and cold, and, while it
contrasts with thejdelicacy of the back scene, is made to unite with it by
some faint but low-toned warm colors being repeated on the distant
mountains. The principal line of white, but very soft, is on the upper
edge of the clouds, which is brought forward by the stream of reflected
light on the water, and does not appear in the foreground until the linen
cuffs and collar worn by the heroine when she conies to the front of the
stage ; these with the black hat, dark dress, and its gold embroidery, all
subdued by the prevailing gloom of the foreground, give excellent contrast
to the light parts of the scene as well as serving as points of resistance to
the darkest rocks. The effect was fine when the figures dimly seen were
listening for the signals from the valley below, and here again the colors
of the dress worn by Tell told admirably. There are many opportunities
in this scene, when the mountaineers are assembled, for painters to get
416
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 17, 1^61.
useful hints, by watching the groups as they form themselves and by
observing bv what simple means great effects may be obtained ; but let
the groups change as they may they always compose well with the scene,
and frequently the effect' was regulateil by a white shirt-sleeve becoming
the principal tcature of the whole picture, although without any appear-
ance of light and shadow upon it and entirely from the power of local
color in half-shadow.
From the mild light and solemn quietude of the scene just described,
the change in the third act is sudden, although perfectly natural, to
the market town or village, over whicli seems to frown the gloomy and
heavy masonry of Gesler's Castle. From this part of the scene the sun-
lit mountains at the I'ack and rising above the houses receive great value
by contrast. This, with the coloring of the road through the village,
presents masses of light and warm tint, which, while moderated by tlie
grey half-shadow tone of the market place and rural church in the centre,
form a brilliant opposition to the dark, low-toned colors of the castle in
the foreground. It is a scene which answers every purpose for which it
was required, but affords no extraordinary opportunity to the scene-
painter to display his well-known talents in an unusual degree; but it
harmonises well with the groups of soldiers and peasants when the stage
is full. The fourth act commences with a view, we believe of " Arnold's
Cottage, which is a very characteristic piece of painting. It appears as
if situated in a retired part of the country. On the opposite side to tlie
cottage is a plantation of fir-trees, between whicli and the building an
unfrequented looking path seems to lead away into tlie distant country.
There is a strong blue in the sky above the clouds. The woodwork of the
front of the cottage presents the mass of leading warm and light colors,
which are mingled in the pathway with the green vegetation at the sides,
which freshens into an imposing quantity on the group of fir-trees on the
left. A few dead branches among them serve to receive some subdued
warm color, by which means the cottage side of the picture is brought
into connexion with the cold color of the left. The portions of plastered
walls on the outside of the building bring the white of the clouds towards
the foreground of the picture, the dingy warm color of the thatch gives fresh-
ness and point to the green of the trees and the blueness of the sky,
and the dark ridge of the roof tells well against the light colors generally,
But it is interesting to observe how Arnaldo's dress carries the key colors
to all those employed in the scene. His white sleeves and collar throw
back and repeat the white of the clouds and of the plastered walls; his
dark blue dress stands out boldly, while it repeats the strongest of the cold
tints, and the rich and warm-toned leather of which his pouch is made
has the same effect with regard to all the pigments of the warmer hue.
Thus the scene, although not much in itself, forms a very complete picture
with the singer before it. AVe now go back to the beautiful moonlight
scene already described, which certainly appears even more delicately
luminous after the two positively treated, with all their hard, but neces-
sary realities as daylight views which have intervened since we had first
admired it. A new point of interest, as it appeared to us, now presents
itself in a small spot of reddish light in the window of the village church,
which, contrasting with the brilliant spark of reflection from the moon
focussed against the dark outline of the distant village, tends greatly to
increase the already vast expanse of the scene, and conduce even more
to the delicious softness of the whole atmosphere.
We have thus analysed the composition and arrangement of these scenes
in furtherance of one of the objects we have in view — namely, to show that
the scenic artist should take his place among other painters of skill who
exhibit their works in our annual exhibitions, to suggest to the visitors to
theatres that scenes do possess equally artistic merits with the pictures
exhibited at those exhibitions, and in connexion with our notices of
them that the painter - student, while enjoying the relaxation of
theatrical amusement, may combine it with instruction by careful studying
the learning of the scene-painter, and as attentively watching the various
combinations of both color and effect produced by the costumes of the
performers as they appear while carrying on the business of the entertain-
ment.
We need scarcely add that the liberality of the management has been
fully met by the talent of the painter, and that the great operatic work of
the composer has received from both a magnificence and completeness
worthy of his effort and deserving a liberal patronage by the aristocracy
and continued support from the public.
of his principal works, &c.,
FREE EXHIBITIONS OPEN DUKING THE HOLIDAYS
Tnr. Xational Gallery, Charing Cross.— I'icturcs by tlio old masters, with
ono very beautiful exception, " The lilind Heggar. " by a living artist.
Barry's Grand Hihtorical Cartoons, on the walls of the hull or principal
room of the Society of Arts, 17, John-street, Adclphl.
The Klaxman Gai.leky of Scllpture.— Models
at London t'nlvert»ity College, Gower-ntrcet.
South Kenhinotos Mubelm, Cromwcll-road, Brompton.—Tlie Industrial, Edu-
cational. Architectural, Decorative, and various other collections; and the Vernon,
Turner, Sh(*p8haiiki!, and Britbh Galleries of pictures, by modern artists.
The Britikii Mibeim— Including the libraries and manuscript room. In which
Is the recently purcha««d autograph of Shakspeare.
The Koyai, Exchange.— The merchants' walk or ambulatories have recently
been elaborately redcfwrated in fresco.
The MtsEi'M of Tractical Geology, Jermyn-sfrcct, Piccadilly-Contains an
endless variety of natural and artilicial products, well deserving the notice of
working men, penny lectures in the theatre of this insUtution, every Monday evening
at eight.
The Kranklim Eelics. at the United Service Institution, Middle Scotland-yard
—By (free) tickets, of Kandford, fi, Charing-crosfl.
Wehtmijister Hall— with its magnificent Painted Glass Window, the largest In
the world.
The Natiomai, Po«t«ait Gallery, 29, Great George-street, ■Westminster.—
The HorsEs of Parliament.— Ou Saturdays, by tickets (t,'rfttis). which admit
any number of visitors, to be had at the Chamberlain's Office, under the Victoria
Tower.
Kew Gardens —In which are the Botanical, Colonial, and Mercantile Museums ;
the great Palm House ; the lar»iest Arboretum in the world ; the (Jrccian and twenty-
five other Conservatories, containing the plants, flowers, and vegetable curiosities of
all climates and all countries.
The Coal Exchange, Thames-street— The decorated galleriea of this beautiful
buildintr will well repay a visit of inspection.
The Temple Church, Fleet-street-- With its beautiful and costly stained
" Storied windows richly dij^ht,
Castinj,' a dim religious li^^ht."
St. Paul's Cathedral has lately been restored and embellished, and is now well
worthy a visit.
BtLwicH Picture Gallery.— This celebrated collection is now open (free), with-
out the trouble of obtaining' tickets in London as formerly.
Chelsea Hospital.— The Hall and Chapel, in which are preserved the French
eagles of Napoleon, captured at liarossa, Talavera, and Waterloo, and fifty-five colors
captured by the British in different campaijrus; and the Wellington Funeral Car.
The College of Surgeons, Lincoln's Inn Fields. — The extensive Museum and
Library, including the celebrated Collections of John Hunter, may be seen by a
member's order.
Westminster Abbey.— The Monuments and Statues of distinguished men ; and
the exceedingly beautiful Kose AVindow of Ancient Stained glass over the Poet's
Corner.
St. Stephen's Church, Walbrook.— The master-piece of Sir Christopher AVren.
Greenwich Hospital.— Tiie Chapel and I'aiuted Hall ; an Altar-piece by AV'est ;
Bust of Dibdin, the nava! song writer; Portraits of Columbus and Captain Cook ;
the Nelson and Franklin Kelics ; and Models of the famous Wooden Walls of Old
England.
St. Bartholomew's Church, Smitlifield.— The oldest Church in London.
The Foundling Hospital, Guildford-strcet, Russell-square.—ln the Chapel an
Altar-piece by West, and the Organ presented to the institution by Handel, upon
which he frequently performed his Oratorio of the Messiah ; in the Committee- room,
several valuable Paintings by Hogarth and other eminent artists.
St. (iiles's Church, Cnppiegate.—Here was buried John Milton, and Cromwell
married in lO'JO.
Crosby Hall, Bishopsgate-street. — This beautiful relic of a poetic and pictu
resque age is open (free) to the public every day.
PROVIDENT INSTITUTION OF BUILDERS' FOREMEN AND CLERKS
OF WORKS.
ON the evening of Wednesday week a Lecture was delivered before the members
and friends of the Institution, at Lyon's-inn Hall, St. Mary-le- Strand, by Mr.
M. D. Wyatt, on the subject of *' Drawing,"
There was a very numerous attendance, and on the motion of Mr. Coleman,
seconded by Mr. Webley, Mr. Joseph Kay was called to the chair.
The Chairman briefly introduced to the meeting Mr. Wyatt, of whom they had
heard from time to time%s a great ornament of the architectural profession.
The Lecturer, in commencing, explained why it was he received with so much
pleasure, and accepted with so much gratification, the invitation to lecture before
them. It was, in tlie first place, because this was a society of working men in direct
connexion witli the architectural and building branch of trade, which every sensible
Englisliman and feeling architect must honor ; secondly, because the Provident de-
partment of tlie Institution was highly worthy of commendation ; and in the third
place, and more particularly, he felt pleasure in accepting the invitation, because on
all occasions be had found the greatest possible assistance from the class to
which they belong'cd. Therefore he felt he owed a debt of gratitude to their body,
which he should liave been glad if he could have paid in some better way than by
talking to them that evening. The subject of the lecture was one which lay at
the very root of all their business operations ; but for the power of drawing architects
could not design and those he addressed could not build. Therefore drawing lay at
the root of all their business ; and besides, it was a source of never-failing delight
in its more ornamental department. AH drawing consisted of two distinct opera-
tions—one of endeavouring to imitate or represent what the eye sees, the imitative
operation, and the other was representing it in some conventional form. The two
distinct kinds of drawing were the imitative and the conventional; the former
was what the painter more usually followed, and the conventional was what
the architect usually followed ; but it was desirable that both should under-
stand both kinds of drawing. Then there was this subdivision in drawing ;
there was, in the first place, the outline that bounded the drawing, in the
second place the light and shadow, and in the third place the color that was either
inherent in it or derived from some colored li^ht or combination. Of course the first
thing which a boy or a young person set to drawing attempted to do was to draw a,
straight line, which it was easy to do by rule or line, but difficult to do by the eye
alone. (The lecturer in the course of the evening sketched with a brush, which he
used wltli great rapidity and dexterity on large-sized paper, a large number of
diagrams and drawings illustrative of his observations.) The main art of drawing a
straight line with steadiness and truth was before they put tlieir hand to paper to
know where to begin and where to leave off. The first thing then was to draw a
tolerably straight line, then a line tolerably parallel to it, and then to draw a line at
right angles to it. One of the most important things in the conventional form was
to carry a distinct idea of geometrical figures; the next thing was to get a fair
knowledge of what a circle was; and then with the angles they laid the foundation
for an ornamental figure. When they wished to represent objects as they saw them,
then they came into the laws of perspective. The basis of all perspective was to
remember the principle that lines were as the angles that subtend them. AVe spoke
of outline as though outline was a positive thing, but if an artist was a slave to out-
line, it was all up with him in representing things in nature. An outline was really
only an imaginary operation, in order to make sure you have something definite ta
bound yuur views and proportions. Then as to the amount of back-line or dark-
shading that was admissible in a drawing ; now that was admissible
when it was in accordance with the strength of light and shade you
wish to convey by it. A drawing which was made in neglect of that
operation appeared cold and tame, and bad not that pleasant oroportiou
which would be agreeable to the eye if it expressed the probable effect of^ light and
shade in the form without exaggeration. The masses of light and shade should be
MO balanced as to bo quite gradual in their operation. In addition to a knowledge of
the first forms of geometry and outline, it was essential to study the relation of parts
offorniB to one another, and which led to symmetrical arran^^ement. And in drawing
it was essential to have a knowledge of what it is you are going to draw ; the clearer
the image was in your liead, the more certain would you be able to reproduce it on
paper, in the same way as a speaker, if he has bis subject clear in his mind, was the
more likely to make himself understood by those he addressed. Another valuable
thing to practise was, not to learn too much to draw in one direction only, but to
acquire the command of the hand in various directions. Spiral forms lay at the
ground of all flowing ornaments in architecture; very little connexion with the
starting lines gave form directly. In the history of art some painters had made it
much more their province to study outline than others; for instance, Flaxman,
whose thoughts were concentrated in outline. But on the subject of light and shade
our own Wilkie and Rembrandt wc.re good masters to study. The lecturer, in the
course of further remarks, recommended for the library of the Institution Harding's
"Treatise on Elementary Art, or the Use of the Black Lead Pencil," and the work
of Burnet, who was a pupil of Wilkie. Though the conventional form of drawing
was usual with those he addressed in their vocation, yet it was a source of never-
faihug delight and pleasure to sketch either from nature or objects of architecture.
May 17, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
417
I
Mr. WKiiRTEH proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Wyatt for his excellent, instructive'
and practical lecture.
Mr. Glover seconded the motion, and hoped that on another occasion Mr. Wyatt
would give them a lecture "On the Influence of Urawin*,^ on Individuals."
The vote of thanks wa.s passed by acolamalion.
Mr. WvATT briefly responded to the comiiliraunt, and the racetinff broke up.
LECTURES AT THE ARCIUTECTUIJAL EXHIBITION,
II.— Sir Christopher Wren ani> his Time.s.*
IT may be interesting to draw a parallel, in this view of the case, between our Dr.
Wren, the amateur of En;rland, and his contemporary. Dr. Perrault, the amateur
of I'aris. I'errault, who was nearly twenty years the senior of Wren, was by pro-
fession a physician, although it is not considered tliat he was successful in that
vocation. When liernini had prepared his plans for the Louvre, and proceeded to
build, it was immediately found that he and his French subordinates could not pull
tog:cther. An Italian celebrity in art of that day was accustomed to meet with
deference to his dictation ; the French mind then, as now, was not no much accus-
tomed to defer. In a word, before the toundations were put in, the haughty Italian
quitted his commission in high dudgeon. His priceless designs, as he deemed them,
be carried with Iiim, leaving liis refractory clients in the lurch. But, nothing daunted
by tliis untoward event, the French architects— of whom there were several of emi-
nence when there were none in England— forthwith prepared designs for the aban-
doned undertaking, and the minister Colbert received them in competition. Amongst
the rest one was received from Dr. I'errault, as an amateur. The brother of this
gentleman, by-the-bye, was at the time a confldential employe under Colbert, and it is
only human nature if the official brought to bear upon the interest ot his relative
■what influence he possessed. A design by the architect I,e Veau was much admired ;
but that by Dr. I'errault was much admired also. The end of the matter was that
the ministerial secretary's brother received the preference in respect of honor, and
probably of emolument, and his professional rival received employment as his
assessor. A very so-so physician, said Uoileau, seemed to make an excellent archi-
tect ; and the wits of I'aris, taking up the theme, suggested that architecture was in
a very poor way, and had sent for the doctor. Hut although the amateur of I'aris
had thus achieved an artistic immortality per saltum, which no one grudn-es him,
there is a wide difference between him and our Englishman. How Wren, during a
long series of years, called into existence a multitude of flrst-class conceplions by
the work of his own pencil, and built them by his own constructive skill, all the
world knows. Perrault's works, beyond the Louvre, were of no account whatever.
Wren, again, had no Le Veau at his right hand ; he was himself both Perrault and
Le Veau. It is true that Perrault was fifty years of age, and Wren but twenty-
eight—that the one had passed his best days, therefore, and the other was just
approaching them ; but, as I think, there was all this difference more— the one, at the
best, was but an eminent amateur, and the other, at the least, agreat architect.
uell, our Savilian professor, in obedience to the royal command, takes up his
abode once more in London : but let it not be supposed that he was set down at
ouce to the drawing board. The stately projects of royalty just restored from the
depths of seedine9s,raust be allowed time to ripen; the exchequer must also be
allowed time to fill,— so we must not expect to hear of our new architect. Dr. Wren
for some httle while. However, such was the deplorable condition of the cathedral
that a survey of its dilapidations could scarcely be postponed. Accordingly, of the
date of ICij:!, we have a report by Dr. Wren upon the state of the fabric, and it at
once becomes clear that tlie right man is in the right place. The old church bore
date the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, and it had been falling rapidly
into the decay of almost total neglect for a hundred years back. When the sonof good
1 ?jk o™ *"" a baby m arms the foundation of a now entr.ince porch had been
laid by Bishop Laud. It was a flue Corinthian portico by Inigo .Tones. People are
?'i^""t" ,-^" , ""'' "'" '""Slilng at the idea of such a thing-somewhat inconsiderately
think, looking at the circumstances of the times. However, so far as we are con-
cerned, this was but a new cloth put into an old garment, and the rent was made
worse. A few more years and the sacred choir was found to make eUgible quarters
tor the Uoundliead cavalry, about the same time that the redoubtable Sishop of Elv
was quartered in the Tower. The Restoration relieved the temple from profanation
and the bishop from durance. It need scarcely be remarked that the church had
sutrered more than the churchman, and this was why it became necessary to call in
tne ,>5urveyor-freneral by his assessor to inquire carefully into its condition Dr
\V rcn reported that he Ibund the nave piers 6 Inches or so out of the perpendicular •'
that he discovered them to be built of " rubbish, stone, and much mortar within,''
and a mere shell of ashlar on the face ; that he found the vaultmg to be too heavy
ror Its abutments, and to have been always so— hence the failure of the walls ■ and
that the tower "leaned manifestly" by the settlement of one of its piers He
recommended "new flagging" (that is to say, stone casing) for the interior; he
advised it to je dont- ".after a good Roman manner " (that is to say, in Classic style),
and he argued that this could be accomplished quite as easily as any restoration of
JtfJh°""r ™''™''^« of ';!<^,»ld design." He proposed also to construct a new roof
of timber plastered, or a lighter shell of stone or of brick and stucco. He lastly
?.^£f ^c"* (;;«^*^="'"S, obviously to the example of St. Peter's at Home), the substi-
tution of a dome and lantern for the ruinous tower, which he pronounced to be "a
?h.,??h "'■■™"''*'- \'^' 'lie present day, without committing one's self to more
than the mere suggestion of a fact, it may be remarked that a report upon a ruinous
Gothic cathedral would be conceived in at least a very different spirit,
♦hi; „-?i"?i'; I',"''"'':,'"'.' ""= royal patronage of Dr. Wren went as yet no farther than
this call for this advice upon Old St. Paul's, and certainly did not go in any degree
^e^.nTni'."*" ''«*«'• T «"<'• '» ""= '^"■neyear of Ifirt:!, that private commisS
began to assume a much more substantial shape. He produced his desicnis for the
ra^h?Mc^^ ?"'""" f.?""^"!^' "' '-''^o *■''■■« new chapel to PemSe Hall!
Cambridge. .\s regards the latter, his triumphant uncle, tl o Bishop of Ely, having
at the Lord 8 leisure come forth from his twenty years' imprisonment, had resolved
lh„ ??"?""%"'« '^'"c""' P"""' <"■ •"' i-evenues'for the benefit of Pembroke Ilall
ii,-."^'T.;'V'P'; • t'"='''^f<"-«. was, in fact, a commission from him. And it may be
?f f,^/>?f''''7<- ''''",''■ '•^l''"'''''"'''*^"™"'*' bishop, at the ripe age of 8™ came
at length to rest from his labors, it was here that he was buried, and that With all
t e pomp which the ancient University could display in honor of one whi had
ChHstLuy.™" '" "'""^ "*''^'"" ^'' I'ones.ly' considered to be muscular
i^til™? now fairly embarked in the practice of an architect. Dr. Wren determined
to travel; for the sources of information and means of study at his command at
^S??h™'r n'^'y ''""";" 'J?'"'"''''- 'The ItaUan treatises and plates of A Lrti Talladio
5™ ^.'"■■"'/''"T''-' ""^ ^"'' b"»'"n,gs erected by Inigo ./ones, and perhaps a strav
as a mfr^r ""' ""''' "".'^ 'HS°.',.'f "°* f™™ ""'y "'<^'f' handed abou?evere,tty
that r hartThI ™h T"*" ""• ^ri*"'^'^ '"" ""'I'-"™ ''"'"ic school will remind me
;!!« J ^1 ° *¥ "'"'''' """"»"= of tbc flnc monuments of medieval Endand and that
the modern spire or steeple-a feature of his own origination, and of his 'continual
Jh^si r/™''"""l Y'"A'''>' *>'■ perfection-proves how much he owed to the stu< v™
i?r.. T?"'"',' *>"* ""='■<' need be no disguise about the fact that oiir doctor of
?X"?'and woSl^.l^dlT*'^™' b"»<l"'?« with very much of sfraightfeward dis'
respect, and would gladly have put "new flagging" to the best of them "after a
fiZiH"""."!? "■»"""," to conceal "the Gothic "rudeness of "their" 0^" de"s'iS ''
iowiini?e?sanv admit "rt 'If'.'' "*. "'''"tecture did much to form his taste. This is
Atlll vcnu ,, n.T,l 1*' bu.t whether he was aware of it is quite another thing,
ohotee led him ?o rpl^fv' """"">'■ *° ''^'™'' ^'^ "P''"" <" st'-^y in the art of hfs
tte It'alian cHi^ fhn^f.T" "J""'-'"'/ *» I'aris-the Paris of Louis XIV.. and to
E«atmat?prs ■ "'° ''^''^-quarters of modern art, to examine the works of the
* Continued from pape .397.
In IfifiS then, our young architect (for he was now but S.I) journeyed to Paris I
dare say it took him more than twelve hours, and no doubt he was much more 'th»n
two hours on.tho channel; he did not see the Boulevard de Sebastopol, nor the Uue
de Rivoli, nor the Madeleine, nor the Pantheon, nor the Louvre of Louis Napoleon
nor the Hois de Boulogne. But he saw what was worth quite as much In his dav'
and was as much delighted as any one of us now to sec I'aris for tlie first time 'To'
give a fair notion of his impressions and of his doings, of the condition of art at
that day, and of his own tastes and principles, tliere is a well-knowa letter given in
the Parcnsalia from which let me read some extracts.
The lecturer then read an account given at pp. 261-2 of the " Parcntalia ' of
Wren's Visit to Paris in 1065.
In the spring ot next year Dr. Wren (as he was still deslffnafed) returned home
His travels had not been pursued beyond Paris. There are some intellects which do
not work on the laborious collection of illustrations, but rather on certain abstracted
pnuciples which are more or less readily but almost unconsciously grasped. I faucy
t_he intellect of Wren was of this stamp, if so, I can easily unScrstaud that he
deemed the impressions which he had acquired in Paris to be enough for his nuriiose
When you have seen one green field " says Dr. Johnson "you have seen all green
helds; just so to certain minds when theyliave seen one great city, they have seen aU
great cities. At all events Wren seems to have been satisfied with the sight of Paris •
books, drawings, and his own fancy would do the rest. And so thev did And
euriousiyenouffh it has been pointed out, in view of the graceful proportions and
raretully moulded details of such a building as St. Paul's, that where this "reat archi
feet repudiates the fripperies of the school of Bernini, and swerves from what was
the precedent of his day, he leans by some inexplicable instinct invariably towards
the then unknown manner of the Greeks ; one of the most remarkable instances on
record of that natura elegance of conception which in its modest simplicity and
subdued power is the ultimate perfection of the highest art . "'""'"J' *""
We are now brought in the course of events to the Great Fire of London, and the
new St. Paul s, and the thence uninterrupted routine of the life of an architect
On his return from Paris, Dr. Wren was desired to report again upon the ancient
cathedral of London. Evelyn, who held an official post in connexion with Govern-
ment buildings, was associated with him ; also a Mr. Pratt and a Mr Chichelev
Wren s proposal for extensive rc-ediflcation does not seem to have been palatable -
1 raft and Chicheley persistently opposed it, advocating piecemeal repair The fact
that the vauUin<j of the nave had spread and thrust out the walls has already been
mentioned. When Wren directed attention to this, the reply of his oooonenta
seems singularly apt as a sample of ,Iohn Bull logic. This receding of (lie walls
said these authorities, was but a refinement of design, intended to enhance the
perspective effect.
This was within a few days of the end of August, 1006. On the 2nd day of Sentem-
ber I ate stepped in very unexpectedly and took up the matter. The Great Fire
reduced the fabric to a state of wreck.
The City of London was now in great part laid in ashes, and here there was
presented to our young architect, as has been often said, the finest opixirtunitv for
the acquisition of fame which has ever been provided for any man in his walk oflife
!■ or I need not remark that it very soon became .apparent that the public buildine-s
of the new city were to be committed to his charge as a whole. How this hanpeued
allowing all that can be claimed for Wren's transcendant merits, those who look at
the case as men of business and men of the world can scarcely understand He
appears to have had literallynocompetitor; and it seems inexplicable that no individual
whatever should have taken advantage of the opportunity to palm off upon somebody
a knowledge of stone masonry, and the possession of Palladio as a certificate of
qualification ; made a trip to Paris, for instance, to come home a travelled man or
what might have been easily done, journeyed forthwith to Home and Florence that
he might hold his head even higher than that of the little Dr. Wren
It is worthy of note how rapidly projects for rebuilding London came before the
public. The flames raged from September the 2nd till the 8th ; on the tenth even
the whole area was a field of smouldering ruins. But within two days of this loth of
September, while clouds of stifling smoke and mantraps of hidden fire must have
been the staple commodities of the unhappy scene, we flud a plan presented to the
king by Evelyn officially for a new city. Exactly a week after this, Mr. Ilooke the
geometrician. Wren's college companion of the Micrographia, now Gresham nro-
tessor, exhibits to the Royal Society another plan, for which, in the meantime he
has received the approval of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, as bcin» in their opinion
preferable to still another plan prepared by the City Surveyor. One more plan
however, was in preparation ; this one by Dr. Wren. He is in less hurry than his
rivals; for certainly the composition of a scheme on which to rebuild the lar'^'est
city, then as at present, upon the face of the earth, seems a thin.' which o J'ht
scarcely to be attempted within a week. In due time this plan is presented to the
king. It is then laid before Parliament. I need not remind you that it receives the
preference^ Dr. Wren is formally appointed Deputy Surveyor-General, under poor
Sir .John Denham. and architect for the control of the new city.
The merits of Wren's plan were very clear. It was based upon a simple idea of
redistribution, with converging lines laid out to suit old tracks of traffic parish
churches at the prominent angles, and the Cathedral and the Exclian^-e placed
centrally. There seems to have been little straining at effect ; and even now the
arrangements are often quoted as those of common sense practicability. When more
Utopian schemes were set aside it was found that public and parliamentary opinion
took two distinct lines of opposition to the plan, and no more. One of these stood
upon the inviolability of property and claimed the old streets, the whole of the old
streets, and nothing but the old streets, with brick instead of timber for bulldlii"-
and no more ; the other proposed a compromise between this and the plan of Dr!
Wren, new streets on the old lines, widened and improved as far as possible, but
nothing beyond this. The project of the great architect, as we all know
was never carried out; and the denunciation of city meanness and
city obliquity of vision has not ceased since that day. Hut I venture
to ask fair plav even for the city. To exhibit an admirable plan ot the sort of
Wren's is one thing, and, no doubt, a very great achievement ; but if law is to be
law, and property property, to realize it in bricks and mortar, and to satisfy all inte-
rests concerned, is quite another thing. Imagine the case in practice. What a
wilderness of purchases with consent and 'without consent ; repurchases, sales and
compensation cases ; friendly references and decidedly unlVieiidly references •
questions of law and of equity, and of fact and of custom : of freehold and leasehold'
and copyhold and nohohl ; injunctions in Chancery and motions to set aside aii
award ; and all the lawyers and surveyors in the country hard at work— what a pic-
ture of professional felicity ! The happy hunting grounds of law and valuation cer-
tainly could not lie beyond this! In .short. Wren's pl.an of London, like many another
admirable scheme, sank of its own weight into the abysses of the impossible.
The old cathedral of >St. Paul was, of course, surveyed once more— fliirveyed
indeed, and resurveyed for several years. Whether the considerations were econo-
mical or arcli.-cological I cannot affirm ; but people could not agree to pull it down.
I fear they were chiefly economical, for the expression used to signify the process
advocated by the upholders of the fabric is not restoration or anything of the sort
but patching. Wren had at the first advised the building of an entirely new edifice ■'
but the patching party carried their opinion for a long time, and no donbt consider-
able sums of money were expended accordingly during two years ; hut at length
part of the edifice actually falling to the ground. Dr. Wren was sent for and the
intention determined upon to rebuild the cathedral on a grand scale. But the ad-
herents of reparation were not even yet defeated ; although the king's government
had ordered the pulling down of the ruins the matter was still debated, and it was
not until 107:), seven years after the fire, that designs were ordered for the new
edifice. Sir Christopher Wren (as he had now become) was appointed architect of
the work, and one of the Commissioners for the management of it His salary by-
thebye, was £200 a-year,. equal to perhaps £500 of our money. The foundation
stone of the present St. Paul's was laid two years .afterwards, on June 1, 1«75 The
age of the architect was now forty-three years.
418
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 17, 1861.
I have Ted the wny for Newton's ^reat discoveries of some twenty years later. In
ir-', the year ot Dr. Wren's kniglithood, Newton wns elected F.I!..«. It was only
Meanwhile, we had attained to the name of S-ur\eyor-General by the resl^niiitiou
of D«nb*in in liiss. He also found himself employed by all the chief authorities in
the kingdom. The churches of London were placed in his hands, with a salary of
£10(ia-ye*r l"p to the date of the commencement of St. Paul's he had bcirun the
bolldiDKOf the London Custom House, the Kxchansc, Temple Bar, the Monnment,
St. Mary-le-ltow. St. Stephen's, Walbrook, and various wortsoi less note, audmauy
of them he had brou;,'ht to a conclusion. , , , ., ,
The seienlific j-osiiion of our still learned and active philosopher must not be for-
sotten «11 this time. He continued to be one of the most prominent members of the
Roval Society. His theories of motion attracted much attention and are considered
toh '
in the folfowinj;: year that the architect of the proposed new cathedral was obliged,
by press of business, to resign his professorship of Astronomv at Oxford. The next
year. ION. made him ^'ice-l'fesident of the Koyal Society. >\'e may also anticipate
r. little, and observe that six years afterwards he was elected to the very high honor
of ['resident.
I do not know that we ought to overlook the private affairs of our hero. It was
not till the third year of his knighthood that the philosopher permitted himself to
niarry. The poor lady soon left him a widower, and he married again. His first
wife was the daughter of a Sir John Coghill ; his second, of Lord Lifford. It is thus
rendered plain. I herefore, if it had not been so before, that the world looked upon
him to be a gentleman of social consequence, not only as philosopher and artist, out
probably much more as sou of a Dean of Windsor and nephew of a famous bishop.
We do not depreciate his merits if we bear in mind the ways of the world. If he had
been the son, not of a quiet dean, but of some powerful roundhead preacher, and the
nephew of a grim old Ironsides instead of a persecuting bishop who made East
Anglians face the Kast in spite of their teeth, St. Paul's and the city churches might
have been the work of some Sir John Denham, and their graceless faQades and shape-
less towers we might now dismiss with less regret.
I do not propose to enter upon any artistic criticism of the works of Sir Christopher
Wren. These have their faults, and oftentimes those faults are grave ; but to him
who scrutinises, however severely what mav be called the makeshifts of St. Tanl's,
say the double dome and the screen walls of the nave,— one thing must always be
apparent, — that these are at least the makeshifts of marvellous ingenuity, and still
greater artistic power. They are falsities it Is true, but they are those of a master
mind. They are no common vulgar fibs, but great grand lies of genius.
From the commencement of St. Paul's the professional engagements of Sir Chris-
topher Wren were incessant till he reached old age. The numerous churches of the
City; Greenwich Hospital, Chelsea Hospital, the College ot Physicians, and other
works, and. above all the stupendous structure in the midst, carried him through a
period of altogether 47 years' practice, to the year 1710. In that year, being of the
age of 78, he laid, by the hand of his son, the highest stone of the lantern of St.
Paul's, no doubt with heartfelt joy. We can fancy the venerable little gentleman,
drawn np in a chair, as was his custom, to the giddy summit, casting a thoughtful
glance aronnd upon the city below, and far backward into time— a proud glance too
in its thoughtfulness, — for he remembered a waste of smoking ruins where stood
that forest of ji^raceful spires, and he remembered too the echo of a voutliful voice in
Gresham College lon^j ago — the voice of a "rare and early prodigy of universal
science," people used kindly to say, and, humble and retiring and gentle little man as
he was, there was, nevertheless, a whisper in his ear that he had done well I
The building of St. I'auPs. of 3.=i years' duration, led the architect through various
political vicissitudes, past the pitiable death of Charles II., and through the brief
reign of the unlovely James ; it witnessed the Kevolution and the reign of William
and JIary ; and it closed in the days of Queen Anne. When a new and foreign king
brought new and somewhat foreign times, there arose some petty disputes, with a
little pamphleteering and the like, which .vexed him, because he had grown old and
infirm, and had not perhaps the vigour in him with which a certain old uncle of his in
long bygone days would have handled such enemies. The government committed the
e^egious folly of dismissing him from the office of Surveyor General at the age of
86 years, in favor of one Benson, a court favorite ; it would have been only good
policy to retain the name of so eminent an officer, lor the few more years he had to
live, among the servants of the Crown. It is with very natural satisfaction, therefore,
that 1 notice the fact that Benson within one short year fell into terible disgrace, and
made his friends repent bitterly of their bargain.
The Parliament of KiKt, in the reign of James, numbered amongst its members Sir
Christopher Wren, then about 5f> years of age ; he sat for IMympton, in Devonshire.
After the revolution he was elected for New Windsor. In 1700 again we find him
sitting for Weymouth. His parliamentary career therefore e.vtends over twenty
years or more. He seems to have aimed at nothing of a political kind.
After bis ungracious treatment by the government, the aged architect retired to his
house at Hampton Court. He came to London occasionally to inspect the repairs of
Westminster Abbey, of which he held the office of surveyor till his death. Once a
year he was carried to St. Paul's, just to look at it again before he died. He still pur-
sued his studies in science, and no doubt often talked with the pardonable garrulity
of age of the difference of men's ways and opinions since the days, seventy years ago
and more, when he used to busy himself about his peuiia duplex and his weather
clocks, and his microgranhia, and we may fancy that we hear the little old gentle-
man still laugh pleasantly when he remembers bis transfusion of the good strong
ale into the veins of the unoffending Piucher, till he became as drunk, sir, as a lord.
And when they led him to discourse upon the art by which he had attained to such
high eminence, and, perhaps, would sometimes hint, as many of us may do when
we reckon up the matter, that if he had left art to other men, what might he not
have done in science : W'e can fancy him bowing to the compliment, as modesty
disclaimed it, but glorying rather in the destiny which had enabled him to give his
native country so many objects of just pride. "For architecture has its pohtical
use," are his own words, "public buildings being the ornament of a country ; it
establishes a nation, draws people and commerce, makes the people love their native
country, which passion is the origin of all great actions in a commonwealth."
He lived at Hampton Court for five more years of extreme age. till at length he
was'yi. His annual visit to St. Paul's was a great delight, the building of such a
work being, in the words of "Walpole, " an event which one cannot wonder left such
an impression of content on the mind of the good old man that It seemed to recall
a memory almost deadened to every other use."
At last one day, the 25th of February, 17'J3. on the occasion of a visit to London,
resting at his house in St. James's-street, he dined, and, as his custom was, went to
■leep in his chair. He slept longer than was usual. An attentive servant came to
*** 't*li ""' "'■"• "'^ '""' fa'''" asleep— pleasantly asleep— for ever. His body
JJJ* ■'''",?*' '" peace, and, as was meet, in splendor, in the silent crypt of St. Paul's.
They built him no monument, for he had built his own. Thev put up this simple
record, more majestic in its slmpUcity than would be the oratory of Cicero upon
the marble of Chantrey j they put up this simple record of plain English truth :
"Beneath is laid the builder of this Church and City, Christopher Wren, who lived
above ninety years, not for himself but for the public good. Keadcr, if thou seekest
bis monument, look around."
The Chairman said it became his exceedingly nieasing task to call upon the
meeting to return their warm and hearty thanks to Mr. Kerr for the paper he had
delivered that night, and which he thought was the best that had been delivered
within those walls.— (Applause^. To himself the lecture was most gratifying, lor he
bad had to travel over the same ground traversed by Mr. Kerr, having some time ago
been engaged in writing a biography of Wren for the " Kncyclopjcdia Britannica."
The Chairman then proceeded to remark that though at the time of Wren all the
traditions of the Gothic were forgotten, yet they could not look at St. Michael's,
Comhill without seeing that a notion of the picturesquencss of Gothic architecture
WM in the eyes of M ren. The defects of St. Paul's were forced on the architect by
Jame> the Second, the original plan being superlorto that of the present building,
"nd the alterations made upon it caused the architect muc i grief. He stated as a
ingular thingthat lately Mr. Scott pointed out to him in Westmiusler Abbey what
appeared to be a screen wall. They must, therefore, not judge of architects too closely
by what thev saw.
The vote of thanks was carried by acclamation, and the meeting separated.
LECTUUr.S AT THE ARCHITECTCIIAL E.VniBITION.
111.— KOMA>"ESQUE AKCIHTECTL'KE.
A LECTURE was delivered in the Great Gallery of the Architectural Exhibition,
Conduit-street, Kegent-street, on Tuesday evening, before a iinraeroua
audience, by Mr. Edward A. Freeman, on " liomanosijue Aichitecture." The
chair was occupied by Mr. W. IU'RUES, who introduced the lecturer as a gentleman
who was well known for his acquaintance witli the art and literature of the twelfth
century.
ilr. Freeman said he had just returned from a tour in Normandy, examining the
Romanesque arehitecture in that country, and since his return he "had been looking
at several Romanesque buildings in England, so that he had not had time to write
his lecture. By Romanesque architecture lie meant Romanesque in tlie common
meaning of the word, the meaning which was almost universally accepted, the
meaning being those styles, whether in England, France, or other parts of Europe,
which were on Roman models ; the architecture had ceased to be Roman, as I,atin had
ceased to be the language spoken by the Romans, but it still retained the old Roman
features. .Just as French came nearer to the old Uoinan language than the English,
and the Italian language came much nearer to the old Roman model, the Latin
language ; so tbe Romanesque of England was less classical than that of France, and
so that of France was less classical than that of Italy. The English conquests had
destroyed most of tiic Roman models, consequently our Romanesque departed much
further from Roman models than that of southiTn countries. But still in all the
remains there was a reliance on the Roman models. The outward sign of the style
was the round arch, as the pointed arch was the outward sign of the Gothic. The
round arch was suited to all forms of Romanesque architecture ; the round arch
was the essential form of the Romanesque, and the j)ointed arch was tlie essential form
of Gothic. Of course that left out of sight the Saracen buildings, and what might
be called the Christian Saracenic buildings of Sicily. He used the term Romanesque
to mean what was derived from Roman architecture. Latterly he had seen an
attempt made in some books to confound the round arch and the pointed arch. He
used the word Romanesque in the old sense, and looked at the pointed arch as
Gotliic. The Romanesque style seemed to be a very grand style, and it h.nd all the
characteristics of a pure style of architecture no less than the Grecian or the Gothic. He
said Romanesque rather than Roman, because he held that some of the Roman archi-
tects were the worst in the world, while they were tlie best builders ; and it was not
in an actual Roman building they were to seek for the perfect round arch style. The
first time they found the pure round arch was in the case of Diocletian's palace.
That was the first time of getting the pure good round arch style, and aa
Romanesque went on it developed several characters, which in each country were in
some respects different. All modern Romanes(iue seemed to him to be absurd. A
modern Gothic building pleased as much as an ancient Gothic building, but a modern
Komanesque building always seemed to him to be ridiculous. In the thirteenth
century, when Gothic architecture began to spring to perfection, sculpture was also
attaining remarkable excellence. After some further remarks on this subject, the
lecturer said the proper course to be pursued in Italy would be for any modern
building to be taken back to the pure and beautiful and glorious Romanesque archi-
tecture of the country, though that would not suit those who lived in Northern
Europe. He was goihir to speak chiefly of England and Normandy, and of what
they might learn of English and Norman examples of the eleventh and twelfth
centuries. He liad been engaged in some little controversy as to the existence of
Romanesque in the eleventh century, and his visit to Normandy was chiefly to visit
the great buildings and see whether they threw any light on the subject. A question
had been started as to the date of Waltham Abbey, and a controversy had arisen
upon it and been carried on in the Gentleman's 3/ar/aiine, and sometimes in other
places. He never said and did not now assert, that the present nave oi W'altham
Abbey was the work of Harold, and of the date of lOfiO ; all he said was that there
was a strong presumption in favor of that till some definite proof was brought the
other way, and no such definite proof had been brought. I'licy knew that certain
repairs were done to Waltliam Abbey in 1170 or thereabouts. Architectural evidence
was a mere deduction from historical evidence and nothing more. Suppose he went into
Waltham Abbey, and found a church was consecrated there in loao, and found a late
Perpendicular church there, he should not think that the late Perpendicular church
was built in lOfiO. To make out a late Perpendicular church to have been built in the
eleventh century would have upset the history of all other Perpendicular churches.
When they once developed a system of architectural evidence from historical evi-
dence, they compared that with the evidence of other buildings. Then there was a
third form of evidence, and that was constructive evidence, the evidence of tho
masonry, which could not lie. The historian might lie, or people might be wrong in
their inferences, but the stones were not fallible. If he saw a Perpendicular wall
built up against a Norman wall, constructive evidence proved it was later than tho
Norman wall, but the question was how much later ? There were one or two current
mistakes in respect to this matter. First of all there was that bugbear the word
Saxon, which he wanted to get rid of in history as well as architecture. For what
reason they called the people who came here between the fifth and the eleventh cen-
turies Saxons he could not understand. The Saxons gave the name to some por-
tions of the kingdom, but the name of the united nation was English or Anglo-
Saxons, and the word Saxon was not applied a thousand years ago to the people ot
this country, but the name was English. People fancied that those Saxons were
totally different from the people that came after them, as if the six hundred years
between the time of the Saxons coming and the Norman Conquest was nothing at
all but a blank. He did not think there was anybody so ignorant as to suppose that
those six hundred years were only one moment of time, but vague notions of that
sort did influence people's minds. Let them put away that word Sa.xon. He had
been told that he was maintaining a Saxon theory because he said Waltham Abbey
was a building of lOCO. He maintained nothing of the sort. But go over to Nor-
mandy—there were no Saxons in Normandy at all events -and that sort of error did
not exist there. Go to Normandy, and see what the early Romanesque of Normandy
was, and see in what way it differed from the Romanesque architecture of England.
He took with liim on his way to Normandy Dr. Whewell's " German Churches," aud
looked through all those parts of the book which bore upon what he saw. The
lecturer stated that shortly after his landing he visited two churches, of which he
made drawings. (The drawings of these and a great number of other sketches and
drawings were handed round the gallery.) The lecturer then proceeded to refer to
the two great abbey churches of Jumieges and St. (i<'orgc, Boacherville. The doctrine
which he contended against was, that nothing like rich work could be done in the
eleventh century. Why not » He could not understand why the objection should be
raised. Harold built a church on his own property, out of his own muniflcence, and
for the celebration of the service of his day. There were two great abbeys in Nor-
mandy, one of which, Jumieges, was consecrated on July 1st, 10(i7, which proved that
at least the choir, if not the nave, was then finished. We were sometimes told that
the nave was never finished ; now, he believed that the nave was finished, or left un-
finished, according to circumstances. Canterbury Cathedral was built by Langfranc,
who built the tower, choir, and nave In seven years, according to the historian of the
time. The Norman choir of Jumieges was gone, as well as some other parts ot the
building. They were told that early Norman was always plain, because Jumieges
was plain. They found a very plain Norman nave ; but he found that St.
George, Boscherville, which was founded about lO.'iU, and finished in 10S7, was
as rich as Jumieges was plain ; there were capitals of every kind of
richness, and the latter part was actually plainer than the earlier part. After making
some quotations from Dr. W'hewcU in favor of his theory, the Lecturer said he had
May 17, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
419
simply g:onc over a;:riiin the fjround of Pr. WliewcU, so that with such an authority'
he was not of opinion that he was supportluf; anytliinp: very paradoxical in thinlc-
ing there inialit liave been a certain amount of ornament in the eleventh century.
He felt convinced that very plain and early capitals were made plain so that they
mif^ht afterwards be can'ed in more elaborate and richer forms. Then he might bo told
that that was not intended. But how did any man know that tliat was not intended!?
It was a mere assertion without any proof that those plain capitals were intended to
remain plain. We use the cushion capital in our Norman ; it ran throne;!! the whole
style ; but in Normandy it was not so, it was a sort of rude Ionic capital, and we use
a sort of round pillar which he liad not seen in Normandy. Now, he thoufrht those
capitals were made so as to be carved more richly afterwards, lie next referred to
the CTcat abbey of .St. Stephen, at Caen, whieli was consecrated in 1077. Sometime
late m tlie twelfth century some considerable alterations were made in the building:,
the towers bein<f raised, and the present clerestory windows displacing the earlier
ones. There were several things in .St. Stephen's, Caen, which showed that a stoppage
of the works had taken place at diiferent times, but still there was no dilTereuce of
style. And, to the utter confusion of planiuess being essential to that age, the plain
works of the windows ot this church were not the oldest feature of tlie church, but the
later. The windows were not so old as some other things in the building that were
not 80 plain. So that that example alone sufficed to upset the doctrine of plainness
being essential to tlie antiquity of the style in question, and richness the reverse.
Looking tlirougli all the Great Norman churches, the twelfth century churches, they
would lind tliat they wereoften plain, but not always so. He must say a few words
about the great church of Cerisy, which was finished by WilUam the Conqueror,
and commenced by his father Kobert the Devil. That on the whole was a plain
church, but there were ornaments here and there. The lecturer then referred to the
church of Lisieux, in which were round arclies in the west front, and to the abbey of
Vernay, of 1030, in which were to be found bits of ornament ; the latter was a very
«urioHS church. There was one point on wliich he should like to say a few words.
He had been told to look at the masonry, and he had done so. The early masonry
was wide-jointed, and the late iine-jointed, but there were exceptions. There was
no doubt that all the early Norman churches were wide-jointed. He was told that
Waltham could not be what he thought it was because it had the fine masonry. Well,
he ran down to Waltham the previous evening, and in some parts of the church— all
parts were not alike— but in some parts of the church the masonry was as wide as the
joints of the masonry at Caen. It could not, therefore, be said that Waltham was late
because it had the line joints. Again, it was said that there could be no rich work
in the twelfth century, because the chisel was not in use. But it was a mere dream
to make such a statement, inasmuch as it was not supported by history. The
lecturer then referred to some other buildings of the period, in which were plain-
ness and ornament, including Beauvais, built in Wl, supposed by some to have been
originally a lioman basilica, and which had ornaments upon it. And he saw no
absurdity in the notion that a man might, in flBl execute a very small piece of
ornament as well as a man two or three hundred years later. Whether or not they
thought he (Mr. Freem.an) was justified in supposing there could have been works of
this sort with ornament so early as the eleventh century, he was of opinion that he
was not very extravagant in saying so. Supposing he made out Waltham to be some
fifty or sixty years earlier than might be thought, was he doing anything more than
Professor Willis did the other day at Gloucester, in showing that the Early Perpen-
.dicidar work was at least fifty years earlier than most persons would have thought
by looking at them ; or than;Mr. Parker who had similarly shown that a building
was of an earlier date than was generally supposed. After all, Waltham Abbey was
"not a very rich building ; it was very plain in many parts.
On the motion of the Chairman, a vote of thanks was passed by acclamation to
the lecturer, and the meeting separated.
THE ARCHITECTURAL EXHIBITION.*
FOREMOST among tlie works exhibited this year as specimens of architectural
drawing, are Nos. 267 to '271, by Mr. Thomas Henry Watson. Doubly
welcome just now when architects appear to be in great danger of falling into a
■would-be artistic style of delineation, in wliich accuracy is sacrificed to an
affected boldness of execution, they serve at once to show an advantage deriv-
able from academical study, and to lead to the hope that careful drawing may
yet again come into fashion and supplant the thick indefinite mode now so much
in favor. Mr. Watson's contribution consists of five drawings of the Morning
Chapel of St. Paul's Cathedral, drawn firom actual admeasurement, and which
obtained the silver medal of the Royal Academy at the last distribution of prizes.
Our younger readers will do well to spend an hour in a close examination of these
admirable drawings.
No. 272, " A north-oast view of the Malvern Link Hotel," now being erected
under the superin tendence of Mr. Elmslie, has some advantages over No. 73 by the
same architect. Flat, semicircular, and pointed arches are variously shown over
the windows. With some alteration to the tower, the various features, as grouped
would present an effective outline.
The north-west view (273), as the result of greater simplicity, is by far the
most satisfactory drawing and design.
No. 27G, by Mr. James Edmeston, a " first sketch " for houses for poor aged
merchants' clerks, or their widows, about to be erected at Muswell Hill, by
Sladame ITzielli, in memory of the late Matthew Uzielli, will, with some revision
of the end chimney-shaft and the gables, result in a very good design. A verandah
or covered arcade runs along the front of the houses.
No. 277 " A view of the Interior of St. John the Baptist, Meopham, Kent," as
recently restored by Mr. F. G. Lee, leads to the wish that it hacl been rebuilt.
Messrs. Hooker and Wheeler's Cemetery Chapel ( No. 278), is a compact, well-
arranged design, exhibiting, perhaps, an excess of spire.
No. 279, by Mr. Herring, a residence now being erected at Kensington Palace
Gardens, is of red brick, in the Italian style, the brick pilasters have projectiufj
■panels of the same material, the caps and bases being of stone.
In No. 280, Bedminster Vicarage, Dorset, and Braddou Rectory, Northamp-
tonshire, by Mr. W. White, appear to have been designed mainly with the view
of producing irregularity of outline.
Mr. E. I'Anson (281) sends a large sketch of the Castle of Chenonceanx
Tourain, which shows much of the interesting work of that structure.
No. 283. Interiorof a Roman Catholic Cemetery (Chapel), by Mr. J. P. Jones,
lias an arcade some six feet from the ground, filled in with paintings; the
shafts are of coloured marbles. No. 284, "Schools to be erected," is also by
Mr. Jones.
Mr. J. Giles' drawing of a Grammar School and Residence (285) shows a more
curious than commendable combination in the principal window; in the gable
some features are however good.
Nos. 28G and 373. View of the tran.sept looking south, St. Mary Rcdcliffe,
Bristol, and the Lady Chapel, Bristol Cathedral, want better treatment of light
and shade; the color, too, somewhat wa-shy and weak, does not impress us with
its truthtnliiess. Mr. Rogers may well leave color alone while he can produce
SUCH drawings .is we find him executing in 293. The tomb of Sir Thomas Mede,
• Ccntinucd from page 394.
Uedcliffe Church. Executed with the pen, the drawing shows the greatest care
and perseverance.
Mr. Brangwyn shows in 287 a sketch of the Church at Ramsey, I»le of Man,
it has a good tower, not, however, well placed, and somewhat weak in effect.
No. 288 " Design for a Drinking Fountain," by Mr. W. G. Smith, shows a
miniature mountain of artificial rockwork, with plants, apparently to be executed
in metal, growing out of the crevices, from some of which the water is shown to
issue, this composition is elevated on shafts, and sheltered with an elaborate
metal canopy raised high on columns. The canopy itself has some good features,
but the rest of the design is in conception positively vicious.
No. 291 contains " Photographs of a IVirtion of the Series of Cartoons for Eton
College Chapel Windows," executed in stained glass, by Messrs. O'Connor. The
attitude of Samuel and the drawing of Adam is the least satisfactory.
No. 292 by Mr. J. P. Jones, an " Interior View of the Roman Catholic Church
of St. Thomas, County Cork," shows an apsidal chancel ; a trifbrium would much
improve the nave, which wants height ; the capitals, if coiTcctly drawn, are not
good.
Mr. Griffith's " Stabling and Terraces, New Finchley -road, Hampstead," (294)
do not show any striking merits or defects.
Nos. 296 and 297, exhibited by Mr. Brewer, who, as mentioned above, executed
the " Drawings of the Church at Lanark," show the High .\.ltar and the Font
in the same Church, the altar has a canopy supported by four angels, the up-
lifted arm of the foremost being sadly out of drawing ; both drawings, pen and
ink, are very artistic, but leave much to the imagination.
No. 298, by Mr. Beazley, is a competition design for a " Church at Tor,
Devonshire," the most striking features are diminutive shafts supporting the
large arches. The arrangement of light and shade requires explanation to be
intelligible.
No. 301, Mr. Pliipp's design for " Mechanics' Institute at Leeds," has the
doorways by far too insignificant ; the roof is of most unplcasing design, and is
in no way assisted by the tame, unbroken parapet.
The designs for the " Clock Tower at Hereford," unlike most of the other
competition drawings, are hung together at the end of the great gallery; a
similar rule should always be observed when more than one design for the same
building is exhibited. Among the eleven sent, it is impossible to point to any one
that would be satisfactory in execution. No. 299, by Mr. Lewes, is a plain
square structure of red and yellow bricks, in bands of equal height, terminated
by a Iialcony supported on deep corbelling. No. 300, a design in the Pointed
style, and, perhaps, the best, is by Mr. F. Rogers. 302, by Messrs. Ainslie and
Blashill, is more successful in the upper portion. 303, by Mr. Bassett Keeling,
we have before noticed. 304, by Mr. Beazley, of red and black bricks, Bath
stone, and marbles, is spoiled by the garden bordering placed on the top. 305,
another design by Mr. Beazley, for which similar materials are proposed, is an
indifferent gateway estimated to cost £450. 308, one of the best drawn, as well
as the least eccentric, is by Mr. J. Johnson; it is in the Pointed style, and is
terminated with a spire. 306 and 307, of red brick, are by Mr. Mileham. 307 is
simply unbearable, without plinth or base of any kind, and it appears to have
sunk into the ground. The surrounding houses are more like toys than veritable
habitations. Such productions as this and No. 310 should not be exhibited at
all ; damaging to the author, such works only provoke ridicule. No. 309, by
Messrs. Sykes and West, shows an elevation, view, section, and five plans of
Gothic design ; the elevation and view do not correspond as regards the height of
some portions, particularly the bell chamber. It is curious that, with one feeble
exception, none of the competitors seem to have attempted the introduction of a
canopy over the clock face, a feature which has utility in its favor, and, as we
often find on the continent, is susceptible of very effective treatment.
Over the door to the Great Gallery Messrs. Heaton and Butler exhibit two
cartoons of designs for the side windows in the chancel of St. James's Church,
Dover, and two designs for stained glass composed of thirteenth and fourtcentli
century heraldry.
The central cartoon (313), showing the first of a series of frescoes intended to
be painted in a church in Lancashire, dedicated to St. Alban, illustrating the
principal events of his life, by Mr. C. J. Lea, requires further study. St. Alban,
represented as a fair, smooth-faced boy, with the arms of a girl, has legs with
the bone and muscle of an ideal Roman warrior. There is little in St. Alban's
face of " astonishment or delight," and less appearance of the " warm embrace."
Tlie drapery of the monk is very inartistically arranged, and his feet are as tin-
satisfactory. In fact, the entire design should be reconsidered.
Passing now to the screens, No. 319 is a frame containing seven sketches of
subjects, part of the decoration of the Seven Dolors, St. Francif' Church, Notting-
hill. In execution the size is 6 feet by 5 feet 6 inches each. Several of the sub-
jects display invention and good drawing, but the designs are rather unequaL
The drapery of the figure of Christ bearing the cross, for example, is Iiadly
arranged, and unlike woven stuff of any kiud. Mr. N. H. J. Westlake is the
No. 320, the " Altar-table for St. John's Church, Paddington," by Mr. John
Norton, shown in a colored photograph, is good in design, but bears too much
resemblance to a large oak chest.
Nos. 321 and 326 show designs by Mr. Edmund Seddinn;, for various articles of
cliurch furniture, comprising a processional cross, vase for flowers, cruets for
wine and water, with handles to be looked at only, and a precentor's staff— of
which the head, to be of silver gilt, enamel, and precious stones, is well designed.
No. 322 is a very careful and complete drawing of a brass lectern at San Stefano,
Venice, by Mr. John Hebb.
Messrs. Lavers and Barraud, of Endell-street, send thirteen photographs of
designs for stained glass (325), including the east windows of Landlord Church,
Wilts, and of Wimbledon Church.
No. 327, a photograph of a portion of the basso-rellevM to be placed in St.
Paul's Cathedral, as part of the Wellington monument, by Mr. Woodington, is
designed in the right spirit, but leads us to wonder why "The meeting of Abra-
ham and Melchizedec " should form part of a monument to the Duke of Wel-
lington.
No. 328, by Messrs. Clayton and Bell, is a photograph of " St. George," firom
the monument in the Broad Sanctuary.
We find another example of sculptured work in No. 329, by Phyffers, some-
what stiff, but apparently unfinished. It forms part of a monument erected in
St. Mary's Chapel, Hanipstead, by Messrs. Willson and Niclioll. The design
for an organ (330) for Messrs. Bevington, by Mr. Sedding, is too crude in color,
on which it is mainly dependent for effect.
420
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 17, 1861.
No. 331. " A Design for the Mancliester Assize Courts," by Mr. Bateman, is
Terv effectively drawii, and the composition of tlie end features admirably treated
as regards design. Tlie main front, however, shows the wings and centre too
mucii alike in general form and dimensions.
Mr. MUeliam sends liis " Oomiwtitiou Designs for tlie Chnreh at Ramsay, Isle
of Man," shown in Xos. 3*2 anil XU. The nave piers seem to be about 6 feet
in height. The tower is not well placed in the position shown. The nave is 33
Ifeet by 22 feet 6 inches, the aisles being 9 feet wide.
One of the first drawings in the catalogue. No. 5, is Mr. Blomfield's
"Design for the Godolphin School, Hammersmith." After examining nearly
the whole of the drawings in the room, we find in No. 335 ! a plan of the
school, and in 343 ! ! two elevations. There are two school-rooms 95 feet by
24 feet, and 75 feet by 34 feet. The plan appears to he well arranged, but
the necesity of hastening to the end of our present task does not now allow
OS to examine it with the care we should have wished.
No. 23:!. A collection of photographs taken from various works executed by
Thomas Earp, comprise fonts, tombstones and crosses, pulpits, reredos, figure
sculpture, capitals, &c., apparently for the most part well carved.
No 33(i. A photograph of a drawing, showing, as Mr. Norton briefly informs
us in the catalogue, Frampton Cotterell Church.
Mr. Goodman's "Sketches for Churches at Swansea and the Isle of Man"
(337). 338 show some good points, as does also No. 339, " Engine-house near
Eastbourne," by Mr. E. Adams.
We have omitted to notice in their regular order as exhibited on the walls.
No. 294, Mr. C. F. Hayward's " Sketches in Italy," made in 1854. They are
vigoronsly drawn, and moreover possess the high merit of truthfulness.
No. 200, " Unitarian Church and Schools," now in course of erection over the
canal, Broad-street, Birmingham, by Mr. Bateman, which has the nearly always
effective arrangement of gables over the aisle windows, the spire is somewhat
elongated, and the west window hardly of sufficient importance ; a small plan
and section shows the arched construction over the canal on which the church is
built.
No. 202, a design for the " Hartley Institution," as seen from the High-street,
by Mr. Edis, is injured liy the large Gothic windows, which much reduce the ap-
parent size of the building — whicli would scarcely have looked well in execution
— and
No. 203, by Messrs. Stevens and Robinson, "Trinity Church, Shanghai,
China." The walls of brick, coveretl with the colored cement of the country, show
the almost invariable result of the use of that material — the quick decay ofwood-
vork in China led to the introduction of iron in the construction of roofs.*
THE BUILDING MATERIALS, PATENTS, INTENTIONS, MANU-
FACTURES, &C.
No. 214, " Davis's Patent Marmolite," said to be "indestructible," is offered
to notice as being adapted for interaal and external decorations, street and fire-
plug tablets, railway notices, mural and window tablets, shop fas(;ias, &c. The
material is capable of direct application and adhesion to the rough wall. Every
description ofplain and decorative coloring, floral and figure painting, silvering,
and gilding, can be executed by this process, and, it is said, permanently pre-
served— a statement there seems no reason to doubt, within certain limits. A
considerable extension ef the employment of this material would seem to depend
chiefly on a moderate cost and good workmanship.
No. 215. Specimens and models of stamped ornaments in the well-known zinc
of the Vielle Montagne Company, leads to the question whether the introduc-
tion of stone forms in the material exhibited be desirable. It would seem to
offer advantages in certain cases, but should be designed in forms more appro-
priate to the material.
No. 21(J. Specimens of oil paintings on glass, by G. Homer, must be better
executed to be of much use for near situations. The mode in which the work
must necessarily be executed would seem to fetter the artist.
No, 227. Messrs. Cox and Son show some good specimens of their machine-
carving, which, when finished, do not show the slightest evidence of having
been worked otherwise than by hand, as in point of fact they are, the work
being simply roughed out with great accuracy and precision by the machine, and
the finishing and minute details executed by the hand labor of art-workmen;
great economy of time, and consequently cost, is the result. A Caen stone font
(decorated) with columns of rouge royal, serpentine, Irish green, &c., and
alabaster caps and bases, has carvcii labels and tracery on a diaper gTound, with
a foliated band ; eight angels surrounding the bowl, hold a ribbon on which is an
inscription. The cover should be repainted or removed. The specimens include
a portion of the carvings tised in an oak gallery erected for the Marquis of
Northampton, at Compton Wynniattes, by Mr. Digby Wyatt; coroase, gas
standards, altar-rails, pulpit- desks, lights, branches, &c. Messrs. Cox and Bon
Snblish a good catalogue of church furniture. On the opposite side of the gallery,
lessrs. Johnston Brothers, of High llolboni, show specimens of medieval brass-
work, coronae, alms-boxes, reading-desks, font covers, &c. Several are marked
as having been designed by Mr. Truefltt. The execution of nearly all the
examples Ls satisfactory.
Distributed around the galleries arc several works yet remaining to be noticed.
On the pilaster, near the last exhibitor, is 199, a "Statue of St. John the
Evangelist," Irom the stone by Swales and Grassby. Tlie figure, on a foliated
■tone bracket, has good points and is well carved.
No. 138, in the centre of the first room, is a working model of a font, full size,
now being carved in statuary marble by J. Forsyth, for Witley church, from
desinis by Mr. S. W. Daukes. Three angels are gracefully grouped round the
bowl; the ornament on the sides of the latter Is the least satisfactory portion of
the design. The oak cover, carrying a figure at the top, is excellent both in
design and execution.
Facing the door to the great gallery is an eagle lectern, by Benham and Sons.
The workmanship of the brass eagle Is not often surpassed.
No. 22, " Moon's Improved Register Chimney Door," fixed independent of
the stove, is closed by a sliding plate, which may be partially or entirely closed
when the chimney is not in use ; the price is 10s. 6d. each. The same exhibitor
kows a " Conical Chimney Pot," to check and prevent down draft. Mr. Moon
niggests to architects and builders " that a considerable improvement would be
made in chimney construction, at the upper jiart or shaft, oy more completely
eparatiog the flueg— tliat is, by having it-inch divisions instead of 4-inch, which
• To be eonelnded.
would prevent the flues interfering with each other, so that cowls and other
deformities may be got rid of. A cast-iron hibel plate should be spiked on each
flue. Top sweeping might be adopted by a light stage of iron, attached to the
9-inch division of flues. Every stack of chimneys should have a spare flue for
ventilation from eacli story."
A model of Maryon's Patent Ladder shows the rounds made with a shoulder
let into the inward side of the ladder ^ of an inch, in addition to the round pass-
ing through the side. A ladder would seem less liable to split if thus constructed.
Since the opening of the Exhibition a model of a patent sun-blind has been
sent by Lowther and Co., of Regent-street. The " Helioseene," so named from
its ottering "a perfect shelter from the sun's rays without blinding the view,"
consist of a series of cloth louvres. The price charged is from 2s. to Ss. per foot.
The appearance of the blind is certainly in its iavor, but unfortunately the
working of the model will not lead many to adopt it. We understand that the
greater weight of the full size blind assists the working very materially , however,
that may be, the exhibitors siiould look to it if they wish to do any good in
Conduit-street.
Subsequent to our notices of their works, several exhibitors, including Messrs.
Hood and Ransom have added fresh specimens, the latter to some extent. Our
remarks, too, on the general absence of prices have induced several to see that
their interest is not likely to bo forwarded by the omission, and prices are now
attached to many works, where before tliey were not observed. We have on one
or two occasions referred to some shortcomings in the present exhibition, princi-
pally the non-representation of some important trades. We are in hopes this
will right itself in time; manufacturers cannot long be blind to the desirableness
of such show-rooms for the display of their productions — rooms which certainly
every architect in London, and many others on lecture nights, are sure to visit at
least several times during the season, and equally certain to visit should he desire
to see with the least trouble the various contrivances and materials available for
his use in works contemplated and in progress. We have shown that the
works now exhibited are numerous and important, but when we resume our task
some few months hence we hope to find the number doubled. Recognising as
we do the high value of such a collection to manufacturers and the public, we may
promise our warm support to every improvement in and addition to the Collection
of Building Materials, Patents, Inventions, and Manufactures, in Conduit-street.
CONDUIT, TRINITY ( OLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
¥E this week present our readers, at page 413, with an engraving of the stone
conduit, in the great couit of Trinity College, Cambridge. The name of
the designer of this work docs not appear to be recordeu, and but little is known
of the history of the conduit itself, beyond the fact that it is said to have been
erected earlier than the year 1655. Trinity College, it will be remembered, has
three courts. The old or great court, that in which the subject of our illustra-
tion stands, is of some extent, and irregular on plan, being, on the north side
287 feet, on the south side 256, on the east side 334 feet, and on the west side
325 (eet.
There are many things quite worth a day's visit in Trinity College, whose
charter, by the way, dates 1546. Note, as the guide-books say. Gibbon's carvings
in the chapel.
ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
THE adjourned meeting ofthis body to elect a Tresident for the next year was
held in the rooms, Conduit-street, Regent-street, on Monday evening, when,
we understand, there was but little said on behalf of either of the candidates, the
Fellows having evidently made up their minds as to whom they shonld vote for
before the meeting took place. The chair was occupied by Professor Donaldson.
At tlie close of the ballot the numbers were declared to be as follows :—
Forllr. TiTE, M.l' 06
For Mr. Bekesfokd-Hope 51
Majority for Jlr. Tite 15
Three Fellows did not vote, and three votes were not received, the balloting papers
having been filled up irregularly. There was, it will be seen, avery large attendance
of Fellows ; no less than IM being present at the meeting. The result of the votine
having been auuounccd by tlie Chairman of the evening, Mr. Tite was uuly installea
rresident of tlu; Institute and took the chair accordingly. Mr. Beresford-Hopc grace-
fully congratulated Mr. Tite upon his election, and shortly afterwards the meeting
separated.
♦
THE ARCHITECTURAL MUSEUM.-PRIZES TO ARTIST-WORKMEN, 1862.
THE following competitions are open to all workmen, whether members of the
Architectural Sluseum or not. All competitors will be treated as members of
the Museum, and wilt as such be presented with cards of admission to the whole of
the South Kensington Museum, for the year of 18(W.
In addition to the prizes specified, the Council of the Architectural Museum will
at its discretion award the sum of £1 Is. to specimens showing particular merit,
althougli it be not sulBcient to secure a prize, and, through the liberality of Mr. S. C.
Hall, F.S.A., ten illustrated books will be given, at the discretion of the Council, to
competitors who do not obtain prizes, but whose works are specially meritorious.
These books relate chiefly to the practice of the Fine Arts, and are, independently
of considerable pecuniary worth, highly valuable to artist-workmen.
The prizes offered tliis year considerably exceed in value the sum of £100, and are
therefore sufficient, as the Council hope, to inducethe artist- workmen to compete more
vigorously than in former years for sucli rewards. The Council, would, however,
prefer to hold out as inducements, the honorable distinction of gaining a prize
and the accompanying certificate of merit.
The Council request tliat employers will kindly make known to their workmen
the encouragement offircd by the Architectural Museum, and also give them every
facility to compete for the prizes, and that workmen will themselves communicate
the intelligence to each other, the more especially as the prize specimen will, it Is
hoped, form a worthy contribution towards the International Exhibition of 1882, is
which it is very probable that the most meritorious may be exliibifcd.
',♦ Copies of this paper may be had of fhc .attendant in the Gallery of the
Architectural Museum ; by letter to the Honorary Secretary ; or at the offices
of the Jhiililer., York-Street, Covent-gardcn, and ISuildiny Xeus, Old Boswell-
court, Strand.
A. J. B. BERESFORD-HOPE, President.
GEO. GILBERT SCOTT, Treasurer.
JOSEPH CLARKE, Hon. Sec.
13, Stratford-plocc, W., where communications should be addressed.
May, 1861.
Prises for Stone Cfirvirtff. — The Council of the Architectural Museum offer two
prizes of :C10 lOs. and £5 As. as first and second premiums to the competitors who
shall most successfully design and execute tn high relief a carved stone panel
May 17, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
421
2 feet by 2 feet (outside measureraeut), representing Queen Eleanor watchinjr over
ISdward the I'irst when wounded.
The Council also offer two prizes of £5 5a. and i:l Ss. as first and second
premiums to the competitors who shall most successfully design and execute a
carved and moulded stone capital, suitable for a colunm S) inches in diameter,
showing the best arrangement of hawthorn and ash foliage which may be conven-
tionally rendered.
/'rkis for MmMHiig m CT«y.— The Council of the Architectural Museum offer two
pri2es of £3 ;is. and ^'Z ^s., as first and second premiums to the competitors who shall
most suecessfiUly execute in the Architectural Museum a model from a cast, repre-
senting one of the angelic choir from tlic norlli transept of Westminster Abbey.
The cast to be copied will be placed at the north end of the gallery of the ArclUtec-
tural .Museum, and distinguished by a label and memorandum affixed thereto.
Competitors will be furnished with cards of admission to the Museum for students'
days or evenings, on application to the Honorary fciccretary.
Prices/or W'MhI Carvinf/.—Thc Coun-
cil of the Architectural Museum offer
two prizes of £1U 10s. and £6 5s. as
first and second premiums to the com-
Setitors who shall most successfully
esign and execute, in lime or other
soft wood, a door panel, with pierced
tracery and foliage, of not less than
2 feet by 1 foot 4 inches in extent.
I'rLes/or Metal Work.— the Council
of the Architectural 3Iuseum offer two
prizes of £10 10s. and £(! (is., as first
and second premiums for the com-
petitors who shall most successfully
execute in hammered iron a copy of a
portion of the scroll-work (about 2 feet
6 inches high by 2 feet broad) in St.
Paul's Cathedral. The specimens must
be of the size of the original, but in-
order to give more time for finish, need
only be finished on one side, the re-
maining portion being beaten out but
left unfinished.
Competitors may have the particular
pattern pointed out to them, and
receive permission to prepare drawings
therefrom, by applying to F. C. I'en-
rose, Esq. at the otBce of the Cathe-
dral Surveyor, St. I'aul's Churchyard,
who has kindly offered to render every
assistance.
The Council of the Architectural Museum offer a prize of ;eiO lOs., and Sir Francis
Scott, Bart., a prize of £0 js., as first and second premiums, for the competitors who
shall most successfully design and execute fi wrought-iron door-handle, either
fcrothic or Kenaissance in style, and not less than six inches over.
The ornamental workmanship of any specimen must not interfere with its con-
venient use.
Priie for Painted Glass.— The Council of the Architectural Museum offer a prize
Of £5 6s. for the competitor who shall most successfully design and execute a glass,
roundel or disc, 9 inches in diameter, painted with any floriated design which the
artist- workman may prefer. The texture of the glass and the burning will be taken
into especial consideration.
J'rUt^ for Colored Decoration.— The Committee of the Ecclesiological Society
cfler, through the Council of the Architectural Museum, a prize of £5 5s. for the
competitor who shall most successfully color according to his own judgment a cast
of one of the " angelic choir " in the north transept of Westminster Abbey.
Mr. lieresford-Hope will give £3 3s. in one or more extra prizes, if any other
works appear deserving of reward.
This is being specially a color prize, the same cast for competitive coloration is
g reposed to all the competitors. The candidate mayladopt that medium for applying
18 colors which he prefers, but he is expected to treat the panel as forming a
portion of an architectural composition, and not as a cabinet piece. The original
IS in stone. • °
Casts from this panel will be supplied, on application to the Honorary Secretary
of the Architectural Museum, at 5s. each, at the Sluseum, or by payment of 2s. extra
for packing and case. Duplicate casts will be allowed. The Committee of the
Ecclesiological Society will themselves adjudicate.
All specimens for the color prizes must be sent in by December 2, 1861. See
general conditions.
Prken for portions or the whole of JFbrf-s.— The Council of the Architectural
Museum will award prizes of £1 Is. and upwards, with certificates in cases specially
deserving, for the whole or a portion of any actual work, whether finished or not,
m stone, wood, metal, glass, or color, or for specimens of tracery, flat surface work,
or masonry for mouldings, without ornament of any kind, which may bo tendered
to thcni, anu may appear deserving of the reward. For the sake of convenience in
exhibiting, these specimens should not exceed a size of 2 or 3 square feet, and it
must.be distinctly understood that in this particular competition the artist-workman
must point out the part of the work which he has himself executed with his own
hands and state wbether it be his own idea or not. Unsuccessful competitors
imder this head will not as such enjoy the privilege of members of the JIuseum.
Ocnervl Comhtwn.'i of all the Cmipetitions.—iM specimens sent in competition for
the prizes must be deposited in the Architectural Museum free of cost by the 1st of
January, 18C2 (excepting in the colour competition, where the limit is December 2,
1861), with a mark or motto only attached, accompanied by a letter sealed with a
blank seal, and having on the ouiside the same mark or motto as that attached to the
specimen, and enclosing the name and address of the competitor in full, with those
ofhis employer, if any. The letter to be addressed to "The Honorary Secretary of
the Architectural Museum," and to be marked with the title of the particular com-
petition, thus, "Stone Carving Competition, Color Competition, &c." The speci-
mens will remain the property of the artist-workmen or their employers, and will
DC exhibited in the Architectural Museum, until after the day of the distribution of
the prizes, and such specimens as may be thought especially deserving will be sent
to the International Exhibition of l!<r>2 also. The remaining specimens must after
their exhibition in the Architectural Museum be removed by, and at the expense of
the respective competitors. It must be distinctly understood that the prizes will not
be awarded unless there appear sufficient merit ui any of the specimens to entitle
them to such distinction, and certificates of merit in addition to the prizes will be
given m such cases as may be considered deserving.
■ «.
IMPOKTAJStT DECISION UNDER THE METEOPOLITAN
M_ „_.,^„„ , BUILDINGS ACT.
V>i ii- ' *"<> proprietor of extensive corn and granary stores, known as the
n . ,?/"? "'"""f Warehouse, Kothorhithe, appeared at the Greenwich Police
tjonrtj on Wednesday, to an adjourned summons, at the instance of Mr. Hesketh,
AssiRtaiit District Surveyor, lor non-compliance with the conditions of the Metro-
politan I, uildings Act in additions made to such warehouse.
^\aI: "?."''<'"' ,"?>2 "'" lucst'on to be decided was whether the additions made to the
S2 t '!!'!!'!='• which were very extensive, were to be divided by party walls. The
o„Ki "<• .°?u "? ''"''' '■'''*'''* 15 feet, and the additions thereto comprised 430,000
«v?i^j„!?.;,l^^"L'''^^"''^''E party-walls to be constructed where such additions
exceeaed 216,000 cubic feet. ,
Mr. Honeyman said ho appeared on behalf of the defendant, and protluced a model
of the premises in question. The learned gentleman then observed that the build-
ing was u large warehouse for storing corn and grain, and that it was desirable, for
the purpose of ventilation, that a large open space throughout should exist, but that
the purposes for which the building had been constructed would be entirely destroyed
if party walls had to be erected. In addition to this, it would be an exceedingly
hard case uiion the defendant, the building having taken place underthe supervisron
of Sir. SnooK, the district surveyor, and who had acted according to judgments given
by Mr. Jiurcham and Mr. Arnold, the former in reference to the warehouses of Mr.
AJderman Humphrey, in 18.58, and the latter in reference to the Stag Brewery,
at Pimllco, in 18.0!). These decisions, under the third and fourth rule,
section 27, of the Act, were decisions exactly in point with the case
then before his worship, the Act exempting a building from party walls being neces-
sary when in one occupation, and having separate entrances externally to the
difterent floors or stories. The building of the defendant was divided into five
separate floors, and these floors had no internal communication with each other, and
all were in one occupation. A covered passage, outside the external wall of the old
building, adjoined and ran parallel with it, at tlie eu<l of which was a spiral stair-
case, a door being at each landing and leading to the several floors ; bat no means
existed of getting from one floor to the other internally, and which could not be
gained excepting by returning to the outside and ascending the staircase again, or
descending, as the case might be.
After a lengthened argument/vro and con.
Mr. Maude, in giving his decision, said— This is an information under rule 4, of
section 27, of the Act, for making an addition to a warehouse, containing more than
216,000 cubic feet, without making the requisite party walls. All the facts, at the
first hearing, were agreed upon. It was admitted that the additions, if taken all
together, did contain more than this number, but it was contended, on the part of
the defendant, that under the particular construction of the building the compu-
tation should be made, not from the entire addition, but from each compartment or
story, no. one of which separately contained this cubical content. The argument
on the part of the defendant was founded on this— that tlie term "building" in
the 4th rule must receive its signification from thu definition given in
the 3rd rule ; that tliis warehouse, being a building divided into two or
more tenements, each having a separate entrance and staircase, or at
least a separate entrance from without , each tenement, that is each
separate compartment on the different stories, must be deemed to be a separate
building, and as each one is of less than the allowable cubical content that the Act
has been complied with, and that no further division by walls is requisite. Assuming
for a moment that rule 3 is to govern rule 4 in the case of a warehouse, and that the
term building is to be limited by this definition, I still entertain considerable doubt
whether the particular construction of the building in question brings it within the
qualification sought to be put upon it. The conditiou is that each tenement shall
have a separate entrance and staircase, or a separate entrance from without —
that is.fshall not have a common entrance and staircase, or a common entrance from
without. Now, from the description given of this building, and from the model
shown to me, I cannot but think that the different stories of this building have
a common entrance and staircase, and a common entrance from without ; that the
winding staircase connects all the stories together, and can be shut in by one door
at the common entrance from without. But leaving this question, the eonclnsion at
which I arrive, after a careful consideration of the wording and objects of the Act,
is a far more important one in point of principle. It is this, that rule 4 stands
ndependently of the restrictions in rule 3. It seems to me that the legislature,
having laid lown certain rules as applicable to buildings in general, evidently
referring for the most part to dwelling-houses, proceeds next to dealing
with a new class of buildings, which they take out of the category,
and for which they legislate specifically, and for which they introduce a new
principle or condition. The reason is obvious enough. These being buildings .specially
intended for the deposit of heavy goods, and, therefore, subject to great pressure^
vertical and lateral, the size of the various compartments within the supporting
walls becomes a very material element in determining the stability of the building,
and accordingly hmits are assigned to this. I cannot but think that this rule stands
by itself, and that the term warehouse, or other builduig used for purposes of trade,
must be, taken to comprehend the whole building, however the different compart-
ments or parts of it may be arranged. A singular absurdity will arise by Umiting
another word in this rule by the definition previously given. The rule requires that
where the warehouse exceeds the specified cubical contents it shall be divided by
party walls. >ow, on turning to the definition of party walls, in section 3, 1 find
that party wall (page 2) with a view to the same being occupied by difl'ereut persons.
Is it to be said that whenlthe buildingiis not to be occupied by different per-
sons there can be no party walls ? If so, then a warehouse in one oc-
cupation cannot be divided as prescribed by the Act, and the rule becomes
inoperative at once. However, this is no further material to the present question
than to show that the Act does not possess that strict precision of definition and
language which prevents ingenious and forcible arguments, such as those urged on
behalf of the defendant in the present case. My mind has been greatly pressed by
the authority of the decision of one of my colleagues (Mr. Burchain) referred to on
the part of the defendant ; but notwithstanding tnis, and the diffidence I have in my
opinion in opposition to his, it appears to me that the consequences which neces-
sarily foUow from the construction put upon the clause by the defendant would be
so manifestly against the intention and object of tne Act, that I cannot bring my
mind to auv other conclusion than the one 1 have stated.
It was intimated that the defendant would consider whether an appeal should be
entered against this decision, the Act allowing seven days for that purpose from the
making of the order to amend.
Cost of Improving Paris. — A jury has just been sitting to fix the
indemnities to be paid to the owners and occupiers of houses in the rues Lavoi-
sier, Kuniford, de la Pepiniere, d'.'Vstorg, and de la Bienraisance, which have to
be demolished for the Boulevard Malesherbes. The highest indemnity accorded
was 388,000f., for the house No. 9, Rue Kumford, the claim of the owner having
been 453,000f., and the offer of the municipality only 182,000f. Among the
occupiers a baiter at the corner of the same street, who asked for 85,000f., and
was offered only 20,000f., obtained 4o,000f., and a butcher of the Rue d'Astorg,
wlio claimed 70,0()()f., and was offered only 15,000f., was allowed 30,000f. The
same jury fixed indemnities for houses in the rues de Clichy, de St. Lazare, and
Blanche, which have to be taken for a new church to be dedicated to the Trinity.
It gave the large sum of 685,000f. for one of these houses, No. 14, Rue de Clichy,
and a like sum for No. 10 in the same street. For the one the demand was
879,000f., for the other 880,000f., and the offer of the Municipality for each was
384,0(X)f. Among the cases of the occupiers of this clump of houses (he most
curious was that of a wood-dealer in the Rue de Clichy, who claimed the laree
sum of 497,000f., and was offered only 30,000f. ; he obtained 75.000f. A bath-
keeper in the Rne St. Lazare, who asked for 122,275f., and was offered not more
than 25,000f., was allowed 75,000f., and a coffeehouse-keeper in the same street,
who claimed 125,000f., only obtained 60,000f., the offer of the Municipality being
30,000f. The jury likewise disposed of the claims of owners and occupiers of a
number of houses in the Rue de Vauginard, to be demolished for improvements.
For a large house and grounds at No. 11 in that street not less than l,084,000f.
were demanded ; the offer was only 640,000f., and the jury awarded 960,000f.
422
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 17, 1861.
djorrcspon^cnw.
A WORD ON BUILDING CONTEACTS.
Sir,— H«Tinf. with much pleasure, read over your report of Chancery Suit on a
Building Lontnwt, :!rd Jlay, and " Arcliitect Umpires" m your last Number, I beg to
ask vou to favor mo, as an architect and surveyor of thirty years' standing, with the
followiui,' few remarks then-ou in your next Number. . ,_ ,
You aay you liave no vulgar prejudice against lawyers, neither have I against
architecta, but from all I sec in my locality, the ■• lley" fashioufereatly preponderates,
1 know of a reference, now about concluded, and will be for certain, ere your next
Number is out.that will cost more hundred pounds than theexorbitant bmlder made
out for ijs bill, for. unfortunately, the referee is no judge of builders' work, although
a respectable man in another way of business.
1 should always recommend, instead of specifications and jumping at a price, that
detailed lista of the various materials, with all the labor and teclinicahtics, be printed
with certain piices, as do the Admiralty in their contracts, leaving only quantities
to be measured and priced, and the competing discount or rebate contracted for,
taken olT; then the good practical builder would have his fair chance over any
favoritism.
Disputes after a lump sum is accepted ought to be decided by a third party, a
surveyor from a distance ; and any alteration from plan never should be executed
without order in writing.
Sir John Stuart was perfectly right in his ruling, and I consider the building
trade under great obUgation to him. The arbitrary Uey had given, not only great
and continued annoyance, but took the job into his own hands : and a pretty job he
made of it ; there are some who are got at to favor the builder ; in such cases the
employer ought to have the power of calling in another professional as referee, but no
fixing beforehand. Now I am on the subject of contracts I cannot refrain from
commenting: on the loose supervision existing under the present AVar Department.
One week the concrete is washed out at Gomcr Kort, another day piles are drawn 4
feet short in length, others without iron shoes, American and foreign oak is used In
bridges, magazines, and gates where EngUsh oak has been contracted for, and yet,
forsooth, only last week, in the Times, it was advocated that Engineer officers (soldiers)
should sup<rscde civilians; Again, the system of paying builders for materials, if
only deposited on works, is bad; Portsmouth dock, not half finished, has all the
granite stone deposited and paid for. Clamp or place bricks ought never to be need
in Government work, only good kiln bricks. Well might Sir M. Peto exclaim, on the
Army Estimates, in the House of Parliament, there is "^something rotten in the State
of Denmark. " I could say more, being Argus-eyed, but enoughis here .alluded to to
create inquiry and alteration in high quarters.
I am, &c.,
Tortsmouth, 11th May, 1801. JnsTiTiA.
OVERHOUSE TKLEGKAl'HS AND LIGHTNING.
Sib,— Allow me, as the originator of the above system, in reply to an article which
appeared in your Journal on the 3rd inst., to express my decided opinion that no
duiger can possibly result in the manner apprehended, from the existence of a
telegraph pole properly fixed upon the roof of a house.
Uaving on several occasions watched the effect of lightning upon the first wires
«rected under my direction for Messrs. Waterlow and Son, between the City and
Westminster, I believe the existauce of these aiirial wires is a protection to the
properties over wliich they pass. I may add that I have no interest whatever in any
of ttie projects for extending the overhouse system, but I am anxious that the ex-
tension of a put>lic benefit should nor be marred by groundless apprehensions.
I am, &c.,
Owen Rowland,
Electrician Late Government Electrical Experiments.
STEEL GIRDERS AT THE LONDON AND COUNTY BANK, SHEFFIELD.
Sib, — We cannot but note Messrs. Samuel Hood and Son 's letter in your impression
of the .3rd current, in reference to steel girders for the above bank, and, be<? to state
for the information of your readers, that we were the first consulted and the first to
make such girders, and supplied the two large girders, which were 'tested in the
presence of our senior partner, 3Ir. Brown, and the directors of the London and
Cotmty Bank, with a dead weight of 100 tons in the centre, causing a deflection of
If inch, and leaving but a sUght permanent set, the length of the girder being
3a feet B inclies.
We would not hare troubled you, but think it only fair 3Iessrs. Hood and Son
should allow us the credit due, being the largest manufacturer of steel for such pur-
poses, and may add in passing, we shall l>e nappy to furnish you or your readers
with information and data for girders made from puddle or cast steel.
We are, &c.,
John Beown and Co.
Sheffield, May 13tb, 1801.
of the work, treated historically and critically; the second, of three lectures, de-
pendent mostly on the author's own experience of art-mattep9. In the first part
the lectures treat of— 1. Rome at the couimenceinent of our era, Pompeii, the
Catacombs ; 2. Fourth-century art, plans of churches, paintings in churches,
altar-pieces, ivory carvings; 3. Byzantine art, images, pictures; 4. Western
or Celtic art, Runic carving, illuminated MSS., enamel; o. Illuminated books,
block books, printing ; 6. English domestic architecture, A.D. 1100 to 1500; 7.
tombs and monumeuts; 8 and 9. Working in metals; 10. Engraving; 11, 12
and 13. Earthenware, porcelain and glass ; 14 and 15. Methods of painting ; and
16. History of painting. Chapters 17, 18 and 19, the three last, treat of terms
in art :— Principles, the Conventional, the Ideal, Picturesque, &e.. Chiaroscuro,
&c., Style, Sec, taste and beauty.
The picturesque in art is, so to speak, a modern invention, and often too much
is sacrificed to obtain it, moi'e particularly by younger artists — and architects too,
for that matter. " The illuminators, the architects, tlie painters of the 12th and
13th century never recognized the picturesque or endeavour to express it in their
work. On the contrary, the trim garden makes a considerable figure in Medieval
poetry and illumination; but the mountain gorge, gully, forest, stream, never;
the masteis of the great middle period had not yet perceived it. Bellini never
broke up his colors for variety, nor avoided flat walls behind his figures, nor did
it ever enter the head of Angelico to make the background of the Annunciation
a varied landscape shaded with vines or other seductive objects." Again, speaking
of chiaroscuro, " In ornamentation the degradation of hue consequent on shadow
is not desirable ; it is, moreover, destructive to the integrity of the surface orna-
mented. Effect in ornament is to be got legitimately by the juxtaposition of
deep and bright colors, the local color of objects is to pervade their entire form.
Thus the representation of nature in decoration is rather suggestive than
actual."
Speaking of sculpture, the writer remarks that during the best period of art
the portrait statue showed the man as he lived, "the invariable custom in earlier
tomb sculpture, and the manner dictated by common sense and feeling. But as
the antique became more and more studied, admired, and servilely imitated, the
dogma that the naked alone was worthy of the sculptor — and that costume
should be limited to the toga and Roman armour, took possession of public taste ;
a pedantic doctrine destructive of the vitality of the art, and destroying utterly
the characteristies so essential to portrait sculpture. • • The adoption of subject-s
from classic story also aided in removing sculpture from living sympathies. For
centuries (?) we had nothing else, and tjie portrait statues of our kings appeared
in the Roman cuirass witTi bare arms and knees, and our statesman in the
chlamys and toga. One last step only was wanting — to adopt the ideal antique and
abandon clothing altogether ; and this was very nearly accomplished towards the
close of the last century. Canova's statue of Napoleon now in .\psley House, is ab-
solutely naked, and the statue to Samuel Johnson in St. Paul's is almost undraped
the single loose covering being thrown so as to be only useful for the sculptor's
supposed artistic purposes, — a ludicrous spectacle in a simply rational point of
view; the stout old gentlemen, as he leans his head on his hand in his naked-
ness, seeming to be saying to himself, ' What a sad pass things have come to with
me at last, standing before the public in a state of nature V "
A more correct criticism and a better taste now prevail, yet the difficulty ia
not entirely met, and perhaps never can be till the artist has some power over
the costume of the day, not to follow but to lead it. But when we consider that
the Greeks and Romans represented their heroes as they lived, and also their
ladies and even the gods — the statues of the goddesses being clad very much in
the fashion of the Athenian women— it is clear ;the poetic fiction our quasi,
classic sculptors have indulged in, has slender authority, and forfeits truth for a
professional antiquariaiiism.
We have said enough to show that the " Half-Hour Lectures " are not only
instructive but at the same time very readable.
Half-Hour Lectures on tlie HUtory and Practice of the Fine and Orna-
mental Artg. By William B. Scott. With Fifty Illustrations by the
Author engraved by W. J. LlSTON. 16mo. Longman, Green, Longman, and
Roberts, 1861 ' . b .
REPRESENT, in the author's words, an attempt to review the entire story of
the fine and ornamental arts, since the ccmimencement of our era ; a suffi-
ciently varied and voluminous subject exhibited in detail by many large works
published within a few years by Perret, Lasteyrie, Agincourt, Didron and
Durand, Martin and Cahier, Denia, De Laborde, Laparte, Kugler, &e., abroad ;
and at home by Sir C. Eastlake, Sir G. Wilkinson, Marryat, Parker, Digby
Wyatt, Owen Jones, Winston, Boutell, Scrivenor, Womum, &c., all of whom
are looked upon as generally reliable authorities.
The lectures occupy some 298 pages of the elegant volume just issued by
Messrs. Longman, and Co., and were, as we understand, originally delivered to
senior students assembled in classes. When, however, it was found the subjects
were equally interesting to the general public, they were revised for the press,
and made more complete by numerous illustrations. "A knowledge of the Fine
Arts has gradually assumed importance as a branch of special education ; yet
there exists at present no manual of repute, text-book or popular work of recog-
nised authority, embracing the whole subject." So far we follow the enter-
prising publishers, and do so, firstly, because we cordially agree with the remark,
and secondly, liecause we think the very work wanted to supply the gap in
artistic literature is now in our hands. Too much commendation can scarce^ be
awarded to honest endeavors to jiopularize a knowledge of art : in this aim we
are always anxious to tissist to the full extent of our influence, and are
no lew willii^ to bring promhiently before the notice of our readers the
endeavours of other workers in the same (lirection, even where they may be less
inceeaful in their efforts than most undoubtedly is Mr. Scott.
The book isnot soarrauged, butniay beconveniently dividedintotwoparts; the
firit, consisting of nineteen lectures on various subjects comprised within the scope
TENnERS
CnuBcn TowEB, Hondlet, Lincoln.
For the restoration of the tower of St. Mary's Church, at Hundlet, near Spilsby,
in the County of Lincoln.
John Hall, Firsby .*78 15 9
Thomas .Johnson, Hundleby "8 11 6
Joseph Hunter, Hundleby 70 0 0
George Smith, Spilsby (accepted) 68 5 0
KOAD-MAKINC, SUFFOLK.
For road-making and guUcys, on the Felixstowe Estate of the Conservative Land
Society, Suffolk. Sir. James Wylson, engineer.
James liloomflcld *875 0
Francis Charon 850 0
Nathaniel Saunders 8'21 0
William Rcntmore SOO 0
JohuMoran 782 17
William Strickson £608 6
Newberry and Barnes 577 0
Hassall and Selwood 54^ 17
rotter and Lowe 47.3 0
John Woods ■ISO H
Chapels, Oscott College.
For two new chapels at Oscott College. E. Wclby I'ugln, architect. Quantities
supplied by Mr. S. Marples.
Briggs...... £7.35 0
Branson and Gwyther 687 0
llevingham 653 5
CnCBCH, ROCKIIAMPTON.
For works in connexion with St. Oswald, Itoekhampton. Mr. Frederick R. Kemp-
son, 18, St. Owen-street, Hereford.
Muire £5^0 0 0
James M" 11 8
Burchell (accepted conditionally) 547 10 0
Dwelling-house, Loni>on.
For rebuilding house, No. 14, Oxford-market. Messrs. Bull, architects. Quantities
supplied.
I'Anson £844
Tubb 798
Kbbs and Sons 780
I'atman and Fotheringham 767
Dwelling House, Hastings
For building No. 40, Robertson-street, Hastings, for R. R. Roberts. Esq. Mr.
Carpenter, architect, Hastings. Quantities by Mr. Crocker.
Kenwood £2,075 0 I Jones ..£1,8(H10
Parks 1,930 0 Howell I,a50 0
CollsandCo 1,897 0 | Harman (accepted) ^ 1,7:15 15
May 17, l.s6l.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
423
Chapels, Sl-bsfx.
lor tJic erection of two chapels in proposed cemetery. Battle, Kussex. Mr.
Carpenter, architect. Uastlno-s.
Howell £S2.5 0 I Jones «t Bridgcland (accepted) .. £577 4
Nicholas 004 19
Cemetert, Sijsrex.
* or laying-out and drainage of ground, Battle Cemetery. Mr. Carpenter, architect,
Hastings.
Bridgefand iS8o I King and Son £filO
Adds 64<J Sharow (accepted) 550
Howell 020
Sewerage, London.
hot the construction of sewers in Hillitcr-street, Billitcr-Bquare, and Great Towcr-
?,'.,; *'"' ""^ various works in connexion therewith.
Hill
.£93!)
. 919
. -880
^ £1,1H8 I Mowlem and Co
i«oman I,ii4 Crook and Son
^orne 1,189', Cole (accepted)
„ ,, ClIUBCH, PONTTrOOL, MON.
t or .alterations to house adjoining the Catholic church, Pontypool, Men. Mr. J. f
Stattcr, architect. -^ =
.Jordan .£177
Jones 175
Williams 158
Knapton IM
COMPETtTIONS OPEN.
.,„ „ CEMKTEKY.
JULAN.— Jor plans and specifications for a gr.ind monumental Cemetery to be
lormed in the city of Slilan. (Loinljardy), open to all nations. An area of 180,000
square mctrci has been allotted tor tlie purpose. A plan of the site chosen will be
given on application. Xot less than 120,000 square metres must be reserved for
interment, jiartof which must be laid out as a garden, and another portion set apart
lor the burial of I'rotestants and other religious denominations. The distribution
of monuments, tombs, and niches, is left to the judgment of the projectors. They
may be placed either in the open air or under cover, and correspond with the style
of architecture chosen. Their number must however be considerable. Appro-
priate buildings must be erected for religious ceremonies, for the service and habi-
tation of the officials attached to the cemetery, as also for judiciary inspections and
anatomical operations ; but for these buildings no particular form is prescribed.
A maximum of three millions of francs is fixed, which sum cannot be exceeded :
the projects must be regulated accordingly. In this sura must be included the
above-named buildings, together witli inclosure walls, alleys, &c. ; but the pur-
chase of the site .and the necessary earthworks are not comprised. All plans and
specifications must be jiresentcd on or before the 3l8t December, 1801, after whicli
date no plan vrtll be accepted. They must be presented or forwarded, addressed,
"To the Municipal Council of the city of Milan,"— "Alia Giuiita Municipale della
Citta di Milano." Each plan must be signed by some motto and be accom-
panied by a sealed letter containing in full the name and address of the
author, and bear on the outside the same motto affixed to the plan. Each
project must comprise the ground-plan, the elevations, and sections. The
ground-plan must be on the scale of at least l-250th of the real measure, and the
elevations and sections double that scale. For the details the scale must be
l-.iOth. A detailed description of the buildings and their parts must be given
with each plan, pointing out the dimensions, the materials to be used, together
with a full estimate of the costs. All plans presented will be exposed to public
view for two months previous to awarding the prizes, and afterwards for another
month, during which time the authors may append their real names to their pro-
jects. To the ciglit best plans a premium of 1,000 francs will be awarded, as a
compensation ; and to the three of this number considered most worthy of merit
will be asstaied a reward of 10,(XX) francs to the first, 8.000 to the second, and 6,000
to the third. The prizes will be awarded by a special Commission, named by the
municipal council from among the persons most renowned in art in Italy. The
three projects rewarded will remain the property of the municipality ; which how-
ever, does not bind itself in the execution to adhere strictly to anyone plan. A
public competition is likewise open for plans and specifications for a new ceme-
tery for the special use of tlie great hospital of Milan, the area of which comprises
!K) 000 square metres. Plans of the site cho.«en may also be had on application.
1 lie cost of this cemetery must not exceed 500,0(jO francs. In this amount is com-
prised the cost of buildings already mentioned for the other cemetery. It must
I'cobserved, however, that in this a small space only will be sqt apart for the mo-
numents and tombs of benefactors and persons connected with the hospital. A
prize of 3,000 and one of 2.000 francs will be given to the two best plans presented.
,!,, ' **.'*"'*J commission will award the prizes' to tlie projects to the two cemeteries.
Ihetimeand manner of presenting the plans, the exhibition and awarding of
])ri;;fs, will be the same in this as in the preceding instance
CUCKCU.
liOLTox.— For designs, plans, sections, descriptive specifications, and estimates for
erecting a new church, capable of seating 1,100 persons, at the west end of Deans-
gate, in Bolton, at a cost not exceeding £4,^'00. A premium of £20 will be given
for the designs, ptaus, &c., which the committee may approve and adopt ; and a pre-
mium of £10 to the second in order of merit. The designs obtaining premiums to
become the property of the committee, who will not deem themselves bound to adopt
any of the plans, nor to employ any of the competitors to carry out the work. In
the event of a plan being adopted, and the successful competitor employed, the
first premium will merge into Ills commission. The designs, plans, &e., with the
name and address of the competitors marked thereon, must be sent to the secrtary
by the 20th June, accompanied by H letter stating the eliarge tor superintending
and carrying out the work. A ground plan, and all other particulars necessary for
the guidance of competitors, may be obi iiim-d on application to the Rev. T. Sneyd
Wallace, Bank House, Bolton, Secretary to the Buildin" Committee
SCHOOLS.
XOTTiNGHAM.— Tlie Trustees of the Nottingham Free Grammar Schools seek for
designs, plans, spceificationa (not in detail), and estimates for the erection of new
schools, of the foundation of Dame Agnes Mellers, together with a master's resi-
dence, porter's lodge, fence wall, entrance gates, and approaches thereto, upon a
piece of ground situate in Goldsmith-street, in the said town. A lithograph plan
of the land, with the levels of the same, and printed instructions and particulars for
tlie guidance of competitors, will be forwarded to them on application to Sir.
Christopher Swann, solicitor, and clerk to the said trustees. £."i0 will be given for
tlie best design which may be selected, and £'^r, for the second best that may be so
selected, such designs to become tlie property of the Trustees. The designs, plans,
and other particulars are to be sent to the office of C. Swann, Church-gate, Not-
tingham, on or before June 15.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
MECHANICS' INSTITUTES.
Stalevbridge.— For Uic erection of the mechanic's institution, Staleybridge. Plans,
&c., from M. Blackwell and Son, architects, 8, Essex-street, King-street, Man-
Chester, from 13tli Slay. Tenders to be delivered not later than May 20.
ABiiroN-CNDER-LrNE.— For all or any of the works in the erection of the Ashton-
under-Lync and Dukiafield New Mechanics' Institute. Plans, &c., attheofBceof
the architects, McBsrs. Starkey and Cuffley, 40, Princes-etrcet, Manchester, yuan-
titles will be furnished. Tenders to G. Hegginbottom, Esq., president, Ashtou-
under-Lyne, to May 27.
SAILOKS' INSTITUTE.
Hull.— For the various works required to be done in the alteration and enlargement
of the Sailors' Institute, Waterhouse-lane, Hull, for the Port of Hull .Society.
Drawings, &c., at the offlce of W. Bottcrill, architect, 53, Parliament-street, Hull,
to the 2tst inst. Scaled tenders, endorsed "Tenders for Sailors' Institute," to be
dehvercd to Jlr. Botterlll by li noon of Slay 22.
OFFICES, &c.
Leeds.— For the mason and brickwork, carpenters' and joiners' work, slaters',
plumber and glaziers', plasterers' and painters' work, re<iulred In the erection of a
board-room, steward's offices, and shops, in Wade-lane and Mark-lane, Leeds, for
the Committee of Charitable Uses. I'lans, &c., with Dobson and Chorley, archi-
tects, 19, Park row, Leeds, until 2l8t JIay. Tenders to the architects by 10 a.m.
May 22.
ASYLUM.
Liverpool.— For extensive additions to the Catholic Blind Asylum, Brunswick-
road, Liverpool. Plans, &c., at Sir. Culshaw's olflcc, 11, Kumford-place. Sealed
tenders to Be delivered as above by noon of .Slay 20.
CHUUCHES.
Worcestershire.— For restoring and refitting the parish Cliurch of Bockleton,
near Tenbury, Worcestershire Plans, &c., at the office of Sir. Thomas Sale, soli-
citor, Leominster. I'lans, Ac, to 13th of May. Sealed tenders directed to the
liector of Bockleton, by Slay 20.
CHAPELS.
Wilts.— For the erection of a new Independent chapel, on the Bath-road. Swindon,
Wilts. Plans.&c, at Sir. Collier's, upltolsterer, Bath-road-terrace, Swindon, and
duplicate copies at the offices of George Bidlake, architect, Wolverhampton. Ten-
ders, sealed and endorsed, to be delivered to Sir. T. Strange, Swindon to Slay 27.
SCHOOLS, &e.
Boston.— For the erection of school and class-rooms, &c., in Wltham-place, Boston,
for the trustees of Laughton's Charity. Plans, fee., prepared by Slessrs. Kirk and
Parry, architects, Sleaford, at the offices of Slessrs. Jebb and Son, solicitors, Bos-
ton, from Slay 10. Sealed tenders to be sent to their office directed ^Thc Clerk to
Laughton's Charity Trustees," and marked on the outside '* Tender," by noon of
May 23.
SlANCiiESTER.— For the erection of new schools attached to St, John's Church, Cow-
hill, Oldham. Plans, &c., at the offices of Slessrs. Pennington and Bridgen, archi-
tects, liank-chambers. Essex-street, Slanchester. Tenders to be delivered to
Benjamin Lees, Esq., Werneth, Oldham, by Slay 20.
Dumfries (X.B.)— For the execution of extensive repairs and improvements on the
schoolmaster's dwelling-house and old schoolroom at Kirkbean. Plans, &c., with
Sir. Fowlds, at Cavens ; or by Sir. SI'Naughton, the schoolmaster. Tenders to
June 8.
DWELLING HOUSES, &c.
Lincoln. — For the works proposed in the alteration of the house and shop. No. 31t»
High-street, Lincoln. Drawings, &c., ,with Michael Drury, architect, 1, Bank-
street, Lincoln, on and after May 10th. Sealed tenders to Sir. Drury, by May 24.
Du.HFRiES,— For the various works required in building a dwelling-house at Upper
Locharwoods, for William Dickson, Esq. Plans, Ac, with Alex. Crombic, archi-
tect, Dumfries, who will receive tenders to Slay 22.
Manchester.- For the erection of two houses at Cheetham Hill. Flans, &c., at the
office of John Artingstall, architect, 24, Old Hillgate, Manchester. 'Tenders to
May 21st.
VILLAS.
Hull.— For the several works required to be done in the erection and completion of
a villa residence, &c., proposed to be built on a site situate at the corner of the
North entrance to Pearson's park, Hull. Drawings Ac, until 2.')f h of May inst., on
application to the clerk in charge of the same, at No. 9. Scale-lane, Hull, of whom
further particulars may be obtained, or at the offices of Bellamy and Hardy, archi-
tects and Surveyors.
COTTAGE.S.
LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAILWAY.— For the eroctlon of seven cottao;e8 at
Southport and three cottages at Wigan. Plans, Ac, attheengineer'sofflce. Hunt's
Bank, Manchester, and tenders properly endorsed and addressed to the Directors
must be received by Wm. S. Lawn, Secretary, Manchester, by Slay 28. '
BATH AND CLOCK TOWER. ■
Hurst.— For the erection of a swimming bath, and the completion of a clock tower,
at Hurst, near Ashton-under-Lyne Drawings, Ac, with Hayley and Son, archi-
tects, 45, Cross-street, Slanchester, to whom tenders by 10 a.m.. May 27.
FARSI BUILDINGS, Ac.
WoLSELET.— For the erection of farm buildings at Sloreton Lane, Wolseley. Plans,
Ac, at the office of Sir. S. Ginders, Ingestre, or at the office of Sir. C. 'Trubshaw,
The Hollies, Stafford, to Slay IH. Tenders to Sir. S. Ginders, Ingestre, endorsed
*' Tender for Farm Buildings, Sloreton-lane," (those for excavators', bricklayers',
tilers', and masons', work, to be kept distinct from the carpenters', glaziers , and
painter's work,) by Slay 22.
SIILLS.
Tadcaster. — For the several works required for rebuilding the Tadcaster Slills.
Plans, Ac, with John Ilarker, engineer, Driffield, until the 20th, and at Tadcaster
Slills to the 25th Slay. Tenders to be delivered to Sir. ilarker, by Slay 28.
POLICE STATIONS.
Birmingham.- For the erection and completion of the new police station, in
Kenyon- street, Birmingham, for the Corporation. Drawings. Ac, at the offlce of
Sir. W. Slartin, architect, Clirist Church-buildings, llivmingham. Tenders ad-
dressed to the Watch Committee, endorsed " Tender for Police Station. Ivenyon-
street," under cover, to Thomas Standbridge, town clerk. Town Clerks' Offlce,
Temple-street, by May 20.
SEWERAGE.
Hackney.— For the execution of the sewer works under contract numbered 15, in
the parish of Hackney. No 13 contract will comprise about COOfeet of brick sewer,
3 feet by 2 feet in size, in the parish of St. John, at Hackney. Plans, Ac. and
forms of tender obtained, with any infbrmation, upon application to Sir. James
Lovegrove, C.E., surveyor to the Board of Works, at his offlce. or at the Town-
hall, Hackney, between nine and eleven a.m. Tenders scaled and endorsed,
"Tenders for Sewer Works, No. 15," addressed to the clerk (Sir. U. EUis) and
delivered at the Town-hall by Slay 21. .. .
Bradford.— For the sewering, drainage, Ac, of Gibbons-street, extending from the
Ashton New-road to Slill-street, in the township of Bradford, near Slanchester.
Plans, Ac, at the offlce of tlie Board of Health, Bradford, and further particulars
from Mr. R. J. Lawton, siu-veyor, 13, Cooper-str<*t, Slanchester. Sealed tenders.
addressed to the chairman, to be dehvercal at the aforesaid offlce, by noon Slay 29.
BRIDGE.
Dumfries rN.B).—For building a timber bridge across the Dryfc, near Drysdale
Gate. Plans, Ac, with Mr. Richardson, Royal Bank, Lockerbie, who will receive
tenders till June 1.
MANSE.
Dumfries (N.B.)— For the whole work required in the proposed additions to and
alterations on the Slanse. Plans. Ac, on application to the Rev. Wm. Moore .
Lochfort, by Dumfries ; or Sir. Hugh H. Slaclure, architect, Glasgow. Sealed
tenders to Sir. James Sl'Kie, writer Dumfries, by 10 a. m. of May ■29.
CATTLE SIARKET, SEWERAGE, Ac.
Ludlow— For constructing brick sewers, pipe sewers, gullies, and other works in
connection with the sewerage of the town of Ludlow. Also, for the construction
of a cattle market, and all works connected therewith. Plans, Ac, at the offlce .
424
THE BUILDING NEWS.
Mav 17, 1861.
Of Mr. T. Curley. C.E. l*rinted forms of tender and schedules may be had from
the en^'inevr. Tenders, sealed, endorsed, "Tender Ibr Seweragrc and Cattle
Market," and addressed to J. Williams, to>Tn-clerk, Ludlow, to be sent in by
10 ajn. of May 21.
GASWOUKS.
SOWEKBV.— For the excavation and n.asonry connected with the construction of
two easholder tanks. l>rawinijs, &c. seen, and forms of tender, with quantities
obtained (upon naymeut of U»8- each) at the Board-room of the Local Hoard, in
Jiowerby Bndffc, and tenders addn'i*8ed to the Chairman of the Gas Works' Com-
mittee, and endorsed " Tender for Casholder Tanks,** by May '2i.
WATKUWORKS.
BlRMiXGHAM.— For the following: works, viz. :— Excavating; and filling; in e;round
requin:d for laviuiT down pipes from public baths in Kent-street, along- Gooch-
Btreet, Itromsirrovc-gtreet, Jamaica-row, Spiceal-strtet, the Bull-ring:, Moor-street,
and Park-etrt'Ot, Birming:ham, for the purpose of eonveving water for watering the
said streets and noig;hborIiood. Also for engineers' wurk requlreil in providing,
bying: down, and fixing the conduits or water pipes throun:h and along the said
streets; providing and erecting a water column or stand pipe and rising main at
the public baths. Also cisterns in market hall of the borough, together with the
necessary principals, girders, beams, columns, pipes, and other materials and
works connected therewitli. Plans. &c., on application to Mr. Purnell, at the
?ublic baths, Kent-street, Birmingham. Tenders, addressed to the Baths and
'arks Committee, endorsed "Tender for Excavator's Work," and "Tender for
Engineers' Work," to be forwarded, under cover, to Thomas Standbridge, town
c]erk, town clerk's oflice. Temple-street. Birmingham, to May 24.
I,rVERPOOi..— For the construction of a reservoir, near Hill Bridge, Roddlesworth,
in the townships of Withnell and Tockholes, in connexion with the water- works
of the corporation of Liverpool. Specifications obtained and plans inspected on ap-
plication to the engineer. Hothnm- street, Liverpool, to 27th May. Tenders,
addressed under cover to the chairman of the Water Committee, Town Hall.
I-iverpool. and endorsed "Tender for the construction of Keservoir at Rod-
dlesworth," by twelve noon of May TO.
PAVING, &c.
MAifCHESTER,— For the levelling;, paving, flagging, &c,, of a portion of Gibbons-
street, in the township of Bradford, near Manchester. Plans, &c., at the office of
the Board of Health, liradford, and furtherparticulars from Mr. K. J. Lawton, sur-
veyor, i:t. Cooper-street. Scaled tenders, addressed to the chairman, to bedeli-
Tered at the aforesaid office, by noon. May 29.
ROAD WORK.
Yorkshire.— For the forming, constructing and completing a road or highway,
through Cherry Cob Sands, in the parish of I'aghill, otlierwise I'aull, from Thor-
neycrofts, in tlie township of Thorngumbald. and the Brick-yard Bridge, in Key-
ingham Marsh, to Stone Creek. Specifications, &c., at the office of Messrs. Ivesou
and Sons, Hedon, where the tenders are to be sent in ; and at Mr. John Richard-
son's, upon Cherry Cob Sands, who will also show the road. Tenders to be sent
in btfore May 2o.
RAILWAY WORKS.
Stmikgton, BiGCfAR, AM> BRouiiiiTON RAILWAY.— For the construction of the
whole works on the line of the extension from Broughton to Peebles, being about
eleven miles in length. The whole will be let in one contract. The works include
the formation of the Neidpath Tunnel and Viaduct over the Tweed. The rails,
chairs, sleepers, keys, spikes, fisli-plates, and bolts will be supplied by the railway
compaiiy. Plans, &c., at the ofllee of Bruce and Cunningham, C.E., 21, Castle-
street, Edinburgh. Forms, of tender, detailed estimate, and copy specification,
may be obtained on application to them on payment of £2 28. ; and tenders in any
otiier form will not be received. The engineer will be at the Broughton Station
cm Tuesday, the 28th, at twelve noon, for the purpose of going over the line with
contractors. Sealed tenders, marked " Tender for Works," must be lodged with
the Kcretary, David Thomson, Esq., Royal Bank, Biggar, before 10th June,
I«AVCASBIRE AND YoRKSHiKE RAiLWAT.—For the execution of the whoIe of the
work required for the construction of a fork line to the Burnley branch at Tod-
morden. Plans, &c., at the engineer's office, Hunts-bank, Manchester; and ten-
den, properly endorsed, and addressed to the directors, must be received by Wm.
S. Lawn, secretary, Manchester, by May 2H.
MILITARY WORKS.
EvxRTON.— For the erection of a storehouse for the accommodation of the ^ns,
stores, staff, &c., of- the Royal Lancaster Militia Artillery, at Kverton, near Liver-
pool. Plans, &C., by applying at the office of Charles Holt, architect, Nelson-
amuae, Bolton, to May :iO. Sealed tenders to the Chairman of the Royal Lancaster
iCOitia Storehouse Committee, Moss Lee, Bolton -le- Moore, to May 31.
York.— For erecting a military hospital, offices, &c., for sixty patients, near the
cavalry barracks, at York. Parties desiring to tender must leave their names at
the Royal Engineer's office, York, by May 27, and pay half a guinea for bills , of
quantities.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and communications to be juMresscd to the Kditor of the BuiLniNO News, 20,
OM Bo9weII-court,St. Clement's, Strand, London.
The Editor cannot undertake to return unused manuscripts.
B. B.— We could not in Rood taste jrive the required information.
J. W,H.,A SrBscRiBEii (Falmouth). -The partition cannot be fixed, If it injures A's light.
There Is no good work on the special subject: Information, and notes of cases are
dtetrlbated.
AkAbchitect.— 1. Certainly not honorable for such use to bo made of drawings and specifi-
cation. 2. Thesolerit'ht to drawings, &c., is vested in the architect, but we should not
advise legal proceedln;;!^ in tbe presentstate of the law. Complaints constantly reach us
of such neglect on tJic part of the journal named.
B. CooPEB.— Yes, subject to proper inquiries.
J. BETra.— In oar next.
Subscribes rHOM No. I.— Review Is unavoidably deferred for want of space.
C. C, C — Neverthelefts such would appear to be the case. Olbbon, quoting the Exchequer
reports, cites the Cane of Lnmprcll p. the (iuardians of tlie IJillericay Union, wliere the
contract provided that the builder should be paid seventv-flve per cent . on the amount of
the work tiom time to time actually done, to he ascertaiiictl and settled bv ttie architects of
the gnardiaitf, and the remaining twcnty-flve per cent., and tlie value of additional worJc,
if anj, as estimated by the architect, within thirty days from the full completion of tlic
CODtnct, and that the builder should not be entitled to receive any payment until the work
2 which thepajnnents were made todcpc-nd should liave been completed to the satisfaction
OTrae architects, Who should fxamine and make a valuation of the amount so complttod
Dom time to time, and certify the same to the Guanllans, after which the builder should
M entitled to receive the amount of payment at the rate aforesaid, which should be then
dnelnrcspfrctof work so certified to oe completed. Thecourtwa« of opinion that a certifi-
cate by the architects was only necessary to enable the builder to draw seventy-Jive per cent
on account, and wtu not reouired on the completion of the contract.
T. BiDi^T.— P^icular- arc Iri our possession ; we shall revert to the question.
T* S^^S~r'*'"r^*^ "'""^ decline ; compliance mlRht oiilv mislead-
A. T.B. A.— A description of a good mode of constructing an ice-houao will be found in our
last volume, in Annwers to Correspondents."
A CBtTBCiiwAaoE!?.-Kix a proper conductor without an hour's delay.
A WocLx»-Bii iMvEMToit.— We are unable to give you an account of all the processes for
making and drying bricks, now practised. Mr. Beart employs a steam chaml*r, a square
cooBbncnoncoaslsttngoraseriesof tunnels, built on an Incline; near the lower end is a
MMmboOer.i^akmerievcl than the drying-chamlK:r. A main steam pipe is taken along
toe bottom orloWflT end of thp cnamlrf-r, and from it at right angles nin branch pipes four
inches In diameter no the chamber, two feet apart, and fixed at alM>ut three feet from the
lOT orarcn, tUs arrangement allows of tlie temperature U-ing considerably raised with
^^^}T\^ttM^eDAQfx.h(ti:Yi:im\i<:TU&(\ooT^t\iii.liiX.\\i<i\\\>i>GT end t>elng for the admls-
"■nortaeDDoned ware, that at the lower end for its removal when dried; over thesteam
t an flzM iron rollers, on which the trayv of brtckB* as brooght from the machine are
{ilaced, the insertion of one tray forcing the trav previou.'»Iy put in further on, the descent
>eing assisted by the inclination of the const ruction. The steam being r.al8cd in the boiler.
Hows through the main into the branch pii>o.s in the chamber, which thus becomes warmer
at the lower end. Aluiig the top or liigliC!<t end of the chamber are a series of chimneys
and wiiHl!?u;mls, throii;.:h which ithe damp vapor escapes. The t)rlcks from the machine
enter at this icooler end, charged with warm vapor, and as the make proceeds are
forced down the chamlwr as each tray is put in. Thus, those which were first
Inserted reach a drier and a warmer atmosphere, until on tlieir arrival at
the lower end, they come out dried bricks— with the strongest clays in about twenty-four
bours. Bricks will dry soundly without cracking, &e.. In these close chambers, when
exposed to much greater heat than they would bear in open flues or in the open air, firom
the circumstance of the atmcspliere, although very hut, being so highly charged with
vapoT. It seems, however, that the steam chambers, being expensive in erection on
account of the quantity of piping, as well as in fuel when in use, are not likely to be much
employed. JSlr. Chamberlain who has had great experience of the suhicct, suggests the
eiiipl'iynient of the waste beat from the kilns themselves. " Why slioulu piping be used or
steam at all, when we have a large mass of heat being constantly wa.sted, day and night,
during the lime the kilns are buildinii ? and after the process of buminjf the kiln is com-
pleted, we have pure hot-air •flowing from forty-eight to sixty hours, from the mass of
cooling bricks in the kilns, free from carbon or any impurities; this could be directed
through the drying chambers, entering In one conslant flow of hot dry air and escaping in
warm vapor. The waste heat during the process of burning can be taken up flues under
the chamber, and thereby all the heat of our liurning kilns may he economised and a great
outlay saved In steam-pipes, boilers, and attention.'*^
M. CoLLKs.— Will probably hear from us.
T. SycAiiE.— About l,2iXiper day under ordinary circumstances.
An AitcniTECT.— Several cases of asserted failure have been forced on our notice; wepro-
-pose to examine the whole question ; meantime, shall be glad to receive any trustworthy
Information.
P. L.— Declined with thanks.
E. II.— Ditto.
T. N.— Was posted as requested.
Enquikek.— The usual notice required will not be rendered unnecessary by the Act of
rarliament unless specially provided for.
A Student (Scarborough). —See Wllme's " HandlK>ok for Mapping, Engineering, and Archi-
tectural Drawing," 4to ; and Bevan's " Illustrated Architectural and Mechamcal Drawing
Book," 8vo.
SiMPLoN.— 1. Ochres are of various colors, not necessarily yellow as you imagine. 2. We do
not know.
O. It.-,Communication is laid aside until we can And time to decipher the careless writing.
Ko. ».— Will be referred to in our concluding notice.
W. (;.— We can scarcely say more than we have; certainly any additional remarks would
be less favorable.
R. 0.— Shall appear; thanks.
J. W. H. (Kahnouth).— Yes, if approved ; we cannot say without Inspection.
A. B,— The figured dunenslon would be taken as conclusive In preference to the scale.
R. Tl'rneb.— Such a clause would seem to leave little room for doubt as to its intention.
Where does I lie question arise?
C. W. M.— No one knows better than yourself that our statement was in liberal accordance
with the facts.
U . 1'. S-— Senil name and address, and letter shall be printed ; we cannot do so otherwise.
W.— Too much danger of misleading.
C. H. W.— Application should be made as early as possible.
W. Thompson.- Not within our province ; sorry w© cannot comply.
X. L. (t.— In typo.
T.lNCE.— It is customary to take the extreme dhnenslons eachwaytbut In some cases this
practice is evidently unfair,
A ScBsoRiBEE (Slougti) .—Shall hear from us.
Papeb-kmfe.— We have made our arrangements.
An AttTtsT.— The use of many descriptions of close stoves is open to serious objections. Dr.
Urc performed some experiments, with the view of ascertaming the preci.se cause of the
unpleasant eflects resulting from the employment of close stoves for beating rooms, and
found that wlien the fuel is burning so slowly in tlie stoves as not to heat the Iron surface
above the 250th or 300th degree of Fahrenheit, there was a constant deflux of carbonic
acid gas from the ash pit into the room ; this noxious emanation was most easily evinced
by applyiiif? the beak of a matrass, containing a little solution of sub-acetate of lead, to
a round hole in the door of the ash pit of a stove in this languid state of combustion ; in
a few seconds tlie liquid became milky, by the reception of carbonic acid gas. He adds—
*• There is no mode in which the life and health of a person can be placed in more inf>idioas
jeopardy than by sitting in a room with its cliimney closed up with such a choke-damp
vomiting stove. Where they are used care should be taken to procure those stoves
which, from their improved construction— and there are several now manufactiu*cd— re-
duce thcobjectionable qualities referred to to the least possible extent.
L. T. A.— Yes, party-wall must be 14 inches.
An Inhabitant of Bkompton.— Tlie remedy is not yet known.
Geoiioe Phillips Too trivial.
Y. J. F.— Such an arrangement might be made, but we cannot interfere,
J. Jones.— Thanl-g for photograph and sketch.
P. N. Z.— Too late.
T. W. E.—Kcmedy is in the hands of our correspondent.
R. T.— Below our.raark.
Eight on Wbong.— We do not see that we can assist, even If disposed to go so far out of our
way.
Joubmetuan BBICEJ.AYEK.— Try again, and in official quarters.
Thevob.— Tliere is no difliculty In the case ; consult an architect.
Received.— S. W. S., Mr. Richardson, L. B., Harry M., <;. F., W. K. P., »■ W. and
M. N., Robert S R., J. L., T. W. A., A Fellow, R. 1. B. A., Exhibitor, b. R., F
lioler, X. X. X., A Subscriber C]*lymouth), A Subscriber (Melbourne), J. T., W, Bate-
son, A Header, L. P. S.. W. X. R., O.
H. M. K, (Worcester).— In our next,
C. P. (Manchester).— Ditto.
A YOUNQ SUBVEYOB.— Ditto.
A Snow Board. — Mr. Benjamin Dixon, of Limehouse, (a member
of the Metropolitan Board of Works), has recently invented a contrivance
to prevent the flooding of the roofs of houses at the breaking up of a
frost, by allowing a fresh current for the snow water as it dissolves. The
invention is very simple in its nature, but by practical men who have exa-
mined it is highly spoken of. It consists of a fiat piece of wood, having a
number of perforations (the holes being counter-sunk below), resting upon and
fastened to two slips of fir, one on either side, the slips being about an incli ia
depth, and having small openings running along tJiem on both sides at distances
of from eight to ten inches. The Snow Board being made, is placed loosely on
the gutter of the roof near the centre, thus making a free passage ior the
gradual conveyance of the water to the hoppers of the ordinary pipes. This
snow board should be made of inch yellow deal, the cost of which is trifling,
it being only from 3d. to 4d. per foot run, and should not be fixed on the
lead or zinc, but be placed loosely, so that it may easily be taken off, and
the gutter cleaned at any time. It ought not to be naintod, and may with
advantage be used in the summer months to prevent tlie heat Irora cracking
the lead. .
New Church of St. John the Divine, Frankly. —T\xQ foundation stone
of a new church was laid at Trankhv, on Wednesday week last, by Canon Eaton,
of West Kirby, in the presence of a large assemblage of the inhabitants of Frankby
and Greasby, and the gentry of the surrounding district. The church is being
erected by subscription, together with a parsonage for the Rev. Mr. Congreve,
the newly -appointed incumbent. Richard Barton, Esq., of Caldy Manor ; the
Rev. Philip Robin, of Wood Church ; and Tliomas Royden, Esq.. of Frankby^
Hall, are among the magnificent contributors. The latter gentleman enter-
tained the company to a recherche collation at the hall. The cost of the church
and parsonage will he upwards of £4,000. Messrs. Hay are the architects, and
Mr. Thomas, of Oxton, the contractor.
May 24, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
425
ARCHITECTURE IN MANCHESTER.
TOLERABLE anecdote is
related of a young lady, fresh
from one of our brick - built
northern towns, visiting the me-
tropolis. Little recked she of
those "mortar skimmings by
the mile" which Bartholomew
tried to write down, though he
himself, poor fellow, never got
beyond the use of artificial
masonry ; so to the usual ques-
tion— " How do you like town ?"
she naively replied, " I like it
, very much ; and what I really
do like about London is this :
the houses are all built of stone ! "
Magna est Veritas, et prm-
valebit : the proverb was doubt-
less soon verified, and our heroine undeceived
by a closer acquaintance with those buildings
-> .-A">»s=rs^ xi^ ° stone," that need so very often painting
fv^''^^'r^^^^'^ to keep up the deception. Stone has indeed
i \^ il »J/i V-TwT yei-y little to do with our metropolitan archi-
tecture : if we except the City itself, wherein
now and then, very much to its credit, a real
stone Iront does "go up," there is from Black-
wall to Bayswater, from Kilburn to Camber-
well, little to be seen, but compo cornices on
gaudy sham stone fronts ; or, their homely
alternative, plain York coping, piir et simple,
on dingy brown brickwork. Wooden cornices are sternly denied the
Londoners by the provisions of the Metropolitan Building Act : we
question greatly whether the restriction, fatal as it has undoubtedly
proved to the comeliness of the metropoUs, has ever once been the
means of saving a single life ; but, however this may be, one thing is
certain — what with the provisions of the Building Act, and the scarcity
and dearness of stone, there seems nothing for metropolitan architec-
ture than a liberal application of that brick and marble style, so ably
advocated both with pen and pencil by Mr. Street. The thing repeated
all over London would look bizarre enough, no doubt : it would how-
ever be a, vast improvement on those compo dressings, which every
ignorant speculating builder can run (for has he not a mould ?), or the
Quakcrly copings of Gower and Baker streets, in all their long-drawn,
provoking monotony.
Manchester, without a Building Act, but possessed of three sorts of
red brick, and easy access to the excellent stone quarries of Lancashire
and Yorkshire, is a city of no sm.all interest to the architectural critic.
There is, it is true, smoke in the town, smoke in the suburbs, smoke
everywhere ; and long lines of two-story dwellings which, though tliey
honestly bespeak their single tenancy and give an appearance of width
to tlie streets, scai'ce convey to the spectator an adequate notion of the
mimicipal consequence of the Northern metropolis ; yet for all this,
Manchester for its extent is, to an architect, a more interesting city to
walk over than London. The short-lease system and its odious con-
comitant, the speculating builder, have not quite the same influence on
the architecture of the place. In and around Manchester one comes
at every turn on some structure that, whatever be its demerits, is evi-
dently an architect's work ; and, as it is the especial province of the
architect to think and to invent, it follows naturally enough that the
architectural rambler, even while he pooh-poohs the work, feels a
freslier interest in it than he can possibly feel in any manufactured
building, run up anyhow, and compoed doion anyhow by the speculating
builder, without the slightest consultation with an architect. Now
in London your London architect is rarely— very rarely — called in to
contribute to the street " architecture." A dangerous alteration of some
existing ricketty " speculating " building does now and then fall to his
■lot — and now and then, in spite of him, it falls into the street — but
what capitalist in London ever thinks of commissioning an architect to
construct him a street-full of dwellings ; or, a new row of shops ? A map
of London, with the commercial and domestic structures, that liave had
an actual architect to devise and to supervise them, plainly marked out
■upon it, would be a thing well worth exhibiting ; s.ay, in that pile of
civil iirohitecture now rising in South Kensington, under the auspices
of — a military engineer. It would then be seen by foreigners and
country cousins how very little our London architects have to answer
for the architecture of London.
To such of our readers as may not have visited Manchester a short
notice of the principal structures lately erected and in progress may
not be altogether unacceptable. Little has hitherto been written about
those, which have been some time built, and we shall therefore glance
briefly at the most conspicuous ere we proceed.
The Royal Infirmary, or we ought rather to say the site on which it
stands, which is certainly one of the finest of any city in England,
demands from its central position the first notice of the visitor. The
beauty of the site gives a fictitious value to the building, whose size,
height and general outline happens well to correspond with it — far
better than does the National Gallery with the area of Trafalgar-square
which the late Sir Robert Peel declared to be " the finest site in
Europe." But for the building itself (the Infirmary) very little can be
said. It was originally a plain brick edifice in the astylar Palladian
style : some thirty years ago it was faced with stone, and made purely
Classic (?) by the introduction of a Greek-Ionic portico stuck right in
front of its three tiers of windows ; and of late years it has been
considerably enlarged after the same pure Athenian manner, but with
the addition of a Roman dome to crown the composition. There is
now some talk of the whole affair being razed to the ground or con-
verted as it stands into a Royal Exchange. Utterly incongruous
however as is the present edifice, there is about it and the site combined
something exceedingly striking and efiective. Would that St. Paul's
Cathedral stood upon such a site !
The Town-half, by Goodwin, and the Royal Institution, by Sir
Charles Barry, deserve high rank amongst the best Classic edifices in
the kingdom. The latter work is little known to south country archi-
tects. A tolerable view of it is given in Fisher's " Lancashire," which,
by the way, displays the central group of figures, that once crowned it
very effectively. Their removal detracts seriously from the former
beauty of the edifice; and reflects somewhat on the public spirit of the
citizens. Still, though the building is little larger than Mr. Cockerell's
bank opposite to it, there is an air of massive dignity about it, which
we miss in many edifices of far greater pretension and celebrity.
About the period when these two last mentioned edifices were built a
great impetus was being given to architecture in Manchester: Sir
Charles Barry and the late Francis Goodwin were at the time exten-
sively employed in and around Manchester, chiefly in building Gothic
churches. Their works are well worthy of comparison with the best
things of the kind then erecting in England ; and the spire of St.
Matthew's church, at Knott Mill, is confessedly one of the most graceful
structures in the kingdom. Being designed, however, long before the
general revival of Pointed architecture, the details of these buildings
are, as may be easily imagined, very faulty — that of St. Matthew's
remarkably so. We have never yet seen a faithful drawing of its light,
elegant spire that, viewed fi-om every point, is an ornament to the city.
Later in his career Sir Chai'les designed that very elegant open spire
which surmounts the Octagon of the Palace at AVestminster. He
was great as a Classic architect of the severe Greek school, great in the
later Italian style (as the Athenseum in Manchester and his works at
Trentham and in Pall-mall attest) ; and he was above all essentially a
greatartisC: he was modest enough in his day to confine himself to the
study of by-gone styles of art, and in all cases to malce that study
minister to the production of beautiful modern works. Even where he
knew little of the style he was handling, the artist shone out in his
works ; as is instanced by this little spire of St. Matthew's church —
with all its poverty of detail (and some unfortunates are blind to every-
thing beyond that) there is about this little steeple a conjunction of
refinement and originality amply sufficient to seal the reputation of any
architect.
The mention of steeples naturally leads one to make reference to
two of the principal churches in the city, which stand just now deprived
of these appendages. These are the Cathedral and the parish church
of St. Mary. Subscriptions are being raised for rebuilding the former
at a cost of about £6,000 ; but, whether anything is being done towards
re-constructing the spire of St. Mary's, which, having become dangerous,
was a few years ago taken down, we are unable to say. It was a
striking and very peculiar composition — a campanile some 186 feet
high, commencing with, first a Palladian basement, rising then with a
Gothic bell-chamber (!) and termmating in an octangular peristyle of
the Ionic order, crowned with a lofty spire — erratic in composition, as
will be seen ; but withal a finer steeple than the one of St. Leonard's
at Shoreditch. It was far from being without merit ; and, unlike any
other steeple we have ever seen, it served as a landmark to Manchester
for many miles round the city : the church looks odd enough at present
with its truncated tower ; and the traveller, approaching the city from
nearly every quarter, sees now in its stead in a general prospect, the
tall spire of St. John's Cathedral at Salford (the Manchester South-
wark) soaring high into the air, above every other object. This again is
a structure of which, for want of engraved views or photographs,
very little is known in the South of England. It is a work of Messrs.
Hadfield, Weightman and Goldie, rather liberally adapted from ancient
examples, having a nave (somewhat too short) copied from the church
of Howden in Yorkshire ; a choir, copied from Selby Abbey Church,
and a tower and spire from the well known one at Newark. Within
the church there are several altars of considerable beauty and merit ;
and one of the most beautiful of modern monuments, with a recum-
bent figure of the late Bishop. Sharpies. The Rom.au Catholics of
<S6
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 24, 1861.
liOndon are apt to speak of Pugin's church of St. George's at South-
■nrark — certainly never designed for a cathedral, and a work of more
individuality and of great merit as regards architectural detail — but
here is a stnicttjre of stone with its tower and spire completed, hardly
so long perhaps as St. George's, but which, taken altogether, is we
believe the vastest and most complete modem church, that has been
raised in these islands since the building of St. Paul's.
St, Chad's, by the same architects, is another large church built by
the Catholics of Manchester. Manchester is in short a city of modern
towers and spires, for every denomination. We know no city for
example where there are to be seen such handsome places of worship
raised by the body of Dissenters.
THE RECENT CONTEST AT THE INSTITUTE.
ALTHOUGH professional reporters were most unjustly denied admission to the
Institute last Monday week, we are enabled, from information afforded us, to
five a slight outline of the proceedings. Precisely at 8 o'clock tlie chair was taken
y the very worthy Professor Donaldson, who at once commenced the business
by readinsr the minutes of the meeting of the 6th inst. Before these were
put, Mr. Papworth moved that so much of the circular as related to other busi-
ness announced for that evening— the appointment of Examiners, under the
Metropolitan Building Act — should be struck out, as he contended the Council
had no power to engraft it upon the agenda. This -n-as seconded by Mr. Jen-
nings, but lost when put to the meeting, three hands only being held up in its
fiivor. The minutes were then confirmed.
Several gentlemen having been admitted as Fellows of the Institute, Mr.
Bobcrt Kerr, on behalf of the Council, n;oved a resolution, having for its object
the obtaining, bv subscription, a portrait of the late esteemed President, Pro-
fessor Cockerell, R.A., and hanging the same on the walls of the Institute, as a
memorial of one who had so long, so pcrscveringly, and so successfully served
the Institute and the profession. This was seconded by Mr. "Tite ; supported by
Mr. Beresford-Hope, and carried amid acclamation. The reply of the learned
Professor was made amid the deepest silence, the emotions of the speaker, in
expressing his thanks, moving powerfully the sympathy of his audience.
Then commenced the real business 'of the meeting, Professor Donaldson
announcing that the proceedings would commence de novo. Upon this, Mr.
Tite addressed the Follows present (Associates being, for the nonce, as so many
wooden posts) and deprecated the course suggested by the Chairman, himself
moving that the ballot be at once taken, without another opportunity being
afforded for parading before the meeting the merits or demerits of the respective
candidates. He, at some length, entered into an explanation of his speech on
the last occasion, but with many it made but little weight— an opinion being
freely expressed that he was losing votes by his proceeding. We have no
wish to give even an outline of his speech. Suffice it that we heard enough to
convince us that Mr. Tite is perfectly capable of blowing his own trumpet, and
that he is rather prone to wander from his subject. It was nothing to the mem-
bers of the Institute that Mr. Tite could be at that moment " director of a
hundred companies," no one cared about the sacrifices he might make in resisting
■0 great a distinction, in refusing honors that parties were so anxious
to thrust upon him. The real question was as to his fitness for the
chair of the Institute — and here there was evidently great difference of
opinion. While the Council were urgent in their request to him to become
preadent ; independent Fellows were radical enough to oppose their dictum, and
to seek for another to occupy it whom they considered more suitable for the post.
It cannot be denied, however, that at last the contest became a party one — not
a personal affidr— but a party struggle. Mr. Tite, although " he knew all about
Gothic architecture before he was twenty years old ; " was essentially a Classical
man— wedded to the orders — and never likely again to become a Benedict by
espousing the sister styles, which his party are known to avow as the delight
only of Goths. The Gothicists, on the other hand, were determined that, if pos-
sible, one who was well-known as a supporter of the architecture of the Middle
Ages, and whom architects have ever found a most liberal patron, should be the
champion of their cause. The ouestion was, therefore, likely to be settled almost
without regard to the nersona! merits of the candidates for the honor; but the
nnfortunate position taken by Mr. Tite, created an additional feeling in favor of
Mr. Hope, the lilwral man of wealth, taste, learning and station, in whom faith
could be placed. We will not further recall Mr. Tite's remarks, although
there is a rich field for comment, but simply say that he concluded a long speech
by again urging the immediate use of the ballot— a course he had before so
strenuously opposed ; and to the "incidences" of which (mistaken by a Fellow
for " insolence," and which provoked a sharp repartee from Mr. Tite, and much
laughter from a!I( he still avowed his dislike.
Mr. Hope, in a clear, manly and straightforward manner, seconded Mr. Tite's
motion — leaving the Fellows, by their selection, to announce their opinion of
him, and no further opposition being- offered against it, the Associates were
requested to retire into the library while the Fellows exercised their privilege of
cnoeing the square man for the square hole. One Associate was refractory
enough, however, to keep his seat, in spite of all solicitations to the contrary,
quietly telling a neighbor who asked him to go with the others, to go into an
atmosphere which is stated to be redolent of the fumes of sulphur, &c., &c. One
or two of these little contretemps really greatly enhanced (?) the pleasure of the
*J?i"'^i'ii,""'' ''"' ''^"'*' P'^**'"B feature of wMch was the aspect of the Associates
u-ru^A .°""y crowding in the doorway, anxious to obtain a glimpse of the
Dtvision, ' and reminding one of the member of the " Commons " before the
bar of the " Lords."
Before the ballot was taken, Mr. J. H. Chamberlain (Professor of Architecture
to Uie yueen s College, Birmingham), asked if tlie members could send in any
names they pleased, the reply being, " No." The ballot was then proceeded
with, the declaration of "the poll," as each paper was opened, being eagerly
lecoraea. as an sublunary things, however, must have an end, so this lengthened
woceedinp at last IcnmnaUd, greatly to the surprise of the successful party, and
tte Chagrm of thosewho bad hoped (not against, but) with Hope up till almost
the last moment. The official declaration was made at about 9.16, at which hour
the nnmbcn stood thus—
Ti"^ 65
Hope 61
The returning officer having finished his duty, vacated the chair, which was
immediately afterwards filled by Mr. Tite, who, all fluttering in smiles
thanked the electors for the honor they had done him, and hoped that a twelve-
month hence those who had now opposed him would be so far conciliated
by the conduct he meant to pursue as to be found among his friends.
From this gentle hint we may reasonablv infer that, upon a future " general
election " (the Institute not being " dissolvecl," by-the-bye)he intends to again seek
the suflrages of the Fellows. With what success remains to be seen. The present
election being over, we shall assist the President in his year of office as much as
possible, for he must not now be looked upon as representing a partv, but the
" Institute." We hope that those who fought and " hoped " for a different result
will do the same, being determined, however, manfully to fight for themselves
when the proper time arrives, should a second struggle and division be inevitable.
The result, however mortifying to the "Goths" in one sense, has shown a
state of things truly marvellous. Some few years since the Gothic party was
like a weakly child, nnable to walk— scarcely able to creep, and wholly unfitted
to take part in the struggles of the times. Since then, however, it has pro-
gressed amazingly— giown large in stature, comely in proportions, and vigorous '
in constitution. That the enthusiasts in the "sights" of the "dark ages"
should now number fifty-one has proved that it is becoming a power that will ulti-
mately effect a quiet revolution in the aspect of the streets of our metropolitan and
provincial towns, and a power the extent of which that partv was, strangely
enough, ignorant of. And even thisresult docs not fully represent the power of the
Gothic party, for it is well known that Mr. Hope did not receive a single vote
from the Classic party, and that several who were counted upon for
him, though " Goths" in heart, voted for Mr. Tite out of personal regard.
So that fifty-one even does not represent the fair proportion of Goths
in the members present, last Monday week, still less in the members of the Insti-
tute (^CTieraHj^ ; for members in the country who are warm advocates for, and
admirers of. Medievalism were necessarily absent. The prospects, therefore, of
Mr. G. G. Scott, Mr. Street, Mr. Burgess, and those whose views they represent,
is most cheering. Let them but unite as firmly as their opponents did on the last
occasion, and the next President will represent them in the Institute as well, as
ably, as impartially, and as nobly as Mr. Tite can the "devotees" of Pagan
architecture.
ROYAL ACADEMY.
BEFORE continuing our analysis of the leading pictures deserving of atten-
tion by the art-student, and also deserving of attention from the public, we
must correct an error which we fell into respecting the arrangement of Mr.
Carrick'b picture of the schoolboy looking out of the school-room window and
envying the mirth and jollity of the passengers on the roof of a stage-coach as
it passes by on its road to London. In our description of the mode in which the
painter had obtained liis effect, we find, on seeing his picture again, that we
underrated his taste in a very important part. We had said, writing from
memory, that the delicacy of the light on the distant country, represented
through the open window, was increased by the boy looking out being the
opposing dark mass. This is not so. The arrangement is in better taste than
that, and enters more into the philosophy of art than we had at first ])erceived.
Instead of the principal point of shadow being on the boy looking out of the window
it is much more judiciously placed on the two boys in the background, and this
discovery leads us to another important fact we had overlooked, namely, the
existence of a second window close to them, which not only rcjieats the
square form of the window through which the landscape is seen and
carries it on, but seems to give point and force to the darkness of the
dresses worn by the two boys just alluded to. We must, also, in justice to the
artist, state that the most powerful dark is concealed beneath the desk opposite
the principal window and subordinated by the leathern belt of the nearest
boy; but the most important and philosophical feature is that the principal
boy, instead of being in shade is in half or reflected light, represented by a
warmish dull tint in Tow-toned color, and it is still mere philosophical in this
respect, that it excites an unconscious reasoning faculty of the observer, who,
the artist assumes, mentally compares the reflected and low-toned light on the
back of the boy's dress with the direct and brilliant rays of the mid-day sun seen
upon the outdoor landscape, heightening one at the expense of the other by com-
parison, which is much more legitimate than dark against light, because it is
one de^ee of light opposed to another degree of light, and the result is, by
both being light, a certain increase of breadth and atmosphere, besides beinr
much more learned in an artistic point of view, and manifesting a refinement of
taste very rare since 1 he walls of the Royal Academy became Ruskinised in
microscopic abortions.
Every succeeding visit to this Exhibition has tended to confirm our first im-
pression that Mr. Frederick Goodall's picture, entitled "The First-bom," is the
production most honorable to the higher branch of art of the present year. It
18 pure in tone, grandly composed, and, above all, eminently suggestive. There
is too much elevation of character and treatment in it not to mean more than a
mere study of an Egyptian woman and her child; and the painter, although he
has not inserted in the catalogue, " And it came to pass that at midnight the
Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt," most certainly must have
had those words in his mind while bringing this excellent iiicture to perfection.
This is the more probable, because the dress of the mother is supposed to be the
same as worn in the time of Pharoah. Tliis arclia?ological attention to costume
in the present instance is not objectionable, but we do object most strongly to all
our early impressions of the scenes in sacred history bemg disturbed, particularly
as they nave been derived from the works of the great masters, b^ the modern
and matter-of-fact innovations on them in the display of curiosities belongiE
to the period, and in that growing love of detail which would make ourhistori
painters, if we had any, more entitled to be called "artists in frippery," than
the expounders in form and color of the highest sentiments of art. If wc look
allied to it, for it represents " Dinah Praying in I'rison with Hetty before her
Execution ;" but although the author says it was so dark that Dinah and Hetty
could not sec each other, the painter has represented them in broad, bright day-
light, and in clear and delicate colors, perfectly discordant with the idea of being
in prison, and as inappropriate to the solemnity of their occupation. On the ofter
side of the door, a little to the right, is a picture, entitled "Dawn — Luther atEr-
May 24, 1861.
TUE BUILDING NEWS.
427
flirt," in which the fjreat reformer has been engaged in deep meditation day and
night, and lias just felt a mental light brealt in upon his mind, and yet what
poetry or even feeling is there exhibited in that picture, either as regards tone or
treatnient, as illustrative of tlie subject ?
Passing on, we come to " Marie Antoinette in the Temple." In the first place
the artist has undertaken a subject far above his powers ; because to make
royalty peeping through a chink in a wall and preseiTe its necessary dignity is,
we are of opinion, in the present state of our Royal Academy, something above
their united powers to effect, es])ecially if, in accordance with our realistic
notions, royalty be painted en deshabille. But with this difWcnlty before his eyes
the painter has made no effort to counteract the commonplace appearance of his
subject, by either tone or treatment, and the effect of the picture is cold, raw and
common-place, and when we arrive at " The Antechamber at Whitehall during tlie
Dying Moments of Charles II.," we have the impressiveness of death not only
unattempted, but wilfully set at defiance for the sake of a showy display of skill
in frippery painting, anil a dazzling effect of colors. We have taken this hasty
glance round the room to show upon what grounds we select Mr. Frederick
Goodall's picture for especial praise as the most artistic, poetical, and suggestive
in the present Exhibition. It is artistic because of its breadth of execution and its
simplicity of composition ; it is poetical because the details are subordinated to the
grandeur of the subject ; as a whole it arrests the attention, and is suggestive,
because the contemplation of the subject sets the mind seeking for something more
than the mere objects before the eyes can abstractedly convey. Thus the Egyptian
mother bent over her dead or sleeping child, the attitudes of both conducive to
the idea of repose, the broad mass of subdued color tends to the same effect, and
the whole is so impressive in tone and color as to create a similar sentiment in the
mind of the spectator : therefore it is, that we mentally seek for a meaning be-
yond the mother and her infant, and find a resting place for thought in the lines
quoted above from sacred history. The means by which an impnission is produced
on the mind will, we think, be found to consist in the masterly style of composition
and the fullness of outline in the forms, assisted by the skilful arrangement
of color, assisted by light and shade. In the first place the position of both the
figures is perfectly natural and easy. The outline boundary or contour of the
group is both simple and grand, and the lights are no more than .ire absolutely
necessary to sustain the gloom, and to prevent monotony. The outline of the
general form of the whole group on the left of the spectator is a segment of a circle,
or part of an oval, the continuity of which line is very Uttle broken or disturbed.
It IS slightly varied, but is still repeated by the sweep of the green veil descend-
ing from the top of the mother's head, and it is yet further varied and also skil-
fully repeated by the direction of the finely-formed right-arm of tlie female figure.
The opposite side of the group is more disturbed by projecting parts, which pre-
vent the appearance of too formal a system of composition, but the other half of the
external oval form is very carefully indicated, although not absolutely repre-
sented. For instance, the child's fiead gives an apparent iri'egularity, but the
interval between it and the head of the mother is really filled up, to a certain
extent, by a cool shadow from the latter on the side wall near to it. The dark
mass produced by the dress of the mother is met by another mass of subdued light
on the same wall and matting behind her, and the whole is rendered effective by
the small golden ornaments on the veil by the side of the rich toned face, trans-
parent in deep gloom, by the repetition of those coin-like ornaments on the bottom
of the veil, and the flashes of the bright yellow of the lower part of the dress, a
small portion of which shows itself from beneath the larger upper and more densely
dark robe. These telling points being laid on in firm and solid spots of bright
color have a powerful efl'eet upon the whole subject, which also receives point
and expression from the brightest folds of the green veil near the top of the head.
The delicate pink of the striped shawl, which covers the child, falls into har-
mony with the pale yellow on the background, and the green veil, which receives
crispness and brilliancy by comparison while combining with both.
THE ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS.
Mr. M. E. Hadfield's " Restoration of the Church of St. Peter and St.
Paul, Barnby, near Devon " (677), has been carried out in strict conformity
with the regular Devonshire churches. A small sketch of its former state accom-
panies it, and shows the vast improvement which has been made. It has the
S(|uare pinnacled tower so frequently met with in this county, a chancel, aisle,
and south porch.
JJos. 679 and 681 are " Views, exterior and interior, of a Church to be built
in London," by Mr. J. L. Pearson. The best feature in the exterior is the plain
solid basement of the eastern apse. The buttresses rest upon this basemeut,
which, in form, reminds us somewhat of the Cologne churches. There is a tall
tower and spire at the western end. A group of apparently domestic buildings
hides the north side of the church. Tlie interior is more uniformly good. Single
columns, with carved capitals, support the nave arches. Slender shafts on
corbels spring from the spandrels and bear the vaulting. Between them, imme-
diately over the arches, there are incised pictorial subjects, with windows above.
This arrangement gives great richness and beauty to the interior, whilst the
repetition of it in fresco over the altar is in perfect harmony and in extremely
good taste. The divisions between the wmdows are by detached columns, in
which elegance and boldness are blended. The vaulting is decorated with
diamond-shaped bands of red stone or marble.
Mr. F. Mew exhibits a " Design for the Godolphin Schools, Hammersmith "
(678). It is in yellow brick, with enrichments in black and red. The roof is
covered with slate, and the dormers with which they are studded give a very
picturesque outline to the building. The forms of the windows are varied very
skilfully, and evince good proportion as well as Gothic feeling. The surface
decoration is simple, but an artistic nature is recognised immediately in it. A
portion of the upper floor appears supported on iron brackets. Without plans
and sections we are unable to see the reason of this, but have no doubt, from the
general character of the work, that it was dictated by economical motives. Such
a bald piece of design would not have been voluntarily adopted by an architect
who shows so plainly his ability to turn the unfavorable feature to advantage.
We have periodically recorded the progress of the works at the Royal Horti-
cultural Society's Grounds, South Kensington. Captain Fowke exhibits, in
No. 680, an Indian Ink " Drawing of the Council Chamber now used as a Vesti-
bule to the Gardens." It is an oblong chamber, with three arches in the centre
of the longer walls, and one in that of the shorter. They spring from semi-
fluted Doric columns on pedestals, and have niches at the sides of them. The
angles of the chamber are canted. The ceiling is pierced with flat skylights
divided by beams, which rest on handsomely-modelled corbels. A cove divided
into panels connects the ceiling witli the cornice over the arches. The pavement
is laid with tiles. The general proportions of the room are noble and dignified,
and the ornament is designed and cast in excellent taste.
No. 682 is a marvellously elaborate etching of some " Farm Buildings &c
at Halliwell, Hall, near Bolton," by Mr. C. H. Potter. They are constructed
with rough stone arches and timber uprights, and seem— so truly Gothic are
they— to be rather a restoration of old buildings than entirely new ones.
Messrs. Pritchard and Seddon's "New Schools at Llandatf, Glamorgan-
shire " (683), have the good qualities which are incorporated with all their
designs. The dressings are of white freestone, with occasional black blocks.
The master's residence and the schools are grouped together to constitute a
uniform design. A window divided into five openings lights the school, and the
doorways to It and to the master's residence have a snigle pent-house roof. There
is a small statue iu place of a finial over the gable. TTie whole design, simple as
it is, is worked out in a vigorous manner.
Mr. Matthew Digby Wyatt has a couple of novel contributions. Tliey are
original sketches for two of his designs. We would certainlv have preferred the
matured drawings of the same subjects, and the frtshncss aoii originaHty visible
in these rough pen-and-ink sketches create in us this desire. The gallery of
communication lately erected in the Great Hall at Compton Wynniattes,
Warwickshire, for the Marquis of Northampton (684), is a semi-octagon piece of
Gothic work, built upon corbels into the angle of a courtyard. The corbels
are let into the adjoining walls. It is covered with rich tracery work, pinnacles,
and shields. It seems rather squat in its proportions, but the idea is good, and
in such hands as Mr. Wyatt's, was doubtless improved upon in its execation.
The same crudeness and want of just proportion is palpable in the " Original
Sketch for a Public Building," (680), but they are likewise accompanied by-
great originality and freshness. Although the design bears no name, it was
manifestly made for one or other of the Government offices at Westminster, ou
the southern side of Downing-street. The design is Gothic, but it is neither
English nor foreign. If judged of by the examples of any country it would not
escape censure, but when looked upon independently it enlists our admiration,
and makes us forget the smallness of the entrances, the relative magnitude of the
sculpture iu the gable, and several other half-digested features. It is five
stories in height, with immense circular towers at the angles, and a gable in the
centre of the principal facade. Every portion of the building is in itsel f a design,
and yet the whole requires to be properly developed by the architect who con-
ceived it to make it perfectly satisfactory.
Tlie fine drawing, by Mr. J. D. Wyatt, of the " Central Tower, North Tran-
sept, and North Porch of Hereford Cathedral," now in progress of restoration,
by Mr. Gilbert Scott, R.A., keeps us ignorant of what the restorations really
are, and how much of its ugliness is due to a medieval ai-chitect. The general
mass is grand and imposing, but the turrets and other detail would be unques-
tionably condemned if designed in these degenerate days.
A drawing of a vast chapel, with open timber roof, having diminutive angels
on the hammer beams, carried on shafts of colored marble, represents "The
Interior view of a Cemetery," erected by Mr. J. P. Jones (687). The walls are
tinted red with panels for mural monuments. The further end is lighted by
lancet windows and a circular window over them.
Mr. Legg's (688) is the only design here exhibited for " Covering the Area of
the Royal Exchange with Glass." Waggon-headed beams with, externally, the
rake of an ordinary roof, pierced and filled in with appropriate Italian ornament,
rest upon the uppermost portion of the walls, thus leaving unaltered and
unhidden the architecture of the vast area. The space between the beams is, at
the ends of the curve of the beams, divided into nine glass colored panels; the
centre portion is covered with glass in large squares.
The Kintbury Vicarage (690), in com-se of erection for the Rev. James W.
D. Dundas, from the designs of Mr. T. Bury, shows on the principal front
a couple of gables, with bow-windows in front of them, extending two stories in
height. There is a recessed space between them. Dormers, porch, and exter-
nally-visible chimneys enrich the side. It is built of brick, with stone
dressings, and is a good solid design, without stint of material or of thought
in it.
691 represents the much-talked-of Military Hospital, by Mr. F. A. Dovey,
on the banks of the Southampton Water. It is built of red brick and stone, of
great extent, but with little architectural pretensions. The centre projects fer
out beyond the main line of the structure, and has a coupled columnar portico.
A dome is seen behind it, and turrets here and there in different parts of the
building. There are porticoes ou arcaded basements in the wings. *
THE ARCHITECTURAL EXHIBITION.t
340, a small colored photograph of Feriiey Hall, Salop, by Mr. John Norton,
shows a moderately effective structure of red brick and stone, in the Elizabethan
style. Mr. Norton sends also 342, " St. Luke's Church, Bedminster," having a
peculiar arch over the north door.
341 is another "Competition Design for the Church at Ramsey," by Mr. Mile-
ham. The church seems to be designed as a base to the spire.
It is not easy to comprehend why the competition drawuigs are sprinkled about
the walls in the manner we find them.
349 (we have before noticed the intermediate drawings) " National Schools
and Residence at Farnhani, Surrey," erected last year by Sir. John Colson, of
the local stone, with box ground dressings, and costing £-2,000, shows externally
a good school-room ; but the drawing is very unpleasant in color.
No. 350, a photograph of " Debenham and Storr's Premises," by Mr. Arthur
Allom, we were unable to discover.
No. 351, by Mr. Horace Jones, contains small views and plans of " Hurd's
Estate, Kentish-town," " The Lodge, Goldbeaters' Schools, at Caversham," and
" Villas on the Kurd Estate."
In 352 Mr. E. W. Godwin gives some small diagram plans, with three views of
churches. " St. Johnston, Co. Donegal," is very ugly ; " Grade Church, Corn-
wall, and a " Churcli at Tory Island," are somewhat better.
No. 357, by Mr. George Corson, " Messrs. Sykes' Warehouse, in Wellington-
street, Leeds," has a very appropriate warehouse character, treated with a cer-
tain amount of originality. The result is very good. An unnumbered frame
hanging near shows a larger photograph of the entrance.
Mr. Pearson's photographs of "St. Leonard's, Scarborough " (358 and 360),
To be continued
t Continued from page 420.
428
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 24, 186 L
irould seem to indicate some good points in the tower and spire, but are on too
small a scale.
Messrs. Willson and Nicholl send in No. 359, "A Sketcli of Storiated Roof
as projected, to be decorated with the Lives of St. Peter and St. Paul," which
received the medal of the Society for tlie Encouragement of Vine Arts in last
jear. The photogreph of the interior new, as taken from the drawing, has a
good effect. The same architects send (361) " The Catholic Schools, Great
Crosby, Lancashire," a plain gabled structure of red brick and stone.
3(S. " A Cemeterj- Chapel," by Mr. Statter, has gablets rising above the eaves
of the apsidal chancel.
3»>3. " A Villa recently erected near Tottenham," by Mr. C. J. Adams, shows
on plan a drawing-room 36 feet by 15 feet. The cross light obtained from the
windows is not a desirable arrangement. On the exterior the bay window fails
to please, and the arch over the dining-room window as being unnecessary, looks
Terv ranch out of place.
'' St. -Andrew's Church, Somerset," by Mr. Norton (decorated) is shown in
two small photographs — No. 365, a north-west view, and 371, a south-west
view. The church has aisles and a small square tower.
No. 366, showing a " House erected at Weybridge," by Messrs. Blackett and
Bowe, has b^n photographed from too loose and sketchy a drawing to show
what the building really is. The same gentlemen send photographs, from
drawings, of" Infant School and Mistress's Residence," Canbrooke, Kent (369),
" A Design submitted for the Assize Courts, Manchester" (372), and " New
Hotel, Scarborough " (375)
Mr. Metcalf exhibits, as drawn by him, the " Illustration of the Bronze Gates,
Loggia Piazza of St. Slark, Venice," which appeared in the Blilding News
in January last.
No. 374. " Caversham House, Bucks," by Mr. Horace Jones, consists of a
square structure in the Italian, or rather what was some few years ago better
known as the Grecian style, with Ionic colonnades on each wing— in fact, one of
those glaring white " halls " too often met with.
Mr. Gane's design for the "Wedgwood Institute" (376), is in the Pointed
style and of simple outline, the end elevations shown in 383 are chiefly noticeable
as being carefully drawn.
No. 377, two pencil sketches of Romsey Abbey Church, and St. Cross Hospital,
Winchester, by Mr. Walter Robinson, are cleverly touched in, and show what
some of our readers should be about these fine days and lengthening evenings.
Mr. A. H. -Morant in 378 shows a design for " The principal front of a Drilling
Hall, with armoury and dressing-room for officers and men." The main entrance
is under a pediment of four widely-spaced Corinthian columns, which are con-
tinued to the angles of the fa(jade with windows between, on one story only.
379. "Elevation and sections of a portion of the Presbytery of Laon
Cathedral," from measurements made by Messrs. Curzon and Robinson, are care-
ful outline drawings by Mr. Robinson.
380. "Westboume Hall, Westbourne Grove Qnst erected)," from the designs
of Messrs. Newman and Billing, shows a coffered ceiling elliptic in section, color
is introduced with good eifect.
381. "Sketch of the East Window of South Church, Lincolnshire," represents
the stained-glass now in course of execution by Clayton and Bell, the wmdow is
large, being of seven lights divided by a transom into fourteen divisions, each
with varying subjects.
382. Various sketches by Mr. Thomas Jeckell. The keeper's house is a heavy
red structure. The object with which two sketches of parts of buildings, con-
structed of sun-dried clay lumps, are exhibited, is not apparent.
384. "St. Michael's Church, at Blackburn," now being erected from the
designs of Messrs. Stevens and Robinson. Intended to accommodate 800 per-
sons, is very plain. Certainly cusping in the windows would be an improvement.
385. " Desifm for a Villa/' by Mr. J. M. Rogers. The base, of rough stone,
rising to the sills of the ground floor windows, has an awkward effect at the
door. The materials are of brick and stone. The round-headed windows,
grouped together, have deep arches over them, but the effect in the sepia drawing
is not natural.
380. " Design for proposed Town-hall, Grimsby," by Mr. J. A Davies, is an
nnohtrusive drawing, accompanied ijy two plans somewhat thus HH the central
portion containing the hall, lighted by five tall windows on each side; the wings
imve each two windows on each story on the principal front.
387 to 390. " Design for a House for four brothers, amateurs of literature and
art," sent inforcompetition to the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris, and for which first
honorable mention was awarded to R. Phene Spiers, is a poetical composition,
shown in a plan, elevation, section, and view. On plan there are four detached
houses, connected by an open arcade on the ground and first floor, thus enclosing
a quadrangle, in the centre of which is a grand reception-room, &c., common to
the four dweUings. The drawing and tinting is most carefully executed.
391, " Chancel of St. Margaret's, Tatterford," as about to berebuilt,W. Lightly,
is forcibly colored. The end window appears to have been closed up, and a small
circular "and cusped opening inserted.
392. " South Front of Terrace of Houses, proposed to be erected at Harrow-
on-the-Hill, for the Harrow Tontine Association," by Mr. Tliomas Harris, will,
•we doubt not, find admirers.
393. " Selections from the Illustrations for the ' Dictionary of Architecture,' "
issued by the Architectural Publication Society (9, Conduit-street.) Among
the eight plates exiiibited we observe one of the carefully drawn plates of church
plans, prepared by Mr. Blatchley. Our notices of the Society's work are too
recent to render anv further remarks now necessary.
384. Shows the bank, at Carlisle, with a design for covering the adjoining
plot by Mr. VV. R. Corson.
395. The " Stained Glass for the East Window of Abington Church, Nortb-
aniptonshire," by Messrs. Heaton and Butler, is verj- creditable.
397. Photogra'ph of " Aldworth-rise, Reading." A good brick structure of
snhstantial domestic character. No. 306 shows the porch in detail. Mr. James
Brooks is the architect.
397a. "Stone Porch, Mr. Franklin's House, Leicester," by Mr. J. H.
Chamberlain, pood in general effect, is injured by the form of the carved work
over, which mterferes too much with the form of the arch. The carving
appears to be well executiid.
398. Mr. Alfred Waterhouse sends a model (scale ^-inch to a foot) of the
Manchester Assize Courts ; wi thout b<'ing remarkable as a specimen of modelling,
Jt serves well to give a good general idea of the eflect of the building when com-
pleted. And much to the same purpose might be said of
399. Model of part of the " Roof over the Holy Trinity Church, Knights-
bridge," by Mr. Raphael Brandon. Having a knowledge of several models that
have been made during the past year, we had hoped to find the Exhibition
better supplied in this respect.
We have now but to return to the first screen, and mention that Mr. Alfred
Bell contributes (323) " An Unfinished Portion of a Banner or Standard Screen,"
executed by an amateur lady ; and (324) a portion of a " Pianoforte Front,"
executed also by lady amateurs, both designed by Mr. Bell. As unfinished, they
cannot in justice be compared with the elegant contributions of
Lady Mildred Beresford-Hope (316, 317, 318), " Specimens of a New Method
of Applique Needlework, suitable to Ecclesiastical and other Architectural
Decoration." It seems that this method of needlework was invented for and
applied to the new choir hangings in Cologne Cathedral, designed by M.
Ramboux, and executed by 300 ladies of Cologne, under the direction of Mdlle.
Martens, by whom the specimens now exhibited have been prepared in order to
exhibit the process of working at various stages.
We have now concluded our notices of the works in the Architectural Exhibi-
tion. Possibly — nay, without doubt, many meritorious features in design may
have been passed over without comment in an examination of more than four
hundred different works ; but, on the other hand, we are quite sure that we
have with great forbearance touched lightly on some that have simply shown
what the authors could not do. It cannot be said that the present Exhibition
has many works of high merit, but at the same time we have no hesitation in
saying that the general character of the works exhibited shows some improve-
ment over those of former years. Much has been done this year, and the com-
mittee will doubtless again find themselves in a still better position to reject
those designs which do not tend worthily to represent tlie present state of archi-
tecture In Great Britain.
HOUSE-TOP TELEGRAPHY.
TWO correspondents have replied to the paragraph which recently
appeared in this work on the above subject. One of them contented
himself by pooh-poohing tlie suggestions, and sent his letter to the Evening
Herald and Standard, into both of which papers the paragraph in question
had bien copied. The other correspondent, with more propriety, published
his reply in the last number of the Building News, and which reply was
written in a candid and considerate manner. It however does not appear
so conclusive as the writer, Mr. Owen Rowland, seems to think. He says
that when he erected the first house-top telegraph he watched on several
occasions the effect of thunderstorms, and assures us that no injury took
place. From this experience he assumes that houses in connexion with
telegraph wires and poles are safer than buildings without them. But to
prove tills latter assumption, would it not be necessary to show that houses
not so protected were injured by lightning during a thunderstorm, while
those bearing the poles and in the neighbourhood of the wires escaped
uninjured ? Until that proof be obtained, we think the question stands
exactly as we stated it ; because we have Mr. Owen Rowland's admission
that he anticipated the very fears we have expressed as a positive fact,
while his reasoning is entirely a negative conclusion ; for no accident
happened in either case to houses either with or without wires and poles,
therefore he has not succeeded in disturbing the status quo. We may add
that solicitors in large practice connected with assurance companies show
no disposition to treat the subject lightly, as they have required official
reports from certain scientific men with respect to the probable extent of
the risk incurred by this new method of sending telegraphic communica-
tions.
THE MKTROPOLITAN BOAKD OF WOKKS AND THE GREAT
EXHIBITION BUILDING FOlt 180;;.
AT the ordinary weekly meeting of the Metropolitan Board of ATorks, held at the
offices in Spring-gardens, on Friday.Mr. J. Tiiwaites, the Chairman, presiding,
an application was read from Captain Fowke, ou bolialf of the Commissioners of the
International Exhibition of 18Ca. for the sanction of the Board to the erection of the
proposed structure at South Kensington, in rcfoi-cncc to which some difficulty had
arisen inconsequence of the interference of tlie District Surveyor, Mr. Donaldson,
who found that the buildins was not being carried out in accordance with the pro-
visions of the Metropolitan Building Act, and felt it his duty, as surveyor of the
district, to summon tlii^ builders before the magistrate, at the Hammersmith Police-
court, Sir. Ingham, who, on the application of Mr. Kelk, one of the contractors,
granted a postponement of the summons until the plans of the buildins: had been
submitted to the Mclropolit.an Board of Works for their approval, The super-
intending architect, Mr. Vullianiy, at the meeting of the lioard on Friday,
recommended that the sanction of tlie Board be given to the plans of the Exhibition
Building of 181)2, and that the erection of the structure be allowed under the super-
vision of' the district surveyor, he liaving full authority to sanction the use of those
materials, which would under ordinary circumstances be exceptional, and to require
that all reasonable tests be employed to satisfy him as to the strength oi any portion
of the building, so as to insure its safety for public use. It appeared that there were
several deviations from the Building Act in the plans of the proposed .structure, but
tliat if tlie provisions of that Act were rigidly enforced there would be no Great
Exhibition in ISiH.— Mr. Leslie thought the Board sliould deal with the application
without any refei-eiico to the district surveyor. There were exceptions from the
operation of the Building Act, such as royal residences, the Bank of England, gas-
works, and other buildings, and he said tlie E.vliibilion Building ought to be placed
in the same category, as being one to which the Act of Pariiameiit was not applicable.
He then moved that, under the .'iOtli section of the liulUlinff Act, the Board approve
of the plans and sanction the erection of the building.— Mr. Le Buetox seconded
the motion.— Mr. Alderman Lawrence thought that if such a building as ttiat for
the Great Exhibition could have been foreseen it would have been iiieludedm the
exceptions from the operation of the Act, and that it would have been better for
Government to introduce and pass a short bill taking upon themselves the rcsponsi-
bihty of excepting from the provisions of the Building Act the structure for the
Great International Exhibition of 180-'.— After sonic further conversation, in which
Mr H L Taylor Mr, Freeman, Mr. I'llillips and others took part, the motion of
Mr. Leslie was carried unanimously.— The <:n airman said a report had reached him
that the Board had delayed the consideration of the plans ; but ho wished to state
that the plans were only deposited at the; office on Wednesday morning, and that
(Friday) morning they bad been approved. —(Hear, hear.)
May 24, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
429
ART COPYHIGHT.*
WE admit that the Bill when passed into an Act, will, if there be no
quibble or evasion of the plain sense and intent of its application,
effect one very great good by extirpating one of the main evils of public
competitions. It will henceforth be impossible for the managers of a com-
petition to appropriate, wholly or partially, the designs of competing
architect, and entrust their carrying out to a protege or the town surveyor,
as we have too often seen. The designs will be the property of their
author. They cannot be carried out unless by his permission, and it will
rest entirely with him to determine whether or not he will sujierintend the
works, and consequently earn the regular professional commission. So
far no doubt the system of public competition will be ameliorated. But it
does seem strange that the architect is to have no copyright in the design
when realised ; that is, in the work itself ; nor do we gather from the Act
that he will have copyright in graphic delineations — pictures, prints,
drawings, lithographs, and photographs — of his edifice. In the exception,
it says that the Act is not to preclude persons from making plans, sections,
elevations, and models, provided they are taken from the building direct,
and not from the original drawings. Thus Mr. Scott's designs for the
Foreign Office which are about to be exhibited, may not be copied ; but
when they are carried out by the building being erected from them, they
may be copied, and the architect will not only derive no profit from the
reproduction of his works, but he will lose all control over them, and
be unable to prevent them from being caricatured and misrepresented.
Are there any reasons why architects are to be less favorably treated than
their artistic brethren — painters, sculptors, and engravers ? Are they
wealthier, or so well paid for their work that they can afford to abandon
sources of profit which others are glad to retain ? Common sense no less
than common fairness requires that all should be put upon the same foot-
ing, and have their rights equally protected. If architects are to have
copyright in designs for works, and not in executed works, pauiters and
sculptors should have copyright only in their sketches, and not in their
pictures and statues, to be logical and even handed. But if the latter are
to have copyright in the embodiment of their conception, ideas, or com-
positions, which they ought to have, so should architects have copyright
in their ideas when embodied in construction.
It will be no argument in a contrary sense, and in favor of the Bill, to
say that when a structure is built it becomes public property, because
when a painter or sculptor sells his work it also becomes public property,
inasmuch as he has no longer control over the property in it. He cannot
prevent its changing hands, or from being more or less publicly exhibited,
or from its being made public property. The property of a picture or
statue after sale is no longer vested in the author, but he retains the
copyright unless he parts with it by special agreement. The property or
ownership of a work of art by a painter or sculptor is distinct from its
copyright, and both may be vested in two different persons. For instance,
there are pictures by Landseer, Mulready, Webster, and other living
artists at South Kensington, which have been bequeathed to the nation,
and are therefore public property ; but the copyright does not belong to
the nation according to the Act. It is the property of some private indi-
vidual, who is protected in lawfrom its infringement by parties makingcopies
or engravings therefrom for sale. We do not think it impracticable to give
architects the same protection. The commission they receive is the remu-
neration for designing a structure and superintending its erection. The
employer or owner of the structure is the proprietor of the realised design ;
he may sell it, exhibit it or not, just as he pleases, but there is no reason
why he and the author should not possess the copyright, one or the other,
instead of its being thrown open to all pirates, and we cannot think that
any public detriment would arise from securing architectural copyright in
executed designs — certainly none greater than in giving copyright in
painting and sculptures. On the contrary, we think great good would
accrue, for architects, instead of borrowing designs ready made, would be
compelled to think for themselves, or in other words to invent, which would
lead to originahty, whereof there cannot he said there is too much in our
buildings. As an illustration of what would in all probability occur, were
the Bill modified in the sense pointed out, and copyright secured in
buildings as well as in their designs, we may well suppose that there
would be greater variation in street architecture than is at present
apparent. Now a builder applies to an architect for the designs and
plans of a villa or ordinary class house, for which he pays, perhaps, ten
guineas. When once their proprietor, he may put up as many con-
structions as he pleases from tlie same drawings, all after the same
pattern, without the architect being able to interfere in the slightest
degree. But if the drawings were available for no more than one con-
struction without their author's consent, two things would result first,
that as the consent for reproduction, or abandonment of copyright, would
not be given without a quid pro quo, the builder might find the difference
in cost so slight that it would be worth his while to have original designs,
if not for every house, at all events for every block of buildings ; and
secondly, that the profession would be directly and immediately respon-
sible for the architectural appearance of new streets and buildings.
There is one point more in the Bill before the legislature which we trust
we may be permitted to notice, without being deemed guilty of taking too
narrow a professional view of its features. In its present form the Bill
will be in contradiction to previous legislation, for it does not preclude
persons from copying parts of a building and incorporating them in their
own works. But under the Patent Laws and Designs Act, property may
be acquired by architects in building contrivances and architectural orna-
ments of their invention. For instance, Mr. Scott's mode of fitting sash
* Continued from page 40S. >
windows in Gothic mullions may very legitimately be made the subject of
a patent, while every detail of architectural ornamentation, capital, mould-
ing, frieze and cornice, may be made copyright by registration under the
Ornamental Designs Act, which is not to be repealed. If such is the case
we may be asked, does not that suffice ? We think not, because of the
cost of obtaining protection by this means, and its temporary character.
Building contrivances are patented extensively ; but we doubt if a single
architectural ornamental design has ever been registered. Just look at
the incongruity of present with past legislation. The one, if it does not
destroy, affords no protection to copyright, but seemingly invites infringe-
ment of copyright, while the other does give protection for a few months.
Evidently this contradiction cannot be allowed to last, which if it did
would make our legislation uncertain and confused ; and as architectural
copyright is recognised, defined to a certain extent, and temporarily pro-
tected, something more must be done. Building contrivances may be left
to the protection of the Patent Laws, but the copyright of architectural
designs should be extended to as long a period, and made as cheap as copy-
right in pictures, statues, and other works of art will be by the proposed
Act. There can be no practical difficulty in the way of doing so, for we
have only to lengthen the term accorded by the Ornamental Designs Act
to during the life of the author and thirty years after his death.
We now proceed with the examination of the Bill. "Work of fine art" is
to mean every picture, work of sculpture, engraving, and architectural
work. Here we have another instance of confused and meaningless
phraseology. If we substitute in this interpretation the definitions
previously given of engravings and architectural works, it would appear
that a work of fine art is the representation of any work of fine art. Surely
we do not require an Act of Parliament to tell us that a spade is a spade.
British dominions are to comprehend the United Kingdom, the Channel
Islands, the Isle of Man, all colonies and possessions of the Crown, now and
hereafter acquired.
Except architectural works, the authors of pictures, sculptures, and
engravings, made, or for the first time sold or disposed of, after the com-
mencement of the Act, and their assigns are to have the sole and exclusive
right of copying, reproducing, and multiplying their works and the
designs thereof by any means, of any size and for any purpose, during the
lives of the authors and thirty years afterwards. Persons who after the
commencement of the Act shall lawfully make or cause to be made copies
of Works of Fine Arts, and their assigns are to have the sole and exclu-
sive right of copying, reproducing, and multiplying copies for the period
before named. The Act is not to prejudice the right of persons to copy
or use works nf fine art in which there is no copyright, or to represent
any scene or object, notwithstanding that there may be copyright in a copy
or imitation previously made of such works, or in some representation of
such scene or object. To acquire copyright in a work of fine art or in its
design the name or monogram of the author or maker is to be legibly signed,
painted, engraved, printed, stamped, or otherwise marked upon the face or
other conspicuous part of the work. Authors of works of fine art that
have been sold or disposed of before the commencement of the Act, or (in
case the authors have died within ten years before the passing of the Act)
their representatives, are, from the commencement of the Act, but so as
not to affect anything done before its passing, to have copyright in
such works and designs from the commencement of the Act, provided thi
consent of owners for the time being of the works or their copies be
obtained. Copyright in works of art produced abroad by British subjects
or foreigners may be obtained in the British dominions on compliance
with the conditions of the Act. It would be impossible to praise too
highly this provision as an act of justice to the foreigner and to the native,
for it will be reciprocated by States abroad, except those who trade upon
piracy. If our manufacturers steal their designs from Paris, there are
numberless instances where our designs are pilfered by Swiss, Germans,
French, and Belgians, and we all know how extensively the trade marks
of our best manufacturers are forged. Copyright is to be deemed personal
or movable estate ; its assignment as well as license to copy works of art
must be made in writing, which may be endorsed from one party to another
without requiring to be stamped. Penalties for infringement of copyright
are fixed at a maximum of £100 for each offence, and the infringing
copies to be forfeited to the proprietor of the copyright. Forging the
name, initials, or monogram of an author of a work of art to be deemed
a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment, not exceeding two years, with-
out or with hard labor, at the discretion of the court. Makers and sellers
of forged copies, infringements, or colorable imitations to be liable to a
penalty not exceeding £100 or to double the full price at which the forged
copies or infringements were sold. Importations of pirated works are to be
prohibited, and importers are to be liable to the provisions of the Customs' Act.
We have now briefly laid the provisions of this important measure
before our readers, with such remarks as suggest themselves, and trust
they will give the subject their most earnest attention, for the Bill will
deeply affect the interests of their profession and the welfare of their art.
Harrogate. — New Weskyan Chapel.— The Wesleyans have resolved
to erect a new chapel, capable of holding one thousand persons, at a cost of
£4,000. The site is purchased. The plans of several architects have been sent
in ; and|those of Messrs. Lockwood and Mawson would have been finally adopted,
but it was ascertained that the cost would be too great. The decision, therefore,
is at present adjourned.
Bradford. — New Chapel.— The foundation stone of a new Methodist
chapel was laid at Dudley-hill a few days ago. The buildings include a Sunday
school on the ground behind the chapel, and the entire cost is estimated at
£1,000. Mr. Hope, of Bradford, is the architect, and the design is spoken of as
chaste and beautiuil.
430
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 24, 1861.
NOTES WITHOUT TEXT.*
XXV.
AMONG Charles Barry's happy innovations is the balustraded area-
screen which, besides excluding what is unsightly — at least, mean in
appearance — gives an air of finished completeness to the whole of a faijade,
its lower extremity being of corresponding quality with the upper one,
■whereby the whole becomes of a piece. What B.irry borrowed he made
decidedly his own, were it only by some refining touches, generally far
too subtile to be appreciated by every one. His first specimen of astylar
Italian here in London may almost be said to have given the quietus to
the mawkish cockney Greek then in vogue, and also to the tame Palla-
dianism of the last century. Italian came again into fashion, — alas ! that
mere " fashion " should have the influence it has in architecture ; for
though, in that instance, the change was one greatly for the better, fashion
already threatens a sad innovation by applying to the Italian style the
inordinately tall roof and dormer windows, characteristic of a quite dif-
fnent and inferior one. Remarks on roofs of that kind being reserved for
a ftitnre note, and to say what is more to the immediate purpose, Barry's
translation — so to call it — of Italian was as superior to that of his prede-
cessors, as Dryden's " Virgil " is to Dr. Trapp's. It was he who, for the
first time, showed us how much might be accomplished with compara-
tively little more than fenestration. Till then it had oftener than not
■been the practice with English architects to suppress window dressings,
though there might be no small degree of pretentiousness in other respects,
irith parasite columns and pilasters, and other things of that sort, which
80 applied were no better than so much impertinent garnish. Neverthe-
less, such barefaced inoongruousness of character passed for simplicity,
though it was more akin to the absurdity of sticking a military plume of
feathers on a Qiuiker's beaver. Still, perhaps, there was something
to recommend that hybrid and spurious kind of design — if de-
sign it can be called — inasmuch as it greatly abridged the
designer's labor, by getting rid of all bother about decorative fenes-
ixatioo, as there was only to provide openings in the walls for sashes, and
as to columns and pilasters, they were to be had ready-prepared secundum
arUm. Pecksniff could there show himself on a par with Palladio. Of
PecksniflBsm — at least, of Pecksniff taste and feeling — there was no little in
James Wyatt, who manufactured designs for country houses by scores. It
has been recorded of him, as a proof of his readiness of invention, that he
frequently made his designs in his travelling carriage while on a journey
to a client by whom he had been summoned. So far from there being
aaght marvellous in such apparent readiness of Ideas and facility of
designing, they go far to account for the namby-pamby, common-place
stuff of him who was the " crack " architect of his day. Of Wyatt more,
perhaps, has been said than ought to be believed; for, among other things,
it has been told of him that he demanded a fee of ten guineas for a con-
sultation ; that he would take out his watch, put it down on the table,
and if the conference with his client exceeded sixty minutes, would charge
ten guineas more. If, as is very questionable, there be any truth in what
has been reported of Wyatt, people must have been vastly more liberal
■With their guineas in his time than they are now with their crowns,
when a premium of twenty pounds is considered a not illiberal remune-
ration for a set of drawings sent into a competition.
xxvi.
SOMETHING is to be learned from what Barry did not do. Never, for
instance, did he throw out projecting balconies — no doubt because he
felt that, however managed, they tend to cut up a facjade, especially if
there be many of them. The south front of the " Travellers' " will, perhaps,
be thought to contradict this, since there the principal floor windows have
balconies ; but they are more recessed than advanced forward, and besides
that their projection is very small, they rest upon a cornice immediately
below them, consequently do not at all overhang or appear insecure. Eveu
did they uniformly contribute to beauty, balconies towards a street are
purposeless, because no use can be made of them, except it be for setting
out plants in them. Most of all objectionable — though it seems to have
come into favor of late^s the continuous balcony, carried uninterruptedly
along all the windows of a floor, for that actually shows us an uncouth
excrescence, and divides the lower from the upper part of a front. In an
elevation, indeed, the disagreeableness of effect so occasioned does not
manifest itself distinctly, but an architect ought to be able to foresee it —
to form to himself beforehand a faithful image of his future building. To
be able to think in perspective is to an architect no superfluous talent ;
he ouglit always to be able to calculate upon and make allowance for the
inevitable difference between geometrical delineation and perspective.
Without a knowledge of perspective an architect is no more than " one-
eyeA " — at least ijuoad artist ; and, so far from being difficult, few things
that have to be taught are less so, were those who profess to teach it to be
sincere, and, instead of making a mystery of what is in itself exceedingly
simple, to explain away apparent difficulties. The sad truth is that nearly
all the publications which have from time to time been put forth under the
Aretcnce of teaching perspective popularly and divested of mystery have
•een little better than razors made, not to shave, but " sell."
matters of taste, what may be thought, trifles make very great
differences indeed either for the better or the worse, as the case may
be; and it was his attention to trijlei that imparted such superior quality
to Barry's Italian design. Exquisitely as it was finished up, there was
nothing of the finical in it— nothing of finery, but, on the contrary, a
• Continued from page 387.
graceful sedateness far more captivating than the coarse tawdry display
which seems to be now affected. Did not people allow themselves to be
bamboozled by mere names — had they brains as well as eyes, and could
make use of both together, they would be able to distinguish the vast
difference between things that answer to the same general name, however
dissimilar they may be as to artistic quality. What Barry did for Anglo-
Italian will be better understood and appreciated by comparing his
buildings of that class with the best works of the Anglo-Palladian or
Burlington school of the last century; in which there is no evidence of
any study of detail, for that seems to have been adopted ready-made, con-
sequently all second-hand. It has been said of Barry that ho had the
good fortune to have his 'merits in the style here referred to made the
subject of special and deliberate criticism; be that as it may, certain it is
that he had the sagacity to avail himself of what others had all along
overlooked — to perceive how much more might be made of it than before
had ever been thought of for it. And so far from being a mere copyist,
Barry showed especial forte and originality in what some may
call only borrowed ideas. Yet if he borrowed, he repaid punctually,
and with ample interest, which is much more than can be said of
many borrowers whose promises to pay are not worth the paper
they are written upon. It is quite ridiculous to speak of the
Pall-mall front of the Travellers' Clubhouse as little more than a copy
of the Palazzo Pandolfini-— the differences between them by very far ex-
ceeding the resemblances. Decidedly original and no less happy, for
instance, is the mode in which pilasters are applied to the windows, so as
to constitute the actual framing of the apertures. Singularly captivating,
too, is the harmony of the general composition, which produces unity
without sameness— that congruity of character which is seldom so studied
and attended to as it ought to be. If Barry was favored by opportunities
that fall to the lot of only very few, he understood how to make the most
of them. Some others, who are still living, and whom therefore it may
not be altogether prudent to name, have had opportunities quite as great,
if ,'not greater, without being able to show aught of con amore diligence or
of artist mind ; a sufficient proof, if one were needed, that buildings which
are nominally in the same style may be altogether different as to archi-
tectural quality — as unlike in flavor as a pine-apple is to a carrot. And well
it is that it is so, because else architectural design could not claim to take
a higher rank than that of mechanical art.
XXVIII.
SO far from being exhausted. Classic, taking the term in its most com-
prehensive meaning, contains abundant latent resources of design.
Yet hitherto very little advantage has been taken of later discoveries, that
have brought to light undoubted and well-authenticated examples of the
indisputably antique, except by a mere reproduction of it occasionally.
Poured into a mould, lead will produce as accurate a facsimile as metal
far more precious can ; and no little quantity of lead has been poured into
moulds for columns after the Parthenon, applied in the most prosaic
manner. It is time to begin to break away from that servile, mechanical
copyism and routine treatment which have, perhaps not quite undeservedly,
brought Classic into discredit. Emancipation from copyism is not, indeed,
to be effected all at once. We must have nothing to do with the
architectural quacks and charlatans who show themselves to be such
by talking very bigly of a bran-new Nineteenth Century style, as if
it were possible to concoct a new and distinct style from time to time, and
it could be promised beforehand. It is for the historian of art to record
the vicissitudes of architecture, and to trace their causes, which will gene-
rally be found to have been quite unpremeditated, and tlie concomitant
results of changes in the national, or in the social system. The archi-
tecture of the nineteenth century ought to be in continuation of that of
the eighteenth ; but greatly improved as regards taste as well as in many
other respects, more or less important. Architecture is not a cul de sac,
where, when we have reached the end of it, we can advance no further, but
are compelled to turn back and retrace our steps, which is what the
Medievalists would fain persuade us to do, and to put back the hand of the
clock from the present nineteenth, to the twelfth or thirteenth century. It
may, indeed, be said that the Classic revivalists did something of the same
kind, but fortunately they were left to their own invention, and at liberty
to devise for themselves nearly all that constitutes the real merit
of the style they worked out ; and of which the pedantic and mechanical
treatment of the orders most assuredly is not one. Not at all is architecture
indebted to the Palladios and Vignolas for cutting off one main, almost
inexhaustible, and certainly legitimate source of variety, by laying down
the merest pettifogging rules with respect to the several orders. It is all
very well to establish for each of them certain broad general principles
and normal conditions that ought to be observed, yet a broad margin
should be left so as to allow the architect some freedom of design. There
are some, indeed, who now go to the contrary extreme, and give it as their
opinion that the workman, the manual operative, ought to be permitted
to execute detail according to his own fancy. Strange doctrine that !
since it gives the workman credit for being quite as good an artist, if not
a better, than the architect himself. If the latter cannot be trusted to
show invention in designing detail, how can the other be safely confided
in? Why should it be left to the inferior agent to give the finishing
touches to the architect's design ? No doubt there are some— it could he
wished there were fewer— who cannot do better than stick to literal
copyism, yet surelv there are also some who, guided by comprehensive and
elastic principles of eumorphic design, could, were they not too timid, put
forth some evidence of inherent unborrowed strength. The Vitruvianists
and Palladianists made architecture no better than an effeminated Her-
May 24, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
401
f
cules spinning with a distaff, under the pretence of regulating it by
reducing it to a system of mere rules. Tliey did their best to prevent all
further expansion and growth by compressing and cramping it, just as
the Chinese do the feet of their ladies. So far Vjtruvius in itself is a most
detestable and execrable name, to the superstitious reverence for which we
may attribute all the plodding copyism which is now, not without reason,
alleged against modern Classic as its besetting and seemingly incurable sin.
PARIS BUILDING AND HOTEL COMPANY.
ONE of the chief agents in carrying out the enormous building opera-
tions of Paris which have changed the features and destroyed the
architectural character of our neighbours' capital, is an ofishoot of tlie
famous Credit Mobilier — la Compagnie Immobiliere de Paris. More- for-
tunate apparently than the parent scheme, the Building Company seems
to be in a prosperous condition, which is due to the investments being in
land and constructions ; also to the extraordinary rise which has taken
place in the price of land and rents ; that, however, may be followed by a
fall at any time and when least expected. Already the extreme limit
seems to have been attained, and the class capable of paying heavy rents
exhausted. M. Emile Pereire, President of the Building Company, was
obliged to admit at the late annual meeting of shareholders, that in houses
in new thoroughfares, the first ^floors found tenants, but not the upper
ones in consequence of their rents being too high for private dwellings.
On the Boulevart Beaumarchais, as unfashionable a part of Paris as is the
City-road here, a garret, floor of four rooms and a kitchen lets for £80. In
the opposite end of Paris — the quarter of the nouveatix riches, and on the
confines t of the demi-monde — in a small street off the rue Blanche an
entresol of four rooms, kitchen, and servants' chamber in the attic lets for
£160, and these are instances of what the middle classes of very mode-
rate income are called upon to pay. The wealthier middle classes dwell in
apartments from £400 a year and upwards. A linendrapery and millinery
shop on the Boulevart des Capucines pays for the ground floor alone
£5,520 a year. Fancy a London tradesman paying such a rent without a
dwelling ! In addition to the rent, the Municipality and Government levy
taxes upon the class we should call lodgers here, including taxes on doors
and windows, and 9 per cent, upon the rent, so that the shopkeeper referred
to must pay upwards of six tliousand a year ! One would imagine that tliis
fact would drive customers away, for it is they who pay this enormous
rental out of the extra profits clapped on the price of female finery.
Parisians have certainly little ground to congratulate themselves on the
improvement of their city at such a cost, and ratepayers here may well
hesitate to allow the Metropolitan Board of Works to follow in the same
tract. At the same time we are free to admit that there are ample scope and
verge here for the operations of a large building joint-stock that might
considerably improve the architectural appearance of London, and realise
considerable profits for the shareholders.
The financial statement of the Compagnie Immobiliere, if it be bona fide,
which there is no reason to doubt, ought to be a guarantee for success, and
encouragement to essay something of the same kind here. Our building
societies, tliough more modest, and with a different purpose, show that a
rich harvest may be reaped in this direction, and great good done to
various departments of trade. It would be more consonant with our
character and traditions that works should be left to private enterprise
instead of being executed by Government. At all events, they would cost
much less originally and entail no permanent burden upon tax-payers.
Where a new thoroughfare is to be opened, for instance, a company might
undertake it, subject to the conditions decided on by the authorities. The
State or the Board would grant a subvention calculated on the cost of
unremunerative works, leaving the company to contribute thereto and
find its profits in the increased value of ground-rents and the rentals of
new structures. If New Cannon-street had been made on this system, it
would probably have cost the City much less than it has. Before the new
streets contemplated by the Metropolitan Board of Works are commenced
it would be desirable to make an experiment in the direction indicated, for
it would not prevent the roadways and sewerage being vested in the
parishes and their representatives, as at present. The Thames embank-
ment ought to be left to a private company, who would make a profit out
of wharfages, basins and building sites, where tax-payers, through the
Government or the Board, if they undertook it, would only gain a loss.
It would be sounder and more economical policy to give a subvention to
wivate companies than for the authorities to do the work themselves.
When reformers are striving to throw the building of men-of-war open to
the trade, and likewise the supply of arms and supplies for the twin
services, it does seem a step in the wrong direction for the Executive or
corporate bodies to embark in land and building speculations.
We have said that the example of the company across the channel is
encouraging. For the last year it paid 5 per cent, interest upon the shares
and 5 per cent, bonus, making a total dividend of 10 per cent., besides
carrying £28,748 to tlie reserve fund, which now amounts £90,282— no
bad state of affairs. The share capital of the company at starting was
£960,000. It appears to have borrowed £516,712 by loan, to owe the
Credit Mobilier on running account £81,680, and on the unpaid pieces of
property purchased £258,172. If the debts were to be capitalised the
total capital would be £1,816,564. If we add to this the reserve dividend,
and two small items of interest due but unpaid, and rents paid in anticipa-
tion, the debit side of tlie account will amount to £1,996,144. Against
this we have the cost of buying the land and building the Grand Hotel du
Louvre £459,851, and furnishing it £97,916, making the total cost of the
Hotel £557,767 cost of land and houses in the Rue de Rivoli, £92,116 ;
of land and houses on the Boulevart des Capucines, £642,587 ; of land and
houses in the Champs Elysees, £122,063 ; in the JRue du Caire, £14,435 ;
and on the Boulevart Malesherbes, £175,820, giving a total value, which
may bo supposed to represent the full value, of £1,604,788 against what
we have above called the capital. But there are also to be taken into
account £212,464 due from debtors ; £9,576 expenses of first establish-
ment ; £30,624, which, with the profit on the negotiation of debentures,
securities, and cash in hand, balances the account. The profit and loss
account shows the earnings for the year to have been £153,013, of which
£80,807 were from profits from re-sales ; £44,597 net from the exploitation
of the Hotel du Louvre ; and £27,608 from rents, which last item does not seem
to agree with the one on the credit side of the balance-sheet given above.
The Hotel du Louvre would appear to earn not quite 8 per cent., and, there-
fore, is not so profitable a speculation as our great railway hotels. On the
other hand, the past year was exceptionally bad, which considerably
diminished the number of visitors to Paris, and there was no congress to
settle the affairs of Europe — that is such a fruitful source of profit to the
establishment opposite the Tuilories — while repairs, alterations, and furni-
ture further reduced the profits by £4,000. However, 8 per cent, is not
bad interest, although many of our hotel-keepers may think so. But to
the income derived from the exploitation of the hotel must be added that
derived from the rent of shops on the ground-floor ; how much that
amounts to we are not told. The company state that if 8 per cent, be
deducted from the profits as representing the interest upon the building
capital, the profits upon furniture and fittings, or upon what they call the
trade capital, would be 20 per cent. The feature which seems unfavorable
is the profit on re-sales. That cannot occur every year, and when it ceases
the dividends of the Compagnie Immobiliere will fall to 5 per ceut., unless
there be an improvement in other sources of revenue.
A glance at the various operations of the company will probably in-
terest the reader. Of the site of the Winter Garden in the (/liamps
Elysces, 20,400 square metres were purchased ; two lots of 1,499 square
metres were re-sold for £15,769, leaving a profit on the transaction of
£5,302. Of the remainder, deduction made for the street, 16,000 square
metres are covered with houses. Two houses in the Rue de Marignan,
stand on 16,000 square metres, and an hotel (house inhabited by one family),
509 square metres. Of 16 apartments in the two houses, 12 are let, and
the hotel is let, producing a total rental of £2,480, besides £1,200 to be
received from the four apartments when let at £300 each. There are also
four houses nearly finished and six sites where the ground is being opened
to receive the foundations of new houses. The property in the Rue du
Caire is partlj' let for £1,120, leaving £280 to be obtained, which will
yield nearly 10 per cent, upon the cost. Fronting the end of the Rue de
la Paix, the company purchased the Hotel d'Osmond, the Hotel Moynot,
standing on 4,200 square metres for £100,000; and seven houses in the
Basse du Rempart, and one in the passage Sandrie, occupying a total area
of 13,000 square metres, for £436,000, or upwards of three guineas the
square foot — not the frontage it must be remembered — that is to say,
£135,752 the acre. Upon the site the two new streets. Rue de Rouen and
Rue de Mogador, are to be opened, at the cost of the city, who, in exchange
for the ground necessary, 3,471 square metres, gave the company 2,541
square metres and 1,572 square metres of the soil of the Rue Basse, which
lies between the houses and the Boulevard. For the difference, the com-
pany paid the city £50,920, which brings up the cost to £3 7s. the square
foot, or over £145,000 the acre. It is in this neighbourhood that the new
Opera-house is to be built, and the land bought by the company forms
three lots — the first, of 8,300 square metres, stands between the Opera site,
the Boulevart des Capucines, and the Rues Mogador and liouen ; the
second, of 4,000 square metres, is covered with houses facing the Boulevart
des Capucines and the extension of the Rue Lafayette towards the Rue de
la Chaussee d'Antin ; and the third of 5.300 square metres, is situated at
the angle of the Boulevart with the Rue Mogador. It is in the second lot
that the ground-floor is let for a shop at £5,520 a year, and a single shop
next door for £1,000 rent annually. The impossibility of finding tenants
for the upper floors in these houses has determined the companj' to build
another huge caravanserai, after the model of the Hotel de Louvre ; it is
to be called the Grand Hotel de la Paix — a name of happy augury, and to
show that there is room for a second establishment of tliis nature, reference
is made to the twelve hundred hotels that exist in Paris and to the liability
of travellers to pay higher than permanent lodgers.
The movement of the Paris population westwards induced the company
to purchase ground in the neighbourhood of the new Boulevart Males-
herbes in the course of being carried out; that is to say, the company sub-
stituted themselves in place of the municipality towards the proprietors of
the grounds situated between the Rue de Valois and the Rue de Bienfaisance,
paying them the price of the site and giving gratuitously to the city for
the construction of the Boulevart — 9,400 square metres — which is esti-
mated to be worth £40,000. If so, we do not see why the directors of the
company should present the city of Paris with so large a sum that would
otherwise have gone into the pockets of their shareholders. Such
generosity would irritate English shareholders; but we suppose they are
less liberal-minded than their brethren over the water. However, the
company possess 32,400 square metres, which cost £172,000, independently
of law expenses and outlay for levelling the ground, or 10s. a square foot,
or £21,780 the acre. As instances of the extraordinary rise in the value
of lands on which the company appears chiefly to speculate, it may be
mentioned that the ground which the St. Germain's Railway, bought in
1855-6, in the Rue de Londres and Place de I'Europe, where a portion of
the Rouen or Western Railway station stands, at 15 to 20 francs the square
metre, is now worth from 200 to 250 francs the square metre ; and the land
432
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 24, 1861.
in tlie neighbourhood of Monceaux, Termes, Neuilly, Passy, and Anteuil,
vbich was bought from at 3 to 5 francs in 1853 a metre, ietches now—
eight yean afterwards— from 30 to 50 francs a metre. True the popula-
tion of Paris comprised williin the fortifications has been increased in the
last ten years by 469,079 inhabitants from 1,268,904 to 1,737,983 souls;
but that will not explain a tenfold increase in the price of buildmg ground.
TV
PARIS EXHIBITION OF MODERN -WORKS OF ART.*
TITH the enormous mass of pictures here exhibited, amounting in number to
. I about four times that of the Royal Academy Exhibiti<Tn, it would be an im-
possible task, within any reasonable" limits, to notice a tcntli part of the works,
nor is such a retiew n«essary in the case of a foreign exhibition, the main object
.being to indicate, by reference to a few of the roost prominent objects, the artistic
taste sad lendtncieis of our neighbours on the other side of the Channel.
Looking around the Exhibition we perceive what is evident in almost every-
thing in France, much ability in a technical point of view and a sad lack of deep
sentiment or real aspiration ; a good knowledge of the material requisites of art,
a veneration for the conventional, and little acquaintance with or admiration of
nature. It is said by French critics that at the present moment there is no school
of painting in France; this is true, perhaps, in one sense, or rather it would he
nearer the truth to say that all schools are in about equal favor, but there is one
great characteristic which is evident always everywhere, namely, want of soul,
it is quite extraortlinary how so many works have been produced with scarcely a
glimpse of inspiration, veneration, or poetry. We have failed to find one single
religious composition deserving the slightest notices ; we cannot recall to mind one
single canvas on which is stamped the true mark of poetic appreciation, and we
can scarcely admit that tliere is one grand historical picture in the whole collec-
tion. And yet the Exhibition has many strong points ; if wecannot discover any
genius, we have no difficulty in recognising much talent, and if the artists do not
aim high tliey generally hit the butt they have in view. We must throw aside
then all great jesthetical principles and regard the Paris Exhibition as we regard
the French people, namely, as great in genre.
Perhaps the nearest approach to historical painting to he found this year is
the "CliarlotteCordav" of M. Baudrv, whose reputation is well established,
and whose '• Toilette of Venus " attracted much attention in 1839. The canvas
is of a large size, and the principal figure is boldly and admirably treated. The
deed is done ; the girl who was led to commit the most fearful crime from a mis-
taken notion of the most exalted patriotism, has struck the knife into the heart
of her victim, whose cry has already pierced the ears of those in the house. In
another instant she will be seized as a murderess, felled to the floor amid the
execrations of a coarse mob. The resolution which she had formed had not failed
her ; she doubtless felt that she had performed a service to her country and to
humanity, but the tension of her nerves had passed away with the accomplishment
of the fearful deed, and she stands apparently petrified, as we are told, in the
presence of the expiring form from which she has dared to snatch away the life.
She seems to shrink into the corner from tliat ghastly form, lier womanly nature
showing itself in the blue lips and troubled brow, but'her figure is erect, her foot
firmly planted and her hand still clenched. In her face there is neither glorifica-
tion ol her deed nor terror as regards .its consequences; the painter seems to
have attempted to depict simply the first movement of reaction after the strain
of an awful vow, solemnly taken and boldly performed, and in our opinion he has
achieved a great success. He has managed to give an extraordinary mixed expres-
»lon of determination and horror without injuring the beauty of the face, and he
has succeeded beyond all question in drawing a " Charlotte Corday," not after
the recognised models, but from the resources of his own intellect and art based,
as we have been infonue*!, upon carelul inquiries, respectinii her in her native
place. Charlotte's features are of course those with which we are acquainted
Irom her portrait.; her hair is of a golden flax colour, her figure tall, spare and
light, and she wears a high dress of striped stuff, with the tight sleeves of
the time. Unfortunately, M. Baudry has done more than paint that
one terrible, beautiful iiicture ; he has not had sufficient confidence in his art
to leave nearly all the rest to the spectator's imagination; he has here done him-
self injustice ;" the figure of Charlotte Corday would have told all far better without
than with the introduction of the ghastly head and shoulders of Marat, with the
knife plunged to the hilt in his brea«t. 'i'he room is painted with that elaborate
barrenness, if we may use the expression, which renders small matters too
important. A chair thrown down in front and a few letters strewed on the ground,
together with the hat of the murdered man, give reality and not much realism to
the scene ; hut the board laid across the bath, with books and writing materials,
the deal box standing at the side and supporting the inkstand, the flimsy shelf
on its miserable bracket nailed against the bare and spotted walls, are, in our
eye."", impertinences that drag down M. Baudry's work from the realm of tragedy
to that of melodrama. The mere edge of the hath, with the hand of the victim
clutched upon it, would have been far better than all the horrible and material
fejitures i-elerred to. David was an enthusiastic admirer of Marat, and painted
his assassination without a Cliarlotte Corday. If M. Baudry had painted the
latter only, and drawn a curtain over the Marat, he would have achieved a still
higher triumpb than he has at present, and have marked the Exhibition of 1861
with one grand historical picture, free of the bUght o( genre.
M. (Jerome had immense success upon the last occasion with his " Death of
Ccesar " and " Ave, Ceesar Imperator '." lie exhibits this time six works, but
none of which are likely to bring him the fame of the former. His most
important picture is " Pbrvne before the Areopagiis," a work of undoubted
talent, bnt of very questionable tiistc ; in fact, of a repulsive character. He
has dravni the tribunal in which the scene is laid with his usual severity. The
walls, the seats, and the floor are all cold, grey, and hard, the only relief being
proiluced by a small golden image of Minerva placed on a low altar in the centre
of the chamber. Behind this, and near the centre of the semicircle stands the
beautiful wanton accused of debauching all the young aristocrats of Athens,
perfectly nude with the exception of white sandals. An attendant behind has
Miatched off her only garment, an elegant mantle of a thin green and gold tissue,
and to which hangs the delicate clasp tliat had held it together, and Phiyne is
eipoaed to the view of the judges. Her figure exhibits a natural shrinking
* Continued from page 389. iSrraio.— I'agc 390, 1st column, for "Conture" read
•* Couture ;" 2Dd column, for **Chambcdy " read "C)hamb<?ry," for "Laudell " read
" Land(ll<','' for " Uubrlfc flls " read " Dabnfcflls," for "LepauU " read •' Lepaule,"
for-Cubiuxel " read "CarbaneL"
attitude, and her hands, clasped together, are raised up, so that one arm is
brought across hor brow, and hides the reflection of her shame from her own vision.
The figure is small and delicately treated, and alone would produce no unpleasant
efl"ect, but the contrast between it and the old men around is violent and, to our
minds, repulsive. Mr. Gerome has depicted almost every kind of expression in the
countenances of the judges ; he has exhibited coarseness, obtuseness, senility;
he has omitted but one, nam ely manliness. Two noble countenances would have
save the picture, and he has not given us one ; and has thus conveyed, not
the idea of a tribunal at all, but merely of a very beautiful young woman being
gazed upon by a number of intensely ugly old men admirably painted. The
critics are delighted with the variety of expression and the solidity of the paint-
ing, but that is not sufficient to maintain the reputation of the painter of the
Csesars. Besides this, M. Gerome has a picture of two augurs laughing in each
other's faces, after the often but falsely cjuoted saying of Cicero, exhibiting much
comic humor, and a very weak work entitled " Socrates fetching Alcibiades from
the House of Aspasia," neither of which will much enhance his reputation. In
quite a different style is a pretty little composition called " Rembrandt biting in
a plate." He has besides a curious picture called " Straw Cutting in Egypt,"*
and a portrait of Rachel, which is not remarkable.
Cabanel is a well-known name, rendered popular lately both at home and
abroad, by Mr. Bingham's admirable photographs of " The Florentine Poet and
AiglaA and Boniface," and he is admitted to be strong on the present occasion ;
his works range from portraiture tlirongliout the whole scale of figure painting,
and he exhibits six works, all remarkable : a Magdalen, a little conventional but
exhibiting ;true, serious feeling and considerable force ; a large picture of
a Nymph being carried off by a Fawn, in which the drawing and coloring fire
much admired, though we think the former figure wants solidity; the charm-
ing Florentine Poet alluded to above which, however, is a delicate cabinet
picture, and suffers severely by the presence of its more pretentious neighbours ;
and three portraits, one of which, a full length of M. Rouher, the Minister
of Commerce, is an extremely fine work.
Every one who [has visited Paris must know M. Hamon's pretty, quaint,
classical! ties, of which the scene of the Broken Image and the punishment of the
doll as the cause of the mischief is perhaps the best known. At the last Exhibi-
tion M. ilamon only had one picture. Love Knocking at the Door, while his
smiling hostess that evidently is to be, looks at him out of a peep-hole ; this year
he has several pieces, two of which are quite in his old style, one being a classic
beauty tending plants in a greenhouse, and the other a sister figure feeding birds
in an aviary, both remarkable for finish and flatness, conventionality and pretti-
ness"; no one can help admiring them, or condemning them as affectations. But
he has two larger canvasses which attract and deserve more attention ; one is
called The Elder Sister, and represents a charming young mother, seated in a
rocking chair, and with baby in her lap asleep ; her own eyes are half closed and
her thoughts are evidently occupied upon the little being who slumbers in its
soft cradle; on a stool opposite sit two little creatures who are looking upon the
fair mother and child with intense interest. The countenances of all are admirably
painted, and the accessories are, as usual with M. Hamon, almost as important
as his personages. One of the little ones hugs her doll with quaint
maternal look, while nine-pins and rattle lie unheeded on the ground.
The coloring is of the quaintest ; the chair is ydbw, with a dark frame ; the walls
are covered with a dark damask paper, almost matching the Persian carpet on
the floor ; a settee, or canape, stands against the waW, and, with its three square
squabs, is painted of a dull purple; at the side is a dark etargere, or what-not;
while on the carpet, in the foreground, are half-a-dozen nine-pins of a brilliant
red color, and a big rattle as glaringly yellow. It is a pretty, perplexing picture,
that one likes to see, but would scarcely like to have hanging in one's room, flis
most important contribution is, in many respects, a superior work ; it has not
quite the same quaintness as his other works, and it exhibits far more character
and much more sobriety of color. The idea is taken from Rabelais. An old
Escamoteur is practising his art in presence of an audience of three pretty
women and several children. The thimble, or rather cup, trick has just been per-
formed, and, behold, where there should have been a ball is a frightful homed
beetle ! Behind is a table covered with a collection of implements of the craft,
including a small furnace, with fire burning in it, and overhead hangs a placard,
which informs the worid that the conjuror sells rats'-bane, curiously enough
illustrated by the figure of a man being eaten un by one of the long- tailed depre-
dators. The wise man's wife, an admirable, droll figure, is looking after the
main chance and receiving contributions in a tambourine, but at the same time,
casts a queer glance over her shoulder at a number of people just passing by.
These consist of a schoolmaster, his usher, and a number of pupils; the boys eves
are directed on their open books, evidently against their wills, while the peda-
gogue shuts one eye and directs the other through a roll of paper towards the
sky. The intense pre-occupation of the philosophers, which prevents their seeing
the vagabond and his treasurer, is admirably depicted, and the picture is very
likely to become popular through the medium of engraving or photography, and
will add greatly to the painter's reputation. ^^
Our countrywoman, Madame Hcnriette Browne, whose " Sisters of Charity
created so much sensation at the last Exhibition, has gone to a very different
source for the principal subjects upon the present occasion ; she has visited tJie
East in the interim, and her chief pictures are scenes in the Harem at Constanti-
nople—one representing the ladies receiving a visitor, the other a female
musician playing the flute. The artist has thrown aside all the conventionalities
which generally mark the treatment of such subjects, and has, no doubt, given
an exact representation of what she saw. The ladies of the harem nre not loaded
with shawls and nicknacks, they do not show the trousers and slippered feet, but
wear long dresses of thin muslin clinging rather inconveniently about the leg»
and trailing on the floor ; the apartments are peculiarly wanting in decoration ot
any kind, the furniture being almost entirely confined to one or two divans
against the wall, and one or two small tables or stools. There are magnihcently
ornamented pines, and only one lady is indulging in the narcotic herb lu tbe
form of a cigarette. The faces of the women are pretty, and the attitudes
graceful, but the oriental type is not very perceptible, while there is a refine-
ment ill the faces which does not harmonise with the want of intellectual
culture which we know to be the contlition of life in the harem. Still tne
pictures are pleasing, the more so to most people, perhaps, from the very-
departures referred to, and there is a lifelike, though somewhat bare, tone about
them that shows the artist's power. Madame Browne exhibits also an admirable
painted portrait of a very pretty French actress in the costume of a woman ot
'I'be result of .i late visit to that country.
May 24, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
433
Eleusis, and a portrait of a gentleman advanced in years, which shows great
firmness of hand. a i. ^r
Mr. James Tissot, a young artist, iias horrified the admirers of Ary Scheffer
by the production of a series of pictures from Faust, which exliibit the utmost
amount of medievalism and dilettanteism, and the smallest amount of poetic
feeling imaginable. There is a Marguerite at her devotions, the meeting with
Faust, and an interview in the garden, in all of which the figures are dressed in
the most elaborately medieval garments, grotesque in the extreme, and m which
the flowers, the nails, and all the small etcetenis are worked up with painful
fidelity; but there is stuff in M. Tissot, and he will some day cscnpe from his
pre ent vicious elaboration and rise to simplicity and poetry, unless he be spoiled.
There is a picture by M. Bouguereau, a well-known pamter, which ought to
have been mentioned before. It is called the " First Discord," and represents
Eve with Abel in her lap hiding his face in his mother's bosom in terror at the
angry brow and defiant attitude of Cain, who stands at the side. The cluldren
are admiraoly painted, and the first mother only wants a little more elevation in
the conception to have completed a very noble group. As it is, the picture
attracts and deserves great attention.
A picture by M. H. R. Boulanger, a pupil of Paul Delaroche, is one of the
attractions of the Exhibition ; it represents a rehearsal by the chief actors of the
Theatre Fran<;ais of a new play called the " Femme de Diomede " in the atrium
of Prince Napoleon's Ponipeiau villa in the Avenue Montaigne, in the Champs
Elysees. The likenesses are admirable, and the peculiar fitness of the place in
which the scene occurs, together with the elegance of the costumes, produce a
very pleasing whole. The only accessories introduced is a fine oleander, which
breaks what would otherwise be the monotony of the lines and colors of the
building, and a black slave woman engaged in burning perfume on a tripod. This
sable dame is the Prince's gatekeeper, and her proximity to the fair lady of the
rehearsal, Madlle. Madeline Brohan, is most efiective. A large tiger-skin spread
on the floor has an admirable effect in doing for the geometrical pavement what
the oleander does for the perpendicular lines.
Mr. Tidemand, a Norwegian, who obtained a first-class medal in Paris, in 1855,
has contributed a highly interesting and well painted picture of the Toilette of a
Fiancee in Norway; the scene is laid in a close snug looking apartment which
looks as much like a cabin as a room, the modest looking bride is seated in the
middle, and the proceedings are being carried on with as much seriousness as a
religious ceremony. On her head is an immense crown of eight points, all of
glittering gold ; her fair hair hangs about her shoulders and the locks are being
arranged with cherry colored ribands by her sister or friend. The mother sits at
her side with all the dignity of a high priest, and on a settee against the wall
are two children whose curiosity is evidently not unmixed with awe; drawers
and other receptacles are gaping to give up their contents, or probably after
having done so, for the fiancee is already so decked out that it is impossible to
suppose that she can be made much more magnificent. There is so much solidity
and seriousness in the treatment of the subject, and the colors are so well blended
that the artist bids fair to make Norwegian life a very fruitful source of employ-
ment for his pencil. He has another and smaller picture of Swedish life which
is much less important, but exhibits the same admirable qualities. He did not
exhibit in 1859, and may be looked upon as an acquisition, and as the introducer
of a new style somewhat akin to the English domestic interiors.
We Iiave noticed briefly most of the chief characteristic figure pieces, with the
exception of some eccentricities; but these, together with landscapes, sculpture,
and architectural drawings mast be deferred to another occasion.
BRICK ARCHITECTURE AND ITS TREATMENT.
BRICKS have ever been an important material with the builders of all
ages. The Egyptians particularly — among the nations of antiquity
— employing them very extensively in many of their buildings. We have
all read of the labors of the Israelites when in bondage, how they were
compelled to make bricks for their captors and the heavy burdens which
they had to bear when engaged in the manufacture of that material
during their captivity in Egypt. We have read of the mighty cities of
Babylon and Nineveh, and have been amazed at their vast proportions,
their massive buildings, and the stately grandeur of their streets, and we
have felt when looking at the ruined remnants of the architecture of that
wonderful people who raised them, that our eyes rested on the works of
some of the noblest minds that ever left a trail on the prairie of time. We
have felt when treading that ground where the temples stand and where
the pyramid raises its eternal form, that we were moving among the
enduring monuments of a people who were endowed with more than
ordinary ideas of greatness, and who were monarchs in mind and majestic
in deeds.
It seems somewhat strange that they who appeared to delight in
employing the largest masses of stone that could be obtained and
endeavoured to produce an effect of impressive grandeur in all their works
should have built so much in brick, when that material is so little calcu-
lated to convey that impression which they sought to give. It is true
they did not bring it forth prominently in their public buildings, temples,
and the like, but we should have thought that they who had such ideas of
what may be termed monolithic architecture, would have disdained it
altogether and employed a less artificial material even in their private
residences. From their day to ours, brick has been extensively used by
every people, but, with all stone has maintained its place as a superior
material and greatly perferable to it for beauty of appearance. True the
architects of Italy have left us excellent examples of its effectiveness
when properly treated, and given an impetus to its general introduction
with us of modern times. But years have followed years without
advantage being taken of the successful precedent given to the world by
those southern artists, partly and in fact chiefly owing to the architects
of other countries being ignorant of their very existence. Now, however,
few are unaware of their peculiar beauties, and these long-neglected e.x-
amples have been visited by hundreds of the architects of our day who
have given those who were unable to visit them the benefit of their travels.
In the palmy days of Roman art we do not find bricks used in puVlic
buildings, and with them it was evidently a material which was considered
far less beautiful and far less suitable for the walls of any important
edifice; for did not Augustus boast that he found Rome a city of brick but
changed it into a city of marble? The Greeks, too, had a marked pre-
ference for stone, all their public buildings being formed of it, and not in
any instance do we find a temple built of brick, but chiefly of marble from
the splendid quarries close at hand, the famous ones from which the parian
and pentellic marbles were obtained being among the number. Their
architecture was not suited for the introduction of any other material
than that which they used; and even if this had not been the case, the
obstacles which brick offers to carving would unquestionably have been a
suflicient reason for its rejection by a people who were so fond of intro-
ducing sculpture, and who so excelled in that particular branch of art. If
we look also at the works of the Gothic masters during the middle ages,
we find atone universally employed, and in the composition of their re-
ligious edifices in particular they excluded brickwork altogether — not
because they were unacquainted with its use, for although it was not
generally introduced till the year 1422, it must have been known to them
a considerable time before that, and had they been at nil favorable to it»
introduction, there can be no doubt that they would have brought it into
use much earlier than they did. However, it was not till art had com-
menced its decline that bricks were extensively employed, and as from
that time to the present century art has been at a level, far below that of
the Edwardian period, it is not to be wofldered that so little has beea
done with that material which is now rising into such importance.
Like the Greeks and Romans, the medievalists too were fond of sculpture,
and it is natural to suppose that any material which presented difHcultiea
in the way of gratifying this taste would be thrown aside and another
which presented no obstacle selected. For ecclesiastical edifices we think
they were right in employing stone, for there is a grandeur and majesty
about a stone building which we find in no other material. There is
a natural look about it which gives it the appearance of having grown
from the earth, while a brick building has an artificial effect which creates
opposite impressions. There is something unalterably secular in the look
of brick which does not appear consistent or suitable in a house of prayer,
and which, we think, will prevent its ever being employed with any great
success in our churches and chapels. But so general is the desire among
the members of our profession to follow the growing fashion of using it in
preference to stone, in some instances where it is even more expensive,
that, whatever may be the class of building or for whatever purpose it is
intended, whether a church or a tavern, a warehouse or a mansion, a shop
or a Quaker's meeting-house, brick is chosen and in brick it must be
built. There is probably no class of men who are so well supplied with
hobby-horses as architects. They eagerly mount every one that is offered
them, and use whip and spur with untiring energy till their steeds drop
lifeless on the earth and they for a time occupy an extremely undignified
position J but no sooner do they recover from the effects of one mishap than
they spring again into the saddle and again come to grief— one makes up
his mind to travel, and, of course, starts for the Continent, bis sketch-book
is filled, and he returns. He remembers little, but has gathered much ;
his portfolio is big with details, but his mind is still a blank ; he mistook
the object for which he went, and returns home poorer in pocket and as
poor in mind as when he left, and, what is worse, he has grown bulky with
conceit and swollen with self-esteem. What is tlie result ? He seizes on
a window, or a door, or a chimney-cap, which took his fancy, and places
it in the first building which he is called upon to design, but so altered and
deformed that all its original beauty is destroyed and its charm gone. His
other sketches he treats in the same way, using them indiscriminately,
without regard to principle or propriety, and creating a succession of in-
congruities which are to the educated eye painfully repulsive. Another,
whose efforts for originality are of the most unbounded kind and whose
contempt for precedents is of the most intense nature, produces a detail
startling in its novelty ; and, in order that the world may benefit by his
labors he repeats it in every building which is placed in his hands,
probably entertaining a vague idea that this " splendid fragment " will
bring him immortality.
A third takes an opposite extreme and discards the idea of novelty
altogether, confining himself to precedent only and copying with the most
rigid exactness the works of those who have gone before. These are not
imaginary faults or exaggerated absurdities, but realities of which we
know numerous instances, and there are innumer.ible cases in which our
professional brethren plunge into other extremes equally ridiculous.
Look at the enormities of brick architecture which have been perpe-
trated within the last two or three years, and yet each design is considered
by its designer as a decided success. We see flat faces covered with pat-
terns in black and white, blue and red, yellow and dark gray, mixed
together in the most chaotic manner, without regard to the laws of color
or unity of effect; each fai^ade divided and subdivided by lines of various
hues, horizontally and diagonally placed, stars and spangles, crosses and
squares in bewildeiing confusion — no breath, no depth, no repose — a patch
of stone here and a patch there, an encaustic tile in one place and a terra-
cotta ornament in another — no harmonious blending, but all scattered and
cut up. And why is this ? It is because the principle has been neglected.
No definite aim has been followed — no thought bestowed. The material
is not sufiiciently considered, or its capabilities understood. Form has
been forgotten, and dependence for effect placed on color only, thus re-
versing what we consider the most sensible plan, namely, that of looking
upon the latter as subordinate to the former, and completing the arrange-
ment and form without taking into consideration the after addition of
color, so that the beauty of the building is not solely dependent on the
434
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 24, 1861.
r--::^-
~~-t.--45f
4+-i■H^4+^-H
\
GROUND VhATX OF ST. CUTHBERTS, ALBUIGHTON.
A Drawing-room, 24 feet x 18 feet
A Drawing-room, 18 feet x 13 feet
6 inches.
B Dining-room, 24 feet x 8 feet.
C Library, lb feet x 16 feet.
D Entrancc-hali, 1.5 feet x 10 feet.
E Hall, 18 feet x l."> feet fi Indies.
F Principal stairs,
G Housekeeper'8-room, IB ft. x 12 ft.
H .Servants' entrance.
I Servants' stairs.
K Butler's pantry.
L Larder.
M Kitchen, 18 feet x 10 feet.
N Scullery, 10 feet x 15 feet.
O Wash-house, with laundry above,
ICp feet X 15 feet.
V. Dairy.
Q Conservator}-.
R K K Vineries.
S Boiler for Iieating ditto.
T Lavatory and W.C.
U Knife and boot house.
V Coal-house.
\V Wood-house.
X Dust pit.
Y Servants' W.C.
Z Rolling way to cellars.
last, but chiefly imkbteJ to the first consideration, just the same
as in any othtr building where the whole is completed before poly-
chromatic decoration is begun. There are many who are evidently under
the impression that a variety of colors constitutes the only eflPect attain-
able in a brick building. They seem never to have dreamt of leaving the
track along which the builders (we cannot call them architects) of the
last century have passed, but have been content to follow their footsteps
round the boundary of brick architecture without attempting to penetrate
to the centre. They have looked upon the material with contempt
believing it totally unsuitable for a costly building where beauty of ap-
pearance is the thing sought, and that very contempt has blinded them to
its real capabilities and its real merits. 'Then sprang up the practice of
introducing various colors ; this took the fancy of numbers who had
hitherto confined themselves to the use of stone, and they without much
hesitation enrolled themselves beneath the banner of the " new style " and
gave themselves up to many hideous excesses in their great zeal for the
advancement of tli»<ir newly adopted notions. This was beginning at the
end — a most dangerous course to take and one productive of no real good,
heing as it were building without a foundation. Had they, on their first
awakening to a consciousness of the fact that there was much to be done
with a material which they had hitherto neglected, deliberately set to
work to discover its real value, and then the principles by which they
should be guided, the result would have been fiir diflerent from what it is.
Without strict attention to theprinciplesofany art, it is utterly impossibleto
arrive at any degree of excellence in that art and therefore the first thing
which should be done — the first step which should be taken — is to discover
and then follow those principles on which the future work so much
■depends. This is the only road to success — it is the only seed which can
prwluce a flower, the only means to obtain the object desired.
In every building, whatever be its use, or whatever its size, the first
consideration for a designer is convenience of arrangement ; this being
successfully and satisfactorily disposed of, the next thing to be attended
to will be be.iuty of form, then an eflTective distribution of ornament, and
finally decoration or color. Yet, although these are divided, as it were,
into different stages, they should be kept in view collectively from first to
last, the one being arranged so as to assist the other without injury to
itself; the elevation being matured and carefully considered during the
progress of the plan, and the decoration borne in mind during the designing
and disposing of the ornament. This rule applies to any edifice, whatever
the material may be. This principle we wish now to lay down particu-
larly with regard to brick architecture, for we feel .sure it will contribute
greatly to the success of the design, and entirely do away with much of that
shallow and meaningless system which is so widely adopted. A facade may
be extremely beautiful without the aid of any coloring, except that of the
one material of which it is built, and some of the best brick architecture
we have ever seen has been entirely composed of one uniform tint, without
the addition or assistance of various colored bricks, which are far from
being essential to the beauty of a building, although wiien judiciously and
artistically used, they may be made to enhance that beauty which already
exists. It is in this light that they should always be considered. Many
of our modern brick fronts of pretended originality are merely the old-
shaped windows and the old-shaped doors, with the usual square half-
brick reveal planted in a wall, tvhicli is dotted and striped with ill-selected
colors. The angles are often formed of white bricks, arranged to repre-
sent stone quoins, a practice which is not to be follow ed, as its effect is
far from being satisfactory. The chimneys, too, are pictures of ugliness —
bristling at the top with abruptly projecting bricks of diflierent colors,
and assuming all sorts of fantastic forms, and not unfrequently surmounted
with a huge stone cap. Designs of this kind are the productions of those
who have worked without principle and without a knowledge of the style
they attempted.
The absurdity of doing this is apparent in every work that is built. It
is not often that good effects are the work of chance, and to depend on it
as many do, is both unreasonable and unprofitable. Those are almost
invariably the finest portions which have received the most care and
attention at the hands of an able man, and if one of more than ordinary
talent finds it necessary to bestow study and thought upon a work, surely
an inferior genius will find it even more imperative that he should devote
his best energies to the task. The difficulties of treating brickwork
properly and effectively .are to be overcome by study and perseverance, just
the same as those first experienced in stonework by the learner are re-
moved by patient labour, and let it be remembered that most of us are but
learners of the real style of brick architecture, and competent masters are
scarce. It therefore becomes the duty of those who enter this new arena
to commence systematically, and advance gradually, step by step, till they
rise into the clearer sky where the dark shades of their first ignorance
will be removed, and where they will see and appreciate those beauties
which had hitherto been concealed, and be enabled to produce works which
they were before incapable of producing.
We feel that the day of brick architecture which has just dawned will
be a far more glorious one than many anticipate. There are soft rays of
light trembling in the bky, which will hurst into a dazzling blaze of splen-
dor, and those traces of beauty which are now dim, will be fully
developed, and revealed in unclouded brightness.* T>. W.
ST. CUTHBERT'S, ALBHIGHTON.
THIS building, tlie residence of Frederick Walton, Esq., of the Old Hall
Works, Wolverhampton, has been lately completed at Albrighton, a village
on the fihrewsbury and Uirniingham line of railway.
The accompanying groimd-plan sufficiently explains itself. On the one-pair
floor are nine lied-rooms, witli dressing-rooms, bal li-room, waterclosets, house-
maid's closet, &c., &c.
The aim of the architect has been to produce a building of pleasing domestic
character, without any great elaboration or expense . The materials used are red
and white Peachley sandstone, in alternate courses for the dressings, rough cast
• To be continued.
May 24, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
435
May 24, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
437
upon tlie intermediate faces of brickwork, and blue, red, and brindled Stafford-
sliire tiles for covering of roofs.
In the interior the ceilings of halls, dining-room, and library have the beams
and joists exposed and moulded, forming panels for future decoration in poly-
chrome. The fireplaces of the principal rooms are lined with Minton's plain
glazed tiles, and the hearths are laid with encaustic tiles, finished round with
polished red and grey Aberdeen granite. The grates are of wrought iron and
brass, with dogs, handsomely chased and polished, by Messrs. Skidmore, of
Coventry. The chimney-pieces are of Caen stone, carved by McEmery, of
Hugeley. The hall and corridor floors are laid with Minton's tiles, and the risers
of princiiial stairs, which are of Wingerworth stone, are also inlaid with the
same. The two bay windows in the library are filled with stained glass, exe-
cuted by Messrs. Chance Brothers, from the architect's designs.
Messrs. Hardman and Co., of Birmingham, supplied the door furniture, bell-
pulls, wrought-iron hinges, &c.
Tlie locks, by Gibbons, of Wolverhampton, are eti suite, and vary with a
master key to the whole.
The general contract has been well carried out by Messrs. G. and F. Higham,
and the plumbing, painting, &c., by Mr. W. Tottey,from the designs and under
the superintendence of Mr. Veall, architect, of Wolverhampton.
The cost of the Iiouse, exclusive of the conservatorj', vineries, stables, lodge,
and boundary walls was £3,800. .
M'e may add that the pleasure grounds, about eight acres in extent, have been
tastefully laid out under the direction of Mr. H. Beckett, at Wolver-
hampton.
THE NEW GARDENS OF THE KOYAL HOETICULTUBAL
NOTWITHSTANDING the difficulties and hindrances occasioned by
many, and some of them unforeseen as well as serious, obstacles, the
Council of the Koyal Horticultural Society have pushed forward the
various works connected with the formation of their new gardens, with
such energy and resolution that they are enabled to invite the Fellows
and their friends to a grand flower and fruit show, on the ensuing 5th and
6th of June. Builders and garden-constructors were alike exposed to the
unfriendly influences, first of the unprecedentedly wet season of last year,
and then of the long-continued and severe frost of the winter; and, almost
as soon as the brickwork and masonry began to show signs of recovering
the damaging efTects of such protracted periods of compulsory inactivity,
the unhappy strike of the working builders again interposed, and greatly
retarded the progress of the works. The result is, that the gardens, and
the edifices associated with them, still remain far from complete; and yet,
the advance that has been made more than justifies the decision of the
Council not to postpone the opening beyond the time that we have
specified.
Our readers probably are aware that these new gardens immediately
adjoin the Museum at South Kensington, towards the west, and also that
the buildings now in the course of preparation for the Great Exhibition of
next year will stand in close proximity to the new gardens. Thus, the
South Kensington group is rapidly extending at once its borders and its
sphere of action ; and the whole cluster of institutions is hound together
by a ruling and directing influence and agency, which pervades and gives
a distinctive character to the whole. As is well known, the Prince Consort
is the President of the Great Exhibition Commissioners, and his Royal
Highness is also President of the Horticultural Society, and the neighbour-
ing Museum enjoys his especial patronage. Captain Fowke is the architect
of the entire group, and the art-feeling that rules in the Museum is also
dominant, at any rate, in the new Horticultural Gardens. The style of
architecture which has been adopted by Captain Fowke in the buildings
of the Horticultural Society is pure Italian — the very Italian of Italy
itself. Captain Fowke carefully studied the best buildings of Italy before
he entered upon the work of designing the new edifices ; and his own
designs he based upon the authority of such typical Italian works as the
Villa Albani and the Lateran at Rome. In forming and expressing any
opinion, therefore, of the new buildings that now are rapidly advancing
towards completion, their intrinsic merits alone are to be considered, the
question of style having been definitely and positively decided in the first
instance. Accordingly, without touching at all upon that question, we
have simply to congratulate the Council of the Society upon the gratifying
success which distinguishes their new buildings, as examples of Italian
architecture upon English ground. Captain Fowke has evidently studied
■with the happiest eflect, and he has shown himself fully competent to
realise the impressions produced on his own mind by his studies. The
Horticultural Society's arcades might have stood as consistently near the
Tiber as near the Thames, and they would have endured without any
peril to their own reputation a comparison with the worthiest of their
neighbours on that classic soil. So far as the practical uses of these
edifices are concerned, they appear to be well suited to the position which
they actually occupy, and to the purposes to which it is their destiny that
they should be applied. This, of course, is a most material point. It was
not merely a successful cfTort to design and to group together Italian
column-supported arches, that the Council of thef Royal Horticultural
Society sought from their engineer architect, but they also required
certain ranges of buildings which should accomplish certain specific
duties. And the real merit of the buildings that have actually been pro-
duced, consists as well in their applicability to their appropriate uses as
in their architectural character.
The new gardens comprise an oblong piece of ground, 22 acres in
extent. The surface exhibits but little variation of level, and, almost
wit^iout exception, the trees have to commence their growth on their pre-
sent sites— at any rate, the largest of the trees, with two or three excep-
tions only, are not too large to admit of their having been moved to th«
new gardens. The gardens themselves are completely surrounded by the
Italian colonnades, of which we have spoken in terras of deserved commen-
dation, with the exception of the upper end of the ground, where the noble
conservatory is placed. The enclosing arcades, in parts, will be glazed,
and partly their arches will be open. Next the gardens these long ranges
u J '"^'"S ^""^ richly decorated with terra-cotta shafts and capitals, and
the designs expressly provide for the gradual addition of sculptured en-
richments, and of friezes and spandrel decorations in encaustic tile-work
and modern majolica. Statues and vases, of course, will play their parts
as decorative accessories, both of the arcades and of the gardens them-
selves. The terra-cotta works (executed by Blanchard, of London, from
the designs of the architect, assisted by Mr. Godfrey Sykes), are admi-
rable examples of this most eflTective and valuable material. Nothing can
exceed their crisp sharpness, and they harmonise well with the brickwork
and the stone columns and masonry. The execution of all the works
deserves particular notice, whether in stone or brick, since all are alike
distinguished by thoughtful care ; so that the whole, when completed, will
undoubtedly prove an honorable example of the constructive abilities of
living English workmen. When completed, the arcades will afl'ord oppor-
tunities for promenades upon their roofs, as well as beneath the shelter of
those same roofs ; thus there will be walks around the gardens at two
levels. It must be understood, however, that many of the details of the
works must be reserved for their completion at some future period, when
additional funds shall have been placed at the disposal of the Council.
These prospective works include two raised pavilions, one on either side
of the grand conservatory. The conservatory itself promises to realise all
that could be desired from it, in spaciousness, height, proportion, and
general arrangements. It is connected with the arcades on either
side of it in a manner that is at once most agreeable and
altogether novel. Near this conservatory are the band - houses,
for the musical performances, and in front of it the principal water
display of the gardens will soon be completed. This is not a foun-
tain, but a grand plunge of water, 4 feet deep, over a descent of 12 feet,
which will be in constant action. The water-supply will be from an
Artesian well, sunk in the gardens for that purpose. The plunge will
require not less than 4,000 gallons a minute. This water will be partly
distributed, after its fall, over the gardens, while no inconsiderable portion
of it will return to repeat its cascading, having been rendered available for
that purpose by one of Appold's powerful pumps. The water-basins, like
the terraces and groups of flower-beds, have been arranged with con-
summate skill, and in the best taste by Mr. Nesfield, the whole having
been carefully kept in harmony with the Italian character of the archi-
tecture. We may not omit to notice particularly those groups of flower-
beds, which are entitled examples of box-embroidery— they are formed of
box-edging and gravel, and so arranged as to produce, with the enclosed
flower-beds, elaborate arabesque compositions. In some cases for the
gravel, we believe, variously colored compositions are to be substituted.
Without doubt, these floral groups will not fail to produce their richest
effects, under the direction and superintendence of Mr. Eyles, who formerly
was the chief in the gardens at the Crystal Palace. It must be under-
stood that the arcades are sufficiently spacious for all the purposes to
which circumstances may require that they should be applied. They
include arrangements for refreshments for visitors, &c., nor have the
special requirements of a winter garden and of floral exhibitions been
omitted. In addition to the arcades at the side of the gardens next to the
Museum, there stands a group of buildings, which comprehends all the
accommodations that are required by the officers of the establishment,
with a fine hall for the meetings of the Fellows of the Society, and such
other apartments as have been considered desirable. These buildings are
all uniform in their general character with the arcades, and they appear,
like them, to have been studied with the utmost care, and constructed with
great ability.
Such are the new gardens that are growing up in the far west of London,
under the most exalted patronage, and with fair prospects of proving emi-
nently attractive far beyond the range of their own immediate neighbour-
hood. We most cordially desire for them the widest and the most
abundant popularity. Gardens, however Italian in their art-characters, in
themselves are essentially English, and they will always excite the ready
and the warm sympathies of Englishmen. And, when they are associated
with great cities and towns, they may reckon on a twofold welcome. Thus,
the new gardens at South Kensington, besides beaiing a " Royal " title
and enjoying the fostering care of royalty, may anticipate the equally
desirable characteristic reputation of being " popular," and may hope to
enjoy the favor of the loyal lieges of the Queen. Still, the popularity at
which the Gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society aim is of a some-
what exclusive order. They must not be mistaken for competitors with
the Park and Gardens of the Crystal Palace. They are distinguished by
features and also by objects altogether their own. The Sydenham Gardens
may rightly regard them as allies, but they cannot be their rivals. They
do not contemplate any support from the masses, nor do they pretend to
provide for the recreation and delight of the masses. On the contrary,
their aim is rather to take the lead in matters horticultural, and they
aspire to rank with the most distinguished institutions of their class. They
claim to be reckoned amongst the aristocracy of gardens, and they are
prepared to sustain such a claim by their high deservings. Such gardens
act beneficially upon universal gardening. They keep up the standard of
gardens, and infuse continual supplies of fresh life and vigor into the entire
garden-loving community. This Society's gardens at Chiswick have long
enjoyed an honorable reputation amongst all gardeners and lovers of
gardens. Their new establishment promises to surpass Chiswick greatly
438
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 24, 1861.
in what it will achieve; and so we eonimenii it to all who would desire to
■witness the realisation of such promises. We trust the Council will find
their efforts adequately appreciated, and that they will be empowered to
proceed without any interruption to the full completion of all their plans.
A deserving project which admits of ulterior development, as a sequence
to a bold present advance, always may rely upon our support; and, in the
instance of the Royal Horticultural Society's new gardens, we certainly
admire both the s'upgestlveness and the actual working efficiency of the
plans. So good, indeed, do we consider the entire plans to be, and so
eminently worthy to be carried promptly into effect, that we should not
willingly" permit any of the details to remain incomplete a single unneces-
sary day. The " SUow " of June 5th and 6tli, we trust, will initiate a long
career of prosperity to the Society, as, without doubt, it will prove in
itself to be one of the foremost attractions of the London season.
THE CRYSTAL PALACE SCHOOL OF ART, SCIENCE, AND
LITERATURE.
IT was the original purpose of the first Directors of the Crystal Palace
to render their institution available in a manner and to a degree
altogether different from whatever else was then in existence, for the
advanced and ever advancing educational requirements of the age. By no
means neglecting what might provide for the amusement and recreation of
visitors, the Palace waa habitually to keep in view its grand aim of
educating by means of its courts and collections. Unfortunately, a change
speedily came over the councils of the authorities, so that the educational
uses of the Crystal Palace were permitted to sink into abeyance, the
courts and collections were left to tell unaided whatever tale they could
to such inquirers as might be disposed to consult them; and music, and
merchandise, and miscellaneous (some of them very miscellaneous) amuse-
ments had undisputed sway. After a while, and, indeed, quite recently, an
effort was made to revive,under practical conditions, in some degree, at least,
the original intention of the founders of the Crystal Palace, and a " School of
Art, Science, and Literature," was formed in connexion with the " Literary
Department," and was placed under the special superintendence of a selected
committee of the directors. The project was a good one, and it was calculated
to do even more than to rescue the Crystal Palace from the Mackney associa-
tions which had settled somewhat heavily upon it. There is one circumstance
connected with the working of the new school, however, which, up to the
present time, has retarded its progress ; this is the conviction enter-
tained by the Directors that it was essential for them to secure for their
school a high reputation by giving it a comparatively exclusive character.
This might be desirable, and even necessarj', in the first instance, seeing
that the intellectual status of the Palace was not particularly eminent.
But it was all-important that the Crystal Palace School should become
popular as speedily as possible if it was really desired that it should
prove a success. Exclusiveness and the Crystal Palace convey antago-
nistic ideas. The very principle of the entire institution, on the other
band, is popularity. There would be no reason whatever for lowering
the character of the Palace School. What it was so desirable to obtain
for it was a widely extended range of action; and this could be done with
both ease and certainty if [the original professors and the first-formed
general plans and arrangements were retained, while the scale of fees
adopted in the first instance was considerably reduced. So long as the
fees were high, so long tlie school might be exclusive, but it would also cer-
tainly continue to number but few students. Tins is exactly its present
position. High fees and few students, the dignity of exclusiveness, and
the absence of popularity. If the fees were forthwith to be reduced by
one-half, the numbers of the students without doubt would be doubled
again and again; and the spaciousness of the Palace itself, together with
the class system of teaching adopted in the school, render large numbers
of students, not possible merely, but in the highest degree desirable.
Then, with the regular classes there should be associated courses
of popular descriptive lectures, which might be attended by either
regular students or by the casual visitors to the palace, and which
would chiefly deal with the courts and collections of the palace itself.
We have reason to believe that an unexceptionable plan for such lectures
has been rejected by the Committee of Directors, because it would be
necessarily of too popular a nature. This is a sufficiently significant in-
dication of a policy that is absolutely suicidal. If it is to hold its own
amidst the competitors that are arising around it, the Crystal Palace
mtut exert its utmost powers to attain to precisely that condition of popu-
larity which its Directors now declare their resolution to withhold from
it. Blondin may have his appropriate attractiveness, and so may " the
Cure," and such as he ; and the last new style of Mandarin's umbrella of
state may be worthy, in its way, of special advertising ; but these things
leave the resources of the palace itself untouched. The masses of visitors
still continue to wonder about the vast edifice, many of them seeking in
•vain to learn how to enjoy what they see, and many more without any
thought about what they see beyond a vague and unmeaning curiosity.
Surely the Directors will reconsider this subject, and with their school
they will associate a project for leading visitors to understand how valu-
able and how interesting their palace is. This, strange as it may seem,
would be altogether a novelty, and as such would possess other attrac-
tions besides those of an intrinsic character.
. Even though the existing classes in the school should continue con-
stituted as they now are in the matter of fees (which, however, we
earnestly deprecate), it would be most desirable that additional classes
should be formed on a more popular basis. And particularly we desire to
see the formation of some classes for popular instruction in art — a branch
of education that is greatly needed, which would be widely acceptable,
and which the Crystal Palace possesses unrivalled means for conveying in
the most effective manner. The Palace School, or a " School of Art,"
ought to take art really and in earnest into consideration. And we wish
to be understood to imply by art-teaching, much more than merely teach-
ing drawing, as it is called. We leave the whole matter with the
Directors for the present, content with having expressed our own views
upon their school and its operations. That school we find making the
slowest progress, while capable of an almost unlimited expansion. In it
we discern the elements of great good ; but, we also observe that its
directing powers are such that its elements are not permitted to develop
their inherent capabilities. We shall not fail to cherish the hope that
these things will soon come to an end, and that a new era will commence
auspiciously for this school, and for all who are interested in the Crystal
Palace.
^
LECTURES AT THE ARCHITECTUBAL EXHIBITION.
IV.— On the Revival of Styles.
11 HE fourth of this course of lectures was delivered in the Great Gallery of the
E.Yliibition, Conduit-street, Kcfrent-street, on Tuesday eveninc:, before a numerous
audience, by tlie Rev. J. L. I'etit, who chose for his subject "The Revival of
Styles."
The chair was occupied by Mr. E. B. Lamb, who briefly introduced the lecturer
to the meeting.
Mr. Tetit then read the following^ paper ;.—
IT will, I think, readily be granted, though the proposition is by no means a mere
truism, that if we are to have good architecture in England we must have a good
national style ; and it will also be grauted that it is not necessary for such a style to
liave originated entirely at home ; for, by discarding all that can be traced to foreign
sources we shall leave ourselves very few materials on which we can worlt.
The questions we have to consider are these : *' Have we at present any style of
our own?" " Are we likely to worfe out a new style from our own resources, and
from the materials we can command?" "Ouglit we to endeavour rather to revive
some ancient style ; and if so, in which of those before us are we most likely to be
successful ?
I assume, of course, that we are desirous of establishing a style applicable to all
our purposes, capable of combinations of tlie hishest beauty and grandeur, and
openmg a suflficient tield to the genius of the architect, as well as to that of the
sculptor, painter, and other artists who may contribute to the perfection of his
work.
I am not sure whether we arc not apt to draw too nice a distinction between build-
ing and architecture, and to take away from the province of the latter such works as
our ordinary dwelling-houses, cottages, street fronts, and the like, unless they claim
a title to it by adopting the most prominent features of some ancient or Medieval
style. IJut in truth every structure is architectural which shows that thought, care,
and skill have been bestowed upon its appearance. A very small amount of orna-
mental detail. It it be well designed or well chosen, and well applied, will often be
sufficient to represent, as it were, a more elaborate system, while a careful study of
forms and proportions, even if there be no ornament whatever, according to the
common acceptation of the word, may give a building a high place amoug architec-
tural compositions. And therefore 1 said it was no truism to assume a good national
style to be necessary tf we would have good national architecture. For a building
may be architecturally good and yet have no feature which marks it as decidedly
belonging to some recoj^iised style, or the adoption of which would originate
a new style. But though a few examples of this description may be imagined, and
some perhaps are actually to be found, it is not likely that the taste of architects,
unguided by rules, should concur In the production of such buildings throughout
the land.
AVe must have cheap buildings. Of churches 1 shall presently speak more at
larj^e ; but we must have public buildings of various kinds, as well as private, the
erection of which shall involve little or no unnecessary outlay, whose adornment
or adaptation to style shall form a very insignificant item in the cost, compared with
what IB absolutely necessary to ensure good work, convenient arrangement, and
sound and durable construction.
Now, if there be any style or manner in which these buildings are generally
desi^'ned, or have been, so long as anything like unity of purpose prevailed, are we
to consider it, so far as it goea, to be the national style, with the bower of adding
such a system of ornament, whether invented, or borrowed from foreign or bygone
styles as shall best harmonise with its own principles of construction and composi-
tion, so that between buildings of the highest and humblest class there shall be a
certfliu relationship and unity ? or ought we to have one style for our ordinary
buildings, and and another for works (to use the expression of our neighbours) of a
monunicntal character?
And again, does our ordinary or vernacular architecture belong to, or readily
assimilate with, any recognised style ; so that the ornaments, general forms, rules,
and principles of that style may be adopted and engrafted upon it, without changing
its character, or rendering it less fit for its purposes ?
With regard to the first of these questions, it strikes me that any essential incon-
gruity between our vernacular and monumental styles would be productive of great
inconvenience, and probably ofifer a serious obstacle to the advancement of either.
For a large class of buildings, public and private, will necessarily occupy a place
between the two, being neither merely vernacular nor yet altogether monumental;
and it is on these that the character and aspect of our great towns will depend. In
such buildings something more may be allowed to ornament than in those of the
simplest and cheapest class, and yet considerations of economy must not be
altogether I hrown aside. If there be that congruity between the highest and lowest
class which makes their difference to consist in degree rather tlian in principle, then
tlie architect of the middle class has merely to apportion to circumstances his amount
of expenditure in ornament There is no actual line or harrier by which he must be
decidedly controlled, or which he must decidedly overleap, so as to attach his work
to one or other of two distinct classes, the vernacular and the monumental.
Hut if there be a manifest break between the two, a clear line of demarcation, on
one side or other of which the architect must take his stand, is it not likely that the
result will often be, on the one hand, pretension, extravagance, and the sacrifice of
convenience to show? or, on the other hand, if the lower side of the barrier be taken,
neglect and indifference on tlie part of the architect, as if liis employment were
beneath his care and consideration ?
Wc must inquire, then/ if there be any style, we may call our own, perfectly suited to
the wants of the present day, expressive, or capable of being made expressive of
the spirit of the age, and siitriciontly comprehensive to embrace both vernacular and
monumental works, and that large class which partakes of lK)th characters. If wc
would view the matter in its proper light, we must go back somewhat more than a
century. .So many of our cheaper structures are of an ephemeral character, and so
many of our more expensive ones are built according to the fancy of the architect or
his employer, that they cannot be said to represent any national or per-
manent style whatever. Hut if we look at several domestic structures, whether insu-
lated mansions, or forming parts of streets, of about the date of Queen Anne's reign,
we may find something not at all uuworthy to be taken as a national style, combining
many artistic qualities of no mean order, with dignify, durability and convenience.
There is a house, of about the period of which I speak, at the entrance of Camber-
well, wliich I never pass without being struck with tile beauty of its composition.
May 24, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
439
It owes little or none of tUU beauty to ornament, for notUlus e»n be plainer or mora
simple in this respect. Owin^', however, to Itn detachoil position it admits of a
gro'ind plan more favorable to variety of outline and a play of liglit and shade than
can uau:illy be obtained in houses formins: purt of a street. lUit, both in the metro-
polis and in country towns, we see houses wliich may be referred to the same type or
style of architecture, more or leas enriched, wliich fflve uo small degree of jjraudeur,
and some picturesqueness, to many of our street views.
The style, it is true, bGeam; unpv)pular when a more forrail imitation of the Greek
models was' etfected, and still m^re so, when as a natural coisequence of this
depressing formality. Classic architecture became less in fashion, and the fancy for
Medii'val architecture began to prevail. Many flue specimens were oonaenucutiy
pulled down to make way for structures of more pretension but less real merit, as
for instance, the school at Birmingham: but this is no proof that the style is
unsuited to the spirit of the agro or of the English nation, and tliat it ml;,'lit not with
advantafje ajjain occupy the position of a national style. To go no further, it har-
monises with the character of the houses webuild when we work without reference to
style, and arc guided solely by tlio consideration of our own requb-ements, the state
«f society, climate and mateilaL
If there is any lilting system of ornam9nt by which suoli house.s may be enriched
without sacrifice of c jnvcnience and adaptation to purpose, and, at ttie same time,
sanctioned by antiquity, or some recognised school of art, and therefore capable of
beingcarried out according to certam rules, such system may be worked into our
national style ; and supposing it has already been applied, it has then beC'ime a part
of our national style, no matter from what quirter it may have been derived, pro-
vided that the buildings on which we have engrafted it be what we should naturally
design with a view to our convenience, and that the style itself or system of orna-
ment be conformable with the spirit of the age, and witii its advancement in art,
science, and general characteristics of civilisation. 1 believe this is the only legiti-
mate sense of tlie term " revival" as applied to an ancient style; for revival does
not consist in the mere reproduction of forms or decorations, which may at anytime
1)3 obtained by a clever copyist, nor even in the occasional appearance of a work
conceived in the true spirit of the period which its arciiitect intended to represent,
such as the kitchen at Alnwick (Jastie, designed by Mr. .Salvin, a truly original com-
position, and ono which will bear comparison with any corresponding work of tlie
best medieval period; but in the establishment of the style in such manner that It
shall be universally, and, I may say, instinctively employed ; that it shall not only
admit of, but actually suggest such modifications as circumstances miy demand ;
that it shall never appear to be forced upon the ordinary or vernacular architecture,
but rather to flow from it naturally and readily ; that so far from exhibiting any
tendency to unlit a building for its proper purposes, it shall even seem to render its
adaptation to them more complete ; that instead of constantly reminding us of its
foreign or remote origin, it shall impress us with the feeling that it might be the
growth of our own age and country (and this cannot be the case if it bears the stamp
of a totally different era in the progress of retiuemgnt) ; and above all, it ought to
convey the impression that it has been based on practical grounds, and is not tho
oSTspring of mere fancy or sentiment.
We know that two styles are assertin;? rival claims to the architecture of the
future. At present they seem to assume a hostile attitude towards each other, and
show but little tendency to coalesce, though it is certain that any style likely to
grow and flourish, and mark the character of the age, must; combine elements pos-
sessed by each. At the same time it is equally certain, that to secure that unity
which is necessary to the very life and existence of a national style, one of them
must occupy the superior position, and the other take a subordinate oue. These
two styles are the Classic and the Gothic or Medieval, We will give each the broadest
definition ; considering the Classic to comprehend the Grecian, which its scanty
remains present to us under rather a severe. If not monotonous, aspect, though a
careful study of them show its artists to have been gifted with powers of imagina-
tion as vivid and fertile as those which have been developed in any era of human
history ; the Roman, which combined the Greek, with other elements ; and the
revive 1 Italian, which was introduced about the fifteenth century, and has more or
less steadily held its frround ever since. The Medieval style maybe considered to
have commenced on tile decline of the Roman in the BflU or sixth century or earlier ;
and we trace its principles through the Byzantiue, Romanesque, Saxon and Norman,
till it culminates in that Pointed or Gothic style, which sheds a lustre oa the thir-
teenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
Witii which, then, of these two styles does our vernacular architecture best har-
monise ? From which of them does it with most propriety borrow its decorations ?
Let us suppose a house front, forming part of a street, to have two stories above
the ground floor, each with four windows. This seems as likely an arrangement as
any to suit general convenience. In the first place, we may pay attention to the pro-
portions between the length and widtli of the windows and to the breadth of^the
spaces which divide them. The probability is that we may satisfy the eye in this
respect, without the least sacriflce of comfort. As to the form of the window open-
ing, there can be little doubt the rectangular is the most convenient when woodwork
Is required, as it must be in dwelling-houses ; and when the ceiling Is flat and the
height of the room limited, the contraction of breadth at the top which an arched
window involves may cause an inconvenient dlminutloa of light. But if stone Untels
are not to be obtained, and brick or small stones are principally employed in con-
struction, then the head of the window must be an arch. This ought not to form a
perfectly horizontal line, both as being apt to sink, which produces an unpleasant
effect, and as disguising the construction by giving an arch the form of a lintel. A
decided curve should therefore be given, but the less it deviates from the straight
line the less will be the sacriflce of those advantages which belong to the rectangular
form. A segmental arch, comprisins' a very small arc of a circle, is satisfactory to
the eye, is easily fitted up with woodwork, and unites the qualities of convenience
and constructive truth. It is, accordingly, very commonly adopted, and is equally
applicable to the palace, the mansion, and tlie cottage.
'•iWo have now obtained a front not unpleasiug to the eye, but altogether devoid of
ornament ; although the care bestowed upon Its proportions and arrangement
entitles it to be classed as an architectural composition. How are we to begin if we
want to enrich it ?
There is probably nothin» in the internal arrangement to suggest a division
by vertical lines, for the partitions between the several rooms may be arbitrary and
irregular. The real lines of the building must be horizontal, as it is evidently divided
by ceilings and floors into several stages. If the position of these bo marked by good
and effective string-courses, and the wholecrowued by a rich cornice, we are at once
in possession of a moaning and tellin;^ system of ornament, which will give the front
anairof considerable richness, even if we go no further. As the Classical style is
that in which the horizontal Ime predominates, we shall naturally be led to look to
it for examples of such cornices and string-courses as we require ; and we shall find
that it furnishes them abundantly, presenting us with specimens which for clearness,
brilliancy of effect, and the suggestion ofconstructivetrnth, are altogetlier unrivalled.
The Roman mouldings, as applied to horizontal lines, form a most valuable study,
and have, perhaps, more of effeotivcness and variety than the Greek, besides being
more generally applicable in a style where the Greek element is so much modified by
the introduction of others.
But the vertical line, though subordinate, need not be left wholly unrepresented.
The termination of the building, where it joins the adjacent houses, may be marked
by some kind of pilaster, or coigning. The windows, ranged one immediately over
the other, leave vertical strips which may also be marked by pilasters of small pro-
jection, in one or more of the stages. Tlie addition of these is right in a constructive
point of view, for they give the wall some apparent and a little real additional
Jtrengtii where the superstructure is heaviest. And although the introduction of
these pilasters may seem a stop in the direction of Gothic, wliich exhibits the pre-
aomlnance of the vertical line so as to carry out the principle to the verge of
exago-eration, yet it is not at variance with the spirit of Classic architecture, in which
naeed the same principle has sometimes been expressed a little too promlueatly.
The frequent use of the engaged column is perhaps one of the least defensible
features in the Classic, both ancient and revived.
Should the engaged column be discarded, or used very sparingly, it becomes a
question whether we ouglit also to discard those parts of the pilaster which give it
tne air of a substitute for tlie column, namely its base and capital, so leaving it as a
mere vertical strip. I can hardly think we are called upon to make the sacrifice. If
tlie pilaster preserves, or represents, tile proportion of a Ciassicai.ooiumn {for ws
must look upon the column not only as' a mechauical support, but also as an expres-
sion of true proportion, and a kind of modulus for the measurement of the whole
building), then it cannot be wrong to preserve those features which are necessarily
included when proportion is considered. And so far as they give the idea of vertical
support, they cannot be wrong, since the pilaster docs actually add to the streugtb
by which the superstructure is upheld. Bat where the arrangement does not admit
of the columnar proportion, and the full deveiopm'jut of the entablature, or where
the object is rather abutment than vertical support, regular base and capital had
better be omitted.
•Again, the edges of the window Jambs might have some simple mouldings of a
durable character ; or the window m ly be furnished wifli designs by which an effect
of dopth is obtained. Further, it miy be desirable to have projecting window sills,
wide enough to hold fiower pots and the like. These will give an additional scope for
enrichment in the brackets which support them, and the more so, as the weight
being small, such brackets may be designed with a view rather to elegance tSaa
strengtli. Those in similar positions, namely, under prolections of no groat weight,
present somj of the most beautiful curves that wo find in the Roman as well as in
ttie revived Classic. A liood, supported in the same manner, may bo placed above
the window, giving it som; slight protection from rain. In buildings of a more
ornate character the hood may be connected with the window-sill by small detached
columns or engaged pilasters. A balcony might also be attached to a window opening
to the floor of the room ; this will rest on brackets of an apparent, as well as real,
strength, proportioned to the increased weight. And a balustrade of stone, wood, or
metal, may be made to add to the beauty and character of the design. These
projections give great life and picturesque character to street views in many
Continental towns. Now, here we have arrived at a front of considerable rich-
ness, and altogether falling naturally into the style of the revived Italian,
which will also furnish us with the means of introducing panels of sculpture
or discs of marble into such parts of the surface as may still be considered by tlie
architect or his employer to be too dettoient in ornament. In all this you will observe
there is no straining at effect, no going out of the way to m?et tile e.xigeacies of a
style, no sacrifice whatever of couveuience. The scale of magnificence, and con-
sequently of expense, may aimoit be graduated to a nicety, every addition offers
itself in a direct straiglitforward manner, and the result, to an unprejudiced eye,
will be satisfactory, if the composition bo worked out witii judgment. Of course, a
bad architect could out of the above mifcerials uroduse somJthiuj^ very tamo and
meagre, for there never has been, and never will be, a style the mere adoption of
which will be sufficient to easure excellence; but I am convinced a good arciiitect
would bring out a design full of grace and vigor, and however comaioaplaoe its
elements, give it the stamp of originality.
Undoubtedly it is possible to Gothlcise in a manner such a street front as I have
imagined. We may divide it into bays of one or more windows, and mark the di-
vision by buttresses, or strongly predominating lines. We may choke tlie windows
upbymulliotts and tracery, and give them pointed heads, or we may retain the
square-headed or slightly segmental window, without mallious, placing over it a
Gothic arch and canopy against the blaufc wall, so as to cut the floor line of the
apartment above; but neither these nor any other devices by which modern require-
ments are mad,j to conform to Medieval architecture are suggested by this simple
primitive arrangement, nor do they show any congruity with it ; indeed, it requires
some exercise of skill and contrivance to prevent Gothic details from interfering
with tile comfort of an arrangement which is really Italian.
Had I chosen for my illustration a front of five or seven windows instead of four,
the door would probably have occupied the centre of the ground stage, and the build-
ing, arranged symmetrically on each side, might naturally liave suggested a Ciassio
rather than a Gothic treatment. The number of houses, witliout much architec-
tural pretension, that are so arranged, presenting a symmetrical front, and for whose
decorations the architect lias instinctively turned to the Classic style, shows that tlie
arraageraontcannot be otherwise than generally convenient ; but by choosing aoom-
position that does not form itself syramitricaily, the door being placed nearer to one
side thanthe other, I would show that the employment of the Classical style does not
tie us down to so strict an observance of regularity as to involve any sacriflce in point
of convenience. It is true that glaringly needless irregularities are offensive— per-
haps more so in Classic than in Gothic, and in most cases it is the part of the archi-
tect to combine regularity with convenience. The problem is generally one that can
be solved in a satisfactory manner ; but where it cannot, as in the case we have been
considering, the want of symmetrical regularity is felt to be no defect. An utter dis-
regard of symmetry is not to be tolerated in any architectural composition, be it
Gothic or Ciassio, though an occasional interference withit, whether it be accidental,
as wlien it results from the incomplete carryinof out of a design, partial ruiu, or
change of architects, or whether it be owing to the exigencies of the building, oftea
gives life and picturesqueness to a composition ; and there are many incomplete and
irregular fronts, such, for instance, as tliat of Rouen Cathedral, which we should be
sorry to see reduced to a formal symmetry. But if we build for the picturesque, we
must be careful that our aim be not too apparent, for irregularity ceases to possess
the charm of picturesqueness the moment it ceases to appear aooideatai, or forced
upon as by circumstances.
We have now to consider the question, whether we ought to have two distinct and
dissimilar styles, one for secular the other for ecclesiastical purposes. And here I
think the advocates of the Gothic revival have taken a more advantageous stand
than those who oppose its application to secular purposes. For the latter seem not
unwilling to relinquish the Classic style in church building, so'.lon^ as they retain it
for civil uses ; while the former contend that the Gothic is the best, not only for
churches, but for all structures whatever. In fact they evidently feel how necessary
is unity in a national style. I must confess that if they can establish Gothic as the
only legitim ito church architecture of the present day, I do not see how their oppo-
nents can long resist their claim upon secular architecture also. Churches must be
classed among what we have referred to as monumental buildings ; and it is clearly
adverse to the progress of art that the architect should have to give up his mind to
two sorts of composition, botli of them of a high order, grounded on principles that
in many respects are antagonistic to each other. The dissonance between buildings
of different styles, like the irregularities in the same building that I have just spoken
of, if they are clearly the result of accident or necessity, as when they actually belong
to different periods, is valuable, both as conducive to picturesqueness, and as form-
ing a sort of historical record ; but when it is no other than the result of caprice,
waywardness of fancy, or want of unity among artists, it becomes unpleasiug to the
eye and perplexing to the mind. Nor can it be said that it is necessary to have one
style for houses or secular buildings, and another for churches, in order that we may
know a church when we see it. Of tlie thousands of churches that have been built at
different times, whatever may be their style or date, how few are there that would
be confounded with secular buildings, and vice vend.
The ecclesiastical character depends very little indeed upon style, and it would be
possible to build a church, perfectly unexceptionable in composition, form, aspect,
expression, and general arrangement, without introducing anyone characteristic of
any recognised style whatever.
As an instance, I will notice a Protestant church at Emmerich, naar the Dutch
frontier on the Rhine. In date it corresponds with that period to which I have
referred, as offeriug something like a national architecture of oor own, namely, the
reign of Queen Anne. It is of brick, very plain and devoid of ornament, and worked
in rather a meagre manner,the walls being evidently very thin. The plan is a Greek
cross, with very short arms, and no arches across the intersection, which mishtaup.
440
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 24, 1861.
port a otntnil tower or dome ; the whole roofing is consequently of wood. This is
high pitched and hipped, onlj one of the fronts having a low pediment, which had
better have been omftted-a wooden cupola or lantern, of a very ordinary description,
crowns the top. Tlie windows are round-arched and arranged in two tiers, for the
Bake of galleries Therein but little detail anywhere, what there is has a Classical
character. Now. 1 doubt not that an exclusive ndinirer of Gothic would pronounce
this an extremely uulv building, and would wonder what made me stop in the town
an hour for the purpose of examining it, but I confess I was vor>- much struck both
with its appearance and capabilities. From a distance I saw not only that it was a
church but a very good church, nor was I disappointed on a nearer approach, when
I couldjutlge better of its proportion. Had the walls been thicker, so as to give more
depth and effect to the openings, I should have considered it really a grand building.
There is a church of much the same form, and probably date.at Eisenach, in Germany,
having, however, square instead of round-headed windows, which did not take from
its cSesiastical aspect. . .,_ ,r i - , , i t- i
Another church that I may here notice is one at the Hag jc, which also has hijni-
pitcbed timber roofs, and a central turret of the same material. The plan of this
church comprehends two inter*:* ctions by transepts, which, as well as the ends, are
apBidal. Externallv the style is Classical, haviuEr large pilasters wilh regular
capitals and entablature: internaJly there are no netails belonging to any stvlc,
tbougli the open timber roof gives' an appearance of richness. It is decidedly a
Ptriluug object, and well worth study. I sliould think it not impossible to give it a
construction which might admit of a stone central lantern or turret. But even our
own dissenting chapels of the last century and the beginning of the present, plain
mndof^en tasteless as they are, have a certain character which marks them as set
u>art for religious purposes ; and wilhout being different in style (if they can be said
to have any) from the nouses on each side of them, are easily distinguishable, and
leave no doubt with the spectators as to the purpose for which they have been
erected. I roust, however, rescue from the charge of tastelessness one at York, built,
I suppose, about the middle of last century, and just as devoid of any pretension to
style as the plainest of the houses which surround it. It is nearly in tne form of a
Greek cross, and has a wide and low central tower, giving the building an outhne not
inferior in dignity to manv good Medieval churches.
If it were not for the existence of structures which we arc not likely again to
require or reproduce — I mean cathedrals of the largest class— I doubt whether the
Gothic movement would have proceeded with much spirit, even if it had been
commenced at all. It is only by such structures that we can be impressed with a
full admiration of the stvlc, and any argument in favor of its revival, which rests on
the impressivcnessof such buildings, tails to the ground if it can be shown that such
impressiveness is what we shall probably never again obtain, at least by similar
means. If this were a cathedral-building age, it might be an age in which Gothic
architecture could be revived. But it is not a cathedral-building age. We may
require and build large churches, we may not grudge handsome and expensive ones,
we mav increase the number and force of choral establishments ; but that pile of
building which constituted the great cathedral of the middle ages, whose exterior
expressed dominion over the adjacent district, whose interior suggested the idea of
infinity, this we are not likely again to call into existence ; not because we are as a
nation wanting in the spirit of Hberality, for large sums are continually expended in
the restoration of our old cathedrals, and if any one were to be utterly destroyed I
believe it would be rebuilt upon the same scale of magnificence, but because we are
a practical nation, and feei that cathedral building in these days is not the ouly
way, nor the most effective way, of securing and spreading abroad the blessings of
our reUffion — that an almost unlimited expenditure in mere externals (for
cathedral building amounts to this), however it might have been justified in some
epochs of the church, is not so in the present, when other necessities and
exigencies call for a different application of our means. It is, I suspect, because
this is not a cathedral- building age (for this practical spirit is not confined to our
own country and our own persuasion) that our genius seems to flag and languish
when we attempt what is specially the architecture of cathedrals, while, in our
engineering works we display a power, and, I will add, a perception of archi-
tectural propriety not surpassed in the greatest works of the Romans.
If we are to consider the question between Gothic and Classic as a mere matter of
taste (I mean arbitrary taste or fashion), we must bear in mind that this is noto-
riously liable to fluctuation. In the last century Addison spoke of the greatness (as
regards effect) of the Vantheon in contrast with the meanness of a Gothic cathedral,
and though it is not probable that the Gothic style will again be treated with the
same contcmpt,'yet it is by no means impossible that the relative estimation in which
the two styles are now held, will in the course of time be reversed.
What appears to me an insuperable obstacle to the general use of Gothic in the
present day, is that very quality which invests it with the greatest interest; I mean
Ita expression of the tone of the particular period which witnessed its development,
ite cuiiuination, and dcchne. And the restorer of Gothic seems to be liable to one of
the following predicaments :— Either the style he produces is expressive of the thir-
teenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, and not of the nineteenth, and then it is
not Gothic, for Gothic is eminently expressive of the period in which it flourished ;
or his style is expressive of the nineteenth century, and then it is not Gothic, for
Gothic is expressive of the thirteenth, fourtcentli and fifteenth centuries; or his
Btyle has no expression at all, and then it is not Gothic, for Gothic is an eminently
expressive style. Nor do I see how he can escape from the dilemma, except by
showing- that the tone, spirit, character, state of civilisation and refinement, and
stage orpr<^Te88 of the present century is identical with that of the Medieval period.
If he can prove this, he will overthrow my argument; but I suspect that the more
he gtudies Medieval architecture, and the history to which it forms an adjunct and
commentary, the more difiicult he will find bis task. And I believe this view of the
subject has been taken by persons far more intimately acquainted with the matter
than I can pretend to be.
It will, perhaps, be said that the same line of reasonine: holds good with regard to
all genuine architecture whatever. Unquestionably, all great architectural works
take their character irom the period in which they were produced, and express it
accordingly ; but this may not be so much from the nature of the style itself as from
the manner of handling it. In Classic architecture we can, in great measure,
Bcparate the style from the building. The style may. in itself, have no individual
expression, while the building has a great deal. In Jledieval architecture the style
itself is expressive, and, therefore, if transported to a period to which it does not
belong, it runs the risk of expressing somctning which does not exist to be expressed,
ADdoonseqaently, of being anomalous and out of place. The Classic style, having
no peculiar expression of its own except that of refinement, may be endued by the
arcoltect with any expression his genius enables him to invest it with, and will
readily receive and reflect the character of the age and people which adopt it.
'■Moreover, there is a greater aflinity between our own age and country and those
in which ancient Classical architecture flourished, than between ourselves and our
Medieval ancestors. Our tastes in art and literature are nearly identical. Take any
fair specimen of our literary style, a leading article for instance in any established
newspaper, and wc hhall find in it the same excellence which we should look for in a
good writer of the Augustan age. Clearness, force of expression, a happy choice of
words, fluency and harmony of rhythm, an avoidance' of anything quaint or archaic,
and an elegance resulting more from instinctive perception than from an elaborate
selection and arrangement of our phrases ; these are beauties which must be attained
iu a greater or less degree by every writer who intends to be read. And these are
just the characteristics of good Classical Roman authors, so that we might introduce
literally translated passages from Cicero, Kallust, or Casar, that shall altogether
harmonise with our own natural style, and not appear in the slightest degree
antiquated or obsolete. We rea<l and enjoy Horace's odes, satires, and epistles, as if
they were productions of our own day and our own country ; we like them for them-
selves, and not merely as curious relics of the past; nor should we feel that any poet
who might form his style upon the study of these compositions was taking a retro-
grade step. 80 in sculpture. The student who wishes to obtain eminence and to
advance his art will exercise himself in copying, or carefully studying the works of
ancient Greek, Koman, and Kenaissance artists, and though he will not neglect
Gothic sculpture, he will not make it the great object of his attention, nor look 10 it
as a standard of excellence.
I am speaking of literary composition and sculpture as arts which maybe com-
municated and advanced, and in which we can mark certain stages, whether of pro-
gress, culniination, or decline ; and I believe I may say, without fear of contradic-
tion, we are not making a retrograde movement while we set up classical models.
Genius and inspiration may show itself in any age.- whatever be its state of refine-
ment, nor can it fail of having an effect on tlie progress of mankind ; but wc must
not mistake the genius of an individual for national development. We should not
look to Homeric Greece for a type of the Greek language iu ita completeness and
purity; nor should wc go back to the days of Giotto and the great medieval artists
whose jirenius led up to the Renaissance for models of Italian art in its perfection.
But f must not dwell too long upon abstract points ; wc will take a more material
view of the subject. The difference between^the constructive principles of Classic and
Gothic architecture is that the former professedly uses the b.'ara or lintel, employing
the arch rather as an expedient than as a predominant feature, while the latter may
be said to be purely the architecture of the arch, admitting the lintel at rare intervals
and on a small scale. But the artistical principles of the styles may be enunciated
iu a still broader and more summary manner. The Classic gives expression to the
solids— Gothic to the voids. Take a Greek colonnade. The columns, capitals and
entablatures are carefully elaborated in their form and proportion, while the
opening between them is left to itself, or its breadth determinea upon with a view
to the columns themselves, not to its own shape. In Gothic work, on tlie contrary, it
is the form of the opening that engages the attention of the architect, the spandrels
being the parts that in point of shape are left to shift for themselves. Hence, the
greater portion of Classic ornament finds its place on the surface of the wall, while
the soffits and jambs, unless the depths of the arch is such as to give it the character
of a vault, are comparatively plain. In Gothic work the decoration is mainly in the
soffits, sometimes in the form of delicate and complicated mouldings, sometimes of
flowers and foliage occupying the hollows, while the mouldings themselves branch
out into foliation and tracery, filling the arch with beautiful patterns and figures.
Even in the decoration of the surface the forms of the openings are repeated in blank
arcades and panelling; and the enrichment of the piers themselves has reference
rather to arches they support, than to their own importance as solid masses, or ta
the actual wall above them. The tendency of the Gothic system, as carried out in
its works of the highest order, that is, in its cathedrals, is to the construction, or at
least the suggestion of a lantern of open-work, a vast frame of stone, in which the
portions of flat wall are reduced to the smallest amount possible, such as the choir of
Tournay Catliedral, which is so tender, that it has been found necessary to connect
every part together by ties of iron.
Now, in Koman work the pier or the wall itself is made to attract attention, while
the arch or opening, whatever it may be, is a secondary and subordinate feature.
Change all the arches of the Coliseum into square-headed openings, as those in the
upper stage, as well as at Pola, actually are, and I suspect the change in its
character would be much less than we are apt to imagine.*
ARCHITECTUEAL ASSOCIATION,
A MEETING of this body was held at the rooms, 9, Conduit- street, Regent-
I 'street, on Friday evening ; Mr. R. O. HARUifi in the chair.
Neio Member.~Mr. E. D. Jackman, proposed by Mr. Brown, and seconded by Mr.
Payne, having been balloted for. was duly elected a member of the Association.
Nomination.— Jtlr. Robert K. Bayne, 13. Great Smith-street, Westminster, was
proposed for membership, on the motion of Mr. Moy, seconded by Mr. Reeves.
The consideration of the subject of the curatorship of the property of the Asso-
ciation was postponed to the next meeting.
Mr. T. Blashill then read the following paper on
ORIGINALITY.
LET us imagine ourselves meeting here early iu the present century instead of now,
and try to fancy the kind of inquiries that miglit be engaging our attention.
Many questions, important then, have been set at rest for ever, and this that brings
us here to night was not then urgent. We should be following enthusiastically
after everything Greek in the good company of those who are now passing out of our
high places in age and honor. The Greek style was to supersede the Roman, and be
itself superseded by the Italian and the Gothic. Tlie bulk of the materials that go
to form the basis of our present practice were to be accumulated or revised. The
chief monuments of ancient cities were to be copied carefully and set up in our
towns— familiarising us with the best examples of Classical art, which few of us
could travel to sec, and which books could very imperfectly teach.
It would be unmanly to turn away from the pioneers or this good work, who
carried it on with such ardour and learning to a subject so different in kind, in
a sense so opposite, but in no degree hostile, without recognising that we owe it
to them that we are in a position to turn to it at all; and it is their labors that
have hurried us into other times. In our own day we neglect these matters a
little perhaps ; there is much work to be done in investigating the history and
characteristics of the Medieval styles, something to be done for present exigence,
for, however indifferent it may be to the rest of the world, it is necessary to us
that we live, and even a generation of thinkers cannot be thinking of everything
at once. The styles of our own country have been imitated with much success ; we
are rapidly getting to understand them better by study of contemporary foreign
examples, and much that is valuable in the age of Romanesque.
Nothing could be more unwise than to cheek prematurely this line of action ; but
even now it is becoming of prime importance that we think of our future course ;
understanding the causes that lead to the formation of styles and will influence our
progress, by our own permission, or, if necessary, in spite of our resistance. I will
not pretend to be able, myself, to go very deeply into this question, but you will form
some idea of the spirit of the remarks that foliow from the title by which I have
strung them together. It will be getting rid of a coujile of hard words which, some-
how, always rise up when we start a question of this kind, if I disclaim all connexion
with anything of a "transcendental" or "Utopian" character there is plenty of
good substance to be dealt with, and we will have nothing to do with shadow.
The word "originality" is generally used as a term of praise, and in selecting it for
my present purpose I intend it to mean " the healthy exercise of invention in archi-
tecture." We are likely to misapprehend the nature of originality from a wrong
idea of the terms "change" and "permanence," and to imagine that it is natural for
things to be fixed, and exceptional for them to vary; so far is this from being the
fact that one might almost say that change is the only fi.\ed principle, and anything
pretending to permanence is an innovation and an anomaly. It is not wonderful
that the revival of Classical architecture sliould have led men to suppose they could
ex tract out of it or compose from it certain perfect specimens which, beine: acknow-
ledged to be the best that could be contrived, should be received sontentedly as pre-
cedents for the rest of time ; that was, perhaps, the first false application of the
principle of finality that was quite unconnected with superstitious motives. "We are
generally of opinion now that the results have been such as to make us thankful that
the efforts which have been made to Introduce it into the Gothic styles have not met
with success. - , , ,
At first sight one might suppose it reasonable to contrive out of old examples
certain arrangements of design which being riglit once should be right for ever.
The mistake of attempting to keep a thing fixed while the rest of the world is mov-
ing is two-fold. f»ne of the first things wc learn at school is that there are three
tenses— past, present, and future. By stripping from a thing all record of the changes
which time has wrought upon it, and the infiuence of difl'erent minds, and making It
♦ To be' continued.
May 24, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
441
a thinp of the present, you deprive it of history ; by fixing it as a thinfj perfect and
complete, you take the life out of it and deprive it of hope. Jt is possible to see this
very distinctly, it we compare the impressions we sliall gain of (Jhissical architecture
according as wc study it by one or other of two methods. We may study it if we
wiil by the royal road of the five orders. For those who wish to do a thing in a
business-like way without much trouble or strain on the imagination, this courac is
to be recommended. You get five interesting diagrams, which you know have been
most carefully and diligently compiled, and purified, and may be really the best
central idens of the orders they profess to represent. I'erfection, if such a thing can
exist, has been attained, and you enter easily in a few weeks on the fruits of other
men's labors, perhaps the ceremony is about as interesting as so many sums in the
rule of three. Our law-makers have thought it net'es.sary to prevent the past and
present from tyrannising; over the future by preventing a testator from tying up his
his property for more thiin thirty years ; in the live orders arcliitecturc might be said
to be tied up in five bundk-s lor ever.
The otiier method of sludy may be called the historical method. We can imagine
the surprise of u student ou learning fortUe first tinio that the five orders are modern
embalments of that which was with the Greeks and Komans a living thing; that
they were weak mortals like ourselvee, whose art began rudely, and rose to its Highest
pohit slowly, urew luxurious, and declined— had merits in its youtli, and simplicity
that it lost when it grew older and richer. How it varied continually through many
centuries, and expressed in its changes the varyinjj' moods, manners, power, and
splendour of two nations. The subject is immediately invested with a new interest,
and we feel in the life which is in it, its alternations of truth, error, and repentance,
a sympathy that the cold and pure and perfect orders cannot excite. It seems, for
the first time, that wc have some interest of our own in the matter, that we might,
under pressure of circumstances, venture to alter the size of a member the traction of
an inch; but then this follows, and nothing shows so clearly the great value of the
Classical styles— if one member is materially altered we must vary others, or they
cease to accord with it ; each member is as dependent on the others as tlie notes of a
piece of music. The orders were so varied in Classical times, and might, if they
suited our convenience, be varied similarly now. I suppose no musician ever pro-
fessed to compose a centrally perfect piece of music ; yet t!ie sense with whicn he
would have to deal being so much more exact than that of sight, one may suppose
that the experiment would be tried under much more favorable circumstances, I
very well remember the first architectural work that was placed in my hands, it was
an attempt to reduce Gothic architecture to five orders, by Batty Langley, and was
lent me by an accomplished architectural artist, who took an interest in me in those
days, as a warning and an example •' how not to do it." I know the thing seemed
very reasonable at that time, and 1 could not understand why iie should express such
abhorrence and contempt. 1 1 is, perhaps, desirable that people would now and then
compliment a youth of sixteen with reasons, or at any rate analogies, which may be
more valuable than your reasons, for it js some years past the age when dogmatism
begins to be distasteful. I admit that there are in all professions very many subjects
which ought to be taught dogmatically, some professions are almost entirely com-
posed of such, but the further you get from technical matters, and matters of history,
the less is this principle advisable; it should, at any rate, be understood that if a
reason is not given, it is for want of time, and not because it is unnecessary. The
difference caused on our minds by the two systems of teaching is, that in one case
we look upon ancient examples as instruments for our use, in the other, as shackles
to bind us.
There is no question more important than that of the constitution of our percep-
tions with reference to impressions from without. We should consider how much of
antiquity and how much of novelty is good for us, and whether we are constituted
for a system of torpor, or progress, or revolution. We have certain propensities
towards change, and certain powers which enable us to produce it. The power of
producing novelty is one of those which we most value, as distinguishing us from
the lower orders of animals and bringing us nearer to the Producer of all things.
Without inquiring how applicable the term " creative," and some others of like kind,
which we don't understand, is to so short a step in such a long journey, it will be
useful to take lower ground, and see the order oithinpfs amongst which we live, from
which we receive our impressions, and of which we form a part. We are so little
Accustomed to anything fixed that our travellers are startled, and almost horrified,
on entering the tombs of Eg^pt, which have stood still during all these centuries
that the world has been moving. The poetry of everything is in its motion; the
charm of astronomy is in the orderly progression of the heavenly bodies and their
intimate union and sympathy with each other ; the charm of geology is in its
gradual succession of events and evidence of life and action. There is a fine analogy
In this science which we ought not to miss, because it shows how little
of shock, comparatively, and how much of quiet progress, have assisted
at the building of this great work upon which we build our little works.
Down in the foundations of the world we find a state of things that has
been changing continually since the commencement of vegetable and animal life.
The whole system of creation has been renewed again and again through long
periods of progress and rare periods of catastrophe ; there have been dark ages,
and then renaissance, but it was renewing of life only, not of the lost style. New
things arose under the new conditions, and we see in that history, as clearly as in any
I know, the true type of our own originalitv.
It is essential to look for analogies in this direction, because if there be such a
thing IIS perfection or fixedness, it is in nature if anywhere; and if such a thing is
desirable, we can hardly expect to succeed where nature has failed. It is difiicult to
imagine the misery in which we should hve if we were not formed to accept and
enjoy a state of things in which change is a continual element, and feel a lively and
healthy pleasure in turning from one object to another, and uniting our sympathies
most closely with such as grow and progress as we do ourselves. It is diflScult to
imagine the btate of our existence if we had not given to us the power and pro-
pensity to adapt ourselves to altered conditions, and the power of producing new
ones. It is a propensity that has woven itself into the thread of our life, and wc can-
not check its development, nor force it violently witliout acting untruly to our proper
instincts. We attacli the most pleasant ideas to that word "life:" it is freshness.
growth, vigor, motion, progress, power in action, and in reserve ; we give all manner
of hard names to its opposites, of the brood of stagnation ; you may find them ap-
plied by booksful to the works of dead and flat periods in art ; and perhaps the chief
danger of the present day is that the recoil from old restrictions will be too violent,
and force us into the opposite extreme of convulsion, for which nature, except under
such special circumstances of restraint, has very little analogy. We may get a prin-
ciple or two out of these, and similar considerations which we can all believe in,
whatever may be our favorite style. The first is that the desire for change is as con-
stant, and when not forced, as healthy a feeling as any we possess. The second is
that we have no reason to desire violent change, but must depend as much as pos-
Bible on gradualjprogression. The third may be that even such times as those through
which we are now passing are better than listless times, as convulsion is more hope-
iul than lethargy.
I do not know what the originators of great styles thought about these things, but
1 rather think they would make little discussion about it. but do the thing they were
impelled to do, and recognise no other system. Our civilisation is more complicated
and our diseases different in kind. It ought reasonably to seem strange that we
should have yet to establish as a maxim that each age must, if it will only think
about the matter, judge best of what is best for itself— that we should now be
balancing between the adoption of styles of difl'erent periods as a point from which
to start afresli. With Classic active and vigorous and anything but discouraged, and
Gothic as hvely and springy as one of its " good grotesques," if neither scale kicks
the beam, we cannot dismiss all apprehension that it will kick the opposite one. If
an intelligent oculist were made suddenly aware of the position of the two parties
who are amusing themselves in the " Battle of the Styles," his first impression must
*>e that there was some dilTerence in the construction of eyes that could he got at
With the knife and the microscope. It seems at first sight so odd that so much diflerence
should arise from what is so much more a question of education than of deep
-fecUng. The recipe for making out of a ^outh of fifteen a (Jreek or Goth
may not be absolutely infaUible, but put hini in the right ofl^ce, and with
due precautions against external influences, the process is at least as certain
as that by which we bring it to pass that a young tradesman shall spend his
life soiling silks with his fingers or his fingers with raisins. There must
be .<<ome good reason why we have not now flourishing two styles of war— makmg
both after good ancient examples. Probably it is this, that men become earnest when
their skins arein danger —they become less classical and more original. We must not
force comparison between things totally distinct, but the thing tliat has come down
to us freshest from both Classical and Medieval times, side by side with architecture,
is this same war-making. Usually before we know how to draw, we have dipped
pretty deeply into fable and romance, aud chosen our line of action between the
rescues of distressed maidens and the contests of the " Iliad." Our soldiers have
their inspiration, as we have ours. Down in Trafalgar-square we have just given
honor to a hero — after our manner. One would like to know in what spirit he marched
on Lucknow, and strategised and marched again through that awful season. He
could not have forgotten altogether his schooling at Grey-friars, nor the legends
that give vigor to the spirit, as exercise liardens the muscles. Yet it was not for
being Classical that we set him on that bad eminence, but because he had done his
work as an Knglishman. and we could place his originality by the side of ancient
models \vithout being ashamed.
We are no more Greeks nor Goths than was he— though it does not follow that
we can safely forget their example. Yet It is impossible that we can very closely
resemble either— we may as well try to put back the hand of time through twenty
centuries as five— the principle is the same in each case and cannot be other than
wrong.
The idea of starting from a particular period of art is, I fear, no less fallacious,
though more plausible. We have tried most honestly during many years to carry
on the pure and beautiful style of the thirteenth century, with a result which nobody
calls success. We are all now, perhaps, more or less pleased with many of the
details which are being introduced into our own style from the early Gothic of
France; It would have an eflTect upon our minds similar to that which would be pro-
duced by original conceptions, if^ we could forget that the store from which it is
being drawn must soon be exhausted. There is no class of buildings that better
deserves study than those of the Komanesque period ; it is Gothic architecture in
youth, and although we are very apt to talk about the vigor and freshness of any-
thing that happens to be comparatively new to us, I am much mistaken if we do not
draw much that is valuable from study of works of that period ; but it is easy to sec,
I think, that some of the more advanced Gothic school are running headlong into
the same experiment that has failed so often before— this time under slightly dif-
ferent conditions. Satisfied of the hopelessness of the attempt to improve on the
best period of Gothic, the idea now is to take up a style confessedly inferior, in the
hope of refining it into a better kind of Gothic. I fear very much that this is a new
version of the short aud slovenly formula for providing scope for improvement—
viz., to begin badly.
I |This question of the starting point is really the most important of any that arises
just now ; it lies at the very foundation of oriorinality. I liope thatnothmg I say can
be taken as advocating the idea that we can liope to be entirely new. We may as
well expect to see some day a new creation rise up around us. The contest now to be
decided is one between principles which are of far more importance than Gothic or
Classic. We know perfectly well that every attempt to twist an old style into our
modern ways has failed entirely. The style was not elastic, and it is only owing to
the accident that our forms of worship have changed less than we ourselves have,
that the Gothic style succeeds so well in that exceptional case. I ought to make
partial exception of the Italian style, which, while it answers very well the demands
of a wide range of purposes, has been very far from successful in exciting that sym-
pathy and warmth of feeling which is necessary to raise the work of utilitarianism to
the rank of art. If the question were, shall we continue sacrificing real convenience
aud utihty as we notoriously do daily in deference to the demands of style, or shall we
take convenience of construction and arrangement as our basis, and sacrifice, at
whatever cost, everything that cannot be modified so as to accord with it— we should
be compelled to adopt the latter alternative. And, indeed, we must ultimately come
to something as near to this as the ancients did, if we wish to eq -* *^'^m In the end.
For the present we may be content to light the lamp of sacrifice ... liberally than
some of the extreme advocates of constructional reform seem to admit.
We have existing within us, counteracting to some extent the passion
for progress, a strong leaning towards the past. We are infiuenced insensibly
in every-day life by the views of old people. We do not trouble ourselves
about logic, but, from the respect we boar them, we make their ideas our own. _ It is
a right feeling, and carries the past into the present, as we may hope to live in the
future. That is the poetical view of it, and we must not rob our art of any portion
of true poetry. The practical effect of it is that we have got another element to deal
with besides scientific construction and abstract ideas of beauty, and can, if we
like, put them altogether into one of those horrid tables, such as one finds in
Tredgold.
There is our knowledge of construction, and materials, and the demands of
convenience. This may be called Engineering, and is not an art but a science.
Then there is Archaeology, which is not art but science. Lastly, our study of nature,
which is the foundation of both art and science. Our use of engineering ma>' be
called, "common sense applied to building." Our use of the facts of archaeological
science mav be called, " common information applied lo building." Onr knowledge
of the sentimental part of archaeology leads to " common feeling applied to
building."
There is room for those who have faith in statistics to fill up the table and price
them out, as we find a similar class of questions treated in the works of a gentleman
to whom we owe much ; but here are elements by the riglit application of which we
may escape being fantastic, and shall not fail to be original. ■ • ^^^
If I give my own opinion of one or two developments of so-called originality (to
which I must ask you to attach just so much importance as you find due to it on
quiet reflection), I would not be understood as alluding to their professed leaders.
And this applies also to what I said about the extreme followers of other schools.
You will find as a rule that it is chiefly the followers or private admirers of leading
men who run intoextremes and do mischief. ^ You all know the well-known story oi
Wilkes, who protested that " he never was a'Wilkite." , , , a a
The natural recoil from the extreme severity of the Classical school has produced
a kind of taste which, not without some reason, alarms those who have lived dovra
to us out of the quiet times. From being entirely given up to copyism. we are now
devoted to extreme of originality. There is in many quarters a restless longing lor
something to break the monotony of ordinary art. We now and then see designs so
entirely out of the line of our common life that we are compelled to forget all we
know before we feel that we can give them fair notice. To beam with the extreme
case of a design which is not only entirely ori^nal.but in the abstract beautiful, it is
worth while to consider the chance of its real beauties being thoroughly appreciated
from the suddenness and want of preparation with which it comes belore us. ine
same novelty used more sparingly in many buildings might have gradually gamea
upon the minds of people who will now pass it without notice.
There is nothing to connect our minds with that of the designer, aud although his
may be no less true than ours, it fails of its efl*ect from want of sympathy and a
common understanding. Alter all, one of our objects in speaking, besides that ot
speakino- well is speaking so as to be understood. Uead the opening pai^rs ot tne
"Lamp of Memory." where the eft'ect of isolation on natural scenery is very
^*Lookiifo-^on^a lovely ravine in a pine forest in the Jura, the writer suddenly
imagines "it to be in a solitude of the new continent. « The flowers in an matMt
lost^their light, the river its music." One may qualify this strong «^'PJV'^^^°° *®t„7.
does, but there Is sober prose in our feelings with respect to a design which asfca lOO
44-J
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 24, 1S6I.
much of ouriUth and too little from our sympathy. If it were part of a style and
ofhistory we might tbiuk it exQulsitf. because wc should take the trouble to learn
the character Inwhieh a natiou had written its life in stone ; it is not worth while to
*>a»muoJifor the Id.a ofaman in the next street.
Ttaeextrane pictunsquc school can hardly be accused of this error. Onginallty in
their laBsaace often means the introduction of as many features as possible of styles
In which veftel Intcreat, with no superfluity of care in arrangement into one design
under the mntalraB notion that we shall transfer our admiration forthe old buildings
to SDch a« ha»e nrpassed them iu Irrepularity. Amateurs w ho care for art at all are
abMWt eertainlT of this school. We were advised in these rooms the other night to
design each hDilding in our streets as in itself, a unit standing by itself. I feel con-
Tlaeed wc bad better construct it designedly for the position m which it will really
stand, not more to do it justice than to give its neighbours fair play. This is more
eoarteons, and, 1 think, mon- artistic, if less picturesque. Time will bring those
Spa. and additions, and patchings, and rebuildings wh'ch we admire so much
old buildings, quite as soon as we can give them historical interest, and alter all
istaid, these things arc in themselves blemishes, and we only take pleasnie in them
because they are the marks by which we have known old friends.
M'heiher these marked and unstudied irregularities appear in plan, or in details, of
old buildings, do not let us mistake them for beauties. Imporfectious are always
eaaiest to copy, and most liable to be taken as characteristic of a style. It would be
as reasonable to imitate the peculiarities of people we meet in order to catch the tone
9i good society. One may see any night, for a shilling, one or other of those per-
fbOKTS, who profess to mimic our well-known public characters ; there arc the
familiar pecuUarities of voice, gait and manner, and more of them crowded Into half
amlnnte than the original would show in an hour: the effect is most comic and
amnsing. Itut all these points are really such as distinguish the man from the true
central type of a gentleman ; to attempt that type would deprive the performance of
its personal and imitative character, and its interest, — but if lie can do it he is a gen-
tleman and no mimic.
The worst error into which we are likely to fall is, from its coarseness and rudeness,
the extreme opposite of the starved gentility which characterises the worst Classical
imitations, ana from its bi'ing so opposite it is likely to be mistaken for vigor.
If OUT houses are carefully ccaree. the furniture will be even worse, as it is the nature
of furniture to be. It must be perverse ingenuity that extracts from Gothic art,
which abounds in elegance and congruity, models and modes of execution which must
have tended to vulgarity in their own day as now. The name of Gothic is sometimes
Iiassport (nough to carry into <-hurches and drawing-rooms specimens which look
ike the joint production of a hedge-carpenter and a shoeing-smith ; and, if they are
polished and filed up, we are not the better for having rudeness without the excuse
of rusticity.
We are seeking novelty In the direction of science also, and disregarding both old
forms and beautiful forms in favor of forms which are intended to express very
naked— indelicately naked— truth. A 11 possible colors are introduced to give emphasis
to important features, and destroy breadth and repose. The beauty ot the exterior
of a house is the gift of the owner to those whom he does not ask into his house, and
tbe sensations these things excite are of the kindred ot those;felt at an entertainment
where every bit of trouble taken to accommodate and please are exhibited and mag-
nified, and one usually feels that a mild neglect would be more tolerable.
Kone of these things are necessary to true originality; there is abundance of
Tariety possible in right ways : nobody ever exhausted all the manners of doing
well Trne originality I have endeavoured to exhibit to you as a thing of slow
growth, and not a spasm. It was so in all ages when art was flourishing, and will
Be so now. I feel confident that progress is to be made iu this way, and not by
waiting for a heaven-born genius, ^^hat we want is true vigor and life, and not the
alternation of luxury and coarseness that used to lead men from drawing-rooms
to the prize-ring and the cock -pit. In good times of Gothic art, men were given to be
in earnest, for good or evil ; they did not mince matters then. People are fond of
Toyaging and exploring and mountain-clinibingnow, whoa century since would have
rather climbed tne back-stairs of palaces— they are more manly, and not less loyal
and true. A thin-blooded race may be minute and careful, but is not likely to be
very original ; so as constitution is an element in originality, it is well that in our
snmmer tours we should get sky-ward sometimes, and take pleasure in looking
down on the life of villagers, and the life of field and forest and winding river, with
a dozen counties lying blue in the distance— a healthier blue at most times than that
into which people pitch stones at Brighton,
It seems likely that the tendency will be to form a very liberal kind of what one
most call Italian for want of another name, out of the Classical styles with a
tendency towards the Gothic type, and in a similar way the various phases of Gothic
art are being united -into one style; every addition from the source of our own
originality will bring these two classes nearer together; but if we are to make any
progress towards the formation of a united style, the professor of architecture must
not confine his studies to the works of any particular period. We may tolerate in
the well-intentiontd amateur ideas that are less the result of narrow-mindedness
than of narrowness of information, but the architect who neglects to study any of
tbe styles of his predecessors can hardly hope to produce designs worthy of the
praiae of posterity.
We may step any day from between Knglish hedgerows into the wreck of a
Soman city, and tread amongst the confused relics of a bygone time. We look with
curiosity now on the rained baths and the deeply worn steps at the door of the
market. Will any age ever look with such interest on our works in ruin, waste good
ateel in shovel and pickaxe and give up to excavation their beans and barley? They
will respect our classicality and antiquarianiem, as we do all honest learning, but in
those far-off times when the world is older, and wiser, and busier, if they arc to
trouble their heads further about ns, wc must, besides being honest and learned, be
original.
The f.'HAinHAN said they had heard a very interesting paper, and he had no doubt
some discussion would follow upon it. As to Komanesque architecture-, to be studied
with a view to bringing out a new style, he did not think that was a healthy study
tor the young student. That stvlc of architecture, he thought, ought to be studied
by persons who were well acquainted with architecture audits principles, so thai they
might be enabled to pre>duee something new from it.
Mr. Blasbili, thought they might improve their own architecture by introducing
foreign elements into it. as from the Koinanesque. It did not folkiv\' that because cer-
5 f^P'' ^"^ certain things in the thirteenth century, andcerlain people in France
and other countries did certain things, they should not improve upon them because
they were the works of foreigners.
Tu' ^"i*"" '^fke in favor of the proper deslgnlngof shop-fronts.
Wr. t'. H. ¥. I.EWEB thought there was a good deal of originality at the present
Jjy- *hile at the same time there was seme construction of the most wretched kind,
ilthey to<-k up the Gothic style they ought to take up the Gothic of their own
"i? k' * '""' '"'' *"*'" practise d so much as it ought to have been.
*jr. Akw did not know wlie-ther it was meant by the lecturer in tbe interesting
paper which he had read, that there was a kind of antagemistic feeling between
copyism and Originality, but certainly he (Mr. New) thought they must not lose
1 ii iS ' "'** "" ""■'■■ *'■''* ^t"""' '" "«■'"■ architectural career they must
CTJoy the blessing of being in leading-strings- in other words, they must be led
2 u .\. "^I*^^- ■*'"'• ""■refore, they ooght to have laid before them sueh
Jl . L!f .1 °^* orders and other architectural productions ; he thought that
raat certainly was necessary, but because they had such works It was not that
IS'XffS 'o"'w 'hem. but they ought to be msdeuse of for thestrengtheniiig
xL J"* ,..' J' .""? ^'" '• "lniK 'hem, as it were, to iuturc efforts. If they wanted
^S.^'^ design it ought to be coupled wilh stabilily; as to the conslrucliem
a Ci' 'he symmetry part, and the beauty of ornamentation, these were things to
De borne in mind in bringing e,ut what was called originality of design. He was an
If Lf V. . elroBg practical construction ; he maintained ihat if they had
originality of design thty must have with that originality of design a thoroughly
good construction. They seemed to have carried Classic to a great extent in the
decorating of shop-fronts in London, but they were now, he was happy to notice,
getting originality of design for shops. He was for many years a strong stickler for
the Classic orders, but he had lately been wavering from that, and had turned his
attention more to originality of design, and he found more freedom of scope by
taking in no particular order, nor did he mean anything approaching the Victorian
style. All they designed should have originality of thought about it, or it was not
worth calling design.
After some further conversation, a vote of thanks to Mr. Elashill, the lecturer,
was passed by acclamation, on the motion of Mr. Asa MS, seconded by Mr. New.
The meeting then separated.
THE IKTEKNATIONAL EXHIBITION AND THE DISTEICT
SIRVEYOK.
TUESDAY was appointed for the further hearing, at the Hammersmith Folice
Court, of the summons against Mr. John Kelk, the builder, for having com-
menced the works of the International Exhibition of 1802, on the north side of
Croniwell-road, South Kensington, without giving two days' notice to Mr. T. L.
Donaldson, the district surveyor, as required by the Metropolitan Building Act.
This was a question as to the jurisdiction of the district surveyor, and on the last
occasion the defendant attempted to show that the building was exempted IVom tbe
operations of the Act, and that the Metropolit,™ Board of Works had power to give
their consent toils erection. The siimnions was adieiumed to allow the defendant
to communicate with the Metropolitan Board and to obtain le-gal assistance.
: Mr. Donaldson contended that the building was not exempted, and that no building
was exempted except those specifically mentioned in the ctfi section. Under thcOBth
section, on which the defendant relied, the Metropolitan Hoard had power only to
modify the rules and regulations of particular cases, but it did not interfere with the
jurisdiction of the district surveyor. To show that the jurisdiction was not affected,
he referred to several clauses, but more particularly to the 30th section, which stated
that every public building should be constructed in such a way as to meet the ap-
proval of the district surveyor. In the event of the district surveyor and the builder
disagreeing, then the Metropolitan Board had power to interpose. He argued that
the .'iOlh section met this particular case, and that the defendant's course of pro-
ceeding should have been to have applied in the first instance to the complainant.
To show still further that the Act did not exempt this building, he said the Royal
Commissioners of 1861 obtained the insertion of a clause in their Act to exempt all
their buildings from the operation of the Building Act. He also said that the
complainant was a public officer, and he felt that this was a question of great im-
portance.
Mr. Finch produced a communication from the" superintending architect of the
Metropolitan Board, dated the 1/th Inst., adelressed to the commissioners of the In-
ternational Exhibition, stating that the board had approved of their plans for tbe
construction of the building, and also infoiming them that on two sets Of plans being
furnished they would be sent.
Mr. Donaldson said he considered that the board did not supersede the jurisdiction
of the district surveyor.
Mr. Finch, in stating the case, said thcMh clause exempted the building, as it was
employed for her Majesty's use, under Royal charter. He, however, relied prin-
cipally on the 65th and following sections of the Act, which stated that applications
should be made to the Metropolitan Board in cases of buildings which were inap-
plicable to the rules and regulations of the act.
Mr. Ingham wished to know how he showed that this building was inapplicable.
Mr. Finch said on account of its size, the area being 40,000,0(10 cubic feet, and also
for its purpose.
Mr. Kelk said, to show still further that the building was altogether inapplicable,
he would draw attention to the Act, which specifics that the staircases anet galleries
must be fire-proof If, then, these were carried out, it would be impossible for the
building to be erected in the time. It was on account that the building was for a
temporary purpose that the Board of Works should step in.
Mr. Ingham called Mr. Finch's attention to the 80th section; but he said he did
not rely on that.
Mr. Donaldson said he did ; as it showedthatthe district surveyormustbeapplicd
to in the first instance, and that he had power to modify the rides.
The Defendnnt denied that the district surveyor bad any power to modify the
rules in public buildings.
Mr. Donaldson submitted that the building was not inapplicable to the rules and
regulations, as the 30th section enabled the district surveyor to modify the Act In
respect of public buildings. The rules of the Act were applicabletoputjlic buildings,
and this was a public exhibition-rccm, wilhin the meaning of the interpretation
clause. It was only in the case where the district surveyor felt a difficulty that an
application should be made to the Board of Works to determine the case.
Mr. Ingham put it to Mr. Donaldson as to whether the Act applied to buildings of
a temporary character.
Mr. Donaldson held that it did, and did not apply to permanent buildings only.
The intention of the Act was that it should apply to every building, as the same
mischief might arise in temporary buildings as m those of a permanent character.
As to the; building being erected under Royal charter, it was got up by private in-
dividuals, who raised the expenses out of their own pockets, and who expected to be
reimbursed and paid for theirtrouble.
The defendant said they did not expect to be paid.
Mr. Donaldson said he meant they expected to be relieved of the responsibility.
He then referred to his brother having been on the building committee of 18S1, and
was, therefore, anxious that this building should be erected ; but at the same
time he was bound to state that he was only a public officer, and had a duty to
perform.
Mr. Kelk, in reference tothcActof 1851, said it was an omission in the present
Act thai a similar cLause was not inserted exempting the building from the operation
of the Building Act.
Mr. Inghiim inquired whether the notice made any difference, as the district sur-
veyor would have to be called in. The building must be erected under the super-
vision of the district surveyor.
Mr. Donaldson, the surveyor, was desirous of having his worship's opinion on the
notice. Works were now going on to an enormous extent, and if fie were there
he did not wish to have his authority disputed.
Mr. Inglism wished Mr. Finch to let him have a copy of the material parts of the
commission. It struck him that the size of the building had nothing to do with the
question, nor of its being for temporary purposes, Tne only point which he saw
was as to Ihe contents of the Royal charter, which might take the building altogether
out of the Act of farliamcnt. He, therefore shoulel like to know the powers of the
Royal charter.
Mr. Finch said he should he most happy to supply his worship with a copy,
Mr. Kelk said he thought the complainant was labouring under a slight mistake.
The Sletropolitan Board required two sets of plans when approved. One was kept
by them and the other was sent to tbe district surveyor. These plans would be sent,
and the Metropolitan Board would send Mr. Donaldson a set. He thought the receipt
of Ihe plans would be a sufficient notice.
Mr. Ingliam said it the plans were sent before the case was again considered It
might flfteet Ihe bearing of the proceedings.
Mr. Kelk said he would undertake that they should be sent.
Mr. Donaldson contended even In that case it would not affect their jurisdiction.
The summons was then seljourned until next Wednesday for Mr. Ingham to con-
sider the purport of the Royal charter.
May 24, 1S61.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
443
mi
Treatise on Mills and Millworlt. Part I. : On the Principles nfMechnnism
and on Prime Movers, comprising the Accumulation und EstimatioH of
Water Power, the Construction of Water- wheels and Turbines, tlie Pro-
perties of Steam, the Varieties of Steam-engines and Boilers, and Wind-
mills. By William Fairbaihn, Esq., C.K., LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S., &c.,
&c. 8vo. London : Longman, Green, Longinan, and Roberts.
"IHE announcement of a ne%v work from tlie pen of Mr. l-'airbaim is always
_ welcome ; we know at once that we shall have an interesting and valu-
able contribution to scientific literature ; for, not satisfied with merely teaching,
he contrives to do so in a manner that must interest us. The present work can
add little to the author's reputation; but, if it was the only work by which he
was known, it would be very safe to predict his attainment to the position he
already holds in the engineering and scientific world. We nmy as well at once
give our readers an idea of the entire scope of the work when completed, by
saying that the second volume — the first only is now before ua — will contain a
treatise ou the new system of trausmissive machinery, and on the arrangement
necessary for imparting motion to the various descriptions of mills— thus form-
ing, perhaps, the most complete work we have on the subject.
In the preface the author regrets that there is probably no department of prac-
tical science so generally useful, or so little studied of late years, as the machinery
of transmission, and describes the position of the millwright of former days,
who—
Was to a proat extent, the sole representative of mechanical art, and was looked upon
as the authority in all the applications of wind and water, under whatever conditions
they were to be used, as a motive power for the purposes of manufacture. He was
the engineer of the district in which ho lived, a kindof jack-of-all-trades, who could
with equal facility work at the lathe, the anvil, or the carpenter's bench. In country
districts, far removed from towns, he had to exercise all these professions, and he
thus gained the character of an ingenious, roving, rollicking blade, able to turn his
hand to anything, and, like other wandering tribes in days of old, went about the
country from mill to mill, with the old song of "kettles to mend " reappUed to the
more important fractures of machinery.
Thus, the millwright of the last century was an itinerant engineer and mechanic
of high reputation. He could handle the axe, the hammer, and the plane with equal
skill and precision ; he could turn, bore, or forge with the ease and despatch of one
brought up to these trades, and he could set out and cut in the furrows of a millstone
with an accuracy equal or superior to that of the miller himself. These various
duties ho was called upon to exercise, and seldom in vain, as in the practice of his
profession he had mainly to depend upon his own resources.
Generally, he was a fair arithmetician, knew something of geometry, leveUing, and
mensuration ; and, in some cases, possessed a very competent knowledge of practical
mathematics. He could calculate the velocities, strength and power of machines;
could draw in plan and section, and could construct buildings, conduits, or water-
courses in all the forms, and under all the conditions required in his professional
gractice ; he could build bridges, cut canals, and periorm a variety of work now done
y civil engineers. Such was the character and condition of the man who designed
and carried out most of the mechanical work of this country, uptothemiddleandend
of the last century. Living in a more primitive state of society than ourselves, there
probably never existed a more useful and independent class of men than the country
millwrights.
The whole mechanical knowledge of the country was centred amongst them, and,
wherever sobriety was maintained and self-improvement aimed at, they were
generally looked upon as men of superior attainments and of considerable intellectual
power. It, however, too frequently happened that early training, constant change
of scene, and the temptation of jovial companions, led the young millwright into
excesses which almost paralysed his good qualifications. His attainments as a
mechanic, and hia standing in the useful arts, were apt to make him vain ; and with
a'rude independence he would repudiate the idea of working with an inferior crafts-
man, or even with another as skilful as himself, unless he was born and bred a mill-
wright. I remember an old millwright who, in palliation of an offence with which
his employer charged him, urged that he ought not to forget that he had condescended
to v;ork even with carpenters to please him.
The introduction of the steam-engine, and the rapidity with which it created new
trades, proved a heavy blow to the distinctive position of the millwright, by bringin"-
into the field a new class of competitors in the shape of turners, titters, machine"
makers, and mechanical engineers ; and notwithstanding the immense extension of
the demand for millwork, and the great stimulus which it atfordcd to the manufac-
tures of the country, it nevcrthelcas lowered the profession of the millwright, and
levelled it in a great degree with that of the ordinary mechanic. He, however^ retains
his distinctive appellation, and I hope he will long continue the representative of a
higher class of mechanical artisans to whom the public are deeply indebted for many
of our first and greatest improvements in practical science.
Such were the professors of an ancient craft.
We must accompany the author through the introduction, noting here and
there the most salient points, as he briefly refers to the history of mill machinery.
Thijs: ws may search in vain for dates from which to calculate the earliest
period at which the principles of accumulating power for its employment in
mills were first introduced, and it is equally impossible to trace consecutively the
progressive developments that have since taken place. Agatharcides (B.C. 113)
mentions grinding stones as being used in the reduction of gold ore in the mines
of the Red Sea. These were without doubt worked by hand. Later, and almost
down to our own days, various contrivances for employing the laborof cattle were
introduced ; but before the Christian era the power to he derived from flowing
or falling water was seen and turned to nse. Probably, as our author thinks
the immense quantities of water required in Egypt and Assyria for the
irrigation of the land led to contrivances for using it as a motive power.
Whittaker, in his " History of Manchester," describes a water mill ascribed to
the Romans, of which traces were found some years ago, it was placed upon the
river Medlock, immediately below Campfleld, and a little above an ancient ford.
Tbe sluice and conduit which regulated and conveyed the water to the mill was
discovered at a place called Dyer's-croft where a flood in the river swept away a
dam with a large oak beam upon the edge of it, and disclosed a tunnel in the
rock below. The tunnel 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep gradually narrowing at the
bottom, was bored for 25 yards, whence it continued in a direct line up to the
commencement of a wide weir in the river above. Watermills are, therefore of
ancient date in this country, but from the decline of the Roman Empire down to
the close of the seventeenth centnry, mechanism made little progress. It is
pointed out that about this time we had derived an improved knowledge of manu-
fecture, and the employment of water and wind power from tiie Dutch and
Belgians. Textile labrics were manufactured in England at an early period
The winding, throwing, and weaving being done chiefly by hand. The construc-
tion of the large mill at Derby, in 1710, being the introduction of mill machinery
tor the purpose. Woollen mills, of far greater antiquity than either silk or
cotton mills, were from a very early period, to the commencement of the present
century, driven by water, this will account for the location of such mills, on the
streams of the West of England and Yorkshire.
The cotton manufacture induced the improvements of Arkwright, Hargreaves,
and Crompton, improvements which inaugurated a new system of operationg,
aiid the introduction of more effective macninery of transmission.
To the immediate action, forethought, and Intelligence of the Government of this
country, the workers in coal, iron, and cotton are under no obligation ; but they owe
much to their own invention, skill, and industry in the prosecution and develop-
ment of these pursuits, and the ouly merit that i^an be claimed by the Government
is its non-interference, and the protection it affords through the laws of the king-
dom, which give security to property and to individual exertion in the varied
departments of productive industry. Further, Dr. lire, in hia " Philosophy of
Manufactures," argues that the constant aim of scientific improvements in manu-
factures is philanthropic as they tend to relieve the workman either from niceties of
adjustment which exhaust his mind, or from painful repetiou of efforts which distort
or wear out his frame. Illustrations of this truth are presented everyday in the
remarkable extent to which labor is saved, with superior beauty and precision in
the result, by self-acting machines, all of them within the domains of automic science.
With regard to onr iron manufactures —
We are at the present time in a state of transition in the manufacture of iron and
steel, which is makinjj rapid strides towards Improvement. The inventive talent of
the country has been;dirocted to this object and the production of homogeneous'platcs,
having the elasticity and tenacity of steel, together with the improvements of Mr.
Bessemer, Mr. Clay, and others, are likely to jiroduce a complete revolution, by a
greatly increased economy in the production of^iron.
Mr. Bessemer is now proposing to roll plates in the form of a continuous web,
from liquid metal, rim direct from the furnace to the rolls. We cannot vouch for
the success of this enterprise, but we are most anxious to see its results realised ;
and there cannot exist a doubt, from the number of able chemists and practical men
at work, that the iron trade of this country is calculated to undergo a great change,
and, perhaps, with as much benefit as was accompUshed by Mr. Cort on the intro-
duction of tlie puddling and rolling processes.
In the machinery department of iron manufacture there is nothing to boast of ; it
is still crude and rough in its character, perhaps, necessarily so, on account of its
hability to breakage in rolhng and other processes requiring great power. It Is,
however, possible that the processes now in progress may introduce new and more
perfect machinery into the manufacture, and that the ironmaster may calculate
with the same certainty of continual progress in his manufacture a»
now exists in other trades where machinery is employed. Although much
change has not been effected in the machinery of the iron manufacture, considerable
improvements have, nevertheless, been made in smelting^thc ores, and since the
introduction of hot blast by Mr. Neilson the production of the furnaces has been
more than doubled. Looking forward, therefore, to the improvements and changes
now in progress, we may reasonably conclude that a new era is not only imminent,
but has in great part been accomplished. The same progress, and even greater im-
provements, is observable in the conversion of iron into steel, and probably the time
IS not far distant when we shall be enabled to produce from the same furnace iron
in either a cast or malleable state, or steel, as may best suit the requirements of the
manufacturer. It is quite evident that our increasing knowledge of chemistry in
iron manufactures lead to these results, and by a still closer adherence to chemical
research, whereby impurities, such as phosphorous, sulphur, &c., are removed, the
process just alluded to will be fully and satisfactorily realized.
The examination and comprehension of a machine, however elaborate, will be
much facilitated by looking at it as being composed of three important parts —
1, those which receive the work of the moving power, or the receivers or work;
2, those which perform the work to be done by the machine, the working parts,
OT more simply, operators; and lastly, the mechanism which transmits the
work from the receivers to the working parts or operators, the communicators
of work, ov the trausmissive machinery. The form of the mechanism being
always determined from the relation subsisting between the motions of the
receivers and operators: A perusal of the book before us cannot fail to render
familiar the principles on which these parts are brought into harmonious action.
Motion is transmitted variously by jointed rods — link icorlt — by straps, cords,
&c., wrapping conductors, by wheels or curved surfaces revolving on centres,
rolling on each other ; wheel worh, or by pieces of various forms sliding or
slipping on each other; sliding pieces. Each of these contrivances, with
numerous ingenious variations, employed, to suit the various conditions under
which motion is required to be transmitted, will be found described in a manner
intelligible to those who have no previous knowledge of the subject.
Section III., on prime movers, considers the accumulation of water as a motive
power. An economical and useful source of power, but evidently of limited appli-
cation to favorable localities. Reservoirs will be the first consideration in de-
signing works of this description of any considerable importance, and the engineer
must look well to the nature of the district, the value of land, the geological
structure, on which the supply of water will mainly depend, and to a situation in
which advantage may be taken of a natural rise in the ground, avoiding costly
embankments. In ascertaining the quantity of water which may be expected to
accumulate annually, it must firstly be determined what area of land drains into
the valley chosen for the formation of the reservoir, then the probable loss from
evaporatiim, absorption, &c. Abundant data are now at our command as to the
amount of rainfall in various parts of Europe. In England the annual average
depth amounts to about 36 inches over the entire surrace, varying in different
localities — the average of thirty-four years at Greenwich being 24'781 inches, and
at Manchester, 3,'>-.')620 inches, while in some higher districts in Cumberland, an
average of 180 to 200 inches has been returned ; in jJssex the avera^ is about
20 inches, at Keswick, in Cumberland, G7'5 inches, and at Leathwaite, m the same
county, 141"5 inches, care must therefore be taken to ascertain the rate of
fall in the locality selected.
The method of ascertaining the rainfall is very simple, and is clearly described
at page 70, with an illustration. The necessity of placing the gauges close to
tlie ground is alluded to, the quantity of I'ain rapidly decreasing even at shght
elevations from the ground. This fact was fully investigated several years ago,
when the quantity registered by gauges placed on the ridge of a roof, and by-
other gauges on the surface of the ground (in the same localities) differed as
much as fifty per cent, on the average.
Dr. Heberden found the annual fall of rain at the top of Westminster Abbey
to be 12-0i)0 inches ; on the top of a house close by, of much inferior altitude,
I2-139 inches; on the ground, 22,008 inches. Mr. Phillips, at York, found the
total fall for three years at an altitude of 213 feet to be 38,072 inches ; at 44 feet
62,]C!1 inches; and on the ground, 65,430 inches. These are curious facts, of
which at present no satisfactory explanation has been offered.
Besides the valuable tables on rainfall, others are given of the relations of rain-
fall and the discharge of rivers, and of evaporation, hardly, perhaps, within the
strict scope of the book, we cannot, however, but be gratified that the autlior has
given so much valuable information on this subject.
444
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 24, 1S61.
Won and Conduits next claim attention, and show in the manner in which
they are treated , the value of the writer's practical experience.
In considerinc the flow and discharge of water Mr. Fairbaim, very judiciously,
as we think, enters onlv so far into those questions of hydrodynamics which
TeUte to tlie measurement of the discharge of water, and tlie estimation of water
power, as it fc> necessarv they should be understood by the practical millwright;
fa bet, one of the chief merits of the work is the absence of a mere display of
mathematical learning.
The discharge of water through orifices of various forms, friction of fluids m
conduits and pipes, flow of water in open channels, and the estimation of water
power, closes the second chapter.
In chapter III., "On the construction of Water-wheels," still of importance
in nameiOBS localities in Europe and America, it is endtavoured to point out the
A^fbif^ittti between the onlinary and improved forms of wheels, and to lay down
somid principles of construction for the guidance of the millwright. It is impos-
sible in our space to follow the author so closely as we could wish, and can only
say that, assisted by numerous Illustrations, this intention is fully carried out.
In a subsequent chapter, "On the Properties of Steam," a description of the
process of determining its s|5ccific gravity, and some remarks on the law of ex-
pansion of superheated steam, will be read with interest. On the latter subject
the author is now prosecuting some researches,— we wait with anxiety for the
publication of the results of so important an enquiry.
Mr. fairbaim brings the first part (of 379 pages) of a very valuable work to a
conclusion with chapters on varieties on stationary steam-engines and boilers,
and the proportions of the latter. At present we can only add that the illustra-
tions are numerous (in many cases being large folding plates), and that we hope
to return to the complete work on the appearance of tlie concluding volume.
THE STRIKE. -IMPORTANT MOVEMENT OF THE MASONS.
THE proposition of the masons, as well as the bricklayers, to work five days a
week, the present number of hours at Os. per day, and to twelve o'clock on
Saturday for 3s.. makin<^ the rate of wages 338. per week, as at present, with a
" recognised day's labor," instead of being subjected to the system of payment by
the hour, having been approved of and accepted by Mr. Moore, of Paddington,
that gentleman's establishment has during tlie week been supplied with a comple-
ment of bands upon the aliove terms. The firms who enforce the system of payment
by the hour, Messrs. Lucas, Mr. Kelk, Mr. Smith, and Messrs. Trollope, refuse to
accede to the conditions proposed by the masons aud bricklayers, although lu some
quarters hopes are entertained that they will be comnelledto do so. The masons feel
very much dissatisfled with the existtng state of tilings, and a movement is now
in progress amongst tliis large body of operatives, whose self-supporting organisa-
tion is the most complete and effective of any trades union in the United Kingdom,
which will lead, unless their proposition be accepted by the employers; to the
withdrawal within two weeks or less of every mason from the works in operation
in London. The number of masons out of employment is under 30, and that of
bricklayers about 40.
Corrwpoiulcnw.
— — « —
THE THAMES EMBANKMENT COMMISSION.
Sir,— Be pleased to honor me with space for a few practical remarks on the object
of this ver>' popular Commission.
The Thames embankment and the sewer evil have generally been held as united
questions, the one as a remedy for the other, and, as such, have received the
attentive consideration of public-spirited men at various times long before the
gentlemen who are now overwhelming the Commissioners with the most extraor-
dinary plans, papers, and explanations.
His Majesty King Gcort'i' IV. and JJr. Nash produced elaborate designs for raising
the roads and streets of Westminster, and thus facilitate the main drainage. Mr.
John Wliitc, Mt. Saunders, and other eminent members of the Sewers Commission,
who thoroughly understood the subject, collected and wrote a vast quantity of
valuable and suggestive information upon it.
In Ih'iH appeared Colonel Trench's and Mr. Wyatt's plans, and about the same
time John Martin's designs for a magnificent embankment conjointly with inter-
cepting sewers, and in 18.'J0 Mr. Ainger developed similar views. These several
designs met with great favor from the public, but technical scrutiny ascertained that
auch plans would inflict injury on the wharfingers — at least temporarily — and,
perhaps, ultimately destroy their trade. Tlie notion of an embankment was thus
proved to be impracticable, and hence plans were made for intercepting sewers at
the back of the wharfs and the back of the docks, and the difficulty with the wharf-
ingers so far overcome.
During: the building of London-bridge, in 1S.'52, a novel idea presented itself to the
minds of Sir Edward Banks and Mr. Julian, that of a tunnel-sewer from Brentford
to Dagcniiam, having shafts at certain distances to burn the foul gasses evolved by
the decomposition of the sewage in its progress, and culverts at Brentford and
at Chelsea, giving power at high water to flush and clear the great sewer. The
estimated sum for this work was seven millions, and it was said at the time that
there would be no difficulty at all in finding the money, but Mr. Julian dying
suddenly, and Sir Edward's health failing, the scheme was abandoned, and the
matter remained in abeyance until, in 1W5, Sir. VVickstead published his very clever
;amphlet, and in conjunction with other persons fixed public attention on the subject,
t is but common justice to make grateful mention of these men, because we con-
tinually hear people crying out, "this is my plan," and "that is my plan." when in
reality the idea is not theirs at all ; but to JJr. Page, I believe, the merit is due of
suggesting docks for facilitating commerce, and in this he is followed in the majority
of plans before the Commissioners.
But. sir, as to docks — I apprehend if docks with locks and gates were made, a
question of jurisprudence would instantly arise, and every wharfinger would have
Just grounds for an action-at-law against the Committee for his ancient right of way
to his premises.
*^o also in r-arrylng out any plan on which the Commissioners may decide— the
'Ight, air accpssllillity, and Iprospect enjoyed by cxistine streets and buildings must
not be Injured, wbich would most certainly be the case if warehouses or other build-
ings were erected on an embankment— or a railroad elevated above another r«ad — no
matter how— a railroad indeed would be an unnecessary and insufferable ^nuisance,
JP" y!" projected many years ago on cast-iron columns, along the quays of iJubliu, by
Mr. \ Ignolles, but after much discussion the proposition was wisely rejected. (;an It
be for a moment snpnosed that a railroad train or even a current of vehicles and
Iiedcitrisns passing between the two cities can possibly traverse the current of car-
riages and people passiii'.; over llie bridges without constant accidents and interrup-
tions and collisions, making confusion worse confoundcd-whctlicr the first current
U carried at tlic height of the hridxes all the way, to the great detriment of the pro-
perty on the banks of the river, or rise to the level of the bridges on inclined planes.
Imagine climbing un M ater oo-bridpe on inclined planes, utterly destroying its pro-
portions, or " light Iron Oolliic arches " in front of Somerset House !
W hat, then, are the dftul'rala which may advantaKCously be accomplished, but a
viaduct insu-ad of an embankment ; tidal basins free from mud instead of docks;
pleasure grounds and trees to gladden the senses. Instead oi wearisome, dirty
buildings ? For, in a commercial country like this such unquestionably would be the
character, instead of the romantic palaces some gentlemen imagine, an uninter-
rupted broad roadway little above high water, free from noise and dust, planted with
the platanus and the" lime, between tlie widest part of London and the widest part
of Westminster, having lateral branches to the riverside streets. Beneath this road-
way may run the intercepting sewer ; unobstructed passages between mid-stream
and the wharves for a longer time of tide than at present, which will mainly depend
upon the diameter of the sewer, for if the bottom of the Victoria-sewer and the soffit
of the second arch of Blackfriars-bridge be given data, all that is done vertically
must be within these points, unless, indeed, there were a double sewer, when the time
would be extended an hour each tide. Train's penny omnibuses, instead ot screeching,
dangerous locomotives. And, finally, if any ground can be obtained between the
viaduct and the banks of the river, in places where there are no wharves— such as an
extension oi the Temple aud I*rivy-gardens, and in front of Somerset-house, such
ground should be planted with trees and shrubs, aud preserved as breathing spaces
for the recreation of the people for ever.
It is a subject of the most vital importance to us and to our posterity ; for excellent
as the Commissioners are, hominis est errare^ an injudicious decision may entail dis-
comfort for ages to come, and instead of convenience, health, ornament, and delight,
will give us only permanent and irremediable blemishes.
I am, &c.,
William Bardwell.
IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDOW SASHES.
Sir,— I noticed in the Building News of the 19th inst. an article headed " Im-
provements in Window Sashes," describing a patent by Mr. John Askew. Before
perusing that article I was ignorant of the existence of this patent, and, judging by
your description of the invention, it does not appear to me to contain any-
thing new to entitle it to a patent. However, be that as it may, 1 beg to inform
you that just before the opening of the Kxliibition in Hyde-park, in 1851, I
read in some of the newspapers a suggestion for ' ' sashes to be made to hang without
showing lines orpulleys," and also that " windows slionld be made so iliat they could
be cleaned without getting outside to do it." In consequence of this 1 sketched to
myself a plan combining the two suggestions.
1 set to work and made a frame and sashes to hang without showing lines or
pullies, and also capable of being cleaned without putting any part oi tlie body
outside the window. How far the plans (Mr. Askew's and mine) agree I am not at
present aware, but it appears to me that mine embrace all, and more than is con-
tained in Mr. Askew's patent. I am, &c.,
Robert Ord.
Morpeth Cottage, East-street, Stroud's-vale, Islington, N.
TENDERS-
Malthouse, SALISnURY.
For erecting a fifty quarter Malthouse, at Salisbury, in the county of Wilts. Charles
Baily, Esq., architect, Jfewark-on-Trent, Notts. Quantities supplied by Mr. John
Harding.
G. West, Salisbury £3,181 7 6
R. Futcher, Salisbury 1,998 0 0
Cooper and Batti, Salisbury (accepted) 1,920 0 0
PARSON.IGE, Notts.
For erecting new Parsonage house for the district of Christ Church, in the parish
of Newark-on-Trent, Notts, Charles Baily, Esq., architect, Newark. Quantities not
supplied.
Staniland & Barratt, Newark £1,430 7
S. Fretwcll, , I,3:i0 0
T.Lane, Jun., „ (accepted) 1,193 0
Corn Exchange, Newbury.
For works in connexion with the Newbury Corn Exchange.
Futcher, of Salisbury.
Excavating and Bricklaying.. £86fl 17 0 I Slating £70 11 0
Masonry 771 3 fl Plumbing 3117 10
Carpentery and Joinery 822 19 0 j
T. Biddis, Newbury, Glazing £187 10 0
Wilder* Sons,;Keading, Iron founding and Smiths' work 107 10 0
Hopson, Jno.. Newbury.'Plasteriug .33 4 C
Hopson, Hy., Newbury, Painting SS 6 0
Total of the entire works— £2,935 18 10
Schools, Wallingford.
For the erection of Schools, at Wallingford.
Beckensall £1,500 i Wood £1,.300
Cowley 1,395 Winter* 1,290
Brasher 1,300 | Winterbourne and Holies 1,100
• Messrs. Winterbourne and Eollcs having withdrawn their tender, Mr. Winter's
was accepted, subject to some reductions.
Church, Normanton.
For works in connexion with Normanton Church.
Edwin Thompson, Derby £1,050 0
Henry Bingham, Derby 1,000 0
John W. Thompson, Derby B73 17
W. and J. Bridfort, Derby (accepted) 870 0
Sph-e, extra.
r20
150
130
104
Gasworks, Moblev.
For four dry limelpurifyers, condenser, centre valve, &c., fixed complete, for the
Morley Gaslight Company.
J. and .1. Cliff, Bradford £4H ir> 9
John and .Samuel Wooler, Laister Dyke 387 0 0
John Woodhead Marsland, New Wortley, Leeds (accepted)-. 380 0 0
Church, Lincolnshire.
For rebuilding the south aisle and porch of Washingboro' Church, ;LincoIn. Mr.
H. Goddard, architect. „„,.
C. Fox £3.30 0 0 I Reeve £274
Smith 294 15 C Wells (accepted) 2«7
Sharpe 285 0 o|
Farm Buildings, Ac, Norfolk.
Farm buildings and steading for the Rev. Charles Lucas, at Filby, Norfolk. Mr,
John Daymond Ellis, architect, Norwich.
Dybol. Yarmouth £§§9 .?
Worinan, Norwich
805 10
Bath, Woolwich.
For new swimming bath and other works at Charlton Wharf, Woolwich, for the
Marine Society. Mr. G. A. Young, architect. QuantiUes by Mr. Charles J. Shoppee.
Limited conipetion
G.Myers £1,901
Lawrence and Sons 1,780
.). andC. Rit'by 1,097
Adamson aud Sous 1,05S
G. Mansfield and .Son £1,0.50 0 0
Clothier and Thompson .... 1,642 13 6
G.Smith and Son (accepted) 1,488, 0 a
May 24, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
445
Dwelling-house, Hornsev.
For a house at lloinsey-risc for J. Spawforth, Esq. Mr. George Trucfltt, architect.
Quantitk'8 not supplied.
Carter .and Sons > £1,480 I Johnson and Cooper (accepted).... £1,.398
Woodruff and Percy 1,448 |
School, near Babnes.
For an infant school at Potter's-bar, near Barnes, for the Rev H. G. Watklns,
M.A. 3Ir. K. ir. LhiRent Barker, architect. Quantities supplied.
Gouvell, Colney Hatch £C10 17 0
llalJ, Kentish-town 650 0 0
I'atraan and Fotheringham, Theobald's-road.... M8 0 0
WiUiams, I'otter's-bar (accepted) 403 0 0
Warehocse, Ac, Shadwell.
For a new rope warehouse, hemp-house, yarn-house, spinning-house, rope-store,
and offices ; and repairs to the present buildinga at Shadwell, for J. J. Frost, Esq.
Mr. William Bobson, architect, Mile-end.
New
Buildings. Repairs.
Jacobs £8,270 .... £276
Wood Brothers (1,187 .... 210
Patrick 6,132 .... 341
Ennor 5,667 .... 2.3S
Fleming 5,C11 .... 212
Maeers 5,579 .... 383
HackandSon S,424 .... 299
Hill 5,232 .... 226
I'erry 5,044 .... 20O
Mr.
Alterations, London.
For alterations at the Old White Horse, London-wall, for Mr. James GuUiok.
*. G. Widdows, architect. Quantities suppUed.
General Pewterer's
works. works. Total.
Heath £1,286 .... ;£l.'iO .... £1,436
Kivett 1,>&3 .... i,-,o .... 1,433
tallow l,2r,0 .... 150 .... 1,400
Tolley 1,247 .... 150 .... 1,397
Serjeant 1,240 .... 150 .... 1,.390
Wheen 1,177 150 1,.327
Green & Son 1,140 150 .... 1,290
Church, Rochester.
^rr'^ '■''J"'''' of the windows, erection of galleries, and renewing of the church
of St. Nicholas, Rochester, Kent. Mr. A. D. (Jough, architect.
Jarvis, Chatham £1,222 0
Wilkins and Son, Chatham 1,191 15
Spicer, Strood 1,327 0
Carter, Hornsey-road, HoUoway, N ]|267 0
Stump, Brompton, Kent (accepted) 1,025 0
_ . Premises, Solthw.\ek.
^ ""■^.F^'S's^i "' Southwark, for Messrs. Parkes. Mr. E. I' Anson, architect,
Quantitiesby Mr. D.Campbell.
^^''''y £2,675 I Oxford £2,544
•j";"'""" 2,.590 Downs 2,380
•"•"'^y 2,556 I Rider (accepted) 2,380
. £1,950
„ Schools, Ashton-under-Lyne.
J or the superstructure Albion Schools, Ashton-under-Lyne. Messrs. Paull and
Ayhfle, architect, Burnley. Quantities supplied.
„.,,.., , Deduct if Hollington
W hole Tenders. atone is used for
.John Eaton, Ashton £7,081 .. £120
.lohn Burton, Ashton 7,073 .. 120
J. and .J. Long.soD, Ashton (accepted
With the deduction) 0,500 .. 130
xr », «. ^ , Separate Tendtrs.—Excavatinq and Bricklai/liin.
M. Coffey, Dukinfield £2,080 | W. H. WUde, Ashton ,
G. Ihompson, Dukinfleld 2,000 |
Afasoiirt/.
John Eaton, Ashton , £1,330
„ , , ^ Carpenter!/ and Joinering.
Burton, Ashton £2.530 | T. George, Ashton £1,850
r>iK.„ . „ , Carnenteri/, Joineri/, and froiifoumlinr/.
Gibson and Maude, Keighley £2,402 | B. lllingivcrth, Bradford £2,263
„ ,, ,, , . Pkuitering.
,,,. ,''«■'"" £285 I Duckworth, Bradford £270
II. CocUeli, Ashton 280 |
Phtmbing and Glazing.
vV ilham Knowlson, Ashton £308
v„i,„n!„tj 1, J, J Plumbing, Gla-dng, and Painting.
hcholfield, Bradford £4.34 IHelsby, Manchester £424
r' lA T> . „ . ti Painting and Staining.
j.-i'ay'?o"fI"htt".".':-:;;::::;;;:::^^g^ i ""■ ''"'""p^""' ^'^"™ ^
Slating, Smiths' -work and Ironfomuling, Plastering ^^- Plumbing, Painting tt- Olazina
I. George, Ashton .£1,050
„ „ Synagogue, Sunderland.
archiu^""'' Synagogue, to be built in Moor-street, Sunderland. John Tillman, Jun.
T, ., , „ , nitole Tenders.
w.^°i; ■,?''*°'^™ **« 10 0 1 Thomas Younger £822 15 1
)y™-^?.'<"e 875 0 0 John Lee SOO 0 0
George \oung 849 0 o| ow u u
m „„ . , ,. , Masonrij and Plasterinq.
TkomasVoSSger":::; ^.iul" °|«'=<'^g«^»->S £320 17 0
Sp^-jVonng .':!rf.t4«^'?t?(ing £359
&L"Ta'u'i;;.-::;:: 399| Thomas^YouVr :•.:::::: *^
^SI^!;;?:^.:::::::::::"l'5fr^-^'^-'' --
i^^^^^^^^::::::::-^%^^^^-^^ ^«' «
Robert Preston.. *»w?- ■ , .,
CiiAi'EL, Sunderland.
For a new Weeleyan Chapel, iligh-strect, East Sunderland. Mr. John TlUman
Jun., architect.
Whole Tentkrs.
Charles Conyers £1.15:i 0 0 I D. and .L Kanken £1,008 0 0
George Voung 1,014 14 6 | Thomas Younger* 95t 2 3
Masi/nry and Brickluyiny.
Henry Hopper £.519 | Thomas Younger £389 4 »
PUlntering.
J.Atkinson £65 14 | Thomas Younger £41 0 2
Slating.
W. Dawber and Son £63 10 I Thomas Younger jees
Robert Preston 6:) 0 |
, , Plumbing.
JohnHewctson £73 0 0 I Wra. Whinham £50 »
HenryClasper 56 3 6 J. Rlseborough 35 10
James Lambs and Son 63 0 0 [ Thomas Younger 3510
Painting.
McDougall and Co £83 I J. Whinham jfSl 13 6
P. BanUett 62 | J. R. Stephenson 49 15 0
• Accepted.
Chapel, Cottinoham.
For a Primitive Methodist Chapel at Cottingbam, near Hull. Mr. J. Wright
architect. " '
For the whole Work.
K. Frow and H. Newton £799 0 I Hobson and Taylor (accepted) . . £564 10
J. Jackson (omitting Painting).. 590 0 I G. Holmes (too late) f....... 560 0
Bricklayers' and Plasterers' Work.
J. Goodworth £240 I J. Fawcitt £186
Masons' Work and Iron Palisading.
)^-,?;i^''*'* *''l 0 I C. and E.. Wilson (omitting iron
G. Melbourne 59 5| jialisading) £39 18
Carpenters' and Joiners' }york.
R. Brown and Son £300 0 I R. Jackson £239 la
J. Jackson 260 0 |
Plumbers' and Glaciers' Work.
P. L . Harrison £33
Slaters' Work.
H. Newmarch £26 15 I T. Smith and Co .„*22 (y
T. Wilde and Son 22 0 | W. Dawber and Son 21 lo
For Iron Palisading.
Thompson and Stather £25
Workshop, Sheffield.
For new spring shop at the Sheaf Works, Sheffield, for Messrs. Thomas Torton
and Sons. Mr. M. E. Hadfield, architect.
For the whole work.
Wade George £810 0 0
Chadwlckand Son 808 0 0
CarrBenjamiu 701 0 0
CravenJ. andA 746 17 0
Gomersall William 746 0 0
Institute, &c., Darlington.
For a workmen's literary institute, and refreshment-rooms, &c., at Darlington, for
the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company. Messrs. Richardson and Ross
architects. *
David Hurworth £1,559 6 0
M. Wlndale and Son 1,598 7 0
T. Robson (accepted) 1,592 15 7
Church, Whittiscton.
For rebuilding the Parish Church at Whittington, Derbyshire, Messrs. Giles and
Brookhouse, arcliitects, Derby. Quantities supplied.
Heath £2,420 0
Watts 2,261 1
Powell 2,190 IS
E. Tljompson £2,050 0 0
Gibson and Benson 2,032 13 8
J. Thompson (accepted) 2,018 0 0
Church, Normanton.
For the restoration of the Parish Church, Normanton, Derbyshire. Messrs. Giles
and Brookhouse, architects, Derby.
E. Thompson £1,170 I J. W. Thompson £1,103 17
Bmgham 1,150 | W. and C. Bridgart (accepted). . 976 0
Farm-buildings, Derbyshire.
For farm-buildings at Belper Lawn, Derbyshire. Messrs. Giles and Orookhuuse,
architects, Derby. Quantities supplied.
Stevenson £1,504 0
Thompson and Fryer 1,369 0
Robinson 1,.355 10
E. Thompson 1,330 0
C. Cash £1,334
Dusantoy 1,250
Bridgart (accepted) 1,181
Schools, Preston.
For the enlargement of St. Luke's Schools, Preston.
* Septhon, Bricklayer, &c £ 82 fl
* J. Duckett, Mason 125 0
G. Gillet, Carpenter 375 16
T. Ladyman, ditto KV! 0
T. Tarner, ditto '. liio 0
* T. Coulthurst, Jun., ditto 150 0
J. H. Forshaw, ditto (received after date) 148 0
J. Dewhurgt, I'lurabcr, Painter, &c 5113
* J. Walmesley, ditto 45 15
* J. Whitehead, Smith 12 5
* Accepted tenders.
College, Clifton.
For the erection of head master's house.
First
portion.
£
Hughes, parts 1 and 2 .... 8,450 ....
Griffiths do 7,600
Baker do 7,192
Diment do 7,169
Williams do 6,953
Davis do 6,769
Lewis and Son do 5,970 ....
Thorn(accepted)do 5,878 ....
. Part 2 only.
Greenslade 2,442
G. N. Harris i '2,254
J.C.Harris 2,'207
Bennett '2,155
Extra
wing.
£
1,450
1,300
1,2'28
1,210
1,288
1,339
1,033
1,011
375
375
363
382
Total.
£
9,900
8,900
8,420
8,383
8,241
8,108
7,00s
6,919
2,817
2,629
2,570
2,637
446
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 24, 1861.
Mansion, HEBEroBusiiiBE.
For tbe erection of mansion at Brosrivood Court, llorcfordsliiro, for R. S. Cox,
£*q. Mr. Charles i'. Iliuisom. architect, Clifton. Quantities by J. A. Clarke.
OlWces. House. Total.
£ £ £
Bashes i.MO .... 7,M0 12,050
BiSer *.<K1 fi.'"!** .... B,989
Thorn 4.2S* •••• 6.»4» ••■• ».603
Cokman 3.!^ •••• 6.*1« .... 9,195
Welsh 3.739 .... 5,409 .... 9,148
Griffiths 3.8ai .... 6,259 .... 9,090
Uooi« (accepU'd) 3,497 .... 5,293 .... 8,789
»
COMPETITION AWARDED.
IlEBEroRD Clock Tower.
Ata moetlngr orthe Tower Council, held a few days since, a final selection was
made from the two conditionally selected desi^rns from the competition of last year,
when there appeared for 5Ir. Edwerd's clocK-tower, 5 votes ; for Mr. Clayton's
market gateway entrance with clock-tower orer, 17 ; giving a majority of 12 lor the
latter. Mr. Clayton's entrance was therefore ordered to be immediately proceeded
with, and the works are already in a state of progression.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
SCHOOLS, &c.
Thobke.— For the erection of a school and masters' residence, at Thome, for the
Tmstees of the Brooke's Charity. Plans, Ac. till the 31st May, at the Pence Hall,
in Thome, or at the offices of Messrs. Brundell and Arnold, architects, 21, Hall-
gate, Doncaster. Sealed tenders to William Lister, Clerk to the Trustees, at his
office. South-parade, Thome, by .Tune 4.
DWELLING HOUSES.
Manchesteb.— For the erection of six dwelling-houses, at Oldham. Flans, So.
with Pennington and iJridgen. architects. Bank-chambers, Essex-street, Man-
chester. Tenders to be sent to T. Noton, Esq., Priory House, Oldham, to
Jnse 2.
A1LLAS.
Bbistol.— For the rarious artificers' work required in the [erection of two semi-
detached villas, near the sea wall, Burdham Down, Bristol. Drawings, &c., at
the offices of tbe architect, 19, Small-street, Bristol, to whom the tenders are to be
sent, by 2 p.m. of June 1.
COTTAGE.
BATn.— For erecting a cottage on Lansdown. Drawings, &c., with Manners and
Gill, 1, Fountain-buildings, Bath, to whom tenders, either for the whole of the
work or for the separate trades, endorsed " Tender for building a cottage on Lans-
down," before two p.m. on Saturday, .June 1.
FAKM BUILDINGS, &c.
Tetebsham.— For the erection of the new farm buildings, at Teversham, near Cam-
bridge. Drawings, |&c., with Walter Kobinson, architect, 57, Kegent-street,
Cambridge, from June 3. Tenders to be delivered to Mr. Kobinson at one p.m.,
Jones.
„ MILLS.
HAI.IPAX.— For the various works required for the erection {upon the foundations
now being prepared) of a mill, engine and boiler houses, chimney, offices, fence-
walls, &c., at Salterhebble, HaUfax for the Skircoat Cotton-Spinning Company,
Limited. Drawings, Ac, inspected and bill! of quantities obtained, at the offices
ofthe architects, Messrs. J. E. and J. D. Gates, George-street, Halifax. Sealed
tenders, endorsed "Tender for works," to be sent to Joseph C. Hoatson,
secretary, Waterhouse-street, Halifax, by 10 a.m., June 7.
^ BRIDGE.
DnoniEB (N.B).— For building a timber bridge across the Dryfe, near Drysdale
Gate. Plans, Ac, with Mr. Richardson, Eoyal Bank, Lockerbie, who will receive
tenders tUl June 1.
_ „ PAVING, &c.
BT. MARTni's-nj-THE-FiELDS.— For paving and repairing the footways and
carriageways of the parish ; also for the supply ot broken Guernsey granite, ftom
time to time as may be required. Tenders will be for three years {determinable at
^e end of the Ist or 2nd year on three months' previous notice) to commence at
Midsummer next. Separate tenders will be required for each contract. Parti-
cplars and printed forms of tenders on application to Mr. Burstall, surveyor to the
Vratry, at the Vestrv-hall, between ten and twelve, and no other form of tender
Win be accepted. Tenders must be delivered scaled up at the Vestry-hall,
endorsed respectively, " Tender for Paving and Kepairing Footways," or " Tender
for Paving and Repairing Carriageways, and for Guernsey granite," before 6 p.m.,
June 6.
BlAKcnESTER.— For the levelling, paving, flagging, &c., of a portion of Gibbons-
street, in the township of Itr.adford, near Jlanchester. Plans, Ac, at the office of
tbe Board of Health, Bradford, and further particulars from Mr. R. J. Lawton, sur-
veyor, 13, Cooper-street. Sealed tenders, addressed to the chairman, to be dell-
Tered at the aforesaid office, by noon. May 29.
„ ^ RAILWAY WORKS.
Kast SoMEBSET RAILWAY.— For the construction of a passenger, engine, andgoods
shed 'at the Wells '.Station. Tenders according to forms obtained at the ofnce of
Mr. E.J. Ward, Wcstbury, Wilts, the engineer, on and after the IHth instant,
where plans, &c. may be seen, and must be sent in to George M. Mackay, Secre-
tary, Secretary's office, Shepton Mallet. Somerset, by JuneOUi.
SlwiNGTON, BiCGAR, AND BROir.iiTON RAILWAY.— For the Construction ofthe
whole works on the line ofthe extension from Broughton to Peebles, being about
eleven miles in length. The whole will be let in one contract. The works include
the formation of the Neidpath Tunnel and Viaduct over the Tweed. The rails,
chairs, sleepers, keys, spikes, fish-plates, and bolts \vill be supplied by the railway
COTnpan^. Plans, ic, at the office of Bruce and Cunningham, C.E., 21, Castle-
Street, Kdinburgh. Forms, of tender, detailed estimate, and copy of specification,
may be obtained on application to them on payment of £2 2s. ; and tenders in any
other form will not be received. The engineer will be at the Broughton Station
on Tuesday, the 2>^th, at twelve noon, for the puriiose of going over the line with
contractors. .Sealed tenders, marked "Tender for Works," must be lodged with
the secretary, David Thomson, Esq., Royal Bank, Biggar, before 10th June.
IiAiiCASHiBE AND YORKSHIRE Railwa Y.— For the execution of the whole ofthe
work rcfiuired for the construction of a fork Une to the Burnley branch at Tod-
morden. Plans, Ac, at the engineer's office, Hunts-bank, Manchester; and ten-
ners, properly endorsed, and addressed to the directors, must be received by Wm.
B.I^awn, secretary, Manchester, by May 28.
VB^ ^ t. MILITARY WORK.S.
SS. ^, ■~ '"' '""^wing the slating and lead-work of the roofs ofthe rear range
c^nildings at the Royal Military Acadeniy on Woolwich Common. Parties &-
string to tendrr, leave their names at the Royal Engineer Office Woolwich, by 8th
June, 1S«), and pay 1(«. od. for bills of quantities.
J!?vebtoi«.— * or the erection of a storehouse for the accommodation of the guns,
stores, SUIT, Ac., of the Royal Lancaster MlUtia Artillery, at Everton, near Liver-
pool, nans. *c, by applying at the office of ('harks Holt, architect, Nelson-
53Sf^'<2°"?°' •** ?'*>' •'"• ''cahd tenders to the Chairman ofthe Royal Lancaster
MiUtis Storehouse Committee, Moss Lee, Bolton-le- Moore, to May 31.
XOBK.— tor erecting a military hospital, offic<-s, &c., for sixty patients, near the
* ^,1^ °,"^**?'" *'.^'"I''- '"artii s desiring to fender must leave their names at
« u2cs ^•'•^In**''"'*'^"' ^'of''- by May 27, and pay half a guinea for bills of
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All K'ltcrs and communications to bo adilrossed to the Editor ofthe Bdildino Sews, 20,
Old Boswell-court, St. Clemoiit's, Strand, Loudon.
The Editor cauuot undertake to return unused manuscripts.
C. P. (Maiiclicatcr).-l or suiicrlor work, Portland, price from about 23. toss. Od. or 4s.,
according to tliicXness and pattern, wliether straight course, diagonal, ac, or hilaid.
J. h,— Should have sought advice in the first instance.
II. Jl. K. ( Worcester) eauhut have read our article vcrv carefully, in which it was specially
mentioned Hint wo have no opinion of our own to express us to the merits of the Noltlng-
hill case. Our reinarlis were directed to the broad question of architcets being the sole
referees In matters between elientand builder, Certainly they were suggested by the case
recently decided, but our object was to " direct the notice of architects to the state of un-
certainty in which the Vice-Chancellor's comments on this buUdlng agreement Is likely
to leave them in drawing up their future specifications."
O — We caunot reopen a question which has been longsatisfiictorilv determined.
W. N. E.— Probably, if proper precautions were taken, the work might Ix.- .iccompllshed ;
place the mutter in the hands of a builder who has been used to such matters.
A RiADEa.— We should not like to advise, seeing the uncertainstatc of tholawonsuch points.
Verdicts have been obtained favorable to your view of the case.
L. P. S Thanks, shall appear.
A Young Survetor — The Instrument with which the variation of the magnetic needle Is
observed, is, when considerable accur.acy in the detemiluation is attempted, ver^• similar
to a common theodolite. The needle is usually ti or 10 inches long, and is supported upon
acoi;icaiplvot of steel, which enters into an agate cap at the centre of gravity of the
needle; the compass-box is either circular or rectangular, and if the former, on a metal
ring fonnlng part of its circumference are two lines, one of which appears in the direction
of a diameter ; so that when the needle is placed on its pivot. Its extremities m-iv lie made
to coincide with these lines. The box is capable of being turned in azimuth upon a plate,
part of whose circuinferenco is graduated ; an index on a fr.ime which projects from the
compass-box and turns with It, serves to show the value of tbe variation, which wa»flrst
distinctly ascertained in London in 1580, by Noruian and Burroughs, when it was foimd
that the magnetic axis deviated from the true as much as 11 degrees 1.5 seconds, Its north
point being directed so much towards the east ; and in a few years from that time It was
discovered that the angle ot deviation was slowly diminishing. In IfiTiT the needle appeared
to lie in the direction ofthe geographical meridian of London, and from that time to the
year 1820 the northern extremity of the needle continued to advance towards the west, tho
deviation at that time being about 24 degrees 18 seconds ; at present It Is diminishing;
observations made since 1838 indicate a variation amounting to less than 24 degrees.
Exhibitor — Answer might have been seen In oiir pages last week.
A Workman's Garden — Glad to sec our correspondent possessed of such taste : and deviate
from our usual course to recommend " The ('ottager's Calender of Garden Operations" by
Sir Joseph Faxton, as a useful littlework. It is published (price 3d.) at the office of the
Oardener's Chronicle.
W. Bateman — Itcfer to the Indices of our earlier volumes.
J. T.— We cannot reply to such Inquiries.
A Subscriber (Melbourne).- Look for a reply in our next.
X. X. X.- Apply to Mr. Moody at the Galleries.
Y. K. L — Clay is converted into ballast by being burnt, with the addition of small coal or
"slack."
A Subscriber (Plymouth).— Yes. if suitable.
E. It. -Sir Jcflfrey Wyatville received acommission of 5 percent, on the works at Windsor
Castle, but paid his own travelling expenses ; and Mr. Nash received the same commission
on the works at Buckiugbam Palace, the Board of Works undertaking the measuring
and making out tlic various accounts. We printed in an earlier part of the present volume
a copy of some correspondence on this subject.
T. W. A A liypocycloid is traced out by a fixed point in the circumference of one circle,
which rolls upon the concave arc of another circle, an epicycloid being traced by, say the
same point rolling on the convex arc of another circle.
J. L — Almnlulum is extracted from clay, but it is not within our province to describe the
process.
BoBEKT S R Would occupy more space than we can spare.
A Fellow, R.I.B.A — Calls us to account without much reason.
K. P The building owner would scarcely refuse to leave your premises lu as good a state of
repair as they were before; should you, however, not be satisfied, you have your
remedy.
W A flue description of Majolica ware; Marryatt says this pottery was made in the City
of Urbino, the designs for many of the pieces being fumlshea by the scholars of RalTaeUe
from the original drawing of their great master ; and hence the name.
Harry F Weight, of course, varies according to section, from SO to 80 pounds per yard.
G. W., AND M. N — There seems to be no rule on the subject.
L. B Riveting boilers is now largely done by machinery, the invention of the machme
arising from a turn-out ofthe boiler makers m tfie employ of Mr. Fairbairn fifteen years
ago. On that occasion an attempt was made to rivet two plates together, by compressing
the red-hot rivet in tho ordinary punching-press, the success of the experiment imme-
diately leading to the construction of the original machine, in which a moveable die was
forced upon the rivet by a powerful lever, acted upon by a cam. A short experience
showed the original machine to be inadequate to the requirements of the boiler-maker's
trade, and the present form was adopted some vears since. It performs, by an almost
instantaneous pressure, what is perlormed in the ordinary mode by a long series of
impacts. The machine fixes in the firmest manner, and completes eight rivets, three-
quarters of an inch In diameter, in a minute, with the attendance of two men and boys to
the plates and rivets; whereas the average work that can be done by two riveters with
one "holdcr-on" and a boy. Is 40 i-inch rivets per hour- the qunntlty done being lu the
proportion of 40 to 480, or as 1 to 12, exclusive of the saving of one man's labor. The
cylinder of an ordinary locomotive engine boiler, 8 feel fi Inches long and 3 feet diameter,
can be riveted, and theplates fitted completely by tbe machine In four hours; whilst to
execute the same work by hand-labor would require, with an extra man, twenty hours.
The work produced by the machine Is likewise of a superior kind to that made lu the
ordinary mannei^the rivets being found stronger, and the boilers more free from leakage,
and more perfect In every respect. The riveting is done without noise, and thus has almost
entirely removed the deafening clamor ofthe boller-inakcr'a hammer. Urc's Dctiouary
gives a plan and elevation of the machine now in use.
;Mr. KicHARDSON.— Had better say precisely what he wishes.
J. .T. (Inverary) — It has been often stated that zinc when used, should be left perfectly nn-
contlned hy iialls or solder. See if the work has been properly done.
T. ^1. (Hull).- Thanksfurtracings; letter sliall appear on receiving promised addenda.
S.AV. S.— We are forced to postpone publication ot some remarks on the very subject.
Mr. G. F Sliall be considered and a written reply sent.
Clericus — Not very likely. „
T. M. W.— Subject has been well-treated lu Fah-balrn's " CTseful Information for Enghiecrs,
t published by Longman and Co.
8.— Details sent are of much later date than you ascribe to them.
EORGE S Declined with thanks.
li. A. -Ditto.
S. L. O. C.-Ditto.
I'ERSEvEEANCE Try the efl'eot of polishing with dry black lead, and let us know the result.
FoRuL Hammer We cannot Interfere.
1S62.— Application for space must be sent In before the 1st June.
Enqliree.— Kcler to the Post-office Directory.
A. A. A.— Not up to our mark.
A Tax-payer — We do not know.
A Youngster Tho smaller files are usually made of cast steel, which Is much the best for
the purpose though rather ex|)euslve. It Is harder than blistered steel, and from having
been in a fluid state. Is said to he entirely free from those seams and loose parts common
to blistered steel, which is no sounder than as it comes from tho iron forge before
conversion.
• • '—Send name and address for our own satisfaction; letter cannot appear without.
A Bricklayer Customs varies In different locaUtlos ; tho Loudon rule would not apply to
your case.
CtpiiER._We will think of It.
L. E. U Call at our office.
A Student i. Yes; 2. Questionable. ,, , , . .
A Pupil A little weak gum-water answers as well as anything we have ever tried.
Mr. J. p. J.— In two or three weeks.
A lluiLDER Clause appears to bo binding. How shall wo return speclflcation ?
8. 8., Z., P. Smith Wo cannot reply to such Inquiries.
An Assistant.— Advertise; weknowofno bettcrway. _ , „ ., ..m- m
ItECEiviiD.- S. M. L.; G. X.; Thomas Wyleson ; G G.; T. J. B. ; P. E. L.; T. M.andW. T.;
W. C. P. ; M. W. K. F. ; A Reader (Wandsworth) ; A. B. ; M. O. T. ; P. R. Q. J. ; F.
Williams; A Subscriber and Admirer (Dover); M. (Tenby); L. L.D.; C. J. Btchards;
Bev. J. D. S. ; An Enghiecr ; O. W. K. ; A. Z. ; Architect ; T. T. i W. J.
May 31, 1861.
ARCHITECTURAL AKT IN THE EXHIBITION OF 1862.
OOKING well at what may be done in the
forthcoming Exhibition, with the experience we have
of 1851, the Paris exhibitions and our own annual
collections of works, we cannot be considered to
recur too frequently to that which will be open to
the criticism of the world in the ensuing spring;
earnestly would we urge upon architects, and
art workmen, the desirability for each and all to
contribute their share towards the true and worthy
representation of architectural art in the United
IGngdom.
The chief, but by no means the sole, means of
showing the present state of this art araong'us,
will be by drawings, photographs, and models,
and of these probably drawings will be the most
numerous, and let it not be forgotten that they
should be truly architectural drawings, carefully
and truthfully executed— such drawings as we
well know our architectural draughtsmen can pro-
duce, and not such as we too often find slovenly
" got up " for competition or exhibition. There
are many works in the present Architectural
Exhibition which would lead to the belief that
the art of drawing is being neglected by archi-
tects; it is very desirable that this should not
be the case next year; neatness and precision is the very essence of archi-
tectural delineation.
It will go hard with some of our new-fashioned, common pen-and-mk
productions when seen side by side with the works of French draughtsmen,
—whose style, by the way, is not comparable for effect to oiir English
mode, as seen in Mr. Watson's drawings, for example, in Conduit-street.
Perspectives will doubtless be most popular, but in no cases should neatly
drawn plans, sections and elevations with scale attached be omitted. We,
perhaps, learn more of these matters than individuals may, and speak
pretty positively when we say that in most cases complete and well
executed drawings of a good building, usually do much more than repay
the author for the cost of preparing them for exhibition. We could name
many cases in point. .
General views will necessarily be of sufiScient size to enable the design
to be thoroughly comprehended, and the aid of photography may be called
in for the purpose of illustrating to as large a size as may be practicable,
those portions of the structure which appear to require it ; but photographs
should always be taken from the building itself ; if not carried out, draw-
ings alone are by far more proper.
Of models there will probably be a good collection, if those only which
are already made be sent ; architects will remember that the public
always select a model for examination in preference to drawings.
If our best architects will only take an interest in the subject, and
illustrate a selection of their works executed during the past ten years,
we have little fear of the position English professors of the art of archi-
tecture will take in the coming Exhibition.
But there is no time to be lost in applying for space. It is already
known that the Commissioners have appointed the 1st day of May, 1862,
for opening the Exhibition, and the Council of the Architectural Museum
and the Committee of the Ecclesiologieal Society have issued a circular,
reminding all architectural artists that the last day for applying for space
at the International Exhibition is not far distant, although the limit of
June 1st will not, it is understood, be absolutely insisted on. The Royal
Institute of British Architects has appointed a representative architec-
tural Committee, composed of its Council and of representatives from the
older Architectural Societies of London, to take steps, in concert with the
Royal Commissioners, for the efficient representation of architecture and
architectural art at the coming Exhibition. The Committee has for-
warded a copy of the Commissioners' decisions on points relating to the
Exhibition to the members of the Institute, with a circular, asking to be
informed with as little delay as possible what space will be required for
the exhibition of models or drawings ; also for information of the exis-
tence of any works which might be available, and which it may be de-
sirable to procure fer the Exhibition. The Council wishes to impress upon
all intending exhibitors that the contributions to this important Exhibition
should be worlcs of high merit, and worthy to represent the arts of the
country.
The Architectural Museum and the Ecclesiologieal Society are warmly
co-operating in this object, while they propose especially to devote them-
selves to architectural art and details, such as carving in wood and stone,
modelling, ceramic art, metal work, glass painting, and embroidery. The
Architectural Museum has appointed a sub-committee to promote the
objects of the Exhibition.
It is with great satisfaction that we record the Intention of these
societies. Few who are not brought into immediate and almost daily
contact with the art-workmen of the present day are aware of what they
are capable in most of the departments we have named. That there is
room for improvement cannot be doubted; but, looking at the progress
made during the last few years, the greatest amount of praise must be
awarded both to those who have in an enlightened spirit provided the
means of study, and to those who have so thoroughly appreciated and
availed themselves of the opportunities generously offered. We can
scarcely imagine a more valuable and interesting department in the
building now rapidly progressing than that of architectural art ; it is",
THE BUILDING NEWS.
447
however, to be hoped that no question of rival styles will be allowed to
interfere with the comprehensive spirit with which such a useful feature
should be invested.
A. J. B. Boresford-Hope, Esq., President of both Institutions ; G. G.
Scott, Esq., Treasurer of the Architectural Museum ; Joseph Clarke, E<q.,
Hon. Secretary of the Museum, and B. Webb, Esq., Hon. Secretary of the
Ecclesiologieal Society, are all gentlemen of too-widely extended views to
allow any questions of taste to narrow the usefulness of an exhibition of
architectural art. The Architectural Museum and the Ecclesiologieal
Society feel that they break no confidence when they state that it is
equally the desire of the Representative Committee and of themselves to
obtain the sanction of the Royal Commissioners to the exhibition of archi-
tectural art in immediate juxtaposition with that of architecture, and
they therefore trust, that while the various artists whose performances
come under the designation of architectural art will not neglect to make
their separate applications for space before it is too late, they will he
willing at a later period to co-operate in any scheme for tlie arrangement
of the exhibition of architectural art which may be decided upon between
the Royal Commissioners and the Representative Committee.
Among the decisions arrived at by the Commissioners ou points relating
to the exhibition, and applicable to Section IV., Modern Fine Arts, are
the following : — The portion of the building to be devoted to pictures will
be erected of brick, and will occupy the entire front towards Cromwell-
road. All persons, whether designers, inventors, manufacturers or pro-
ducers of articles, will be allowed to exhibit, subject to the necessary limi-
tation of space, but must state the character in which they do so. No
rent will be charged to exhibitors. Section II. includes railway plant,
locomotive engines and carriages, carriages not connected with rail or
tramroads, manufacturing engines and tools, machinery in general, civil
engineering, architectural and building contrivances. Section III., furni-
ture and upholstery, including paper hangings and papier miiche, glass
and pottery. Prices may be affixed to all articles in Sections I., II., III.
Section IV., Modern Fine Arts, includes class 37, architecture, — we remind
our readers that it will be endeavored to have the department of archi-
tectural art contiguous to this class— 38 paintings in oil and water-colors,
and drawings ; 39 Sculpture, models, die-sinking and intaglios ; 40 en-
gravings and etchings. It is decided that the exhibition of British art in
this section will include the works of artists alive on or subsequent to the
1st May, 1762. It is not proposed to award prizes in this section, nor will
prices be allowed to be affixed to any work of art exhibited in this section.
The space at the disposal of her Majesty's Commissioners for the display
of British art being limited, and it being at the same time desirable to bring
together as careful and perfect an illustration as possible, a selection of the
works to be exhibited will be indispensable. The selection of exhibitors,
the space and number of works to be allowed to each, and the arrangement
of them will be entrusted to committees to be nominated by her Majesty's
commissioners.
In the case of living artists the Commissioners desire to consult the
wishes of the artists themselves, as to the particular works by which they
would prefer to be represented. The selection of works so made by the
artists will not necessarily be binding ; but in no case will any work by a
living artist be exhibited against his wish, if expressed in writing and
delivered to the Commissioners on or before the 31st March next.
The Commissioners will avail themselves of the following eight art in-
stitutions of this country, in communicating with artists who are members
of those institutions, viz.— The Royal Academy, the Royal Scottish
Academy, the Royal Hibernian Academy, the Society of Painters in
Water Colors, the Society of British Artists, the New Society of Painters
in Water Colors, the Institute of British Artists, and the Institute of
British Architects.
Intending exhibitors, in the British division of Section IV., who are not
members of any of the preceding institutions, may at once receive forms
of demand for space, by applying to the Secretary, at 454, West Strand,
W.C. These forms should be filled up and returned before Monday next,
the 1st June. ^ ■ , j
Next year will be a busy one. Producers of building materials and
contrivances should look about them. Here will be a fine opportunity
that should on no account be lost.
St. Andrews' (N.B.J Town Hall.— A new town-hall has just been
erected in St. Andrew3;from the designs of Mr. James A. Hurailton, of Edinburgh,
and forms one of the most interesting features of the fine old town. Ihe
the old Scotch baronial style, and along with the bold
structure is
all the conveuiencea
and picturesque effect of the style it combmts , , .
and appliances of modern art. The entrance cprndor and staircase
are capacious and imposing. The Council Hall is 38 feet in length,
by 24 in breadth, and 18 in height. The Great Hall is 75 feet long,
30 feet broad, and 28 feet high. The lobby of this hall is divided into
11 compartments by large ribs, each having three highly-enriched pendants and
massive corbelling. Each compartment is vaned by a nove arrangement of flat
and sloping planes suiTOunded by large mouldings, and in the centre of each, on
a lozenVe-shaned panel, is a shield charged with national emblems. "The
8lructur''c altogether measures about 130 feet by 90 feet. The external elevation
is enriched with various shields, devices, and coats of arms.
Keiv Gardens.— The large masses of rhododendrons, azaleas, and
other American plants on each side of the Grand Promenade, and those on the
slopes and mounds of the Fairies' Glen or Holloway in_ the Royal Pleasure
Grounds near the Thames, are progressing towards their prime, and wlien
covered with blossoms of various colours will present for several weeks a most
magnificent sight of surpassing interest and beauty. The chestnut lilac,
laburnum, and hawthorn trees are now .in their greatest perfection. The blue
bell or wild hyacinth m the woods of the new Arboretum are also m fuU flower.
448
THE BUILDING NEWS.
Mat 31, 1861.
w.
THE ROYAL ACADEMY."
rK cannot ronclmie our anal) sis of Mr. F.Goodall's admirable picture without
, . adding that tlie accessories arc skilfully arrnnsrid, pivinpr spirit and effect with-
outdistarbing the solemn tone of thesubject.whicli would have been thercsultliad the
fiwe not bern kept in shade, an error in the opinion ol some critics; but to which
sloomy treatment, on llie contrary , we think llie picture is greatly indebted for its
contemplative sujisestiveness. Jor the same reason we admire the whole of the
left-hand side of Mr. I'aed's picture, entitled from "Dawn to Sunset," wliich is
kept in undisturl>ed half-tint, and also pray in tone, well-suited to the melan-
choly feeling which prevails there. The figure and head of the man, lost in
thought, while evidently waiting tlie death of the person whose hand only is
■eeo, grasping the bed-clothes, is the epitome of sadness and silence, which
aeems to influence — the latter especially, the little boys seated on the floor by
the side of his chair, and playing with a kitten and a time-glass. The coloring
of thw is not only expressive of the pervading sentiment, but it is also very har-
moniously arranged. However natural and probable the entrance of the boy and
Sirl from the doctor's may be, the red comforter worn bv the former, and the general
ghtness of that part of the room, are as annoying in the picture as they would be
in the reality, and the mother nursing the baby in the centre is also too light for
the pervading tone of feeling which should have been derived from the most
interesting portion of the composition. If we understand the title, the artist has
intended to paint a subject embracing the ages of man, namely, taking the two
extremes, by way of example, from the newly-born baby being nursed by the
mother, to old age in tiie bed, whose last moments are watched by the son. But,
if tliat be so, tlie artist hag attempted too much, and suggested too many ideas
ibra single effect. Wc do not like, also, liis making the young woman drying
her tears in tiie bed-curtains ; that is a conceit unwortliy the gravity of the sub-
ject, and on the right of the spectator the perspective is very incorrect, for the
chair and the box belong to a different point of sight from the rest of the fur-
niture in the cottage ; but, as we iiave said, nothing can be better than the whole
of the opposite side.
While on the subject of the selection of a general tone of color in accordance
irith the prevailing expression in a picture and the danger of exciting two ideas
where one would be quite sufficient, we may make a few rem4rKs on Mr.
Horsley's " Lost and Found." Opinions are divided as to making the return of
the son in rags and misery take place in the most brilliant and sunlit landscape
that can be conceived. It may be intended to suggest his return to comfort and
]denty, but the more readily conceived illustration, we think, would have been
the breaking of the dawn. Itmust be admitted, however, either view may be well
defended, especially when the landscape is so beautifully painted. Objection has
been taken to tiie father rushing out and not looking at his son but far beyond the
»pot where he lies crouching against the road-side bank ; we tliink, however, a
higher interpretation may be put upon the conception of the artist, which was to
show the suddenly excited state of the father's mind on hearing that his son had un-
expectedly returaed, as he hastened from his cottage, spreading out his arms, ex-
claiming, we may suppose, " Where is he ?" This appears the true reading, because
the boys, who may be supposed to have told the father, have come with him, and
are endeavouring in vain to direct his attention to where his son is lying. The
group of children on the right is full of charming interest, and the little girl, more
■dranoed than the rest, timidly offering flowers and com, her gleanings, to the
returned stranger is a very pretty incident. As regards the treatment of this
picture, we would point out how skilfully the black dress of the father is subdued
and bathed in the general tone, and how, besides being well drawn, all
the figures, by means of reflected lights, are made to partake of the genial
atmosphere, and thus contribute to the remarkably ai-rial and luminous effiet of
the subject. We think the artist, like many others, has not paid sufficient
attention to the application of his quotation. He has raised two ideas by quoting
the parable of the Prodigal Son, becanse an incongruity is produced on the mind
when it is seen illustrated by figures in modern dresses. " Lost and Found "
wonld have been quite sufficient.
THE ARCHITECTUKAL DRAWINGS.
The " Proposed Grand Hotel de la Mediterranee, Cannes," by Messrs. T.
Smith and Son (692), is situated on the sea-shore, in immediate contiguity to
the villas whither Lord Brougham and other English noblemen pass, careless
of London fogs, a sunny winter. The most striking feature in the front is the
aeries of arcaded balconies, or loggie, which are dispersed over it. They are
supported by shafts of red marble. The front has the centre, and the two wings
a story higher than the rest of the front, and covered by large, imposing Man-
sard roofs. A conservatory projects from one wing on to the terrace upon
which the whole building is elevated. Flights of steps from this terrace lead to
a lower ru8ticat<,<l one, which forms the sea wall, and which is enriched by semi-
circular projecting seats along the whole line.
Bulstrode, the seat of his Grace the Duke of Somerset (693), is an irregular
mass of red brickwork and stone dressings, designed by Mr. B. Ferrey. The
windows are square-headed. A large square-roofed embattled tower, with angle
turret and projecting bay-window, surmounts the entrance. Gables of different
sizes vary the outline of the building. The ground is laid out very tastefiilly
with terraces. The conservatory groups very well with the large tower in the
centre, the smaller octagon one at tlie side, and the conspicuous chimney-shafts
which adorn the roofs.
A nnall drawing of the side of the New Chapel, Exeter College, Oxford (604),
Isexhibited by W r. J. H. Le Kenx. It is composed almost entirely of decorated
windows separated bv buttresses, backed by a roof with a lantern. There is a
turret at till- angle. The upper stages of the buttresses, with their empty niches,
give the budding an unfinished appearance.
^^' ,','J''''^""l>o^<l Hotel on Hollingworth Lake, near Littleborough, Lan-
5?"^',. "y "■'• ,v'- Barker, has, architecturally, nothing to recommend it : but
the treUis-work fitted between the wings may afford a landscape gardener an
opportunity of producing, with well-selected creeping plants, an agreeable
eflect wliich the red bricks and quoinsof the building have failed to create.
iJi^' i "^'V Kthibition Room at Ascott Collwe, near Birmingham
(697), shows two ranges of two windows, buttresses at the end, and a peculiar,
although not very elegant, form of gable to the roof.
The south-east view of JMylesford Church, Worcestershire, by Mr. J. L. Pear-
•OD, IS a fine pyramidal group of Gothic work. The church is cruciform. The
* Contmaed£rompsgel28.
tower is square, and the spire is enriched with carved bands and by the gables
running up, partly in front of it, from the tower. There is a good lich gate in
the foreground.
Messrs. Pritchard and Seddon's Church of St. John, at NewTiort (704), has an
immensely high tower, occupying the western bay of the south aisle. A porch
projects from the south side of it. The west front 'is gabled and has a porch in the
centre. Above, there are coupled windows, with a circular one in the space over
them, all united under one trefoil-shaped relievinc arch.
The new erection at Wynnstay, designetl bv Mr. B. Ferrey (705), is scarcely so
successful as the architect's Gotliic works 'The Italian style is, nevertheless, here
treated with great freedom, and has had high-pitched roofs engrafted on it. The
entrance doorway is under a parte cochere, with a semicircular bay window pro-
jecting above it. The building is constructed of freestone imd covered with
slated roof. A circular tower and spire in the rear has been most judiciously
introductd into this view.
Mr. AV. M. Teulon's design for Frogmore, near Hereford (707), exhibits the
usual features of a good Tudor mansion— turrets, tower and battlements, mul-
lioned windows, irregular plan and unmasked chimney-stacks, red brick walls
and stone dressings. The gable end in the foreground, relieved only by the pro-
jection of the chunney, is rather more intrusive upon the spectator than we could
have wished, or than its appearance warrants.
The nameless undesciibed building, which bears only the number 708, and the
name of Mr. R. A. Pope is worthy of a longer title. We should have been glad
to know that it was in course of erection somewhere or otiier. It is a stately
mansion, with towers, chimney-stacks, arcades built of red brick and stone, with
sparkling viirieties of color most artistically introduced into it. The drawing is
hung too high to be properly seen ; but even at a distance it proclaims itself to
be a work of great excellence, full of originality and study.
Mr. N. J. Green's design, submitted in competition for the Houses of Parlia-
ment at Ottawa, Canada, reproduces the most striking feature of the architect's
design for the Manchester Assize Courts — two large domes, which, as these are
two houses, might enlighten the stranger on that subject; but they tend to
divide the attention of the spectator, and consequently split the composition un-
necessarily. There are open turrets on the wings and columns, and pilasters on
the face of the building.
The other contribution, which Mr. Green sends jointly with Mr. De Ville, is,
we think, infinitely better. " The Hartley Institute, at Southampton " (715).
The several stories are well proportioned, and the angles have a rare good quality
in their apparent, as well as real strength. The three entrances are enriched by
caryatides at the sides. The ground-floor has square-headed windows, on either
side of the triple entrance, with rusticated pilasters between them, and a cornice
and balustrade over it. The first-floor is arcaded, and tlie red shafts which sup-
ports the arches are both rich in color and contribute to the linear beauty of the
front. The red shafts are well introduced in smaller quantities to the Ionic
Silasters on the upper story. It is seldom that we see color so judiciously intro-
uced into a building as it has been by Messrs. Green and De Ville, in the Hart-
ley Institute, and we are glad that it adorns a structure architecturally worthy
of it.
Mr. D. Brandon exhibits two Worcestershire mansions lately erected by him.
The first (710) " Grafton Manor-house," has been rebuilt, with the exception of
the banqueting hall and porch. The latter feature is a very good example of a
late porch, in two stories, with semicircular arch, flanking pilasters, window,
and pediment. The main building is rather earlier in style. It is constructed in
the form of r with red brick and stone, and has stepped gables. There is not
much beauty in it. The mansion at Blackmore-park (711) is a much better
design, but it is only another variety of what an architect well versed in Tudor
architecture produces with redbrick and stone dressings, square-headed windows,
bay windows, gables, chimney stacks, and terrace.
The " Hotel at Great Malvern " (712), now erecting under the superintendence
of the architect, Mr. E. W. Elmslie, is a much better design than we ordinarily
see in buildings of that character. It is five stories high, including the dormers.
A tower is introduced, but not simply for the sake of liaving one. It gives real
importance to the facade, and is worth its cost by the handsome appearance it
gives to the building. It is not put in the centre. It rises from the face of the
wall exactly in the right place to give the utmost artistic value to the compo-
sition. It has a balustrade, a spire and spireh'ghts, and there is a bay window,
again very dexterously placed, at the side of tower. It is all built of stone.
713 is a country church, to be erected at Penboyr, Carmarthenshire. Mr. D.
Brandon has shown his good taste by the simplicity and unpretending character
which he has infused into his design. When time combs it down a little, so as to
allow the lichen to cling to it, and the tiled roof becomes discolored, the church
will readily be mistaken for the work of a mediaeval architect.
Besides the drawings which we have before described, Mr. F. Marrable exhibits
a " View of the New Offices of the Board of Works in Spring-gardens" (714),
lately erected from his designs. The view is taken, by the way, from a point
where it could not be seen. We have so recently engraved a drawing of the
building and given full descriptions of it, that it is unnecessary to notice it
further.
Mr. Goldie has a very good composition in the " Church of St. Mary's,
Greenock " (716). The tower at the angle is plain and solid, and has a finer
effect than many architects would produce, by covering it with carving. The
upper portion is gabled and roofed, with an iron cresting on the ridge. The
entrance is under a double arch in the centre of the front, with two windows and
a central circular one over them.
The "Church of St. Peter, at Bournemouth," is more hastily drawn than 18
usual with Mr. G. E. Street's productions, but in the facility with which he
handles his etching pen as well as in real Gothic design, he is still far ahead of
all rivals and imitators. It is a pleasure to look upon work which the old arcm-
tects never dreamt of, and to see something beyond a revival in the healthy off-
shoots of Mr. Street. The church is seemingly a cruciform one, with chancel-
aisle, and two-storied vestry ; stairs in a small turret lead to the upper floor.
The lower portion of each light of the east window is filled with sculpture, a
liazardous undertaking in any but very skilful hands. The tower at the western
end is enriched with some lovely bits of detail.
Mr. A. W. Blomfield has very dexterously turned an irregular, uneven site
into a source of beauty in the church of "St. Luke, Tor, Mohun, Torquay"
(718). The side porch is especially well arranged, and the gables over each of
the side bays — generally a picturesque disposition — lose none of their good
qualities by Mr. Blomfield's treatment.
May 31, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
449
Messrs. ClBjton and Bell exhibit a design for the wall painting above the altar
in the " Chapel of All Saints Home, Margaret-street" (717), full of grace and
religious sentiment, and drawn with masterly power.
"VVESTBOURiVE HALL, WESTBOURNE GROVE.
WESTBOURNIA is essentially a pious and respectable suburb of the great
nietropoli.'i. There is a more than ordinary number of churches in pro-
portion to the population, and chapels of every shade of nonconformity. In
addition to this accommodation, every hall or room capable of holding a large
audience is once or twice in the week, and every Sunday, hired for the consola-
tion of one or otiier of the numberless sects into which "tlie Dissenting body is
divided and subdivided. The proprietor of a riding-school was lately galloping
to a rapid fortune on the backs of the religious tenants of his spacious apart-
ment. A rival establishment was, however, soon built and opened by an enterprising
and speculative tradesman, which, being well advertised, drew off someof Fortune's
golden favors. Still " Church Institutes," " Christian Young Men," and
" Branch Missions," immigrated into the district, squatted, and nourished. In
such an atmosphere a theatre would never pay, and even a music-hall like the
" 0."sford " or " Weston's " would be considered satanic and low. An announce-
ment of the inimitable Mackney would be regarded with upturned eyes, and
"the Cure" would jump through all the seats of a hall without having Iiis
course obstructed by a spectator. Fettered by their own genteel scruples, a
respectable population like this however, is, sure to patronise well anything
which comes within the limit of their enjoyment. They would not no to hear
Fechter or Plielps, but when Shakspeare is read by a silver-voiced popular
preacher, the poor player's words reach them purified. Lectures on the Holy
Land, Revelations, and Negro Slavery, an evening with the amatory Thomas
Moore or with the second-rate musicians, will loosen the bands of the most
straight-laced conscience. The proprietors of the Westboume Hall have,
therefore, only satisfied the great demand which has for some time existed, by
erecting a building suitable in every respect to the neiglibourhood. They fixed
upon an eligible site in the main thoroughfare, and have covered it with
commendable liberality. The Hall is attached to the Bayswater AthentEum,
now open in Havelock-terrace. When the new reading rooms, refreshment and
committee rooms, and other ofiices are completed, the business of the Athenasum
will be removed into them, and look out upon Westboume-grove.
The new front is built entirely of freestone in the early Renaissance style, or
rather in that phase of it which was especially developed in the canals of Venice.
Every opening throughout is arched, and every pair of openings in three out of
the four stories is included in a superior arch, all resting upon columns with
colored shafts and carved capitals. The four stories are all of great heiglit, and
the building, crowned by a massive and elaborately carved cornice, rises promi-
nently above the houses on either side of it. The different stories all appear ex-
ternally to be of about the same dimensions. This is undoubtedly a defect in
the design, and there is a want of sufficient perpendicular surface to balance the
belts of solid stone-work which divide the several stories. A repetition in the
fourth story of precisely tlie same features as are seen in tlie third story shows, not-
withstanding the richness of the carving, rather a poverty of design. Here our
strictures end. They are subordinate to the admiration wliicli the general cha-
racter of the work creates in us. The front is bold and original in its conception,
and the details, both carving and mouldings, are vigorously designed.
The architect has in a very ingenious manner surmounted several difficulties,
and it is in this portion of an architects' labors more than in any other,
that his ability is perhaps brought out or his deficiencies made palpable.
Circumstances have necessitated the employment of four openings on the
ground-floor. Hence, if opening were regularly put over opening, an unsightly
pier must appear in the centre throughout each stage of the work. The way
this has been overcome without affecting the stable look of the building, is by
running highly carved panelled pilasters, repeated on each floor, over the outside
piers throughout the whole height, thus dividing the front into a centre and two
wings, the former being just double the width of each of the latter. The eye of
the spectator is thus distracted from the slender column which nevertheless occu-
pies the centi-e of the front, and causes it to retain its substantial character.
The four openings on the ground floor all rest on colored shafts and elabor-
ately c'U'vod capitals. The arches are highly enriched with carving, and the
circular panels in the spandrels are sculptured. One of these openings leads to
the new hall in the rear; the others are windows to the ofiices of the Athenseum.
Over the ground floor cornice, a panel bears in raised carved letters the name of
*he building. On the first-floor there are eight arched openings resting on
columns, two of them in each wing and four in the centre. The spandrels are
filled with carved foliage, and one of the lieavv horizontal panelled stone beams
to which we have before adverted, rests upon them. The second story is similar
m the disposition of its openings, but they are not so high, and a relieving arch
is thrown over each pair of windows. Circular panels filled witli shields and
foliated spandrels are placed over the inner arch, whilst the spandrels of the
larger arches have figures reclining on the exterior lines of the archivolts
Another horizontal panelled beam with a slightly projecting dentilled cornice
over It, bears a repetition of this disposition on the third story. The only varia-
tion which we notice is a substitution— somewhat after the fashion seen in the
frieze of the Piccolomini Palace, at Sienna— of human heads for shields in the
drcular panels over the central column of the coupled openings. The band or
frieze over this story is divided into panels, diagonal, square and cfrcular, and the
whole IS crowned by a deep and far-projecting cornice. The corona is supported
on cantahvers and enriched with semicircular scallops throughout its entire
length. The cornice is further decorated by a continuous cresting, which as it
cannot be seen from the street, may have been fixed for the edification of the
npper floor tenants of the opposite houses.
Passing beneath the lofty arch which forms the entrance, and through a wide
corridor, we enter the hall, a rectangular parallelogram, some 70 feet in length by
BO in width, with a raised dais at the far end, some 3 feet above the general floor
Jor a lecturer, orator, or singer. An iron railing, very like a church altar-rail'
runs across this platform. The side walls are divided by Doric balusters into a
series of blank arcades with paneUed key-stones. They are continued along the
end wall, where the central division, being wider, has necessitated a segmental
wch. In tins division a pair of folding doors are shown ; one of them is a blank,
conesponding only in appearance with the other which leads to the committee
Md waiting-room of the principal performers. The roof is formed of elliptical
timber ribs, wluch rest on stone semi-octagonal corbels between the side arches.
Intervening timbers divide each bay of the ceiling into Ave panels, with pendants
at the intersections. Thus the whole ceiling consists of stjuare panels on the
curved surface. A portion of these panels are at regular intervals glazed to light
the hall — for there are no side-lights. The rest of the panels are Iwanled, and
painted with borders of bine and red lines, having pouncings of stars between
them. The flat glass panels are similarly painted so as to make the whole in
complete harmony. The colored decoration is quiet and in excellent taste, and
has been executed by Mr. .James Warrington. The walls are eoate<l with fine
Portland cement ; they will also be painted when they become sufficiently dry.
The effect of tlie hall will then be very fine. The artistic treatment of the several
tints will diffuse a charming tone of color, beautifully modulated, throughout the
hall, and bring into relative importance its several mouldings and architectural
forms.
The seats have carved ends, and they are so arranfjed on the slightly and
gradually inclined floor as to allow of the lecturer being seen distinctly, and
with comfort, from every portion of the apartment. A gallery at the entrance
end of the hall, with a well-designed front and approached by a strong and wide
staircase, affords extra accommodation for a large audience. Provision has also
been made by the architect for additional galleries along the flank walls, sup-
ported by cantalivers resting on corbels in the face of the Doric pilasters, and
space has been left for the extension of tlie end wall, if it be, as seems most pro-
bable, at some future time required.
The wanning and ventilation of the building, on a new patented principle, is
veiT satisfactory, and ensures comfort to the most crowded audience.
We cannot, in justice, neglect mention of the admirable way in which the hall is
lighted by night. "There are three brass corona gaseliers, one larger and two smaller
ones. They are very ornamental, and are fitted with most economical as well
as lustrous burners, by Mr. G. Keed, the eminent gasfltter, of Westboume-
grove. Each burner consistsof a ring of fine jets, which, uniting round a cen-
tral button, produces a most brilliant flame approaching the bude light in
intensity, but at a less cost than could be produced by any other jet or
amalgamation of jets hitherto introduced. Their success has been so strikingly
manifest that they are being at once adopted in establishments where a good light
is, above all things, desirable.
The whole of the works have been most ably carried out from the designs and
nnder the superintendence of Mr. Arthur Billing, who has already erected several
of those important shops which have attracted the tradesmen of Oxford-street and
Regent-street to settle in the main thoroughfare of Westbournia.
Adjoining this new hall, in Westboume-grove-terrace north, where, by the
way, a row of large private residences has recently been erected from the designs,
we believe, of Mr. William Thompson, of Conduit-street, the foundation stone
of anew Scotch church has lately been laid. It occupies a conspicuous site at
the extreme end of the terrace — a cul-dc-snc. It is a Gothic building, but the
works are not sufficiently advanced to enable us to judge of its future appear-
ance. It is from the designs of Mr. W. G. Habershon.
DENTON CHURCH.
THE church of St. Andrew of this place, has been greatly ornamented by a
memorial stained glass window having been placed in the south transept.
The stonework of the window consists of three main lights and a tracery head
of the Early Perpendicular style of architecture, the whole of which has been
cleaned and restored. The subject of the stained glass is so arranged that each
light, so far as the figures are concerned, is complete in itself, and at the same
time the whole forms one picture designed to suit the material and illustrating
the text, " Jesus said unto her I am the resurrection and tlie life." In the centre
light is represented our Lord entering the house of Martlia and Mary ; in the
south, Martha kneeling down, and behind Mary is seated in contemplation and
prayer ; in the north light are shown the two disciples who accompanied our Lord
on this occasion. The figures are distinguished by correct drawing, expression,
jewelled brilliancy and richness in the coloring. The artists are the Messrs.
Connors of 4, Berners-stieet, London. At the base of the window on rich
memorial brass is engraved in letters of the 12th century, the following appro-
priate inscription : — This window is dedicated to the glory of God, and ia
memory of their dearly beloved daughter Francis Wilhelmina Reeve by her
parents Sir Glynne and Lady Welby, she was married in this church on the 18th
day of August, 1857, to Lieut.-Colonel John Reeve, of Leadeuham, in thiscounty,
and on the 29th October, in the year following, it pleased God to call her away,
eleven days after giving birth to a daughter.
" Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find
watching." — Luke xii., 37.
MR. JOHN BENNETT AND MR. SPURGEON'S TABERNACLE
CLOCK.
WE have been requested to contradict a false and foolish report which has gone
the round of the provincial press, headed, " Spurgeonism," to the effect
that that gentleman called at Cheapside, and asked Mi . Bennett not merely to
give him a clock for his chapel, but to pay in addition a handsome sum for the
advertisement it would be to him as a manufacturer ; that he thereupon, as a
cool matter of business, agreed to give the clock and £10 as an equivalent for
the trading benefit he would thereby obtain. Mr. Spurgeon, it is alleged, then
went in a similar down-east American spirit to another City clock-maker, who,
offering the clock and £60 to boot, was allowed to cut out Mr. Bennett out of
the advertising- advantage. The above statement, we are assured, is an entire
fiction, the facts being simply as follows : — Mr. Spurgeon, who is a customer of
Mr. Bennett's, called upon hiui respecting the supply of some half-dozen clocks
which will be required for various rooms in the huge building. In the course of
conversation, spontaneously and without the slightest solicitation on the part
of the preacher, Mr. Bennett ottered to give a clock for the chapel, which offer
was thankfully accepted. Subsequently one of the reverend gentleman's
members expressed a strong desire to have the honor of contributing'the chapel
clock, and an arrangement to that efti;ct was subsequently made, and the order
for the instrument was given to Mr. Bennett, the clock he intended to give being
now destined for the large lecture hall underneath the Tabernacle. We should be
at a loss to divine a motive for the invention of the falsehood, did not a study of
human nature even in our own locality furnish ns with melancholy instances of a
morbid pleasure taken — ay, even by professedly pious persons — in hatching and
propagating lies; a propensity of^ which we could give some amusing
specimens.
450
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 31, 1861.
EXHIBITION OF WORKS OF DECORATIVE ART AT
PAINTERS' HALL.
r-waj a pleasing duty ia last June to announce the opening of the first
public Exhibition of the Painters' Company, and at tliat time we took
occasion briefly to refer to the good and lasting benefit such a step was
likely to produce. More recently, on May 17th, we again directed atten-
tion to the subject with reference to the Exhibition of this year, then in
preparation. We were then, with a recollection of the previous Exhi-
bition, able to refer, in a hopeful and more confident manner, to the
important results that may arise from the enterprise, a hope and con-
fidence we cannot rejtret, looking at the works which will be open to
public inspection on Monday next.
A pri rate view after the awards of the j udges, took place on Wednesday
last in the Hall of the Painters Stainers' Company, to wliich numerous
Mends of the movement and representatives of the press were invited,
cordially received, and hospitably entertained by the Master, Henry Tayler,
Esq., who presided. Among the gentlemen present, trusting to memory
only, we observed F. Y. Hurlstone, Esq., President of the Society of
British Artists ; Colonel Wilson ; David Gordon Laing, Esq., Upper
Warden; George John Morant, Esq., Renter Warden; Robert Obbard,
Esq.; W. J. G. Dilworth, Esq., and John Sewell, Esq., of the Court of
Assistants, and the indefatigable Clerks of the Company, P. N. Tomlins,
and F. G. Tomlins, Esqs. The Rev. Thomas Hill and — Lupton were
also present. The list of the judges appointed to award the prizes as
given to us, includes Messrs. W. Dyee, R.A., G. G. Grace. P. Graham, J.
Sewell, C. Buzzard, G. J. Morant, G. 11. Hayward, and W. B. Simpson,
and the manner in which they have accomplished a never-to-be-envied
duty cannot, we feel certain, be objected to even by the unsuccessful com-
petitors, and that is saying a great deal.
Of course such an occasion could not pass without a few remarks from
the gentlemen present on the character of the Exhibition, and the future
prospects of the undertaking, which were generally acknowledged to be
most promising. The Cliaimian, Mr. Tayler, referred to the advantages
of such a movement, and to the aid promised by the Society of Arts in
allowing the selected works to be exhibited in their rooms after the close
of the Exhibition in the Painters' Hall, he (Mr. Tayler) thought many
would agree with him, that in their art, at least, the imitation was come-
times found better than the reality.
Mr. Oxenford th ought that city companies generally did not suflSciently
endeavour to promote the interest of the trades they represented, and that
the Painters Stainers' Company was setting a good example in a very
energetic manner in returning thanks for the compliment paid to the re-
presentatives of the press, he hoped the press would be careful godfathers
to the Company's one-year old child.
Mr. Laing said that some of the works exhibited were wonderful
examples of imitative talent, and he proposed a vote of thanks to the judges.
Mr. Morant (if we remember rightly) thought that master painters would
do well, in their own interest, to give the men in their employ half a days'
holiday to enable them to go and see the works of their brother artists ; he
would be happy to do so, and thought that such a course would be the
means of stimulating them to increased exertion in the study of their call-
ing— the proposal was received with expressions of warm approbation.
Mr. Dilworth, in proposing tlie health of Mr. Tomlins, earnestly
referred to the untiring zeal with which he, Mr. Tomlins, had worked
night and day in the cause. Forgetful of self he had ever labored
to promote the advance of the movement which he, Mr. Dilworth, now
trusted to see bear good fruit.
Mr. Tomlins modestly referred to his labors for the Company, extending
over a period of more than thirty years, deprecating the high value which
had been placed upon them ; he was still willing to devote all his strength
and ability towards raising a class of men worthy to be raised.
During the meeting reference was made to the proposal now on foot for
the establbhment of a society of literary men, based on a scheme which
broke down some years ago.
Mr. Laing thought that the Company should offer the use of their hall
for the proposed society's meetings until they were firmly established.
Such meetings go far towards promoting the genial kindliness of feeling
and good understanding which should ever obtain between art and lite-
rature.
We must return to the works exhibited in the large hall, which con-
tains about one hundred and sixty specimens, by thirty-eight contributors,
(Ome sending one only, while others show as many as twelve or fifteen.
A glance will serve to show that the general cliaracter of the work is of a
much higher class than tliat of the work exhibited last year ; there is
greater care observable in'the getting up of the specimens, a more advanced
study of nature, and consequently greater truthfulness. It is true that the
best work of this year is not equal to that of last ; but the specimens, as
a whole are, as we have before said, far superior. Indeed, it requires a nice
judge of such work to detect faults in the imitations of Rodonna,
Galway green, sienna, mona green, rouge royal, and rouge vear marbles,
by Mr. Taylor (.36). In nearly all cases the most prominent defects are
those which would appear to be inseparable from the application of var-
nish— rather than in the actual imitations. The fact of no specimen being
equal to that of last year is explained by Mr. Kershaw, who took the first
prize on the former occasion, and whose work has hitherto been almost
without a rival, having determined, in order to encourage other compe-
titors, not to compete— a most praiseworthy course. Mr. Kershaw's interest
in the subject is, however, great, and he contributes generously to the sub-
scription list. We should have been glad to have seen some ot his
work, and, indeed, some by other contributors, at the Architectural
Exhibition.
Prizes, divided into three classes, were offered for works in marbling
wood, writing, and decorative work. The flrst-class of prizes, silver
medals and the Freedom of the Company, were awarded on Wednesday :
for marbling, to No. 36, by Jolin Taylor, 5, Compton-strect, Bermondsey ;
for wood, to (21) W. Betteridge, in the employ of Messrs. Morant, Boyd,
and Morant; writing, to (5) B. Edmett; and for decorative work, to (18),
Thomas Donatti, in the employ of Messrs. Morant and Co.
The second class of prizes— bronze medals— were awarded for marbling
to (34) Wm. Jas. Clarke, 7, Great Dover-street, Borough; writing, to (31)
D. 0. Haswell, 42, Greek-street, Soho; decorative work to (17) William
Simpson, 102, Mary-street, Ilampstead-road.
The third class— certificates of merit— for marbling, to (38) Charles
Hibblc, 22, Grafton-street, Fitzroy-square ; writing, to (30) John Henry
Trotter, 8, St. Dunstan's-hill; decorative work, to (25) C. Kitzerow, in the
employ of Messrs. Morant and Co.
It will be observed that no prizes were given for woodwork in classes
two and three, and that Messrs. Morant, Boyd, and Morant have three
workmen who received prizes.
We have to express the greatest satisfaction with the award of the
judges, the manner in which tlie whole scheme is being carried out, and
the unvarying courtesy of the members of the Company and the joint
honorary secretaries.
We may add, in their own words, that, without vainly seeking to
compete witli the national institutions which exist for the encouragement
of tlie Fine Arts, the Painter's Company conceive they act in full accord-
ance with tlieir vocations and the spirit of the age in endeavouring to give
an artistic impetus to the more mechanical of the decorative arts, and,
as far as practicable, reuniting them with the higher branches of the art
and mystery of painting. On this ground they feel they may appeal for
aid and subscriptions to the public as well as to the trade ; and they trust
that the Exhibition of 1862 will afford such testimonies of the beneficial
effects of thus enabling the artisan to manifest his capacities, that they
shall meet with encouraging sympathy any generous assistance in their
efforts.
Such testimonies are not wanting. We hope the sympathy and assist-
ance will be forthcoming.
SOCIKTY FOK THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE FINE ARTS.
THE Lord Mayor, who is one of the Vice-l'resfdcntsof this Society, having granted
to it the use of the Egyptian Hall in the Mansion House for the purpose of a
conversaz-ivne, this event came oil' on Thursday so'nnight (23rd of Hay) with great
ectdt^ between twelve and fourteen hundred persons being present, including most
of the members of the Corporation, and a great number of artists of distinction.
The Egyptian Hall was decorated with pamtiugs hung on the end walls and on
screens erected for the purpose, and the antc-hallwith water.colcr drawings, all by
the most eminent modern masters.
The LoRO Mayor, accompanied by the members of the Council, took the chair
at eight o'clock. He stated that some months ago he was applied to by the Council
ol this Society for the use of the Egyptian Hallfor the purpose of one of their cwM'crsa-
ziom'S. Intrusted temporarily as he was by the election ot^his fellow-citizens with the
custody and charge oi the palace of the city, of which that magnificent hall was a
portion, he felt bound very carefully to consider the objects of the Society before
giving his consent. Having done so, he had arrived at the conclusion that the
Society was one which was well entitled to the consideration and support of the city,
whose chief magistrate he was. It proposed to diffuse a taste for and promote a
knowledge of the Fine Arts ; not only those of design, but those of music and poetry
also, and this as a means of intellectual improvement as well as of entertainment.
No one could at this time doubt the improving as well as the pleasurable iutluenccs
of the Fine Arts. The love of the beautiful, whether in form or sound, seemed
innate in the human breast, and there was no doubt that manifestations of the
beautiful through the'agency of the Fine Arts left an enduring Impression— an im-
pression for good— on old and young. As a relief to the turmoil and labors of our
everyday working life, their soothing charm was inestimable.
With these considerations, it was with unmi.xed pleasure that he saw the magnifi-
cent display of works of art here collected in the Mansion House, and the numerous
and intelligent company which had assembled to enjoy them. He had been at many
meetings, presided at many. In that hall, but he had never been present at one
which did more honor to that hall and to the City of London. Approving heartily
of the objects and the operations of the Society so far as they had gone, he sliould
always be happy to give it his best support, and he felt it a matter of personal pride
and distinction that it should have occurred within the term of bis mayoralty_ to
afford the members and their friends an opportunity of meeting in the Mansion
House. The right hon. gentleman concluded, amidst warm and prolonged cheering,
by calling upon
Mr. H. Ottley, the Under-Secretary, who read an occasional address from the
Council, setting forth the objects oi the Society, land the nature of its operations
during the current season, including lectures in every department of the Fine Arts,
discussion meetings on art-matters, the distribution of prize medals in painting,
sculpture, architecture, music and poetry, and com'ersa::ione.%Ui'whKh the attractions
of pictorial art are combined with those of music. Tlic Council submitted that these
objects were entitled to the support and co-operation of all, who, loving art them-
selves, would see its influences extended amongst their fellow-men. Tlic address
was well received.
After a vote of thanks to the Lord Mayor, which was carried by acclamation, a.
concert followed, at wliich Mdlle. I'arepa, Mdme. Lemaire, Mdme. fiilbert. Miss
Palmer, Signer Garden!, Signer Clampi, Mr. Walworth, and other distinguished
artistes assisted. Conductors, M. Denedict and Mr. Alfred Gilbert. The company
separated a little before midnight, highly delighted with the whole proceedings.
THE STRIKE.— THE MASONS.
THE state of affairs between employers and employed remains much the same as
when our last notice appeared. Tliete arc now in London two delegates (one
from ISristol and the otiier i^rom liirmlngham) from the Mason's Society, investigating
the facts respecting the existing relations between the masters and the masons, and
It is confidently affirmed that unless some arrangement be in the meantime come to,
a general strike of tliiit branch of the building trades employed In London will shortly
take place. Should such an event occur, the masons on strike will have the support
of their brethren throughout England and Wales. The number of masons at present
out of employment in the metropoUs Is under 20.
May 31, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
451
GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS FOR THE YEAR.
PEOPLE who fancy fidelity to the interests of the profession should be
a paramount consideration, and seal up our eyes to injuries inflicted
upon the public, will probably contend thai wo ought to congratulate
architects and the building trades, instead of sympathising with tax-
payers, upon the amount of public money which it is proposed to spend
during the current year in bricks and mortar, purchase of building sites,
and repairs. But we hold that the common weal is the supreme law; the
fancied interests of a section of society must give way to the general good,
and we are convinced that the true interests of the profession are indis-
solubly bound up with those of the public. There can be no real
antagonism between a part and a whole, and the world has grown too wise,
by centuries of costly as well as of painful experience, to set up the doc-
trine of " nothing like leather " as a cardinal article of faith.
Let us suppose that Government can " encourage architecture," as the
popular phrase runs — which we greatly doubt — it can only do so at public
expense, to be defrayed out of public taxes. Every expenditure upon un-
necessary works is waste, and it therefore follows that people are unneces-
sarily and unjustly taxed. To encourage architecture is not to embark in
extensive building operations, as proved by the results of the wholesale
reconstruction of Paris, where architecture has been debased below a point
hitherto unseen, and where the artistic character has been neglected so as
to have altogether disappeared. The true and sole encouragement is to
promote the study and practice of art in constructions that are required,
for just as ornament must bo subordinate to utility, conducive to, and not
opposed to it, so must buildings serve some purpose. We may spend mil-
lions in erecting poorhouses, as in Ireland, that are now empty, or in bar-
racks, as at Aldershot, yet no one will pretend that architecture has
received a jot of encouragement thereby; and we do not suppose that, in
the present day, anyone will venture to resuscitate the obnoxious dogma
of obsolete protection that a particular trade is to be encouraged at public
expense. The millions which Government may expend upon unnecessary
works must come out of the pockets of the nation, where it would fructify
or be applied to useful and remunerative purposes. It must not be sup-
posed that, because the State did not direct the expenditure of this sum,
that it would be so much lost to architecture ; it would go to increase the
savings or wealth of the nation, and we know that, as individuals grow
rich, they love to build, while all experience proves that the public are
more judicious, as well as more liberal, patrons than any Government —
even that of the Medicis, of Louis XIV., or of George the Eourth— could
possibly be.
The reader will be surprised to learn that the total amount to be spent
in the year ending 31st March, 1862, is upwards of two millions and a
quarter sterling on buildings and operations in connexion with them. In
a former number (see ante, p. 174) we showed that 1,027,751/. were to be
spent under the army estimates, 459,502/. under the navy estimates ; and
■we now find that under the civil service estimates — Classes I., II., III., IV.,
and v., no less a sum than 877,759/. is to be similarly expended — making a
total of 2,365,048/. that will be frittered away, without apparent or equiva-
lent result, in bricks and mortar.
Let us pause to reflect upon the significance of this amount. It repre-
sents 3 per cent, upon the total expenditure of the nation. It is nearly
2Jd. in the pound of the income-tax, and more than Is. 6d. a head out of
the pockets of the entire population — of every man, woman, and child in
the three kingdoms. Of course we do not mean to say that it would be
practicable to economise the whole of this sum. Buildings have to be
erected as new wants become manifest, and those that are constructed
have to be kept in repair; still, after making the allowance in this respect
as large as is reasonable to do, evidently a very large proportion may be
saved— how much may be difficult to ascertain exactly. But if we com-
pare similar expenses in the budgets of England and France, we sliall
certainly be within the mark when we say that it would be practicable to
economise a million and a quarter sterling by proper management and
close supervision.
In Class I. of civil service estimates for public works and buildings the
vote is 773,974/., showing a decrease as compared with last year of 97,806/.
Of the vote, more than half a million is to be spent in buildings and re-
pairs, the remainder goes in furniture, hire of offices, horticulture, &c.
Koyal palaces are to cost 6,381/. less, which is gratifying as an instance of
economy practised by the Crown. Nor must it be forgotten that out
of the total (38,214/.), 18,603/. are required for palaces not occupied
by her Majesty, and one of which, Hampton Court, is a place for popular
recreation. We willingly admit there is little or no room for saving. If the
occupants of other public buildings were as economical as the Royal
household there would be no room for complaint. Our public ofl^ces take
for current repairs 38,361/., besides the surplus from former grants. Out of
this Chelsea Hospital, which ought to be charged to the armj- estimates,
takes 3,467/. The same observation applies to the Military Asylum and
the Tower. The eternal Wellington car figures for 340/., cost of its
removal to the crypt of St. Paul's. It is not a work of art by a long way.
It has no real historical association, and the best thing to be done with it
would be to dispose of it to Madame Tussaud. The rents of premises
hired for public departments amount to 25,874/. 14s. lOd. The vote will
be reduced when the Palace of Justice is constructed, but if it be allowed
to remain it will be an example of our unthrift, for the capital on which
the rents may assumed to be the interest would be more than sufficient to
build the necessary offices. The War Office is an extraordinary illustra-
tion of the scattering of departments and its cost. In Pall-mall it occupies
houses from 80 to 91, a house in Abingdon-street, one in l)elahay-me\vs,
two in Duke-street, one in Great George-street, another on Kenningtoii-
comraon, two in New-street, Spring-gardens, and two In Whitehall-yard,
at a total rental of 4,650/. This sum represents the interest upon a capital
of upwards of 150,000/., for which we believe a site could be purchased
and a noble building erected capable of affording ample accommodation
under one roof, whereby great saving would result in time, salaries of
clerks, and wages of messengers.
Our old friend the vote for furniture shows a reduction, but still remains
a snug little job. The sum to be voted is 22,400/. ; but as there is a
balance from last year of 5,000(., the total to be spent will be 27,400/. Out
of this the South Kensington and Geological Museums together with the
College of Chemistry will absorb 10,400/. A protest ought to be entered
against this system of jumbling accounts. Here in Class I. we have votes
for furniture supplied to ostabliahments that figure in Class IV., so that
the real cost is concealed. In this last class, therefore, what appears to be
the total expenditure is only a part. Again, the War Office spends
8,800/. for furniture out of the remaining 17,000/. voted for the ordinary
repair and supply of furniture, fittings, &c., while the Admiralty is
content with 10/. 19s. Can any reason be given for this disproportion?
That soldiers are destructives we know, but we were not prepared for
their exerting their ruling passion on chairs and table?. This vote
requires the most searching investigation. Either a gross job or a wanton
waste of public property is connected with it, and deserves exposure,
while the amount ought to be carried to the army estimates, with the
rents paid for offices of the War Department. It is by tliis dispersion of
accounts that waste is introduced and control rendered impossible.
For the New Houses of Parliament 54,692/. are asked for ; but as there are
57,997/. remaining from last year and the year before, it is probable the
whole will be expended. Services under the direction of the architect,
Mr. E. M. Barry, for the completion of the unfinished portion of the
building will cost 20,895/. It may be doubted whether the year will see
the last of votes for new works in connexion with the costly Palace of
Legislature. In 1858 109,040/. were voted to finish the building, and other
sums for extra services were voted. But Sir Charles Barry, according to
the letter of the Chief Commissioner, " acting, as he was accustomed to
do, on his own responsibility and without communication with this
department (of Public Works), executed many alterations, additions, and
repairs which were not contemplated in the preparation of the estimates
above mentioned, and incurred an expenditure of 21,286/. on works not
included in that estimate. Of this sum 4,100/. were spent on official
residences at the Palace; 5,300/. on the Victoria and Clock Towers " and
other minor •vorks. The sum, therefore, has to be replaced — but we are not
so sanguine as to expect either in our day or in that of our great grand-
children the new works will come to an end. For works not under the
direction of the architect 30,597/. will be required, including 4,750/. for
casual internal and external repairs; 4,443/. for cost of works for warmings
ventilating, and lighting ; 6,934/. for gas and oil lamps; 6,455/. for clean-
ing and repairing furniture ; 2,600/. for fuel; and 1,300/. for dusting the
House of Commons and supplying mats, &c., showing that the late Daniel
O'Connell was not wrong in calling it a " very dirty house." Two tem-
porary sheds for fresco-painters at the south end of the building are to
cost 370/. — more than a couple of laborers' cottages. We doubt if such a
piece of extravagance can be paralleled anywhere else. A few scaffold-poles
and some yards of canvas would have sufficed, as they do in France. But
these costly sheds must surely be works of art, carved and polished maho-
gany. Four statues of British sovereigns are to cost 3,200/., the price of
each being but little more than double the expense of the fresco sheds.
Embassy houses in Paris, Constantinople, Ther»pia and Madrid require
3,035/., and the Constantinople Consulate 2,982/. bring up to 15,865/. the
total cost of the works. For the formation of the AVestminster-bridge
approaches 53,000/., and for the bridge 3,914/., besides 27,000/. balances
from previous votes. For the new Foreign Office 30,000/. were voted last
year, and a similar sum is asked in the present session, leaving 140,000/. to
be subsequently supplied to make up the 200,000/. — the estimate for com-
pleting Mr, Scott's design. 8,200/. are required to complete the cost —
34,640/. of the General Register house, Edinburgh ; 1 1,200/. in addition to
15,000/. already voted for the Industrial Museum in the same city, leaving
another 15,000/. to be voted to complete the works. Aberdeen TJniversity
takes 6,870/. for new college buildings. Glasgow Cathedral 800/. for
stained glass in the east window, and Dublin National Gallery 3,000/.
Harbors of refuge at Dover, Alderney and Portland will require 160,000/.
which, with the probable surplus from former grants, will make the sum
to be expended this year 193,000/. Holyhead and Portland harbors, with
the works at Spurn point, take 46,702/. which, with the balance from former
grants will make this year's expenditure 66,702/. The history of Holy-
head harbor is an apt illustration of the want of foresight and of the cost
which it entails. The original estimate was 808,063/., then came extension
works, estimated at 390,000/., bringing up the total presumed cost in 1855
to 1,198,063/. The next year came| 3,000/. increase for landing-place
railway, and 102,000/. for extending the northern breakwater by 500 feet,
swelling the estimates to 1,303,063/. ; and in 1857-8 proposed further
works, making the total aggregate estimates up to the present time
1,920,000/., on account of which there have been voted from 1845 to 1860
1,188,000/., leaving 732,000/. to be supplied, but a large part of which it is
hoped will be economised, — a delusive hope, we fear. Thus the cost of the
works will be twice and a half the original estimates — an excess only to be
paralleled by the Houses of Parliament. At Kew, 20,000/. are necessary
to complete the new temperate house.
Public buililings in Ireland are to cost 84,556/., out of which 64,556/. are
to be voted, of which the principal items are 3.296/. for the repairs of
Dublin Castle, 1,500/. for a new palm-house for the Royal Dublin Society,
45'2
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 31, 1861.
ijOMl. for new Probate Court* 3,000/. towarcjs building new schools, 3,000/.
for Enniscortliy school, and 4,000/. for Limerick constabulary barracks. In
Ireland, 4,329/. are asked for coastguard buildings, and 25,839/. for national
edacation buildings. Lighthouses abroad will take 32,600/., and Highland
roads and bridges 5,000/. Such are the chief items under Class I. of the
Civil Service Estimates for building expenditure.
In Class XL the department of Works and Public Buildings will cost
for salaries and office expenses 30,333/., including the salary of First
Commissioner, 2,000/.; secretary, 1,300/.; architect and surveyor, 1,500/.;
and surveyor of works, 1.000/. In the office of Woods and Forests there
is an architect at a yearly salary of 800/. a year, and in the Poor-Law
Commission an arclutect at 360/. The Board of Public Works in Ireland
costs 24.569/., which, if contrasted with that in England, will show, when
population is taken into account, excessive disproportionate expendi-
ture, for the cost of superintendence is more than 25 per cent, upon actual
outlay.
In Class IV., 110,000/. are distributed in grants towards building, en-
larging, and furnishing elementary and normal schools, making a total
of 1,338,080/. expe.aded for this purpose during the last thirty years ; at
South Kensington, 4,600/. are to be expended in repairs, and 15,000/. io new
buildings, and 10,025/. are to be spent on the general repairs and
maintenance of the British Museum. In Class lU., upwards of 100,000/.
are to be expended chiefly in barracks for constabulary and prisons, and
Class V. about 25,000/. for colonial purposes. Altogether we have
the sum before stated of 877,759/. provided under Civil Service Estimates,
and of that but 50,000/. can be said to be applied to architectural works
the completion of the new Palace at Westminster, and the commencement
of Mr. Scott's Foreign-office.
ARCHITECTURE AND THE TURKISH BATH.
OUR baths hitherto have affirded but little scope for the talent of the
architect in the way of artistic design ; although their advantageous
economical arrangement, and suitable and scientific construction, have
given occasion for the display of a large amount of constructive skill.
Our only Urge baths have been those erected by our parishes for the
healthful use of the poorer inhabitants, and not as places of luxury or
resort, so that economy has had in all cases to be strictly considered.
The interiors of these baths, with the exception of the swimming-bath, are
necessarily cut up and subdivided so as to admit of but little beauty of
decoration, and no grandeur of arrangement.
Economy of space and convenience necessarily having in these buildings
been almost the sole objects of the architect's attention, while the separate
warm or cold baths, to eacli of which as small an amount of space has been
allotted as would absolutely answer the purposes required, and half-an-
honr being the time allowed for undressing, bathing, and dressing, the
bather is not in the position to expect or appreciate any taste displayed in
beautifying the bath-room.
While the private establishments, except at the sea-side, have not
attaineil any size, and the division of these in the same way as the public
baths into small separate rooms, into one of which alone the bather enters ;
is equally opposed to any great amount of taste or skill in designing.
At the sea-side, indeed, sometimes large wailing or reading-rooms are
attached, hut we do not remember any striking result being produced by
these opportunities.
But now there is a movement ivhich has already made great progress,
■which seems likely to make the baths again one of the important and
•triking buildings of the European city, as in the days of ancient Rome.
For the apparent novelty of the Turkish bath is neither more or less than
the revival in London of the process and form of bathing that produced in
Rome the baths of Caracalla and Diocletian, which vast edifices contained
the combined conveniences of vast ranges of cold and warm baths like ours,
swimming baths, gymnasiums, grounds for racing, and for trials of skill,
and the noble suite of buildings peculiarly adapted for and required by the
system of variously heated air-bathing lately introduced into England
under the name of the Turkish bath ; the porticoes under which the
bathers lounged and waited, and the requisite reservoirs and furnaces
for that particular process completing the buildings, the vast remains of
which have caused so much able discussion and explanation among our
learned antiquaries and architects. Our buildings will not attain to such
size and magnificence as these, for our population, for the most part, have
something else to do besides passing the greater portion of the day at the
baths, as was the custom of thousands in the Imperial city; still, if this
mode becomes fashionable and permanently general, it must necessitate a
peculiar form of buildings that will present great scope for modern
ingenuity, antiquarian knowledge, and constructive skill, and also very
ample fitness and occasion for varied and appropriate decoration.
For as the process has been handed down by the Turks without altera-
tion from the liomans of Byzantium, and the forms of the buildings
erected and used for the pur])ose have been throughout the whole length of
the time of their use in Turkey, identical in their general arrangement with
those of Rome and Pompeii, therefore, when revived again in this country
on the scale and the style that they seem likely to attain, when we hear
that three companies are in the course of formation for the purpose, we
inay certainly look for buildings in scale, peculiarity of plan and construc-
tion, use of our modern improvements in materials and beauty of decora-
tion, that we have never before seen in this country in buildings used for
baths.
To see more clearly why there will be in buildings appropriately
designed for this kind of bathing, this extra scope for skill in arrangement
and invention, and use of new materials, and also more particularly to see
why there will be much more necessity, and much more legitimate use,
for beauty of decoration ; let us briefly see of what the buildings consist
that are generally erected and used for this system of bathingat the present
time in Turkey.
The first apartment is a large round hall covered with a dome, in which
there is an opening like that in the roof of the Pantheon at Rome, which
is. indeed, supposed by some to have been a chamber in one of the Roman
baths ; against the walls is a platform divided into dressing-rooms, each
containing a couch: in the centre of this round chamber is a pleasantly
splashing fountain ; from the opening in the roof comes a gently cooling
breeze, and the whole object is to refresh and cool, for this is the
frigidarium of the Romans. The next large chamber is usually rectangular
paved with marble, and provided with couches, this chamber is raised to a
temperature of moderate warmth, and is very dimly lighted, often only by
lamps ; here the bather reclines till the perspiration breaks out— this is
the Roman tepidarium. The third and last is the caldarium, and often closely
resembles the first, but that all air from without is excluded, and the air is
raised artificially to a very great heat ; it is usually covered with a dome,
with very small lights containing painted glass. Here all the principal
operations take place, after which the bather returns to cool in the frigi-
darium previous to leaving the baths.
Certainly these three spacious rooms, each with their special purposes,
two of them with their special apparatus, concealed or contained in the
walls, for raising them to their respectively required heat, seem to give an
ample field for the exercise of ingenuity in their plan, roofing, hollow
walls, fittings, and heating apparatus, in which our modern inventions of
hollow bricks, perforated tiles, encaustic tiles, and enamelled slate, seem
fitted to take an important part, while the timethatthebathers must pass in
each of the three halls — the whole time spent in the baths in Turkey often
being three or four hours— the facts, that numbers of bathers can recline or
sit or stand and converse together, as is a common custom in the East,
while using their pipes and sipping their eoflfee and that in two of the
apartments the only bathing operations are in the tepidarium to recline
and get hot, and in the frigidarium to recline and get cool again, seem to
point to the necessity and legitimacy of artistic decoration, to make those
apartments pleasant, and agreeable to the eye and mind of the bather, and
also by the difl'erence of color to aid in the purposes of the respective
chambers; but the decoration must have this important limit, which, how-
ever only applies to the tepidarium and the caldarium, and more
particularly to the latter, [namely, that it must be of a kind not to be
injured by heat or vapor, of which although not essential, a considerable
quantity will of course arise from the hot water used in the caldarium,
particularly at the end of the day.
After these general remarks, the questions naturally suggest themselves
where shall we go forour models in designing these on the most complete
and best principles ? and what styles of design are most appropriate for
them.
As the only working and modern examples arethose in the East, of
course that is the first place to look for them, and we have already admi-
rable accounts of their arrangements, the process performed, and of all the
externals that present themselves to the ordinary traveller and bather ;
but to design buildings for the same purposes here we require further in-
formation, such as photographs or sketches of the buildings, plans of the
furnaces, and sections of the walls and floors. These, we should imagine,
are difficult to obtain, and architects or artists at present in Turkey
would do good service by forwarding such information as they may be
able to acquire.
As regards information from the ruins of former results of the bathing
mania of the ancient Romans, the remains at Rome are too large and com-
plicated to be of much service in giving suggestions for our modern use,
except as suggesting that it would be sometimes convenient to combine
the swimming and warm and cold baths of our common use in the same
building with the Turkish bath of recent importation, and also whetherit
would not be good to learn from the fact that in the enclosure of the
Roman baths were generally included a parade or exercising ground, and
gymnasium for the youth of Rome, that it might be sometimes convenient
to attach or build near to the parade ground of our rifle corps, gymnasium
and baths.
But the most valuable models left us by the Romans on account of their
more moderate size, and their simple arrangement, being almost identical
with that of the Turkish buildings described above, are the baths at
Pompeii, found to be almost perfect as last used when brought to light
again by the removal of the ashes that had hid them for centuries from
the sight of men. A glance at the plan and section of these baths, in Sir
W. Cell's Pompeiana will show their arrangement. There are three
large halls, differing in form, however, from those of the Turks; for at
Pompeii they are all rectangular and ranged side by side, communicating
with each other, and all of them covered with a waggon vault of stone.
The frigidarium and tepidarium were ornamented with fresco, especially
the latter, the walls and ceilings of which were covered with subjects rich
in design and color. The caldarium is not so elaborately decorated, and
what there is, is mostly by means of raised plasterwork, and apparently
not much colored on account of the vapor. Moveable couches were found
in the tepidarium.
In the caldarium, owing to both the pavement and the wall being in
some places broken, the means of raising the temperature was to be plainly
seen at the time of the excavation. The whole of the walls had a lining of
bricks or tiles strongly connected with the outer wall by cramps of iron
about 4 inches from it, so as to leave a space by which the hot-air might
ascend from the furnace and increase almost equally the temperature of
May 31, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
453
the whole room; the floors were supported on bricks or stones on end, so
as to leave a number of flues under it for the passage of heated air. At
one end of this room was a warm-bath, and at the other a circular basin
of marble. Attached to the frigidarium in these baths is a cold plunge
bath of white marble in a building circular in the interior and square exter-
nally, which, althougli Sir William Gell calls it the natatio, is much to
small for a swimming-bath. These few remarks may serve to show what
may be learnt for our present purpose from the baths of tlie Romans ;
wliich brings us to the second question into which we proposed to inquire
— namely, with our modern experience and knowledge of styles of decora-
tion, which would be most appropriate for the decoration of these buildings.
The feelings of antiquarian association would lead us to choose the Roman
or Pompeian style, with a considerable use of enamelled slate and encaustic
tiles; and in the interior of the frigidarium and tepidarium the Pompeian
mode of coloring would be both appropriate and good: tl.en the Eastern as-
sociation and the vaulting of the roofs or domes would lead us to give at least
a slightly Eastern character to them. The same feeling and the almost
necessary use of colored tiles in the decoration of at least the heated
chambers would make us incline to a style considerably Alhambra-like in
its character; butasin whatever style they may be designed, we hope that
as the internal arrangement will be unmistakably denoted in the form of
the exterior, and, therefore, necessarily entail a considerable portion of
blank wall, I do not think that there is any more appropriate style than
the plainest form of our modified Verona Gothic, with colored brickwork,
which in Italy harmonises well with dome-like roofs; and the interiors
could be well designed in this style, with a practical use of tiles for tlie
flues, and also for the colored decoration of the walls. It is not very often
that buildings for a new purpose, and consequently of new forms and
arrangements, are introduced into our country ; let us, therefore, hope that
if this movement does, as we expect, give us such new opportunities, that
the promoters and the architects employed may know how to make the
most of them. R. D.
USE AND ABUSE OF ESTIMATES. *
THE general public in their treatment of Estimates show but a very
moderate appreciation of the nature of them, and usually ignore
altogether the fact that the preparation of an estimate is a work of some
labor, and on that and other grounds ought to be considered in the light of
an obligation conferred upon the parties who are to have the use of it.
Perhaps builders themselves help not a little to bring about this feeling ;
if they were to make a little more of a favor of giving in a tender for
works, or were occasionally to make something of a stand and assert their
claim that a tender or tenders wtien sent in shall be treated in a proper
manner, it would be better for them.
When several builders are invited to submit tenders for works, the
understanding or tacit engagement is something like the following — that
the parties inviting tenders undertake to erect the proposed building, that
they would be satisfied to employ the builders named, any one of them,
and that they will employ the one whose tender is the lowest.
When works are offered for public tender by advertisement, the
conditions are altered by the fact that no precaution is taken to sift the
names of tlie parties tendering, but that any one may apply. Now it is
universally understood that in important aflfairs men are not to be
expected to transact business through the first-comer without knowledge
of who he is or what are his resources and his character. We do not,
therefore, think any injustice committed by holding to the usual stipula-
tions, that a means of judging of these things shall be supplied — in other
words, that references, often sureties, shall be required. The under-
standing in cases of tliis sort, then is — first, as before, that the building is
to be erected ; second, that no selection of builders being previously
made, the advertisers reserve to themselves the right of satisfying them-
selves that those who apply are persons to whose hands they would be
■willing to commit the work; but thirdly that, as before, subject to this
reservation they will give the work to the lowest bidder.
Perhaps it will be felt, and is felt, to be a cause of regret that of the two
essentials goodness of character and lowness of price, the latter should be
the one so much sought after. There is often a bad economy in taking the
lowest bidders, frequently, there is even no saving of money. Be this,
however, as it may, we must take the case as it stands just at the present.
Lowness of price is now considered an essential for almost all building
operations, a system has been organized under which intending contractors
are willing to underbid each other, and to put themselves to trouble with
the chance of being below their neighbors in amount. What under such
a system is incumbent on competing contractors ? what on the proprietors
to whom they give in tenders ?
We strongly urge, in the first place, that the transaction ouglit to be honii
fide. The amount of fictitious business of this sort about is more than is
supposed, and occurs on both sides.
Builders send in tenders that are really little better than guesses, and
which, if accepted, will involve them in loss, perhaps ruin, and their em-
ployers in disappointment and dissatisfaction. The public advertise or
write for tenders when they have little intention of building, and equally
little intention of giving the work to the man who fairly earns it, because
they want to see what the thing will cost ; or because, having selected
some one to do the work, they think a competition the best way to make
him keep his prices low.
Again, and this is a serious cause of just complaint, in cases where the
whole tran.sactioa is genuine enough in other respects, it is to be|regretted
that too often contractors send in an estimate not at all representing the
sum they intend to claim as payment, and if this tender is accepted, they
enter upon a hand-to-haud struggle with the architect, wliich lasts till
the completion of the final settlement of accounts, and which has for its
object the enlargement of the price by " extras " of every sort and kind
and shape.
There is some sort of excuse for the "extras" system in the circum-
stances of the case, but it is a very bad one, and the less we hear of it the
better, for it resolves itself not into a fair price for an honest job, but into
a struggle on the builder's side to get this that andihe otlier "allowed,"
or, on the other side, to avoid allowing it.
It is, however, the plan of employing builders' tenders as means for
the satisfying an idle curiosity or serving a private purpose that we most
earnestly deprecate. That portion of the tacit agreement which we just
now sketched out, in which the intention to build is set down as part of
the understanding, is as important and as real as any other. No man who
has not made up his mind to build ought to go and get a number of con-
tractors to give him a price for the work, unlUout paijing them for their
trouble. That which induces them to take the trouble and to run the risk
of finding themselves placed in a somewhat impleasant position, is the hope
of, nay the chance of getting work, i.e., getting a building to do. If this
chance does not really exist, it ought not to be held out, and where it does
exist it ought to be arranged for in the fairest manner possible.
Some one will, perhaps, say, in remonstrance to all this— But cannot I
know, before I go on with my building, or before I make up my mind
whether I will go on or will not, what the cost of it will be; and when
builders are so ready to give in a price and are asking me to allow them
to do so, am I not to avail myself of the offer? The answer is simple
enough.
It is prudent to know beforehand what the cost of a building is, and it
is often wiser to go to a contractor and get his opinion; but then let it
be understood what you are about. Go and say you want to have this
information, and when you have got it consider that you have had a, favor
shown you, or else pay for what has been done for you, like any other
service that you get performed. You have had plans, perhaps, and you
pay for the preparation of the plans. If a builder, instead of your sur-
veyor, is to make you the estimate you require, surely he must be paid
also, either in cash or by a fair prospect of employment.
Another unfairness, committed every now and then, occurs where there
is a real intention to build, and where the building is actually put up, but
the contractor, whose price was lowest, is not accepted although he is un-
exceptionable in character.
In a limited competition this is perfectly inexcusable. All inquiries about
business character are supposed to have been made before the tenders are
sent in, and unless some very extraordinary circumstance occurs to put
the thing in a new light, the lowest competitor has an undoubted claim
for the preference. For what else do men bid against one another in this
kind of Dutch auction, unless it be for the building? and what use is
there in writing to ask men to tender unless they are considered 3t for
employment ?
Although as we have said, other considerations must be taken into
account in deciding the result of a competition when tenders are invited
by public advertisement, yet in the main the obligation remains the sjme.
The advertiser is bound to employ the lowest bidder if he can, notwith-
standing that, if he cannot, he has a reasonable power of witliholding the
employment; he is, however, we hold equally, or nearly as much bound to
the competitor whose price stood next in amount to the lowest one, as he
was to that one: in short, and in plain English, ifa person puts contractors
to trouble because iie is going to build a house, they have a natural right
to e-xpect that he is going to build it ; and if he makes them all give him
prices under color of wishing to know the lowest that it can be done for,
he ought to consider himself bound to let the contractor whose figure
was the lowest actually erect the building.
On the other side, contractors, if they wish to he treated uniformly with
fairness, ought to be at times firm enough to remonstrate, and to decline
to tender where unfair play is manifestly intended ; and lastly, they ought
also to use every precaution to see that their estimates are genuine and
honest, if they wish the treatment they receive to be so also.
R. S.
• Continued from page 382.
MANCHESTER AECHITECTDR.VL ASSOCIATION^.
AT a meeting of tliLs Association, held on the evening of Wednesday, the 15th Inst,
the Vice-l'residcnt in the chair, a paper was read by Mr. Lawrence Booth ;
subject, " Architects and Builders." In reviewing the condition of the architectural
profession and the building trade, the essayist referred to many causes which
operated injuriously on the interests of both, and endeavoured to show that tlie
interests were injured by the same causes and in the same ratio. Alludiu"; to the
subject of cheap building, he remarked " that we Uve in times and under iniluences
peculiarly favorable to the development of a desire lor cheapness in buildiug, as in
everything else. Nor is there anything in this desire to condemn. It is natural,
and the principle involved in it is commercially sound. It is necessary, however,
that the word ' cheap ' should be clearly understood. There is no such thing as
cheap building, in the sense understood by those who apply the term to lowness of
price, exclusive of other considerations. Cheapness consists in economising labor
and materials by building; on the most approved and scientific principles with the
best materials, according to well matured plans, giving the most complete accom-
modation, and withal due attention to appearance or artistic etfeet, always as much
as possible making construction conduce thereto." The essayist concluded with an
elaborate description of the architect's mission as being the *' benetiting of mankind
morally and materially," and an earnest appeal for energetic and united action to
secure its fulfilment. An animated discussion followed the reading of the paper, in
which the sentiments of the. essayist were in a great measure approved and sup-
ported. A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Booth for his paper, and the meeting
was concluded by the Secretary announcing the business for the next three
meetings.
454
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 31, 1861.
RUTLAND CHURCHES, No. 16.
NORMANTON.
THERE are eleven other places of the same name, they being respectively in
the counties of Lincoln, Leicester, Nottinjtham, Derby, and York ; eleven
of these Xonnantons were in the kin$rdom of Mercia, under the Saxon heptarchy,
the other having been in the kingdom of Northumbria. The etymology of these
places dates from the An^lo-Saxon era, and it is reasonable to conjecture that
the sites were selected by clans or tribes from the north, hence the name (North-
man's town) of their place of residence in this country. Ton, the origin of our
Bodera wonl town, is pure Anglo-Saxon. Its original meaning is an enclosed
vpaae. The early settlements of the Anglo-Saxons required this precaution, as
beasts of prev were common in the land. The great forest of the Coritani ex-
tended over liutland, which afforded secure shelter for wild beasts, which in-
cluded the bull, boar, wolf, cow, moose deer, and even the bear ; the last named
continuing in some parts of England till the Conquest. Doroesdny Book in-
forms us that in the time of EdwEU^ the Confessor (whose wife owned the adjoming
.aiaBorof £(li(hwestou) the city of Norwich supplied annually one bear to the
Xing and six dogs for baiting it. Although the wild animals just referred to no
koger roam in our woods or forests, the species of dogs that chased them still
continue amongst us. The hound and the bulldog were invaluable to the
primeval Britons, and were also much prized by those who succeeded them in
the occupation of this countr)-— the Romans. The village here, which was de-
populated in the lifetime of Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 4th Baronet, was situated on
the slope of the valley of the Gwash. Not only the Anglo-Saxons.but their pre-
decessors (the Britons and Romans) formed their towns and villages by the sides
of rivers, the facilities the water-courses offered for communication with inland
places, the roads intersecting the counti^ being few and difficult to traverse in
those primitive times, being their chief inducement for selecting such sites for
their liabitations. Many of our rivers retain the names given to them by our
ancient Britons, which may be accounted for from the fact of their running
tlirough several counties, whilst the names of places of limited extent have been
adopted since the retirement of the Romans from this country. Whether a place
iledicated to Pagan worship at any time existed here is unknown. That the
Anglo-Saxons possessed a church at Normanton is very probable, although
history respecting it is silent. The earliest information extant of a church here
is that in the 12th reign of Henry 111. (1128) Robert de Albiniaco presented to
it. The Lincoln registeralso says that he was again presented to it in the 17tli
year of that reign. Four years afterwards Lord Gilbert de Umfreville was the
patron; and in the 25th Edward I. (1297) Lady Eustachia, relict of Sir Gerard
de lauecart, presented John de Schirebome to it, by reason of the custody of
Ediiiinul, fon and heir of Sir Thomas de Normanville and of the manor of Nor-
manton. iS'o drawing of the medieval church that stood here, and which was
probably erected after the Conquest, is known to be extant. The fabric was taken
down in 17t>4, in the lifetime of Sir Gilbert Heathcote, .')rd Baronet, five years
after the death of his father, Sir John Heathcote. It was replaced by a small
and very plain edifice, of which the nave and chancel remain, these parts being
remarkably free from ornament. Its style of architecture may be termed Italian,
of the most unpretending character, in 1826 the west front was erected by Mr.
Cundy, of London, at a cost to the late Sir Gilbert Heathcote of several thousand
ponnds : it consists of a circular portico and a tower; it is said that the design
for this tower was taken from St. John's church, Westminster, which fabric was
one of the principal works executed by Sir John Vanbrugh, and who also was
the architect of the north front of Grimsthorpe Castle, Blenheim House, the
Opera House, Haymarket, &c. It has been remarked of him that his reputation
was greater as a poet than as a painter. The four towers of St. John's churcli
show only little originality in the design, the Choragic monument of Lysicrates,
at Athens, erected in the lllth Olympiad, having prob,ibly suggested the
outline, and which is engraved in "Stuart's Antiquities of Athens." The con-
servation of that magnificent specimen of Athenian architecture to our own day
is attributed to the good taste and right feeling of a Franciscan recluse. The
basement of the portico of this church, which is of the Ionic order, is approached
by a sweep of four steps, from the highest of which rise four pillars, supporting
an entablature, the frieze, as is usual in this order, being plain, and the archi-
trave and cornice exhibiting tlie characteristic enrichments, the ovolo moulding
predominating. The ovolo or egg oniament has been from time immemorial
among the ancients the symbol ot the Being who created all things, and hath all
things within himself: and in the hieroglyphics of Egypt, and in the mysterious
rights of Jlitbias, it is a symbolical figure of frequent occurrence. The circular
tower, liketheChoragic monument Iwfore alluded to, exhibits the Corinthian order.
The cardinal sides have circular-headed and circular openings, each angle being
enriched with a pillar between two pilasters. The cupola is surmounted by a
foliated flnial. Of the five orders, the Corinthian is considered to be the most
beautiful. The Corinthian columns, which represent the delicate figure of a
young girl, owe their birth to the following accident : " A young woman of
Coriiith being dead, her nurse placed on her tomb a basket containing
certain trinkets in which she deUghtcd when alive, covering it with a tile,
to shelter them from the weather. The basket happened accidentally to be set
on a root of an acanthus, which pushing forth its leaves and sprigs in the
spring, covered the sides of it, and some of them longer than the rest, being ob-
structed by the angles of the tile, were forced downwards, and by degrees curled
into the form of volutes. Callimachus, a celebrated sculptor passing near the
toini), observed the ba.sket, and in how graceful a manner the leavei of the acan-
thus had surrounded it : the form pleased him exceedingly, and he imitated it on
the tops of some columns, which he afterwards executed at Corinth, establishing
and regulating, by this model, the maimer and proportioni of the Corinthian
order." The interior of the church needs only little description. It liasone en-
trance.—from the portico, the vestibule containing a double flight of stone steps
leading to the pew or gallerv, erected across the west end of the nave, occupied
lythe noble family residing at the hall. The nave is entered by a door under
this gallery. All the furniture is in character with this part of the fabric, being
very plain. Four circular-headed windows light the nave, two in each wall, and
tbe usual east window the chancel. Upon the walls art: various marble tablets,
all recording the deaths of members of the Heathcote family. The church is
dedicated to St. Matthew, the Apostle and Evangelist, the auniversarv being held'
on the 2lBt of September. Having completed the Gospel of St. Matthew, he
travelled into Ethiopia, where he converted multitudes of the heathens : thence 'je
paawd into Parthia, but returning to Ethiopia to superintend his churches lie
mat seized at Nadabar, and slain with a halbert about the year 60. The embltm
of this Evangelist is a hatchet, probably from the resemblance of that instrument
to a halbert. He is also frequently depicted with a pen in his hand, and a scroll
before hmi, looking over his left shoulder at an angel apparently dictating to him •
but m tliosc pictures a halbert is always placed near his person. The church
first instituted St. Matthew's festival in the year 1090. The oldest and most
costly monument in the cliurch was erected to the memory of the first Sir Gilbert
Heathcote, the " merchant prince." It contains the following inscription :—
"To the memory ot Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Knight and Haronet, a person of great
natural endowments, improved by long experience, ready to appreliend, slow to de-
termine, resolute to act, a zealous friend to the rights and liberties of mankind. In
offices of power and trust true to his own and his country's honor. A great instru-
ment in founding and well governing the Bank of England. In the year 1711 was
Lord Mayor of London, which city he governed with courage and temper after having
represented it m four successive I'arimmcnts with dignity and Integrity from the
year iroi, A kind landlord, a steady friend, an alTectioimte relation. In his charac-
ter unblemished. In his extensive trade without a lawsuit." Above the foregoing
at the base of his bust, is the following:-" Gilbert Heathcote, born at Chcstertield,
m Uerbyshire, married Hester, daughter of Christopher K,iyiu'r, of London, mer-
chant, died .January 20, 1733-4. aged 82. Left issue Sir John Heathcote ; Anne, mar-
ried to bir Jacob Jacobson, of London, Knight; Elizabeth, married to Sigismund
Trafford, of Lincolnshire, Esq. Had six younger brothers, eminent merchants,
happy in his friendship."
The above monument is crowned by a medallion bust of the deceased, upon
which is leaning a cupid with expanded wings. Below the inscription, in re-
lief, are the insignia of office of the Lord Mayor of London, viz., mace, sword, and
cap of maintenance, and shield of family arms, within two cornucopias (horns of
plenty, an emblem of abundance), the representation of the fruit and flowers
proceeding from them being exquisitely carved. The sculptor was John
Michael Rysbrack, an emment artist ; he was born at Antwerp in 1694, and came
to England in early life. Westminster Abbey and various cathedrals contain
specimens of his ability, amongst which may be named those at Westminster to
thememory of Sir Isaac Newton, the Duke of Mariborough, Admiral Vernon,
Sir Richard Kane, Ben Jonson, John Milton, John Gay, Earl James Stanhope,
Ear! Philip Stanhope, Earl Charles Stanhope, Lord Methuen (Lord Chancellor
of Ireland), Sir Godfrey Kncller, Dr. Friend, &c. Rysbrack died in 1770.—
Below we give the incriptions upon the other monuments in the church here,
those erected to the memory of the late Sir Gilbert Heathcote (4th Baronet) and
his second wife being in the vestibule.
. Near this place are deposited tbe remains of Sir John Heathcote, Bart., eldest and
only surviving son of Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Baronet, an affectionate husband, a
kind parent, a worthy gentleman. He was born irm. He married 1720, Bridget,
daughtci of Thomas Wliite, ot Wallingwells, in Nottinghamshire, Esquire, by whom
he had two sons and seven daughters, .and died September the 5th, 1759. Tliis
monument was erected by his son and heir. Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Bart.
Here lie the remains of Lady Heathcote, wife of Sir John Heathcote, Bart., who
departed this Ufo, May S, 1772, in her 68th year. Her son. Sir Gilbert Heathcote,
Bart., hath put up this monument of her virtues and his affection.
In the family vault are deposited the mortal remains of the llight Honorable the
Lady JIargaret Heatlicote, second daughter of Philip Earl of Hardwicke, Lord
High Chancellor of Great Britain, and wife of Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Bart., a lady who
by the elegance of lier person, the accomplishments of her mind, and all the virtues
whicli adorn the different characters she sustained of daughter, wife, friend, and
mistress, merited and secured the regard and esteem of all who approached her. She
was born March the 21st, 17:W. was married June the 22nd, 1740, and dy'd, after a
lony state of ill health, in eliild-bed, August the 19th, 17iiy. This stone is inscribed
to her memory by Sir (iilbert Heathcote, with the truest sentiments of affection and
gratitude.
Near this place are deposited the remains of Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Bart. , who died
the 2nd of December, 1785, aged C4 years. He married to his first wife the Lady
Margaret, second daughter of I'hilip Earl of Hardwicke, and to his second wife,
Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Kobert Hudson, Esq., by whom he left issue three
sons and one daughter. He was a man of the strictest integrity of heart, most
unaffected humility of mind, and a temper and manner truly fiiimane and gentle.
His greatest happiness consisted hi the domestic scene, andin allita relations he was
kind and aflectionate.
To the memory of Lady Heathcote, the second wife of Sir Gi'tjert Heatlicote,
Bart., and daughter of Robert Hudson, Esq., of Tcddington, Middlesex, who died
July It, 181.'!, and is interred in the vault beno.ith this church. All the duties of life
she eminently discharged, affording a worthy example of imitation. As she lived
much respected she died sincerely lamented by her relatives and all who had the
pleasure of her acquaintance.
John Heatlicote, Esq., died October the 7th, 1802, aged 27 years. (Son of the pre-
ceding, and brother to tbe late Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 4th Baronet.)
To the memory of the Right Hon. Lady Sophia Heathcote, wife of Sir Gilbert
Heathcote, 4th Baronet, by whom she had three sons, and daughter of Louisa,
Countess of Dysart, and .John Miinners, Esq., eldest son of Lord William Manners.
She departed this life the 28th of May, 1825, with holy hope and awtul submission to
tbe righteous will of God.
To the memory of Lady Heathcote, second wife of Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Bart.
who died October 2l8t, 1842. Generous and open-hearted, steady in her friendship,
•affable and kind in her manners, she was beloved by her husband and esteemed and
respected by all who knew her.
Ah 1 Charlotte, when thy beauty's flower
Bid fee! the winter's air.
The remembrance of the time would come
When thou alone was fair.
(Her ladyship was fatally burnt at the seat at Burdans, near Epaom, by her clothes
taking fire during the temporary absence of the attendant, her state of mind having
been such for some time previous to her death as to require surveillance.)
To the memory of Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Bart., born 2nd of October, 1773, succeeded
his father (4th Baronet) 2nd December, 178.5. At an early age he inherited those
principles of independence and attaehmeiit to the general rights of mankind which
distinguislied him in after life. In 179(S lie was elected member of Parliament for the
county of Lincoln, which he represented eleven years. In 1S12 he was chosen
member of Parliament for the county of Rutland, and retained that seat twenty-nfne
years, til! the year 1841, when he retired into private lifewitli this striking testimony
of tlie confidence of liis constituents, that during Ids long Parliamentary career of
forty years he never had a contest. He was lioiiorable in sentiment, affectionate in
disposition, cautious in forming friendships, but zealous in maintaining tliem : a kind
master and an indulgent landlord. He died at his house, Durdnns. in tlie county of
Surrey, on tlie 26th of March, 1851, in the 77t!i year of ills age, and lies buried in the
vault oeneatli.
[The remains of the late Sir Gilbert Heatlicote, and those of his second wife, are
interred in a vault entered from the vestibule, the old one in the chancel being per-
manentlj^ closed.]
There is in the nortli transept of TFurst Pierrepont church, Sussex, which is ap-
propriated to the Campion family, a Aviiite marble monument, containing this in-
scription :— " In this chancel lie the remains of Henrietta wife of Henry Courthorpe
Campion, of Danny, Esq., and younsest daughter of Sir Jolin Heathcote, of Nor-
manton, in the county of Rutland, Baronet, who died llth of February, 1771, in the
.'Mtli year of her age. She was truly exemplary in tlie discliarge of all herfilial
duties; a kind and affectionate wife, a tender and careful parent, a sincere, devout,
and charitable Christian. In the same vault are deposited the remains of Bridget
\
May 31, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
455-
their only daughter, who died 13th February, 1797, in her 28thy ear." [I'revlous to
the re-erection of this chureh the above monument was placed in the chancel. The
present reprenentativc of this family is William John ('ampion, Esq., of Danny-
place, near Hurst I'lerrepont, a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant for Sussex.]
From the west side of the valley the chureh has more the appearance of a
mausoleum than ii place wherein divine service is performed. The burial-ground
is quite level, not a hilloclc or slab being vi.sible to remind the living; of the debt
they must themselves inevitably pay. The whole is protected from desecration by
iron palisades. The Ven. Tlios. Kaye Bonney, Archdeacon of Leicester (1844), is
the rector, which preferment he has held since 1814 : he is also rector of Coningsby,
to which lie was admitted in the same year, and Prebend of Lincoln (1844) : lie
is author of " Archidiaconal Charges." The population of this parish, according
to tlie census just talcen, amounts to only 69, and the majority of these consist of
Lord Haviland's household. This number, however, shows an increase upon
1851 of 24 souls; but at that time tlie occupants at the Hall were more limited,
the late Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Bart., residing at Durdans, near Epsora. About
200 yards beyond the church, in a north-easterly direction, is the Hall ; it is
situated about midway on the extended slope oi the valley, a platform liaving
been made to receive it. The prospect from the west front is extensive and
very diversified. One of our " picturesque poets " has thus sung in its praise —
" The clover'd lawns,
And sunny mounts of beauteous Normanton,
ilealiirs cheerful haunt, and the selected walk
(M' Heathcote's leisure."
The author was John Dyer, who found a liberal patron in Sir John Heathcote,
Bart. : his character as a poet was fixed by three poems — " Grongar Ilill" " The
Ruins of Rome," and " The Fleece," the last-named having been devoted to
" The care of sheep, the labors of the loom."
from which the above lines have been taken. He was in early life an artwt, and
travelled a great deal, both in this country and abroad, to obtain sketches. He
subsequently entered the church, and became rector of Calthorpe, near Lutter-
worth. By the intercession of Sir John Heathcote lie was afterwards presented
to tlie Rectory of Belchford, near Ilomcastle, by the Lord Chancellor Hard-
wieke (Sir J. H.'s eldest son, Gilbert, afterwards 3rd Baronet, married his
Lordship's youngest daughter). His patron gave him the Rectory of Coningsby,
and four years afterwards he also obtained for him, through the Lord Clian-
cellor, the Rectory of Kirkby-upon-Bain, enjoying the last-named preferment
only one year, having died at Coningsby in 1757, the year after he published his
poem of " The Fleece," The Hall is built of Ketton stone, and although it was
erected in the first half of the last century it is only a little weather-dyed. Its
style of architecture is Grecian, of the Ionic order, this order being throughout
a more slender construction than Corinthian: its appearance, though simple, is
praceful and majestic, and it is not inaptly compared to a sedate matron, rather
in decent than in splendid attire. The fa(;ade of the west front is divided into
three parts by bay windows, the centre bay being circular, and the others square.
The whole of the windows, several of which are under pediments, are enriched
by delicately wrought mouldings, the ovola ornament again predominating.
The sotiit of the corona, under the balusters, is extremely rich. This
front being without a pillar or a pilaster, and the decorations being
very minute, it has the appearance of being plain until it is ap-
Sroached, when the beautiful details become apparent, not one mern-
sr, however, attractmg exclusive attention. The carriage entrance, on the
east side, which is flanked by two projecting wings, is under a portico supported
by columns of the same order, and on this side also the windows have been
similarly treated. The large hall or vestibule is likewise supported on Ionic
pillars. The open fire-place here is very beautiful. The rooms arc spacious,
and their details also show that a first-class architect had been employed in the
construction of the hall. It is somewhat remarkable that at the present day
his name is not known. It was built in the lifetime of the first Sir Gilbert
Heathcote. The honorable baronet was one of the founders of the Bank of Eng-
land, and took extraordinary interest in its success. One of the architects
employed to make additions to that building was Sir Robert Taylor, and from
the intimacy that would exist between them it is not unreasonable to hazard a
conjecture that tiie designs fur Normanton Hall were supplied by him. He (Sir
H. T.) was an .extraordinary man, and a very early riser. His professional
exertions raised him to great opulence, and it is said that although he com-
menced life with only Is. (id., the property he had accumulated amounted at his
death to £180,000. He received the honor of knighthood when holding the
office of Slieriir of London and Middlesex. The terrace, which extends the
whole length of the extensive west front, is disposed in walks and flower beds,
the parterres being radiant with those productions of which Flora is
the goddess : it and the lawn (the latter extending from the north wing of
the mansion) are studded with white marble statues illustrating Roman forensic
and pastoral life. The terrace is surmounted by a low capped wall of Empingham
stone, and here a delightful prospect is obtained. Thisdivision of the park, which
is dotted with groups of trees and cattle, slopes gently to the river, the course of
which through the park has been made to expand. On the other side the greund,
clothed witli verdure, gradually rises, forming a hill crowned with a plantation,
and standing boldly out from the more dislant landscape, thus presenting a second
foreground in the view. Leading the eye in a northerly direction a liorizontal
ridge, a great portion of it thickly wooded, is seen to stretch from east to west,
presenting the form of a segment of a circle before dying away behind the hill
above alluded to, just beyond Bnrley House, which is seen to stand majestically
on a lofty eminence. A gravel walk, protected from piercing winds by sln-ubberies
and plantations, is continued from the south side of the terrace, and after takiiig
an extensive sweep it is seen to conduct to a vista that melts away in the distance.
The rising ground on the carriage entrance side of the Hall, covered with noble
trees, proves an excellent shelter from the cold east winds, and remunerates for
the contracted view that presents itself in this direction. The house is approached
by a surnous drive through this part of the park, over which deer are seen
browsing.*
Blackbta-n New Union Wirrkhonse.— The foundation stone of a new
workhouse for the Blackburn Union was laid on Monday week. The site of the
workhou.se is a plot of land on the Pot House House estate, to the south-east of
the town, but within the borough boundary. The building will cover an area of
5m ,u"^^' "'" <=<'"'«''> accommodation for 800 inmates, and will cost about
i*,000. The architects are Messrs. Gates, of York ;ind Halifax ; and tlie con-
traetor is Mr. Archibald Neitl, of Bradford.
* To be continued.
MARINE RESIDENCES AT WATERLOO, NEAR LIVERPOOL."
rjlHESE newly erected residences are situate upon the shore at the above fashion-
l able watering place, and are in the Gothic style of architecture. They are
built in red brickwork banded with blue Staffordshire, with dressings in Stourton
stone. The servants' and domestic apartments are separated from tlie superior
portions, great care having been taken to economise space. The larger residence
(which is occupied by the proprietor) in addition to the usual entertaining rooms
contains a music saloon, 30 feet by 18 feet, divided hy a glass screen from the
conservatory, and having an open-timbered roof lighted from above. Through-
out this house recesses were provided in wtiicli siueboards, cabinets, wardrobieg,
&c., in character with the style of structure and designed by the architect, have
been placed as fixtures so as not to obtrude on the ground outlin'c of the rooms.
The warming (independently of the open iirepiaees) iaefti;cted by means of a hot-
water apparatus. The coil is placed in a chamber under the principal staircase
adjoining the saloon, and to this the cold external air has direct admission, being
then warmed to about 60 Fahr., and supplied to the saloon hy flues placed in the
wall about ■'> feet from the flooring, through the risers of stairs and to the
vestibule. The saloon, ante-room, and conservatory, are further heated hy a line-
of pipes from the coil, and form portion of the skirting. The saloon thus forms
a warm-air receptacle for the remainder of the tiouse, upon the principal rooms
of which it abuts; whilst to each bed-room the warm air passes from the stair-
case by an openingahove the skirting, through a flue in the wall, and enters alraut
a foot below the ceiling. It may be stated that the principal stairs are dis-
connected entirely from the hall and vestibule, and are only entered from the
saloon and library on the ground floor.
The ventilation is simple, and has been found most eftective. From the ceilingg
of principal rooms and of eacli bed-room, by openings concealed by papiermachi
flowers, tlie vitiated air is conducted through zinc tubes 4 inches diameter, above
the ceiling joists to a central drum in the roof, from which a 9-inch tube
communicates with a flue descending to the cellar, where, after having traversed
a short distance under the ground floor joists, it takes a bend upwards, and
ascends by a square shaft surrounding the kitchen smoke-flue of round earthen-
ware piping, which by heathig the air in the shaft causes a regular circulation to-
be maintained.
Tlie total cost of erection was £3,000. They were built from the designs and
under the supervision of Henry Sumners, Esq., architect. Royal Institution,
Liverpool.
^
LECTDEES AT THE AltCHITECTUEAL EXHIBITION.
IV.— On the Kevival of Styles. t
"VrOW, I am far from pronouncing' the Gothic system to be wrong, and it is
J_\ undoubtedly productive of great elegance, force, and spirit. But I would mafn-
tainthat tile Classic principle of giving expression to the walls themselves, ratfierthan
to the openings by which they are pierced, is urcliitecturally sound. We build for
the sake of what we get by the walls and the roofs they support— namely, seclusion
and shelter, not for the sake of light and air, which we have in abundance without
them. It is, indeed, necessary that we provide a sufficient supply of light and air-
as well as means of access, but these arc contingent necessities, not the main object
of the building.
Again, the tendency of Classic is to breadth of effect ; of Gothic to minute subdi-
visions, and an almost fantastic variety of outline. The traveller on the continent
will probably be struck, as he proceeds southwards, with the increasing breadth
whicli characterises the towns, villages, and groups of buildings. He cannot fall to
notice the preponderance, so to speak, of mass over outline. In a medieval town in.
the north of France, and in the greatest part of Germany, hfs attention will be
caught by the number and variety of towers, spires, pinnacles, peaked gables, and
the like ; on which great powers of design as well as care in the execution of detail,
are bestowed, while the mass itself is as much broken up as may be by openings and
Erojeclions which cause a constant play of light and shadow. In the south, lie will
ave presented to him large and comparatively unbroken masses, marked by few
openings or projections, witfi just a sutucient number of towers and spires to re-
lieve tlie monotony of the outline, and these not di.'Jplaying that architectural care,
or elaborate variety, which would make us suppose tiiey were intended to catch the
eye, or form the priucipal features in the group. In sketcliing an Italian village, or
monastery with its church, we need not care about making out all its windows or
putting them in their right places, or even giving to a nicety the form and pro- ■
portions of the belfry, still less its details ; in fact the more slightly we define these "
the more truly we shall give the character of the scene. Now though these southern
buildings and groups may be really in date just as medieval as the northern ones of
which I have spoken, they have more of the Classical character which in Italy was
retained in great measure through the whole of the middle ages ; in fact, the compo-
sition of a Targe majority of Italian Gothic building-s is such as to suggest no de-
finite reason why Gothic .details should have been employed in prefereuee to Clas-
sical ones, so much does the horizontal line predominate ; we may therefore fairly
speak of this character of breadth as belonging to the Classic, and that of variety of
outline and intricacy or minute subdivision as appertaining to the (Jothie.
liut although the Classical style does not peremptorily demand that variety of
outline which is so necessary a part of Gothic, it by no means discards it as incom-
patible with its principles. Many steeples of the revived Italian are as fine in pro-
portion, and as elaborate in detail as any Gothic composition. I may instance the
upper part of the tower of Seville cathedral, and many of Sir Christopher Wren's
steeples, whicli show both the fertility of his imagination, and the comprehensive
nature of the style he employed. I have on- a former occasion adverted to the lia-
biUty to decay incurred by the intricate and minute workmanship of Gothic orna-
ment; and I understand that the condition of the ornamental details on the new
Houses of Parliament is not such as to induce me to retract what I then safd. Butl'
would further remark, that although the constructive principles of the style are
sound and good, so that in many cas-es the greatest amount of strength is obtained
by a given quantity of material, yet the tendency on the part of the architect to make
a display of mechanical science has been the cause of much real, as well as
apparent weakness in important buildings. The lamentable fall of the Chichester
steeple is probably to be attributed to the fault not of construction, but of material.
Yet it is certain that the perilous boldness of many Gothic designs ensures more
fearful results from the introduction of a defective piece of masonry, or unsound
material, than are apt to occur in Classical buildings.
It may be said that the Gothic style can be worked in a broad and massive manner,
as it was in castellated architecture, and to such an extent that in adapting a (lOthic
castle, or an imitation of one, to domestic purposes, the difficulty is to avoid making
the walls too solid, and the windows too few and contracted, for comfort, liut this
mode of building was forced upon the arcliitect by necessity, not adopted by choice.
The requirements of military architecture rendered necessary this expansion of'
waif, and contraetion of window; and the builder dealt with it as behest could.
The harmony which exists between the dark heavy fortress and the light open ca-
thedral is a proof that both were designed in the natural style of the day, while the
diffloulty we feel in preserving the expression of the style in our domestic buildings, .
which require larger and consequently more truly Gotliic windows than the me-
dieval castles, is a proof that it is not the natural stylo of our own period. But the
* For Illustration see page 457.
t Continued from page 441.
456
THE BUlLDli^G NEWS.
May 31, 1861.
!«•• dlipUy the Gotliie m»ke of constructive science, aud the less aid it borrows
fhwkmiiBh additiooa aa piDnacles, tracery and tlie lilic, and tlie <;reater tlie breadtli
and soUditT of ita maaaea, by so niuoli the furtlier does it recede i'roni its own prin-
tiplea, and approach nearer tot'lassic architivturv'. An adaptation of the style to
oar own exi^mclea is not a development of it iu ita own proper direction, but an
appropriation of some of the elements and characteristics of the rival style. We
shall never develop Gothic ftirther tliau it has already been developed, except by
trwting buUdinsrs far less suited to our wauls tlian medieval ones of the most
exaggerated character. As it is, we seem to fancy that we can attain the life and
Tigor which constitutes the charm of the true Goiliic, wliile we can only adapt it to
oar purposes by curtaiiing and cutting off tlie tiroivth of many generations.
On the argument in favor of Gothic, which rests on the sup-riority of decorated
construction over constructed decoration, I cannot say much till I lind myself better
»ble than I am to coniprelieud tlie distinction. Is construction n term applied only
to the more subtile contrivances of tlie architect, aud not to a plain solid wall or pier
«o that a mere wall enriched with surface ornaments is not a decorated construction '
Are such pinnacles as those of Gloucester Cathedral aud the Somersetshire churches"
wMah are extremely beautiful in themselves, butinno way contribute to the strenn^th
or eoBTCnience of the building, decorated constructions, or constructed decorations'
wUdi t»nn should we apply to pinnacles engaged in the sides of towers, or to blank
arcade* and panelimg ? If a square-headed window in a Classical front has oyer it
a prttetOag ledge supported by brackets aud covered by a pediment lorminc a tvm-
punm. I anppose this would be caUed a constructed decoration ; at least, I should
Cul It SO.
How, then, if a Gothic window has over it a label resting on heads or bosses and
crowned with an angular canopy, crocketted and terminated by a linial, ii composition
or constant occnrreucc in the Bncst work of the fourteenth century ' Observe the
two compositions are perfectly analogous ; it may be that the one is heavy and ufly,
theother light and beautifnl ; but the principle is the same in both. I do not condemn
•urface ornament or constructed decoration in Gothic; only when it does occur, let
It be called by its right name, and notignorcdforthesakcof aphiusibleandsomewhat
lallacions argument.
We will now consider what ancient buildings are in existence, belonginn- to re-
cognised styles, which sns^est a mode of construction and arraugemeutappflcableto
our wants, and of decoration suitable to our best views of art i-f ui,auie lo
If we look at the Parthenon of Athens, or the Temple of Neptune at Pajstnm we
KSjr.U/fnr','.'' "' «°nderful beauty, majesty, an5 sublimity ; and nsweackn'ow-
t^hnr tm^i "'" ""^i'.'^' ''"■'■'^",' '"•■■''■B™™* and adjustment of proportions,
together with the exquisite desi-n shown in the simplest and smallest details, we
cannot but treat with a certaiu degree of reverence the rules and principles which
led to such a result, and although we consider the plan of the building itself to be
Ii°Hm ."i O"' P"'-I>o^'«. yet we »h«ll feel that it is well worth our while to study
leimi """ ""''' '"^ *° *'^™'"" ""^ '"'sson we cannot fail to
« JEJ'I^} 1' *''5 ("oliseum of Rome, and endcavourto forget the purpose for which
K waa erected, and the scenes which were enacted within its area, we must regard it
mi!!. . ""/' unexampled magniliccnce, aud at the same time admit !hat it
prMenU a type of arrangement aud ornamentation applicable to all tabulated struc-
-.^V*^"' we look at a large Gothic cathedral, say, for instance, Amiens, Chartrea
2L!?,?i!^i'°Ji-K°'".i"""'"°J'''"'"U?"'^:- '*'<"■''• Lincoln, or Salisbury, we cauiot but be
Jf^M^-.'^^.i''^*,''^'"'''"^?"'''''^""'"'''^"' "'O mechauioal skill cfisplayed in it" cou-
SiS^i S?U {'■"■''■''"''f* °' .P™"?;"?' '^''''='' '" Pfof-'S'-ly «PK»d over it! and the clia-
racto- of rel gious solemn, y which pervades the whole. \et we cannot help feelin..
iStli.?™^'.;.!'"™'',"'"'"'^'''*"'^ .'*'"""■<"■ '"■P'''"j"''e<» "> «''e present Say Its
asuelations belong to an age more sharply and Jistinetly separated from our own
id;S.^^i';i° '.'""'■ °^ P"^'?" antiquity. Its principles of composition are not
J^iP.,^'„S"'S"A'*"";>'"'""''™"""! "'"" ^ ""= '"Se cThurchca we demand, and are
?I,!L?.?E°'1'"''*"r''.K'""'^''"' ""^ eonditlons required by secular architecture.
i^t% . ol one of the most interesting phases of art and social progress that it is
JS?«,^'tI? «>n<f ve, the medieval buildings of Kurope are invaluafile, independently
w.??!.''"?''*'' '•"°°^*. '■" ^ denved from them and to preserve them ; we must
keep them n repair, which we are not likely to do unless we make what use of "lem
~rt^n»vJ "'■.'",'{,'"'■'?.•.'"!"" "'"""' ""' ^ """''' "vailable to our purposes to a
certa n extent^ though in large towns it has often been found expedient to destroy
™^^ fif„'^""l "?** ..."J'T '"'* "f '^"'"^ «>n"no<liO"» arrangement ; wl Ue how to
JSto-lw cathedrals is a problem that has more than once puzzled their
».Tn^''I*,''''i™'K"M*,'i® •^'■"'l' re^lral. seeing that their style must necessarily prc-
bui d?Dj» stm wl hoTCkf 'J *■"* "?'"•''; "^^^^"^ ''»'«<• ^ their ecclesiastical
Thcv cut off mirJi ■„™„^?'^ °? *"y "aterial alteration in their plan or structure.
ZJ^7 Si. oB^'pueed some of their superfluous ornament, and reduced them to an as-
SS^V^u?'chea^„f*?hV'rri''"f!?"''' '" y,""=" "5"^ '""•^^•O ""^ ""B" ««'!? attrlbS c
5?f?Z.1""/""^? ."^ne revival if we see them at a distance, and with some we mi<^ht
fajl 'nto the mistake even on a closer inspection.
This leads us to enter a little more fulty upon' the subject of general outline That
}nn.£;^lf1.Th"='"-'*°'y ^*'1^° t?« Pi"«resque, and Vobabl^Sa mo?e reflned
T1?e ?„..iniVi.*.V "7l^*^".°'^ "<"? ''•^'?'■^°' »"er, we have goo/ reas^^^^
The Instinct with which they felectedl-the finest sites for their building and the
scrnpulous care with which they avoided interfering with the naturi"fcatSres of
their«enery.a« though hardlv a rock could be cut away without o(rtVd?ngson?c
<le ty who presided over it. sliows with how deej, a feeling they were actuated on
IKlP?'°'i/.?.'*."« • the Acropolis of Athens and the surromrdhig lor^'lUvlon
?!;^arth'rf -/^ '''*•. j-"^w~' '^e t."m-pk. 'w-oMui^i' rmp?rf;s't."'?,;i?T'is is
that their feeling of the plcturesfiuc was of too relined a nature to suggest that thev
Jh« ™i!tw?' whatwecari.strikiogoutlme. It may have taught thenftoprj^lr one
1„ .Si?." ''?'e^l)een chargeable with monotony, but for some exquisite tact in its
^^n^^Z^^'^fu"' '",'i" ""''"'"r; ■" ""^^ '"""f"' "■»nument?f"rmerly kt^Swn
Sf ^ntrilMM n , /. ■'r,'!"'T'.' ";'?'" '" """P/ ""■"« '°w »»'• "ecluded spot, instead
»L^k tr^l ~ ostentatiously to the variety of the sky-line. Of course I can only
KryonThis^sl^Ct"' Th, ™ "T T' ""f'^"" "»''' "" "■""='' '" croSSd an^
S.Tumidtslnd^ciJ^ii.J'i^"^'?'".,'^"''?;"''""''''-'^^ •""' '""ff ''"ri^nlal lines of
ifnt .cS !J ■ .if^^ that they aimed at the expression of repose, rather than vio-
'*Kj!fk "";;." ' .""" J« eonflrme_d by the charactt'r of their s.^ulptur.. ^"
i,.„„.:.h",,'!."»';::L'';L'?,'-.''°? "U."%'"" .wl'.at views, with regard to outline, in-
lonument of St. Kemy, in I'rovence,
on the Rhone. aVdYgerneaTTrCTtf"''''"™ '■'"?"^.''.= t-''" P'onunients at Vlennc,
;;^1?11V^,".°!"*» "ehitect. The beautiful monument of St. Kemy, in I-rovenVe,
Kh/iw« tl.«f .1., . — ■■■.^v.. iuu- ueauiiiui monument or
™ »T1 nuill ',,'■'■ f producing good form existed ; the
hSt'Jj* «''n^T::ho!!V.Si?Zoi^ gS."' "■"' "■""■"•l-"' '<" tiieirbea-ntV; fiioigluhe
Jh «ru3rl'°'„t^'t'?,5cr''a,!,'rK 'Zi'!i, I 'f'if.''-i'"'°" '.r **-'""« Of "h-"
an exception The inai^niiir,.,. ' '"at. however, of Irnjan on the pier at Ancona is
SddcuSatecaecutimi^fi^^ '„»"'' ^'.V'"'?" " """■" remarkable for the profusion
totoi At AtSrtherei.an »r71 f i.''"' ^°' ""J" excellence in its architectural
dat?ofaltehtCT^ndmoreereL„? 1°^^^°^^^ ' •"'"''''' "*" "adrian's
Su<5no«ry^,i^Kv w,^",'?." ^ll^" tl'e triumphal arches of Uome, but
KOodoutllD?Tf^.i^re'dre^S^^tC ■'"''"-?. ^'-''"''''•'.™P'''« '».»5""'™ *""' «
^^^^^r:^'^Wi^i^,i^^Zi^^^^
^o^„A'^.' ?."'''■'"]';? """• *"'• "ay have been no less so when perfect, but I
f„T«?Llsn'ni7r','l'r, ?'"','' "?''•'';''"'"'''"''' ''Peoin.cn. In its use of^uttvJsses it
forestalls one of the great principles of Gothic construction. On tlie whole, if wo
ef.t^r,:"r;il7*J''''*-T""? °'''''"^°' »"^^ ""■"« was less varied and iut
teiesting than that ofmodcruliorue, and that the elTect produced on the spectator
?l?r«,nrihV ri n^n n^lj'^^^^ ™"'" '=»''"r ""1 SrOUl.dS OU Which tO
m rt. r ,. „..?.i T"^.'?."- ""t the revivers ot the styV have" taught us that it is
fined tor an outliue of he greatest beauty and sublimit v, and capable of a pic-
ihn'^'J,?/ , ,1 ■*^"""i°""''" "?,' "'"-Pa^^'d in the best medieval period. And this
shows that tl eir work was really a revival, and not a mere formal reproduction.
.i,„ii n,fvi.r„i '",?"♦ PT"' ^"'^ progress of tuste in the composition of outline, we
'reiterm,^lf,ni ^i° eeclesiasticalarchitccture, because it allords «s examples in
Ras less re^^r.e 1 h^'"" P''<'»ervatioii than any other kind, and also because it
has less restricted art by mere economical or utilitarian considerations
thi ^f„,'?fi';'.;; i" *,'!'"« "l"' t^e eircular churches, derived from Itoman temples of
he eZr,??nv;.?.L .in '" which exhibit that kind ot outline which is produced by
ever «„^ ?Zi-°>'^'""f- a>«i,which lias Characterised churches of the highest class
e^er since. Ihe Lastern form, however,of the Greek cross with the dome Sr tower at
Ifa^hS';'-' ilftetitJ'i'''^?"^-.^''"^ '■^'■'y "'"'• P^-l'-P* the earliest original form
Hcaanrt ,o,n eh?,rM V '^""'i* does not appear to have been derived, lik?thebasi-
Itca aud round church, from Pagan structures
i,»v'e'i',fM.'?Hi?„'L"*'"'° P™'>'?™- ^°J to adapt a splierical dome to a square area must
]^1^ "rodueed a new era m architectural composition. The value of the dome had
.„ r i,„^nJif;!i f "i' f " method of roofing at once firm, permanent, economical
J,ol,^ .^n '• ii- " '"■/^"■'■' have means of knowing, it had hitherto been used
only to cover buildings of a corresponding form, as the Pantheon. The cruciform
plan seems also to have been introduced to a certain degree, for the sake of con-
venience, into the Koman basihca, aud its symbolical mcauiog would give it an ad-
ditional reconiniendatjon m the eyes of the early Christians ; but the ro?f throughout
being generally flat the square of intersection would be treated iu the same wV as
ow.ir„^n°'' "" 1" n"-' '"''Id'ng and neither receive nor suggest any additional height
c.xternally or lIltcrnally^ When, however, it was rosolvt^d to take advantage ol' the
aomieal method, in roofing the square of intersection, making the other roofs of the
budding cyiliidrical or semi-domical, according as the limbs of the cross were rectan-
^mllLL'' ^''T. • "en. sjuce the base of the dome had to rest by means of pen-
ult ves on the crown of the four arches, its apex necessarily exceeded them in
It's h /i',A"r7;i'"""^^'^''!°"y f?"-' "^Y"^ *''e vaultings, supposing them to correspond
with the arches of intersection. This is true, not only when the dome is a complete
hemisphere supported by pendentives but also when it is a part of the same hemi-
sphere to which the pendentives themselves belong, or any other segment of a
sphere whatever. Hence the adaptation of a dome to the scinare of intersection in a
cross church requires a superstructure raised higher than the arches, and conse-
ilitcrnair""'''' """ '''"■"'■ °'"''' ""'" "'^' "'alls and roofs, both externally and
Probably St. Sophia, in Constantinople, was not the flrstcxampleof adomeresting
on four arches ; so bold an experiment could liardly have been tried on so large a
scale for the first time. Many of the domical cliurches in the eastern parts of Ku?ope
are small in their dimensions, and have no architectural detail but what might be of
consideraijie antiquity. If we cannot confidently pronounce any particular Jpecimen
to be of a date earlier than the reign of Justinian, we cannot positively deny the
existence of such at the present day, and I think we may at least assume that those
to which we now have access are fair representatives of some of the earliest orioinal
Christian structures ever designed. .
St. Sophia is somewhat unique among Byzantine churches, and has rather the
character ot the mosques which surround it, and which were built after its pattern
than of the churches generally erected in the Kast at that time, and for many suc-
ceeding centuries. St. Irene, now converted into an armory, is the next in size to
St. Sophia of those m Constantinople, but very much inferior in dimensions; the
diameter of the dome being, if I remember right, less than one-tliird. I cannot tell
how tar the present outline is original, it is, perhaps, tlie more pleasing of the two.
Ihe outlines of some of the old Greek churches In Constantinople, and in and about
Athens, are extremely graceful, 1 may say noble, as giving to structures small in
actual scale, an air of dignity and importance. The central dome assumes the form
01 a circular or polygonal tower of some elevation, and there is a certain breadth
about the composition which prevents any idea of meanness. The actual ground plan
IS square, but the upper stage from which the dome or tower rises is a Greek cross.
10 thewestwardisanarthexor porch, which is sometimes covered with another
dome, lower than the principal one. The pendentives supporting the dome required
themselves the support, abutment, and protection of the walls above the springs and
iiaunchos 01 the arches on which tliey rested, and by raising these walls above the
crown ot the arches additional strength was given, and the whole fabric consolidated.
Jicnce, tlie round or polygonal drum of the dome mostly stands upon a square base
slightly raised above the level of the other walls; and when the central dome was
adopted, as it soon was, in the Western church, at the intersection of a Latin cross
the square base often become a square tower, enclosing within itself a circular or
polygonal dome, which then formed only an internal feature. This is an arrange-
ment which prevails through the whole of the south of France, and in parts of the
central and more northern provinces. In Italy the central tower is generally a low
octagon. As a satisfactory outline was thus obtained, the central tower was used
even when no dome or lantern was shown internally.
If a campanile was required, this was provided, not by raising the central lantern
to the requisite height, but by building an independent tower, as in the basilican
churches, flic combination of the central lantern with the belfry tower produces
some ot the finest and most picturesque eflects of outline in ecclesiastical Srchitec-
ture. Such combinations are mostly to be found in the liomanesque perio d I think
w-c meet wiUi them more often in Italy than in France, where the central towerflrst
attained sufficient height to cover the lantern, and afterwards grew still higher and
became the highest and principal steeple in the church. AV liether this is an improve-
ment IS a matter of taste, for my own part I am very partial to a fine central tower or
spire, Dut I ani not certain whether, on true architectural principles, we ought not
to prefer the low massive lantern of the Italian liomanesque, combined with the
taller and more slender campanile, the central lantern giving by its breath, dignity
to the most important part of tlie building, namely, the intersection of the cross, and
the lofty tower giving the same feature value by its contrast, and breaking the
monotony of outline. Add to which the arrangement is i!vidently a good one as re-
gards convenience, by detaching the belfry from the area of the church, and
allowing walls of any degree of massiveneas that may be required.
1 Catliedrals of Piacenza and Parma, the Cathedral and another
ciiurcn at Aati. many of the churches in and near Pavia and JlUan
ana the (.athcdral of Jloiiza, present fine examples of the above
arrangement; some of these are Inter than the Bomanesoue era, but retain in great
measure the general character of the style. In Kngland we have imfortunateTy so
', t'e. """'xed and uualtercd Itomanesquc, or as I would rather call it, Norman,
that It is difpcult even to imagine a typical example ; and such buildings as Tewkes-
bury, Southwell, and Komsey, show how grand must have been the outline of a
perfect English cliurch of the first-class in that period, liut Normandy furnishes
us with better preserved examjiles of the style, from which we may fo-m an estimate
01 Its general aspect and character. The well-known church of St George,
Ilocherville, is, I believe, as pure a specimen as can be found, and its outline, simple
as It IS, seems to admit of no improvement. It may he questioned whether the pre-
sent wooden spire agrees with the original design ; I am, however, speaking ol^thc
uuiiaing so far as the actual masonry and the necessary roofs are concerned J
question whether the development ot the pointed (iothic really improved upon the
Ijcst outlines exhibited in tlie Komancisque ; it certainly gave greater height and
^* J . '£'^''""P' sometimes confused, the general outline of the building by pinnacles
and buttresses. Where the central tower was retained, it was frequently raised to
May 31, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 31, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
469
The central
. mtiish o-rrtfttor hoifi-htthan Ub use afi a lantern rendered necessary .
torrof^Tk^whXs open noarly to the top, is au exceptional ..nstance. rather
th^ a type of Gothic central tower, and la unquestionably on
they vcrylinest, in existence
,.„„„,..«...-H --. - ofthcflnest, if not
And it is certainly one of thoBc that are least removed
from the Komane»que^model^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ altogether sacrificed to the attain-
ment of height in the whole building itself, which jneonsequence^oftenapiK.ared
Again on the conli
?lthi.r"a shaDelcBs mass than a Brie architectural composition. The prolusion of pin-
nrcescMSyed seems rather intended to disguise the want of design than to mark
as thev ou"2t <o do, important points and divisions. .Some of the best outlines in
Normandv comprehend the low central tower; and loftier but less massive Western
ones tl°ou^'h iSthie in detail, as that of Lisieux, are wholly Komanesque m charac-
ter and Xsr which "assume [more of the Gothic are not improvements while
the hetehteniug of the Knglish central steeple, though the elTect resulting from it is
eomS's extremely beautiful, as at Salisbury, is seldom carried out without some
eSee as regards internal arrangement, or actual security. I »™q."'l<= ,?"",';"''''
we find many ugly buildings, ami many buildings of a fantastic outlme, th" belong
to the Komanesque period? In (Jermany, and even n France, r coidd P<"»t "f both
one and the other ; but it is certain that in that period a very beautifultype of corn-
one and the
position appeared, the simplicity ot wuicn, ami us iuuepcnu«u>;.= "' ""n'iT'Jh^ morn
iient, stamps it with a degree of reUnement which is scarce y Pf^'^^'d in the more
advanced stages of Medieval architecture, when features of mere decoration bccm e
abundant. The best architects of the Renaissance evidently felt this, and m tlie^r
ecclesiastical structures, for which they found no available pree_edent "J «"^«nt
Classical architecture, they returned to this Romanesque type, »>>? in a short space
of time a large number of churches were erected showing a tull appreciation of those
early models. Many would at a short distance be taken for buildings of a ditc in-
terior to the l:ith century. The Cathedral of Dax, south of Bordeaux, would at first
eight be pronounced Romanesque; it is, in fact, revived Italian, except an incomplete
Gothic tower at the west end. At a village between Kpernay and Rheims, I
noticed a church at a distance which I made sure of as a hne Romanesque Bpe«™™;
On examining it, 1 found it clearly post-Gothic, I may have been disappointed at
the time, but it now proves valuable to mc as an example „,„„,„„
When I had the honor of reading a paper at the South kcnsington Museum ra her
more than a year ago, I showed some drawings of hpanisli chuiTlies in tlie revived
Italian style, whose general outline had altogether a Romanesque character. 1 am
still of opinion that these churches might be studied to advantage in "l« Pri'S™' a^y.-
as securing really fine architectural features at little or no ^f "•"=|-' o' ^™J™l^?5^^i
and at no Sxorbitant expense. In Italy tlic combination of the low 'an'^'™,t<>«'«'
■with the lofty campanile was continually reproduced ; and still further grandeur was
obtained by expanding the central lantern into a spacious dome, which iiecamc the
p?Som"nant feiture both externally and internally. Such domes had J^deed been
more than suggested by the early liyzautine and circular churches, but the revivers
of Classic art" Worked them out with an elaborate care m regard '>> F0P0^''°"; ,f°°
often with a success, which almost reminds us of the elaboration of the column in
Greece. That of St. Peter's, as it is the largest is, to my mind the finest example
that can be brought forward ; Ihave endeavoured to procure a tolerably true outhne,
comparing my own sketch with ah engraving that appeared to mea very exact archi-
tectural cTcvaUon, ami making corrections accordingly. Many prints and drawing^
make it too round and heavy, and most ef tlie photogi-aphs J have seen are taken from
a point that does not show it to the best advantage. But though St. Feter « is the
finest example, it is but one out of a vast number, which exhibit a great variety of
forms and proportions, nearly all of them pleasing to the eye, and giving quite
as much character to the Italian landscape as the Gothic tower or spire docs to the
' ifad tiie dome been congenial to the Gothic, it would surely have been introduced
in that style, a style which certainly is not chaiyeable ivith timidify in adopting new
forms and combinations. The arrangement of the [central part of JUy Cathedral
offered opportunity for its adoption ; yet wcflnd an octagon with a Gothic Taultins
adapted to it in the best way the architect could devise, and that architect was one of
more than ordmary fertility of resource. „ ^-^^ ■ ,. ■ t o*
Without for a moment depreciating the grandeur of a fine Gothic interior, I must
observe that the Classic styre;contain8 elements of at least equal grandeur, if not
greater. The churches of St. Andrea, in Mantua, St. .Tustina, and the Cathedral in
Padua, are not inferior in solemnity of effect to any Gothic edifice whatever. Had
St. Paul's been carried out according to the design preserved by the model, I can
conceive no interior that would have been equal to it. An impression of vastness
■would have been produced by means totally opposite to those employed m Gothic,
and toiud'^c from the model, even more effective, while the variety of perspective
views, and the fine alternation of light and shade in broad masses, would have given
a picturcsqueness scarcely rivalled in the eminently picturesque Medieval styles If
I am ri'^^ht in believing that there is a picturesqueneas of repose as well as of action,
— a plct"urcsqueness depending rather on breadth and mass than on intricacy .and
multiplicity of parts.— Then I cannot be wrong in asserting tliat the Classic may
meet the Gothic, even on its own ground, on at least equal terms
If constructive considerations should render a pointed areli desirable under
any circumstances, its admission does not necessarily involve that of the whole
Gothic system. The pointed arch was used before Gothic was developed, and m
localities which were the last to receive the Gothic style. Saracenic architecture
has the pointed arch, but it is not Gothic, neither arc those domical buildings in
Aquitania which employ the pointed arch, without an approach to Gothic mouldings,
in the support of their pendcntive. But even supposing the pointed arch to have
belonged exclusively to the Gothic, we may borrow it if wc really want it, without
professing to revive the style. It is not an architecture to pass away ■without
influencing any succeeding style ; we arc not obliged to choose between accepting a 1
or none There is one very important clement of Gothic which we should be foolish
to reject, and of which, if I mistake not, the Renaissance architects saw the value,
and by its means considerably modified the rigidity which might have resulted from a
imitation of the ancient Classic ; I mean, the oblique surface of decoration. Ihe strict
use of this much facilitates the enrichment of our building, while we exclude heavy
and incongruous ornament, and enables us to retain such beauties of Gothic sculp-
ture as are not inconsistent with a more severe and refined style.
As in advocating the revived Classical style I would not urge the rejection of
everything' which belongs to the Gothic ; still less am I anxious to defend the glaring
defects which characterise so many specimens of flic Classic. I would not perpetuate
the cold formality ofmost of our professed imitations of the Greek, nor the feeble,
unraeiinin", uninteresting character which prevails in so much of our work that
claims a derivation from tlie Roman. But a discussion upon the defects that may be
enumerated in Classical buildings, and upon the causes which, independently of
Medieval sentiment, have tended to bring the Classical style into disrepute, would
occupy a wreat length of time, and I am not sutBciently master of the subject to enter
fully into it f believe, however, the greatest defects in the style are of a superficial
eharacter, and admit of removal. By clearing them away we shall give it a vitality
and vigor which its evident congruity with the practical spirit of the age cannot fail
to preserve ; while the consistent stability of its nature, the very reverse of that
restless tendency to change which is one of the essential elements of Gothic, will
make it a permanently effective style, at least, till the present conditions of society
become altogether changed.
v.— On the Kestokation of Ancient Bhildinos.
ON Tuesday evening Mr. Geokof. K. .Street delivered in the Great Gallery of the
Architectural Museum, a lecture on " The Restoration of Ancient Buildings ;"
Mr. K. li. I.AMBUi the chair. The lecturer said :—
IBELIKV'E that the subject upon which I propose to address you to-night is one
on which it may bo diflicult to say anything absolutely new or original, and on
which, Devertheless, it is of no little consequence that from time to time sometLing
should be said by those who feel the wljolc importance of the charge with which we
are entrusted of our ancient buildbigs. How is It possible to OTerstatc their value ?
They iUpstrate almost every page of the history o{ our country in letters which ae
legible and unmistakable to all who take tfie pains to read them ; and yet the
slightest mistake in the restoration of any one of them may go far to destroy all
th?lr interest and all their value. They connect the present with the pant In the
liveliest way we can imagiue, yet a mistaken mode of restoration may end m leaTlng
u nought of the old woTk or the old associations, but in "leir place a completely
modern- looking building, with associations going no further than atribc of modern
workmen a careless arcEitect, and a committee of enthusiastic but ignorant restorers
So that lix truth, the restoration of ancient buildings may very easily, as it does only
*°Sufi"rsrrty"t''bt;ond'lir doubt, to be as jealously conservative as possible
wherever we hive to Seal with anything old. Not ™"»»"«'vcm the sense of
putting up a new copy of old work-such as is in progress at St. Marv.Magda ene,
TauntSn^but conservative in the much truer sense of keeping the old wori in is
old place, with its old tints, its old weather-stains and lichens, and even its old
''iris^almost Impossible to overrate the importance of this first and great condition
of all tolerable restoration, and I confess that as I grow older and think more on the
subject I find myself even more and more impressed with its mvariable truth. Some
years a^'o, at one of the first architectural meetings I ever attended, I remember
havingheard a discussion on Ihe restoration of churches, which w-as opened by one
who Sartlv for the sake of argument, partly because there was a halt-trutn at least
in h'is argument, maintained that the only true mode of rt^storation was the
'•destructive " as he called it, by which term he explained that he meant that wc
ou.'lit to decide for ourselves which is the ticst style for our purposes, to make some
one style our own, and then ruthlessly to pull down everything that disagrees with
it, so that the choir of Lincoln and the nave of Peterborough or Kly, not bemgm that
perfect Middle-Pointed style in wliich alone he saw any perfection of design orcom-
pleteness of purpose, were, I suppose, to be pulled down uutil nothing should remam
but old works of one date and new works in imitation of tliem, or, to carry the argu-
ment to its legitimate end, so that everywhere old buildings should give way to the
nerfect stv'e (whatever that may be :) of the nineteenth century. Absurd and cxtra-
?agan fs^su^h a vte4 is, there Is nevertheless a vein of truth in it, for the argum^t
was founded, no doubt, upon a careful consideration of the mode of work adoPjcd by
our forefathers, and in exact imitation of their mode of thought and action. No
one who has examined their work can forget how little ">ey reverenced the work
of their forefathers. We praise WiUiam of Wykcham for his grand nave at Winchester,
hut what should we say to the man in our own age who should propose to
continue the siylc of tfie central octagon of Ely on into the nave by parrng
dcstrovin" or casing the old columns, inserting pointed and moulded arches, and
u\rowing"thS aisle and triforium into one by tfcd<>struction of the Norman vaut
between them '? Yet this is precisely what Wykeham did at Winchester, whilst his
predecessor,™ dington7no doubt pulfed down a grand Norman west front in order to
^ibsSte Ws own'conieption in its place. And the instance I have given is one of
all but universal application ; every man in the middle ages seems to have thought
his own work better than that of his predecessor and the instanees are rare inthe
extreme where as in the naves of Westminster Abbey and of Worcester Cathedral,
the ardiit^ct has distinctly copied the work of the earlier architect of the choir ; and
unqSonably great part of the admiration wc feel for this old work is >ntimately
dependent upon that hardihood and self-confidence which ever characterised its
designers ; for it needs not to be said that, if our old arcliiteots had reverenced their
fathfrs' works as much as we respect theirs, we should have had, perhaps more
buildingrof uniform character, but they would have shown far less originifiity, and
" Thet aX ^oweverffor rhitcontempt for their predecessors' ■^prk is very plata
when we consider how' comparatively short the interval was which separated the
latest of our medieval architects from the earliest and how """"P'otf Jy 't had been
bridged over by the very gradual nature of the development in their style They
knew nothin" of that gap which separates us so completely from them, •'hd tliey
Sikid Spon all the wol-k that they saw as work of the same kind as and probably as
being in&rior in science and in design to their ovvn. In pomtof fa«t' t''^ ^°^^' ?J."3?:
Pointed work was no more hallowed by age in their eyes than '8 the work of the
eighteenth century in our own. No generation of P^i^n .f 'I' ^''f, """i;/"4em
immediate predecessors, or is able to rate them at their real value lo tnem
buUdingswere not the historical monuments that they are to us and not being
in the habit of feehng about them as we do, they seldom, even when
t mi"ht have been expected, so regarded them. I remember, last autumn, at
Veinie on thTRlione seeing a small Roman temple, wlueli had been conv„
a church in the fourteenth century, by the insertion of tracericd MiddiB-i oiniea
tindnws without anv reverence at all for the old v.-ork ; and which I need hardly
s'av™ snow under'the influence of a paternal government, behig so effectually restored
?hlt in a year or so not only will the fourteenth-century traceried windows have dis-
-'■ • • ■ - of the old Roman stones will have been retooled or
Sfed'Wu"hSew,t:S:uXw
SonSiS vou see a medieval restoration or alteration of work of the finest into In-
Srwor/in course of execution, but happily stopped just at theyery nickof t.me
BO as to show the course adopted by medieval architects without eausmgusany loss ,
i°^Laon iTemeraber a case of this, in the facade of the north transept, of the
marvellous C^thedra^ : here there is oie of the best thirteenth-centurv rose lyindows
r lYance'; butTn the fourteenth century they thought they eould£o^ better, ^d
accordingly they set Jo work at a new window, and piercing
just beyi
window, lUU Ol tlieir rceuy muu.Luijgo u. .^. j • •— "-",--.;(„, ^iit »n interesting
they stopped, and left us not only the old wmdow m perfection, but an interesting
accordingly they set to worK ai a ueiv wmuuvv, juu jii^.^.-g out the face o t e_ wa
just beySnd the early window, they in3erted:the wholejamb-mould of a traceriea
i-.?„ J ,i full of their reedy mouldings of very inferior character. Here, fortunately,
„„„, „.„,>ped, and left us not only the old wlii-"- "
chapter for the history of old moiics of work
ti<^ ^^!::fi;iiii^ef!:?s^ ^•^"^^•^"fe^'-i^^^SsiiC^^
and with work of a very pf"' -i"— i"*'"- l"it fliroutrhout the upper part oi inewaiis
there were fragments of w
these stones carefully exti
erect, in place of the poor f
an undoubted repetition of
3wi^l'^v"o^roTife?yVorr%^&"i^^^^^^^
tfere wereTri^ments o^f ?vrought st^pnework built '"to '.''^e waUs. I hade>er> oneof
"'Kt's'frt?i^e r;s^te"r;; Trtl^^Sn wS'rX rule in the middle ages, how-
°"^Y^rSi?Sp^^^iKatS2st^^ff^e^^^
?reve7giveLck to"ul Tlt^carTthree modes of destructive''restoration, and each
equally effectual.
style ; the second,
shnuM'aonear to be new"" Oftoise TysTemrthe iSgesrilS boldest examples are,
ttuLatcSy for us, to be seen on the c'ontinent, and le have ^•f''-f.df "'Pfch
mtl™svct but he fashion is infectious, and the popular '"fatua ion which
"tti"=asy" " ,i„,,„i„n. Hnnr. ill Franoc as work done in the right way ma
The first that which would pull down and reconstruct in a new
d, that which would pull down and rc-ereet in the sani"tyle ; ««d
chich would tool and scrape every stone in a wall ^'t'' the wliole
J?"' _?„.„.,„ 1 in various nSartcrs. and have given a succession of .examples of
ii'sto "regard everything done in France as work done m the
allv needful to protest against V
have protested in various quarters, and have given a
deJt™'"t^^rco7tinental""re"stora"tTngV'otl.er men have done the «ame : and a few week«
a^o a discussion on the subject occured at a meeting of the ""ya Institute of British
Architecte, which suggested to me the advantage of selecting it as the subject for
460
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 31, 1861.
this lecture"; soon after this a correspondent of the KccUsiohxri^t, repeating' the lacts
and enforcioff the Ticws which I had before advanced, called attention hgain to some
0t the deetnictlTe restorations on the Continent ; and. tiwally. the Committee of the
Bcclesioloeical Society have announced that at the annual meetuio: of the Society, m
a few day? a general discussion on tlie whole subject will take place. As the subject
is to be discosaed eo soon I shnll sav but little about it. only remarkingr by way of
caution that we must not allow an attack upon foreisucrs to destroy our vigilance in
behalfof our own buildinjra. ,:,... „ ,_ . ..
The facts an-, certainly, oftentimes very sad, and it is well worth while, even at
the risk of repetition of the same comj)laints, to complain until we jjain our end.
The architecture of all parts of the world is the common propi*rty of the whole world.
No nation haa any right to say that its ancient huildino:8 are its own property, to be
dealt with as it wills. We arc the puardians and protectors of those in our own
land, but we have a rig^ht to keep a jealous eye on the guardianship of those in other
lands. As far as we in England are concerned, there is uo part of Kurope where
bttildiuiirs are more important to us than those of the countries which are now united
in the Krvnch empire. It is in them that that we have to trace out much of the
ori^u of our own art, and see countless illustrations of its progress and develop-
ment. It is in them, too, and mainly during the reign of the present Kmperor, that
the most gitranlio works of restoration and reconstruction of ancient buildings have
been undertaken. No expense appears to have been spared anywhere. The Govern-
ment, probably, has its own political object in jjroviaiug constant employment for
hordes of hungry workmen, and if the susceptibilities of architects and antiquaries
here and there are wounded, what matters it? They are crotchetty and unreason-
able, and cannot be attended to. What we complain of is, not the proper preservation
of the fabric, but the occasionally destructive restoration of all its details, where it is
not absolutely required. The instances in which it has occurred are numerous^, and
a few examples only need be given. At Lisieux, for instance, the work of restoration
was commenced at the west end, the old work is fresh cut away, blocks of unhewn
stone inserted for future cutting, and there the work has been left. And then, even
if the old work was not destroyed at the time, one knows very well how soon it is
cut, broken, or mislaid ; so that when another troop of carvers or masons is sent to
Lisieux, they will, doubtless, follow their own inventions, and leave no trace what-
ever of the original work. In Paris, within the last few years, we have seen every
possible kind of work going on at Notre Dame; and one is almost within the mark in
saying that the existing Cathedral is, as far as the exterior is concerned, absolutely
a new church, whilst the less said about the interior the better. The work at Notre
Dame has been done well on the cxteriorundertheauspices. I believe, of M. Violletle
Due, the mostdistinguished of modern French architects ; but it appears to qie to have
been carried much too far, and to have been affected too much by the desire to see the
whole work look as fresh and undamaged everywhere as it was in the first year of
its existence. The Cathedral at Slantes. whose interest, as illustrating the original
design of Notre Dame, Paris, is extreme, has suffered terribly from restoration, and
its effect is not only marred, but, at the same time it is now doubly difficult to recover
the original design. The West front of Kheims Cathedral has been elaborately
restored and scraped, so that it looks quite new ; whilst the nobler facade of the
Cathedral of Laon has for years been in process of reconstruction. Here, however,
though one of the steeples has been taken down, and although the works were most
extensive, I am bound to say that great care was taken to number every stone, so
that it might go into its old place again, and that when I saw it last nothing had
been done in the way of scraping or tooling over tlie stone, so that it promised to
afford an example of a very conservative restoration, thoroughly well wrought out.
The rage for renewal is not confined to churches. In the course of a very interesting
?aper on the " Buildings of the South and West of France," read before the Royal
nstitutc of British Architects. Mr. Waring- described the great works now in
progress at Carcassone, where the whole of the walls and fortifications of the
medieTal city are being restored, the restoration, according to Mr. Waring, consist-
ing generally in the destruction of the old work, and its entire reconstruction with
new stonework, and very often with new designs.
I have my self seen somethingof the same kind in process at the grand thirteenth-
century Caatle of Coucy, which has been recently purcnased by the Emperor, and is
now in course of repair. When I was there, the carvers were busylpolisliing up the
sculpture on the doorway of the keep, and whatever you see there now is, I believe,
entirely new. Whether the very pretty views which one sees of the Castle as it
may once have looked are to be carried out, I know not ; but almost the whole
scheme was conjectural, and when it has once been executed no clue will be left to
the detection of any mistakes or blunders. If such works are to be executed I have
no hesitation in allowing that Frenchmen will do them as well as, if uot better tlian,
we or any one else would. The French workman has generally more power of
adapting his work to old work, of imitating its old character successfully, than an
English workman has. And whereas almost all destructive restoration by Knglish
workmen is very badlv done, and badly imitated from old work, very much of the
same kind of work in French buildings is done with great skill and cleverness. But
I am not sure that this fact does not make their work all the more dangerous, and
damaging to the historical and artistic value of the work, just .as the work of an
extreme!)' clever restorer of pictures is really more to be dreaded than that of one
whose work is at once recognised as a restoration.
In Italy and Germany destructive restorations of the same kind are coming to be
in TOgue ; in my last Italian journey I saw the saddest havoc made in the Cathedral
at Torcello, whilst in Florence most careless workmen were hard at work in the
nave of Sta. Maria Novella; and the church of the Eninitain, at Padua, and San
Francisco at Bf)!ogna, are, perhaps, the very worst restorations ever accomplished.
There too the desire to see everything in the most perfect order had led the Grand
Duke to have all defective blocks of marble cut out from Giotto's canipanilc and re-
placed with new, and the eonfiequence of course is that the general efliect of color is
sadly marred, and will befor very many years, wherever the bright new.marble has
been introduced.
How much is lost in the course of destructive restorations it is almost impossible to
calculate. In some cases in England we have suffered terribly, and nowhere more
than at Salisbury. The destruction of the old campanile, the confounding together
of portions of monuments of various dates in the most Indiscriminate fashion, the
removal of screens, and the carting away of the old stained-glass to the city ditch,
are among the architectural sins for which James Wyatt,"the destructive,'' as
Pogin rightly called him, has to answer.
Thereiitorationof the west front of Lichfield Cathedral between A.D. 1788 and
1795, one of the most abominable even of the works of that " ingenious architect Mr.
James Wyatt," as Storer called him. and the restoration of St. Denis in France, are
cases of even more grievous spoliation than that of Salisbury ; and we cannot, I
thiok, be too thankful that an age in which all restoration would necessarily have
been destructive in the extreme, was at the same time an age of such apathy and
lethargy, that it was the rarest thing for any restoration or repair of an oul building
to be undertaken at all.
That third kind of destructive restoration to which I referred is unfortunately so
popular with some people, that if we do not take care great damage will be done,
not always to the architectural design, but (which is Just as important)
to the color, tone, and interest of our old buildings. And in reference to this
I am tmable to avoid mention of two restorations now or lately in progress, both
ofwhichkecm to be to me of an unfortunate description. They are those of the western
fronts of Lincoln and of Winchester. The former is, X am told, being re-tooled and
repaired wherever defe<;tive, so as to make it look like a new work of our own day.
And the history of the whole thing is worth telling. It seems that a former clerk of
the works is supposed to have had some interest in the use of a Yorkshire stone in
pUceofthe native Ht^me in repairing the west front. The Yorkshire stone he used
na* decayed rapidly, and all his work now requires renewing with the same stone
that was used in the old work; but not content with repairing defects, they are
carrying the cleaning, tooling, scraping process over the whole or the work, so as to
make It look uniform. I wish men would consider a little what this cleaning
process involves. Directly you set a mason to clean a pieceof old work, he proceeds to
chisel away something like an eighth of an inch of the surface everywhere. All
mouldings assume, of course, new proportions : the hollows become larger, the
bow tell s;s mailer, and each cleaning is therefore one step in the destruction of the work,
whilst it happens continually that an ignorant worKinan will, in an hour or two,
destroy the special features of an old moulding, without having the slightest idea
that he has altered the section at all. It ought to be understood, therefore that in
all cases of cleaning and refacing old carved or moulded work, no amount of skill on
the part of the architect (who cannot always be on the spot) can secure the work
from irreparable injury: and I hardly know what guarantee we can have that at
Lincoln the damage to the old color, and the alteration of the relative proportions ot
mouldings, are the only tilings we shall have to lament in this mistaken work of so-
called "restoration."*
ROY^AL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
AN ordinary general meeting of this body was held at the rooms. U, Conduit -street,
Regent-street, on Monday evening ; William Tite, Esq., M.P., President, in
the chair.
Mr. T. Hayter Lewis, Hon. Sec, read the minutes of proceedings at the last
ordinary meeting, which were approved of and confirmed.
Xetv Members.— The following gentlemen having been balloted for were duly
elected :— Mr. Joseph Gale. Associate, of 150, Bermondsey-street ; Mr. Edward
Appleton, of Torquay, and Mr. Thomas Nicholson, of Hereford, as Fellows.
Mr. T. Hayter Lewis then read the following letter, which had been sent to and
read at a meeting of the Council of the Institute :—
" 3, Cloisters, Westminster Abbey, S.W.,
May 28th, 18fil.
" Lord Henry Gordon Lennox presents his compliments to the Hon. Secretaries
of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and has been requested by the London
Committee for the restoration of Chichester Cathedral to call their attention to this
work. Lord Henry I^ennox ventures to hope that they may be willing to use their
powerful influence in favor of this good work. Of the large sum already subscribed
the preponderating portion has been subscribed by the county of Sussex and diocese
of Cuichester. It is superfluous to say that the work will be a complete architectural
success. The names of Mr. Gilbert Scott andjof Mr. Slater, to whom conjointly it
has been entrusted, must be a sure guarantee of its success. Lord Henry Lennox,
therefore, again ventures to entreat that the Hon. Secretaries of the Royal Institute
of British Architects will kindly assist the London Committee in the onerous task on
whichlthey have entered."
The Chairman invited subscriptions in favor of; the object in view, as to which
they might have every confidence, as the restoration of the building was in the hands
of an architect who had the confidence of them all.
Mr. A. J. B. BERESiORi>-IIoPE said the London Committee were desirous of
enlistingthe sympathy not only of tlie members of the Institute, but of all those who
wished well to our national architecture, and he thought that if the letter of Lord
Henry Lennox which had just been read api)eared in the minutes of the proceedings
of the Institute much good would be the result.
The Chairman put the suggestion to the meeting, which approved of it, and the
letter of Lord Henry Lennox was ordered to be entered on the minutes.
The late Mr. IIiort.~Mr. Bell (Hon. Sec.) then read a short extract from the
following memoir of Mr. Hiort :—
JOHN WILLIAM HIORT, born in London 16th April, 1772, his father being a
Swede and his mother a native of Dorsetshire, was the youngest of three sons
all of whom were intended for learned professions.
After the usual routine of education for seven years under the tuition of the Rev.
William Young, at Kensington, he evinced inclination as well as talent for drawing
and consequently passed a probationary year with M. Peter Simon, an eminent
miniature-painter and engraver, previously to his entering, Ist January, 1787, the
privateofflceof Mr. Charles Alexander Craig, who was at the time one of the three
principal officers of His Majesty's Office of Works.
Through an introduction from him. Mr. Hiort immediately obtained an intimate
reception at the house of Sir Robert Taylor, to whom 3Ir. Craig had formerly been a
pupu. Sir Robert being a governor of the Foundling Hospital luui, although retired
from business, voluntarily undertaken to lay out the ground (for the proposed squares
and streets) of the Foundling estate; and obtained the assistance of Mr. Hiort from
Mr. Craig's office for that purpose. Having earned the favorable notice of these
architects, Mr. Hiort was recommended by them to the conwideration of Sir William
Chambers, then Chief Officer of the Works Department of tlie Koyai Household,
under the title of Surveyor-General and ComptroDer, who appointed Mr. Hiort to
assist, in the performance of the duties of a professional clerk, during the mental in-
capacity of M:r. George Horsley.
As this aberration continued, a Treasury warrant was received 25th July, 1703, for
Mr. Hiort's permanent engagement upon those duties: and, passing in rotation
through various situations in the Department that required professional knowledge,
he was promoted lOth May, 1790, to that of Chief-Office Clerk by royal sign-manual.
In consequence of the resignation of the third Board-officer, Mr. Robert Bretting-
ham, Mr. Hiort had the opportunity, through Mr. James Wyatt, then Surveyor-
General and Comptroller, of presenting himself to the consideration of the Treasury
Board ; and, although some other persons had been proposed for the vacant position,
Mr, Pitt, then First Lord of the Treasury, decided that Mr. Hiort was entitled to the
?romotion, in justice both to the interests of the Department and to the merits of
lis Majesty's servants. Incompliance with the recommendation from the Prime
Minister the appointment of Mr. Hiort was sanctioned 5th September 1805, by royal
sign -manual.
That these recommendations and decisions were fully deserved may be inferred
from the circumstance that the King, having been advised to use sea-baths at
Weymouth, was BO satisfied with the design for a floating-bath submitted 1702 bv
Mr. Hiort, as to inquire under whom he had been educated, and to desire that such
approbation should be communicated in writing by the equerry. Colonel Grinfield.
The advantages of the education as well as of the experience gained in an
establishment such as the late Office of Works attached to, and part of. the Royal
Household, cannot be exemplified better than by the versatility of Mr. Hiort's
acquirements, he having obtained practical knowledge in every department of the
profession. In the branches of the science of surveying land and buildings, Mr.
Hiort's judgment and opinion were in requisition on all important occasions for the
valuation of property, or for the examination of works in progress and of new
structures. Augusta Lodge, at Windsor, was purchased by the Government accord-
ing to his estimate of its worth. The survey and report as to the condition of the
buildmgs in progress for the new Custom House were undertaken by Mr. Hiort in
conj unction with Mr. Thomas Hardwick, one of the architects who were then styled
Clerks of the Works, upon the establishment of the Office. The defects, owing to the
foundation, that were afterwards discovered in this structure, were not at that time
discernible, although they were of such magnitude as subsequently to render
absolutely requisite the reconstruction of the building by Sir (then Mr.) Robert
Smirkc, one of the attached architects of the Ofllee of Works.
When the Claremont estate was to be ;|>urchased for the residence of Pnnee
Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and the Princess Charlotte of Wales, Mr. H iort surveyed
and valued it on behalf of the Oovernraent ; and after it had been fitted by him for
their occupation (similar preparations and alterations at ('amelford House and at
Marlborough House having been previouslv entrusted in like manner to him) their
royal highnesses designated Mr. Hiort their private architect, with instructions for
preparing designs for alterations and additions to the house and grounds,
such as n2w entrance-lodges i in the Cobham-road and improvements ot
those next to Esher, ;laborer8' ornamental cottages, the moss-seat in the
* To be continued.
May 31, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
461
ploaauro grounds, the conservatorios, the coach-housci; and stables, the kennel, the
aviary, the confectionary, «fec. Some of these were completed prior to the death of
the pri'neeaa : the chief work, however, was a summer "retreat" in a Pointed stylo,
on a spot which her royal highness was in the habit of visiting. This "Gothic
TcmpU'." as it was termed, was afterwards, ia obudiunee to the wish of her consort,
convurtwl by Mr. Hiort into a chapel or cenotaph to the memory of the princess. It
is described in Ackermann, "Kepository of Arts," 8vo., Loudon, 1811*, p. IM; and
views of the exterior and interior are givenjn tne " Forget-Me-^ot Annual," l^mo.,
I-ondon, 1834, pp. 36, 3H.
A complete separation of duties was maintained, by the oonstltutlon ot the Office
of Works, witli res-ard to those architects or surveyors who were then called Clerks
of the Works on the establishment, each of whom had a suitable residence allotted
to him, with the charge ot all the royal buildings within'a district. Consequently,
whenever there arose a necessity for any works whieh did not constitute a portion
of the district of some sucli Clerkof the Works, it became the duty of the "Surveyor-
General and principal otiieerg" either to undortaktj themselves the superintendence
of such works, or to dispose of it to the care of any etiicient professional olfice-clerk.
As an instance of this practice it may be observed that the erection of the mar-
shaPs house, with the raising of the walls of the King's Bench prison, were
entrusted jointly to Mr. Crocker and Mr. Hiort, who were at that time professional
office-clerks.
Among the public works officially subjected to the care and management of
Mr. Hiort in the character of architect, one of the most important was the
restoration, about 1821, of the lantern or louvre in the roof, and subsequently of
-the north and south walls, to Westminster Hall. The north wall might be said
to have been nearly in a state of powder. The lantern, ot which there had
bceu no vestige for many years, had been cut off at the ridge of the roof,
where its plan was exhibited by a leaded flat. The new lantern, with the
exception of a reduction, by one-third, in the height of its apertures through the
interference of Mr. Browne, was made to resemble the original one so far as could
"be gathered from the indications given by the remains of the framing, from the relics
found among the timbers of the roof, and from a collation of old views and docu-
ments. The construction and support of this louvre required more than ordinary
consideration and care, as the weight in oak, icon, and copper was calculated at eleven
"tOBS.
Another of such works was the preparation at Westminster for the coronation of
King George IV., whieh was so extensive in its nature as to surpass very far in
grandeur that for any of the English coronations for several centuries. The arrange-
ments were of so intricate a character, and were so peculiar, not only in the absence
of sufficient precedents, but in many other respects, as to require the exclusive su-
perintendence of the principal officers of the Office of Works. Mr. ilobcrt Browne
and Jlr. Hiort having therefore been selected for this arduous undertaking, the
former made the designs and took charge of tlie works at the Abbey church,
while Mr. Uiort took a similar responsibility with regard to the triumphal arch,
orchestra, and conueetiug galleries (in a Pointed style) ; together with all the
external and internal accommodation for the banquet at Westminster Hall ; the
numerous and necessarily complex temporary buildings {occupying the whole of
Oot ton -garden) requisite for the culinary portion of the department of the Lord High
Steward; the pavilion, stable, &c., in Old Talace-yard for the Champion; and the
serpentine gallery, prepared for instantaneous alleration according to the weather,
for the passage of the procession from tlic north door of the hall to the west door of
the Abbey church. A tolerably accurate representation of some parts of the prepa-
rations is given in the maofnificent work by Nayler, "Coronation," fol., London, 18*^4.
The temporary buildings in Cotton-garden were, previously to the coronation, con-
verted by Mr. Hiort into habitations for tlie Italian witnesses present at the
investi"'ation respecting Queen Caroline, and were afterwards restored to their
original purpose.
Besides such works, during- a period of upwards of thirty years, it was neces-
sary for Mr. Hiort to take a part, so active as to be secondary only to that of
the Surveyor-Cieneral, in the preparations for all public ceremonies, such as
public funerals, installations, &e. ; which, althougli of^ temporary character, were
matters involving great personal exertion as well as ability in design and judg-
ment iu arrangement. Amongst such occasions were, 1806, the lying in state,
and the funeral, of Mr. Titt at Westminster, and of Lord Nelson in St. Paul's
Cathedral. In the latter instance the necessary superintendence required the
presence of Mr. Hiort in the cathedral for three successive nights ; and on the day of
the funeral, in addition to his official and professional duties, he had the disposal of
the military force assigned to him by tlie Surveyor -General. For the funeral of
Queen Charlotte at Windsor, Mr. Hiort contrived an apparatus (now usually em-
ployed at cemeteries) for lowering the coffin into the vault ; as well as the system of
having a wheeled bier passing along an inclined plane over all steps, &c., between
the entrance of St. George's Chapel and that of the royal sepulchre; for previously
to this arrangement accidents had frequently occurred to one or more of tlie twelve
Yeomen of the Guard, who acted as bearers, on account of the great weight of the
leaden and two mahogany coffins.
The elaborate preparations in the three parks for the grand jubilee, Ist Angust,
ISH, in commemoration of the general peace, consisted, besides a miniature display
of naval warlike operations on the Serpentine river, in the bridge and Chinese
pagoda at Ht. James's-park, and in the Temple of Concord suggested by Sir
William Congreve and designed by Mr. Nash at the Green-park. These are
described and illustrated in Ackermann, " Repository, of Arts," 8vo., London,
181i, xii., 2:^5, 280. The bridge, although intended to last for one night only, was
subsequently rendered secure by Mr. Hiort and left as a permanent structure for
passengers during several years. The temple is preserved from oblivion by several
engravings, especially by those views, some geometrical and some perspective, pub-
lished by Messrs. Latilla and Greenwood, who therein unjustly arrogate the meritof
the design. The active part taken by Mr. Hiort in these preparations was acknow-
ledged, to the Office of Works, by Mr. Nasli in a letter which stated that Mr. Hiort
had performed the duties of three surveyors^orclerks of the works upon that occasion.
This communication was made by Mr. Nash as Surveyor-General, he having acted
temporarily in that capacity by command of the Prince Kegent during the vacancy
caused by the sudden de.ith of 3Ir. James Wyatt.
In the performance of many duties of a public character, but belonging more
directly to the royal household, Mr. Hiort's constaut attendance, especially at
Windsor, was for several years required upon King George III., to receive, in the
absence of the Surveyor-General, the King's personal and minute directions relating
to works and ceremonies.
In a similar manner the services of Mr. Hiort, with other officers of the works, was
required by the Prince Kegent in the arrangements and preparations for the recep-
tion of the allied sovereigns at Carlton House in 1814. Tlie building designed
by Mr. Nash anO constructed, in the garden, under Mr. Hiort's superintendence as a
reception-room for visitors upon that occasion, had twenty-four sides, being lliO feet
in diameter, with a very remarkable roof : after serving the purpose for which it had
been erected, it was presented to the garrison at Woolwich, and now serves as a
depository for models of a naval and military description.
It would .scarcely be possible to enumerate all the public occasions upon which
Sir. Hiort's professional exertions were called into action ; the following, however,
ought not to be omitted. When King George III. had completed the liftieth year of
his reign a public jubilee in commemoration of that event was celebrated with great
splendor ; and tlie grand/e(? in the house and grounds at Frogmorc, together with a
magnificent aquatic display on the river, was planned under the guidance of Mr.
James Wyatt. the Survey or-OJcneral, and earned into effect by Mr. Hiort and other
officers of tlie Department.
When the business of the Board of Works was transferred, 1832, to the Office of '
Woods and Forests, Mr. Hiort's advanced age, and a service of forty-five years in
duration, were only remembered as a means of compelling him to occupy the honor-
able position of superannuation. The exercise of his professional slall for private
individuals had for many years been prevented by the regulations, laid down for the
conduct of the office, which required that the whole of bis time shoatd be occupied
in the public service. Previously to this restriction, however, many works of aprlvate
character had been executed by him, amongst them being Dderw at Htiayader, in
Uadnorshire, for Nathan Scddon Prickard, Ksq,, a house which, although in itfl«lf
appearing of minor importance, was built, 1799, almost under Mr. Hiort's personal
care from peculiar circumstances, the bricks being the first made in that locality,
which at that time was so secluded that even such trifling articles as glue and nails
were not to be obtained nearer than (thirty miles) Aberystwith. This building has
been materially altered. Mention also may be made of considerable works done for
Lord Bexley at Nortli Cray, in Kent, and at Great George- street. Westminster ; like-
wise for Colonel KUot, in Old Burlington-street, at the house formerly occupied by
Lord St. Helens, and at the residences of Charles Arbuthnot. Esq., and of John
Johnson, Esq., afterwards Alderman and Lord Mayor of London. Designs were
made by Mr. Hiort for considerable works in the Kegent's-park, for Henry Batson,
Esq., and for a tennis court iu connexion with other buildings intended for exercise
and amusement at Taunton. Other work-*, of the above character, which occupied
Mr. Hiort's attention, are too numerous for uotice.
It has been already remarked that the versatility of Mr. Hiort's talent and
acquirements afforded him practical knowledge of the profession in all its branches;
he was thereby led to the invention of improvements, especially in briclovork,
tending to facilitate the labors of the workman, and to contribute to the safety and
salubrity of dwellings. One of his principal inventions was that of bricks for
building, without any labor of cuttinj^, circular flues of 10. 12, and 14 inches in
diameter, in which there is no possibility of the workmen being able, unintention-
ally, to alter the capacity of the smoke-way, or to produce internal angles of any
description. These bricks, for which Mr. Hiort obtained, 8tli November, 1825, a
patent, were much approved by the leading architects, and it afterwards appeared
that upwards of 2,000 chimneys had been constructed on Mr. Hiort's principle.
Indeed, this subject so attracted the attention of the profession, that it was deemed
indispensable that even operative bricklayers should comprehend its operation ; and
with this view meetings were held b>[^ permission In the Board-room of the Office of
Works, at which Mr. iliort, with.the aid of drawings and models, described the general
principles of the invention. Theseexplanatoryexhibitionsbecame lectures on ventila-
tion, which were attended by gentlemen of high literary and scientific talent, as well as
by many deeply interested in architectural pursuits; and in consequence of their sugges-
tions .Mr. Hiort published the *• Practical Treatise on the Construction of Chimneys,
containing an E.xamination of the common mode in which they are built, with a
Description of the newly invented Tunnel," &c., with several plates, 8vo., London,
182<); repubhshed with marginal references to a supplement, and again with thel^e
references to another supplement and note.
In order to carry out these ideas, he formed the London, Surrey, aad Kent Safety
Brick Company for the manufacture and distribution of a variety of newly-invented
building materials. Among the articles submitted by the company for general intro-
duction into buildings may be mentioned floor tiles, superseding the usual sound-
boarding and pugging, not only to prevent sound, but to retard the progress of fire ;
chimney bars of a peculiar construction to prevent the smoke creeping under the
mantel ; safety bricks for building hollow walls of ft ins. in thickness and upwards ;
and stove grates to regulate the temperature of rooms and to prevent the annoy-
ance of smoke ; besides numerous other articles to which reference is made in the
Company's "Descriptive Catalogue of Models, Examples, and Specimens," 12mo,
JLondon, 1833.
These inventions were introduced at the royal palaces, at various public buildings,
in many mansions, and in several instances in more humble works ; and have, many
of them, bpen resuscitated of late years. It is, therefore, to be regretted that at the
period of their first appearance the public was induced to believe rumours, for which
no one could be found resposible, that an excessive expense amounted to a prohi-
bition of the general adoption of these improvements. At that time the means of
giving publicity to such a series of useful novelties did not exist in the shape of
lectures, or of business periodicals ; nor was it then reputable to adopt the present
system of illustratixl advertisements, even if had then been more than scarcely
Possible. Mr. Iliort, at the age of eighty-one years, attempted to recall attention to
he opinions which he had previously so successfully advocated, and to re«-ain some
share In the profit which others were making of the means which he had invented
for the practical development of those views. For this purpose he formed a society
of professional men, and at the same time he drew up on its behalf an elaborate
statement entitled " Keport of the Aeronomic Association," 8vo., London, 1852.
An allusion made in that publication to the imperfect ventilation of some Govern-
ment buildings is supposed to have given offence ; for although the association had,
in several cases, important from their difficulty and from the destination of the
apartments. rendered effectual assistance in the cure of "smoky chimneys" to the
Board of Works and Public Buildings, yet the new society was found soon afterwards
to have lost suddenly, and without any assigned reason, the countenance given to it
by that Department. As the success of the undertaking depended, for the intro-
duction of its pnnciples and practice into private buildings, upon the encouragement
which raiglit be given by the application of them in public works and in important
structures, Mr. Hiort, in consequence of this unexpected and inexplicable sem-
blance of a want of confidence, had the mortification of being obliged to recommend
the total abandonment of the scheme and the dissolution of the association at a loss
of several hundred pounds to its founder.
He diedat his residence in Bedford-place, Kensington, on the evening of February,
1861 ; and a gravestone, prepared by himself, marks the resting-place of his remains
at the Kensal-green Cemetery.
B(V!/en.r, ami Ckicftester Catkedrai.~Mr. Georof. R. Burnell, C.E.. then read a
paper, wliich was entitled " Remarks on the Operations lately carried on at Ba^eux
and Chichester Cathedrals." The paper, of which the following is a copy, was illus-
trated by a number of drawings and photographs : —
SOME REMARKS ON THE WORKS RECENTLY EXECUTED AT BAYEOX AND 'AT
CHICHESTER.
THE preservation of the monuments connected with our civil or our religious
history is a subject of so much importance, and it is one which appeals so
strongly to the feelings of all who are connected In any manner with the archi-
tectural profession, that it would be useless here to enter into anv explanation of
the reasons for my venturing again to call your attention to the contemporary
events I seek to place in parallel. A great national calamity has befallen us in the
utter demolition of the beautiful spire of Chichester Cathedral ; it seems to be appre-
hended by persons able to form correct opinions in such cases, that the spire of
Salisbury Cathedral is in a state nearly as dangerous as that of Chichester ims about
twelve months since ; andlsome others of our most beautiful Medieval buildings are
miquestionably in a very unsatisfactory condition. Under these circumstances, it
seemed, to mc at least, very desirable that an attempt should be made to derive all
the practical information it was possible to do from the lessons furnished, on the one
hand, by the sad accident which has attended the works at Chichester, and, on the
other, by the successful operations of the same nature executed at Bayeux.
PosHibly in this manner we may learn the nature of the danger now threatening
Salisbury, and the best means of obviating it ; at any rate. It is our duty to compare
the technical processes adopted in the respective cases referred to, wluch have led
to such markedly different results.
In the case of the Chichester Cathedral it would appear that the objects
which the original promoter.-* of the restoration proposed to themselves, and
which served as the basis of the instructions given to the architect, were "to remove
the existing choir fittings, and to open out the choir, in order to afford greater accom-
modation for the public at the cathedral services." and it was distinctly understood,
as I have been informed, that " the works m contemplated toere not to inclttde any
stntctnraf repairs." The article in the Builder of 2nd .March. 1861. from which the
words, not in italics, have been extracted, proceeds to observe that "the ancient
stalls, and the Arundel screen, concealed, to a considerable height, the surfaces of
462
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 31, 1861.
the piers under the ereat arches of the steople." The piers rose to a heiprht of abowt
45 feel, from the floor to the 8prini:injr of the semicircular arches ; the openingB ol
the liutertM^lng respectively Sy feet 8^ in^'hes, and 'H feet '^ inches, in the portion of
the arches which was able to produce nnv dynamical action. Above the semicircular
arcbe« there were some pointed discharL'ing: arclics of grrcat strength, if we may judge
by the publUhcd descripiions of them ; out as the weight supported by the two series
CI arches was eventually broufflit upon the piers at the intirsection of the nave and
ot the transept, tluir stability and that of the superincumbent tower and
steeple, was in fact made to depend upon the resistance of tliosc piers to the various
elforu exercised upon thtm. The height of the extreme portion of the steeple was
about 2r-* feet from the ground ; the weight of the superBtructure (from tlie line of
the capitals— I still quote the Jluiltier) was about ^,(H'A tons ; the iM'aring surface of
each pier is slated to have been fvt feet (or n,av^' superficial i.iches) though from some
dimensioDs 1 oblaine<l in tht-^-'at hedral itself I suspect that the available bearmg surface
was not much more than 74 feet (or lO.twC* superficial inches— or, in round numbers.
the crushing weight at ihe springing line might have varied between nearly '^Gi, and
300 lbs. per superficial inch, acting upon an irregular rectangular pillar, whose
tidght did not exceed nine times the dimensions of tlic smallest side, and it is to be
obeerred that the longer axis of the piers corresponded with the centre line of the
wWer openings, and to some extent with the line of the action of the prevailing wind,
ihns ofleriog the greatest resistance in the direction of the greatest external action to
produce overthrow.
The piers of the tower (as hereafter I propose to call the piers at the intersection
of the nave and transept), immediately under the tower and spire, were
portions of the early part of the Cathedral; and they were constructed,
as we can now too plainly perceive, in the very worst possible man-
ner. They* were formed or a species of aslilar casing composed mainly
of a tertiary shell limestone from the Isle of Wight, with, from here to
there, stones obtained from other quarries, and the interior was filled in
with concrete, apparently made of chalk-lime, mortar, and broken stones and
flint. Now, the Isle of Wight stone itself is said only to be able to support a
crushing weight of from 4C0 to SCfi lbs. per superficial inch, when used in the direc-
tion of the bed, although I am myself far from admitting the correctness of the
experiments on which this statement was made. Yet, as the sectional area of the
ashlar coating was not more tlmn one-quarter of the whole area of the piers, and the
mortar of the interior was so badly made as to offer hardly any resistance— nay,
rather to act in such wise as to tend to burst the outer easing, and, at any rate, to
fatigue rather than to assist the ashlar— the wonder really is that the piers should
have supported for so many years as they actually have done the weight thrown
upon them. It is evident, indeed, even now, that some very serious settlements must
have taken place in these piers and in the arches over them at a very early period in
the history of Chichester Cathedral ; for on the eastern wall of the transept it is
easy to discover that, when the south-eastern part of the transept was built, the
horizontal courses over the arches of the aisles had been deranged by the subsidence
of the great piers, and that they had sunk to such an extent in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of the piers as to require the introduction of a fenther-edged course to
bring the masonry to a level line. Some distinctly marked ancient movements may
likewise be traced to have existed in the various arches still standing in this part of
the Cathedral, all of which are of a remote date ; but little attention seems latterly
to have been paid to them, because they had not increased of late years, and because
the parts of the piers which displayed the effect produced upon them were hidden by
the woodwork of the stalls and by the Arundel *ihrine. On the recent demolition of the
last-named accessory details (the stalls and shrine) the defects of the tower supports
were laid bare. Large fissures were found to exist in the piers, and in the south-
west one it was found that a large portion of the ashlar casing had actually been cut
away to receive the Arundel shrine; the nave arches had likewise been distinctly
fractured, in consequence of the subsidence of the piers. From all that I could
observe, I feel convinced that this subsidence had arisen from the compression of the
masonry of the piers themselves, and not from any compression of the foundations.
A state of equiUbrium had, however, been attained ; and though it might at any
moment have been disturbed, had any new forces been brought to bear on the build-
ing, yet that equilibrium might, in all probability, have lasted for centuries, if the
works for the removal of the screen and stalls had not been undertaken. The vibra-
tion of the steeple has been dwelt upon, as a cause of the failure of the tower piers,
to a much greater extent than I think was justified. It is more than probable that,
at the precTse moment of rupture, the effect of the wind may have caused a move-
ment which precipitated the fall ; but the steeple liad for centuries been exposed to,
and had resisted, the effects of gales more severe than the one which is considered to
have produced the catastrophe we so much deplore ; and even in the early spring of
last year (IMK)) the steeple had been exposed to a gale exercising a horizontal effect
more than double that of the gale of the '^Ht of February last. The immediatecause
of the fall of Chichester spire must, then, I think, be sought for in the operations
lately carried on for the repair of the tower piers.
The various instances quoted by I'rofessor Willis, of the fall of other steeples, and
the accidents which have lately occurred to some of the great engineering works of
the age, might have induced the parties entrusted with the maintenance of
Chichester Cathedral to suspect that there was danger in disturbing any portion of
structures so badly built, as nearly all medieval buildings notoriously are. I cannot,
therefore,for my own part, refrain from expressing my regret that the Committee
of 18.j{» should have adopted as their ruling principle, "that the accommodation in
the cathedral was alone to he attended to, and that no structural works were to be
undertaken." The limited instructions given to the architect, under this arrange-
ment, compelled him to seek for temporary palliations for any evils he might discover
in the course of removing the old works ; and were in fact his justification for
attempting to recase the fissured piers, rather than at once undertaking their recon-
struction. Still, when a building has stood, apparently unmoved for centuries, it is
difficult to believe that a few slight jars, or the removal of some accessory fittings,
which seem to have only a slight connexion with the substantial parts of the
structure, would be able to destroy that which had lasted so long ; and architects and
engineers of the present day who are accustomed to build so strongly as to defy even
exaggerated efforts, are too olten unaware of the risks they run in dealing with the
works of the medieval architects, who were, as a general rule, very ignorant of tlie
selentiflc part of their profession, so far as the use of building materials was con-
cerned. The fatal, though easily justifiable, oversight made at Chichester seems to
have consisted in the belief that the interior of the piers of the tower was able to
support any notable portion of the superincumbent weight, whilst the exterior coat-
ing was being repaired. From the state of the ruins, and the nature of the
phenomena which attended the tall of the steeple, it seems to me evident, as I said
before, that the concrete filling of the piirs had been originally executed with chalk
lime mortar, badly prepared, and placed in contact with materials which were able
U> MhnXrACifrota it the water necet-sary for the crystallisation of its hydrate of lime.
It » B«d that shortly before the fall of the spire dry mortar dust, as workmen would
s«y; poured r>ccagionally from the fissures; thus proving that the hearting of the
plenonly ronfisted, in fact, of an incoherent mass of dry rubbish, able to flow over
*?P u tnanner of dry sand. It would have been possible to have ascertained
whether, or not, this had actually been the case, before the repairs had gone to any
grwt extent ; simply by boring into the columns in several places in their heights ;
and some additional sirf-ngth might have been given to the hearting by injecting
liquid cement mortar through the bore-holes themselves, if the Interior had been
found to be tolerably sound. As It happens, any such measure would have been
ulterlv useless ; and. speaking as I now do from the vantage ground of ex post facto
knowledge, it U evident to me that the proper course to have been taken directly it
was discovered that ''the tower piers were worse than had at first appeared," was at
once to have removed them, and to have rebuilt them in sound ashlar work. AfortioH
was It necessary tohave needled and centred the tower and the adjacent arches, when
the frenh movements declared themselves in November last. K vigorous measures
had then been adopted, it would have been possible to hav saved the steeple ; in
January, When "it was determined to add centres in all the arches," there was sttU
time enough to have prevented the fall ; in February it was too late to do any good,
and the building must have been condemned, even had no gale occurred on the 2t8t
of February.
The story of the repairs of Bayeux Cathedral is strikingly like the story of
Chichester, though the measures adopted and the results obtained, were so different
in the two cases. Setilements ha(^taken place in the masonry of the tower piers of
Bayeux some centuries ago ; recent repair.'? and alterations m the fittings had laid
bare the marks of these movements, and had disturbed the conditions of equilibrium
into which the materials of the piers had subsided, so that at Haveux. as at Chiches-
ter, the old movements were resumed ; the materials forming the piers themselves
began to yield unequally in the section of the piers, but at liuyeux the liearting was
sounder than the external casing, and it was the latter then.'fore which gave the
first symptoms of immediate danger. The architects consulted in this case seem at
once to have perceived the magnitude of the threatened evil, and there was a unani-
mous conviction amongst them that the only course to be adopted was at once to
rebuild the piers. Differences of opinion, however, arose as to the manner of
effecting this object. The diocesan architect and M. Mollet le Due thought that the
simplest and cheapest plan was to pull down and rebuild the tower from its very
foundations ; others thought that the original structure might be saved by judiciously-
executed underpinning ; and M. P'lachat (whom some people would call merely a
railway engineer) had suflicient influence to persuade the public authorities to adopt
that opinion. M.Flaehat, then, was employed to execute the work of recousolidation,
and he succeeded in effecting it in the manner and under the circumstances recorded
in the very remarkable book lately published by his assistants. MM. Dion and Las-
vigney. Ilayeux Cathedral still stands, with the original work of its square tower
and octagon lanthern intact, and, according to all probability, it will continue to do
so for centuries to come. So efficiently have the recent repairs been executed, in fact,
that if this glorious structure should be again menaced mtli ruin we may confidently
predict that the tower will be exempt from the danger, and that its substructure will
bid defiance to the ravages of time, so long at least as the stone used for the pillars is
protected from the action of frost. I introduce the latter observation designedly,
and shall have occasion hereafter to recur to it.
Mr. Flachat in this case commenced his operations (which, perhaps, I ought to say
were only commenced after some injudicious works had been attempted by the local
architect of the cathedral) by forming an artificial and incompressible foundation of
concrete, upon which subsequently he erected his centres and needles. The concrete
itself was supported upon twenty tubes of wrought iron, and of 4 ft. internal diameter,
subsequently filled with concrete, and sunk through the earth in such a manner as
not to produce any vibration under the pillars ; and round these tubes a general
platform of concrete, rather more than \) feet in total thickness, was inserted
between the foundations of the piers. The tubes rose about 'i feet into the concrete,
and were carried down into one of the stiff blue clays of the lower oolitic formations,
into which they penetrated about ti feet. Upon the concrete bed M. Flachat then
erected a double set of frames of whole timbers on either side of the centres originally
placed to support the arch, for the puri>ose of forming the seating of a set of needles
carried upon a series of screw-jacks, and made to support the masonry of the square
part of the tower, a littU' above the vaulting of the nave and transept. The tower
was carefully hooped with iron bars, keyed up whilst they were still hot, so that
their shrinkage actually closed the masonry which had previously been fissured
over the openings; and before altering the centres to the form M. Flachat thought
requisite, he also surroundi^d the springings of the arches of the nave with a strong-
wrought-iron cradle intended to resist the lateral thrust. The centres were then
strengthened and modified, so as to allow the easy underpinning of the piers ; and
the lateral arches of the nave, choir, and transepts, which had participated in the
in the movements of the piers of the tower, were carefully shored up. Every precau-
tion was taken to protect the original mouldings of the vaulting, and the sculpture
of the capitals, columns, and bases, by enclosin^^ them with rubble masonry, against
which the shores were made to act directly. It Is to be observed that the needling
was totally independent of the centres of the great arches, and was designed solely
to support the weight of the tower and octagon above the line of the vaulting; the
arches and the spandrel fittings were all that bore directly upon the centres
themselves.
I must refer you to the book before mentioned for the detailed accounts of the
centres, of the calculations on which they were designed, and of the precautions
observed in placing them, in making good the old and the new work, and, finally, in
the delicate operation of removing the scaffolding, centres and needles. I do this
with the more earnestness because I am convinced that the architectural student
who might study the various questions incidentally raised with respect to the
dynamical efforts exercised to the strength of the various materials employed, and to
the mechanical powers brought to bear upon the work, would rise from such study
with a truer view of the importance of the scientific part of his professional educa-
tion than would appear to prevail at the present day. In fact, and at the risk of
raising an issue somewhat irrelevant to the subject before us, I hold that a properfy
qualified architect ought to be a scientific engineer, and that a good engineer ought
to be equally an educated architect ; or, in other words, that the modern distinction
between the two branches of our profession is a very unnecessary one. In works
such as the repairs of the piers of the towers of Chichester or of Bayeux Cathedrals,
the scientific part of the architect's duties prevails in importance over the artistic
part, and I know no better authority upon the subject than the book in question In
our own language I am not aware that any work ean be cited in which the operations
for the underpinning of a lofty tower have been so elaborately described as they have
been by MM. Dion and Lasvigne, who has, moreover, the advantage of practically
superintending the works they have so well described.
One very important remark remains to be made upon the general subject of the
repairs of buildings, so seriously affected as were both Bayeux and Chichester
Cathedrals. It is this, viz., that the cost of the works executed by M. Flachat, for
the maintenance of the tower and octagonal lanthorn of Bayeux, was not less than
£32,^^0. and that M. Viollet le Due had estimated that the demolition and the
reconstruction of the same works could have been effected for a considerably smaller
sum. I am somewhat sceptical, I must confess, as to the correctness of BI. Viollet
le Due's estimate in this latter case ; and the amount of Mr. Scott's estimate for tlie
repairs of Chichester Cathedral confirms me in this opinion, even after making all
possible allowances for the prices of labor and materials in the two countries, and
for the local conditions and the peculiar characteristics of the two buildings. Be
this as it may, it is proved that the cost of underpinning a structure of about *l,(.K)0
tons weight (in round numbers the weight of the upper part of Chichester towca-
and steeple was 5,(>(H tons ; that of the tower at Bayeux was ;i.700 tony) at a height of
about 50 feet from the ground, must have exceeded £^-:i.tmi. Candidly, I do not
lielieve that, previously to the execution of the works at Jiayeux, or to the fall of
C'hiehester Tower, any architect, who had been bold and honest endugh to have said
that such a work was necessary, would have even been listened to. Still more firmly
am I convinced that no committee whatever would, in our commercial country and
in our industrial age, have succeeded in raising the funds for carrying such a work
into effect. The committee for the repairs of Chichester Cathedral were then, I
think most sincerely, perfectly justified m confining their attention to the improve-
ment and alteration of the internal fittings, and. for the time, in avoidinf;^ to enter-
tain the consideration of structural defects. The manner in which the partial
repairs, actually attempted, were executed was unfortunately one which revived the
injurious actions previously observable in the building, and which had remained, as
it were, quiescent for so many years. But the limits of resistance of the piers must
have been so nearly attained when the slight jars produced during their recasing,
and the trifling alterations in the conditions of equilibrium produced by the removal
of the stalls, and of the Arundel screen, could determine the crushing of those
piers, that a cup so full might at any time have run over— or. in plainer words, any
g«le of wind, able to produce a long series of isochronous vibrations in the steeple,
might have produced the same effect and caused the piers to crush under their
May 31, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
463
effect. I am lirmly persuaded, also, that no architect or engineer but one
who had been practically acquainted with the wretched style of building
adopted by the medieval buildera, and who had witnessed the failure
of modem lofty structures, could have suspected before the fall of Chichester
spire, the truly awful state of the masonry of the piers on which it rested. There
was hardly enough onerg-y displayed in the attempts made to arrest the fall when
the imminence of the danger made itself felt; but apart from the refjret all true
lovers of archseolog-y must feel at the loss of the original monument, and at the sub-
stitution in itB stead of a modern copy, it is to my mind questionable whether in the
end the pecuniary cost of rebuilding the steeple, as must now forcedly be done,
w^iild much exceed the cost of underpinning and replacing the ori^final piers and
arches. Without being optimists, or holdinf' the extreme doctrine tliat "whatever
is, is right." it should be a source of comfort to know that tlie actual amount of
Injury produced to one of the most beautiful monuments of the Koolesiasticai History
of our country has not been greater than the destruction of the steeple, and the
adjoining- bays of the nave, choir and aisles— and, that in common prudence, the
parties entrusted witli the care and preservation of the building could hardly have
adopted a diflerent course from the one they have actually followed. That so serious
an accident as the fall of this spire should have occurred without injury to life, or
limb, is, I would add, highly creditable to the clerk of the works, and to the builder
employed ; indeed both Mr. Thomson and Mr. Bushby, conducted themselves
-admirably under these very trying circumstances.
Before closing these remarks I would be*^ to be allowed to call your attention to
one or two practical questions connected with the nature of the materials employed
at Chichester, and at liayeux. On the occasion of the discussion on the paper read
by Professor Willis in these rooms, Mr. A. Thompson dwelt upon the small powers of
resistance of the tertiary shell limestone, from the Isle of Wight, which nad been
used in the construction of the piers. He stated that when loaded transversally to
its bed this material only resisted a load of about 446 lbs. per superficial inch ; but
that when loaded in a direction parallel to the bed it was capable of supporting a
load of HiiO to ],oro lbs. per superficifll inch; Mr. Thompson also calculated
that the actual load on the superficial inch of the cross section of the piers
was not less t!mn 331 lbs. ; or rather more than my own rough calcula-
tion had indicated. Mr. Thompson did not state whether the breaking-
weights he quoted were the instantaneous, or the ultimate, breaking- wei^rhts
•of the stone, and I mention this omission, because it is one which materially
affects the value of the information given. Vicat baa shown that stones will frequently
yield after three months, under loads Tvhich do not exceed one-third of the breaking-
weight applied instantaneously ; and as irregularities in the texture of stones are
very common, it is fair to assume that the safety load they ought to be made to bear
should never approach even the latter limit. Mr. Thompson stated that the stone
had been used bedwise, and, therefore, in its weakest direction. If so, I cannot but
suspect that some error has crept into his observations ; for I am sure that a stone
which would crush under a load of 440 lbs., would not support for centuries a load of
-■^31 lbs. As to the hearting of the pier, if it had been executed in good chalk hme
brickwork, it might have carried a load of about oOft lbs. on the square inch, had
every imag-inable precaution been taKen in its execution ; executed as it was in bad
rubble, or rather m bad concrete, it could not have supported even its own share of
the work, or a load of 331 lbs. Under these circumstances, the outer casing- must
have borne a load far in excess even of the 331 lbs. calculated by 31 r. Thompson, and
they go far to convince mc that the safety limits of the shell limestone must be
iiigher than Mr. Thompson's experiments would appear at present to indicate.
Cnfortunately, we do not possess any tables of the resistance of English building
stones to crushing weights which can be considered to be perfectly satisfactory. All
the experiments recorded, excepting the few mentioned in Mr. E. Clark's account of
the Menai tubular bridg-e, have been made upon small cubes of, at most, three inches
on the side. In practice, however, tlie resistances are singularly modified by the
joints and the interposition of mortar between the bearing surfaces; whilst vicat's
experiments upon small superposed cubes seem to indicate that the number of such
horizontal joints considerably modifies the resistance ot each of the cubes. Again*
the results usually quoted, of late years, of the resistances of building- materials
have been obtained by the use of the hydraulic press, an instrument which is very
likely to get out of order, and whose indications cannot easily be watched with the
accuracy required in investigations of this delicate nature. Mr. Hodgkinson, in his
experiments on iron, wood, and some kinds of stone, and M. Flachat, in his obser-
vations upon the resistances of the Aubigny, Orival, Caen, and Kanville oolites, used
a system of levers in the applications of the weights to those materials ; and though,
unquestionably, there is a probability of the weights being in such cases made to
bear unequally upon the exposed surfaces, the danger is not greater than when the
hydraulic press is used ; whilst, on the other hand, it is far easier to apply the load
by slight mcrements, and to watch its .iction during even a lengthened period. After
all, the most valuable observations upon the resistances of building materials are
those to be obtained from observation of the conditions of success ^nd failure ©f actual
constructions, such as Kondelet records, in his " Traite de TArt de Batir."
I said that I would refer to the selection by M. Flachat of the Aubigny stone for
the ashlar of his new piers ; and I do so because I observe that the Aubigny stone is
being employed rather extensively in London, and because I am convinced that its
use would be attended with danger. M. Flachat chose this stone because it yielded
more satisfactory results under the trials he exposed the various local stones to, so
far as their resistances to crushing weights were concerned ; but MSI. Dion and
Lasvigney expressly state that the Aubigny stone yielded easily under the action of
frost, it used exteriorly. Any one who may have examined themedieval buildings
lu the town of Falaise mustalso be convinced that the opinion last quoted is lament-
ably correct ; for the Aubigny stone used there has decayed in a trightful manner.
I am. however, for my own part, disposed to believe that even when used in the
interior of a building the Aubigny stone is exposed "to take on " a decay somewhat
analogous to the mysterious decay which we know affects the Purbeck or the
Petworth marbles in our own cathedrals ; and though the sectional area of the piers
at Bayeux is so great as to remove any fear of the decay of the outer surfaee affect-
ing the stability of the structure, yet I fear that the edges of the various courses will
ultimately crumble away like those of the Purbeck marble, and produce an un-
pleasant series of horizontal lines upon the piers. It may be centuries before this
effect is produced; but I confess that, knowing what I do know of the Aubigny
stone, I regret to see it used in a building destined," 1 hope, to exist " not for an age,
but for all time."
Finally, some importance seems to liave been attached by the persons who were
charged with the superintendence of the recentoperations forthe repair of Chichester
Cathedral to the use of blue lias lime, in conjunction with the stone casing applied
to the piers. In this case I think that the use of that cementing material was a mis-
take, of a minor character it Is true, because whatever lime or cement had been used
was a matter of absolute indifference, and would in nowise have prevented the fall
of the steeple. In all future operations of the same kind, however, to be executed
elsewhere, it seems to me that we mav learn a useful lesson from what occurred at
Chichester, Evidently tin^ rapidity of setting, and the hardness of the set mortar,
are the most essential conditions to be required of those materials in works of resto-
ration, and. therefore, I hold that the now casing ought to have been set in Portland
cement, rather than in bine lias lime mortar. M. Flachat used large quantities of
I ortland cement in setting the largo ashlar blocks he used in the piers of Bayeux ;
afortioru a cement of equal energy should have been used in setting the thin casing
applied at Chichester. In addition to this consideration, there is another practical
objection to the use of blue lias lime in the south east of England, in the fact that
there are so few masons, or even bricklayers, who know how to use it; and I am
strongly of opinion, from what I actually witnessed in the ruins of Chichester Ca-
thedral, that the blue lias lime there employed had never been properly slacked— its
hydration was deficient in many samples.
ft V *?*" of Chichester Cathedral, and the danger said to menace the glorious spire
01 bahsbury raise one singular subject of discussion which may fairly be submitted
to this Institute, which boaata for one of its objects the advancement of the true
interests of architectural education, and I hold by implication, of the preservation
of the best niodels of architecture. It is this, viz.. whether it be not desirable that
some organization, analogous to the one which prevails amongst our neighbours for
the preservation of the monuments connected with the history of the country,
should be introduced in England. The central government of France contributed
not less tlian £:^,f)<X) out of the £33,000 nearly spent at Bayeux ; the repairs of Notre
Bame at Paris will eventually cost the state no less than £.3(io,000; and as the an-
cient buildings of a country are in fact a portion of the intellectual property of the
whole nation alike, it does seem to me that their maintenance should not be left to
local or casual efforts. No doubt the absorption of the ecclesiastical and capitular
revenues of the French church by the governments subsequent to 1780, has placed
the ecclesiastical affairs of that country on a different footing to those of England.
Nevertheless, I cannot conclude without expressing the regret that the attempts now
being made to complete the restoration of a monument so closely connected with
English history as Chichester Cathedral should depend for their success on the
results of a public subscription. At present it would of course be in vain to expcc
any assistance from the State, and our efforts must be confined to assisting the sub-
scription list. This maybe done with the more confidence, that 3Ir. G. Gilbert Scott
has been entrusted with the execution of the future works— a fact which ensures
that everything which science, skill, and taste can bring to bear upon them, will be
applied.
Mr. Blake said, with reference to their friend Mr. BumeU's able paper, there was
one thing that seemed to have escaped bis observation, and that was that, some
fifteen or twenty years ago, a large carihquake was most perceptibly felt at
Chichester. Having been for many yf.'ars resident at Chicliester, he could remember
the last shock, and lie believed the cathedral had been affected by three or four shocks
of a similar character. And though the imperfect medieval construction might have
had something to do with the fall of the spire, yet he could not help thinking that
those shocks might have injured the piers which supported such a ponderous weight.
Surely the building must have felt the vibration of such a powerful shock as that of
an earthquake.
Mr. G. Gilbert Scott said he had not considered it his business to go into the
history of the gradual failure of the building at Chichester, or to the final catas-
trophe of the tower and spire. He had been called upon simply to think, in conjunc-
tion with Mr. Slater, about the rebuilding. Mr. Slater was the architect of the Dean
and Chapter, and, as the public had come forward to assist with their subscriptions
in the restoration, they had thought proper to appoint him (Mr. Scott) to represent
them, Mr. Slater assisting him in the rebuilding. What he had known of the previous
occurrences was only what he had picked up incidentally. But It certainly was a most
important subject forthe consideration of all architects, and especially of architects
like themselves, this country being studded with beautiful specimens of medieval
architecture, many of whieh might be in as precarious a state as was the tower of
Chichester Cathedral. It was, therefore, he said, of the utmost importance they
should all of them consider, in case such matters should come into their hands, what
were the means they ought to adopt and what were the resources to which they
should give their special attention when such works as the restoration of Chichester
Cathedral unfortunately came into their hands, Mr. Slater had in this case been
peculiarly unfortunate in the circumstances out of which he had been called to this
work. If Mr. Slater had been called on to report to the Dean and Chapter on the
state of the building, and to make an examination as to any gradual failures that
might be found in the structure, no doubt he would have made such an examination,
and no doubt, when he found the presence of failures, he would have taken means
to arrest the catastrophe which ensued. But he was not called on to do anything of
the sort. He was placed in the position of a physician who was called on to treat a
Eatient for disease of the heart, or some other alarming complaint, without there
aving been any previous symptoms. Mr. Slater was, on the contrary of being called
on to make an examination of^ the building, called on to re-erect and rearrange the
seats of the Cathedral, and told that he was especially not to turn his attention to the
construction of the cathedral— and there were no funds for it.
Mr. Slater.— That was so.
Mr. Scott.— There were no funds in the hands of the Dean and Chapter for the
fiurpose. A committee was farmed to re-arrange the Cathedral as a memorial to the
ate Dean. Subscriptions were raised for that object, and no other. People did not
subscribe in reference to the probable condition of the building, but they came
forward to subscribe m aid of a special fund, intended to render the Cathedral more
suitable for public worship. The dangerous state of the tower was, as far as he
could understand the matter, accidentally discovered, as the alterations ordered by
the Dean and Chapter were being proceeded with. Now, that might be the case with
any one of them. If they were called on to prescribe for a falling tower they knew
what to do, but if they were called upon to make preparations for the refitting and
re-arrangement of a church they were not called ou to prescribe for the apprehended
falling of a tower, though probably they might find out the danger if they turned
their attention to the subject. Therefore that ought to make a difference in thehr
ex post facto judgment on the architect. But it was discovered, when the alterations
were being made, in accordance with the instructions of the Dean and Chapter, that
dreadful dilapidations had taken place in the Cathedral. Railway engineers and
architects might both be very clever, and both railway engineers and architects
might make great blunders. At Bayeux the railway engineer might have succeeded,
but the railway engineer was not so successful at Chichester, for for a whole yaar
before the fall of the spire a railway engineer was called in by Mr. Slater to make an
inspection of the tower, and that gentleman made three reports, besides another
report, making four altogether, which he had read, and he could state that there
was nothing in those reports that would lead any one to take a course different frona
that which had been pursued by Mr. Slater in reference to the Caihedral. And
alluding to one portion of the alterations mentioned, the third report stated that that
repair was done in a most masterly manner. Therefore they must not lay too much
stress upon the distinction between a railway engineer and an architect. They
must not, however, let that turn their attention from what was the best course to be
taken, provided they knew what had been done. If they could form a correct judg-
ment as to the state of any building to which their attention might be drawn, it was
of the utmost importance, having given consideration to the question, to decide what
course should be taken in treating it. He happened, very unluckily for himself, at
least for his own comfort, to have had a great deal to do with buildings on a smaller
scale requiring work similar to what was required at Chichester. He wished to
have nothing to do with such works, for they were great disturbers of one's peace of
mind. Early in his practice lie was called on to restore the tower of St. Mary s at
Stafford, and he found that his smaller work at Stafford was commenced two years
before that of a similar kind by Mr. Cottingham at Hereford. The work was a very
diflicult and dangerous one, and how much more difficult and dangerous must be the
work in the case of a great cathedral like Chichester. He found that additions and
patchings had been going on at the time he was called in to the restoration of St.
Mary's at Stafford. He made the specifications for the shoring and the carrying
out of the work, and notices were issued inviting tenders. The highest of the
tenders was for £1,500, and the lowest £500. The work was given to the lowest one,
but as it was thoufTht that that sum would be inadequate to the purpose, and as it
was uncertain what sum really would be required for the purpose, it was arranged
that the lowest tenderer who was then engaged in the carrying out of works in
other portions of the building should carry out those works under his contract, and
that the rest should be done under day-work. The work having reference to the
tower cost £2,000. II ? believed that in no case but that of Bayeux had it been
attempted to rebuild a pier, he did not believe that, except in the case of Bayeux,
there was an instance of anything being positively taken down and rebuilt under
the old arch. At St. Mary's, Stafford, first of all he tied round the tower at every
8t.ige with irons put together ais strongly as possible, then surrounded the base of
*he tower with concrete, then upon that concrete thoroughly shoring up the
tower, every arch being shored up without encumbering the lower part. Ana
4b4
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 31, 1861.
bsTiiie tupUed ahorm In eTcry direction, so close as to leave just room to get
dually
them,
round
he then bo^au ^adually to put in new foundations,
the pier, inserting temporary shoring, and so jroing
SnSraaUynmDd nd up uutfl the whole pier was completed. But in doing
Gkal Ua expuieDce Uught him that they could not exaggerate the danger and
dnmlty in providing the necessary strength. He had had t« do with three of these
ftam Msidea minor ones, and he bad touud that all the shoring he could get in was
oly jnat anficirut to get the necessary strength. What, therelore, he wanted to lay
VTcmt stwu on was, that they could not exaj;gerate the necessity of shoring up, that
bHbiethev toucheda bit of ashlar they sliould have sufficient shoring to carry the
iriiole of the weight of any particular portion of the tower. The shoring should be
of wkole timbers ; in one ease with which he was connected the carpenter, acting
under the instructions of the builder, used timbers cut in two, and the consequence
was that that tower gave way, not largely, but very perceptibly. Another thing to
be borne in mind was to use the hardest stone possible, and not a soft stone. Tlicy
<Mffbt never to lliiuk of such a thing as using a soft stone, or anything approaching
iimH atone, for that was likely to lead to great dauber. Anotlier thing waa never
to »«e mortar but to use cement, poured in behind the stone and then rubble was
«Md. The next work he had of that kind was at St. Mary's, Nottingham, in 1«44.
.TteoMe there was similar to the last-mentioned. In going round he had always
teaorted eopper or iron ties or cramps round the work. The case ot Nottingham was
Bkore difficult and dangerous than tliau at StatTord, and it was carried out in a most
masterly way by a very clever clerk of the works he had at that time, and who had
dnwn out a detailed account of the restoration, which he had intended bringing
with him but which he bad leit behind him. Since that he had had to do a similar
work at Aylesbury, where they found this difficulty, that the foundation being so
dieadfVilly bad, they had to reconstruct it under the pier. Shoring was sometimes
foandtogive wav.' At the work at Stafford a very curious thing occurred. They
jMid wed much shoring, and one day a report was heard like that of a gnu going on,
when U was found that one of the shores had split in the chancel. On another
oceeaton a shore - feet square, which was brought from Hull, and expected to be
of great strength, gave way ; and at the work on which he was engiiged at Aylesbury
he found the shoring give way. It was of the utmost importance, therefore, to have
^ood strong shoring. He might also say that it was of the utmost importance to have
the book on the works carried on at the Cathedral of Bayeux, and every architect should
read it, for it was a most masterly work. It was astonishing to him that the shoring
used at Bayeux was sufficient for the works executed. Mr. Buruell had told them
that the course pursued was to needle the work under the arches. By the strong
system they pursued they thought the weight of the tower was supported ; but in
addition to that they had to needle under all the arches. He thought the needles
above the arches were not sufficient to carry the tower. (Mr. Burnell explained the
diagrams on the wall showing the system which had been pursued at Bayeux.)
AVhat he wanted to lay much stress on was the fact of their requiring immense
MMses of timber to support the great weights ot towers, and timbers were of limited
dteenaions and limited length, and it was necessary to have them as superior as
poesible both in thickness and in height. He had not been able to make many
calculations respecting the work of Mr. Cottingham at Hereford, but he rebuilt the
whole of the exterior piers with success by tying the tower about, and he inserted
the same kind of shoringwhich he (3Ir. Scott) had been mentioning ; and the shoring
which he used, massive as it was, showed evident signs of crushing in the same way
aa he (Mr. Scott) had found to be the case in similar works.
Mr. Slater had very little to say after what Mr. Scott had so kindly said for him.
It was peculiarly gratifying to him that Mr. Burnell had read such a paper, which he
hoped would be published, as well as that lately delivered by Professor Willis, which
he knew was to be published. With reference to Chichester it was unnecessary for
him to say much. He was placed in a critical and most unfortunate position, and he
bad endeavoured to do his duty. It was true that his commission was to prepare
plana for altering the choir only, and there were no funds, as had been stated, for
wittifin^ alterations in other parts of the work where they might be wanted.
When the defects of the tower were found out and ascertained, he did all he could
to avert the threatened danger, and everything that could be done was done with
that object in view. He wisned to say a word in reference to his friend Mr. Hills,
who sat near him. That gentleman's name had not been mentioned by Mr. Burnell
in the list of those employed, but he happened to be at Chichester when he (Mr.
Slater) was engaged on the work, assisted him in every way he could, and, indeed,
his services were most valuable on that occasion. Before he sat down he would
inst mention that in his office they had the charge of the restoration of Sherborne
Minster, that two of the piers were taken down and rebuilt and the others
nnderpinned, the whole of the work being successfully carried out. That case was
nothing like that of Chichester, but there they found sound stone to deal with,
Wliereas It was well known that that was not the case at Chichester, where they had
to deal with nothing but a nase of rubbish. He sliould like to hear from Mr.
Bomell in what state the stone of the piers at Bayeux was, for on that rested the
parallel between (.'hichester and Bayeux. It was most gratifying to himself that
Mr. Burnell should have so kindly come forward to discuss this matter in the paper
which he had read that night. He must likewise say that the whole of the profession
bad behaved kindly to him under the very difficult circumstances in which he was
placed.
Mr. BUBNEI.L referred to the book on the Cathedral of Bayeux which lay on the
table, and which afforded much better information as to the state of the stone of the
piers than he eonid give. The heart of the piers was In a sounder state than the sub-
aeqnent casing. At Chichester the hearting was inadequate and but rubbish, while
the casing was comparatively good ; at Bayeux the hearting was comparatively
good, while the casing was comparatively bad.
Mr. GoBDON HiLi..-! said he had to thank Mr. Slater for the kind way In which he
had acknowledged his services in this matter. It happened that he had been for
some years intimately acquainted with the cathedral of Chichester, and it seemed to
him that he might attempt to give some information on the subject at that moment.
In reference to the intentions of the committee when the restoration ot the choir
was commenced, about a year ago, he must say this, that he did not think their In-
tentions Involved the doing of any matter that concerned the fall of the spire. The
removal of the shnne, wliich had been proj>erly called the Arundel shrine, had
nothing to do with the structure, and lie happened to know that from having looked
at It about ten months ago during an accidental visit, and perhaps he should not
have done so, the building being then in the hands of a brother architect and of an
tBgineer ; be looked at it, the organ was cleared away, and he saw immediately above
the back of the stalls a part of the south-west pier was so far away that he could
— this arm behind it, and found a strap that had evidently not been there many
TMn. And the opinion he then expressed was that it would be Impossible to tell
tile state of the piers without removing the shrine. It seemed to him necessary
that that should be- removed, and it was impossible for the committee or the archi-
tect to know what should be done to tin- piers until the shrine was removed. He
aecidenUlly saw the building on the aoth of February last. He had been four years
engaged on that building, arid, therefore, he knew pretty thoroughly the state of the
walls. In the north-west pier he perceived a crack, which was then slight in width,
and which he was told had been three months in arriving at that width, it was
not more than an eighth, and probably about the sixteenth part of an
inch, but bis opinion was that the piers had commenced crushing,
and It was an opinion he bad formed before the accident that those piers were crusli-
tau. Indeed, he liad often considered what was to be the fate of the vast mass of the
woebt atanding on those piers. He did not think with Mr. Burnell that there was
aoiUtaire in tlie loondation ; he could not conceive the pierf could have sunk unless
ttl«e was a failure in the foundation. The featherage showed a sinking of four
IWIMi, and there was found to be a ftir«h«r sinking of three inches. In former ages
tkere ainst, no donbt, have been a very great failure in the foundations. He quite
■greed with Mr. ilnrneU In the idea that the Injury IVom the vibration of the spire
had been racaggerated. He bad been In the spire often as far as it was possible to
this case. He believed it was a stone that stood very well, and was a stone used in
the older parts of Winchester Cathedral and in yuarr AM icy, in the Isle of Wight.
As to his own connection with Chichester Cathedral, he might state that having on
ascend, and he had never perceived any vibration though he had looked for it. The
vibration was so small as to be quite imperceptible. And so as to the effect of the
winging gallery of Sir Christopher Wreu, it had not been so large or ponderous as
had been supposed. It was inserted on some iron bars and stonework inside the
spire, and there was no reason for supposing it was so heavy as had been imagined,
lie was at the top of the spire on the Tuesday before it fell, and in the galleries there
was no appearance then of the spire being out of the perpendicular; the galleries
fitted so near to the spire that it was quite possible to test that. It was so far free
that up to that moment the spire had never lost its upright position. He thought
that was a remarkable point ; that notwithstanding there must have been some
sinking below, it was perfectly clear the spire above was in such a good state
that it did not yield in proportion to what was going on down below.
All the piers were suffering, but tiiey were not suffering equally. The stone that was
used for the piers was a stone that was very well known in that part of the country,
and he thought that on the whole It was a ^ood stone. It would stand the weather
well, though he did not say it was tlie best lor the purpose to which it was applied la
., . »i., ,..,; J i^ _. ., ... ., Q(i was a stone used in
, in the Isle of Wight,
t state that liaving on
the 25th of February madcan accidental observation of threatened danger, lie reported
the fact to Mr. Slater, and to that gentleman his connection with the building after-
wards was entirely due, and Jlr. Slater had the sole responsibility of the works that
took place. But the work propo.sed before the spire full, was not dissimilar to what
had been done since. Thepiera were considered so defective that nothing could be
done in the way of shoring till the piers themselves were made secure. The facing
never was tried with the crushing weight, and the jacketing of one pier was only
commenced when the catastrophe occurred. In the course of the work pursued they
used small planks and deals, and bolted them together, but before the bolts were
fastened they began to bend, and they found it was not safe to carry on the work
any longer. He had only, in conclusion, to thank Mr. Slater for the handsome
acknowledgment he had made of his services, and to say that Mr. Thompson was un-
doubtedly most efficient in assisting in the work carried on at the cathedral.
Mr. II. UiGiiY Wyatt thought the period of the evening had arrived when it
was proper to propose a vote of thanks to Mr. Burnell, which he did with much
pleasure, and he was of opinion that anything more useful than such a practical
paper as had been read that night being brought before them could not be imagined.
The discussion which followed upon the paper, bringing out as it did the experience
of some of their most eminent men, was not less valuable. The great matter was
the consideration of the relative economy of the modes pursued in such matters as
had been referred to. He thought the mode of proceeding in this country was
more sensible, prudent, and not so wasteful, as that which had been adopted in
France of using such a mass of materials in order to take away four piers at the
same time, instead of gradually proceeding with the work and adding sustaining
strength to tlie piers as the operations were being proceeded with. The engineer of
the building in I* ranee, which nad been referred to, seemed to have miscalculated the
strength of the structure ho had to work upon. In the estimate given in the
book upon the building, it appeared the foundations cost about £a,(100, and they
appeared to him the best part of this engineering work, and rebuilding the piers
cost £15,000, just about as much more as the cost of sustaining the building to
get the piers in it. Now, that made the estimate of M. Viollet le Due perfectly
ridiculous. From what had taken place, he thought timber was not a material well
adapted for shoring and supporting in great works like the buildings which had
been referred to. if cast-iron Iiad been used to a much greater extent in the worlc
at Bayeux, it would have been found much more economical and effective.
Mr. Scott.— The work of Mr. Cottingham, at Hereford, was between 7,000 and
8,000 tons, about the same as that of the French cathedral, and instead of coating
£32,000, as far as he could learn It did not cost £,'<,000.
Mr. FERKEYmadesomeobservations upon thenature of the stone used atWlncbester
Cathedral. An examination of this building would show that old masonry was not
always defective. Undoubtedly there were in old times bad and careless builders
the same as now, but in the case of Winchester he was perfectly certain that if it
was to be examined now a totally different result would be discovered in that respect
to what was found in the catastrophe at Chichester, and, had time permitted, he
could have mentioned two or three other instances of the kind.
Mr. Charles Barry seconded the vote of thanks to Mr. Burnell, and in so doing
spoke of the exceedingly useful and practical nature of the paper which had been
read, and which had brought up the valuable information communicated by Mr.
Scott and others. Looking at the desire of the Council to make the Institute a
museum of knowledge, he could not help thinking that much benctit would result if
Mr. Scott would be kind enough to place in the library diagrams of scall'oldinir that
had proved sufficient for the purpose intended and ot thatlwhich had not been suflicient.
Some time ago he (Sir. Barry) had occasion to read before the Institute a paper on the
scaffolding employed at the New Palace of Westminster, which, he behoved, was the
only one of the kind that had been read, with the exception of Mr. BurneU's paper
which had been read that night, and he thought that if Mr. Scott, Ifr. Ferrcy, and
other gentlemen would favor them with the results of their experience great
advantage would be the consequence.
The Ciiairjian said he had had the charge of a case similar to those referred TO
in the paper. It was that of a large Norman tower In Essex, one of the piers of which
was very bad, while all the other three were very good. He found a difficulty in
getting in the large timber needles, and used 4-inch iron bars, which he had likewise
done at some churches. He had found good oak timber very useful for supports.
The vote of thanks to Mr. Burnell was carried by acclamation.
l)oi)ati(ms.~A large number of donations to the library were announced. Tnoy
included books presented by Miss Hiort, Mr. G. It. Burnell (Cathedrale dc Bayeux);
"Keprlse en Sous-ocnvres dc la Tour Centrale," par M. E. Flachat ; "Description
des Travaux," par MM. H. de Dion et L. Lasvignes, Ingenieurs anciens eleves de
I'ecole centrale, 410, I'aris, isni); Mr. J. Norton, Mr. 0. E. Street, Mr. Wyatt
Papworth, Mr. Henry Shaw, Mr. W. J. Booth, Mr. G. I. Morant, M. Kohault de
Fleury, Ac, &c. t,. ■. tit .*
Examiners vndtr Metropolitan limhling Act.—'i. L. Donaldson, M. Digby Wyatt,
and G. G. Scott, Vice-Presidents ; T. Ilayter Lewis, and James Bell, Honoranr
Secretaries ; and A. Ashpitel, C. Fowler. T. Gibson, H. Hesketh, J. Jennings, C. C.
Nelson, J. W. Papworth, S. Wood, F. C. Penrose, J. T. Scoles, F. W. Porter,
J. Whlchcord, E. C. Uakewill.
THE IRONMONGEKS' ASSOCIATION.
AN evening entertainment, in aid of the funds being raised to increase the llbraty
belonging to the Ironmongers' Association, took place in the Music-hall, Store-
street, Bedford-square, on Friday last. The entertainment possessed bothamnslcal
and recitative character. The programme showed considerable variety, it waa as
lollOWB ■
Part I.— Overture, "Crown Diamonds," (grand pianoforte), Mr. Cazeleys Song,
Miss Ennis; Song, "Strike the Iron while it's Hot," Mr, Bainbridge ; Reading,
"The Covenanters," Mr. A. C. Concanen ; Comic Nigger Song, Mr. T. Roberts (the
African Buffo); Song, "The Muleteer," Mr. Cazeley ; "Nothing to Wear, ^
recited by Miss Rose WilUams (of the theatres Royal Covent Garden and badlers
Wells); Song, Mr. Adams. „ ^ ^
Part II.— Pianoforte Selection, Valse, "Dlnorah," Mr. Cazeley; Song (new),
" Under the Rose," written by Dr. Collier expressly for Mr. Bainbridge ; Song, Miss
Ennis; Reading, selection from Talfourd's celebrated play "Ion," characters
represented— "Adrastus," and "Ion," by Mr. Concanen; Pianoforte, Galo^.
"Neptune," Mr. Cazeley; Comic .Song, "That Young Man from the Country,
Miss Rose Williams; Reading, Rogers' " Italy."— " Gcnevra," Mr. Montague;
Song, Mr. Adams ; Comic Song, Mr. T. Boberts.
May 31, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
465
In the first part, Mr. Bainbrklg-e, who we believe la an amateur and connected
with the AsBociation, having rendered witii much effect the appropriate soiifj,
"Strike tile Iron while it's Hot,"' was encored, when he grave "Widow Jlaclcree."
In the Heeond part, the same ^fentleman was equally successful in his sin^^in(^ of
"lender the Ttose," when he was ajrain encored, and deli-jhted tlie audience with the
*' Fine Old Knglish Gentleman," for which his powerful voice is admirably suited.
The recitation of " Nothing to Wear," by Misa Itose Williams, was one of the best
performances of the evening, and consequently elicited the warm plaudits of the
audience. Sir. Roberts, the African buffo, kept everybody in a state ot merriment by
his excellent delineations of neg-ro character ; and the efforts of Sir. Adams were
much applauded. The other performers did their duty well, and, as a whole, the
entertainment was a most successful one. The Bum realised for the library fund was
a satisfactory one.
NOTES WITHOUT TEXT.*
XXIX.
WE English are not in the habit of speaking of our climate in the most
complimentary terms ; nevertheless, we are in a great measure
indebted to it for one decided trait in our national character —
namely, our study of indoor comfort, our domesticity, and our attach-
ment to what is emphatically summed up under the expressive, though
homely, name oi fireside. It might, therefore, be expected that our archi-
tects— some of them, at least — those who have any opportunity of doing
so, would endeavour to show artistic forte in internal design by providing
for the principal rooms of a private mansion something more tlian cornices
and chimney-pieces, and four flat walls, in order to make so many empty
boxes, to be consigned to the tender mercies of the decorator and
upholsterer. Such unlucky system needs reform; and its reform would
throw open to the architect a wide and most fertile field from which he is
now excluded. " Too many cooks," says the proverb, " spoil the broth,"
and such is generally the case when Messrs. Decorator and Upholsterer
are allowed to supplement the, perhaps, quite involuntary short-comings
of the poor architect who has not been permitted to do more than the
frame-maker does for a daub. No one thinks of interfering with, or dictating
to, his chefdc cuisine ; that worthy is permitted to show his skill uncon-
trolled by any one else; not so the architect, who, so far from being allowed
to finish up his own work, is generally dismissed just when what ought to be
the finishing touches remain to be put in, the not unnatural consquence of
which is that, finding it would be all thrown away, architects, as a general
rule, abstain from giving any study to internal design and decoration
Undeniable it is that in our architectural exhibitions a design fo» a com-
pletely fitted-up room, be it of whatever kind it may, is nothing less than a
phenomenon to he ranked with Ovid's black swan, which, if not exactly
unaccountable ought not to be, if only because there would be a wider
sphere for the architect, were internal design thrown open to him from the
ceiling of aroom almost down to the very hearth-rug. There ought to be ample
employment for the architect in a department which he seems to consider
infra dig. It is only here and there, one in a while, who erects a mansion
for himself, but there are scores who alter — and it is to be hoped also im-
prove rooms already built. An excellent thing it is for an architect to
have an employer who is capable of entering into his views, as to what
ought to be or what might be done, the next best thing is to have one who
conscious of his own incapacity, quietly resigns himself into the hands of
his architectural, just as he would into those of either his legal or medical
adviser. Whatever else may be doubtful, certain it is that interior archi-
tecture in private mansions, holds out carle blanche for showing invention
and taste ; that is, provided the architect be allowed to have his own way,
without impertinent interference. A very great deal indeed remains to be
done in that direction ; so much, in fact, that it opens to the architect an
unexplored— nay, yet undiscovered region, which only waits for some
Columbus to lead tlie way to it. Were he but permitted to do so, it is for
the architect to provide etfects far better worth than all the architectural
mUlincry that goes by the name of decoration.
Of wliich the best tliat can be said is mostly
That if not tasteful, it at least is costly.
You may gild an inch thick, may carve the walls of a room from top to
toe, or hang them withjthe richest Genoa velvet ; and you may do just
the same with a stable or a barn ; but that is not architecture, any more
than crinoline is the quintessence of loveliness and loveableness. Yet
architects hare seemingly all along trusted to mere "crinoline" for
concealmg their own shortcomings. With most illaudable tran-
quillity and acquiescence they have allowed themselves to be shut
up in a cage of what is popularly termed "a happy family,"
■where the mouse sleeps securely by the side of the cat. Yet
so it is : architects have surrendered up and allowed themfelves to be
turned out of, what ought to be almost the very strongest of their strong-
holds. It would seem that architecture can give us no more than mere
outside show ; for what profess to be treatises on architecture altogether
^nore internal design. Where, in any one of them, will you be able to
find anything like instruction as to arrangement of plan, or the appro-
priate decoration of its several divisions? Neither is there any one work
especially devoted to the subject, and elucidating it both by precept and
example. "Pattern-books" of ornament and furniture there are, yet
besides smacking too strongly of the shop, they seldom contain any letter-
press, and though the several examples may be in very good taste, they
are only shown as so many detached scraps and fragments : how to put
them together tastefully is the difficulty, and is the secret which books
never divulge. So that he be first encouraged to put forth his ideas, con
anwre and with abandon, the architect who possesses inventive fancy and
refined taste need wish for no better opportunity of displaying them than
the interior of a palatial mansion, though it may perhaps be none of the
largest. In interiors, he has everything under his own command; he can put
* Continued from page 431.
in his effects at will, secure from the unwelcome intrusion of unwortbier
objects.
THOSE who occupy " ready-made " houses must put up with all the
oversights on the part of the architect,'Of which there may be not a
few oven in a first-class house. But when a man erects a mansion for
himself, be it either in town or country, it is quite n different matter. In
such case it is surely worth while to exert all possible diligence of fore-
sight, forethought and study; whereas, if we may judge from the plans
shown of them, more tiian one lately-erected mansion might have been
laid out and the rooms planned just as well by a country bricklayer, and
then left to be bedizened out by a town decorator. The rule that fine
feathers make fine birds does not hold good in architecture. Good coloring
will not redeem faulty composition and bad drawing. In interior archi-
tecture there ought to be cflects and beauties which the very best of
decorators cannot possibly put in, and the very worst of them cannot
possibly blot out, altliough he may do his very best to mar them. When-
ever there is an opportunity of doing so, it might be supposed a man
would take pains to secure for his dwelling that kind of beauty which
results from artistic architectural design, were it only because that by so
doing he can eclipse those who have nothing better to show than common-
place rooms sumptuously fitted-up and furnished, much, perhaps, in that
abominable, vulgar style which derives its name from the Fourteenth
Louis, and is little better than so much gilded crinkum-crankum that soon
satiates and wearies the eye. As regards expense, refined taste and care-
fully-studied design is sound economy inasmuch as a room which is
strikingly attractive in its architectural ensemble requires very little to
set it ofl' ; in fact, such room may fairly rank as a work of art — conse-
quently, is removed out of the jurisdiction of Fashion,
"Tliat fickle jade
Whose whims work well for nothing except trade."
That there are very few rooms which answer to such character is only too
true, for which very reason architects should now, as far as it is in their
power, endeavour to break away from the present routine system as
regards planning, and all that belongs to internal design. Instead of which,
they seem actually to shun, even to thrust away from them, 'every oppor-
tunity of producing genuine, undiluted artistic spirit. Give them an
entrance-hall as big as a barn, and, no doubt, they can make something of
that, out of the mere ready cut and dry stuff, to be got out of books. The
pompous is to oe had any day, by merely asking for it first and paying for
it afterwards. With the piquant, it is altogether diflerent. It is impos-
sible to measure the beautiful by a foot-rule, or to compute its value by
the stone-weight. The artistically beautiful may he produced without any
extravagant expenditure, either as to material or space. The Picture
Cabinet in the Soane Museum proves very convincingly how much may
be made of a small rooms by means of ingenious contrivance and plaiming,
by which latter is to be understood not merely horizontal or floor plan, but
vertical plan or section also. One of the most charming rooms in all London,
if not actually the most charming of all, is the library of a gentleman who
has distinguished himself by his large contributions to art-literature. That
room is an architectural study in every respect. Captivating, when first
seen, it wins upon one on further acquaintance with it, it becomes fasci-
nating. Most certainly there is not either in Windsor Castle or Bucking-
ham Palace, nor in any of our most palatial club-houses, a single room that
can compete with it for finished elegance. That room must have cost no
little— not indeed, of money, and the easily enough to be computed amount
of £ s. d. ; but of artistic study. All-potent as is money, there are some
things it cannot purchase, and one of them is refined taste.
XXXI.
STRANGE, if nothing worse, it assuredly is that architects should give
so little study to what ought to be, and what they might make, the
fairest and most fertile province of their art— namely, internal design,
taking the term in its most comprehensive meaning. Very seldom is a
subject of that class to be seen, at an exhibition. No encouragement is
given to what, under a different system of both tuition first, and study-
afterwards, might become a most important branch of architectural prac-
tice—not, indeed, for the whole profession, but at any rate the select few.
It is not every one that has any chance of being employed upon a monu-
mental edifice, yet the themes usually proposed to the architectural candi-
dates for an Academical gold medal are of that preposterously ultra-
ambitious kind. Raw novices are galvanised into attempting to concoct
a design for a royal palace, a senate house, a metropolitan cathedral, or
something of the same calibre, instead of being 3timulated--AngUc6,
poked-up — to show what they could make of a single room in a royal
palace, or even a private mansion. Interiors admit of considerable lati-
tude of design ; therefure, if a man possesses anything like inventive
fancy, he can exercise it there.- For instance, should he have occasion to
introduce a few columns, he can safely venture to depart from precedent
and the routine treatment of the established normal orders ; and it surely
is a mistake to make no difference between internal and external columnia-
tion. Although it has been committed, a grave mistake it assuredly is to
foist severe Grecian Doric into a modern English house. What ought to
he patent and tolerably palpable is that, either the architect should be
perfectly competent, first to scheme out, and afterwards to carry out his
ideas, or that the so-called decorator should be perfectly conversant with
architecture and possess sincere feeling for it. Goethe, who surely must
have been nodding at the time, has affected to consider it a particular
hardship upon an architect that, when he has completed an elegant house,
he must deliver up the key of it to his employer ! According to sucb
466
THE BUILDING NEWS.
May 31, 1861.
reasoning, a painter ought to be pitied when he sells a picture, because"
when it is gone out of his oven possession, he can no longer look at it.
Nov, as regards the architect^ he is to be pitied, because, be it ever so
good, his work is never safe from being altered for the worse by others.
Be it bad or good, a picture is allowed to remain as it came from the artist.
Not so erery building. Iiv very many cases a little after- work and re-
touching would be attended with very great improvement; but, unluckily,
what calls for correction and improvement is left untouched, while the
"Vandals of the Gresham Committee are permitted to disfigure the cortile
.of die Royal Exchange without a single remonstrant T oice being raised
against their atrocious barbarianism.
BUILDERS' BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION.
ON Tuesday, a general moetins of the fWends and subscribers to the above
valuable Institution was held at tlie London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, for
the purpose of electing four pensioners— two males and two females— on the funds
of tlie lustitutiun. Jlr. Geokge I'llcknett occupied the chair.
This Institution was founded in 1847, by Mr. Thos. Cozens, with the objects of
givins: relief and (rrantin;jr pensions to decayed members of the various branches of
the building trade and their widows, and also for affording temporary relief to work-
men in cases of accident. During its existence flfty-elght pensioners have been
elected, of which number thirty-six were males, and twentv-two females. Of the
males, twenty have since died, and one has been withdrawn from the funds ; and of
the females, five are deceased, leaving fifteen as the present number of the male
recipients of the charity, and eighteen females, each male receiving £2i, and the
females ^£20 per annum.
The subscriptions and donations for the past year amount to £1,181 Os. 6d. j annual
subscriptions, £{$08; and donations, £373 6s. (5d. ; and £428 Os. 7d. stock has been
purchased in the Three per Cent. Consols. £389 16s. 7d. for the relief fund, and
£3<i 43. stock for the buildmg fund. The total amount of stock now standing in the
names of the trustees is £7,81-' lis. 4d. being for the relief fund, £5,505 6s. 9d.. and
lor the building fund, £3,247 4s. 7d., with a balance at the banker's of £419 2e. 5d.
rhe Chairman, in opening the proceedings, very briefly remarked on the increase
of the funds, merely stating that by the addition to the stock they were now enabled
to elect four pensioners, two males and two females.
The delivery of the votes and proxies then commenced, and at the close of the poll,
on the return of the scrutineers, the following were declared as the successful
candidates: —
1. John Brottrill, of 39, Seymour-street, Enston-square, aged 62, in business for
several years as • master plumber, painter, glazier, and decorator, who is now in-
capable of work, and has been afflicted upwards of 20 years with acute rheumatic
gout and deafness, which prevents him from lying down or even walking in the
streets with safety.
2. Thomas Barry, of 48, Worship-street, Shoreditch, aged Co, in business for 30
years as a builder m Paul-street, Shoreditch, but who, from losses In trade and fre-
quent long and severe illnesses, which have rendered him a cripple, has been entirely
dependent on his friends for support.
3. Julia Garrod, of 3<.i, Murray-street, Hoxton, aged 74, widow of the late James
Oarrod, builder, of Hammersmith. Unable through two broken limbs (hip and
arm) to assist herself. *^
Au*'.*7 ■^"°. !'""■"=". of 2, Felix-place, Liverpool-road, Islington, aged 67 : widow
of the late Benjamin Famell, for twenty years bricklayer and builder, of Islington-
^een. Impaired health, defective sight and advanced age.
The Chairman said he regretted very much, that out of a list of candidates of
nilecn— ten males and five females— to find that they were only able to elect four :
and he felt deeply for those who had been unsuccessful. lie knew that they were
aU eases excitug sympathy (for they had been particularly inquired into) inasmuch
as several of the candidates had been formerly in prosperity, but were now,
tbrotigta misfortune, plunged into extreme poverty. He wished they were in a
position to afford to all the benefits of the Institution, so that none might
■go away from that room depressed in spirits at their non-success. He, indeed,
regretted that their funds were so limited that they were enabled to elect only four
that day, but he hoped the time would come when they would be able to meet the
wants of all. Hu had, however, some encouragement to offer, which, doubtless,
would be advantageous to their funds. The Lord Mayor, with that kindness which
was his usual characteristic, had consented to become their President for the
lollowing year-(hear, hear),-and that he believed would be an incentive to their old
subscrltjers to exert themselves in the cause, so that at their next election many of
lh<Me who appeared before them that day might receive that which would increase
tnclr lehcity and happiness, and which would be so pleasurable to all. He had fur-
ther to inform the meeting that the Lord .Mayor had also expressed his intention of
taking the chair at their next annual dinner -(hear, hear); and, in mentioning that,
lie trusted that. .from the well-known kindness and generous disposition of his lord-
' i!P',^*' '"" '■"''P<^t aoa support would not be wanting which was his due, and
which he so generously ileserved.MHear, hear.) The Chairman then concluded by
calling upon their friends and subscribers to exert themselves with the view of
making the Bmlders' Benevolent Institution a more liberal institution and
clianty, so that it might be worthy of the great interest which it represented.
—{Hear, hear.) "^
i"'./'*,*^''" ^L"" l*""" proposed a vote of thanks to the Secretaries, Mr. Thorn
and .Mr. Cozens, for their share in the labor of the day, which, being seconded by Mr
fJEATE, was carried. • = j
. *^- .'^'■."""'' '" '■^i"™'"!? thanks, said he considered it a duty, as a member of the
Association, to render it all the assistance in his power, and, in fact, nothing gave
Dim greater pleasure, for. while so engaged, it carried with it the knowledge that he
was domg some great good. He hoped that at their next election there might be
as many more thousand votes to pass over as they had had that day, and he thought
that the Lord Mayor's kindness would be the means of furthering their interests,
and II all kindly lent a hand, he thought they might soon be enabled to elect four or
five of each sex from the Usts of applicants. By way of conclusion, he thought it
became his duty to propose a vote of thanks to the gentlemen at the table, the clieck-
Mr T. Cozens also returned thanks, and said he only wished they were called
together four times Instead of once. If they only furnished funds, it would be much
more pleasant to him to officiate a number of times, as he knew he was assisting
i5?^JI!t "^""'^ ""' ***'"' Ihcmsclvcs. He begged to second the proposition of
Ufa Iirother scrutineer.
The vote was unanimously carried.
Mr. J Bird returned thanks. He hoped that on the next occasion they would be
more fully engaged, for there were a number of votes unrecorded— some thousands-
quile .sufficient to carry in a candidate, even if he had none standing over.
»r ;. " 'h*^", proposed a vote of thanks to the Chairman, which was seconded by
air. CozENH, and also carried with the usual honors.
i,/i™v J*'""'^';' "'»»''• <1 tl'e meeting for their kind expression of feeling, and said
2 . ??. "f" '■'" ?»«'»'"'"■'■ «s a labor of love. He, however, felt concerned at his
ih.t .V„.'. .. •—" •^■■-'.•■u". jiieir Hearts, lie said, were so lull of gratitude,
relieve them onhcUsl'" ' "" '^'"''""' i "nd ''« had consequently undertaken to
The proceedings then terminated.
— •
THAMES EMBANKMENT v. RAILWAY
.. """.'T;-*' . .'"""• now su«h important works are under the consideration of a
Koyal Commission, as the Thames Embankment, excuse me for askinc for a 8m.ill
space for a few observations in your valuable publication.
The objects are or ought to be, to select the best plans for relieving- the over-
crowded streets, by diverging the traffic, discharoing the sewage out and bringing
wealth into the metropolis by making as much use as possible of the natural situa-
tion, the capital already expended In the existing sewers, the different lines of rail-
way, and means of exporting and Importing, spending as httle as possible. seelB"
there are no funds m hand to accomplish either of the objects desired, and which as
at present suggested, with the exception of the plans for the railway, is to be dine
by the imposition of an obnoxious coal tax.
We all know the advantage of cleansing and keeping pure " Old Father Thames "
but, instead of making him a fine river for fish and pleasure excursionists, he ou"ht to
be made use of to secure the greatest amount of benefit, not to London only the
metropolitan counties, or even to the United Kingdom, but to every country where
ships can sail to or from, conveying the merchandise, manufactures, or wealth of a
nation that will at some future time look uuon her, as at present, numerous and
half-employed population, as a blessing, by the Increase of her exports and imnorts,
by the uniting ot the shipping and railway interests of the country that has not
inaptly been called a nation ot shopkeepers, and, as I believe, just bc'lnnino- to find
customers through national enterprise and free trade, amongst not onFy the Civilized
nations and colonies, but the opening up countries that have hitherto been closed
against us, by their own want of or defects in civilization, or our inability to offer our
manufactures and take their produce in exchange.
It may appear invidious in me, a building surveyor, to express a hope that the
Koyal Commission will separate without choosing either of the schemes for the
Thames Embankment, but recommend the only plans placed before them which can
accomplish the desired objects, all the others being impracficable-as those submitted
by Mr. J. Sewell as the City, Thames, and West-end Itailway— using iron mains for
the sewers, to prevent their being blown up by the admission of the" tides, either by
accident or for flushing purposes ; uniting all the railways with each other ensuring
rapid and safe transit to all the stations at the bridges, junctions, and sidein-s to the
wharves where desired, and giving great advantages to the dock, slilppin", and rail-
way and wharfinger interest on each side of the river, which, by these means, will
be purified and beautifled, and which plans have this great advantage— they can be
carried out and made self-supporting, not by borrowing on oppressive taxation, but
by private enterprise alone.
The Royal Commissioners may not require to be reminded that Science, as appUed
to London drainage, hitherto has been attended with complete failure; that in
1834, Mr. James V^aikcr, late a President of the Institute of Civil Engineers, before
a Select Committee of the House of Commons, while expressing his entire appro-
bation, and how he had recommended the form of the sewers to the French Com-
missioners sent from Paris, previous to the draining of that city ; and while layine
claim for himself and partner to the then thought honor for originating some of the
Elans done under the Westminster and part of Middlesex commission, stated that
e knew of no public concern where the works were better done, or in
which the public interest was better consulted, and yet the evidence
given (before the Koyal Sanitary Commission in 1848, not 'only upset the form of
the before named highly commended sewers, I ought to have said elongated cess-
Sools, as being erroneous to science, but swept that honorable Board and all the other
[etropolitan Commissioners, composed as they were of some of the most eminent
engineers, architects and scientific gentlemen from the sphere they had so long
occupied with so little credit to themselves and interest or satisfaction to the public,
and that the result of the evidence tlirough which so great a reform took place only
tended more effectually to poison the Thames, to compel the Queen, both Houses of
the Legislature, and nobility and gentry to forsake their palaces and mansions, to
ruin the health, and to depreciate the value of the property of all concerned, either
on the banks or the water of this originator and promoter of a great part of the
wealth of London.
If the railway plans and sewers are not accepted now the ground is not occupied
by the effete dock and embankment schemes, at some future time it may cost as much
or more to make the desired communication as it is now doing for diverting the
sewage, by the enormous useless excavations and works of the H Igh-levcl, Northern,
Southern, and other main sewers as are now being constructed, instead of laying
down as many iron mains, 6 or 8 feet or more if required in diameter, as are now laid
in the New River at Islington, as would convey the whole of the sewage now passing
through the old sewers in the foreshore of the river, and wliicli sewers have cost
millions to construct, and will now be allowed, if not fully used, to fall into ruin, to
the great detriment of the foundations of the buildings. Roads and streets are kept
in repair at a very great and useless expense.
I am, &c.,
Ash Grove, Hackney, N.E., May 28, 1861. J. MOBTIHEB.
CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL.
Sir, — In the discussion on Chichester Cathedral, at the Institute, two modes of
treating infirm piers were alluded to, viz., to rebuild them piecemeal, as was done at
Hereford by Cottingham, and to boldly remove and reinstate them, as recently per-
formed at Bayeux.
The earliest portions of Chichester are contemporary with Ripon Minster, and I
was much struck by their very close resemblance of style. But when the medieval
architects at Ripon, deemed the first Norman constructions inadequate fur later
additions, they did not scruple to abridge the spans of the arches, and build a new
casing of masonry in front of the old work, thus increasing the sectional area of the
supporting piers for the central tower.
The mode of joining the spire and tower seems a matter of importance, and I have
noticed, in working out several designs, by what very simple means the early
branches effect the objects, of connecting in a graceful manner the square and the
octagon, as well as of equalizing and distributing the pressure throughout the whole
extent of the walls.
It is desirable that while the external features should be strictly synchronous in
character, the construction should embrace all the advantages of modern experience,
and looking to the extreme solidity, tenacity and durability of brickwork, I am led
to consider that a cone of this material might be most serviceably employed as a
core for the stone facing. I am, &c.
Thomas Morbis.
The Adamantine clinker is now unrivalled for neatness, compactness,
and its power of resisting wet and weight. The accuracy of the above opinion
expressed in the Building News of 1867, has been fully borne out by the ex-
traordinary sale of this clinker, which has increased within the last four years
upwards of 710 per cent. These figures are enough to startle the inexperienced
in these matters, but when it is considered that the most costly machinery has
been employed, regardless of expense, to give the Adamantine clinker its un-
rivalled neatness and compiict shape, that tlie pure clay with which it is made
po8se.S3e3 qualities of hardness and durability hitherto unknown, tliat it is a
quarter of an inch wider than any clinker offered to tlie public, producing a
saving of clinkers in the square yard; and, lastly, that, although first in quality,
it is the lowest in price in the market, surprise ceases, and the rapid and un-
precedented demand for them is easily accounted for.
May 31, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
467
TENDERS.
DWFXT.ING-HOUSF AND SCHOOL, LEICESTER.
For ^Fr. Hijjhton's house and school, Londou-road, Leicester.
Mellican, architect.
No. l.—Difi3ing, Bricklaying, cjr.
Mr. William
Shilcock (Tenders 1 and 2) £808 0
Osborne (do.) 858 0
Duxbury 497 K
Cox 482 5
Meale 471! 0
JVb. 2.— Carpentry, Joinery, ^^•c.
I'hurlby £4fl5 8
Wykcs 434 10
Hutchinson 427 0
Cox, jun 41» 10
V. Holland i.'iOO 17
Coltman 3«8 12
Cmton 397 0
Sketchley 296 0
Wykes £4,-i4 10
T. Smith 434 0
Swain and Orton 420 0
Neale 409 0
No. 3. — Stone Masonry, tfc.
Yates £80 10 | Johnson £79 0
No. i.— Plumbing ami Glazing.
Fozzard £83 10 I Norman £71 10
Adiard 75 0 Hill 67 0
Wlddowson 74 10 |
No. 5.—Ironfounding, cfc.
I-aw £22 18
No. 6. — Painting, ttc.
King £14 3 eiWoodcock £8 17 6
linight 9 10 0|
Maltiiouse, Leamington.
For extension of maltlngs, Leamington brewery. Mr. K. Davison, C.E., architect.
Quantities supplied by Mr. K. L. Curtis
Clarke and Son, Warwick.
C. Hart. Leaminsrton
W. BaUard „
..£4,861 0 0
.. 4,822 18 0
.. 4,516 3 8
* Accepted.
W. Gascoign, Leamington £4,512
J. S. Marriott, Coventry • 4,426
For the erection of St. Mary's College, Harlow, Essex. Mr. K. Withers, architect.
Quantities supplied by Mr. I'oland.
Macey £3,884
Sanders 3,581
Mansfield and Sons 3,439
Holland and Ilannen £.3,416
I'erry 3,070
House and Cottage, Herts.
For house and cottage at Flawndon, Herts, for the Itight Hon. Lord Chesham.
Mr. Henry Clutton, architect, 9, New liurlington-street. The quantities by Mr.
Crocker.
Myers £2,862 I Mansfield £2,767
Macey 2,839 I'Anson 2,591
Sooitn 2,790 I rritchard and Shelton •. 2,544
Dwelling-house, Ac, Brixton.
tor bmlding three houses and shops and a pair of semi-detached cottages at Brixton-
hill, for — Kelly Esq. Mr. Barrett, architect.
Tliompson £<,428 Brake £1,927
Smith 1,920
Turner 1,898
Wallis 1,(W0
Cole a,030
Tarrent 1,994
t'ltnn 1,900
Cottages, ic, Southoate.
* or SIX cottages, house, and shop, to be erected at Southgate. Mr. Harrison,
architect.
Harvey £1,200 I Cushing £975
^•■"by 1,195 Carter 958
Farer 1 161
_ , ., ,. FoLicE Station, Banbury.
For building County Folice Station, at Banbury.
Jones Oxford £2,473 10 | Davis, Banbury £1,990
Uaridge, Banbury 2,100 0 Kimbcrley, Banbury (accepted). ... 1,940
Orchard, Banbury 2,147 o|
Church, Washingborough.
HOT reljuilding the south aisle and porch of Washingborough church ; Mr. God-
dard. Architect.
Sv o"".' J'l"'=°'" ^■■W" 0 0 1 A. Wells, Washingborough.. £276 0 0
W. Smitli, Lincoln 204 15 6 W. Keeve, LUicoln 274 0 o
bnarp, \\ ashmgborough 285 0 0 |
, r^ , . Dwelling Houses, &c., Brixton.
■ Works for Alexander Bevington, Esq., at Koupell-park, Brixton. Mr. John
Taylor, Jun., archiu-ct. Quantities by Mr. Reddall.
Cuuch HouAe and
Fini*hin^ Stuble. Ditto.
T Ti .L House. No. 1. No. 2. Total.
Lawrence, Brothers £.300 0 .. £873 0 .. £814 0 .. £2,407 0
Clements.. . 270 0 .. 805 0 .. 800 0 .. 1,935 0
Pricbard and Shelton 2.53 0 .. 873 0 .. 800 0 .. 1,9.32 0
I™." 239 10 .. 807 18 .. 710 15 .. 1,758 3
5,"""' 251 0 .. 784 0 .. 714 0 .. 1749 0
Downs 225 0 .. 790 0 .. 730 0 .. 1,743 0
Thompson 257 0 .. 773 0 .. 712 0 .. 1,742 0
Deacon 198 0 .. 798 0 .. 745 0 .. 1,741 0
Dwelling Houses, &c., Woolwich.
For taking down workshops, &c., and building on the site two houses and shops
at Church-hill, Woolwich, for Mr. Francis H, Bannister. The contractor to bo
allowed to take the whole of the materials of present structure, and to use bricks
only as approved by the architects, Messrs. W. Gosling and Son.
Vaughan £490 0 i Taylor £409 0
Thompson 480 0 Sonnex 406 0
Champion 475 0 1 Ledbetter (accepted) . 460 0
CONTRACTS OPEN.
LAW COUUT.
IKELAND.-Lrection of a court of probate district registry office at Armagh. Plan
and specification with Uobert Kiddie. Esq., district registrar, A rmagli. Each pro-
posal on the printed form to be for a lump sum, and to be accompanied by a detail
giving quantities and prices, and to be endorsed " Tender for Works at (staling
tlie name of the Building)," and addressed to Edward Hornsev, Secretary, Office
of Public Vi orks, Dublin, by 12 noon June 12.
.., BANK.
.NEwcABTLE-ON-rYNE.— For the crcction of new bank-premises, in the Vicarage
Ground, Westg.ite-street, Newcastle-on-Tyne. Plans, &c., at the office of Mr. J.
E. Watson, architect, 22, Grey-street, where printed forms of tender may be ob-
tained. .'5ealed tenders, marked " Tender for New Bank Premises," to be delivered
to James Potts, secretary, at the Bank, Koyal Arcade, by twelve noon, on June 8
HOSPITAL.
EijiNBUHGii.— For the various works in tlie erection of Chalmcr's hospital, Lauriston
Edinburgh. I'ians, &c., with Messrs Peddle and Kinnear, Architects, 3, South
Charlotte-street, Edinburgh, to whom tenders are to be sent to June 7.
HALL.
Leeds.— For the mason and brick work, carpenters' and joiners' work, slaters' plum-
ber and glaziers', plasterers', painters', and ironfounders' work, requirea to bo
done in the alterations and additions to tlie Philosophical Hall, Leeds. Plans. &c.,
witli Dobson and Chorley, Arcliitects, 19, Park-row, Leeds, until 12th June (inclu-
sive). Tenders to the architect by ten o'clock on June 13th.
BATHS.
London.— For the execution of certain works. In making a new entrance to the
baths m Orange-street, Leicester-square, for tlie commissioners for public baths
and washhouses in the parish of b't. Martih's-in-the-Fielde. Drawings, forms
ot tender, ice, on application to the superintendent, at the baths. Tenders to be
addressed to the commissioners of baths, endorsed " Tender for Works," and dc-
Uvered sealed to the superintendent, at the baths, on June 4th.
OFFICES, &c.
DuNDALK.— For the erection of a house and offices, 40 feet frontage, and two storeU
high, for the Dundalk Steam Packet Company (Limited), at the company's office.
Dundalk.
GAOL WORKS
Londonderry.- For the following works at the Londonderry GaoL 1. To supply
and fit up a complete apparatus for heating with hot water about one-half the
horse shoe portion of the prison. 2. To supply and fit up gongs, with communica-
tion from each cell, to enable prisoners to communicate with the officers, and to put
inspection plates in eel Idoors. 3. To supply and fit up water closets and washing
basins in the above portion'of the prison. 4. To supply and erect suitable gas-fit-
tinfrs to light the passages and cells in the same portion of the prison. 5. To supply
and fit up cookino; apparatus, and to erect and set up a wrought-iron circular
steam-boiler, now in the gaol, and furnish everything" necessary to convey and
supply steam and hot water to washing cells and baths. 6. To erect three wash-
ing cells complete, and two warm baths. 7. To raise the present flagging in laundry
cookhouse, &c., and reset same with Caithness flagging. Specifications to be seen
at the gaol. Separate tenders are to be lodged for the work in each of the above
heads, sealed and directed to the board of superintendence, and marked on the
cover, " Tender for ," delivered at the Gaol before 11 o'clock on June 11.
CHURCHES, &c.
HABrENDEN.-For rebuilding the parish church at Harpenden, between Luton and
St. Alban's. Drawings, &c., with Rev. E. T. Vaughan, at Harpenden, and with the
architect, Mr. W. Slater, 4, Carlton Chambers, Regent- street, London, S.W., to
whom tenders to June 17.
Hants— For the restoration and reseating of Wickham church, near Fareham,
Hants. Plans, Ac, with Kev. T. A. Wills, at Wickham, and with the architects,
Messrs. Francis, 38, Upper Bedford-place, W.C, to whom tenders to June 8.
CiiEsiiiKE.— For the various works to be done in tlie construction of a congrega-
tional church and school, at Maipas (Cheshire). Plans, &c., at the independent
school, Maipas, after 2nd June, and bills of quantities from the architects, Messrs.
J. E. and .1. D. Gates.; York or Halifax. Sealed tenders to be sent to T. G.
Wycherley, Secretary, Maipas, before June 7.
Lincoln.- For the restoration of Sutterton church, in the county of Lincoln. Flans,
&c., with Edwara Browning, architect, Stamford, after June (Jth. Sealed tenders
(agreeably to the form supplied), to be delivered on June 20.
Edinburgh.- For the various works in the erection of Pilrlg Free church, Leith
walk, Edinburgh. Plans, &c., at the office of .Messrs. Peddle and Kinnear, archi-
tects, 3, South Charlotte-street, Edinburgli, to whom tenders by June 7.
Ireland.- For rebuilding the church of St. Andrew, City of DubUn. Plans, Ac,
with the officiating minister of the parish. Each proposal to be sealed, prepaid,
and addressed tlius:— "Proposal for rebuilding the church of St. Andrew, the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners for Ifeland, Dublin," and forwarded by June 1'2.
Ireland.— For building a church for the district of Lower Falls, parish of Belfast,
CO. Antrim ; and for altering 4nd improving the church of Clontadforan, Tyrrells-
pass, CO. Westmeath ; and for repairing the churches of ICildrumferton, co. Cavan ;
Golard, Stranorlar, co. Donegal ; Fontstown, Leixlip, eo. Kildare ; Newtown Gore,
CO. Leitrim ; Ardagh, eo. Longford ; Drummuily, co. Monaglian ; Donohill, Kil-
cooley, Kilfithmore, co. Tipperary; Termonomongan, co. Tyrone; Clashmore,
Kinsalcbeg, co. Waterford. Plans, &c., with the resident ministers of the parishes.
Each proposal to be sealed, prepaid, and addressed thus :— " Proposal for
the Church of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for Ireland, No. 24 Upper
Merrion-street, Dublin," and forwarded by June 5.
Ireland.— For the building of a new church, in the town of Augher, parish of
Clogher, county of Tyrone. Plans and specification (furnished by the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners), in the liands of the Secretary. Proposals to be sealed, prepaid,
and addressed thus, " Proposal for the Church, at Augher, parish of Cloger, county
Tyrone— J. J. O'F. Carmlchael Ferrall, Esq., Secretary to the Committee, Augher
Castle, Augher, Auglinacloy," to be forwarded by June 20.
Ireland.- For building the district church of Clanabogan, parish of Drumragh,
county Tyrone. Plans, &c., with the resident minister ot the parish. Each pro-
posal to be sealed, prepaid, and addressed thus, "Proposal for the Church
of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for Ireland, Dublin," and for-
warded by June 12.
SCHOOLS, &c.
TnoRNE.— For the erection ofa school and master's 'residence, at Thome, for the
Trustees of the Brooke's Charity. Plans, &c., till the 3l6t .May, at the Peace Hall,
in Thorne, or at the offices of Messrs. Brundell and Arnold, architects, 21, Hall-
gate, Doncaster. Sealed tenders to William Lister, Clerk to the Trustees, at his
office. South-parade, Thorne, by June 4.
DWELLING HOUSES.
Bavswater.— For the completion of two blocks of first class houses, adjoining in
carcase, and situate in Ladbroke-gardens, Bavswater. Communicate bv letter, with
references, to the architect, Mr. W. B. Habershon, 38, Bloomsoury-square,
London, W.C.
FARM BUILDING.S, &c.
Teversiiam— For the erection of the new farm buildings, at Teversham, near Cam-
bridge. Drawings, |&e., with Walter Robinson, architect, 57, Regent-street,
Cambridge, from June 3. Tenders to be delivered to Mr. Robinson at one p.m..
June 8.
Chester.— For a new homestead and pair of laborers' cottages, to be built on Hond-
slough farm, in the forest of Delamere, in the county of Chester, for the Commis-
sioner of Woods and Forests. Plans, &c., on and after Wednesday, the 29th May,
at the Abbey Arms Inn, Delamere. Further particulars of Mr. John Clutton, 9,
Whitehall-place, Westminster ; or of Mr. Moodie, Kelsall, near Chester. Tenders
to the Hon. James Howard, OfBce of Woods, &c., 1, Whitehall-place, Westminster,
endorsed " Tender for new llomestead, Delamere," by 12 uoou of June 10.
MILLS.
Halifax. — For the various works required for the erection (upon the foundations
now being prepared) of a mill. en<;iiie and boiler houses, chimney, offices, fence-
walls, *tc., at Salterhebblo. Hahfax for the Skircoat Cotton-Spinning Company,
(Limited). Drawings, &e., inspected and bills of quantities obtained, at the oflicea
of the architects, Messrs. ,1. E. and J. D. Gates, George-street, Halifax. Sealed
tenders, endorsed "Tender for works," to be sent to Joseph C. Iloatson,
secretary, Waterhouse-street, Halifax, by 10 a.m., June 7.
WATERWORKS.
Knutsford.— For the cutting of trenches and the laying and jointing of cast-iron
'water pipes in the town of Knutsford, for the Knutsford Waterworks Company
^Limited). Further particulars, form of tender, Ac, on appUeation at the offices of
the engineer, Mr. John I. Mawson, Towuhall-ehambers, Manchester. Sealed
468
THE BUILDING ISTEWS.
May 31, 1861.
tenders, endorsed "Tender for ripe LayiDff," to be delivered at the Company's
C«oeM»V Keniie<Iy-8treet.SIaucUester, by Junes. ■ ^ . '
KlrowJOBD.— Fortheoi^nstructionofafilter and clear water reservoir and works,
at Booth Mill and also for the excavations for and erection of a water tower in
ooanectiou therewiih. at Miaw Heath, both situate near Knutsford. for the Knuts-
Ibrd Waterworks Company (Limited), I'artieulars and speciflcations at the offices
oftthe oiginear, Mr. John 1. Mawson, Townhall-chanibers, 3Ianehester. Scaled
tendersTSidorsed "Tender for construction of Filter, tte.," to be delivered at the
C0(DpaB7*8 offices, 16, Kennedy-street, Manchester, not later than June 8.
KiniTSTOKD.— For the necessary ironwork for tlie tank for the water tower, and the
cfeotion thereof, for the Knutsford Waterworks Company (Limited). I'artieulars,
«■ uwlteation to the enjjriueer, 3Ir. John I. IVIawson. '.Town hall -chambers,
KMaSertsr. Sealed tenders, endorsed '" Tender for Ironwork,*' to be delivered at
IteConqMitT's offices, 16, Kennedy-street, Manchester, by June 8.
KKUTsroao.— For the making of about threo miles of cast-iron drain pipes, of
various sizes, ft*om 0 inches downwards, all with turned and bored joints ; and also
of the usual irregular castin^^a for branches, curves. &c., for the Knutsford Water-
works Company (Limited). Tarticulars, &c., on application to the engineer, Mr.
John 1. Mawson, Townhall-chambers, Manchester. Sealed tenders, endorsed
•• Tender for Tipes," to be delivered at the Company's offices, 16, Kennedy-street,
Manchester, by June 8.
HARBOR WORKS, &c.
LnrcoiJi.— For the makings of a sea bank, and the building of a brick tunnel, across
Barton's Marsh, in Wyberton near Boston, Lincolnshire. Plans, &c., at the office
of Mr. William I*wiu, civil engineer. Bridge- street. Boston. Sealed tenders ad-
dlwatd to G«o*^ Yorke, olerk to the Boston Harbor Commissioners arc to be
ant to mm offle« ctf Mr. George Yortae, solicitor, Boston, by twelve noon on
June 6.
Gbeat YARMOUTn.— For the repair and renovation of the round or east end of the
south-west breakwater. Great Yarmouth. The Haven Cammissioners will receive
tenders for the whole of the materials and works required in one tender, or for the
timber, iron, scupper nails, and labor in separate tenders. Conditions of tenders
and specifications of works and materials may be obtained of the clerk to the Com-
missioners, Great Yarmouth; or the deputy engineer, Gorlestou. Tenders ad-
dressed to the Commissioners of the Haven of tlie Great Yarmouth, are to be deli-
vered to the Clerk, addressed, " To the Commissioners of the Haven of Great Yar-
mouth,'* before twelve noon of June 10.
KAIL WAY WORKS.
GuEAT Indian I*ENn!8ui.A Raii.wat.— For the completion of the works com-
prised in the three following contracts in the Bombay Presidency, viz :— No. 15.
ilhosawul to Hurdah, 13S| miles. No. 16. Hurdah to Sohagporo, 82 miles. No. 17.
Sohagpore to Jubbulpore, IIGJ. Plans, &c.. with conditions of contract and
engineer's estimate, may be seen, and forms of tender (on which only tenders will,
be received), obtained on application at the company's offices, X, New Broad-street,
London, E.C., and tenders (se^ed, and marked on the outside, " Tender for Works
Contract No. — .", must be lodged in this office before twelve noon of June 14.
Bast Somerset Railw.vy.— For the construction of a passenger, engine, andgoods
shed at the Wells Station. Tenders according to forms obtained at the office of
Mr. R. J. Ward, Westbury, Wilts, the engineer, on and after the 18th instant,
where plans, ttc. may be seen, and must be sent in to George M. Mackay, Secre-
tary, Secretary's office* Sbepton Mallet, Somerset, by June 6th.
Stmington, Bh^gar, and Brolgiiton liAiLWAY.— For the construction of the
whole works on the line of the extension from Broughton to Peebles, bein^ about
^even miles in length. The whole will be let in one contract. The works include
the formation of the Ncidpath Tunnel and Viaduct over the Tweed. The rails,
chairs, sleepers, keys, spikes, fish-plates, and bolts will be supplied by the railway
company. Plans, &c., at the office of Bruce and Cunningham, C.E., 21, Castle-
Btreet, XdJnburgh. Form3, of tender, detailed estimate, and copy of specification,
may be obtained on applieation to them on payment of £2 28. ; and tenders in any
Other form will not be received. The engineer will be at the Broughton Station
on Tuesday, the 28th, at twelve noon, for the purpose of going over the line with
contractors. Sealed tenders, marked " Tender for Works," must be lodged with
the secretary, David Thomson, Esq., Royal Bank, Biggar, before 10th June.
1»AV1NG, &c.
St. MARTra'8-iN-THE-FiELD8.— For pavlug and repairing the footways and
carriageways of the parish ; also for the supply of broken Guernsey granite, from
time to time as may be required. Tenders will be for three years (determinable at
theendof the 1st or 2nd year on three montlis' previous notice) to commence at
Midsummer next. Separate tenders will be required for each contract. J*arti-
colars and printed forms of tenders on application to Mr. Burstall, surveyor to the
Vestry, at the Vestry-hall, between ten and twelve, and no other form of tender
irill be accepted. Tenders mast be delivered sealed up at the Vestry-hall,
endorsed respectively, *' Tender for Paving and Itepairing Footways," or " Tender
fbr Paving and Repairing Carriageways, and for Guernsey granite," before 6 p.m.,
JnneA.
SEWERAGE.
Westsokster.— For the execution of general works and repairs to the eewers,
fiiiUies, drains, Ac., within the Westminster diritrict, under the jurisdiction of the
Board, for the term of one year, commencing from Midsummer-day next.
Printed conditions of contract, forms of tender, &c., at the offices of the Board,
where scaled tenders are to be delivered by 4 p.m. on June 12.
MILITARY WOBK.S.
Woolwich.— For renewing the slating and lead-work ol the roofs of the rear range
of buildings at the Royal Military Academy on Woolwich Common. Parties de-
siring to tender, leave their names at the Iloyal Engineer Office, Woolwich, by 8th
June, 1801, and pay 10s. Trd. for bills of quantities.
SUPPLY.
Bow.— For the supply of one thousand five hundred yards of new blue Guernsey
granite of the b^t and hardest quality, free from dust, broken to a gauge of two
mcliee and one lialf an inch, to be delivered before the end of the month of Sep-
ttmber next, at Messrs. Met-son's wharfs, adjoining the River Lea, at Stratford,
Xmcx, for the trustees of the Middlesex and Essex turnpike roads, the trustees
being at the expense of unloading the broken granite from the barges to the
Wharf. Tenders, sealed and endorsed, "Tender for Broken Granite,' to be sent
to the Road Office. Bow, Middlesex, by June 14.
IjIverpool.— For about.3,<XW tons of paving setts, for the Mersey Dock Estate to be
of blue wbinstone. basalt, or hard granite, the delivery to be free of all charges,
within three months A'om the date of the acceptance of the tender, on such of
the quays of the Liverpool docks as may from time to time be directed. They
must be from 12 to 15 Inches long, 0 inches broad, and 7 to 8 inches deep, and are to
be of tiie verv best descriptfon, satisfactorily dressed, ready for laying. A sample
•ett of the description tendered must be left at the dock office, with the tender.
Tenders to state the quantity and description of setts proposed to be supplied, and
the price per ton of 2,240 lbs., delivered subject to various conditions, endorsed
••Tender for Paving Setts," addressed to the Chairman of the Committee of Works
imder cover to the Dock Secretary, and left at the dock-office, Revenue- buildings,
not later than 10 a.m, on June 8th.
STRtf International ExhihiUon, — Conviction of the Builder* — The
CMC against Mr. KeJk, the builder of the International Exhibition of 1862, at
South Kensington, for not giving two days' notice to the di.strict surveyor before
commencing the works, was resumed on Monday at the Hammersmith Police-
court. The detendaiit siiid ite quite admitted a notice ought to have been
given. Mr. Ingham inflicted the nominal ^emJXy of ls.j and &. costs.
South Kensington Museum. — Week ending 25th May, 1861 — "VVhitsun
week. Free days, 13,892; three free evenings, 5,707. Social Science Conversa-
zhm; Saturday evening, 976. Total 20,575. From the opening of the Museum, J
2,058,552. I
The Conservative Land Society. — The two seats at the Board of
Directors, vacant by the retirement of B. H. Adams, Esq., and the Rev. Dr.
Worthingrton have been filled up by the election of H. W. Currie, Esq., of
of Norfolk-street, Park-lane, and C. E. Newcomen, Esq., of Overinp^ton-square,
Brompton, who are now members of the Executive Committee.
Progress of English Art Manufactures.—" To the iutendiuf^ purchaser of
of so irauortant an article of personal adornment and utility, it is of some importance
to be informed where Ue may meet witli these more tastetuUy embellished watches,
and be thus saved the annoyance and loss of time of a fruitless search. To such we
shall be doinf? a service by informin^^ them that the show-rooms of Mr. J. W.
Benson, of ."ia and 34, Lud{4ate-hill, contain a rare and most extensive stock of
watches, ornamented with exceedingly beautiful designs; indeed, their exquisite
taste leaves nothing to be desired by the educated. The high repute which Mr.
Benson has attained for the qualities of his manufacture stands second to none.
Here, then, will be found perfection of workmanship, combined with the hiffhest
order of art in embellish meut. Mr. Benson's show-rooms are the most distinguished
n the City for spaciousness and the unexampled variety of his stock."— il/onit^i^'
A(lverti:ser.
Benson's Illustrated Pamphlet, post free for two stamps, is descriptive of
every construction of watch now made. Watches safe by poet to all parts of the
^lobe.— Adv.
ANSWERS TO CORUESPON DENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and communicatioas to be addressed to the Editor of tlio Building Js'ews, 30,
Old Boswell-court, St. Clement's, Strand, London.
The Editor cannot imdertake to return unused manuscripts.
A SuBSCEiBER.— We know of no better preparation than glue for fastening drawing
paper to the board when straining it. Our correspomlent finds that glue docs "not
answer very well." Perhaps some of our readers may be able to tcil him of something
they may have found to answer better.
The Wkoxetee Excavations.— We arc much obliged to Mr. Stant, of Shrewsbury, for a
small but well taken photograph, showing the hjTJOcaust ; it is vaUiable as being the only
one taken, thehypocaust " having been maliciously destroyed afewdays after;" it has,
liowevcr, been setup again. Enclosure received, and ehall be forwarded. Wc shall be
glad to see any photographs Mr. Stant may wish to send us.
1*. Q. K.—Shoultl send some corroborative evidence of correctness of statement. Too much
caution cannot be exercised in reference to such charges,
A Reader (Wandsworth). — Can scarcely expect us to comply.
C J. KicHAUDs.— Will find a very good reply on another page.
W. J.— Declined with thanks.
A. Z.— Ditto.
ItEVD. J. D. S.— Next week.
Ahouitect Wc arc aware of the proposition, but do not wish to make the SuUIect pablic
until it is more matured. Our interest In the matter Is evident.
T. M. AND W. T.— Both statutory and common law would be against you.
S. M. L.— System would not answer In practice. The amount of street debris, or the quantity
removable fTora any extent of surface, of course varies most materially, according to the
structure of the street or roadway. Thus, roads formed of broken granite or other similar
materials, arc rapidly destroyed by the action of wet, which loosens the superficial coating
of the road, and passes into the "body of the materials; the finer particles also bfcnrae
washed upon the surface, and act as sand in grinding it dowii, by the action of the wheels
upon it. raving formea with stones of irregular shajjes and sizes is also productive of a
large quantity of debris, although less than the unpavcd surfaces just referred to; upon
this inferior class of paving water acts destructively by washing lup the soil and dirt
between the stones, by which they become loosened, while a great proportion of these
interposed materials have to be removed as they appear upon the surface in the form of
mud, ritch paving formed with squared blocks of granite, whin, or other stone of equal
hardness and durability set in lime, grouting upon a substantial foundation of concrete
9 to 18 inches in thicKuess, according to the nature of the substratum, forms the most
permanent construction for the carriage-wavs of streets and thoroughfares, and afl'ords a
correspondingly small proportion of raateriafs to be removed from the surface in order to
preserve its cleanliness, wood paving yields the minimum of debris, and its cconomj', as
a subject for the labors of the scavenger, at any rate is thus very great, as compared even
with the most perfect form of stoue-pavinLf.
G. X.— Wc shall be glad to receive promisetl parcel.
Thomas Wyleson,— Can no other arrangement be suggested ? The plan proposed seeds open
to many objections.
A Constant Header.— Cannot be a *' constant reader" of the Building News, as he would
be aware that we have not closed our pages to the amalgamation question, on the con-
trary, it is a matter in which we take the greatest interest, and have done something
towards bringing to a successful issue, if mav judge from the numerons complimentary
letters received from all parts of the kingdom^ we believe that few professional questions
Iiave really attracted so much attention.
F. Williams.— Such communications are usually left unanswered, for obvious reasons.
An Engineer Hhall be considered, and if approved we will write.
T. T.— Looking at the present, we are inclined to think that your fonner letter must have
shared the fate of all wholly, or, lor the greater part, illegible scrawls.
V. J.— Monday is the lastday for receiving applfca , „
Several Workmen, who desire usto omit their names, but send no initials, have been
lications for space. See another page.
greatly misinformed. The Act directs, that if any person shall, by violence to the person
or property, or by threats or intimidation, or by molesting or in any way obstructing
another, force, or endeavour to force, any joumejnnan manufacturer, workmen, oroUicr
l»erson employed or hired in any manufacture, trade, or business, to depart from his Iiirlng.
employment, or work, or to return his work before the same shall be finished, or to prevent
or endeavor to prevent any journeyman manufacturer, workman, or other person, not
being hired or employed, from hiring himself, or from accepting work or employment
from any person or persons ; or if any person shall use or employ violence to the person
or ])ropcrty ol another, or threats or intimidation, or .'*hall molest, or in any way obstruct
another, for the purpose of forcing or inducing such person to belong to any club or asso-
ciation, or to contribute to any common fund, or to i)ay any fine or penalty, or on accoimt
of his not belonging to any particular club or association, or to contribute to any common
fund, or to pay any fine or penalty, or on account of his not having complied, or of hia
refusing to comply with any rules, orders, resolutions ; or regulations made to obtain the
advance of, or to reduce the rate of wages, or to lessen or alter the hours of working, or to
decrease or alter the quantity of work, or to regulate the mode of carrying on any trade,
manufacture, or business, or the management thereof; or if any person shaui.y violence
to the person or property of another, or by throats or Intimidation, or by molestmg or m
anyway obstructing another, or force or endeavor to force any manufacturer or person,
carrjing on any trade or business, to make any alteration in his mode ol regulatmg, man-
aging, conducting or carrying on the same, or to limit the number ol huj apprentices, OFtbfi
number or description of his journeymen, workrarti, or servants, llren such person or
persons shall be subject to the penalties therein contained.
F, E.L.-Ycs,if8Ultablc and not too lengthy. . . , ,. „, ^ ^ ,<^ ,* ,
T. J, K Specimen sent is very well drawn, and should think you will find no difflculty In
. obtaining employment. Sketch has somewhat the appearance of having been touched up
by more experienced hand ; is such the fact?
W. C. P will appear next week.
A. ]i. Is quite welcome to his opinion, we still hold to our own.
M.W. It, F.~Yes.
M. (Denby).~We cannot depart from our usual course.
C. C — Not at all probable. , . , ,
V. W.— Wo shall \)e in a better position to renly in a week or two.
A Bdbsckibeu and Admirek (Dover).— We do not know.
I>ARBT.-Adopt a straightforward honest course.
James OEOUOE.—Uelow our mark.
KkcETvED.'— George Toplls. 8. J. K., Messrs. W. and Co., T. J. K., The L. 0. C, J. X. J., W.
Vaulcrn, Mr. Koso. Mr. E. F. G.. R. Nelson, 1*. Q. . ^ ,, t. •*».■-
ItooKS Keceived— Fowler, on *' Collieries and Colliers" (Longman); J. K. Smitns
"Acoustics" (Woale); Audsley's "Guide toIUuminating and MUsal Painting" (Rowney
and Co.).
\
June 7, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
469
ill architectm'O.
THE BIRTH AND MUTATIONS OF STYLES.*
EGYPTIAN.
the origin of Egyptian architecture we know
nothing. The earliest phase of it is supposed
to be that pi'esented in the structural tombs
and buildings around the pyramids of Gizeh,
which, as remarked by Mr. Fergusson, show
symptoms of having had a wooden original. In
his style appears the cove-cornice, and angle-
; lull, so characteristic of Efn'ptian architecture
-' in all its successive stages. With the first great
Theban dynasty a now style of art, evidently,
fi'oiu its showing the same angle ornament and
^aiiice, arising out of the old Memphian one,
Tj makes its appearance in the sanctuary of Karnack,
and, though shortly afterwards arrested in its
career for some centuries, evidently the same
style that illustrated the great works of the
Pharaohs — works which show columnar archi-
tecture already endowed with some of the highest
qualities that the art has ever exhibited. The
pyramids are only rendered sublime by magnitude,
situation, and the mystery that enfolds them ; but
the palaces and temples are sublime and awful forms—
sublime from their forms, proportions, and the disposi-
tion of their masses, and embody refinements and
subtilties of plan which have never since been exhibited
They prove, on the part of the Egyptian artists, a
tliorough mastery of the capabilities of calumnar architecture ; its
power to stimulate the imagination, an 1 commingle the visible and in-
visible, and exhibit a comprehensive grandeur and completeness of
conception in design and composition that neither Greek nor barbarian
ever rivalled.
One thing very noteworthy in the architecture of Egypt is the due
subordination of science to art, which latter, as the most divine, should
be made paramount in architecture, aud not sacrificed, as it was too
often in the middle ages, to a lust of constructive marvels.
In addition to all this, the Egyptians carried mechanical excellence
of execution to a pitch never exceeded by any other nation. But their
columns are wanting in artistic truth of expression, for though they
produced in the rock-cut tomb of Beni- Hassan the specimen regarded
as the proto-Doric, they wandered afterwards far from the truth in
their columnar forms. The bud-shaped capitals of the smaller columns
at Karnack are a long way from the admirable truth and fitness of
form which the Greeks attained in their Doric order ; and it was cer-
tainly not to aesthetic beauty that this fitness was sacrificed, for the
Egyptian columns were as deficent in beauty as in truth of expression.
This deficiency was more characteristic of the Pharaonic or great period
than of the later ones, and the principal change the Egyptian archi-
tecture underwent was from the uncouth grandeur of the great ai^c to
a greater formal beauty in the Greek and Roman periods, when, while
sculpture degenerated to architectural carving, architecture, owing
probably to the reaction of Greek influence, showed more of grace
and beauty than it had ever before displayed. The temples of
Kalabshe anil Phila; were superior in formal beauty to those of the
Theban period— they show a more artistic and beautiful application of
then- j)apyru3-flower in the capital, aud the whole column is more
graceful and in truer taste.
The Egyptians, it is true, may not have aimed at, or cared for, this
aesthetic beauty in their edifices. But we cannot forget, in jud^ino- of
the nierits of the latter as works of art, that ajsthetic beauty is
essential to excellence and perfection in .architecture— an art which is
properly defined as the art of the beautiful in building. We may estimate
the general artistic capabilities of the Egyptians by their de-rree of
success in accomplishing the object aimed at ; but their architecture
we must judge of by the immutable laws of beauty, as based on the
structure of the human mind.
In no architecture have we so striking an instance of the influence
of the literary status of its authors as in the Egyptian, to which the
absence of an alphabet from the Egyptian literature communicated those
great and peculiar features and qualities which distin-ruish it from all '
subsequent styles. For want of an alphabet, architecture in E-ypt i
waa constramed to do work which she has never since been called upon ''
to undertake— that namely of the historian, philosopher, and poet, and
to embody on its walls and columns, by means of the hiero"-lyphio or
imitative and pictorial mode of expression, the heart and muid of the
nation. I he philosophic doctrine, the poetic conception, the national
an(i licroie enterprise, all had utterance in the achievements of archi-
tecture, which was under the necessity of pressing into her service the
two sister arts of painting and sculpture, and absorbing and assimilat-
ing them to such a degree as to render all three one indivisible art, in
• Contributed \,y Mr. Samuel HUGOIKS.-Contiaucd from page 407.
which painting and sculpture were not merely auxiliaries but arclii-
tectural elements. The great peculiarity of this architecture, and one
ofitschiefclaims to consideration, is its embodiment in its hieroglyphics,
of the instruments or characters of a phonetic expression ; to the
superseding of which, by the introduction of the alphabetic language
of the Greeks, was owing the divorce of sculpture and painting from
ai'chitecture and the relaxing of their energies during the Ptolemaic
period.
It is generally supposed that the monuments of Egypt are the pro-
ductions of a plurality of races occupying the valley of the Nile, which,
if it could be proved, would fully account for the diflerent phases which
they assume, that of the pyramids, that of the palaces, and that of the
temples properly so called. If we suppose the old Memphites to have
been of a Tartar or Pelasgic race and of a Sabian or monotheistic
religion, the existence of tombs and absence of temples is easily
understood. If we fancy the Thebans of an Arian race and tinged i.i
some degree by the religious creed of their predecessors, we under-
stand why tombs have disappeared, and why the great Pharaonic
structures partake more of the palatial than the temple character.
Why the erections under the Greeks and Romans are temples ex-
clusively, the gross polytheism of the later Egyptian is itself sufficient
to explain.
The Egyptian was superseded some time in the third century by the
Roman, which became the all but universal style of the civilised
world ; but it had doubtless a great influence on the sjiirit and
decorative character of those branches of the Byzantine and
Saracenic styles which were el.iborated in Egypt and the adjacent
countries, and through them on other and later styles.
ASSYRIAN— PERSIAN.
The Assyrian, the style of the first of the four almost universal
monarchies, and which arose in that interesting region between the
Euphrates aud Tigris to which the Scriptures point as the cradle of
the human race, next claims our attention.
I have in the former part of the paper followed Mr. Fergusson's
theory, though it has not been unquestioned, in assuming that the
direction of the current of architectural progress was from Assyria to
Greece. The earlier appearance of the Assyrian monarchy on the
stage of history, its early power and magnificence, leading to an early
call upon decorative architecture, whose elementary forms nature
would supply to Assyrian as willingly and readily as to Greek, are
circumstances that lend their countenance to this theory, which is
further supported, I think, by the primitive, free, and natural air of the
Assyrian sculptures, contradictory of the idea of their being imitated
from a refined and finished art, such as that of the Greeks must have
been at any time when it could have been so used by the Assyrians.
If the earliest monuments of the style under notice remained to
us and we could trace it to its infancy, it would probably prove the
first style which architecture assumed in the world, initiated, perhaps,
by the "mighty hunter" himself in the erection of "Babel (Babylon),
and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar," from
whence Ashur went forth and built Nineveh, the city Rehoboth, and
others. As exhibited in Mr. Fergusson's restorations of the Palaces
of Nineveh, it bears something of the air of a style that would arise
from the imitation of nature, I mean of that kind of structure that
natural instinct and climate would lead man in his early state, in such
a country as Mesopotamia, to form for himself^— a style into which
the genius of the forest bower had breathed consistency and beauty.
What gives it additional interest is its Biblical associations, through
the intercourse of the children of Israel with the Assyrians, to whom
they were often tributary, and whose style they no doubt used, as far
as they used any, in their great temple and other buihlings of Solomon.
We cannot trace the mutations of this style till it changed into
Persian, which seems to have been very similar to the Assyrian, but
from the greater use of stone it probably attained to truer archi-
tectural character, and purer and chaster betiuty. The difi'erence of
religion which, however, must have less influence on palaces than on
temples, would make itself manifest in the decorative character ; though
it is not unreasonable to suppose that this difi'erence was not very great,
and that it was the e.xistence of a Sabian element in their creed, which
caused the absence of temples from their architecture.
PELASGIC.
The next style that claims notice here is the Pelasgic — that practised
by the Pelasgi, or early inhabitants of Greece, to the time of the Dorian
invasion under the conduct of the Heraclidsc, an event which
extinguished the style as a distinct form of art in Greece. Of its
origin we know nothing. It may hiive been coeval with the found.ation
of the kingdom of Sicyon or Argos, and derived, like the Pelasgi
themselves, irom Asia Minor. It could scarcely escape the influence,
either in its rise or subsequent development, of Egypt, tlu-ough the
immigrations of Cecrops and Danaus, nor of Assyria and Phoenicia
through that of Cadmus and Pelops, which, along with what we know of
the origin of the Greek and Roman, suggests the probability that all
art-streams of the world flow, directly or indirectly, from AVestern Asia.
470
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 7, 1861.
The Pelasgic style contains scarce anything of decorative art, but it
contributed to the stream of architectural progress the horizontal arch,
(a feature which possesses the advantage over the true one of avoiding
lateral pressure, and combines the stability pf the beam with the beauty
of the arch), and the more interesting and important feature the dome,
both of which orisinated in the constructiou of tombs. Little, how-
erer, of this style'appears in the Hellenic Greek : in the Doric order
it is not seen at all, and only in the sloping jambs of the Ionic doorway
is its influence visible. The dome does _not reappear in art till the
Romans took it from the Etruscans.
What remain of the features of Pelasgic architecture are too few to
constitute a style. They are but the vestige or fragment of a style
which only claims a place in the history of the art for Us importance as
a link in the great chain — for what it communicated to the more per-
fect style of the Greeks which it assisted to form, and the light it throws
on its origin and generation.*
LONDON UPWARDS.
FROM a variety of signs it is evident that we are on the eve of a great
architectural reform in London. We trust that it will not be a revo-
lution, or a reconstruction, as in Paris, for that would be destruction, but
simply and honestly an improvement. The laches of the Metropolitan
Board of Works have convinced Parliament and the inhabitants of the
capital that the sublimation of vestryism is an incapable, vaporish, and
noxious product, and that the sooner it is suppressed or allowed to wholly
evaporate the better. The consequence of this conviction is that the em-
bankment of the Thames is virtually taken out of the province of the
Board and appropriated by Parliament, with a firm intent to insist upon
its prompt realisation. The Board will not have a voice in the matter;
they will be permitted to pay their money — or rather our money — for the
construction of the Low-level Sewer, and there their action will termi-
nate. Concurrently with the embankment of the river are the completion
of the Metropolitan Railway and the extension of numerous other rail-
ways intra muros. The unavoidable result will be the destruction of a vast
amount of house property, the displacement of a numerous i)Opulation,
and the creation of new channels for traffic. In the face of this change,
are we to stand idle and let matters take their course, or shall we interfere
and give them a direction for the embellishment of the metropolis and for
the promotion of the health, as well as the comfort, of its inhabitants ?
If we adopt a laissez /aire policy we shall be guilty of a culpable
neglect of our duty ; we shall assuredly create architectural and sanitary
evils which hereafter will cost infinite time, labor and capital to remedy,
whereas by judicious interference now we may prevent much mischief and
accomplish great good. The construction of the gigantic works alluded
to, will displace thousands of the working classes ; that is to say, render
them homeless. Where are they to go to ? Political economists of
the Manchester School will doubtless tell us that that is a question to be
solved by private enterprise, and not by society through its representative
and agent, the State. We shall be warned in solemn tones against allowing
the State to interfere, as though it were a power irresponsible to the nation,
independent of and apart from the people, instead of being, as it really is,
the creature and organ of society. To these gentlemen we may reply
that the question is not one to be settled between the promoters of intra-
mural railways and the people whose homes they destroy, and whom they
expropriate. To obtain possession of the lands necessary for carrying out
their works, the (promoters apply to the state for power to acquire that
possession forcibly. If it were left to be acquired by mutual arrangement
■with each individual landlord and household, the thing would be rendered
impossible, or at least tedious and costly. Therefore, the state does inter-
fere in the question, at the instance and in the interest of the promoters.
They are endowed with authority to take forcible possesssion of other
people's property, to entail upon them loss and inconvenience. A jury
settles the amount of compensation, which in cases where the working
classes are concerned is always inadequate. Consequently State interference
does exist and in a one-sided form. All we ask is that the interference
shall be two-sided and impartiaL
A favorite argument with some is that the destruction of houses in
cities will compel working men to remove into the suburbs or the country,
where they will enjoy purer air, and be thereby forced to take exercise
beneficial to their health, while the difference between rents there and in
the City will more than compensate the cost of travelling to and fro by
railway. This is the argument of Mr. Pearson, Daniel Wliittlc Harvey,
and others, but it is fallacious from first to last. Sanitary conditions are
not determined by locality alone. There is one great fact which there is
no denying, that the rate of mortality in the City is lower than in the
suburbs, and which is easily explained by superior drainage, better and
more abundant water supply, and more substantial dwellings. There are
lant looking villages enough where the death and sickness rates are two-
fold what they are in large towns. The City of London is healthier,
according to Dr. I.£theby'8 reports, than any of the suburban parishes.
What may at first appear a paradox will, on reflection, prove a very logi-
cal sequence of facts, for it is in new districts that sanitary works are
wanting. The population is too newly settled or too poor to pay for
them.
London is the great centre of supply of all that is needful to satisfy the
wants of working men and their families, at cheaper rates and in more
To be eontinaed.
varied abundance than can be obtained elsewhere. Here are sellers to
suit every purse, and choice almost infinite. Not so in the outskirts and
country villages. There the wife and mother of a family cannot go to
market in the sense she understands it ; she must take what is ofl'ered in
one or two shops, whose owners are not long in coming to an arrangement
for keeping up prices, or she must go without. If the district be a poor
one, the nie.it will be of inferior quality; so will be the flour, groceries,
and vegetables. In London the prudent housewife may purchase, at a
much cheaper rate than she could inferior meat in the country, parts of
the same beast the prime joints whereof figure on the tables of the rich.
It is the same with fish, which in the suburbs is a luxury, and with all
articles of food, while the greater demand permits the seller to content
himself with a smaller profit. Even, then, in a material point of view it is
of great advantage to the working classes to dwell in the immediate
neighbourhood of the rich, and it is greatly to their detriment to be segre-
gated from the wealthy in moral and social points of view. The demar-
cation of classes is an enormous evil ; it creates class hatreds, and may at
any time fan discontent into rebellion or revolution, as it has done
ere now.
But probably the greatest mischief that would result from the expulsion
of the working classes to remote distances from the metropolis, would be
the heavy tax it would impose, and the gradually weakening of family
ties which it would introduce. Suppose the case of a city porter or
a longshore man, or an operative, dwelling five or ten miles from London —
the scene of his daily labors. He must lose time in railway travelling,
which, once for all, is not exercise; and loss of time, which is not compen-
sated by improved health, is loss of money. If the hours of labor are ten
a day, and the operative loses an hour in journeying to and fro, it amounts
to making him work eleven hours, and to not paying him for the eleventh
hour. We do not want this fresh ground for dispute added to the strife
between labor and capital. Further, the operative must take his dinner
and tea from home — that is to say incur additional expense, and it is greatly
to be feared, if he be fond of company and deficient in resolution, that he
may be tempted to forsake his home and keep late hours. It is not
pretended that men can be made virtuous by Act of Parliament. On the
other hand, it is not for the Legislature to create obstacles to sobriety and
the maintenance of homely influence. Despite the ridicule which those
who fancy themselves fast and beaitx esprits may attach to the idea of a
family man, we believe he is happier and a better citizen than the man
about town.
" Oil peut on etre rnieux,
Qu' au scin de sa famiUe,"
said the ballad writer of a nation, and experience has afforded no reason
to doubt the wisdom of his philosophy. The superior prosperity, and
internal peace, and obedience to the laws of Knglishmen is mainly due to
the large proportion of them being domesticated, as compared with the
people of other countries. Men wlio marry and give pledges to fortune
are the safest and solidest pillars of the State.
The spreading out of London is already attended with great disadvan-
tages, sufficiently felt by most of our.readers, not to call for expatiation.
Every street within the metropolitan area that is cleared to make way for
improvements and railways will give birth to two or three new streets of
miserable tenements in a remote outskirt. The condition of Agar-town is
an apt illustration, and far from being the only one. The builders are
generally men of small capital, wliicli entails the use of the worst materials
—bricks that are not half burned, mortar in which the chief ingredients are
road sweepings, or vegetable earth, unseasoned wood wlucli shrinks, warps
and cracks so as to allow wind and rain to penetrate into the interior.
The foundations are so superficial as to allow the walls to sink and split,
and which are so slender as to afford no more protection from the variations
of temperature to the inmates than does a canvas tent. The roads are
quagmires in winter, and fetid dust in summer. Water stagnates in them,
and in the unbuilt-over land adjoining, which, under the influence of the
sun, gives off unhealthy miasma. Upon the popul.ition the influence of
these physical defects is painfully visible. Grown people awake with a
sense of languor and oppression which they seek to dissipate by recourse to
the morning dram, and thus by degrees habits of drunkenness are intro-
duced and confirmed. The children are dirty, unkempt and ignorant.
Wives, after struggling against the reign of dirt, give up in despair and
declare " It's no use trying to bo clean." They lose their self-respect and
become slatternly. The husbands spend their evenings and their earnings
in beer-houses. Go into localities where the population is mixed, the
dwellings properly built and the roads ^clean. The working classes
will be found filled with a just and commendable pride to keep up appear-
ances. The home will be clean, and to keep it so no amount of labor will
be grudged. Muddy boots are anathematised. The children are rosy
cheeked, redolent with health and fussy, in imitation of the parents'industry,
and assiduous attendants at school. The wife will on no account go out
to make her purchases unless clean and tidy, while the husband instead
of sotting away his time devotes it to the enihellishment of his dwelling.
For these reasons, therefore, we hold it is not desirable that there should
be sections of the capital wholly wealthy, or middle- class or poor,
which, moreover, makes the poor-rates heaviest in the poorest districts—
the poor keep the poor.
A Frenchman who visited London, said it began at Dover and ended at
Bristol. There may be exaggeration in this, as there generally is in Gallic
opinions and dicta ; but it certainly does point to a remarkable pheno-
menon—one which is rarely met with in Continental cities. The lateral
expansion of our capital has been dictated chiefly by economical reasons —
because of the comparative cheapness of building sites in the suburbs, and
also because of the desire which nearly every Englishman entertains to
June 7, 1361.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
471
have a house to himself. The law whicli made a lotlger's goods liable to
be seized for rent due from the householder to the landlord further tended
to lateral expansion. Nor must it be forgotten that when streets were
narrow it was very desirable for sanitary conditions that houses should
have low elevations, in order that light and air might penetrate. No one
would desire to see the narrow streets, no better than alleys, closed in
with houses four and five.and even six stories high, which exist in southern
cities, or the wynds of Edinburgh, introduced into the metropolis. At the
same time, we think the moment has arrived when the altered character
of public thoroughfares their great width will allownot only the toleration
but the encouragement of the vertical extension of London to which Mr.
BcreslorJ-Hope directed attention in a recent lecture, full of original and
sound ideas eiociuently and logically put.*
ART-PATRONS AND PUBLIC MONUMENTS.
mHE servant who has to gratify and satisfy a number of masters occupies
J. most assuredly an unenviable position. Any leaning to the requests
of one or other is sure to be deemed a rank offence by the rest. Whilst
their inclinations may differ, his capacities are expected to be sufficiently
elastic to include thera all. lie may have a dozen orders to execute at
the same time, and many of them may be contradictory ; but all must be
performed punctually and exactly. Obedience to the orders of one master
is no excuse for the neglect of those of another ; it is rather an aggrava-
tion of the offence. If anything goes wrong in the establishment, there is
sure to be a member of the household who " told John," or " suggested to
Thomas," to do otherwise, whilst the contrary orders are conveniently
forgotten or repudiated. An assertion that the funds provided were
insufficient for the banquet, and that an intimation had been previously
given of the fact and been met by an order to delete its magnificence,
would be received with incredulity by the guests, and with virtuous in-
dignation by the hosts. The servant must silently submit and bear
meekly and thankfully his masters' transgressions. He must acquiesce
with an unclouded smile in every statement of Sir Oracle, even although
it went the length of " You're an ass, John 1 "
Men of moderate attainments, whose social life is encompassed by this
kind of servitude, are just those who fancy themselves infallible; they are
ever ready to act on committees, and are pleased to be gravely judicial ;
they believe themselves capable of selecting the best of fifty architectural
designs in half an hour, of choosing the most appropriate statue, and of
recognising a genuine Raffaelle. They are competent to suggest alterations
to a design, and the most pliant artist is sure to be the most talented one.
The ide.a that the artist, whether painter, architect or sculptor, had studied
the subject fifty times more than they bad, and knew five hundred times
more about it, would be so startlingly original as never to occur to them.
They receive his design exactly as they accept what a lacquey " ventured
to remind them of," as an embodiment of their own notions, rather than
as the conception of an intellectual man in that respect, if not in others,
immeasurably their superior. If the work be executed contrary to their
advice, they will in public arrogantly and ignorantly describe and with-
draw their patronage from it. It would, of course — they lead the public
to infer — have been better if their suggestions had been adopted. " Who
ever heard of such barbarism as putting a Gothic canopy on a Corinthian
column ? " It is not, perhaps, so frequently seen as supercilious igno-
rance in an elevated station ; but in the work alluded to, the several
features are, at least, in harmony, which is more than can be said of the
speech and position of the right honorable critic.
Again, in the case of competition committees, how few of the members
composing them know anything whatever about art ! Exactly in propor-
tion to their ignorance is the assumption of perfect familiarity with the
subject. A man is known to be rich or influential, and it is immediately
supposed, both by himself and his fellows, that all accomplishments of
art and science are added thereunto. If his acceptance to a bill be good,
it is considered satisfactory and trustworthy when applied to a design,
and if he possesses ordinary energy he generally manages to get an ordinary
work executed. Designs are prepared expressly, as pictures are painted,
to suit the palates of such patrons of art, and for this reason a really
artistic and creditable work seldom emanates from a competition.
Occasionally, as in the case of the Guards' Memorial, one of our greatest
sculptors is commissioned to commemorate an event worthy of his genius;
he executes it, and the public believes him alone responsible for the result.
No one but himself can fully know the sufferings of a man executing such
a work with a committee perpetually troubling and interfering with him.
They may be partially imagined, but never entirely realised.
However, the work is partially finished, and in a crude state is thrown
open to public view, but it is no more like the original design of Mr.
Bell than was the "remnant" of the Guards to the battalions which
left our shores. The "Honor" is there, and the bronze, unflinching repre-
sentatives of the three glorious regiments modelled with characteristic
severity. All the heroism which the famous brigade ilisplayed is
embodied in the group of Guardsmen ; full of that rcspose which springs
from conscious strength, self -reliant and determined, it makes us almost
forget the discipline which has made it what it is. In contemplating
with admiration the literal aspect of the figures, their noble simplicity,
their natural and dignified attitude, we lose sight of the skill with which
each line has been traced, and the ability with which every detail has
been arranged. Notice, for example, the contrast in the attitudes of the
three figures, and yet how harmoniously, and with what apparent ease,
they have been brought together. No one looking at these works can fail
• To be continued.
to acknowledge Mr. Bell's successful treatment of his subject. There is
but one opinion about them, and yet the monument is incomplete. The
committee, after endless interference, lopped his design and made it a
monument of the ignorance of the survivors, as well as a memorial to
those who fell. It added first bad Latin to the pedestal, and then worse
English. The trophies which were intended to adorn the sides of the
pedestal and link the whole composition together, have been withheld.
This is especially to be regretted, because it gives the building but one
front of interest, and makes the crowning figure appear small. Every one
remarks the circumstance, and the sculptor himself, in a recent letter to the
Times, admits it. " But why," he writes, " does the figure appear small ?
Because at present the whole pedestal appears a pedestal to that figure.
Were, however, the sides and back of tlie middle pedestal duly enriched
with bronze, according to the design, and thus combined with the bronze
guards in front, the pedestal of the top figure would be reduced to the
small plinth on which she immediately stands, when she would appear of
the just size as a finial surmounting the composition. The above decora-
tions of the sides and back, besides enriching those faces and giving them
interest, would break the long sloping lines of the pedestal and present a
wholly different, and, I trust, picturesque outline in all views."
Whose fault, then, is it that the monument is thus left incomplete? who
selected the portions of the original design which were to be executed?
and how is it we have not the sculptor's monument instead of that of the
committee? For months the artist has been found fault with for what
was beyond his control. Not one of the many-headed committee came
forward to shield him from the responsibility, but an occasional self-
glorifying complaint of Mr. Bell having done this and wishing to do that
was heard — as if Mr. Bell did not know infinitely better than a committee
what was required to be done. The duty of the committee was to find the
money, and, having employed an able man, to leave him unshackled to
finish the work. Instead of this, they mutilate a design which they cannot
appreciate, and then, hiding themselves behind the artist, throw their sins
upon his back and cast him forth.
It is to be hoped the public will step forward and see this Memorial pro-
perly finished. If the soldiers will not do justice to the Guards, let the
civilians perform it to them and to the sculptor. To make short work of
the matter, might not the Government in this case justifiably step in and
finish it? The Government voted £1,700 or £1,800 for the Cceur de Lion
pedestal by the side of the New Houses of Parliament. Without saying
a disparaging word of the middle-age hero, surely the " Guards " awaken
a deeper sympatliy in our hearts and more deserve a grant from public
funds. As a work of art, Mr. Bell's is infinitely finer than that of Maro-
chetti, and when completed, as it must be sooner or later, it will be the
noblest monument in our metropolis. At present, be it remembered, he
is responsible only for the figures. He has had to serve a multitude of
masters, one directing him this way, another directing him that, and the
consequence is that his work is only half done, and all the blame is thrown
upon his shoulders. We hare given a precedent for Government aid in
finishing a monument ; we hope it may be speedily followed. The bril-
liancy of the Guards' Memorial may then daily remind the members of
the committee of what they began but could not finish, of the honor which
mi(jht have accrued to them if they had known a little more or pretended
to know a little less of art, and, consequently, duly honored the sculptor
who was ready to devote his great abilities to their united service.
CHRIST'S COLLEGE, ELNCHLEY.'
THE remarkable increase in the desire for education, and the equally
remarkable difference in the standing of the proprietors of schools, as
compared with that of the last century, has led to a very large addition to
the number and quality of scholastic establishments throughout the
country ; and, fortunately, there has been coincidently a wonderful im-
provement in the style and comfort of the buildings erected to house the
pupils. An example of this improvement we give in our present Number,
and which is the first instalment of an intended large collegiate
school. , . . ,
The proprietor, the Rev. Thomas Reader White, M. A., the rector of the
parish, feeling the want of an establishment of this kind, conferred with
some of his leading parishioners, and the result was the taking of a large
building, which many of our readers' may remember in the old coachmg
days as the Queen's Head Inn, at Finchley, but tlien imtenanted, and three
short years ago the school was onened with four pupils.
It was proposed to give a sound classical and commercial education,
with liberal dietary and accommodation, to the sons of professional men,
at such a moderate scale of fees, to include books and every kind of ex-
pense, except medical attendance and clothing, as should merely reim-
burse the proprietor and secure him from loss. It is not our business to
say what these fees are, nor what we think of the table and the instruc-
tion Were it a public or charitable school, we might have something
more to say on these points ; but dlthough we may add that success
would appear to be the test of satisfaction, our duty is solely with the
buildings newly erected. ., , ,
Within a year after the opening, the numbers of pupds liad so in-
creased as to make it necessary to build a new school-room, and Mr.
Salviu was employed, and erected a room (now the dining-room) and
dormitories attached to the old inn. This did not prove sufllcient. for the
numbers still increased, and the rector decided on commencing a school on
a larger scale on his own adjoining land, and upwards of 180 boys are now-
housed in the old and new buildings, while the remainder of the dormi-
• For Illustration see page Kv.
472
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 7, 1861.
tories and rooms being now completed, will together accommodate two
hundred.
The principal floor is derated some five or six feet above the ground,
and is approached by a wide flight of steps ending in a large landing
covered by a pent roof. Here is a singular but good arrangement of a bell-
pull and letter-box, covering two faces of the jamb. AVe enter through
handsome oak doors and find ourselves in a corridor, ten feet wide, paved
■with red, black, and buff tiles, laid diagonally, with a black and red border
at the end ; there is a staircase tower, cylindrical, witli 5 feet stone stairs.
These rise easily and have a continuous oak han'^rail, the windows in
the two lower stories of the tower are tripled and stepped to follow. the
stairs.
Returning to the corridor we turn into a shorter one, at right angles, of
similar width, having on each hand a room for masters, and enter the
imposing school-room. This is 60 feet 6 inches long, 30 feet wide, and
24 feet high, lighted by three windows on the west, and one on the
«ontb.
The massively-framed flat roof of timber gives an appearance of magni-
tude which even those dimensions, large for the purposes of a school,
would hardly give. We understand that the acoustic properties of the
room are excellent; this is attributed to the braces and other timbers
forming the broken surface of the roof, which, although of the largest
scantlings obtainable, have by no means a heavy effect. Tlie stone blocks,
on which tlie hammer-beam posts rest, are to be carved into portraits of
eminent scholars.
Opposite is the door to the play-ground, and on our left, three doors
leading to class-rooms, each 20 feet square, the centre one having a large
octagonal b.iyed window, with a reading table of appropriate design for
the use of the monitors (or prefects, as they are here termed), this room
being also the library.
Descending the stairs we come to a similar corridor to that above, but
fitted with numbers of wash-basins for day and play-ground use, a door
opposite leads us into ranges of waterclosets and urinals absolutely
inodore; on our right is the heating apparatus (Stewart and Smith's), and
the places for drying boots. Another door leads to a covered play-ground
tibandantly light and dry, it extends under the school-room and class-
rooms, and is, therefore, about 60 feet by 50 feet, and 10 feet high.
There are two chamber floors, the upper one extending over the whole
building, the lower one is diminished by the space of the school-room,
which r;ses two stories in height. They liave both corridors of the
same width as the others, arc paved similarly, and, like them, are fire-
proof.
The lowerchambersaremezzanine,andhaveflatceilings,theaipper rooms
have open timbered nearly equilateral triangled roofs, forming most
airy and spacions dormitories.
The temperature is equalized by felt and double boardings in the floors
and roofs. The height of the ridges is 22 to 23 feet from the floor, and
some idea may be formed of the space when we add, that in no part is tliere
less than 600 cubic feet for each boy.
On each chamber story is a lavatory having the floors covered with lead,
but with trellissed wooden flooring over it, where the boys stand. The
brush divisions and other fittings are carefully studied, so as to ensure the
greatest amount of comfort and convenience.
The upper lavatory has several baths, and hot and cold water is freely
supplied. There are likewise water-closets on each story for night purposes
if necessary.
From the main chamber story the tower is utilised by being converted
into rooms, and a small turret stair rises hence for the means of ascent to
them. Immediately over the large staircase is the hard water cistern,
■which contains upwards of 2,000 gallons, and is kept filled by means of a
powerful lift-pump. The water is distributed thence to the closets and
urinals, and there are provisions for refilling from the same cistern the
soft-water tanks, should rain water chance to fail.
The two lower rooms of the tower are for masters, and the topmost is
a view room, 90 feet from the ground, commanding views of great extent,
while for the more venturesome, there is a higher view room, by 30 feet,
in the roof. In part of the roofs of the main buildings are placed the
servants' apartments, and water tanks which receive nearly all the rain-
water direct from the roofs, and convey it to the lavatories. Those
tanks, together with those on the lower floors, will contain nearly 20,000
gallons of water.
Not an inch of space seems wasted, even the walls are filled with flues
for one purpose or another, either warm or cold air, or for extracting
■hafts for foul air, which are upon Dr. Chowne's patented syphon principle,
all of them being under control by flaps and slides.
The present block of buildings shown in our view covers a space of
about 100 feet by 60 feet. The next to be erected will be, as we under-
stand, of about similar extent, and at right angles to this, thus forming
two sides of the possibly future quadrangle. These contemplated erections
will contain a large dining-hall (the present one being in the old house, and
not sufficiently large). In this hall will be a dais, where a tabic will be
spread for those friends of the boys who desire to satisfy themselves how
they fare,— a chapel, a swimming bath, and extensive offices. The dormi-
todea in that part will be divided into " cubicles."
The various materials adopted in the construction of the works are, for
the walling, red bricks from Faversham, with Staflbrdshire black headers
built in, in diagonal, but varying and even accidental patterns. The arches
of all kinds are of black tiles, in indented forms, radiating and alter-
nating with red bricks ; these have a picturesque cflTcct and are con-
sistent with the bhick header work. The stonework is of Messrs.
Randell and Saunders' Box groundstone. The failure of the quarries of
green slates induced some change in the design in that respect, and there is
now a variegated roof of green and purple slates in simple large patterns.
The air openings have the monograms of the architect and proprietor
alternately.
In the interior the walls are throughout covered with Portland cement
mixed with the local yellow sand. It is worth mentioning that some in-
ternal walls which were for lightness built of Beart's perforated bricks
appear to be showing defects which lead to the conclusion that they are
not suitable for that kind of plastering. We have recently been informed
that from experiments they are found to be more absorbent than stocks ;
this may parily account for the non-adhesion of the cement where the
bricks are not properly wetted ; the school-room walls are relieved with
bands of marone- colored glazed tiles, the other parts with large flush
beads.
The whole of the timber work has been repeatedly oiled and the joinery
polished, there is not a particle of either staining or paint about the place,
except to the ironwork. The wood has been carefully selected from red
pine and yellow deal, and the result is a rich, thoiigh perfectly natural
efiect. The ground-floor doors have the outer margins inlaid with narrow
widths of walnut in diaper work. We observed that there is none of the
common " stop " chamfered work. The chamfers are either run out or
there are mouldings with square ends.
The windows are all of metal, and alternate lights are so arranged by a
special process designed by the architect, that one lever opens the whole
vertical set with scarcely more tlian the ■B'eight of a finger.
All the floors and roofs are open timbered and elaborately framed, but
the roofs, throughout with curved ribs, are all unchamfered ; all the floor
timbers are chamfered, and every visible part is planed.
In the details and fittings great care has been taken to provide every-
thing of the best that could be obtained of their kind. The locks are
provided by Messis. Hobbs and Co. The plumbers' fittings are either by
Jlessrs. Guest and Clirimcs or Messrs. Tylors. The ironmongery Is all of
wroiight-iron or bronze made by Messrs. Hart. The drains and urinals
are by Jennings.
We were pleased to see, besides the dry play-ground and the quadrangle,
a Held of 5 or C acres being well drained for the boys' fielil sports.
The masters and matron take their meals with the boys, and partake of
the same fare, and we can personally testify to its excellent quality.
The architect is Mr. Edward Roberts, F.S.A., of Tarlianient-street ; and
the builders are Messrs. Dove Brothers. The contract was taken at
nearly £5,000, which was for scarcely more than the shell. The plaster-
ing, paving, plate-glass (with which all the windows are filled), and other
works being done at scheduled prices. The continuing necessity for en-
largement caused the addition of the mezzanine story while the works
were in progress and it is likely that with the fittings these additions will
considerably add to theoutlaj'.
Near to tlie College is the pretty Lodge to Grass Farm designed by the
same architect, the drawing of which we took occasion to notice in the
Architectural Exhibition of 1859.
PARK CHAPEL, CROUCH END, HORNSEY.
THIS place of worship was re-opened on Sunday, 24111 ult., after being con-
siderably enlarged and otherwise improved. Tlic alterations consist of an
additional building on the south side, 30 feet by 35 feet, lieyond which on the
west is an open arcade, supporting an upper corridor leading to the west-end
gallery the length of new building, and 5 feet C inches wide. The original
structure was erected about seven years since, and is a parallelogram, on plan,
41 feet wide and 58 feet long from east to west, divided into live bays by trusses
and arched principals, and having the pulpit at the western and the entrance in
the eastern end. About two years sini;e a gallery was erected over this entrance
lobby, approached by a staircase in the tower. The interior of chapel now is on
plan in the form of a «H»; the new part forms the stem or trunk, consistmg of
e
three bays, similar to the original ones.
Between the two southernmost buttresses on the eastern front is a moulded
and enriched porch doorway executed in stone, which leads to a corridor 6 feet
wide; at the end of this Is the new stone staircase to galleries, one of which Is at
the southern end above the corridor; the other at the western end, as above
described. From this corridor access is also obtained to aisles of ground-noor.
Most of the timbers of the roof are exposed to view, and stained and varnished.
The pulpit now occupies the centre of northern wall of the original building, and
is opposite the centre of the new part. This has necessitated altering the position
of great part of the original pewing. The new seating has been studied with
much regard to comfort ; 2 feet llj inches is allowed from liack to back, and 20
inches for each person. The seats are 13 inches wide in clear, and the backs
slope.
The peculiar nature of the site, which had two ponds upon it, required unusual
drainage and solidity of foundations. Some portion of the works comprised in the
contract, such as the last coat of varnish coloring, &c., has been postponed a few
months ; when the whole is finished it will present a very striking and complete
appearance. The new part was covered in before breaking through the old
building, so that the worship was suspended but six weeks. The materials u.sed
are bricl{, Bath-stone dressings, and rag, &c. The connminion railing and pulpit
have been greatly improved by the introductiou of oniaiiiental wrought iron-
work, painted and gilt.
The height from floor to ceilineisOC feet; the accommodation, for 750 persons.
The whole cost, including boundary walls, will be £1,335. The architects are
Messrs. Lander and Bedells, 4, Great James-street, Bedford-row, W.C. ; the
builders are Messrs. Wra. Hill and Son, Cliarlton-crescent, Islington.
June 7, lS6l.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
473
ARCHITECTURE IN MANCHESTER.*
WE terminated our previous article on tliis topic with a notice of
Messrs. Hadfield, Weightraan, and Goldie's Churcli of St. Cliad's
at Cheetbam. There is fur more merit in the external desifrn of this
edifice than is discernible in their larger church at Salford ; while, taken
in conjunction with its conventual buildings and schools, St. Chad's
presents as a whole a finer group of ecclesiastical architecture. The
church itself stands facing a somewhat level main street, having a pic-
turesque presbytery on its south side, set back within a mortuary
forecourt ; but the ground behind it is on a lower level, falling, very
steeply, lower still from north to south, having a street on all four sides
of the group. The architects have well availed themselves of the
facilities for the picturesque offered by the rapid fall of the back
street, towards which the boys' and girls' schools are made to face;
and the result is a highly effective ensemble of stone buildings, very
correct in design, looking well from every point of view. Internally
the churcli is well arranged, having a clerestoried nave and aisles,
somewhat bai'e of decoration, an aisled chancel with parcloses and
richly-worked rood screen. The style of architecture is Third Pointed.
We may mention the small Unitarian Chapel in Brook-street, as Sir
Charles Barry's last work erected in Manchester. It is a small but
massive edifice of stone in the Early English style, very correct in ita
details.
" Cavendish Chapel " as it is called is a well known work by Mr. Wal-
ters, and with it and the Free-trade Hall by the same architect we pro-
pose to terminate our remarks on the soraetime-built edifices of Manches-
ter. We are greatly disposed to question whether any of the Pall-mall
facades of the metropolis deserve higher commendation than does the
latter of these two structures. We are here speaking of its archi-
tectural merit. The acoustic properties of the great Hall may also be
mentioned as excellent — would we could speak as confidently of the
ventilation, which is very defective. As to the " Chapel " it is (archi-
tecturally) a church, with a charming street front and well-proportioned
spire — far too good in design for the material of which it is built — a
dark stone, which bids fair in time to hide all the beautiful details of
the edifice, leaving only what must always remain beautiful, its highly
picturesque and graceful outline. The entire design is singularly free
from that fiissiness and complexity observable in modern steeples ; and
yet there is here no tameness, or insipidity. We will now proceed to
mention some of the buildings, which have been only recently erected
or which are in progress.
Of secular public buildings in progress the new Assize Courts will
of course demand our first notice. But little of its design has as yet
been developed. The site would appear to be very unworthy of so
important a building ; possibly, like the site of the Royal Infirmary, it
may undergo many mutations ; for the people of Manchester, judging
by the street improvements seen in Piccadilly, John Dalton-street,
Corporation-street, &c., .are very liberal in such matters.
Next in importance to the new Assize Courts, the new building
erecting in Mosley-street for the Manchester and Salford Bank claims
mention. It is an entirely stone building of immense proportions,
designed in the Italian style, by Mr. Edward Walters ; but as yet it is
not sufficiently advanced to admit of further description, beyond saying
that it is wholly fireproof in its construction, and gives every sign of
being a noble building somewhat quotidian in character it nmst be
confessed, but perhaps not the worse for that. Mr. Walters is an
artist, who can well afford to resort to the commonplace in style.
The public baths and laundries erected in Hulme will well repay the
attention of the rambler. The building is of brick, well arranged
internally, and the street front is Romanesque in character, having the
red brick of the locality worked in corbelled stringcourses and cornices,
relieved in parts with horizontal bands of stone. The voussoirs of
the arcades are of brick and stone alternated. The composition is a
pleasing one, evidently well studied, and free from the gaudiness
usually observable in works of the kind. The architect is Mr. Wor-
thington.
Beyond the Crescent in Salford the authorities have lately erected a
large triumphal gateway as a foot and carriage entrance to Peel Park.
An inscription on its inner front serves to commemorate the second visit
of Her Majesty to the park. The gateway is designed of red brick and
stone ; but its style of architecture would almost require an engraved
illustration to adequately describe it : it is not easily referrable to any
well-known ancient style ; and in that respect it may be termed a non-
descript, not altogether wanting in merit. It might be designated
Moorish-Elizabethan ; and when we have so designated it, it will be
understood that, to be appreciated by the critic it should be seen.
Manchester is deservedly celebrated for its palatial warehouses, and
there seems, judging by warehouse building in progress, to be no
falling off in this species of its architecture. The citizens do well in
making their warehouses play a formidable part in the embellishment
of the place ; for what better opportunity can be afforded a clever
* Continued from page 425.
architect than that of constructing a large handsome warehouse ? It
is an admirable theme for the proficient in street architecture, for which
it presents far better facilities than can any row of separately occupied
or many-tenanted dwellings, however costly may be their construction.
One can scarce walk about the commercial portion of Manchester
without coming upon frenuent examples of the grand in architectural
effect: and it is only justice to add that, this rare quality (attributable
of course to the vastness of the structures, induced by the wealth of
the citizens) is on the whole usually borne out by careful study of
detail on the part of the architects. Opposite the Union Club House
in Mosley-street, it is true there is a Brobdignagian warehouse, whose,
vulgarity at once advertises the fact of its never having had an architect
near it ; but this obtrusive, disagreeable looking building is a happy
exception to the rule. The vast majority of the Manchester ware-
houses have had architects to design them ; and the result is something
startling to a Londoner accustomed to mere " builder " work : he may
here in Manchester 'light on, what would be a difficult thing to find in
the metropolis — an odd acre or so of edifices, chiefly erected from some
architect's design. Manchester is in fact a city of architectural build-
ings— what higher praise can be given to any city ?
Sir James Watts's warehouse in Great Portland-street, though we
have never seen a good illustration of it, is tolerably well known to
architects, having been some time erected; It is probably the most
striking commercial building in this country. Let the Londoner con-
ceive a building of rubbed masonry, larger than one side of Bedford-
square, twice as high as the dwellmg-houses, and twice as deep from
front to back : let him picture to his mind's eye such a block of
masonry, some seven stories high, with only two entrances in its main
facade ; and he will have a tolerably fair idea of this enormous ware-
house. It is a structure so vast, so costly, so well placed that, scarcely
any city in Christendom affords in a century such another opportunity
for the development of the skill of the architect. We can hardly say
in this instance that (and it is matter for great regret) the architects
have quite responded to their call. This great edifice was certainly
deserving of more study than has evidently been bestowed upon its
design. What might not Sir Charles Barry, with the careful study we
discern in his compo Travellers' Club in Pall-mall, have made of this
very warehouse of Sir James Watts's ? Cleverness, and devil-may-
care dash there is, it must be confessed ; and evidently these qualities
have had the educated architect's control — not the wretched specu-
lating builder's — but, with so fine an opportunity, we cannot help
thinking more might have been effected, judging by what we see other
architects have done elsewhere in Manchester with humbler oppor-
tunities. There is even on the opposite side of the street a small red
brick warehouse (at the corner of Charlotte-street) of far more com-
mendable design. Charlotte-street itself is, by the way, very rich in
samples of good Manchester warehouses ; and all of them seem to have
been erected under professional architects. AVe may mention the
warehouses of Messrs. Whittaker (opposite St. James's Church) and
another fine group nearly opposite the Portico Library in this same
street, as remarkable for their excellence.
The red brick warehouse of Messrs. Daniel Lee and Co. is only
known to town architects by the very imperfect drawing of it, which
was exhibited some years back in the Architectural Exhibition. The
building itself far exceeds the drawing in merit. Mr. Solomon's side
fa9ade of it is admirable. The principal facade (to Fountain-street)
is unquestionably spoiled by the rococco character of the principal
doorway. How the architect, who was capable of designing the side
front, could sanction the construction of that monstrous curved pediment
over the main entrance, is to ourselves an unpleasant paradox : with a
better designed doorway and greater breadth about the basement
windows, this would have been the handsomest warehouse in Man-
chester— and that is saying much for any structure.
Time and space fail ; or, we could write much more about the ware-
houses of Manchester. They are structures of which the citizens may
well feel proud — no ephemeral buildings they, but works of good
stone and durable brick that, when he has done with " the ruins of St.
Paul's," my Lord Macaulay's New Zealander will do well to go on north-
ward and " sketch." We will just mention a few of the more recently
built edifices ; but should observe that, all about " Peterloo," Booth-
street, Cooper-street, Lower Mosley-street, Cross-street, Piccadilly,
&c., there are groups of excellent buildings, which we are passing on
without describing, for want of time and space. We will content
ourselves with giving our professional readers a carte of their
component parts — to wit, a facjade of fine brickwork with at least a
cornicione and basement of stone ; and some one hundred windows oi
plate glass to one doorway : what better opportunity would any English
architect desire ? There has been nothing to equal it since the
building of Venice.
Perhaps the most meritorious of all these warehouses is one in
Oxford-street, opposite St. Peter's Church. It is a structure of only
red brickwork, ably relieved with masonry, and two charming door-
ways, whose design is worthy of the best architectural age. Near it
•474
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 7, 1861.
in St Peter's-square is another very beautiful warehouse, also of red
brick ; but which, though highly meritorious, struck us as being some-
what effeminate in its design. The same thing may be said of another
red-brick warehouse in David-street, Garratt-lane. These buildings
relv too much on their mere ornamentation ; and littleness is the
necessarv result of such reliance. Nevertheless one of these sti-uctures
— the warehouse in St. Peter's-square, designed by Messrs. Jlills and
Murgatroyd, is a remarkably elegant building. The principal doorway
is enriched with encaustic tile and granite.
In Lower Portland-street there are some very large piles of ware-
houses, which, having been some time in progress, are approaching
completion. One on the south-east side of the street has an extremely
elaborate stone doorway ; but is for the most part constructed of reil
brickwork, very lofty, but of neither goodness of proportion nor detail
to merit approval. On the opposite side of the street stands the vast
block of warehouses of Messrs. Mendel and Co., built wholly of York-
shire cut stone, and of length and height equalling perhaps the
Westminster Palace Hotel in Victoria-street, London. The style of
architecture is nstylar Italian, presenting no especial features for
criticism, if we except the entrance doorways, which are well and
boldly conceived. In other respects the design seems wanting in unity,
and to have been carried out in portions, subsequently extended in
length ; but it is a grand addition to this fine thoroughfare, that seems
destined ultimately to become the best street in Manchester. Too
much care can hardly be bestowed in the first instance on the design
of these vast palaces of trade : this costly one of Messrs. Mendel for
example gives the beholder the idea of its having been devised and
constructed piece-meal, without regard to the now developed ensemble ;
and thus a fine opportunity has been thrown away for ever.
Most of these palatial warehouses have been designed in the Italian
/migiie cento style, with a consistent pertinacity, that might suffice to
break the heart of any ardent reviver of the medieval styles. But in
Aytoun-street, Piccadilly, Messrs. Barber are constructing an immense
stack of high warehouses of cut stone, with terra-cotta enrichments,
designed in the Gothic style of the Italian school. The architect is
Mr. Corson. This edifice will when completed be a great addition
to the warehouse architecture of the city. At present it seems strangely
placed, away from the more frequented streets, one end of it abutting
on the bank of a dreary canal ; but the trade of Manchester seems to
be moving southward ; and a few short years may possibly suffice to
altogether change the spot.
Our remarks have as yet been confined to the street architecture of
the city. Certainly the street architecture of Manchester is wholly
»ai generis, unlike that of any other place ; and we repeat our first
remark — a walk through this commercial city will prove highly inte-
resting to the architectural student. We may possibly return to the
subject, and say something of the churches, chapels and schools, lately
built, or building; for, judging by the brick and mortar embodiment
of the fact, Manchester should be a religious locality. We hope to give
engraved illustrations of some of its edifices.
ON THE ADVANTAGES OF A POWER OF MODELLING FOR
ARCHITECTS.
IAJI not now going to refer to bygone examples of ancient modes of
practice, which are not sympathised with by many wlio do not
sceni to see the force of the application, and who seem to think, and rightly
too in many respects, that the arcliiteclural student has enough to learn,
and tlie architect enough to do, without entailing upon themselves in any
degree the studies or the labors of the sculptor. But I think that the
objections may be met by tliis observation, tliat it is not necessary for the
architect to know all that the sculptor does, or even to add in any way
to his labors by adding anything of tlie sculptor's practice to his own as
an architect, and 1 think that I sliall be able to show that the time, and
it need not be much, spent in learning as much as it would be advan-
tageous for the architect to know, wauld soon be saved by the saving of
labor in drawing caused by the power and knowledge thus gained.
I wiali also more particularly to point out that if the architect never
put Ilia liaiid again to the clay, after acquiring this power, he yet would
show in everything that he designed the knowledge and experience tliat
he had gained while learning it.
I will, therefore, with these objects in view, give what appear to me the
principal advantages to be gained by this study.
And first of the power and inclination to give more attention to the
design, and the superintendence of the sculpture and details of tlie
bmlding.
A man who can at his will, produce in any material, what it is it
matters not, the actual thing that he i» designing, will necessarily know
more and consequently mean more when he takes up his pencil to design
any piece of architectural ornament, and having by his modelling studies,
had his attention directed to the beauties of the difference of the light and
•bade produced by the different degrees and forms of sculptured reliel',
or recess, and practically learnt the value of them, he will almost neces-
sarily give more attention than he was before wont to the careful study
and design of these parts of hii building; while in superintendence, his eye
will after bis practical studies be much more quick to the adherence to or
departure from his design.
Secondly : The power and habit of looking at and observing objects in
the round, and considering their effect from all points of view, and not from
one or two elevations only.
A designer who has never designed ornaments that depend on relief
and are solid or round, in any other way than by flat drawing, is apt to
consider the effect of such ornament only in the form and in the position
in which he draws it in elevation, and designs it only to look well in that
elevation, and consequently when it comes to be executed in the round or
solid, the forms that looked well in the elevation are very likely not to do
so in several of the points of view from which it is seen when finished;
but if the designer has been in the habit of modelling himself, he will,
even when designing by drawing be liable to allow for the difference of ap-
pearance in different positions.
Thirdly : The gaining of a love of sculpture and a knowledge of its
beauties in light and shade, and a wish from that love to have as much in
our building as we can get, of as high a class and, from the same love for
the art itself in as good positions, as we can place it.
I can easily imagine an architect while busily occupied in such practical
works as must necessarily engage many of us, and from his early education,
almost forgetting that sculpture is a necessary adjunct to any work worthy
of being called architecture; but give that architect the opportunity of
practically acquainting himself with its beauties in light and shade, by his
gradually producing those beauties of effect with his own hand, and I
think that he will be more struck with its beauties, and also with the
beauty of sculpture of an excellence far beyond his attainment with the
time at his disposal, and that there will be something, be it ever so little,
of the scu'ptor in that man ever afterwards, and that, therefore, his build-
ings will hereafter abound, as ti«ir as the means are given him, with rich,
good, and well-placed sculpture.
Fourthly : The being able to model a leaf or group of leaves or an animal
that takes our fancy in nature, for our study in designing the sculpture of
our buildings.
This surely is a useful thing, and very different as regards the use
for designing, from simply drawing them, although that is a useful prac-
tice, and the more books filled with such drawings we have the better, in
my opinion, for our buildings; but the reason that it is different is that
the nature of material regulates, to a great degree, the form and arrange-
ment, and in modelling in clay we can, to a great degree, see what leaves
or other natural forms will best suit our purpose for our stone carving,
and having casts from natural leaves in our studio, will be often very
useful to us in giving our designs for the carver.
Fifthly: The being able to model a capital moulding or figure that may
strike us from any old building we may visit, so as to have in our studio
as nearly the thing itself as we can get for future study.
How much more would the student in an architect's office know of the
difference of styles, and of the actual differences in form, contour, foliage,
and accompanying mouldings of the Corinthian, and other Classic, tlie
Norman, Early English, the natural foliage of the Early Decorated, and
the peculiar conventialism of the later Decorated and the Perpendicular,
if he were capable of producing exact /ae-si'mife* of them in clay, plaster,
or stone, as well as drawings, than he does now from drawings alone; and
how useful, from his measured drawing or sketch in clay, to be able to
make, for his own use at home, copies of the capitals of different styles,
of any small leaf or other ornament that he might wish; how useful to
the practising architect to be able to do the same when at home of any-
thing that may have struck him in his travels.
Sixthly: The power of giving models, if we think fit, instead of detail
drawings, for the contour of a moulding, or for tlie sculpture upon that
moulding, or any other detail that we may be designing.
The very best drawings often fail to give a correct and adequate idea of
objects in reUef, sufficient for their execution or realisation by the sculptor
or carver, which the roughest model of the same detail would give in a
moment; and, therefore, even if only used whore the idea is more than
usually difficult to convey, the faculty of being able to execute our own
idea in relief, must always be a useful one for an architect to possess,
while the details would, in all respects, be more carefully considered and
designed, as regards their ultimate good effect, in the positions where they
are to be placed, and from all points of view from which they can be seen
in that position if it were our habit and custom always to design in
relief
Perhaps, many may think that this study is only useful to those more
particularly occupied in the more artistic walks of architecture, but I
assure them that this is not the case, and 1 think ,tliat they will at once
see the advantage of being able to design in clay any difficult and intricate
piece of construction, such as a peculiar intersection of groining, or the
corbelling of a chimney, and many other practical novelties and unusual
works difficult to express or comprehend by drawing alone.
Seventhly: The power of roughing out in the works, and at the moment,
a model of any part of our work that may not seem to be properly under-
stood by the workmen.
I think that, practically, it would be found that 'of [all the advantages
that we should have when we liad gained a facility in modelling, none
would be much greater than this supplementary power of explaining
practically, any difficulty that may arise in understanding the way in
which we intend our drawings to be carried out, a rapid and rough model
of some small part of our drawing would make the whole thing as clear as
day to the workman's comprehension, and sooner than a dozen sets of
larger or more comprehensive detail drawings.
June 7, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
475
r
Eightlily : Tlie advantage of being able to model a small part of any
detail we may be designing, and place it as nearly as possible at the height
and in the peculiar position in which it is to be finally placed. Nothing
in designing sculptured or carved ornament, whether rich foliage or simple
mouldings, requires greater care and consideration than the fitting each
portion in quantity, depth, vigor, light, and shade, boldness or delicacy, to
occupy as if it were made for it (as it indeed ought to be) its individual
position as regards its nearness to the eye, or its distance from it; its
designed prominence to catcli the eye, or its designed subordination to
assist its neighbor ornament to do so, its property to receive and heighten
the effect of h'ght, or deepen and increase the effect of shade and darkness.
Now, however clever an architect maj' be in doing what he wishes to do,
however learned he may be in scientific and certain rules for production
of certain given results, however deeply and carefully he may have studied
the way that other architects in other days have accomplished these happy
and effective differences in their work, still it would be very satisfactory
to him to know, before he has finally committed himself in stone, whetlier
his designs on paper are really representations of such successfully ac-
complished results, so that if produced in the stone they would be the
very things desired. Then let him learn to model, and then place his
model at the height, and in the aspect or position he wishes, and he will
at once see whether the result is as satisfactory as he expected, and if not
he can alter it till it is.
Now those who see the force of these remarks, will probably say, all
this is very true, but there are no facilities for architects, without some
expense and trouble, acquiring this useful power of modelling, for many I
dare say are not aware that a class for modelling in clay has recently been
formed by the Architectural Association, and now meets onee a week at
a sculptor's studio.* It now depends upon the support given to this class
whether the advantages that I Iiave endeavored to point out are extended
to all the young architects of the present day, and I think much of the
grandeur of future architecture depends upon it. Most of the finest build-
ings of all ages and styles have been produced by men who were either in
study or practice both architects and sculptors: then, in study at least, let
us take the initiatory steps towards producing great buildings again. But
this class and this study depends upon two kinds of support from two
different classes of men, and I heartily recommend it to the consideration
of both — that is, both to the young student and architect, who still have time
to give to study ; and also to the eminent and established architect who
has his recommendatory influence among the younger men to give to any
scheme that may meet his approval. Such approval lias, I am glad to say,
been given by Mr. Scott in a letter to the hon. secretary of the Association,
and 1 sincerely hope that all who like him approve, will do the utmost in
their power among the younger portion of the profession to support and
extend this movement which the Architectural Association has begun.
R.D.
♦
BRICK ARCHITECTURE AND ITS TREATMENT.t
MODERN buildings in the Classic style are generally found to be treated
similarly when brickwork enters into the composition of their
external face. We find the cornice-quoins, architraves and entablatures
of windows, doors, &c., bands separating story from story, plinth and
other moulded portions to be of stone, and only the filling in between these
different parts— in other words the plain walling of brickwork. Very little
has been attempted in the way of carrying a Classic building out without
the aid of stone, although we do not see why it could not be done, and
done so as to produce a most pleasing effect. In these buildings we have
described the basements are generally composed entirely of stone and
nothing ventured on which is at all out of the common practice. The
thing is evidently considered impracticable by Classicists, and the little
brickwork that is employed appears to be introduced, not for the purpose
of beautifying the design, for that it cannot be said to do, but merely for
the express purpose of keeping down the expense and saving money.
Looking at this mode of building in a constructional point of view, it is
extremely objectionable, there being little or no bond between the stone
and brickwork. The architraves at the sides of the doors and windows
are nearly always formed of long even stones, having no connection with
the work surrounding them, but kept, as it were, distinct. The same may
be said of many of the plinths and bands between the different stones
which are often formed of long thin stones, planted on the outer face of
the building, with but very few borders going any depth into the wall ;
now all this has a tendency to weaken the structure and is therefore bad
Beauty of form does not necessitate bad construction, and the strength and
stability of an edifice should never be tampered with for the purpose of
obtaining effect.
In tlie case of Italian fronts, we repeat that we can see no reason why
stone should be so extensively used, and brick made to form so small a
part. We can see no reason why the stonework cannot be omitted and
brickwork take its place. The only cause of its not being so is that
architects are afraid to attempt mouldings in brick ; some do not appear
to have even dreamt of this, and others are too timid to make a trial ; but
before long a vast stride will be taken in this direction, when once a fair
start has been effected, and we doubt not that, in a few years hence, we
shall see brick buildings properly managed and possessing a peculiar
beauty which all will admire, and which will form a separate but glowing
page in the history of art. When we say we see no reason wliy brick
should not take the place of stone, we do not mean to cast the one aside
* Mr. Paul Ross, 13, Bulstrode-street, Manchester-square.
T Continued Irom page i'M.
and confine ourselves to the employment of the other, for that, we feel
sure, will never be done ; but we mean the adopting of one material in
every building, and not forming it half of one kind and the other half of a
different one, for this mixing of stone and brick is never successful, and
even in combining them on a small scale, for decorative purposea, th«
greatest care is required, or the effect will be poor.
In Gothic buildings our modern efforts in brick have been somewhat
more extensive, and in a few cases very successful ; but the immense
number of failures is calculated to prejudice public opinion against its use,
and to offer an impediment to its becoming general so soon as it otherwise
would. For one good example we have fifty bad ones, and it is a common
thing to hear people condemn the style in consequence of its being pre-
sented to them in so " questionable a shape ;" but there are very few
indeed who are insensible to the pleasing appearance of a brick building
when properly designed. Unhappily, there are few works for them to
admire, and until something better is produced which shall be worthy of
their admiration, we cannot expect that they will look upon brick archi-
tecture in a very favorable light.
Schools and villas appear to have been the principal buildings in which
the better sort of brick design has been called forth, but in warehouses
and shops, and street architecture in general, we do not see much
to notice. There are instances, however, of these buildings having
been well treated in some of our larger towns, but they are rare exceptions,
and we may search through some of our most important cities without
meeting with anything in the shape of a good brick warehouse or shop
with any claim to good design. The general fault is that which we have
before described — too much dependence on a variety of colors without any
attempt at breadth or depth, without boldness or character, but all flat
and lifeless. In Gothic there is really no excuse for this, and whoever is
guilty of creating a work in this style with these faults must be void of
any approach to Gothic feeling, or knowledge of Gothic art. In its arches
we have great opportunity of producing great effects. In its windows
and doors we have an excellent opening for a display of talent and
taste, and in its string-courses, its plinths, its eaves, its chimneys, and, in
fact, its every part, there are unlimited chances for the employment of
genius and ability. And yet how few there are who take advantage of
these; how many there are who neglect them and remorselessly cast aside
the proffered bud of honor, which would one day burst forth into the
bloom of Fame! Now, in the place of those bands of color which have
been the objects of ridicule, and which, owing to their vividness
and flatness and general appearance, have not been inaptly asso-
ciated with streaky bacon, it would be far better to introduce
projecting courses of brick, moulded, or otherwise, and in what-
ever design the architect may think fit to arrange them. We cannot,
of course, describe the various modes of placing them, but we wish
to urge the necessity of having bold projections, and in cases of windows
and other openings, deep recesses. If these two objects be kept in view
and be made the aim of the architect we shall have better work, and in
our almost sunless climate means must be had recourse to for producing
shadows, or the effect will always be flat and monotonous. Hence it is
that we are compelled to have much greater projections and much deeper
recesses than we find in those countries where the sky is always clear,
and where the sun darts its vertical light on every object with burning
intensity. This reminds us of a very common error made by architects
who have travelled. They see the effect of various mouldings and pro-
jections in a Southern sunlight, and thinking to transfer the particular
arrangement with its effect to their own buildings they measure the parts
with the greatest accuracy and reproduce them, line for line and size for
size, expecting thereby to be equally successful with their copy, never
taking into consideration the vast difference which exists between the
appearance of an object when in a bright light and when in a subdued one .
The result can be imagined. Failure is stamped on that very portion
which in its more genial home had been so strikingly successful ; and thus
it will always be with those pilfered fragments which are brought in their
entirety from one place and deposited without alteration in another. This
is seen in many of our modern examples of brick architecture. One course
is feebly and almost imperceptibly projected over another ; one moulding
is as shallow as the original from which it was taken, and the whole being
managed in a similar manner, it becomes void of tliose very qualities
which it is so necessary it should possess. We mention these things in
order that otliers may guard against them and avoid falling into a similar
mistake, and also in order that those who are about to travel may be led
to observe tliese differences and be enabled to profit more by their
wanderings than if they, too, were deceived with the others, and like them
induced to descend into eopyism without the necessary judgment to
effect even that contemptible imposture — for imposture it certainly is
when one man palms off another's design as his own. All must be aware
that bricks can be moulded to almost any form, yet this fact seems to be
overlooked, and purpose made bricks seldom employed. Of course they
are more expensive, but the number required being comparatively small,
we do not find the cost interfere much with their use, and the effect they
produce is well worth the money expended on them. Arch mouldings and
jambs of doors and windows may be made features of much beauty, and
moulded cornices, string-courses, &c., properly arranged with good mould-
ings, even without the aid of color, produce effects of the most pleasing
kind. It is very desirable that the moulded bricks should be carefully
laid and correctly placed, or they present a broken line, which is not satis-
factory. In the best work we occasionally meet with inequalities which
would be better if removed entirely, and for this purpose it is well to have
476
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 7, 1861.
the mouldings and splays rubbed after they hare been built, bo as to
Teduce tbem to an even face.
In arches and other parts where mouldings are found a few kinds of
'Omameut may be introduced, such as tlie biUet-mould, the nail-head, the
aUr moulding, and others of a simple form, composed of plain curves or
flat faces. Those of a very complex nature or imitations of carving cannot
be recommended, as they always lack that finish and sharpness which is
so highly necessary in architectural ornament. We have, however, seen
one or two terra-cotta churches in which the sculptured capitals of
colamns, bosses, gargoyles, mulUons of geometrical windows, and, In fact,
the entire building, including the floor, has been formed of this material,
"without the aid of any other ; but, as may be expected, the imitations of
tcalptureJ work were spiritless and dead, without crispness or force, and
Toid of those sharp touches which make carving in stone so admirable.
For plain walling this terra-cotta, when of a good color, answers well as
to appearance, and, we doubt not, for durability and strength too ; but for
the liner portions of ornament it is, as at present made, unsuitable. We
cannot help thinking, however, that its quality will before long be greatly
improved, and that much will be done with a material which in its various
branches is so rapidly rising into importance. Now, as sculpure cannot
■well be executed in brick it is evident that if any be desired it must be
cut in stone, and here the greatest care is required, or the good effect of
the carving is more than counterbalanced by the bad effects produced by
the introduction of stone where it appears out of place, more resembling a
patch than anything else, and tends to cut up the building and destroy
its repose. We cannot too strongly impress on all the importance of pre-
serving this in every building, and at the same time expose the ridiculous
practice of introducing ornament and decoration with so lavish a hand as
to effectually destroy it altogether. Without it no edifice can possess
majesty or solemnity, grandeur or impressiveness, and when these are
wanting what does an edifice become ? Merely a toy in appearance, and
isLT beneath the admiration of an artist whose eye seeks in vain for that
which it loves to behold ; in vain searches for that charm of beauty which
it delights to drink in, and convey in one pure stream of pleasure its
thriUing power to the artist's soul. In order to secure depth it is necessary
that the walls should be of tolerable thickness ; indeed, without this is the
case much must remain undone which would add materially to the appear-
ance and boldness of the building, without taking into consideration its
•stability, which of course is considerably increased by this plan. It is
the same in brick as in stone buildings, with respect to keeping the glass
as far as possible from the face, and without this is done that flat and
weak effect which is so distasteful and so objectionable to a person of
taste will always exist. It is this effect which ruins many of our largest
■buildings that would otherwise be creditable productions ; and until
architects will open their eyes to this prevailing error we shall continue to
be surrounded and hemmed in by failures, of which we have already more
than we could wish.
In the first periods of art, whatever material was selected, that material
was well treated, and where a true feeling dwells, the works will always
be worthy of it. It matters little whether it be in wood, stone, brick, or
iron, or anything else capable of being used with success, the result will
always be the same. Ability will force itself in every production which
it sends forth, and the mind and power of the designer is stamped on the
building which he has designed. A great genius is almost incapable of
producing a deformity, and there is something about the work of a great
man which speaks eloquently, though silently, and impresses the beholder
with a feeling of its superiority; it cannot be mistaken, it reveals itself to
all who have the power of interpreting it, and even the smallest fragment,
or the least of its parts, have a peculiar charm which forces itself upon the
eye, and fires the train of admiration.
Curing the Elizabethan period, bricks were extensively used, but they
were used by men of inferior taste. Yet, notwithstanding this, there are
a few examples to be found which are well worthy of notice, not as a
guide for future efforts, but as specimens of what has been done. They
who were so unsuccessful in the use of stone could scarcely be expected
to be otherwise in the employment of brick; neither were they. There
was no artistic feeling, no power perceptible in their works, and they have
consequently left little to be admired by their descendants; still, they are
the only ones which remain, and in many we find much which is far
better than the generality of our modern attempts. England until now
has done nothing in brick which at all approaches the beautiful, and that
architecture which is making such rapid advances has never been
thoroughly understood ; but unless our prosperity be interrupted, and
our progress be arrested by national misfortune, we shall, ere long, be
enabled to look on the establishment of a style which shall mark the
present and excel the past — a style that shall be worthy of our greatness
as a people, and one that will leave a noble impress on the art-records of
our country.
Although our progress, during the last few years, has been rapid, yet it
is not what it might and would have been had tlicre not been serious
obstacles in the way. There are many things which block the path and
check the onward movement, but one of the greatest is the individual
selfishness of architects. The old ideas of honor appear to have become
wofully changed, and those labors for fame have resolved themselves into
labors for wealth. The different aims produce very different results, and
the means taken to secure the one are nearly opposite to those adopted to
obtain the other. With us ability will not secure patronage ; there must
be connexion and family influence. Hence we find that those who have
the most extensive practice not unfrequently are those who are miserably
deficient in architectural knowledge — saying nothing of genius, which is
a much rarer thing. These men, knowing their favored position, never
took the trouble to learn more than was barely necessary for them to
know in order to establish a practice, the working of which is, of course,
placed in the hands of assistants, who are equally influenced by ideas of
gain, and who care little whether a work possesses beauty or ugliness, so
long as it is done. One set of drawings is cleared off and another" set
begiin, and little care or thought bestowed on either. Thus one edifice is
designed and carried out, and others follow in quick succession, each being,
as may be expected, void of beauty and abounding in faults. But what was'
the course pursued by those able masters who have been mouldering in
their graves for centuries, yet who are still remembered and honored now ?
Did they neglect to bestow that thought and patient labor on their works
which are so essential to success ? No. They poured forth their mighty
talents which they had given their lives to acquire ; they sought to make
their works perfect, and lavished on them all the majesty and noble
beauty which their refined imagination conceived, and spared no pains or
withheld no labor which they considered necessary to raise up monuments
to their glory and lasting evidences of their greatness. Every labor must
be a labor of love, or it will not produce great results. Look at the art
workman. The man who takes an interest in his work and derives
enjoyment from it — he whose eye flashes with the fire of enthusiasm and
whose very soul seems to be passing into the object on which he labors —
and then turn aside and observe the man who toils for wages only ; every
movement is measured, every action mechanical. There is no brilliancy
in the eye, and no yearning of the soul ; and the man feels not the honor-
able pride and love of an artist, but sinks into the lifelessness of a
machine. Then look at their works ; there is the same difference ob-
servable in tliem — the one teems with life and seems to live, the other
lies dead and spiritless — the one is the body illumined by the soul, the
other is the body only. And it is precisely this difference which exists
between the works of the ancients and those of the moderns : they were
artists, we are men ; they worked with a zeal and enthusiasm wliich led
them to the highest pitch of excellence and carried them up to a point
which has] never been since reached, we are prompted by motives of a
far less lofty nature, but until we throw them aside and become influenced
by others equally pure and noble as theirs, we can never penetrate deeper
into the hidden beauties of our art. We speak of our architects as a body,
but do not mean to assert that there are no artists among them, far from
it. There are a few bright lights even in these dim times, but they are rare
exceptions, and unfortunately some even of these few have no opportunity
of display ing the power which they possess, and they, perhaps, will pass from
among us without leaving a name to be cherished or a work to be admired.*
STATUE OF PALISSY IN PARIAN.
THE beautiful material which is so well known and so deservedly ad-
mired under the name of " parian," or " statuary porcelain," we have
learned to associate, as a matter of course, with statuettes and other
plastic works on a small scale. Indeed, so completely is such an idea
established and recognised, that the material itself we involuntarily con-
sider to be applicable only to objects of this class. The time has come,
however, in which we have to learn that statues of full life-size, as well as
statuettes 12 or 18 inches in height, may be produced in parian, and so pro-
duced with a success that commands no less of admiration than of surprise.
The first parian statue that has been executed is most appropriately a
statue of Palissy ; it is the work of a French artist, M. Gille, of Paris, and
it has been executed as a commission by an enterprising and most suc-
cessful English producer, Daniell, of New Bond-street. The figure is six
feet in height, and It represents the famous ceramist as in the act of ex-
amining and detecting an imperfection in one of his subsequently cele-
brated " rustic pieces," which he has just taken from the furnace. The
countenance and the expression of the entire figure alike indicate the fixed
resolution to persevere until all imperfections should be overcome, which
distinguished Palissy in so remarkable a manner, and which eventually
enabled him to achieve such brilliant successes.
We confess to have been fairly astonished at this truly remarkable
work. It is equal to the finest marble in its aspect, and the execution is
worthy both of the composition and of the material. It stands alone as a
production of plastic art, and it may reasonably be expected to exercise a
powerful influence upon life-size and heroic sculpture.
Some well executed examples of modern Palissy ware stand beside the
Parian statue, to which we are irresistibly impelled to revert. Perhaps,
one or two specimens of the /ayetice of Palissy himself may be obtainable,
in order to their appearing in association with M. Gille's fine and im-
pressive work. Palissy himself, — that ardent, enterprising, resolute, and
persevering artist, whose history forms a genuine romance ; Palissy, it
will be remembered, succeeded in discovering the enamels which enabled
him to execute his remarkable ceramic works about the year 1550; and,
at a very advanced age, he fell a victim to the Huguenot persecution in
1589. He lives again in the statue, which has been executed by French
talent and skill working with the encouragement of judicious English
liberality.
— . j» ~
We understand that at the anntuil meeting of the Ecclesiological
Society, wliich will be held in the Gallery of the Architectural Exhibition,
0, Conduit-street, on the 13tli iiist., at eight oV-lcick in the evening, " The
Distinctive Character of Modern French Restoration " will ibrm tlie subject of
debate. The ]<k;clesiological Society does not limit the attendance at the meetings
to the members of the Society.
• To be continued.
June 7, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
477
THE IJAY AND CITY OF NEW YORK.
WHEN leaving tlie (then) United States of America, the Prince of
Wales accepted the one only present which he thought it desirable
to accept from the generous Americans. The present was a picture of
large dimensions and of singul.ir merit, the work of an American artist,
Mr. George L. Brown, and it had been purchased from the artist himself
for the express purpose of being presented to his Royal Highness, by fifty
gentlemen of New York. This picture is now exhibited, under the con-
joint charge of Messrs. Colnaghi and Scott, and of M. Gambart, at the
French gallery, in Pall Mall. Always interesting as such a picture as-
suredly would be, at the present moment it possesses even an extraordinary
interest, from the circumstance of its giving a faithful representatioa of
the " Bay and City of New York," and the mouth of the Hudson. Besides
the city itself and the noble estuary of the great river, the picture com-
prises views of Staten Island and Long Island, and of the city of New
Jersey. We may congratulate Mr. Brown on having his fine picture
placed under conditions that will ensure a full appreciation of its great
merits. It is a work of a high order, and it will not fail both to attract
general attention and to secure as general admiration.
Another picture of the same size, the work of the same artist, is also
exhibited (together with a nice little collection of French and German
pictures) in the French Gallery. It is entitled " The Crown of New
England" — the crown being the loftiest crest of the most elevated moun-
tain range of that romantic region of the Far West, and the diadem itself
mihir to that so long worn in Europe by Mont Blanc, —
"A diadem of snow."
In this picture Mr. Brown has siiown that in New England there are
combinations, as well of color as of scenery, that are unknown in the " old
country." The whole subject has been carefully and thoughtfully studied,
and the picture has been painted with an able hand. Tliere is a truth-
fulness and a freshness about this work that are really delightful, and the
atmospheric effects bespeak both a keen sense of nature's most subtile ex-
pressions, and the ability of an experienced master of his art. Mr, Brown,
we understand, has studied for some time, and his pictures show that he
has spent his time well, at Rome. He may find abundant materials for
his canvas in his own country, and we do not hesitate to promise him a
cordial welcome for whatever other pictures of his he may be disposed to
send for e xhibition to London.
PARIS EXHIBITION OF MODERN WORKS OF ART.*
HAVING remarked the general want of true sentiment and poetic feeling in
the Exhibition, it is but fair to add that M. Bauraes, a pupil of Paul
Delaroche, lias exhibited true sympathy with Goethe, in two pictures, the subject
of one being Margaret watching her little sister when ill, and the other Margaret
at the feet of the Virgin. M. Bellange, too, whoexhibits five military subjects,
deserves a word of notice for his charming picture entitled "The Two Friends,
a Scene from Sebastopol" ; an officer is performing the melancholy duty of taking
the dead-roll, and stands with a tear in his eje before the bodies of two young
officers one of whom clasps the hand of the other in death. The subject is very
delicately bandied, and while the six or seven figures in the composition all
evidently participate in the officer's emotion, the effect is carefully modified accord-
ing to the character written in the face of each, and without an atom of affec-
tation or theatrical air. " The Two Friends" is a great and deserved favorite. It
would scarcely be a French exhibition without a Madlle. De la Valliere, and M.
Caraud has given us a picture of the discarded favorite taking the veil hi the
convent of the Carmelites ; the Bishop is just severing a tress from the fair head
of the novice while the Queen looks down from her place in the gallery with a
rather stolid expression. We forget whether her Majesty was present at the
ceremony, but we remember that Madlle. De la Valiere cut offher own hairimme-
diately after entering the convent; but the bright locks tell well against the
black dress, as the Bishoji's mitre does against the choristers' white gowns, and
M. Caraud could not allow history to stand in his way. M. Chazal has a nice
picture of Jesus at the house of Simon, but conceived in an odd manner; instead
of the usual treatment, he has given a street scene, and represented the Saviour
standing at Simon's door, while the woman is approaching from the other side of
the way with the alabaster vase in her hand. The figure of the latter is elegant
and simple, and although that of Jesus wants elevation, the picture is one of the
very few tolerable renderings of Scriptural subjects in the Exhibition.
A very young painter, named Lambron, was unfortunate enough to achieve
some notoriety in 18.j,0 by means of a L-u^e picture called the "Flaneur," in
which an idle fop of the time of Henry IH., dressed in the oddest costume of
that strangely dressed period, stood in a sitting position— if we may venture to
use such an expression— against a wall playing with a cup and ball, the floor
bemg strewn with other toys wliieh this gi-own-up baby may be supposed to have
tired of. 'There was a dashing independence about this work which attracted too
much notice, and probably the young man's friends, or Ins own vanity, may have
told him that he wa.s destined to become the leader of a great school of humorists.
However that may be he has improved upon his eccentricity this time and pro-
duced two of the most extraordinary fiictures imaginable; in one, in which the
figures are life-size, a harlequin and pierrot are on Montmartrc, standing face to
face with what is called here a croc-raort or undertaker's man. Of course, a
cert.iin class of people find a wonderful amount of sentiment in the juxta-
position of a particolored figure making a low bow to a grinning one in funeral
weeds, while the wliite clown stands by with terror depicted in his face, and two
or three children look on with various expressions of countenance. The second
picture is nearly allcroc-mort; a jiarty of these mournful personages are enjoy-
ing themselves amazingly at a cabaret just outside a cemetery ; one is pretending
to steal a bottle of wine from a female attendant, while another jilaees his huge
black coftked hat over a boy's head ; all are grinning, and all, or neariy all, have
red hair; and these productions have admirers ! There are some few" other ec-
centrics who deserve mention : a painter named Riedal has hit upon the novel
expedient ol lighting his pictures Jack-o'-lantern fashion ; he never allows the
light to^ shine duectly upon his figures, but sift^< it upon them, as it were,'
•Continued from page ■l.i.'J.
through lattice work or foliage. He pats a dozen girls and young women
amidst the most complicated network of vines and creepers, with a
little water down in a corner; introducesa brilliant solar patcli upon each pretty
face and well turned shoulder, and christens his composition the " llathers." He
paints a sweet face, and charming figure elegantly attired, calls it a young girl
of Frascati, and lights it up in tlie same facetious manner. The pity is that
M. Riedel has the power of making very pretty faces, but he may be assured
that people will soon get sick of them, for it is almost as annoying to look at his
pictures as to have the sun flashed in one's eyes by some urclim over the way
who has possessed himself of a piece of lookhig-glass and makes experiments ia
solar reflection through our open window. But of all the extraordinary pro-
ductions in the Exhibition, a large picture by Gtistave Dorc, illustrative of Dante
is the most remarkable ; it represents the Torture of the Ice in the ninth Canto of
the Inferno. In the midst of a huge field of ice stand Virgil and Dante, and at
their feet and all around are huge fat sprawling figures, male and female, lying
on the ice or encased within it ; the chief group in the picture, the Roman and
the Italian poets being mere lay figures, is one of the most revolting thatcan well
be conceived. Count Ugolin and the archbishop Ruggieri, both enormously
brawny coarse figures, are struggling in a hole in the ice, while the Count gnaws
his antagonist's head, which is horribly besmeared with blood. The veins of the
two fiends, for such they seem, are swollen as if by fire rather than ice, and
despite their dreadful condition are as fleshy as the Dutch goddesses which
Reubens loved to depict. In other parts of the Exhibition are a number of en-
gravings from other illustrations of the Great Florentine's work ; these have
been quite the rage here for some time, and are called wonderful, marvellous,
vigorous, and honored with all kinds of complimentary epithets but in spite of
all this we cannot help recording our opinion that Gustave Dore has succeeded
in proving how much clever drawing and even imagination may be wasted, when
an artist will make an excursion into a realm for which nature evidently never
designed him. There are, on the other hand, some engravings on wood by Pierdon
from designs by Dore, illustrating the Contes des Fees of Perrault, which are
charnung; "Tom Thumb Sowing the Pebbles," is a peifcct gem.
The landscape painters of the modern French school have certainly snatched a.
grace beyond the reach of nature, and have attained to high eminence of a strange
kind. Regarded merely in a technical light, the landscapes generally are most
remarkable, they exhibit careful observation and wonilerful ability in handling,
but, with very few exceptions, they areliCeless, artificial productions, fields with-
out tenants, wild flowers without simplicity, and space without atmosphere. They
have rather the effect of tapestry than of painting, and have no more of the
freshness of country life, or of the breeziness of nature, than Lancret's shepherds^
You might select almost any one out of a dozen or more and call it perfect in its
way, and if only that one had ever been produced it would be deservedly ad-
mu'ed as a charming curiosity ; but as the matter stands at present, one is in-
clined to regard them all as imitations of an artificial or very eccentric original,
and to call them landscapes merely according to conventional rule. 1 here are
many fine masses of rock and patches of heather. All the various features of a
landscape may be found in the Exhibition admirably rendered, but scarcely a
picture that tells of country life, of the mountain breeze, of the rippUng brook,
the break of day, the glare of noon, or the sweet but melancholy eventiife.*
MANCHESTER AKCUITECTURAL ASSOCIATION.
A MEETING of this Association was held on the evening of Wednesday, May 29,
at the rooms, George-street, the Vice-I^resident in the chair.
After the transaction of some preliminary business, the Chairman called upon
Mr. R. Knill Freeman, to read the paperforthe evening:, on the subject of domestic
architecture. After alluding to the fact that the architecture of a people has ever
been a medium through which we are able to judge, not only of their mode of life,
habits, &c., but also, to a great extent, of their character and intelleotual poj^ition;
and having referred to the state of the country prior to its conquest by the Uomans,
the adaptation by them in some measure of the arrangeraents of the Roman villa to
the requirements of this climate, and the subsequent imitation of tliis arrangement
by the Saxons and Normans, tlie essayist gave a brief outline of the peculiar charac-
teristics of the castles, manor-houses, and towns of the thirteeuth, fourteenth,
fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, and called attention to those works which yet re-
main in proof of the periectiouto which many branches of art were brought. Com-
paring the towns of the past and present, he remarked : — " Very quaint and pretty
must those old Gothic streets have been with their overhano^ing , upper stories, hif^h
roofs and gables, and picturesque chimneys. Rows of buildini^s, m which, not only
was the general elfect pleasing, but care was bestowed on the minutest details, 'fhe-
earving, whether in timber or stone, had a life and vigor about it which
wp, vvhile the reign of stucco and cement continues, shall iu vain search
for. The question may here bo asked, have we made advances in
this department of architecture? Arc we, who exist in the present en-
lijjhteucd period, surpassing in excellence and beauty of our towns the productions
ot what some are pleased to term rude semi- civilised times 1 Is a greater love of
truth displayed in our buildings than was shown in theirs? Do our works aa a
whole tend more to the rcflueinent of the pubUc than did theirs? Can anyone truth-
fully answer, yes? As we walk through our streets aj-e we not pamfuUy struck by
the want of taste and art education which is everywhere mauifest? On all sides we
see shams aud false construction, ignorance, and deception. Shops innumerable, iu
which the whole of the superstructure, consisting, perhaps, of a row of unmeaning
pilasters or columns surmounted by au equally unmeaning cornice or pediment,
would seem to be carried on plate-glass— abortions, in wiiieh the beauties ef Gothic
or Classic art are shamelessly caricatured." After alluding to the suitability of
Gothic architecture to the domestic requirements of the present age, and referring to
the specimens ol modern villa Gothic, by which the suburbs of our towns are dis-
figured, the paper was concluded by a review of some of the causes which lead to the
debased style ot buildings by which we are at the present time surrounded.
Alter a sliort discussion, a vote of thanks having been presented to Mr. Freeman
for his essay, the meeting was concluded by the annoimcement of the business of
ensuing evcuings.
The Conservative Land Society in South Notts. — The rapid progress
of the busy town of Newark, so well known in the malt and lime trades and the
demands lor increased building have induced ihe Conservative Land Society to
make their forty-thii'd land purchase in that place, being the second in the
county of Nottingham. The estate is but a short distance from the railway
station, extending on the road from Newark to Slcaford to that from the Great
Northern Railway to Brecon-hill, and is well adapted to the wants of the locality
in the erection of new houses.
• To be continued.
478
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 7, 1S61.
BOROUGH OF XEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.*
ALONG and Uboured article havhip bt'en recently inserted in the "iiMiWer," a
periodical published in London, eoutaiuing heavy chart^es of niismanagement
and nejrlect agrminst the municipa! authorities of this boroug^h, and of course in-
volving; the officers, under %vhose sptvial direction is placed the control of public
works and panitarv arrangements in {general, we, the Town Surveyor, and Sanitary
Inspeetor, feel ourselves called upon to point out some of the glaring errors and
cxa^xerfttions with which the article abounds.
An«r exhibiting, briefly, the antiquity of the town, its ancient fame, the important
position it has lori^' held, and still holds in relation to mineral enterprise and advan-
t«g:e8. the skill and successful career of many eminent men in connexion with the
numerous manufaeturtn<<r and commercial undertaking's of the town and neiyhbour-
bood. the writer proceeds to state, that, as regards its mimioipal management and
sanitAry condition, the town is at present in such a state of aeclensiou as tu present
a Btriknig contrast with the elevation it has attained in all its branches of industry,
and preatly inferior indeed toother towns, specifying: especially those of Morpeth,
North Shields, llerwick, Penrith, and AlnwieK, which are represented as affording
bright examples for our Imitation, and are said to have greatly progressed in sani-
tary improvement, by simply placing themselves under the scientiftc officials of the
General Board of llealth, m London, a stop which it is well known the inhabitants
of some of them now deeply rt^ret. It is indeed plainly insinuated that for want
of tbissapervision. Newcastle abounds with accumutatious of filth of every descrip-
tion, and is characterized by an utter absence of proper sanitary arrangements. It
U moreoFer declared to be actually in a state of irigntful peril, and probably on the
eve of some awful visitation, or dire catastrophe, and the writer unhesitatingly
asserts that the authorities here have learnt nothing from the visitation by cholera
in liiSi or the fire in 1S54— that they have done nothing— and that the work of
reform as reganls Newcastle has yet to be commenced.
In his endeavour to establish these bold statements, this fearless writer has exhi-
bited a disregard of facts, probably without example, even in the columns of the
Builder, whicti for a series or years has assumed to itself the special task of attacking
and dispara&ring all the towns of the Kingdom which have not adopted the *' llealth
of Towns' Act." however efficient their own special acts and organization might
happen to be for attaining the same objects.
It might have been expected that a journal whose professed object is the improve-
ment of the taste of the people in the construction both of private dwellmgs and
public buildings, and claiming the exalted rank of a scientific periodical, would, in
justice to the town and itself, have taken sufficient time and care, and instructed its
agents to avail themselves of the facts and information possessed by the cbrporation
and its officials, bo imperatively required in an investigation like this, to enable them
to make the inquiry thorough.'and to conduct them to an impartial and correct con-
clusion. Itut iuKtead of this, the town has been held up to the derision of the King-
dom in a paper founded on the hasty and imperfect observations of a mere pen-and-
ink sketch er, in a rapid perambulation of two days, by a person who is evidently a
atraoger to the town and neighbourhood; at the same time that not the slightest
notice is taken of the extensive street and sewerage works, which have been
executed at ^eat expense, especially within the last seven years, or of the
efficient organization established and in constant operation, during the same period
for the removal of nuisances, upon neither of which important subjects ctoes it
appear that any inquiries were made of any person quaUfied to give correct infor-
mation.
We propose briefly to notice some of the numerous mistakes and misrepresenta-
tions pervading the whole article and to show, for the informtiou of the public, by a
t«dmmary of the works executed under the direction of the Town improvement Com-
mittee, that the town is not in the miserable condition poetically described by the
Investigator^ as "worthy of the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah." Unhappily, offensive
and miserable places exist, and it is to be feared, always will exist, in all large
towns, and especially perhaps in old seaports, and we by no means pretend to say
that Newcastle is an exception. We contend, however, that it is better than many,
and worse than few of its class; but to affect to compare such places with small
inland country towns is the height of absurdity, even if their alleged superiority was
admitted, and the vaunted efficiency of the management of the Board of Health
cli.-arly established.
In the first paragraph of Sanitary remarks it is stated that in " the descent called
' The Castle Garth Stairs' there are 2it0 or more tenements in such close contiguity,
that ventilation and daylight must be almost unknown, and that the 'Netty' for
their accommodation is merely a single rail over a large filthy cesspool." Now,
every person acquainted with Newcastle must know that the Castle Garth Stairs
are a very old part of the town, where the houses are very closely packed, and the
peculiarity cf their situation, being ferected on the face of a very steep declivity,
renders their improvement a work of great difficulty, and one too, especially, that
nuires time to carrv out. But still they arc in a much belter state than they were
Bw years ago, and to say, as the 5«i7f/cr docs, that "ventilation and daylight
nuut be here almost unknown," is an exaggeration "almost" efjuivalent to a direct
perversion of the truth. Some parts indci-d are far from being deficient either of
light or air, as for instance. '• Sheephead Alley." which is built on a terrace on the
bankside, with a southern aspect, perfectly open nearly the whole length, while on
the north the liouses look into the wide space between them and the Old Castle.
The " Netty" alluded to,,'as "only a single rail over a iilthy cesspool," is actually a
substantial water-closet, of approved construction, composed of Caithness flagging,
and abundantly supplied with water, containing aeconunodation for 8 persons,
divided Into -I compartments, separated from each other by stout wooden partitions.
about 5 feet high, in a spacious apartment, floored with Caithness flags, thoroughly
whitewashed with quick lime at frequent intervals, is swept out regularly by the
scavengers of the district, and lighted every night with gas ; and there is not more
ofTenstve odour or impurity, either within or about the erection, than can be looked
for in any place of puoUc convenience.
In a similar spirit, and with equal disregard of truth, he has treated the con-
venience called the "High Crane." This is rather an ancient institution, and not-
withstanding the pretended squeamishnesB of our dainty-nosed observer, it is still
extensively patronized by a large class of persons, who, judging from their ap-
pearance, arc sustaining no injury to their health by visiting it. The sittings are
separated from each other by a stout framework of wood sufficiently broad to ren-
der contact impossible when seated; the place deseriixd as a "den, seatless, and
? fc ^'j '*' *'*'*'* ***'*^ *' ^^^ Castle Garth, whitewashed frequently with quick lime,
»SnJ®d with gas every night, and swept every day, and has been inspected hun-
dreds of times by one of the undersigned, without having on any occasion discovered
any fllth on the walls, floor, or seats.
Immediately on having this so-called " den," the sensitive writer declares his
Olfaetory organ was assailed by an impure odour "from a cart-load or two of fish
entrails lying on the street close to the outside of the Fisli Market. This state-
ment If not an tnlin; fabrication is at least a monstrous exaggrration. All the ;oflal
of tlie *l.Mi Market is deposited in a large squure box furnished with suitable
handles placed in a secluded corner of the Market but perfectly accessible, and
which is emptied every day into an iron covered cart, and conveyed away; and the
•eUers offish are constantly under the observation of a market keeper, who is re-
•ponsible for the cleanliness and good order of the market. We have next what is
termed an " astoniahiog fact," viz., "that the merchants' offices of this opulent
quarter jthe Sandhill and Ouayside) are as destitute of every private accommodation
■"''^« of *nc Castle Garth Stairs," an assertion which certainly is as
itbepoordesterns ^,^„ ^^„..„ „.. „^^v.^.v
• astonlshtnir." u ft is well known to be directly contrary to fact.
In rijply to it we
axe enabled to lUte from the Wt Lut"horttyTiz :The'w'aW "cl)in^
this "opulent quarter" contains ICO private water-closets beside a large number of
private privies.
• Kemarks by the Town Surveyor and Inspector of Nuisances, on an article in the
fiuuaer, beaded " Condition of our Chief Towns— Kewcaatle-on-Tyne."
We are next treated to a Geographical description of the "Close" and are told
that it is a very busy thoroughfare and in a dreadful condition. "Leading to the
river" (he says)" from the Close are numerous passages with houses on either, sidf
such as in London are termed alleys, in Kdinburgh, wynds, but which are here termed
entries. We thread one hap-hazard called the Salt House Entry ;' the ground is strewed
with ashes, liquid ordure, and offal, with which a colony of little children are making
dirt pies." He further says, " We mount a flight of dangerously rickety steps, and
learn from the spectral people who come out that seven more families exist in this
unhealthy quarter, who have but one place of convenience amongst them, which, on
inspection, taking due precaution for our personal safety, we find that the place re-
ferred to is a wooden erection overhanging the river, of which the back and part of
the sides have disappeared." Now it happens that not one single family resides in
the "Salt House Entry," and the public convenience, which is at the foot of it, is ten
yards from the edge of the river ; it contains sittings for four persons, is in precisely
the same good order as those before spoken of, is lighted with gas. and s\vept every
day. The ashes which may sometimes be perceived at the head of the entry, consist
of what is scattered from the scuttles or boxes placed there by the inhabitants of
the main street adjoining, awaiting removal by the Corporation carts, this part of
the Close bcin"- too much occupied with traffic to allow them to be set in the street.
The lane itself, with the street, is swept every working day, and there are, near the
privy, two ashpits for the accommodation ot any who choose to use them Irom the
main street, and W'hich are regularly emptied every week by the Corporation. But
this " hap-hazard " writer evidently wishes it to be Inferred that there are " numerous
entries" in the Close " leading to the river," all in the miserable condition which he
has represented the " Salt-House entry" to be in ; yet it is actually the only public
entry leading from the Close.to the river, on the long strip of ground from Tyne-
bridge to the Skinners' Burn, about COO yards in length, with tlie exception or the
Javel Group, which is a cartway 13 feet wide, also supplied with a public conveni-
ence, and both terminate in public landing-places, with steps leading to the river.
Very few families now reside in this extensive area, it being occupied by three raft
yards, two flour mills, two old bottle houses, several spirit stores, bond warehouses,
and public houses, nearly the whole of the tenements formerly attached to the bottle
houses having been closed by the proceedings oi the Inspector of Nuisances as unfit
for human habitation. There is. however, an entry called the " Salt Entry' in which
several families reside, but it is not open to the river, is not a public thoroughfare,
and is in reality a mere passage to the tenements within it. This probably is the
j)lace to which the liiiUder^s description was intended to be applied, but, even if it
were, the picture is greatly overcharged. The principal tenements are in a building
at the bottom of the yard abutting upon the river, so that there can be no lack of
either light or air; and the convenience spoken of is strictly private for the use of
the inmates only, and is cleansed by every tide. We have frequently inspected
"this unhealthy quarter" without any fear of our "personal safety," but we never
found it " strewed with ashes, liquid ordure, and offal," and although we have fre-
quently seen ** a colony of children " playing there, we must say tliat so far from
their being either " spectral or blighted " they appeared, althoughcertainly uotof the
cleanest, to be both strong and healthy. Indeed, the locality of tlie Close, instead of
being an " unhealthy quarter," has always been, and still continues to be, rather re-
markable for the good health and longevity of its inhabitants : one person died a
month ;igo i^ years of age, within a stone's throw of the " Salt-House Entry," and
one of the undersigned was one of nine sons of a single family born in this street,
seven of whom reached a vigorous manhood and an average height of six feet, in
this alleged spectral reign of death and dirt-pies.
Sandgate isjnext described in the following terms:— *' Cologne has a bad name, Cairo
has a worse reputation, but that pnrt of Newcastle called Sandgate must be allowed
to exceed either city in stenches, filth, over-crowding, and pestilential ills." Now,
it is well known that the secondary Egyptian capital is in a warm latitude, in it
sewerage is wholly unknown, dogs and vultures are the only scavengers, no distribu-
tion of water by pipes on the modern or any system exists, all the water for any
purpose of Hfe must be obtained exclusively from the tanks, which can only be filled
once a year by the inundation of the Nile. Sandgate, on the contrary, has amain
sewer throughout its whole extent, with branch drains, and channel grates at their
heads, situated at the foot of the numerous entries for the reception of the liquid
refuse. The street and all the entries are swept by the scavengers twice every day.
The company's water is on constant pressure over the whole district, almost every
set of tenants having a tap for themsiives ; those not so provided for can obtain it
in any quantity, free of charge, from the fountains placed by the Corporation at each
end of the main street, at the New-road, and in the Milk-market.
It i.s worthy of remark in reference to this district in particular, what has never
been noticed in the Jimlder, that the application of the " Lodgin^'-house Act," and
the appointment of two police inspectors under it, has liad a veryl>encficial effect on
the over-crowding of tenements, which formerly prevailed, where property of this
description was situated, the measures adopted in IHjlJ having resulted in securing
ample breathing room, a strict regard to cieanliuess and decorum, and the main-
tenance of good order in all the licensed lodging-houses within the borough, as well
as a vigilant inspection of all other dwellings suspected of admitting lodgers without
licence, or of harboring persons contrary to the provisions of that Act.
As the statements just made in reference to this district apply with equal force
and truth to other places, stated in the usual exaggerated phrasuology to be in a
similar condition, viz:— Pandon, Cowgate, Sallyport Gate, Wall Knoll, and Broad
Chare, we deem it unnecessary further to follow the writer at present in this
direction.
It is now time to take up the subject so much dwelt upon by the anonymous
writer in almost every part of his contribution, that of domestic accomiuodation for
tenements in addition to those which have been provided by the corporation for male
persons in numerous parts of the town. It is one that has engaged the anxious
attention of the Town Improvement Commitlee. During the last seven years the
powers of the Nuisance Act have been put stringently in operation, ashpits and
privies have been erected wherever sufficient room could be obtained at a proper
distance from the dwelhngs, and where conditions sufficiently favorable for this pur-
pose did not exist, water-closets were placed insti-ad in connexion or out of con-
nexion with the ashpit, as circumstances allowed. In many cases, the ashpits were
entirely removed and, the ashes (lisjjosed of in another way, which will presently be
explained ; but in a great number of tenements, none even of these arrangements
were practicable for want of space ; this class was therefore provided for by employ-
ing iron covered carts with low axles, to traverse all such localities every evening,
with a bell constantly ringing to announce their approach and induce the tenants to
bring out and deposit their refuse in the carts. Where access could not be had for
the carts, as in the Tuthili-stairs, Castle-stairs, and other steep declivities of the town,
drains were laid trora the main sewers to suitable points, where guUey grates provided
with traps were inserted to receive the liquid refuse.
To return to Sandgate, we indignantly repel the insult alike to decency and truth
contained in the following passage, "Between the Milk-market and the Swirie, in
the public thoroughfare, there is a public place capable of holding half-a-dozen men
and boys on one sidi', and perhaps as many women on the other. On a Sunday morn-
ing when the male population are at home. iwi\ and women are to be seen in crowds
waiting their turns." Such is exactly the indecent calumny as it appears in the
JSuitder, Can this writer possibly be au Englishman ? Can any Englishman be so
ignorant of the feeling of every Englishwomnn m this respect as not to know that
such is the invincible domesticity of the sex in this country, even amongst the most
degraded of them, that the dir st necessity would not drive them to endure the ex-
posure he here chargesthem with ? Itis scarcely necessary to say that it is not true.
The place in question was erected in 1H4S, with ciglit iilacea for men on one side, and
as an experiment, two for women on the other side; a trustworthy man, who has
had tile daily regulation of this place (including Sundays) under his charge during
the long period orthirteen years, states that lir has never seen one woman or even
one man waiting at the place, that the compart uieiit for women, in fact, is so flCldora
used, that to Increase their number would be simply a waste of money.
% li.'A 111' ClilUhl .■^ COLLI-.CiK, FIXCHLEY.-MR. Edward Kobeuts, AitciiiiKcr.
June 7, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
481
r
We are next directed to the aristocratic quarter of Lovalne-placi' and neifjlibour-
hood, and are gravely told that Savillo-row, Savllle-place, EUison-placo. and Georgo-
fitreet. overlook l*anaon Dene; we might as well be informed that Newcastle over-
looks the German Ocean. I'urtlier on it is stated that "the light summer houses
dotted over the banks have been converted into crowded tenements, the limpid stream
which formerly flowed here is changed into a toul common open sewer." This
distcrted description when reduced to plain English means that HUgardens altogether
■till remain on the banks ; 45 of them contain summer kouses, which the cultivators
use merely for their occasional recreation ; 22 of the gardens contain each a little
cottage that has been enlarged from a summer-house, iu which working men chietiy
reside, some of them with families ; and 20 of the gardens contain simply green-
houses. The occupiers of this plot of ground have frequently distinguislied them-
eelves of late years by carrying otf prizes for the superior cultivation of flowers and
plants, at the different exhibitions held in the town and neighbourhood, a fact of
itself sufficient to indicate a salubrious state of the atmosphere. The stream whicli
has been characterised in such terms as "a foul common open sewer" certainly
still remains uncovered for a short space between the gardens, but at such a distance
from the houses as scarcely ever to be offensive, there being constantly a strong flow
of water throut^h it from the copious springs at Spital Tongues, and otuer tributaries
in the way down from the moor.*
LECTURES AT THE ARCHITECTUUAL EXHIBITION,
v.— On the Restoration of Ancient Buildings. t
AT Winchester a most inexplicable work of the same kind is in progress. Here the
main beauty of the old work was its color ; it never was a very grand facade, and
liad many of the usual faults without the best features of I'erpendicular design ; but
time had done its work, and the west front was in color and general effect fairly in
harmony with the rest of the building, and a work for Englisiimen to be proud of.
Kow, as yon go along the railway to Southampton, you see the new tower and spire
of a church, and beyond it what seem to be the equally new gable and pinnacles to
the cathedral, and I hear that they propose to polish up the whole west front in the
same way to match the gable ; then, if funds last, I don't see why they should not
imdcrtake the side walls, and ilnish up with a refresher over the whole surface of the
fine Romanesque central steeple ! When all this is happily consununatcd the good
people of Winchester will, I suppose, be happy, and their grandchildren may hope to
see the cathedral again in its old color and witii its old effect. I cannot imagine that
the stonework required scraping, for not only is the stone at Winchester generally
in very fair condition, but, at the same time, l have but little doubt that the putting
a new face on it will render its future decay more probable and rapid than any other
course that could hare been adopted. The castle and much of the exterior of the
cathedral at Norwich, are other examples of destructive restoration — ^and here the
walls have been so plastered wiih cement colored to imitate stone in the most
elaborate way, thjit 1 fear most of the original work is absolutely destroyed.
Destructive restoration is accomplished also by the removal ot furniture or fittings
of old buildings as often as by the alteration of old detail. For instance— there used
some years since to be a number of very fine oak-carved stall or desk ends of the
fourteenth century, in the choir of Wells Cathedral ; their places are now occupied
by new work of designs, and on a recent visit I could find no trace whatever of any
of the old ends, whilst the verger absolutely refused to allow that there ever had
been any such work as I described in the cathedral. Similarly I remember seeing the
fine wooden gates of the screen at Dorchester, in a builder's yard at Oxford, copies of
them having been erected in their place to save the trouble of restoring the old gates,
and, probably, without tne knowledge of the architect. So, too, some one once sent
as a present to the O.xford Architectural Society a fine seat-end, which I recognized
as having been taken from a church in Staffordshire, probably during some repairs ;
and in these cases we architects are by no means always in fault, for there are some
clerical and other restorers, who take strong fancies and strong dislikes. One man
cannot tolerate lUs old chancel screen, another does not Uke poppy-heads, and each
of them banishes his enemy when he has him in his power during the work of
restoration 1 and then there are, or at any rate there have been, some antiquaries
who seem to think it no theft to pocket a curiosity, and have no compunction about
giving the lust wrench at an old brass. So of late years the grand St. Maur brass at
Higham Ferrers has suffered, and at the present moment, the church having been
shut up and unused for a couple of years, one of tlie older brasses is all but pulled off
tlie stone, and will probably, unless more care than hitherto is taken, have disap-
peared altogether before the restoration is complete.
I was told the other day of a curious example of the effect of careless or igno-
rant restoration on the south doorway at the north wall of the choir of Lincoln
minster ; the central shaft was of later date than the jambs, and the latter having
become decayed, have now been restored in imitation of tlie central shaft. The
result, of course, is unfortunate in every way, and the story which the old doorway
told has now a third chapter added, which makes the whole nnintelUgible.
So far, all the examples of destructive restoration have been such as all will agree
in condemning. There are other examples as to which we may well be more cautious in
the expression of an opinion ; because, though they are among the really destructive
works, they are also among the best, the most careful, and the most sumptuous of re-
storations. Take the most remarkable example— the chapter- house at Salisbury. Here
we see the whole interior restored with new poUshed marble shafts, new stonework
wherever the whole was damaged iu any way, walls and roof covered with new
painting; and, finally, the whole of the sculptures from Old Testament story, which fill
the spandrels of the arcades, restored, repaired, and renewed in the most elaborate
manner, and then covered with painting. Now, independently of the question
whether the chapter-house is or is not now in exactly the state in which it was left
m the fifteenth century (and, as far as the coloring is concerned, I doubt it vehe-
mently), such an elaborate restoration is very dangerous. I believe it to be quite im-
possible, and very wrong, ever to attempt the restoration of sculpture. If you haTe
a piece of old sculpture so damaged as to interfere seriously with the purpose of the
portion of the building in which it occurs, the right thing to do is to move it bodily to
some other place, and there carefully preserve it, whilst in its place you insert an
entirely new and original work.
Vou have no more moral right to touch up or patch the work on which an ancient
sculptor bestowed his art, than you have to touch up, finish, and repaint the work of a
Giotto or a Fra Angelico. They are all works of individual artists, and because their
names happen to be unknown we are not relieved from the duty of preserving them
exactly as they have been handed down to us.
In the Chapter House at Salisbury no absolute necessity for the restoration of the
sculpture existed. The old sculpture, dara.iged as it was, gave us, nevertheless, the
exact measure of the artist's power, had all the interest which the certainty of an-
tiquity Imparts, and presented to us in every part the sculptor of the (Ifteenth cen-
tury. Now it is difBcult to know what to trust ; the work has been done with
singular care, yet I am confident that it must be impossible to repair and patch anv
"'<■ ^™'''j without at the same time running great risk of having the old work
chiselled filed, and fitted to the new ; whilst the final operation of painting has
ellectually concealed much of the delicacy of the sculptor's work. Suppose, for an
instant, the same system adopted elsewhere, and our royal tombs at Westminster,
our unsurpassed sculptures at Wells, our sculptures round the chapel at Ely, and
elsewhere, all carofulfy and painfully repaired, restored, scraped, and repainted, and
J tliink you will be aflrighted at the idea. The truth is that most of us at the pre-
sent day had better, when we want to show our knowledge of sculpture, do so in our
new Avork ; and, when we wish for color, paint also our new works, and not our old.
Ine question of the application of color upon architectural work is not to be settled
m a sentence ; but, fond as I am of color in its right place, I should generally dread
very much to hear of its being applied to any old biiiUUng for which I had muc^>
* To be continued.
t Continued from page 4G0.
ail'ection. Would any of us tolerate the idea of Westminster Abbey being given up
to the colorist ? 1 think not, for though the proportions, the mouldings, the tra-
ceries, would remain all as they were before, tfie marks of age, all that makes the
church venerable, or connects it to the eye with the associations of the past, would
have di sappeared at once ; and we ought never to forget that iu all restorations this
evidence of antiquity is the one thing wliich, above all others, must never be de-
stroyed on any account ; and, just as in all destructive restorations no account what-
ever is taken of it, so in all restorations well carried out this is the one thing which,
above all others, is most taken into account. The first mode of restoration is fairly
called Destructive ; the second and safer mode is rightly called the Conservative;
and I will now endeavour to show how this mode may without difficulty be generally
carried out.
The first thing will be to endeavour in every respect to bring: the fabric to such
a state as to illustrate, as well as possible, the several changes and alterations which
it may have undergone at various periods. This will best be done by cleaning ofl* all
plaster and whitewash from the walls, inside as well as out, and leaving the whole of
the masonry exposed to view. In a church which I restored a short time since,
where there was nothing whatever but work of the fourteenth century to be seen,
there are now to be seen by the adoption of this plan all the arches of the windows,
and doors of the Romanesque church blocked up in the fourteenth century ; and it
can seldom happen that an old church restored and replastered, has not in the last
process lost some illustration or other of the gradual stages in its erection. No matter
Iiow sbght and apparently trivial, the marks they ought to be preserved, and
whether it be only the raking line of a destroyed roof against a wall, a window
blocked up by the erection of another, or by the addition of an aisle, or some remnant
of distemper decoration, or half-destroyed sculpture, all should be preserved and re-
tained as far as possible in their old places, and old relativt; situations. The walls,
then, are generally in their old state, for it may be. as well to say here what I have
had occasion often to say before, that old walls were not usually intended to be
plastered, but were finished inside and out with the same masonry, rubble or wrought
stone as the case may be. Then, when the plaster is removed, there are often
portions of the work for the restorations of which no authority exists in the
building; if they are small points, or parts of a general scheme, it will be generally
better that they sliould be restored in conformity with the old design
than in any other way. The difiicult thing is to discover the old design, and
this may be done oftener than is imagined by the examination of other works executed
by the same architect. I suspect our old architects hardly strove so distinctly after
novelty aud change of style as most of us do. To tell the truth, one would often
think they were paid, as we are, by a commission of five per cent, on the cost of the
work, and tried to convert it into ten per cent, by using their designs twice, in the
way we have seen carried to such perfection by the ingenious designers of those
pairs of chapels " setting" to each other in the cemetries which afllict our eyes in
every direction at the present day. Tlie consequence of this old practice is con-
stantly, that if a detail is destroyed in one church you may supply it with tolerable
certainty from another. Let me give some examples of this. The churches at
Wantage and Bampton are in some respects as nearly as possible identical. The
nave arcades appear even to be wrought from the same moulds. At Wantage,
however, the aisles were altered in the fifteenth century, and none of the original
windows remain. At Bampton, some of the windows remain, and are remarkable
for the extreme beantv of tneir cusped inside arches ; and if the other churches in
the same district are' examined it will be found that there are several which
seem to be by the same hand as that at Bampton, and all of them are
marked bv the same feature of cusped inside arches. It would, there-
fore, be sa'fe to assert that the Wantage windows, if they were restored at all
should be restored In conformity with what seems to have been a specialty
of the man who was probably its architect. Similarly, I have lately in the restora-
tion of the singularly fine church at Stene, in Kent, obtained what appears to me to
be suflicicnt evidence to prove that it was designed by the same arcliltect as West-
minster Abbey ; and the result is, that where I was at fault at Stene, I had a right to
go to Westminster for guidance as to what was the intention of its architect. So,
too, in Cornwall, any one who has studied the old churches carefully knows that there
is a group of them built In the fourteenth century, so distinctly marked with
peculiarities which prove them to have been the work of the same architect, tliat in
the restoration of any of them a knowledge of the others is almost essential to
success. I have gone into this subject often, and always with great interest, and I
will catalogue a few other instances. St. Mary's, Stamford, and the village church at
Kettcn, are well-known examples of work of the same hand. Three churches in
Staffordshire and Derbyshire, Blithfield, Checkley, and Norbury, have chancels which
are undoubtedly by tlie same architect, being each of them very peculiar, and similar
in their peculiarities, and they are incidentally interesting as proving that old archi-
tects did not always design the glass for theirown windows. All these three churches
retain their old glass ; at Norbury it is singularly coarse and rude in its detail, and
could not have been desiffncd by the delicately refined hands that drew the beautiful
glass at Checkley aud Blithfield, which seem to rao to be of French manufacture,
and is very similar in character in both churches. Anothergroupof similar churches
will be found iu Kent and Surrey, at CUfl'e at IIoo, Brasted, Merstham, Chipstead,
Branstead, and Merton. To take grander examples, there are points in the cathedrals
of St. Davids, Llandafl', and Wells, and the Abbey at Glastonbury, which prove that
in some matters at any rate, the same men worked in all, or at any rate, the same
directors of the work. This is particularly seen in the sculpture of foliage. The same
thing may be seen on the continent ; to know Notre Dame, Paris, thoroughly you
must also know Notre Dame, at Muntes, and St. Leu d'esserent : whilst the fam^ns
Marien-Ivirclic, at Triives, is not properly understood until it has been compared with
tlie church of St. Vincent, at Metz, and the remains of the remarkable church of St.
Joed, lit Braisne, all of them being, in some importantrespects, all but identical. Go
where you will the same thing meets the attentive examiner ; and two hundredyears
hence it will not be necessary for men to search the dreary pages of our periodioals
to see what works were done by Jlr. Scott, what by Mr. Butterfield, or what by Mr.
Pugin, for they will be able to read their names written on their work, just as I think
we may read the names of older arcliitects in their works. , . .
The architect, therefore, who would restore an old building well, can only hope to
do so by diligent study of other buildings in its neighbourhood. This is often-
times very difficult, and it would be exceedingly useful if our local architectural
societies would turn their attention to the point, and attempt as far as possible the
classification of all works which appear to have been designed by tiie same artist.
There would then be good hope that the exact design of many works might be re-
covered, which would otherwise be undecipherable. If, however, tins course fails,
then, I believe, the truly conservative course is honestly to confess your ignorance
of the exact facts, and to insert some work which shall be distinctly your own, just
as in the middle ages the old architects were wont to do. If you are certain tliatyou
know tlie old design, it is but fair to the old architect to enable him to tell his own
story ; if you are not so certain, it will be better not to confuse men who come alter
by a pretended restoration, or by perfectly inferior work to damage the reputation of
your old unknown predecessor. Then when the walls are re6tored;and cleaned, wliat
is to become of the roof ? and here I answer that if it is old, and cannot otherwise be
prevented from thrusting out walls, and damaging the building, tie it together with
iron tics, and bolt it with iron bolts without any compunction, and »t all risks avoid
the removal of old timbers from their places if possible ; for ot all
things that an English carpenter now-a-days liates, there is nothing he
hates so much as allowing old timbers once taken down ever to go up
again. They generally sin grievously against his foolish ideas about neatness, finish,
and polish, and are sawn up into sleepers and joists as soon as possible, unless the
architect be vigilant. Herein the carpenter has an active auxiliary in the mason.
The result of two centuriessteadily devoted to making workmen as nearly as possible
like machines, is that no mason has any idea above or beyond that most contemptible
one of making neat work ; and if he is left to Ins own device, he will spend hours
upon hours in reducing and reworking the old face of stonework, or old mouldings,
48-2
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 7, 1861.
or tMcerr in order lo rvvlve a Uauaaff^i arris, and make tho whole work look a spick
and span as it did when Hrst erected. The damage done in this way is enormous.
Not oiilv i< thv old color destroyed, but the proportions of mouldinjjs and window
tracery 'an- doi»tn.»yed, and the removal of its old face will often lead to the sudden
det-ay of the old stonework. . . ^ -».■ a *-j - ii ™ i » i. u
The mason must be atteutivelv watched in his mode of doin<? his work ; he should
(if the old work Ih.' <nxKl) attempt, as far as possible, to assimilate his own to it in
ererv wav— iu the bond ot the masonry, in the mode of dressingr or working the
atones and iu the 'general character of the works. He should be allowed to indulge
iu no such in'n'nious devices for spoiling masonry as black mortar or ruled joints.
and whether'thc work be new or restored, he sliould be compelled to do it at least
as solidly and substantiallv in all respects as the old work.
When- old buildiDj^s arc so decayed as to be capable of repair only by propping or
by rxbuildinc, the farmer is <.'enerally the better of the two plans, as still leaving
most of tlie old work intact When rebuilding is decided upon, if the stone is not
^^^ny^^ f^ad the work very good in its character, every stone of the old work should
be mmrked as it comes down, and shoald lie re-erected in its old place, and with as
little disturbance as possible to the old work : this is the true conservative course ;
but I am not sure that any good example can be given for the course (so often taken
now) of rebuilding entirely new work m imitation of old work which ha.s been com-
pletely destroyed. At DoncAster, for instance, after the fire, it was made a great
point'tbat the steeple (I am not sure about the church) should be accurately restored
m tlie new building. The architect's hands were tied by the condition, and he has
given us a steeple and a church which are evidently compromises. They are not
realty a copy'of the old work and yet would probably have been still better tlian they
are if Ihcy had not pretended at all to be a copy. At St. Slary Magdalene, Taunton,
the steeple is being rebuilt in exact conformity with the old work, and an
enormous amount of architectural superintendence given to that which is after
all only the proper work of au ordinarily intelligent clerk of the works
finally, at Chichester, the central steeple is a ruin, and the people of Sussex have
come forward nobly with a large part of the funds required for rebuilding it. liut
the first condition one hears is that the steeple is to be rebuilt as of olcH and one
asks with some astonishment whether it can really be purposed to erect a copy of
the late spire upon the copy of the early tower ! Surely it would be tenfold better,
if copying there must be. to confine it to the tower, and to make the whole steeple
uniform in its style. There ought to be no difficulty about making a spire at least
as good in its outline as the old spire, and the rebuilding of an exact copy of it,
with nothing but new materials, would not, to my mind, be a restoration at all.
Nevertheless, the spirit which prompts this desire for exact fac-similes of old work is
one full of good, and marks that intense love for our old buildings and old customs
which still, 1 hope, marks the iK'ople of England above all others at the present day.
In matters of^detail conservative restoration is often possible when it is not
practised. In Btained glass, for instance, Mr. Ward gave an example some time
ago in an old window which he restored for a church in Berkshire which I was
restoring, of the best mode. A good deal of the glass had been destroyed, the
leading still in the main remained, and he relcaded the whole of the glass, filling
in the vacant places with plain glass opaquely painted, and the result was that, at a
small expense, we had the old work, and nothing more, permanently i>reBerved, with
nothing conjectural, and with a good effect which I should, I confess, scarcely have
anticipated. This work was done under Mr. Winston's supervision.
There are many other points on which a restorer should take special pains to con-
form to the old example. Wherever old levels of floors can be discovered they
should be roost carefully copied. Old levels are generally well arranged, and not
unfrequently with great peculiarities. As, for instance, the laying a floor on a
gradual slope up from west to east. Then again the IocaI fashion as to such seats,
Ac. in churches is generally preferable to any other, especially where any example
exists in the building under restoration which is at all worth repetition,
Faiuting on walls should, generally speaking, be carefully cleaned, and where it
eoDsists of figures and subjects should not be restored. If the work is rude, it can
hardly be restored in a rude fashion without being absurd ; if its character be good,
then it is, as I have said t-lsewhere in reference to sculpture, a pity to touch it, lest we
destroy any of the characteristic touches and fire of the old artist. I have the autho-
rity of Mr. I^ayard— than whom no one has more zealously exerted himself in the
cause of early'ltaliau art— for saying that the greater portion of the damage which
is done to the old Italian frescoes is infiicted by their restorers, who recklessly paint
and repair every damnged work for which they can induce any one to pay. And the
fact is the more startling when we consider that the existing government of Italy is
engaged in putting down the religious orders, turning them out of their houses, and
converting the convents and churches, which contain the most glorious works of art
in the world, into stables, barracks and schools. So that the restorers must be
actively vicious indeed who outdo such a government in destructiveness !
There is one common reiiroach in the mouths of those who have no feeling for our
national antiquities, to which a few words of answer are necessary. They assert
that all this work of restoration is unreal and untrue, inasmuch as both our religious
life and our civil life are quite unlike what they were ; they say that the old buildings
of each class are consequently quite unfitted for our use on religious and on
utilitarian grounds. In short. Lord Talmerston's "Civis Romanus sum" is
Interpreted literally by them, as it is by his Lordship, to mean that Roman archi-
tecture is the only art fit for English citizens, and that we ought no longer to put up
with any revival of English art. The charge is ingenious, but untrue. Take our
churches— and in what respect is it necessary to alter them materially for modem
use ? As far as the church is herself concerned, I may safely answer, hardly in any
single respect need they be altered ; for whilst Ely, and Snerlxjrne, and a host of
smaller restored churches show the perfect liberty which she enjoys and allows in
their restoration on the most gorgeous scale, we hear now week after week of
gatherings in our cathedral naves, either in Westminster or Exeter, to hear sermons,
or, as last week at Ely and reterborough, to join in choral practice so large, that
even their spacious areas are not ample enough lo hold the crowds that throng through
their doors. And is it possible that this English nation, which prides itself so much
upon its practical character, should be so unpractical as to go on, year after year.
ever more and more actively at work, restoring and refitting old churches, if those
old churches are not the most convenient and the most suitable buildings
that could be devised for their sacred purposes ? We have seen several of our noble
cathc'drals restored to their proper use with all fitting architectural accessories, and
others, no doubt, will be re-arranged before long ; and in one matter almost all of
OS are now of one mind, in saying that the point most to be desired in all such cases
is that the nave and choir may, as far as possible, be restored to their original use—
the former as the proper position for the clergy and choir, the latter as the rightful
possession of the i>eople. In some cases there is no difficulty in this— as, for in-
Bt«nc«t where the choir Is not over large, and where no old choir screen is In exist-
ence, as, for Instance, in the case of the sumptuous restoration of Sherborne Minster,
a good example of the proper and consistent restoration of a church of this descrip-
tion. Westminster Abbey, on the other hand, affords an example of the worst pos-
sible arrangement of such a church. It needs no great authority to decide that the
most convenient place for the choir in that church— because it is the place where the
largest number of worshippers can see and hear— Is at the crossing of the transei)ts
and the choir ; and as such a position would in no way whatever interfere with any
one ancient feature or architectural arrangement, there is no possible reason why it
should not at once be carried into execution, when it would be found that the area
for worshippers and auditors in the Abbey would Iw as ample as It is under the dome
of the neighbouring Cathedral, whilst the religious impression which the building
would produce would Ix; manifold greater. There are other cases in which
there is no such easy road to the right arrangement; such churches, for
example, as Canterbury. ExeU;r. St. David's, Chichester, St. Albans, and all others
which reUm their old choir screens, do not admit of the removal of these screens,
save on the most urgent grounds. The alternative is, after all. a simple one, and it Is
the return to the old custom of a second altar in the nave, under or against the choir-
screen. At Exeter Cathedriil. where the nave i-^ now used for service, it is filled with
chairs, and the choristers sit at its east end. It is a fact, however, that the altar
ought to be seen, and I dread, for more reasons than one, to hear some day that it
has been decided to remove tlieold choir-screen to satisfy this natural want. Yet of
old, two altars stood under this very screen, and one of them might well be restored,
if any altar service is ever to be used at the service in the nave, without, as far as I
eau understand, any breach of any rule of the Church of England. Two altars arc
still used in the cathedrals at Salisbury, and at Wells, and elsewhere. The old choir
screens were erected for a purpose which is only partially retained now in the Church,
England, but their value on architectural grounds is so great that we ought steadily
to oppose their destruction o:\thescore of utility, until it can be made quite clear
that it is absolutely impossible to retain them without quite negativing the use of the
building, when, of course, all antiquarian sympathies must at once give way to the
much more important claims of religion. We are entitled, however, to be very
cautious in admitting the religious necessity for alterations in the wrong direction
which we so often hear of. Wo may take it as a general rule that the cause of re-
ligion is best served by the smallest possible alteration of the old arrangement of a
cathedral.
In parish churches the chancel screen— the commonest bugbear of one class of
destructive restorers— may almost always be retained without the slightest difficulty,
and it is grievous to see in how many cases it has disappeared altogether, or been
removed to some part of the building for which it is unfitted, during what is
called restoration. Almost every other feature may well be restored for use. The
pulpit, seats, font, and all the other details and fittings of our old churches are as
exactly fitted to, and as necessary for, our services as they were for those of the men
who first erected them, and all ofthem ought, therefore, to be most carefully restored
and preserved in their old shape. Nor is there any reason why Ihey should not be used
as of old. The chancel stalls are still notonly the old, but also the best position for the
choir, if they are to lead the singing ; and though our cathedral dignitaries are fewer
in number than of old. there are still occasions from time to time when the clergy
may fitly occupy the choir stalls of our cathedrals instead of beiug mixed promiscu-
ously with the laity all over the building, and we should then incidentally rid
ourselves of one, at any rate, of the most crying evils of our cathedral arrangement
in the shape of those abominable pew-openers or vergers who levy black mail on
every one who wishes to say his prayers m the cathedral of his diocese.
In the restoration of domestic buildings the same rules and the same considerations
have almost as much force as in the case of religious buildings. When they exist
and have been inhabited they may still be preserved and used as well as ever. But
if they are restored it should be in some kind of harmony with their original design
and use inside as well as outside. All these modern contrivances, in which we pride
ourselves, for windows, doors, floors, fire-places, and so forth, mijjht very well be
contrived without destroying any of the features of architectural interest in an
ancient house, and there need not ever be any necessity for contriving as has lately
been done on so elaborate a scale at Alnwick Castle and elsewhere so very often, an
interior which reminds one of nothing but Belgravia within the walls of a house
whose exterior reminds one of nothing but the middle ages. The case is, however,
one of the very rarest occurences; there has never been the same reason for pre-
serving our old houses or castles that existed for the preservation of our old churcues,
and they are accordingly far fewer in number, very much more often in ruins, and
only in very rare cases at all perfect. In those few cases in which they arc still in-
habited the house restorer would go to work very much in the same way in all
respects as the church restorer, and with the same good result if he was careful to
retain all the old features in the most conservative spirit.
No work, perhaps, afi^ords better training for an architect than the study which is
involved in the attempt to become a thoroughly good restorer of ancient building^s.
He cannot do his work even passably well without a hearty love and reverence for
them ; this love and reverence cannot be mere abstracting, but must be followed up
by active work, active study, sketching, measuring, making notes, andthinkiii;^ well
upon and among them. This can never be done so well at any time as at first, and
yet I grieve to say that a large majority of young architects go on year after year
without apparently even so much as thinking of the necessity of studying old build-
ings for themselves, or taking the sljt^htest active interest in any work beyond that
which is put before them in their office. Now what must be the fntc of buildings
restored by a class such as this ? Is it possible that they can be well, scientifically,
or in any respect, properly done? Obviously not. Yet, I am within the facts in
what I say ; I have over and over again had applications from assistants in want of
employment, and it is a most painful fact that a very large majority of them have
never studied or sketched any old building, or if they have once done so have done
it once or twice only in their lives iu a way so disgracefully careless
as to make the hair stand on one's head at the idea of its being called
study at all. Yet every one of them would undertake to restore a church with
as much sangfroid as it has been said one of our statesmen would di«play in taking
the command of the Channel fleet. We want, also, educated clerks of the works and.
educated builders; and let me say, without any lack of respect for the class, that
generally speaking, it is much safer to entrust works of restoration to local builders
in only a moderate way of business than to large contractors, who seldom themselves
see the work which is being executed, and who do not find it worth their while to
enter carefully into those minutias which every restorer of an old building is bouud
to attend to. Our educated architects must educate themselves, not in Continental
examples or from Continental books, but from English examples and English books.
Whatever may be the value of foreign study to the architect (and from some points
of view it cannot be overrated), nothing is more certain than it will be of no help
whatever in finding out the meaning or intention of ninety-nine out of every hundred
of our old English churches and houses. They are thoroughly national, anil all their
peculiarities are national peculiarities. They have also provincial peculiarities,
so that none can expect to understand them thoroughly, without mastering all their
provincial as well as all their broader national peculiarities.
The Pugin travelling fund will, I hope, soon be in existence to encourage men in
this branch of their studies; though, if the entire truth must be told, our art will
not prosper as long as our students require a premium to induce them to study it.
For myself, I should be ashamed of any young student of architecture, who is con-
tent to waste his time and his holidays in indolent and selfish amusements, when he
might, knapsack on back, be at work from day to day for a month or two in every
year, at the least, walking from one spot to another of this glorious country, gathering
as he gws the information which will enable him in time to distinguish himself in
his art, whilst the act of obtaining it is as full of real pleasure as deer- stalking,
climbing Alps, or any other athletic work.
This then is the sura of what I have to urge, that only after diligent study of our
old buildings should we ever venture upon undertaking the charge of their restora-
tion ; and that the great end and object of all our restorations should be to preserve
the old fabrics in alltlieir old beauty of color and design for our children's enjoyment.
In our new works we have plenty of scope for the most ample originality, if we are
capablcofit. But we don't want to see Venetian Gothic windows introduced into
our cathedrals or our castles, where they would be oirt of all harmony with every-
thing that surrounds them, and standing evidences, not of our knowledge and our
skill, butof our childish conceit and affectation of superiority to the men whose work
we so obviously despise, though wc pretend to restore it.
Schools, Tipton. — The iiiscription-stone of new schools in course of
erection at Tipton in connexion with the parish church was laid on Whit-
Tuesday. The schools are intended to acconiinodate 500 children. The cost,
exclusive of the Rite, will be £1,000. The stone contains the names of the
mJTiister, churchwardens, architect, and builders. The schools are being: erected
from the designs and under tlie superintendence of Mr. Jolin Weller, architect,
I of Wolverhampton ; Messrs. H. and E. Nicklin, of Tipton, are the builders.
June 7, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
483
f
ARCHITECTURAL PUBLICATION SOCIETY.
TIIE Annual General Meeting: of the Bubseribers of this Society was held in the
rooms of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Conduit-street, Hanover-
square, on Tliursday evening-, to receive the report of the Committee, and the account
of receipts and expenditure, and for the election of Committee and officers for the
ensuing year.
The chair was occupied by Professor Sydney Smirkk, K.A., and among-flt the
other frentlenien present we noticed Mr. Arthur Cates, hon. si'c. for correspondence ;
Mr. Wyatt Papworth, hon. sec. for the Dictionary of Architecture ; Mr. Robert
Kerr, Mr. Octavius Hansard, Mr. Frederick P. Cockerell, Mr. J. W. Papworth, Mr.
James Wylson, Mr. II. R. Newton, and Mr. Edward II. Martineau.
Mr. Gates, hon. sec, read the circular by which the meeting- was convened, and
the minutes of proceediun-s at the last annual meeting-, which were found correct, ap-
proved of, and sifrned by the Chairman.
Mr. Gates then read the foUowinpf report :—
Mejjort of the Committee.
"The annual occasion for meeting: t*»G subscribers and laying before them an
account of the proceedings of the past year having again returned, the committee
have the satisfaction of submitting the following report of the progress of the
society.
" At the corresponding period of last year, the first part of the Publications for
1859 had been issued, and considerable progress had been made with the illustrations
for the second part. The publication of this second part was completed before the
close of I860; its earlier issue having been delayed in order to forward a lar^-er
number of articles of the * Dictionary ' than were originally intended to be included
therein, by winch the work has been "brought down to the article ' Felibieu.'
*'The part now in progress for the thirteenth year, 18()0— a portion of which is
laid upon the table— is intended to comprise the text only of the Dictionary, it having
been deemed advisable that the illustrations should be postponed to form a portion
of the issue for the current year, which commenced on the Ist of January last.
" The Committee have been induced to take this course at the recommendation of
eeveral zealous sujjporters of the undertaking, who have urged upon them that it
would be most desirable that the production of the text should be expedited as much
as may be consistent with that accuracy and research which have hitherto dis-
tinguished it.
"The Committee anticipate that the part now in actual preparation will include
the remainder of F and the letters G. and H; thus materially advancing the work
towards completion. It will be issued with as little delay as practicable; but the
time occupied in the careful revision and correction of the many articles extending
over so large a field of knowledge renders it necessary that the subscribers should
continue to afford to the Committee every indulgence for any delay in publication,
as it arises solely from the desire to maintain the standard at which the work was
commenced.
"The parts for the current year 1861, are intended to comprise both text and
illustrations ; the former there is reasonable ground for believing will carry on the
Dictionary to the end of K, or nearly so ; and for the latter the Committee mvite the
contribution of sketches illustrating the subjects set forth in the Appendix sub-
joined.
" The particular attention of the Subscribers is again directed to the ' List of Terms '
prepared to ensure, as far as possible, the successful carrying out of the Dictionary,
and the Committee request the communication, as the work proceeds, of such infor-
mation as may be considered to be of value for its respective departments. As such
assistance is gladly accepted, from whatever quarter it may be offered, any
gentleman who, although not a subscriber, may be willin"- to assist the work in hand,
and to tiiat end desires to procure ' The List or Terms ' lor his guidance, can obtain
a copy from the Honorary Secretary.
*' The Committee have yearly to acknowledge the obligations due to all who have,
from time to time, rendered valued aid in conducting the undertaking, and the past
year has in no respect diminislied such obligations. To the managers of many public
institutions thanks are also due for facilities afforded, but especially to the Vice-
Chancellor and Library Syndicate of the University of Cambridcre, for the courtesy
they have at all times extended to Mr. R. R. Rowe, the Local Honorary Secretary,
while conducting the investigations for this Society in the University Library.
" During tlie past year the Committee have accepted the valuable services of
Mr. Robert Young, as Local Honorary Secretary for Belfast, in the place of Mr.
MacHenry, who has resigned on account of ill health.
"■ The Society having so much benefited from tlie zealous services of those gentle-
men who have kindly devoted their time to the fulfilment of the duties of local
honorary secretaries, it has been considered that a further extension of the system
would be productive of excellent results. The Committee will, therefore, gladly
receive offers of service from gentlemen residing in districts as yet unrepresented.
" It is with great regret that the Committee have received the resignation as Trea-
surer of the Society by Mr. Thomas L. Donaldson, who has so kindly acted in that
capacity from the commencement of the Society's proceedings. Having long tres-
passed upon his good nature and occupied so much of his valuable time, the Com-
mittee feel that they can hardly venture to urge again the continuance of his services,
and therefor*^ notify to the meeting the vacancy, with the gratifying information
that Professor Sydney Smlrke has most obligingly consented to accept the office.
" During the past year considerable exertions have been made to increase the
number of subscribers, and a total of thirty -two new names has been added to the
list The Committee have great satisfaction in findmg that the arrangement set
forth in their last report, by which new subscribers would be permitted to distribute
the payment of subscriptions accrued for past years over a considerable period, has
been fully appreciated, the majority of the new subscribers having joined on those
terms ; and also that their announcement of the intention not to allow copies to be
issued at any time below the subscription price has met with hearty approval, and
secured the support of many who, without that pledge, would not have become
eubseribers.
"The continued accession of new subscribers having nearly exhausted the stock
ol illustrations, and the Committee being desirous to limit the number of impressions
of the reprint that has become necessary to so many copies only as miL^it be reason-
ably expected to be required, advertisements were inserted in' the journals
tlirectmg attention to these facts, and inviting those desirous of 8ubscribm<'- to
transmit their names without delay. On the appearance of these advertisements,
the (onductorfl of the Builder and the Building News simultaneously inserted
highly favorable notices of our proceedings and works, strongly directing the atten-
(p4i?*'V^^"' ''^"^^'"^ ^"^ the importance of the notice, and advocating the usefulness
ot the Dictionary. Some portions of their remarks are appended to this report
being such as most clearly state the character, object, and importance of the Die-
"The result of tlie prominence tlius given'to the position of the society has been
the receipt of very numerous inquiries, and the accession of several subscribers, who
are included in the number above stated ; but the Committee desiring to receive as
many names as possible before ordering the reprint, and, ultimately, the obliteration
^* J''^^'"awings, have decided upon keeping the list open for a short time lono-er-
and under these circumstances they would ask the subscribers to interest themselves
personally in making this known among their friends, that those who may have
nitherto delayed to subscribe may now at once avail themselves of the oppor-
" The balance sheets appended to this report show that the total expenditure for
the twelfth year (1859) has been £411 178. 2d., the receipts due to that year £?A^ 78 ,
and the arrears, Ac, paid £101 68. l.Jd., leaving a balance of £-32 16s. 9id. to be ear-
ned forward m favor of the thirteenth year.
" The account for the thirteenth year {I860) shows a balance in hand of £357 13s. 2id
applicable to the publications now preparing, the cost of which is estimated at £45(1.
«nh-^J?^*"" *^'';,*''^jf*'^^' request that all members in arrear will forward their
suDHcnption without further delay.
"It being impossible to progress far with the'preparationof the illustrations until
considerable funds are in hand, the Committee request that they may be favored by
the early payment of the subscriptions for the current year, 180'i, in order that the
plates may be put in hand at the earliest opportunity.
"The success which his attended the muaHures promulgated in their last report
(1860) induces the Committee to press upon the subscribers the importance of con-
tinuing those efforts, which will, it is hoped, terminate in the Completion of a standard
work without a parallel in any language.
"Arthur Gates, Hon. Sec.
" ^/Jj!;c;j^ix-.— Contributions of sketches and drawings for the plates to the " Dic-
tionary of Architecture" are requested at early convenience. The following list
contains some of the subjects it is considered desirable to illustrate, cither in the
next parts or as woodcuts to the text. Fan-tracery, Fire-proof Construction, Floors,
Forum, Frieze, Frontispiece, Galilee, Girder, Granary or liarn, (Jreek Church,
Groined Roof. Half-timber House, Hammer-beam Roof. Harmonic Proportion*
Headstone, Hearse, Hinge, Hood. Hood Moulding, 'Ice House. Incised Slab, Jube,
Kennel for Hounds, Knocker, Label, Laboratory, Lady Chapel, Lattice. Lavatory,
Lectern, Lecture-room, Library, Lock, Lucerne, Lych Gate, Machicolation, Manger,
Market Cross, Market House, Market Place, Marquetry, Masonry, Mason's Work.
Mausoleum, Metal Work. Metope, Minaret, Modillion, Monastery, Mosque, Muni-
ment-room, Opus Alexandrinum. &e.. Organ, Organ Loft, Organ Screen, and such
other illustrations of subjects from F to O as may appear desirable, will be ac-
ceptable. Octavius Hansard, Examiner of Illustrations, 11, Argyle-place, Regent-
street, W. London, May 30th, 1861."
The Chairman said it was his duty to invite the meeting to receive and approve
of the report which had been read, lie wished that that duty had devolvea upon
some one more able than himself and better acquainted with the working and
arrangements of the Society than he could lay claim to. He had had a very slender
share in the actual work of the Society ; all he had done was to give it his hearty
good will, a feeling which he had entertained from the earliest period, because he was
convinced that it was ap association calculated to do much good and to confer great
credit on the profession. Perhaps, as he had not had mucli to do with the Society,
he might be permitted to speak more frankly and openly as to the benefits of the
association on behalf of which they had met. Therefore he had no compunction in
saying that he believed the organisation of the Societj^ was as nearly complete and
as perfectly satisfactorj^ as any undertaking of this kind could possibly be made.
The right man seemed in this Society to be in the right place, and the writers in the
"Dictionary" seemed each one to be writing precisely that which he best understood.
It was very likely that that might be partly due to the excellent control taken over
the text, which he presumed was the case, so as to curb the exuberance of writers.
There was much credit due to the editor, and he (Professor Smirke) very rarely saw
any article with which he could find fault. He thought they were unfortunate m the
name they had chosen for the " Dictionary of Architecture," beoause there was a
dryness about it conveying the idea of a more enumeration of words— of a mere
vocabulary;— whereas they knew that such an impression would be entirely wrong.
The " Dictionary of Architecture ' ' was, in truth, a very ricli treasury of treatises by
a variety of different hands, each hand writing on that which he best understood.
The architectural profession was one which seemed particularly complicated, it
required such a miscellaneous amount of information and knowledge, and it
often was a very disheartening thing to a beginner to see the multitude of
things he was expected to know something about. In ancient times the
architect was e:;pected to know a great deal, but it really seemed that in modern
times the list of subjects of which an architect was expected to be cognizant
had increased rather than otherwise. None of them knew all they ought to know.
One man might be extremely learned and profound on gurgoyles and other matters,
and yet might know little or nothing of the construction ot a hydraulic ram for
iustauce ; another man might know the whole of the architecture of Cologne, and yet
might, perhaps, be ignorant of that of Constantinople or Carslrhue. Thev all ofthem,
from the oldest to the youngest, wanted information, and in the "Dictionary of
Architecture" they had a book which gave them everything they could possibly
desire— it was a friend at tlieir elbow, acquainted with every branch of their science
and art, and knowing every date and style. An encyclopaedia was, of course, a book
comi)rising information on an immense variety of subjects ; but bethought that their
"Dictionary of Architecture" was better organised and more complete than any
encyclopaedia he knew of. As to financial matters he thought there wa8,or might be, a
prevalent error ; there seemed to be, in regard to the possession of the " Dictionary,"
an impression that it was only a question of time, and that people could get the work
by>ud by at half price. Now that was an error which they ought to contend against
by all means— it struck at the root of the prosperity of the Society, and
it was a positive error. They were distinctly pledged that the Society
would not publish any portion of the work under subscribers' price. There
was no doubt that booksellers would do things which were scarcely, in bis estimation,
honest, as they would, after having sold all they could immediately and readily sell,
pitclifork an article into the market, and sell it just for what it would bring. That
course of conduct injured many valuable books, simply because the publisher had not
kept up their value. The "Dictionary of Architecture," however, was in different
hands. No one should go away with the notion that this work could be had at a
cheaper rate than the published price. In some of the catalogues the bacJc numbers
were already marked with a higher figure than the cost price. He feltccrtain that many
who did not now subscribe to the work would, in time to come, regret that they had
neglected to become subscribers, for they all knew that a complete work was more
valuable and convertible than a work ia its progress. The learned Professor con-
cluded by moving the adoption of the report.
Mr. Robert Kekr said he had great pleasure in seconding* the motion. He had
to express his entire concurrence in opinion with the views which had been expressed
by the Chairman, and thought they were very much indebted to air. Gates, the
Honorary Secretary, for the great energy he had displayed in the operations of the
Society during the past year-(Hear, hear). They had been on the whole successfVil ;
they had had an accession of membcTs, and they might hope to have still further
accessions, from the line of conduct which had been pursued by Mr. Gates, and the
subscription was not;a great sum, only 2l8.^ per annum. The " Dictionary of Archi-
tecture " was an exceedingly valuable publication. As to the probability of the
Dictionary becoming cheaper when completed, the chances were extremely small
and remote of that property getting into the market at a less price than that now
charged. They found at meetinsrs of the Committee that the work was constantly
increasing in volue. Many gentlemen might be under the impression that by some
accident or other it might becomeVheaper But there wos an argument in favor of
subscribing to it that should not be forgotten, and that was that perhaps the prin-
cipal value of this work to the profession consisted in the use tliey could make of it
while it was coming out. And if a man waited till tt was completed that man lost
the value of its possession as it was coming out, and for so small a subscription the
subscribers became possessed of a work parallel with the progress of knowledge as it
came out. And if an article which appeared last year, or two or three years ago, %vas
behind the state of things existing this year, they were sure to have some article to
bring up the book to the standard of tlie present time. Amongst the subscribers
were to be found men of rank, and men of great intellect, in addition to public
institutions in France, India and other places. He had much pleasure in seconding
the motion that the report be adopted, and printed and circulated amongst the
subscribers.
The motion was carried unanimously.
Mr. Newton moved the next resolution, thanking the committee, treasurer, and
honorary local secretaries for their services during the past year, appointing new
members of committee, and requesting tliat the local honorary secretaries continue
to act on behalf of the Society.
Mr. Octavius Hansart* seconded the motion, which was unanimously noreed to.
Mr. Robert Kerr moved, "That this meeting sincerely regrets thst Professor
Donaldson should be obliged to release himself from the duties of honorary treasurer.
484
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 7, 1861.
«nrt dt^irvs to oxptess iho very best thanks of the Society for his valuable services
dorin;: a period of thirteen years both as treasurer and as an active member of the
committee ; and that l*rofes3or Sydney Sinirke, U. A., be retjuested to undertake tlio
duties of the ofliee." So one who knew the very hi<fh respect he had always held
for Trofessor Donaldson would expect him to say much ou that occasion, but that
gentleman's earnest attention to the Society and his constant kindness had been
such that he could not move the resolution in a mere formal manner. The energy
and attention which Professor Donaldson had always displayed in the profession
and which he still displayed were remarkable, and it must be a matter of reirret that
he waa at tlie present ume laboring under illness, which he hoped was1)ut of a
t«iDporar}' character, but still it prevented him from continuing- In the office of
treuurvr to the .Society. He hoped, and he was sure they all hoped, that Professor
Donaldson would soon recover his wonted health and strength— (Hear hear )
Mr. J. W. I'APWORTH seconded the motion. When th j Society was first proposed
he found nobody more willing to act as foster-father to those gentlemen who were
attempting to put the plan before the world than Professor Donaldson He could
not forget the way in which, not assuming the direction of the affairs of the Society
Professor Donaldson lent his valuable aid to it. The Society did certainly owe verv
mnrh to Professor Donaldson. ' '
The OiiAiRMAN would not let the present opportunity pass without throwing in
his mite towards the general expression of their approval of Professor Donaldson
That gentleman had animated this Society in a wonderful manner, and supported it
at a Ume when it nwded support more than it did now. He ythe Chairman) sliould
tryajniucli as possible to discharge the duUcs of the office of treasurer, to which
thev had appointed liim.
■fhe motion was carried nnanimonsly.
Mr J Wti^on proposed •■ That the best thanks of the Society be given to Mr.
Wyatt I apworth. the hon. secretary for the Dictionary, and to Mr. Arthur Pates the
bon. secretary for correspondence, for their services during the past year?' They
were deeply indebted indeed to these gentlemen for their services; they showed
their devotion to the art m giving their time and services to the Society, and by
their conduct they set a noble example to young and rising men in the profession
31r. JIARTINEAU seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously
•HA ?'■^?Tl^EAU moved that the thanks of the Society be given to Mr. Good and
ri^ M I"v°:.''"'l ""• '"^ th"!- services during the past year i and Mr. Jennings
J^ ,1 . .'k "ir*".".?* f^^ius/'^d to accept the office of auditors for the current year ;
A^S,!!,, r •»»' """'''8 of the Society be given to the Koyal Institute of British
Architects for the use of their rooms for the present meeting
Mr. Ha.nsakd seconded the motion.— Carried unanimously
.i^^;,:!' ^V: I**"""""""!! moved a vote [of thanks to Professor Smirke for pre-
siding over the meeting. He »id, the words which the Chairman had been so good
a» to address to them, although a fraction of the subscribers, were really by the
mediurn of the printing press, said to tlie body of the subscribers andthepublic The
?.?.»'fJA^J' ""■« be 'ndebted to the Chairman for the manner in which he had been
pleased to sav that he felt able to speak of the proceedings of the Society It was bv
such an affidavit, or certificate annually given, if heartily given, that the satis^
fMUonof the subscribers with the Committee was fostered and maintained-(flear,
The motion was carried by acclamation.
The CiiAiHMAX, in returning thanks, again expressed the very stron"- sense he
wen wWb "hS"" '^'"^.<'"™''« of the management of'^the Society.^ ffeknew^erf^tly
wrthan those ^h;rh*iM°*^r'''°i''!ii''™"',".'"n™.'''*'"°t™^
with all those who held office. And he could not he p saying that there had been an
uncommon amount of zeal and interest in the SoJiety on the part of those whS
m.i;,'H!l°H° P"«'n'''''terest thereby, but whose labors were mJant to enrich thS
minds and cultivate the knowledge of their competitors in the profession.
Toe meeting then separated.
Tur. w ^ ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION.
^,^.■"1 '*^*l'"''."'**'i,°J.°'' "•■' ^^y ""« held at the Rooms, 9, Conduit-
Id thl^Sr "" °° ^^ evening j Mr. T. Roger Smith, the President,
wh"'h«r7a'p"p^Te7oafoUm'?d*'^"'""'^^"'P'°"^^^^
memu-r oM^e''Al^iaJ;r''' "' ""■" ^"ith-street, Westminster, was elected a
The (umUnrthip of the Association- s Property.— In the absence of Mr Bunker the
discussion upon this subject was postponed, but the Chairman spoke in ftvir of
™^^^ architectural lending lltrary, which was much wanted in'^London! If he
saw a prospect of such an institntion being established he should be very glad to
JSe'ptreLa^'oraToo-kcLl"- ***= "'"'^ '^"^"'^^ '""'' *•=" ""^ funds avaTlfbfe'.;?
rather mo^expUIi^elSrjSelr'^hJj^ral^"^" ""*• " *"* ^'''°''"«''° '"^'^ ^-"
mal'ter"e,1^V.nvi5°?f''«"'l'' """ ""J "■** e^enln- in a position to settle tlie
WM tlikt tCv «hL?i,i ?lt ^"°'""' ""', "?', Pu'^'f"'- ^^T""' "e should like to propose
ro^fld S. rfivLfS <„? '*'"' M ""^. valuable books that came out in numbers, or that
could be divided into small portions, so that members might have the loan of a
mimberortwo,and thus be enabled to perasc different porl on "of the same book
?ng I'^ndl^lbrlT '^''"" "" ""'* "" *'""'°" "" ""'* '°'"'" "^ ^"bK
h Jn'^^it '.o'*ih'',";^. w"!;! ''»'■*'' *"'.?" Sr"»tyof preparing a little book himself, and should
SrinSilrf next meet ng and present it to the Association, on condition of its
being made available to tlic members-fApplause).
I'lie Honorary Secretary read a letter from the Liverpool Architectural and
^h.V're'T'fV^T »''•'" ""'"'I to a circular sent ourbyth^AssocUHon stating
r^}!:rn^L%^*?!^ ^"^^^ Concurred in the resolutions adopted by the Association in
ISS .^^,h.,,'hT=T''.'"''P'"''?J1"'"?''.''f ""bitecture at the Ifireat ExWbiton of
XvrI l»t,„ , ™'^'lL"c" ? *"i -'"'' *", eo-operate with the Association.
JJr. liLASiiii,!, moved the foilowlngresolution:-" That the thanks of this Associa.
ion be given to those architectural pieties which have offered ?rcloperatcrpro:
curing a proper representation of the art of architecture at the Kxhibition of 1862
?o the" v."rlo/,^^Kr;r of the resolutions on this subject by the AssSon, sent
to the various societies, a representative Committee lias been appointed in con-
m,Sh,l"„f''*'"""^''' .',"""'!";? "!"'■'"''' Arcliltects, which will Be the reco" nUed
^^iJ^,"' «>nimunication with the Royal Commissioners, this Association earnestly
mitZ L'^tl^""'T "^r"^!}," "•■^■'"V'^tual societies with the Representative Com!
St ™.'„rh, A .." P'r' "* """ r<=«ol"t on be sent to the societies to which the reso-
lutions ot the Association were transmitted."
Mr. Parairf. seconded the motion, which was unanimously agreed to
»hi?!?K uf': 'r P; '' "ARBI8 then read a paper "On the Science of Carpentry "
U a Jipy ^'^blplp^l.tf""^ """"y diagram^ (fcne with charcoal. The iSllowfng
milP..^ „» r. •* .f^KKTCn OF THE SCIENCE OF CARPENTRT.
T fv.^in°;.i;jr'^"f "^.i'" ''*'''""* by Robison Tredgold, and others as llie art of
rL .'"""ns.' tlm'x-r for the purposes of architecture, machinery, &c., and in general
for all considerable structures. Considered as a branch ot the ar of buildiu- It
embrace, the cooslructlon of the framing of partitions doors, roofs, &c """""■>»•
f^IVi . T ■"" ^""^ '° 'u"'*' '"to * description of the various kinds of timber used
™o.V^ll '■'fi"'""!f!' '.^"i "" »"'' yellow fir from the north of Kurope ™ing that
wratil, i^h Ls^lnS fit' T" "hHr. " " '■»"','>' '""■'"^''' «'«' very stiff for i?? ciim-
?Un•";^^;a^^"rl•o''ng s'oLll' afoak'' """" """""■" """"•"" " ""*=' '='^^"^° «'«•"»■
«]Jili«of'MrJ,^Sl'rvl"„to'^r.'J.°'!i ''''" """"^vour to condense the very extensive
mmrff?DrartSirLmlrk^«T"''5'''r " ," "nslstcnt with cleamesj, confining
myseir to practical rcmarku only, and observing some sort of connection in the ar-
raiigement of the several contrivances. I will commence with the ordinary wood
lintel. It IS a horizontal piece of timber over a door, window, or any other opcniir'
built m the wall so as to discharge the superincumbent weight. If the wall is verv
thick more than one piece of timber will be required in the thickness of the wall
1 he general dimension is S inches thick for an opening of .-! feet, increasing one ineli
in thickness for every foot or part of a foot over the 3feet opening. When the open-
ing extends to about 1-2 feet or more, the same beam is more commonly called a bres-
suranier, and brings at once into operation the skill of the carpenter by stren"-thenino-
the jiieee of timber by mechanical means so that it will be able to sustain nol only its
own vy.-ight, but the superstructure it has to carry. All horizontal beams supported ,
at their ends have a tendency, more or less, to wliat carpenters technically term "sag,"
that is, to drop m the middle by the force of their own weight. To counteract Siis
influence, and also to gam the greatest effect with the smallest amount of material,
recourse is had to several expedients, all tending more or loss to strengthen the
beams, llie simplest form I know of is to cut down a timber, say a foot square, in
the centre, reverse the gram or fibres of the wood, and screw-bolt them together. The
additional strength gained by this is certainly not much. The next in order would
be inserting between the pieces so cut a piece of oak or wrought iron, which certainly
strengthens the beam considerably, and is frequently resorted to, but the most
scientific manner ofstrengthcning a beam is by trussing it, an operation which at
once introduces us to two very important mechanical infiuences, namely, compres-
sion and tension, which may be readily seen by the following illustration :-If two
inflexible bars be inclined to an angle, and the other extremities secured to another
bar, in an horizontal position, and a weight be placed on the angle (or a screw will
answer the same same jiurpose). the inclined bars will be in a state of compression
while the horizontal bar exhibits a state of tension.
The simplest forni of trussing a girder is to divide it into two halves, m the direc-
tion of Its depth and length, and insert between them bolts, having properly formed
skew-backs to receive the ends of the struts, which may be of oak or any other
r*ht" * ° 'be beam, and when fitted the centre bolt or bolts are screwed
An extra force, you will perceive, is now added to the beam, which must be over-
come ere the strength ot the same, untrusscd, can be acted upon
tor scantling of girders of various spans, see girders for floors hereafter, which are
copied from " Gwilt s Lncyclopaidia," as are many of the scantlings for other timbers
here mentioned.
.Floors.— The assemblage of timbers used in the formation of a floor, may be classed
under three heads-first, single flooring; second, double flooring; and thirdly,
double framed flooring. Before proceeding further, a few words as to plates. A
wall-plate is a horizontal piece of timber laid on the walls of a building, to receive the
timbers of a floor or roof. Templates are short pieces of timber, sometimes laid under
the ends of girders or other timbers, when no wall-plate is required ; it should never
be less than three feet long. Wall-plates and templates must bo proportionately larger
as the length and weight of the floorincreases; their scantlings will in this respect vary
from 4J by .i to 7^ by 5. f j
Ut. .Siiwie Flooring.— Is formed with joists reacliingfrom wall to wall, where they
rest on the plates, in common work they are simply spiked to the plate, in better
work, they arc notched to the plate and spiked.
The intervention of flues &c., will frequently prevent the ends of joists resting on
the wttll-plate. In such cases a piece of timber called a trimmer is framed and
secured vfith a wedge into the nearest joist, which is tlien called atrimming-joist. The
other end of the trimmer frequently rests on the wall only, but it should be properly
notched or secured to an iron corbel, and not go in the wall (this corbelling would
also serve very well, for corbelling of wall-plates but a brick corbelling more equally
distributes the bearing.) All trimmers and trimming joists, on account of being
weaKened by mortices, should be half an inch thicker than the other joists. Herring-
bone strutting is introduced in single floors when the bearing is over ten feet, and
when well fitted and secured, it stifl-ens the floor considerably. Single floors should
not be used for floors beyond a bearing of 15 feet.
The following table of scanthngs for joist will be found useful
Length 6 feet .
10
12
14
18
20
• ?'f; d ^po.'^'e i-'toor.— This floor is formed of three bearing timbers, a binding
joist (which 18, m reality a girder); abridging joist notched to the binder, and a
(The manner of notching was shown in a
nt' nnt^Xiinrv .1.., nr.l>;«» :..:..».. TllCV arC
ceilingjoist also notched to the binder. ^..., .,.,..,„„ „. .,u,A,.,.ug wa^
Sketch). Ihere are two or three ways of notching the ceiling joists.
p ainly notched and spiked to the under side of the tinder, or they are notched to a
fillet nailed on the binder, and they may be what is called " pulley morticed" into
mem; that 18, there is a chase cut in the binder long enough to allow of the tenons of
the ceilingjoists being obliquely Introduced into them anddriven up to their places.
the Bcautliiig for timbers of this kind of floor will be the same as given for double
framed flooring, of which it is a species.
J)oiMe Vrmned Flooring.— \-n double framed flooring the binders instead of resting
on the walls are generally framed into girders reaching from wall to wall. Bridging
joists are the same as described for single flooring.
In a single joisted floor, the -n-hole weight of the floor being equally distributed
along the whole line of the wall, it certainly lias the advantage of a girder framed
floor where the weight is transmitted by the girder on a portion of the wall only, and
It IS also usually considered that a single joisted floor is, in proportion to the cubical
quantity ot wood it contains, stronger than a framed floor. Hut, as Tred"old observes.
When the bearings of the joists become considerable, the ceilings of the single joisted
floors are liable to be affected by the natural movements of the timber, and at all
times It IS easier to execute the works required to prevent the transmission of sound
in a framed than in a single joisted floor.
Practically the limit for the bearings of a single joisted floor seems to be fixed at
ironi 20 to 21 feet ; for although it is possible to obtain timbers deep enough to carry
t le loads of floors ot larger spans ; yet the depth becomes so considerable as to render
the use of framed floors preferable, even without reference to the danger and incon-
venience from the shrinking and warping of the joists.
A span of more than 24 feet can rarely be accomplished with ordinary timber
girders, and it therefore becomes necessary to resort to the use of trussed, cast-iron
or ■wroiiglit-iron girders. Of these the wrought-iron g-irder from its lightness and
elasticity, is very much used.
Partitions.— The framework of timber used for dividing the internal parts of a
House into rooms is called a partition or quartered partition, so named from the use
of small timbers called quarterings ; and when having a aolid basis throughout its
whole length, it requires little skill in the formation, and is generally constructed of
quarlenng which rarely exceeds 4J inches by :i inches, unless required for very large
partitions. A piece of timber is fixed upon tlie wall which is denominated a cill, and
a corresponding piece above called a head, into which the ends of the quartering are
framed; occasionally an oblique timber is inserted in the form of a strutt which
gives additional strength to the partition. When the partition is to be lathed and
plastered only, the door and end posts for an ordinary dwelling-house are "-enerally
niade 4 inches by :i inches, the heads and cills the same, the fllling-in timbers being
•1 inches by 2 inches, and about 1 foot apart. Wlien the partition is to be what is
termed brick-nogged. that is the intcrsiiaces of timbers filled In with brickwork, the
tlilcknessof the partition will require to be half-brick thick, and the interspaces of
timliers arranged so as to take two or three bricks.
When aportition has to be formed where it is not desirable to support it from below.
It must not be allowed to give any ot its weight to the floor, but assist in supporting
and carrying the fioor above if required. To do this the partition is formed into a
truss, the ends of which are supported upon the main walls of the b-jildiug.
June 7, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
485
The principle objects to be remembered in the construction of framed partitions!
are to throw the wliole weiijlit of tlie partition and wliat it has to carry upon some
principal wall or part of the building:. The simplest form of accomplishmg- this is
where the head and eill is secured with iron straps to the an<^le posts, a kinp post is
framed in the centre to receive the ends of the braces ; the bottom ends bein^' well
secured to tlic cill, the quartering is then filled in, and materially tends to stiffen the
framing:.
Tlie use of iron rods with kinff and queen heads is much used now, and has the
same advantage here as in the roof of screwing the joints of trusses firmly into their
position. With these few remarl^s, which are necessarily incomplete, I will pass on
to the next division, which is roofs, where I will more particularly describe the
several ways of connecting the ends of timbers together.
I have not given any scantling of timbers for trussed partitions on account of the
variety of circumstances that influence their construction, for what would answer in
one case would not in another.
//or»/i\— Tiiere is nothing in the whole system of carpentry requiring more carcjul
consideration than the construction of the roof, forupon its proper format iou depends
the stabilily of the building and safety of those for whose shelter it is designed. The
first thing I would call your attention to will be "the pitch" required, and that most
consistent with the covering employed and the vicissitudes of this climate. It should
never be hidden from view like an unworthy object not fit to be looked upon, nor
ornamented with useless decoration that cannot be seen. A very lively writer of the
day observes :— " It seems, therefore, a gross violation of the principles of taste in
architecture to take away or hide the roof of a house ; and it must be ascribed to that
rage for novelty which is so powerful in the minds of the rich. Our ancestors seemed
to be of a very did'erent opinion, and turned their attention to the ornamenting of
their roofs as much as any other part of the building. They showed them in the
most conspicuous manner, running them up to a great height, broke them into
a thousand fanciful shapes, and stuck them full of higlily-dressed windows. We
laugh at this, and call it Gothic and clumsy; and our great architects conceal the
root altogether by parapets, balustrades, and other contrivances. Our forefathers
certainly did offend against the ma.xims of true taste when they enricherl a part of a
Iiouse with marks of elegant habitation which every spectator must know to be a
cumbersome garret ; but their successors no less offend who take off the cover
of the house altogether, and make it Impossible to know whether It is not
a mere screen or colonnade we are looking at." lie further says:— "A house
without a visible roof is like a man abroad without his hat ; and we may add
that the whim of concealing the chimneys, once so fashionable, changes a house
to a barn or storehouse. A house should not be a copv of anything. It has
"in '? "" of'Sbial ; and a screen-like house and a pi'llar-like candlestick are
alike solecisms of taste." Keferring again to the inclination of a roof I will here
mention the angle of inclination with the horizon adopted in different countries:— in
ureece it w-as from 1 J degrees to 10 degrees ; in Home usually Zi degrees or ii degrees,
in Ji-nf'land high-pitched Gothic roofs are seldom more than (i degrees, or equi-
lateral ; a very good inclination, and one very commonly used, is to make the height
01 tlie roof two-thirds the span. A high-pitched roof will undoubtedly shoot off the
rains and snows better than one of a lower pitch. The wind will not so easily blow
the rain in between the slates, nor will it have so much power to strip them off.
laking roofs generally we may divide them into three kinds— 1. The gable-ended
root; z Ihc truncated roof; :t. The curb or Mansard roof. Each of these may
P*y,*l.^"*^'^ ends cut off. If the same inclination as their sides, which in a square
ouildin^r would form a pyramid, in an oblong roof, the angle formed at the top
13 called the ridge, and that formed by the meeting of the sides the hips.
1st. Jhef;alj!e-en,leUJtoo/.—Tma is the simplest form of roof for buildings of
small span. They are formed of wall-plates, bedded upon the wall, to wMch the
common rafters are notched and spiked. In Gothic roofs they are mostly continued
to the exterior of the wall, to which a trough gutter is fixed ; the uppei*end is cut so
?^r * 1 "' '" ""^ ridge piece to which it is spiked. There is generally a space of
1 loot between each rafter, and to every fourth or fifth rafter is attached a tie
generally termed a collar; it is halved and dovetailed to the rafters, and secured
with oak pins or screws. If it were required to hip this roof, the wall-plate would
De continued round the wall, and secured where they lap over each other at their
ends by being halved and firmly screwed together. They are further secured by the
anj'te-tie, which is also halved and dovetailed to the wall-plate, and a small timber
caiiea a dragon-beam receive the foot of the hip rafters. The angle-tie and dragon-
piece are not u!ed in Gothic roofs; being seldom or never hipped, there is no occasion
r ;,"■'" 1'"^ ceiling is required, say half way up the roof, the ceiling joists may
periormthe ofhce of collars and be attached to each pair of common rafters; and
wiien the rafters are plastered to the whole height, the collars or ties may be about
')n f" . "I"'''' '* ""' advisable to use this roof for spans exceeding 18 feet or
.0 leet, at most. The bearings of the rafters may be further shortened by using a
P>";liii notched to the top of the collars. . ' "
When the span of thereof exceeds •>() feet it should be formed of trusses, quite
inaepeudcnt ot the rafters. The simplest form of truss is that with a single
King-post, tic-beam, a pair of principal rafters, a pan- of strutts, purlins, common
rafters, &e. < i- .
The tie-beam extends from wall-plate to wall-plate, to which it is cogged, so it
ties the wall in at the top, and receives the outward thrust of the principal rafters,
and so converts it into a vertical pressure. There are many ways of connecting the
principal ratters with the tie-beam. I will give but one, which is called in car-
^^,11 '••'"! jomt lor a rafter foot, and is used by the best London carpenters for
all oblique thrusts. It is secured by a wrought-iron strap with wedges, or by a
screw-bolt goin<' through the two timbers. It becomes necessary to provide for
what IS termed the sag or sinking of the beam in the centre, and for Ibis purpose the
king-post in introduced, which is suspended, as shown from the apex of the I' rafters,
and from this is suspended the tic-beam, it is further secured with a wrought-iron
strap and wedges at the lower end, which is framed into the tie-beam. The head
and foot of the king-post, you will observe, has abutments for securing the ends of
the principals, and for strutts which divide the bearing of the principals ; tliese pro-
jections are termed joggles, into which the rafters and strutts are firmly framed and
bound with an iron strap, having three branches to secure the rafters and king-post,
bometimcs the kmg-post is exchanged for two queen-posts, when the span of the
roof IS increased, and the tie-bei'.m requires suspension from more than one point,
this introduces the collar-beam to retain the queen-posts in their position, and
another timber at the bottom, called a stralning-cill. The auxiliary, or cushion-
rafters, to which the purlins are fixed, have been used by some architects for addi-
tional strength.
This mode of trussing answers well for a truncated roof, where the collars may be
cambered to ii fall for the lead covering.
'I''"! ni'xt form of roof I will draw your attention to is the curb roof— that invented
by Mansard, sometimes called the Mansard roof, after the name of its inventor—
essentially a French roof, and a very good one it is. When sleeping apartments are
required in the roof it certainly atfords more space than any other form : its con-
struction in every way meets the requirements of science. It forms ample means by
its dormer, windows, &c., for approprkite decoration, and well contrived to bear the
vicissitudes of this climate, and deserves to be more generally used.
It is formed of two pair of inclined planes, not unsiniibir to four sides of a regular
octagon. The upper rafters are called curb rafters, and a plate receives their ends,
and IS called the curb plate. When the bearing of the top inclines are long, they
may be formed into a king-post truss, the space between the two ties being the height
of the story, and in large roofs would form the partition dividing the rooms. And
the ajstem of trussing explained, described for partitions, can be well jiractised in
this form of roof. I will conclude these very incomplete remarks on this cla.ss of roof
by calling your attention to one or two specimens of the finest roof earpentery in
this country.
One is the roof of the liirmingham Theatre, constructed by 3Ir. George .Saunders, i
The spaa is Su feet and the trusses are 10 feet apart. It is one of the boldest and
lightest roofs in Europe. The contrivance for taking double hold of the wall, which
is very thin, is excellent.
Similar to this in span, and probably a finer specimen of carpentry and appropria-
tion of the roof spaces is that of Drury Lane Theatre— 80 feet :i inches span, and
the trusses 1.5 feet apart, constructed by Mr. E. (i. Saunders. " It is probable "
says Tredgold, "that this roof has not its equal in the world for lightness, stiiThess
and strength. (The scantlings of the timbers, Ac, are given in Tredgold and Gwllt).
The main truss is so judiciously framed that each of them will safely bear a load of
nearly :iOO tons.
In Gothic roofs the general principles of framing are somewhat different !to what
I have described ; In those the timbers are generally unwrought and hidden from
view. In the (iothic roof it is different, the timbers are carefully wrought, some-
times beautifully moulded and carved. They exhibit also a system of trussing of the
highest order; and the roofs of Westminster Hall, Hampton Court Palace, and
Eltham Palace, Kent, are among the finest opened timbered roofs in Europe.
Taking Gothic open roofs generally, they have a tendency— from theirconstrucOon
—to exert an outward thrust on the wall, to counteract which the walls require to be
made thicker and further strengthened by buttressi-s where the trusses rest upon the
wall, hence the roof with a tie-beam and a medium pitch, has the advantage of a
high-pitched Gothic roof, in having greater strength with a smaller quantity of
material.
I will here introduce one or two of the principles of Gothic roof as executed at
the present day. The simplest form is putting a collar about half up about every
fifth pair of rafters, or to each pair if the cash will admit. It is a common form for
old chancel roofs in small parish churches. It may be considerably improved by
using a pair of strutts, which brings the tie of the roof nearer the wall-plate. These
may also form trusses upon which to bridge the purlins, and they receive the
common rafters as in other roofs. The first of these examples may be further
strengthened by the introduction of a circular brace, which takes the form of a
Gothic arch, and is firmly screwed to the collar and principal rafter, and frequently
has a bearing much below the wall-plate. Hence the wall above acts as a dead
weight to counteract the thrust common to its construction. It will be readily seen
what an important part this circular brace performs. L^pon their stilfness depends the
proper tying-in of the walls at the top. This bracing may be used in many forms,
but the result must be the same, or it does not fulfil its office. It affords ample scope
also for ornamentation, which our ancestors appear to have well appreciated.
To give you anything like an account of the complicated ingenuity displayed in the
different ages of Gothic carpentry, is far beyond the limits of this introduction to
the science generally ; in fact, a large volume, and a very popular one too, on Gothic
carpentry as worked at the present day I think is much needed.
ISefore (luitting this subject I will mention the hammer-beam roof and the low
pitched roofs common to late work. These were often formed (I may say generally)
without any truss, an assemblage of girders, purlins, and rafters of sufficient scant-
ling to bear their own weight and ivhat they had to carry. Frequently the ceiling of
these roofs are beautifully panelled and very effective.
The hammcr-beara truss consists in its simplest form of a pair of principal rafters
and collar, with two beams projecting from the wall at right angles to the wall-plate,
and from which the truss is braced, as before described. With'these passing notes I
must conclude my brief sketch. 1 could have written much more on the subject had
space permitted; and in endeavouring to simplify my subject I fear I have been
tedious to our senior friends. However, I trust it may elicit some discussion for our
mutual benefit.
I have purposely omitted a very beautiful system of carpentry practised by the
French engineers, De Lorme and Kny,'&c., thinking it a subject worthy of a separate
paper.
Mr. New said he would begin by referring to herring-bone strutting. Double-
framed floods had been mentioned in the excellent paper read that evening, and he
was very glad to find they were getting into disuse, except when floors were on a
very large scale. To meet that difficulty there had been invented an expedient to
prevent the expanding of timbers when they had only single timbers, and the
expedient was to use herring-bone or cross-strutting, lie did not approve of
herring-bone strutting, for he had frequently found when there was a pressure on
the floor portions of it gave way. To obviate that difficulty he had used a solid
strutting the same depth as the timbers. He placed the solid strutting between the
floors, and if there wag a floor where he thougflit there was to be a considerable
weight he passed a rod right through it. He had found that that kind of floor would
stand any amount of compression, with solid strutting between the timbers in a
wedge-like form, and, if requisite a double or triple strutting. He was one of those
who objected to heavy timbers, and in' favor of using light timbers. It was the
proper application of the timber they ought to look to principally, as well as its adap-
tation to the purpose in hand. He considered two inches or two inches and a
quarter quite sufficient for any floor they wanted to carry a weight. If he wanted to
streugth:*n a floor he strengthened it crosswise by solid strutting, and drew it up by
tension rods. It was necessary they should make partitions self-supporting — they
should never bear on the timbers of the floor ; every partition ought to have its
trussing. He advised that the partition be in every case supported with an inter-
tie and trussed. The speaker then referred generally to the subject of the con-
struction of roofs, the proper discussion of which, he said, would occupy^ an
evening. In the construction of a roof the great thing they bnd to contend against
was the expandage or compression outside. Mr. New illustrated his remarks by a
number of diagrams.
After some observations from Mr. Paraire, the Chairman, and Mr. Blasiiii-i.,
the discussion was adjourned to the next meeting.
THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF 180-2.
THE Prince Consort presided on Wednesday evening over the 2Ith weekly
meeting of the session of 18(X)-01 of the Society of Arts, at the Society's rooms
in the Adelphi. There was an .unusually full attendance, the large room bemg
crowded to overflow. ' . .
The speciality of the evening was a paper by 3Ir. W. H awes on " The International
Exhibition of isei" „
Jlr. IIAWE.S first directed attention to the origin and progress of the Great
Exhibition of 18.)1, in Hyde-park; and then sketched the subsequent progress of
science, art, and manufactures down to tlie present time, embracing the electric
telegraph, photography, glass, colors, the extended applicaf ionof steam, new systems
of shipbuilding, as exhibited in the Great Emient, the JSlael: rriiitv. and the narrior,
arms ofpreeision, and a variety of other objects. After stating also that the guarantee
fund had received signatures representing £411,700, Mr. Ilawes adduced reasons for
the opinion which he entertained of the entire success of the coming Exhibition ;
and be then called attention to three points— namely, the system of prizes adopted
in lail and ls.j5 ; the arrangement of manufactures and works of indush-.v, whether
it should be geographical or in classes, and the rates of admission. Of the prize
system he did not approve. Tlie geographical arrangement he thought the most
satisfactory, especially to small states. The price of admission, he thought, should,
at all events for a day or two in each week, be at prices lower than a shilling, so as
to enable the workman and his family to visit tlie Exhibition. The reading was
loudly applauded. ^
Earl GuANVii.LE said there was only one point of the admirable lecture of Mr.
Hawes which he did not entirely agree with, and that was with regard to the prizes.
After much deliberation on that point, the Council had not entirely made up their
mind even at the present moment ; and they would be grateful for the opinion and
advice of those best qualified to form a correct judgment in the matter, and they
would be naturally guided to a considerable extent by the opinion of foreigners who
intended to compete with us. One portion of the lecture had brought to his recollec-
tion much of what passed on the last occasion, especially the grave descriptioij of
the opposition to the Exhibition of ISil, before its great success became manifest.
466
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 7, 1861.
Ou this occasion there was scarcely opposition enou^li to keep the Commissiuners up
to the mark. At this moment ho was not acquainted with any obstacle in the way
of th« £xhibitkm of 18tT,> ; or, to use a vulgar expression, tlitre was no hitch likely
toiutcfffere witb our success. This certainly was a source of sreat t^ratification.
The coloDies were oomiufr forward to exhibit, and he learned from Lord Cannint,' that,
notwithstanding the paucitv of the funds, the productions of India were likely to be
Tcry satiafa^orily represented. Nearly all the countries of the world had eiveu
ftaMurances of support. Last week he spent some days in Paris, and there he fouud that
a committee, composed of the most distin;?uished persons connected with the g:ovcrn-
xneut of France, and presided over bv I'rinee Napoleon, bad been formed for the purpose
of carrying out the wishes of the hiniperor. who desired that no expense should be
UMrvd with r«^ird to the French portion of the Exhibition, which promised to be a
very great snceesa. There was a most cordialdesire toco- operate with En<:land,and to
takeeuethat FraDce should distinguish herself in the encounter. In fact, such
exertions would be made by France that if En>:;:land did not put her riijht foot fore-
most she should be unable to maintain the creditable position occupied at the last
Exhibition— (Hear, hear). There was one other point which he must not omit to
mention, and that was the extreme jjratifieatton and gratitude wliieh tlie commis-
sioners of It*-* felt at the countenance given to the undertaking by the prcseuce of
their President. But for the moral courage, industiy. and labor of his Koyal High-
ness, the Exhibition of IS.M must have been a lamentable failure ; and his attendance
at the meeting^ that night was an important and most influential indication of the
great interest which was felt bv his Koyal Highness and her Slajesty in the success
of that of lS4t*.
}[r. Dillon remarked that while the Exhibition of 1851 was an experiment, the
present movement was an attempt to make that Exhibition a decennial census, not
of the numl>ers,but of the wealth, the talent, and the industry of the i>eopIe. He
trusted that one ol the results would be that foreign nations as well as ourselves
would turn their swords into pruning- hooks, and learn the arts of war no more.
Sir T. Phillips congratulated the I'resident and members of the Society of Arts
on the successful result of the preliminary measures by which the present position of
the Exhibition of IMVj had been achieved. The three wants of the Society had
been— first, a site ; secondly, a fund ; and thirdly, a body ot managers in which the
public would have confidence. The site was given by the Commissioners of the 1851
Exhibition, the public and the Society subscribed the money, and the Society was
fortunate enough to name five noblemen and gentlemen whose nomination secured
the public approval. In conclusion. Sir Thomas thanked his Koyal Highness for the
Talnable assistance he had given to the Society by his counsel ami advice in the
removal of difficulties.
The I'KiNcr, i 'osoht spoke as follows— After having heard the interesting obser-
Tations which have fallen from the gentlemen who have addressed the meeting this
evening, it is not my intention to trouble you with any lengthened remarks of my
own. Lord Granville has referred to the fact of my presence as affordiugan evidence
of the interest that I feel in the success of the coming Exhibition of ISfi'^i. I should
be sorry to leave you to draw, as It were by inference, the conclusion, from my pre-
sence alone, that I feel such interest, but I wish you to hear from my own mouth
that I do take tliat interest— (Cheering). With regard to what Sir Thomas I'hillips
has kindly said as to my having been able to start you in the right path, I may assure
you that what J have been able to do I have done with groat wiilingness— (Cheers).
It has l»cen a re;il and a tn:e privation to me to be prevented by the avocations and
duties of my position from giving the same amount of time and labor to this Exhi-
bition as it was my privilege to give to that of 1851. Gentlemen, you will
Buocecd— (Hear, hear). You are in earnest; and being in earnest you will succeed
—{Cheers), I can but congratulate you on the steps you nave taken. You have an able
body of managers, with all of whom I am well acquainted, and I know, from personal
experience, that they are thoroughly conversant with the work you have confided to
their care— (Cheers). You have an able architect, a young officer of Engineers, & gen-
tleman who has shown by his works, which were opened in the Horticultural
Gardens to-day, that he is capable of vast designs and of novel contrivances, and that
he is possessed of great taste. Lord Granville and Sir T. Phillips have both referred
to forei^ nations. I happen to know that foreign nations look with fiivor on the
coming Exhibition, and that they are ready to come and measure their strength with
onrs — (Hear). I need not repeat the warning and encourafjement which Lord Gran-
TlUe has thrown out to the manufacturers and artists of this country to do their
utmost in order to maintain the position which they so gloriously secured on the last
occa8ion~(Hear, hear). The duty which I have now to perform is a short one and a
pleasing one, that of proposing to you to join me in returning thanks to Mr. Hawcs
for his able and valuable paper— (Cheering). It contained a comprehensive review of
all the points which are or importance to us to consider with regard to the great
undertaking before us, and he has expressed his hopes for the success of that under-
taking based upwn what I believe to ue a perfectly true picture, and what I may be
allowed to say was a most gratifying picture of the progress of this nation— (Cheering).
Hx^»S^»tlemen, to propose the thanks of this assembl^c to Mr. Hawesforhis
able pap*!r—( Cheering).
3Ir. Haweh briefly returned thanks.
Some routine business connected with the balloting for new members baring been
transacted, the society adjourui^d for a week.
INAUGURATION OF THE KOYAL HORTICULTUBAX SOCIETY'S
GAKDENS.
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PilLNCE CONSORT formally opened the mag-
nificent gardens of the Horticultural Society, at Kensington, on Wednesday,
and in spite of the very unfavorable weather, the wholc/*"/e passed off most success-
fully. ^\e have so frequently described and illustrated both buildings nndground, that
It is not necessary for us to enter into particulars here ; of course, both grounds and
buildings arc far from being complete, and, almost' up to the hour when the gates were
thrown open, workmen were busily engaged in putting on the temporary finishing
touches. Wednesday, moreover, was not only the day fixed for the inaugural cere-
monial, but It was also that upon which the first fruit and flower show of the society
took place, and certainly the magnificent display of fruits iindflowers which was ex-
hibited yielded nothing in attractiveness to the other and possibly more Important
proceedings.
The I'rinee Consort arrived punctually at the appointed hour— half-past four—
and a procession having been formed, the ceremony commenced.
Dr. Lindley, the secretary read an address, in wfiich the progress of the society
*" J^"^^** from its small beginnings, step by stej), up to the then culminating point,
and he furthermore expressed his belief^ that when all the work [was finished the
garden**, as a whole, would be worthy of their royal patrons, and a source of satis-
faction to the fellows, well-wishers, and those who had devoted themselves to the
work of construction.
To which his Royal Highness replied In the following terms :— I thank you for the
!f!«Sf*# k!i ^?^ have just presented to me. While you have expressed your deep
regret at being deprived, on this occasion, of the presence of the Queen. 1 am enabled
^<i^o^po^*r<<\toaK9UTii you that her Maje8ty,on her part, also sincerely regrets her
uiabilitv to mark by her presence the interest she takes in your proceedings, and her
demre lor your success. You have addressed me in my double capacity of^President
of yoor bociety, and also of the Royal Commisaioners of 18.'j1. In either of these
capaeitiea. I cannot but be gratified by the scene now before me. Having shared to
some cx^t in your labors and anxieties, I am happy to be able to congratulate you
oowhat has been effected m so Incredibly short a time— cffectednotwithstandlng the
ffiffleimka to whichyou have alluded, and which appeared at times almost to forbid
nope of MxuxetB. That which, last year, was still a vague conception, is to-day a
r^ly; and. I trust, will be accepted as a valuable attempt, at least, to re-unite the
Mienceand art of gardening to the sister arts of architecture, sculpture, and painting.
TWa unkm ezlitcd In the bert periods of art, when the same feeling per>'aded.
and the same principles regulated them all ; and if the misuse and misap-
plication of these principles in later times have forced again upon tis the
simple study and imitation of nature, individual arts have sufTcred by
their disjunction, and the time seems now arrived when they may once
more combine, without the danger of being cramped by pedantic and arbitrary rules
of taste. The Commissioners of la'il, whose mission it is to encourage the Hfft^ and
sciences, as applied to productive industry, gladly welcome your .Society as one of the
first of those bodies, devoted to the promotion of special brunches of these arts and
sciences, that has availed itself of the enlarged means of development oflcred by the
Commissioners on their estate. They are glad to find in your present success, and
In the generous support of the public, the conflrmation of their belief that in securing-
space on which, in unison with each other, and with a systematic iuterchangeof
mutual assistance, separate societies and departments might attain to a degree of
usefulness which their present confinement and isolation must materially lessen, the
Commissioners had correctly appreciated the great want of the day and the require-
ments of the public, for whose benefit alone they should work, autl by whose assist-
ance alone they can hope to prosper. We already see, to the south, rising, as it were,
by magic, the commencement of a noble work, entirely the result of the voluntary
efibrts of that public ; and this garden, itself the offspring of the Great Exhibition
of 1851, will hardly be completed ere that Exhibition shall have been rivalled, and, I
trust, even surpassed, by the beauty and success of that whieli we hope next year to
witness. Thisgardcn will then open an additional source of enjoyment to the thousands
whomay be expected to crowd the new Crystal Palace of Industry ; nay. we may hope
that it will, at nodistantday.fornitheinnercourt of avast quadrangle of public build-
ings, rendered easily accessible by the broad roads which will surround them ; buildings
where science and art may find space for development, witli that air and light which
are, elsewhere, well nigh banislied from this overgrown metropolis. If the works
before us are still incomplete, this must not be attributed entirely to the short space
of time allowed for their execution, or to the exhaustion of the funds set apart for
them. It results also, in great measure, from a well-coneidered purpose on the
part of the society and the commissioners, rather to present the public with a frame-
work to be gradually filled up as individual taste, controlled and harmonised by the
general superintendence of the authorities, mi^ht direct, than at once to display
a complete creation, which, however attractive for the moment, would pall upon us
and grow stale by habit. Unrivalled opportunities arc here offered for the display
of works of art, and for the erection of monuments as tributes to great men and
pubhc benefactors. The Memorial of the Exhibition of TM, the result of private
subscriptions, will be the first received in these grounds ; aud, adorned with a statue
of the Queen, will soon rise in the centre of the garden. May your efforts meet with
public approbation! May that approbation give you all the support required, not
only furtlKT to ornament these gardens, but also to carry out, even on a larger
scale than during the last forty-eight years, the useful objects for which you are
incorporated.
When His Royal Highness had finished, an appropriate religious service and prayer
were delivered by the Lord Bishop of;London, assisted by his chaplain. The procession
tlien re-formed and, headed by the Prince, proceeded to the snot where the tree to be
planted by His Koyal Highness, a WeUinrft&nia gu/antea., stood ready. The tree having
been placed upright in the hole which had been prepared for its reception, His lloyal
Highness took up an ordinary garden spade and threw in the first earth. The prm-
cesses next each in turn threw in a spadeful, being gallantly assisted in their hibors
by his Koyal Highness, but when the turn of the heir-apparent came, the Prince
Consort laughingly told his Koyal Highness he was quite strong enough for the work
himself, and should have no help. This little episode evoked immense lauglUer and
cheers from the bystanders. The Commander-in-Chief next plied a most efiflcient
spade, and the implement being subsequently passed from liiind to hand through the
suite, the Wcllhif/toiiia gigantea was in a very short time thoroughly and properly
planted. Amongst other distinguished gardeners we noticed Lords Derby and
Granville. Mr. Disraeli was also present, but we did not observe that he took any
active part in the arboricultural process. The planting, which was the most interest-
ing portion of the day's proceedings, having terminated, the Prince, attended as
before, returned to the conservatory, and devoted some time to a careful examination
of the fruits and flowers, with all of which he expressed himself to be entirely
satisfied. Kefreshmcuts were then offered ;and accepted, after which his Royal
Highness and friends retired to their carriages, receiving quite an ovation as they
passed along the garden.
This terminated the day's proceedings ; but it was some time before the company
got cleared off, in consequence of the enormous throng of carriages which filled the
road on both sides of the grand entrance.
THE ARCHITECTURAL ALLIANCE.
WE understand that tlie promoters of this scheme have received replies
from the Associations at Liverpool and Glasgow giving complete
approval to the outline scheme, which we published some weeks ago, and
also from Manchester approving, on the whole, but suggesting some slight
alterations. In consequence of replies to this second communication not
having yet been received from the otlier Associations applied to, the pro-
posed Conference cannot he held as early as was intended, but we would
urge upon those who have not yet replied to do so at once, in order that
the Alliance may be in working order before " the Exhibition year." If
their sessions are over, call a special meeting. Our hearty approval of the
scheme is well known, and we hare had letters from all parts of the
country expressing concurrence with our views. We can only urge those
more peculiarly interested to get the machine to work as soon as possible.
METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS.
THE usual weekly meeting of this body was held In their ofBces, Spring- gardens,
on Friday ; JonN Thwaites, Esq., the Chairman, presiding. The cash state-
ment showed a total balance in favor of the Board of £99,50'J Ts. lid.
Alrtropolitan /mprovements. — The following orders were made : — " That the sum of
£10, balance due to Messrs. W. and F. Smith, contractors for works executed at the
Excheguer 0/Tice, be now paid.
"That the Board do contribute one-third of the cost of effecting a public improve-
ment in nasinghall-fitreet, to he carried out by the Commissioners of Sewers of the
City of London, by setting back so much of the premises at the north-east comer of
that street, as is shown on the plan produced to the Committee, estimated at £900,
such contribution not to exceed £:tOO ; and that such amount be paid to the Com-
missioners of Sewers of the City of London, on a certificate from the Architect of
this Board of the completion of the work.
" That the Board do contribute one-third of the cost of effecting a public improve-
ment, to be carried out by the Board of Works for the Westminster District, Dy the
removal of certain buildings in Kochester-row, estimated at .VMi, such contribution
not to exceed £300 ; and that such amount be paid to the said Board of Works, on a
certificate from the Architect of tliis Board of the completion of the work.
INSTITUTION OF BUILDERS' FOREMKN AND CLERKS OF WORKS.
THE anniversary dinner of the above Institution took place last (Thursday) even-
ing, at the London Tavern, Bi shop sgate- street, when the RMit Hon. the Lord
Mator of liOHDOV occupied the chair. We shall give a report of the proceedings in
cor next.
June 7, 186L
THE BUILDING NEWS.
487
KEPOUT OF THE COUNCIL OF THE AUCUITECTrUAI. MUSEU3f.
IN addrc'Hsing' the Subscribers to the Architectural aiuseiim, the Council feels bound
to stiite at the outset that the past yt'ur has been ont> of oonni(kTiib!e unxiety to
it in rcj^-iird to the futurt- prospects of the Museum. In JIarch, l^iV), im oilicial letter
was received from the Department of Science and Art, yivin^ notice to the Archi-
tectural Museum to quit the South Ivensinj^ton Museum by March iSlst, 1861. The
Council of the Architectural Sluseum tliereupon luldreHsed a protest, through its
I'resident, to the Department, and the question remained in suspenwe until the ap-
poiutment of a select Committee of the House of Commons, on the motion of the Vice-
Vresideut of the Committee of Council on Education (tlic Iti^ht Hon. K. Lowe, M.l*.),
til inquire into the constitution of the South Kensinijtou Museum, wliich first met on
the 3rd of July, ISOO. The Treasurer of the Architectural Museum gave evidence
before this Committee, in which he forcibly urged the claims of the Architectural
3Iuscum to public support. On the Ist of August, 1^(10, the Committee pre-
sented its report, in which the toUowiug- passage occurs in reference to the Architjec-
tural Museum :—
"The collections illustrating architecture are partly the property of the public, and
partly belong to the Arcliitectural Museum Committee. The collections of that
Committee are valued at £:i,i.iOO, and were brought from some lofts in Cannon-row to
commence a National Gallery of Architecture. These collections for want of room
are at present ill-arranged and crowded. They are much consulted by artizuns em-
ployed in architecture."
The question of the future fortunes of the Architectural Museum remained un-
settled through the summer. In the autumn, however, the Museum renewed the
correspondence with the Department, and negotiations were set on foot to arrange
some scheme by which tlie connexion of the Architectural Museum with the South
Kensington 5Inseum might be maintained. From the first, the mattcr.s under dispute
were solely questions of jurisdiction ; the Department of Science and Art most lully
acknowledged the value of an architectural collection, such as that wliichthe Archi-
tectural Museum had undertaken to form, and indeed the desire on its part to consti-
tute a Museum of Universal Architecture under its own control at South Kensington
was the chief objection to continuing the concession of space which had been made
to the independent Architectural -Museum at a time when the South Kensington
Museum was still a novel experiment. These negotiations were carried on partly
by correspoudencc, and partly by interviews with the oflScers of tlie Department of
Science and Art, and ultimately with the Lord President, and they finally resulted
in the acceptance by the Council of the Architectural Museum of the following
minute, which was drawn up by the Committee of Council on Education, after the
perusal of a proposed basis of arrangement submitted by the Architectural iluseum,
and was afterwards modified by the Committee of Council at the instance of the
Architectural Museum.
"The Lords of the Committee of Council on Education prefer that the under-
standing with the Architectural JIuseum should be stated simply, as follows :
1. " The Department of Science and Art is willing to receive on loan, such speci-
mens belonging to the Architectural Museum Committee, as may appear suitable to
the Department to be arranged as part of a National Gallery of Arcliitecturo, and as
the Committee of the Architectural Museum may think proper to send. These will
be labelled as belonging to the Architectural Museum Committee, and kept as iar as
may be possible together. Twelve months' notice on either side is to be given before
such specimens are either to be taken away, except for the illustration of lectures
by the Architectural Museum Committee, or returned by the Science and Art De-
partment. They will be catalogued as part of the general collection of architecture,
and each member of the Society will be treated as an exhibitor, and presented with
a copy of the Architectural Catalogue.
2. " In consideration of, and during the time of this loan, my Lords will grant to
the Architectural Museum Committee the use of the lecture theatre for the delivery
of lectures, &.c., strictly relating to architecture, and of the room for tlie meetings of
the Architectural Museum Committee, without requiring the payment of the fees
usually paid by scientific societies. AppUcatiou is to be made ft-om time to time for
the use of the Lecture Theatre, &c.
:i. " Should my Lords require professional advice from any member of the Archi-
tectural Museum Committee, they would be glad to pay for it according to the
regulations of the Department, and will be happy to receive, at all times, any advice
or tiuggestions which the Architectural Museiun Committee may think it right to
submit."
In acknowledging the acceptance of the minute on the part of the Architectural
Museum, the Department of Science and Art has informed the JIuseum that it will
be some months before it can come into eifect.
The minute will modify to a considerable extent the position and fmictions of the
Architectural Museum, while from the brevity with which it is drawn up, its
successful working will depend upon the mutual goodwill and friendly understanding
of the two bodies immediately interested in it, viz., the Department of Science and
Art, and the Architectural Museum.
The Architectural Museum is however, convinced that with the continuance of a
right understanding on both sides, the objects for which it was originally founded
will be efiiciently promoted under the new system, otherwise it never would have
accepted tlie agreement, and it is resolved that for its own part the necessary good-
will shall not be wanting, while it confidently anticipates reciprocal friendly feeling
from the Department. Under the moat adverse circumstances either side has the
power to terminate the connexion.
The Architectural Museum lias from the beginning possessed two characters. It
has been a collection of architectural casts aud specimens, and it has been a school of
architectural art working by the lectures, prizes, and facilities for personal study
which it has to offer ; and it has had so to husband its resources as to meet the
claims upon them for both these objects. Under the new arrangement it will no
longer be the custodian of its own collection at the South Kensington Museum, while
the contributions which it lends at once or at any future period, to the proposed
National Collection of Architecture will be minutely identified, both on the specimens
and in the othcial catalogue, as its property. On the other hand it will have the use
of the entire collection, and a recognised voice in the purchase and acceptance of
future specimens by the Department, and it will thus be enabled to co-operate in the
acquisition at the national expense, of casts and special objects, which under the
former system could only be obtained for the use of its students at a heavy cost to
Its own exchequer. Thus, if the arrangement works well, the Architectural JIuseum
will be spared the entire expense of curatorship, and no slight amount of that which
is incurred by the purchase of specimens.
It is obvious that a large amount of the Museum's income will thus be set free
towards its development as a school of architectural art, in lectures, prizes, and
teaching, and the Council do not propose to neglect the opportunity. The prizes for
the present year will be larger than those for any previous one, while it only depends
upon the friends and subscribers to tlie Museum to render them still more valuable
on future occasions. The full use of the lecture theatre of the South Kensington
Museum is guaranteed, as previously, for the lectures which the Architectural
Museuni may be disposed to give.
The Council has by this arrangement secured to all its members the full gratuitous
enjoyment of the South Kensington l^Iuseum, and of the lectures given under the
direction of the Department of Science and Art, as well as a right to the architec-
tural portion of the ofheial catalogue, while the entire architectural collection will,
withmproper limits, be available for the illustration of lectures, aud for the casta
needed for the color and other prizes, as well as for the purpose of study on the
^P*J- ^^t t''P same time it is understood that the Architectural Museum has the full
right to organise or to co-opemte in independent collections, or schools of architec-
ture in London or elsewhere, without thereby forfeiting its privileges at the South
ivensm-'ton Jluseum. It will, therefore, be an object of consideration to the Council
lo UeciUe what use had best be made of those specimens which, after conference with
ine authorities at the South Kensington Museum, may be withdrawn from thecollec-
Hon previously to its being lent to the Department of Science and Art
The Council earnestly trusts that the arrangement. In the conduct of which it has
acted witli grave deliberation and with the deepest desire for the welfare of the
Architectural Museum, will be considered satisfactory by the subscribers and friends
of the Museum, and that they will continue to support the Architectural Museum in
its operations as a school of architectural art, with even greater liberality than that
which they have already so generously bestowed upon the hisfitution.
The important and prolonged negotiation with the Government has occasioned
some delay to the Council in making this report, but it has not rendered them un-
mindful of the objects for which tho Museum was founded. A course of lecture»
has been arranged and delivered on the following subjects : —
"A rieafur I'olychromy." By William White, Esq.—" On the Art of Engraving
(illustrating the several styles) and Printing i'lates." By S. C. Hall, Esq., F.S.A. —
"The Four Sisters : or some Notes on the Uelationship of the Flue Arts." By
John Bell, Esq.— "On the Architectural Anti<iuities of Guildhall." By Thomas
Lott, Esq., F.S.A.—" An Architectural Journey in Aquitaine." By E. A. Freeman,
Esq., M.A.— "On the Architecture of the Eleventh Century.** iiy J. H. Farkcr,
Esq., F.S.A.
The prizes offered to artist-workmen, having been more numerously responded
to than in any previous year, have been presented by the Tro-sident to the successful
competitors at a crowded gathering of artist-workmen and friends of the Archi-
tectural Museum, the awards being—
Foi- Modetfing in CVrry.— Fir.st prize of £,r, 5s. to Mr. J. Allen, of Wellcsbourne,
Warwick. Second prize of £:t :is. to Mr. J. Hatehett, of », Sutherland-square cast,
Walworth. Third prize of £'i '.'s. not awarded, but £1 Is. awarded to Mr. H. O.
Hale, of the Terra Cotta Works. Stamford.
Jf'ood Carriiiff.—Yirst prize of £3 '.is. to 3Ir. U. Reynolds, of 42, Kirby-street,
Hatton-garden. Second prize of .€2 28. to Mr. B. L. Boulton, of 40, New Church-
street, Birmingham, and £1 Is. awarded to Mr. .1. SeVmour, of Tower-lane, Taunton.
Cartoon for J'ainted fi lass. —The prize of £:J ;ts. to Mr. J. J. I-aing, of 41, Oakley-
square, London, and £1 Js. awarded to Mr. E. Sedding, of 5, Upper Victoria-place,
Clifton, Bristol.
Colored Jhcoratioji.—Tvi-o prizes of £5 5s. each (offered by the Ecclcsiological
Society and Mr. Beresford-Hope), to Mr. J. Simkln, of 20, Palace-road, Lambeth, and
Mr. A. O. F. Harrison, of :t:!7, Euston-road, those gentlemen being considered equal
in the competition. The offers for metal work were not responded to but the con-
ditions of the metal work prizes of the present year are such as may be expected to
meet with an eager response.
The Council announces with feelings of sincere gratification its proposals for the
coming year.
The competitions are increased in number, and the total amount of prizes offered
is estimated at considerably above £100 in value, which is a sum sufficient, as the
Council hopes, to induce artist-workmen to compete more vigorously than in former
years for the honor of gaining a prize, and its accompanying certificate of merit,
especially on the present occasion, whi;n it is intended to send deserving specimens
to the International Exhibition of 18H2.
The Prizes offered are, for •
Stone Carvln ff. —£.10 Ws. and £5 os., for aPanel representinff Queen Eleanor watch-
ing over Edward the First when wounded ; and £5 58. and £3 3s., for a small capital
showing the best arrangement of Hawthorn and Ash foliage.
Modelling in Clatj.—M.^ :Js. and £2 2s. for a Mcdel of a Cast in the Museum.
Woiid Carving.— £.10 10a. and £5 58. for a door Panel in soft wood, with pierced
tracery and foliage.
Metal- JForA-.~£lO lOs. and £fi Gs. for a copy of Iron Work in St. Paul's Cathedral,
and .£10 10s. and £5 5s. (the Second Prize being given by Sir Francis Scott, Bart.), for
a wrought-iron door handle.
Painted Glass. -—£5 53. for a roundel or disc, painted witli any foliated design.
Colored TJccoration.—M.T) 5s. (given by the Ecclcsiological Society), and £3 3s.
(given by Mr. Beresford-Hope), lor coloring a Cast of one of the " Angelic Choir,'* in
Westminster Abbey.
Portions or the whole of Worl's. — £1 la. and upwards for any deserving specimens
of actual work., finished or not, in stone, wood, metal, glass color, &c.
In all the above competition* the Council will also award £1 Is. to specimens
showing particular merit, although it be not sufficient to secure a prize, andthrough
the liberality of Mr. S. C. Hall, F.S.A., ten illustrated books relating to the practice
of the fine arts, and, therefore, valuable to artist-workmen, will be given on similar
conditions.
All information may be had by letter to the Honorary Secretary, at 13, Stratford-
place, W.
The additions to the collection include a model of the spire of St. Mary's, Oxford,
presented by the Oxford Architectural Society; an interesting collection given by
the Archaeological Institute, consisting of casts from crosses found at Lancaster,
Shrewsbury, and in the Isle of 3Ian, casts from the curious leaden font in Brookland
Church, Kent, models of seven fonts at Stamford and Fothermgay, a cast of the
upper portion of a figure in mail armor, found in Exeter, on or near the site of
the Dominican Convent, with other interesting specimens, and numerous ornamental
details.
Mr. Pope. Honorary Local Secretary at Bristol, has presented some casts from the
Cathedral in that city ; Mr. Clarke, Honorary Secretary, some casts of sculptured
capitals in the nave of Kimpton Church, Herts, and a cartoon of painted glass in
Chartrcs Cathedral has been obtained by purchase. The fine collection of Hindoo^
sculptures presented by Sir Bartle Frere has not yet been exhibited for want of
room, but the Council confidently expect that space /or these valuable specimens,
will shortly be found.
The representation of architecture aud its subsidiary arts in the International Ex-
hibition of 18<i2 has been for some time under the consideration of the council. It
has appointed a subcommittee for the purpose of caiTjing out its wishes, and ol
that sub-committee six members have been nominated as delegates from the Archi-
tectural Museum in an influential committee (if repreeentives of the Architectural
Societies of London, formed at the Royal Institute of Britis!: Architects, with the
view of assisting the Royal Commission in worthily repn^senting architecture in the
Exhibition, In addition to this wider field the architectural 3luseum has selected
its own particular line of action. It desires to see the productions of the artist-
workman honorably distinguished in theE.vhibitionand earnestly invites both artist-
workmen and their employers to eo-operate by contributing works of the highest
class both in conception and execution, in order that they may worthily represent
the state of art-handiwork in this country on so important an occasion, when they
will be placed in juxtapositiou with the productions of other comitries.
The following circular has been drawn up by the sub-committee of the Archi-
tectural Museum, in connexion with the Ecelesiological Society, for transmission to
employers engaged In art-manufactures and others interested in the objects of the
Museum : —
International Exiiibitio?i of 1862.
*^ Architectural Art.
" The Council of the Architectural Museum and the Committeeof the Eccleslogical
Societv beg to remind all Architectural artists that the last day for applying for
space at the International Exhibitionis not far distant, although the limitof June 1st
will not it is understood, be absolutely insisted on.
" The Royal Institute of British Architects has appointed a Representative Archi-
tectural Committee, composed of its Council and or representatives from the other
architectural societies of London, including the Architectural Museum and the
Ecelesiological Society, to take steps, in concert with the Royal Commissioners for
the efficient representation of architecture and architectural art at the coming
Exhibition.
" The Architectural Museum and the Ecelesiological Society are warmly co-operat-
ing in this object, while they propose especially to devote themselves to architectural
art and details, —such as Carving in Stone and Wood, Modelling, Ceramic Art, Metal
488
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 7, 1S61.
Work. 01ass-l"aintiii!r, and Kml>roidcr5-. The Architectural Museum has appointed
a Sub-Committc* to promote the olijixts of the Kxhibitiou.
" The Architectural Museum and the Ecclesiologtcal Society feel that they break
no contidence when they state, that it is equally the desire of the Kepresentative
Committee and of themselves to obtain the sanction of the Koyal Coninussiouers to
the exhibition of archiiintural art in immediate juxtaposition with that ot archi-
teeture, and they, therefore, trust that while the various artists whose performances
come under the designation of architectural art, will not neo^lect to make their
separate appUcatlous for space before it is too late, they will be willing at a later
period tooo-operate in any scheme for the arrangement of the exhibition of Archi-
tectural art, which may be decided upon between the Koyal Commissioners and the
Representative Committee.
'• Further particulars will follow.
"A J. B. liEREsroBD-HopE, President of the Architectural
Museum, and of the Kcclesiological Society.
"G. G. Scott, Treasurer of the Architectural Museum.
"Joseph Clarke, Hon. Secretary of the Architectural
Museum.
" Benj.\min Webb, Hon. Secretary of the Ecclesiological
Society.'*
A special fund is being raised to meet the many incidental expenses that will of
necessity fall on the Museum. Donations (payable next year if preferred), will be
most welcome, and may be forwarded to the Treasurer, 20. Spriu"-gardens, the
Bankers, 4:!, Charing-cross, or to the Honorary Secretary, at 1,3, Stratford-place.
The death of Sir Charles Barry, K.A., has been a severe loss to the Architectural
Museum, for that distinguished architect was not only a cordial supporter of the
Museum from its establishment, but also one of its Trustees and a Member of the
Council. On the occasion of the funeral of Sir Charles the Museum was represented
by a lar»e number of its Council, including the President, as one of the pall-bearers,
and the Kight Hon. the Lord ,Iolin Manners, JI.l*,, Vice-President, Mr. G. G. Scott,
E.A., Treasurer, Mr. Joseph Clarke, F.S.A., Hon. Sec, and Mr. E. W. Cooke,
A.K..\., as mourners. Sir Francis Scott, Bart., one of the earliest friends of the
Museum, and one who has given most substantial proofs of his kind feeling towards
It, has been unanimously elected to the Trusteeship of the late Sir Charles Barry ;
the Hight Hon. the Karl of Powis, the Kight Hon. the Earl of Dartmouth, and Sir
Banle Frere, K.C.B.. have been placed on the list of Vice-l'residents, and Mr. A.
TV. Blomfleldon thelist of the Council; Mr. Luard of CardilT.Mr. Kennedy of Bancor,
and Mr. Pretty of Maidstone have kindly consented to act as Honorary Local
heeretaries, and the Cambridge .\rcliitectural Society has been taken into union with
the Museum.
The balance sheet which accompanies this report will explain by its subscriptions
and donations the unfailing public interest in the objects of the Institution.
A. J. A. Ukkesfobd-Hope, President
Geo. Gilbert Scott, Treasurer.
May, 1801. Joseph Clarke, Hon. Sec.
FEMALE SCHOOLS OK ART.— DISTKIBIITIOX OF PRIZES.
A CROWDED assembly met in the lecture-theatre of the Geological Museum,
Jermyn-strcet, on Saturday last, to witness the presentation of prizes by the
Earl Granville, President of the Committee of Council ot Education.
Mr. Howler, Art Inspector, explained the system on which the prizes had been
awarded. Hooks were given in those cases in which the students had before received
a medal. The course of instruction was divided into twenty-one or twenty-three
stages, those stages being again divided into sections. Few obtained more than a
prize in several of these, but one lady had intimated her intention of trying for prizes
in all. The progrer.s of the female schools of art was highly satisfactory, but he
(Mr. Bowler) wished to urge the students to still greater exertion, to greater energy.
There was, however, a very happy rivalry among the students, and it must be said
the prizes were well earned. To show the extended nature of the lady students'
studies, he would mention that two or three prizes had been gahied for anatomical
drawing. The admission of students of these schools to those of the Koyal Academy
was of high value. At South Ivensington there were a great number of teachers, and
the schools, both male and female, showed large ability. In that school, as well as
at (2ueen-8quare,of ladies only, the maximum number of medals had been obtained,
consequently, some students who had produced works of perhaps equal merit were
unrewarded. They should not, however, leel depressed on that account ; the road to
fame was lined with bramble hedges.
Mr. Kedcrave, Inspector-General of Art, said that in the eighty-six schools
now opened in the kingdom it was found that the male and female students were
equally successful, and those instructed in these schools included the poor, middle,
and, indeed, all classes. They were first instituted because it was found that in our
knowledge of art we were behind other countries ; but when these schools began to
produce works of high excellence, there were no buyers for such works; it conse-
quently became necessary to extend the instruction, so as to improve the general
taste of the nation. The importance of ladies' schools would be seen when it was
remembered that ladies mostly had a voice in the purchase of an article of taste.
He (Mr, Iteograve) thought that the education of public taste of late years had made
considerable advance, and advised the students present not to be satisfied with what
they had already done-not to be satisfied with the laiK/iKirje of art, which too often
leads us to believe we are artists;— they had done well and should strive to do
better.
Earl Granville, having distributed the whole of the prizes to the successful
students, with a congratulation and hearty shake of the hand to each, said, that he
was expected to perform^two tasks, to distribute the prizes and, as Lord I'resident, to
make a statement ; the first task he had just accomplished and none could have been
more agreeable, it had recalled to his memory a French lady who used to say there
vas no getting on in the world without making, at least, sevennew friendships every
year. He could scarcely flatter himself that the youug ladies with whom he liad just
had the privilege of shaking hands would consider that he was entitled to their
friendship ; but he could not help feeling that he had obtained some claim now to be
considered, at least, a more intimate acquaintance than he was before. That was,
"""'e^er, a matter connected with his first task, his second task that of making an
address, was not so pleasant. The late Lord Dalhousie had when giving advice
to a young man about to enter Into public life told him never to speak
in public on any subject upon whicn he was not thoroughly acquainted,
and at least never to speak on any subject, if he could avoid it, to an audience who
aid not tKlieve that he thoroughly understood his subject. In the position which he
(fcarl </ranville) occupied, it would be obvious to all present that he had to speak
nnat-r very unfavorable conditions, and without the authority of the previous
speakers, with respect to art, but he might be permitted to address a few words upon
the principles by which the distribution of prizes was regulated, and all were entitled
to .speak of the results of ihe formation of thescfschools, one of which was the system
oi prizes which he liad that day had the satisfaction of distributing. The ladies who
had received pnzes that day might bo said to be divided into three classes. In the
aiBtributlon of the prizes provided out of the public funds it was sought, as far as
POBsiMc, to connect them wiih the results which were obtained. Among those who
uau received prizes that day were some ladies who were in affluent circumstances ;
and. being responsible lor the dlBtribution of the public funds, he should not feel jus-
tmed lu spending the public money in teaching those who were able to provide for
tliemsj Ives the means of iiislruction. Hut, in the cases just mentioned, those ladies
actually diminished the chargis on the public revenue by the contributions which they
made for the lessons which th. y tw.k at the schools. Another classofladiesincluded
those who wished to become teacliirs of drawing, and it had been found that the de-
iSiV.?. "■■ "f "*; /t'^'^^r' ?'"J' *' present very much greater than the supply. There
conid bcuo doubt that the Influence of these U'achors was a most salutary and beneficial
one, not only in a material but in an intellectual point of view. A third class of the
students was made up of those who educated themselves, with the view of ditVusing
their knowledge of art among the laboring classes. The teaching of the rudiments
of art and drawing to these classes was of much greater benefit than appeared to
many who took merely a superficial view of the case. With respect to the general
results of the teaching of the schools of art, it was impossible (his lordship said) to
walk through the streets of London, look in the shops, and see the productions of
every art and manufacture, remembering what these were some few years ago,
without feeling convinced that these schools had done a great deal in improving the
taste of the producer and of the purchaser, and he trusted that at the International
Exhibition of ISOa this improvement would be appreciated not only by Englishmen
but by foreigners. M. Fould, who was remarkable for his great taste and knowledge
of art, had been for some weeks in this country, and he had stated that he was
greatly astonished with what he had seen, ami. making every allowance for the
usual politeness of a French gentleman, he said that " The time would come when
Frenchmen would have to come to England to learn the arts of design and decoration"
—(a laugh). He was glad to hear that recently a number of the lady pupils of these
schools of art had been admitted as students of the Koyal Academy. It should bo
borne in mind that it was the object of these schools of art to teach only the
elementary part of art-education. If they were to go further than this they would
do wrong, and he could not conceive that any good could result from educating a largo
number of ladies and gentlemen to the profession of artists, the majority of whom
would, in all probability, be doomed to disappointment in their after life if they
decided upon following that profession. It was satisfactory to find that the with-
drawal of the Government grant to the Gower-street School had not been attended
with any inconvenience, and that, on the contrary, the new school which had been
established in Queen-square, wholly independent of Government aid, was in a much
stronger and more promising position even than the school which it had superseded.
In conclusion the noble Lord congratulated the company on the harmony which
existed between the teachers and pupils, and which had tended to produce uniform
and satisfactory results. It was pleasing to reflect that the existence of these schools
tended to promote the general civilisation and progress of the nation, and he trusted
that it would make better citizens, and at least as good Christians, while, at
the same time, they tended to refine and elevate the national taste and feelings.—
(Cheers.)
His Lordship's address terminated the proceedings.
CONVERSAZIONE AT ST. MARTIN'S SCHOOL OF ART.
THE fifth annual cowrersof/one of this School, in connexion with the Department
of Science and Art, took place on Friday evening, May yist, at the School, in
Castle-street, Long-acre.
The Rev. R. Maul, before handing the prizes awarded to the successful com-
petitors, referred to several letters received from gentlemen who had been invited to
attend, including Sir Charles ]<:nstlake, Mr. Beresford-Hope, and Mr. Charles
Dickens, all of w-hom found it impossible to be present iu consequence of the un-
usually busy week.
Prizes were awarded, for Outline Ornament from the Flat, to Thomas Stacy,
Edward Crosse, and Frederick I'arkinson ; for Outline Ornament from the Cast, to
■•Thomas White ; Shaded Ornament from the Flat, to 'John Allen, H. C. F. Reich ;
Shaded Ornament from the Cast, to *Amy Mcasoni, Thomas Stacy ; Outline Figure
from the Flat, to W. Welch ; Shaded Fruit from Nature, to *ICllen Brewer ; Shaded
Figure from the Cast, to Alfred Dixon ; Shaded Study from the Life, and Flowers
in Water-color from Nature, to *Haidee Godbold ; Fruit in Water-color from Nature,
to George Earle ; Architectural Design, to Osmond Hunt; and Outline Figure from
the Cast, to William Nosworthy.
The works of those students whose names have an asterisk prefixed, were further
selected to compete for the National medallions. Twenty-five prizes were awarded
by Her Majesty's Art Inspector at the elementary examination, in March ; 41 passed
as '' good " and nine students received "honorable mention " for their drawings.
As is almost invariably the ease, the architectural drawings exhibit fewer points
of merit than any. In the design for a villa, a very tame conception, the means by
which light would be admitted to the staircase and water-cloeet are not apparent, a
skylight over the stairs would be of but little use below. The arrangement of the
chimney -jambs, too, show an indifference to or want of knowledge of internal effect,
besides a waste of material.
A collection of pictures, photographs, bronzes and other w'orks of art, contributed
for the occasion by Messrs. Elkington, Hogarth, Jones. Hart and Son, Johnston
Brothers and others, were distributed about the room and added considerably to its
attractiveness.
The numerous company assembled appeared highly delighted with the entertain-
ment, which included vocal .and instrumental music, and separated at a late hour.
The head master, Mr. William Casey, and the second master, 3Ir. IJurehett, were
both iiresent.
IMPENDING STRIKE OF MASONS IN THE METROPOLIS.
AT a full meeting of the masons of London, held on Wedne8d<%y night, the following
resolution was unanimously agreed to and carried :— "t'hatwe, the masons
within the Metropolitan District, decease work on Monday the 10th inst., in the whole
of the firms, until our object is attained, namely— the payment by the employers of
6s. per day for the first five days of the week, and 3s. for Saturday ; the men to cease
working at 12 o'clock on that day."
It was also resolved, that on and after the day above mentioned, unless in the mean-
time an amicable arrangement be arrived at, tiie masons should be withdrawn from
the whole of the eoMnir// jobs of the firms who had introduced the system of payment
by the hour. The bricklayers have promised their aid in support "of this movement
of the masons, who have an immense fund to resort to in addition to extra levies
throughout England and Wales.
Ileuiiiius.
The Art Journal,
I.IOR tlie pre.sent month, devotes no less than twelve pages to tlie Rojal Academy
] Exhibition, and further announces the article to be contiuueil. With the chief
pictures our readers are familiar, but the criticism of our contemporary will be
read with interest, albeit it may not, in all cases, closely agree with our own.
Then the two Societies of Painters in Water Colors occupy four more pages; so
that altogether we have an unusual preponderance of picture criticism.
Mr. Thomas Heapy sends the sixth part of ".A.n Examination into the An-
tiquity of the Likenesses of our Blessed Lord"(with four illustrations), which does
not induce us to alter our opinion as expressed last month ; and Mr. Lossing, the
seventeenth part of " the Hudson," the illustrations being by no means equal
to some we remember to have seen in an earlier part of the series. Surely our
traveller will soon reach the sea.
Of some of the presentation works prepared by the Crystal Palace ,4.rt-Union,
wood-cuts are given, and the merits and claims of the institution, " which is
doing good to the cause of both Industrial and High Art," referred to.
A contributed article on the Prench Exhibition of 1801, at the Palais de
I'Industrie, gives a simple statistical table, to show the advance of the Exhibition.
June 7, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
489
In lithographs and architectural drawings there lias been a slight decline,
presume the numbers refer to the works exhibited : —
We
Years.
Tainting:.
Sculpture.
Kngraving.
Litliography.
.4jchiteoture.
1R57
1859
1801
2,71S
3,W5
3,H6
H8
471
614
427
159
230
97
95
83
84
112
83
I
" Amongst the architectural designs let it be noted tliat those from England
of Mr. H. E. Kendal, Jun., in which the Tudor and Elizabetlian styles are so
strikingly illustrated, have received an honorable place, and attract considerable
attention. Tliey certainly are singular amongst French conceptions."
Of minor articles we have " Some Reraarks]on Kecent Excavations at Pompeii,
and VVroxetcr." " The Commission of Fine Arts," " Picture Sales," "Art in Conti-
nental States," " The Art Union of London," rather late, " Art Copyright,"
&c. Art in Ireland and the provinces, minor topics of the month, and reviews,
fill up the remaining space of our contemporary, except that devoted to the regu-
lations issued by the Commissioners with reference to the Exhibition of 1802,
the Coiwersazione at Ironmongers' Hall, and the Exhibition in the Hall of the
Painters' Company.
The large illustrations are rather above the average as regards interest
and execution. They are, Wilkie's picture of " The Guerilla's Departure," en-
graved by J. C. Armytage; Turner's " Ancient Italy," engraved by J. T. Will-
more, rather spotty in the foreground, but a charming picture, and " The Beacon-
tower," by Claude, engraved by E. Radclyffe.
Altogether it is an interesting number, 'but we miss Mr. Hunt's usual article.
The Ecclesiologist.
THE Jane Number of onr contemporary begins with a selection from inscrip-
tions on bells, leaving the subject far from exhausted. Some earlier in-
scriptions, arranged so as to present a decorative effect, are in single capitals
placed widely apart. Gradually, as the legends became longer, the letters were
grouped into words, witli an ornamental stop between each. Such works con-
trast favorably with such as that at Pilton, Devonshire, which records that
it was —
Recast by John Taylor and Son,
^yho the best prize for cburch-bells won.
At the Great K.'chibltion
In London 1. 8. 5. and one.
An article on " Church Bells and Ringing" follows, containing some practical
remarks uu the management and turning of bells. We also observe a letter by
Mr. Grealheed, " On Dividing the Psalms for Chanting" and " Notes on the
Notts Choir Festival.'- Letters to the Editor treat variously of " Color in Sacred
Arcliit. cture," of the " Chancel Staircases at Cobham and Eastling," " Chiches-
ter Ciithedral," &c.; while Mr. Burges continues his "Notes on Medieval
Florence." Reviews are given of Gibson's " Memoir on Northumberland,"
" Arolioelogia Cambrensis," and Hope's "English Cathedral of the Nineteenth
C'eiitury." The Royal Academy and the Architectural Exhibition are disposed
ot. together, in two and a half pages, and a short notice is given of Mr. Gordon
Hill's paper on Buildwas Abbey. Notices of the meetings of various societies,
new churches and restorations, schools, parsonages, and " secular works," with
many of which our readers are necessarily familiar, complete the monthly part of
our contemporary, who, we think, might easily indulge us a little more in the
way of illustrations.
Hcmthooli of the Civil Service, being a Complete Gtade to the Examina-
tions oj the I arwiig Departvientu of the Public Service, organised accord-
ing to the Recommendations of the Civil Service Commissioners. Cassell.
Petfer, and Galpin. 8vo., 1861.
SSl'ED as one ol Cassell's Elementary Handbooks, the information given ap -
pears to have been collected with much care from various sources, published
under Government authority ; a list of the works and papers referred to is given.
In any cases of doubt personal reference has been made to the Secretary of the
Civil Service Commissioners, who have kindly answered the
I
inquiries.
necessary
The type i; small, and a vast amount of information appears to be given in the
least possible space and at the lowest cost.
Miseellancotig Papers on Scientific Subjects. By T. Seymour Burt, Esq.,
Odell and Ives, Princes-street.
PART I. of the third volume of these papers, of which, if we remember
rightly, many have belbre appeared in the pages of various periodicals,
treats in a familiar style of the cause of magnetism, of universal gravity, the
supposed distances of the fixed stars, the formation of aerolites, and the sun and
solar system ; the rotation of the earth on its axis, the .'piral of electricity, the
lormatiou of Iceland and its Geysers, the failure of the Atlantic cable, pas-
sengers' stoppage signals, method ot measuring the distance of a column of
infantry, ami an account of the method of producing and preserving ice in
India— a most tedious and costly method, by tlie way.
We cannot say we quite comprehend the plan of the work, the first volume of
which appears to have been published as early as 1837. We hope to see future
parts.
TENBERS.
„ ^ Almshouses, rtTNET.
tOT rufney Almshouses. Mr. C'liarlos Leo, arcliitect,
Williaraaon £2,.-W):! 10 I Adamson nndSons £1,979
\»'.'"<*'" 2,110 0 AvissandSons 1,<.73
■ines :;,0b7 o|
Hunting liox, &c., ISuckingiiam.
For hunting-box and stables, at Buckingham, for James Kandell, Esq. William
Boulnois, Ksq., architect.
Macey. ... £4,393 | Conder £3,260
Holland and llannen 3,545 | Munday (accepted). 3,170
Tibbefts 3,295 1 1 ^ f I
Mechanics' Institete, Stai.ybridc.e.
For the Stalybrldgc Mechanics' Institution. Quantities taken out by Mr. Thomas
Taylor.
Hancock and Murray,' Manchester £3,ACS 10
Thompson, Manchester 3,293 0
Storrs, Stalybridge .3,280 0
Pcnk, Manchester 3,279 0
Stokes, Stalybridge 3,223 0
Greenup andCo.,MllesPlatting(accepted) .... 2,950 0
Schools, Kent.
For additions to the national schools. Church-street, Lee, Kent. Mr. Francis P.
Thornc, architect, Dacrc-park, Lee. Quantities supplied by Mr. Thomas I'ercy, of
Alfred-place, Bedford-square.
lilackallu and Gorrum £.352 | J. and C.W.Todd £298
W. C. IVnny 3IS AV'allburton 29»
Thomas Smith 315 I
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
COliN MAKKET.
Carlisle. ~A premium of £20 will be given for tlic best design, and £10 for fbo
second best design of a building for a corn market, to be erected on the selected
site in Lowther-strect, Carlisle. The plans to be accompanied with a detailed esti-
mate of cost, and sent in addressed to the City Treasurer, marked, **Flan for the
t^orn ^larket," without the author's name, by 24th June. A sealed envelope, bear-
ing a motto corresponding to that on author's design, and containing author's
name to be sent in with each plan. The selected plans to become the property of
the Corporation. Lithograph plan and sections of the selected site, and a photo-
graph of the adjoining buildings may be had ou application to the city surveyor,
Carlisle.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
HKIDGK.
MANCHE.STER.— For separate tenders for the several works require in the construc-
tion of a bridge over the river Irwell, and informing the approach thereto from
Water-street, for the Improvement Committee of the Corporation. Pla ns, Ac, at
at the office of the city surveyor, in the Town- hall. Tenders to be sent in to
June21.
LAW COURT.
Ireland.— Erection of a court of probate district registry office at Armagh. Plan
and specification with Robert Riddle, Esq., district registrar, A rmagh. lOach pro-
posal on the printed form to be for a lump sum, and to be accompanied by a detail
giving quantities and prices, and to be endorsed '' Tender for Works at (stating
tlio name of the Building)," and addressed to Edward Uornsey, Secretary, Office
of Public Works, Dublin, by 12 noon June 12.
HALL.
Leeds.— For the mason and brick work, carpenters' and joiners' work, slaters' plum-
ber and glaziers', plasterers', painters', and ironfounders' work, required to be
done in the alterations and additions to the Philosophical Hall, Leeds. Plans. &c,
with Dobson and Chorley, Architects, 19, Park-row, Leeds, until 12th June (inclu-
sive). Tenders to the architect by ten o'clock on June 13th.
VESTRY HALL.
Lambeth.— For sundry additions and alterations, &c., to be made to the Vestry
Hall, Kenniugton Green. Drawings, Ac, at the office of the architect, Mr. K,
Parris, Wolsingham-place, Lambeth, where copies of bills of quantities mav be
obtained (half-a-guinea each). Tenders to be delivered to Thomas Koffey, Clerk
to the Vestry of St. Mary's, \'estry offices, Kennington, by 2 p.m., June 11.
HOSPITAL.
Sajlford. — For the extension'of the hospital at the workliouse, Salford. Plans, &c.,
at the office of Mr. T. T. Smith, architect, John Dalton-street, Manchester. Ten-
ders, which must be in one sum lor the whole work, endorsed "Tender for
Works," to John Adamson, Clerk to the Guardians, Union offices, Salford, to
June 13.
CATHEDRAL.
Worcester. — For the works to be done in the further restoration and repairs of
Worcester Cathedral. Drawings, &c., at the offices of Mr. A. E. Perkins, archi-
tect. College-yard, Worcester, who will, on application, make arrangements for
their using plaus and specifications, for the purpose of preparing tenders (free of
expense), and delivered, sealed, to the Very Rev. the Dean of Worcester, at the
Deanery, on June 21.
CHURCHES, &c.
Lincolnshire.— For restoring and refitting the church at Caistor, Lincolnshire.
Plans, &c., at the Vicarage-house, Caistor. Tenders to the Vicar, to June 15.
Cardiff.— Plans and specifications for the completion of the fabric of St. Andrew's
Church, Cardiff. Plans, &c., with Prichard and Seddon, diocesan architects,
Llandaff; and tenders sent to their offices, at 0, Whitehall, London, to June 14.
KiRBV Ravensworth. — For the restoration of the parish church at Kirby
Ravenworth. Plans, &c., at the common hall, Kirkby-Iitll, till 12th June inclusive.
Tenders to be sent to Mr. Austin, architect, 2, Collingwood-street, Kewcastle-
upon-Tyne, to June 19.
Worcester.— For restoring and refitting the parish church of Bockleton, near Ten-
bury, Worcestershire. Plans, &c., at the offices of Mr. Thomas Sale, solicitor,
Leominster, to June 12, Inclusive. Sealed tenders, directed to the rector of
Bockleton, to June 22.
Great Malvern.— For the reseating of the priory church. Great Malvern. Draw-
ings, Ac, at the Church, and any further information from the architect,
G. G. Scott, Esq., 20, Spring-gardens, Londou. Sealed tenders to the Rev. George
Fisk, vicar of ilalvern, to June 15.
Ireland. -For the building of a new church, in the town of Augher, parish of
Cloghcr, County of Tyrone. Plans and speciflcatiou (furnished by the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners), in the hands of the Secretary. Proposals to be sealed, prepaid,
and addressed thus, " Proposal for the Church, at Augher, parish of Cloger. county
Tyrone-J. J. O'F. Carmichael Ferrall, Esq., Secretary to the Committee, Augher
Castle, Augher, Aughnacloy," to be forwarded by June 20.
Ireland.— For building the district church of Clanabcgan, parish of Drumragh,
county Tyrone. Plans, Ac, with the resident minister of the parish. Each pro-
posal to be scaled, prepaid, and addressed thus, "Proposal for the Church
of ttie Ecclesiastical Commissioners for Ireland, Dublin," and for-
warded by June 12. „ ^ ..,. -.^.
Ireland.— For rebuilding the church of St. Andrew, City of Dtiblin. Plans, Ac,
with the offleiatiug minister of the parish. Each proposal to be sealed, prepaid,
and addressed thus;- "Proposal for rebuilding the church of St. Andrew, the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners for Ireland, Dublin," and forwarded by June 12.
Uarpenden.— For rebuilding the parish church at Ilarpendcn, between Luton and
St. Alban's. Drawings, Ac, with Rev. E. T. Vaugliau, at Harpenden, and with the
architect, Mr. W. Slater, 4, Carlton Chambers, Regent-street, Londou, S.W., to
whom tenders to June 17. „,.,„,
Lincoln.- For the restoration of Sutterton church, in the county of Lincoln. Plans,
Ac, with Edward Browning, architect, Stamford, after June 0th. Sealed tenders
(airreeablv to the form supplied), to be delivered on June 20.
'■'^ ' ■ SCHOOLS, &c.
CoppENnALL.— For the erection of new schools, and houses for master and mistress,
at Coppenliall, near Crewe. Drawings, Ac, at the vestry of the Church. Tenders
to be sent to the architect, Mr. .Tames K. Colling, 0, Ridgmount-place, Hampstead-
road, London, N.W., to June 12.
490
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 7, 1861.
I'AXtSONAGK.
KoRTHAMPTOS.— For tlio ciwtion of a pareonagrc houw? at Titchmarsh, near Thrap-
Btone. countv of Northampton. IMaiii*. .Vc, with Ldward Brownm{,% architect.
Stamford. ^K^aled Icuders a^rrt'oablv to tho form supplied on June 19.
DWKLLIXG llOUSK.
I*KEi>a.— For tlM* Tarioug works required in the erection of a first-class dwelling-
boose in Cavendish -road. Leeds. Drawing:?, &e.. with (ieorjre Sinitli. architect
andBurrejor. 171, i'ark-laut, Leeds, until June 13, on wliich day tenders to be
sent in by 6 p-m.
' ^ FARM BtriLDrXGS, &c.
Bcbtox-os-Tbe>t.— For alterations and additions to the lllakenhall farm build-
ings ontiie estate of Sir Henry des Voeux, Bart, at Cauldwell, near Burton-on-
Trent 'Plans. Ac., with Mr. Wood. Blakenhall farm, or at the offices of Jlessrs-
J. J. Oirdwood, farm architects, 49, Pall-mall, London, to whom sealed tenders
to June ir.
Staffokd.— For ihc erection of a set of farm buildings, on the estate of
the Kight non. Lord Bagot. of Blithford. near Abbot's Bromlej, in the county of
Stafford. Plans, &c., on application to T. Pickering, Esq., Abbot's Bromley ; or
at the offices of Messrs. 11. J. Olrwood. farm architects, -19, Pall-mall, London; to
whom sealed tenders to Juno 15.
Kesipston.— For the erection of new farm buildlnffs at Mr. Baker's farm, Kempston,
near Bedford, the property of Joseph Tueker, Esq., of Pavenham, Bury. Plans,
Ac , at Mr. Raker's bouse till June 11 InelnslTC. Tenders to William Watson
•urveyor, Henlow, Biggleswade, to June V2.
GAOL WORKS.
UoKiWNDEERr.— For the following works at the Londonderry Gaol. 1. To supply
and fit np a complete apparatus for heating with hot water about onrf'-halr the
horse shoe portion of thf prison. 2. To supply and lit up gongs, with communica-
tion Irom each cell, to enable prisoners to communicate with the officers, and to put
inspection plates lu cell doors. X To supply and tit up water closets and washing
tiasiQsinthc above portion of the prison. 4. To supply and erect suitable gas-fit-
tincfs to light thf passages and cells in the Hame portion of the prison. 5. To supply
and fit up cooking apparatus, and to erect and set up a wrought-iron circular
steam-boiler, now in the gaol, and furnish everything necessary to convey and
snpplv steam and hot water to washing cells and baths. 6. To erect three wash-
ing cJlls complete, and two warm baths. 7. To raise the present flagging in laundry
cookhouse, &c.. and reset same with Caithness flagging. Specifications to be seen
at the gaoL Separate tenders are to be lodged for the work in each' of the above
beads. Healed and directed to the board of superintendence, and marked on the
cover, "Tender for ," delivered at the Gaol before 11 o'clock on June 11.
POLICE STATION.
ToBKsniRE.— For the various works in the construction of a new police station, at
Eston. near Middlesboro', North Ki>ling of Yorkshire, Plans, Ac, at the office of
Mr. John Brewster. Middlesboro'. Sealed tenders to be delivered at the office
afbrcsaid, endorsed " Tender for the Police Station. Eston," to June 20.
RAILWAY WORKS.
Great Indian Pexinsul.v Raii-way. — For the completion of the works com-
prised in the three following contracts in the Bombay Presidency, viz :— No. 15.
Bbosawul to Ilurdah, 138| miles. No. 16. Hurdah to Soha<^pore, 82 miles. No. 17.
Bobagpore to Jubbulporc, llfij. Plans, &c. with oonditionB of contract and
engineer's eftiniate, may be seen, and forms of tender (on which only tenders will,
be received), obtiiined on application at the company's offices, 3, New Broad-street,
London, E.C, and tenders (sealed, and marked on the outside, " Tender for Works
Contract No. — ."',must be lodged in this office before twelve noon of June 14.
Tatt Vale Railway.— For a number of wrought-iron girders and platforms for
bridges on the'ralT Vale Railway. Drawings, &c., on application to George Fieher,
General Superintendent, CardiilT. Sealed tenders, endorsed '* Tenders for wrought-
iron Work." and addressed to the Board of Directors, will be received until
June IL
IXTEBNESS and 1*erth JUNCTION RAILWAY.— FoF the Construction of the
.Nortbemend of the line, extending from the town of Forres to the Water of Dal-
^lain, in Strathspey, a distance in all of 26 miles or thereby. It is proposed to
divide these works into two contracts, the first extending from the town of
Forres to the Water ofDivie, in the parish of Edinkillie, being a distance of 10
miles or thereby, to be caJled the "Forres Contract." The Works of this con-
tract comprehend :— Ist. About 000.000 to 700,000 cubic yards of cuttings and em-
bankments. 2nd. About 21 overway and underway bridges, and bridges over
atreams and burns, there being no bridge in the distance of greater span than 25
feet. The second contract extends from the proposed viaduct across the river
Divie (which is already contracted for) to the water of Dulnain, three miles above
Grantown. being a distance in allofli^ miles or thereby, to be called the" Grantown
Contraci." The work of this contract consists of:— Ist. About 700,000 to 800,000
cubic yards of cuttings and embankments. 2nd. About 18 overway and underway
bridges and bridges over streams and bums, the largest not exceeding 20 feet in span
The rails, chairs, sleepers, keys, spikes, fish plates, and bolts will be supplied by the
railway C4>mpany. Drawings, &c., for both contracts at the offices of Joseph
Mitchell, Esq., CE., Inverness, from whom, or from Mr. Paterson, the Assistant-
Engineer, may be obtained duplicate schcduios for each contract on payment of
£2 28. each. The cost of the detailed measurements will fall to be paid by the
aucccBsful contractor. Tito whole line for both contracts is staked out at distances
of every 100 feet between Forres nn<I tht- Duliiain Water, according to the working
sections. The deepest of the cuttings are also pitted to ascertain the nature of tliu
materials; and an assistant engineer will be at Forres station on June 18th to
accompany contractors along the line, and point out the sites of the bridges. The
draft contractproposed to be entered into will be seen at the engineer's or at the
secretary's oflfices, from the 18th of;June until the last day for receiving offers.
Sealed tenders, addressed to the secretary, and marked " Tenders for Inverness,
and Perth Junction Railway Works," specifying on the outside, "Forres Contract,"
er " Grantown Contract," according to tender, must be lodged with the secretary,
at bis office, Inverness, by noon, J uiy 3.
SUPPLY.
Bow.— For the supply of one thousand five hundred yards of new blue Guernsey
granite, of the bent and hardest quality, free from dust, broken to a gaucre of two
iuehes and one half an inch, to be delivered before the end of the montii of Sep-
tember next, at Messrs. Meeson's wharfs, adioinmg the River Lea. at Stratford,
£«»ex, for the trustees of the Mltldlesex and Essex turnpike roads, the trustees
being «t the expense of unloading the broken granite from the barges to the
wharf. Tenders, sealed and endorsed, ** Tender for Broken Granite," to be sent
to the Road Office, Bow, Middlesex, by June 14.
_ SEWERAGE.
WE»TiiiK(iTER.— For the execntiou of geheral works and repairs to the sewers,
gnlilea, drains. Ac. within the Westminster district, under the jurisdiction of the
Board, for the term of one year, commencing from Midsummer-day next.
Printed conditions of contract, forms of tender, Ac, at the offices of the Board,
where sealed tenders are to be delivered by 4 p.m. on June 12.
SwAiraEA.— For th'- construction of the following sewerage works In the borough of
SwMiaea:— <JoDtract J. — For the construction of brick sewers as under :— About
2,827 lineal yards of brick sewers, varying from :t feet il inches by 2 feet 'i inches to
2feet31neheflby 1 footOinches diameter, with man-holes, ventilating shafts. lamp
bolea, street gullies, and caitt-iron works, and other works connected therewith
Contract K.— For excavating the ground and laying earthenware pipe sewers as
fonder:— About 17,fKKJ lineal yar'ls of earthenware pipe sewers of various sizes,
varylnff from 18 inches to 6 inches in diameter, witli man-holes, ventilating shafts,
lamp-boles, street gnUtes, cast-iron work, and other works connected thtrewltli.
Drawings mav be inspected, and a copy of the spocification, with forms of tenders
bills of qaantlttes, and schedules for prices obtained (by payment of 15s. the set) on
application at the office of Mr. Edward Cousins, the Surveyor, Guildhall, Swansea,
wluTc further intorin:ition relative to the proposed works;may be obtained. Sealed
tenders to be delivered to C. H. JIanslield, Clerk to the Local Board of Health.
Guildhall offices, Swansea, endorsed "Tenders for Sewers Contracts J. and K." to
Juno 24.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters ami communications to be addressed to the Editor of tlic Bdildino IJews, 20,
Old Hoswellcourt, St. Clement's, Strand, London.
The Editor cannot undertake to return unused manuscripts.
r. E. W.— We should bare replied lonsr ajio had we been able to make out what yon wanted.
Questions are constantly put to us which rcriulrc the exercise of conslderjihle jiuljjmont in
rcpl.yintf to them, and hi many a lurpe expenditure of time. Wc are expectetl to know
cverythln,!.', lo answer all hKiniritry, and yet there arc manv correspondeuts who are incon-
siderate enouKh 1<> imt us to lionhiu trouble becautje they clioose to scrawl instead of write.
GEOSOE TopMS.— A\'e are still of Hie same opinion.
S. J.R.— ThcpamphUt "The Fleet of the Future, Iron or Wood?" Is by J. Scott Russell.
Esq., and published by LouKuian and Cu. U was reviewed in an earUer part of the present
Volume. The other work we have not seen.
R. Nelson.— Unavoidably deferred.
Blank.— Thanks ; architects would do well in all such cases to send information themselves.
JVlEssus. W. AND Co.— Read the article again, and with a little more care,
T. J. It.— Wc are forced to decline.
The L. O.'C- Thanks.
DiTi'o.— Shall appear ; we cannot name a date,
W. Val'leme.— Review is in type.
T. C. J. — Shall hear fVom us ; meanwhile, we are atVald It is a hopeless case.
5lE. B.— There can bo no doubt as to the superior economy of steam as compared with
water-power. !5lr, Fairbairn shows this very clearly in his work on "Mills and 3Iill-
work, by reference to tlio Catrine mills, where there is a fall of 48 feet and a po\ver of 200
hurses nearly constant throughout the year. In this establishment there are two colossal
water-wheels, each 60 (feet In diameter and 12 feet wide. Taking! the weir, tho tunnel, the
upper conduit, tallrace, fcc, the ultimate expenditure may be estimated, approximately as
follows ;—
Water Privilege and Lfind £4,<500
Cost of Weir i.OOO
IIettd-race,TDnnel,uinl Canal 3,000
Arcbwa]rs,g1urie9, cisUrns, Sic 1,000
Wherlbouse and foundations 1,500
Tail race 1,500
W'nt^r- wheels and erection 4,500
Contuig^eneies 1,500
Toul £18,000
The cost of power, independent of mlU-worl;, equivalent to an annual rental for interest of
capital, r^'pairs, and wear and tear at 7 per cent., amountiuK to £1,2(H). This may be con^
trasted with steam-power lu a district where coals can be purchased at 78. per ton, and wo
have.
Cost of pnj^ines of 100 nominal horse-power.. £4,000
Kntfine-houae, foundations 1,500
Contingencies ......*.• 500
X6,000
This at ten per cent, for interest of capital, repairs, and renewals, will be equivalent to
An auuual rental of jC600
Add confluinptiun of coal at 4 lbs. per indicated horan-poH-er
per hour, engineers' wages, &c ^00
£1,500
But ai^alnst the higher rental in the case of steam, must be set the cost of transit of the
raw materials and products of the mill, with the risk of stoppage from want of water in
lonp continuous draught or frost. We advise you to read Mr. Fairbairn's book before pro-
ceedint; much further.
P. Q We must insist on the observance of our rule or letter cannot appear ; your name ia
safe with us.
S. E.— Certainly such applications are made, but it is not usual to comply.
J. W. B.— We are unable to say.
AacHiTECT.— Insert the clause by all means ; it seems well adapted to meet a possible case ;
we shall bo glad to print it for tho use of our readers.
A SruscRiBEit (Wolverhampton).— No recipe has yet reached us.
G. X.— Received ; we will reply by letter.
Ma. E. F. O.— Wc thought so. , ^ „,
AV. K.-We stated last week that no prizes will be awarded to Section IV". Modern Fine
Arts, and that intending exhibitors wlio are not members of anv of the Institutions then
named, may at once receive Forms of Demand for space by applying to the Secretary to
her Majesty's Conimisslnners. Wc are afraid you will be too late.
F. X,— Why not write direct to the Department'/ , ^ ■ *.
E. B. T.— Would appear to have been but badlv advised, wc recommend you, jndgmg fVom
your own statement, to reverse all that you have done lu the matter ; but what is to be
said on the other side? . ,, ...
A TrtAVELLEB.— Slime such plan might be adopted for kvotrn distances, and the distance
mit:ht bo ascertained by means ct a feature of ascertained height in the locality, say an
ordinary donr^vay. or the average height of man, Mr. Seymour Burt »iome time since pro-
nosed to measure the distance of a column of infantry or cavalry, by the height subtended
by the same upon a common wooden pencil, or what would be better a small rule. Iioidlng
liie i»oucil or rule vertically between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, stretcn
out tJie arm to a horf/i)ntal position (or otherwise as the case may be) to the exact rignt
of vour own trout, which should be at right angles to the object whose distance is refjuireti
tr) be measured. Then measure along the ui)per length of the pencil or rule by means ol
thethumb-nailandtheeve, the heiglit subtended by tile object, apart of an inch for instance,
or other conyenlent pniportiou into wiiich may have been previously dividcil, so a-s to
allow a certain length of tlie pencil or rule, when kept vertically at arm's k-ugth as belore
described, to represent the exact measure of so many yards, suppose an eiglith ot an men
for one thousand varda' distance. This principle is evidently of but limited application, but
has been found of service on sonic occasions. Wc shall be glad to hear nrom you alter
you have devoted a little further consideration to tho subject.
]_, A.— We should l)e travelling too far out of our province were we to comply.
Anxious One. -Subject i.s engraved, only waits its turn. . ^„ ,.^„
F. It. S.— Might easily have avoided the occurrence of the error by sending mformat on
himself. Archltectsdonot alwaysgoout of thoir way to supply us with dnta.-iu wmcn
they arc concerned, but very readily call us to account for the slightest omission.
G. KoBtnTs.— Such a list appeared in our last Number ; we cannot comply.
^rnscniBER (Borough).— Yes, if approved. , ^ . « . «•.«.*♦■ M
A K KA UER.- We took every care to obtain correct information, and are glad to lino our enonm
ai>preciated.
jKiric — Send a directed envelope to our publislicr.
. 8.— Too late, and besides, contains nothing that iias not been said botore. ..u^^^,— ,•
A. N. G.-W.--, shall be glad to oblige if possible, but at present do not see In what flirectloa
we can assist. . , ._ ^ . . rt^ t .^™«-
.AND N. T. F. O.— As mentioned by us attbistime, we thought the decision of the judges
a very fair one.
S. N. /.-Declined, with thanks.
T. T.— Ditto.
A HoisEiioLDEB.— Adjoining owner must give you threemontha' notice, unless the »tructaT»i
is condemned liy the (^omnilssloncrs of Police.
I. y N.— We must decline to interfere.
C. C.-Wc should hardly expect such a course to be taken for several reasons, but on th«
otJier hand shall not be greatly surprised to And a radical change effected before long. «
issald, that when matters are at theh- worst they mend, consequently there should M-
some hope.
T. S. R.-Declined with thanks.
Mil. E. N._Dltto.
A. B.-Too late lor Insertion this week.
Beceived -Mr. B S L., T. W.. J. F. V. M., C, A Friend in the Xorth., James S.. 0. K..
K. K., An Operative and Constant Reader, A. A. A., George Wllmott, T. X. A., A Wtm;
of Art, W. M.,B., Fnirplav. MessrH. H.and H.,K. .lohnstune. Censor, M. A. (Cambridge)^
A Subscriber, One lu the Secret, J. F. T.. A Subscriber (Bristol), A House Agent, G. J--, u.*
W. p. A., H. P.. B. (Newcastle-on-Tync), J. I., A Young Architect, L. K., K. Le V.. Bev,
T, w. H., Mr. Thomas L. . A DecoraUve Pahiter.
June 14, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
491
THE INSTITUTE AND THE ARCIIITECTUIIAL ALLIANCE.
hjL on slowly — is a contemptuous expression
in the mouths of Englislnnen of the present
' railway and telegraph times. In the olden
ones it was " a good old English " proverb ;
and, indeed, to this day the Latin version of
it — Festina lente, is the actual hcralilic motto
of an old English family — the Onslows.
Some of this very family must surely have
got upon the Diploma Committee of the
Koyal Institute of British Architects ; for,
since its formation, that great amalgamation
question would seem to have dropped througli
I-^jjy ■-^>K-^,^yji ^^ ^^'^ trap-door of public ajiathy into the
i^S^T^^^^I^Y classic waters of Lethe, or oblivion. Now
WMe^^S)^ this ought not to be : be it our business to-
' IjW^SI^^^^ ^^^ *° emulate Mr. Samuel Weller, and
W ^^!}J^ adjure these gentlemen, as that worthy did
f ^i^^ Mr. Pickwick — to "keep the pot a 'bilin."
' ^Virt^^^ We have called the Diploma movement (if it
, ^^ be a movement) an amalgamation question ; and
80 it is. It has very naturally given birth to that later question of the
Architectural Alliance ; for, without some alliance between the scat-
tered architectural societies, or amalgamation of the dispersed, divided
architects of this country, we do not clearly see how the Examination
or Diploma question is to thrive.
In mature time and in the Institute's own cautious way, we shall
doubtless become informed of the E.xamination progranmie of the
Institute. In the mean time we can do no harm, and ^may effect some
good, by keeping before our readers the topic of the Architectural
Alliance. Perhaps by the time the Institute has been safely delivered
of its Diploma scheme, English architects as a body may have become
what they now are not, sufficiently allied and amalgamated to receive
and consider it as one man. Why should they not, when lawyers,
doctors — aye builders and artificers can act unitedly ?
We have taken some interest in these two late (not, let us hope, too
late) movements of the professional body. They are decidedly move-
ments in the right direction, and greatly required at the present time.
It is therefore but natural we should desire them not to fall to the
ground ; and with that view we to-day urge the different Societies —
especially the architects of Newcastle or Northern Association, to avoid
all semblance of false delicacy, and to proceed vigorously with the
measure they have so wisely inaugurated. There is some danger of
these gentlemen repeating the error of the Architectural Association;
which some years ago, after vigorously agitating the question of com-
petition reform, foolishly referred the whole matter to the Institute ;
when, almost as a necessary consequence, the entire project fell to the
ground. This act of the Association might be a very loyal one, and
conceived in good faith enough ; but it was utterly fatal to their project.
Deference to the Institute is all very well in its way ; but it will be
a pity if for the_ sake of observing it— that is to say, waiting for the
Institute's Examination scheme — the several architectural societies, who
have taken up the Alliance question, should suffer it to come to nothing.
On one thing they may all depend, namely, that, while they may
possibly be waiting for the Institute, that very prosy, cosy body of
gentlemen will be anything but slow in waiting for them ; and thus we
shall see the well-known incident re-enacted :
Lord Chatliara, with hys sword y'drawii,
Stood, waiting for Sir Richard Strachan;
Sir Richard, longing to be at 'ni,
. . Was waiting for the Earl of Chatham.
It IS in fact quite possible that, all this time, the Committee of the
Institute may be really waiting (the Institute is always xcaiting, either
lor or on somebody) for the next move of the amalgamation agitators ;
therefore we say to the latter— proceed by all means : and "wait for
nobody.
There is one feature of the scheme laid down and submitted to the
.Societies by the Northern Association, which ought to have the
sympathy of every architect. It is that defined by the 4th clause of
tlie printed outline of it which has lately been issued, and runs thus—
'"That it (the Architectural Alliance) shall take cognisance of all matters
attecting the interests of the profession. That for this ohject it shall speciailv
(lirect Its attention to the present unsatisfactory mode of conducting coronet itions •
and shall endeavour, by the publication of a scale of charges, to regulate the
rates of professional remuneration."
Now this is precisely what the Institute of Architects has never
attempted to do ; nor even were they to settle the diploma question
to-morrow would they in the least degree bo likely to do it. This very
• necessary task can only be dealt with by an amalgamated society of the
architects of this kingdom ; and, as we conceive very judiciously, t''e
tramers ot the outline scheme have confined themsclvfs in drawin-r
, "P *° '■* jnention of this only task— the regulating of coinpetitioni
Jnd professional charges. It is their only avowed definite object : in
all other respects, their scheme is singularly vague and indefinite ; and
the promoters seem wisely to have taken it for granted that, all other
details will be filled up by the future officers of the Alliance— that is
to say, by the president, the vice, treasurer, secretary, and the
delegates of each affiliated society.
With five members of the Institute (we would by-the-bye suggest an
increase of that number), four members of the Association, and three
of all the provincial societies of architects, the Alliance would consist
— as far as England is concerned — of not more than two dozen gentle-
men, the very elite of their respective confraternities : this would form
a body quite numerous enough to deal well with the subjects submitted
for its consideration ; and the whole experiment would quite suffice to
show us, whether architects are, or are not, capable of self-govern-
ment. Much of the business would be conducted by the secretaries of
the several allied societies; and in all probability four meetin"s a year
would be all that the executive would require, after the thing Tiad once
been set fairly agoing. It might then become desirable to apply for
and procure a charter of incorporation, to confer validity on the
proceedings.
The Alliance once formed had best confine itself to administrative
operations, eschewing the periodical reading of papers, giving of
conversazioni and the like. Should it do this, the expenses necessary
for its efficient working will be very light indeed. All that its con-
stituents, the associated architects would require to knov.r of it, would
be the decisions it might arrive at from time to time in reference to
any interesting questions propounded ; and all these the architectural
journals would readily give currency to ; so that, scarcely any expenses
need be incurred for the printing of reports and the like.
We think that these delegates, once appointed, might very safely be
entrusted with the decision of those questions that spring up so
frequently, and whose want of settlement is productive of so much
in-egularity and scandal. Let any architect or surveyor consider the
state of things at the present moment, and ask himself whether it is
not high time to settle some of the very many open questions that
exist, and by their existence create such confusion.
There is the question of Competitions — some ot which arc disrepu-
table and should be ignored by the profession — let the Alliance define
what kinds of '.hem are reputable and what disreputable.
There is the question of Professional Kenumeration, about which so
much remains to be settled ; but about which we ourselves have lately
written so much that, more need not here be said at present.
Then there is that question of Builders' Tenders and Quantities — how
ought the former to be received ? Under what conditions ought the
latter to be taken out ; by whom should they be taken out, and for
what pecuniary commission ? How are they to be understood as
affecting the pecuniary liability of the client, or of the ai-chitect, or of
the contractor. These are all grave questions, subjects for every day's
agitation ; but so replete with technical difficulties that, only architects
and surveyors are capable of deahng with them.
Again there is the question of local discrepancies of Professional
Practice, which might have been all excusable enough in the times of
stage-coaches, packhorses, and tenpenny postages ; but which in these
days of railway transit, electricity, and photography ai-e a standing
abuse. What is there but culpable apathy amongst our architects to
hinder the introduction of a more uniform system of practice ?
These and some other such questions the Alliance, once founded,
would be very capable of dealing with. We have ourselves over and
over again urged the Institute of Architects to deal with such ques-
tions ; but the Institute is too metropolitan in its traditions and its
prejudices. It has little or no influence outside of " the London bills
of mortahty ;" and were it to lay down the law in reference to such
matters as are above hinted at, we strongly suspect very little attention
would be bestowed on its dictum.
Here for the present we must stop. The subject is a very important-
one to architects ; and we commend it to the careful consideration of
our readers ; urging them, if they wish to see architects rise in public
consideration, to encourage this movement in favor of tlie Architec-
tural Alliance. Let not our metropolitan friends fight shy of it as a
provincial movement and say, with a fastidious contemporary of ours —
" Can any good come out of Newcastle-upon-Tyne f
The Rhododendrons in Hew Gardens. — During the month of June
nothing can be more glorious than the fine show the rhododendrons make, their
soft tints ranging from crimson to pink, and from the richest puce through every
shade of lilac, to the purest snowiest white — tliuir prodigality of blossom, the
cloud-like roundness of their forms, fading and melting into each other iu the
artistic an-angenient of their hues, is a lovely sight under the sun.shine of a
summer's day. Then there are iningUng with them, here and there, orange, and
pink and white azalias — reminding us of Xenophon and the mountains of Asia
Alinor, winch he tells us are covered with these lovely plants, in the hearts of
which lurk poison. Honey, gathered from them in these regions, it is said,
makes those who eat of it mad.
492
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 14, 1861,
THE IXTEKXATIONAL EXHIBITION BUILDING.
WE have already given our readers n general description — as shown on
the drawings — of the building for the approaching International
ExhibitioD in 1S62. "We have made arrangements for giving periodical
accounts of the progress of the works. Onr subscribers, both in town and
the country, will thus be kept regularly informed on the subject. Every
instructive opcmtion which takes place within that close-fenced enclosure
will be duly noticed; each progressive step made by the grand army of
united workmen on the Great Temple of Peace will in proper order be
chronicled. The building is of such magnitude, and the time for its com-
pletion is comparatively so limited, as to necessitate unusual appliances
«nd energy in its execution. Unusual difflculties, we may be certain, will
occasionally arise, and they, we may be also certain, will be grappled with
in an original way, and vigorously surmounted. The details of the
several operations will, therefore, be of incalculable value in the erection
of subsequent stnictures.
It is scarcely more than two months since the vast plot was an undis-
turbed green field, with buildings of unusual extent and magnificence
rapidly rising in every direction around it. There was nothing, except
the end wall of the horticultural arcades and a rude plank enclosure, to
define the site which will in the coming year be tlic converging spot to
hundred of thousands of people now scattered far and wide over the whole
world, and nothing whatever to give even a faint idea of the splendor of
the edifice which will cover it, of the treasures which will be congregated
there, or of the important benefits which will flow thence into every
channel of civilization.
It was, liowever, made over to Messrs. Kelk and Lucas, and they are not
men to let the grass grow under their feet ; the sheep were removed, and
the turf-cutters turned in there. They soon stripped the green spring
carpet from it, and on the 9th of March the first stake was driven for the
guidance of the workmen. From this stake the whole site was divided
into squares, the positions of the piers were fixed, and pegs driven to guide
the excavators. At the first glance, this may appear a very simple opera-
tion, but a minute's reflection convinces us of its vast importance, and how
much every subsequent operation depends upon its accuracy. A divergence
of an inch or two in the length of a brick or stone building is of no par-
ticular moment, but in this case, where the several particles of the building
are of various materials and made in diflerent parts of England, all to be
finally fitted together here, it becomes of vital importance. The points
must be determined and shown visibly with mathematical justness, so that
all the details can be united, like the parts of a watch or a steam-engine.
In a small affair, this is, perhaps, easily accomplished, but in a space of
1,150 feet by 600 feet, demanding the like accuracy, the difliculty is pro-
portionately increased. The points are marked, checked, and counter-
checked, until no doubt or fraction of doubt remains. The entire length
and breadth is subdivided to the l-40th of an inch for the positions of the
iron columns ; the levels are taken with the same extreme care. The
labor has necessarily to be done two or three times. In the flrst place, the
pegs are driven for the foundations, and the centres of them marked by
nails. A frame of the size of the opening, with an inner one, showing the
iize of the brickwork is then made. A plank, with the ends projecting
gome 2 feet on two of the sides, is then fixed upon it ; a hole being cut in
the centre of the plank, and, consequently, in the centre of the frame, it is
dropped down over the driven peg, and the ground to be excavated for the
piers is marked out. Temporary pegs are driven in at the extremities of
the plank. The ground being excavated to the depth of the gravel bed
which underlies the site, the concrete and brickwork is put in, and York
■labs, some 5 inches thick, bring the piers to the requisite levels. The
centre, for the iron columns, is then, with scrupulous nicety, fixed and
traced upon the stone, and the temporary pegs are witlidrawn. In this
manner the whole site is mapped out, and it is but common justice to
Mr. Marsliall to mention the part he has taken in this great undertaking.
Be had previously proved his ability for the task by the skUful manner in
which he had staked out tlie ground for the arcades in the Horticultural
Society's grounds. The points for the circular arcades especially required
luasually ingenious working; the manner in which he fixed them justified
the confidence which Messrs. Kelk and Lucas, on the present occasion,
likewise reposed in him.
More than half of the piers— those at the eastern end of the site— are
already built, and the ground is staked out for the remainder. We can,
by their means, trace the vast proportions of the building, the line of the
nave by the oblong slabs which cover the piers for the double columns
vhich are to flank it, and the positions of the immense domes. The piers
■which are destined to support these colossal features of the design are
corered with fine slabs of stone weighing a ton each. Points scarcely
larger than pin-holes show the centres for the columns on each slab.
The consideration of this primary labor will soon be absorbed in the
progress of the building. In fact, as we turn from it, we see bricklayers
hard at work on the southern side, abutting on the Cromwell-road. The
advance made in that direction is at once palpable to ordinary observers.
The walls are up to the height of twenty or thirty feet at the south-
eastern corner. Tlie window- frames, some twelve or thirteen feet wide, and
proportionately high, are in many places fixed. The arches are being turned
over the inner openings, and thus the basement of the extensive galleries
which are to contain the choicest specimens of pictorial art which have
been produced within the last hundred years approaches completion.
There seems no lack of men and no want of energy. Mr. Ashton, who,
•we believe, fixed the ironwork of both Crystal Palaces, is on the ground,
ready to fall into his place and put the columns in theirs. The general
foreman— there is no clerk of the works— is Mr. S. Clemence, a man of
great experience. In every direction we see square pegs in square holes
and round ones in circular apertures, so that all goes on with the pre-
cision and regularity of clockwork, and architect, contractors, and men
work confidently together, certain that each and all will faithfully dis-
charge their duties.
Our readers will recollect, probably, that tlierc is an annexe to the Exhi-
bition building, running northwards from it, par.iUel with the arcades of
the Horticultural Society, and between them and the Prince Albert-road.
This is the portion devoted to machinery. Originally, it was to have con-
sisted of one long gallery only, constructed entirely of timber framing, with
arch-shaped timber ribs, having their springings but a few feet above the
ground. It has now been decided to have four of these galleries, all simi-
larly constructed, parallel with and communicating with each other. Ten
or a dozen of the ribs are already fixed, and stacks of them are upon the
ground ready for the workmen. They are fixed 15 feet apart, instead
of ten feet, as at first intended. It was found, practically, that they were
sufiiciently strong when altered to the larger dimension. This portion
has, at present, a more finished appearance tlian any of the rest. The
form of the ribs is very like those wliich will span the nave of the main
building.
But the work yet done does not give one-lialf such an idea of the
undertaking as the preparations which arrest our attention at every step
we take. Some half-dozen slicds are thrown up in diflFcrent parts of the
ground. The one at the entrance in Exliibition-road, impregnated with a
sea-port odour, is a store-house, where coils of huge cable, puUies, and other
tackle — enough to stock a small dockyard warehouse — are kept in reserve;
another is devoted to a suite of offices. In another, several forges are
glowing at a white heat, and our cars catch a roar from the stimulating
bellows, mingled with the deadened sounds of the hammered metal. Close
by it a steam-engine for hoisting materials and other purposes is being
sheltered from the weather, and engineers with dirty white jackets are
busy round it. Tramways are laid down for facility of transport the length
and breadth of the ground. Bricks are stacked in thousands and hun-
dreds of thousands, and gravel dug out and sifted as though a new town
were about to be built; timber in such quantities lies about as if a forest
had been felled, the trees squared and collected here.
Three of the trees standing on the ground are preserved, fenced
temporarily round for protection, and will, like those in the 1851 building
cast off' their sere and withered leaves next autumn within the building.
The utmost activity pervades every department, and at Stavely, in Derby-
shire, where the ironwork is being cast, and in the shops of the contractors',
agents — hardly appreciated as we look upon the works at South Kensing-
ton— are busy with their allotted tasks. Every one, from Capt. Fowke
downwards, seems in earnest, the sure earnest that there will be no dis-
appointment next year, as far as the building is concerned. Nearly 60O
men are engaged on the ground, but this does not, of course, include all
wlio are devoting muscle and brain to the work: they are necessarily but
a fraction of the multitude who are concentrating their thoughts upon it.
We do not wish to raise a croaking voice to break in upon the harmony
of the undertaking; if we touch, therefore, upon what we think a weak
point in the arrangements, it is only that a little more consideration may
be given to it, if, upon reflection, it may appear to those in authority, as
it does to us, to demand it. We cannot see that sufficient attention has been
hitherto given to the means of approaching the building. There are entrances
enough, perhaps, to it, and they are of sufficient size; but we fear a' dead-
lock with the carriages and people outside. In Hyde-park the building
was set back from the road, and the park formed, as it were, an unlimited
crush-room on the other sides, in addition to a relief from the crowd of
vehicles in front. At South Kensington, the three entrances come direct
upon the Cromwell, Prince Albert, and Exliibition roads. They are wide
thoroughfares, it is true, but if they were three times their present dimen-
sions they would be insufficient for the masses which will pour into them.
Moreover, they are public roads, into which omnibuses, cabs, carriages,
&c., will be crowding with their fares upon the multitude of foot visitors,
and the ordinary traffic with waggons, &c., will be continued. Spite of
the presence of all the policemen in London, order will not be maintained
and confusion and accidents prevented. Some extraordinary measures must
be adopted beforehand to avoid any unfortunate occurrences. We can
scarcely be expected to point out what those measures should be. It is
enough if we indicate the evil which we anticipate. If there be no real
grounds for our apprehensions, so much the better; but if there are, we
trust that there will be no hesitation about grappling at once with the
subject. There should be neither difficulty nor danger in approaching
the building, and as few obstructions as possible to every one having a fair
view of the building and the treasures within it.
Liverpool Architectural and Archaolngical Society. — The annual
excursion of this Society will be to Hawarden Castle, Fh'ntsliire, on Saturday,
June 2'ind. The members will meet on the landing stage in time for the nine
o'cloak boat for Tranmere. Omnibuses will be in waiting at the ferry which
will convey the Society to Hawarden. Fare, five shillings each for the double
journey. At Hawarden the church will flrst be inspected, and after that the
castle, with its magnificent park and ruined keep. Among other objects of
interest in this excursion are Euloe Castle, the Buckley Brickworks, and Messrs.
Whaley, Burrows, and Fenton's Wire Rope and Telegraph Cable Works. Tha.
dinner will take place at four o'clock at the Hawarden Castle Hotel, Queen's
Ferry. Dinner tickets, four shillings each, may be obtained from the secretary,
No. U, Dale-street. As the accommodation is limited, it is particularly re-
quested that early application be made for tickets. Ladies are invited to join the
excursion.
June 14, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
493
HOUSE-TOP TELEGRAPHY.
IT will be in the rccoUetition of our readers that in our answer to Mr.
Owen Rowland on this important subject, we remarked, that he
offered us nothing but a negative proof that danger was not to be appre-
hended from the telegrapli wires over the tops of houses, his argument
being that during the thunder-storms he had watclied no mischief from
liglitning occurred to roofs on which telegrapliic poles were erected ; and
we said to make his experience worth any reliance he sliould have been
able to assert that while liouses supplied with poles and wires escaped,
one or more without them received damage. A paragraph which recently
appeared in the Dublin [Daily Express brings us, however, nearer to the
probable result of Ilouso-top Telegraphy. The writer in that journal
shows by his commencement that we were not alone in fearing serious
consequences from this new practice and says.
I some time ago alluded to the danj^er to be apprehended from the house-top
telegraph wires in severe thunder-storms. Since tliat communication we have Iiad
a very heavy storm, during which the lightning played with picturesque but alarm-
ing litfulness along the wires, darting I'rom house to house and street to street, to
the consternation, not only of the occupiers, but of the passengers. The house-
holders have now generally insisted ou the addition of lightning-conductors to the
telegraph poles ; and, as a precaution, I am given to understand the company has
undertaken to supply these safeguards in every instance.
The lightning-conductors supposed to be so great a source of safety will
prove only the means of increasing the danger, unless they are com-
posed of ^-inch copper rod curried down 60 or 70 feet into the earth to
insure constant moisture. If that precaution be not taken, human life
and household property in the neighbourhood of inefficient conductors will
be in more danger than before owing to the severity with which the
" lateral discharge " always takes place. In considering this matter, so
serious to the public generally, it should be recollected that the ordinary
telegraph wires at the regular stations are always connected with the
eartli, and yet they fail to carry off more than an insignificant portion of
a flash of lightning. The public must, therefore, be on its guard against
any make-believe conductors, because telegraph companies will be ready
enough to escape the necessary expense, if they find that any sham will
prove satisfactory, until the " avenging fluid " — as Mr. Wreed, in his
letter, more profanely tlian logically termed the dangerous flash, causes
not only consternation, but actual destruction.
In the provinces a telegraph wire passed near a gas-pipe, and a few feet
further on was connected to the earth. The lightning struck the wire,
the lateral discharge entered the leaden gas-pipe, made a hole through it
and lighted the gas, fortunately, it was immediately extinguished by those
present, or the pipe must have been melted and the house probably
burned to the ground. Tliis we understand is not a solitary instance of
the past, and it is just as likely to happen again in the future, for if the
lightning strike a pole on tlie top of a house it would to a certainty make
for the gas-pipes, and should they he of lead, as we have already suggested
the most destructive consequences may ensue.
As this is a question possessing great and general interest, and as
" everybody's business is nobody's," under these circumstances, perhaps,
we may be excused in asking Doctor Faraday to favor us with his opinion
on the subject for publication, in order to set the public mind at rest by
explaining the nature of " lateral discharge " in this respect, and enabling
householders to test the assurances of telegriiph agents and the experience
of eiigineers employed by telegrapli companies.
PARIS IMPROVEMENTS.
The New Opera House.— It may be remembered that at the close of the ex-
hibition of the plans for building the new Opera House, the jury expressed a
wish that afresh competition should be opened among the authors of the five
plans wliich were recompensed as possessing great merit, altliough they did not
come up to what was required. This competition has now taken place, and the
result has been the unanimous choice of the plan sent in by M. Gamier. The
Moniteur, in announcing that result, says :— " The work of this architect is
considered to umte superior qualities as regards the distribution of the different
parts, and the monumental and characteristic aspect of the fronts. M. Gamier
Is an ex-pensionnaire of the French Academy at Rome, and has distinguished
himself by his Academical successes and his exceUent sketches of the monuments
of Italy and Greece. He has acquired that practical knowledge which will enable
hun to fulfil with distinction the glorious mission which will be confided to him.
The execution of his project gives promise of an Opera House worthy of Paris
and of France."
The Pavilion de Flore, at the Tuileries, which has been for some time m a
dangerous state, is to be immediately taken down, and rebuilt. It is supposed
that it will not be finislied in less than two years.
The new street which has been St^mtd to tlie left of the Palais de I'Elysee is
ah^ady lined with handsome houses throughout nearly its wliole length. As the
openmg of this street, wliich completes the isolation of the palace, necessitated
tlie removal of part of the old buildings dependent on it, advantage was taken
of the occasion to pull down the whole of them, and build a new wing in harmony
with the other. This palace, which was built in 1718, belonged successively to
the Count d'Evrcux, to the Marquise de Pompadour, and, at her decease, to her
brother, the Marciuis de Marigny, who sold it to Louis XV. In 1773 it was
bought by M. de Beaujon, a wealthy banker, who occupied it for some time-
and in i7B0 it was purchased bv the Dnehesa de Hnnrhnn w),r, r™,,.. if *i,o „„~„
public
Elysee was purchased by Prince Murat, and afterwards by the Emperor
Kapoleon whose favorite residence it became, and there he took up his residence
for a sliort tune on his return from Waterloo in 1815. After the restoration, the
Uysee was given to the Duchess de Berry, and ever since 1830 it has been the
property of the State. ^
Workmen are now engaged in demoUshing several of the high wooden towers
erected for the triangulisation of Paris, from which it may be inferred that the
preliminary surveys for drawing the plans are terminated. Some few of those
columns are to be left staniUng in order to make experiments with the electric
light.
HEREFORD CATHEDRAL.*
THE point of view from wliich our Illustration is taken embraces in a pictu-
resque group three of the chief external features of Hereford Cathedral —
viz., the north transept, the porch, and the large central tower, the two former
having been recently restored in the m,anncr here shown, while the tower at pre-
sent remains as it was left at the close of the last century, with the exception of
the pinnacles.
The north transept was first built by Robert de Betunc (1131-48), but subse-
quently enlarged. The end window in this transept is idso the largest in the
cathedral, having a peculiarly sliaped segmental head, and the same peculiarity
pervades the arches of the long side windows, and also of the arches intemally,
dividing the transept from its aisle. This latter aisle was built to accommodate
the shrme of St. Thomas Cantilupe, bishop of the sec, who is thence called in the
calendar St. Thomas of Hereford.
The beauty of the shrine itself is well known, and it remains in excellent pre-
servation.
The north jjorch is not situate in the centre of the nave, but occupies a bay
further eastward. It was originally of a plain and simple character, correspond-
ing with the adjacent parts of the church, but Bishop Booth, in 1530, extended
it northward by the splendid addition which now almost hides the primitive struc-
ture. The style is late " Perpendicular," and one of the best e.xamples of that
ilate. The staircase turrets at the angles will be noticed for the delicacy of their
detiiil, as well as the vaulting within, which is highly finished.
Soon after the year 1200 the first central tower, and another over the west end,
were erected by Bishop Giles de Braose. The present central tower, which was
erected in 1320, is profusely studded with the " ball-flower " ornament, and con-
tains on each side two ranges of windows, with four in each range, including
niches. The crocketted pinnacles at the angles of the tower were added in 1827.
There was at one time a lead spire, which rose 92 feet above the battlemeuts ; the
foundations, however, becoming insecure, it was taken dow;i by James Wyatt
about 70 years ago.
We have before adverted to the works now in progress in various parts of this
venerable edifice ; to these, therefore, we need not now recur.
SALE OF THE E.\ST IXDIA HOUSE.
IT is not often that we are able to direct our readers' attention to an intended
sale of so ir.uch importance as that announced in our advertising columns of
last week, in which the Secretary of State in Council of India invites tenders for
the purchase of the East India House. Copies of the agreement to be executed,
forms and conditions of tender, and of the advertisement, have been printed,
together with lithographed plans of the locality, and of each floor, to a large
scale, and are issued at a nominal charge of 2s. Cd. each. And a good half-
crown's worth it is, looking at the plans alone, which have been prepared with
great care by Mr. M. Digby Wyatt. Sealed tenders are to be delivered before
noon on Thursday next the 20th inst., at the India Office, Victoria-street, accom-
panied with the sum of £5',000 ; and no cognisance will be taken of the tender
of any person who shall not have paid that sum into the hands of the Accountant-
General. The money deposited by persons whose tender may not be accepted,
will be returned on the same day, or on the day following the deliverj' of the
tenders. The highest tender will be accepted, provided that the amount shall
exceed a reserve price determined upon by the Secretary of State, and placed
under seal prior to the opening of any of the tenders. And the person whose
tender shall be declared accepted will have to execute the agreement at the same
time, on pain of the absolute forfeiture of the sum deposited.
The whole of the property, as shown on the block plan, with some exceptions
mentioned in the agreement, was acquired by the East India Company more than
si,xty years ago, the prmcipal part being acquh-ed from 150 to 108 (?180) j'ears
ago. The erection of the present house was commenced in 1799, by R. Jupp ;
who was shortly afterwards employed with Holland in the superintendence of
the erection of a new sale-room.
The premises may be viewed daily between ten and four o'clock, until the 20th
inst., by all persons provided with tickets, which may be obtained from those
gentlemen named in the advertisement.
We cannot help being of opinion that the time allowed is too short. There can
be but few private buyers of such a property, while the date fixed will scarcely
allow the formation of a company for the purpose.
BELGIUM AND THE GJIEAT EXHIBITION.
IT is particularly gratifying to note the reception which the '62 Exliibition
meets with on the Continent. On all hands it is welcomed with enthusiasm,
and nations make its success their own cause.
The Belffian Moniteur contains a circular addressed to the Presidents of
Chambers of Commerce, by the commission charged to organise the Belgian part
of the Universal Exhibition, whidi states —
The experience acquired in 1851 and 1835 renders it necessary for us to insist on the
advantages of E.xhibitions open to the manufacturers of all countries ; such Jixhi-
bitions are in fact the cause of great progress, and the starting point of profitable
relations ; they have besides greatly contributed to modify the ideas entertained with
regard to cuntoma tariffs. The importance of a new International Kxhibition cannot,
therefore, be denied, especially since the communications between nations have be-
come more nimurous and rapid, and that Oovernmeuts are subjecting their customs
tariffs to most liberal reforms. The moment is therefore propitious for Uelgian
manufactures to appear at London in all their splendor and all their viiriety. Our
manufacturers will hasten, we do not doubt, to respond to the appeal we address to
them, by preparing to send to the Kxhibition of IStK such of their productions as they
may think most likely to figure there with the greatest advantage. That will be for
them an excellent way of puttuig themselves in immediate contact with the Innu-
merable consumers who will be attracted from all parts of the ''lobe by that imposing
solemnity. They will certainly not neglect this opportunity oi promoting their own
interests, and of worthily supporting the renown wliich Belgian manufactures have
• Illustrated at page 501.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 14, 1861.
FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT ON DISTRICT SURVEYORS' FEES.
THE Metropolitan Board of Works have just issued from tlie Superintending
Architect's IVpartment, in Spring-gardens, their fifth annual report on the
examination of the monthly returns by District Surveyors, with an abstract of
fees recdred during the year 18G0. , ,. .
The abstract 'pfives the serial number and name of each district, the surveyor's
name, the number of new building, and of the additions, alterations, and other
works, in respect of which fees have been received ; also the amount remaining
due on the 31st December, with the arrears of fees received in 1860, and the
amounts abated or lost througli bankruptcy or otherwise, and the expenses of
district officers. A list of the gross totals of fees received during the year,
airanged according to value, is given in the following table : —
Districts.
fleren Districts under £iM each.
£1,390 C». Od.
Tower liberty
Limehouse. &c
Putney and Kocbampton
Stoke Newingtou
Folbam
Bromley
Spitalficlds. &c
Streatbam and Brixton
Cbarltou, Lee, and KIdbrookc
St. George-in-the-Kast, 4c
St. Giles and St. George, Bloomsbury . .
Eleven Districts under £300 each.
£i,7iS 2a.
Hammersmith
St. 3Iartia and St. Anne, Sobo
Woolwich
KortUern Division of City
Clapbam and part of Battersea
St. Margaret and St. John, Westminster
Greenwich
'Whitechapel
Bampstead
St. George, Hanover-square
Wandsworth and Tooting
Six Districts under £400 each.
£2,019 14s. lOd.
St. James
Southern Division of City
Camberwell
Chelsea
Bethnal Green
Penge and Norwood
Eleven Districts under £500 each.
£4,895 ]«. (W.
Western Division of City
North St. JIarylebonc
Eastern Division of City
Botherhitbe, Uatcbam, and part of
CamberwcU
Holbom and East Strand.
Deptford
St. Luke, Old-strcct, &c
Southwark. &c ,
Clerkcnwell
Hackney
Flumstead and Eltham
Four Districts under £600 each.
£2,205 9s. 6d.
South St. Marylebone
Mile End Old Town
South Kensington
Lewisbam
Twelve Districts, £9,546 7s. lid.
East Islington
Bennondsey, Ac
Belgrave and Timlico
North Kensington
West Islington
Shoreditch and Norton Folgate
Lambeth (South Division) and part of
Camberwell
Bow and Poplar
I'addin^ton
South Islington
Newington, Cent Lambeth, and part of
Battenea. f.
StPancnu
Totals 22,791 2 3 4.879 11 5 17.911 10 10
Gross Fees
Office
Net
received.
Expenses.
Revenue.
£ s.
d.
£ a. d.
£ s. d.
27 13
3
22 0 0
S 13 3
CO 10
6
21 0 0
39 10 6
62 9
9
12 0 0
50 9 9
64 3
9
20 4 0
43 19 9
134 16
3
15 10 0
119 fi 3
156 3
fi
51 0 0
105 3 0
1.50 9
3
24 10 0
131 19 3
177 13
6
17 10 0
160 3 6
181 4
3
45 0 0
136 4 3
183 7
0
60 0 0
123 7 0
191 9
6
35 0 0
150 9 C
210 14
6
129 15 11
80 18 7
21.5 1
3
None.
215 1 3
218 8
3
100 0 0
118 8 3
230 15
6
115 0 0
121 15 6
251 7
0
52 0 0
199 1 0
253 12
6
36 0 0
217 12 6
256 14
«
145 0 0
lU 14 9
258 4
3
53 5 0
204 19 3
204 15
9
140 0 0
124 15 9
274 7
3
05 0 0
209 7 3
288 1
0
04 0 0
224 1 0
300 IS
fi
61 0 0
230 18 5
318 10
3
No return.
318 10 3
335 5
0
150 0 0
185 5 9
341 10
3
97 2 7
244 7 8
3.54 19
0
95 0 0
259 19 0
368 11 11
50 4 10
318 7 1
400 3
3
120 0 0
280 3 3
413 6
0
70 8 10
338 17 2
41S 6
9
116 0 0
299 0 9
417 8
0
48 16 0
368 13 0
433 11
8
126 3 2
307 8 0
4:« 11
6
100 0 0
.335 11 6
441 16
6
66 0 0
375 10 6
479 8
6
50 0 0
429 8 6
482 1
0
48 0 0
4:m 1 0
486 7
1
277 0 0
209 7 1
490 1
3
84 0 0
400 1 3
523 19
fi
140 0 0
38;) 19 0
629 9
3
90 0 0
439 9 3
563 1
3
122 0 0
441 1 3
588 19
0
165 0 0
423 19 6
600 15
10
142 0 0
461 15 10
658 14
3
108 0 0
550 14 3
667 17
0
85 0 0
682 17 0
728 18
fi
228 6 10
600 11 8
752 13
6
107 14 1
644 19 6
756 17
6
172 0 0
584 17 6
757 3
3
165 0 0
592 3 3
761 6
3
100 16 2
660 11 1
888 14
9
160 0 0
728 14 9
902 9 10
225 0 0
677 9 10
971 3
0
78 0 0
893 3 0
l,0a3 14
3
No lletum.
1,093 14 3
It will be seen that the fees received in eleven districts are under £200 each,
▼lu^ng from £-27 to £191. In eleven districts the amounts rise from £210 to
£288. In »x districts they are under £400. In eleven districts (hey vary from
£400to£4!M). In four ilistricts they are under £600 : and in twelve districts
thev rise from £im to £l,OiJO.
•jftie expenses of district offices amounted to £4,879 Us. rA., the fees remaining
dne for all arrears amount to £13,946 ITs. 7d., and the sums abated or lost are
£1,655 5«. 3d. The surveyors have not " felt persuaded to write off much of the
arrearage thus brought forward from year to year in these reports," and hence
tbe total increases.
A nunmary of the abstract shows that the total for the year, £22,791 has
been received in reipect of 15,000 works, of which two-thirds were done within
tbe year.
Works.
Building
Operations.
Fees.
New BuiLDi.NGS in 1860 In respect of which fees
have been received
4,765
5,010
2,615
2,019
£ B. d.
9,039 6 8
6,087 0 8 '
5,443 7 8
2,221 7 3
Additions, Alterations, and other works in
respect of which fees have been received
Arrears of former years received —
Total Works and Foes thereon during the year
ondiiiff 31 St December, 1860
I.') 030
22 791 2 3
It does seem remarkable how nearly the results of these abstracts approximate
each year. It is shown that there were
Works. Fees received.
Inl8.5(i .. .. li.WH .. .. £19,9(M 14 11
In 1S57 .. .. 1,5,330 .. .. 20,969 11 4
In 1858 .. .. 15„>0n .. .. 21,732 11 2
InlSjB .. .. 15,!>j8 .. .. 22,385 9 2
InlSOU .. .. 15,030 .. .. 22,791 2 3
These reports give us some idea of the amount of building going on around us
FINE ARTS COMMITTEE OF THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.
WE understand that in addition to the general committee in connexion with the
fine art section of the International Exhibition of 18f.2, her Majesty's Com-
missioners have requested the following gentlemen to form committees of advice and
selection for the several classes of that department.
Class 37.— Architecture.— William Tite, Esq., M.P.. F.K.S., President of the
Institute of British Architects; A. J. Heresford-Hope, Esq.. Honorary Fellow,
R.I.B.A., and President of the Architectural Museum ; Thomas L. Donaldson, Esq.,
Professor of Architecture at the Loudon University College, and Vice-l'residcnt
K.I.B.A. i G. G. Scott, Esq., VIce-I'resiilcnt K.B.A. ; M. Digby Wyatt, 'Esq., Vice-
I'resident R.I. 11. A.; Sydney Sniirke, Esq., R.A., IMM.B.A. ; .Tames Fergusson,
Esq., F. K.I.B.A., Honorary Secretary to Architectural Exhibition ; and Arthur
Ashi)itel, Esq., F.S.A., F.U.I.B.A., Treasurer to Architectural Exhibition. Mr. J. B.
Waring has been appointed superintendent of this class.
Class .38.— I'alntings in Oil and Water Colors and Drawings.— Sir Charles Eastlake,
President Royal Academy ; Sir ,T. W. Gordon, President Royal Scottish Academy ;
Scatterson Smith, Esq., President, Royal Hibernian Academy ; F. y. Hurlstone,
Esq., President, Society of British Artists ; F. Taylor, Esq., President, Society of
Painters in Water Colors ; H. Warren, Esq., President, New Society of Painters in
Water Colors ; and R. S. Lauder, R.S.A., President, National Institute of Fine Arts.
Mr. R. Redgrave, R.A., has been requested to act as professional assistant in respect
to this class.
Class 39.— Sculpture, Models, Die-sinking, and Intaglios.— The Marquis of
Lansdowne, K.G. ; the Earl of GifTord, M.P., j A. H. Layard, Esq., M.P., ; J. H.
Foley, Esq., R.A. ; and R. Westmacott, Esq., R.A.
Class 40. — Etchings and Engravings. — W. H. ('arpenter, Esq., British Museum ;
D. Colnaghi, Esq. ; G. T. Doo, Esq., R.A. ; K. J. Lane, Esq., A.R.A., and W. Smith,
Esq.
. «-
STRIKE OF THE MASONS IN THE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT.
IN the notice we gave last week of the relative positions of employers and employed
in the buildiog trades, as to the system of employment by the hour, more
especially with reference to the masons, we led our readers to understand that,
unless in the mean time some mutual arrangement should be come to, a general strike
of the masons within the metropolitan district would take place on Monday last.
Our solitary prediction was a correct one— A GENEiiAi. strike of the metko-
poLiT.iN .MASONS TOOK PLACE ON .MONDAY MORNING, and now botwocn 700 and
800 skilled hands in this particular and important branch of the building trade have
been withdrawn from the jobs now bemg proceeded with in the metropolis, at the
finest season of the year for building operations. The masons employed on country
job.9 by London firms which enforce the system of payment by the hour, either hare
been, or will speedily be, withdrawn. What the masons ask for is the payment of
6s. per day for hve days of the week, and 33. on Saturday, leaving oif work at twelve
o'clock, and thus to secure a half-holiday. The majority of the employers, by way
of putting a check upon the movements of the restless, idle, and unprincipled
agitators for the nine hours' movement, have insisted strongly upon the adoption
of the system of payment by the hour, the hands to cease working at one o'clock on
Saturdays, and the rate of wages to be the same as at present, 33s. per
week for skilled bands. The present dispute between the masons and
bricklayers and the employers has nothing to do with the nine hours'
movement, but the former stand out iu resistance to the attempt
which has been made by tho latter to make payment by the hour a rule,
and universal. Dissatisfied with such an anomalous state of things as some
employers p.aying by the day, while others paid by the hour their hands, both
classes being paid the same rate of wages, the Mason's Society, at head-quarters-
an institution which can upon emergencies command an almost fabulous sum of
money in support of any cause sanctioned by the executive, and approved of by the
general body — took the matter up, sent up delegates to London, who carefully and most
minutely investigated the whole of the circumstances of tbe dispute, and the result
has been the general strike on Monday both of society and non-society men. Even
someof the masons who went to work at tho firms where the hour system was
enforced have come out, and others have expressed a desire to come out if they
would be supported by the Masons' Society— a condition which the Society refuse to
accede to, on the ground that they are not efficient hands, and, therefore, unworthy
of support. Although there Is now a strike of the masons, already a number of the
employers have given way to their demands. They comprise Mr. Moore, of Paddlng-
tou (w'ho from tho first agreed to the " half-holiday " proposed by tho masons) ; Mr.
(illynn, of Kensall-green ; Westminster-bridge Works (a Government job) ; Mr.
Bowers, Millbank ; Hungerford Railway-bridge (Messrs. Baker and Perham); Mr.
Kaston, Wandsworth ; Mr. Woodruif, Pimlico; Mr. Corbett, Lambetli-w.alk ; Mr,
Phlppard, Hackney. It is expected by the employed that very soon a gcmral giving
way on the part of^the employers will take place ; and this may probably be the
more readily surmised as the principal point in difference between the contending
parties is not one relating to money. We have heard that some of tho large builders
will be obliged to yield to the demands made upon them, otherwise heavy contracts
will be taken out of their hands, and immediately proceeded with under penalty,
where that has not been provided against.
Hull.— St. Luke's Church.— k few days since, the foundation-stone of
this building was laid witli the accustomed ceremony. The building will be in
the Early Gothic style, and consist of a nave, north and south aisles, and, at the
east end, a clianc'!l,a small west gallery, a tower, and a vestry. The materials
are red and black brick, with stone tracings. When completed it will scat nearly
a thousand persons. The internal fittings will be comjiosed of deal, stained and
varnished. It is not intended to erect the tower and spire at present, hut they
will be added subsequently. The estimated cost of the church (exclusive of tower
and spire) is £31,000, and the architect is Mr. H. K. Blessley, of London.
June 14, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
495
tup: birth and mutations op styles.*
GREEK.
THE first style of whose origin we have any knowledge is the Hellenic
or true Greek, which was the result, as far as architecture is con-
corned, of the mi.\ture of the two races, Pelasgic and Dorian, conse-
quent on the Dorian invasion of the Peloponnesus before mentioned.
Its first Term, or the nucleus from which it grew, was probably certain
elementary features of the I'elasgic already elaborated in Greece,
though, as the Grei^ks did not worship their ancestors as the Pelasri
did, and were indifferent .about their own tombs, little of this art could
ultimately fiml a place in the Greek system. To the style of the
Pelasgi, the mixed Grecian race brought elements from the Egyptian
and Assyrian, till, in the course of centuries, a new style appears,
which, it is probable, first presents itself to us in the temple of Corinth,
a form, though full of grace, almost as massive as those of the Nile.
The chief source of the Greek elements was the Egyptian ; but most
of the circumstances which have an influence on the form and character
of all true styles of architecture were materially different in Greece
from what they were in Egypt, and pointed to a different architecture.
The Greek mythology, though derived irom that of Egypt, was yet so
chastened and beautified by the intellectual and poetic medium through
which it passed that it breathed quite another spirit. The lively
imagination of the Greeks, who were passionately fond of poetry, and
not debarred by their veneration for superior natures from the use of
fiction and fable in speaking of them, devised numerous tales and
adventures of their gods. To the Egyptian Fetichism which they
appropriated, they added more poetic and beautiful elements. To the
great celestial deities they introduced less awful ones, deuii-gods and
heroes, personifications of the virtues and vices, times and seasons, and
peopled all nature, the air, the woods and waters, mountains and cities,
•with invisible beings, supposing that every object in creation, from the
sun and sea to the smallest fountain and stream, was under the guardian
care of some tutelar deity. This most poetic and art-inspiring of the
ancient systems of theology, which, indeed, in regard to some of _ its
departments, is not separated by any wide gulph from the beautiful
conception of Milton —
'* Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, botli when we walte and when we sleep ;"
and which was religiously believed in by the multitude, was the creation
of the Theogonists and poets of early Greece ; for here, unlike Egypt,
poetry was a distinct art, the prevailing one, and sculpture, painting,
and architecture were the illustrations of her volume ; a fact that of
itself was calculated to have no mean influence on the group of arts
employed in the construction and decoration of the temple. And it had
such influence, as had every other circumstance. The Greek style was
columnar architecture set free from Egyptian bondage to grow truthful
and beautiful at once, and to attract to its sphere all it could assimilate
of what was great and beautiful in nature and in foregone art — columnar
architecture purified from the symbols of a gross and ridiculous super-
stition, made to drink into the spirit of a deeper and grander philosophy
and literature, and to sympathise with the beauty of a brighter land-
scape. The Greeks did not copy Egyptian symbols and hieroglyphics,
or seek to catch the spirit of the old Theban sculptors ^ but, true to
theu' own religion and race — true to their national customs and institu-
tions, true to the climate and physical aspects of their country, and
true to their own capabilities, their own imaginations, feeling, and
judgment — they bequeathed to their successors an art which was in
every feature Greek, that never was or could be mistaken for that of
any other people, and that recorded the exact stature of the Greek soul,
at the diflerent periods of its career, as distinctly as the biographer,
historian, or poet, could have done it.
The quality most soul-stirring in architecture had been already
embodied on the banks of the Nile, and its secret would soon be
caught by the Greek, whose chief task in tlie development of his
style would be in qualifying the sublime by the beautiful, and giving
refinement and perfection to the grand forms suggested by the
Egyptian; qualities which were never so successfully embodied as in
the edifices of the great period of Athenian architecture, when it
reached a height of excellence that enabled it to assimilate with
sculpture of the highest class, which is an integral part of the Doric
order. And when from this great heroic style they descended to the
more subdued Ionic, they showed in the clia.-;tening of the most
luxuriant forms of the Asiatics into harmony with their austere Doric
the same high artistic power of invention — a power which completes the
cycle of its range in the monument of Lysicrates, where it revels in
the utmost luxuriance and floridity.
It is true that few elements were absolutely invented by the Greek?,
and that most of the features of their style may be traced to Egypt or
Assyria, the former of which, at least, none will deny to have been a
storehouse of art and well-spring of inspiration to Greece to whose art
it imparted not only innumerable elements and the germ of some of
Its most sublime characteristics, but hints for combination and treat-
• Contributed by Mr. Samuel Hucoiss. Continued from page 470.
ment in design. But it is the characteristic of high genius to be
eminently receptive ; and we are to judge of its power more by the
use it makes of what it borrows than by what it absolutely creates.
For absolute creation is not needful in the human artist, who, if he
lack materials to work upon in the foregone art of man, has abundance
in the infinite creation of God that surrounds him.
So judging of Greek art, research into the sources or parentage of
the style can only tend to raise it in our estimation, for it makes
known to us how true and intellectual the relationship between it and its
predecessor — how truly and legitimately the Greek is the daughter of
the Egyptian ; it lays bare to view an artistic power on the part of the
Greek artists to digest their materials, which was true creative power,
and makes manifest that the essential life of the art, and those subtile
graces which distinguish it from all the styles of the world, were
imparted by the generating and refining fire of their own genius. It
reveals the mental stainp on all they borrowed — the mark of adapta-
tion on all they adopted ; for to all they borrowed — all they adopted-
all their derived materials, they either gave a new application and
significance, or a greater refinement and idealisation, making it moret -
logical and true, more imaginative and divine.
Never perhaps was there a power exercised by man on the earth,
more closely resembling the organic power or principle in nature that
produces plants and animals — the principle controlling and guiding the
polarities of chemical elements, than that organizing intelligence which
the Greek exercised in the building up of the grand fabric of his art
from the originally diverse and discordant elements of which it was
composed. An art which exhibits a comprehensive unity — the unity
that guides and controls all to one end, which no other creation of human
intelligence can boast, and whose truth and excellence, be it observed,
sprang not from instinctive feeling alone, but from an earnest and pro-
found search into the principles of beauty, which are based on the
structure and laws of the human mind. Gertainly no human work by
its symmetry and simplicity and perfection of form, and the evidence of
thought and skill which every feature displays, resembles an organism
of nature so much as does a Greek temple, a comparison of which with
its Egyptian prototypes proves the possession on the part of the Greek
artists of a power which, had they not found the principle of columnar
architecture already carried out in the works of the Egyptians, would
have called it out of Chaos, or rather would have supplied it, by dint of
their pregnant and vigorous imaginations, from the hints which nature
aftbrds them in her constructive works.
Of the style as it existed at its best period, that during the administra-
tion of Pericles, I will only say that every increase of knowledge goes
to confirm the belief th.it it was the noblest, and most perfect architec*
ture that ever existed; combining the highest qualities with the
minutest and subtilest graces and excellences ever expressed in stone ;
the edifice generally referred to as its typical example — the Parthenon,
embodying more intellectual beauty and aisthetic perfection of form and
detail within the same compass than any other building in the world.
The history of this great age of the art proves that the genius of
architecture did not reach her distinguished position through the un-
due development of one faculty of the nation to the impoverishment of
all others. Architecture was in perfect harmony with every other
element of civilisation. She went hand in hand with her sister arts,
—sculpture .and painting — which were also in their zenith, and with
poetry and divine philosophy. The time in question was long posterior
to the Homeric period of the Grecian epic, but it followed close upon
that of Pindar and the Greek lyric muse, and it was contemporary with
the glorious dramatic era of ^Eschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aris-
tophanes ; rendered still more illustrious by the pure teachings and
bright example of the prince of moral philosophers who was then living
at Athens — I mean, of course, Socrates ; it was followed up by the
philosophic age of Plato and Aristotle. Within the three or four
centuries during which the style continued to progress, ending with the
death of Alexander the Great, there flourished, besides the illustrious
names already mentioned, those of Pythagoras, Herodotus, Sappho, Thu-
cydides, Demosthenes, Praxitiles, Lysippus, Xenophon, Xenocrates,
Euclid, Hippocrates, Zeno, Anaxagoras, and others no less worthy to be
mentioned, completing the most glorious galaxy of genius in literature
and philosophy, arts and arms, that the world has ever witnessed.
From the aae of Alexander the style gradually declines till the final
conquest of Greece by the sacking of Corinth, when it mingled with
Etruscan elements, probably already embodied in an Early Roman style,
producing the great Roman system ; and thus commenced that wonder-
ful serics^of transmigrations, reminding us of the metempsychosis itself,
which its spirit has undergone, through all tlie subsequent styles of the
world and through which its wonderful vital energy has conveyed it in.
various forms — Romanesque, Byzantine, Gothic, Saracenic — down to the-
present day. From the Greek style not only came the first great pro-
pellino- and directing impulse to the history of architecture, which is
little else but a record of its own transformations, but the essence of all
architecture itself — almost every true style that has since appeared in
496
THE BUILDING NEWS.
the world, whether Pagan, Christian, or Alahommedan, Laving under
various indueuccs been generated from it, and being its liueal de-
scendant.*
-♦■
HISTORICAL EXHIBITION OF WATER-COLOR PAINTINGS.
THE larf!c room of the Society of Arts, John-street, Adelphi, contains,
besides the large historical pictures by Cross, a very interesting series
of water-color drawings, arranged in chronological order, illustrative of
the progress of that branch of art from the earliest date, embracing a
period of about one hundred years. The purpose fir which these works
h»»e been lent by their respective proprietors is to obtain an addition to
the subscription already in progress for the purpose of rendering what
hitherto has been the Government School of Design for Females self-
•apporting. The only apparent reason which has induced the Committee
of Council on Education to withdraw the special assistance — £500 per
annum— is so remarkable, that we really cannot refrain from reprinting it.
" The eucccsn of the school has been considerable. In the last three years the
ctodenis have lakcn an annual average of twenty local and three national medals, and
at the last annual examination six of them obtained free studentships ; six of them,
moreover, gained their living for several years by designing and painting Japanned
articles In Wolverhampton ; one was for several years a designer in a damask manu-
factory in Scotland ; jjnother supports herself by litliography ; and three are
employed in a glass factorv. where they draw and paint (iKnres and ornamental sub-
jects for glass windows. Besides these, there are many of the former students who
are now engaged in teaching various schools belonging to the Science and Art
- Department."
This is a subject that cannot be discussed in these pages, because it
would naturally lead us into questions of Government finance. We will,
therefore, content ourselves by observing that it has been said the appoint-
ment of the Council of Education is a job ; and this afiair seems to give
«onie gromid for the suspicion, for no set of men can be in earnest, except
for themselves, who would adopt such a course. Or it may be, as it is an
established rule that no enterprise succeeds under Government assistance,
the Committee of Council on Education are resolved the female artists of
{England shall not enjoy the benefit of being the exception. They manage
these things everywhere better than in shopkeeping England. It is asto-
nishing how much money a Government has to spend in its own way by
throwing every expense possible on the purse of private charity, bene-
Tolence, and patronage. Thus, then, it happens that the collection of
water-color drawings which we are about to notice came to be exhibited
in the great room of the Society of Arts, the free use of which room is
the Society's contribution towards the sum required.
All the early drawings are in that poor and cold style that used to be
known as " tinted," but still in most of them will be seen a clear percep-
tion of the beauties of aerial perspective, luminous atmosphere, and
simplicity in composition. It may be doubted, on looking at these draw-
ings, whether much breadth and atmosphere are not sacrificed for the more
powerful treatment of the present day.
It is, therefore, the more early productions to which we intend to direct
attention. The collection is arranged as nearly as possible in chronological
order, which will facilitate our mtentions. Besides the almost charitable
purpose, for which this Exhibition is got up, it possesses the advantages
of making known names, many of us never ever heard before, of talented
artists, whose works prepared the way to the point of excellence at which
we have iiow arrived, in water-color painting. They were the tinters and
paper-stainers of landscape art, but, since water-color drawings have
entered into competition with oil paintings, those who practice that branch
of art are kuown as water-color painters. When we, however, examine
■those early productions with an unprejudiced eye, we find that in the
leading principles of art, and the main features of out-door scenery they
were really quite as much painters in the strict sense of the term as their
more daring and florid successors. It is, therefore, an excellent lesson for
those of the rising generation, who could not be contemporaries with those
early artists, and are not accustomed to perceive their merits, to learn by
studying them, putting aside the peculiarity of tone and touch, and to
discover in them very generally,that feeble though their works appear, they
were mostly as well skilled in composition, arrangement of masses, and the
perception of atmosphere, as many of our modern exhibitors. This col-
lection, as it contains several early and progressive works by Turner, will
also serve to show how gradually he advanced towards that style which has,
in loo many instances, shaken public confidence in the sanity of his pictorial
efforts, but in all those instances where even his most faithful admirers
cannot pretend to understand him, there should exist no doubt that where
his own well trained and sensitive faculties produced somethmg unin-
telligible to others, the failure arose more from the impossibility of pig-
ments carrying out his intentions, than from want of a clearness of inten-
tion on his part to produce the poetic visions of his own imagination, for
Jt is said to have been his raaxim " Make up your mind to what you are
^mg to do and do it."
But to our task—who ever heard of J. A. Gresse ? but No. 1 shows how
^ellhc understood breadth of treatment. In addition to which No. 3 by
^^l-aul bandby, a view of "Llandafl" Cathedral," notwithstanding its pale-
(jess, gives us also breadth, combined with much delicacy of treatment and
''SS.'i!'*", 0' /"nosphere. John Cosens again, in his "View of the Island
|TBJl>a' although the tone is cold, how clearly and nicely his drawing is
pe lo^ed ! A. Uavis is a name equally unknown as many others in this
^jgue, but there u> something very pleasing in his landscape, particu-
^^ m the management of the distance. No. 1 1 is by Collett, competitor
A s'J'fV'' *"" ^'T™ }^'"<^ " l'"le to justify comparison, but there
been r.-ffJiiyJifSg':^' '° "" drawing entitled " Asylum for the Blind." " The
the year. -— —
• To be continued.
June 14, 1S61,
btorni, by J. P. M. Loutherbourg, for spirit and effect could not be ex-
celled at the present time— indeed for a/wiidvn to the feeling of the scene
we do not quite know who could equal it. Let attention be paid to the
daylight effect in Turner's unpretending drawing of" St. Alban's Abbey,"
the poetry and power in his composition, No. 65, and the massive motion
in his "Waterfall" although the surrounding objects are artificially
colored. Ihen in another drawing, by John Cozens, see how beautifully
he has managed the gleams of light and shade crossing the height on
which stands " The Cliigi Palace, at Albano," without destroying either
air or distance. There are several drawings by Henry Edridge, a name
little known at present, who died nearly sixty years ago, but his view of
"LePontNeuf'is as vigorously and as intelligibly touched as any views
of the same kind by artists of the present time. More than half a century
since a set of Chinese drawings was made, exhibited here. They are from
the pencil of W. Alexander, and are neat and delicate, possess atmosphere,
and occasionally delicate arrangement of colors. Exactly sixty-one years
ago produced the drawing to be seen here entitled " Horses at a Pool "
containing all the breadth and character of Morland with the flickering
lights playing about the transparent atmosphere with cliarming delicacy
and truthfulness ; but who besides collectors, know the naiue of Gessner ?
That of Girtin more frequently occurs, as a founder of the English school
of water-color painting, and although his view of " Jedburgh Abbey " is
almost in monotone, the masses are fine and the general effect is both
broad and powerful. To which we may add that his view of " St. Asaph's
Cathedral " is remarkably elegant, indeed classical in the arrangement of
lines, placing of the whites and treatment of the subordinate parts.
In the " Wood Scene," by J. B. Crome, there are elegant forms in the
trees and good lines of composition. Another drawing, by Henry Edridge,
of a "View near Bromley" is delightfully composed, graceful in the
forms, having all the ease of nature, and some cows very nicely intro-
duced. " Church of St. Cross," by M. A. Rooker, is classically treated,
and in the detail we noticed a skilful arangement of the whites. The
drawing from a pretty spot near Bala, by John Webber, has a great deal
of light in it, for which merit we notice another drawing by M. A Rooker,
entitled " St. Botolph's Priory, Colchester." " Cymon and Iphegenia,"
—a rustic version of it, by Wheatly, although faint in tone, is very
skilfully treated, as regards the coloring grouping and breadth.
There is an excellent effect of space in John Glover's " View of Tivoli."
The works by Rowlandson, particuKarly that entitled •' Brook-green-
Fair," show how freely he could sketch, and how skilful he was in
arranging scenes with a great many figures in them without confusion, and
" The Ferry " suggests that he had a genuine feeling for rural scenery— the
cow is prettily introduced. The drawing of Hyde-park, with the Ranger's
Cottage," by E. Dayes, will be admired for the breadth of light and the
truthful representation of distance. A work dated as early as 1785 of
"Waterford," by J. T. Serres, is a pleasing piece of daylight effect.
Another landscape, by Henry Edridge, No. 55, is remarkably aiirial and
sunny— the trees are excellent, both as regards their form and treatment,
and the idea of heat is sustained by placing a group of horses beneath the
shade of some tall trees, while their colors contrast with, and give light to
the landscape, and the white fetlocks of the horses tell well against the
darkness of the shadow on the ground, and are very useful in other
respects.
"The View of Conway" by O'Niel, is a fine drawing in which the
breadth of the masses is well maintained. For a remarkably truthful
representation of the reality, combining elegance of treatment and
brilliant sunlight effect; we can confidently direct attention to the draw-
ing No. 62, of" New Court in the Temple," by William Hunt. John Varley's
drawing of " Bedggelert Bridge " is an admirable effect of light appear-
iiig suddenly through a mist, with an excellent expanse of atmosphere.
There is something poetical in the tone and treatment of the " View on the
Skell, near Ripon," by F. Nicholson, throughout which a remarkable
quietude seems to reign, and which seems to be heightened by the tranquil
manner of the cows in the water. Although exhibited as early as IS06,
William Havell's drawing of " Kilgaran Castle." There is a modern look
and classical feeling about it, the forms are fine and tbe color excellent.
Turner's view of " Easby Abbey, Yorkshire," is largely devoted to cold
color, and the warm light on the ruined wall is rather sudden and confined,
but it is, in itself, of excellent quality and tone. The drawings by
Cattermole we prefer to many of his more recent productions. There are
several drawings by Prout at the several periods of his practice all
excellent. There is, we believe, but one example of David Cox, but it is
a very pure little composition. A picturesque group forms the foreground of
an elegant drawing by Atkinson entitled " Harvesters." This hangs between
two very classical compositions by Barrett admirably treated as regards
the different styles of their subjects.
The collection contains three drawings by " the prince of designers," as
he was called in his day, Thomas Stothard. " Venus instructing Cupid "
is very charming. A large drawing, executed with a pen and washed in
with Indian ink, representing " The Remorse of Orestes," by John
Flaxman, is a very peculiar production; the figure of Orestes is finely
drawn. " The Furies " are singular conceptions, and their attitudes are
expressive, but eccentric; taken, however, as a group, there is much spirit
and wildness in its general effect ; but the drapery, as arranged according
to the principles laid down in his lectures, is deserving of study for the
purpose of discovering the spaces it fills up, the lines it varies and
repeats, as well as the assistance it may give to the motion of the
figures. It is probably, the first idea of the subject. Among the
drawings by living artists, we must mention a most gorgeous and elabo-
rate one by Corbould of the coronation scene in "Le Prophete," con-
June 14, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
497
taining tlie portraits of Signor Mario and Madame Viardot. It is an
admirable worli of tlie Itind, and tlie most satisfactory effort we liavc seen
from tliis artist for some time. We do not notice the drawings by living
artists generally, because the interesting feature of this Exhibition is the
examples of water-color tinting or staining which has rendered the art
peculiarly English, chiefly by the genius of Girtin, who died too early in
his career to induce much improvement, and more particularly by that of
Turner, who, although he quitted water-color for oil painting, introduced
a progressive style which lias led to the present satisfactory results. Her
Majesty is at the head of those who lend their drawings upon this occa-
sion; a very large contributor is Mr. William Smith, several other gen-
tlemen have also added to the collection, and many have been supplied by
the South Kensington Museum. Whether for the pleasure this Exhibition
affords in an artistic point of view, or the beneficial support which ought
to accrue from it, we wish it every success that the liberal patronage of
the art-loving public can bestow upon it.
LONDON UPWARDS.*
THE first and chief difficulty with which we are beset is to discover an
auency to carry out the new system of house building. We have no large
building company like the Compaijnie Immobiliere in Paris, with whom the
State, or the Corporation could treat with and impose conditions on in return
for the concession of advantages. The Board of Works are something worse
than useless, and we need not stay to discuss how they might be of use if
they would; for they will not. They are incurable and incapable. But we
have in the City of Loudon a corporation sufficiently wealthy for any
emergency, and who have at times shown themselves full of public spirit
and anxious to promote the welfare of their humbler constituents. We
have also an efficient, long-tried, and admirable body, which, if its powers
were slightly extended, would be the means of carrying out the improve-
ments desired. The details and appliances are at hand. They require
simply to be gathered up, arid directed to one end. The Lands Improve-
ment Commission are empowered to lend money at a low rate of interest
for the drainage and other improvements of estates. Are there any valid
reasons against extending the power so as to permit the Commission to
lend capital on the same easy condition for the improvement of London
homes?
The importance of the subject will, we trust, be sufficient excuse for
submitting to our readers a few suggestions for carrying it into practical
effect, and in doing so, our object is not to advocate the realisation of
these suggestions, but to provoke propositions and criticisms from those
who are interested, and to attract the attention of the authorities.
Our scheme is that the Lands Improvement Commission should be
authorised to advance money by way of loan to the extent, we will pre-
sume, of a million sterling at 3\ per cent, interest, and to be repaid by
annual instalments spread over a period of fifty years. The loan to be
made upon the certificate of a Royal commission to be presently described,
and to be applied under inspection in building and improving dwellings
for the working classes. By this arrangement the labors of the Lands
Improvement Commission would be very slightly increased, and the
quarter per cent, would be ample to cover the expenses and risk from
losses. To those who may object to the proposal on account of its sub-
stituting, as we may say, the State for money lenders, of lending the
national credit to facilitate private enterprises, of entailing cost upon tax-
payers, and of interfering with trade, we reply that the transaction
would be self-supporting — as have been all the operations of the Lands
Improvement Commission, and would, therefore, not cost the taxpayer one
penny ; that national credit has been already lent to facilitate private
enterprise, to raise capital for Indian railroads and submarine telegraphic
lines of communication, for draining and improving estates to enable their
owners to meet the conditions created by legislative alterations in our
commercial systems, and the Right Hon. T. Milner-Gibson proposes
to employ exactly the same means we have suggested, to obtain the im-
provement of ports and harbors. There are consequently abundant pre-
cedents for the course proposed, and the excuse or necessity for it will be
found in the interference of the legislature to authorise railways to
destroy the homes of the working classes without being bound to provide
substitutes or compensation.
It will thus be seen that the funds and an almost costless mode of pro-
curing them are within reach.
The chief instrument for carrying out the scheme we submit should be
a Royal unpaid commission, composed of a chairman nominated by the
Crown, of certain members appointed by the Board of Trade, others
elected by the ratepayers— not the vestrymen of metropolitan parishes,
and two appointed by the City corporation. The metropolitan parishes-
might be formed into unions to elect ten members; tlie Board of Trade
and City might each nominate two, who, with the chairman, would make
a Board of fifteen large enough to ensure varied information, prevent
jobbery, and yet not too large to be unwieldly. To a Board so constituted we
should be inclined to commit the charge of supervising metropolitan build-
ings, which is so scandalously abused by the Board of Works, and we deem
It would be very advantageous if they were authorised to examine and
report to parliamentary committees upon railways intended to penetrate
within the metropolitan area and usurp the place of houses. The Board
would, perhaps, be able to suggest some practicable and mutually bene-
ficial system of compensation; perchance, the formation of a large building
company, under their auspices, towards which the railway companies would
contribute portions of the capital by subscribing for shares ;)ro rata. Let
• Continued from page 4ri.
us now glance at what would be the probable modus operandi. The owner
of house property, we will suppose, is desirous of rebuilding on a more
extensive and substantial scale. He makes application to the Royal Com-
mission. They examine his title, the architectural and sanitary character
of the proposed buildings, the accommodation they will provide;
their necessity indicated by the wants of the population of
the locality, and the chances of success. If all appear bona fide
and satisfactory, they will issue a certificate, upon receipt of which the
Lands Improvement Commission conclude the loan, the money being
advanced by instalments upon the declaration of the superintending archi-
tect that the works have been executed in accordance with the conditions
laid down by the Royal Commission. This body will possess the power of
prescribing the wants to be satisfied— height rif building dimensions of
apartments and all details. There are hundreds — we had almost written
thousands — of landlords who are possessed of extensive property in poor
neighbourhoods who would be only too thankful to be thus easily enabled
to improve their condition, but who have not the requisite capital. If they
attempted to borrow it in the ordinary course and in open market, they
would have to pay on the average a minimum interest of 7 per cent. —
oftentimes 10 or 12. The rent paid by tenants must cover the interest on
capital and leave profits for the landlord after defraying the law expenses
of the mortgage. If the landlord obtains the capital without law expenses
at 3i per cent., with J per cent, towards liquidation of the debt, or 4 per
cent, in all, he will evidently save an annual outlay of at least 3 per cent,
upon capital, to which extent he will be enabled to diminish his rents,
besides the economy of lawyers' fees at first starting. The Lands Improve-
ment Commission would have a prior mortgage on the estate, and the
usual authority to insist on the buildings being kept in substantial repair.
Such are the general features of the scheme in outline, and to which we
invite criticism.
For the buildings themselves we apprehend that to obtain diminished
rents without loss to the landlord and to supply the wants of the popula-
tion, the Royal Commission would insist on the houses having five stories,
at least, to be let off in flats. In Paris houses are built with an inner yard
which is very objectionable, because the apartments that look into the
cortille — which are no better than wells — receive little light and air, and
because ventilationis difficult from the impossibility of obtaining a through
draft. We should infinitely prefer the houses being built in blocks with
backs and fronts, facing streets, as being the best for satisfying sanitary
requirements. But where the site is covered with two parallel rows of
houses extending the length of 9, street or a sufficient distance, with back
gardens betweeu the rows of the houses, as is generally the case in London
houses not in the City, the cortille system may be advantageously adopted
as its dimensions would then permit the penetration of light. To work out
problem we will suppose a block as a unit illustration of what might be
done, and we will further suppose it to have a frontage of 60 feet and a
depth of .50 feet. The basement would be provided with cellars and
others extending under the pavement, as is usual, to provide separate
accommodation for coals and household stores of the inmates. There
would be a common dust-bin for ashes and refuse to be emptied every
morning, and a shoot for lifting coals to the different flats. On the
ground floor would be sufficient area for two good-sized shops, each with
a frontage of over 20 feet back and front, or for four small shops with the
same frontage but upon one street. There would be an encroachment
upon the area of one for the common stairia'se. Above the sliops, and com-
municating with them, would be the entresol containing loftier apartments
than are common in Paris, to provide for the comforts of the inmates. The
first, second, and third floors, would have a diminished depth of 40 feet
to allow of the construction of open galleries — a species of cloisters — by
which the apartments on the same floor would be approached. The area
of each of these three floors in our unit or sample block would be reduced
to 50 feet frontage by 40 feet depth. With this area we could lay out, on
the frontage facing the back street and approached by the gallery, an
entrance having on one side two bed-rooms, and between them and
the outer wall a passage fitted with a watercloset with an opening
to the exterior above the level of vision, and closed in from
the apartments. On the other side of the entrance would be a
kitchen with all accessories to delight the heart of a careful housewife —
range, boiler, oven, sink, water supply, and cupboard v.ist and profound ;
while between the kitchen and out-wall would be a small scullery. It will
be observed that the windows of the kitchen and three bed-rooms open on to
the gallery covered at top, but open at side towards the street. The entrance
passage would open into a transverse passage beyond which would be the
principal rooms, looking out into the main street, namely a sitting-room
and dining-room, each 15 feet by 18 feet, anda bed-room 12 feet by 18 feet.
At the ends of the transverse passage would be store cupboards. Here,
then, we have an apartment equivalent to a six-roomed house — two day-
rooms, three bed-rooms, and kitchen with offices, all larger and better
appointed than in suburban houses of 50/. a year. To render the structure
fireproof, the floors would be carried on iron girders, the spaces being filled
in with hollow bricks for lightness and to deaden sound. The walls of the
entrance and passage, kitchen and scullery, should be built of glazed bricks
in patterns to save the recurring expense of papering, and diminish refuge
for vermin. The entrance and passage should be paved with encaustic
tiles, which look better and are more easily kept clean than wood. For the
same reason we should recommend that the walls of the other rooms
should be painted. Apartments of the description mentioned would not
suit the purses of the generality of the working classes, but they might the
upper sections of them, snch as foremen nnd clerks, if the cost of their
construction could be kept so low as to admit of moderate rentals. If the
498
TH2 BUILDING NEWS
June 14, 1861.
■first, second, and third floors were fitted up as mentioned, the fourth and
SMi, not having an external gallery, wouM each have two series of apart-
ments, one series on either side of a central corridor, each apartment
consisting of sitting-room, Icitchen, and two bed-rooms, while the sixth
floor might be fitted with apartments of two rooms.
What would be the cost of a block of this kind ? Would it be com-
patible with the accommodation suggested at rents to suit the working
cUues, and those of the middle classes just above tliem ? ThckC arc
qaestions for practical men to deciiie. AVe know that in Paris and
"Vienna, where building sites and building operations, including building
materials, are so much dearer than licre, these questions are practically
■joWed every day, and with profit to those wlio engage in them. We
cannot but think that what is done elsewhere may be achieved here with
CTcn greater success.
Assuming tliej- .ire answered satisfactorily, perhnps the best locale to com-
mence in would be Smithfield, with the inner area planted as a square.
To this work the railway companies— tlie London, Dover, and Chatham
and the Metropolitan — that purpose making their termini there may be
■fairly called upon to contribute, and so may the Corporation, either by
undertaking portious of the work in conjunction with private individuals
■whom tlie Royal Commission may have aided by loans, or by any other
arrangement. Even after the dead meat market is established, there will
be sufficient space left to erect houses, such as have been alluded to on
all sides of the square, thus put into shape, with the exception of the
side occupied by the Hospital. Smithfield is the locality which has
prior claims for a work of this kind. It is situated close to the centres
of employment. Householders, traders, and landlords have suficred con-
siderably by the removal of the market, while Victoria-street, and the
improvements in connexion with it, have unhoused large numbers of
the populatinn. AVere Smithfield selected for this purpose, it might be
made an cfiTective feature in the architectural embellishment of the
metropolis — not by carved work and surface decoration, but the artistic
character of the design. We have squares of every variety of Classic
design, from neo-Greek down to Baker-street. Are there any objections or
difficulty at trying our hands at a Gothic — free Gothic-square ? Smith-
■&e\d, under the conditions named, would afibrd an admirable oppor-
tunity for making the trial, and the style would strictly harmonise with
the historical associations of the site.
AN ENGINEERING APPOINTMENT IN VICTORIA.
IF the accounts which have reached us are trustworthy, and there seems no
reason to think otherwise of them, seeing that the main facts are corroborated
by 3Vi(; Aimtraliaii Builder^ some very startling disclosures have recently
been made with reference to the appointment aii<l subsequent conduct of Mr.
Matthew Bullock Jackson, late engineer to theYan Yean Commission. Itappears
that Mr. Jackson was appointed engineer to the Yan Yean works about seven
years ago, by the Adniiuistratlon in Victoria. At various periods durijig that
time, statements were niaile hy him before parliamentary committees of the
house tliat he bad filled prominent positions in superintending the construction of
tome of the most important engineering works in England and in Europe. An
■*' abstract from evidence declared before Parliamentary committees by Mr.
3Iattliew Bullick Jackson," with " extracts from replies thereto by the several
European torrespondeats named therein," appears to contain the replies of the
Engineers of those works which are asserted to have been claimed as executed
under liis superintendence, by Mr. Jackson, and who for the most part deny all
knowledge of that gentleman in any capacity whatever.
In justice to Mr. Hawk.-iley we reprint one case as given in the Australian
Huilder from the extract's wherein Mr. Jackson states before the committee —
I have myself personally superintended, constructed, or erected the Leicester
water- works, and the additions made to those at Stockton-on-Tees ; and managed
up to tlic very time of my leaving Kngland, the tubular bridge over the Foyle at
I.ondonderry (sec testimonial Ironi Ilawkulcy and Jlay)— tlie Mr. Tliomas Hawksley,
of Kottijigliam, who gave tlie valiu-ible evidence to the Jlcattli of Towns Commission.
In IH50 and 1851, I wa.s in connexion with another gentleman, as draftsmen and
designers, where we did a great portion of the business that was done by Mr.
Hawksley in the way of designing iiis works. • • • Ihiring that time we not
only designed the works, butoDcorottierof us generally went down to such works as
were in the country and looketl after them for a short time until they were m
working order. I was employed by 3Ir. Hawksley in laying down the water-works
at Durliam and at Leicester, and ttie extonnion at Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees.
I was draftsman under Mr. llawksley. With regard to the J^eicester water-works?
1 certainly was employed on them. Stockton-on-Tees ? I was emi>loyed en those
works. 1 was employed • * * as assiittaut to Mr. (;iiapman, of Xo. 3, <;annon-
Tow, Westminster, on drawings and designs for the Durham water-works, the
Darlington water-works, and the addition to the water-works at Stockton-on-Tees.
These designs were got up under and for Mr. Tljitmajt llawksley. the eminent
bydraulic en^'tneer. I content myself witli forwarding two testimoiilalH out of many
• * • one from Mr. Charles May, of llawksley and .May (the same Mr. Thomas
Hawksley, of Nottingham, who gave the wcll-kuowo evidence before the Health of
Vowns (;ommis8ion.)
In reply to tliese statements, Thomas Hawksley, Esq., C.E., of London,
vrote to the Commission —
I beg to state that 1 have no knowledge whatever of Mr. Matthew Bullock
.Tackson. and that I Ikivc never employed any person unconnected with my own
ealabliBbmcnt, and not acting under my own direction, to desit'ii my works, or to go
down to such works, or to look after them until tin y were in working order. • • ♦
As, however, I have never delegated the designing or charge of any works of
resiionslbillty to second or third parties,! cannot have employed Mr. Jackson kuow-
togly or unknowingly.
Our Melbourne contemporary asks " whether it is not extraordinary that so
much misapprehension should have existed so long on the part ol the Govern-
ment respecting the character of a person who filled a position in its employ of
• A well-condacted paper. We should have been better pleased to have seen the
•onreefkom which an article on "The Mannfactnre of Dwelling-houses in Great
Cities' wo* taken, acknowledged -it lias been reprinted without alteration from our
Aumber for August 26tb, afth Volame. Some remarks on " Popular Ignorance of
Architecture" are acknowledged as having been taken from the Bi'|[,di>-g News.
such great power and ready means of corruption. Tlie charges which have been
openly preferred against him for a period now extending over two or three years,
it appears they have never taken any means to investigate. As regards his per-
sonal pretensions (or the office he filled, he was known to he not exempt from a
natural infirmity of temper which involved him in constant disputes with con-
tractors, while among practical men he was never jironotinced to he deficient in
engineering skill. It would have indicated presumption, however, in any one to
suppose him guilty of the serious charges which have now been pressed home to
him, and which have led to his ignominious fiight." There is something more
extraordinary in the case to our mind, and that is, supposing the charges to be
true, that the appointment should ever have been made, and that the matter
should now be allowed to be passed over. We do not care to repeat all the charges
brought against Mr. Jackson ; probably some are unfounded. He appears to
have held a respensible position, the Y'an Yean works alone involving an ex-
penditure, it is stated, of a million of money, and doubtless made many enemies
in the colony. However that may be, complete innocence cannot be assumed,
looking at the "Abstract fi'om Evidence," and at the published abject apology
to Mr. John Millar, wherein he hopes — ,
That you will forgive, even if you cannot forget, the deep injuries which I have
temporarily inflicted upon you, and the eonse(]uent mental anxiety. I pledge myself,
for all time, to abstain from pursuing this line of conduct to your disparagement,
and which I now so deeply deplore.
Our object in referring to these matters has been mainly to direct attention to
the loose way in which public appointments of high responsibility appear to have
been made in Victoria.
— ♦
PARIS EXHIBITION OF MODERN WORKS OF ART.*
IjlRENCH painters are not rural, and Frenchman generally have even less love
of tliesea than of the moor, yet there is far more nature in their marine pieces
than in their landscapes. Isabey, has a world-wide reputation, but there is not a
9|)€ciineu of his skill in the present Exhibition. The only sea views that we have
discovered are those of Gudiu, also well known, and one of these is a remarkable
work ; it represents the French fieet going from Cherbourg to Brest, the noble
steamers are standnig out in a double line, with a canopy of smoke hanging over
them, the sun is low and casts its slanting beams through the murky air, throwing
a curious glare upon the calm sea, which looks like broken topaz. The light J
colour of the French men of war is not favorable to the effect of the picture I
which wants relief in an artistic point, the composition is somewhat monotonous j 1
white and amber seem to be the only pigments employed ; but there is a breadth,
force and reality about the work which deserves high commendation. This and a
companion picture, the arrival of Queen Victoria at Cherbourg, an equally good
but not so remarkable a picture, have been painted by the order of the Emperor
and if they are intended for Versailles they will form a welcome relief to the
endless hot masses of uniforms, dust, and blood which cover so many acres o
canvas in tlie galleries of the Great Louis. M. Gudin has three other marine
pictures in the Exhibition, the subject of one being " Bad weather on the English
coast," a small, unpretending, truthful work of art. And this reminds me that M.
Kuwayseg, a native of Trieste, has been to the Isle of Wight for his subject and
has rendered the iron stained cliffs with remarkable fidelity ; he has also two well
painted views of Flamborough Head. We must not entirely pass by a fine pic-
ture called " Stags Fighting," painted for the Emperor by M. Kuytenbronwer.
The scene seems to belaid in the forest of Fontainbleau, where the painter resides,
and in a deep, silent gorge, with no other living creature in siglit, two monarehs
of the forest are engaged in a deadly struggle, the stags are accessory to the land-
scape but they give it wonderful life and sentiment. The contrast of their anger
with the peacef'ulness all around is highly poetic.
Rosa Bonheur has nothing in the Exhibition this year, but her brother is very
stroner ; he shows three pictures, all of which exhibit, we think, a decided advance ;
his cattle, and still more so his sheep, are admirable, and his piciures are ex-
tremely agreeable as compositions and as landscapes; a green lane leading to a
pond in one picture, which has been purchased for the lotteiy in connexion with
the Exhibition, and a misty morning in the Pyrenees in another, are very
artistically treated; and the whole must advance the reputation of the painter.
We have omitted to mention Meisonnier before, having waited for the appear-
ance of his " Emperor at Solferino," painted to order, but as this has not yet
been exhibited, we must state that this pleassing and unique artist has five pictures
liere ; one of these, called the " Painter," is already known through lithographs
which have been for some time in the shops ; it is a little broader in treatment than
most of his works, and none the worse on that account, and the composition and
color are both admirable. Another is a portrait of a lady, of about tlie size of an
octavo page, and one of the most life-like and fresh-looking productions
imaginable, every portion is finished in the most careful manner, but there is
nothing small about the treatment in any i-espeet ; the only wonder is that while
the accessories are painted as no one else could paint them, they are completely
subservient to tlie face, which sparkles with life and feeling. Another portait,
that of the late M. Louis Fould in his cabiuet, surrounded by objects of vertu, is
less important as portraiture, but the details are exquisitely depicted. He has a
small picture of a Musician, quite in his usual style; and a little gem, about four
inches by three, representing a farrier shoeing a horse, and all the usual
accompaniments of the locality, including poultry.
The French artists certainly exhibit great art in portraiture, and the present
Exhibition is strong in that class of works. Winterhalter exhibits but one
picture, a mere sketch of the Empress, but one of the most charming produc-
tions of his courtly pencil, and of all the likenesses of Her Majesty this is
certainly the most graceful and loveable ; there is little doubt that it will soon be
publicly known. The other portraits that deserve special study are Prince Na-
poleon, by Flaiulran, the Minister of Commerce and two ladies, by Cahanel, the
Huchesse de Medina Cell and Mr.s. William Sniylli, by Dubufe fils, Mr. Guizot,
Baron C. Hupiii, and Mademoiselle Madeleine Hrolinii of the Coineiiie-Franijaise,
by Baudry, Baron S , by Madame H. Browne, aiidTlieophileGautiea, and
M. Havin, of the Siecle, by Bonncgrace. There is also a good likeness of
" Sir" Richard Cobden, Esq., M. P., but the painter's name has eseapetl us.
The architectural drawings are not iiuiiierous, iiut several are remarkable
works, in one respect or other. Taking them in the order of the catalogue,
which is also that in which they hang, the most uotieeable are the following : —
Three drawings* of the decorations of the ceiling, chevrons, and panels, and of
the parqueted flooring of the Cathedral of Messina, by P. E. Bonnet; five draw-
ings including plan, elevations, sections, and details of the curious old fortified
• Continued from |)age 47".
June 14, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
499
church of Boyat, in the department of Puy-de-D6me, with project for its res-
toration ; a curious inonumpntal cross, in lava, of the same place, date 1486;
and a pareinent from Ely Catiiedral, by L. C. Bruyerre.
A series of plans for railway huildinjrs, by P. Chabat. Designs for the theatre
now buildinp' at Baden-Baden, witli longitudinal and transverse sections of the
audienc" portion of the liouse on a large scale, jjerfect models of drawing, by
C. A. Couteau. A set of studies of the civil architecture of the fifteenth,
sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, including the Hotel des Finances, the
ruins of the Abbey Saint Amaud, and five houses at Rouen, and four houses at
Orleans, one of wliicli has recently been demolished, by D. H. L. Devrez; these
buildings deserve special attention at the present moment, when the alterations
at Rouen, at any rate, threaten to obliterate some of tlie most admirable
specimens of the epoch to which they belong. A plan for the restoration
of the church of Saint Etienne de Nevers, ibunded in the seventh
century, and restored in 1063, in eight drawings, by M. Dominique. Drawings
of three mansions in the old English, Tudor, and Elizabethan styles, erected, or
in course of erection at Famliorough, in Hert/brdsliire, and in Cumberland,
together with two designs for the Courts of Assizes in Manchester, by H. E.
Kendall, jun., of London. A number of studies in the Vatican in the Palace of
the Doges, at Florence, Palermo, Athens and Pompeii, by H. Koliler. A design
for a monumental fountain, to be erected in the park of Monceaux, by
A. Lafollie. A very curious series of sketches from the Cemetery of
the Innocents abolished in 1786, and the site of which is now occupied
by the great central markets of Paris, by A. Lavalley. A plan for the
restoration of the cathedral of Lu(;on, by Just Lisch ; eight specimens of the
decorations of Prince IVapoleon's Pompeian house, and sketches made in
Herculaneum and Pompeii, by A. N. Normand; a design for a complete series
of public buildings, including church, asylum, schools, courts, offices, and
market, forming two sides of a large square, for the reconstituled commune of
St. Maude, by F. E. Trilhe, and a plan ibr an extensive building, intended for
the Hotel tie Ville, of Versailles, by F. J. Trocbu. There is nothing of very re-
markable importance in this list of designs, but ample matter of study for young
and many other English architects, especially in tlie careful and admirable
manner in which the drawing is almost universally executed. Some of the speci-
mens above-named are perfect in their way, and would alone well repay a visit to
Paris.
The arrangement of some of the materials present also food for study, and it is
needless to dwell upon the excellence which marks the Fj-ench architects with
respect to details. In general de.-ign they exiiibit far more imitative than original
power; they seem to run generally into slavish reproduction, and their ability
seems likely to establish a very false and monotonous standard, but in the de-
signing of the parts and in the manner in which the details are carried out.
Englishmen have much to learn, and the opportunity of studying masses of
examples may not long continue so great as it is at the present moment.
The Exhibition is so extensive this year that the labor of examination is really
very heavy, and as it is now closed for a week in order to give the directors the
opportunity of making some improvements in the arrangements, we are com-
pelled again to postpone our notice of the sculpture and some other features. It
will open again to the public on the 6th inst.
NEW BANKING HOUSE OF MESSRS. ROBARTS, LUBBOCK
AND CO.
"VfOT long ago in noticing several works in progress in the City we mentioned
IS that Messrs. Roharts, Lubbock and Co., had commenced a new bank at
the corner of Abchurcli-lane and Lombard-street.
A brass plate under the foundation-stone bears the following inscription : —
The Banking Uouse of Messrs. Kobarfs, CurtiH and Co., built A.D. 1795 (from the
designs of Mr. T. Levortou), was pulled down in IKOO, and the site enlarged by adding
to it one house in Abclmrch-lane, and two in Lombard-street. This foundation-
stone of the Bank for Mcs.srB. Itobarts, Lubbock and Co., was laid April. ISOl, hy
A. J. Kobarts, Esq. V. C. llardwifk, Esq., architect ; Wallcy and Son. builders.
The building is now being rapidly proceeded with. It lias a frontage of 75 feet
in Lombard-street, and one of lOCfeet in Abehurch-lane. It adjoins the Guar-
dian Fire Office and the Clearing House. The principal front has altogether
seven openings on each floor. The two outside ones on the giMund story are
entrances — the eastern one to the public office of the Bank, and the western
one to a staircase leading to the private residence on the upper floors. The
staircase is entirely of stone, with a large open well-hole. Behind it another
stairoase is situated' leading to the btisement story.
Tlie ground floor is devoted to the public office with a large fire-proof strong
i-oom in the rear. Likewise in the rear there are aprfttments devoted to the
partners' office. 2.3 feet by 18 feet, a private office 18 feet by !) feet 8 inches; a
bill office, dressing rooms, iic, and a staircase leading to additional strong rooms
on tile basement.
The ba.sement is divided into washing-rooms, dressing-rooms, and hat and
cloak-rooms for the clerks, porters' rooms, a room for examining hooks, and
three or four good wine cellars, whilst the centre is appropriated to strong rooms,
and roofed with 14 inch groined brick arclies. The rest of the basement is
covered witli Barrett's fire-proof concrete floore.
The back portion of the premises on the ground-floor are lighted by skylights
In the roof. The front portion alone is carried up.
The first-floor is supported by wronght-iron girders, averaging 34 inches in
depth. They rest on massive iron columns, wliich form, with their adjimcts
the entablature and main decorations of the public office. The floor itself con-
sists of Barrett's patent concrete floor. The first-floor is appropriated to private
room, luucheon-room, four bed-rooms, dressing-room, dining and drawing-
rooms.
On the second-floor there are kitchen, scullery, larder, cook's-room, servants'
eitting-roora, liousekoeper's sitting-room, bed-room, store-room, clerks' sitting-
room, and four bed-rooms for resident clerks. The three-pair floor is furtlier
contracted, and is devoted to servant's bed-rooms and housemaid's closets.
The height of ground-floor is 22 feet 0 inches from floor to ceiling. The iron
columns, which carry the floor above, are encased with fine cement to forrtf an
Ionic order, the deep wrought-iron girders being the iramework of theentablatiire.
Tlie first-floor is 13 feet high ; the second-fioor 11 feet 0 inches; and the third-
floor, or attics, 7 feet 0 inches. The basement is 10 feet G inches high. A bwl
of concreti', 2 feet 6 inches deep, is laid under the footings of all the walls.
There is an extensive range of vaults for coals in front.
The front, in Lombard-street, is built of i'ortland stone and white Suflblk
brick. The -five centre openings on the ground-floor are square-headed windows,
with rusticated pieis, flat arches and keystones, splendidly carved by Thomas.
The other two openings— at either end of the front — are doorways, with curved
pediments, supported on boldly projecting trusses, and enclosed sculptured head»
and foliage. The ground-floor line is 2 feet above the pavement.
There is a sliglit cornice — scarcely more than a string — over the ground floor,
and a straighter and plainer band to form a continuous sill to the first-floor
windows. There are rusticated angle quoins to the building. The ground floor i»
entirely faced with stone, but above the stone is iutroduced only as dressings t&
the white brick. The first-floor windows are square-headed, with trus-ses to
support the dentilled cornices. A plainer, though somewhat similar, framework
surrounds the openings on the second floor. Above this there is a cornice, with
block modillions, a plain frieze, and the whole is crowned by a blank parapet.
The third floor is lighted from the rear, and is altogether hidden from the street.
In Abchurch-lane the same general features are introduced, but the work i»
less ornamental. Brick supplies the place of stone on the face of the ground
story. The windows have architraves, with overlying quoins. The chimney-
stacks are conspicuous at the angles of the building, and a double line of quoins
marks their width the whole height of the building.
The whole structure is remarkable for its solid and substantial appearance.
It is not highly decorated, but what ornament there is is of the best kind. In
fact, Mr. 'Thomas's name is a sufficient guarantee for the excellence of the carv-
ing. The bank has been most ably planned, and, when completed, will add
another to the many good works which have tieen lately reared in the City of
London. Mr. Bavin, the clerk of works, who has supervised so many of
Mr. Hardwick's buildings, continues his many years of service by presiding over
the rebuilding oi the bank.
BOROUGH OF NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.*
THE criticisms which follow the topics already replied to, and occupy thelatter-
part oV the liuihtrr'}^ article relate to the architecture of the various cliurchesv
chapels, charitable and educational establishments, and other publii? editiei^s, includ--
ing also severe remarks on the .state of roads and streets not yet completed. As
these objects lie fully open to the public inspection, and to a considerable extent are
merely matters of taste, about which various opinions will be formed; wc deem it
unnecessary to prolong these remarks, already lensrthy, by expressing any opinion
respecting them, except to point out the maiiiCest injustice of selecting as a road for
severe animadversion, and as a sample of the Corporation roads, the .Scotswood
road, wliich is exclusively the property of a private company, established by Act
of Parliament, extending from the Infirmary westwards (including Marlborough-
street) to Scotswood, and is entirely under their own surveyor and management, and
over which the Corporation has no authority. Of the 'flaggings, pavements, and
macadam roads, really belonglngr to the town, and under the superintendence of the
Corporation surveyors, it would be unbecoming in us to express any opinion ; but
we take leave to say that they speak for themselves, and we trust they will bear
advantageous comparison with similar works in any city or town of the Britisii
Empire.
It only remains, before concluding our reply to this article, to state what we con-
ceive to be the general character of the whole of tills attack upon the town,
and to hint at the probable motives which have prompted it, as well as those made
in succession against the large towns of England not under the Health of Towns
Act, as Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Stafford, and others, within the last few
months in the same journal. It must be perfectly evident to any one acquainted in
the slightest degree with the town, that extreme exairgeratlon, if not positive false-
hood, pervades almost every part of this pretended description of Newcastle and its
condition. Exaggeration and misrepresentation do not usually characterize the
advocacy of individuals or of societies in the pursuit of worthy ends, and actuated by
pure and philanthropic motives. What then can possibly urge the writer of these
articles to persist In an incessant calumnious crusade a^sinst so many of our respec-
table English towns ? Are we to believe that the editor of a merely teclinical
newspaper in London can be more anxious for our preservation fnim disease than
we ourselves are ? The preventives and remedies arc at impudently paraded as
nostrums in a quack advertisement, which are only to be obtained of course from
one dispensary, and are urged upon us with a pretended benignant regard for our
interests and protection. May not the well-founded apprehension of losing their
salaries, on the part of a conclave and its staff of oliicials, threatened from year to
year with extinction, have something to do witli these unscrupulous attempts to
foist themselves on the pulllic attention and service ?
It certainly is not likely that in a town abounding with men distinguished, as
even Ifie linihlcr admits, for their attainments in every walk of life, Avith a governing
bodv constituting as thorough an exponent of the views of the inhaliitauts as it
possibly can be, that the spirit of self-reliance for which It has always been noted
will be exelmnged for subserviency to a clique at a distance, who tnist implicitly for
their information to such sources as the Uuihhr affords, and are in con-i-quence as
ignorant of our sanitary condition astliey areof our trade, interests, and feelings.
We come now to the last tivo statements we deem worthy of notice, first, that
there is no resular system of sewerage; secondly, that the first step needful is to
place the drainage In ttie hands of a~conipelent eni;ineer. With relerence to the
latter piece of .advice, wc can only sav. we are precluded from obvious reasons from
offering anv opinion, but it is proballle, however, that the council to \ylloin it is
tendered, while they appreciate at its proper value, the condescension wliich favored
them with this communication, will Consider themselves fully entitled to exercise their
own judgment in so important a matter. In flat ccalradiction to the first
statement, we respectfully maintain that there is a regular system of
sewerage, both comprehensive and effleient, and as well adapted to the position and
circumstances of the town as the drainase of any town in the kingdom. Erom the
date of the surveyor's appointment in IS.M. lull advantage has always been taken of
every opportunity which presented itself of assimilating the old sewers previously
existing, as far as possible to a regular system of reception in eonnexf on with every
new sewer constructed, proportioning the capacity, depth, and strength of both old
and new to existing conditions, and to an estimate formed of the water to he received
in every case. A short illustration may be siven by way of explanation. In the
drivln" of the expensive new sewer from the river at the old mansion-house upwards
to West"ate-8trcet, the old sewer in the Close having a wrong inclination, bnt
sufficient strength and capacity, was altered and joined into the main sewer ; the
iternnd old main sewer in Claverlng-place, beins: large and strong enoui;h, but not
sufficientiv deep for the basements to bo drained, was entirely lowered ; the third
from Iinil[fl'"ale being right, was simply joined in ; tlie/i)Hrf/« from the Postern was
the same ; tlie liftii from Denton Chare also ; then the sixth from Puddins; Chare,
beino- defective lu every respect, was entirely laid new, and joined to the Westgate-
street main sewer ; t\\u nevtiilh from .St. .lohn's-lane joined without alteration; the
c/r/AtA from Fenkle-stieet entirely new; the )iiH</i from Low Eriar-strcet also new,
and joined to Fenkle-street, and the same method has been carefully observed at
the sewers at Klswick Lead Works Quay, also from the Ousebiiru through Lime-
street to Shieldtield, and so on with others which it is not necessary to parti-
cularize.
Acting on this principle which has been strictly adhered to, 122 main and street
* Remarks by the Town Surveyor and Inspector of Nuisances, on an article in tlie
JlHilder, headed "Coudition of ourChief Towns— Newcsstlc-on-Tyne." Con tinned
from pase 47S.
500
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 14, 1861.
sewers h«To been laid siuw IS54, the whole like tlie example above mentioned, with
arrict regard to strength, suitable form (chiefly cgi; shaped.) proper inclination, and
ftufBcieul capacity to receive the maximum quantity of water that could possiblyflow
from the sarface or pronntl to be drained ; varyin<j of course, in vertical cross area,
from '2 »qaare foet at the inlets or heads, to 65 feet at the outlet. The extent of
sewen^re constructed since the above mentioned year is iy,J57 lineal yards, equal to
11 miles, the execution of which has cost £-*0,r59 38. 9d. These 11 miles, added to
the amount constructed in previous years, which was Ifi miles, make a total of 27
mile«. aa the entire length of main sewerage at present within the IJorougrh. This
lam addttiOD to the sewerasre existing before 1854. it will be easily understood, was
attended by a lar_'e addition of house and other branch drains, constructed by, and
at the expense of the owners. The principal main sewers can be traversed by men,
for the purpose ot inspection, and are provided bv perpendicular shafts at proper in-
tervals, to affortl access for repairs and ventilation. The consideration of this
subject has. from its ma^itude and importance, en^^rossed a very larfje portion of
the time of the Sanitary Committee, at their regular nioctin<;s and on numerous
other occasions. The Builder h&s greatly over-rated the facilities the town affords
for the construction of sewers, and has entirely omitted the serious ditficulties, which
often present themselves, for with the exception of good inclination, which this
town certainly possesses, its irregular geology, abounding with quicksands, frequently
impedes contractors in the labour ot executing them, and occasions serious losses ;
their position and extent cannot generally be ascertained beforehand, or not at all,
until the excavation or dhft has been carried right into them. The risk of danger
to these undertakings as well as to the neighbouring houses, caused by these unex-
pected occurrences, has often been the source of great anxiety to the Committee.
These unpleasant circumstances have in some cases however been ultimately
atten lei with counterbalancing advantages, for the passage through the quicksand
has opened out feeders of water more or less abundant, to assist the current more
thoroughly to cleanse the sewerage passing through tbeni. These difficulties and
obstructions liave always hitherto been overcome by the town surveyor, who takes
leave to say in this place that without pretending to the high attainments said to be
essential to the qualifications of a " competent engineer,'' lie considers himself with-
oat presumption justified in claiming at least the possession of the important ud-
vantu^^ts of long experience, and of extensive practical acquaintance with this par-
ticular subject, and entertains no fear of being able to grapple with any difficulty
that mav hereafter present itself in the discharge of his duty as surveyor of this
town. Having thus noticed as shortly as possible, but it is hoped with sufficient
clearness, the amount as well as the character and mode of executing the. sewerage
work which has been accomplished up to the present period, we trust that the
statements and figures here presented will demonstrate most convincingly to tike
gatisfaction of every candid mind, that tlie allegation of the Jiuilder aginst the
town, of having no regular system of sewerage, is entirely unfounded.
We proceed next to describe with all possible brevity the great progress^vhich has
mnquestionably been made in another branch ofimprovement, which though manifest
in every direction has been entirely ignored by our opponent with the exception only
of one disparaging notice, wherein with the characteristic unfairness pointed out in
the example selected by hiwi as a specimen of the town roads, he has exhibited the
same spirit in reference to the town flagging, by presenting the old flagged foot-path
of a street in the outskirts of the town, viz. : 5iarlborough-street, as a specimen of
the general condition of those In the iJorough. As before stated, the roadway through
this street with its foot-paths is the private property of a company, and has never
been under the management of the Corporation.
New flaq^ngs have been laid for foot-paths, chiefly of Caithness stone, during the
period of seven years, to the extent of 90,259 square yards, at an expense of
*28,W8 Os. 3d. Square paving and chip stones, chiefly of Aberdeen granite, have
been laid down for carriage-way pavement during the same period to the extent of
146,754 square yards, at a cost of £C7,089 48. lid., the greater part executed after a
superior method, by which two yards are added to the carriage-way, by dispensing
• with the old-fashioned broad channels, so that carriages may without danger be
driven close to the kerb, for the reception and discharge of passengers. The iiand-
some finish and sound execution of these works, wc may be allowed to say, wlthex-
cuftable pride, have often elicited the admiration of visitors and strangers.
Besides the execution of these varied and extensive works, and many other
' establishments of inferior importance, yet conducive to the public health and con-
venience, there are 32 drinking-fountains in the town, for the use of the population
free of chaise ; the whole are furnished with drinking-cups of o:alvaniBed iron ; twelve
of these are provided with troughs exclusively for the supply of horses and cattle ;
there are also twenty places of public accommodation, with provision for lllpersons,
situate in suitable parts of the town, several of them of recent erection, and fifty-four
public urinals, the greater portion of them kept clean and sweet by water constantly
running through them.
It now only remains for us to describe another part of our sanitary operations, of
whi?h the /iuUder's correspondent does not seem to have had the slightest notion or
information. We allude to the inspection of nuisances, and the force organised by
the Committee seven years ago for the emptying of ashes. In the latter end of 1853
proceedings were commenced for the compulsory removal of the numerous nuisances
specified in the Acts provided, to that efi'ect, viz. : damp dwellings, foul middens,
obstructed drains, accumulations of fittti, leaky or defective spouts, und black smoke
from manufactories. This system of inspection has been actively maintained up to
the present period, and an idea of the result upon the sanitary condition of the town
may be conceived from the fact, that since tlie above date ll,<Vt3 cases have been
brought under the notice of the proper authorities, and dealt with as the circumstances
of each casere^iuired.
The arrangement initiated by the Committee for relieving the inhabitants from
troubling themselves with the awkward business of procuring the discharge of the
ashes and refuse from their dwellings, has worked equally well. The occui)ier8 of
houses had previously to 18.H been entirely at the mercy of farmers, who performed
the duty in a very irregular and slovenly manuer. But since the above time this has
been effected by the Corporation scavengers, and the quantity of refuse so removed,
including that from the streets, amounted in IBfiO to 32,050 loads. As a sanitary
matter we would also mention that 70 streets of the town are swept at least once
every day (except Sunday) half of the remaining streets thrice a week, andmostofthe
other half twice a week.
We had not at first intended to notice a singular statement made la the 77ui/<2«r,
but some information having recently been communicated to us, we wish to allude to
it Ijcfore concluding. The writer in the ^wiWer has stated that *' 1,200 lives** were
annually sacrificed in the town, between the years 1830 and IH5.3, which might have
been saved by proper sanitary precautions. Wc are puzzled to know what could be
the writer's object in quoting the mortality in those years, and leaving out the years
Bp to VifH ; he must have known that his figures, even if true, were not In the
•ugnteat dMree applicable to the state of sanitary affairs existing at this time; but
the reason for this crafty proceeding is made obvious, when it is known that if the
writer had dealt with this year and those immediately preceding, he would have
been compelled to present the following striking fact; one forcibly illustrative of the
improvement which has been effected in the health of the IJorough, as appears from
tlie foUowlD^ figures taken from the registrar's returns :—
15^^
2,740 deaths In 1857
2,fl«7 do. 1858
2.067 do. 1SS9
2.060 do. 18fl0
welfare of the town than himself. This portion of the Uuilder's article we confidently
believe is an impudent lais-stntement.
As an instance of the characteristic recklessness of this writer, although it bears
no rehition to his attack upon the town, or sanitary matters in general, he states that
*'at the junction of Cowgate and Broad Chare, resides a wealthy burgess, a wortliy
member too of the Corjioration, Mr. Matthew Pluminer." Now, tliere is no person
of that name living in Newcastle at all, nor are we aware thata wealthy burgess lived
there within the memory of man, nor a town councillor either. Mr. Benjamin
riummer, a councillor, has a metal warehouse there, but he resides in a distant part
of the town. On this point the " yiwiVrfcr'a Commissioner " also informs us that the
"disgusting state of things" he is here describing "does not preclude a wealthy
Newcastle magnate from residing in the midst thereof;" but in this instance he
wisely abstains from favoring us with a name. We are consequently only able to
give the statement a general contradiction; but surely the "commissioner" must
have been napping wlien he indited this passage, for if "wealthy magnates " are
content, as he says, to reside in these places, is it not naturally to be inferred that they
cannot be so bad as he is striving to represent them ?
We respectfully beg, in conclusion, to present this reply to the long article in the
Builder, ^vith an apology for having trespassed at such length on the time and
patience of our readers, and trust that we have succeeded in at least partially un-
veiling the designs with which those attacks on the chief towns of our land have
originated and been conducted; and we further hope they will agree with us in
thinking that it is high time that the mawkish sentimentalisms of these pretended
philantliropists should be denounced, and their impudent pretensions to superior
Knowledge proved to be as ill-founded as their unscrupulous language Is insulting
and unmerited. We cherish the idea that even our humble endeavours" may generate
such rt spirit of resistance to this arrogant tyranny, throughout all our nmuicipalities,
that their citizens to whom their government is entrusted, with due regard to their
own dignity, will no longer tolerate tliese injurious libels, or allow them to circulate
with Impunity and unchallenged throughout the country.
Thomas Physon, Town Surveyor.
Thomas Dawson, Sanitary Inspector.
Town-hall, Newcastle, May, 1861.
■howin^ a positive decrease in tlie number of deaths, while the population has been
loereasln^ daring the same period, at the rate of 2,000 annually, or between 8,000 and
9,000 on the whole. In addition to this statement of the Jiuilder it may also be
noticed, that the writer haw failed to give us any Information as to the basis, or
irrooDd of his assertion, being doubtless well aware that if lie had done so, he would
expote his little edifice of calculation to destruction, by those more Interested in the
ON THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OP 1862.*
THE Council, appreciating the support it has received from the members of the
Society in every step it has taken to promote tlie Exhibition of 18G2, resolved to
devote the last weekly meeting of the season to the consideration of what has
already been done and is doing to ensure the success of this great national under-
taking.
But whilst the Council is happy to have an opportunity of laying before the mem-
bers the plans of the Koyal Commissioners, so far as they are kno^'n, it must not be
considered in the slightest degree responsible for the views and opinion 1 may ex-
press in the p".pcr I have the honor to read.
In order that we may fully appreciate the prospects of the Exhibition of 1863, I
will first briefly direct your attention to the origin and progress of the Exhibition of
1851, and then consider whether the advantages derived from it, and the present
state of arts, manufactures, and Commerce, as compared with that time, justify the
exertions which must be made to form another Exhibition of equal interest and im-
portance.
The idea of holding a national Exhibition, as most of our hearers are aware, origi-
nated here. It sprang almost naturally from the proceedings of the Society, for so
far back as 1756 it offered prizes for Improvements in the mauufacture of tapestry,
carpets, porcelain, &c.
In 1701, a gentleman was paid to attend an Exhibition of Macliinery in the Society's
rooms, and explain the models exhibited. From an early period it offered prizes
for improvements in agricultural and other machinery.
An Exhibition " of specimens of new, and improved productions of the artisans and
manufacturers of the United Kingdom,*' the first of its kind, was held in'the King's
Mews, at Charing-cross, in 1828. In 1829, the then secretary of the Society read
papers on several of the leading industries of the kingdom, and from this time speci-
mens of raw materials, manufactures, [and new Inventions were frequently collected
in these rooms for the instruction and amusement of members and the public.
Then followed local Trade Exhibitions, held at Manchester, Birmingham. Leeds,
Dublin, and other places : the Exhibition of Manufactures at the Free Trade Bazaar.
Jield in Covcnt-garden Theatre, in 1845 ; the Exhibitions of Select Specimens of
British Manufactures and Decorative Arts, held by the Society in 1847, 1848, 1840, the
Mulready and Etty Exhibitions in the two latter years; and the Exhibition of In-
ventions, held annually, from that time, in this Society's rooms, each year proving,
by the increased applications for space, that the resources of the Society of Arts
were less and less sufficient to meet the growing interest of the public in such col-
lections.
In Franco, Exhibitions of national industry had been held at irregular periods
between 1780 and 1840, each exhibition surpassing Its predecessor in the number of
Exhibitors and in the value and importance of the manufactures and machinery ex-
hibited : but the unusual success of that held in 1S40, just .is this country was
sanctioning principles of the most perfect freedom of commercial competition, gave
a fresh impetus to the idea of holding a great national exhibition of British industry,
for it was felt to be clearly unwise of our manufacturers to allow their French rivals
to attract consumers from all parts of the world, to see and to admire their most
beautiful productions, and that no opportunity should be afforded them to become
acfiuaiuted with the manufactures of England.
The proposition made by this Society to hold an Exhibition of English industry,
was, wlien brought under the notice of our Koyal President, soon enlarged Into an
International Exhibition of the world's industry. Without a clear perception of the
progress his adopted country was making, and of the importance of showing it to
the world, this comprehensive plan would never have been matured ; and the weight
of such higii authority was necessary to sccurejan impartial and full consideration of
the benefits likely to be derived from the accomplishment of this bold and novel
attempt to stimulate our industry by comparing it with that of every other
nation.
ilut, before the plan was fully adopted by the country, at a dinner given at the
Mansion-house, in October, 1840, by the then Lord Mayor, for the express purpose
of promoting an International Exhibition, his Koyal Highness, in a speech as re-
markable for the simplicity of its language as for the largeness of the views it em-
bodied, placed the subject so ably and so concisely before the world, that no doubt
was then entertained tbat to England would belong the honor of holding the first
Exhibition for the purpose of collecting and exhibiting in one building the works of
industry of all nations, and, which, in the words of his Koyal Highness, was, "to
give atrue test and a living picture of the point of development at which the whole
of mankind had arrived in this great task, and ainew starting point from which all
nations will be able to direct their further exertions."
That tlK' Exhibition fully realised the most sanguine anticipations in showing the
sfateof development of the manufactures of all nations up to 1>S51, and that it gave
to the world a more thorough knowledge of the power, and better appreciation of the
capabilities, of each nation, is universally admitted, and it now remains for the
Exhibition of 1862 to show what has been the world's progress from the starting
point so clearly indicated in 1H51, not only in the production of works of art, or in the
increased beauty of certain manufactures, but in the practical applicition of science,
invention, and mechanical skill to improve and to cheajjen the necessaries of every-
day life, and so to raise the social position by adding to the comforts and enjoyments
of the great bulk of the people.
In .January, 1850, the Koyal Commission for holding an International Exhibition
was issued, and from that time nothing that could contribute to its success was ne-
• Kead at the Society of Arts, on June 5, by Mr. William Hawes.
VIEW OF THE NORTH PORCH, CENTRAL TOWER, AND NORTH TIIANSEFT OF HEREFORD CATHEDRAL AS RESTORED.
June 14, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
503
elected. To overcome and to dispel the prejudices oppotted to it was a work of no
common order, and without a reference to the daily presH of the time, It would be
difficult to recall to our memory their intensity. Tlie exposure of the finest speci-
mens of our machinery and manufactures to foreij^ncrs, for them to imitate, was
loudly condemned. The injury sure to follow to our home trade, from the exhibi-
tion to our own countrymen of the finest productions of foreign countries was
pressed upon manufacturers. The lar^e number of forcis^ners expected to come and
see the Kxhibition was a source of alarm and distrust. Indeed, every argiiment
which iijnorance, fear, and jealously could sug:^'eftt was freely used to stop the pro-
gress of this great and novel movement in the public mind. Itut the common aense
of the country triumphed over such obstacles, aud tlie zeal, cncrg^y, and enthusiasm
displayed by the few— all members of tliis Society— who devoted themselves to the
tasK, were soon deservedly rewarded by complete success.
IjCt U3 now contrast the state of public feeliny: towards such Exhibitions in 1851 and
18<W. ' ...
Then it was necessary, in order to 'obtain subscriptions, to hold meeting's m the
city and In the manufacturing- towns, to explain the object and probable result of an
International Exhibition, but althougfh the success of these meetings was great, and
between £tW.000 and £70,00() was collected, they occupied so much time that it was
soon evident some other means must be adopted to raise money, or the great idea of
an International Exhibition must be given up.
To prevent so unfortunate a result, it was suggested, almost at the last moment,
to raise money on a guarantee for a very much larger sum than was at all likely to
be required, and a few individuals boldly determined to incur the responsibility of
the entire sum suggested, viz., ^^50,000— His .Royal Highness subscribing for
£10,000.
Upon this instrument, the Bank of England (agreed to advance, beyond the sum
Already subscribed, whatever might bo wanted to complete the works, and from this
moment all pecuniary difficulty was removed.
Now, ten years later, aware of the advantages derived from the Exhibition of 1851,
and having ample grounds on which to estimate the benefits likely to result from
another, the public, as soon as this Society published a well-considered plan,
came forward rapidly and liberally to sign a guarantee deed, upon which the
Bank of England has ag:reed to make an advance sufficient to carry out the second
great International Exhibition.
This deed is signed, to the amount of £lH,fiO0, by nearly 1,000 persons connected
with or interested in art, manufactures, and commerce, about 400 of whom, re-
presenting ^230,000, are members of this Society; and what is most remarkable,
this great result has been accomplished without the excitement of a single public
meeting, or any other appeal to the public than through the ordinary channels of
this Society.
No one, then, can for a moment doubt that this list of i^uarantors'very perfectly re-
presents the public conviction that great good resulted from the Exhibition of 1851,
and that the proper time has again arrived for challenging the world to exhibit its
finest works in art, its best and cheapest manufactures, and to test the industrial
progress eachuation has made since that time. Let us, then, consider whether we
may fairly hope to realise the expectation that the Exhibition of 1802 will be in every
respect worthy of its time, and show the such an advance in art and in manufac-
tures, in machinery audits appliances, as to justify the promoters in fixingteu years
as a proper period for the recurrence of such undertakings. If this be satisfactorily
proved, then we may safely predict that periodical International Exhibitions will
become one of the fixed institutions of the country, and will be looked for by pro-
ducers and consumcis as the centre towards which novelty, improvement, beauty of
construction and design, will be directed.
First, then, let us refer to our national progress since 1851.
The population of Great Britain has largely increased. In 1851 it was 25,180.555,
and in 1862 it will probably be 2'.>,000,000. In London there will be next year half a
million more inhabitants than in 1S51.
The people are better employed, and their social and intellectual condition is
improved.
Crime, which for years previously to 1851 increased in a ratio beyond that of the
population, is now happily decreasing.
In 1.S;jO, m England and Wales, 20,42:i persons were committed for trial, and 76,494
were summarily convicted, the population being then 15,911,725.
In iav.>,only lf),'>04 were committed for trial, and 74,769 convicted summarily, the
population being in round numbers 18.000,000.
Kailways have been extended from above 6,000, to above 10,000 miles.
The electric telegraph has become universal, aud in every direction facilities for
communication have been increased. We have repealed the duties on soap and
paper, the only manufactures the prosperity of which was then thwarted by Excise
restrictions.
We have abolished all 'taxes on the dissemination of knowledge, and.have given
increased facilities for the circulation of knowledge by post.
We have repealed th*; import duties, or very nearly so, on raw materials, the pro-
duce of foreign countries.
We have admitted, free of duty, confident in our strength, the manufactures ot
foreign countries to compete with our own.
Old industries have been stimulated and improved. New industries have arisen.
In fine art, painting, and sculpture it is hardly possible, except in very extra-
ordinary periods, that a marked change can be observed in a single ten years,
but this country certainly holds its own as compared with the productions of'^other
countries.
JJut a public measure, of great importance to the future development of the fine
arts, should not bn overlooked, I mean the Artistic Copyright Bill, introduced to the
House of Commons by the Attorney-General, the Bill having been prepared by the
Artistic Copyright Committee of this Society.
The objeet of this Bill is to give to artists that protection to their property which
isjnow enjoyed by literature.'and to give to foreign artists, sending their works to our
exhibitions, the same protection they alford to English artists sending pictures or
works of art abroad.
Photography, hardly known in 1851, has developed itself, and has become an im-
portant branch of art and industry, used alike by the artist, the engineer, the archi-
tect, the manufacturer, the merchant, and the magistrate. By it fleeting effects of
nature are caught, aud preserved for the use of the artist ; old records, old works of
art, decaying by the action of time, are copied and perpetuated. Those precious
drawings—relics of great artists of old time— which were necessarily confined to col-
lections in which they were carefiUly guarded, are rendered accessible to all ; and we
have multiplied, in marvellous reality, the sketches and studies by which master-
hands recorded the thoughts of master minds ; the progress of works in daily re-
corded, for the information of the engineer ; the finest tracery of ancient architecture
preserved, in its exact proportions, for the architect ; the manufacturer and merchant
can transmit to, and receive from their most distant correspondents, exact repre-
ecntations of what they require to be imitated or produced ; the soldier, sailor, and
civilian on foreign service finds in photographic likenesses, and the facility with
which they are renewed, the means of retaining the fondest associations of home and
country ; and the criminal flying from justice is followed with means of instant
identineation. This is indeed an international application of art-industry.
In the preparation of colors for printmg and dyeing, most important discoveries
have been made by our chemists, to whose researches the manufacturing industry of
the country is greatly indebted. The recently-discovered and most beautiful aud
brilliant colors, calk-dthe " aniline" series, are produced from coal and its products,
and the facility of their application is so great that a complete revolution is taking
place m the processes of dyeing and printing.
^ In the manufacture of glass great economy has been introduced, and the process*
just perfected, of transferring photographs to glass, aud permanently fixing
them by the actionof fire, will add a new and beautiful style of ornamentation to our
houses.
The manufacture of agricultural implements, and especially the application of steam
Eowcr to them, has been so improved and extended that it is now aliighly important
ranch of trade ; and the exhibition of the improvements which have been made in
our spinning, weaving, and winding machinery.'.willafi'ord interesting evidenceofour
mcclianical progress in these branches of industry.
Marine telegraphy, only just accomplished in 18-51— the public communication with
Dublin having been opened in June, aud that with Paris in November, 1852— has
now become almost universal, linking together distant countries, and destined ere
long to overcome the difiiculties of separation by the ocean, be the distance ever so
great.
In the manufacture of iron, improvements have also been made — new bands of ore
have been discovered ; and day by day we are economising Its production, and a
metal between iron and steel is now produced, at one process, which heretofore re-
quired two or more processes, alike expensive and difficult.
In artificial light our sphere of production is enlai^ed, and light fis cheaper,
whereby hours arc now available for industrial pursuits, and for the acqui-
sition of knowledge by large numbers, which were formerly either unemployed or
wasted.
In steam power, especially that applied to railroads and to ocean navigation,
economical appliances have advanced rapidly.
The use of coal for locomotives, in place of coke, and super-heating steam and sur-
face-condensing in ocean steamers, tend to increase the power and economise the
cost of these powerful engines of civilisation.
In shipbuilding, the past ten years have produced great changes.
Our navy and mercantile marine have alike advanced in seientific construction aud
in mechanical arrangements. The ocean steamers which were then employed (u the
postal service included but one of 2,000 tons— now there are many of nearly double
that tonnage, with corresponding power and speed— iucreasing the facilities and
decreasing the risk of communication with our colonies and foreign countries.
In the Great Eastern.vie see the practical application, for the first time, of screw
and paddle to the same ship ; we have enormous strength in her cellular construc-
tion ; and we have greater speed, with power smaller in proportion to her size, than
was ever before attained.
Constructed as she was to exhibit to the world one of the greatest triumphs of
Saxon energy, and to be the instrument for the distribution of the results of our
industry and intelligence in the shortest time and in the safest manner to our most
distant and most valuable dependencies, it is lamentable to think that two years have
nearly passed, and so much money been frittered away, with scarcely an approach
being made to the accomplisliment of the great national object for which she was
built.
In the construction of our Warrior and Blach Prince and other iron-plated ships,
we have a combination of wood and iron by which our ships of war may almost bid
defiance to whatever may be brought against them, being, both in size and power,
far beyond anything which was contemplated in 1851 ; and machinery is now being
constructed, having its origin in the block machinery at Portsmouth, by which the
woodwork required for large boats will be so accurately prepared, that they will be
put together in a few hours.
In printing great advances have been made. By the perfection of chromatic
printing, views of distant countries, copies of celebrated pictures, most beautifully
colored, have been brought within the reach of almost every class, displacing
pictures which neither improved the taste nor gave useful information ; and by the
application of most expensive and most beautiful machinery, to the printing of our
daily journals, we have been enabled profitably to meet the increased demand caused
by the cheapness of our newspapers. Invention and mechanical contrivance hare
thus have kept pace with the requirements of intellect and the daily increasing love
of knowledge ; and. to crown all, the gold discoveries in Australia, but just known
in 1851, and following those in California, in 1^*40, have supplied a medium of
exchange when it appeared almost indispensable to the full realisation of the advan-
tages springing out of the great impetus given to industry during the past ten years.
But there are two branches of industry not to be overlooked, which did not exist
in 1851. The manufacture of arms of precision, and the voluntary organisation of
skilled labor to use them, both of which may at first sight appear antagonistic to the
progress of art, manufactures, and commerce, but are, in fact, their great protectors.
War, a remnant of barbarism, must fortunately be infinitelj^ more difficult, hazardous,
and expensive, not only in the preparations for it, but in its results, when arms are
constructed of such power that hardly any fortification or ship can resist them.
Fortifications and naval architecture now wear a difl'erent complexion to what they
did before 1851. The manufacture of the Whltworth rifie and the Armstrong gun are
new mdustries since 1851. The small gun, directed by high intelligence, throwing a
large and destructive missile to a distance beyond any previous belief, becomes a
more formidable instrument of warfare than the large forces of olden time, directed
only by low intelligence and relying upon brute force for success ; and in the perfec-
tion of these implements of war, costly though they be, we are as a nation deeply
interested ; for in so far as we are in advance of all the world in their manufacture
and in our knowledge of how to use them, so are we safe from foreign interference.
The better armed will rarely be attacked, and still more rarely successfully so, by the
worse armed.
We hope, then, that while 1862 will show to the world the immense advance we
have maae in all that contributes to our material prosperity, and in all the arts of
peace and civilisation, it will also show that we are as much advanced in our power
—and more fully than ever alive to the necessity of being able— to protect them.
The efi'ect of the pro^jress we have made since 1851 is also shown by the rapid
increase of our colonial and foreign trades, aud the much greater interest which
foreigners now take in England and English manufactures.
Then, after a period of great agricultural and commercial distress, we exported
but £05,000.000 per annum, now we export £136,000,000.
Then India, governed by a separate authority, did not afford facilities for emigra-
tion, or to settlements being made by English capitalists.
Now that vast dependency, entirely under the governmtnt of our Queen, inter-
sected by railways and new roads, and with steamboats traversing her rivers, will
become, year by year, more intimately acquainted with, and larger consumers of,
our manufactures.
Then Canada had recently emerged from a period of discontent and difficulty ;
now, it is one of the most— if not the most— flourishing and rapidly increasing in
wealth and population of our colonies, with a system of railways and water com-
munication unsurpassed anywhere; the bridge over the St. Lawrence being one of
the greatest triumphs of engineering in the world. , mi. j
Our Australian colonies have not been left behind. The discovery of gold,
although for a time it threatened seriously to afl*ect the cultivation of the country,
has so stimulated the tide of emigration thereto, that the supply of wool, almost as
valuable to us as gold, has been maintained, and industry of all kinds has advanced
most rapidly. . _
And if we look to foreign countries, we find France just entering upon a career of
free-trade, from which it is all but impossible she can recede, while her people, aa a
whole, appear more friendly to us than at any former period. Our nearest neighbour
and principal foreign competitor in 1851, then proUibited or levied such high duties
upon the importation of English manufactures, as all but to exclude them from the
country. Now, we have passports abolished, free intercourse encouraged, a low
uniform rate of postage established, and a treaty of commerce under which our
manufactures are admitted, which must tend, year by year, to increase the com-
mercial transactions between us. In 1850 the value of the manufactures of the
United Kingdom exported to France was only two millions (£2,028,463) ; now Uwy
amount to between six and seven milhons.
Holland, also following our example, has recently opened several of the ports of
her East Indian possessions to foreign trade with all countries.
Kussia, under the guidance of a wise and great sovereign, besides constructing
t raUways and telegraphs, and promoting Intercourse between the most distant parts
504
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 14, 1861.
of her vast territories, it emancipatinj; her serfs from bondage, and making a large
population at once free and industrious, and therefore larger consumers of the
products of the forf^e and the loom.
China is still further opened to our industry, and bids lair to be one of our largest
and best customers ; and it is hardly too much to say that the effect produced in the
Ut« war on the minds of the rulers of that nation, by the wonderful power we exhi-
bMad with our rifles and Armstrong guns, had much to do with its early and
raeeenfbl termination ; and if so, the entire expense we have incurred In their
manufacture will be amply repaid by the great results achieved through their in-
strumentality in this one snort campaign.
In Japan.'Siani, Uadagascsr, the I'billippine Islands, hitherto almost unknown
countries, we fiud vast populations seeking for our manufactures. I might enlarge
at any leugthon such topics, but enough hasbeensaid to "^how that If the Kxhibition
of 1S51 was, in the words of our Koyal Vregident, '• to form a new starting point from
which all nations were to direct their further exertions," that of 1802 miist still more
efficiently perform that function, inasmuch as the basis upon which it rests is
broader, the nations interested in the progress of civilization and commercial freedom
more nomerous, and the population to be stimulated to exertion enormously
Jul iMlieve that 1851 did its duty. Can anyone doubt that, as the duty and the
■pbere of action of 18C2 are more extended, so the results it will accomplish will be
of greater value to mankind at large ?
And here we may pause a moment to pay a tribute of respect and admiration to
the memories ot those great men who very much contributed, by their influence and
personal exertions, to the success of 16jl, but who have passed from us during the
last ten years.
Among our statesmen and heroes, who attended the opening of the Exhibition, we
have to lament the loss of Wellington, Anglesea, and Itaglan— three great men, to
whom England owes much of her glory and safety. We have also lost other great
men, the greatest of England's engineers, lirunel, Stephenson and Locke, all of
whom took an active interest in the Exhibition, and whose advice and aid were
fteely given when required on any matter relating to the construction of the Crystal
Palace.
: Next let us refer to some of the leading features of the Exhibition of 1851,
and first to the building, which was perhaps the greatest wonder and novelty of
Its time.
The Commissioners for 1851 advertised for plans, and 245 designs were submitted
to public examination, but no single plan was so accordant with the peculiar object
in view as to warrant its adoption.
The Commissioners then prepared a plan, but this gave way to the design of a
gentleman, neither architect nor engineer, which at once commanded almost universal
approbation.*
LECTURES AT THE ARCHITECTURAL EXHIBITIOX.
VI.— cnuRcn architecture of the nineteenth century.
ON Tuesday evenin" Mr. R. P. Pullan delivered a lecture in the Great Gallery of
the Architectural Exhibition, Conduit-street, Regent-street, his subject being
'•Church Architecture of the Nineteenth Century." The chair was occupied by
Mr. J. W. HucALL, who briefly introduced the lecturer to the meeting. Mr. Pullan
•aid:—
The subject chosen for this evening embraces a retrospective view of the past con-
dition of church architecture In this century, a consideration of its present state, and
an anticipation of its future prospects. At the beginning of this century architec-
ture generally was at a very low ebb, and especially church architecture. People
were careless and indifferent about their churches i it was immaterial to them in
what style they were built. Renaissance was applied indiscriminately to all build-
ings, civil or ecclesiastical, and had Sir William Chambers written Chinese architec-
ture into fashion— so little did people care about architectural propriety— we should
probably have had now and then a Chinese temple, with pagoda bell-tower, for a
place of Christian worship. Gothic was considered a rather barbarous style, and its
study the exclusive province of the antiquary and virtuoso. The writings of Ben-
tham. Grove, and Milner had, however, produced some results, and the styles of the
"dark ages " had their representative buildings in Fonthill and Strawberry-hill, and
other baronial residences of brick and compo, which were not built for posterity, but
to suit the whim of a moment, and to satisfy that transitory taste for the romantic
which was engendered by such books as the "Castle of Otranto," and " The Slys- i
teriesof Urtolpho."
The writing! of Britton were destined to work a great change. When his magni-
ficent volume appeared people began to discover that their fine old cathedrals and
parish churchts hart some claim upon them for admiration ; and as imitation is the
natural result of admiration, they soon began to imitate. It is needless to say that
their first works were feeble caricatures of !the works of the middle ages. Still even
these showed that, as soon as Englishmen were made acquainted with the fact that
their forefathers had done something which they could be proud of, they were
anxious to perjjctuate the remembrance of them.
< This pride ol their ancestral productions had occasionally shown itself during the
period which followed the revival of Classic art, notwithstanding the various events
political, religious, and accidental, which tended to keep it down. This was especially
the case in the first half of the seventeenth century •, during which period the
Divinity Hall, Oxford, was built in a passable Imitation of Third Pointed style.
Most of the fiothic buildings of the last century were truly very barbarous. I w^as no less
surprised than pleased a week or two ago to find a church at Morcton, in Dorsetshire,
built in I"'!, in much better style and with much more character than many churches
that were built .50 or 60 years later. It had a veritable apse, late Decorated windows,
the tower at the side, a quatrefoil parapet, and open scats.
The writings of antiquaries, I said, produced a reverence for the works of our
ancestors, but Englishmen are not content with mere reverence ; if they admire a
thing they must lirst imitate it, then they must analyse the objects of their admira-
tion, discover what qualities produce this feeling of admiration, and finally make
these qualities their own. Consequently after the taste for Gothic had been roused
by Carter, Britton, and Hope, the more practical books of the elder Pugin appeared,
containing measured drawings of some of the finest works of the middle ages, so as
to render their reproduction a comparatively easy matter, also Rickman's ex-
cellent nomenclature and iclassifleation of the various styles reducing the study of
them to a system ;< and other books of a similar character. How architects with all
those- helps should Ihave produced such abortive attempts at Gothic as were then
common, it In diflicult to imagine.
''!)''•"'"'« for the castellated style still lingered in ecclesiastical as well as civil
archiucture. Architects p<rpetuated the idea of the church militant, for they
crowned nave, aisles, vestry, towers, and chimney-pots with embattlcmenf «. enlivened
Dere and tliere by meagre pinnacles, fi-om which sprouted flowery crockets and
which were surmounted by finials like petrified cabbages. The roofs were in-
Tisible from their flatness, and adorned internally with elaborate vaulting and
ribs caretiilly moulded by the plasterer; the windows were all of the same type
— three-llgbt perpendicular, with massive transoms — for the purpose of hldiug
. .P^ . ■* "''••^'Pectral tower (generally engaged) was Invariably stuck
at tne west end. and If there was a window on one side of it, the archi-
tect necessarily added its fellow on the other, or in place of It. a beautiful blank
painted to match. We all no doubt know some of these structures, and as
wepass them think that we should like to have the chance of pulling them
down and building good f irjt Pointed churches upon the spot with the old materials.
We must however honor the spirit which caused their erection though we speak
depreciatingly of their architectural qualities. While these churches were being per-
petrated, and when men were beginning to tire of mere imiUtion and to inquire Into
• To be continued.
first principles, a master mind arose in the younger Pugin. Familiarized from his
youth to Gothic art, he excelled every one In his intense zeal for, and his consequent
acquaintance with it. He first astouished the sober world of architects by the pub-
lication of his " Contrasts," in which he attacked those who had tortured as well as
those who had despised his favorite Gothic.
This book though in it he made use of caricature as a means of depreciating the
works of his contemporaries did good, inasmuch as it stirred up the public to
inquire into the merits and induced them to trv to make themselves acquainted with
the principles of Gothic architecture. Many of ue, 1 have no doubt, recollect the scn-
satlou which was produced when the publication of the " True Principles of Christian
Art" took place, in 1841, in which he showed clearly that almost everything that
had been done in the way of revival of Gothic art was lull of faults, lu it he taught
U8 what he conceived to be the true principles of Christian art, viz :— That
there should be no feature about a building which was not necessary for con-
venience, construction or propriety ; that all ornament should consist of enrich-
ment of the essential construction; of buildings ; that all shams were inadmissablc
in Christian churches ; in fact, that the external and internal appearance of an edifice
should be in accordance with the purpose for which it was designed. And
i'ugin carried out these principles fiiithfully in the buildings he had the op-
portunity of erecting— StMarie's, at Derby ; St. Alban's, at Macclesfield; St.George'8
in Southwark ; a church in Nottingham, and St. Chad's, at Birmingham, but, above
all, in St. Giles', at Cheadle, where he had a carte blaiicUe for the cost. I have visited
them at various times, and (I cannot but think them the best buildings of their
day. Pugin saw beauty in every style, although he acknowledged that the later
styles showed a decline in art, and, although lie was the first to tell us that the
thirteenth was the perfect period of art; consequently, several of these buildings
before mentioned are in Second and Third Pointed styles.
The "Apology for the Revival of Christian Art" followed soon after the publi-
cation of the "True Principles." Before thesebooks appeared, a predisposition for
Gothic was shown in the selection of Barry's design for the Houses of Parliament,
to which design Pugin seems to have contributed. Meanwhile a contemporaneous
movement in favor of Gothic was going: on on the Continent, to which the writings of
De Caumont, Didron, and others in France; and in Germany, the restoration ot
Cologne Cathedral greatly contributed. But English architects were considerably in
advance of those on the Continent, for when the competition for Hamburgh Cathedral
took place, Mr. Scott gained the day, and later, in the general competition for Lille,
out of ten prizes, five were allotted to Englishmen.
Ailer Pugin came a writer on principles whose wonderful command of language,
united to singular boldness completely led away those whose opportunities for tlie
study of style were limited, and who were content to have their opinions formed
for them. What he believed to be true principles of all good architecture, and
especially of Gothic, were enunciated in his Edinburgh Lectures. Truly he must
have astonished the modern Athenians when he took them to task about the prin-
clples on which their stately edifices were built, when he demolished their temples
with a breath, set up his own idol of beauty and truth, and commanded them to
worship. No doubt he has done good in his generation by making people think about
matters which they were accustomed to leave to architects. But what are we about
that we should find it necessary to be instructed by amateurs 7 Surely those engaged
in the practice of building ouglittoknow the most about theprinciples of architecture.
The writings of Pugin, Ruskin, Parker, I'ettitt, and others, all had educational
influence upon the public mind; and their results, combined with the various
tendencies of religious belief, of early habits, and of local associations, have caused
great diversity of opinion amongst architects, as to which is the best architecture
for our churches. However, those who hold dilferlng opinions may be broadly
divided into four schools. Before considering the claim of each of these to be the
right one, I will venture to point out what seem to me to be some of the errors pre-
vailing in our practice of church architecture. The tendency of the earnest Goth is
to run Into extremes ; uniformity is his great bugbear ; as the architect of fifty years
ago made everything balance well, he takes a delight in making nothing balance at all.
If he has a row of windows on one side of a building, which are all intended to
admit an equal quantity of light, and which should, therefore, naturally be alike
in size, though they might vary infinitely in detail, he would go out of the way to
make them as unlike as possible in form, proportion, and general character.
Again, he says that buildings should speak. Certainly they should ; but there is
no reason why he should make all parts of his buildings speak equally aloud. The
principal parts of his edifice should proclaim their uses and destination ; but then H
is not necessary that all parts should equally force themselves upon the attention
of tlie public. There is no reason, for Instance (to speak of domestic buildings), why
a kitchen should detach itself from the main building and stand aloof, proudly
conscious of Its Intrinsic worth, in cases where it would be more convenient and
more ornamental to embody it in the main building. These are, however, errors on
the right side, so to speak — the errors on the other side are probably more numerous
— I mean the errors of those who are hardly Goths at all. However, as all of them
lay claim to the employment of the true style for church architecture, we will con-
sider their merits one by one. These opinions may, as I have stated before, be
divided into four classes— viz. : —
The Eclectic. — Those who would select parts from each style and combine them,
Tke New Light.— Those who would invent a new style for our churches.
The Antiqiiarian. —Those who would faithfully copy old churches with regard to
style.
ne School of DevelopmetU.— Those who, taking a point for departure, would there-
from proceed to develop the architecture of the future.
In these enlightened times, when an architect's library is stocked with books on
every known style, when his travels (so facilitated by steam) may embrace every part
of P^urope, and when, in the course of an ordinary practice, he Is called upon to make
use of various styles, it is not surprising if the consequence of his dilTuse studies
should be, that he should become a general admirer— one not to be won to pay any
particular attention to the chaste Ionic, the voluptuous Corinthian, or the demure
Gothic ; but one having a vague admiration of l>eauty in general, wherever it was
to be found. Therefore the Eclectic is a widely-spread school, and its scholar Is a
sort of butterfly artist who sips sweets from every flower; he can show you
in his sketch-book beauliful bits of Egyptian, Grecian, Gothic, Renaissance, and, if
you give him a church to build, it will probably be composed of portions of St.
Mark's of Venice, of York Minster, and of Wren's Gothic churches ; it will probably
contain a specimen of every known Continental style ; it will be a medley of all
things rich and rare, and would bring back to your mind the recollection of your
various Continental tours. There would be a want of unity and propriety of design
in it so necessary in all good architecture. This school, tlierefore, is not that from
which we expect much for the future.
" Why should we not have a new style for our churches ?" say the New-lights.
" Sweep associations to the wind ; ignore ritual, as It appertains to the dark ages : let
us have capacious and comfortable buildings well adapted for seeing and hearing—
the great objects of our churches." But the New-light, ihongh he would create a new
style from the|Gothic and call it, perhaps, Victorian, hardly deserves the nameof alover
ol^Cliristian art. His principle would be the best to go upon If we were to ignore
ritual altogether, if we were to pay no attention to associations, nor to architectural
propriety. It Is altogether utilitarian, and the utilitarian is a good principle to g»
upon when applied solely to domestic building ; but for a church we want something
more than a mere auditorium- than a buildingerectcd on the best plan for seeing ana
hearing, or the Colosseum of Rome would be the best model for our churches. A church
slinuld possess not only the quality of utility but that of beauty, and not only beauty
of form which affects only tlie sense ; but a beauty of projiriety whidi appeals to the
Intellecf, and the attraction of association, which appeals to the feelings through
tile senses. We cannot afford to ignore the element of association which now more
than ever connects our idea of churches with good Gothic architecture. We want
our churches to be church-like'; not to be exactly reproductions of what has been
done before (though that would be preferable to the ideal style which we constsntly
June 14, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
see
_., about U9), but to have a broad family Ilkeues.'! to thoao of tho middlo ages. Wc
want to see oliaaculs, naves, towers, porolies, and other features that we 8ee in our
old parish churches. We want propriety of styie: so, perhaps, the representative
of the third class, the antiquarian copyist, would buiid us tlie raoat excellent
ebureh. If you gave liim a m%nsian to build he would erect you a buildin"
in which you would liav.' antniuariau perfection, but a jjreat amount of dis-
comfort. It would probably be built in the form of a quadrangle, with extenalre
passages Uke cloisters, so that your dinner would have the opportunity of "ettiu"
cold on its way to your baiiquetiu,"^- hall. Your withdraw! U" - room would be
occasionally obscured with smoke vomited from the open jaws of an immense
fireplace; you would have to climb uncomfortable cork-screw staircases placed
In all odd corners of the buildinjf to reach your dormitory ; your view would be
obstructed by ijuarry-glass in the windows, and perhaps the iindiitoot would tell you
that you would be quite in comfortable with rushes under yourfeet as with a carpet.
Butgivchim a church, and you would have somethins near perfection -a nmiel of good
style, with deep chancel, elaborate screenwork, stained glass, and polychromatic
painting, all the detail correctly worked out and of one date ; but even this approach
to perfection would not suit some of us— I mean those who have greater hopes in the
progress ot the fourth class, or that of developmest. The disciples of this scliool
prefer to take the style of the thirteenth century as the point de depart, and to prove
Its capability of extension, satisfying thereby the idea of propriety, the lou<'in>' for
the beautiful, and at the same time the natural love of novelty common to u,'alT.
Ihis IS the most advanced school, and its disciples must have undergone a
considerable course of study to qualify them to belong to it. No one who has not got
the true toolmg for Gothic ought to belong to it. Before you can develooe a
style, yon must be aoquainted, not only with its dilferent details, but also with its
principles. Do not think me tedious if I venture to consider the claim of this class at
leujfth, as the architecture of the future is of importance to us all. They profess to
build exactly in tlie same way as the old architects would. Hut can they do so?
The question naturally arises, upon what principle did the old architects build ? I-u^in
considcTcd the prineiple of ornamenting only that which was useful to be the tr°ue
plan. Kuskm, again tells us that ornamentis a principal part of allgood architecture;
others say tliat symbolism was observed by Medieval architects. With regard to the
latter idea, it seems to me that Durandus' writings are simply a horn upon
St^»^ht^" were a ready built, for the purpose of strengthening the fSith of the
pious observer and that though here an<f there a builder, penetrated by a feelin- of
religion, may have borne in mind the meaning of certain symbolieal forms while"de-
fiS'^t'^Ti, '^"''^- ' y^'fymholismwas ever regarded as only an adjunct, as a help and
^Itt tbe designer What the medieval builders really did was to make the best use
?„ '.lrf„i ,"?'""*?■■ f ''"■' »*''°'".'i't ♦'"■ "l" Pl»u and arrangement of their buildin°-s
Iri'i^i^r, ? ^yP • T^K '',T'" ■?"?;«'=* ''■om time to time. Now, can we work on this
?ZiiS.!f°"''i'"'K'"j '"""'.',"»■• Not precisely. The arcuated System is the best for
small materials, but now that we have unlimited use of iron, and the advanta<'e of
S^??,'i^r^»?'' ™'^'ns.' '-Yfe'^ f^""^?' if we do as they did, and make the most o°f our
^i 5^ f' t''<;*'"'>bjated principle will come in. Interfere with our lofty arcades
fh5 Ir^n^^^h^*' M "''*.""''^''''' "^."l"^ ^''"'"' a«=titecture. I do not mean to say
that iron should not be used but that if used, it must bo employed for the
?pKi„"tw'"-"TK'°" '■°°f' '" columns, as' bands, ties, and cramps, bu?
seldom in the form of beams. It may be asked why should we be copyists-why not
i/rtM H^'"t'i"''"' 5"^' '"e' w"*" do while still cbnttuing ourselves to the materials
for X ;?i;^ / f "f* ^^^^^ ,°"^'',°'^ ""^ '"''^'1''' ''SOS. In fact, we find the necessity
for admitting the claim of ecelesiology to act as our o-uide
o,S„ venture to differ from those of the class of development who advocate the
adoption of the pure Lancet style as the starting point. It was found capable of im!
provement, and it was well developed in the Geometrical Decorated, whicli was the
most perfect and most beautiful style of Kngiish architecture. JIullions and tracery
?Jntnrv nrfhu,lnt."''A "*"'l' *°'^ ■''}"'^ ""^ """entcd and applied by the 1.3th
T?„^n/^ architects. Are we to consider ourselves better able to give a newphase to
Z!f'rn^?t^r^^""u'^^'""' "",**"> "'"'^^^ into Which our architects are dividei
mfde ^'' '■" ^'"" """P" = ''"'■ *' y^' ^'^'^ "'«?" ^ "l^*""*^ have been
*h^''J..''^^* point for consideration is the prospect for the future, let us brieflv trace
*r;,P„,?? "'f f development in the middle ages, in order that we may gain some
featTr wL li'^ir' •i'^f y°'?- .^^ ^l'*" '<=<= "'^-t as soon as the utility of eichSfw
that in tTf^mln '■'♦h'" foatu'-e was engrafted on to the architecture of the day, so
that In this manner there was constant progress '
aiT „,l',™ ''"1 ''■ways been a distinguishhig feature in good church architecture
toatTS w(?f.h'''"l "'^?° the form of' it assumed? The vaulted ?oof was
aS^L!^? r • ^"'?''' ''y "^ gradual improvement in shape, produced corre-
sponding changes in every other part of the building. The barrel vault of Eoman
Boon fo5ndT,!;T'''"^H'^'V""''"'?""'f« '''>'"''"" "^'^'^ Komanesque style I? was
»Pth „„, j"'"^''-""''"'™°f™»'"'0«'<l be strengthened by ribs at intervals
with corresponding piers or buttresses in the wall. The princiole common tnlli
good architecture, in all ages and countries-viz.rthat of th?"wTnPr the weTX no?^
tlfZlr """?' "^ "iPP"""' ^y '"™»*' »*■ t'*™'' "■■ arclies. warsoon reeot^nized and
IS ?f ih"'*"""?,' ' """ ''"'"."' •"= "est etrectedby .^romin,, Sy th>owfn? the
thaf thf w^n""""' "y "'-ais "f lousitudinal and transver,se arches, upon piers
that the wall space intervening between the piers mio-ht be thinned ?/ if
WS^tr^^^^^^^^^^ -rt '^S/ntstt'^^t'^at^^cl
X r/rhrghi L^reimp^s^s/^in^'j^LruXn"^"-^ "^ ^J^^s^
stvle an "im,?,""''''''"'! ^""^ ^'"' """■ forefathers in thinking the fourth Pointed
space\bove th.^ ni'"""'- "y^'^r'^'S 'he bases of suppo^irSid p°e"ing the wal I
tKate?iIls'^;ro :™nomU.fdxn''d''fhe fj'i^°""^ »<i clerestory.^'it was"fouSd that
FrancS where imnS,i,'^ '^"^ °''^'""' ™"'"0™'l- lu many of the cathedrals of
reduced as pos.sibfe 1°^^ fonmi fhatX Tl,'' '"' "''1 'i"^ ^ «>" "^ "°n« "» ^""^
shell bound toother bvhn„,ri',''i'i''';i falls consisted of a mere outer and inner
by flying buttresses so that thr h^HMi ,1 h™'"' ""^ ^ g'^^^^'""' being carried olT
and perfect o.,.,«(«r>li°htbntHrn,nrre?f f^T" "'"" "/'' be termed a complete
sprlngin,, from siinnnJts e\,l,i 'P^ ■ '/i*"^ "'" Purpose for which it was intended,
tfiese'clmrch"? an ?raonn? of S ""!''™",' 'o "ustain the superstructure. We see "n
which is astonisiL ™rheL we Sde./L*i ''"''%'''<'."'' "H"" '«ws of equilibrium, ,
the limited extent of rdencHt the toe "^^"^""^ contnvances for building and
505
Thus it appears that tho common-souse priueiple of making the best use of our
n^til^ it^^''^f\°'"'- r*,','''" "■"« wish to develop, the pure Lancet style "
not that from which we should start, as art had not In it been properly develonei
^llZ"'," iVri ".'; """" "i"'"' " ■•'■'""''ts'l "se of iron in our cKurches, If wo wSh
to build at all like the men of the middle ages, or rather If wc wish what appear, to
me to be a .me ,»,J „„„, ,.c„ to make our churches at all like those of the medieval
nf n,?; LZit "" '"■'=1? "*" "othic architecture for them. We see that the m^ority
ti a. ?i hS .? "" ™'"l'oere, and that many of them are below mediocrity, m mncfc
so as to be unworthy of criticism. I will mention a few things in which our
a?vT. /.f ,1^' ./h'.Tf" ""^ ".''I'",''"™ to style. Most churches profess toT In oSe
e u- V ?■ hi^rehes hnii'f wm""' """"?" '^e eclectic buildmgs) ; but we Bud sometimes
ni ./i„rri? i ,1 ""'?, proportions of later times : we And the square abacus
hnwt, s n > "i J'""'' "'"» thu round ; fiat, shallow late mouldings, in place of bold
and snuirP^ uin^ TnH^'i*?",",™?- foUatious Introduced in EuglisG Gothic churches ;
r and square cusps and flat foliations in Second Pointed buirdin"s We and nlate
nranll; nr'.f ''*r"'^. """^ P'"'" '""f'' "'"^'^ together, Zuldef piers in place of
a r ,^l.rt tL^lf'"'''"^ columns ; and arches, segmental pointed, and four centred
for af r s?fl h„f"l.„"'" 'T£ bu'lding. Now these are evident inconsUtencles
■S^' ¥/ ""''' before, most buildings are professedly built in one stvle But
If archi ects make the.se blunders what remedy can there be for them untU
lotnch'^STn'roveSlh',/" "ur schools with the oth^r ofo^es-untn the pubUc Ust^U
Now ^hisu'^n.T » i?f ,*°^?''^""'.''T o"»rX" °*° criticise and expose these fallacies?
bui7t for . he fMMfrfl , ?r"l'''' '•octrlne. I do not assert that our efiurches are all to bo
l,n r ?i r, hini- ,h f ^^- ''*"'=''' '"■yH°' 't'= Decorated style as at present practised ;
but I do think that it is necessary for the advancement of art that there should
DconT^eie^allv" w. f ■ 'r' ^""'r'"""? "ff 'ticism-; some plain rules that w7ll enable
KlkSi and ^T^rh f'5''''"'"?-?™,P'°'"''' C^i"" """'""t "»e perpetuation of such
mistakes, and this before architects as a body can venture to trust to their own
tho™u''hir.,Tr„^*T'""'l"'*r "" '""'"bent upon them, before they inven' t^™
ar,??n?^. fL??""'*''''.'" "^'e'^'ology, or their inventions will be worthless. There
are some few amongst us who are so grounded, and who, receiving information from
er,^eThr,"^°?,' "" ^^^"^ ^Z "'™'i' '" ?S'"^ "»"'■ Ev-^rything that passesTh™S°l^ th^
«nn? ?,°.°', their minds turns to gold. They are the possessors of that true philo-
sopher s stone-the love 9f their art; everything they put their hands to turns out
f„ ^^H„ °n T'""- ^'"' :"^°"^l^ *° •''»*'»1'' them and their works to be appreciated,
i,e» i f t^*' "'"' P'''=sent churches shall be in good style, and our future ones in stil
„n !,'„ f necessary that the public taste should be raised, and then architects
Zl^Lir!?? °? " "V""^;- ^"'*' "^"''ation of the public miud is to be accomplished
ei^f^n r° hooks of critioism, of lectures, and most of all by means of the asso-
ciation of architects to guide and instruct it. Of books on classification of architec-
ture wo have several that are most valuable. The publications of Bloxam, of Kick-
mau, of 1 arker, and especially of Fergusson, are in the hands of every one wiio aims
at being at all a connoisseur in the art; but we are sadly in want of some cheap
and simple treatise, some synopsis, like the "ABC Daire " of De Caumont, to
be taught in schools, so that the architecture of France, Italy, and Germany aa
well as the architecture of our parish churches, should become familiar to us aU
We have few who are qualified for the high position of architectural critic'
^J. if. tne .commonly received opinion that an architect should not criticise the works
of his fellows but so long as he does this faithfully, and simply for the love of truth
in art. surely he may to a certain extent be aUowed to do so. However, it is better
tuat the critic should be one who has been an architect, but is no longer one— a man
ot high standing, honorable mind, and one unbiassed by personal feelings. It would
be absurd to say that he should be a man without bias, for we all have that, to some
extent. Let him be prejudiced in favor of one style, if he pleases, for his colleagues
in the world of criticism will look after the interests of the others. Let him be bofdto
speak out his opinions, and if unsparing when writing down abuses, it will be none
the worse for us. He may be as cutting and slashing as he pleases: he may
wieia the literary tomahawk and bowie-kuife as much as he likes, provided he fights
under the banner of truth. Otherwise he is but a guerilla, carrying on war on his
own account. In that case, the sooner he is put down the better : if a privateer, he
should be treated as a pirate.
This is a wordy age ; disquisitions and long lectures on all matters connected
with art are common; most of them statements of the lecturer's own views,
would It not improve the pubUo taste more if our lectures were more confined to
matters 01 tact; it each man were to take up the subject with which his practice
has made him most famdiar— if one gave us a lecture on the architecture of tho
eleventh, twelfth, or thirteenth centuries, on the Byzantine style, or on Gothic con-
struction ; another on stained glass, and another on Polyehroiny ? I think we shouhl
learn more from them (and we are none of us beyond learning) than from lengthy
declamations or flowery articles about theories, and things indefinite.
lint most IS to be done, I am certain, by the banding together of those choice spirits
amongst us who have the Gothic mania, in order to investigate the principles of Gothic
architecture, to criticise modern buildings, to fix t\ia pniiit de depart; to determine
wiiat ought to be and what ought not to be in the buildings of the future, each con-
tritjutinjr his quota towards that developed style in which future churches shall be
Duiit. A bociety already exists in which architects have the benefit of the advice
and co-operation of learned laymen in art, in their efforts for the future— I mean the
J'^cclesiological .Society. This has been quietly doing its good work for many years, and
to It we are mainly indebted for many improvements that have taken place. But now
It 13 hi^'h time that its influence should be extended, and that its useful publication (the
j.ccleswtogist) should be on the library table of every architect. This periodical is con-
ducted in the same spirit as other architectural publications of the day, though it
ainers from them in the open way in which it allows the answers of those who difler
from it m opinion to appear in its pages ; but. beyond this .Society, the association of
a number of working architects for the sole object of establishmg a basis, and for
nxmg the principles that should be adopted for the architecture of the futnre, would
be a great boon to the world of art.— (Applause.)
T LINCOLN DIOCESAN ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETr.
nr""}""*' «"'"'"'-■'■ meeting of this Society was held at Bourn, on Tuesday and
Wednesday week, and the visitors received a hearty welcome from the
inhabitants.
A Museum had been improvised in the large railway goods shed, and was well
attended.
Tbe proceedings commenced with service at church, after which the features ot
the fabric were explained and a short history of the .Abbey, given by the Rev. E.
Irollope, F.S.A. From the church the party proceeded to the sitoof the Castle,
where Mr. TroUope gave a short history of the " Castle of Brunne. " The remainder
of the day was passed in visiting the churches of Dunsbv and Dowsby, Sempringhara
Priory ; tho churches at Billiugborough, llorbling, Thrickingham j Folkingham
Castle and Church. Luncheon over, Aslackby Church was visited, next the i*ro-
ceptory of the Jvnights Templars, at the same place; then on to Ilippiugale, Hao-
conby, and Morton. Rain fell during the whole journey, depriving tlie excursionists
of much of the enjoyment that was otherwise in store for them.
The Rev. E. TroUope pointed out the interesting architectural features of each
church, and in the evening, in tin: .Museuiu, read an interesting treatise on the " Life
of Hereward, the Saxon Patriot." formerly Lord of Bourn.
AVednesday opimed more auspiciously for the excursionists, and after service they
visited churches at Thurlby. Bastow. Langtoft, Market Deeping, Northborough,and
Peakirk. Thence they travelled to Croyland. where luncheon was provided. Deep-
ing St. James was the last place visited, after which the party returned to Bourn,
where a public dinner took place at the Town Hall. An address was here presented
to Mr. TroUope (the testimonial not being finished yet). Dinner over, the party
adjourned to the Museum, where the Rev. E. TroUope delivered a most fascinating
lecture on the various objects which were arranged around the room ; and this con-
cluded a most successful meeting.
506
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 14, 1861.
PfiOVlDK^'T INSTITUTION' OF BlILOKItS' FOKKMKN ANDC'LKitKS OF
WOKKS.-AN>'IVKKSAKY DI>MKK.
THE anniverwirv dinner of the Trovident Institution of Builders' Foremen and
Cltrks of Works was li'Id at the London Tavern. Bishopssraje-strcet, on Thurs-
day ^''nni-'ht. a« wo brit flv announced In our last. The chair was occupied by the
Bifiht Hon! the Lord Mayor (Wiixiam CrniTT. M.F.), and about two hundred
EwtJomen sat down to dinner. Amonc^t those present we noticed 3Ir. Sherift' Lusk.
r Henry I.tefd'ovemor of the Institution), Mr. \V. Lee, M. I*., T. Robinson, 3Ir.
G Plocknetl. Mr. Ceonre Myers. Mr. John Barnett, Jlr. Josepli Taylor, members of
tbe Anns of Meg'*r'» K- Obbard and Co., Messrs. Collins and Stanbury, and of
]fcwr«. Loe. Son, and Smith. Mr. T. H. Hartley. Jlr. Beard. Mr. Dent. Mr. C.
Jeiikes. Mr. AV. Balmcr. 3Ir. W. Rogers. Mr. fe. Treckett, Messrs. Hunt and
Stephenson. Messrs, W. and J. Freeman. Mr. Richar'I Roberts, Mr. AV. Fountnin
M««kiD, Mr. K. Condor, Mr. E. Adams, &c.
' Vwing the eTeninp: a narty of vocalists performed at intervals a selection of music,
«nder the direction of Sir. Fieldin^r. The principal vocalists were Miss M. Wells,
Uisa Annie Cox. .Mr. Fieldiu};, Mr. Donald Kiufr, Mr. T. Distin, and Mr. Smith
(who presided at the pianoforte). The dinner and wines sustained the well-known
reputation of the London Tavern ; and Mr. Thomas Hlggs officiated with his usual
abUlty as toastmaster.
Ailer *' Grace." from the Lautli Spiritttall, had been sang.
The Lord SIator. who on risinj,' was received with loud cheers, said, in pro-
poaiD^ the tirst toast it was altojfether unnecessary for the chairman to malce a
^peeca, for the loyalty of the English people was always an instinct, and in our day
It had become a fetling of afToctiou for the Sovereign— <Uear). Well mi*rlit we be
prood of our Quef n whose sovereign rule extended over the greatest empire of
ancient or modern times, but whose position was enhanced by the qualities which
Her Muesty exhibited, and the example which she set to the whole world — (Hear,
bearX He had to propose to them the health of tho Queen.— {Drunk with all the
honors, and followed by the X.H^tioaal Anthem. )
The Lord Mayor.— His Roval Highness the Prince Consort had shown, on all
occasions, a desire to apply the highest energies of a powerful and highly-cultivated
intellect to exalt the character of our country, and to ameliorate the condition of the
people—^ Applause)^ His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales had shown himself
worthy of the race from which he had sprung, and of the high destinies to which he
waa born— < Loud cheers). And we, the English people, had great reason to be proud
of the Royal Family, and to rejoice in the course they were all pursumg— (Cheers).
He had the greatest possible pleasure in proposing the health of His Royal Highness
the Prince Consort, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and all |the Koyal
Family— CLoud cheers).
Ode-" Hail to thee, Albert !"
The Lord Mayor said he had now to propose a toast which had always been
received with great pleasure— The Defences of our Country. The protectors of our
homes always deserved that this toast should be received in the manner It was always
received. We owed, uuder Providence, the happiness and safety we enjoyed to the
valor of our Xavy and Army ; and in these later days we owed the feeling of safety
and comfort on that fixiting to a now branch which had sprung into existence, he
meant the Volunteers— (Loud cheers). His memory went back to the times when this
country depended chiefly on her Navy, and when the constant inquiry was as to
whether there was any news from that particular part of the globe where some
great navad battle was expected to be fought. They all knew how
well for England those naval conflicts were sustained, and we at this
day enjoyed the great beneiit that resulted from the victories of the
Kile and of Trafalgar— (Applause). If we had not, in those days, had
an efficient navy, if we nad been beaten in the Nile, we could not, perhaps, have fought
the battle of Trafalgar, and if we had not fought the battle of Trafalgar, where should
we have been now 1 The navy had done its duty and swept away the invaders from
the Peninsula, to avenge the wrongs of our neighbours. Those results gave us peace
for half a century, and he thought we should always continue in that position. But
within the last few years an impression had sprung up that we were liable to invasion,
and the conscijuence was the springing up of a new element of national defence- we
bad now a national army of volunteers, ot which they might all be proud. He dared
say they had no naval officer present, and probably no olficer belonging to the land
service, but he dared gay they might have some volunteers ; he knew one captain
present who would do nis duty— (cheers)- he dared say there were many captains
g resent, but he knew there was one whose name he would associate with the toast
e was about to propose. He proposed the Army, Navy, and Volimteers, coupled
with the name of Captain Pluclcnett.
Captain Pllcknett. in acknowledging the compliment, thanked them very much
for the honor done to the Volunteers m associating them with the toast of the Army
and Navy. It was, indeed, very gratifying to them on occasions like the present to
have the mention of their name received with so much respect, and to meet with the
encouragement of gentlemen holding a public capacity, such as the Chairman of that
eompany and the public at large, and the volunteers would be delighted in being
volunteers, so that their services, humble though they might be, might be at the
disposal, should opportunity call for it, of the public.
Song—** Let's sing the Gallant Heroes Bold."
The Lord Mayor said he had now to propose the toast of the evening— "Success
to the Provident Institution of Builaers' Foremen and Clerks oi Works."—
(Cheers). This Institution was now, he believed, in its twentieth year— In the
twentieth year of its prosrcss ; and if its existence and its progress had not been
quite that which its founders hoped would, have been the case, yet he thought, look-
ing at the company they had there that evening, they had the promising augury of
what it might and would become— (Hear, hear). It was undoubtedly a very desirable
thing, not merely for any particular branches, that they should be in institutions like
that on behalf or which they had assembled; but it was a desirable thing fur the
abstract progress of our great country, it was a very desirable thing that men who
werejassociated together in kindred pursuits should have an opportunityof compar-
ing their experience, and of sugsesting what had occurred to each other in regard to
the important matters in which they were interested— (Cheers). The Builders' Fore-
men and Clerks of Works were men entrusted with matters of great importance ;
H devolved on them to see that the great structures of this country were
constructed in such a manner as should not conduce merely to the profit of
their employers, but as should redound to the honor of their employers—
iHear, hear). There were other objects, however, which all such institutions
lad in Iview. and very important objects they were. They were to provide
for the ictellectual amusement and occupation or their mcmbfrs in their leisure-
hoart; and, what was of still more importance, to provide for what was and might
Well be called a rainy day.— (Cheers.) In all walks of life poor human nature was
aobject to casualties and vicissitudes. And he knew of none more liable to
caMualties and vIclHiiitudes than those employed in various ways In erecting the great
buildings of nur metropolis and of our countrv, exposed to all sorts of weather, and
occaajonaiiy liable to accidents. It was, therefore, of great importance that every
nieniber shoold be. if possible, assured, that, should any misfortune overtake him, his
family might have something to look to, or should he himself be laid on a bed of
•Jckiitas, that for a time assistance might be rendered to him.— (Hear, hear). And
the iDStttution had also another object in view of no mean importance, which was,
that nien who were occupied as the builders' foremen and clerks of the works were,
sfaouid continually or freguently at least, have opportunity of seeing and meeting
each other. In order that when any necessity an.se for their seeking new employ-
ment, information siK.u d be npc-atedly and constantly imparted to them.— (Cheers).
He said the progress which the Institution had made during twenty years was not
that which its originators had hoped, and lie found by the books that a sum of
between £9J0 to £400 a year waa the income— not quite as much as so large and go
inlluential abody ought to have iu their books. He found, however, that several
people who were reduced to want, did receive something which aflorded them a con-
siderable amount of comfort. And he found, moreover, that by the economical
arrangements of the Institution, something like £luO a year was regularly
added to its capital. And yet they might by and bye look for a
irreat increase from the contributions of members and honorary mem-
btre. and that the dividends from the stock would enable them to dispense a
much larger amount of comfort to the necessities of those who had suffered— (Ap-
plause). Iu order to obtain all tliat, however, exertions were needed. And in any
institution of this sort publicity was a great requirement. Unless people knew there
waa some good to be done how could they set about it ; and, unless they received in-
formation about such a matter, how could the present members expect to get any
additional members to the supporters of this institution .' — (Hear, hear). He thought,
liowever, they had great reason to rejoice over the good which had already been
tllected, and he was very happy in having been placed in the position which he
occupied that night. His Lordship concluded by proposing "Success to the Pro-
vident Institution of Builders' Foremen and Clerks of Works "—(Drunk with three
times three cheers, and one cheer more).
Song—" The Swiss Girl."
Mr. Henry Lee said it was his pleasing duty to rise on that occasion to propose
the health of their Kight Honourable friend who presided over them, the Lord
Mayor— (Cheers). He had reason to know that the Lord Mayor had taken so much
interest in the Institution— the interests of which they had that evening met to pro-
mote and advance, that it was not necessary for him to do more than make the
proposition of the toast. As to the Lord Mayor, there was nothing in the public points
but eulogiums as to the manner in which his lordship had acquitted himself, which
was such as to redound credit and honor on himself, and give satisfaction to every
one— (Applause). From the way in which he had acquitted himself that evening
they might be sure that he discharged the duties of his IukIi office, and all other
duties which he undertook, with the same felicitous efficiency. He was sure they
would all join him with much pleasure in drinkingr health and long life to the Lord
3layor— (Drunk with three times three cheers, and one cheer more).
The Lord JIayor on rising to return thanks waa received witli loud cheers. He
said the Governor and he were no new friends, and their long friendship had no doubt
given a stimulus to the uttering of the kind sentiments which the Governor bad
thought fit to utter that evening. He on his part might say, that he had long known
him, and that he knew his father, but what was more to the purpose, he might say
that he (the Lord 3Iayor)wa8 one of themselves— (loud cheers)— and that he was what
he was, by having more than fifty years ago commenced the profession to which they
all belonged.— (Ilear, hear). And he knew^nothing more pleasing than the pursuit
of the builder's occupation, nothing more interesting, or more calculated to call out
the energies of the human mind.— (Hear, hear.) And he always looked back with
pleasure to those years during which he followed and studied that business, because
it was so interesting a pursuit , as much or more so, as he thought, than any other it
was possible for any one to follow. He believed the secret of success in any pursuit,
was the taking to that which any one had to follow— (cheers)— and he had no doubt
that that accorded with the experience of most ofthe men selected—that most of them
had been selected because they liked what they had to do, and because they liked to
do it well. The Governor had referred to what the public prints had said of his con-
duct as Lord Mayor of London, He was deeply indebted to the kindness of the
citizens of London, and to the manner in which they had expressed their satisfaction
with any humble achievements he had been able to accomplish. He owed more to
the kind reception of his humble eiTorts than to any worth of those merits
themselves, and it was a comfortable thing for a man to find that
he was on good terms with all the world— (Cheers). He needed not to lay down any
precepts from the chair that evening, lor no one would be there that evening unless
he knew very well the course he ought to pursue. He had only humbly, hopefully,
and earnestly to thank them for the kindness with which they had received him that
evening, and to tell them that having been a builder he had become Lord Mayor of
London, and that had he not been iu that business, he did not know he should have
been Lord Mayor— but, however that might have been, occupied in the pursuit of a
builder. In conclusion, he advised every one to follow any pursuit in which he might
be engaged, or whatever he had to do, with diligence and earnest perseverance. He
begged to oifer his most earnest thanks for the kindness they had shown him— (Tho
Lord Mayor sat down amidst loud cheers.).
Song (by Dibdin)— "Poor Jack."
The I-oRD Mayor.— Situated as they were, it would not be right to omit the toast
of the Corporation of the City of London ; and he had the greater pleasure in pro-
posing it, as he had on his right one of the SheriiTs of the City of London — (Cheers),
who. following the traditions of that oflice and with the desire to do good, had come
there that night to support the Lord Mayor and to assist in advancing the interesta
ofthe Institution on behalf of which they had met. He would not dwell on the great
antiquity of that Corporation, which went back far beyond the memory of man ; he
could not tell them how many centuries the Corporation had existed, neither need ho
dwell on that. Nor need he dwell on the quaUties of mind, the social position, and
the great merits of his friend Mr. Sherift' Lu8k~(Cheers). He proposed The Corpo-
ration ofthe City of London, coupled with the name of Mr. Sherifl'Lusk.
Mr. Sheriff Lusk, in acknowledging the compliment, said he thanked the company
very much for the way in which tliey liad received the toast. After referrinar to the
old city founded by their fathers, which luid stood many encounters, and might yet
stand many more, he remarked that many an able man had commenced his career
in the city and afterwards became lord mayor. As Sherifl* of London, he had had to
attend a great many meetings, but he had seen that nijjht more hard heads and
good intellects than he had seen in many meetings he had been at. Those who were
associated together for tiie purpose of trying to assist themselves and trying to
assist others were entitled to support. Wu were all liable to the troubles that afflict
mankind, and he was glad to come there that night to assist iu the furthering of the
interests of a most excellent Institution. Let not a member of the Institution bo
dismayed, but go on and persevere. If they set their hearts upon anything and
strove by energy and perseverance to obtain it, they could achieve a great deal ; and
let them assist those who needed assistance, and persevere in the carrying on of their
good work.
The Lord Mayor proposed "The Patrons," associated with architects, builders,
and subscribers, and coupled with the toast the name of Mr. John Barnett.
Mr. Barnett returned thanks.
The Lord Mayor proposed the health of Henry Lee, Esq., the Governor of the
Institution, who, he well knew, took a deep interest in the institution, and it was
highly interesting to him to see that gentleman present that evening. He congratu-
lated the Institution on having Mr. Lee to be their Governor, aud expressed a hope
that for a long series of years he might continue to be so. He proposed the health
of the Governor aud Trustees.
Mr. Lee returned thanks.
The Lord Mayor proposed the Press, one of the great'glories of our country.
Nothing could possibly have conduced to the liljorty we enjoy so much as a free, a
bold, aud independent press ; and it was a great advantage to such an Institution as
that which had brought them together that there was a branch of the press,which
devoted its powers, its energies, and talents, to the operations of the building
interests.
The Keporter of the Building News briefly responded.
The Lord Mayor proposed '* The Ladies."
Mr. Hogerh returned thanks.
The subscriptions made at the meeting in aid of the funds of the Institution were
announced to amount to £'^^1 10.
The company then broke up.
June 14, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
507
KOYAL INSTITUTE OF liUITISH AnCHITKCTS.
AN ordinary general meetiug of this body was lield at the Koomg, 0, Conduit-
street. Kejreni -street, on Monday evening; M. Digby Wyatt, Esq., Vice-
PreaJdent, in tlie chair.
The minutes of proceedings at the last meeting having been read by the Hon. Sec.
and approved of, a recommendation from the Council in lavor of the admission of Sir
F. E. Scott, Bart., as a contributing visitor was agreo(? to.
Douationa.—'Mr. J. I5ET.r, Hon. Sec, read a long list of donations to the library,
■which had been sent in reply to the appeal recently issued by the Council in that
behalf.
The Chairman, in moving a vote of thanks to the donors, said it was very gra-
tifying to find that the appeal made by the Council on behalf of the library had been
80 successful, and that books of ^Teat historical value, as illustrating the progress of
architecture in the last century, had been supplied to fill gaps in the shelves ot the
library.
3Ir. UoBERT Kerr threw out a suggeation, whether it might not be desirable that
the Institute should issue circulars to the authors of new works, intimating that they
would be happy to receive any contributions relating to architectural subjects. If it
were known that the Institute would receive such donations he believed many would
be forwarded to them.
Conversa::ione of the l?ist it ttfe.— The Chairman said, before proceeding to the
business of the evening, he had two subjects to bring under the notice of the meeting.
The first was, that on Wednesday, the 10th of July, the first conversazione of the
Institute would be held, and he hoped the members at large would assist the Com-
mittee by contributing, for the occasion, pictures, drawings, models, objects of in-
dustrial art, or antiquities, which would be gratefully received and displayed in the
best possible manner. It would be tiie object of the Committee to make the rooms
as beautiful and brilliant as possible, and as the galleries would also be thrown open
there would be abundant scope not only for the comfort of visitors but for the
exhibition of such works of art as might be entrusted to them, and of which the
greatest care would be taken. Tlie other subject which he was desirous of bringing
under the notice of the meeting' was one of great importance as aflfecting the
honor and dignity of the profession. One of the Secretaries of the Institute had
receiveda circular from a certain firm of gas engineers and fitters stating that their
profits were .30 per cent, and that they were willing to share that prdfit with any
architects who miglit assist tliem in getting orders. lie sincerely hoped that the
circular had not found an echo with any of the persons to whom it had been
addressed. One or two communications of a similar character had previously been
brought under notice, and insinuations were thrown out that those who scut them
had good reason for doing so ; however that might be, he had only to say, on behalf
of the Council, that if it could be satisfactorily proved to them that any Fellow or
Associate liad responded to any such circular they would, in pursuance of the bye-
laws, expel him. The Chairman then read one of the bye-laws of the Institute,
•which empowered the Council to expel any member found guilty of any act which
was derogatory to the dignity of the profession.
Voluntary Architectural Exami nations.— ^\\c Chairman announced that the
members of the Institute would be shortly summoned to a special general meeting
on the subject of voluntary architectural examinations. Tiic Council had received a
most valuable document from the Committee specially appointed to consider the
snbject ; though some of the points it contained might be open to discussion he must
Bay that a more able document had not been issued by any Committee for many
years.
Mr. Kerr asked whether the report would be printed and circulated amongst the
members.
The Chairman answered iu the affirmative.
Mr. W. BuRGEs drew attention to the defective state of the ventilation of the
lecturo-room of the Institute, and thought it was a reproach to them as an architec-
tural body that complaints on such a siibject should be made.
Mr. George Goi>win said one great cause of the defective ventilation was the
immense chandelier in the room, wliich was certainly neither useful nor ornamental.
Tlie room might be far more effectively lighted without its agency, and the ventilation
would be considerably improved by its removal. He saw no reason why the
room should not be efficiently ventilated, especially as there was a flat above the
ceiling.
Mr. BcRGEs suggested the appointment of a ventilation committee, to consider the
subject and report thereon.
The Chairman observed that the subject would be brought under the notice of
the Council, so that the grround of complaint might be removed before the approach-
ing conversazione.
The Architecture of the Dark .4//c«.— Mr. J. P. Seddon then read the following
paper on the "Architecture of the Dark Ages": —
THE I>ARK AGES OF ARCHITECTURE.
I AM somewhat afraid lest by the title I have selected for this paper, I may have
lured hither under false pretences some mistaken lovers of Medieval architec-
ture, in the hope of hearing a treatise upon their favorite phase of art ; not, I trust,
that any could suppose that I am capable of endorsing the stigma upon it, which
such term was intended to convey ; but it is possible that some may have thought
that I proposed to enter the lists in its behalf in the character of an apologist.
Should any have been so misled, they must pay for their mistake by their disappoint-
ment, if such they deem it, for I hold that calumny to have been Ion"- ago refuted.
The "dark ages " to which I am about to refer are quite other than medieval as
far at any rate as architecture and tlie other arts are concerned. They are those, the
central or midcight century of which, if we may credit the historian Carlylc, lacked
light in other senses besides the artistic ; being as regards political and moral
honesty also " bankrupt," ; certainly in all matters of taste they were steeped in the
deepest gloom.
The picture I cannot promise to make inviting, but it may, nevertheless, be in some
degree instructive and show us what to avoid, a lesson not less valuable than that
which teaclies us what to study and adopt.
As the dark ages of architecture do not then date from the birth ot the art, they
do not include, nor do they necessitate any inquiry into the probable form of the
wigwam of the '* I're- Adamite" man, if any such existed, and more fortunate than
Mr. Wallis' stone-breaker, had such a shelter while chipping his fiint hatchets ; nor
need I trouble you with any speculations as to t!ie early efforts of the pre or post
Noahites, which, perhaps, some millions of years later, may have preceded or
followed the fabled transition of the type of the timber hut into that of the stone
temple ; for sucli essays in building cannot claim a title to the name of arcliitecture
at all : or if any be inclined to concede it to them, it could be but as architecture in
infancy, and, therefore, even if only babbling by the liglit of nature, not altogether
dark nor dead ; its glimmerings, if but the first of the dawn, arc surely, though
slowly perhaps, about to broaden into daylight ; the men who wrought it were look-
ing forwards and not backwards ; they were gaining step by step in advance, never
pausing ; one nation taking it up where its predecessor left it, each meanwhile giving
it some individual impress and adding some new thoughts to the general stock, and
fusing them into a consistent and intelligent whole.
Thus we may trace art from age to age until the " dark ages," and find that it was
ever a language wherein men simply and naturally expressed what there was in them
to tell, and which we may read with an assurance greater than even that we can
give to their written records, seeing that there is less likelihood of their having been
tampered with.
As from the bowels of the earth, our geologists are digging new fossil facts
which explain or correct our misreadings of sacred writ ; so our Layards and
Newtons are excavating from more recent strata, actual fragments of buried
Assyrian cities and Mausoli in Asia Minor, which in like manner throw new light
upon profane history and convict half our cherished traditions of being mere fables,
putting us, as it were, face with the kings, priests, and warriors of those ancient
days, which liad become to us almost as obscure as the *' mornings and evenings " of
the creation with their wondrous intervals. So it is with the kings of Egypt ; their
acts and all that they did are chronicled on the walls of granite and sarcophagi of
basalt, lately visited and ably described by Professor Donaldson, and In these dayg
of .railways we can quickly re-unite in the mind at least the sculptures of tlie Par-
thenon, housed in our museum, to their empty sockets in the ruins of the temple oa
the Accopolis of Athens, and so gain a glimpse of that perfectly beautiful art in
which the polished Greek sought to rejiresent his ideal of the divine.
Then the Koman has left us his notions of architectural showiness in Ids versions
of the five orders, which, whatever they may be worth, were his own, until eclectism
in *' the dark ages " confounded all nationality and propriety in such matters.
Even the Byzantine, in whose hands art seemed to stagnate for a season, wrought
out in his unmistakable manner the types tradition handed down to him, and set
the dome as his sign-manual over the crux and each arm of the churches, which he
built on that plan of his, the " Greek Cross."
The Arah. again, had his slim miuar>'ts and fretted domes, with anarray of pointed
and stilted arches whose curves seemed to have been fashioned after that of his own
falchion.
The Barbarians, also, who overturned the Koman Empire and settled down upon
its lees, gave sense and nerve to the effete nonsense which they found in the shape
of decorative art in that classic land, and thought out for themselves a better (being
the proper) way of using the archivolt, and wreathed the tame foliage of the
Corinthian capital into something like the grace and freedom of nature, and told, in
their sculptures without reserve, what they themselves believed in, loved, and were
amused by.
Then followed, surpassing all previous efforts, the Gothic or Medieval develop-
ment of art, the grandest, noblest, and most scientific which the world has seen ; for
even it, in its restless strivings after conceptions of beauty, seemingly as infinite in
their variety as in the number of its works and its schemes for realising them, it
sometimes over-shot its powers, and makm;jr not snfliciently sure of its substructure
in haste to soar upwards, prepared for itself such catastrophes as those recorded of
the Towers of Winchester and Kly. by Professor Willis, and that just witnessed at
Chichester, we have yet hundreds of other examples, equally fine, which have lasted
for centuries and may last as many more. We may, therefore, still be more thankful
for its lofty and noble aims, despite such occasional failures, than for the lower if
safer aim of styles content to grovel near the groimd, and whose superior science
consists in poising huge stones upon columns, in ignorance of the principal arch,
whereby the space could be well spanned, and in avoiding every chance of thrust in
order to escape a difiiculty which tney knew not how to deal with.
Throughout all these several styles not one link in the chain of art was lost— not
one \y\n^ phase had yet appeared. We may approve one more than another, we
may find errors and backslidings, but no systematic and deliberate falsehood and
betrayal of the spirit of the age can be found in the whole history of art until we
come to "the dark ages." The Greeks seem to have been gifted rather with con-
summate refinement than with much originality. We can well see that they admired
and borrowed from the ornament of Persia and Egypt; but we have no proof of
their having attempted to build Egyptian halls in the streets of Athens or sham
caves of Ellora about its Acropolis. The Christians, when freed by Constantinc
from the persecution which had repressed all their previous efforts, boldly adopted
the pagan basihca; for their churches, and built others after the same type, yet w'edo
not find that they attempted to compose them out of porticoes copied from the
antique or piled Grecian monuments one above another to serve for belfries or
campanili.
It is a question of the greatest moment to us, but one which I have not time now
to discuss, how it was that the Medieval or Gothic phase of art should, after its
brilliant and rapid growth, have rested so short a time at the height of development
which it reached, and thence declined with almost equal rapidity, till it fizzed itself
away in France in the luxury of "Flamboyant" tracery, and in England was
strangled in its strait-jacket array of the rigid "Perpendicular." It sufl!ices for
our present purpose to know that it died from inherent decay, and not from any
assault from without.
That this, as every other style that preceded it, should have gone the way of all
things of earth, may be a matter for regret, yet not of surprise, and its having done
so is not the question which I have proposed to consider on the present occasion,
but, rather, how it happened that after it came " the deluge ?" We have seen that
all previous styles successively rose, culminated, and fell, only to be followed by
others still more comprehensive, and that each yielded up gracefully all that it had
added to the general stock of ideas, to be grafted into the newer plant, to bud and
flourish again with fresh vi^^or and increase of power under a different regime.
What, then, necessitated the artistic chaos which reigned when Medieval art
vanished? What was the Gorgon's head which turned into stone the natural love
for and power to originate beauty, which mankind had hitherto shown in all ages
and countries ? These are the questions to which I am anxious to find a solution.
The complete quenching of the lamp of art which, sooner or later, in the period
of the dark ages, ensued in every quarter of the globe—save where, among the less
civilised Oriental nations, it has stagnated until now in considerable decorative
purity— is one of the strangest phenomena I am acquainted with in the history of
the world, and this I desire to invite you to consider, in the hope that we may be
able to discover the rocks upon which it was shipwrecked, and that in our efforts to
float it aq:ain we may be able to steer clear of them.
The "dark ages, however, or, at least, the gloomof them, did not come on all at
once. The night, unUkethatof the tropics.didnotfollowsuddenly the lightof the me-
dieval day. Nay, the sun of art set so gorgeously that men were dazzled by the glory
thereof, and believed that it was as sunrise, heralding a new, better phase
of art, instead of its being a sunset, preluding the loss of the best the world
had seen.
It behoves me, therefore, to linger over this threshold of my subject (and not un-
willing am I to do so, seeing that it is by far the pleasantest part thereof). *ii}d to
endeavour to trace the lines of it several changes, as successively they grew fainter
and fainter, to"-ether with the brightness ofthe evening stars of genius, which beamed
like a galaxy through its twilight, and even occasionally long af^er the nightfall, until,
clouded over at last, utter darkness ensued, enlivened only by the false will-o'-the-
wisp phantoms of rococo which have been misleadmg men ever since.
This period, then, upon which I would now dwell, this twilight of the"darkagC8
which 1 have taken for my subject, is that generally known as the Renaissance or
the revival of Classic art. It is true that in Italy, the whole surface of which was
strewn with fragments of Koman work. Classic tradition seems always to have sat
like a nightmare upon its architecture. The mighty flood of life which seems to have
throbbed through the arteries ofNorthern Europe appears to have been checked in
its passage through the gorges of the Alps, and to have exercised but slight effect
below them, and never entirely to have succeeded in supplanting the influence of
the antique; it succeeded in doing so to the greatest extent iu the thirteenth cen-
tury, and with much grace for a time fused the two styles, but soon it began to
hanker again after its old love, and we begin to find the mouldings of its Gothic
buildings becoming poor and weak, and its parts and proportions betraying more of
the Classic elements. In Venice, which, from its po.sition, was not so strongly ex-
posed to this influence, and which was greatly under that of both the Gothic and
the Byzantine, we find in the Docre's Palace a most valuable and nervous example
of medieval building, unsurpassed in the boldness of its mouldings and detail; yet.
if we consider the general aspect of the domestic architecture of that city, we shall
find little of the variety which was so marked a characteristic of Northern Gothic, it
beingsimilardetail to thatofthe Doge's Palace that we find repeated everywhere,
while that of the churches of the Frari and those of the same date are strikingly in-
ferior. In Verona we find another most valuable local development of Gothic,
particularly artistic iu its treatment of colored material and sculpture, still an under
current of Classicism, Is evident throughout Italian work. In the Cathedral of
Milan it has debased it so far as to render it only worthy of being a model for
confectionary.
508
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 14, 1861.
In Floivoce »ikl in IMsa we are so entranced by the wealth displayed in their
Iwilil^y of paintiujr. aud sculnluri'. aud precious colored maturials, timt we are
nOMfttnflfnr the want of pure SKdieval fet'ni«r and boldnese in the handling; of the
arthlteotunl detail in i^HCh works that pretend to bo tiothic. and in the host of false
l4a» to tbo churches in the otlur towns, such as wo see tij^ured in the plates of
work! of Hope, Gallv Kniijlit, and r^treet, we »ec foreshadowed the childish
<Mah»ni which inainlv characterises the later works of tlie Renais-
of the '* dark ajreit,"' which iyrwores the certainty of beinpf found ont
thft lutHit the spectator turns the corntr ol the bnildiufi:- In the Lotf^a de Lanzi,
br OiWMnia, we find distant traces of tlio Koman impost between the columnB of the
amies* whilo his San Mielule, in the labernaclf and the tracery of the windows,
HCMBto u« with work we oiisht almost mistake for that of Itatty Lanffley.
In the pulpit bv Andrew Tisano, in the cathedral of i'isa, we see in the figrnres and
draperies of the 'bas-reliefs, evidences of an already too absorbiiit;- study of the
uttlgue in contrast with the victor shown in the beacls upon which the alternate
columns rest, where the sculptor has evidently treated them coh amove, and rather
with the tradltioual medieval foelinef. while the capitals of the columns are almost as
bad as the Komau composite, and the weedy apoit^ies for cusped trefoil arches arc
the onlv and I'adio^^ traces of Gothic forms.
About the middle of the fourteenth century there arose a furor for the study of
dMsie literature (which, indeed, had been more studied during: the Middle Ages than
m generally credit, but then in an healthy way as food to be digrested. and not so
taiBanely bolted after the manner of bookwo'rnis as afterwards), antique manuscripts
became eagrerlv searched for andjpored over by the literati ; fragments of sarcophagi
aud eTcr>' proiluction of Rome's New-road masons' shops were studied by sculptors,
•■d voted to be admirable precedents : the ruins of the Coliseum, of the temples of
the Forum, and of tlie triumphal arches, were diligently examined, and their pro-
portions measured, and admired out of all proportion with their merits, and, as
IJl-luek would have it. a somewhat docraatical treatise upon architecture, by an old
gentleman who lived during the unpropitious days when Augustus had just strangled
the Koman Kepublic. and who was, doubtless, a highly respectable member of a very
worthy professional body at that time, was just then brought into fashion, and a
nomberof suggestions that he had made for the guidance ot his pupils and profes-
vional brethren, whom he had the sense to see (for he was a very sensible man) were
not to be trusted to think for themselves, were propounded as a code of laws to
regulate architectural practice, aud to serve as canons of taste. The works of Vitru-
tIus, hBTC since passed through many, perhnps too highly valued, editions, while a
eotemporary arcnitectural romance, "The Dream of Polypholus," which is replete
with artistie eoggestions, has passed through too few. :Most fortunately the painters
were not so sncccflsfnl as the sculptors and architects in their researches alter the
antique, and thoroughly can we sympathize with Kio, who, in his " I'oetry of Chris-
tian Art," rejoices that no picture by one of the celebrated masters of antiqnitv was
brought to Ught . *■ For," says he, " had this been the case, modem art woula have
been in possession of a model, from which an unalterable rule of taste, and an un-
enlng theory of the beautiful might have been deduced and applied to painting."
It was owing to this want uf success on the part of the painters, and to their being
forced to trust somewhat to their own resources, that their art tlourished longer than
Ito slater arts, f>nd that in dying it shone, as the dolphin is said to do, with orighter
Unes than during its life, casting not inconsiderable radiance over the decay of the
fCflt.
It wa» then the unfortunate discovery, galvanising and deification of the exhumed
bones of Classic, or to speak strictly, Koman, art, which was the veritable Gorgon's
head that paralysed true and healthy art. Its influence was doubly fe.tal ; first, by
anbetituting precedent for thought, and, secondly, by substituting second-hand
pi^^attism wT Christianity. One result of the undue regard for precedent was, that
thepe<q>le (for whom artists ought to paint, sculptors to carve, and architects to
baUa« rather than for their own compeers) caring comparatively little for the defaced
bas-reliefs and broken columns, whose stories had become obsolete and whose pur-
poae was unintelligible to them ; and tke subtile mysteries of proportion being btyond
their comprehension, or, at any rate, but a small compensation for the loss of the
hnnum interest and phonetic power of the class of buildings to which from medieval
times tliey had been accustomed, Ixtgan to lose all interest in the works which they
saw rising around them. They found that these very learned architects shot com-
pletely over their heads, and that when they asked for artistic bread, they got nought
nromtbem but stones. Certainly, we do not hear of bed-ridden old men asking to be
bnmght daily to look upon any of the masterpieces of the Kenaissance, as had been
the caae with the Campanile of Giotto, at Florence ; for, in truth, theirs arc not
*• bright, smooth, sunny surfaces of glowing jasper ;'* they have no " spiral shafts
and fair>' traceries " for the eye to delight in, but rather uncouth, rugged, prison-
lUce rusticated walls and flowering cornices, such as those of the Palaces of i he .Strozzi
and Uicardi, at Florence, and of the Farnesfc, at Rome, which plainly told them " we
were built to keep you out." And even if any, from the love of novelty, should in
thoae days, as some I nm aware from force of prejudice have in m these days turned
tnta the Doge's Palace and 8t. Mark's, at Venice, to the contemplation of the
liibrarr. by fc^ansovfno, on the opposite side of the Piazzctta, one would think that
when the natural surprise at seeing so many almost identical females, angelic by
▼trtue of wings alone, somewhat awkwardly cramped into every pair of spandrels
throughout tlie building, had subsided, and when sufficient pity had been bestowed
upon the Cupids in the frieze, each condemned to bear in symmetrical balance, on
either side of him, a swag of flowers altogether too heavy for liis size, that the pro-
portions of the building, admirable though they may be, would not detain a spectator
long after he had exhausted the iconography which is so happily suggestive of
ita literary destination.
The consfHjuence of all this was that the public ceased to ask for pleasure or
instruction at the hands of architects, and the latter forgot that it was their duty
to tender it, and. as if In revenge, hedged themselves about with a set of rules
Sie observance of which could, of course, only be appreciated by the initiated)
oblivion that art should " pierce directly to the simple and the true.'*
But the substitution of second-hand Paganism for Christianity was even more
flktal than the slavish adherence to precedent. It is absolutely impossible to produce
f;ood work without faith in what one is attempting to realise. In such faith had
ain the strength of the early painters, in whom we can excuse shortcoming in their
powers^of execution for the sake of the purity and earnestness of their aim, for
while men wrought in the spirit of the statement of HufTalmacco, recorded by Vasari,
▼i«: — ** We painters occupy ourselves entirely in tracing saints upon the walls and
oa the altars, in order that by these means men may, to the great despite of the
danona. be drawn to virtue and piety." and so long as the intention of works of art
jrOBAhKd the same as that named in an inscription over the doorway of S. Nixier, at
yoyea^vlz.. that three windows had been painted from "servic ae catcchisme et
lairtiuetion du peuple," we may foretell their success, and that, step by step, they
jycTcrcomethe difliculties and technicalities of their profession without the aid of
5. ilj Precedents from the antique; but when they began to pander their art at
toe bidding :of princely patrons to the representation of the labors and loves of
Bercolea and Venus and other of the gods and goddesses of Pagan mythology, we
nay aa ^aailr prophecy that notwithstanding such spkndcd genius and wondrous
P<>y^** those of the artists who congregated around the corrupt courts of I.co X.
and toe Medicia ; the system has become rotten to the core, the lamp Is flickering
with an jmbiMtthy excUement which but pn^ludes the speedy extinguishing of the
W>t altogether. 8neh was the fact which ensued, the very prowess of Kafl'aelle and
MlebelAngelo fveemed to prevent their succescors (Vom maJfing use of the powers
thgy Midoubtfdiy possessed. They prated of the composition, the drawing, the
^S***^.'^" u*'*^ "'*'*"'■** *'f**^*^''' P"^^^ masters, and humbly strove to follow
MOB with such nufcenii as they were able to command in these i)articular8, but they
' in their strucgU- after the means of art to forget the true object and end of it
may commeAd their diligence so long as they confined themselves to the re-'
preaentation of subjects from profane history or mythology, seeing that it is of com-
paraUTcly aught importance whether Alexander or Darius be caricatured or not in
aadoDe
a picture which pretends to no accuracy even in costume, or whether Juno or Venus
appe;»r questionable in point of character if not of beauty, seeing that no one is called
upon to iH'lieve in either their existence or their virtue ; but we cannot Ijut regret the
misapplication of their efforts .to represent the persons or scenes of sacred history.
Thus Caracci was far better employed upon his famed '* Ituteher's Shop ' ' than upon
his " Three Maries " weeping their crocodile tears, and "Guido upon his Aurora
amidst the Clouds," for the future admiration of tlio dozen or so of devoted students
who may be always found copying the same, to the not very evident advantage of
modem art, than upon his sentimental ** Sladonnas " and *' Ecce Homos."
I have dwelt longer upon the effects of the Kenaissance upon tliepainters than upon
their brother artists, because as I have said, from their fortunate failure in findmg
classic models, and the consnmmato excellence of some of their craft, the meteoric
brilliancy of their fall was the more striking, and the warning it conveys neces-
sarily the more patent ; nevertheless, the same fate befell all the other arts, includ-
ing that with which we arc more n(;arly concerned, and to which my wasting space
warns me 1 must now confine myself.
Let any one who would question what I have advanced, ordesircs to study Italian
architecture, and the end to which it led, in a simple spirit of common-sense, take
up Quiucy's " Histoire des Architects," and turn over the plates in their sequence ;
the first, representing the Cathedral at Visa, the work of Busehetto in l(K>:i, and the
fewnext in order, he would find, clearly demonstrating what 1 have stated, as to the
trammels by which, duriuf^ even the medievnl period, the attempt to introduce into
Italy the architecture which was then flourishing beyond the Alps, was restrained
by the natural predilections for the antique. Thespian of this cathedral, that of the
Latin cross, its apsidal ends, reminiscences of the fatherland of its architect, itfl
clerestory and ranges of arcades, and the liyzantlne feature of the dome over the
crux, are Insntficient to conceal the preference for the horizontality of the Classic
school, or to excuse the mesalliance or the Roman order with the arch ; this latter is
seen still more uncouthly in the baptistery by Bioti ^^alvi, in liri'i, where gables and
crockets parodied from the Gothic were added. However, the fusion of the two ele-
ments with greater skill, and so much beauty of proportion and treatment of pre-
cious colored materials, as to demand admiration of a style per se, are represented
by the works of Arnolfo di Lapo and liurnelleschl in the cathedral, and of Giotti in
the Campanile at Florence.
In the palJlces of the Medici, by Michelozzo, and of the Strozzi, by Cronaca, at
Florence, we seem to lose sight of the desire to please which the other buildings
I have named show by their unsparing luxury of marbles and mosaic, and thoughc-
ful delicacy of detail throughout,^ and are made acquainted with the stem gran-
deur and air of shrug-the-sboulder affected by the turbulent and selfish Italian nobles
of the fifteenth century, in their fortress palaces, which, however, still depend for
no small nor inferior portion of their effect upon their almost Gothic treatment of
the windows, together with, to my mind, exaggerated frown of their heavy cornices
of Classic type.
Then painfully evident is the study of the antique in the correct proportions, but
tiresome monotony of the arcaded side of the Church of 8t. Francesco, at Kimini,
by Albert!, each arch \\ith its precisely similar sarcophagus, and each pier with its
rectangular tablet, like a picture -frame, each spandrel with its circular panel like an
immortelle, strangely commemorative, but hardly symbolical, of the career of the
restless Sigdsmond Malatcstaand his generals, who were probably not all cast in the
same mould. How diflcrently would such a theme have been treated in Gothic
hands, let the monuments or Aymcr de Valence, and its neighbours in the choir of
Westminster suggest, or the tombs ranged along the aisles of the church of the
Frari at Venice.
In the I'alazzo Pandolphini at Florence we must needs bow to the consummate
feeling for proportion wherein the genius of Raffaelle is pourtrayed, though I think
we cannot but regret that he did not, as he might so well have done, give reins to his
imagination, and treat us to something a little more phonetic than alternate seg-
mental and triangular empty pediments. Yet if we dare not do other than confess
tlieir perfection, we may plead that sufficient changes have since been rung upon
this slender theme with, alas! too seldom the same pica of admirable proporiion for
an apology which this building and that of the Falazzo Farneseat Komc can un-
doubtedly put forward. The distinctions and merits of this Florentine and the
Koman and Venetian types of the Kenaissance have been so well ex-
plained by Mr. Garbett in his " Rudimentary Treatise on the I*rinciples of Design In
Architecture," as to render it unnecessary for me to do more than refer an inquirer
to his remarks on the subject, and simply to note, in followin"- our present author,
that we find as examples of the second class the works of Giulo Romano at Mantua
and of Michel Angclo at St. Peter's, honorable of course to a greater or less dep-ee
Jor proportion, but generally contradictory of truth in ign oring the necessity of floors
in buildings by the use of single gigantic orders of pilasters for their exteriors, and
for the method of veneering tlie same to their facades ; tryglyphs from the exaniples
I find in the plates under exumination seem to be the main if not single idea ofde-
coratlon, an (1 for the pertinacity with which so happy a feature is kept before the
mind we ought, no doubt, though I own my inability, to be truly grateful. Of tho
Venetian type, by which I understand the decoration of each floor by an exterior
order, we have the Library of St. Mark by Sansovino at Venice of which I have
already spoken, the Villa of Caprarola. and the I'alazzo Delia Kagione at Vicenza;
but though wc have not the nobloU'alazzoGrimdnl at Venice bv San-MIchele nor any
of the picturesque painter-like conceptions of Longhena such as the Palais resaro
at Venice, which if not so pure m detail, commend themselves to me for artistic
grouping and conception before most of the ordinnrlly idolized Italian buildings.
These A^^netian worlis with their pomp and luxury of effect, their successive orders
of columns, constant use of coupled columns, depth of recess and richness of detaiL
seem to typify the vanity and love of parade of the age which gave them birth, and
which preluded the fall of the city they adorned.
1 do not remember ever to have been struck more forciblj^ with the character that
architecture can present, than by the puerile vanity shown in many of these facades
in Venice ; for while the old Moorish and Gothic palaces, marred as they almost all
arc by later incongruous additions and insertions, though comparatively modest and
ineffective have sensible fronts, more richly arcaded and decorated of course than
the sides, yet in harmony therewith, so that they arc one in conception and structure;
these fronts of the Renaissance buildings are all separate, show fagades, stuck as it
were before a building of totally inferior and distinct character, just returned round
the angle a few feet to save appearances, which of course is found out as soon as
one has turned thejcorner. Such are are the three grand types of the Renaissance
architecture of Italy as developed principally in Florence, Rome, and Venice, and
whence sprung the architecture of the dark ages to which the i)]atcs of second
voii-me of Quiiicy introduces us, but all the scries of which I have neither time nor
patience to follow.
From Italy the Renalssttncc spread Into France— a result doubtless hastened by
means of the Italian wars of Charles VIII., and Louis XII., and Francis I., but at
first the native workmen merely applied the more ornamental parts to their own
Gothic work, as in the Chateau de Blois.
Subsequently they developed it into a style of their own, of which Chambord and
Chenonceaux are among the most favorable specimens. It may be described as con-
sisting of tlie application of pilasters more or less enriched as surface decoration,
and lliesc are in fact made to do the duty of the buttresses which were so profusely
employed in Flamboyant. There is much beauty In this style, which was the work
of French architects and became naturaliped in their land. It is very artistic, and
less insolent in its display of barren proportion : it gives something more than that
husk of art, at the same time it is like all Renaissance work, radically wrong and in-
consistent as architecture compared with the real styles ; its very notion of orna-
ment is something added to and independent of the construction; it is highly
picturesque but generally exaggerated in its grouping and skyline, and combinations
of turrets and high roofs, its best features which it borrowed from the Gothic.
In the latter years of Francis I., Italian workmen and architects were imported
nto France, and were employed at Fontamebleau. They introduced a great modifi-
i
June 14, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
509
cation into the style, purtakinp: more of the (Mns^ic feeling;, after which, as was
natural, it rapidly deteriorated and passed through the phases of the stylo of Louis
XIV., set fortn in the paffcs of he Pautre, redolent of gildinfi- and parade; thence it
sank in the times of Louis XV., into that viciou.s and emasculated style which has
earned the souhriquet of " T!ococo." in which all the -rrandeur, manly, if somewhat
heavy and impure, of its predecessor gave place to an elaborate trifling with florescent
kuueklebones, in curious combuiatioii with a species of shell-work ; altogether an
idiotic piece of business which we mij^'ht dismiss without a thought, save of scorn,
were it not that this, in the depth ot the dark ages, was the very will-o'-the-wisp
which architects and decorators danced after, and upon which, even so late as in the
GreatKxhibitionof 18ol, most of the productions of r(Ci7/»-c(i nations were ba8cd,sothat
one had toiurn to the worksof the onj'6rtnV«i5 of the Kasl, as to an oiisis of true art,
to relVesh one's eyes with. AVhether or not, in the interval, our efforts to imitate
these on the one hand, and to teach the Chinese J'alladiau plaster- work, and to smash
palaces in I'ekin, and to loot at Delhi on the other, may have turned the tables, we
shall shortly learn.
The course ran by the Kenaiasancc in England we may take up at tlie period of
Elizabeth, when, the political troubles becoming .■iettled, men were able to turn their
attention to art and architecture. For a longtime the traditional construction and
plan ajid the muUioned windows held their ground, but coarse, bad, pagan mouldings
were introduced as improvements and an equally coarse sort of adaptation of French
ornament was developed into a convenient store of precedents for the dark ages.
Stone was made to assume the appearance of cardboard, cut aud curled, and -mon-
Btrosities of every description were delighted in.
This Elizabethan style was that whicTi in England combined the features of the
decaying OJothic with those of the revived ClasBic, and though less reflned in detail
than the contemporary work in Italy and in France was, perhaps, the most vigorous
and picturescjue. In time, however, here, as on the continent, the Classic element
conquered in the struggle, purity of style and correctness of proportion in imitation
of Roman precedents were the objects architects set themselves to attain and so were
ushered in "the dark ages." Yet many revered names there are among these archi-
tects, from whose reputation I desire in no degree to detract, I only lament that their
lot fell not in better times. What I seek to show is not that Inigo Jones, Wren,
Hawksmoor, and;Vanb™gh, were not great men, but that they were all the greater
for having wrought out so much that is grand and graceful from elemeni a lacking
these qualities themselves, and which, when their genius was withdrawn, resolved
themselves into the monotony and lifclessness inherent in them. Of the heroes who
led this forlorn hope, Inigo Jones was the first and best. The proportions of his
design for the portion of the Palace at Whitehall which was carried out are as
generally admired as they are known j but as it has been used as a jirecedent for
myriads of acrobatic pilings of orders above orders and breaking the entablatures
over to give them some appearance of utility, we need the less regret its not having
been repeated by himself.
It is strange that one who so thoroughly appreciated the importance of purity and
consistency in ;the style in which he worked himself, could have so little regard for
the same qualities in other styles, as to have built to the old Gothic Cathedral of
St. Paul's an incongruous Pagan porch, and refaced the transept end in a manner
which, fortiuiately for his reputation, lives only in tradition ; this also has been much
lauded for its proportions, but from the representations of it that exist, I confess I
cannot regard it with enthusiasm ; that it was, however, simply barbarous as an
adjunct^o a Medieval cathedral, we may, I think, assume from a comparison with the
effect of the alterations made by another architect, who was not otherwise than a
shining light among the constellations of the dark ages, to another of our cathedrals
—I mean those made by Wood of liath. at Llandafl'. Xow, the works of this architect
at Bath are by no means bad of their khid, and would not lead us to suppose that he
could have been guilty of the atrocities which I fear can with too great truth he laid
to his charge, any more than we should belive upon less certain documentary evidence
that Inigo Jones had maltreated in a similar^manner the fagade of ,St. Paul's. Of
these alterations to Llandaff, I have (enlarged the illustrations given by the Bishop
of Llandaff in his work upon that cathedral, shewing the design " as it was proposed
to finish it," and we learn from contemporary letters quoted by the Bishop that it
was proposed to pull down the two western towers and raise one over the front of
the nave as seen in the design, and "then to finish with a rustic porch." Most
tortunately the solicited contributions of the faithful were not sufficient to enable
them to realise this conception. We learn, however, that they succeeded so far as to
insert "windows framed with wood of another sort which will come vastly cheaper
and look as well as the Gothick," and to finish the interior in "stucko " to their own
satisfaction, for the same letter states "that the church on the inside as far as 'tis
cellea and plastered looks exceeding fine, and is a very stately and beautiful room."*
AECHITECTUKAL PHOTOGEAPniC ASSOCIATION.
A SPECIAL meeting of this Association has been held, Mr. E. I'Anson in the
cli.ur, to consider the position and prospects of the Association.— The Chair-
man informed the meeting that the Committee had summoned them in order to
make known the position and to obtain from them power to wind up the affairs of the
Association ; for in spite of their strenuous efforts to make it a success, the estimated
balance in favor of the Society was steadily diminishing, and if they continued to
carry on the operations on the present system there would soon be an actual deficit
The interest of the public seemed to have been diverted to other channels. The
Jxhibition was a <Tcat annual loss, but he thought the Society had done all that was
desirable in that direction. It had been the means of inducing photographers to pro-
fJi "J"'"*?'^*!"'"' photographs at a moderate price, and was no doubt the cause
ot the loundation of many similar schemes which were now in operation. Under
these circumstances the Committee declined any longer to take upon themselves the
responsibility of the management, and would only continue in office until the affairs
ot the .Association were ■houiuI np, and they now came to ask for the necessary
powers to deal with the property of the Association as they please, and so as to assist
them in liquidating the outstanding debts, •«=ioi
After some discussion and explimation fi-om the Chairman and the Hon Sec
(JHr. Lightly),
Mr. Khandon moved, and Mr. Street seconded the following resolution :— "That
the Committee be empowered to realise the entire property of the Association with
a (view to the winding up of its affairs."— Carried unanimously, and the mcetin"-
Beimrated after passing a vote of thanks to the Chairman "
We understand that a similar Society, based upon a different principle, but having
the same purpose in view, will be established as soon as the affafrs of this Association
nave been wound up. v.»"vu
Kent— Reopening of Stone Church.— A few days since the beautiful
parish church of Stone, near Dartford, was reopened after restoration under the
superintendence of Mr. Street, who made a gift of his scryiees. The cliurcli is
ot the same date and style as Westminster Abbey, and i.s supposed to have been
buUt under the same architect ; and for beauty of porportion and workmanship is
equalled by tew, if any, parish cliurehes in England. The outlay lias amounted
to nearly i,2,000. A beautiful east window, by Wailes, and a stone pulpit, have
been given by the King fanuly. ' i r >
|ie»li5iL'.<j.
' To be continued.
An Egaay on the Military Architecture of tlw Middle Ages. Translated
from the French of E. Viollet le Dug, by M. Macdennott, Esq., Archi-
tect. 8vo. Oxford and London : J. H. and J. Parker.
M VIOLLET LE DUC'S work, modestly termed an Essay, lias long been a
. recognised authority on the Continent. The author's reputation as an
antiquary, no less than as an architect, combined with a wide-spread research
into tlie subject, pursued con ainore, as is evident on every page, at once placed
the work liigh in public favor. Confined to the language in which it was origin-
ally written, its circulation in this country liad been limited, until the publisBers
detennined to issue an English translation. We believe the work requires but to
be known to obtain almost as wide a circulation in this as in its native country.
Tlie immediate object of the publisliei's in |iroducing the translation has been to
continue tludr valuable series of works on Medieval architecture, in which the
churches and the houses of our ancestors have been already illustrated ; and we
know of no better existing work that could have been selected to illustrate the
Medieval castle.
The author does not profess to have treated the subject In an exhaustive man-
ner; on tlie contrary, disclaiming all intention of offering it in any other light
than as an essay — " a study of one phase of tlie art of tbrtificatlou, comprised
between the establishment of the feudal power and tlie definite adoption of the
modem system of fortification, as devised to counteract the use of artillery ."
" To write a general history of the art of fortification, from the days of antiquity
to the present time, is one of tlie fine subjects lying open to the researches of
archaeologists, and one wliich we may reasonably hope to see undertaken ; but
we must admit that it is a subject to treat wliich requires much and varied infor-
mation, since to the knowledge of the historian should be superadded, in him
who would undertake it, tlie practice of the arts of architecture and military
engineering."
The employment by the Romans of advanced works constructed of timber is
.shown by the bas-reliefs on Trajan's column, and the colunin of Antonine at
Rome shows ramparts of wood crowned with parapets of osier.
It is impossible to comprehend fully the general plan and situation of a
medieval town, without reference to the mode of warfare prevailing at the
period of its formation or fortification. Down to the twelfth century we find no
evidence that towns were defended otherwise than by fortified walls, with flanking
towers, or by simple palisades with a ditch, having wooden towers, or bastilles,
at intervals, which was tlie Roman method ; but c.istle building had increased,
and it was found that such a structure could defend itself better t,han a city. It
then became the practice to erect detached forts in advance of the main walls, to
keep the assailants from the city walls, or to harass them in their approach.
From this period down to the seventeenth century, and more particularly to
the time of Vauban, the art of warfare having gradually undergone a complete
change, military architecture had scarcely adapted itself to tire then new
conditions of attack and defence, before some further modification was found
necessary. It was reserved for Vauban and contemporary engineers to simplify
and improve the science, the great merit of the changes they effected being that
the defences were arranged in such a manner —
As to converge upon the first front attacked and destroyed by the enemy the fire
of a great number of pieces of artillery, and thus to change, at the moment the
assault took place, the relation between tlie besieging and besieged armies ; and in
their having simplified the art of fortilication and details of defence, which are very
ingenious on paper, but which are only impediments duringa siege, and impediments
of a very costly kind. It was thus that, by degrees, the superficies of bastions was
enlarged; that orillons of small diameter which, destroyed by the artillery of the
besieging force, rendered useless the pieces intended to enfilade the ditches at the
moment the assault was delivered, were done away with ; that the greatest possible
attention was bestowed on the profiles (or sections), these being one of the most
powerful means of retarding the progress of the approaches ; that the glacis was
thrown up in advance of ditches, to mask the revetment of the bastions and curtains ;
that a considerable width was given to the ditches in front of ihti f misses braies;
that stone revetments for parapets were replaced by embankments of sodded earth,
and that the gateways and gatehouses were masked, defended by advanced works,
and flanked, instead of allowing their strength to consist in themselves alone.
But it was only by slow degrees, and as the resul t of numberless experiments,
that scientific formulcc could he arrived at in the construction of defensive works.
During the course of the sixteenth century, we find the germs of almost all the
systems subsequently adopted, but there is no general method, no unity of plan;
'' the monarchical power, which is one in its essence," could alone lead to any defi-
nite result ; and it is interesting to observe how the art of fortification as applied
to artillery follows, step by step, the jireponderance of the royal over the feudal
power. It is not until the commencement of the seventeenth century that the
works connected with the fortifications of strong places are planned after certain
fixed rules, based upon a long course of observatron ; and that the last remains of
the ancient traditions are abandoned, and formulai adopted, established upon the
new bases of calculation. Thenceforward it became the unceasing endeavor of all
engineers to find a solution for the problem, " to see the tiesiegihg force without
being seen, while obtaining a cross and defile fire. The exact solution of this
problem would render a fortification perfect and impregnable ; but th.it solution,
in onr opinion at least, has yet to be discovered."
The numerous original French illustrations — there are 150 given — are particn-
larly valuable and interesting, some of the principal are the Visigoth fortification
of Carcassonne, a frontier city of great importance at the close of the
thirteenth century ; Chateau-Gaillard, built by Richard Coeur-de-Lion; the
castles of Montargis, dating from the thirteenth century ; Chauvigny Estampes,
the keep of the latter dating from the twelfth century ; Coucj;, " the largest, the
most complete, as well as that in which the system of defence is the strongest, of
all those known to us. The donjon of Coucy was erected about the year 1920,
and Pierrefonds, built at the end of the fourteenth century; the walls ot
Avignon and Langres, Castles of Vincennes, Bon.iguil, Perigueux, Schaflliausen,
and'iMilan.
M. Viollet le Due has written a good book, Mr. Macdermott has (ranslated it
into our mother tongue ably and well, while Jlessrs. J. H. and J. Parker have
done their share in the admirable manner in which the English translation has
been " got up " to lay before the public.
The Dublin Builder.
TH E May numbers of our contemporary have just reached us. As we have not
lately had an opportunity of seeing the work, we do not speak witliout hesi-
tation when we say that it appears to be gaining strength, and to show a marked
510
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 14, 1861.
improTement over earlier numbers. Among the principal articles are — two on
the old and new Catlietiral of St. Paul's, Loniloii, in which tlie ancient and
modem boildine by Sir Christopher Wren are considere<l botli liistorically and criti-
c»llv — while "leaders " are devoted to the works now in propress at St. Patrick's
Cathedral, and to the Royal Hibernian Academy Exhibition. Considerable
ipac« is devoted to the pro)H)sed improved supply of water to Dublin— an im-
provement much wanted— and we see that the Turkish Bath question is exciting
■oae interest. By the way, Dr. Barter's Baths, at Blarney, have been par-
tiaUy dotroyed by fire.
Irah law notes, reports of meetings of local and other architectural societies,
■nd miscellaneous matter, combine to fill up a publication which must be very
■welcome in Dublin on the 1st and loth of every month
W'e bad Bcarly omitted to mention a wood engraving of the premiated design
for New Plymouth Church, New York, bv J. R. Hamilton, and a double page
lithograph of the Augustinian Church and Monastery, proposed to be erected in
John-street, by Messrs. Pugin and Ashlin. As the work advances it will pro-
bablv be thought necessarj' to improve the character of tlie engravings. We
•half willingly return to future numbers.
A Rudimentary TreatUe on the Acoustics of Public Buildings; or the
Principles of the Science of Sound applied to the Purjioses oj the Archi-
tect and Builder. By T. Roger Smith, M.R.I. B.A., Architect. Demy
l-2nio. 1861. John Weale, 59, High Holborn.
OPENING the work before us with a recollection of the author's papers on the
same subject read before the Institute of British Architects and the Archi-
tectural Association, reported by us, we fully expected to find much that had
been already made familiar to our readers by that means. It happens, however,
that we are compelled to confess that we were very much mistaken, for, com-
paring the three productions, it is at once evident that the later, the ■' Rudi-
mentaj? Treatise, is very far from being a re-arrangement of old matter. We
are glad to see this, for Mr. Roger Smith has evinced some courage and per-
severance In the pursuit of principles which, we must say, are even now at the
best but ill understood in every-day practice.
The writer opens the subject by briefly and in general terms referring to the
science of acoustics, of which a broad view is given in seven propositions, after-
wards considered at greater length, with so much of the science of sound as
appeared to the author necessary to the immediate object of the book, dismissing
with a passing allusion, or omitting all notice of, soirie of those phenomena which
have most attracted the attention of investigators. These omissions, it is
believed, cannot rendtr the work less useful to the architect, while it makes it
more interestiflg to the general reader.
It is evident that in everj- building intended for public purposes
Provision sbotdd, if possible, be made so that each person shall receive a direct
and uninterrupted ray of sound, and sliall have an equally uninterrupted sight of
the speaker.
Church plans, as a general rule, do not comply with this very simple and
natural requirement, and are, moreover, in other respects, designed with but little
regard to the laws of sound ; but here we differ with the author, who says, at
page 50, speaking of columns, they are necessary to the employment of other
structural features, found by experience to be very conducive to good heating.
The well-known but unexplained fact that dampness in walls conduces, to a
Tery considerable extent, to reverberation, is referred to.
It will often be found that a building hastily completed (especially if its walls be
pUstered internally) and at once occupied for pultlic purposes, will, lor some months
fall to Ktve satisfaction to the extent that has been hoped, although ultimately, as
the wails lose their moisture, acoustic delects will disappear.
It is suggested that drapery should he hung up for a few months until the
walls get dry.
Wherever it is desirable to encourage reverberation.
Almost any ordinary cora-exchan<jre would furnish a good model to follow, for
these buildings are nearly all famous as being bad for public speaking ; they usually
bare nnootb, unbrolcen, and lofty plastered walls and ceilings, are lighted from
skylights, and are of somewhat square plan and lofty proportions.
Having remarked on some of the theoretical principles of the science, our
author proceeds to point out their practical application, combining into groups
those buildings, or classes of buildings, which, in relation to sound, depend upon
the same great principles for their success ; explains in succession tlie properties
of the various cla-'ses of buildings included in these groups, and adds, in illustra-
tion, descriptions of some celebrated examples, showing in what respects they
bear out the views laid down. No suggestion for the improvement of the arrange-
ment of law-courts, which " are commonly in the present day kept far within
the dimensions that limit direct radiation of sound, but do not seem to have been
established on a very happy model," can be passed without notice, seeing their
notoriously defective nature.
Instead of approaching a semicircular outline, they have usually been made
rectangular rooms, and frequently of the worst of all possible forms— cubical, or
when not quite that, almost always too nearly wjuare on plan and too lofty, and with
no arrangement for either narrowing the width or height of the court in the portions
adjacent to the bench. The number of persons to whom it is essential to liear perfectly
in a court of law is not very (,Tcat. and they are all grouped tolerably close together ;
but for these— namely, the Judge, the Jury, the accused, the counsel, and the
reporters, as near au approach to perfection In hearing as is possible is demanded.
Nor is it too ranch to expect that when these few persons occupy but a small portion
of « not very large court, the architect should be able to provide for them satisfac-
torily. The principal difficulty w.emn to be presented by the fact that the audience
Is verv crowded, and, consequently, the surfaces apt to deaden sound are numerous,
and that the necessity for a large supply of air makes height in the court-house
desirable.
In order to secure success, the space behind and above the bench should be
dimloished as much as possible, so that In fact the business of tlie court would be
conducted in, and in front of , a kind of recess, and this recess should be lined with
well -seasoned wood. The audience part of the Court may be made loftier, and
should have the seau arranged araphitheatrically, with a curved wall at the back,
eonnecled with which columns or recesses should be admissible. India rubber or
natOng should be einployid, as Is now sometimes done, to (leaden any little sounds
wMn^ among the auditory, and the great quantity of wooden enclosures, like old
nnUODed pews, now in um, should be as far dispeusid with as possible, as from the
B»t snrfaees they present, they may be apt to caus(! reverbeiatlon when unoccupied.
Sharp angles should be avoided, and so should deep skylights, and if a gallery is
adopted It should not have an excessive projection. Lastly, it may !«■ useful to
otwenre that it Is desirable to have the fittings about the bench moveable, especially
tbc witness-box, so that the peculiarities of hearing in different judges maybe met,
and the witness and Jury boxes plaee.l where the jud^'i- wishes iliem. It seems
probable that the heavy curtains and large cushions usually placed near the Judge
conid be advantagreously dispensed with. It might, ou the other hand, be well to
hang with curtains the wall behind the auditory so as to prevent any echo from it
even in addition to the columns, piers, niches or other architectural features, which
it has been suggested may be introduced for the same purpose Into this part of the
structure.
With regard to the construction of sound proof cell walls in prisons it is remarked
that M. de Metz, in his report to the French Government on prison construction
and arrangement, arrives at the general conclusion that double walls, with the
hollow filled with sand, are more impenetrable to sound than any solid con-
struction.
But our readers will hardly thank us for detaining them so long with a work
that can be so cheaply and easily procured, we will, therefore, only add that
among the twenty illustrations given there are sections and plans of the Free
Trade Hall, Manchester, the Surrey Music Hall (the latter rendered of great
'value by the unfortunate fire of Tuesday last), and the Lecture Room in Albe-
inarlv-street, and say, in the words of the very useful little work we are about to
close, that " it must be borne in mind that it is one thing to examine the cha-
racteristics and qualities of an existing building and to trace their conformity to
general laws, and another, and a more difficult one, possessing the general laws
only, to apply them with certainty and success to tlie treatment of a projected
building."
dlflrrc'JDoiuIcncjj.
MODERN HOUSES.
Sib,— The thoughtless purchasers of many of the modern run-up buildings would
do well to view and examine them whili' in the course of erection ; if they were only
wise enough to do so, their children and descendants would not have reason to lament
the period their parents parted with solid gold for airy fabrics, which scarcely resist
a puff of wind, but are nevertheless saddled with strict repairing covenants and
heavy ground-rents. Let buyers ascertain the following, and they will not become
the dupes of speculative builacrs and ground landlords.
1st. That the fouudations are concrete, on solid not made ground.
ynd. That all the materials are new and sound.
3rd. That the drainage is separate.
4th. That gutters, &c., are lead.
5th. That the dimensions and size of joists, sleepers, lintels, rafters, floor boards,
quarterings be had in writing, and no refusal takeu. (It is frightful to view the sliglit-
ness of tiinber now usually palmed off.)
6th. That each chimney arch is supported by an iron bar.
7th. That the mortar is sand and hme.
8th. What character the estate bears, whether one where, to create ground-rents,
the most dangerous struct ures are run up by builders of no standing and small means,
or one where only first-class work and materials are allowed.
The subiect has become serious and important.
Trusting you will kindly publish this communication,
1 am, t&c.
May tith, 1801. F. E. Wiiitmobe, Surveyor,
HULL TOWN-HALL COMPETITION.
Sin,— I beg through your columns to call the attention of competitors in the above
to the fact tliat notwitlistaudingrlK' express clause that all designs were " to be sent
in not later ttian the 3lst of jfay," several were delivered as late as Monday and
Tuesday the 3rd and 4th of June.'
I ask, ought not these designs to be returned unopened ? An additional day at the
end of a competition is no light matter, as those who have been compelled to scud in
half-finished drawings, know, and it is unfair to allow to some what was not allowed
to all, I cannot but believe that tlie Jfayor and (.,'orporation will take this very proper
course, if all who have competed within the time represent the matter to them la
the proper Ught.
I am, i&c,
A CCMPETlTOn.
THE ARCADES OF THE HORTICULTURAL GARDENS.
Sir,— Can any ot your readers inform me in what way Mr. S. Smirke is connected
with the buildings and arcades of the Horticultural Gardens, Kensington, for it
appears to me that all the praise is bestowed upon Mr. Fowke, for the conceptions
of Mr. Smirke. i am, &c.,
London, April 6th, 1801. J. H.
THE EOYAL ENGINEER DEPARTMENT.
Sin,— The steady advocacy of the claims of the civil branch of the Royal Engineer
Department maintained in your Journal, has tended to arouse the latent energies of
the members, so that there is now a shaking amongst the dry bones, as manifested by
the determination on the part of tlie civil officers to represent their case to the proper
authorities, with the view of improving their position. It is very properly urged,
" That it has long been felt by the civil professional officers of the Royal Jingineer De-
partment, that the use of the term clerk of works has given rise to erroneous concep-
lions as to the true nature of their duties, in quarters wliere it is necessary they should
be well understood ; and it has not only been injurious to the public service by being
the means of excluding them from associating with other professional bodies, but
occasionally of great personal annoyance to themselves. The recent debate in the
House of Commons, uiwii the Army estimates, and the evidence given at various times
before committees of the same House, show most clearly that this is the case, and it
is known to be imagined by persons in high ollicial stations, that those called clerks
of works in the Engineer Ucpartmcnt, are mere clerks of works in the modern sense
of the term, and that the duties which they actually perform are doue by some other
parties." It is not generally understood that the so-called clerks of works perform
all the duties in the Royal Engiucer Department that the architect or engineer does
in civil practice. He has to prejiare tlii! original designs for proposed works, par-
ticularly those of a civil character, also the sp<;ciflcations and estimates, and he directs
the execution of the work, and measures up for the contractor's bill. Nominally,
this may be also the duty of the Engineer officer, but, as has been clearly set forth by
your correspondents, he is not qnalilied for the task, and it is, therefore, necessary
to have a staff of professional gentlemen of known ability and experience. This staff
Is constituti.'d of three ranks, corresponding respectively with tlint of captain, lieu-
tenant, and ensign, in the army; nevertheless, they are all denominated "clerks of
works," and act subordinate to, but In conjunction with the Engineerollicers of every
fradc, and arc sometimes assisted by non-commissioned officers of the corps of Uoyal
;ngincers, filling the position of foremen of works, so that in the anomalous position
of civil officers between the commissioned and non-commissioned military olheer, the
value of the clerks of work's services is not recognised, nor their position acknow-
ledged. The credit attached to executed works is claimed by the military officers,
while the civil officer is looked upon with that arrogant presumption of authority so
freely exercised by the offieers of the army generally over all those who are not
fortunate enough to bold Her JIajesty's commission.
The Department has endured this for a longtime, by hoping for improvement, and
now it looks forward for the realisation of its hopes to the forthcoming report of
the committee now inquiring Into the mode of erecting the works aud buildings ot
the War Department.
I am, &<!.,
CmLIAN.
June 14, ISGl.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
511
TENDERS.
DwELMNfl HoLSK. London.
For rebuilding premises In Holywell-row, Worship-street. Mr. F. G. Wlddows,
nrchitect.
Anlov £l,ra«i
Heath l.flOS
Wlieeu 1,4(H
Italy 1,>(^1
Lawrence £1,270
'irccn 1,254
Tolley 1,213
COTTAGE.S, IlARLESDKN.
Forbiiildinpr « pair of semi-detached cottages at Harlesden, Middlesex, for 'W.
Talbot, Ksq.
rainier, Kentish Town .-£.572
AVicks, Kilbnrn 4S0
Wilson, Great Titchfield-street MS
Cottages, Battehsea.
For two cottajres to be built at Battersca-rise for Jlr. Thomas Sturges. Mr. John
Tarring', architect, 2(i. I'ueklersbury, E.C.
Kichards £1,012 j Koper and Son £900 | Thompson* £838
* Accepted.
ClIAPEE, CaNONDLRT.
For re-arransing the pcwing, and sundry other alterations at Harconrt Chapel,
Canonbury. Mr. Wm. Smith, architect. Islington.
B'««s £«"■) (Carter £019
Conder 047 I Dove, Bros, (accepted) 897
Cattle JIabket, Ac, Lldlow.
For the sev/erage and cattle market at Lndlow.
Cliraie SO.ISSI i Moore
Holmes 8,017 — '
Craver and Treasur s]]fi2
Cllfl'ord s.lv'O
Fdmunds 7"8'*0
Clarke 7,^7
ScriooLfi, Fulham.
For new school at Fulham. Sir. A. W. Blomfleld, architect. Quantities supplied
by Mr. ,1. A. Bunker.
Dawson £!):10 | Bird £879
Child, Son, and Martin 897 | Wright 850
.£7,535
Mariott 7,524
Clarke 7,355
Field (accepted) 7,321
I'earson and Son 7,028
CiiUBCH, Somerset.
For restoration and enlargement of Aller Church, Somerset. Mr. John Norton,
architect, London.
J. Spillcr. Taunton £910 1 M. Davis, Langport (accepted) £845
Messrs. Chlnnock 899
Villas, Tottenham.
For a pair of villas at Tottenham. Mr. J. Jennings, architect. Quantities not
snpplled.
Chapman £,>i90 10 I Cashing £598
Clnek 598 0
New Inn, Seasalter, Kent.
For hnilding a new Inn at Seasalter, near Whitstable, for William Rigden, Esq.,
Jlr. Benjamin Adkins, architect. Albion-terrace, Faversham.
Thomas Potter. Whitstable .. .£ff»0 0 0 ' S. M. Shrubsole £4S.5 0 0
George Creed, Faversham.... r,^7 0 0 | James AVilks, Whitstable .... 463 10 0
E. G. Jell 477 11 3 I Lewis Shrubsole, Faversham* 464 0 0
• Accepted.
Mechanics' Institete, Ashton-under-Ltne.
For the Ashton-under-Lyne and Dukinfleld New Mechanics' Institution. Messrs.
Starkey and Cufllcy, architects, JIanchester. Quantities furnished by the architects.
For the Whole of the Works.
Thompson £.3,177 I Farrell £.3,030
Medcalf and Waterson 3,13.'! Eaton 2,820
I'enk 3,04.) | Warburton 2,709
For Ex(xa'atint/ and Draining,
Marsh £44 lo'l Wilde* .' £30
Hawker 41 7|
For TlricJavorJ:, inrhuUng E-rcnvafing and Draining.
Bowdcn, Edwards, and Forstcr.. £740 19 I Thompson £700
Davies 730 o|
For UrickworTc only.
Marsh : £1,072 10 | Wilde* £600
For Afasons* work.
Butcher £698 0 1 Eaton* £080
Marsh ms 12 |
For Carpcntcm' and Joiners^ tcork.
Bowden, Edwards, and Forster. £1,170 Ifi I Storrs £955 9
Burton 990 0 George 850 0
Stafford 990 o|
For Plastering and Painting
Lomas £280 0 0 1 Kcvell £240
Cocker 244 0 0 Kerr 238
Bowden, Edwards, & Forster. . 243 1.5 0 | Moorby* 190
For Plumbing and Glazing.
Knowlson £170 0 0 | Ellison ..£157
Kay IfiO 0 0 Winder and Harrop 155
Gregory l.'iO 0 0 I Harrison and Son 151
Bowden, Edwards, & Forster. l.W 7 0 | Bell* 14110
For the .Slating.
Barrow £83 15 0 1 Kcrkley* £79 10
Bowden, Edwards, & Forster.. 81 5 0 1
•Accepted.
Alterations, &c.. London.
For alterations and additions to No8.-20 and 21, Hereford-place, Commercial-road-
east, tor ^lessrs. Dicker and Scarlett. Mr. Henry .larvis. architect.
I'ritehard and Co £445 1 Ennor (accepted) £344
Hack and Son 375 Over 320
Glenn 360
L
Schools, &c.. Cheshire.
For the erection of new schools and rcsideuces at Coppcnhall, Crewe, Cheshire.
Mr. James K. Colling, architect.
Espley, StafTord £1,343 0 0
Bucklov. Davenham 1,.320 10 0
Hodgkinson, Sandbach 1,28118 6 ,
Boughey, Nantwich 1,0S5 10 0
Church, Wilts.
For the erection of a new Congregational church and vestry at^Swlodon, Wiltshire,
George Bidlake of Wolverhampton, architect.
Ba'Tctt £1,572 6 8 I I'hillips £1,5«S
. —^ _
COMPETITION AWARDED.
CHAl'EL.
Harrogate.— The plans of Messrs. Lockwood, Mawson. and Mawson, architects,
of Leeds and Bradford, have been adopted for the new Wesleyan chapel about to
be erected in Harrogate. The building will be Italian in character, and will
accommodate upwards of 1,0<XJ persons, with spacious class rooms, &e.; and the
estlmatedoutlay, exclusive of the land, is £3,50<).
HOKNINCLOW NEW CHURCK.
Seventeen designs have been submittedin competition for the above building. The
Committee, after considering their various merits, unanimously selected the oae
furnished by Mr. Edward Holmes, of Birmingham.
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
CE.METEUY.
Milan.— For plans and speciflcatious for a grand monumental Cemetery to be
formed in the city of JIilan,(Loinbardv). open to all nations. An area of 180,000
square metres has been allotted for the purpose. A plan of the site chosen will be
given on application. Not less than 120,0(W square metres must be reserved for
Intermeot, part of which must be laid out as a garden, and another portion set apart
for the burial of Protestants and other religious denominations. The distribution
of monuments, tombs, and niches, is left to the judgment of the projectors. They
may be placed either in the open air or under cover, and correspond with the style
of architecture chosen. Their number must however be considerable. Appro-
priate bulldlDgs must be erected for religious ceremonies, for the service and habi-
tation of the olfieials attached to the cemetery, as also for judiciary inspections and
anatomical operations : but for these buildings no particular form Is prescribed.
A ma.\imum of three millions of francs is fixed,, whicli sum cannot be exceeded :
the projects must be regulated accordingly. In this sum must be Included the
above-named buildings, together with iuclosu-re walls, alleys, &c. ; but the pur-
chase of the site and the necessary earthworks are not comprised. All plans aud
specilications must be presented on or before the 31st December, 1861, after which
date no plan will he accepted. They must be presented or forwarded, addressed,
**jro the ilunicipal Council of thecity ot Milan," — "Alia Giunta ^luuicipale della
Citta di Milano." Each plan must be signed by some motto and be accom-
panied by a sealed letter containing in full the name and address of the
author, and bear on the outside the same motto athxed to the plan. Each
project must comprise the ground-plan, the elevations, and sections. The
ground-plan must be on the scale of at least l-250th of the re-il measure, and the
elevations and sections double that scale. For the details the scale must be
l-50th. A detailed description of the buildings and their parts must be given
with each plan, pointing out the dimensions, the materials to be used, together
with a lull estimate of the costs. All plans presented will be exposed to public
view for two mouths previous to awarding the prizes, and afterwards for another
month, during which time the authors may append their real names to their pro-
jects. To the eight best plans a premium of^ 1,000 francs will be awarded, as a
compensation; and to the three ot^ this number considered most worthy of merit
will be assigned a reward of 10,000 francs to the first, 8,000 to the second, and 6,000
to the third. The prizes will be awarded by a special Commission, named by the
municipal council from among the persons most renowned in art In Italy. The
three projects rewarded will remain the property of the municipality ; which how-
ever, does not bind itself in the execution to adhere strictly to any one plan. A
public competition is likewise open for plans and specilications for a new ceme-
tery for the special use of the great hospital of Milan, the area of which comprises
90,000 square metres. Plans of the site chosen may also be had on application.
The cost of this cemetery must not exceed 500,000 francs. In this amount Is com-
prised the cost of buildings already mentioned for the other cemetery. It must
be observed, however, that in this a small space only will be set apart for the mo-
numents and tombs of benefactors and persons connected with the hospital. A
prize of3,000 and one of 2,000 francs will be given to the two best plans presented.
The same commission will award the prizes to the projects to the two cemeteries.
The time and manner of presenting the plans, the exhibition and awarding of
prizes, will be the same in this as in the preceding instance.
CORN .MARKET.
Carlisle. — A premium of £20 will be given for the best design, and £10 for the
second best design of a building for acorn market, to be erected on the selected
site In Lowther-street, Carlisle. The plans to be accompanied with a detailed esti-
mate of cost, and sent in addressed to the City Treasurer, marked, " Plan for the
Corn Market," without the author's name, by 24th .Tune. A sealed envelope, bear-
ing a motto corresponding to that on author's design, and containing author's
name to be sent in with each plan. The selected plans to become the property of
the Corporation. Lithograph plan and sections of the selected site, and a photo-
graph of the adjoining buildings may be had on application to the city surveyor,
Carlisle.
MARKETS, &c.
Bath.— For designs, specifications, and estimates, for the reconstruction of the
provision markets, and for the improvement of the adjacent localities in the city
of Bath. Premiums of £00 and £25 are offered for the lirst and second approved
designs. Full particulars, with lithographed plans of the ground, levels, Ac., may
be obtained from T. Stone, town clerk, Guildhall, Hath, on payment of 58. The
designs, &c., are to be sent free to the town-clerk, by August 1.
ASYLUM.
Staffordshire. — For plans for the erection of a new pauper Innatic asylum at
Burntwood, near Liehiield, in the county of Stafford, for the accomino<lation of 200
male patients. The building must bo of a simple and inexiiensive character, for
the reception of harmlees and convalescent patients from the County Lunatic
Asylum at Slaftbrd. Provisions must be made for a resident medical superin-
tendent and for the other officers of the establishment. The building must be
capable of enlargement atanv future time for male or female patients. Plans must
be delivered at the Clerk of the I'eace's olBce, StalTord. by August 1. Information
may be obtained Irom Dr. Bower, at the County Lunatic Asylum, Stafford, or from
the Clerk of the Peace at Stafford. Architects desirous of preparing plans must
apply for such information as they may require before July 1.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
lUtlDGE.
Manchester.— For separate tenders for the several works required in the construc-
tion of a bridge over the river Irwcll, and Informing the approach thereto from
Water-street, for the Improvement Committee of the Corporation. Plans, &c., at
the office of the City Surveyor, in the Town-hall. Tenders to be sent in to
June 21.
WORKHOUSE.
Stepney.— For the new Union workhouse at Hromley, Middlesex, for the Stepner
guardians. Drawings, specification, and draft contract on application to Mr. H.
Jarvis, architect. 29, Trinity-square, Southwark. Printed forms of tender from
Mr. Jarvis, or from 3Ir. W. H. Swepstone, clerk to tlie guardians, at the board
room, Ratcliff workhouse, York-street west. Commercial-road, east and no tenders
will be received tliat are not made upon such forms. Tenders to be delivered at
the office of the board as above, before 3 p.m. on July 10.
C4THEDRAL.
Worcester.— For the works to be done in the further restoration and repairs
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 14, 1861.
Woretst.rrailixira: Pi mm in<rs. Ac. at the offices of Mr. A. E. rcrkins. arolii-
t«ri ' • r. who will, on application, make arraiiaremcnts for
thi: tions, for the inirpose of prepariufr tenders (free of
exp. : il, 10 tlie >erT l!ev. the Deau of Worcester, at the
IJeauiTV, ou June 21.
curiicnES, &c.
rr»izES.-For the rcatoration of fit. Jolin's Church, Dc^lics. Drawings, Ac, with
E. Ulddiu<-s. Emi . I liurohwnrd.n. IVvizes. Tenders to the architect, Mr. W.
Slater. 4, Carlton chanilKTs. ltes;>nt-street, London, free to July 1.
HAHTTonn — For the restoniiioii and re-pewing the parish church, Hartford, near
Hunliiiiidon. Drawing. *<•., with liolx'rt Hutchinson, architect, ofBees, Market-
?lae<', iruuiintrdon, wlTere sealed tenders arc to be delivered, endorsed " Tender
or KestKraiieus to llariloril Church," by noon of June W.
YoKK.-Kor the rvstoraiion of Christ Church, Kins's-squarc, York. Drawings,
&c,with Kawlins Gould, architect, Castlcg:atc, York; 'o whom tenders before
6 p.m. on June 20.
Harpksdkn.— Forrebuildiu<r the parish church at Harpenden, between Luton and
St Albau's. Drawinp-s.&c-.with Kev. E. T. Vau^han. at Harpenden, and with the
nrrhiteet, Mr. W. Slater. 4, Carlton Chambers, Itegent-street, London , S. W., to
whom tender* to June 17.
l.Ii«coi.>.- For the restoration of Sutterton church, in the county of Lincoln. Plans,
Ac, with Edward Browning, architect, Stamford, after June 0th. Sealed tenders
(l^;fe«ftblj to the form supplied), to be delivered on June 20.
KXBBT Kavenswokth.— For the restoration of the parish church at Kirby
RaTensvorth. Plans, A:c., at the conunon hall.Kirkby-hill, till 15th June inclusive.
Tenders to be sent to Mr. Austin, architect, 2, Collingwood-strect, Newcastle-
upon-Tyne, to June I'J.
TVoHcxsTEB.— -For restoring and refitting the parish church of Bocklcton, near Ten-
bur}'. Won^estershire. Flans, &c., at the omces of Mr. Thomas Sale, solicitor,
Leominster, to June 12, inclusive. Scaled tenders, directed to the rector of
Bockleton, to June 22.
ijiELAKD.— For the building of a new church, in the town of Augher, parish of
Clogher, County of Tyrone. IMans and speciflcatiou (furnished by the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners), in the hands of the Secretary. I'roposals to be sealed, prepaid,
and addressed thus, " I'roposal for the Church, nt Augher, parish of Cloger, county
Tyrone — J. J. O'F. Carmichael Ferrall. Esq., Secretary to the Committee, Augher
Caatle, Angbcr, Aughnaclov," to be forwarded by June 20.
PARSONAGE.
KoBTHAMPTON. — For the erection of a parsonage house nt Titchmarsli, near Thrap-
Btone. county of Northampton. Plans, «tc., with Edward Browning, • arcliitect,
Stamford. Sealed tenders agreeablv to the form supplied on June 19.
DWELLftG HOUSES, &c,
liEEDS.— For the various works required in the erection of a first-class dwclling-
bouse, in Cavendish-road, Leed;*. t)rawing8, &c., with George Smith, architect and
surveyor, 171, Park-lane, Leeds, until June 20, on which day tenders to be sent to
Mr. Smith, by 3 p.m.
FARM BUILDINGS, &c.
Bottok-o>"-Tbest.— For alterations and additions to the Blakenball farm build-
ings on the estate of Sir Henrv des Vccux, Bart, at Cauldwell, near Btirton-on-
Trait. Plans, Ac, with Mr. AVood, Blakenball farm, or at the oiBces of Messrs.
J. J. Girdwood, farm architects, 19, Pall-mall, London, to whom scaled tenders
to Jane 17.
BJBKcODBHicnT.— For the following works^on the estate of Busko, in the stewartry oi
Kirkcudbright :—l. For building a cottage on the farm of Upper Busko. 2. For
making an addition to the stable and byre on the (farm of Pulcree. 3. For repair-
ing a cottage and dog kennel at Kilkron Mill. Plans, &c., with- Samuel BailifT,
Oniockenoch, to whom estimates. Tenders by June 24.
POLICE STATION.
ToKKSBiHE.— For the various works in the eonstrnction of a new police station, Rt
Eaton, near Middlesboro', North Riiling of Yorkshire, Plans, &c., at the oflSce of
Mr. John Brew-ster, Middlesboro'. Sealed tenders to be delivered at the office
aforesaid, endorsed " Tender for the Police Station, Eston," to June 20.
RAILWAY WORKS.
IirvzHKESg AKD PERTH JuscTioN Kailwat.— For thc construction of the
Noi^hem end of the line, extending from the town of Forres to the Water of Dul-
liain. in Strathspey, a distance in all of 2fi miles or thereby. It is proposed to
divide these works into two contracts, the first extending from the town of
Forres to the Water of Divle, in the parish of Edinkiilie, being a distance of 10
miles or thereby, to be called the "Forres Contract." The Works of this con-
tract comprehend :— 1st About COO.OOO to 700,000 cubic yards of cuttings and em-
bankments. 2nd. About 21 overway and underway bridges, and bridges over
Streams and bums, there being no bridge in the dis'tanee of greater span than 25
feet. The second contract extends from the proposed viaduct across the river
Dirie (which is already contracted for) to the water of Dulnain, three miles above
Grantown, being a distance in all of 10 miles or thereby, to be called the "Grantown
Contract." The work of this contract consists of:— Ist. About 700,000 to800,000
cable yards of cattiugs and embankments. 2nd. About 18 overway and underway
lifidgeaand bridges over streams and bums, the largest not exceeding 20 feet in span
The raiifl, chairs, sleepers, keys, spikes, fish plates, and bolts will be supplied by the
railway eompany. Drawings, itc, for both contracts at thc ofBces of Joseph
HitcheU, EaQ-, C-E, Inverness, from whom, or Ironi Mr. Paterson, the Assistant-
£ogij)eer, may be obtained duplicate schedules for each contract on payment of
£2 2». each. The coat of the detailed measurements will fall to be paid by the
•ocoeMfii] contractor. The whole line for both contracts is staked out at distances
of every lOO feet between Forres and the T>uln;iin Water, according to the working
»«etion«. The deepest of the cuttings are also pitted to ascertain the nature of the
materials; and an assistant engineer will be at Forres station on June 18tb to
aoeompany contractors along the line, and point out thc sites of the bridges. The
draft contracttiroposed to be entered into will be seen at tlie engineer's or at the
aecretary'a offices, from the 18th of, June until the last day for receiving offers.
Sealed tenders, addressed to the secretary, and marked " Tenders for Inverness,
and Perth Jimctioo Railway Works," specifying on the outside, "Forres Contract,"
or " Grantown Contract." according to tender, must be lodged with the secretary,
mtlus office, Inverness, by noon, Julys.
LIGHTHOUSE, TOWER, Ac.
JjlEtAKD.— For the erection of a lighthouse tower, and keepers' dwellings, to be
erected on Aranniore Island, county Donegal. Plans, Ac, at the Ballast-office,
Westmoreland-striret, Dublin, iMJtween 11 and :i o'clock each day. .Sealed tenders,
on printed forms only (to be bad at the Rallast-offlce). addressed to William Iacs,
Esq., Secretary, Ballast-office, Westmoreland-street, Dublin, by noon of July 10.
I«EtAitD.— For the erection of a cast-iron beacon, with filling ol masonry, to be
CTtetadoD Storks Rocks, north coast of the county of Antrim. Plans, Ac, at
tne Ballast-offlce, Westmoreland-street, Dublin, between 1 1 and 0 o'clock. Sealed
taiders, on printed forms only (to be had at thc Ballast-office), addressed to
William Lees. Esq., Secretary, Ballast-offlce, Westmoreland-street, Dublin, by
noon at July 10.
SEWERAGE.
BWAi(8EA.— For the construction of the following sewerage works in the borough ol
Swjnsea:— Contract J.— For the construction of brick sewers as under :— About
2,827 lineal yards of brick sewers, varying from a feet 4i Inches by 2 feet 3 inches to
2feet 3 Inches by 1 foot 6 inches diami-ter, with man-boles, ventilating shafts, lamp
Mloi, street gullies, and cast-iron works, and other works connected tliercwlth
Contract K.— For excavating the ground and laying earthenware pipe sewers as
snider:— About 17,(XjO lineal yardii of earthenware pipe sewers of various sizes,
Tarylng from 18 inches to B inches in diameter, with man-liolesi ventilating shafts,
junp-holes, street gullies, cast-iron work, and other works connected therewith.
Wrawlngs may be Inspected, and a copy of the specification, with forms of tenders
bills of quantities, and schedules for prices obtained (by payment of 158. the set) on
application at the office of Mr. Edward Cousins, tlie Surveyor, Guildhall, Swansea,
wliere further inloruiatiou relative to the proposed works may be obtained. Sealed
tenders to be delivered to C. B. Jl.ansfleld, Clerk to the Local Board of Health,
(juildliall offices, Swansea, endorsed "Tenders for Sewers Contracts J. and K." to
June 24.
ANSWERS TO COKKESPOS DENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters anil comnuinicatious to l>c atiilre.ssed lo the Kditor of the Building J^ews, SO,
Old Iloswell. court, St. t.'lenieut's. Strand, Loiulon.
The Kditur cannot uuilertake to return unused manuscripts.
An art-Wobkman.— Duplicate casts arc allowed to he purchased to enable competitors to
studv the effect of the proposed desigu. Wc arc not aware if a competitor would be
allowed to send two specimeus. We should think it matters very little when you obtain
UlC CAStS
L. AND T.' Carqill.— Two useful little works arc published by Wcale. 59, High Ilolborn,
" Practice of Draiuing and Sewage of Towns and Buildings" and " Practice of Draining
Districts and Lands," both by O.D. Dempscy, C.E. The prices are Is. and Is. Gd.
D. K. (Glasgow).— Wc have seen Number 912, but our space does not allow us to say more
than that it is well drawn. , ^
R, K.— >Ve are aware that £1.300 is printed in thc book, but a glance at the figures will show
that £1,500 is the proper amount— evidently a clerical error.
A. A. A.— Wecanuot advise in any particular case ou the propriety of desiring the company
lo reinstate, or making a claim for compensation ; undoubtedly, unless you are well advised ,
the former mode is the safer one, but tlicn you may lose some advantages which might be
gained in your favor by an experienced architect.
Enquirer.— Structures would not come within the provisions of thc Building Act,
Gkobge Wilmott.— Quite welcome.
An Operative and Constant Keadek.— We should be disposed to adopt course number
A yiuESD IN THE NoRTH.— Wc do not know when replies fVom tlic other associations may
be expected. But we would again urge thc promoters of thc Architectural Alliance to lose
no time ; to mature the scheme tlioroughly, but to show what may be done in a few short
months, towards placing the profession ou a better basis than it has ever been. We have
several times referred to tliC number of letters wc receive on the subject, those it would be
impossible to print in our space ; but we propose to return to the entire scheme as soon as
the conference si. all have been held. Meanwhile, we shall still be glad to receive .com-
nuinicatious from the friends of the movement.
W. W— If W. W. reads the Building Xews lie would see that "the Editor cannot undertake
to return unused manuscripts."
0. K.— AVe will see what can be done.
A SuBSCKiBER.— Keceived too late for insertion at thc right time.
J . V. T.- Proposal mentioned is quite new to us ; we have reasons for thinking you have been
misinformed.
It. Johnstone.— Below our mark.
A. B.C.— Ditto.
One in the Secret.- Shall appear If you can manage to occupy a little less space ; letter
waits with our publisher.
W. M.— Not a proper subject for an Architectural Journal.
Faihplat.— Thanks for information.
A Student — Ko.
A StTBsrrtiBER (Bristol) Cast-iron would be more suitable for the purpose.
Messrs. II. and H.— We cannot say. ,
A Decorative Painter m-ay learn something of thc origin of the Painters Stamers Com*
nany in a pamphlet pubUshed at the Hall in Little Trinity-lane. Tlie Company distri-
butes pensions to blmd persons, decayed liverymen, poor painters, and others, and thus re-
lieves upwards of 200 persons annually. Thefunds for ihis purpose are derived from the bene-
factions of deceased members of the Company, and other charitably disposed persons.
The Livery confers a vote for the representation of the City in Parliament. With the
view of extending the usefulness of ihe Company, arecont report recommended that the
admission to the Company should be made as easy as possible to decorative painters and
that an annual public exhibition of specimens of workmanship by skilled artificers
should be given in the hall of the Company, the object being to induce members of
the trade to become members, and by a joint co-operatiou to aid in the elevation and
improvement of the trade, artistically and otherwise. To give an opportunity for
the operative artizan to participate it the movement, it was necessary to lower the fees
of the Company almost to a nominal amount ; but although this has been done.
His still found that the large amount demanded for the stamp duty —namely, threejpounds
— operates very much against the admission of many deserving and talented ariificers.
It is furtlier remarked that as thc amount for the stamp must be paid immediately on
the taking up the freedom, it probably may be necessary to form a separate association for
this class of artists. If, indeed, thc Government could be induced to moderate tlic stamp-
dutv to the actual artificers of the trade (say to lOs.), It would place the operative in his
natural situation of Freeman of the Guild to whicli liis calling appertains, and would other-
•wi.se assist the movement, and bringbacktothe company a large class of effective members.
Until this advantage could be obtained, and witli a view to create an emulation and reward
merit, it was recommended that tliree members of the court, being practical judges of the
works exhibited, and two other persons, also practical judge.*, the latter to be appointed by
the exhibitors, but not being themselves exhibitors, should be empowered to meet and
decide by a majority of votes which they consider the best specimen in writing, graining,
marbling and of decoration in oil, or distemper, and that each of the persons adjudged to
have produced a work of thegreatestmeritoftlic class exhibited, shall be offered the ireedom
of the company gratis, accompanied by a certificate signed by the master and wardens,
under the corporate seal of the company. Our report of thc award of the prizes was given,
in a late number. '
A Lover op Art.— Thanks ; send address.that wc may forward proof.
T. X. A.— There are objections to the publication of your letter, that must be evident on
consideration.
M. B.-Mr. T. R. Smith's "Treatise on Acoustics" would, perhaps, answer your purpose
better than any we know of.
J. I.— The District Surveyor will give thc information required.
G. K. C— Because the extra costs named would be more than a set off against tlie difference
of amount.
L. Iv.— There are but few communications to which we do not reply; if yours has been one of
those no explanation on our part is necessary.
A HoiJSE Agent.— Wc arc Invariably forced to decline such proposals.
Mr. It. S. L.— We will look to it in a short time.
T. W.~No such work has been published to our knowledge ; consult a publisher of repute.
J. P.— Wc notice the report In our present Number. .
A Friend We cannot adopt a course that would onlvlcad to dissatisfaction. Wo mucu
doubt the truth with whicli you call yourself a '* friend."
V. M — We should be very happy to give such information if it seemed desired by our
subscribers generally, but at present yours is the only communication we have rcceivea on
thc subject.
James S.~In no case can' we undertake to decide wagers.
B. (Newcastle-on-Tyne.)— We are not always so warmly thanked. .
R. Lk v.— 1. An arduous task, and one that we are little disposed to undertake. 2. Wo ao
not know.
Rev. T. W. n._VulcanIsed India rubber tubing would be much more suitable thangutta
percha, whicli is affected by extreme heat and cold. .„ „ .
W. P. A.— We are surprised at the statement received, but have no doubt that you will flna
theioumal named in error.
Mil, Thomas L.— Yes ; all in good time.
B., J. F., George 0._" Post Office Directory." , ^ ^ ,
A VouNo AttCHiTECT— The result of not "taking time by the forelock ;" you cannot help
yourself.
S. P. wants to know something, and that is all we can understand of his long letter ; put
the question In common-.sense, English, and we will endeavour to reply.
32. H — See page 4(J3, present volume.
W. H.P.-fes.
U. S.— Declined.
Received— G. Roberts. L. L. L., Kev. J. R., T. H. W., O. Y. H., T. M. P., A Committee
Man, J. F. G., R.„W. M. D., Two Builders, 11., A Reader (Scarbro'), P. C, Hon. Sec,
Jl. B., H. and H., M. O. R.. Robert Jameson, W. X. A.. Subscriber (Victoria), F. A. Q.,
R. A. S. N., A Surety, Q., Z. A., L. J. V., Mr. T. 8., Sir J. L., U. S. M., J.. X.
Books Received ** Thames Embankment," &c., by E. B. Walmesley; "The Seventh
Report of thc Durham Seliool of Art:" "Des Concoiirs Pour les Monuments Public,' by
M.Cesar Daly; " Guide to thc Exhibitiou of the Royal Academy," by"Yaufcee."
June 21, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
513
THE GKEAT EXHIBITION PRIZES.
NTENDING exhibitors and
the general public will, doubt-
less, have been glad to learn
from so unexceptionable an
authority as the President of
the Commission, that all diffi-
culties liave been removed from
""^i \\ ^V Cv^?^ y "\Ui-^^ ^^'^ ^^^y °^ caiTvin" out this
^r4s ^^S^^j^^Y/* ' I "'^ important national scheme. As
\Sh^^^^^fJm lit' Sir Thomas Phillips told "the
Society of Arts, " We have the
site, the money, and the right
sort of men at work." Every-
thing is favorable ; and the
promises of a great triumphant
success are most flattering. The
prospect of an International
Exhibition has for the time ex-
tinguished the lust for war in the
bosom of foreign potentates. Bellona
is driven from the Cabinet of the
Tuileries to make way for tlie advent
of Minerva with her olive branch at
the Council [table. Men no longer
speculate on rounding ofl' the area of
the empire or clamour for natural
boundaries. They do not preach, the
conquest of Venice, or the liberation
of Hungary, or the independence of
reland, or any of the thousand and one
annexations that spring from diseased
minds like fungoids from rotten vegeta-
tion. Their thoughts are centred upon
the E,\hibition in London, what they shall
send, how they can achieve distinction in
I peaceful contest, and in speculating upon
what will be its chai-acter. It is no ex-
travagant exaggeration to say the publica-
tion of the fixed intention to hold here
next year an Exhibition of the Works of
all Nations has been a message of peace
and goodwill to alL It has been like oil
poured on troubled waters.
There is but one drawback to our rejoicing — a black and lurid
shad"^-- falling across this otherwise smiling picture. It is the fear that
4, , '^•atricidal war which is desolating the English States of North
America may prevent our relatives from taking up their legitimate
position in this universal contest of human skill and ingenuity. Ten
years ago their inventive genius achieved a success altogether unprece-
dented. The yacht America demonstrated the true principles of naval
architecture and ship rigging, for she carried ofl'the prize of the Royal
Yacht Squadron — the blue riband of the seas. Their improvements on
Bell's reaping machines were a boon to our agriculturists, and their
"Yankee notions" brought profit to them and were of service to us.
To them we are indebted for the rifles that won the battles of Alma and
Inkeruiaun ; for if they had not supplied us with the self-acting
machinery it would have been impossible to have produced a suflicient
number of Enfields in time to have armed our soldiers for the Crimean
■war. How fur ]\Ir. Whitworth is indebted for his principles of ordnance
we cannot pretend to say : but we suspect their germs were gathered
during his mission to the United States. Cousin Jonathan has con-
sequently every reason to be proud of the figure he cuts in the world's
fiur; antl we do not hesitate to state, should he be absent or feebly
represented next year, there will be a great void which no other people
can fill. A great element of practical instruction and success will be
wanting whicli we shall miss very much, and be inclined to regard as
an irreparable disaster. Nothing could be more impertinent, out of
place, or Iiazardous than to attempt to interfere in the American
quarrel. Were we to do so we might considerably embitter the dispute
and prolong its existence. A strict neutrahty is most dignified for us
and the kindest for them of all courses that could be pursued. Bnt
could we not represent to both North and South how desirable it will
be in the interests of all that they should be adequately represented
here next year ? For this we may surely plead without compromising
onr position, or running the chance of ofl'cnding either parties. We
might even go to the extent of asking for a suspension of arms, a truce
to last until the Great Exhibition of 1862 closes its doors and retires
for another decade, leaving the world to Ate and her fell dogs of war.
Although everything is so straightforward and satisfactory with
regard to the realization of the scheme, there is one point which will
iave to be settled at the end, which, though it cannot mar success, may
detract from the satisfaction that should be universally felt when all is
concluded. We allude to the prize question. So far as it has yet
transpired, the Commissioners have not decided on what principle prizes
are to be awarded, or if, indeed, any are to be given at all. In the
letter of Prince Napoleon, he pointedly asks, on behalf of the French
commission, for positive information on this head, and whether, if
prizes arc to be awarded, they are to be bestowed by the English com-
mission, or according to the verdict of the French commission. The
question raised invests the distribution of prizes with peculiar difficulties.
Evidently, from the tone of the Prince's letter, France would prefer to
have the distribution of the prizes. If the concession be refused there will
be some ill-will and much grumbling. If the concession be made, then
it must be extended to all countries. Russia, Austria, Prussia, Spain,
Turkey, and even down to the five hundred citizens who constitute the
republic of San Marino, will be entitled to award prizes to their sub-
jects. Each State will claim to have first prizes or Grand Council
medals to bestow, and the consequence will be that they will be as
common as the decoration of the Legion of Honor and no more valued.
The Exhibition Commission cannot delegate the bestowal of prizes
vicariously to different States without sharing the responsibility of the
award. In reality they will have nothing to do with it. L^pon what
ground are they to make the allotment of prizes among the various
States ? Is it to be according to their political status, or the amount of
their trade, or the number of their population, or in proportion to the
number of exhibitors ? No two powers can agree upon tlieir respective
status. France would not yield to England, nor rriis.^i!i, to Austria,
nor Portugal to Spain, nor Baden-Baden to Bavaria, so that that
ground may be set aside. If we take the amount of trade with us,
India and Australia will take the pas of all European States, and even
Turkey will stand nearly upon the same footing as France. If popula-
tion be adopted as a basis, Russia wiD be entitled to the major portion
of the prizes, then Austria, and next France, unless China should be
an exhibitor ; in that case the flowery land will be fir^t. But if the
number of contributors be taken as a guide, then England will sweep off
just half the total number of prizes, which we may be sure will create a
great deal of discontent, and which we are by no means sure will be
equitable. Again, if an international jury be appointed to award
prizes, it will be impossible to obtain unanimity, and to prevent
recrimination and discontent hereafter. Ten years ago Baron Dupin
and some of his ultra-Gallic colleagues impugned the fairness of the
awai'ds, and did their best to promote discontent. The journals were filled
for months wifh complaints of our injustice and jealousj'. There was no
branch of trade in which it was not pretended we were beaten. The most
barefaced, impudent piracies of Englishinventionswere brought forward
and claimed distinction. In many cases they obtained it through the
good-nature of our people, and their desire to keep matters pleasant.
Independently of the difficulty inherent to the award of prizes, which
we have shadowed out in outline, there are other and more serious
objections. Either prizes are useless, and mean nothing more than an
act of courtesy, or they confer distinction and arc evidence of supe-
riority. Prizes can only be conferred where is a competition of objects
which are capable of comparison. But we were compelled, in '51, and .
shall be compelled next year, if the system be adopted, to bestow prizes
on one of a group among the members of which comparison is impos-
sible. Suppose Vernet sends a battle-piece, Knaus a picture of German
rural life, Ingres a mythological composition, Eastlake a Scripture sub-
ject, Landseer a Highland hunt, Stansfield a sea-piece, Maclise an his-
torical work, Gordon a portrait, Thoburn a miniature, and Hunt fruit.
How can we institute comparison between these works beyond the
mere mechanical proceedings of each artist ? The styles and habits of
thought are dissimilar and distinct. We might as well attempt to
institute comparisons between Butler and !Milton, Shakespere and Tom
Moore, Campbell and Ben Jonson, Chaucer and Byron, Spenser and
Tennyson, as between Eastlake and Stansfield, or Ingres and Maclise.
BescendingTrom art to manufactures, the principle on which prizes
should be given becomes even more intricate and difficult. Take the
case of silks or calicoes. Are prizes to be given according to quality
of material, cost of production, cheapness to the consumer, or character
of color and design ? If pi'ice be made the chief consideration, then
we shall inevitably confer distinction upon what is common- place, in-
artistic, perhaps positively ugly. Make price the criterion, and Man-
chester will bear the palm from Mulhausen, Spitalfields fi-om Lyons,
and Kidderminster from Aubusson. The Willow pattern will carry off
the prize from Sevres, Dresden, and Worcester. Yet we cannot aflR)rd
to neglect price, for it governs the quality of every article. The
printed cottons of Mr. Cobden are the delight of Mungo and all his
sable prceny. They are within his means, but he could never amass
sufficient'ground-nuts to buy the goods of Dolfus, Mieg, and Co. At
home, our middle classes can attbrd Spitalfields silk dresses and
Coventry ribbons, because they are cheap, and because they are of s
stcut a quality that they wear well and last a long time, while Lyoii
silics would be beyond their means, both because of their first cost, their
delicacy, and frailty. To the consumer price is of the first import-
514
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 21, 1861.
ance ; then comes the durable quality of the goods, and lastly their
ornamental character. Idanchester, Leeds, Huddersiield, and Bradibrd
clothe the masses ; Lyons and Koubaix the upper ten thousand, and
■who will venture to give jjreference to one over the other ? Are our
manufacturers to be held inferior and of less importance, because by
sacrificing something in the shape of color and design to cheapness of
production, they clothe thoee who before were compelled to go in rags ?
Were not these reasons sufficient, there are others that induce us to
look with apprehension upon the adoption of prizes. In the first place,
they are distinctions, and, if the phrase may be allowed to pass, confer
brevet rank much more on the Continent than here. A manufacturer
or trader who gains a first-rate prize medal presents himself to the
public as the vendor of better goods than his neighbour, who has
obtained a fourth or fifth rate medal. The Exhibition becomes, there-
fore, a guarantee for the individual ; but, besides the jury not being
inuUlible — on the contrary, very liable to mistakes — it may happen that
the first prizeman may have ;exhibited an exceptionable product, and
affixed a price to it at which it could not possibly be sold. His ordi-
nary wares may be of the commonest and most trumpery character ;
whereas his underrated neighbour, who obtained the lowest prize, or
none at all, may be more conscientious and supply the public with in-
finitely better articles.
For these reasons, and because we desire to avoid discontent on the
closure ot the Exhibition, and should deeply regret to see it prostituted
in the service of " cheap Johns " and shrewd, dishonest traders, we con-
clude against the system of prizes and the bestowal of all distinctive
rewards whatsoever. If we object to prizes, we do not object to an
acknowledgment being made to exhibitors, whether it be in the shape
of a medal or any other memorial not conferring distinction. In this
respect we think the Commissioners are bound to behave in the most
liberal sense, and they must abandon all idea of making a profit out of
the Exhibition exclusively for themselves. They cannot have for-
gotten the bitter complaints ten years ago from foreign nations against
the surplus being exclusively appropriated by England. They con-
tended, not without some show of justice, that, as they had largely
contributed to earn the money, they were entitled to a share in it.
The suggestions, therefore, which we have to submit to the public, with
much diffidence, and some doubts as to the reception they will meet,
are — that the surplus receipts from the Exhibition, if any, after paying
for the building and incidental expenses, should be divided among the
nations that exbibited, for the establishment of a fund to be devoted to
the encouragement of arts and manufactures among each of them. We
shall be well able to part with the money, and it will be a gracious,
generous, and eqtiitable act on our part, that will not fail to be appre-
ciated and disarm ill-wilL The other suggestion is, that a practical and
conscientious report, fiilly illustrated, should be made of the contents
of the Exhibition, showing the progress up to 1862, and being, in fact,
a dictionary of arts and manufactures. In the report of last year and
the publications of the Patent Office, are ample materials to build up
an accurate and instructive history of the peaceful arts. We would
have the work translated into French and German, and a copy, which
should be a monument of English typography, wood-engraving, and
bookbinding, presented to each exhibitor, as the best acknowledgment
of the value of his aid in making our second International Exhibition
triumphant.
♦
THE INDIA HOUSE.
WHAT is likely to be the fate of the Classic strueture in Leadenhall-
strect— one of the handsomest of the public buildings in the City ?
little more than half a century has elapsed since it was completed, for it
was only first begun in 1799, and now, in all probability, it is doomed to
be swept clean away, as only a few years ago was that most remarkable
building in the whole metropolis — not, indeed, for its design, but for its
nnwonted greatness of manner, and simple, yet most impressive, nobleness
of character — the Excise Office. The India Bouse, on the contrary, is
diiting:nlBed by ornateness — at least as far as the centre or portico is con-
cerned, and with respect to its sculptural enibtllishment.
For a long while the credit of the design was given to E. Jupp (a very
obscure name), surveyor to the East India Company, but it lias since been
made to appear that the actual architectural design was by Holland, the
architect of Carlton House, which is tolerably well borne out by internal
eridsncei, there being much that strongly accuiet Holland of being the
architect.
The faoadt lies under the disadvnntage of a north aspect, besides which
the exigtncits of the (ituation rendered it impossible to advance the
portico. In the country an architect has comparatively carle blanche, and
IS not hampered by those annoying circumstances he has frequently to
contend with when building in a street, and which, perhaps, no skill can
completely overcome. As regards the portico, the most unfortunate
circnrottance of all is that there was a necessity for windows within it,
siucfc, btMOen cutting up the background, they give it a character quite at
Tariance with tliat affected by the frontispiece or exterior elevation of that
portion of the general elcTation, Criticism may further very reasonably
object that there is not sufficient consistency of design between the
central feature of the facade and its lateral divisions. Either the portico
is too ambitiously ornate, or the rest of the design ought to have been
finished up so as to be of a piece with it. There is, besides, what is
difficult to be reconciled with any sound principle of composition, for
though both the lower and upper floors are included within the order, the
first is made to show itself as a distinct rusticated basement with arched
windows, and, what is still worse, the rustication is of the meanest and
poorest kind — that miserable apology for it which, instead of distinctly
articulating the masonry, shows no more than so many insipid horizontal
striakings on the wall. If anything it is this that causes some doubt as
to the design being by Holland, for surely he would have enriched the
whole face of the wall with boldly defined rusticated masonry a Vantique,
as at Carlton House, and the ci-devant Melbourne, now Dover House. The
cornice is the only part of the entablature of the order of the portico that
is continued along the entire front, there not being sufficient space above
the windows for more; yet, strange to say, the writer of the article on
" Civil Architecture " in Brewster's " Edinburgh Encyclopaedia " (Telford),
complains of " the ppaee of dead wall " over the windows as a defect !
Although Adapted to the order, taken by itself, the cornice is much too
shallow and too simple in character to serve as the crowning member of
the general elevation on each side of the portico, where it looks quite
insignificant.
That the India House will escape destruction is not at all likely, for to
what other purpose can it be converted, and, as a building, be left un-
touched? In all probability, then, it will be purchased for the value of
the materials and the site. Yet though all the rest of the fabric may be
destroyed, the artistic part of it may be preserved, and not only preserved,
but made to display itself far more effectively than at first. Expense there
would be much, but of difficulty none, in removing the portico to another
site, as was the Marble arch, where it might be formed into a noble, cer-
tainly picturesque, piece of architecture, as a propylseum into the
Ecgent's or some other of our public parks, and made to exhibit itself
with strikingly scenic effect. There would be something, perhaps much,
required, in order to worthily construct the portico afresh as an archi-
tectural rifacciamento, by which means it might be rendered greatly
superior to what it now is, were it only because it would be liberated
from all that now interferes with its professed Classicality of character.
THE GEEMAN ACADEMY OF ART.
WITH respect to picture exhibitions it may be said " the cry is still
thc-y come !" The German Gallery in Bond-street contains English
pictures only, and the French Gallery in Pall-mall will in future no
longer sustain its name by the pictorial and artistic works it may exhibit ;
at least, under the enterprise and management of the spirited proprietor
of the Gallery, who has for the last few years given us so many opportu-
nities of admiring the undoubted talents of our Gallic neighbours in art.
We are, however, happy to see that the foreign schools are likely to main-
tain their position in this country. Within the last few days we have
already a collection exhibited at the Egyptian Hall entirely of German
production, and we have no doubt the French artists, as a speculation of
their own, will be eager to maintain the position they hav(>,'r" well
established for themselves in this country. The first annual exhil" ^ of
German art contains many works of considerable merit, but liK^the
English school cannot boast of any great display of poetry in painting as
regards the higher class of subject. There are evidences of the ambition
to do it, but unerring proofs that it has not been done. Besides the
ambition to grapple with sacred and mythological history, there is one
instance of entering the lists with Eosa Bonheur in her "Horse Fair," but
like many such attempts the utter failure merely serves to enhance, if
possible, the vast superiority of the original which has provoked this ill-
judged emulation. Besides the supposition that the German painter, T.
Schmitson had the intention of dividing the laurels with the French lady,
we think he must have presumed upon the art-ignorance of the British
public to an unwarrantable degree when he sent them for their admiration,
and perhaps astonishment, his large picture of "Hungarian Horses at
Play." If his animals be true representations of horses bred in Hungary
we can only say that should it be possible to find a squadron of troopers to
ride them as hideously unlike men in general as they are to our ordinary
notions of a horse, such a body of cavalry would be invincible on the field
of battle, for the most spirited of chargers and war horses would quail,
turn and run before so awful a mockery of their own species charging
down upon them. A more half-starved, raw-boned, ill-proportioned set of
brutes were never seen on a canvas before, and the painter besides seems
to have committed the grave mistake that Poussin once did in thinking
by the violation of all orderin composition an effective disorder and wildness
would be the result j it is true that he lived to acknowledge his error, but
his picture remains to record the folly. The only merit in the German
picture is a brilliant and well imitated sunlight with considerable space
and atmosphere. On the opposite side of the room to this large picture is
one nearly as large of the meeting of "Wellington and Blucher on the
Field of Waterloo." It gives a good idea of a battle without great preten-
sions to artistic treatment generally, but in the foreground some dead
soldiers are introduced in a very puerile and stiff manner.
With respect to subjects belonging to the higher order of art, we may
mention that there is considerable merit in the picture by Professor
Eosenfelder of " The Electrcss Elizabeth of Bradcnburg surprised by her
husband, Joachim the first, while secretly taking the Sacrament." The
painter is of the hard realistic order, and renders every part of his subject
with an earnest patience and a rigid conscientiousness that must be praised
if it cannot be admired. The lace of the Electress seems incapable of
Jtjne 21, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
515
change in expression from the apparently solid mask of paint represent-
ing her countenance. Her silk dress is over well imitated for the historical
style of art, and the figure of her husband is very feebly designed and
executed.
The " Mary Magdalene " by Fritz Hummel, is in a much larger style of
art. There is greater breadth of treatment in the features and a mildness
of expression which is very pleasing, but it is deficient in that severity of
drawing so essential in sacred subjects, and the cross Introduced
emblematically is very unskilfully placed, as the stem of it seems to
issue from the back of the Magdalene's head at right angles. We, how-
ever, prefer this head to the others in pictures of the same class in the
room, or those illustrative of mythology, as the " Ariadne " for instance,
by Gri^ff j and even the " St. Cecilia " by Kornek, in the former style of art.
A formidable looking individual is the old King, seeking to soothe his
conscience " at the eleventh hour " by the late Professor Begas of Berlin,
but as the whole subject is drawn from the imagination of the artist, and
has no reference to any particular event, his work is wanting in the
requisite interest, and as to " Miriam the Prophetess" by Anna Schlah, as
we have no note of it, conclude that it does not possess the power of
arresting the attention.
In landscapes the collection is much more rich, and in the less preten-
tious class of subjects decidedly well supplied. There are several by
Bennewitz Von Loefen, that are of a very high quality. " The Beech
Forest " is a most faithful study from nature — if we objected to any part
of it, it would be the foreground in shadow, which looks rather cold in
tone. " The Farmhouse," by the same artist, is the gem of all the small
works in the Exhibition. It certainly reminds us of Lambinet, the
French landscape painter, and is quite as charming in every respect.
The forms arc geometrical and elegant, the curves of the wheel-ruts in
the road accord well with the oval of the pond ; the latter is deprived of
unnecessary formality by all of it, except a small portion in the centre of
the subject, where it receives the light from the sky, being thrown into shade
with the surrounding objects. The patches of grass are drawn in ad-
mirable perspective, giving equally admirable flatness to the ground, and
the atmosphere is both fresh and luminous. The line of light clouds just
above the buildings of the homestead repeat their line, and confine the
attention of the observer to the most interesting part of the picture. The
colors are not only laid on with decision, but they are chosen with praise-
irorthy taste. By the same hand is a picture entitled " Landscape," which
displays a knowledge of the resources in art as regards the composition,
and the sun-set is very luminous, but for the purpose of enhancing that
efiect, we think too much of the foreground has been ."sacrificed in low
toned and cold color, and " The Loading Hay by a Canal," we feel formal
and cold, and think the painter, although it is clever, has not been so
successful as he has in those works we have previously noticed. The
three masses of the ricks and cart, for instance, being equidistant have an
unpleasant effect, although they are skilfully connected by intervening
objects, but which do not mitigate the general arrangement.
H. Eschke is also an excellent landscape painter. His " View of Le
Mount Orguil, Jersey,- ' seen from the coast, " is extremely well painted,
with a tendency to the simplicity of form and construction approaching
the Classical in feeling. The semicircular curve of the waves near the
spectator, and the flash of light in the horizon, are both excellent features
in the scene. The sands of New Werk, near Hamburg, at the mouth of
the Elbe, has a good deal of artistic management in it, and the effect of
air and space has been obtained without any conventional exaggeration of
the dark portions of the subject. We find much judicious coloring in a
picture by the same artist, entitled "La Grcve du Mont, St. Michel,
Normandi," in which the breadth of light is well sustained; the whole
forming an agreeably luminous subject; it is, however, not the best work
by this artist, for the most perfect landscape in this Exhibition of the
larger size, is from his pencil, entitled " A Landscape with Cattle, St.
Mary's, Jersey." It is, besides being perfect as a work of art, most
pleasing in its general effect, and equally delightful as a well-chosen
subject. The distance is firm and yet delightfully true; the tree in the
centre is elegant in form and decisive in character; the whole of the fore-
ground, wherein are placed the cattle, has an endless variety of tints, but
so judiciously subdued as to form a relieving mass of darkness and repose
against the lighter part of the picture, and at the same time giving a rural
solemnity and an agreeable stillness to the scene, which elevates 'the
general expression of the picture, while the white shirt-sleeve of the fig'ure
by the side of the tree in the middle distance is so valuable a touch of the
pencil for throwing the composition into tone, air, and breadth, that it
alone would stamp Herr Eschke as a perfect master of his art. With the
same good taste has he introduced the figure in his view of " Le Pinacle
de ratacq, Jersey." In this also the tone of coloring is charmingly sub-
dued to give brUliancy to the light, and there is great motion m the surf
breaking against the rocks in the distance.*
GmU/ord Assize Courts, Sfc—We hear that the committee appointed
to examine the several designs sent in for the above competition have selected the
one bearing the motto "Hope" which will be submitted to the shareholders.
*ve imagine that the recommendation of the committee (nme in number), who
"■Y^ '^arehilly examined the plans, will not be set aside.
p w .(^'f^') "■'6 autliorized to state that the Commissioners for the
lixhibition of 1862 havereceived the gracious intimation that her Majesty the Queen
ana tlie frmce Consort will contribute from their collections any pictures, statues,
OTMticles ot vtrtu which may be thought desirable for the Exhibition.
• To be continued.
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
A MEETING of the ratepayers of All Saints East, Newcastle-on-Tyne, was held
last evening, to hear the representatives of the ward in the Town Council ex-
press their opinions upon the sanitary condition oftlie di.strict, to which atten-
tion has been directed by recent discussions in the newspapers. The Sheriff,
Mr. Hcdley, as a member of the Town Improvement Committee, entered into a
general description of the improvements that have been eftected in the ward
during the last two or three years, with the object of showing that, altiiough very
much remains to be done, the district has not been altogether neglected. Mr.
Harle said he had traversed some of the woret localities in the wsird on the pr<-
vious evening, and, although he wiis prepared to see much that needed ramcal
change, he was astounded at the " misery, flitli, and destitution " that met Us
eyes " in almost every portion of that vast region." He contended that the best
had not been done for the sanitary improvement of the ward, and suggested
various alterations which should at once be effected. Mr. Harford complained
of the fragmentary manner in which drainage works had been carried on, and
recommended the adoption of a comprehensive and complete system. Mr. New-
ton called attention to the infantine mortality, which, as stated by the Registrar-
General, was greater in Newcastle than in any town in the kingdom similarly cir-
cumstanced, and stated that Mr. Alderman Bell had given notice of a motion in
the Council on the subject. Mr. Southern having expressed his concurrence in
the observations of the three previous speakers, Mr. Oliver drew a contrast
between the sanitary condition of Sunderland and Newcastle, and stated that
while the corporation of the former borough, since the year 18.55, had thoroughly
drained the town at acost of £52,000, Newcastle had spent only £20,000 in drain-
age in eleven years.
The usual votes of thanks brought to a close a meeting which we hope and
believe will be productive of beneficial results to the town.
THE POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION, REGENT'S STREET.
THE shadow which the accident at the Polytechnic threw upon so many
homes was reflected upon the Institution where the fatal calamity occurred.
Action followed action so quickly against the Directors as to fetter their move-
ments, and to leave them only sufticient strength to stagger, faint and despond-
ing, with their charge into the Court of Chancery, leaving a large void in the
regular entertainments of the metropolis, which no spasmodic expansion of
rival establishments could close up. It was only when the Institution was
lost to us that its value was fully appreciated. Country cousins missed it on
their visits to London ; school-children regretted the loss of one of their hoUday
treats ; the most intelligent of all cla.sses regarded its withdrawal from amongst
the sights of London as a great misfortune, for it was the place above all others
v?here genuine instruction and unalloyed amusement were happily commingled.
No one could say where the one ended and the other began. The attractions
were so'many, and so varied, and novelty followed novelty with such rapidity, as
to ensure entertainment to all cl.isses and to all ages. No wonder, therefore,
that strenuous efforts were made to restore it to its old position. A company
was formed under the Limited Liability Act, which purchased the building and
plant. The premises have now been altered, improved, and thoroughly repaired,
and the Institution is once more opened to the public. A recent visit to it
enables us to congratulate the Company on the success which has attended
their exertions. Half a dozen of our ordinary entertainments seem here rolled
into one. We have lectures by talented men on scientific subjects, such as Pro-
fessor Wheatstone's Private Telegraph, and Faraday's Discoveries in Electricity,
experiments with the diver and diving bell, musical performances by the band
in the large hall, and Mr. F. Chatterton's vocal and instrumental entertainment,
" The Bards and Harps of all Nations." In addition to these, there are dissolv-
ing views, and lastly, a clear explanation of the large model of the earth's
crust, by Mr. I. L. King, of which we shall presently speak further. A new
picture gallery, containing meritorious works of living artists is likewise opened
in connection with the institution, and forms a fraction of the many good things
here provided for the public. Casts from the works of our most eminent sculptors
are dispersed about the building, and busts of our most celebrated men contri-
bute to its adornment. The evening's entertainment is varied by lectures,
grave and gay spectacles, concerts, &c.
Special courses of lectures are in preparation for the industrial classes (we all
ought to belong to them), and facility is afforded for their attendance by diminish-
ing the price of admission to one-half to the heads of firms and employers of
labor. An entirely new l.iboratory has teen formed and fitted with every con-
venience for conducting analyses and scientific investigations.
There is a room devoted entirely to models of architectural subjects — fragments
of ornament as well as entire buildings — and in one of the galleries a series of
photographs illustrates the most famous edifices in the world.
There are spacious theatres for the several lectures.
The effect of the large hall is very fine, and the architectural arrangement of
the orchestra is especially worth notice. On entering it we arc at first confused
by the quantity of objects which simultaneously anest our attention. A steam
engine is constantly at work pumping water tor the experiments, illustrating its
own construction, and setting in motion the machinery throughout the building.
On one side we see a large trough with models of docks and boats, to show the
system of inland navigation, with models of ships to illustrate the process of
launching larger vessels and furnishing the means for practically and clearly
showing any similar subject. This trough supplies the reservoir at the far end, into
which the diving-bell is lowered . "The arches on the left-hand side of the room are
filled with pictorial representations of subjects connected with different articles
of manufacture and commerce. We there see the flax in its natural state, the
process of its manufacture, and beneath, in a case, specimens of the different
kinds of the commercial articles. In another compartment, the buffaloes are seen
hunted in the far West of America, side by side with views of the Quay at New
York and of the Leather-market in Leadenhall-street. Again, we have repre-
sentations of hunting scenes in India, and beneath, in a case, a fine collection of
skins, exhibited by Mr. Nicholny, of Oxford-street. A view of Leeds forms the
centre of three subjects referring to the manufacture of wool. Paper, cotton,
and other matters are treated in an equally interesting manner.
The compartments on tlie opposite side of the hall are filled with a larj?e
geological model of the earth's crust, designed and modelled hy J. S. Phene,
Esq., the Managing Director of the Institution, .\bove the sections are views
of the localities where the sections are cut. They trace the formation of the
earth from the Arctic to the Torrid Zone. Silver and coal mines, volcanoes, and
516
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 21, 1861.
artesian ^reU* are shoirn with mnarkable perspicuity, whilst an able and accom-
Klisbcd lecturer gives us, in a quarter of an hour, by the aid of this model, a
etter idea of the subject than could be gathered from a long course of formal
disquisitions. The opt- rations of hoisting the products from the mines, the action
of uicsubai|ueoasTolcanoes in the Pacific, and other details of the model, are
set in motion by the steam-engine in the hall.
We have ne»er seen a geological subject so'^successfully rendered both
interesting and instructive. The institution is worth a visit, if it be onlv to see
this one model. The same may be really said of every section into which the
crowded entertainments are dirided.
In tlie Picture Gallery, very nearly 200 oil pictur 3 are collected, with 130
water-color drawings, and about 20 models of sculpture. The latter, perhaps, as
a whole, are the most successful. This can scarcely be wondered at when we
find E. H. Daily, E. G. Papworth, Behnes, and Matthew Noble amongst the
contributots. there are no names of equal celebrity in the otlier departments,
but we see there, nevertheless, work.s of a higher order than we expected to meet
With. Mr. T. Whittle's three fruit subjects, Mr. J. R. Powell's four powerfully
and harmoniously painted works, >Ir. Armfleld's two, and Mr. Desange's
singje contribution are the best in the exhibition. The collection should not be
compared with those in old-established galleries ; i t is opened for the benefit of
rUng British artists, and to familiarise the popular mind with works of art in
the same way as in the other portions of the building, tlie public is initiated by
fiuniliarly-treated and practical illustrations of different subjects into the mysteries
of science.
The directors invite the co-operation of architects, engineers, meclianicians,
and manufacturers, in the supply of tlie best and newest models of engines,
engineering constructions, patented and other desig^ns.
We cordially hope they will not solicit such aid in vain, for everything which
tends to promote the aptitude and nourish wholesomely the faculties of the large
mass of the people cannot but repay all who employ labor for the slight trouble
and expense of contributing articles for their instruction to an institution so
universally known and so well patronised as the Polytechnic.
DOORS CARVED IN WAINSCOT BY THEODORE PHYFFERS, FROM
DESIGNS BY M. DIGBY WYAIT, AT COMPTON WYNNIATTS,
WARWICKSHIRE.*
THE beautiful old mansion, the nursery and home of many generations of loyal
Comptons, for which these elegant doors have been wrought, is one of the
seats of the Marquis of Northampton, who, from his love of art and his personal
ability as an artist, may be regarded as no unworthy possessor of so choice a
relic of antiquity. Our readers may probably remember that two of the happiest
illustrations in the third series of " Nash's jfansions" were taken from Compton
Wynniatts, one of them showing the entrance front of the structure, with its
singular combination of stone battlements and barge-boarded gables ; and the
other, the remarkably caned screen in the stately hall for which these doors
have been made. At the date of Mr. Nash's visit, and indeed until quite recently,
this screen was covered with slrnta, rather than coats of white and other colored
paints, which, honest work at the dates of execution confirmed by lapse of ages.
Lad made as hard almost as flint. All this has now happily been removed with-
out the slightest injuir to the old work, and the whole of the singularly
interesting carving may be seen much as it was left by the hand of the original
carver.
The situation of Compton Wynniatts is most remarkable, lying as it is does
in a cleft or dip of a Iiill so hidden and secluded as to almost escape observation
until the traveller is close upon it. Hence until a comparatively fate period the
mansion was almost better known by the countrv people as " Compton in the
Hole " than by any other designation. Henry Vlll. the patron and friend of
the Compton bv whom the structure was raised is honored throughout as the
tutelar deity of the shrine; his arms, his badges, and his mottoes are abundantly
introduced into tlie ornaments of the architecture, while that insidious
Renaissance which during his reign, like ivy, stealthily crept over as a parasite,
and ultimately extinguished the Gothic features it at first affected to only orna-
ment, begins in this work to manifest its individuality.
Unfortunately, owing to family changes, and to the adoption of Castle Ashby,
in Northamptonshire, as the principal seat of the family ; Compton Wynniatts
was sofferefl to fall into dilapidation, and serious detriment occurred to the interior
especially. Much of the beautiful plaster-work of the ceilings of the principal
wartments was, through the rotting of the lathing, threatened with total destruc-
tion, when timely repairs were instituted by the present possessor of the property
tmder the advice and superintendence of Air. Wyatt. In his careful and truly
coosenratiTe bands a gradual restoration is being effected— the threatened destruc-
tion has been averted— the old work has been protected, and the modem portions
both of the exterior and interior introduced for the most part during the last
century are disappearing, while their place is being taken by features assimilating
in style to the best Of the old work. The general building repairs and new works
are being executed by Mr. Attwood, of Brailes; some of the richly carved wood
and stone work by Mr. Phvffere and by Messrs. Cox and Co., of London ; the
metal-work generally by Messrs. Hart and Co. ; and the plasterers' work, a good
deal of which lias required to be wrought by band, by Mr. Parson, Acton-
street, Gray's-iun-road.
INTERIOR VIEW OF THE CATHOLIC CHAPEL OF ST. JOHN,
LINCOLN."
THE style, a plain Romanesque, was here adopted to admit of a consistent
treatment in lengthening a building of the tasteless period of A.D. 1800.
Wbere the outline of the site and other circumstances dictate plainness and few-
neisoffeatures, this style, whether the round or the pointed arch be used, appears
more successful than imitations of the models of the fourteenth century.
The plan at Lincoln consisU of a shallow western porch, a nave &') feet by 21
feet, with organ gallery and inner porch, a transept, including a small baptistery ,
•™ »g»ll«7 over the sacristy, an aiise for the high altar, and a lesser one for
the ride altar. The windows of the apse are so arranged as to cast a side-light
""(iSr u' 7"''""'' ^^ themselves, forming prominent objects from the nave.
"le scbooU which flank the nave have means of communication so as to
increase the limited accommodation allowed by the ground. At present, stained
• i'or lUustratlons see pages OiS, 523.
windows are placed in the apse onlv, and Mr. N. J. H. Westlake has prepared a
a beautiful design for the decoration of this part, bv a " Majesty," to be executed ■
in encaustic color on the plaster. The architects fo"r the works," which were com- ■
picted in 1854, were Messrs. Willson and Nicholl, of 120, Marylebone-road, 1
London.
0
THE BUILDING FOR THE INTERN.\TIONAL EXHIBITION, 1862.
OUR attention has been directed to an error which crept inadvertently into our
account last week of the progress of the great building for the E.xhibitionof
1802. We then gave Mr. Marshall credit for the whole of the setting out of the
building. It appears, however, that Mr. V. D. Wakeford was specially engaged
by flic Commissioners to superintend this department, and that the admirable
arrangements for accurately defining and fixing the several points were devised
entirely by him. \\c ai-c; glad to identify Mr. Wakeford with the valuable ser-
vices he has rendered. It doe.s not at all affect the praise due to Mr. Marshall
for the important assistance he has rendered, but as Mr. Wakeford really super-
intended it, it is but right that his labors should be duly acknowledged.
♦
THAMES EMBANKMENT AND RAILWAY.
ON Monday the Commissioners re-assembled for the purpose of ascertaining
the views of those railway companies with reference to the proposed em-
bankment, where it is intended to carry the railways across the river by bridges
that will abut on to the embankment, as well as to take the views of the
benchers of the Inner and Middle Temple on the matter.
Mr. John Hawkshaw, C.E., represented the Charing-cross Railway, which will
form a junction with the proposed embankment at Hungerford Market; and Mr.
J. Cubitt, C.E., for the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, which will work
onto it in the neighbourhood of Southwark-bridge. Mr. Nelson appeared for
the benchers of the Inner Temple, and Mr. Yeates of the firm of Chilton. Burton,
Yeates and Hart, for the benchers of the Middle Temple. The City Gas Works
were also represented by Mr. Gray, the chairman, and other officers.
The LoKD MATfOR said it was important that the railway companies and other
interests should know the extent to which the intended embankment would be
carried out into the river. The Commissioners had fully discussed the matter, and
had come to the conclusion that the outer edge of the embankment would be 130
feet from the face of the existing abutment of Blackf'riars-bridge. The Bridge-
house Estates Committee were now having designs made for the new bridge at
Blackfriars, and would consequently have to adopt this datum line, in connexion
with the engineering designs for that structure. With regard to the level at
which the embankment and the railways would have to join, it would have to be
determined and governed by the level of the new BlackfKars-bridge itself.
Then as regarded the embankment at Hungerford-bridge, the idea of the Com-
missioners was to expel all the water there, and to carry a solid embankment
over its whole width as far out into the river as the existing pier of Hungerford-
bridge, between which and the general line of the shore there would be some-
thing like an area of 300 feet.
After hearing Mr. Hawkshaw, Mr. Cubitt, Mr. Nelson,' Mr. Y'eates, and Mr.
Gray, the Commis-sioners adjourned.
THE MASONS' STRIKE.
SINCE our last issue a large number of the masters have acceded to the demands
of the operative mason?, to be paid fis. per day for five days of the week, and
38. for working to twelve o'clock on the Saturday. It is but fair to say that the
masons themselves express much regret that at this season of the year there should
be any difference between themselves and their employers, l)ut they have expressed
their determination to resist to tlie utmost any attempts made to enforce the system
of payment by the hour, which they detest, and for tlie annihilation of which the
Masons* Society have put in motion tlic wliole of tiicir powerful resources. In our
last Number we gave our readers to understand that ilie Nine Hours' Blovement had
nothing whatever to do with the present strike of the masons. In proof of that, we
may state that a gentleman in the confidence of Messrs. Henry Lee and Son (the
eminent builders, formerly of lielvcdere-road, and now of Battersea), and it is pre-
sumed, of a number of other extensive employers, waited upon the Committee of
the Masons on Tuesday, with the view of ascertaining whether, if the demands
of the masons were acceded to, they would abandon the Nine Hours' Movement,
and, if they were willing to abandon it, wliether they had any objection to make an
announcement to that effect in the public papers. The Committee replied to the
party who waited upon them, that they bad no control over the public papers, but
that if tlic'ir demands were acceded to they would at least lor the present abandon
the Nine Hours' Blovement, and that they were quite wiUin«: that such a state-
ment should be made in any public print. The messenger then left, and it was
understood that he would communicate the result of his interview with the employers
at head-quarters, and probably the whole subject either has already been, or will
shortly be considered and decided upon by the Blaster Builders' Association. We
believe that unless the works are immediately proceeded with, several mansions and
other buildings, now in course of erection, will be taken out of the hands of the con-
tractors, and finished by the principals. One large mansion in Piccadilly, belonging
to an eminent baron, who is favorable to the claims of the masons, will
forthwith be acted upon in the manner indicated, unless a settle-
ment be at once effected. Meanwhile, the following firms have acceded
to the demands of the masons:— BIr. Moore, Taddington ; Mr. Bowers,
Millbank ; BIr. Glynn, Kensal-green ; the Hungerford Railway Bridge
(Messrs. Baker and I'erham); Westminster-bridge (a Government job); BIr. Easton,
Wandsworth ; BIr. Corbett, Immbeth-walk ; BIr. Phiphard, Hackney ; 3Ir.| Wood-
ruffe, I'imlico ; Mr. Crabb, Gravel-lane; BIr. Wren, Pimlico; Mr. Todd, Chelsea ;
Mr Fish, Vauxhall; BIr. Williams, Goswell-street ; BIr. Birchonall, Clapham ; Mr.
Hayward, Kensington; Mr. Holidgc, Sydenham; BIr. Gibbs, Chelsea; Sir. Pearcc,
Garden-street; BIr Nixon. Lambeth-walk; BIr. Wright, CarUsle-lane ; Mr. Deards,
ISlackfriars-road ; Mr. Thomas, Clifton-street.
A great many more firms are expected to give way immediately, and, indeed, it is
expected iu some quarters that the strike will be brought to a close in less than a
fortnight. The bricklayers, in support of the masons, have withdrawn their hands
from the firms of BIcssrs. Asliby and Horner, City : Messrs. Holland and lUnnen,
Oxford-street; Blessrs. Blansfleld and Son, Henry-street, Gray's-inn-lane; and from
several jobs under the care of BIcssrs. W. Cubitt and Co., Gray e-inn-road ; BIcssrs.
Trollope and Co., Parliament-street and Pimlico ; and BIr. Freke, Kensington. The
Bricklayers' Society have in this way withdrawn about las men, and they have also
on their books about thirty men who refuse to work at firms where the hour system
is enforced.
Stockport. — New Mechanics' Institute. — On Saturday, the corner stone
of a new Mechanics' Institute, the erection of which has been long contemplated
at Stockport, was laid. It is estimated that the cost will be about £4,000. It is
expected that the building will be completed about the end of June, 1862.
June 21, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
517
NOTES WITHOUT TEXT.*
XXXII.
OUR English catliedrals require to be illustrated topograpliically, as well
as architecturally — that is, the locality and entourage of the respec-
tive edifices ought to be clearly explained by tolerably comprehensive
block-plans, showing distinctly the relative positions of all the other build-
ings, which, if not in immediate contact with it, are in almost every in-
stance connected with, or grouped around the Cathedral itself. St. Paul's
is the only English structure of the class that does not stand within a
precinct of its own, apart, as it were, from the bustle of the every-day
world. Where there is either chapter-house or cloister, it is included in
the plan of the church itself as a portion of it ; but, for aught shown to
the contrary, the latter might be supposed to be not only quite insulated
(as is St. Paul's), but quite at a distance from any other objects, which is
so far from being the case, that as regards its general external
appearance, almost every one of our cathedrals is distinguished,
either favorably or otherwise, by the particular circumstances of its
locality, while some — or rather most — of them are so shut up by sur-
rounding buildings, that scarcely any satisfactory general view of them
can be obtained, only one or two others, such as Lichfield, Hereford,
and Salisbury, display themselves pretty freely. Britton's " Cathedrals,"
and similar works, would have been all the more interesting had faithful
block-plans been given, showing the actual position and immediate sur-
roundings of each structure, as to which rather important matter ground-
plans of the fabrics themselves afford no information whatever. Those
who reside in, or have ever visited London, know in what a disgracefully
amorphous area its Cathedral is located ; but how are those at a far
distance — a New Yorker, for instance, not to say a New Zealander — to
understand or even conceive it ? The reply to which question might be :
80 much the better for our credit that they have no idea to what disadvan-
tage Wren's noble edifice is seen. It is the only one of our cathedials
which stands hemmed round by shops, and taverns, and warehouses.
No other shows itself in similar company ; whatever may be its position
in other respects, each stands in a more appropriate neighbourhood ; the
bishop's palace, with the grounds attached to it, the deanery, the prebendal
house, the close with the Medieval gateways leading into it — all, or if not
in every instance all, some of these circumstances help to give a peculiar
charm to the entourage of a provincial cathedral. Be the modern build-
ings ever so homely and tastless, tliey are never vulgar or offensively at
variance with the genius loci.
xxxni.
TT is the duty of sincere and honest and instructive criticism not to
A allow itself to be blindfolded by a superstitious reverence for a great
name, but to point out, not invidiously, but by way of salutary warn-
ing, the errors and short-comings of tliose who have obtained a world-
wide stereotyped reputation. It is such a convenient and comfortable
short-cut to criticism to be able, without much fear of contradiction, to
applaud to the skies every morsel of Inigo Jones and the great Sir
Cliristopher Wren, and on the otlier hand to damn devoutly all that
bears the name of Borromini, who, after all that has been said against
him, at any rate showed that amidst all his abberations he had something
of the artist in him,
Nothing is easier than to write what passes current for architectural criti-
cism, little more being needed than guantum suff. of indiscriminate laudation,
or else equally indiscriminate vituperation. It is generally reduced to a
minimum and compressed into what amounts to nothing more than a bare
verdict, all the evidence and arguments by means of which those verdicts
have been arrived at being omitted as superfluous. Architectural critics
seem, or, to put it less offensively, have seemed, to consider themselves in
the enviable position of so many one-eyed monarchs of the blind. Whether
conscious of it or not, they have known very little, yet have gained
courage from knowing that their readers excelled them in ignorance. An
acquaintance with a dozen technical terms and as many vague epithets,
appears to be generally the full amount of their stock in trade. They are
tolerably well aware where the ice will bear, and where they may stamp
even the most stunning plaudits on it with their feet, without any danger
of Its breaking under them. Wren, for instance, is a trump card which
any one may play. He may very safely be extolled in superlatives
without any danger of contradiction ; yet, surely, because he built St.
Paul's we ought not to be called upon or expected to bestow unqualified
praise indiscriminately on all that he did besides, on all the wretchedly
mesquin, dowdy, and tasteless stuff attributed to him ! Whether he had
anything to do with building or designing Temple Bar is somewhat
doubtful, and of the doubt he may be allowed to take the benefit.
Yet, after St. Paul's.what is to be said of Wren's other works in his
quality of artist ? In my opinion, his so much vaunted interior of St.
Stephen's, Walbrook, shows no little of downright crudity of design. All
fully exposed to view as it is, the exterior of St. James's, Piccadilly, is
nothing less than sheer ugliness. Most unquestionably Wren was
a great mathematician and scientific constructor ; but just as certainly
likewise, his forte did not lie in the aesthetic and artistic. Why, then,
should everything attributed to him be cried ud as deserving of appro-
bation, if not positive admiration also ? That is" not the way to instruct
the pubhc, or promote the real interests of art. It is the vulgar, servile,
flunkey adulation of great names that is the very curse and dry rot of
art-criticism. In like manner as there is no royal road to mathematics, so is
there none to Ecsthetics. ,
• Continued from page 466.
XXXIV.
AMONG our Englisli poets is one who, though he ranks only in the
second— perhaps now only in the third order, is a very charming
one, and who has another and more indelible title to fame — that of the
father ef English gardening : had we a British Walhalla closed to all but
the eminently deserving, William Shenstone might proudly claim admit-
tance into it. The preceding or geometrical style of gardening was
artificial without artifice, and not merely unnatural, but anti-natural.
There is a distinction to be made between that kind of the artificial which
helps nature and that which contradicts her. Flowers, for instance, do not
grow naturally in "beds," or in pots, any more than trees grow into
shapes into which they used at one time to be shaven by gardeners who
ought to have been barbers. But in the former case the flowers remain
as nature produced them, perhaps rather .improved by careful culture,
whereas in the other, trees are actually, so to say, anti-naturalised. It is
rather difficult to make people understand that there are two quite distinct
— even opposite kinds of beauty, either of which may by misapplication
become positively displeasing. There is a beauty of regularity —
or if you insist upon calling it so, of formality,— and another,
of irregularity. In architecture and whatever else belongs to design, we
look almost instinctively for the first, which when in conjunction with
its opposite as its " complementary color," — with irregularity — is set off
to advantage by it, and gratefully sets it off in return. According to what
seems to be just now a prevalent opinion, any sort of slovenly design will
do for a country house, be it either a patrician mansion or a less ambitious
villa. Whether I am right or wrong, my own opinion is directly contrary.
Hardly can architectural elegance be said to be out of its place in highly
cultivated landscape scenery, where nature and art walk together hand-in-
liand. Even its seclusion gives piquancy to the Classic villa, and secures
from contact with unworthy neighbors. However, the Classic style is now
gone out of fashion for country residences, although it is precisely in them
and not in street houses that it can display itself energetically. Loggias
anil colonnades are quite out of place in street arcliitecture, at least there
they can be only for show, because no use can be made of them. In the
country it is altogether different, and it is little less than stultification to
assert that they are unfitted to our climate, when it is evident that our
climate, all detestable as it is, does not hinder us from having and making
use of quite open unsheltered terraces. If, as is too hastily asserted, an open
loggia of any kind is very ill suited to our climate, it ought to follow that
an unglazad cloister must be equally so, both being alike as to purpose,
however dissimilar they may be with regard to style and architectural
expression.
XXXV.
DODSLEY'S description of the Leasowes, or Wbeatley on gardening,
would, it might be supposed, inspire a landscape painter — at least,
tempt him to employ his pencil occasionally upon embellished scenery
where nature is tastefujiy seconded by art. In her wildest, her rudest,
even her homeliest shapes, nature ever charms; surely, then, she does not
cease to be attractive ^^hen poeticised by some of her fairest features being
so disposed and combined as to set them off to the best advantage circum-
stances will permit,
"Till blooms an Arcady on British soil."
The charge of artificial against scenes in which streams have been taught
to wind, and lakes expand, and tree-crested mounts to arise, is all fudge.
Just as well might it be objected to poetry — that is, rhythm and versifica-
tion— that it is artificial, because it differs from ordinary discourse. Where-
fore should landscape-painters limit their sphere of action as they do ? In
taking subjects from cultivated landscape they would be under no necessity
of copying literally the scene before their eyes. Should the well-trimmed
lawn be too smooth for the painter's purpose, that and similar defects may
be easily enough corrected by the artist himself, who has, or ought to
have it in his power to infuse the picturesque or pictorial into even
prosaic and unpromising subjects, or what are considered such. Besides
tlie romantic, on the one hand, and the familiar and rural on the other,
there is room for another class of landscape- painting, which, whether
quite appropriately or not, may for distinction's sake be termed the
" poetic "; for artistic " compositions " in which architecture and sculpture
— either of them, or both together — may be made to take a conspicuous
part. The Classic structure, whether in ruins or otherwise, the vase, the
statue may be introduced. It is a mere futile objection to say that the
talent requisite for showing successfully such combination of natural
objects with those of art is hardly to be looked for in any one painter,
however he may else be gifted. So much the better then for him, wlio,
whether he be landscape or architectural painter, would endeavour to
qualify himself for showing mastery in both. He would open a career for
himself in which he would be tolerably safe from being jostled against by
others. After all, it is not absolutely necessary that the whole of a
picture should be by one and the same hand ; it being possible for two
artists to act together amicably in confederacy or concert, as has before
now been done, when the landscape has been by one, and the figures put
in by another. Hardly for a moment is it to be supposed that the class
of subjects here suggested and recommended would be exactly popular ;
nevertheless, they would have their admirers, since what would be highly
pleasing in reality could not fail, if ably treated, to give delight in repre-
sentation. At all events, there is a fresh field open to those who are
capable of taking up their ground upon it.
xxm.
MORTIFYING as the confession is, it must be acknowledged that
architecture is the least popular of the fine arts. Far stronger
evidence of which truth than could be wished is afforded by the very
518
THE BUILDING NEWS
June 21, 1861.
scanty araount cf patronage whicli tlie Architectural Exhibition obtains
from the general public. And what sort of respect is paid to ari-liitecture
by the Royal Aeadcmy— what sort of notice is bestowed upon it by the
critics of the public press ? Some who might be expected to know better
haTp sneered at architectural designs '• upon paper " as little better than ,
worthless nonentities. Well, it is only upon paper that Jones' Whitehall I
—an idea never realised— exists. There must be the manuscript before •
tlie boolt that is to be printed from it ; the design must be produced by the
architect before the building can be erected fror; it ; and its worth or
worthlessness as a design remains the same whether it be carried into
execution or not. ~ , , .
Were it not provoking, it KrouM be rather amusmg to find what non-
sense is frequently written or else spoken on the subject of architecture; on
any other, hardly would a similar extent of ignorance be betrayed. It may
fai'tly be questio'netl if among educated persons there is one in a hundred
who has any sort of intelligence of it as art ? Scarcely ever is it even so
much as mentioned in conversation. It is very rarely, indeed, that the
public press or literary journals bestow any notice upon it, or when they
do it is little better than ■' cram." Though newspapers report regularly
on music, the drama, picture exhibitions, &c., they ignore architecture ;
which is, however, not greatly to be wondered at. because they are toler-
ably well aware that the public take no interest in it. Reasoning « priori
it might be inferred that of all the fine arts that of architecture would be
best of all understood, because its productions exhibit themselves openly in
the highways ; yet be they ever so meritorious their merits are not to be
first discerned and then relished by the untutored, " uncouched, unfllmed
eye." As architecture is not an imitative art, some little preparatory in-
struction is requisite to enable a person to read designs by first under-
standing all the several modes of representation, whether technical and
conventional, or artistic, employed for fully exhibiting either executed or
merely projected. And so far from there being any particular difficulty in
it, the whole rationale of both geometrical and perspective delineation
might be explained, not only in a <lay but in a few hours. For my part, I
can't help fancying— this is, of course, quite enlre nowi anl confidential —
there would be fewer dunces were there not so many stupid teachers
who deal in mystification. A moilel or stereographic representation of a
building is of very great assistance indeed in explaining and rendering evi-
dent the value of, and necessity for plans and other drawin;^s of it likewise.
In an article on the forthcoming Great Exhibition of 1862, a writer in the
SatHrday Review says, with reference to its art ami architectural depart-
ment, "above all things models of buildings ought to he encnurageil." as
being popular because intelligible, in fact, miniature Jac-similes of the
buildings themselves.
FRE.N'CH DOMESTIC .ARCHITECTURE.
THE enormoBS amount of building which ha* Cor some years now gone on in
France, and e.^pecially in Paris, has made that city peculiarlv attractive to
English architects and builders, who have there a school of study, where they
may find examples ."ind warnings iid infinitum and ad nuufcaiii. To read these
examples aright, however, it is necessary to he well informed with respect to the
habits of the people, for it is necessary to remeiaber, trite as the remark is, that
bouses arc made to live in as well as to look at, and that the requirements of one
nation arr' almost as difierent from those of another, as the flat dish and the long
bottle in the fnhk- of the Fox and the Crane. To a certain degree a foreigner is
likely to overlook fonie of these diffircnccs, and it is no more safe, therefore, to
criticis« a French house from an English point of view; than to adopt and trans-
plant it bodily without considering its fitness for its new locality. To judge fairly
of French domestic architecture we must use our ears as well as our eyes ; wo
must know the objects in view, and also many collateral circumstances, before
we can deciile on the fitness of thie habitations for the jieople for whom they have
been erected, or on the ability of the designers and builders. To learn all this
directly is a long proc«.s, too long for the great majority of students, and there-
fore it" is useful to draw all the information that presents itself in an indirect
manner ; and one of these modes is the consideration of wliat the French theni-
nelvcs s.iy about their own hnuscs. In reading the criticisms, and listening to
the opirdons, or mere remarks on the subject, w« have naturally to cast a vast
deal aside as mere clialF or dross; and it must be admitted that the grain or the
pure metal is mixed up with a very large amount of what may well enough be
termed fllling-in.
M. Ferdinand de Lastcrie, a non-professional writer, docs not hesitate to brand
the architects of the present day in France, with entire want of originality as
regards great public edifices, and says that to know how to reproduce a (jreek
temple, a Gothic churcli, or a Louis XIV. palace, is generallya sulficientacquire-
ment ; he tells an anecdote of the famous sculptor Uavid d'Angers, which is worth
recording: — "As reganis public monuments, perfectly ailapied for their
purpow, and of a »tvl« original and entirely of our own time, I know
none but the abattoirs'." And there is a great truth hidden under this
sneer; all true styles originated like these slaughter-houses in that manner, which
tbould at once i«rve the purpose intended, and meet all the circumstances of the
case in tlie tMtt, moat ilurable, and cheapest manner; while we modern copyists
renerally have adopted the very opposite principle, and, having selected a style
that was admiral>Iv ndap'ial to its purpose m its own country, set to work to pare
it, and clip it. and twist it to serve another purpose, and under diff'erent circum-
stances. With respect, however, to domestic architecture, the writer above
mentioned thinks that the pnsent day has its style totally distinct ft-om that of
any other |>eriod ; that, in fact, the changes which have taken place in the
manner* and habits of the people have become, as it were, embedded in the stones
of the new houses. It would be strange were it otherwise, and the stndy of the
changen referred to will alone enable us to judge of the fitness of the new habita-
tions. The necessity for wide ronils and uninterrupted Hues, and the increased
price of land, have made a total change in the general outline and disposition of
the streets, and have made picluroKjueness dependent on ornament, frequently
ntraneoiu. instead of upon broken lines and varied forms. In old times the
nobility built tiMinseives sumptuous boteU, and the poor were huddled together
in the old neglected houses of the (jreat. The middle class had scarcely attained
to a separate rank, it hid its wealth to avoid inconvenience ; but now it lias come
forth into the full blaze of the son, and is as exaggerated at present in its luxury
as it was formerly in its modesty. Formerly the mercantile and legal classes
lodged in very qiiiet, unpretenriing streets ; the bouses were approached often by
a mere alley or a low gtite, the staircases were reinarkah'e for anything but
brilliancy, ami the outer door of the apartments frequently opened directly into
one large room that in many cases served for dining ami dniwiiic room, which
was, in fact, the only general sitting-room, thefuiniture of which was perfectly
simple and massive; the chief bed-room was generally of large proportions, and
the kitchen was a vast apartment, with a large chimney and a great collection of
culinary utensils of all kinds. The eom/or/w/i/e home "was then not uncommon
in Paris. Youmusthavethetastenf an antiquiiiy to find out such houses now. The
same classes now inhabit very different places; the exterior must be roWe look-
ing, or at any rate pretentious ; there must be a magnificent entrance for horse as
well as foot ; the staircase must he spacious, ligiit, and liigldy deeoi'ated ; tlie rails
must Ih! of an elegant pattern, painted of a delicate chocolate and tipped with
gold, if, indeed, they be not gilt half over. As to tlie interior, — the salon must
lie large and lofty, its walls covered with paper of the most delicate tint, or di-
vided into panels enriched with all kinds of elegant work, from a papier niache
ornament to a charming design by a skilful painter, and on the ceiling, the doors,
everywhere is gold-leaf applied in profusion, and often in great excess. Huge-
looking glasses reach from the low mantel-piece almost to the lofly ceiling, the
floor is covered partially or entirely with a velvet carpet, and all the fittings and
furniture are on the same magnificent or gaudy scale. The dining-room is fitted
with great taste, the prevailing mode at the present moment being modern, old
oak furniture with a great deal of sculpture, and much of it atrociously bad, bnt
generally applied with taste : the furniture is generally in good keeping, but the
whole on a very small scale, a room in which the |)arlies slioiild never exceed
eight persons or so at the utmost, and in this particular the reeular gourmet
will doubtless say that the French exhibit a liijili sagacity and a deep knowledge
of tlie gavnir-vivre. The lady of the house has her own exquisite retreat —
her boudoir, her bed-room also, generally, be it whispered — this chamber is
generally just large enough for a bed, a few chairs, and a small table for the
fair occupant's own labors, literary or otherwi.se, on ordinary occasions, and
whicli will accommodate four whist-players on company nights, when the
bed is a perfect bijou of satin, lace, and embroidery. Everything
is on the smallest possilile scale, and of the most luxurious description as regard*
ornamentation, and thus looks like a ceil fitted up for a fairy ; the master of the
house has a small room to match, also fitted up with as much luxury as he can
alFord, or determine on po>sessing for some time at any rate. In one corner or in
a recess covered by a handsome curtain, is his close, unhealthy bed, and he as well
as the lady has, if' possible, a dressing-room about the size of a box for four at a
theatre; the kitchen is about the size of a small panti-y in an English house, but
it serves the purposes of kitchen, scullery and pantry combined, only obtaining a
slight increase of area by the meat-safe being hung outside the window wlien the
aspect is not sunny, which might prove inconvenient for the gigot ; the servant
spends most of her li'c in this cupboard or laboratory, and generally quits the
apartments of her employer to go to sleep with her compeers, in the complicated
hive lieneath the slates of tlie mansion. The smallness of the kitchen would send
an English cook out of her wits'; but the system accounts for the diflerence.
Everything is carried on in the small way, and at the same time with great
economy, and when anything extra is required it may be obtained readily from a
restaurant or cuinine houryeoiM a few doors oft'; and the same remark applies
to wines, to plates and dishes, knives and forks, table linen, lamps, glass, which,
with almost every imaginable thing, may be hired for the oecnsion at a moderate
rate. With such habits generally difl"used, the task of the architect is in a great
measure marked out beforehand. He has to sacrifice almost everything to ap-
pearance ; he must decorate the exterior and give it an appearance of grandeur,
no matter at what cost. He must have an inner court ; but as ground is about the
price of gold, he must arrange for a carriage to be able to turn round in the
smallest possible space. Within he must give up half his space to the salon,
and is thus compelled to reduce the bed-rooms to closets, and all_ the
oHices to cupboards. Balconies occupy an amount of space that it is
next to impossible to spare in most cases, and the consequence is that half
the new houses have the lower portions of tlie windows covered with elegant
ironwork in chocolate and gold, wilh an advance varying from one to six inches
from the wall. It has been calculated that to give a balcony to each floor of an
average bouse in a good position would be equivalent to adding ,£G0 to £80 a
year to the ntnt, on account of the necessary diminution of space in the interior.
The following may stand as a fair type of the modern street bouse of Paris at the
present time. A grand front to the street, an eleg^ant carriage entrance in the
centre, and one, two, or more shops on ench side of it ; an entresol in wliieJi you
may stand upright if you are not much more than six feet high ; a first floor with
a balcony, windows with large panes of plate glass, and gilt shutters inside
plainly visible from the street ; two or three other floors pretty much alike, a
fifth in the roof with a balcony, and some twenty cupboards, tor as many sjrvants'
bed-rooms up amongst the chimneys — these are not generally considered as
requiring light or air except in homoeopathic proportions. Tlie8<; necessities have
reduced house plans to such a monotony tliat, wilh the single exception of mere
ornamentation, the architect can scarcely achieve any originality unless he makes
his windows round, oval, or of a lozenge shape.
Houses inhabited by a single family are called hotels, and these were formerly
almost exclusively the dwellings of people of large fortune, such as are still to be
found in the Faubourg St. lionorc— noble mcnsions with a large court-yard in
front, a garden behind, and roomy coach-houses and slables in the former, with
a porter's residence in a screen giving on the street; of these few are now
erected except by Imperial ministers, or the lords of the financial world, but a
new race of small liotcls has grown up, and these aftbrd good scope to the archi-
tect and well deserve study. They generally stand on a very small sjiace of
ground : they are often far too pretentious, and lose in comfort what they gain in
outer grandeur; but a very 'arge proportion are remarkable for elegance, and tor
the admirable distribution of' the interiors. The style adopted is strikingly
difi'erent to the grand hotels above referred to, and the modern mansion has not
inaptly been said to present the appearance of a country villa dropped within the
wails of the city — you must, however, imagine the large garden at the back.
These hotels, like everything French of the present day, are too iniieli after a set
pattern. There is kind of official type that is rarely departed from ; here niul tlieru
you may find a pure Italian or Classic building, never anything at once Gothic
June 21, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
619
and decent, but the great mass belong to that wide-spread order of architecture
and art in general— the Rococo. The way in which the details are carried out
is deserving of all praise and of careful study ; and as regards the interiors, making
allowance for the fact that the French generally require that all the bed-rooms
on the principal floor should form a part of the suite of ajjartments for gaJa days,
it is very difficult to sjreak too highly ; in these elegant little mansions the
French architect seems to be unapproachable.
It has been well observed that if the modem Paris liotd resembles a villa, the
country houses of France generally look too much like town residences out of
place, and it is generally admitted that the English understand the construction
of villas far better than'the French. The former use the old styles in a far more
picturesque manner, they are not wedded as the French are to any one plan
which may happen to be in fashion. "Tliey know," says the writer I have
already mentioned, " how to mingle the picturesque and the comfortable better
than we do; they have the art of making nature herself aid the charm of their
domestic buildings, to make the vegetable world contribute to the effect of their
fresh and pretty decoration. Their style is less pretentious and less noble perhaps
than ours, but it is economic and charming to the eye." The same writer says
that the chitteau is essentially French, and the cottage English, and he remarks
witli great truth that this is only a reflection of the fact that the chief life of
the former is that of the city, while that of the latter is of the country. The
dUKculties which stand in the way of a proper appreciation of art or anything
else in another country are curiously illustrated bv the same writer. He says
that England, otherwise a charming country, has the misfortune to be very much
alike from end to end, and that France, on tlie contrary, is of all the countries in
the world the most varied, both in nature and aspect ! It would be difficult to
find a more extraordinary error than this in the whole course of French literature,
considering that the animus is perfectly fi-iendly, and tiie whole tenor of the
remarks thoroughly impartial. It is inconceivable that any oneshould be unaware
of the fact that nothing is so remarkable in France as the general uniformity; it
is true that she has several districts of jwculiar character, but througliout the
great extent of the country nothing is so striking as the similarity of the
scenery, the roads, the towns, and the houses. Such a strange error in the com-
parison of the two countries may be of some use in warning young architects
how they judge of French buildings without having actjuired a considerable
knowledge of tlie usages of the society and the habits oi the inhabitants, and
how they criticise the character of the street architecture without inquiring into
the strategetical or fanciful regulations, by which, like everything in France, it is
howai as in fetters of steel.
"WESTWARD HO!"*
IT is but a short time since the Far West was almost an unknown
country. " Westward Ho!" was the cry of the adventurous travellers
who set out for the land beyond the Tamar, whose solitudes the unhallowed
whistle of the railway monster had never disturbed, with some such feelings,
perhaps, as Abraham had when he set out on his memorable journey
westward. Great meetings and notable celebrations went round in their
wide circles, but nearly all were cut short by the Tamar. Few contrived
to cross that Rubicon of the West, except, indeed, an occasional menagerie
and the inevitable judges of assize.
But now the iron way has invaded this Japan of coaches, road omni-
buses, and " stage vans," and pushed its way to the very " Land's- end "
itself, and its presence has changed all things. Brunei has spanned the
Tamar with the greatest triumph of modern engineering skill in Europe,
and lo ! the circles widen, and 1861 sees the whole country alive with
expectation of the first visit of the Bath and West of England Society.
Of the three works, the titles of which are given above, the first is
little more than a new edition of the part of Besley's deservedly popular
*' Route Book of Devon and Cornwall," relating to Truro and its neigh-
bourhood, bound up together with programmes of the Exhibition, railway
time-tables, and other necessary or useful information.
The second is a sketchy, but, on the whole, not unpleasing description
of the councry generally, illustrated with a few— a very few — tidy little
etchings. But, aiming at too much, it does nothing really well. Visitors
to the West who wish to take a peep at Cornwall without perambulating
it, may devote to it an hour or two of languid sofa perusal on a sultry
afternoon, but nobody can seriously accept it as a guide. Moreover, the
sensible traveller will devote what time he has to the exploration of some
one district which can be accomplished thoroughly, instead of trying to
take in a little of everything, and doing nothing satisfactorily.
The Appendix, however, will be of real use to the traveller ; it gives
the line of the Cornwall and West Cornwall Railways from Plymouth to
Penzance, with a complete segment on either side of all the objects worthy
■of notice, and they are neither few nor far between. We notice, never-
theless, a few omissions even here, which will passingly annoy the traveller,
who will look in vain to his Guide for the names of Tywardreath and St.'
Blazey church, and of Pi-ideaux House, all of which are conspicuous
objects near Par.
The third book on our list is far from being a mere guide-book to the
intensely interesting and romantic district of which it treats; it may fairly
be numbered among the now happily increasing numberof standard works
on our local topography, or rather loeal history, and it is no exaggerated
praise to say of it, that it is worthy of a place beside any work of kindred
subject that we have ever seen.
We had occasion some time ago to notice favorably a previous work by
Mr, Blight, also devoted to the illustration of the architectural and other
antiquities of hig native county.f and we congratulated him then on the
* 1. Besley's " Handbook of Truro and Visitors' Guide to the Show," with man
andillustratioas. Exeter : Henry lieslcy, South-street. ISOI,
•i. •' The Tourist's Guide through Cornwall by Eoad, by Kiver, and by Eail." Bv
Thomas II. Habvev. Truro : J. K. Nctherton. IKOl. ■'
3. " A Week at the Land's Knd." By J. T. Blight. London : Long-man, Green, '
Longman, and Koberts. 1861. .-.-.vvu,
t ".The Ancient Crosses, &c., of Cornwall," pubUshed in 1858.
singular fidelity of his sketches, and the admirable character of his wood-
cuts, for our author is his own Orlando Jewett.
The execution of the cuts in the present work is beyond all praise ;
they are a complete triumph of amateur skill, and would do credit to any
professionaL Mr. Blight is peculiarly successful with the foliage of his
trees, a point in which many professional wood-cutters of eminence,
seriously fail. In architectural subjects also he has attained considerable
accuracy and great delicacy of execution, giving promise of a rare combi-
nation in an individual of an aptitude for representing every subject with
felicity of expression and natural effect. Indeed, the illustrations of "A
Week at the Land's End," embrace almost every variety of subject — rocks,
boats, waves, breakers, churches,* houses, carvings in wood and stone,
streams, valleys, and sylvan scenes, fishes and birds, Druidical and Celtic
remains ; ferns and flowers j towns, villages, and wild moorland tracts ; cloudy
and cloudless skies ; stormy seas and seas at rest. In all we recognise
true genius, and a full perception and appreciation of the beautiful in
nature and in art.
Where all are so beautiful it is not easy to select the particularly
effective ones, but everybody will have favorites, and we think we are
disposed to give the palm to the frontispieee, which represents the Land's
End itself, just as we ourselves last saw it, radiant with all the tender
beauty and golden glory of the sun, slow-sinking into a sleeping sea. The
vignette gives us the Land's End from a somewhat different point of view,
when the old Atlantic seems to be awakening with the dawn and return-
ing to his everlasting work of chafing at the Iron barrier that he shall not
pass.
At page 144 is a very skilful picture of Castle Treryn (or Treen as it
is pronounced) ; not a fortress of ramparts built by man, but an ancient
cliff-castle, part of the everlasting hills, taken by the old British to be
their last refuge westward from the sword of the invading Saxon. The
great billow which is breaking on the strand is beautifully executed,
and the dark sombre cliffs, though no engraving can convey an adequate
idea of their grandeur to one who has never seen them, are recalled
most vividly to our memory.
We have said above that " A Week at the Land's End " is no mere
guide-book ; but we must be permitted to say of it that travellers will
find it an invaluable companion nevertheless. It contains an excellent
map of the deanery of Penwith, or rather of that part of it known as
the Land's End district, in which all places of interest and all the routes
are carefully marked. This map is also geologically colored. And the
work itself although a library book, is sufliiciently in the form of a hand-
book to be useful as such, with far more of accuracy than is usual in
such mere compilations, as many of our popular hand-books are.
Henceforth Mr. Blight's book will be a sine qua non to every one who
shall make a pilgrimage to the westernmost bounds of our habita-
tion in this our island home — to the land of legend and of olden ways —
the land where primitive customs and primitive manners still hang on in
forms more substantial than mere traditions. " Those who wish to behold
nature in her grandest aspects, those who love the sea breezes, and the
flowers which grow by the cliffs, the cairns and monumental rocks all
hoary and bearded with moss, those who are fond of the legends and the
traditions of old, and desire to tread on ground sacred to the peculiar
rites and warlike deeds of remote ages, should visit the land of Old Corn-
wall, of which it will be found that the district of Bolerium is not the
least interesting portion."
Thus enthusiastically, but not too enthusiastically, does Mr. Blight con-
clude his most interesting volume, the visitors to the Ear West, and
thousands are flocking thither this week, will endorse his opinion to
the full, an4 will return to their homes thankful to him for so faithful a
portraiture of the charming and wonderful scenes which they surveyed
while spending in his company " A Week at the Land's End."
♦
BRICK ARCHITECTURE AND ITS TKEATMENT.t
WE have wandered somewhat from the immediate subject of this paper,
but the great temptation to do so must be our excuse. We will now,
however, return to the trail from which we have been led away by
thoughts which crowded upon us, and endeavour to lay down as briefly as
possible our ideas respecting the treatment of brick architecture.
We have spoken of the care necessary to be observed in introducing
stone into a brick front; it, however, it is used judiciously, it becomes a
pleasing feature, as seen in some of the examples in Italy, where it is made
occasionally to alternate with brick in the arches of windows, doors, &c.
Used ornamentally, it may often be found effective, but where it is built in
the wall constructionally, such as in the springing of arches, cornices, &c.,
it only gives an idea of a deficiency in the strength and capability of brick,
and uselessly cuts up the face of the building. Now in these cases it
would be better to omit it altogether; it is not absolutely necessary, and it
is certainly when thus used far from satisfactory. In keystones of arches,
plinths, bands, and the like, it looks out of place, and should, in our
opinion, be dispensed with. Those who have noticed it in these situations
will remember how poor its appearance is, and will bear us out in our
opinion. There are, indeed, few opportunities for its introduction, and
it requires much judgment to place it, so as to add to the beauty of the
building.
• We must not forget to mention that Mr. Blight's architectural descriptions are
all given with scieutinc accuracy, and are (as we know from our own observation), In
every instance reliable. Mr. Itpdd, Mr. Couch, and Mr. Ualfs. eminent in ornithology,
geology, and botunv, have largely assisted in ensuring thorough accuracy in tne
portions of his work relating to the natural history of the district, which is very
mteresting. and embraces many rare species.
+ Continued from page 176.
5-20
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 21, 1861.
Mouldings in brick sliouW be bolJ and not too small. Their effect, when
well formed and carefully arraiigeil. is very pleasing, and contributes much
to the beautv of the edifice in which they are built. It is very necessary
that those bricks which arc iu an exposed situation should be of the best
quality and formed of clay entirely free from limestone. If common ones
arc placed in unsheltered positions they soon begin to crumble and break
away, and the mouldings and splays tiecome damaged and frequently
destroyed. It is equally necessary that the mortar should be good, espe-
cudly in those places where it will have to resist the action of the weather.
Manv persons entertain the opinion that bricks cannot resist its influences
for any length of time, but these notions have been suggested by those
frequent cases of failure, caused by the bad quality of the material used,
and it is proved beyond a doubt by numberless e.xnn pies, that when the
article is good it will endure for years without a sign of decay. The same
may be said of mortar. The rubbish that is 'used in most of our modern
buildings is totally unfit for the purpose to which it is applied, and cannot
be expected to last for any length of time. In this also we may take a
hint from the ancient builders, who made their mortar so perfectly that it
vies with the very stone for strength and hardness, and after the lapse of
hundreds of years is found still to be so binding and indestructible that it
is impossible to part the stones which it has united in one rocky mass.
How many of those buildings which are being so rapidly erected on all
sides will be found standing five hundred years hence ? Where will be
our palatial warehouses, our magnificent hotels, our stately halls, and our
richly decorated churches ? Their very ruins will have been swept away
and —
Like the baseless fabric of a vision
Will have left "not a wreck behind." Jfo sooner has the scaffolding
been pulled down and the works completed than we hear the cry raised
that decomposition has begun. The storms of but one winter have
beaten against their walls, and the stones begin to crumble. A few years
will complete for them what centuries have failed to effect on the en-
dnrinh monuments of antiquity, and they will be swallowed up in that
oblivion from whose mysterious depths it would have been better had
many of them never appeared.
There is nothing, perhaps, which takes awaj- from the appearance of a
brick building more than dividing the face into innumerable rectangular
compartments by glaring white lines, as seen in tuck-pointing, which is
generally done with the idea of improving, rather than taking away from,
the effect, and in the eyes of many persons it is a great addition to
brickwork, but in ours it is intolerable, A house front thus treated always
reminds of a huge toy, and as we think of the labor bestowed on that which
proves a disfigurement to the rest we are unwillingly forced to the conclu-
sion that it is labor thrown away. A neatly struck joint is infinitely
better, and does not destroy that look of undivided mass which it is so
highly necessary to preserve ; besides this, it is less expensive, and what
is here saved can well be applied elsewhere with far greater advantage.
Encaustic tiles often enter into the composition of our modern fronts,
sometimes successfully, but more frequently otherwise. We do not think
that tliey should be brought flush with the face, but recessed in panels of
various shapes and forms, according to the style in which the building is
designed. The patterns of the tiles should be considered, and such mis-
takes as inserting a fleur-de-lis in a Classic building be avoided. So much
depends on the color of the bricks round them and the color of the tiles
themselves, that it is quite out of our power to give much information as
to where or how they may be introduced. We tlicrel'ore leave it to the good
taste of tlie architect, at the same time suggesting that they must be used
sparingly, and not placed here and there indiscriminately, merely for the
sake of placing them somewhere.
The question of color we must leave an open question. It would re-
quire far more space than we have left to go thoroughly into so important
a subject ; we will, however, make a few passing remarks, which, as the
result of observation, m.iy be acceptable. First, then, it appears to us
that either white or blue or black bricks must be used very sparingly,
especially the last mentioned, the tone of which is unpleasing and cold,
tnd does not seem to harmonise with the other colors. White
may be introduced in arches alternately with other colors, and also in a few
other positions ; but, as we before remarked, they should not be used
lavishly. An entire front built with them, and having black or dark blue
bricks introduced as ornament, has a most ghastly appearance, and is had
in the extreme. The best colors for combination appear to be red and
yellow (we, of course confine ourselves to the colors of bricks at present
manufactured), with white added where required, or where it will be
effective, and but little of dark blue for the reasons before given. Bricks
of a good red are not often met with, and in some parts it is with difliculty
they can be obtained. There arc also many shades of what are termed
white bricks— some very clean looking and others falling into a dark grey
—and in consequence of this it would be desirable for the architect to pro-
cure samples of color and quality before fixing definitely on the relative
positions of one kind to another.
The practice of dividing a building in slices by horizontal bands of
color placed at equal distances from each other we do not think a good
one, and should not often be repeated. In brick spires and turrets bands
of color and of stone arc very pleasing when not carried to an extreme, as
is too often the case, and the stone quoins at tlie angles give an apparent
security, which entirely frees us from any suspicion of weakness or danger
of a tumbling down. The woodwork seen from the outside has a much
better appearance when polished, if of a superior quality and stained and
Tarnished, if of deal and other plain woods. If painted, the tone should
be made to harmonise as well as possible with the color of the brickwork.
A stone color has a very poor effect, and cannot be recommended; the
same may be said of nearly all light paints.
Plastering of any kind, whether in the shape of mouldings or flat sur-
faces, should be entirely excluded from the facade ; it is better to appro-
priate the money it would cost to procuring eliect in the natural material
employed, which, unlike plaster, would require no after outlay to keep ic
in repair, and which really looks more truthful and pleasing. Plaster in
any position, whether plain or ornamental, has a cheap and trumpery look,
and whatever is done to it in the way of coloring or gilding fails to remove
its plastery appearance. Its use in the interiors of buildings is, in the
generality of cases, excusable; but on the exteriors it should never be
seen, and its introduction there is positively unpardonable.
Before we lay down our pen, it would be well, perhaps, to remind our
readers that much of what we have said respecting mouldings, &c., in
brick has been said under the impression that all were aware we calculated
on the best material being used. Any inferior kind would be tiiifit for
employment in the way we have indicated. Cut bricks especially should
be of the best quality that can be procured, and unless purpose-made
bricks were carefully moulded and burnt they would not be so successful
as could be wished. We have before spoken of the care required in laying
them, and therefore we need not touch on that again.
Our suggestions are intended more as starting points for thought than
as rules to be closely followed. If our architects can be induced to give the
subject their patient consideration, and devote their best energies to the
task of unfolding its scroll of beauty, we may expect better things than
have yet apjieared. The more thought they bestow upon it, the more will
they see and feel that it is worthy their time and talents. They will find
that beauty dwells where hitherto her presence has not been dreamt of,
and when once they pierce through that ring of darkness which surrounds
the subject, the twilight will come and the brightness of day will follow.
There can be no doubt that the little that has been done, is but a prelude
to higher and nobler works, and that the revival of a material which was
known almast o-a early as men began to build, yet which lias never been
fully tried, will lead to great and important results. If our remarks
induce some of our young architects to search and think for themselves,
and create in them a desire to " lead the van," our object will be fully
realised. At the same time we hope they will do something towards re-
moving those false ideas so generally entertained of Brick Architecture
and its treatment, and contribute to the establisliment of true principles
which must be clearly defined and understood before we can reach that
state of i)erfection to which we look forward with an anxiety natural to
all who have a true love of art and a desire for its advancement.
D. W.
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS IN THE ROYAL HIBERNIAN
ACADEMY, DUBLIN.
IN the architectural department we (Dublin Biiildjir) were led to hope
that the recent acquLsitions to the Academy, as well as the indncenicnt of
associateslnj), still an open question, would have ensured a specially meritorious
display this year; but while coniessing that it is somewhat better than a few of
the preceding Exhibitions, yet it falls tar short to our mind of wliat it might and
ouglit to be, considering the available resources of our practising professionals,
local and otherwise. Commencing, in the order of the catalogue, at the left of
the entrance doorway, Mr. Trevor Owen exhibits his de-iign for the Hoyd
Testimonial, as adopted by the Committee ; but our notions of a monumental
structure harmonising to some extent with those of a royal critic, who was
pleased to designate the prototype of this — viz., the Wellington Testimonial in
the Park — " an overgrown milestone," we have no reason to congratulate any
of the parties concerned on the result. A little further on, however, this gentle-
man retrieves himself by his exterior and interior views of the Catholic .\postolic
Church, Liverpool ; the latter being peculiarly noteworthy both in design snd
the handling of tlie drawing, although the artist's license is rather extensively
encroached on in the coloring of the roof, and the former is liy no means freefrom
fault, but very questionable, especially as_ regards the tower and spirelet treat-
ment.
Mr. William Murray, one of the newly-elected Royal Hibernian Academicians,
contributes a neat and eftective view of the "Chapel and Infirmaries of the
District Lunatic Asylum at Grangegorman," a creditable production in its way,
though we should have preferred a newer subject.
Mr. Charles Gcogheganhasa very phlegmatic design for a " Collegiate School"
(No. 558), though better in every respect to that by the same author for a
"Catholic Church" (No. 000).
Mr. William Fogerty's coinpetitivedrawings for " Presbyterian Church, Cork"
(the adopted design for which appeared in our Number for March 1st), has some
clever grouping about it, and color is sought to be obtained throughout by in-
troducing bands of dressed stone dissimilar lo that of the body of the structure.
We are not, liowever, permitted to regard favorably, in any respect, the same
I gentleman's drawing of a villa at Ennis (No. 016).
I Lookingfirstat Nos. .'')04, ,jG8, and 571, views respectively of the " East Portico
j of the Bank of Ireland," and the " Principal front of Trinity College, Dublin,"
the "Interior of our Town Hall," and the "South-east View of the
Custom-hou-e," we were strongly impressed with the conviction of their being
the productions of " an old master," nor were we disappointed on rt'ferring
to tlie catalogue to find the name of Patrick Byrne, R.H.A., associatett
therewith. Though somewhat less pretensious in coloring than the style
generally adopted by the architects of more modern schools, yet tli^
drawings are very truthful, and suggest desirable sunjects for study. No. 509,
a design showing three sides of proposed Grosvenor-square, has no recommenda-
tory feature as a work of art for exhibition, though In execution it may be found
to answer its purpose very well, the houses being externally of the most common-
place character, and the whole very strongly resembling a published lithograph
of Queen-square, which everyone knows has no architectural pretensions whatevei'.
We should have wished both" for a better drawing and a better subject from the
exhibitor (.Mr. Caldbcck), who, enjoying an extensive practice, could have found
DO difliculty in providing both.
\
June 21, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
521
Mr. W. J. Barre, of Belfast, contributes severnl drawinjis — viz. : — No. 570,
exterior view of tlie " Ulster Hall, Belfast," the basement of which displays n
piazza with tbroutrh carria},'e drive, somewhat nfier the fashion of that at the
Covent Garden Theatre, but otherwise it is almost devoid of architectural
features; No, 070, " Interior of same buildinij;" (illustrated in our Number for
April 1st), on which the artist has plied his brush too fi'eely, and we hope the
colors are not really intended to represent the hall as it will be decorated ; No.
mo, " Presbyterian Church, Sydenham," apparently either a greatly hurried
or an unflnished drawinjj; No. 001, Adam Clarke "Memorial Church," a
better drawiii)?, and presenting some notable points, in which, however, we
cannot include the introduction of a concealed roofbeliinda batllenientedj)nrapet,
surmounting the nave walls, and the chancel projecting therefrom afier the
ordinary manner, with exposed roof; No. 005, view of " JJuneairn Presbyterian
Clmi-ch ;" and 018, views of " Bray and Rockeorry Churches," a "trio of
drawings admitting of more suitable finish for exhibition purj>oses, and, in some
respects, displaying close similarity in style and treatment.
Messrs. Lanyon, Lynn, and Lanyon contribute the two views of approved
design for " St. Andrew's Church" (Nos. 575 and 578), previously exhibited in
College-street, and illustrated in this Journal (on the merits of which having
previously expressed our opinions, it is unnecessary here to repeat them); also
the approved design for "Trinity Church, Edinburgh" (No. 012), a truly
meritorious composition, and a view of " Killileagh Castle, county Down"
(No. 013), as lately restored, .ill in the first style of art, and contrasting strongly,
especially in the manipulation, with the general works exhibited in this depart-
ment, and fully sustaining the high character of that eminent firm.
Mr. John J. Mulvany, H.H.A., has an outline perspective, apparently intended
be colored, of " A Marine Residence at Dunmore," in which a cantilever
to
roof, with curvilinear outline, and a multitude of brackets, is the principal feature.
Nos. 577, "Clonea Church," Oil, " South-east view of St. Saviour's," and
614, "St. Joseph's, Carrickmacross," are by Mr. M'Carthy, R.H.A.
Messrs. Deane and Woodward have an enlarged design for the "Staircase
Angle of the proposed War Office," in the well-known adopted style of that
firin ; and two designs for the " New Molyneux Church and Asyrum" (with
which our readers are already familiar by illustration and description) by Mr.
Hanson Carroll, and a sketch for the " De Vesci Testimonial," by Mr. Charles
Papworth, may be said to comprehend the entire display.
The sculptural department, excepting the Cioldsmith testimonial model, a
Titania, by Lawler, and " Pastime," by Terence Parrell, comprises only busts
and ahead of the Saviour, which latter, however, is a remarkably meritorious
ON THE INTKKNATIONAL KXHIlilTION OF 180J.*
I need not stop to describe the building of 1851. It had its merits and demerits.
There was no pretension to arcldtectunil effect but there was vastuess and simjilicity
of design, with remarkable titness to the purpose required ; and the novel ana beau-
tiful etfect produced by the enclosure of the large elm-trees within it eaunot t>o for-
gotten by any one who saw it. Moreover, all this was attained at a smalluess of
cost which was' again one of the marvels of the structure, but it is hardly too
much to say that had not >)ir Joseph I'axton's plans met with the apjjroval
of such men as Stephenson, liruuel and C'ubltt, the public would not
have aNowed so apparently frail a structure, designed by a nou-profcssional
man, to have been erected for such a purpose. Its success was, hoivever,
perfect ; and the questiou now is, what have the Commissioners of lS<j:; done to
secure tile erection of a building worthy of the occasion, and which will not disap-
point tliose who saw and admired the building in 1851.
Ilaviug before them tlie lailure of llie public competition in 1851, the Commis-
sioners have, it appears to me, wisely determined to take the full responsibility of
selecting a design ; and although contemporary criticism may expose architectural
inconsistencies and faults in the plan adopted, as a whole, I believe it will be approved,
and the internal elTect of the two domes rising one at each extremity of tlie great
aisle will be grand and imposing, and well calculated to exhibit to advantage the
works of art and the manufaclures which will be collected within the building.
Jlien, again, as paiulin;;s are to form an important part In this Kxhibition, it
bccaine absolutely necessary that the gidlerv to contain them should be a substantial
erection, and not subject to accident or to the sudden variations of temperature un-
avoidable in an iron and glass building.
Considering then that the ellect within, and the safety of everything entrusted to
tne Commissioners, are of inliuitely greater importance tlian the exterior of a struc-
ture which, very possibly, may be only required for a few months, the Commis-
sioners Iiave, I think judiciously, resolved, at the expense, perhaps, oi external
appearance, to produce an interior which, while entirely different from tliat of
ISol, and from that erected in Paris in 1855, shall possess orit;iiiality aud beauty
sullicient to make it an attraction, if not superior, at least equal to that of either
01 tuem.
From the building let us pass to its probable contents.
1 hat tliey will surpass in interest, beauty, and value, those of 18;51, I have little
doubt, tliougli there can hardly be the same novelty; but assuming, as we may
lalrly do, that both Kuglish and foreign industry will be as fully and as attractively
represented as they were in 1851, and that in addition to anything then exhibited we
shall have the larmwt and flnest collection of modern paintings ever brought
together in one building in this country, there can be no doubt that the Exhibition
vv i"' '^""'"■' "' """^'' '";"i">'ion in the jrablic mind as that of 1851.
«c liave now no fears, either political or industrial, to allay-no ignorant pre-
judices, national or social, to overcome— no vague auguries of iudelinable mischief to
couiiter.-ict-but we have to aid in the collection of visitors a strong conviction that
great advantages were derived from the knowledge obtained at the Exhibitions of
i»ai and 18oo, by those who thoroughly studied them, and we have also greatly in-
creased facilities for their conveyance from all parts of London and the country,
and indeed from all parts of tlie world, to the spot selected for the site of the
£.xhibition.
'riie increase of the population, the increase of our metropolitan railways, the
reduced rates of conveyance, the recollection of the past in the minds of those
WHO saw it, and the desire to see an International Exhibition by those who were
unable or too young to see tlie last, will together ensure an amount of success to
»' Xi' ""P'ctations of the most sanguine.
And here I will mention a few facts which justify us in expecting a large increase
in ine number of foreign visitors. The number who visited England in excess of
inc previous year, between May 1 and .September 30, 1851, was only IJ.'.UU, whilst the
ntinioer ot loreigners who visited the French Exhibition in 1855 was above 100,000, of
Whom 10,000 were English. We may, then, fairly anticipate that there will be a
great increase m the number of foreigners coming to England in 18(JJ over those who
eamc m 18,,!, as all admitted that the English contributions to the Paris Kxhibition
occupied a great deal of their attention, and excited the liveliest interest among them,
moreover, tlie important changes which have taken place in the commercial rela-
tions ot J ranee and England must tend to increase the curiosity of manufacturers to
»ce tne latest and choicest specimens of British industry, and surely we may attri-
* Head at the Society ofArts, on June 5, by Mr, William Hawes, Continued
zrom page 504.
bute an Important place in promoting that improvement in the French tarllT, which
now admits many English manufactures to France, to the exhibition side by side of
English and French manufactures in London and Paris in 18.51 and 1*)5, and to ac-
complish which the (iovernments of both countries, appreciating the importance of
tlie occasion, temporarily suspended their Customs remilations.
On the whole, tlien, looking to the aneccss of the Foreign Department in 1851, to
the preparations now beinfr made in France and other countries, for 18<K, proving
they are not afraid of placing, for the third time in eleven years, their choicest pro-
ductions in friendly rivalry with ours, and also to the industrial proR-rcss which has
been made under more liberal tariffs than then existed, we have sufficient reasons to
Justify the confldentexpectation that the Foreign Department will be as well sup-
ported and as successful in Ifli'i as in ia51.
There are, however, some important points of management and arrangement upon
the decision of whicli much may depend, and which appear to me to require the most
open and full consideration and discussion by the public. I mean—
1. The system of prizes adopted in 1851 and 1855:
2. The arrangement of manufactures and works of industry— whether it shall be
geograplncal or in classes ; and,
X. The rates of admission.
First, as to prizes. Can they be adjudicated with snch perfect fairness and
justice as to ensure their being allotted to the proper persons ? If they can. then
theobjeet of awarding them is attained; but, if not, they are the means of innicting
great injustice on every other exhibitor, and on the community at large, who are
misled by a wrong adjudication.
Tlie question then arises— Can juries, selected as juries must be, possess collec-
tively sulBcient general, practical, scientitic, and manipulatory knowledge to decide
unerringly upon the relative merits of competing manufactures, machines, chemical
products, and works of industry of all kinds and of all values, often pruduecd from
similar materials, but which, being made for different climates and purposes, may be
very dissimilar in character and appearance, though belonginsr to the same class .'
Is it probable that a dozen men can be so fully acquainted with every variety in
the class upon which they have to adjudicate as to en-sure entire correctness and jus-
tice in their decision ? 1 believe this to be simply impossible, and although I have
not the slightest wish to impute improper motives to anyone, or fur a moment to
suggest that any person acted otherwise than to the best of his ability, I believe it is
an admitted fact that both in Paris and London the distribution of prizes gave dis-
satisfaction, and that they were In many cases incorrectly awarded. That juries
should be appointed to examine each class of subjects, and to report upon the pro-
gress made since 1851, is most desirable, and such reports would be of great value to
every exhibitor and to the country at large ; but it appears to me, upon a careful
consideration of all the difflculties, highly undesirable that prizes should be awarded.
A prize, given with the utmost fairness, can be useful to but one individual, and the
advantage gained by a prize would, in most cases, be far beyond the actual supe-
riority of the article rewarded over the next in merit ; but, if awarded incorrectly—
still more if awarded without a due appreciation of all tlie various considerations
which constitute superior excellence— a great injustice Is inflicted on many.
To avoid the injury caused by the slightest error in the judErment of a jury is of
infinitely greater importance than any benefit which can arise from givinsr a reward ;
and it appears to me that the system of rewards is calculated to divert tlie attention
of exhibitors from tlie object they ought to have in view, and instead of looking
solely, as they s'lould, for the symiiathy and support of the public, they will try to
obtain the approbation and verdict ot the jurors.
Then, as regards the classification of products or manufactures, two plans are sug-
gested—one, that of 1851, the geographical arrangement, under which the art and
industry of each country is exhibited in one compartment; and the other, an arrange-
ment in classes, so that all similar products or manufactures, come from where they
may, will be exhibited together, 'rheoretically, this appears to be the best plan for
enabUngthe ordinary run of visitors to obtain most readily a knowledge of the pro-
gress of each country ; but would it not tend very much to lessen the interest and
pride of the smaller foreign exhibitors in the Exhibition, who would naturally prefer
seeing the works of eaeii country separately ? And, moreover, the theoretical
advantage contemplated by the classified arrangement is one more in name than in
reality ; for those conversant with cotton, or silk, or woollen fabrics, will have no
difticulty in properly appreciating the comparative merits of those belongiug to each
country, although they were not placed in absolute juxtaposition. So with hard-
ware, porcelain, machinery, Ac. ; and if, in addition to such personal inspection, we
have the reports of juries, composed of competent persons, on each branch of
industry, the object of a classified arrangement will be attained, without any offence
being given to any person or nation. It will be much easier to satisfy a foreigner in
the arrangement of^his goods in the space allotted to his country, than if distributed
one in one part of the building and one in another, mixed with those of other
nations.
I now come to the rate of admission.
In referring to the lowest rate, which, in 1831, was Is., we find that this produced
more than G-lOths {•fj'i-i) of the receipts at the doors, and represented 4,43!),41!i per-
sons out of 0,039,195 visitors, or about three times as many persons as paid the
hi;jher rates of admission.
lu Paris the If. rate also produced more than C-lOths of the total sum received at
the doors ('(iirl) ; but there was also a lower rate of 4 sous, so that, at If. and at
4 sous, 4.280,040 persons were admitted, out of the 4,5:i:j,4li4 who visited the
E.xliibition.
These figures are more significant if we compare the populations of I'aris and
London. At Paris, with a population of 1.174,340, there were 2,351,0:11 visitors paying
1 f. and upwards, or 2-01 visits to each of the population.
Ill London, with a population of 2,3tJ2,23ii, tliere were 0,03it,195 visitors paying Is.
and upwards, or 2'5 visits to each person, a curious coincidence of visits to the popu-
lation. IJut, in addition to the 2-01 visits of the I'aris population paying 1 1. aud
upwards, 2,182,4.3:1 of the working classes were admitted at a charge of but 4 sous each.
We are, then, fairly entitled to say that the Is. rate nearly excluded the working
classes (except where the liberality and good feeling of employers found the means),
who made 2, 182,4;y visits to the Purls Exhibition, and which class, had the same
facilities been afforded to them here, we may fairly assume, would have made
above 4,(i00,(XiO visits to the London Exhibition, and contributed iu like proportion
to its success.
For, as the number of visits by the people, in proportion to the population, pay-
ing one franc and upwards, so nearly coincided in both countries, it is not unreason-
able to suppose that, had our working classes been admitted at a proportionate rate,
they would have been quite as anxious to see the Exhibition as the working men ot
Paris.
I am well aware there is a strons: objection in the minds of many to a lower rate of
admission than one sliilling. I do not, however, share in the objection, nor do I
believe it is founded on sound principles, and certainly not on the great principle of
universality upon which an International Exhibition rests.
The object of such Exliibitlons is not only to amuse the rich, but to teach the
people. The object is not only to give information to the merchant and manufac-
turer, to I'nabie him to extend his works and Increase his gams, but to show the
people the progress of their rivals in trade and manufactures, that they may learn
thereby in what manner best to exert their skill and iutelligence.
Theobjeet is to educate nations, not classes. It is to show to all the part taken
by each in tlie great work of the world's industry ; it is to show that the production
of very few commodities is confined to one country, or to one set of workmen. It is
to show that that country which exercises the highest intelligence and the srreatest
industry In the conversion of the raw materials which nature so lavishly provides
for the use of all, will be most successful in the industrial race which civilised na ions
are so honorably running one against the other. In what respect, then, do our in-
dustrious classes require education more than in a knowledge of the meclianical and
artistic works of other countries, and the rate or cost at which they can be produced 't
522
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 21, I&Gl.
\
VIKW OF THE INTEBIOB OF ST. JOHN'S CHAPEL, LINCOLN.-Mebbbs. 8. J. NiCHOLL and T. J. Willson, Architects.
And how can iMsons on this gobject be given with each effect, or be tanght by a
Khoolmuter so well calculated to impresa the mind and memory, and be so free
from all aiupiclons of interested motives, as by the personal inspection of the articles
colleeted toeetberatan International Exhibition .'
They wilTtherc see the works of foreigners-will be able to examine them at;their
leisure, and to satisfy themselves in what respect they are hiferior to, and in what
thyr excel, their own.
They cannot then refose to believe that they have powerful, intelligent, and Ingc-
luous competitors : or that if, by unwise combinations to constrain the free optra-
"<i"" of men, masters, or capital, they increase the cost of manufactures or the difli-
futf ot executing pubUc works, other hands, able and willing to work, can be
roond, and at a rate of wages which would make them, if once brought here, very
formidable rivals. • s • /
Iniay be allowed, perhaps, to digress for a moment to state one effect of the late
wmje among the painters. A machine has Just been perfected for executing certain
KtnU or painting at a wonderfully low rate and with great speed,— a public advan-
Um, DO doabt, but injurious for the moment to the body whose Ul-adviscd movement
called it Into existence.
Itta then, I think, a Irst duty of the ISoyal Commissioners to make such arrange-
i"™" " ."'" °P*° '"« *.xhibltion to the largest number of the working classes, their
wires and chil<lri:n ; the only limit being tliat required for the preservation of the
''fl'f ■?? "P.^J'"^ maintenance of perfect order ; and as both of these were accom-
?SS^VF ' y**.' '?**■* ""S""' •" ** no difficulty in London. Fortunately we know by
tjeir tt«e admiulonto oiur National Gallery, to Kew Gardens, and to the BrltlBli
Jtucuin, fte.. tlut the bidnstrlons classes may be safely admitUd to see and to ex-
■mlaeTaloaUe work* of art and hidustry, without the slightest fear of injury arising
taerefrom, and we now so frequently see 20,000 or m.iXK) visitors together at places of
umuemeiit that no difficulty can arise as to the preservation of order.
".■•■T' ' •"O"; "T one shilling is low enough ; but Is not this a vague assertion, re-
RSI^ wl?.??; ??f.?"'52f""""- ''J' "'O""^' who forget or do not know that me ehil-
lUK multiplied by the ordinary number of a working mans famlly-and working
f!^ I ,7^" *" '''■•** ? MBOsement without them, and it is most desirable this feel-
ing abotUd be enconraged-becomct a aiun, which is prohibitory to all but a few of the
most enterprising and best piJd artizans, and certainly cannot be considered as en-
couraging the attendance of the working classes as a body, whose instruction in the
power and capabilities of foreign workmen is, speiikiug nationally, of greater moment
tlKin the amusement or instruction of the classes immediately above them.
There is, however, a practical objection advanced by some, whose desire to extend
to the utmost the benelits to be derived from the Kxhibition cannot be doubted, and
that is the impossibility of accommodating the niimber who would apply for admission
at a lower rate than one shilling.
To such I reply, first let one day a week be appropriated to working men — Monday,
for Instance. If this be not enougli, give tliem two, or even three days weekly.
Their numbers are so great that they have a right to a fair proportion of the time for
whkh the Exhibition is to be open. The difficulty of regulating their admission
should not be allowed to exclude them all from the opportunity of obtaining infor-
mation most valuable to them as a class, and as iudivlaual members of tliat class,
I must next notice the objections which have been urged against holding an Ex-
hibition in ISiili.
They are two. One, including all 'sorts of minor objections, prejudices, and
interests, is expressed simply by saying it is too soon— the public take no interest in
it— msnufaeturers did not gain enough by the last to repeat tlieir contributions.
The second is, that in tiie present political state of the world, Kurope, Asia, and
America, it is unwise to incur the risk of failure in so important a national under-
taking.
To the first I reply, it is not too soon in the estimation of those wlio are to fill the
building ; if, on the one hand, they become guarantors for the expenditure, and, on
the otlier, apply for spaces for exhibition far beyond anything known in IS'iI,
tlireatening to render the contemplated structure, large as it is, insufficient to meet
the demands of intended exhibitors— nor when our colonies and foreigners areas
ready as before to contribute their share to another great collection of the world's
industry.
If these be facts, as they are, the objection that 1802 is too soon after 1851 and 1855.
tohold another Exhibition falls entirely.
llut there is another reason in which the public arc Interested why Exhibitions, if
once held, should be repeated periodically, and not at too distant period*.
I ...
VIEW OF DOORWAY AT COMPTON WYNNIATT8, WARWICKSHIKE.
-Cahved by Mb. Theodoke PBrFFERs, Designed bt Mh. Diobt Wtatt.
June 21, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
525
I'rizcs if given, or tlio honorablo mention byjurics, or the unanimous praise in the
daily press, of any particular production or manufacture, j^r'ves a virtual monopoly of
its supply to the producer, lo the injury of consumers, until, at a succecdiuR Exhibi-
tion, the merit of other similar productions, is pronounced by competent authority to
be e(|n«l, or superior to it, or until new articles which but for the opportunity thus
alTordcd could not have been brought fairly before the world, are compared with it.
The second objection cannot be answered by an appeal to facts, but may be dis-
posed of as effectually by an appeal to reason and policy.
That, in the words of a weekly periodical, distinguished for the ability, though not
always for the liberality of its writing, we should choose the time foranK.vhi-
bition "when Italy is in the agonies of self-reconstruction ; Austria in the throes of
a life and death struggle for existence ; France sore all over with Jealousy and
snspieion of her insular neighbour ; Prussia in the thick of a quarrel with Denmark;
Itussia workingout the vastest social problem that ever monarch undertook to solve j
Turkey griped to death by her protectors ; India racked by famine, and passin"-
through a financial crisis; and the United States |split into fragments," no one. will
contend. Nor, ou the otlier hand, do I think, that when this country has once de-
termined to hold an International Exhibition, any properly constituted Englisii mind
would approve of its being deferred because such events had arisen in foreign coun-
tries during the progress of our arrangements. Indeed, the French Exhibition of
1N."».T was held during the Crimean war.
.Should we be too easily influenced by the pohtical events passing in other coun-
tries it would be difficult to find a time to hold an E.xhibition, so that such an argu-
ment would be equivalent to saying tliat an International Exhibition should never
take place. This reasoning is inconsistent with the object of such demonstrations,
for if their highest and most interesting purpose be'to cultivate the relations of
peace, 'amity, and commerce between nations for the benefit [of all, it is just at the
time when fiovernments appear to beforgetting their duties to their people, or when
nations are forgetting their duties one towards the other, or wlien people of the same
nation, stirred up by the demagogue or bigot, enter on the strife of war, that Eng-
land, confident in her owu power, confident in the principles which guide her rulers
and govern the actions of her people should show, that in the midst of wars and
rumours of wars, she can uninterruptedly pursue her peaceful and industrial career,
and be ready to exchange everything she produces with every other country, and to
expose, for the inspection of all, the latest results of her national industry.
I think, then, the political aspect of the present time ought not to check the pro-
gress of the Exhibition, and I think the strong assurances of support which we have
received from our colonies and from foreign countries— the great extension of our
commerce and trade— the improved social and intellectual condition of the people—
the position we maintain in the production of works of fine art— our chemical and
scientific discoveries, and our improved and new macliinery applied to all branches of
industry since 1851— setting up in high relief as they do, the advantages derived from
the peace and freedom we enjoy, ought to stimulate our exertions to make this Exhi-
bition worthy of the great nation wliich undertakes it— of the great country in which
it will be held— and of the great, wise, and good Sovereign under whom we have the
happiness to live.
[For summary of discussion see page 485 ante.]
NEW WESLRYAN CHAPEL, SOUTHPORT.
THIS fine edifice erected for the Hoghton-stieet congregation, was opened a
few days since, with tlie usual services. The style of architecture in which
the building is designed is the early Decorated Gothic, most educated persons
agreeing witli all oiir architects that the simplicity and beauty of the geometric
forms of tliis style demand its adoption, in all cases wherethere is no special
reason to the contrary. Externally, the chief feature that meets tlie eye is tlie
spire, 1130 feet in height, to the top of the foliated and gilt finial by whicli it is
surmounted. About JO feet below this finial there is a circlet of gabletted storm
lights, and there are besides, at intervals, bands of a blue tinted stone, which is
also used in the relieving arches of tlie windows and doors. The main front
gable bears on its apex a stone finial of somewhat novel design, and is pierced by
a large flve-iiglit window, wliose head is filled with elaborate tracery. Immedi-
ately beneath the sill runs a moulded and enriched string, forming a long panel
which contains in raised letters the inscription, " Enter into His gates with
thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise." Below this string and in the
centre of the front is the principal entrance — a wide door, having three columns
in each jamb, and a richly moulded and deeply recessed arch, the head of wliich
is filled with tracery, .\bove the arch are three moulded and cusped panels filled
with carving, tlie centre one bearing on a ribbon the inscription, " The Lord is
in His lioly temple." Entering by this door we are in a spacious lobby, from
which we reaeii the chapel tlirougli two swing-doors arranged so as to prevent
the unpleasant rush of cold air which may be felt in some chapels whilst the
people are ccming in. Besides this door there are two others comraunicating
with the front lobby, and with tlie staircases to the galleries, and for speedy
egress there is also a door in either transept. The chapel is 110 feet long inside
by 4') feet wide in the nave, and 70 feet in the transepts. There are sittings pro-
vided for about 1-200 persons, of which 200 will be free. On both sides— in the
tran.sept3 and at the end next to Mornington-road — there are galleries, access
to which is obtained by means of two spacious stone staircases, situated one in
the tower and the other at the south-east corner of the chapel. There is an
ornamental iron balustrade up the staircase, with a moulded oak handrail. At
the foot of each stands a hold moulded newel. Cliiefly for the sake of ladies
occupying seats in tlie galleries the balustrade just above mentioned is not open
as is often the ease, but filled in to a suitable height with a screen of ironwork.
At the end opposite the main entrance is the chancel, separated from the nave by
a bold arch, which springs from two corbelled columns having carved capitals.
The chancel window has five lights, and as it is in the full view of the major
part of the congregation, special care has been taken in designing the tracery,
which is the richest in the building. Tlie chancel walls are all covered with a soft
colored diaper. Underneath the windows is a panel in which is the inscription,
in easily read letters, " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest." Hound the window arch is another incription, " Behold
the Lamb of God which taketli away the sins of the world ;" and between the
window sill and the communion table are five elaborately designed tablets, the
centre one containing the sacred monogram, I.H.S. ; oiie the apostles' creed;
one the Lord's prayer ; and the remaining two tlie ten commandments. The
communion table, which is of oak, stands on a raised platform, and is divided in
the front into three cusped and moulded panels; the communion rail and
standards are also of oak, and of a consistent design. From the chancel on the
left side, a door leads to a cl.oss-room of ample size, and on the other side is the
minister's vestry, with all suitable conveniences adjacent ; below, is the heating
apparatus (Walker's, of King-street, Mancliester), hot-water pipes from which
run the length of tlie chapel, under all the aisles. The seats which, in the body
of the chapel are of pitcli pine, are of ample width and formed with sloping seat
boards and backs, so that they are as easy as an ordinary chair. Book boards'
and rails for seats are in all the pews.
Perliaps the most striking object in tlie chapel is the pulpit, the gift of
Lawrence Heyworth, E»q. It stands a little in advance of the chancel arch, and
is of Hantzic oak, beautifully figured, and on both the design and workmanship
no time or tliought has been .sp.ired; it is hexagonal in plan, and supported on
a strong and substantial pillar, at each angle is a column with mouldcit base, and
natural foliage carved in the cap ; on each of the six sides is a riclily
moulded panel intertwined, filled with elaborately carved natura
fi'Iiiige, amongst which is a ribbon bearing, in raised legible letters, a
text of Scripture ; as far as possible such foliage has been chosen as might have a
connexion with the text of the same panel. All the carving has been executed
from the architects' design, liy Mr. William Jlatthews, of Leeds.
The chapel is approached fi'om Mornington-road, and also from Church-slrect.
A minister's house adjoins this last-mentioned entrance, and it is intended to
build, immediately, schools on the ground between the chapel and the hou.se.
The architects are, Hayley and Son, of Manchester; and the coutractor.s, John
Stathara and Sons, of Pendleton.
THE GODOLPHIN SCHOOL, HAMMERSMITH.
THE foundation stone of the new buililing was laid on Saturday, the 8tli inst.,
by the Lord Bishop of London. The school was, it will be recollected, the
subject ol a recent competition ; it is at present conducted in temporary premises,
but under the direction of the Court of Ciiancery the trustees have purchased the
site on which the structure is to be erected.
We were invited to be present at the ceremony, and attended for the purpose of
informing our readers ot the proceedings, hut the accommodation offered us was
such that we were unable either to see or hear ; we believe that the Lord Bishop,
Lord Ebury, and Lord Enfield, M.P., delivered addresses. We have little reason
to be thankful to those concerned, who, in issuing invitations on any future
occasion, will do well to take into consideration the value of a journalist's time.
LICHFIELD C.VTHEDRAL.
THE nave of this fine cathedral has recently been enriched with a very
beautiful work of art in the shape of a baptismal font, the gift of the
Hon. Mrs. H. Howard, wliich has been put up partially under the first bay on
the north side of the nave arches, eastward of the north-west tower arch.
Although it can scarcely be considered in character with the architecture of the
cathedral, still it deserves the highest commendation on account of the very
great beauty of its design, and the admirable treatment it has received from the
hands of the sculptor. On plan it is not an octagon, but a square with its cor-
ners ofi'. Each side of the square is enriched with a very highly finished sculp-
tured Scriptural subject in high relief, and each corner is deeply sunk and filled
with figures. The material employed is chiefly Caen stone, but witli a consider-
able proportion of marble and alabaster. The upper mouldings are enriched with
a diaper of carved water-lilies, worked out of a beautiful delicate pink alabaster.
The four panels ot the font represent:—!. The Entry into the Ark; 2. The
Passage of the Red Sea ; 3. The Baptism of our Lord ; 4. The Resurrection of
our Lord. The figure subjects are: — 1. The Virgin Mary; 2. Saint Peter;
3. Saint Helen ; 4. Saint Chad, the first Bishop of Lichfield. The bowl is sup-
ported on a central and four detached marble columns. The centre column is a
beautiful specimen of Galway green, and the four detached columns are of
brocadillo. The whole of .the caps are also highly carved, and round the panels
are 24 smaller marble columns composed of French marbles and the Derbyshire
fossil, with carved capitals, the former supporting the upper mouldings, and the
latter the arches of the panels. It stands elevated 2 feet 6 inches above the level
of the nave floor, upon a pyramid of fine yellow Mansfield stone steps, the sculp-
tured subjects being level with the eye. It was designed by W. Slater, Esq.,
architect, of London, and executed by Mr. James Forsyth, of Edwards-street,
Hampstead-road, London.
AIICHITECTUUAL ASSOCIATION.
AN ordinary general meeting of this Association was held at the rooms, fl. Conduit-
street, Kegent-strect, on Friday; T. UogerS.mitu, Esq., the President, in the
chair.
Mr. Arthur Smith, honorary secretary, read the minutes of proceedings at the
ast meeting, which were approved of and agreed to.
Proposed Architectural Alliance. — The Chairman said it would be in the recol-
lection of some gentlemen that a circular from the Northern Architectural Associa-
tion respecting the formation of an Architectural Alliance was a short time ago
laid before the Association and referred to the Committee for consideration. It was
also a short time ago decided to refer the jiroposed new system of registration to
the Committee of the Association for consideration and to report thereon. A Com-
mittee was held on the previous Friday, when a discussion took place as to the way
in which the registration-book should be kept on the promises, and ultimately the
whole matter was referred to a sub-committee to make the necessary arrangements
in accordance with the scheme which had been agreed to. As to the proposed
Architectural Alliance the following report was agreed to by the Committee of the
Association:— "Your Committee having. In accordance with the resolution passed
on the 3rd of May, duly considered the scheme for an Architectural -VUiance, as sub-
mitted by the Northern Architectural Association, beg to advise the Association to
join the Alliance, recommending at the same time the following modifications on
their suggestions, viz., at paragraph No. 4 in the circular of the Northern Archi-
tectural AssocL-ition the insertion of the following words, " Being bodies composed
of gentlemen engaged in the study and practice of architecture " ; paragraph No. 10,
to add at the end, " Each proxy to specify on what subject or subjects only he is
authorised to vote;" paragraph No. 11, to add at the end, " If report to the annual
meeting be not printed a copy to be sent to each Society in the Alliance."
The Chair.man moved that the Architectural ARsociation send in its adhesion to
the proposed Architectural Alliance, on condition that the above alterations be made
in the suggested rules. The Committee thought it right to invite the Association to
join the Alliance, which would afford opportunities ot discussing subjects upon which
united action might bo extremely desirable and extremely advantageous to the pro-
fession. The intention of the Alliance was to take cognisance of all matters relating
to the profession, and having special reference to competitions and professional
charges. As to the proposed alteration in paragraph five, the Committee thought it
was hardly fair to throw the business open to architectural or antiquarian societies
where matters relating to architectural subjects were to be considered, and, therefore,
proposed to exclude dilettanti societies. The Chairman then spoke in favor of the
other proposed alterations.
Mr. BLAsHir.i. seconded the motion, which was unanimously agreed to.
Nomination ot ttjficera /or the ensitini/ J'enr.— The following gentlemen were
nominated as oiBce bearers for the ensuing year, the election to take place at tie
next meeting :—
President.— A. W. Blomfield, M.A.
526
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 21, 1861.
SSmnuSim or CommltM.-V<Mn. Gritten, Lewes, New, raralre, Walters,
JiabmTReeTC*. Banker. Tarver, l'«ris, Wlmbridge, and Thomson.
Hon. Ty«i»t«rer.— Arthur Smith.
. Solicitor.— Tnnfie Trutfltt.
~. C Biecrs Mid J. W . renfold.
i_»— J. H. F. Lewes and 1^ O. HarrU.
Mmmt. flter«tori«.— Artliur Smith and C. J. Adams.
nnui^^-?he Chairman presented to the Assoeiation a copy of a work recently
ondneedbT him enUtled •' Rudimentary Treatise on Acoustics ; the DiatribuUon of
E(»a" by T Rosrer Smith, architect, with illustrations on wood.
^ThtCuntorsMp of the Associaliou.—iii. Blnker proi>08ed the appointment of
■ ■ab-oommittee to consider the whole subject of havinc a library, and of the
mootT irenerallv of the Association. If the committee should report in favor of
Sc^uoeUtion having a lending library, they should also report in wliiit way they
mc to keep the library. If they had books, tney ought to have some place to keep
then to. Aey ought to have a library, and should endeavour as far as possible to
make It a drcnlatlng one. He proposed the appointment of a sub-committee on the
'"it* B1.A8HILL had great pleasure in seconding the motion of Mr. Bunker, which
ma altered to the following elTect :— That a sub-committee be appointed to consider
and report on the best means of making the property of the Association available to
the naeof the memlwrs, and that it be an instruction tolthc committee to confer with
tlie Cnrators and take their opinion on matters connected therewith.
The motion wa-s airreed ta
Mr. K. O. Harris moved that one of the Cnrators be a member of the committee.
This motion was seconded and carried by a majority.
Mr. A. Smith movid that the committee consist of Messrs. Blomfleld, Bimker,
New, and one of the Curators.
ilr. Paraire seconded the motion.— Agreed to.
Carpetitry.~Tlu: adjourned discussion on Mr. E. O. Harris's paper on " Caroentry,' '
read mt theprenous meeting, was then resumed. The gentlemen who took part in
tbe diseiuaioo were Mr. New, Mr. I'araire, Mr. Blashill, Jlr. Adams, and others, who
nude Tariou diagrams on the black board, accompanied by technical and practical
explanatlona.
At the close a vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Harris for his paper, and the
meeting separated. ^
BOYAL INSTITUTE OF IlKITISH AECHITECTS.
THE PARK AGES OF ARCHITKCTURE.*
Sir Christopher Wren had by no means the same artistic feeling as Inlgo Jones,
thovgli greater mathematical powers and science in construction. As an architect he
kad pd&n opportunities in the rebuilding of the City of London after the fire of 16«fi,
■ad De bad the genius to grapple with it in an engineering point of view, and arclii-
teotorally also so far as it was possible in the style with which unfortunately he had
to deal The manner in which he did this has been so lately thoroughly set forth by
my friend Jlr. Kerr, that I need not here enlarge upon his works— the more so as my
porpoee of showing the thorour'h intractability of the style which even his talents
ooold not overcome, is rendered self-evident by the following remark, which I ven-
ture to quote tVom that gentleman's lecture on the subject. Speakinf' in reference to
thedonbledomcjandscrcen-wall, of thenaveof St. Paul's, he says, "Theyare at least
tbe makeshifts of man'ellous ingenuity and still ^eater artistic power; they are
faliities it is true, but tliey are those of a master mind, they are no common vulgar
fihe. but great grand lies of y:enius."
Now a style that necessitates lyin" which requires " marvellous ingenuity and
•till greater artistic power " to conceal awkward roofs and buttresses at the cost of
making one-half a building a huge sham to render tlie other half tolerable. Is 1 think
fairly to be said to belong to the dark ages ; and that Mr. Kerr's estimate of the
makeshift is a correct one, my reminiscences of a church in Venice by Talladio, the
roof and buttresses of which uad not been concealed by such ingenious means, yet
which seemed to call loudly for a similar friendly shelter, will enable me to corrobo-
rate.
Tbe group of the City spires and the towers of Westminster Abbey are conceived
and massed with great talent and a true feeling for what is grand and picturesque,
yet nith such horrible details, such a substitution of the queerest pots and jars in
the place of pinnacles, that it is necessary'tbat one should half shut one's eyes to
enable one nghtlv to appreciate their outlines, and as such are after all borrowed
ftom the older iiedieval steeples. One would really rather open one's eyes and sec
tme Gothic steeples with proper detail as well. The thin leaden spire of St. Martin's,
Lndgate-hill, is as a composition rightly placed in contrast to act as a foil to the
dome of St. Paul's but in itself is surely not>eautiful object.
Time fiaUs me to describe other of Wren's works, or those of his successors who
tock up his mantle — of Uawksmoor, Vanbrugh, or Chambers, and the rest of the
band of that forlorn hope, despite whose efforts architecture sank down gradually to
the uttermost depths of degradation, when the ideal of associated English homes
were the monotonous, dreary walls of Ilarley-street and such like, wherein sham
reigned triumphant from palace to terrace In plan, construction, and decoration
alike. Art and architecture l)ecame absolutely dark or dead, and copies or parodies
of the works of other days were all that was attempted. The only merit that can
be claimed for them is, as usual, that of "proportion," an element certainly so
eaaential that there can be no architecture without It, yet one, the exclusive praise of
which to a sure sign that there is little else to praise, just as the most sarcastic thing
yon can »ay of a man is to laud too highly his good nature, the meaning of which
nsnally to to suggest doubts aa to his sanity. To wade through the works of this
(beary period either for the purpose of description or reprobation would be a task
the nDeongrenlality of which, together with the undue length to which I find I have
extended what were intended to l)e prefatory remarks, must be my excuse for now
shirking what might appear to be the subject I really undertook to treat upon. I
cannot but own, however, that it is with some satisfaction that I find the ordinary
Umita of a paper reach*^ without the necessity of an Inquisitorial journey into the
City for examnlis to criticise. In the Urst place, I am spared the necessity for
beeoming spltcfnl ; in the next, a chilling remmiseencc of the interior of St. Paul's
Indisposes me to revisit It until it shall have assumed, as we trust it soon may, all
OT«r, and not here and there only, in the able hands of our Honorary Secretary for
Foreign Corrcapondence, richer hues, akin to those of St. Mark's at Venice, since we
are promised the use of the statue materials for its decoration. Then it might have
beeome incumbent upon me, however disagreeable, to sketch and measure the cxtra-
OfdlnarT sham portico set up by Sir John Soane at one end of the Court of the Hank
a "STvI, '^""■'"ng to a (ivorite notion in the dark ages, a real one at the other.
gffto. I had feared that it would become necessary to study the Interior of Sir John
Mane a Museum, which othcr%viBe, not having a fancy to become a candidate for
icnoenee In that strange eclectic curiosity shop, I had been content to seek amuse-
M*" li*^ Illustrated catalogue of Its contents. I had also been afraid that
I .So 1 °f<*'"arTfor me to search and see how far I could agree or not with
r.ora raimerston In his admiration of the several buildings which he was pleased to
call lUlian. and as tbt Horse Guards was one scheduled in his list, the only pleasant
IMiture or which, to my mind, are the sentries In their uniform, who sit like gorgeous
perionmcatlonH (If • I'atlcnce " Inside instead of "upon a monument," the prospect,
1 assure you. afforded me slight satisfaction.
Idnd mvself also obliged to omit all consideration of thelntercstlngquestionofthe
Konompli/ or the dark ages," and all resean^h into the origin of the type of
SMnsa wno smile and weep in convenient alternation upon keystones, or Into the
IMUtoe ortbe liona heads, whence flowers dangle to All up panels, or into the pur-
pose of the sundry pots that affect all high places. The quesUon ab)0 of the
* Continued from page 6W.
I
polychroiny of the dark ag:es, I find myself oblig^ed to omit or postpone, unwillingly,
because upon this subject much instruction mij^ht be drawn as regards what should
be avoided. The main ambition on this point Koems to have been to keep on thcBafe
side ; and safe colors which could do no harm, and whitowash, reduced the interiors
of buildings to a similar condition of monotony to that we have remarked in the
exteriors.
However, about the close of the last century, there appeared to be commencing a
salutary "shaking amonrj bones" (to quote again the phrase of Mr. Kufekiu) in an
artistic as well as m a political sense, and though it seemed for some time difficult to
discern whether there were real evidences of resuscitation among them, and whether
such shaking were likely to briug any fiesli upon them, we, at this period of time,
are able to perceive (at least we flatter ourHolvcs so), that through all the restless
changes which have ensued in the successive fashions of copyism since then, there
has been beneath tlie outer garb of Greek and Khzabetban, of Roman, Florentine
and Venetian, Konaissancc or Medieval revived styles which have met the eye, an
undercurrent of healthy struggling to attain independence. Just before the
Exhibition of 1851, in another lecture,! asserted my belief, inopposition to thatofthe
author above quoted, that not bones alone were being shaken, and that we were upon
a sure if slow route to progress. The coming Exlnbition of 1862 will, it is to be hoped,
by its contents, if not by its carcase, aflord another favorable opportunity for taking
Btock, and another starting-point in the road of progress.
What colors are the best to fight under in the future struggle for the advancement
of architecture, in which we snail be all engaged, 1 must leave to the conscience
and calm consideration of each.
As to what style may be the best to develop into a healthy, manly, Christian,
English, Victorian, architecture, I presume not nere to dictate, since we differ in
opinion on the subject.
It is well that we think not all ahke, and are not content, as in the dark ages, like
sheep, to follow bUndly their leader in all things. But let us fight out the battle, if
battle it is to be, in a legitimate and friendly way, without deputations and special
f (leading on the one hand, yet without fear as to throwing stones because both parties M
ive in glass-houses. On the other hand, let each be thankful to the opposing side M
for pointing out its weak places and turn manfully to repair them. There are plenty m
of what my friend Mr. Burges calls unnecessary " fizzings and crockets" and sham
buttresses, as well as vases and rustications and sham pediments, which may be
offered up in a holocaust together, while there is equal room for each party to
endeavour, by practice, to prove what their champions have been so vehemently
asserting— viz. , the capacity of their favorite style to admit the highest art in painting
and sculpture, and thus, which ever side conquer in the friendly struggle, both may
rejoice alike, and the monotony and follies of the "Vernacular" style, as Mr. Scott
calls it, which has descended to us as a legacy from "the dark ages" be left to the
speculating builders who delight therein.
Mr. J. \y. Tapworth moved a vote of thanks to Mr, Seddon for his paper, and In
60 doing observed that although it was living in tone and might be useful, it was to
be regretted the author had not expanded the subject, more especially with reference
to one or two incidental points. Mr. Seddon was not alone in depreciating
Vitruvius ; and he himself was inclined to ask how many copies of Vitruviufl were
in Venice, or known to exist, and who made them? The majority of copies were not
of thetltirteenth or fourteenth century, but of the twelfth, eleventh, tenth, and ninth
centuries. His belief was that if a little attention were paid to the subject it would
be found that the medieval architects of the eleventh and twelfth centuries thought
they were following Vitruvius as closely as they could. He should like to know who
It was that taught the architects of the middle ages. Among the muniments of
ItaUan cathedrals constant references would be found appealing to some unknown
authority, and he believed that that authority was Vitruvius.
Mr. JiURGES said he really knew nothing about Vitruvius, as he had never come
against him in Medieval architecture. Ail he knew on the subject was that he had
not beau able to trace him in the eleventh, twelfth, or thirteenth century art; that
lie was extensively copied, however, there could be no doubt, and so were Ovid and
Horace.
Mr. G. E. Street remarked that he had nothing particular to say on the subject,
for like Mr. Burges he had been unable to find any trace of Vitruvius.
Mr. Nelson having said a few words in the same strain,
Mr. G. Godwin deprecated the eueer at the great minds who had aided the world
in the awakening of thought in the period called the " dark ages." The tone of Mr.
Seddon's paper was not in his opinion to be praised, for to underrate an enemy was
not the way to show how he could be conquered. He was glad that it would not go
forth to foreign countries that the Institute of British architects had united to sneer
down all those men who had labored in the ' ' dark ages," and who had left behind them
monuments, wliich he, for one, was quite willing to admit, he had never contem-
plated without feelings of awe and admiration.
Mr. Seddon remarked that he thought he had a perfect right to express his rooted
convictions which he had always endeavoured to propound, because he beheved all
the hope they had of good architecture for the future lay in their comprehension of
these points. Those who differed from him would do better in refuthig his argu-
ments than in attempting to sneer him down.
Mr. Kobert Kerr was not surprised that a gentleman who felt so strongly on
the subject of (iothic art as Mr. Seddon should express himself in such terms.
There was he thought sometliing more in the revived description of Italian archi-
tecture than Mr. Seddon was prepared to admit. The human mind never work&i
without materials, and it was absolutely necessary that at the period referred to. It
must have returned to the remains of Classic times. Tbe human mind turning to the
remains of Classic Komc found a system as different to that which Iiad perished as
could possibly be ; it found in the remains of Jtoman architecture, sculpture, poetry,
philosophy, and history, examples upon which it could, with great credit to it«elf,
rely under the circumstances of its position. The remains were adaptable to the
wants and circumstances of the time, and nothing could have been more applicable
to tlie cravings of the human mind when the Gothic had died away and left mankind
in the lurch. How could the human mind have better formed a new style than by
referring to those structures, and how we, in our day, behold them without believing
that the men who reared them were great men, and that the age in which they lived
was not a "dark age" ? How could they look at the works of Michel Angolo and
Uaffaclle and say that they lived in a "aark age" ? Instead of sneering at the great
men who had gone before them, they should endeavour to trace where the human
mind was true to itself, and see where they, in their turn, could be true to
themselves.
Mr. Hayward could not but approve of the fearless manner in which Mr. Seddon
had stated his views. The entire gist of the paper lay in this consideration— what
were they to do in tlie present day ? He (Mr. Hayward) thought that, with acertain
amount of common-sense and with a true architectural feeling, it mattered very ultle
what an architect studied, where all the styles were open to him. He did not tu^&Q
such a remark to apply to a case where only some particular style was known; but
now that every style was open to the student, and when archaeological societies threw
eo much light on the past, it was, he thought, of little consequence in what school
the architect studied, for if he had a true architectural feeling and a taste for the
beautiful he would be sure to produce something wliich would be a step in advance.
Any one looking at the metropolis could not help seeing that great progn-ss had been
made even within the last ten years. There was alwo a taste .springin^^ up for pure
and useful construction, as was evidenced in the use of polished granite, fine stone,
and improved metal-work. All these matters, in his opinion, afforded ground for
congratulation. A gentleman like Mr. Seddon, who entertained deep-rooted opmions,
did good ser\'ice to art in coming forward and expressing them boldly ; a person
ought not to be put down for expressing his opinions, for they all ought to be thorough
in their opinions. He had great pleasure In seconding the vote of thanks to Mr.
Seddon. , ,, ^
The Chairman, before putting the motion, made a few observations, mthecowee
of which he expressed his surprise at finding Mr. Seddon speak in terms of oia-
June 21, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
527
Baracenicnt of an age which produced such men as Michel Angelo and Kaffaelle.
kr SoddoM did not laclc enthusiasm in his feelingf for art, he did not require beauty
or orijfinality. hut a Catholic spirit, breadth and strength.
Tlie vote of tliaulis was unanimously agreed to.
The Chairm.vn announced that the subject of discussion at the next ordinary
meelin^of the Institute would be the " Kmbankment of the Thames." Mr. Newton.
Mr Tinner, and other gentlemen who had given evidence before the Commissioners
had been invited, and it wa.s expected that the subject would lead to an interesting
JVcw Memher.—'ilr. Oakley, of 23, Albert-road, Kegent's-park, was elect. d an
Associate of the Institute.
The meeting then separated.
ECCLESIOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
THK.Vnnnal Meeting of this .Society was held on Thursday evening last at the
rooms of the Architectural I'nion Company, », Conduit-street, liegent-slreet.
when tliere was a very numerous attendance, including a number of ladies. Amongst
the gentlemen present we noticed Mr. A. J. B. liF.nESFORD-HoPi: (who occupied
the chair). Sir Charles Anderson, the Kev. Sir Henry I). liaker, the Hon. and \'eiy
Hev. the Dean of York, Sir. (1. Gilbert Scott, Mr. (i. E. Street, Mr. J. O. Talbot, Mr.
J. II. rarker, Mr. \V. C. Luard, Mr. V. S. Gosling, Mr. M. II. .Tenner, Mr. ,T. Masters.
Mr. T. Gambicr Tarry, Mr. .J. F. France. Mr. Kobert Smitli, Sir. Robert Kerr, Sir.
■\V. Slater, Mr.. I. I'. St. Auliyn, Sir. John Ituskin, Sir. Joseph Clarke, Sir. B. Ferrt;y,
Sir. W. M. Fawceft, Sir. W. White, Sir. C. C. Nelson. Sir. K. J. Johnson, Mr. J. T.
Seddon, Sir. G. V. Bodley, Sir. S. S. Fenton, Sir. K. I". I'uUan. Sir. N. Lavers,
Mr. K. E. K. Warburton, the Revs. J. Sharp, J. H. Sperling, T. Helmore, S. S.
Greatheed, W. D. Slorrice, B. AVebb, H. L. Ji-nncr, II. J. Blalthew, J. M. Neale, E.
Akroyd, .tc, Ac.
The Cii.vium AN, in opening the business of the meeting, remarked that the present
Was the twenty-second anniversary of the Ecclesiological Society, whicli began at
Cambridge na the Camden Society, and had ultimately assumed a metropolitan
character, lie did not suppose any one required to be told what was the peculiar
character of the Ecclesiological Society ; it was (or the cultivation of art in its sacred
relations to religion ; but, at the same time, the cultivation of art for its own sake, as
well as in its relations to iliat which hallowed all art. The work which had been
done within the last twenty years required not to be told to them, but they might
fairly consider what sliare their Society had had to do with that work ; and
he believed that in the artistic history and account of the nineteenth cen-
tury the Ecclesiological Society would not be forgotten. They had held their
anniversary meetings in several places and localities. They had held meetings
in schoolrooms, one of them in the Adelphi, and they had met at that pleasant place,
which might be treated cither as town or country, the Stuseum at Brompton. For
two years they had met where they were then assembled, and the large numbers
that had come to greet tliem on both occasions showed that they were right in
coming there, and that in that respect they had made a salutary reform. Last year
the Society attained its majority there, in the gallery in which they were then assem-
bled in Conduit- street, where he hoped thev should often be able to assemble,
through the kindly feeling existing between the authorities over the galleries and
themselves. They had that night a good deal of business before them, and, amongst
other things, they had to elect ofBcers ; but that generally did not occupy much time,
although lie remembered an occasion which occurred about eighteen years ago, when
he hurried down to Cambridge to attend a contested election. Then there was to be
presented a report, in which topics were thrown out which the Committee were
desirous should be fairlv debated by the gentlemen present to the top of their con-
tent. After the report had been disposed of, it was usual now. Instead of having
papers read, to have a debate on some subject previously propounded, and the debate
for that night was on the destructive character of church restoration in France in
the nineteenth century. There were in the gallery that night au unusually interest-
ing collection of objects contributed by their friends, including plans of a hitherto
uncultivated country, Georgia, contributed by Mr. George Williams, who travelled
in Georgia last year, and under whose superintendence tlie plans were prepared.
Sir. .Johnson ha'd contriliuted a most beautiful portfolio of measured drawings of
French churches, whieli he would be happy to submit to the inspection of any one.
Then there was a box containing drawings of the ruins of lona, contributed by the
Bishop of Argyll ; and Sir. Gilbert Scott had brouglit with him two Saxon balustrade
capitals of the thirteenth century, which had been used tor ve.ulting ribs, dug up at
Dover, in the immediate vicinity of the old Saxon church, and which, no doubt,
formed a portion of the building at one time. He hoped that, when the meeting was
over, all those who desired to inspect those diilerent articles would do so, as they lay
on the table for the amusement and information of all present. He would now call
on the Kev. Sir. Webb to read the annual report.
The Kev. W. ^Vebb then read the following Keport :—
" On meeting the Ecclesiological Society, on this its twenty-second anniversary,
the Committee has to congratulate the members on the steady and satisfactory
progress of the principles, for the support of which we are embodied, duringthe past
year.
" Friendly relations have been maintained with the Oxford Architectural and
Historical Society {which, with its change of name, has also extended its field of
operation), the Cambridge Architectural Society, the Xorthamptoushire Arclii-
tectural Society, the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society, the Worcester Diocesan
Architectur.al Society, and the Leicestershire Archiectural and A rchaioiogical Society.
" The tjomniittee has been in communication with several foreign ecclesiologlsts,
including llerr Keichensperger. of Cologne ; M. Alberdingk Thijm, of Amsterdam ,
and the Abbe Xavier de Slontauit.
" The Kcr/esiolof/tst has been published regularly through the year. Our thanks
are due to the contributors : in particular to the authors of valuable p-ipers on Eccle-
siological I'rogress on the Continent, on late Architectural works in Oxford, on the
Kcclesiology of Cambridgeshire, on the Churches of Kutlandshire, on l-^arly Eccle-
siastical Huildings in Paris, on the Ile-arrangement of St. I'aul's Cathedral, on Bell
Inscriptions, and on Bell-ringing, and on the Nottinghamshire Choir Festival. The
Series of Sequential Inedit.-e lias been continued. The papers by Mr. E. A. Freeman
and Sir. ISurges, on the Waltham Abbey Controversy ; by Sir. Le Strange, on the
Application of Color to Architecture; by Sir. G. SI. Hills, on Innisclothran and
other Island Churches in Ireland ; by Sir. Burges, on Florence ; and by Sir. Bodley,
on Church Kestoralion in France; must also be gratefully acknowledged. The
latter paper has suggested the subject for the discussion announced for this evening.
We have also to thank the reviewer of SI. Reichcnspergcr's Slodern German Pointed
Architecture, and tlie gentlemen who have carried on the controversies respecting
Architectural Development, Natural Color as applied to Areliiteeture. the Kestora-
lion of Hexham <;hurch, and the SIclliod of Dividing the I'salins for Chanting.
" It will be remembered that the Committee was instructed at the last anniversary
to memorialise the Imiorporated t;hureh Building Society against the rule adopted
by that body with respect to refusing grants to any churches that were fitted with
moveable chairs instead of fixed seats. Such memorial was duly prepared and for-
warded; and a sub-committee of the Incorporated Society Committee was appointed
to consider and report upon the subject. No further communication having been
received, the Secretary was requested to ask whether any determination had been
arrived at. The following letter, from the Kev. George Ainslie, will inform the
.Society how the question now stands.
"7. Whitehall, S.W., Slay aist, 1861.
" Dr.AR Sir. Wnnn,— I am unable to fiirnish any very definite or satisfactory reply
to your note of the irtli. respecting the report of the Sub-Committee on grants to
' churches furnished with moveable chairs.'
"" '" ffije that they made a report at the meeting in July last, suggesting that
the expediency to make such grants is a question which may be more properly
decided by the general Committee than by a Sub-Committee,' and contenting them-
selves with two or three desirable conditions for their guidance. It was then, on
the motion of the Bishop of Oxford, 'resolved, that the report of the Sub-Committco
on chairs be referred to the Board at the meeting in l-cbruary next ;' and when
February came, and a • letter was read from the Bishop of Oxford, expressing hia
regret at being unable to attend the meeting,' it was 'resolved, that the report of the
Sub-Committee be not now brought forward, and that the consideration of it be
deferred till some future day, on the appointment of which it shall he left to the Lord
Bishop of Oxford to decide.
" I am afraid I cannot do more than give you this dry itatement of proceedings ;
and remain, with all good wishes,
" Yours very faithfully,
"George Aikblie, Secretary.
" The Rev. B. Webb. Hon. Sec, Ecclesiological Society.
"Sheen, Ashbourne."
" A memorial has recently been addressed from the Committee to the Institute of
British architects, inviting that body to Interpose with the authorities in France in
reference to the destructive character of modern French restoration. No reply has
yet been received to this paper.
" Tlie color prize offered by the Ecclesiological Society, in connexion with the
Architecturai;Sluseum, was competed for by seven candidates. Of these. Sir. Simkin,
the first prizeman, and Sir. Harrison, the second jirlzeman, of the preceding year,
were considered equal ; and accordingly the Committee added two guineas to Sir.
Beresford-Hope's second prize of three guineas, so that each prizeman might re-
ceive the full amount of five guineas. The subject for the color jirize of next
year is an angel in high relief from a spandrel .in the north transept of Westminster
Abbey.
" The Committee beg to offer their congratulations to the Architectural Sluseum on
the conclusion of its protracted negotiation with the Committee of Council on Educa-
tion, and earnestly trust that the Sluseum may long fulfil with honor and credit its
important part as a practical school of architectural "art and detail.
" The Committee see witli satisfaction tliat the fund for eudowinj; a Travelling
Studentship as a Pugin SIcinorial has already reached the sum of more than a
thousand pounds. But at least half as much again is required. The Carpenter
Memorial committee have devoted to tliis fund the small balance which they had
on hand. It had been wished in case the Carpenter Fund had reached a sufficient
amount to found a prize or scholarship with the residue after paying for the me-
morial window.
"The satisfactory progress of the Ladies' Ecclesiastical Embroidery Society
must be mentioned. It is hoped that a good specimen of the workmanship of
these amateurs may be prepared for the Exhibition ,of 1802, as members of the
committee have guaranteed the contingent expenses of a frontal to be ofl'ered
to some English cathedral. The Architectural Exliibition of the present year con-
tains some specimens of an effective method of appliqui needlework, as used for
decorating the choir of Cologne cathedral, from the cartoons of M. llainboux. These
were brought from Cologne, by Lady Slildred Beresford-Hope ; and may be com-
pared with some specimens of^avery similar kind of needlework, invented indepen-
dently by Sir. Bell, wtiich are hung beside tliem.
" The continued prosperity of the Arundel Society is a matt«r for congratulation ;
and the Committee would urge the support of the subscription begun by the Arundel
Council with a view to obt aln accurate copies of some of the perishing frescoes of
Italy— especially those in the two churches of S. Francesco at Assisi.
" The unfortunate fall of the spire of Cliichester (.'athedral, during the severe gale
of February last, is a matter which demands a special notice on this occasion. It is
a great satisfaction to the Committee that Professor Willis has sliowii clearly that
Sir. Slater, the architect in charge of the structure, was not to be blamed for this
accident. The spirited resolution of the authorities to rebuild the f;pirc, at a cost of
£50.000. deserves the warm support of all lovers of our ancient churches. It is a
subject for legitimate congratulation that about £27,000 has already been raised in
the diocese. Whether or no.it is desirable to rebuild the structure in exact imitation
of the fallen tower and spire'is a fair matter for controversy. The subject has been
opened for debate in the last Number of the Ecclexioloi/ist. It cannot be doubted
tliat there is sufficient architectural skill at the present day to rebuild the spire of
Chichester with the same general proportions, hut with improved and consistent
architectural detail.
" It is not easy to speak of the question of the Foreign Office. It is, in our opinion
greatly to be regretted that official pressure should have induced its distinguished
architect to prepare a design in the Italian style. It is to be hoped that the House
of Commons will even yet refuse the dictatorship of the Prime Slinister in this
question of art— (Loud applause). It is hardly needful to add our own voice to that
protest whicli is now unhappily as ineffective as it is strong and universal against
the extraordinary ugliness of the gigantic building for the coming Exhibition of 18(52
—(Applause).
" The ecclesiological books of the past year must now be noticed. The Bishop of
Llandafl''s Slonograph of his Cathedral, and Slurray's " Handbooks to the
Southern Cathedrals of England," are the most important, A travelling bachelor of
the University of Cambridge. Sir. Okely, has published a careful volume on the
"Christian Architecture of Italy." The lecture delivered at Cambridge last year
by our own president, before the Architectural Congress, has expanded into an imjjor-
tant and instrnctive volume, under the title of " The Eugiisii Cathedral of the Nine-
teenth Century." A good translation, by Sir. Macderinott, has been published of
SL Viollet Le Due's "Slilitary Architecture of the Bliddle Ages. " Sir. Hewitt's
elaborate work on " Ancient Armour," has been completed by theappearance of the
second and third volumes. An exhaustive work on the " Alonumental Brasses of
England," by the Kev. H. Haines, has appeared. Sir. Westlake's " Series of Illus-
trations of Old Testament History" has advanced, but not with regularity. Sir.
J. S. Walker has announced a series to be called "Architectural Sketches in
Worcestershire" ; and Sir. K. J. Johnson contemplates thepeblicationofabeautiful
series of original sketches from large and sfnall churclies in the He de France. In
the department of ritualism we have to notice Sir. Greatheed's " Ferial Plain hong
for Holy Communion." The long-'!xpected edition of the "Sarum Stissai, under
the care ofonc of the members of our Committee, has made such progress that a
first volume will be publislied almost immediately. Sir. Neale's " Ecclesiological
Notes on Dalmati.i," and Sir. George Williams' work on "Georgian Churches, may
soon be expcL-ted. , .. , ^^
" We proceed to enumerate the chief architectural works of the year. Of new
churches, that of St. John Evangelist, Saiidbacli. by Sir. Scott, has been finished.
Sir. liutterfield's fine church of St. Alban. Baldwin-gardens, and Sir. Street sequaliy
original church in Garden-street, Westminster, approach completion. Both these
churches are to receive decorative painting of a high order. Sir. Watts has under-
taken the sp,.cc over the chancel arch of the latter. Sir. Bodley's design for All
Saints', Cambrido-e, will be a great ornament, when carried out, to tliat university
town. The same architect has designed a noble church for St. Slartin's-on-the-Hlll,
Scarborough. Sir J. L. Pearson has designed a very remarkable church for St.
Peter's. Vauxhall. Sir. Gibson's extremely elaborate church of St. Slargaret.Bodel-
wyddan, Denbighshire, has been consecrated. Sir. 11. K. i'cnson has completed the
meritorious church of St. Slark, Wrexham ; and small churches by Sir. Street, at
Denstone. Staffordshire ; and by Sir. Burges. at Fleet, Surrey, are very noticeable.
Mr. R. lirandon's church in Windmill-street is making progress, .and Sir. Johnson 8
church of St. Luke, at King's-cross. has just been consecrated. Kilmore Cathedral,
by Mr. Slater, has been consecrated since last anniversary. All Saints'. Kensington,
by Sir. White, has been, after ijomc years of delay, flnished and consecrated ; but tho
completion was entrusted to another hand. .. , »
" The Memorial church at Constantinople, by Mr. Burges, is, it is hoped, at last
to be put in liand. The design for Brisbane Cathedral, by the same architect, must
be noticed as an able adaptation to a semi-tropical climate. It has been described at
length in the Ecclcskiloiitst. Sir. Clarke has designed an important church for Point
de Galle, Ceylon, In wh'ich he provides for a tropical climate as tempered by the sea
528
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 21, 1861.
br««xe.
A declKS. bi Mr. Bodlev, for a Mission Cliuroh at Delhi embodies the
rindpla with great felidtv. The spacious cliurch of St. Andrew, at
wUtapoa the plan of Setley Abbev, is approacliing completion, and will,
thel)om«lt»«e hroeTrooii be consecrated as the cathedral of a diocese which will
iaelade Um prwent one of Labuan. The consecration of Sydney cathedral cannot
bowBm &r dntant.
M^titi'it stately cathedral, deslsucd for Linz, In West Austria ; his church at
Alz-b-CIuDelle which mu»t now be completed ; and of St. Maurice, at Cologne ; and
M. ZwimerV church at Mulheim, near Cofosjne ; the fine large Pointed church of S t.
Aadraw Bayonne by M. Durand ; and a good church at German's Town, Pennsyl-
ranU, br Mr K. C. Withers, are the chief foreign works which have come under the
ootiee ^the Committee during the past year. The JCcclesioloffist has also described
M. Ortgnj'a pretentious but onaatisfactory First-FolnteJ church of Kotre Dame,
'IhenriTal of the Pointed style in Germany, In both Communions, seems to be
mMtabUahed fact; and each has a literary organ devoted to Christian art. .Tudging,
bowerer, ftom the Illustrations of the ChrislUdies Kunstbkttt, Pointed architecture
haa not tieen very successfully practised among the Protestant bodies.
*' Onr own great works of church restoration proceed steadily. Lichfield cathedral,
under Hr. Scott : Hereford and Bristol cathedruls, under the same architect ;
Dorham, under Mr. Kobson ; Worcester, under Mr. Perkins ; are in full progress.
The works at Ely cathedral, in the octagon, under Mr. Scott, are to be soon begun.
Ttaoae in Chichester cathedral, under Mr. Slater, are unfortunately suspended,
tbroogti the lamentable accident already noticed. Thepartial restoration of Lmierick
cathedral, under Mr. Slater, has be«n completed. Tlie great works in St. Paul's
eatfaedral arc in progress, including the design for the baldachin ; and that church
haa iVBt reoelred its tlrst instalment of painted glass. The long-deferred restoration
ef Clfeat St. Hary's, Cambridge, by Sir. Scott, is at last, we understand, to be taken
in hand. Sir. Street has restored beautifully one of our finest parochial churches,
that of Stone, Kent, which he imagines to have l)een designed by the same architect
to whom we owe the First-Pointed parts of Westminster Abbey. The well-known
church of Cobham, in the same county, has been restored by Sir. Scott. The same
architect has still in hand the restoration of the magnificent church at Xantwich,
Cbeahlre. The curious Anglo-Sa.xou church of Deerhurst, Gloucestershire, is being
eonaerratiTely repaired bv Mr. Slater. Further works In the Temple church, and in
particular a renovation of its western porch, are in contemplation, to be carried out
by Mr. St. Aubyn. Two curious re-castings of bad churches of the last age have
come t)efore us : the transformation of Sunbury Church, Middlesex; into a very
ornate mixed design, by Mr. S. S. Teulon ; and the re-casting of Hoddesden Church,
Herts, by Mr. Burges. The re- arrangement of St. Plulip's, Clerkenwell, by Mr.
Botterfidd, is anotber example of such an experiment.
** It ia aeldom that we have now to express regret at the unintelligent restoration
of aadeilt balldlngs. But our pages have had to record the unfortunate destruction
of the andeot levels, and of the eastern crypt, of Safi'ron Walden church ; and we
bear with regret that the same architect, Mr. Hussey, has taken in hand the fine
church of St. John, Chester. The Guesten Hall of Worcester has not yet been sacrl-
flced. and we trust that it may be ultimately saved. The half-timbered Town Hall
of Hereford has not been so fortunate, having been levelled by a Vandal corpora-
tion, which proposes to commemorate the feat by erecting a huge clock-tower on
the spot
" The cathedrals of Liege, Mentz, Le Mans, Laon, Metz, and Amiens ; the
churches of St. Andrew at Cologne, St. Ambrogio at Milan, St. Mlchele at Pavia,
88. Giovanni e Paolo at Venice, Kotre Dame at Chalons sur Mame, and St. Wulfran
at Abbeville, are Important monuments to be under restoration at the same time,
and on^t to be jealously watched. The repair of the mosaics at Torcello is also in
PfOgresa, while the church has been externally infiicted with .'a coat of color wash.
Colog:n6 cathedral has at last reached the stjige of proximate external completion by
the erection of its roof.
" Nmneroua examples of the successful application of the Pointed style to secular
or domestie purposes have come before us. Among these we have to notice Mr.
SaMn'a exeellently designed "Master's Court," at Trinity College, Cambridge;
Mceals. Prichard and Seddon's new works at Brecon College ; and Mr. Slater's
worki* at Lancing College, and his proposed quadrangle for the grammar-school at
Sherborne. Mr. E. M. Barry's schools for the Parish of St. Giles merit particular
commendation; his grammar-school at Leeds ought to have been noticed on some
fiirmer occasion. A new probate registry at LlandalT, by Messrs. Prichard and
Seddon ; and a very original public building, including concert-room, reading-
rooms, Ac, at Sandback. Cheshire, by Mr. Scott, may also be mentioned. A school
for Chatham, Kent, by Mr. Street, must not be omitted. The Gothic house, bv Mr.
Wilkinson, In Bishopfgate-street, deserves much praise for its elevation, details, and
arrangement. We must also mention Mr. Somers Clarke's design for the Merchant
Seamen's Orphan Asylum, at Snaresbrook, Essex. Large mansions have been
carried out in varieties of Gothic, by Mr. Glutton, at Minley, Hampshire ; by Mr.
Fllehard,at Eatington, Warwickshire; by Mr. P. C. Hardwick, at Addington,
Baekl; and by Mr. D. Brandon, in Jacobean, at Hemsted, Kent, and at Taverham,
ITorfolk; Mr. Scott is rc-casting the pseudo-Gothic house at Lee Priory, Kent;
Xeaars. Tmefitt. Prichard and Seddon, Walton and Kobson, S. S. Teulon, and W. J.
Hopkins, have designed, very successfully, villas, shops, cottages, Ac, In the Pointed
style. The new museums at Cologne are praiseworthy specimens of the revival of
Secnlar Pointed architecture in Germany.
** The Committee are glad to see thattne use of sculpture in connexion with archi-
tectare Is growing daily more common. They must notice the completion of the
Westminstier Memorial Column, which reflects so much credit on Mr. Scott for the
general design, on BIr. Clayton and Mr. Kedtern for the modelling of St. George and
Dragxm. ana on Mr. Philip for the actual execution. Mr. I'hilip has at last com-
pleted, with the exception of the inscription. Dr. Mill's high tomb with recumbent
eflgy. In Kly cathedral; and his low-relief of the charge to St. Peter, in the tym-
lof the doorway of Exeter College chapel, Oxford, must be noticed; and we
tAterre some small sculptured figures in the capitals of Mr. Street's church, in West-
minster. Mr. Street's monument to Major llodson, in IJchfield Cathedral, executed
by Mr. Earp, and Mr. Slater's font for the same catliedral, witli groups by Sir. For-
syth, deserve much praise. The Architectural Exhibition contains photographs
of various groups or effigies by other artists ; and we notice some spirited
reliefs, introdnccd by Mr. S. 8. Teulon in Lord Calthorpe's mansion, at Elevetham,
Hants.
•• In decorative color the Committee have to notice the painting over the chancel-
arch, at Salterliebbic church, near Halifax, by Messrs. ( layton and Bell. The east
end of St. Alban, ICoclxiale, is also to be painted under the directions of Mr. Clark ;
while Mr. (Street's Westminster church is to be elaborately painted by Mr. Watts,
Sr ^ti'*'*'**'^'* church, in Baldwin-gardens, which has a wlndowless east end,
fi to reeelve paintings in distemper.
'The praMleal revival of the art of illumination, as testified, not only by numerous
pobUcatioaaan the subject, but by the recent exhibitions of the Illuminating Art
unloa aad ofiuelent MSS. at the Society of Antiijuaries, deserves to be mentioned
™P«*5nW. The previous exhltjition of seals also at the .Societv of Antiquaries, those
af medieval embrolderT and of engraved gems at the ArcliKological Institute, and
tbegmwoa display at the Ironmongers' Hall, all testify to the present popularity
"The ComnUttee have observed with satisfaction that the use of marbles for the
MltaieaU orehnrches Is gradually— not superseding, but— supplementing the use
S*"?!*'*? ""•• They hope that a hint given by Mr. Kobson will be taken, and
"■*i**'*fP fT?^'*l '"'**• •" ""h 'i''"'. '"'e that at St. Itemi, Kheims, may be
oceatfouulr IntrodlKCd. A pavement of the opus Alexandrinum is designed for
jMehciMr Cathedral, and vrin, it Is hoped, be exhibited at the Great Exhibition of
IME.
"Tbe anbllmlMal competltioiu during the year have been few and tm-
mpcctaat.
" Besides the works already mentioned, the Committee have had the pleasure of
examining designs by the following architects, excluding those whose names have
been already recorded ;— Mr. Buckeridge, Mr. Crossland, Mr. Lee, Mr. Norton, Mr.
I'uUan, Mr. St Aubyn, Mr. W. M. Teulon, Mr. Truefltt, Mr. Turner, Mr. Withers,
and 5Ir. White. The Committee have also examined designs for metal-work by Mr.
Skidmore and Mr. Keith ; and for stained glass by Messrs. Clayton and Uell, Messrs,
Lavers and Barraud, and Mr. Wren.
" in conclusion, we have to thank the Committee of the Architectural Exhibition
for permission to meet in their gallery this evening, and to mention that two mem-
bers of the Ecelcsiological Committee have been placed on the llepresentative Com-
mittee of Architectural Societies in London, which has been formed to superhitend,
in conjunction with the Council of the Institute, the display of architecture and the
allied arts in the International Exhibition of 1803, in addition to the President, who
already belongs to that Committee, as a representative of the Arclilteotural
Museum.
" It Is a subject of congratulation to the Committee that the Exhibition will in-
clude a specific department of architecture, and it is hoped that the Royal Commis-
sioners will rank the architectural departments of all countries in successive order.
A committee of advice for architecture in the British department has been appointed
by the Commissioners, which includes the President of tills Society. The current
Eccksiologist contains the circular which has been issued by the Society, In concert
with the Architectural Sluseum, addressed to architectural artists in reference to the
Exhibition. It is hoped that architectural art may be exhibited in connection with
architecture."
Mr. Street thought the decease of Mr. 'Woodworth, one of their most promising
members, should be mentioned In the report.
Sir. Gilbert Scott said he was spoken of in the report as the architect of the
restoration of Bristol Cathedral. He had been consulted on the matter by the Dean
and Chapter, who seemed fond of consulting, but reserved to themselves the liberty
of doing what they thought proper. He did not know what they were doing. Mr.
I'ope, of Bristol, was the architect.
Mr. White suggested the insertion of one line in addition to what was said about
his church at Notting-hill ; it should be stated that it was put into the hands of an
engineer, lest auy reflection should be cast upon the architect.
The Chairman said it was very difficult to draw the line between architecture and
engineering. A person became an architect ad hoc, and though the Society sympathised
with Mr. White, yet the proposed addition might give offence to the gentleman
employed, for he might have done something else. The protest of the Society
against Captain Fowke's building for the Great Exhibition of^l802 was thought to be
sufficient to express their feeling on the subject.
Mr. White moved the adoption of the report.
Sir Charles Andekbon, Bart., seconded the motion. As allusion had been made
to the Dean and Chapter of Bristol, he would allude to the Dean and Chapter of
Lincoln, his native county, where they were scraping the west front of the cathedral
most persfeveringly, and if they did not scrape the Korman front one portion of the
structure would be yellow and the other whito.
Mr. Scott. —Some years ago it was mentioned to him by some IViends of his that s
good deal of injury was being done to that church, and on the faith of that statement
he wrote to the late Dean and Chapter pointing out his objections to what was then
being done, but the Dean replied that what was being done was well done, and that
it was the best thing that could be done. He was subsequently at the building
himself, and found that the work was very much overdone and that Jiarm had been
done. The color given to the cathedral was frightful, and destroyed its beauty in
point of color. On the whole, he thought the course taken was a very mistaken one,
and since that time he had had great pleasure in joining in a protest against the
alterations which had been sent by the Koyal Institute of British Architects to the
Dean and Chapter, and he believed the matter was in the hands now, not of the
Dean and Chapter, but of the Precentor, whose answer to the protest was to the
effect that what was being done was the best t hing that could be done— similar to
the answer of the late Dean and Chapter.
Mr. Street spoke against the system of restoration carried on at Lincoln, as he
did in a paper which he recently read at the Architectural Exhibition.
Sir C. Anderson said he believed that about fifty years ago Yorkshire stone was
used for the shafts of Lincoln Cathedral in the alterations then made, and that
Lincoln stone was used for the rest. The columns could have been repaired with
Lincoln stone and oiling the rest, and the whole thing could have been done at a
small cost ; the present alterations would be labor in vain, and cost money spent in
vain. With regard to the north door, they removed a wooden moulding in the arch-
way ; it was apiece of wooden moulding in a stone moulding. It was suggested in
the course of a discussion at the meeting of the Architectural Institute, held at
Lincoln, that that might have been put up as a kind of canopy in the time of
Edward I.
Mr. J. II. Parker deprecated any scraping of the work at Lincoln Cathedral—
(Hear, hear)— or any other improper interference with it.
A Member said that the sum collected for the restoration of Chichester Cathedral
within the diocese was not, as stated in the report, £37,000, but £33,000.
The Chairman said before putting the motion for the adoption of the report to
the vote, there were one or two points to which he was desirous of calling their at-
tention. It was said that some members of the Society had guaranteed embroidery
by ladies for the Great Exhibition of 1862, but it was too much to e.xpect that they
would furnish the materials. The Committee of the Society hoped that the frontal
exhibited would be placed in some position at the Great Exhibition where it would
be properly seen, and they hoped that the skill and ability of the ladies would make
it a challenge specimen of English embroidery. The Committee of the Society would
now apply to the Koyal Commissioners for space for exhibiting the articles intended
to be shown at the Exhibition, as otlier societies had done or were about to do ; such
applications must not be considered as antagonistic, but rather as all working to-
gether in order to produce one great result. At the Hyde Park Exhibition the
representation of the fine arts was never thought of. For the Exhibition of 1863
an alteration had taken place, the Koyal Commissioners having made ample pro-
vision for the representation of painting, .and those who loved and followed archi-
tecture were determined that architecture should not be forgotten at the coming
Exhibition. The object of this Society was to have the representation of ecelcsiolo-
gical and medieval objects principally, and the Committee hoped that that class
would stand well at the Exhibition.
Mr. J. H. Parker drew attention to that part of the report which referred to Mr.
Hussey in connexion with the repairs of the church at Saffron Walden. He knew
Mr. Hussey as one of the best ecclesiastical architects in England. He was one of
those who recommended Mr. Hussey for the work at St. John's, Chester, and he did
not think that that gentleman would with his own wish destroy any work of an-
tiquity. He thought that a word or two in the report respecting Jlr. Hussey might
be altered.
Mr. Scott suggested that Instead of using the word "regret."' about Mr. Hussey s
employment at St. John's, Chester, it would be better to say that they hoped the
architect employed would not destroy any ancient monument.
The Kev. Mr. Spehli.ng mentioned that some things had been destroyed at
Saftron Walden, and Mr. Hussey was written to on the subject, with a view to the
work of destruction being stopped ; but as far as he (Mr. Sperling) knew. Sir. Hussey
said he thought the work should go on, and the consequeuce was that the whole of
the crvpt had been destroyed, and the fine elToct of the church spoiled. The general
opinlo'.i of the country round about it was that SaflVon Walden church bad been
destroyed. „ ,
Sir. Parker said he should like to know whether that was done by Mr. Hussey 8
order, or by the order of some committee under whom he acted.
Sir. Sperling said he thought Sir. Hussey was asked not to commit the spoliation
which had been effected, and the leeUug of the town was very much against the
destruction complained of.
June 21, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
529
A Gentleman was of opinion tliat the report should remain as it was.
Mr. Scott tliou^jht the report rather severe upon the architect. A builder had.
In cue of the matters with which he was connected, done something- which was
■very much against his (Mr. Scott's) will, and yet he might bo blamed for doing that.
Perliaps Mr. Husscy was not to blame in the mutter of Saffron Walden.
Jllr. Wauuurton knew, in regard to St. John's, Chester, where he was about a
month ago, that «ome tilings were being done which were very objectionable, but
lie undcr.'itood that Mr. Hussey knew nothing about the matter, but that what was
done was done by the clerk of the works.
A Member hoped that in a short time tlie Incorporated Society would be induced
to give their grants in proportion to the accommodation found in the area of the
church.
The CnAiKMAN said it would be seen that in the case of Saffron AValden, either
from oversight or some other cause, a lamentable piece of destruction had been com-
mitted, and it was very much to be regretted that so very interesting a church as
that of St. John's, Chester, should have passed into the hands of the architect who
had charge of the church above-mentioned; but, at the same time, the Committee
<iid not wish to do anything that would injure any one's feelings, and, while they
defended tlu; report as it stood, still tliey were willing to alter it to the effect,
instead of what appeared in the report, that they trusted Mr. Hussey would follow
a more conservative course in the reconstruction of so line a church as St. John's,
Chester.
The Kcv. Mr, Nea le remarked that not finding out that there was a crypt at
SaflfVon "VValden was a great fault on the part of the architect. The matter was pointed
out to Mr. Hussey, but he said it was not worth his while to go down from London
to S»ffron Walden about it, tlioutjh it was one of the most interesting crypts in
England, used as a sacristy. He thought the conduct of Mr. Hussey in not g:oing
down from London to see it deserved their strongest reprobation, and in his opinion
the report ought to remain as it was without anv alteration, and moved accordingly.
The Kev. Sir Henky JJaker. liart., seconded "the amendment.
Mr. Scott moved another amendment, to the effect that the Society trusted Mr.
Hussey would pursue a more conservative course iu tlie reconstruction of so tine a
churcJi as St. John's, Chester.
Sir Charles Andi:rson seconded the amendment.
The vote being taken, there were for Mr. Neale's amendment, 14 ; for Mr. Scott's,
12; the former was accordingly carried, and the report remained in this particular
matter as presented by the Committee to the meeting.
The motion for tht' adoption of the report was then unanimously agreed to.
The Musical Honorauv Secretary then read the musical 'report, which was
approved of and adopted.
The Treasurer read the balance sheet, from which it appeared that when the
accounts were made up a balance was due to the treasurer of £12 l.'ts. 9d., which,
however, had already been turned by the receipt of subscriptions recently.
Election of OJfice Jiearers.—'Vhe meeting then proceeded to the election of the house-
list of the Society, and of auditors for the ensuing year.
Modem French Jtestoratio)i.~'n\e CnxiR^AAy said they had got to the end of the
official part of the evening's business. They now came on to the debate on the
destructive character of Jlodcrn French Kestoration. a matter which had been
brought under the consideration of the Society by a very able paper which recently-
appeared in the Ecclcslolof/ist from the pen of Jlr. Bodley. This was a subject which
he was sure many gentlemen present would be able to throw ^rcat light upon ;
tbey had present Mr. Parker and Mr. Ruskin, and he hoped tne meeting would
have the benefit of their stores of learning; there were also present Mr.
Scott, Mr. Street, JVir. Bodley. Mr. Johnson, BIr. Terry, Mr. AVarburton. and
other gentlemen who he hoped would take part in the debate. At the
commencement of the debate he would point out one thing which was very remark-
able, and which tended greatly to illustrate the remarkable recklessness
with which architects carried out the work of destruction under the name of renova-
tion in France, and that was the want of anything like an architectural feeling
among the clergy and laity. In England they heard of odd cases of scraping, which
were very much to be deplored, but generally tliere was a strong feeling in favor of
proper architecture. If there was anything in a building unusually barbarous the
press was down upon it ; the country generally now knew styles aad dates of
churches, and the public press was up to tlie architecture of the buildings, and upon
occasions gave full architectural details of them. Such, however, was not the case
in France. As to the cure, his interest was rather m the drapery than in the stones
and other materials with which the church was built. They did not give an
intelligibleaccount of the churches, and then there were various interests at stake
in connexion with restoration, particularly in a communist country, where it was
the interest of the minister to bribe in order to keep mouths quiet, and for the con-
tractor to get as much work as possible. By the conduct of the masons and other
workmen employed, and that of the authorities, who made worktospendthe national
funds, and by the singular absence of an educated opinion in the country, they could
not be surprised at many great barbarities having been committed in France. Only
that week he had seen a most fearful agent of destruction at work in a very fine
church at Caen, and at the Conqueror's Hall at Normandy.
Mr. Farker said, although he a^^reed with a great deal which had been said by
the Chairman respecting the mischief done in France under the name of restora-
tion, at the same time he thought that a good deal had to be said on the other side
of the question. He did not quite understand what was to be done by the Society
that evening, but he was led to believe it was proposed to send a memorial to the
authorities in France a-^ainst the destruction of old buildings under the pretence of
restoring them. He did not approve of that, which if adopted, would in his opinion
be an erroneous course altogether. They should not forget that tliere was a diffe-
rence of character between the French and English people, and that there was a
difference in their respective forms of government,; while'our principal buildings
might be dealt with h)^ tlie public, in France all cathedrals and public buildings were
under the control of Government architects, and no one could injure or destroy them
except with the consent of Government architects; and the eminent architect M.
Viollet le Due was at the head of them, and he was not to be blamed if .sometimes his
subordinates did that which was wrong. There was a feeling in France in favor of the
preservation of buildings greater, he should say, than existed in this country It was
true that tln-re had been a ^reat deal of scraping in I'aris within the last ten years,
but he had seen as much mischief done in England as in France by scraping. At
this moment it was proposed by Jlr. Butterfield to destroy Merton College Library,
which was of the fourteenth century; it was about the earliest public library—and
yet (t was to be destroyed in the course of alterations proposed to be made. He did
not think that anything so preposterous or mischievous in an archieological point of
view had been done in France. 31. A'ioUet le Due would never destroy any ancient
monument wilfully, or allow it to be destroyed. He thought it would be quite a
■mistake to send any memorial on this subject to the authorities in France. If they
ficnt a memorial to the people or to the clertry they might do some good, for he had
seen much more interest taki-n in old buildings in France than he had in England,
*^°*J P*«t was exemplified by what he had recently seen on the part of the Archbishop
at llheims. Therefore he thought they ought not to throw stones at their neighbours,
let them look to tliemselves first.
Mr. J. lUsKiN, having been called upon by the Chairman, said he should hardly
venture to accept the invitation to address the meeting, for almost every member of
the Society knew better than he did what was going on both in France and England,
mamr of themfrom personal knowledge, and some from professional enga<j:enients.
-He lelt the difficulty all architects and other persons were placed in who had any
«onnexion with the restoration of ancient buildings. They ought not to throw
atones at anylxxly, but what they should do was to suggest what should be done to"
ancient buildings under the most difficult circumstance.'*. He himself for long had
»een utterly hopeless respecting the state of architecture in France-hopeless espe-
cially because he fi-lt that the line taken there was, that what was determined by the
xeaamg public men there would be carried out, and that any suggestion which might
be made to those engaped in that course was likely to wound their vanity, and wa
likely to come ungracefully from us, who had not altogether shown oursulves pru*
dent or sufficiently cautious, perhaps, in the restorations we had undertaken athomc
He felt it was a great difficulty to interfere, and onegreat difficulty was the weakness
of the French, which he supposed they would confess to themselves, which all
nations shared with them, but which, perhaps, they would admit they possessed, at
all events, and which frc«iuently led them to nobleness of action, as at Magenta and
Solferiuo — he meant national vanity. So it might be In reference to the restoration
of French architecture. He was afraid they would do harm if they brought forward
any memorial on the subject to be presented to the French, unless they could show
that they had a good ground for dolntf do. Ten years a^fo he made the tour of the
cathedral towns ot France. He should have remarked, however, that twenty years
ago the cathedrals of France were all safe, as far as modern work was concerned ;
and, as a lover of architecture, he mourned over the restorations now being made in
France of lier ecclesiastical buildings. There was, twenty years ago, nothingof impor-
tance undertaken iu the way of restoration, but ten years after that things were
changed, and the travellerat Amiens, Chartres, Notre Dame, and other pUices, in fact,
whenever he went he had to get out of the way of horses and carts filled with atone
and otlier building materials to carry on alterations then being proceeded with, but
none of tliem finished, and the structures being full of scaffolding. Althou«?h he
deprecated the adoptiou of any memorial to the French authorities on the subject of
restoration, yet he thought they might wisely and courteously suggest that when a
restoration had been commenced it should be carried on and gone through, instead
of scaffolding being kept up at the buildings under restoration for so great a length
of time. If he wished to send a pupil to study a French cathedral, at present he
hardly knew where to send him, the buildings being enveloped in so much scaffolding.
Then an important matter for them in England was certainly for tlicm to settletheir
own code of^ restoration. Could they go to France and give their neighbours their
advice, while they were not agreed themselves as to what should be done iu the way
of the restoration of a building. They many of them differed in opinion as to the
mode of restoration, and he referred particularly to the difference of opinion as to
what should be done with sculpture. What he had proposed was considered extra-
vagant and impracticable. The whole ecclesiastical architecture of France, however,
was likely to be destroyed by one perpetual scrape, and thus would bo removed the
power of making an architectural historj^ of the country. He wanted to know some-
thing of the thirteenth century, because it was his intention to write a history of the
thlrteeuth - century architecture; and ten years ago lie set to work on
the French churclics, and found that all his important documents were
then in part destroyed, and that in five years more they would be destroyed. He
accordingly gave the thing up, and not only that, but he gave up arcliitecture — he
never cared about architecture since. It was a hopeless thing he thought. He stood
forward honestly and^earnestly that night as an advocate against the destruction of
buildings under the name of restoring them ; but at the same time deprecated any
over zeal in the way of sending a memorial to the French until they liad come to
some decided opinion on the subject themselves. What, it seemed, therefore, they
had to do was to determine, first, whether they at present as architects generally
had ttie power of restoring effectually to its former appearance any great ecclesias-
tical building, and whether, if they had the power or doing so, it was expedient to
do so, and to what degree. That it was right to put a stone in here and a bolt in
there, to take care that no indolence or carelessness shall interfere with the stability
of a building, and that no unauthorised person shall interfere with it, he supposed
they were all agreed upon. An important question was whether a cathedral could
be properly restored. Not that there was any want of capacity on the part of our
architects of the present day, for he believed that there was as much genius and
talent amonfrst architects now as there ever was. After referring to the importance
of the ecc/esia, the speaker said they should see whether they could get the sympathy
of their own people before they attempted to infiuence the actions of the people of
France. What power had they as cojjyists— what power had any man as a copyist?
Supposing they liad the best architects in the world, could they rebuild a cathedral
as it had been built ? Whatever good work there was in a cathedral was the result
of a good strong hand and mind. All good art was the expression of the whole man
—of his soul and heart, of hi& intellect, and of the whole power of his body. The
whole personal power and energy of the body were required, as well as the power and
energy of the soul. This was certain, that no great work of art existed which did
did not give some expression of the mind of the man at work ; it was the
handwritingof the thing. Now. he was not prepared to say how far that hand-
writing could be put upon art. He was much attached to the thirteenth -century
buildings ; in some thirteenth -century work there was the expression of as tender
a feeling, and of as high genius, as was ever put upon stone or canvas. And he
believed the peculiar characteristic of the thirteenth century was not its severity,
plainness, nor its soul stiffness or persistence, but its tenderness. Some people
called Dante a monster, while Dante was simply the most tender of all poets.
So they had also thought the thirteenth-century architecture mi<;^ht bo carried out
by rule, instead of looking at 'the infinitely far more; precious thing, the mark of
the real tenderness and glory of tlie human soul in every touch. So it was in poetry
of the age of Dante. They would see how general the character of the tenderness
was. The thirteenth-century sculpture bad in its touch that which nothing could
replace unless the same tenderness were shown. Could one man follow out the
tlioughts of another, and put the thoughts of the same mind and depth in the
restoration of a building as he who made the building ? They might copy the auto-
graphs of their friends or of all the great men in England, in the British Museum, or
elsewhere, but assuredly they could not do anything of that kind iu sculpture. The
necessity of restoration involved the impossibility of restoration ; they might put a
head on a figure if the head was off; they put on a new one, and that was not a
restoration, but it was a substititution of the nineteenth-century impression. They
might talk of restoration, but it was an Impossibility in sculpture, they might as well
talk of raising thedead. As he understood, what they were to do that night was to
determine what should be done in respect of French restoration. After some obser-
vations on this point, the speaker proceeded to say that the whole question was
how they were to recover the vitality of architecture and lose us little as possible of
its impression! They could get a municipality to restore a cathedral, but they could
not get a municipality to build a new one. The great matter was to replace a decayed
stone by a good sound stone, but they ought not to put in a single stone with sculp-
ture upon it ; let every bit of old sculpture be retained, but not a bit of new stone put
in with sculpture upon it. He disapproved of their taking any step in the way of
finding fault with what their French neighbours were doing, and thought they
should determine rather what they should themselves set as a wholesome example.
Mr. Street did not think they had any right wtiatever to assume to themselves,
and he was sure it would be specially unbecomiu<r on the part of architects, to ven-
ture to make a formal protest against the work being done in France. They should
first see whether the work they were doing here was what it should be. He was
willing to admit that the damage done to Enjjlish buildings in restoration was at
least as great as the damage done to the French buildings. There was this difference,
that the exquisite sculpture of France had not been treated as it ought to have been.
He thought that Mr. Buskin had rather overdrawn the picture in reference to the
buildings of the thirteenth century, for in his opinion there were a great many build-
ings of that period remaining untouched, which would enable him to complete a
work he had commenced, the history of the architecture of the thirteenth century,
which so many architects would wish to see written in a proper way. He thought
they ou"ht to consider the terms in which they should settle the restoration of their
Enjriish buildings, before they remonstrated with the French upon damage done to
their buildings in restoration.
The CiiAiKMAN said no resolution on the subject was to be proposed.
Mr. Street said their first duty in restoration was to be as conservative as possible.
His view was that they ou^^ht to be most conservative and as jealous as possible In
the preservation of old buildiugs ; he could not understand having clean surfaces,
sharp angles, and so on. Almost everylold building which was cleaned disclosed some
530
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 21, 1861.
dBtr*oaMrran«h|
I ofcaiiicr (olor. which wa* awcpt amy and the early interest was lost. That
tkeoar In fnaee, but there the Goremment did attempt to prevent an
Bt iliialiMlliMi and It mteht be hoped that under the supert-ision of a man Ukc
_ TMM le One •great ieuat the aenping and cleanahig' would be done away
with, bat T«TT Uketr It had not been done in aceordanee with the instructions of the
ai^ttmt ^nnd ta ttte mik. The French workmen were particularly clever men
^^ta^wtiSm*^ tanfforh^npon old stone:*; and in En^^land were to be found
■^rw^^l^m''^*^ ■ inni illiiaKitlon One mode of restoration which ou^rbt to be approved
•fwnnlkttflrkea^Hmewock as£ar as it could bekeptu.i its leirs by buttresses
~ - - ||^|^0||«nat principle in restoration, andon which allsuch work ou^ht
i oat. to ntatai what eoold be kept. If they looked nt the way in which
I »fii»««»»th eentnry carried on restoration they would find, he thought,
Ikat tker dU notlntarfere with their old work ; they bad an inteuee pleasure in their
t think they ev?rilestroyed old work for the sake of cleaning; or
J times tliey would find new work added ill a most original
._ . but no attempt made to make it new. and they loved srrny
One of the L'reat attractions of our old buildings was their
Ibe was sure they all joine<i heartily in re^ox'tting the destruc-
_ nnnenla in France. He thought he only performed a debt of
I piiteat In Uistancing the restoratiou of his ehurcli, the restoration
«f iMr« Damn, in a FYench town. The church was restored in a most conservative
maaer, tlM priest taking care to see everythuig done with his own eyes. Uo did
aat thtaik it woold be becoming In them to send any protest against the present
flfaMB of n«>eh n Moration.
He Bar. Hr. Nkjux thoaght that the French clergy, generally speakhig, were as
•iMMt tlieir ehnreliea as they were in England. About two years a^o he was
in the cast of France, where the tapesstry was the finest he had ever seen,
gtxng to ruin. The poor prieist ai<ked him, with tears iu his eyes, to do
Mid to get tile whole church numbered as an historical monument, and to
tbe tapeatry. He (Mr. Neale) accordingly did what he could in the matter.
amai 1 1 nflil. and it was impossible to be otherwise unless the Government
chuaed tlM diaielMa as historical monuments. Then he agreed with 3Ii-. Kusktn,
tkal if Utnr atadicd a church they ought to study it from end to end. which they
maMaitt an if H was blocked up with scaffolding in different parts. Last year he
t to atTeraleattaedrmls aud churches iu France, and found them blocked up with
. And two or three of the finest churches in lirittany were just in tlie
iaB7. He wteked tbe Goremment would take one church in hand at a tinidand
■ tt. aad then let another be began, insteail of having so many blacked up with
ratoaettae. He aaw one cliurch whidi was blocked up with scafl'olding
le and oataide. eo that it was impossible to form any idea of its archi-
8a tt iiad been for a couple of years, and such it seemed likely to remain for a
eovleor jeaia more. He ahould be sorry if they came to any resolution that might
•acaatocaataaralaraitiie French In their restorations. M. Viollet le Due, who was
attfeebead of tna f toratiuu, was one of the flr.<t architects of the world, and though
MaaakordtaMtcsBriaMiioC be all they should l>e. they did what they could, he believed,
4ir Ihe bail, aad keliad had conversations with five or six of them. The speaker then
~ Ito iiiaailr tbat 1m would far rather have a church which 3Ir. Scott or Mr.
' I boUdtbui be would have the finest Komanesque or I'ointed in England.
_bt that with their knowledge and the Interest they would take in the
:.tbey ehonld have a far better cathedral. He would rather have such a new
than the flnest Uomanesque or I'ointed building of the old time. One
r>— beagraed with what Mr. Street said, that the medieval men, to a certain
ntaal. bad a UUng for old gray buildings.
•Ir.Seorrf^tttE^i
tat that period of the evening he ou^ht not to say much, and,
1 very little to say after what had been saitf by the speakers who had
ptawdcd biaL Oe thought he might state that in every respect he agreed with what
Mr. Blieei bad aaid—be did not think there was a single point on which he did not
t tboronghlj and fully agree with him. As to the point, whether they should
■a any opmion respeeting the restoration of French buildings, bethought it
I be itij inexpedient and unbecoming on their part to do so. If he were called
BOB tOBore a teaolntioD on the subject it would be this—" Let him who is without
MltaaMOg ai cast tbe flrst stone "—(Hear, hear). Those who had to restore
ibatcbea, tJboagb it was an interesting task, had a task that was intensely disagree-
able In aaaar raspeets. There was first the extreme difficulty of knowing what to do.
Andlftbcy laid down a principle of action sometimes they found it could not be
"I apOB, bcaaase the stone was so rotten that in many coses it fell to pieces as
aatMMbcd^If, however, that was not the case, pcrhops they would find the
t af tbe works, or the builder employed, or the workmen employed, determined
■strUette rlewi of the architect, lie happened that very day to be sent for to
yatoaebarefa in Bedfordshire, which he liadto enlarge. 11 was necessary to re-
jwoye ioiae interesting things, but he took pains to preserve as much as possible.
Tbeballder, however, destroyed one of the most interesting things which he wanted
topraaerre. He foaad the builder opposed to everything like preservation, and it was
aahrbjr tbrcatening him he could get him to preserve the old thirteenth-century
•WiM. Tbat was one of the sort of difflculties they had to contend against in
MIMngreatoratlons of buildings. Hc:thacght the fVcnch were open to certain
Manaa, M* Boia than they were themselves ; they were too fond of dressing up
• (•■arttlgtbair bnildbigs ; and having abundance of funds at their disposal, they
aoOB tbe Bfteetola of renewing stones only slightly decayed, and of renewing
g^V'yS ~y fUgatly deeared. In private conversation with their French brethren
"•T ■Jib* protest aplnst that system, but It would not be becoming to do so by
— y paplle waobrtloa. At St. Chspelle he found several of the columns almost as good
■a saw, bat nraoaa defect they were taken out andrenewed. Now in the orlgmal
laomeof the most beautiful art. and he was sure it would nave
, Uyl»paailM«for aajr other nan but the man who executed that work to
ba an^al faaltotf^and aemiy could never express tbe feeling of the
He tboagbt Ifca rreneb architects were very much at fault in restoring
icoc, bat tber wonid aaeb of them be doing still more good if they took care to
I similar faalis thenaaelTet.
Tbe Her. W. Wcbb roaa to lay a few words in behalf of Mr. ISutterfleld In his
caanexlea with Mertoa College Library. He had asked Mr. liuttcrfield wliat he was
yg to do at llcrtta, and Mr. Uutterfleld stateil that nobody loved the building
»— '».'f>an hedid, oreoBldbe more disinclined to touch it. The fact was that it was
maaanqiMte to take a portion of the library away. And much as they might admire
iJ^JC^*SlH?E ta Ml arebBolfjglcal point of view, yet when it was found requisite
*y™* ■aaessltfies of tbe tliae to make alterations, even sacred associations must give
•■'•■.. P*.""™!-'''*' •'owever. that rather than destroy the buUdbig of Mcrton. it
woald br bHter to do anythinr in order to aroid it.
-. i 1 J."" "iCKMted whether something might not be done In the way of inviting
■•"'*Jd»2«^ between the rreneb srehitrets and the members of their society
!?2? „*2' ■?"*<" '••torlng and preserving the monuments of an, as it were. In
ifc^^ — Tii:*' *?••••* '•'•T •" knew how thoroughly themind of one man InBuenccd
iSS VU «lr5fl!2*i ?*'t 5^ brought to bear on the same subject- and that might
lead to the bene«t of both French and Knglisb. *
t,Zttz?i^*' thoaght that all of them must feel that the debate which they had
iIriJ!ll?.K^*'15.'*'"''»K M"! Instructive. The Committee of the .Society had
•2JSr.??L2J?2?Il*"'' ««»ol"»on on the subject that night, their shot ha<l been
Z^^^SmSf^?^ presented to the Institute of llritish Architects, What
Z. «-.!^^^TT "iffLT" *" ""^ • debate on the restoration of ancient buildings
SJ»\r^?jL_i*J~y" 'y*^ ""* *•'"' '<»'' P*'* '" thcdebate said the same thing,
SI2ijP!!?irS!.i '^•"•""O *« golngon, aomi' portions of It well done, and other
^^^'-..aSfJ^'-,, j! Y" admitted also that there was at the head of the
L?!*;^""/ ".Viollet le line, and that there were underhim some men
Bt and reckletf. So doubt national French vanity was apt to
w~ . ... /' ^^.S"^" "ggravation.Justas our friends across the Atlantic
JSrSrlUSS. '""'' ""' "■* *'''J*<=' °f « society like the Ewlcslologlcal
was to prcTCDt any muUUUon or destruction of ancient buildfiigs.
Their free speech enabled them to say so in this country, but, unhappily,
that was not so in France — how long tbat might be was another
question. The whole church restoration in France was a Napoleonic!
idea. With regard to what he said of the non-ecclesiological education of the
priests of France generally, he did so not on his own authority, but ou tbe authority
ofsomeof tbe leading minds in France. Therefore, he still persisted in saying, with
many admirable examples to the contrary, and in spite of all those exceptions, he
still believed that the seminary education of France had not so developed the spirit
of historical inquiry as to make the priest what it had made the Englisli clergyman,
a good ecclesiologist. It was a positive fact tbat without free opinion, without free
discussion, without a free press, they could not have artistic liberty or a true artistic
education. As to the work carried on in France, be was willing to believe tbat much
was done in tbe time of Louis I'hilippc which would not be done now. But even
Mr. Scott himself in what he had said about the capitals of the St. Chapelle had
expressed a most strong condemnation of what was being done, a coudemnatioii
stronger than the most florid denunciation, because he bad seen beautiful ornaments
removed and some new things substituted instead of them. They lived, many of
them in glass-houses, and a stone might destroy their self-esteem, but in criticism oa
art theremust be a limit, or where would there be any criticism or censorship in art
or literature if no one criticised bis neighbours till he was conscious of selt-pcrfec-
tion. They had that night had a discussion which bad elicited many Intcrestmg
facts, it had been eminently suggestive, it no doubt would set them thinking for a
year to come, and indirectly but most thoroughly the discussion would have a
practical and useful effect.
The Hon. and Very Rev. the Dean of York proposed a vote of thanks to the
Chairman.
Tbe KcT. Sir Henry Baker seconded the motion, which was carried by accla-
mation.
The Chairman briefly returned thanks.
On behalf of tbe meeting it was moved that the Hon. and Very Rev. tbe Dean of
York be added to the list of Vice- Presidents of the Societv.
Mr. Scott said there were plenty of specimens still i.\isting in France of the
tliirtcentb century, and be hoped that Mr. Kuskiii would visit them, with a view to
the completion of a history oi^ the thirteenth-century architecture.
ilr. KuSKiN said, what they wanted was not a restoration, but a renovation, and
to bring out the feeling of the nineteenth century, not of that which was dead.
The meeting then separated.
DURHAM SCHOOL OF ART.
EST.\BLISHED under the patronage of the Dean of Dnrham, this school, on
all points except one, is reported* to be progressively increasingfin efficiency.
The number of students is not quite so large as it usually has been, but from the
list of prizes, given to members of the school from the Central Board, it is thought
that a good result is obtained from the instruction given. The unsatisfactory
element is in connexion with the balance-sheet for the past year, which shows a
deficit due to the treasurer of £35, arising from the payment of all outstanding
accounts up to the end of 1860, an increase in the salary of the drawing master,
the sum expended in painting the school door, and a falling oif in the list of sub-
scribers. Assistance is asked for.
We wondered what Idnd of door this could be to require especial mention, until
turning to the balance-sheet, we find " Decorating entrance-doorway polychromati-
cally, £9 8s." We advise the committee, until tlieir funds are in a moreflourish-
ing state, to be content with " three coats of oil and plain color."
We are, however, glad to see that, in addition to the usual studies of theschool,
a class for modelling in clay lias just been opened. At present it is only attended
by two students, but as the value of this brancli of study becomes known, it will
probably attract many more to the class. It is of the greatest use to wood and
stone carvers, workers in metal, plasterers, and others, and it is to be hoped
that it may become one of the most successful branches of the school.
3
— • —
The JSnglish Cathedral of the Nineteenth Century. By A. J. B. Behespord-
HoPE, M.A., D.C.L. 8vo., 1861. John Murray, Albemarle-street.
IS a well-printed volume of 282 pages, with 50 illustrations, dedicated to the
President, Committee, and Members of the Cambridge Arcliitectural Society.
It is too much to expect that all will agree with the author in his leading idea —
that, indeed, to which the volume before us owes its existence; but we can con-
ceive of but few who will not peruse it with interest, and probably close the last
page with very considerably modified opinions. One single fact, and a deduction
from it, is tlie text of our author's work. The fact is — that episcopal regimen
(of which the cathedral is not, indeed, an essential, but a most Important and
desirable element) has existed in the national church of England from the first
day on wliich Christianity was preached in this island down to the present
moment. The deduction is that, if that regimen ought to continue, its con-
tinuance ought to be made profitable to the nation by adapting the number and
distribution of bishoprics to the increase of the national jiopulation. The reader
is reminded that twice within a very few years has the necessity of additional
bishoprics, involving cathedrals, been officially recognised. The Commissioners
appointed by Lord John Russell, when Prime Minister, reported in favor of the
erection of four new sees, Manchester, St. Albans, Southwark, and Cornwall.
A Royal Commission issued by the Queen in 1852, " to inquire into the state and
condition of the cathedral and collegiate churches of England and Wales," re-
commended the immediate foundation of a bishopric of St. Colnmb's, to be cut
ofi' from Exeter, and in 1856 recommended additional sees to be carved out o^—
1. Durham, at Newcastle or Ilexliaiu ; 2. Chester, at Liverpool; 3. St. David's,
at Brecon; 4. Lichfield, at Derby ; 5. Lincoln, at Southwell ; C.Worcester, at
Coventry ; 7. Ely, at Ipswich or Bury St. Edmund's ; 8. Gloucester and Bristol
to be divorced ; 9. Rochester, at Chelmsford or Colchester (the writer asks, why
not St. Alban's?), West Kent being divorced from Canterbury, and attached to
Rochester; 10. Exeter, at St. Columb's ; 11. Batli and Wells and Salisbury, at
Bath ; 12. London and Westminster.
Westminster Abbey is a quasi-cathedral, of the thirtecenth, and St. Paul's an
actual one of the seventeenth century, while the idea which the author purposes
to develop is that of the English Cathedral of the nineteenth century. He says : —
In adopting ibis title. I desire that every word in it should be taken in an absolute
and exclusive sense. The building and the institution are to be a cathedral as dis-
tinct from and opposed to a parish eburcli and its organization ; they are to be
English— EngUsh, that is, both nationally and ecclesiastically— as distinct from and
* The Seventh Report of the Dtuham School of Art,&omJanuaryl8tto December*
31«t, 18*0.
June 21, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
531
opposed to foreign ; and last, but not least, they are to be ol the nineteenth century,
as distinct from and opposed to one of an earlier age.
It is thought to be conceivable tlmt episcopacy may exist (as it docs m the
United States), and may be extended witliout tlie cathedral system, but that in
England no sucli divorce would be tolerated. The objections that the size of a
buildinn- worthy to bear tlie name of cathedral would be unsuitable to our ver-
nacular" services, and that a love of .i»»/(/ne«« would lead an Englishman by
preference to a small parish church, are anticipated by remarking that primarily
and ecclesiastically, a cathedral is siin|)ly and merely a church, however small, in
which the bishop's " cathedra '' or throne is fixed. The cathedrals in the Greek
church are generally of the most moderate dimensions — that of Athens, is an
exceedingly small structure. The Cathedral of Torcello is inferior in size to
many a village church in England, and Dr. Petrio has shown that the most
ancient cathedrals of Ireland were, as a rule, only sixty feet feet in length. It
is not necessary for us to remark that these are rather exceptional cases — for the
author himself adds —
Still it is undoubted that in the secondary sense of the word, a cathedral, ordinarily
exhibits an excess of length, and height, and breadth— a profuscncss, so to speak, of
plan, a stateliness of ornamentation, an increment of dignity in its appearance, which
lifts it above the level of the ordinary church, and wbicli not unreasonably, thougli
incorrectly, leads the general traveller to term such elmrches as display these cha-
racteristics cathedrals, although they may not have been built or may not now be
used as the seat of a bishop. Ste. Gudule, at Brussels, for instance, which has never
contained a cathedra, and the great church at Antwerp, which was not built for and
does not now possess its own bishop, are both of them universally called cathedrals.
Nevertheless, our author considers that the actual wants of the day call for
churches of cathedral size— say of 200 or 250 feet in length— and as may be
expected, he assumes the style of building to be some phase of the Gothic or
Pointed ; considering the Middle English Pointed to be the best starting point,
and instancing as an example of the dangers of attempting " Cheap thin Early
French," the new church of Notre Dame at Geneva, which " ought to be sent
round Europe, as a warning to any exhibitor who dares to attempt what practical
sense shouW have taught him was unattainable."
But Mr. Beresford-Hopi! does not wish always to see our churches erected in
the Middle Pointed style, a mere copy of medieval work —
The new style may,;in course of time, become very diiTerent from the old Gothic, out
of which it rises, but at first it must be very Uke ; and as my argument is that new
cathedrals are wanted for a present and urgent necessity, I venture to assume that
their architects will be Icontent to put together existing materials, and leave to a
future generation to profit by the success or failure of the exporiments. I shall, for
example, take for granted that the chief materials ol the church should be those
which were admirably employed in former days — marble, or stouc, or brick. I say
this with my eyes open to the fact that many ingenious minds have been long con-
jecturing [the possibility of some Gothic style of the future, in which metal should
dominate, both in the construction and the decoration, towards wliich new style the
internal arcades of the new Museum at Oxford, due to Mr. Skidmore, are a tender.
Other persons may still more boldly point towards Sydenham, and ask why we
should despair of seeing a crystal cathedral ? * ♦ Personally, I may remark, that
I have devoted some attention to metalhc architecture, and that I entertain a strong
conviction that at all events metal, and particularly iron, may be^scd more extensively,
and to more advantage than our [ancestors have realised. This fact is surely one
of simple common sense, arising out of the increased facilities for working or cast-
ing on the one side, and of transport on the other. But I do not beheve that the
change will revolutionise, although it may develop, the architecture inherited from
the great old days ; and I believe, as I have already said, that before this develop-
ment be consummated, there will be ample time for the stone or brick cathedral of
this country to have been constructed. As to the crystal cathedral, I must humbly
say that I cannot grasp so novel an idea, and I do not, therefore, pretend to dog-
matise upon its construction.
Not losing sight of the important question, whether the erection of cathedrals
to meet modem exigencies is possible, the author proceeds to notice structures of
that class, which have been proposed or erected of late years; with many of
them our readers have been made acquainted in these pages; but we may briefly
refer to the most noticeable plans.
The Cathedral of Linz, in Western Austria, by M. Statz, is 408 feet in length
and 206 feet at the transepts. It is in the German Pointed style, and comprehends
a nave, choir, lady chapel, a small chapter- house, &c. ; north and south of the
western tower are the baptistery and chapel of the dead; St. Ninan's, at Perth,
by Mr. Butterfield ; Kilmore Cathedral, by Mr. Slater; a design for Inverness
Cathedral, 345 feet long by 170 feet at the transept, and one for Colombo Cathe-
dral, both by the late Mr. Carpenter ; Brisbane and Constantinople, by Mr.
Bnrpcs ; St. Kitt'.s, in the West Indies, by Mr. Slater ; Mr. Street's design for
the Memorial Church, Constantinople ; and Mr. Scott's church at Hamburgh.
In all cases the plans are drawn to an intelligible scale.
Having in the first three chapters given reasons why the increase of cathedrals
is desirable, having treated of the style in which it is expedient to build them,
and briefly indicated their general plan, the author proceeds to consider the
various portions of the building as they successively present themselves.
And firstly as to the choice of plan.
The architect may either consult his own vanity, and make artistic effect the one
aim of his studies, and thus ensure an ostentatious failure, or he may realise the
spirit of his age, the wants of that special town, and the requirements of our national
church, and so produce a building in which pomp shall be subordinate to use,
and in which accordingly the highest of all beauties, the beauty of truth, shall be
attained.
The right course will be
To work out artistically from the comparison of cathedrals, old and new, and parish
churches, old and new, the ideal En<rliBh cathedral of the nincteentli century.
The eight chapters into which the book is divided, and to some of them our
space has scarcely allowed us to do more than refer very briefly, consider the
choice of styles, modem cathedrals/choice of plan, basilican and English arrange-
ments, features of the building and their uses, internal decoration, monuments,
accessary buildings, practical means of usefulness, and easy extension of the
episcopate.
In Chapter VI., on the features of the building, the author treats of the nave,
transepts, the lantern, choir, situation for the organ, form of the east end, tri-
forium, clerestory, roofing, &c., the latter naturally leading to a consideration of
the spire, which, if stone or brick are not available, may always be of wood
covered with slate or lead.
The attempt;iias been made at All Saints' Church, in JIargaret-etreet, to prove
that dignity and bulk are not strangers to those materials (it miglit be added very
successfully) ; and all who have visited Lubec come back loud in their admiration of
the wooden steeples of that city.
It is truly remarked that an open spire, with all its cleverness, has an un-
substantial confused look, while the solid spire combines the truth and beauty of
architecture, and may be infinitely varied by the various treatment of its band-
ings and its spire lights, in examples of which the Edwardian age of English
architecture is infinitely rich.
The book is well written, in a calm, eamest style that will doubtless gain many
converts, and we give it a hearty welcome, concluding our notice with an ex-
tract from a graceful tribute to the writer's father, Thomas Hope, author of the
" Historical Essay on Architecture ": —
The great fact for which Thomas Hope deserved the gratitude of posterity (a fact
for which Sydney Smith was narrow enough to quiz him in the Edinburyh), was that
he, first of Englishmen, conceived and taught the Ideaof art-manufacture— of allying
the beauty of form to the wants and productions of common life.
Later in Ufo, and Imperceptiblv, 'riiomas Hope gave up his strict Grecianism in
favor'of a wider eclecticism ; but the glowing pages of the "History of Architecture"
are not the only proof of this change, for he also carried it out in practice in his cx-
quisitely-picturesiiuc country house, the Deepdenc. in Surrey. There, as in Duchess-
street, his work was the remodelling and the adding to a pre-existing and inferior
building i but there, taking advantage of a singularly felicitous site, he gave rein to
his inventive fancy. Accordingly, that place, as h<' left it, exhibited varied outlines
and piquant sky-lines, in which recourse was had not only to the free resources of
Italian, but even to Gothic models. My father died at the beginning of 183i, just
before the great Gothic revival, but not until he had done enough to show that he
never would have been among its fierce antagonists. In taking my place on the
Gothic side, T have not moved away further Irom his position than the author of the
"Historical Essay " and the architect of Deepdenc moved away from the author of
the Letter to Mr. Anneslcy, and the architect-of Duchess-street. At the same time,
when I study his artistic growth and the progress of the age, I find abundant reason
why 1 should lie a decided partizan of Gothic without being tiie bitter opponent of
those who still tarry in the Classical camp.
A Familiar and Useful Guide to the Exhibition of the Royal Academy.
1861. Westerton, 20, St. George's-place, Hyde-park-coraer.
MR. RUSKIN has said that there can be but three reasons for a writer's con-
cealment of his personality. Either, firstly, having confidence in what he
has written, he must have none in his name ; or, secondly, he may know that
his name would carry some weight with it, but may be ashamed of what he ha.»
written; or, thirdly, there may be dangers of private loss or inconvenience,
which he cannot speak openly without incurring, and which, to avoid, he must
get his opinion uttered as best he may namelessly. We think there may be other
reasons for the concealment of a writer's name ; but whatever reason it may be,
certainly it is not the second which has induced the writer of the pages before
us to issue them under the nom dc plume of " Yankee." " Yankee " cannot say,
with the well-known writer on art referred to that he is
Often asked by his friends to mark for them the pictures in the Exhibitions Of the
year which appear to him the most interesting ;
Nor that
Twenty years of severe labor devoted exclusively to the study of the principles of
art have given him the right to speak on the subject with confidence.
Yet he does purpose boldly to express his sentiments concerning some of the
pictures in the Exhibition of the Royal Academy, I86I.
Why I should take so much trouble, and whether my opinions are worthy to be
printed, and bought, and read, I hardly know. No "enterprising publisher " has
made me a "munificent offer," nor has any large capitaUst proposed to pay the
printer's bill. One loves to hear oneself talk, of Course, and the present talker loves
greatly the subject he is going to talk about ; and although, as before said, he cannot
exactly assert that he has devoted twenty years' of severe labor exclusively to the
study of the principles of art, possessing not the brain and industry of a Kuskin, yet
he may say that for more than twenty years of his Ufe, all the brain, and industry,
and heart, and eyes that belong to him, nave found their chief business and occirpa-
tion in looking at, and loving, and studying the beauties and wonders of art and of
nature. . , ,.
Pleasantly, and in a gossiping style, the writer goes on to say that he shall
not be very learned, but will simply make a sort of classification of the pictures
— a separating of the valuable flowers from the worthless weeds— of the rich and
rare from the poor and commonplace — thinking, with reason, that it will be an
advantage to thousands of the visitors to the Exhibition to be guided at once to
the dozen or score (as may be) of masterpieces of art that are scattered about
among the nine hundred and twenty four promiscuous pictorial productions with
whicli the Academy walls are covered —
For of all the sights that sightseers weary and worry themselves with, and take
away headaches from, an exhibition of pictures is the wearyingest, and worryingest,
and hcadachyest, and, of course, the exhibition, is the most effective in that way ot
them all, having the most and the best pictures.
A lover of nature, the writer is charmed with 98, George Herbert at Bemerton
(W. Dyce, R.A.)—
Thoroughly has the painter appreciated the poet. Read the hne —
"Sweet day, so calm, so cool, Sebright," .
And then look at the picture ; and look long, and lovingly, and quietly, in a spirit
suitable to anglers." What delightful etni)loi/meM it would be to have nothw<i to ao
but to stroll, and muse, and go a fishing in a place like that, with just such grassy
ground and calm river, and fine old trees with ivy-covered trunks. • .* "on t
know that I am right in half-wishing that " holy Mr. ilerbert " would finish his medi-
tation and walk out of the picture, at any rate I am sure that I would rather nis DacK
were turned this way, or at least, that he showed no more of his face than the pro-
file. The rapt and seraphic in a young woman's face is often very chamimg to
gaze upon, but somehow, in a man's the effect is very different. .... ,
The part before us gives promise of an admirable companion to the Academy
Exhibition ; the second part should quickly follow, indeed we rannot help
thinking that it would have been better to publish the Guide complete lor the
use of a vast number who visit the Exhibition but once or twice m the season.
Anniversary Dinner of the Society of Arts.— The 108th anniversary
of the Society of Arts was celebrated on Wednesday by a dinner at the Crystal
Palace. About 400 gentlemen sat down, under the presidency of the tari ot
Elgin. On the conclusion of the dinner, the customary loyal and patriotic toasts
were given and heartily responded to. Occasion was taken by the nob e Chair-
man to pass a deserved culocium on the Prince Consort for his enlightened
patronage. In an excellent speech the Chairman next gave the toast of the day
— " Prosperity to the Society of Arts and to the Exhibition of 1862." He con-
cluded by giving the health of Sir Thomas Phillips, who in turn gave the Com-
missioners of the Exhibition of 1862, bringing Earl GranviUe to his feet with an
excellent speech. The noble earl called on the company to drink the healUi of
the Chairman, with three times three, and the challenge was resoonded to m the
most enthusiastic manner, the Earl of Elgin returning thanks briefly and feelingly.
The toasts which foUowed were "The Colonies," and "The Institutions in
Union."
532
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 21, 1861.
jCaa- ^KntcUi^cnrc.
COl'KT OF QUF.KX'S BEXrH, TVESTMIXSTEE.
HlGHES r ViONOLES.
THE pUinliffln thlf »e«on, E. B. HuRhoe, is a civil onginccr in rarliamont-strcet.
and lie »u«d the dtftndant, I'. Vi;,-iiolo?. the well-known Ivil engineer in Duke-
■Irwl. WnOnliuWr, to rtcoTcr the sum of £37:>. Ixlnpr tlu> amount wlilch the plaintiff
Tj^'Ij „ 1^, rnBUirntioD. at -.'i per cent., for certain desifjus, &c., which he had
■— ii—ijj for the dcftndaat. of a !<iatiou at liilboa. in Spain.
^Wi dtikBdaot pleaded the i,'cneral issue, and also paid £40 into Court, and denied
-»«■ l^iWii lltWIftT
II MMandfron the plaintiff's evidence that he was a civil engineer, and had been
^■aUMdVMler a Mr. uatson, a railway contractor, to prepare some designs for
<S^,|f^tiua <f > Mation at Bahia, in South America. He had worked for Mr. Watson
jh# abovt six ■ootha, and was paid at the rate of a >^uiuea a day ; but in the mouth
^jLnA SftM, be bad nearly broucht his work to a close, and was setting; up in
kaMCMna Utown aeeoont. Uuiler these circuntatanee.i he induced Mr. Watson to
Mtntwet him to the notice of the defendant, who was en^'ineer of a Une
jg fl-^^ and lolkited to be employed to prepare designs for the station which
II waa then uiopoacd to construct at nillwa. The defendant gave him a promise
f^^ |i£ •boold be ao employed, and at the be^nnin«^ of December, 1859, he delivered
%Im g nooad plaik. vttn, instructions to prepare a design, telling;; him at the same
lll^ to pnceM with all possible despatch. The plaintiff according:ly set to work
iBMtdlalelj. and by bard work and with some assistance he completed two designs,
with tp(«UK«lioDa, la about three weeks, sent them in, auii requested the defendant
lo ktlilm know which deaign was approved. No answer was received, and when
Ike platatiff prvaaed the defendant to let him know which design was adopted, in
ttda that bt might proceed with the working drawings, the defendant put the
■alter off till hii retom fh)m Spain. This occasioned considerable delay, but even-
taallr, on hta retom fh>m Spain, the defendant, instead of sending the plaintiff the
partMjan neeeaaary to prepare the workmg drawings, wrote to liim and asked him
£rbta aeeoont, saying that abort accounts made long friends, and that nothing could
be dose tlU the defendant knew what expense had been incurred. It turned out
Ibai the intentioa of erecting a station at Bllboa was abandoned for the present,
■Bd that it was determined to make use of a temporary one. The plaintiff
ia reply that he was not prepared to make any charge for the
taiet deUrered, hat that his charge would be the usual '.'} per cent, upon the
of the prqfeelcd atatloo— rii., £15,000. The defendant took no notice
of «fc**, and tbercAre. after aome corres]M>ndence, the present action was brought.
The nlaintUrgare eridcnoe that, when designs were prepared by an engineer, he was
f tltkd. aftfWfrtlnff to the nuge, to make the working drawings ; and, whether he did
■o or aot, be wao entitled to be paid by a percentage of '^ per cent, tor the designs
wUsh bo Ihrailbed. i^ereral mtnesses were examined to establish this usage, and
tbal In ptcparlng tbo deaigBS it was necessary for the engineer to have arranged the
rtillHe woUlBliia mind. The plaintiff was cross-examined to show that lie had
■■dittakcn with Mr. Watson to work for the defendant upon the same terms as he
had doao for him (Kr. Wataon). viz., at the rate of a guinea a day, but the plaintiff
iMWllliiij denied that he liad made any such arrangement.
The delkndaat and Hr. Watson were both called for the defence, and from their
Ofldeiieeit appeared that they had arranged together, and 3Ir. Watson had arranged
witb the plamtifftbat he was to be paid a guinea a day ; but. tliough both witnesses
■poke to an intcnriew at which ail tliree were present, it did not appear that at that
latcrriew anr mention was made of terms. The defendant called several witnesses
lo i1li|li»i< tiie naageon which the plaintiff relied, and also to prove that the plaintiff
bad exaggerated tl>e extent of his labor, and that one guinea a day would be ample
reaueration. Sereral of these witnesses were clerks in the employ of Mr. Watson
wboliadhada quarrel witb the plaintiff; but the last witness called by him, who
■pyied to be a reapectable and Independent witness, valued the designs at from SO
toMOgnlaeai.
After oceopring the whole day. till a late hour, the trial terminated by^the jury
' " Teroict for tlie pUintiff for tlO guineas, in addition to the amount paid into
<![orrcspoiijlencc.
— ♦ —
THE XATHIXAL GALLERY.
Sir,— In the alterations for the enlargement of the National Gallery one most
nnpafdonable faalt has been committed, wbicli, glaring as it is, has escaped the
•nimadirenloB it Jostly deeerrea. What I allude to is the position of the entrance
into tbc new room, which. Instead of Ixing in the centre, is In the comer of the west
ond of U, a detect oCeojlre enough in itself, and all the more inexcusable because a
.mtlO Ifeoaght and contrivance would ha>e overcome the illflieulty and secured
OfaaMMcal arrangement of plan in that most important of all the rooms. That
oetfabibl baa, morcorcr, hindered wliat would have been a great convenience —
■onMV. Ibo catting off tlie angles of the plan, as is done in the other large room, and
in that of the Boyu Academy alM, so as to obtain a surface for hanging pictures
dlfnUy fhdag tbe ipeetalor, which I suppose is what is meant when it is said that all
IbeptelOK-rooau ia the new Galleries at Edinburgh are octagons.
TneqaeatioB, Iten, now ia, iait not worth while to correct a mistake that admits
Of remedy r Tlie expense of making the requisite aiuratlon would be a mere baga-
IcUe, the only pUasible diflenlly in the way of its being nude is the temporary in -
eouTcniencc which the making it would o<*ca8lon.
I am, &c.
Out Who U^DEngTA^'DS Plan.
Slaffurdihire. — New Schools and Chapel at Woodgide. — A. B. Coch-
rane, Eai)., ha* rceently erected large and handsome scliool buildings at Holly
Hall, at tbe Junction of tbe Kingswinford and Stourbridge roatl, and about a
■fle from hi* extendve Ironworks at Woodside. The buildings are of red brick,
J™* »lone window and door dressings, and the roofs are covered with red and
MnaUl**. A clock and bell-turret, rising to the height of CO feet, is a striking
**>""■ la tl»e building, which forms a very eifective group. The boys' and girls'
-;~.^««amgbt angle* to each other, and are eacli 4ii feet l»y 18 feet They
■qr botbniWB UNcetber; and oppo«ite the girls' acliool and in the centre of the
J*'!]'!** f" JP'^iff**, containing a communion rail, table, &c., so that the
r!!!i "y.r*T r***!^ a»achapel— theapoe forming a small chancel, the two
£j?*'''^*«?2!^ "chool traiisepts, and the girls' school the nave. An infants'
***^?.*?l°y J* "•*! •■ " '''(?''t angle* to ttiat of the girls', and two class-rooms
"■ PJ?™*''"' **« «»• 'Bi girls reapectivelv. The playgrounds are unusually
f*"*!*' *?.." *?* >m>nnd&IUcon*iderabfy in that direction advantage has
{""f**^.?"* OKOtaoUnce to erect cloUter* in which the children may play
»w«f woniy. _,»eryg.yd booses are provided for tlie master and mistresses at
^V^S't^.^r'-'^t' ondeach has a bay window in the front. 'I'he
falCTlor height to the spnng otthe roof U U feet, and 32 feet to the top, the roof
MMCOMI and ofstatoed wood. The bailding ha* cost £i,&00, exclusive of the
vilSi. "Si^ IT*^!.'^ *''* ''K '■'"* "' *•'•• Cochrane. Mr. Bidlake, of
WolTenaBptOD, la tbe architect ; and Messrs. Elliot and Lovatt, the builders.
TENDERS-
Fakm Buildings, Teversiiam.
Kor building a new farmstead at Teversham, tor John Ware, Esq. Mr. Walter
K. .Aiasun, architeet, Cambridge.
I'Yohoek and Leach, Waterbeach £1,770
William Iteduall, Bury SI. Edmunds 1,690
Thoday and Clayton, Cambridge 1,,'J30
Gray and Son, CauiDrldge 1,47,3
Bullock and Son, Cambridge 1,304
DwELLiNO Houses, Woolwich.
For bulldingfour houses and stabling, at Woolwich, for A. M. Blest, Esq. Mr. W.
Barrett, areliitcct. Quantities not supplied.
Dobson £-',010 I Wardlu £1,773 0
Vaugban l,8iX) 'I'ongue 1,709 18
Searle 1,790 | Brake 1,680 0
School, &c., Thorne.
For the erection of Brooke's Charity Schools and master's residence. Messsrs.
Brundell and Arnold, of Doncaster, architects.
Kobcrt Taylor £1,044 19 (1
C. Lister and Son 900 10 0
T. and C. Anelay 030 0 0
William Lewis W3 u 0
Kassell Brothers £869 14
Elliott and Smith 761 0
George Armitage (accepted) .. 697 19
School, London.
Tenders for alterations and repairs, at Archbishop Tenison's school, St. Martin's-
in-the-Fields. Mr. A. W. Blomtield, architect.
^'ett amount, after Rllolriii;;
for old maMrialB.
Mills and Son £946
E. Cobbett 805
Ciiild, Son, and Martin , 795
Clemence ' 759
Turner and Son 719
SfABiNE Residences, Devon.
For building two marine residences, Teignmouth Hill, Dawlish, Devon, for L.
Solomon, Esq., U. H. Collins, arcliltect, (il, Torringtou-square, W.C, London.
(Decorations and stables not included in this contract.)
Harvey, Plymouth £.3,750
Stafford, Exeter (accepted) 3,725
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
COUN JIAEKET.
Cahlisle.—A premium of £S0 will be given for the best design, and £10 for tbc
second best design of a building for a corn market, to be erected on the selected
site in Lowtber-street, Carlisle. The plaus to be accompanied with a detailed esti-
mate of cost, and sent in addressed to the City Treasurer, marked, 'Tlan for the
Corn Market," without the author's name, by 20tli June. A sealed envelope, bear-
ing a motto corresponding to tliat on autiior's design, and containing author's
name to be sent in Willi each plan. The selected plans to become the property of
the Corporation. Lithograph plan and sections of tlie selected site, and a photo-
graph of the acijoinlng buildings may be had on application to the city surveyor,
Carlisle.
MAKKETS, &c.
Bath.— For designs, specifications, and estimates, for the reconstruction of the
provision markets, and for the improvement oi the adjacent localities in the city
of Bath. Premiums of £00 and £'.:5 are offered for the first and second approved
designs. Full particulars, with lithographed plans of the ground, levels, &c., may
be obtained from T. Stone, town cleik, Guildhall, Bath, on payment of 58. The
designs, &c., are to be sent free to the town-clerk, by August 1.
ASYLUM.
Staitordshire.— For plans for the erection of a new p.auper lunatic asylum at
Burntwood, near Lichfield, in the county of Stafford, for the accommodation of 200
male patients, Tlie building must be of a simple and inexpensive character, for
the reception of harmless and convalescent patients from the County Lunatic
Asylum at Stafford. Provisions must be made for a resident medical superin-
tendent and for the other officers of the establishment. I'he building must be
capable of enlargement at any future time for male or female patients. Plans must
be delivered at the Clerk of the Peace's office, Stafford, by August 1. Information
may be obtained Ironi Dr. Bower, at the County Lunatic Asylum, Stafford, or from
the Clerk of the Peace at Stafford. Architects desirous of preparing plans must
apply for such information as they may require before July 1.
SCHOOLS.
Birmingham.— For plans, specificatious, and estimates for the erection of schools
to accommodate 100 boys and IfX) girls at 'Handsworth, near Birmingliam, instruc-
tions as to site, and otlier particulars on' application to Mr. Edward Price, Soho
Estate Office,! Handsworth, near Birminghani, to whom the drawings, specifica-
tjons, and estimates (the former marked witli an initial only), by July 1. A note
recognising eacli set of drawings must be also forwarded. The committee do not
pledge themselves to employ the architect whose plaus are preferred, but if not
employed a premium of £12 will be given for his plans, &c. Estimated coat of
erection, internal fittings, and boundary-wall, not to exceed £759.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
CHUltCHES, Ac.
Devizes.— For the restoration of St. John's Church, Devizes. Drawings, *o., with
E. Glddings, Esq., Churchwarden, Devizes. Tenders to the architect, Mr. W.
Slater, 4, Carlton (Chambers, Uegent- street, London, free to July 1.
Hartford.- For the restoration and re-pcwing the parish churcli, Hartford, near
Huntingdon. Drawings, ftc, witii Kobert Hutchinson, architect, offices, Market-
ftlacr*, Huntingdon, where sealed tenders are to be delivered, endorsed "Tender
or Kestorations to Hartford Church," by noon of ,Iiine 25.
DunLiN.— For rebuilding St. Andrew's Cbureli, Dublin. Plans, &c., with the
officieting minister of the parish, at No. 15, Wicklow-strcct, Dublin. Tenders to
be forwarded sealed, prepaid, and addressed thus : — " IVoposal for rebuilding the
Cnurch of St. Andrew," "The Ecclesiastical Commissioners for Ireland, Dublin,"
by June 29.
Ibelanb.— For building a cliurch at Kenvylc, parish of Ballinakill, co. Galway ; for
enlarging the churches of Kathcavan, co. Antrim; Longhgilly, co. Arma<fh ;
Termonmagulrkc, co. Tyrone ; and for repairing the churches of Kilfarboy, Kilfe-
nora, CO. Clare; Crcagh, Balllnasoe, co. Galway; Birr, King's county; Bumlin,
Strokestown, eo. Itoscommon. Plans, &c., with the resident ministers of the
parishes. Tenders to be forwarded sealed, prepaid, and addressed thus;— "Pro-
posal for the church of — .' "The Ecclesiastical Commissioners
for Ireland, No. 24, Upper -Merrion-strect, Dublin," to June 29.
PARSONAGE.
Salop.— For the erection of a parsonage at Churcli Aston. Plans, &e., at Mr.
Treasure's offices. Scaled tenders to be sent to the Rev. T. K. Musselwhite, New-
port, Salop, by June '26.
SCHOOLS.
Kilkenny.— For the erection of St. I'atrick's Christian Brothers' Schools, Kilkenny.
I'lans, Ac, at tlie office of J. T. Bullcr, Esq., architect, 10, Hume-street, Dublin,
tenders to June 29.
June 21, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
533
Gloucester.— Knr the erection of a new school-house and other buildings in
Barton-street, Gloucester, i'lans. He, at the office of Sir. Waahboum, solicitor,
No. yt I'alace-yani, Gloucester. Any further information may be obtained of Mr.
Washbourn, the solicitor to the said trustees, in Gloucester ; Sicssrs. Meredith and
I.iUcas, .s, Xew-squfire, Lincoln's-inn, London ; and of the architects, Slessrs. Aled-
land and Mab'-ri'jy, Clarence-street, Gloucester. Sealed tenders, endorsed,
"Tenders for the Crypt Grammar-.School," addressed to the solicitor of the
trustees of Dame Joan Cooke's Charity, to he sent by June 29.
DWI.:Lr,ING HOU.SES, &c.
Tenbikv.— For the erection of a dwellins-house, at Tenbury. Drawings, Ac, with
Mr. Xorris, solicitor, Tenbury,, and further information on application to Jlr.
Cranston, architect, 1, Temple-row West, liirmingham. Tenders to Jtr. Xorris, to
June 2.J.
Dablingtos.— For the erection ef a residence for Mr. Leatham, at Uplands near
Uarlington. I'laiis, .tc, at the offices of Joseph Tense, Ksq., SJ Xorthgate, l>ar-
lington. or at those of A. Waterhouse, architect. Mount-street, Mancliester, and
particulars ascertained from the clerk of works, J. Hallam, Bishop Auckland.
Tenders for all the works, except the woodwork, to be sent in to 3ir. I'ease not
later than June ~y.
COACH HOUSES. &c.
I.EICE.STER.— For the works in the erection of coach-houses, stabling, granaries, and
other works for Messrs. Kvaus and Stafford, Leicester. Drawings, and copies of
3uantities, at the office of Flint and Shenton, architects, Leicester. Tenders on
une :.*8.
IXN.
Hereford.— For pulling down and rebuilding the old Harp Inn, in thceity of ITere-
lord. I'Jans on the premises, and further information on application to Mr. Crau-
Bton, architect, 1, Temple-row West, liirmingham.
MALT AXD EXGIXK HOUSE, &c.
JJDRLEY. — For the whole or any portion of tlie artiticers' works required in the erec-
non of an extensive malt-house, stores, engine-house, &c., at liurleigh, near Leeds,
l'latis,&c., and particulars, at the offices of .lohn Child and Son, architects, -':(,
Park-row, Leeds, from J une :;4 to J uly 1st, inclusive. Tenders (with the branch or
branches tendered for marked outside) must be delivered at the above offices by
2 p.m. July ;;.
„ , WORKHOUSE.
STEPNEV.— 1 or the new Union workhouse at I'.romley, Sliddlesex, for the Stepney
guardians. Drawings, specification, and draft contract on application to Sir. M.
■Jarvis, architect, an. Trinity-square, Southwark. Printed forms of tender from
Mr. Jarvis, or from Jlr. W. H. Swepstone, clerk to the guardians, at the board
room, Katcliff workhouse, York-street west. Commercial-road, east and no tenders
will be received that are not made upon such forms. Tenders to be delivered at
the office of the board as above, before 3 p.m. on July 10.
POLICE .STATIOXS AXD COURTS.
OLOccESTERSniRE.-For the erection of a police station and petty sessional court,
at Berkeley, in Gloucestershire. Drawings, Ac., at the county surveyor's office,
Gloucester, or at the present police station, Berkeley. Form of tender, and all
other particulars, on application to James Medland, county surveyor, Clarence-
street, Gloucester. Tenders, sealed and endorsed " Tender for Berkeley Police
Station," to be sent under cover to the Clerk of the Peace, Shirehall, Gloucester,
by 10 a.m. July 1.
GLoucEKTERSHiRE.—Eor the erection of a police station and petty sessional court,
at Falrford. Drawing and specifications with James Medland, county surveyor
Clarence-street, Gloucester, or at the present police station, Fairford. Form of
tender, and all other particulars, on application to the county surveyor. Tenders,
sealed and endorsed " Tender for Fairford Police Station," to be sent, under cover,
to the Clerk of the Peace, Shirehall, Gloucester, to June 28.
HOSPITAL.
Keabing.— For erecting two additional wings to the Royal Berkshire Hospital,
Reading. Each wing will be 7o by 28 feet, two stories high, and entirely taeed
with Bath stone. Plans, &c., with Jlr. Joseph Morris, architect, 161, Friar-street,
Iteading, until i:itli July. Tenders (on supplied form only) to Mr. D. Skey, secrer
tary to the Board of Management, at the hospital, sealed and endorsed "Tende-
for Additions," to July IS.
RAILWAY WORKS.
IsvEBNESS AND PERTH JcscTioN RAILWAY.— For the Construction of the
Northern end of the line, extending from the town of Forres to the Water of Dul-
nain, in Strathspey, a distance in all of 211 miles or thereby. It is proposed to
divide these works into two contracts, the first extending from the town of
Forres to the Water of Dlvie, in the parish of EdinkiMie, being a distance of 10
miles or thereby, to be called the "Forres Contract. " The Works of this con-
tract comprehend :— 1st. About 000.000 to rOO.Oiio cubic yards of cuttings and em-
bankments. 2ud. About 21 overway and underway bridges, and bridges over
streams and burns, there being no bridge in the distance of greater span than 23
feet. The second contract extends from the proposed viaduct across the river
Divle (which is already contracted for) to the water of Duluiiin, three miles above
Grantown, being a distancein allof 10 miles or thereby, to be called the "Grantown
Contract." The work of this contract consists of:— 1st. About 700,000 toS00,0O0
cubic yards of cuttings and embankments. 2nd. About 18 overway and underway
bridges and bridges over streams and burns, the largest not exceeding'20 feet in span
The rails, chairs, sleepers, keys, spikes, lish plates, and bolts will be supplied by the
railway company. Drawings, Ac, for both contracts at the offices of Joseph
Mitchell, Esq., C.E., Inverness, from wliom, or from Sir. I'aterson, the Assistant-
Lngincer, may be obtained duplicate schedules for each contract on payment of
£i 2s. each. The cost of the detailed measurements will fall to be paid by the
successful contractor. The whole line for both contracts is staked out at distances
of every 100 feet between Forres and the Dulnain Water, according to the working
sections. The deepest of the cuttings arc also pitted to ascertain the nature of the
materials ; and an assistant engineer will bo at Forres station on .June ISth to
accompany contractors along the line, and point out the sites of the bridges. The
draft contract proposed to be entered into will be seen at the engineers or at the
secretary's oltices, from the 18th of June until the last day for receiving offers
Sealed tenders, addressed to the secretary, and marked " Tenders for Inverness
and Perth Junction Railway Works," specifying on the outside, "Forres Contract "
or " Grantown Contract," according to tender, must be lodged with the secretary
at lus office, Inverness, by noon, July ;i.
LIGHTHOUSE, TOWER, &c.
iHEiiAXD.— For the erection of a lighthouse tower, and keepers' dwellings, to be
erected on Aranmore Island, county Donegal. Plans, &c.. at the Ballast-office
Westmoreland-street, Dublin, between U and :i o'clock each day. Sealed tenders'
on printed forms only (to be had at the Ballast-office), addressed to William Lees
Esq., Secretary, Ballast-office, Westmoreland-street. Dublin, by noon of July 10. '
Ireland.— For the erection of a cast-iron beacon, with filling of masonry, to be
erected on Storks Rocks, north coast of the county of Antrim. Plans, &c., at
the Ballast-office, Westmoreland-street, Dublin, between 11 and li o'clock. Sealed
tenders, on printed forms only (to be had at the Ballast-office), addressed to
William Lees. Esq., Secretary, Ballast-office, Westmoreland-street, Dublin bv
noon at July 10. -
CAISSOX AXD ENGINE HOUSE. ■
roBTSMOt;Tii.~For the construction of an iron caisson for the Camber Dock, and for
the erection of an engine-house. Plans, .tc, at the office of Jlr. Pineo, No. 15
High-street, Portsmouth, from the 2rth inst. Tenders to be delivered at the office
of John Howard, Town Clerk, Guildhall Clnimbi-rs by July <X
COAST GUARD STATION, .ic.
IRELAND.— For the erection of a new coast-guard station, watch-house, Ac, at
Morris Castle (between (Jourtown and Wexford), in the county of Wexford. Plans
Ac, with Edward Hornsby, SecreUry, Office of Public Works, Dubhn, and with
the chief boatman at the existing station. Tenders (on the printed form, lodged
with the specification) ,to be for a lump sum, and to be accompanied by a detail
(giving quantities and prices), sealed and endorsed "Tender for Works at (stating
the name of the building)" delivered by 12noon, July 1».
SEWERAGE, Ac.
Kent.— For the execution of sewerage and road-making on the Woodbury park es-
tate of the Conservative Land Society, London-road, Tuiibridge Wells. West Kent.
The foUowhig rough quantities are here stated, in order to indicate approximately
the extent of the proposed works ; but parties tendering will have to take out the
quantities for themselves:— Road-making, partly in cuttiiigs and partly embanked,
metalled in carriage-ways, .1,300 feet riin/Curb-stones to foot-paths 0,200 feet run,
eightecu-inch circular brick sewer (l.i-inch) In cement Ui'M feet run, twelve-ineh
glazed stoneware pipe, ditto 1,1()0 feet run, nine-inch ditto, ditto, 1,8J0 feet run,
gulley cesspools, with 6-iiich pipe overflows to sewer 25 in number. Plans, &c., at
the offices of the Society's surveyor, Mr. James Wylson, M, Norfolk-street, Strand,
London, W.C. ; also at the offices of Jlr. .James JI. Richardson, estate agent, 1,
Wilton-place, Tuubridge Wells. Tenders to be sent in, addressed to the surveyor,
and endorsed " Tender for Works at Tunbridge Wells," by June 29.
MILITARY WOltKS.
Ireland.— For excavating and forming the ditch, earthworks, and passages, for
the new land front, about to be formed to Carlisle fort, Cork Harbor. Parties de-
siring to tender are required at attend to the office of Commanding Royal Engineer
in Ireland, Dublin Castle, on the 20th Inst., at 12 noon, to appoint a surveyor to take
out the quantities in coujunction with the Government .Surveyor ; each party to pay
two guineas for the quantities.
Aldekshot.— For a supply of materials for building permanent stables at Aldershot
in the county of Hants. Persons desirous of tendering may obtain copies of the
specification of the articles, conditions of contract, and forms of tender, at the
Royal Engineer Office, Aldershot, to the ;i0th inst. Tenders to be addressed, under
cover, to the " Director of Contracts. -.War Office, Pall JIall, London, S.W.," en-
dorsed in the left-hand corner, " Tender for building Materials at Aldershot," and
delivered by 10 o'clock on July 4.
SALES AT GARRA WAY'S AND THE MART.
FREEHOLD.
By Jlessrs. Norton, Hoggart, and TaisT Kent, the lladlow House Estate, comprislnz
residence, timbered park and pleasure grounds, 4S acres of land, and three cottages ana
gardens, situate in Hadlow ; sold for £.5,800.
Sussex, Estate, comprising residence, gardens, stabling, offices, tan-yard, cottage and
Ereniihes,boniesteaiI, four cottages anil gardens, and all necessary buildings, situate on the
ondon and Itrigliton turnpike road, close to Staplefleld-common ; sold for £5,000.
Surrey, Lavender farm, comprising a faniihouse, stabling, and 31a. 2r. 27p. of land, situato
in iiisley, small part copyhold ; sold for £1,150.
Surrey, Kamp s Farm, comprising 30a. Ir. 14p. of arable and pasture land, parish of Bisley»
small part copyhold; sold fur £7.'sl.
Surrey, 3r. 2ip. of meadow land, parish of Bisley ; sold for £5.'..
By Mr. o. A. Beowx lij, 18, and 19, Anchor and Hope-alley, Old Gravel-lane, tiireo
houses, rent per annum, £55 6s. : sold for £405.
13, WilUam-street, St. Oeorge's-ln-the-East, house, rent per annum, £222s. ; sold for £215.
1 and 2, .\rundel-strcet, Betlinal-green, two bouses, let at rents amounting to £35 2s. pec
annum ; sold for £320.
18 and 10, Church-row, and 19, Busby -street, Bethnal green, three houses, rent per annum,.
£68 5s.: sold for £e90. •
By Mr. (J. A. Smitu Hemel Hempstead, Herts, residence, knoT^-n as Hawthorn Cottage -.
sold for £450.
By Mr. Thornton Haxted Mead, Surrey, water meadow, parish of LIngfleld, contaiulns
4a. 2r. 4p. ; sold for £300.
Parish of EdenbrlUge, a close of arable land, called Hongary Haven, containing 3a. 3r. 34p.$
sold for £105. ,..
Parish of Edenbridgc, a close of arable land, known as South Hongary Hav, n, together wltH
a cottage and garden, containing altogether 4a. 2r. 24p. ; sold for £250. ^
By Jlr. Whittingham.— Bariiet, Herts, a plot ol building land, with frontage to Aew
Barnet-road East, of 20 feet by about 100 feet : sold for £22.
Barnet, Herts, a plot of building laud, with frontage to Lancaster-road, of 30 feet by 194 feet
C inches ; sold for £:J4. , ..
Barnet, Herts, a plot of bulldtag land, with frontage to Lancaster-road.of 30fcet by 188 feet
6 inches ; sold for £34. , ^
Barnet, Herts, a plot of building land, with frontage to Lancaster-road, of 30 feet by 166 feet
10 inches ; sold for £30.
By Messrs. Fakebkotheb, Clare, and Lye Lower Sydenham, residence, known as
Champion's Hall, with gardens, conservatory, and paddock, in all 15a. ; sold for £4,550.
By Messrs. Laueg and Wood 35, Albcmarle-strect, Piccadilly, residence, let on lease for
a term which will expire at Christmas, 1861 ; sold for ti,tm.
By Jlessrs. Cuarlton.— Leigh, Kent, estate, known as the Vines, situate between Ton-
bridge and Sevenoaks, comprising su. 2r.of laud, cottage residence and agricultural buildings,
annual charge £4 14s. ; sold for £2,tiijO.
By Jlessrs. D. Smitu. Son and Oakley Harbledown, Kent, the Hall-place estate, con-
sisting of a mansion, with lawn, gardens, and pleasure-grounds, in all about .12ia. 3r. 14p. ;
sold lor £11,200. , . ^
Harbledown, a residence known as Hope Bourne, comprising 13a. Or. lOp. ot land ; sold lor
£3.2.M.
Harlilcdown, buildiug land, comprising 1.5a. Or. ,"rlp. ; sold for £1.320.
I to 4, l.inle St. Andrew-street. 2o to 22, Little Earl-street, and It and 12, Lumber -con ,
St. t;iles-in-tlR*-FicKls, block of property, producing £113 per animiu ; sold lor £3,160.
li to 11, Little St. Anilrews-street, houses and shops, including the Two Brewers puoiic-
house, producing a rental of £45 per annum; sold for £3.720. „,
22 and 23, Tower-street, and 18 and iy,.Luinber-court, four houses and shops, producing i.»a
per annum ; solil for £2,wio. • 4 , .
24 to 28, Tower-street, five houses and sheps, producing a rental of £120 per annum; sola
for £1,3(KJ. , , , ^ „,„
29, Tower-street, liousennd promises, producing :t rcnl:il of £20 per annum : sola lor t..«w.
.'», Little Earl-street, public-house, called the Cr.apes, let at a rental ot £63 per annum ;
sold for £1,000. „ „ „ ,„
2? and 28, Little Earl-street, two houses and shops, producing a rental of £40 per annum ,
sold for £7.')0. . ... ,
25 and 20, Little Earl-street, two houses, producing a rental of £60 per annmn ; sola
23 and 24. Little Eail street, commercial promises, hclui' Ilockly's color and iMd ware-
house, let on lease for.w years from Lailv-day, lsl2. at £»4 per annum ; sold for £l,.no.
5 to 10. Lumber-court, six houses and shops, pro luclng a rental of £45 per annum , som
By'Jlessrs. Beadel and Soxs.-IIenley, Suffolk, estate, consistfng of afarmliouse, agricul-
tural buildings, and 121a. Ir. l.sp. of aralilc and pasture;laiid ; sold lor £3,1)50. ,„,„„
Xorbitou, Kingston, Surrey, dwcUin^-lioiiBe, with garden and coal-yard, and seven
cottages and gardens, gro^s rental £78 !)s. 4d. per annum ; sold for £7.0.
Kingston-hdl, enclosure o( building land, containing 11a. 2r. 24p. : sold for £1,520. _
I'ark-road, Kingston, two enclosures of land, contamlug 12a. 1 r. 13p. : sold tor t,l,4i».
Essex, property, calle i Whitebread's Farm, iu the parishes of Bochlord, Ivayleigh, and
Hockley, consisting of a residence, :igricultural buildings, cottage, and 112a. or. 23p. ol land;
Essex, farm known as Horscplts, comprising farmhouse and homestead, laborers' cottage,
and 43a. 3r. 35p. of arable and nieailow land ; sold lor £2,700. .. , .. ii„i.,„..
By Jlessrs. Ijebenham and TEWsox.-Bcrtliom, Wcsimorelaud. estate, kno^rn as Halccat,
in the manor of Wilhersliick, comprising a residence, witli stabling, farm-house, and build-
ings, cottage, pasture and arable land, In all about 70a. (part copyhold) ; sold f" f^oo-
Wlukfleld Berks, lesldence known as North Lodge, with stabling, outbuildiugs, grounds,
and two pnddocks of meadow laud containing about 5a. ; sold for £1,820.
Winktleld, Berks, cottage with garden ; sold for £1211. t.—jt^h..
JIaidenhead, Berks, cottage with IJa. ol gardens and orchard, known as Isiantt Loage
situate on the banks of the Thames, in the parish of Bray ; sold for £300.
By Jlessrs. Gadsden, WixTEKri-ooD, and Lli.is.— .16, Great Queen s-street, Lmcom s-inn-
flelils.manslon.ofihcestlinatedvalucof 4!135perannum; 8oldfor£l,250. 1, .
By Jlessrs. KesiiwoRTii aud jAiiVis.— 55, I'olaud-street, Oxford-street, residence, lot on
le.-isc for 21 vears from .June 24, 1848, rent per annum £50 ; sold for £960.
Jiy Jlr. jfooBE.— 1 1 . Ilanuleii-nlace, Bethnai-tTecii, dwelling-house ; sold tor £180.
Itagshot, Surrev. cottages, fuel shed, and piece of garden ground ; sold for £150.
Bagshot, cottogcs and "piece of ground ; sold for £60,
534
THE BUILDING NEWS.
Jone21, 1861.
LEASEHOLD.
By Messrs. FJUixvioTimt. Olask. aiid I.ye ;tr, ■Wilton-place, Knightsbrldgc, rcsitlenco,
tenn 62t yiixts flrom Christmas Ust, at a grouiul-reut of sftlti per auuum, rent per onuum
sC**' : sola for £\,Vtk\
Kuigbtifbridge, raiive ofbulldinfrs, estimated to produce £200 per annum, term 67} years,
at the auuual rent of £10; sold for £l,oio.
StabUn; and coach-houses, let at rents aiuonntin^ to £353 69. per annum, same term, at an
amioal rMit of £20: sold (hr 3fs,0(«.
PhUlpVyanU Koi^htsbrldse, leasehold cottages, same term, at an a^aual rent of £8, rent
per annum <90 ; aold fur £7^.
AA^tAninK the above, atabUag, coach-hoose, and'yard, term 30 years, at the clear annual
rest of £100; sold for £1,230.
9. U, and IS, Wellington-square, Chelsea, residences, term 69 years fVom Christmas last, at
iUo each per annum, rents per annum £40, £40, and £45 ; sold for £1,180.
U, liA, 17, and 18, relham-place, Brompton,rbur residences, term 57 years, at a ipY>uud-
rent of £5 per annum each, nuts ]>cranniim£S5,£6S, £63, and £eS; sold for £2,965.
ByMe^rs. Uebekbak atid Tkwson — 38, Union-street, Hoxton New Town, dwelllng-
bonise, term 47 rears, ata grouud-reut of £& lOs., rent per annum £21 ; sold for £175.
40 and 41. Vnion-etreet. two tlwellinn-huuses, same term, at a ground-rent of £' per
annum, rent per annum £30; sold for £170.
4i and 43, unkm-«treet,.two dwelling-houses, same term and ground rent, rent per annum
34, UnliNi-atreM, dwellii^-house, same term, at a'ground-ront of £3 lOs., rent per annum
£14; told Ibr £130.
U, Baglan-terrace, namllton-n^w,nighbur}-, residence, term 31 years fiiom Midstunmer,
ISB, rent per annum £M>, ground- rent per anuum £7 ; s<tld for £470.
By Mes«rs. £l«ood and Son.— 13, Marcaret-street. Cavendish -square, residence, held for
9 years, at a rent of £40 per anuum. let atj^'Oueraimum; sold for £160.
46A'aDd •, Wellt-fttreet, Oxtbrd-street, two houses and Rhops, held for 57 years, at a ground-
rent of £18 per anmnn, let at £lU)^>cr annum ; sold for £'i,t^i90.
aB,Osiiabor^-«tn«t,Beffent*8-park, residence, held fur Gl years, at a ground-rent of £5
per anuamfwltli poeeenion) ; sold fur £A0O.
8a!id4.C&ar)ee-«treet, Baker-street, two bouses, held for u years, ata peppercorn, let on
leaae at £M per aanom ; 8oldfbr£410.
1 and a, Portland-place, Ixiwer road, Islington, two houses and shops, held fbr57 years, at
2» per annum, let at £M per annum ; sold for £.^00.
By Mr. O. A. Smitb.— Ilemul Hempstead Brewery, with residence, brewhouse, plant,
machinery', and foor cottages and gardens, term 12 years from June 1, 1854. rent per annum,
£900; BoiaforfSiMO.
By Mr. G. A. Bbowh.— 4S,43. and 44, Hope-street, Hackney-road, houses, term 45 years,
at a groand rent of £7 per annum, rent per annum £M 12s. ; sold for £320.
3 to 6, Temple-street, five bouses, term 45 years, rent per annum, i71 10s., ground rent
per aannm, £10; sold ft>r £410.
BaR's-iane, Bethaal-green, ten houses, term 7i years, at the net rental of X142 2s. 4d,
per annmn ; sold for £3W.
n and M, Cartdine-street, BatcllfT, two booses, term 24i years, at the net annual rental of
SB IM i sold for ^080.
94 to 27, JioTf^k-sireet, Mile-end, four houses, term opi years, at tho net annual rental of
XBVta.; sold for ^25.
5 and 9, »iendly-place, MUe-end, two houses, term 4^ years, at the net annual rental
orxn ist. ; sold for £1X5.
83, Speocer-street, Church-road, house, term do} years, at the net annua! rental of £12 38. ;
6 OxftvO-terraoe, New-street, bouse, term 451 years, at the net annual rental of £22 178. 6d .;
Br Mr. Mooas^-Bb. as, Klitt-street, Stepney, dweUlng-boose, term 63 years at a ground
nut of £4, rent p«r anann £SS ; aoM for £i»5.
16, Bromley-Street, Commerdal-road, dweUlng-botise, term 46 years, rent per annum £24,
gronnd raM per annum £3; sold fbr £345.
IS, Clawetreet, Stepney, dwelling-house, :
per annum £8 : sold ror £170.
, term 40 years, rent per annum £23, ' groimd rent
,ms —■■■■■■■" g^o ; Bum ivi &i<w.
IIS and 113, Lucas-Street, Commercfal-road, two dwelling-houses, term 30 'years &om
December last, rmt per annnm £48, ground rent per annum £10 ; sold for £240.
l,S,asd 8, Anerley-Tsie, Battersea, dwelling-houses, term 99 years fi-om Uidsommer,
ml; rent per amiui £8888., groandrentper aimum £12; sold for £370.
5, Clapton-square, Hackney, residence, term 23 years from Christmas last, rent per annnm
£4S,gnMiD£ rent per anntan£7; sold for £2S5.
By Messrs. Fosm.— «, Cartnrton-stroet, Fitzroy-sqnare, dwelling house and 'shop, term
88 year» Ow Mldsnmmer, ires, rent per.annnm £60, ground rent per annnm £7 4s.; ^Id
for £885.
18, in.'Jame9*s-place. Hampstead-road, honse, term 97 years from September 29tb, 1811, at
a groond rent of £7 7b. per anuum, rent per annum £38 ; sold for £^40.
as, Meltoo-etreet, Enston-equarc, dwelling bouse, tenn 90 years from September 29th, 1820,
at an annnal rent of £16 lAe. ; st^d for £185.
ByMeairB. Kortoit, UoooaKT, and Tbist.— 8, Upper Woburn-place, Tavistock- square,
•"ttUrreeldence, term 99 years (Vom Michaelmas, laSl, at a net rental of £74 per annum ;
MM nir£l^Q8SL
By Measn. hAMxat and Wood.— 44, Weymoatb-strcet, Portland-place, rcsldenoe, term 11
7«an unexpired- at a rent of £65 per annum ; sold for £200.
»4 andSSa, 2IeIsoa-t«rrace, New Bampstead-road, re«idencc«t, term 99 years from June 24,
1164, rent per annum, £38 each, gronnd rent per annum (■ach,£.'5 lOs. ; sold for ftsoo.
By lleatnp* BosRWoaTH and Jabtis— Sand 3, William -street. She pper ton -street, Islington,
two r^dencca, term 45 years, at a ground rent of £21 per aunum, rent per annum. £52 : sold
lor £988.
By Measrs. LuiaxT.S and 7. James-street, Old-street, St. Luke's, two dwelling houses,
term a* years, at a net rental of £37 ; sold for £100.
COPYHOLD.
By MeSBTt. Habm and YAVOHait.— Lower Norwood, plot of boUdlng land ; sold for £230.
Wreck of a Church. — On Wednesday sen^night a very heavy
tlituider-«tonn swept down the valley of the Ebbw. The rain fell in torrente, and
the lightning was tyiasually vivid. At about 12-45 p.m., the electric fluid
struck the top of the octajfon tum;t, at the N.E. corner of the tower of Publow
church. The top of this turret, which wfu beautifully ornamented with carved
8tone-work, was completely shattered, and the fragments scattered in all direc-
tions. Some of the stones were driven over the churchyard wall, and fell into the
adjoining field, at a distance from the tower of about iifty yards. But we regret
to state that the larger portion of the ruins fell on the church itself, making large
boles in the roofs both of the nave and of the side aisles, and breaking some of
the tiraberB. The inside of the church presented an appearance of ruin and
desolation which was sad to witness. Large fragments of atone lying about tlie
building, several of the scats and book-boardi completely smashed, the aisles and
Mats blocked up with fragments of lathts, tiles, and plastering. The church has
but lately been restored, at a cost of £1 ,200, and was opened in April last.
Everton. — NexcFree Church. — The ceremony ofiaying the foundation-
0toae of the new free church of St. Timothy. Everton, took place a few days ago.
It is estimated tliat the building will cost about £2,700 and will i>e erected from
d«rtKns by Mr. W. H. Gee, of Everton, Mr. James Burrouglis, being the
builder. The church will be of a mixed style of architecture, and \n\\ be built
of brick, with stone dressings, The ground plan consists of nave and chancel,
with tower and spire at the north-west angle. The western front is of very
good desigrn. Here are to ha the north and south entrances, with a large triple
Gothic window, the centre compartment of four iij;htfl with Flamboyant tracery,
and the others of three iifjhts, the heads filled with tracery ofa similar character.
Surmounting this window is a tnjfoil light in the apex of the gable. The tower
will be rather handwme. The northern entrance to tlie church is to Ikj through
the lower part of the tower ; atwv.- this is a belfry window of two lights, and at
the summit is some elegant tracer)'. The spire will be of wood covered with slates,
with lonvres in each face, near the junction with the tower, and surmounted by
a handfiome gilt fioial. The total lieight of the spire will be 00^ feet. The roof is
to be high-pitched and open-timbered The interior will be plain and unpreten-
ding in appenrence, but still replete with every requisite for the performance of
the services. The total length will be 07 feet, the width 65 feet. It will be
lighted principally by skylights, but there will also be a pretty Gothic eastern
window. Beneath this, in the customary position, will be tlie altar, or communion
table, and on either side the pulpit and readiiifjf desk, with a recess on the north
side for an organ, the font being on the soutli side. The fabric will be fitted
throutihou t with open seats, and accommodation is to be provided for between 800
and 1)00 pei-sons.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and comraunlcatious to be addressed to the Editor of the Building News, SO,
Old Roswell-court, St. Clement's, Strand, London.
Tho ii^dltor cannot undertake to return unused manuscripts.
Enquirek (Ely).— Look for a reply next week.
A Student (Co. Cork).— See answer to an " Art-Workman " in our last Number,
A Subscriber (Bristol) .—We have given our opinion, if you believe wrought-lron will be
more suitable, use it ; but do not blame us for the result.
Mr. F. O., T.— Yes, to a very considerable extent, by either heat or cold; we have long since
ceased to recommend its use, unless in very exceptional cases.
K. F. K.— We have received parcel, but tbe promised address is missing. We cannot again
refer to this subject.
N.— Not printed with sufflcient distinctness.
Sidney II — ..—If Sidney H will favor us with his address we will return his
communication.
G. T. S.— Some insight into the aim and objects of the proposed Amalgamation might have
been gained ft-om the remarks in our last Number. In tho Building News for the present
year G. T. S. will find a complete history of the proceedings up to the present time.
T.'R., SuBscitiBEii (Newcastle-on-Tync), J. M., B. E. O., H. S. M.—Thanks for communica-
tions on the above subject : to J. M.;wc may add that we take too great an Interest in, and
arc too fully conviuccd of thetimportance ot the movement to "get tired of it;" besides we
have voluminous evidence that our exertions are ftilly appreciated.
K. S. JH.— Might ijossibly find his views would be met with more favor in another quarter.
T. 51. P.— Yes, it is our intention to report the progress of the work, from time to time.
A SuBETT.— Clearly B would bo llaDle to an action by A, for injury to light. Without looking
at the premises, there can be no doubt of it.
II.— AVe will see what can be done, but are not very hopeful.
A Committeeman.— Illegible.
W. M. I>.- Shall apnear, on receiving name and address.
H.—Wo have repeatedly answered tlie question.
Rev. J. R.~-Ycs, with some modification to meet the particular case.
The 1st June was the date first named, but Her Majesty's Commissioners gave notice on the
eightli insi., that no demand for space, either from local committees or individual exhi-
bitors, in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man, or Channel Islands, will be received after
Tuesday, the ist of October next, and that the allotment of space will then be made on the
returns sent in up to that date. Where (no local committees are formed, provincial appli-
cations for space will be referred to and determined by national or metropolitan trade
committees.
Sia J. L.— Mouldings are not sketched with sufflcient caro and accuracy for us to ftrm an
opinion as to their date.
E. C— We were present, but have little to say, for reasons given.
Hon. Sec— 1. we shall be present if invited. 2. Depends on circumstances.
B. B — Are you quite positive ? Think of it, and let us hear from you again.
H. AKD U.— In type.
L. L. L— Ditto.
X.— No space for such matter.
T. R. W.— All new works shown at tho Exliibition of Building Materials, &c.,wlU be noticed
in our pages.
O. Robehts.— Send a reminder.
Two Builders.- We are doubtful if an action could be maintained on the clause sent* be*
sides, the contract does not appear to be stamped.
O. Y. H.-Nextweek.
J. F. G— Sir Henry de la Beche said, of the more useful granites of Cornwall "There is
much good granite on Dartmoor, though It is not always sufl!icientlv accessible to be carried
long distances ; the chief places where it is worked in large quantities and'afterwards ex-
ported are, Hey or High Tor on the east, and near King Tor ou the west. The granite
iVom the former place is conveyed by a tram-road to the Stover canal, down which it la
carried in boats and afterwards down the Teign to Teignmouth to be shipped for its desti-
nation. That from the west side of tlie moor is convoyed by the l^ince's Town and
Plymouth tram-road to the latterplacc and shipped. The continuation of the Kingston
Down granite is worked up the Tamar. near New Bridge, and exported from Morwellham.
A very hard variety is obtained upon the higher part of the Do^vn, and has been employed
advantageously for pavements." The chief quarries in the eastern or hard part of the
Henslwrough mass of granite are those of the late Mr. Austin Treffrv, up the Par Valley
commonly known as Lostwithiel granite. Extensive quarries are there worked, and the
stone is brought to the head of the canal near Pons-mlll, upou which it is conve^'ed to
Par harbor and there shipped. The Carn Meneiey mass has furnished the granite most
commonly known as Cornish. It is nearly altogether shipped at Penryn, wiiero it is
brought variable distances ftom different quarries in the vicinity, many situated in the
parish of Mabe. Good stone is now raised ana exported from the Cliee>icwrnig and Lamorna
quarries; It may be obtained of large sizes: from Lamoma blocks 121'eot square are readily
obtained, while some have been raised 25 feel in length and 11 lectin diameter. The
following list Is given, showing works which have been constructed entirely or in part of
Cornish granite. Portland Breakwater, Keyham Docks, Commercial Docks I-ondon, the
Hull. Great Western, and iiirkcnhead Docks, and the national works at Chatham and
Portsmouth, together with the Scutari Monument, of Penryn and Lamorna granite. Tlio
plinth for the railings of the British Museum, from the Carnsew quarries, the granite used
in the gate piers from Constantlne. Chceswring granite hjis been used in (he LoiidonDocks,
We^itmlnster-brldge, tlie Thames Embankment, Itochester-lirldge, the Docks at| Copen-
hagen, the Great Basses Lighthouse near the island of Ceylon, and for the tomb of
Wellington in the crypt of Sti Paul's Cathedral. Answer to No. 2next week,
A Reader (Scarborough).— We have such a series in contemplation.
P. C— Thanks for notes ; always glad to receive reliable information.
F. A. Q.— Yes, if suitable.
W. X. A.— We cannot say.
ASUB8caiBEB(Victoria).— If It contains nothing objectionable, but of that wo must judge
for ourselves.
Robert Jameson has scarcely stated his case with sufllcient clearness for us to venture to
advise.
M. O. R,— The Ch^rman announced at the last meeting of the Institute that the members
would be shortly summoned to a special general meeting on the subject of volunt'iry archi-
tectural examinations, and added that tlie Council had received a most valuable document
from the Committee specially appointed to consider the subject ; though some of the points
it contained iiiigbt be open to discussion he must say that a more able document had not
been issued by any committee for many years. That is all we know of the preaout state
of the question.
J!' ' u^" . "^*^ forced to decline ; such applications are by no means unusual.
y.—Shall hear from us when the proper time arrives.
MB. J . s.— Weknow of no Journal iwsides the Building News, which gave more than a
very general notice of the works in the Architectural Exhibition ; our opinion of the draw
ing mnv be learnt by referring to an earlier Number.
B. A. 8. N.— Declined, with thanks.
T* ■^•—**=* J. proof shall be sent.
L. J. v.- We will boar it in mind ; there is ample time.
X.— No.
Chjtic — Report Is substantially correct; which is more than we can say of other accounts.
A. J aintee. -Closes on the 30th instant, admission is free.
A BuiLDEB — Knowing their usolessness we have long ceased to draw attention tosuch com-
plainU. You must submit.
PETABD.-Nextwcek.
G. H. p — Perhaps we shall have a word or two to say on the subject ere long.
Reteived—R. t. L. ; J. Tliomas : R. C. ; C. J. H. T. ; W. ; L. P. O. ; Mr. George O. : H. ;
n-B. ; v.; X. Z.X. ; Gothic or Classic: One who Propftses to Exhibit ; J.; Rev.S. M. L.:
R. Baillle; W. 8.: An Engineer (U.S.); A. (New Shoreham) ; L. K. U.: A Constant
Reader (Portsmouth); M. G. F. (Greenockl ; M. N. O. ; A.Mason; One Present; B.
BOOKS Received.-" Heat in its Relations to Water and Steam," by Charles Wye WilUams—
necond Edition (Longman) ; " Church and Couvontual Arrangement," by M.E. C. Walcott
(Atchley).
June 28, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
535
TRADESMEN'S PERCENTAGE TO ARCHITECTS.
HIl/ principle of trust-worthiness
and fair-uealioij, despite of the
grave violations of it, which have
of late been the themes of public
scandal in our country, may be
said on the whole to very {lenevally
guide our countrymen in the trans-
actions of commerce. There are,
it is true, gigantic insurance and
banking frauds ; and there are the
discoveries of Dr. Hassall — ugly
facts to bear in mind — but then
the public eye is soon brought to
bear on them ; and with an un-
erring tenacity of purpose that,
could it have the like influence on
the commercial dealings of our
Continental neighbours — say for
example on the subjects of the
Gr^nd Sultan — Old Englandwould
probably go well through the ordeal
of a comparison.
Of bribery and corruption,
practised with theobject of acquir-
ing political influence, we have
enough and to spare ; but our laws
forbidding it are not a little severe ; as more than one English con-
stituency is just at this very time ascertaining, to its loss and confusion.
The mind of the State is clearly opposed to such doings. The British
Senator, however unimpeachable his probity, is not permitted to even
take office in our administration, without first rendering back and
becoming re-invested with the trust reposed in him by his constituents;
nor in like manner is he even permitted, without stringent guarantees,
to become a party to any Government contract. Our hands are in
such matters certainly purer than they were in Sir Robert \\'alpole's
days. People in our time raise a storm of indignation about their ears,
by allowing it to be even supposed or insinuated that they are capable
of " taking action " to procure the renewal of a mail contract ; and yet
■we can read with a smile the history of the past, which does not scruple
to tell us that, even our very sovereigns have laid themselves open to
the imputation of descending to accede to grants and look favorably on
petitions
"For 80 much trash, as may be grasped, thus."
" The JleiTy Monarch," when Penn sought in vain by the oifer of
twenty guineas to induce the Clerk of the Privy Council to name his
colony Syloania instead of Pennsylvania (as Charles would have it
called) is thus coolly assumed by Peim's biographer* to have been quite
capable of acceding to the modest Quaker's request, had he ofiered his
guineas to the king instead of to his clerk.
We live then, let us trust — or at least our kings and statesmen live
— in days of greater probity and disinterestedness. If anything can
be accounted potent enough to disturb them, it is surely that under-
current of percentage and commission-taking, which is becoming so
rife amongst us ; and which we see our contemporary, the Saturday
Jleview, has taken up as a theme for one of its trenchant Philippics.
We intend to follow in our contemporary's wake this weelc ; and to
say something on the alleged increasing custom of architects so far
forgetting what is expected of them, as well as what is due to the
dignity of their calling, as to consent to receive — nay, sometimes to
exact — commissions and fees, without any professional service or
consideration, from tradesmen. No one will suspect us of over
partiality for the Royal Institute of British Architects. We have few
courtesies to acknowledge from the hand of that body of gentlemen;
and, what is, perhaps, of more conse(iucnee to the general body of
English architects, wo have no connexion whatever with the Institute,
of whose doings — or rather lack of doings to a useful purpose — we are
quite accustomed to speak our mind ; but this week we desire to enlist
the favorable attention of all respectable architects to the Institute's
proceedings of the 10th inst.
The Chairman of the meeting, Mr. Digby Wyatt, announced that,
the Committee for considering the question of the diploma or of
voluntary architectural examinations had presented their report to
the Oiuucil. It will, no doubt, be an interesting document ; but it is
not that which we desire to discuss. Mr. Wyatt made some other
observations of even greater interest to the building public and to the
profession. There is something irresistibly droll in the trade circular
of the gaslittcr evoking such a grave reprimand from the chair of the
Institute; but we must, at the same tune, admit that it is of no sliglit
advantage to the architects of this country to have a body of their
fraternity agreed as one man, to repel, by the mouth of its chairman,
* Mr. Hepworth Dixon.
such a very cool proposal as the 'one in question. A solitary architect
receiving such a circular would wonder how far his brethren were
really committed to such a system of doing business ; and to settle such
a doubt seems to us the especial province of such a body as the Institute.
Here are Mr. Wyatt's observations : —
Tiie other subject, which he was desirous of brinsting under the notice of the
meeting was one of (?reat importance, as affecting the honor and dignity of tlie
proression. One of the Secretaries of the Institute had received a circular from
a certain firm of gas engineers and fitters, stating that, their profits were 30 per
cent., and that they were willing to share that profit with any arcliitects, who
iniglit assist them in getting orders. He sincerely lioped that tlie cii-cular had
not found an echo with any of the jwrsons to whom it had been addressed. One
or two communications of a similar character liad previously been brouglit under
notice ; and insinuations were thrown out that, those who sent them had good
reason for doin^ so : however that might be, he had only to say, on belialf of the
Council that, if it could be satisfactorily proved to them tliat any Fellow or
Associate had responded to any such circular, they would, in pui-suance of the
bye-laws, expel hira. The Chairman then read one of the bye-laws of tlie
Institute, which empowered the Council to expel any member tbuiid guilty of
any Act which was derogatory to the dignity of the profession."
There can be lio question that, such a proposal as the one here
animadverted on, richly merited the snub official of the Institute. If
architects are, in the way proposed by this gas-fitter, to participate in
the profits of the tradesmen whom they are paid to control, the sooner
the public get rid of their services the better. We can only say that,
if there be any valid ground for the insinuation to whieli Mr. Wyatt
alluded, things must have come to a pretty pass, when every architect,
like a housemaid, must needs keep his " fat-pot and bone-basket " for
perquisites of this kind. We cannot believe that architects as a body
are in the habit of yielding to such a foul system of peculation. Pro-
bably the tradesman who issued the circular is a young beginner, un-
acquainted with architects, but anxious to push his trade by an
ingenious device. There are doubtless plenty of gas-fitters in the
metropolis, who are well satisfied with a trade profit of 20 per cent. :
— well, here comes an enterprising tradesman who, knowing that
architects are paid (so says the Institute) 5 per cent, for seeing their
client's money fairly laid out, ofi'ers the architects, who will secure him
a profit of 30 per cent., a quiet share of the — the — ifie swag : — a quiet
share it must be observed ; one which the client shall know nothing
about, and that ignorance is the very essence of the transaction; for,
once entered into, the unlucky architect is rendered powerless to com-
plain of bad work or heavy day bills. He is at once ^reduced to the
condition of poor Sir Balaam in Pope's lines ; and
" all the deemon makes his full descent
In one abundant show'r of cent per cent,"
for which Sir Architect's certificate must, when demanded, be forth-
coming ; or how is he to realise his share of the profit — worse still, how
is he to keep the irate tradesman from exposing the whole transaction
to the client ?
We do not remember to have ever encountered so very cool a proposi-
tion as this one of the gas-fitter's ! Over and over again we have heard of
tradesmen sending turkeys, geese, and other such hons bans to archi-
tects' houses ; when, the gude-man being aica\ and the contraband
dainties being stored fairly in his larder, there has been left him
nothing but Sir Robert Peel's "two courses" — either to swallow the
affront, or to wage household war with materjilias. She, good soul,
knows notliing of certificates ; and can't for the life of her comprehend
" other people's " squeamish affectation. We are not altogether pre-
pared to say the lady is in the wrong ; but this we will aver of archi-
tects, that there are very many, who are disposed to make mouths at —
aye and "bones" of, these surreptitious turkeys. AH architects'
susceptibilities are not alike : some will treat such questions (we speak
of this turkey question^ as a good joke, and gulp it down without
compunction ; while with others it is not so. There can be little doubt
that, when the Chairman of the Institute meeting wound up his obser-
vations in re gas-fitter by the stern announcement that, the Council
was empowered " to expel any member found guilty of any act which
was derogatory to the dignity of the profession," there were not a few
good soids amongst his hearers, who heaved a half terrified sigh of
compunction, at the thought of the builders' turkey, that was last
Christmas obtruded upon their dinner table.
The whole question of commissions and percentages for doing
nothing is easily disposed of. Every architect who exacts or accepts
such things from a tradesman may be justly scouted by his brethren.
It is not enough that an architect content himself with taking them and
handing them over to his client, as we have heard is the custom of some
architects ; if they ought to be taken at all— and the Institute says
thei/ must not be — it should be only with the previous sanction of the-
employer; a condition that would necessarily deter tradesmen from
making the ofler at all.
But at the same time it ought not to be forgotten that, architects
as a class are an exceedingly ill-paid body of men. They are not only
verv much in the habit of doing a great deal of work for nothing ;
but they are too frequently made the victims of the existing system of
payment by percentage on their clients' outlay. There are very many
536
THE BUILDING NEWS.
trays in which this great injury is imposed on them ; as by a client
finding bis own materials, by the client delaying to proceed with the
■ structure, by the bankruptcy of the contractor, or by the abandonment
of the design altogether ; for all which contingencies the 5 per cent.
rule of the Institute of Architects makes no provision whatever. We
all know that, under certain circumstances by no means uncommon,
an architect may be worried out of his life — be made to attend com-
mittee on committee and be called on to conform to instructions,
variable as the wind, for a paltry fee of 5 per cent, on an equally
paltry outlay of money.
Under cireumstaocM like these, we think it would be well if the
Coancil of the Institute ot Architects would define clearly what acts
are and are not " derogatory to the dignity of the profession ;" i'or we
know that, amongst architects there is a very wide discrepancy of
opinion on this topic — especially in all that relates to professional
charges. Some architects are in the constant habit of computing and
charging for their own quantities, while others consider it undignified
to have aught to do with the quantities ; other architects decline to
proride more than two sets of drawings (originals and duplicates) ; if
a third set is needed they call on the contractor to provide it, or they
have its cost incorjiorated in his tender ; while others again deem such
a course infra dignitatem, and would consent to make drawings till
Doomsday, rather than claim any addition to the " 5 per cent, sanctioned
by the Institute," and so on.
It is well — very well — that the Council of the Institute should have
the power of expelling unworthy members ; but we would seriously
deprecate their use of that power under conditions which, to say the
beat of them, appear exceedingly vague and ill-defined. It is we think
an inquisitorial power, likely some day to become abused, or be
r^arded with suspicion ; and this we should certainly deplore. Let
the Institute appoint a Committee to re-consider their valuable bye-
law, and assist the Council in more clearly declaring, what acts of its
pwnbers are " derogatory to the dignity of the profession," for which
it ia so Uudably solicitous. The task would perhaps prove a trouble-
some one ; but it is just such tasks as this that the Institute, as we
conceive, ought to undertake and bring to a satisfactory issue.
GAS.— THE BRITISH MUSEUM AND THE ELECTRIC LIGHT.
TO the stadions it has often been a subject of regret that the vast re-
sources of the British Museum are not available at that part of the
day when alone many persons, engaged in business during ordinary
Inuinets hours, can command time for reading ; and the proposal to light
tlMC. MBscam, or at least to light the reading-room with gas, has been
wdeemed atpiomiiing, should it be carried into effect, to offer a much-
coretod opportunity for making use of the national library by night.
It is understood that the trustees have decided not to accede to tliis
proposal, and that the hbrary and collections are to remain as they have
hitherto been— acceesible only by daylight. Disappointing as this decision
canMtfailtobctomany, we are yet convinced that the trustees have
acted prudently and properly, and as an opposite opinion has been ex-
pretsed pretty freely, we may be permitted to offer a few observations, as
well upon the nature and objects of the British Museum Library and its
*'**5if°^lff "P"" •"*'' """^ '''^ disadvantages inseparable from its use.
iiJP"^ ^^ °*^ "'* British Museum cannot he regarded in the same
llgfct as any of the other collections of books ordinarily accessible to readers.
Itbas in the reference library, placed in the reading-room, a collection of
books of reference on ahnost every subject, that would of itself alone form
a lemarkable collection. To these every reader can help himself at plea-
sure, and access at night to these would be eo highly desirable that were
u ij 1*"*°°**'*^ '"'"'"" "'* '■e"'a>nder of the collections and books, we
should be among the mo»t uncompromising advocates of the step under
discussion. But this large collection, said to number over 20,000 volumes,
IS but an adjunct and accessary to the main part of the library, and the
wuuap^ and most important function of that establishment could be
tboroiighly well performed without it. The Museum library is in reality
■sort Talnable as a collection of authenticated copies of all books published
in Orcat BnUm, and as containing a vast mass of Written and printed
Matter of great rarity and value. Few printed books conspicuous for
Melr scarcity or their antiquity are absent from its shelves, though very
■«By works of practical value, and likely to be in frequent demand among
•OMititic or tptcial readers, are not to be found there. This remark ap-
paes. of course, chiefly to foreign works, as a copy of every English
^iished book IS of necessity sent to the Museum, and is there
o/™fSfY* ^\*^l '*""' *•■'* Wbrary is, to a certain extent, one composed
fhJ?1ri^'.{I '""^'' ?"■" I^yond the range of the ordinary student, and also
tnatit IS the depository of authentic information in the shape of deposited
taStLiw/^Hi 7"'"'"'^ replacing of which would be in manfcases
^P^^J^'^j °f """""cripts which, of course, once burnt would be ir-
«.«!lt''^i!;,!,M'".l.'lT *''"' ^^V^ precaution which scrupulous care can
daSSeor erin fr,t .? "} «<J". »« P«serve these preciois volumes from
h^A^- ». I S . "■* •".*'' "f ■'- ^-x^ " '' "«" <■«!' t° add that this must
P^h.r^ i? ™« t^f'""'' *r" "■ '' '"'"=" »>'«^' "'<= "<• ">e library ?
Te^?oVS^T, •""■', "'''^''"'"•*'^ <""''" "'■K'^^'l '>"'' the class of
n»der., for whom such a hbrary u specially useful, can most of them visit
June 28, 1861.
it in the daytime. Those occupied in the various branches of literature
ordinarily, are able to arrange the hours of their occupations for them-
selves, and these will always form the most important, perhaps the most
numerous, class of readers.
We say, then, advisedly, if there is any risk of injury to the books by
their being open for public use at niglit, by all means let them be kept shut
up; the readers, who will make the best use of the best parts of the collec-
tion, will visit them in the daytime, and of those who would have come at
night, a fair proportion— nay, a large one— will be in search of books which
are to be met with as well in other libraries as in the Museum, and
to afford access to which is neither the only nor the principal duty of this
library.
Let us inquire, then, whether the alarm is well founded or not.
Mr. Smirke, the architect of the Museum, and the late Mr. Braidwood, who
was supposed (with some reason) to know more about fires, or, at least, the
fires in the metropolis, than anyone else, gave an unfavorable reply when
asked if they considered the introduction of gas advisable. Mr. Braidwood
observed, "that the use of gas desiccates everything within its reach,
especially ceilings, rendering them mucli more inflammable;" and Mr.
Smirke added his testimony to the difficulty, if not impossibility, of
attaining absolute security against escape, however elaborate or ingenious
the prec.iutions taken. The one of these objections points to a risk of
ordinary fire; the other, to the danger of fire in its most destructive and
horrible form— explosion, for common gas mixing with the atmosphere
in certain proportions, affords the identical combination of gases which has
so often devastated our coal pits.
There can be few, we think, of our non-professional readers, and there
are probably none of those in any way connected with building, who can-
not recall some instances of the destruction of, or serious damage to
buildings by gas explosions or by fires, that it seemed probable had their
origin in the use of gas, and many will be able also to recall narrow
escapes from destruction of buildings where this useful but subtle illumi-
nator is in use. Within our own knowledge the most important, and,
perhaps, the best cared for of all the public buildings of the metropolis
was saved from fire from this cause solely by the good nose and energy of
one of its principal officers, who fancying he smelt fire insisted upon the
immediate examination of a part of the establishment which had been
locked up for the night, and the keys of which were not on the premises.
A forgotten gas-jet not absolutely turned off, and raised by the extra
pressure which always comes on after shops are all closed, was found to be
igniting the woodwork in its immediate neighbourhood. And an hour,
perhaps half an hour, of delay would have been infallibly followed by a
disastrous conflagration !
There ought to be no such risk as this introduced into the British
Museum where, though the building is solid and in many parts fire-proof,
the contents are many of them inflammable and peculiarly liable to injury
from the water which would be thrown upon them.
But is the use of gas the only way of illuminating the reading-room ?
We say not, and add that when science has provided an illuminating
power at once brilliant and central, and which could be exhibited from the
centre of the dome of the reading-room without risk, it is a disgrace for
it not to be employed. Of course we refer to the electric light, an
expedient which must have presented itself to the minds of our readers,
or of any readers, at once. The suggestion has, indeed, been thrown out
already, but in such a way as to show that the possibility of its adoption
was not seriously contemplated. Here we differ toto ctclo. All who
witnessed the displays of the electric light which took place last winter
on Westminster-bridge, and which have taken place in various parts of
the metropolis, must be aware that it is an illuminator of extraordinary-
power and of almost excessive brilliancy.
Now there are few buildings existing where such a light could possibly
be brought to bear or employed at all, but the Museum reading-room is
precisely one of those very few buildings; lighted already by a single
central opening, and already Turnished with ground glass to shade the
direct rays of the sun, and lofty enough to secure the equable diffusion of
the light introduced at the top, it offers every facility for the employ-
ment of the electric light. No communication with gas mains, and no
risk of introducing explosive mixtures into any or every part of the
Museum is incurred, as the apparatus could be placed entirely above the
building. Fortunately, too, the facilities for approach are such that, if
thougiit right, the entrance to the reading-room (which is in a perfectly
straight line) might be illuminated by a second electric light under the
portico, but outside the building, so as entirely to avoid the introductioa
of any combustible.
This illumination would not extend to the vast galleries and rooms
where books are kept, and these we think ought not to be attempted to
be illuminated ; let them be consulted by daylight, but let the reading-
room, with its collection of reference works — enlarged if found needful —
be thrown open to readers having tickets of admission. A very small
force of librarians would be all that could be required to regulate the
supply of hooks and assist readers, and a very great benefit would un-
questionably be secured.
The only drawback is the acknowledged imperfections of the electric
light; but what of them, science can overcome the defects such as they
are, and for a purpose like t' is the best efforts of our best men ought to
be called forth. The electric Hght is too concentrated and too dazzling for
ordinary purposes, with the exception, perhaps, of lighthouses. There has
consequently been little spur to induce men of science really to labor at it,
but now that so promising a field is open, and [that a call so urgent is
made for its improvement,. it is not too much to require that science and
June 28, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
537
skill of the highest kind should be engaged by the Government upon the
perfecting of this magnificent illuminator, in order that a fresh oppor-
tunity in.iy be offered for the light of knowledge to illuminate the toil-
worn minds of those to whom at present this great establishment is per-
force inaccessible. K. S.
MAUSOLEUM OF THE DUCHESS OF KENT, FEOGMORE.
IN a few days the mortal remains of the late much-respected and sin-
cerely regretted mother of the Queen will be transferred to the mausoleum,
whicli was built during the latter years of her life, in the grounds at
Fropniore, within view of the mansion, and where she closed her well-
regulated and tranquil life. It was at the Duchess of Kent's own request
that the little temple was erected, and during its progress she frequently
visited and took a warm interest in the works.
Tlie design was prepared, and its execution superintended, by Mr. A. J.
Humbert, of Pitzroy-square. It is circular on plan, with an inner diameter
of 12 feet. It is built of Portland stone, rusticated, and is surrounded Ijy
an Ionic peristyle of 1 6 columns— polished monoliths of Penryn marble,
10 feet 4 inches high. The capitals and bases are of gun-metal.
The doorway is enclosed by a simple moulded arcliitrave. The "gates
are of bronze, and enriched by Scriptural bas-reliefs by Theed.
Three Portland steps lead to the platform of the peristyle.
Tlie upper moulding, of the Ionic Order, is decorated with bronze heads,
and vases of either bronze or granite will be placed over each column
upon it.
The cornice of the cella or drum of the building is 3 or 4 feet above the
encircling colonnade, and is crowned with acroteriaj of impanelled bronze.
The frieze is formed of polished red Aberdeen granite, enriched with bronze
festoons. The temple is covered by a copper dome, with a balustrade at
the summit.
The building was erected by Messrs. I' Anson, of Cirencester-place;
Messrs. Robinson and Co., of Pimlico, supplied the bronze castings.
We understand that Mr. Theed is engaged upon a statue of the deceased
lady, which will be placed in the interior, over her grave.
ENAMEL PICTURES ON GLASS.
PHOTOGRAPHERS have until recently done nothing towards the
decoration of the several materials of which our liouses are built.
They have provided pictures for the walls of the apartments and produced
representations of buildings— ancient and modern — scattered over the
earth's surface. They have aided the architect by making him familiar
with the best works of all ages, and furnished his portfolio with the
clioicost examples of art, but they have not incorporated tlieir work with
the buildings themselves. Almost all other inventions contribute some-
thing to onp or other of tlie building trades, and at length the art of
photography is pressed into their surface by the beautiful and original
application of M. Joubert. Glass, which has contributed so much to the
pliotograplier's successful production of pictures upon paper is now itself
decorated. The process is so ingenious, tlie results are so satisfactory, and
the sphere of its usefulness so extended, that we think it right to draw
the attention of all practical men to it.
At the mention of photography, the ghosts of faded sun-pictures are
apt to rise significantly before our readers, and shadows of departed
beautie." to mock tliem with their ghastliness, but we will quickly dispel
them all by at once stating that the invention of M. Joubert excludes
those ingredients which interfere with the permanency of the produced
image. The only ingredient left after the last washing on the glass
has an affinity with it, and being placed in a kiln is burnt in and
thoroughly amalgamated with it. Its durability is, therefore, established,
and its marked difference from all other processes of photographic
printing will be at once evident by a brief description of the several
operations.
For an ordinary photograph a negative picture of the subject is, of course,
required to print it with. By M. Joubert's recently patented process any
print— photographic or other— any device, design, drawing, or engraving,
can be at once transferred.
The subject to be copied is rendered transparent by waxing. The glass
which is to receive tlie image is then coated with a thin solution of
bichromate of ammonia, honey, albumen, and distilled water. The plate is
dried upon a gas-stove and placed with the waxed print in an ordinary
photographic printing frame ; after a minute or two's exposure to the light
it receives a faint negative image. It is then powdered with enamel color
which adheres to the slightly tacky surface of portions of tlie coating on
the plate and a positive picture is the result. The image is fixed by alcohol,
and being subsequently immersed in water, the whole of the original
coating is removed, the enamel being deposited through it and remaining
in immediate contact with the surface of the glass. The plate is then left
to dry, and on being burnt in a kilu, the enamel blends with and becomes
an integral portion of the glass plate. There can be no question, tlierefore
of its durability ; as long as the glass lasts it will last. The chief quality
It possesses iin common with photography is the most important one of
faithful transcription; every line and shade of the original print "bein"-
faithfully preserved upon the glass. , °
The importance of such a discovery can scarcely be estimated, so large
13 the field already open for its application. It will not of course interfere
with original paintings on glass. The exercise of the highest branch of
the art will no more be eclipsed by it than the art of oil painting is
diminished by that of engraving, but those dwellings in which original
first-class works cannot, on account of their expense, be introduced, will
be cheaply enriched with works of real art produced by this process,
instead of being disfigured by the masses of tasteless color, and the hideous
subjects spread upon transparent blinds. Library windows may be deco-
rated with portraits — domestic or public — views of scenery, &c., at ».
trifling cost. No matter how elaborate the picture, it can with the same
facility and at the same expense, be furnished to us. It can also bo
alternated with plain glass, or with glass bearing a geometric pattern. The
subjects can be enlarged or reduced without diminishing their accuracy.
In the formation of screens it will likewise no doubt be largely employed ;
in the fittings of shops, the decoration of lamps, and iu fact in every line
of decorative art where painted glass has been used, it will not only
economise labor but produce such work as no hand labor can, by any ex-
penditure of time, perform.
Several examples, although by no means the best, are to be seen at Mu
Baillie's stained glass warehouse iu Wardour-street, who will readily show
them to all who are interested in this beautiful discovery.
Mr. H. R. iVEWTON'S THAMES EMBANKMENT SCHEME.
IN explanation of the design which the summary description in the Royal
Academy catalogue left vague and indefinite, on the occasion of our notice
of the works exhibited, we are asked to say that the scheme proposes — Ist, that
from half-way between Blackfriars and Soutliwark-bridges to the Horseferry at
Lambeth ; a viaduct or causeway should be placed on both sides of the river 700
feet apart, and being 60 feet broad if without, and 100 feet if with houses, the
piers of causeway varying from 20 feet from centre to centre, to as much as
(under the roadway only) 50 or 60 feet, and this merely at certain points for
special reasons. 2nd. By running a construction (in which the intercepting low-
level main sewer could be placed) through the causeway, and keeping the crown
of it 7 feet or any other depth below Trinity high-water mark, the water on the
bank sides would not 'all away below that point. For the regular variation of
high tide special openings would also be formed, being, in fact, the openings for
larger craft. 3rd. The roadway to pass over and under all the bridges, so as to
prevent, as much as possible, cross traffic from impeding the thoroughfares.
4th. The extra construction for houses would be more than self-paying, from the
ground rents to be produced thereby. The Government would, however, probably,
if that part of the construction were carried out, retain a very large portion for
their own and public requirements to au extent possibly equal to half the viaduct
on both sides of the river.
Mr. Newton's drawings are charmingly executed, and appear to deserve fur-
ther consideration.
ME. WM. COOKE'S SYSTEM OF VENTILATION.
A LECTURE was delivered on Saturday evening at the Marylebone Literary
and Scientific Institution, Edward-street, Portman-square, " On Ventila-
tion," before a numerous and highly respectable audience, by Mr. Pepper,
wlio is well known in the scientific world from his former connexion with the
Polytechnic Institution, of which he was a great ornament. The lecturer, at
great length, accompanying his remarks by illustrative experiments, spoke of the
modes of ventilation adopted from the most remote times down to the present
day, passing under review the plans of Dr. Arnott, Profes.=or Faraday, and Dr.
Reid, whose connexion with the Houses of Parliament ventihition is well known.
The chief object of the lecture, however, was to show the great superiority of a
system of ventilation invented by Mr. Cooke, civil engineer, of Spring-gardens,
which affords a simple means of obtaining ventilation in public buildings,
dwelling-houses, carriages, and ships, without admitting dust or draught. The
invention of Mr. Cooke, which has been patented, is intended to meet, and has
been proved effectively to meet, the present defective state of ventilation. The
invention contains, amongst other advantages, the following : — that it can be
applied to all existing windows, that its adoption is followed by gi-eat advantages
iu sick rooms during the night, that under its operation every window becomes a
ventilator, that there is a constant and certain escape of vitiated air, and con-
tinuous admission of pure air, day and night ; that windows may be kept always
open without danger. Sec, kc. The apparatus of Mr. Cooke's patent is a very
simple but a most invaluable one. It consists of a few folds of wire gauze fitted
to the sash, either above or below, it matters not wlijch, and thus excluding dust
and draughts, while it allows the vitiated air to pas=; off and admits a constant
supply of oxjgenised atmosphere from the outside. The principle is precisely
that of the respirator and the miner's safety-lamp. For a single pound the
opprobrium and danger of a foul room, be it sick room or otherwise, may be
completely obviated, night and day, and with no danger whatever to the most
delicate. When out of use the apparatus is out of sight, though, when in sight,
it is not unsightly, and may be made an object of attractiveness. It is, suscep-
tible, too, of endless modifications, being readily adapted to churches, hospitab,
factories, shops, and all other situations, and capable of being fitted so as to be
either movable with the glass or stationary, and on the inside or the outside, as
may be required. The ingenious invention of Mr. Cooke, which we feel certain
will command the approval of all classes in this country, is now brought pro-
minently before the public by the National Ventilation Company, of Charing-
Cottinghum. — New Primitive Methodist Chapel. — The Primitive
Methodists of this neighbourhood have so far extended their operations of late as
to necessitate the building of another chapel in whicli to hold their services, the
present one being found far too small for that purpose. The following is a de-
scription of the building ; — It is to be of the Italian style of architecture, built
of brick, and capable of seating 350 persons. There will be two entrances in the
front, the interior will be galleried on three sides, and for the preacher a rostrum
more in the shape of a platform than a pulpit will be provided. The fittings will
be of red wood, and the cominunion-fable will be enclosed by an ornamental iron
railiujT. There is to be a vestry behind the chapel, and there is ground suffi-
cient for the erection of schoolrooms.
538
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 28, 1861.
VANDALISM I\ OXFORD.
SIR,— It is currently n>ported that Morton College Library is likely fo be de-
stroyed, in order to make use of tlie ground for more accommodation for under-
graduates. But althoupli I am sorry to find it is true that such a thing has been
seriously proposed, wliich at first appeared to me altogether incredible, I cannot
believe that there is any real probability of its lieing carried out. It is so obvious
to every educated man that such a proceeding would be a dis^Taeeto the College,
and would fix indelibly the stigma of ignorance upon every one who had a hand
in it, that no society of gentlemen can possibly agree to it "in these days.
Within the last few months the Professor of Modem Historv inOxford has
Tery properly called the attention of that university to the fact that the buildings
of every country are an important part of its history, and this is pre-eminently
the case with the buildings of England, which have a more marked and decided
national character than those of any other country. The University of Oxford
has been compelled to admit the " History of England " as a part of' the educa-
tion of a gentleman, sorely asrainst the will of a few lingering members of the
old school, who still consider that no other history but that of ancient Greece is
worthv of a moment's attention: that a gentleman may look with scorn upon any
one who would attempt to call his attention to any of the details connected with
the history of his own country, or to the fact that such a person as Edward III.
was once King of England, and that the buildings erected in the time of that
monarch are an essential part of the history of England during his reign. We
have abundance of churches and chapels of that jjcriod, but we have compara-
tively very few other buildings, and, like the Sybil's leaves, their value increases
in proportion to their rarity. Merton College Library is one of the most
imiwrtant historical monuments that we have still remaining. It was built
during the reign of that monarch, about the middle of the fourteenth century,
by William Rede, Fellow of the College, afterwards Bishop of Chichester, carry-
ing out a part of the design of the original architect of the college. It is the only
libraiy of that period now existing in England, or, I believe, in Europe; it forms
two sides of the earliest college quadrangle in existence anywhere, the other two
•ides being a few years earlier than the Librarv-, but evidently part of the same
fCeneral design with the chapel, the treasury," the hall, the'kitchen, and the
warden's lodge.
This venerable and remarkable historical monument, the most ancient and the
most interesting domestic building in Oxford, is really an important part of the
history of tlie IJniversity ; it is the best and most tangible evidence of the anti-
quity of the collegiate S)-stem. Its destruction would be a far greater injury to
historical truth, a greater proof of ignorance and incapacity, then the burning
the most important and valuable historical manuscript of the period, with all its
brilliant illuminations; because of the manuscript there would probably
be duplicates existing, of the building tliere is no duplicate, it is absolutelv
unique.
It i« stated that Mr. Buckler has refused to have anything to do with such a
disgraceful job as this proposed destruction, and it is much to his credit. I trust
that any of the numerous noblemen and gentlemen wlio can appreciate the value
of our English architecture and have occasion to emplov an architect, will bear
in mind that there is at least one member of the profession who has had the
courage to refuse to pander to the ignorance and bad taste of his employers, and
who, I believe, has kept himself poor all his life by being in advance of his age
and refusing, steadily, though quietly, to lend himself to similar acts of Van-
dalism.
I am sorrj- to say that such conduct forms a rare exception to the usual prac-
tice of the profession. It is the general rule of the architectural profession, even
of fti most eminent members, never to refuse a job, and always to lead on their
employers to spend as much money as they can, for the good of trade, witliout
canng whether it is really necessary or not, or whether it will do good or harm.
Of course almost every architect thinks his own work the best, and has no doubt
he can build something better than what our ancestors built, and if he could erase
the whole history of England and write it all afresh in his own language he
would glory in doing so.
It appears that Mr. Butterfield has consented to act in this matter, and lend
his hand to this destruction ; or, as his friends say in excuse for him, he has con-
sented to pull down only half the Librarj-, forming one side of the quadrangle,
and rebuild it, only turning that half the other way. This appears to me to be
adding insult to injury. Who would thank him for a copy of a picture by Guido
after be had destrojecl the original? Would not the attempt to substitute one
for the other be considered as a gross imposture and an insult to the understanding
of the persons whom he attempted to impose upon ? It is not the first time that
Mr. Butterfield has lent himself to pander to the ignorance of some of the mem-
bers of this college ; he has already destroyed a very good panelled ceiling of the
fifteenth centurj- in this chapel, and substituted for it the ugliest ceiling that
ever was contrived, and all Mr. Pollen's skill in painting it has not succeeded in
concealing the uglinei'S of the form.
If half the labor and pains had been bestowed on painting the old ceiling, it
would have been ten times more effective, as may be seen by the admiration al-
wa>s expressed for the general effect of the panelled ceiling of the Bodleian
Liorary, because, late at it is, and ijad as the details are, it has preserved the
tradition of the medieval style of painting. Again, the recent revival of another
•tyle of medieval coloring in the ceiling of Brasennose chapel is generally ad-
mired, and tliLs has rescueid tliat ceiling from destruction. The mania for open
S" 1? '™''* '""^ ^"^^ nearly succeeded in destroying this ceiling, when Mr.
BucUer snggwted to try the effect of color, and succeeded in saving it : although
of a late period it was worth saving. The beautiful timber-roofs of the middle
•m^ much and to justly admired, are in reality, for the most part, only
raminol an ornamental character, having a plain outer roof over them ; at
T^VSS J*!!!!* " "''*" *''* '^'"* *■' *'■"' •'"' actual outer timbers are shown.
tJIt^ being made at this moment in the hall of New College, where a new
j^fv ^°T","i' ?", '^* '™""'' '■"o'' '« no' original, although perfectly sound
yd of the original height, no great liarm Is done in leading on the college to
throw away some hundreds of pounds; nothing of any historical value will thus
be destroyed.
At Mnton the rase te vei? different. If the Library is destroyed every educated
man in Europe wdl point the finger of scorn at the ignorant perp.;trator9 of the
deal ; every girl m ber teens who has been educat.id in a decent hoarding-school
will laugh at them ; for some knowledge of the hUtory of Gothic architecture has
become a part of education in all young ladies' schools of any distinction. Our
daughters are taught to understand that the buildings of England are an im-
portant part of its history and are astonished to hear of the ignorance of their
lathers.
Our neighbors over the channel will chuckle over such a piece of John Bullism.
Wliile they are spending hundreds of thousands on the presL-rvation of those his-
torical monuments which form a part of the glory of France, England allows hers
to be daily destroyed before her eyes, and will hardly spend a penny to save them.
Of course we shall hear the usual excuses of rubble "walls, bad construction, bad
state of the roof, want of repairs, &c., &c., the falsehood of which is best known
by the architects themsclyes,'who take advantage of those pretexts to destroy a
building which has stood for five hundred years, and would stand for another
five hundred with decent care and the slight necessary repairs from time to
time.
As a considerable sum is now about to be spent on the improvement of the
buildings of Merton College, it is to he lioped that a new brewhouse will not be
forgotten, and that it will no longer be necessary to use the sacristy of their chapel
for that purpose, as has been done for the last century. A oetter place for their
college bakehouse than their ancient treasury miglit also be found.
That therooms under the library,'and others not originally intended for dwelling-
rooms, may be found dark, damp, and unwholesome, is very possible ; but other
means of supplying better accommodation for undergraduates might readily be
found without destroying the old buildings. The college has abundance of other
ground, or Alban Hall, which naturally belongs to it, might, with great advantage
to all parties, be restored to it. Where there is a will there is a way, it is the wish
to destroy the venerable old buildings to make way for something more smart that
is at the bottom of this proposal. While the spirit of iraproveniciit is moving, the
college hall should not be forgotten, its present bald state, as left by Wyatt, is
lament.able. The old door, with its beautiful ironwork, is all that now remains
to testify what the hall once was); just enough to show.that it was^of the same age
and styie as the chapel.
About forty years ago one side of the cloister of Magdalen College was pulled
down in order to open a fine view of the chapel and hall from the windows of the
new building, in which the Fellows' rooms are situated. This was done by order of
a small number of the Fellows who happened to be in Oxford at the beginning of
the long vacation. When the larger body returned in October, they were greatly
surprised to find a large part of the college levelled with tlie ground, and im-
mediately ordered it to be built up again exactly as it was before ; and this was
done, as well as the skill of the workmen enabled them to do it. Of course this
made good for trade ; but the same Mr. Buckler, who now refuses to dirty his
fingers at Merton, acted in the same manner then, and although quite a young
man at that time, actually had the impudence to print and publish an exact
account of what had taken place, embodying it in a very good Architectural His-
tory of the College.
Such a work was premature ; the public at that time were incapable of
understanding or appreciating it; the young man must be punished for his pre-
sumption, and lost a great part of the practice which the merits of his father
and grandfather would naturally have brought to him. It is clear that he is too
honest for his profession, he does not pay sufficient attention to the good of trade.
He was able to see that the money was not only wasted, but worse than wasted,
it was spent in destroying a valuable original work, and substituting^i bad copy
for it. His indignation at this ignorant mischief, and his genuine love of ancient
art, would not allow him to remain silent ; this want of prudence almost ruined him.
There is no fear that many members of his profession will follow his example, they
will rather take warning from the punishment inflicted on him, and pocket their
indignation, if they feel any. Let us hope that the.Fellows of Merton will not make
such fools of themselves as those of Magdalen did in the last generation. One of
the objects now proposed at Merton is the same as was proposed at Magdalen, to
open a fine view of the chapel; let ns hope that the warning will be taken, and
that " Mob Quadrangle " will not be destroyed. It is in this hope that the present
letter is written ; it is because I have a sincere respect and regard for the Warden
and Fellows of Merton, that I would endeavour to save them, while there is yet
time, from making such a mistake. Let them not act hastily. Surely before so
grave a step is taken, the former Fellows of the College, such men as Sir
Edmund Head and Bishop Hobhouse, ought to be consulted. Do not let them,
in their distant homes, be made to feel ashamed of the College so long dear to their
remembrance.
F.S.A.
OXFORD ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETT.
AT a special meeting of the Committee of the Oxford Architectural and Historical
Society, held June 25, the following address was agreed upon ; —
The (Committee of the Oxford Architectural and Historical Society have heard with
regret that in the proposed alterations in Merton College it is intended to puU down
several of the old buildings, especially the old Library of the College,— in other
words, the only portions remaining of the College as it stood in the fourteenth cen-
tury, excepting of course the Chapel.
The Committee (in the name of the Society) hope that they are not overstepping
the bounds of propriety in addressing the Warden and fellows of Merton College,
and pointing out the great architectural.'and more especially historical value, belong-
ing to the buildings in question. Nor is it only a local value whicli is attached lo
to them, for It may be observed that they are the onli/ remains of any collegiate
buildings of «o early a date as the fourteenth century existing in tlie wJiole of
Eurmye.
It is with every sense of the difficulties which no doubt the Warden and Fellows
would have to encounter in carrying out their arrangements without destroying these
venerable remains, that the Committee address the College ; and they are also fully
aware of the absence ofany right in a public Society to intrude upon the delibera-
tions of a private corporation : still, as a Society for the promotion of the study of
architecture and history, and one o( their chief objects being to promote a proper
care and regard for the monuments of past ages, they trust they may be permitted to
express a hope that some arrangement may be niade by which ihese interesting
buildings may be preserved.
The Old India House. — It appears tliat the purchasers of the India
House for £155,000 were Mr. Tite, M.P., Mr. Ileywood, Mr. Kennard, and one
or two other capitalisls. The intention is to apply the site in supplying the great
want in tlie City of large accommodation for public companies, rooms for public
meetings, &c.
June 28, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
539
THE NEW HARBORS AND DOCKS OF MARSEILLES.
MAIiSEILLES claims tlie proud title of lieine de la Midilerranie, and
sofarastiie affluence of shipping to lier harbor, and her immense
commerce with foreign lands beyond the sea, can confer royalty, she is
Queen of the Mediterranean. She is not only the chief port of France,
but also of that inland sea. She has gathered the rich inheritance of Venice
in the Lei'antine and Asiatic trades, and by no means the smallest element
in her prosperous growth of late years has been English capital and trade.
The completion of the line of railway and steamship communication from
London to Marseilles, with the exception of the small break at Paris, and
the establishment of the overland route to India, devised by poor Wag-
horn, and carried out with energy by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam
Navigation Company, have made of Marseilles an outport, as it were, of
England. The only drawback _^
to|the satisfaction of this state
of things, which must tend to
unite more closely. the people
of France and England toge-
ther, and confound their in-
terests in one common cause,
is the ingratitude and short-
sightedness of the Marseilles
Municipality. To understand
the source of this deplorable
mistake, it should be explained
that the Messugeries Impe-
riales run steamers from Mar-
seilles to Alexandria, and
that in this French steamship
company the most influential
members of the municipality
are shareholders. While anx-
ious above all things to profit
by the presence of English
capital, and the trade which
it creates, the municipality is
jealous of the Peninsular and
Oriental Company, and seeks
to appropriate its trade, not
by fair competition, but by
unfair and petty means. The
French steamers average two
days longer than the English
boats in the passage between
Marseilles and Alexandria.
This joined to other points
of inferiority, such as want of
cleanliness, poor feeding, and
deficient seamanship, gives
the preference to English
boats — even among French
passengers. To counteract
these attractions, instead of
spending more money to
achieve greater speed the
municipality, until the last
two years or so, insisted
on detaining English steamers
two days outside the har-
bor in quarantine off" the
Island of Ratonneau, while
French boats entered at once.
The two days gained in speed
were thus lost through a vex-
atious regulation, and pas-
sengers grumbled terribly —
swore, as the army did in
Flanders, at tossing for forty-
six hours in sight of land at
the fag end of a tedious voy-
age. Fortunately the Emperor
interfered, abolished the ab-
surd quarantine regulation,
and put both companies on
tlie same footing. Defeated
in this manceuvre the muni-
cipality has had recourse to
others. Under pretext of the
crowded state of the harbor it
has issued harbor regulations
for the storing and supply of
coals, has taken away facilities
■which formerly existed, all to
create obstacles to the English
company in the efBcient per-
formance of its duties. If
these intrigues have not been
successful it has not been the
fault of the JIarseillaise, and
the credit of having neu-
tralised them is due to the enterprise of the Peninsular and Oriental Com-
pany— to the energy and devotion of its employes. For these reasons, no
less than for their constructional features, the new works at Marseilles
will interest the English reader.
A tradition, more poetic than truthful, claims for the Phoenicians the
credit of having founded Marseilles, through the marriage of one of their
people with the daughter of a king of the Sigobriges, who possessed the
country. The new colony made rapid progress, and the population increased
by immigration of Greeks driven from their homes by wars. It would
require too much space, and would lead to the consideration of questions
beyond the province of this Journal, to sketch the events which marked the
history of Marseilles. We content ourselves with stating that the com-
mercial prosperity and growth of the port dates from the expedition to
540
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 28, 1861.
Algiers thirty-three years ago. On that occasion tlie town contributed
largely to Tictual tlie fleet; it supplied 35" transports and 125 landing
craft, and the population, which was 115.000 in 1827, was 195,138 in
1S5T. Of architoctural works the town is singularly deficient; such as
there are ve shall defer noticing to afuture occasion, and confine our atten-
tioo to the important constructions completed and undertaken for the
foimation pf a suitable harbor.
A glance at the map will show that the general system adopted consists
ID building a breakwater and wharves out In the sea. The Mediterranean
being tideless, the value of the ground very considerable, and the soil rocky,
rising rapidly from the shore to lofty hills, forbade the idea of excavating
docks. The works have been chiefly executed by a company promoted
by M. Mires, at present on trial for swindling. The company at first pur-
chased from the municipality 400,000 square metres of land for £800,000,
in return for which the latter undertook to pay f 160,000 for the construc-
tion of the new cathedral, £20,000 for the removal of the Lazaret to
Frioul, Xe-JO.oOO for the Arenc harbor, £80,000 for clearing the old harbor,
and £260,000 for clearing the ground — in all, £1,160,000. Further modi-
fications and purchases were made, as we shall presently see. The
original grants are marked A, B, and C, which comprehend the Joliette
aod Xiazaret docks. By a decree of last August, further concessions were
made of the sites M, N, which partially enclose the Arenc dock. The
wharf Abas an area of 12,463 square metres, being 275-75 metres long,
and from 58 to 44 metres deep. Of the wharves, B, that which is on the
land side, is 30O metres long; that on the left, separated from wharf A by
a public road, is 147 metres long by 70 broad; and that on the right,
facing the Lazaret and Arenc docks, is 190 metres long by 70 broad. Thus
the area of the three wharves is 90,365 square metres. The wharf C, on
the breakwater, has an area of 5,473 square metres. Quay M has an
area of 22,985 square metres, and a water frontage of 369 metres. Quay
N has an area of 41,767 square metres, with two frontages on the Arenc
and Napoleon docks. The water area of the Joliette dock is 22 hectares,
(the hectare being 2'47I143 acres) ; of the Lazaret, 8 hectares ; of the
Arenc, 7 hectares, and of the Napoleon dock 24 hectares, making the
total water surface of the four docks 61 hectares, or over 120 acres.
The Napoleon dock is being built by the State, but the company have fur-
nished the sites marked I) E, 35, 40, 44, 49, 55, 60, and 63. On the site
D E are in the course of construction the offlces of the company and a
wanhouse. The sites from 44 to 63, both inclusive, are not yet wholly
recovered from the sea. The company have also purchased the site P, near
Cape Pintde. The quay A is appropriated to steamers, and cost £18,086.
Quays B and C are in the course of completion, by the building of sea
walls, fitting them in behind, and deepening the dock. The walls are
built of stones to form the lower foundations, on which are built the walls,
composed of concrete blocks and stones. The cubical contents of the
walls forming the quay B C M N are 129,000 metres, of which, up to the
end of March, 91,000 cubical metres had been executed. Of concrete blocks,
1,733 had been submerged for the foundations out of the total 2,400. Of
2,180 metres running length of quays, 900 had been built. The cost of the
foundations up to the end of last year had been £26,000, and of the quay
walls £28,849, making a total of £54,849, and leaving £44,000 to be pro-
vided for the completion of these works. According to terms agreed upon,
the docks are to be dredged to a depth of 7 metres below the level of
low water. From the Lazaret dock 18,000 cubical metres of rock have to
be removed, and 1,600 from Arenc dock, besides 70,000 cubical metres of
Btoff to be dredged up from various locaUties. The works have been
contr.4a(;d for at £25,688 with £4.000 for accessories, and to be completed
by the end of .March, 1863. The amount expended under this head
is £4,518. Tlie filling up and levelling the soil include, for the sites C
Md B, 620,000 cubic metres, and 600,000 cubic metres for sites M and
N. The material for the two first sites to be furnished by the municipality,
who have been unusually long in fulfilling their contract. By an arrange-
ment between the parties, the company have taken the material from
their own property — which the municipality is to replace at a future
period— and have levelled site C, and nearly levelled site B. The property
at Pim;de will furnish the Company with materials to level the sites M
and N. Application has been made for leave to construct a railway to
rinfedc. The warehouses T) E are being proceeded with. The cellars,
ground floor, and entresol of part D are fln.shed, and the whole will be
completed in the course of the year. The portion E, which has a
frontage of 365 metres and a depth of 40 metres, will be finished in the
coarse of next year. Tlie expenditure has been £96,454, leaving £152,000
to be provideii to terminate the works. Marseilles is the only large com-
mercial town without public warehouses. Storing sheds arc to be erected
on site C, sheltering an area of 1,880 square metres, which, with others,
will cost £4,000.
Ciuay B has been provided with lines of railway leading from the
Branch, to allow of waggons being brought alongside vessels and the
•hipment or transshipment, as the case may be, more readily effected.
iJut when the Arenc dock is completed, the rails will bo transferred to
the quays fronting it, to allow the Quay B to be specially reserved for
the business of the warehouse. The building to house machinery has
T^'^x!^^ °" 'H*"**™ P*" "f Quay B' and is estimated to cost when
nnisned £5,6O0. It is to contain two engines of 00 II.P. each feed reser-
Toirs, accnmnlators, &c. The works are being pushed on to allow of one
engine being set tip to work the machinery of the warehouse E so soon
a. it IS completed. Ihe general machinery will consist of generators and
conductors of hydraulic power necessary to put in motion various
!^5^""l!.>.'',°"'^ •/'*'■*'" '"K'n^"' accumulators, waste pipes, &c.,
»nd IS eslknated at £180,000, The special machinery will cons st of
cranes, lifting and lowering engines, &c. The cost will depend upon the
number employed ; but it is estimated at £26,000. The machinery and
engines are to be constructed by the forges and factories of the Mediter-
ranean, after the models and drawings of Sir William Armstrong, which
willpermitofordinary workmen being emplojed to manage them in the
place of engineers.
■♦^
THE FINE ARTS SEEN FROM A NEW POINT OF VIEW.*
No 13.— Modern Continental Akt ; GEn.MANr.
GERMANY, the cradle of the Reformation, of modern philosophy, and of
inventions— printing and gunpowder— which have revolutionised
society, presents no exception to the decadence of art. The Germans
once produced architects whom neighboring states were glad to secure.
Zamodia was occupied in designing Milan Cathedral about the end of the
fourteenth century ; and Annex of Friburg, and Ulric of Tllm, were simi-
larly engaged. Lapo was employed on the early works of Santa Maria at
Florence ; and John and Simon of Cologne carried out at Burgos Cathe-
dral, in Spain, the towers which the dissensions of their countrymen
prevented them fiom completing at home. On the decline of Medievalism
there was a brief period of vitality. The domestic architecture of this
transitional time is peculiarly interesting ; and the traveller will find
much worthy of observation, illustrative of ideas, feelings and habits, in the
houses of stone, brick and timber in Ulm and Nuremburnr, .-is well as in
the Flemish cities, Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Louvain, and Brussels, the
fronts being often covered with elaborate decoration, analogous to what
is observable in Rouen, Strasburg, many Spanish cities, and also in Eng-
land. The Italians, however, soon carried Cinque-cento architecture to
different parts of Germany, and planted the exotic where it could never
thrive. Carlo Fontana and Andrew Pozzo were employed on several
works in Vienna ; Scamozzi at Saltzburg Cathedral ; and Guarini at
Santa Anna at Prague. From France came Blonde!, Robert do Cotte,
and Boffrand. Fischers, Pictro Cart, Bott, Neuman, Eosander, and
Knoblesdorff, are almost the only distinguished native architects prac-
tising in the latter part of the seventeenth and the early portion of the
eighteenth centuries.
Modern sculpture can hardly be said to have been developed in Ger-
many until the seventeenth century ; and it then presents very slight
merit. But in the fifteenth century and the early portion of the sixteenth
painting was truthfully cultivated in the Netherlands, and Germany by
the Van Eycks, Memling, Mctsys, and the great Albert Durer. Towards
the end of the sixteenth century it had become, like that of Europe
generally, completely Italianised ; but ;froin the oommencement of the
seventeenth century, and during the eighteenth, the painters of Flanders
and Holland present, in originality, power and appropriateness, a striking
contrast to the German school. Rubens — an able delineator of the
magnificence of the Catholic Church— with his scholar Vandyke, and
Rembrandt — the supreme master of light and shade, and one of the most
individual of artists— together with_some of his followers, rescued painting
from the depression into which it had fallen. Notwithstanding the de-
ficiency of loftiness of aim, the Dutch school, so exact in imitation and so
exquisite in finish, constitutes one of the most indigenous and charac-
teristic of a people which has ever existed, f
Returning to the German architects of the eighteenth century, they
copied the false system adopted by the Italians and French; and we see
little besides bad copies of bad copies. But in 1789 Carl Gotthard
Langhans, following the example of Antoine, determined to choose an
original model, and reproduced the Propylea at Athens, in the Branden-
burg gate at Berlin. With such a system, none can wonder at the chaos
of Greek, Roman, and Gothic works which followed in the land where yet
rise, in stern rebuke of such anomalies, the massive tower of Ypres and the
soaring spire of Vienna.
Of the modern architects of Germany, Schinkel, Klenze, and Giirtner
have attained a world-wide fame; and it will be instructive to examine
into the claims on which their reputations are founded.
Schinkel (1781-1841) was a pupil of David Gilly— an architect known
chiefly as the author of several literary works — and, after remaining two
years in Italy, returned to Berlin in 1805. About 1814 he was considered
one of the leading architects of the day. In the meantime he had turned
his talent as a landscape painter to account, prepared a panorama of
Palermo, and painted scenery for operas : he .also designed furniture in
the Classic manner. His theatrical scenery and furniture were published.
In the former are some striking effects and novel ideas; and much of the
architecture is better than what we are often condemned to contemplate in
our first-class theatres. The Classic furniture is far superior to the Gothic
by Pugin. Schinkel seems to have brought from Italy all the forms he could
cull; and his architectural publications indicate freedom of hand, technical
talent, and ability to put together, in the Chinesc-pnzzle fashion, the details
of ancient edifices. The works of this " Luther of Architecture," as he is
absurdly called, are among the most striking proofs that can be cited that
* The ri^ht of rcpublicatioa and of translation of this scries of articles Is reserved
by the author.
t Development fl similar to those in Germany and France arc noticeable in Spain ;
but, not having visited the country, I liave little to say of its arts. The early
Revival artists were Italians, or .Spaniards who Iiad studied in Italy. Uenaissance
arcliitecturc, as represented by the Convent of lluerto, was carljr introduced.
Alonso llerruguete and Oaspar liecerra were among the Hrst distinguished modem
sculptors. Caravaguio, and tlie .Venetian, Flemish, and Neapolitan masters, exer-
cised considerable influence in painting; but tlie Spanish school soon attained a
peculiar individuality, marked by dignified sobriety, rcli"-ious Holemnity, asceticism,
and opposition to nude representations. Velazquez, Murillo, and iCurbarau arc
truthful opponents of the Spanish polity.
V
June 28, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
541
no sooner does a man of genius now turn his attention to structure as an art
than the tyranny of precedent crushes tlie natural talent lie possesses.
Schinkel's Gothic is simply barbarous; and his Greek, with ?ucli
original substitutions as angels for triglyplis, is decidedly German
Greek. His ornament is often crude and formal ; a reproduction
of Greek, Roman, or Cinque-cento, and not always even carefully
selected. His sculpture consists generally of parodies of the antique ;
heaps of gods, goddesses, armour, trophies, candelabra, tripods, -and so
forth, abounding. His mind was so thoroughly absorbed in antiquity that
we may apply to him Reynolds' remark on Nicholas Poussin, that " he
lived and conversed witli the ancient statues so long, that he may be said
to have been better acquainted with them than with the people about
him." It is clear that Scliinkel had an eye for the picturesque disposition
of masses ; yet there is still a strange coldness of effect, evidencing
poverty of imagination, and that the old details, taken nearly as found,
arc deficient in adaptation to modern requirements. In the true manu-
facturing spirit he saw no inconsistencj' in piling ancient temples on one
another, like children's card-houses, in the aim after extraordinary novelty.
The orders were often used without reference to the purposes for which
they were invented, forgetfulness in this respect rendering tliera carica-
tures ; and we observe the robust placed above the slender, a giant series
crushing a smaller variety. A wretched copy of Trajan's column, with a
disproportionate statue on the summit, is surrounded by a Grecian Doric
pigmy screen ; and another triumphal monument is in the form of a pilaster
panelled from top to bottom ; a specimen of as bad taste as can be readily
conceived, but excelled by another productioh in which a pedestal and
equestrian statue rise three or four times the height of a Doric screen.
Our architect appears to have delighted in the introduction of colossal
figures of men and liorses placed on the tops of edifices, which are thus
deprived of dignity and proportionate magnitude. In the Hamburg
Theatre disregard of so simple a matter as the principle of the arch is dis-
played ; tlie key-stones being supported by pilasters ; an absurdity
elsewhere indulged in, more especially in a church at Berlin : the theatre
in that city merits approbation, so far as relates to its striking efiect.
The Berlin Museum of Art is Schinkel's most celebrated work. Few
stronger instances could be cited to prove that the attempt to think as
others have thought, without reference to time'and appropriateness, must
end in utter failure. " From this edifice, not less than that of the
Glyptothek at Munich, it is manifest that the German is founded on tlie
French school, very far behind which it, however, ranks ; the beauties of
the latter being overlooked or misunderstood, while its defects and abuses
are pertinaciously preserved.'"* The exterior and interior have no appro-
priate connexion with one another. First : taking the principal front,
there is an Ionic order so arranged as to suggest the idea of one story, were
not this conclusion dissipated by the notable idea of making tlie staircase
visible outside, with the further advantage thus afforded of cutting the
order in two, and destroying harmony and repose, as if these ends were not
fully attained by the panelled representations, carrying the eye in a dance
up and down, and relieving the columns in a far more efi'ective manner
than was possible with the severely simple backgrounds of Greek porticoes.
Oyer each column is an eagle staring fiercely at its neighbour ; and
tripods are placed over the angular columns, for what purpose no one has
yet fathomed. Crowning the structure is a quadrangular mass with
pedestals at the angles, on which horses are violently plunging, it being,
of course, necessary tliat men should be there to control them on so
dangerous an elevation. The groups were evidently suggested by those
on a certain mount at Rome, although never intended to be reproduced on
the roof of a Berlin Museum. Altogether, the conclusion raised by the
eagles and horses — two more of the latter with men on their backs being
added at the principal entrance — is that the collection is one of a zoological
nature, or that the building is a veterinary college, the taming of eagles
being included in the programme of the wise projectors. Tlic anomaly in
construction with respect to the order is bad enough •, but no one would
dream, until he enters the edifice, that the quadrangular attic is not what
it professes to be, but is plainly an obtrusive falsehood, masking a large
dome, which, if carried up, instead of being concealed, might have conferred
some dignity on the meaningless architecture witli its Pagan symbolism
below. Ever since Sir Christopher Wren set the example in modern
times of making the interior of a structure clash most violently with the
exterior the fashion has been contagious ; and we perceive the results,
alike in the above museum as in two of Schinkel's domes, in which the
internal bears no relation to the external effect.
Like Schinkel, Leo Von Klenze (b. 1784) was a pupil of Professor
Gilly; and his professional career may be dated from 1808, when he was
appointed architect to the King of Westphalia. Finding that this position
was not likely to lead to an extensive exercise of his talents, he migrated
to Munich in 1813. With tliis city his reputation is peculiarly entwined;
and, as Schinkelijbecame the leading architect of northern Germany, so
Klenze flourished in the south.
The fame of the public buildings of Munich has spread over Europe ;
and there are still to be found certain dilettanti and dabblers in the Fine
Arts who believe in its genuineness. It is a clean, well-swept city, and just
the place for bachelors who hate excitement, and old maids who love
quitt. In one part are detached villas, with large rooms and small
grrdens: in another part are long streets, presenting a formality of aspect
worthy of Belgravia, and about the same number of persons as are to be
found in the latter region out of the season. Nobody appears to be over-
burdened with business j most people seem as if they never had anything
• " Elements of Architectural Criticism," by Joseph Gwilt.
to do— except drinking beer and dancing in the suburbs on Sundays and
holidays — a common enough aspect in German cities, Manhelm being
one of the most striking instances. Like Manheiin, Munich is a handsome
city; and, it would appear, that, having put up the scenery, the people
have little to live for save the money of the strangers who flock to view
it. For are there not from Italy the Arch of Constantino in the Sieges
Thor, the Loggia de' Lanzi in the Hall of the Marshals, the Pitti Palace
in the Konigsbau, the Basilica of St. Paolo fueri delle Mura in that of St.
Boiiifacius, and a score of other edifices by Klenze, Giirtner, Zeibland, and
Metzger, far better done than in Rome and Florence ? Is there not also
in the Maria Hilf, by Ohmiiller, a specimen of pure and beautiful Munich
Gothic of the fourteenth century; and is not Klenze's AUerheiligenkapelle
(the names are as striking as the edifices) very superior to the old
Byzantine ? Again, are not the Ruhmeshalle and the Glyptothek noble
representatives of Athenian refinement ? The Germans borrowed archi-
tects once: now they have native artists who only borrow architecture.
Let these alone go to Greece and Italy ; and you, gentle reader, turn
aside to Germany, and see how art has been resuscitated and still lives in
Munich.
Returning to Klenze, to whom the lion's share in the ornamentation of
Munich has been assigned, let us first go some distance out of the city to
the Walhalla, designed in 1816, the year following his appointment as royal
architect, although its execution was suspended until 1830. A temple of
fame, though certainly not conducive to that of the architect, filled with
statues and busts of great Germans, is this Wallialla, which is elevated on
an immense basement, like a series of steps, and placed on an eminence
whence it is visible for miles around, as if to proclaim widely how low
architecture is fallen when it isnecessarytotransporttoGermany the fanes
of Greece, and to reproduce details quite unsuited to the character of the
existing civilization. Excepting the reversal of Ionic capitals to fit the
heads of female figures carrying an entablature, there is not one truly
novel feature in the edifice. The Ruhmeshalle, or Bavarian Hall of Fame,
fronted by a colossal figure of Bavaria by Schwanthaler, completely dwarf-
ing the temple, is of similar character to the Walhalla.
In 1820 the Glyptothek, or Museum of Sculpture, was begun at the
private expense of the Crown Pririte. Externally, it is of Greco-Roman
eharactcr. There is a bad Ionic portico, with wings clumsily disconnected
from it. These are decorated with disproportionate niches ornamented
in the worst taste. The monsters on the pediment were not, of course, in-
tended to convey the slightest meaning ; but, even in a detail the use of
which in ancient times is sufficiently obvious, — " the antefixae do not per-
form their real office, that of hiding the joints of tiles, or other covering,
and are, therefore, ornaments misplaced, and the very podium that backs
them thence makes their adoption more absurd." They form a fringe-like
addition to the wings, and are as ridiculous a mistake as forming the steps
too steep for ascent, in order that they might harmonise with those of a
Greek temple. There is no correspondence between the exterior and in-
terior ; the latter, as Gwilt, the author last quoted, first pointed out, is
" founded on the forms and arrangement, and vaultings of a Roman bath ;
for it is in this that we find the series of camerated chambers that are the
prototypes of this sculpture gallery."
The tastes of the Crown Prince and his friend Klenze — for the architect
was treated as such — were identical ; and, when the former ascended the
throne in 1825, the latter became a sort of prime minister in matters of
art. The monarch's choice was truly unfortunate. He was a well-mean-
ing and munificent man ; but is not with him that we have now to do, but
with some of the results of liis liberality. Of legitimate art, suitable to
the age, Klenze had no idea ; a fault shared by all the Munich architects.
Quantity was sought rather^than quality. One public monument was begun
yearly during a quarter of a century; and a staflT of about two hundred
artists was employed. " All the munificence of Pericles and of Lorenzo
the Magnificent combined," remarks Wornum, " would not reach one tithe
of the patronage of Ludwig the First of Bavaria. His works in every
department of art are truly surprising, and all accomplished in half the
time spent by Louis XIV. over the gorgeous i.ccumulations of his one
palace at Versailles." They are not, however, more surprising than the
series of reproductions of the styles of various ages in our Crystal
Palace ; except the scale on which the work was effected at Munich, and
the important fact that the architectural courts at Sydenham are not set
forth as designs, while they have nearly as much merit in this respect as
the edifices of King Louis.
Edwaed L. Tabbcck.
NEW WESLEYAN CHAPEL, MANCHESTER.
A FEW days ago the new Wesleyan Chapel in Fletcliei-street, Manchester, was
publicly opened. The building has been erected from the designs of Mr.
George Woodhouse, architect, of Manchester ; and the cost will be £3,500.
The chapel has been built on a plot of land contiguous to the former chapel,
which is proposed to be converted into day and Sunday schools. The walls are
of brick, faced with the best patent, and having Yorkshire stone dressings. The
building is plain Italian in style, the object being to combine utility, stren^U,
neatness, and economy. Without much attempt at ornament, it has a bold, im-
posing appearance outside, and iscommodious and lightsome within. The front
to Fletcher-street is 59 feet wide, the total leng^th from front to back being 95J
feet ; a part of this length, 15f feet, consists of an orchestra 20.J feet wide in the
centre ; with a vestrv on each side, filling up the remaining width, but not car-
ried up as high as tlie chapel, thus reducing the apparent length to 79J feet.
The height oflhe chapel, from ground line to top of parapet outside, is 48 feet.
The front entrance ascended by a broad flight of steps, has two large folding
doors, having pilasters, consoles, archivolts, and keystones, with cornice and
blocking over, surmounted by a triple window, with imposts, archivolts, &c.
542
THE BUILDING NEWS.
JoNE 28, 1861.
TW ftfade » Anishnl irith a bold cornice nnd battlement, which are continued
oa each aMt of the chapel aim. l)n each side of the front entrance, there is a
lofty arched window, diiiiled into two liplits hy n stone panel at the intersection
witn the gallery- door. On each .•iideof the chnpel tlier« are six similar windows.
in the centre of the roof there is a neat veutilatinp; turret surmounted by a gilt
vane. There is a gallery on each side and to the front of the chapel;
nnder a portion of the latter is a central vestibule 19 by Ofeci, and two side vesti-
bules 18 oy 9 feet, with a flight of stairs in each giving access to the galleries.
Hie front gallery is semicircular in plan, and is very spacious ; the galleries
are sapported by iron pillars witli enriched capitals; over which is a deep
pandM cove, terminated with an enriched band, which forms the base to the
front of galleriea. The arched heads to the windows have moulded archivolts
inMo, sapported by panelled imposts and pendants. The ceiling is horizontal,
and baa a large cove .ind enriched cornice round the walls. There are also five
centre pieces, highly enriched, intended for gas sanlights in the centre, by
which the chapel wiil be lighted. The orchestra is formed into a semicircular
apse, with covetl ceiling having cornice at the spring, and a panelled arch in
front to separate it from the body of the chapel. The floor is raised three feet
ab 've that of the chapel, and has a bold balustrade in front. Entrance is gained
to the orchestra by a side door from one of the vestries. An organ is now being
built by Ifessrs. Holt and .Son, of Leeds. The pulpit, which is octagonal in form,
stands within the communion railing immediately in front of the orchestra, and
is approached from either side by a flight of steps, with a rail and balusters
matching with those to the communion. The pew framing is panelled, with
moulded inaliogany capping and book-boards, the backs and seats being slightly
inclined ; those appropriated as free sittings lieing similar to the others, with the
-exception of doors. The total number of sittings is 1150 ; .540 being in the
fcallrries and CIO in the l)ody of the chapel, 170 of the latter and 178- of the
former being free. The whole of the internal woodwork is stained and varnished
The chapel is heated with hot water, conveyed in wrought-iron pipes, laid above
the aisle floor", the heating apparatus being sitaated in a basement under the
centre of the chapel. The general contractor for the building was Mr. Joseph
Manden, of Uridge-street, Bolton, and the sub-contractors as follows : — Stone-
work, Mr. James Ellis, Bridge-street ; brickwork, Mr. Lewis Brown, Brinks'-
brow ; slating, .Mr. Jonathau W'arr, Church-wharf; plumbing and glazing, Mr.
Peter Rothwell, Church bank, all of Bolton; the plastering, painting, and
staining, by Mr. W. H. Lomas, of Manchester. The heating apparatus has been
executed by Messrs. Musgrave and Sons, Globe Iron Works ; the gas fittings are
by Jlessrs Taylor and fialloway. Bark-street. As before stated, the body of
the chapel, galleries, and orchestra, will be lighted by a centre principal and four
rainorsonhghts suspended from the ceiling, the ornamentation of which will be in
character with the architecture of the interior. These sunlights also form excellent
mediums of ventilation. There will be neat and appropriate supplemental
brackets for the pnrpose of lighting underneath the galleries.
RESTORATIOX OF KELHAM HALL, NOTTS.
IT is shoot two years and a half since the ancient seat of the Lexington family,
at Kelham, was destroyed by fire. Now it is our pleasant task to record
the progress I hat has been made in (rearing upon the site a magnificent pile of
buildingt>, which will reflect equal honor upon the taste and liberalitv of its
owner, and the skill of the architect, ilr. George Gilbert Scott. Immediately
alter the fire steps were taken to make a clean sweep of the charred and
blackfncd walls. .Mr. G. G. Scott prepared an elaborate set of designs for the
new hall, of which the foundations were commenced in April, 1859, this part of
the w..rk l>ring executed principally hy Mr. Lane, of Newark. For two years
the building has been progressing, and it will be probably another twelve months
before the whole is ready for habitation.
Like the old hall, the main building projects southwards from the centie of the
kitchen offices and servants' buildings, which are of comparatively modem
erection, and escaped the ravages of the fire. The ground-phm is somewhat irre-
puar in form. The style is Gothic, of the thirteenth century, the whole being
skilfully adapted in its details to the appliances of a modern mansion. The
matendls employed are brick and stone, while the high pitched roofs are covered
with gron Westmorland slates, thus securing a harmony of color, as well as a
pctaresqueness of outline, which gives to every part of the hall an exceedingly
noble appearance. These features are most prominently brought out in the east
ormer front, where the length is snfficieHtly imposing and the view less im-
k- I y '""*"* o' '"liage. On the left is a massive tower, eighty feet high,
"^ ""J"" *• ■"»'« "f the building, in tlie lower story of which aVe two large
wmdows looking from the drawing-room towards the river. The tower is sur-
mounted by a richly carved stone battlement. At the other extremity of the
front elevation is an elegant clock-tower, with a pretty pediment roof of diapered
slating, surmounted by a vane, a turret for an alarm bell being immediately
underneath. Between the two towers arc the windows of the music-hall,
earned to the height of two stories, and those of the ante-room and
large dining-hall, with the chambers in the second stories, there being
SIX dcjmier windows in the roof. The two massive windows of the
mu»ic-hall, each .% feet high by 12 feet wide, ar^ divided by a highly
ornamented stack of chimneys, in the centre of which blocks are left for armorial
nearmgs or othf-r stone carving, and terminated hv an elaborately carved stone
coniic/:!,n<lcap. Tlie square-headed window looking out of the ante-room is
nuea in with li.<iuiitul Gothic tracery. Immediatelv over these are a pair of
ttIT.L'' lU ■"**' "'"' " wmicircnlar arch, also 'filled with Gothic tracery.
i2L.^!!lSTrT "' "■* <*"'"«-'■»" are of three lights, and similariv decorated ;
^!^ twTTi i"* ■"=»''"'. "'«y present a verv striking appearance. The
!?'"'?"'■*'""?'' "^ •« extensive, prcsients several leatures ol striking beauty,
^eaaiqrwken v-iewed from the end of the long gravelled walk. On the right
n, ■r*'?"'- J • "■»^" '"WW alreaily described. I'rojecting over the
♦kT-^ T-T^^V^ " ■ "I?* "^ handsome oriel window, whicli is, perhaps,
"J;,;^?**™™*, •??" <^ *he whole exterior. Here, too, arc seen the (viiidows
-J""?y'^T'? '°^**''« «outh-east angle of the huihiing, on the outside of
wMc^nowCTtr, It IS nropmeil to .rwt a conservatory. Tuniing round to the
^»ra—t, we <oe toe bamlaorae l«y window of the library, terminating upwards
V»ta^om« gable. Slightly recessed backward appear lofty lancet windows,
SSSi tL^IS!^ !'?":?'*-' r'*''*"'™"""''" •he centre and foliated Gothic
S7tiJ?;ir°^f[!ii!L''''"'i-'!**'*""'"''"'«^'"'"'cl',and and embellished bv
th^ ,A^ ,J "^f ""^^^ "*. ""■ '""ia^l-room and chapel. Still further to
the left are the windowa of the private sitting-room, and other offices. Here is
another tower of four stories, measuring to tlie npex of the roof 90 feet. Between
the tower and the library the monotony of the roof is relieved, as on the other
side, by a row of dormer windows. Tile whole length of the new building is 2.'30
feet, and the greatest hreaddi about 120 feet. The bricks were obtained from the
vicinity of Hetford, the dressings being of Portland and Mansfield Woodhouse
stone, while the finer details are carved in Ancaster stone.
Although, undoubtedly, there is much that is imposing in the exterior aspect
of the hall, wc must step inside before we can form any idea of its costly magni-
ficence, and the princely luxuriance of n modern English mansion. In each story
a noble corridor extends from the end of the servants' offices nearly to the south
front, and divides the whole range of building into two equal ))arts. In order to
provide, as far as possible, against accidents, the whole building is fire-proof, the
spaces between the ceilings and floors being arched, and every other precaution
taken to prevent the spreading of the flames, should they ever break out. The
corridors communicate with the staircases, also with the whole of the rooms.
They are lighted chiefly from a window at the northern extremity, and also by
openings into the rooms on either side, wherever it could be done without nicon-
venience. The entrance-hall is 20 feet by 24 feet, and communicates with a
handsome staircase of Portland stone, a baluster springing from a beautifully
carved corbel at the end of each step. Looking upwards we are attracted by a
neat Gothic ceiling executed in pitch pine. The whole of the windows are re-
cessed, the arches being supported upon columns of Peterhe.id granite. Before
proceeding further we may mention that there are upwards of 450 colunms to
be employed in the whole erection, of which 320 will be of highly poUslied marble,
of various colors, and of all dimensions, from the slender pillars of the fire-places
to the massive columns which support the richly groined ceiling of the music-
hall, drawing-room, and other noble apartments of the ground story. Having
entered the corridor from the entrance-hall, we soon reach the business-room,
17 feet by 34, where we are at once struck by the beauty of the carving, both in
Ancaster stone .and oak. Here, as in other rooms, the chimney-piece is a splendid
piece of carving, with its miniature marble pillars and highly polished
shelf The groined roof and interior arches of the windows are all
supported by columns of marble. Tlie next room is the private
sitting - room, 20 feet by 26 feet, with a deeply recessed window, the
tracery over which, and the capitals of the pillars, again displaying the clever
liandiwork of the stone cutter. The next room to this, which is of somewhat
larger dimensions, 34 feet by 22 feet, is to be called the chapel. Here the
groined ceiling is divided into three compartments, and the carvings are unusu-
ally rich and profuse. There are three large two-light windows, which not only
light the room, but also the corridor, through a richly ornamented opening in tlie
wall. The billiard-room is lighted by two smaller windows ; ;the conventional
foliage which is carved into the angles, and at the head of the marble colnmns
supporting the groined ceiling gives this apartment an air of peculiar grace and
beauty. The grand staircase jis at present in an unfinished state, and the
material and style of the ornamentation have not yet been decided upon. The
spaced reserved" for it is 18 feet by 34 feet ; the ceiling is here again divided into
three compartments, while a flood of light is let in through the pair of lofty
windows which we have already described. The stairs will probably be of carved
Caen or Ancaster stone, and the balusters, doors, and other fittings constructed
of iron, brass, or oak, as the case may be. The library is a noble apartment, the
extreme dimensions being 52 feet by -JOj. It would have been a parallelogram in
shape but for the portion taken 'from the angle to form the consetratory, which
will project, as before stated, from the south-east corner of the building. Tlie
fine groined compartments of the roof, supported from the centre by a polished
granite column, the two fire-places, and the elaborate carvings which embellish
every part of this splendid room, giving it an extremely fine appearance. The
library and drawing-room occupy the whole south front. The latter. 27 feet
square, will be fitted up as richly as any of those previously described. The
central column, which is to support the groining of the ceiling, is not
yet fixed, but it will probably be of Sienna marble. We next enter the
music-hall, which in many respects is the most magnificent part of the building.
Not only is it the largest in size, 50 feet by 34 feet, and extending to the heigh t
of two stories (-35 feet), but it combines all the beautiful features which are spread
in minuter detail over the other rooms. The most striking feature is a very
handsome arcading, which separates the room from the corridor, and is supported
on poli<hed granite columns. The spandrels between the arches are to be laid
in with mosaic work of different colored marble. There is an upper tier of
arcading looking from the corridor on the first floor, and here the columns are
constructed of Devonshire marble. A little army of carvers are busily employed
in this part of the building, and under their skilful hands tlie gorgeous design of
the architect in all its syininetrical harmony and beautiful proportions is being
graduallydeveloped, Tlic ante-room adjoining is much smaller, but nevertheless
contains its features of interest and beauty. The peculiar fragrance perceived on
entering the room immediately directs attentien to the cedar wainscoting which
covers the walls. This is the only room in which cedar is used for this purpose,
the door frames and the panelling in the other portions of the ground floor being
principally of well-seasoned oak. A broad flight of steps leads from the ante-
room into a beautiful series of terraces, which extend from the mansion to the
river side. The next apartment is the dining-room, 40 feet hy 22, which, and the
the adjoining room, were fitted up temporarily for the accommodation of Mr.
Sutton during several weeks of the late winter. Several balls and parties have
been already given by the hospitable owner to the gentry of the neighbourhood.
On one side of the room is the recess for a massive sideboard. The groined ceiling,
divided into three bays, is very elaborately decorated. The deeply re-
cessed windows for a side table is also a characteristic feature of the apartment.
To the extensive range of servants' offices some additions and improvements
have been made. At the western angle is the carriage court, which is entirely
new, and when completed will present a very novel appearance. It is a perfect
square of .58 feet. 'Ihe central court will be roofed in with glass, the framework
constructed of wood and iron. The jiiazza, which extends nearly all round, will
be arched over. To support the roof principals and the arching of the promenade
are twenty-eight stone columns, in clusters of three at the angli-s and of two in
the intervening spaces, the capitals and bosses being elaborately carved. The
chamlicrs are placed in the first story, the largest being 23J feet by 29 feet, and
the smallest about 20 feet square. The doorways, window-frames, &c., are of
beautiful jiitcli pine, and the wood being selected with great care, the whole
presents a very comely appearance. Bath-rooms and offices of various kinds
are likewise contained in this story. The lighting, heating, and ventilation
of the whole building has been contrived in the most ingenious and scientific
June 28, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
543
manner. In coW weather hot air will be conveyed to the whole suite of rooms,
most of which will also be warmed in the usual manner from the fireplaces ;
while the impure air is carried off through large ventilators, which embellish
the upper part of every room. The gas will be uianufactured on the premises,
in quantity not only ami)ly sufficient for use at the hall, but for lighting the
streets of the village ; while those of tlie inhabitants who wish it are supplied at
a merely nominal charge. The hall and pleasure-grounds, which have been laid
out under the direction of one of the most eminent landscape gardeners of
the metropolis, cover a space of more than twenty acres. The park, however,
extends in a southerly direction for a distance of nearly two milesj and is
well covered with large forest trees. At present the road makes a short turn after
crossing the bridge, and runs for a short distance parallel with the river, and the
principal front of the hall ; but it is proposi^d to divert it to the other side of a
pretty plantation of young fir-trees, which now extends for nearly 200 yards
on the eastern boundary ot the road. This will give great scope for improving
the prospect from the hall, as it is intended to make a gentle slope of turf from
the river side to the fir plantation. The stables are at some distance from the
mansion, and some improvements have been recently effected both externally and
intemallv. The entrance gateway leading to the park and grounds consists of
rich gable tops and a beautilul pointed arch, supported on jjolished granite
columns, while the gatekeeper's lodge close by is a neat building, designed in
similar style to the hall.
At present we can only give an approximate idea of the probable cost of the
range of buildings which we have described, as many of the more expensive
details have yet to be finally decided upon. It will probably exceed £50,000, no
expense having been spared hitherto to obtain the choicest materials and to
secure the services of the best workmen in every department. The contract for
the mere exterior shell of the building was let to Messrs. Cubitt, of London ;
the plumbing work has been executed under the direction of Mr. Blousfield,
Newark. Messrs. C. C. and A. Dennett, ot Nottingham, contracte<l to put in
the fire-proof floors. Slessrs. Bellman and Ivey , of London, were entrusted with
the plasterers' work. Mr. Ruddle, of Peterborough, with the general joiners'
work; while the whole of the beautiful and elaborate carving was let to Mr.
Carver, of London, whose workmen have been incessantly engaged for many
months past, under the able superintendence of Mr. Brindley. Mr. G. G. Scott,
occasionallv visits the works, to consult with Mr. Sutton, on the details, also
with his indefatigable clerk of the works, Mr. Sheffield, by whom these
particulare were supplied.
THE GEEMAN ACADEMY OF ART.*
AMONG the humble and domestic interiors there are many examples of
good painting. Professor Steffeck's comic subject, entitled " Comfort-
atle but rather Warm," is a dog panting with heat, sitting by the side of
a stove which is partly red-hot. Besides the humour in the idea, the
painting of it shows learning in the arrangement of the colors. The red
of the over-lieated stove is the most vivid, of course; the mass of yellowish
color, is provided by the color of the dog, and the complementary
blue is obtained from an apron of that color hanging up over the stove
and the dog. Besides this blue apron the apparent heat of the stove is
increased by the coldness of the tint in which the plastered wall is painted
and by the dark gray of the floor and the surrounding parts. The gra-
dations of heat on the iron stove are imitated with delicacy and truth;
perhaps the long hair of the dog requires a little more accent to give the
animal, particularly as it occupies so much space on the canvas, an appear-
ance of finish equal to the rest of the picture.
There are several very painter-like pictures, in which the knowledge
and the execution displayed, make us regret that the subjects are not
more worthy the powers of the artists. Of these " Reminiscence of Past
Happiness," is one which merely consists of a lady looking at a love device
carved in the bark of a tree, another of them is entitled " A Solitary
Walk," of a lady holding a parasol beneath an avenue of trees, attended
by a lap-dog. It is by Amberg, who has great skill in the treatment of
these subjects. The fitful gleams of light through the trees, are rendered
with truth, delicacy, and warmth; in the last respect they are cleverly and
broadly contrasted by the grey of the foreground. The shadow under the
parasol, and the little black dog at her side, oppose the white dress worn
by the lady in half shade, and the latter forms a dark spot, wliich gives
atmosphere to the whole. " The Dying Chief," an episode in the Indian
rebellion, by Fritz Schultz, is a painful subject, but deserves notice for the
skill with which it is drawn and painted, but in this case, much attention
having been paid to an effect of light, the success of that eSbrt destroys
the unity of impression which ought to result from the principal subject.
We have frequently, in reference to the little domestic interiors exhibited
at the French Gallery, expressed an opinion that there is much in the mode
of manipulation being in accordance with the subject. There are some
pictures in this Gallery which we think serve to strengthen that opinion.
For instance, " Domestic Happiness," by H. Sonderman, which is very
clever, but painted in that solid style which takes from the playfulness of
the subject, not only by its elaborate finish, but the evident amount of
labor bestowed upon it. "Italian Boys with a Monkey," again, is much
more free in the pencilling, but there is a rugged severity in the manipu-
lation more suited to a sketch for a large historical picture than consistent
with the feeling excited by a subject so humble and so little suggestive
beyond the plain fact before us.
In still greater excess does the' treatment mar the simplicity of the
scene in the picture of " A Sportsman with Wild Duck," by Ilcnry
Carpentero, for it is painted in the smoothest of manners, reminding us of
the "Views of Switzerland " and other subjects on highly varnished snuff-
boxes and dress teaboards in its general effect, and the result is in both of
these cases, although we much prefer either of the others to the last, still,
in all of tliem the artist commits the mistake of drawing the attention of
* Continued from page 515.
the spectator upon himself, his peculiarity or his patient labor instead of
on the simplicity of his subjects. The same remarks apply with equal
force to " Children Playing," by Korneck. Having written our candid
opinion most candidly of the " Hungarian Horses at Play," we must not,
in connexion with the animal subjects in this e.xhibition pass in silence by
the smaller picture, by Professor bteffeck, entitled" Sorrowing Maternity."
It is poetically treated as regards tone of color; the living mother and the
dead foal are both very well drawn, but we are not learned enough in the
habits of horses to say whether the breath issuing visibly from the nostrils
of the mare is her natural mode of expressing maternal sorrow. The dogs
are well drawn in a large picture, by Arnold, of a " Boar Hunt." There Is,
however, a feebleness in tlie general effect which leads us to believe that
the vigorous execution and treatment we see in the works of Snyders,
which we have been inclined to dislike, for its pervading liny hardness, is
more adapted to the true expression of such subjects than we had pre-
viously believed. The foliage in the foreground of this picture is as
clumsy and inartistic in its execution as are the tropical leaves in the
same part of Mr. Ansdell's " Runaway Slave and Blood-hounds," in the
Royal Academy. It must, however, be admitted that so decided a style
of drawing would have been fatal to the cattle in the picture called in the
catalogue " A Team of Bullocks Harvesting." This takes us back to the
argument held above that style of handling has much to do with subject.
In this the necessary force is obtained by the tone of color, the animals
being broadly executed and thrown into a mass; indeed, this composition
may be said to consist of little more than two masses — the bright sun
amongst the trees on the left, and nicely varied in tint by shining through
the leaves, contrasts with the other part, which is solid rich, and
dark in color consisting of the cattle, the laden cart and the driver
while the light on the left connects the two by its spotty gleams
being scattered over the load of corn. This is a very painter-like pro-
duction, and, with several others, induces the hope that the German
artists are inclined to forego the traditional stiffness of their national
school and adopt the free and picturesque manner of the French — a legacy,
unfortunately left to the latter in one respect by the departed school of the
English.
In a style more Italian than any other picture in the Gallery is the
view of " The Villa d'Este, in Tivoli, near Rome." We much admire the
purity and refinement in the treatment of this work, ia which the effect
of sunlight is suggested, not imitated, which fact alone places this picture
in a higher range of art. The atmosphere is very pure, and from the low
tone of the general treatment a soft and pleasing repose is produced. In
quite a contrary style is the " Cattle at a Brook in the Forest of Fontain,"
in which the brilliant effect of sunlight is imitated in bright colors that
as nearly as possible match the tints seen in nature; it is a literal copy as
near as pigments can be made, with some pictorial artifice, to represent the
actual reality — one practical objection |to which is, that it is the fact of
light and not the poetry of light. The reality stands before you, and you
are deprived of the pleasure of imagination — a greater source of pleasure
than many persons are inclined to believe. In the latter case you have
to discover, in a certain degree, the painter's intention, and all that you
so discover is your own; so far you help to paint the picture, and in pro-
portion to that discovery are you the better pleased with it. In the former
instance the painter takes the whole upon himself; calls upon you to
admire his work, bnt does not condescend to ask you to help him in
realising his intentions. But this picture, by Ilerr E. Ockel, is not without
its claim to approbation. There is a great deal too much light, too
glaringly expressed, and extended too near to the edges of the frame, so
that it is more a piece of nature than a picture; but still, taken for what it
is, there is a display of great executive power, the cattle on the right,
seen in half light, are most pleasingly rendered, and the water is both
transparent and luminous. This picture being placed almost side by side
with the admirable, suggestive, and poetic " Landscape and Cattle," by
II. Esehc, which we have endeavoured to praise according to its merits,
will afford visitors to the Gallery an opportunity of comparing the two
styles we have briefly alluded to, and enable them to decide upon the re-
lative merits possessed by the actual copy fron:, and the suggestive con-
ception of, the truth of nature.
There are a few specimens of German sculpture in the room. Three of
them are from the chisel of Professor R. Begas. A group of " Hagar and
Ishmael in the Desert," in which the nude figure of the boy is treated m
good taste, and the expression of the mother is broadly and purely ex-
pressed; an "Infant Bacchys" presents a masterly breadth of style in the
general execution, and the head of an Italian woman, in which the features
are marked with a life-like delicacy, shows the varied feehng of the artist.
These three subjects are all carved in marble. A bronze statuette of
" Ranch the sculptor," and another of " Humboldt," by L. Drake, and
" A canary carved in box-wood," display considerable merit. The pictures,
with these last-mentioned works, amount to 120 subjects, and form an
Exhibition deserving of public support, especially as the first attempt at
establishing an annual exhibition of pictures from the German academies
in this country. _^___ ,
Darlington. — Mr. Gr. Gr. Scott, who was appointed to survey St.
Cuthhert's Parish Church, Darlington, has published a report which shows that
the venerable structure is in a dangerous condition. He concludes as follows :—
Supposing, however, the fabric to be brought back into a state of security and
of seemly"reparation, it would be absurd to have its beautiful interior encumbered
with the miserable fittings which at present disfigure and disgrace it, and I
would therefore recommend the entire refitting of the interior, thus rendering it
worthy of the edifice. The estimate of the cost of the alteration is, for repairs
and restoration of the fabric, £-4,400; for refitting, £1,700; total, £0,100.
544
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 28, 1561.
DESIGN FOR A CLUB HOUSE
PLAN OF FIRST FLOOR
GROUND PLAN
SCALE
» I 0 13 20 30 40 SO
JvjiE'JS, 1 86 1.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
545
June 28, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
547
ON THE DECAY OF THE STONE IN THE HOUSES OF
PARLIAMENT.
THE subject which I have chosen to bring before you is one, you will
readily grant, of very great importance, and of a nature, as regards
its scientific bearings, far beyond my powers of proper treatment.
My object in this paper however, is not to perplex your minds nor my
own with abstruse theories respecting the exact proportions of magnesia
lime, or silica, that a stone must possess in order that it may come up. to
the condition of cliemical completeness which is considered essential to>its
durability, but simply to initiate an inquiry among ourselves, as practical
men, which may aid in the solution of a difficulty which seems to baffle the
skill of the cl everest of our chemists and seriously to perplex all interested
in the architecture of our country ; and also that whilst a Commission of
inquiry appointed by the Royal Institute of British Architects, are
learnedly deliberating on the caiises of the decay of the stone in the
Houses of Parliament — we may have an opportmiity, as men who have
had to do (at least some of you) practically with the stone in question, to
express our opinion as to the causes of its decay.
That decay or disintegration has taken place, and is at this moment
going on, is a deplorable fact that cannot be disputed
That the stone used should s o soon have manifested symptoms of decay
is inexplicable when we remember that every precaution that science,
philosophy or practical experience could suggest was brought to bear upon
one single subject, viz., that of obtaining suitable stone for a building of
elaborate design, immense magnitude and national importance.
That this object might be realised, a Royal Commission was appointed
consisting |of the architect and two each of the most eminent chemists
and geologists of the day, and also a practical man of great experience,
endowed, no doubt, with unlimited means for carrying on their investi-
gations in the manner they might think best suited for the accomplish-
ment of the end in view.
It would be impossible, were I to attempt it in a paper, the time for read-
ing of which is only 20 minutes, to follow the Commission through half
their labors, no matter how profitable it might be, I shall therefore only
very briefly glance at so much of their labors as will give you some
notion of the reason why the stone from North Anston was selected for
use.
The Commission seem to have decided at the commencement of their
labors that a magnesian limestone possessing certain propertips would be
the best stone for the purpose required; we therefore find them, in Sep-
tember, 1838, searching in the district where such stone was to be found.
Mr. C. H. Smith, the practical man of the commission (and to whose
writings I shall frequently refer) tells us that when leaving Mansfield for
Newark, on their way into Lincolnshire, they aocidently stumbled upon
the town of Southwell, and suddenly came in sight of a church with
■western and central towers nearly as large as Westminster Abbey.
The Royal Commission seem not to have been aware at the time that
they were in the neighborhood of such an interesting example of early
architecture, nor yet did they dream that in the venerable pile before them
they would find stone possessing the fineness of texture and beauty of
color, combined with evidences of durabiUty, which would exercise such
an important influence on their ultimate decision as to the stone to be re-
commended for usa
However, on a careful examination of the church it was found that
although the Norman portion appeared to have been built with Bolsover
stone, which was then in a high state of preservation, by far the greater
part must have been brought from the vicinity of Mansfield, about half
the distance between Southwell and Bolsover. Mr. Smith, in his essay
on stone, read before the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1844,
enters fully into an examination of evidence that leads him to conclude
tliat the principal part of the stone must have been taken from the Norfal
quarries, in the neighbourhood just mentioned.
The result of the examination of this church and some other buildings
of early date was to impress the Commission very favorably with the
suit.ableness of the Bolsover stone.
We are told by the same authority that the Commission returned to
London, and spent about six weeks in examining 1.50 varieties of stone
sent from all parts of the country, thirty-six of these specimens were
selected for experiments to ascertain their physical and mechanical pro-
perties; sixteen were chosen for chemical analysis.
When these scientific investigations were completed the Commission
were more than ever convinced that the Bolsover stone was the best for
the purpose required. They, therefore, made a special tour of inspection
to Bolsover, examining most of the quarries covering a tract of country
fifteen miles from north to south, by about two miles from east to west.
Finally, they recommended the Bolsover stone as possessing (in the words
of the Commission) crystalline character combined with a close approach
to the equivalent proportions of carbonate of lime and carbonate of mag-
nesia, for uniformity of structure, facility, and economy of conversion, and
also the advantage of color.
Notwithstanding all these advantages, we find that the Bolsover stone
is scarcely used at all ; that when the contr.actora Messrs. Grissell and
Peto, with the Architect and Mr. C. H. Smith went to Bolsover to opea
the quarries and to make arrangements for a constant supply of stone,
it was discovered that although there was plenty of stone of excellent
quality, yet that the beds were too thin and so strangely contorted that
the labor in obtaining moderate sized blocks would be too expensive for
the stone to become generally useful; very little, therefore, of this
excellent stone has been used in the Houses of Parliament. Fortunately,
however, there was excellent stone a few miles off ; therefore to North
Anston they repaired, where they found abundance of stone of the thick-
ness required and possessing all the properties of the Bolsover stone. Of
this stone has the exterior of the Houses been built, and it is this stone
which is manifesting such unmistakable symptoms of decay,
the cause of which we will now proceed to consider. It must be
remembered that the decay is by no means general; that the portion exhi-
biting such symptoms is a mere fraction to the whole. From this fact alone
I am led to a conclusion in my own mind, that the stone aflected is not
the stone approved by the Royal Commissioners, yet it may have been
taken from the upper beds of the same quarries: that there was a large
quantity of stone in the these quarries unfit for use is very evident.
Four years after the stone quarries are commenced, or rather four years
after it was decided to use the Bolsover stone, at the request of her
Majesty's First Commissioner of Woods and Forests, Sir De La Beche
and Mr. C. H. Smith go to North Anstone to inspect the stone then being
obtained ; in their report, which is favorable as to the working of the
quarries, they say that they saw large masses of stone which had
been put to one side as being unfit to be sent to London for use.
A correspondent of the Builder, in a letter to that journal of April last,
says that the most cursory glance at the quarries from whence the stone
was excavated would enable the observer to account for the dilapidation
which has taken place at Westminster ; stating that the face of the stone
in the quarries exhibits irregular sand cracks running in a perpendicular
direction the whole depth of the quarries, and that on both sides of these
cracks, the stone for from 12 to 24 inches is in a crumbling state of
decay. He moreover says, that in a conversation with a workman who had
worked at the quarries for years, he learnt that it was notorious that
a large quantity of stone unfit for use had been sent to London.
Mr. C. H. Smith in a lecture delivered at the Architectural Museum,
May, 1856, when speaking of the decay which was then manifesting itself
in the Anston stone, he referred to Lincoln's Inn which was then in a
sad condition of decay. On making inquiry at the quarries as to the part
from whence this stone had been taken, he found that it had been taken
from beds a portion of which were then in a condition of decay. He
adds, for wan^ of a proper selection a small quantity of this objectionable
stone has been used at Westminster.
That Mr. Smith considers the failure of a portion of the stone in the
Houses of Parliament to have arisen through want of proper selection
is still more evident from a paper read by him before the Royal Institute
of British Architects on the various methods now before the public for in-
durating and preserving architectural stonework.
He says, in stone quarries, especially those occupying large districts,
there are variations in the hardness, texture, and durability of some of
the beds, which may account for the stone in certain beds being more
readily disintegrated when exposed to the weather ; thus rendering it ob-
jectionable for ornamental architecture.
In the Houses of Parliament some such defective stones have been in-
judiciously used; but the proportional quantity of inferior stone in the
entire edifice, being small as compared with tha*: of a good and durable
quality, shows that the f^iilures have arisen entirely from inadvertency,
or the want of more careful supervision of the blocks of stone and of the
particular beds from which they were obtained.
Thus is the onus of the failure thrown upon the shoulders of the archi-
tect and the builders, the one for neglecting supervision, and the other for
using the stone that was bad but easy to work.
This, if it could be proved, would go a great way to establish the cause
of the decay which has taken place. Unfortunately, however, there are
very few, if any examples of this stone in London but what shows
symptoms of disintegration. This being the case we might be justified in
doubting the wisdom that dictated the use of a magnesian limestone, and
that after all, the talented arcliitect, the learned geologists, the scientific
chemists, and the distinguished practical man, composing the Royal
Commission might have made a great mistake in recommending a stone
of that class for a building of such high importance and for an atmosphere
in which it had not been tried. .
The tower and spire of North Anston Church may be in a good condi-
tion, although they have been erected upwards of .300 years, and with
stone from the native quarries. We are told that notwithstandmg
the church being situated upon a hill, and therefore exposed to
the severest tests of the weather, the stone seems unaltered.
Experience will have taught Mr. C. H. Smith ere jthis that the weather
tests of North Anston are no criterion for London ; that stone in a London
atmosphere has to contend with a more powerful enemy than could assail
it upon an Anston hill. Water of itself will scarcely act upon magnesia,
but add carbonic acid, then to this all-powerful solvent even magnesia will
readily succumb.
It is a fact generally known that the atmosphere in all large towns is
strongly impregnated with tliis powerful acid, and in few situations is it
more prevalent than in the neighborhood of our splendid Gothic palace—
where in combination with rain water it is doing its destructive work of
disintegration, slowly but surely destroying that which everyone would
wish, were it possible, to endure for ever. Thus the stone may be well
adapted for use in country districts, but is is very doubtful whether
it be the best stone which could have been found for a building situated
(as Mr. Barry lately said) on the banks of a common sewer.
Dr. Wilson, an eminent chemist, states, in a lecture on the " Chemistry
of Building Materials," delivered before the Arciiitectural Institute of
Scotland, in reference to building stones used for architectural purposes,
" that theory would point to sandstones for durability in preference to
548
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 28, 1861
limestones." He also says, " that no stone is superior to limestone for
building with where the conditions of climate are suitable."
In fact, taking building stone as a whole, there seems to be very much
more decay in limestones than in any other that is used; hence, the
necessity for extraordinary care in their selection, for after all it is admitted
by those who have written the most on the subject that really very little
is known about stone, and that one stone may be like another in every
observable way, and yet differ as much as is possible in their resistance to
atmospheric influences. I think, tlicrefore, that until science has dis-
covered some test whereby durable stone may be distinguished from that
which is not durable, it would be wise for our public buildings, at least, to
nse only that stone which experience has taught us to be the most durable
in a London atmosphere— viz., the famous oolite, a limestone, butof another
class from the Island of Portland, used nt Wliit«liall, with such success, by
Inigo Jones; at Somerset House, by Sir William Chambers; and in all
parts of London, by Sir C. Wren.
Jane 19th, 1861. r. Webster.
Tl
, „ LIVERPOOL ARCHITECTU1!AL SOCIETY.
•*?°?f' '•"'"■"Sion of the Liverpool Arohitictural and Archicoloaical Society
JL was to Hawarden Caadc, Flintshire, on Saturday. The members, to the number
or aDout forty, met on the landing stage at nine o'clock, and after discussin" the
propriety ot venturiDe on so long a journey In the face ot the dense fog and rain then
preralUng. determined to brave the inliospitable .weatlier. The party accordingly
crossed over to Tranmere, and proceeded by two of the Liverpool Oimnibus Com-
puT ( busses towards Queen's Ferry, on the Dee. On leavino- Tranmere the
wetUm- cleared up, and the tounats were during the remainder of the day gladdened
by continued sunshine. Au exceedingly pleasant ride through a flnefy-wooded
eoontry, relieved now and again by undulating meadows and thrivingflelds of cereals.
brought the party in view of the great marshes skirling the Dec, and which have
been reclaimed from the river. In the estimation of agriculturists these are con-
sidered to be the most valuable and fruitful tenures in the neighbourhood Arrived
at tbe Queen » lerry, eight horses, two busses, and all the passengers crossed over
the .river m one lar.;c boat. The utility of such a ferry Is patent to all those who
tave used it, and we hope a similar system will be before long in use on the Mersey
betw^ Liverpool and Birkenhead. From the Hawarden Castle Hotel the society
praeeMM to Hawarden Church, which is situated on a considerably elevated plateau.
o3'^L?iJr?i. '"!!.';£''" ""■ "** ^°* .?^ ""^ ^'""e'- ^'>"»^^ three years ago
Stv'S . ^^^1" "^^ "!'"■''/ destroyed by a Are, which was tie
TL^A . *°, „ "cTl ""i' ," 5"" '«■<"' ^'""^<^ restored, under the super-
£^i^l^?h.f„f .hofS?.!'' °f, I'Ondon. The earliest portion would appear to
i . n?^h„ T^S^^J^^*^";?.^'"",' ,';«'>'"'■>'• »>"' ".'•; P-™ter proportion of the structure
riJnWL .^l^, ^IJJ'^K ^J'.'i >'«»0" were received at the church by the Eev. Hector
v.^fjt.r.H^jJ^.P''*?,^''^"''' 'J'' brother, and a critical examination of the
rt^^ bcauUes of the pile was made. One of the most striking objects was a fine
Itained erlass window In the ^VTiitiey Chapel-the only one we believe that
ra^^ unimpaired by the fire A remarkably pretty stone pulpit attracted con-
SSSof ^mi^-.Mn .? ''^'*"^ °' " «'»« ««'J™ by Mr' David Valker. The other
B^^^v. mT. i wv.'n"""'.?" """^ '" bave embraced the celebrated Buckley
rrhu w^^t' "*«*7- .Y''!l'<'>'- """ows. and Fenton's Wire Kope and Telegraph
dP«li? H»;^.'i'V""%'^"""'""'J^,"'*°' of Enloe Castle, near which, in a de?p
^^Jd hl?.™v!lf"'^„? ^"r" ^^^^%^ \°'"' <"■'"« wars against the Welsh, whS
5t^ ,.5^„l^Li^ ^?1 "'.''k'**.' ,*'¥'■ '""''°? ''""awn the. troops Into the trap.
ii^Jt^ P"*^ '*?'^ r* Jf li'i^<^. as the time was so much limited ; but tlie
C«He wS ..?„^IE'??'fh by Sir Stephen Glynne and the rev. rector to Hawarden
k^rt .«7n L„. „.M " tbe magnificent park at the east end of the village. Many
l*Sit«-^rLiS5nV?^i2 "i^i"'' ■""?/"''• "■2'"""''' '"e hearts of the visitors towards
fn?^^.i.S? ... ""• "^ ^'"'.1''''^" "r *?»* * ">««' "f "'-n valuable and interesting
G1^S?^.S flfftirrn ^7'"' b*"'^"' of « 'C .Society. The mansion of ,S.r Stephef
«Xh c JvYp nf .1,, .^« ■ \\ «"'','■'■'■<='«' "• l'-'^'. and remodelled in jm, in the
^^ .h. ^'^r, i "'Ub'rtcenth century. Surrounding it are .some giant forest trees,
The rSn. nf^.r^iT''" '.?""'. ""f """"• "" <"*''• »"" » eedar-tree^ '
.nii!^;rS?S . "'"*■ "^"'i? ""?.•* °° » blgh hill commanding a fine view of the
k2J22 fS.JJP^ • V.°' "J" believed that a castle existed on the spot before the
UkS^v^S?nT; hll'i»5,''n'=''*";.*'",'"'?"?">'''"''»'° «batin 1ZS2 the castle was
2SS X*d™.l. jThl v.7i },^i^ S*" V.'S'"r S'»°''^y. m whose family it remained
SSrchMti tiv fSUcLi'riv^ l^^by «t the ba tie of Worcester, in IWi; when it was
E^.il^i^i.^ *"*.''>"""• °^ Cromwellian ce cbrity. Since that time it had
tT cramblln" w^nr?he°;n?^,""^, ^"rr ''T-''^ ^'"« rents IS the mas^ve tower,
iBUuS^roimd^J^hid wP„Snf'.h''*P' '° wbicli there is a stone bench, a piscini
thwS* iwch om^hw .h„.-I^ ".^''^ °!^^'° ."'« ruin; a large square aperture,
ImSSrf Ih? SSk iTi ™L *''''^*'i'"' °* ."'<^ bosf would bS witnessed by tlie
dSdTrf vwfto^«in- V?^h»K°" ^^"^""y w,l«h "Would they had tongues the
TOtottd Mt^e uLe mnnS.^^"'' f. 'be ""V' ""d a Short distance from it were
mSoToriSin^ tel"""''.l"°'"'^"""^"^ been evidently in the hands of the
SSS?i^ th.r.h^ S^rTi^in"" "" '?.^ P" "'" "'" "«»". «nd whilst some savans
fiS^rtSiJd unl.n ?hP .7n^ ^™'*' <"^'>";«ralh which the I'arliamentarv General
ottSTIdTanceTthP LVn^^n^.'I'^."'.'," "^ •'""™. Karl of Derby, who held the castle,
wSS^ «rf^ w« S h"'!"' """^ ""'T •>P''^^'" "f » »"" n>ore remote age
M^ i^SJSfn Tliher ?r..,^*'t''7'"" *"'' .'be ""xuries of es-pounders aSd
«dt«r^The ^m^ln.^f . ^'.'eeer or the besieged. Much Curiosity was
"A^mSSilbath^ eic?..™J "''' ""!?''<»"' structure at the base of the hill.
whll.TT^ffird .t^ttT ,^T''y. '° '"lue'^uet" others believed It to be j
Mrroundfn- he? «itll «ni' i*"., ^ P"'' "' "'« «"eicnt fosse or ditcl
■•nrrounain,^ ine castle. Speculation ran on anacc It wan nnt nnliki. »
dungwn, one gentleman argu.,.d, for at the bottom o? the deep reSs were e^dences
2gr ?,fe geo"eran";fi;k".hf'il"''"^/ ""Mf*" '" ''"= «»''e byl su\Te.;anlI.'i'pSs!
S^.^.-TjT.'' ,"" '^'' 'be place for a mill-race, and the "funnv fellow •' of the
hSf"^ur wL^nL"sed';;,^:;i^iV' •'.".'"•".V" '"•' "bole. an intere,?inVandTnstruet Ive
i.. In Mm *^rv, rJ J^iT „• '''•""'^''''-Su''''''''"' "''' P'«ee' 'be masonry of wlilch
tbedar kn^ wot i5 J. !.?.f "*;"■"''•. The exploration was one of the featuns of
mulof the n. in^",, satisfactory to archieologists generallv, no doubt, if that
KSb^ wAlhLkbv,Z''ZT^,- 1' •'"'. """'= 'be party divid'ed ; and whi st one
ataS^rud^S^n'^^Z • "i^^lber. P'?"eered by Mr.'Kenton, had a walk across
tuiS^. BOWtSe DroiJrt^,^f 'a'^' *? -^"i?"- "ere the old manor-house of the Whitley
Sd&elywoSdeTC?^ uA..""} ''""''«"• """I" ><> 'be midst of rich meadows
llWthelio«S«tTofhi...Mi^f .?''^';"P''''''" "r- renton. who, besides extend-
oTeSS^^tSSmlaih^JiJ, 1° "'^ "'"i^"' ''*'' -''eat pains to show them a variety
irS!SS^TSm^MMUr?fi]'?T- ^be most striking was that of the old oafe
•nd^tedSS»'SSS. . T^^*" i""" ""^ ."T"- "'"1 eaeb covered with eml«s«cd
prloefpal mSS>enU the frhltlev f^flv ' U.^LT "?'" '" represent two of the
for dinner lud antred. yrom a^,}1 .J' '^T"^' "o* <our o'clock, and the hour
Queen'. FCTTy,^reiheDartv ^;l^°' "" 'J""'"" went across the country again to
C«tl«Hi5KndWHtetfu. Zt^.^SS Jf**™* «">"olldated at the fiawarden
lb. beart-diin Indeed muit •■ mln,'!KS?'.-''i°''*'' "b»rpens the wit while it softens
Terr sharp wlU and wr«.fth»i?i^rS!* have succeeded In making his guests
AeehSr wuTowSX ^TllH!?'^^"^>' *"? "elit'l'ted with the repast.
vw«i»wi uy Mt. J. II. Uai, tbe president of tbe Society, who had
Sir Stephen Glynne on his right and the Rev. Rector Glynne on his left. The vice-
chair was filled by Mr. Stubbs, who was supported by Robert Rawlinson, Esq., C.E.,
and Mr. I'enton. The cloth having been drawn, and grace said by the Rev. Rector
Glynne, tlie usual loyal and patriotic toasts were given from the chair.
,, '^'be. I'ECTOH responded for "the Bishop and Clergy of the Diocese," and
( aptttin C. O. Llhson, of the 1st Lancashire Enirineers. for "the Armv Kaw and
A'oluntcers.
: Ist Lancashire Engineers, for "the Army, Kavy, and
county
atfabifi
over his' grounds.
The toast was enthusiastically received.
Sir Stephen Glvnne in acknowledging the toast, said it had given him unfeigned
satisfaction in being able to welcome such a society as that which he had had the
honor to meet that day at Hawarden. He thought it the duty of everyone who had
any monuments of antiquity or curiosities lying within their grounds to giveevery
facilitv for the iiispection of them, and to show them off to the greatest advantage
possible, when visited by such societies as the Liverpool Architectural Society. He
thanked the bociety for its great kindness, and for its hospitality to him. It had
given him great pleasure to meet with such a company as tbat then assembled, and
he begged to propose " Success to the Liverpool Architectural and Arclia!oIo'Tical
Society ' --(cheers), -asocietylformcd of so many highly gifted and intelligent persons
who would, he trusted, (continue to :pursuc their researches with greater advantage
to society at large every year. He believed it to be to the advantage of everv neijS-
liourhood to posses a well-organized architectural society 'like that in Liverpool—
(hear, hear),— which was notlonly of great utility in its day, but was the means of
conveying authentic historic accounts to those who have not otherwise the means
of being enlightened.
The toast was well received.
Mr Stubbs acknowledged the toast; and then proposed " The Town and Trade
of Liverpool."
The toast was drunk amidst cheers, and responded to by Mr. Chanthei-l
,. ^'r. Robert Rawlinson gave " The Learned Societies, and the Liternrv and
Scientific Institutions of Liverpool." He observed that learned societies had pre-
vailed from remote periods, and had always been connected with the onward pro-
gress of civilisation. We had had in different ages of the world different orders of
civilisation. We had a civilisation whose highest embodiments consisted in the
ancient style of its poetry ; another whose highest embodiments appeared to be in
war i a third whose highest embodiments might truly be said to be learning, litera-
ture, and science. The Assyrians had their huge unwieldy armies and their palaces,
tlie Greeks had their glorious art of which, as architects, the then present company
were worshippers, and the Romans had their conquering armies; but it had been
reserved to modern times to produce with poetry as high as the ancients— our
Shakspcare, our .Milton, and the lesser poets— art. And then in our armies wc had
done what would, he supposed, be regarded as great deeds and as honorable as those
achieved by the ancients. The inarch of Havelock in India was never surpassed,
llie defence of Lucknow was as glorious as any recorded in history— (cheers)— and our
small army m the Crimea gained a great and glorious victory. When that
noble band first went there it suffered as armies generally suffered when they first
took the field after a long period of profound peace— suffered only to come out of the
struggle with more transcendent glory to the nation and the people— (Cheers). But
the great glory of this age was to be found in its peaceful pursuits. The present
l<,iTipororof the French— and no more far-seeing man exists— had chosen to say,
' rhe Empire is peace." lahadbeen thought, and it had been said, that it was merely
a hypocritical pretence on the part of Louis Napoleon ; but he (Mr. R.)did not believe
It was anything of the kind. He believed the French Emperor intended to convey
to the nations of the world the very fullest meaning of those words ; at the same
time, by his armies, he stood prepared to meet the worst, because he knew his posi-
tion as a sovereign in Europe was too fragile to allow him to dispense with the
panopyofwar. He (Mr. R.) did not believe Louis Napoleon intended to rush Into
war without he was provoked to do so. But we in our day worked peacefully. We
had our railways, a triumph of peace such as neither Greek nor Roman ever con-
templated « e had our electric telegraphs and many other triumphs which only
peace could bring m her train, and men were beginning now to study not merely the
accumulation of wealth but the art of laying up a store of health, and how to preserve
that health to themselves. Great progressTiad been made in sanitary science in this
country. It was our duty to foster peace, and as far as we could he hoped we should
all be true to our calling— (Applause).
Captain J. A. Picton responded, and remarked upon the facilities that now existed
!iK".^ J ■ ™edium of the learned societies for mingling pleasures and learning
with the drier details of business life. Those societies were yearly acxjuiring know-
ledge and doing much good in their day and gener.ition, and he could not envy that
man his feelings who sought to bring their labors into contempt. Such a man was
a tool as well as an Ignoramus. The great triumphs of science were the result of
the expansion of the human mind. As Englishmen, we had a glorious inheritance
that we should be pround of; and he for one could sympathise with the intensity of
me leelings of those who had entered into the Volunteer movement with a stern
determination to preserve intact all the blessings that had been brought to us by
those who had preceded us. In conclusion, he proposed the health of the President,
who, together with his brothers, had gained a veryliigh position in the profession of
architecture. Mr. .1. JI. Hay had been distinguished for his courtesy and the
regularity with which he had attended the meetings of the Society, and he was sure
that gentleman would retire from office with the respect and good wishes of every
member of the Society. «• e. i
The toast was drunk with musical honors.
The Chairman responded in a neat speech.
Mr. John Hav proposed the health of Mr. Fenton, who had made the arrange-
ments at Hawarden. ■
Mr. Fenton responded to the toast, which was most cordially received,
j; J "'"'"' proposed, and Mr. Harmer responded to, the toast of " Prosperity
and Advancement to the Fine Arts." f '
Mr. STUiins proposed "the Press," which was responded to by Mr. Baker of tho
Mercury, and Mr. IIaruohd of the Daily Post.
The health of the hon. secretary, Mr. W. H. 1'icton, was most cordially drunk,
ana the last toast— that of "The Ladles" was proposed in a felicitous speech by
Mr. llARDv Hav, and responded to by Mr. Dovle.
I .'.' bu^'tes were again brought into requisition, and the party reached home again.
Shortly before midnight, extremely well pleased with their excursion.
.MANCHESTER ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION.
A MEETING of this Association was held on Wednesday evening, the 12th Inst,
at the rooms, George-street ; the Vice-president In the chair. After some pre-
liminary business, the Chairman called upon Mr. Jos. Shaw to read the paper for the
evening, on Gothic Arcliilecture. The essay opened with a review of the peculiar
beauties of the various periods of Gothic art, and the causes which led to the gradual
transition from each style to that which succeeded it, it being shown that such
changes did not result from that eager lore of novelty which characterises the present
age but from a sincere and earnest love of artistic truth and beauty ; and that until
we have attained an intimate knowledge of the works of our forefathers, and masters
m the art (not only in general effect, but in the refinement of their detail), we can
never hope to excel their productions. In continuation of the subject, the essayist
remarked—" Our ancestors, contented with their work, laid down and slept ; ours it
siiould have been to carry even nearer to perfection that beauty which had by them
been created, adapting its peculiarities to the ever-increasing requirements of the
tunes. Did we, as a people, avail ourselves of this high privilege ? No ! The
June 28, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
549
opportunities for projyress which were ^Iven were worse thaa waited, even
employed in the destruction of the beanty of tht-ir ediftees by our spurious additions.
Our uncultivati'd taste was not satisfied by Ibllowin^j: in the steps of our fore-
fathers, but by substituting that style of architecture which marks our towns and
Tillages. . Turrets, pinnacles, and open battlements could have no legitimate affinity
with Doric or Corinthian entablatures and columns. Yet such indiscriminate mix-
tures were practised not merely by iguoraut and inferior artists, but by the moat
eminent architects of the time. The perfection of which the Gothic style is capable
needs no comment. Wo have monuments in our own country which have not
hitherto been equalled by any modern works. The skill displayed by our ancient
architects and masons in carrying up spires and pinnacles, poising lofty arches, tier
above tier, upon slender shafts, and spreading out fretted ceilings of surpassing
beauty, proves that they were men of more than ordinary genius." After comparing
the imperfect education of the m^ority of art-workmen in the present day with the
skill whicli was i>03se33ed by those of the middle ages, and briefly alluding to the
revival and future prospects of (iothic architecture, tlm writer concluded by proving
its adaptability to the requirements of ecclesiastical, civil, commercial, and domestic
buildii^s.
Tlie views whicli had been brought forward were then entered into and discussed
by the members, and, in connexion with the present position of art- workmen it was
suggested, and the idea generally approved, that a drawing class be formed for them,
under the direction of the Association.
BOYAL INSTITUTE 01^ BRITISH ARCHITECTS,
VOLUNTABf ARCHITECTURAL EXAMINATION.
To the Council of the Itoyal InstUtUe of British Architects.
<», Conduit-street, W., 2nd May, 1861.
DeAU Sirs,— The Committee appointed in compliance with a resolution passe<i
at the special general meeting held 14th January, 1801, to prepare a curriculum and
bye-laws for the proposed Voluntary Architectural Examination, having held many
meetings at wliich the subjects referred to them were carefully considered, have this
day directed us to forward to you the following result of their labors.
We are, dear sirs, yours very faithfully,
Arthur Ashpitel, Chairman, ) ^f *i,:, rnmmin-np
John W. Papworth, Hon. Sec.,] ^^ ^^^ Committee.
lieffulations and Curriculum. —The examination shall be arranged in two classes,
so as to oiTer to a candidate tlie opportunity of acquiring an acknowledgment of
ordinary proficiency, and further an acknowledgment of honorable (Ustinction.
No candidate under thirty years of age shall bo permitted to presuut liimself for an
acknowledgment of honorable distinction without having previously passed the
examination in the class of ordinary proficiency.
The examination shall in no respect be conducted vivd voce. It shall take place
in the last week of the month of January, as often as there shall be five candidates
seeking an acknowledgment of ordinary proficiency : and it shall occupy not more
than three days for the candidates in that class, witli not more than three
additional days for the candidates seeking an acknowledgment of honorable
distinction.
The first of such day's examination shall be in drawing and design; the second
in mathematics, and physics, witli professional practice ; the third in materials and
construction, with history and literature ; while the fourth, fifth, and sixth days
shall be assigned to the same purposes in similar order ; languages being included
on the fifth day. The hours of attendance shall be from ten till five, except on the
sixth day, when they shall be from ten till two ; and on eacli day there shall be an
interval of one hour, during which time no work shall be allowed, and the Institute
fihall provide some simple refrealiment.
Upon the daysof examination the candidates shall have access to such books of
tables as may be provided by the Honorary Secretaries under the advice of the
examiners.
A candidate, who has passed in the class of ordinary proficiency, shall not be re-
quired to attend on the first three days of any subsequent examination at which he
may present liimself for the class of honorable distinction.
The examiners shall be not less than three in number, and they shall be elected, as
well as two moderators, by the Fellows of the Institute at the first general meeting
in January. No examiner or moderator shall be concerned in the examination of
any candidate connected with him by any tie of relationship, tuition, or business.
No examiner shall attend at tlie Institute during the hours of examination.
The papers of questions and requirements of work shall be framed by the exami-
ners as much possible with direct reference to architecture, and in conformity with
the application of candidates regulated by the subjects in the following programme
COUnSK OF EXAMINATION.— CLASS OF ORDINARY PROFICIENCY.
Prelimitianj Work.— A. measured Sketch of some existing building or portion of a
bnilding ; a perspective sketch of some existing building or portion of a building ; a
drawing of some ornament from the round or relief; and a perspective view with
working plan, section, and elevation, of a design by the candidate for some building,
together with its whole specification and a portion of working details at full size.
No. of
Worh to he done in the presence of the Moderators. Marks.
Drawing and Deeign.— A design for some building or jiortion of a building,
in the style named by tlie candidate, the subject being given by the
examiners 1,750
Mathematics.— Arithmetic, including the square root; algebra. Including
simple equations ; Euclid, books 1 and 2 ; mensuration 500
Physics.— The elements of mechanical philosophy, and specially heat, light,
and ventilation ; the composition and resolution of forces 500
Professional I'ractice.~The principles of estimating ; the laws relating to
accident, agency, contracts, and dilapidations 500
Materials.— The general natures and properties of building materials, in-
cluding their decay, preservation, quality, and strength 750
Construction. —The detail drawings and specification for such brandies of
the work suggested in the above-named design (including drainage) as the
examiners may indicate 750
History and Literature.— An outhne of thu characteristics of the principal
strles of architecture in Europe ; the particular characteristics and history
of any one style named by the candidate > 1,250
0,000
CT.ABS OF nONORABLE DISTINCTTON.
PrcHminanj Tr*w/.'.— Original details at full size of work for wood, stone, marble
mosaic, glass, iron, brass, precious 'metals, textile fabrics, or embroidery; sketches
or measured drawings of existing buildings or other subjects of design; a drawino-
of the human figure from the round or from memory; a subject of landscape
gardening; an architectural subject in colors; a subject of decoration, in color or
otherwise; and some specimen of skill in modelling, or in carving either in stone or
in wood; specimens in four, at least, of these branches being necessary for the ad-
mission of the candidate.
™. . No. of
Worl- to OP. done m the presence of tlie Moderators. Macks.
Drawing and Design.— Such designs, drawings, and specimens of skill, in the
sfyje or styles named by the candidate, as may be thought needful to test his
skill with regard to such preliminary work as may have been attached to bis
declaration ; the subjucts t»be given by the examiners 600
Mathematics.—Algcbra, including quadratic equations ; Euclid, Books 3, 4, and
0 ; plane trigonometry ; conic sections. The candidate to name the extent
of the examination that he thinks himself capable of passing 000
Mathematics and IMiysics applied to Practical Purposes. -Mechanics ; statics:
aynamics ; hydrostatlca ; hydraalicB ; land-surveying ; acoustics ; chemistry;
electricity; galvanism; geology; and theory of color. The candidate to
name the portions chosen by him 400
Languages.— Translation from Greek or i^atin, and translation from orcom-
poHition in one or more living foreign languages ; architectural nomenclature
In any Iivin«r foreign language. The candidate to name the languuges 300
Professional Practice. — Laws of property relating to buildiugs, including
fixtures and rights of adjoining owners ; arbitration 50O
Materials. — Detail of the natures and properties of building materials, includ-
ing materials which are not in ordinary use 400
Construction.— Complex construction in scaffolding, shoring, securing danger-
ous structures, pulling down work, alterations of buildings, foundatiouB,
walls, partitions, floors, roofs, arches and vaults ; formulas for calculating
the strength of materials , 500
History and Literature.— The structures, architects, writers on practice and
theory, and works illustrating styles or structures, in any style or styles
named by the candidate 700
4,000
The number of marks to be allotted by the examiners to their questions shall be
10.000 : of which 6,000 shall be in t!ic ordinary, and 4,000 in the honorable class of the
above programme, and also shall be as above noted— Drawing and design, ord. 1,750,
hon. 600; mathematics, ord. 500, hon. 000; physics, ord. 500, hon. 400; languages,
hou. 300; professional practice, ord. .5'X), hon. 500; materials, ord. 750, hon7400;
construction, ord. 750, hon. 500 ; history and literature, ord. 1,^50. hon. 700.
Of these marks 3,000 in the ordinary class shall gain an acknowledgment of ordinary
proficiency; if increased by '^,000 in the other class they shall gain an acknowledg-
ment of honorable distinction: but the candidate shall not be hold to deserve the
acknowledgment of ordinary proficiency unless he obtains at least half of the number
of marks allotted to the divisions of drawing and design, materials, and construction
respectively, in addition to at least a fifth 01 the number of marlis allotted to each, of
the other divisions in that class.
In order to secure unquestioned impartiality in tlie examination, each candidate
upon complying with the form of application shall receive from tlie hou. secretaries
of the Institute a paper containing a number which he shall employ instead of his
signature to all work during the examination. Such nmnber is to be so placed that
it may be easily removed by the moderators, who shall substitute their own signs as
Iicreinafter provided. A particular sign shall be affixed by the hou. secretaries to
the drawings, specification, and objects of skill submitted with the declaration, so
that the authorsnip may not be known to the examiners.
The examination shall be superintended by two moderators, one of whom mnst
always be in the room during the daysof examination. Their function shall be to
supply the question papers, to sec tliat the intentions of the examiners are fulfilled, to
explain the objects of the questions, to take care that no assistance be given by one
candidate to another, and that no other persons than the candidates, except them-
selves, shall be in the room or hold communication with the candidates during the
hours of work ; to allow no other books to be used than those above permitted, to
verify the production of the work in the room by each candidate, to affix to each
work produced in their presence by each candidate a distinctive and numerically
different sign, and to supply at the close of each portion of the day to the hon.
secretaries such productions, with a re^rister of the sigus accompanied by an index
showing the number designating the candidate. The moderators shall be
remunerated by the Institute in regard of their services at each annual examination.
The examiners shall furnish to the honorary secretaries, in time for the openinsr
of the examination, sealed notes marked as containing in each the subject for work
in tlie division of drawinj^ and design in the class of ordinary proficiency. The
examiners shall meet on the first day of examination, and, upon consideration of the
drawings produced in the presence of the moderators during the day, as well as of
the drawings and specimens of skill attached to the declaration, shall furnish to the
honorary secretaries notes of the branches of work for which the respective candi-
dales shall be required to make the detail drawings and specification in the division
of construction in the class of ordinary proficiency, and the subjects for which they
shall be required to produce specimens of their skill in the division of drawing and
design in the class of honorable distinction. At the same time tlie examiners shall
furnish to the honorary secretaries sealed envelopes marked as containing separately
the papers of questions and requirements for each remaining portion of the exami-
nation. The contents of those papers shall be as far as possible uniformfor the can-
didates, and shall be multiplied only in manuscript or in lithography under the im-
mediate superintendence of the examiners. The honorary secretaries shall enclose
each paper separately in another envelope, on which they shall mark the class,
division, and number of the candidate for whom it is intended, and these addressed
envelopes shall not be supplied except through the moderators to the candidates
at that portion of the examination for which each is intended.
As the follo^vlng articles must be ready for return on the last day of examination,
the examiners at the same time or by adjournment shall take into consideration any
degrees, diplomas, certificates, or medals, obtained from any society of architects (ap-
proved.for this purpose by the Council of the Institute) whose President or honorary
secretary at the time when such distinction was adjudged shall have been a Fellow of
the Institute, or from any royal academy of art, or from any university in (Ireat Britain,
as well as any printed literary productions, which may be submitted by the candi-
date; and the designs, drawings, specification, and specimens of skill attached as
hereinafter required to his declaration ; by granting to each group of such objects
any number of marks not exceeding two-thirds of the number allotted to the
division or divisions appropriate thereunto in the class or classes in which the can-
didate presents himself.
Within seven days of the last day of examination, the examiners shall furnish to
the Council their report stating the number of marks granted to the above named
objects in each division, and to each sign affixed by the moderators to the works
produced before them by the candidates.
Upon receiving the report of the examiners the hon. secretaries shall forni a list
of tne numbers given by them to the candidates, with a schedule of the appropriate
signs substituted by the moderators, as well as of the sign chosen by the hon. secre-
taries themselves for the designs, drawings, specification, and specimens of skill,
submitted by each candidate, and shall affix to such list and gclicdule the marks
granted to each moderator's sign, and to each previouslyobtained diploma, certificate,
medal, literary work, design, drawing, specification and specimen of skill, so as to
ascertain the marks due m each division to each candidate's number: and their
report thereof shall be delivered to the Council within a fortnight after the
examination.
The Council shall deduct from any marks granted by the examiners to previously
obtained diplomas, certificates, medals, hterary works, designs, drawings, specifica-
tion, or specimens of skill, the whole number of marks gained in the appropriate
division or divisions in presence of the moderators, if less than the half of those
above required for such division or divisions of the class or classes in which the
candidate presents himself.
The total number of marks then due to each candidate's number shall thereupon
be calculated by the hon. secretaries. Should the marks not amount to a numl>er
sufficient to pass the candidate, no further notice shall be taken. An alphabetical
list of candidates succe.'ssful in the class of ordinary proficiency, and a fist of
candidates successful in the class of honorable distinction, shall be publicly exhibited
at the Institute within one month after the examination. 'Ihe number of marks
gained by each candidate shall not be communicated to any person.
All diplomas, certificates, medals, literary works, drawings, specifications, and ■
objects of skill submitted with the declaration, shall be returned to the candidate at
the close of the last day of his examination. No drawings, papers, or other object
produced as work in the presence of the moderators during the examination shall be
returned to the candidate.
The following works are recommended to gentlemen proposing to become
550
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 28, 1861.
casdidttet, u rontilnin" bo mncli of the informstion that can bo tialncd from hooka
u is likelv to be required In furnishing answers to the question papers, except upon
particular laognagea and styles that may be selected by candidates.
The work! that arc prcceJjed bv the mark t may be selected as affording; an abbre-
Tlated, but tolerably complete, course of Enj:lisli reading of an elementary character
for atodcnta ; it being presumed that in each case the reader will be able to discover
what portion (if not the whole) of the volume Is intended. The works marked * form
portions of Weale's Rudimentary- Treatises.
IJruwitiff ami J)€siffn.
London, on Gardening. Ac, Svo., JtsW.
Malton, Complete Treatise on IVrspectlve, fol. 1775.
Malton, Youufr I'ainter's Maulstick, a practical Treatise on Perspective, 4to. 180O.
Paalej, a complete Course of I'ractical Geometry and Plan Drawing, 8vo., 1828.
Bep on. Landscape Gardening and Landscape Architecture ; edited by Loudon,
o-tni^ 1&12.
Slmms, on Mathematical and Prawing Instruments, 12mo., 1817.
Mathematics and Physics.
Ansted, Elementan- Course of Geolorv, &c., Svo., 1866.
tAmott, EK ments of I'hysics, 8vo., 182a
Baker, Land and Engineering Surveying,' 1859.
Baker, Mensuration,* 1850.
fBaker, Principles and I'ractice of Statics and Dynamics,* 1851.
Barlow, Treatise on the Strength of Timber, Cast-iron, Malleable iron, and other
malerials ; revised by Heather and 'NVilliB, 8a-o., 1851.
Beman, History and Art of Warming and Ventilating Rooms and BtUldings,
Snro., 184«.
Brair, Engineering Field Work, 8vo., 1840.
Caatle, Treatise on Land Surveying and Levelling, Svo., 1845.
iCherrenl, De laLoi du Contraste simultane des Couleurs, Ac, 8vo., Paris. 1829(with
its Plates, 4to., IKitt) ; of this there are abridged translations by Martel, 8vo., 1854
and by Spanton, 8vo., 18*0.
Creey, Enevclopwdia of Civil Engineering, Svo., 1850.
♦Fownes, Rudimentary Chemistry,* 1848.
Fownes. Manual of l-.lementary Chemistry, Svo., 1858.
♦Gwilt, Kncyclopaedio of Architecture, 8vo., 1854.
tHerschell, on Light, Sound, ic, 4to., 18.5«, A-c.
Hodckinson, Experimental Researches on Cast Iron, 8vo., 1840.
Hntton, a Course of Slathematics, 8vo., 1824; and 8vo., 1841-3.
Inman. Ventilation, Warming, and Transmission of Sound, 8vo., 18.30.
Ljell. Manual of Elementary Geology, 8\o., 1855; and Supplement, 8vo., 1857.
Pa«lejr, a complete Course of I'ractical Geometry and Plan Drawing, Svo., 1828.
fPortlock, Treatise on Geology,* 1859.
Bedgrave, Elementary Manual of Color, 18mo., 1853.
Simms, the Principles and Practice of Levelling, 8vo., 18—.
fTomltnton, Mechanics', 185'J.
tTomlinson, Introduction to the Study of Natural Philosophy,* 1859.
tTomlinson, Warming and Ventilation,* 1858.
The Dictionaries, by VioUet le Due, and by the ArcWtectural Publication Society, in
progress.
Languaqes.
Batlssler, Histoirc dc I'Art Monumentale, 8vo., Paris. 1850.
Cicognara, Lc Fabbrichc e 1 Monument! cospicui di Venezia, fol. Venice, 1858.
Pansanlaa, as a Text Book for the Greek Language.
Pliny, Hiftoria Naturalis, Books 34, 35, 30, as a Text Book for the Latin Language.
Vitmvius, De Architectura.
The Dictionaries, by Viollet le Due, and by the ArchitectnralJPublication Society, in
progress.
Professional Practice.
Addinn, Treatise on Law of Contracts, and lUghts and Liabilities ex Contractu,
8Ta, 18SB.
Anux and Ferard, Treatise on theLaw of Fixtures, 8vo., 1847.
Bartholomew, Specifications for Practical Arcliitecturc, Ac, Svo., 1848.
Chitty, Treatise on the Law of Contracts, 8vo., 1857,
tDobaon, Student's Guide to Measuring and Valuing, 8vo., 1843.
fDonaldaon, Hand-book of Specifications ; with Glen, a Review of the Law of Cou-
traets. 8vo., IhflO.
Gibbons, Law of ContracU for Works and Services,* 1857.
Gibbon*. Law of Dilapidations and Nuisances, 8vo., 1849.
Kiwllt, En«(lopa!dia of Architecture. 8vo., 1854.
Koblc, I'rotii-sional Practice of Architects, and that of Mcasuring'SuTTeyorB, and
Heferencc to liuildirs, 8vo.. 18;)fi.
Keid, ^"onng Surveyors Preceptor, an Analysis of Arcliitectural Mensuration, Ac.
4tO.^ lo4S.
Wataon, Treatise on the Law of Arbitrations and Awards, 8vo., 1840.
Woodfall, I'ractical Treatiac on the Law of Landlord and Tenant, Svo., 18.-)0.
The Dlctionariei, by VIoUet le Due, and by the Architectural Publication Society, in
progreii. "
Materials and Construction.
Barlow, Treatise on the Strength of Timber, Cast-iron, Malleable Iron, and other
Matenala; revised by Heather and Willis, 8vo., 1851.
Bartholomew, Specifications for I'ractical Arcliilecture,&c., 8vo., 1640.
tBomell, Limes, Cements, Jlortars, Concretes, Mastics, and I'lasteriug,* 1657.
Creay, Lncyclopadia ol Civil Engineering, 8vo., 1850.
tDobson, Art of Building,* IWli.
tDobson, F'oundatlons and Concrete Works,* 1850.
tDolMon, Masonry and Stone Cutting,* 185C.
tDonaldaon, Uaud-book of Specifications ; with Glen, a Review of the Law of Con-
tracU, 8to., 1660.
'?:^'**';S?.'"' tl»e Appplication of Cast and Wrought Iron to liuilding Purposes,
Field. Painter's Art, or a Grammar of Coloring,* 1858,
fOwUt, Encyclopaedia of Architecture, 8vo., 1864.
liodgkinson. Experimental Researches on Cast Iron, Svo.. 1840.
tllosking. ArcliiCectnre and Building Construction, 4fo., lw.4, Ac.
1 a.*ly-. Limes, Calcareous Cements, Mortars, Stucco, and Concrete, Ac, 8vo., 1847.
l.v''%?i. • t-lttnentary Principles of Carpentry, edited by liarlow, 8vo., 1840.
The Dictionaries, by Viollet le Due, and by the Architectural I'ublication Society, in
„ ., , _ Jlistoril and Literature.
MtUiicr, Biatolre dc I'Art MonumenUle, 8vo., I'aris, 1889.
BrandOD, Analysis of Gothic Architecture, 4to., 1847.
Chambera, Treatise on the De<»rative Part of Civil Architecture, with Essay on
Grecian Architecture by Papworth, fol. 1820.
ticognara, Lc Fabbriche e i Monumenti cospicui di Venezia, fol. Venice, 1808.
treay, EncyclopadU of Civil Engineering, Svo., IKiO.
tJereuMon, Hand-book of Architecture, 8vo., 18.59.
k*llS?r*'T "onnments Anciens et Modernes, 4to., Paris, 1M2-52.
Gan^ier.^plui beaux Edifice, de la Ville dc Genes, foL, Paris, 1830.
tOloaury of Tenna osed in Architecture, 8vo., Orford, 18.51.
2r^^?f^ "^ ^"^- Architwtur Toscane, fol.. Parts, 1840.
ii^JI"fi.^^*''!P**"" "'^ Architecture, hvo., liVi.
ill JF' ^ ■*"B"<cture I'olychromc, fol., Paru, 18.52.
1 eSSSSl. vi'.a'^'T ;/"' """■'inK Construction, 4to., 185-1, Ac.
l.etarooniy. Edifices de Rome Jlodeme, fol., Paris. 18.W
ISSiSnisft'"'*"""**'"' ^•"'*"'"'e •»«• Architiktonischen Ordnongcn, 4to.,
Milizia, ^'ite ; or. Lives of Celebrated Architects, translated by Cresv, Svo., 1826.
Nicholson, Principles and Practice of Architecture, Svo., 1848.
Xorm.and, I'arallel of the Orders of Architecture ; edited by Pugin, fol. 1S29.
I'alladio. Lcs liatimens et Dessins ; edited by Scamozzi, fol., Vieenza. 1780.
I'ugln, True Principles of Pointed or Christian Architecture. 4to. 1841.
Kichanison, Observations on the Architecture of England during the Reigns of
Elizabeth and James I.. 4to., 183".
Riekman. an Attempt to Discriminate the Styles of English Architecture, 8vo., 1848.
Serradifalco, Le Antichitii della Sicllia, fol., Palermo, 1842.
Society of liilcttanti, Ionian Antiquities, fol., 1769, 1797, 1840.
Society of Dilettanti, Unedited Antiquities of Attica, fol., 1833.
Stuart and Eevett, Antiquities of Athens, fol., 1762, 1787, 1794, 1810 ; and the Un-
edited Antiquities, by KJnnard and Others, fol.. 1830.
Taylor and Cresy, Architectural Antiquities of Rome, fol., 1826.
Wilkins, I'rolusiones, Architectonicx, 4to., 1S37.
The Dictionaries, by VioUet le Due, and by the Architectural Publication Society, in
progress.
.Fees.— Each application for an acknowledgment of ordinary proficiency must be
accompanied by a fee of two guineas ; and each application for an ucknowledgmcut
of honorable distinction must be accompanied by a further fee of one guinea.
t'onii of Application.— The following forms of Declaration and Recommendation
shall be delivered with the necessary signatures, to the honorary secretaries, four
weeks before the first day of the examination at which .the candidate desires to
present himself. They are to be attached to those objects which the candidate shall
submit as preliminary work in the class or classes for whicli lie presents himself.
The name of the author is not to be visible on any part of those objects. They may
be accompanied by any diplomas, certificates, medals, or printed literary works for
which the candidate may claim allowance, except in tlie case of books already in the
library of the Institute which the candidate, as the author,may request tile honorary
secretaries to exhibit on his behalf to the examiners.
Declaration.— Having read the above regulations and course of examination, and
assenting thereto, and having marked thereon my choice as to the mattersjleft
optional to candidates, I apply for an acknowledgment of ordinary proficiency
honorable distinction, claiming allowance in the divisions of
in the class of
for the degrees, diplomas, certificates, medals, literary works, designs
named in the margin hereof, and for the accompanying design, drawing*, specifica-
tion, and objects of skill, which (except as to )
are entirely my own work. I declare that Civil Architecture is now and will con-
tinue to be my professional avocation ; and that I will not have any interest or par-
ticipation in any trade contract or materials supplied at any works the execution
whereof I may be engaged to superintend. In case of my failing at any time, to
fulfil, to the satisfaction of the Council for the time being of the Royal Institute of
British Architects, any part of the above declaration, I permit the erasure of ray
name from the list of passed candidates. Dated this of 18 .
Signature
Age
Qualification
Address
Recommendation.
We, the undersigned, recommend Mr. of for ad-
mission to the voluntary examination instituted'by the Royal Institute of British
Architects, knowing him to be capable of making designs, drawings, and specifica-
tions like those to which we (fully believing them to be his own work, except as to
) have attached this recommendation.
Date Date
Signature Signature
Qualification Qualification
Address Address
I join in the above Recommendation, and authenticate the above signatures.
Date Signature F.R.I.B.A.
N.B.— No signature of a member of the Institute" who may have consented to act if
required as 'examiner or moderator during the examination for which the above
recommendation is presented, shall be valid.
Approved of by the Council, and ordered' to be transmitted) to the examiners
this of 18 .
Signature Chairman of Council.
The Committee have the honor of making the following recommendations :—
That the rules of the Institute as to students and their prizes be taken into con-
sideration by the Council, with a view to the formation of some system that shall
lead educationally towards the voluntary examination now instituted.
That if fewer than six days be devoted to any examination, the examiners
should be at liberty to vary the distiibution of time prescribed in the regulations.
That the Council should be empowered to fix for the first examination a smaller
number of days, and a less proportion than that above arranged of marks necessary
to ]iass; and to raise for the second examination the proportion of such marks to an
average between that of the first and that provided in the regulations, which shall
be used for the third.
That, after the third examination, the Council should request the examiners to
report any change that they may deem desirable in the system.
AHCIIITECTURAI. EXAMINATIONS.
On Jtonday next a special general meeting of the members of the Boyal Institute
of British Architects is to be held at the rooms, 9, Conduit- street, Kegent-streef, to
receive and consider the report of the Council on the subject of Architectural
Examination.
THE FORTNIGHTLV MEETING.
AN ordinary general meeting was held at the rooms, 9, Conduit-street, Regent-
street, on Monday evening; William Tite, Esq., F.R.S., M.P., President, in
the chair.
Mr. T. Havteb Lewis, hon. sec., read the minutes of proceedings at the last
meeting, which were approved of and agreed to.
Mr. .1. W. I'APWOHTii stated that the Conversazione Committee hud decided that
the cards issued for the cotwersa::ione to be held on the 10th of Julynext, should not
be tranBferable-(Hear, Hear.)
iMmation.^.- Mr. James Bell, hon. sec, announced the following donations :—
From the Ecclesiologlcal Society, tlie Kcclesioloiiist, for Feb.. April, and June ; from
Mr. .(. W. Papworth, " A I'ractical Treatise on Chimneys," containing full directions
for preventing or removing smoke in houses, small Kvo., 1774, Edinburgh ; from Mr.
J. W. I'apworth, "Taylor's liuilders' Price Book," by an eminent surveyor, small
8vo., London,:i810 ; from Mr. J. W. Papworth, " I'rospeetus of a Design for various
Improvements In the Metropolis, principally about the Court," by an architect,
pamphlet, Svo., London, )S16 ; from Mr. .). W. I'apworth, " On Submarine Founda-
tions, particularly the screw pile and moorings," by Alexander Mitchell, M.I.C.E.,
and "An account of the Maplin Sand Lighthouse," by John B. Redman, M.I.C.E,
with "Abstracts of the discussions upon both Papers," revised by Cliarles Manby,
Secretary Institute C.E., pamphlet, svo., Loudon, 1848; from Jlr. J. W. I'apworth,
" I'rospeetus of the Patent Triangular Pavement for streets and roadways,
pamphlet, Svo., London, 1826 ; from Sir. J. \\. I'apworth, " Rccueil des Dessins de
biifercns ISatiniens Coustniits a St. Petersburgh et dans I'lntcrieur de I'einplre de
ItuBsie," par Louis iiiisca, architecte de sa fllajoste Imperiale, large foUo, St. Peters-
burgh, ISIO; from Mr. David Brandon, " Railway Practice, Application of Working
Plans and I'ractical Details to construction in the public works of the most celebrated
engineers," bv S. C. lirees, C.E. : London. Ib.'i7.
iJeatlis 0/ IJisUnyuislied Men.-Jhu C«ai«.ma.n remarked that "in the midst of
June 28, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
551
life WL' are in dcatli," ft truth of whicli they must liave been forcibly reminded by
the intellitcencc which had appeared in tlie Jniblic prints that murnin^. He dared
scarcely speak of so ;4Tcat a man ns I.ord Clianccllur Campbell, except for the rea-
son that he knew him, and was well acquainted with hia remarkable aptitude for
business in public life, and that he attained the hi^'li position which he dUcd by
ener^ry. activity, industry, zeal and perseverance. The distinguished deceased had
been struck down and taken from amongst us in a most sudden manner. Ou Satur-
day he attended the Court of C'liancery, and liavin*}: heard the arg:uments in a case
fitated that he would take time to consider his jud^jment, afterwards attended a
Cabinet Council, and had a social f.'athcrin<r at his resitlence in the e\-enine", and on
the following: morning was found dead in his room. That was a subject well calcu-
lated to lead to reflection, and in the death of Lord Campbell the country had
sustained the loss of R very great lep^al authority. But there was anotlier painful
incident ot death, in the loss of a man whom he knew when he first came to London
in is;i8, and who was at the liead of the Fire liri-^'ade when he fell. At the time
Mr. Hraidwood came to London all the fire insurance ofllccs had their particular
establishments, their foremen and men under them. There were consequently
jealousy and unpleasantness, and the work was done expensively, and, perhaps, not
so efficiently. Under these circumstances Mr. Hraidwood conceived the idea of
lorminjra compact body out of the whole of tlie existint; force. That was carried
out by 3Ir. liraidwood, who was a man of ti^reat enorj^jy, assisted by Messrs. Ford and
Son and himself (Mr. Tite), who happened to be connected with the Globe Insurance
Company at that time. Sir. Braidwond was made Superintendent of the Fire
Brif^adCtand he became as useful in his action as his principles were well-based and
well-founded. He had always seen in Sir. Braidwood an enerpetic and excellent
man, as he also was in all social questions having' connexion witli fire insurance and
protection against fire, though he was very exacting sometimes in insisting upon
regulations against fire, though looking at the manner of his death it mi^ht well be
said that he was not more exir/eant than he ought to have been. Mr. Braidwood died,.
as Dr. Cumming remarked on Sunday, in the performance of his duty, and he
thought that by his death they had lost a most useful public servant, and a most
honorable and upriglit gentleman— (Hear. hear). Then tliey had to regret the death
of Sir. Woodward, who had gone from amongst them apparently at a very early life,
and in his death they had to lament the loss^ of a man of great energy, excellence,
and promise. After noticing the death of Mr. Eaton Uodgkinson, the Chairman
remarked that the instances of death brought before them should remind them that
they were not here except for a short time, and that they should do as well as they
could while they were here, as the eminent men who had been referred to had done—
(Applause).
Memoir of Mr. Woodward. —'Sir. James Beli*, hon. sec, read the following
biographical sketch of the late 5Ir. Woodward :~
Mr. Woodvxird, Architect : ohititart/ Notice. — Mr. Woodward was a native of Ire-
land, and received liis professional e(Uication there, being articled to a civil engineer.
He, however, zealously cultivated an acquaintance with the artistic department of
architecture, particularly with the branches of Jledieval art. In the walk in whicli
he has become distinguished he was, therefore, self-taught. The first important
building with which he was connected was the Queen's College, at Cork, finished in
3848. Sir Thomas Deane, the architect, to whom the work was entrusted, associated
Mr. Woodward with himself in its execution. It is a very successful adaptation of
the late period of Gothic architecture, and forms a dignified and picturesque group,
enhanced by and enhancing a beautifully- wooded site on a rocky eminence at the side
of the river Lea. With Sir Thomas Ueane, Mr. Woodward was similarly associated
in the construction of the Kdlarney Lunatic Asylum, anotlier important and suc-
cessful building, in tlie same style as the last. In 18.53, these architects uniting the
son of Sir Thomas Beaue in partnership, settled in Dublin, and henceforward a
dtfferont type of art, chiefly due to Mr. Woodward's inspiration, appears in their
works. He had imbibed an ardent admiratisn for the maxims and line of study
indicated in Mr. Ruskin's books; his firm faith in the authority of that writer is
notorious. The high standing and experience of his elder partner must have facili-
tated, in a very important degree, the success which attended his new efforts, and
also largely contributed to the opportunities for the exercise of his talents. In
April, 1853, the design submitted by the united architects for the New Library of
Trinity College, Dublin, was selected in a limited competition, and, under their
auspices, the building rose to completion during the next four years. It follows the
style of Venetian Cinque-Cento, with some eclecticism In the form of the mouldings
and the style of the carving, the latter being applied with careful moderation and
yet achieving great richness of effect. The building very happily unites breadth of
effect and strength of form with graceful proportions and ornament, and picturesque
dispositions of the parts. The next successful results to which Mr. M'oodward con-
tributed was the Oxford Museum. The competition which yielded this honor was
decided in favor of himself and his coadjutors at the end of 18.54. The ceremony of
laying the foundation stone by the Chancellor of the University, the Karl of Derby,
t«ok place on June 20th, 1855.
The building liaviug now some time since reached completion, its merits are so
well known as to render any description superfluous. During its progress Mr. Wood-
ward devoted his solicitude for half of each year mainly to this work, but at the
same time designed and completed the University Reading-rooms, near the corn-
market, a work of less importance, but highly creditable to his talent. In the great
Government olfices competition of 18.57, the fourth premium for the Foreign-office
was awarded to the desio:n of Sir Thomas Deane, Son, and Woodward, being the
second premiated design of the Gothic school. The bias of Mr. Woodward's mind
was strongly impressed upon these designs. The general disposition admitted of an
unusual extent of sculptured ornament which powerfully marked the whole with
original thought, supported by other qualities of the highest order. Rumor attributed
some control over the design to Mr. Ruskin. It is almost needless to say now that
personally, Mr. Ruskin had no connexion with the matter, and the only ground for
the supposition is to be found in the vigor and beautv with whicli Mr. Woodward
reahscd his own ideas, based on tlie principles advocated by that author. The latest
Important building of Mr. Woodward and his friends is the Kildare-street Ciub, in
Dublin, now almost completed. Before this work had mucli advanced, however,
Mr. AVoodward's constitution had been seriously impaired by consumption, and he
was compelled to relinquish the path which had so rapidlv brought him into honor-
able distinction. After some partial relaxations, he retired to the islands of Hyires,
^ the shore of the Jlcditorranean, about half-way between Marseilles and Nico.
Here, during several months, his health continued to decline, he commenced a
journey homewards, but unable to proceed further than Lyons, He died in that city,
in the 4f)th year of liis age.
Mr. Hayter Lewis announced that there had been forwarded to the Institute a
copy of the prospectus for the formation of a South London Museum, from the
honorary secretary. The prospectus was laid on the table.
The Chairman said Mr. Burnell wished to draw the attention of the meeting to a
stone which he thought was indestructible.
Mr. G. R. Bl'rnell said the stone he had the pleasure of submitting to theinspec-
tk)n of the Institute had arrived as nearly as possible to the state of beinc: indestruc-
tible. It was a mill-stone grit of the basin of the North Wales coal field, and was
used m the buildings of the Vallc Crucis Abbey in r^OO. and of the Dee-bridge near
Chester in 131U. The church was built of the stone in ItiOD, and was destroyed by fire
about 1;>(8; thev would find in the specimen produced marks of the confiagratioh,
and the color of the stone was changed by the conflagration. Another description,
of stone which he exhibited was the Cefyn, a member of the carbonift-rous formation
of the North Wales basin, and which was used in the neighbourhood, lie believed
that this stone could be brought into the London market at very nearly the
same price as Kentish rag. so that he thouglit this was a question worthy
of the attention of the Institute. The personal motive he had in bringing the
matter before the Institute was this, that he was engaged in making a series
of investigations in reference to this stone; and he should be glad if he could
get the assistauce of the members of the Institute in carrying on that investigation.
He would, therefore, feel exceedingly obliged if any members of the Institute would
assist him as far as was witliin their power in ascertaining the precise nature of the
stone. He believed that at present tiiey were very deficient in proper and correct
observations as to these matters, and that tliere was a large field of usefulness open
to them all. What was called the Garth stone was obtained from the bed that lies
underneath the coal formation m IS'orth Wales. He felt it was necessary that there
should be some careful, practical observations on all subjects connected with stones,
and that was the reason lie had brouj^ht tlie subject before the meeting that evening-.
Kmbimkment of the. Thame.t.~ The subject of the proposed Metropolitan Embank-
ment of the Thames was introduced by Mr. James Kdmeston, whose paper was
iliustrated by a number of diagrams, explanatory of various echcmea which had
been proposed. Mr. Edmestou said :—
I CAN think of no subject more important in itself or more Interesting to the
members of this Institute than that great constructive and sanatory problem
which for so many years has occupied the attention of successive Governments, of
many of the most enterprising members of the scientific world; and, indeed, of the
inhnbitants not only of (his metropolis but of the country at large— viz., the improve-
ment of the banks of the river Thames by an embankment, and, at this moment, the
best way of forming an intercepting sewer.
In dealing with this subject, I desire to say only as much as may be necessary to
bring forward the main features of the different schemes, so as to provoke an In-
structive and interesting discussion upon tliis occasion ; and I must believe that,
should this meeting come to an expres.sion of definite opinion upon it, it will be
received with all respect out of doors, and be by no means without influence upon the
public feeling in this matter, or even upon the pending report of the Royal Commis-
sion now sittii>g. If I may use such an expression, the honor of this Institute is, to
some extent, compromised, if it could be possible that so great and important a work
should bo prominently under public notice, and yet receive no attention from us (as
a public body), who ought to have so much at heart every question bearing upon the
improvement of this metropolis, particularly a question like this, which has much
more than a mere engineering element in it.
I do not propose to say much about the intercepting sewer ; that is certainly almost
entirely an engineering question, and if an embankment is formed— no matter how-
there can be no great difficulty in forming the sewer in, under, or through the
embankment; or, if the embankment is not formed at all, of iron pipes along the fore
shore of the river, and I also confine myself to the north side of the river as there is
no immediate prospect of anything being done at present witii the south side.
The question of the embankment must be met with reference to certain other
requirements and peculiarities involved, and the broad issue here to be raised Is as
to how this great improvement can be cfl'ected so as best to fulfil these requirements
and to meet these peculiarities, thus —
1. l*rovision must be made efficiently to relieve the crowded 'streets, and also to
improve the navigation of the river.
2. This must be done with a due regard to existing interests of very great magni-
tude, which must be affected as little as possible, since if these are disregarded an in-
surmountable obstacle is raised to the desired work ; the obstacle, in fact, which has
hitherto defeated its performance.
3. Constructive difficulties must be overcome, by which I mean that they must be
dealt with so that the expenditure is within reasonable bounds. In these days, it
may be said, that nothing is bcvond the reach of engineering skill ; but the real
triumph of the engineer and architect is to achieve the work before him not only
most effectually, but with only a really needed and commensurate outlay.
Before proceeding to note the chief points of some of the various schemes which
have been propo.sed to solve the problem before us, a word is due to Sir Christopher
Wren and Sir John Evelyn, and again, more recently, to Sir Frederick Trench, who,
in 1S28, advocated a plan of an ornamental and architectural character, based chiefly
upon philanthropic and popular views of the subject; and also to the more compre-
hensive scheme of Mr. John Martin, which he laid before this Institute in 18;j0, and
in which, with the provision of an intercepting sewer, he combined an embankment
and great public promenade, with a view to relieve the streets, which, however, are
now far more overcrowded than they were then. He proposed intercepting sewers
or receptacles, in portions of a quarter to one mile or more in length, these recep-
tacles having a width of about 20 feet, and being formed close along the existing
quays or in the embankment, which latter would run close alongside the present
shore. The sewage was then to be pumped into elevated receptacles.or close oargcs,
and part of the scheme provided for its distribution in rural districts. Over the
embankment colonnaded wharves upon the quay were to be formed, so that the
wharfingers would have a private use of the quay'; and the colonnade supported a
promenade, which it was thought would be a great public boon. At the present time
it is universally considered that; there must be not only accommodation for foot pas-
sengers, but for a large carriage traffic, and it is nearly as universally agreed that
this will not meet the case, but that there must be a railway as well.
He also proposed floating piers attached to the embankment, forming docks for the
barges, the whole plan being in many respects very ingenious, and calculated to
answer its purpose, at the same time Mr. Walker, Mr. I'age. and Sir Charles Barry,
proposed schemes to the Special Committee of the House of Commons, and of their
plans Mr. Page's was in 1844 adopted by the Government, and great exertions were
made to get it carried out. The schemes of Sir F. Trench and some others failed,
partly because.'being mere extensions of the river bank, they totally destroyed the
wliarf property, and Mr. Page was, I believe, the first who proposed to detach the
embankment from the warehouse frontages, and to form docks within it, or rather
not distinct docks, but to leave almost an entire water space within the embank-
ment. At this time it would seem that no apprehension of the evil consequences of
turning the sewage into the Thames was felt, for it was only intended in these
schemes to continue the sewers under the embankment, ana to allow them to dia-
chargc into the Thames as before.
Mr. Page's estimate of the cost of his scheme was £360,000.
In 1855 the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Metropolitan Com-
munications received much valuable evidence upon that subject, and amou^ others
Mr. Lionel Gisborne proposed to embank the Thames from Westminster to London-
bridge, but beyond Blackfriars to construct only a quay wall, giving the river an
uniform width of 700 feet, the foundations to be laid 20 feet below low water, upon
liollow iron piles, as at Rochester and Chipston-bridges, with tidal basins ; he pro-
posed also an esplanade for foot passengers 20 feet wide, covered with glass from
Westminster to Paul's Wharf, behind that a range of residential buddiUHa. 50 feet
wide, behind that a road. 200 feet wide, with stacks of warehouses, CO feet wide; the
cost to be about two millions. (Also a similar construction of road shops and houses
and tidal basins on the south side.) ,, «
Other schemes were proposed before that Committee, but which as well as Mr
Gisborne's were again produced before the Committee of IHtW, with the proceedings
of which we have more particularly to do, a-" leading us at once to the present position
of the subject. Of these schemes almost all were conceived upon the principle that
the right mode was to make an embankment a long way into the river, so as to
reduce its width by many hundred feet in some places, and behind to have docks or
tidal basins for the use of the wlian-es. These schemes are all by men of great
eminence in their profession, and are conceived in the most comprehensive spirit ; in
themainideathey arealike, but they vary in their details. ^ ^». . «u
The mode of construction is also similar. It appears generally agreed that the
hollow cylinder and iron plate construction which has been adopted at AVest-
minster-bridge, and at the Victoria Docks, Fresh-wharf and other places is the
best. Tims the iron cylinders with grooves on their sides, being driven well into the
earth, every G or 7 feet, li iron plates, strengthened byflanges. would be filled In, and
in this way a cofferdam would be provided; then by means of a cross wall a chamber
might be formed, tlie water pumped out, the ironwork backed up by brickwork and
concrete, and the embankment be completed. One gentleman, however, prelerred
brick and granite to iron for the quay walls, as it is said that the iron becomes so
brittle in frosty weather as to be easily injured. I am alluding now to the schemes ol
552
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 28, \b6U
Mr Bidder, Mr. John Kowler, Mr. B«»«lcette, Mr. Bird. Mr. l>Bge, and Mr. Glsbome-
Virwlai; tteM nore In deUU wr Had that Mr. Ua2al$;t>ttc proposed an embankment
vkk • readwar 100 (eet wide upon iron columns, liiyrh enough to give access to the
doekl two hovn before and two hours after high tide, the total cost about one
Ifr. BUder also proposed an embankment with roadway on brick arches of 80 feet
iasHMl, but the embankment Is in all about im feet wide and the road passes all
bat Baunford-bndce on a level. l*u the surplus spare, warehouses would be built
wttk shoM at the K'Trl of the road, and the docks are lutered not only by gates, but
by larks, and It i.x iniruded that craft should thus have iour hours before aud four
hoars altrr hinh wali-r to enter and leave the docks ; in certain places where docks
eoald not be jcot, errffi would lie along the outer fall of the embankment to load and
unload . The estimatetl cost is one and a-half luillion.
Mr. Glsbome proposed a road 70 feet wide, and craft would go in and out of the
docks two hours before and two hours after each tide. The cost was estimated to be
£I.St«>.ii<»).
Mr. ("Dwler proposed a road lOu feet wide, and parallel with it a railway, so that the
space left for the docks is less than in either of the other schemes.
Mr. H. H. Ilini also combined a railway with his scheme, running nearly at the
low water level ; the docks are reached bv means of aqueducts across the railway,
both with tidal u'ates and locks. The tidal gates give a free entry H hour before and
alter the tide. Its estimated cost was £73.%0U0 including the railway.
Mr. Sewcll suLtmittcd a sohemo for a railway only 11 or V^ feet above high water
mark, the railway being carried on screw or hollow piles, so that craft could pass
underneath it to the wbarTe8,Jiut8s at present.
If the six great schemes (the merest outline of which I have described), are cor-
reetly based upon the assumption that a system of docks is the best way to provide
for toe riehts of the wharfingers— there is little more to be said, for without doubt
tber develop in the most complete manner all that can be done to that end. I how-
ever, after much inquiry and much consultation with those well able tojudge, came to
the conclusion that the provision of the docks was an entire mistake, aud that a
aiMpler plan would be more efllcaclous aud much less costly, and more likely to
araul that rock upon which all previous schemes have foundered— the rights of the
owaen and tenants of the river side property,
Tbeaa parties at present enjoy the river itself as the great highway, always free
aadopea for their use, the tralHc upon which is carried on in cumbrous barges, most
of UKm naviffatcd without rudders, aud not easily guided through tidal gates, and
kMlB, oader any circumstances, but which c«uld only with great (iifliculty bo so
BMUia^edin a rapid tide, the velocity of which would be increased if the sectional area
of the river is diminished, and which could not lie outside an embankment projecting
very far Into the river without obstructing the navigation aud being also liable to
gH fDJnred or swsmped.
Unless, also, each occupier of an existing wharf had at least a water frontage
eqMl t« what he at present enjoys, and that within a very moderate^distance of his
warehouse, he would have cause to complain, while II he had to cross a public way,
aadifthis frontage was not in his private or sole occupation, it would really be
almoet useless to him.
Pnrther, anything less than the maintenance of one large dock from end to end
behind the em'bankinent, must diminish the water frontage of some directly, and of
all indirectly. Again, u main object of the embankment is missed if the banks of the
river ore ex(>o8ed at low water ; but would not the docks be receptacles in which
there must be a considerable sediment? Are not all docks invariably more or less
offensive .'—or, if you must have the docks instead of the river, it will be said, they may
be cleansed. No doubt, but who is to do this, who is to bear the permanent expense,
not only of that, but of attending the gates and locks and of repairing' and keeping
them In order, which would altogether be no tritlc ? U nquestionauly it is more advan-
tageous to the wharfingers to come to the river front, where there is unfettered navi-
gation; and It must be renienilH-red that at neap tides there would often be less water
by some feet over the sills of the dock gates than has been calculated in the several
schemes. It is desirable that no part of the bottom of the river should be uncovered
at low water line. What is the gain of going out hundreds ot feet into , 'the river
and narrowing a noble sheet of water some 1,000 or 1,100 feet across to the GOO or 700
fott which it has at Southwark-bridge ! When the sewage is taken out of it there
will certainly be nothing to regret in its broad expanse, aud it must bo admitted
that to go far into the stream, even with all the scienttic aids at command, must be
to incur a far greater exp(;nse than to go only a moderate distance.
With these views, I proposed to the Committee of last year a scheme, according
to which the claims of the wharfingers for disturbance would be reduced to a mini-
mum; they would each have still the use of tlie river with a direct and private access
to it. and that at no great distance from their existing premises, while they would
get under the roadway stowage room, which in itself would 1^ valuable, and at the
same time the required public road would be provided, and the streets would be re-
lieved, aud at a cost which must be far less than if the construction went as far again
into the river, and required docks to be made as well.
It may be said that a construction only some l.^i or 2(t feet above high-water level,
would not give the river that architectural magnificence which it might gain from a
dcatfi^ which would combine the erection of large piles of building; the intended
road* would, however, almost hide any such buildings, and I think that question may
be mueh more safely left to time and the ordinary course of events. The river side
Is tar more likely to gain a picturesque aspect as each warehouse becomes rebuilt
separately, from time to time, lor in these days the exhibition of architectural feeling
and taste may almost be said to be sought after and considered necessary, even in
baildings for the merest business purposes, such as workshops and the like, instances
of which I might easily enumerate If it were necessary.
All the aliovc schemes have been reproduced before the Koyal Commission now
deliberating, and who have not as yet made any report upon the subject referred to
them, but there have also been some other schemes brought forward by Mr. Brooks,
Mr. Weller, Mr. Jlradwell, Mr. Alckeii, Mr. .Sicli, Mr. Newton, and others, which, as
no access can be had to the documents in possession of the Commission, it is Im-
poMlble to describe — I can only hope their authors are now present to do so.
Ifr. Shield* baa also submitted a plan for a mere roailway 80 feet wide in front of
the wharves and warebouses. which I fear destroys them, and I cannot see why
their owners should not have the private use of the river side, as 1 liave suggested,
while the road itself Is provided very nearly in the same position.
1 do not pretend to predict the decision to which the Commission will come, but
it is currently reported out of doors that they will decide against all thegreat schemes
and In favor of some plan which, like Ur. 8blelds', Is simple In its character and
comparatively inexpensive.
lo 'hta place it ia impossiblo not to say something of the style to be adopted in
•y several schemes I nave mentioned. This apjiears to have been very little thought
Jf- It would not. however, be fair to criticise the designs architecturally, for no
doom their talented authors regarded that as only In the painter's way connected
r illr K"'^' f ot'' • we, however, think diflercntly and ought not to allow a silent
Indiuerence upon the subj<-ct to give color to an Impression general enough among
the pnbllc, I have no doubt, that In such a matter an architect was somewhat of an
InlerUjper. The designs cimprise srcades, most extensive columnar arrangements
and massive buildings. We have most favorable circumstance of position ; the
majestic river covered with lU many vessels, a most picturesque line of foreground.
am public buildings of the most Ininortant character, there ornamental gardens and
pmsure-grounds, the nili-s of wan^lionses and residences, an ever varying panorama
not laid out in a straight line, but cur^ ed and to be viewed in an ever shifting pcr-
speeuve at almost every point, what Is wanteil but the master hand and artist mind
solo deal with all this so to make It a picture of architectural richness never
emlled In the world / The mixture of busy life with the gaiety of the pleasure-
sMier, the vl.w intercepted by the many bridges-railway and other— the vistas
oeroijd, the li-ht» thrown back from the water, the deep shadows and mirrored
rcBeetions in Uie purified stream. I say that this Is, of all others, a theme for the
architect, and I would that we as a body were more alive to the necessity oi not
allowing these great opportunities to pass without striving for the victory even with
giants, such as those 1 have named.
I will not pretend to argue in any way the style to be chosen. For my own part I
would say. let the buildings be broken into masses, but let there be an element of
repose, of conscious strength, if 1 may so speak, in the work which sets bounds tothu
mighty river— let there be simplicity of treatment with broad elfects— not much or-
nament—not any breaking up of surface with frail projections— and whatever may bo
the leaning in the architect's mind towards any particular style or period of art, it
will matter little, the result will be sure to satisfy.
Finally, lot me exjiress a hope that 1 have stated iairly what little it has been
possible to say within the compass of this brief introduction of the subject concern-
ing the schemes that I have alluded to, and let me add that a tribute of admiration
and praise is due to their authors for the public and spirited way in which they have
come forward at the expense not oa\y oi large pecuuiary outlay, but ot very great
thought, labor and time, when the nation asked for information as to what was to be
done, an expenditure be it borue in mind which in moat cases must be without any
return whatever.
Mr. Newton remarked that he had very few words to say on the subject, aud they
would have reference to the important part which architects as a body ought to play
in regard to the matter under consideration. With regard to whetlier.there were or
were not to be buildings on the proposed embankment was a ditferent question ; but
he had been led to a conclusion which appeared to him irresistible, aud that was that
architects as a bodv had a command over the question that no other profession had
on this or other subjects of the kind. So doubt the embankment of the Thames was
an engineering question, and they as architects might, in reference to it, be looked
upon as interlopers, just as architects sometimes looked on engineers as interlopers
in architectural subjects. But looking at the various ways in which engineers had
interfered with the architectural profession, he tliought if they hud combined them-
selves more with architects they would have done more for the promotion of tho
public good. As to whether there were to be buildings or not on the embankment, as
to all the plans brought forward it was entirely a question what was to be done aud
what not. As to themselves as architects they possessed a much larger field of
action than others, and they had nothing personal in coining forward to deal with
the question. What they had to see to in regard to this question was this, if there
were to be buildings on the embankment let architects be consulted as to what was
to be done, what was to be laid out for the purpose, and what was likely to produce
the greatest amount of architectural magnificence. Therefore, as an Institute it
seemed they had little to do with individual propositions, but if there were to bo
buildings allowed on the proposed embankment they might with propriety interfere
as architects. He hoped that in some form or other, either by a committee, or by a
memorial, or by deputation, or in some form or other, they would throw some
energy into the embankment question, if anything in the shape of building was to be
carried out on the sides of the Thames with the proposed embaukmeut. He did not
know that a railway would be introduced,
Sir. Turner, of Dublin, explained his scheme for an embankment, which had
spacious streets, with the intercepting sewer within it. The scheme has already
been explained in this Paper.
Mr. Cole made some remarks, but he was very Indistinctly heard. He was under-
stood to say that the schemes propounded for the proposed embankment of the
Thames were not equal to the requirements. As regarded the appearance of the
thing, he should be very sorry to see the river unnecessarily narrowed. At tiinea
the river was very beautiful, and anylliinglike a detached railway or roadway might
take away a groat charm of London, looking from the bridge."!. An increase of the
breadth of the present wharves would be better than building a detached road of
iron or other material. He did not think any of the schemes .suited to the require-
ments, and was of opinion that London would look better in having wan-houses
rather than shops along the proposed road or railway. It was an architect who first
proposed an embankment of the Thames with an intercepting sewer.
Sir. G. K. HiiHNELL had hoped, in coming to the meeting that evening, they should
have had this question discussed in a philosophical manner, and it struck him that
the question of the embankment of the Tliames was suS'ering from the lack of some-
thing of that character. The question was not what might be done between West-
minster and London bridges, but tho question was one involving the navigation of
the river Tbaiues and the stability of all tho property on the river from Teddington
Lock to the Nore. The question had never, to his mind, from what he had seen and
read, been considered in that manner. The question of the Thames was, as tjir as
regarded the supply of upland waters, in an exceptional condition, and the condition
of the deposit of the alluvial matter in the Thames was peculiar. Any one following
the history of the river would see that the system of mills and locks would retain the
alluvial matter in the uplands, and that what there was of alluvial matter came
rather from the sea than the land. Then they had a pecuUar history of what had
taken place by the removal of the starlings at London-bridge. When the starlings
were removed the tide flowed up, and all the other bridges were seriously
affected, not excepting Waterloo- bridge, where it had been continually neces-
sary to protect the feet of the piers. If the proposed embankment was to be
carried on, the consequences would be that the flood tide would run up with
considerably greater velocity than it did at the present day. Then one of two
things must occur, either that tho flood tide would carry a deposit with it which
would be carried to the upper part, or if the matter could flow out again with autn-
cient velocity to takeaway the matter it must still deepen the existing portions of the
river, and the bed of the river would be seriously aflected. In all the discussions
which had taken place on the embankment of the Thames, these questions had been
entirely avoided ; he had never seen questions relating to the ebb or to alluvial matter
discussed at all. Komo ot the schemes shown that evening beautifully illustrated the
matter of art , but in them the engineering question had been left out of account, for
instead of cutting off as far as possible the large concave portion of the water, parts
had been taken ofl'on both sides of the river. The principle of these hydraulic opera-
tions should be as far as possible to shorten the tidal current of the river. With
respect to some of the schemes for making flic intercepting sewer, he might obstirve,
that lately it had been his fortune to have had a good deal to do with the banks of
the river, and he had been struck by observing that the water that came out ot tho
sewers was, as compared with the water in the river itself, in a state of most
remarkable purity. He did not think, therefore, there would be so much to be feared
from the amount of deposit the sewers themselves might produce at the back of any
of the proposed docks, particularly as the docks wi;re likely to be filled by water
worse than that of the sewers themselves. The point which seemed to liira to over-
ride the whole of this matter was this— the gentlemen who had hitherto presented
schemes for the embankment of the river, had solely and simply thought of the
matters Immediately before them, entirely leaving out of account the larger and
more general principle, and so long as that was the case they would have to do, as
thev had had already to do in all great works in London -do them over again.
The Cii AiusiAN remarked that within the last twenty years he had had somethmg
to do, and had heard a great deal respicting this quesllon. .and he was of opinion
that it had never been thought of in th(! way Mr. linrncll had pointed out. At one
time the Corporation of tin- City of I,ondon, being then the conservators of the
river, employed .Mr. James Walker to give them a plan of the river, and to mark on
that plan two lines, north and south, to which he would recommend the Corporation
of the City of London to permit embankments to be made, and to point out the pro-
jections. What Mr. Walker did he (the Chairman) did not know, but he wasasslsted
by Sir. Bullock, and a line was drawn out, which became what was called Walker a
line, and, by jiaying certain expenses, persons were allowed to embank the river up
to what was called Walker's line. When the Crown and the Corporation of London
got into disciiBslon as to who had the right to the bed and soil of the river, the Crowii
lawyers, imagining, he supposed, that a great deal of money was to be got out ol
the bed and soil of tlie river, raised a long Chancery suit. And during the suit a
question arose as to whether hberty should be granted to have an embankment to
June 28, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
553
various parties who were wishful to have it. The City said thoy would
give Walker's line if it was a<freed to by the (lOverament cntjineer, Mr. l*aK:c, who
laid down a liiu' which dirtcrcd from that of j'\lr. M^allccT. Thu end was, that If a
person wanted to <^et au embankment, the Corporation t^uvc Walkt-r's line, jind Ihu
matter was tlien Bubniitted to Sir. Paj^e. As far as his impression went, the line ot
rage was more philosophically laid down than the other. A question that was
shirked in all directions iu reference to the proposed embankment was this— There
was one of the most important trades in London mauag^ed by liKhters without
rudders runninjf up or down with the tide, w^liich turned in at the several wharves
to which Ihey were bound, and settled there until they di8cbar{.'ed their cariyo^ And
in the making of the proposed embankment they could not deal with these people with-
out buying; their trade aud their business. That was inevitable, and it was quite idle for
an en<^inoer to come in and say, •*! shall put you in a ranch betier position
than you are in at present," for the men havinjf wharves may each of them say—" t
will not accept your offer, I will not do it, having a trade that produces me a large
sum per annum, and you cannot compel me to dispose of my business without com-
pensation." Now, that question had never been fairly met. However it might be
met, it was a question of money. As to the various schemes for the embankment of
the Thames, he could not see his way through them, lie believed the matter must
end in the purchasing of-much property, and in the making of a common-sense
embankment. As to there being a railway along the line of (.-mbankmeiit, he did not
see how the difficulties could be overcome, and what would be the use of a railway
there ?— though he could understand the advantages of a good broad road and pro-
mejiade on the edge of tlie river. There never was a public question surrounded by
so many peculiar difficulties as that of the embankment of the Tiiames ; hut he sup-
posed that ingenuity and money would overcome all ditficulties. He did not under-
stand that this was an engineering question. He had made embankments on the
Thames for years, and he could, as an architect, put in an embankment of stone or
iron as well as an engineer. It was as much the work of an architect as of an
engiueer, and he said so without affectation or vanity ; and if iron piles were to be
driven down into deep water, or other operations carried out in the formation of an
embankment, architects ought not to shrink from the task. If the existing difficul-
ties were to be overcome, Ite thought it would be done by architects, and not engi-
neers, for they were much better lifted to do so than engineers, mechanically, physi-
cally, legally, and in other ways. The dilliculties could not be overcome without a
distinct effort of the architectural profession, and he hoped that great metropolitan
improvements would be carried out by the application of a large sum derived from
the coal dues in that direction. He dared say that, in the result, many of the
schemes for an embankment of the river would be more or less used, and it was a
work to be done, but it was a work of enormous difficulty. He thought the archi-
tects of Kngland must try their bands at the work, because, in bis opinion, they were
more likely to succeed than engineers.
Mr. Nkwton observed that as to Walker's line there never had been anything
allowed ; there never Inid been the slightest idea in any way that the proprietors had
a right to build out to the point indicated.
The Chairman did not mean to suggest that any wharfinger Iiad a right to do so
and so. Permission was given, during pleasure, to make an embankment, without
giving the wharfinger an actual right; and it was then referred to the surveyor to
say how much the wharfinger ought to pay for the use of the bed and river. That
was the way m which embankments on the river had been made. And Cubitt's, at
the Isle of X)ogs, was made in the same mode and by the same authority.
J*Ir. Jennings spoke of the effect of the mooring of the vessels, which was a ques-
tion of much importance in reference to the tides. At present, the coal trade had,
to a great extent, the use of the river, and avoided the expense of goiug into the
docks by lying in the river. If the proposed embankment were to be carried out, the
coal trade said that their barges lying alongside the docks would not suit their pur-
pose if allowed to do so. Therefore the whole of their trade would be interfered with
and destroyed by the river wharves. Then came the question of the delivery of
coals in London, and lience came the question of a railway. Some plan must be
arrived at which would bring the coals ud to various places in London without so
very materially interfering with the scheme.
The Chaiuman announced that on the 1st of July a special general meeting of the
Institute would be held to receive and consider the report of theCouncil on the subject
of Architectural Examination. The Council had decided upon having a co»-
versa::iane on the 10th of July, and being extremely anxious to make it interesting
they requested gentlemen to favor them with drawings or sketches, which would be
of great service to the meeting.
A vote of thanks having been passed to Mr. Edmeston for hia paper, the meetin'*-
separated. * r »
(portrait of propesbor cockerem^, r.a.
The following gentlemen have been appointed a Committee to carry out the reso-
lution of the genera] meeting of May 13th, 1801, that a permanent memorial of the
presidency of C. K. Cockerell, Esq., R.A., should be provided in the form of his
portrait to be placed in the rooms of the Institute, the expense to be defrayed by
subscription of members only:— The President of the Institute (Chairman); the
three \ ice- Presidents; the three lion. Secretaries; Messrs. B. Ferry and 0. C.
Nelson, of the Council ; P. Hardwick and S. Smirke, Koyal Academicians ; A.
Ashpitel, G. Codwin, W. Papwortb.and J. P. Seddon, Fellows; A. J. a Beresford-
Hope. Hon. Fellow (Treasurer); Kev. U. Burgess, Hon. Member; J. AV. Eraser,
Contrlbutmg Visitor ; G. Enoch and T. Koger Smitli, Associates ; Robert Kerr,
Fellow, Hon. Sec. to the Committee. Subscriptions are received at the rooms of the
Institute only by the Librarian, F. Ilarger, jun.
THE INSTITUTE CONVERSAZIONE.
A Cmremaziom of the Koyal Institute of British Ardiitects is to take place at the
rooms and galleries. No. y, Conduit-street, on Wednesday, the loth of July next.
Cards of invitation will be duly issued to members, who are particularly requested to
use ilioir best endeavours to procure works of art for exhibition on tliat evening
and to forward communications respecting the same to the honorary secretaries.
W.
THE STRIKE.
''HEN our last Number was issued hopes were entertained in many quarters, in
consequence of negotiations then pending, and a variety of other circumstances,
that the unhappy and. disastrous dispute at present existing between the employers
and the employed in the building trades would noon be brought to a close by some
amicable arrangement. Such a termination, however, seems further off than ever,
and. in consequence uf the insane stnljbnrnness of the workmen, we are likely, in a
day or two, to be in the midst of all the horrors of a general strike. Negotiations,
interviews, persuasions, entreaties, have failed to brmg about a settlement of the
vexed question, the details of which we have frequently explained. The Master
Builders' Association held a meeting on Mon<Iay last, at Radley's Hotel, when it
was unanimously agreed to and resolved that tlie members of the Association
would, on and after Monday next, the 1st of July, pay their hands by the hour
instead of by the day. Up to the present time about thirty of the employers
have acceded to the demand of i)\c masons,*, Jjut, generally, the masters aVf
justly, m self-protection, enamoured of the hour-system. The resolution of
the Mafiter s Association will of course bring matters to a crisis on Monday
next. 31eanwhile the masons and liricklayera express their determination to resist
the hour-system, but whether the Joiners and carpenters will do so is not yet accu-
rately known. In consequence of some communications which took place between
aieadmgmember of the Council of the IJoyai Institute of liritish Architfcts and
the Mapons, on the subject of the strike, the masons sent the following memorial to
the Council, on June :;4th:—
'Olasons' Committee rooms,
•' To the Council of the Royal Inntitute of liritish Architects.
" fientlemen,— You are aware that for several years past differences have arisen
between tlie contractors for building operations and the masons of this metropi»lis
with regard to the hours of labor and the mode of payine*nt, which has led to strike*
on the part of the men, and a general luck-out on tlie part of the contractors, whicK
they admit to have cost them three hundred thousand pounds, and by which they
subjected the men to considerable privation and loss. At the present time an innova-
tion has been introduced by the contractors in the mode of payment which the
masons look on in the most disagreeable light, and lelt it due to their Interests to
resist, and the result is a general strike of the whole body throughout London, which
threatens t*> extend to all the other trades in building operations. It has
been suggested to us that this is a dispute which might be settled by
arbitration. Gentlemen, judging from your intimate knowledge of everything ia
eonuection with building matters, with your every-day experience in arbitration,
and the high position of the Institute, that your Council Is tlie fittest body to whom
we might refer the dispute. Whereupon, we convened a general meeting of the
masons in London, at Wilcock'a Assembly's Rooms, on .Saturday, June i^i'^'ud inst..
when it was unanimously resolved that your ("ouneil be solicited to appoint a com-
mittee, btfore which we are prepared to offer evidence in support of our claims, and
answer any questions whicli may enable you to arrive at a just and equitable
settlement of the question, if the contractors, on their part, consent to a similar
investigation.
'■Gentlemen, we are glad to adopt this course, not tbat we have any doubt of our
ability to resist successfully this infringement of our privileges, but knowing the
reasonable nature of our demands, and judging, from the justice and wisdom that
must necessarily characterise a committee selected by you, that you will come to a
decision which the men can cheerfully accept, and will liave the effect of restoring
that peace and good feeling between us and our employers which we so much
desire.
" On behalf ot the Committee,
"John Richard Thomas, Secretary."
On the 26th of June a letter was sent from 3Ir. T. Hayter Lewis and James Bell,
hon. seci-etaries of the Institute, to the secretary of the Masons' Committee. Mr.
Thomas, enclosing the following resolution which had been unanimously iigreed to
by the Council:—
"ThatjUIr. Thomas be informed that this Council will be happy to accept any
office in which they could be useful with a view to promote a good understanding
between the artisans of Loudon and their employers; but, obviously, so important
a duty could only be uudertaken with the full consent of both parties concerned,
accompanied by a mutual agreement to be bound by the decision of the Council. At
present, however, the Council is without any communication from the builders on th©
subject."
Yesterday (Thursday) afternoon the bricklayers issued the following circular:—
" haportant Xotice to Bricklayers I
"Fellow Workmen. — You are hereby informed that the builders have decided to
put in force the hour payment, on and after Monday next, the Ist of July. You are
already aware of the evils of this system, therefore we need not argue the point at
any length in this small bill, but we impress upon you the necessity of resisting this
encroachment to the utmost of your power, as It will render us powerless in their
hands; we therefore call upon you to resist it, first, by consulting together upon
your various jobs, and then protesting against it to your employers, and if that be not
sufficient leave your employment, telling your employers that you will not resume
work until the Saturday half-hohday be conceded.
" Fellow Workmen— Where you are not locked-out pay up your levies and snbacrlp-
tions to support those thrft are.
" By order of the Bricklayers' Committee,
" £. CoL'LSON, Gen. Sec."
The bricklayers have also made an appeal to the Trades' Council of London for
support, and in reply the following certificate has been issued: —
"Trades' Council of London. ^To the Trades.— This is to certify, that the brick-
layers of London having appealed to the Trades' Council for support, their case was
duly considered by the Council at their last meeting, held June 18th, 1801, when it
was resolved, 'That the bricklayers of London are entitled to the sympathy and
assistance of the Trades, and that we grant them credentials from this Council.'
Signed by order of the Trades' Council, (ieorge Howell, Secretary."
VVeliope that by some judicious, yet strong-minded and vigorous arbitration, the
fearful consequences of a general strike in the builduag trades may yet be averted.
— ♦ —
ROYAL ENGINEERS.
Sir, — I -was reading a pamphlet last week (published by Judd and Glass,
New Bridge-street), "The War Department Clerks of Works," when the
Building NeiDS came to hand, and knowing that you feel an interest in the
matter, from the kind manner in which you have allowed several letters to
appear relative thereto, I looked anxiously for a review of the pamphlet ; not
finding one, I concluded you had not seen a copy, and therefore 1 send you
one.
Jly opinion is that every word contained in this pan.phlct is true, and that a
great many more truths might be advanced, but that the writer of it has not,
probably for reasons of his own, dwelt sufliciently on the great anomaly of em-
ploying non-professional and non- practical men, nominally to superintend and
direct professional and practical men, and the very great saving that would
result from a separation of i he military and civil branches as far as civil duties
are concerned, not only directly, but indirectly; directly, by leaving the prepa-
ration of drawings, &c., for, and superintending the execution of, all works of a
civil professional nature to the civil professional branch, without the interference
of incompetent military engineers— indirectly by leaving the present military en-
gineers to attend to their legitimate military duties, without any augmentation
of their present strength (an object which the heads of the corps have at heart
so as to increase their consequence), but rather with a reduction, and if the
civil branch can, as they really do, perforin their civil professional duties,
without any assistance from these military officers, it is evident that these
officers can be sent to other duties, for which tliey may probably be qualified,
and a saving in working i)ay and allowances be made which does not form an in-
considerable amount in the year's expenditure. Again, the eniplovment of mili-
tary labor on civil works should be touched upon. The heads of the corps ot
Royal Engineers, by having direct access to the heads of the War Depai-tnient,
arc enaliled to expatiate on the great saving that is to be eifected by the employ-
ment of military labor, whereas, the civil branch, through having no access to the
iieads of the War Department, except through their natural enemies, have no op-
portunity of explaining that the apparent saving is a loss. This will be evident
to all who are conversant with the two descriptions of labor, civil and military ;
the suijply and destruction of tools, waste of materials, inferior workmen and
bad workmanship, increased superintendence, small amount of work done, and
that frequently two or three times over, and many other causes, which when all
combined, render the employment of military labor any thing but profitable, and I
554
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 28, 1861.
do not think it would be sanctioned even under tlie present system, were it not tliat
th.-reby a stronger hold of their present position is obtained by the officers of en-
gine«n<, for which purpose I suppose tliey consider any means justifiable.
The Civil branch should have a civil bead, in direct communication -nith the
heads of the War Office, and not as at present tliat they cannot stir a step witli-
out an Engineer officer ; cannot, I believe even memorialise the Secretary of
State, except throuzh engineer officers; cannot commuiiicate with a firm or
eontiactor officially, except tbnmgh Engineer officers ; in sliort, at every turn they
•K met bv En^neer officers, to control and fetter tbem, to cripple any attempt
they may' make for a uivper recogriiition, and if it were jiossible altogether
taMCe tbem. Even- other branch of the War Department has a head at the
W«r 'Office, one of themselves, and why should the civil professional branch
<k tbe Royal Engineer Department be the only exception ; were it otherwise
the Dfcaent system would be sure to break down.' The military Engineer officers
nouid lose some of their patronage, consequence and emoluments, and the civil
braach would attain to their proper position, and be properly recognised, there-
kgr.CRating satisfaction and contentment amongst a valuable body of servants,
-where dissatisfaction and annoyance now predominates. The public also would
fain by the change in the reduced cost of works and buildings, and if necessary
y a reduction in the present strengthof the Corps of Royal Engineers.
" Civilian," in last week's Building News, alludes to a Committee ap-
pointed to consider and report upon the system of executing works and repairs
under the War Department. I was exceedingly gratified at the news, and made
inqniries about the constitution of this committee, &c., and who would you
suppose are to form it ? Why, if I am rightly informed, an officer of the Royal
Engineers, a barrack-master[ and a private surveyor, neither of whom can do
bis duty on the committee without the assistance of one at least of the civil pro-
iessiunal officers of the Royal Engineer department, and yet there is not one on
this committee. I heard tliat one was proposed, but that the military authorities
•objected, and the objection was entertained, and, consequently, what sort of a
report can be expected, you, sir, and the public generally may never know, but
doubtless it will be on a par with all other reports which are framed by com-
mittees not selected for their knowledge of the subject, or their impartiality. In
this case it certainly looks suspicious that no civil professional officer of the de-
nartment is on the committee. It appears to me that the selection of members
has been made by the militarv- authorities, whose interests are in favor of a con-
tinuance of the present system, because it is military. Ignoring the fact which
must be as clear to them as to everyone else, that it is not only ridiculous and
absurd in its constitution, but ruinous in its working and disheartening and
discouraging to every civil professional officer in the Royal Engineer de-
partment.
I cannot conclude without expressing to you my warmest thanks for your
great kindness in allowing so much correspondence on the Royal Engineers to
appear in your valuable Journal.
I am, &c.,
JmtelOtb. Petard.
TENDERS-
For worlu at 103, IW, and 105, Fenchurch-street, for Mr. Gill. Coutts Stone Esq.
architect
A.
G. UansScld £2,001
TroUopc and 6ons ./ 2,810
Itlrd 2,B99
Penzance 2,G87
Asby and Hon 2,644
King 2,454
Iresonand Co. .. S!,4a4
WlUson (withdrawn) 2;ii'i
B.
£1,600
1,050
1,679
1.503
1,5.30
1,388
1,340
1,374
Total.
.. £4,561
.. 4,460
. . 4,378
.. 4,187
.. 4,174
.. 3.842
. . 3,794-
. . 3,703
Wash-house, &c.. Spiialfields.
For wash-bouse, laundry, Ac. , Eastern Refuge, Albert-street, Spitalflelds. Mr.
James Harrison, architect Quantities not suppued.
"-■ £570 1 Hill
Palmer
Haeers
Utile..
£493 0
.515 I Smith 473 10
4'J" I Terry 470 0
COTTAOES, SOUTHOATE, MIDDLESEX.
For seven eotlajresat Southgste, Middlesex, forBIr. Stanton. BIr. James Harrison,
architect Quantities not supplied.
Kerry £130 I Cusliing £973
Jiewby 1,195 Carter 950
Vm 1,161
WHAnr AND Dock, Vauxiiai.i,.
For improving tbe wharf and dock belonging to the Bourne Vallev Pottery
Oomuany, Nine Elms, Vauxhall. Mr. James Harrison, architect. Quantities
snpulled by Mr. A.\N. Q. Nicoll.
Jackson and .Shaw £530 I Coleman £365
Sharon (UatUcj 500 Gates 33.)
O. 8. 8. WUllams 397
_ . „^. VrttA. ExETEn.
xor building a villa residence at Larkhead, Exeter, for Mr. J. C. Bowring. Jlr. A.
Weslake. arrbitect.
«_ .'"JSO" £0,789 I Ware and Son £6,148
Orantandfwn 0,420 | Stafford (accepted) 6,920
— _ ,. , , CntBCH, Hackney.
wCr'ii *"? ,\."« •"'' presbytery, at St John's, Hackney, Messrs. Willson and
f-lf?^^ „ f?' ""Xlebone-road, architects. The tenders of Mr. Kelly, of Culford-
road, amoonting to £1,232 arc accepted, bchig the lowest.
v„.i. .„ .. _, , Church, Habtpohd.
.« -nh .^J^!!^t I "'"'"■■ "ud Interior, new roofing throughout, also Htting
^-T.iiSi,'" «S.*Vi^''J';'.''''"J'"' 'PP""'"' ""• parish church of Hartford, near
AuSil2f1j^?^n?°'^" "■"£!"'"»" "f lluntin^rdiu, architect.
lijffTSiISJf ' f5i1 " 0 I liichardsoa (Huntingdon) ....£721 3 0
^^XSL.i^.i:-;.- V:—'l^ " «|Machln (Peterborough). 671 6 0
Markham(Godmanebester).... 743 4 0 | Wrlghton (Godmanchestcr) . . . . 710 19 0
_„!." , ., , "o,'">»onK, St. Leonabds.
aixhttirt **""™**'°» of "'"•''• E'ersBeW I'ark, St Leonards. ¥. A. Fowler, Esq.,
2S!";:;:;;:::::::;:;::::::;;;;:;*i'J,i.i I K™wood £1,073
;Dwemino House, St. Leonards.
For house, Hollington Park Villas. St. Leonards, for Major Suart
Mr. Smithers. Francis U. Fowler, Esq., architiot.
Harding £2.407 HuglK
Klhs 2,280 ■'
Harman 1,908
HoweU 1,790
Quantities by
, £1,770
Keiiwood t'.: 1,738
Parks 1,697
Jones 1,694
Oratory, Birmin<;h.\m.
For additions to the oratory, lOdcbaston. Hiimiugham. Mr. Henry Clutton.
architect, 9, New Burlington-street, W. Quantities by Mr. Crocker.
Myers £3,2801 Barnsloy and Son £'2,880
Pritchard and Sbelton 3,250 | Branson and Gwyder 2,735
Cbapel Kytos.
For building an Independent chapel at Bytou. Mr. John Tillman, architect, Sun-
derland.
Cbapel. ^"w°?r^ Total
J. Davidson, Greenslde £772 0 £79 £851 0
Thompson and Young, Sunderland .. 692 0
George Place, Sunderland .*,..' .. 673 0
T. C. Gowland, (iateshead 441 10 03 S04 10
John Lee, Sunderland (accepted).. 416 0 78 494 0
F,\R.M Buildings, Bedford.
For works at Mr. Baker's farm, Kcmpson near Bedford.
Mr. Cunvin £1.340 0 1 Conquest £1,200
Day and Son £l,3is 0 Joy 1,193
BryantandCo 1,3'H 0 Freshwater (accepted) 1,185
Harrison 1,'275 17 1
Surveyor's estimate .£1,200
Mechanics' Institute. Leeds.
For tbe erection and completion of a new Mechanics' Institute, Uunslet, near
Leeds. Mr. William Hill, architect, Leeds.
Masons.
Kichardson and Moses £2G5 10 0
BriclclaiierK.
Boothnian £444 I Oakcs £400
Hardwick 405 |
Carpenters and Joiners.
Gill ; £500 0 0
Tomlinson 465 12 0
Oakes 445 0 0
Nicholson and Son 399 0 0
Hall and Co £399 0
Hill 388 15
Ptvmbers and Glaziers.
Atkinson 382
C. Raper 380
Lindley £85 0 0 1 Heaps.
Webster and Son 82 0 0 Hall .
Story 80 0 o|Lllley
Plasterers.
.£78
. 70
. 69
Mountain £112 0 0
Barker 110 16 0
GarUck 101 0 0
Wilson and Son 98 15 0
Slaters.
LaWBOn £50
Hearysidc and Son 49
Branton and Son £97
Procter 93
Randall 89
Bateson £27 0 0
Britton 26 2 6
Scales and Greenwood 20 0 0
n 01 Ellis £48 11
0 o| Watson .'.. 45 18
Painters.
Leach £23 0
Fcarnslde 16 15
Swlnton 10 0
fronicork and Warming.
Singleton and Tennant (accepted) £55
Tender for the zcliole o/the works.
Longley Brothers (accepted) £1,260
Railway Station, Wells.
G. Beavan, Wells, ■(acceptcd)£2,4Il 14 5 I J as. Davis and Son. Fromc £2,529 12 0
Henry Knight, Wells 2,443 8 IJ | Solomon Gayton,Fisherton.. 2,386 12 0
Cotton Mill, Skihcoat.
For new mill, engine and boiler bouses, skutcb building, chimney, Ac, for the Skir-
coat Cotton Spinning Co. (Limited). The foundations arc already built up to ground
level. The Company provide and deliver on the ground all bricks.
Jirick and Mas&nrtj.
Watem-orth £6,013 9 4
Rawnsley 5,890 0 0
Pratt 6,650 0 0
Sykes 6,506 6
Birkbyand Holdsworth .... £.5,420 0 0
Farrar 5,.500 0 0
Charnock and Booth 6,426 14 5J
Siddic Bros* 4,840 0 0
Carpenters and Joiners.
Dyson £1,940 0
Kershaw and Noble 1,887 0
Firth 1,801 9
Lister* 1,790 8
Townsend £2,4.53 11 11
Fox 1,960 0 0
Putman 1,9.50 0 0
Stott and CUmcr 1,948 10 0
Ironfoimders and Smiths.
Walker £1,855 0 0 | Head, A8hby,andCo £1,325 0 0
Pearson 1,413 14 0 I .Stead 1,240 0 0
Crossland 1,385 0 0 Union Foundry Company,
Cliff 1,350 9 4 I Halifax* 1,200 0 0
Plasterers.
Richard Taylor £298 10 0
* ■" • 270 0 0
2.58 18 8J
2.51 12 0
247 0 0
J. Taylor
W. Taylor
Bancroft
Samuel Taylor
Webb
Hoyle
Sanderson
Ellis, York ...
Ambler
Slaters.
29o"6" 0
245
2;i3
.300 fi
•259 0
285 0
0
0
0
308 10
226 15
0
0*
600 0 0
Phimbers and Glaziers.
Horsfall £429 J Walsh • £410
Whole Tender.
Nelll £10,400
• Accepted.
CniRcn, Habpenden.
Tenders for taking down and rebuilding the church at Harpenden, Herts.
William Slater, of London, architeci.
Biggs and .Son ■ '£5,779 19
Conquest ' 4,950 0
Carter 4,890 0
Haselgrove and Brown 4,882 0
Jackson and Shaw 4,605 0
Foster 4.494 0
EkinsandSons 4,435 0
Raly
Brown
<'ushing
Haynos
Arnold
Young
Williams (accepted)
Mr.
£4,389
4,300
4,300
4,295
4,278
4,080
4,000
June 28, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
555
COMPETITION AWARDED.
ToTNES, Devon.
Eiilit locnl nrcliiterts liavinsr complied witli the application of the directors of the
Devon and Cornw.ill J!ankin!;Co. to submit designs for a new bnnkin this town, the
directors seUctiil the desifru marked "Alpha" by )Ir. James Iline of Plymouth
To Mr. Appletou of Torquay was awarded the 2nd premium and to. Mr Juhan of
Torquay ihe .Ird |iremium.
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
MARKETS, &C.
Bath.— For designs, specifications, and estimates, for the reconstruction of the
provision markets, and for the improvement of tlie adjacent localities in tiic city
of Bath. Tremiums of £00 and £:a arc offered for the first and second approved
designs, l-'ull particulars, with lithographed plans of the ground, levels, &e., may
be obtained from T. Stone, town clerk, Guilahall, Hath, on payment of 58. The
designs, &C., »re to be sent free to the town-clerk, by August 1.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
COUKT HOU.'iES.
Dundee.— For the erection and completion of a new sheriff court-house, at Dundee;
schedules of measurement, wilh forms of tenders, plans, Ac, with Wilham Scott,
Esq., town architect, 10, lligh-strect, Dundee. Sealed tenders must be lodged
with R. W. Anderson, Clerk of Supply, Forfar, by July 16.|
jEDBUttCii.— For erecting a new court-house at Je'dburgh, and for altering and im-
proving the present buildings. I'lans, &c., with David Uhlnd, Esq., architect, u4.
Great King-street, Edinburgh, or Mr. Stevenson, clerk of supply, Jedburgh.
Tenders to be lodged with Mr. Stevenson bv July 10.
CHURCilES.
Coventry.— For the erection of a new church at Radford, in the parish of the
Holy Trinity, In Coventry. I'lans, &c.. at the offices of Mr. Thomas I'ratt, No. Gil.
Hertford-street, Coventry. Tenders to Mr. Alderman Lyncs, accountant church-
warden, by July i:!.
Bath.— For contract No. 2 of St. John's Catholic Church, South-parade, Bath.
Plans, &c., with the architect, Jlr. Charles F. Hansim, Kock Horse, Clifton, or to
Clerk of works, at Bath, from .July 1. Sealed tenders to be sent to the Rev. John
"Worsley, 2, rierrepont-place, Bath, to ,Tuly 11.
VICARAGES.
Glentiiam.— For the erection of the vicarage-house, at Glcntham, near Market
Rasen. Plans, &c., wilh Michael Drury, Architect, 1, Bank-street, Lincoln.
Sealed tenders to 5Ir. Drurv, by noon of July 3.
Tallington.— For the erection of a vicarage-house at Tallington, four miles from
Stamford, Lincolnshire, eight miles from Peterborough, on the Great Western
Railway. I'lans, &c.. at Mr. John Painc's, churcliwarden, Tallington. Tenders
to Charles E. Davis, F.S. A., 3, Westgate-buildings, Bath, endorsed " The Rev. F.
Carroll, Tenders for Tallington Vicarage," bv July 8.
RECTORY.
Stowe.— For the erection of a rectory-house and buildings, at Stowe. Plans, &c.,
at the Craven Arms Inn, near the Craven Arms Station, on the Shrewsbury and
Hereford Railway. Tenders are to be delivered to Thomas ^'icbolsoD, F.I.B.A
diocesan architect, Hereford, on July 12.
DWELLING HOUSES.
Hackney.— For the completion of seven houses at Hackney, for the Directors of the
Temperance Permanent Land and Building Society. Plans, ifec, at the offices of
the society, 34, Moorgate-street. Tenders to H. J. Phillips, Esq., the secretary of
the society.and endorsed " Tender for Houses at Hackney." by 4 p.m., July 2.
Woolwich. — For the erection of eleven houses in Woolwicli, opposite the Dockyard
station of the Nortli Kent Line, apply by letter, addressed to the care of II. D.
Fritchard, Esq., No. 18, Great Knightrider-street, Docfors'-commons, London,
(where Plans, Specifications, and Coutnict may be seen) by July 8.
SCHOOL.*.
Fairfield, For the erection of new schools at Fairfield, Plans, Ac, at the office
of Mr. Currey, architect. Buxton, after July 1. Tenders to the estate office, Bux-
ton, endorsed " Fairfield School." to July 8.
MALT AND ENGINE HOUSE, &c.
BuRLEY.— For the whole or any portion of the artificers' works required in the erec-
"tion of an extensive malt-house, stores, engine-house, ,fec., at Burleigh, near Leeds,
Plans, &c., and particulars, at the offices of .Tohn Child and Son, architects, 23,
Park-row, Leeds, from June 24 to July Ist, inclusive. Tenders (with the branch or
branches tendered for marked outside) must be delivered at the above offices by
2 p.m. July 2.
WORKHOUSE.
Stepney.— For the new Union workhouse at Bromley, Middlesex, for the Stepney
guardians. Drawings, specification, and draft contract on application to Mr. H.
Jarvis, architect, 29, Trinity-square, Southwark. Printed forms of tender from
Mr. Jarvis, or from 3Ir. W. H. Swepstoue, clerk to the guardians, at the board
room, Katcliff workhouse, York-street west. Commercial-road, east and no tenders
will be received that are not made upon such forms. Tenders to be delivered at
the office of the board as above, before 3 p.m. on July 10.
HOSPITAL.
Reading.— For erecting two additional wings to the Royal Berkshire Hospital,
Reading. Each wing will be Tj by 28 feet, two stories high, and entirely faced
with Bath stone. Plans, &c., with 3Ir. Joseph Morris, architect, Kii, Frlar-8t'.'eet,
Reading, until 13th ,Iuly. Tenders (on supplied form only) to 3Ir. D. Skey; scorer
tary to the Board of Management, at the hospital, sealed and endorsed "Tende-
for Additions," to July 15.
MARKET.
Oldham. — For the execution of the several works required in extending the pre-
sent market at Oldham by the addition of an easterly span, similar in every re-
spect to the westerly wing of tlie present structure, and for the execution of other
works in connection with the contemplated alleratlons. Tenders for the wliole
of the works In one sum, and for the separate departments respectively. I'articu-
lars from tlie market inspector, at ins office, in the Market i or to Mr. W. Bradbury
secretary, to whom sealed tenders to July fi.
GASWORKi?.
Surrey. — For the supply of three new retorts, and setting the same, and for a
■general repair of the works In the gas house of the Soutli Metropohtan Schools,
at Sutton, also tenders for the performance of such work as may be necessary to
keep the retorts and other works connected with the supply of gas in properorder,
at per annum, for three years, from the 24th day of -Tuly next. Tenders, detailing
the work proposed to be done, sealed, and addressed to the managers of the schools,
to be sent to Joseph Burgess, Clerk to the Managers. Walworth S. to July 10.
CAISSON AND ENGINE HOUSE.
PORT8MOUTH. — For the construction of an iron caisson for the Camber Dock, and for
the erection of an engine-house. I'lans, ttc, at the office of Mr. I'ineo, No. 15,
Hi^h-street, Portsmouth, from the 27th Inst. Tenders to be delivered at the office
of John Howard, Town Clerk, Guildhall Chambers by July 9.
COAST GUARD STATION; Ac.
IRELAND. — For the erection of a new coast-guard station, watch-house, Ac, at
Morris Castle (between Courtown and Wexford), in the county of Wexford. I'lans
Ac, with Edward Hornsby, Secretary, Office of Public Works, Dubhn, and with
the cliief boatman at the existing station. Tenders (on the printed form, lodged
With the specification) to be for a lump sum, and to be accompanied by a detail
(giving quantities and prices), sealed and endorsed "Tender for Works at (stating
the name of the building)" delivered by 12 noon, July 9.
RAILWAY WORKS.
Inverness and Perth Junction Railway.- For the construction of tlie
Northern end of the line, extending from the town of Forres to the Water of Dul-
nain, in Strathspev, a distance In all of 20 miles or thereby. It is proposed to
divide these work's into two contracts, the first extending from the town of
Forres to the Water of Divic, in the parish of Edinklllie, being a distance of 10
miles or thereby, to be called the •' Forres Contract." The Works of this con-
tract comprehend :— Ist. About WKJ.OOo to 700,000 cubic yards of cuttings and em-
bankments. 2nd. About 21 overway and underway bridges, and bridges over
streams and burns, there being no bridge in the distance of greater span tlian 2.'>
feet. The second contract extends from the proposed viaduct across the river
DIvie (which is already contracted for) to the water of Dulnnln. three miles above
Grantown, being a distance in ullof 10 miles or thereby, to be called the " (Jrantown
Contract." The work of this contract consists of :— Ist. About 700,000 toKi)0,00i.>
cubic yards of cuttings and embankments. 2nd. About 18 overway and underway
bridges and bridges over streams and burns, the largest not exceeding 20 feet in span
The rails, chairs, sleepers, keys, spikes, fish plates, and bolts will be supplied by the
railway company. Drawings, Ac, for both contracts at the offices of Joseph
Mitchell, Esq., C.E., Inverness, from whom, or from Mr. I'aterson, the Assistant-
Engineer, may be obtained duplicate schedules for each contract on payment of
£2 23. each. The cost of the detailed measurements will fall to be paid by the
successful contractor. The whole line for both contracts Is staked out at distances
of every 100 feet between Forres and the Dulnain Water, according to the working
sections. The deepest of the cuttings are also pitted to ascertain the nature of the
materials ; and an assistant engineer will be at Forres station on .June IKth to
accompany contractors along the line, and point out the sites of the bridges. The
draft contract proposed to be entered into will be seen at the engineer's or at the
secretary's offices, from the 18tli of June until the last day for receiving offers.
Sealed tenders, addressed to the secretary, and marked "Tenders for Inverness,
and Perth Junction Railway M'orks," specifying on the outside, "Forres Contract,"
or " Grantown Contract," according to tender, must bo lodged with the secretary,
at his office, Inverness, by noon, July .3.
SEWERAGE.
Hackney. — For constmcting certain roads and servers at South Hackney. Plans,
Ac, with Henry Currey, architect, 4, Lancaster-place, Strand, W.C, to whom
tenders, sealed and endorsed " Tender for roads and sewers. Hackney," on July fl.
Landport and Southsea. — For making a sewer and other works, of a total
length. In various sizes, of about 400 yards, commencing from SackvlUe-street,
through Middle-street, across Brunswick-road, through Russell-street, across and
into Swan-street, and across and into Cutier's-row, to Salem-street
in the towns of Landport and Southsea. Specifications, Ac, at the
offices of the commissioners, Arundel-street, Landport, where forms of tender
may also be obtained. Tenders addressed to the commissioners to be
delivered at the offices of the commissioners, and. marked, "Tender for
SeweraLO Works," by 2 p. m. of .Tuly lo.
LIGHTHOUSE, TOWER, Ac.
Ireland.— For the erection of a lighthouse tower, and keepers' dwellings, to be
erected on Aranmore Island, county Donegal. Plans, Ac. at the Ballast-office,
Westmoreland-street, Dublin, between 11 and 3 o'clock each day. Sealed tenders,
on printed forms only (to be had at the Ballast-office), addressed to William Lees,
Esq., Secretary, Ballast-office, Westmoreland-street, Dublin, by noon of July 10.
Ireland. — For the erection of a cast-iron beacon, with filling ol masonry, to be
erected on Storks Rocks, north coast of the county of Antrim. Plans, Ac, at
the Ballast-office, Westmoreland-street, Dublin, between 11 and 0 o'clock. Scaled
tenders, on printed' forms only (to be had at the Ballast-office), addressed to
William Lees. Esq., Secretary, Ballast-office, Westmoreland-street, Dublin, by
noon at July 10.
MILITARY WORKS.
Aldersiiot. — For a supply of materials for building permanent stables at Aldershot
in the county of Hants. Persons desirous of tendering may obtain copies of the
specification of the articles, conditions of contract, and forms of tender, at the
Royal Engineer Office, Aldershot, to the 30th Inst. Tenders to be addressed, under
cover, to the " Director of Contracts. iWar Office, Pall Mall, London, S.W.," en-
dorsed in the left-hand corner, "Tender for building Materials at Aldershot," and
delivered by 10 o'clock on July 4.
ROADWORK, Ac.
3IANCHEBTER. — For sewering, forming, fencing, and paving a proposed new road,
about 800 yards long, at Lady Barn-lane, in Withington. Tenders In "writing, to
Mr. Taylor, surveyor, 10, 'rib-lane. Cross-street. Manchester (at whose office,
plans, sections, and specifications may be seen), by July 15.
SALES AT GARKA WAY'S AND THE MART.
FREEHOLD.
Bv Messrs. Farebbother, Clark, and J>ye.— Essex, the Manor of Bretts, in the p.arl8h
of West Ham ; sold for .«:l(io.
Plaistow, plot of building land, known as "Purchas," containing 8a. Or. 20p. ; sola
for £1.190.
Balaam-street, Pl.aistow, a ditto ditto, containing Ir. 25p. ; sold for .€300.
A ditto ditto, situate close to the Victoria Docks, known as " Cook's Beacon,' contalulog
4a. Ir. S4]>. ; sold for .£600.
90, Jennyn street, business premises, let-on lease for 21 years Crom 29th Seiitembcr,1843, at
£1.^0 per annum ; sold for .€3,270. , ,
By Jlessrs. Haslam and BccKLANn. -Oxfordshire, plot of building land, containing
3a. Or. 17p. ; sold for £320.
Oxfordshire, a ditto ditto. conlalninK la. 3r. 2,'ip. : .«old for .WOO.
Hy Messrs. Xobtox, IIoouaet, and Trisi.— Kgliam. Surrey, family residence, with
grounds, farmyard, nod bull [Inus, lu all 23a. ir. 25p. ; sold for £8,500. „ „
Kgham, famiU- ivsldence, with grounds and jiaddock, the whole containing 10a. 3r. 22p.;
sold for X.H.XW. , , , , V,
EBliam, fiirmhou'c, outbuildings, brickfield, cottase. and soveriil cnclojnros of arable,
pasture, and some oniamental woodland, the whole containing 2G4a. 2r. lop., kuown as
"Trotsworth Manor;" sold lor .€12.000. „ „„
Eitham, two enclosures or hulldin? land, containing ISn. 2r. .Tip. ; sold for €l,8i0.
Kgham, nn enclosure of woodland, oml.iininn 17a. 2r. ;«lii. ; sold for £1,300.
Kgham, .'la. 7i.. of arable land, railed "Tlie Mount; sold lor .€220.
Egham,8a.3r. ;Mii. of artUle land; sold for £SU«.
Kgham, two enclosures ofbuildini,' land, containing 2fla. 2r. 2p. ; sold for £1,580.
Egliani, four enclosures of land, cuutulning 03. 3r. 13p. ; sold lur £600.
Kgham, two cottages and 4a. aop. ofiiasturo land; sold for tcio.
I'Srhain, three ditto, with gardens, containing 3r. 34p. ; sold for €S0O.
Kgham two enclosures of arable and pastnroland, conlainiug «a. Ir. Sip. j sold for £3,000.
Eghani,42a.3|j. of wood and iilantatloii; sold for €t,.v,o ,,..,,, , .,
Kgham Hythe, Surrey, residence, known .as llytlie Villa, with stabling, pleasure grounds,
gardens, &c.. containing alKiuHa. (part cops hold); sold for £-2,750.
K"ham cottage and barn, with garden and arable land, containing 3a. 2r. 8p. ; sold for £350.
Kgham, 3a. or. 3lp. of building land; sold lor £2.50. . .
Elder-road, Norwood, residence, known as Alorfa Lodge, with pleasure grounds and
gardens (part copyhold) ; sold for €1,300.
By Mr. DucKWouTU 140, Fenchurch-street, house and premises, let at £80 per annum,;
148, Kenciiurcli-street, house and premises, let at £110 per annum ; sold fbr €M0O.
5 and 0, Mlucing-lane, messuages and premises, rents per annum £80 and £350; sold
4, MIncing-Iane, house and premises, rent per annum £2;'0 ; sold for £12,300.
5, Mincing-lane, liou.se and premises, rent per annum £420; sold for £14,700.
37, Fenchurch-street, house and premises, rent per anntim €12i); sold for £0,450.
By Messrs. llUMPllBEVS and Wallen.— Kssex, estate, situate in the parishes of Halstcad
and Goslield, consisting ef three fanns. called Whitehouse Farm. Kussell's Farm, and t'row-
brldgc Farm ; family residence, called Cut Hedge Mansion, with park-like land andcer-
1 tain wood lands, the whole comprising 348a. Ir. 7p.; sold for £15,4«0.
556
THE BUILDING NEWS.
June 28, 1861.
.., i-rAve!l, d%veni!i!r-Iiotisc ami shop, let oil lease for
iilal I'l' CM fef annum ; sold for .tiiTO.
> IViiuvbrldKC Kanti, comprisinf: fnrmhonso,
, nop, wood, ariibiu, and pastiiro laud, rent iwr
r.v Mr *' ■-'" -■ " •'■-"■
» V ,'ar^ '
llajl.
liv M r" V! i'sua.i.'Il Wlnchuioro-hill, shops, with residences, let at £« and 1:20 per annum ;
{M;,lif t'lr CI ^^>
1> .1 ■.'., I.-. , . .1 1 .twelllnu. let at .Ciswrnnnum; sold(or£:!00.
1 I'BiTcn^KD.— IVasexwl-i'treet, M'imisor, house and shop, let on
a. ( hrislinas. ItKJO, at .£.•» per annum ; sold lor £3.v).
i iiajiis, Acton-greeu, three cottages, rent peranmim Ssr i sold
Apk.t'offreehoMbundlngL'uidndjouiliig theaboTC: soldforXlSO.
By Jl«»«n>. lUwioNP and Ku.oABT.-li, C"olebrooke-row, Islington, residence, rent per
Br Mfim. ULAius and Sox so, Charies-street, St. Luke's, hotise, rent per annum *30;
wlilarMam.
LEASEHOLD.
Br Mmm. InoRniAii and Trwsok.— 4S, Great Coram-street, Brunswick- square,
reslSencc.tfrmSM vears.at anet rent«lof£40pcr aniumi; sold for .4290,
■ rreet,<;raV»-lnn-ro«d, hoiise,tcrm99 jearsfrom Michaelmas, ISM, rentiss
JH :for£«o.
- luare, Islington, residence, term "0 years (Vom Lady-day, 1839, at a ground-
rt;.. - . -.,-., I-.- annum, rent £42 per annum ; sold* for £4.w.
Su. L^4)s*Uie-»4]uare, same lenn and ground-rent, rent £45 i>er annum ; sold for .£450.
a, Loindale-«quare. ditto ditto .£45 )>er annum ; sold for .£«».
as, Lonsdale-eqnare, ditto ditto £45 per annum ; sold for £470.
at and 32, LOBsdale-sqnare, 2 houses ditto .£50 per annum each j sold for £480
ueb.
.j*. Umsdale square, ditto ditto £45 per aminm ; sold for £400.
ByMcMn. Pox and Boisfield.— 1 and 2, Pitt-strcct. Halisville, Victoria-docks, and 1,
Burke-sirt-et adjoining. 3 houses, term 999 years nrom Michaelmas, 1854, rent £32 10s. per
annnni.gmand-rent £»; sold for £145.
By Mr. Maus 9 and Ici. Albert -terrace. Old Kent-road, 2 dwelling-houses, term 99 years
from March 25. l»4r, rent £36 i>er annum each, ground-rent £7 lOs. each ; sold for £270 each.
II and 12. Albert-terrace 2dito; sold for £240 each.
la, Alhcrt-terrace, dwelling-house; sold for £270. ^ „
ja /•! 1 <;rcet,Old Keni-road, a ditto, let at a net rental of £19 17». 6d. ; sold for £U0.
" ri el. a ditto, let al a net rental of £»017s.6d.: sold for £115.
•net, a ditto, let nl a net rental of £20 17s. (Id.; sold for £110.
: -:roet.adllto,let at anelrentalof £l817s.ed.; 6oidfor£120.
1, < l.urcli-strtet, a ditto, let at n net rental of £17 17*. 6d. ; sold for £110.
2. 3. 4, and 5, Church-street, four dwelling-houses ; sold for £115 each.
». 10, and II. Alersndrla-street, three ditto ; sold for £200.
32and!" " ' r-street.tAvo ditto; sold for £140.
I. 2. i!i, . -street, three ditto ; sold for ,€lfto.
",".!■ I iw street, four ditto ; sold for £220.
11,12.1 . .i.i-haw.street, four ditto, sold for £2.',0.
90, 31, 22, ta, 24, ■^. and 20. Chureh-street, seven ditto ; sold for £110 each .
9, Vaagtaan-place, one ditto ; .Mild for £85.
10, ILand 14, Vaughan place, three ditto ; sold for £170.
IS, 14, and 15, Vaughan-place, three ditto ; sold for .£100.
l,^s,*iid4,Vaagha
. . . „han-plaec, four ditto, with a piece of vac«nt ground; sold for £235.
», i. f , and 8. Vaughan-street, four ditto ; sold for £225.
S7, Cbimh-street, one ditto ; sold lor £95.
a, CbuKh-stnet, one ditto ; sold for £90.
9, », SI, a, and 3S, Chnn'h-str'et. Ave ditto ; sold for £S5 each.
34, Chnrrli-streel, one ditto; sold for £90.
1, !, and 3. Church-place, three ditto ; sold for £100.
4, 5, and 6. Church-place, three ditto ; sold for £160.
7 and 8, Chtirch-i.lace. two ditto ; sold for £110.
9, 1«, and 11, trhuRh-piace. three ditto; sold tor exso.
35, Si, 17, and as, cnurch-street, four ditto ; sold for £190.
40 to 44, Church-street, Ave ditto , sold for £2.wi.
» to 25, New-street, Bedford-square, Mile-end-road, six dwelling houses, term 82J
years frwn MIchaeUnas, 1824, at a cround-reut of £32 10s. per annum, let at a rent
•Diaantlng to £113 per anntim ; sold for £«iio. ^
10, Uenry-strect, Jubilee-street, 5liie-end-road, dwelling-house, term 77 years from
MicliaeillMa, 1824, at an annual rent of 2s. ; rent per nnnnm .£22 ; sold for .£205.
B, Braanrtck-Muare.ramilr residence, term 921year8,Crom iiepteml3er29lh, 1801, rent per
anmun £so, grtMiDO-rent per annum .£20 ; sold for £510. 1
S4, Burton-crescent, family residence, term w years from March 25lh, 1812, at the annual
rent of £31 los., rent per annum £>St ; sold for £290.
1. 5. 0, and7. Warkworth road, Commercial-road-east, four residences, producing £141 per
annum. als«> lea.Hehoir1 ground-rents of .4^ per annum arising out of Xo. 2, 3, 4, 8 and9,
warkwonh-terracc adjoining, term 33 years from Slarch last, at a ground-rent of £63 per
aaimm : sold for £900.
1* to IS, Bridgewater gardens, Alderseate-street, five dwelling-houses, term 21 years flrom
J-iMly-day, 1858, at a ground-rent of £2.'> perannum.>ent|icr annum £10;!; sold for £170.
" By Mr. T. S. SjOTH.—f.l.Chandos-street. Strand, dwelling house and shop, term 81 years
from Jane M. 1833, at £75 per annum, rent jier annum £171 ; sold for .£160.
By Messrs. VnrroM and Son.— 9, Canterbury row. .Newinaton, residence, term 12J years,
rent per aannn £00. ground-rent per annum £4 ; sold for CXIW.
Br MeMTs. Bnowii and KoneiiTs 37 and .18, Koxliurgli -terrace, Haverstock-hill, two
residences, term 60 rears, at a ground-rent of £7 each iier annum, rent per annum each £37 ;
•oldforMOeKh.
By Messrs. Coni.— 1 and J. Trafaigar-terrsee, Stepney, houses, with cottage adjoining, in
Lomss- buildings, term 45 years unexpired, rent per annum £40, ground-rent per annum £5 ;
sold for £410.
By Mr. Tuis 70. Wnrrcn-street, Pitzroy-square, house, term 30 years, at gnlneas 80 per
annum ; sold for £a90.
By Mcaau. tiLoVEX and Son — «, 7, 8, and 7, Warner-road Camlierwell, four houses, term
ra years from Michaelma.s, 1855, at a ground rent of £12 iier annum, rent per annum £88 ;
•oW for £7.»
Wamer-road. Camberwell, residence known as Warner-cottage, term 53 years from
Mii'baelmas, 1U5. at a net i^nt of £3U per annum ; sold for £2<iu.
By Mr. .Mi'aKEi.t.— I.lniehouse-causeway, being 10, 1 1, and 12, Keg nt-street, 1, 2. and 3,
King John -court, eight hraises. and two houses opposite, term 161 years at £40 per annum,
Tent per annum £!tl ; sold for £40.
By Mzssas. Hammomi and Eiloaxt.— 2 Hans-place, Chelsea, residence, term 101 years, at
a groond rent of £4 5s. |ier annum ; sold for £:!35.
By McaaM. P. Bkoap and FKiTrnAUD.— .'t Kuasell-piace, Hammersmith, honee, term 87
yean from September 2», 1855, at a ground rent of .£2 lOs., rent per annum £18 ; sold
for «I».
1 and J, (leorge-street. Hammersmith, two residences, term 81 years from June 24, IMS, »t
a ground rent of £10 jier annum, rent per annum £44 j sold ror£34«.
directors have subscriln-d for the half of tlicm, .md the remainder they now beg to
offer to the sliarcliolders or their friends."— The Chairnmu, in moving the adoption
of the renort, couirrntuliited the shareholders on the prosperity of the undertaitlng-,
and said that, for the purpose of eniarginp: the hotel Kud filtiny it up for the aecom-
modntion of their visitors, the directors hod decided on issuing OoO shares 01 tiu
each in order that Uiu hotel tnifrht be in as efficient a state as possible.— I he motion
h.iviii" been seconded, it was unanimously adopted.— The dividend ot £10 per cent,
was tlTen n'>reed to. and i'o.otiu out of the £0,C00 were subscribed among- the share-
holders pre'sent.- Mr. liichie, the retiring director, having been re-elected, the pro-
ceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the chairman and directors. -Adver-
tisement.
The Wallace Monument. — On Monday, the anniversary of the
battle of Bannockbimi, the Duke of .\thole, Most Woi-sliipfiil (irand Master
Mason of Scotland, laid the foundation-stone of the Wallace Monument, Uis
grace being accompanied by various civic and volunteer bodies in procession.
Subscriptions have been sought and obtained in almost every quarter of the ?'<>"*>
and now the fund amounts, after deducting expenses, to £.5,.0OO. The cost of the
monument is estimated at £7,000, leaving a deficiency of £1 ,500. The design tor
the monument is from the pencil of Mr. J. T. Kochead, of Glasgow.
QcZEX's HoTix CoMPAwr, tJppEK NORWOOD (LIMITED).— Thc flrst annual
meethijrof the proprlHnrs in this company w«» held on Wednesday, the 26t1i Inst.,
at thelxmrionTaverii.liishopRgatc-street; Sir. Deputy Holt In the chair. The report, of
which the following is an abstract, was taken as read:—" Out of the sum £2,fi6^ lis. lod.,
which will be found al thicredltof the profit and loss account, the directors propose to
eooSoe Ibemselres to the recomineiidatlon of a dividend for thc past year at the rate
ofXIOperceot. per annum on tlie paid-up capital, to be payable on and alter the ;ird
day of .inlf next, and that the sum ol £1,0(19 l:i8. 2d. be carried forward to the credit
oTtbe rereaae account for the next year, at which time thc directors intend to open
an aeeoont a* • reserve fund. ArranL-ementshave been made with thc vendor of the
Queen's Hotel, by which the sum of £l.>,(x«j might remain on mortga^ at 5 per cent, for
a jrfrtod ofM years, Incluilin'.; power meanwhile to pay off the same In large or small
■nins at any time. It apjK-ared advisable to the directors to issse so much only of their
eharc capital as wonid sulllce, under th<.sc drcuinstances, to complete the purchase of
the property, and to make the contemplated additions and enlargements tncrcto. Thc
directors durlni; the profiress of the « orks. have thought It necessary to make some
extra rtilarircinent of the' hotel, and have resolved at once to issue (500 shares £10 each,
amnunUngr to £0,000, this belner stJIl within thc amount of thc share capital they arc
authorised to raise. These shares It Is proposed to Issue without premium. Thc
ANSWERS TO COKKESPON DENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and communlestions to be addressed to thc Editor of the Bcilding iiEWS, 20,
Old Bosweil-court, St. Clement's, Strand, London.
The Editor cannot undertake to return unused manuscripts.
A OCERisi (01asgow)._An architect who " engages to inspect a building owoswna^/a.durliig
the course ot its erection," cannot bo licld responsible to the proprietor for alt delects in
materials or worlimanship which may afterwards be discovered. If you are the pro-
prietor, do vou think it would be just to engage and pay an architect to do hall nis worK
andcxpect'him todo the whole? Unless in very exceptional cases, architects would do
well to decline such commissions altogether. It is difficult at all times to say where re-
sponsibility begins and ends, without unnecessarily complicating matters.
LEASElioLDER.-l'iise entirely rests on the state ofthe party wall, on which, of course, we
cannot advise without seeing the premises. If it is so far out of repair as to regmre rebuiia-
Ing your neighbour mav cause it to be taken down and rebudt ; ii due proportion 01 tiie
expense ofdoing so and rebuilding falling on you. Three months' notice, W which you
may object wltliin fourteen days, must be given. \'ou could claim damages n '"« wall is
taken down unnecessarily and without notice, but not if it is condemned by the commis-
sioners of I'olice. If the wall is sound, but not of sufficient Ihickness for tlie new house,
vour ncighliour must pay all the expenses and make good all damage. 'Take the ad\lcc 01
an architect without delay. Ifwe advise on the premises it must be professionally.
A (New Slioreliam) Send address, we will reply by letter.
Jr. a. r. (Orconock).— we do not usually notice such matters.
Kdwaed W E.— Received too late for insertion last week. The BniiMSo J<EW8 is pun -
lislied earlv on Friday morning.
A KsAOEB (Ely).— Name Is agahi omitted. ^
N. K.-Thereis nogreatartin burning ballast ; sprinkle small coal over each layer, ana
do not heap up too much clay at once; one spit deep each time will be ample ; it sBouia
not be in too largo pieces. The time required depends on the quantity. When the outer
layer turns red it muv be allowed to cool, and then be raked down. ,. „.v «
I,. I^. V If common -sense does not suggest a way of treeing a short stopped pipe, ass. a
plumber to see to It. , ,,,. ^ tu ^
A Constant Keadee (Portsmouth.)— Yes, if approved. Send MS. to our olhce.
T —Referring to any in particular only gives dissatisfaction to others.
p. p. C We repeat our statement, and thank no one. You are misinforinea.
OOTUic OE Classic— An old friend. Send in something new, and we will looKimo 11.
J —Might have seen by our advertising columns, without waiting for a reply, tnatuie txni-
hition at Painters' Hall is open until the 30tli instant. Admission is free.
Rev. S. M. L.- Shall receive areply.
W. S Below our mark.
K. lUiLi-iE.— Often deferred for want of space.
An Enquiree (U. S.)— We cannot give an answer at present.
X. Z. X.-Probably the only reply we could give would not be satisfactory. , ^„
One who Proposes to Exhibit.— Reply, as to receiition of works for the ExMDltion 01 jwm,
appeared last week ; but initials were omitted by mistake. . ^
J F fl -N(j. 2. Of Scotch granites, that from Aberdeen is largely used 111 London tor Kern
and paving stones ; the principal supply is from the quarries of fiancing ^'•"^''irni'Jhed^s'
and Tvi-cbagger; around Peterhead red granite prevails, hence it„i8 !"«'"'»" 'I'i?!,^
•■Peterliead granite." The principal quarrlls are those of Black Hlll,.Hoddam. Lenehf™"'
Calrngall, and Rova.. 'riie. Sheerness, liocks were bu"t.m,oi<iy„lV,"^;,,^;™J' aUlmlham
quarries. The pillars In Fishmongers' Hall are from the Stirling Hill V'-.v ;,:,;- ,h,.„„„i, .i.e
Ko. .•!. The principal granite district in Ireland stretches south from >"•' "•,^'y?^^.;.,' „
countlesof Wicklow and Carlow into Kilkenny. Thereareotherriinges.luitlliatolHicklow
is tlie most extensively used. It varies In Its quality, that near Ivjugalon being coarse ana
liile that from ISallyknocken or Golden Hill is mucn nnei »""■""„';,?, "Xj ^,
superior work. Down granite is darker in color and finely crystallised ; it >» ffi^^'^S^r
Nenvryand sent by water to the north of Ireland. Galway granite is 01 a reddish color,
contiiiuing large crystals offlcsh red felspar; that of Mayo is 01 •<■ 'i'^'^^ y}'"^*''^^^^^^-
while that of ^yroie is reddish. Irish granite^ averages 170 lbs P" ',"^.1™;^ iV.VNewrV
alter 88 hours' Immersion in water it was found that a cubic foot ol the Kja""';,';' ,*?"'^^5
and Kingston absorbed about a quarter of a pound; thatofCarlow nearly two pounds, ana
thO'.franlte ofllonegal four pounds of that fluid.
v.— Yes, given in our first and third volumes. o_j .nm*.
S. R.- lirunswick-grcen is a mixture of carbonate of copper with chalk or 'Imc, ana soj^
times magnesia or ammonia ; white lead should be added. It may be prepared oy aaaing
ammonia to a mixed solution of sulphate of copiier and alum. nnrlaat
Mrs. II.-The " (iuide to the Exhibition of the Royal Academy," reviewed in our last
A— A*!"! wVSeSlLYwcek that the Architectural Association have decided to send in
its .idhesloii to the proposed Architectural Alliance, on the ground that ■' ^o;'{^,,'J,","|"
opiwrtunitles of discussing subjects upon which united aejlon mightbe extreme fdesirame,
aiili extremely advantageous to the profession. The Chainnan of tlie Assoiuatlon tueu
reiK-atcd that the intention of the Alliance was to take eognisance of all maixcra
relating to the profession, and having special reterence to eomiiotitiona and proit.sionai
.1. TiioMAS.-Wereserve a consideration of the question until after thenlMting. . .
C. .1. H. T.-We apiirehend U has no right to erect the proposed Y'V','i!;,„l™E??on of
indicated on plan, but our opinion might bo modified, if not reversed, by an inspection 01
W.-'f 'wo"'and'a-half per cent, would bo a fair charge. Extra services should be charged for
In addition.
L. P. O.— We cannot advise.
Mk. Oeoroe <i.— Yes. ., ,, .„„.__ » At th,^ ifk'fljit
R. F. L.-l. In type. 2. Wo cannot see any advantage over thc old i)roces8. 3. At the least
six months. 4. Incur last volume. _ , ^ ,..,,,„ ,i._irK..;rn'a worlt on
J. W N.-l. Valuable Information on the Turbine may be found in !• fj,'^^-"' « ^ork on
" Mills and Mlllwork." lire says the name Turbine is derived from the l'^''»X, vo") for'
a top, and refers to thc Pohjteclmuchm Cmtral «'<"'.. -*«,"?■'• ,'S,* ^'S, 'fM l, ™ir£
ls.-,o ; to thc Jahrbuch/ur den Jlery und JIullenmmn lor I*™. 'SS ^„l''^l™^"^'',° '^*X'9
v,,driau der Turlinen mid VeMlataren; Givn's Treattx »"'"'«'"■ ^"l^*^ "'^ «»'?,'
Rudimentary Series ; the Bulletm dela Sodetd d' Encouragement for liat, and Armergaud s
J'ublicalion 'Jndustriet.
'lV.^ir?;TriS t ^tSpt^t^h'^SScture Of good varnish with inferior or largely adul-
terated linseed oil. ,,, , , ._,
One Present.- We are not quite certain, but will make inquiries.
J Declined with thanks. . . ,. .
M. S. 0.-8ketches referred to in letter have not reached us.
sec them.
T. F.R.-Not suitable. r t. . ■
Hr.<-piVFn I V It S It F W A., K. R., P., M..Tho8., B 9, M. A., K. I. B. A.
En"ulrerrR: S.'s R., C.H.', Ik^MoI.-, An Aii,«iate, X.Z.^G., A'Rea<'?r.'.C»r>"'i™J-'>
W.. • • •, Mr. , A Constant Reader (Exeter), F. O. H.,
A Clerk, II., T., S. M.
We shall be glad to
Messrs. C. and 11., J., B. V.
July 5, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
557
FIREPROOF CONSTRUCTION.
r all the desolating and destructive agencies wliicU
ravage the works of man's liand fire is, perhaps,
the most terrible ; certainly in this country :
remote from eartlKjualces, free from liability,
except in a few portions of the island, to inun-
dations, and now happily for centuries exempt
from the presence of war, fire is the mos.t for-
midable and the most familiar enemy which
attacks our towns and cities, our dwellings, and
our places of public resort.
The tooth of time indeeil eats no less surely
and no less destructively into the very substance
of what we build, but his ravages proceed so
slowly that what he destroys can be replaced as
fast as the damage occurs ; time too attacks in
a sure and systematic way, and by experience
and forethought it is possible, if not to render
our buildings absolutely proof against his efforts, at
least, to provide against speedy or extensive ravages.
If, however, we turn to the history of any great
building we find the words " destroyed by lire,"
" ai'ain the subject of a disastrous fire," and the like
constantly recurring. If we take the history of any
town or city we shall find the fires of greater or less
extent by which it has been damaged, furnishing no in-
considerable portion of its story ; and if we go no further than our own
metropolis we find tlie great feature of its topographical and architec-
tural history to have been " the great fire of London."
A recent CiJamity of fire above the ordinary magnitude has called
special attention to this topic, and, important as any safeguard
airainst fire must always be held, we trust that the present moment will
be felt opportune for calling re-attention to those modes of construc-
tion by which fire can be delayed or arrested, if not prevented.
Fireproof construction must not be understood to mean a mode of
constructing buildings in which no fire can arise ; nor does it even
imply that the buildings so called fireproof are absolutely safe from
destruction or damage by fire. If it is remembered that a majority of
the fires which occur commence among goods or furniture, the truth of
our first statement will appear, and the second is no less obvious
when the devouring power of a very fierce and very extensive fire is
taken into account. A portion of the buildings so lately destroyed at
London-bridge were fireproof, and though they withstood the fire
longer than the adjoining premises yet their contents, and ultimately
they themselves, yielded to the attacks of a really irresistible mass of
heat and flame.
Fire-proof construction then really is little more than construction
in which incombustible materials only are employed (not indestructible).
This guarantees that should a fire occur, the building shall not itself
add fuel to the fire and feed the flames by its own materials ; it adds
to the very great prob.ability that the damage by fire will be confined
to the contents of the building, the structure itself remaining intact;
while to this may be fairly added the probability that the spread of
the fire will be checked, and even may be prevented by the st.ability
and incombustibility of the place in which it is raging.
These advantages, though they fall very far short of an immunity
from fire, arc of great importance, greater than is often believed, and
if we have endeavoured to confine the claims of fire-proof construction
within those limits by v/hich they are faii-ly bounded, we shall on the
other hand feel equally disposed very strongly to press those claims on
all connected with building.
In extinguishing fires, as in great battles of many sorts, half an hour
often makes all the difTerenco between success and failure. Help, rapid
and efficient, is generally forthcoming, but the time required for the
engines to arrive and the mains to be opened is often exactly the half-
hour during which the fire could have been easily and promptly ex-
tinguished. The rescue of inmates and the salvage of important
property are matters in which a few minutes of time more or less is of
vital importance. Lastly, nothing is of more value to the community
than any safeguard to hinder the spread of fire. Even if by confining
a tire to the premises where it breaks out, it were certain to be a^^ra"
vated and rendered more destructive, there can be no question'that
the public advantage would be still consulted by adopting moans
calculated so to confine it.
To a limited extent the Building Act is intended to enforce a sort
of rough outline of fireproof construction. Without prohibiting the
ttse of combustible materials in those parts of a bouse whicli are best
made of wood, this Act prohibits their external use, removes them h
far as practicable from dangerous proximity to flues and fire-places ;
and makes sundry provisions intended to prevent the spread of fires
that have actually kindled.
So far as they go. we can have no doubt that these precautions have
prevented some fires and diminished the violence of others. It remains
to be seen whether a further progress may not be made in at least the
larger and more expensively built of our dwelling-houses and ia
warehouses.
The features in the construction of which the largest amount of wood
is employed, in any house with incombustible walls, are the roof, tho
floors, the window-frames and the doors. A good fireproof building
substitutes for wood in these features (with the exceptions of the
doors) some combination of iron, with slate, tile, stone, cement, brick-
work or other similar substance.
And first as to the roof In many buildings with fire-proof floors,
the roofs are constructed of timber in the ordinary manner. This is a
mistake. If the upper story of a building is to contain goods or furni-
ture liable to damage by fire, the framing of the roof ought to be in-
combustible, and if there are adjoining buildings, the same thing is
true. Fires that arise icithin a building, if they catch the roof always
speedily consume its timbers ; the ruius fall "in with a crash which,
while it aggravates the raging of tlie fire, also helps to shake down the
side walls and compromise the safety of the building. And thus both
the building and its contents arc doubly damaged. On the other
hand, fires that occur in adjoining builduigs, are more often communi-
cated through the roof than through any otherpartof the building. The
system of parapets between adjoining buildings acts as a check to fire,
sometimes as a safeguard to houses menaced by a fire burniug next
door ; but should the flames be high and the wind strong, tongues of
flame can be seen leaping over the parapet, finding their way between
crevices of slates, and soon first smoke and then flames will proclaim
that the roof has caught, and after that, if there is not speedy help, the
whole house is doomed.
The most complete specimen of fire-proof roofing lately executed,
within our knowledge, is the roof of Covent-Garden Theatre, where
there is not a plug or a rafter of wood, the whole being constructed of
iron, slabs of slate, and glass. Iron framing, iron laths, and ordinary
slating, would probably make an efficient roof, but we cannot help sug-
gesting that the formation of flats in tiles in cement which has become
of late so common, presents to our notice a mode of construction at
once fire-proof, strong, light, and manageable, and which would be
worthy of adoption. At Mr. Holdford's house in Park-lane, this system
of construction has been employed for a domical roof of considerable
size, and we believe a similar roof with a few iron ribs and ties could
be easily and cheaply 'employed in many instances where the timber
framing, rafters, and laths or boarding of an ordinary roof would be
disadvantageous.
Fireproof floors, to which we next draw attention, have received
more attention than roofs, and yet the systems in common use among us
are really only two, brick arches on girders, and tho system known as
Fo.x and Barrett's patent. It does not form part of our object in the
]n'esent paper to analyse the merits and demerits of various systems of
fireproofing, though did space permit we might enlarge upon the un-
desirableness of trusting to the stability of any cast-iron construction
if exposed to fire. We are now, however, merely contending for the
principle that constructions should be fireproof, and shall not stray
beyond our subject. It is, notwithstanding, proper to advert to the
various plans in common use in France, and which are comparatively
unknown here. At the South Kensington Museum may be seen
specimens of various modes of construction which could not certainly
bo here introduced and manufactured for a single example without
great expense, but which can be executed much more cheaply in
France. Now, were one or more of these system introduced by any
energetic builder or manufacturer it is highly probable that it might
become popular, and in the mean time it might be worth while, as an
experiment, to procure the joists and tiles (for in most of these
systems occurs a sort of network of rolled iron joists filled in with tiles)
from France, or even to agree with some French contractor for the
laying of these floors in one or two instances, to see how far they seem
suited to our requirements.
Of windows and doors the former are much more obnoxious to
damage by fire than the latter, and the use of metal window frames is
essential to render a builchng as completely fireproof as is possible. The
weight and expense of metal dooi-s render it out of the question to
employ them universally or generally, but for large openings they are
sometimes admissible, and it deserves to be remembered that a wooden
door lined with sheet iron will, especially if it be lined on both sides,
afford a very considerable check to the progress of fire.
The avoidance of the risk of fire originating in the actual fabric of the
building and an obstacle to its spread, are by these and similar means
secured, perhaps as far as human power can secure thorn. It is quite pos-
sible that within the limited area of one establishment the contents may-
be as entirely consumed in a fireproof building as in any other. It is
equally possible that in the case of a truly irresistible fire like the one
in Toolev-street, a fireproof building may be damaged and its contents
destroyed, even if the fire originate elsewhere ; but neither of these
558
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 5, 1861.
fiKts diminisli the duty of aflording the best safeguards to life and pro-
perty which science puts at our disposal, foremost among which stands
» sjrstem of construction which it has been shown is calculated to
check, instead of encourage, the ravages of the devouring element,
which preserves intact the means of escape to the last moment, and
which, while it bills fair to prevent or arrest the spread of any ordinary
fire also gives good ground for hoping that when the flames have done
their worst the building at least will remain, not seriously damaged,
and certainly not reduced (as must happen where timber is employed)
to the state of a mass of crumbling embers enclosed by cracked and
tottering walls, or worse still to a mere shapeless heap of ruins.
THE INSTITUTE EXAMINATION SCHEME.
THE scheme of " regulations and curriculum " for a voluntary archi-
tectural examination, prepared by the Committee of tlie Institute, and
which will be found in extenso in our impression for last week, has been at
last laid before that body. A special general meeting was held on Monday
evening last, to take it into consideration, at which, us will be seen from
the account of it which we publish in anothercolumn, the proceedings were
not of a character possessing great general interest.
The nature of the meeting may be briefly summed up by saying that the
report was received, a protest virtually entered against anything like a
" diploma " as connected with it, and the matter was referred to the pro-
fession at large for consideration. This, in fact, was the intention, and will
be the force of the resolution passed, which postponed the further con-
sideration of the question till some Monday in November, and made the
committee responsible for endeavouring to procure, in the meanwhile, the
opinion of other architectural societies.
Deprecating as we do any needless delay, and regretting that this matter
was not brought forward at an earlier period, so that if possible, a con-
clusion might have been come to at the present moment, we cannot but
admit that, matters being as they are, the only proper course has been
taken. To have decided upon a question so vitally affecting the interests
of a large part, nay virtually of the whole of the profession, at a thinly
attended meeting of the Institute, on a hot evening in July, and within a
week of the first publication of the details of the proposed scheme, would
have been unseemly, nay preposterous ; and yet, unfortunately, owing to
previous delays, the postponement of the question now must necessarily
remit it till after that time of year has passed when no societies are in
•ession, and when many members of the Institute are out of town, thus of
necessity driving it on to the commencement of next winter. This is what
has been preferred, and in order to facilitate as far as practicable the dis-
cussion of the question, we propose to make a few observations upon the
nature and scope of the proposak — premising, however, that if practicable
societies ought to discuss it at once, and not postpone the consideration of
it till they reassemble after their recess. There will be a good deal of time
necessarily consumed in discussion, and there will be little chance of the
suggestions sent to the Committee being embodied by them or considered
by them with the care they deserve should those suggestions be only re-
ceived at the last moment before meeting the Institute.
The Architectural Association, whose session closed last week, propose
to hold a special meeting for the consideration of the scheme, an example
which other societies wUl, we trust, be ready, if necessary, to follow.
Any of our readers looking over the paper we placed before them last
week, will perceive that it consists of, first, a set of regulations ; secondly,
a list of books ; and, thirdly, a series of forms. And they will do well to
bear in mind that, in the instructions of the Institute to the Committee, it
wa» a leading feature that the examination should have an educational
character— that is to say, as was explained at the present meeting, should
be of a character to test the education of the candidates and to prove that
they arc educated men. As a consequence, should the examinations
succeed, their result will be to raise the standard of professional education.
Bearing this in mind, let us apply for a moment to the consideration of the
TMtdations forming the first part of the scheme.
The nucleus of the regulations is a list of subjects in which candidates
are to be examined, and which, it will at once be perceived, is divided into
two classes — the one called the class of " ordinary proficiency," the other
that of " honorable distinction." In either class the student seeking to
enter his name for examination is required to send in a certain amount of
preliminary work, and is permitted to send any previously acquired certi-
">tes or other distinctions, literary works, or any specimens of skill in his
profession. It is open to candidates above the age of thirty to present
themselves for examination in the class of " honorable proficiency," with-
out going through the previous examination, but not to younger candi-
dates. It is not, however, necessary that any younger candidate pre-
senting himself to undergo the preliminary examination sbonld immediately
proceed to attempt to pass the other. He may postpone that till another
year. We had forgotten to state that it is proposed to hold an examination
once every year, in the month of .January, so often as there are five or
more candidates for admisfion into the class of ordinary proficiency.
A glance at the subjects will show that the list is a pretty comprehen-
sive one; it is capable, in the hands of examiners who are disposed to be
**nn[*' "^ ?*'"'<'.'°K ^'] opportunity for a most trying examination.
The subjects in which an ordinarily proficient youth ought to be able
** J j" '''°'"*"^ educated are, in the opinion of the Committee, drawing
and design, mathematics, physics, professional practice, materials, con-
stniction, and the historj- and literature of architecture. To show him-
self worthy of honorable distinrtion, he is to prove his more extended
acquaintance with the same branches, and with languages. Por the first-
class he must present as preliminary work certain drawings, including a
complete design, specification, and a portion of the working details for
some building. For the second he has a very wide range in which to sub-
mit specimens of artistic skill and power of design tlirown open to him,
and out of twenty named varieties of work he is required to produce at
the least specimens in four, to be his own design and handiwork. We
ought to add that in both examinations the candidate will have, by the
regulations, the advantage of selecting that particular style in which he
considers himself most at home, for the work he has to do, and upon which
he is to be examined.
The value attached to the various branches is estimated by marks, of
which the total number is 10,000, 6,000 being given to the essential and
4,000 to the honorable class. Half this number must in each case be ob-
tained to entitle the candidate to rank among those that pass, and the
further provision occurs that in the class of ordinary proficiency the can-
didate must obtain some marks in each division— namely, he must obtain
at least half the marks allotted to the divisions of " Drawing and design,"
" Materials," and " Construction," respectively, and at least one-fifth the
marks allotted to each of the other four divisions out of the seven
included.
No such limitation occurs in the second division, the candidate being
left to get his marks in all or some of the branches as he can — a method
which we think it would be wise and advantageous to pursue in both
classes.
No graduated placing of candidates appears to be contemplated ; those
who pass will be named in alphabetical order, and no arrangement is made
for denoting the rank they took. It is even provided that " the number of
marks gained by each candidate shall not be communicated to any
person."
Here it may be right to observe that it is recommended — and no doubt
the recommendation will be attended to — that, lor the first year, only half
the proposed numbers of marks shall be essential ; for the second year the
standard shall be raised halfw.iy between that of the first and the third
years ; and that in the third year for the first time the full standard shall
be adopted ; and then — these being considered, in a sense, experimental
years — the working of the scheme shall be reviewed, and it shall be con-
sidered whether any and what modifications are required.
The other regulations provide for the length of the examinations, which
are not to exceed a week for the two classes, and the mode of conducting
them. This is to be by written answers and drawings, and not at all by
personal questions and answers, the examiners never seeing the candidates,
and the arrangements being under the control of two " moderators," who
are to be present during the whole time, and to see that nothing unfair
occurs.
The papers of questions are to be, as far as possible, uniform for all the
candidates, though being, however, framed in conformity with the preli-
minary application that each sends in, they will of necessity vary to some
extent.
A very large portion of the regulations is taken up by a series of pre-
cautions against the possibility of collusion or favoritism, which are all
blended into a scheme so complicated that we strongly doubt the possibility
of its being efficiently carried out. Mr. Kerr assured the meeting that he
had the highest possible opinion of this portion of the scheme, but that
he was not perfectly certain that he understood it !
The plan upon which this portion of the thing proceeds is something to
the eflTect that the examiners, the moderators, the candidate.', and every
other person connected with the work, are to indicate the different portions
of work by separate signs, that the honorary secretaries only are to know
to what person the signs belong, and that the examiners, having tested each
marked parcel of work separately, and given it the number of marks they
consider due to it, the secretaries, by adding np the totals which one person
has acquired under several different signs, marks, or numbers, will see if
he has or has not been successful in getting as many marks as arc
required to pass him. The proposal is, as we have observed, very com-
plicated. It is right in principle, and resembles somewhat the precautions
taken with the same object in view in other examinations ; but we fear it
might lead to blunders in the carrying it into execution, and, of all things,
a mistake here ought to be impossible. Students ought not to be exposed
to the possibility of an error in the allotting the marks that have been
gained to the person whose work obtained those marks ; and on this
ground, if on no other, the most rigid and jealous scrutiny ought to bo
bestowed on the regulations for the conduct of the awards.
The list of books appended forms a feature of great interest and great
value. We know of no authoritative list of the best books on architecture in
the English language except this; and here they are with marks affixed to
them denoting the subjects for which they are specially to be consulted.
The Architectural Association are, we hear, proposing to form a library.
We strongly recommend that they should make it a first object to secure
the entire series of these books. This list is, however, open to emenda-
tion ; a few books might,'with advantage, be added in exchange for those
on the list, and there are some few which we do not see here that have
quite as great a claim to be there as any actually included.
Lastly come the forms. They are preceded by a statement of the fees
proposed. Each application is to be accompanied by a fee of two guineas
for the ordinary and of one guinea for the honorable class. We beg to
submit that these amounts ought to be reversed. The men capable of
taking the honorable degree will usually be better able to pay two guineas
than their juniors are to pay one. We presume, too, that these fees are to
be returned to unsuccessful candidates. Nothing is said on this head.
July 5, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
559
The application, to be accompanied by a recommendation signed by
three gentlemen, one of a member of tlie Institute, besides a request for
the certificate, includes a declaration that civil architecture is and shall be
the occupation of the applicant, and that he "will not have any
interest or participation in any trade contract or materials supplied at
any works the execution whereof he may be engaged to superintend."
And in case of his failing, in the opinion of the Institute to fulfil these
engagements, promises the withdrawal of his name from the list of passed
candidates. This we tliink will require reconsideration.
Such in its main features is the nature of the scheme laid before the
Institute, and by tliem offered for public discussion. We Iiave thought
that the best service we could render to that discussion was to furnish in
the most available shape the materials for it ; we have, therefore, given
the scheme at full, and the above condensement of it, abstaining for the
present from further expression of opinion as to details than it has been
found advisable to introduce in the course of our notice.
At the late meeting one or two of the difficulties which must beset the
execution of this scheme were brought forward. Mr. Roger Smith, speak-
ing' on behalf of the Architectural Association, expressed the fear that
enough consideration might not be felt for candidates by the examiners,
who might be prone to forget how few of the young men of the present
dry have obtained their knowledge of architecture in such a way as to
enable them to answers paper questions. This is of importance : the
examinations will be a dead failure if men known to stand well among
their fellow-pupils, and associates, and to be efficient in offices, are
plucked ; and yet this will be extremely likely to occur unless the
greatest care be taken to frame the questions and set the work so that it
shall not be very different in kind from anything that the men have been in
the habit of doing already. We think that perhaps from this point of
view the entire exclusion of viva voce examinations is to be regretted.
Mr. Charles Barry touched upon a second and a graver difficulty — the
action to be taken with regard to architects of acknowledged standing.
His difficulty — not, however, put precisely in his own words — was
this : A class of persons is about to be created, namely, those who
have passed the examination ; a large majority of architects in
considerable practice will never dream of undergoing an examination in
order to get into this class. Will this class, without their names, be suffi-
ciently honorable and sufficiently distinguished for persons to come for-
ward to join it ? If their names are to be procured, and they will not
offer themselves for examination, how are they to be got ? The sugges-
tion was thrown out that such persons might be admitted on the certified
excellence of buildings they have erected. This we hope will not take
place. The value of this examination will, we believe, entirely depend
upon its being impossible to pass it except by passing it, and we are con-
fident that numbers of the young men of the present day, and men of
standing too, will gladly avail themselves of this opportunity to gain
honorable distinction, wlien once they are satisfied that the matter is
established on a practical, liberal, and equitable basis. M.
THE PROPOSED ARCHITECTURAL EXAMINATION.
AS wiU be seen by our last Number (p. 549), the Committee of gentlemen
appointed by the Institute of Architects to prepared a curriculum
and bye-laws for the proposed Voluntary ArchitecturalExamination, have
presented their scheme for the consideration of the Council : our pages
contain a copy of it in extenso; and the announcement that, on the 1st of
July, the Council of the Institute would be prepared to report on the
document, and submit it for the consideration of the members of that
body.
We have no desire to anticipate the report of the Council; yet, as the
subject of it is of the highest consequence, not merely to members of the
Institute, but to architects and the community in general, whose interests
it is the province of the press to watch over, we but fulfil a duty to our
readers in offering them an early comment on a document so very impor-
tant; particularly as, having taken all along a very sincere interest in
this examination movement, we are somewhat entitled to express an
opinion on what lias been done.
And to speak first of the importance of the document itself, we trust
that, although but small notice may have been bestowed on it by the
old, and old-established well-to-do, and childless practitioner, likely in a
few short years to pass from amongst us, it has been well read and conned
over both in town and country by the architectural student, by the rising
architect; and still more earnestly by the ardent professor, who, having
grown gray, though, perhaps not great, by the pursuit of a noble profes-
sion, hopes at least to see his son become a member of it, with some guar-
antee for that " good time coming," when merit shall be rewarded, and
quackery be put down.
We trust that, to such as these, the curriculum and bye-laws of the
Institute's Committee are already well known : we may add, they will be
all the better appreciated by such of our readers as may have perused the
two or three admirable leading articles, which have recently appeared in
the Times, on the subject of the Competitive System of Examination for
the Civil Service.
The curriculum is too ehiborate to fairly consider in detail within the
limits of an ordinary article ; it fills nearly two pages of our Journal ; and
we must, therefore, content ourselves with adverting to the saliept
features of the scheme, and commenting on it in the ensemble.
The Committee propose, then, that 10,000 marks of merit shall represent
the summum bonum of architectural proficiency— that is to say, that, to gain
a certificate of " ordinary proficiency," a candidate shall, under certain
restrictions, earn, during a three days' personal examination, at least one,
half of 6,000 marks of merit, having reference in certain fixed proportions
to drawing and design, mathematics, physics, professional practice,
materials, construction, and architectural history or literature ; and in like
manner they propose that, to acquire a certificate of "honorable distinction "
(the highest degree proposed), a candidate shall, in three more days' ex-
amination, gain at least one-half of the remaining 4,000 marks, similarly
apportioned for tasks analogous to the last-mentioned; but with the super-
addition of some knowledge of two dead and some other living foreign
languages. The mode of apportioning these marks, and of so contriving
matters that, whilst no one shall be necessarily a savant of the first water,
no one shall, by any concurrence of circumstances, be an actual ignoramus,
is remarkably ingenious, and, as it would appear, effective of the desired
object. Some demur will probably be raised to the making " languages "
indispensable to an architect — a demur which we should ourselves pause
ere we endorsed — and some doubt expressed whether " professional
practice " ought to figure so highly in the preliminary class of ordinary
proficiency ; but here our strictures on the proposed curriculum must;
terminate. What the Council and the " members " (query. Fellows ?) of
the Institute may say of it we shall be curious to hear ; it is a mostpains-
taking,;elaborate scheme ; and unless we may be fated to report some very
convincing speeches in condemnation of it, we shall accord it (whatever
that may be worth) our earnest advocacy.
How the system is to be applied to the case of old practitioners, not only
town, but country ones — or, we ought rather to say, how these gentlemen
will be able or be disposed to avail themselves of it, by a six days' personal
attendance in Conduit-street, London, one does not very clearly perceive.
Some enthusiastic veterans may, like those fine old grey-beards one sees
in the rifle regiments, volunteer an examination, pour encourager les enfans
— to encourage the youngsters — but this is a somewhat grave feature of
the scheme. There are many Associates of the Institute who, we feel
sure, would stand the ordeal of these two examinations with credit; and
there are, on the other hand, many Fellows of the Institute who would
most assuredly be " plucked at the little-go." Perhaps the wisest thing
for the Institute to do will be, as soon as the scheme is set a-going, to
promulgate by jubilee a plenary indulgence, by which all architects of a
certain age (not under fifty years) shall be tacitly supposed to have passed
their examination — that is to say, shall have both liitle-yo and great-go
absolutely remitted. It is an exceedingly difficult question to deal with,
this disposal of the "fogeys," both in and out of the Institute — for it is
imperatively necessary that those who are outside the Institute; old gentle-
men with brass door-plates — who, in fact, havert/MJays had brass door-plates,
within the memory of man — we say it is imperative that their case
should be considered in any distribution of marks of " ordinary" or extra-
" ordinary proficiency."
The Examination Committee seem to have steered clear away from this
difficulty — perhaps by utterly ignoring it ; and it is no small praise to say
of their scheme as a whole that, it is tolerably free from any gross
feature, having a tendency to propitiate the members of the body, to
whose consideration they have submitted it. They do, indeed , propose
that the Examiners and the Moderators shall be chosen by the Fellows of
the Institute ; and as it is well known, there is ample talent amongst that
class of its members, we should say, let that pass by all means : it may
not possibly be a perfect arrangement ; but it is as perfect a one, for aught
we can see, as any other, that might be suggested. Nor do we see any
great harm that can arise from the adoption of another proposed arrange-
ment, the terms of which we confess do smack somewhat of a flourish of
trumpets j we advise the Presidents, &c., of the several provincial societies
of architects to accede to it for the sake of professional unanimity in a
matter of vital importance. Here it is.
" The examiners shall take into consideration any degrees, diplomas, certlfloates or
medals, obtained from any society of architects (approved for this purpose by the
Cotmcil of the Institute) wlwse president or hmiorary secretar// at tfui time when suck
distinction uxfs adjudged shall have been a Fellow oj the Instituie, or from any royal
academy of art, or from any university in (ireat Britain."
The Institute of British Architects will do well to strike out from the
scheme of their Committee the clause we have here printed it italics. It
will be a graceful act on their part :, its retention is calculated to engender
all manner of heart-burnings, and to provoke not a few invidious obser-
vations, based as it is on the fallacy— is it not a fallacy ?— that a Fellow-
ship of the Institute of Architects is a criterion of professional merit. It
is nothing of the sort— nothing but a recognition of the holder's respecta-
bility, as a citizen, who has been established seven years in the " architec-
tural " trade— tYi&t is all. It has nothing whatever to do with art ;
nothing whatever to do with science — why then should its jackdaw-
plumes be obtruded into a scholastic curriculum ? Far be it from us to
speak disparagingly of any of those eminent architects who happen to
have enrolled themselves Fellows of the Institute ; but it must not be for-
gotten there are other eminent English architects, who ought also to be
considered in this matter. These gentlemen, though neither Fellows nor
Associates of the Institute, have built, and continue to build, the finest
edifices in the country ; and, this being the case, we are at a perfect loss
to comprehend the audacity of a self-elected club of their brethren in
London, who coolly say virtually by such a clause as this, " ye are no
Fellows of the Institute : ergo— there shall he no more cakes and ale."
We say, let the Council of the Institute get rid of such a Brummagem
clause as this. If the Institute refuse to give it up, so much the worse
for its credit j let the non-institute architects laugh " consumedly,"
but let them by no means oppose the examination scheme on that
ground.
There is one other clause of the conditions to which as it seems to us
560'
THE BUILDING NEWS.
Julys, 1861.
praTe objections may be urged. We mean that part of the candidate'^
declaration by which the Council of the Institute is empowered to erase
his name from the list of passed candidates.
•• I dMUre that civil architMture is now and will continue to be (?) my professional
aroeation ; and that 1 will not have any interest or parlicijiation in any trade contract
or materials supplied at any works, the execution whereof I may be ensraged to
supwintend. In case of my failinf; at any time to fultil to the saiisj'action of the
Council for the timebrinq of the Boyal Institute of British Architects, any part of
the abOTc declajratioii, I permit the erasure of my mtme from the list of passed
fflnrfiritrtfir "
Ben we hare a flat inversion of the old saying " once a captain always
a captain." This declaration smacks hugely of the shop, the trades'
union, or the guildhalls ; and is certainly redolent of any neighbourhood
but Parnassus. We question greatly whether any university in Christen-
dom is in the habit of conferring degrees in this style. Doctor Dodd was
hanged as Dr. (not plain Willium) Dodd we believe ; but what are we to
say of the Institute, which after declaring a man to be a wiseacre one day,
pronounces him a dunce on another — not because he lias since turned out
to be a fool, but— because he has violated some trade regulation f Of
course we speak under correction — the Committee may have seen reasons
for such a declaration, that to others are not patent — at present we do not
see the utility of it. Let us put a case. If a man for example were to go
np to Conduit-street, take an " Honorable Distinction " degree, and, be-
coming tired of the tee-square, take to the trowel, tlie saw-pit or even tlie
last and lapstone, we really see no reason why he should not e'en " gang
his ain gate ;" and yet all the while " liold his own " hard-earned " Ilonor-
able Distinction " against all comers.
It is but justice to say, the remaining conditions of the scheme seem
not merely unobjectionable, but admirable. Our space will not now admit
of a fuller reference to them ; but we very strongly urge every architect
and every student in tlic kingdom to make himself master of the text of
this valuable document. It reflects high honor on the Society, whence it
has emanated— is in fact the chef-d'ceuvre of the Institute— and the
Committee of gentlemen, who have produced it, deserve the grateful
thanks of every true member of the profession.
s
ROSLIX CHAPEL.
OME strong, but no less accurate, opinions have recently been expressed by
^ English architects on the so-called restorations of old French bnildinp. A
■ remonstrance to tlie Emperor on the subject was at one time seriously spoken of,
but it fortunately fell to the ground. The probable reply— a polite intimation to
mind our own business— was no doubt anticipated. A. circumspectory glance
might convince us that we are not altogether so undeserving of that censure
which we apply unsparingly to our " volatile " neighbors. Heraonstrances may
be of some ava"il with those who have the management of British restorations.
A Sodetv or Committee for the Prevention of Cruelty to Buildings may cheek
the too frequent u.se of edged tools in ignorant hands on the art of our ancient
monuments. The French may have some State reason which necessitate the
employment of men skilled in the erection of barricades. A flickering magni-
ficence mav there be necessary to withdraw the people's gaze from political
matters, aiid the occupation of the surplus labor ot the country is perhaps a
matter of greater importance to the ruler of France than the retention of the
cuticle of buildings, which by their endurance are scarcely in harmony with the
transitory dynasties which rapidly succeed each other around them.
The French have plenty of answers to any protest which we 'might think
proper to make ; it is well to leave them with what little appreciation they pos-
sets of Gothic architecture, and to console ourselves with the hope that all the
treasores of art with which the men in former times enriched their land will not
be entirely smothered or rooted out by Napoleonic weapons. We, at home, un-
fortunately, have enough of ignorance on which to throw our fertilisinK rebukes.
Hcstoration has become a prevalent fashion with us, in consequence of the revival
in England of Gothic art. In the latter we have been pretty generally success-
ful; in the former wc have in the greater number of instances laraentably failed.
All our readers will recall buildings which have been literally destroyed by what
is called " restoration," but what is in reality nothing more nor less than re-
building the structure, shackled by a plan which was framed for customs and
rites now banished from the building. The result of our restorations are new
buildings mingled here and there with peeled fragments of those which
they replace. The peeling process enlarges the hollows and diminishes the pro-
jecting surfaces of all moldings, and thus destroys their original proportions. The
folwtKOtion of new carved work is nj restoration, whilst that and the scraping
together remove for ever from the stones that history which Time's slow,
nneiring finger has written. The record of centuries is ruthlessly swept away
to be replaced by that of a day. Buildings which have for ages been as sign-
posts in the track of circumstances, which have inspired poets, and stained by
storm and sunshine, and clothed with moss and ivy, iiave delighted generations
of wandering painters, and through them all who love to dwell on things of
beauty arc dipt into prim propriety, and bt^come the most dismal wreck which
the eye can contemplate.
Occasionally, we own with pleasure, a sensible course, instead of the one we
have Just instancing, has been adopted. We would impress upon all committees
that a competent architect is of far more importance in a " restoration " than in
the erection of a building. He, if employed, will preserve the wasted stone,
remove by means of a bellows the dust, and indurate by silicates tlie crumbling
particles. This is what has been done at Westminster Abbey. The best known
abbey north of the Tweed has received, spite of warnings, far different treat-
ment. Walter Scott would, were he living, have sighed over the ruin in
" Roslin's rocky glen." It has been desecrated by him who should have stood
foremost to shield it, — the descendant of the Great William St. Clair who five
centuries ago founded it, and of the " twenty of Roslin's barons bold " who lie
"each sheath'd in his iron panoply," in the vault beneath the "proud chapclle,"
but who will live for generations to come in the lovely ballad of Rosabelle. The
prMcnt Lord Roselyn is fanned into notoriety in a recent number of the " Scots-
man." He has rendered himself coiispicuous therein by a desire to worship over
the vault of his grim, uncoffin'd ancestors, and by the alterations consequently
made in Roslhi Abbey with the idea of rendering it sufficiently neat and comfort-
able for the indulgence of his wish. An account of this little " restoration " of
one of the most famous Scottish buildings, which we take from the " Scotsman,"
may serve to dilute the strength of the expostulation, which in a future un-
guarded moment may be addressed to our French friends.
About eighteen months ago, it appears, the operations at Roslin were com-
menced, avowedly for the purpose ol enclosing the family graves, and of executing
some necessary repairs on the east, or chancel end of tlie chapel. Brackets and
canojiies have been, since that time, ruthlessly cut away; the picturesque old
stair lending to the crypt has l)een modernised ; " fac-similes " of the old sculp-
ture have been substituted ; acids iiave been used for cleaning a portion of the
stone, which will surely disintegrate the particles; other parts have been re-
chiselled — flayed — destroying the original proportions of the mouldings, and
altering entirely the character of the ornament ; one-third of the cusped points
on the arches are executed with cement, in place of stone. As if this were not
enough, the alterations have been made with the worst quality of stone— the
yellow-colovi'd variety — which is so soft and frialile in its nature as to render it
unsnit.ible for the purpose and ill calculated for endurance.
Of course, there are people to defend the desecration ; no \vrong was ever yet
committed which did not find supporters. Some of them even go so far as to
assert that the appearance of the building is improved by the alterations. With
such people it is sheer waste of time to reason; they do hot understand the feel-
ing of reverence entertained for the venerable pile. We seek to preserve the
Roslin Chapel of history, or so much of it as is spared to us ; they would fashion
it into a new one, and their arguments would consistently lead them to dig up
the bones of the twenty St. Glairs, to divest them of their "sable shrouds,"
and to rewrap them in spotlessly clean winding-sheets. They would, perhaps,
acknowledge such proceedings to'be desecration. We would ask— is it the less so
to scrape away the thoughts of bygone men, and to clothe the mutilated remains
with the inanities of the present day ?
Another defence put forward is, that the building was going to ruin, in conse-
quence of exposure to tlie damp and other efl'ects of the weather. This is again
a mistake, as the windows and doors have all been in their places for nearly twenty
years, at which time both exterior and interior underwent a thorough repair in
all tliat was necessary for its preservation and stability, under the judicious
guidance of Mr. Burn, the architect, who fixed new windows in the north clere-
story and in other parts of the building. Unfortunately, these were made fix-
tures, which has proved a complete hindrance to airing the chapel, and hence a
great deal of that dampness existing at present arises from the stagnation of the
air within, and not from external causes, as has been supposed, and could be very
easily obviated by having a portion of the windows made to open, when the free
circillation of air would very soon clear the walls of all extraneous matter, with-
out the aid of either scrubbing-brush or chisel, now so ruthlessly applied.
All arguments, therefore, in defence of the "restoration " now going on, based
on the assumption that the place was going to ruin in consequence of exposure to
damp, fall to the ground, and are valueless, as, with the exception of the broken
portion of the shafts of two of the east pillars, there was nothing in the chapel
that could truly be said to require repair on the score of stability ; and in regard
to decay, there is not a whit of difference in any portion of the building for the
last thirty years. In fact, it is strongly believed that most of the decay took place
in the first century of the existence of the chapel, and that the coating of moss
formed upon the stone is a complete protection from atmospheric effects. It is
where the stone does not possess that coating that it is found giving way. Muti-
lated as the building was by the iconoclasts at the jieriod of the Keformation, it
has remained nevertlieless in an excellent state of repair, and it has only been
placed on the high road to destruction by those who have ventured to " restore "
it. The Scotsman quotes a letter from a gentleman who has had more expe-
rience of the stone than it is possible for any other to have. He says :— " Where
the stone is of a deep purple it is apt to crumble into powder. As time and
exposure to the air causes the change in its appearance, the cause of the crumbling
away also seems to be eradicated, and the stone becomes harder. Any re-exposure,
therefore, of a new surface, may be attended with some little risk, and I there-
fore, should say 'let well alone.'" Now, by scraping down and peeUng the
surface, the whole of the stone is re-exposed, and if this " restoring " process is
to be inflicted upon it periodically, there will not be much even of the raw
material left to a future generation.
Lord Rosslyn disclaims all intention of making any alteration in the original
structure, and yet admits that sculptured stones will be removed, and be replaced
by fac-similes. His lordship's own defence shows that he does not understand
the interest which clings inseparably to the mutilated fragments. We would have
liked the original work of the artist, or so much of it as remained, preserved.
He gives us instead a copy, finished according to the ideas of a Scotch workman.
Now the originals were not wasted; the brackets on the pillars, in particular,
were as sharp and well defined in what remained of them as on the day they
were put up. It is of no use, however, speaking further of them ; they are gone
for ever, and the rude, crude, dead copies remind us of our loss ; but we trust
his lordship, who professes that he is acting as a trustee for his family and posterity,
will stay his destroying hand, and do no more mischief. Let him leave us what
remains of the old work genuine and entire, unscrubbed and unscraped ; let him
ventilate the building, indurate carefully the stones having a tendency to waste,
and keep the roof water-tight. He may have to banish the idea of associating
his name with the entire " restoration " of the fabric. It will, we assure him, be
a higher honor and a prouder disthiction to have it linked with even the partial
preservation of it.
The Great Palm House in Keie Gardens.— An alteration and im-
provement has been made in the arrangement of the rare foreign plants and
trees in the great palm-stove, which renders this magnificent liousii unique. All
the palms, &c. fthe princes of the vegetable worid), some of which are sixty feet
high, are now planted out in the open ground ; so that the visitor may walk
among a grove of these beautiful and useful exotics, on a level with their lofty
trunks, and obtain such an idea of their magnificence and beauty as has no
parallel in Europe. Indeed, in the tropics even it would be diflicult to see such
an assemblage of palms as are now brought together at Kew. Strangers are
respectfully invited to ascend the spiral stairs and pass round the entire gallery,
surrounded by foliage, buds, blossoms, and fruit, festooning and garlanding the
walls and roof of this splendid palace of flowers and crystal arboretum ; the view
from many points being very fine, but romantic and sublime in particular in
looking over the pinitum and down the entire length of the grand avenue, across
the Thames to Zion House and Twickenham.
July 5, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
561
NOTES WITHOUT TEXT.*
xxxvu.
WHAT, it has been asked, might not Sir C. Barry have made of a gi-
gantic Manchester warehouse ? In all probability nothing at all
comparable with either of his two club-houses in Vall-Mall. A warehouse,
and a palatial club-house, are, of necessity, constituted so differently, that the
one is to the other what a prize ox is to a hunter. Able artist as he was,
Biirry could no more achieve impossibilities than any other mortal : a huge
warehouse, some six or seren stories high, is a ratlier unwieldy subject for
an architect to manage so as to make much of it as a work of artistic
design. It no more follows that because he was eminently successful in
" Italiau " upon a moJerate scale, he could have shown superior ability in
the same style, had he been employed upon a colossal wareliouse, than
that tlie man who reared a structure of the latter class, could easily
enough have designed the Manchester 'Athenaeum', or Bridgewater House.
Pliysical largeness does not of itself constitute grandeur ; it may, in many
cases, be even opposed to it — to what is called greatness of manner, la
fact, the number of stories and tlie multiplicity of windows, inevitably
produce the expression of littleness long-drawn out, and loftily piled up.
However imposing the general mass may be in its totality, it cannot but
be deficient in the important qualities of breadth and repose. Barry, it
may be suspected, would have felt himself rather out of his element had
he ever engaged in any work of tliat description where he would have had
no opportunity of displaying his peculiar forte, which lay in carefully
studied and as carefully finished-up design. Fortunate it was for him
that the first subject he was called to e-xercise his talent upon in the me-
tropolis, was a club-house, requiring no more than a single range of well-
shaped windows above the ground-floor, and therefore enabling him to
to apply what others had all along overlooked, the Italian Palazzo style,
with fidelity to its characteristic physiognomy. However admirable the
minor beauties of details may be, they cannot possibly confer a>3thetic
Talue on a design if all its other qualities are decidedly antagonistic to
nobleness of composition.
XXXVIII.
Garbett's " Principles of Design in Architecture" has not obtained any
thing like the atttention it eminently deserves, if only as a sort of text-
book on the art, which may, however, be in a great measure accounted for
by its containing a very great deal that cannot but be particularly dis-
agreeable, and even offensive, to very many, not to say most, of the prac-
titioners of the present day, their principles of design, in so far as they have
any, being not at all in accordance with his, and his in direct antagonism
with theirs. The " Principles " abound with much that must be more
or less unpalatable to CI issicists and Gothicists alike, and not the less so
because expressed in rather strong language. More than once he insists
forcibly upon the necessity for greater thoughtfulness of design,
and in one place complains that most of the bustle and fuss
made about precedents is intended only to save ourselves the
trouble of thought. In another he prophecies that there will never again
be a period of pure taste, and then goes on to scout the idea of our ever
obtaining a nation il style that will be other than a national shame and
disgrace ; for, as he observes, none of the styles of old were national,
but were those of classes, of priesthoods, and corporations, when the
nation — the many — neither knew nor cared anything about architecture.
Art was then what he assures us it will ever continue to be — the exclusive
and inalienable property of the " few," whereas now the " many " have a
voice in art ; consequently so long as in every nation the many are " vulgar,
gross-minded, and thought sparing," such every national style will be. Ac-
cordingly our modern English style, though what is to be understood by
than term is not very clear, expresses, he tells us, little better than fickle-
ness, low cunning, hollow affectation, simuUtion, servility, and thought-
flying hurry. That of the last- mentioned there is too much, cannot be
denied, the system of competition, as at present managed, compels hurry,
and allows architects no time for meditating thoughtfully on the proposed
subject. They are generally expected to be able to produce a design as
quickly as an egg can be poached — expected to bring forth immediately
after conception, without any intermediate period of gestation. However
diligent he may have been in his general studios, an architect requires to
have time allowed him for studying the particular subject proposed to
him, and for maturing his first ideas, let them have been ever so happy.
It is only the fair result, not the labor of thought, that can be shown in
finished drawings. Few, except printers, know how poets blot, delete, in-
sert, and interline; compositors oft curse the wretched scrawl that they
can scarce decypher, all cunning as they are. What then ? The printed
vDlume shines in typographic purity, blots blotted out and blundering
concealed. — But here I seem to alTect poetic strain, to smuggle rhythm
into prose professed. Much that is prose has printed been as verse !
forgive, then, him, ye critics, who's essayed to make his prose read some-
what like to verse.
"Pure art," says Garbett, "ever has been, is, and, under the present
dispensation, ever will be, the exclusive, inalienable property of the few,
the thoughtful, and the earnest;" and again, "most art now is, and will
continue to be, for the many, and of the many." So, too, his own book is
only for "the few," it being by far too philosophical in tone to be intelli-
gible to the reader, who is not a patient thinker also. Besides which, he
shows too much of the Odi profanum vulgus. The passage just quoted
above is anything than in accordance with the temper of the present time,
when we are striving to familiarise the general public with art— almost to
the extent of universal suflrage in art. No doubt many of those who have
* Continued from page 518.
distinguished themselves in art have risen from the people, but they
have not been 0/ the people; on the contrary, exceptions extraordinary,
if not marvellous. Garbett actually scouts the idea of a national style.
The writer, who speaks in that fashion, has no reason to be surprised
at meeting with little sympathy from those who seem to think, or
else speak, as if they thought that a fresh style coulJ be manufactured.
Neither can Garbett be much in favor with our modern medievalists,
for he gives utterance to much that must grate not a little harshly
on their ear, and not least of all his panegyric on the original Greek
Doric as the consummation and zenith point of intellectual eu nor-
phism in architecture. It was unfortunate for its success that his
" Principles" was published as one of a series of "rudimentary" treatises,
its teachings being the very reverse of rudimentary; it being far above the
level of average capacities among the more advanced in their aesthetic studies.
XXXIX.
ALTHOUGH a ceiling is a very proper place for decoration, it is a most
absurd one for a picture ; because, in the first place, legitimate archi-
tectural embellishment is entirely forfeited, and in the next positive anti-
architecture is produced ; besides wliich, bj its subject what it may, the
painting itself can receive only light reflected from the floor. lu conjunc-
tion with the architect, tlie painter has oftener than not shown himself to
be a most treacherous and perfidious ally. The best that can
be said of a picture upon a ceiling is tiiat being exalted over our head,
it at all events shows high art, soaring above the "low terrene " of carpet
or of floor. That some of tlie greatest Italian masters have employed — or
rather misemployed their pencil upon ceUing-pieces, cannot be denied,
but their mistaken practice does not authorise tlie persisting in such
Abderitism. No one in his senses nails a picture upon a ceiling, or hangs it
upside down. Yet in a sort of up-side down direction, must the figures on a
painted ceiling unavoidably be seen, an imperfection which no skill in di
sotto in su perspective can possibly remedy. There is, besides, generally
something heavy and oppressive — not to call it dismal, in ceilings peopled
with superhuman beings that sprawl upon them in mid air, as sprawl
the saints of Verrio and Laguerre. It lias been complained that in this
country scarcely any encouragement is given to historical painting requir-
ing amplitude of canvas for displaying it worthily. This is usually
attributed in a great measure to the inconvenient size of pictures upon
that scale, but it may surely be accounted for somewhat diff'erently. Sub-
jects of that class of painting are generally of so serious a cast, that
except in a picture-gallery — whether a public or private one — they become
rather out of place, their dimensions being such that their presence cannot
be ignored, however unwelcome it may be in any room where light and
familiar conversation is going on. Be its subject whatever it may, unless
it be purposely looked.at, a cabinet or moderate sized picture can be over-
looked. Very different is it when frames are filled with life-sized figures.
Although there may be all-sufficient space of wall for them, pictures of
that class are apt to jar and be quite out of tune with rooms intended for
the domestic circle or festive reunions. There is more than one picture in
the National Gallery which, great as its excellence and value may be, one
would hardly care to let obtrude itself upon the eye, when the mind is not
in fit mood for sympathising with the subject. Thus it is one great recom-
mendation of landscapes, and architectural pictures also, that they never
jar with the tone of conversation in the room where they happen to be
hung. Perhaps it may be said it is because both the one and the other
are no better than a superior sort of still-life painting. They exhibit no
angry human passions, no deeds of violence or crime, consequently can
excite no painful feelings. This consideration may help to explain how it
happened that, notwithstanding his rare talent and superior ability, the
late John Cross failed to obtain the patronage he so richly merited. Works
like his are of too solemn, soul-stirring a character to find appropriate rest-
ing-place in any private room unless it were one expressly devoted to their
reception, where they might be visited at fitting season, and in fitting
mood.
WORKS IN TERRA GOTTA.
AMONG the materials employed for architectural purposes by the archi-
tects of the present period we find one which, though known for ages
has never been carried to any great degree of prominence in the construc-
tion of buildings in any age, but which is now being called into extensive
use, and which promises to be ere long an important addition
to those materials already employed for the purposes of building. In
terra cotta we recognize an old name and an old article of manufacture
known to the nations of all time, and by many of them, in the long-buried
centuries of antiquity, carried to a perfection which has astonished all who
have followed them in the after stream of time. But their efforts appear
to have been chiefly confined to those articles required for domestic
purposes, and for their every-day use, such as vases, urns, jugs, &c., and
do not seem to have extended very far beyond this limit. The Hindoos,
Egyptians, Greeks, and other peoples have left us works of great beauty
in this branch of art manufacture, and they seem to have reached the ne
plus ultra in finish and execution in this department. Their labors here
were eminently successful. They produced these articles with the most
patient care, and designed them with admirable skill. They selected
forms of the most graceful kind and procured clays best adapted for the
purpose, baked them carefully and well, and sent them forth from their
hands to challenge the workmen of all time. Until now the gauntlet has
remained untouched at the feet of passing generations, but now the artists
of our day have taken up the signal of defiance and have set themselves
energetically and bravely to the task of not only equalling what has al-
56-2
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 5, 1861.
readv been done, but of adrancinfc beyond the furthest footstep of the
most forward explorer that has ever trodden the luxuriant valley of art.
Whether they will succeed in effecting this noble object remains to be
seen ; so praiid an aim is worthy a (treat exertion, so filorious a prize is
worth a struj^le, and we feel confident that the power of our living artists
is. if rightly applied, equal to the task before them. Let them buckle on
the armor of determination, and they will accomplish that work which lies
before them, and their brows shall then be " hound with victorious
wreaths," fame shall rest like a halo of glory upon them, and long after
their bodies have become dust they shall be remembered and honored by
an admiring posterity.
It is not our intention to treat of the works of the ancients in this
paper, but to speak of those which are being executed in our own times.
We most leave the vases and urns of antiquity and examine the terra
cotta productions of the present ; and these are in magnitude far beyond
thoteof the ages that are gone. Thejworkmen of England have wonderfully
improved within the last (evr years in the manufacture of terra cotta orna-
ments and articles of use, and many of these arc beautifully finished, but
perfection is not yet reached, and more has to be done before that altitude
will be obtained. The progress, however, is highly satisfactory and most
encouraging, and we are led to believe from what has already been
achieved that much greater things will be accomplished. As an archi-
tectural material it promises to be of great importance, and there is a
probability of its being very generally employed, both ornamentally and
constrnctionally. We have seen it largely used in several modern build-
ings, and one in particular struck us as being an example of its great
capabilities and of the various uses to which it may be applied. .
During a recent visit to Manchester we were rather surprised at being
informed of the existence of a church which was said to be built entirely
of terra cotta. Our first impression was that it must be a mistake, but
being assured that such was really the fact, we determined on seeing this
novel edifice before we left the cotton metropolis. We accordingly climbed
upon an omnibus about to start for Rusholm, which is on the outskirts of the
city, and about three miles from its centre. It may be observed that the
omnibuses there appear to be superior to those of London, and are gene-
rally drawn by four horses — three abreast and a leader ; a shelter is pro-
vided for the conductor, in the shape of a semicircular canopy, and a com-
munication is provided between him and the driver by means of a gong ;
in some instances, however, a railway whistle is used. There is no shout-
ing of conductors as in town, and no noisy slamming of doors, none being
provided. The outside accommodation appears to be better, and the
entire vehicle larger than those in London ; they are more tastefully
painted and seem to be provided with better springs ; they travel more
rapidly, are much cheaper, and, in fact, are better in every respect.
On arriving at Uusholme we turned down a narrow road to the right,
and after a few minutes' walk found ourselves at the Holy Trinity Church.
It is situated in an open and level country and stands in the midst of
park-like scenery, which now, while the foliage is so luxuriant, has a very
beautiful appearance. A stranger can scarcely persuade himself when
standing there that he is close to the busy and crowded city. He can
scarcely imagine that he is within half-an-hour's walk of that wonderful
metropolis of the manufacturing district, thronged with its toiling multi-
tude. There is such a vast contrast between the dark and smoky town
and the clear and open landscape, such a diflference between the gloomy
streets and the country lanes that it requires some exertion of his fancy
to believe while wandering in the one that he is so near the other.
The church with its tower and spire is seen from a distance darting its
sharp lines against the sky, and standing out from its dark background of
waving foliage It is of a yellowish and brownish color, and when lighted
up by the bright rays of a morning sun or the gorgeous tints of a summer
sunset, it« walls have a warm blush upon them which is beautiful in itself
and which adds much to the beauty of the surrounding scenery. It is not
till we approach close to it that we discover the material of which it is
composed. Without an examination the passer-by would believe it to be
bnilt of stone, and even after looking at it closely would find, it somewhat
difficult to believe that the entire fabric before him with all its ornaments
and with all its enrichments was composed of terra cotta. Yet it is so.
This building with its tower, spire, nave, chancel, aisles, clerestory, and
vestry, is formed entirely of this material. For the benefit of those who
have rot seen it, we will give a short description of its parts and of its
principal features.
The tower stands at the west end of the south aisle and is divided into
thiee stages by moulded string-courses. ' The buttresses are placed at right
angles, and at the south-west corner a turret is built containing tl;e steps
to the belfry and lighted by small square-headed openings. Pinnacles rise
from each angle of the tower, and are ornamented with crockets and
bosses, and Imve a finial at the top from which rises a gilded vane— a
battlemented parapet nins round the tower and imdcr it is a moulded string-
course with ball-flower in the hollow. Two gargoyles are placed on each
nde of the tower, and below them a row of treibil arch-lieadslslightly pro-
jecting from the face of the wall and very deeply sunk. IJetween the
tower and spire an octagonal stage rises some distance above the parapet
of the tower. On four of its sides there are two liglit windows filled with
tracery, and at every angle a flying buttress abuts against it, two of these
spring from each pinnacle at the angle of the tower, and join each other
at the base. At the foot of the spire the octagonal portion is terminated
by a battlemented parapet, having pinnacles at each angle and under it
a moulded string-course ornamented with ball-flowers is carried round all
its sides, and at each angle a gargoyle thrusts out its hideous head. The
spire i« divided by three bands of sunk trefoils having a moulded string
on their upper and under edges. Near the summit it is pierced on each
side with two window-like openings and a circle over, arranged geonietri-
ciiUy and extending some distance down the spire, but with tlie lower part
filled in with masonry, or. in other words, merely sunk. Besides the
lucernes around the base, there is a row placed in alternate sides of the
octagon about half-way up, and the spire is finished with a finial, from
which rises a gilded cross of metal- work. The doorwaj- in the south wall
of the tower is of the same design as that in the west wall of nave. Two
shafts with moulded bases ai d caps, with leaves twined round them,
support the mouldings of the arch, which are rather deep and contain
in one of the hollows a row of viue-leaves and grapes. The part next the
door is of a trefoil form with its small spandrels ornamented with a head
and leaves around it. The bead moulding is terminated on each side by a
large head.
In the middle stage of tower there are three single lights placed close
together, with shafts, caps, and bases between them and at their sides, pro-
jecting from the face of the wall and supported by a kind of corbel. In
the mouldings of these arches and in the jambs ball-flowers are formed,
and the whole is finished with three small pediments (one over each arch)
also ornamented with ball-flowers and having crockets and finials. The
upper stage of the tower has two two-light windows in each wall, filled
with tracery deeply recessed from the face. The mouldings of the arches
are continued down the sides, and over each window is a hcodmould ter-
minated with heads. All the lights in the belfry are divided by transoms
having cusped arches under. A window in the lower stage on the west
side of tower is treated in the same way.
Over the doorway in the west wall of nave there is a four-light window
with tracery in the head. A buttress separates the nave wall from that
of the north aisle which, in this the west end, is pierced with a two-light
window also filled with tracery. A cross is placed on every gable, and the
ridge is ornamental.
The windows in both aisles are two-light, windows with tracery in the
head of each.
The bays are marked externally by buttresses with two set-ofis
meeting the face of wall under the moulding, which runs along it under
the parapet. Over every window throughout the church there is a hood-
mould with terminations of heads or bosses of foliage. A string-course
runs round the church under the sills of the windows, and a set-oflfor base
moulding near the ground is also carried round the entire building.
In the clerestory there arc two two-light windows placed close together
in each bay and having tracery-hood mouldings, &c., the same as in the
others. The parapets of the nave and aisles are not pierced but are orna-
mented with two rows of four-leaved diapers running through their entire
length. Theparapetsof chancel aremuch richer and arepierced with flowing
tracery thickly intertwined and having horizontal moulding running above
and below it. The east window is a five-light with elaborate tracery of a
flowing character in the head. The east window of north aisle is a three-
light, and the two windows in the north wall of chancel, and another in
its south wail are also three-light windows filled with tracery.
The vestry stands at the east end of south aisle; it is lighted by a
square-headed two-light window with tracery in the upper part.
The doorway is on the east side and is deeply recessed; beside it is a
projecting chimney having three set-oifs on its one side but carried up
quite straight, on the other, and surmounted by a terra cotta chimney-pot,
which is again crowned by an ugly one of zinc. The buttresses of chancel
are finished witli gablets resting on the slope of set-off" and crocketed,
cusped and finished with a finial.
Internally the walls are plastered, and the timbers of roofs, seating, &c ,
&c., darkly stained find varnished. Tlie nave arches are of terra cotta and
are supported by clustered columns (not detached), surmounted by caps of
foliage and resting on moulded bases, all of the same material. The floor-
ing of aisles is laid with small squares of terra cotta stamped with portions
of a small geometrical pattern, but not colored ; none of the windows are
yet filled with stained glass, but we understand that the large one at the
east end is about to be so treated.
The plain walling is composed of terra cotta blocks measuring 10 inches
by 6 inches by 6 inches, or somewhere thereabouts, and each block has
horizontal lines stamped upon it, which takes oft" a natural sniootlmess that,
perhaps, would be less satisfactory. We off"er no comments on the merits of
the design, which, as will be seen from our short description, is in the
Decorated style. Our object is not to give a critique on this building,
but merely to off"cr it as an example of the extensive uses to which terra
cotta is now being applied. In this specimen we have mouldings and
foliage of a very elaborate kind, ornaments of an intricate form, and
window tracery of a complicate 1 arrangement ; we have plenty of plain
faces and a good sprinkling of enrichments, so that we are enabled to form
an opinion of the efliect of terra cotta in both a simple and complex form.
As to its dur.-vbility, there seems to be little doubt but that it will resist
the influences of tlie atmosphere much better than most of our stone, and
we are inclined to believe that when carefully made and thoroughly burnt
it will be able to withstand the attacks of the weather (or ages.
This church has been built some years, and we are somewhat surprised
to find that the precedent has not been followed by other works of the
same character in this neighbourhood. There are many hints given in
this building which may be made useful, and which if worked upon, would
probably tend to produce important results. There are many ideas em-
bodied there which, if matured and improved upon, would possibly lead
us into a new track which has not yet been traversed, but which perhaps
possesses beauties peculiar to itself.
When speaking of terra cotta we of course do not include ordinary
July 5, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
663
brickwork, but mean only that material which is now generally known
nnder the name of terra cotta, and which is distinct from it, although, if
the words be translated literally, it would seem to refer to all those articles
of manufacture composed of burnt earth. We, however, speak of it in its
more limited sense.
The great difficulty to surmount in the introduction of terra cotta into
architectural works is the giving to the foliage and intricate mouldings
that sharpness which it is so necessary they should possess. Leaves and
flowers without that expression observable in all good carving, do not
strike the eye or attract the attention of the artist. Without that neces-
sary crispness and vigor so noticeable in the creations of the able sculptor,
representations of natural forms lose all their interest, and have a tendency
to excite di<gu3t rather than admiration. Now, until this desideratum can
be supplied at a cheaper rate in terra cotta than in stone, there will be no
reason why the one should take the place of the other. In small articles
of domestic use, leaves have been executed with great skill, and with
wonderful effect, but the cost of this exquisite workmanship places it
beyond the reach of the architect for employment in his works. It does
not seem at all improbable, however, judging from the changes effected in
other branches of manufacture, that before long we shall be able to procure
them both cheaper and better than we can now do. It would be well
worth the time of tlie manufacturers of this material to exert themselves
in this direction, and endeavour to bring it within the scope of the pro-
fession, and of the requisite quality for architectural purposes. We would
suggest tliat some specimens of Gothic or Classic details both plain and
highly ornamental, be sent to the Exiiibition of 1862, which would be an
excellent opportunity of showing the qualities and capabilities of terra
cotta. We are confldent that it is susceptible of a better treatment than
sho .vn in the example we have described, or others we have seen. An im-
provement can be effected botli in color and form, and it seems desirable
that every effort should be made to bring it to its highest point of utility,
and to the greatest possible state of perfection. It must necessarily rest
with the manufacturers as to whether they will meet our requirements or
content themselves with the present comparatively limited demand for
their works. Could they succeed in overcoming the difficulties which
present themselves, and remove the obstacles whicli are tlirust in their
way, they would be benefiting themselves, and rendering the profession a
service; for every new material that is capable of architectural treatment,
increases tlie field of operations, and leaves the designer's powers less
fettered than when confined to a few. Besides which a variety of this kind
is pleasing and refreshes the eye in an agreeable way. Then as to expense
— could it be brought down lower than the price of stone, and yet possess
the necessary qualities which it must possess before it can be generally
adopted — it would be a boon to building owners, architects, and builders,
all of whom in their several spheres would be benefited by it. As we
have said, it rests with the manufacturers, and we hope that they will exert
themselves in this direction, and lay before the world the result of their
labors in the Exhibition of next year. T.
THE ENGLISH AECHITECT OF THE NINETEENTH
CENTUKY.
WE know nothing of the professional life of the Egyptian architect, we
know very little of his resources; we can only judge of these and the
materials that he had to work with, by the results that he has left.
We do not know much more of the professional life of the Greek archi-
tect: alihough we know.more from classical writings of the science that he
had at his command, yet here again the results tell us more than any other
sources of iuformation. It is much the same with the Roman architect ;
we know that the civilization and standard of science was high, and we see
the results.
In the Romanesque and Byzantine times, we know that much of the
civilization and scientific resources were lost, but we know very little per-
sonally and individually of the architect. The same all through our Cathe-
dral ages: the results, beautiful, majestic, nay even appalling, in size and
grandeur, we know well ; yet whose master mind conceived them— what
manner of man he was — what resources he had at his command — we
know little. History tells us much of general outline, but little of such
facts as these, important and interesting although they be. Of the archi-
tects of the Renaissance times we know mure ; they lived and worked after
printing was invented, and so we know what manner of men they were, and
what they knew, and what they loved, and how they built, what inven-
tions they had for their aids, and whether they made use of them ; and in
addition to this, like as of the labour of other times, we have the results.
Our modern biography tells us likewise of the architects of the times
between that last mentioned and our own, what they were, how they worked,
how they lived, what they knew ; their buildings scarcely altered stand
among us j contemporary writers of history, biography or fiction, tell us
much of their resources, much of the manners and learning of their times,
much of the state of the roads, and modes of transit, of the state of science,
and of the inventions at their disposal.
So of the great divisions of bygone art — bygone, indeed, in practice, yet in
its results, standing, living teaching and influencing us by its presence
still. We know li.tle of the artist that produced those works, but by the
results; very little of liis resources and the means at his disposal, except in-
somuch as we see them stamped upon, and necessarily implied by, tin re-
sults. In so far, therefore, and to as great an amount and extent as our
minds know and feel convinced such buildings could not have been pro-
duced without, till the time of printing, when the power of extending the
numbers of their readers made men wish to record what they saw and
did.
Therefore it is only by comparison with his more immediate prede-
cessors, that we can rightly estimate the great advantages at the disposal
of the English architect of the nineteenth century, or see what the great
peculiarities and distinguishing features of the buildings produced by him
must be, and what, by making a right use |of them, they may and ought
to be.
We will divide his peculiar advantages into two parts : — 1. The pe-
culiar advantages that bear on his education ; and, 2. The peculiar ad-
vantages which bear on his practice. And (first) of the peculiaradvantages
that bear on his education, the quantity and cheapness of books, and the
advantages of using public libraries, from which he can, as it were, live
again in the ages that are gone, and wander among the ruins of past
architecture, and know its forms, contours, proportions, and measure-
ments, the great excellence and cheapness of lithography and woodcuts ;
the great and wondrous invention of photography, which brings the
buildings themselves before him in every particular except the color; the
wonderful enterprise that has opened museums, and collections of casts,
and of art and science of all kinds, and of every material and process of
manufacture; the annual exhibitions, particularly those of manufactures
and building materials; the lectures, such as at the Academy, University
College, and King's College, at the Architectural Museum and Architec-
tural Exhibition, and the opportunity ef listening to and joining in lectures
and discussions at the Institute, the Association, and hundreds of societies
throughout the country; these, with the preliminary general education,
which we first presume the young architect to have obtained, as it is
obtainable by everybody of moderate means, form some of the advantages
at his disposal for the education of the English architect of the nineteenth
century, exclusive of his office education, so'ne equivalent to which students
of all ages have had, to which we will add, the facilities and cheap-
ness of travel, such as no other age ever knew since the world began.
All these advantages, such as no other age or country ever placed at
the disposal of an artist, necessarily, however, bring with them dangers
and perplexities from which they were free. All these great facilities for
knowing and studying the works of bygone times would necessarily be
imagined to have a tendency to draw us into copying, and also either into
confusion as to what style we should use, or to an incongruous mixture of
styles. Into all these dangers have we more or less fallen, and two things
alone have rescued us from them, one is that at the same time with the
growth of these advantages and inventions has grown a love of art which
has caused the standard of the artistic attainments of the architectural
student to be higher than it ever was before, and that necessarily always
brings in its train a love of original design, really original from the hand
and brain; the other is that among the advantages — with which I ought
to have enumerated ?uch Exhibitions as those of 1851 ; and that to come in
1 862— are Exhibitions of inventions and building materials of various sort s ;
so that while the illustrated books, the architectural books, an! the
photographs are pulling one way and causing the buildings therein repre-
sented to say. See how beautiful we are ; copy us ! books of science, materials,
inventions, and modes of building, founded on the customs and made by
the greatest inventions of the times — and which are, therefore, neces-
sarily diff'erent from those of all other ages —say, Use us ; adapt us to
your buildings, and your buildings to our use ; design in a style in
which we shall not be incongruous I and so the modern inven-
tions moderate the antiquarian inclinations, and the artistic training and
power of drawing turn the scale with those that possess them, and
the effect is good. Such a combination of sources of information,
consequent difficulties and strong peculiarities of science and invention,
marking a peculiar age and all having efi'ect on the education of him who
is to make use of them, has never been known before; and he who learns
all that his peculiar powers and temperament will allow him to learn of
them must be peculiarly, by his education, acquirements, and opinions, an
English arcliitect of the nineteenth century.
And (secondly) of the peculiar advantages that bear on his practice.
If the peculiar advantages and the peculiar conditions, whether advan-
tageous or otherwise, under which the architectural student of the present
age finds himself, are so strongly original as to set a mark on him, his ac-
quirements and opinions, so as emphatically to distinguish him from the
architectural students and architectural artists of every preceding age,
still stronger are the peculiar differences in the advantages and extra-
ordinary means at his disposal, when, emerging from his actual training,
he begins to practise what he has learnt; and if peculiar difficulties, from
which the architects of former ages were free, beset him in his education,
how much more do they in his professional career. Printing, photography,
lithography, and wood and steel engraving, have set before him and
imparted to him equal information upon all bygone styles of design and
building, and he has either had to choose during his studentship— and then
probably he has wilfully kept himself to the knowledge and inform»tion of
particular styles — or he has now, having given himself a general knowledge
of all, to choose what course he shall take, and what styles he shall design
in; tlien he finds materials such as the original architects of most of those
styles never dreamed of, and new materials and contrivances being invented
every day.
Then, casting his eye round his own country and the world at lirge, he
sees that steamships, and railways, and sailing ships, much faster than
before known, can bring materials that before were almost unattainable at
comparatively moderate prices, that for costly buildings the using the
local materials is no longer a necessity, nay, even often not advantageous.
Annual exhibitions of these inventions and materials keep him informed
annually of their increase and progress in improvement, while such Exhibi-
tions as those in 1851, in Paris in 1855, and Itere again in 1862, show him
564
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 5, 1661.
■what is good and useful for his purpose in otlier lands as well as his own,
and wliether, and at what rate, they have improved as the course of years
roll on; so'that not only has he a large range of materials and contrivances
at Ills disposal, but hii information by such practical eyesight demonstra-
tions as these, as well as by the daily general, and weekly, and monthly
professional press, is wonderfully perfect.
Is it an age, therefore, to be clamoring or sighing for a new style ? Can
any building in the oldest style that can be chosen fail of being in a new
and distinct style from that'of all preceding ages, if the architect keeps
Ills eves open and strives to make use of those resources of the age that
arc suitable to his purpose; if he wisely makes use of all the inventions
and material that are adapted and will add to the beauty and comfort of
his building, and if he adapts and alters the style of his building to suit
the inventions and materials most in accordance with the feelings and
civilisation of the times?
To throw himself into the spirit of the times in which he finds himself ;
to make use to the utmost of the science and inventions placed at his
disposal, by the learned, and ingenious of his age ; to avail himself of all
the antiquarian learning, at the same time that he takes care to be
acquainted with tlie latest inventions and advance of science, and manu-
factures ; to admire the works of the past without shutting his eyes to the
beauties and advantages of the present ; to learn from the architects of
all the past styles, while he is studying nature and the wants and require-
mentsof the people in the present time; and while the carved stones of his
buildings are being drawn up quietly, and swiftly by a steam traverser, on
a scatTulding of the very latest and most scientific construction, and while
travelling at 60 miles an hour to superintend his works, such is our idea
of the best chance of producing a style for the age— such in fact is our idea
of the English architect of the nineteenth century. K. D.
PALACES, PARKS, AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
The Boyal Palaces. — In the House of Commons, on Monday evening, in
Committee of Supply, on tlie motion that a sum not exceeding £38,'2H be granted
to her Majesty towards defraying the expenses of keeping the Royal palaces in
repair, Mr. Williams said that iu tlie last session of the unreformed Parliament
the estimate for the maintenance of the Koynl palaces was less than £2,000,000,
whereas now it exceeded £7,000,000. He wished to call the attention of the riglit
hoD. p'ntleman the Seeretnrj- to the Treasury to four of those palaces. He
would not make any comments on the palaces occupied by her Majesty, but there
was St. James's Palace, for which a vote was asked amounting to £2,750, and
altogether the expenses for keeping up that establishment amounted to £7,000. The
next vote was one of £4,775 towards keeping u|> tlie stabling and outbuildings of
Kensington Palace. He was at a loss to l<now who occupied Kensington Palace.
Tbfn tlierewas Hampton Court Palace, for which a sum of £0,0')4 was asked.
Now that was a palace which was at present occupied by members connected with
the aristocracy, and, however desirable it might be to have beautiful gardens and
grounds about it, it did not follow that the public were to be taxed to keep them
up. — Mr. Cowper explained that Kensington Palace, and other buililings which
had been Roval residences, required the repairs ai'X down In the estimate. St.
James'K Palace was required for state purposes. Hampton Court Palace was so
Fplendid a n.itional ornament that he was sure the nation would not grudge the
money necessary to keep it in repair. The apartments were allotted to ladles
who were entitled to Royal bounty, and had not the means to provide residences
for themselves. — The vote was agreed to.
Ptthlic Bnildhit/K. — On the vote of £8.'>,470 for the maintenance and repair of
public buildii:-;*, Mr. Williams directed attention to the item of £4,200 lor supply
uf water to the Houses of Parliament, and complained of the charge. He also
objected to the charge for the premises used by the Kcclesiastical Commissioners,
and he moved that the vote be reduced by thesuni of £080. — After a few remarks
fn)in Mr. .\. Smith, the amendment was wilhiirawn, to enable the Committee to
considrr the whole vote. — Mr. Pease obieoted to the payment to the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners. — Mr. P. Peel said the expenses charged were those which
were formerly paid by the Church Building Commissioners, and which
were transferred by Act of Parliament to the Ecclesiastical Coramis-
sionen ; <mly those expenses were included in the vote. — Mr. Cowjier
explained respecting the item for water, that the offices in Whitehall and the
Houses of Parliament wtn? supplied from the deep well beliind the iN'ational
Gal'ery, from whence the water was pumped by three engines, and the vote was
fur the pro[H;r maintenance of that machinery. The Committee divirfed on the
amendment, and it was Inst. — Jlr. W. Williams then move<I to omit the item of
£680 for the rent of a house for the use of the Ecclesiastical Commission. Tlie
member for the University of Cambridge had stated that no less a sum than
£100,000 passed nnnually through the hands of that commission, and he could see
no icason wliy the public should be taxed to pay their expenses for them. He
«aw, too, tbal £I,.">tM) more was put down in other votes lor the same body, and
be protested afcainst it as a wanton misappropriation of the public money.— Sir
G. C Lewis defended the vote, in which he said, the House had acquiesced lor
many years. Tlie Commission employed many clerks, l)ecnusc it performed the
duty of the Chnrch Building Commissioners, the cost of working which had lieen
thrown upon the Consolidated Fund hy an Act of Parliament. For those reasfins
he hoped the Committee would not depart from the established practice.— Lord
Fermoy lagirpsted that the Commissioners might Iw furnished with offices at
Kenslmrton Palace without any additional charge upon the public. It was row
unoccupied, an^l was a good healthy situation. — After some discussion, Mr.
Willianu'i amendment to reduce the 'vote by the sum of £080 was negatived
without a divition.
Burlington J/ntue.—Mr. Layard called attention to the fact that some lime
ago BurliDEton House and garden had been purchased for £180,000, with the
understanding that it was to he appropriate to tlie use of societies for the pro-
motion of Kienre and art, which had a prescriptive claim for such assistance,
and that other building* were to be erected for the accommodation of the public
"^^Iir", "* wished to know whether the present buildings were all occupied,
and If the Govemroent had adopted any plan for erecting new buildings.— Mr.
Cowper replied that every Inch of the existing buildings at Buriington House
•«» fully occupied by various societies, and occupied iii his belief most advan-
tageously for the public service. With regard to new buildings, many plans had
been submitted to the Government, and though as yet no decision had been come
to, he hoped that ere long some determination would be arrived at on the sub-
ject.— The vote was then agreed to.
Fittings for Public Offices. — On the next vote, for furniture and fittings for
public offices, Lord W. Graham said he found a sum of £10,400 included in the
vote for furniture for the South Kensington Museum. Last year £2,000 was
voted for tlie same purpose, and there were other grants for the "museum in other
estimates. — Mr. Cowper said the sum had been placed in this vote in order that
the Committee might see clearly the whole amount that would have to be paid
for furniture during the ensuing year. — Mr. A. Smith moved that the vote be
reduced by the sum of £10,400 for furniture for the South Kensington Museum,
in order that when they came to the vote for that department they might deal
with the whole question at once. — Mr. Cowper replied that the present was the
proper time for deciding upon the question of furniture, and he could assure
the Committee not only was there greater economy practised at the Kensington
Museum than at any" other public department, but this sum would be most
economically spent. If this building were to be built at all it was necessary it
should he fitted up. The object was to exhibit collections of medieval art, and
he hoped that foreigners when they came over next year to see the Exhibition
would find the building finished, and be able to see the admirable collection he
had alluded to. The vote for the furniture last year was £4,438, and with a
further sum would make the amount about £7,000. There were many persons
who were desirous of lending valuable works of art for exIiiljition,if the museum
had a fit place in which to exhibit them without injury. The motion having been
put to the House was carried, and the vote agreed to.
Parltsand Palaces. — On the vote of £98,298 for the Royal parksand palacesr
Mr. Blackburn^complained that the vote was in excess upwards of £13,000 beyond
that of last year, and hoped some explanation would be given why that occurred.
Mr. Williams called tlie attention of the Committee to the fact that £24,000 was
spent on the pleasure gardens at Kew, beyond the amount charged last year,
and he wished to know why that occurred. — Mr. Dodson saw a charge of £2,o00
for making a walk in St. James's Park, and he wished to know how sucli an ex-
pense occurred. — After a brief discussion, Mr. Cowper explained that the new
walk was from Hyde Park Corner to Kenbington-gardens on the north side, and
hart been very much admired. — Mr. Hankey said that Kew Gardens were the
only gardens that were a credit to the country. He was only surprised at the
small cost at which they were maintained. He thought, however, that they
ought to have a means of getting into and leaving those gardens on the Rich-
mond side at all periods of the year. — Mr.^Clay thought the expense with regard
to the supply of water to Battersea Park was more than it ought to be. — Mr.
Cowper begged to say, iu reply to Mr. Hankey, that he had no doubt that
another means of entrance and exit to Kew Gardens, at the point mentioned,
would be made in the course of the year; and as regarded the charge for the
supply of water to Battersea Park, his belief was that tlie aiTangement made in
that respect was an economic one. With respect to a question put to him re-
lating to the reservoir in Hyde Park, he should state that the rather unsightly
dead wall that was there was being removed, and that they were substituting a
green sloping sward, which would present a much more agreeable appearance,
and with respect to the fountain refi^rred to, it would be constructed on ap-
proved principles, and would be furnisheti with a greater length of pipe than
ordinary. — The vote was agreed to.
This 'Ni'io Houses of Parlioment.— On the motion that a sum not exceeding
.£•54,002 be granted to her .Majesty, towards completing the works of the new
Houses of Parhament, Sir H. ^Villoughby said this was rather an old story.
Every one knew that the original estimate lor completing those houses was
£700,000, but they had now run the expenditure np to 2,500,000. The expendi-
ture went on for a lon^ time, until it w.is at length jiut a stop to, in a great
measure, by the late Sir William Molesworth, who brought the wasteful expen-
diture to a conclusion. It appeared a strange thing that the House of Commons
could not control the expenditure of their own houses. It was owing, he believed,
to a want of good faith in the executive. He wished to have an explanation trom
her Majesty's Government how it was that they now came to ask for a sum of
£21,500 in addition to the gross sum, and after it was said on a former occasion
thata final grant of £121,000 would be sufficient to complete the houses.— Mr.
Cowper said no doubt it appeared on the face of the estimate that the sum of
£20,000 had been all that was spent beyond the estimate of Sir Cliarles Barry in
1859. He agreed with the lion, baronet that this was a matter very much to be
deplored ; but he thought, if he looked rightly at the matter, that he would see
that those houses ouglit to have been built by contract; but instead of taking
that course, the course taken was to give a general authority to the architect,
who was not to come under any sufficient control of the Board of Works. He
was refiponsible to a committee of the House of Lords and of the House of
Commons, ami he had, in fact, many masters. Every one grieved that those
mistakes in the arrangement of this matter occurred. With regard to the pro-
posed vote, he admitted it was not satisfactory. But since Sir Charles Barry
lind been removed fmm the scene, they could not obtain any information. One
thing he might add, that the works were absolutely necessary, and it was desirable
that they should be completed. — Mr. Williams said he found the siim of £3,200
put <lown for statues of the early English kings. He should like to know who
they were. They had already, on the outside of the building, kings from the
very eariiest periods of our history, and in St. Stephen's Hall there were statues
of "Hampden and other distinguished men, but where was the statue of the
man who had laid the foundations of our liberties — the Lord Protector
Cromwell ? The time had, he thought, come when a statue should be raised to
his memory.— Mr. Bouverie observed that the First Commissioner of Works had
stated the sum now asked for would complete all the works on hand, but there
was a great gap at the corner of the clock tower, which was intended in the
original plan of the late Sir Charles Barry to be filled up by an elaborate screen,
to give a magnificent court-yard at a cost of £900,000. What he wished to ask
was, whether that plan had been abandoned, or what was intended to be done
with that gap ? Had the Government, in fact, any pl.in or specification for the
completion of the building, and any estimate of the cost?— Mr. G. A. Bentinck
comphdned of the decaying state of s.ime of the frescoes, and especially that
Mr. Dyce had received .£5,000 for frescoes in the peers' robing-room, and had
as yet executed very littje of the work undertaken.— Mr. Cowper said a com-
mitlce was now sitting, as to the stone of which the palace was built, composed
of very learned persons, and he expected that they would shortly report. With
respect to remarks by Mr. Layard. he believed that the damage to the frescoes
\
566
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 5, 1861.
^^
^ ^
Alt EKBLEMATICAL DEVICE FOK A CERTIFICATE OF MEMBERSHIP OF THE OPERATIVE BUILDERS' SOCIETY OF LONDON.
fHAKESPEARE BETWEEN TRAGEDY AND COMEDT.-Designed by Mr. John Bell.
The names of the Plays and works of Shakespeare are inscribed on the sides and bach of the pedestal.
July o, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
569
arose as much from tlie materials used in painting as tbe materials for the wall.
At all events, lie believed that the recent paintings did not show such signs of decay
as those first painted. But with respect to these paintings there was a balance of
money in hand already voted, and the artists were only paid in proportion to the
work executed, so that no vote was asked for this year on that account. The vote
now asked for of £20,80.5 was intended to complete all those portions of the
building of the Houses of Parliament which were now in hand, and would com-
plete everything that required to he completed, but did not include any plan for
enclosing New Palace-yard, and he thought it would be premature to come to
any decision as to what should be done with the site till the brick buildings were
pulled down. They would be pulled down in the course of next year, and then
it wouhl be decided whether it should be left an open space, or in what way it
should be appropriated. Nothing in that sum was intended to fill up the rough
wall of the clock tower that was at present uncovered. A statue of Oliver Crom-
well would be placed in the Houses of Parliament as soon as possilile. As for
the Royal Gallery, it was intended to have a chronological series of tbe sove-
reigns of this country, so as to give the namesof every ruler who governed it from
the earliest period of their history. — Mr. Gregory protested against having such a
chronological series, and reminded the Committee that last year they decided
that no such works should \te performed. In order, therefore, to take the opinion
of the Committee on the matter, he would move the omission of £3,200 intended
for statues. — Mr. Stirling objected to the sum of £6,4.55 being expended on
furniture in the Houses of Parliament. — Lord John Manners hoped it would not
be left to the discretion of the House to select the names of the sovereigns to
whom statues were to be erected in the Houses of Parliament. — Lord Palmerston
said the lion, member was not perhaps aware |liow ditiicult it was to form a com-
mittee. It appeared to him that the site was an appropriate one for works of
sculpture. Well, then, what works of sculpture were they to have ? Would
they have allegorical statues ? Would they Imve works of heathen Danes ? Well,
then, what would they have but works to be selected from the history of England?
They could not obliterate the history of England. Well, then, there was a cer-
tain number of statues to be selected, and those statues would represent certain
periods in the history of England, and they were the statues of the Sovereigns
whose reigns were the most remarkable in that history. He thought, then, that
they ought to be left to the committee, perhaps for the committee to be found
fault with and come under the control of the House of Commons. The vote was
agreed to, and the House then resumed.
MAXIMS AND MEMORANDA RELATING TO THE ARRANGE-
MENT OF FARM HOUSES AND COTTAGES FOR AGRICUL-
TURAL LABORERS.
No. VL
89. Resuming our illustrative sketches of "Combined Cottages," of
which we gave a few in our last paper, we, in Fig 1, Plate V, show an ar-
rangement by whicli two rooms and a scullery will be given in the
smallest, and four rooms and a scullery in the largest cottage. In Fig. 1,
a is the entrance of the smallest cottage, 6 the living room, entered by
door c, d a closet off living room, e a pantry off passage a, f scullery, g
bed-room, with closet h off it, i is the entrance to largest cottage, j door
to living room /(, / pantry off passage, m pantry off living room /(, n
scullery, o front bed-room with closet p off it, q r back bed-rooms entered
from back passage s.
90. In Figs 2 and 3 we give an arrangement for a two storied " com-
hined cottage." In Fig 2 the ground plan a is. the entrance of the
smallest cottage, h the stairs, c front bed-room, d living room, e scullery.
In largest cottage, c is entrance,,/ stairs, tj living room, h scullery. In both
houses cupbcards or pantries jj are placed under the stairs. In Fig 3
the chamber plan, a the stairs, i tlie landing, c the bed-room. Of the
smallest cottage, d the stairs, e the landing, / g with h bed-rooms,
i i closets.
Of late years a species of double cottage or two storied cottage has
been bnilt which possess some features worthy of notice ; in this the
second story forms a separate house, being entered generally by outside
stairs, these being placed at the back. Fig 4 illustrates the lowest or
ground story of a cottage of this description. Fig 5 the upper story. In
Fig 4, a is the entrance porcli, b the living room, c the scullery, d a bed-
room. In Fig 5, a the outside stairs giving access to tlie porch 4, e the
living room, d the scullery, e bed-room. The cottages here give the
minimum of accommodation.
In Figs G and 7, both cottages have the accommodation increased. In
the lowest cottage a is the entrance, b the living room, c the scullery,
d e and /bed-rooms, g linen-closet, k closet. In Fig 7 which is the upper
house a the outside stairs, b the entrance, c the living room, d pantry, e
acuUery,/ r/ and h bed-rooms.
91. Ill Fig 8 we give an arrangement in which the accommodation of
the smallest cottage is on the ground-floor, that of the largest partly on
the ground and partly on the second floor ; a is the entrance of the small
cottage, b the living room, c the bed-room, d the scullery, e pantry. In
the largest sized cottage,/ is the entrance, g the stairs to second-floor, A
the scullery, i the living room. Fig 9 is the plan of second-floor, a the
stairs, h b b the landing, c d e and / the frontj and back bed-rooms,
with a closet g entering from c and /* entering {torn/.
92. By a slight alteration of the arrangement of the smallest cottage
an additional bed-room might be obtained ; the largest sized cottage
having only three in place of four bed-rooms, as shown in fig. 8. Fig. 10
shows how this may be effected t a is the entrance of the smallest 'size
cottage, 4 the scullery, c the stairs, </ pantries, e the living room, /the
bed-room, g entrance to large cottage. In fig 1 1, we give the upper part
of cottage— a the stairs, b the landing, c closet, dihc bed-room with closet
off it corresponding to e in fig 8, cee stairs of largest sized cottage,//
landing, g It i bed-rooms, i closet off bed-room /.
93. In fig 12 we give the plan of lower cottages, and in fig. 13 the plan
of upper cottages of a pair of semi-detached, " composite cottages." In
Fig. 12, rt a the entrance porch, b b living room, with closet c off it, d bed-
room, e icullery,/door to it from living room b, g back door.
94. In Fig. 13, a a outside stairs, bb lobby, c scullery, d bed-room with
closet/eoffit,A/liyingroora with pantry jtoffit. Figs. 12and 13are drawn
to half the scale in Fig, 14, which is the scale to which all our other Figs,
in Plate V. are drawn.
9.5. As supplementary to the various opinions on cottage and arrange-
ment, the following may be useful.
9C. On the subject of arrangement, &c., of dwellings for the working
classes, a writer in the Dublin University Magazine for May, 1860, has
the following: —
97. That cottages in agricultural districts be erected in blocks semi-
detached, with a quarter of an acre between the two houses.
98. That, with rare exceptions, for aged and single couples, each cottagO'
contain a living room, say 12 feet by 12 feet, scullery 8 feet by 12 feet
pantry and three bed-rooms. The last provision is essential for the due
separation of the sexes. Where cheapness is a great consideration, n,
meat-safe might be formed in one corner of the scullery, the same having
perforated zinc, in the wall, opening to the air.
99. That, to promote comfort, the cottages to be floored instead of paved,
and that a convenient kitchen range be fixed in the living room.
100. To promote ventilation, it would be well to provide that one case-
ment in each room should be made to open, and that Dr. Arnott's Venti-
lator be fixed in each room in connexion with the chimney.
101. It would always be well to choose such an aspect as would add to
the cheerfulness of the cottage : this is however a point that would ooc jr
to all.
102. The roof should be of a simple description, so as to dispense with
valleys.
103. It would be well to arrange that the stairs should open into the
lobby rather than into the living room.
104. A porch or lobby should always be provided so as to prevent the
rush of cold air into the living room.
105. In the Illustrated Annual Register for Rural Affairs for 1856-7,
(American Publication), " general rules for building" are given, which
may be useful here.
106. Always compare the cost with the means,-, before deciding on the
plan ; it is much better to build within means, than to have a large fine
house, hard to keep in order, and encumbering the owner with a heavy
and annoying debt. A great error with many is an attempt to build
finely. Attend to real wants, and substantial conveniences, and avoid
imaginary and manufactured desires.
107. Study a convenient location rather than a showy one. A house on a
lofty hill may make it fine appearance, but the annoyance of ascending to
it will become greater on each successive day .
108. Build of such good materials as are near at hand ; an interesting
inde.K is thus afforded to the resources and materials of that particular
region, with the addition of great economy over the use of such as are
" fat brought, and dear bought."
109. Prefer lasting to perishable materials, even if more costly. A small,,
well-built erection, is better than a large decaying shell.
1 10. Discard all gingerbread-work, and adopt a plain, neat, and tasteful
appearance in every part. Far more true taste is evinced by proper forms
and "just proportions, than by any amount of tinsel and peacock decora-
tions. A marble statue bedizened with feathers and ribbons would not be
a very pleasing object.
UI. Where convenient or practicable, let the plan be so devised
that .additions may be subsequently made without distorting the whole.
112. In all country houses, from the cottage to the palace, let the kitchen
(a most important department) always be on a level with the main floor.
It requires more force to raise a hundred pounds ten feet upwards, whether
it be the human frame or an assortment of eatables, than the same weight
one hundred feet on a level. To do it fifty times is a serious task. If
the mistress superintends her own kitchen, it should be of easy access.
113. Every entrance from without, should open into some entry, lobby,
or hall, to prevent the direct ingress of cold air into rooms, and to secure
sufficient privacy.
114. The first-floor of any house, however small, should be at least one
foot above ground, to guard against dampness.
115. Flat roofs should be adopted only with metallic covering. Shingles
need a steeper inclination, to prevent the accumulation of snow, leakage,
and decay ; more so than is frequently adopted. A steep roof is addition-
ally cheaper, by admitting the use of a less perfect material, for an equally-
perfect roof, and giving more garret room.
116. More attention should be given to the convenient arrangement and
disposition of rooms in daily use, than those employed but a few times in
the course of the year. Hence the kitchen and living-room should receive
special attention.
117. Every cellar should have, besides" the stairs within, an outside en-
trance for the passage of barrels and other heavy articles.
118. The coolest rooms in summer, and the warmest in winter, are
those remote from the direction of the prevailing winds and from the
afternoon sun. Hence parlors, nurseries, and other apartments where
personal comfort is important should be placed on this side of the house
where practicable.
119. The pantry, and more especially the china closet, should bs between
the kitchen and dining-room, for easy access for both ; and the bath-
room between kitchen and nursery for convenience of warm water. The
kitchen should have opposite windows for full light, and for securing a
current of air in summer.
570
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 5, 1861.
PLATE V.
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THE BUILDING NEWS.
571
Brick and stone houses should always be lathed and plastered inside
so as to leave a confined portion of air in the wall to prevent dampness.
liO. Uiibunithr'n:k sliould not be used for "filling in" wooden houses, as
rats are frequently known to eat through them.
121. To prevent rats from burrowing into collars, either make a good
•water-lime floor, or else build the wall on a close-jointed flagging laid some
inches below the bottom of the cellar, and projecting three or four inches
beyond the wall ; the rat burrows down next to the wall, reaches the
flagging and cannot get through it, never in any case working back to the
edge.
122. In erecting brick walls place strips of lath between the courses, and
not thick blocks in the courses, for nailing to the former will bind the walls
together, and only become firmer by the entrance of the wedge-forra nails,
the latter are very liable to become loosened.
The two corner furring pieces of rooms should be very securely nailed
together to prevent the plastering from cracking at the corners.
123. Always reserve ten per cent, of cost for improvement and planting.
Remember that a hundred dollars in trees and shrubbery produce a greater
ornamental and pleasing eflfect than a thousand in architecture.
124. Lastly, never build in a hurry ; mature plans thoroughly, procure
the best materials, and have joiner-work done at the cheaper season of
winter, and the erection will be completed in the most perfect manner
and with the greatest degree of economy.
125. To these we may add three other rules, taken from another part
of the same work.
126. Let the entry or hall be near the centre of the house, so that ready
and convenient access may be had from it to the different rooms, and
to prevent the too common evil of passing through one room to enter
another.
127. Place the stairs so that the landing shall be as near the centre as
practicable, for the reason given for the preceding rule.
128. Let the partitions ot the second floor stand over those of the lower
as nearly as may be to secure firmness and stability.
129. In the pages of the Mark Lane Express and AgriculturalJournal
for October, 18G0, a correspondent gives a variety of suggestions as to cot-
tage building, of which we here extract a few of the most important having
reference to arrangement.
130. No one plan can be a model for all families. Some families would
have no occupant for a third bed-room, and some can only afford to pay
half the rent that others can.
131. One of the ground-floor rooms must have a.a area of not less than
120 square feet, and the smallest bed-room an area of not less than 43
square feet ; a pantry or cellar must have an area of not less than 12
square feet.
132. Excepting the pantry, theheight of any ground-floor room, kitchen,
or scullery must not be less than 8 feet, and of any bedroom not less
than 8 feet to ceiling, if entirely flat. Where, however, any roof-slope is
contained in a bedroom, the height to ceiling in centre room must not be
less than 9 feet, and must be at least 0 feet 6 inches to wall-plate.
133. Each cottnge to have a separate privy and ash-place within a yard,
the area of which shall not be less than 200 square feet, enclosed by a
9-inch brick wall, not less than 3 feet high.
134. The position and extra cost of a pigstye to be shown (in plan) by
dotted lines, in case any person building should consider such an addition
desirable.
13.5. Where there are three bed-rooms, not less than two must have
fire-places.
136. Where there are only two bed-rooms, at least one must have a
fire-place.
137. And here, while giving matter supplementary to that which we
gave in former papers in the arrangement of cottages ; we may be per-
mitted to give the following as supplementary to the points we have
already dwelt upon in connection with the " farm-house." It has refe-
rence to the choice of a site, and presents much that is suggestive and
interesting. We owe it to the pajes of the American CuUimtor.
138. In selecting a site for a country farm-house, many things are to be
taken into consideration. The question of healthfulncss is of the first
importance. Such situation as the border of a sluggisli stream or a stag-
nant marsh should be avoided. Soils retentive of moisture, and which
draining cannot render dry and warm, should not be chosen. In such
situations, desirable as they may be in other respects, the air is raw and
chilly, the dampness rises th.rough the walls and apartments of the house,
discolors the paper-hangings, spoils the food, diffuses a musty odour
through every room, depresses the spirits, and injures the health of the
occupants,
139. Convenience and comfort should be considered. Fine prospects are
fine things, but everything must not be sacrificed to obtain them. It would
be folly for a farmer to perch his house on the highest peak on his estate
regardless of convenience of access to and from the highway, market,
church, post-office, &c. Poets and " men of geni>is " may do such things,
but ordinary mortals must have an eye to the common wants and com-
forts of life. Hence we would set our house within easy reach from the
road.' It should not, indeed, st.ind close to the road, exposed to noise and
dust, and to the prying curiosity of every passer-by. There is no need of
crowding one's house upon the roadside. We beg pardon for saying jt, it
looks stingy to do so, and it looks as if the owner were excessively anxious
to see and to be seen. Far better is it to lay off a liberal space in front,
and on the sides of the house, where trees and grass may grow undis-
turbed, and where the members of the household may enjoy themselves
■without undue exposure from the highway. Home is much less home if
it have no privacy, if every open door and window lets in the gaze of
street-goers. We pity the members of that family who have no resources
within themselves, who cannot find happiness in books, papers, company,
music, trees and flowers, domestic labors and amusements, but must be for
ever pining to learn the thousand little occurrences and gossip of the
neighbourhood. Yet we would not go to the other extreme. Man is a
social being, and it is very pleasant to see the faces and hear the voices of
those who live about us.
140. An elevated site is desirable on many accounts. It aflTurds facilities
for drainage, the air is purer, drier, and more bracing, the prospect
afforded of the surrounding scenery is worth more than is generally paid
for it; scenery is a gallery of pictures painted by the Great Artist. It is
not all poetry to say that such a situation tends to inspire its occupants
with an elevation of thought and feeling. Yet it must be borne in mind
that such sites are exposed to violent winds, that in winter they are often
blocked up by snow-drifts, that one must toil up and down the hills all
his life, and that his loaded teams must daily be dragged up hill, or
struggled with in going down. By no means should one take a calm
summer day to examine a hill-top for this purpose; let him rather choose
a season of unpleasant weather, and if it bears examination then, it will
be likely to prove satisfactory at other times. Most hill-tops are bleak,
yet one is not sure of escaping severe winds by building in a low situation.
Gales often sweep up and down valleys with great violence, with a sort
of wildness and madness unknown to the hills. Blustering as is the
winter weather of hilly regions, the actual cold, as measured by the
thermometer, is seldom as great as that of the valleys, and late frosts
seldom do so much damage in the one case as in the other. A sheltered
situation is, undoubtedly preferable to one open on all sides, and such a
situation can hardly be found on a hill, yet much can be gained even on
the most elevated spot, by planting belts of trees, chiefly evergreens, on
the sides most exposed to the rake of the winds. In respect to elevation,
our own choice would fix upon a gentle slope, raised just above the
damps and late frosts in the valley, and protected from the north by tree-
clad hills.
141. It is often recommended to choose a site already clothed more or
less with forest trees. There are advantages, certainly, in having such a
basis for ornamental operations. It is a great saving of time and labour
to buy your shade trees already grown. All you have to do in such cases
is to cut out roads and walks wherever they are wanted, to open up a
prospect here, and plant a denser thicket there, and so to smooth out the
tangled locks of nature as to develop her finest charms. This is all very
well where it can be done, but such situations cannot always be found,
combining also the other important features to which we have just alluded.
And where they cannot be found we would select one possessijig the other
desirable qualities, and then proceed at once to plant the ground with the
best trees and in the best manner. With careful treatment, such trees
will grow rapidly, and develop a greater beauty than the tall naked
denizens of the forest ever 'present. Whether one lives to see his trees
attain great size or not, is really of no consequence. There is more enjoy-
ment in planting trees, and watching their early improvement, than in
sitting idly under trees already grown. A thousand associations spring
up from year to year, and cluster around such trees. They are your
trees ; you selected them, planted them, nursed them in their feebleness,
defended them from their enemies, rejoiced in their prosperous growth,
and now you gaze upon their spreading boughs and thickening shade, with
a sort of paternal pride and affection which you feel towards no other
trees. Indeed, for our own part we should siied few tears on being obliged
to take a site without a tree upon it — so far superior do we consider the
pleasure of creating an attractive place of residence, to that of buying one
already made. But tastes differ.
AN EMBLEMATICAL DEVICE FOB A CERTIFICATE OF MEM-
BERSHIP OF THE OPERATIVE BRICKLAYERS' SOCIETY OF
LONDON, DESIGNED BY MR. A. J. WAUDBY.
THIS subject obtained the first premium in a competition advertised for
in the Building News and Builder of the 22n('. of December last. It is
to be hoped that this example may initiate a reform of the common-place
and tasteless style in which club emblems have hitherto been executed, as
showing that they afford scope for a better mode of treatment than they
usually met with.
In the foreground is introduced the certificate, being an oblong tablet
supported by boys, having immediately above it a bold label bearing the
designation of the Society in large letters composed of bricks. Behind it
are erected the scaffold-poles, which are made the leading feature of the
emblem, and in front of the whole are placed the tools used by the work-
men. Depending from the scaffold is hung the principal illustration, the
subject being designed to show the original bricklayers who raised the
Tower of Babel ; attached to the framework of this picture are medals
with devices signifying Peace and Industry.
The background shows an elevation of a brick building, designed
expressly to display examples of brickwork. It exhibits five mural
paintings in recessed compartments, and supports sculptured figures of
Justice, Truth, and Prudence. On a plinth at its base are introduced two
classical groups — that to the left personifying Science as a youthful female
in a contemplative attitude, having at her feet a Genius with Euclid's
Elements of Geometry, the science on which all building depends. The
group to the right is intended to represent the three sister arts, pre-
eminence being given to architecture, represented by a female figure
drawing an arcliitectural design ; the Genius of Sculpture is shown work-
ing at a bust of Wren, and Fainting is signified by the palette and mahl-
572
THE BUILDING NEWS.
JCLY 5, 1861.
•tick ; the circular subjects behind exhibit views of the city of Rome, the
mistreM of the Arts ; and London, tlic tlirone of Science.
The central compartment shows a skilled workman employed in setting
an «rcb, and the companion subjects on either side illustrate cutting
gmuge-work and brick-making. A foreman and an operative are repre-
prescnted standing on the ledger of the scaffold-poles, which are also
embeUisIied by the introduction of labels with appropriate inscriptions ;
the whole being intended, not merely to answer the purpose of a trade
emblem, bat to form an elaborate and interesting work of art.
AKtniTECTURAL ASSOCIATION.
THE ordinary fortnij;htlv mectiai^ of this body was held at the rooms, 9, Con-
doit-stnt't, Reciut-s'tn-et, on Friday evening; T. Roger Smith, Esq.,
PrMident. In the chair.
Mr. .\»TiiiB Smith, Hon. Sec., read the minutes of proceedings at the last meet-
toe, which having been found correct, wore signed by the Chairman,
The Chairman said Mr. l*araire, one of the members ol the Association, had
sent hiiii a letter, which was accx>mpanicd by a set of perspective models, and a book
explaualory of the models. The following is a copy of Mr. Paraire's letter : —
- Sir. — I iun sorry I cannot meet the members of the Architectural Association as
oAt'D 1 should wish ; still, when 1 do meet them, I am pleased to see some marked
sJgT.s of progress, the attendances more numerous, the papers discussed and general
conversation gradually becoming of a more practical, useful, and interesting cha-
racter 1 am aware there are many who do not see things from my point of view.
1 know that the practical consideration of arclutecture robs the study of art of mauv
of it« associations, the loss of which is unpleasant to the designer. After all, if the
sabicct Ije considered in one light or in another, whether it be pleasant or annoying
to one"^ feelings, the facts remain the same. Tliere is one which cannot be denied,
aad which is that arcliitecturc taken up as a profession is a hard life battle, a great
•tragic in which it becomes the duty of all to help one another. I beg you will pre-
•ent, and U-g the .\ssociation to accejit. niv set of perspective models. Their only
reeommendation is their simplicity and undeniable reasoning; they show the advan-
taf;e« of perspective, one of which is that when well understood you do not deceive
Tovrself in your design, but correctly conceive what eifect will be produced. I hope
ibe Committee will not relax their energies in obtaining for the meetings information
of a practical character, whetlier it comes to them in the form of a paper or other-
wiae, and above all that they will encourage discussions, particularly on constructional
■attert.
" I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
"Edward L. Paraibe."
The book which accompanied the models is entitled " Perspective Practically Ex-
plained,** bv Edward L. l*araire, being an explanation of the accompanying
models, on the principles of which cirtain objects are drawn in a transparent me-
diom or picture.
TheCiiAiR.MA!« proposed the best thanks of the Association be given to Mr.
Paraire for his donation, and in so doing suggested that the Hon. Sec. be requested
to invite Mr Paraire to read a pajier next session before the Association expla-
natory of the models.
Mr.' Arthl'r S.M1TH seconded the motion, and remarked that he had obtained a
promise from Mr Paraire to give two lectures next session, one on the sutject of
Perspective and Shadows, and the other on Construction. Mr. l^araire had also
offered, that if the Association could get up a class of twelve, he would give them
lectures on IVrspcctive and Shadowing — (Applause).
The motion was carried by acclamation.
The lieffijttrarghip.—ilr. Smith, lion, sec, announced that the reglstrarship was
now in the hands of Mr. Sloody, at the rooms in Conduit-street, to whom all appli-
cations from employers and assistants should be made.
Elect'um of ojief-bearers. -The Ciiair.man stated that their next business was to
proceed to ttie election of office-bearers for the ensuing year.
Mr Harris moved, and Mr. Wisibriucie seconded, that Mr. Ridge and Mr.
llumplirles be appointed scrutineers oi the voting papers.— Carried unanimously.
At a later period of the evening, the following gentlemen were announced to nave
been elected;
/YcoV/f-n/.— A. W. RIomfield. M.A. l'iVc-/'re»iVfen/. —Thomas Blashill. Ordinaru
MrmUrt of CnmmUtfe.—W. tiritten. C. H. F. Lewes, G. B. New, E. L. Paraire, J.
W. Walter, E. WImbridge. R. O. Harris, J. A. Bunker, E. J. Tarver, H. A. Reeves.
Bomorarji Trtamrer.—AnhoT Smith. Ilortorary Solicitor.— Viancla Truefltt.
JudUon-S. C. Rogers and .1. W. Pcnfold. Curators.—C. H. F. Lewes and R. O.
Barrts. Hon. 5fc».— Arthur .Smith and C. J. Adams.
Mr. Harris said the modelling class was in a state of death, there being only
two members in IL If thev could get a class of six, it might be carried on durmg the
Teeeu.
A Member said it was understood the modelling class was suspended until the
commencement of the next session.
This was approved of, as being thought the best plan.
Mr. Ahtiiir Allom asked what progress the students had made In the modelling
daas.
Mr. Adams thought they had made very great progress.
Mr. Allom hoped that with the assistance of the President, the class next session
would go ahead.
The Ciiairmak said be would give It all the assistance he could.
The CBAiaMAK referred to the report of the Examination Committee which had
been prewnted to the Council of the Royal Institute of British Architects on the
aobfeet of examinations, and which appeared in that day's BLiLDmc. News. Should
the recommendations contained in the report be carried out, there would be an
opijortunitv .ifforded students of undergoing an examination next year, and he
advised gentlemen to study for that, and to present themselves for examination next
KMion. It would be an honor to the Association, and expected of it, that some of
torfr memtxTs should be forward in presenting tliemselves for examination, and he
bad no doubt that many of their members would pass with honor, and that would be
■a advantage to the young men and to the Association. He did not think that to
J*'*'''* examination more would be re<|uiied than voung men might be fairly cx-
P««wdto be competent in jwho had availed themselves of a fair education in their
IwoiMmon. Henad no doubt that many of the members of the Association would
pnaent themselves for examination, and in the result reflect credit on themselves
aaa tbe AsaodatloD. The Chairman then read a summary of the proposed subjects
arwiaBihiatloii prepared by the Examination Committee. At the commencement
HKiewas to be a liranUr examination than would be the ease a(t< rwards, and he
2J ir "i** '■'""'•■d to make the examination a« far as possible of a practical
3*1**^' 1 *•! •^^'•«*l "'at the examination should take place in tbe last week
Of Jaanarj In caebvcn', and for "ordinary proficiency" was to occupy not more
Uua three dajrs. The Chairman then read the details respecting the examination
fcrbooOTable distinction," and drew attention to the list of books appended to the
7Sm nf ,*"""***• *•" •'"''y of which wonld be of great value to young men
Mr. A. ALLOM aald b« moat own that, to some extent, his feeling was against a
Tolnntary examination, as he feared it would not be so succcssfu! as It should be, and
w .J'?*"iJ"I '"' "•■•l*'V ^""''K architects of the present day were not educated
taUiat wefal ■aBoerthat would enable them to pass such an examination with
mat It was a Indidou thing on the part of the Committee that the number of
■MrtswaalobelesMiedattbeBrst ordinary examination, as It would enable the
iDstitute to Judge how far young men conld undergo such an examlnaUon. He
thought that the Hal of books recommended for study In the Committee's report
should be placed in every architect's office in London. They must improve the edu-
cation of the student before they could expect anything like a successful examination
for a diploma.
Mr. Adams proposed that at the commencement of the next session the (Committee
name two or three subjects, one of which should be selected by the Association as
the subject of a design for Mr. Tite's prize.
The motion was seconded and agreed to.
On the motion of Mr. 11 arris, Messrs. Blomfleld, T. Roger Smith, Arthur Allom,
and T. Blashill were appointed judges of the Association prizes for an essay on street
architecture and the best designs or sketches.
The Chairman said, in taking leave of the members of the Association at the
close of his pn'sidency for (he year, he wished to make a few observations. They
commenced under somewhat unfavorable circumstances. At the end of the year
before, they found themselves in a dilBculty, which, bethought, must take place in
such societies— the want of support among young men, and that an Infusion of young
blood was wanted. The step was consequently taken of introducing into the manage-
ment of the affairs of the Association men who had not previously held olBce. Most
of the Committee and office-bearers were now, and the result had shown the wisdom
of the step. The officers of the Association had acted with vigor and industry, and
the consequence had been great success. The opening meeting of the session was a
successful one, and the two nights' discussion on the E.Kamination IJuestion elicited
much useful information, and had been productive of great advantage. The papers
i-ead during the session had generally been good, and those of a practical nature had
been most successful. It would be invidious to single out papers as worthy of
particular notice, but one was particularly valuable and possessed of extreme
interest, he meant that which was read by Sir. Blomfleld— (Hear, hear). The other
papers had all of them been good, and their meetings had been a source of pleasure to
themselves, and at the close of the session they found that they had gained many of
the advantages which at the commencement of it he said were capable of being
attained by tlie Association. He thought, therefore, he might ask them to redouble
their exertions for the next session, and he hoped they would eflcctively support the
I'resident, Mr. Blomfleld, and the Vice-President, Mr. lilashilt by as regular
attendance as possible and taking part in the discussions at the meetings. He hoped
all would be present as often as possible at the meetings, and that they would con-
tribute as much as possible to the success of the Association. Some working drawings
had been exhibited in the course of the session, and they were found to be of great
interest and advantage ; and if any subject under consideration could be elucidated
by drawings or models it would be of great interest and advantage to have them
produced, and he would, as far as possible, take this hint himself. He had to thank
them for their kindness to him as their President during the year, and he should
always look back to his year's presidency with great pleasure — (Hear, hear).
He would remain a member of the Association, a forwarder of its interests,
and would be present as often as possible at its meetings and hoped for a
continued aud increased advance of the Association in future years. One of the
means of obtaining so desirable an end was to obtain an Increase of numbers, but the
most important thing was for the members to take a share in the proceedings of the
Association. He was quite sure that the Association was an institution which they
could honestly and heartily recommend to their friends as one which would be of
use and value to them. He felt quite sure that the Association was of great value ;
of greater value than he used to think before having a closer and more intimate con-
nexion with it ; and that it supplied a spring of life and energy beyond what they
were perhaps quite aware of. If^this Association ceased to exist, the members of the
profession in London would feel a serious loss as well as themselves. He hoped,
therefore lliey would give efficiency toall the branches of the Association, to the class
of design, the modelling class, and any other classes that might be formed. And he
hoped they would continue to cultivate a spirit of friendliness, of love for the pro-
fession in which they were engaged, aud of kindliness one towards the other, as
possessing a common object and having common aims. He had to thank the mem-
bers of the Association for the kindness they had shown him during his year of office
— (Applause).
Mr. A. Allom proposed a vote of thanks to the Chairman for the excellent
manner in which he had conducted the business of the Association during the past
year ; he had watched through his progress, and must own he had never been more
pleased with auy president who had sat in the chair. He had now been a member of
the Association for thirteen years, and of course had secna great deal of its business,
but he must own he never saw a man who devoted himself so thoroughly to the in-
terests of the Association as Mr. Smith— (Applause). He was quite sure the vote of
thanks to the Chairman would be carried by acclamation, and that there was uo
necessity for a seconder. (The motion was carried by acclamation).
The Chairman returned thanks.
Votes of thanks were likewise passed to Mr. Arthur Smith, honorary secretary,
the committee, and other office-bearers.
It was announced that the following were elected office-bearers in the Class of
Design :— President, Mr. T, R. Smith ; Vice President, Mr. R. O. Harris ; Secretaries,
Messrs. Walters and Tarver.
A sub-committee was appointed to make the necessary arrangements for the
annual dinner of the Association, which is to take place on Friday next.
The meeting then separated.
♦
MANCHESTER ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION.
THE usual meeting of this Association was held at the rooms, George-street, on
the evening of Wednesday, June 26lh. Mr. Alfred Darbyshire having
been voted to the chair, called upon Mr. O. J. Showell to read the paper for the
evening on " Brickwork."
After briefly alluding to the numerous evidences which we have of the very early
introduction and general use of brickwork by the ancients, and a detailed description
of the various kinds chiefly employed at the present day, with their several advan-
tages and characteristics, the essayist called attention to the artistic beauty and
effect which Is secured by a judicious combination of bricks and ornamental tiles of
various colors. The subject was divided into four sections- -viz., briokmaking,
mortars aud cements, bricksettiiig, and ornamental brickwork.
The writer regretted that he had been unable to give more than a rapid review of
his subject, but expressed a hope that at some future period he might have the oppor-
tunity of entering more fully upon It.
After an animated conversation among the members, in which the views brought
forward in the paper were freely discussed, and a vote of thanks having been pre-
sented to Mr. Showell, tbe meeting was concluded.
Melton Mowbray. — The Church of Pickwell was re-opened a few days
since, having been closed for the purpose of restoration. The nave and aisles
have been entirely re-roofed : the soutli aisle has been rebuilt, together with the
porch, which has been much improved. The pulpit, reading-desk, and benches
are all new and of a substantial character. The aisles are paved with black and
red quarries in patterns; the lower arch has been thrown open and a^ds very
luucli to the general effect. The windows have had tracery restored, and are
glazed with rough plate glass in diamonds. Tlie mouldings internally and
externally have been restored, and the opening of the lower portion of the belfry
windows has restored the tower to its original beauty. The tower and vestry
screens give an appearance of comfort, and the whole restoration may be said to
be very successful, considering the means the architect had at his disposal. The
works have been carried out under the superintendence of Mr. H. W. Johnson,
architect, Melton Mowbray.
Juyl5. 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
573
FACTS FROM THE GREAT FIRE.
¥E scarcely need to tell our readers, for tlie fact is now known to every one
in Great Uritain, that on Saturday the '22nd ultimo, a fire broke out in
extensive warehouses east of London-bridge, which after destroyin<; property to the
extent of £-2,000,000, and building-s which it will in all probabilily take some
£500,000 to reinstate, is even now, as we write, raging under the heaps of debris
with all the fuiy of a volcano.
With this our readers are well acquainted, as well as with the history of the
progress of destruction, from the graphic accounts given by our dally contem-
poraries, but we are just fresh from a survey of the burning ruins, and think
that a few remarks may be usefully made on the effects of the destructive ele-
ment on the materials of which the'.buildings were erected.
The area of irregular outline, over which the fire extended, is bounded on the
west side by St. Olave's church, the burial ground, and Topping's-wharf, the
length of this boundary is about 200 feet ; on the north side, tliat next tiie river,
the length is over 5;')0 feet; on the east side, bounded by Alderman Humphery's
dock, an open wharf, and next Counter-street by a warehouse, the length is over
350 feet ; while on the south side in Counter-street and along the rear of the
houses in Toolcy-street, the length must be little short of 500 feet. Within this
large area we may almost say there is not a wall left standing, that, owing to its
dangerous state, must not be taken or thrown down to the very foundation, a
work that will require the exercise of the greatest care.
The premises known as Cotton's and the Depot Wharfs, belonging to Messrs.
Scovell, and those in which the fire originated, occupied the greater proportion
of the river frontage, about 400 feet, from which they cxtendea southwards about
the same distance, to the rear of the houses in Tooley-street, and consisted of well
built brick wareiiouscs from four to six stories in height, with vaulted cellars
under tlie entire range; one cellar filled with oil being 100 feet long by 50 feet
broad, brick vaulted on brick piers. The buildings were divided by massive
party walls, with single and folding iron doors, in many cases on each side of the
openings ; the particular structure in which the fire began, was of very recent
erection, and had, as it appears, given rise to some little ditticulty on the question
of insurance, which had been settled only a few days before. The" other structures
had also been erected in a most substantial manner at various periods since 1840,
and the whole were filled with coloniarproduce, tallow, jute, cotton, rice, &c.
In the erection of these premises, it is stated that the most approved methods
of fireproof construction had been employed, but in their now ruined state it is
not easy to discover in all cases what those methods were; at any rate, there can
be no doubt the work was of a most substantial kind, and we have no hesitation
in saying that, in the present state of our knowledge of fireproof construction, it
would be impossible to erect buildings that wouldlbe likely "to withstand such a
fire as that which has levelled these with the ground.
We attach no importance to the tact, which some have seized upon, with a
relish for fault-finding that is rather to be regretted, of the iron doors being left
open; any one conversant with the work of removal, storing, &c., constantly
going on in a large warehouse, would at once understand that it is next to im-
possible to keep doors constantly closed, while the men are at work passing to and
iTom the various rooms, and the matter is not rendered much easier when those
doors weigh perhaps some two or three hundred-weight ; besides, the bonded
warehouses, where the doors were locked at four o'clock, shared the same fate as
the others. The precautionary measures adopted appear to have been of some
extent, but so far as we learn, were not brought to bear upon the fire with a good
result. Messrs. Scovell had erected in the lower part of the depot, a powerful
force pump, served with water from the river by a large underground reservoir,
to this pipes were attached, fitted with brigade screws, leading to various parts of
the premises; upon the roofs were two large cisterns, filled by the force-pump,
one had pipes leading to each floor always charged, another large cistern had been
fixed in the depot yard, one on the drug floor, and a fifth on the tea floor— cer-
tainly water enough to have extinguished the incipient conflagration, under proper
management and surveillance.
The greater part of the premises we have mentioned, and what remains of their
contents now lie in shapeless hills of bricks, broken and half-melted columns,
girders, iron doors, windlasses, half-fused fglas.?, grain, charred timbers, loads
and loads of iron hooping-ties twisted into the most fantastic shapes, heaps of
enormous screws and spikes run together in one inseparable mass, sometimes
screws lying loosely about with the worm perfect, but reddened, leading one
to wonder what has become of the girder or other construction in which they
■were enclosed, and looking very much as if they had been shot, as it were, to
their present position. Here an iron column, broken, twisted, and melted at
one end into a huge clinker-like shape ; within a yard of it, another, which
shows but little evidence of havi ng been subjected to even a moderate heat. It is
evident that many massive girders, columns, and doors have been hurled to a
considerable distance from their ! original position. Some of the iron doors are,
perhaps, three-quarters of an inch thick— let the reader take a sheet of note
paper, roll it up at the comers, bend it in anv shape, double it, twist it, crumple
It up any way he may, he will hardly produce a form that mav not be seen here
m red solid iron as thick as the table on which we write.
The end wall of one of the warehouses is still standing tolerablv sound, as far
as a careful glance appears to show ; we think we may venture beyond, and pass
under; an arched opening: a fev/ bits of loose mortar falling about us, send us
back in haste, and looking up we see right over our heads, slowly waving out-
wards, the two halves of a large folding iron door— they were closed'; the hinges
on one side have parted from the iron frame, and the whole slowlv moves, one
half hanging to the other by a staple and eye through whicii tlie padlock passes,
until they stand it right angles to the wall, it is impossible to turn away without
a momentary shudder, as we leave them to swing slowly backwards and forwards
until they or the walls fall.
We counted eight solid iron doors, single and folding, in this wall all (when we
left, with the exception of that we have mentioned above) still closed, but there
was hardly one that was not so twisted and curled with the intense heat, as to
Jijve been of but little use in staying the progi-ess of the flames. Between the sides
of the door and the iron frame, there might be spaces of two inches or of a foot,
above and below thesame, between the doors the same, all round, tiieremust liave
been space after they were so twisted for the flame to pass on their destructive
course; and not only are the doors buckled in this manner, but the frames tliem-
selves were so expanded by the heat as to have bulged from the brickwork, and
fully to the same extent as the doors. Partial melting can alone explain some of
the conditions under which the doors and frames are to be seen scattered about
the rums.
Looking at the present state of these most important features in a fireproof
building, one is certainly led to the reflection that the rebates (for non-pro-
fessional readers we may say that these are the angles or recesses into wliich a
door fits when closed), are usually made very much too small, they are scarcely
an inch, we believe three-quarters would be nearer the mark — in depth, and also
that the door itself should not consist merely of a fiat plate of iron, but should
be strengthened against buckling by bracing, screwed or riveted, at right angles to
it. There would be not the least difficulty m doing this, at very little cost, and
very little increase of weight ; a rim round the edge.would be of great use, and
would moreover be of further value in enabling a deeper rebate to be obtained
both at the back and on edge, rendering tlie door more air-tight. Much evil, too,
seems to arise from the practice oi' fixing the frames in the brickwork — and they
appear too slight for the duty they have to perform.
Rebates of two, or we should prefer three inches, in depth, braced doors, lialf
inch L and T iron, would answer the purpose : stronger, and, as far as practi-
cable, unconfined frames, appear to be required in order to secure the full
advantages to be gained by the employment of iron doors in party structures.
It is not possible to go over the whole of these premises, for the cellars are still
full of fire, which here and there bursts out of the ruins, defying the efforts of
the firemen to subdue it; for, although copious streams of water are constantly
being discharged into the wells of flame, to all appearance it is a useless task, as
not the slightest impression is evident to the observer. Near to one of the outlets
through which the fire still rises, and in a portion of the ruins not much visited,
there is a very striking example of the relative powers of resistance to the inci-
dents of a fire of brick and stone. Some attached piers of stone, apparently
foi-ming part of an open ground floor, support portions of upper stories con-
structed of brick, nearly the whole of the wall has fallen, and, as we arc very
much disposed to think, chiefiy in consequence of the untimely failure of the stone
piers. We will give our reasons for thinking so, and leave our readers to form
their own opinion of the correctness of the assumption. The only portions of the
wall remaining are those next the two party walls, apparently that portion
which was between the tall end windows and the party walls, the brickwork
about 3 feet wide from the top to the ground-floor is tolerably perlect, while the
stone piers on the ground-floor are, by the action of heat and water, splintered
away to a thickness of from 4 or 5 inches in some places, to 12 inches in the
widest part. But it is not here only that we see proofs that bricks, in their re-
sistance to the action of fire, are superior to either metal or stone. In some of
the arched cellars may be seen the brick vaulting half-melted, the lower surface
of each brick hanging in pendulous flakes, but the arch itself unbroken.
Of Chamberlain's Wharf we have but little to say; the work of destruction
has been too complete for any useful lesson to be taught by the appearance of the
ruins. The main building was five stories in height, constructed of brick and
timber, and for the most part very old. It therefore fell an easy prey to the
flames. Three other buildings were of more modem construction, but their
position can scarcely be distinguished, so complete is the destruction. This part
of the ruins is now tlioroughly soaked with water, and men are busily engaged
in clearing portions of the site. We are quite sure that the vast quantities of
arsenic lying about — in some places two or three feet deep, and giving oft' the
most noxious fumes — should be removed out of the men's way at the very earliest
moment.
Passing down Tooley-street — for the ruins are too hot to be crossed, to say
nothing of the threatening aspect of some of the walls — we come to Hay's Wharf,
belonging to Mr. Alderman Humphery, whose courtesy, together with that of his
son, Mr. Arthur, in taking as over those portions of tlie ruins not usually acces-
sible, we have much pleasure in acknowledging. We were also invited to inspect
the arrangement ami construction of the extensive and corresponding range ot
warehouses on the east side of the dock, for which great fears were at one time
entertained, but to which the fire was fortunately prevented from reaching.
It is, perhaps, here, in the warehouses G H I and F, that the most striking
scene presents itself, because a greater number of walls are left standing;, and
consequently, their ruins have not covered up the remains of the floors, roofs, &c. ;
at the same time, great danger is believed by the firemen to be incurred iu going
over this portion and they do not themselves willingly enter. They believe that
an explosion is inevitable, and with such a conviction they cannot be blamed, but
Mr. Humphery, referring to the books, assured us that no saltpetre has been
deposited since 1857. There is no doubt that the entire range of cellars under this
once fine pile of buildings are glowing from one end to the other with a red heat.
Under the direction of Mr. Gerrard, of the steam floating engine, the entrances
to these cellars have been dammed up with solid walls and clav, so that, in the
absence of an explosion, no further extension is to he appirhended.
Nearly all the strikin" features to be seen on Cotton's wharf are to be found
here, and much that we have before said will be equally applicable to the ruins of
Hay's wharf. The warehouse G was erected by Cubitt some few years ago, while
H and I were erected more recently un^ler the immediate superiutendenoe of Mr.
Alderman Humphery. All were of a most substantial character, consisting of
cellars with six floors over. The construction of the floors differed, some being
of brick arches springing from iron girders, resting on iron columns, in sections
of this form + each angle being filled in with a quarter circle ; or the four arms
of the cross may be described as springing from a circular column. The floors
alternating in regular order with these were of strong wooden joists ; on the
sides of these, fillets were fixed on which rested a layer of short strips of slate
closelv packed together, and on this to the full heinht of the joists the floor was
filled 'in with concrete. We believe it was found that after the lower edge of the
joists and the fillets had become thoroughly charred, and even burnt away, the
filling in of concrete retained its position until the floors fell from the felling in
of the upper portions and their contents.
Such walls as now surround us are seldom to be seen— seven stories in height,
with not a floor, not a vestige of the roofs above, still sound to awonderful extent,
but in places showing long fissures from the top well nigh down to the base, broad
at top — say six or eight inches— narrowing down to a fine line.
We firstly wonder how it is that the fire should have bad power thus to sport
with such structures, and then— wonder that anything is left.
Such a heap of broken ironwork as that here collected is seldom to be seen —
girders from two to three feet deep are broken into short lengths, others, half
melted, have run into strange forms, some still rest on tlieir columns, with, per-
haps, three or four cracks from top to bottom right through the metal : they
cannot be taken down whole. Others stand in a row up on end, leaning against
the wall, as if a giant had placed them there as we would place a few laths;
some have been torn out of the wall, leaving a regularly-shaped recess; others
574
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 6, 1861.
term to have uuietJv dropped at oue eud, leaving their home at tlie other, to
which thov liahUy cling witli reluctance; some have been snapped oft at two,
three or foiir fit t, as may be, from the wall, out of which tlie end still projects.
appareatly
there as
immovable ; 'while others— it seems scarcely credible, but they are
J ,iite have lost their support at one end, but have not loosened
their hold in the wall one jot at tlie other; they appear to be still perfectly hori-
zoDlal, and stick out just as one niipbt knock a long nail in a wall ;— but these
aie tolid iron girders, at least two feet deep and twenty-five or thirty feet long !
We have not told all that mav be learnt from the ruins of the great fire.
KINIPPLE'S PERPETDAL DRAIXAGE SYSTEM.
A SURVEYOR and scientific gentleman, whose name is above recorded, has
just patented a most ingenious apparatus lor effectually flushing drains
aod wwers, and for preventing" all kinds of noxious effluvia from escaping into
the auitounding .-itinosphere. By this contrivance tlic patentee proposes to
entiidy abolish all plumbers' work, cisterns, closet apiiaratus, jpans, traps, &c.,
M the aoil from each closet, say, in a row of dwellings, is made to fall into a
bfiek channel beneath, and is continually removed, as follows : —
An iron cylinder, o|>cn at each end, but larger at the top than the bottom, is
inserted into u brick well somewhat larger, the well being built in the ground
just over an opening in the common sewer. This cylinder is so fixed at the
mouth of tlie well that on the fall of a lever it is raised up some distance from off
the sewer opening. The waste water is discharged from the various houses into
the bricked channel running under the closets. Into this channel the soil falls,
and the waste water, liaving access by an opening, rises to the same level in the
channel and in tlie space around the cylinder, which sets close on the mouth of
the sewer opening, ^^^le^ the water around the cylinder in tlie well rises to a
certain height, it elevates an ordinary hollow cistern ball, which releases the lever
arm to which the cylinder is affixed, and by the weight of the lever the cylinder
rises from off the mouth of the sewer. The sewage matter, now having access to
the sewer down the inclined channel in which it has been confined, rushes to the
aewer opening, but not being able to find a sufficiently speedy exit, flushes up
tome distance into the cylinder. Down again it rushes, followed by the waste
water around the cylinder (being the highest, and, therefore, the first in the
•■cent and the last in the descent), the weight and force of which efiectually
flnih the sewer. As the water round the cylinder sinks, the hollow ball
anlu too, and with it the cylinder, which, on arriving at its original position,
tight over the sewer opening, re-sets itself for another similar operation. As you
now look down the cylinder, you see nothing but the water at the mouth of the
•ewer, the mouth being provided with a vent pipe, as in ordinary waterclosets,
that the gas and efSuvia may not escape into the cylinder. Among other ques-
tions, one is, if, on this plan (the closets not being provided with pans and under
valve) the effluvia may not rise into the closets from the surface of the sewage
matter btneatli in tlie brick channel. Of course, the pan could be used ; but the
inventor affirms that there is no necessity for such apparatus. The contrivance
is well worthy the attention especially of members of the building trade, as all
small pipes in waterclosets arc annihilated, great expense in other ways saved,
effectual flushing obtained, and the self-adaptation of the apparatus secured.
We are iBfonned that the principle is now in successful operation in many
dwellings.
THE VOLUNTARY ARCHITECTURAL EXAMINATION SCHEME.
ON Monday evening last, a special general meeting was held at the Royal In-
stitute of British Architects, to receive and "consider the Report of the
Council on the subject of ^Vrchitectural Examination. There was by no means a
fiill attendance, and the absence of several leading members who are known to
take a strong interest in the question was very observable.
After the minutes of the last special general meeting had been read and
approved,
Mr. AsHPiTAL referring to the labors of the Committee, moved that the
report embodying the regulations and curriculum, which we gave in our last,
be received.
Mr. H. R. Newton seconded the motion on the broad ground of the general
excellence of the scheme. Tlie motion was subsequently carried.
Mr. Seudon inquired whether the other Architectural Societies had forwarded
•ay oommunicution on the subject to the Institute, as lie thought it very desi-
tMle that tlie Institute should not act in a matter affecting tlie whole profession,
entirely on their own responsibility.
Mr. Abhpital referred to the replies formerly received, and which were read
•t the meeting of 14th January. It did not however appear that any subsequent
communications of importance had been received.
Mr. .Strekt thought it very desirable to have the opinions of other societies
on the scheme proposed.
Mr. RoUEK Smith said that, so far as the members of the Association were
concerned, he had briefly intimated to them the outline of the curriculum pro-
poted, and it appeared to be favorably entertained.
Mr. Barry considered it very desirable to have some means of distinguishing
the architect from the empiric, but was strongly opposed to any undue haste in
the matter.
Mr. Kerb made a few remarks on the regulations proposed, some parts of
which be confenRed he could not quite understand, but was quite willing to take
those parts on trust, looking at the general min-its of the scheme.
Mr. Bahrv pointed out the difficulty that would arise as regards architects
•Inady in practice, and
After a long discussion of a conversational cliaracter, it was moved, and unani-
mously carried, that the meeting be adjonmcd to November next, and that in
the interim the committee take steps to obtain the opinions of the societies
generally, the members appearing to see the extreme desirability of eliciting
opinions and suggestions from all concerned.
Merchant Seomen'/i Orphan Asylum. — On Friday last H.R.H. the
Prince Consort laid the comer-stone of this new asylum, in New-grove, Bow-
I0«d. The boildin;; now in progress will be capable of receivmg 300 children,
•od will be in the Vcnctian-Cothic stvle, of red brick, with Ancaster, Greestone,
Bid Mansflekl red stone facings. The structure will cost with the site £21,000;
the architect is Mr. G. Somen Clarke.
RE-OPENING OF BRISTOL CATHEDRAL.
ON Thursday week, this venerable edifice, which has been closed for a long
number of months, whilst undergoing alterations undertaken witli a view to
adapt it to the increased and constantly growing necessities of the age, was
re-opened for divine service with great ceremony.
The works of restoration, which have been of an extensive character, have been
under the superintendence of Mr. T. Pope, of the firm of Messrs. Popes and
Bindon, archilects, of Bristol, who has, conjointly with Mr. G. G. Scott, of London,
succeeded in throwing out new beauties in the interior of the venerable cathedral,
which, so far a.s its limits allow, may now !« pronounced one of the most striking
architectural features in the West of England.
All the old pews and benches have been removed from the edifice, and the
seating is now effected — as in the largest churches on the continent — by means
of chairs.
In the restoration, the architects have not only removed all the filth in which
tlie columns were encased, and by which the enrichments were clogged up, but
they have, by introducing a modest amount of pale ruby coloring and gold, thrown
out the tracery, and imparted an agreeal)le warm tone to the building. The
sweeping away of the screen, which partially hid the great oriel window, has
shown it to be one of magnificent proportions and great beauty, while the lower-
ing of the platform on which the communion table formerly stood, to nearer the
level of the floor of the chancel, adds greatly to the effect of the structure. The
new disposition of the stalls is decidedly an improvement on the old one, and the
removal of the bishop's throne, which cumbrous erection stood out under the old
arrangement with somewhat unseemly prominence, and the substitution of one
which, although it will be richly carved, is much more becoming in its proportions,
helps the unity materially, and, at the same time, permits an uninterrupted view
of the communion table to be had from most points of the worshipping space.
Besides the restoration of the carving and complete renovation of the fittings,
&c., much new work has been added. Among others we may mention the shsuts
to the sedilia, which are of polished Serpentine from the Lizard quarries. The
vaulting shafts in the chancel are of Purbeck marble. The tracery at the bottom
of the window is also new, and it is hoped, in the course of time, to repeat it
alongtlie passage under the window around the whole of the^church. The tile
pavement under the communion table is by Minton. The communion table is of
oak, with a walnut top, inlaid with oak and ebony. By the bishop's throne a
very handsome brass has been placed to the memory of "Bishop Butler, who lies
buried under tlie present throne ; exactly the same inscription has been placed
on the brass that was on the tombstone. The brass is a fine specimen of work-
manship, and the border is filled in with enamel. The pulpit is merely placed
temporarily, it being intended to put it on a base, with panels containing
figures in white marole. The Dean is having subjects carved for this purpose in
Italy, and he also promises to pay for the complete restoration of Abbot New-
land's tomb in gold and colors, as discovered on scraping it.
On Heat in its Relations to Water and Steam ; Embracing Neva ViMis of
Vaporisation, Condensation, and Explosions. By Chari-es Wye
Williams, A.I.C.E. Second edition, revised and extended, 8vo. 1861.
Longman and Co.
A SECOND EDITION of this book having been found necessarj-, the author
has taken advantage of the occasion to revise and extend the entire work,
adding much additional matter. It has been undertaken as an effort to partly
reconcile and partly correct the anomalies which present themselves on the
subject of heat, with reference to liquid and vaporous bodies, and to reduce the
whole to an intelligible and practical tlieory, based on the recognised views of
Dalton, " the Nestor of the physical sciences." The author believes that he is
able to show, in these pages, that there are sufficient scientific and reasonable
grounds for asserting —
Ist. That water, or its atoms, can neither be heated nor expanded, and
still retain the character of liquidity, and the property of attraction among their
fellow atoms.
2nd. That the prevailing theories as regards ehullition are altogether
erroneous.
3rd. That the so-called ioiling point, as regards temperature, is merely that
point at which the water is charged with vapor to saturation, under the true
Daltonian theory, the water acting the part of a mere vanium.
> 4th. That we have strong grounds for believing that there is no difference
between the cause which produces divergence and mutual repulsion among the
atoms of a liquid on becoming vapor, and that which produces a similar diver-
gence and repulsion in the pith-balls or gold leaves of the electroscope.
5th. That if there be such a thing as thermo-electricity, we are warranted in
concluding that it acts in the same way, and on a similar principle, on atoms of
a liquid as on those of other bodies.
Gth. That we have rational grounds for believing that explosions in steam
boilers are frequently the result of the accumulated steam (present in the body
of tlie water) Deing suddenly released by the removal of the pressure from the
denser medium of the water into the lighter one of the air.
7th. That Watts's theory of steam being condensed and reconverted mto the
liquid state, by the direct action of cold water, is altogether erroneous.
8th. That vapor or steam cannot give out its heat to water, and is but mixed
mechanically with it, on the true Daltonian theory.
9th. That we have no grounds for infeiTing that there can be more units (ff
heat in a body of steam than there are distinct atoms of the matter of water,
each of such atoms having its own equivalent of heat electrically or otherwise
combined with it, accumulation being the sole grounds of expansion and
pressure.
However startling some of these assertions may appear to those whose atten-
tion is for the first time directed to them, the well-known large experience and
research, practical and theoretical, of the author demand for them the most
earnest consideration. Descartes, Powell, Davy, Fraunhofer, Newton, Woolf,
Parkes, Rankine, Irvine, Melloni, and others, have at various times given the
results of their investigations into the nature of heat, than which, perhaps, no
branch of physical research is of greater interest and importance, looking at it
simply in connexion with the generation of motive power : and yet the very
appearance of such a work aa that now before us serves to show that the subject
July 5, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
575
ig far from thoroughly divested of the mystery witli wliich it has been shrouded
from the earliest apes.
The author is desirous of correcting a misapprehension which has arisen respect-
ing the tenor of his remarl>s upon Dalton's views in the chapter on the JJiifusion
of Vapor, iixim which it lias been inferred that his theories were antagonistic to
those of Dalton ; lie, it seems, merely intended to imply that Dalton omits to
mention the vapor of water is one of those elastic flui(fs or gases which mix
mechanically with water when the two are agitated together.
The volume consists of 207 pages, in thirteen sections, with an appendix, and 65
woodcuts. Section 1. — Briefly refers chemically, physically and dynamically to
the three states in which water is dealt with, as crystallised, liquid or gaseons.
In Section 3. - On Vaporisation, it is jiointed out that no writer has yet given
satisfactory views [on the following points, viz : — What is vapo r ( How and
where is it formed ? What are its special properties ? In what does it differ
physically and dynamically from water ? What are the relative proportions of
latent and sensible heat in either ? And what relation has it to electricity ? The
fact that scarcely any two writers agree on a theory of vaporisation sfiows the
absolute necessity for further inquiry into the almost universally received theory,
which it is proposed to question and mainly to disprove. Having examined the
process of generating vapour, the next chapter is devoted to a consideration of the
peculiar properties with which it becomes endowed.
Dalton wrote, " It appears to me as completely demonstrated as any physical
principle, that whenever any two or more gases or vapors are put together into
limited or unlimited space, they will finally be ai-ranged each as if it occupied
the whole space and the others were not present." The unlearned will require a
little further explanation, of the principle laid down, but the strict application of
this law is what is contended for by Mr. Wye Williams in his present treatise. He
asks with some reason. Vapor being an elastic fluid, and endowed with all the
properties common to its kind, why shall not this law be equally applicable to
the vapor of water as to any other known vapor ?
Section 4 on the Heating and Expanding of Water shows by simple experiments
which any one may repeat for himself, the practical application of the laws of
attraction and repulsion as laid down in the preceding chapter, and from which
the author arrives at the following conclusions. 1. That water or other liquids,
being incapable of compression are equally incapable of expansion. 2. That
water, being a non-conductor of heat, must also be a non-recipient of it.
3. That as it cannot be heated or expanded, and still retain its liquid form and
properties, it cannot be thermonietrically atiected. 4. That its enlarged volume
IS attributable, not to any measure of expansion as a liquid but to the presence
of vapor in it, in the state of an elastic fluid. And 5. That this condition is in
strict accordance with the recognised laws of all elastic fluids. The succeeding
cliapter on the Boiling Point leads to the conclusion that water, in a liquid state
and at all temperatures, must be considered as a mechanical compound of liquid
and vapor particles.
Chapter G on Ebullition continues the inquiry as to what takes place on arriving
at this temperature of 212 degs. and after it has been reached, and in what the
process of ebullition consists — the process under various conditions being made
perfectly clear by the aid of diagrams : the conclusion being that ebullition, or the
formation of bubbles, is nothing but the sudden aggregation or grouping of
myriads of atoms of vapor already formed and existing in the liquid mass, and
rushing into contact with some motes or points of foreign matter, accidentally
or intentionally presented to them. That these aggregates are composed ex-
clusively of such vapor atoms as are in excess of the saturating quantity. That
the quantity of vapor required for saturation of any liquid has a fixed relation on
the one hand to its density, and on the other to the repellent action which its
constituent atoms individually exercise, whether the liquid medium be water,
ether, alcohol, oil, or mercury. That ebullition has no relation to the quantity
or number of liquid atoms converted into vapor atoms, from any given surface,
but to the number of such atoms that may have been enabled to form such
groupings or aggregates ; and lastly, that without those groupings or aggregates,
the vapor atoms, as they are successively formed, would individually rise, though
invisible (by virtue of the separate enlarged volumes and diminished specific
gravity) to the surface, and from that surface into the air.
Section 7 shows that none of the writers on the subject of 'elastic fluids
recognise the existence of vapor in water, in its separate and independent
character.
It seems strange, however, that the mere appearance of the great quantity which
rises out of a body of so-called hot or boiling water, whenpoured otU should not have
suggested the idea that it must, previously to its escape, have existed in the water
The more so, when it is considered that without such separate and independent
existence its volume could not liave been enlarged, difTusion or divergence would
have been arrested, pressure nullified, and elasticity itself have ceased to exist.
Without the aid of diagrams it is impossible to describe the very interestuig
and numerous experiments given, nearly all of the most simple nature, requiring
merely a spirit lamp, flask, beaker, and thermometer.
One of the objects of the treatise is to show the " fallacy " of the theory that
when Isteam is brought into contact with cold water it imparts its heat to it,
and 13 thereby instantly condensed or reconverted into the liquid state. The
writer himself formerly considered that heat was absolutely absorbed by the
water, which still retamed its liquid form, and that the vacuum produced in the
cylinder of a steam engine was rightly attributed to the steam giving out its heat
to the water, and " it was only under an irresistible conviction, arising out of
numerous experimental proofs, that he abandoned the error under which wo
have been so long laboring." Those experiments lead him to assert that in such
a case steam is not condensed into water, but is merely diflused throughout the
mass, in order to an exact understanding of the theory the precise meaning of
the terms employed must be kept in mind. Having shown that, accordin" to
the prevailing theory, steam, on being passed into, or brought into connexion
with, a body of cold water, thereby becomes Uquefied, or reconverted into water-
that, in fact, it is absolutely annihilated as steam, and that (as in the case of the
steam-engine) the result of this annihilation necessarily would he the prcluction
of a vacuum m the cy Under, Section 9 considers how far this theoiy is con-
sistent with fact, and what are the grounds on which it is assumed to be connected
With the vacuum. It is but fair to say that the arguments adduced will hot
carry conviction to the minds of all. Thus, as regards the experiment recorded
at page 130, it may be asked whether the steam fii-st generated does not so raise
Uie temperature of the water in the glass vessel as to cause steam to rise from
It .' And how is it to he proved that of the " mixed body of water and steam "
tlie latter is that actually first generated and passed into the second vessel ' We
raise the question because the subject manifestly requires further investigation.
Of theremaining^chapters, No. 10 treats of Evaporation^ the indiscriminate use
of tlie terms vaporization and evaporation is pointed out, instances of their mis-
application occurring in Kees' " Cyclopu;dia," the " Eiicylo|)a!dia Britannica,"
and other works; No. 11, o{ spontaneous evaporation, in which exception is
properly taken to the use of the term spontaneous, and to other examples of loose
nomenclature ; for example, water is said by many scientific writers to evaporate,
whereas really it is vapour from water which evaporates.
On the subject of boiler explosions the author gives some very suggestive
matter, from which it would appear that the risk of explosions is greatly in-
creased by every cubic foot of water in the Ijoiler beyond what is absolutely ne-
cessary for the generation of steam. The concluding chapter on the jet as appUed
to the increase of drafts is of great value, whether looked upon as assisting to
perfect combustion of fuel, or as a mode of assisting artificial ventilation.
As to some of the theories advanced, it may he well, Mr. WilUams writes, to
add a consideration which tends to show that there are sufiicient giounds for be-
lieving that water acts only the part of a medium with which vapour mixes me-
chanically, as it does with other gases or elastic fluids ; we know that oxygen, an
elastic fluid, mixed with water, retains its separate identity, and the pro-
perty of repulsion among its own atoms; also, that air, which is a compound of
two elastic fluids, oxygen and nitrogen, when mixed with water retains its
separate identity and characteristics. Nay, further, that the compound of an
elastic fluid and a solid body, as carbon, forming the gas called carbonic acid, re-
tains the separate identity of its particles when mixed with water. Why, then,
should we be precluded from applying the same reasoning and analogy to the
compound of oxygen and hydrogen when they form the elastic fluid vapour or
steam, which, as all chemists admit, cannot be distinguished on any principle
from other elastic fluids.
Whatever may be the results of further investigation into the author's views —
of which we are certainly disposed, at present, to think most favorably — we shall
do well to remember that —
If we trace the history of any science, we shall find it a record of mistakes and
misconceptions, a narrative of misdirected and often fruitless elforts. Yet if, amidst
all these, tlic science has made a progress, the struggle through which it has passed,
far from evincing that the human mind is prone to error rather than to trutli, fur-
nishes a decisive proof to the contrary, and an illustration of the fact that, in the
actual condition of humanity, iiiistal:es are the necessary instruments by which truth
is brought to light— or, at least, indispensable conditions of the process.
We strongly recommend the hook to notice, and hope to hear something more
of Mr. Charles Wye Williams's theories on heat.
Thames Emhaniment and Low-Level Drainage Proposals before the
Royal Commission. By Edward B. Walmsley.
IS a pamphlet setting forth the desirability of adopting the author's scheme,
'^ contriv'ed by the projector some years since, oliereato be submitted to the
late Commissioners of Sewers and to the Chairman of the Parliamentary Com-
mittee of last session." Of the designs submitted the writer thinks it was
manifest to even the most uninitiated that they were " all alike • * In
the course of the long and tautological investigation much creditable talent was
evinced, but it was barren as to the procreation of a single original idea, the
general sterility proving that the sublime art of invention cannot be attained by
a 'prentice term of service, but that it is the attribute only of natural genius,"
the plan herein proposed by the author for an isolated embankment " gives more
assurance of easy birth, rapid growth, sound constitution, vigorous, healthy,
and productive life of an immortal existence, than perhaps any scheme that ever
initiated a public company." There are seventeen pages in the pamphlet, but we
need add nothing to what we have said.
— ♦ —
TRADESMEN'S PERCENTAGE TO ARCHITECTS.
Sib, — I am glad to find this subject has attracted attention at the Institute and
in your columns, for it is one which deserves the consideration of the profession,
seeing that the present state of the practice presses very unequally upon different
architects. I speak advisedly when I call it a " practice," for such it undoubt-
edly is, as I have received sundry printed circulars from vendors of cement and
other commodities in which the promise of the usual commission to architects
forms a frequent postscript. In addition, several manufacturers of good standing
have pei-sonally promised such a douceur, — in one case as much as twenty or
twenty-flve per cent, I forget which ; and builders before sending in their
tenders have inquired how much they were to put down as the architect's
fee, and could scarcely believe the statement that none would be
required. On one occasion such an answer provoked the warning that
none could be allowed hereafter unless it was included in the
tender. It is difticult to take offence at these proposals, they
are made so entirely without any personal imputation, but as a matter of
course ; and, though you and the chairman of the meeting of the Institute do
not seem to be aware of the fact, yet, from information I have received, I believe
it is of very frequent occurrence. In some cases the percentage finds an equiva-
lent in convenient loans or bills. Besides architects, 1 understand that surveyors
to local boards are peculiariy open to the genial influence of a percentage, wliicli
is one of the disgraceful results of the paltry salaries some of them receive.
Unless a very eminent railway engineer, recently deceased, is much maligned, a
large part of the colossal fortune he accumulated was due to these douceurs.
Takuig, then, the fact as established that the practice does prevail to some
extent, the question arises is it sound or unsound ? It is not many yearssmce I
discussed the question with one of my clients, himself a merchant in good busmess,
who was in the habit of rece iving commissions from the manufacturers to whom he
gave the orders received from his correspondents abroad, a practice which is uni-
versally recognised in trade, and which does not in any way reflect discredit upon
the parties. The gentleman I refer to could not in any way appreciate my
delicacy eras he would call it, squeamishness, on tlie subject; for he argued
that if an architect, between difterent competitors of enual merit, was the mstru-
ment of securing a preference for any one, he was fully entitled to a commission
for doing so. It was quite worth while for the party reeeivm^ the order to give
such an acknowledgment ; and he would give the same commission to any party
be he an architect, or whatever business he may, who might render him a similar
service. Put in this form, and justified as it is by the custom of trade, the per-
576
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 5, 1861.
CCTitajre assaracs a less obnoxious •ppeannce, and considering the straits and
difficulties with which many profeMlonal men have to contend, it is scarcely to
bewondczedatthalsofacileamode of "raising the wind ''should be cairerly grasped
at, operially by those who have been induced to wort; at half-])rice, for thus
mar Ue receipts from the work iu hand be made to equal or exceed tlie
enstomuy 5 per cent. But on the other hand, regard must be had to tlie
peril to ' which an architect's independence is exposed, though iu truth
that peril would duappear if the receipt of commissions from tradesmen
and manuheturers was recognised as right and prope", and paid and received
uritfaoot diiguiie. It is to be observed too, that the refusal to receive may, and
fc««j ^ilfrnHfil the proposer, whilst the fact of refusal has been unknown to the
«Beilt, who is, therefore, quite uiiconscioos of this claim to his confidence, nnd if
he happened to hear of it might consider his architect righteous overmuch.
As It is extremelv undesirable that the tradesman's percentage should be meat
to one architect an^ poison to another, I trust this subject will be fully canvassed
by the profession, in order that those who have hitherto practised total abstinence
may forego the sacrifice, if the practice is to be recognised as riglit and proper.
I am, &c.,
A Provincial Architect.
A DESIGN FOR A CLUB-HOUSE
Sir, — I shall feel obliged if vou will correct an error you have made in
«ttribating " The Design for a Club-house," in your last week's paper, for the
"Saane Medallion."
It was for a prize given by Mr. Tite, at the last Conversazione of the Archi-
tectural Association.
I am, &c.,
RoBT. O. Harris.
55, Gloucester-place, Portman-square, W., Jime 29th, 18C1.
KELH.\M HALL.
Sir, — In the Brii.DiN-o News of this week there is a paragraph relative to
the " Restoration of Kelham Hall," in which you have given the name of Carver,
■of London, as the n-rson who execnted the carving. I beg to say that it should
have been Mr. W. Farmer, of 4, Mead-place, Westminster-road, Lambeth. Your
kindness in correcting the error in your next week's News will much oblige.
I am, &c.,
4, Mead-plaoe, Westminster-road, S. William Farmer,
Jime29lh, 18C1.
ROYAL ENGINEER DEPART.MENT.
SlE, — Permit me to offer a few rennarkson the position and prospects of the
miscalled Clerks of Works of the Royal Engineer Department. The time has at
length arrived when the duties, position, &c., of the above class are to be fully
considered and investigated by a select committee of the House of Commons.
I for one am pleased to see that one of those gentlemen is a man eminently
qualified for the task— I mean Sir M. Pcto, JI.P., one who has risen step jby
step to his present high jKisition, and therefore one who is able to appreciate the
duties and responsibilities, and I have no doubt the present mediocre position of
those officers who toil day by day at their posts, endeavouring to give satisfaction
to their superiors and the country, but from their present ambiguous station, find
that whatever laurels they may have won are ruthlessly taken away from them
by those who have no just claims to them.
The gentlemen of the Royal Engineer department have among them many
who have been articled in their younger days as civil engineers, architects, and
surteyors, and, as a class, are sound practical men, therefore the term clerk of
works is misapplied.
.\» has l)een before truthfully set forth in your columns, their duties are not
merely superintending a lot of bricklayers or navvies, but of a higher order; and,
therefore, I contend that they sLonld occupy a position and rank commensurate
with tlieir duties.
I mean all the officers of the Royal Engineer department, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
«•■»•». whose duties are to a very great extent similar, and let their military
rank constitute the different degrees in the service, and not exalt the 1st class
maa and leave tlic 2nd and 3rd in their present position.
At present they arc neither officers, non-commissioned officers or privates or
civilians, still they are attached to the army, and intimately so ; and it is my
opinion that if a stafi' of clerks of works, or by whatever title tliey may be called
were appointed as commissioned officers, and follow the army in a campaign.
we shoDld bear of no more bungling in rearing huts and quick accommodation
for men and horses as took place ;in the Crimea, they being practical men and
well quaJified to superintend such a task.
It has also been shown in previous letters that the members of the Royal
Engineers themselves are eminently uncjualified to perform duties of a civil or
practical nature, their training and necessarily cramped ideas resulting from non-
mixing in the practical world perfectly shutting them out from those advantages
that are to be gained by studying the gr-neral matters of every day life.
I read in the last number of the Woolwich Journal a copy of the royal
warrant granting commissions to the gentlemen of the Military Store branch
whose duties are mostly of a clerical nature, and who have been raised to a posi-
tion the most honorable.
"Therefore I beg to suggest that those gentlemen who occupy professional
IKisitionsand who have great responsibilities, should have the same mark of favor
shown them, for besides the honor, a commission as a British officer (who would
dwe disgrace It ?) is a very powerful talisman against any temptations or irregu-
larities which may be thoughthssly committed by those whose present position,
treatment, pa.v, iu:., &c., is so lightly considered by tliose above them in office.
1 shall tbaiik you for the insertion of the foregoing remarks if you deem them
""'i r* "*="»* "« ,',"'• troubling you the second time, but my desire to see the
civil staff, one and all, of the Royal Engineer department property recognised
oreei me to do so; and my motto is i- r j »
July 3, W61. ^ ^ Excelsior.
a, r. . I ,"A.STE TO THE RESCUE !
I.«,.i7,n T.,^i"? •■■^■"f''- '"" Co>'<iu't-street about the ventilation of the
;f* I. } '"• "' " •*?'■ '^»««'ate. »nd must wait some time yet before I get
the chance of paymg my £40 down for the privilegeof sutetituting Kfor rbeti.?e
K.i.B.A. If I trj to say a word now I am put down, or sent iSto the library,
or otherwise sat upon. In solier truth, however, a eonvergazione is impending
and some hundreds of people will be present. On onlinary evenings, when fifty
or sixty folks are there, half an hour under those argands gives one a headache.
What will the 5t) or GO when multiplied by 10 do for a little fresh air ? I was at
the Kensington Boilers a few weeks ago, with 3,549 supporters of the Society of
Arts, and the galleries were delightfully cool and agreeable the whole evening. I
like to give every one their due, and having ever opposed the Boilers desire to
make them this amends, at any rate. How did the architect to the " Union "
come to neglect this matter ? " If architects can't keep their own rooms sweet
how can we blame tlie public for going to engineers, military or other, to get our
work done. I am, kc,
Oxygen.
BUILDERS' FOREMEN AND CLERKS OF WORKS' INSTITUTION.
Sir, — In your last week's impression you kindly published a paper read by
me at the above Institution ; biit, unfortunately, omitted noting to whom, or
where it had been read. If you can spare a comer in your next number for this
information you will greatly oblige
Your obedient servant,
Lyon's-inn, July 6th, 1861. R. Webster.
%m ^\M\\%tm,
WANDSWORTH POLICE COURT.
MR. EASTON, the contractor for building an addition to tlie Two Brewers
public-house, at Wandsworth, was summoned by the district surveyor, on
the 25th ult, for not erecting an exterior wall to enclose the east side of the build-
ing added.
Mr. Easton admitted that he had executed the work referred to for Messrs.
Young and Bainbridge, of Wandsworth Brewery, but was guided by the instruc-
tions received from their architect, and produced the plan of the works.
Mr. George Adam Y'oung, the architect refen-ed to, pointed out upon the
plan an old wall, forming, before the commencement of these works, the " ex-
terior "wall of the adjoining house eastwards, but which being of sufficient
thicknesi, and perfectly sound, was intended to be used as a " party wall " by
consent of the owners on both sides and of the owner of the land, and this being
the case the district surveyor had no right to interfere. The right of ownership
was a question that could not be raised. Tlie duty of the district surveyor was
to see that a wall of sufficient thickness separated the two buildings, and no ob-
jection was or could be made to the thickness or sufficiency of the wall ; the
origin of objections of this nature, he feared, would be found to be in the practice
of paying district surveyors by fees.
The district surveyor did not deny the sufficiency as to thickness and in every
other respect of the wall, but contended that by tlie definition of party wall
(Section 3, Metropolitan Building Act), it must be shown that, when erected, it
was intended to become a party wall.
Mr. Young urged the improbibility of obtaining any evidence of such inten-
tion, particularly as to a wall erected many years ago, and in a suburban dis-
trict where the Building Act was unknown, "and party walls unnecessary ; that
sufficiency for the purpose was the only condition necessary, and the only evi-
dence required in practice, and pointed out to the magistrate the injurious effect
upon building property that any other practice would induce.
The magistrate adjourned to view the premises in question, and on his return
admitted the serious csnsequences and disputes that might arise, but lie at pre-
sent felt inclined to admit the construction put upon the Act by the district
surveyor. He would, however, adjourn the case as requested, and possibly the
importance of the question might lead to its solution by the Queen's Bench or a
higher tribunal.
The case was then adjourned.
THE STRIKE.
THE members of the Association of Master Builders having agreed to a resolution
to enforce the system of payment by tlie hour, on and after the Ist of .July, and
the men in various branches of the buildiug trade liaving expressed a determination
to resist the system and to "strike " at tlie shops where it was enforced, consider-
able public interest has been enlisted on tlie subject during the week, curiosity being
excited as to what the result would be. And we are glad to announce that the men
have concrally relused to listen to the false doctrine of the ringleaders, and
that the strike is by no means extensive. At some of the shops, including the
extensive establishment of Messrs. William Cubitt and Co., the men have
agreed to the terms of the employers, and at others where payment by the hour
is not yet insisted upon operations proceed with the usual harmony and order.
The establishments at which the new mode of payment was some time ago
introduced, including those of Messrs. Lucas Brothers, Mr. Kclk, Messrs. Trol-
lopcand Sons, and Mr. ismitli, have undergone no change in consequence of the
resolution unanimously come to by the Association of Master IJuilders, and
are proceeding as usual with a full complement of hands. The masons having
some weeks ago struck for the Saturday half-holiday, the number of that
body out of employment is not increased in consequence of the resolution of tlie
masters, but, in addition to about sixty previously on strike against the hour system,
about a hundred bricklayers left viirious jobs in the metropolis on Monday, because
of the enforcement of that resolution. The joiners and carpenters have not struck,
but, like sensible men, agreed to the terms of the employers, though, as they call it,
"under protest." A considerable amount of annoyance is, as usual in such cases
maintained by pickets placed by those on strike at various jobs now being proceeded
•with. Mr. Myers succeeded the other day in obtaining a number ot masons from
Scotland, but most, if not the whole, have left bis employment in consequence of
representations made to them by the Masons' Committee. We understand that
negoclations, likely to lead to an amicable adjustment of dilTerences at present ex-
isting between them, are going on between Messrs. Lee and Son and the masons.
Bath. — New Church. — On Monday sen'night the corner-stone of a
new church on the north side of Cleveland Bridge was laid. The new church
owes its existence to the liberality of the Rev. L. Hamilton, curate of Bathwick.
The plans are designed by Mr. Giles, C.E., of London, and the contract has been
taken by Mr. Mann, builder, of Bath ; the total cost will he between £2,000 and
£3,000, the exact amount being dependent on a circumstance not yet determined .
—the height of the tower. Tlie building is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and
is of an architecture jiartaking of the Early English and Norman styles, it is
designed to accommodate between 300 and 400 jiersons.
Julys, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
577
TENOERS-
liOADwoRK, Kensington.
For the makinc ii;) of road with piivin?, cvirb, ami channel, Warwick-gardens.
Cowland £"01 0 (i | Turner t038 5 8
DiNi>"G-iiAi.L. Windsor.
For a ncwdinlng-hall, Clewer-honse, Windsor. Mr. W. Sim, architect, Danes-inn,
ijnowball, Slough £J30 i Ilollis,; Windsor £W9
Dwelling-houses, Kensington.
For the completion of eight houses. 3Ir. W. Sim, architect, Danes-inn, "Strand.
Handby f. £2,825 Cowland £2,509
Fish 2,620 I
For the completion of 12 houi-es. Mr. W. Sim, architect, Danes-inn, Strand.
Scott £1,621 IS I Elliott (one house omitted) £1,557
Fish 1,560 0|
Cemeterv Works, Birmingham.
For the various works to be done in connexion with the Birmingham Cemetery,
B. Clarke, architect, Nottingham. Quantities taken by Mr. Cox, Birmingham.
howell iS.llo I Ilardwicke and Sons £7,455
Grove 7,'Jfl8 | Godfrey 7,.30O
Nelson and Company 7,075 1 Webb and Sons 7,016
Smith 7,500 Charles .Tones 6,770
Chambers and Kilton 7,500 , Charles Wright, (accepted) 5,975
Mansion, Wandsworth.
For the Woodlands at Wandsworth, for F. J. IVilliams, Esq. Mr. William Lee,
ataitcct.
Wilson £3,176) Including
Newman and Mann :j,050> old
Freeman 2,S00j House.
Exclusive of stoves, chinmey -pieces, papering and decorations; conservatories,
stables, offices, entrance gates, loage, &c.
Dwelling House, Hohnsey.
For the erection of a house and premises in the Ilornsey-road, for Jno. Broad, Esq.
Mr. Francis Cross, architect. 2, Keppel-street, Kussell-square, W.C.
Manly and liogers £08.5
J.Baker 9B.3
F. ,T. Sleap S3'J
Sharpington and Cole 787
James Rankin , £750
G. Fowler 711
.Tames Aghton 678
David Macfarline, (accepted) 5%
CoAcii House, &c., Woodford.
For the erection of a coach house stable, &c., at I'ark House, Woodford, Essex.
Mr. J. U. Eowley, architect, 17, St. Helen's- place. City.
Davey £270 I Salter £2.33
Croft 250 Salmon 224
Carter , 240
Church, Hornset.
For new church. Crouch End, ilornscy, Mr. A. W. Blomfield, architect.
Quantities supplied by Messrs. Hunt and Steward, and 3Ir. J. A. Bunker.
Hill and Son £,5,834
Child, Son and Martin 5,737
Bird 5,?21
Holland and Hannen 5,e!>4
Jfyers £5,605
Turner and Sons 5,520
Carter 4,847
T'ARSONAGE, KOCIIESTER.
For the erection of St. Philip's new parsonage house, Rochester.
Mr. Chambers, Maidstone :£910
Mr. Nayear, Rochester (accepted) 910
School, Gloucester
For the erection of the Crypt Grammar School, &c., Gloucester. Messrs.
Medland and Maberly, architects, Gloucester. Quantities supplied by Mr. H.
Carrington.
Busseir £2,093
OUver Esteourt 2.0OO
F. Murrell 1,078
F. t'ullis 1,890
Hayes and Son , £1,798
.Tones and Son 1,750
Wingate and Sons 1,090
Xlbbett and King (accepted) 1,660
The old materials are allowed for in the estimates.
Dwelling-house, Leeds.
For a dwelling-house in Cavendish-road, Leeds. Mr. G. Smith, architect, Leeds.
Carpenter and Joiner Work. Brick anel Stone Work.
William Xicholson and Son, Leeds £624
Plumbers' IKort— Jacob I.illey, Leeds £84 3 5
P/oi^er TTor/;,— John P. Mountain, Leeds .58 10 0
7*ainers' Iforfc— Edward Fearnsides. Leeds 13 18 0
Slaters' fKort.— William Ellis, Leeds and York ■ 19 18 0
The system of supplying Quantities is now becoming so general, that having
recently devoted several of our pages to the subject, we think it may possibly be
useful to the profession, especially to those practising in the provinces, to state
that we have before us specimens of lithographed Bills of Quantities of a very
superior description, executed by Robert W. Sprague and Co., Lithotrraphers, .5,
Ave Slaria-lane, E.C. The large and increasing support received by this Arm is a
proof that the requirements ot accuracy and dispatch, combined with a moderate
scale of charges, are fully met by them.
COMPETITIONS OPEN,
JIARKETS, &c.
Bath.— For designs, specifications, and estimates, for the reconstruction of the
provision markets, and for the improvement ot the adjacent localities in the city
ot Bath. Premiums of £60 and .£25 are olfcrcd for the first and second approved
designs. Full particulars, with lithographed iilans of the ground, levels, &k may
be obtained from T. Stone, town clerk, Guildhall, Bath, on payment of 6s The
designs, &c., are to be sent free to the town-clerk, by August 1.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
TOWN HALL.
XORTiiAMeTON.— Forthe erection and completion of atown hall, &c., for the Town
Council of Northampton. Drawinirs, iSrc. prepared by Mr. E. W. Godwin, Architect,
Montpclier, Bristol, at the Town Clerk's offices, Newland, Northampton. Quanti-
ties may be obtained from the town clerk ; but the town council is not responsible
for tlieir correctness. Tenders to be sent to the town clerk, marked " Tender for
Bmlding Town Hall, &c.," to July 13. .
ASYLUM.
Perth.— For the various works in the erection of the Perthshire District Lunatic
Asylum, near Murtlily station on the Dunkeld railway. Plans, &c., with Mr P
Soutar, clerk to the Lunacy Board, Perth ; or Messrs. JIdward and Robertson,
architects. Reform-street, Dundee ; who will give all requisite information, Ten-
ders to -Mr. Soutar, or Jlessrs. Edward and Robertson, to July 20.
Worcester.— For the erection of a new wing to the County and City of Worcester
Lunatic Asylum, to accommodate 100 persons. Plans. Ac. with Martin Curtler,
soUcitor, Sansome-place, Worcester; lurther information from the architect, II.
Rowe, 17, Foregate-street, Worcester. Sealed tenders, endorsed " Tender for New
Wing," free to Mr. Curtler, by Augnst2.
CHURCHES.
Bath.— For contract No. 2 of St. John's Catholic Church, South-parade, Bath.
Plans, &c., with the architect, Jlr. Charles F. Hansim, Rock Horse, Clifton, or to
Clerk of works, at Bath, from July 1. Scaled tenders to be sent to the Rev. John
Worsley, 2, Pierrepont-place, Bath, to July 11.
Coventry.- For the erection of a new church at Radford, iir the parish of tlio
Holy Trinity, in Coventry. Plans, &c., at the offlces of Mr. Thomas Pratt, No. 09,.
Hertford-street, Coventry. Tenders to Mr. Alderman Lynes, accountant church-
warden, by July 1.3.
Crewe, Stafioudshire.— For the works required In the erection of tlic Presby-
terian church and schoolrooms, Crewe, Staflordshire. I'lans, Ac. with the Rev.
D. Blelloch, at Crewe, July 10, on which day, before 6 p. m. Tenders are to be
delivered to Mr. Blelloch, sealed and endorsed "Tender.
Rugby.— For the erection of a new vicarage house. Plans, A^c, with Mr. Joseph
Isaacs, Long Itchington. Bricks, lime, and sand, can be procured in the parish,
and there is a goods station (.Marton) within two miles of the site. Tenders to bo
sent to the Rev. C. Spackman, Long Itchington, near Rugby, to July 17.
Cardiganshire.— Forthe erection of a vicarage-house and offices at Llanarth, near
Aberayron. Cardiganshire. Drawings, &c., at the Greyhound Inn, at Llanarth,
until tluly 13. Tenders, by post, prepaid, addressed to the vicar. Rev. D.J. Jones,
Llanarth, to July l.>. Further particulars from the architect, R. J. Withers, Esq.,
51, Doughty- street, London, W.C.
RECTORY.
Stowe.— For the erection of a rectory-house and buildings, at Stowc. Plans, Ac,
at the Craven Arms Inn, near the Craven Arms Station, on the Shrewsbury and
Hereford Railway. Tenders are to be delivered to Thomas Nicholson, F.I.B.A
dloecsau architect, Hereford, on July 12.
PARSONAGE.
Morpeth.— For the erection of a parsonage-house and o(hces, atWiddrington, near
3Iorpeth. Plans, &c., with Mr. Stevenson, clerk of works, Wi<ldrington ; or to
the architects, Messrs. J. and .T. Girdwood, 40, Pall-mall, London, to whom scaled
tenders must bo sent, by July 20. Quantities will be supplied by Mr. C. Balam
10, Buckingham-street, Strand, London.
SCHOOLS.
HuNSLET.— For the whole of the artificers work required to be done in the erection
of the proposed schools iu connexion with St. Joseph's Church, Ilunslet Plans,
&c., and further p.ariiculars, at the offlces of .Tohii Child and Son, architects, 2.3,
Park-row, Leeds, until July 10. Tenders, addressed " Rev. Thomas MacGouran,
St. Joseph's, Hunslet." by 2 p.m., July 11.
Bristol.- For national schools and teacher's residence, at Backwell, near Bristol.
Plans, &c., with T. R. Lysaght, architect, .VIbion-ehambers, Bristol.
WAREHOUSES.
Bristol.- For the erection of a warehouse and olHces in Castle-green, for Messrs.
Hurndall, Hellier, and Wills. Plans, .tc, with Jlessrs. Fosters and Wood, 0,
Park-street, Bristol, till July 11th ; on or before which tenders must be sent them
sealed and endorsed "Tender for Warehouse."
Leeds.— For alterations and additions to a woollen warehouse, in Leeds. Plans,
Ac, with Cuthbert Broderick, architect, 17, East-parade, Leeds. Tenders to
July 15.
DWELLING HOUSE.
Guildford.— For the erection of a small house, at Cranley, near Guildford. Plans,
&c., with Sir. Ansell, Onslow Arms Inn, Cranley. Tenders to the architect, E. J.
Withers, Esq., 51, Doughty-street, London. W.C., to July 16.
WORKHOUSE.
Stepney.— For the new Union workhouse at Bromley, Middlesex, for the Stepney
guardians. Drawings, specification, and draft contract on application to Mr. H.
Jarvis, architect, 20, Trinity-square, Southwark. Printed forms of tender from.
Mr. Jarvis, or from Mr. W; H. Swepstone, clerk to the guardians, at the board,
room, Ratclifl workliouse, York-street west. Commercial-road, east and no tenders
will be received that are not made upon such forms. Tenders to be delivered at
the office of the board as above, before 3 p.m. on July 10.
HOSPIl'AL.
Reading.- For erecting two additional wings to the Royal Berkshire Hospital,
Reading. Each wing will be 75 by 28 feet, two stories high, and entirely faced
with Bath stone. Plans, &c., with Mr. Joseph Morris, architect, 161, Friar-street,
Reading, until 13th July. Tenders (on supplied form only) to Mr. D. Skey, secrer
tary to the Board of Management, at the hospital, sealed and endorsed "Tende-
for Additions," to July 15.
FARM BUILDINGS.
Sudbury.— For the erection of farm-buildings, at Vernon's Oak, on the estate of
the Itisht Hon. Lord Vernon, at Sudbury, near Derby. Plans, Ac, at the estate
office, Sudbury. Sealed tenders must be sent to Messrs. J. and J. Girdwood, farm
architects, 49, Pall-mall, London, before July 15.
Hampste.vd.- For the erection of Farm-huildings, making alterations to the present
buildings, and performing extensive other works, at Kidderpore Hall, Hampstead,
for C. Cannon, Esq. Drawings, ice, from July 8th ; also with Henry Mc Calla,
C.E., office, 25, Westbourne-place, Eaton-square, where tenders are to be delivered
at 4 o'clock (punctual) of July 15.
GASWORKS.
Surrey.— For the supply of three new retorts, and setting the same, and for a
general repair of the works in the gas house of the South Metropolitan Schools,
at Sutton, also tenders for the performance of such work as may be necessary to
keep the retorts and other works connected with the supply of gas in properorder,
at per annum, for three years, from the 24th day of July next. Tenders, detailing
the work proposed to be done, sealed, and addressed to the managers of the schools,
to be sent to Joseph Burgess, Clerk to the Managers, Walworth S. to July 16.
DoNC ASTER.— For a gasholder and other works connected therewith, for the borough
of Doncaster, 115 feet diameter and 2ii feet deep, witli twelve columns, Ac. Plans,
Ac, at the oftice of the Doncaster Gas Company, till .Tuly 12. Sealed tenders
addressed to the Doncaster Gas Committee, under cover to the chairman of tho
Gas Committee, and endorsed "Tenders for Gasholder," by 10 a.m., July 12,
further particulars from Sir. J. F. Fairbank, C.E., 74, Xewbro'-street, gcarboro'
the engineer.
CAISSON,
Leith.— For the construction of wrought iron caisson for the entrance to the
gravino- dock -now iu course of construction on the east side of the Harbor of Leith.
Drawings, Ac, with A. 31. Rendel, Esq., C.E.. 8, Great George-street, West-
minster; or George Robertson, Esq., C.E., at the new Dock Works, Leith;
and tenders (in form to be furnished) must be lodged with John Phin, clerk to tho
Commission, 13, Heriot-row, Edinburgh, by Julv 22.
RAIL3VAY WOUKS.
Newry AND Armagh Railway.— For the construction of the line from its junction
with the Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway at Gorahwood to M arket Hill, a
length of 84 miles. The work will comprise two tunnels in clay slato rock, aggre-
gate length about one mile, a:i well as the usual excavations and e mbankments,
inasonry, Ac, Ac. The contractor to provide and lay the permanent way. Plans,
Ac, at the office of G. 3V. llemans, Esq., the engineer of the company, 13, Qneen's-
square, Westminster, and also at his offlces in Dublin and Newry. Tenders en-
dorsed " Tender for JIarket Hill Contract," to be addressed to the S ecretary, at
to July 31.
LIGHTHOUSE, TOWER, Ac.
Ireland.— For the erection of a lighthouse tower, and keepen' dwell logs, to be
578
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 5, 1861.
<.«-<-t«^ on Ar.nn.ore Island, <H>unty Doncga . Plans. *?;»«»''$,»"'"'''*■„»,'»«•
■VVcsiniorf land-stre«-l. Dut.lin. Ktwo.n 11 an^ 3 o'clock each day >™led tenders,
on pnnled fom.s only ,>o be had at tl.e B"""*'""*")' ''Jf 'f^""Vo^,l^''J'3"J'?S
Ksq . !><*rct«n-, BmUMt-oflloe, Wcstinoreland-strect, Dublin, by noon of July 10.
Ln^Eiuwu-For Mwerinr. kerbins channellips-, pitching, »°^,|»«™'l""'f '"£(^'"'
Wolak aioMt HTdc-road Water oo. SpeeiBeation, &c., at tlie oiBce ol tne siir-
J^aSS T.ytor^.E. K !sl^w.ter?ace, Waterloo of ,yhom all further infor-
JSSSiWbe o6t J«Hi. Tenders to be delivered to Joseph Mason, Clerk to he
^ond Bawd of Health. :«'. faslle-street, Liverpool, endorsed " Tender for the
I^S2!£-ivf fi:.*;orJ;;;uoV i;f"»ew"el^ ■« Mm-street and Sheweirs-road,
about 600 T»rda lineal, wiih the necessary junctions, manholes, and wet traps j also
torliie oNuSnctloD if the roads in Tranmere I'ark, Shewells-road, and MiU-
KtreeL. which ue to be curbed, channelled, pitched, and macadamised. Plans, &c.,
•t^oOcc of the Tranmere Local Board. Tenders, endorsed, " Tender for Sewe-
rare " •• Tender for Road," addressed to the Chairman of the Road and Improve-
meni Catunictw, to be left at the office of the Local Board, to July 12.
JL.AifDroBT ASD SoiTHgEA.— Fof making a sower and other works, of a total
Imsth. in varioBS sizea, of about 400 yards, commoncmg from Sackville-street,
thraosh Middle-street, across Brunswick-road, through Kusscll-street, across and
jMtoSwa-ttKvt, and across and into Cntlor's-row, to Salem-strect
IB tbe towns of Landport and Sonthsea. Spcciftcations, &c., at the
oOktm at tbe commissioners. Arundel-street, Landport, where forms of tender
nay aim be obtained. Tenders addressed to the commissioners to be
delivered at the offices of the commissioners, and marked, "Tender for
Sewerage Works," by a p. m. of July ii.
^ ROADWORK, Ac.
Maxchkstbb.— For sewering, forming, fencing, and paving a proposed new road,
about 800 Tarda long, at Lafly Barn-lane, in AVithington. Tenders in wrltmg. to
Mr. Taylor, surveyor. Iti, Tib-lane, Cross-street, Manchester (at whose office,
plans, sections, and specifications may be seen), by July 15.
•^ SUPPLY.
Chatham.— For supplying abont !W0 tons of new Aberdeen granite, r> inched wide
on face and 7 inches deep, to be delivered at Brompton Barracks, Chatham.
Forms and further information on application at the Koyal Knginecr Offices,
Chatham, to July K Tenders to be addres8ed:(prepaid) to 'The Director of Contracts,
War Office, London," S.W., and endorsed "Tender for Aberdeen Granite,
Chatham," to July la
MILITARY WORKS.
Woolwich. —For renewing the slating, boarding, lead work, Ac, on the roof of the
C-onvalescent Hospital, at Woolwich. Parties desiring to tender must leave their
names at the Royal Engineer Office, Woolwich, by the 17th inst., and pay lOs. Od.
for bills ofquantities.
SALES AT GARRA WAY'S AND THE MART.
PBEEnOLD.
By Meurs. DxBENHAM'and TEwsoN.—Wandsworth-common.property comprising an exten-
sive building Intended to be called tbe " Freemasons' Hotel and Tavern," also aplot of building
land oreilookinf Waadsworth-common ; sold for £i,700.
0, Keen's-row, Walworth-road, house, rent per annum, £35 ; sold for £620.
By Hr. OAiaDiiiEa.— Estate, comprising li»a. 3r. 3ip. of land, situate at Bonndatone,
Frenabam, Snney ; sold for £250.
BvMesaTB.BiADEX. and Sons.— Woodford Station, plot of building land containing la. 2r.
34p. : sold for £800.
Adjoining ditto, a plot ofbuilding land, containing la. 2r. 2p. ; sold ibr £200.
Adjoining ditto, a plot of building' land, containing la. Ir. 2p. ; sold for £170.
Woodford, aplot orbaildlng land, containing Ir. 30]i. ; sold for .£170.
Adiolnillg ditto, a triangular plot of land, containing 4ip. ; sold lor £2.5.
Tmrt, turn known as I>uryfaJl5, situate in the parish of Hornchurch, and comprising a
ftDm-bottte and homestead, with several enclosures of arable and meadow land, the whole
containing lOSa. 2r. 14p. ; sold for £i^,sao.
By Mr. C. Wabtoii.— Feckham-rye-common, family residence, let on lease for Sl^ years
from llJcliaalmaa, IMS, at £75 i>er annum ; sold for £1400. *
£nex, dwelling-house, opposite to West Ham Church ; sold for £200.
Essex, four dwelling-houses, opposite to West Ham Church, rent per annum, £32: sold
forXno.
Br Measrs. DBtvzm.— Bedfordshire, property, known as the Colworth Kstate, situate in the
panahee of Shamlvniok, Odell, and Souldrope. comprising a mansion, pleasure-grounds,
fardeaa, oottaervatorles, stabling, ont-offlces, a well-tfmljered park of about 50a., together
with lluna, fcc., tlie wlwit comprising alwut 80oa. ; sold for £35.250.
By IfeMis. FaassBOTBKK, Clabx. and Lye.— Poplar, ]>remlse8, known as Messrs.
Fergnsaon's mast, car, and gun-carriage manufactory, the whole comprising nearly 4a.,
dwellfnff-faouje, six dwellings, called Mast-house Cottagc.<«, situate at 3iniwall ; sold
fbr £12,a«.
Leiccatenbire. residential estate of Xormanton Tun'ilte. comprising a mansion , with park,
ornamental water, pleasure-grounds, and several farms, with homesteads and buildings, and
opwardaof I^M. orinmlp,aaJry,alld sheep land, situate in the parish of Thurlaston: sold
for £i»jOOO.
By Mr. K. W, FtrLLEX.— Home. Surrey, two plots of arable land, containing 11a. Ir. 3o.,
known as " Ureat and Little Well Fields ;" sold for £atso.
Home, Surrey, apiece of arable land, containing 6a. or. 4p. ; sold for £180.
By Mr. Deam.— Fuber-street. Harking, pnbllc-hoase and premises, known as IheBose and
Crown Inn ; also a bonse adjoining, let at £44 per annum ; sold for .£555.
Back-street, Shop-row. Barking, house, rent per annum £11 14s. ; sold for £90.
ByXr. Mamh — MItcham.dwelllng-lionse, with shop, garden, stabling, chaischouse, and
cottaee a4)oiiHiiit, rent |>er annum £11 lis. ; sold for £1,000.
Mitcham, dwelling-booae and aliop, rent per annum £36; sold for £600.
W. wirtemburg-street, Clapbam, residence and grotmds known as Astell Cottage, est!
mated to produce £50 per annnra ; sold for S.!HO.
By Mr. jiEWBoK Ilomsey-rd., a piece of land on the Upper Cottenham-rd. : sold for £50.
64, Parrock-street, Oravesend, house, with garvlen and sned at the rear ; sold for £aro.
By Mr. Boaiira— 8 and 9, Artichoke-road, Mile*end-road, two houses and premises, rent
per annum £20 each ; s )M in two lots lor 4A0 guineas.
By Mr. HSLr — f eck)uun-i7e. Surrey, public-house, known as Kye House : sold for £1,500.
By Messrs. Fi^LLEa and Co.— East Grinsted, iSusscx, estate, called the Homestall,
consisting of a farmhouse, bard, stabling, and 140 acres of land ; sold for £4,100.
LEAREIIOLD.
By Mta<n. DEBEiinAX and Tewso!!.- Warwick-road, Upper Clapton, residence, term 4I|
years from June 24th, I(WI,at a ground-rent of £9 per annum ; sold for £505.
By Mr. r;AiaDi!«Ea. -2. Dartmouth-park-road, Kentish Town, residence, terra 91 years.
'ent per annum £«o, ground-rent per annum £10 10s. ; sold for £680.
li »»nriH« -terrace, St. I'ancras, house, term Mj
,i , . , . -. , , 864 years, at a net rental of .£26 per annum :
•old for £a5«. . . . v . .
11 and 12. llollls-place. Kentish Town, two houses, term Mi years, at a net rental of £5<i per
annum ; sold for £M0.
fcr'^S!"'"' '""'' ''"''' ""* I"""'"*' ""^ "' y'»". at a net rental of £46 |>cr annum ; sold
By Mr. S0AIXB1B — Swan-sireet,GreatI>over-road, warehouse, term lMyears,atagronnd-
reDt of £17 perannum. rent £im per annum ; sold for Aim.
♦JI2l ■A.y* *°d 16, i^k-street, ureenwlch, four residences with gardens, term 51J years
nrom^utmmmtt, 1661, rent £18 per annum each, ground-rent £9 12b. per annum ; sold
i ground-
, term
for
_if?3iv?Wf'*"''**" *"ie-*n'l-road. two houses with shops, term 62 ycars.atagrc
^ "f ?.'%■ *? annom, rent £51 i>er annum ; sold for JMIO.
•....^ 'v ■•"-•J", St. Oeorge's-ln-the-East, two dwelling-houses with shops,
"'^'•'•••t* groona-rent of £9 I2s. jier annum , rent £44 12s. per annum : sold for £200.
By Mejm. Dmyn^-9, Orosvenor-road, UIghbnry ;«ew-park, family residence, term
'X*?'J^ i^'i*^*'°—j}*"- "' • Kf ound-reni of £1« per amuim ; sold for £710.
rrJ'.Sf*""^-'""."//"*""^"'''*""" years from Midsummer, 1865, at a ground-rent of
.^•4 per annum, rent £M per annum ; sold for £690.
«« lCS^lM''»o&fir£9So"ach"*'^'°"'' ""'* **""' '"""''••'■'°'» £Mand«lt, rent
L*?. rark-roaii, Ashlmrnham-villa, family residence, same term, rent £90 per annum,
grouuil-rent .tl.5 per annum ; sold for £1,010.
- L'jt, I'ark-road. family residence, same term and ground-rent, rent £90 per annum; sold
or inwo.
Hv Mc*isrs. Kennedy and Bonny.— 0, Cornwall-crescent. Camden-road, Camden-town,
rcsitlcnc*-. term IH: years ft-om JlichrtcUnas, 1843, at a ground-rent of £12 per annum, rent per
annum KiiO ; sold for :t;ti25.
1, Uocliester-road. Cauuleii-road-villas. residence, term 93 years from September, 1849, rent
per annum £55. ground-rent per annum £6 ; sold for .£605.
Itv Mr. Mason.— 13, Colenian-street, Arilugton-square, house, term .66 years, at £4 4s. per
annum, rent per annum £2'.t ; sold for £2.50.
34. CuUord-road north, lie Beauvoir-town, house, term 59i years, at £4 per annum, rent
per annuui £2S ; sold for £295.
By .Mr. Maskf.ll.-s. !i. 10, 11, 12, and IS, Flemmings-street, Kingsland-road, houses, term
34 years, at a net rental of .698 3s. i)d. ; sold for £7m.
By i\lr. Newbon.— 1, Bedford-terrace, Old Ford-road, house and shop, tcnn 80 years from
Lady-day, 1850, at a ground-rent of £4 los. per annum, rent per annum £18; sold fbr
£101.
2, Bedford-terrace, a ditto ditto, same term and ground-rent, rent per annum £30 ; sold
for £200.
By Mr. Marsh.— Park-village east, Regents-park, residence known as Marlborough
Cottage, term 94 years from September, 1828, at a ground-rent of £10 128. per annum; sold
for £670.
By Mr. R. W. Fcllee.— Land-street, High-street, Croydon, five cottages, let at rents
amounting to £68 per annum, term ^ years firom June 24, 1859, at a ground-rent of £8 per
ap.num; sold for £525.
copy HOLD.
By sir Dean 1, 2, and 3, East-street, three houses with shops, also 1 to 8 Wickliam-court,
Bariing, 8 houses ^vlth shops, rent per annum £89 148. ; sold for £420.
Institution of Civil Engineers. — The Council of the Institution of
Civil Engineers have awarded the following premiums for papers read during the
sesiiion 1860-61 :— 1. A Telford Medal, and a Council Premium of Books, to
William Henry Preece, Assoc. Inst. C.E., for his Paper "On the Maintenance
and Durability of Submarine Cables in Shallow Waters." 2. A Telford Medal,
and the Manby Premium, in Books, to George Parker Bidder, Junior, for Ws
Paper 'On the National Defences." 3. A Telford Medal, to Francis Fox,
M. Inst. C.E., for his Paper " On the Results of Trials of Varieties of Iron
Permanent Way." 4. A Council Premium of Books, to Frederick Braithwaite,
M. Inst. C.E., for his Paper " On the Rise and Fall of the River Wnndle ; its
Springs, Tributaries and Pollution." 5. A Council Premium of Books, to
George Hurwood, M. Inst. C.E., for his Paper " On the River Orwell and the
Port of Ipswich." 6. A Council Premium of Books, to William Hall, Assoc.
Inst. C.E., for his Paper " On the Floating Railway at the Forth and Tay
Ferries." . .1 ^
Architectural Association Dinner. — We are requested to state that
the annual dinner of the members of the Architectural Association will take place
this day week (the 12th instant) at the Whittmgton Club, Arundel-street,
Strand, at 5 past 6 p.m.
Portland stone would be tlie best. No. 2. Look at any dealer's trade
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and communications to be addressed to the Editor of the Boilding >'eW9, 20,
Old Boswellcourt, St. Clement's, Strand, London.
The Editor cannot undertake to return unused manuscripts.
In eonsequence'of our extra Engraving we have not Issued the |Chambbb«' Sopplkmest
with the present Number. .
Mr J V —Will find a good reply m our present columns.
l! C. i!.-AppUcatlon.should be made to the architect without delay. We are unable to
S^M'-A^arg'e rent and a long loase will scarcely aJfect your position with regard to the
A"cl!t-KK.-No'!'L°We''s'i.ould say not ; No. 2. A very objectionable practice.
IL- Given a few weeks .since.
T —Oultc worthy of notice, but out of ourprovlnce.
J v^n —No. 1. It is not imperative. No. 2. Only one allowed. ., . ,.
s' 1! —Description of stone has been received : but we do not observe that It possesses any
' 'feature with which we are not already acquainted : perhaps there is some omission.
J. F (J -Our remarks inust be very much distorted to be made to appear an attempted
justillcatlon of the practice really condemned.
p. w. A No. 1. Portland stone would be the
nf ]t°-.Mocle of ascertaining the variation has been before explained at some length.
m"^n'o book onlKubject has been published. We are clearly of opinion that the erection
oftheproposed works would be contrary to the law.
K. l.-\'cry dishonorable conduct; but your remedy Is not very clear. „„,„.> ,h.,
M A - Clearly yours Is a case for substantial com|)cnsation ; you arc, of course, aware that
we give that opinion solely on your statement of the facts.
Thob. 11 s.— We never beard of such a law. , .^ . -
Enquikek -Nothing better than a course of freehand drawmg for your purpose.
R. K. S. R.-Ask a lithographer.
C. H.— Can usethe wall only by eonsentofthoowner. ., , , ,h„™
K. e!-A iifflciilty In the way of all students, perhaps matters wiU some day right them-
oI-Everything depends on the question whether the building really is or is not wItWn the
limits of the Act ; surely there can be no difficulty in deciding the iwlnt.
M. O. A.-At a depth of about fifty feet, as a general rule.
p. F No ; the street would be too narrow.
A Keaoek (Carnarvon).— VVeare unable to recommend.
T. R. s.— Illustrations have appeared in several quarters.
R. I . li. A.- We do not know.
AN Associate.- Shall hear from us. , , o, . n 1.
W.-llrawincsofKivaulx Abbey will be found in Sharpes parallels.
A„No. 1 At any sccoiid-handlookseller's. No, 2. Varies. No. 3. Term is new to us.
M.-Kxiicriments have not led to very satisfactory results.
A t:oNBTAM READEa .CExetcr).-To what height is the water to be raised? You nave
omitted to say.
t; ]\"-slTNoWe'r"'p7o'iSSi Practice of Architects," published by Weale, in 1836.
.l.-Onc-half percent, would he a moderate charge. ,„..„„ mi.,rh.. oWofn lav
Messes. C. and H.-A book on the subject was published in America ; we may be able to lay
our hands on it in a day or two, and will try and obUge you.
R. y.-We do not think that you have any claim.
Jt. I. — Let us hear from you again.
• « •—Thanks ; Iiut too late.
A YouNGsTEH.— Ijelow our mark.
Mr. R — Shall appear. ,_, , ,_ .,,, „«**««,
A SCBscBiBER.-i Wo arc forced to decline advising hi such matters.
I'. II. I Thanks for photographs. , ., j. „
Hope.— Declined with thanks ; another time peMaps.
T. T. T.-N0.
.1. M. P — Not advisable. ^ . _^ ,
5Jn\\",e^„-jSvlL"faf l:AltL^'?rT,SnM^^^^^^^ have appeared. Ourroleex-
tends only to letters referring to matters oi fact.
(;. O. -Shall beenjfraved. Thanka.
SSrEn:I?''n!rSfr. T. W., L. X. L. T., M. N. R. S—n. A Looker^E B R. , O .T ,
H. Roberts, Mr. Arthur II s, P. I., Messrs. •!. '■• an? ^°v?T x ST^V w^'i^x'
B. It. B., 6. Q. M., A Reader of the BoiiBii'o News, C. W., O. J. X., Rev. t. W. i..,k.a.,
V. Z., J. M. N., Q., L. H. F. C, K.
July 12, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
579
THE PAST SEASON OF THE ARCIIITECTURAL SOCIETIES
OF LONDON.
ITH the soiree of the Institute the
Architectural season ma)' be said
to close, and the copious, we had
almost said the excessive, flow of
lectures, papers, discussions and
soirccK, pauses for some months.
This series of engagements has
presented interesting features
to those who like to watch the progress
of public movements and public life ;
the great activity of the past year, an
activity exceeding that of previous
years, and contrasting in a marked
manner with the quiet, sleepy condi-
tion of things prevalent a few years
back, is significant as to the present,
and is encouraging for the future.
The actual condition of provincial
societies necessarily comes but little
under our personal notice, though
from the frequent meetings which we
have had the pleasure of recording, and
the excellent papers we have
from time to time reported
at greater or less length, it may
be inferred that the year has to
them been an advantageous one. The pro-
posals emanating from tlie North to iorm
an Architectui-al Alliance, a society in-
tended to grapple with the worst practical
diflieulties of the present day, and to unite the scattered associations
of Great Britain, prove, however, that the spirit of pi-ogress of which
we have had so many proofs in the metropolis, is no less active through-
out England.
There is a certain set of quiet societies, many of them established
on an unostentatious and, at the same time, a substantial basis, con-
cerning which we have simply to chronicle that they have this year
continued to labor with as much success as before. Such, particularly,
is the Architectural Benevolent Society, and such is now the Architec-
tural Union Company. The different Archa;ological and Antiquarian
Societies, tlio Society of Antiquaries, and the Ecclesiological Society,
have all continued their useful labors with zeal and success, but with-
out, perhaps, drawing, or seeking to draw, more attention from the
architectural world than heretofore. A similar statement might almost
be made respecting that very useful and unostentatious society, the
Architectural Publication Society, only that, to some extent, an extra
effort has tliis year been made to enlarge the number of the sub-
scribers — an efibrt to which we wish every success.
In other (juarters, however, a marked activity has prevailed. Lec-
tures, and papers, and meetings have been both numerous and sought
after. At South Kensington, both the Department of Science and Art
and the Arcliitectural j\Iuseum have been drawing public attention.
At Conduit-street, the Architectural Photographic Society has furnished
an excellent list of papers, and the Exhibition a still l)etter one; while
the Association and the Institute have held numerous and important
meetings, wliere papers of great value have been read and discussed.
Nor ought we to pass quite without mention the Society for the Pro-
motion of the Fine Arts — a new society, meeting also in the same gal-
lei'jes, and devoting a good deal of its attention to architecture and
allied branches of art.
In the Institute especially more has been done than is usually accom-
plished ; and had nothing else been done beyond discussing and shaping
the proposed scheme'for Voluntary Examination, the session would, on
tliat account alone, have been entitled to respect, as above the average
in its practical value. Many other matters have also received attention,
and among the rest the library. It has been attempted to supply the
deficiencies in the collection of books, and a list of books wanted having
been prepared and pretty extensively circulated, the gaps on the shelves
have been, in many instances, filled up during the past session.
A considerable number of prizes are now open to public competition
for architectural students or for art-workmen. A few years ago the
prizes of the Institute and the medals of the Academy were the sole
rewards open, and the Ibrraer were often iiardly competed for. In fact,
it is within the memory of those far from old that the Institute has (we
believe on more than one occasion) felt obliged to decline to award any
Soane medallion— the highest student's prize in its gift — on account of
the absence of any competitor advanced enough to merit it. Tliis year
•we have had a long list of prizes offered by the Arcliitectural Museum.
The Institute has Iiad a Classic prize placed at its disposal by the
present President, Mr. Tite, and a Gothic prize by Sir F. Scott. The
Association have also given a prize of their own, and had a prize givea
them by Mr. Tite.
The prominent feature of all, however, has no doubt been the very
large amount of instruction of a Certain sort given orally by men of
experience in various departments of their profession to large and
attentive miscellaneous audiences, composed partly of architects, partly
of students, and partly of persons not professionally connected with
architectuie. It will, no doubt, be said that this is the result of lectures
being the fashion, and no doubt this is true ; but the whole truth is not
included in this speedy way of disposing of the phenomenon. It is not
the fashion, and was never less likely than in the present age to be the
foshion for people to attend lectures upon a subject that interests them
little, and upon which they have no desire to be informed or instructed.
We see, then, a mark of a growing appreciation of architecture, both
among those who profess and practise the art and those who do not, in
these many meetings and many lectures, and we hail with pleasure the
progress so made and so being made.
Coinciding with this conies the feeling widely expressed and almost
universally responded to, that the examinations about to be inaugurated
should be so arranged and so worked as to stimulate and to test the
soundness of the professional eduerition of those who undergo them.
At present, knowledge is communicated solely in a disconnected
form, and although papers on isolated subjects are, perhaps, the most
interesting method which a society can adopt where the members meet
fin- mutually communicating to each other the results of their investiga-
tions or travels, and the various circumstances that have occurred to
them in their practice, it is (piite possible that the general public and
the students may soon call for another and a more systematic class of
instruction. Last session the Architectural Assofinlion Committee,
yielding to a very generally expressed wish, arranged a portion of their
papers so as to form a short course of elementary construction, and
found the experiment gave satisfaction. We would suggest it as a plan
worthy the attention of some of the other societies which have been in the
habit of providing a series of p.ipers on certain evenings, that these
papers should be on topics so arranged as to form a series or a kind of
short course upon some particular branch of architectural science ; or
else that some individual should be invited to deliver a short course in
place of a series of entirely isolated papers on entirely disconnected
subjects.
If the different societies, and especially the Institute, would promote
this system of short courses of lectures it would inaugurate that
systematic instruction which wo must have provided shortly, and for
which a paper, now on Assyrian art, and now on drainage, the next
week on bricks and tiles, and the week after on the painting of the
Parthenon, forms but an indillerent substitute. In how mauy other
professions do not the leading members, almost as a matter of course,
become teachers also ! And how striking the contrast between the
regular and officially recognised courses of lectures on law or medicine,
and the scattered, desultory and unsystematic mode of obtaining infor-
mation open to students of Architecture.
What we should like to see would be a weekly lecture, continued for
six or nine months in the year, easily accessible to all students and all
practising architects, to be delivered in courses of say, si.x or eight,
fewer or more, as was thought desirable, by the most prominent mem-
bers of the profession, on subjects with which they are known to be
especially conversant.
Suppose such an announcement were made as a series of courses ot
lectures on Classic art by Professor Donaldson or Professor Cockerell ;
on Gothic, by Mr. Scott or Mr. Street ; on Color, by Mr. Owen Jones
or Mr. Digby Wyatt : Oriental Art by Mr. Fergusson ; IMathematics
applied to Architecture, by Mr. Penrose, and so on : what an interest
would be excited ; what an attendance would be procured ; how much
good would be accomplished !
The gentlemen above named, and a very large number of other
accomplished members of tlie profession whom we have not named, are
all accessible ; all would probably be willing to aid any such comprehen-
sive scheme as the one we Iiave now sketched, and most of them would
endeavor, at least, to find the leisure.
In the mean time, cannot something be done in the next session ?
Various societies will be ere long arranginjr their programmes for the
next year, and will be sure to have a scries of " papers " or lectures
provided for. Cannot some of them take up our suggestion, and either
give us a series of papers from different authors on a connected chain
of subjects, or, better still, a short course of lectures on one subject,
and by one author ? The society which first sets this example AviU be
both securin" popularity for itself and inaugurating a new and a most •
beneficial order of things — an order which, sooner or later, must come.
The sooner the better.
580
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 12, 1861.
THE NEW FORKIGN OFFICE.
(COSTBIBl'TEI).)
IT has been often saiil ttmt truth issues Irom the conflict of opinions. We
only trust that a satistactory Foreign-office will be the result of tlie
" Battle of ttie Styles." Tlio discussion was fairly carried on in our own
pages, by men qualified to jjive opinions on the subject: it ended in each
p«rty thinking exactly as it did before it was begun. There was quite
enoagb of prejudice introduced by different partizans, but the combatants
were, at least, men educated in the subject, and tjey based their argu-
ments i;enerally u'H)n sound knowledge and acknowledged facts. The
•cene of the conflict was, on Monday last, removed to the House of Com-
maos, and a more amusing display of ignorance bedecked in high-sounding
phrases we hare seldom met with. The only sensible speaker seems to
hare been Mr. R Osborne, who promised, at the commencement of his
speech, that he would not say a word about architecture. The division on
Lord Elcho's motion showed, however, unmistakably the feeling of the
House. Ry a majority of 188 against 95 it was decided to adopt Mr.
Scott's Italian design. We may, therefore, assume the matter settled.
The debate was as worthless as any debate could possibly be, but it was,
nerertheless, so comical and contradictory a conglomeration that we give'
an abstract of it.
On motion being made for going into a Committee of Supply, Lord
Elcqo rose to move " That in the opinion of this House it is not desirable
that the new Foreign Office should be erected according to the Palladian
design now exhibited in a Committee room of the House." He asserted
that the building " was the special design of the Prime Minister himself, as
much so as any despatch that was ever written by a Foreign Office clerk
was the work of his noble friend at the head of the foreign department."
This was a good slice of flattery to start with. The "judicious " and
Tersatile Premier has, doubtless, prepared many designs; but now it would
appear that the twig in his lordship's lips shows an architectural bud,
and that Mr. Scott simply delineated its Palladian form. Lord Elcho then
recapitulated the whole history of the affair,— the competition; the setting
aside of the first prizemen; the commission to Mr. Pennethorne, and the
discontent which it occasioned; the appointment of the select committee;
the decision of Lord John Manners in favor of Mr. Scott and his Gothic
design ; the subsequent order to Mr. Scott for an Italian design ; and the
final alterations and amendments of it until the present time. With re-
gard to the arguments against Gothic, they had been summed up by the
honorable member for Urighton (Mr. Coningham),.the honorable member
for Bath (Mr. Tite), and Lord Palmerston, in the debate which took place
a few years ago. The honorable member for Brighton said that " Gothic
gave the minimum of accommodation with the maximum of cost— that it
gareno light and was barbarous in style; that it was ecclesiastical and
peculiar to a sect." Lord Elcho asked if it was peculiar to the sect of the
hon. member for South Durham (Mr. Pease, the Quaker), for that gentle-
man went to the Prime Minister with the deputation in favor of the
Gothic style. Lord Elcho then answered Mr. Tite's assertion respecting
the want of light and ventilation as instanced in the Committee rooms of
the Houses of Parliament, by saying that it was not fair to argue from
the abuse of Gothic against its use. The hon. member had also said
that the Foreign Office should agree with the genius loci, and the speaker
coofeited, as we do, that he hardly knew what that meant, unless it re-
fiarred to Montague House. Then bis noble friend had said that " he did
not know what Lombardo-Gothic meant," which we can well believe.
lord Elcho remarked that it was decidedly proved before the Committee,
«f which he was a member, that, as regarded the question of cost, there'
was little diflerence between the two styles; but upon the whole the esti-
mates for the Gothic were lower than those of the other designs
With regard to convenience it was shown that the Gothic could be
made as convenient as any other description of building; and with
regard to light, it was proved, not as a matter of theory, but by actual
measurement, that there was more light in Gothic buildings than
in all the buildings of London in the Palladian style." By the way, it is
worth noticing how all the speakers ran away with the notion that all
Italian Classical architecture is Palladian. He passed by the " ecclesias-
tical " objection, and referred to the Doge's Palace at Venice, and to the
Hospital at Milan, as examples of the employment of Gothic architecture
in secular buildings. He then combated the objection that Gothic was
foreign, as if that did not apply also to the Italian style. He did not wish
to pledge the House to any style, but before they sanctioned the expendi-
ture of half a million or a million of money he hoped hon. gentlemen
would go into the tea-room and see the plan of building on which it was
proposed to spend it. He bcUeved that it had been condemned by most of
^ote who had seen it, and the criticism passed upon it was, " that the
foreign Office of his noble friend was as faulty as his foreign policy was
mmiA. The division on the debate would lead us then to infer that only
tte Gothic champions had seen the drawing, for 188 members showed by
their votes that they approved of it. Lord Elcho then disposed of New Can-
non-street as a mean copy of originals abroad, condemned our street archi-
tecture, which was either " (/W/ incA or stucco," and then added that
Gothic architecture would enable us to use with advantage that material
which abounded in the neighbourhood of Undon," which he had just
characterised as dull brick." Continuing on his hobby, he asserted that
the London atmosphere was fatal to stone, but Gothic architecture enabled
"i^i,"'! *'*'?"*;r / *;^','''' "" '"PP^^e he means moulded brick-
and bricks m.xtd with Lngl.sh marbles and Aberdeen granite. We always
thought the employment of those materials was prevented by their ex-
^Tl' '."l" K""'"--^'"".'^'"'^'^'' in t;>assic building is seen in Pall-mall,
and motilded and cast bricks are aUo to be seen in the old London build-
ings. Gothic bmldings cannot dispense with that stone which Lord Elcho
decries, and certainly the Classic architects have been more ready than tlie
Gothic ones to use sound stone. " The popular taste," lie maintained,
" was in favor of Gothic." He compared the insurance office in Bridge-
street, Blackfriars, with the stucco fronts on either side of it— a compari-
son which the elder Pugin would have been delighted with, but which is,
nevertheless, as unfair as to contrast the Reform or Travellers' Club-
houses with a Gothic cement-covered Little Bethel.
Mr. C. BcxTON followed, seconding Lord Elcho's motion, and observed
that Mr. Scott's genius lay in Gothic not in Palladian, and he ought not
to be forced to a task contrary to the bent of his genius. The decisive
argument against the Palladian design was that it was fast losing its hold
on the affections of the people. Amongst the " 1,000 proofs of it," he re-
marked that "all the buildings lately erected both in London and Man-
chester were evidence of the struggle to get out of the Palladian style."
As to the " Palladian " style, they had never got into it, but if he means
Italian, the assertion is without a shadow of foundation. Lord Elcho him-
self had just referred to New Cannon-street. The Manchester buildings
are in precisely the same style, only better designed and more elaborately
carved. Mr. Buxton begged the noble lord to sacrifice his own preposes-
sions, but seemed steadfastly to adhere to his own.
Mr. CowPEK rose in reply and praised Mr. Scott's design. He, of course,
had heard contrary opinions respecting it to those which the Gothic
advocates had listened to. Illustrious architects and other persons com-
petent to form a judgment had told him that Mr. Scott's " Palladian
design," revised by the Premier and his trusty adjutant, the Presideut of
the Board of Public Works, " bore the palm over all buildings hitherto
erected in that style in this country." ("The self-complimentary phrase is
delicately introduced.) Mr. Cowper then resolved the question which was
the national style ? And pronounced in favor, strictly speaking, of
Stonehenge ; but the' style we were generally accustomed to erect our
buildings in was the Italian or horizontal style. He then assumed, not-
withstanding the conclusion of the before-mentioned Committee, that style
to unite the greatest number of conveniencies and the greatest econoiny.
He then considered the question of association. "It was an advantage to
have a building so built that persons should know from looking at it what
was the purpose for which it was intended." Would not this advantage
more clearly be attained by writing the purpose in plain English upon it ?
And is it clear that Italian buildings in this country effect this object ex-
clusively ? Could any one tell what Somerset House was intended for
by looking at it ? Would any one conjecture that Buckingham Palace
was intended for the residence of the Sovereign of the richest nation in
the world ? If an utter stranger were asked to indicate the dwelling
place of the first Power in the realm, would he not point unmistakably
to the abused Gothic Houses of Parliament ? The House was then treated
to a specimen of Mr. Cowper's historical erudition, which certainly is on
a par with his architectural knowledge. " Churches for this reason were
built in the Pointed style. It was natural that in the erection of the
Houses of Parliament, a style should be chosen connected with the period
when this House first acquired its liberties." We never heard before that
that period was the reign of Henry VII., and cannot understand why this
House should have such consideration shown it. " There was no reason,"
he urged, " why the Foreign Office should be associated with past times,
it should be connected with the present," and this is spoken in support of
its being clothed with the architecture of Palladio, who lived and practised
300 years ago ! "Another material object must be to make a new build-
ing well grouped with the buildings in its neighborhood. The Foreign
Office was to be in connexion with Italian buildings. If any one traversed
the town from north to south, in passing through Regent-street or
Belgravia by Charing-cross down to Parliament-street, he would find
nothing but Italian buildings and the Foreign Office, the culminating point
of the whole, ought to harmonise with the rest." It would hardly any way
" group " with the buildings in Belgravia or Regent-street, but suppose
any one traversed the district from south to north by the Parliament
houses, Westminster Abbey, the Westminster Memorial, and the group of
Gothic buildings beside it, what style should the harmonising, culminating
point be in then ? The argument is worth nothing, but is equally power-
ful from both points of view. The new Foreign Office would be more
likely to group with the towers of the new Houses than with the chimney
stacks in Belgravia or the Regent-street shops. Mr. Cowper then imder-
took to say that for one person who took delight in a Gothic building, there
were twenty who derived greater pleasure from an Italian building, and
he referred to the example of Paris to show the estimation in which the
Italian style was held at the present day. On looking over the water we find
one man, for an idea altogether apart from giving pleasure to the beholders,
setting his architects to work in the style they have studied.
Mr. Layard said it appeared strange that, in this nineteenth century,
this country should have made such little progress in the styles of archi-
tecture. The architects seem to desire to follow all the styles which had
gone before, rather than design anything approaching what was new.
Relieved of this " oft-told tale," which applies equally well to all other
men, even Reformers and Metropolitan members, he attacked the Houses
of Sir C. Barry, for their hideous forms of lions and unicorns, and then, to
show his impartiality, attacked the Classic style becau.se " it was sur-
rounded by colonnades which wholly excluded the light of the sun." He
objected to the Palladian style, because it was mean, monotonous, and un-
suitable to the streets of London, and because it could not be carried out
as it ought to be, and he referred to Paris against the style. The new
public buildings at Hamburg, and the Town Hall of Cremona, were, he
considered, the finest buildings of modern times. He preferred the Gothic
design of Mr. Scott, and recommended that the matter should be referred
July 12, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
581
to members of the House who understood the matter. " That wliich was
most required was color, and tlie diflerent quarries of the country would
afford abundant materials from wliich a fine and beautiful building could
be erected — one which would satisfy the House and the country."
Mr. TiTE, the President of the Institute of British Architects, imme-
diately ridiculed the notion of introducing color into Gothic building. It
was about the most monstrous proposition he had ever heard in connection
with Gothic architecture, and he "challenged the hon. member to point
out any' Gothic building of repute in which one particle of color was
to be found." This, certainly, is about tlie most easily answered
challenge wliich we ever heard given. We should have thought there
must be some misprint about it, but that similar inaccurate statements
follow it ; for instance, Mr. Kuskin is quoted in favor of the Italian
style — of the "pestilent Renaissance;" "the entire of the terra-
cotta work of Milan was devoted to the Palladian style of architecture."
Mr. Tite considered his friend Mr. Scott was quite as mucli distinguished
in Italian as in Gothic designs; indeed, any well-informed architect ought
to succeed as well in one style as another. (The Scotch Church in Regent-
square is, we suppose, equal to the Royal Exchange, and vice versa.) In
his opinion, Sir Charles Barry had accomplished in the building of that
house all that the most gifted architect could do, regard being had to the
style in wliich he had to work. In the year 1858, a deputation — our
readers scarcely need to be reminded of the fact — of the most eminent
architects, including Mr. Smirke, Mr. Cockerell, and many others, fthe
hon. member should not have omitted mention[of himself), waited upon the
noble lord at the head of the Government, and expressed to him their
obligation for his determination against the carrying out of the Gothic
plan for the Foreign Office. Sir Charles Barry said the plan ought not
to be adopted. Of the 208 designs submitted in competition only 15 were
in the Gothic style, and all the first prizes were awarded to Italian styles
of architecture. Mr. Tite did Jiot add that out of seven premiums four
were awarded to Gothic designs.
Lord John Manners reminded the House that Mr. Tite had been a
member of the Select Committee which sat on this question three years
ago, and which decided that there was no material difference in the two
styles, either as regards cheapness, commodiousness of arrangement and
ventilation, and yet the hon. member now rejected the Gothic because it
was inconvenient, and would not admit sufficient light. The hon. member
himself had said that he could arrange Gothic windows so as to admit
any required quantity of light, and surely Mr. Scott could do the same.
He then recapitulated the circumstances attending Mr. Scott's appoint-
ment, which Lord Palmorston had at first cavilled at, but eventually
accepted. What, then, he asked, was the necessary inference from Mr.
Scott's appointment ? Mr. Scott was the greatest Gothic architect in
Europe, and was it to be supposed that in a great public building like the
Poreign Office, he was not to have full powers for .the development of his
talent. But, no; the noble lord would bind Mr. Scott to a particular plan
which found favor in his eyes. " If they looked down the river, it was
not the Italian elevation of Somerset House that attracted public attention,
but the high-pitched roof of the new library at the Temple." lie instanced
splendid Gothic pubiic buildings in Manchester, in Northampton— where the
design was adopted on the recommendation of Mr. Tite himself —in Scot-
land, in Hamburg, and other parts, to show that the taste for that style
was not disappearing, and concluded by reminding Government that Lord
Llanover had distinctly stated, when the competition took place, that
Government had no bias, and that all styles would have a fair field and no
favor. Since then they had had a declaration from the noble lord which
led them to infer that he did not intend to have a Gothic building. He
appealed to the noble lord to show that Lord Llanover was justified in his
pledge by permitting the House of Commons to come to a decision without
any pressure, and without making the point a party question.
Mr. B. OsBORXE reverted to the old story of buildings exceedingtheflrst
estimates, and suggested that both the Palmerstonian and the Scott plan
should be rejected, the question re-opened, and the building given to the
man who gained the first premium. They were the worst building com-
mittee in the world, he said, and they stood disgraced in the eyes of Europe
as men of business.
Lord Pal,mei!ston, jaunty in the consciousness of an approaching success-
ful division, then closed the debate, exalting the " Battle of the Stvles "
over all others hitherto recorded. His impartial opinion was that the
Gothic had been entirely defeated. He explained the reasons for appoint-
ing Mr. Scott to prepare a Classic design. Lord John Manners had
appointed Mr. Scott as architect, superseding those who had won the
highest prizes, merely because he was versed in Gothic architecture. He
(Lord Palmerston), accepted the appointment, out of deference to Mr.
Scott's vested claims, but he did not think he was bound to accept the
style as well as the architect of the noble lord. Lord John Manners had
laid great stress upon what he asserted to be the prevailing taste, as ex-
emplified by the practice of the country, and had mentioned large towns,
but Iiad forgotten that some of the noblest edifices in those large towns
were in the Italian style. He mentioned Manchester, but made no mention
of the Free Trade-hall. He spoke of Leeds, but he forgot the greatest
ornament of the town in the Italian style. They were indications of what
the tastes and opinions of the people were. The noble lord went further,
and wanted to saddle upon Edinburgh the imputation of having been con-
verted to the Gothic style. He called upon every Scotch member to hy
whether that was not a libel on the taste of the community. It is said that
the Italian— he would not call it the Palladian but the Roman-classical—
style is not national. He had not heard of the Goths, Vandals or Saracens
awng much in this country, but the Romans having been here for a con-
siderable number of years, had a better claim to have established a style of
architecture than those who never came here at all. He would go further
and say that the real aboriginal architecture of this country wag
mud huts and wicker wigwams. When they are asked what is the
national style, ho might very reasonably ask the question upon
which it must very much depend, namely, who have been the most
distinguished architects of the country, and what stylo did they
practice ? They were Vanbrugh, Christopher Wren, Inigo Jones — great
men who have erected buildings which excite admiration to the present
day. The reasons for the castellated style had ceased to exist, and it
might therefore be dismissed with all its inconveniences. His noble friend
had invited him to take a morning ride through London to test the public
taste. That is as if a gentleman should drive through the streets of Rome
and seeing a number of children with arms dislocated and legs out of joint
exhibited as beggars for the profit of their parents should say, " These are
the tastes and habits of the Itoman people," forgetting all the while the
many stout, well-conditioned, able-bodied men he may have met, and should
say "Let us make our children like the people of Rome, for these are the
tastes of the Roman people." Lord Palmerston then quoted a saying of
Canova, that " if London were only widened it would be a paradise," and
added that his noble friend would make it a real something else by the
gloominess he would cast over all the streets. With regard to the
plans, he certainly objected to the first plan of Mr. Scott as being Gothic.
Gothic architecture was fit for churches and for buildings of certain kinds,
but he held that it was totally unfit for street architecture. Theu Mr.
Scott brought him a plan which appeared to be Gothic in disguise ; and
afterwards he brought him another which appeared to be a mixture of
Saracenic and Byzantine, upon which he said " Really Mr. Scott, you are
quite capable of excelling in any style ; do, for heaven's sake, go and bring
me something in the Italian style." He did, and it had been admired by
the best judges. Lord Palmerston did not pretend to be a judge of the
scientific merits .'of architecture, but it seemed to him a very beautiful
plan, and one which combined great beauty and ornament, with modera-
tion in expense.
The House then divided, when there appeared —
For Lord Elcho's motion • 95
Against it 188—93.
The House then went into Committee of Supply, and on the vote of
X30,000 towards the expenses of the New Foreign Office, it was elicited
that the £30,000 would cover the expense of the present year. The whole
estimate was £200,000.
Lord R. Cecil asked whether Government would name a sum beyt)nd
which they would not go.
Mr. CovvPER said that in the building of the Houses of Parliament Sir
C. Barry was not only, without any special control, but without a contract
in the coirse of the building, and, as time went on, the plan was altered
and enlarged, so that more money had to be expended. Ho proposed now
to have correct plans and specifications, to put them out to tender, and to
obtain a contract founded upon those tenders. The sura so contracted for
could only be exceeded if there was a departure from the plan contracted
for, and that could only be done on the responsibility of the person who
filled the office he then held.
In answer to other members, Mr. Cowpek said the £200,000 included
only the Foreign Office, and had nothing to do with the Colonial and
India Offices. The estimated cost of the Gothic building was £232,000.
Lord John Russell said the internal arrangements had been very much
considered. It had been decided that it wouid be unnecessary to provide
sleeping accommodation for the Secretary of State and his family.
Mr. Daxbt Seymohk said everybody condemned both plans. He thought
the plan which cost the least money was the best, because no plan of great
beauty had been laid before the House. Mr. Pennethonie had proposed
to erect a building for half the money asked by Mr. Scott, and he wanted
to know why that offer should not be accepted.
Lord Palmekston said that it was impossible for the ingenuity of man
to invent anything which could not be criticised. The elevation was now
assumed to be decided upon. It was not as ornamented as the elevations
of the other plans, but although it might not be very magnificent or
splendid, it would be handsome enough ifor the purpose. The House
could not form an opinion upon the working drawings and the distribu-
tion of the interior of the building. The House of Commons would not
have to live in the Foreign Office and those who would have to live in it
had informed Mr. Scott of the accommodation which would be required.
Sir H. WiLLOUGiiBY wanted to know how much the arcliitect would get
for his labor.
Mr. CowpER said that the total estimate for the works was £200,000
which did not include the sum for the purchase of the land. The estimate
referred to of Mr. Pennethorne was for a different work — for a building
which would have been totally inadequate for a Foreign Office. He hoped
the House would not waste another year in these useless discussions.
The only promise he would make was that the contracts should be asked
for on the complete plans, so that the estimates should not be increased
afterwards. The architect would receive the ordinary commission on the
cost of the work. A portion of the land which formed the site formerly
belonged to the Woods and Forests Department, but an arrangement was
come to whereby an exchange of property took place between the Board of
Works and the Woods and Forests, and under the arrangement the ^hole
site was now vested in the Board of Works.
On the question being put, a division was called for, but the vote was
agreed to without its taking place.
582
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 12, 1 861.
THE GREAT FOREIGN OFFICE DEBATF;.
OUR readers may see in the Times of Tuesday last a Parliamentary
debate, filling more than seven mortal columns of that paper, on the
rexed subject of the architecture of the New Foreign Office. In that
debate, to apply the language of the Times' leader on the subject, " the
Battle of the Styles was fought and decided ;" and the Uouse of Commons
gave its sanction, by a majority of 188 to 95, to the erection of a structure
in the Palladian style, by Mr. Scott, the eminent Gothic architect. The
Titus, true to its traditions, now that the matter is settled, concurs in tlie
conclusion to which the House arrived; assuring us that it was the only
reasonable course; but it delivers itself at the same time of the following
■eotiment, in which, as it but expresses the opinion we have often uttered,
we heartily agree —
Wlut wc really mosi regret is that, even Palladian U not allowed tlio common
jastiee of a true' and g«naiuc disciple. Wc pnt no faith ia men who work agaluet
the gnln ; or, who ** look one way and row another. ' '
This is really the whole gist of the matter; and, during the lengthened
debate on the xtyle of architecture, it is surprisijlg that the advocates of
Gothic did not more forcibly impress it upon the House, instead of wasting
its time in enunciating very sorry arguments and sorrier jokes against
the use of the Palladian style at all. It was only on the House going into
Committee of Supply, and being asked to grant £30,000 to be expended on
the new building — or rather on the expenses connected with its erection —
that one honorable member, Mr. H. Seymour, sought to urge this view
upon his fellow-senators. Tiiis gentleman put forth a somewhat startling
proposition: be said,
"If they knew they were in the hands of a qreat architectural genius— some Sir
Christopher Wren, who would produce a work, that would be a credit to the country
and the age — they might leave him to expeud the public money with soniethlng like
confidence ; but. everybody condemned the plan (elevation ?) ; and the only reason
that was ffiven for proeeeaing with it was, that they were tied hand and foot to Mr.
Scott. AVhy did they not pay Mr. Scott a sum of money for his trouble, and then
procure a proper plan for the erection of a building, that might be v/orthy of the
cotmuy?"
This proposition of Mr. Seymour's was at once turned into a joke by
the facetious Premier, who followed the speaker ; and indeecl it was (in a
pecuniary sense) at) impracticable one. Mr. Scott, after all the trouble
and expense he has been put to, would natural!}' have produced under the
circumstaiii;es suggested a document of even less satisfactory character
than that of the Palladian drawing commented on— a bill of most pelican-
like proportions — and the thing was not to be thought of.
So the vote was taken, the Scoto-Palladian facades are to be realised,
and the Times gives the coup de grace to the discomfited Gothicists by
assuring Mr. Bull that, the decision could liarJly have been otherwise, that
"Parliament could onlj- judge by facts, and the facts are for Italian;"
winding up with this cruel kick at the dead Gothic lion, which has so long
and with such tenacity stood in the path of the jaunty Prime Minister.
" ^Vhere U the ((iothic) museum, or the town-ball, or the library, or the concert-
room, that can l)c pointed to with satisfaction as a good and safe model for imitation ?
There is hardly puch a thintr at all, be it gtwd or bad ; and such examples as we have
are generally childish in their ornament!, straitened as to space, ill-lighted, ill-
ventilated, and generally ill-arranged. The adherents of Gothic are always proving
(and that with perfect tiucce^s) that their style admits of every quality claimed for
Palladian. A Gothic building can be aa well lighted, as spacious, as airy, as well
arranged and as comfortable as another they say ; and then they produce measure-
ments of window-space, area and elevation, llut, if it caw be so, why is it not ?
There must be ■omeibin;; singularly perverse and vicious in a style, which can do all
we want, and which never rfoes it by any chance."
For our own part we very deeply deplore the result of this long and
bitter controversy. We care not in what style the Foreign Office is to be
erected. We cannot certainly go so far as the honorable member
for Bath, or, as he ought to be rather designated in these pages, the
President of the Institute of Architects, and aver that —
"An architect, who w»» well informed In the pursuit he embraced might, without
any great difBcuIty, succeed In one style as easily as in another C'
bnt we believe that, whichever of the two styles had been decided on, there
are architects well capable of giving us Mr. Seymour's desideratum, " A
building worthy of the country." What we really lament is the squeezinij
of the sr/uare man into the round hole, which Lord Palmerston and Lorii
John Manners, between them, have now succeeded in doing. We altogether
deny Mr. Tite's assertion in the course of this debate that, " Mr. Scott had
as much distinguished himself by Italian as by Gothic designs." If tliere
is a Gothic architect par excellence in this country it is Mr. Scott ; and wo
deny that any artist, who has spent his youth, his adolescence and his
mature manhood, as Mr. Scott is known to have done, in the exclusive
study and practice of Gothic architecture, is capable of all at once giving
us the best version to lie had of the Palladian style ; a style on which the
most famous English architects, Jones, Wren, Hawksnioor, Vanbrugh,
Chambers, Gibbs. Gandmi, and Barry, have already labored with acknow-
ledged success. We draw no invidious comparisons between Mr. Scott and
these great architects, who have gone before him. The chances are that he
himself will hereafter occupy a high place amongst these worthies ; but
we should greatly doubt whether the new Foreign ()ffl"e will add much to
such chances. Well would it have been for this gentleman, and well for
the bnilding, if Mr. Seymour's snggestion had been carried out, and my
lord Palmerston had Ix^n enabled to lay his hand on the right and round
man to insert him in the right and unhappily rmtnd place which he persists
in eiUblishing for the square though squeezable Mr. Scott. The whole
business is a thorough Government bungle from beginning to end. It will
be hereafter cited as a convincing proof of the evils of public competition ;
whereas here has been nothing but an obstinate abuse of the competition
pniiciple from the very beginning; Mr. Scott having been by Lord Derby's
coadjutor, Lord John Manners, thrust forward from the third to the fore-
most rank, with a right arrogant disregard of his compeers of Westmmster
H.all ; and this simply because he was a Gothic architect, and because cer-
tain Medievalists in high places were determined to make the construction
of this edifice a grand experiment for the popularising of Gothic architec-
ture for secular purposes. We see now what it has all come to. Tlic Goths
have had the fullest fair-play in our pages — in fact nearly all " the tjilk "
has been on tlieir side— looking at tliis debate in the Commons, we can
scarcely say we feel sorry for them ; but we do feel sorry for their stalk-
ing horse, Mr. Scott, and for Mr. .John Bull, wiio, after all the talk and all
the expenditure, will fail to get, what he wants for his, money— a good
Foreign Office,
With respect to the debate itself— the arcliitectural Parliamentary
debate — it was calculated in every way to make us as Englishmen look
wondrously small in the eyes of foreigners. The Gothicists and the Gives
/fomniii (as we suppose we must call Lord Palmerston "s Palladians— or
paladins) appear to have striven neck or nothing against each other, to
see who could best bespatter with spiteful ridicule " the enemy's " style of
architecture ; and here is a specimen of the style of debate.
Lord Elcho, advocating the Gothic style, describes what lie and a lively
party of perambulating Goths saw in an architectural tour about London.
They saw an insurance oflice near lilackfriars'-bridge, v.-hich was, he thought, a
happy illustration of what he (the noble Lord) had advocated. It was built in a stylo
which his noble friend abused, and on the ri-^lit and left of it were two stucco fronted
houses in the Italian style. I'lmtograplis Imd been made of them (!) which he sup-
posed might be bought ; and wliieli described the house on one side as " l'almci"8ton
ornate " and on the other " Palmerston pure." The middle was desiijiiated as " What
Ijoudon would be if Lord I'almerston would allow it." (The pliotogi'iphic cnf^xav-
ing was then handed up the Treasury bench for theinspectionoftheuobieS'iscount ;
and a similar engraving found tt.s way to the opposition benches.)
Nothing could well be more puerile than this. Tlie insurance olHce
alluded to is well known to be a costly edifice of stone and polished
granites, recently built from the designs of the arcliitects of the Oxford
Museum (Sir Thomas Deane and the late Mr. Woodward). It has always
been put forth as a choice examplar of Gothic street architecture ; and
for our own part we consider the comparison instituted between this pet
structure and the two ordinary town houses adjoining it (built most likely
sans architect by some wretched speculating builder), a very weak argu-
ment indeed on the part of these same Gothic peripatetic photographers.
It is worse than the most vicious of all Welby Pngin's famous
" Contrasts."
Wc advise our own readers to turn to this Foreign Office debate, some
of the speeches of which are truly amusing. Mr. Buxton declared that
uniformity being the soul of Classic architecture, "naturally it palled at
last on the eye," uttering the shibboleth of his party — lopsidedness must
be necessarily meritorious; uniformity, or equal halvcd>icss,iuust be detest-
able. We have thought somewhat on the matter, and don't quite see it,
Mr. Buxton. Mr. Layard on the other hand told the assembled senators —
That house moreover swarmed witli hideous and grotesque monsters, which,
though called lions and unicorns, resembled nothiug so much as the gorillas lately
discovered on the West coast of Africa. He believed these frightful animals had
even crept into the apartments occupied by the i?peaker.
But perhaps the richest nwrceau in the whole debate was a portion of
the speech of the First Lord of the Treasury himself, who thus alludes to
his interviews with Mr. Scott.
Then Mr. Scott brougiit me an amended style (?) which .appeared to me Gothic in
disguise, with pointed irinilotrs rounded at tlie ton— (A lau'^li) ; and then hebrought
me another stj/Ie, Saracenic or P.yzantine. I said then, " I know yon are capable of
excellintr in any style; now, do for Heaven's sake go and bring me an Italian ttyle !"
Mr. Scott did hrinf/ me an Italian style, &c., &c., &c.
Shade of Mecajnas, here's a set of instructions for an architect, issued
by a prime minister ! We decline to invoke " Heaven" in the mess, but
we wish Mr. Scott, and we heartily wish Mr. Bull, the paymaster, joy of
the result of the great Foreign Office Controversy.
FALL OF A HOUSE.— TWO CHILDREN KILLED.
ON Friday evening last, shortly before six o'clock, a lamentable accident oc-
curred in Lloyd-strcet, Cross-street, Manchester, by which two lives have
been lost, and many persons have received severe injuries. Fronting to Lloyd-
street there is a large block of old dwelling-houses which are being cleared away
to provide a site on which warehouses are to be erected. The buildings are
numbered in that street from 2 to 28 inclusive ; and are bounded by what is
called " the Mount " on the south, and by a passage running from Lloyd-street
to the Mount on the west, and by Tanner's-court on the east. On Wednesday
last the building materials attaclied to these hou-ses, the bricks and iead excepted,
were sold by auction. On Friday a number of workmen had been engaged
throughout the day in removing the window frames, doors, cupboards, &c., and
ill entirely dismantling the buildings of the articles whicli had been sold. Most
of the men had left their work, and a number of persons, principally children ot
a tender ngc, had entered the houses with a view of picking up chip.s, &c. There
was no hoHrciing in front of the houses, and access to them was very easy even to
children. Several of them were congregated in an upper room of the house last but
one of those fronting Lloyd-street, when, it is supposed from the loosening of
the supports consequent on the removal of some of the fixtures, the ceiling gave
way, and, together with the roof and beams, fell upon them with aloud crash.
Assistance was soon at hand, and some of the men who had been working on the
buildings were promptly on the spot, togctlicr with a body of police under the
coniinaud of Mr. Superintendent Gee, and some of the Fire Brigade. The work-
men entered the room where the unfortunate children lay buried in the ruins,
and used strenuous exertions to rescue them. Two were found quite dead, and
others had only escaped heine killed by almost a miracle. The dead were re-
moved to the adjoining liouses and the injured (five in number) to the Infirmary.
All the children were from the immediate neighbourhood. Some women who had
come to the building to look after their children, as they stated, also received
severe cuts and contusions from the fulling slates.
July 12, lS6l.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
583
THE FINE AIITS SEEN FROM A NEW POINT OF VIEW.*
No. 14. — Modern German Art — continved.
THE Piiiacothck, or picture gallery, was commenced in 182C. It presents
Cinqne-cento elements, modified by the study of Frencli works. The
plan, in the form of the letter I, deserves commendation ; and there praise
must stop. With respect to the antefixae, the defect before named is
repeated; for, notwithstanding the lapse of six years, Klenze had not
learned how to copy such ordinary details. There is something pleasing
in the unbroken line of cornice on the central part; but the Ionic portico does
not harmonise with the rest of the composition ; and the ensemble is poor
and insipid, " a cold version of Palladianism,'" that many tyros could
manufacture. There is certainly some novelty in the interiors of the
Glyptothek and the Pinacothek ; but the decorations are reproductions of
hackneyed Greek, Koman, or Raphaelesque types ; and the coloring is
executed with inferior knowledge of appropriate contrast.
The conception of nature exhibited in Greek and Koman edifices was all
in all to Klenze; and the ancient examples are reproduced in a manner
which recalls his notion of Gothic architecture as characterised by
"stupendous littleness," a quality evidenced in his own productions
in that style. The leaves and flowers of his father- land were discarded
as unworthy the notice of such a genius. Absolute vulgarity was
avoided; the profiles of mouldings were carefully drawn; and chasteness
of effect was souglit, but rarely fully attained. In eclectic originality and
artistic feeling, Schinkel is far superior to Klenze; but neither recasted
the (lebrix of antiquity in his own mind, and engrafted on it new features
truly reflective of the undeveloped polity of the age.
Friedrich von Giirtner (1792 — 1847) was born at Coblenz, and, like
other German architects, went to Paris, studying under Percier. In 1814
he visited Italy, remaining there four years. His work entitled " Views of
the best preserved Greek Monuments of Sicily, with Explanatory Text,"
appeared in 1819, the year he came to England. This books seems to
have completed his qualifications for the chair of architecture in the
Munich Academy, which he obtained in 1820. Two years afterwards he
was director of a porcelain manufactory, where he effected some improve-
ments, besides assisting in the revival of glass painting. Ultimately,
architectural practice absorbed his attention.
While Schinkel and Klenze adhered chiefly to the Greek, Roman and
Cinque-cento, Giirtner preferred the Byzantine, Lombard and Quattro-
cento developments of architecture. He failed, however, in advancing on
these types. The exterior of the Bibliothck, like that of the University
at Munich, is merely a reproduction of the Florentine style, as represented
by the Ricardi, Strozzi and Pitti Palaces, with some happy combinations
in the interior. The staircase is well contrived ; and the capitals of the
columns, and other carved decorations, are worthy of observation.
The Ludwigs-Kirche, or church of St. Lewis, at Munich, is based on the
Byzantine style : it cost £73,128, and has attracted considerable notice.
So far as relates to suitability to the requirements of the service, the
plan puts to shame the churches of those narrow worshippers of precedent
the modern English Medievalists. Considering the little attention pre-
viously given^to the[style andthe slight opportunitiesfor its study by means
of books, the architecture of the Ludwigs-Kirche certainly reflects some
credit on Gartner. The interior, far superior to the exterior, is adorned
with frescoe.s by Cornelius, and is elaborately coloured and diapered, with-
out, however, obviating a peculiar hardness of effect, the result of not
sufficiently tempering angular details with curved forms. In oriKinality it
is very deficient, although superior to the splendid basilica of St. Bonifacius
by Zeibland. The Pompeian house at Aschaffenburg, the Sieges Thor
(finished by Metzger) at Munich, and the Koyal Palace at Athens are too
copyistic for criticism.
Of the sculptors flourishing in the latter portion of the last and in the
present century, Dannecker, the Dane Thorwaldsen, the Schadows,
Schwanthaler, the head of the Munich, and Ranch, the head of the Berlin
school, may be named. There is much delicacy and natural truth in
Dannecker's productions, however they may be deficient in vigor ; his
Ariadne on the Leopard is well-known in this country from reproductions.
Thorwaldsen stands in the first rank of modern sculptors, excelling
Canova in elevation, purity and exemption from the thraldom of the
antique; but he is often poor, unrefined and wanting in thought and
feeling. The elder Schadow sometimes put on and sometimes almost dis-
carded the fetters of Classic art; and he was long deemeil the father of
German sculpture: his son's " Filatrice, or Spinning Girl," has been much
admired. Schwanthaler and Kauch have obtained high reputations; but
neither has suflnciently disregarded archaic precedents to permit of direct
inspiration from nature— however it may be copied — and the display
of genuine power of intellect. I have already mentioned the statue
of Bavaria by the first: the monument to Frederick the Great, at Berlin,
was sculptured by the second; the architecture being by Schinkel in the
Classic manner.
In the early j)art of the present century Medieval antiquities began to
attract great attention in Germany. They were not, however, regarded
as interesting subjects for philosophical inquiry. It seems that, in these
days, it is very diflicult for artists to look back without yoing back. An
attempt was made to revive the arts of the Middle Ages as representatives
of modern requirements. For this retrograde movement Sulpiz Boisser;te
(b. 1783), more than any other man, is answerable. But it was also due
to political causes. Napoleon had made sad havoc with German nation-
ality. Cathedrals and churches were desecrated, and works of art dispersed.
• The right of rcpnbllc.-,tian acd translation of this feries of articles is reserved by
I lie author. '
In recovering these the Germans formed collections, which were treasured
as mementoes of the glories of their father-land. Thus contemplated and
entwined with the struggle for liberty, defects were overlooked. Even
the superstition embodied in the old paintings was regarded, first with
indulgence, next with sympathy. Ultimately, painters sought to infuse
into their works the characteristics of the early masters. Thus prc-
Raphaclitism arose.
In 1803 Sulpiz Boisserec, Melchoir Boisseree and a common friend, Jean
• Baptiste Bertram, conceived the idea of forming a collection of ancient
German paintings. They travelled in various directions, and brought
together their acquisitions at Cologne in 1814, when the Rhenish provinces
were emancipated from the yoke of France. The pictures were afterwards
transferred to Stuttgard, placed in a building provided by the King of
Wurtemburg, and called the " Boisserfe Collection." They were ranged
in three sections : — The Cologne school of the fourteenth century; the pro-
ductions of John van Eycke and his school in the early portion of the
fifteenth century ; and paintings of the latter part of the fifteenth and
early portion of the sixteenth century. Thus, a regular historical scries,
up to the period of the Italianisation of German painting, before named,
was formed, offering peculiar facilities for the projected Gothic revival.
It was purchased in 1827, by Ludwig I. of Bavaria, for £12,350. The
three collectors then removed to Munich ; and in 1835 we find Sulpiz
Boisseree conservator of works of plastic art. Following the example set
on so large a scale, many private collections of Medieval paintings were
formed.
Sulpiz Boisseree did not, however, confine his attention to painting.
With his predilections, it was impossible to gaze with indifference on the
splendid cathedral in his native town of Cologne, in which the beauties of
Gothic architecture were said to be concentrated, and from which the archi-
tects of 50 manj' countries have derived inspiration. Commenced about 1270,
the choir was virtually completed in 1322. The north aisles were erected
to their full altitude; the south aisles had paused half-way in their upward
course ; the southern tower had attained the height of 170 feet ; while
the northern tower had risen but little above the surface of the ground,
when, owing to the contentions of the times, the works were stopped.
For nearly five centuries the soaring structure stood " a broken promise
to God," wasting away, inch by inch, as the ages advanced ; a mine of
plunder for its own Chapter, or a barrack for Napoleon's soldiery ; the
burghers around being congratulated by the French bishop Bertholet on
their " fine ruin," while totally indifferent to its preservation.
But there was soon a revulsion of feeling ; and the honor,
not merely of Cologne, but of Germany, was to be involved in the com-
pletion of the work which the old men had so marvellously begun. To
Boisseree is this consummation mainly due. In 1810 he alluded plaintively
to the restoration of the cathedral as only possible "under the special
favor of a mighty prince, and the auspices of a long and happy peace."
But he never ceased to hope for the realisation of the dream of his heart.
In 1814 the original design of the portal and north tower was discovered
at an inn at Darmstadt ; and, ultimately, other drawings were found,
including one of the southern tower, which came to light in Paris, in 1816.
These Boisseree procured ; and, having measured the executed parts of
the cathedral, he published, in 1823, the first instalmentof details, together
with an historical notice of the works, and proposing their continuation.
This book attracted the attention of German antiquaries and art-patrons.
The apathy of the people of Cologne was dissipated. They were seized
with compunction on the fall of an old crane, which had been for ages a
familiar object on the summit of the south tower. However then prac-
tically useless, a new crane — the first step towards restoration — was
erected ; this fact being deemed so important than an account of the town
was dated " 1820, the year after the erection of the new crane upon the
tower of the cathedral." The excitement at Cologne increased rapidly ;
and a tax was levied. Religious differences were forgotten, and nearly all
Germany aided the work of restoration. In 1824 some repairs were com-
menced; the Crown Prince of Prussia became deeply interested in the
work ; ultimately, when king, he laid, in 1842, the second foundation
stone of the edifice ; Zwirner was appointed Domhau-meister; and the
vision of Boisseree is approaching realisation.*
Medievalism now contended with Classicism for the mastery in art.
Cologne Cathedral was called by Boisseree " the canon of German architec-
tural law." Overbeck, Vogel, and other painters, disgusted with the
" allegorical sentimentalities and mythological pomposities " of the late
Italian scheol of painting, hitlierto deemed the model of perfection, were
expelled from the Academy of Vienna. But they abandoned one absurdity
only to devote themselves to another much more hurtful. "They
deliberately sat down and said, we will be like unto Raphael, Perugino. Fra
Angelico, and Albert Durer; we will do in all tilings as they did, we \rill
work as they worked, we will live as they lived, and we will believe as
they believed." "They draped their figures like Fiesole, and studied
postures like Perugino, and put in backgrounds like Raphael, and etched
their subjects like Albert Durer; and they were very admirable imitators,
but they were nothing more. Nor could they be.t Yet these men were
not mad: their state was simply one of ecstacy, in which the exercise of
natural thought and common sense was impossible. At twenty years of
age Overbeck rushed to Rome, and, in conjunction with Veit, Schadow,
and Cornelius, proclaimed the above change in art. These fanatics so
loved the peculiar manifestation of piety in the works of the Gothic and
early Italian painters as to be quite unable to perceive that their spirit of
* Compare the Qtmrterlji Review^ No. clvl.
t The Quarterly ifeweio. No. div.
584
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 12, 1861.
mysticism and superstition was uusuited to Modernism. As the writer
just quoted observes:— "It is easy to depict virgins, siiints, and martyrs,
witli folded palms and downcast eyes, with gold glories round their heads,
and little stiff sprigs at their feet. It is easy to denude them of all earthly
expression whatsoever, which these artists most successfully do ; but to
-clothe them with a spiritual one, tliat is another thing, though they are
occasionally confounded with each other." But the new school was highly
successful. It was powerfully aided by the Boisseroe and other collec-
tions; and in 1819 an exhibition of German paintings took place at Rome.
Glaring technical and otiier defects in the new paintings with which the
prototypes abounded were igUDred, and the modern pre-Uaplmelites' formal,
hard, crude pro luctions— destitute of the genuine spirit of the originals,
and, a.<i not embodying that of Modvrnism, violently unnatural — gratified
the siekly sentimentalists, who saw no inconsistency in the efibrt virtually
to revert the course of civilisation. The visit to liome of the Crown
Prince of Bavaria in 1823, accompanied by Klenze, when the artists hailed
him as their future Pericles, and gave a festival iu his honor, was one of
much importance ; in fact, prompting the ultimate artistic activity at
Mnnich. Cornelius found ample employment in that city in pitinting
in fresco the edifices which Kleiize designed; and, soon after Ludwig
ascended the throne in 1825, we find Vogel and Schadow respectively
directors of the Dresden and DUsseldorf Academies, and Veit occupying
a similar position in the Siitdel Institution at Frankfort, each founding
distinctive schools. Gotlie, the Schlegels, and other literati, promoted by
their writings the Medieval manner.
Now to what did all this naturally lead: — to progression? I have
always considered the Reformation, not in a narrow sectarian light, but as
an epoch of advance in the history of humanity when Catholicism had
become retrograde. When not carefully guarded it is, in truth, a dim and
sickly look tluit same one backwaril. Shallow and insincere men may be
quite sale ; but the artist who peers into the shades of old, and, spell-
bound, believes in all that he sees, may find other convictions touched than
those which relate exclusively to the Fine Arts. Has he really /ai<A in
Classicism or Medievalism ? Let him prove this ; and, seeing that honest
art is the material e.\poncnt of inner feeling and belief, learn that, however
he may copg, like a species of human parrot or ape, he cannot revive
trulh/ulli/ an archaic system wiihout the genuine sentiments of those who
Bucceeiled in its embodiment. So Pugin turned from the Protestant to the
Catholic church, well knowing that no Protestant at heart could realise
faithfully what was suitable only to Medieval Catholicism ; and, as the
religion and times had changed, he could not, even then, attain his deeply,
dearly cherished wish. The reader will ptrrceive that I do not contend
that the mere circumstance of practising Classic or Gothic art tends, ipso
facto, to induce belief in the mythology of Classicism or the theology of
CatlK>licisn!.
Next picture Overbeck in 1814, in the Cafe Greco at Rome, as " a pale
ascetic, with long, lank hair, keeping himself apart from the throng, and
usually occupied in telling his beads." Himself and his party were nick-
named the " Nazarines." But Overbeck was an earnest man, who had
so imbued bis mind with the mysticism in olden art that he learned to love
the creed of those great men who wrote on their cinvasses such endearing
and beautiful words ; in whose steps he would fain tread ; and ftrlt this
could not be done unless his soul were filled with their sentiments. With
his face constantly turned backward how could he hope to advance ? It
is the oft repeated tale of the influence of religious art oii the mind ; of the
power of those enthralling pictures which Giotto and Orcagna limned.
Looked at with justly balanced feelings, how precious in their teaching,
and bow touching in the sweetness of their pathos I But brooded over
with Overbeck's too partial eyes, how bewildering, how deceitful ! Ten
other artists, including Veit and Schadow, followed his example ; turned
from Lutheranism, proved their sincerity, and, in fatuous efforts to repeat
the monlilcring exponents of an old, bygone time, destroyed what power
was within them to produce living art.
■•^' £i>wABi> L. Tabbock.
FIRK! FIRE!
AWFUL and most truly caUuuitous as the fire, or rather conflagration,
in Tooley-street has been, it is to l)e hoped that some good will now
result from a most searching inquiry being made into the cause and origin
of fires breaking out. It would at first si^ht seem that they are quite un-
accountable, no one caring to account for how they could have happened ;
yet they may generally be accounte<l for easily enough as being the
consequences of carelessness and negligence, and of lack of proper
watchfulness. In proof of this it may be remarked that most fires of any
extent break out not in private dwellings, but in manufactories and ware-
houses after they have been closed for the night, without any one being
left on the premises as a guard, and who ought, besides, to be enabled to
rouse the whole neighbourhood to his assistance by a powerful alarm bell.
As a further precaution there ought always to be fire-engines in ail such
places.
(Vbat deserves to be noted is that only very rarely, indeed, does a fire
break out at the West-end, where a house has been in a blaze of light
from bottom to top, not only in the drawing-rooms, but with fires in bed-
chaml'crs and drcssiug-rooms. Yet fires do not happen there ; and why ?
simply because due surveillance is there exercised.
Spontaneous combustion cannot bo guarded against so easily. Once on
calling upon a friend, I found the whole family in consternation, for enter-
'"B * , drawing-room, soma one had discovered that the sofa was on fire,
though there was noflrcin the grate, nor any whereelseexcept in the kitchen.
it being then the height of summer. For the truth of that, to which I was
an eye-witness, I can vouch j not so for what I have only lieard spoken of
as a most cttraordinary fact, namely, a house being nearly set on fire by a
bottle of water which happened to be standing upon a toilet table, and
which was so shaped tliat the sunstriking full upon it, it became a burning
glass, and ignited the light drapery thrown over the toilet.
Against spontaneous combustion there is perhaps no preventative ; but
from that very little danger is to be apprehended, at least in dwelling-
houses. With warehouses, it is different, especially those which are filled
with such frightfully inflammable materials as oil, tallow, and saltpetre,
which ought not to be allowed to be accumulated together in any building
not entirely apart fiom others.
There have been instances of country mansions being burnt down, but
the fire has generally broken out in the offices, and when the family has
been absent. In ninety-nine cases of a hundred, fires are oi;casloned by
carelessness alone. Be their materialsever so tindery and inflammable, houses
do not set themselves on fire. Never yet did a fire occur which could not
be traced to carelessness or negligence of some kind or other. One thing
which greatly facilitates the spread of fire is multiplicity of windows and
narrow piers. Then tiiere is nothing solid to resist the flames, and the
whole bursts out into a blaze. But if not the only antidote, the very best
preventative of all against fire is carefulness.
It is a singular fact, and one hitherto overlooked, that this same wharf
(Cotton's) was destroyed by fire a century ago — namely, in 1751. In the
" Tablet of Memory," an old and scarce work, published more than seventy
years since, there is a brief notice of the destruction by fire of Cotton's
Wharf, on the 12th August, 1751, when property to the amount of .£40,000
was destroyed.
.^
NATIONAL COMPETITIONS.*
NOTHING but an ardent love for the art of architecture, and a deeply
rooted desire to assist in its real advancement, can have induced the
accomplished writer of the book with which we propose to make our
readers well acquainted to advocate the establishment of a syst-m of
public competition for national works. Occupying as M. Daly does, the
position of architect to the Imperial Government, the adoption of such a
system must in the ordinary course of events result in the loss of com-
missions that would, in the absence of such a sclierae, naturally be placed
in his hands. All honor and praise, therefore, to one who regardless of self,
endeavours by earnest teaching to point out a road by which the art and
its professors may advance towards a higher standing both in the opinion
of themselves and of the public.
Competition matters are badly managed in England, and we are well nigh
tired of the question, for it must be confessed that, in spite of all that has been
said and done, but little improvement is observable; conditions as pre-
posterous and slavish as ever are issued, in nian^' cases remuneration is
not hinted at, in some, refused altogether, uuless a design which pleases
the committee liappens to be sent, and yet in every case, architects are
found to contribute large numbers of drawings, representing in the aggre-
gate a fabulous amount of time and capital. We have often enough said
that, to a great extent this state of things is the fault of architects them-
selves who compete on such terms, or on any terms that are not consistent
with the dignity of the profession. We will now allow M. Daly to give
some idea of the state of architectural competitions in France, and the
remedy proposed, being certain that that gentlemen will feel equal satis-
faction with ourselves, if the circulation of his Essay in this country leads
us in any way towards the improvement he so anxiously desires to see
accomplished in France.
Naturally, the late competition for the New Opera receives some atten-
tion. On the 31st December, 1860, an imperial decree issued for a public
competition for the New Opera of Paris ; a month later 171 designs com-
prising a thousand drawings, were publicly exhibited at tlie Palais de
{'Industrie, and eight days after five prizes were awarded by the jury. On
the part of the Government, a decision generally desired but unexpected ;
on the part of the artists, an earnestness of purpose truly unheard of ; on
the part of the jury, great activity in study and examination; such arc
the traits which characterised the event, "rapid as lightning and as
brilliant."
The opening of a public competition for a national building is certainly
one of those rare occurrences which constitute an epoch in the modern
history of architecture. Their number, for the last thirty years, count
with us (M. Daly says) by those of the Governments. So viany Govern-
ments, so many pvhlic competitions. That of Louis Philippe opened the
competition for the tomb of Napoleon I.; the Government of 1848 that
for the Figure de la Rcpublique, and after twelve yeai;s, during which
immense works have been carried out, including the Palais de I'lndustrie,
the llalles Centrales, and the completion of the Louvre ; the Imperial
Government in its turn opened the public competition for the Opera.
Evidently the head of the State has always been lavorable to public
competitions, and the writer docs not hesitate to admit as a fact the report
generally believed, that the last named public competition, originated with
his Majesty. This presages to the author the approaching triumph of
the ideas which he has long held on public competititms, and he believes
that the moment has come to develop those ideas.
The question, why the authorities and architects of eminence, if not
opposed to, sympathise but little with public competition, is considered at
some length. In presence of proofs of the utility of competitions, one is
• "Dos Concours Pour Ics Jlonnmcnts rublics, Dans Ic I'aasv, \t VtixnX ct
L'Avenlr.' I'ar M. Ctsar Daly, Paris, 1801.
July 12, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
585
astonished to find that they have never excited much real advocacy with
the administrators, wliose sincere desire to assist tlie progress of the
arts and tlie glory of the country does not admit of a doubt, nor with the
more eminent class of arcliitects, although their personal glory and the
honour of their profession are so intimately connected with the high
renown of the art. The writer does not stop to examine the insinuations
which ascribe to administrators a love for arbitrary authority, and such
supreme confidence in their appreciation of the merits of arcliitects that
they believe themselves alone fit to appoint architects competent to each
work nor the argument that the architectural aristocracy like better to
profit by established connection with the authorities, already acquired re-
nown, and the influence of a high position, to obtain work without running
the chances of a public competition, and incurring the trouble which it
imposes. These arguments appear to the writer wanting in dignity with
regard both to the authorities and to artistic celebrities. But while depre-
cating this line of attack, he admits that it contains some stumbling-
blocks.
Passing to higher considerations, it is the right and the duty of adminis-
trations to require that the building to be raised should be well built, and
consequently, that the architect should be experienced. They seek, then,
and must seek, those in whom they have confidence, and on whom they
can rely. Tliey have official architects in whom they have confidence by
reason of their services, and it does not seem reasonable to them to give
up to the chances of a competition, and, consequently(?) to the direction of
an M«*«own— unknown to them, at least — the execution of a building which
would be very well carried out by such or such an Tn-chitect of those
known to them.
It must be further remembered that administrations are responsible in
the matter of accounts. That a building satisfies all the exigencies of the
ease, and that tlie architect be a man of fine imagination and elevated
inspiration, nothing can be better; hut for the administration, he must be
also a business man, who will not exceed his annual grants of money, who
will send in proper accounts at the right time, and whose propositions are
not always brought forward at the last moment. The public see only the
artistic work; the administration is obliged to follow it step by step to its
realisation. It should not, then, astonish or raise complaints if public
departments attach so great a value to architects familiar with adminis-
trative rules, and possessing business habits.
It is thought that, looked at from this point of view, the prejudice of
administrations against public competitions is very well explained.
With regard to eminent architects, patriciat des architectes, (the expression
is employed throughout M. Daly's book as the only one which briefly
designates, in the French language, architects who practise in the higher
ranks of the profession), the reasons they may have against competitions
are, that an architect whose reputation is established regards it as a ven-
ture against unknown adversaries — the stake is qonsiderable, success un-
certain, and the profits limited. It is, then, a folly, or else an impertinence,
to accuse of weakness or of an intended slight, an eminent artist who
consults prudence in such a case before placing himself in the midst of
such real dangers. We must, at the same time, recognise a true courage
and some generosity in those who are rendered regardless of this personal
prudence by a true love of their art, or by respect for the opinion and
desire of public approbation.
If the first class are not to be blamed, the second certainly merit our
praise, and of these is specially mentioned M. VioUet le Due, who, in the
recent competition for the opera, resolutely submitted himself to the judg-
ment of the public, and his confreres, accepting the struggle, openly, before
all, against all, at the risk of seeing an inconnu preferred.
These tivo classes of persons least favorable to public competition and
the most powerful to influence the adoption or rejection of the system, by
the relations constantly existing between them and the community of their
sentiments on competitions, naturally exercise reciprocal influence, and
strengthen each other in their views on the subject. The authorities,
strong in the approbation of eminent artists, are able to believe themselves
justified in condemning public competitions in the name of the "interests
of art," while the distinguished artists also condemn them in the name of
the interests of the administration. Between them, in the best faith in
world, action and influence reciprocates to tlie advantage of error.
But, it may be asked, if the best-known architects, for the greater part,
refuse to enter a competition open to all, would it not be expedient to
adopt a system which has been tried in some cases, that of limiting the
competition to known artists of established reputation ? In such a com-
petition the administration would possess the desirable security, while, as
regards the unsuccessful competitors, the feeling of defeat would be
softened by the high position of the conqueror.
Or, at any rate, in the absence of a limited competition, and seeing the
reticence of the architectural aristocracy, a reticence which leaves the
arena open to reputations of a second order and to inconnus ; might not
open competitions be limited to the reception of avant projetx, giving the
further development of the design selected to a known architect, or
making it the base of a new competition between known architects ?
M. Daly admits that these propositions appear plausible, but says, very
properly, that a moment's examination will show that they are defective
at the very root, as being " contrary to common right and to the justiae
due to all, contrary to the public interest, and contrary to the progress of
the art," and he proves it, if any proof is required.
They are contrary to justice. Why exclude me, under the pretext that
I am not known? Is that a reason to show that 1 have no talent ? Does
the ailministration say that I have been beaten in previous attempts ?
Vanquished yesterday in a competition, I may be conqueror to-day, or to-
morrow, in another. I hope it. I ask to run the chance. Unskilful in a
struggle for a hall, a railway station, I may be better inspired, I may find
my faculties better disposed, if it is a question of lionoring the faith of my
fathers and of mine in raising a church, or of celebrating the courage of my
countrymen and the glory of my country in projecting a triumphal monu-
ment.
I may be young, age has not striped my hair with grey — how till that
time shall I obtiiin the confidence of the administration ? But open to me
the door of public competition, and if I have not the happiness of seeing
my ciforts crowned with a first prize, at least I shall make myself known
for what I am, and shall keep the hope to take, some day, an honorable
rank among estemod artists, and, en attendant, a fourth, a fifth prize, a
medal, a simple mention, may be for me a title of honor, and commend me
to the confidence of clients.
The propositions are also contrary to public interest, and to the
progress of the art. Evil engenders evil; that which is contrary to
justice is also contrary to the public interest and to the progress
of the art. Limited competitions, besides that they are arbitrary,
deprive the country of the talent of all, and it is this universal talent
which it imports us to consult — that of youth, yet sensible to the brilliant
impulses of imagination, as well as that of prudent experience. In re-
fusing to younger talent the means of showing itself in public competition,
the administration condemns itself to an ignorance of artistic resources of
which it could avail itself, and does not thereby advantage the country.
To limit competitions to a small number of artists is to maintain the art
in a kind of routine ; it is to concentrate the erection of buildings inio the
hands of a small minority — it is to suppress for the favoured competitors,
the risk and danger which should incite tliem — for if one can find consola-
tion in being beaten by an artist of high position — it will be humiliating
to yield the path to an obscure talent, which is yet in its first efforts.
'riie fundamental reproach directed against open competitions is, that it
drives out of the lists more celebrated architects than it attracts to it.
But if in eflect the notabilities of the art do not engage so often as is de-
sirable in public competition, the reasons for this keeping aloof— and some
of them have been pointed out— may easily be removed. An earlier part
of M. Daly's book shows that they are of two kinds, dependent on the
administration and on private interests: the latter were before considered,
of the former some additional observations are added, in connexion with
the memorable so-called competition for the tomb of Napoleon I., and of
the actual management of competitions. The autliorities who propose the
programme and conditions, who fix the limit of the time during which
drawings are to be received, name the jury, &c., must evidently be aided
in the work by architects. And by whom? more often, and quite naturally,
by those who are officially attached, who merit their confidence, by those
of whom it is necessary to suppose a stoical abnegation of self, to imagine
them, generally, friends of public competitions. Open competitions have
been almost invariably the accidental result of circumstances beyond the
control of administrations ; the programmes have been imperfectly pre-
pared, instead of being drawn up with the greatest care; the time fixed
has been insufficient; sometimes delays have been granted tor the comple-
tion of certain designs, when thedrawings of rival competitors were already
delivered, as in the case of the tomb of Napoleon I. Security for the
competence and impartiality of the jury has been often wanting, and the
prizes have never been in proportion to the sacrifices imposed on the
competitors.
It may from this be understood why, in the position taken by the
autliorities, the highest class of arcliitects, already charged with the care
of important works, generally recoil from public competition and the
trouble it imposes.
M. Daly is of opinion that architects of high standing would not so fre-
quently decline to compete if a scheme for public competitions was
seriously organized. But we must leave that aspect of the question until
next week.
■ -♦
PROGRESS OF THE MAIN DRAINAGE OF THE METROPOLIS.
IIHE following is a copy of a report read on Friday last, at the meeting
. of the Metropolitan Board of Works, by Mr. Bazalgette, the
Engineer of the Board.
Engineer's Department, Spring-gardens, S.W.,
29th June, 1861.
Gentlemen-,— In pursuance of the 200th Section of the Metropolis Local
Management Act, I beg to submit a report of the works executed, and business
transacted in the department under the direction of your Engineer, for the year
commencing the 2.5th March, 1860, and ending 25th March, 1861, this bemg the
fifth annual report.
The main drainage of the metropolis, and the interception ol its sewage from
the river Thames, forms one of the principal duties devolrmg upon you, and has
occupied a prominent portion of your attention during the past year.
It is, therefore, satisfactory to be able to report that you have now surmounted
the serious practical difficulties and impediments with which you have had to
contend, arising mainly from the continued and heavy rains of last summer,
which not only delayed the works, and rendered the execution difficult and cosily
by their direct action upon them ; but also retarded the manufacture of bricks of
superior quality, so that the supply became quite unequal to the demand created
by the extensive character of yom- works, and thus the price of bricks was
enhanced from 40 to 50 per cent".
The labour market was at the same time in a very unsettled state, and the
combination of these circumstances, so disastrous to public works, led to the
failure of some of jour contractors, and obliged you to relet, and otherwise re-
arrange for the due performance of the contracts in hand.
These arrangements, whilst they have entailed some pecuniary loss, nave
hitherto proved satisfactory.
586
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 12, 1861.
Taking into accoant these unforeseen ditticulties, and the amount of work per-
foroMd, the pioeot positionof the inaiu intercepting scheme may be regarded as
hfffhly satiaiKtoiy*
It may birlv be asserted that the work completed is on the whole of a superior
and permanent chacactCT, and of a quality that will bear comparison with most
of the public works in this countr)-.
The total Taluc of the main drainage contracts now in hand is about
£1,836,000, inrolring the construction of upwards of forty-six miles of main
inlereqitiDg sewers, together with pumping stations, outlets, aud other ap-
pliances in connexion therewith.
The proportionate value of the works constructed during the past year, ex-
elosire of the purchase of land and other contingencies, is £436,000 and about
twenty-fire miles of the main intercepting sewers are now completed. The
present condition of these several contracts arc as follows : —
The Northern High Level Sewer from Hampstead to the Storm Overflow into
the Lea, a length of about nine miles, has been completed; and, inasmuch as
tlie general character of the works was more minutely described in your last
Annual Report, it may on the present occasion be necessary only to state that
the new Intercepting Sewer now receives and carries off the sewage which for-
merly flowed through the open Hackney Brook Sewer, and was the cause of
much nnisance and constant complaint ; the Hackney Brook having been Ulled
in and abandoned. The High I^vel Sewer also affords a deep outfall for the
drmioage of the whole district through which it passes, and will divert a large
portion of the flood waters from the low level districts.
Drawings and estimates have been prepared for the following contracts, which
ksTe been entered into in the course of the past year : —
The Northern Ontfall Sewer
Deptford Pumping StationI
Ranelagh Storm Overflow ....
Covent Garden Approach — Subway andJRoad
Contract
Price.
025,000
113,130
23,.500
4,391
Engineer's
Estimate.
635,000
115,000
24,640
4,400
Middle Level Sewer relet
329,800
' No Estimate ^
I presented when f
J let a second t
( time. J
The Northern Outfell Sewer forms the largest contract yet let, or to be let, in
completing the main intercepting scheme, and the works, whicli extend from the
river Lea to the Thames at Barking Creek, a distance of 5} miles of double and
treble lines of sewer, each 9 feet in diameter, will form the outlet for the metro-
politan drainage north of the Thames, are rapidly progressing. The peat and
soft ground are being removed, and concrete in large quantities filled in to form
a solid embankment for the reception of the brickwork. A temporary or con-
tractor's railway has been laid by the side of the line of works for the greater
portion of their length, and two locomotive engines are now at work upon it.
Cofier-daras are being formed at different points along the line of works for the
foondations of the aqueducts, whicli will convey the sewers over the existing
riven and railways. The property in the Stratford-road, required to enable this
great thoroughfare to be raised and carried over the outfall channel, has been
purchased and removed, and the temporary roadway prepared for the diversion
of the traffic. The culverts for carrying the marsh drainage under the sewer
embankment, and the foundations for the arches designed to carry the superstruc-
ture across those |)ortious of the marsh lands which, from the depth of the peat,
eoald not otherwise have lieen built upon, are rapidly progressing.
The arrangements made by Mr. Furness, the contractor, for grinding the lime
and mixing the concrete by machinery are judicious, and are in full operation.
The five stationary engines, railway trucks, and plant are of superior quality,
and the work has been started in a manner tending to inspire one with confident
expectations.
The value of the permanent work done np to the 25th of March and up to the
present time is £39,000.
The extensive arrangements made by Messrs. Brassey for the manufacture of
brick* of (operior quality for this contract will, it is hoped, now begin to tell upon
tiie progress of the work more than has hitherto been the case. The work done
ii of good quality, and is still confined to the neighbourhoods of Old Ford and the
Bayswater or Paddington Tunnel. When openings are once made in the more
crowded thoroughfares traversed by this contract, the extensive character of the
operations will t>ccome more apnarent than at present, and it will then become
necessary to press them lorwaril with great rapidity. For these reasons the con-
tractors have not been urged to make further openings until they were fully pre-
pared to grapple with the difficulties which they willhave to encounter.
The value of the wwk executed up to the 25tli March was £12,451, and up to
the present time Is about £27,451.
Tne Kanelagh Storm-overflow has progressed slowly across Hyde-park and
Kenaington-gardens, and some difficulty has been experienced in getting the
works cleaned up with that promptness and attention which was desirable, more
especially in such a neighborhood, but in this respect some improvement has of
late been made, and ihe work completed is of a very sound and superior quality.
The value of the work done up to the 25th March was £11,000, and is now
about £15,.000, and it is expected that this work will be finished about the month
of November next.
On the south side of the Thames, the Southern Outfall-sewer may be regarded
•* the contract standing second only in importance and inagnituileof works to
the Northern Outfall-sewer, and it is now more than half completed. This
aewer passi-s from the Thames in the Erith Marshes, underneath those marshes to
Woolwich, and has been carried underneath and right through that town by a
deep tunnel about one mile long, which will be finished in the course of next
***'''> *^^ l"" been executed with comparatively little inconvenience, and pro-
bably alraott unknown to a large portion of the inhabitants. From Woolwich it
will be contiiiuf.-d to, and through Greenwich to the pumping station at Deptford,
where it is intended to receive and carry off the whole of the drainage of that
portion of London which is on the south of the Thames.
The contract comprises the construction of about 7i miles of sewer. Hi feet in
diameter, of which about 4 miles are completed, and the value of the work
ex«nited up to the 25th of March last was ^127,000, and up te the present time
£174,000. Tills work, Ixith as to the manner in which it has lieen executed,
and the quality of the materials, so far reflwts much cnulit on Mr. Webster, the
contractor.
The Southern High Level Sewer Is now about half completed; it has been a
long time in hand, and the failure of the original contractors has caused the
Board and their officers much anxiety. I am unable to speak of the mode of
conducting this work in the same terms of commendation that 1 have used with
respect to some of the otiier contracts, but when finished it will, I trust, prove to
be solid and substantial, and there certainly has of late been some improvement
in the quality of the materials. The contract embraces two lines, extending from
Clapham and Dulwich to New-cross, where thev unite and discharge their con-
tents into the Southern Outfall Sewer, by gravitation, at Deptford. They form
new and deep outfalls for the numerous districts through which they pass, many
of which were much in want of such outfalls for drainage, and they will form a
substitute for that great nuisance, the open Effra Sewer, and will cut off and
divert the upland waters which now flood the low and tide-locked districts. The
total length of sewer under this contract is 9J miles, of various sizes, but
terminating in a double sewer, each section being 10 feet G iiiclies in diameter.
The length of sewers executed is about 5| miles, an<l the value of the work done
up to the 25th of March was £72,.500, and up to the present time is about
£92,000.
A short section of this sewer, under the Surrey Consumers' Gas Works at Dept-
ford, has been constructed under great difficulties, the subsoil having turned out
to be a running sand, filled with an unprecedented volume of water; but the
experience gained in surmounting those difficulties lias been of the utmost impor-
tance in preparing the drawings and contract for the foundations of the Deptford
Pumping Station.
The Deptford Pumping Station is a work of much greater extent and impor-
tance in the same locality, and where the same soil and quantity of water, it is
feared, will have to be contended with. Messrs. Aird, who completed the Low
Level Sewer works, have fortunately undertaken the contract for the Pumping
Station, and are turning their experience to account by preparing to encounter
the fresh difficulties^ith system and caution. They are now constructing a coffer
dam across the cree"and are sinking two iron cylinders, one 10 feet and the other
14 feet in diameter, in connection with pumping-engines, in order to enable them
to get in the foundations of the engine-house.
A very large portion of the engines and pumping-machinery is lying on the
premises of Messrs. Slaughter and Company, at Bristol, ready to be delivered,
and fixed, as soon as Messrs. Aird's works shall have sufficiently advanced to
admit of this being done.
In the returns appended to this report are shown, In'detail, all the engineering
works executed during the past year, amounting to £474,582, and including
18 miles 1,830 feet of pipe sewers.
This latter sum also includes the maintenance, repair and cleansing of 165
miles of main sewers, and their 167 flaps, penstocks, and outlets, into the Thames.
Of these sewers 125 miles require to be covered or reconstructed, at an outlay
of about half a million, and the prevailing reason why so little has been done to
place them in a more efficient condition, has been that the districts which, under
the present state of the law, would become chargeable for the cost according to
benefit, object to such local impost ; and the Board have postponed these im-
provements until they shall be entitled to charge the cost of these works generally
over the whole metropolis.
The vestries and district hoards have, during the past year, under the 136th
section of the Act which provides for a uniform system of drainage, and under
the direction of your own bye-laws, submitted for your approval plans and sec-
tions for local sewers, amoupting to 25 miles 325 feet, which have been examined,
and approved or modified by you.
Fifty-one private bills for works encroaching, more or less, upon the district
and works under your jurisdiction, were presented to Parliament, and their plans
and provisions examined and reported upon to you by your Engineer, and pro-
tecting clauses were subsequently inserted in a large number of them.
The first metropolitan subway and sewer under the new Covent-garden
approach, and the roadway, cellars, and other works in connection therewith,
were constructed by your Engineer in the course of the past year, and he is now
preparing the designs for a similar subway under the new street at Southwark.
Of the subterranean survey, about ninety MS. sheets, which were nearly worn
out, have been re-copied, and thus restored. These are valuable documents, the
reproduction or printing of which would cost an enormous outlay ; they are,
therefore, now carefully preserved, and are being gradually restored by hand.
It is difficult in a report to give any adequate idea or definite statement of the
amount and variety of the work involved in the main drainage works, for in
addition to the preparation of the designs and estimates, the supervision of the
works, the setting out of the lines and levels, and the daily and monthly mea-
surements and valuations of the work done, each length of sewer as it touches
upon some new property, or affects some different interest, swells the number of
the negotiations arising out of them until they become so numerous, and some-
times of so complicated a nature, as to require the utmost vigilance fairly to deal
with the requirements of each. All conveyances of property purchased, and all
arbitrations arising out claims for compensation in respect of these works, have
necessitated the preparation of accurate plans, and a careful investigation of all
the facts bearing upon them, and the proper adjustment of some between the con-
tractors and the Board.
Your Engineer gave evidence at considerable length before last year's Committee
on the Metropolis Local Management Act Amendment Hill, and submitted plans
to, and gave evidence before, the Thames EinbankinentCommitteeof last Session,
and Thames Embankment Commission of the present year.
I have the honour to be, &c.,
J. W. BazAlobttb, Engineer.
In answer to a question from Mr. IloniNSOif, the Engineer stated that
he thought that early in 1863 the whole works of the Main Drainage would
be in operation.
New Mansion Houne for Lord Hollo at Duncrub, Perthshire. — A
splendid new mansion is being rapidly erected at Duncrub, the' place of
residence of Lord Rollo. The old mansion has been taken down, and near its
site the new one is to be erected, being one of the loveliest situations in Strathearii.
The old house was a building of great antiquity, and so solid and compact was
the masonrv that it was with the greatest diffieuliy it could he demolishi-d. Tlie
present building is to be one of the handsomest and most ornamental in the
county. The architecture is to be of the Gothic style. The architect is Mr.
W. G. llabershon, Lonilon, and the contractor Mr. Wetherlie. On Tuesday la^t
the ceremony of laying the foundation-stone took place.
July
July 12, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
589
GOTHIC AUCHITECTURE.— IS IT ADAPTED I'OU ECCLESIASTICAL
AND GENEKAL BUILDING PURPOSES ?•
FIFTEEN cc;nturies Iiave passed from tlic stayii of time since the north and
north-eastern pai-t of Europe was nihabited by a number of barbarous tribes,
who, by uniting, became a powerful confederacy, and, thus feelinK tlieir power,
commenced a blooUy scene of war and earnaije in tlie south of Europe whicli
eventually ended in tlie sulijngation of Home, the aiiniliilation of her Empire, and
the spoiling of lier noble city.
Wliy the supporters of the Pointed style are called Goths seems likely
to remain a vexed questiou. Some writers assert that the Goths neither
introduced, or practised the style; others, that they were the originators and the
first to carry it out; it does not appear to me that a bloodthirsty, barbarous
people could in any way influence the progress of art or appreciate the sublime
and beautilul. The Goths, as a power, did not exist before the third century, and
•ceased to exist as such in the early part of the eighth, that being five hundred
years before the style was known in Europe. I have no doubt the name %vas
given not because tlie Goths had any influence in its origin but to distinguish it
from the Greek or Koman, the then Classic styles, by calling it the Gothic or
Barbarous.
The origin of Gothic architecture, like its name, is enveloped in mystery — few
writers on the style agree upon the subject, and various causes are assigned and
arguments used to carry out their opinions or establish their points. Some say that
Nature herself gave the idea in the pointed appearance of those trees that formed
the sacred groves for the ancient worship of our forefatiiers, thus fixing its influ-
ence on their minds, so that after tlieir conversion to Christianity they built their
temples to imitate the groves, and so formed the lancet-headed or Early
English style ; othei-s suppose tliat after the destruction of the Western or Roman
Empire the nations that formed themselves from its ruins did all in their power
to deviate as much as possible from the old models of the beam and semiarch —
thus giving rise to the segmental or pointed. As to the former of these opinions, I
would say the style was not general in England, France, or Germany, till the latter
part of the twelfth century, and only one or two specimens in the early part
thereof, thus showing the Druid priest had for 1,100 years ceased to walk the
sacred groves and ofier the human sacrifices under nature's fonned arch or
heaven's canopy ; their groves had been destroyed and the Druidical worshippers'
children's children passed from the society of man. This being the case, I can-
not see that nature's influence associated with this form of worship had much to
do if anything with its introduction, although it is a remarkable fact that in
those countries where the Druidical worship was practised, the Gothic or Pointed
style is general. As to the former of these two reasons, the antipathy towards
Rome and her Classic style, it may have had its influence ; for we know that a
nation, or to come nearer home, an individual, having been under the tyranny
and despotic rule of another, and being freed from that yoke, holds with utter
hatred all that his oppressor loved.
But Rome had ceased to be an Empire, and had given up her crown as mistress
of the world eight centuries before the style was general in England, France, Ger-
many or Spain. Indeed it is my opinion that England cannot boast of its origin ;
no, nor even Europe. I think Asia must be crowned with that laurel; for as
early as the reign of Constautine, in the fourth century, a church was raised over
the Holy Sepulchre, and a mosque was built by the Arabs in the ninth century with
the pointed arch, that being 300 years before it was general in Europe. As to the
introduction, I think we must attribute it to the Crusades ; my reason for think-
ing so is the fact that at this time the religious wars were raging and the
fanatical armies were leaving Europe for Asia, which were composed of the noble
blood and talent of the land they belonged to, who, when they looked upon art,
could appreciate it, and carrying their thoughts and experience to the land they
lived in, introduced it into the service of the religion they loved. It is also a
remarkable fact that the second Crusade commenced in the twelfth century ; and,
on their return, churches in the Pointed style were built in all parts of Europe.
In the short time allowed for this paper we cannot go further into the discussion
of the origin, but must proceed at once to view briefly the three periods, in connec-
tion with the Gothic style. We will adopt those which are most generally known,
namely, the styles of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, or the
Early English Decorated and Perpendicular.
Early English or Pointed style is marked by iti long narrow, lancet-headed win-
dows, two or three-fold and in some cases seven, eight, and nine, without muUion,
high gabled roofs and spires, slender clustered shafts, little ornament, which when
introduced consists of some loquo leaf or flower which gives it an air of nature-
like simplicity. There are to this day buildings of that period ; I will mention two
or three — Salisbury, Winchester, Lincoln, and Westminster. On looking at these
edifices we are struck with their stability and grandeur of detail and outline.
About the middle of the fourteenth century the narrow lancet-headed windows
became blended together with mullions introduced, giving the architect greater
scope for the introduction of tracery and sculpture ; the vaulting is more sub-
divided and at the intersection of the ribs, rich carved bosses are used ; there is a
greater display of moulding and ornamental decoration, but in my opinion, it does
in no way add to the general sublimity of the Gothic style : at the same time
there is no doubt that at this period this style of architecture had risen to its
zenith— York Chapter House, Kirton Church, Lincoln ; Exeter Cathedral, York
Minster, and the cloisters of Westminster Abbey, are all of this period. The next
period or that of the Perpendicular, we may look upon as one of decline, certainly
the architectural display and mechanical skill are more exemplified in this period
than in those preceding, but I feel the beauty, grandeur, and sublimity of the
other periods is lost, by covering its walls and ceilings with prolusion of orna-
ments, thus giving it an air of luxury and robbing it of that nature-like effect
marked outline ; in fact, it has the appearance of a jumbled mass of profrisc
ornament.
I must now proceed to the consideration of the question, namely, " Is Gothic
architecture adapted for ecclesiastical and general building purposes 1" My'idea
is, that when a building is raised, whether it is for the worship of the Supreme, to
exhibit art and antiquity, the transaction of business, or domestic use, there should
be no need to ask the question— " For what purpose is this building?" but
that the architecture should speak for itself.
• A paper nad by Mr. W. Caovek, at the " Provident Institntion of BoUders'
FORmenandCtexki of Warla," L^on's-inn, NewcBsac-strcet, Strand, on Wednesday,
the 1st day of Ma.y, 1861,
As regards edifices for devotion, I would say 1 know of no style of architecture
so well adapted as the early English Gothic. If the Christian's God is to be
worshipped and praised in buildings made by hands, it should imitate as much as
possible his wonderful display in nature. I do not mean to say that color should
be introduced, but there should be the stability, and the simple and sublime out-
line that moves with awe and adminition the thinking soul. I think the early
English Pointed style is capable of doing this. If you gaze upon its exterior
elevation, you will see it marked by a figurative cxjiression in the spiral and
pointed form which seems to point to the God who is worshipped witiihi. On
entering the edifice we see its clustered columns, with the pointed termination
of the arch, which gives it a forest or bower-like appearance ; the sombre light,
piercing through its narrow windows, and playing with its deep sliadows, seems
to awe the mind into meditative thought, and the echo of every step you take
or word you utter, seems to say, " One Ijesides I, am here," and as the organ
peals forth its sounds, and the well-regulated voice is raised,a hallowed feeling seems
to pass through the soul and utter in stronger language than words, " This is the
dwelling-place of God." But there is a vast difference between buildings for
devotional and those for secular teaching and business : in the one you go to sub-
mit to the influence of the unseen, in the other to be taught by voice and vision ;
in the one a sombre light may help devotion, in the other it impedes the spirit iu
its intellectual flight.
Does the House for the as.ie!nbly of our Legislature speak foritself? I maintain
it does not, it ought to speak of strength and power, not of crumbling mortality
and decline; it ought to impress those who enter with a sense of the glory and
the greatness of their country. Y'ou can well account for the lifeless speech, and
words without vitality in that convent-looking place. Fhiter its room of busi-
ness, it speaks of luxury and ease. The careless attitude of those who ought
to be the leaders of a great people, I think is to be attributed, iu a great
measure, to the sombre influence of the building; there is nothing to strike you
with majesty. In fact it ought to be left to decay or put under a canopy of glass,
to show to future ages the folly and extravagance of the British people, and
another should be built, open to the public gaze, after the Roman or Greek
models, where the light of heaven can shine in upon the actions of those who
use it, and the nobleness of the structure make them feel they arc men acting
for men.
If I turn my attention from the Legislature to the Picture Gallery or Museum,
I cannot see that the style is adapted for them. The exterior should be bold and
chaste, the interior plain, light, and lofty, there should be nothing to distract
the eye or carry it from the object for which the building was raised. No
shadowing influence is wanted, you go there not to behold architectural dis-
play but to feast upon the works of nature and her mighty men, where the mind
ought to be free from influence, and nature's own light help the vision and
thoughts.
If I look at those buildings where monetary transactions are carried on, I have
the same objection to the style. Thanks to the past ages, we have buildings that
Englishmen can be proud of, such as Somerset House, Bank of England, General
Post Office, and Ti'easury, and, I may add, tlmt I hope to see the proposed
Government Offices in the same noble style.
I will now say a few words as to domestic buildings. I have said before that ,i
building should speak for Itself, and, I would add, it should be light, convenient,
and moderate in expense. Mr. Scott has said the two former may be carrieil
out, but I do not know the building in which this has been accomplished ; 1
cannot see anything warm or English-like iu the style fur domestic dwellings ;
there is a chilly, couvent, covetous, death-like appearance, where life, with all
its happy associations and responsibilities, appears to die out, unnoticed, and
unloved. Give me the bold-looking window, with the large hospitable door,
which seems to speak to a passing world, '"This is one of the happy homes of
England."
I find it impossible in the time allotted for this paper to treat the subject as I
would wish. I have been compelled to omit entirely tne historical associations in
connexion with the dawning and dying out of the styles. I should like to have
gone more into detail in describing the periods, and trace more at large its non-
adaptation to general building purposes; but this must suffice, trusting the
Gothic mania will lose its influence except in ecclesiastical buildings. It is true
that we are not architects, and therefore do not possess much influence in the
matter, but I feel we are called upon to do our utmost, so that the buildings
which are raised in this favored land, shall speak with sublime, grand, and joyous
language to a passing world, and be of such stability that when England as a
nation shall not be known, when her banner as mistress of the seas shall be given
to another, when her colonies have released themselves from her grasp, and her
name only be known as belonging to the past, they may yet remain, and be
subjects of study for now infant Empires and cause them to love and honor the
name of Britain. But long may she continue in power and use it with wisdom
for the benefit of the civilised, and the uncivilised world !
LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.
EICHLY endowed as the county of Lincoln is with the most beautiful speci ■
mens of Gothic architecture, it is not surprising to find that this portion of
England possesses also a lai^e school of architectural admirers, whose numbers
are year by year increasing with the growth of the general intelligence of its
population, and the naturally consequent due appreciation of the higher arts
and sciences. In old days such knowledge and such tastes were almost entirely
confined to the only well-educated class of the community, viz., its clerical
element ; but now, fortunately, the laity arc equally desirous with the clergy of
the present day to acquire and promote not only learning, but also those refined
accomplishments which tend so much to promote the pleasure as well as the use-
fulness of life. Thus from the eleventh to the sixteenth century it was a
succession of bishops and ecclesiastics who designed and executed the admirable
features of our cathedral church at Lincoln, their architects being usually of
their own or<?er, or else deriving much of their professional ability from the
studies of their clerical patrons, while the laity more or less suppUcd the means
necessary to carrj' outsnch admiijable architectural conceptions. But now it is
ofien laymen who take the lead in erecting and repairing churches, laymen who
are generally deemed to be the best authorities and leaders of the public taste
even with regard to ecclesiastical architecture, and laymen again who adrainster
wholesome rebukes to their clerical friends when they exhibit any want
of competence or right judgment as to the treatment of those architectural
treasures that have been transmitted to the care of the present generation, and iu
590
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 12, 1861.
some cue* to their sole cuardian!<hip, althousrh only in trust for the public benefit.
We ban been led to make these reninrks from the censure, and we believe the
jast eearare, that has been passed upon the treatment our cathedral is expe-
riencing by some of the leading architects and most distinopuished lovers of nrchi-
teetore rf the dav, and n-fcrred to in our last under the head of " The Restora-
tions of Lincoln Cathedral and tlie Ecclesiologrical Society." It appears that not
only one, but two of the first metropolitan societies that make architecture their
eqpecial study have felt themselves forced to protest loudly and indignantly
■gainst the ijrnorance displayed with res;ar<l to the present tampering with the
catliednil fthric by its autlioritie;— those societies being the " Roynl Institute
of British Architects " and the " Ecclesiological Society." Notsufferingoursclves,
however, to be deceived by long titles, we have been led to ask who are the repre-
sentatives of those bodies that have thus raised their voices against the doings at
Lincoln, because it is only to men of undoubted ability and genius that we are
prepared to listen on such points before we accept them as our guides and friendly
•dTiaers. Who, then, were the chief speakers that have condemned tlie Chapter
luoeeediogs at Lincoln ? We will select out of their number three professional
Kcntlemen — G. G. Scott, G. E. Street, and J. H. Parker, and three unpro-
iiasional ones, A. J. B. Bercsford-Hope, John Rnskin, and Sir C. H. J.
Anderson : these, one and all, have not only condemned what may be termed
the nUnnhig of the cathedral, bot have publicly protested against it 7nore
than oncf. But against whose Tacts have these learned boaies spoken so
loudly ? Against tliose of the Cathedral Chapter, consisting of five persons.
Of these, two from inflrmity are utterly incapable of taking a pai"t in the
duties belonging to their position, and two others ingenuously confess that
they liate no knowledge whatever of architecture. It is left, therefore, to the
remaining one to seize the reins of the capitular government, and to direct the
repairs of the cathedral, &c. What, tlien, does he do with the ftibric fuhd ? He
does not expend this in necessary and substantial repairs, nor in adding to its
beauty, nor in adapting it more fully to the wants of the present day, nor in
remitting the miserable system of fees levied from all who wish to see its interior
for their study or pleasure : but in spoiling the original beauty of the fabric by
tampering with its delicate mouldings and in robbing it of that harmonious hue
that centuries had given it, and that centuries can alone replace. We have no
obiection to one person acting for a company, or a society, or a corporate body,
if he is up to the mark; on the contrary, he will protebly act for them more effi-
ciently, more economically, and more expeditiously than if all whom he represents
sliould take a part in the fulfilment of their common duty; but if he
is injudicious, or incapable, he brings reprobation not only upon himself
but upon all whom he has represented, and this becomes' of much public
importance when the errors he commits are such as produce results that
cannot be remedied by wiser successors. In the case alluded to, which may be
termed that of the " Royal Institutcof British Architects," and the " Ecclesiological
Society," versus the •' Lincoln Cathedral Chapter," the best Gothic architects,
in conjunction with some of the most notoriously talented unprofessional men of
taste, have one and all said, " What you are doing to your cathedral is most
mischievous us well as most unnecessary, and such operations, when absolutely
called for, require the constant presence of a skiful architect;" while he who
Is responsible for that " peeling process" spoken of, and against which we, as re-
presentatives of public opinion, very strongly protest, after ordering the same to
be carried out, employs no architect whatever to watch the works, and, as far as
he himself is concerned, leaves the cathedral " to whistle its lament to the
winds" for nearly two years, and in his reply to the protest made by the first
architects of the day says with ludicrous assurance, " What is being done is the
best that could be done." We presume, therefsre, that Remigiu's work in the
vrestfront of the cathedral will be scraped down as soon as the rest of it has
undergone that destructive process, and that the fresh surface of the same, then
exposed to the action of the rains, the winds, the sun, and, above all, tiie frost,
after lying dormant for centuries, will resent that dangerous liberty taken with
it by commencing a crumbling process calculated to last for many years to
come, and thus to point to the author of the mischief now protested against, long
after be has in his own person participated in the same dissolving process. —
Lincoln, Rutland and Stamfm-d Mercury.
RESTOR-VTION OF CHRIST'S CHURCH, YORK.
THIS ancient edifice, which was originally erected about the thirteenth
century, is now undergoing a thorough restoration. Nearly the whole of
the churcli as it as present stands will lie pnlled down, the exception being the
east wall, and a portion of the interior arches, which, as at present arranged, will
remain. The tower will be entirely re-built, the proportions of the new one
being, however, the same. Elegant carved pinnacles and a battlement will be
added at the Niimmit of the tower, which will itself be heightened several feet.
The bells will be re-fixid, and the belfry will be connected with the church by a
new circular stone staircase, there not having been, up to this period, any proper
communication with the bell chamber. The new outer walls will be
erected close upon the old foundations, so that the proportions of the church will
remain nearly as at present.
A new porch will be built upon the north, and also one upon the west ; the
latter in place of that now in n«e on the south. Over the late entrance there
will U: plact^l a new three-light window. Two other windows of the same
description wdl also be introduced, one at the north-west corner, and one at the
sootn mie. The present unsightly window will be reduced from five lights to
uiree, a* also will the one at the west side of the church. This will bring
tliem into harmony with tlie other windows. The glass will be rolled Cathedral
witli colon. linargins. and the windows generally, being of a decorative
character, will have a light and elegant appearance.
1 he roof will be open timbered, high pitched, plastered, and covered with
slates. The sitUDgs will be of deal, stained. It is proposed to reflx the ancient
pulpit, Ijut it will be removed from iti, present jjosition to the south side of the
aJtar. A new reading de*k will also Ik provided. The font will be refixed near
tnc entrance. Same fine old carving upon the late seats will be introduced in
the new ones The church will be thoroughly warmed by hot wat*r, the
diambo- for the anparatus being fixed under the vestry. The cost of these
r^!.** * '™. . *' ^.'''*",- *•■■• R"*""* f'™'-! i" the architect, and the
Tjmon. contracU have been let to the following parties, all risident in the
vX„v ,'•.!: ''*'""° undertakes the stone and brick work; Mr. John Brown,
Y«^h'' 1 J^"^""**!? 3h' "T"- t;a"ley will execute the slating; Mr!
wTk^ttfilTmllUandgr^.' "^ «-^-«t«e'. '"e painting; and^r.R.
A MONUMENT TO "THE BRUCE."
EVERYBODY knows, says the Scotsman, that the remains of Robert the
Bruce lie in the centre of the floor of the tower of the Abbey Church
of Dunfermline. M'lien you find yourself there, you know that under
your fi'et lies all that could die of our greatest king, and one of the world's
great kings and men. Now, if genius could raise there a worthy tomb,
answering the desires of the mind and heart of those who stand there, and
give tlicmselvcs up to the spirit of the place and time — if this were done,
not by committees and public meetings, and pressure and " action " over
the habitable globe, and paragraphs in newspapers, usque ad iyifinitum et
naiinenm — if it were the free outcome of a generous patriotic Scotsman who had
the means and the wish and the will to make at once a worthy memorial of the
Bruce, and also give scope and expression and permanence to tlie imagination and
plastic powers of a great artist, then we would wish it with all our heart, good-
speed .
This, which seems too good to be true, is true. Mr. Kerr, of Dunfermline,
a man of great wealth, and of greater generosity, has empowered his townsman,
Mr. Noel Paton, to execute a monumental tomb over the remains of the King.
That the thing is to be done is fixed— and Mr. Ken- is a man who does fiilly what
he says ; it is not, we believe, settled the extent or the material. As to thelatter,
it is between marble and bronze ; and as regards extent, it may be limited lo a
figure of Bruce lying wth his face upwards as on his bed, in his full armour,
sheathing his sword — with his lion watching at his feet, and angels stooping
over his majestic head ; this figure, resting upon a tomb or chest set round with
the shields of the great national worthies of the time — or to this may be added six
sitting statues, resting on the lower steps, n^preseutative of the different parts
and ranks of Scotland, keeping, as it were, guard
*'Morn, noon, and night incessantly,"
around their chief, who is not so much dead as asleep. If this design, which we
saw many years ago, is canied out by its author and his single-handed patron
with a spirit and power equal to the sketch, and with that command of form and
heroic expression which we know Mr. Paton has, we will have something we
need not be ashamed to speak of beside that awful sepulchre of the Medici, in the
Chapel do' Depositi, in Horence —
" that chamber of the dead,
Where the gigantic shapes of Niglit and Day,
Turned into stone, rest everlastingly ;
Yet still are breathing "
|lcoij[ius.
Guide to the Art of Illununuting and Mitml Painting. By W. and G.
AuDSLEY, Architects, 8vo., 1861. G. Rowiiey and Co., Rath6one-pIace.
IN an earlier Number of our present Volume we remarked at some lengthen the
growing popularity of the art of illuminating— and the endeavours that have
been made towards its adaptation to modem requirements. Looking at the art
as an accessary to architectural decoration, or simply as a polite accoiuplishinent,
it has strong claims on our notice, which will not allow us to view with indiHl'r-
rence any earnest and well meant attempt to make its actual practice familiar to
those who may desire to learn it as an accomplishment, or for e.\tended decorative
purposes.
In noticing works of this class the very first thing we must look to, is the style
of tile illustrations, if they are badly printed, woi'se drawn, and as in such cases
usually follows, still worse designed, the book is useless, throw it away, for raoie
harm than good will come of using it. If, on the other hand, the illustrations
are drawn with care and accuracy, the style of writing is not of great moment
so long as it be intelligible, The book, in fact, is useful or not according to the
care evident in the drawing. We are forced to these remarks, looking to some
publications on the subject which have reached us from time to time. Fortunately
the publishers of the book before us were quite aware of the advantages to be
gained by calling in the assistance of an architect in the pieiiaration of a Guide
to the Art of Illuminating, and the result is, taking into consideration the price,
one of the very best and most n^eful little works we have on the subject.
In the first part the authors treat of tlie art during the middle ages, referring
to and analysing the composition of some of the examples of that period. The
peculiarities and general character of works of various dales are |)ointed out,
until llie decline of the art. Part II. describes tlie materials used in early and
modern practice, the colors, instruments, brushes, .fcc, now found most suitable
being fully described ; while P.-irtlll. describes the various manipulatory pro-
cesses, including lettering, outlining, gilding, silvering, burnishing, &c.
Part IV., treating of design, conventionalism, coloring, composition, kc, con-
tains matter that we are aTways glad to see spread far and wide. Principles cal-
culated to improve public taste cannot be too much or too often read.
Messrs. Rowney and Co. have issued what is really a guide to the art, and at
a wonderfully low cost, while the authors appear to have done all in their power.
It appears to us that the learner has but to understand thoroughly tlie work
before us, and the rest is with himself.
An Introduction to the Study of Gothic Architecture. By John Henry
Parker, F.S.A., &c. Second edition, revised and enlarged, 12mo. J. H. smd
James Parker, Oxford and London.
WAS originally vsritteii ns part of a series of elementary lectures recommended
by the committee of the Oxford Architectural Society to be delivered to the
junior membersof the Society. They were considered useful and interesting by
those who heard them, and as it was thought they might be equally so to others
who had not the same opportunity, the President, in tlie name of the Society,
requested the author to publish them.
The distinction between "plate tracery" and "bar tracery," first clearly
pointed out by Professor Willis, is observed throughout the volume, the former
is described in the glo^arial index as being " the earliest kind of tracery cut out
of the solid block or plate of stone, before the lighter kind of tracery called bar
tracery was introduced, but olten continued afterwards." Bar tracery is
des<;ribcd as " that kind of window tracery wliicli distinguishes Gothic work,
itjseinbling more a bar of iron twisted into various forms than one,"
The present edition has been carefully revised and considerably enlarged. The
parts intended for the use of beginners are printed in larger type, and consist of
descriptions of the characteristic features of each of the periods in succession,
with illustrative engravings on wood, to which descriptions hai e been added, to
July 12, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
591
make the teclmieal terms more intcllisible. The other part of the work, printed
in smaller type, is chiefly lustorical, and intended (or the use oi more advanced
students. The book has a certain value in professing to be one of facts, not > '
theories or fancies. i i
To an objection tliat may be raised that the author has laid too much stress upon
French architecture ; that the English Gothic is complete in itself, may have been
entirely developed at home, and that there is no need for English architects to
study the French or any otlier foreign! style, he says, this is true to a certain
extent, but at the time that the Gothic style was developed, England and France
were so closely connected together that it is impossible to believe that one did
not influence "the other; and that this work is not intended for architects so
mucli as for their employers, the gentry and clergy of England, to whom some
knowledge of this subject has become a necessary part of education.
Tlie first six chaptere treat of, works dating li-oui the Komau period to the end
of the tenth ceuturv, the eleventh century, the early Norman period,
A U. 1050— Hi"); tlie later Norman style, A.D. 112j— 1175; the change of
style, A.D. 117o— 1200; the Early English style, A.D. 1189— 1272; Decorated,
A.D. 127i— 1377; Perpendicular, A.D. 1377—1547; and the Henaissance and
Jacobean Gothic. A concluding chapter treats at some length on the Foreign
styles in Frajice, Italy, Switzerland, Spain'and Germany.
"Following some remarks'on the habit of travelling, for which the English people
were distinguished from a very early age, we read —
Tlmt the cnstom of carrying a skotch-book in the poeket and bringing home sketches
of all novelties in art prevailed from an eaily period we have proof in the very ro-
/narkable aketcli-book of Wilars de llooeeort • * There is no reason to think
that Wilars was at all singalar in this practice, and as the Kngbsh architects had in
this manner a inueli g;reater range of observation than those of other conntries tlie
result to be naturally expected is gi-eater perfection in their art, and to this they
really attained.
The Gothic of Kngland is more pure, more perfect, more systematic, better pro-
portioned, more consistent, than tliat of any otber country * ♦ while tracing the
gradnal development of Gotldc architecture in England, we must bear in mind that
our architects could never be ignor.Tut of what was going on in any part of the con-
tinent of Europe, and never failed to avail themselves of such knowledge j yet they
never servilely copied any otiier country ; they adapted the new features to their
own style; there is no A/rt/i«. no jump in English Gothic; the progi'ess is always
steady. ^.Tadual, almost imperceptable ; it takes a generation to bring about the
change fi-om one style to another. They never stuck on pretty bits from France or
Italy to their Kngbsh building, tliey knew liow to make use of the novelties that
were brought home to them, and to assimilate and dovetail them into their own
work.
This valuable little volume contains 250 pages, and 172 engravings; of the
manner in whicli the latter are executed we need only say that they are by Mr.
Jewitt. There is, besides the glossarial index already referred to, a copious topo-
graphical index of great value; and a list of the illustrations classed according to
their styles.
Mr. Parker has scarcely given us a book of more value to the student than his
" Introduction to the Study of Gothic Architecture."
NOTES WITHOUT TEXT.*
XL.
THE "Design for a Clubhouse," being unaccompanied by any explana-
tory letterpress, can be judged of only by what can be made out
from the two plans and perspective view. Putting style— exceedingly
outlandish Gothic— oat of the question, the general physiognomy does not
at all indicate a clubhouse, buildings of that class deriving a special and
unmistakable character of their own from the circumstance of their ex-
hibiting only a single range of windows above tlie ground floor ; besides
which, the windows themselves are not crowded together, another circum-
stance that contributes largely towards the expression of nobleness; and as
neither the one nor the other can possibly be counterfeited, it might be
thought that, whenever the opportunity offered itself of getting rid of
numerous apertures and tiers of them, it would be seized upon with
avidity and gladness. Although it does seem to be so thought, mul-
tiplicity of windows and too excessive in proportion to the space
allowed for them is fatal to nobleness.. In one respect the autlior
of the design has not at all cramped himself, for he gives his building
a frontage of no less than 22.5 feet, or very nearly 100 feet more than
that of either the " Reform " or the " Carlton." What is really ex-
traordinary is, the height of the rooms on each of the two principal
floors, it being at least thirty feet ! As there is no section, it is
impossible to tell precisely what the vertical measurements are ; but,
supposing the " View " to be at all correct, it is evident, from external
appearance, fthat, if the coffee-room be seventy feet in length, its
height cannot be at all less than thirty. How, then, can the staircase
shown in the plan possibly carry up from the liall to the level of the next
floor ? There is much besides, too, which it is not very easy to under-
stand. One merit, however — though some Gothicists may deem it a
fault — there certainly is, namely, the observance of symmetry and of con-
gniity also, tlie side or shorter elevation being of a piece with the facade.
Nothing is put awry, either for the nonce or through inability to preserve
regularity, wliicli is accordingly very conveniently reprobated as for-
mality, and its opposite adopted as being a short cut to the picturesque.
The windows are of consistently uniform design, square-headed and
pointed ; large and small ones are not mixed up discordantly, as if it were
the architect's ambition to exhibit as many difl'ereut patterns as possible
of such apertures, tlieir forms, sizes, and decoration. There are those who
have censured the river-front of the Palace of Westminster as being
essentially Italian in its composition, and stamped by liorizontality and
parallelism. Let us, then, just for a moment, consider one of their pet
buildings. In the Doge's Palace at A^enice not only is the principle of
verticality, so strongly insisted upon by them, completely ignored, but its
general mass is heavy, even to downright lumpishness. Not only is there
not a single continuous vertical line anywliere, but no indication whatever
• Continued from page 561.
of roof— nothing wliatever to break up horizontality on the summit of tlie
building by sometliing like play of sky-line, upon wliich so much stress is
now laid.
IN his lecture at the Institute, which, considering where it was delirered,
was rather discourteously, not to say insultingly, entitled " The Dark
Ages of Architecture," Mr. Seddon indulged rather too much in the vitu-
perative mood, dealing, as he did, in the most sweeping and unqualified
condemnation of all the architecture of the last century, as destitute of a
single merit of any kind, and actually beneath contempt. Mrs. Candour
would have acted more adroitly; she would not have betrayed her rancour
BO undisguisedly, but wrapped it up somewhat decently. General charges
and wholesale accusations are not so easily met as specific ones; and it
pleased Mr. Seddon to single out Soane, who had been a benefactor to the
Institute, as one to be held up to ridicule within the walls of the Institute
itself, and to sneer at the Soane Museum. He tells that, according to a
favorite notion of the " dark ages," Soane set up at one end of |the
court of tl'.o Bank a sham portico to inatch a real one at the
other. Now the Lothbury-court, the one alluded to, was never
finished ; for what was intended to be a loggia on the west side, corre-
sponding with that on the east, is no more than an open screen of columns
— if that can be called a screen which exposes to view what is undeniably
most unsightly and quite an eyesore. Notwithstanding that unlucky
circumstance, the Lothbury cortile is both original in idea and eminently
scenic in effect, as is evident from the view of it in Malton's " Picturesque
Tour," where its incompleteness is not betrayed. Soane was certainly
most unequal : occasionally he showed true artistic, even poetic, feeling,
yet not unfrequently sank down lower than the level of mediocrity. What
is not least of all astonishing in him is, that at the close of his career he
should have allowed to go forth to the world, as a record of his doings,
such a wretchedly got -up volume of villainously drawn, and no less villain-
ously engraved, plates as is that of his " Public and Private Buildings," in
which the Bank is made to cut a most miserable figure. Whatever he
may have been to others, Soane was certainly most stingy towards himself;
for, as I heard it remarked at the time, he could very well have afforded to
spend ten thousand pounds, or even more, upon a really splendid work,
executed by first-rate artists. The cost would have been only a pin-prick
to his purse. But the man himself was as unequal as his works. At one
time— and here I speak from something more reliable than mere report —
he would receive you not only affably but quite cordially, and be exceedingly
familiar and chatty, even to what foreigners call lutoyer, and then, per-
haps, the very next time you saw him would be scarcely decently civil.
In consequence of which I, one fine morning, vowed that I would never
touch the knocker of his door again, nor have I ever done so until it became
tlie door of the Soane Museum. Poor Soane! Perhaps, after all, the man
was more to be pitied than envied —
Most rich in parasites, yet poor In friends.
XLII.
IT was in the depth of what Mr. Seddon denouncesas the "Dark Ages,"
namely about the middle of the last century, that considerable im-
provement began to take place in domestic architecture, which ought to
keep pace with, and be the reflex of, advancing civilisation. Of the taste of
the Adams the less said the better, but they certainly pioneered the way
to important material improvements. They were more solicitous about the
quality of the shirt than the fashion of the ruflies, which Last they some-
times "clipped off altogether. And if common-sense is to liave any voice
in the matter it would decide in favour of well-studied inside to fair out-
side. All .admirer of Palladio as he was, Algarotti frankly confesses that
Iiad he his choice, he should prefer to reside in a French, that is, a modern,
house over against a Palladian facade. Seddon is somewhat irate .about
the " monotonous, dreary walls ;" yet why vent so much valuable indigna-
tion upon Harley-street and its likes, while far greater offenders are allowed
to escape without a syllable of reproof? Why should the names of Harley,
Gower, and Baker streets be stereotyped as synonymous with architectural
b.atho3 ? They are at least not at variance with propriety ; in them there is
no simulation, nor any affectation of arcbitectural design. Why then should
so much vituperation be wasted upon sucli insignificant and harmless
delinquents ? A writer in the Edinburgh once said that he would believe
in the equitable administration of law when he heard that a rantipole
leader of fashion had been carried off to the watch-house, or summoned
before a magistrate for creating a nocturnal disturbance, by interrupting
the repose of a whole neighbourhood. Poor, inoffensive Harley and
Gower streets have been made a target for paper bullets hmg enough;
why does not the enemv attack Belgravia and there fire off its artillery ?
Nothing making any p'rctension at all to architectural design and com-
position can be more thoroughly paltry and despicable than Eaton-square,
nor is Belgravia-square much better. Its architecture, so to call it, is such
mere brummagem and tinsel, that the no-architecture of Gower-street is
infinitely preferable to it. In the latter and the numerous other streets of
similar character, there is, indeed, nothing whatever to admire, but neither
is there anything to disgust. Inasmuch as they make no pretension
whatever to taste, they may fairly enough be called tasteless ;
literally without taste, either good or bad. That they are most unin-
teresting and monotonous; quite plain and featureless, and consisting of
houses all of the same class, treated in the same manner, and totally
destitute of any one element of either the architectural or the picturesque,
no one attempts to deny. At any rate too, there is no sham about the
houses, for they honestly declare themselves to be what is called " self-
contained," and, if that be worth any consideration, bear the expression of
592
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 12, 1861.
comfort ami snugiiess, the street-door shutting out not only next door, but
whnt are infinitely worse, all next floor ones. Granting, as we can Tery
well afford to do, that our John BuUisli vemacvlar is lamentably prosaic,
will, then, Mr. Seddon, or Mr. Scott, or anybody else, inform us how the
present, and, according to them, deplorable system of house-building in
thQ metropolis is to be corrected and reformed? It is easy enough to say
there might be a very great deal of embellishmei.i, now never thought
of, bestowed even upon the fronts of Gower- street houses. Yet one
not unimportant question is, who is to pay for if.' and another, what sort
of taste would be likely to be shown in speculation-built houses? Hardly
would it be the most refined, but rather of very brummiigcm (xuality.
There is, at least, one thing with wliich the street* now spoken of so scorn-
full.v cannot possibly be charged with, and that is vulgarity. Except a
flunkey or a fool, no one would attempt to sneer at the attire of a female
quaker as being in "horrid bad taste," and excessively vulgar. That
mrebitectural Quakerism is the characteristic of the streets and squares of
tlie north-west of the metropolis is freely granted. That region presents
nothing to the eye but a monotonous agglomeration of moderate- sized
featureless houses; yet to the mind it says much, it being indication
unmistakable that thousands and thousands of miOdling-class families are
comtortablr and snugly lodged, epch beneath its own roof. A city of
palaces is a mere fable, or, if what merely look like palaces externally, it
must be a city of shams. No one who is not dreaming can for a moment
suppose that, even in their palmiest days, either Athens or Imperial Rome
consisted of Classic monumental architecture. Most assuredly there is
nothing whatever of the picturesque in that district of the metropolis here
referred to; but there is what, all things considered, is quite as good, if
not even better. It is a sensible enough remark of Eepton's, that though
gipsy children, with their tatterdemalion attire and unkempt locks, are far
better subjects for the pencil than children nicely combed and neatly
dressed, people do not dress their own olive branches in rags for the sake
of picturesqueness. Much I could add, but here I stop, for the present,
at least, with no more than a monitory hint that architects would do well
to leave peuny-a-Uneis to fire off their little popguns against Harley-
street.
SPKAKING with reference to Glasgow Cathedral and its new windows,
Jlr. A. Smith said in the House the other night that he had never
seen a painted window worth looking at, in which ungracious opinion he
was not very wide of the mark ; for admitted it must be that glass is
incapable of producing picture. It should, therefore, not attempt what is
beyond its power to accomplish, and content itself without aiming at
aught higher than architectural decoration by brilliant translucent colors
artfully disposed in pleasing combinations.
"Pattern, not picture, is the window's sphere." At their best, neither
tapestry nor glass painting can hope to|emulate the pencil's touch ; whatever
skill may be shown in them, they cannot possibly be other than bad, at
least, very imperfect as picture. Painted windows have far less value in
themselves as works of art than for the effects which they unwittingly
give, tinging with softened iridiscent dies or moulded shaft, or blank and
pallid wall. The magic power in color lies alone. It is not so much the
windows th.emstlves as the general effect produced by them, that captivates
the eye. Few attempt to read or care to know the meaning of heraldic
hieroglyphics. Few gaze enraptured on lugubrious saints who nothing
show of bright celestial bloom.
CHUnCH OF ST. PETEH'S, GREAT WINDMILL STREET,
HAYMARKET.
THE New Church of St. Peter's, Great Windmill-street, is to be conse-
crated to-day, July 12, at 11 o'clock. Strictly speaking, there is no
street in I>ondon where a church is more needed ; there is no other field with
such a rank crop of vice to test the mettle of the clerical sickle. Apart
from any structural merit, the erection is an honor to the heart which
founded it, and considering the architectural character of the new edifice
it is highly creditable to the head which conceived it. Blocked in as it is
between grimy brick buildings, the architect had little scope for artistic
outline ; no point could be indicated whence a fair view might be obtained
of the whole chnrch. The neighbouring buildings could not aid its outline
nor give more than a bare, abrupt contrast to the work. All its good
qualities, therefore, lie in itself without any reference to the surrounding
blocks. The west front alone is visible, it occupies the space of three
houses on the east side of the street. The central feature is a triple-
arched porch supported on massive circular columns, two deep, with
elaborately carved capitals. Right and left under this porchway, doors
communicate to lobbies inside of the chnrch, which form, as it were,
wings to the exterior of the building. These lobbies are lighted by
lancet wmdows on the west front at the sides of the porch-arches, and
the fpace under the porchway is pierced by three similar windows to light
a portion of the church under the western gallery There are hood-moulds
oyer the arclies terminating in carved heads. A string, to be hereafter
cured, mns unbroken through the front, over the arches and side
windows. A lofty gable rises over the central portion of the front, which
s pierced by a large and handsome Decorated four-light window. There
'i^u'' / "'"''''^ *''" '^"■'"'^ '" * ""^ *'"• '■"-■ weathering of the first stage
of the buttresses which flank the window; but which are almost flush
with the lower portion of the front. This splay roofs the porch, and a
considerable d^rte of light and shade by means of it is most dexterously
introduced, aUhoogU subordinated to the dark mass produced by the
porchway itself. The mouldings of the gable are richly carved; pin-
nacles surmount the buttresses, with sharply cut, well-designed, crockets.
A parapet is continued over the wings, broken only by the crocketed
gables which enclose tlie side lights. Octagon turrets are squeezed in at
the extremities of the front over the gallery staircase; they, we think,
rather mar the effect of the elevation, stuck, as they appear to be, against
the dirtj' brick walls of the adjoining houses which overshadow them.
The proportions of the mouldings throughout are vigorously designed, and
the ornament most judiciously introduced.
On entering the church by either of the side entrances in the porchway,
we find ourselves in a lobby enclosed by deal stained partitions, with the
angles boldly chamfered. These lobbies occupy each a fifth of the width
of the church, and a staircase from each of tliem conducts us to a gallery
over the western end, supported on fir chamfered story posts, with
brackets projecting on the front and sides. The gallery front is quite
plain.
The church is somewhere about 100 feet long by nearly 50 feet wide.
The nave is 24 feet wide from centre to centre of the columns. There are
five hays in the nave. A half-octagon apse forms the chancel. It is suffi-
ciently large for every practical as well as artistic purpose, and not too
large, as the chancels are frequently made in modern Gothic churches.
The nave columns are circular. Dwarf columns, with red Mansfield shafts,
resting on corbels, project from them at about three-quarters of their
height, and support the inner mouldings of the arches. These corbels
consist of heads, and they are splendidly carved, as, indeed, are the capitals
of all the columns. We have seldom, if ever, seen better carved work in
any modern Gothic church. Mr. Myers' sculptors evidently improve by
practice. Their last work is nearly always their best. The hood-moulds
of the arches likewise rest on carved heads. It is rather a novelty to see
the hood-mould repeated now-a-days in internal work. It gives here
great richness to the surface ; the abundance of heads would create mono-
tony if it were not for their diversity and great beauty. Like the capitals
throughout, they are all different. The aisles are narrow ; but breadth is
gained to them by building the exterior wall on the outer side of the
buttresses. These buttresses are skilfully fashioned on the inside, and
what with splays and the columns, resting on corbels, which support the
aisle arches, considerable picturesqueness is given to the walls.
The inner mouldings of the chancel-arch are likewise carried on red
Mansfield shafts, supported in this portion by long foliated corbels. The
outer moulding terminates as usual on sculptured heads.
The roof of the apsed chancel is timber. The ribs converge to the
centre, where they are united by a carved boss. The ribs rest on red
Mansfield shafts, with Bath stone moulded belts, carved capitals, and
bases. There is a Decorated window of two lights, with a cinquc-foil
between them, in each bay. A blank arcade lines the lower portion of
the chancel under the windows. Three stone steps lead up to the altar.
The vestry is at the east end ot north aisle, and a memorial window of
stained glass is fixed over the doorway leading to it. A tower, we believe,
will, at some future time, occupy a corresponding position on the other
side, that is, beyond the east wall of south aisle, over the doorway in
whicli there is also a similar stained glass window to that on the other
side.
The spandrels between the nave arches contain panels which will, we
suppose eventually be sculptured. The clerestory windows are a couple
of lancet windows in each bay divided on the interior by a detached red
shafted column with carved cap and base.
The roofs are equally well managed in the nave, the aisles, and the
chancel. There are two principals to each bay in the former. Every
alternate one is stopped by a sort of carved liammer-beam on a level with
the wall plate ; the others descend between the clerestory windows. There
are circular carved bosses at the apex of all. The feet of the principals in
the aisle roofs have curved pieces attached to them to follow the line of
the arches which spring from the buttresses to the nave columns.
There is a small gallery with a capitally designed front — intended most
probably for the organ — recessed southwards from the easternmost bay of
south aisle. The benches throughout are of deal stained and varnished.
They are simple but in excellent character, in fact stone-work and wood-
work alike are as well executed as they are designed, and reflect
tlie greatest credit on both Mr. R. Brandon the architect, and Mr.
Myers the builder. No clerk of the works seems to have been employed.
From the character of the metal work it appears to have come, although
we cannot speak positively, from Messrs. Hart's establishment. The
whole is faced with Bath stone, internally as well as externally, and the
church is alone worth a visit, by reason of the beauty of the carving so
profusely scattered over it.
Scaffold Accident. — On Monday morning an accident of a frightful
cliaracter took place near the Marble Arch. It appears that Sir De Lacy Evans has
taken a house in Great Cumberland-street, Oxford-street, and Messrs. Simpson,
of Baker-street, builders and house decorators, are employed in putting it in a
thorough state of repair, and hart for this purpose erected a scuSbld up the
whole of the front ol the house. Shortly after eleven, un old man, named
William Moore, his son, and grandson, the latter aged about 12^ together with
an Irish laborer, were at work on the top stage of the scafiold m making a
coniice, when a snapping noise was heard, and before any of them had time to
make tlicir rscapc tlie structure gave way, precipitating the unfortunate fellows
to a depth of about 00 or (iO leet. The old man, Moore, when he fell, became
impaled on the area railings, the top of the spike entering bis left side. A
gentleman named Watson, who happened to be passing, immediately released the
poor man. "The four unfortunate men were taken to the hospital, where the old
man and the grandson remain without hopes of recovery.
July 12, 1861.
THE BUILDING
NEWS.
593
THE INSTITUTE CONVERSAZIONE.
THE Royal Institute of UriMsIi Archittcts lield a gianil Conversazione ii their
rooms, Conduit-street, Kef^eiit-street, on Wednesday uight. The whole of
the rooms occupied by the Institute, as well as the adjoining; sirchiteetura! tral-
leries, were thrown op«n to the visitors on this auspicious occasion. This
interesting reunion, the first, we believe, held by the Institate, passed oft" with
the must marked success, and will, we have no doubt, be followed by many
nieetinus of a similar character. A short time ago the Council of the Institute
invited members to contribute from their collections, paintings, designs, statuary,
anil other works of art, for the purposes of the cutiversazione, and the appeal
thus made was most readily and abundantly responded to. The result was the
collection of a large number of interesting, rare, and valuable objects of a
diversified character in the rooms and galleries of the Architectural House iu
Conduit-street, which was tastefully and elegantly fitted up for the occasion.
The entire arrangements were under the superintendence of Mr. Ciiapfbkis, the
eminent connoiifscur of .lermyn-street, whose exquisite taste and skill were
frequently the theme of eulogium in the course of the evening amongst the
hundreds of ladies and gentlemen who took part in the animated scene. The
cmwermzioiie, which was appropriately held by the Royal Institute on the anni-
versary of Her Majesty's birtiiday, commenced at 9 o'clock in the evening, and
was kept up till a vei-y late, or, rather, an early hour. The heat of the lecture-
hall was considerable, hut that was to some extent compensated by the agreeable
and refreshing coolness of the galleries below. The attendance was very numer-
ous, about twelve hundred invitations having been issued, and included the
contributors and the elite of the architectural profession in the metropolis, accom-
panied by their ladies. The Prince Consort would have been present but for the
absence of the Court from town, and the Prince of Wales was unable to attend
in consequence of his visit to Ireland. Her Majesty, however, showed the in-
terest she takes in the prosperity of the Institute by contributing a number of
valuable objects.
The Exhibition of Wednesday night comprised designs, drawings, paintings,
sketches, statuary, Limoges enamels, majolica, medieval jewels, pistols, medieval
ivories, carving in wood and iron, miniatures, caskets, missals, illuminated books,
bronzes, china (Indian and European), silver ecclesiastical utensils, autographs
uf Wren and his contemporaries, trophy of arms. Oriental enamels, Byzantine
enamels, frescoes from Pompeii, a collection of Oriental inlaid metal work,
including two celebrated vases of the fifteenth century, Hispano-Moorish ;
earthenware, Indian inlaid furniture, the illuminated Victorian psalter
by Mr. Owen Jones. A much admired head in fresco, by Guido, and a
Madonna and Child in marble by Donatello, &c., &c. The contribution of Her
Majesty consisted of an Augsburg clock of tortoisesliell and silver, with twisted
amethyst colunms, surmounted by ruby glass ornaments ; two Oriental Celadon
vases, and a pair of turquoise china turkeys mounted in ormolu. Amongst
the contributors were Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, the
Marquis of Lansdmvne, the Marquis D'Azeglio, Sir John Hippesley, Sir W. W.
Wynne, Sir F. G. Moon, Sir. V. Scott, Baron Rothschild, the Secretary of State
for India, the Department of Science and Art, South Kensington, the Arundel
Society, Mr. Tite, M.P., President of the Institute, Mr. A. J. B. Beresford-
Hope, Professor Donaldson, Professor Cockerell, Mr. James Bell, Mr. H. T.
Hope, Messrs. Minton, Hollins, and Co., Messrs. Hart and Son, Mr. John W.
Brett, Mr. J. G. Munro, Mr. G. J. Morant, Mr. John Ruskin, Mr. Peter
Norton, Mr. John Norton, Professor Sydney Smirke, Mr. Prescot Hewett, Mr.
James Holland, Mr. J. W. Fraser, Mr. G. E. Street, Messrs. Prichard and
Seddon, Mr. George Mair, Mr. J. W. Papworth, Mr. E. Falkener, Mr. T.
Kibble, Mr. David Brandon, Mr. L. Brandon, Mr. John Henderson, Mr.
Manson, Mr. Octavius Hansard, Mr. Digby Seymour, Mr. E. M. Barry, Mr.
J. J. Cole, Mr. George Morgan, Mr. E. I'Anson, Mr. J. H. Parker, Mr.
Fripp, Mr. Golden, Mr. Arthur Gates, Mr. Henry G. Bohn, Mr. H. Farrar,
Mr. John Webb, Mr. A. H. Layard, M.P., Mr. Edward Roberts, Mr. Charles
Gray, Mr. C. Addington, Mr. A. W. Franks, Mr. Acland, Mr. F. P. Cockerell,
Messrs. Clayton and Bell, Mr. Oldfield, Messrs. Day and Son, Mr. E. W.
Cooke, Messrs. Battam and Son, Mr. G. H. R. Newton, Mr. G. H. Stevens,
Mr. Pugin, Mr. W. T. Copeland, the Crystal Palace Art Union, &c., &c.
The visitors were received in the lecture-theatre of the Institute by the
President, Mr. Tite, M.P., who exhibited the utmost affability towards all
parties. Tea, coffee, ices, and other refreshments were supplied to the company
in the course of the evening. With much good taste it was decided by the
President and Council that no speeches should be delivered on this occasion,
an arrangement which appeared to give much satisfaction to the fair portion of
the company. Among the visitors were Rev. R. Burgess, Lord Wensleydale,
^i'' W. J. Newton, Sir F. E. Scott, bart.. Very Rev. Dr. Rock, Lord Henniker,
M.P., Lord De Mauley, Archdeacon Hale, Sir G. Everest, Sir Alexander Hood,
Rev. R. Willis, Sir T. Wilson, Bishop of Lincoln, Capt. Galton, Colonel Sykes,
Dr. Gray, Mr. W.Gamett, M.P., Mr. Beriali Botfield, M.P., Mr. Adam Black,
M.P., Mr. II. Ewing, M.P., Mr. W. Coningham, M.P., Mr. S. Gregson, M.P.,
Mr. H. Freeland, M.P., Mr. H. KerSeymer,M.P., Mr. J. C. Ewart, M.P., Mr.
T. Baring, M.P., Mr. Hart, H.A., Mr. Pickersgill, R.A., Mr. Cope, R.A., Mr.
Frost, H.A., Mr. J. C. Robinson, Mr. A. J. B. Beresford-Hope, Mr. A. W.
Franks, &c., &c.
The objects exhibited on Wednesday night, were shown yesterday (Thursday),
and will be again on view to-day (Friday). Admission may be obtained by an
order from a Fellow or Associate of the Institute.
Masters and Workmen. — Among the firms in the building trade
who have lately adopted the Saturday half-holiday, and payment by the hour,
is that of Mr. William Higgs, of Lambeth. On Saturday last, to inaugurate
the change, and promote good feeling between master and men, Mr. Higgs in-
vited all his hands to his grounds at Stoekwell, having provided very liberally for
their recreation and refreshment. Between 200 and 300 of those in his employ,
clerks, Ibrcmen, and artisans, availed themselves of his kindness, and the time was
agre( ably spent at cricket, football, and other similar amusements. All present
joined in cheers for " payment by the hour, and the half-holiday movement ;" and
the health of Mr. Higgs and family were drunk with hearty goodwill.
Restoration of Rockhampton Church. — Some time ago it was stated
that the parish church of Rockhampton, near Thornbury, would, during the
present summer, undergo a course of restoration. The contract of Mr. Burchell,
builder, of Thornbury, for the necessary alterations has been accepted, and the
works are at the present time in course of progress.
UNITED SOCIETY OF IRONMONGERS.
niHE 3.5th anniversary of this excellent society was celebrated at the Free-
1 masons' Tavern, Great Queen-street, Lincoln's-inn-fields, yesterday even-
ing, when John Dale, Esq., occupied the chair, and Howard J. Kennard, Esq., the
vice-chair.
After a sumptuous repast had been partaken of, the Annual Report was read,
which showed the society to be in a highly flourishiug condition, and pointed it
out as one eminently cjilculated to benefit its members in a variety of ways.
The usual loyal toasts were then drunk ; the one of the evening, " Success to
the United Society of Ironmongers,' being proposed and responded to ia a very
able and eloquent manner.
There was a large and influential company present, and the proceedings were
enlivened throughout by vocal and instrumental performances.
Owing to the lateness of the hour, we cannot do more this week than thus
draw attention to the above gathering; but in our next number we shall
publish a full report.
♦ —
THE SOUTH LONDON MUSEUM.
LAST (Tliursday) night, by permission of the Committee of Council on Edu-
cation, the Trustees of the National Gallery, and the Commissioners of
Patents, a ron«t'raffzio«e was held at the South Kensington Museum, in aid of
the funds of the Society for the formation of the South London Museum. The
whole of the collections at South Kensingtqn were, thrown open to the inspection
of an influential and very numerous audience. We shall give a report of the pro-
ceedings in our next.
♦
THE STRIKE.
MR. WILSON, of Suffolk-street, Borough, having enforced the system of
payment by the hour, the bricklayers iu his employment, about 30 in num-
ber, have left him iu consequence. For the same reason a number of bricklayers
have left the establishment of Messrs. Brassey and Co., Mr. I'Anson, Messrs.
Patman and Fotheringam, and several jobs under the management of other em-
ployers. There are at the present time some 200 bricklayers on the " strike."
^
ASSESSOHSHIP OF ST. GEORGE'S, HANOVER SQUARE.
Some three months ago the assessorship to the parish of St. George's, Hanover-
square, and surveyorship to the governors and directors of the poor,
having become vacant by the decease of the late surveyor, the following gentle-
men became candidates lor the same : —
For the Assessorship.
Sydney Howell, Gloucester street 23
Charles Lee, Golden-square 19
John Turner, Wilton-street 17
Mr. Harris 1
On Wednesday the second appointment was made, the nnmbers being as
follows : —
Sydney Howell G
John Turner ' 5
Mr. Harris 4
W. R. Gritten, Parliament-street 1
— ♦ —
ARCHITECTS AND POETS.
Sir, — It has often struck me as somewhat strange that, among all the prizes
awarded to architectural students, not one has been ottered with a view to test
their poetical attainments.
We are told that om- art is, or, rather, should be, poetry in stone ; why, there-
fore, should we not, in friendly rivalry, disport ourselves on paper?
Tlie standard of architectural education has been of late so raised, that I
believe a soar on Pegasean wing would prove— and yet, O wag ! would 7iot
prove — a high soar. Perhaps some lover of verse may avau himself of the hint,
and, I am sure, many will be found willing to enter on a competitive scramble
up the hills of Parnassus.
In case some of our gentler patronesses might wish to lead the van, there would
be no dearth of volunteers to the call of metre.
I am, &c.,
London, July 6th, 1861. Studest.
THE COMMISSION QUESTION.
Sir, — I rejoice exceedingly that a practice which has operated seriously
against the interest of many manufacturers has been brought under the notice ofSie
Architects' Institute. I allude to the commission in many instances claimed, but
in a far greater number allowed, to engineers, architects, and surveyors on the
amount of goods supplied at works under their direction. I am a manufacturer,
and I state without fear of contradiction that 1 have never fiUlen into the
practice. I have, therefore, been a great loser ; I never considered it honest on
either side. It does not require a conjuror to find out who must ultimately pay
it ; the quality of the materials supplied will not under such circumstances be
very nicely examined.
It is a frequent practice in specifications to insert the names o4 persons from
whom the contractor is to take certain articles. This speaks for itself. I know one
local board, not 12 miles from London, who have caused the inhabitants to pay
fi-om 1.5 to 20 per cent, more thau they would have done had the contractor been
at liberty to jjurchase elsewhere ; and, as I have before stated, it shuts oui all
complaint ot quality. , , „ j
1 hope that some steps will be taken to remedy the evil, or some mode
suggested which will enable manufacturers who have hitherto kept aloof from
such a course to compete with those who have not been so thin-skinned.
I am, &c.,
July (i, 1861. . A Manupacthkbr.
IMPROPER JOINTING OF ELLIPTIC ARCHES.
Sir,— The last week's number of the Building News contains an engrav-
ing of the premiated design for an emblematical device for a certificate of
membership of the Operative Builders' Society of London. It is very nicely
engraved ; but its ingenious author will, I trust, permit me to make use of it a
594
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 12, 1861.
laeg Tbereon to ban? a irrave clianjc apiinst operative builders and bricklayers
ui partieular— not tbat masons also are not amenable to it.
I allude to the proper jointinj of an elliptic arcb. Go wherever you will about
London or our provincial towns, vou will hardly ever meet with a properly
Jointtd eDipUcal arch. \n elliptic arch is seldom at the best a very handsome
arduteetaral fe«tUT« ; but, jointeil as one toooftensees it.it is absolutely hideous.
Let any one who doubts it |to iind look at Temple Bar in the Strand, said to be
the work of Sir ChrJsto|iher Wren.
Now, Sir, there occurs in the device in question a representation of " a skilled
wvrkman, emplovcd in settmg an arch." It is not an elliptical arch, or I mipht
take exception to the arch he is turning. However, immediately above him
there if an elliptical arch ; and, sure enough, its construction displays the faulty
jointing I am alluding to.
The left-hand half of the accompanying diagram (Fig. 1), indicates the
operative builders' mode of jointing an elliptic arch. The workman seems, after
settling tlie contour of his arch, to fix on some comnion point for a centre
l-is- 1- Fig. 2.
w
(usually upon the chord line of his arch) and to this point— no matter how flat
or eccentric his arch— he makes «n his voussoirs or arch -bricks converge! Of
•course the flatter the arch the uglier the result — ugliness and eccentricity going
hand in hand in the matter.
It is plain that, if people will VJie compasses to describe a semi-ellipse from
3 centres, the arch-joints should radiate from « and from 6, as shown in flg. 2;
but even then this method of describing a semi-ellipse is wholly unscientific and
unsuited for large works — Waterloo Bridge for example; and the arches of
Waterloo Bridge are not so described : they are cycloidal, and are worth looking
at ; for they are properly jointed.
Workmen scarcely require to leani that, a true ellipse contains none of the
arcs of a circle, being formed by a complex revolution round two/oci, as exempli-
fied in tbe workman's trammel.
As to the accurate joiH<iH</ of all such properly described eccentric arches, I
am unable to refer to tlie autliority ; but, if I am not mistaken, it is shown in
one of the late Mr. Peter Nicholson's earlier works, by a diagram something like
this at Fig. 3 ; o, o being the Iviofvci of the curve, which, after being drawn out
a, ,,--V"
We do not for a moment pretend to say that we could save the contents of the
warehouse when the fire takes place, but'we positively state that eveiy warehouse
can be so arranged that no fire communication could take place.
Our system is based upon Nature's laws, and the means we use are her own
works, which, by natural ventilation, direction and compression of air, will enable
us to accomplish what we have stated above. We lune taken out a provisional
protection of patent, Ijeiog certain of its ultimate utility and saving to the com-
mercial body tor security and immense saving in insurance premiums, &c,
. We are, &c.,
Cr'iAnLEs Batty, Atmospheric Engineer.
WiLLtA.M IIahkis, Architect and Surveyor.
19(5, Marylebone-road, July 6tli, 18G1.
THE DISPUTE AT READING.
Sir,— I have much pleasure in communicating to your readers that the
diiferences so long pending in the matter of building two houses for Mr. Johnsort,
in Castle-street, are at length brought to a conclusion : the report of his architect
upon the valuation of the extras and omissions has been set aside, and a very
considerable sura beyond his report awarded to me ; also, the bill of quantities
furnished by the architect has been found wanting, and a considerable sum
awarded by the referee in consequence of these inaccuracies. This result has
been effected through a surveyor of sound practical experience in London, and
will, I hope, convince provincial architects and surveyors that " might will not
overcome right." Now, Mr. Editor, I think from the facts above stated, it will
convince the public generally that this has been truly a case of hardship inflicted
on rae and my family through the surveyor employed by the proprietor of the
building, and if lie has any remorse of conscience about him and respect for
himself, he would readily come forward and place rae in my former position.
I am, &c.",
29, West-street, July 10, 1861. William Caktee.
and divided into vonssoirs, is jointed by the bi-scction of radii {aa o a,o b)
diverging from the foci respectively as showu. It is a very simple operation ;
but appar ently but little known among working masons and bricklayers ; and
your more scientific readers will pardon my reviving it.
I am, &c.,
W.Y.
IIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS.
Sir,— We have read with much attention your remarks upon flre-proof con-
stmction, and concur with most of them. You state that " flre-proof construc-
tion is little more than construction in which incombustible materials only are
employed (not iiidestniclible;." This is a fact ; and although " the iron girders
and brick or tile arches, and Messrs. Fox and Barret's ptciit are good in them-
Klret," it will be manifest to all that there is a something wanted In a scientific
form to prevent and protect them from the action of fire. This something, after
much study, we have found, and we can confidently state that, by itx adoption,
we can prevent the fire extending beyond the warehouse or room 'it originates! n ;
and, furthermore, by its application, we can prevent the iron girders, columns,
rapports and iron doors, from being t/roken, made red hot or fiified, even were
tbe Are to be equal to that we have just witnessed at London-bridge.
T£NB£RS.
Boundary Walls, &c., St. Leonakds.
For preliminary earthworks and boundary walls, enclosing the site of a house for
G. Gipps, Esq., St. Leonards. Mr. K. C. Kobins, arohilect.
Hughes £267 17 0
Kin wood (accepted) 204 0 0
Dwelling Houses, Hacknev.
Seven houses at Hackney.
J. WilUs £1,.3M 0 OIT. G.
W. Toul 1,300 0 0|
ToUey .
.^61,187 0 0
CllLBCII, Beemosdsev.
For the erection ofa Free Methodist Church, Upper Grange-road, Bermondsey
Messrs. I'ortcra and Markham, architects. Quantities supplied.
Total ^<>''
Hemmlngs £2,8no
Wilson 2.4S0
Coleman 2,-120
Marsland and Son 2,400
Macers 2,:)91)
Sharpington and Cole 2,307
Wllkms and Botteree 2,390
ToUey 2,387
Wills 2,337
Hill, Kcddle and Kobinson 2,325
Hart 2,289
Sawyer , 2,050
Wells : 1,90!)
Warn e 1 ,OSU
Omitting stone staircases.
£00
55
58
GO
00
52
60
70
60
00
58
50
52
55
Villa, Beeston.
For the erection of a villa residence at Beeston, for Kichard Kilburn, Esq. William
Hill, arcliitcct.
J. Hardwick, Bricklayer £330 0
J. B. rounder. Mason 200 0
W. I'inder, Carpenter &.Joiner.. 309 14
G. Wilson, Plumber & Glazier.. 90 0
K. Itandles, Plasterer £79 10
,T. Lawson, Slater .55 0
W. Nelson, Painter 16 18
Singleton and Tennant, Ironwork. 27 0
Workhouse, Bhomlev.
For the erection of a workhouse for the Stepney Union, at Bromley
Mr. Henry Jarvis, architect.
Bennett £32,077
Hardiraan and Sandoii 31,970
Myers 31,440
Downs 29,970
I'crry 29,937
Knnor 29,.')73
Wilkins and Bottom 29,430
Blackburn 29,300
Watts 29,220
Middlesex.
Hacks and Son ....t,~i £29,071
Rowe ..;;.,;'..;..... 29,033
Stap .....; 2S,9«Z
Hill and Kobinson 28,345
Wood 28.000
Sawyer ;. 27,963
Paltner 27,548
WlUsou 27,220
Hart 20.809
School, Manchester.
For the alteration and cnlor;fcment of the Manchester School for the deal and
dumb, to gain increased dormitory space and more efficient ventilation. Mr. James
Kedtord, architect. With an allowance for old materials. », ,ir
Bowden, Edwards, and Forstor .. .£1,209 I Cochrane and Co £l,il->
R. Ncill 1,140 I Southern (accepted) 1,080
Mansion, Isleworth.
lor the erection of Suflolk-lodgc, Islcworth, JUddlesex, for Joseph Last, Esq.
Mr. William lloe, architect. , „, ,„„
S. Eyles £1,534 IT. Chamberlen (accepted) £1,488
G. Burchett 1,526 1 ,
Church Hates in CamberwcU. — A IiarJ-fouglit contest on the subject
of a church-rate has just been decided in the parish of Camherwell, where party
feeling among Churchmen and Dissenters runs more than ordinarily high. A rate
of 2d. in the pound was asked to repair the fabric of the parish church, which
Mr. Gilbert Scott had reporteil to be needed. A poll of the parish, excepting
certain districts which had become separate parishes by the operation of law,
was begun on Monday last, and continued without intermission from eight
o' clock in the morning till eight o'clock in the evening, when the senior church-
w arden declared the result to be— For the rate, 081 ; against it, 873 ; majority in
iavor of the rate, 108.
JUYL 12, KSGl.
TilE BUILDING NEWS.
595
COMPETITIONS AWARDED.
(iiii.DFORD Assize Col'kt.
A poIIonbclialfof4pIaii8liavlns;b«>n dpmanded, it was carrlod into effect on
Thnrediiv Isst, whin "Non sine lalwre,"' by Mr. T. (ioodchild, architect, was chosen.
The immbtrs wore ••Xon sine labore," 518; "Onward and upward," 420 ; " Utility,'
7; "Hope," a. ,
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
5IAKKKTS, &c.
I!.\TH.— Kor desicns, speclficationE, and e.'itiniatefl, for tlie reconstruction of the
provision niarlcctd, and for tlie improvement ci tlie adjacent localities in the city
of Bath. Premium.'! of £00 and .tij are oflered for the first and second approved
desig-ns. Full particulars, with lithographed plaRs of the ground, levels, &c., may
be obtained from T. .Stone, town clerk, Guildhall, liath, on payment of 5s. Ine
designs, &c., are to be sent i'ree to the town-eh'rk. by August 1.
MECHANICS' ISSTITUTK.
Lincoln.— For designs for the erection of a building in the city of Lincoln, for the
Lincoln and Liniolnshire Jlechanics' Institution and County Museum. Architects
wishint! to compete may, upon application to .Mr. \V. Iluddlestone (a raembT of
the committee). a(i, Melville-street, Lincoln, receive a plan of the site, and any
other information required, after July I."), i'lans to be 'forwarded, free, addressed
to the Librarian of the Mechanics' In.^titutlon, Lincoln, by :il9t Angnst, accom-
panied with a scaled envelope bearing a motto corresponding with one to be pl.icea
on the arehitect'sjdesign, together with the architect's name. The successful archi-
tect will be employed to carry out his design on the usual commission.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
TOWX HALL.
Hemei, Hemp.stead.— Fen- the erection of the proposed improvements and addi-
tions to the Town-hall, Ilemel Hempstead. Drawings, &c., at the ofiieea of Mr.
George Low, architeet, 10, Basiughall-strect, London, E.C., tillthc l"th inst., in-
clusive; and at the offices of Mr. S. C. Harrison, surveyor, Hemel Hempstead,
from the IS'h to the '-'9th inst., inclusive. Tenders, under seal, to be delivered at
the Town-hall, Hemel Hempstead, by '-t p.m., .July :tl.
HO.SPirAL.
Maidstone.— For the execution of certain additions and alterations to the Kent
County Ophthalmic Hospital, Maidstone. Plans with Henry Blandford, architect,
Maidstone, from July l.i. Tenders, sealed and endorsed, "Tender for Works," to
the Chairman of the Board of Management, Kent County Ophthalmic Hospital, by
J2 noon, July 27.
ASYLUMS.'
riiRTH.— For the various works in the erection of the Perthshire District Lunatic
Asylum, near Murthly station on the Uunkeld railway. I'lans, Ac, with Mr. P.
.Soutar, clerk to the Lunacy Board, Perth; or Messrs. Kdward and Robertson,
architects. Reform-street, Dundee ; who will give all requisite information. Ten-
ders to Mr. Soutar. or Messrs. Edward and Robertson, to .July 20.
AVORCESTER. — For the erection of a new wing to the County and City of "Worcester
Lunatic Asylnm, to accommodate 100 persons. Plans, &c., with Martin Curtler,
solicitor, Sansorae-plaee, Worcester; further information from the architect, H.
Rowe, 17, Foregate-street, Worcester. Sealed tenders, endorsed " Tender for New
Wing,' ' fVee, to Mr. Curtler, by August 2.
HOTEL.
SAi.TEf nN-BT-THE-SEA.— For a oommodious'hotel tobc bnfit at Saltbnrn-by-the-
.Sea. Plans, &c., at the Stockton and Uarllngtou Railway offlce, Darlington.
Tenders are to be delivered at the said office by July 25.
CHURCHE.S. „
Bangor.— For the bnilding of a new church in Bangor, Plans, &c., with Sir. H. P.
Horner, architect, at 10, Rasnctt-street, Liverpool, from the 12th to the 20th inst.
inclusive. Tenders, sealed and endorsed, " Tender for new Church at Bangor," to
A. J. Dodson, honorary secretary, Bangor, by .July 24.
E.\ST Moir.SEY.— For the proposed new church at East Monlsey, near Hampton
Court, Middlesex-. l>rawingB, Ac., at the office of the architect, Mr. Talbot Bury,
.W, Welbeck-street, W. Tenders must be sent in to the architect not later than
July 20.
CHAPELS, Ac,
SvRETFORD.— For the erection of a Wesleyan Chapel, proposed to be built at Stret-
ford, Lancashire. Drawings, &e., at the olBee oOIr. Henry Fuller, architect, 28,
Cooper- street, Manchester, from .July 10. Tenders to Mr. Samuel McCoy, 4,
I Chapel -square, Birchin-lane, Manchester, by noon, July 24.
SCHOOLS.
Manchester.— F'or the whole of the works required in the erection of St. Luke's
' schools, Cborlton-upon-Medlock. Drawings, &e., at the offices of Mr. John Lowe,
architect. No. 1, Chapel Walks ; and bills of quantities, Ac, may be obtained from
Mr. Georife Hall, building surveyor, 13, Cooper-street, JIanchester. Tenders to be
addressed to the Committee, and to be left at the offices of the architect by 1 p.m.
July 16.
VICARAGE.
RucBT— Forthe erection of a new vicarage house. Plans, &c., with Mr. Joseph
Isaacs, Long Itcliinglon. Bricks, lime, and sand, can be procured in the parish,
and there is a goods station (ilarton) within two miles of the site. Tenders to be
sent to the Rev. C. Spackman, Long Itchington, near Rugby, to July 17.
I'AltSONAGE.
SIORPETfr.- For the erection of a parsonage-bouse and offices, atWIddrington, near
Morpeth. Plans, Ac, with 5Ir. Stevenson, clerk of works, WIddrington ; or to
the architects, Messrs. J. and J. Girthvood, 40, Pall-mall, London, to whom sealed
tenders must be sent, by July 20. Quantities will be supplied by Mr. C. Balam,
10, Buckingham-street, Strand, Lond<m.
MANSION.
Pickering. — For the carpenter and joiners' work, slaters', plumbers' and glaziers',
and painters' work of-' a mansion to be lereeted at Pickering, for .James Mlchelson,
Esq. Plans and specifications at the offices of ,J. B. and Wm. Atkinson architects,
0:j, Micklegate, York, till the 20th lust, inclusive. Sealed tenders to be delivered to
the architects, by 4 p.m. July 20.
SEWERAGE.
Ddmfuies.— For constructing and completing tw(t sewera and their appurtenances,
one in High-street and one m Eiigllsfi-street, Dumfries. Sections, &c., with Mr.
Barbour, C.E., Buccleucli-street, Dumfi-ies. Tenders to Wm. Martin, town clerk,
to July IS.
STATUE.
LiVERPOor,.- For a statue of the Duke of Wellington, not less th.an 12 feet in height,
to be execut^'d in bronze, and to be placed on the top of the column now in course
of erection in Liverpool. Each party tendering to submit with their tender a
model one fourth of the full size of the statue they propose to erect. Separate
tenders will be required, one inclusive and one exclusive of the metal, and the time
re<iiiired fur executing the work to b{! st;Ued by the party tendering. The
necessarj' seafi'oldftig for the erection of the statue will be provided by the con-
tractors for the column now erecting. Sealed tenders, properly endorsed, addressed*
to John Torr, Esq., i:j, Exchange; liutldings. Liverpool, by noon of August (1.
VILLAS.
Kent.— For the erection and completion of a pair of semi-detached villas, proposed
to be built at licxley Heath, Kent, tor .Mr. S. (i. laehlllond. Drawinors, Ac, at the
olflee of -Mr. William ; Gosling, architect and surveyor, S2, Wellington-street,
Wfiolwich. Tenders to July 17.
Windsor.— For building a pair of semi-detached villas, at Windsor. Plans, Ac,
from .July 2'Jnd, with Henry McCalla, C.E.. architect, office, 2.5, Westbournc-place,
Katon-square. Tenders by 4 p.m., August 1.
DWELLING nous?}.
Guildford.— For the erection ofa small house, at Cranley, near Guildford. Plans,
&c., with Mr. Ansell, Onslow Arms Inn, Cranley. Tenders to the architect, R. J.
Withers, Esq., 51, Doughty-street, London, W.C., to July 10.
FARM BUILDINGS.
Lincolnshire.— For the erection of a farmhouse, offices, and stable, upon a farm at
Borough Fen, near Crowland, Lincolnshire, for Robert W. Maxwell, Esq. Draw-
ings, Ac., with Sextus Dyball, architect and surveyor. No. IS, Bucklersbury,
Cheapside, E.C., up to and including the i;sth inst., and afterwards at Mr. Jlax-
well's. Borough Fen, near Crowland. Tenders to be delivered to -Mr. Dyball, by
12 noon, .luly 24.
GASWORKS.
Surrey.- For the supply of three new retorts, and setting the same, and for a
general repair of the works in the gas house of the South Sletropolitan .Schools,
at Sutton, also tenders for the performance of such work as may be necessary to
keep the retorts and other works connecttd with tlie supply of gas in proper ordei ,
at per annum, for three years, from the 24th dny of .luly ne.xt. Tenders, detailing
the work proposed to be done, sealed, and addressed to the managers of the schools,,
to be sent to Joseph Burgess, Clerk to the JIan.agers,rWftlworth, S. to July 10.
CAISSON,
J^EiTii. — For the construction of wrought iron caisson for the entrance to tbe
graving dock, now in course of construotioD on the cast side of the Harbor of Leith*
Drawings, Ac, with A. M. Rendel, Esq., C.E., 8, Great George-street, West-
minster; or George Rol>ertson, lOsq., C.E., at the new Dock Works, Leith;
and tenders (in form to be furnished) must be lodged with John Phin, clerk to the
Commission, 13, Heriot-row, P^dinburgh, by .Julv 22.
RAILWAY WORKS.
Newry AND Armagh Railway.— For the construction of the line from its junction
with the Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway at Gorahwood to Mai'ket Hill, a
length of yf miles. The work will comprise two tunnels in clay slate rock, aggre-
gate lengt h about one mile, a:i well as the usual excavations and einbankments,
masonry, Ac, Ac. The contractor to provide and lay the permanent way. IMans,
Ac, at the office of G. W. Hemans, Esq., the engineer of the company, 13, tJueen's-
square, Westminster, and also at his offices in Dublin and Newry. Tenders en-
dorsed " Tender for Market Hill Contract," to be addressed to the Secretary, at
to July 31.
SEWERAGE, Ac.
Liverpool.— For sewering, kerbing, channelling, pitching, and macadamising (with
Welsh stone) Hyde-road Waterloo. Specification, Ac, at the office of the sur-
veyor, Alfred Taylor, C.E., Kilshaw-terrace, Waterloo, of whom all further infor-
mation may be obtained. Tenders to be delivered to Joseph Mason, Clerk to the
Local Board of Health, .30, Castle-street, Liverpool, endorsed " Tender for the
Sewering, Ac, of Hyde-road," by 4 p.m., July 10.
Landport and Southsea. — For making a sewer and other works, of a total
length, in vsrious sizes, of about 400 yards, commencing from Sackvillc-street,
through 3Iiddle-street, across Brunswick-road, through Russell-street, across and
into Swan-street, and across and into Cutler's-row, to Salem-street
in the towns of Landport and Southsea. Specifications, Ac, at the
offices of the commissioners, Arundel-street, Landport, where forms of tender
may also be obtained. Tenders addressed to the commissioners to be
delivered at the offices of the commissioners, and marked, " Tender for
Sewerage Works," by 2 p. m. of .July 1.5.
ROADWORK, Ac.
Manchester.— For sewering, forming, fencing, and paving a proposed new road,
about 800 yards long, at Lady Barn-lane, in Withington. Tenders in writing, to
Sir. Taylor, surveyor, 16, Tib-lane, Cross-street, Manchester (at whose office,
plans, sections, and specifications may be seen), by July 15.
MILITARY WORKS.
Portssiouth. — For new groynes in front of breakwater at Southsea Castle, near
Portsmouth. Parties desirous to tender must leave their names at the Royal
Engineer offlce, I'ortsmouth, by the I'Jth inst., and pay lOs. 6d. forbllls|of quantities.
Woolwich.— For renewing the slating, boarding, lead work, Ac, on tlie roof of the
Convalescent Hospital, at Woolwich. Parties desiring to tender must leave their
names at the Royal Engineer Office, Woolwich, by the 17th inst., and pay 10s. 6d.
for bills of quantities.
WATERWORKS.
Dcmfries.— For building and constructjug two new filters and other work in con-
nexion therewith, on the works of the Ijumfries and Maxwelltown Waterworks
Commissioners at Lochrutton, about four miles from the town of Dumfries. Plans,
Ac, at the office of Alexander Tibbetts, Clerk to Commissioners, Waterworks
office, Dumfries. Tenders, sealed and addressed " Dumfries and JIaxwelltown
Waterworks, Tender for constructing Filters, Ac," to be left at the offlce of the
clerk by July '.^4.
SALES AT GARHAWAY'S AN!) THE ^AUT
freehold.
By Messrs. N'ohtox, UOGgart, and Te:st Sowardstone, Essex, botcher's shop ; sold for
^ Luilgate rialu, Sowardstonc, farm cottage, with 5a. 8r. S'ip. of meadow land; sold for
'i'h'rifthall, Walthain Abbev, part copyhold residence, with g.nr.'.cus, stabllnsr, out-ofllces,
&c.. in all about 3a. ; sold for £1,<W0.
Widtham Abbey, cottage ; solo for £290.
Water-lane, Cheslumt, two cottages; sold for ,^210. ,,^.„,.,n-
Xazing, Essex, two cottages, witli gardens, and la. lOp. of nieivlow land ; sold KB ilOj.
Sun-street, two dwelling-houses, one with shop ; sold for £1,110. ,
Ditto, two dwelling-houses, with shops, rent per aiuuun .CIO lOs. ; sola for £8,0
Ditto, corner shop, rent per annum £12 ; soltl for £205.
Church-street. Wallham .Vbbcy, residence and small cott.ngc; sold for toio.
Clapton, Middlesex, family residence with stabling, offices, pleasure-grounds, l.iwn,
gardens, and moadoiv land, tlic whole containing upwards ol 9 acres : soiu lor *.8,5«o.
Sun-street, Waltliam .\bbcy, public-house, kuowu as llie Angel, a.»o a dwolUng-Jiouso
adjoining; sold for £«I0.
Sun-Blrect, two dwcIling-hou.5es, one with shop ; sold for xwO,
Suu-strect, dwelling-house, shop, and premises; sold for t4l.o.
Barrack-lane, StanfonI Klvers, i:ssex, two cottages, with gardens, with an enclosure of
pasture-land, known as JllUcr's-mcad, containing about 3 acres : sold for £200.
Uy Mr. .'ilAasH.— 44, New I'cter-stiect , Westminster, premises ; sold for SSOO.
3, Kdeu-grove, IloUoway, premises : sold for £9.5.
.w. Grove-street. Hollowav, premises; sold for .tUO. ,.„,.-» ^ ,,- *,^
Slough, two plots o( lai.d,l)eing lots 23 and 24 ol the Great Arbor-hm Estate : sold for .£100.
Slough, plot of land, being lot 2.1 of the Great Arbor-hl 1 tst:ite ; sold for .48.1.
By .'Messrs. Debexham and Teivsox.— 4, Harrlngay-vlllas, I'otteuham, resijcaco, rent per
.inuuin £47 .'is. ; sold for .£t;.',U. „ .,. ^ ,,..,.,«,«
lea. 2r. .3Sp. ofbuikling land, situate at Southgatc ; sold for £1,600.
Soutbgate, half an acre of bnilding land ; sold lor il.'/i.
Soutligate, hnlfnii acre of building land ; sold for tlM).
Southgatc, six plots of building laud; sold for, toVi „ ,,. . „.^
I'rIndsbuiT, Kent, resldeuce, with stabling and outbuildings and 4a. of land, tnown as the
Elms; soldier £1,2110. , ., ,, , , ,,. ,„„
Wood-green. Uornsev.aplotofbuildlngland; soldfor £00.
By Jtessrs Wix.stanley.— 82 and 8;S, Wnrdour-strect, Ox'ord-street, premises, consisting
of two dwclllng-bonses, shops, and premises, rent per annum £10.1 ; sold for £1,800.
84, Wardour-strcct, dwelling-house with shop, rent per annum .£34 ; sold for £670.
1 to 4 Tyler's-court, four messuages, rent per annum £120; sold for £800
By Messrs Barnes, Winch, and Son.— Biddendeii, Kent esute, called the Castweezel and
Elmestono, comprising residence, farm buildings, ;sc., and 2(aa. Or. Ip. of meadow and
pasture land ; sold for ,£.5,(«)0. ^ „ . ^ u, i
Hiddcndeu, estate called I'aine Land, and containing cottage and 8a. 2r. <p. of arable ana
pasture land ; sold for £300.
596
TUB BU1LD1]!^G :NEWS.
July 12, 1861.
FMCer-ffT««a, Uidaenileii. estate. c:\Uck\ Summor-hill Farm, aud consists of Ha. Ur. 25i>. ;
sold for £3tsu,
BUtaMlen, estate, oalled the Staco uutl March LauSs, aud consists of 62a. Sr. Idp. of arable
«Bd other lands ; h>K1 for £'.*.1M>. , , . , ■ . . .,. ,
BMdenden, estate, caU<-<l Henrtsan Kami, ami consists of a resiueuce, stabluig, aua
r««. St. llii>. of land ; suM for £S.Oiiy. . . ,. ^ . . ^ ** ,
l^Qtcnlcn Kcot.«tatc.caiIc«I the Pcekelaml ^ arm. and consists of a cottage, bam, ami
2S«. or. 28i>. of land : sold for £0.W. , ,. ^ , ,. , . _^ ^ ,. , ,
By M«wrs Ll-kut. «i carrawaVs.-Bytieet, Surrey, estate, part conyhold, comprislnf:
Ia.fr Ip. of laud, with dwelling house, orchard, &c., known as Poultons Orchard; sold
Jbr^MoT
BjilT. Hammosp.— C.Rcd Uon-passage. Ked Lion-street, Holborn. house and shop, rent
per anaiun. £^ ; »o\d for £ivw>.
By Mr. IJaAT— Stockwill, a plot of building erround ; sold for J£375.
SwckweU, a plot of halMlng ground, with a tVontage of 62 feet 4 inches by 133 feet to the
8toclcwell-roaa : sold for .t:.'H5.
BtocAwell. a plot of building ground, with a firontagc of 62 feet 4 inches by 133 feet to
BiniitoT-nMkd ; sold for £3.v>.
Stoelnrell. a plot ol building ground, with a fVontage of 50 feet by 135 feet to Bonilcy-road ;
aaldatr£S90.
8tockwell. a plot of building ground, with a firontage of 50 feet by 135 feet to Stockwell-
road ; sold for £300.
Br Jiessn. Beadei,.— Hare-lajio, Ksher, Surrey, cottage with garden, meadow and grass
land. containiDg together la. 3r. .'*p. ; sold for £640.
Fetcham, Surrey, family residence, known ua** The Grove," with stabling, gardens, and
11a. Or. Up. of meadow laud : sold for £4,ooo
Fetcham, ^mlly residence, known as "Bridge House," with garden and paddocks, the
whole contalnlnffsa. or. S7p. : sold for £900
Bv Keasrs. Cmoirtif and Son James-street, Feckham, two cottages, known as Prima
Cottages ; sold for £340.
James-street, a plot of building land ; sold for £180.
James-sueet, cottage, known as Woodland Cottage ; sold for £190.
I, a. 3, and 4, Albert-cottages. Kast Surrey-grove, Peckham, four dwellings ; sold fior £450.
Katit Surrey-grove, a plot of building ground on the east side ; sold for £U0.
II. .'^t. George^s-street, dwoUing-liouse; sold for £190.
l'<:ckham, two plots of bulldog ground ; sold in Two lots for £1,100.
1, 2, and 3, Commercial-terrace, Peckham, three villa residences, with ganlens; sold
for £1430.
4 and 5, OommercJal-road, two villa residences ; sold for £980.
6 and 7. Conmierclol-road, two villa residences; sold for £88U.
8, Commercial-road, villa residence; sold for £400.
1 and 2. Albert-Villas, (.'unimercKU-road, two villa residences ; sold for £650.
1 to i:.Kos4>uiary-brancli'l>uildlncs. Commercial-road, seventeen houses; sold for £1,810.
St. George's-strect, a plot of butlciing ground ; sold for £150.
Commercial-road, throe plots of garden ground and yard, with carpenter's shop, sheds,
cottage and garden, situate iu the rear of Albert-villas ; sold for £420.
LEASEHOLD.
Bv Messrs. Hbbsing, Son. and Cla&ke.— 1, 14. 2, 3, 4, .1, and 6, Regency -pi ace, Keuning-
ton.wven houses, term 72 years, rent per annum £88 16s., ground-rent jier annum £4 ; sold
for £■'40.
31, White Hart-row, Kennington. shop and dwelling house, same term, at a ground-rent of
£5 per Annum, rent per annum £28; sold fur £I0A.
9tolS, Regency-place, five house.**, same temi, atauct rental of £69 per annum; sold for
£180.
14 to 18. Regency-place, leaseh 3ld houses, same term, at a net rental of £71 1^. per anniuu ;
sold fbr £i&%.
16 and 17. Brandon-street, Walworth, two houses, with shops, also a plot of ground in the
rear, term 17J years unexpired, rent per aimum £96 46. ; sold for £ai5.
47. Brandon-Street, house, term 17i years, at a net rental of £18 per annum; sold for
£130.
48, 49, iSO, .'Jl, 52, .VI, 54, 55, .w, ^7, SB, and 59, Braudon-street. twelve houses, same
term, let at rents amounting to £223 4s. per annum, grouud-rent per annum £10 10s. ; sold
for £880.
eo, 61, 62, and 63, Brandon-street, four bouses, same term, rentper annum £63 14s., ground-
rent £S IQBjMr annum ; sold for £265-
1 to 16, Wllllam-strect, Walworth, sixteen houses, same tcnn, let at rents amounting to
£349 2s. per annum, ground rent iK;r annum £liJ ; sold for £!>25.
! to 8, Providence-place, Cpper Kennington-lane eight messuages, producing a rental of
£02 138. per annum ■ term 64 vuars, at a ground rent of £40 per annum ; sold for £210.
46^^Bridge-house- place, \ewington- cause way, and 76, Boruugh-road, two shops and
dweOhin, term 61 years A-oni September 20, 1822, rent per annum £75, ground rentper
annum £16 : sold for £r>7u.
47 and 48, Bridge-house-place, two shops and dwellings, same term, at a net rental of
£S1 10b. per annum : sold for £63.5.
40 ■naao.Bridge-house-place, two shops and dwellings, same term, let at a net rental of
£«s per annum ; aold for £495.
ffl,Bxidg»-liOMe-place, shop and dwelling, same term, let at a net rental of £31 lOs. per
unnm : sold fQr£».
<a,Brtdce-lioiiM-place,twoHhoi>sand dwellings, and T^, Borough-road, two shops and
dwttllinga* uroe term, at a net rental of £86 15fl. per annum; sold for £300.
40,70, and 71. liorougb-road, threeshops.sameterm, at anet rentalof £32108.perannnm;
73 and 74, Borotigh-road, premises and shop, same term, at a net rental of £27 16s. per
annum ; sold for £240.
75, Borough-road, shop and dwelling, same term, at a net rental of £25 per annum ; sold
forilfls.
», Borough -road. Obelisk, shop and dwelling, term 01 years from Sept., 1824, at a net rental
of £24 68. in], per annum; Mild for £170.
4, BorouKh-road, Obelisk, shop and dwelling, same term, at a net rental of £27 per annum ;
■old for £180.
127.Blackfriar»-road, shop and dwelling, same term, at a net rental of £31 per annum;
»oUlfor£X».
U8, Blackft-iars-road, shop and dwelling, also a stable and coach-house in the rear, same
term, at £30 1.^. per annum ; sold for £275.
129, Black Mars-road, shop and dwelling, same term, at a net rental of £81 per annnm ;
aold for £»40.
52, Great Windmill-street, Ilajinarket, shop and dwelling, term 14^ years, at a net rental
of £81 las. ; sold for £^>80.
' By Messrs. Norton, Hoccakt. and Tkist.— 72, Park-street, Grosvcnor-eguare, dwelling-
boose and business premises, term 39i years from Lady-day last, atagroundrent of £35 per
annum, rent )>er annum £160; sold for £1,580.
24. Manchester's treet, Argyle-sqoare, residence, term 84 years, at a net rental of £57 per
annum : soM for £351).
5 to 6. Richmond-street, Edgeware-road, five residences (two with shoi)S), term 60J years,
St £tti5«. jier annum ; sold fur £670.
00 and 91, Fl«remc-road, l>eptfurd, two residences, term 80 years from Christmas, 1847, at
agrotmd r<-ni of £6 4<f. per annum, rent per annum £56; NOldfur£570.
By Mr. Mabhh.— 12, rltzroy-idaee, Ku»t«n-road,dweIIIug-house and shop, term 39 years
rom March 2.',. 1h47, rent per annum £.35. ground-rent per annum £10 lOs, ; sold for 146.
SS, Ixrwer Phflllmore-place, Kensington, dwelling-house ; sold fur £700.
3S, Lower I'hlllimore-place, dwelling house; sola for £880.
W, Lower niilliniore-placo, dwelling-house ; sold for €880.
». Lower I^hillimons-place, dwelling- house j sold for £880.
«. Lower PbllUmorc-place, dwelling-house; sold for £8aO.
rbllliniure-mews, cottage ; told for itZVK
l.Philltmore-mewR, cottage; sold f*tr £105.
2, Fhllltmore-mews, cottage; sold for £105.
3, Walcot-terrace, LarabeUi, bouse ; sold for £205.
1S7, EiMtofi-road. Middlesex, hoiue ; told for £830.
180, Enaton-road^bouse ; sold for £.^40.
l», US, and IM, Praed-strcct, Paddington, three houses ; sold for £1,370.
ByMr. Moore.— 4«. Pratt-strcet.Camden-town, residence; sold for £240.
: 4, WlUia^treet, Kentish -town, rtAulence; sold for £32.'j.
Bf Mewrs. £■ i'nx and BousriELu.— 77, Gloucester-place, Hyde-park, family residence,
v^rm 91] rears, from March 25, 1846, estimated value £180 per aimum, groimd-rcnt per
annum £»; sold for £14M)
By Mr. WiKrrAnjnr.— 16. Keppelstrcet, Russell -square, residence, term 431 years, at a
ground-rent of £94 per annum, rentixrr annum £M ; sold for £525.
By Messrs. Lk»w and LEaEw.-2- anil 2«. AnguttuH-street.Kegent's-park.tworesldences,
ten* flOyeari nrom Heptemt>er 29, l«z;{. at a net rental of £23 per annimi ; sold for £120.
- By Mr. HAMXfoirD.-B to 14, Ncw-streut, Ht. Luke's, seven houses, term 7 years, at a
rroond-rent of £8n oer annum let at renu amounting to £171 12s. per annum ; sold for £8ff .
COPYHOLP.
By :ilerfsrs. XoitToN, Hoggabt, nud Tkist.— Sun-street, Waltliam Abbey, two dwelling-
houses ; sold for £2S0.
Sun-street, dwelling-house and preniisen ; sold for £a05.
Sun-street, shed, ciiriieuter's shop, with shed, and other premises ; sold for £270.
Suii-slrect, dwelling-house and premises, also a idcce of garden ground adjoinmg; sold
for £-iK.-).
Austtv. Herts, cottasre. with a piece of ground ; sold for £50.
'I'uut-lull. Stanford l!ivers, Essex, farm, cottage, and garden, yard, stabling, out-oinces. In
all about 40a. i)f arable and jmsturc land, known as Kichol-land ; sold for £1,420.
TurncrV-hill, Cheshunt, licrts, shoji and dwelling-house, also two cottrges, with gardens ;
sold for £265.
PROPERTV SOLD AND BOUGHT IS DURING THE LAST THREE MONTHS.
Bold. Bouglit in. Total.
April £im,4(H .. £139,722 .. £300,180
May 344,41,1 .. 209,818 .. 5.'i4,2.'Jl
June 60H,JI70 .. 553,63a .. 1,062,602
Total. .. .£1,013,847 £903^72 £1,917,010
ANSWERS TO CORKESPON BENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and communications to be addressed to the Editor of the Building Jsews, 20,
Old Boswell-court, St. Clement's, Strand, London.
- The Editor cannot undertake to return unused manuscripts.
L._-V\'e have iirlnted the query several times, but no reply entirely satisfactory has been
received ^ ■_
Messrs. 1. I.. niiS Co.— The enforcing of the penalty depends entirely on the terms of the
contract, of which you say not aword.
]i li. B.— We can reply by letter only in special cases.
C. W.- Charged at per foot rnn.
o. Q.— Measure over all, and deduct the opening. , ^. , , .„„„j .
T. H. N.- We should recommend you to apply for the class for whichyou are beat suuea ,
how can we tell which that Is ?
A ItEADEii (Slough.)— Particulars of the result never reached us.
J. m'. N.— Your system of measuring mason's work does not differ much from tliat pro|«3ed
by Mr. Laxton." To add to the price of the stone the labor of setting, lioistmg, ana scai-
folding per font cube. To allow for half sawing ujion each face that has been sawn, a tne
face be worked. add to the sawing tlie price ofplafn sunk, or moulded work, as the case
may be, exclusive of setting. The jirice of labor to the two faces of beds andjonits to ue
taken at the sauie price as plain or sunk work for one face, in addition to the sawing.
A IluiLDEa We cannot advise on such an ex parte statement.
G. L We cannot find a subject for yon.
S. W. 'I' Not in Ungland, at any rate.
i,. IMi.—Xo i tlie practice differs considerably. . , . ,t s„c«,i
(). ,1. X.- JIany experiments have been made, but hardly with a satisfactory result, several
inouiries to the same elleet have lately reached us.
R. A We do not know.
Kev. T. W. L Mr. Weale lias published several works on the sul^iect.
R.— Thanks ; shall appear. „ .. .. .„, „.„ mova
V. Z.-The amounts arc startling ; but why not have added the names ? as It te we can masa
no use of ihe list. , , .„ „ ^ „„!, nil
Q.— No. 1. ,2i per cent. So. 2. 1} per cent. ; these are usual charges, but will not sun an
cases.
lNVESTioA?oK.-No.l. Nottrue,!f Mr.Tlmbs in his "Garland for theTear" bo <:<';i<='=^' J^Kff'
" In a Crown survey dated 1650, we find a piece or parcel of pasture-gronntt <^»"/° ,,'„""
nicll Close,' part of which was planted with apple-trees, where I'epys stole "PI"'' ^Jl" " „
boy ; and Apiiletrce-yard exists to this day, InTork-street, St. .Tames-squarc. I"fh»f3?
document arc also named HO elm-trees standing on both sides I'all-mall-walk ; J »'"";i"^J'
plan, 1058, shows a row of trees on the north side ; and the name of Pall-mall as a »|r""'>
occurs in the rate-books of St. Wartln's-in-the-Fields, under the year 1656. ""r'-
Almost any old description of London will give the information you require. JNO. j. t> o
cannot say.
Edwin W For reasons given in our last.
Mr. .T. V It appeared nevertheless.
W. P. —Thanks ; always glad to receive imformatlon respecting works in progress.
Me. V.-You must perform all necessary shoring yourself, or risk the consequences oi not
doing so, the law on the subject is very clearlv deflued by numerous cases. _,„oi™
C. H. C— Is too late, an article on the same subject is now in type. We are happy to lei-eive
suggestions.
W. T. R. A.— We must decline to answer the question. ^ . _ 4„ i.-^^
EsQUiBEH.-Yes, we noticed an Iron safe at Cotton's-wharf ; It apiieared, however, to nave
been opened by hand. We do not know the maker's name.
A Cleiik.— Thanks.
A CoNTaAcToR The price seems too high ; but we are imahle to say where you can go to
better advantage. Look at our advertising columns. . „., k^/vv
T. h.-Sir Noble's was printed in error for See Noble's; it is not easy to see ho^> anj dook-
scUer could make a " mistake in consequence."
J. .!.- We have repeatedly to decline such ofl'ers.
J., W. .T. S.— We are quite iiositive.
A JouENEYMAN I'AiNTEii — Exhibition has closed.
A Stdwent Should let us see sketches. . , ^„ ,„
One Mfcn Vexed.— It is of but little use to apply a covering, impervious to moisture, m
parts ; the damp is sure to And its way out in other places. Get rid of the cause oi iiio
A SUBscElBEn.— Probably executed by the electrotype process, instead of by hand, as tho
best work usually Is ; engraving makes the most perfect work. This mode ot damasaei-ii-
iug Is performed by cutting into the metal by a graver and other tools, and then """« "IJ
the Incisions with silver or gold wire ; the lines should be made wider at bottom •"»"""
the to|), so that when forced Into the space, Ihe wire becomes keyed as it were, """',"""''
easily removed. In clcctrotypedwork'tlils Is of course not possible, and, as in yourspecimcii,
the (Icposlt becomes detached. Anothermethod employed is to heat the steel uiitll it ciiaiii,o»
to a violet or blue color. It is then hatched over with a chisel, and the wire laid in to lui,,
Iiattern desired.
CoNTRiBUToa — Shall appear at the first opportunity.
C. .1 . X.— We cannot pledge ourselves.
M If not otherwise stated In the advertisement, they should be retumea.
H. S N.-A piece of paper is twelve yards long, and, when hung, twenty ''"=''<*L'J'''®
Twelve yarJs, running measure. Is equal to (IJ square yards, or CO feet su|iorllclal ; incroiore,
divide tlie number of suiiorficial feet of work bv live, which will give the number ol yards,
and these divided by twelve will give tho number of pieces of iiaper. r' .mmu
K.-Seo " Kciiort to her Majesty's princiiial .Secretary of State from the Poor Law Commis-
sioners, on an Inquiry Into the Sanitary Condition of the Laboring Population ot ureac
Uritaini" published in ISU.
E. B.-In type.
B — Appears to agree with us, against his will.
ALooKEB-ox.— We will thinkof It. ,, . __ ,, .„-„.„,,„„
O. .1— The committee do not issue forms and instructions, except in reference to appucation
actually before the board.
8. RoBEKTs We know of no such establishment In London.
James It E.— Sorry we cannot obllt/geyou.
Me. Artui'r II 8.— Ves, twenty inches.
A TAX-PAIEU.—Foraiiylhing we know to the contrary. „.„,i„„
8. A. (Perth).— Probably by writing to the Secretary of the Architectural Association,
Conduit-street, W.
P. I No, yon would render yourself liable to an action for damages.
■7. K. L Already In the hnnds of our engraver.
Mr. T. W.— Thanks for suggestion; we will see.
L. AND L. T Parcel lies with our publisher.
A SuBSCBiBER.- We can only repeat what we said last week.
, X. L. S. O. R., Number One
(Constant Reader (linll), S. it., II., A. it,. A., Oeorgie K., C. L., G. B. W.j E. '!■..•'•,''• ,":•
Received.— W. C, .1. K. O., L. O. It., T. V. T., Martin C,
X. Y. Z., SubscrlboT, Subscriber (Norwich), Insured, One Who Wants to Know, i. L., Mr.
O. K.,T.,K. II. B., C. A., L. R.,Mr. WUliam • • , E.
July 19, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
597
THE BIRTH AND MUTATIONS OF STYLES.*
Etruscan.
HE Etruscans are known to
have carried the cultivation
^ of the fiue arts to a consider-
able degree of perfection cen-
turies before the rise of Hel-
lenic art among the Greeks,
with whom they are said to
have had intercourse about
tlie si.xth century before
..^^ f l^^^tJ^i^-^ •^/jIMCI^ iK> Christ, probably in the time
■^^T^^ I ^li^^^Siy^~<^^Sii^fSr o' Porsenna, who made war
upon the llomans in behalf
of the deposed Tanjuins, and in
whose reign their power was, most
likely, at its highest. The question,
however, does not seem to be (luite
set at rest whether their civilisation
was indigenous or derived ; but it
is most probable, and is now pretty
generally believed, that they were
a branch of the same Pelasgi that
originally colonised Greece, and
whicli migrated at an early age
into Etiropo from Asia Minor, and
that their art, if not identiciil with
that of the Grecian Pelasgi, is
derived from the same Asiatic
source — an hypothesis counte-
nanced by the character of its re-
mains. They had theatres and
amphitheatres, and have left city
gates, aqueducts, and bridges. They had also temples, both cir-
cular and rectangular ; but religion among them, partaking very much
of the nature of ancestral worship, their architecture developed itself
less in temples than in rock-cut tombs and tumuli, which objects, with
other remains, thougli like the Pelasgic, forming but the fragment of a
style, are interesting for the light they throw on much of the sulisecpient
history of architecture. Etruscan architecture contains the radiating
or true arch, not only as a constructive but as a decorative feature,
which was used contemporaneously with the horizontal Pointed arch ;
and also the rotunda and dome, which passed into and became such
conspicuous and important features of the style of the Komans.
Ko.MAN.
While the earliest civilisation of Rome was, no doubt, threefold in
its origin — Latin, Etruscan, and Sabinian, — it would probably be from
the Etruscans solely, who were in advance of all the rest of the Italian
peninsula in cultivating the arts, its first .architecture consisting of
little else, perhaps, than copies of the small rectangular temples, and
the round tombs and temples of Etruria was derived. But this bor-
rowed style would soon tall in with that of the Greek, through the
Dorian colonies of Magna Grtecia and Sicily, the refined temple archi-
tecture of whoso chief cities — Selinus, Agrigentum, Syracuse, Passtum,
&c., — could scarce fail to inspire and enrich the art of the early archi-
tects of Rome ; though it would probably remain for the .ige succeeding
the final subjugation of Greece by the Roman arms to see the two styles
flow freely together and exhibit their combined capabilities. It would
not be till the close of the bloody dictatorships of i\larlu3 and Sylla,
and the shutting of the temple of Janus in the mild reign of Augustus,
that they could bear much fruit, and worthily embody the style which
we know as the Roman — the In-oad gulf of all ancient, the fountain
of all modern, architecture, and whence the motive currents issue that
thrill to the present hour.
Many deny that anything like birth or generation took place on the
introduction of Greek architecture into the previous art of the Romans,
who it is supposed did not put together the two systems in the most
intellectual and artistic manner. It is believed to be adverse to the
nature of columnar architecture in its integrity to unite with arches
and domes ; and that its introduction to the Roman arch should have
been a signal for an immediate dissolution between column and entab-
lature, causing the former, like a chemical element under the force of a
stronger affinity than that by which it had been previously held, or
like a faithless spouse, smitten by the charms of a new lover, to leave
its old associate and unite itself in indissoluble wedlock to the new
comer. Because this decomposition and recomposition did not take
place at the inauguration of the Roman system of architecture, it has
been condemned as a mechanical compound of two styles rather than
one homogeneous and complete style, and ranked as a style of transition
merely from Greek to Christian Romanesque, Byzantine, and Gothic.
What I must here maintain is that the Romans in retaining the peri-
• Coutribulc'd by Mr. .Samuel IIuggins. Contiuued from ptig
■ 4ri).
style of Greece as an essential part of their art, and combining it bodily
with their arch and dome, took the course calculated to lead to the
greatest and most beautiful results. That they did not always make
the most refined junction of the two systems is no argument against the
harmony or capability of the Roman style, which alone I am defending,
and by which I understand a style composed of the Romanised orders
of the Greeks (including pilasters), used in their entirety, either
detached, or attached to a wall, fonning the framework of a facade, and,
in either position, along with arched openings and domes, just as in St.
Paul's Cathedral. This is Roman architecture, the two parts of which,
I think, can be proved to be capable of the most perfect union, and of
composing a good and consistent style of architecture, one that never
necessarily leads to the embodiment either of discordancy or falsehood ;
which is nothing more than might naturally be expected from a style
inaugurated and employed by a people who, in almost every other
department of intellectual creation, were the true imitators and pupils
of Greek genius, and gave fresh models therein to posterity, and to
whose achievements in some of the arts of civilisation history affords no
parallel; as, for instance, those wise legislative enactments by which
they could blend discordant nations together, and make the whole
world one harmonious community. At least, it would be strange if the
empire of Augustus and Vespasian, Norva, and Trajan, Hadrian, and
the Antonincs — an empire which having absorbed all the States and
Colonies of Greece must have had an extensive Grecian element dis-
tributed through its population, and while yet flowed on the stream of
innnortal men, continuous from the Periclean age, to adorn the history
of Rome with soma of the brightest names, in war, and politics, and
literature, that ever appeared in the world — it would be strange, I say,
if an empire and ])eople such as this, .ind which could boast of poets like
Virgil and Horace, Ovid and Lucian, TibuUus and .Tuvcnal ; orators
like Cicero and Quinctillian ; historians like Livy and Xepos ; philoso-
phers like Seneca and Epictetus, to say nothing of Vitruyius and
others distinguished in architecture itself, and whose pecuniary
resources were the spoils of the civilised world, should so utterly fail in
the art of architecture as some would have us believe ; and while they
could frame for the vehicle of their ideas in poetry and literature so
noble a structure as the Latin tongue, be content with ah architectural
I.ingnage in which contempt of consistency and harmony was the chief
characteristic.
The architecture of Greece was, I conceive, the grandest decorative
addition the arch system could have to erect it into a style. No
panelling or the like, I imagine, could substitute it, or beget a system
of arcadal decoration half so excellent as that furnished by the appli-
cation of the orders, with which as curved forms may always be
harmoniously inserted within rectangular ones, arched openings, how-
ever placed, either between attached columns or behind detached ones,
and forming the background of a portico, are in perfect harmony, and
may produce combinations unrivalled in beauty. I am aware that one
thing here advocated, the employment of engaged orders, is a practice
that by most critics is deemed wrong under any po.sitiou with relation
to other elements. But it is one that I conceive has been too severely
criticised. Wc need licenses in architecture, which are as
philosophically proper as licenses in poetry. It is in the nature of a
fine art sometimes to ignore theories of construction, to break away
from the trammels of reason and yield obedience only to the higher
faculty of imagination. A veil of attached columns expresses sympathy
with the peristyle — the most beautiful feature of the style ; and is
itself the highest decoration that could bo applied to the vertical plane
of a building. If its beauty is not sufficient apology, it will be found
in the additional strength which it communicates to a wall, columnar
projections from which .are surely no unjustifiiible means of economising
material. It is an ossifying of the walls of a building, the introduction
into Classic architecture of a feature analogous to the bones of animals
and which bears the same relation to the mural and other surfaces that
these do to the flesh and membranes.
"While such broad application of the Greek orders as I have
endeavoured to indicate was necessary to the original Roman elements
to raise them Into the ethereal realm of art, the latter, on the other
hand, were as needful to the Greek system to render it a complete and
plastic style of art. The arch and dome were the desideratum of the
Greek, which though a perfect and exquisite architecture, as far as it
went was only a beautiful fragment, not a complete system. Con-
structively, it needed a better means of covering openings and ceiling
areas ; artistically, it wanted curve lines along with the straight, and
these coidd be best given by the arch and dome, features which the
natural progress of things seems to have called for to complete the
Greek columnar system. Roman architecture is the complement of the
Greek, the Greek in its fulness, with the sphere of its elements enlarged
and made capable of application to all the various purposes of life,, and
which the Greeks, had they longer retained their national independence
and prosperity, would no doubt themselves have aimed at.
That Roman architecture is a true and homogeneous style, one
598
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 19, 1861.
celebrated example that remains of it is sufficient to prove, I mean the
Pantheon, referrinj: more especially to its interior, where the columnar
ordinance in its full integrity is applied, along with arches of large span,
to adorn the base of the Etruscan dome, and exhibits as noble and
consistent an application of the great elements of architecture to the
production of a grand and magnificent effect as any building in the
world.
But if in our own metropolitan cathedral there is no discordancy of
form between the peristyles, straight and circular, on the one hand, and
the numerous arched openings and great dome on the other, then is the
style of the Romans a consistent and harmonious one, for in its design
and composition it is Roman architecture ; it dbplays, I believe, every
element of Roman architecture, and nothing but Roman architecture.
The style that, in the hands of the great Florentine Roman and
Venetian masters, led to such poetic and beautiful results, and which in
the sixteenth century displayed such truly Classic breadth and grandeur,
was but a restoration of the Roman style of the Julian and Flavian
periods ; for in its revival it underwent no organic change, but was merely
awoke from its slumber by men who knew how to use it — who were
capable of understanding its principles and receiving its inspirations. —
The best works of RafTaelle, M. Angelo, Sanmichele, Sanosvino,
Falladio, Vignola, Sangallo, Julio Romano, &c., some of which, as the
Library of St. Mark, the Basilica of Vicenza, the Farnese, Pitti, and
Fandolfini Palaces, St. Peter's at Rome, are among the most celebrated
buildings in the world, are composed of this Roman architecture,
applied as the Romans applied it. The justly admired Library of St.
Mark, a building whose sins against the philosophy of architecture and
the Greek principles of design, if it have any, are never alluded to, is
not only Roman in essence and principle, but it shows abnost precisely
the same application of the columnar architecture to an arcuated wall
so generally condemned in the Colosseimi ; while of another and still
more celebrated building, St. Peter's Church, at Rome, it may be
affirmed that it is Roman architecture not so well used in its compo-
sition as in the better works of the Romans. And not only these works
of the Italian revivalists but all that is greatest and best of the achieve-
ments of architecture since their time — the best works of Bernini,
Ferranlt, the Mansards, Inigo Jones, Wren — the colonnade of St.
Peters, the fa<;ade of the Louvre, the domed churches of Paris, White-
hall Banqueting-noase, St. Paul's Cathedral, St. Stephen's, Walbrook,
Burlington House and its admired colonnade, Somerset House — are
Roman architecture as the Romans used it.
The change that was really necessary to be made in the Grecian
ordinance to harmonise it with the arch and dome, as well as to fit it
for the new uses to which it was applied — new situations and new
relative positions — to be bent round the inside or the outside of a
rotunda, to be placed in double and treble, as well as in single stories,
or to decorate a wall, they introduced into it. To the baseless Doric
they gave a base, and without, I think, so much injury to its masculine
character as is generally supposed, they so mitigated its severity as to
fit it for introduction to the Corinthian Order, as well as to the curved
Etmscan elements, and for application to other than sacred purposes.
And whether we regard it as a new order, or new variety of the Grecian
Doric, which was a single design rather than an order (for the Dorics
of the Parthenon, Theseum, &c., were virtually one), it was a valuable
acqtiisition to the re.'iources of design, and more than might be expected
to be produced out of what was incapable of advance and seemed
incapable of variation. They gave perfection and a freedom unknown
before to the Corinthian Order, which, in Roman architecture, comes
before us, not as a single design, but as a species capable of an infinity
of forms or varieties, of which what is called the composite is only one
in which the voluted or spiral member has its extreme development.
Out of the Greek anta they created a new order — that of pilasters — a
Talnable acquisition to the treasury of architecture, as was also
the pedestal which increased the applicability and usefulness of the
orders.
They may not have executed this difficult and delicate task in the
best possible manner, and given to what they modified or invented all
the expressional truth and refinement of which it was capable in its
new relations and offices. If they did not, it is not to be wondered at
when it is remembered how much else they achieved in the way of
application and combination, and how greatly they increased the com-
prehensiveness and scope of the style ; and their failure, if they did fail,
to give the finishing touches to the style, has only left the greater room
for advance on the part of the modem, whose task it is, while extending
it to all the various purposes that may be called for by the spirit and
institutions of the day, to give it all consistent refinement, all that per-
fection and purity of detail which, in their haste to combine and ex-
pand, and to create the magnificent, the Romans omitted to communicate
to it.
But be this as it may, it was in the free and bold treatment by the
Bomans of the Greek orders, along with the gradual extension of them
to all the diverse purposes of life, for few of which the past presented
them with prototypes, and the application of the decorative elements of
the style to the various features called for by new purposes, to the
encasement, for example, of windows and doors, and the construction
and adornment of interiors ; and in the varied and bold application of
the arch to simple and groined vaults and domes ; it was in this lay
the real progress of Roman architecture, and not in its gradual turning
into Romanesque. Architecture itself was progressing : the temple
architecture of Egypt and Greece was growing into a system possessed
of powers and appliances for universal adoption. The change into
Romanesque which, from the time of Augustus to that of Constantine
the Great, was going on, had it not been a corruption of the Roman
style which we generally find it to have been, was a degeneration of it
— a lowering of its tone and capacity.
No style ever practised in the world had so great a geographical
range as the Roman, which must have been nearly commensurate with
the Roman sway, a sway which extended dui-ing the flourishing periods
of the empire from the shores of the Atlantic to the banks of the
Euphrates, and from the Rhine and Danube to the deserts of Africa.
In the two first centuries of Christianity it was, so far as we know, the
only style of the world, with the exception of the Egyptian, the Buddhist
of India, and the Chinese. Early in the third century it received an
Oriental rival by the revival of art in Persia, consequent on the delivery
of that country from the Parthian yoke by the Sassanidae, whose archi-
tecture shows traces of Roman influence.*
CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS, TKAMORE.
THE Church of the Holy Cross, Tramore, of which we this week give an
engraving, standing as it does on the highest ground in Tramore, is
naturally a remarkable object for miles along the east coast of Ireland, and
attracts a great deal of attention.
On the 14th of September, 1857, the Bishop of Waterford laid the
foundation-stone of the new edifice, and the works having been steadily
and carefully proceeded with, in July hist the church was opened for
divine service.
The detailed plan of the church comprises nave with side aisles,
transept chancel with side chapels, tower and spire in the angle formed by
the east side of north transept and side walls of lateral chapel, and sacristy
on south side of south chapel. The whole length within the walls is 169
feet, the width across nave and aisles teing 69 feet, and across transepts
103 feet. The height of clerestory walls of nave is 47 feet, the height from
ridge to roof is 77 feet, and the height to top of spire 190 feet.
The illustration is engraved from a photograph on wood, being the first
successful one we have made use oft
THE NEW BOOM AT THE NATIONAL GALLERT.t
THE central hall— the great internal feature of Wilkins' National
Gallery— is altogether destroyed by the recent alterations which give
the Academy a more extensive Sculpture Gallery, and furnish an additional
gallery for the national collection. What the building in Trafalgar-square
will eventually be devoted to no one seems clearly to know. Whether it
will he in future exclusively occupied by the Academy or by the National
Gallery appears still uncertain. The former may remain till the Greek
calends, and the latter may be destined for one of the palaces of art which
are to girdle the Society's grounds at South Kensington. On the other
hand, the Academy may build itself new rooms and leave the national
collection on "the finest site in Europe." Two contiguous expandmg
bodies as they are, must however sooner or later come into collision. There
is a limit to architects' ingenuity as there is to the boundaries of the site,
and, contrive as they wUl, they cannot continue to find space for the swell-
ing bodies. The sacrifice of Wilkins' central hall and the conversion of it
into two galleries— one for the National Gallery, and the other for the
Academy, has satisfied both for the present. The masked doorway in the
eastern wall of the upper gallery is anticipatory of the day when one or
other will have undisputed and undivided occupation of the whole build-
ing. The gallery itself is the finest of the whole suite to which it is
annexed. It is 70 feet long by 30 feet wide, and 32 feet high. Its general
design will be comprehended from our engraving, but it is impossible on
so small a scale to give an adequate idea of the exquisite modelling of the
carton pierre and plaster enricliments. The light is beautifully and equally
diffused throughout the apartment. The coloring of the enriched portions
is very delicately and tastefully managed. The tints are sufficiently strong
to relieve the ornaments, but not so much so as to interfere in the slightest
degree with the pictures hung on the waUs below it. The papering is ot
a subdued chocolate tint, and is well chosen as a background to the
pictures. , . • , j
The Gallery has not been completed a couple of months, and it is already
lined with pictures without thinning visibly the collection in the other
rooms. That fact alone shows how much the space was required. We are
enabled now to see ranged together in the old north gallery (from which we
enter the n ew one) a fine assortment of genuine pre-Raffaelite works, fuU
of tender color and religious sentiment. In the small lobby which unites
these two galleries Gibson's group of " Hylas and the Water Nymphs is
placed, surrounded by pictures by Botticelli, Mantegna, and Lorenzo di
The Long Gallery, which our view represents.is occupied by the works of
• To be continned.
t. For Illustrations, see pages 604 and 606.
July 19, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
599
Italian painters, and chiefly by those of the Umbrian, Parmese, Venetian,
and Roman schools. Amongst them we see the St. Jerome by Parmegiano ;
the Adoration of the Magi by Paolo Veronese ; the Raising of Lazarus by
Sebastian del Piombo ; the celebrated Veronese depicting the Pamily of
Darius at the Feet of Alexander, together with some fine works by
Titian, Raflaello, and other scarcely less illustrious men.
The Entrance-hall on the ground-floor is, of course, considerably con-
tracted from its original size. In it, however, the familiar statue of Wilkie
has had a niche provided for it. The group of " Thetis Rising from' the
Sea to Console Achilles for the Loss of Patroclus," and a bust by Chantrey
of Sir W. Scott constitute the remaining attractions in this part of the
building. A stone staircase leads direct from the hall to the South
Gallery.
In a former notice, last March, -we minutely detailed the alterations,
and had occasion to mention the able manner in which Mr. Cubitt, the
builder, had realised Mr. Pennethorne's conceptions. A subsequent
inspection of the works confirms us in the opinion wliich we then ex-
pressed.
♦
ON HEALTHFUL AND INTERESTING LABOUR.
THE gifted author of the " Seven Lamps" and the "Stones of Venice"
was the first, as far as I am aware, to call the public attention to this
subject : the first to turn from the solely selfish point of view, as to what
kind of works of labor we happened to wish to see produced, to the un-
selfish and Christian one of what kind of works of labor it were well to deny
ourselves the pleasure of possessing, because while they cause us pleasure,
they darken the lives and give pain to those who produce them; or, on the
other hand, what results of labor we should take a delight in, and encou-
rage the production of, because at the same time that they give us gratifi-
cation to see and to possess them, they promote the comfort, and bodily
and mental health and happiness of those engaged in producing them. Mr.
Ruskin has in his works touched up two branches of the subject ; one
more particularly addressed to purchasers, and patrons of art, showing
how they should encourage by purchasing such bodily and mentally
healthful and cleanly occupations as out-door water-color painting or
Bunple sculpture from nature, rather than the less cleanly and more
unwholesome, and less imaginative and original occupation of en-
graving, on which he says, " For instance, when you spend a guinea upon
an engraving, what have you done ? you have paid a man for a certain
number of hours to sit at a dirty table, in a dirty room, inhaling the
fumes of nitric acid, slooping over a steel plate, on which, by the help of a
magnifying glass, he is, one by one, laboriously cutting out certain
notches and scratches of which the eflect is to he the copy of another
man's work. You cannot suppose you have done a very charitable thing in
this. On the other hand, whenever you buy a small water-color drawing,
you have employed a man happily and healthily working in a clean room
(if he hkes) or more probably still, out in tlie pure country and fresh air —
thinking about something, and learning something every moment ; not
straining his eyesight nor breaking his back. ,but working in ease and
happiness."*
Theotherbranch was alluded to iii remarks addressed to the public gene-
rally, and partly to architects, in a comparatively early stage of the revival of
Gothic art; and it was the depressing eflfect on the 'intellect of the work-
man, and on his healthful interest in his work of the measured proportions,
and constantly repeated forms of the Classic architecture as then practised,
and the far greater scope afforded for the thoughtful, interesting, and
healthy mental labor of the workman, by Gothic architecture, of which
the following quotation will serve to convey the fundamental purpose and
intention— namely, the improvement of the working man.
But, above iill, in our dealings with the souIb of other men, we are to take care Uowwe
eUec'k, bv severe requirement or narrow caution, effortii which mifjht otherwise lead
to a noble issue ; and, still more, how we withhold our admiration from "Teat excel-
lences, because they are mingled with rouyh faults. Now, m the make and nature
ot every man, however rude and simple, whom we employ in manual labor, there are
some powers for better things ; some tardy imagination, torpid capacity of emotion
tottcruif;- steps of thought, there are even at the worst ; and in most cases it is all our
own fault that they are tardy or torpid. Hut they cannot bo strengthened unless we
an; content to take them in their feebleness, and unless we prize and honor them in their
imperfectiou above the best and most perfect manual skill. And this is what we have to
do with all our laborers to look for tlic thoughtful part of them, and get that out of
them whatever we lose for it, whatever faults and errors we are obliged to take with it •
lor the best that is lu them cannot manifest itself but in company with much error
Understand this clearly : you can teach a man to draw a .straight hue, and to cut
one ; to strike a curved hue, and to carve it with admirable speed and perfect preci-
sion ; and you find his work perfect of its kind ; but if you ask him to think about any
of these forms, to consider whether he cannot find any better in his own head he
stops ; his execution becomes hesitatiu!,', he thinks, and ten to one he thinks wrone-
ten to one he makes a mistake in the first touch ho gives to his work as a thinkinL^
being. But you have made a man of him, for all that ; he was only a machine before--
an animated tool. And observe, you are put to stem choice in this matter. You
must either make a fool of the creature or a man of him. You cannot make both
Men were not intended to work with the accuracy of tools, to be precise and perfect
in all their actions. If you will have that precision out of them, and make their flncers
measure degrees like cog-wheels and their arms strike curves like compasses vou
must unhumauise them, all the energy of their spirits must b<! given to make cocs
and ompasses of themselves, all their attention and strength must go to the accoin-
plisl iiieut of the mean act. The eye of the soul must be bent upon the linger point
and the soul's force must fill all the invisible nerves that guido*^ it, ten hours a-dTy
;v',^i.'.,.fi''{[ "!/'"■ '^^"!" ."""•'■'^■'J' P^'-'^^'O" 1 '"'<'8" >">"' "nd fight be worn away
f^^l wort i,?,'i,''""""l ]^'''« ^ '""' "' '""'-* ''™P Of sawdust, so far as its iutellec:
luai work III this world is concerned, saved only by its heart, which caunot so into
the form of cogs and compasses, but expands, after the ten hours are over, into fire-'
Fide huma lity. On the other hand, if you will make a man of the working creature
you cannot make a tool. Let him but begin to imagine, to thfnk, to try todlanytS;
m"sl .,M i"'"'/?" ""^ ™r "':'-'""'^'" l"-"'i»l">' is lost at once ; oitcome all hisroS
Sani ini.'ln^ ''h'',"''1'''""='''P"5'"''>'- '*"•'""'= "PO" "'■amc, failure upon failSe,
pause upon pause, but out comes the whole majesty of him also; and we know the
• Lcctnres on Architecture and Painting, page 88.
height of it only when we see the clouds settling on him, and whether the clouds bo
bright or dark, there will be transSguratluu behind and within them.*
Now, in no set of minds are such thoughts as these capable of producing
so much good, to no set of minds is it so necessary to keep in remembrance
this discrimination of the various natures and tendencies of difterent pro-
ductive arts and manufactures, as it is to those of architects, who have the
selection and recommendation of various ornamental and useful manufac-
tures, and the designing and direction and selection of the different kinds
of art by which their buildings may be distinguished and enriched, and
who have the control, during the time their buildings are in progress, of
the mode of employment of the time and abilities of large bodies of work-
ing men. I say that they have the control of the mode of employment.
Have they not ? Is not the way in which every workman required for the
execution of the building shall be employed been chosen and decided
directly the design of the building is finished and selected ? It is, then,
with this branch of the subject alone that I am at present concerned, not
with what kind of movable and ornamental art is the best for the
public or the art-patron to purchase, with a view to the health, bodily
and mental welfare, and improvement of the producer ; not with
the question as to whether Gothic or Classic forms and modes of
work have the greatest tendency to, or the greatest capacity for, this
healthful, intellectual, humanising, and improving employment of the
workman, but with the broad question as stated in my last quotation from
Mr. Ruskin's " Stones of Venice," in which the raising or depressing
tendency of different kinds of work, of the broad distinction of whether
they are in any way imaginative or not, is so touchingly, so powerfully
put before us, that it seems to me that no one, after reading it, can fail
even if the thought never struck him before, of putting to himself, when
designing or laying out the work to be done in his building, the question —
" My building is just about to be begun ; when it is finished in a year's
time will the one hundred human beings that are about to be employed upon
it be better or worse for the work to which I am about to set them ? Is
the nature of the work such as to produce high and noble thoughts ? Is
it such as cannot be done without producing improvement and progress
and increased power in the workmen, or will it only leave him exactly as
it found him — a machine ? Is there any scope for the exercise of the
spiritual and nobler faculties of the inferior class of art - workmen
employed? Is any part of the work purposely left to the imagination,
design, and taste of the rougher workman ? Will all the workmen as
well as I take an interest in the work as it grows day by day under their
intelligent minds and vigorous thought-guided hands ? Will they as well
as I, although proud as of a work accomplished, yet be sorry as parting
with an object which has been the cause of mucli of their care, interest,
and happiness for many- a day, when it is finished ? Will they feel a tie
to the building as intelligent joint-producers of it ?"
■^ I wish to speak, then, of the branch of the subject which would give rise
to such thoughts as these — the branch which relates to the thoughts of an
architect in deciding what work he shall give the preference to when con-
sidering the design of his building, which would lead him not only to
consider what kind of work is most striking, most novel, most likely to
contribute to the beauty and effect of his building, most likely to be ad-
mired and bring him fame and honor, but also that amid these thoughts
there should be these — I, as an architect, unlike a painter or a sculptor,
caunot bring this conception of my mind to realisation and completion
without the aid of many others. Many months, nay, perhaps many years
of the hard daily labor of many men must go on before the scaffold is
taken down and the day of opening comes. I know that this is good, in
one respect, at least; many of my fellow creatures will earn the means of
living and keeping their families from want. But how shall their lives be
spent — in dull, unthankful labor ? in unnecessarily dangerous labor ? in
painfully minute and wearisome labor ? in repeated labor, resulting in
such a repetition of the same forms throughout the building as could, with-
out ditBculty, nay, be best executed by a carving machine, in unnecessarily
hard and painful labor ? or in healthful, interesting, intellectual and im-
proving work ? This, important in present good or evil and in future
results, it is in my power by my design to determine.
Some will not see the force of such reflections or such remarks, yet
surely each individual, of whatever profession, occupation, or business he
may be, that reads these pages, knows what it is to do pleasant labor,
however hard; painful Labor, however little exertion may be required for
it; interesting labor which, after he had once begun it, he continued in
with pleasure and hopeful zeal for the work's sake alone; uninteresting
labor, that, if the work's sake alone were considered, would have been
given up at once, and was only continued for duty and because of ne-
cessity ; raising work that, from the thoughts and feelings induced by it,
seemed for the time to make him a better and a happier and superior man;
depressing work that, from the degradation felt, or from the want of any
feelings or thoughts arising from it at all, seemed for the time, and as
long as it continued, to lower him, make him desponding, and make him
feel for a time a mere machine, or an inferior animal. Will any deny how
much influence different kinds of work have on the mind, the temper, the
spirits, and the body.
Now if this is the case, if we all can remember the various different
feelings that I have attempted to describe with which we have executed
as many different kinds of works that at various different periods of
our lives it has been our lot to do, can we not easily realise our feelings
and the results upon our whole body, mind, and disposition, if we were
called upon to labor all our lives for ten hours a day at that particular
labor that had most effect upon us for evil, that most depressed us, that
• " stones of Venice" (Chap. 0).
600
THE BUlLDlJ^iG NEWS.
July 19, 1861.
least exercised our minds, that gave no scope for our imagination, that laid
no hold on our feelings, and seemed to have no claim on our interest ; that
lemst made us the thoughtful, variously interested, varying, sensitive
human creatures that we are, and made us most like a uniformly rotating
machine? and in proportion as our remembrance of this distasteful depress-
ing work is strong and painful, and in proportion to the horror that we
should feel if condemned without hope to work at it for life, let us use our
thoughts, and selection, and powers of design, kept constantly alive by
the intellectual and humanising , profession, in which we, the especial
leaden of these pages, are placed, in endeavouring as far as lies in our power
to giTe the mind and imagination of the workman, his lively powers of
interest and zeal, scope and employment, as well as liis hands ; and let us
striTe tliat every building that we carry out shall in some degree, how-
ever little, have aided in raising the workman from a machine to a
thoughtful man.
Now, some may think this Utopian, some may not see the evil ; yet, will
those who do not, answer these questions in the affirmative ? — Are many
of the lower grades of workmen really interested in the work they do ?
If they were, should we liave so many strikes ? Are tlie workmen, al-
though among them in all grades are many noble-minded men, on the
whole such as we should like to see them ? . •• ^ ■ :
■ And if the statement implied in the last question, be true, is there not,
as long as that statement continues to be.true, an evil to, be cured ? .Do
we not find a superior class of men in those trades and branches of trades
where superior and more interesting and thoughtful kinds of work are
perfopned ?,^ .• •,.•..-- ...• . , , , :
rAbi those that see the evil will probably think it a hopeless one to deal
with, thinking that all kinds of work, whether they have a good or evil
effect on those that labor at them, must be done, and will not see the great
power there is in the hands of every architect, in deciding upon the design
and mode of decoration of his building, to give encouragement to different
kinds of work, and of making even tlie same kind of work profitable or
unprofitable to the workman employed. Every large building is, more or
less, in proportion to its originality, a temporary school for workmen. No
clever original design is carried out under the constant superintendence of
an original-minded and able architect without some new work, or some
new way of doing old work, being introduced, and changes and develop-
ments of architecture, all arising, at some time or other, from the thoughts
and designs of some original mind or minds, and depending on his or their
decisions at the moment of design such as our Gothic revival; are con-
tinually changing oM arts and trades, if not actually producing new ones.
So that, looking at these things in this way, I think that none can deny
the power in our hands. My object, therefi)re, in these lines is to point
out this power, this great influence for good or for evil over the bodily and
mental employment, and consequently over the bodily and mental happi-
ness, of our brother workmen ; so that abler and more powerful and in-
flnentiai minds than mine, in the very moment of their opportunities of
exercising this influence, may pause and think— How will this building,
with its varying construction, its varying ornament, the various arts,
trades, and manufactures necessarily involved and employed in its pro-
duction, affect the individual labor, thoughts, welfare, instruction, habits,
and happiness of my fellow men ? 11. D.
CHAUING-CROSS RAILWAY-BRIDGE.
ris nearly twenty years since Mr. I. K. Brunei, the great engineer,
suspended a bridge across the Thames, from Hungerford-market to
Pedlar's-acrt; and, about the same number of years since, a company was
formed at Clifton, to unite, by a somewhat similar bridge, the grey old
rocks of St. Vincent with the thick foliage which covers the opposite
heights of Leigh Woods. Stupendous abutments and towers were built
high up above the magnificent ravine through which the Avon flows, but,
after the expenditure of i;40,o00, one single bar alone overhung the deep
gnlt and the work remained, for lack of funds, a toy to test the nerves
of the adventurous, who occasionally were swung across upon it with
fearful velocity in a wicker car. The Hungerford-bridge was finished at
a cost of XI 10,000, but the halfpenny toll, it seems, has never adequately
remunerated its projectors. Tlie extension of the South Eastern Railway
to Cliaring-cross has, therefore, accommodated all parties. Hungerford-
bridge will be demolished, and its materials divided; the old piers will be
used for the Charing-cross-bridge, and the chains are sold for £7,000 or
£8,000 to the Clifton people, who will thus be enabled to realise their long
de&rred project.
•The works for Char!ng-cro8S-bri<3gc are now being pushed rapidly for-
ward by Messrs. Cochrane, the contractors, from the designs of Mr.
Hawkshaw, of Great George-street, Westminster. The width of the
present bridge is only 14 feet. This circumstance, and the fict that the
piers project from the two central towers, enable the principal portion of
the work to be done before the present footway is pulled down. From it,
in fact, a capital view can be obtained of the whole proceedings, and pas-
sengers loiter on the bridge watching, with interest, the operations of the
diver, as he encases himself in his waterproof clothes, preparatory to his
descent; the fixing of the girders on other portions of the work, and the
drilling of the rivet-holes in the girders by asmall travelling steam-engine;
they can watch, also, how the cylinders are sunk, riveted together, filled
and weighted, and observe the framing of the massive scaffolding with
travelling cranes erected to fix the girders and cylinders in their proper
places. Every piece of work can, from the present footpath, be minutely
scanned.
To give anything like an idea of the nature of the new bridge we must
mention that the central towers are 330 feet from cither bank, and 676
feet apart. In the centre of each of the shore-side openings of the present
bridge there will be a pair of cylindrical piers, and between the middle
opening there will be three such supports — thus forming altogether eight
openings in the new bridge; each about 160 feet or 170 feet wide.
The works are at, present carried on only oh the Surrey side of the river ;
the abutments there are built (of red brick with stone quoins), and a huge
lattice girder laid from them on either side of the present bridge to the
first pair of cylinders. On the eastern girder a little steam-engine is at
work, drilling the holes for the rivets. The lattice girders arc about 2 feet
diameter, and the struts are also latticed.
The if,on vertical cylinders which support the girders are each about
12 feet\o'r,15 feet dicmeter ; eight pieces flanged and bolted together
forming the circle. These are filled with concrete and weighted down.
They, form the least obstruction possible to the current, and are of immense
strength. . From the main girders, supported by these cylinders, transverse
girders will be fixed as soon as the present bridge is removed, and the line
of rails will cross them in a direct line along the bridge.
We shall describe the bridge more in detail as the work advances, and
as additional portions are Used.
BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE.
THE bridge which Mylnc, of Edinburgh, threw over the Thames at
Blackfriars — now just a hundred years ago — is at length condemned.
Ever since it was examined in 183.3 by Messrs. Walker and Burgess, and
found to be so greatly dilapidated, its removal has been considered only a
question of time. The great attention lately devoted to what Professor
Blackie, with Scottish " wut," calls the " grimy banks of the muddy
Thames," has greatly contributed to the determination now arrived at. A
rage seems also lately to have set in favor of new bridges over the
river. We have two new ones at Chelsea. Westminster and Hunger-
ford are being rebuilt, and the substitution of a substantial roadway for
the ricketty structure at Blackfriars will give our engineers an additional
opportunity of showing their scientific powers. We understand that the
authorities have invited six or seven of our most famous engineers to
submit designs for the new work, and that their several iirojects have
been some week or fortnight deposited with the City Comptroller.
When we mention that Mr. Page, Mr. Hawkshaw, Mr. Eovvler, and Mr.
Cubitt are amongst the competitors, we give an assurance that there is no
lack of science in the designs. We hope that art has not been forgotten,
and that the new work will be rendered as beautiful as it will be enduring.
Canova said of Waterloo-bridge that '-it alone was worth coming from
Rome to London to see." We trust the authorities will select such a work
as will amply repay an illustrious foreigner for undertaking an equally
extended journey. We expect, through the courtesy of the City Comp-
troller, in a few days to examine the submitted designs, and to make our
readers subsequently acquainted with the nature and extent of them.
GREAT SWING BRIDGE AT BREST.
A NOTABLE work has just been completed over the river Penfeld,
which falls into the sea between Brest proper and that quarter of
of the town which is called La Recouvrance. Tlie Imperial bridge, as it is
called, in fact spans the arm of the sea into wliicli the above named river
empties itself. Its platform is about 100 feet above low water, high enough
to permit nearly all commercial vessels and the smaller ships of the Im-
perial navy to pass beneath it ; but it was necessary to make it movable
in order to allow ships of the line to pass in and out. The project of con-
structing a swing bridge on such a scale and at such a height was un-
questionably a bold one, and it has been satisfactorily executed. The
bridge is formed of two wings, each about 273 feet long and weighing more,
it is stated, than a thousand tons. Each of those wings rests and turns on
a granite pier about 40 feet in diameter, and against granite abutments.
When open, there is a clear water-way of 32.') feet. The opening and shut-
ting these gigantic wings is said to be performed by two men to each in
ten minutes. We need not tell our practical readers that the precision of
workmanship and strength necessary to make this gigantic bridge open
and shut with accuracy, or indeed, at all, are equally great ; the wings
themselves are formed of a combination of cast aud wrought iron so as to
unite strength with rigidity, but the most important operation was the
turning of the great cast iron bed-plate or crown, mounted on the granite
pier and upon which the bridges turn ; each of these castings being nearly
40 feet in diameter and weighing 30 tons, had to be nioanted on acyclopian
lathe, in order to obtain a perfectly even face for the friction rollers of the
bridges to run upon. The possibility of building such a lathe was for a
time looked upon as an insurmountable obstacle ; but M. Oudry,
Government Engineer for roads and bridges, sugaiested and drew
the plans for the work, and the directors and engineers of the Creuzot iron
works undertook their execution, and appear to have performed their
arduous task in a highly satisfactory manner.
New Bridge. — It will be interesting to the residents and
roperty in Pliiilico, Lambeth, and on the lines of communication
Lambeth
owners of propertv ... ,
brought into use by the execution of this work, to learn by an advertisement in
our columns that the Act has received the Royal assent, and that the contractors
undertake to complete the work in 12 months. The briilge is so favorably
situated between two existing bridges, which are one mile apart in a dense popu-
lation, that it is impossible to doubt that it will be beneficinl to the public, and at
the cost at which it lias been let highly remunerative to the promoters.
July 19, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
601
FRENCH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES IN THE EAST.
THE French expedition to Syria lias been turned to good account, ap-
parently, by employing a number of the soldiers, who had fortunately
nothing else to do, in excavating some highly interesting spots and leaving
them accessible to future travellers. The savants entrusted with tliis
wor)£ were M. Ernest Reinan, of the Institute, and Dr. Gaillardot, and a
report of a part of their work has just been made to the Emperor.
In February last operations were commenced at Saida and Sour, and in
April working was commenced at Tortose ; in consequence of liaving the
aid of the army and marines, guided by intelligent officers, operations
were carried out on a large scale in three or four different places at a time,
each being continued for at least two months. M. Reinan considers that
he has executed at Saida and Sour all the work for which a large number
of men was required, and that he only reserves for himself an examina-
tion of the great Necropolis of Saida. He thinks tliat what lias been done
has added considerably to our knowledge of the religion, manners, and
arts of the Plioenicians.
Saida, like Sour, he says, has scarcely any trace of ancient Phoenicia
left above ground, and that all that is to be seen in tlie present town and
its neighborhood speaks of Roman and Byzantine times. The caverns of
Apollo, in the plains to the east of Sidon, where was discovered in 1855
the Sarcophagus of Eschmunagar, now in the Louvre, is, says M. Reinan.
one of the most interesting neeropoli of the ancients. The sarcopliagus
referred to above is peculiarly remarkable for its inscription, and it was
fully anticipated that others of a like kind would be discovered ; tliis,
however has not been the case, but the excavations liave, however, not
been unproductive. Taking advantage of the large amount of manual
labor at liis disposal, AL Reinan cleared the ground to an extent of more
than sixty yards all round and right down to the rock, and has left the
interior of tlie necropolis open and cleared for tlie examination of travel-
lers. One of the treasures brought to light is a sarcophagus witli a sculp-
tured head, of which several specimens exist in various museums, but the
newly discovered example presents remarkable characteristics ; the others
are generally merely sheatli-shaped sarcophagi, with a head rudely indi-
cated, but that discovered by M. Reinan is sculptured more elaborately,
and presents much more of the form of the human body ; the arms are
cut clear of the sides, and in one of the hands is a small vase, and on the
shoulder is a kind of scarf; the execution of the hands and arms is
elaborate but not indicative of Greek art, and M. Reinan concludes that it
cannot belong to a late period. His argument is that although the
Phoenicians preserved their peculiar customs nearly to the Christian epoch,
they made use of Greek ornament in those latter days, and not the un-
gainly kind of sculpture which is exhibited in the sarcophagus in
question.
The caverns which M. Reinan examined most carefully, are
situated to the east of the great cavern; and although they present no out-
ward appearance of grottos, he thinks that internally tliey present more
interest tlian any other Phoenician tombs. He describes them as of tliree
classes, and of various styles, and says that the rock is pierced witli such
a continuous series of caverns, and the walls left standing between them
are so tliin, that it is wonderful the whole has not fallen in long since.
Some of the caverns are rectangular, with a well-shaped entrance from nine
to twelve feet deep, and from one to two yards wide ; at tlie bottom of these
wells are rectangular doors leading to two chambers, in which are placed
the sarcophagi. The wells therefore generally form the entrances to two
caverns, but in one case a number of tlie latter were in communication
with each other, forming a regular catacomb: in tlie sides of these wells
are holes by which you may descend by tlie aid of hands and feet. Tliere
are other wells, deeper and of smaller dimensions, containing water, bnt
without the foot-lioles just mentioned. M. Reinan intends, however, during
tlie dry season to explore these also, and see if they are not the entrances
to anotlier and a deeper set of caverns. The class of chambers above
referred to are described as always rectangular and completely without
any kind of ornament. Another series is vaulted, and contains
lateral niches for the sarcophagi, and round holes cut with a
revolving bit in the roof, apparently for air. The remaining
series consists of painted caverns, decorated in Roman style, with
Greek inscriptions. The elaborate catacombs hewn out of the
solid rock bear testimony to tlie extraordinary care which the people of
Tyre and Sidon bestowed on the last homes of their race. One of the
points on which the Phcenioians were most anxious was that no other
bodies should be intruded into their tombs ; but the presence of sarco-
phagi of various styles and epochs in even the oldest caverns proves tliat
the later Phoenicians, liowever they may have shared the wishes of their
predecessors, did not pay much respect to them.
The devastation caused by seekers for treasure is said to be most com-
plete ; not a sarcophagus has escaped, and many of which tlie covers were
too licavy to be removed have holes cut in the ends, through which the
contents have doubtless been abstracted, and the place has been a valuable
marble quarry for ages. When we consider the size of the sarcophagi and
the depth and narrowness of the entrance-pits, we are struck witli the
amount of expended labor that these curious caverns and their contents
must represent.
The grand quadrangular caverns recall the biblical references to the
sepulchres, the wells, of which the yawning mouths seem to wait for more
prey, may have given rise to the Hebrew image of death, " The mouth of
the pit has devoured him," and the catacombs themselves are grand,
solemn, simple, and deeply cut into the rocky crust of the eartli.
The sarcophagi discovered differ as much as tlie caverns in which thev
were contained j in the vaulted chambers were sarcophagi of terra-cotta.
ornamented with garlands and rounded corners ; others were simple rec-
tangular holes in the floor or sides of the cavern-; in the painted chambers
the sarcophagi were in the form of vats, the covers were rounded, and both
were ornamented with heads of lions and panthers, massive garlands, and
masks richly sculptured, but greatly overcharged. These M. Reinan sets
down not as pure Phoenician, but provincial. In the quadrangular
chambers alone were found the massive marble sarcophagi with sculptured
heads already referred to, and which M. Reinan regards as the special
product of the Necropolis of Saida. He has brought home six of these
and the pieces of a seventh, and he considers them as representing periods
wide apart. In the most modern the head is almost completely formed,
and the Greek element is unquestionably evident in the sculpture, while
the most ancient is a mere reproduction in marble of an Egyptian mummy.
On one sarcophagus of the vat form which M. Reinan has brought home
the outer fillets of the mummy are represented. The most modern of the
former bears some remains of painted ornament. M. Reinan attributes
these headed sarcophagi to the middle age of Phoenicia, or the long period
which connects the Assyrian domination and that of Seleucus, and he
thinks he can trace some analogy between the sculpture and that of
Nineveh and Persepolis. The absence of inscriptions is attributed to the
fact that the sarcophagi in question were not monuments, but mere coffins
to be hidden from the eyes of men in the deep rocky caverns of the
necropolis.
M. Reinan says that he and his colleagues have left all the parts of the
caverns open to the curious, but, he adds, that the ground in which they
are contained has become the property of France ; and, with respect to
other parts, he states that the Imperial Government has acquired the
exclusive right of excavation for one year.*
DEATH OF MB. RICHARD GRAINGER, ARCHITECT, OF
NEWCASTLE.
YESTERDAY se'nnight Mr. Richard Grainger, to whom Newcastle owes more
than to any other man, died suddenly at his residence in West Clayton-
street, Newcastle, aged sixty-four years. The event was soon made known, and
it is not saying too much to say that it was universally deplored. The humble
dwellmg in wjiich Richard Grainger first saw the light of day may still be seen
in the rear of the Dispensary, Nelson-street — a little white-washed! house. His
father died when he was an infant, and almost as a consequence, the education of
the boy Richard, imparted to him at St. Andrew's Charity School, High Friar-
lane, was exceedingly limited. He was removed from school at any early age,
and became a house carpenter ; but as a mere plodder at the " bench " he was
not at all distinguished.
The deceased a few weeks ago sprained his leg in crossing a ditch, which con-
fined him to his residence for a fewd.ijs; but last week Be was at Tynemouth
for a few days, in his usual health, enjoying the sea breeze and fine weather. On
Thursday he was engaged up to half-past ten o'clock in the morning issuing
orders to his employes ; at twelve he was suddenly taken ill. Dr. Frost, his
medical attendant, was immediately called ; bnt at half-past twelve the deceased
was dead. Disease of the heart was the cause of death.
Mr. Grainger's first enterprise was the erection of Eldon-square, composed of
handsome stone houses of a solid, plain, and uniform style. He began this in
182G. He seems to have had an excellent and well-dowered wife, with a fortune
of £5,000, which was the foundation of his present large property. He next
projected Leazes Terrace and Crescent, containing seventy first-class and sixty
second-class houses, with polished stone fronts, and highly ornamental. 'This
enriched liim. He then projected the Arcade, where are the Post-office and
many other oHices. Grainger had now enriched his native town with property of
the value of nearly £200,000. This was before beginning his " New "rown," and
consisted of early erections, of Eldon-square, Leazes- terrace, and neighborhood,
and the Royal-arcade. At length Mr. Grainger purchased twelve acres in the
middle of the town — a spot known as Anderson's-place — for the sum of £50,000
— a bold stroke for an old cliarity boy ! Great was the public curiosity to know
his object, hut he kept it a profound secret for some time. He matured his plans
in his own office, and not a particular was known until his arrangements were
completed. Without Act of Parliament he had bought other old property to the
amount of £45,000, being; enough to enable him to open communications between
some of the busy parts of the town, distant from each other, and which before
could only be reached by widely circuitous ways. Ho now formed a central
.street^ and his plans being too large ami bold for his powers, he associated with
him the Town Clerk, and submitted his designs and proposals to public inspec-
tion. Tlie popular voice was so strong and loud in favor of theu- execution, that
the Town Corporation gave up the old market, which stood in the way, and
taking £15,000 for the old, gave £3G,000 for the new one, which was opened in
1835. The occasion was celebrated by a grand public dinner in the market, at
which about 2,000 citizens were present, besides 300 ladies. It was then declared
that Mr. Grainger alone designed all the essential points in the erections for which
he was responsible.
This market is the finest in the kingdom, exceeding even the markets of
London and Liverpool in size and convenience.
A theatre stood m Griiinger's way. In order to get rid ofits injury to his plans,
he generously gave the proprietors a new theatre lor their old one, and the sum of
£600 to boot.
The ground of the new town was now cleared ; but great fatigue and anxieties
were occasioned by the difficulty of the excavations and levels. The outlay of
money and labor in preparing the ground alone was immense. Old property was
to be'purcliased, hills had to be levelled, and valleys filled up, to unite the new
streets with the old ones. After filling up the valleys and levelling the ridges,
soil was carted away, at 2s. per load, to the amount of £1,040, which was paid to
one individiinl alone, By others there were carted 250,000 loads, of 18 cubic feet
per load. This amounted to four millions and a half of cubic feet, or enough to
cover 103 acres of ground one foot thick. The raising and the carting, exclusive
of the cost of deposit, amounted to £21,500.
Every stranger in Newcastle is struck with the first sight of Grey-street. Tlie
erections which compose it, and the eight other new sti'eets, are of a perfectly
• To be continned.
602
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 19, 1861.
I eoior and the deeontioia are of solid stona. Grey-street has the ad-
natMcoTCrmuiT of the best streets in London, not only in the richness of its
an^tectnre, bot also in theT«lue«nd beauty of the materials employed, and in the
aunerioritv of its fine Rtone over the brick, faced with stucco in Regent-street.
Gter-^attt a 400 yards loni?, from 70 to SO feet wide, and curvilinear m torm.
lIvtiHmMl ■!• four loftv stories WrIi, with a basement story for cellars. The
aeetfeBafiinaed by the cross streets comprise separate designs. Of one part—
the WMt «U»— consisting of three ranges of buildings, the architecture is Corin-
thian, aad derived from the interior of the Pantheon, at Rome. The second
^^ J. after the temple of llissus, at Athens, and the Ionic columns are
^^ high The third compartment comprehends the Great Central
Tile Gnat Central Exchange affords a fine place of general meetujg, and m-
<]ule( a news-room, coOee-room, and hall of conference. This massive building
it die moet oonspicaous in the town, from its central situation and the maguifl-
<eBeeaf itsdeaign. It is lighted from the top. The interior measurements are
ISA fget bgr 95 feet, in a semicircle of 75 feet radius.
Ikto much for Grey-street. But Richard Grainger also built Grainger-street,
900 yaids long and 66 feet wide; Market-street, 190 yards long, and 66 feet
wide: CJaytcm-street, 515 yards long: and Clayton-street West, 220 yards long
ty 63 feet wide. Other streets of less length are Grainger's work. All his
streets show fronts of polished stone, in varied designs. TTius there were nine
new stteets added to the tovni in the course of five years, and nearly one million
sterling's worth of property was added to the value of the town in five years by
one man.
♦
BATH MINERAL W.\TER HOSPITAL.
THE inaugnration of the new building took place on Thursday last. The
elevation has been arranged in hai-mony with the design of the original
structure, and presents a Classic facade of fair projwrtions. Above the pedi-
ment the appropriate incident of the Good Samaritan is boldly sculptured by Mr.
H. Ezardjjuu. The two buildings are connected by a bridgeway on the first
floor, TORiorted by massive pillars, over Parsonage-lane, and by a tunnel under
the game thoroughfare. The sp.icious hall and staircase occupy the centre of
the eroond floor, and on the right-hand side is a commodious board-room, 32
feet long by 96 feet wide. Tlie waiting-room adjoins, and on the same floor are
srtnated the registrar's office, the porter's lodge,' tlie apothecaries' and matron's
rooms, the dispensarv, and the chapel. The day-rooms on the first story are
admirable apartments — the women 's-room being 78 feet long by 26 feet wide, and
the men's, /O feet long by -f) feet wide. Both are 22 feet high, and on the south
side of each Is a spacious balcony for the use of the patients in fine weather.
Corridors lead from each room to the original fabric, which will hencetbrth be
used onJy for sleeping wards.
The chapel in the rear of the bnilding will be the greatest point of interest to
all visiter. By means of the nmnificence of the late James S. Brymer, Esq.,
who gave £500 for its decoration, it has been most fittingly adorned, and is a
credit to tlie city, to the Hospital, and to all who have been connected with its
preparation.
In the right-hand wall of the ante-chapel is placed a memorial window to the
late James £<. Brvmer, Esq. The window is divided into three compartments,
and the sabject it" represents is the .Samaritan's charity. This window is the pro-
duction of Mr. Wailes, of >'ewca»tlc-upon-Tyne, and all the other windows of
tl»e daniel are also from his manufactory. The architrave of the window is sup-
ported by polisboi Devonshire marble columns, with caps of Bath stone, on wliich
tlw oak and the ivy are carved. On the wall of the vestibule is fixed a Brymer
memorial brass, with inscription. Facing the chapel are four fine columns, the
lieadinsn of two of which are pomegranate, and the other two the phoenix and
pdican. Tliree arehes divide the ante-chapel from the principal space. The
caps of the eight pilaster columns are finely carved, each representing a different
soqect. Five two-light windows in the southern wall are also of stained glass.
In the centre of the tracerj- work at the top of each, a coat of arms is inserted as
« etrenbr pane. Tlie caps" of the muUions and of the Devonshire marble columns
octbe iddee of each window are carved with emblems. The apse is lighted by
eerett circular-headed windows, whose pictorial illustration.^ all refer to Scriptural
incidents connected with the efficacy of water. The coloring, the grouping, and
the dnwing of the various figures l)cspeak the taste and skill of a true artist.
The caps oif the marble columns, forming, as it were, the framework of the
windows, exhibit carved emblems of the Passion. The crown of the arch is
colored to represent clouds and rays of glory, the rays being carved in stone.
The arch itsi-lf is supported by four larger columns of marble, on the caps of
which are canH emblems of the Four Evangelists, the dove and the lamb. The
soflitt of the arch is enriched with paternn, in panels: and the outside circle has
tliepaaBion-flower finefv sculptnrea thereon in bold relief.
The pulpit is hewn out of the white Clandown lias. The corbel supporting the
two marlile columns is formed of two storks well sculptured. The tliree panels
resting on the cornice above the birds, and fonninp the body of the pulpit, show
the sacred monogram, a Maltese cross and a Trinity emblem. The cajis of the
columns are carved representations of the rose and lily. The reading-desk is
carved in wood, also by Mr. Ezard, Jun. The handsome panelled ceiling is
enriched with boldly-rendered imitations of the white lily and the olives. The
tMT beams, adorned with the like ornaments, are supported by eight sculptured
corbels. TIk; corbels consist of figures of sacred characters. Around tlie walls
of the chai>el, immediately underneath the cornice, appears a selection from
the "Te DCTiir," paint<al "in red letters on the stone, "rlie floor of the porch,
tiie aotechapel, and of parts of the chapel is paved with red and black encaustic
tHea of neat pattern, 'rlie chapel, 2.5 feet by 55 feet, is designed to accommodate
150 worshippers, and is furnished with substantial open oak seats.
The arrhittt-ts of the new building are Messrs. Slanners and Gill ; the con-
tractor Mr. (j. C. Mann; the carjienters, Messrs. Morgan and Lovell; the
Jlasterer, Mr. Cooke ; tlie plumber, Mr. Kerslake ; the painter and glazier, Mr.
arker.
A'eic Church at Readinf;. — The fottndation-gtone of a new church at
Beading basjost been hud. The site, which is on an elevated spot in the hamlet
of Whiilej-, was given by Sir W. Milman, a relative of the Dean of St. Paul's,
I»ndon. The estimated cost is about £ti,O0O, and already very liberal coutribu-
tiooi liare been made.
PROPOSED SOUTH LONDON MUSEUM.
BY permission of the Lords of Her Majesty's Most Hon. Privy Council, the
Trustees of the National Gallery, and the Commissioners of Patents, a
Conversazione was held at the Soutli Kensington Museum, on Thursday last, in
aid of the funds of the Society for the Formation of the South London Museum.
There was a very large attendance of ladies and gentlemen in evening dress.
The Vernon Gallery, the Sheepshanks and Turner collections of paintmgs, the
Library, and the whole of the Fine Arts Collection were open for inspection. A
superb collection of gems, diamonds, ancient and modern plate, armor, gold and
silversmiths' work ofhigh art, many of which were at the late Conversazione at
Ironmongers' Hall, were exhibited by some of the City companies, and the
aldermen of the City of London, several distinguished collectors, and the lead-
ing; jewellers and gold and silversmiths of the metropolis. Mrs. Rickman and
Miss Bliss kindly rendered their services, and played some classic pieces on the
pianoforte. The band of the South London Vocal and Instrumental Union was in
attendance, and discoursed excellent music during the evening.
The Committee for the proposed Museum for the south side of the river state,
ina circular recently issued, the following particulars : —
The social condition of the middle and industrial classes of the metropolis having
occupied the attention of the House of Commons, a Select Committee was cm-
fiancllcd in the spring of last year to consider " Whether it is in tlie power of I'ar-
iamc'Ut to provide or to recommend further facilities for promoting tlie healthful
recreation and improvement of the people, by placing institutions supported by
goniral taxation within reach of the largest section of the tax-payers, at liours on
weekdays when, by the ordinary custom, such persons are free from toil."' The
Coraniittec at the conclusion of its labors, among some wise suggestions for render-
ing some existing museums more accessiljle, reported the interest mauifested among
working men to inspect them after the ordinary hours of labor had ceased ; and that
tliey were impressed with the conviction that by the temporary exhibition of dupli-
cate specimens and surplus works of art elsewhere, our vast national collections
instead of being " virtually entombed, as at present, or becoming so vast as to
bewilder, and yet so crowded as to be hidden, profitable recreation would be pro-
vided in the various crowded districts of the metropolis which would successfully
compete with places of demoralising amusement.
Nearly simultaneously with the publication of the report referred to, a few work-
ing men, with the patronage of some of the leading clergy and gentlemen interested
iu the welfare of their fellow men, formed themselves into a Committee to petition
her Majesty's Government to aid in the establishing of an institution in the south
of London, of a nature to afford harmless recreation and useful instruction.
The petition was signed by no less than ten thousand of the inhabitants of the
districts although offered for signature but for a very limited time. Tlie names were
of persons of every rank and position in society, who unitedly expressed their con-
viction of tlic amount of good derivable to the locality by the formation of the
South Loudon Museum.
The District of South London, comprising the localities of Lambeth, Koiinington,
Vauxhali, Stockwell, Brixton, Camberwell, rcckham, Walworth, Soutliwarlc, Kother-
hithe, nermondsey, Horeieydown, contains approximately a million of souls, or two-
fifths of tlic entire population of the metropolis ; and has the benefit of no public
cducatloual institution calculated to promote the mental culture of the inhabitants—
the only places open for public resort being several minor theatres and au increasing
number of "music halls." The residents are, to a great extent, of tlic working-
classes, and others who may be supposed mostly to need the refinement and teacn-
ing whicli is imparted by such noblclinstitutious as tlie Sou til lieusingtou JIuiieum, the
3Iuseum of Kconomic Geology, and tiie parent British Museum.
The rromoters of the South Loudon Museum refer with pleasure to the unprece-
dented success of the South Kensington Museum, and feel assured that still
»,'reater usefulness would result from a similar iuatitution placed at the doors of men
who are too Ipoor and too tired to perform a long journey to more favored districts,
at the conclusiou of the day's labor.
Tiie proposed Museum is desired to be based upon the general arrangement of the
South Ki-nsington Museum, and to have ample space for specimens to illustrate
architecture, painting, and sculpture through their history, epochs, and scliools.
Space to be devoted to the formation of a good and complete museum of local
antiquities ; specimens of ancient art remaritable for their beauty of form to be ex-
hibited for the study of the art-workman. Applied science and industrial art to hold
a prominent place, and to be illustrated by models of machinery, processes of manu-
factures from the raw material to tlie finished work, examples of foreiirn art placed
in juxta-position with works of native artisans, collections of the industry and pro-
duce of all nations arranged as incentives to thought. The whole to bo well and
carefully labelled, that the date, peculiarities, and history of every object may readily
be comprehended.
The collection to be well Ughted m the evening and open for inspection freely
(except perhaps on certain evenings), popular lectures to be given frequently. In
elucidation of every department of the museum ; and a reference library to be
attached to the institution.
Tfiese are some of the leading features the society for the formation of the South
London Museum liave in view. Assured that the work will bring most important
results to the locality, and of service generally, they will not shrink from the great-
ness of tlic undertaking, but will strive to -obtain an institution worthy of the extent
of the district and the number of the inliabitants, to whom and to others they con-
fidently appeal for assistance with funds and donations of works of art and
industry.
Tiie cost of a site and buildings, capable of extension, as funds may permit, will
be, in approximate figures, about £20,000 of which sum the promoters have asked her
Majesty's (iovernmcnt for a grant of £l«,000, of public money, ou the plea of its
boing devoted to a national work, leaving £10,000 tobc raised by subscription in the
South of London, and from friends to the movement elsewhere. Tlie contents ot
the edifice to be obtained by small Government grants, by donations, and by tne
exliibition of works lent. , ■ „
Donations of antiquities, objects of natural history and geology, havealreauy oecu
promised, and the Lords of ller Majesty's most Honorable Privy Council outauca-
tion have promi.'icd the temporary loan of works of art in the event of the Museum
being oBtablislied. .!*•.«
Promises only of subscriptions to a guaranteed fund of £10,000 are rcqueijtcd from
the public iu the first Instance, it being the intention of the promoters to call lor pay-
ment of no [portion unless an adequate sum be forthcoming for the purchase oi a
suitable site and buildings, . ... .. , , , .j,„j
The promoters disclaim all desire to attempt to rival large mstitutious of a kiuarca
nature in other portions of the metropolis. They believe that by placing
local museums among the homes of the people, a lar^r class of observ^t
men will seek for instruction, eventually, at the gi-eat and priceless national col-
Other societies are in operation to obtain suburban museums for other distiicts of
the metropolis. , , . . „. ,, u i, v,„
Matters relative to art and archeology, to bo addressed to Ldgar I . Broclc, bsq.
Kclative to appUcd science and industrial art, to T. Sebasbau Davis, Esq., tuc
hoD. sees.
Committee-room, the Horns, Kennington-park, S.
Shortly after 9 o'clock the visitors repaired to the lecture theatre, where the
chair was taken at half-past 9 o'clock by Eari Grax villb, K.G., who wore the
riband and star of the garter. Amongst those present were Lord Overstonc,
Mr. Alderman Salomons, M.P., Mr. E. P. Brock, Mr. Sebastian Davis, the Kev.
.1 cuyss taUKCU, XKAilOKK, IKELAND.-Mb. J. J. McCabtuv, AKCBiiKCT.-For Lelterpren DetcriiXum, see page 698.
VIEW OF THE NEW ROOM AT THE NATIONAL GA,.!.,
■j'i'css Viscrij^tiou, see jao^ •
July 19, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
607
i
A. Mc Connell Hussey, Mr. Sewell, Mr. John Corduroy, Mr. blaney, M.P., and
amonffst the ladies, of Whom tliere was a larpje number, we noticed Miss Burdett
Coutts, always foremost in the promotion of any cause having for its object the
welfare and happiness of the people. „ , „ .„ „■
The proceedings of the meeting were commenced by Earl Granville calUng
upon Mr. Brock, one of the lionorary secretaries of the South London Museum
Society, to read a report. j ,,. t,ii •
Mr. Edqak p. Bbock, honorary secretary, tlien read the following
report ; —
Mv Lord, Ladies and Gentlemen.— The promoters of the South London
Jliiscum desire, on the present occasion, to submit a very statement with reference to
oar nndertalciiiK ; which has for its object to establish the first of the proposed
Suburban Musouras. , . ., -j ..
A .Suburbnii Museum, we understand to be au establishment placed m tlic mmst
of tlic locality intended to be benefited by its teaching, and to occupy the same rcla-
tionsliip to the Invgc and Metropolitan Bluseum, with which they must be associated,
as the district cluirch does to the mother church of the parish, and to supply a some-
what analogous want.
Tile whole of the Metropolis on the south side of the Thames has a character pecu-
liarly distinct from the other portions of Loudon ; and while its population and
ivoafth would entitle it safely to compete with all the great provincial towns so nu-
merous inour land, yet in the numbers ofthe edifices devoted to thcfosteringofhuman
knowledge, the individual who would seek to find a comparison between .South
London and the towns of the provinces, will seek in vain for any institution here,
however humble, to fulfil the mission of the FitzwilUam Museum of Cambridge,
the Uirmingham Institute, or the I'eople's Library at Liverpool, and of a kindred
nature, tlie glory of tlieir localities.
Tlicir places here are to a great extent occupied by the low cheap theatre, tne
concert room, the rapidly multiplying music halls and educational estabUshmcnts of
a kindred nature.
The people of the South of London are not so refined or so liighly educated, as a
body, as not to need the instruction imparted by the study of tlie works of man's
industry in all ages, placed side by side with the liaudiworks of nature. On the
contrary, they are of the class who may j ustly be said to require to be assisted in the
work of mental culture, being, for the greater portion of the class, of artisans and men
who work for their daily bread. The absence of men of title, and of considerable
■nt-alth. is one of the peculiar features of the district, and one which operates greatly
upon its condition.
The artisans and mechanics here are possessed of a somewhat greater degree of
skill than their compatriots elsewhere, and, being impressed with the urgent want
of some establishment devoted to the dissemination of useful knowledge, tlieyliailed,
witli the utmost pleasure, the empanelling of the .Select Committee of the House of
Commons last year, to consider the best means of placing institutions supported by
seneral taxation within reacli of the greatest number of the tax-payers, open at
hours wiien tiiey are usually free from labor.
Immediately upon the presentation of the report referred to, the working men set
to work to petition Her Majesty's Government for such an institution to be formed
in the midst of tiie district.
The result ofthe humble cfTort ofthe workinn- men is the present Society for the
formation of the South London Museum. Working men themselves set to work to
establisli tlie institution tliey needed. Working men are mainly the authors of
almost all the features which we shall strive to hold prominently forward in the
contemplated museum.
The cost of a site and buildiugs, as set forth on the circulars, is not large, com-
pared Willi tlie extent of the locaUty, the numbers of the inhabitants and the
value of its manufactures, but there will be difficulty to raise the amount in the
locaUty.
The promotors are confident of the amount of good— social and moral— derivable to
society bv the expenditure of the stnall sum of money stated; and they earnestly
appeal to' the rich and the influential, uow present, to be so Idnd as carefully to con-
sider the question of raising the amount, that operations may be at once begun. We
purpose to solicit, not for donations of money, but for promises only, in the first
instance, until an adequate portion ofthe sum named is guaranteed.
We appeal to the friends of art and social progress for assistance to execute our
ctbject.
The list for the guaranteed subscriptions is prepared, and is exposed, for the
first time, to-night, to obtain the first signatures. Friends who may desire to be
foremost to aid the promotion of the first of the Suburban Museums will find it lying
in the Turner Gallery to receive their names, the number ot which, we hope, will be
numerous, and the amount guaranteed great.
The Kev. A. McConnell Hussey, havuig been called by the noble Chair-
man, said he supposed he stood there to represent the body of South London, and
he wished that he had had some more of his brethren beside him, as lie knew
that many of them were aware of the importance ofthe movement, and anxious for
its being brought to a successful termination. The appeal in aid of this cause came
not from the velvet but from the working man, and they must not forget the strong
arm and the kind heart of those who were the sons of toil. It was the working
man that brought stone upon stone, and tlirough liis labor at last a noble building
was erected. Their friends of toil wanted recreation, and that was what they
proposed to give them in such an institution as that which they proposed to erect
for them. Let them educate the mind, cultivate and improve it, and then they
would find that mind becoming a blessing to tlie nation, and our working men
would rise up in dignity and excellence. He felt the advantage of such an in-
stitution as that in which they were assembled, because it was a means to awaken
talent which might never yet have been brought to the surface. Tliere was much
lying under the depths of tlie earth, and there might be much still lying which if
only drawn fortli would advance itself and become a valuable commodity in this our
land. As a nation we were progressing fast, and going on at railway speed, and,
therefore, the mind must keep pace with that progress, and we were always want-
ing something fi-esh and new. If that was to be obtained it must be by keeping
the mind in cultivation, and calling it into active energy and exercise. iVow, if
they believed that there was a bed of intellectual lore among working men still
undugup, let them do what they could to assist them in bringing it forth. It
was through the mind of man all great and glorious discoveries were made
manifest, and the contemplation of nature assisted tlie proper understanding ofthe
w-ord of God. The mind of man was active ; it would be employed in something ;
give it not that which was good, and it would cleave to that which was
evil. The mind of man was capable of expansion, it could spread far and wide,
and become commodious to receive much ; and realising what the mind was let
them do their utmost ibr its improvement and for its training. That night the
mind came before those wlio were present pleading its cause and claiming their
consideration in its behalf. Let not the cause of the poor man plead in vain, and
let them remember the dangers by which poor men were surrounded, whjen
wearied and fatigued by the toils and labors of the day. Those who lived in our
destitute neighborhoods knew what were the fearful results of people living in a
state of degradation. But once let such people know that they were cared for
and loved, and that those above them had not forgotten to look upon them in
their pain and anxiety, and the working men would show that gratitude was in
their hearts, and pray that God might nourish them, rich though they might be.
Working men were not ungrateftii, and all they asked for was that those who
had the privileges of education and who were Christians should not despise the
humblest and the lowest. He had to move the following resolution : —
That the formation of suburban museums among tlie homes of tlie people iB a
measure highly calculated to promote the advancement of human knowledge, and the
increase ofthe national wealth.
Mr. John Corderoy (Kennington-green) seconded the motion, and in so
doing spoke of the great advantages of such institutions as that in which they
were then assembled. A man coming to such a place must leave it a better man
than he was when he entered it ; such an establishment was much calculated to
advance the taste and improve the habits of the people. Then, again, such
institutions brought togetlier all classes of society, the wealthy and the noble of
the land with the middle and working classes, and it was impossible that such a
combination should take place without great advantage being the result. A great
difiiculty with them on the south side of the water was to know how they were to
have a place like that in which they were then met, they had such difBculty about
the ways and means. On one occasion when a deputation waited on the noble
Chairman in reference to the subject which had brought them together that
night, one sanguine friend stated that there was so strong a feeling in favor ofthe
object in his neighborhood that he did not doubt £iO,000 would be raised. That
might be the result of sanguine expectations, but it coald not be less than their
duty to furnish the public mind with arguments in favor of the establishment of
such institutions. He trusted that their coming together that night would not
he in vain, and that under the auspices under which they had met, and under
the patronage of one of England's best nobility, they would succeed in carrying
out an object which was calculated to raise and improve mankind. He trusted
that with so weighty and influential a meeting, they would not have met in vain,
and he should be glad to aid in every way he could, so that the establishment they
wished to have on the south side of the Thames might be obtained.
The resolution was carried unanimousljr.
Mr. Sawell (of the London City Mission) moved the second resolution : —
" That the proposed South London Museum is worthy of the encouragement and
support of the friends of social progress within the district and elsewhere. ' '
Such a meeting as the present was calculated to hind the working man with
the great and wealtliy portion ofthe community. He put it to them whether
they should not attempt to educate the working classes, to whom they owed so
much, and if the part of London in which they were met required such a museum
as they had that evening seen, why, do not they much more need such museums
in the southern and eastern parts of the metropolis? He sincerely trusted that
the movement would end in a large success for the moral and spiritual welfare
of the poor.
Mr. Slaney, M. P., seconded the motion. It had been his lot, he said, in
former days, to bring forward in Parliament a question somewhat analogous to
that which had brought them together, to move for a committee to consider the
propriety of establishing public parks and walks in the vicinity of great towns,
and he was glad to think that, now nearly 25 years ago, that committee, of which
he was chairman, made a recommendation in favor ofthe establishment of parks
and the result had been the establishment of public parks in the metropolis
and some of the great towns of the country. Having been a member
of a commission appointed to inspect the abodes of the lower classes,
he could speak of the wretchedness of the narrow alleys and lanes
which lie had visited, and which had been ameliorated to some extent by the
active sympathy of the middle and higher classes. Still, he could tell them,
visiting as he did now those narrow spots, there were many places to be
lamented, where the working classes came together, and suffered from want of
that exercise, fresh air, cheerfulness, and occasional relief irom toil which the pro-
moters of the present movement wished to give them by the establishment of
such an institution as they had in view. Was it not right that they should give
to hard working people the benefits and blessings which the middle and
upper classes so largely enjoyed — (Hear, hear). If they did not do so from
motives of charity and kindness, they might do so as a step towards self-security,
for in whatway could they bettersecure the property they possessed than by making
others contented and happy. That was the true way to prevent disturbances, to
get every man to believe that he had something good to Io.se. He hoped and
trusted that they were about to establish in a densely populated and neglected
district a museum such as that which was contemplated, and that many contri-
butors would come forward towards the attainment of that great end. He then
spoke in favor of persons of pecuniary ability taking shares in the Society on the
limited liability principle in order to promote the formation of the proposed
Museum for the South of London. He should be most happy to take shares for
the purpose of assisting in such an object, and also to make a donation to the
Museum — (Cheers). He cordially seconded the resolution.
The resolution was unanimously agi'oed to.
Mr. Sebastian Davis said lie knew well that the present movement was
commenced by three or four working men, who started it with the full conviction
that having visited the institution in which they were then assembled, they
ought to have one of a similar character on the south side of the river. It was
with much satisfaction he found on the present occasion so many ladies and
gentlemen come forward to support the cause, which would he hoped before long
become a national movement-he did not wish it to be confined to the south of
London, but to become a national movement. He had to propose the warmest
thanks of the meeting to Earl Granville for his presidency on the present
auspicious occasion. ■ j ,. » . ■ ■
Mr. Wall seconded the motion, and in so doing remarked that m the south
of London there was one-third of the whole population of the metropolis, com-
posed in a gieat measui-e of working men, 10,000 of whom had petitioned in favor
of such a movement as the present.
The resolution was carried by acclamation. , , . ,
Eari Granville begged to thank the meeting most warmly for the kind
manner in which they liad received the last resolution, and he felt the compli-
ment all the more from the mixed character of the audience he addressed, the
two sexes being pretty equally divided. The meeting they were then holding
was called by an Italian, name, the meaning of which he presumed to be was
that they were met to converee together on a subject they had in view ; and he
thought the conversation had been agreeable, interesting, touching, and amu sing,
realising objects wliich really good conversation among educated persons ought
to liave. He thought it was Cowper who said-
Conversation requires an animated No
To make the general conversation flow.
608
THE BUILDINO NEWS.
July 19, 1861.
Now, he was not able to give the unimated no. If he could imagine
that hidden amon^t them, and opposite to him, was a nobleman or
Sntleman of singular power of generalization, power of elocution and
astration, and if that nobleman or gentlemen would undertake
to prove that to educate the mind of the workman was a disadvantageous thing,
both publiclv and privatelv, he thought he then could, very feebly perhaps, but
Still entirely" in unison with their ft'cliiigs, state some nrg:imcnts in favor of the
general principle they would all applaud and cheer. Such not being the case he
thought he must consider that the general principle they proposed was agreed
to. The question, then, was whether a particular application of that principle
was desitable in this instance. Mr. Corduroy nllnded to the deputation that
mdted on him in reiercnee to the proposed South London Sluseum, but he was
afiaid his answer to that deputation was not satisfactory, being of opinion that
the rules could not be transgressed which related to grants of public money for
educational purposes. But he did feel it was the duty of the Committee of
Council to give every encouragement to the public iu consonance with the
mieral system which it was most desirable to promote. The Commiitee had,
uerefore,' done all they could to carry out that principle, and it was with great
pleasure they placed those rooms at the disposal of trie promoters of the South
tondon Museum for the present meeting. Itcould not be questioned, he thought,
that an institution like that in which they were then assembled was of ^eat
public advantage. In this, the largest town of the world, the difficulties of the
establishment of such an institution was increased in comparison with the
establishment of such institutions in smaller towns in the country. He
thought it was their duty as members of and residing in the
metropolis to assist in a work of this character. He thought
there was another difficulty the members ought to consider, namely, the cha-
neter they would give to an institution of this sort. He was of opinion that it
would be a mistake on their part if they made the Museum of too general a cha-
tacter. If he had any advice to give them, it would be as much to settle certain
things which they would wish to see represented in their museum ; and if they
concentrated their energies on that, tlie work would go on well, and not only
would an interest in it be felt in their immediate neighbourhood, but it would be
the source of happiness in other portions of the metropolis. He thonght, too,
that he might hold out some hope that if the projectors of the proposed institution
sb<mld settle a plan. Government would assist in contributions to the museum.
That week not only were they met tliere for the promotion of a purpose of an
educational character, but that week was, he thought, one of a very striking cha-
racter in a national point of view, from the high festival which the volunteei"3
were holding a short distance from town. He was not g:oing to make a speech in
favor of the volunteers, of their excellence, or of the spirit they had shown in their
movement, or to the fact that those who were first at the first rifle meeting held
last vear had been left behind and left out of competition, by the increased skill
exhibited by those animated by a cause which they thought for the national good.
He had heard observations made of two opposite characters, which he did not
think had foundation in truth. He had heard of there being certain persons,
growing into a finer and finer minority, complaining of education being given to all
classes of society as likely to effeminate and unfit all classes of society lor proper
work. He considered that the Volunteer movement was a sufficient answer to
that. On the other hand, he had heard that the Volunteer movement would
distract the public mind from the intellectual progress we had been making for a
very considerable number of years now. He believed that that alarm was equally
groundless. He believed that movements of this sort were perfectly compatible and
could perfectly co-operate with one another, and that a man who was educated
would rise to' the occasion when his country required his services, and that the
discipline he derived from training would fit him the more for those intellectual
resources open to him when he returned to his home and his relatives. He
believed that upon such a footing would depend the future welfare of this country,
and that while Providence had so singularly blessed us, it seemed that it was by
oar own activity and by the application of our resources and energies we could
iecnre the benefits which all nations and ourselves desired. He was rejoiced to
find that the resolutions passed at the meeting had been supported by ministers
of religion, by men of wealth, by members of Parliament, and merchants. He
felt sure that by perseverance and a well-directed management, the institution
they had met to promote would become one of the useful and important institu-
tions of the inetrojmlis^ Cheers).
The company then proceeded to the various apartments of the Museum to
inqiect the works of art exhibited.
seeking members from among your own body as you are in gaining honorary
members, would it not add tenfold to your numbers ? I exhort you, then, not to
THE UNITED SOCIETY OF IRONMONGERS.
THE 35th anniversary of this excellent Society was celebrated at the Free-
mason's Tavern, Great Queen-street, Lincoln's-inn-fields, on Thursday
evening. JOHS Dale, Esq., occupied the chair; Howard J. Kennard, Esq.,
the vice-chair.
There was a very numerous and highly influential attendance, every seat at
the dinner-table in the Great Hall being occupied. Among those present we
noticed .Messrs. Dale, H. J. Kennard, VV. S. Burton, Boothby, H. Stedall,
H. Farmer, J. Cooper, E. Burton, F. Cash, W. Spencer (of Sheffield), Lucas,
J. Crowtber, C. Herbert, and Rev. J. Saunden".
After a sumptuous repast had been partaken of, the cloth was removed, and the
bosiness portion of tlie proceedings inaugurated by the usual loyal toasts, which
were drunk with enthusiasm. Between each toast a vocal solo performance took
place, in which the members of the Society acquitted themselves most creditably.
The toast of the evening—" Success, Prosperity, and Happiness to the United
Sodetjr oflronmongeis," was then proposed by the Chairman, as follows — Your
Society has now been upwards of thirty-five years in existence, and I remember
it well in its earliest period. U hen meeting with a few persons at the Ram Inn,
Smithfield, I was one of those invited to lake a part in the proceedings. I then,
gentlemen, was one of yourselves, and I feel as one of yon now— (Cheers). I was
then but an as-istant, and I am now a master ; but I should be very sorry, nay,
I should grieve to my heart's core, if I could refuse the opportunity of meeting
you together this evening, more particularly when invited in the kuid manner in
which I liave been invited — (Clieers). It speaks well for you when you can meet
together in such a room an this— as young men— to tell what you are willing to
do for each other's benefit; but is it possible that in this mighty city of London
only thirty- five persons can U; found to associate themselves together in such a
good work ? Why, the honorary members (the masters) nearly double in number
those from among yourfelves'. Nort', is this right ? If you were as zealous in
-, „ . , surprise t
you cannot give more than £9 to sick members. Cannot you go further than
that ? All I can say is, go on in the most liberal spirit towards everybody. I
see that you have made a reduction in the amount of your entrance money, and I
think the_change_very desirable— (Hear, hear). The old charge was rather too
T..-i .._! 1 J, 5th rule
under
.w — n,. ...UU-.XU • Gntrflncfi
fee," and 4d. for'every £100 of stock; under30itis"30s.,Tnstead'or73l Gd. entrance
fee, and 8d. per £100 of stock ; under 35 it is 50s., instead of 15s. entrance fee,
and Is. for every £100 of stock. Before this alteration the members had to pay
very largely for their benefits, which fact had shut the door of the Society
against a large number of the trade. This Society has been called " the Rich and
Do-nothing Society," while the other has been called " the Poor and Do-every-
thing Society," and I am, therefore, glad to see vou opening the door of extended
usefulness. Long may your Society do good, arid communicate good, for that is
the great end of man ! (The Chairman gave the toast, which was drunk witli
enthusiasm.)
The reading of the report by the Secretary, James, Dolamore, Esq., was the
next important business of the evening. The document was to the effect that
the committee of the Society " had placed the admission of members on a more
advantageous and equitable basis; that they had held general meetings tor the
purpose of revising the rules, and of introducing reforms and modifications where
deemed necessary ; " that " already a marked increase had consequently taken
place in the numbers of the Society, for although only two monthly meetings
had been held since the revision and certifying of the rules, five new member*
had been elected, and two candidates had been nominated for election." " During
the past year ten honorary, and nine beneficial members had joined the society ;
one honorary member, one free member, and one free member's wife had died,
the amount "paid for sickness being, nevertheless, less than for the last twenty-
five years. The superannuation allowance of the Society had slightly increased."
The financial statement averred that the receipts for the past year had amounted
to £340 139. 8d., and the expenses to £1*5 14s. 5d., leaving a balance of
£194 19s. 3d., which, added to the funds of the society, made a grand total to
the credit of the society of £3,501 5s. 7d.
The Viue-Ch airman then gave "the Chairman," which was ably responded
to by that functionary ; after which the receipt of various donations or subscrip-
tions were publicly acknowledged amid prolonged cheering.
"The Vice-Chairman," the "Hon. Members," and "Officers," were duly
remembered, the latter toast being responded to by the President, Mr. Walliker,
as follows : — I feel very grateful for the honor conferred on my brethren and
myself by the toast just drunk. We have been anxious to do all the good
we can, by admitting young men into our Seciety, and we have at length
managed to efTect the very great reform of which you have heard. Previous
to my coming into office, it was a very long time before a young man could
come into the full benefits of £1 per week. However, I am bound to say
that as soon as it was intimated that a change was necessary, the old members
joined in the idea. They believed that if no new blood came into the Society
that they must go the bottom — (Hear, hear). I know we have been called
the sleepy lot — (the Chairman, aghast, " I did not say that ! ") — well, it
amounted to the same thing ; but we cannot do more than we have done. We
now give young men 20s. per week for twenty-six weeks, 10s. per week for
tneuty-six weeks more, 5s. per week for twenty-six weeks more, Sis. fid. per
week during the remainder of illness, and at sixty years of age he may claim the
superannuation allowance of 48. per week, and cease to pay all money to the
Society— (Hear, hear). All these benefits are conferred for about 7Jd. per week,
and 1 do not think there is any society that does more for the same money. —
(Hear, hear).
Other toasts succeeded, the Secretary stating his connexion with, and services
for, the Society, in a very appropriate manner.
"rhroughout the meeting, which broke up at a very creditable hour, the utmost
harmony prevailed.
♦
ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION ANNUAL DINNER.
Presentation to the Ex-President, T. Roger Smith, Esq.
THE annual dinner of the Architectural Association took place at the Wliit-
tington Club, Arundel-street, on Friday, when twenty members were present.
Amongst those present were the ex-president, Mr. T. Roger Smith, who occupied
the chair: Mr. Arthur Allom, who filled the vice-chair; Mr. Arthur Cates, Mr.
S. C. Capes, Mr. New, Mr. B. A. C. Hen-ing, Mr. Paraire, Mr. Christian, Mr.
Blashill, Mr. J. W. Penfold, Mr. R. O. Harris, and the two honorary secretaries,
Mr. Arthur Smith and Mr. Adams.
The dinner, which did much credit to the purveyors, having been dis-
posed of.
The Chairman proposed "The Queen and the Royal Family," and then
" The Army, Navy, and Volunteers."
The Chairman next proposed "Prosperity to the Architectural Associ-
ation."
Mr. S. C. Capes responded. , , ^-^ ^ <•
The Chairman next gave as a toast, " Prosperity to the Royal Institute ot
British Architects and all other Architectural Societies."
Mr. Arthur Cates having been called upon by the Chairman as an old
member of the Institute, acknowledged the compliment. ,, ,, . .,
Mr. Arthur Allom then said he rose to propose the health of their worthy
Chairman and late President of the Association, who had during the oast
session performed his duties in a most admirable manner. Mr. Roger Smith had
succeeded in obtaining the esteem and respect, not only of those then around
him, but, he believed, of all the members of the Architectural Association—
(Cheers). And it devolved upon him that evening, at the request of certam
friendsof Mr. RogerSmith— because the matter he was about to speak of par-
took rather more of a private nature than of a public character connected with
tlie Association— it devolved upon him to ofier to Mr. Smith a small token in re
meml.rance of his efibrts in furtherance of the welfare and prosperity of the
Architectural Association. A number of the friends of Mr. Smith had suii-
seribed in order to present him with a substantial tribute in cominemoraUoii oi
July 19, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
609
his yearof ofBce; but it vas important to all present, and to all members of the
Association wlio were not present, that it should be clearly understood that the
present testimonial should not be considered as a precedent for future occasions.
He thought tliat anything like a rule in the way of presenting a testimonial to a
president of the Association ought to be avoided, for, in his opinion, the honor ot
being president was a sufficient reward for the labor performed. He should
certainly deprecate the repetition of anything like the presentation of a testi-
monial to a president as a president, but as a friend he willingly subscribed to
the testimonial he W.1S about to present to Mr. Smith. A question arose as to
what the token of respect should be. Some suggested a cup, but he and others
thought a silver trowel the most suitable thing that could be presented, as it was a
solid tribute which a gentleman could show in his office to those with whom he
was connected in business. Tlie trowel, which could likewise be used as a fish
slice, bore lhe_ following inscription : — " Presented to T. Roger Sniitli, Esq.,
A.I.B.A., President of the Architectund Association, by a few friends, members
of the Association, as a token of high esteem, 1801. In the name of the sub-
scribers he begged to present the trowel to Mr. Smith and to propose his health.
— (Drnnk with three times three and one cheer more.)
The Chaiiiman said he need hardly tell them that this was a sort of thing by
which he must necessarily be very much gratified, and he was altogether taken
by surprise, for he had not, until that moment, the slightest idea of such a pre-
sentation being made ; if he had had he should have earnestly requested them not to
carry their intention into effect. He accepted the trowel with pride, and should
feel the honor of having It in his possession, althougli he did not think that, for
the simple discharge of the duties of an office like that of President of the Asso-
ciation, a testimonial ought to be presented. He had endeavored to fulfil the
duties of the office as far as his ability and opportunity offered, and he was ex-
tremely gratified to find that any efibi-ts he had been able to make had been so
highly appreciated by the members of the Association. He hoped he should be
able, for many yeai-s to come, to remain a member of the Association, and, so far
as opportunity oiiered, to assist it. He should always look back with pleasure to
the way in which the niemlwrs of the Association had supported him during the
past yeai-, which had been to some extent an important and a trying one to the
Association. It commenced with great doubts whether they should succeed, but
now there was no doubt about its success, and that was owing to the exertions of
the members— for unless gentlemen pulled together and exerted themselves each
in his own sphere for its welfare, such an association could not flourish. He
earnestly called upon them all to do their best for the Association, and he was
quite sure they would reap the benefit of so doing.
The VicE-CiiAiRMAN proposed, "Success to the Architectural Press;" and
mso doing spoke of the assistance rendered to the Association by the proprietors
of the Building News, at a time when it was In considerable difficulties.
The Reporter of the Building News responded.
Mr. Penfold proposed the health of the President of the Association, Mr.
Blomfield, who was unavoidably absent. — The toast was cordiallv drunk.
Mr. Blashill proposed the health of Mr. Arthur Smitli, Hon. Sec.
Mr. Smith acknowledged the compliment.
During the evening several songs were sung, and the entertainment passed off
in tlie most agreealile manner.
NATIONAL COMPETITIONS.
CLOSELY following M. Daly's arguments, we, last week,* showed some
reasons why eminent architects and the authorities are unfavorable
to open competitions— in Franco, at any rate, and if much that is said on
the subject is not equally applicable to the question of competitions in
England, we are putting ourselves to some trouble, and occupying the time
of our readers but to little purpose. One of the most powerful arguments
against competitions is, that architects of eminence will not compete for
the reasons already given; but the writer says they wUl compete, and the
proof 18 that they have already done so.
Admit for a moment the principle that our great public buildings should
be the subject of open competitions, and that the successful competitor
should be charged witli the direction of the work; admit, also, as a
necessary consequence, that the Government, converted to the competition
system, had called to their assistance, in drawing up the programme, the
heads of special corps and scientific men; that the time allowed be suffi-
cient, the jury of acknowledged competence and impartiality, and that the
prizes offered are duly proportioned to the labor asked by the country of
Its architects— is it to be believed that, then, with the impossibility of other-
wise obtaining the charge of fresh works, the highest in the art will
refuse to compete?
To refuse would be to renounce the profession !
The incompetent only, those to whom fortune has given unmerited
honors, will see them snatched away without power to preserve them
And so much the better for the authorities, for Government, for the
country, for the arts and artists. So niucli the better, we say, for plumed
Tj"^!"^?'^'^- *° succumb and deliver us from the scandal of its usurpations
iJehind with the indmtriels du savoir-faire ! Room for the true artist for
merit for talent, for genius, if it presents itself ! And it will present itself
irance needs not doubt. And so will fall away the fear of tlie autho-
rities to leave public works to the chance of a competition among artists of
secondary merit, or of very young men.
It yet remains to dispel the fear that the chance of a competition might
impose on the administration an architect of but little experience, or one
wanting m business habits. In a competition properly organised— and it
would depend on tlio authorities to make it so— there would be no danger
of taient'^"^'"'^^ ' '"'^'' * '''^'^^°^ "• <>" ">e contrary, a proof of science and
How can we admit that, in a competition which includes the celebrities
ot the art— and we have shown that they would not decline to compete-
lue author of the selected design would not possess the qualities necessary I
* See page 585 aute.
to direct the work? It could happen only if the conqueror was quite a
young man, m whom genius had outstripped experience; and what genius
niust It not be to be victorious against such adversaries. On the discovery
of such a treasure; the authorities should hasten to associate with him an
experienced practitioner, in order not to deprive themselves of the services
of such an artist.
No institution is perfect; that of competition would be no more so than
others. We must content ourselves with an approximation to perfection,
because it is not allowed to man to attain to absolute perfection.
But to dispel all cause for uneasiness on the point last referred to, the
admmistration might reserve to itself a right of veto in the extraordinary
case of the victor in a competition being unworthy or incompetent. The
admmistration, fully invested with this right, would exercise it under the
control of public opinion. It would be enlightened on many points l)y a
competition, it would know better the relative position and strength of
architects, aud it would follow that the most absolute acts of its authority
would be effected with a knowledge of the case, with all the light on the
subject which is now wanting. We ask only in the case of a substitute
being nominated for the victor, that the premium be increased by one-half;
for example, if it was originally £800 that it should be increased to
£1,200, as a check on the ; administration against all impulse, and a
security against a hasty decision. With the responsibility of this addi-
tion, small as it is, the administration would not act on their powers
except on ample consideration. They would, doubtless, think twice ere
they declined to employ a selected competitor in favor of a less fortunate
confrere— ov of one who had not even taken the chances of the competition,
when they were open to the judgment of the public, and obliged to pay
with public money for the right to substitute one arcliitect for another.
The budget, it must be considered, is the great and constant consideration
of administrators. They do not propose, deliberate nor decide, without
reference to it, and the burden iinposed on it must always be measured by
its resources.
An earlier part of M. Daly's book than that we have now under
consideration pointed out two curious and in their nature very dis-
tinct examples of the advantages which may be offered by public com-
petitions—the .Monument of the Republic and the Halles Centrales. There
are, however, some other advantages to be mentioned.
It will be generally agreed that it is of the very highest importance to
show periodically what has been the progress in the several schools of
architecture. Besides competitions, the grand Olympian games of the
art, what means have we to become acquainted with their progress ? The
sight of new public buildings ? But it must be years before we can see
them completed, as they were conceived by their authors.
Is it sufficient to look.at the Aou.sc.t which are being erected by hundreds,
by thousands ? It is not in houses — purely speculative works — that we
must seek the disinterested expression of contemporaneous art, the
numberless manifestations we have a right to expect in it, and which
should harmonise so profoundly with the passions of the mind, the wants
and the desires of modern society : it is the churches, the railway stations,
the theatres, the tombs, the triumphal and commemorative monuments :
it is the concert halls, funeral monuments, and a thousand others that
must be seen, and it is not one or two specimens of each of these which
will give an idea of the movement in art matters : it is the structures
erected under the influence of each school, Gothic, Classic, Eclectic,
Utilitarian, it is even the aspirations of Utopians, which must be passed in
review, examined and studied.
This expression, so difficult to seize upon, of an art always changing ;
where shall we search for it ? Where hope to find it ? —but in an ensemble
of all the systems ; a picture of their contrasts, of their harmonies, and of
their discords, — in public competitions.
Not that public competition will alone suffice to illustrate the exact
character of contemporaneous art, but it offers a synoptical picture of
progress; it is a resume, and places it at one view under sight ; it allows
a comparative and simultaneous study of all the efforts, of the tendencies
of each school, of that which is being done, of that which is not yet done
or attempted; it shows us what we are doing to-d..y, what we may do
to-morrow — even dreams which may never be realised. In competitions,
side by side with works founded on custom and tradition, with the work
of ripe experience, we may meet with adventurous stretches of imagina-
tion—impossibilities at present, but which may be realised hereafter when
the novelty of the idea has ceased to startle routine or timidity.
Thus have crystal palaces been erected in the new and old worlds.
M. Daly asks for competitions as the indispensable means to prove
periodically and completely the action of architectural thought.
As to architects themselves, and the opportunities thus given to the
authorities to discover unknown tilent. Did not success in the competi-
tion for the church of St. Paul de Nimcs at ouce place M. Questal in the
ranks of our eminent architects? Did not the success of M. Viollet-le-
Duc in the competition limited to three for the restoration of the cathedral
of Notre-Dame contribute to his renown? and the same is asked of MM.
Danjoy, Ginain, Botrel, Crepinet, Garnier, and others, with reference to
competitions in which they have been successful? Our present purpose is
to make our readers acquainted with M. Daly's book, or we could instance
parallel cases in England. However, perhaps more of that hereafter.
The author thinks that, reading the preceding, more than one will
say, '■ I also should be for competitions if an impartial and competent
jury could be guaranteed, but the authorities, full of good intentions, as
you suppose them, cannot, in nominating such or such a member of the
jury, take from him his predilections for a particular school, they cannot
neutralise his likings and disliklngs."
610
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 19, 1861.
It it seen that this committee question is the greatest practical difficulty in
the ease: greater in our time than in any period during the past, for
there are now as many little schools as there are liistoric styles, all ranged
in large groups. A distinction is drawn between " free" and " official" art,
five-and-twenty or thirty years ago the Roman and Gothic styles, or
their adherents, had not then obtained the confidence of the authorities,
but thev liave now, in their turn, become " official."
The authorities and competitors have alilie serious interests in the com-
position of the committee, on many and various important grounds. With-
out an impartial committee there can be no public competition. That is
everything, a good committee or nothing.
It is now endeavoured to point out a system for the formation of a com-
mittee for architectural competitions. The system Is designed as applicable
to Paris, be it remembered. The committee should be composed of thirteen
members, the c/u/de C administration to preside. The minister, if it is a
monument of the state; the Prefet de la Seine, if it is a building of the
department.
1. The Institute, I'EcoIe des Beaux-Arts, and the Conseil des batimens
civils, to nominate among them two members 2
2. The Comite des Monuments bistoriques 1
3. The Societe ceutrale des Arcliitects 2
4. The Administration to name four others, viz., two officials and two
dilettanti 4
5. Four members to be appointed by the competitors 4
Total 13
With the president, who would have a casting vote if necessary, in con-
sequence of some members declining to vote. [It is thought that this com-
mittee composed of fourteen persons, would afford every guarantee for the
impartiality and capacity necessary to a just^decision. The fact that the
competitors themselves are directly represented, would contribute to dis-
perse the last traces of doubt and suspicion.
In the case of any building which required special knowledge to be
correctly appreciated, it is conceived that the presence in the committee of
one practically acquainted with the subject would be desirable; for example,
in the case of a theatre a manager should be present, an abattoir, a butcher,
&c. The question whether these individuals should be simply consulted,
or take part in the deliberations, it is not attempted to decide, and would
probably depend on the intelligence of those thus called in as auxiliary
aids.
The scheme given above is proposed as one that is very elastic, and
would admit of considerable modification — simply as a basis for discussion.
A competent authority pointed out to the writer, with reference to the
number of the members of the committee, that responsibility is less effective
the more it is divided ; he docs not, however, on examining the question
narrowly, see much fear to apprehend on that head, with a committee con-
stituted as proposed.
Before quitting this part of the question, the writer incidentally expresses
a desire to see committees adopt a custom calculated to give maturity to
their decisions. It is when the committee have selected a certain number of
the best works from those exhibited, for detailed examination, that the battle
usually begins, that the partisans of various schools become yor this and
against that. This is the dangerous moment, and as a way of meeting this
it is suggested that, before the discussion on the designs selected for de-
tailed examination takes place, written reports on each project should be
lead, as a means of making all better acquainted with the particular
designs. These reports should be subsequently published, as containing
the opinions of our best artists on various points.
We make no apology for detaining our readers so long with M. Daly's
admirable Essay, for none can be necessary. The question of competitions
has long been a tender point with us, and we only hope that the manner
in which it has been discussed here in England will, at some period not far
distant, be attended with some of the beneficial results, if not total reform,
which we trust will follow the extended circulation of the book we must
now take leave of, in France. Meanwhile, architects as a body will do well
to remember that the question is entirely in their own hands.
♦
WESTMINSTER-BRIDGE.
Fa very short time the last traces of the first stone bridge which ever
■panned the river Thames will be removed. It was second in antiquity
only to Old London-bridge, and second also to it only in its obstructive
qualities. For years it had been a positive nuisance, and its condition had
at length justified the language used by the Company of Watermen and
the West Country bargemen ift their petitions, 125 years ago, against its
erection. It had become " a great prejudice to the navigation of the river
Thames, so as to render it dangerous if not impracticable." The arches
were propped up, the echoing alcoves were demolished, the balustrade was
removed, the roadway lowered, everything in fact, which ingenuity could
derise, was done to lighten the bridge and add to its support, but to no
pnrpose— the piers still continued to sink, and the bridge to assume a
more ruinous and hopeless aspect. It is as curious as it is amusing now
to remember the enthusiasm which its erection excited, and the eulogy
bestowed upon every thing connected with it a century since :— •" The
length, breadth, and regularity of the design, the breadth and depth of the
river it extends over, the quantity of water which passes through it with-
out sensible obstruction, the spaciousness and commodiousness of the
carriage and footways over it, the easy ascent it affords, the defence of
passengers against the weather in their way over it, the watch for the
security of their persons, the beautiful globular lights suspended on irons,
hat project inwards with a lofty sweep from the top of each recess and
on the sides of the abutments," all combined to render it superior to every
bridge known or described in history, in " estimable particulars and cir-
cumstances."
Notwithstanding all these advantages, the opposition to its erection was
so well sustained, and such bitterness of feeling was entertained by in-
terested parties, that a clause was inserted in the Bill providing that
persons wilfully destroying or damaging the said bridge should suffer
death.
It was intended by the Commissioners who labored assiduously, as
Labeyle says, "for the honor ot doing what was thought impossible," to
erect a timber super-structure of peculiar and ingenious construction, but
the great frost of 1739 occurring whilst the works were in progress, tore
away the piles and left the stonework almost uninjured. This circum-
stance enabled the architect to obtain the Commissioners' sanction to a
stone bridge of fifteen arches on what was then esteemed a peculiarly
grand scale ; the former, for instance, increasing from a span of 52 feet
(excluding the small abutment arches) on each side, to one of 7G feet for
the centre arch, and the piers from 12 feet broad to 17 feet. The entire
length of the bridge was 1,220 feet, its breadth 40 feet.
If our ancestors who exhausted the terms of praise upon the old
bridge, could but witness the structure with which Mr. Page supplies its
place, they would, indeed, require a new vocabulary to express the full
extent of their admiration. "The width of the openings is almost doubled
throughout, whilst the number of them and the substance of the piers
opposed to the river is diminished more than a half. There is no "easy
ascent," but a perfect level to the roadway over the bridge. Cheesewring
granite in the piers, and iron in the superstructure, take the place of
stone, and on such scientific principles has the new bridge been built that
one-half of the bridge was finished before the old was removed, and opened
to the public before the other half was commenced, and yet when com-
pleted there will be no indication of it in the structure. The whole will
fit together with the nicest accuracy, and be as sound as if it had been
constructed in the ordinary manner.' ,
The first half of the bridge was opened to the public sixteen months
ago. Within two years from that date, that is, next spring, the whole will be
completed. The present appearance of the works is exceedingly interest-
ing, and shows fully, by the quantity of material accumulated, the nature,
the magnitude and the importance of the undertaking. A temporary
wooden bridge for foot-passengers has been built to the eastward of the
new bridge. The space between it and the portion already opened, and
daily traversed by vehicles, is crowded with stacks of beams, sheds for
shoeing and ringing the piles, wharves for the reception of materials,
dredging boats, wooden houses, huge travelling cranes, masses of wrought
and cast-iron girders, heaps of iron plates, platforms for gravel and cement
to form the concrete, ponderous " monkeys" in constant action driving down
the piles, blocks of granite, stores for tackle, &c., slabs of iron sheathing
piles, immense framing to support the temporary bridge, the debris of the
old one, through all of which the river and the steamers rush uninter-
ruptedly, and amidst which the workmen labor regularly. A sort of
balcony projects from the eastern side of the new bridge. It has been
built temporarily to facilitate approach to the works ; ladders lead
from it downwards at regular intervals. By means of it we can pass over
and note the progress which has lately been made. The bridge will con-
sist of seven elliptical iron arches, each formed of sixteen parallel pierced
ribs, stiffened with transverse girders ; on these transverse girders convex
iron buckle-plates, about a yard square, will be riveted to bear the wood
blocks, which will form the foundation of the roadway to the bridge.
Outside these ribs a face rib will be fixed, but it will have nothing to do
with the support of the bridge, being placed only to give an agreeable
finish to the exterior of it. The ribs are not all equidistant; the central
ones, upon which the greatest weight will of course be, being closer than
the two external ones on either side.
The piers are built of Cheesewring granite, and are 85 feet from cutwater
to cutwater, with a thickness of only 10 feet. The roadway will be, when
finished, 75 feet wide. Semi-octagon buttresses, with moulded caps and
bases, stand on the tops of the cutwaters, and the parapet between them is
of iron, pierced with trefoils, and surmounted by a moulded capping.
The first two or three arches of the old bridge on both sides have, as our
readers, doubtless, know, been absorbed in the abutments of the new one.
The abutments are finished, and the springing girders fixed in their places
on a bedding of felt, to insure equal pressure, and to allow for the expan-
sion of the metal. The openings of the seven arches increase gradually in
width from 85 feet next the shore, to the centre, where the opening is
150 feet wide. The first pier from the Middlesex side is just completed,
but the " waistcoat-pieces," as the lowermost girders are called, are not yet
fixed. The workmen, at low water, are engaged cutting away the
superfluous concrete from the foundation. The second pier is finished, and
the waistcoat-pieces fixed. The third pier has only lately been commenced,
and we have thus an opportunity of observing the construction of the
foundations upon which it is to rest. Elm piles with iron points ar»
driven down some 30 feet deep through the bed of the river. These are
placed 2 feet 6 inches apart throughout the surface of the pier. They are
surrounded by iron cylindrical piles linked together by means of tongues
and grooves, with iron sheathing piles "jollied " down some 2 feet 6 inches
below low-water mark. The whole of the interstices between the piles
are then filled with concrete, mixed in the proportion of one part of gravel
to four of Portland cement. Temporary piles are driven outside to retain
the concrete; they are afterwards drawn, and the concrete trimmed off, as
we have just noticed the workmen doing it on the second pier.
On this foundation the granite piers are built. They are splayed off at
X
July 19, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
611
the ends, on plan, to form cutwaters, the vertical line of whicii is a very
graceful and artistic curve, The fourth pier is finished, and the lower
girders are in tlieir place upon it. The fifth pier is scarcely so far
advanced as even the third ; the piles are only half driven, and close by
it we see, at low water, the last remnants of the old bridge — one of the
foundations of a pier, witli the heavy solid mass of Portland stone, which,
far more than tlie weight of the superstructure, hastened its settlement
and ultimate ruin. The piers were too massive, and sank, and the upper
portion of the bridge sank naturally with it. That seems the reason why
no diminution of stonework above could materially check the ruin of the
■work. The stone the bridge was built of came from the best Portland
beds; it is very hard and comparatively uninjured, although it has been
e.xposed to the same gaseous agencies which, in a few years, have dis-
integrated that of the Houses of Parliement. It has been bought by
different contractors, and some of it is being now used in the new offices of
the London and County Bank in Lombard- street.
Still crossing the balcony attached to the bridge we come to the 6th
pier and find the bridge in a more forward state, the convex buckle-plates
are on and the whole span is finished, with the exception of the central
girder to the span, which, with its transverse girders, will be of wrought
iron. In the next and last span, g eventliis portion is fixed in its place.
The central girder, corresponding to the key -stone of an arch, is through-
out tlie bridge of wrought, whilst all tlie rest is of cast iron. Tliis has
been provided to guard against the effects of vibration caused by the
transit of carriages over them. A layer of India rubber or gutta-percha is
placed at regular intervals between the girders to allow for the expansion
of the iron. The lines of the'girders are scientifically drawn, and the weight
most skilfully directed. There is no undue pressure anywhere, and no
waste of material. In appearance the bridge will surpass every bridge
which has hitherto been thrown across the river, and it is built in accor-
dance with the soundest principles of modem science. It will be an equal
boon to passengers of all kinds, on foot or on horse, in carriages or in
steamers, to waggoners and to bargemen. It will enable a good view to
be obtained of the grandest pile of modern times and be itself an elegant
adjunct to it ;it is a great ornament to the metropolis, and a work of great
public utility.
It is being built by Government from the designs of Mr. Thomas Page,
C.E. The ironwork has been supplied by Messrs. Cochrane.
THE LEGAL LIABILITIES OF ARCHITECTS AND BUILDERS.*
IT is now a long time since we first proposed to ourselves to examine
closely Mr. Glen's book, on the " Legal Liabilities of Architects and
Contractors," and it has not been altogether our fault that the work has
laid 60 long unopened by our side. It seemed, in the first instance, to
demand a favorable review, but as we become better acquainted with it,
it appears to us that we shall be doing well in informing our readers more
particularly of its contents.
On the importance to architects and builders of a knowledge of the laws
relating to building there can be no question, but it may be questioned
whether such knowledge is really possessed by those more directly
mtercsted in its acquirement, to anything like the extent it should be.
The Institute, in the voluntary examination sclieme, recognises the utility
of a study of the laws of property relating to buildings, including fixtures
and right of adjoining owners, and the Uws relating to accidents, contracts
and ddapidations. Indeed, these subjects, according to the " Regulations
and Curriculum," constitute " professional practice," and most architects
have, doubtless, some knowledge of the laws regulating building opera-
tions. There is, however, a very large class of builders who not only have
very little knowledge of the subject, but do not, in many cases, even take
the trouble to inform themselves of the contents and intention of the con-
tract they are about to sign. We know from experience that this con-
stantly occurs, and there are very few architects who will not agree with
us in the stutement.
This negligence may probably arise from confidence in the good faith of
architects, but it cannot be to a builder's interest to conduct his business
m such a loose manner, while at the same time a moral responsibility is
thus thrown upon the architect, totally unnecessary.
Mr. Glen is quite aware of this, and says, that when a building contract
or contract for the execution of works of any kind is of considerable mag-
nitude, the parties to it, before concluding the contract by the affixing of
their respective signatures, will of course act under the advice of their
solicitors. Tradesmen connected with the building trade, however some-
times are found to enter into contracts almost without having a knowledge
of their contents, and without reading them, or even understanding the
conditions which they undertake to fulfil, and without a duplicate contract
being made to be retained in their possession. Such persons cannot be too
earncGtly cautioned to use the utmost circumspection in this respect, and
not to enter into a contract without an examined duplicate of it duly
°i^°^ , u ""^ '®^* ™ ^^^" possession ; on the other hand, the employer
gnould be careful, on his part, to see that in respect of the work contracted
lor, he does not waive any of the conditions of the contract ; for if the
work be badly done, he may find that owing to his waiver of a material
conditionof the contract— as the certificate of the architect or surveyor
being given before payment for the work— he is without any remedy
i-ersons dealing with corporations, are advised to bear in mind that '
such companies are essentially different from an ordinary partnership or
aird™ Jildr, 'TnnfS" Is '■h" Legal Liabilities of Kngineers, Architects, Contrac^rs,
aSd SbiSat onl or S^rikL^'H ofContract.., Arbitrations, Masters and Workmen
KnB8c?rBtre?t ^ ^ CuNNiNcnA.M Glen. Atchley and Co., Great
firm for all purposes of contracts, and especially in respect of evidence
against them on legal trials — those so dealing should invariably insist upon
all contracts with them being by deed under the seal of the Company or
signed by the directors or otherwise executed in the manner prescribed by
the Act of Parliament regulating the Company, for there is no safety or
security for any one dealing with such a body on any other footing, and
the same caution applies to any variation or alteration in a contract which
has been made with the company ; as the secretary or other managing
officer, has of himself no independent authority to bind the company by
letttrs or documents signed by him.
If a contract be entered into under fraudulent representations, as soon
as the fraud is discovered the contract should be repudiated , as if it be
not, payment for the value of the work cannot be claimed. A person was
engaged to cart away certain rubbish for a specified sum under a fraudulent
representation by the employer as to the quantity of rubbish to be removed.
It was held in an action for the value of the work actually done that only
the amount of the contract could be recovered, although he might, ou
discovering the fraud, have repudiated the contract and sued the employer
for deceit.
Contracts, or, rather, specifications, frequently contain a clause to the
effect that everything essential to the proper carrying out of the work
shall be considered to be intended, although not therein particularly
expressed. And the builders should exercise greater caution than they
usually do with regard to this clause.
A carpenter, &c., agreed to build a house for a gentleman who
prepared a specification which contained particulars of the diflerent por-
tions of the work, but no mention was made of the floor boards, the
specification contained a clause to the same effect as that mentioned above.
The contractor prepared the floor boards, brought them to the premises,
and planed and fitted them to the several rooms, but refused to lay them
down without extra payment, because the flooring was not mentioned in
the specification; whereupon the employer put an end to the contract,
took possession of the works, and, proceeding to complete the building,
using the flooring-boards so prepared and fitted. In an action brought by
the contractor, for work, labor, and materials, it was held that he was not
entitled to recover for the flooring as an extra, because it was included in
the contract, tnough not mentioned in the specification, and also that the
plaintiff in the action could not maintain trover for the flooring-boards left
on the premises by him.
As regards delay in the proper execution of the works, it is reported
that a contractor having refused to comply with a notice given in pur-
suance of the contract, "te supply all proper and sufficient materials and
labor for the due prosecution of the work, and with due expedition to
proceed therewith," the engineer, at the expiration of seven days, took the
work out of his hands. An action being brought on the contract, it was
held that the notice given to the contractor by the engineer was sufficiently
specific, though, if the engineer had required any work altered, it should
have been more particular.
Of extra works, Mr. Glen says, in some instances, under special condi-
tions, the contract, having been duly executed, a bill of quantities of the
works, with the prices of the contractor affixed, is sealed up and deposited
with the architect until the work is completed. It, however, remains the
property of the contractor, and though it may be referred to by the
respective parties in order to ascertain the correctness of the account,
neither the architect nor the employer has a right to demand a copy of it ;
when the account is finally settled, the proper course is for the architect
to deliver it back to the contractor, whose trade secrets (which are his
own legal property) might be divulged to competitive opponents if it fell
into any other hands than his own after the purpose for which it has been
prepared had been fully answered.
The importance of obtaining written authority in the terms of the
contract for extra works is not often enough kept in mind. For if
a contract contains a clause to the effect that no alterations or addi-
tions shall be paid for unless ordered by the architect in writing,
the employer will be at liberty to refuse a settlement of an account
for works, which have been executed without such written order unless,
as some cases appear to show, the condition has been waived by both
parties. And what amounts to a written authority may sometimes admit
of dispute, care should therefore be taken on both sides to see that the
nature of the alterations or additions are clearly expressed. It may be
said that it is not possible to give a written authority for every extra
work which is directed to be doue. but such an argument would not hold
good in the f»c* of an express stipulation in a contract. A drawing
signed by the architect, with words specifying the work to be extra is
looked upon in law as an order in writing.
In receiving a general order for the execution of an extra work, all the
accessories of that work must be taken to be included in the order,
including alterations necessary in consequence to adjoining work. It
seems that it is sufficient compliance with the contract if the order be
given before the work is finished, but wherever practicable, it is better to
give it before the work is commenced.
How far an architect is justified in ordering extra works without the
express concurrence of his principal " depends entirely upon the under-
standing come to between them on the subject. • * • For altliough
employers do, and must to a great extent, trust to the discretion of their
architects, the latter should not entirely rely on that trust for an exonera-
tion of their having, on behalf of their principal, and unknown to him,
incurred large bills for extra works."
If work be done under a special contract, and for estimated prices, and
there is a deviation from he original plan by the consent of the parties.
612
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 19, 1861.
the estimate is not excluded, but is the rule of payment so far as the
special contract can be traced, and for any excess beyond it the party is
entitled to his quantuxi vitruit; but where a tradesman finishes work
diflerioR from the specification agreed on, he is not entitled to the actual
value of the work, but only to the agreed price, minus such a sum as it
would take to complete the work according to the specification. Builders
are in certain cases advised to stipulate in writing (in purchasing mate-
rials') that the goods supplied shall be subject to the approval of the
architect of the building, .is, if they do not conform to the specification of
the works, they may be thrown ou the builders' hands without his having
anv redress.
in cases in which there are contracts to do works for certain sums,
emplovers arc frequently called upon to pay more than the sums specified,
in consequence of the contracts having been departed from, or for extra
works. Lord Kenyon has thus stated the rule for cases of deviations from
contracts: — " Where additions are made to a building which the workman
contracts to finish for a certain sum, the contract shall exist as far as it
can be traced to have been followed, and the excess only paid for according
to the usual rate of charging ; but if a man contracts to work by a
certain plan, and that plan is so entirely abandoned that it is impossible
to trace the contract, and say to what part of it the work shall be applied,
in such case the workman shall be permitted to charge for the whole of
the work by measure and value, as if no contract at all had been made."
If, working under a contract, tlie builder, with the consent of the em-
ployer, executes it in some manner different from the manner specified, he
will not be entitled to more than the contract price, unless the deviations
are such that the employer must have known that they would increase
the expense. In an action where a carpenter claimed to abandon the con-
tract and recover a measure and value price for all the work done, it was
observed by Lord Tenterden that a person intending to make alterations
of this nature generally consults the person whom he intends to employ
and ascertains from him the expense of the undertaking ; and it will very
frequently depend on this estimate whether he proceeds or hot. It is,
therefore, a great hardship upon him, unless he fully understands that
such consequences will follow and assents to them. In many cases he will
be ignorant whether the particular alterations suggested will produce any
increase of labor and expenditure ; and he. Lord Tenterden, did not think
that the mere fact of assenting to them ought to deprive him of the
protection of his contract, unless he is informed at the time of the consent
that the effect of the alteration will be to increase the expense of the work.
Gibbons, on this subject,* says — To entitle a builder to claim extra
payment for deviations from the contract, it should appear, first, that the
deviation has occasioned extra expense, cither in materials or labor ;
secondly, that the employer was aware that extra expense would be occa-
sioned when he consented to the deviation, either from the nature of the
deviation or otherwise ; thirdly, it seems to follow that the builder is only
entitled to recover the value of the extra labor and materials so rendered
necessary.
Unless specially provided for in the contract, or by subsequent agree-
ment, the payment of the value of extra works may be claimed although
the builder has not performed his contract, and although the time for the
payment of the contract price has not arrived. It is rightly said to be of
the most vital importance that architects in giving orders for the execution
of extra works should conform, in the minutest particular, with the terms
of the contract with the builder, and that, on the other hand, the extreme
danger which the builder runs if he executes works without first obtaining
an authority for so doing, should lead him, under no circumstances and
tuder no degree of pressure, to depart from them.
Architects, in ordering extra works, should not forget that (on the
authority of Mr. Glen) the liability of the employer depends entirely
on the extent of the authority he gave to his architect in respect of the
works. If he did not authorise the architect to order the execution of any
works but those to which the agreement either directly or indirectly re-
lates, he would be exonerated from liability ; and, in that case, it would be
for the builder to consider how far the architect had made himself per-
sonally responsible.
We cannot, however, altogether agree with the writer on this point, as
wc may take occasion to show hereafter.
When will our Popidatiott reach itx limits f — The institutions of mu-
nicipal, no less than of national development, must ))e influenced in tone and
purport by the results of the census. A city increasing in population must, in
some respects, have a diflerent system of government to one that
is nianilinlly decreasing; for all laws, general or local, are for the
good of the whole popuTiition, and the people not tlie site, constitute the
city. The Increase of population in the whole of England and Wales is 2,134,110,
of which 977,027 ai-e niales, and 1,1.V(,48() females. This increase between 18.'jl
and ]8<il may be eoiuddeix^d as rallier li«s than the average rate of the past (iO
years. In the dicenniai jieriod 1801-11, the increase was 14 per cfmt. In the
several decennial periods from 18U to 18C1 the successive rates of increase were
J6, 1&, 14, 13, and 12, respectively. The last figure is the increase for the
period 1851-fil; and, if wc throw out the first decennial period, and take tin;
past balf-tcntury as a fair factor, thensult will he; that the increase in our
population is in a ri-gular diminishing ratio— 16, 15, 14, 13, 12 ; so that wc may
If we choose to be otatistically prophetic, anticipate that, in 120 years from this
time, the births will only equal the deatlis in numljer. That is to say, in 1971,
the increase will be only 1, and, in 1980, 0 per cent. ; and newspaper critics and
political orators will have a new suhjix-t for criticism in the anticipated decrease
of the population. — City Prexn.
THE STRIKE.
BEYOND some tew external incidents, no material change has taken place
in the relative positions of the employers and employed. Since our
last we understand, on reliable information, tliat some of the builders
who have enforced the hour system, and are thus short of iiands for
the carrying out of various important jobs, have had recoui-se to the
aid of sub-contractors who pay tlie employed not by the hour but by the
day, at the old rate of wages, and with the half-holiday on Saturday. The
masons object to any such arrangL'inent, and take no part in it. The masons,
moreover, have, through tlie instrumentality of Mr. Coninghara, member for
Brighton, brought under the notice of the House of Commons a case which they
think exhibits an improper interference on the part of the Executi\e between
masters and men, namely, tlieemploynient of sappers belonging to the Royal Engi-
neers in the construction of the barrack now being erected at Chelsea for the
Guards, in lieu of the present inconvenient one in Portman-street. The {Under
Secretary at War, Mr. Baring, stated that it was retjuisite, seeing that the
masons and bricklayers had witliilrawn in consequence ot the strike, to employ
sappers upon the building which it was ibund desirable should be completed with
tlie least possible delay. The masons, bricklayers, and other branches of the
building trades intend, however, we are informed, presenting petitions to Parlia-
ment against what they consider to be an unwarrantable interference on the part of
the Government between them and their employers. The plasterers, it is believed,
intend "striking " upon the .same "rounds. Eight gentlemen, named Messrs.
Hughes, Hutton, Ludlow, Bennett, Beesley, Litchfield, Lushington, and Harrison,
who give addresses from Lincoln's Inn, the Temple, University College, and Doc-
tors' Commons, and who, we believe, are connected with the legal profession, have
sent a long letter to some of the papers, with tlie view of stating tlie case of the
men. All tlie statements in that letter have ulreaily over and over again appeared
in other forms in this paper. A meeting of the Master Builders' Association was
held on Wednesday afternoon, and yesteitlay (Thursday) the following letterwas
issued by some of the leading builders of the inetropoUs to the Editor: —
Sir, — Wc have read the letter in tlie journals of the IStli Inst., headed " The
Builders' Strike," signed by eight ffentlonicn, most of whom wc believe to be
membere of the legal profession, the .ivowed obJL'<?t of which was to obtain a hearing
for the workmen. In the first place, there never was less reason to complain of want
of publicity upon any question, abundant currency having been f^iven to the state-
ments of the workmen bv tlie public press, and the masters have at all times been
ready to discuss with their own workmen, in detail, all matters aflectlng their
interests, but have declined to see ttic delegates from trades' unions.
Although it is now stated that the present movement on behalf of the men is not
for what is termed the " iiiue hours' system," the eliauge resulted entirely from the
renewal of that agitatiou. I'aymciit by the hour is intended solely to remove this
cause of strife for the future, and there 'is 119 wish, nor has it ever been intended, to
deprive tlie carpenters of their customary allowance for sharpening tools, or any
other trade privileges which they have hitherto enjoyed. The assertion that masters
wish the men to work lonpfcr than ten hours per day, except in cases of emergency,
we emphatically deny. So contrary, ilidceif, is the fart, that we are frequently
requested by the men to allow them to make overtime at the usual rate of wages— a
request that is often on that account acceded to.
It would be manifestly unjust to submit to arbitration a question practically
fettled to the entire satisfaction of the great majority of the men employed in the
building trades, and now only kept alive by the agitation of a few members of the
trades' unions.
In justice to the men in our employment, we indignantly deny the statement that
they are inferior workmen, or that they arc working under protest. They have been
selected for their skill and experience, and the majority of tliera have been with us
for many years, and wo are certainly at a loss to conceive by what reasoning the few
men now on strike can venture to impugn the abilities of "many thousands of their
feilow-workmen.
In conclusion, M'e beg to deny, in the most explicit manner, any covert intention—
a charge which has been industriously circulated— and we cannot too distinctly assert
that our only object in the change was one of conciliation.
We are, Sir, your obedient servants,
CuniTT and Co., Gray's-inn-laue.
IIOLLANO and Uannen, Duke-street, Bloomsbury.
George Mvers, Lambeth.
George JIansfielo and Soxs, Gray's-inn-lane.
Geouge Smith, I'imlico.
Waller and Sox, Lyall-strcot, Iklgrave-squarc.
.loHN Kelk, South-street, Grosveuor-squarc.
Lucas Brothers, Lambeth.
July la
'Tlie termination of the strike seems to be as far distant as ever.
' The Law of Contracts," &c.
— ♦ —
"ASSESSORSHIP, ST. GEORGE'S, HANOVER-SQUARE."
Sir, — Under the above heading, in your last number of the Building News,
there is a list of candidates for the assessorship and surveyorship to the governors
and directors of the poor of >St. George's, in which my name appears at the bottom
of the list. I beg to say that I was not a candidate, and tliat if ray name was
proposed it was without my knowledge.
I liave the honor to be employed by the vestry of St. George's in the
superintendence of their new board offices, which may possibly account for the
mistake.
Perhaps you will kindly insert this, and oblige
Yours, iScc,
W. R. Gritten.
8, Parliament-street, Westminster, July 15th, 1861.
ST. PETER'S, GREAT WINDMILL-STREET.
Sir,— Will vuu be so good as to correct your notice, on the 12th inst., of the
above church, "so iar as it refeis to metal work, by stating that the execution of
the gas fittings and lighting was entrusted to
¥»urs, &c.,
Peard and Jacksok.
150, High Holborn, W.C.J July IGUi, 1861.
ARCHITECTS AND THEIR CLIENTS.
.Sin,— I think the letter signed " A Jluiiufacturcr" should not pass without
remark. Some one else, perhaps, will t.ike the trouble to repudiate the asser-
tions contained in the prior paragraph ol'liis letter, but what I wish particularly
to deny is that when architects describe the productions of ccrtiin manufactu-
THE BUILDING NEWS
July 19, 1861.
rers, wliicli are to Ic used in the building contracted for, it is to receive a com-
mission tlioreon, fis your correspondent ventures to insinuate. I am one of
these offenders ; I emisider it my duty to my client to see tliat he lias the best
and most suitable a]>pliance8 provided, and from sources which my experience
lias proved to me to be the best. Thus to be selected is, indeed, only the fair
reward which the ingenious, clever, and honest manufacturer fairly earns by the
good reputation he has established. I might easily mention a long list of names,
but if I name Minton, Maw, Skidmoro, Hart, Jennings, Kansome, J. B. White,
Jackson and Sons, Cox and Sons, as a few among those whom architects con-
stantly refer to in their specifications, I almost say enough to refute the libel
which your correspondent tries to affix, without distinction, upon all our most
enterprising and leading manufacturers, as well as upon the architect who
employs thcni. . . ,.
I never heard in my life that persons so named ever acknowledged the dis-
tinction by the degrading proposal of a money payment. I have been es|)ecially
in contact with manufacturers and the proprietors oi patent inventions, and
have had peculiar opportunities of assisting them to become known and to be
used, but I declare most positively that no proposal to do that which your cor-
respondent asserts was ever made to me, directly or indirectly, in any instance,
and I do not believe there is any such practice commonly in existence, or that
if it occurs at all it is otherwise than most rare.
I am, &c.,
E.
PROVIDENT INSTITUTION Ol" BUILDERS' FOREMEN AND
CLERKS OF WORKS.
Sir, — Will you please to correct an error that occurred in the second para-
graph of your report of the paper i^ead at the Provident Institution of Builders'
Foremen and Clerks of Works, on Gothic Architecture. Instead of the words,
"why the supporters of the Pohited style are called Goths," it should read "why
the Pointed stvie is called Gothic, &c. &c.," by so doing you will greatly oblige,
45, Moreton-place, Pimlico, S.W. Yours, &c.,
July 18, 1861. W.M. Glover.
613
TENDERS.
DWEtLIKG-IIOLSES, liROMPTON.
For buildlngr six houses at Brompton, for Mr. Joseph Hardy,
architect. Quantities supplied.
K. Watts and Son £8,593 0 0
S.B.Smith 8,35fi 0 0
George A. Burn,
Hill and Itoblnson 8,144 0 0
A. M. Grvig 7,969 10
Downs 7,956 0
Stimpson £7,846 0 0
Adamson 7,795 0 0
C. Fish 7,500 0 0
LandC. W.Todd 7,»48 0 0
DwELLINC-HOnBE, KENT.
For building a house, for C. Selby, Esq., at Ightham, near Seven Oaks, Kent. Mr.
C. W. Kppy, architect. (Quantities supplied.
Allow for
Old Materials,
C. Fish £1,400 .... £150
A. M. Greig 1,200 .... 150
Godbold 1,104 .... 12a
Town Hall, Northampton.
For Northampton Town-liall. Edward William Godwin, Esq., architect., Mont-
pelicr, Bristol. Quantities by .7. A. Clark, Esq., Bristol.
Cosford £13,918 0 0 Smith, Brothers £12,475
Bryant 12,9(» 0 0 Watkin (accepted) 11,980
I>unkley 12,499 11 6 |
Enoine-hohse, Portsmouth.
For engine-house, &c., in connexion witli the new dock, at Portsmouth. Mr.
C. W. E. Piner, engineer. (Quantities supplied by Messrs. Livesay aud Kake, sur-
veyors.
Diltonand Co £888 I Ayler £813
W. K. aud C. Light (accepted) 859 |
Caisson, PoRTs.MOUTn.
For wrought iron caisson at entrance of new dock, at Portsmouth. Mr. C. W. E.
l*iner, engineer. Quantities supplied by Messrs. Livesay and Rake, surveyors.
Westwood, Baillie, Campbell, and Co., London £3,300
Lawrence, London 2,282
Grant and Co., Portsea 2,200
}I. Grisscll, London 2,168
Lewis and SlockwcU, London 1,850
Finch and Heath, Chepstow 1,760
Dunn and Co., Manchester (accepted) £1,700
Dwelling Hol'.ses, London.
For biUldiug three houses in Wlldcrncss-row. Mr. Maltby, architect.
Elston £2,326 I Hcnshaw £2,100
Prince, 2,220 | Ennor 1,993
Stores, &c., Farnborough.
For erecting beer-stores, store-keepers' residence, stables, &e., at Farnborough,
Surrey, for Messrs. Simonds. Jlr. William Brown, architect. (^uantitiCH supplied.
AVoodroile £444 | Poole, (accepted) £379 0
Chcrch, Crewe.
For proposed Presbyterian Church, at Crewe.
Henry Warburton £1,600 0
Joliu fiuckley (accepted) 1,589 0
Kichard Boiighey 1,448 15
Bell Turret.
£85
104
93
AXILLA, Kent.
For a villa near Seven Oaks, Kent. Mr. Eppy, architect.
Fish ,£1,250 1 Godbolt
Greig 1,110 |
. £1,079
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
WORKHOUSE.
Birkenhead.— For plans, sections, elevations, and general snecitications for a
worlchonse for tlie Birkenhead Union. The proposed new workhouse, and other
buildings, are to be erected on a site near Birkenhead— a plan of which
may be seen at the Board-room of the Guardians, Hampton House, Birkenhead.
Although the guardians desire to receive plans and general specification
for a workhouse, which shall be capable of accommodating 400 inmates,
and which shall admit of extension at some future period, they do not
desire to proceed with the erection of the whole of the buildings at
once, ' being restricted in the amount of immediate outlay. It will,
therefore, be more convenient that the plans should be so prepared as to admit of
the erection, at different periods, of— First ; The main buildiug, which should t>o
capable of accommodating 200 inmates, namely : — Aged men 50, able-bodied men 50,
aged women .)0, able-bodied women .W, (in two distinct classes), receiving wards,
vagrant wards, with suitable store-rooms, yards, and offices. A diuiug-hall should
also be provided, capable of accommodating 40*) persous ; apartments for master
and matron : servants and porter, A Board-room suitable for thirty guardians,
clerks' office, and st rong closet. Tlie cost of this portion of the building not to exceed
seven thousand pounds. Secondly: A detached hospital, with fever wards capable of
accommodating 50 males and 50 females ; a surgery, nurses' rooms, aud suitable
offices to be provided. The cost of this building not to exceed three thousand
pounds. Thirdly, Detached schools, capable of accommodating 50 boys and 50
girls ; lavatories, wash-houses, and workrooms to be provided, the cost not to
exceed three thousand pounds. ' The whole of these buildings to be so planned aa
to admit of easy extension. The sleeping accommodation for the inmates In
health to be not less than 30 superficial feet, and .300 cubic feet of space for eaclii
inmate, and 50 supei-fieial feet and 500 cubic feet for each sick person. There will
also be required cisterns for cold water, with the requisite fittings, to receive
water from waterworks' mains. A tank underground to store the rain water from
the roofs, to be so placed as to be used in flushing the sewers and drains. The-
requisite fittino;8 in the lavatories and waterclosets. The house to be provided*
with open fireplaces, and a complete system of ventilation. "The house to be built
partly of stone, aud partly as recommended by thearchitcct. The whole to he donc-
m a plain substantial manner. The plans under seal, and endorsed on envelope,
"Plan for Workhouse," and having an initial, cipher, or motto thereon, accom-
panied with a corresponding note from the competitor (alsoiundcr seal), which
shall not be opened until after the plans are adjudicated on, to be sent to the clerfc.
onorbefore the 16th of September. All plans to be drawn to a scale of one-tenth
of an inch to a foot, except the block plan, which is to be one-twentieth of an inch
to a foot. The architect producing the adjudged best plan shall receive a premium
of fifty pounds ; a second premium of twenty -five pounds will also be given for the
next best plan, both of which to be the property of the (iuardians ; but should the
author of the best plan be employed in carrying out the work, the fifty pounds pre-
mium will be deducted from the architect's commission, which will be five per
cent, on the outlay.!
CEMETERY.
Rugby.— The Rugby Burial Board are prepared to receive plans and specifications
with tenders :— 1st. for laying out and planting the proposed New Burial Ground
at Rugby, containing 7a. 3r. 2p. 2nd. For the erection of two chapels, entrance
lolge, dead house, and fencing. A plan and instructions may be obtained at the
office of the Board. Plans and specifications may be either for laying out and
planting the ground, or tor the above buildings and fencing, or may combine both
but the board reserve the right to select eitlier the plan for laying out the ground
or the plan for the erection of the buildings, or the plan combining both, at their
discretion. Plans -and specifications, with separate tenders, are requested to be
sent in to the office of the Board, Chapcl-street, Rugby, by August 31.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
TOWN HALLS.
Great Grimsby.— For the erection of anew town-hall, proposed to be built on a
site situate on the Six Acres, in Great Grimsby, Lincolnshire. Drawings, &c., at
the office of Mr. 3Iaughan, surveyor, Great Grimsby, until and ineludiug the 3rd.
August, on which latter'day sealed tenders are to be delivered to William Grange,.
Town Clerk, Great Grimsby, endorsed "Tender for new Town Hall." Further
information from Messrs. Bellamy and Co., architects, Lincoln, and Mr. J. Fowler,
architect, Louth.
ASYLUMS.
Haddington (N.B).— For the execution of the excavations, mason*' and bricklayer*'
works, carpenters' and joiners' works, slaters', plasterers', and plumbers' wort:S,
in the erection of the Haddington District Lunatic Asylum. Plans, Ac, with
W. L. Moffat. Esq., architect, 4, Fettes-row, Edinburgh, and Henry SI. Davidson,
County-buildings, Haddington, to July 22, and tenders are to be lodged with Mr.
Davidson, by 12 noon of July 24.
CHURCHES.
Lincolnshire.- For the restoration of the parish church of Tetney, In the founty
of Lincoln, IJ milelfrom Holtou-le-Clay station, between Grimsby and Lonth.
Drawings, Ac, at the Vicarage, Tetney. until the 30th inst., inclusive. Fturtlier
particulars from the architect, R. J. Withers, Esq., 51, Doughty-street, London.
VV'.C. Tenders by post (pre-paid), addressed to the Vicar of Tetney, Great Grimsby,,
by July 31.
Hastings,— For the restoration of Westflcld Church (and additions thereto), near
Hastings, Sussex. Plans, &e., from Charles E. Davis, F.S.A., 3, Westgate-build-
ings, Bath. Tenders to Mr. Davis, endorsed "Tender, Westfleld Church," not
later than ,Tuly 31.
RoTHF.nniTiiE.- For taking down and re-erecting the spire of the parish clmrcli ot
Rotherhithe, and rebuilding the north wall of the churchyard. Specification, &c.,
upon application to R. Shafto Hawks, vestry clerk. No. 61, Paradise-street,
Rotherhithe. Tenders to be delivered as above on or before July 2.5.
GLOucESTEBsiiiiiE.— For the restoration of Newlnud Church, near Coleford. 1 lans,
&c., to be sent in to the Rev. W. James, Newland, by 11 a.ui., August 0.
SCHOOL.^, &.C.
London.— For the erection of the Middlesex Sociefies' schools and master s resi-
dence, Cannon-street-road, St. Georgc-iu-the-East. Drawings, &c., with Andrew-
Wilson, architect, 126, Cannon-street-road, E. Tcuriors to be delivered at the
Schoolhouse, Cauiion-street-road, by 6 p.m., August 0. The trustees do not bind
themselves to accept the lowest or anv tender.
DWELLI.NG HOUSE. . ,
Kent.— For a detached house, stables, and cottages, at Eriih. Kent, l or particulars,
drawings, &c., apply at Mr. C. F. Mallby's 73, Coleman-strect, City i or at .Mr.
Herbert Ford's, 1, Georges-terrace, Eriih, Kent. Tiudcrs to be dehvercd on
July 25.
FARM BUILDINGS. ,,,,.,
Staffordshire. -For the erection of a set of farm-buildmgs on the estate of Lord
Bagot, at Newton near Abbot's Bromley, Stall'ordshfic. Plans, &c., on application
to T. Pickering, Esq. Abbot's Jiromlev ; and quantities obtained from Jlr. Balam,
10, Buokiugham-street, Strand, London. Sealed tenders to Messrs. J. and J.
Girdwood, farm architects, iv. Pall-5Iall, London, by .July 31.
COAST GUAItD STATION.
Lancashire.— For the erection of the Waterloo coasr-guard sUtion, at Blnndell
Sands, in the county of Lancashire. Drawings, &e., at tlie Watch-room, Waterloo ;
or at the Admiralty Coast-Guard office, l'.'. Spring-gardens, London, S.W., to the
24th inst. Tenders to be sent to the above office, under seal, and directed to the
Commodore Controller-General of Coast-Guard, and, endorsed, "Tender for
Waterloo Station," by noon of July 25,
BRIDGE.
Stihlinghhihe.— For building a new bridge of one arch at Ardocb, for the tr»stecs
of the Stirling and Crieff turnpike-road. Plans, *c., at the office of P. J. Stirling,
Esq.. Dunblane, from the 29th inst. Tenders to Mr. Stirling by 10 a.m., August 5.
GAS WORKS.
.VBRiDCE.— For the excavation and masonry work lequired in constructing
) gas tanks, each 1^2 ft. in diameter, at Micklehurst near Mossley. Plans and
cifications may be seen at the offices of the Company, Stalybridge. Sealed
ders, (separatel, addressed to the Chairman at the Gas Works, and endorsed
614
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 19, ISGL
WATERWORKS.
Ktde.— ForanvofUiefolIowin'r coufracts ft>r the Kyde rommissioners. Contract
No r-Buliaini; nn.l r >trvoir. Contract No. 3.— tW taking: down and renxiny: a
I '-Linjr ft"d fixincranew boilor and set of pimips. fon-
; limps, and other works. Contract No. :>.— For the
I >. inch socket-pipes. Contract No. 4.- For the laying-
down of the same. I'laus with W. H. Pullen. Clerk, Town Hall, Rydo; or at
Messrs. Easton. Amos, and Son's. Grove. Southwark. Sep-xrate tenders for each
of the abOTC works to be sent to Mr. l*uIloii, by July 25.
KOAOWORK.
Leicestkr.- For the cx*'Cution of certain works, on the Leicester and Hinckley
Tumptke Road, at a distance of two miles from the first mentioned place. I'lans,
Ac. wHh Colin A. Macaulay, surreyor, Friar- lane, Leicester. Tenders to whom
' 8KWERAGE, Ac.
Bristol.— For the laving- down, constructing, and completely finishinf^ certain
intended brick and pipe sewers, in "The St. Philip's Sewer District." within the
district of the L«.>cal IJoard of Health of the City and County of Bristol, about a,520
vards tn Knirth. Plans, <tc., at the offices of iho Local Board of Health, and any
Jurther information may Ix' obtained from the surveyor. Mr. I'rcderick Aslimead,
C K. Sealed tenders addre.'ised to the Committee of the Local Board of Health,
13, Prlnces-streot, Bristol, and endorsed "Tender for Sewers." (by post only) by
10 a.m., Jaly 25.
SALES AT GARKA WAY'S AND THE MART
FRKEIIOLD.
B.T Mesffs. Fakkbkother, CEJk.ttK, ami Lye.— HathenJen. Hampshire, family residence,
kimwn as Hatlicrdeii House, with stablinp aiul other outbuildings, also. Dines Farm, with
homestead and 33.ia. Ir. 26p. of land, three cottages and garden. aml2r. of land, cottage, witli
wood-boose, stabling, and 3a. "r. 20)). ul' arable land, itropcrty, comprising stable, cottage,
and loa. or. Up. of arable land, also cottajres, situate Wildhern ; sold for ,£io,400.
Adjoining estate, known as Batherden Farm, with farm-house, outbuildings, and
2irrt. Ir. !^p. of lands, also 5a. 3r.2p. of l;ind and woodland, known as Peake's Copse, 5a. Sr.iflD.-
sold for £."..8(10. ^ *
Hatherden, two cottages and gardens ; sold for £90,
Taiigley, estate, known as Cpprr (ireen Farm, with farm-house, outbuildings, and
IMa. Ir. *^». of arable, pasture, and wood lands, tw^o cottages and gardens, and Ir., also three
cottages and gardens, contniiifnc li>p. : sold for £4.!)no.
Andover. ditto, crmprisin? Charlton Down Farm, with farm-house, outbuildings, and
a&ii*. 2r. 13p. of land, also cottage .lud garden, at Wildhern, and 4p. ; sold for £ll.<)00.
t.'harlton, ditto, known as Cliarltoii Farm, with cottage, &c., and 50a. Or. 24p. of arable and
w<*(h1 land, al-<o two co'tages and gardenft adjoining, containing 2.5p. ; sold for £2,120.
Clinrlton, larm- house and oullmildings witii 711a. Ir. 2.10. of arable and pasture land: sold
for £-J,930.
10a. St. STp. of arable land, situate in the parish of Andover ; sold for £530.
AndnT«rand Knigbt'sEnnam.farm. part leasehold, known as Eastanton Farm, with bouse,
outtraUdliigs, ftrar cottages, and 2)$ia. Or. op. oflands, a plot of meadow land, containing isa
alsol«irti,c<mtaialiif 2Sa. ir. Sep.; sold for £1.1,400.
Andorer, estate, kuown as New Street Farm, with farm-house, two cottages, and out-
buildings, ir«a. Or. 19p. of lands, also 37a. 2r. Up. of lands : sold for £5,010.
Andover, four cottages, situate at Woodhousc, containing 21p. ; sold for £120.
Andover. the Downs, with two cottages. &c., and IlOa. 2r. 15p. of land ; sold for £3,020.
New-street, Andover, tliree cottages, and containing lop. ; sold for £,95.
New-street, ibrce ditto, and gardens ; sold for £150.
New-street, six cottages, held for a terra of 1,000 years, from December 1700 : sold f#r £300.
By- Messrs. NoKTON. Hocgabt, and Trist.— Essex, estate, known as " Brickhouse Farm "
sitnatefiiCanTcy Island, in the parisbea of Pit sea and South Bcmfleet, conaLstlng of a
ftmkoase, bams, sheds, and two cottages, with 255a. Or. 15 p. of lands ; sold for £10,300.
Essex estate.known as *<Soutliwick Marsh or Tree Farm," a portion of which is " Third
Acre laiMl, situate in Canvey Island, North Bemfleet, consisting of rarmhouse. barn
shed stable, and buildings, with I30a. 2r. lOp. of lands; sold for £4,300.
By Messrs. Gkezn and Son — 20, Groat Somerset-street, Aldgate, house, rent per annum
£65 las. ; sold for £380.
M, Of«at ScHnerset-street, house, rent per annum £08 18s. ; sold for £500.
TOd Si, Haydon -street, Minories, two houses, rent per annum £103 78. ; sold for £810.
. lanar" ^' -" - " —
Ifo. ]
33, Haydon-street, two hoases, rent jwr annum £,v,t lr.a.
^ . . - -. - - . - , 90UI for £460.
I,t,S,«Ba 4, Peacock-court, Minories, fbnr tenements, let at rents amounting to £52 per
aimina : aoM for £410.
By Xenra. Daniki. Smitb, Rok, and Oakiit.— Essex, tarm, known as " Tlie Place
Farm," in the partabcs or Little ami Great Bardacld, comprising l,2a)a. 2r. 18p. of arable
and meadow land ; sold for £.^,050.
Byljr. Sjirrn.— Ifield and Cliiirlwood, In the counties of Sussex and surrey, estate, known
»BjyuukrtA Farm,comprisinirfannliause, buildings, and 6<a. Ir. 8p. of land ; sold for £1.800.
MuauR. Beadel anil Sons. — Rutland, estate, the lordship of Teigh, comprising
i^l^Sr. 1ft). of arable, pasture, and meadow land. Including tne village, and, with the
«x£epaaii of the glebe lands and railway, the entire parish of Teigh, with the manor or
repotto manor, and the advowson with next presentation to the rectory of Teigh, present
rental £2ys! 7s. 8d. : sold for £77,500. j f , t
By Mr. Vauih.— Rermondsey-wall, Bermondsey, waterside premises, comprising "the
Fore and An Dock," term 61 years, at a rental of £210 per annum ; sold for £2,980.
By ""•"■ Camd«m, Winteuplood, and £u.u Merlon, Surrey, family residence, with
(tabling, garilens, and meadow land, of about 12 acres ; sold for £3,200.
By Mr. Mo<<ii«,-«,Charle«-8treet,JIll«-end, dwelling-house, rent per
I per annmn £16 ISs. ; sold
178, North-street, Lbnehonse, dwelling-house, rent per annum £10 18«. ; sold for £150.
7, Olobe-road, Mile-end, rcaidence, estimated value £30 per annum ; sold for £150.
LEAKEnOLD.
By Measn-TTopLis and HAaniNc— 1 to fi. riiampion-terrace, Tulse-hill-road, six residences,
tom 34i years, at a profit rental of £105 per annum ; sold for £8oo.
• to 10, Cbamplon-placc, Ave cottages, term 34J years, at a net rental of £51 lu. ; sold for
£^0.
By Mr. MiaaELi..— 4, .<, and 6, Ilamllton-road, Victoria-park, three residences, term 75
yean, at a net rental of £S3 M. per annum ; sold for £400.
By Mr. MooaE — 2 and I.i, Xorfoik-slreet, (Commercial-road, two dwelling-honscs, term 3.3
yMI» nnexplred, rent per annum £40, ground-rent per annum £5 ; sold for £.115.
••• ''«5'w«y-»tre«t. Stepney, dwelllng-boosc, term 40 years, at a clear annual rental of .£14;
SOI J lor £115.
_1*. Vi .'Sr ^tracey-street, Stepney, two dwelling-houses, same term, at a clear annual
rental of £28; sold (or £200.
_£1^.^;l.^"""'.'^'"*'""''**'*P"®3'>'*'0 dwcUlng-hoDses, term 32 years, at a clear annual
rentaloffiao; solJfor £2!«i. ~= .
», '.and 7, Sh<-pperii->irett, Bromley, llircc houses, term 99 years, at a iiroflt rent of £39
per aoBum; sold for £»jo.
jj^SJi*' *""''-'"««'. Umehonsc, two houses, term .52 years, at a profit of £24 128.; sold
,.fj Jf."*"- ^^AaSBRonmi, Olabk, and I,T«_Furw:-hill, Bed-hill, Rcigate, villa residence,
•"H! i|A'*S'™'"""'J'-<lay;1850,ataground-rcntof£l4 78.0d. per annum ; sold for£1.600.
n; ■ 1 I I ir""*"'' IWi'llton-tcrracc, Brixton, dwelling-house, term 74 years from
TSJTirrM'.™' »* » eronnu-rent of £4 per annum, rent per annum £31 4«. ; sold for £155.
«vS;ffi™I.tIr\5; vy~r '"'"'"'*'■-'''■>«'• '''■''"»''l'l<>-ri)ad, cottage residence, term 90 years
Iipi«iuec«niber2s,i782, rent per annum £18; sold for £100.
COPTBOtn.
-.^JS'-HSHf-T^T'l"*""' "ert", residence, known «« Bovtngdon Lodge, with walled
SSiSSlS^^i'^Si^hT"""- ""■■ '^"> "'« tottage residence, farm buildings, and Park farm
comaiiilag iB all alxnt «o acres of »r«Ue and pasture land ; sold for £3,1<».
BmMers Excurnon. — On Saturday last, the foremen and workmen
vt 21L*"'P''7 of Mewri!. Browne and Robinson, of Worship-street,
«nrt»uty, and College-street, City, had an excursion to New M.ildon
TOO Coombe, Snirey. The former part of the day was well employed
«T the practice of the usual games, such aa cricket, bowl«, to:., until
the hour for dinner arrived, when nearly 150 sat down to a substantial
repast, which was presided over by Mr. Robinson, and to which ample justice
was done. After tlic removal oftlieeloth, the health of the members of the
firm was drunk heartily and responded to in very .appropriate terms by Mr
Robinson, who said tliat he experienced considerable pleasure in being invited to
preside upon sueli an occasion as the present, lie believed that such gatherings of
a social nature, were calculated to promote the interests of the employer as well
as the employed, by securing that spirit of good feeling and unity which is so
necessary to commercial advancement. It would be unwise in him to enter into
trade matters as they at present exist. He trusted, however, that the many
vexed questions which occupy the minds of the artisans, and disturb the
manner m which the liealth of himself and partner had been drunk. Other
speeches and toasts followed in the course of the evening, and the men returned
to towu highly ffratified with the day's recreation. The dinner &c., was provided
by Mr. Berry of the Railway Taveni.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. AND NOTES AND QUERIES
An Anxious ENQriRER.-Sonie useful data will bo found In a paper, Itv the lute Mr. Braid-
wood, "I'lwn t^ie Means of Apnlynig Water for the Extinction of Fires," read at the
Institution of Civil i,nKinccrs. It is shown that elevated tanks should be adapted, to
(.■ontain 171; tons of water tor each flrc-engino to be employed. Tliis allowB for six hours'
working ot an engine havini? two cylinders of 7 inches diameter, with a stroke M inches,
making 40 strokes each per minute, and fitted to throw 141 tons of water in six liours and
allowlnBone-lourthiorwaste,the supply required will be as stated. 176 tons. It was also said
thatin the case of a large building, provision shoulrtbemade forworkine ten engines forsix
hours, and that the quantity of wat«r required for that purpose would be 1,7(H) tons, or
63.300 culjic feet. But the dimensions of the tanks required to hold that body of water
would he enormous.
W.C— The wood of the lime-tree is pale yellow, or white, close-grained, soft, llcht, and
smooth. Itcutsenually well with or across the grain, and, hence, is used greatlv bv
carvers. It is used by pianoforte makers for sounding-l)oards. It i^ too soft tobeomplove'd
for works ofcarpentry, audits use is confined to the carver and the cabinet maker, the
weight of the cubic foot when drj- Is, according to Morin,461b8.; and ita tenacity, according
to Bevan, is 2.'i,.'>(H) lbs. ^'
L.— We sJiouUl iiot like to advise.
J. V. G.— Block plan reterred to has not reached us.
O.K.— Perhaps.
T. V.T.-AVe can never pledge ourselves to Insert a communication before seeing it; you
appear to hold very peculiar notions of the *' duty " of the conductors of a journal ; think
again of it.
Martin C— No really good book treating on the subject has been published.
Number Om:.— Shall hcarfrom us.
S. Q — We are forced to decline.
H.— Ditto.
X. L. S. O. R.— Declined with thanks. Not unsnltablG, but too leaffthy; In a condensed
form we shall be glad to look at it again. ™-o-v ,
Constant Headek v.null),— Not a fair proposition.
GeorgieR. (A Student).— In measuring a base for the survey of a small area of land It mil
be sufficient for ordinary purposes to measure its length two or three times with a carefully
tested Cham, and to take an accurate section of the line, from which it may l>e reducea
by trigonometry to its true horizontal value. Tlie line should be first set out with a the-
odolite, from one extremity to the other. A base, whose exact ii-tif^tii is to be determined
by compensation bars or otherwise, is, in general, first measured in this manner. While
the base is being measured a few points in it should be careAilly determined, and marked
by driving strong pickets, or sinking stones into the ground, with the exact termination
of the chain clearly defined upon them ; these marks serve ior testing the diflferent por-
tions, and for comparing them reciprocally with each other.
Not a Builder.— a good roofing slate should spilt readily into'thin, even laminae; it should
not be very absorbent of water, and it should l>e sound, compact, and not apt to disinte-
grate in the air : perhaps this will show you what a bad slate is.
K. K. —We cannot say at present.
O.— We never hearo that there was the slightest doubt as to the law on the subject, we
think any respectable solicitor will advise you properlv.
B. K — Tlianks; shall appear.
Advertiser. —See the Postal Guide; out of our province.
Z. Y. Z.-If suitable.
A SuBscinBEii.— Must pass the usual examination. A nomination is indispensable.
y. L.— Varies to a great extent.
iNRiREn.- Optional.
One who wants to know.— From £60 to £500, according to length of service.
Mr. G. R.— Must provide a temporary path.
Subscriber (Norwich). -i. Windows cannot legallv be opened in the position indicated on
plan, and your present position is not one that would seem to give you power to consent to
their being so formed. 2. Impossible to say from tills distance.
R.-Ycs.
Maitke d'Ecole.— We know by experience that Pierce's pyro-pneumatlc stovo grates
answer their purpose very effectually. The fresh air fire lump stove grate is thus
described :— Itis formed of the purest and best fire clay, moulded in suitable forms, adapted
to the various arrangements that are found necessary, and consists of the open fire-grate
bars in front, surroniKleil at tlie sides and back by the fire clay lumps, around which lamps
an air chamber is forincd, communicating with the external atmosiilicre, admitting air to
a cavity in! the lower part of the grate, which communicates with the mouths of the
vertical channels in the earthen lumps that surround the fire. The warmth which is com-
municated to the air through llie body of these lumps, and which, from their small con-
«hictlng power, rarely exceeds 90 degs.. and can never be excessive, causes it to ascend
tlirougli ojtcnings in ihe upper part of the casing, into the apartment, its place being sup-
]ilied by fresh accessions of air from below. The warm air tiius adniilteu into the apart-
ment is said to fioat above, and to gradually descend as it cools, its place being supplied by
warmer air from the stove grate, and taiting with It to tlie fire all the impure products ot
respiration, which is carried away by the flue. In which the heat maintains a constant np-
ward current, valves are provided for regulating the quantity and temperature of the
fresh air admitted, and its distribution into the apartment when wanned. 2, We should
l)refer wood, under tlie existing arrangements.
Mr. WiT,i,]AM * *.— We do not sec any great advantage in the plan proposed, at all com-
inensurate with the extra trouble involved.
Z.— Th(^ expression ** on and after" a certain day must surely mean that the event referred
to will taKC place on the day named as well as afterwards"; it Is only a question whether
the term of notice was sufllcieut.
Jno. Dhon; or, 1), Son. —See the Building News for next week. Giblwn's "Law of
Contracts for Works and Services." Weale ; and the Metropolis Local Management Act.
An EMuayo Soldier.— Write to the Department for the information you require.
H. B.- We tielieve it is proposed to exliibit some of the prize speclmeus of painting, &c., in
the Kxhlbltlon of 1862. Write to the secretary.
X.— We cannot comply with a request so unreasonable.
A Reader from No. I.— Inquiries constantly reach us relative to appointments in the Royal
Knginecrs. Correspondents who desire inl'ormation respecting the examination would get
it much better by applying at once to the Department.
Mr. <J. C —See reply above.
ABuiLDEK.— Thcdmiculty does not necessarily arise IVom the inferlorquallty of the material,
too long an exposure to the air will have the effect named.
A. R. I. B. A.— We shall shortly consider the question in detail ; for the present wo are
disposed to think that von have taken the right course.
O. K. li.— ('overs lor bintiing the Building News are supplied at 23. each, free by post for
28. fid. The covers for the last four volumes are in print.
Rev.— Yes in our second, fifth', and sixth volumes ; see the Indices.
0. E. B.— In preparation.
An Admirer.- Wcdo not know where you cotdd obtain a second-hand copy of the BctLD-
iNG News complete.
S. O. K.- Yes, if you send a directed envelope.
R.M. -Unsuitable for any journal of repute.
Received.-S. M.,0. X. G., Mr. Richard 8., T. <MP. R., Jones and Joncs.W. R.,ReT. B.B.,
A. K. L.,R. Acroyd, L.. A Subscriber, T. K., O.T., 1. L. J., Clerk of Works, William F.,
B. 8. H., A, E., W. K. Y., Q.. T. L.. J. E., V. P.. K. N. E., Y. S., A., C. P. W. C.
July 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
6U
AKCinTECTURAL QUESTIONS TO SETTLE.
ONSTANT dropping, we arc told, will
wear away stones. That there is truth
in the adage may be seen, even by what
has been accomplished during the past
session of the London Architectural So-
cieties; particularly that of the Royal
Institute of Architects. The demand for a
more systematic course of professional educa-
tion, made mainly by the architectural students
of London, and emanating in the first instance
from the members of the Architectural Asso-
ciation, has at last resulted in the Institute
of Architects yielding to the pressure from
without, and producing an admirable pro-
gramme for an intelhgent course of future
examination. It is only by a pertinacious
hammering away at a subject that young archi-
tects can hope to see realised those salutary
measures, on which they may perchance be all
agreed ; but which, butfor the existing professional
societies (and, we may add, the architectural
press), would never become embodied in any good, practical measure,
such as the one we have so recently seen laid before — and publicly laid
be/ore — the Council of the Institute.
It is, if we remember aright, some eight years since this Diploma or
Examination Question was first agitated — a long time to wait for the
desired result of the movement ; but it has come at last. The same
thing occurred in the establishment of the Architectural E.xhibition :
it was considered at the time an absurdity to enter the field every year
against so powerful an institution as the Royal Academy ; and yet we
see the very reverse result — the architectural drawings in tlie Academy
becoming fewer and more feeble every year ; while those displayed at
the Architectural Exhibition improve every year in both number and
quality. ^ We now make no doubt that, having been fairly set on foot,
the examination movement will in like manner prosper, and brin" about
a vast improvement in the education of our architects. Like the
Exhibition, it will be pooh-poohed for a few short years ; but, in the end,
it will silently gain ground, and be recognised. No one now supposes
for|an instant that the elaborate, carefully considered scheme of the Insti-
tute's committee can come to nought. Something is sura to result from it;
and out of the very certainty of that " something " we may confidently
predicate that, the beginning of an educational reform has already been
made. Young men will now take it for granted, a curriculum of some
kind will have to be run, if not by their seniors, by themselves ; and
they will set about preparing themselves for it — in short, reform in
architectural education is already an accomplished fact, a great success,
as is the Architectural Exhibition ; and the two have been brought
about by that process ot sustained agitation that, we all know brought
about the Reform Bill and the Repeal of the Corn Laws ; and wh'ch
we learn from the proverb, with which we began these remarks, suffices
to even wear away the solid stones.
We must not, however sit down with the conclusion that this settle-
ment (for it is a settlement) of the Examination Question is " the be
all and end all " of professional agitation : we have called attention to
the successful issue of it, for the purpose of encouraging all true archi-
tects to further eflbrts in other directions. Henceforth we shall have
for our architects fewer practical builders unversed in art, and fewer
heaven-born artists ignorant of practical construction. This reform
the curnculum of the Institute will give us ; but it will be an educa-
tional movement— nothing more. There is another great professional
question ibr architects to settle— the regulation of architectural practice,
m which are involved all those other questions which, though they
every now and then rise into importance, are in reality only an-
cillary and subordinate to it— such as the questions of Competition
Iteiorm, of Architects' Charges, and the like.
« '^''e„f"''i"er of those— competition reform-is a very old architectural
raw; and as there is, just about this time, quite a dearth of compe-
titions in the land, we will say little of it. It is not, however, one whit
the less a grievance. Every month's experience gives us some shabby
event of this kind to reflect upon ; and to show architects that, however
disposed the;/ may be to lose sight of and to fijrget it, lawyers, joint-
T K- xv^f'^''"''^^ ^^^ committees remain at least true, as Dickens's
OoHn VVillett, to their old resolve. Let us take up the first competition
aavertisement on our writing-table, and ruminate a little on " the old
old story. -
Here, then, we have the Clerk of the Peace of Stafford advertising
lor plans lor the erection of a new pauper lunatic asylum. Time was
wnen clerks of the peace, so circumstanced, would have taken the pains
to so compose their advertisements, as to make tlie announcement of
their wants somewhat deferential and captivating to architects V'but
"ere IS uo such thing. Architects are bluntly informed, " theluildin"
must be of a simple and inexpensive character— provision must be made
for a resident superintendent— it must be capable of enlargement at
any future time— the plans must be delivered, and architects" desirou.s
of preparing plans must apply for such information as they may require,
on or before the 1st of July " ; the whole thing capped with this cool
provision, " The Committee of Visitors (they offer no premiums, it
must be observed) do not undertake to accept or to pay for any plan that
may be sent in." ! ! The Committee of Visitors are shrewd people no
doubt : what they purpose doing is perfectly legal— they do not pre-
cisely say it in their precious advertisement ; but, what if, after
receiving all the designs, they should call in the town bill-sticker and
get him to paper their town-clerk's offices—" W.C." and all— with the
several plans, sections, elevations and perspective drawings of the com-
petitors ?— they would only be acting " *<ric% within the law"; and
really, we think, would but be serving the competitors right. We have
adduced this Stafford advertisement as a sample brick°of the whole
fabric of architectural competition, as it stands at this day ; and we
leave our readers to say, whether they are satisfied with it. The whole
question is of vital consequence to the profession, which we must
re-assert, uill never attain to public consideration and respect, whilst
open competition remains what it is. As we have just now said, we do
not intend to go farther into the subject to-day; but we earnestly
refer our readers to an interesting article upon it, that will be found in
our pages, under the title. National Competitions.*
The other important topic, having reference to the regulation of
architectural practice— that of Architects' Cliarges— is iiRa'rly, though
certainly not quite, as important as that of competition reform.' Sur^y
no one will doubt the want of an emphatic general disclaimer of the
" the tradesmen's percentage." Lately it has been adverted to, and in a
very marked manner, from the chair of the Institute, and as our readers
will see, it has been pretty well agitated, during the past three weeks,
in the columns of correspondence of this journal. We shall be happy
to receive any further communications on the subject ; .and meantime
will devote the remainder of this article to a few observations on those
which we have received. Let us however first say that, we think the
Institute ought to resume this topic on some early occasion. We hear
on all sides complaints being made hy architects, by builders and by
employers, on the extreme irregularity and discrepancy that exists
amongst architects as to their charges, and, in short, the question as it
stands is nothing less than a grave scandal, calculated in every way to
lower architects as a body in the estimation of the public. We say
"the Institute," simply because it is in actual existence; but, for
obvious reasons, we should prefer to see a matter like this taken up by
some less local authority. Perhaps, ere the next architectural session
comes round, we may see some amalgamation of the Institute and of
the other architectural societies, which will have greater facilities for
dealing with the question, than we fear can be expected of the Insti-
tute alone; for, speaking architecturally, London is not England, in the
sense that Paris may be said to be France — but we are forgetting our
correspondents.
The first of these writers, at page 575, under the signature " A Pro-
vincial Architect." This gentleman speaks of the prevalence of the
custom of offering rfoMf ears to ai'ohitects as undeniable; and draws a
picture of professional corruption which we cannot but consider exag-
gerated. He proceeds, " Taking then the fact established that, the
practice does prevail to some extent, the question arises, is it sound or
unsound ?" and he goes on to say, his own clients have justified it. Thb
we can quite believe ; but what then ? There are few clients, lay or
cleric, who have sufficient knowledge of the profession to fully com-
prehend the relative position of an arohitecttohisclifciitaudhis contractor.
Such a person as our correspondent's client (" a merchant in good
business, who was in the habit of receiving commissions from the manu-
facturers, to whom he gave the orders received from his correspondents
abroad ") might not improbably utter a most fallacious opinion ou the
propriety or impropriety of an architect's levying on his contractors a
percentage, representing no professional service whatever. We demur
altogether to the conclusions of our correspondent. He urges, with no
little naivete that.
Considering the straits and difficulties with which many professional men have
to contend, it is scarcely to be wondered at that, so facile a mode of " raisings
tlie wind " should be eagerly gi'asped at, especially by those who may have been
induced to work at half-price ; tor thus may the receipts from the work in hand
be made to equal or exceed the customary 5 per cent.
Here, evidently, "A Provincial Architect" seems to have overlooked
the fact that, were his brethren to all argue on this principle, he him-
self would never be enabled to know at what professional percentage
he could with safety offiir a client his services. It is quite true he
might say, " I will demand 3 per cent, commission from tbe contractor
who takes the work : I will therefore, to disarm professional rivalry,
undertake the design and supervision of the edifice for 2 per cent. ; '
but how will he know that, some rival architect will not supplant him
* See pp. 585 and 609 ante.
616
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 26, 1861.
by sariDg " I will demand 4 per cent, from the builder ; so can aiibrd
to ofler wy senrices for 1 per cent. " ? It is obvious that, in the end
only one result would accrue from such a mode of charging professional
fees — a change of paymasters ; and that, architects would have to look,
not to capitalists, hyxt Xo contractors for employment. Certainly "this
result would put an end to the custom, which " A Provincial Architect "
tells ns is so prevalent ; and we should hear no more of double com-
missions : but, whether the arts would flourish the more, or architects
attain to higher public estimation, is a question worth hesitating about.
We should like to hear it well debated at the Institute or at the
Association. Meantime it is very clear that, if things be as bad as our
correspondent avers, which^we do not believe, things cannot possibly re-
main as they are ; and we quite concur with him in saying, " It is
extremely undesirable that, ^the tradesman's percentage should be meat
to one architect, and poison to another."
Another correspondent, " A Manufacturer," writes quite on the con-
trary tack; and, so far as he is concerned, denies the practice of
offering commissions to architects. His opinion of it differs alto-
gether from that of the merchant-client adduced by the " Provincial
Architect;" and certainly he may be supposed from his calling, more
competent to express a sound opinion on the subject. Speaking of the
alleged practice he says —
I have never considered it honest on either ride. It does not require a conjuror
to find out wbo must ultimately pay it (the percentage) ; the quality of the
materials supplied wUl not under such circumstsnees be very nicely examined.
The letter of a third correspondent, " E.," refutes, as we think in a
straightforward way, an insinuation thrown out at the conclusion of the
communication of " A Manufacturer." We are quite sensible of the
many objections, which may be urged against fettering a contractor by
express nominations of particular manufacturers in a specification ; but
are very far from supposing that, in the generality of cases where this
is done, architects have any motive beyond that of getting their clients'
work done by the best aruficer, or the material supplied from the most
approved source.
On the whole, we cannot but feel that the agitation of this question
of the tradesmen's percentage, provoked by Mr. Digby Wyatt's re-
marks at the Institute, is a wholesome one. Architects are not true to
themselves, and are certainly false to the young men who are to come
afler them, if they ignobly shirk such a question. It and the whole
question of professional charges will, we trust, be carefully considered
during the recess ; and useful practical topics of the kind be well dis-
cussed during the forthcoming session of the architectural societies. It
is of course a delicate subject for discussion, though a highly necessary
one for architects to have settled ; and it ought by all means to be
handled with considerate forbearance, since it is quite clear, there exists
no little difference of opinion in reference to it.
And then too, the old question of architectural competition reform —
will no one take it up at the point where it rested some ten years ago
with the Architectural Association ? The Institute has done well —
Tery well — with the examination question ; so well that, were they
about this time to propound a reasonable scheme for the future regula-
tion of competitions, it would most likely have the concurrence of aU
aiichitccts.
TEE ENTRANCE TO THE HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY'S
GARDENS.
THE board-room of the Horticultural Society is for the present used as a
reception-hall. A temporary entrance hall has recently been added, con-
necting it ■Kith the Exhibition-road. It is built entirely of wood, with the
arch-shaped ribbed roof which Capt. Fowke might appear to have patented,
■o nnivc-rsally has he employed it. The machinery galleries of the new
Exhibition, the volunteer drill-shed, and the entrance to these ornamental
gardens, have all the same form and details. Taken together, they exhibit
a considerable and perhaps excusable economy of menial labor, as well as
a saving of material The hall is spacious— 40 or .50 feet wide — and has
been rather prettily decorated, from, we hear, Mr. Redgrave's designs. The
ribs are painted chocolate, with paterx in white and red, and white and
bine upon them, I'hc framing and boarding of the sides are painted light
green, and that of the roof a bufi' color.
The exterior is ornamented in a novel fat hion. A heavy semicircular
barge-board, subdivided into nine large cusps, projects .3 or 4 feet from the
frrat; the (loping lines over it bear a metal cresting. The soffit is painted
green and buff, with chocolate lines. Tlie front is divided horizontally by
an awninp, wliich extends forward to the edge of the pavement, and to .30
or 40 yards on either side. The upper or semicircular portion has been
cleverly decorated by Mr. Sykes. Ihe rainting is done en canvass, and
subsequently affixed to the front. A K-ries of circular medallions with
oraamcntal spandrels, forms an outer hand. The medallions are filled with
cinque-cento ornament, and in the centre of each is an oblong panel, bear-
ing the name of tome well-known horticulturist in letters of gold, on a
chocolate ground. Brown, John Kay, Linrseus, Jussieu, Toumefort, and
others, are thus acknowledged. The central medallion contains the mono-
gram of the Society, whilst the centre of the front contains the name of the
establishment, en a green ground. The lower portion is enriched in the
•ame way and by the same hand j it is arranged in chocolate panels with
ornamental arched heads and green borders. Chocolate lines and red and
white bands, diversify the decoration very agreeably. The colored en-
richment is by far the best portion of the front. Without it, in fact,
it would be as ugly as any combination of forms could possibly make it.
THE BUILDING FOE THE EXHIBITION OF 1862.
THE building for the approaching International Exhibition is progressing
with extraordinary rapidity. Only a few weeks ago ve chronicled
the commencement of the work, and the building already has assumed
form and substance ; nearly one-half of the 8,000,000 bricks to be used in it
are laid. The enclosing portions, which, as our readers' have been informed,
are brick -built, reveal themselves conspicuously to the passers-by in the
adjoining roads. In Exhibition-road the walls are some 20 feet high, and
the window-frames to the lower story are fixed. A like progress has been
made in Prince Albert's-road, whilst the frontage in Cromwell-road is
carried even to a greater height. The flooring-joists for the picture
gallery are laid, and at the south-east angle the window-frames over the
lofty doorways are in their place. The massive character of the brick-
work is here fully displayed, and enables us to estimate in some measure
the magnitude of the work. The central doorways in Cromwell-road,
with the staircases at either side of them, are arched over, and the whole
of the arches which divide this portion from the main building are, as far as
brickwork is concerned, entirely finished. The floors of the picture
gallery are carried by cross-timber girders resting on two rows of tem-
porary wood uprights, 15 feet apart ; iron columns will, however, be
eventually substituted for these latter supports. The whole of the brick-
work is exceedingly well executed. It is personally superintended by Mr,
Jacobs, the sub-contractor, who has, perhaps, done more work in his time
than any man living, and who understands thoroughly how to push it
rapidly forward. The bricks have been supplied by Mr. Smeed, of
Sittingbourne.
On entering the columnar part of the building one is truly astonished
at the divers preparations ; at every step we are arrested by some new
and ingenious scheme for economising labor and time, foremost amongst
which is the gigantic travelling scaffold built for the purpose of fixing the
huge semicircular ribs which are destined to span the nave. It is of
squared timber, braced and bolted together, and is constructed in three
stages, i-urmounted by a queen-post frame with stepped sides, on which, as
on the level top, 3-inch planking is laid. The whole is 91 feet high, and
by means of it the ribs will be adjusted and fixed in their proper places.
It stands on twelve iron wheels and strong axles, and is thus easily shifted
OH iron railways from one end of the lengthy nave to the other. 50 feet
of scaffolding thus supplies the place of a thousand. Its great advantage
and economy is here seen by its juxta-position with the forest of timber
which is required in the scaffolding for the transepts, where the interven-
tion of the domes would not admit of the traveller being employed. That,
however, is now very nearly finished, and ropes betokening " portentous
preparation" are stretched from point to point, interlacing one another like
gossamers in the hot summer fields, apparently in inextricable confusion,
hut really answering a well-defined and slulfully-contrived purpose. The
men running about on the dizzy heights " show scarce so gross as beetles,"
and, for half-a-crown a'day, almost rival Blondin's feats every hour in the
week. Others seated on a piece of board, with the assistance of a laborer
below, and a pulley above, haul themselves up the sides of the fixed
columns; cradled in mid-air they bolt the massive iron girders in their
places, or fix the caps of the columns as they are hoisted up to them.
Everything seems done here on a grand and expeditious scale. The
traditional hodman ^crawling up and down ladders is put aside altogether.
Barrowfuls of bricks and mortar are hoisted, by means of a horse, a stout
rope, and a pulley, as speedily and as easily as a signal-flag is run-up on
board a man-of-war. Iron rails with turn-tables at the intersection are
laid all over the site to facilitate the transit of materials. Two of Bowser
and Cameron's large cranes are fixed near the hydraulic' testing machine,
by which the main girders are subjected to a pressure of some 70 or 80
tons, applied at a quarter distance from their extremities. The girders
which support the gallery-floors are each 2 feet 8 inches deep, those which
carry the roofs are 2 feet 1 inch deep. The hydraulic machine is by Burton,
Sons, and 'Waller. The weight of each of the lattice-girders is between 24
and 25 cwt. Stacks of these girders are on the ground ready for imme-
diate use. Mr. Barrow, at Stavely, is personally superintending the
castings and in another couple of months every piece of iron-work,
amounting in all to little short of four thousand tons, will be delivered.
In addition to this enormous weight of metal, the Thames Iron Company
will supply no less than 1,500 tons of wrought-iron.
Passing onwards, we come upon a scries of the timber trussed girders
which are to rest on the iron ones for the gallery floor. Some dozen of
these are being temporarily laid near the ground in order to be tested by
an extraordinary load of bricks. Each girder consists of two pieces of
timber bolted together, resting in iron shoes. They are trussed with a
cast-iron strut in the centre and a li wrought-iron rod, which passes under
it from one end of the girder to the other. Joists 9 inches by 3 inches will
lie on the top of them. Close adjoining, on a large platform of deals, the
carpenters are busy tracing full size the lines of the roof for the " picture
gallery," The carpenters' work is all prepared either at Messrs, Lncas't
cstabhshment at Lowestoft or at Grosvenor-basin, Pimlico,
The east end of the nave is the most advanced portion of the central or
iron building. The double stage of coupled columns which form the sides
of the nave are fixed in nine or ten bays, and are ready for the roof ribs
which are now awaiting transit at Grosvenor-wliarf. The first stage of
the saiiTe are also up in three or four additional bays. Many of the side
\
July 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
617
columns and cross-girders are fixed and tlie number increases daily. In
the eastern transept an almost etjual activity is perceptible, and more than
30 columns are in their places.
The expedition with wliicli these iron bones of the gigantic building are
hauled up is one of the most noteworthy features in the construction. A
little steam-engine scarcely bigger than a pony-ehaiso does the work. It
sets two or three wheels in motion, over one of which a rope passes ;
pulleys are placed in convenient positions near the ground, they rest on
wooden blocks, and are securely lashed to iron pins driven in the ground
or to fixed uprights. One or more men, according to the distance, take up
their positions with red and blue flags, to signal to the engine-driver,
another is ready to haul in or pay out the rope to the revolving wlieel ;
the rope passes round the various pulleys, and is then fixed to the material
to be raised; a man regulates its ascent with a gye-rope, a couple more
await its arrival at its destination, the blue flag is displayed, a whistle is
heard, the rope tightens and the iron mass glides rapidly upwards;
suddenly the blue flag is dropped and the red one exhibited, the engine is for
an instant stopped, the iron cap is grappled by tlie hands above and
adjusted, and in the next instant, after the premonitory whistle, is lowered
to its place. The tackle is at once cast off, and the men are left to rivet
and secure it. Before we have recovered our admiration of the facility of
the operation, we hear the engine's shrill warning again, and find that it
has removed the sphere of its usefulness tOj 40 or 50 yards in a totally
opposite direction.
The annexe, as it is officially called, is, howerer, nearer completion than
any portion of the main building. In the four parallel galleries which
constitute it the machinery will be exhibited. In occupies the piece of
ground to the north-west, between the Cromwell-road and the western
arcades of the Horticultural Society's Grounds, and, for -what reason we
know not, is constructed entirely of timber. It commences in a line with
the centre of the main entrance to the adjoining gardens, and will run
thence about 1,000 feet. At the commencement there are only three gal-
leries, but some 180 feet northwards a break in the boundary- walls of the
Society's arcades enables an extra or fourth gallery to be added to them.
The galleries are divided only by squared upright posts, 10 inches by
4 inches, 15 feet apart. They stand on wooden blocks 16 inches long by
9 inches wide and 5 inches thick. The blocks are tied together by 10-inch
by 3-inch planks underneath. The arch-shaped ribs are formed of
a central 2-inch hoard and external 1-inch boards nailed together, and
stiffened by boards which radiate from an imaginary centre. Under the
soffit of the ribs they are cut off to spear-shaped points. The central por-
tion of each roof is to be glazed, and the sides boarded and covered with
felt, upon longitudinal rafters 3 feet apart. A quarter partition divides
the westernmost gallery from the Cromwell-road. These galleries are
already finished, with the exception of the painting, glazing and floor-
ing, to the extent of some 600 feet.
In a few more weeks — perhaps days — the main ribs will be raised over
the main avenue of the Exhibition, and before the approaching last day of
September, upon which day, in 1850, the first casting was delivered for the
former Exhibition, it successor will be sufficiently advanced to enable us to
realise its stupendous proportions — every piece of ironwork will be upon
the site, and a large portion of it fixed. The contractors, having profited
by the experience of former years, have adopted every plan which can
save time and money, and wherever a difficult task was to be performed,
have found an able and competent man to do it. Tlie whole of the work-
ing drawings are being made by Mr. Meason, C.E., a pupil, we believe, of
the late Sir Charles Barry.
PATRONAGE OP SCULPTURE.
A SORROWFUL wail has come from the hearts of British sculptors
very much akin to that mournful sigh which has escaped the burdened
bosoms of Belgravian matrons. The beautiful objects of so much parental
solicitude and anxiety remain on hand, and by their very loveliness dim
the eyes and sadden the faces of those who fashioned them. The spot-
lessly pure marble forms upon which art has lavished all its tenderness
and knowledge cannot find a market. Whether robed with historical
accuracy, classically half-draped or poetically naked, they are equally un-
appreciated and unbought ; our public buildings have niches provided for
the fair creatures, but we shirk the ceremony and the expense of placing
them therein. Our affluent men have money in profusion but spend it in
other ways. A few delight to see themselves idealised in marble, but
they go no further than a flattering bust. A great man's deeds occas-
nonally excites the admiration of his fellow-countrymen ; a costly compe-
tition is the result, and eventually there issues from it a peg to hang a
joke upon. Year after year the public saunters through the Sculpture
Room of the Royal Academy, caring little about its contents, anxious only
to have its full shilling's worth. Few commissions result from such
Inspection ; the middle-class cannot afford to give them, and the upper-
classes will not. People go in thousands to see a man risk his neck at the
Crystal Palace, they do not go in units to contemplate the sculptured
graces which are collected there. The perfection to which our manufac-
turers have brought the Parian reproductions may have indirectly
benefited a brancli of the art, and the art-unions in some measure have
encouraged it ; but little has been done in th.e way of commissions for
sculptured groups to our most famous sculptors, and still less towards the
adornment of our places of general resort with them. The Crystal
Palace Company, at Sydenham, gave a few such commissions, but to a
Tery moderate extent, and the works, when executed, did not commercially
Deneflt the Company. The visitors will not—
" Breathe in that fine air
That pure severity of perfect light."
They are infinitely more at home amongst the second rate works in the
picture gallery ; they understand paintings, or at least enough of them to
feel interested in what they look upon. Sculpture, lacking " warmth and
color," requires a more highly educated mind to understand even a portion
of it, and a larger purse to indulge in the possession of it.
It is beyond all doubt that painting and architecture have of late year*
thriven in this country, whilst sculpture has languished. The trade of
picture-dealing has greatly contributed to enhance the value of paintings.
It has proved that they are a good current investment, and purchasers
have accordingly flowed in ; who, in encouraging the arts hare known
that the works which they possess will always represent a good round
sum in the open market. Moreover the possession of a good picture-
gallery and a silent tongue, gives many an Ignorant and ill-bred man a
reputation for refinement, even as a good library allows a man to pass for
a scholar. When the pictures are worth their money, or by rising artists,
this is a cheap mode of acquiring it, and much less laborious than years of
study. For it is to be remembered that pictures hang upon the walls
where the owner's taste is at once recognised by every friend or acquaint-
ance who visits his house. This leads us to the reflection, that pictures
can bo transported easily from place to place as articles of merchandise^
and that being adapted to a larger number of peoples' homes are less likely
to find a depreciated market. Again, accurate reproductions of
paintings in the shape of engravings, are welcomed by men
who cannot afford the original works. They adorn the walls in a like
manner, can be as readily removed, and they diffuse a taste for the
originals amongst a very extended circle. There are no facilities for
equally cheap reproductions of sculptured works, and even if there were,
they would not be more easily accommodated in our homes, or removed
from them than the originals themselves and they would be even more
liable to injury and destruction.
As to architecture, people must have houses to live in, and their houses
or their business premises wiU generally be in proportion to their means.
Large cities must have public buildings, and architecture of some kind or
other must consequently be developed in them. We may leave architec-
ture, therefore, out of the question. The great rival of sculpture is, un-
doubtedly, painting. We have mentioned the advantages of the latter;
those of the former consist in its greater durability, and its fitness for the
open air, and for exteriors as well as interiors. There is no denying that
it might be much more extensively used than it is at present, but to render
it so, our sculptors must strive to fall in with what is called the spirit of
the age.
Painters, except in rare instances, who devote themselves exclusively to
high art, need private incomes to support them; those who are not so
hnppily endowed paint pictures which purchasers look-out for, and they
still find time to dwell upon favorite subjects on the chance of their being
appreciated and bought by some more highly-educated men. In the minor
works there will, for a certainty, be many of the good qualities which dis-
tinguish the better ones, and the public taste is thus gradually improved.
We have seen only lately that Millais, Maclise, Holman Hunt, and other
great artists whose pictures fetch fabulous sums, make drawings 3 inches
square for book illustrations. There is nothing derogatory in this; they
are not the first who have stooped to conquer. ' Why, then, cannot our
sculptors do likewise? Drawing on wood did not prevent Maclise exe-
cuting frescoes in the Westminster Palace, nor Holman Hunt from painting
the " Christ in the Temple," and in the same way, if our sculptors of the
same standing were to carve the artistic portions of our stone buildings, it
would not interfere with their modelling in clay or their chiselling in
marble.
Sculptors look too much for marble commissions; their education is con-
centrated upon it, but the taste of the large mass of the people runs in a
contrary direction. Thomas and Phyffers have shown that superior re-
finement and greater knowledge infused into stonework is readily accepted
and willingly paid for, and we believe that the exhibition of their pro-
ductions is the surest road to the more general recognition of the highest
branch of sculptured art. What our sculptors require is, undoubtedly,
substantial employment, but to ensure it they must meet and satisfy the
requirements of their employers. In Paris we are informed that no re^y
good or original figure, whether in the historic or poetical class, remains
long without being commissioned of the artist in some enduring material.
The condition of this art is very different in England, but in Paris, it
should be remembered, the people have been accustomed to see art in their
streets (the stone carving is, in fact, the best part of their buildings), and
that the artistic eduction is altogether more advanced. When a palace is
built or a square made in France, the sculptured ornaments are at once
divided among the profession in definite orders of various amounts. Here,
even in the Houses of Parliament, where so large an amount of encourage-
ment for sculptors was originally promised in the reports of the Fine Arts
Commission, numbering some hundreds of historic statues, few have been
executed, and there appears little prospect of even a moderate portion of
those promised being done in marble, and yet pictures for the same build-
ing are being constantly painted. This seems to indicate pretty plainly
that the House of Commons, which holds the public purse, represents the
nation. The comparative indifference to marble groups and statues which
characterises the people is reflected in the people's house. It is by no
means creditable to our wealth and civilisation, but it is nevertheless, vre
fear, too true. Sculptors must find out some method of popularising their
works, and of lifting purchasers to the level of them. We have hinted at one
such means, and mentioned another, that of reduced copies in Parian, or
618
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 26, 1861.
even a cheaper material, which will retain the sharpness and fine qualities
of the original, as an engraving does that of a picture. Works after
Foley, Bell, Marshall, and others may then as readily be introduced into
our homes as engravings after Landseer, Maclise, or Turner now are, and
without disturbing, but rather increasing, the chance of their being com-
missioned of a larger size into the spotless, pure marble by wealthy men.
Little beyond this can be done until Government sets aside an annual
stun for its due encouragement, corresponding to that which it allows for
paintin;. This is evidently what sculptors desire, what they are fairly
entitled°to, and wlmt the highest gentleman in the realm— whose taste and
love for sculpture is universally recognised— would, perhaps, willingly do,
but he, unfortunately in this respect, has no power in the matter, and little
■we are afraid, for the advancement of art can be expected from the
assembly which talked such unparalleled twaddle about architecture a
fortnight ago. In the face of such ignorance of art, there does not seem in
that direction a very bright prospect before our sculptors, and a view of
ita private patronage is scarcely more cheering. We do not know where
to indicate one patron of the art at the present day who holds the same
position as the late Lord Egremont did, of substantial Maecenas of poetic
sculpture.
A recent movement at South Kensington inspires us, however, with
some degree of hope. The Fine Arts Council of the Horticultural Society,
a few weeks ago, called a meeting of sculptors to confer upon the future
embellishment of the gardens with sculpture. The Society is evidently
desirous of enriching its grounds in the same way as the gardens of the
Luxembourg and other places of public resort abroad are enriched, but at
the same time its funds are not iu a condition which enables it to give
those substantial commissions which are requisite for their object. No
conclusion has yet been arrived at on the subject, but we hail the meet-
ing as a cheering sign of the interest which is taken in high quarters in
the art of sculpture. Some definite commissions for these grounds— say
in Sicilian marble — ought assuredly to issue from such a movement —
statues of Newton, Bacon, Locke, Shakespere, Milton, Scott, &c., as well
as replicas of a few of our best known works of poetic sculpture. This
is the kind of action which would be taken in Paris in a similar case. In
the decoration of a public pleasure ground, they would no more think of
omitting the statues than they would of leaving out the plants.
THE DESIGNS FOK THE XEW HOUSES OF PAKLIAMENT
AT SYDNEY.
[From the Sydney Morning Herald.']
THE competitive designs for the Now Houses of Farljamcnt and Government
buildings. propoBod to be erected at tlie entrance to the Domain, in Macquarie-
street, have Deeii publicly exiiibited iu the new reading-room of the School of Arts
for the last few days, and have attracted to the spot a larf^e number of visitors.
The principal arcliitects of .Sydney, and others engaged in buildin<,^ operations, have
devoted^much time and attoniiou to an inspection of tiie drawings, und to a canvass of
their merits, both m to external beauty and to internal adaptation.
As has before Iwen stated, the following gentlemen have been appointed Commis-
sioners to decide upon the awards :— The Colonial Secretary, the Jlinister for Lands,
the Minister for Vf orks, the President of the Legislative Council, the Speaker of the
Legislative Assembly. Sir William Macarthur. Mr. E. Dcas ThomBon,;slr Charles
Nicholson, Captain ward, and Mr. W'hitton. These gentlemen are well qualified to
make the. ^election, either from their acquaintance with the productions of conti-
nental art, or from their practical knowledge of the requirements of legislative and
departmental offices. It cannot be doubted that their decision will be influenced by
a carcfiil n-gard to all the essentials of a good desi™— the beauty of the elevation—
Itc adaptation to the scenery and to the adjacent buildings— the convenience of its
Interual arrangements — and, not least, the probable cost of its constnic-
tion. The functions of the Commissioners will of course be confined to
nuking the awards, no promise bein;^ made that either of the successful
designs will Ijc carried out. Even sliould a design be selected which is
^OMIdered by the commissioners to ct»mbine all the requirements for parliamentary
Mddawrtmental buildings, the most important question— that of cost— threatens to
pnsent a very serious obstacle to its execution. If we are correctly informed, to
erect any of the proposed buildings would involve an outlay of aljove £200,000. One
of the designs— and that by no means the most elaborate — is estimated by its author
to cost in execution ^auo.uoo, at English prices, atd the cost of carrying out one of
the more handsome designs has been computed at a million and a quarter. However
desirable, therefore. It may be that an edlHce should be reari^d for our Houses of
Parliament and Government offices of such great architectural beauty and of such
thorough adaptation for public business, that it should be the pride oftlic colony,
and should serve to elevate and to influcme the taste of this and of future genera-
tions. It appear.*! questionable whether the Legislature would be inclined, or even
Justified, in the present circumstances of the colony, in voting the money necessary
for its erection. The erection of one building in which the I'arliamentary and the
departmental business of the country could be conducted, would, of course, save the
rentals of several of the now scattered public offices, and would enable the Govern-
ment to sell some of the buildings at present occupied by the departments ; but the
saving thus effected would go a very small way towards the enormous cost of the
building.
The number of designs received is twenty or twenty-one, including two separate
designs accompanying one set of plans. Of these, eleven came from England, and
the remaining nine from this and the adjacent colonies. There is nothing in their
appearance to distiiiguisit the colonial from the European designs. (.)nly, the names
of three or four of the competitors appear to be known in Sydney ; and it has been
eonldently htated that more than one of the designs which arc most admired arc
eoUmial product ions.
ConsiaeriDg the means that have been taken to invite extensive competition, the
ezpectstkmsof many ptTHons with regard to both the number and llic character of
the plan* have b<^n disappointed. The principal reason olTered for the tewuess ol
the eompetitora was, that English and Eunipean architects were not di.sposed to
competewhere the aucccSBfuI competitor would not have the carrying out of the
work. The supposition that a large number of English architects would send in
plans, operated to deUr colonial architects from competing, thinking no doubt, that
they would stand little chance of success. Some of these are now, we understand,
regretting that they did not tender, believing that they could have produced designs,
If not of greater archlUtctural merit, at all events better adapted to the situation and
to the pnrpouc than many of those exhibited. The public must also regret that the
leading architects of this city, whose works have elicited great admiration from
Tlattors, who are conversant with continental buildings, should not have competed
for the honor as well as the premium olTered. Few, however, as the number of
designs is, there will probably be considerable difficulty m deciding as to which to
give the preference. After all that has been written in praise of particular styles,
the qocsflon of the superiority of one design to another must ultimately be referred
to individual taste, about which there is no disputing. It Is therefore not to be ex-
pected that the commissioners will be unanimous in their award. The majority of
vi.sitors who are influenced, no doubt, by showy perspectives, express their opinions
that tlie choice will be between some 'four or five of the designs ; but we shoiUd
imagine that the selection would be made out of nine or ten, which are decidedly
more eligible than the others. Fortunately each of the three great styles of arcbl-
tecturc— tlic Classical, the Italiau, and the Gothic — is very efTiciently represented.
As It would be utterly impossible, by any mere verbal description, to convey to the
publican intelligible idea of the designs, we subjoin a statement of tlic most pro-
minent eliaracteristicR of each of them.
" Palladio." Tlie stipulation as to the elevations being in simple outline is violated
in this design, but only to the extent of coloring with sepia one of the perspt'ctive
drawings. There is no doubt that the shading adds materially to the ellect of the
design, but even without that aid it would be recognised as possessing very great
merit. The design is Italian, and essentially palatial in its character. There is a
bold, deep, rusticated basement, above wliich a row of Corinthian columns support a
massive entablature relieved by a rich balustrade. In the upper portion of the ele-
vation rustication is introduced with very good effect. Several towers are introduced,
large but well-i)roi)ortionod. Tiie parts are arranged with sucli admirable skill and
taste as to present an aspect of boldness and magnificence, witliout tlic slightest
feeling of redundancy or extravagance. The shape of the building is oblong, the two
chambers extending eastward and westward from an open court in the centre, the
Government offices ranging round tlie building. Tliere are, altogether, seven courts,
cacli of whicii is ornamented by a fountain.
" Hora e Sempre." There are two designs under this motto, the one Classical and
the other Gotliic. The Classic design is extremely massive and imposing. Kanges
of stately Corintliian columns, with massive entalJlature and pediment, approached
by a broad flight of steps and crowned with a shapely octagonal tower, together
with the harriiony of the various members, constitute an ideal of palatial magnifi-
cence. Sucli a building would be a splendid ornament to tlie city and to tiie harbor.
Even the perspective view, necessarily seen under great disadvantages, impresses
visitors with a sense of associated strength and beauty; its efl'ects, if realised, would,
of course, be vastly increased. There are a few defects in the ])lan, sucli as the absence
of colonnades, which might, however, be remedied if the design were adopted. In
the plan, the parliamentary offices are near Macquarie-strcet, and occupy nearly half
the block, the chambers extending parallel cast and west. The harbor front is
devoted to the public offices.
The Gothic design is also exceedingly handsome. It is, indeed, so beautiful a
specimen of that style as entirely to propitiate the favor of those who are opposed
to the application of the Gothic to such purposes. There is a chaste richness about
this design wliich renders it an immediate and lasting favorite with visitors. Over
the grand entrance there is a massive tower, so well shaped and so richly finished as
completely to put out of sight what would otherwise appear a disparaging feature —
its want of height. The elevations of both of these designs are so arranged that the
one set of plans will do for either of them.
*' Dan York." The architecture adopted in this design is a very close copy of the
Louvre, m Paris ; indeed, there arc reasons for believing that the drawings have
come from France. In the elevation, Corintliian columns alternate with windows
with circular pediments, which, in combination with the artistic adjustment of the
other parts, produce a very rich effect. Some pavilion towers are introduced, and
give a finish to the profile. One of the towers, which is ascended by steps outside,
affords a spacious promenade. The general arrangement of the building is very
simple. The figure of the block being nearly square, it is divided into nine almost
equal squares ; each of these is made use of^for a court, excepting the centre divi-
sions on the east and on the west sides, the former of which is devoted to the
Assembly Chamber, and the latter to the Council Chamber. Both of the Chambers
are semicircular In shape. There is, altogether, a good deal of colonuading in the
design.
"I bide." The architect of this design has violated one of the conditions of the
competition, which was, that none of the elevations sliould be colored. A perspective
drawing of the proposed building is very cleverly colored, giving artistic effect to an
extremely beautiful design. Great admiration is bestowed upon this picture, which
is not to any great extent to be attributed to the piiinting, as au uncolored view of
the same perspective, hung up alongside, is almost equally attractive. The.desi^ is
Gothic, iu some of its parts resembling the Doge's Palace at Venice. Several 'ofW
Moorish towers, including a campanile, with richly decorated spires, are introduced,
and the ornamentation of the pitched roofs and of the windows is equally florid.
The effect of light and shade is most artistically studied in the elevation, the bold
and numerous pi-ojections throwing pleasing shadows across the other portions of
the structure. The plan of the building is nearly square, except that on the east
side there are two wings. It is proposed also to construct another wing from the
south side, to be continued round a piazza or square, tlie centre of wliicli will look
down Hunter-street. The Legislative Chambers are at tiie eastern end of tlie build-
ing; the interiors of these, of which neat sketches are given, arc equally elaborate
with the exterior. There are altogether thirteen courts, but these are of very small
size, and apparently insufficient for the thorough ventilation of the building. Con-
venient colonnades extend between the towers.
" Res non Verba." This is a very striking Classical design. The intention of the
artist has evidently been to produce a stately temple, and the elevation is certainly
massive and commanding. There is a general resemblance in the design to the new
Town Hall at Leeds. Handsome Corintliian columns surround the building, with a
pediment and spacious peristyle at the east and at the west elevations in the centre
between which rises an enormous tower, of tasteful desiim, but apparently out of
proportion with the edifice. The columns form quite a forest round tlie building,
being in the peristyles five deep. The tower stands in tlic centre of a spacious court,
and is connected with the floor of the building by a gallery, Jlidway between the
tower and the pediment at either end are corresponding domes, beneath which are
circular halls, that towards the eastern side of the building being the Parliament
Hall, and that to the western side the Official H.all. The former communicates with
the Council Chamber on the right, and the Assembly on the left. The peristyles
are ascended by broad flights of steps. The columns round the building form
spacious colonnades.*
Staffordshire— Restoration of Coppenhall Church— On Friday last this
little church was reopened for public worship. Scarcely a prettier specimen of
church architecture adorns any rural landscape than is presented by the
miniature and perfect proportions of the little church as now restored. It is of
the very Early English type, but has at some period been mutilated by the
adoption of a flat-pitched slated root; and the pretty lancet windows liad been
bricked up and replaced by two large square windows on the southern side. The
new roof is covered with brindled tSes, whicli harmonise well with the old lichen-
covered stonewalls; and a pretty and well proportioned shingle campanile or
bell turret surmounts the ridge over the west gable. Tlie lancet windows have
been restored to their wonted office, and glazed with a light amber-tinted glass,
which produces a softened and agreeable light. The interior has been equally
transformed by the substitution of^ stalls in place of pews, a new and pretty oak
pulpit, and the floor paved with Minton's tiles, the whole being in excellent
Keeping. There is accommodation for about seventy-five persons. The works
have been carried out by Mr. J. Epsley, builder, of Slaftord, from the drawings
of Mr. Christinn, the diocesan architect. A burial ground has also been added
to it. The cost of the restoration will not be less than £000.
• To be continued.
July 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
619
THE FINE ARTS SEEN FROM A NEW POINT OF VIEW.*
No. Ifl. — Modern English Art.
GOTHIC architecture expired about tlie middle of the sixteenth century,
and was followed by the Elizabethan style ; a development analo-
gous to the Quattro-cento of Italy and the early Renaissance of France,
and which admirably reflected the transitional English polity. In painting,
the foreigners domiciled in England quite eclipsed the natives, until
Hogarth appeared in the reign of the second George ; and sculpture can
scarcely be said to have been really in the hands of Englishmen until
that of his successor. With the Italian and Flemish artists " the ex-
ploded progenv of Olvnipus " was imported; Jupitcrs, Junos, and Cupids,
as Montahim'bert reniarks, figuring as God, the Virgin, and angels,
gladiators as martyrs, and amorous nympbs as saints, on the walls and
ceilings of churches and mansions, —
"Wlicro sprawl the saints of Verrio and Lagiierre ;
the Classic foppery of tlie learned promoting this unnatural jumbling of
the realities and allegories of Christianity and Paganism.
The declination of architecture took place under the auspices of the
king James I. and the architect Inigo Jones ; the former being the
first regal promoter and the latter the first distinguished practitioner of
the system of deliberately crushing individual thought and natural
feeling in the aim to resuscitate the styles of extinct or archaic races.
Born about 1.572, Jones is said to have been apprenticed to a joiner ; but
Webb, who married his only daughter, observes,—" There is no certain
account in what manner he was brought up, or who had the task of in-
structing him." He went to Italy with the object of studying painting,
but ultimately " dropped the pencil and conceived Whitehall." In 1605
he was employed at Oxford in the preparation of a masque, to entertain
James I.; and Leland says that "he performed little to what was ex-
pected." About this time he appears to have been engaged on some
works at St. John's College, Oxford, in the manner nicknamed " King
James's Gothic." After his second prolonged visit to Italy, from about
1612, he quite fell into copyism of Classic details, of which one of the most
Incongruous instances was placing, in 1633, a Corinthian portico in front
of the Gothic cathedral of St. Paul. This addition, Dallaway remarks,
" presented a pile of massive ugliness, which neither before nor since has
been imagined or executed ;" but it was deemed by the architect the great
monument of his reputation. Long before, or in 1620, he was engaged in
determining the antiquity of Stonehenge, which, to gratify the king's
pedantic Classic taste, he pronounced to be a Roman temple of the Tuscan
order, the benefit of this luminous conclusion being extended to the vulgar
by the publication, in 1635, under the auspices of Webb, of " Stonehenge
Restored." Meanwhile, Jones had designed Whitehall, of which the
Banqueting House was commenced in 1619, and completed in two years.
This edifice has been highly praised ; but it is questionable whether
placing two orders above one another, with ordinary windows between, a
rusticated basement below, and a balustrade above, all virtually tran-
scribed from Italian structures, constitutes anything above simple copyism.
The garden front of Somerset House, erected in 1623, and since demolished,
is still more copyistic.
Even in the arrangement of domestic habitations Jones assumed that the
climate of England was that of Italy, and that the ideas and habits of the
English were those of the Italians. As Cunningham notes, his innova-
tions were quite opposed to the spirit of the times : the nobility disap-
proved of the antique designs for palaces and mansions which Inigo
proposed to erect, and honored Holbein as a moderate reformer, who had
only ventured on a sort of Classic inoculation. Under Charles I. our
arcliitect was occupied in designing scenery for masques ; and in these he
depicted gods, goddesses and Roman temples, which doubtless influenced
the taste for Classic architecture, In the books, the names of Ben Jonson
and Inigo Jones are conjoined as " the Inuentors " ; but, a quarrel having
occurred, the unrelenting satire of the poet embittered the last years of the
architect. Lord Pembroke, for whom he carried out some works at Wilton,
ridiculed him as " Iniquity Jones," although his disinterestedness is mani-
fested by the fact that, on his second return from Italy to fulfil the duties
of Surveyor General, he resigned the salary until the arrears of the
indebted office were liquidated, and prevailed on both comptroller and pay-
master to follow liis example. He lived to see his royal patron walk to
execution from a window of his Banqueting House, the Commonwealth
established, and art suspended, dying in 1651, neglected and almost broken-
hearted.
Sir Christopher Wren, Jones's celebrated successor, was born in 1632,
in the reign of Charles I. ; and his architectural practice extended from
about 1C63 — the fourth year of Charles II.— in which he designed the
palace at Greenwich, to 1718, in the reign of the first George, when he was
wrongfully accused of peculation and superseded by Benson : he died, aged
91, in 1723, four years before George II. ascended the throne.
Wren had distinguished himself at Oxford University ; was Professor of
Astronomy at Gresham College at twenty-five years of age ; assisted in
founding the Royal Society, of which he afterwards became President, was
author of several scientific papers and minor inventions ; and sat in two
Parliaments. Having studied nrcliitecture as an antiquary and amateur,
he was appointed by Charles H., in 1667-8, the coadjutor of Sir John
Denham, the poet, who succeeded .Tones as Surveyor-General. With the
partiality of biographers, Elnics asks, — "What man, beside Wren, ever
did 60 much and so well ? " He did too much for even a Phidiasi a
Giotto or a Wykeham to undertake if legitimate art were required ; tlie
splendid opportunity afforded through the fire of 1666 being virtually lost.
' The riffht of repnblication and of tramlstion of this series of articles is rcseried
d; the Author.
Beginning with St. Paul's Cathedral, "all the parts of which," in the
opinion of the profound and elegant Ralph, " are superlatively beautiful
and noble," and, in that of Evelyn, " were by Providence designed for
Wren," according to the " Parentalia, or Memoirs of the Family of Wrens,"
compiled by Christopher, the son, and published in 1750 by Stcplien, the
grandson of Sir Christopher, after vain efforts to resuscitate the old pile,
the instructions set before the architect were, " to oontrive a fabric of
moderate bulk, but of good proportion ; a convenient quire, with a vesti-
bule and porticoes, and a dome conspicuous above the houses ;" but the
production did not satisfy his employers. Next, "he endeavoured to
gratify the taste of the connoisseurs and critics with something coloss and
beautiful, with a design antique and well studied, conformable to the best
style of the Greek and Roman architecture." This design, of which a
model may be seen in the Kensington Museum, having shared the fate of
the first, — " The surveyor then turned his thoughts to a cathedral form, so
altered as to reconcile as near as possible the Gothic to a better manner of
architecture." We may judge of the views then current by the apologies
which Wren's son records. " Some have imagined why the surveyor chose
to make two orders, rather than one single order, with an attic story, as at
St. Peter's at Rome. It is most certain that his intentions and desires
from the beginning were to have followed that example, had all things suc-
ceeded to his wish. This appears by all his first designs, and in particular
by the great model before mentioned." Of course, " Bramante used
double columns without scruple, as did Michael Angelo." The architrave
within is cat off by the arch, — so " In this the surveyor always insisted
that he had the ancients on his side." Again, — " The surveyor followed
the Templum Pacis as near as our measures would admit." In fact, in
nearly all things, in that or " in this, the surveyor has imitated the Pan-
theon, or Rotundo, in Rome," or some other edifice.
The present cathedral, commenced in 1675, and completed in 1710, ex-
hibits the " better manner of architecture." There is nothing in it of " the
Gothic," no attempt to " reconcile " the style to a further development ;
but a resuscitation of details two thousand years old, with scarcely
one effort to pourtray the polity of England in the seventeenth century.
Of all the examples of violations of undisputed principles in architecture,
St. Paul's is the most stupendous. Nearly X75O,00O were expended in the
erection of a structure unsuited to the purpose. The Catholic cathedral
of St. Peter's at Rome, with its spacious nave and lengthening aisles,
admirably adapted for the constantly recurring splendid processions of a
splendid hierarchy, was adopted as the model for a Protestant temple, in
which entirely dissimilar rites were to be performed in a small partitioned
chapel. We have seen that there were excuses for reviving Roman archi-
tecture in the city of the Cassars; but none exist for covering with Classic
symbolism an edifice built in London in the days of Charles II.
I have before remarked that the exterior of a fabric should correspond
generally with the interior. Ancient edifices in which this rule is violated
may be cited; but their defects should not be copied. It is diflSoult for
an observer contemplating the outside of St. Paul's to form an idea of
the inside. The dome of St. Peter's presents the utmost attainable internal
height, enhancing its utility and majesty by obtaining a brilliant light
from above; but in St. Paul's this obvious requirement is ignored.
Instead of a single dome, as the exterior suggests, there are actually three,
nearly one-fourth of the available height being lost within. It is needless
to remind any person who has stood beneath the dome of St. Peter's
how much its magnificent effect, inducing sentiments antagonistic to
to those which arise in a Gothic cathedral, is due to the ample flood of
light which comes from above, defines its proportions, and illuminates
its splendid mosaics. I ask the reader next to look up beneath the
dome of St. Paul's; to note the littleness of its parts; how the struc-
ture seems to rest on the spandrel points over the lower columns ; the
clumsy manner by which light ;is obtained above ; the dismalness of
the pictures still higher; and how lowering the darkness beyond, raising
ideas of Cimmerian gloom, far different from the brightness of that
Heaven to which this pile is most inappropriately dedicated. Then, I
apprehend, he will allow that we have enough of this " better architec-
ture " of the caposcuola of British architects.
Pugin remarks that,— " One-half of the edifice is built to conceal the
other." Outside St. Peter's one series of columns prevails ; and Wren
could not depart from this prototype without producing a more startling
anomaly than his dome. Judging from the exterior of St. Paul's there
are apparently two stories within ; and this incongruity was defended on
account of the smallness of the stones ! Gwilt observes :— " The enormous
expense of the second or upper order was incurred for no other purpose
than that of concealing the flying buttresses that are used to counteract
the thrusts of the vauUs of the nave, choir, and transepts,— an abuse that
admits of no apology. It is an architectural fraud.'' The idea of render-
ing the buttresses beautiful features, as in Gotliic architecture, naturally
did not occur to an artist who regarded the decorations of Henry VIL's
Chapel simply as "nice pieces of embroidered work."
As Ralph afterwards said, the feeling of the time was that, " the form
of a cross is more favorable to superstition than beauty." The towers
were copied from those designed by Bernini for St. Peter's ; and the
notion of coupling the columns was possibly suggested by Perrault's
example at the Louvre, begun in 1665, when Wren visited Paris. The
undue size of the external statues diminishes the effect of the whole ; and
the remaining sculpture on the west front, by the leading English sculptor,
Francis Bird, is in shocking taste. Elsewhere, the stone carving is often
tenuous, mean and poor, with formal palm-leaves, open bibles, and crosses
awkwardly introduced, children's heads with Cupid's wings varying the
scene ; and the mindlessness of Gibbons' exact copyism is now beginnin
620
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 26, 1861.
to be generally acknowledged. The porticoes to tlie transepts have a
pleasing eflFect ; and the outside dome is more gracefully curved than that
ol St Peter's j but it does not support the lantern it seems to carry. In
the uokoduess within, tliat sublime repose which in St. Peter's has such
power to calm and to soothe is quite absent. The piers are heavy ; the
wooden choir is inharmonious ; there is a sad want of connectedness in
the cornices ; and various details are twisted about in the manner of
Borromini without his artistic skill.
The size of St. Paul's is the chief reason why many admire it; and the ar-
chitect's epitaph, " Siquajras monumentumcircumspice," is more applicable
to some of his smaller works. None, however, rise above complex copyism,
except a few churches in which eclectic skill is manifested in clothing
Gothic spires with Classic details, a practice originated in France. They
have been extravagantly praised, Kalph describing Bow as, " beyond
question, as perfect as human imagination can contrive or execute."- St.
Bride's resembles a telescope extended. Wren's Gothic is execrable; as
erident in the towers of Westminster Abbey, without precedent; the
tower of St, Michael's, Cornhill, a travesty of that of Magdalene College,
Oxford; and the arched termination at St. Dunstan's-in-thc-£ast, copied
from St. Nicholas, Newcastle, or the High Church, Edinburgh. Of the
Classic Temple-bar, the author last quoted says ; — " Tf it has any fault, 'tis
that the top being round as well as the arch underneath, the whole wants
that contrast of figure which is so essential to beauty and taste." St.
Stephen's, Walbrook, is a good instance of the ratio of proportions in
which Wren delighted. There is a breadth and dignity in the river front
of Greenwich Hospital, as well as a fine perspective effect in the central
part, which indicate what might have been expected from the architect
under different trainhig. Had Sir Christopher possessed a glimmering
notion of the folly of copyism, and thus been enabled to extend his just views
of science to the Fine Arts, far different would have been his architec-
tural productions. From France Wren imported much of the spirit of its
architecture; and had he visited Italy we should doubtless have closer
duplicates than those be executed. His artistic information was derived
cliiefly from books; and it issurprising he acquired so much with the few
at his command. At nature Jones and Wren never dreimed of looking:
they saw her through the sculpture of antique art. So looking, so acting,
who can wonder that their productions are unnatural and dishonest? Who
CAn be surprised tliat the followers of their system have not excelled the
fi>undersofADgto-ClaE6ic architecture? Edwabd L. Tabbock.
FRENCH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES IN THE EAST.*
THE examination of Sour and its neighborhood seems to have been a work
of considerable diflSculty, and 51. Reinan expresses an opinion that
no great city that, like Tyre, liad flourished for ages, has left so few traces
of its existence. A traveller, not forewarned, might pass from Kasmie to
Kas-el-Ain without ever suspecting that he trodethe soil of an ancient
town. Some aqueducts, a Christian basilica, a few displaced columns, are
all that remain of one of the most populous cities of the ancient world.
The last destruction by the Saracens reduced it to a heap of stones, which
have been incorporated in the buildings of Saida and Saint Jean d'Acre.
To find the remnants of the ancient Tyre you must now dig through a
thick stratum formed by the destruction of the miserable tenements
which, during the past century, were erected on the site ; whereas a
hundred years ago there was a vast and compact mass of ruins which,
according to M. Reinan, were the remains of what might be called the
Place of Saint Mark of ancient Tyre. To snatch it from oblivion now
would, ^le thinks, be as difficult a task as to find the primitive city of the
Fhocians, in the town of Marseilles. M. Reinan perceived that the neigh-
bourhood of ancient Tyre had been a desert for ages ; he determined to
push his examination with vigor, and with the means at his disposal he
was able to pursue his labors for weeks in localities where, he says, the
hardiest traveller had only passed a few hours. Berton and others had
fixed the necropolis of Tyre at Adloun, four or five leagues from the
ancient city ; but M. Iteiuan declares that the burial place referred to is
almost entirely Christian, Burial places were found all around the site of
the ancient city, and a deep excavation between Sour and Masehouk
brouglit to light a series of fine large sarcophagi, all of the same form —
rectangular, with very thick sides, prism shaped covers, enormously
heavy and cut to a sharp angle, with very large oreillqns at the four
corners and without any ornament whatever. At a place called El-Aw-
watin, in the chain of hills to the east of Tyre, he discovered a mass of
chalk rocks pierced with two or three series of sepulchres, many of them
fallen in, and more than twenty into which he made his way were entirely
empty. M. Reinan considers this place to present, perhaps, the finest
•eries of arched caverns in Phcenicia, but it supplies neither inscriptions or
works of art. He concludes, however, from the form that they are not of
Tery ancient date, and adds, that rather more to the south there are
rectangular caverns resembling those of Saida, but with vaulted arches
that indicate a later period.
The party examined the so-called Tomb of Hiram, at two hours' distance
from Tyre, and around which traces of a necropolis had been imagined
to exist. M. Reinan discovered that in fact it was a town or village, and
by meant of extensive excavations he brought to light the remains of a
number of tArm-houses, containing mills, presses, troughs, and all kinds of
agricultural implements and apparatus ; tlie same occurred In many other
Instances. lie doubts the high antiquity of what is called the Tomb of
Uiram, and believes it to belong to the Itoman period.
M. Reinan made a most interesthig and unexpected discovery in this
♦ Conilowxl tnttn page fiOJ,
neighborhood ; in clearing away some rubbish, at about 300 yards from the
Tomb of Hiram, a mosaic pavement was discovered at a depth of only a few
inches from the surface of tlie soil, some portions at not more than eight
and none more than double that number of inches. When the whole was
cleared it was found to measure about 46 feet in length and 35 feet in
width. It turned out to be the pavement of a small Byzantine chapel,
the plan of which was perfectly indicated, and an inscription informed the
fortunate discoverers that the building was consecrated to Saint
Christopher in the year 701, under the Chorepiscopus Georges and the
deacon Cyrus, in the name of the farmers, laborers, and fruit-growers of
the neighborhood, M, Reinan believes the date to be that of tlie era of
Antioch, which would give 652 or 653 A.D, as the time of tlie consecra-
tion. The mosaic exhibits no marks of wear, from which circumstance
the learned antiquary concludes tliat the church or chapel was destroyed
shortly after the pavement was laid down ; fortunately the place was
covered with fig-trees, which had saved it from the plough, and the roots
of the former had accommodated themselves to their curious position by
striking out their roots horizontally. This interesting pavement is now
being taken up by a Roman mosalcist to be transported to the Louvre ; it
is described as being of marvellous bsauty and brilliant coloring. It is
divided into three compartments, that in the centre contains the inscrip-
tion already referred to, which was at the foot of the altar, and around it
a rich border composed of thirty-one medallions, connected by a running
border of flowers and foliage which issue from four vases in tlio corners ;
the medallions are filled with fantastic designs, combats of animals, games
of children, taken from the Physiologus ; the other divisions contain
seventy-four medallions, representing the twelve months, the four seasons,
the four winds, and a series of animals and frnits ; the spaces between
where the pillars stood are occupied by eight compartments representing
animals chasing each other, and the interstices are filled up with flowers
and chalices ; all the portions of the work are united by running borders,
which are said to be of exquisite design. This mosaic alone will form a
splendid memorial of the researches of M. Reinan, and the army and navy
of France in Syria.
Kabr-Hiram where this splendid work of Roman art was so unexpectedly
discovered, afforded no Pha;nician antiquities of any kind.
Oum-el-Awamid next occupied the attention of the explorers ; here were
three objects of great attraction. 1st. An acropolis dominating the plain.
2nd. An Egyptian construction close by ; and, lastly, a number of houses
which M. "V'ogue conceived to resemble what are called C3'clopian con-
structions. The first examination, however, dispelled the illusion, those
ruins, which seemed to be the most complete in Syria turned out to be
deceptions, tlie columns which looked so picturesque were found to rest
cither on no bases at all or on such as did not belong to them, and the
largest of them was found to be surmounted by a capital which was not its
own. The whole of the ruins were found to be the remains of rude erec-
tions composed of the debris of the ancient city, but many of the fragments
were found to have belonged to Doric and Ionic structures of the purest
epoch of Grecian art, and M. Reinan concludes that they belong to the
Ante-Alexandrine period. Amongst the ruins were found several
specimens of what is called the cherub, which M. Reinan believes to have
been, without doubt, the Pha:nician form of the Sphinx,
In demolishing the walls of one of the pseudo-Cyclopian houses, were
found three objects of great interest, being stones with Phoeuician inscrip-
tions ; one of these is the record of a vow of a certain " Abdelim, son of
Mathan, son of Abdelim, son of Baalschamor," or God Baal ; another is a
vow of Abdeschmoun to Astarte, cut on a stone hollowed out on one side
probably to contain offerings to the divinity ; the third is traced on the
edge of an elliptical object, with rays diverging from a common centre,
which M. Reinan conceives to be a sun-dial, but is scarcely legible.
Oum-el-Awamid, or mother of the Colonies, is set down as the place
where Phoenician antiquity is best preserved, and M. Reinan believes it to
have been an outskirt of Tyre itself ; an epitaph was found relating to a
person called A/3^))Xt/<of Tuptoc, and a more ancient name, for the place, is
still in existence, namely, Medinet-el-Touran, in which M. Reinan reads a
translation of TroXif Tirpiwv; at all events, he says its history is written
clearly enough in its ruins.
Piioenicia, says our savant, is the only country where industry has
left magnificent ruins, the apparatus is all colossal; the Phoenicians con-
structed presses and fish ponds as if for eternity. Remains of this kind
are found everywhere in the region of Tyre, and are always of the same
character ; vast excavations in the rock, ruins of square houses built
without style, of good stone ill jointed, an enormous number of cisterns,
cellars of extraordinary dimensions, sarcophagi of imposing and massive
forms, but no trace of religious edifices, and no inscriptions.
In the singular grotto, or cave, to the north of Kasmie, described by
M, de Berton, M, Reinan discovered a short Phoenician, and a number of
Greek and Semitic inscriptions, scratched with a point on the escutcheons
in the walls; he promises to attempt to prove, by the aid of these rude
records, that the cavern was a temple dedicated to Moloch and Astarte.
This hideous cave, he says, is the most authentic record that exists of the
gross elements which mingled with others far more pure in the religion
of Tyre.
From Donair, M. Reinan has sent home an enormous block, which he
believes to be one of the finest specimens of sculpture to be found in Syria;
it represents Baal and Astarte, or the Sun and Moen Deities, surrounded
with Greek inscriptions.
The above is but a very small portion of the contents of two remarkable
reports made to the Emperor. M, Reinan is now in Palestine, and promiies
another report shortly on his researches in Upper Galilee.
\
July 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
621
RUTLAND CHURCHES.— Nolo.
NOKMANTON.*
WE bave now to speak of the patrons of the church. William of Normandy,
after conquerins- Harold at Hastings in 1000, dispossessed the 8axon lords
of their manoi-s and possessions, rew.'irding his cliiefs witli no less than 063 lord-
ships.
" "War in lioiiorablo
Jn those who do their native rlgtits maintain ;
In those whose swords an iron barrier are
Between the lawless spoiler and the weak ;
But in those who draw th' oflensive blade
For added power or fjain, sordid and despicable
As meanest ofBce of the worldly churl."
Two of the Conqueror's companions in arms were, according to the Roll of
Battle Abbey (the earliest record of the Normans), Urafraville and Normanville,
names in after times connected witli Normanton. The '■ Patrician," edited by
,Iohn Burke, Esq., the author of the "Peerage," says Normanton doubtless
derived its appellation frosi the family of Normanville, but we have already
shown that its name is of higher antiquity, and to the preceding occupants of
the soil of England, the Anglo-Saxons, we are indebted for its etymon. Wright
says that soon after the Conquest the Normanvilles were lords of Normanton.
We find that in the uth year of John's reign (1204) Ralph de Normanville was
sherift'of the county, which office he also held in the si-K succeedinfj years, after
which time no other person of that name served the office of Sherilf of Rutland.
In 3 H^nry III. (l"21i)) Thomas de Normanville died : he was succeeded by his
son Ralph, whose son "Thomas was the most distinguished inheritor of the name,
he having held, besides otlier important offices, that of King's Seneschal, north of
the Trent: he died 11 Edward 1. (1283), and his daughter Margaret, his heir,
married William de Hnsings, in whose family Normanton continued till the death
of Sir Jolin de Basings in 1445, when it passed to Alice, his sister and lieir, who
married Tlioraas Mackworth. The Basings, who were of considerable note and
antiquity, were descended from Adara de Basing, Lord Major of London in 1251,
whose habitation in the city occupied the place where Blackwell Hall was
erected : from him the street and ward adjoining were denominated Bnsings-hall-
street and Basings-hall Ward. We must here refer to otlier patrons of the
church tliat had ere tliis passed away. In 12 Henry III. (1228) Robert de
Albiniaco presented to it ; also in the 17th year of the same reign. In 21 Henry
III. the Lord Gilbert de Umfraville was the patron, he having, according to
the Lincoln register, then presented to it. Dugdale's Baronage (page
505) says that Gilbert de Urafraville, born 1244 (son of Gilbert de
Umfraville, Lord of Reddesdale, &c., by Matilda daughter and heir
of Malcolm Earl of Angus, in the Kingdom of Scotland), Baron
Umfraville and Earl of Angus held possessions at Market Overton and other
places in Rutland. In 1307-8 his son and afterwards heir, Sir Robert de Umfra-
ville, married Lucy de Kyme, sister and heir of William second Baron Kyme,
wlio had large possessions in Lincolnshire. Robert de Umfraville's daughter
Elizabeth, and eventually heir, married Gilbert Burden, or Barradon, whose
daug-hter and heir Elizabeth married Sir Henry de Talljois, thus can-ying the
large possessions of the I'mfraville and Kyme families into the house of Talhois.
His descendant Gilbert de Talhois was summoned to Parliament 1529 as Baron
Talbois, of Kyme ; his issue failed, and his four sisters became co-heirs. The
eldest, Elizabeth, married Sir Cliristopher Willoughby, of Parham (from whom
descended tlie Lords Willoughby, of Parham) ; Cecilia, second daughter, married
first William Ingilby, Esq., of Ripley, Yorkshire — second, John Torney, Esq., of
Lincolnshire ; Anne, third daughter, married first Sir Edward Dymoke, Knight
(frcm which maiTiage is derived the present Champion, Sir Henry Dvmoke, of
Scrivelsby), and second Sir Robert Carre, Knight, of Sleaford; and Margaret,
fourth sister, married Sir George Vernon, of Haddon, Derbyshire. All left issue,
and their representatives are co-heirs of Gilbert de Umfi'aville, Earl of Angus.
The Umfravilles took prominent parts in the affairs of this country in tlie reigns
of Edward I., Edward II., and Edward III. In the reign of the first Edward
Gilbert de Umfi'aville was in the .Scotch war, for a time refusing to give up the
castles of Dundee and I'orfar, of which lie had possession. In 1408 Sir Rt.
Umfraville was installed a Knight of the Garter; he died in 1430. Of thi> family
who had summons to Parliament were, Gilbert de Umfraville, 23, 34 (as Earl of
Angus afterwards), 25, 27, 28, 30, 32, 34, 35 Edward I., Edward II.; Robert de
Umfraville, Earl of Angus, 2, 3, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 Edward II. ; Gilbert de
Umfraville, Earl of Angus, 0, 8, 0, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 1.5, 10, 17, 18 Edward III.;
21, 22, 23, 24, 2.5, 20, 27, 28, 29, 31, 34, 30, 37, 38, 39, 42, 43, 44, 47, 49, 50
Edward III. In 2.5 Edward I. (1297), Lady Eustachia, relict of Sir Gerard de
Fanconrt, ;pre.oented John de Schirebome to the church, by reason of the
custody of Edmond, son and heir of Sir Thomas de Normanville and of the
manor of Normanton. Ralph de Normanville sirved the office of shcrifT of this
county from 1204 till 1210, John de Basings in 1380, and John de Basings in
1444. William de Basings was summoned to Parliament for the county 2
Edward II.; and John de Basings .50 Edward III. We have shown that Nor-
manton came into the possession of the Maekworths by marriage with the sister
and heir of Sir John de Basings, who died 7 Richard II. Tlie Maekworths were
residents in Derbyshire for several generations, their early ancestor giving the
name to the parish where their seat was situate. One of this family was in the
retinue of James Lord Audley at the battle of Poictiers, under the Black Prince.
John Touchet, Lord Audley, son-in-law, and eventually heir to the said James,
granted, in consideration that John and James Mackworth were valiant men,
and for the services rendered by them'aiid their ancestors to the Andley family, a
part of the arms of Audley, viz: — Party per pale indented, sable and ermine, a
chevron, gules, frette, or, to be borne by the Maekworths and their descendants.
In witness to wliich grant he put his seal of arms, viz :— Quarterly ; first ami
fourth frette, and second and third ermine, a chevron, circumscribed " Sigillum
Johannis D'Audley, at his manor of Maiketon, 1st August, 1404." It was
'riiomas Mackwonh, of Mackwortli, who by intermarriage with Alice Basings,
sister and heir of Sir John de Basings, wlio acquired the fair inheritance^in
Rutland, including the villages and manors of Normanton, Empinghani, and
Hardwicke, their seat being at the first-named place. In 1019 Thomas Mack-
worth was created a baronet ; he served the office of Sheriff of Rutland in 41
Elizabeth and 7 James I. He married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Henrj
Hall, Esq., of Grettbrd, Lincolnshire, and sole heir of her mother, one of the
daughters and coheirs of Eras. Nealc, Esq., of Tugby. Sir Henry Mackworth,
the son of the first baronet, re-built the manor-house at Normanton, he married
• Concluded from page 455.
Mary daughter of Robert Hopton, Esq., sister and co-Iicir of Ralph Lord Hopton,
who was ennobled in 1043 in consequence of a victory he had achieved over the
Parliamentarians at Stratton, Cornwall. His son Tliomas became 3rd Baronet;
he tparried first Dorothy daughter of Captain George Darell, of Cale Hill, Kent ;
and secondly Anne daughter of Humphrey Mackwortli, Esq., of Betton, Salop
(a cadet of this ancient family), by whom he had Thomhs, afterwards fourth
Baronet, who died unmarried in March, 1745, when his grand nephew, the Rev.
John Wingfield, of Tiekencote, became his heir in blood, and the Baronetcy
devolved npon his cousin and heir-at-law, Thomas (grandson of the second
Baronet), who was an apothecary at Huntingdon, and Alderman of that
borough : he married first Elizabeth daughter of John Maule, E.sq., by whom he
had four daughters ; and secondly, Mary relict of the Rev. — Waller, of Great
Staughton, Hunts, but by her had no issue. He was succeeded in the Baronetcy
in 1709 by his cousin Henry, grandson of the third Baronet. The sixth Baronet
married Elizabeth daughter of the Rev. Edw. Lamb, Rector of Acle, Norfolk,
and dying in 1774 was succeedetl by his son Henry, who died issueless in 1803,
when the baronetcy became extinct. The last baronet died fn the Charterhouse,
being one of the almsmen upon the poor knights' charity. The ruin of this
family was consummated by Sir Thomas, 4tli Baronet, who in 1722 contested the
county of Rutland for a seat in Parliament with Lord Finch and Mr. Sherard,
the expenses tliereby incurred being enormous. On the 23rd of October, 1723,
Sir Thomas Mackwoi-th, in consideration of .£39,000, conveyed the manors of
Empingham and Normanton, and his estates there and at Edithweston, Kctton,
Whitwell, &c., to Chas. Tryon, Esq., in fee. The late owner of the " broad
acres " retired to an obscure district in London, where, at Kentish-town, he died
issueless in 1745.
"Mansions once
Knew theirown master, and lalwrions Iliads
That had surviv'd the father, sorv'd the son.
Now the legitimate and rightful Lord
Is bat a transient guest, newly arrived,
And soon to be supplanted. '
The following members of the family served the office of Sheriff of Rutland : —
Henry Mackworth, 18 Edward IV. (1478) : George Mackworth, 12 Henry VII.
(1497); George Mackworth, 3 Henry VIII. (1511); George Mackworth, 14
Henry VIII. (1.522); George Mackworth, 32 Henrv VIII. (1,5.30); George
Mackworth, 20 Henry VIII. (1.584); Francis Mackworth, 30 Henry VIII.
(1538) ; Francis Mackworth, 35 Henry VIII. (1543) ; Francis Mask-
worth, 3 Mary (1550); George Mackworth, 6 Elizabeth (1561); George
Mackworth, :4' Elizabeth (1572) ; George Mackworth, 22 Elizabeth (1580) ;
Thomas Mackworth, 41 Elizabeth, (1599); Thomas Mackworth, 7 James
(1609); Henry Mackworth, 3 Charles I. (1627); Thomas Mackworth, 16
Charles II. (16G4) ; Sir Tliomas Mackworth, Bart., 8 William III. (1697).
Four years after the purchase of the Rutland estates Charles Tryon, Esq.,
served the ofliice of sheriff of the county. The first of this family who
came into England was Peter Trj'on, who fled from the persecution of the Duke
of Ava. His family bad long flourislied in the Low Countries, and was so opulent
that the emigrant broni;lit with him the very large sum (in those days) of
£00,000 sterling. His son Samuel received the'hoaor of knighthoo<l from King
James I. at Newmarket. 25th April, 101.5, and was created a liaronet S8th
March, 1620. On the death of the fourth baronet in 1724 the title became
extinct. At that time a collateral branch of tlie family resided at Bulwick, and
members of it have married into several noble families. It is represented there
at the present day by Thos. Tryon, Esq., wlio married in 1827 Anne, daughter of
Sir John TroUope (eldest sister of the present baronet), the issue of which
marriage has been Thomas, Major 7th Royal Fusiliers; Henry, Lieutenant in
tlie Rifle Brigade, who fell before Sebastopol when in command of a successful
night attack ; George, Commander Royal Navy ; and Richard, Captain
1st Battalion Rifle Brigade. Mr. Charles Tryon held the Mackworth in-
heritance only six years, having, in 1729, sold it to Sir Gilbert Heath-
cote, Kniglit, of London, and Forest House, Low Lejton, Essex. This
opulent citizen was tlie eldest son of Mr. Gilbert Heathcote, Alderman
of Chesterfield, who had six other sons, all of whom were very eminent
merchants, whose ships were freightd with the richest productions of foreign
countries. The East India Compiny possessed a monopoly that at that time
proved very unpalatable to private mercliants : the latter, including Jlr. Gilbert
Heatlicote, had a strong contest with tlie Company, which dispute was referred
to the House of Commons, wlio petitioned the King to dissolve the Company
and to grant a new charter. Loitl Macaulay, in his " Historj- of England,"
alludes to Mr. Gilbert Heathcote being one of the earliest adrocates of free trade.
In referring to tiie dispute that raged in 1693 his Lordship says, "With incre-
dible rashness, the Directors of the East India Company determined, at the very
moment wlien the fate of their company was in the balance, to give the people
of this country a near view of the most odious features of the monopoly. Some
wealthy merchants of London had equipped a fine ship named the Hefllnuige:
her crew was numerous, and her cargo of immense value. Her papers had beea
made out for Alicant, but there was some reason (o suspect that she was really
bound for tlie countries lying beyond the Cape of Good Hope. She was stopped
by the Admiralty, in obedience to an order which the Company obtained from
the Privy Council, doubtless by the help of the Lord President. Every day that
she lay in the Thames caused a heavy expense to the owners. The indignation
in the city was great. The Company maintained that from the legality of the
monopoly the legality of the detention necessarily followed. The public turned
the argument round, and, being firmly convinced that the detention was illegal,
drew the inference that the monopoly must bo illegal too. The dfcpute was at the
heiglit when Parliament met. Petitions on both sides were speedilv laid on the table
of the Commons ; and it was resolved that these petitions should be taken into con-
sideration by a Committee of the whole House. The committee proceeded to inquire
liy what authority the J?crf6W(i(/c had been stopped. One of her owners, Gilbert
Heathcote, a rich merchant and a staunch Whig, appeared at tlie bar as a witness.
He was asked whether he would venture to deny that the ship had really been-
fitted ont for the Indian trade. ' It is no sin that I know of,' he answered, ' fc»
trade with India, and I will trade with India till I am restrained by Act of
Parliament.' Tlie eliairman (Papillon) reported that in the opinion of the com-
mittee the detention of the Scdbridge was illegal. The blow to the old com-
pany was quickly followed up. A few days later it was moved and adopted that
ail subjects of England had equal right to trade to the East Indies unless
jiroliibited by Act of Parliament. This settled the most important of the consti-
tutional questions which had been unsettled by the Bill of Rights. It has ever
since been held to be the sound doctrine tliat no power but that of the whole legis-
622
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 26, 1861.
Uture can give to any person or to any aociety an excliuiTe privilege of trading
to any part of the world." In 16JW Mr. Gilbert HeatLcote was one ofa committee
upointed to consider the enormous debt of £747,000 due by the Corporation
or London to the City orphans, a fund that originated in 1391, n business so no-
faxioualy and cruelly' infamous as to call forUi the severest strictures by such
committee. In the year 1638, the Emperor of Russia being in England, there
were some merchants in London who entered into a treaty with him for a
free importation of tobacco into his dominions: they paid £12,000 im-
mediately upon signing the contract, and it cost them above £1,000 more
in other charges to obtain it. And this they did before one-half of the
sum was subscribed that was intended for a stock sufficient to carry
on the trade. Mr. Gilbert Heathcote, Master of the Eastland
Company, knowing how averse the priests of Russia were to the taking of
tobacco.'addressed the Czar in High Dutch (at a meeting of the Company with
him in London), mentioning the same as likely to prove some impediment to the
trade in hU (lominions, when the Czar replied, " I will do well enough with them
when I get home." In 1701, Mr. Gilbert Heathcote was elected member of
Parliament for the City of London, and which ha served in four successive
Parliaments. He subsequently represented Helston, Cornwall, Lymington,
Hants, and St. German's, Cornwall. The Lord Mayor's day, from the earliest
times, was a day of great civic rejoicing, and historians have dwelt upon the
glorioDS pageants that have been witnes^ on those occasions. Queen Anne, on
the first Lord Mayor's day in her reign {170-2), honored the citizens with her
presence. Her Majesty entered the city about 2 p.m. in a purple coach drawn
oy eiglit curiously caparisoned horses, '^the harness of which was all purple and
white. From a balcony in Cheapside she witnessed the cavalcade. She was
afterwards conducted to the Guildhall, where she conferred the honor of knight-
hood upon Gilbert Heathcote, Esq. (Alderman), Eras. Dashwood, Esq., and
Richard Hoare, Esq. In 1711 Sir Gilbert Heathcote served the office of
Lord Mayor, and was the last chief magistrate of the city who rode on
horseback to his mayoralty. Afterwards a state carriage (drawn by four
horses) was used. 'The Lord Mayors at that time dwelt in the neighbour-
hood of the Old Jewry. On the 1st of March, 17'21, Sir Gilbert was
elected president of St. Tliomas's Hospital, and what is noteworthy with
reference to this election is that he was selected in opposition to the then Lord
Mayor, the only instance on record at St. Thomas's; and there is only one like
instance at each of (he other Royal Institutions — St. Bartholomew's and Christ's
Hospitals. Sir Gilbert's popularity amongst his brother members of the Corpo-
ration must therefore have been very great, and almost unique. The case at
Christ's Hospital is of very recent date, when the Duke of Cambridge wag elected
in the place of Lord Mayor Sidney. From time immemorial the City Corporation
had the whole affair and election m their own hands, and looked upon the Lord
Mayor for the time bein^ as president, in case of vacancy, as a matter of course.
In the large hall of St. 'Thomas's Hospital is a full-length porti'ait of Sir Gilbert
Heathcote : he is represented as wearmg the civic scarlet furred gown, with a
brown long-flapped coat, square-toed shoes, and large wig ; his right hand directs
the attention to a book on a marble table, behind which are the city sword and
mace. On the beautiful frame below is this inscription : — Sir Gilbert Heathcote,
Knight, Alderman, and President, set. 79., A.n. 17-29." He died three years
afterwards, viz., Jan. 2.5, 1733, the year after he was created a baronet by
George II. He left a legacy of £500 to the Hospital. In 1728, a daring project
was concerted to rob the Queen of George II. on her return from the city, but
the scheme was frustrated by the villains being busily employed in robbing Alder-
man Sir Gilbert Heathcote, in his chariot, as [he was returning from the House
of Commons. Sir Gilbert's death was thus announced in the newspapers at the
time :— " Jan. 25, 1733, died, Sir Gilbert Heathcote, knight and baronet, father
of the City of London, renuted the richest commoner in Great Britain, and said
to be worth £700,000. He left a handsome legacy to the Rev. Dr. Johnson, who
about four years ago cureil him of an ulcer in his leg after he had been given
over by several eminent surgeons as incurable." In 1739 the foundation-
stone for the present Mansion-house was laid, one of the names in
the inscription it contained being that of Alderman George Heath-
cote, Es<|., who was also one of the sheriffs for that year. There
are numerous instances in the City archives of persons being exempted
from serving the office of Lord Mayor, and in the list of persons excused ap-
pears the name of Alderman G. Heathcote, in 1740, on account of ill-health and
Parliamentary duties. The first baronet was succeeded by his only son, John,
who married in 17-20, Bridget, daughter of John White, Esq., of Wallingwells :
he died Sept. 5, 1759, and was succeeded by his elder son, Gilbert, who married
first, in 1740, Marguerite, youngest daughter of Philip, Earl of Hardwick, Lord
Chancellor of England, by whom he hadno issue, and, secondly, in 1770, Eliza-
beth, daughter of Robert Hudson, Esq., of Teddington, by whom he had—
Gill»-rt (4th baronet), John (who received fatal injuries by being thrown from his
curricle when descending Dartford-hill), Robert (who married Miss Searle), and
ElizalKth ^married to General Grosvenor). He died at North-end, Fulham,
Dec. 4, 178.5. He served the office of Sheriff of Rutland in 1771, the first of
the name that appears on the list. Sir Gilbert, 4th baronet, married first, in
August, 179:3, Catherine Sophia, fourth daughter of John Manners, Esq., by
Louise Tollemache, Countess of Dysart in her own right, by whom (who died in
1825) he had issue Gilbert John (5th baronet), Lionel Edward, and Henry Wil-
liam. This lady devoted much of her time in the improvement of the grounds
at Normanton, and their present appearance shows in a great degree the result
of her successfij labors. This baronet's second wife was Mrs. Eldon, of Park-
crescent, I^ndon, the nuptials having taken place August 2, 1825: the only
Urae of this maniage is Arthur, bom June 22, 1829, who resides at Durdans,
near Epsom. The coming of age of Sir Gilbert, in 1794, the year after his
marriage, was cclebrateil in a costly style on his extensive estates. About 10,000
persons were entertained on Empingham Heath, including all the nobility and
jrentry of the neighbourhood. A gala given May 31, 17!)9, by Lady Heathcote
IS described as bt.-mg one of the most attractive held in the King's reign : up-
wards of 500 masks aswmbleil, "who did not depart till six o'clock next morn-
ing, aft-.-r a most profuse and elegant supper with costly wines." On the 20tli
July, 1804, the Pnnce of Wales (afterwards George IV.) was entertained at
dmn.r at Sir Gilbert iuathcotc's toivn residence; and the same evening his
Hoyal Ilighn.-8« joined a large party at the residence of Mr. Robt. Heathcote,
Uie next surviving brother of Sir Gilljcrt. On November 17th, 1800, the I'rince
of Wales and the Duke of Clarence (afterwards Sovereigns of thr; realm) arrived
at >ormanton on a visit to Sir Gilbert. " The magnificent repast was served u|i
on the roost sumptuous service of plate, with one exception, lu the county of Hut-
land." Their Royal Highnesses left on the 19th. The bed-room furniture, pro-
cured for the occasion, is still preserved ; also a bedstead and hangings in the
tapestry-room, which tradition says were purchased on the occasion of the visit of
William III. to Sir 'Thomas Mackwortb, 3nl Uarouet. This spacious room is
part of the old mansion, the present residence having been re-built in the lifetime
of the father of the Baronet just named. On the 2nd of August, 1809, in Vork-
street, Portman-S(|uare, the son and heir of Mr. Robt. Heathcote was baptised
by the name of George Augustus Frederick, the sponsors being the Prince of
Wales and Sir Gilbert Heathcote. After the ceremony a splendid dinner wag
served, at which were present the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Devonshire, the
Duke of Argyll, the Earl of Guildford, Lord Erskine, Sir Gilbert Heathcote, &c.
"His Royal Highness was in excellent spirits, and contributed, with his ample
quota of wit, to the mirth and brilliancy of the evening." Sir Gilbert Heathcote,
who served the office of Sheriff of the county in 1795, was succeeded on his death
in 1851 by the present Baronet, in whom the family has been ennobled ; Sir
Gilbert Jolin Heathcote, 5th Baronet, having, in 18-50, been elevated to the Peerage
by the title of Baron Aveland. His Lordship sat in the House of Commons
for Boston from 1820 to 1*33, for Lincolnshire from 18:32 to 1841, and for Rut-
land from 1841 to 1856. He is Colonel of the South Lincoln Militia, a Deputy-
Lieutenant and Magistrate for Lincolnshire and Rutland, a Fellow of the Society
of Antiquaries, &c. He married, in 1827, Clementina eldest daughter of the
19th Lord Willoughby d'Eresby, by whom he has Gilbert Henry (M.P. for Rut-
land), Clementina Charlotte, and Elizabeth Sophia. The antiquity of families is
frequently shown by genealogists tracing their descent from tlie Conquest. We
have already stated that the ancestor of the Normauvilles and the ancestor of
the Umfravilles shared in the spoils taken from the rightful owners of the soil of
England after the battle of Hastings. The ancestors of subsequent patrons
of the church of Normanton (we allude to the Mackwortlis, and the Heathcotes),
previous to the invasion of England by the Normans, would be cultivating the
arts of peace here, and their descendants have, therefore, greater reason to be
proud of their antiquity than those whose ancestors aggrandised themselves by
plundering a peaceful and industrious people.
" Ah, Mcrcia, Mercia ! on the fields of war
Bled thy remaining sons, and carrion birds
Tear the cold limbs that should have fumed thy soil."
Mackworth and Heathcote are pure Anglo-Saxon names. I'The name of
Tollemache in the Roll of Battle Abbey, i.e., a list of the Norman chieftains who
accompanied the Conqueror to England, is believed to be a monkish interpola-
tion. The inscription in the old manor-house of Bently, Suffolk, seems to set the
matter at rest ; it reads thus : —
" Before the Normans into England came,
Bentley was my seat, and Tollemache was my name."
On the maternal side, therefore, the present noble owner of Normanton caunot
vfith confidence claim the possession of Norman blood.
Arm.s of the Patrons of the Church. — Umfraville (Earl of Angus) : Azure
a cinquefoil within an orle of eight crosses crosslet or. — Normanvilie : Gules a
fesse cotised argent. Argent a fesse cotised gules ; on a canton or, a fesse lozenge
of the second. Argent on a fesse cotised azure three fleurs-de-lis of the first.
Argent on a fesse between two bars gemelles gules three fleur-de-lis of the first.
— Basing (London, 13th century) or, six eagles displayed sable, three, two, and
one, a canton ermine. — Mackworth : Per pale indented sable and ermine, a
chevron gules fretty or. — Tryon : Aznre a fesse embattled, between six estoiles or.
— Heathcote : Quarterly, first and fourth, ermine three pomeis, each charged
with a cross or; second and third, azure a saltire engrailed ermine.
»
COWLEY HOUSE;
COWLEY-HOUSE, the seat of William Hilliard, Esq., has recently been
undergoing various alterations and additions. 'The old drawing-
room, which was a wing-building erected during the last century, has
been pulled down (it was in a very dilapidated condition, and without any
soutli light); a new one, with south windows and a conservatory, has been
erected, with a bow window on the west to command the view in that
direction; it is connected with the library by sliding-doors. The dining-
room, an old, panelled room, 40 feet long, has had a portion of it taken off
to make it more convenient, and to form an ante-room.
A billiard-room, with top light, has been erected on the south side of
the house ; it is entered from the basement floor, and is so constructed
that the roof forms a sort of terrace, with vases for flowers, &c.
On the north-east, a considerable addition has been built, in which are
the outer and inner halls, the principal and back staircase, Mr. Hilliard's
own room, the new kitchen, servants'-hall, and offices.
The view represents the inner-hall with the principal staircase, it ex-
tends two stories in height. The panelling, chimney-piece, and staircase
are executed in oak selected with a very fine grain; the chimney-piece has
panels round the opening, in which ornaincntal tiles are inserted. The
hall contains some fine paintings by Gainsborough, Murillo, &c. The
outer-hall is panelled with oak up to the ceiling, and has a parquetry-floor
made of woods cut from the estate.
The work has been executed from the designs of the architect. Mr.
Stephen Salter, jun., by Mr. Hardy, builder, of Cowley.
The principal part of the work has been done by tenants of Mr.
Hilliard's, or residents in the village, it being liis wish that they should be
employed as far as possible in the work.
New Westminster-bridge. — On Wednesday morning there was issued
with the Parliamentary papers a supplementary estimate of the sum proposed to
be voted in the year ending 31st'March, 1802, for completing the erection of the
new Westminster-bridge. The total provision made by votes for the constructiou
of this bridge has been £208,350 ; there has been spent in addition from the funds
of the Westminster-bridge Estate £108,586, making a total of £:316,930. Of the
sums voted, £111,429 was, as stated in the estimate of 1858-9, the value of the
unsold portion of the Bridge Estate, which was applicable to the construction of
the bridge, but was retained in the hands of the (iovernineut as public property
for reasons then explained. 'The further sum of £00,092 is required to complete
the work.
July 26, I80I.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
623
July 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
625
THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
IN tlin House of Commons, on Monday, in Committee of Supply, tlie sum of
£100,414 was proposed for tlie British Museum.
Mi'. Wai.i'OLK said that in consequenee nf recommendations of tlie House there
had been an increased expenditure for salaries in the British Museum of £.3,300.
He was in ftvor of inci'casinp; the salaries in order that the services of
competent and efficient persons might be obtained. Tliere had teen also
a decrease of £"i,700 in special purchases. He trusted that no parsimony
wou'd prevent tlie Committee from making purchases of articles tnat ought
to fiiiil a place in the collections at the British Museum. The South
Kensiigton Committee had in an able report laid before the House recom-
mended the opening of the Museum in the evening for the benefit of those who
eoulil not attend in the day-time. Mr. Braidwooa (now no more) stated that, if
tlie building were lighted by gas, the dryness that would ensue, would expose
those \aluable collections in the Museum to the aci'idents of fire, and he also
observed that discoloration and other bad effects would lie the result. Another
Committee expressed an ojiinion that other accommodation might be provided for
some of those collections — those under glass shades, for example, which would
not be liable to deterioration from the action of gas. Some other new collec-
tions had aiTived, and it was for the trustees to consider not only the subject of
additional space, but whether the collections were to be separated or kept
together. If the collections were to be kept together it was clear that additional
space would jje required, and he felt convinced that whatever was deemed
necessary for the preservation and exhibition of those valuable collections wouUl
not be refused by the Committee or objected to by the country at large. Under
tliese circumstances, he would move the vote.
.Mr. Gregory was in hope that, in the course of the present session, some
.nnnouncemcnt would have been made by her Majesty's Government that an
.irrangement was being made for the enlargement of tlie British JIuseum. He
was certainly aware that there was much financial pressure on her Majesty's
Government, and, averse as he was to any arrangement of the nature of "shreds
and patches " for so important an object, he should far prefer seeing the present
conservatories extended for temporary accommodation, than seeing any system
of irrangement adojited which would not provide a grand, commodious hall,
worthy of their sculpture. He was in hope that the Government would have
purchased the extensive block of buildings in the Bloomsbury vicinity of the
Museum, and that they would, on the site, construct a hall worthy in all respects
of their beautiful sculpture; but he was disapirointed. There was now, he
be'ievcd, a growing feeling in favor of the cstaolishment of local museums in
different parts of the metropolis, and hoped that any excess of collections in the
British Museum might be distributed amongst them. However that might be,
there had been raucli consideration as to whether it was not desirable to remove
the ethnological collection from the British Museum to some other place of
nc'coniinodation, for exhibition; it was also subject of consideration whether the
valuable prints that were in the British Museum might not be removed to some
otjier national institution, where better accommodation might be found for
tliein ; and it was also thouglit desirable by some persons that the Medieval
collection should not be removed from the British Museum. He had himself
given much consideration to the question of removal of the Medieval collection to
.■mother place, and he had come to the conclusion that it was certainly desirable.
He, however, lioped that no article that was the production of antiquity,
whether it was associated with art in Christian times, or prior to them with
Pagan art, should be removed from the British Museum. A rumour had reached
him that it was the intention of Her Majesty's Government to remove either the
greater part, or, perhaps, the whole of those collections : but he hoped they
would not be allowed to do so. He was a member of the Select Committee which
sat to inquire into the accommodation for those invaluable collections at the
British Museum, and the Committee examined the principal officers, men of great
intelligence, in that establishment, and one and all of them were opposed to the
removal of those productions from the Museum. With respect to the Natural
History Department, rumours were put into circulation that it was desired and
contemplated to remove the whole of the collection from the British Museum to
the Kensington Museum ; but no more injudicious course could be taken, and he
trusted that the House ol^ Commons would set its face against such a step. They
had associated with the Natural History Department at the British Museum
great advantages ; they had, which was most essential to the study of the subject,
a magnificent National Library, perfect in all respects ; and if the collection was
removed to Kensington, the libraiy could not be removed with it, and the country
in that case would be put to heavy and entirely uncalled-for extra expense, and
would be called upon, in the first instance, to vote at least £30.000 for a Natural
History Library for the Kensington Museum. Tliat would be a first instalment
of the expenditure that would be required. In 1859 Professor Owen issued a
statement for the consideration of the Government that he should require for his
department a building of one story high, requiring more than ten acres of ground,
or of two stories requiring five acres, and a proposal of that kind was made by
the trustees. Now, in connexion with that, a crazy, cracked scheme was pro-
posed in 1800. They had had a calculation made by which five and
a hiilf acres of land were to be found for the purpose at Kensington.
Ihe cost of the land of five acres and a half at Kensing-ton was
represented to be £275,000, and the cost of the building was set down as
£240,000. On the other hand, the land and building at Bloomsbury were set
down at £807,000. Thu.s, while the land aild building at Kensington were re-
presented at a cost of £515,000, the land at Bloomsbury was set down at a cal-
culation of £807,000. Now, in the first place, the cost of the land at Kensington
was misrepresented, and the calculation was therefore wrong ; the price should
liave been £530,000 instead of £275,000. He was informed by Mr. Smirke that
the fatting up of this department would cost £80,000. Tlie fact was that the
carrying out of this absurd scheme of Professor Owen's would cost the country
£1.000,000. It was also proved before the committee that the student of natural
philosoiihy would liave to travel five miles round these rooms to make his studies
It was also sliowu that the skins of whales that were to be purchased for the
j7^ features was its economy. Jlr. Oldfield was well known in the scientific worid.
He bad arranged tlie Syrian Gallery in a most admirable manner, and his ar-
rangement of the Greco-Roman collection of sculjiture in chronological order
gave the highest satisfaction to all persons interested in the work. Yet this
genllemanwasrelievedofhisduty by the trustees. The temple collection was
also arranged by Mr. OMfield in a manner tliat was highly satisfactory. Tlie
loss of the services of this gentleman would be really verv great. The anxiety of
this gentleman to remain was such that he offered to take any oftioe that the
trustees would give him, even gratuitousljf, provided that he coiild communicate
with the trustees directly. He did not complain of the trustees choosing Mr.
Newton, for in doing so they had selected a gentleman of high attainments ; but
they ought to have made some arrangements by which they could have retained
the services of such a man as Mr. Oldfield. He would, however, congratulate
the trustees in having secured M. du Chaillu's collection. That gentleman had
been attacked, but he must say that his conduct with the trustees hail been
characterised by the greatest fairness, and he at once acceded to the valuation
grant upon that collection by the agents of the trustees of the Museum. He
wished now to allude to the Campagna collection. He understood that tlie
Russians wished to purchase that collection, and the trustees, when they heard
of this, sent Mr. Newton to Home to purchase it. Some understanding was
entered into between him and the Preneh agent with regard to the particular
things which each wanted. The next thing they beard was that the French had
purchased the whole of the collection for £192,000, and that the portion which
we required— which was only n small portion— would cost only £10,000 or
£12,000. Now he wished some explanation on this point. Mr. Robinson, how-
ever, of the Kensington Museum, who was a man to overcome difficulties, was
enabled to obtain all the Medieval portion of the collection for his museum. He
hoped when the Government next came before the house with any plan for the
separation of the natural history portion and the other portions of the Museum,
that it would not be a plan of shreds and patches, but be one whicli would be a
subject of just pride to the country.
Mr. Lavaiid said with a great portion of the Museum vacant, the trustees
were squabbling about providing more room for it. When the Assyrian marbles
were brought over, a sum of £30,000 was voted for the construction of a gallery
for their suitable exhibition, and that was done by patching up the building day
by day, so as to make it available for its original purposes. . To reduce the whole
thing to an absurdity, the magnificent specimens of ancient art brought by Mr.
Newton from Ilalicaruassus and Budrum, and also the marbles from Cyrene, had
been placed under a portico originally intended, he supposed, for the trustees to
walk and dispute in, and shut in by a hoarding painted black. The only living
things that profited by the Palladian style of this structure were the pigeons
who built in the capitals of the columns, and their eggs falling down broke the
glass beneath, by which the water was let in and the sculpture damaged. He
was told, too, that the hoarding had been so badly made, that both wet and soot
had penetrated it, and the marbles had become irrep.-irably stained. Such a state
of things was discreditable to the country, after the etiormous sums of money
wliich were lavished upon these objects. He protested, too, against science and
art being mixed up in the collections at the British Museum, and insisted that
there should be distinct administrations for art and for science. As regarded
locality, he agreed that the worst thing they could do was to patch. It was
only throwing away money to no purpose. The idea of having a separate museum
in the eastern part of London for the reception of the ethnological collection, he
quite approved. The arrangements for the exhibitions of drawings were at pre-
sent really monstrous. 'The original drawings, which servea to show the
development of an idea, ought to be under the same roof with the pictures, as
was the case at the Louvre, at Horence, and at Rome. They ought to be removed
from the Museum to the National Gallery. Another point whicli deserved
notice was, that, although in the Museum there was a fine collection of
national portraits, which might be had for the asking, they were spend-
ing £2,000 per annum to form a series. But there seemed to be no principle
by which these arrangements were directed. It was impossible to draw
a distinction between Christian art and pagan art. Yet the right honorable
gentleman the First Commissioner of Works, attempted to do so at Kensington,
on the ground that it was an educational establishment. If he did so, he would
exclude what was most suited for educational purposes. He would not have
Etruscan and Greek art represented there, but confined his patronage to
medieval collections. The other night £3,000 was voted for the purchase of
objects of art from the Soltikoff collection, and Kensington being the
sharper of the two institutions got it. The collection at the Museum at Ken-
sington, formed as it had been in the space of only seven years, was a truly great
one ; and a French artist of eminence, who came over to this country last year to
inspect our collections of art, had given it as his opinion that if the Museum
were managed with the same energy and watchfulness as Kensington, the French
nation might despair of rivalling it. It contained the finest specimens of Grecian
art, and of the transition period between Grecian art and Roman art, and though
certainly deficient in tne latter, it contained sufficient for the purpose
of a "link, by which the history of art might be transmitted
through the medieval period to the present time. That magnificent col-
lection, however, was nearly useless from its very bad arrangement. The system
connected with the British Museum was a bad system. The whole art collection
ought to be placed under one head, and one supervision. He believed Mr. Old-
field's plan was perfectly practical, and ho greatly regretted tliat he had left the
establishment. There was not, he admitted a more magnificent building than
the reading-room of the British Museum. He hoped that the magnificent col-
lection in the British Museum would be placed under proper supervision.
Mr. M. MiLNES hoped some improvements would take place, and that the
institution might be managed in such a way as to render it more useful and
satisfactory to the public.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer said everything connected with the
Museum had been found fault with. The government of the Museum, the build-
ing, the secretary, and all its arrangements had been objected to. All wished to
see the institution canied ont in all its objects in the best manner, but then they
did not all agree as to any definite plan. Professor Owen wanted an additional
55 acres for the Museum, and others thought two acres would be more than
enough. The Government were willing to adopt any consistent plan that would
aftbrd a large provision for the collections, and for a great length of time. The
Committee lately appointed had made a report, but it was difticult to say
whether that report expressed the sentiment of the House, and therefore the
Government were not prepared to act upon that report. The Committee them-
selves were divided as to whether the ethnological collections should not be
sep.irated from the others. Some of the Committee thought that separation
would be a violation of the implied understanding on which certain gifts and
bequests to the institution were made. There were those who thought that the
botanical coUectiou might be removed to another place. Government thought
626
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 26, 1861.
that whatever was done slioiild not of necessity be altered liereai'ier. Neitlier the
Government, nor the Goveinnient and tlie trustees, would do anything to contra-
vene the powers of that House ; hut the Government would not be bound by the
report of the Committee. He lielievW that the buildinp of the British Museum
would admit of structural improvements which would give increased accommo-
dation. Government did think there were means and opportunities for enlarging
the accommodation in the Museum for a considerable period of time. He
thonj^ht they had now allowed time enough to give a proper consideration of the
report of the Committee, and Government would, in concert with the triLstees,
consider what improvements sliould bo effeoted.
After a few words from Captain Jervis,
Mr. TiTE said it would be nothing less than a system of patching if they did
not considerably enlarge the space. The collection of the British Museum, the
llbrar>-, and the" reading-rooms were the finest in the world, and means should
be ta£en to show their appreciation of these advantages, and to aid best in their
preservation.
Mr. Walpole wished to say a few words on this subject. The Trustees of
the British Museum, in appointing Mr. Newton, had made an appointment that
could not but give great satisfaction. For himself, no one could have taken more
pains to insure the best appointments that could be made. As to the constitution
of the trustees, he preferred a single Government to a double one, because it
insured greater responsibility, and greater good to the institution. They could
not, he believed, have a better liody of men than they had at present, and he
hoped it would long continue to discharge its important duties. With respect to
the accommodation for the different collections, it would be premature for him
then to express an opinion; but the moment tlie recommendation of the Govern-
ment came before tlie Trustees it would be taken into their serious consideration.
He hoped, therefore, nothing would be done until they had an opportunity to
consider the question, which would take place as soon "as possible.
The Tote was then agreed to.
RESTORATION OF LEADENHAM CHURCH.
THE church of St. Swithin, at Leadenham, was re-opened lastiweek for
divine service, after an extensive restoration. The church consists of
chancel, chaoel on the north of chaucel, nave, north and south aisles, clerestory,
■western tower and spire, and north and south porches. The north porch is Per-
pendicular; its gable and side parapets are pierced with lozenges enclosing
qtiatrefoils, within which alternately are heads and foliage. It has two but-
tresses set diagonally at the angles "in front. There is a niche over the porch
door, the arch of which is four-centred, with mouldings running from base round
the head and returning to the base. The north door of the church externally is
pointed and beautifully moulded, surmounted with a triangular crocketted
canopy inclosing a niche. The arch consists of a series of mouldings, of which
two are supported by capitals, inclosing two others which run from the base
round the arch, and return to the base. The canopy and hood-mouldings
terminate in a bracket on either side, supported by corbel heads of very bold
character. Tliis door appears to us the oldest portion of the fabric. The nave
and aisles form a square of about 18 yards by 18. The nave is of three arches.
The arches are Decorated, and many" moulded. Tlie extremities of the arches
meet nt corbels at aboHt a foot above the capitals of the columns. The corbel
on which the external drip of the arches terminate are neither explicable nor
interesting, excepting those supporting the hood-mouldings of the arches next
the chancel arch, the north corbel in question representing in very bold relief a
figure bent double by a superincumbent weight, snatching at his beard by one
hand and at his breech by the other, struggling in this distortion to support the
pain he is apparently suffering, the corbel stone being flat above his shoulder to
receive perhaps an image. The corresponding corbel on the south, being a
cleric or draped figure (the former in breeches and doublet), supports the weight
of which it is the patient by tlie pressure of one hand upon the knee, the other
being thrown np backward to resist or to support the corbel stone. Two brackets
are also observable over the two middle columns of the north-aisle, at the junction
of the'.hood-mouldings: one a flat-faced satyr, chuckling and gloating over a
female head wearing an expression of agony and terror. The other bracket
in this aisle is supported by a five-leaved flower. The hood-mouldings
of arehes, windows, and doors of the nave are all supported by corbels
These exhibit no great power. The corbels supporting the hood-mouldings
of the arches on the north side of the middle aisle consist of two female heads and
two males alternately ; and all male heads on the south. Those of the north aisle
two male and two female, having expressions of horror and disgust. Similar ex-
pressions of horror are on the faces of two of the four heads which support the
bood-mouldings of the arches of the south aisle. The other two are more placid.
The head-dresses of the females, some of cloth overlapped and some plaited, and
the caps and coronets of the male beads show about the age of erection of these
corbels. The columns are Decorated, J cylindrical, a diminutive similar one,
more an ornament than substance, being inserted between each column, the
vertical bands on the faces of the columns being terminated under the capital by
a neck band before arriving at the capital, both beinor connected by an ornament
of detail. The third arch on cither side of the middle aisle to the east terminates
with a pier two feet in depth, to admit the roodloft in front of the chancel, this
pier being faced by a column of similar character to the others. The capitals flow
ont with two sets of circular mouldings, one projecting over the other, like a vase,
and have a neck moulding on the face of the column through which the vertical
fillet runs from base to capital. The windows of the north and south aisles are
similar, being curvilinear headed Perpendicular windows. The two on either of
the north and s<juth sides are of four lights each, and the one at east end of each
aisle is of five lights, being more or less sqaare in character, thecuspings similar,
the lights having ogee heads, the intervals between the points being filled with
foliated tracerj-, either trcfoiled or sixfoiled, of irregular size, and the sills well
elevated. The hood mouldings of the windows extend from the curve at right
angles down the jambs to the spring of the ogee heads, supported by corbels of
similar indecisive character to the rest. The arches of the nave are wide and
loftpr, and lay bare the slanting or lean-to roofs of the north and south aisles,
wbfeh roofc are unusually coarse and vulgar. The tower arch is laid open, and
a good pointed Perpendicular window on the west face of the tower disclored,
much to the relief of this Sfjuare and uninteresting interior. Originally both
western windows of the aisle were pointed, of three lights; they have both been
filled with modem and mean tracery. The clerestory is low, with three
windows on each side of two lights, of not dissimilar character and
tracery (if small things may be compared witli great) to the windows
of the nave. The doors within are of curvilinear detail ; the north
rather better pointed than the south. There are altar brackets: one on
each side of the east window of the south aisle, supported by corbel figures, one
on the back with bended knees, and the other by the hands and head. In the
south wall, near the east window of the south aisle, is a piscina witlj an ogee
canopy and floreated finial. Also a similar piscina in the south side of the east
window of the north aisle in the wall pier, between the easternmost columns of
nave and chancel. There is also an altar bracket in the face of one of the
responds to the nave columns, supported on the back of a figure, witli hands
closed in the attitude of prayer. The seats or pews were proprietary, and
extended over the upper half of the nave and aisles, and there were bw open
stalls in the lower portion before the restoration. The pulpit and reading-desk
were of plain tabernacled oak, a little removed, one above the other, at the
south-cast column of the nave. The chancel arch is of uniform charactsr with
the arches of the nave, but wider and loftier. The east window of the cliancel
has a pointed curvilinear head, and has inserted in it a painted window, pur-
chased in Belgium in 18-27 by the late rector, the Rev. Thomas Brown. This is
reputed to be a good window, at any rate its colors contrast in depth with the
kaleidoscopic window easternmost on the south side of the chancel. The three
other windows of the chancel (including the last mentioned), two on the south
and one on the north, are four-centred, of three lights, with plain cinquefoiled
heads, without tracery. The communion table is a tomb of the Beresfords.
From this point the effect of opening the western window of the tower is
immediately perceived, giving length and grace to the otherwise cubic form of
the nave. The chancerrooi is mean, tawdry, low-pitched, of deal, with yellow
stars upon a blue ground, and legends painted in illuminated letters upon the
cross beams, of which there are four. There are other illuminated legends in
Latin upon the principals and side plates. There are two brackets, one on either
side of the east window of the chancel, and a piscina in the south wall, divided
by a shelf with a plain ogee head, but no sedilia. Externally the south door of
the nave is of similar style to the north, but without a canopy ; internally both
doors are similar and curvilinear. In the door of the south porch the four-
centred arch has become nearly circular; this arch rests upon embattled capitals,
and is surmounted by a plain shield. The south porch is plainer than
the north, and would seem to have been built at the same period as
the chancel ; the north porch later. The buttresses to the south porch
are diagonal. On tlie east face of the tower is the tabling of the
former Decorated (fourteenth century) roof a little above the flat Perpendicular
(fifteenth century) roof of the present nave. The tower is of four stages,
lessening as they rise in height; with buttresses at right angles to each oSier
upon cither extremity of each face. The top stage of the tower has Perpeudieolar
windows. We nevertheless should style the to>ver Decorated. The parapet is
embattled, and has a eavetto mouIding;'under the cornice, ornamented with the
four-leaved flower. The spire, uniinposing but pretty, is crocketed, and is about
half the height of the tower, with two tiers of windows alternating on the face
of the octagon, the windows projecting. The parapet of the aisles is supported by
a corbel table, with a eavetto moulding within containing carved heads, foliage,
and the four-leaved flower. A succession of string-courses or mouldings rise
from a swelling basement to the sills of the windows, which, outside, are set at
something less than half the height within. The buttresses are set off in two
stages from the swell of the basement, and overlap beneath the parapet.
The present restoration may be said to consist of scraping, cleaning, pointing,
flooring, and new seating, a new roof upon the north porch, and warming appa-
ratus. The seating is too sliglit for effect. There is an eyesore in the church,
viz., the north window in the west end : this is perfect Victorian.
CROYDON CEMETERY.
THANKS to the exertions of the Local Board of Health, the parish of Croydon
now possesses a Cemetery every way worthy of its growing importance. 1
After contending with many difficulties in the selection of a suitable site, owiiis I
to the non-possession of compulsory powers of purcha.se, the Board at length S
obtained a sufficient quantity of land for the purpose, situate between the Wind-
mill-road and Bensham-lane, and which occupies, as nearly as possible, a central
position in the large area of district under the control of the Board.
The consecration of the new cemetery was performed last week.
The grounds have been laid out ,aiid the buildings erected, from the designs, ^
and under the superintendence of, Mr. C. E. Robins, of 19, Arundel-street, /
Strand, evidences of whose architectural skill may be found in various parts ol
Croydon, and who has so successfully carried out the alterations and improve- '
mcnts in the Town-hall. This gentleman was the successful competitor amongst
twelve, named by the Board of Health, for the best design of the buildings and
ground.
The cemetery ground comprises 22 acres of land, of which 11 acres have been
enclosed with dwarf stone walls and handsome iron railings, and of these 11 acres
four arc reserved for Dissenters. There are three recessed entrances, with carved
and moulded Bath stone piers between the carriage and foot gates. These
entrances are connected with straight roadways 20 feet wide, at right angles with
each other, the chapels being situated on the east of their intersection— the Dis-
senters' chapel on the reserved land, and the Episcopal chapel on the consecrated
portion of the ceraeterv. Wide gravel carriageways surround and divide the
chapels, which are connected with each other by the two covered carriage en-
trances. The tower and spire of the Episcopal chapel is raised over its entrance.
On the opposite side of each chapel is a door of exit; and the vestries of each
chajiel have separate entrances both to the chapels and grounds.
The lodge is situated on the south side of the west entrance gateways, and
marks the commencement of the principle carriage way leading direct to
the chapels, between avenues of cypresses, yews, arbores vitaj, deoderas,
hollies, &c. All the other can-iage ways are 10 feet wide, and are laid out in
pleasingly curved lines, between avenues of yews and other shrubs. Plantations
of shrubs and trees encircle the ground, next the iron railings. The level ot the
ground is varied ; the banks have been raised and slopes formed, to relieve the flat-
ness of the surface of the land. The chapels are also elevated three feet above the
general level of the grounds. „ .,. i a r
The style adopted for the buildings is the Decorated or Curvilinear period ot
English Medieval architecture. Each of the chapels consists of a siniple nave,
with open timbered roofs, but the Episcopal chapel has the addition of a semi-
octagonal apse at the east end ; and while the under side of the rafters ot the
Dissenters' chapel is ceiled with plaster, that of the Episcopal is boarded, stained,
July 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
627
and varnished a shade lighter than the carved trusses which sustain the roof,
and whicli terminate on elej;antl.v carved stone corbels.
Tlie carvinc, executed "by Mr. Redfearn, is extremely beautiful, and the
desi(?ns of each of the numerous bosses, corbels, and terminals, are different, and
represent some Euylisli fruit or flower — the rose, tlie lily, the shamrock, the oak,
the thistle, the thorn, the vine, the currant, the columbine, and the maple, all
finding a place. Figxires of angels, heads of saints, and grim griffins, also appear
in suitable positions, and none more effectively than at the four angles of the base
of the spire. No symbolism is introduced in the decoration of the Dissenters'
Chapel, but, in addition to the crosses surmounting the gables of the Episcopal
Chapel, the corbels inside, upon which the trusses rest, give representations of
" .\gnu8 dei," the pelican in her piety, the emblems of the Four Evangelists, the
angel, the lion, the bull and the eagle, angels holding shields with the monogram
I.H.S., and with open bibles.
The heads of all the windows are filled with open tracery, and the grey tone of
the Kentish rag, contrasting witli the white Bath stone dressings, has a most
agreeable effect, which is increased by the relief given to the roof slating by the
introduction of cut slates in bands of red and blue.
Both the chajwls are paved with ornamental tiles, in small tessera;, with en-
caustic tile centres. Double coffin rests, of oak, with brass runners, have been
furnished, and these will stand in the central aisle, between the seats appropriated
to the mourners, and in front of tlie carved screen for the minister.— iocfl? /laper.
^ THE LKGAL LIABn.ITIES OF ARCHITECTS AND BUILDERS.*
"DUILDEKS are not in all cases aware of the real effects of the clauses
I X) of their contracts with regard to the architect's certificate, particu-
larly where the certificate is made a condition precedent, that is— some-
I thing which must be received, before there is any right to payment under
the contract. A building contract contained a proviso that the several
payments agreed to be made to the builder should only be due, provided
the certificate of the surveyor of the employer for the time being should
first be obtained, and an action having been brought for the balance alleged
to be due on the contract, it was held that under the general issue the
absence of tlie certificate of the surveyor was a good answer to the action;
and that the plaintifi" was not at liberty to show that it was withheld
fraudulently or collusively with the defendants.
I Much doubt and uncertainty is often felt by the most experienced archi-
tect in dealing with questions aflTecting the rights of adjoining owners,
and party structures; the nature and extent of right possessed, and " how
far party -walls may be interfered with, without encroaching on the rights
of adjoining proprietors, are questions which frequently arise in building
operations." It is said that if the adjoining owner has a right to support
froni a party-wall, and damage accrue by reason of an adjoining house
having been taken down, without the party- wall having been properly
underpinned, he will have a right of action for the damage. But it should
be clearly ascertained that the adjoining owner really is possessed of such
right to support, and to determine this is in many cases no easy matter.
In the absence of a right of support, an adjoining owner should himself,
■ on receiving notice of contemplated works, shore up his premises, for if they
fall, or are otherwise injured by the necessary works, he has no remedy.
A plaintifi' being nonsuited, upon a rule obtained to set aside the nonsuit,
it was held that as the plaintiff had not alleged or proved any right to have
his house supported by the defendant's house he was bound to protect
himself by shoring, and could not complain that the defendant had ne-
glected to do it. The facts of this case are considered to be important and
are given at length. Two houses were very old and decayed, the party-
wall between them weak and defective ; for some time struts had been
carried across the street to keep defendant's house from falling westward,
and, consequently, the adjoining, or the plaintiflFs, house from falling in
^ the same direction. When defendant's house was taken down those
^ struts were necessarily removed, and no others were substituted to keep
up plaintitTs house, which then fell. It did not appear whether the two
houses had been erected at the same time or at different times, but from
their construction it seemed likely that they had been built about the same
time. The freehold was then in different hands, and it was also most
probably the case that it was in different hands at the time the houses
were erected.
A tenant in common of a party-wall has a right of action against a
builder (we quote Mr. Glen's work) employed by the other tenant for
puUmg it down carelessly and rebuilding it with unreasonable delay ;
special damage being laid, damage to fixtures, loss to business, &c.
It is further observed that the mere circumstance of juxta-position does
not render it necessary for a person who pulls down his wall to give notice
of his intention to the owner of an adjoining wall which rests upon it ;
and that he is not even liable for carelessly pulling down his wall, if he
had not notice of the existence of the adjoining wall— provided, however,
that the adjoining owner, had not a right to support from the wall.
Where several houses belonging to one owner are built together, there
IS a mutual right of support, which is not lost by reason of the owner
■^ parting with one or more of the houses, at the same or at different times.
Correspondents who so frequently refer to us on party-wall questions,
will find a good deal of useful information on this subject. The law is
briefly stated thus : —
w.^i'^ii'"'"'"" "^"^ '"'^.' '" ""■ "■■" ''"^''' ^ '•'!?'"• on no«<:'^. ^ Pu" down the party-
wall, howovei- mconvenient to the adjolningowncr, who also has a right to challenn.e
» Its necessity, and to appoint surveyors and an umpire to determine the question.
_ mere is another fruitful source of trouble to many of our non-profes-
eional readers, who do not invariably see the advantage of at once re-'
ferring such matters to the care of an architect, and that is the omission
on the part of the builder to reinstate the finishings, &c., in the adjoining
• See page 612 ante.
house. In a case where a person had pulled down a party-wall, which ho
rebuilt without restoring the decorations, on a motion for a mandamus the
Court held that it was not competent for the person so injured to compel
by mandamus the reinstatement under tlie Building Act, but that his
remedy was by action against the person causing the injury.
In Scotland, it is said, where a house is divided into flats, each flat
belonging to a different owner, the proprietor of the ground floor is
bound, merely by the nature and condition of his property, without any
servitude or contract, not only to bear the weight of the upper story, but
to repair his own property, in order that it may be capable of bearing
that weight ; and as the proprietor of the ground story is obliged to
uphold it for the support of the upper, the owner of the upper must uphold
his story as a roof or cover to the lower.
With regard to the question of quantities, mooted more'thaa once in our
pages, we read —
It is not a usual practice for architects to make out the bUls of particulars or
quantities for work to be done. Architects of the hiifhcat class never do so, and,
indeed, the practice is reprobated in the profession.
We need not now inquire how far this remark liolds good, what notable
exceptions there are to the rule, nor whether the practice reprobated is
not, in fact, worthy of more favorable consideration. We have now to
consider the case from another point of view. It was considered to be
established by the evidence in the case of Kemp v. Rose that it is neither a
usual nor a safe course for the architect to prepare bills of quantities, as
in consequence of his having done so in that case, the statement which he
furnished was held to be of the essence of the contract. When an archi-
tect does himself supply a bill of quantities, he may become personally
liable to the contractor for any loss sustained in consequence of any error
on his part.
A builder sued an architect to recover damages for supplying to him,
the plaintiff,. an inaccurate statement of the quantities of work and
materials required for the erection of a building which the nlaintiff con-
tracted to erect. The defendant advertised for tenders, stating that the
plans and specifications could be seen, and that the quantities would be
furnisiied. The plaintiff obtained from the defendant's ofiice the bills of
quantities, headed by a statement that it was to be paid for by the success-
ful competitor. From these bills the plaintiff calculated his tender, which
was accepted. For the plaintiff, it was contended, that independently of
the computations, there was an implied undertaking in law that the bills
of quantities paid for by the plaintiff should be reasonably correct : and
for the defendants, it was contended, that there was no contract between
the architect and the builder ; that the committee had stipulated with the
plaintiff that he should pay the architect, and that the architect was not
liable to the builder. Mr. Justice Byles directed the jury that the
defendant had stipulated that the plaintiff should pay him for the bills of
quantities, and having heen paid for them was liable to compensate him
if the bill was not reasonably correct.
In one case, Moore v. Guardians of the Witney Union, a dispute having
arisen between the architect and employers, the latter refused to go on with
the building, upon which the architect sent in his bill to them, together
with the surveyor's bill for taking out the quantities, and they paid the
architect's bill only. An action having been brought against the guardians
for the recovery of the amount of the surveyor's bill, it was held that as
the defendants had by their own act in refusing to go on with the building
rendered it impossible that the " successful competitor " should pay the
charges according to the understanding and custom, they were liable to
pay them. Because it is the usage of architects to have their quantities
taken out by surveyors, and for the successful contractor to add the amount
of the surveyor's charge to his contract. If the party proposing to build
refuses to employ any builder, he is liable to the surveyor employed by his
architect, it being considered that the architect has authority from him to
employ the surveyor.
The information given on the law with regard to competitions is, as
may be expected, rather scanty; little more seems to be known than that
when an architect, or other qualified person, enters into competition with
others in submitting designs and estimates for works, and his plans are
accepted, if his designs are afterwards entrusted t" others to be carried
into execution he will be entitled to be compensated for the trouble and
expense he was put to in respect of his designs ; and the same applies to
a builder, &c., who prepares a tender which is accepted, and the execution of
the works afterwards given to another. But to give an architect or builder
a legal right to recover compensation for such services there must be an
express or implied contract or retainer ; if such be wanting the demand
cannot be enforced. In all such cases the terms of the announcement
should be carefully examined. Most of our readers are, however, aware
that a builder has a right to recover compensation if the work be
relinquished. It need not be given to another to carry out in order to
create a right of action; and the same may be said of architects' designs,
though some haze has been allowed to settle over the question as regards
competitions. In a case where designs, sent by railway, by negligence did
not arrive at their destination until after the appointed day, it seems that
the damages were to be measured by the value of the labor and materials
expended in preparing the design, and not by the chance of obtaining the
prize, as the latter was considered too remote a ground for assessing
damages.
2Vie Engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Worlis. — At the meeting
of the Metropolitan Board of Works held on Friday last, at their offices in
Spring-gardens, the salary of Mr. Bazalgette, engineer of the Board, was ad-
vanced, in accordance with a recommendation from the Finance Committee,
from £1,000 to £1,200 per annum, by a majority of 31 to C.
628
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 26, 1861.
AA'NUAL MKETIKG OF THE BUILDEES' BEKEVOLEKT
INSTITUTION.
ON WedBrtdnT afternoon the fourtfiiith annual meeting of the subscribers and
Wends of this charity was hold at tlie London Tavern, Bishopsgatc-street, when
the chair was occupied by the I'resident for the year, Gkouge I'n cknett, Esq.
Amoncst the other (gentlemen present we noticed ^lC8Br8. Joseph Bird, Gcorsfc Head,
John Thorn. Ke«din$r Watts, I'harles Fish, Thomas Stirling, Thomas Cozens, John
Horris. Richard Head, liichard Kiiharilson, S. L. Mann, ic.
Mr. Harris. Secretary of the Institution, read the following report :—
The Dircciors. in subriiittins; their fourteenth anni '^1 report to the subscribers
haro mocb gratiticatitm in luloriuiu*: them that the pi ogress of the Society is both
cheering and satisfactory, and they hope that the success, which, after an arduous
gtrngijle, has t)cen so tar proved, tiiougli not equal to their wishes or expectations,
will stimulate their liind supporters to still greater exertions. They arc pleased to
aniuuuioe that there is an iucrease in the amount of the annual subscriptions, from
which it may l>e inferred that the bouetits of the Institution are increased in the
iqipreciation of their trades. And the friends and subscribers are earnestly requested
to— Igiaeut, by personal canvass and reconunendation.'this valuable and principal
source* of income, so that the present applicants, all of whom are most necessitous
and urgent cases, may be admitted at the next or subsequent elections of pen-
sioners. The amount of the subscriptions and donations for the past twelve months
la £1,326; annual subscriptions, £841 8s. 6d., and donations, £484 12s., showing an
iOBnmee in the annual subscriptions oi .€3.'! 8s. Cd., and the donations for the same
period of £111 5s. (id. The Directors have been enabled to make a further
mTcatment of stock in .3 per cent, consols of £701 .'is. 7d., £01< lis. Id. for the
KeUef Fimd, which includes the profit of the ball in February, 1861, and £8i lis.
6d. for the Building Fund. The funded property of the Institution is thus raised to
£7,812 lis. 4d.— viz., fc.,565 (is. fld. stock for the Kelief Fund, and £2.247 4s. 7d. for
the Building Fund, with a balance at the bankers' of £4«0 13s. 3d. Two elections
of pensioners have been held during the past year, the first in November,
1S«0, when two were elected (Robert Clements and Sarah Cain), and the second
in May, 1861, when four were chosen (Thomas Barry, John Brothill, Mary A.
ftuTiell, and .Tulia Garrod). The deaths during the year were as follows : — ,Iane
Wllkins. Brighton, elected May, 186*i: Robert G. Miller, elected November, 18S«.
Since the commencement of the Institution in 1847, the sum of £0,237 ISs. 4d. has
been paid to pensioners. Twenty-eight liave died since that period ; thirty-three arc
now on the funds of the Institution, making the total number relieved by the charity
sixty-one. The subscriptions and donations received at the annual dinner held at
the London Tavern in October last, amounted to i£473 lis. M., an increase over the
preceding year of £y8 Is., and the ball which took place in February gave the
Satifying profit of £113 3». nd. At a meeting of the Board of Directors held on
onday last, a letter was read from W. B. Powys, Esq., solicitor, informing them of
the decease of Robert Forest. Esq., of Slontague-place, Clapham-road, and that he
bad bequeathed to the charity the sum of £1,000 to be paid on the decease of his
widow. Thereupon the following resolutionwas unanimously agreed to and ordered
to be entered on the minutes : — " That this Board cannot record the decease of Robert
Wart9t, Esq., without expressing its deep sense of the lasting obligation which is due
to his memory." The directors.when they see so many unsuccessful applicants whom
they were at the recent election obliged to send away with heavy hearts from the
want of funds to elect more, cannot but regret that there are still so many persona
connected with the trades for whose relief this charity was established, who
have not yet responded to their appeals for aid and assistance. This
they do not attribute to want of inclination, but simply that perhaps many so
situate have not thought sufficiently on the subject, and to such they again appeal
for subscriptions to enable them to relieve from the pangs of poverty, those who
were formerly in comfort and affluence, but who are now in their old age reduced to
privation and distress. The directors have the gratification of announcing that the
Right Hon. the Lord Mayor has consented to again become the I'resident of the
iDBtitntion, and for the third time to preside at the annual dinner, in October next.
With the patronage and support of one so peculiarly qualified to represent the
interests of builders and their charity, it is hoped that the annual dinner of 1801 will
prove one of note, and that all those interested in the success of the Society will rally
ronnd his Lordship, and by their liberality place the Builders' Benevolent Institution
where, from the wealth of^its representatives it ought to be, one of the foremost of
the noble charities of the metropolis.
Mr. George Bird, having resigned the office of Treasurer to the Institution, the
directors talic this opportunity of expressing to that gentleman their warmest
thanks for the energy and liberality which from the commene< ment of the Institu-
tion, he has ever evinced, and which, in their opinion, has so materially contributed
to advance the interests and prosperity of the-charity.— The Directors have the satis-
faction of stating that George I'lucknctt, Esq., has kindly consented to become the
Treasurer of the Institution.
The CiiAinMAS. in moving the adoption of the report, dared say that it was the
most satisfactory one they had had since the formation of the Society. In the history
of acharity of such consequence the present was the first occasion in which it was
■Dnonnccd in the report that a bequest in its behalf had been received, and it
i^ipeared to him that the Institution was In a most satisfactory condition, that it was
progressing and growing, as was evidenced by its annual receipts and donations.
There was also an increase in the numlwr of subscribers, for during the past year
they had sixty-nine new members. There was no doubt that the Society was com-
paratively a young one, having been established only about fourteen years, but it
was most surprising how Its progress in late years had taken place ; and it was most
gratifying to find that the larte employers of^labor, the great builders of this melro-
polii, had of late piven to it large subscriptions, and that some of them had taken
great interest in the service of the Institution. No doubt, like all large and growing
concerns, this required great vigilance and energy on the part of all who took an
active interest in its success ; but it could not be doubted that before long (his would
be an Institution worthy of the great building trades of the metropolis, and that it
would b< a charity which would represent a large and important branch of business
in the metropolis. He sincerely hoped that the great feeling of philanthrojihy would
be Indulged in not by those engaged in the building business, but by all tlie trades
connected with it. They had to congratulate themselves at the presence at their
annual dinners of merchants who supplied them with materials, and it was to such
gentlemen, as well as to builders, the promoters of the Institution earnestly appealed
lor support, for they might feel assured that there was no charity more deserving
or more worthy of their kind consideration.
The report was unanimously adopte-d.
„^r. W ATTg remarked that when in the country he met a bnlldcr, and asked him
Ifhebclorged to the Builders' Benevolent Institution. He replied, "No, 1 know
nothing alxint it." He said, " Will you become a member of it?" and he at once
Mswtrid in the affirmative, and authorised liim to give his name as a subscriber.
Me had no donbt that many others would do the same thing if they only knew of the
existence of such an instltuUon.
Mir. JojEPU Bird moved the next resolntion, "That the thanks of the meeting
shl* off h I if*''' .''''T,'"""' ^*1" fo' •■'» ""PPort and Bcrvices during his preeldcnt-
Mr. CozEHS seconded the motion, which was carried by acclamation.
The CnAtBUAls retumedthanks for the kind expression of feeling shown towards
V J. ■ **" '■'■'7 Brest satisfaction in Icing able to assist this most desirable
^ Zt "° *', " *"' due to him for any aid he had rendered, for it was the
aoty or erery one placed in the position » hich he occupied as the President to do all
heconldtopnmotc th< welfare and prosperity of such an Instiiuticn. The care,
anxiety, and Interest shown In the prosperity and succees of the charity by the
members generally had Ken to him most agreeable. Great care had been taken, he
wsshsppy toflnd, thatlbe Lenettts of the Institution should be properly applied,
and that relief should be given to the most necessitous and most deserving objects.
Mr. Head moved— "That the thanks of the meeting be given to the patrons of the
Institution, and that George Plucknett. Esq., be added to their number."
Mr. Richardson seconded the motion, which was unanimously agreed to.
Mr. Head, Jun., moved— "That the thanks of the meeting be given to the Vice-
Presidents of the Institution, and that the following gentlemen be added to their
number :— Messrs. William Morris, William Styles, T. Ferguson, T H Lewis
William Downs, WilUam Uiggs, Thomas Robinson, and the Rev. Edmund (jrake " '
Mr. Thomas Stirling seconded the motion.— Carried.
Mr. John TnoRN moved— "That the thanks of the meeting be given to the trus-
tees, the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor, and Messrs. Stephen Bird, &. Spencer Smith
and Joshua Higgs, for their services to the Institution." He needed not to say that
such an institution as that on behalf of which tliey had assembled looked up for suc-
cess to its management, and, looking at the names of the trustees, there was little
doubt of the ultimate success of the Institution. They all knew the valuable ser-
vices the Lord Mayor had rendered to the Institution ; he had been twice I'resident
of the Society ; but when asked again to occupy the same position, he willingly
agreed to do so, and also to preside at their annual dinner in October next. 'The
present was not a political meeting, but he trusted that In a few days the Lord Mayor
would be one of the members In I'ariiament for the City of London, for he was a
gentleman whom they all highly respected, and a gentleman who had the good
opinion of the citizens of London— (Applause). Looking at his business habits, and
his fine manly and generous feeling, the citizens of London could not have a better
man to represent them— (Applause).
Mr. Richardson seconded the motion. — Carried.
Mr. J. Bird moved the next resolution—" That Mr. George Bird having declined
to be placed in nomination again for the oflicc of Treasurer, the thanks of this
meeting be given to tliat gentlemnn for his unceasing energy and kind exertions to
promote the jirosperlty of the Institution." He hoped that though Mr. George Bird
had sent in his resignation as Treasurer, he would still contmue to be an active
member of the Institution — (Hear, hear).
Mr. Watts seconded the motion. ^^arried.
Mr. Watts moved—" That the thanks of the meeting be given to the Directors
for th cir support and services during the past year, and that the names of those
retiring by rotation, those eligible for re-election, and new candidates be read, viz.,—
retiring by rotation, Messrs. W. H. Collingford, O. Grayson, G. Head, Jun., Richard
Head, David Nicholson, S. J. Stephens, T. StIrUng, B. Yeo, Wilfred Nicholson;
eligible for re-election, G. Head, Jun., R. Head, D. Nicholson, S. J. Stephens, T.
Stirling, K. 1 eo, W. Nicholson ; new candidates, William Harrap and Matthew
Hall."
Mr. Bird seconded the motion, and the gentlemen eligible for re-election and the
new candidates were elected.
Mr. Head, Jun., moved— "That the thanks of the meeting be given to the Ball
Committee and the Stewards for their kind assistance."
Mr. Watts seconded the motion.— Carried.
Mr. Bird moved—" That the thanks of the meeting be given to the Chairman of
the Brighton Branch Institution, the Committee, and the Hon. Secretary, Mr. Creorge
Maynard for their aid and efficient services."
Mr. Richardson seconded the motion. — Carried.
Mr. Stirling moved—" That the thanks of the meeting be given to the Auditors,
Messrs. J. H. Hunter and S. H. Head, for their valuable and efficient services,
and that they be requested to continue the same for the ensuing year."
Mr. Cozens seconded the motion. — Carried.
Mr. Cozens moved the next resolution,—" That the thanks of the meeting be
given to the honorary solicitors. Messrs. Jacques, Edward and Co., for their services
to the Institution." Ho was happy to say the services of those gentlemen had not
been much required, but they were always willing to come forward when needed.
Mr. Richardson seconded the motion.— Carried.
Mr. Thorn proposed " That the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor be President for the
next year." In former years Mr. Cubitt had done a great deal for the Builders'
Benevolent Institution, and he felt quite certain that that gentleman would not
relax his exertions in the coming year.
The Chairman seconded the motion, and in so doing congratulated the meeting
upon the prospect of having the Lord Mayor to preside over the Institution, owing
to the great interest which his lordship had always taken in all matters relating to
it. The fact of the Lord Mayor becoming President of the Institution, would, in nis
opinion, materially contribute to its success — (Applause).
Tlie motion was carried by acclamation.
Mr. Cozens moved, " That Mr. Plucknett, their Chairman, be appointed treasurer
for the ensuing year, in the room of Mr. Bird, resigned."
Mr. Watts seconded the motion, and in so doing remarked that although he
had known Mr. Plucknett for many years he bad never seen him out of temper —
(Applause).
'The motion was carried by acclamation.
Mr. Cozens observed that the late treasurer (Mr. Bird) was instrumental in
obtaining from the Builders' Society a subscription of £25 per annum in aid of the
Institution — (Applause).
On the motion of Mr. Bird, a vote of ttianks to the Chairman wag carried by
acclamation, and the meeting separated.
ROTAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
A SPECIAL GENERAL MEETIXG of the members of the Institute was held on
Monday evening last, at half-past eight o'clock, to reconsider the subject of the
Thames Embankment, with the view of obtaining a proper recognition of the artistic
element in the scheme by the public and by the (government ; to make such regu-
lations concerning the Certificate of Membership about to be issueel as may seem
expedient, pursuant to a requisition signed by Messrs. Edmeston, Seddon, Ashpitel,
.1. W. Papworth, C. Barry, Kerr, Salvin, jun., and Gray, Fellows; and to consider
whether it be desirable to take notice of the manner in which the design for the
Exhibition Building of 1862 has l»een obtained, pursuant to a requisition signed by
Messrs. Burges, Kerr, Hayward, St. Aubyn, Truefitt, Seddon, Bury, and Stride,
Fellows.
The chair was taken by Mr. Kerr, who read the notice convening the meeting.
Sneaking fVom memory only, we believe that,
Mr. Seddon proposed a resolution to the effect that a committee be appointed to
watch the jiroceedings of the authorities in tlie matter with reference to the artistic
elements of the scheme.
M r. Edm eston, in seconding the resolution, drew the attention of the Institute to
the plan proposed to be adopted, which, as he had been informed, comprised merely
a roadway along the banks of the river.
5Ir. (joDwiN remarked that the greatest caution should be taken by the Institute
In proceeding in matters of this kind, lest they obtained a character for unjustifiable
interference.
Sir. BoLLNOiB thougbt that the Institute was called upon to represent the
interests of the public in architectural matters, and that this was a case in
point.
Mr. Feroebon considered that in this case there would be no scope for taste, as,
if he was correctly informed, it was merely jiroposed to construct a soUd earth em-
bankment or road 4 feet above high-water level.
Mr. John Paitvohth said in that case there would be room for the display of
taste in the construction of the wall.
Mr. AsiiriTEL entered into some explanation of the present state of thewholo
question, and thought that sonic steps should be taken in time, so that it would
not be possible to say In reply to any deferred movement, it Is now too late.
Mr. Street was of opinion that great difficulty would arise in the question of
taste. He thought the members themselves would not readily agreo on the
point.
July 26, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
629
Mr. BoiiLsois said that what they as architects liad to loolt after was the palpable
principles of design, those principles were not known to enjfiueers, and the Institute
should take cognizance of the matter. Two bridg:eB over the river Thames had
been constructed with centre piers.
Mr. IHuKUAv (we believe) staled that he had just returned from the Continent, and
at some trouble had attended the mectlDg, because he could not conceive what ritjht
—that was, perhaps, too strong a word— he would say he could not conceive why
the Institute should Interfere at all in the matter. Mr. Murray spoke at some length,
and was followed by
r Mr. AsHPiTEt, who entered into some further explanations. Finally, with a
slight modification, the resolution was carried with one dissentient.
On the question of the Certificate of -Membership, Jlessrs. John Papworth,
Street, Bdroeb, and others, spoke at some length, and finally a resolution was pro-
posed that " It is inexpedient that such certificate be issued at present." This was
carried, with two dissentients.
A copy of the design for the certificate of membership was laid on the table, and
the members may congratulate each other that the above resolution has been
carried. It is understood that at any rate in its present form, it is definitely with-
drawn.
On the design of the Kxhibition building, Mr. Burges proposed, and Mr. Seddon
seconded a resolution to the effect that it is desirable for the Institute to take some
notloe of the way in which the design was obtained.
Messrs. Boiii-Noia, Asiii'itel, IIayward, Street, and J. Tapworth took part
in a discussion which followed.
Mr. .Tames J^erghson, however, offered an explanation of the regulations and cir-
onmstanees under which Captain Fowke has been appointed to the position of archi-
tect to the Commissioners, an explanation which was immediately followed by a
withdrawal, generally agreed to, of the motion on the part of the proposers, when the
proceedings terminated.
IMPORTANT TO BUILDERS— UfFRINGEMENT OF THE
BUILDING ACT.
W ISAAC BAXTER, builder, of 49, Greenfield- street, Commercial-road, was
. siunraoned before Air. Barker, by the district surveyor for the parisii of St.
Pancras, " for that you on the 29th of June, 18G1, in doing certain work to or
upon a building, situate on the north side of Pratt-street, Caraden-town (lately
the Burying Ground Chnsel). within the limits of the Metropolitan Building Act
18iJ5, did do certain things contrary to certain rules of the said Act, to wit, did
erect a portico in front of the said building constructed of woodwork and brick
Hogging instead of brick, tile, stone, artificial stone, slate, cement or other fire-
proof material, &c., section 26, rule 1."
The defendant pleaded not guilty, and said all that he had done was to remove
the portico from one part of the building. It was of the same material and
therefore would not be a new erection.
Mr. Baker said on tlie 12tb of June the defendant gave him notice that he was
going to make an opening at the back of the building, and also to fi.x a portico.
When he viewed the place he found a large portico, but instead of its being open
it was closed, and was composed of brick nogging, half of brick and half of wood.
Even the brickwork is too thin, for it was only four inches in thickness and it
should be nine.
Mr. Mould (chief clerk) to the defendant : H ave you obtained permisfflon from
the Metropolitan Board of Works ?
Defendant : No, but I have sent to them. The portico is 18 feet from any
building and 30 feet from the highway. It was not dangerous.
Mr. Baker said the portico was made of wooden columns, and the entablature
was of wood. If he was to pass that one he should have to pass others.
The Defendant : I do not believe I have infringed the Act of Parliament, for
the portico was no more than erecting a summer-house. It was no erection.
Mr. Baker : The defendant gave me notice, so that he liimself thought it was
an erection.
Mr. Barker said he was satisfied that the defendant had infringed the Act of
Parliament, and ordered that the erection should be removed within 14 days.
^Kau
^^Bori
• —
Church find Conventual Arrangement, With copimm Referenees, a com-
plete Glossnry and an Index, and Illustrated by a series of Ground-plans
and Plates of the Arrangement of Churches in Different Countries and
at Successive Periods, and of the Conventiud Plans adopted by the
Various Orders. By Mackenzie, E. C. Walcott, M.A., F.S.A.) 8vo.
Pp. 222. Atchley and Co.
THIS work will in some measure be familiar to the readers of the Building
News, ina.smucli as it is based on a paper read before the Institute of
British Architects, and reported by us. In addition to careful revision, not, as
It struck us at the time of its former publication, altogether unneeded, it is now
augmented with considerable additions, copious references to authorities, notes on
orientation, wooden churches, the Benedictine, Cistercian, Clugniac and Car-
Ithusian orders,— bells, organs, ofticers of a monasterj', ecclesiastical vestments,
"*;c., a plossaiy of the more difficult words whicli occur in Anglo-Saxon and
tedieval charters and chronicles, a very complete index, and seventeen plates,
absolutely necessary in a work of the kind, of church and cathedral plans from
various sources, all very carefully executed. The same terms of commendation
cannot however be applied to the frontispiece, the chapel of St. Pierre, Caen, and
the only view in the book ; it is badly drawn, looks very like an old block pressed
into a service for which it was never intended, and should be withdrawn in a
future edition.
Part I. contains a comprehensive review of the general arrangements found in
the Byzantine, Basilican, Lombardic, Continental, and British styles of architec-
ttu-e; Part II. explains the various conditions and arrangements of particular
features in conventual church arrangements; and Part III. the arrangement of
conventual buildings.
We may give, as an example of the way in which the subject is treated, the
author's reinarks on orientation : —
The principle of the derivation of orientation has been questioned, as far as it
turns to the opinion that our .Saviour died with His face to the south, or in the direc- >
tion of the choir to that part of the sky in which the sun rose on the day of dedica-
tion of the church. Orientation, an ancient tradition, and a usual custom in France
and England, was never a law of the church, nor a Komau custom ; it points clearly
to an Kastern origin ; and the Greek ornaments of the Lower Kmpire appear even
m isorman architecture. Fergnsson considers it to be essentially a rule of the
northern nations. The old Knglish " Homily on Wake-days," Isidore. the "Gemma
Animae, Durandus, and Walifrid Strabo, mention simply the reason that Chris-
tians always prayed towards the East. VioUet le Due argues that the declination
depended on mere constructional causes. .St. Michael's, Coventry, St. Mary's, Strat-
ford-on-Avon, Stuttgard, Canterbury, Tynemouth, IJosham, Lichfield, and York
bent to the south, and St. JIary's, York, Bridlington, and St. Ouen's to the north.
It was frequently the case that the consecration did not comcide with the date of the
completion of a church. M. Thiers gives nine reasons for orientation, but does
not hint at a deflection. At Kome the entrance was frequently on the east side, and
and in this CISC the priest at the altar fronted the people. St. IJenoit, at I'aris, had
doors on the east. M. de Caumoiit, however, observed this dedecticn in more than
one hundred churches of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, as at (iuimpcrs,
Le Jlaur, St. Cyr, Faris, Bayeux, St. Denis, and Nevers, in each case the declinatioa
being to the right, or north side. M. Illavignuc argues to the same effect, but In-
stances the exceptional declination of Ceneva to tlie south. Mr. Parker admits that
many deflections are incapable of constructional explanation. Symbolical reasons
and influences of the site no doubt concurred in determining the ground-plan. The
earliest instance of symbolism, probably, was the beautiful idea of leaving the Church
of the Ascension without a roof.
" Church and Conventual Arrangements " is a valuable work, but one or two
errors are observable. The abbot's lodging at Wenloek is said, at page 130, to be
on the north-ea%t side ; wliereas it is correctly shown on the plau at page 05 to
be on the south-east ; and we cannot agree with the writer that the dormitory
stood over tlie south aisle at the same place, nor that the dormitory of the con-
versi stUl remains.
Collieries and Colliers, a Handbook of the Law and Leading Cases
Relating thereto. By John Coke Fowleb, Esq. iIGmo. Longman,
Green, Longman and Roberts.
IS an intelligibly written little work, which will go far towards it, if it does
not entirely fill up a gap in miuiug literature, more particularly with
reference to the great interests involved in coal mining.
The work is intended as one of convenient reference for non- professional
persons who are concerned in collieries, rather than as a guide to professiooal
men, who are furnished with the best authorities on the subject, it, therefore,
considers as briefly as possi'ule the general rules which govern tliis kind of pro-
perty, while abstruse questions of real property law connected with the working,
sale, and letting of strata of coal are refeiTed to incidentally. The ditficiut
subject of the rating of collieries, has, it seems, occupied much of tlie attention
of the author, and he has further availed himself of all the information within
his reach. 'The conclusions at which he has arrived are uncertain and unsatis-
factory, and the intervention of the Legislature is much to be desired, in order
to place the rating of this class of property upon one uniform and intelligible
basis.
The advantage of being able to refer to leading cases on any particular point
has induced the writer, in many instances, to quote the whole or parts of judg-
ments illustrating the matter under consideration. The value of this feature of
the book will not fail to be appreciated.
It is a general maxim of the common law that whatever is in a direct line between
the surface of any land and the centre of the earth belongs to the owner of the surface.
Hence, the owner of freehold land has aright to all tue minerals underneath the
surface, with the exception of Koyal mines.
But in some cases, and ofjen in mineral districts, the ownership of the surface
is vested in one person, while another person, or more than one, may own the
successive seams below the surface. The offence known as working out of
bounds, accidentally or otherwise, often arises out of this condition of holding.
To avoid this, kind of trespass, and the expense and responsibility it involves, it is
recommended that proper underground surveys be constructed by competent
surveyors, which would serve to prevent such trespasses as are not wilful and
intentional.
It is hardly within our province to consider at great length the contents of
this useful work, which contains chapters on the several mining rights, of leases
of mineral property, covenants to work coal, title by prescription, fixtures,
rights of way, rights connected with the flow of water, partnership in collieries,
contract of hiring between masters and colliers, rating of collieries, injuries
caiLsed by mining, inundations and barriers, working out of bounds, coals lying
under railways and canals, accidents, the truck system, combinations among
workmen, and criminal laws relating to collieries. The appendix gites forms for
a lease of a colliery, a lease of coal in a settled estate under 19 and 20 Vict.,
cap. 120, and a lease of a way-leave, miscellaneous covenants and provisos taken
from various mineral leases, and reports of various recent decisions. Masters
and workmen will be equally interested in the contents of Mr. Fowler s book.
Thames Embankment. A Feio Reasons why a Low Level Self-made 6^-mile
Thames Thoroughfare should be preferred to a High Level Tax-made
Vi-mile or li-mile Thames thoroughfare. Addressed to the Thames Em-
bankment Commissioners, by John Sewell, Assoc. Inst. C.E. Pamphlet.
Goodhall and Dinsdale, Pancras-lane.
GIVES in a folding plate, a plan, elevation, and section of the author's scheme
for improving the banks of the river Thames, providing a capacious new
Metropolitan thoroughfare from Chelsea to the City, and a low-level sewer
"from that distance of four miles. The objects of the plan are to provide a low-
level embankment for sewage, gas, or other mains, and a railway in close prox-
imity with and parallel to the principal obstructed streets from the City to
Westminster and Cremome ; to provide the northern low-level sewer to London
Bridge ; and to improve and beautify the Thames— all by private enterprise.
The author claims the novelty of originating the plan of a Thames Embank-
ment below high water, or a low-level embankment, with water-way over it to
the wharfs. The railway— a double line for goods and passenger traftic— is shown
to be raised above the embankment bv an iron construction of columns and
girders; in some parts, however, it would be erected on banks or arches. The
embankment is proposed to be six feet above low-water level and fourteen feet
below high-water level ; under it the sewer and mains would be laid. It is
thought that the embankment would afford a good bed for craft to lie upon
during low water. It seems that the scheme has been examined and approved
by the Chelsea vestry.
THE STRIKE.
WE have nothing new to communicate respecting the dispute existing between
employers and employed in tlie building trades. The number of brick-
layers' on the "strike list', has been reduced to about 130, and we understand
that nefociations are at present pending^between two or three of the master
builders and the operative masons._^ |,
630
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 26, 1S6I.
(l[oms{)(indenrc.
COMMISSIONS TO ARCHITECTS.*
Sir, — Whatever your varions correspondents, including " E.," in the last
Ifnmber of the Bvildixg News, may say upon this subject, they, I, and every
•rchitart and builder knows perfectly well that tne practice called " g:iving
eomniinioiis to architects" is of common and every-day occurrence. And why
BOt?
Tie same system of priving commissions to those who bring in business, ad-
ditional trade", pupils with premiums, in fact, every ^ain and advantage, not
otherwise o so readiiy procurable, is in hourly operation by the majority of men
en^a^ced in business matters of every kind ; fairly conducted, it is one of the
principal elements of all commercial transactions,— "get such or such an
advantage for me and I will give you so much for it. What can be more
A most extraordinary feeling has arisen in the minds of some upon this question,
of some who I have not the slightest doubt in the world, actually receive those
" commissions" of which they are publicly so anxious to ignore the very ex-
istence : this is a folly, and is likely to result only in convincing the public that
there is a secret and enormous system of defrauding them of advantages which
they would otherwise themselves possess. For it is equally a folly to attempt to
bolster up an idea that the public are not already aware that such a system of
commission does exist.
And, as I have before asked, why not? A client engages an architect to super-
intend a certain work, some items which cannot conveniently be included in the
contract are omitted, Fay stoves, mantel-pieces, and many other items ; take a
stove for example— perhaps a price has been provided for ft, say £5. Now when
that stove is wanted, suppose the builder provides it; after the architect has
visited the warehouse and made a selection of a stove of that value, he, the
builder, will charge the client £5 for it, paying himself, say, for example, £4 10s.,
the trade price, thus profiting 10s. Suppose the architect, who, be it observed,
has all the extra trouble of attending to select, orders the stove to be sent to the
works, and receives 10s. himself, the difference between the trade and retail price,
the stove will cost the client still the same price of £5, and he cannot get it for
less, for if he buys the stove himself, every one knows that he will be charged
not the trade, but the retail price of £5. In what respect in this transaction
has the client been defraudeu or even unfairly dealt by? It is true the archi-
tect might hand over Ihe 10s. thus pained to the client, but is there any, even
moral, reason why he .should do so '. The same might be said of the builder, or, it
might be represented as dishonest conduct on the part of the tradesmen to sell
Ws goods at one price to one person and at a higher price to another.
The whole argument against " commissions" of this nature looks very like an
attempt to dictate to tradesmen that they must sell their goods at one price alike
to a builder or architect who requires many, as to a private buyer who requires
only one.
If it Ls wrong for an architect to buy a thing at the trade price and sell it at
the usual retail price, how Is it that a builder may do so without reproach ?
■" Oh ? " some one says, " an architect is a professional man who ought not to
buy and sell." How is it, then, that he may buy and sell the labor of his
clerks ?
Besides, this alters the aspect of the question altogether. If it is only a question
of comparative respectability the less that it is said about it the better, to my
mind, for ,voung architects must live as well as old ones. An eminent architect
considers it not " respectable" to take commissions for trifling works, so hands
them over to a clerk or less fortunate friend, another architect, say in class
nmnber two, thinks it mfrn dig. to measure even his own work, so employs a
sunrevor to do it, number three persuades himself that a "respectable" archi-
tect should not take out quantities of any besides bis own work, and so on through
the varioas shapes and forms assumed by that dreadful idol—" respectability."
I knownothingof " A Manufacturer," I know nothing of" £.," or any other
M the writers on the subject, which happens to be one on which most have pre-
ferred to preserve their incognito, but 1 know that " A Manufacturer " is wrong
in assummg that an architect inserts the name of certam tradesmen in his specift-
■cations for the purpose of securing to himself any advantage offered by those par-
ticular firms, and, if for no other reason, simply because he can obtain the same
advantage anywhere, for there are few houses of business in which there is not a
trade and a retail price ; and, despite the assertion of " E.," that certain firms
mmed do not give a commission, I can, in an equally positive manner, assert that
firms as eminent and as respectable have a trade and a retail price list, and that
the advantage of the former is invariably offered to architects and builders.
I fear to trespass longer on your valuable space at present, but shall feel
obhgedbythe iusertion of the above in the Building News: I may then
trouble you witli some additional remarks.
I am, &c.,
Democritus.
A GOOD WORK TO BE DONE.— MONEY WANTED.
Sir,— May I trespass upon your valuabU space for the insertion of an appeal
40 the members of the architectural profession, in favor of the subscription for the
rebuilding of Chichester Cathedral ?
^All must recollect the circumstances attending the fall of that singularly
beaubfal national monument. Since tliat misfortune, vigorous efforts have been
made m the diocess ofCliichester to raise the large sura of £«),000, required for
the restorabon of the building j and a London committee has been appointed, for
fc PjfT*?^™ •«*'"'"'g extraneous aid for the good work. No less than £:3],000
liM thu« been collected in the diocess; but the London committee has only been
awe aa yet to collect about £1 ,000.
I M rare that when these facts are known, the members of the architectural
pnwailon, and the lovers of the monuments and of the arts of our ancestors, will
£adjy contribute iheir mites to the fund it is still necessary to raise. In th.se
au«tDenuniberofsul»cnptions is cvenof greaterimportancethan theindividuid
amounts suDscnbed ; for the number proves the nature and the extent of thefeel-
ton'*i^l^iS.-lt Bc;?LDi!;'J §,¥;.'"•' '* """" «»Poa«iblefor the opinions of
Subscriptions in aid of this work will be received by Messrs. Druinmonds,
Charing-cross ; Messrs. Smith, Payne and Smith, Lombard -street ; or if sent by
letter, they may be addressed to Lord Henry G. Lennox, M.P., 3, Cloisters,
Westminster Abbey.
I am, &c.,
Geo. R. Burnell,
Member of the London Committee.
14, Lincoln's-iun-fields, London, July 23rd, 1861.
ALDERSHOT CAMP.
Sir,— The original estimate for the Houses of Pariiament was, I believe,
£780,000. This amount will, by the time the work is completed, be increased
about threefold. What large work was ever completed for the original estimate ?
and that when there has been plenty of time for considering all circumstances in
connexion therewith ? How much greater allowance should be made for an
establishment like Aldershot, where everything was done in the greatest hurry,
without any matured plan or scheme being considered, in the depth of winter—
and that a very severe winter— without anything of the sort in existence to take
notes of and improve upon. Would any amount of skill and talent from private
architects, under the same circumstances, have done better ? An answer may be
found in the fact that, although a great many architects and others submitted
designs, pattern buildings, &c., none were found so good as those designed by the
Royal Engineer Department— I mean as regards the principle of construction,
economy, and speedy erection. These and the following remarks have reference
to an article which appeared in last week's i?!<iW«r, headed " Aldershot Camp."
In the House of Commons, some time since, Mr. Bernal Osborne moved for a
return in connexion with Aldershot. When the return was in his possession, he
moved the reduction or omission of some vote for Aldershot. He was beaten in
a division.
The Times shortly after had a leading article on the subject, and last week's
Builder takes up the matter, making use of a great deal of what appeared in
the Times, with the additional information that frequent allusion to this subject
had been made in previous numbers of the Builder.
In the article to which I now allude there are so many errors that I trust you
will afford me space in your next publication for this letter, written by one who,
though not now at Aldershot, knows a little about it.
The wells originally dug for the supply of water to the Camp have not been
filled up; one well only was so served out of about eighty, as proof of whicli the
North Camp water supply (which is, I believe, abundant) is exclusively from
these ven' wells, and in the South Camp the well water is quite as good as that
brought from the neighbourhood of Ceesar's Camp.
The huts, when felted, were and are water-tight (tarring the felt is part of the
process of felting), the walls of the huts were tarred to preserve the boards. The
huts are not in a state of rottenness and decay ; they will, on the contrary, with
ordinary care, last fifteen or twenty years longer.
No two acres of land, in addition to that originally purchased, could be
required for the hospital, which is at a considerable distance fi'om the boundary
of the property as originally purchased.
The baiTacks may or may not be defectively constructed (I say they are'not),
but does it follow, that simply because a piece of timber is scorched tlie baiTacks
must be defectively constructed. I see in one of the papers tliis week tliat there
was great fear of the House of Lords taking fire a few days since. Is it from
defective construction ? Do any of the fires whicli so frequently occur in London
arise from defective construction ? If they do, private architects must have
some of the credit of defective construction.
The cooking apparatus in the soldiers' cooking kitchens at these barracks are,
I believe, in use now, as they have been since the barracks were first constructed,
and I have never heard that any of the cooks were roasted, or even scorched.
The cooking stoves were not condemned and sold as old iron.
Captain Grant's cooking apparatus has not been superseded by Mr. War-
rener's, except in one kitchen out of about fifty.
There have never been any of the grates referred to condemned and sold as old
iron at Aldershot. Any that have been used are in use now.
It is very true that " there are other matters which might be mentioned," but
as they are not mentioned I cannot reply to them.
A few words more, however, before I close. There is abundance of talent in
the Royal Engineer Department capable of surmounting any of the difficulties
of the professions of either architects, surveyors, or civil engineers, without call-
ing in any of " the skilful professional advice " alluded to. The Department has
long labored under serious disadvantages, which have hitherto appeared almost
irremediable; but the signs of the times are for an alteration; and I trust that
the results of the labors of the Committee now sitting will be to place that
Department on its proper footing, and thereby render justice to whom it has long
been denied. I am, &c.,
July 17th, 1801. C. R. E.
TENSERS.
Sewehage, IIampstead.
For constructing and laying down 7,SI«; feet of brick, and Crecke's Patent Capped
I'ipe Sewers, and other works connected therewith, in the London-road, Park-road,
Englaiid's-lane, Upper Park-road, Haverstock-terrace, Bclsize-lane, Pond-street,
Uownshire-hill, and OownBlilru-liill-mcws, lor the Vestry of the parish of St. John,
lluinp.stead. Mr. John Douglas, Surveyor.
ilcthicit .£5,450
Walker 6,352
Abbott and ILupwood 4,980
Hill and Co 4."31
Thirst 4,70:j
Yeoman 4,587
Clowscr 4,507
Ley £4,300
Cole 4,467
Bugbird 4,380
Kowc 4,290
Crocket t (accepted) 4,050
'i'ottle ,. 3,227
Sharon 3,200
Alterations, &c., London.
For repairs and alterationx at No. 17 and 18. New Bridge-street, Blackfriars, for the
British Mutual Life Assurance .Society, and British Mutual Investment Loan and
Discount Company. H. Currcy, JKsq., architect.
Payne iifiai 0 I Hart £i«« 0
Parkinson and Son i>34 10 Longfellow SS'J 0
Downs 572 0 I Hcepa (accepted) 638 10
Additions, Ac, London,
For alterations, additions, &c., to No. 35, Wood-street, City, for Jlr. ;J. S. Basset.
Messrs. Tlllott and Chamberlain, architect.
Heath £4<Jx 1 Cannon £349
Wells 400| Jennings 42S
July 26, lr6l.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
631
Alterations, &c., London.
Kor alterations and repairs to Xo. 69. Alders<ratc-strect, City, for Mr. William
SwninsoD. Messrs. Tjllott and Chamberlain, architects.
Lowell .£600 10 I Cannon £466
Wills 5J(i 0 Fish 4S5
Heath 503 0 1
1 I r^H jH .!( Great Saffron-hill.
For retuildingr premises lately destroyed by fire,
architect.
Abbottand Hopwood £],i)SS
Wafjstafr and Son 1,S57
Naish ....•.* ••.4««.> 1,745
Waliicr 1,698
Mr. . Lewis H. Isaacs,
Lanfc'mead £1,T).<10
Ashacld 1,591
Fawcett 1,568
Uowc 1,5U^
Gasholder, Doxcasteb.
For the works necessary in the erection ot, and the providing a gasholder for the
boroughof Uoncastcr. J. F. Fairbank.
J. Woolen, Laistcr Dyke, near Bradford, accepted.
Semi-Detached Villas, Bexley-iieatii, Kent.
For the erection and completion of a pair of semi-detached villas to be built at
Bexley-heath, Kent, for S. G. liichmond, Esq. Mr. William Gosling, architect.
Qnantitics supplied.
Todd £1,569
Brown 1,461
Endd 1.456
Elliott : 1,440
Markall 1,:)98
Ginger V-iiK)
WaUer l,->80
Kent £1,197
V'aughan 1,189
Greenwood 1,095
Moore 1,000
Lonegan 975
Flanders 950
Lidbetter 885
Villas, Surrey.
For two detached villas on the Keithfield Estate, Surrey. Mr. Richard Cover,
architect, 13, Old .Jury-chambers.
Luxlord £3,400
Lodge and Farm Bcildings.
For lodge and farm buildings, for W. Palmer, Esq. Mr. Richard Gover, architect,
13. Old Jewry-chambers. Quantities supplied by I'oland and Dobson.
Luxford £1,950 I Weare £1,544
Foster U^... ..,,...••■ I.<a0 I Paul' 1,535
"'" "' "'' Tillas, Forest-hill.
For two pair of semi-detached villas at Forest-hill, for Thomas Ward, Esq. Mr.
Richard Govcr, architect.
Uowull £4,400
Brewery Works, Limehouse.
For pulling down certain parts of the old premises, and erecting new buildings for
coolers, &c., at the Brewery in Fore-street, Limehouie, for Messrs. Taylor, Walker
and Co. Mr. Charles Dnnch, architect. White Horse-street, Commercial-road-east.
yoth .July, 1861.
Hack and Sons £2,260
Chas. Brown...,,. 2,110
Wood, Bros 2,093
Hedges 2,069
Ennor £2,064
Hill, Keddel and Robinson.... 2,026
Blackburn, (accepted) 1,980
VrCARACE, &e., CARDIGANaHniE.
For building Vicarage House and offices at Llanarth, Cardigansliire, for Rev. D.
J. Jones. Mr. Witliers. architect.
Tliomasaud Davie* £1,655 I C. J. Davies £1,315
Juo. Davies 1,400 | T. Jones 1,263
Dwelling House, near Guildford.
For building house at Crawley near Guildford for Rev. W. Fortes Capel. Quan-
tities supplied by Mr. Bottom. Mr. Withers, arcliitect.
Wiikins and Bottom, Southwark £899
Sharpington aaaCo., Lambeth 873
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
CEMETERY.
Rugby. — The Rugby Burial Board are prepared to receive plans and specifications
with tenders :— 1st. for laying out and planting the proposed New Burial Ground
at Rugby, containing 7a. 3r. 2p. 2nd. For the erection of two chapels, entrance
lo'lge, dead house, and fencing. A plan and instructions may be obtained at the
office of the Board. l*lans and speciticatiuns may be either for laying out and
planting the ground, or tor the above buildings and fencing, or may combine both
but the boara reserve the right to select cither the plan for laying out the ground
or the plan for the erection of the buildings, or the plan combining both, at their
discretion. Plans and specifications, with separate tenders, are requested to be
sent in to the office of the Board, Chapel-street, Rugby, by August 31.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
TOWN HALL.
Great Gri.msby.— For the erection of a new town-hall, proposed to be built on a
site situate on tile Six Acres, in Great Grimsby, Lincolnshire. Drawings, &c., at
the office of Jlr. Maughan, surveyor, (ireat Grimsbv, until and including the 3rd
August, on which latter day sealed tenders are to be delivered to William Grange,
Town Clerk, Great Grimsby, endorsed "Tender for new Town Hall." Further
information from Messi-s. Bellamy and Co., architects, Lincoln, and Mr. J. Fowler,
architect, Ixiuth.
BANK.
Ireland.— For the erection of the new national bank-house and offices, at Athy,
county of Kiidare. Elevations, plans, Ac, at the office of the architect, W. ¥.
Caldbeck, Esq., 24, Harcourt-street, Dublin, to 6th August, and copies of same
with J. Egan, Esq., Manager of the National Bank, Athy. Tenders to H. B. Hyde,
Esq,, secretary, the National Bank, .50, Old Broad-street, London, E.C., endorsed,
"Tender for building new National Bank-house, at Athy," by August 6.
HOSPITAL.
Bury St. Edmund's.— For sundry alterations and additions to the Suflolk General
Hospital, liury St. Edmund's. Plans, &c., at the hospital, or at the office of the
architect, John Henry Hakcwill, .50, Maddox-street, London, W., on and after
August 1. Tenders, addressed to the architect, on August 9.
Hot.NSLOw.— For erecting a new hospital at Houiislow, Middlesex. Parties desiring
to tender must leave their names at the Hoyal Engineer Office, London district!
11, James-street, Buckingham-gate, S.W., by Augusta,, and pay 10s. Od. for bills
of quantities.
_ ASYLUMS
Worcester.— For the erection of a new wing to the County and City of Worcester
Lunatic Asylum. : to accommodate 100 patients. Plans, &c., on application to
Martin Curtler, Esq., solicitor, Sansomc-place. Worcester, and any furtherinforma-
tion from Mr. H. Rowe, the architect. J 7, Foregate-street, Worcester. Sealed
tenders (endorsed Tender for New Wing), must be delivered (free) at the office of
' Martin Curtler, Esq., Sansomc-place, Worcester, by August 2.
Ireland.— For alterations and additions to be made to the building, formerly the
Old House of Industry, at Clonmel, for the purpose of making it an auxiliary
lunatic asylum. I'lans, Ac, to the 31st inst., at the asylum at Clonmel. Sealed
tenders to be sent.to the Governors of the Asylum, endorsed " Tender for Building,"
by 12 noon, August 0.
CHURCHES.
Lincolnshihe.— For thenstorationof the parish church of Tetney, in the county
of Lincoln, IJ mile Ifrom Holton-le-Clay station, between Grimsby and Louth.
Drawings, Ac, at the Vicarage, Tetney, until the 30th inst., inclusive. Further
particulars from the architect, R. J. Withers, Esq., 51, Doughty-street, London,
W.C. Tenders by post (pre-paid), addressed to the Vicar of Tetney, Great Grimsby,
by July 31.
Hastings,— For the restoration of Westfield Church (and additions thereto), near
Hastings, Sussex. Plans, &c., from Charles E. Davis, F.S.A., 3, Westgate-build-
ings, Bath. Tenders to Mr. Davis, endorsed "'render, Westfield Church," not
later than July 31.
Ireland,— For works at the churches of Aghancon, King's county ; Killala, county
Mayo; and for painting internally the churches of Mullingar, county Westmeath,
and St. Stephen's, city of Dublin. Specifications in the hands of the resident
ministers of the parishes. Tenders to be forwarded, sealed, prepaid, and ad-
dressed thus:— "Proposal for the Church of , the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners for Ireland, Dublin," by July 31.
Gloucestershire.— For the restoration of Newland Church, ncarColeford. Flans,
Ac, to be sentin to the Rev. W. James, Newland, by 11 a.m., August 6.
Hi-LL.- For restoring, enlarging, and refitting, St. Jlsry's Church, Hull, in accor-
dance with the drawings and specifications prepared by Mr. George fiilbert Scott,
architect. The works to be tendered I'or in three separate parts, namely, Ist, ex-
cavator, mason, bricklayer, and plasterer ; 2nd, carpenter, joiner, and ironmonger ;
3rd, smith, plumber, glazier, and painter. Drawings, Ac, at the church, till the
Sth August. Tenders addressed to the Rev. John Scott, Hull, by August 9.
SCHOOLS, Ac.
London.— For the erection of the Middlesex Societies' schools and master's resi-
dence. Cannon-street-road, St. George-in-thc-East. Drawings, Ac., with Andrew
Wilson, architect, 126, Cannon-strect-road, E. Tenders to be delivered at the
Schoolhouse, Cannon-street-road, by 6 p.m., August 6. The trustees do not bind
themselves to accept the lowest or any tender.
BRIDGE.
Stafford.— For widening the Broadcye-bridge, in Staflbrd. Plan, Ac, with Mr.
Thomas Carter, borough surveyor. Tenders to be delivered to him by August 1.
Stirlingshire.— For building a new bridge of one arch at Ardoch, for the trustees
of the Stirling and Crieff tnrnpike-road. Plans, Ac, at the office of 1'. J. Stirling;
Esq., Dunblane, from the 2Uth inst. Tenders to Mr. Stirling by 10 a.m., August 5.
WAREHOUSE.
Portsmouth.— For the construction of a new goods warehouse, at the Portsmouth
joint station, together with the fence walls, lodges, gates, and other works con-
nected therewitli. Specifications, Ac, at the office ot Jlr. R. J. Hood, C.E., No 7,
Parliament-street, Westminster, S.W., on and after August 5; and sealed tenders,
upon prescribed form only,' marked outside " Tenders for Works at Portsmouth,'*
must be delivered to Fred. J. Macaulay, Secretary to the Joint South Western
and Brighton Committee, Waterloo- bridge Station, London by August 19.
DWELLING HOUSES, Ac.
Hants. — For making extensive alterations at Shedfield Lodge, near Botley, Hants.
Plans, Ac, at the house. Tenders to the architect, Mr. John Colson, St. Swithin's*
street, Winchester, to August 5.
Sussex.— For building and completing four houses (being the first portion of nine*
teen houses) at Eastbourne, Sussex. Drawings, Ac, with Henry M'Calla, C.E
architect, offices, 25, Westbourne-place, Eaton-square. Tenders to be delivered at
12 o'clock, August 15.
Ipswich.— For the erection of a gentleman's residence in the vicinity of Ipswich.
Drawings, Ac, with R. M. Piiipson, architect. Museum-street, Ipswich; and all
tenders, under seal, are to be delivered to him by August 2.
Stratford.— For the erection of two, three, or five pairs of serai-detached cott&ges
for ^the Temperance Permanent Land and Building Society, upon the Society's
estate at Stratford. The plans may be inspected and a copy of^the specification
(price 2s. 6d.) obtained at the offices of the Society, up to July 30. Tenders, on the
forms attached to the specifications, to the secretary, offices, 34, Moorgate-street,
London, sealed and marked "Tender for Cottages," by 4 p.m. July 30.
FARM BUILDINGS.
STAFFOHDsniRE.~For the erection of a set of farm-buildings on the estate of Lord
Bagot, at Newton, near Abbot's Bromley, Staiibrdshire .Plans, Ac, on application
to T. Pickering, Esq. Abbot's Bromley ; and quantities obtained from 3Ir. Balom,
10, Buckingham-street, Strand, London. Sealed tenders to Messrs. J. and J.
Girdwood, farm architects, 49, Pall- Mall, London, by July 31.
COAST GUARD STATIONS.
Kent. — For the re-erection of a coast guard station at " Scrapsgate," ' Isle of
Sheppey, Keut. Drawings, &c., at the Custom House, Rochester, or at the Admi-
ralty Coast Guard Office, 12, Spring-gardens, London, S.W., to the 3l8t Inst.
Tenders to be sent to this office, under seal, and directed to the Commodore Con-
troller-General of Coast Guard, and endorsed " Tender for New Buildings, Scraps-
gate," by 12 noon of August 19.
SnoEBURYNESS.— For erecting a coast gaavd station at Shoe buryness, Essex. Draw-
ings, Ac, at the Coast-guard watch-i;ooTn, Shoeburyness, and at the Admiralty
Coast-guard office, 12, Spring-gardens, London, S.W. to 7th August. Tenders to
the above office, under seal, and directed to the Commodore Controller-General
of Coast Guard, and endorsed "Tender for Shoeburyness Station," by 12 noon of
August 8.
RAILWAY WORKS.
Newry AND Armagh Railway.- For the eonslrucfion of this line from its junc-
tion with the Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway at Gorahwood to Jlarket-hill
a length of 8 J miles. Tlie works will comprise two tunnels In Cl.iy Slate
Rock, aggregate length about one mile, as well as the usual excavations and cm-
liankments, masonry, &c. Ac. The contractor to provide and lay the permament
way. Plans, Ac, at the office ofG. W. Ucmaus, Ksq.. the Engineer of the Com-
pany, 13 (iueen's-square, Westminster, and also at his offices in Dublin and Newry.
Tenders, endorsed "Tenders for Market-liill Contract," addressed to the secretary
at Newry, by July 31.
London, Brighton, and Roi:tii Coast Railway —For the construction of a
double line of railway, to connect tlie Mid-Sussex Railway, near Pulborough, with
the West Coast Line, near Arundel, Sussex, being a distance of O.J miles, or there-
abouts. The contract will include the execution of all excavations, embankments,
tunnels, bridges, viaducts, river diversions, and every other description of works
necessary for the completion of the intended new railway with the exception of
station buildings and the provision of the permanent way materials. The plans,
Ac, may be seen at the office of the engineer, Mr. R. Jacomb Hood. 7, Parliament-
street, Westminster, S.W.-, on and after the '29th inst. ; and printed copies of
the specifications, quantities, forms of fender, and working section, will be sup-
plied on payment of three guineas for each set. Tenders (upon the prescribed form
only) must be delivered to Frederick Slight, Secretary, Secretary's Office, London
Bridge Terminus, by 12 noon of August 12.
MILITARY WORKS.
Sandhurst.— For erecting certain outbuildings, at the New Staff College, Sandhurst
Parties desirous of tendering, to send their names to the Royal Engineer's Offices
Sandhurst, and pay 10s. 6d. for bills of quantities, to July 30.
632
THE BUILDING NEWS.
July 26, 1861.
lKEi.AM>.-Vor erwtingr now latrines an.l iiriiials, at Newbridge Barracks eounty of
Kildar^-. I'arties dcslrinsr to teiuUr must leave tUeir names at the Office of the
Commandin.' Uoval Kncinf..r in Ireland, Dublin Castle, or at the Royal Kngi-
ne.-r-s Office at N'cwl.ri.Ii;.-. and pay lo.s (id. for hills of q''an it>08, by -'uly -:'■
Woonritii - For alterations and additions to the Rotunda, la the Royal Military
Reporiiorv. Woolwich. Parties desiring to tender, must leave their names at the
Royal Kn-noeer Office. W oolwich, and pay 10s. (id. .or bills of quantities, by
*"^»'""' SEWERAGE.
losDON.— For the constmction of a brick sewer, subway, and vaults, with other
works in connexion therewith, alonpr that portion of the line of the New-street.
between Hijrh-strect and Hedcross-street ; also for the formation of the foot and
cairlaee w>^, and paving the same. Plans, &c., to«fether with the form of tender,
may be inspected, and other particulars obtained, at the offices of the Metro-
pohUn Board of Works, Spring-gardens, until the 8th August. Tenders, addressed
to the Metropolitan Board ol Works must be delivered at their office before 4
Kewim:to>'.— Korthe execution of jobbing and measured works in connection with
the drains and sewers in the parish of St Mary, Newington, Surrey. Printed
achedules, *c., at the office of Mr. Ilcnry .Jarvis, the Surveyor of Sewers, No. 29,
Trinity-square, Newington, on payment of lOs. Tenders (on printed form only)
to the Vestry rooms, by August i.
SALES AT GABRAWAY'S AND THE MART
FBEEIIOLD.
By Messrs. Fclleb and Hoeset.— Church-street, St. Saviour's, Sonthwark, jroperty,
conpEiaUlg 2 stacks of warehouse.'*, with eround-floor premises in the rear, and 2 dwelling-
bouesteLlttle Wincliester-strect ; soW fur &i,\m.
By Messrs. FAlEaaoTHKa, CLAax, anil Lie.— Maiilebeck, Kottlngham, estate, containing
about 1,073 acres of lauds, divided into farms, also the patronage or the perpetual curacy of
Maplebeck, with residence, nreeent rentals amount to upwards of £1,600 per annum ; soldfor
Bv Messrs. Cni-vsocK and Gaiswoktht Kingston, Surrey, estate known as Norbiton
Park Kami, comprising IffS} acres of lands ; gold for £15,000.
Bv Messrs. iiEBENUAM and Tewson.— Enfleld Highway, residence, with stabling and
coacb-liouf^e; told for £790.
17 to 20, Glassliousc-yard, Aldersgate-street, four houses, let at rents amounting to £75 lOs. :
soM for f 82i.
By Mr. MiBsH.— Mill-lane. Erlth-road.Bexley, two cottages, let at rents amounttog to
£1848. per annum; sold for £r.to.
Bt Messrs. ilABDs and Vavouan 3, 6, and 7, Marsham-street, Westminster, shops and
4irdUng-bou»es. rent per annum £80 ; sold for £1,300.
By Mr. ItETNoLDS. — 4. liackney-road, house and shop ; sold for £700.
By 3Ir. MooBE M to 37, Ernest-street, Hile-end-road, dwelling-houses, rent per annum
ma 8s. : sold fur £siOO.
42. Emest-slrect. dwclling-honse, rent per annum £15 I2s. ; sold for £135.
eand lo, Mavncld-buUdlngs, St. George's East, dwelling-houses, rent per annum £33 I6s. ;
fold for £220. '
By Mr. MoxoN In Sew-yard, Great Queen-street, Lincoln's-inn, three stall stable and
iDfta: soldfor £280.
By Measrs. Kemp.— Situate at Upper East Sheen, Mortlake, Surrey, residence. iLnown as
Sharon Villa, the whole occupying about la. 2r. 24p. ; sold for £1,670.
Plot of bnlldiug-ground in tfic rear of the above ; sold for £102.
By Messrs. Gbee.n and Son 2«, Hlshopsgate-street Within, commercial premises: sold
tatktjeo.
By Mr. Brown Situate at Stewkley, Bucks, farmhouse, called " Prentice's Farm, with
ODt-bnlldiDgs. and about IM acres of freehold, copyhold, and leasehold arable and grassland;
sold for £Cj650.
By Mr. BicHAJtoe.— Tottenliam, four plots of bullding-groimd ; sold for £340.
I.EASEUOI.D.
St Metnrs. Dxbenham and Tewson New-street and Lion-passage, Kew Kent-road,
"^Mettlioiuefl. net rent per annum £212 2s. ; sold for £795.
Kew.«treet and Cottage-place. New Kent-road, thirteen houses ; sold for £600.
1 to 14, Lansduwnc-place. .Soutbwark, fourteen houses ; sold for £305.
King-street and Minur-place, Union-street, Soutbwark, six houses (one with shop), nett
not per annum £71 28. ; sold for £160.
S and 6, Victoria-terrace, Kennlntf ton-park, two dwelling-houses, term 88i years ftom Mid-
wmnmer last, rent per annum £48, ground-rent per annum £H; sold fur £375.
King Edward's-road, Hackney, two dwelling-houses, known as Sandown-villa and Clare-
villa, term 74 vears from Cliristmas last, rent per annum £G5 each, ground-rent per annum
each £» \ sold for £1,000.
4 and 5, 1.oddl>;e'M-road, ilackney, two dwelling-houses, term 90 years from Jime 24th, 1B57,
rent per annum £22 each, ground-rent per annum each £3 lus. ; sold for £275.
By Mr. Reynolds.— 12, Hack-road, Shadwell, house and shop ; sold for £200,
IS, Back-road, house and shun, tenn 38 years ; sold fur £180.
S, S, and 24. Alljcrt-street, Hack-road, three houses and shops, same term ; sold for £250.
Saaid4, Ilanlinire-street, Coinmerciai-road, two houses and shop; sold for £230.
By Mr. BitowN.— 10, Little Woodstock-street, Portland-place, house, with shop and pre-
mlsea. held fur a tenn expiring at Christmas, 1920, at a rent of £40 per annum, ground-rent
per anntun £lu ; sold fur £575.
By Messrs. Kemp Horsham, Snsaex, house and garden, term 500 years t^m September 12,
179S, rent per annum £2', ; sold for £.4tiG.
By Mr. Newbon l. Gordon-street, Itiver-tcrrace, Islington, house with shop, term 87
jean from 1S38, at a net rental of £25 per annum ; sold for £20o.
By Mr. St. Qciktis.— 4, Pelham-plaec, Pelliam crescent, Brompton, i esldenee, term 75i
yeni ftom Sept. 2», 1837, rent per annum £00, ground-rent per annum £a ; sold for £700.
COPYHOLD.
By Mr. ntows.—T and 8, In the Orove, Ealing, two dwelllng-honses, rent per annum £24 ;
■old for XSSI.
By Measrs. Uebexuah and Tewson Holmwood, Dorking, Surrey, vlUa residence, known
aa **BeUe Vuc Hou«e," rent per annum £55 ; sold for £.^80.
13 and 14, >lariue-parade, Southend, two nouses, let at rents amounting to £60 per annum ;
sold for £1,080.
The Buver'h Debidehatum.— " The buyer's tUsidertUum is to find an establish-
ment where will be presented to him ample choice of artistic designs, without having
forced upon his atuaition a host of mere iui^cuious ones, and destitute of any other
merit, with a tarilTof prices adapted to the means of the economic or those to whom
price is no object. Such an establiabmcnt is that of Mr. .1. W. Benson, situate at 33
and &t, Ludgate-bill, whose recent enlargement of his premises has made his show-
rooma more conspicuous than any other In the neighbourhood of St. Paul's. His
four windows contain such a variety of gold and silver watches as to leave notliing
to be desired but the money to buy them with. The high standing of Mr. Benson
asm London manufacturer must secure him a large amount of public patronage." —
Sttamdard.
Bason's Illustrated Pamphlet, post-free for two stamps, is descriptive of every
coastmetioo of watch now made. Watches safe by post to oil parts of the globe.
AHBWKES TO C0BKE8P0N DENTS, AND NOTES AND QCEEIE8.
All latten and communications to he addressed to the Editor of the BtnLDiHO News, 50,
Ola Boawell-court, St. Clement's, Stran-l, London
The Editor cannot undertake to return unused manuscripts.
- X. C.— On the contrary, we do not aifrce with the opinions expressed by the writer of the
letter referred t». Dissent from the particular views expressed, is not with us a reason for
rtfulng to publish communications, we have always Beni of opinion that both sides of a
question require a bearing, and should be thoroughly ventilated, and have endeavoured to
as.sist to that end to the extent of our Infl tienee. There arc not many who will fall to see
the Impossibility uf our agreeing with two writers who take confradtctory views of the
same question. We require onlv that the intent of a letter be clearly expressed, and that
Its Rtiliject he one pertaining to the several classes whose true interests we have always in
view. The adoption of ii contrary course, that of printing such communications only as
f.gree with the general principles of a journal, sooner or later makes it what no paper should
be, the exponent of the views of a single indi vidua!. Once for all, then, and the statement
really appears unnecessary, we do not In printing a correspondent's letter, pledge ourselves
in aiiv (legree to the views therein expressed.
Mr. IticiiAitD S — Thanks for notes, wc will look deeper into the matter ourselves. Can you
name ti date ?
Hev. Ii, l!.-lntype.
A SUHSCHIBEH.— liitto.
P.— Probably of any foreign booksellers, from Paris.
A ('LERK OF WoiiKS. — Wc fear nothing can be done.
Jones & JONES.— We believe the model Is not yet completed, we are asked to inspect it
when In operation, and will let our readers know something more than has been stated.
W. X. y The extreme dimensions of the glass should be taken, but in some eases, where
thin sash bars only are used. It will add the merest trlAe to the cost, it the dhnensions be
taken over all.
T. L Of course we are not blind to the one-sided nature of the course pursued, " we bide
our time."
James P.— Shall hear from us. If, on consideration, a notice seems desirable,
B We are Invariably forced to decline to interfere lu such matters.
A London Buildeh We believe that nothing came of it, but shall be glad to learn to the
contrary.
T. E.-No.
A. A. (A Subscriber from the Fir8t).—"Inwood'sTable8" published by Wcalc, price 7s., are
very pood. The book contains a list of works that have been published, connected with
the subject; any of tlie following may be consulted. " Ward's Tables of the Value of
Leases and Annuities for Years and for Lives," published in 1710. " Dr. Halley's Treatise
on Mortality and Lite Annuities," Miscellanea Curlosa. 1693. " Sberlu's Mathematical
Tables on Compound Interest," 1741. " Ilatton's Tables on the Valuation of Annuities and
Keverslons, and of Flues payable for llenewing any Number of \ ears in Church "and
College Leases of Lands, and on Lives "1711. "De Molvre, F.R.S., on Annuities on
Lives," 1725 and 1752. " Smart's Tables of Compound Interest and Annuities for TcrmiCof
Years and for Lives," 17211 anil 1736. "Morris's Tables for Renewing and Purehasfng
Leases," 17.35. Weyman Lee, Esq., " On the Value of Leases and Annuities for Years cer-
tain and on Lives," 1788. " llayues's Gentlemen's complete Book-keeper, and Tables of the
Value of Leases and Annuities for Years and for Lives," 1741. " Stonchouse 8 Valuations,
on Terms of Years certain and on Lives, and on Fines for Renewing College Leases, »c.,
1754. " Sir Isaac Newton's Tables for Renewing and I'nrcliasing of tljc Leases of
Cathedrals, Churches, and Colleges, and Tables for the Value of Rencwals,^^ 7421.
'•Simpson's 'I'ables on Annuities and Reversions on Single and Joint Lives, 174.
" Hayne's Tables of the Value of Annuities on Terms certain, and on Lives, and of Paying
Fines for Catlieiiral and College Lands." 174S. " Gadsby's Tables on Compound Interest
and on-tlic Value of AnnuiUes for Y'ears and on Lives," 1767. "Brands Treatise on
Assurances and Annuities for Lives," 1775. " Brand's Tables on Interest and Annuities,
1780 " Dale's Calculations on the Doctrine of Life Annuities," 1772. " Dr. Price on Rever-
sionary Payments and Life Annuities," 1773 and 1783. Ditto, edited by Morgan, 1803.
" Morgan's Reversionary Payments, Kc." 1811. Francis Masere, Esq., F.R.h.. Cursltor
Baron of his Majesty's Court of Exchequer, "The Principles of the Doctrine of Life
Annuities." 1783. " Thomas's Moneyed Man's Assistant, and Tables of the Value of Leases
and Annuities for Years and for Lives, and on Reversions," 18(13. " Tables lor Renewing
and Purchasing Leases, Annuities and Keversious," a new edition, by a Gentlemen ol the
Middle Temple, 1814. " A Treatise on the Laws of Mortality, Life Annuitlra and Aiaur-
ances," by Francis Corsseux, 1828. M. De Parcienx, "T.*le8 on Lift Annultle8.__
Accrold's " Tables for Renewing Leases." Richardson's " Treatise on Renewing Leases.
Hodgson's " Annunities upon Lives," and Richard's Tables.
C. P We shall be gled to receive promised communication.
P. B. (Middlesborough).- We have our fair share of politeness, but really cannot deny that
our " patience In reading your disjointed jottings lias been needed. Perhaps Laxtons
" Examples of Constructive Details" would be of more use to you than the work you men-
tion, but we cannot recommend It as one that will, In Itself, enable you to 'proceed up tne
ladder of architecture a little higher," and your ascent will not be rendered easier by the
fact that you " cannot sketch," and that architecture was not " the trade you looxea
forward to whilst young." We were not aware that masons or joiners usually designed
the mouldings for the works on which thev are engaged. But you say that there are iio
architects residing here who give the full detail drawing for an;y buildings that are erected,
the foreman foiner or mason in each shop makes out a detail, if they require one, to worK
to." What do local architects say to this statement? P. B. adds that houses cost, at
Middleshorougb, from 2d. to 3d. per foot cube, the " expensive stone style costing 6d.
U. H.— The clerk at the Royal Academy will, on application, fnrnish you with particulars
for your guidance in applying for studentship. Y'ou must submit a design, your own pro-
duction ; and. If judged to evince sntllcient merit, you will be allowed to prepare a secono
design of a given subject, within the walls of the Academy ; if not inferior to tne lirsi
submitted, you will probably be admitted. Students have the privUege of attending
the lectures, studying in the schools, and of free admission to the annual exhibitions.
A.— Wc have received several letters to the same effect, and contemplate drawmg puouc
attention to the matter.
A. K. L Yes ; let us know In good time. .. ^. , ,♦ »i.o
William F.-ltdocs not come ;witbln our province to toucli upon such matters ; out tne
question Is one of great interest. ,, ,, „— ._
G. T.— No. 1. We think not. No. 2. It is impossible for anyone to give a reliable answer.
No. 3. Probably. No. 4. In the early part of last year.
11. S. H.— shall hear from us.
R. AcKiioiD Certalnlv a very Ill-advised movement.
C— We do not desire to interfere between master master and pupil.
A. E Too personal ; but quite true. , ,. ,„ , „ iia*
Q.- Yes, several such works liavc been inibllshed ; almost any bookseller will give jou a usi.
It is not within our iirovlnce or we would do so ourselves.
C. P. W. C— The Inference we draw from your letter is that you have comnieuecd practice
too soon. Perhaps, under all circumstances, your better course will be. wiui tne con-
currence of the committee, to associate with yourself in tlie work an architect ol greater
experience.
R. ^^ . E Objectionable for several reasons unnecessary to mention.
Tyiio Must allow us to repeat our dissent IVom his views.
Y. S.— We do not know.
V. P.— Postponed; will appear In our next , „.,.. .,,„rt
S. M We are already aware of the remarkslmadc. '.Some persons cannot see in what aiiec-
tion their interest lies.
W. K._Next year.
T. F.— As soon as reliable information reaches us.
A. A Result was never published to our knowledge.
T. C. 1'. it.— We will see what can be done.
Q Yes, send name and address that proof may be sent.
1. L. J — Below our mark.
M. M. s In our present pages. . _ „„.«»/.»
An Ahchitect.— 1. Report will be Issued in a few days. 2. In the hands of our engraver.
X. (York.)-Rcply referred to was in answer to another correspondent. We n";" '""''-"
over the papers sent, but do not find that they possess sufflclent merit to demano puouca-
tion, even " Church Architecture " with
" Its rows of shadow-casting buttresses.
The well i.olsed pendants of Its pointed roof.
Its thousand every day utilities.
The lowly work of toiling artisans.
Too oft by us despised, yet out of which,
Grows climax vast and beautiful and grand,
does not tempt us to hand It to the printer. Observations on " Jewish polydiromy " and
"geology," must diiTer somewhat in style from " Church architecture, and the Diapers
of the AlhambraCourt,"to Induce us to to print them. ....
W. K. Y.— Deferred for want ofspace, but there seems no necessity for such haste.
Ei.wABD C.— We considered the subjeet, and thought you wereln error. Pray bemorocareiui
in future.
X. L. H. o. R.-Much improved ; shall appear.
F. E.K.E.— Certainly not under ordinary clrcmnsUnccs. „_..-«,
M.-We cannot discuss sudi business In these columns. Wc shall be glad to see you at our
office.
CoNTBiBOTOE.— If approved.
V. W. (Ch.rrlng-cros8-brldgc).-Deferred tin next week. , ,. , „ „ ._h n a
IJeceived.-E.O. C. F. A.,M.R.l. B. A., M. P., T. R., L. X. L., Messrs. F. and Q., A
Ratepayer. E. A., Robert Ji x., W. M., C. J . F. G., It. S. T., A Subscriber (Liverpool),
X. y; Z., Mrs. J-^n.,L. P., A Constant Reader (Dover), O'C, J. J. J., W. C. B. s., t.,
WllUam C e., P. B., W,
August 2, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
633
SOME NOTES ON
DURABILITY OF
STRENGTH AND
CONSTRUCTION.
RCHITECTURE-by which
we will suppose is meant, the
ordinary practice of the pro-
fession of an architect — is often
regarded by the uninitiated as
a very desirable pursuit. AVe
have ourselves Icnown men, who
have been educated to and been
well qualifiedfor other vocations,
turning even at mature age a
longing eye towards it ; while
some have even gone so far as to
seriously contemplate the aban-
donment of their early trade or
profession, in order to betake
themselves to "Architecture," as
a means'of maintenance.
Such persons are most likely
influenced by observing a fact, quite true in
itself — to wit, that " architecture " is not,
strictly speaking, a closely corporate " pro-
fession" or guild; a mystic ring, within
which none but the duly initiated or
apprenticed can enter. They see how largely
the possession of the gift of "taste" has
contributed to the success of all great archi-
tects. 'Tis not unlikely they may themselves
Eossess, or at least persuade themselves they
ave, this gift : 'tis part, they reason, of the
areliitect's stock in trade — why should they
not cultivate it ; and so, in time, germinate into real practisimr archi'
tects ; and contend with the Smirkes, and the Pugins, and the°Barrys
of their day ?
But presently they are met by a difficulty ; for as yet there is no
existing curriculum of study, to which these aspirants can apply them-
selves ; and, as even the most superficial are capable of perceivin"-,
some course of elementary knowledge is necessary to success. Hence
they are heard to raise the question— one natural enough in the case of
a tyro, who intends to proceed to a higher course of study ; but naive
enough in the mouths of those, who raise it in the hope of becomino-
architects by the reply— TFAere can one meet with a good practical
treatise on architecture ? There is no exaggeration in this. We have
ourselves known intelligent persons, who^have taken to architecture,
with a serious intention of qualifying themselves for practice in a couple
of years ; and we see every day public advertisements that, by their
very frequency of use indicate their popularity, wherein the promise is
beld out that, adventurous claimants for architectonic honors shall be
qualified for architects, civil engineers or surveyors in far less time than
that.
AVe have lately seen a grand agitation amongst architectural
students, who desiderate a cun-iculum of study. We desiderate it
ourselves ; and have, perhaps, been as noisy in clamouring for it
certainly rejoice with the students in the happy issue of theirligitation.
An architect will assuredly be all the better for having read°for and
run the curriculum ; but what then— will it make an architect of him ?
Certemly not. We have never encouraged such an idea ; nor do we
conjecture that, the promoters of the movement have ever indulced in
8uch a visionary notion. ~ °
Far be it from us to decry architectural literature. There is too
little reading amongst the architectural students of our day • and
indeed, we may venture to aver that, architects as a class (that is to
say, modern English ones), are not at alia reading clcas of men ; when
•we say this, we of course speak of professional reading.
Nevertheless, there is no open book-way, by which anv man can
expect to arrive at architectural competency. We will go so far as to
suppose that our adventurous friends just mentioned are not only men
ol ordmary, general education, but artists of some sort— that is to sav
persons with some powers of delineation— still, they stand in need of
the sciences which pertain to architectural practice; and these we
contend, are not matters for the mere book-student to master They
are mainly to be acquired by travel, and by observation ; by converse
With living men, who may happen to be their expositors of the time
Being; and this, of course, can only be accomplished after years of
patient study. j^--,^ ^
There are certain good qualities, differently enumerated by different'
authors, that constitute a perfect edifice— or, rather, go to make up a
KIf!V7 •; oVo"struction-and he who, being \t the time the
Dcstaitist, shall have best mastered these desiderata, will be the best
Some of these qualities, it may be granted, may, in great measure, be
studied by means of written books. We purpose naming two of them —
strength, and durability of construction*; classing the two together,
because they are ordinarily so classed ; though, for our own part, we
think the student would derive the greater benefit were he to consider
them separately; since strength and durability are not always of
necessity inseparable : a structure, for example, may be said if it be
durable to be strong ; but it by no means follows that, every strong
edifice shall be necessarily durable.
We say then that a student may with great advantage apply himself
to hard reading in the study of these two qualities — strength, and
durability. The study may not indeed be an inviting one ; but its con-
sequence can hardly be over-estimated. In recommending it to
students, one can with some confidence assert that, they will never have
occasion to look back on their labor as fruitless ; which is more than
can be said of deep reading on other professional topics, that might be
named — warming and ventilating, ecclesiology, and, " the battle°of the
styles."
The sciences to keep in view to this end are, of course, mainly those
of statics and of chemistry — neither of them very popular amongst archi-
tectural students — and the best kind of architectural reading may be
assumed to be that description of biography, that relates to edifices
which have been some time erected ; or, better still, edifices which have
failed in their construction. Of late there have been some exceed-
ingly valuable memoirs of buildings read at the meetings of the In-
stitute of British Architects; and it often happens that, on the
destruction or partial failure of an edifice of note, when eminent persons
are convoked to examine and report on the cause, admirable reports
are produced, constituting of themselves valuable essays on construc-
tion, which the student ought not to fail in procuring for perusal and
reference.
The subject of foundations will naturally claim the first notice of the
student. Many useful reports and treatises have been written upon it.
He will read of natural foundations good in themselves, which through
the ignorance of builders have been so tampered with, as to become
wholly changed for the worse : a gravel soil for example may consist of
a crust, sufficiently thick to sustain a given superstructure ; and yet it
is no uncommon thing to see it cut through by people, who refuse to
" let well alone," for the purpose of inserting under the footings an
artificial stratum of concrete, totally gratuitous in such a case. The
coficrete proper is not 'unHkely to become pierced through and lost ;
whilst its artificial substitute finds an uncongenial home in a quick-
sand ; and in any case can never possess that lateral tenacity which
was afforded by the original layer of gravel. Plain builders may
wonder how such errors can arise — they ai-e the consequence of the
modern law of contracts, as defined by the courts ; whereby a client is
entitled to nothing less than that " pound of flesh," shown on the
sections referred to in a certain contract. Here however we have
ouselves dug down to a question of law — a quicksand we must hasten
to get out of.
Nothing of course can be worse to build upon than a quicksand ;
but sand itself is not on that account a foundation to despise. Sand if
only in a state of quiescence— not likely, in familiar phrase, to be
tapped — is one of the best of natural foxmdations. A loose soil or bog
may prove a difficult matter to deal with ; and the student may, by
mere reading, attain to a very fair knowledge of the several appliances,
to which builders have recourse to in such cases. Here he will read of
the utility of pile-driving, of fasces or evergreens, with timber cradling;
and possibly it is only by reading that he may ever be enabled to
qualify himself to deal with such difficulties, when they present them-
selves in his actual practice.
Clay again will be found one of the most treacherous of strata, on
which to place an edifice ; and the young architect will in his readings
be cautioned against so building his walls upon it, as to subject them
to sudden mutations of temperature. Such a soil too will be suggestive
of many precautions, as to that important branch of this subject, the
unequal subsidence or settling of foundations.
The strength of a building, it miiy be only a truism to say, is largely
dependent on the due thickness and solidity of its walls, piers, abutments,
beams, corbels, pinnacles, posts, struts, brackets, columns and other
bearing points ; and here the student will find even in books a wide
field of investigation open to him. Closely connected with it will come
in the whole topic of equilibrium, or the due disposition of the supportin""
features of a design — the proper form of arches to fulfil certain require-
ments of stability, and the trussing of carpentry — a scientific study in
itself; and one, on which he wUI find that profound philosophers have
not scorned to indite learned treatises for his guidance. These treat
for the most part of equilibrating a structure by compression of its
several parts — a principle in great favor with the medieval builders ;
but one, which we see their earlier precursors ignored as untrustworthy.
Lastly, the student may glean from books much information with
regard to thatpowerful element of strength or stability of construction.
Tension, or Tie, which he will see so much resorted to by modern
builders. People talk of a Victorian style of Architecture : we are our-
634
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 2, 1861.
selves too obtuse to discern it ; but are willing to admit that, some
plausible claim may be made in our days to a Victorian style of Con-
struction; for in no otlier age, that occurs to us, has the constructive —
or as some will have it, "destructive" — principle of tenHon been car-
ried to such an excess, as we see it in our own times. And in relation
to it there is much valuable knowledge, that the architectural student
may glean from books. In books he will meet with good descriptions
of this mode of construction ; and may learn the most approved method
of applying iron in tie-rods, bolts or bond, for consolidating an edifice,
fireproof or otherwise, as the case may present itself for study.
Here then our enquiring friends, who aspire to " coach " themselves
in architecture, may perceive at least a partial answer to their demand
for a treatise on " architecture " so called : we present them, it is true,
with plenty to read about — even omitting any present reference to
Durability — should they master it all they may become (what very many
of our architects are not) able professors oi Stability in building-con-
struction ; but they will even then be very far from having made archi-
tects of themselves. There are other fields of study into which it will
be necessary for them to enter ; their guide through which mere book-
reading will do very little towards providing for them. This is only to
be realised by patient observation, by travel, by converse ; and, above
all, by hard application to the pencil — means to the desired end, which,
it must be confessed, our modem English architects are far from being
slow or unintelligent in seeking earnest recourse to.
AECHITECTS IN PRACTICE AND THE PROPOSED
EXAMINATION.
THE present moment is peculiarly favorable to the discussion of the
various bearings of the purposed voluntary architectural examinations,
and we hope that the question in all its bearings will be fully ventilated.
We say advisedly that now is the moment for doing this, because now
for the first time, has the public been put in possession of a scheme com-
plete in its details, and likely shortly to be put to the test of actually
being carried into execution, while now, and now better than later, is there
an opportunity of offering suggestions which could be embodied in that
scheme. We hope, therefore, to find a free expression of opinion in the
columns devoted to our correspondence upon the details and the general
bearing of the plan. Our own opinion of this scheme as a whole has been
expressed already, and we have felt satisfaction in being able to review so
fevorably the details of a measure which may, perhaps, play a very
remarkable part in the history of the architectural profession for genera-
tions to come.
Among the difficulties sure to be brought forward is one which has been
already more than once named as likely to embarrass the scheme, and
while some have held it altogether a chimerical one, others have gone so
far as to consider formidable enough, if left unremoved, to present an in-
snrmountable obstacle to success. Such an opinion expressed in quarters
deserving of respect, ought of necessity to receive careful attention, and
from none more than from those who believe the obstacle feared and the
difficulty brought forward to be unreal. It is apprehended, then, by those
just referred to, that the scheme, as it now stands, will not secure for itself
the personal adhesion of any architect actually established in practice,
that is to say, that no gentlemen of this class will present themselves for
examination ; while it is at the same time believed that unless the list of
passed candidates includes many names of architects of repute, the whole
thing will fail of success. No young man will care to exert himself to pass
the examination, or at least, so it is feared, unless he have the example of
men to whom he is accustomed to look up as his warrant, and no architect,
it is urged and very justly urged, who has gained a position in his profes-
sion and has secured the confidence of a circle of clients, will feel it his
duty or his interest to present himself for examination in all the various
branches of his preliminary education. He will have no sufficient induce-
ment— probably absolutely no inducement at all. He will have little
leisure ; and, above all, he will feel that his knowledge and his skill have
for so long been turned into different channels, that he will distrust his
own power of doing himself justice in answers to an examination paper.
Moreover, a man in this position feels that he has prepared himself for,
and passed with success through the only ordeal for which it was
necessary to prepare at the time when he learned the rudiments of his
profession ; the ordeal of seeking and obtaining business and of so dis-
charging his first commissions as to encourage his friends to entrust others
to his care. Having succeeded in this, and knowing how many difficulties
had to be overcome, the man who enjoys the fruits of these labors feels
most justly that he has done enough, and that he would be out of place in
going before a set of his colleagues and answering a list of questions
ftamed to prove that he is possessed of the preliminary information and
acqch-cments which are deemed necessary to an architect. However
well furnished with these he may be, or however deficient, he is actually
an architect, and if he can point to executed works of such a character
as to justify him in taking this title to himself he considers that enough.
Both of these representations have force. It cannot be denied that if
the names admitted to rank on the list of passed candidates are to be only
names of persons who have undergone examination, very nearly all the
names at this moment known to the public as connected with archi-
tectural practice will be absent. It is equally true that among these
names will be a great number, the presence of which would confer honor
on the list and would tend to make it popular j nor can it be denied that
looking from one point of view, there would be no injustice in the ad-
mission of candidates by any such mode of examination as provided that
a careful scrutiny of their executed works should bo substituted for any
personal examination whatever.
If the object of the examination be to test whether the candidate is in
possession of the technical information, the skill of drawing, and the
general acquirements necessary to or desirable for a successful prosecution
of architecture as a profession, then, itis urged, you may safely give a man
credit for these acquirements, or for their equivalents, if you only test the
buildings which he has erected, or take some corresponding mode of ascer-
taining that he is personally a competent architect.
It is urged also that if, on the one hand, these men can, without in-
justice, be admitted on to the list, they cannot, on the other, be excluded
from it without great disadvantage and risk of failure to the scheme, and
even, perhaps, without some unfairness to themselves ; and, above all, itis
urged that supposing a list to be obtained, including nearly all the archi-
tects of present standmg in England, to which list no person could for the
future add his name without passing the proposed examination, then the
success of the scheme might be considered certain, as the inducement to a
young man to obtain admission into this list, backed by the sense of dis-
advantage to himself in being abscntfrom it, would act as the most power-
ful spur to his efforts, and would almost necessitate his coming forward.
Even the strongest advocates of the other side of the question admit the
force of the advantage which such a step might probably be to the future
success of the measure, but they urge that it would be a step which, how-
ever recommended by expediency, could not be justified in fairness, that
the proper character of the list would be destroyed by crowding into it the
names of men who had never undergone the examination at all, that there
would be i njustice to the actually examined candidates in such a course,
and that the presence of the names proposed to be thus secured is not es-
sential. They also point out very clearly that what might justly be
claimed as due to architects of standing, were there anything of a diploma
in question, is by no means equally due to them under the present circum-
stances where anything like a diploma is excluded.
In fact, the question to which we have drawn attention is very much
more one of diploma or no diploma than those who argue it seem aware.
Supposing no certificate to be issued, and no letters to be added to the
names of those placed on the list, still the very being named on that list
will constitute a man one of a class, just as much as the holding of a
diploma would. Now, if this class includes all the architects of position in
London and the country, then the admission of a young man into it will
be held by many to mark him as "admitted an architect," which is all
that he could be if he were the holder of a certificate of competence to
practice in so many terms.
On the other hand, if the list be all but exclusively filled with names of
young men of whom little is known, except that they have diligently and
successfully pursued their studies, joining it will be understood to certify
that a man has studied and has studied to purpose; but it will not be
misunderstood as if in any sense- it gave a man admission into a com-
munity of practising architects, or was a license to him to act.
It may, and probably will, come to pass that, right or wrong, a diploma
will some day be established ; but no man can be acquainted with the
general temper of the profession, and with the views privately held by
many and publicly expressed by some of its members without admitting
that now is not the time for it, and that the profession is not ripe for it.
We believe that the promoters of the examination scheme, if they annex
to it any arrangement like the one now hinted at, will defeat their own
object ; they will render it in part a diploma ; they will draw upon it an
opposition that it would not have encountered had it stood solely upon its
own merits, and in their zeal to make popular an essentially limited measure,
and to anticipate the action of a few years, they will commit an indiscretion.
Be it remembered that, however little known the names of the young
men who pass at first may be, they will be daily losing that defect. We
may fairly anticipate that the lapse of a generation would in a healthy
way raise the list to the position in which it is now proposed to place it at
starting by an artificial process; and it seems to us that a place on this
list will be more desirable, and when the thing is once understood will he
more desired, supposing it to bo a fixed principle that no name is
admissable except that of a man who has actually answered the questions
and gained the marks, then they would if the presidents and councils of
all the learned societies in London were declared to be ex officio passed
candidates.
Should it, however, be decided that some exceptional step is to be taken,
we strongly advocate the propriety of its being arranged that persons
admitted without personal examination shall be admissible only to a
distinct class, which might be kept open for a short number of years for
the reception of the names of architects in practice. After this period
the list might be closed, with certain exceptions reserved, such as, for
instance, architects coming to this country from abroad or from our
colonies, and furnished with proper credentials.
In some such way, perhaps, the accession of numbers which it is wished
to procure might be gained, and at the same time they might be kept to a
certain extent distinct from those who by their actual presence and work
in the examination-room have earned a place on the list. These gentle-
men, be their position diminished or be it increased in its value by being
kept apart, '.should, we submit, always stand separately from those who
have obtained what may be termed an honorary degree, and we think if
this be done that the results will prove so satisfactory as to leave no
cause to regret such a sacrifice of momentary popularity to permanent
and genuine advantage. J.
August 2, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
635
METROPOLITAN NEW RAILWAY WORKS.
THE new railway works at present iq progress througli the very heart
of the metropolis are very instructive to practical constructors, in
showing by their various details what to imitate and what to avoid in
heavy town engineering works. There are the Charing Cross Extension
Railway, from London-bridge to Ilungerford-market ; the Metropolitan
Underground (or, as it is termed by many people, the ClosoSewer) Railway
from Taddiugton to Farringdon-street ; and also the Metropolitan extension
of the London Chatham and Dover Railway, through Cambcrwcll and on to
Blackfriars ; all at present in progress of building. Presently we shall
have added to these the very heavy works proposed for the North London
Railway extension from Kingsland to Liverpool-street, the bill for which
has passed Parliament during the pending session.
The Charing Croi;s Railway. — The works on this line, as was noticed two
weeks since, are now being pushed forward somewhat vigorously by the con-
tractors at one part only, which is at the Hungcrford-bridge and adjacent
thereto, or to speak more concisely between Ilungerford-market and the
AVaterloo-road. The bridge across the Thames has been in progress for
two seasons, but the rate of advance has been hardly what might have
been expected in the very centre of the most industrious people in the
world, although built of tlie very material (iron), in which we transcen-
dently excel everybody else. It is true the rate of progress is more rapid
than its neighbour Westminster-bridge, but this is not saying much. One
reason of this slow progress is apparent in the modus operandi. The
piling and staging on which to build these simple girders of 175 feet span
each, is of the ponderous and unskilled school, just the kind of thing
which bridge-carpenters and pile drivers used in the infancy of railways.
The number of cubic feet of timber in the staging totals up largely in
comparison to the actual requirement, which is that of a simple scaffold
sufficiently strong for a temporary purpose. Why so great an outlay of
obstructive material in the waterway of the river, when all might have
been clear or nearly so, for the navigation ? To a simple practical mind
the possibility might have suggested itself of supporting each iron girder
during construction upon a very ordinary double trussed wooden
or iron lattice rib, extending right across the opening, without
intermediate support, lifted at once complete into place, or
prepared in two halves, with a line of supporting piles at mid-way of
span to reduce the bulk of supporting trusses, if thought too heavy in one
piece for a single lift. The parts of these temporary lattice- beams might
have been simple in scantling and simply secured, s o that after use the
materials would be of easy conversion to another purpose. In reference to
the permanent ironwork of tliis bridge it may be remarked that it appears
of an excellent character, that is in point of workmanship and material,
and great pains are evidently taken by the contractor Mr. Cochrane to
perfect his details. It is also noticeable that throughout the work the
holes for the rivets are drilled by machinery exactly true, and not
punched as in previous examples to the great detriment of the plates.
Machinery has been brought largely into play in the minor although im-
portant details, as witness the small portable and almost automaton
engine, sticking like a parasite on the very girder itself and penetrating its
thick metallic hide. Where all appears to be economy in the manipulation
of the ironwork, it is strange that so lavish a hand should be apparent in
the scaffolding and staging. In the design of the girders it is not very
clear, from a casual inspection, that the utmost skill has been brought to
bear. It may be noticed that in the first iron cylinder from the Surrey
abutment there are no rollers for the girders to expand on, but the girders
are allowed to move on the abutments at their opposite or abutment ends;
therefore the two ends which should unite on the cylinder (but don't) are
intended to be fixtures. Then, why not make them /.rtiire-s', instead of
leaving about six inches of space between them ? Had the two ends been
firmly secured together over the centre of the pier or cylinder, we all know
that about one-third additional strength would thus be added to the girder
at once, and to this extent surplus material might have been pared away.
Engineers will tell us that there is a reason for this in practice which the
common eye may not perceive at once ; but be this as it may, it is evident
something is wanted in the design to give the girder this additional
strength, and yet avoid the practical defect. We shall probably discuss this
point at a future time, but cannot pause to do so now. The girders are
double triangular, or what might be termed a modification of the Warren
principle. This class of girders has become much used of late, as they
have been greatly puffed i,nd pushed by their promoters ; besides, they are
easy of shipment and are very simple in their parts ; but then these
are desiderata, which although important in colonial and distant railways,
would hardly weigh much at Hungerford. It may be mentioned that there
are two rather heavy objections to this triangular girder which is com-
posed of strut and tie alternating from the centre to the abutments. 1.
There is a diagonal instead of a direct action in the vertical arrangement
between the top and bottom flanges, or tables as some of our more recent
specimens of engineer craft term them. 2. All depends upon the pin, or
bolt which secures the struts and ties to the flanges, which pins are few
and far between. If one of these pins fail, away goes the whole struc-
ture to limbo, or as Robert Stephenson often said, like lazy tongs. With
the wholly rivetted girder, on the contrary, there are a multiplicity of pins
or rivets which defy collective failure, as they cannot be all bad. It is
rather a pity that the iron cylinders sunk into the bed of the river were
not formed with a little more of art or taste. They look top-heavy now,
because there is no taper to their sides (like an ordinary column) from'
extreme low water to underside of platform j and where is the capital
and necking which in their nakedness the seem to demand ?
After this casual survey of the bridge, we will go to the Surrey side and
look at the brick viaduct forming there. Hero the brickwork is, as usual
in many other railway works, massive, crushing, and navvy-like in the
build. The arched opening through each pier, and under springing line
of large arch, is a great essential in the saving of material, as also to
give room for a tramway to transport the materials from the river side
through the very centre of the works. This idea, however, is a very old
one, as note same on the original Greenwich works. The supports for
the centres to the arches are arranged on a good principle, wliich is not
always observed in railway works, viz., the direct support of the whole
of the arch during building upon the piers themselves, and not from up-
rights resting on the natural ground, which yields gradually to the in-
creasing weight. The foundations are thus compressed as the work
advances. The materials used on the works are good for London, but
they are rather sadly mauled about in the confusion which is here and
there apparent; the bricks being thrown outofthe wagons in large irregular
heaps, instead of being properly stacked to avoid breakages, and the
mortar is very hot when it goes into the work, being lumpy and insuffi-
ciently mixed. Theworks are now completed nearly to the Waterloo-road,
and, as far as the eye is affected, everything is bulk, bulk, and lop-sided
abutments — no beauty, no pleasing lines anywhere. Surely alittle elegance
of exterior might have been given to the viaduct in these terra-cotta days
at a trifling expense. We expected, moreover, to have been gratified by
something new and happy in the skew-bridge way, but we noticed some-
thing worse than usual, for instead of the bricks which form the skew-
quoins being cut and rubbed to the exact lines produced by thespiral lines
of the courses and the face line of bridge, it is only the first ring of the
arch which has been adjusted in this manner. All the upper rings are
tilted up at the back of the brick which forms the quoin, so as to make it
slew to the line of the face, and the projecting end of the back is then
roughly knocked off', so that instead of a continuous sweep in the spiral
line from the haunch to the crown, there is a sudden jump up and twist,
at the end of the first brick from the face. All skew-bridge builders will
know what is here meant. It is a labor-saving but not a safe and bond-
securing expedient, and after the failure of the small skew arch in the
abutment to Sutton-street, it might be presumed to be the highest economy
to abandon the system. We don't mean to say that this was the cause of
the arch in question failing, but it was very certain there was an insuflS-
ciency of bond or tie at the acute quoin.
The Metropolitan Underground Railway. — These railway works are pro-
gressing very rapidly , especially at their western end. The brickwork, on
the whole, is of a superior quality, and more pains are taken to secure good
workmanship than is usual on railway work. The materials appear very
good and well manipulated; white perforated bricks, neatly pointed, are
used on the faces of the work, and white Suffolk bricks to the cut and
rubbed quoins of the skew bridges. The retaining walls in the open parts
of the line are designed with the utmost attention to economy, being com-
posed of large pilasters or piers at intervals of about 10 feet from centre
to centre, with arches springing between, on plan, and all backed up with
concrete thrown in loose. Over all, and springing from pier to pier, in
elevation (all on the batter) there is a flat segment arch which carries the
Earth Bacldnfj.
Plan of Ketaining Wall, Front to Railway.
parapet. The play of light and shade on the fronts of these walls,
with their deep arched recesses, has a varied and pleasing effect. It is to
be observed, however, that in these walls the concrete backing is thrown in
in the wet and sloppy state incidental to fresh loose concrete. Tliis system
may do very well in the fine, drying, summer weather which we are now
having, but is hardly admissable during the wintry, ".et season of the year.
An improvement upon the system would be to build the concrete backing
in blocks prepared in iron frames for the purpose, and set into tiie work
like ordinary rubble-work masonry. The only additional expense would
be in the labor of building; the material would be the same in both cases,
and for this additional expense a set-off would be found in the reduced
thickness of the superior wall as compared with the inferior wall backed up
with wet loose materials. All the bricks on the faces of the skew arches
throughout the works are Suffolk bricks cut and rubbed to form true skew
quoins; and the mortar is prepared and mixed in revolving iron pans
driven by steam power. One thing struck us as being rather fan-
tastic in the design of several of the bridges and tunnel fronts (espe-
cially the skew-bridge fronts), the gomg to the expense of putting
in keystones of large scantling to brick arches. In skew arches
it is no key stone at all, for the Lines of the soffit run away from
the crown with the obUque courses, instead of surmounting the arch
all through like a true keystone. Besides, there is no more pressure
on the keystone part of the arch than there is on any other part of it — not
even so much, for it is at the haunches that the tug of war comes in point
of pressure. We saw one skew arch near to Lisson-grove actually stopped
in its construction, waiting for these frivolous keystones being rubbed-up
and polished, and all to mar the unity and purpose of the structure. Give
us beauty by all means, but not affectations of an old school, which,
ignorant of the true action of the arch, put its pressure in the wrong place.
The material or ground through which the line passes at the western
636
THE BUILDING NEWS.
AtTGUST 2, 1861.
section, is all that might be wished, clean sand and gravel, and bnglit, too,
considering how closely it lies in contact with the dirt of London. Tiiere
is the sand for the mortar, and the gravel for the concrete; besides bcmg,
M the *• navvies" say, easy shifting stuff, and perfectly free from moisture.
At the eastern end of the line, in the vicinity of Iving's -cross, the material
is a stiff London clay, but there it is rather to be hoped for than otherwise,
for the town drainage at this part is mostly above the works, instead of
being Mow them as at the western end of the line. The tunnel arch
is built three bricks thick, with a span of about 27 feet for a double line
of both broad and narrow gauge mixed up together. One contrivance
about the tunnel-building is to be approved of— the use of wrought-iron
ribs to carry the battens of the centres, which are very portable, rigid,
and insure great regularity of shape in the continuous sofiSt of a tunnel
made up of so many different lengths. It is to be feared that the venti-
lation of the tunneled parts of the line will never be sufficient for the
healthful transport of a metropolitan population, even supposing that the
locomotives do not burn coal or other noxious fuel, but merely use bottled-
np steam, ample enough for the journey; and that there are air shafts on
each side of the works at frequent intervals. The open parts of the line
along the New-road are few and far between, anything but sufficient to
carrv off the rapidly accumulating foul pdours percolating from adjacent
sewers and gas-pipes. It is true the top of the tunnel arch is covered with
concrete and asphalte, but the sides and invert are left free to absorb all
that is communicated to thera through the percolating material of sand
and gravel which line so large a portion of the sides of the excavations.
The London, Chatham, and Dover Metropolitan Extension liuilwai/.— This
line has not at the present time progressed very far, it has only, in fact,
reached the neighborhood of CamberwcU. We shall return to these works
more in detail when greater progress has been attained. The arching at
present completed is of a very common-place kind— semi-arches— in some
cases springing from the ground level, with girder bridges over the intersect-
ing streets. Everything is as plain as plain can be, just rough, rude, and
uncouth brickwork, with pilasters coarsely panelled and projecting half a
brick only. The work darkens and renders gloomy the roads and streets
as it traverses them ; and yet, with all its plainness, there is not much
economy practised in the construction of the viaduct, for there are the
heavy spandrels inseparable from the semi-arch, which also involves extra
thickness of piers to carry them. Why not the segment or flat ellipse on
light piers with a very slight batter, panelled spandrel, and all surmounted
and decorated with a pleasing brick cornice, built up of light and dark
bricks, the former color advancing and the latter color receding, of any
colors or shades so long as there is the shade. It is necessary, however,
in order to retain this shade in a London climate, that the bricks of the
cornice be glazed, but this need be only on their faces. We noticed in
these works the not very commendable practice of filling in the voids of
the skew abutments with clay and soil, instead of brick rubbish or con-
crete, which will keep the walls very damp and liable to perish from the
action of frost, especially in the lower courses. The foundations to all the
piers, shallow and deep, are brought up nearly to the ground level with
concrete. In the interior of the brickwork, for filling in the large masses,
the courses arc occasionally laid diagonally, a very good practice which is
not often attended to in heavy masses of brick masonry. The arches are
built in rings, but bonded througli in three different parts of the arch
•offit ; that is to say, in those rings where the radiating joints of two con-
centric rings come together. We shall have more to say about this line at
a future opportunity.
♦
CHURCH OF ST. JAMES THE LESS, UPPER GARDEN-STREET,
\VE.STMINSTEH.
MB. STREET has added another to the many fine churches with which he
has enriched the country and enabled Londoners to witness the amount of
art which can, in judicious bauds, be appropriately blended with the Anglican
Church Service. Mr. Butterfield, in All SaintsL Margaret-street, and Mr.
Scott, in the restoration of St. Michael's, Comliil|™ive shown us a little of their
designing power. Mr. G. E. Street is an architect inferior to neither of these
fenllemen in practical ability, and in original treatment of Gothic architecture,
he piety of two ladies — the Misses Monk — has given him an opportunity to show
these qualities in the Church of St. James the Loss, wliicli was yesterday (the
31st inst.) consecrated by the Bishop of London, and had the first sermons preached
in it by the Bishop of Oxford and tlie Dean of Westminster.
The Church, which is erected as a memorial to the late Bisliop of Gloucester,
will accommodate about GOO jiersons.
We can this week give only a short notice, but shall give, next week, a more
detailed account of it. It is built of red brick mside and out. The principal
columns arc of red Aberdeen granite, the smaller ones of Devonshire marble.
There is a great deal of sculpture both of figures and foliage. The nave columns
contaiu four subji-cts on each column, illustrative of the miracles and parables of
our Lord. The pulpit is executed by Mr. Farmer, and contains figures of the
Evaogelists and Doctors.
The stained glass is the work of Messrs. Clayton and Bell ; that in the chancel
fllutrates types of the Old and anti-types iu the New Testament; those of the
aUlei will embody a series of figures of the Apostles, each with a portion of the
creed in bis band, and below, subjects from their lives.
The ro<;fs are |iainted by Clayton and Bell, in very gorgeous colors. The nave
roof fonns a tree of Jesse, and contains busts of the forefathers of our Lord, be-
ginning with David.
The east wall of the nave is painted with a grand picture, by Mr. G. F. Watts.
It represents our Lord seated on clouds, with groups of angels, and the four
Evangelists below, writing their gospels. The figures of the fresco are painted on
a gold ground.
The cliancel is groined in brick with stone ribs, and carved bosses at their inter-
section. The floors are all laid with Maw's tiles; in the chancel they are of rich
patterns intermixed with marble.
The east wall is richly iidaid. A large marble cross with the emblem of the
Evangelists, occupies the space over the altar. The bays on each side of the altar
have figures of women mentioned iu the Bible; four from the old and four from
the New Testament.
The chancel is enclosed with a wrought-iron screen, and gates enriched with
brass work. Rows of gas-jets rise above them. The nave is lighted witli brackets
in tlie spandrels of each of the arches. The chancel is an-anged with .seats for the
choir, and an organ, built by Nicholson, of Worcester, occupies part of the north
cliancel aisle. The nave is fitted with movable benches of oak.
Mr. Myers has had the contract for the work. The whole of tlie works of every
description have been executed from the designs and under the superintendence
of Mr. George Edmund Street, A.B.A., of Moutague-place, Russell-square.
A NEW SYSTEM OF FIREPROOF CONSTRUCTION.
A CONSIDERABLE amount of attention seems to have been lately directed in
certain quarters, to a system of fireproof construction proposed by Mr.
Charles Batty. Without altogether sharing in the confidence expressed by the
inventor and some others, as to the impossibility of destroying a structure erected
in the manner proposed by the action of fire, unaided by explosive power, we are
pretty sure that the ingenuity and priHia/«cJ(E excellence of the system, will
obtain for its promoter a wide hearing.
One of the leading principles of the system proposed is to drive the fire out of
the building as quickly as possible through the doors or windows, the framework
of these being made of'^combustible materials in order to ensure quick destruction,
and thereby Tacility for the exit of tlie fire. Another leading principle is to form
the floore "and columns on which they rest, hollow, communicating at the lower
extremities of the latter with an air-shaft, and with the open air at various points
at the levels of the floor lines. The operation of the principle depends on the heat
of a fire rarefying the air contained in tliese so formed flues, causing a constant
current of air to pass over the entire internal surface of those portions of the
building.
The complete scheme may be thus briefly described. The basement stoiy is
recommended to be half its height only below the ground level ; the entire build-
ing to be constructed of the best stock bricks, carefully pointed and brought to a
smooth surface ; all doors to be made flush with the walls on both sides ; windows
to be opposite each other, and to reach quite up to the ceiling; all reveals or
piers to be splayed to an angle, so that no resistance be offered to the escape of
the flames in case of fire, or the free circulation of air for ventilation purposes.
With the same view all right angles are to be avoided. The floors might be
formed of rolled iron joists in various ways, the only requirement incident to the
system being a hollow space in the floor with an iron lining. The fioors may
rest upon mied or hollow brick walls or iron columns with hollow cores, into
which a current of air is to be admitted, and through them to the floor and
outlet as above described. This, it is contended, would act as a cooling agent, and
" prevent them from becoming white hot or fusing, let the heat be ever so great."
The air chamber within the floor would be 6 or 8 inches in depth. In the base-
ment there would be an air-pipe or shaft of proper size from the open air con-
nected with every hollow column or wall flue, and thence to the hollow floors.
It is said that the system of " passing air through the columns, girders, doors,
&c. (air would be introduced between double doors), will keep them cool, prevent
their giving way, &c., and thereby ensure the safety of the building."
In the case of warehouses, it is proposed to construct naiTow galleries, or
cornices with a liandrail, round the building over the window head, to enable
the firemen to pass round the building at almost any level.
We beUeve Mr. Batty will be willing to show his drawings at 196, Marylebone-
road, to any architect who may be specially interested in the question ; we feel
ourselves called upon to make the scheme public, and hope that some means will
be afforded us of practically testing the value of the invention. We should, for
example, hkc to learn for a fact what cooling power the air possessed after passing
through certain lengths of fioors, girders, or columns, heated to a high temper-
ature j and have some misgivings as to the desirability in any street of ordinary
width of driving the entire body of flames out of the windows, &c., for if such a
course be desirable, we believe the arrangements proposed would be very effective
in that way.
We have ourselves no very limited acquaintance with the efiects of large con-
flagrations on building materials, and very recently* in making some remarks on
tlie fire at London-bridge, we felt called upon to refer in very decided terms to
the universal failure of the ironwork employed in the construction of those ware-
houses, our impression at the time was that under no conceivable condition could
that material be introduced so as to produce what niigift fairly be termed a fire-
proof structure ; it remains to be seen how far Mr. Batty 's principle of keeping
tlie construction at a comparatively low temperature by a constant current of
fresh air is successful uner such trying conditions.
Monument to Montgomery at Sheffield. — The monument to James
Montgomery, the poet, was unveiled on Monday, in the presence of a large con-
course of people. Tiie poet died on the 30th of April, 1854, and was buried on
the mil of May " amidst such demonstrations of respect as were never paid to
any individual in Sheffield before." A great desire was expressed that a monu-
ment should be raised to his memory; a committee was formed for the purpose
of carrying out the desire ; Mr Bell, the eminent sculptor, received a commis-
sion to prepare a model ; the model was exhibited, and universally approved of;
a sort of tacit understanding was entered into with Mr. Bell that he should pre-
pare a statue after the fashion of the model, and it was hoped that in a short
period a statue which would have done credit to the town would be pubUely
maugurated. This was six or seven years ago. Subscriptions were canvassed
for and were promised, all sorts of arrangements were made, and then, when
there seemed no obstacle to success, the Committee (or rather an iniiiortant
member of it, who promised to be most active and became least so), lagged behind
hi their endeavours, and the matter was almost forgotten. At length, tlie Sunday-
school teachers of the town stirred in the matter, and the result was the erection
of.a monument at the cost of £1,100. There was a large procession through the
town to tlie site of the statue, and the town observed the day quite in the holiday
fashion. The mayor (H. Vickers, Esij.) delivered the inaugural address. Other
addresses of an appropriate kind were also delivered.
» See " Facts from tho Great Fire," page i73.
August 2, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
637
1
ON TJIE GENIUS OF GHIBEllTI.
SOMETIME ago in these pages I recommended the works of tlie Floren-
tine sculptor Donatcllo to the attention of the architect, sculptor and
art-woiknian, as calculated to impart much valuable instruction as to the
amount of conventionalism advisable, and the general treatment of sculp-
ture to be used, in conjunction with the mode of Gothic architecture mostly
adopted at the present time, pointing out, however, that the principal
lessons to be learnt from the peculiar direction of his genius as shown by
his works were mostly applicable when we were desirous of placing
satisfactory and skilfully executed single figures, showing all our
learning and power in figure modelling and yet possessing a pe-
culiar fitness for their destined positions in Gothic niches, or when
wishing for a suitable mode of treating medallions and panels containing
one or two heads or figures in exposed positions and, therefore, appro-
priately calling for their execution in low relief. But when our require-
ments are for the introduction of sculpture into buildings of the same style
and consequently naturally leading us to look for our models to the works
of a master of the same date|and of the same country, but of a different bent
of genius, it being probable that the works of such a master would be as
suitable for our new and different purpose as we had previously found
those of the first master, but when our requirement is not for large or
life-sized figures in niches, or for panels of one or more heads or figures in
low relief, but for numerous figures composed and arranged in panels,
brackets, or capitals — to whom shall we look if not to the gifted con-
temporary of Donatello, to whom that great master himself gave the palm
when the subject in question was out of the immediate scope of his own
genius— Lorenzo Ghiberti?
Oh ! at this present time, when the use of sculpture in architecture is
increasing so much ; when figure groups and sacred subjects are being
introduced on the walls and in capitals of the columns of our churches,
that two or three of our leading sculptors who might feel such works as
Ghiberti's to be their peculiar gift, and who have tlie earnest inclination
to devote their talents to this branch of their art, would turn their
attention to this class of work, and take the lead in the movement now
begun of employing sculpture in conjunction with, and as a helpmate to
Gothic architectu'-e.
Now, do not let me be understood to wish in any way to take away
from the employment of that useful and talented class of men who are
daily improving in the character and beauty of their works — namely,
architectural sculptors, carvers, and art-workmen ; but that I would fain
see this class of art elevated by the enrolment in its highest ranks, of men
of the highest genius and attainments in sculpture. That is, of sculptors
of sufficient genius and merit to bo recognised as such by being members
of the Koyal Academy, and who would raise and extend this branch of
art by exhibiting works of this character, as the works for which their
genius, like that of Ghiberti, peculiarly fit them. The requirements and
different positions of architectural sculpture will always give scope for
works by sculptors. I know not how otherwise to embrace in one name
the whole of the workers in the art, of whatever grade, unless II say, will
always give scope for works by all kinds of wielders of the chisel, what-
ever may bo their class, their natural powers, their education, their
attainments, and their distinctions.
But what I do wish to advocate is this, that among these differing kinds
and grades of sculpture and carving, that while all kinds of workmen and
work are called for and used, art- workmen, architectural sculptors, who
themselves would not rank themselves among the first sculptors, that the
highest talent available in the land, should be employed in the execution
of the gems of the work, when means and opportunity allow of it.
Objects which I may perhaps be enabled better to explain, by reference
to the sister art of painting and its application to architecture, an applica-
tion which is happily coming again into vogue, side by side with the in-
creased application of sculpture.
An art-workman paints the plain surfaces and mouldings, the artist-
decorator, or architectural decorator, paints the patterned ceiling, but an
artist of the highest rank and genius alone paints the frescoed subjects on
the wall. And shall the choicest sculpture in the building be of a less
exalted grade and the work of less exalted genius than the choicest part of
the painted decorations in the same building? No! let the art-workm.in
execute the carved leaves on the capital, the architectural sculptor the
figures in the same, and all but the gems of the building, but let these,
such as the chief groups of all, such as in the old cathedrals that over the
west doorway or in the reredos over the altar, be by the highest genius
we can find, who has fitted himself for the task, the Flaxman of the d.ay,
especially if he is imbued with something of the genius of Ghiberti.
Therefore, to sculptors of the highest genius who may in themselves
feel that the peculiar bent of their genius lies in comparatively small
figures and in the embodiment and realization of sacred and other sub-
jects in this manner, I would say here is a peculiar and new field open to
you, place yourselves at the head of the vast army of workers with the
chisel, which architecture, which is alone worthy of being called such, as
as it is now becoming, necessarily calls into being and marshals in its
service; and if they feel any scruples as to whether they would be main-
taining the dignity of their hardly acquired position, and of the art ip
which they occupy the highest rank, I would say where do you find some
oi the finest sculpture of Greece and Kome?— is it not on the friezes and
pediments ?
Remember the frieze of the Parthenon. Where do you find sculpture of
the highest perfection to which they attained in the middle ages?— is it not
on the cathedrals and other churches ? And when Nicholo Pisano, bogan
tbcdihgcnt study of the antique, where did he place the finest results of
that study? — was it not on the pulpit at Pisa ? And when the modelling
of the human figure became perfect did not the whole of that glorious
Florentine school employ their talent in the decoration and enrichment of
buildings?
If scruples enter the mind of any as to whether tHe range of architec-
tural sculpture can embrace the highest art in sculpture, I would take
them by the hand and lead them to the statue of St. Matthew, in a niche of
the Or San Michele, and then to the doors of the baptistery, and say, can
you think this to be lower art than drawing-room statuary, this that made
the fame and glory of the marvellous genius of Ghiberti?
Much dissatisfaction is at present felt with the result in general effect of
most of our public memorials. This I feel to be intimately connected with
this subject, namely, the want of union and fellowship of working between
architecture and the highest class of sculpture.
My opinion on the reason of the want of success in this class of works,
is that from their nature they are peculiarly fitted for showing the defects
of the modes of practice at present prevalent among the two arts of sculp-
ture and architecture. They are, as it were, on a sort of debateable ground
between sculpture iind architecture necessarily without any choice in the
matter, requiring a union of the two even if in the simplest case of statue
and pedestal, consequently showing with unusual clearness the weak
places in the study of both arts.
Architecture, such as concerns ordinary building, can be practised,
although not without loss, without high art sculpture, or without the study
of it, and although it will be uninteresting and bald, and no one will care
for it, yet its failure will not be so apparent as to cause a general
outcry.
Sculpture may be practised in single figures and dr.awing-room groups
without any knowledge of architecture, of architectural composition, or the
knowledge that would be insensibly but surely gained by the sculptor con-
stantly working on the highest architectural sculpture in harmony with
the design and meaning of the architects of the several buildings.
But when a memorial is required of the usual form, bared are the weak
places in the system we at present practise. We have in the present state of
knowledge and practice in the two arts of architecture and sculpture but
three courses to choose, out of which we have hitherto used but two, some
employers or committees choosing one and some the other, although the
third seems to me obviously at the present time, but only at the present
time, to be the best course of the three.
The three courses are these, — 1st. For the commission to be given to a
sculptor alone, when the result is generally a single statue with an ill-
designed pedestal. 2nd. For it to be given to an architect alone, when an
architectural structure is raised, and what sculpture is used, is, with all
respect to the genius of the architectural sculptor or carver, very con-
ventional, and certainly not first-class sculpture. In our present position
the third is best, which is to associate an architect and sculptor in the same
work, giving the general design and that of all the architectural work to
the architect, the principal figures and bas-reliefs to a first-rate sculptor,
unfettered except as to harmony with the whole work ; the secondary
sculpture to architectural sculptors and art-workmen, the result being a
work produced by union of all kinds of artists of construction and relief,
presided over by the only artist at present accustomed to general com-
positions of this kind, namely the architect. Far be it from my thoughts
in saying this to mean any disrespect to the great talents of our greatest
sculptors; that which causes their failure in works of this kind is not the
want of original talent, but the want of architectural training, and the
consequent want of architectural knowledge. Fain would I, did I feel that
our sculptors' knowledge resulting from their mode of practice admitted of
if, name a fourth course to be adopted on these occasions, to my mind, most
of all likely to result in succesii, especially in the kind of works under our
immediate consideration, namely, that the same hand that designed the
whole should, like Orcagna, execute the principal figures, leaving, like
him, the rest to inferior aitists and workmen. But this kind of double
knowledge does not come intuitively. Bruneleschi did not, after beating
Donatello in carving a crucifix, immediately design the dome of Sta. Maria;
no, not till after several years' study of the buildings in Kome. But
sculptors who had for years been engaged in executing the principal and
leading works in our finest buildings in harmony with the design, and
under the general direction of the architects of the buildings, would after
that training produce very different designs for public memorials from
what they do at present, or from what those other sculptors would, who,
during the same time, had been occupied in isolated statues and detached
groups. For as in a previous paper I endeavored to show that the practical
knowledge of modelling and sculpture would make an architect forever
after, more of a sculptor in his feelings, more alive to its beauties, and its
capabilities, and more fond of sculpture itself, and of its application to
architecture, so in my opinion the result of a sculptor turning his attention
and giving his time to the execution of works in, or on buildings, necessarily
involving the passing of days in or on them, and the necessitating the com-
position of groups of many figures, and often some very curious problems
of composition to be solved, of making the most and best of peculiar forms
of groups for peculiar and difficult positions ; would necessarily make a
sculptor for ever after more of an architect, in bis feelings more alive to
the beauties of architecture and its capabilities, for the effective, and
varied display of his own peculiar art, and more fond of grouping and bas-
relief, and the union of the sister arts. I think we should then find much
less fault tlianVe do now with sculptors' pedestals ; for surely a single
statue and a bare pedestal, only decorated with a few mouldings, however
good, would not satisfy a man who had been for years engaged in executing
the gems of the sculptured work on buildings where architecture was
638
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 2, 1861.
duly enriched with jewels of sculpture, where the stones made precious by
acolptors' poetical thoughts were placed in chaste and elegant and suitable
settings of nature's loveliest foliage, and birds and animalji, from the skil-
ful hands of the architectural sculptor, and the intelligent art-workman
informs arrangeme«ts and combinations, springing from the art of the
artist architect.
No ! such men as tliese would require, and by tlieir designs, interest
their employers in the execution of ranch more than this. A statue of the
man we wish to honor, is no doubt fitting, but surely not all; sucli men as
these would place statues on architectural structures whose ornaments and
illnstrative bas-reliefs would throw a light on the peculiar merits, position
•of birth, hardships, conflicts, conquests, whether over himself, circum-
stances, or his country's enemies, of the man represented by the statue.
Have I wandered from ray subject? No ! ara I not even now describing
men of a genius kindred to the genius of Ghiberti ? Has this anything lo
do with my he.iding? Yes, much, for this is one of the especial weak
places in the present practice of the sister arts, and the statue of St.
Hatthew in its niche of the church of the Or San Michele, and the panels of
the gates at the baptistery, and the natural leaves and heads in the en-
closing frame, and the general design of these gates composing what may
Be appropriately called the setting of the panelS, which may be well indeed
tonsiJered as the gems, all by a sculptor, read us some useful lessons on
this subject.
The statue of St. Matthew shows us the important fact that the greatest
•cnlptors of that day were not above executing statues for a niche in a
building designed by another, even although generally designing the
buildiniis themselves. 'While the same statue, taken with the whole design
of the doors, general composition, foliage, heads, and panels illustrative of
the highest and most poetical subjects, show us what our memorials would
be if, in mode of practice, study, and original talents, our sculptors of
the present day had more than any have at present of the peculiar genius
of the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti.
E. T>.
NOTES 'WITHOUT TEXT.
XLIV.
AS the season is now approaching when people will be making continental
trips, and architects among others, a few hints addressed more
cspeci.iUy to the latter class,maynotbeunweIcome,atlea8t not superfluous.
The first is, not to attempt to see too much— no more, in fact, than can be
examined considerately as well as seen. Even those who might bo supposed
to have been competent judges of architecture, appear oftener than not to
haTC spoken of buildings from hasty, flrst-sight impressions, by their ex-
pressing little more tlian a bare opinion, either favorable or the contrary.
I have been told by one who met them there, that when he was at Genoa,
two young English architects did the whole of that city in a couple of
days, though he himself would have found a couple of months too short.
Travelling is, no doubt, of very great advantage to an architect — provided
he makes proper use of it, and duly turns it to account. But he might
nearly as well travel blindfolded, or else stay at home, as make a harum-
scarum scamper abroad with a carpet bag and a " Murray " — an exploit
which is little better than so much laborious idleness. The architect or
student who would turn his trip to the best advantage should, as far as it is
in his power, make himself thoroughly acquainted beforehand with the place
and the buildings he intends to visit. Provided with such preparatory in-
formation, he would know to what to direct his attention, and he would be
in little danger of bringing horae any faggols, though be may turn to
account those of other persons. As the term faggots m.ay require explana^-
tioD, its origin is this : a gentleman who lived in chambers always found
in his laundress's weekly bills a formidable charge for faggots, and on his
remonstrating with her for her extravagance in the article of firewood, she
exclaimed, " La ! Sir, I write but a pcorish hand, I own, hut they are not
faggots, they are only foryele !" " Then if so, pray let me have no more of
your forgetfulness." After which, " faggots " became a cant word with him
and his acqu<iintance.
No doubt, he who travels fully equipped and prepared as above recom-
mended, will lose many sudden surprises, but en revanche he will enjoy a
far superior gratification, that of ascertaining by autopsy how far build-
ings alretidy farailiar to him, perhaps, by descriptions and delineations of
them, answer to, or else either surpass or fall short of expectation. He
will for the first time behold, as they really show themselves in substance
and in situ,— in concrete, what he had hitherto seen only in abstracto, that
is, in lifeless outline engravings, in which all charm of surface and of play
of light and shade, to say nothing of perspective, is altogether suppressed.
If he he wiseorwide-awakc, he will make diligent notes of .all that he sees,
and like the bee return honey-laden from his ramble to his hive, leaving
to mere idlers to chronicle such small beer stuff as hotel charges, and
discuss the quality of beds and bills of fare.
XLV.
THE Timet is not the only paper that has expressed exultation at the
result of the debate on the i'oreign Office, and the defeat of the
Medievalist party, for another not only says that Lord Palrnerston has
Tindicated the common-sense of the nation by firmly resisting a Gothic
design, but goes so far as to maintain that " any Gothic building in ouf day
u an architectural lie." Until something further transpires as to Mr.
Scott s T'oaK/fun design, it impossible for any one who has not actually
seen It to form any idea of its artistic quality. Most probably, however.
It will be found to have as little of the Palladian in its character as any
of the club-Iwuses lu Pall-mall. To protest, as it seems Mr. Layard did,
against Classic on account of its requiring colonnades that shut out light,
is not a little absurd, because so far from being indispensable they may be
omitted altogether, or has Mr. Layard never heard of astylar composition?
Even if for the sake of decoration an order be introduced, a«ac/ie(/columr 5
between the windows no more obstruct light tlian do Gothic buttresses.
It could be wished that our senators would sometimes think before tliey
speak, instead of blurting out, as some of them did, the merest vag.iries
and random, inapposite remarks. One thing that shows what angry
people will resort to when hard pressed for arguments, is that the notion of
an Italian design was spoken of contemptuously as nothing better than
'■ Palmerstoni.an whim!" Now, all tliat could fairly be called "whim"
lay on the side of those who advocated the cause of secular Gothic as
the most proper style for the occasion, because as far as it has yet been
tried, it seems to be rife with whim and whimsies. At any rate, such an
important public building as the Foreign Oflice ouglit not to be made
tlie subject of an experiment. There was, indeed, one trump card which
the anti-Italianists might have played off with such success, that their
not doing so is to be accounted for only by the 111 luck of their not holding
it in their hands. Otherwise they would, no doubt, have called our/acA«
are trumps, and have proceeded to demonstrate that all our existing public
offices — Somerset House, tlie Treasury Buildings, and the rest — are con-
fessedly inconvenient and inappropriate, and that their inconvenience
arises not from any want of ability on the part of their architects, but
entirely from the inappropriateness of the unlucky style itself. Just that
it is which ought to demonstrated j yet that it is precisely which is
ignored and overlooked, or else comfortably taken for granted without
any further botheration of brains.
XLVI.
WHETHER the decision in the late parliamentary battleof the styles is
to be regarded as a decisive victory on the part of the Classicists, and
is a decisive defeat on that of the Gothicists .and nineteenth-century Medie-
valists remains to be seen. What is tolerably evident is that Mr. Scott
himself is not at heart by any means so staunch a Goth as Welby Pugin
was, since there can be no doubt that had the latter been placed in similar
circumstances he would have shown himself to be of sterner stuff, and
have seized upon the opportunity of proving his devotedness to Gothic,
and his readiness to suffer as a martyr in its cause. Scott, however, is not
quite such a cr.azy enthusiast j gifted with greater flexibility, rather than
break he'll bend. Like a prudent man, he is not at all ambitious for
martyrdom ; he has too much of nineteenth century feeling in his compo-
sition, to have any relish for the honor of martyrdom. What is to be hoped
is that in his " Italian" design he has carefully steered clear of paganism,
and not given us any of its trumpery " rotten rags." Whether he can say
with the poor starved apothecary, "my poverty, but not my will consents,"
is best known to himself. Whether after shining as a donghty champion,
he will now be regarded as a recreant knight and renegade, is even, if not
probable, not exactly impossible. A wiclced, mischief-making friend of
mine has urged liie to invoke the Muse, and sing in epic strains, the contest
dire 'tween Classicists and Goths, — victorious Palrnerston and vanquished
Scott, to whom I answered"! had rather not." Wretchedly prosjiic as
such answer was, it was at any rate, a very common-sensible one. Since
then, a little bird has whispered something in my ear foreboding much of
sable inkstand war.
XLVII.
I WAS once— it is now some sixty-five years since — told by an architect who
was then of some note, that though ho had been repeatedly solicited to
furnish a design for a shop-front, he had invariably refused, considering it to
be, if not exactly unprofessional, altogether infra dig, so to employ his talent
and prostitute his art. Yet were he permitted to carry out his ideas fully,
without any busy-body interference, an architect who possessed both taste
and invention might make something of a shop-front. There is, or used
to be, one in Old Bond-street, that was designed by Inwood, which though
not particularly striking to ordinary eyes, was not a little remarkable for
the " peregrine" fancy displayed in its columns, whose shafts exhibited an
equally novel and effective variety of fluting, — no doubt, entirely thrown
away upon an overwhelming majority of passers-by, tliose especially who
can only catch a transitory glance at architecture or anything else from
their carriage windows. However infra dig. a subject of that class may be
deemed, it affords safe opportunity for breaking away from conven-
tionalism and routine. In the example just referred to, there was nothing
of copyism and just as little of caprice. I recollect another instance of
decided success in invention in a model for some capitals, afterwards
executed in an ornamental garden building. By way of handle to their
name — which seems to be something quite indispensable— being voluted
they might be called Ionic, yet ditfered lolo ccclo from those of any previous
example of that order, if only by the interspirals being perforated, an idea
fertile of innumerable modifications. To say the truth,— and it may be
thought a bold one— I am far less satisfied with modern Classicists than with
Classic itself. They are too indolent or else too timid, too much in awe of
precedent. Their inflexibility of spine is such that they can never, like the
botanist, stoop lo pick up humble flowers that grow beneath their feet.
Not very far from Tottenham Court-road, there is a shop window which
holds out a lesson, at least a precious hint, to architect and decorator, by
letting us see very convincinj.'ly liow very much might be made of an idea,
or perhaps quite accidental effect. But both architects and writers are so
tightly laced in buckram that they cannot bend. Though of the critic
tribe myself, p'rhaps something more, for oft my wayward pencil has put
forth ideas peregrine, and destined to remain unknown, I call on none to
spare the critic spawn, though among others I myself be crushed.
August 2, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
639
1
i::
THE FINE 4RT.S &e., IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.
N Committee of Supply, last Thursday night, ou £7.5,000 being moved for
civil contingencies, Mr. B. Osborxe olijected to £04+ for the commission
appointed for promoting and encouraging the fine arts in connexion witli the
buildinn- of the Houses of Parliament. Ho said he was one of those who Iiad
always been strongly of ophiion that the appointment of this Fine Arts Com-
mission was a misfortune not only to art but to tlie pockets of the people of this
country. The commission was appointed in 1847, and it originally consisted ot
twenty-one members, dilettanti gentlemen who found themselves plrasanllyem-
iloyed in applying the fine arts to the Houses of I'arliament. Eleven ol them
jiad died, and the commission at present consisted of fifteen gentlemen, who
were said to be gentlemen of great taste. Now, if there was one thing that the
House ought to avoid, it was having anything to do with what was called taste.
In 1846 tliis Commission proposed to expend £4,000 a year in decorating the
Houses of Parliament : and since that time they had expended about £00,000 ;
and let him ask any member of the House whether he was satisfied with the
results of that expenditure. Look at the House of Lords. Why, if the House
were in ruins, and Macaulay's New Zealander were to see the frescoes, he would
gay that this was a pagan temple ; not that there was any chance of his seeing
them, because the frescoes would not last five years, and any one who went up-
stairs and looked at them, would see that already Cordelia's lace was very much
defaced. Then the Fine Arts Commission had been in the habit of laying out
money in a way not sanctioned by the Hou.se. Maclise, the celebrated artist,
had a contract for painting certain pictures in what was called the
painted chamber, which were to be completed in ten years. In 18.55 this House
granted £1,.500 in part payment. But Mr. Maclise repented of his contract, and
£1,.500 was paid to students at the Kensington Museum for painting heads at
£70 a head. The frescoes came to £600 a piece. He thought it was high time
for the House to put its veto on expenditure of this kind. He could not claim
the Chancellor of the Exchequer's vote ; that was too much to claim from a
member of the Government; but he thought he might claim his silence, for
what did he say on August 3, 18G0 ? Speaking of tlie Fine Arts Commission, he
said the ornamentation of the Houses of Parliament had been enormously and
ludicrously overdone. He was sorry to make any charge, but he did not think
that the First Commissior.er of Works had acted frankly with regard to the
statues. On Augnst 3, 1800, there was a great debate as to the sum of money to
be devoted to the erection of statues. The Commi.ssion decided to have statues
from the renowned Egbert down to the equallv renowned William IV. The
gentli._
matter. At one time there was an item of £1,600 for two of these monarchs.
There was a dispute : the lion, member for Brighton was all for Oliver Cromwell,
but the hon. member for Dundalk insisted on Pope Pius IX. The end of all this
was that the right hon. gentlemen withdrew the vote until the Ilou'^e could agree
to a selection. He (Mr. Osborne) had hoped that this arrangement would be
carried out, but the royal Commission had sat since, and decided on cal ing on
Mr. Theed to tender for two statues— of whom ( William IV. and George IV.
7 feet high, and on appropriate pedest.ils. Robert Tliorneycro''t was called on to
tender for two others, namely Charles I. and James I. The House had voted the
money, but he trusted he should now be supported in moving that the present
vote be reduced by £-2,000.
Mr. Cowi'ER said it was quite true that last year the estimate seemed to bind
the House to a series of statues, from Canute down to the latest period ; and as
that was not tlic intention, (he vote was withdrawn pending a selection by the
House. But when the House passed the vote this year, he had given an expla-
nation which ought to have been satisfactory. (The right hon. member here
read an extract from his speech, to the effect that the Fine Arts Commission had
decided on four statues out of twelve in cIironolo.>ical seiies.) He took it for
granted that members had read the report of the Commission on Fine Arts,
where it was distinctly stated that they proposed to divide the chronological series
inio three sections, giung twelve to the royal gallery. He had not thought that
the idea was to glorify any particular sovereign, but to illustrate the history and
monarchy of the country. He did not think that this view of the fine arts was
an unusual one. The Commission had now sat for twenty years, it had reported
annually, and he had never heard it found fault with until this year. The object
was to give that encouragement to the fine arts which conld not be given by
private individu.ils. It was felt that private individuals could not have large
pictures, and without large pictures they could not have historii'al illustration.
As to his hon. friend's criticism of the fine arts, that was all a matter of taste,
anil he did not contest any gentleman's opinion, but it had been held by very high
anthority that the Fine Arts Commission had done much to promote the taste
for the fine arts in this country. When his hon. friend regretted the decay of the
frescoes —
Mr. Osborne— I don't regret it. I am very glad of it.
Mr. CowPER— They were not in a state of decay ; on the contrary, the hon.
member might throw a pail of water over them, and rub them afterwards with a
coarse towel without injury. If they were to have a great school of sculpture it
was quite necessary they should have n State grant.' It was all very well to
criticise the Houses of Parliament, hut he thought no one could say that the in-
ternal decoration of the buildings did not do the utmost credit to the country.
The House had year after year detennined that a certain sura should be spent in
the encouragement of the fine arts ; and this year, for the first time, a small sum
only had been asked, to be spent on four statues.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer defended the course pursued by the
Government against remarks made by Mr. Gregory. In reference to the Houses
of Parliament, although he thought there h.id been an enormous waste of money
and labor in ornamenting the exterior, he was bound to say that nothing more
beautiful could be found in the country than the interior, notmthstandlng the
decorations might be extreme in quantity. He entirely agreed that the sum of
money voted for the F'ine .4rts Commission should be submitted to the House in
an estimate, and he would engage that that should be done next session.
Sir G. BoWYEji said the notion on which the Fine Arts Commission ^vas
founded was a mistake. It was supposed that by paying money they would
obtain speWmens of the fine arts, and that hv employing third and fourth rates
they would obtain paintings worthy of Raffuelle and Michel Angelo. He
doubted the taste of some of these frescoes. Take, for instance, that of the
Funeral of Charles I. It did not represent his funeral, but it represented an
insult offered to his remains by a soldier, which was offensive to his (Sir G.
Bowyer's) feelings, he beluga cavalier. A more injudidou' selection could not
have been made. Again, in the House of Lords, there was in sculpture a repre-
sentation of th« murder of David Itizzio. That wa? a circumstance not credit-
able to any of the parties concerned, and ho could not conceive why it should be
commemorated. Look at the subjects in the House of Lords. He defied any
one to tell what those subjects represented. There was a picture representing Ii«
believed the baptism of King Ethelbert. In the front of that picture there was
a kneeling figure without any clothes on, the figure had a crown on. He (Sir
G. Bowycr) miglit be told that he was going to be baptised ; he looked as If he
were going to be flogged. That might be accounled for possibljr on the theory
tliat he was going to be baptised by Immersion, but there was a iont standing by,
and King Ethelbert could no more be immersed in that font than he could be
baptised in a tea-cup. Me hoped her Majesty's Government would put a stop to
this expenditure. It was discreditable to the country; for many foreigners of
taste who came to this country said, " If this is a specimen of the standard of
taste in your country, I am very sorry for you." lie had great confidence in
tlie taste of thenobli lord, though he could iiot agree with him in all matters;
and he hoped this absurd outlay of money would be put an end to.
In reply to Mr. H. Seymour,
Mr. CowPER said it had been the custom to' leave the selection of statues, in
such a case as the selection for the royal g.illery, to the Commission of Fine Art.«.
It was the intention of the Commission to treat the four .'statues of James 1.,
Charles I., William IV'., and George IV., as an instalment of twelve. TheHonw
had decided in favor of a chronological series as ap;ainst a selection. There had
been an estimate last year for a chronological scries of 42 sovereigns, but it had
been afterwards resolved, in deference to what was believed to be the opinion of
the House, that an estimate for four only should be asked for, and nothing had
been said which would convey that four would be the entire number. Last jear
he contemplated a selection ; this year lie did not. He had told the House so;
he had not deceived it, and, had he not a right to change his mind ?
Ultimately Mr. 0.sborne withdrew his amenduient, Mr. Collins substi-
tuted another, which, on being put to the vote, was lost, and the vote agreed to.
During Saturday's sitting, on the motion for receiving the report of Supply
granted on Friday night, Lord II. Lennox, who had a notice of a motion on
the paper relative to the National Gallery, said lie would not put his motion,
but would ask a question of the Chief Commissioner of Works. He wished to
ask whether it was true that Mr. Pennethome liad prepared a plan for the ex-
teusion of the National Gallery; whether the plan had been so far matured that
estimates had been prepared to carry it out ; and wlietlicr the military authorities
had been applied to for permission to build on part of the barrack exercise ground.
He was informed that no new gallery was in the mean time required for the re-
ception of "Turner's pictures. Ily Turner's will the pictures would have to be
received on the lOtli of December next. There would not be time to eretitS
gallery before that date, and, besides, he was told that there was room enough for
the pictures in Trafalgar-square. He hoped his riglit lioii. friend would give a
pledge that during the recess nothing would be done towards the erect o:i of any
gallery, and that be would wait till the sanction of Parliament could be obtained.
Mr. B. Cochrane thoug-ht that all the public buildings should be built on a
comprehensive plan, involving unity of design. Our public buildings were a
disgrace to the country. He hoped that nothing would be done towards the
erection of any building during the recess.
Mr. Cowper thought it rather hard that the hon. gentlemen should imply
that there was any desire for incongruity of design in the public buildings on the
part of the Government. The great argument put forward by the Government
for building the new Foreign-office in the Palladian style was that that style
would be more congruous than any other with the buildings in its vicinity,
whereas the hon. member was in favor of a Gothic design which would be wholly
incongruous. He had to state in reply to the noble lord that there was no plan
of Mr. Pennethorne's for a National Gallery in such a state of maturity as that
it could be produced. The great difficulty that presented itself was that they
had two sites— Trafalgar-square and Burlington- house. If they had only one
site, the appropriation of a plan to it would be comparatively easy ; there would
be no difficulty whatever in building a gallery over the back of the barrack-yard
at a trifling expense, as it .would not require much arehilectural omamenU-
(Oh, oh!) He meant that, not being seen from any thoroughfare, being seen
onlv from the waterworks in Orange-street, it was not of great consequence that
the' gallery should be of a very ornamental character. The cost would pro-
bably be about £2.5,000. He must say, however, that no plan had been prepared
on which the Government had been able to come to any decision; but he trusted
tliat plans would be ready before the House was asked to agree to any estimate
next year. The noble lord wislied him to give a pledge that during the recess
under no possible contingency would guy money be spent on a National Gallery
that had not received the sanction of Parliament. He should have thought it a
very absurd proposal to make, because he was not contemplating any expenditure
that had not received tlie sanction of Parliament, hut, on reflection, he thought
the question of the noble lord not so very unreasonable, as the Government of
which the noble lord was a member actually did the very thing that he now
wished not to be done. [Lord H. Lennox.— A burnt child dreads the fare.] Then
the noble lord, with a guiltv conscience and full of remorse, was anxious that he
(Mr. Cowper) should not dowhat he could not prevent the Govemmentol which he
was a member doing. He could hardly tell what the noble lord was driving at
—whether he wanted tu throw blame on the Royal Academy (" Iso, 'from Lord
H. Lennox), or whether he wished to protect the public mind from pollution from
Turner's pictures, for the noble lord informed the House the other day, to the
great astonishment and indignation of the admirers of Turner s pictures, ttafc
that great artist was guilty of pruriency, and that some of his works had to be
kept in a drawer. There never, perhaps, lived a man of purer mind than Turner,.
or a painter whose pictures were less meretricious. No man could study his works
without beino- improved, refined, and exalted in feeling, and the noble lord must,
therefore, be under a misapprehension when he staled that Turner's paintings
were of a prnrient •character. The question put to him was whether he, as Firet
Commissioner of Work,s, was ready to pledge himself that he would never do
what had been done by the Government of Lord Derby in 1858. W hen Parlia-
ment was asked to vote £10,000, which had been spent by that Government m
building a gallery, they considered that the Government had acted for the-
Tiublic benefit in the emeVgencv that had arisen, and voted the money. It might
posMbly happen that durine the recess the National Gallery might take Are-
(■' Oh !"), or that some valuable bequest of pictures might be made on condition
that within a stipulated time, which would expire before the opening of Parlia-
640
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August *2, 1861.
ment, they should be placed witliin tlie National Gallery. In the case of the fire
it would be a very foolish thing not to repair the buildin<r, and in the case of a
bequest of picturej of great value, every hon. luembcr would wish that a small
sum should be expended in erectingr a ijallery instead of waiting for the vote of
House. To resolve that it was inexpedient to take any steps for committing the
House to spend money without the sanction of Parliament w.is to affirm a truism,
yet there might be cases in which it was the least of two evils. So far as he was
concerned, nothing sliould induce him to take upon himself the grave and serious
responsibility of spending the public money without the leave of the House, and
he knew of uothing which would render so improper a course necessary. With
regard to the Turner pictures, if upon legal examination it was found that they
must be placed within tlie building by a certain date, there was no such im-
mediate necessity as the noble lord supposed to erect a building for them, as they
might either be hung in the place of existing pictures, or they might be put in
some form or other in the National Gallery.
Lord H. Lennox said that if a member fell into error he owed it to himself
and the House to correct it. He had received several letters complaining that
he had asserted that some of Turner's pictures were of a prurient character.
[An hon. Member. — " You said ' drawings.' "] He had also received a letter
nx>m t'le executor of Mr. Turner, explaining that there were two or three sketch-
books of that distinguished artist which were not allowed to be exhibited. They
were not, however nnished drawings, and they did not, therelbre, come within the
tcnns of the will.
Mr. B. OsBOKXE had an explanation to make relative to what he said the
other evening on the subject of the frescoes in the new Houses of Parliament.
The right hon. gentleman (Mr. Cowper) had, in his absence, stated that he was
wrong in saying that the face of Cordelia, in the fresco of King Lear, was in a
state of decay. He had since taken an opportunity of examining tlie frescoes,
and he found" that he had committed a mistake in saying that the face of Cordelia
was decaying, but he found that the head of the dragon in the Red Cross Knight
was completely gone ; that the leg of the Red Cross Knight was partly pulled off,
and that tlie arm of the body he was defending had altogether vanished from the
public gaze. But though the face of Cordelia was in good condition the nose of
Regan was in a rapid state of decay, and would probably fall oif before the recess
was over. He discovered, also, that in the fresco representing the first of
English rivers, Old Father "rhames, was in a state of considerable decomposition.
He was entitled to say, therefore, that these frescoes were not in a state credit-
able to this country or to those who got them up.
Mr. C. Bentixck believed that the frescoes of Mr. Watts and Mr. Herbert
were much decayed, that the Adam and Eve were partly obliterated, and the
ftesco of the English rivers was also injured. He trusted that the right hon.
gentleman, in justice to Mr. Watts, would institute an inquiry during the recess
into the causes of tliis decay.
Mr. CowPER said the inquiry he ought to make was into the facts of the case,
for his impression was that Mr. Herbert's fresco was not suilering from decay.
Two of the frescoes he would admit were injured, but as to ;the rest, the damage,
if any, was very slight. If the hon. gentleman would explain in what way an
inquiry would tlirow light on the subject he should be quite willing to undertake
it. The subject, however, would receive every consideration.
THE SITE FOR THE PUBLIC OFFICES.
ON Saturday, in the House of Commons, motion being made that the House
resolve into Committee on the Public Oflices Site Bill
Mr. A. Smith expressed his opinion that it would be better to defer the Bill
until next year. St. James's-park was public property, and the Bill proposed
that compensation should be given to the Crown for giving up a portion of the
park, in order tliat it might be used for another public purpose. He moved,
as an amendment, that the Bill be committed tliat day month.
Mr. Ayrton asked whether the State Paper-office was to be taken down ?
Sir H..WILI.OIG1IBT hoped tliat the smallest possible portion of St. Jaraes's-
park would be taken for these improvements.
Mr. Co w PEK said tlie Bill was merely a formal Bill, consequent on an Act
pamed in 1859, giving the Commissioner of Works power to acquire a site. The
site was a little comer of St. James's-park, close to FJudyer-street, to which the
public had no access, and it was tliouglit that this piece of ground should be made
available in the building of the Foreign Office. If the present Bill were post-
poned a large sum of money would be wasted, and an unnecessary impediment
would be placed in the way of commencing the preparations for the building.
In answer to the hon. member for the Tower Hamlets he had to say that tlie
State Paper-office was to come down, but not in consequence of the present
plan.
In answer to Mr. Fitzgerald,
Mr. CowPER said it was not intended to take the whole of the triangular
space of pT'ound in the park, but the greater part of it would be taken. It was
intended to make an entrance to the park from Downing-strcct, which would be
a great convenience to the public. '
Tlie amendment was withdrawn, the Bill went into committee, and the clauses
were agreed to.
The third reading of the Bill stood as an order of the day for Monday, and,
when it came on, Mr. A. Smith said he protested in a former stage against the
principle of giving compensation for Crown property proposed to be talken under
this Bill, and he could not allow the third reading to pass without entering his
protest once more against that principle, which was now for the first time intro-
duced.
The Bill was then read a third time and passed.
Smtth Kenxinffton Muxeum. — During the week ending 27th July,
1861, the visitors have bien as follows :— On ^Monday, Tuesday, and Satur-
day, free days, 6,303 ; on Monday and Tuesday, free evenings, 4,a55. On the
three students' days (admission to the public, 6d.), 1,703 ; one ntudents' evening,
Wednesday, 143. Total, 12,494. From the opening of the museum, 2,lU2,04y.
Election of DintrUt Surceyorfor Woolwich. — The Metropolitan
Board of Worlts, at their last meeting, proceeded to the election of a surveyor
for tlie district of Woolwich, in room of^Slr. Aitclii.son, dcceasid. The candidates
were Mem*. George Aitehison (son of the detcasi,<l), .1. Liddiard, T. E.
Koightley, 8, Hall, Horace Ficldj — Salter, Thomas Morris, J. Hargreave,
Stevens, A. Gilbert, W. Lightly, and W. 8. Legg. Mr. Aitch'son was appointed
to the office by a lai^e majority.
to t3feM
g i
^ 3d
- -nS
O
ill
Sal
VILLA AT MASSACHUSETTS.
THIS building is a good example of the prevailing style of Villa archi-
tecture in the Eastern States of America. It is a frame building,
with weatlier boards outside; and lined with brick within, which (from
its rendering the walls in a manner double) allows a free passage for the
air, thus insuring dryness, and in summer a certain degree of coolness,
while it guards against the extreme cold in winter. In a climate where
the sun's rays are powerful, anything which will produce shade is always
acceptable, hence the almost universal adoption of the verandah and
window shades, which have the efTect of subduing through tlie half-open
Venetian blinds, both the light and heat in the apartments. Tlie house is
painted a pale cane color, picked out with white, which gives it a light
and pleasing effect. The architect is Mr. Calvert Vaux, of New York, an
Englishman by birth.
^
THE SITE FOR THE COURTS OF JUSTICE.
IN the House of Lords, on Monday, the Earl of Derby said, in justice to the
Chief Commissioner of Works, lie must state that he was in error on Friday
when he said that the Bill for the appropriation ol funds for the New Courts
of Justice had been passed through a second reading in the Commons, for
he afterwards discovered that the Bill had been withdrawn. He supposed that
the Courts of Justice Building Bill, which had passed through a second reading
of their lordships' House, would share the same fate as the other Bill had in the
Commons.
Earl Granville said the Courts of Justice Building Bill was read a second
time on the 5th of July, and he could see no reason for not proceeding with it.
The Earl of Derby said the second reading was taken upon the distinct
understanding that it should not bind them to the principle of the measure.
The Lord Chancellor said the Bill which their lordships had read a second
time did not pledge Parliament to any particular site for the new courts, or to
any sum of money for their erection. But he thought it ought to lie pressed
forward, seeing that it had met with no opposition in either House.
Lord Chelmsford said there could be no doubt that there was a clear and
distinct understanding, when the Courts of Justice Building Bill was read a
second time, that it sliould not conclude their lordships to any opinion on the
principle of the Bill. He was surprised to hear that it was now intended to press
on the Bill after the other Bill for the appropriation of certain funds to be
expended in the erection of the new courts had been withdrawn.
The Lord Chancellor observed that the Bill did not fix the particular site
for the buildings. If the Bill which had been withdrawn in the other House
sliould next session become law, £8,000 or £0,000, spent in the service of notices
and other expenses, would not be thrown away, but if some such Bill did not
next session become law, then the Building liill would fall to the ground.
Lord Denman liojicd this Bill would not be allowed to pass; it would fetter
Parliament in dealing witli the question in future.
August 2, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
August 2, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
643
The Earl of Derby said it appeared to liiui that the Bill recited the plan of
the commissioners, and he objected to their being called upon to sanction the
purchase of i)articular lands, whioli jjurcliase depended upon legislation next
year. It was their duty not to allow tlie Bill to proceed another stage till they
knew whether it cmild bo carried out.
The LoKD CiiANcEi-Lon said, aUhous?li the site was indicated, it could not
be taken till the money was expi-essly voted for tUe purpose by Parliament. Two
things, therefore, must be done in the next session before the plan could be
carried out, the money must be voted to acquire tlie land, and if the money were
llie suitors' money that question must be particularly discussed and decided by
S'arliament.
Lord WvNPORD remarked that since the site had been chosen there had been a
minute presented to the Treasury distinctly tellijig them that if they adopted
(Ids site they would be charged more than £1,000,000 beyond the estimated cost
of the buildings.
Tile subject then dropped.
KEPORT OP THE COMJIISSIONBHS ArPOINTED TO EXAMINK INTO PLANS
FOR EMB.\NKING THE RIVER THAMES WITHIN THE METROPOLIS.
WE, the undersigned members of your Majesty's Commission, appointed to examine into
plans for embanking the river Thames within the Metroiwlia, so as to "provide
with the greatest ejBciency and economy for the relief of the most crowded streets, by the
establishment of a new and spacious thoroughfare, for tlie improvement of the navigation
of tlie river, and which will afford an opportunity of making the low level sewer without
disturbing the Strand or Fleet-street, and also to report upon the cost and means of carry-
ing the same into execution," 'now humbly submit to Your Majesty the conclusions at
which wo have arrived, and the recommendations we have agreed to offer,
2. The nature of the inquiry entrusted to us was matte known to the public by advertise-
ment in the newspapers, and more than fifty designs were presented for our consideration.
A short description of each is given in Appendix A., and the authors and other persons
interested have had the opportunity of publicly expl.iining and illustrating their respective
views upon the subject. The evidence given by the parties will be found in Appendix B.
3. The main features of the majority of the plans are an embanked roadway on the
north side of the river, and the formation of docks with the view to retain all the existing
wharva* ; in others, railways in addition to the roadway and docks have lieen proposed ;
whilst in a few, a solid embankment and roadway without either docks or railways have
been suggested. Amongst these latter is a plan submitted by Mr. Sheilds, some of whose
suggestions appear to us to afford in a greater degree than any of the other designs, the
basis upon which an efficient and economical scheme may be founded. We desire, however,
to exi)ress our high appreciation of the great engineering skill and ability that has been
displayed in many of those designs which contemplated the coustructiou of dock^ and
railways.
4. The wharf property between Westminster-bridge and tlie Temple-gardens, is for tlie
most part, devoted to the coal trade. We txnd that great facilities are now afforded for the
distribution of coal by the new system of unshipping in the docks into railway waggons,
and by various depots on the railways in and near the metropolis. We are of opinion that
public convenience no longer necessitates the continuance either of the coal or any other
trade in this immediate locality. Wo, therefore, think that it would not be expedient to
construct and maintain docks for the sake of preserving the existing wharves between the
• r,oints we have mentioned ; whilst their removal will greatly simplify the formation of the
embankment, and add to the beauty of the river. The wharf property, however, between
the Temple-gardens and Blackfriars-bridge caiuiot, in our opinion, be so treated ; and that
eastward of Blackfriars-bridge is so important in a commercial point of view, that we do
not recommend any interference with it.
.''. Having regard to these and other considerations, we are of opinion that we shall best
fulfil Your Majesty's instructions and provide for the requirements of the public, by estab-
lishing a spacious thoroughfare between Westminster-bridge and Blackfriars-bridge, by
means of an embankment and roadway ; and that the new thoroughfare thus created should
be continued on eastward from Blaclrfriars-bridge by a new street, according to the line
formerly laid down by Mr. Bunning, the City's architect, from the west end of Earl-street
across Oannon-etreet, to the Mansion House. Without such a street no relief whatever
would be given to the crowded thoroughfares of Ludgate-hill, St. Paul's-churchyard, and
Cheapside.
C. The line of embankment at Westminster would coincide with the terrace of the
Houses of Parliament, and from thence to Blackfriars-bridge would nearly follow the line
laid down for the Corporation of the City of London in 1841 by Mr. Walker, Captain
Bnllock, Mr. Saunders, and Mr. Leach. Tlie general level of the embankment and road
would be 4 feet above Trinity high water. The road would commence at Westminster by
an easy descent opposite the clock-tower, and be continued on, 100 feet in width, to the
eastern boundary of the Temple-gardens ; from this point the road would be reduced to 70
feet in width, and carried on a viaduct supported by piers of masonry, rising to the level
of Blackfriars-bridge, so con.strncted as to leave a breadth of water for the convenience of
the City G.-isworks and the adjoining wharves of about 70 or 80 feet. The spaces between
the piers under the ascending road would be left available for barges to lie, and afford easy
access to the water between this structure and the wharves,
7. From Westminster-bridge to the eaatem boundary of the Temple-gardena the em-
bankment-sustained by a river wall— would be solid in its whole breadth : which breadth
opposite Bichaiond-tcrrace would be 220 feet from the existing river wall. At Hungerford
It would be .320 feet from the existing wharf ; at Somerset House about 120 feet ; and at
the Temple about 220 feet. The plan accompanying this report sets forth the entire
flcheme.
8. With respect to the a^jpropriation of the reclaimed land, we would recommend that
eo much of it as shall be in front of the Crown property— which will lie about 120 feet in
width in Its narrowest part— should be laid out in ornamental gardens for the accommoda-
tion of the occupiers of the houses, and that the portion in front of the Temple-gardens,
also alxmt 120 feet wide, be placet! at the disposal of the Society to be dealt mth in a
similar manner. The other portions of the reclaimed land may either be kept open forthe
health and recreation of the public, or be applied to building purposes.
9. We propose that communications should bo made with the intended roadway from
Whitehall, opposite the Horse Gimrds, and also from some of the streets in the Strand ■
and that a new street should be formed passing through the Savoy to Wellington-street.
Tlie frontages on these streets would offer eligible sites for building, as would also the
inner frontage of the new road, if it should hereafter bo thought fit so to utilise the
pound. We, however, feel it our duty to recommend that while economy and utility in
toying out and disposing of the ground sliould be kept in view, endeavours should be made
to invest this new and conspicuous work with some elements of interest and beauty.
10. For the injprovemcnt of the navigation we recommend that the existing sho.ils
Between Waterloo and Westminster-bridges should be removwl, due regard being had to
the foundations of theformer. Alsothat a uniform low-water channel of six feet in depth
at ordinary spring tides, and 600 feet in width from the embankment wall, be secured and
tnu.s the stream be more ec|nalis«l in velocity. If at any future time any effect should be
''"'°h w"" ^'' ™"^ '™'"' "'^ diminution of its capacity for tidal water by reason of the
embankment, arrangements may be made higher up the river by dredging, or by a tidal
reservoir to compensate for the loss. The consideration, however, of this matter would
naturally devolve on the conseivators of the river Thames.
.i."; ," ^""hankment and street we have proposed will afford an opportunity of making
the low-level sewer without disturbing the Strand or Fleet-street, and at the same time
facilitate the construction of the sewer eastward of the embankment.
12. We are not prepared to recommend the construction of an embankment on the Surrey
Shore at present, but if hereafter it should bo thought desirable or necessary to embankai-.y
portion of It, the scheme we have proposed for the Middlesex side will not in any way
13. With regard to that part of our inatnictions in which we are commanded by your
Majesty to " rejiort on tho costs and means of carrying the same into execution," we beg to
report that we estimate the cost of the land, making compensations, constructing tho em-
bankment and rcodways, and also acquiring the property m the City for, and forming the
new street to the Mansion House, at Jil.iOOfiOO. This amount, however, would be redncod
should it bo thought right to dhiposc of any of the reclahued laud on the bank of the river
for building purposes.
14. Parlmmont having appropriated the coal duos to provide for the outlay necessary for
this great work, it only remains for us to express our opinion as to the " means of carrying
the same into execution."
16. Looking at the magnitude of the work, the important and varied interests, both
public and private, which will be affected— and tho urgent necessity for its early comple-
tion—we are of opinion, that tho control and management of the undertaking should be
entrusted to a special Commission, appointed by j-onr Majesty, in order to ensure the
speeily and eeonomicnl attainment of an object, so much needed by the public, and
affordhig so favorable an opportunity for tho improvement of the river and adornment of
the metropolis.
All which we humbly report to yonr Majesty.
Witness our hands and seals, this Twenty-secoud day of July, 18(il .
William CuBirr. iL.S.)
Joshua Jebb. (L.s.)
DonoLAS Oalton. (L.s.)
Bdwd. Bubstal. (L.s.)
IJe.shy A. Host. (L.S.)
JOHN RODINSON M'Cleas. (L.s.)
Henry Kingscote, Secretary.
The only dissentient from tlie above Report amongst the Commissioners was
Mr. John Thwaites, Chairman of the Metropolitan Board of 'iVorks, who en-
tered a protest against it.
INSTITUTIOIV OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
Subjects for Premiums, Session 1861-62.
riIHE Council invite communications on the following, as well as oilier subjects,
i for premiums : —
For a limited number of papeis of distinguished merit, pecuniary awards will
be made, not exceeding in each case twenty-five guineas, in addition to the
honorary premiums. The subjects marked *, have been selected as those upon
which, it is hoped, such communications may be received during the ensuing;
session. But papers on other subjects, if of adequate merit, will be taken into
consideration, in the adjudication of the pecuniary awards.
1. On the Principles upon which the Works for the Improvement of Kiver Navigation
should be conducted, and the effects of the works upon the Drainage and Irrigation of the
District ; incluiUng accounts of the Systems of Moveable Dams (Ban-ages Mol>ilea)iD Bivers
on the continent.
2. On the effect of Engineering Works in causing injurious Scour, Flooding, or Silting-
np, in Tidal Estuaries, or Rivers.
3. On the effect of Sluicing, in removing and preventing deposits, at the Entrances of
Docks on the Coast and in Tidal Rivers.
*4. On Reclaiming Land from Seas and Estuaries. (Twenty-flve Guineas.)
n. On the Results of the Employment of Steam Power on Canals, and of other meaanre*
for the Improvement of Canals as a means of conveyance for heavy trafilc.
G. On tho Method of constructing Foundations, for large Structures, in deep water ; oud
on the various systems of Driving Piles.
7. Description of Cast or Wrought Iron Cranes, Scaffolding and Macliinery, employed
in large works, in Stone Quarries, as Hoists, or Lifts on Quays, in Warehouses, etc., espe-
cially where either Steam or Water, is used as a motive power.
8. The Selection of Sites for the Construction of DocIk on the course of Tidal Streams,
with reference to communication with Railways, and with Inland Navigation.
0. The Selection of Sites for, and the Principles of the construction of. Breakwaters,
Harbours of Refuge, Piers, Moles (whether solid, or on arches). Sea Walls, and Shore De-
fences ; illustrated by examples of actual works.
10. On ^the Arrangement and Construction of Floating Landing-Stages, for Paaseuger
and other traffic.
11. The Construction of Lighthouses, their Machinery and Lighting A.pp.iratus ; with
notices of the methods in use for distinguishing the different Lights.
12. On the Mechanical Methods of Boring and of Sinking large Shafts, of introducing
the Tubbing and the impervious lining, and of traversuig running sand and other difficult
strata,
13. The Result of Contrivances for faeilitatmg the Driving o£ Xuancls, or Drifts in
Rock.
14. Accounts of the various modes adopted for Moving Earth in Tunnels, Cuttings, or
Embankments, with the cost.
15. On the different systems of Swing, Lifting, and other Opening Bridges, with existing
examples.
16. On the Construction of Suspension Bridges, with rigid platforms, and the modes of
Anchoring the Stay-chains.
17. 'The results of a series of observations on the Flow of Water from the Ground in any
large district ; with accurately recorded Rain-gauge Registries, in the same locaUty, for a
period of not less than twelve months.
IS. On the Construction of Catch-water ReBervoira in Momitain Districts, for the supply
of Towns, or for Manufacturing purposes.
*19. Accounts of existing Waterworks ; showing the methods of supply, the distribu-
tion throughout the streets of Towns, imd the general practical results. (Twenty-five
Guineas.)
20. The Comparative Duty performed by, and Improvements in the Construction of,
modem Pumping Engines for raising Water for tho Supply of Towns, or for the Drainage
of Mines ; noticing, in the latter case, the depth and length of the underground workings,
the height of the surface above the sea, the geological formation, the contiguity of
streams, &c.
21 . Tho 'results of the use of bucket and rotary pumps, for lif tmg large quantities of
water to a limited height, as at the Haarlem Meer, or at Whittlesea Mere, or for the pur-
poses of Irrigation ; with descriptions of the Machinery employetl, and the application of
such Machinery to the raising of the sewage of large Towns.
22. The Drainage and Sewerage of Large Towns ; exemplified by'-account^^ of the systems
at present pursued, with regard to the level and position of the outfall, the form, dimen-
sions and material of the "sewers, the prevention of emanations from them, the arrange-
ments for connecting the" house drains with the public sewers, and the disposal of the
sewage, whether in a liquid form, as irrigation, or in a solid form after deodorisation.
23. On the Means of Rendering large supplies of water available for the purpose of
Extinguisliing Fires, and the best application of Power to the Working of Fire Engines.
24. On Boiler Inspection as practised in this country and on the Continent, with re-
marks as to the comparative merits of the two systems.
25. On the Causes of the alleged Failure in Economising Fuel in working Steam expan-
sively, and the probable conditions for insuring success.
2(1. On the results ofthe use of Superheated Steam, and of Surface Condensation.
27. On Substitutes for Steam, and the causes of their Failure.
* 2S. On the results of the use of Tubular Boilers, and of Steam at an increased pres-
sure, for Marine Engines, noticing particularly the difference in weight and in speed, in
proportion to the Horse Power and the Tonnage. (Twenty -five Guineas.)
20. Oa the Measure of Resistance to Stcim Vessels at high Velocities.
30. The Substitution of Machinery for Manual Labor, for Raising, Lowering, and Reefing'
the Sails, Weighing the Anchor, &c., on board ship.
31. On Steam Vessels of Light Draught for the Shallow Rivers of India, &c.
»32. On the Form and Materials for Floating Batteries and Iron-plated Ships (" Frigates
644
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 2, 1861.
blii<<l(<M"), and the pointe requiring attention in their construction, (Twenty-five
Onineac)
$S. On the Oooatmction of liiflcd and Brecch-Ioading Artillery ; and on the Initial
Telocity, Range, and Penetration of RiJled rrojectiles, and the influence of Atmospheric
Bedstanoe.
*«. DeaciiMion of Street Railways and Carriages, as used in the United States of America,
in Paris, and elsewhere, with the results.
3S. ImpxoTcments in the Constniction of Railway Carriages und Waggons, with a view
to the reduction of the gross weight of Fa^enger and Goods Trains< ; also of Railway
Wheels, Ajdes, Bearings, Axle-Boxcs, and Breaks, and of Bearing, Traction, and Buffer
Springs ; treating particnJarly their ascertained duration and their relative friction.
*6, Decriptions of the various kinds of Machinery in nse in the principal Shipping
Poets, for the Shipment of Coal ; notichig particularly those in which the greatest
expedition is combined with the least amount of breakage of the Coal ; and also
aoooontfi of the mean^ of unshipping and measuring, or weighing the Coal, on its arrival
biFott.
S7. On tbe Veens of Utilising the products of the Distillation of Coal , so as to make Coke
OonuneroiaUy as cheap as Coal ; with descriptions of the Ovens, and of the best processes
need in Great Britain and on the Continent, in the manufacture of Coke.
■ 88, The Precautions to be adopted for guarding agaiust Accidents by Fire-damp and
AftcTHjamp in Mines.
39. The Chemical Analysis, and the application to economic purposes, of the Gases
generated in Iron Blast Fnmaccs.
40. Description of HodiOcations of the present systems of Smelting Iron Ores, of im-
provements in the conversion of cast-iron into the malleable state, and of the manufacture
of iron generally, comprising the distribution and management of Iron Works.
41. Improvements in the Manufacture of Iron for Rails and Wheel Tyres, having special
reference to the increased capability of resisting lamination and abrasion ; and accounts
of the lUdiinery required for rolling heavy Rails, Shafts, and bars of Iron of large sec-
tional area.
4-.;. On the constmction and application of Steam Hammers.
43. On the nse of Steel Bars and Plates in Engine-work and MaclUnery, for Boilers and tor
Shipbuilding.
44. The process of Manufacture, and mode of treatment, of Aluminium,
45. On the Forms and Dimensions of .Journals of Machine-shafts, Axles, &c. ; with the
best Composition for the linings of bearings, and the most approved method of lubricating.
46. On the Mechanism of Astronomiad Instruments.
47. On Machinery adapted for the Better Separation of the various Substances fonnd in
Combination with Metallic Prodnctions.
48. On the Snbetitntion of Machinery for Manual Labor in Mining Operations ; and on
HydraoUc Machinery in Mines.
49. On the Improvements which may be effected in the Buildings, Moclunery, and
Apparatus for producing Sugar from the Cane in the Plantations and Sugar- works of the
British Coloidee, and the comparison with Beet-root, with regard to quantity, quality, and
economy of manufacture.
fiO. Aocoants of Improvements in Flax and Cotton Machinery, and in the processes for
preparing thoee substances for manipulation.
61. An account of the mechanical means at present in use for facilitating the operation
of Packing Materials and Go<kis, whether by Hydraulic Power, or otherwise.
fi2. The uses of Vulcanised, or Mineralised Caoutchouc ; the means of increasing its
durability, and the modes of causing its adhesion to metal.
63. On the application of Photography to Engineering.
64. On the Application of the Electric Telegraph to Railway Train Signalling.
•-W. Railway Accidents— their causes and means of prevention ; showing the bearing
which existing legislation has upon them. (Twenty-five guineas.)
50. Memoirs and aooounts of the Works and Inventions of any of the following Engi-
neers:—Sir Hugh Middleton. Arthur Woolf, Jonathan Hornblower, Richard Trevithick,
William Murdoch (of Soho), Alexander Nimmo, and John Rennie.
Original Papers, Reports, or Designs, of these, or other eminent individuals, are par-
ticularly valuable for the Library of the Institution.
The competition for Premiums is not confinetl to Members, or Aa^ociates of the Institu-
tion, but is equally open to all persons, whether natives or foreigners.
The Council will not consider themselves bound to award any premium, should thecom-
mnnication not Ije of adequate merit, but they will award more than one premium,
thonid there be several communications on the same subject deserving this mark of
distinction.
The communications must be forwarded, on or before the Ist of January, 1862, to the
house of the Institution, No. 26, Groat George-street, Westminster, S.W., where copies of
this paper, and any further information, may be obtained.
Charles Manby, Honorary Secretary.
James Forbest, Secretary.
86, Great Oeorge-stKet, Westminster, S.W., July, 18CI.
CONSECR.\TION OF SAINT LUKE'S CHURCH, BLAKENHALL,
WOLVERHAMPTON.
LAST week this edifice, tlie tliird of the memorial cliurches to the late Arch-
deacon Hodson, w.Ts consecrated by the Lord BLsIiop of Lielifleld. The
foundation-stone was laid on the 26th of June. 18ljO, so that but little more than
twelvemonths have been occupied in the building, and this, it must be admitted,
is a fact for conKratuIation, secin? the great want of church accommodation
whicli has existed in the district, where a population has already settled num-
berin? about three thousand souls. The church was built by subscriptions,
aided by liberal grants irom the Diocesan and Incorporated Church Building
Societies, and a portion of the fund raised for honoring the memory of Archdeacon
Hod'on. The donations of several local gentlemen, both to the building and
endowment fund (the latter of which amounts to £2,0(X)), have been of the most
handsome character, and the contributions of the inhabitants towards providing
a church for themselves reflect credit upon the givers. The schools, whose walls
arc now rapidly attaining their destined elevation, will owe their origin chiefly to
the munific(;nce of the Rev. W. Dalton, and a grant from the Committee ol
Council on Kduration, Mr. Dalton having appropriated to the funds a sum o,
between ,£,000 and £600 presented to him as a testimonial of esteem from his
congregation on his resigiimg the vicarage of St. Paul's, to enter on the incum-
wncy of.St. PhiUp'B church, Penn-flelds.
The church has been erected from the designs of Mr. George T. Robinson,
formerly of Wolverhampton, now resident at Leamington, and holding there the
officeof archidiaconal architect tothe cxtensivearchdeaconry of Coventry. Hehas
been ably seconded by the contractors, Messrs. Lilley, of Measham, who have
praueworthlly carried his designs into effect, and, with the architect, have solved
that pnzzling problem of the nineteenth century— how to provide the largest
church accommodation at the least expense; for although the church aflbrds
kneelmgs on the ground floor for 000 persons, its cost, exclusive of the tower and
spire, which arc yet in progrtss, barely exceeds £3 per head.
The arrangement of the plan consists of a nave 00 feet long and 32 feet wide,
flanked by north and south .nisles of equal length, each 14 feet wide. On the
••■**' end is an apsidal chancel 40 feet long, with two side chapels of equal width
to the aisles, and 18 feet long, for the accommodation of 200 children. It is, as
Will be perceived, an unusually large chureh, its extreme length being 132 feet,
and Its breadth Hi feet, whilst its height from the floor of the nave to the ridge of
the roof is .53 feet. On the west end is a long porch or cloister, extending the
whole width of the church, and uniting it witli a laige and lofty tower and spire,
which, when completed, will attain an altitude of upwards of 170 feet. One of
the greatest features in this imposing church is the skilful use of those essen-
tially local but unpromising materials — brick and cast iron, the whole of the walls
of the church and tower and the internal arches being constructed of the former
material, of difierent colors, arranged in patterns of much beauty, whilst the
nave pins and the small shafts of the screen walls of the chapels "and cloistral
porch are composed of the latter.
Externally each bay of the aisles is marked by a brick buttress, and has in its
centre a two-light wmdow, with brick jambs, and a stone muUion, supporting
corbels and caps of stone ultimately intended to be carved, and the whole united
by arches of moulded and variegated brickwork. This arrangement is sur-
mounted by a corbelled cornice of brickwork, and fiom each alternate hay of the
nave wall rises a gabled clerestory window, having stone traccrv within a sphe-
rical triangle of ornamental brickwork. The exterior of the chancel is masked on
its two sides by the gables of the side chapels, in each of which is a three-light
window of similar description to those of the ai-sles. Its apsidal end has in each
face a single lancet window of ornamental brickwork, with stone corljels, and at
each angle a massive buttress, each intended to be capped with an angel holding
some of the emblems of the Passion of our Blessed Lord.
The western front has^ a.s before stated, a long cloistral porch extending across
it. This is composed of an arcade of brickwork, supported on coupled cast-iron
columns, and is intercepted in its centre by a central doorway of arched brick-
work, having a stone lintel, supported by iron columns in the" tympanum, above
which it is ultimately intended to place a basso-relievo of the Supper at Emmaus
— that event beine only mentioned in the Evangel of St. Luke. Beyond this
arcade, and united to it by a flying buttress, capped by a lofty stone pinnacle,
rises the western wall of the nave, pierced'by two two-light windows, having
traceried heads in stone, and a large sixfoil rose window between them.
The whole of the roof is covered with blue, green, and red slates, laid in vari-
ous patterns, pleasingly relieving the usual monotony of a long slated roof.
The tower, which is as yet incomplete, contains in its lower story a double
doorway, in the ti-aeeries of which it is intended to carve a bas-relief of Saint
Luke, writing his gospel. Its second story is occupied by deeply recessed two-
light windows, to light the singing floor, which is approached by a staircase con-
tained in a circular turret at its south-eastern corner. The third story has three
de^ly reces.sed single light windows in each a face, of somewhat peculiar but
very effective design. Above this is a corbelled cornice of various bricks, irom
which rise four canopies, supported on stone shafts. The fourth story, at this
point, retreats from the square form to that of an octagon ; thecardinal faces of
which are pierced by wide and deeply moulded louvre lights, and the inter-
mediate faces occupied hy smaller ones opening within the angle canopies.
At this point the building at present terminates at a height of 80 feet from the
ground, being not quite half its intended altitude. We are informed that beyond
this point it will be covered by a slated spire of coloured slates, having at its bastf
eight lofty lucerne lights, and terminated hy an ornamental wrought-iron top.
Internally the nave is separated from the chancel by arches of colored brick,
supported by coupled columns of cast iron, the capitals of which it is Intended to
clothe with wrought iron foliage. The chancel is also divided from the nave by-
three arches — a central wide one and two smaller side arches, in which are placed
the pulpit and reading-desk. The side chapels are also separated from its aisles
and chancel by an arcaded screen of similar character, so that the east end of the
chancel, despite its great length, can be seen from every part of the church. The
floor of the chancel, which is elevated six steps from the nave, is laid with Min-
ton's tiles, the gift of the late Herbert Minton, Esq. ; and it is now our pleasing
duty to record many other special gifts to this very deserving edifice, such as the
beautiful stone font, presented by Mrs. Dalton; the altar table, chairs, and vest-
ments, presented by Mrs. Rogers ; the carving of one bay of the nave, and the
wrought iron foliage to one pair of capitals, by the Rev, W. Dalton ; and a
similar gift, together with one of the angels at the east end, by the architect.
All the carving has been admirably executed by Mr, Wood, of Lichfield, who,
we believe, studied several years in tlie studio of Monti, at Milan, and the exqui-
sitely beautiful wrought iron work has been done by Mr, Brawn, of Birjningham,
who deserves great praise for the manner in which he has revived the almost for-
gotten art of repousse work. The acoustic qualities of the edifice have proved
unusually successful.
Altogether we have seldom seen a more satisfactory church, and never one
where so much effect has been obtained from such small means.
After the seriiion a collection was made which amounted to £201 odd, which
included a donation of £100 irom Mrs. Dalton.
After the service the workmen who had been employed on the building partook
of a supper, provided by the Building Committee, at the house of Mr, Tomlin-
son, the Baggott Arms, In the course of the afternoon the Rev. E. Pizey pre-
sented to each of the workmen a handsome Bible, given by the Rev. W, Dalton,
in remembrance of the opening of the church and the general good conduct of
the recipients.
Scotch Masons in London. — It will be a curious fact in the history
of the splendid man.sion now bein" erected for the Duke of Buccleuch on the site
of old Montague House, in Wliitehall, that from peculiar circumstances in
connection witli the building trade in London, it will have been built to a large
extent by Scotch masons. Many of the London men, tired of the unhealthy
condition of their craft, owing to the undue control exercised by the paid leaders
of the strike, have left the metropolis, and thus afforded opportunities for new
hands to obtain employment, Scotland, where building in stone is more common
than in England, has sent up a great number of masons, and, where first-rate
workmen have applied, their expenses to London have been paid by the duke's
contractors, Messrs, Holland and Hannen, of Bloomsbury. — Edinburgh
Courant.
Consecration of the Maicsoleum of the Duchess of Kent. — On
Monday, at five o'clock, the mausolura, which has been built in the gardens of
Frogmore House, and which is to receive the remains of the lamented Duchess
of Kjpnt, was consecrated hy the Lord Bishop of Oxford. The mausoleum is
situated near the artificial water in the gardens of Frogmore, and is within sight
of the house itself. The mausoleum was erected by request of the late illustrious
duchess, and during the progress of the works she frequently visited it. The
ceremony of consecration was strictly private, and of the usual character.
August 2, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
645
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, DEVIZES.
TH E now for some time deferred restoration of this chureli seems to have
advanced a step. It was stated^t a recent vestry meeting that the Kestoration
Committee are now justified in considering the amount tliey may have at tlieir
disposal for tlie purpose, wlien all is collected, to he about £2,000. It therefore
became a question in wliat direction the money should be appropriated. Mr.
Slater had prepared plans and specifications for certain works, and six tenders
had been received from builders, the lowest, at £1,943, being sent in by Messrs.
Davis and Son of Frome, this provided for new roofs and seats in deal ; if the
seating from the west end to the porches was in oak the tender was to be increased
to £1,993. Tlie Committee recommended the vesti^ to accept Messrs. Davis and
Son's tender, but those gentlemen subsequently stated that they had "omitted
certain risks " to cover which they offered to name a certain sum — £170 ; this the
T'oramittce considered tantamount to a new tender, and declined to recommend
it for acceptance. After a long discussion at the meeting referred to it was
resolved —
That the vestry sanction the Rector and Churchwardens of [the parish of St. John the
Baptist, Wilts, to apply to the Bisliop of the Diocese fprovided they obtain tlie consent of
the Coiamittee ajjpointcd to conduct the improvements of the church) for a faculty to re-
build, if necessary, the arcades, and also, If necessary, to put on new roofs ; to extend the
nave and aisles one bay to the westward, and to reseat the whole church ; or to effect such
portions of these works as may be within the compai^s of the funds placed at the disposal
of the Committee by public contributions and subscriptions.
It is understood that the extent of the works will for the present be limited by
the money actually in hand, which amounts to the sum of £1,400.
BATTY'S ATMOSPHERIC FIRE-GRATE.
OUR attention has been directed to a new description of fire-grate, invented
by Mr. C. Batty. The chief peculiarity in the construction of this grate
consists in a contrivance for the admission of fresh air into a chamber under the
grate ; a certain arrangement in that chamber immediately breaks up the cur-
rent of air and diverts it in several directions — to supply the fire, carrying off the
products of combustion, to pass over a fire-brick lining, becoming gently
warmed, and thence to enter the apartment through an opening in the upper
part of the grate. A short inspection of the working of the grate impressed us
very favorably with its efliciency. There is in connection with it a valve opening
into the chimney, for the escape of vitiated air, and a pipe may be connected with
the fresh air chamber to convey a supply of warmed air to another room. The
heat given out led us to apprehend a large consumption of fuel, but we are
assured that there is really a very considerable saving in that respect. It seems
necessary to say this, because the proprietor, in his prospectus, has stated that
" the saving in fuel is 60 per cent, less than the present system." We believe it
is really intended to say that the saving is 60 per cent, greater.
It is said that in construction the grate is so simple that it cannot easily be
deranged ; that it will generate twice the heating properties of ordinary stoves ;
and that, owing to its independent supply of air, it will allow of doors and win-
dows being closely fitted. Also that the fire will always burn brightly without
causing dust or cinders to fall into the room; that its heating properties are so
great that it can be used to heat other rooms by the pipe or flue before referred
to ; that all vitiated air is exhausted, while sufficient pure warm air is being con-
stantly supplied ; and that it will effectually cure smoky chimneys and prevent
down draught. Further, that it will, consequently, render unnecessary funnels,
chiinney-pots, &c. ; that gas, coke, or coal may be employed in it ; that in sum-
mer the same apparatus supplies a cooling atmosphere ; and that it may be
removed as easily as any other grate, or the principle may be applied to most
fronts now in use, while there are no dampers, valves, or complicated work of
any kind in its construction.
_ Mr. Batty is now making arrangements for the supply of these grates at a cost
little exceeding those of the usual construction. Time is required to test such
matters as these, and with the brief experience we have of the invention it might
create a wrong impression if we did more than add tliat the grate appears to be
excellent in principle and to deserve examination. The only point on which we
were for some time dubious was the asserted economy of fuel.
We believe the grate may he seen in action after this week at 196, Maryle-
bone-road.
COOKING APPARATUS AT KUHIV'S, HANOVER STREET.
THE General Iron Foundry Company, of 43, Upper Thames-street, have just
brought to completion the work connected with the construction of a new
cooking apparatus for M. Kiihn's Cafe and Restaurant in Hanover-street,
Regent-street. The apparatus formerly employed consisted of four stoves,
requiring constant attention, and consuming a vast quantity of fuel.
The new apparatus is constructed entirely of metal, and is placed in the centre
of the kitchen ; it is 10 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 3 feet high, with the fire at one
end. Next to the fire there are two large and powerful roasters, and four large
ovens ; over the fire roasters and ovens is a hot plate having an area of about 40
square feet. Above the hot plate, and at a distance of about 2 feet from it, is a
strong iron rack for holding and warming dishes, plates, &c., and above that is
a hood, over the entire apparatus, to collect the waste steam, and heat and
convey it through pipes to a distant shaft. A copper bar passing round the edge
of the plate at once offers a protection to the cooks, and gives a finish to the
outline of the stove. Two boilers are heated by the fire, one supplying a hot-
water cistern, the other a steam closet. By means of a peculiar arrangement air
19 freely admitted and circulated within the roasters or ovens at will. This is
of great importance, as it much assists to good cooking. The apparatus can be
adapted to a greater or lesser amount of work by means of flue regulators, which
enables any number or all of the roasters and ovens to be heated and brouglit
J"'" "se as may be required. It is said that within half an hour from the time
the fire is lighted, the apparatus is in complete working order ; cutlets and such
things are cooked perfectly and equally throughout in eight minutes.
The apparatus was completed on Friday last, and on Saturday Mr. Henry
Rogers, the manager of the Company, and Mr. Callas, under whose immediate
direction the work has been carried out, entertained a number of gentlemen to
dinner, at once testing the efficiency of the new stove, and the resources of M.
Kuhns establishment; we have no hesitation in saying that both met with
unqualified apjiroval. M. Kiilin states that with the aid of the new apparatus
tie could cook dinners for 3,000 persons in one day, and he estimates the consump-
tion ot fuel at about one ton per month under full working.
VVe can strongly recommend the apparatus to the notice of proprietors of
large establishments. *^
THE DESIGNS FOE THE NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT AT SYDNBI.*
[From the Sgdney Morning Herald.]
it OFES." — ^This design is in the Italian, or modem antique style, and arrests attention hy
O its boldness and breadth of effect. The appendages in the shape of towers arc few
and unconspicuous, the principal of these being a low dome, almost entirely concealed
within a circle of columns supporting an entablature, uiwn which are statues corresponding
with the columns. In the plan, which is that of a double cross, the lands and works offices
are situated in Macquarie-street, and the parliamentary buildings front the eastward. The
departmental offices are situated between and separate the parliamentary buildings from
the survey, telegraph, railway, road, harbour, and architects' ofFlcos. The buildings are
divided by four main arteries of communication, two ruimlng east and west, and two north
and south, the various departments being connecte<l by continoons colonnading, which
affords access to every part under cover. By this dtstribation, the plan ia cut up into
geometrical shapes.
'* Fide et Virtute." — This design is in the continental Gothic, which is a mirtnro of
Gothic and Italian. There is a lofty dome and a clock tower, and the projecting portions
of the elevations are set off with overhanging and pinnacled turrets. The skill of tho
artist has given the building a very picturesque apiiearance, the mouldings and the orna-
mentation of the roof being extremely elaborate and beautiful. There is, however, nothing
palatial in the structure. The various public offices are placed on the northern Bide of the
building, while the southern side is devoted to the legislative chambers, which consequently
occupy a very unconspicuous portion of the space.
'• Sic fortis Etruria crevit." — This design is in the Pointed Gothic style, evidently well
considered ; but tliough neat and tasteful, it cannot be called handsome. There is con-
siderable ornamentation about the windows and the roof, but there is an absence of the
flowing lines which constitute the charm of Gothic architecture. There axe several short
square towers, with tapering sjnres, but these, instead of serving, as towers should do, to
relieve the monotonous aspect of the lower portions, have the effect of giving it angularity
and stiffness. The principal portion of the building encloses a large court, entered from
the west side, and this extends on either side of the building in the centre. 'Tits exterior
buildhigs are mostly devoted to the public departments-, and tho interior block to parlia-
mentary offices, the grand entrance to which is on the east side.
" Pnyx." — This is a handsome design in the Italian style. In the elevation there is a
considerable similarity to the Louvre. There is a lofty tower, consisting of six rows of
columns. The design is symmetrical ; a peristyle at the east elevation conducts to the
grand hall, beyond which a staircase leads to another hall, on the right of which is the
Council chamber, and at tho left the Assembly chamber ; both of these are approached
through corresiwnding entrance courts on the western side of the building,
England and New South Wales."— These drawings are m the French Italian style, the
facades somewhat resembling those of the Louvre. The absence of towers gives the
elevation a heavy, flat apijearauce, and as a further defect, there [is a^ deficiency of colon-
nades. The parliamentary buildings are towards Macquarie-street. The designs are very
delicately drawn, and there are peculiarities about them which warrant the beUef that they
came from the continent.
" God's Providence is mine Inheritance." — This a Gothic design, exhibiting long ranges
of collegiate looking buildings, not altogether destitute of beauty, but completely killed
by cniel maypole towers, the height of which is in painful contrast with the lownessof the
buildings. There is nothing very striking in the plan, to redeem the above defect. The
architect has accompanied iiis plans with lithographed explanations. The building is
planned in the general proportions of a double square, the smaller sides being towards
Macquarie-street and the Outer Domain, and the longer towards the Inner Domain and the
south. The Assembly Chamber is to be about lOOifeet by 60 feet, and somewhat similar
in form to the English House of Commons ; the galleries, instead of projecting, range
behind columns which assist to support the roof. The Council Chamber is of the same
size, but has smaller accommodation for members. As in the House of Commons, the seats
for ladies are just behind the reporters' gallery. Each department is so arranged that all
the rooms connected with it are either on the same floor or readily approached from the
floor above. Respecting the stylb of the building, the author of the design states : — " The
style adopted is that of the Gothic, of the time when England was at her zenith in the
study of the arts previous to the introduction of the Classic styles, employing overhanging
roofs, deeply recessed windows and verandahs, where the sum will have most power. In
the arrangement of the fronts considerable care has been taken to present as much unity
as possible, giving a suiRcient number of breaks to increase effect without destroying the
breadth necessary for a building that is intended to mark the prosperity and majesty of
the colony which is an Englishman's boast."
" CH. C. H. S." — This is a classical design of considerable vigor and beauty. In the
centre is a handsome dome, to be of solid stone, with perforations for light, relieved at the
base by equestrian statues. There is a great deal of finish in the design, but it has, never-
theless, an aspect of foreignness and singularity. The architect has, apparently, a great
dislike of rectangular figures. The grand entrance is semicircular, and allows for a car-
riage-drive through it. Beyond the grand hall, passages at oblique angles lead to tho
Council on one side, and to the Assembly on the other ; and even the seats in the Council
run diagonally from opposite comers. Why so much pains has been taken to obtain crooked
corridors and drives, is not very easy to comprehend, otherwise th.an on the supiwsition
that the architect may have heard that scarcely any of the public buildings in Sydney are
rectangular. The plans provide for the Parliamentary offices, but make no provision wl^t-
ever for the Government offices. From some printetl infonnation accompanying the
plans we learn that the cost of such a building would be ^.500,000, in English prices.
"Follower of Wren." — This motto is appropriately appended to an adaptation of the
architecture of St. Paul's Cathedral. The ensemble has much symmetrical beauty, though
as compared with Wren's great work there is an absence of elaboration in some of th2
details. The elevation presents a double tier of windows — the lower Ionic, and the upper
Corinthian— with alternately circular and triangular pediments. In the centre of tho
building is a handsome dome, the space beneath which divides the two Legislative
chambers. There appears in the plan a deficiency as to ventilation, and there is little
colonnade communication.
'■ Akropolis."— This is a Classic design, after the model of Buckingham Palace, but it is
more like the pictures of ancient Grecian temples than any modern structures. The plan
is extremely simple, and, in theory at least, appropriate. The Government departments
are allotted to a range of buildings '.almost enclosing a quadrangle, in the centre of which
as the supreme tribunal — the source of all executive power and authority — is a temple for
the legislature. The quadrangle opens on the east side, to afford a good view of the eastern
facade of the centre building ; the grand entrance from Macquaire-street is through a
covered archway, formed of Ionic columns corresponding with those of the exterior Ijlock.
The inner temple is nearly square, each of the four sides presenting handsome uniform
facades ; on the eastern and western elevations the Ionic columns and sculptured pediments
are surmounted by Doric columns and pediments. It is to be regretted that the perspective
view should be so small and indistinct.
" Omega."— This is a Classical design, bnt the working out of the details is original, and
a curious effect is produced. The towers are extremely plain, and add little beauty to the
elGvation. The shape of the plan is irregular. In the centre of the front elevation is a
somicircnlar projection within which is tho Council Chamber ; a mng at the north-east
corner of the plan is designed for the Assembly Chamber, the corresponding north-west
wing is devoted to some of the public offices. On the ground plan there are, on the soutU
side, three long parallel courts, separating portions of the building that are a.ssigned
either to a department or a sub-department, but built over by the upper story. The pro-
jections on the elevation are faced with colonnades formed of Corinthian columns.
" Si je puis." '—This is rather a pretentious Classical design, but the general effect is not
pleasing. The pagoda-like tower with its fantastic spire, as also the smaller towers,
present a gaudy, but not an ornamental appearance. A number of columns are introduced
'merely for effect, and there is a palpable want of solidity and massiveness in the compo-
sition. The legislative chambers extend p.arallel with each other across the narrow part of
the building, the library and the reading-room being between the two, and generally the
offices seem too close together.
* Concluded from page 618.
646
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 2, 1861.
" Uan."— A v«xy cttnoos daa&gn, which may be ealled a Oothio oxti&Tagaxua. A
number ot ktfty iiiimftctes aact bnttreeses give the faf ado a rather impcK^iuf? appearance.
The tool it of imnenMtia&haTtas some hijf-doien tiers of olereetory windows ami but-
H«w lite tamffuff fc«U, or Hotel de Ville. could give acoommodation to the
" imantnry atoff, it to difflcult to divine, there being no ground plans
Bto «appl7 the informatfam.
Bis Botluiig Tery remarkable in this design. It is Gothic, but of no
' ' t, bat not altc^rether devoid of beauty.
^ A^M|.**-"Thfa ts adassical desi^, but the drawings rro rough and nnfiniahed, a&d
do JMit appAar to bave been soat with u vio w to competititMi .
" FSgws — Fen in a acroU."— The same may be said of tbi^ production, which Is even
mora erode tliaa that jost mentioned, though evidently the work of apractical builder.
The exhlUtiDtt of the designs will be open to the public for a few days longer. No charge
is auMle for admadon, and we reoommend those who can spare the time to avail thoxuelves
«C thA ^XHrtanity.
THE MKTBOPOUTAJT BOABD OP WORKS AND THE EMBANKMENT OF THE
THAMBa
AT the meeting of the Metropolitan Board of Work s, held at the offlce, in Spring-gardens,
on Friday, when Jniix Tuwaitfs, Es»[., the Chairman, presided,
Hr. Lb Breton* moved a resolution to the followiiiK effect ; —
" TlMt the Bill for ccmtinning the Coal and Wine I>uiies having received the royal assent,
it beoonflB the doty of this Board, without delay, to tuke all ueccssary measures for carrying
OBfc flie Thames &nbankment in ooimexlon with the Low-level Sewer north of the Thames ;
and ttmt the olDoers be instructed to prepare the requisite plans for the consideration of
tteBDaxd.**
Mr. fiavAGB seoooded the motion.
Mr. BOBIXBOH nminded the meeting that the Boyal ConuniBsioners on the Thames
""'''"* t reoommendsd in their report, which had just been issued, that a special
" 1 be ^ipolnted by her Maje:?ty for the carrying oat of the proposed Em-
Ht. H. L. Tatlob aaid« looUag at the roconuncndation of the Thames Embankment
OowwilioffirrB, that a nrndal Commission sliould be appointed to carry out the work ; he
dM not aee that H would be wiab to run all at onco counter to such a recommendation,
beoMR 00 doing mi^it gire olbmce to the Govenuuent. The carrying out of the Xx)w-level
aever wm Uw duty o( the Board— no Ctmimission ought to take it out of their hands, and
let them riMnr that to the Oorcnunent, but, at tbc same time, let them take such a course
M WDoU not niaa a fMlng against the Board. And be doubted very much if the passing
cf the aootkHi prapoeed would be of any assistance in carrying out tlio object the Board had
in Tiew. He quite agreed with the wish that the Doattl should carry out entirely the Em-
bankment of the TltanieB, of which work a portion was the formation of the Northern Low-
letA Sewer, whidi came naturally within ttieir province : but let them not hastily go
against the Qorrcrament. It was not merely the ^wer and the Embankment they hod to
conrtder, but they bad also to con;adcr the road communication, and the Board was not
in • poeitluu sA pteaent to give proper infractions on such a subject to their engineer and
to taeir architect, wlio, he beUered, would both have to be engaged in tlic work. He would
advisB th^Bofthl to WMtzathar than adopt the motion, which, in itd present form, was
lamtt and thqr ou^t to know exactly what it was they were going to call upon the officers
to do. for the propoeed resolution would entail a very gn-at deal of work upon them,
Hr. DocLTOX did not think they siiotdd wait until the House of Commons considered
thtsqnestion. for it would then be too late. It devolved upon tliem as a Metropolitan
Boara to let the Hou^.of Comnums and the public know that they were prepared to carry
out the wort in question which propel^ belonged to them, and it would also be known
by the adoption of the motion tliat the Board had taken the tirst step in instracting the
~iaeer to prepare plans to be submitted to the consideration of the Board. He hoped
i no dday in the matter would be allowed to take place.
Er. WiLKursoN said they had before them certainly a most grave question, and one
9fa tta^ oagikt'toJMUise and consider well before coming to any decision upon it. Either
tt^mnn^alfect ignorance of the report of the Itoyal Conmiissioners, or challenge its
neenmendation. If they had not heard of the recommendation of the Itoyal Com-
mWOQ and took steps in the matter of the embankment of the Hiames it would have ap-
P<M»d that they were exercising proper energy and acting with proper conduct. But the
c— a, was dMsKrnt now, for if they acted independently of the Government, then they
threw down the gnantlet to the Commission and to the Government. Amongst the
weiiilyi at the Board and the public generally there could be but one opinion onliia
ajOle^aadthatinsthatthey were the body best fitted to carry out the embankment of
the lames in eenjenction with the Northern Low-level Sower, and that the Board was
the body M hich should be employed in effecting the proposed great improvement. With
their fBvsent information, however, he should be very much disposed to recommend Mr.
l^ Breton aot to press his motion until some official communication had taken place
hetwuu thoBosad and the Chairman of the Royal Commission, or the First Commissioner
« worts, or some other authority connected with the Government. If the report of the
OonmiHloDaB as pobUshed in the newspapers that morning was a correct document, and
be had no doubt that it was, he could not but .think that the Board !iad been discourteously
aadnngencroudy nsed theCommiaaioncrs, for at least before such a recommendation being
?—fc •« that of the appointment of a special commission to carry out the work further
mqnizy oo|^t to hare Men made. He hoped, however, the Board would under the circura-
^■■*>Wt p«MB before they passed the motion before them, unless the engineer said that
Oct ihoold loae a session l^ not at once commencing.
Mx^TmaUM said there was no doubt that the Commiasionera In making in their report
uie recommendation that a special oonunission should be appointed to carry out the Thames
Bnrtaiifciiieot, had In view the appointment of some of their number on the Commission.
Aadit ttould not be forgotten that the recommendation itself involved one of the greatest
biowi that oonld be inflicted on the principle of local self-government. If the Board did
not at onoe take steps in the matter, was it possible the engineer could have his plana
rasdyby Norcmber? if they did not begin now they would lose time, and that might be
ttnoira in their faces hereafter. Let them say that the Coal and Wine duties having been
roBttnued by the legiaUtlue, it was their duty to employ the proceeds of the duties in the
Iniimiiii of the Thanws Bmbankment, for It was evidently the intention of the first
tStSmSmL °^Jf^ '*'* ^'*'*I*'» ^ *"*^« '^ work carried out by hia own officers, and
, fe gptWT obsm ed that the moment the Government issued the report of the Royal
g*'""**"' "V w«e (Tuiity of antagonism towards the Board, and, therefore, there
!?'"^-i?^^ rswonribllity upon the Board by acting Independently of causing a collision,
■oingca dnaded by ewne gentlemen, between Government and themselvee, for it had ol-
tmp *»n. He snpporrted the motion.
■Ir, Crcli,D( thought that the publication of the report of the Commlssionars showed
MMtaoMsin the bistonr of the Board had arisen, for if the report was acted upon and
?.T7r."'"M*«0M canied out, the Metropolitan Board, if it did not ceaw; to exist, would
fSTialiri * "1^ SS**"** *° **** metropolis. Ho could not help thinking that the Chief
IS^SSS^irtS^^ '"** ®*""* ^ '^^^ done, relied very much upon the state of parties
- ■» «•■■• «l i^nmons, and the right hon. gentleman knew that so long as the present
-wfi?.?*^°^ ^ ***°^*^ ** supported by Lord Palmerston in any attempts
h^ oSt S.?li?*f?*^« °' I**""' -^'^ ^ the Board wished to show the Qovcnx-
«fc^ A^^^r? y? trenching on its rights, it would tell them so. He hoped alsoslnccrely
iSS«S^J£*!iirfi5"^."^°**^**" *<'°*^ *K printed and circulated amongst the
SSrS««5!flJ^SSi'" **5 *" ■•»*«»•<* th«t it would raise such a feeling through-
SaS«h5\2^.!rj!?^**?'?^.**»« C*^ CommiasionerB of Works that he was not
^^gS^ *Sy ^^ ' *" *^ nutter
,^5^''™*<^«!">tt«'<tftheHooaaof Commons ncommended that theembank-
MefcomlSiBSlrf w!»l- iS~!? **"*' "*** ***»' ^® P™!*' ^^y to do FO was the
iMtnaMidM£r^^»ninLvi?V< i rlSr,"""* ^ ^*^? "^ had been provided by Uie Act
SWSSSJSrSSL^^*^^^*"^-*'""*** anlwbyan attempt should bo made
iraw!SSluf!.^Tf..-T!? Si£2^ ?^°» ^« ^^'^ ^'^ ^o"!*! not conceive. They
' TTTTi^SJ^Sn^S^^ ?^.J^j they were recommended by a Committee of the
I Of w«wm as the proper body to do tt, huidB were now proTldod, it wasconstanUy
thrown in their teeth as a Beard that they were doing nothing, and let them, therefore, do
something by taking inmiediatc action in the matter.
Mr. Deputy ILiHUiyoN thought they should negociate or endeavour to represent their
case to some members of the Govermnent, and see whether they would support the Board.
It was not an unfrequcnt occurrence that the authorities in the City had to moiiify their
own notions in order to get the support of tho Government and the House of Commons in
favor of Bills they promoted. B^des, the itport of the Oommis6ionera Wiis not oflioially
before them, and under all tho circumstaiicot! they ought to hesitate before they passed the
motion under consideration. Sometimes the Government appointed a commission of
inquiry, imd yet took no notice of the report issued, siuiply allowing it to lie on the table.
As soon as the report of the Contmissionei-s was before the Board officially, they ought to
appoint the Cliairman or a deputation of the members to wait on the Government and
ascertain whether they were prepared to bring in a bill in accordance with the recomiuenda-
tious of tiie Royal Commissioners in their report. That wa.'^ the course he would
recommend as being far preferable to that of throwing down the gauntlet and coming into
collision with the Govennnent. They would gain more by acting in that manner than iu
at once making an order for the preparation of plans by the Engineer of the Boanl. The
Govenmient were not responsible for the report of the Commissioners, and when it came
before them they might reject it, have nothing to do with it, and take no steps uixm it,
^Vssimiing it as correct that there was an estimated cost of the emliaukment of a million and
a half of money, assuming that the Northern low-level sewer was to be at the bottom of
the embankment, and that the work was to be executed by soraeliody, let the Boani ascer-
tain whether the Goveniment intended to take any steps in the matter. It had been said
that if they delayed they would lose a session, but he did not see that, and was opposed to*
the course of bemg precipitate and going to war with the Government. By adopting tho
course he recommended they were likely to make friends rather than lose them by petting
into collision with tho Government. At any rate before they determined to do anything
they should ascertain whether the Government intended doing anything upon tlie report
of the Koyal Commissioners. The worthy Deputy concluded by moving, as an amendment,
" That it be referred to a committee to consider what measures it is desirable to take for
immediately carrying out the Thames Embankment in coimexion with the low-level sewer
on the north side of the Thames." They ought to ascertain wliat was the intention of the
Government in reference to the question, and if they propoai, u a plan of which the Board
approved, let them carry on the work conjointly with the Government if that should seem
desirable.
Mr. LBfiG seconded the amendment, and remarked that by next Friday the Committee
to whom the matter was referred, would probably be able to make a report to the Board on
the subject. The adoption of the amendment would give the Board an opportunity of
fully considering the question, and making their representations to the Government
resi>ecting it.
The Chairman understood Deputy Harrison to say, that it was inexpedient to go to war
with the Government on this question. Now, let them understand what the projiosition
before them really was. Was it a proposition antagonistic to the Government, or was it a
course of procedure which it was as natural for the Board to take as it was for a man to
put one foot before the other in walking ? Was it not the duty of the Board to carry out
metropolitan improvements ? and hadit not been thegreatdifficultyofthe Board, todeal with
much-wanted improvements iu the absence of the requisite funds ? Now Parliament had
passed a Bill continuing the Coal and Wine duties, and making the first chargeon the fund
derivable therefrom, the cost of embanking the Thames. What had they as a Board to do
with the recommendations contained in the report of a royal commission, and why should
that interfere with them in the discharge of their duty? The funds being provided and
accumulating, it was perfectly clear that the embankment of the Thames must be canled
out, either by that Boartl or some other body, or by order of Parliament, or by tho Crown.
If the Board were for carrying out the proposed great improvement, he presumed they wero
not likely to lose sight of the great principle that the Board should continue in the dis-
charge of its duty imder the Metropolis Local Management Act, and that their functions
should not be transferred to a body that did not represent the metropolis. He had
a high respect for the Royal Commissioners on the Thames embankment,
but he entirely ignored and forgot their report when brought to the con-
sideration of what was the duty of this Board, seeing that Parliament had provided
funds for an improvement which should bo carried out without delay. The Deputy spoke
of offending the Government, but the Deputy should prove to the Board that the Govern-
ment were deteimined that the Thames Embankment was to be carried out by another
body, and that it would offend the Government if the Board said it was their duty to
execute tho work. He (the Chairman) believed the question lay within the four walls of
the Office of Works, ho did not believe it was a Government fiuestion at all ; but even if
they had considered that question, what was the first question that would be asked by
Parliament and the general public ?— it would be whether they had considered the gener^
purport and purpose of that report. The i)rominent question with Parliament and tho
public would be— What are the Metropolitan Board of Works doing ? What steps have they
taken? Have they shown any signs of movement in the matter? Then, if no steps were
taken by the Board in the matter, the public would say, through the reamimendation o£
the Commissioners' Report to entrust the work to a special commission was unconstitu-
tional ; yet the public would say it was better, seeing that the Board of Works were doing
nothing in the matter; it was better, it was desirable there should be appointed a special
commission or some other body to carry out the work. But public opinion would be of a
diiTerent character if the public found the Board active and energetic in the matter, were
takitig the necessary steps and preparing plans for the next session, for the plans must be
matured and fully considered and detennined before tho book of reference was prepared.
He said tluit instead of the Government blaming the Board for taking action in the
matter, it would be a credit to the Board that they wero taking steps and doing their duty.
He spoke advisedly when he said that next session action would bo taken in thb* question,
and he should like to^see the Metropolitan Board taking its proper position in reference to
it. And unlcRS action was taken immediately they would lose a session, for some time
must necessarily be taken up in the preparation of the plans and the subsequent considera-
tion of the question by tho Board ; it was a most difficult question in many of its details,
and he said they had not a week to spare. He thought, apart altogether from the report
of the Royal Comndssion, as a body of men whose duty it was to carry out this improTC-
ment and to carry out the principle of local self-government, so far from giving offence to
the Government by taking immediate action, the Government would be pleased that they
had a representative body in the metropolis who were desirous to discharge their duty, and
who would discharge it properly,
Mr. Sakitda 8^d it seemed to him that there was but one opinion as to the necessity an <f
the desirableness of the embankment of the Thames being carried out by the Board. It
was objected to the motion before them that, looking at the recommendation of the Royal
Commissioners, it would, if carried, givo offence to the Govomraent. Now, the first thing
they should consider was what it was they desired to do. That they all admitted was to
get the construction of tho embankment handed over to the Board. Well, would it bo
advancing their cause to consult the opinion of tlie Government on the subject V And tho
only thing he would suggest was this, to make an addition to tho motion to this effect— and
that would prevent any misunderstanding as to the reasons why the Board had taken thia
course, and as to the course they intended to pursue, if necessary, to assert their right— an
addition to this effect—" And that this Board do immediately memorialise the Government
and Parliament to prevent so much of the report of the Royal Commission as suggests the
carrying out of the Thames embankment by a special commission Iwing agreed to."
Mr. Savage supported the motion in its original shape, He hopetl they wotdd not delay
even for one week, for even a week's delay might be of serious consequence, as there was
no doubt their opponents wero moving in the matter. The report of the Royal Commission
was signed by all its members except the Chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works,
who entered a protest against it. Some of the Commissioners who signed the report would,
in all probability, have some nice pickings if their recommendation 'about a special ccan-
miwion was carried out. Delay would be tho most ruinous policy the Board could pursue.
If the conBtruction of the Thames embankment was taken from them, then, oe soon as the
Main Drainage works were completed, they might take up their hats and walk, for they
would virtufifiy cease to exist as the Metropolitan Board of Works.
Mr. PuTLUPS having said a few words, the Board divided, when there were— for the
amendment, 8 ; against it, 27 ; the amendment was consequently lost.
August 2, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
647
Mr. Wilkinson moved tis nnotlier amendment* " That the Chairman bo requested to
communicate with the I-ir-st Commissioner of Works, and inform him tliat the lioard were
of ooiniou that it would be necessary, without delay, to take u!l tlie measures neceaeary
for carrjing out the Thames embankment with the Northern Low-Level Sewer, and that
they purpose to instruct their officers to prepare plans and notices."
Mt-. PAKMKll seconded the amendment. It was the duty of Board to carry out the
Thames embankment, and the question was, what was the most judicious course to be
pursueti under the circiunstancet*. ^
Mr. FUKEUAN opposed the amendment, which he considered more objectionable than
that proposed by Mr. Deputy Harrison.
Mr. Alderman Lawkenck was in favor of delay for. at least, a week before taking
action, but he conld not support the araendmeut of Mr. Wilkinson.
Ou a show of hands there were only two for the amendment. The original motion was
then carried. _, i, ^
Mr. Saml'DA moved that the Government be informed of the course the Board had
resolved upon, and request their sanction and support.
The Chairmax said until the plajis were prepared, it would be premature to go to
the Government.
The motion was then withdrawn.
Mr. Deputy HARHISON aaked when the plans might be expected to be ready.
Mr. Bazalcette, the engineer, said he should commence the plana immediately, and he
hoped that very soon aftt-r the recess he should be able to present them.
r
\S'ESTMINSTEK PALACE HOTEL COMV.VSY.
rpHE report of the directors to the eighth half-yearly general meeting, on the flth of
I. August, states that the hotel has now l)cen carried on for five months, and they con-
gratulate the shareholdei^ upon the result. The business of the first two montlis was, of
course, conducted under unfavorable circumstances, the hotel being only partially occu-
pied, and the establishment being necessarily on a full scale ; nevertheless, there has been
a very satisfactory profit. The profit and loss account embraces the period between the
13th of August and the 30th of June last, so far as it relates to that portion of the hotel
leased to the India B»ard, and between the 1st of February and the ;JOth of June, so far as
it relates to the general business of the hotel. The result shows that, after paying interest
to the 30th of June on the snm of £2-5,0iX) temporarily borrowed from the bankers of the
company, on tlie security of the company's debentures for that amount, there is a net
profit of X4,46y Us. 4d., which, in the opinion of the directors, is very gratifying. The
board have determined, under the powers conferred upon them by the 7Jth clause of the
articles of association, after providing for the payment of interest at the rate of 5 per cent.
on moneys paid in anticipation of calls, to set aside out of the profits the sum of
JEl."i21 Itfs. 8d. as a rcsen'e fund, and out of tlie balance then remaining £:i,247 Tis. Sd. to
declare a dividend, with the sanction of the shareholders, at the rate of (J per cent,
per annum for the half-year ending the :30th of June last, which will bo payable
on the original shares from the 1st of January last, and on the new shares on and
from the dates upon which the deposit and first call were respectively paid, clear of income-
tax. The claims upon the Company, which were under discussion at the time of the last
meeting, including that of Mr. Myers for building, have all been arranged, and the pro-
spects of the Company for the future are higlUy encouraging. The hotel appears to give
satisfaction to the pubUc, and for a considerable portion of the latter period of the last
three months has been quite full. The working expenses of the first half-year have been
lai^r in proporiion to the receipts than they may be expected to be in f-iturc half-years,
and the directors see no reason to doubt that the earnings will yield a very good return
upon the capital. The direct^irs further hope to be able by arrangements at the back por-
tion of the premises, to economise on the cost of washing and otherwise. Immediately
after the last general meeting, the board, acting on the powers then conferred upon them,
proccedetl to offer to the shareholders the option of subscribing for the 3,000 new shares
thereby created. There remain at the disposal of the Company 603 of the new shares, for
which the board are prepared to receive applications on or before the 31st of August next,
when a rateable division will be made amongst the applicants. The total expenditure on
capitaraccount to the :iOtli of June has been £151,(j47 ItJs. 9d., and the board are of opinion
that the total cost, exclusive of what may be required hereafter for furnishing that por-
tion of the hotel let to the India Board, will be within the amount which the board have
powers to raise.
^..^.
MANCHESTER ARCHITECTTIEIAL ASSOCIATION.
THE usual meeting of this Association was held on Wednesday evening, July 94, the vice-
president in the chair. After some preliminary business, the chairman called upon
Mr, Juhn Rowland to read the paperfor the evening, on " Stone." The paper was opened
by a general review of stone as an important building element, and one, a thorough know-
ledge of which is indispens-able to the urchitect. After noticing the peculiarities of the
different kinds while in the rock, and confining his remarks in a great measure to the
qnanies of Yorkphire and Derbyshire, the essayist referred to Fountains Abbey as an illus-
tration of the unequal decay of stone obtained from the same (juarry — showing that it is
impossible to know with certainty that each stone raised to the edifice is perfect— but,
having a knowledge of the mast durable varieties, we must exercise our own judgment as
to the qualities of the whole. He then, in continuation of the subject, arranged freestones
under four heads, viz.. sandstones, limestones, magnesian limestones, and oolitic stones,
giving the names of the various quarries, color, specific gravity, and other distinguishing
characteristics, mentioning a numl>er of buildings in which these stones were employed.
Referring to decomposition and disintegration (the two canses of decay in stone) he re-
marked, " When we consider the state of the atmosphere in Manchester, we cannot wonder
at the decay which often exhibits itself in our new warehouses even before the workmen
havo left the building. The air of Manchester, which, in consequence of the large con-
Bumption of coal in the neighborhood, always contains sulphuric and carbonic acids, must
neceasarily exercise a powerful and injurious influence. Upon examination of stone and
brickwork in Manchester, sulphates of lime and magnesia are always fomid, which, after
rain, are absorbed into the porous material, and, crystallising in dry weather, effect its
deetrut-'tion. If in our populous and smo^ towns we are to presene our buildings, we
must have recourse to chemical means." Having alluded to the various processes which
have hitherto been discovered for the attainment of this object, the writer concluded with
a hope that " a process may soon be found which, being applied to the external face of
stone buildings, may be so effectual that after the lapse of centuries they may yet testi^
to the improvements .of the nineteenth century." After a short discussion it was decided
that the imiwrtance of the subject merited further investigation. Its consideration will
therefore be resumed at the next meeting, in the place of the paper for the evening.
CITT COURT OF SKWEES.
AT the wc^ly meeting of the Commissioners of Sewers, held on Tuesday at Guildhall,
Mr. Deputy Christie presided, Dr. Letukby, the Medical Officer of Health for the
City, reported on the .-tate of ^0.5 houses that had been inspected during the week, and he
^bmittcd a list of GO places requiring sanatory improvement, and he also submitted a
list of places requiring further proceedings, on account of orders already issued, but not
comp]ie<l with.
Dr. Abraham called the attention of the Court to the medical officer's report on the
impurity of the water of the City pumps, and said that at this tea^on of the year, when
cold water was bo much required, it was the duty of the Court to warn the pubUc that in
drinking the water from the pumps in the City they were drinking poison, and he thought
that the only way would be to have the puinp handles chained, which he thought the
parish authorities had the power of doing. He, therefore, moved that tlie clerk should bo
Instructed to tend a copy of Dr. Letheby's rejKirt to the parochial authorities in the City,
where I>r. Letheby has tested the water, pointing out that particular passage relating to
theCi^ pumps.
The motion was agreed to, and the Court shortly after adjourned.
ARCHITECTUaAL ASSOCIATION.
AT a special business meeting held on the aoth July, in accortianco with a requisition for
the purpose of co-ssidoring the rerxirt of the Committee of the Institute on the ques-
tion of Architectural Examinations, tlie following resolutions were passed :—
*' That the Architectural Association expresses its general approval of the proposed
I regulations and curriculum as forwarded to it by the honorarj' secretaries of tlic Uoyal
' Institute of British Architects, bnt Iwgs to snbmit that, in the opinion of its members, the
following modifications in detail would, if adopted, prove improvements :—
*' Tliat the titles of ordinary proficiency and honorable distinction iihould be modified,
and senior and junior examination be substituted.
" Tliat, to paragraph 4 on page 1, the following words be added,—' or ?nch other books
of tables as the Examiners, upon his application, shall allow.'
" That, except under extraordinary circumstances, the Examiners shall be exclusively men
belonging to the arcliitectural profession.
" That/ioo marks should lie deducted from History and Literature and added to Mathe-
matics in the first examination,
" That on page 3 the words ' whose President or Secretary at the time when such distmc-
tion was adjudged shall have been a Fellow of the Institute," be omitted.
" That the tliird paragraph on page 4 should be revised or omitted, as the practical re-
sult seems to be that the larger number of marks a candidate obtains for answers tho
woree would be his position.
" That a method should be adopted for informing the unsuccessful candidates of the
subjects in which they have failed, and possibly it might be advantageous to tell them the
number of marks they obtained.
'* That the scale of fees should be reversed : one guinea being payable for the first and
two guineas for the second examination.
" That the declaration should be modified ; that the fact of a candidate discontinuing liia
profession, or supplying materials with the knowledge of his client, should not occasion his
removal from the list of passed candidates.
" That the secretaries be requested to commimicate these resolutions to the honorary
secretaries of the Institute, and to the honorary secretary of the Examination Committee
THE STRIKE.
WE stated in our last that negotiations were pending between a few of thelarg*
masters and the Masons' Committee, with the view of effecting an amicable settle-
ment. The subject was, we undcretand, after several interviews, postponed until the points
in difference had been considered by the Ma.'^ters' Association. It was understood that a
meeting of the masters would be held either on Wednesday or Thursday, but up to yester-
day (Thursday) afternoon no answer had been received by the employed from the em-
ployers in reference to the points in dispute. An early answer, however, is expected by the
masons, who have been in immediate communication with some of the larger firms. A
delegate meeting of trades in London, unconnected with the building trades, was held on
Tuesday evening in Shaftesbury -hall, Aldersgate-strcet, " to take into^ consideration the
interference of the Government in trade disputes, as showni at Clielsea, where soldiers have
been sent by the War Office, to perform work whilst the building operatives arc on strike,
and to devise means to frustrate the unconstitutional conduct of the Government in sup-
plying men to fulfil private contracts. After some discussion, it was resolved— " That a
deputation be appointeil from this meeting to wait either upon the Premier or the Secre-
tary for War, to remonstrate with the Government uiwn their unjustifiable interference,
and to request that the Sappers and Miners be removed from the Chelsea barracks." A.
deputation of fifteen were then appointed to accompany the deputation of the building trades.
Accordingly on Wednesday afternoon the deputation had an interview at the House of
Commons with the new Secretary-at-War, Sir George Comewall Lewis, with referenced the
employment of military artificers at the Chelsea Barracks. The deputation was introduced to
the war secretary by Mr. Ayrton, M.P., and after seme discussion, Sir G. C. Lewis said the
Government had not the slightest intention of departing from the principle of non-inter-
ference in this dispute. The fact was that the barracks were required by a certain time,
and the only object the Government had in view in lending the Sappers and Miners was to
enable their contractors to have them ready at that time. If in doing this they hod given
ground of complaint, it was entirely from inadvertence, and not from any desire to take
Bides with the masters rather than the men. He would take the matter into his mo^t
careful consideration, and the deputation might rest assured that it was the determination
of the Government to obser\-e a strictly impartial attitude in the building dispute-. We
were informed on official authority yesterday (Thursday) afternoon, that Mr. Allen, of
Finsbury and Haggerstone, and Mr. Farmer, of Westminster-road, had acceded to the terma
of the masons and bricklayers, and that funds come in freely in aid of tho masons and
bricklayers from the trades both of the metropolis and the provinces.
PALAIS DE JUSTICE, BRUSSELS.
THE following advertisement has appeared with reference to this competi-
tion:
Palais UE Justice, Brussels. To Abchitects.— Any gentleman who may have re-
ceived communications from the Belgium Minister of Justice, with regaid to the awarded
premiums in the above competitions, are requested to send their names and addresaes
immediately to the Hon. Secretaries of the Royal Institute of British Architects in order
that proper steps may be taken in the matter.
The Great Exhibition.— In the notice of the Great Exhibition ia
our last number there was a little inaccuracy i n our reference to the gentleman
who on the part of the Government Commissioners is appointed to superintend
the construction and prepare the working drawings for that purpose. It is not
Mr. Meason a pupil of Sir Charles Barry, but 5fr. Alfred Meemn, C.E., who
for the last thirty years has been engaged in some of the largest works in the
kingdom, for ten years of which period he was chief assistant to Sir Charles
Barry. The Bute Ship Canal, the Leeds and Selby Railway, and various docks
and Waterworks, were executed entirely under his management.
Tlie District Surveyor of Hammersmith.— ki a recent meeting of tlie
MetropoIiUn Board of Works, a report was read from the Building Act and General
Purposes Committee, on letters received from Mr.G.E.Gordon relative to the mode
in which the business of tlie District Surveyor of Hammersmith was conducted.
The Committee stated that ithad been proved before them that Mr. Garland, the
District Surveyor, had been acting by deputy, without the leave oi the Board,
and tliat his deputy also acted on his own private account. Mr. L. Tavlor moved
that Mr. Garland should, under these circumstances, be suspended for three
mouths. The motion was seconded, and, after a short discussion, earned with
only one dissentient voice. Mr. Mosely, the District Surveyor for Fulham, was
appointed to perform the duties of the office during the three months.
Monument to Sir H. Smith.—A monument to the memory of the late
Sh- Harry Smith was erected last week over his grave in the churchyard of
Whittlesea. It is composed of Cornish granite, and bears tlie following mscrip-
tion * " Sacred to tlie memory of Lieu tenant- General Sir Harry G. W. Smith,
Bart.,of Aliwal, G.C.B.; bom 28th June, 1788; died 12th October, 1860." Oa
the plinth of the tomb are engraved the names of the principal engagements m
which he distinguished himseu".
648
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 2, 1861.
Cflmspondcncc.
ARCH JOINTS.
Sm,— Tonr oortespondent " W. Y ." having vf ry jastly fonnd funlt with the manner in
which elliptical arches are generally jointed, and having pointed out a method which he
callsmonoorrect and simple, perhaps you will allow me to suggest another, and, in my
opinion, a dmpler, way of obtaining tlio same result.
It is geoerslly admitted that the joints of an arch should point to the centre from
vUch tbe anh was struck, or, in other words, they should be radical lines ; now, the
aocompaqying sketch being drawn on the principle of the trammels, it is plain that as the
1
points 1, 2, always coincide with their respective diameters, the edge, A, of the ruler must
mark tbsdlrection of every joint as it comes In contact with the points of division on the
extndos of the arch. I have used this method for mauv years, and always with success.
Shonld you deem it worthy of notice, it is at your service.
_ I am, kc, F.
Chester, Joly 24tb, 1861.
THE LATK MB. GIUJNOER.
SiB,— I sec, in a recent Number of your Paper, a notice of the death of the late Mr.
Grainger, "architect." Allow me to correct tlic error— Mr. Grainger never was an archi-
tect, and could no more have designed the edifices he built, than could any other builder.
A^opos of Mr. Grainger, there is a disjrraceful paper war going on here between two archi-
Mcts, about who it was that designed one of Mr. Grainger's worlts, viz. , Eidon-sqnare ;
Mween them, they are pulling Mr. Grainitcr and Mr. Bobson to pieces most eJfectually.
pnnngMr. Grainger's lifetime I never hranl Mm style himself an architect, and I am sure
J* T"?^ y. ***" ""' '**' "■ »»"me the title of architect, to which, practically, he knew
lie luQ no oiaijn.
By the Insertion of this note.yaa will much oblige.
Iam,&a,
„_.,_. A Nativb op Newcastle.
Newcutle-apon-T}-ne, Jnly 33rd, I8«l. t>u<u.ii.c.
Iron Doors in Warehouses. — At the last meeting of the Metropolitan
Board of Works a report was presented by the Building Act and General
Pnrpoaes Committee, on a reference by the Hoard, as to the necessity for some
immediate legislative provision to prevent the building of warehouses, &c., with
iron doors, and submitting suggestions by the Superintending Architect for the
amendment of the lietnipolitan Building Act, 185.5. The consideration of the
report was adjourned to the first meeting of the Board in October.
Tramway X in the Metropolitan Districti.— The local authorities of
Southwark have granted permission for the laying down of a double line of street-
rails along the Waterloo, Borongh, Blackfriars, London, Westminster-bridge,
and New Kent-roads, Newington-causcway, Stones-end, and Blackman-street.
The BUtliorities of Westminster have given an opinion unfavorable to the exten-
sion of the Victoria-street tramway over Westminster-bridge to unite with the
before-mentioned lines. The line along the Uxbridge-road is about to be removed.
The Testiy of Islington have sanctioned a tramway along the New North-road,
but no operations have yet been commenced.
The Southwark and WeslmiMter Communication. — On Tuesday,
■ereral ganst of workmen were engaged in clearing away the materials of more
boiuea which were sold within the past fortnight, by direction of the Metropolitan
Bosrd of Works, and have sinw liecn razed to the ground. The houses on the
B«th and west sides of Southwark-square, in j Castle-street, the Southwark-
bridge-road, and the intersecting courts, recently sold, have been pulled down,
and the occupiers of those premis<;s in the Blackfriars-road required for the
improvement liave received notices of removal. It i3 expected fliat the whole
aile will be cleared before the expiration of the year.
Annual Dinner of Messrs. Lucas Brothers.— The workmen in the
ODploy of tills eminent building firm, to the number of 300, dined together on
B^irda}- last at Roshcrville Gardens, near Gravesend. The men were conveyed
from Westminster to the gardens, and brought back by a steamer specially
engaged for the occasion. In the unavoidable abm-nce of Messrs. Lucas, the
chair was taken by Mr. Hadfield, one of the principal foremen. The dinner was
followed bv the usual loyal and patriotic toasts ; after which the health of the Messrs.
LuCMand families were giveuand received with an enthusiasm which bore strong
tcitinonT to the thorough undersUnding and good feeling which exists between
Oem and those in their employ. A similar compliment was awarded to Mr.
Sterens, the general manager, and the chairman. A nurnlier of other toasts
were given and resfwndcd to. Tlie varied attractions of the gardens contributed
greatly to tlie enjoyment of the day, and dancing was kept up with animation
until the departun; of the steamer at eight o'clock.
Pablie Offices Extension.— The work of demolition for the new public
ofHcei has been commenced, and houses In Uiike-street and Charies-street, West-
minster, are rapidly disappearing. On .Monday, workmen were busilv engaged
in pnllirig thein down. Tlic buildings in course of removal comprise a riortlon of
tbe^tsideof Uuke-streel, the nortli side of Charles-street, and the south side
u^?^"**^' ''''''" """ "P'^" " '"'^'' '^'"'*' "^ ground to the south of where
the Foreign Office now stands, and which will be rendered available for the pro-
powd new btiildingi.
TENDERS.
TOWN-IIALL, NOItTnAMPTON.
For erecting a new town-hall, at Northampton, Mr. Godwin, architect, Bristol.
Casford £la,918 I Smith, Brothers j612,47S
Bryant 12,<J(a Watldns (accepted) 11,980
Duuiloy • 12,499 I
Villa, Bow.
For a villa, at Addington-road, Bow, Mr. James ToUey, architect.
J. Pritchard and Sou £76.5
Mansion, Norfolk.
Additions to mansion, at Sariingham, Norfolk, for Rev. J. L. Johnson. John D. EJlis,
architect, Norwicli.
J. W. Lacy (accepted) £021
Sewerage, Bristol.
For the construction of certain sewer works in the St. Philip's sewer district, Bristol.
.TohnThom ,£3,712 6 I John Norman Brown £3,331 5
R. Merreweather 3,.58l 0 Adams and Kirby (abcepted).. 3,027 16
Henry Jones 3,573 0|
Public House, West Ham.
For intended public house on the Turner Estate at West Ham for E. M. Abbott, Esq.
Mr. John M. Dean, Architect, The Grove, Stratford. Quantities supplied by "
Hovenden and Heath.
Reeds £1,319 0 0 | Jas. Rivett £1,223
Pernr 1,329 0 0 Cordery 1,205
Pilkington 1,311 0 0 | n&lges (accepted) 1,198
School, Clerkenwell.
For alterations to schoolroom of Woodbridge Chapel, Clerkenwell. Mr. Cotton,
Architect,
Lands £442 11 0 I Henshaw £854 0 0
Ajcford 368 0 0 I Howe 269 0 0
Painting, Norwich.
For painting the Sliirehall, Norwich. R. M. Phipson, county surveyor.
Love £194 6
Cousins 187 0
Starling 180 0
Cook ICO 0
Storey £140 0
Wright and Son, (accepted) 139 19
Hardy 117 0
Farji Buildings, Breadsall.
For new farm buildings at Breadsall Priory, for Francis Morley, Esq. Mr. R. Scrivener,
architect, Hanley.
Kerry £1,480 | Shcppard, (accepted) £1,350
' Theatre, WiiiTEcnAPEL.
For alterations at the Effingham Theatre, Whitechapel-road. Mr. John Hudson,
surveyor, 40, Leman-street.
Thomas Ennor £1,685 I Thomas Little £1,669
David King 1,620 | John Palmer 1,496
waterworks, Dumfries.
For providing and fixing two new filters, &c. , on the works of the Dumfries and Maxwell-
town Waterworks, at Lochrutton, near Dumfries.
R. Moffatt, Glasgow (accepted) £955
R. Craig, Glasgow ... notstated.
MANUFACTORY, NEWINGTON-OAUSEWAY.
For the erection of a manufactory at Newington-causeway, for Daniel Eaywaid, Esq.
Mr. Henry Jarvis, architect.
Higgs £6,345
Laurence 4,970
Myers 4,939
Gammon 4,679
Hack £4,669
Willson 4,598
Downs (accepted) ••..*... 4,543
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
CEMETERY.
RcCBY — Tlie Rugby Burial Board arc j)reparfd t<j receive plans and specifications, with
tenders :— Ist. For laying out and planting the proposed New Burial Ground, at Rugby,
containing 7a. 3r. 2p. 2nd. For the erection of two chapels, entrance lodge, dead house,
and fencing. A plan and instructions may be obtained at the office of tlio Board. Plans
and specifications may be eitlier for laying out and planting the ground, or for the
above buildings and fencing, or may combine both, but the Board reserve the right to
select either the plan for laying out the ground or the plan for the erection of the build-
ings, or the plan combining Iwth, at their discretion. Plans and specifications, with
separate tenders, are requested to be sent in to the office of the Board, Chapel-street,
Rugby, by August 31.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
COUNTY HALLS AND ASSIZE COURTS.
OulI.OFORI). — Tenders are required for the erection of county iialls and assize cotlrts, at
Guildford. Plans, Stc, at the offices of the architect, Mr. Thomas Goodchild, 10, Upper
High-street, Guildford, where bills of quantities and all information can be obtained.
Sealed tenders, endorsed " Tender for County Halls, &c.," to be sent to Ebcnezer Apted,
secretary, North-street, Guildford, not later than 5 p.m. of August 7.
B.\NK.
Ireland. — For^the'erection of the now National Bank-house and offices, at Athy, connty of
Kiklare. Elevations, plans, Sic, at the office of the architect, W. P. Caldbeck, Esq., 24,
Harcourt-street, DuliUn, to 5th August, and copies of same with J. Egan, Esq., Manager
of the National Bank, Atliy. Tenders to H. B. Hyde, Esq., secretary, the National Bank,
5(1, Old Broad-street, London, E.G., endorsed " Tender for Building new National Bank-
house, at Athy. by August 6,
HO.SPITAL.
Bltiy .St. Edmunds.— For sundry alterations and additions to the Suffolk General Hospital,
Bury St. Edmunds. Plans, iic, at the hospital, or at the office of the architect, John
Henry MakewiU, .50, Maddox-street, London, W., on and after August 1. Tenders, ad-
dressed to the architect, on .\ugust 9.
HouNSLOW — For erecting a new hospital," at Hounslow, Middlesex. Parties desiring to
tender must leave their names at the Royal Engineer Office, London district, 11, Jamea-
street, Buckingliam-gate, S.W. by August 3, and pay 10s. 6d. for bills of quautities.
ASYLUMS.
IRELAND. —For alterations and additions to bo mado to the building, formerly the Old
House of Indu-stry, at Clonmel, for the purpose of making It an auxiliary lunatic asylum.
Plans, iic, to the 3l8t inst., at the asylum at Clonmel. Sealed tenders to be sent to the
Governors of the Asylum, endorsed " Tendcrfor Building," by 12 noon, August 6.
E.XCHANGE BUILDINGS.
Blackiu'Rn.— For the suijorstructure of the Exchange Buildings, Blackburn. Working
drawings, tc, at the office of the arohirxict, W. H. Brakspear, Esq., 11, Kidgfield, Man-
chester, until the .5th August, and afterwards at the Company's offices, in Blackburn.
Bills of quantities from the aicliitect. Sealed tenders (endorsed), to T. Crooko Ains-
worth, Esq., secretary, Town-hall-buildings, Blackburn, by August 19.
August 2, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
649
CHrnCHES.
COPLEY.— Pot the excavation and builditig of foundations required in the erection of a new
church, at Copley, near Halifax. Plans, &c., with W. H. Crossland, architect,
Harrison-rf ad, Halifax, to 10th August, on which day sealctl tenders must be delivered,
not later than 1 o'clock p.m., properly endorsed, to Mr. Crossland.
GLOVCESTERSHihk.— For the restoration of Newland Church, near Coleford. Plans, &c.,
to be sent in to the Ilev. W. James, Nc-wland, by 11 a.m., Au|?us!t fi.
HULii.— For restoring', enlarging, and refitting St. Mary's Church, Hull, in accordance
with the drawings and epecificationa prepared by Mr. George Gilbert Scott, architect.
The works to l^e tendered for in three separate parts, namely:— Ist. Excavator,
mason, bricklayer, and plasterer. 3nd. Carpenter, joiner, and ironmonger. 3rd. .Smith,
plumber, glazier, and painter. Drawings, &c.,at the church,^till the 8th August. Tenders
addressed to the Rev. John Scott, Hull, by August 0,
CHAPELS.
Liverpool.— For the erection of three chapels in the Liverpool Cemetery, Enfield-park,
"Walton. Plans, &c., at the oflRces of the Burial Board, 12. Clayton-square. Sealed
tenders, addressed to the Chairman of the Board, endorsed " Tender for Chapels," by
August 8.
SCHOOLS, &C,
LONDON.—For the erection of the Middlesex Society's schools and master's residence,
Cannon-street-road, St. George's-ln-the-East. Drawings, &c., with Andrew Wilson,
architect, V2ii, Cannon-street-road, E. Tenders to be delivered at the schoolhouse, Can-
non-street-road, by fi p.m., August 6. The trustees do not bind themselves to accept the
lowest or any tciuler.
BtAFFORDPUire.— Forthe erection of schools and master's house, at High Offley, Stafford-
Bhire. Plans, &c., with Mr. John Nickisson,iun., High Offley Manor; and duplicates,
plans, &c., may be seen at the office of Robert Griffiths, Esq., architect, Bridgnorth;
where also bills of quantities may be obtained on payment of 10s. 6d. Tenders to be
properly endorsed and delivered (free) to Mr. John Nickisson,jun.,of High Offley Manor,
by August 12.
BiPON. — For the erection of a school, master's dwelling-house, and out-buildings at Kirkby-
Malzeard, near Ripen. Plans, &c., at the Vicarage, in Kirkby-Malzeard, up to the 8th
August. Sealed tenders, marked outside "Tender for Kirkby-Malzeard School," to be
left at the Vicarage in Kirkby-Malzeard, by August 8.
Hen'Tlakd, NiiAR Rot^s.— For proposed school buildings at Hentland, near Ross. Plans,
&c., may be seen at the Rectory, and tenders sent to the Rev. W. Poole,', at the same, to
August 1 7.
WAREHOUSE.
Portsmouth,— For the construction of a new goods warehouse, at the Portsmouth joint
station, together with the fence walls, lodges, gates, and other works connected there-
with. Specifications, &c., at the office of Mr. R. J. Hood, C.B., No. 7, Parliament-street,
Westminster, S.W., on and after August 5 ; and sealed tenders, upon prescribed form
only, marked outside " Tenders for Works at Portsmouth," must be delivered to Fred.
J. Macaulay, Secretary to the Joint South Western and Brighton Committee, Waterloo-
bridge Station, London, by August 19.
DWELLING HOUSES, &C.
Chelsea.— For the erection of five small houses, near Cadogan-terrace, Sloane-street,
Chelsea. Drawings, &c., at Mr. Eppy's office, 21, Lincoln's-inn-fields.
Brixton.— For the erection of two eight-roomed houses, at "Water-lane, Brixton. Plans
&c., at the offices of the Effra Mutual Benefit Building Society, 50, Carey-street,
LincoInVinn, where tenders are to be left not later than 7th August.
Beverley.— For the erection of two dwelling-houses in North Bar-street, Beverley
Plans, &c., with Cuthbert Broderick, architect, 17, East Parade, Leeds, and at Beverley
until the 8th August. Tenders, scaled and endorsed, '* Tenders for Houses," to Mr.
"Willis, Beverley, the clerk of the charitable trustees. The front elevation will be of
West Riding stone.
Sussex.- For building and completing four houses (being the first portion of nineteen
houses at Eastbourne, Sussex. Drawings, &c., with Henry M'Calia, C.E., architect,
offices, 25, Westboume-place, Eaton-square. Tenders to be delivered at 12 o'clock,
August 1 6.
Bradford.— For the erection of a lodge or reservoir keeper's dwelling at the reservoirs at
Barden and Griniwith respectively, of the Bradford Corporation Waterworks. Plans,
&c., and further information ou application at the office of Mr. John W. Leather,
C.E., 1, Bond-place, Leeds. Tenders before August 9.
RAILWAY WORKS.
IlTVTiiRNEsa AND PERTH JUNCTION RAILWAY.— For the southern portion of this line,
extending from the station at Bimam, near Dunkeld, to the river Tay, being a distance
of 5 miles, 400 yanis, or thereby, to be called the Dunkeld contract. The works com-
prehend : — Ist. About 8.10,000 cubic yards of excavations. 2nd. A tunnel about 350
yards in length. 3d. 12 over and underway bridges, and bridges over streams and bums,
the largest being 75 feet span across the Braan. 4th. The masonry of the piers and abut-
ments of the Tay Viaduct, the iron portion of which is already contracted for, consisting
of girders of 210 and 140 feet spans. The rails, sleepers, &c. , for the permanent way,
will be supj)Hed by the Company. The drawings and specifications may be seen at the
offices of Mr. Mit<.'hell, C.E., Inverness, where may be obtained duplicate schedules at40s.
each. The cost of the detailed measurements will fall to be paid by the successful con-
tractor. The line is staked out at distances of 100 feet between Bimam and the Tay,
according to the working section ; and Mr. Robinson, the assistant engineer, will attend
at Bimam Hotel on the 14th and lyth August to accompany contractors along the line,
and point out the sites of the bridges. Sealed tenders, addressed to the secretary, and
marked " Tender for Dunkeld Contract," must be lodged at his office, Inverness, on or
before August '2&.
London, Brighton, and Soutu Coakt Railway.— For the construction of a double line
of railway, to connect the Mid-Sussex Railway, near Pulborough, with the West Coast
Line, near Arundel, Sushcx, being a distance of 9^ miles, or thereabouts. The contract
will include the execution of all excavations, embankments, tunnels, bridges, viaducts,
river diversions, and every other description of works necessary for the completion of
the intended new railway with the exception of station buildings and the provision of
the permanent way materials. The plans, &c., may be seen at the office of the engineer,
■ Mr. R. Jacomb Hood, 7, Parliament- street, Westminster, S.W., on and after the 29th
inet. ; and printed copies of the specification, quantities, forms of tender, and working
section, will be supplied on paj-ment of throe guineas for each set. Tenders ^ujwn the
prescribed form only) must be delivered to Frederick Slight, secretary, secretary's office,
London Bridge Torminu-s, by I'i noon of August 12.
LANCASillRH AND YORKSHliiE RAILWAY.— For the erection of a warehouse, at the Mid-
dleton station. — Also for the erection of two cottages, at the north end of Bowling
Tunnel, near Bradfortl.— And f or the^erection of an eiglit-stalled stable, at Heckmondwike.
Plans, &c., at the engineer's office, Hunt's Bank, Manchester, and tenders (separate)
properly endorsed and addressed to the Directors, must be forwarded by August 6.
MILITARY WORKS.
LiVERroOL.— For erecting a battery, &c., on Salisbury' Dock Pier, Livei-pool. Parties
desiring to tender must leave their names at the Royal Engineer Office, 225, Stretford-
road, Manchester, on or before the 8th August, and pay lOs. (>d. for bills of quanties.
Woolwich.— For alterations and additions to the Rotunda, in the Royal Military
Repository, Woolwich. Parties desiring to tender must leave their names at the Royal
Engineer Office, Woolwich, and pay 10s. (id. for bills of quantities, by August 7.
RAILWAY STATION.
HARROGATE.— For the erection of a new station at Harrogate, on the North Eastern
Railway, Plans, &c., either at Newcastle or York, on application to Mr. Prosser, the
Company's architect. Sealed tenders, marked "Tendfr for new station at Harrogate,"
to be sent in to J. Cleghom, secretary, by 12 noon of the 15th August, *
COAST GUARD STATIONS.
Kent.— For the re-erection of a coast-guard station at " Scrapsgatc," Isle of Shoppey,
Kent. Drawings, Sic, at the Custom House, Rochester, or at the Admiralty Coast Guard
Office, 12, Spring- gardens, Tendon, S.W., to the Mlstinst. Tenders to be sent to this
office, under seal, and directed to the Commodore Controller- General of Coast Guard, and
endorsed " Tender for New Buildings, Scrapsgatc," by 12 noon of August 19.
Shoeihirynkss.— For erecting a coast guard station at Shoburyness, Essex. Drawings.
&c.,atthe Coast-guard watch-room, Slioeburyness, and at the Admiralty Coast-guard
office, 12, Spring-gardens, London, S.W.,to7th August. Tenders to the above office,
under seal, and dircctetl to the Commodore Controller-General of Coast-gaanl, and en-
dorsed *' Tender for Shoeburynras Station," by 12 noon of August 8.
IRONWORKS.
Leeds.— For the brickwork, stonework, slaters* work, plumbers and plasterers* work
required in the extension of Smithfield iron works ; also for the erection of the south
wing to the Smithfield hotel. Drawings, &c., and quantities obtained, from Geo, Smith,
architect, 171, Park-lane, Leeds, from 5th of August to tho 9th, on which latter day,
tenders not later than six p.m., to Mr. Smith.
SEWERS.
Islin(;tox.— For the construction of about 2(10 feet of sewer, 3 feet 9 inches high and 2 feet
0 inches wide, and other works connected therewith, along the line of open sewer be-
tween Wray-crescent, and City-tcrraoe, Homscy-road, in the parish of St. Mary's, Isling-
ton. The form of tender (which alone will bo received) may bo obtained, and the
specification and plans seen at the Vestry Offices (Surveyor's Department), Upper-street,
Islington, N. Persons desirous of contracting must attend at the vestry offices witli
sealed tenders endorsed '* Tenders for Sewer Works," at 10 a.m. precisely, on August 7.
London.^ For the construction of a brick sewer, subway, and vaults, with other works,
in connexion therewith, along that jwrtion of the line of the New-street, between High-
street and Redcross-street ; also for the formation of tho foot and carriage way, and
paving the same. Plans, &c., together with the form of tender, may be inspected, and
other particulars obtained, at the offices of the Metropolitan Board of Works, Spring-
gardens, until the Sth of August. Tenders, addressed to the Metropolitan Board o£
c Works, must be delivered at their office before 4 o'clock, August K,
Victoria Park. — For the construction of a brick sewer, l,:io:j feet In length, or there-
abouts, and the formation of the roadway for a length of 1 ,200 feet or thereabouts, witU
other works in coimection theremth in the line of the Victoria Park approach, betweea
Bow Common-lane and the Mile-end-road, in the hamlet of Mile-end Old Town, in the
County of Middlesex. Plans, &c., together with the form of tender, may be inspected
.ind other particulars obtained, at the office of the Board of Works, Spring-gardens,
until the Sth of August. Tenders addressed to the Metropolitan Board of Works must bo
delivered at their office before 4 p.m. of August 9.
ROADWORK.
NOTTINGHAM .—For the removal of earthwork, road formation, metalling, and other works
retiuired to be done in and about the diversion of a portion of the Worksop and Retford
Turnpike Road, in the parishes of Ordsall and West Retford, near the town of Retford,
Nottinghamshire. Plans, &c., at the office of Mr. Kirkwood, at Babworth cottage, near
Retford, or at the office of Mr. Frederick Jackson, St. Peter's-gate, Nottingham. Ten-
ders to be sent in under cover, addressed to Mr. Homcastle, Edwinstowe, near OUerton,
by August 10,
^
SALES AT GARRAWAY'S AND THE MART.
freehold.
By Messrs. Norton, IIOGGART, and Trist.— Upper Streatham, Surrey, family residcnco^
known as Woodfleld House, two cottages, with farm buildings and land, about 29a. ; sold for
£7,326.
Streatham, cottage residence, known as Cranbrook Cottage ; sold for £1,010.
Cottage residence, called Woodfleld Lodge, term 10 years, rent per annupi £35; sold for
£821.
Upper Streatham, cottage residence, called Sparrow Hall ; sold for £1,270.
Adjoining, cottage residence, rent per annum £80; sold tor £1,720.
Adjoining, public-house, known as the White Lion, rent per annum £120; sold f(W
£2.400.
By Messrs. RtTsnwoRTH and JARVI3.—1, Great Marlborough-street, pubUc-hoose, known
as the Coach and Horses, rent per annum £80 ; sold for £2,110.
2, Great Marlborough-street, residence ; sold for £1,100.
3, Great Marlborough-street, residence and premises ; sold for £1,300.
4, Great Marlborough'Street, residence and business premises, rent per annum £84; sold
for £1,350.
,V4, Great Marlborough-street, residence, rent per annum £116; sold for £2.000.
55, Great Marlborough-street, baker's shop and residence, rent per annum £90; sold for
3*60, Oxford- street, baker's shop and premises, rent per annum £140 ; sold for £3,480.
867, Oxford-street, residence and hosier's shop, rent per annum, £120 ; sold for £2,000.
368, Oxford-street, 'residence and ;tobacconist'3 shop, rent .per annum, £125; sold for
£2 000.
38, Poland-street, dwelling-house, rent per annum, £40; sold for £900.
40A and 41, Poland-street, property, rent per annum £100: sold for £3,550.
By Messrs. Kusuwoeth and Jakvib.— 44, Poland-street, dwelling-house and coffee-room ;
sold for £1,000. „ ,^, «, „.^
47, Poland-Street, house with garden and workshop, rent per annum £57 ; sold for xl^w.
51. 52, and 53 Poland-street, three residences, rents per annum, £52, £0.5, and £eO ; sold for
£2 !)''0
By Messes Ctoss.-Deptford, residence called I'endle Cottage, rent per annum £8 8. ; sold
Dcptford, residence called Baildon House, estimated value per annum ^55; sold for £1,010.
lJaiIdon-i)lace,dweIUug-house, also cottage and shop, rent per annum £85; sold for £860.
liv Mb Nightingale.— Kingatou-upon-Thames, dwelling-house, estimated annual vamo
£33 ; sold tbr £470.
Kinsston, dwelling-house, estimated annual value £45 ; sold for £520.
Myrtle-lane, Kingston, six cottages, sold for £170.
By Mr. Muhrell.— Hooe, Sussex, farm, called Bowyer's Farm, with farmhouse and home-
stead, togclber with 18a. Ir. 39p. or laud; sold for £[)00. ,a r ^
Farm, called St. Mary Land, comprising 27a. 3r. 3«p. of laud, with cottage, &c.; sola tor
Ilexhill, farm (part copyhold), known as Mount Pleasant, and 102a. 2r. 31p. of land ; sold
for £1,700. ,, , , t.^„«
Farm (part copyhold), known as Short-wood' Farm, with 95a. 3r. 20p. of land and Home-
stead; sold for £i,000. „, , ../-.(•ortnA
liinfleUl, farm, called the Thoms Farm, In the whole lfi2a. 2r. 30p. of land ; sold for £2,000.
House, with 144a. Ir. Op. of lands, known as Holies-street Land ; sold for £/20.
By Messrs. P. Broad and PuiTcuARD.-Church-street, Lower Edmonton, residence, rent
per annum £42 ; sold for £820.
Ditto adjoining, residence, rent per annum £35 ; sold tor £800.
Ditto, adjoining, residence, same rent ; sold lor £(;20.
Church- street, three cottages, rent per aninun £30 8s. ; sold for £450.
Church-street, ditto. 2r. 2yn. of laud ; sold for £190. , « » «,i.t. *s«« H/vno/.
By Mr. WHiTTiNcnAM.-liing's Langley, Herts, the Manor of Hyde, with mrm-house,
outbuildings, garden, orchard, and 41 acres of land ; sold for £2,500. i , <^. „ -oo tn.
Bromley, Kent, fourteen Iota of building laud, situate at Mason a-hill; sold from £32 IS>
Mnson's-hill. eight lots of building land ; sold In one lot for £240.
MasonVhill, two lots of building laud ; sold in one lot for £60.
Buckhurst-hill, Kssex, four lots of building land; sold for i.25 each. ,„„^„„ »m^ r«^
A lot of building laud With a frontage uf4a feet by a depth of 205 feet 8 inches; sold for
£26 '
A'lot of building laud with a frontana of 54 feet by a depth of aio feet ; sold for SM.
Alotofbullc\iiii'laudwithafioutageofl02feetbyadfi>th of GOT feet o Inches; sold for
''^Alot of bimdins land with a frontage of 25 feet by a depth of m feet; sold for £43
Two lots ofbuifdlng land with a frontage of 23 feet by a depth of 159 feet; sold for £4»
'"A'lot of building land with a frontage of 41 feet 1 inch by a depth oj ""V^et ! s»ia for £40.
l)y Messrs. Chinnock and OitswoBTHT.-Warwck estate, comprising the abbev manor,
and domain of Wroxhnll, with about 1,919 acres of land, divided into ten farms, with home-
stead, let at rents amounting to £3,301 per annum ; sold for .tiO.OOO. .„,..<»« resi-
15y Messrs. Hammond niul EiLOiRT.-»ushey, llcrts, estate, comprising » s-o«a«e rral-
dence, and a farm-house ami buildings known as Tyler's Farm, with nearly 'teres of arable
"" i/Me*"s™' Roi^EEis' and K?by:- 27. Little Bell-alley . Moorgate-street, dwelling-house and
baiter's shop, rent pe' annum £00; sold for £1.100. ,, „ v , .. a,.(r»rtnn
Bv Messrs I> Smith, Son, and OAKLET.-Bray, Berks, residence, tnowil as Stafferton
Lodge, with pleasure grounds, lawn, and two paddocks, also a farmyard and arable land, in
all about 6 acres ; sold for £2,S00.
650
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 2, 1861.
ttMi
Sy Me««rs. P. Bbou> and Psitchakd Keston, Kent, two cottages, known aa Murgoret
ca(ay<s,Riii perannum £s: ; sold foiSam.
Amwiwum tMMne. reut per annnm £94 ; sold fi>r £400.
TySomOumpUHi-ttmn. Gospel Onk-nrhis, hoiae: sold fbr£aV5.
By MiMii SncMrBftAMl Lovx.— 11, Mill-Iiill road, Acton, villa residence, rent i>crannnm
£»; saldlbr£M«.
~ r liessn. Pum and Soks.— £a»t and West llHddin^fleld. Kssex, estate (part copv-
) inTniT*lftg of twofaraia, with buniestcads, known as Cliurcb-liouse and OiarvllTs,
eompririBC > imMcdcv. with agricultural buildiuss, three cottages, and 172 acres of laud ;
■oMnrTCfiSML
By ilxmn. Faubhothu, Clam, and Ltk.— Farm, witli house, outbuildings, and
jn«. Sr. Sf ». of armbia and pasture land, situate at Spratton,Korthamptou, rent per annum
£tlt T> i sold fur £14ioa.
Estate situate at util* Brlngton, N'orthampton, consisting of bam, waggon, hovel, stable,
■htd,aDdvanl,and)lia.lr. Sip. i>l land; sold for £3,1W.
B«llyiiatc--stre«t, Becclet, residence, wlUi stabling, cottage, and garden, also a plot of
talhUng land, the whole containlngSa. Sr.lSp.; sold for fMA.
Jts Mr. IfaasH Janie»4tTeet, Lothian-road, Camberwcll, dwelling-house: sold for £170.
ttr Miasis. CiinncocK and Oalswostut.— Wimbledon, a plot of building-groimd, cou-
Wbuif la- ir.sp.; told for £«30.
Uito, dltt*. coatamlng about Xa. s r., at Wimbledon ; sold Ibr £1,900
aitto, dlno, containing aa- « r. 7p., at Wimbledon ; sold for£l,4W.
IMtla, ditto, containing 1 a. at Wlmblcdou ; sold for two.
Ditto, ditto, adjoining, and containing 1 a. 0 r. 20p.; sold for £450.
Conier ditto, ditto, aiUolnlng. and conuining » r. S8 p. : sold for £420.
not of dmo, ditto, contiUoing 1 a. Or. S4 p. ; sold fur c.->2^.
Blncla-lr. !p.,a(UoIuing; sold fur £i»0.
HBtt, C«0- ' ■ ■ " .......
, con talning l a. 'J r. 2 p. ; sold for £41A0.
:, eontalnliic 1 a. 3 r. 24 p.. adjoining : sold Ibr £760.
, haTing a (kx>ntag< of uu feet b.r 220 feet to the Avenne-road; aold for £270.
LKASSBOLD.
Bt llcssn. BXADSL and .Sons.— 7, Belgrave-squHre, family mansion, term 63 years ^m
Lwfy.day last, rait£aoo per annum; ground-rent £4 ; sold for £tM>00.
By Mcaara. Ctosa.— lao, .st. John-!»treet-n)ad, dwelliiig-hou.sc, and lAi, atljolnlng, and 22,
IfMedltk-street, Clerkeuwell, term 2tii years, a; a net rental of £80 per annum ; sold
AriCaM.
Mi, bt. John-street-road, and 20 and 21, Meredith-street, three dwelling-houses, saomterm,
at £10 as. per annum ; sold for £40.
Br SlesMs. C»AWTE».— Tollington-place, Islington, villa residence, term 62J years, net
rent per aniwm £3li aoM fbr £3!0.
>, ToHiiftni-paik, Islington, villa residence, same term, net rent per annum £M ; sold
1, Snnh-place, Camtoerwell-gpove, villa residence, term 02 years unexpired ; sold
Vg Jlwmn. Bi:sitwoim« and Jabvis.— 20, Victoria-road, Kensington, term 65 years from
1li™«alw«inrTt : soldfOr £710. • -c •
S. VIctocto-nMa, resldoDce, same term at an Improved rental of £46 per annum ; sold
Arftn
» to «, CsTendlsh- grove, Wandsworth, two pairs of cottages, term 45 years from Slarch
last ; soul far £390.
By Measn. P. BSOAS and PaiTciiAlD.— 1 to 4, Argyll place. Hammersmith, houses, term
•Ijrean fton Ilarch 25, 1852, at a net rental of £48 per annum ; sold for £100.
By MoMn. Bbovk and KouHTs.-i, s, 4, and 5, Arthur-terrace, Caledonian-road, four
•■oMv^lioaaaa and ataops, term 81 yean flrom Christmas, 1853, at a net rental of £32 each
1» ■—■■ ; loM for iUjbo.
By Mr. Bouar Kain — 5, Pembridge-place, Bayswater, residence, term 82 years, at a net
annnal rental of £100; sola for £l,2oB.
0, PesttkiidgMlaee, realdence, same term and net rental ; sold for £1,150.
By Meaai*. Kim'.-Residence with garden, known as Crescent-lodge, Surblton, with coach-
bosae and staUe. tana MO years Itom Christmas, 1*40 ; sold lor £1,100
Clatemont-road, Surblton, a pair ofvlllas known as Apsley and (Cleveland Tillas, same term
■la|n>iiBd-icntof£40pcrannDm; sold for £650 each.
13. »orland-place,Xottlng-hlIl, residence, term 99 years from Christmas, 1842: sold for
MM.
By Mcaars. E. Fox and Bovaau) — 1, Gloucester-cottages, I<onghborough-park, Brixton,
collage nila, term 71 years from December 25, 1881, rent per annum £42, ground-rent per
annum £«: aold for £JW. '^
By Mt. Oomm—S and », Docking pond-mew«, Mayfalr, s stables and coach-house. Im-
proved notal per annom £38 ; sold for £215.
COrTBOLD.
By Mciin. Eixis and 8o8_Tlcehotst, Sussex, estate, called Cooper's Farm, comprising
annboaoaadbnlldings.andabantOOacresoriand; soldfor £1,230
^H«UMoM,Baaoex, double cottage with garden and dwelling-house with garden ; sold for
ByMr. Mdsbxu.— Tlceburst, farm, with Sea. 3r. 22p. of land, houses, and homestead j sold
Ticehmt, bum, comprising llOa. or. 2p. of lands, called Battenhurst ; sold for £2,010.
^5f ?•••?• "'*"*«• and LovK— New-street. Hampton, estate, with cottage, stable, cart-
■IM,*c.,l«tat«lJl». per annum; sold for £150.
_m Mtmn. p. BaoAD and PaiTraAnn.-Kdmonton, residence, known as the Manor House,
not per annian £45 ; aold for £790.
A SetHitary Mtueum.—lhe Associated Medical Officers of Health
•re takinf^ steps for llie fonnntion of n .Sanitary Museum, in order that all the
more direct aaoitarj' appliances, eucli as drain -|)i|»«s, stench-traps, cheap water-
ejOKU, urinate, Tcntilatom, gas purifiers, filters, smoke consumers, kc., may be
RtMiRfat together, aid their respective merits the more readily examined, as such
S coUectkin would contributt ({rcatly to enlighten the public, and stimulate inven-
£2JP 'vT °"*™""- '^"= *>"'>■ collection of the kind is that of Mr. Twining at
Twiekoihun. Application has been made to Government for the erant of a
partkn of BnrliDetim-house for the purposes of the maseura, but the request
could not be complieil witli on tlie ground that the institutions located there
were much cramped for room. The Bociety of Arts, on application being made
b€ the ue of their rooms, moet readily complied with the request, but could only
do w Mr tbreeor four months ui the year, and it wa», therefore, deemed advisable
todedtnetbeofier.
A New Bridge at Blackfriart. — The Committee of the Corporation
of tendon for the Bridge-house Lands have had under their consideration for
f—*™* tlie heat mode of jiruviding for the public convenience, which Ims ]xea
■nnanlial jeopardised liy the.ftate of the present bridge. jVfter much delibera-
uoo, they dettrmiiied to call upon the principal cnRinects in £n|;land for designs
»r anew bridge, leaving them aiiiteiuitettered in tlMir arrangements and dcsign.s.
"•prodBctioni of then gentlemeD, and of aome rising engineers who were
•aBwjior brtaging forward their ideas voluntarily, have been under the con-
*y~f " the Committee, who doubtless have had enough to think of; since
WeaoBgasubmitti-d to them are not less than twelve in number, many of them
S^J!. . .7 <"**». with details of construction. The engineers were
y- — ""JL.**.^- Bre«*»n, Mr. Goodchild, Mr. Brunlees, Mr. Joseph Cubitt,
2?^^?!r!L"?i"''-^- t^'afl"'. Mr. B. W. Mylne (grandson of the archi-
^" "J" J^^.prtqg"). Mr. Fowler, Mr. Hawk.Hhaw, Mr. O. Hennic, Hir
y'.'i?*^ if' yS*- ■*">'<' »"ch a variety of highly creditable designs
*?* ?.»™'P*Mdged talent, the Committee were called upon to exercise
V. '^ifr/'f^^'^.*^.'^. Sstorday they finally decided to select the design of
i/2?^^ Wointed him tlic engineer for its coastruction.
JUelnmoMmJnwrovemettOi.— At Iho last meeting of the Metropolitan
Poanlof Woriei, tfa« Streets' Committee recommended that steps be forthwith
■■**» loreiaMneHaga fortber length of sewer, and making up the road in the
^
line of the Victoria-parkj from Bow-common-lane to the Bow-road, being a
length of about 1,184 leet, and submitted a specification for the work. Mr. Dixon
moved the adoption of the report, which was seconded by Mr. Crellin, and agreed
to. At the same mcf^tinj^ it was resolved and aj^roed to, '* That the Board do
contribute one-third of the cost of etiecting an improvement in William-street,
Westminster, by the widening of the public wa>, to be carried out by the Board
of Works for the Westminster district, at an estimated cost of £1,500, such con-
tribution not to exceed £500; and that such amount be paid to the Westminster
District Board of Works, on a certificate from the architect of this board of the
completion of the work,
Leicestershire, — Swannington National Schools. — The ceremony of
laying the foundation stone of the new National Schools now erecting in this place
took place last week. The schools, which are intended to accommodate 108 chil-
dren, are in the Early English style of architecture, and are being built in brick
and stone^ and the expense is estiaiated at £700. Mr. T. W. H. Miller, of Lough-
borough, is the architect. The design is to include a teacher's bouse, girls* yard,
and aT)oys' yard, master's and teachers' gardens.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and communications to be addressed to the Editor of the BUODIHO Newb, 20,
Old Bo8wcil-court,St. Clement's, Strand, London.
The Editor cannot undertake to return unused manuscripts.
The Commission Question.— A correspondent sends us the following copy of a lithographed
letter which he states was extensively circulated some time since among gentlemen In the
legal profession, and which is '* far ft-om a solitary example, as such letters are eren more
common than those addressed in the same terms to architects." We omit name and
address.
SiH,— Having made arrangements to have sales by auction of estates, &c., in the first and
third weeks ot each month, we have taken the liberty to address you on the subject,
and if not engnRed to a firm, beg to state our custom is to allow half the commission to
the profession upon ail business placed in our hands * * * "
"SVe are asked to remark upon the practice alluded to, but defer doing so for the picsent, as
more than ou« correspondent whose letters we have printed have spoken very much to the
point, and several communications on the subject, have been postponed from wantof space.
W . H. M.— The case is not without dlfflcuity, but it seems on the whole better to sue 1> ; you
should be prepared with evidence that he alone took the contract.
F- A.— Doubtless most architects would experience some little ditflculty in giving a prompt
and equitable decision under similar circumstances. Time should be given.
E. ;0. (^— We have before staled that there is a legal difticulty in the way; we are, how-
ever informed, but do not vouch lor tbe correctness of the information, that a course is
now under consideration which may result in the withdrawal of all opposition, and the,
then, as we imagine, inevitable accomplislmient of so desirable an improvement.
A SuBscaiBEE ( Liverpool ).~Note5 were promised to be sent, but huve not yet reached us.
i{0H£iiT s.— 1. I'ipe should not ha less tlian an inch and a-half in diameter. 2. Im-
material.
E. A — Such letters go to the waste-paper basket. Politeness Is evidently not a weakness
you are much given to.
L. V — We are not aware that tlie electric light is permanently employed in any public place
in London, but it lias been used for some time In the Place de Palais Koyale, Paris, aa we
understand, with considerable success.
W. M — Must give, and is cutiiled to receive, one week's notice.
KATEPATEa.—AVe do not know, but, perhaps, we do not quite understand the question ; it is
rather loosely worded : write again.
C. J. F.— We are unable to sec anything " humiliating" in the svstem of payment by the
hour; a vast number of professional men calculate the amount of their charges in that
manner.
T. R. Y.-Declined, with thanks.
X. Y. Z — We have no objection, but 'must be shown a good reason for taking such a
course.
A Constant READEa (Dover).— We shall be glad to receive particulars.
L. P. Q._A Constant Reader (Bayswater).— We cannot see that there was any intention
ofgivinpthocertificalc the weight ofa diploma; we should be firmly opposed to anv idea
ofthokind. It was, we believe, simply intended to be issued as a "certificate of nwffi-
berahip."
J. J. J — The main body of the Exhibition building has a dome at each end, but none in' the
centre. The floors of the domes, wliich adjoin the entrances, will be raised above the floor
of the body of the building; any architect will understand the excellent effect produced by
such an arrangement. We nave reierred to the works in progress on several occasions,
and more recently at page 616.
O'C — The remains of old pipes naedmanj' j'cars ago. Iron pipes arc now used In all cases, but
there is no doubt they are far from perfect as regards material ; we have yet to find a good
material for gas pipes umier ground.
W. C. R. cj — Letter has been posted to the writer.
W. C E.— Careful stoking is attended witli great economy with regard to the consumptton
o( fuel, and an alnio.st complete consiunplion of smoke. One of our best authorities says
that. " 11 the black smoke, which escapes from a furnace when a quantity of cold coals is
thrown upon an inciudcsccut mass, can be made to pass over anoi her portion of cool in
active combustion, this carlwn is consumed, i.e., combined witli utmorfpUerlc oxygen, and
converted into carbonic oxide, which burns, producing carbonic acia. and eventually
escapes as colorless vapor. One great cause, and i>erhaps the greatc&t cause, of the annoy-
ance ot smoke in large towns. Is the carelessness of the man supplying luel to the fire.
Where coal is-abundant, the stoker usually piles au unnecessary quantity of fuel upon hm
nre, and this Inw the cttect of reducing the heat, and of producinjf dense volumes of blacK
smi'ke. Where coal is scarce and dear, as in Cornwall, careful stuking leads to an almost
toul absence of smoke. To stoke proi>erly, a small quautUy of coal slioutd be placed In
front of the fire at a time, hero It undergoes a coking process, the volatile carbon passing
over the heated coal is burnt, and no visible smoke escapes. When the coal is thoroughly
coked it is shovelled in over the fire, and a fresli portion of coal is placed in front, to under-
go tlie same process. Mr. Charles Wye Williams, whose work on steam and heat wclately
reviewed, is said to have been the first to " investigate the subject in a truly philosophical
manner.
W.— Yes, thanks; shall appear.
E. II. L.— We wait for the promised letter.
A Pupil.— Below our mark.
E. -Ditto.
<J.— Thenractice of claiming distinct remuneration for measuring work originated alwut
1790. It Is certain that it was not customary long before that period, and such remunera-
tion is known to have been claimed and received in 1794.
W. M— Greenheart Is bronght from Jamaica, and is used to some extent in shiptmildlng.
The tree is said to grow to a height of *M) or 70 feet. There are two kinds— the black and
the yellow.
Ij.— Send us the means of judging for ourselves.
E. It. K.— A large amount of in formation on the subject has appeared Ui our pages from
time to time. Refer to the Indices.
John V.— NotsntUbie.
Adhikee (Ely). -Ditto.
J. ¥. L.— Under the circumstances, J. K. L, may send us the address referred to, andwc
will reply as aaked.
Messrs. F. and O.-We arc forced to decline.
M. P.— Hhall appear next week, if sent in time.
M. Jt. 1. B. A.-WcmuKt decline.
J>EM(x;BiTua.— ileceived, but deferred through wantof space.
Received — J. Ht. John, P. Williams, F. V. K., S. J. R., Mrs. W. (Brighton), S. P.F., A
Contractor, Mr. T., H. W., O., A. B., L. T. J. S., X (llighara). Miissrs. C. and R. (Bir-
iniJietjam),M.O. E., A Cierk (Worcester), A Nortliern iteader.J. M. F.. A Member of
the Institute, Competitor (Norwich), L. B., L. Jt. J., A London Tradesman, S. iS. S.
(Bristol), It. b., A Snubbed One, F. R. 1. B. A., C.(York), R.T.M. , ^
Next Week.— A. A, (Subscriber from the First), II. Jl., W. X. Y. (A Constant Reader)
I . JJ. (Middlcsborough.)
A. (York).-. Former communication was mislaid, reply to "X" given was in answer to
another correspondent. We will look through the letter on Diapers before next Friday.
As regards notes on I'olychromy, it depends ou their quality.
August 9> 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
651
THAMES EMBANKMENT.
HE Commissioners appointed to examine into
plans for embanking the river
Thames within the metropolis
have sent in tlieir report, and a
copy of it will be found in our last
impression*, and will probably have been
perused by a large number of our readers
with an interest eommcnsurate with the
magnitude and importance of the proposal.
It will be remembered that when the
urgent necessity of this great work was
brought before Parliament by that most
practical of all practical men. Sir Joseph
_ Paxton, the present Commission was ap-
pointed and instructed to invite plans and
examine and report upon such as might be sub-
mitted. Those plans were invited" by public
advertisement and they were to be adapted to " pro-
vide with the greatest efficiency and economy for
the relief of the most crowded streets by the estab-
lishment of a new and spacious thoroughfare, for
the improvement of the navigation of the river, and which
will afford an opportunity of making the Low-level Sewer
without disturbing the Strand or Fleet- street."
Many engineers and architects submitted plans and
person.'illy explained the same; and our readers have
been from time to time informed of the nature of the
proposals ivhlch these plans embodied, and oftheex-
pl.inatlons given by tlieir authors.
In now returni.ig to the subject upon which it will be remembered
we oflerod some observalions at the time when the advertisement
first appeared, we feel that we can hardly ex.iggerate the importance of
it, or the desirableness of the work being thoroughly well done, and we
are glad to perceive the evidences of prudence and sound sense which
the report under consideration embodies.
The difficulties wliich we have on a former occasion adverted to as
standing in the way of all schemes for the embankment of the Thames
have been proposed to be encountered by various engineers in various
w.iys. Expedients, both elaborate and ingenious, have been brought
forward, defended, and attacked, and It, perhaps, is the sreatest compli-
ment we could pay to the wisdom of the decision come to, to say that
the plan which the Commission has proposed is based upon the very
simplest of the suggestions ni.ide to it.
The great difficulty lias been how to affijrd access to the wliarves bv
■the river side, tills tlie Commission has met by simply advisIn<T, " Don't
afford access, buy tiiein up," or, at least, as far as relates to the coal
wharves ; for access to the otiiers, it will l)e seen, they have proposed
an approach of a simple, but probably sufheient kind.
The scheme recommended by the Commission proposes no works for
adoption on the south or Surrey bank of the Thames. For its northern
bank, it provides a solid embankment from 'Westminster to the eastern
boundary of the Temple-gardens, beyond which is to be formed a
viaduct supported on piers of masonry, extending as fhr as to Black-
inars-brldge,at which point the river-side roUd ceases, and a new thorough-
fare IS proposed from Earl-street, Blackfi-Iars, to the Bank. ,\o rail-
way of any sort is contemplated, and no docks are admitted or
provided for; excepting only that between the viaduct just alluded to
and the wharves of the City gas-works and adjoining owners, a sDace
of water, 70 or 80 feet wide, will be left, while the spaces between the
piers of the viaduct, which are to be 70 feet apart, will furnish means
ot access and of shelter for barges.
The line of the proposed embankment would, at Westminster
coincide with the front of the terrace of the Houses of Parliament, and
It would be sustained by a river wall, its general level beIn<T 4 ftet
ubovc rrinity high- water mark. Along it a roadway one hundred feet
•wide IS proposed, which it appears would run next the river wall while
the space between such roadway, and the existing fronta-res would be
reclaimed land, the ajipropriation of which would be a°subiect to a
greai extent for future and careful consideration, althou'di some ideas
refative to it are thrown out by the commission ; to these we propose to
revert presently. i l^oc lu
The breadth of the embankment would vary from V20 feet In front
of Somerset House to 320 feet in front of the existin- wharf at
llungertord, and its face would consequently approach to a line parallel
to the opposite shore, filling up the low lying reach of mud In frontof
iiunger/oid and the adjacept wharves.
The drain, known .as the main low-level sewer, which it was proposed
to conduct under the Strand and Fleet-street, a proposal which has
given a great spur to the present embankment scheme, will be carried
under the new roadway^ and thus one of the greatest interrnptl.ms to
• Seo BL-iLUI.\(j News, August 2, lt61, page (iiJ.
traffic ever gravely contemplated in the Metropolis will be avoided.
The road to be made will communicate with several of the streets in
the Strand, and a new street passing through the Savoy to Wellincton-
street Is proposed, while the continuation of the line from Blackfriars
to the Bank, as formerly proposed by Mr. Bunning, will complete a
very advantageous system of street improvements.
One of the most obvious considerations in all these matters is the
expense, and to meet that exjiense Parliament has ordered the continu-
ance of the " coal dues," and has appropriated the produce of them to
this purpose. It is, therefore, unfortunate that the one department of
coinmercial Industry which it Is jjroposed to supersede should be the
coal trade ! The wharves which the embankment is to absorb, are, we
are told, mostly in the coal trade, and it is added that the railways have
so much taken the place of river traffic for coal that these wharves may
be dispensed with. Perhaps they may, but the absence of them would
occasion a very great falling ofl" in the coal dues, and so diminish the
resources available for this work. This we hope will bo looked to, the
more so, that as none of the wharves absorbeil are proposed to be re-
constructed, the expense for compensation will necessarily be srreat.
It will be wise to enable the Commissioners who carry out this work
—if a Commission be entrusted with it, or the Board of Works, if that
Board ultimately have the control— to purchase extensively the business
premises^ so abandoned ; for h is easy to see that the value of property
south of the Strand will be enormously increased by the proposed
works, and that the cost of purchases and compensations might not
merely In the course of time bo covered, but even far exceeded by
increased prices_ or rents receivable upon the improved property. At
the same time it would be very much to the public advantage ibr the
Imager part of the land to be, at the time when the alteration Is actually
being made, under the control of a central authority, so that proper
superintendence may be exercised, and well considered and compre-
hensive scliemes adopted.
The various streets running down to the water, and the properties
they contain, may be fairly exi)eoted to become, not of course at once,
but by degrees, important commercial thoroughfares, and we shall, no
doubt, witness the transformation of the lodging houses of Surrey-
street, Arundel-street, and the rest of them, into shops, oflices, and
warehouses, and the creation of a greatly-enlarged traffic in the already
pros])erous rer^ion that surrounds Charing-cross.
But what of the river and its bank ? says the reader. The river
would, no doubt, be rendered more navigable by the mere narrowlno-
of its channel— that is to say, its tendency to silt up would probably be
more or less diminished ; the Commission, however, proposes tliat it
should be dredged, so as to remove existing shoals and secure a
uniform channel of 500 feet wide and of 6 feet depth at ordinary spring
tides ; and suggestions are added as to the practicability of future hy"-
draulie works should they appear needful. One very important proviso
is inserted in this part of the scheme, " due regard being had to the
foundations of Waterloo-bridge." This, we earnestlv hope, will not be
forgotten, alterations in the banks and bed of a" river are always
dangerous to the permanence of its bridges, and it would be a serious
drawback upon the value of the new embankment if we lost our best
bridge through its formation, just as Blackfrlars-brldge was destroyed
by the alterations to the bed of the river consequent on the erection of
New London-bridge. We may add that a scheme ibr a communica-
tion between the proposed roadway on the embankment and Waterloo-
bridge, or its approach, does not seem to be included in the report ;
this, however, ought unquestionably to be provided.
AV'e now come to a part of the question on which the commission
have contented themselves with ofiering an opii.Ion without making
morethan one solitary^ suggestion, namely, the mode in which this great
addition to the convenience of our metropolis should be rendered also
an improvement to its architectural grandeur.
The reader who, with a map of London before him, or a recollection
of the localities in his mind, has followed the scheme, will perceive that
a large strip of reclaimed land will have been procured, and that an
enormous river-wall will have to be built. Of these subjects the one
which will necessarily claim the most immediate consideration is the
river wall, and with regard to that we have but one point to urge — let
it be as good as it can, as full of architectural character as you please,
but as devoid as possible of any definite architectural xtijle. We most
earnestly deprecate any attempt to trick it out with battlements and
call it a Gothic wall, or with a balustrade to turn it into an Italian wall,
or to bedizen it with Doric columns in the Classic Greek " taste," or with
monolithic statues " after the Egyptian manner." And on this account
we even hope it will exhibit few or no mouldings. Let it be a stron'f
wall, of the largest blocks of the finest granite which money can pro-
cure, securely founded, perfectly wrought, built with an excess of
strength, and there let it stand— a solid, unpretending English work.
Let it be the best wall in London, but nothing more: if it attains this
distinction it will be a noble object in itself, and an appropriate base-
ment for any buildings iu any style which may be built behind it, and
to which it forms a foreground. The moment, however, an attempt is.
0.52
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 9. 1 661.
made to ornament a structure so noble in itself, that moment its genuine
character will be attackeil, and its harmony with buildings so contrasted
as Somerset House and the Palace of Westminster, not to mention
what may hereafter be built, will become impossible.
So much for the wall. Our attention is now for a moment solicited
by the reclaimed land within this wall and its adjoining roadway. What
arc we to do with thi^ land, what is to be built on it, or how is it to be
disposed of? The only recommendation made in the report is as to
what had better not be built on. It is advised that the reclaimed land
in front of so much as is Crown property, should be laid out in orna-
mental gardens for the accommodation of the occupiers of the houses,
and that the portion in front of the Temple-gardens shoidd be added
to those ganlens, the remainder being disposable of for building, if
thought desirable. ''We, however, feel it our duty," add the Commis-
sioners, " to recommend that, while economy and utility in laying out
and disposing of the ground should be kept in view, endeavours should
be made to invest this new and conspicuous woi-k with some elements
of interest and beauty."
With the recommendation that spaces should be kept open no one
can quarrel ; nor do we think there can be two opinions as to the
justice of giving to the Society of the Temple the ground in front of
what they now have, if only as a recognition of the value to the public
of their cheerful and well-kept garden, and of the liberality that has
so freely thrown it open to general enjoyment and use. No one wit-
nessing the scene in that garden on one of the fine summer afternoons
and evenings of the present season can doubt for a moment as to what
will be the best possible appropriation of this space of ground. We
are not so sure, however, as to the other open piece, not tliat we should
propose to build in front of the Duke of Buccleugh and his aristocratic
neighbours ; but that we seem to think, if all this land is to be
reclaimed and laid out as gardens at the public expense, and not at the
private expense of the " occupiers of the houses," it should be laid out
for the accommodation of the public, and not for that of the "occupiers"
in question. Public justice, we think, demands this, and we hope the
public will not rest satisfied till they get what they ought to have in
this particular. A well-kept public garden or promenade need be no
annoyance to the occupiers of these houses. It would be an incalcu-
lable advantage to the general public, as the case of the Temple-
gardens shows.
With regard to the remaining portion of the frontage towards the
Thames, it ought, we think, to be reserved as sites for public buildings,
and to these we hope it will be exclusively appointed. There are
several public buildings urgently needed, funds being ready to build
them, and only a site required ; here is room, convenience of access,
commanding frontage, and excellent light — in fact, all that can be
needed : let a commencement be made with them. First on the list
stand the Patent Office and the Koyal Academy. The plan by which
these two bodies and several of the learned societies were to have been
located on the site of Burlington-house has fallen into abeyance, if not
abandonment. AMiy not allot to the two bodies named, and to any
other societies willing to build, a site on the reclaimed land ? Why
not place the New Law-courts there also, in place of clearing out the
encumbered site now proposed for them north of the Strand ? There
are additional buildings for the British Museum required, and a detached
department has been more than once spoken of. To separate the
Museum into sections would be a great evil, but if it must be done it
would be far better to i)lace it here on the banks of the Thames than
down at South Kensington.
With these few hints, the reader can understand how noble the
banks of the Thames might be made if, from Barry's great pile to
Somerset House, and thence again to the Temple, there were no objects
to meet the eye but the alternations of gardens and pleasure-grounds
with palaces for public purposes, such as private opulence reared on the
banks of the Grand Canal at Venice, or modern luxury has erected in
onrown Pall-mall. With such a feature, London might, indeed, become
an architectural city, second to none in the world ; and this her oppor-
tunity, and, we believe, her only ponihle opportunity, of acquiring a
grand sweep of public buildings, possibly unrivalled in Europe, ought
not to be allowed to slip. Such a chance has once before occurred—
namely, after the Fire of London. It was lost then, but Fortune has
afforded it once more, and that without the circumstances of loss and
nrin which may be some excuse for the disregard then of the possibility
of beautifying the City. Let us show this time that we are worthy of
the occasion, and leave no tfTort untried to render London what she
might be — the fairest as well as the greatest of river-side cities.
Statue to George filephenton at Nfweaitle. — The statue intended
luU. erected to the memorj- if Gtorgc St'pWnson, the eminent engincfr, at
Jewcastle, will rom he. cimpl«t( d and placed upon Its ncdehtnl. Tlic figure of
BtoArawD, m\v\iifi-A in Im<i jdaW, is 11 fftt liigli. and tliccniire monument will
•eWfcet. It is (juite a chonicterii.lic rcpreisontatioii, having nt its basf; an alle-
■■ncu gnnip ol engiDc-drivert, platemen, pitmen, and workers at the forge.
BUILDERS' TENDERS.
A MAN with a liobby or a grievance — who does not fear Iiim : who hears
him announced without a shudder or calls upon him without a pang?
And yet hobbies and prievances are very common, and there are few who
are not fated to hear them recounted over and over again by the unhappy
victim of one or both of these calamities.
Greatly to be pitied in this respect are the editors of a public journal,
— no scheme for some vast improvement, no great invention of unheard-of
value (its proposer's liobby), no imaginary or real injury (its victim's
grievance), but tliey must p.itiently submit to its -wearying exposition,
and to repeated requests, solely in the public interest, to make the scheme
or grievance known to the world at lar^c. If, convinced of tlie uselcssness
orimpracticabilily of the scheme, or of the imaginary nature of the griev-
ance, Editors decline to send it forth to the public, as desired, they are
accused of,— nothing that is good. If they see reason to comply, and do
so, a word of thanks is so seldom offered in return, that a note containing
such would almost be w<u-tliy to be framed and glazed, as a rare curiosity.
Nevertheless, tlierc are hobbies and grievances which it is our duty to
notice, in the interest of the large class we strive to represent, as many
pages in our present and former volumes amply testify. Comjietitions,
architects' charges, quantities, the thousand-and-one matters which can
only be alluded to under the Institute's comprehensive "professional
practice," the question of percentage to architects from manufacturers
and tradesmen, and builders' tenders — all these, and others, have received
a larger amount of consideration in the volumes of the Buildikg News
than has elsewhere been accorded to tliem. albeit they are the very foun-
dation of practice in architecture and buildinjr. That a good result has
attended our efforts in these directions we have ample means of knowing,
but neither in these nor in other matters may we yet lay down the pen,
for the work isbut half done, as events are constantly occurring to show.
Thu5, as regards builders' tenders, a matter on which we proposed to
make one or two remarks, though tempted by a wide field to wander
somewhat from the path, there still exists ample grounds for just com-
plaint, and some reform is needed, not only with regard to the manner
in which tenders are accepted or declined at will, but also in the character
of the tenders received, and that not more in the interest of respectable
builders than in that of the person asking for tenders, whose true interest
does not lie in getting the lowest tender tliat it is possible to obtain, but
in getting tlie lowest for wliich the work can be properly performed ;.
and committees and private employers cannot too soon learn what every
architect and builder well knows, that between these there is a wide
diffi3rence.
It is not now proposed to consider what mode of obtaining tenders
should be adopted with the view of securing this result — when the com-
petition is open to all — but with regard to builders themselves, we think
they would act Vr-iscly to require that in all cases of public competition
for work those intending to compete should deliver in their names to the
architect, or other authorised person, at a sufficient time before the
delivery of the tenders, and that a list of such persons should be open to
the inspection of intending competitors ; and further, that the tender of
no one who had not so sent in his name should be received. Why should
a respectable builder be asked to incur all the trouble and expense
of preparing an elaborate tender, to be sent in iigainst some one Avhose
known mode of trading and executing work would have assured him, had
he been aware that he was a competitor, that it was impossible to con-
tend with honesty of purpose and the remotest prospect of success.
Besides this, there is another reason, rare, as we desire to think, in its
occurrence, but which we are assured, on reliable authority does too often
exist : it is in the practice of a committee nominating some irresponsible
person to send in a tender for the work at a certain sum which it is not
wished to be exceeded, a sort of reserved price, which may be sent in by
A. Smythe or any other person at choice. The working of this is, there
being probably no lower tender, that Mr. B., who sends the tender next
above that of Mr. Smythe, is told that Mr. Smythe's tender is so much
below his, but that they would rather employ him, Mr. B., if he is disposed
to reduce his tender by the amount which it exceeds that of Mr. Smythe,
or thereabouts !
We make no observations on this, except to repeat that we are assured,
on authority which wo have no reason to doubt, that the thing is done.
How often are builders put to a great and unnecessary amount of
trouble and then have the greatest difficulty in obtaining the slightest
information as to the result. With ourselves, they do not expect thanks.
A case quite in point lias recently occurred, and suggests serious consi-
derations.
The I'addington Vestry recently, by advertisement, invited builders fo
send in tenders for the execution cf certain works, having previously in their
possession the estimate of their surveyor. One tender only was the result
of this invitation, and as that exceeded by several hundred pounds the
estimate of the surveyor, it was resolved not to accept it — the excuse being
offered that sufficient publicity had not been given to the invitation.
I'rcsh advertisements were then issued, again asking for fenders, which
were to he delivered on a certain day, accompanied with the sum of i)20,
as a deposit in the hands of the vestry clerk, the persons tendering to be
"1 attendance on the following morning at ten o'clock. Well, tenders
were sent on the day appointed, June 3rd, each with the sum of ^20, and
on the following day at 10 o'clock the builders were in attendance as re-
quested, alter waiting nearly two hours, they were informed that the ten-
ders were referred to the Highway Coniniittee who would not meet until
the Thursday week following, and were so dismissed.
In consequence of a letter which appeared, at a meeting of the Vestry
AuGrsT 9, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEW 8.
653
on the 2nd July, one niontU after the reception of the tenders, a member,
Mr. Trice, drew attention to the manner in wliicli tlie contractors had been
treated, one of tliese, Mr. Cozens, well known to our readers, had depoiited
his tender and 4:20 as required, a month before, but had received no com-
munication whatever as to whctherliis tender was accepted or not, nor had
the money been returned j while another member very properly protested
ag.iinst the money of contractors being kept in tli.at way.
It seems thatafler some discussion the matter dropped, but on. the
following day Mr. Cozens received the following letter : —
Paddington Vestry Hall, Harrow-road,
3rd July, 1801.
Sir,— Tlie Vestry at their meeting' yesterday having finally resolved on the course to be
pursued with reference to certain eonteniplnted works in Oxford-terrace have directed me
to return the deposit which accompanied your tender.
I therefore inclose yon four £■') notes.
(Here follow the numbers and dates of the notes.)
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
Mr. Cozens. I'REDK. AVELTKG.
The names of the members of the vestry who assisted in the compilation
of this precious document slionlJ be appended to it, as a complete and
perfect specimen of a cool and impudent letter, addressed, with official
dignity, to a gentleman who is, in all probability, at least the equal as
regards social position, &c., of every one of those persons who, with tem-
porary authority, thus chose to intimate their disapproval of the just
complaint of one whom they have treated with no consideration
whatever.
We need not point out that the letter to Mr. Cozens bears all the
apjjearance of having been dictated in this spirit. It followed immediately
after the discussion of the question at the vestry meeting, where one
member so far disapproved of the course pursued that he stigmatised it
as " discreditable and objectionable," and contains merely an incidental
allusion to the tender, the only subject, be it remembered, on wliich any
communication was desired. It is said that the course now " resolved on"
by the Board is to do the work themselves, as soon as the money can be
collected !
As they have managed matters, we imagine that the Board can see no
other course before tliem. They have given a widely spread caution to
builders as to the nature of their invitations for tenders, and have probably
deprived themselves, at least for some time, of tlie tenders of respectable
contractors for any works respecting which, during their term of office,
they may have autliority. They have shown very efil-ctually that civility is
not a weakness to which they are liable, and have at the same time shown
a lamentable want of business acquirciTients in rejecting a tender from a
responsible contractor, wiiose price for the work was lower than tliat of
any other, and not only so, but actually lower than the amount of the
estimate prepared by their own surveyor, who added £21 to the amount
originally given by liitn, on account of "the increase of price in building
materials."
If a respectable builder cannot reasonably suppose that, if he sends in
the lowest tender for work, and that at a fair price — as must have
been the case uniler the circumstances to which we have alluded, where it
was lower than the parish surveyor's estimate — if, we repeat, he cannot
reasonably suppose that liis tender will be accepted, and he himself be
treated with ordinary civility, tlie result must be tliat persons, or rather
boards, seeking tenders must submit to receive those only from a class of
tradestiien who, having no proper consideration for themselves, will not be
the best qnahlied to study the interests of their employers.
Tlie ratepayers of the parisli of Paddington should have these facts put
before them in the proper light. We have no reason to doubt that the
parish surveyor is a conipelent and proper gcntleiuen to fill the office, and
that his estimate for the work at Oxford-terrace was a just one. The
Board, excepting those members who took a more manly course and ob-
jected to the whole proceeding, are, therefore, morally, if not legally,
answerable to the ratepayers for the extra expenditure incurred by their
rejection of a, to the parish generally, advantageous tender.
I
THE WEDGWOOD MEMORIAL, STOKE-UPON-TRENT.
Tl/TR. DAVIS, sculptor, of Kussell-place, Fitzroy-square, has just com-
ITL pleted a colossal statue of the late Josiah Wedgwood, to be placed in
the Station-square, at Stoke-upon-Trent.
The statue, at present in jilaster, but intended hereafter to be cast in
tronze, for which materiiil the design is si)€cially arranged in regard to
the details, is 8 feet in height, and is intended to be placed on a stone
pedestal of the same altitude, the sculptor's authority for the likeness,
which exhibits an individuality favorable to an impression of its correct-
ness, will be found in a portrait by Sir Josliua Reynolds. The costume,
while broad and simple in arrangement, is picturesque, and well suited to
the sculptor's art, more especially so to a work in bronze. The figure is
in the attitude of addressing an assembly on the beauties of a Portland
vase, held in the left liand, while the right is iutended, not unsuccessfully
to assist the notion of speaking about the vase; this hand the artist has
endeavoured to make particularly expressive.
A consiJerable amount of freedom and naturalistic treatment is tlie
result of the statue being totally independent of support by artificial,
means, as a pedestal, column, or any of the numerous contrivances which,
convey a common-place air of sameness to so many of our public statues,
making them in some resjjects all more or less alike. Mr. Davis deserves
some jiraise for boldly stepping out of the usual course ; it seems, how-
ever, that it was not unattended with opposition, and a large increase of
trouble on the part of the sculptor.
AVe desire to speak very highly of the artistic treatment of the statue,
but have little to say iu favor of a small model of the i)cdestal on which
it is intended to be jilaced. Anything more pretentious than a squared
block of stone at once becoines architectural, and as such demands care
and able design in the arrangement and outline of the mouldings. It
should be a sculptor's business to indicate what masses of shadow be
requires to combine well with a statue, an architect's to design the rest, so
that the ordinary rules of architectural composition be regarded.
BARRY MEMORIAU
AT a meeting held on Tuesday, August 6tli, 1861, at the Rooms of the
Royal Institute of British Architects; William Tite, M.I'., President,
in the chair.
The following report was read and adopted, and, in conformity thcre-
witli, the following gentlemen were appointed a Working Committee, with
power to enter into the necessary arrangements for expending the funds
subscribed in accordance with the condition upon which subscriptions had
been invited.
The Trustees of the Memorial Fund — viz., the Right Hon. W. F.
Cowper, JI.P.; Lieut.-Gen. the Hon. Sir E. Cust, K.C.H.; Sir Charles
Eastlake, P.R.A.; C. K. Cockerell, Esq., B.A.; W. Tite, Esq., M.P.,
F.R.S, P.R.I.BA.; and T. L. Donaldson, Esq.; J. Gibson, Esq.; G.
Godwin, Esq., F.R.S. ; A. J. B Beresford-Hope, Esq.; H. A. Hunt, Esq.;
Owen Jones, Esq.; T. Hayter Lewis, Esq.; Cliarles Lucas, Esq.; J. R.
MeClean, Esq.; D. Robert.?, Esq., R.A.; J. L. Wolfe, Esq.; J. H. Wyatt,
Esq.; with the Honorary Secretaries of the Memorial.
To the Subscribers to the Bnrry Memorial Fund.
The Honorary Secretaries to the Barry Memorial Fund have the honor to lay
before the subscribers the following report of the progress hitherto made in the
attainment of their object.
Shortly after the demise of the late Sir Charles Barry, which took place on the
12th May, last year, a few of the most ardent admirers of their late friend placed
themselves in coiniuunication with the leading officers of the Council of the
Royal Institute of British Architects, in whose hands the arrangements for the
funeral of Sir Charles in Westminster Abbey hail mainly rested, with the view of
considering the extent of co-operation likely to be met with from the profession
and the public generally, in any attempt to procure the erection of a suitable
memorial to the late distinguished architect.
At a meeting held in consetiutnee of such communication, on the 9th of June,
the following resolutions were passed : —
1. That, in the opinion of the gentlemen present, it is desirable that a memorial be
erecti;d to the memory of the late Sir Charles Barry, in his grc.it work, the New TalAce of
Westminster.
2. That the opinion of her Majesty's Government be ascertained on the subject, and the
steps they may be pleased to tnlte in or.ler to carry it into effect. Tiiat Professor
Donaldson and Mr. JI. Digby Wyatt bo reciuested to see the Dulto of Newcastle upon the
subject.
Previous to this meeting a strong expression of sympathy with the object in
view had been received from His Grace the Duke of IV ewcastle, a circumstance
which may account for the communication with her Majesty's tiovernmeiit being
opened through his Grace's kind intervention.
His Grace was pleased to receive the deputation on the 13th June, 18G0. He
on that occasion expressed his personal approval of what had been proposed, and
undertook to bring the subject under the notice of II.R.II. the Prince Consort
and of Lord Palmerstoii. Messrs. Donaldson and Wyatt were subsequently
informed that Ills Grace's promise had been fulfilled and that the matter had been
fiivorably viewed. As this occurrence took place on the eve of Ids Grace's
departure for Canada, it was of course impossible for him to press the subject
further at that time, and he was pleased to refer the deputation to Lord
Palmerston, with whom an interview was subsequently sought and granted on
the 9th of July.
The Premier then expressed his jiersoual estimation of Sir Charles Ban-y's
claims, and pronnsed tliat he would take an opportunity of speaking to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer upon whom it would devolve to inquire into the
feasibility of providing tiie reqtlisite funds. The Council's deputation did not
hear the result of his Lordship's communication with Mr. Gladstone, but con-
ceiving it prDbable tliat some difficulty had arisen, and Knowing the Premier's
intense occupation with more urgent and important matters they did not again
trouble him.
Pending the Duke of Newcastle's absence it was resolved by those with wliom
the movement had originated, that in the event of its being either impossible to
obtain funds for the purpose from the putilic revenues of the country, or of any
grudging spirit being manifest or the part of those by whom it was conceived
that funds might with great propriety have been supplied, an appeal should be
made to the public to furnish the sura of money requisite to provide a life-size
marble statue of the late Sir Charles Barry, together with an appropriate
pedestal. An assurance was, moreover, received from one of the most ardent
admirers of the deceased, that he was himself ready to jirovide the whole of the
sum estimated to be required, rather than allow the matter to become abortive
for want of funds.
On the return of the Duke of Newcastle to England, an interview was a^ain
sought with his Grace, and on the Kith March, 1801, in reply to an intimation,
for which the deputation was prepared, that difficulties had arisen which might
reader it injudicious to seek for funds from the public purse, the deputation was
enabled to assure his Grace that want of them need be no impedinicut in the
matter, as a determinatiou had been formed, in the event of the contingency
intimated by him, to appeal to the public and to the profession for subscriptions,
which there was every reason to believe would be obtained to a sufficient amount
to justify immediate steps being taken, if necessary. The Duke of Newcastle ter-
minated the interview by kind assurances of his support and sympathy-—
assurances which have been amply redeemed, and for which the friends of Sir
Charles Harry should ever feel indebted to his Grace.
The above matters were dulv reported to the Council of the Royal Institute of
British Architects, who forthwith expressed themselves prepared— while leaving ,
654
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 9, 1861.
•■thej amt, each imliTidual meinber of tlie Institute free to contribute or not
«■ ke aright we fit— to bring the subject as prominently as possible before tlic
fnfcarion Rcoerally.
It ns thereupon determine<l br those by wlioin action had been originated —
Int. That five individuals of hinh position in'relntion to tlie fine arts of this country
ihoald be invited to become trrasurers and trustees of any subscriptions which
■riglit be i*ceiTed for the erection of a niarbli' statue of ^ir Charles Barry in the
Xew Palaceof Westminster; "ind. That >lessrs. M. Digby Wyatt, Vice-President,
aad Charles C. Xekon, formerly Honorary Secretary of the Royal Institute of
British An:hitects, should be requested to act as ilonorary Secretaries: 3rd.
Tbat «Q immediate appeal should be made to the profession and to the public.
In consMjufnce of tlie above determination, alter ascertuiniug that all invited
to act were willing to do so, the following circular was issued in a folio form
about the middle of April, and subsequently advertised with a list of subscribers
In Loodoo and provincial newspapers : —
iltmorial to Vw lale Sir Charlrs Barru, R.A., t\lt.S.
Ik ii fnpomi to erect a muMe statoc ot Sir Charles Barry, in the Nevr Palace at
Waitaiiuler.
Jlm then is reason to tMlievc that the requested permission will be j?ranted for the exe-
oatioo of the work unJor the iHrection of tlio Royal Commission of Vino Arts, as soon as
the nqoi^te funds are proriiipil. uoblemen and gentlemen, who may desire to do honor to
Ijha — MOCf 0* the late eminent architeet of that bmlding, are invited to forward their
■ fOtaortptkMU to Meisrs. Dnimmond. Bankers. Charing-croes, with whom au account has
Meaopnied for " The Memorial to the late Sir Charles Barry," in the names of—
The Right Hon. W. F. CovvfKR. M.P.
Major-General the Hon. Sir Edward Oust, K.C.H., F.R.S.
Sir Ciunuw L. EASTL.tKK, President B.A.
Charles R. Cot-KERELL, Esq., H.A., President K.I.B.A.
WILLIAM TITE, Ksq,, I'.R.S., M.P.
'Who htm consented to act as Trrasnrere and Tmstees.
il. Diony Wyatt ) Honorary
CILVRLES C. Nelson- j Secretaries.
To whom an communications are requested to be addressed at the Booms of the Royal
Tmtitnte of British Architects, No. 9, Condnlt-strect, Hanovcr-squore. Subscribers are
particnlarty invited to make their intentions knon-n to the Honorary Secretaries, in order
that a correct list may be forthwith prcrarod for circulation.
The response to the alxive circular was within a month or so of so satisfactory
a nature as to justify the Honorary Secretaries in endeavourinff to ascertain the
Tiews of her -Majesty's Commissioners on the I'ine Arts (with whom tlie power of
l^ntinpr or withholding an elicrihle site in the New Palaceat Westminster rested)
with sutficient precision to form tlie basis for the future action of the body of
cnbecribers. either collectively or by delectation through a committee, ns they
might think best at any future periwi.
'A communication, under date June 3, 1861, was therefore addressed to the
Secretary of Her Xtajesty's Commissioners on the Fine Art-s, in which, after
recitinj; the general facts hereinbifore mentioned, the opinion of Her Majesty's
Commhssioiiers was invited, and their co-operation asked for upon the following
" It Is suggested that the statue should be of white marble, raised on a suitable
ridestai of freestone. That the figure shouhl be staiuling, and not more than
feet G inciies in height. That it sliould be placed in St. Stephen's porch, at the
lonth end of Westminster-hall, at a short distance from the panelled wall under
the great window ; and that, if necessary, in order to afibrti a snfficient back-
gronnd for the statue, the parapet of the middle compartment of the wall behind
sboald he rais-d, an operation which, it is believed, could be done without
detriment to the architecture. Lastly, that the statue should be designed and
executf <I by John Henry Foley, R.A., the excellence of whose works in portrait
tenlptur.: is universally acknowledged. A small model would, in due time, be
■obmittKl to the Royal Commissioners. The site above mentioned is suggested
eUefly because it appears to be the only one suitable for a statue that would
•tand alone, and th:it iiiust not appear to come in competition with those of
•OTereiirtis and of leijislalors. The cost of the statui: is cstim;ited at from £800
to£l,OUU. Tbat (if the pedistal, in freestone, at about £200; l)ut incidental
expends injght piMsihly raise the whole cost to about .£1,500."
Un the 17th June tlie following reply was recciveil Irora the Secretary to the
Coomitdoners : —
Palaccof V.'estminstcr, 17th Jnne, IRGl.
Gentlemen,— Having on the Itth inst. submitted to lier Majesty's Commissioners on the
Rue Art* yoar letter of the ; rd inst., relative to a contemplated memorial to the late
gfe.Charles Barry, ptopoaing. iu confoniiity with a rtsolutiou of the Council of the Uoyal
lawtote of Britisli ArchitcCT.", that a sutue of that eminent architect should lie placed
^lUUn his oirn great work at Westminster, anil suggesting as a site for such statue— re-
tcnnun^M to 1**nurble-8t. Mephcn's porch, at the sooth end of Westminsttrr Hall, at a
short " '<;)i the panelled wall under the great window, I am directed to acquaint
JO? the CommSssionere, while fully concurring in the fooling and general
objei-^ '' your letter, and after having given their attentive consideration to the
qamutmii jt'-i-j '.-.l, came to the following Tesr>Intion ;—
"Several ol>jcctioiis -to the site propoted within the building have occurred to the Com-
aiatoien, but Ihey woald detire to suggest whether the centre of one of the courts, or one
OC toe OfKO .i;«oc« adjacent to the building, would not meet the object in view."
I am Ocutlcnien, yonr ot-edient Bervant.
_^ „ . (-Signed) c. L. EA.STLAKE, Secretory.
The Hon. Sccretnriea to the B.irry Jltmorial.
On the iTtli June, tlie Hon. Secretaries addressed a communication to her
H^esty't Coiiirais'ioners on t.'ie Fine Arts, urging various arguments in favor of
an internal site in the building, tiiher the one already suggested in their letter
of June .Ord, i.r any other wliicli might appear equally eligible.
This lettrr, being of some l(;ngtli, is not inserted in this report.
On the 4th July, the following reply was received by the Hon. Secretaries who
Ud felt i: their duty in acknowledging it, to return their best thanks to the
Bojral Commissionen in the name of the subscribers, for the courteous considera-
tlOD tliey bad given to the matter.
n_.u__ Tr _■ . . Palaceof Westminster, -Ith July, I8fll.
ueBuemen.-uavingon the .Ird Inst, sahmitted to her Majesty* Commissioners on the
nMAlM your .ctter dated .June -Jl, nlative to the site for the statue of the late Kir Charles
SSL. .L J.J. "H '"""'f ' "' acqnohit yon in reply that after due consideration they
awipfen toe followuig leaolation :—
' ^^SJfl'liJf »ii!!*^'", "f Commlaloncts Impossible to recede from their detcrmlna-
SZ^ JzSLt!^ resolution expressed against phieing the statue of .Sir Charles Barry
^S^.S? IfJl^fJ?" window in St. Stephen's Porch." Their reasons againrt the
-iT2l _i5r.CI?.T!r!. .v"^™ y """« that^they do not think their opinion would bo
SI? 7V^ ^^L? !. .•."" ronferenee which has licen suggestc-d for that object.
TBU dcUiniiHiaUim oC tlm CommlnloncTS is, however, conslst-nt with the most cordial
iS^fLii "■"■^'T <" ''''■ <-harle» Barry, and with the no less cordial wish to see his
--KJSiSrjI'.k 2?!S2?* S4 '«>'«^''le situation not already appropriated M, or in-
SSffiSViJl^S?-^?^,^ deowaUon adopted Inr the Commissioners. As the only-
■(■ilaM* plaoe witUa the boUding fnlfllling tbeae condifons, the CommhisionerB would pro-
pose the first landing-placs of the staircase leading from the principal floor to the Com-
nuttei^rooms of the House of Commons. The hon. secretaries of tlie Barry Memorial i-'nnd
will, jierhaps, have the goodness to lay before the subscribers this suggestion as au alteration
to a neighbouring sito in the open air as in a recent letter was proposed.
I am. Gentlemen, your obedient servant,
(Signed) c. L. Eastlakb, Secretary.
The Hon. Secretaries to the Barry Memorial.
In accordance with the last paragi-apii in the above letter, the present meeting
of suliscribers to the Barry Memorial Fund has been called.
It remains only to state, before leaving the matter generally to their consider-
ation, that the subscription up to the present time amounts to £075 4s., of which
£G01 7s.. as appears by the bankers' book on the table, have been paid into the
Trustees' account, at Jleasrs. Drummonds' ; and, secondly, that if nominated to
serve upon a working connnittee, for the further prosecution of the subject we
have all at heart, the iollowing gentlemen will be prepared to serve : — "Tlie Hon.
W. Cooper, Sir diaries Eastlake, W. Tito, Esq., T. L. Donaldson, Esq., Owen
Jones, Esq., T. Hayter Lewis, Esq., Arthur Hunt, Esq., J. Gibson, Esq., David
Roberts, Esq., T. H. Wyatt, Esq., G. Godwin, Esq., and Charles Lucas, Esq.
From some to wlinin application has licen made no answers have been received,
but it is not considered that there is reason to apprehend disinclination on the
part of any of the gentlemen who have been invited to si^veonthe Committee.
In addition to tlie list of subscriptions, the sum of £50 has been ])laced in the
hands of the Hon. Secretary, Mr. Nelson, by a very strenuous sujiporter of the
Memorial, to defray the expensesof printing, advertising, and incidentaldisburse-
mente; of this sum, £13 remains uncxneuded.
M. Dig BY Wyatt, ) „„„ a„„„,„_:„
Charles C. IfELSON, J "o"' Sc<=™'«"es.
Rooms of the Royal Society of British .\rchitects,
0, Coniluit-street, August G, 1801.
Votes of thanks to the Institute for the use of the meeting-room, and to the
Chairman for presiding, concluded tlie business of the meeting.
PB0CEEDINO3 OF THE METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS.
A MEETING of this body was held .at theiroffices in Spring-gardens, on Friday last, when
XI. John Thwaites, Esi , the Chairman ot the Board, presided. The cash statement
showed a total jroiieral balance of .t;i39,!>1.5 l.'^s. lOd.
Tenders for Sla'kuierit and liimlijii/.— The CHAIUSIAN opened the following tenders for
stationery and binding :— W. McCorquodale. 2\ per cent, below the schedule prices ;
William ilobertson, "^ per cent, under .schedule prices ; Henry Tuck, 12i per cent, under ;
Ash and Flint. 17^ per cent, above ; Samuel Strater and Son, l.l i>er cent, below ; Truston
and Sons, 2-5 per cent, under ; W. H. and W. Witherby, 10 per cent, under ; John Smith
and Co., 27^ per cent, under.
Mr. Daltox moved that the tender of John Smith and Co. be accepted.
Mr. BtDGOOl) seconded the motion, which was agreed to.
Tendfisfor I'riiiliari.—'nv CHAIUMAN then opened the following tenders for printing : —
Cl.ay, Son, and Taylor, at the schedule of prices; Harrison and Son, li>J i)er cent, under;
Witherby and Co., 1 7J per cent, under ; J. Poplett, I'J per cent, under ; J. and F. Ryder, at
schedule prices ; Petter and Galpin, ."» per cent, under ; Ree<l and Panlon, 2-1 per cent,
under; William Brickhill and Henry Orcenwood, SO per cent, under ; Trnscott and Sons,
1.1 i)er cent, under ; John Smith and Co.. 22^ per cent, under ; Honry Tuck, 12J per cent,
under; McCorquodale and Co., 11 per cent, under; Spottiswoode and Co., 24 i«r cent,
under.
Mr. ROBINSON" moved that the tender of Messrs. Brickhill .and Greenwood be accepted.
This having been seconded. Mr. Stevens moved as an amendment " That the tenders be
referred for consideration and report to the Main Drainage Committee."
Mr. PlIlLLU'S seconded the amendment.
Mr. Savace thought the tenders should be at once considered by a committee of the
whole Board. Eventually this suggestion wag agreed to, and the Board having heen
cleared of strangers went 'into Committee. After considerable di.scussion in Committee it
was at length resolved that the tenders should be referred to the MaiuDraiuagc Committee,
to report at the next meeting (to be held this day).
Adrance of tfte Acrountwil's Salaiy. — Mr. DALTOX moved, in accordance with a recom-
mendation from the Finance Committee, *' That the salary of Mr. Hatton, Accountant of
the 'Board, be hicrcased from £450 to £(100 per annum."
Mr. PllILLlrs seconded the motion.
Mr. BlDfiOOn thought the Finance Committee would have acted more wisely if they had
not proposed to give so large an advance on Mr. Hatton's present salary. Ho was of
opinion that the sum of £5Ull per annum should have been voted to Mr. Hatton as a salary,
and th.at it .should bo increased by £2.') per annum for the next four years, when it would
have reached the maximum salary of £600.
Mr. Savaoe thought the increase proposed by the Finance Committee was exorbitant.
Mr. Bhookeu moved, as an amendment, that the salary of the Accountant be £500 per
annum, to bo increased by £20 each year for y years.
Mr. Deputy HAUKISON seconded the amendment.
Mr. DorLTOX supported the report of the Finance Committee, as he thought Mr. Hatton
was entitled to a salary of £(!00 per annum.
Messrs. Robinson, Shepherd, Legg, Peckctt, and Crellin supiwrted the motion. The
amendment was supported by Messrs. Freeman. H. I.. Taylor, and liidgood.
Mr. Daltox having ropliai, there appeared for tiie amendment 14, against it 15; the
amendment wiw consequently lost by a majority of 1 .
Mr. FUEE.MAX then moved a second amendment to the effect that the salary of Mr.
Hatton bo .£-")00 per annum, and be increased by £2-'» per annum for the next four years,
when it will reached a maximum of £G1I0 ])er annum.
Mr. D'iFFAXCKR seconded the anieiulment.
Mr. Daltox said he would withdraw the motion if the amendment was agreed to.
On a division there were for tlio amendment as a substantive motion 2(i, against it .3. The
salary of Mr. Hatton. the Accountant, is thus at once raised to £.»00 per annum, with an
annual increase of £25 until it roaches £(iOO.
Finance, CommWee. — The following recommendations of the Committee were agreed to : —
"Tbat the sum of £21,520, received under I'rocepts, and ordered on the 7th Juno Inst, to
be set aside for the puriwse of providing a sinking fund, as required by the 1 110th Section of
the Metropolis Local Management Act, for the repayment of the mortgages granted by the
Board, be invested in the New -i per Cent. Annuities.
*' That the sums spc-'ified in the .statement submitted to tho Committee, amounting In
the whole to .6-12,104 l:is. .sd. be paid.
'•That the Governor and Company of the Bank ot England be requested to give directions
for a further advance to this Board of £100,000, for the purposes of the Main Drainage,
agreeably to the provisions of tho agreement iKtwecn the Board and the Bank ; that ten
bonds for £10,000 each, as security for such advance be prepared, and that the Common Seal
of the Board be atlixed thereto.
" That tho Vestry of Lambeth be permitted to borrow £1 ,-"00 for Vestry Hall Improve -
ments, at a rate of interest not exceeding 5 l>cr cent., the principal and interest being
repaid within a period not exceeding ten years."
After the transaction of some business of a routine nature, the Board adjourned.
New Church at Corii. — On Suntl.ny last, a splendid cliurch, winch
has recently been erected in King-street, Cork, by the Presbyterian body, was
formally opened. The edifice measures 114 feet from east to west, and the width
across the nave from north to south is 60 feet.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 9» 1861.
photo-sculpture.
WE find in the Cosmos a description of a [novel process invented by a
young sculptor named Willeme, and by which he hopes to produce
round objects of art by means of photograpliy. Tlie reporter speaks of
the metliod as likely to be difficult of execution, but as being certain,
sooner or latter, of being put in practice; our readers may, however, judge
for themselves from the outline which we arc enabled to lay before tliem.
Tlie task he undertakes is to produce a perfect model in clay of any object
and in any proportions, by photography alone, and he sets about it in the
following manner, which, it must be admitted, is not quite in accordance
with the thesis : — He places the object to be copied in the centre of a
circular table or platform, around the outer edge of which traverses the
camera, and having taken as many photographic profiles as he thinks
sufiicient for his purpose, say 24 or 48, he then brings the pantagraph into
play, and with its aid he traces each of his profiles in its proper place on
the mass of prepared clay. In order to save time, he 'proposes to employ
two pantagraphs at right-angles to each other, commencing in the one
case with the photographic profile No. 1, and in the other with No. 7 or
No. 13, according to the number employed. The report states that he
makes use of the shadows and lights to model the hollows and eminences
of the cavities of the nose and ears, an operation which we admit rather
surprises us. In connexion with this invention is another, namely, the re-
production of statues or other pieces of sculpture by means of segments.
Suppose the original which.is to be copied cut up into say 48 wedge-shaped
radial pieces, each of these is then to be taken as a profile, and produced as
many times as there are copies required, each of which is to be formed by
the glueing together of the forty eight pieces. The inventor proposes to
make use of the endless band saw, and produce eacli profile on a block of
any required length, and then to divide the latter by means of a circular
saw, into as many segments as its length will permit. We are informed
that a very beautiful statue has been produced by such treatment, and
tliat the laws of continuity render the corrections in this case as well as the
preceding perfectly easy, but we confess to considerable scepticism on this
head, and have at present little faith in the Venus de Medici or the Venus
de Milo, treated either on the segmental or polygonal system. The in-
ventor proposes also to unite his two schemes, that is, to take the neces-
sary number of profiles of a statue, or of a living model, and theu manu-
facture copies by transferring those profiles to the segmental system.
While we are not inclined to believe that M. Willcme's procestes pro-
mise much in the way of fine art as they stand, we seein them considerable
ingenuity, and the promise of some practical utility ; the use ofthecamera
in aiding the work of the sculptor, by giving him several profiles or out-
lines of his original, bo it what it may, may evidently be turned to good
account as a means, and it might be applied to the living model with
special advantage if the outlines could all be caught at the same instant,
and this might possibly be very materially assisted by the use of a series
of refiectors and one camera; so that while the front of the person or
object is taken in the ordinary manner, two or three, or other views might
be obtained at the same moment, on the same negative, by the aid of
mirrors placed at a certain angle. We throw out this hint for the benefit
of sculptors and photographers.
"♦ ' •
SCIENCE INSTRUCTION TO THE INDUSTRIAL CLASSES.
THE first Annual Examination of Science Classes under the minutes of
the Committee of Council on Education has just been completed.
This exarjination is open to any persons of whatever ago or sex who
choose to present themselves, and is held in different places in the king-
dom, and superintended entirely by the voluntary action of local com-
mittees.
For the late examinations there were 35 local centres. The examination
papers were prepared by examiners in London, and sent by post to the
local committees, by whom the examination was held in each subject
simultaneously all over the kingdom, and the worked papers were re-
turned by the first post to London for revision. One thousand papers were
thus sent up, which represents rather a fewer number of candidates, as
the same person might be examined in more than one subject.
725 papers were considered good enough to be passed, of which 310 were
up to the standard for Queen's prizes.
.59 first class, 100 second class, and 151 third class, Queen's prizes, are
awarded. Besides these 4 gold, 11 silver, and 16 bronze medals, have been
awarded competitively among the candidates, which leaves three gold,
three silver, and five bronze medals unawarded of those offered, in conse-
quence of candidates not having in some subjects done sutBciently well to
merit them.
The names of the medallists are given in the accompanying list, from
which it will be seen that Frederick William Rudler obtains two gold
medals, one in chemistry and the other in physiology.
The State incurs no liability or expense in the training of teachers, but
merely certificates them after examination as competent; and such teachers
receive a payment in respect of each student earning his livelihood by
maimal labor ; but the grant is o»ly made after the student has been ex-
amined and has proved the sufficiency of his instruction.
The following is a list of the successful competitors for medals : —
Practical Plane and Descriptive Geometry, Mechanical and Machine
Drawing and Suilding Construction.
William E. Bramall, Chat-moss, Oldham, age 17, mechanic; James Mellcx,
teacher ; silver medal. .
Eilward Mawley, 20, Gower-slreet, London, age 19, architect; — Manley,
teacher ; bronze medal.
Frederick A. Winkfield, 1, Branson-street, Manchester, age 18, valuer's
ssistant; Bernhardt, teacher; bronze medal.
655
William Henry Parker, Redcliff-crescent, New-cut, Bristol, age 17, engineer's
apprentice; William Rowden, teacher; bronze raedal.
Mechanical Physics.
Carlton .John Lambert, 8, Upper Clifton-street, Finsbury, age 16, to be a civil
engineer; Rev. Dr. Mortimer, D.D., teacher ; gold raedal.
Henry Middleton, South Downs, Redruth, age 22, mine agent; Charles Twite,
teacher; silver medal.
John Mackillican, 14, Kidd-lane, Aberdeen, age 28, watchmaker; David
Haver, teacher; bronze medal.
Experimenial Physics.
James Thomas Brown, City of London School, age 16, mechanic ; Thomas Hall,
teacher; gold medal.
William C. Barnisli, 15, Market-place, Wigan, age 21, chemist and druggist ;
E. H. Birkenhead, teacher; silver medal.
James Russell, 32.i, Sherlock-street, Birmingham, age 34, weighing machine
maker; W. M. Williams, teacher ; silver medal.
Jolm C. Douglas, London Mechanics' Institute, age 17; teacher, self-taoght ;
bronze raedal.
Joseph Muir, Savile, Mount Halifax, age 24, book-keeper; John Noble,
teacher ; bronze medal.
Charles Preston, 5, Sun-street West, Birraingham, age 22, lithographer; W.
M. Williams, teacher ; bronze medal.
Chemistry.
Frederick W. Rudler, 11, Foley-street, Portland-place, W., age 20, solicitors'
clerk; J. C. Buckmaster, teacher ; gold medal.
Thomas H. Maliony, 23, Sumraer-hill south, Cork, age 19, clerk; John
Dowling, teacher ; silver medal.
Michael J. Malone, 5, Queen-street, Limerick, age 16, railway agent ; John
Dowling, teacher ; silver medal.
Lily A. W. Colthurst, 55, King-street, Cork, age 18 ; John Dowling, teacher ;
bronze raedal.
Bartholomew H. Demery, 3, Mardyke-street, Cork, age 20, teacher of mathe-
matics ; John Dowling, teacher ; bronze raedal.
William Mcllwraith,jun., 30, Watt-street, Paisley-road, Glasgow, age 13;
John Mayer, teacher; bronze raedal.
Geology and Mineralogy.
William Robatham, Treforest, Glamorganshire, age 17, mining agent; C. S.
Wood, teacher; silver medal.
Ralph Betley, Hundley, Wigan, age 23, schoolmaster; E. H. Birkenhead,
teacher; siher raedal.
Francis William Cross, Fairfax House, Sydenhara-road, Bristol, age 21 , clerk ;
Ralph Tate, teacher; bronze medal.
Charles C. P. Hobkirk, Commercial-street, Huddersfield, age V.4, bank clerk ;
self taught; bronze medal.
Jolm Hoaking-, 15, Cumberland-street, Bristol, age 35, warehouse, clerk f
Ralph Tate, teacher ; bronze raedal.
Natural History.
Frederick William Rudler, 11, Foley-street, Portland-place, W., age 20,.
solicitors' clerk ; self-taught ; gold medal.
Alexander Adamson, 227, Main-street, Gorbals, Glasgow, age 14 ; John Mayer,
teacher ; silver medal.
George Tindall, Grove-street, Huddersfield, age 28, printer and stationer; self-
taught; silver medal.
Elizabeth Lawrie, 22, Cathcart-street, Glasgow, age 28, assistant teacher;
John Mayer, teacher ; bronze medal.
James Smart, 21, South Bar-street, Banbury, age 15, printer; John H. Beale,
teacher ; bronze medal.
Charles Taylor, 4, Calthorpe-cottages, Banbury, age 12; John H. Beale,
teacher; bronze medal.
Botaiiy.
Charies C. P. Hobkirk, Commercial-street, Huddersfield, age 34, bank clerk;
self-taught; silver medal.
SUBTERRANEAN CHURCHES.
INTERESTING excavations are now going on in land adjoining the
Presbytery of Ferrieres-Haut-Clocher near Conches in France, depart-
ment of the Eure. The origin of this exploration is curious ; a cow was
passing over the ground, when suddenly the earth opened and swallowed
the poor creature up, as the good folks of the village declared ; the cow
had in fact broken in the roof of a subterranean building, and after
Crummey had been rescured from her bewildering position safe and sound,
and every soul in the neighbourhood had looked into the big hole, means
were taken to learn something more about it. No legend told of any
underground building, and the antiquarians of the vicinity have an unex-
pected treat presented to them. The place was soon discovered to be a
vaulted chamber 8 or 9 yards in length, 7 feet high to the crown of the
vaulting, and of about the same width ; no pavement has yet been found,
but it does not appear that the excavation is completed. The subterranean
chamber is about five yards north of the Presbytery, and twenty yard»^
from the apsis of the church, and there is no reason to doubt that there
exists or did exist a communication, being the first and the last. The
church was originally built in the thirteenth century, and the ongmal
tower is still standing, but the nave is the work of the sixteenth century,
while the eastern portion is believed to be as old as the tower. It is well
known that at times the Christians were prohibited from practising their
religious ceremonies in the light of day, and that they were frequently
driven to resort to subterranean places of worship like their predecessors
the early Christians. Such chambers are found attached to many abbeys
and other religious establishments ; near the Benedictine Monastery of
Jumieres is an immense underground construetion, which is said to extend
for more than a mile, and which has become famous through the history
of Agnes Sorrel. The Abbey of Fontenelle or of St. Waudnlle near
Caudebec-en-Caux, is another of these curiously interesting structures ;
and a third was discovered some time since by accident at Torp, a depen-
dance of Jumieres in the forest of Brothorme.
656
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 9, 1861.
NOTTINGHAM FRBE GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
ABOCT twenty-two set* of pJaiis were sent in for this competition, seven of
wiliefa were from local awJiitects. After a long and careful consideration,
4hi flnt arize of £50 was awarded to Mr. Artlmr WUson, Nottingliam,
«a< tltt Mcond |>ri<e of £^ to Messrs. Sutton and Andre, of the same town,
tta fMvrilinf; cbaracleristic of tlic wliole .series was tlicir adherence to tiiat
Wlipfltlnn fif thi Uothic slvle which has lately become so popular, the materials
Blioiriitflnftliiirli with stone dressmgs. The irregular shape and uneven surface
of tbe site occasioned some difficulty in arranging the ground plan of the
haiUiBg^ bat tjMK have been met with more or less ingenuity. For external
•MMMMM tlie ilnlgni of )Ir. .\rthur Wilson certainly carry off the palm from his
eoapetilon. Tbe perspt-ctive drawing of the school comprises the additions
mUfS mn proposea to be made at some future time, tlie latter proceeding
at an angle of 45 desrees so as to parallel the line of street from the other
part at the building, from which it is separated by a Decorated tower of three
•tfltka. Adjoining tbe tower is a stair and bell turret. The main building,
iaiMltdfor Uieaeliool, is of two stories, the upper windows being sijuare-headed,
-tha lower ones pointed. The tliree gables by which it is divided, give to it a very
lapMillg cfcct, tbe buttretaea of each story being iudepcndent of each other.
la the apper story of the gable there is a pretty oriel window. So far from the
^tO0tg being open to the charge usually laid to the Gothic style of not a£fording
m"^'**"* li^lit, it would seem in this instance there will be a superabundance,
aad lome professional critics complain that Die general effect of the exterior is
laaned thereby. At the south end of the bnildmg is the master's residence and
daas-rooms, the former comprising a neat conservatory, tlie principal entrance
t* the ichool being beneath the tower at tbe other extremity. Messrs. Sutton
and Andre's plan, whicli has gained the prize of £25, presents many features of
■rcat attraction and architectural skill, being an ingenious mixture of tlie Early
English and EUzabetban. There is a massive central tower which contains the
principal sUireaae leading to tlie spacious school-rooms on either side. Under-
neath the latter is the ambulatory, where it is intended that the boys shall play
hi ant weather. At the southern extremity is the master's-house, at the other,
the class-rooms. When it is found desirable to increase the building, the addition
will be made at the liack, and, when complete, the ground plan of the building
will be clearly defined and symmetrical, and, in our judgment, ex-
ceedingly well adapted for the various requirements of a grammar school.
Mean. Jaekion and Heazell exhibit a neat model of their design, which is
a very clever one, but In their mode of displaying it have not done it the
Jaatlae it deserves. It is a pleasing example of Early English, the tracery of the
windows l)eing Perpendicular Gothic. The school-house being of only one story,
loolts somewliat inslgniileant when compared to the gorgeously colored drawings
of Mr. Edwards, of London, hung Immediately opposite: but the former could
be erected within the proposed sum, while the'latter, if carried out in their in-
tegrity, would cost more than £5,000. Mr. Ordisli (of Leicester and London)
aln odribita a design manifestly too pretentious and costly for a grammar-school
meh as the one now proposed to be built. The principal feature is an elaborate
O G dome and its various j>innacles. We have not space to notice in detail the
plans of Mr. Clarke and Mr. Bakewell, both of which found many admirers, from
their charming simplicity and ]>lcturcs(|ueness of effect : of Mr. Gilbert, some-
what too eeelniastical in charicter; nor those of Mr. Stayner, a clever copy of
the Loughborough Grammar Schools. In the corner of the room was a spirited
p«o-and-ink design, a bird's-eye view of a school in the conventual style, which
attracted many admirers. We understand that no decision has been yet come to
a* to which set of plans is to be finally adopted and carried out. Considerable
alterations in detail will be found necessarv to make any one set conformable to
the reqairements of the trustees.
THE WALLASEY FERRIES AND WATERWORKS.
TH UBSD A Y week was a red-letter day in the annals of the important and rising
pariah of Wallasey, Liverpool.
"TbelMcal Board, under the powers given them by their Act of Parliament,
proceeded' some time ago to erect gas and water worts in the parish. The gas-
woriu bare been in operation aJDoe November, 1859. The waterworks, which
were commenced in June, 1859, are now completed, and the Inhabitants will be
supplied with an abundance of pure water forthwith. With the view of affording
a betUir and more frequent communication iictween Wallasey and Liverpool, the
Board, after consideralile negotiation, have purchased the New Brighton and
Egremont ferric* from the iiemn. Coulbom at a cost of £00,000 (including the
plant), the amount fixed by arbitrators. The lease of Seacomhe Ferry has also
Men transferred to the Board, and It is expected that the fee-simple of the ferry
wUl be purchased by the Board upon the expiration of the lease, eleven years of
which remain unexpired. It may be stated that the Board have purcha.sed five
•loimers from Messrs. Coulbom at a cost of about £8,000; but already two other
n«t boats have been engaged, and between Seaconibc and Liverpool the steamers
commenced yesterday to run every quarter of an hour.
'*<«*••? WM ilxed for the " turning on" of the water at tbe tower ; and as
™« Local Board alto came into poasession of the ferries on the same day, it was
'Waniincd to mark so important an eroit to the parish by celebrating it in a
■MBer worthy of the aiMpicioiu occadon.
It is not our purpose to give an account of tlic demonstration, but to give
•"■P'y » description of the waterworks. The well for the waterworks is sunk in
"** ';^«»n<istone to a depth of 105 feet from the surface. Cast-iron cylinders
nave been used, 7 feet in diameter, and with these the well is lined some 80 feet
in depth. At the greatest depth the well produces water at a rate of one million
gailont in each dav of twenty-fnur liours. All possible means being used toretard
1 diminish the flow, the well produced a volume of water at this rate for more
1 three monlht, and showed no signs of diminution. Tlie water, when at rest,
^ul'^Jzr, ''"'"' *''* '***' "'^^ OU Dock sill, or 14 feet above high spring
M-f*' 11 J* ""*.' *'*"'y "«" *'«' I?"*' underground reservoir from which
S.*""^ "" "" cora'i'unication of supply with the ptwl, the river, or
♦ **^' ^2f '*■**''"'»"'" '•erected near the church in -Mill-lane, LIscard. The
two caloriiofstone of ilie district liave been used— the red sandstone and the
wmie sandstone. TIk; masonry imrtion of the tower is 40 feet square on plan in
Ibe main shaft, and 01 feet in height from the ground. The foundation is 30 feet
2!!^ J vT »•"■">''■'»<' """t the masonry portion of the tower is 120 feet from the
Kundation to the b<.ltom of the tank. There is an interna! pillar of brickwork 10
r?jf5?""'f;,'»,"S'"'"K " ,"P''»1 staircase reaching through the tank and to a
to^^U'nf riTf^rin^tt.'''" " "* '**' '""" '^^ ^'"""'- """ *^"
The engine is of50-horse nominal power, but may be worked considerably
higher if necessary. It is a very fine specimen of engineering skill, being most
elaborately finished . The pumps, capable of raising 30,000 gallons of water per
hour, are admirably arranged and of excellent construction.
The tank rests upon the tower at an elevation of 100 feet from the ground. It
is 45 feet square by 13 feet in depth, and put together In 400 plates, fastened by
6,000 screw bolts and nuts. Some idea o{^ its proportions may be gathered from
the fact that it will contain 160,000 gallons of water. Tlie ascent is by means of
a spiral staircase of novel and ingenious design, rendering the tank more easy of
access than by the plan usually adopted where a great elevation is to be attained.
There are six flights, consisting of 176 steps, and having a landing at each room,
the stairs passing through the tank to the roof or balcony of the building above.
For securing the sides to the bottom of the tank the principle of " garrett " stays,
as used in steam boilers, has for the first time been adopted, sucli stays being
further connected by wrought-iron rods placed in a transverse direction, so as to
ensure greater streiith and security.
Messrs. George Thomson and Co. are the contractors for the masonry, the
tower, and also for the sinking of the wells, the erection of the engine-house,
boiler-house, and chimney. Messrs. Thomas Meliing and Son, engineers and
ironfounders, of Rainhill, have had the contracts for the whole of the engineering
works, which are throughout executed in the most satisfactory manner. Messrs.
Meliing and Son are now under contract for the execution of similar works at
Tranmere, besides being engaged In supplying hvdrants and sluice valves for the
Wallasey Waterworks. Tlie gas-works at Wallasey have also been constructed
under their direction. The englneer-in-chlef and designer of the works is Robert
Rawlinson, Esq., C.E., London.
A
ECONOMIC COOKING APPARATUS.
T the ofiiclal inspection of the New Royal Marine Infirmary, at Wool-
wich, on Tuesday se'nnight, his Grace the Duke of Somerset, and a full
board of the Lords of the Admiralty, together with Colonel Green, Director of
Works, expressed themselves much pleased mth the appearance, efficiency, and
economy of a new kind of cooking apparatus, recently patented, and erected
there by Benliara and Sons, which provides for all the various descriptions of
cooking for a large number of patients (about 500), with the consumption of
only 200 lbs. of coal per dav, giving also in addition a supplv of hot water for
baths, &c. The apparatus is fixed against the side wall, standing partly out in
the kitchen, and contains a large ventilated brick oven, capable of roasthig meat
or baking bread for all the patients ; also a small iron oven, three soup and meat
boilers, a large hot plate and grilling stove (capable of cooking fifty chops at a
time), steam boiler, &c., all heated by one fire, which can he directed to any part
by moving two dampers. At a short distance from the above, and fixed against
the wall, is a large steamer for potatoes, a barley water boiler, a bainmane and
iiot closet, a sea-water boiler, and in the centre of the kitchen is a hot-plate for
serving up dishes, all heated by steain from the above apparatus. Altogether it
is very complete, and is well adapted for any large establishment requiring a
large quantity of cooking at a small expense of fuel. The temperature of the
kitchen was very low, not being raised above 6 or 8 degrees.
Several of these apparatus have been erected for the War Office — the last one,
at the Tower of London (just completed), cooks the rations for each room in
separate vessels; and the men can either have stews, bolls, roasts, or steams — the
consumption of coal when in full work being about six ounces per man per day,
including water for washing up. Others are fixed at Woolwich, Edinburgh,
Stiriing, Gibraltar, &c.
. ^
NEW BLACK^RIARS-^KIDGE.
MB. JOHN KEARNS, one of the Bridge House Estate Committee,
lias been setting the Times right in the matter of the new bridge, as
follows : —
I find an article in your impression of yesterday (Aug. 2nd), respecting Black-
friars-brldge, stating that the Bridge-house Estate Committee had decided nem.
con. to accept Mr. Page's design, and that that gentleman was appointed engi-
neer for its construction. I do not know who lias partially lifted the veil whuih
generally shrouds the mysteries of a committee, but to prevent any misunder-
standing in the matter I beg to hand you the facts aa they stand.
On I'riday last a thm attendance of tlie Committee, viz., 18 out of 41, met, as I
imagined, for the purpose of comparing the merits of the different planssubmitted
by the gentlemen whose names you have inserted, and great was my surprise
(with regard to so large an undertaking) to find that, instead of so deliberating, a
mover and seconder proposed adopting Mr. Page's plan for a three-arch bridge.
I deemed it my duty to the public to caution the Committee against this impro-
priety, and moved, as an amendment, the formation of a sub-committee, who,
with the assistance of the City architect, should clearly ascertain which of the
designs gave the best waterway for craft and most convenient road for carriages.
The amendment was lost. '.1 then moved that the City architect be instructed to
furnish the Committee with information on those points. 'This amendment was
also lost.
Finding the majority could not be induced to "o Into measurement or even look
at the plans for the purpose of discussion, I could only Intimate my intention of
bringing the whole proceeding before the Court of Common Council, and as that
Iwdy consists of 206 members, besides aldermen, I deem it highly probable that a
new committee will be formed pledged to take all the plans submitted into theu-
consideration, and hear the gentlemen who have been at the trouble and expense
of furnishing them upon their difi'eient merits.
liuildert' Excursion. — The foremen and workmen in tlie employ of
Mr. G. W. Heath, of BIshopsgate-street, had an excursion and dinner on Tues-
day last at the Old Rye House, Herts. On the health of Mr. Heath being drunk
amidst great cheering, Mr. Barklam, who presided In his absence, said, meetings
lik(' this tended to cement friendly leellngs between masters and men, and he
thanked them heartily for the way thev hud responded to the toast — there were
two sides to a ledger, the paying and the receipts, and he need not say which side
was most pleasing to the employer; it was to the co-operation of the employes he
saw before him tliat the result wished for was to be obtained. Other toasts were
drunk, and responded to by Mr. Home and Mr. Boon, after which sports were
resumed in the grounds, and the assembly spent a very pleasant day.
658
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 9, 1861.
ST. GEORGE'S SCUOOL. NEWCASTLE-UNDER-LYME.
THIS school, of which we give an illustration, was recently erected
to meet the urgent edacational wants of an outlying populous
locality in one of the first of the new district parishes formed under Sir
Robert Peel's Act.
It is intended chiefly for young children of both Sf xcs, hence called •' St.
George's Mixed and lafimt School," and aObrds accommodation for 400.
In addition to the principal school-room, which is 70 feet by 30 feet, there
U one Urge and two
■mailer class-rooms
with galleries,
•nited to the mixed
•yttem of instruc-
tioa adopted, which
is here found to
work very efficient-
ly among the large
number of scholars
who attend.
The building is
simple in its lines,
• nd substantial ;
the Early English
character teing
well maintained
throughout. A suit-
able residence for
the head - master
forms part of the
design. The walU,
S feet thick, are
built of a hard grey
stone from quarries
near Macclesfield
(somewhat similar
to Kentish rag), laid
in their self-bedded
courses, hammer-
dressed on the face
with Uollington
stone dressings.
The roof is of Baltic
fir, with wrought
arched trusses ; it
is covered with
Welsh slates, green
in color. The cost
of erecting the
school and resi-
dence was about
XI ,350, but the pur-
chasing of the site
andother additional
expenses brought it
to upwards of
X2,000. The build-
ing fund was de-
rired from local
donations and from
grants from the
Govemraeot and
Diocesan Educa-
tional Societies.
Mr. James Trub-
shawe is the archi-
tect, and the whole
of the works were
executed by Mr.
Evans, builder, of
Macclesfield.
TABEUNACLE,
CHURCH OF
ST. LEONARD.
AT LEAU.
THE Church of
St Leonard, at
Lvau, contains
several fine Gothic
altars, a fine can-
dlestick, 15 feet
b^lTw'w^ we'hfvrti' °^ '"l°"' ■'"'^ "•« n"'8°ifi'=e"' tabernacle
orn^ntS ^HtT .m.n . . ^«'8'>"»- It is built of stone and
dSr tJv ren^Lt h".^' ""^ bas-rcUefs, cut with surprising
w«f 2^;v.i in .f,?fl . , ^'^"ent scenes of sacred history. The|
tU^tmZ%raJ^;^r '^v> ^ "«= sixteenth century at the cost of
Martm de Wilre, be.gneur d'Oplmtes, who was buried in a tomb opposite
TABEENACLE ClItmCH OF ST. LHONABD, LEAU,
and
KILMORE CATHEDR4L.
rjN the 17tli of July, 1860 the new catlied.al of Kilmore waa consecrated • it
y was erected to supply the place of the old building, which had become very
dilapidated and I>ad quite lost aU the distinctive features of an ecclesiastS
in ;, n, ""T '"'iWing has been erected from tlie designs of Mr. W. Slater
of Carlton Chambers, London, architect; the drawings having been sanctioned
by the Commissioner; the builder employed being Mr. Hague, of Cavan. The
majoritj- of the sees being small, the cathedrals iu this country are usually of no
great size ; this building is, therefore, about the average dimensions. The object
kept in view was to
provide accommoda-
tion for a large con-
gregation, and at the
same time to pre-
serve the distinctive
catliedral arrange-
ments. The plan is
cruciform,conMsting
of nave and aisles,
transepts, central
tower, and chancel ;
the style adopted is
the Second Pointed.
The nave has a clere-
story of spherical
triangles, and is
separated from the
aisles by an arcade
of tliree arches ; the
roof is open, with
arched ribs ; the
west door is double,
with a pier in the
middle, the tympa-
num being filled
witli carving in me-
dallions on a field of
diapei'. The chancel
firojier is two bays
ong, and the east
window has five
lights. The tower
rises one stage above
the roofs, and is
finished by a four-
sided pyramidal roof.
The internal ar-
rangements are as
follows : — The nave
is occupied with open
movable seats for the
general congrega-
tion; in the south
transept are placed
the children of the
schools; in the north
is the organ. The
vestry is on thenorth
side of the chancel,
in which is intro-
duced, with very
good efiect tlie old
Norman doorway of
the cathedral. The
stalls of the clergy
and choir are placed
under the tower, the
bishop's throne being
on the south side;
all these are of oak;
the back stalls, ten
in number, are for
the clergy, and have
carved ends and di-
visions. The stalls
for the choristers
have ends with a
carved top and finial,
the front being di-
vided into panels,
the upper part of
which is also caned.
The book-board for
the choristers is sup-
ported by columns
with carved lirack-
ets. The bishop's
throne has over it a
canojiy, carried on
columns with carved
caps, the spandrel
are executed by Mr.
The chancel is left
cresting of the canopy is also carved ; they
lorsyth, of London, from the designs of Mr. Slater „ .„ .....
unencumbered with seats, so as to be available for gatherings of the diocesan
Clergy, ordinations, and tlie like. The font is placed near the west door,
ine pulpit stands at the north-west pier of the tower. These were executed
in jJublm by Messrs. Purdv and Outhwaite. who niao <-!iiTi*.H n„t all the.
by Messrs. Purdy and Oiithwaite, who also caiTied out all the
stone carving. The materials used in the general construction are a dark
umeetone, procured in the neiirhbonrhnniL wifli a l!.ri.ter stone from Dun-
church is much in
umeetone, procured in the neighbourhood, with a lighter
gannon for the dressings. The external eilect of the chi
August 9, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
m
m^-"
'^^=^5^5^i^^
i
August 9, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
661
creased bv its very favorable position on the brow of a. gentle elevation. Tliere
are at present only three stained glass windows in the church— two in the south
transept, by Mr. Ward, and one in the south aisle, by Messrs. Clayton and Bell.
Tlie chancel is paved with Minton's tiles. The whole" work forms a memorial to
Bishop Bedell, who was born at Black Notley, in Essex. — Dublin Builder.
Last
The
CHUHCH BUILDING AND RESTORATION.
Re-opctiing of the Parish Church, Gilmorton, Leicestershire. -
week the services hi connection with the above event took place,
morning was ushered in by bell-ringing, band-playing, fla"s flying, and the
smiling, happy countenances of old and young welcoming a day which had been
long looked for. To those that were acquainted with the old church (erected
probably in the thirteenth or fourteenth centuiy, and latterly very much dilapi-
dated), and its limited and exclusive accommodation, the new church will appear
an immense improvement, as, with the exception of the tower (the lower part
of which lias been re-pointed, &c.), the present church is an entirely new erec-
tion, being built of stone and the roof covered with green Welsh slates. The old
edifice internally consisted of nave, north aisle, and chancel, and would probably
accommodate about 2.50 hearers. The new one has nave, north and south aisles,
and chancel, and is estimated to seat about 4.50. The floor of the building is
inlaid with Minton's tiles, tliose in the chancel and altar being glazed. The
pews are of oak ; low backs and open. The carving of the pulpit and altar,
executed by Mr. Forsjth, of London, is very chaste and splendid ; so also is the
stone carving of the capitals, &c., which was done by Mr. Poole, of London. The
font is of Caen stone, on marble pillar, with a Norway oak lid, beautifully
covered with ornamental wrought brass-work, that being tlie gift of the archi-
tect, William, Smith, Esq., of the New Adelplii-chambers, London, from whose
design and under whose inspection the whole of the edifice lias been completed,
and to whom, with the builder, Mr. Law, of Lutterworth, all commendation is
due. The original contract for the building was £1,8C0, but various alterations
and additions having been made, the outlay has been nearly £"^,000, towards
wliich the General Church Building Society has kindly granted £250, and the
Leicester Church Building Society, £100. Subscriptions have also been given
amounting to upwards of £1,400, leaving about £250 to be obtained previous to
the opening service to balance the outlay. .
Lincolnshire. — Re-opening the Chancel of Louth Parish Church. — This
chancel, which has not been occupied for a twelvemonth, was re-opened on tlie
25th ult., having undergone a thorough restoration. Under the management
and supervision of Mr. Fowler, arcliitect (the works being carried on by
Mr. Maxey), a complete renovation has taken place. The chancel floor has
been raised two steps and laid with stone in squares, with bands of chocolate-
colored tiles and encaustic tiles at the intersections. The altar-rail, of brass,
extends the whole breadth of the chancel. There is some beautifully curved oak-
work, cleverly executed by Mr. T. W. Wallis, of Louth. The pulpit, most
elaborately designed and carved, is perfectly unique in its character. The pas-
sages between the seats have been laid with encaustic tiles of a mosaic pattern,
and the north and south aisle windows filled with cathedral glass. The great east
window has been completely repaired and renovated, a great part being filled with
colored glass representing the Crucifixion, &c. The whole cost of the wind ow
is nearly £1,000. The total outlay will be nearly £2,000.
Church Restoration at Highworth, Wilts. — Tlie chancel and Warneford
and CuUerne aisles of the parish church were recently opened. The eastern por-
tion of the fabric has been bricked oB' from the western, and will continue to be so
till the work of the entire restoration is completed. The entire work will cost,
probably between £2,000 and £3,000.
Hoddlesden. — St. Paul's Church. — The foundation stone of this building was
laid a few days since, with the accustomed ceremonies. The building has been
designed in the style usually designated the Geometric Gothic, and consists of a
nave 72 ft. long by 25 ft. wide, divided from a north aisle the same length and
20 ft. wide, by four handsomely moulded stone arches, having sculptured capitals.
The tower is placed at the end of the nave, and opens into it by a lofty stone arch.
The chance) is separated from the nave by a very handsome and lofty arch 30 ft.
long by 22 ft. wide. To the south of the church is placed the organ chamber and
vestry, opening into the chancel. The church will be built almost entirely from
local stone, and the roof will be covered with grey stone slates from Over Darwen.
The tower will be crowned by a spu-e reaching a total height of about 130 ft., and
from its situation will form a conspicuous object from all parts of the valley. Ac-
commodation will be provided for about 5-50 people, 'and the cost will be about
£4,000.
Somersetshire.— St. Peter's Church, Drat/cot, near M'ells.—IKis new
church has been consecrated. Its architectural design is of the early Deco-
rated style, and it consists of a nave and two transepts, with an apse
chancel, and entrances at the north and south. It is built of native stone,
with Doulting stone dressings, the roof being of belted tiles. Over the chancel
arch 13 a bell turret, surmounted by a richly-carved cross, as, indeed, are also the
whole of the gables. The chancel contains, also, tliree beautifully stained-gJass
windows, by Clayton and Bell, of London. The doors are of oals, wainscotted.
The interior fittings of the sacred edifice are decidedly tasteful in their character
and in keeping with the general design and execution. It has an open roof of
stained deul ; the seats are likewise made of stained deal, with the exception of
those in the chancel, which are of pilch iiine. Thepulpit is of Caen stone, and is
decorated with monograms of St. Peter and St. Andrew, with richly carved
cornices. A text of Scripture surrounds the base. The font is also of Caenslone,
ornamented with admirably executed panellings representing the four stages of
•I'l tCi- '^'^'<'"' '^ ''^^ neatly constructed of carved oak. The chancel is laid
with Minton's encaustic tiles, and is, with the transepts, supported by seven
arches, resting on two freestone pillars. Tiie former has a gi-oined roof, which is
decorated with bine, and spangled with gold stars, whilst the timbers also are
partly gilded. The cliancel steps are constructed of polished Draycot stone. Th<j
communion table is of carved oak, and over it is an elegantly diapered reredos,
about eight feet wide by lour feet high, in the centre of which is a handsome cross,
with passion-flowersattheextremities. The edifice islighted by asingle twelve-light
chandelier, manufactured by Mr. Singer, ot Frome, who also executed the whole
oi the metal-work connected with the erection of the building. The contractor
lor tlie carpentry work was Mr. Croom, of Binegar ; whUst Mr. Emery under-
took the rough stone-work, and Mr. Vinnell the freestone or lighterportion of the
masonry, ihe reredos and the whole of the carving is the work of Mr. W.
Bennett, of Portishead ; Mr. Giles, of London, being the architect, under whose
supervision the erection of the sacred edifice has been brought to a most satis-
factory conclusion. The total cost of the church will be probably about £1,400
or £1,500. The site, which comprises an acre of ground, was liberally presented
by Messrs. Cotterell and Spaekman, of Bath, and Mr. Uoclie, of Glastonbury.
The church itself, and the adjacent churchyard, stands on about three-quarters
of an acre of ground, and the remaining quarter of an acre, to which
two acres have lieen purchased and added, has been appropriated for the vicarage-
house.
Restoration of St. Peter's, Wolverltauipion. — Mr. Weguelin tlie member
for the borough, in one of his speeches incidentally alluded to the admirable
restoration of the Collegiate Church, in Wolverhampton, and hts admiration is
shared by everyone capable of appreciating beautiful architecture. But the effect
of the restored nave, and the still greater beauty of the tiuie-tintel tower, render
more than ever manifest the necessity of extending the improvements to the tran-
septs and chancel. We learn that this completion is now determined upon. The
Duke of Cleveland, as lessee of the Deanery Manor, has offered £1,000 towards
this object. The Eeelesiastical Commissioners have consented to subscribe £1,000
towards the same object, provided the work can be caiTied out in accordance
with a report made by Mr. Christian of which the following is a copy : —
"Agreeably to your instructions I have prepared plans, &c., for the restoration
of St. Peter's chancel. I have designed the new work in accordance with the
architecture of the lower part of the tower, which is of the later Decorated style,
and nf the same date as the aisles of the nave. This I believe to be
the correct style to follow, rather (lian that of the later portions of the nave,
which would not only be less effective, but much more costly. I find that it will
be needful to take down the old walls to the level of the window sills, below
which I propose to case them, externally with ashlar, .nnd internally with stone
and alabaster, which will, I believe, be presented for that purpose. The rector's
donation of £500 I propose to be expended on the fittirig-up of the interior,
stained glass windows, and tile flooring ; so that the cost at which I have esti-
mated the rebuilding simply relates to structural improvements. The chancel in
its present state is greatly dilapidated externally, and so wretched in design as
greatly to disfigure the noble church to which it belongs. I have been requested
to provide for rebuilding the vestry in connexion with the chancel : but the cost
of this, as it would be paid by the parishioners, is not included in my estimate."
The various expenses connected with rebuilding the chancel would not cost less
than £4,00d, and the total expenses of restoring the cliancel, transepts, and
churchyard are estimated at from £5,000 to £U,000. The restoration Com-
mittee have determined to commence the work next year. When fully restored,
this church will probably be second to none in Staffordshire for beauty.
Kent. — Reopening of Linton Parish Church. — During the past year this
church has been undergoing a complete restoration, nearly the whole having
been rebuilt, considerably enlarged and beautified. Before the works were
begun, the church consisted of a west tower, nave, and two aisles, three chancels,
and south porch. The tower was a rude and perfectly plain structure, despoiled
of the slight architectural characteristics it may have originally possessed, and
surmounted by a modern spire covered with shingles. The south aisle and porch
were of the late Perpendicular date, and there were two arches of Decorated
character between this aisle and the nave; the north aisle was modern. The three
chancels were in the Perjieiidicular style, the northern (used as a monumental
chapel) being of later date than the others. The pristine church seems to have
consisted only of a nave and chancel, and to have been of early Norman date, as por-
tions of the original quoins remained at both ends of the building, and these were in
part formed of tufa, a material not unfrequently found in Norman churches in this
country. The new works include a prolongation of the buildingtowards the west, the
lebuildingof the porch and south aisle on an enlarged plan in addition to the length
of the chancel, the erection of a vestry on the north side of the chancel, a new
tower with a stone spire at the west end of the north aisle, and the introduction
of two arches between the nave and the north aisle ; the ceilings also have been
renewed and arched, and decorated with wood ribs and appropriate ornaments.
The whole of the new works are in the Perpendicular style, except the additional
arch on the south side of the nave, which is of a Decorated character like the two
old arches with which it is connected. The windows in the south cliancel, which
were greatly decayed, have been restored, and the other windows and doorways
have been as far as possible copied from the old work. The whole of the interior
building has been refitted. The old high pews have given way to most com-
modious parallel sittings, and the hideous gallery having disappeared from the
west end, the seats, screens, reredos, communion rails, &c., in the chancel, as
well as the pulpit and reading-desk, are of carved oak; the other sittings are of
deal, stained andTfamished. The south chancel, of which part was formerly used
as a vestry, has been formed into a music chamber. It is fiirther contemplated
to remove a large four-light window in the north aisle, and insert two windows
of three lights each, similar to those in the south aisle. The north chancel also,
which we have said has been used as a monumental chapel, is about to be
restored, so as to harmonise with the rest of the church. The architect employed
is R. C. Hussey, Esq., of King William-street, London, whose plans have been
most ably carried out by Messrs. Sutton and Vaughan, builders, of Maidstone.
The whole expense has been defrayed by the Ladies Louisa and Elizabeth Com-
wallis, of Linton-park. The reopening of the church took place last week.
Public Offices' Site Bill. — In the House of Lords, TliursJay evening,
the 1st inst, upon the motion for going into Committee on this Bill, Lord Redes-
dale said that although he knew there was a great objection on the part of the
House of Commons to vote money for acquiring land, he hoped that, as a matter of
economy, the Government would bring m a Bill next Session to purchase the
other side of Charles-street and a portion of King-street, because it they did not,
expensive buildings would take the place of the present houses, and ultimately
they would cost the country five times as much money. — Lord Stanley of
Alderley said there was great force in the observations of the noble lord, and the
Government would certainly take the matter into consideration. The Bill then
passed through Committee.
New Public Hall for Congleton. — A company (limited), is projected
for the erection of a spacious public hall and other rooms for this place. The
site is very central, with a broad street for the approach. As soon as two-thirds
of the shares are appropriated, the works will be commenced. The plans are
considered very satisfactory.
662
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 9, 1861.
PROGRESS OF THE METROPOLITAN MAIN DRAINAGE WORKS.
IN hi* liM mon'hlv report on the state of the Main Drainage Works, Mr.
Baalgctte, eniHnwr of tlic Metropolitan Board of Works, states that the
woriu contained in Mr. Kumcsa's contract for the Northern Outfall Sewer are
ftognauitg rapidiv and satisfactorily. The brickwork on the west side of the
TiTCT Leefe now completed ho to wharf wall; the cofFer-dam is being driven in
the river for the east pier of the bridge and towin"-patli. The two dams on the
padding mill stream are complete<l, as are also those on the City mill stream.
The pier of the briJije over the waterworks river, and the centre pier of the bridge
OTerthe Abbey .Mill Creek, are brought up in brickwork level with the surface of
the irmund, and the two piers of the bridge over the Abbey Mill-lane, and those of
the bridce* orer the North Woolwich and Bow and Barking railways, are in a
rimilar slate of forwardness. Along the whole length of works in various places,
the excavations have been extended, and large bodies of concrete foundation for
the aewen have been deposited. The cross trenches or pits in the marsh lands
tar the foundation of the subterranean arches below East Ham church are
progressing quickly, and concrete is filled in for about one-fourth of the number
of arches required to l>e constructed. The inverts and their side walls of the
three lines of sewers now being constructed at Plaistow are, for about 500 feet in
leneth, completed. The works are well supplied with materials of good
«|^itv, and the value of the work executed up to tlie present time
is abo'ut £60,000. The Northern High-level Sewer works are completed.
Of the Middle-level Sewer contract, Messrs. Brassey and Co. have com-
irieted about 9,700 feet of sewer at different points, and varying from
4 feet 6 inches by 3 feet, to 12 feet by 9 feet internal dimensions, in the
neigbbonrhoods of Old Fonl and Paddington. The workmanship and materials
are of good quality. The Ranelagh Storm Overflow Sewer progresses slowly, the
work having dipped into bad ground, with a considerable flow of water at the
northern end of the Serpentine and a portion of it having to be tunnelled in order
to avoid the ornamental trees in the gardens. About 4,500 feet have been com-
pleted at a cost of £I8,.500. The Southern Outfall Sewer tunnel under Woolwich
IS completed, and the works at Erith marshes and four other places between
Woolwich and Greenwich are progressing satisfactorily. In all about 22,047
feet, or i\ miles of sewer are now constructed under this contract at an estimated
cost of about £183,.500. Of the Southern High-level Sewer, about one-half of
the contract is completed ; the works are now in progress at Church-street,
Deptford, New-cross, St. Mary's-road, Peckham, Hanover-road, Peckham,
East Dulwich, and Dulwich. About 5| miles of sewer are constructed in all, at
a cost of about £96,500. The Deptford pumping station now progresses
TigjOTOUsly ; the copper dam in Deptford Creek, the temporary pumping engines
ain cylinders, and the foundations of the engine-house, are all in a state of
Ibrwanlneas. The value of the work done is about £8,000.
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS IN TASMANIA.
SEVERAL public and private buildings in IlobartTown are rapidly progressing,
which will contribute much to the adornment of the capital. The new Post-
office at the comer of Macquarie and Murray streets is approaching completion.
Tlie ground forming the site of the new Museum of the Royal Society is being
cleared and prepared for the foundation of that handsome building.
At a meetmg of the Council of the Royal Society the following tenders for the
erection of the proposed Museum were opened : — Messrs. Andereon and Lockie,
£4,805: Mr. John Gowland, £4,705; Mr. J. Gregory, £4,625; Mr. W.
Andrews, £4,470; Messrs. Young and Williams, £4,220 ;"Mr. J. Rait, £3,918;
Mr. A.M. Nicol, £3,845; Messrs. Seabrook and Son, £3,772?. The tender of
Messrs. Seabrook and Son was accepted, and the work has been commenced by
clearing the foundation at the angle of Macquarie and Argyle streets. Improve-
ments of a more practically useful character are being advanced in various parts
of the colony, and the work of contracting for roads proceeds. A large number
of hands are employed in the construction of the Sorell Causeway.
Before many months have passed the site of the old Government House in
Uaequarie-street will be covered with handsome buildings, which will not only
be an ornament to the city, but a credit to the constructors. The new Post
Ofiiee is rising rapidly in the place of the old Supreme Court, and will form, when
finished, a very fine eilifice, with large accommodations for postal business.
In a short time the new .Museum will be commenced at the angle of Argyle and
Macqnarle-streets, and, judging from the drawings and plans of the architect,
Mr. Hunter, we may expect a building chaste and tasteful in design, without any
false or meretricious ornament, and admirably appropriated to the objects re-
quired. This will constitute a great architectural improvement to the street, and
will be in every way worthy of the colony and of tlie important scientific uses to
which it is to be applied. Other edifices will occupy the vacant space on the
Mme scale of magnitude and elegance, not omitting a Town Hall, when the pre-
sent diagraceful apology for such a building will be cleared from the ground, and
the ey«« of the citizens no longer offended by the sight of the ricketty barn-like
encumbrance.
The new chnrch dedicated to St. Paul, and lately erected in Cleveland-street,
Launceslon, was opened for divine worship on Sunday, the 12th May.
/-./^«., BUILDING PROGRESS AT NAA8.
tJOME alteration are in progress at St. David's parish church, Naas. Among
►J others, an Early English triplet window, 18 feet in height, is in course of
CTCction inthe cliancel, to the memory of the late vicar, the Rev. Walter de
Borgb. Thepins have polished limestone columns, with carved capitals, dog
tooth, fcc. The stone work and sculpture are being carried into execution by
Me«n. Abbey and Harrison, of Great Brunswick-street. The stained glass by
Edaionfon. A re-arrangement of pews is being made, open ones with carved
beocb-ends being substituted ; chancels altered, passages tiled, &c., &c. Mr.
Thomu Drew, architect. This church contains a few remains of the Eariy
English period ; among others, a very fine and venerable font, part of which is
In excellent pres<Tvation. We may mention that the lil)erality and good taste of
some departed churchwardens have fitted it with wooden legs, IjeautiJullv <Mrncd,
and that its youth has Iwen renewed wwkly by being blaclileaded. A tower—
eommented on a gigantic scale in the last century, by a defunct Lord Mayo,
wggjrtlTe in Its uncompleted vastness of the tower of Babel— contains a very
ane bell of the »ii teen thcenturv, as it informs the inquirer by a Ijitin inscrip-
non. A very beautiful stone pulpit, lectern, &c., were erected a short time since;
"««■«• Purdy and Outbwaile, sculptors.
The town of Naas presents few objects of interest and little signs of progress ;
within the last year or two additions have been made to the county gaol and
court-house ; Mr. M'Cnrdy, architect ; and the Town Commissioners have con-
verted the old gaol into a town-hall for public purposes. It does not call for any
special remarks whether viewed constructionaily or artistically. The town is
still unlighted with gas, and does not boast of a bank, although the assize town
of the county.
To the generally uninteresting architectural character of the town, the spire of
the Roman Catholic Church offers an exception. It is, we believe, the work of
Mr. M'Cartliy, and is of remarkable beauty ; viewed from all points of the low,
flat country, by which it is surrounded, whether in sunshine or storm, it presents
an object on which the eye ever dwells pleasantly. Inter alia we may mention
that close to the town are extensive ruins of a brick building, in the Jacobean
style, interesting as having been commenced by the unfortunate Strafford, and
the building of which is said to have been one of the sins laid to his chni-ge in the
indictment which cost him his head. A mansion is in course of erection in the
neighbourhood, for Richard Moore, Esq., of which Messrs. Lanyon, Lynn and
Lanyon are the architects; its elevated situation, lofty tower, and uplifted gables
make it a prominent feature in the landscape. Not far from this a mansion has
been erected for Penthony O'Kelly, Esq., which presents some features worthy
of notice. — Dublin Builder.
CLIFTON SUSPENSION-BRIDGE.
THE first general meeting of this Company was held on Friday last, at Bristol.
The report stated that of the £.35,000 required, £:W,000 had been subscribed.
In addition to the contract which has been concluded for the purchase of the chains
of the llungerford-bridge, and their erection at Clifton, arrangements have l)een
also entered into for the supply and erection of the remainder of the ironwork and
platforms of the bridge. The chains from Hnngerford will be delivered so soon
as the new Hungerford-bridge is in a sufficiently forward state, and the directors
of the Charing-cross Railway Company are making every exertion to open their
bridge at the earliest possible period. The Chairman, in moving the adoption of
the report, said it was as long back as 1753 that Alderman Vich bequeathed
£1,000 for the purpose of effecting a communication between the two counties of
Somerset and Gloucester. This fund had accumulated for 77 years, when it
amounted to £8,300, and in 1830the first Act was obtained for completing the
bridge, at an estimated cost of £52,000. After an expenditure of £44,700 the
works were abandoned. A model of the bridge would be placed in the Great
Exhibition of 1862, and he trusted would be afterwanls transferred to the city of
Bristol. With regard to the time of the completion of the bridge there was con-
siderable difficulty in holding out any distinct promise, because it would depend
in a great measure upon the destruction of the present bridge over the Thames at
Hnngerford, >nd it would probably be the spring of next year before they ob-
tained possession of the chains. The directors were, however, extremely anxious
that this bridge should be proceeded with without delay, and constructed for the
sura of money which they had already reported as sufficient for the purpose. Mr.
A. J. Knapp seconded the adoption of the report, which was carried unanimously,
and after sundry routine business, the meeting separated.
QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF VENTILATION.
IT is a popular fallacy that all the advantages of good and effective ventilation
are secured by the free transmission of air through a building or the apart-
ments thereof; but a wide difference in reality exists between the effect which
quantity has on quality when property diffused, and when it is not so. That
vitiated or heated air ascends above the pure or colder atmosphere, as oil does on
water, is as easily comprehensible a theory, as that water finds its level ; and yet
from this simple fact not being suflSciently borne in mind in the arrangement of
buildings, much defective ventilation is prevalent. Our churches, theatres, eon-
cert-rooms, and other halls for public assemblies, are mostly built with provision
through numerous corridors, opens, &c., for a never-failing supply of cold air,
while but comparatively little is secured for the withdrawal of the heated, in the
positions to which its nature causes it to tend, and proportionately to the quan-
tity sure to be generated where a crowd is assembled. The consequence to the
health of the frequenters is most deleterious, as the vitiated air vainly seeking
vent at the highest level of the apartment, being forcibly pushed up by the
heavier element, is cast down to be rebreathed alike by the healthy and the
uniiealthy into the sources from which it was emitted; and could we but
analyse this heterogeneous mixture, what a variety of poisonous ingredients
would be found therein ! But to bring the subject more " home," our dwell-
ing-houses are often built in utter defiance of all sanitary principles,
a current of air from the front door meets another from the back, and simul-
taneously uniting, they rush into the apartments, up the chimneys, up the stair-
eases, and down again. Fireplaces are so planned that, if their contents were
sufficient " to roast an ox," the perpetual draught of biting air not only prevents
the equable diffusion of heat, but the two extremes meeting treacherously affect
the physical system of the occupants. The faelof a fireplace being in a bed-room
is regarded as a guarantee of perfect ventilation, but this too is a mistaken
notion ; for, if placed diamelricaily opposite the door, the air ruslies to the fiue
with such rapidity as only to create a current from side to side without in any
way serving to expel the vitiated air generated by a sleeper. The same forget-
fulness of that "simple fact" also induces the opening of the lower sash of a
window when an apartment becomes heated, but the consequence is, that though
a volume of fresh air certainly will rush in, still the foul remains playing up-
wards; and the temperature at the feet becomes suddenly changed to cold, while
that at and above the head is still warm. How, under such circumstances, can
sufferers from severe colds, bronchitis, &c., &c., wonder whence they originated?
The average amount of the oxygenic essential (for each individual) is 600 cubic
feet, but for the better preservation of health this must lie constantly changing,
not in quantity, not by the production of currents and draughts, but by main-
taining the quality, which can only be effected by perpetual supply of fresh, and
a perpetual expulsion of the foul. — Dublin Builder.
Chichester Spire Behuilding. — Lord Henry Lennox, M.P., the chair-
man of a committee appointed to make provision for the restoration of the spire
of Chichester Cathedral, has issued a notice stating that a sum of £20,000 is still
required to secure the accomplishment of the work.
August 9, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
663
CHURCH OF ST. JAMES THE LESS, UPPER GARDEN STREET,
WESTMINSTER.
IT is a remarkable fact that the most elaborate of our modern churches
are built in poor and closely-packed districts. The darker the circum-
stances of the surrounding population, the brighter is the art which is set
ill the midst of it. In "improving property " we find a neat, respectable
style of church %vith little originality, and little merit, even in its copyism.
The fabric is built, like a new novel, in numbers. A popular preacher
steps in to the half-tlnislied building, waters the sapling with his tears, and
suns it with his smiles, until by the collateral aid of fancy fairs and other
devices, a nice little theological business is completed, and every shelf and
gallery well stocked with respectable tenants ; it is a pleasant prospect to
the clergyman, and to all the speculating builders who have taken
ground in the neighbourhood, by whom tlie advantages of church accommo-
dation is duly puffed and paraded. These kind of churches are unfortu-
nately very conspicuous.
The churches whieli are planted to improve the neglected humanity
crowding in low, dirty neighbourhoods, instead of the land upon which
decent houses are built, have altogether a different character. Tlioy are
founded by the purest benevolence, and the most unobtrusive piety :'they
are adorned by the best art wliich the country can boast of. No pretty
garden or green lawn surrounds them but, instead, a r.ink rotting field of
sin and debaucherj-. Let any one pick his way through the ring of tilth
which encloses Mr. Butterfiekl's church in Gray's -inn-lane, and he will
enter one of the noblest churches which has been raised since the reform.a-
tion. The same architect's church in Margaret-street, faulty as we venture
to think it in many respects, is still a famous work and full of beauty.
The church of St. James the Less in Upper Garden-street is another of the
superior order of English churches, inferior to neither of those we have
mentioned ; in many points superior to them. We are not, however,
going to instituto, any comparison between them. Wo men-ly wisli
to give an idea of the kind of church which Mr. George E. Street has
produced, and to place it at once above the crowd of respectable mediocrity.
We may have objections to make to certain iletails, but they will be fairly
stated ; they do not affect the principles upon which the church has been
built, which have our warmest approbation, nor the merit which is due
to the accomplished architect.
The church is in the rear of the Vauxhall-bridge-road, and its spire is
only occasionally visible between the gaps of chimney-stacks and roofs of
liouses there. It is so hemmed in by houses that a complete view cannot
be obtained of itj but at the first glance we see a bright mass of originality,
varied throughout in color and ornament, sparkling with the best qualities
of ripe Gothic art. The church has a nave and aisles, chancel,
aisles — which, externally, have the appearance of double-gabled transepts —
a vestry, and a tower connected by an arcade with the nortli-west angle
of the nave. (We are assuming that the church stands due east and west,
but we fancy that it is not directly so situated.) ;The church is lighted by
windows in the eastern semicircular apse, by windows in the aisles, western
■wall, and clerestory. One of the windows — the easternmost one— of the
clerestory is raised higher than the rest and gabled. It gives variety to
the general external outline, but it causes a defect in the interior, which
we shall presently allude to. The chief material of which the church is
built is red brick, inside and out. The roofs are covered with blue and
purple slates. Medallions are introduced between the north windows, and
will contain subjects from the Old Testament. One of these only, repre-
senting the '-Creation," is as yet finished. The "Wise and Foolish
Virgins" will be sculptured over the north door. The tower is a square
mass, surmounted by a slated spire and four smaller spires at the angles.
These latter we think somewhat too large for their situation, and interfere
with the apparent size of the central feature. The two large belfry
windows, with their large grand slated louvres, are rich in their depth of
reveal and carving, but the arches are somewhat stilted, and the foliated
ornament is too large. It tends, as also do the meaningless nobs in the
spandrel!?, to dwarf the tower. The nobs, being in high relief, appear
ready to fall off, and we really wish they would do so. The value of orna-
ment in increasing or diminishing the apparent size of a large mass is very
plainly visible in this tower. An indented edging of the lead on the
cornice is a lovely adjunct to it, rightly placed and beautifully propor-
tioned. It is one of those simple contrivances which great artists alone
conceive, and which influences the effect of the whole tower. It crowns,
most appropriately, the square solid mass; it is infinitely more than a
mere bit of ornament, it is part and parcel of the grandeur which rests
upon the whole tower. The lower portion of the tower is also very well
designed. The piers are massive, the arch- lines stern and simple; there
is room for good patches of shade, whilst the open arcade relieves the
sombre aspect of the entrance. There is no better piece of design through-
out the church than the approach to it.
The interior has at first a rather crude look, on account of the quantity
of red brick, but it is more, perhaps, from its novelty than from any other
cause. The skirting, to the heiglit of some 3 feet 6 inches, is faced with
Maw's tiles, black, buff', red, and chocolate, a very good and durable lining;
but we think it an error to arrange them in diagonal patterns, which
destroy the solid appearance which they ought to possess in common with
the rest of the work. On floors di.igonal lines are all very well ; they do
not there suggest the idea that they will rapidly fall out of their place*,
but in walls they immediately suggest such a catastrophe. In the new
church at Kensington-park they are laid in bands of different thicknesses,
and their effect is considerably better.
The nave is in three bays; the columns dividing it from the aisles are
of red polished granite, with elaborately carved stone caps. These and
most of the carving throughout the church have been executed, and very
ably executed, by Mr. W. Pearcc. Each capital contains four distinct
groups; those on the north illustrate the miracles, those on the south the
parables of our Lord. They are rich in workmanship, and most satis-
factory in design. Both general outline and detail have been studied
carefully and drawn in with that power which Mr. Street perhaps, above
all modern architects, possesses. The foliage and figures mingle with sur-
prising grace and beauty, whilst the true Gothic sentiment pervades them
all alike. The joints of the granite columns are concealed by moulded
stone rings, an expedient not altogether to our fancy ; it will assuredly
get chipped and injured, and, moreover, it breaks, quite unnecessarily the
vertical line of the columns. The aisle windows are grouped in a series of
arcades — a novel and very beautiful arrangement. Not less original and
beautiful is the method of lii;hting the church by gas jets. We are
familiar with the oft-repeated standards on the seats and of brackets
twisted and painte 1 in the spandrels. Here we have, instead, corona; round
theshafts of the groining in ap.se and brackets, rectangularon plan with rows
of jets on the top, in spandrels. The effect, we imagine, will be very fine.
These have been wrought by Mr. Leaver, of JIaidenhead. The brick
arches are notched at the arrises and blocks of stone, incised and filled with
cement, as at All Saints', Margaret-street, are inserted alternately with
bricks in the arches. The font is of Derbyshire alabaster in one block
upon clustered columns. The roof of the church is boarded between the
arched ribs, and covered with painted ornament. In the centre of each
comp.artment is a head of one or other of the ancestors of Christ, arranged
as a Tree of Jesse, and a cross in the foliage over it. These are rather too
large, especially as they are seen in connexion with the fresco over the
chancel arch. The ornament is likewise too large, and the whole of the
strengt'; and brightness of its color mars the efiiict which Mr. Watts'
fresco ought to have. We slioull like to see the whole toned down con-
siderably. The ornament is unexceptionable in itself, but if it had been
loss prominent it would, we think, have given height to the church, and
brought out more powerfully the sterling qualities of the fresco. As the
height of the nave is diminished by the vivid color of the ceiling, so is the
length of it curtailed in .appearance by the irregular heightof the eastern-
most window. The projection of it into the roof is an unpleasing feature,
and the projecting gilt stars in the soffit of this window and on the cornice
of the nave remind us more of a theatre than of a ehurcli. This window
most likely was enlarged to throw additional light on the fresco, but
unfortunately it does not do so.
A most important work connected with art is the fresco by Mr. G. F.
Watts on the east wall of the nave. Wo at present know so little of the
power that may be obtained by the modern fresco painter, that it is
difficult to decide on bejng satisfied. In this painting we have, however,
a means of comparing theartist with himself, as the phrase goes, because
the principal subject is separate from the figures below it, which fill up the
spaces on each side of the arch, over which it is placed. In the upper
part the Saviour is seated in the centre, on each are groups of angels in
prayer. All the figures are supported upon clouds. The highest part of
the background is gold, and the lowest graduates from a light to a dark
blue; the colors of the central figure are well arranged to unite the two
extremes. The red dress of the Saviour supplying the primitive concord
between the gold and the blue, while tlie yellowish drapery from the same
figure connects the golden tint with the upper and fainter portion of the
blue beneath. With respects to the other artistic merits of the principal
composition, although clever and graceful, we think the treatment of the
Evangelists on each side of it is far superior in style, design, and color,
and if tiie feeling in which they have been conceived and executed had
been carried upwards, we then should probably have had a fresco as fine
as we have, at the present day, any reason to expect. We must, however,
in candor state that it is scarcely possible for any work of pictorial art
to be submitted to a more severe comparison, and it is particularly unfor-
tunate for the unavoidable paleness of fresco colors to be so severely
tested. In fiont of the picture is the richness of tlie roof, full of boldly
marked and high colored ornamentation, assisted by the ricli warm tint of
the brickwork, and behind and below it is the chancel, built in the same
material, and while the painting receives little or no light from above, the
spectator, to see it at all looks up, while the rays of light charged with
the brilliancy and gorgeous hues from the chancel window of stained
glass, dazzles his eyes and increases the apparent flatness and poverty of
the fresco colors. The most powerful oil picture that was ever paintM
could not hold its ground against such vigorous opponents. Still, the broad,
severe drawing and the purity and quality of the tints in which the
Evangelists are executed, would, as wo have said, if the whole had been
treated in the same style, have produced a fine specimen in this branch of
art.
We cannot understand why the spectator should have been imagined on
a level with the upper portion of the fresco, and looking down upon the
figures of the Evangelists, when they can never be seen except by looking
up at them from the floor of the church. The consequence of this arrange-
ment is that we are shown the upper side of St. Mark's book, and his leg
appears to be too short on account of the foreshortening, which wc hardly
ai)preciate in the position whence we regard it. There is no doubt about
its being correctly drawn, but it does not seem so until we imagine our-
selves placed above it.
The inner arch of the chancel opening is carried on d warf columns and
corbels. The arches between the chancel and the aisles are filled with
iron gates, beautifully designed, as, indeed, is all the metal work throughout
the building. From the south chancel aisle a door leads into a small
vestry, and in the north one an organ, by Nicholson, of Worcester, is built •
664
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 9> 1861.
The ciuuioel U vaulted with red brick and an occasional band of white
brick most dexterously introduced, and boldly moulded stone ribs ; thej
have inlaid ornament upon the upper portion of them. The floor is laid
■with rich tiles, oacasionally mixed with marble. Tlie lower surface of the apse
walls is decorated in a novel and very effective way, in a sort of niello, like
the medieval brasses, and comprises figures of women under niches, on
either side of the central cross. On the south we fiud the subjects taken
from the Old Testament— Hannah, Kuth, Sarah, and another; and on the
north they are taken from the New Testament— Mary, the mother of
James, Mary ilagdalcn, St. Elizabeth, and St. Mary the Virgin. These
figure*, with the enclosing ornament, are incised in tlie stone, and filled
in with black cement. This kind of ornament has a splendid effect, and
is capable of a great amount of expression. The figures are beautifully
drawn, but the lines ought to have been of uniform thickness, and the
depth produced by slight hatching, like the old woodcuts, instead of being
graduated to points, as they are here done
The glass in the chancel is rather weak, perhaps on account of the
strong color in the walls of the church, and this defect reveals a barren-
ness in the inside of the stonework which holds it. Tlie architect, no
doubt, intended this portion to be darkened, and therefore very properly
left it blank, but the intended depth is not produced through the want
of strength in the color of the glass. The glass is by Clayton and Bell,
whose names are evidence of its masterly drawing and execution. We
have so frequently had occasion to admire their work that ue feel they
will appreciate our motives in mentioning the feature wherein we now
think it deficient. The chancel windows rcprc-ient a series of types and
anti-types. The altar is a plain deal table, but the altar-clotli has been
elaborately embroidered by the Misses Monk, the founders of the church,
assisted by Mrs. Hooke. A marble cross is let in over the altar, and
emblems of the Evangelists fill the spaces between the branches of it.
The three windows in the south aisle have been given by Mr. Hunt.
They represent three of the Apostles, with subjects from their lives below.
The credence niche is decorated with carved stone and the incised orna-
ment which we liave before alluded to. The sculpture in the head of the
arch is as fine a bit of Gothic design as wo have ever witnessed. Corn-
blades and vine-leaves are arranged in a splendid fashion and capitally
carved. The altar-plate has been uiiide by Messrs. Hunt and Roskell ; it
is a present from Mr. C. Monk. The chancel is fitted with oak seats for
the choir ; they have ugly poppy-heads. The nave is fitted with
movable benches of oak.
The pulpit is a ricli mass of sculpture, with marble columns at the
angles. It contains a series of groups illustrative of preaching. In the
first, St. John preaching ; in the fecond, the Dispute with the Doctors ;
in the third, the Sermon on the Jlount ; in the fourth, St. Augustine
preaching. Below them arc sitting figures of the Evangelists and
Doctors, very comically set amid the stunted marble columns and large
massive foliage. As a single piece of design, the pulpit is the least satis-
factory part of the church — it is too crowded with sculpture, and the
foliage completely overpowers the figures. Foliage and figures arc alike
admirably designed, but they do not meet happily. Eitlie? would be well
with a modification of the other. The strips of color, also, in the angle
shafts arc disconnected, and contrast too violently in consequence with
the prevailing whiteness. Every part of it, however, has been well
executed by 4Ir. Farmer.
The total cost of this magnificent structure, including all decorations
and fnrnitare, will be between .£8,500 and 4:9,000. Mr. G. Myers is the
builder of it. It has been, as we stated last week, founded by the
daughters of the late Bishop of Gloucester (Dr. Monk), as a memorial of
their father, who was canon of Westminster.
The district was formed out of that of St. Mary, Tothill Fields, and
endowed by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, who have presented
the Rev. G. D. W. Dickson.
The whole of tlie work, of every kind (except Mr. Watts' fresco), have
been executed from the designs of Mr. George Edmund Street ; and we
cannot leave the subject without according a hope that we shall soon
look upon something similar to it. We recognise in this church a good
forward step, not only in Gothic art but in the employment of divers arts
and jiurc taste for tlie erection and adornment of buildings devoted to
the service of the Anglican Churcli.
KENT ABCHjKOI/XIICAJ, SOCIETY.
rE fourth Annnal Congnm ol tbis Society wan licid on Weducaday and Thunday of last
week, and was the moet mooesifai of any that have yet been bcUL The first place of
meetiog wajs at the Maidstone Town Hall, v^hcre the lu^ual annual bnsinesg was tran8acte<l
maderthc presidency of the Harrinl^ CaindpTi. The arclinologipts then proceeded to All
fiatet^ Clinreh , where Mr. Bercfifunl-IIojje delivered an explanatorj' lecture on the t^acrecl
•difice. Next to the CoHese, when; Mr. I'ark(T (the hti<t^}rian of the '* Domestic Architecture
ofthc Sxtcenih Century ) explained the variouit points of inU-rest : going on to Allington
OiMa, of the Mwardian period, Mr. I'arker's valuable as^ijitance waa again given to the
^^wfaptrt*. In the afternoon the dinner took place In the Com Exchange ; and was a
lUMMiooeasful reunion. The proceedings of tlic day were most appropriately wound up
"T » fj'* '" t*"^ Town Hall, where varloan lupcrs were read and antiquarian lore
On Thonday a pa|«T was nnd at the Town Hall, lijthc Itcv. Mr. SIfttter, on " Kit's Coty
Bmmc, after which two eieorf ion parties were urganiacl, one to Leeds Castle, and the
etbai to " The Friars," at Aylestord ; and this fliiiihc-d the wliolc jiroccedhigs.
London Atsociation of Foremen Engineeri. — On last Saturday night
the ordinary monthly ineetiiig of this Society took place at their rooms, in St.
Rwitfafn's-laiie, City. 'J'lit jiajier read was by Mr. Howbridge, and was on a
wheel for lifting water and other fluUls. Wc regret that want of space compels
na to onjit it this wiek, but we shall find room for it in our next.
" RECOLLECTIONS OF A. W. N. PUGIN."
NOTHING is more interesting than recollections of men of eminence
or genius, when, derived solely from personal acquaintance and
long intimacy, they convey to us the private history of actions, conver-
sations, and peculiarities, by which we are the better able to form a
correct estimate of a man than by biographies, too frequently written
by strangers, who are only collectors of materials from all quarters and
persons, and without the means of testing their truth ; by the publica-
tion of such works very mistaken opinions of character are too often
formed.
The book to which we now have to refer bears the name of " RecoUcc-
of A. W. N. Pugin." Although this seems to be an unpretending title,
not professing to be a history of his lile, still it implies very unmis-
takably that the author's acquaintance with Pugin was of such a con-
tinuous and intimate nature that he was enabled to give " recollections " of
the numerous interesting, events, conversations, and traits of character,
by which we should become familiar with him in his private life, and be
enabled to gain an insight into the working of his mind and the secret of
his mighty powers and designs, but none of this is realized.
The life of Welby Pugin would be a most ditficuU one to write, inas-
much as his actions were very antagonistic and contradictory. Nothing
but a continuous and close intimacy with him could produce a knowledge
of his motives of action, and during the last few years of his life, many
things transpired of such a nature, as could only be attributed to a state
of mental affliction. Thus, many things have been [.roduced as evidences
of character which were, in reaUt3', but temporary peculiarities, easily to
he accounted for ; his oddities of action were but the passing shadows
which too often obscured the brightness of his life and genius. Caprice
and ill-nature have, unfortunately, been considered to have entered
largely into his real character, and his genius said to be but the accident
of his life, which he used injudiciously, and for other purposes than that
of the regeneration of Medieval art.
But now for a consideration of the work before us, which is to
convey an idea of Pugin's eventful life through the author's "Recollec-
tions." How this can be brought to pass I know not, as my poor friend
Pugin used to say that with one exception he had not seen him for twenty
years, and had never visited him. These "Recollections" must most
assuredly have been gathered from individuals who knew little more than
the author himself. Pugin's second wife died seventeen years since, and
his family were then much too young to remember any events of their
father's history, and he lived too short a time after his last marriage for
his wife to know much about him. The book abounds more in dreams
than " recollections." The " Appendix," in which we find Pugin's
" writings and characters in their Catholic aspect," must be considered
as a work of mistaken inspiration of the author. In the excellent
article in the Saturday Review, it has been well described as " wordy
and tautologous to the last de.eree;" and for myself I cannot tinder-
stand what can be the use of it ; it reviews Pugin's works, and con
strues them according to fancy, but the author seems to have no idea
that Pugin's mind and reflections were progressive, and that he had out-
lived some of his early sentiments. Welby Pugin would, indeed, be amused
at the endeavour made in some 160 pages to explain the mystery of
his writings. It seems a very proper finale to the fictions with which
the book abounds. With these remarks I now propose to consider
the work generally, with a view to its accuracy in fact, as well as to'
counteract the erroneous conclusions which may be drawn from many
statements, most injudiciously and improperly introduced.
" The elder Pugin," we are informed, " was born in France, in 1762."
How has this information been obtained ? Mr. Pugin did not know his
own age ; so I have more than once heard him say in the presence of his
wife and his sister, Madame Lafitte. The sequence to it, so far as
refers to his family, is all a supposition— there was no evidence of it. The
story tliat Mathews founded liis character of Mons. Mallet on Mr. Pugin,
is likewise vague. I went, somewhat about the year 1825, with Mr. Pugin,
to see the " Trip to America," in which this said character was introduced
by Mathews, and, although ho was amused at the piece, he only remarked,
that there were too many Mons. Mallet's in England.
The author's knowledge of Mr. Nash is singular, for he states that j
Mr. Nash recommended the publication of his pleasured works on Gothic I
architecture. Mr. Pugin dedicated his Vol. I. of " Specimens of Gothic" 1
to Mr. Nash, as a compliment; but the late Mr. E. J. Willson, of Lincoln,
suggested tlie publication, while he was at Lincoln, in 1819— years after
Mr. Pugin had lett Mr. Nash's oflice, and he was married to Catherine
Welby ten years before this event. Tlie sequence of the history is so
generally incorrect, that it is a matter of much difficulty to make it out,
nnich less to revise it, and it is put together without the least care or
judgment.
All the odd things related of Mr. Nash I must leave to the author,
whose memory is so retentive of events which took place in 17G2.
The anecdote of Mr Nash, acting together with Mathews and Pugin, is
somewhat difiicult to understand, for Pugin at this time could scarcely
speak a word of the English language, and what part he played in the "School
for Scandal" I cannot imagine. 1 have heard that Mr. Nash performed
for amusement, but it was at some small town in Wales, where he met
Mathews. The date when Mr. Pngin set out first for Normandy was in
1824, not 1825; we went to Paris en route, and staid there three weeks or
more. The author was not of this party. In 182u, Mr. Pugin went
again to Paris, but without his wife or son. The story of Mr. Pugin's
scruples about taking the capital at .Jumiege, on the Seine, is incorrect.
He was the real instigator of the removal, and kept the unsuspecting
August 9, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
66
)i}
party iu coiivcrsalioii wiiilst liis pupils carried tlie capitiil uway. Why,
Mr. Author, do you give way to sucli niia-statcnieiits? You are so full of
wliiu]s mid fancies that I know not how to follow you, but I will now pro-
ceed to the consideration of that which more immediately concenis me —
Tiz., Welby rugin.
The portrait of Welby Pugin is about as unlike liim as it can possibly
be. Herbert's portrait is a striking likeness, and recalls my old friend to
my raeuiory.
Mr. Brunei and Mr. Pugin were, to a certain extent, interested togetlier
in getting up a scheme for a London cemetery, on the principles of
those at Paris. A largo bird's-eye view was made, wliioli was colored by
Copley Fielding, but " Augustus making himself useful " in this matter is
a puzzle; /le did nothing at nil towards it. Pugin never copied the prints of
Albert Durer and Silvester in the print-room at the IJritish Murcum ; he
met one of the firm there, who informed him that they had an old plate,
and he went to see it, hence his designing for them. Ills introduction
with Morel and Scddon had nothing to do witli this ; it was originated by our
drawing all the furniture and marbles at the old Carlton House lor the
king to decide where they should be placed ; and, in the course of time,
Morel and Seddon had to furnish Windsor Castle, and Welby Pugin
designed the furniture at their house for one guinea per diem. A great
deal ol useless and uninteresting matter is here introduced, which makes
the book heavy in the extreme ; ia short, there is too greut a sympathy
between the book and the " Appendix"; one barely keeps you awake and,
the other positively sends you to sleep.
We ne.xt come to Chapter VI. In the heading of tlie contents it is stated
"Bad Effects of Associating with Low Society " — "Establishes an Art
Manufactory." How much 1 pity a man who can thus drag to light the
great imjiropriclij of making a temporary acquaintance with the individual
who first took him behind the scenes at Covent-garden 'Jheatre, bearing in
mind that his age at the period of committing this iniquity was seventeen,
one would have thought tliis passage rather a prelude raisoiine to George
Barnwell instead of A. W. P. How much more than usual dislike would
he have had for his father's pupil if he could have anticipated such an un-
generous insinuation: however, let it pass ; the foot-note explains who this
low person was. We next come to the observations on Pugin's liking for
sailing, which a>-e in the same exaggerated spirit as the rest of the
book. The anecdote of Pugin meeting his father while carrying a tub
of water is an invention of the most transparent kind. The boat in whidi
Pugin was interested lay in a wliarf situate a full mile from St. Dunstan's
Churcli in the Citj'. What was tlieie to induce him to go that distance
for water when it could be obtained close to the wharf? and why should
he carry it in a tub? Pugin no more liked playing the part of Aquarius
than other people. I have been with him at many ports and harbors, and
never saw such an instance of atti."ction for a waur-tub. Can the author
recollect what the father was doing " this morning " at St. Dunstan's so
far from his own house? had he come to fetch some of this magic water for
liis own use ? AV'hile on this branch of the " Recollections " I may make
exception to another rather impossible anecdote.
Pugin is stated to have gone to his publisher's and taken from under his
huge pilot-coat the copper-plates of his work on "True Principles of
Gotliic Architecture," all ready for provin g, and it is affirmed that he
etched these plates while at sea. Now this is too bad ; my old friend could
do wonderful things and funny things, but this feat of engraving plates at
sea, with so much detail in tliem, he did not ; in proof thereof, I hereby
declare that they were etched in my rooms conjointly, and that they were
bit and proved by me, and X have the first proofs now in my possession.
I have as yet given but a few of the remarks I intend to offer on these
" Recollections." I am jnst on the point of starting for the Khine, but I
hope to be able to continue them in next week's Number.
As I, like Pugin, do not sail under false colors, I subscribe my name.
Talbot Buhy.
■»
THE THAMES EMBANKMENT AKD DEODORISATITOI OF THE SEWAGE.
ON WediiKiday evoiiiiig a public meeting of the ratop-iyers of the Metropolis was held at
Ejccter-hall, " to consider the propriety of adopting resolutions condemna-
torj- of the plans at present contemplated by the Metrojiolitan Board of Works" in
reference to the above subject. The mcctinp; w'as not very numerously attended. Uesby
HOAllK, E.S.J., a inembcr of the Vestry of .St. Martins-in-the-Fields, (under whoso auspices
the meeting was convened) occupied the chair, and on the platform were a number of the
other meniliers of tliat vestry.
The CllAlIlJUN in opening the buginese of the meeting said, that this was a publicmect-
Ing of the ratepayers of the Metropolis. It might be regarded as a continuation of a
meeting of the ratepayers of St. Martin's, held hero ou the 1 3th of June. 18li(J, pursuant to
public notice to jietition against the construction of a Low-level North Sewer along the
Ktrand and t'leet-strcet. That meeting was unanimous in favor of some embankment east
of Westminster-bridge, \s-ithin which such sewer might be constructeil. A petition was
addressed to both Houses of Tarliamcnt, urging upon them to give the Metropolitan Board
of WorkJ the powers and the necessary funds for carrying out this import.-mt undertaking,
the meeting being of opinion that the charge should not be exclusively borne by the
already heavily-taxert ratepayers of the metropolis, but might fairly be met by an applica-
tion of some portion of the proceeds of the Coal Tax, and by handing over the Hackney
Carriage Dues to the Metropolitan Board of Works. Since that time, it was felt
that the question has, on the whole, made satisfactory progi-css. The vestry
o. that parish, which represented an important and hidependcnt body ot rate-
payers, has appointed a Committee to attend exclusi\ely to this question. That
Committee had held several meetings, which had been attendeil by dclegntcs from
several of the metrojxilitan districts. Its deliberations had been co:ulncted with
harmony— lias resulted in unanimity, and lias given satisfaction to thi' vestrv which ap-
pointed it ; and he need not s.iy to this meetingthat unanimity among a body of gentlemeA
such iis thorc who composed St. Martin's vestry was not a light or unimportant fact. Ko-
Eolntions would Ijc projiOEcd that evening, showing the circnmstanc's which liad induced
the Committee, with pennigsion from the vestry, to call the meeting. Dillerenees of
cipiuion m ight arifc, and his duty would be to secure to the several speakers a fair hearing.
All he should re(|Uire would be an economy of time; and, incase ot any amendments
Ixiug proposed, th.it they be put upon paper, with the name and address of the mover. The
ueodoneation of the sewage was the main question for discussion ; and, although its utili-
sation was a subject ot extreme importance, yet tlierc would be no time for remarks on
litiuid manure, or upon the details of the embiuikment, to wlueh, in some form or other,
he hoped that necessity would drive us. With every disposition to place a general conil-
dence in the iletniiwlitan Board of Works, the CommitU.'e felt that neither they nor the
Board were infallible, and if a mistake has occurretl, or even thought to have oecarred, it
was Iwtter that a friendly and public discusaion should take place now, than to wait till
further progresss has been matle, involving as it would a further expenditure of valuable
resources. The extreme dittlculty of the subject was admitted, and they felt tliat credit
wasdueto the Metropolitan Board for their past exertions, whether or not there w«re
Iiointe in which they wore mistaken. All personal feeling was to Ije deprecated, and it was
only iu a calm, philosophical temijor that weiiliould approach tlie discussion of a subject of
such magnitude and ini)>ortance.
Mr. MAHSUAl.l., senior churchwarden of the parish, moved the first resolution, "That
the grateful thanks of this meeting arc due to her Majesty the yueen, and lo both Hooses
of Parliament, for securing by recentcnactiuent tlieeontinuHnce of the coal and winedofifl,
witli a view to some enibunltment on the north side of tJie river, between Westminster and
Blackfriars bridges ; the constniction of whieli, the ratepayers would naturally wish to see
entrusted to the Board of Works elected by themselves. Tiiat, in the opinion of this Meet-
ing, the additional space so acquired should. It" jMssible, \h: apiiropriated to purposes of
utility and trade, as well as to tiiose of recreation and ornament ; aud that possibly such
IKjrtion thereof as lies to the west of the Temple-giirdcii may Ije, inpartatlea3t,benelleioIly
allotted t<j the use of barges and other craft on the river." Ttiey al! , he was sure, must feci
great pleasure that the Commissioners appointed by the Queen had at last decided on re-
commending that great national undertaking an embankment of the Thames, and ho
thought they might fairly conclude, seeing that the tiovernment was pledged to bring in a
bill for the purpose early next session, that the Thames embankment would ere long become
a reality.
Mr. BAltTON secondetl the motion.
Mr. Helmouk agreed witli the re.-wjlution placed before the meeting. He was quite
aware that the Thames embankment must be carried out, and it would be a great national
improvement, but tliat was no reason why it should takeaway the trade of the wharfingers.
Higher up than Westminster-bridge the Thames was erabankef.1, and with a broadway, yet
still there were wliarvcs. And so it was possible to.have the proposed embankment with a
roadway, and still continuhig the wharves. It seemed to him that it was proposed to
recover such a very large quantity of land from the river that it would cause a great dis-
placement of the tide, and that if the proposed plan were carried out it woidd turn the
Tiiames into a rapid instead of a river. A large sum of money was proposed to be paid aa
compensation, but no compensation would be suftlcient remuneration to some of the
wharfingei-s for the destruction of their trade, and the plan of the Royal Commissioners
ought to be opiwsed at every stage b.v the wharfingers.
Mr. liiuii said the subject of the Thames embankment was one which hod engaged hl»
attention for the last five years, it having been brought before him by the Metropolitan
Board of Works five years ago. A great many of the remarks of the last speaker appeared
to him to be very forcible. People would fall into the great error of making a tidal river
nothing whatever but a running stream. In the case of the Seine and other rivers they
might include the banks to make spacious quays and lay out plantations, and so on ; but
v.ith a tidal r.ver such was not the case ; and if they sacrificed the utility of the banks of
the Thames simply to ornamentation, they would find it to be a great failure, and it would
be a great pity to sacrifice the banks of such a river with sueli a trade simply to the pur-
poses of ornamentation. If any plan could be adopted by which the impi-ovcmeut of the
river could be accomplished and made use of for the purposes of trade, then he thought
they would have accomiilished all tliat could be usefully earned out by the embankment
of the Thames. Let there be a sufllcient iiarro\ving of the river fur the purpose of the
embankment, but let them not destroy the wharfage ground used for the purposes of trade.
No greater mistake could be committed than to destroy the wharfage tratle. If a railway
was to be laid along the embankment in connexion with the Victoria station, the proposed
improvement might be carried out witliout having recourse to the coal dues or any public
funds, and a railway coinmunieatiou between the West end and the City would be a great
relief to the traiRc in the streets, and all that was wished for by the embankment of the
Thames would be carried out as well. He thought therefore, that the whole of the scheme
in connexion with a railway sliould be wisely con-sidered before any decision upon the
matter was arrival at. He was in favor of an embankment of the Thames being carried
out, and he thought it would be best carried out by some private individual under the
superintendence of Some such body as the Metropolitan Board of Works. Privato enter-
prise would do a great deal more than Government interference or that of tlieMctropoUtaa
Board of Works.
Mr. DKbANY had no wish whatever that the Metropolitan Boanl of Works should have any-
thing to do with the proiwsed work, neither did he desire that a royal commission should
carry it out. The Board of Works had done nothing yet to gain the confidence of the rate
payers of the metroiwlis ; therelore he thought it would bo premature to express a wish that
the carrying out of the embankment should fall into the hands of the Metropolitan Board.
He moved as an amendment—*' That the reference in the resolution to tlie Metropolitan
Board of Works be omitted." The Metropolitan Board of Works had been in existence six
years, but they had not yet completed anything, and it was doubted by some practical men
whether they would be successful with the work they now had in hand.
Tlie amendment was not seconde<l, and consequently it fell to the ground.
Mr. PATTER should be sori-y to hear it go forth from Exeter Hall that the public had no
confidence iu the Metropolitan Board of Works, who were proceeding with much care and
\igor with the Main Intercepting Drainage works, and who were recommendcfl by a select
committee of the House of Commons as being (tuite capable of carrying out public im-
provements in the metropolis. A royal commission was not the best body for carrying out
public works, as was proved by the result of the appointment of a royal commission to
select stone for the building of the new Houses of Parliament.
Mr. .1. J. MOOUE said he had had the embankment of the Thames under consideration
for thirty years, and he thought it was discreditable to the metroixil is the river had not
been embanked long before this time. Accomino^lation, with the embankment, could
bo obtained for passengers and traffic by road and rail without destroying the trade of the
wharfingers. The embankment would be a great relief to the Strand and other crowded
thorougiifares. He then spoke highly of the industry and care bestowed upon the dis-
charge of their duties by the members of the Metropolitan Board of Works, whose conduct
he had watched ever siiice the establishment of the Board.
Mr. Newai.l spiritedly defended the Metropolitan Board of Works, and spoke of the
improvements they had already aeeoniplished. He supported the resolution.
The resolution was then carried unammously.
Mr. Patter proposctl the second resolution—
" That this meeting prays the said Board immediately to direct its impartial attention to
the leading plans for deodorising the sewage, taking more core than heretofore to promote
adeiiuate demonstrations of such plans, iu order that their feasibility or oUierwise may be
fairly ascertained, and become publicly known ; the ionii>nrative merits of the several
chemical agents having been satL-factorily tested by competent authority. That the atten-
tion of the said Board be likewise EOlicittdto tiie circumstances of the flat localities wliich
.ire found to exist on both sides of the river above Westminster-bridge ; and that, in the
opinion of this meeting, the processes of de«lori^ation and filtration, it adopted anywhere,
should not be disregarded In this particHlar locality, it Vicing considered that both those
processes in combination should bo made to precede the action of the pump, in all cases
where such action is required."
He thought they would be perfectly consistent in asking the Metropolitan Board of Works
to consider the subject-matter of the resolution before they proceeded to the constniction
of the Northern Low-level Sewer. The Thames Embankment was a necessary work, and
liecause it was so, the work would undoubtedly, in course of time, and they hoped very
speedily, be done, and the subject mentioned in the resolution should be considered before
the formation of the Low-level Sewer was undertaken.
Mr, Parson seconded the resolution.
Mr. Peoleh moved, as an amendment, " That the deodorisation of the sewage of London
in London is impracticable, and that the only pUm to be adopted is to remove it into th
country, where it would become of the greatest value."
Mr. ELbis seconded the amendment.
6Cy6
THE BUILDI^NG NEWS.
August 9, 1861-
Hkesabfcqnent spe^lEen were Mr. Jones, Mr. Kewall, Mr. Parris, Mr. Edward Jones,
Mr. re'anj-, Mr. Glaxier, Mr. UUie, Mr. Delauo, Mr. Helraore, the Chairman, &c.
<>n)T a few hukda me h^ np for Uic uncodnicnt, aud the original resolution was then
c I Tied.
Mr. LATCHFORn moved the third rc«olntion, **That this meeting cannot bnt regard
wifch tbe greatest lepagmuice the proposal to pump up the contents of a Low-level North
S<»w«T. or doogmted urtipoo!, and to propel the volume so pumpetl up, in its most noxious
fwn. at MDhDOTs erf the day, inn tunnel through the heart of the City, from Quccuhlthcor
eleewhere to West Ham ; anil deprecnt^^ in tlie strongest manner the formation ou each
I of thariTtr of open tanks, or reaervoirs, from which the sewage, having been a
d time pumped up. rfiaJl, at ebb-tide, bo dia.-lmrg«l into the river ; considering that
the epecillc gravity of sea-wnter greatly exceeds that of sewage, the inevitable
malt moat be, thi^ the latter will never commingle with the fonnor, but will continually
«bl> and flow on tbe sarfaoo, whilst tho silt and other settlement matters not lifted by the
pmwi^ will neoasaiiily accnmntate at tho bottom : and that, there being no longer tbe
ancient direct ontfalls into the river, tho sewer itself along the foreshore being nearly on
aolMd terel. may soon become inconveniently, if not in places entirely, choked up ; a result
the CBOseqnoaces of which would be of a malignant character too horrible to describe."
Mr. SQAMB aeconileil the motion.
After a lengthened discussion the re-^lution was carried, there being only four
diiwntients.
After a rote of thanks to the Chaimuui, the meeting, which lasted four hours,
tooie op.
TITE SnilKE.
rB'Seeretaiy at War, Sir George C. Lewis, has ordered the removal of the Sappers and
Mioera, now engaged in the erection of the new barracks at Chelsea, from the 1st of
Beptember next. Thi» order is attributable to the representations of a deputation from
vanom trades which waited a short time ago upon the Right Hon. Baronet, in order to
have an Interview with him on the subject. Messrs. "Waller and Son, of King's-road,
Chelsea, have acceded to the terms of the masons. We understand that Messrs. Waller are
In Immediate want of abont 100 masons, and that they have expressied o wish to have
their old hands again in their employ. A unmber of these have found situations with
other firms where the hottr sj-stem U not enforced, but there is little doubt they will, after
the request of the Messrs. Waller, return to them. The places which they vacate will
neoesarilj hare to be filled by comrades at present on the strike list, and these changes
most neceaBarfly lead to a large Increase in the weekly contributions to the masons'
fund, with a corresponding decreaw in the number of those having claims upon it. The
number of bricklayers out of employment has nx^ently been much diminished. Supplies
from the provinces in aid of the bricklayers flow in freely, and the Society of Amalgamated
Eninneera has forwarded to the Masons' Society £2^, as the first instalment ofa contribu-
tioo in their behalf .
Many points worthy of consideration are, however, noted, and lead us to ask
if improvement is not possible in those matters? for example, the too sudden
stoppage ofa train, as carriages are now constructed, is in itsolfalmost a collision.
The rails in use cannot fairly be expected always to ** bear an engine and tender
of 50 tons weight, rusliing oVer it witli a train'at the speed offlfty miles an liour,"
and accidents occur i'rom the necessity of running against facing points at junc-
tions. Surely in these and other matters too numeroas to mention here, hut in-
cluding signals and supervision, we cannot hare yet readied the greatest perfec-
tion to which we may hope to attain.
The writer has said much that will induce careful consideration, but perhaps not
altogether in the direction intendfed.
Ilcciqius.
— • —
" High Speeds."— A Letter to the liiqht Hon. T. M. Gibson, M.P., Pre-
gidint of the Board of I'rude By George Robert Stephenson, Esq.,
Civil Engineer.
THE writer, in addi-e^sin); this letter to tlie President of tlie Board of Trade,
considers tliat the time lias arrived when " public attention ought to be
directed to a suttject vhicJi involves an immense sacrifice of life and property."
He refers to" tlie excessive speeds nliich are being employed on our railways,"
considers that " the most fruitful cause of accident is to be discovered in exces-
sive speed," and further says, that "the speeds at which railway trains are driven
have of late years l>een continually increasing."
Now we confess tliat we are souiewliat astonished to hear this, for we had al-
ways thought that the majority of accidents occurred to slow trains, and that the
general rate of speed had by no means been increa.sed within the last few years
— in fact, rather the reverse. The speed of certain trains has, we are aware,
been accelerated, but our own experience, and apparently that of freauent writers
to the Timet and other journals, would certainly lead to the conviction that the
general " speed " of onr railwa/ trains deserves another name.
The writer considers, however, that " the high speed of one train in the
coane of a day involves the increased speed of all the trains upon the line and
tftlaa on which the train works." Here again we find we have long been
Uborin^ under a delusion, for we have always thought that passengers in
dower train* were "shunted" into dull and dreary out-of-the-way sidings,
patiently to wait a quarter or three-quarters of an hour for the " express to
pats," when it slowly resumed its journey. Is this, or is it not, the experience
of our readers? In<leed, the author himself, in a subsequent page, refers to the
cost of repairs and renewals caused by "shunting" trains out of the way of fast
trains, and " to tbe Ioh of time occupied in the operation, often a very serious
loss."
It !s further contended that " railways generally were paying better dividends
when the speeds were le«« excessive," and it is stated that " at the present time
also it is beyond question that those railways are paying best on which the traffic
is worked regularly at motlerate rates of speed.
As an example of this it is said that the London and North-Western Railway
" has been gradually developing a most enormous mineral traffic. It now bring"s
to London no less than ."XHJ.OOO tons of coals a year. But this mineral traffic, it
is found, cannot be conveniently carried on together with the high speed traffic
of the line. Tlie company has, therefore, been compelled to lay down a new line
of raiU fur its goods traffic into hnnioa. That new line of rails involves outlay of
new cnpital. The outlay of new capital absorlni the increased dividend which
would othrrwite accrue to North-Weslem shareholders from their largely
increased revenue from minerals and goods; and all this results from the necessity
of maintaining the high spetJls."
In ether worils, the company have gradually developed an enormous goods
'.tafltc, for which, to prevent its i»fcr/ert»o with the already existing traffic, it
oecame necessary to lay down a new line of rails, the cost of which i\iK gradually
developed enormous goods traffic is not yet large enough to pay, consequently,
part of the profit from the older trattic miist be aiiiilied to that p'urpose instead of
fifoing to the shareholders, as it is admitted it did before the goods traffic was .so
enannously dcvi :lo|)»:d as to become less profitable, in consequence of itsrequiring
Inereued aceomraifdation.
We see no argument against fast trains in this, unless it he contended that
goods trains give largiT profits than passengw trains, and that the latter had
better be abolished altogether beciiuse they interfere too much with luggage
trains.
Mr. Stephenson considers high speed to Ije an average of forty miles an hour,
mit as tliat rate is necessarily dirainishi-d over certain portions of the line, it
jeacliei in othen, to maintain the average, a rate of fiflv or sixty miles an
Boar.
Something for Everyhody, and a Garland for the year: a Booh for House
and Home. By John Times, F.S..\. lOmo. Lockwood and Co.
IS tlie fulfilment of a long-chorislied design, "dating from the time of the
author's first acquaintance with William Hone, when producing his ' Every-
day Book,' in which association were fostered the writer's early indications of
love of antiquarian lore and matters of domestic history." The "Garland" is
intended to give the history in little of memorable days, with such new lights as
the archiEologist and the observer of nature have thrown upon doubtful points,
while it seeks to add serviceable information to that of curious and recreative
character.
The book is well written, in a running, gossiping style, very suited to its nature.
There is vei-y little that will not be interesting to most readers, and a good deal
that will be perused with interest within the architectural circle. 'I'ake, for
example, the pages on " London Gardens," from those which have long since
been covered with bricks and mortar, as the orchards of Paternoster-row and
Ely-place, Old-bourne (Holborn), or Piccadilly, of which it was once written
" the small white buglosse growes upon tbe drie ditch bankes about Pickadilla,"
to tbe still carefully- tended Temple-gardens.
Under " Doiley's " we read —
The small wine-glass napkin which bears this name was first made by the famous
Doiley, still fresh in every one's memory, who raised a fortune by finding out
materials for such stuflTs as might at once bo cheap and genteel. — .Spectator. 2.s:j.
Doiley's warehouse was upon the site of the house No. 380. Strand, now the east
corner of WelUngton-stroet. This was originally the site of Wimbledon-house, built
by Sir Edward Cecil, aud bnrut down HW8. Payne describes Doiley as " a very
respectable wiirebouseman, whose family of tbe same name bad resided in tbe great
old house next to llodsoll the banker's, trom tlio time of Queen Auue. This bouse,
built by Inigo Jones, wliich makes a prominent feature in the old engraved views of
tbe Strand, haviugacovored up and down entrauce, which projected to the carriage-
way, was pulled down abont 178:.*, on the site of which was erected the bouse now
occupied in the same business." In 18:*,s these premises were t.akeu down, and the
( present bouse, at the east corner of Wellington-street, erected.
Referring to the growing fashion for flowering plants and shrubs in ball-rooms,
the author remembers to have seen, in the garden ofa nurseryman at Brompton,
at the close of a London season, a squadron of plants in pots, withered and
drooping, and, '.n some cases, dead. He inquired of the gardener the cause of
this floral decay. " Why, sir," said the man, " these plants have been out to no
many parties during the si'a.son, that the heated rooms have almost killed
them." Mr. Timbs tells us what he has to say very pleasantly.
P.AlTRONAGE of SCULPTURE.
Sib, — I read with much interest your article, page 017, on the "Patronage
of Sculpture." It contains many truths, for which the profession have to thank
you. At the same time, there .ire some points on v,'hich tiie author has touched,
not, perhaps, witli lull knowledge. For instance, he s.iys that ** sculptors look
too much after marble commissions," and suggests that they should be more
ready to execute the stonework decorations of buildinos. Now, I believe the
sculptors in general would be very happy to do this if it were offered them. I
do not mean, of course, that a sculptor would be inclined to execute tiie capitals
of columns or the foliage enrichments of mouldings with his own hands, but he
would be quite ready, I conceive, to supervise all such details if some other work
of a higher class connected with the structure were also entrusted to his own
hands — as thus, suppose some building is to be erected which contains, as en-
liancements, a few figures or groups, or relievi, and a variety of ornamental
decorations ofa lower grade, and a sculptor were associated with the architect as
Phidias was with Ictinus ; or suppose the architect were to scleet the sculptor, I
feel very sure that there are, in London, various of my brethren who would be
very glad to put forth their best energies in sucli a work, and would not require
marble or bronze to work in, but would be satisfied witli stone from Anston,
Roche Abbey, or Steatly. But when do sculptors receive such invitations ? Until
they do, surely the fault does not rest with our profession.
Again, the author says, " Sculptors must find out some method of popularising
their works, aud of lifting purchasers to the level of them. We have hinted at
one such means and mentioned anotlier, that oi' reduced copies in Parian or even
a cheaper material, &c." Nowhere I would remark, where is the market for
them ? I have had some experience in this department, as one of my crotchets
through life has been the trying to make art and manufacture work together,
and this will excuse, perhaps, ray saying a word or two in my own person thereon.
The late Mr. Minton, a manufacturer to be honored for his enterprise as well as
many other pood qualities, made at his works reduced copies of several of my
figures, and bad a good sale for them ; for instance, he volunteered to me that the
'• Dorothea" had sold to a greater extent than any Parian figure ever iiroduced.
The " UnaundLion" also sold very well in this material, and the ",Sliakespere"and
the " Babes in the Wood" pretty well, &c. But what was his expression tome
with respect to his whole department of Parian statuettes ? He told me he made
nothing ilirectly by them, but that they answered lii« purpose as udoertisements.
They advertised his other goods, and he sold more plates and dishes, &c., because he
sold" Parian statuettes ; and in that way alone tliey answered. I may also say
that, although Mr. Minton was liberal in his ideas, and our business relations
were always pleasant, yet that the remuneration from these works which I
received was hut small, and was only satisfactory to me because of the aforesaid
crotchet of mine of liking to unite art and manufacture. Now, if, on the other
band, manufacturers found that they could make substantial profits by the pro-
duction of statuettes in larger numbers than they do, is it not pretty sure that
Auguj-t 9, 1S61.
THE BUILl)ING NEWS.
667
tliey are snlficieiitly r.-vake to their own interest tn do tliis, and to give a large
numliev of ronimissinns to artists lor such " reduced copies"?
Pcrliaps tlm autlioi- of the article in i|«C5'ion would supsest that the artist
7i;m«7/'s!iould briiif; out I'ednced works. Indeed, I liaviM)ften heard this said,
Imt it is quite a falliie.v, for if the artist is at all to repay liiniself at small prices
per copy liii must s;ll :i good many of each reduction, and where lins he a lua-
cliinery for sale like that of a firat-class nnnnfacturer, who has rc'.'ular customers
in the trade in each hir(;o town, besides travellers, and business relations abroad ?
I am sure the lihernlity of the author of the article will excuse these remarks-on
points of detail, wliieli necessarily can be known but to few, and among those
tew, perhaps, to no erne better than myself, who have at times designed for almost
every kind of formative manufacture in this kin^'dom. Therefore, [ know the
>diHienIlics, and that what may seem a very pretty prospect at a distance, like
the laki of the mirage in the desert, may become very barren when you come
upon it. There are, no doubt, a few " oases," but they are like " angelic visits,
few and far between."
I am, &e.,
John Bell.
LINCOLX CATHEDRAL.
Sir, — A short time only has elapsed since the publication took place of
correspondence npon the subject of the restoration of this noble fabric. Since
then death has deprived the dean and chapter of the services of the venerable
surveyor, under whose superintendence the building has been placed during the
last'40 vears. Aicongst the candidates for tiie vacant oflice is a wealthy plasterer
and builder, who does not profess to have the slightest architectural knowledge,
but ri sis his claims upon having made a considerable fortune in iiis business and
is ambitious to withdraw from its active duties and settle down under his own
vine and fig-tree with the dignified appellation of '-Architect and Surveyor to the
Dean and Chatiter of Lincoln." He is moreoveran active political partizan, and
Hatters hiuisell that this qualification alone will secure for him tlie appointment !
If the dean and chapter are desirous of placing themselves upon a par with the
churchwardens of the last century, and required a whitewasher to the cathedral,
tliey could not select a more suitable man ; but, in the name of common sense, and
in justice to the educated members "fan honorable profession, they ought most
assuredly to pause before they confide this national building to the fostering
care and" protection of one who has not the slightest pretension for seeking so
important a trust.
I am, &c..
An Architect's Pupil.
TENDERS.
ISFIBMARY EXLAR(;!;.MEXT, &C., FAVERSHAM.
Contract No. 1 , for enlarging the infiraiiiry of I'^vcrshani Union ; and contract No. 2,
for coloring and painting exterior of the L'nion. Mr. Benjamin Adkiiis,! architect, Albion-
terrace, i'aversham.
Contract No. 1. Contract No. 2.
John Denniss £3.57 9 G .... —
Thomas Ware 336 0 0 —
Robert Whiting 310 0 0 .... £.W 3
P. M. ShrulBole 2S.5 0 0 —
L.Shrubsolc 269 0 0 5.0 IS
K.G.Yell 24i) 15 0 C6 4
George Creed (accepted) 232 14 0 -''2 0
Thomas Spillett — VI 10
• W. Boomiau (accepted) — .... 48 0
Alteratioss, &c.. Regent-street, Lomdon.
For v-'orks to be done in alterations and repairs ot house. No. 7, Maddos-street, Regent-
street for Mr. Uenrj' Crisp. J. Lavender, Esq., architect. Qnantities not supplied.
General Works. Shed Building.
Sutton £247 .... £9 10
Foiley 239 .... 8 0
Rudkin 2".5 .... 10 0
Oreon and Son 219 .... 7 10
Schools, Cannon street-road, London.
For the Middlesex schools, Cannon-street-road, St. (Jeorgo-in-the-Eaat. Andrew Wilson,
architect.
Howlctt and Brown £2,49.j
Dudley 2,340
Wood 2,330
Warskitt 2,275
Macrs 2,173
HillaudCo 2,092
Ennor £2,077
Stevenson 2,025
Sawyer 1,997
Hack 1 ,968
J. Wilson (accepted) 1,877
CiitiRcn, Seafoud, Sussex.
For restoring and enlarging the chni-ch at Seaford, near Newhaven, Sussex. Mr. J.
Billing architect. Quantities supplied by Mr. T. W. CJoodman, and Mr. J. A. Bunker.
Uavcv .£2,777 0 0 I IJove Bro's £2,500 0 0
2,740 0 0 EUis 2,498 0 0
2,075 0 0 Cane .- 2,496 0 0
Uavey
Fabian
White
REPAIRS. &c.. City-road, London.
For repairs and painting at St. Mark's Hospital, City-road. G. R. Clarke, Esq., archi-
tect.
Sheiiton Bro's £292 0 0 I Ashby and Sons £2.'?5 0 0
Henshaw 238 0 0 ) Mason andSon 227 0 o
Town Hall, Grjiat Grimsby.
For the erection of a town-hall in Gt«at Grimsby. Messrs. Bellamy and Co. of Lincoln,
and Mr. James Fowler of Louth, architects.
William JoluLSon, Grimsby £7,">00 [ William Holdngworth, Grimsby. . £0,945 0
Mcercs and Moody , 7,135 Thomas f^nderby, „ .. li,7f>4 0
John Newby 6,975 j John Brown,* „ . . 6,494 10
* -\eceptcd.
F.^CTORY. WANDSWORTII. ,
For erecting a factory at Wandsworth, Messrs. Scurry and Wright, architects. Quantities
Bupplicd.
Patman and Fothcringham £1,895 0
WoodruB and Percy 1,799 18
Oxford .and Co 1,789 0
Brass and Co 1,751 0
Fieh 1,695 0
Architect's estimate £1 ,800
Roberts £1,649
Downes 1,(;33
Thomas 1,^'76
Mcllwraith, (accepted) 1 ,t67
SEWERAfiE, NEWIXGTON
For sewers works, St. Mary Xewington, under the direction of Mr. llcnrj' Jarvis, sur-
veyor of Sewers.
Brazier 12J per cent., under schedule
Ley 28 do, do.
Kent t 32|^ do. do.
DWEI.LIXO-HOt J-E' C, KXKillTSnBlDaK, LONDON.
For rebuilding premises at Hydc-p irk -comer, Knightebridge, Mr. C. W. Eppy, 21,
Lincoln's-inn-fields, architect.
Symons £2,018 n | Dawson £1,700
Blore 1.R82 0 Stlmpson 1,669
Watts 1,873 6
PAINTINO, &0., LEAIIENHALL-STREET, LONDON.
For painting and sundry works at 146, Leadenhall -street. Mr. N. S. Josephs, architect
and surveyor.
Lovejoy £118 10
Newman and Mann 114 0
King.jUdgate 104 0
Rolfe £98 13
Young, Whitechapel •.. 96 17
COMPETITION AWARDED.
Mechanics' Institute.
The premium ot £10 offered by the Building Onimittce. for the Oulsborongh
Mechanics' Institute, has-been awarded to Mr. John Moginie, .4, Grove-terrace, Kentish-
town.
COMPETITIONS OPEN.
CE.METEHY.
Rcr.nY — The Rughy Burial Board are 'preparL-d to receive plans and speciflcatlons, with
tenders : — 1st. For laying out and planting the proposed New Burial Ground, at Rughy,
containing 7a. ::r. I'p. 2nd. For the erection of two chapels, entrance lodge, dead house,
and fencing. A plan and instructions m.ay be obtained at the oflice of the Board. Plana
and sjiecifications may be either for laying out and planting the ground, or for the
above Ijuildings and fencing, or may combine lH>th. but the Boai-d i-eserve the right to
select either the plan for laying out the ground or the plan for the erection of the build-
ings, or the plan combining both, at their discretion. Plans and specifications, with
separate tenders, are requested to be sent in to the olHce of the Board, Chapel-street,
Rugby, by August 31.
CONTRACTS OPEN.
EXCHANGE Bt;iLDINGS.
Blackburn. — For the superstructure of the Kxcluange Buildings, Blackburn. Workingr
drawings, &c., at the office of the architect, AV. H. Brakspear, Esq., 14, Ridgfield. Man-
chester, until the .'Jth August, and afterwards at the Company's oflices, in Blackburn.
Bills of quantities from the aichitect. Sealed tenders ((indorsed), to T. Crooke Ains-
worth, Esq., secretary, Town-hall-buildings. Blackbuni, by August 19.
CHURCHES.
Shropshire. — For erecting a new church at St. George's (formerly Pain's-lano), near
Oakengates, Shropshire. Plans, at the offices of the Lilleshalt Company, St. George's.
Tenders to the Rev. William Allen, P.arsonage St. George's by 11 a.m. August 20.
SCHOOLS, &.C.
KENT. — For the erection of a school-house, master's residence, and out-offices, at Tcnterden,
Kent. Plans, &c., on application to the Rev. J. C. Tnss Beale, Ivy-court, Tent«rden,
Kent ; or at the offices of Goodwin and Butcher, 37, Bedford-row, London, W.C, to
10 p.m. Tenders to August 14.
St.^ffordshike.— Forthc erection of soliools and master's house, at High OfTley, StatTord-
shire. Plans, ic, with Mr. John Nickisson, Jan., High Offley Manor ; and diipllcatefl,
plans, &c., may be seen at the office of Robert Griffiths, I'^., architect, Bridgnorth;
where also bills of quantities may be obtaineil on payment of 10s. 6tl. 'Tenders to b«
proi)erly endorsed and delivered (free) to Mr. John Nickisson, jun., of High Otlley Manor,
by August 12.
He'ntland. near Ross. — For proposed school buildings at Hentland, near Ross. Plans,
&c., may be seen at the Rectory, and tenders sent to the Rev. AV, Poole, at the Jane, to
August 17. ,
WAREHOUSE.
PORTSMOUTH.— For the construction of a new goods warehouse, at the Portsmouth joint
station, together with the fence walls, lodges, gates, and other works connected there-
with. Specifications, &c., at the office of Mr. R. J. Hood, C.E., No. 7, Parliament-street,
Westminster, S.W., on and after August 5 ; and sealed tenders, upon prescribed form
only, marked outside ** Tenders for Works at Poit^mouth," must be delivered to Fred.
J. Macttulay, Secretary to the Joint South Western and Brighton Committee, Waterloo-
bridge Station, London, by August 19.
DWELLING HOUSES, &C.
SUSSEX.— For building and completing four houses (being the first ixjrtion ot nir^tccn
houses at Eastbourne, Sussex. Drawings, i;e,, with Henry M'Calla, C.E., architect,
offices, 25, Westbourne-place, Eaton-stjuare. Tenders to be delivered at 12 o'clock,
August 1 5.
CUMBERLAND.— For the erection of a dwelling house, at Broughton Moor, near Marj-port,
the property of Mr. Jos. Lucock. Plans, &c., at the offices of Charles Eaglcsfield, archi-
tect, Marvport, to whom tenders to Augu.st 15.
CUMBERLAND.- Fortheercctionof two dwelling houses, at Workington, the property ot
James Alexander Esq. nans, &c., at his office, upon the Qaay, Workington, until
August 19. Tenders to Charles Eaglcsfield, architect, Ifaryport, who «-ill give any in-
formation that may be requirc<l, by August 2fl.
OFFICES.
BLVrKBURN.- For alteration of premises and erection of offices for] Blacklmrn Philan-
thropic Burial Society. Plans, ix., at the olllces or .Alessrs. Taylor and Foggett, archi-
tects, Clayton-street,'Blackburn, until tlie 14th A'.igust. Scaled tenders, addrcsscd to the
office of the Society, Loylaud-street, Blackburn, to August 14.
COTTAGB.
Dumfries.— For building a cottage (in the Elizabethan stjde) in the village of St. Johns
TownofDalrv. Plans, tc, with Mr. J. Ilinlerson, merchant, Dairy, to whom scaled
offers to the Rev. A. Pattenson, until Ausn-it 15.
FARM BUILDINGS.
Sussex.— For the erection of a farm homestuail, repairs to honsc. kc, at Gate-court Farm,
Northrain Sussex. .«pecitication and iJaiis on npi)lication to the tenant, or at the offices
ot Messrs. Haslam and Biickland, land-.igents. s!i. Cannon-strcct, west, London, E.O.
RAILWAY WORKS.
Inverness and Perth JuNttion Railway.— For the sonthei-n portion of this line,
extending from the station at Biriiam. near Dunkeld, to the river Tay, being a distance
of 5 miles 400 yards, or thei-eby, to be called the Luiikeld contract. The works com-
prehend :—l St. About 350,000 cubic yards of excavations. 2iid. A tunnel aliout 360
yaitls in length. ' 3d. 12 over and underway bridges, and bridges over streams and bums,
the largest being 75 feet span across the Braan. 4tli. The masonry of the piers and abut-
ments of the Tav Viadnct, the iron portion of which is alreatly c< ntractcd for, consisting
of girders of 210 and 140 feet spans. The rails, sleepers. &e., for the permanent way,
will be supplied hy the C'ompony. The drawings and s|X'cifications may be seen at the
offices of Mr. Mitchell, C.E., Inverness, where may be obtained duplicate schedules at40s.
each. The cost of the detailed measurements will fall to be paid by the successful con-
tractor. The line is staked out at distances of 100 feet between Bimamandthe Tay,
accordi'n" to the working section ; and Mr. Robinson, the assistant engineer, will attend
at Biniam Hotel on the 14th and 19th August to accompany contractors along the line,
and point out the sites of the bridges. Sealei> tenders, addressed to the secretary, and
marked " Tender for Dunkeld Contract," must be lodged at his office, InverncSB, on or
before Angust.26.
668
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 9, 1561.
London, I:rh;hi>:>x. and SoiTn Coast railway.— For tlic construction of n Joublo line
of r»ilwnv »->-■■'»'• the Mid-Sw5st'x Uailwny, near Pulborongh, with the West Coast
Line. DC --^'x, bcin>: a distance' ofO^ miles, or therealxmU. The contract
iriH iiicl loiiof E*n cxcnvaiion*. embankments, tiumoH bridges, viaducts.
xiTcrdlvi. .1.;-, .»i,.i ^M-ry other ik-scripliun of works necessary for the completion of
the intended new railway with the exception of station buildings and the provision of
the pennanent way inBterial& The plans, &c., may ho socn at the office of the engineer,
Mr.R.Jncomb Hootl, 7, l^arliameut-sitrect, WcsKninstor, S.W., on and after the '_>!>th
faiit. ; and printed co)>ie6 of the (r;]>ecification, quantities, forms of tender, and working
sectioti, wil! t<e supplied on payment of throe guinea.^ for each set. Tenders (upon the
nacribui form onlv) must be delivered to Frederick Slight, secretarj-, secretary's office,
London bridge Terminuii, by 12 noon of August 12.
HOBTH K-is-iKHN KArr.wAV.— l-'or the execution of the worts neceaaary for making a
tinuicb railway from the Gatesheatl gooda station to the Gateshead new quay. Drawings
ftcu, at Mr. Bourne's <-)fflce, Ccntnil Station, Xewcastle-on-Tyne. Scaled tenders, marked
"TtawVii fni TTifinrh to Gateshead Quay," to be sent into the secretary, (J, Cleghorn
Btaq.tJ to August 1 J.
RAILWAY STATION.
HABItoOATK.— For the erection of a new station at Harrogate, on the Korth Eastern
BaUmy. Plans, kc, either at Newcastle or York, on application to Mr. Proseer, the
Oompany's architect. Sealed tenders, markcti ''Tender for new station at Harrogate,''
to be sent in to J. Cleghorn, secretary, by 1 2 noon of the 1 ^th August.
COAST GUARD STATIONS.
JCbxt.— For the re-erection of a coast-guard station at ** Scrapsgate," Isle of Sheppey,
Kent. I>rawings, kc, at the Custom House, Rochester, or at the Admiralty Coast Guard
OfBce, 12. Pi)ring-gardens, London, S.W., to the 31st inst. Tenders to be sent to this
office, imder seal, and dircctoil to the Commodore Controller-General of Coast Guard, and
endorsi-d " Tender for New Buildings, Scrap^atc." by 12 noon of August 19.
SHOKBLKVNKSS.—Vor erecting a coast guaiii station at Shoburyness, Ksscx. Drawings,
&c, at the Coast-guard watch-room, Shoebnr>-nefs, and at the Admiralty Coast-guard
office. 12, Spring-gartlena, Ix)ndon, c>.\V,,to7th August. Tenders to the above office,
imder seal, and directed to the Commodore Control ler-CJeneral of Coast-guard, and en-
dorsed " Tender for Shoeburj'ncss Station,' by 12 noon of August 8.
ISLK oy WUiHT.— For erecting a coast-guard (Station at South Yannouth, Isle of Wight.
Dmwlnj-;. Vc, «t the wntch-honse. South Yannoutli, or at the Admiralty Coast Guard
*'P' -'-pardens. London, S.\V.. till August 22 ; to which latter place tenders
•r- . :orse;I "Tender for Yarmouth Station," and endorsed to the Commodore
Cti.i- -..-ral of Coa*t Guard, bv Auguift 2:1.
WATKRWORKS.
Wbwhpcol.— Fcr the oonstniction of a resen-oir, capable of containing at>out 460,000
cubic feet of Mater, and other works in conneition therewith, for the Board of Health
for thediftriciof \Ve!chpool, in the county of Montgomery. Drawings, si^ecifications,
and forms of tenijer. at the offices of Alfred Meredith, Clerk to the Local Boanl of
llei>:-l . \\\]c)}Kio\ or of Rolwrt Djniiond and Sons, surveyors, Exeter. Tenders.
«^i :-^ed*'Tenderforrc«erv'.ir," to Mr. Mere^lith, by August 24 ; alsofor the
9f>] :<>npijK-« and other ca^ting^. A copy of the specification {price -^s.) and
fcrr;; _. .n r.pplic«t!on to Alfred Meredith, solicitor, Welchpool. Further infor-
matiuii i»L c'.io office of Robert Dyraond and ?k>ns, surveyors, Exeter. Tenders sealed, and
endorsed - Iron Pipe Tender," to l>o delivered at the office of Alfred Meredith, clerk to
the Local Board of Health, Welchpool, by August 24.
SEWERAGE, kc,
MONTCOMERTjiiURE.— For the supply of stoneware, sewer pipes, and other articles for the
Local Boanl of Health for the district of Weichpool, in the county of Montgomery.
Specification (price 's.) and form of tender on application to Alfred Meredith, solicitor,
Wddipool : and farther information at the office of Robert Dyniond and Sons, surveyors,
Exeter. Tenders aeaJed, and endorsed " Stoneware Pii>e Tendej-," to be delivered at the
office of Alfred Meredith, clerk to the Local Board of Health, Welchpool, by Aug 24.
WBlA^HPOor..— For the laying and jointing of stoneware and cast-iron sewer pipes, the
oon^znction of brick sewers, the deepening and unprovement of the River Lleddan, and
other TOfrkt. Drawings, gpeciflcations, and forms of tender, at the office of Alfred
Meredith, Clerk to the Local Board of Health, Welchpool ; or of Robert Dymond and
Sons. rarvCTors. Exeter. Tenders must Ixj sealed and endorsed " Tender for Sewerage
Works," aod deliTered to Mr. Meredith, by August 24.
A Good Watch at a Moderate Price.—" The stranger, in walking through the
Oty oil^iaoa, must be astonished to see so many eatablUhments whose windows are
fiuedwi^ watches and jewellery of the most costly description. Among these there is
^''^^'^™*P«^"^'^^^^rity1or the beauty and excellence of its productions— we mean
Uweat^U^fasnentof Mr. J. W. Benson, watch manufacturer, of 3;t and ;i4, Ludgate-hill.
Aa a good watch is admitted on all sides to be indispensable to the man of business, we
hm peat pleasure in pointing out a watch manufactory uhere our friends can purchase
tbe article without paying an exorbitant price."— //aiVi/ Teh'jraph.
Benson's Dlustrated Pamphlet, post free for two stamps, Is descriptive of every con-
«ni^tkm of watch now made. AVatcbes safe by po=t to ail parts of the globe.— ADV.
SALES AT GARKAWAY'S AND THE MART.
FREEHOLD.
.» J^»!'^2?Ii5.?J"?''* y*!***'^"^' ??^ TiusT.-Egham, Surrey, land, lots 1 to 8 contalnbr,' '
7«a. If. prfndpallr hejih land ; sold for £1 JMiO.
Lot 9. plot heath land . I la. 3r. ; sold for £400.
Ix(t 10, two plots heath lard, 7«a. 2r. ; sold for £1,300.
Lot n, two plots hrath land, Ua. Ir. ; sold for C4no.
\jOi 12, plotfl heath hind. .V4a. Cp. ; sol'l for £l.aw.
By Mr. Haulel Donkin. -l-^jnghorslev, Norttiuml>crland. the Llmlen estate, comprUInjr
tbe manors or reputed manors or lonlxhlps of I.oniihorHlpy and Hflyelose. the manslorvknown
as Linden Hall. ioKet)i«;r with the park, farms, house-., fee., contalnhn,' lu the whole a.llfia.
or. Jl>i>, of park, jritrd'ii'*, araUle. pasture, and wood lands; sold for ,C;r..i'(»0.
I-«iiK licnton. KorthumUrland, the IJttle Benton K-^tate.conlainhin yWa.Or. 24p.ofhiKhIy
pToduclive arable, mi'ii(l..w. and pasture land-coniprislnt' valuuhle farms, colliery wayleaves,
«D^collIeryylllageo!l'.it:.((;'(i Main; Hold for XL'l.ooii. j ^ .
By Messrs. Beadci. nnd So>« — Addle-tone, near Chertsey, Hnrrey, I.ot 1, plot of hulldins
froumi.Zr. Up,; «old loriliro, .- . 1 -»
Lot 2. eneloflure of aceonnnodntlon land, with buildings, fee., thereon, ami paddock In the
rear, together 2r. lim.; mjM forJCxao.
^^^13, cottage and garden, frontiuif the high road, and paddock, the whole Ir. 12p.i sold
Lot 4, plot of land, 3r, lOp. ; gold for £140.
Lot A, a similar plot, containlntf Sr. 2lp. ; sold for £130.
ixrtfl, a valuable incloMure. rontalniriifSr, lOp.; sold for £70.
Lot7.plotof Uiirl, containing 2a. .'{r.4t>.; «ohl for 41420.
L« K, a similar plot adjoining, containing 2a. 2r, VAn. ; sold for .«400.
Wrt ». another plot. r.rtjtalninK 2a. Or. ;t';p ; sold for t;:BO.
Lot lt», tbe s<ljoininj(lot.c(.ntainln;,' la. 3r. 4p.; sold for £Vft.
Lol II, a valuable fltld, rontafnlnir la. or. 2?»p. ; sold for £170.
Lot 12, two cottage* with pardcns. containing 2r. 3p. ; sold for £170.
ixrt 13. two cottatres with ijardcns and two sheds, containing Ir. 28p. ; sold for £225.
i*^ !;• " plot of land front inif l.llrt-rty-Iane, containing la. 3r. 22p.; sold for £150.
M li, a ftlmllar rj|f>t, c^mtuinlng la. ;ir. 14p. ; sold for £lfiO.
iJ "• ^^'**:'" P'** • t onUlnln« 1 a. 2r. 28p. ; sold for £210.
ixrt 17, ibe adjoining r>Iot.contalnln« ia. 2r. 23p,; sold for £2fW.
n» M*'**'^* *"'* H**"'!''"' and plot of land, in alt la. 2r. lOp. ; sold for £400.
alJo'-^^^^i^JIriirf^"; "V'."*';\""'' '-vf^asFiELD.-i, (Jreek-etreet, Soho-square, residence.
5w;sE??i£«f"V'j*J33r«?£6,V/K^^ "'""*'"*^ Itosc.8trect,the whole occupying upwards
tm Jt?Mi'.if^^i2!7*".; ^^V""' ■»"'» LTB.-Great Mlstenden, near (;iie8ham. Bucks.
JtS^rannnm ;^33^Sr£fj^^ cottage, and 32a. of arable and pasture Und, let at
By Messrs. Bakm:* an 1 Wixou and Son Haldon, Kent, llookstcaa-ffreen Farm, com-
prisiiifriarm-l'.ouse, buildings and zaa. 2r. azp.corn and pasture land ; sold for £1,150.
By Mr. William Lovsjov — Barbican, house and .shop, corner of Uedcross-street and
Beech-street ; sold for £ i,2fi0.
By .Mossri. Nash— CM-ate, plct of gra<-j land, eontainin? 2a. 2r. ; sold fbr £1,270.
By Mr. Waostaifk.— Two cottayes. with stabling attached, let at £9) per ammm ; sold
for 290 guineas.
LBASEHOLD.
By Jlr. XEWBON.-18.Grove-vm.i8, niuhbury, residence, term 81 years from Michaelmas,
18fil. i<round-rent ^\W, estimated value :^100 per auuuni ; sold for ^im.
Grove-lodge, Cottnge-grovc, Bedford New-road, Clapham-rlso, cottage residence, with
chaiso-housc and stahUn;; ; sold for £l!>0.
By Mr. Kobeut IUid. -Canal-row, Bermondscy-wall, thrt-a Kranarios, and a dwellhig.
hoi.se Lontiirnous ther^^ut, let at £147 105. i>cr annum, terui^GM-earsfrom March, 18Gl,ground-
rent, &c. .C1S2 lOs. piT annum; .suld for tl.Kt^t.
By ileosrs. Toplis and HAUDiNo.—Marden, licnt, Bcale and Shearden Farms, comprising
farm-house with barn out-house, granary, slahling, &c.. 7 cottages, and 8im. -T. I5p. arable,
hop, meadow, and wood lands, csllmatod value £14.5 per annum ; sold for £3,200.
6?. High-street, Ald:.tato, house with butcher's shop, estimated value £l2i) per annum ; sold
for£l,7W).
By Mr. ('. 0. Moore.- 130 and ];)!, North-street, Limehouse-tlelds, house ; sold for £100.
21, Burr street, Wapping. resilience, let at £;w pf r annum; .sold tor £410.
Wooilford, plot of land with frontage to Ohigwell-road ; sold for £37.
Woodford, plot of land fronting Oeorgclane ; sold for £44.
By Messrs. Si'iLLMAN and Spence.— Bark-road, Horusey, two cottasos, known as Alpha
cottaires, term ISJ- years, fVom 25th December, 18.W, ground-rent £>\ ; sold for £325.
5, I'pper Montagu-street. Monta-ju-square, house, let at £d5 per auuum, term 8U years
from September, 1822, grouud-reut 20 guineas ; sold for £420.
COPYHOLD.
By Messrs. Spillman and Spence.— Leavensden-green. Watford, Ilerts, dose of arable
land, containing 2a. 2r. 23p., let at £4 per aniunn ; sold for £21.'..
By Mr. V.. t:. Moobe.— St, Goor^'es-in the-East, estate, comprising 31 dwelling- ho uses
in Crown-street, Martln's-rents, and Queen-street, let on lease lor 09 years from Midsummer,
1807, at £uiij per annum ; sold for £795.
ANSWEIiS TO CORliESPONDENTS, AND NOTES AND QUERIES.
All letters and rninmunications to be addressed to the Kditor of the Bcildiso ^ews, 20,
Old Bo3well-t."oni t. St. Clcnicnt's, Strand, I.ondon.
The Editor caiuiut uudertalic to return unused manuscripts.
L. X. L.— Tlic ]>ulilication of tho reports on each compptition design is recommended on the
ground that a (joliectioii of such reports, preserved trom time to time, would .■^■:rve to show
what opinions were held on various points at any given period, as reifardabi'Ihronstnietlon
and:de-i;.Mi. It Is considered that In fifty years such a collection would offer the most com-
plete !ii-*t<iry of national and contemporaneous art.
Chdhchwakden.— Not tlie shadow of such a right exists. If any proof is wanted it will
be found in the case of the Baron de Kutzen, recently decided. That gentleman held In
right of his wife a life Interest of the aiebeck Estates, Pembroke, and the perpetual
curacies of the parishes of Newton Slebeck and Minvore, now united. The church stood
in tlie way of certain extensions of the baron's park, and he conseiiue.itly first
ordered it to be unroofed, and then, when a new church had been erected, had it
pulled down, lie was charged with sacrilege, and found guilty bv the Ecclesiastical
Court, and was sentenced to rebuild the church, and to pay ail cost of the proceedings.
You have been very greatly misinformed; refer your solicitor to the case above-
named.
A Constant Header (Islington, Birmingham).— The only work we can recommend for your
purpose is " The Calculator : or Timber Merchants' and Builders' Guide," by liichardson
and Gano, publir<hed by Kelly and Co., Old Boswell-conrt; price 79. 6d.
A Member of the Institute — One-half would be more than suffldent.
S. S. S. (Bristol).— M''e cannot point out " an easy method oflearningsuch things!;" you want
to do in a few weeks what others arc obll^'cd to apply themselves |to for years to attain to
any useful proficiency. Be content to^elevate yourself in your present calling is the beat
advicc'we can give you.
X. (Higham).— We cannot reply to such questions.
A. B.— A constant source of trouble and dispute ; ask an architect to survey at the earliest
moment, iind act upon his advice. We should be sorry to mislead, as we possibiy migl^
with an imperfect knowledge of the facts.
M. O. E.— No ; the usual responsibility which attaches to an architect would be entirely re-
moved by such an arrangement. lie cannot be responsible for matters over which he has
no control.
J. M, F.-See Messrs. Longman and Co.'s list of recently published works ; if wo mistake not,
you will there find what you want.
A NoRTiiERN ItEADEn.— We do not know at present.
Q.— It is not easy to choose, there are so many. Send a directed envelope, and we will try
to forward a list.
J. S-— Tlianks; our attention was directed to the drawinir some time ago; though well
fxccutid, it did not come with the scope of our Journal to notice it more pro-
minenily.
r\lEssRsC. and R — There is no advantage to be gained by applying elsewhere. Any number
of sjocimensin.aybe sent.
A Clerk (Worcester).— If not easily obtained through your bookseller send a remittance to
loour publisher, mid he will forward any back numbers of tho Building News; oil are
in print except the ilrst volume.
Miis. W. { llriffhton) Was printed in May last.
(.'liARLEii W. (."\Ianche3ter).~SIiall appear.
ACosTBACTOH.— There is no.tuch work; a good one Is much wanted.
Mr. T. -Declined with;thftnk8.
B. Q. P. H.— Rpportshall he given.
C. M. (Workington).— Wc know of no really good work giving designs for Ishop-fronts
nuitahle to the )ire.«cnt day. Some plates of Freiieh dcsi^'us will be louiid in " Uccueil de
.Menuiserics et Decorations,*' fee, by Thioilet, Koux. and I'errot. Spon, of Bucklersbury,
miylit be able to send you a second-hand copy for altout 12s, Atchley and Co., of Great
itut-sell-street, have published a work on shop-fronts; but we have not seen it. The price
Is 2.")s.
H. J. U.— It is useless to ask us to publish such commtmlcations. It was hardly necessary to
do so, but we have already given you our reasons.
Look-oi;t — Ves, the charter and bye-laws are printed and circulated among the members.
We believe you caninjt obtain a copv unless you arc a member. The rules regnlatmg
the admieslou of members to the Itoyal Institute of British Architects, will, doubtless, bo
' forwarded to you on application to the Honorary Secretories. at 0. Conduit-street, W.
F. V — Xcllher Anor B have any risbt (0 form a window In the positions marked X on plan.
The rinht to do 80 at Y seems open to some doubt. You have aright to form a door or
window at *.
Pemocuiti;*.- Yes, next week.
T.— The printed rules and regulations will be supplied to you on application.
Ht. .John— We gave a very complete list a week or two since.
S. P. F — In some cases yes, in others no. How can you expect us to onswer such a question
from this distance?
P. Williams.— 1. From £300 to £2.10 per annum. 2, No, optional. X Yes, of some severity.
H.H.—Doesnotsay in whose favor the work is to be given up. Must inform us on that
point.
K — Your wages are due on the 13th, and notice may ho given on that day.
CoMpETiToH (Norwich.)— Wc have asked for particulars.
A London Tradesman.— Not that we are aware of.
F. H. I. B. A.— A list of the amounts has reached us, bntla of no use without names.
It.T. M— Yes. .. ,*
C.f York.)— No fixed proportion ; we do not see how any one can advise you in tho matter, H
Is entirely a i)er8onal question.
A Hnusbed Onk Try again.
BECEivED.-Mr. E. K. ; O. B. S.; Uev. J.; X. P. C. ; I. B. ; William J, W. F.;8.R.; P. B.ft.;
C. T. .\.; Bernard-strcet ; X.; J-IR. V.: ^V. ; Westminster; Messrs. G. W. and 8.;
Knglnccr; Bow Steeple; Subscriber (Carll-ile); An Architect's Pupil; Competitor;
E. C. G. C; L. : A Railway Traveller; A. B.; Silica; Tom. »L : V.; B. R. B. (Isle of
Man) ; Rev. 0. L. (Scarboro'.^
August 16, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
669
SOME NOTES ON STRENGTH AND DURABILITY OP
CONSTRUCTION.*
E have already drawn the distinction between
strength, or stability in building, and that
other quality, with which it is usually allied
— the quality, namely, o( durability, almost
as important to a sti-ucture, and equally
demanding the study of the architect. Like
that of strength, disposed of in the foregoing
observations, much may be known about it
by means of close application to boohs.
Observation is, of course, necessary to the
student, in this as in all other matters relating
to his profession ; but it will scarce convey
to his mind as valuable information, as he
may glean from books ; or — what we will
suppose to be identical with books — the
lectures of scientific men, now so easy of
access to those students, who may happen to
dwell within the metropolis, or in any of our
large provincial towns.
The sciences of natural philosophy and of
chemistry will here be found of the greatest value
to the young architect. Some popular elementary
treatise on these sciences, having special reference
to building operations and materials, is a book
very much wanted in the profession. In the absence of such a work
It would be well if each of the various architectural societies were
periodically — say on the opening of each session — to engage the services
of some well-known professor of chemistry or of natural philosophy to
deUver a course of lectures, specially composed to meet their peculiar
requirements ; for, with so vast a field as the architect has to range
through, it is hardly to be expected that, one architectural student
among a hundred wili betake himself to the perusal of the ordinary
works on these sciences ; or even to attendance at all the ordinary
lectm-es. The subject, indeed, needs winnowing for the especi.il sake
of the young architect. While it is allowed to remain in its concrete,
unsorted state ; the science of chemistry, for example, which is truly
one of great consequence to architectural students, occupies little, if
any, of their attention ; and thus our architects can merely apply and
judge of their building materials from mere hearsay. They have no
time to acquire a complete knowledge of this very necessary science ;
nor have they the means of gaining — what they require — a smattering
of it, just sufficient, if no more, for their professional purposes.
The first object of the student in applying his mind to this topic will
naturally be, to acquaint himself with the nature of building materials
generally; and especially with such of them as are naturally durable,
when they are of good quality, and are judiciously applied.
lie will find stone perhaps the most difficult of all building materials
to tliorougldy understand. Stone is in fact a study in itself; and yet
the architect has no time to make it an exclusive one ; for there are
other topics, quite as vital, to which he must presently pass, and devote
an equal share of his attention. As a general rule he will find there
are few biiildiisg stones in this climate, whose durability will be found
to equal that of two artificial substitutes for stone — brick and terra-
cotta. It is true that, the use of the latter in any other form beyond
that of square walling blocks is somewhat injurious to art; and hence
architects arc induced to lend a willing ear to the inventors of processes,
whereby stonework may be rendered, so to speak, "weather-proof"
The student will therefore do well to learn something of these pro-
cesses. AVe have ourselves no experience of the degree of reliance,
that may be placed on several patented processes, recently brought
before the profession : most of them seem based upon the principle
that, the destructibility of stone is proportioned to the porosity of its
exposed surface. A\ hile thus eontessing our inability to refer the
student to any patented process, we will make mention of a method of
■weather-proofing stonework, described to us by a practical mason of
some experience : it was applied to the outside masonry of a lar^e
edifice, and has, we believe, been found quite successful, °
" Boil half a pound of white mottled soap in one gallon of water; and
wash the stonework with it hot, removing the cool liquid as it cools, and
siibstituting hot in lieu of it. It should be brushed well into the pores
■with large and small brushes, as the sizes of the surfaces or mouldings
may require. After this, repeat the operation with a hot solution of
three-quarters of a pound of alum, boiled in one gallon of water. When
thus prepared, the surface of the stonework will have a smooth compact
appearance ; with its pores so filled up, as to afford, without opaquely
painting it, considerable protection to the surface of the masonry."
Boiled Imseed oil is sometimes applied to the surface of stonework ;
and even common milk is useful, as a preservative from decomposition
irom exposure to the atmosphere.
_ * Concluded £rom page 633.
Again, the durability of woodwork is a question involving consider-
able reading and research. The evil consequence of using unseasoned
wood, will be found insisted on by several writers ; and the whole topic
of its supervening result, dry-rot, will afford an interesting study.
Some years ago much attention was attracted to patented processes for
obviating this source of decay in timber; and it was not unusual for
architects to stipulate for the application of some anti-dry-rot process,
by the provision of an express clause in their specifications. This is
now seldom done ; it being generally understood amongst builders that
the protection of the material from this evil is best attained by ample
ventilation around the timbers. The young architect will, however, be
the better fore-armed, by taking the pains to read some of the fore-
wai'nings in reference to dry-rot, which are to be met with in published
reports of several remarkable cases of it, that have occurred. Some of
them — we remember a case in Dublin — will appear to an inexperienced
student absolutely incredible.
The durability of ironwork should, of course, dem.and the architect's
anxious care. Constructive ironwork should not be introduced into
portions of a building that, from their moisture, are likely to sulyect
the material to danger of decay from rust; danger against which no
known process of painting, enamelling, or galvanising will afford
adequate protection. The first-mentioned is a process needing
periodical renewal, not always attended to at the required times ; and
it should not be forgotten, that rust on iron, when once begun, goes on
beneath the paint, afterwards applied ; and this even supposing the
painter to partially scrape it off before beginning his work.« The two
other processes are hardly fit to be confided in for any protracted period
of time — so that, it comes to this, iron is not a suitable material to use
on a large scale, in situations likely to subject it to e.xtern.tl moisture
and rust. The custom of cramping large coping and other exposed
stones with wrought-iron, bedded externally in lead or cement is to be
condemned, as one likely to endanger the durability of a building ; and
the same thing may be said of all ironwork inserted into external
masonry. The evil effects may be seen in the defacement of the stone
columns of the portico of St. Martin's Church, Trafalgar. square.
Exposed iron cramps, indeed, are liable to another objection, fatal as
corrosion to the durability of a work : this is theft. How often do we
see the iron cramps of a bridge parapet loft for any period undisturbed
in their lead beddings ? They are more frequently dug out by idle
thieves, and conveyed to the marine store dealer. Dovetailed stone or
slate dowels are much to be preferred ; or, if iron must needs be used,
the cramps should be inserted, with their fangs upward, into the under-
side or bed of the coping ; where they will be secure from both rust
and highwayman. While on the subject of theft, as inimical to the
durability of architectural works, we cannot too strongly object to the
external application of ironwork in large towns. A curious example
of its consequence may be seen in Euston-square. Any one, who will
inspect the condition of the elegant cast-iron enclosure, designed by
the late Mr. Inwood, will see that, nearly all the iron honeysuckle
ornaments, both at the top and bottom of the palisading, have been
industriously knocked off by night, and in part collected by day, to be
conveyed to the marine-store shop.
The use of zinc for building purposes is not so common as it was a
few years back. Much of its perishableness is said to proceed from its
being unwisely secured with iron nails. It is a useful material ; but its
durability is liable to be injuriously affected by acids ; as is also that of
iron itself, when exposed to the action of salt water.
Lastly, in the consideration of durability in relation to the works of
the architect, the student should know something (;.s he may by mere
reading or lecture- attending) of the tendency to decay which all
materials, however good in themselves, may have under certain variable
conditions, dictated by their mode of use by the architect. The dura-
bility for example of certain woods will depend on the positions in
which they are to be placed in a given edifice. Thus, elm will be re-
commended as a good material, when exposed to damp, as in the case
of the foundations of a bridge; and in the same way certain kinds of
deal should be employed for internal joinery, but others in exposed
external situations liable to tlie variations of our atmosphere. _ The
bearing ends of joists, beams, and other timbers should not, if it be
easily avoidable, be bedded into the walls : wherever practicable they
should for ventilation's sake be borne on transverse timber plates or
templets, supported by corbellings of brick, stone, or ironwork.
Elsewhere we have insisted on the comparative durability of good
brickwork. CoW,- heat, dryness, dampness, and other contingencies
seein to affect this material but little, when we compare the ravages
Viey make in the durability of stone, iron, and wood: but, even brick-
work may be deprived of its quality of durability, by the unwise use of
bad mortar. Good mortar, well applied, is of the very last consequence
to the stability of a building. Many able treatises have been written
upon it ; and to these the young architect ought to have early recourse
— if his ambition be — what it should be — to identify himself with the
construction of durable buildings.
670
THE BUILDING NEWS-
August 16, 1861.
THE BIRTH AND MUTATIONS OF STYLES.*
CaSISTIAir ROMANESftUE.
rr^HE early Christian church, it is natural to suppose, adopted what-
I ever it consistently could from Judaism, the system of religion
bv -which it was lypifie<l and foreshadowed, and from which it may be
said to have sprung. This it did. The first Christian Societies are
known to have teen formed, in a great measure, on the model of the
synagogue, which held very similar services — those of prayer, and read-
ing, and exposition of the sacred books. But the form of the build-
ings so-called, of which a great number are said to have existed at
Jerusalem, and which were not only for worship, but, like the Pagan
basilicas, for holding local courts of justice, — the form of these, and of
the Jewish temple were doubtless not without influence on that of
the first edifices reared for assemblies of the faithful. Reminiscences
or traditions of the colonnades forming the royal porch and cloisters
which lined and beautified the great court of their Second Temple
would be affectionately associated in tlie minds of the Christianised
Jews with the idea of divine worship, and operate thereon in favor of
columnar divisions in their churches, in which the need of breadth
and spaciousness would probably from the first beget the tripartite
arrangement of the basilicas, whose plans may have been tlxus anticipated
before the time of Constantine. The Stoa Basilica itself foreshadowed
the 'disposition of the Constantinal Basilica and was suggestive of the
basilican plan.
That Christianity should turn its back on the external peristyles of
the edifices called into being by the too mighty spirit of Paganism, and
so inalienably associated with its rites, and adopt the simple unpolluted
Basilica was highly politic and proper. She was of a dilTerent spirit
from her fallen rival, and required a distinct and unique shrine. If
the model chosen was not as original as could be wished, it had the
significant and appropriate characteristic of substituting internal for
external richness, and the recommendation of being of a form eminently
suited to the purposes of the new worship.
In the preceding section of this paper I denied the gradual change
of Roman into Romanesque to be a process of progression, and contended
that it was a lowering of the tone and capacity of the former style.
This, I believe, will hold good, whether the application of the style be
to Paganism or Christianity, which latter would have been as well
served by the Classic orders in their integrity as by the arcade, and
might have adopted along with their plans the pure beamed style of
the Basilicas, which would have been found as equal to all needs of
Christianity as to any of the variety of purposes to which the Ronlans
successfully applied it.
The Christians, however, had a more rational motive for charging
the style fi^m the pure Roman, which was more contaminated with
reminiscences of idolatry than the Romanesque modification of it. The
superior grandeur of the former style they could forego, or were willing
to exchange for elements which removed them from mementoes of
former error, and tended to the development of a new style of archi-
tecture. The same motive afterwards led the Byzantine architects to
go still further, and by increased modifications, and the weaving of new
elements into its texture, to create tlieir style into an entirely new one ;
and it probably led the great Constantine to the expansion of the
ancient Byzantium jnto the new scat of empire, called Constantinople ;
which itself may be almost considered as a creation of Christianity —
called for by its horror of everything Pagan.
By Romanesque architecture I mean that pure modification of the
decUniog Roman made by the Classic races of Italy, and the Celtic
races of the West, which the Classic predelictions of those races led
them to preserve, and which remained distinct from the Gothic of the
Teutonic races, Lombard, Korman, &c., on the one side, and from the
Byzantine or style of the Eastern Empire on the other, though it gave
birth to both. In this style, while the arch is substituted for the
entablature, the Classic purity of spirit is retained. The Roman pro-
portions and detail of the columns are preserved, and the needful
abutment of vaultings provided for by a sufficiency of strength in the
'^^}t rather than by projections from it in the nature of buttresses.
This is, jjcrhaps, the ideal of the style never actually realised, for it no
sooner became distinct from its parent style, and grew into consistency,
than it become more or less imbued with a Byzantine or Gothic feeling.
The fact of its continued existence after the generation from it of
other styles, proves that it wac not a style of transition merely between
the Roman style and the Round Gothic, as some have considered it, but
a style distinct in itself, which, I think, is fiirthcr evinced by the
•palities peculiar to itself which it possessed, and which were after-
irards exhibited in some very artistic productions.
It was not, it is true, as new a style as its purpose — the fabrication
and adornment of the temples of a new religion of a new spirit— seemed
to demand, a purpose which, perhajjs more than any other, called for
an absolutely new style ; for, whatever degree of novelty it possessed.
It arose directly out of the old and heathen art. But, alas, no such
• Costlnaecl frran page 097, by SAxrEL Hooons.
style, so far as we know, has ever yet appeared, and it must be mortify-
ing to human pride to think that a temple for Jehovah must be of the
same earth-born material, and have its design composed of the same
elemental principles, as one for Jupiter.
The Apostles planted churches or Christian societies throughout the
Roman Empire in Europe, Asia and Africa, which were so diligently
watered by their successors, that as early as the second century or
beginning of the third the faith had gradually spread to the middle and
higher ranks of society. About the year 244 we find an Emperor
(Philip the Arabian) favoring the Christians and granting them per-
mission to build churches and exercise their worship in public. From
all this it is probable that soon after the commencement of the
Clu-istian era, or at least long before the time of Constantine, the
Christian Romanesque style must have begun to germinate, more
especially in Asia Minor, and other remote parts of the empire far
from the seat of Government. After the time of Constantine it pre-
vailed over the whole Roman world, and was the sole style until the
rise of the Byzantine, which was probably about the latter end of
fourth century or early in the fifth century, from which period it ceased
in the East, but was the architecture of the whole Western world till
the rise of the Gothic, when its range became still more circumscribed
geographically, being confined chiefly to Italy. But within the limits
of its range the course of the style must have been one of progression,
which would be commensurate in some measure with the growth of the
cleri cal power, and increase of the rigour of ecclesiastical discipline,
which broke in upon the simple architectural arrangements of the early
days of the Church. The separation of the people into clergy and
laity, and the introduction of the doctrine of transubstantiation would
cause the full development of the chancel and separation of it from the
nave by screens, alterations calculated to stimulate the inventive
faculties of the architects, and increase the motive and scope for
design.
It was mainly in proportion as the church lost her singleness of heart,
and sullied herself by communion with heathenism, that she drew upon
the resources of architecture and ranged through the sphere of art. The
fact is a melancholy one ; but we may console ourselves with the reflec-
f io n that Christianity might have been as beautifully adorned without
losmg her innocence, as she was in the proudest daysof the Papacy, and
that there was nothing in the nature of gospel purity to lead to the
repudiation of the graces of architecture. It is true that pure religion,
conscious of her own intrinsic might, can allbrd to go plainly dressed,
and dispense with temple grandeurs, which can add nothing to her
heaven-born dignity, or enhance the beauty of her holiness. Yet into
her service architectural beauty and grandeur might be enlisted with
perfect propriety, when it is used as an harmonious accompaniment to
her teachings, and not as a substitute lor it, and made to strengthen the
bonds of priestly dominion over the heart and spirit of man. The poetry
intertwined with paganism has found its way into Christian literature ;
and the graces of its temples may as consistently pass into Christian
architecture.
But though beauty of right belongs more to the true than to the false
religion, it is the peculiar glory of Christianity to be all independent
of it, as of every extraneous help. It is not necessary to her power nor
essential to her progress.
Before the dismemberment of the Roman empire, and for a century
or two after. Christian Romanesque was one style. But when with the
division of the empire and the decay of its literature and civilisation,
institutions, laws, customs, and languages began to assume local pecu-
liarities, so did the Romanesque architecture, which developed itself in
a manner characteristic of each particular country where it flourished,
and showed local varieties. These may be regarded as a ramified con-
tinuation of the Christian Romanesque, in the same direction in which
the style had been moving for centuries from its Roman source ; while
the Gothic and Byzantine and Saracenic were in a new direction — the
Byzantine and Saracenic eastward and the Gothics westward from the
central parent line. The Itahan, French, and Spanish Romanesques
bear the same relation to the Roman'that the Romance languages bear
to the Latin ; and grew out of it by a similar law — a closer relation to
it than the diflerent Gothics, whose relative position is analogous to that
of the Teutonic languages.
To local influence on the career and character of the style
in question was joined the influence of neighbouring styles; the
Romanesques in their different branches were variously colored
through the rise of Byzantine and Saracenic on the east side of their
range, and by the Gothic en their west. A tinge of Oriental feeling,
arising from the action of Byzantine and Saracenic shows itself in the
Apulian branch, while a strong Gothic coloring is seen in the French,
and still more in the Spanish branch, which are both further removed
from the Roman than was the Italian. The Apulian is distinguished by
richness in sculptured animals, arising from the prevalence of the Greek
Iconoclastic feeling, which prohibited the sculpture of the human
figure
The conquest of Italy by Justinian, the establishment of the
August 16, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
671
\
Exarcbate, and long retention of Lower Italy, by the Greek Empire,
would cause interesting blendings in many buildings, of the Komanesque
and Byzantine styles. The latter had some slight influence on the
Pisan Romanesque ; but on the central or main trunk — the Italiai. —its
influence was least of all. This was the typical form of the ChrijUan
Romanesque, the style which continued the longest, and which of all
the round-arched styles was the most pure. It showed itself susceptible
of a high decorative development without diverging into Grothic, and
might, had it been worked out by men of pure taste and free artistic
power, have reached a chaste and solemn beauty and grace in religious
edifices^ that architecture has seldom exhibited. As it is, it has pro-
duced some of the noblest buildings in the world, buildings which to
the magic of the pillared persjiectives of the Pointed cathedrals unite
the solemn grandeur, and breadth of light and shadow, resulting from
broad suriiices and masses of wall.
In the Christian Komanesque churches we find the germ of the plans
that prevailed in the subsequent styles, and from whence arose their
chief characteristics — viz., the vaulted oblong, which was the form of
the place of general assembly, and the domed circle, that of the
baptistry and tomb. The former became the form of the Gothic ; the
latter of the Byzantine ; and the two together enter into the composi-
tion of the domed churches of the Kennaissance.*
FALKENER ON THE HYPvETHRON OF GREEK TEMPLES.t
THE readers of the Buildi.ng News may remember that, in our last
year's volume we reviewed, somewliat elaborately, a very beautiful
work, entitled " Dajdalus," from thepenof Mr. Edward Falkener. The work
was raainlj devoted to the subject of Classic sculpture ; and this the
accomplished author discoursed of exclusively, throughout his entire
volume. But it contained in front of its title-page an imaginary view of
tlie interior of tlie Parthenon, or Temple of Minerva at Athens, as Mr.
Falkener would have us suppose it existed in the palmy days of Ancient
Greece. The picture is quite familiar to the frequenters of the architec-
tural room of the Eoyal Academy, where it attracted, as all Mr. Falkener's
drawings deservedly attract, considerable notice.
This picture, rather tlian tiie profound Art-treatise, to which it served
but as a frontispiece or prefix, seems to have drawn down on the author of
" l)a;dalus " a liost of objecting reviewers. Tliese have demurred alto-
gether to Mr. Falkener's theory, embodi ;d in that drawing ; the theory
that, the windowless temples of ancient Greece were laid open to the sky;
or were, if covered at all, protected during high festivals with a mere
canvas awning.
In the<e days no man can write a work worth reading, but forthwith he
may be fiUed to see its contents rummaged and discussed ad libitum in a
score of daily, weekly, montldy, and quarterly journals. Authors are
usually obliged to endure it all as best they can ; while their publishers
turn it wisely to their own account, culling here and there bits of favorable
criticism, should there be any, and attaching it by way of tail-piece to
their advertisements. Your visitor to Athens would however seem to be
a specimen of the genus author singularly impatient of reviewers. It was
thence, if we remember aright, that Byron wrote his famous " English
Bards and Scotch Reviewers;" and, since his time, we do not remember to
have seen so elaborate a printed and illustrated rejoin ier, as Messrs.
Longman and Co. have just issued for Mr. Falkener, another Athenian
traveller. This gentleman enters right seriously into the question raised
by his reviewers, in a volume of some forty pages,* ostensibly containing
a paper or ess.ay on the Hypsethron of Greek Temples, but mainly devoted
to a defence of his views, incidentally put forth in the book, " Da>dalus "
before-mentioned. '
Mr. Falkener's defence of his book is conducted with all courtesy it
must be confessed ; though in parts of this little brochure he certainly
makes short work with some of his anonymous opponents : one of these
who accuses him of backing up his theory of a curved ceiling to the Parthe-
non, by representations of temples on coins taken from Professor Donald-
son's late work, is coolly told to refer.to that work of the learned Professor
m which, says Mr. Falkeuer, " they will not find the three coins given in
my ' Dx'dalus ; ' and he then characterises all anonymous reviewers, who
incontmently indulge in personal charges, as pigmies, contending behind
the a;gis of Minerva, treating them all to a droll Fompeian fresco by way
of dlu-stration. This is diverting enough, and when we add, it is the
angriest page of the book, our readers will see Mr. Falkener is no very
truculent writer, even when his favorite hobby or crotchet (should that
really be the term for his theory) is being assailed.
Of his theory of a circular ceiling within the Parthenon, Mr. Falkener
while he adduces most plausible reasons for confiding in it himself, speaks
modestly enough in all conscience. He says, " I put forward that restora-
tion only as an hypothetical solution of the difficulty of placing a pedestal
and statue 50 feet high inside of a temple, which had only 55 feet ; " and
he proceeds to show how objectors to his drawing before mentioned may
satisfy themselves of its impugned accuracy of proportion ; by assuming
the 6 feet high figure of Victory in the hand of the goddess, as a scale by
•which to test the delineated stature of the priest and smgers on the floor
of the temple.
Now we are quite aware that, in these days when, even Protestant
* To be contimietl.
SoJrt^f'i^^if ^''"^''™Jl "' ^'^^ Temples;" a paper read before the ArchaiOlogical
oroety of Uerhn Together with some Observations in reply to the Eoviewersof " Dieaa-
1>18 , by Ldward Falkener. London: Longman, 1861.
Dissenters of every denomination join in the Gothic furor; and erect
Medieval, monastic-looking edifices, such as the now Congregational
Churches at Manchester, Halifax, Ecclcs and elsewhere, each with its
aisles, its tower and spire ; to say nothing ef those later-built Wesleyans
— what-are-we-to-call-'ems — at Highbury , Manchester and Southport — we
say, in these days we are well aware it is a hard matter for a learned,
refined writer, such as — what shall we call him f — the Pagan Mr. Edward
Falkener, to gain even a hearing, amid the vast crowd of Goths, that have
once again overspread the face of Europe. There seems only one place in
all Christendom, to which Mr. Falkener could with comfort betake himself
in times like these— 'tis to Berlin, the Classic ; or, the pseudo- Classic, as
Mr. Gwilt may decide ; and hence we arrive at this melancholy result, to
wit —
That not one modern English architect in five hundred will know, or
care to know, anything of Mr. Falkener's theory of the open, unroofed,
unglazed hypaithron of the ancient temples of Greece. We verily believe
that, at the present moment, there is in England but one body of men of
learning or repute as scholars or artists, whose ears may he said to be
fairly open to any grave questions of Classic archeology, such as this one
propounded by Mr. Falkener. This body is the (artistically) unpopular
fraternity of Oratorians at Birmingham and Brompton, who steadily eschew
all Gothic art.
Tlien why, it may I e asked, do we not join with the general crowd ; and
trample down, as we so easily may (a la Bull's Run), Mr. Falkener and his
recondite theory ?
Simply because, gentle reader, we do not believe that, " the end has yet
come." We do not believe that an architecture ; that, a system of
sculpture, such as Mr. Falkener discourses of, has ended its course, and
passed away. We bow to the beauties of Gothic architecture,"' as does
every tasteful professor of the Classic school ; but we really sigh tor those
vast broad spaces of decoration, pictorial, sculpturesque and arcliitcctonic,
that are to be seen in most of the Classic edifices — but you Goths would
put them aside ! They are not Christian you say ! Let us ask you, are
they not works, congenial to the souls of such high-born, educated men of
refinement, as were Jerome, and Benedict, and Augustine.
Art of the kind kaleidoscopic is beautiful in its way ; and we can all
appreciate the beauty, reticulated though it be, of that Ladye Chapel of
Westminster ; never meant by it< founder to be dubbed " The Chapel of
Henry the Seventh ;" but, let us repeat it, we sigli for a vaster, broader
style of art — all true artists, and with these the general public (which is
something), yearn for the same thing. Now, theij do not get it in the Gothic
style, so-called !
Notwithstanding all thi^, and notwithstandisgouresteemfor the erudite
author of this little book, we are free to admit, what Mr. Falkener perhaps
will not easily admit, Ac has very much to learn. At page 13 he seems very
"touchy" at the alleged imputation of some one of his critics, of wor-
shipping the Venus de' Aledici. We certainly remember some parts of his
"Dajdalus," that favoured wandrously of what our Scotian friends might
define as an " overstrung " leaning towards downright paganism ; so are
tempted to a certain extent to sympathi.^e with his objectors. We do not
of course endorse tlie entire validity of the objection ; but we really think
it lies with Mr. Falkener to show — learned in Attic sculpture as he un-
doubtedly is— how this style of art may be n.ade subservient to Christian
uses. Unless he can do tliis, we can but piomisa him small success in his
crusade, as we trust we may term his present struggle against the Visi-
goths and the Vandals of our time ; nor indeed can we wish him God
speed in his mission.
Architecturally speaking, we look on the question of Gothic or Classic
as in this country a mere question of " Kentish ragstone " and hewn ash-
lar. Given a suitable climate, and a sufficiency of stone or marble, in
large blocks, we do not well see how men are to part with so grand a
manner of architecture, as that of the old Greeks and Romans. Hence
we cannot sympathise with the professional multitude of our day, who will
not care one jot whether the hypasthron of Greek temples was open to
the sky, with a circular ceiling surrounding it, as „uggcsted by Mr. Fal-
kener, or, roofed in as a clerestory, in such a way that, as he shows us by
a woodcut on his last page, the deity — good lack !— could with diificulty
scramble, spear, thunderbolt and all, through the clerestory windows. We
do not, we say, look on Mr. Falkener's moot point as a matter of entire
indiffi;reiice. It is something to us moderns yet, to learn, how we ought
most consistently to light such structures as the St. George's Hall at
Liverpool. Who is there that can gaze on that beautiful edifice without
delight ? The other day, walking into it, we could not forbear a feeling of
intense disappointment, on beholding the sorry, unsatistiictory, ineffective
manner, in which poor Elmes has lighted its Great Hall, perhaps for the
very want of having seen Mr. Falkener's "Daedalus," or of any oppor-
tunity of considering as we may this gentleman's theory of the open
hypffithron of Greek temples. Tlie subject is well worthy of a more
lengthened discussion, let our Gothic friends say what they may.
The Sardinian ' ' Littoral " Railway/. — A meeting of the assignees and
principal creditors under the estate of VV. R. Wagstaffwas held on Wednesday
at the olfices of Messre. Cooper, Brothers and Co., tlie accountants, when a reso-
lution was passed to prosecute the claim against Sir M. Peto, in connection with
the contract for the construction of the Sardinian " Littoral " Railway.
* '* Hereby lianga a tale." How is it that Classic architects, such as Professor Cockerell,
and even Mr. Falkener himself, are found to speak and write so eloquently as they do, of
the excellences of Medieval art ; and yet Gothic architects always so harshly ? The ques-
tion fretiuently offers itself as a parailox to our mind. Art surely is Catholic— in other
words, has surety a i/tueral realUy. Truly, the Goths, with all the beauty (the acknowledged
beauty) of their style, are but sorry cosmopolites!
672
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 16, 1861.
ON THE PICTURESQUE.
AMONG natnni objects and works of art, a very large number exist to
which we should apply the epithet picturesque if we wished to describe
their general characteristics, and the sort of pleasure they give us. A
majority of such familiar objects and scenes as give us pleasure, of
paintings and drawings of such objects, and of the sualler class of archi-
tectural works, would be classed among those which owe their charm to
their pietur.squencss. And as this quality, so far from being incom-
patible with small dimensions and great simplicity, is often present in the
■tiongest dcrree in objects which without it would be nothing better than
insignificant and rude, but which it renders interesting and pleasing.
It i< a matter of no small practical moment to the architect that he should
nndentand the nature of picturesque beauty, and how to secure its aid in
gtring acharm, and the appropriate charm to works such as by their very
natore are removed from the category of subUme or impressive buildings.
I consequently propose here to try to bring into prominence a few charac-
teristics of tiie picturesque with especial reference to such architectural
vorks as dcjtend upon this quality.
Often the etymology of a word," when carefully studied, will afford a clue
to its significance and force. If we try to apply this test to the word which
in English describes the quality, or more properly the assemblage of
qualities, the nature of which is now under discussion, I think every one
will be struck by a peculiar reference to the painter's art in the term pic-
ttiresque ; and if we find that qualities peculiarly fit for exhibition in
painting go to make up the charm of thu picturesque in nature or in art,
we shall not wonder at the term employed.
I have already noticed that small size and the absence of dignity are not
incompatible with picturesque effect, 1 might go further and say that
dignified, impressive, or very vast objects cannot easily possess it, nor can
thoroughly symmetrical and beautiful objects. It appears, then, to be a
quality distinct from grandeur on the one band, and symmetrical beauty
on the other ; and it is, I think, more distant from the latter class of ex-
cellence, which, by the way, might very properly be named sculpturesque
beaaty, than the former.
If what is above said be true we shall expect to find in architecture that
the picturesque is ratlier a property of Gothic than of Classic art, and
that it is most thoroughly exhibited in the smaller and freer Gothic works
than in the grander ones, while yet amid our admiration of the very
noblest a sense of the picturesque need not be altogether absent. Tliat
this is really the case no person conversant with architecture will be dis-
posed, I think, to deny.
In regular beauty — a term which, I take it, means much the same thing
a« the etymology again indicates, namely, such beauty as is most com-
pletely suggestive of being defined by rules and existing in subordination
to them — we find symmetry and exact proportions of the greatest im-
portance, and these qualities the sculptor can express by his chisel with
a refinement and a perfection that approach the delicacy and accuracy of
nature herself In the very highest of such efforts, where the sense of
rulw and law is lost, swallowed up b^- the perfectly natural and living
grace of the work, I believe that sometimes the picturesque peeps out,
but in almost all instances it is entirely absent in good sculpture of the
dignified order, nor is it less so in those eflbrts of the painter's art which
approach most closely the domain o( sculpturesque, or regular beauty.
The paintings which possess most of the peculiar qualities of sculpture
are those great works of the Italian schools where the subjects themselves
are to some extent regulated by order and law, and where the aim of the
painter was mostly to present the highest kind of beauty or the noblest
dignity, either exhibited in repose or in the most impressive kind of action.
Hany such pictures might be turned into statues or bassi-relievi without
any alteration or any loss. Of this class are many of the pictures of
Francia (such for instance as that impressive work the " Coronation of the
Virgin." in his monastery at Elorcnce), of Luini, of Leonardo, of Perugino,
and of Raffacllc. In all these, how composed, restrained, dignified, and
regular is this beauty contrasted with such works as are acknowledged to
depend mainly upon the picturesque for their effect, of which the peasant
pictures of Slurillo or Teniers, or the rustic scenes of Aloreland or Hunt,
BJay be taken as fair specimens.
The source of much of the impression made upon us by sculpturesque
beauty is its conveying so much the sense of something beyond or above
what is merely natural. The impression made upon us by the picturesque, I
believe, on tlic other hand, to be emphatically that of the natural and the
merdi/ natural. Thus, in the greatest works of the sculptor there is an
effort to attain the hij;hest refinement, symmetry, and dignity of bearing,
and even to impart an air of divinity, and to this does the statue owe its
great charm, while the most carefully studied pose, arrangement of
limbs and draperies, and grouping is necessary to produce perfect success.
K'"' )• this lc»« the case in the classes of paintings which possess either the
dignity and repose proper to sculpture, or that sublimity, force, or
grandeur due to the expression of some intense emotion or passion.
The divine majesty of such a picture as that of Francia already alluded
to, or the Madonna di San Sisto, or some of the cartoons and other sacred
•ulgectt of Kaflaelle, or the Sta. Catherine, of Luini (so well known by the
engraving published by the Arundel Society), is as closely allied to the
dignity of sculpture as it is remote from the untrained and often ignoble
•implicity of the picturesque in painting. Equally, though in a different
way, are those works of the painter's art remote from the picturesque,
which by the majesty of their effects of light and shade, or of noble color,
or of great passion, reach the highest rank of tragic or epic painting. The
works of nio<lern masters, perhaps, supply the best instances of success in
•tteropting these characteristics, for painful, passionate, and often rugged
feelings, were not altogether harmonious with the joyful nature, even when
serious and dignified, of the natives of the sunny south. Among the best
depictions of intense feeling we may take the pictures of Ary Scheffer, and
among those conspicuous for grandeur of landscape effect, some of the
works of Martin, Turner, Uanby, and Calame. Perhaps, however, the best
Instances of this grandeur of effect rising above the picturesque, in the
ordinary sense of the word, may be found in the coloring of Titian, and the
chiaroscuro of Rembrandt, both of whom often treated subjects such us in
other hands could have been only picturesque, with a nobleness, a breadth,
and a force which eclipses and destroys their picturesque effect in one of
dignity and sublimity.
Turning to nature for illustrations of what I have advanced ; we fe^l, I
think, conscious that when in the presence of some pressing sense of
greatness, solitude, sublimity, or peril, or when contemplating some
exquisite specimen of perfect beauty, placidity or repose, the sense of tho
picturesque is absent entirely, even from tho objects where it may be
naturally inherent. Take any ordinary rural scene of common country
life in which the picturesque is the prevailing sentiment, and let great
peril, say a fire and the risk of life, throw over it a new and intcnseinterest
and your sense of the picturesque is gone, absorbed, and overwhelmed.
Or even let some grand natural effect, such as the gloom of evening or the
burning glory of golden dawn come over the scene, and althouijh the
pretty confusion and rustic air of all the features may be the same, the
grandeur of tlieir effect will ennoble the whole and lift the scene, for the
time, into the higher region of the impressive and the dignified. The
most queerly clad and odd looking man becomes grand in his gestures and
his air if animated by some noble, great, and absorbing passion or emotion ;
and picturesque though his dress and manner may remain, the sense of
their being so fades away and becomes as though it were not, in the pre-
sence of Boniething more noble or touching a deeper tone of feeling.
The picturesque, then, I conceive, consists eminently in an air of un-
controlled freedom, life, growth, and even irregularity. Liberty is its
natural atmosphere, and even the results of carelessness and neglect are
rendered pleasing when, coming as a sort of natural growth, the dirt and
rags which they cause to rise sit easily on their wearer. Carelessness and
filth are not, however, inherent parts of picturesque beauty. They only
contribute to it as showing untrammelled freedom and liceirse. The most
elegant grace, and especially the graceof natural growth, is consistent with
picturesque beauty.
Contrast, and good effects of light and shade and of color, all contribute
to picturesque effect, so long as they do not, by their assuming the air of
grandeur, absorb and overpower it; nor can there be any quality of the
sublime named, which, on a smaller scale, and to a limited degree, does
not contribute at times to this refreshing quality.
A remarkable part of the excellence of many natural objects and scenes
is the presence of the picturesque along with higher qualities. I have
given instances of how it may be overshadowed by them; I believe, how-
ever, that few natural scenes of grandeur exist where, in the portions
examined separately, or at least in some portions, picturesque beauty
cannot be found. But I believe also that in those scenes whence it seems
most utterly excluded are we to look for the very greatest development of
either sculpturesque beauty or sublimity and grandeur.
Applying these views to architecture, we are at once led to the belief
that those objects whence the nobleness of great size, the beauty of per-
fect symmetry, and highly refined form and proportion, or the grandeur
of impressive effect are of necessity absent are still open the charm of the
picturesque, and that to secure that charm, an air of unconstrained frtedom
and natural growth, with something of irregularity, and even roughness
of finish, brilliancy of light and shade, and pleasing color are needed. We
seem to gather too that in great works whicli unite to breadth of effect
picturesqueness of detail, the most usual course of nature will be found to
be followed, but that, perhaps, a grandeur or a beauty free from all trace
of the picturesque, if it can be attained, will, as grand or beautiful, more
powerfully affect the mind.
This being so, I should have wished, had space permitted, to refer a little
to that class of domestic and rustic buildings, which affords the principal
opportunity for the display of this particular quality ; and to refer also
to the contrast between the grand buildings of the Gothic and the Classic
styles, the former rarely omitting to mix the picturesque with the im-
pressive, the latter rarely including it.
I should too have felt inclined to point out some of the national
characteristics which make the picturesque so congenial an element in tho
arts of northern nations, and which have consequently caused them to love
pictures of rural life and landscapes, while the south and the east of
Europe has preferred grave and impressive, sacred and historical pictures;
and should have tried to follow this analogy in its influence over archi-
tecture and sculpture. Something of this I may hereafter attempt ; it
must now be left for the reader's own meditations. R. S.
Irisfi Landed Property. — The annual report of the Board of Pubhc
Works gives a very favorable account of the result of the public loans for the im-
p rovcment of land ; 193,700 acres have been thorough-drained, under the Land
Improvement Acts, at an average cost of £4 17s. per acre— 4,.j(X) acres in 1800,
though some check was then caused by the comparative scarcity of laborers, or,
rather, by the current scale of wages being higher than Ireland has been accus-
tomed to. In the north-west the Inspector of Drainage reports a marked
improvement contiimally going on in the dress, food, and general condition of the
people.
August 16, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS.
673
THE FINE ARTS SEEN FROM A NEW POINT OF VIEW.*
No. 16. — Modern English Art — Concluded.
PASSING over the works of Vanbrugh, Hawksmoor, Campbell, Kent,
Burlington, Gibbs, and llipley — the author of Blenheim and Castle
Howard alone exhibiting any genius — we come to the ne.xt important
phase in the practice of architects. In 1762, two yearsafter the accession
of George III., the publication of" The Antiquities of Athens" by Stuart
and Kevett dissipated the cloud whicli had obscured Grecian architecture.
Here then was a new field for copyists ! These, the authors naively ob-
serve in their preface, had been " obliged" to confine themselves to " those
ideas only which the casual remains of Italy suggested," architecture being
thus "restrained within narrower limits than could be wished /or want of
a greater number of ancient examples." Wliether their " valuable addition to
the former Mock" was as applicable to the climate and polity of the
English as to those of the ancient Greeks was a question that was not
even asked. Why think Avhen there was no occasion ? Why not copy
when fortune and fame were thus to be secured ? There was no doubt
then as to the propriety of the course.
Although the work was at first regarded iu an antiquarian light, it was
more influential than any other publication in facilitating the revival of
Grecian architecture. But this consummation had long been in gradual
preparation. Carrey's drawings and Wheeler's and Spon's investigations
were made in 1674-6 ; Lord Arundel's collection of sculpture, now at
Oxford, being formed still further back, in 1634. Le Roy's work came out
in 1758, a second edition being published in 1770, when Stuart had recalled
the attention of Europe to the subject. But the fostering of a general
taste for Grecian works of art is due in an eminent degree to an associa-
tion the influence of which has only recently been fully acknowledged.
The establishment of societies of noblemen and gentlemen combining
social intercourse with the promotion of literature and art originated in
Italy, flowing thence, through France, to England, and giving birth to the
academies and institutes of modern times. Quoting from an early publi-
cation of the English association, — "In the year 1734, some gentlemen
who had travelled in Italy, desirous of encouraging at home a taste for
those objects which had contributed so much to their entertainment abroad,
formed themselves ipto a society under the name of the Dilettanti, and
agreed upon such regulations as they thought necessary to keep up the
spirit of their scheme." This did not involve the necessity of listening to
prosaic, and often foolish, amateur lectures, at the close of which most of
the company awake from a nap, and, when relieved from an insipid dis-
cussion in which only the speakers delight, rush to the coffee as the most
welcome part of the fare. The Dilettanti proceeded in a far more rational
manner. Composed of distinguished peers and gentlemen of wealth and
fashion, as well as of learning and taste, who, knowing that genius induces
equality with the highest rank, associated on equal terms with artists and
litterateurs : this aristocracy of birth and of intellect held really festal
meetings. They did not pretend " that a serious plan for the promotion of
art was the only motive for forming the society: friendly and social
intercourse was, undoubtedly, the first great object in view; but, while in
this respect, no set of men ever kept up more religiously to their original in-
tention," they trusted that their works would " show that they had not for
that reason abandoned the cause of vertu."
In 1764 the Dilettanti placed the sum of £2,000 at the disposal of Mr.
Chandler, of Magdalene College, Oxford, Mr. Revett, the architect, and
Mr. Pars, an artist. Wood, the author of the Ruins of Palmyra, and
Balbec, drew up some instructions, and the trio started to explore Grecian
remains. " Ionian Antiquities," an erudite and beautiful work, appeared in
1769, and was followed by a volume of Greek inscriptions, and Chandler's
" Travels in Asia Minor," and " Travels in Greece," published in 1774-5-6.
In 1797 the "Antiquities of Ionia" came out, the society having long
before liberally assisted Stuart and Revett, who had been elected members
in 1751, in presenting to the world their great work. Of the journey
undertaken under the auspices of the Dilettanti by Sir W. Gell and
Messrs. Gaudy and Bedford — who, like the three former explorers, made
Smyrna their head-quarters— notices appeared in 1814, and the " Unedited
Antiquities of Attica," by Wllkins, Gandy, Deering and Bedford,
came out in 1817. Meanwhile, shortly after the issue of the " Antiquities
of Ionia," two volumes of "Specimens of Ancient Sculpture preserved in
the several Collections of Great Britain " were published under the super-
vision of Messrs. Payne Knight and Townley, essays by the former be-
ginning the first volume and closing the second. I have occasionally
drawn on them; for "these dissertations on the history of sculpture, and
the symbolical language of ancient arts remain unchallenged in their taste
and scholarship, after many years of further inquiry into the subject both
here and abroad." The "Bronzes of Siris," bought by the society in
1833, and Penrose's elaborate " Investigation into the Principles of
Athenian Architecture," which surprised the public in 1851, are, it is
hoped, not the last publications of an association now comparatively in-
active, but which has influenced Europe, assisted in founding the Royal
Academy in England, and gained a reputation which cannot soon
disappear.
"Athenian Stuart," as he was called, represented in architecture the
new phase of taste ; and he enjoyed an extensive practice until his death,
at the age of seventy-five, in 1788. The interior of the chapel and the
infirmary of Greenwich Hospital, Belvedere, Kent, mansions in Portmau
and St. Jaraes's-squares, and a copy at Shuckburgh of the Temple of the
Winds •— all feeble and insipid — are by Stuart. Revett survived his
leader till 1804 ; and he designed several temples and porticoes, part of
* The right of repabllcation ana of translation of this series of articles is re«erV«d by
the author.
a house at West Wycombe, and a church at Ayot St. Lawrence, Hertford-
shire.
William Hogarth (1697 — 1764) is the first greatly distinguished truthful
painter whom England had liitherto produced ; and no one has since
appeared superior to him in honest delineation of human life. Like
Crabbe, he is one of " Nature's sternest painters, yet the best." Those who
object that many of his productions are immoral and disgusting ignore
the profound meaning evident the moment we look below the surface
of those celebrated serial novels. The Harlot's and The Rakes Progresses,
The Marriage a la Mode, Industry and Idleness, The Stages of Cruelty,
The Election, &c. Than he, none ever pourtrayed the weakness, the
folly, and the degradation of human beings with a more satiric touch, and
in a manner more calculated to instruct and to reform. He is a truthful
rather than a great painter, yet the greatest in his department. Author
as well as delineator of his tales, he is as strikingly original in conception
as in execution. Walpole truly says : — " Hogarth had no model to follow
and improve upon. He created his art, and used colors instead of
language." " There is always a moral to his pictures. Sometimes he rose
to tragedy, not in the catastrophe of kings and heroes, but in marking
how vice conducts insensibly and incidentally to misery and shame. He
warns against encouraging cruelty and idleness in young minds, and
discerns how the diflerent vices of the great and vulgar lead by Tarious
paths to the same unhappiness."
In the reign of the third George painting and sculpture were wrested
from the hands of foreign artists through the comparatively sudden ap-
pearance of a galaxy of British talent. Wilson (1713 — 1782),
and Gainsborough (1727 — 1788) are the founders in this country
of landscape art, since carried by Tamer to such high perfection.
The former was, however, unduly Influenced by Classicism and the
Italian masters : besides landscape the latter excelled in portraiture
and " fancy " subjects. Morland, though less ambitious than the
above artists, displays much truth in his delineations of rural life.
Of the principles of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723 — 1792), eminent alike
in literature and art, and long considered the caposcuola of English
painting, we may judge from the virtual ignorement of nature and the
finality implied in his advice to study the works of the old masters for
ever. But when at his portraits he almost forgot conventional rules ; and
the loveliness of his children, the grace and purity of his women, and the
dignity of his men, with mind stamped on their countenances, are almost
beyond praise. Opie, though often truthful in expression, wanted the
poetry and elevation of his contemporary Romney ; and James Barry, a
man of powerful understanding, was too exclusively antique. It is need-
less to comment on the inane historical pictures of Benjamin West (1738
— 1820), and the supernatural decompositions of the Swiss Fuseli, called
" Painter in Ordinary to the Devil." Anticipating dates, painting con-
tinued in a state of mediocrity until Sir Thomas Lawrence's (1769 — 1830),
portraits adorned the Academy walls ; but he he was inferior to Reynolds
in almost every respect. " The Blind Fiddler," by Sir David Wilkie (1785
— 1 841), exhibited in 1807, opens a new era, the productions of this artist
being the most honestly original which had appeared since Hogarth
sketched.
The contemporary sculptors were far inferior to the painters. As now,
thought and feeling were subordinated to the aim to beauty and the
display of technical skill. With the varied range of English life to draw
from and with the living men and women of the time for models, the
dreams of the Classic poets and the styles of the antique sculptors were
almost exclusively preferred. Such factitious art could be understood
only by those who had been trained artificially for its appreciation ; and
even this narrow section of the public sought in vain for genuine realisa-
tions of the noble sentiments of antiquity.
Of Bacon, Banks and NoUekens, the first has most English feeling ; the
second nearly anticipated Canova's peculiar repute ; and the busts for
which the third is noted are usually deficient in sentiment and dignity.
Flaxman (1755—1826) was superior to Canova and Thorwaldsen in
simplicity and purity ; but, as Ruskin observes, — " with as true an eye
for nature as Raphael, he stumbled over the blocks of the antique statues,
and wandered in the dark valley of their ruins to the end of his days;
—another lost mind." Sir Francis Chantry (d. 1841) succeeded Nollekins
in the practice of portraiture, and was undoubtedly superior to his pre-
decessor, but almost equally destitute of imagination.
Returning to architecture, the popularity of the Greek style was but
transient, nearly all Stuart's distinguished contemporaries and immediate
successors. Sir W. Chambers — author of Somerset House, begun in 1776 —
Sir R. Taylor, Adam, Dance, and Gandon, adhering to the Cinque-cento
style, of which they manufactured middling specimens. Then the obser-
vant Walpole whispered : — " Considering how scrupulously our architects
confine themselves to antique precedents, perhaps some deviations into
the Gothic may a little relieve them from that servile imitation. I mean
that they should study both tastes, not blend them, — that they should
dare to invent in the one, since they wUl hazard nothing in the other.
When they have built a pediment and portico, the Sibyl's circular temple,
and tacked the wings to a house by a colonnade, they seem au bout de leur
Latin." He patronised James Wyatt (1746 — 1813), who may be con-
sidered as the first representative man of the system of one architect
practising all the styles in demand — or trying to think in any number
of irreconcileable ways — while fearlessly undertaking the restoration of
ancient Gothic remains. The true artist wiU not and cannot copy ; and
Wyatt had not sufficient materials for his Medieval resuscitations.
But Walpole was an indulgent patron, " The house at Leo," he says,
" which was but indifferent before, has been, by the skill and art of Mr.
674
THE BUILDING NEWS,
August 16, 1S61.
Wyatt, admiably improved in the disposition of the apartments.
Amoofrst them is a very beautiful library, finished iu the most perfect style
•f Gothic taste. The three fronts of the house convey the idea of a small
■nmveut, never attempted to be demolished, but partly modernised, and
adapted to the habitation of a gentleman's femily j and the gently
«preadiBg trees, and the adjoining rivulet, seem tr correspond with it,
Mtd to form a site selected by moiilis, with a view to retirement and medi-
tatkn." Brayley observes : — " A small spire crowns the dome of the
library, which is' fitted up with the greatest elegance ; and although an
eye criticjlly versed ia the minutia; of our ancient architecture, may
discern some aaomalies in the ornaments, when considered in reference to
the pure style of any particular era, yet the effect of the whole is
extremely beautiful ; and the mind dwells with admiration on the fine
example of good leorimanship ami exalted taste which this structure ex-
hibits." "In a recess at the east end is a kind of altar table, over which
are paintings of eight small whole-lengths, by Mr. John Carter, in niches,
yrith various beautiful mmute figures above of angels playing'on different
mmical iKslruments." '• The entrance to the library gives the idea of a
•roall oratory, or chantry chapel." In fact, we have the fopperies and
canting sentimentalities of modern Medievalism ; but the true spirit of
the ancient work was, of course, quite absent.
Modern restoration — rendering ancient architectural history a blank
— was inaugurated by Wyatt on an extensive scale. In cathedrals
and churches he confidently undertook to produce very superior efiects,
sometimes in the Gothic, sometimes in the Classic, and sometimes
it is difficolt to say in what manner. One good resulted from these pro-
ceedings. Wyatt's alterations were so barbarous that the indignation of
those who imderstood Medieval art was roused ; and since his time a
sospicion of the possibility of restorations, however ineffectual in pre-
venting them, has pervaded the public mind. Protests from Gongh, Sir
H. Knglefield and Carter against Wyatt's operations at Lichfield, Durham,
Hereford, and Oxford, will be found in the " Gentleman's Magazine" for
1789-90-6, papers continuing to appear till about 1810. Thomas Hope
▼rote a pamphlet on the subject in 1804 ; and the architect was black-
balled by the Antiqaarian Society, although 'afterwards elected a member.
His proceedings were so outrageous in one instance, in which tha dead
were disturbed in graves purchased centuries before and many bodies un-
accounted for, as to elicit, in 1798, from Dr. Milner, an indignant remon-
strance in his "Dissertation on the Modern Style of altering Ancient
Cathedrals, as exemplified in the Cathedral of Salisbury." In defence of
Wyatt it was alleged that, — " the most implicit directions were given to
the clerk of the works to select such marbles only (for cutting into paving-
elabs) from which every legible inscription was obliterated," thus con-
stituting this functionary the judge in the case. Even Walpole was
provoked to write to Gongh : — " Should I get sight of Mr. Wyatt, which
it is not easy to do, I will remonstrate against the intended alteration."
In so rapid a sketch it is impossible to do more than mention Holland,
author of the fa<;ades of the India House and Dover House, Whitehall ;
John Nash (1752 — 1835), whose Falladian, Gothic, and nondescript styles
are illustrated by Buckingham Palace, Regent-street, All Soul's, Langham-
placc, Corsham House, and the Brighton Pavilion ; Sir John Soane (1753
— 1837), whose Bank of England and Law Courts entitle him to the most
prominent position among those English architects who have pursued
novelty as novelty ; Wilkins, whose National Gallery has been sufficiently
criticised ; Sir J. Wyattville, who began to remodel Windsor Castle in
1824 J and Sir R. Smu-ke,an adherent of the Greek school, who designed
Covent-garden Theatre in 1808, and the Post-office and British Museum
in 1823. But the two Pugins demand more attention as the chief pro-
moters of the revival of the style the sultabihty of which to modern
requirements is the most absorbing question agitated by contemporary
architects.
Augtistus Pugln was a native of France, came to this country as a
refugee, married an English lady. Miss Welby, and supported himself by
making drawugs in body color, and other artistic pursuits, his wife enter-
ing into his avocations and managing his office. He became acquainted
•vith Nash, and was frequently employed with his pupils in assisting the
ilistinguishcd architect, many of the drawings, for instance, of the publica-
tion illustrating the Brighton Pavilion being by his hand. In 1818, seeing
the bias towards a Gothic revival, Mr. E. J. Willson suggested to Pugin a
work to contain a series of figured outline illustrations of ancient remains;
a» the books which had hitherto appeared, quoting his words, " however
valuable to the scholar and the gentleman, were of little service to those
engaged in actual practice." Pugin took the hint ; and the first result of
Ilia expeditions was a volume, published in 1821, entitled " Specimens of
Gothic Architecture selected from various Ancient Edifices in England."
Part of the first edition was destroyed by fire; but the demand for the
took was so great that a third edition was brought out in 1825, while a
**T wMi"" '^^ " Specimens " had been completed in 1822. To these
works Willson contributed valuable antiquarian essays. Continental
architecture next engaged Pugin's attention; and "The Architectural
Antiquities of Normandy," edited by John Britton, was issued in 1828.
fcjtamples of Gothic Architecture selected from various edifices in
J-.n(!land appeared in 1831, and a second volume in 1836, after Pugin's
' "f"'- "S^f '"' '" 1832, containing a preface by his son, the literary part
"•n^orks " Willson. Altogether, Pugin published about
A series of " Specimens " and " Examples " such as the authors thought
l«st suited for imitation" was thus laid before architects; and from
that lime Medieval architecture steadily advanced. Pugin was a skilful
mcaaurer and delineator ; and his coUolmraUur Willson was too exclu-
sively an antiquarian to judge what was appropriate to the present age.
In the first volume of " Examples '' the latter remarks approvingly on
the " great number of country seats, for the residence of the nobility and
gentry, which have been raised within the last few years, in imitation of
castles, abbeys, and mansions, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries ;" and
elsewhere he states that, as the porch is a new feature in domestic archi-
tecture,— " The towers raised over many ancient edifices may be copied,
with some modifications, for the same purpose, without any considerable
violation of style." So also ;— " The revival of Gothic architecture seems
almost peculiar to this country, scarcely anything having been done on the
continent in the construction of modern buildings after this manner, and
but little in the investigation of ancient monuments. Tliis backwardness
of taste is mortifying to the English student," who were straining every
nerve to go backward. Speaking of a work which Pugin produced, in
conjunction with Mr. Mackenzie, entitled " Specimens of Gothic Archi-
tecture chiefly selected from the Ancient Buildings at Oxford," the same
authority objects that, " the subjects being drawn in perspective, were not
well adapted for imitation ; and several of them were of a description
merely curious." In fact, the "Specimens" and " Examples " were re-
commended and adopted expressly for reproduction.
To Augustus Welby Pugin (1811—1852) I have frequently alluded.
He devoted himself heart and soul to the study of Medieval art, and
published several works overwhelming with satire and invective those
architects who failed to acknowledge the exclusive applicability of Gothic
architecture to modern requirements. Possessing genius, literary talent,
tangible learning, and technical ability of no mean order, shown in numer-
ous edifices, he was still one of the most humble, pious, and retrograde
members of the Catholic Church, the aim of his life being to resuscitate in
the nineteenth century the polity of the fourteenth. Pugin's sincerity
commands deep respect, his capacity higli admiration ; and we may feel
both while acknowledging his signal mistakes.
And now, in concluding these present articles, the moral of which I
hardly need deduce, — "If any man shall please himself or others in the
repreliension of them, they shall make that ancient and patient request,
Verbera sed audi ; let men reprehend them, so they observe and weigh
them : for the appeal is lawful, though it may be it shall not be needful,
from the first cogitations of men to their second, and from the nearer
times to the times farther oS."
Edwahd L. Tajbb^ce.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF GREAT BRITAIN AND
IRELAND.
THE annual meeting of the above Society which commenced on tlie 23rd ult.,
was concluded on Tuesday, last week. The members of the Institute having
been invited to Peterborough,' proceeded there, and the inaugural address — on
archaeology, especially in connexion with Northamptonshire — ^was delivered by the
Rev. Tlioinas James. Some of the members then visited and inspected Thorp
Hall, all reassembling in the evening to hear a paper read by Mr. Parker " On
the Ancient Houses, Domestic Chapels, and Hospitals of Northamptonshire, and
the neighbourhood of Peterlwrough." On Wednesday the historical section had
a meeting, at which the Dean of Ely made some remarks explanatory of the
history of Peterborough in its relation to Ely Cathedral. The local nomenclature
of the county formed the subject of the first paper read (by the Rev. J. Earle),
that " On certain existing landmarks of Early Ecclesiastical History " forming
the subject of next paper by the Rev. Mr. Brown. The members then made an
excursion to Barnack, Whittering, and Caistor, returning to dine with the Dean
in the evening.
On Thursday an excursion was made to Oakham and Stamford. The places
visited in Oaldiam were the recently restored church, the Market Cross, the
Norman. Castle Hall, the residence formerly occupied by the Bede family, and
tlie Bede House. At Stamford the company proceeded to St. Martin's Church,
Mr. Freeman describing the fabric. Tlie site of the Hospital of St. Thomas of
Canterbury was soon scanned ; and after examining the Norman doorway in
Queen' Head-passage, the company visited the Town-hall. The fine 13th
century crypt opposite the Hall was next inspected, as were also St John's and
St. Mary's churches, Luncheon over , St. Georges' church was next "made,"
followed by the Monaster^' of St Leonards, the Grammar School, Browne's
Hospital, All Saints' church. In the evening there was a "paper " meeting in
the Corn Exchange.
On Friday meetings of the sections took place, when papers were read by Pro-
fessor Babiiigton on the " Ancient History of the Fens," and by the Rev. E.
Trollope, F.S.A. on " The Cardyke." Remarks at considerable length were also
made by Sir Charles Anderson, on the west front of Lincoln Minster and the
works now going on there, and Professor Willis addressed his section on the subject
of Peterborough Cathedral.
On Saturday excursions were made to Thorney, Crowland, Peakirk, Glurton,
and Woodcroft House, at all of which places there was found ranch to interest
the excursionists. But here we must pause ; the meeting was a most successful
one, and will long be looked back to with feelings of pleasure by those who par-
ticipated in the hospitaUty of the Dean of Ely.
Si. Sepulchre's Church, Northampton. — The restoration of this
church, which is one of the four round churches only that exist iu England, is
progressing satisfactorily. The enlarged nave, which occupies the site of the
former chancel, together with the now chancel and aisles, is nearly completed.
The funds, however, are not snflicient to carry out Mr. Gilbert Scott's design
entirely. Upon the work already done there has been expended a sura of £3,100;
hut in order to connect the now roof with the old one— the two being totally dis-
similar—it will be necessary to expend a sum of £ioO in repairing the old roof
over the former chancel. The architect would, however, prefer to construct an
entirely new roof, to harmonise in style and appearance with the new buildings,
and to do this would cost about £1,000. Tiie seating and many other details
have not yet been mentioned. If these are carried out on a liberal scale, and
according to Mr. Scott's designs, a further outlay of £1,500 will be required.
676
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 16, 1861.
BODELWYDDAN CHUBCH NEAR ST. ASAPH *
mfflS churehTconsisUng of nave, aUle, and chancel 1ms been late y
mtus cn'ireii, ^^"°' " 6 . f „f tije Dowager Ladv WiUoughby de
iokn^tff^tio^^^embrtrofh^^
* ■^t.^i tohPr native parish, where she has a'so erected schools,
LS^"^d^.^n^-hoase situated on the borders of Sir Hugh
?S^C^arfc ^elhurch has been built in costly and durable
materiSs Theexterior and portions of the interior are of the stone of the
neighbourhood
which is similar
to and as bard as
granite; and some
of the internal
columns are of
the same mate-
rial highly po-
lished. The roofs,
seats, altar-rails,
reading-desk, and
doors, are en-
tirely of oak
richly carred,
whilst the effect
of the interior is
heightened by a
profusion of dif-
ferent colored
marbles and
stained glass
windows, the
latter having re-
presentations of
the principal
events in the life
of our Saviour.
No paint, plaster,
or distemper has
been used in the
whole fabric. The
arches between
the nave and
aisles are carried
by large clustered
shafts of Belgian
red marble, the
neckings and
abaci, together
with the shafts
above (which
carry the roof)
are of the same
material with
richly carved fo-
liated caps and
corbels interven-
ing, and moulded
bases In the
native stone; the
whole of the
arcbea and tra-
ceried windows
are richly mould-
ed in the same
material, while
the internal ash-
lar of the nave
and aisles is of
Talacre stone.
The floors are
principally of in-
laid marbles, that
of the chancel
being white with
red and black
bands, and Sici-
lian marble
moulded steps,
softly reflecting
on its surface the
varied tints of the
ctafaiedgUfs.The
ensraTed view of the chancel shows more particularly the arrangement.
The chancel arch has clustered shafts of red griotte marble, supported by
carved angels, holding books on which are appropriate texts ; the arcadmg
it of varied alabaster, with columns of Languedoc marble ; the capitals
are white and polished, and the bases of Purbeck marble. The cusped
and crocketed canopies at the back of the stalls are of Caen stone, whilst
those of the reredos are wholly of polished alabaster, with slabs of Dove
• Per intoior view, tee oiipoiU« page ; (or details of window and tower, see pp. 2M-2Sfi an<e.
marble, on which there is printed in letters of gold the creed, &c., &c.,
with the monogram in the centre one.
The larger clustered shafts of the chancel are of red polished griotte,
divided vertically with beads and horizontally with bands of polished
black marble. The internal aslilar in other parts is of Bodelwyddan stone,
carefully wrought. The pulpit is of oak and elaborately carved, having
kneeling angels supporting it with canopied panels, those above contain-
ing boldly carved heads of Our Lord and the Evangelists with their
appropriate em-
blems. This, with
the stained-glass
windows, were
the gift of the
Miss Williams,
sisters of the
Dowager Lady
WUIoughby.
Returning to
the nave, and
looking west
through the lofty
tower archway,
is a rich round
and traceried
window, 10 feet
diameter, filled
with stained
glass ; below it
and in the tower
is the children's
gallery.the tower
arch is divided
below the gallery
by double polish-
ed columns and
arches with fo-
liated capitals.
The western en-
trance has
columns of red
polished granite.
The two win-
dows of the
tower contain
figures of St.
Asaph and St.
Margaret. The
vestry is octa-
gonal,with oaken
roof and floor
similar to the
nave ; the en-
trance to it is
from the east end
of the north aisle,
above which is
another rich tra-
ceried catherine-
wheel window,
also filled with
stained glass,
whilst the corre-
sponding south
aisle window con-
tains heraldic
bearings of the
see of St. Asaph
and the royal
arms. The oaken
roofs have hght
introduced by
means of a panel-
led clerestory and
louvres.
The spire is 202
feet high, and
care has been
taken in detailing
and jointing the
masonry ; there
arc three open
wrought tracery bands. The buttresses and pinnacles of the tower are
battered, and the spire is crocketed and has an entasis of six mclies
beyond the straight line. Various contractors have been employed under
the direction of the architect, Mr. John Gibson The work was com-
menced in July, 1856, and the consecration took place in August, iBbO.
The new church of St. Ann's, Hanger-lane, Stamford-hill, was conse-
crated a fowdays ago. It is built after deaiRn" by Mr. T. Bury ; its 'ene'^ tom is'ffl
to east is 110 feet ; its shaiM is cruciform, witli an apse ; the whole cliurch Is of Kenlitn
ragstone, and Bath stone tadngs ; tlie spire is 127 (eot lilgli, and it liolda 000 persons.
,mmin
IHIIIW:
i.:
VIEW OF Til?: INTEUIOR OF BODELWYDDAN CHUUCll, NEAK ST. ASA1'H._Mk. John Gibson. Aiicuitect.
August 16, 1861.
THE CHCJHCH OF ^T.^MARY^ mLTON HOLMiT^ili
of which the GeometricaTwIilowtaniL'^^^^
teristics. It consists of a nave withm.t oi i . '""^ ""'*' obvious cliardc-
to the east of either triLpt 1 tuTv^^tenTuT^' •='"""^'^'' ^""^ » f'^'P'^'
spire. The south porch is groined in t^o bavfeael, .'"T'''-'"'""""'!-''',''^ '''
making- four on each side • above einh l^H f^ ■ , contawung two windows,
in the face of the wall and ^VeS w?th m nuJet'^V' a quatrefoi], sunk deep
the parvise chamber, which is occuDieThv T""'^ ''.''^''s. there is a window in
is a shaft and capital, and aSoral^'^ a h£?'T"- B«?«'««° each window
The exterior arch is plai'u but the LnhlinJ^ °l ,T^, "^'^^ " 1»atrefoiI.
and every moulding wSerhiside or ouSft, f ^o'd, whicli holds true of all
ing stair leads to the bel eharaber ff ^n r d-™''- ^""^ "'5?",'='' ^ '''■«'-
^Zi^j^'^s: ^^-^^z^^^^ " Af;.Kt^
and in,pressive, th^u.^Co^me^at gr"' and c Id """'"' " ■•'^'"^*^'"y "^^"'ifuf !
34 feet G inches in lensth, and 20 feet wie '%*^ "'^-«' S» <^t. The chancel is !
tlie cliapels are 18 feet 6 inche, hv w 7^ a -^^ transepts are 20 feet by II feet :
5 feet tlMck. Above it ar^ the nLlf ^fJ '""'"': • ^'"^ ^'"'<'' «'■'='' '* >»ftv an<f
3 feet or 3 feet 3 inches ^hlck and^l i™f ,'. '?''" '? .''°°''- ^11 the walls are
windows of three lights S' on rno^fl ' ^Tf ^ '^='^'- ^'"^ "»'« ""as three
south Notwowhfdoll i,ech«charfaiikTinTheirT'" ^'""""^ »" *«
corbels, or capitals in the carving with which tLv»™ 'T T^' ."'"' ""^ '""'
of this church is that all the "api tafs are lo mrp .L ,, T"?'"'''. A peculiarity
carved work on its sofflte. ThTroof of tl!^ chu'rel? 1 f''*' ^^T"',* ^^."^^ ^'"^ ^^'
pche3ofwood,ofMemeIpine,bdoweach„f w^^^^ °^ "^"^ P"°<='P^
between each piincipal are four sSerarchesRpt''""'' \''an sj.aft, and
arcade of two arches, surmounted bv a canonvwif^fl-? ■"2"'? ,'"'"•'""' '^ •■'°
wail-plate is an arcade of ni,rnp,l Ztl'"}°^l.^'fi ?"""?'' ""'al*- Above the
THE BUILDING NEWS.
1579
of the window; whikAdam L, I.vf i 'i "^r..*"^ i^™"' "« '" "'" centre
''itror'^^t?^" #^ >owe."tt:;:'rtttr' '^■"" '^""^'' ^"'^ *'^'"— »h™
sou,^;-pteh1^:rv:X! X' ar,!~^^^^^^^^
pally black, red, and J^llowVutinTHnn.,1,''.."',^ •"''"■"''.''"'' ■"•« P''""-
fn the sanctuary, which s raiswl a. of iPr tTf' *"? ' " "'"^'^ ^''"> '««?«. and
and a delicate g^een tile,' 'prXce a'Seligh m^'e'S "'""""'^ "' "^te'Sarble,
in "wj„\?o^r,vtt;':,fcrn.±;^'''^£^
srs^r^^sdT'iSfpi^rT^^^^
carved in ancient EngliX oak bv mi of sS 'f"^'- ^'l' '"'='"""« ^esk is
an admirable specimen of wood carvin"' hlw ''u'!,' ?'""' *^hrewsbury, and is
without theaid of sand-paper ItTacfs th v?e^I°S •"'^'V'' "'"' ">« '<""•
the acoustic requirements of the bu W?nV Th? 'r t '. P,'?''*'' '," "^ *" ""'<'' all
trusted to Mr. Hill, but are not ve finiflied Tl« I! ' "" • ' '''"'' ,P"'P" "« «"-
of antiqne oak, and consist of Ifi p^w^ p r. . '''^"'" ™'''* a""-^ '"w and plain,
four, ^he fon't isa SrLable instinct of wtr'''''',"''7'"'''' ""^ '^""^ "^''"Py
duction of color. It is a ?arge be^"'ionaI hJf^ T^ l>e done without the intro-
the towerL,. .... th^srl;;Zn.'"^,\Zl^^SXtyed^L'lf^^^^^^^^
I
wail-plate is an arca'd of pierced arches in^lorr rS^f ?""''^- ^'"'^'^ th?
The same design appears aKth"alt?r ^ik unJ. « ^"""'-r. ^"^lish character,
septs are divided by a pointed arch ahove^M,' 7 u^^ '™"' P"'"'^''- The tran-
foils. The chancel arch sIoftfnnHnK T^ of which are two pierced quartre-
which relieves rpress.iVon'^:Ckev-^^^^^^^^^^ is an arcade of thre^ pierced\rch^,
is filled up by a quartrifoil tL nnrfi, * " JH'* instance the centre arch
r>orthwalUlaryZdowrffo?rIiX\hp'rP' ^^\^''' <"«^ window in the
and two cinquefoils. aKws w ndow on f f^ ?*^^^ containing a heptagon
two richly-earved suSc quamefdls The .i t^"*'*'''''' '' ^ *'"^" arcade, and
window o4ur lights. ^X,Wndo- Ire fil^^^^^^ ""'j' » «0""'
Bell, except the <Sst and wesfw^SowI The chane'l 1?,°.™'^^ F'^^'"" ^"^
IS entered by the priest's door „,Zr a Vrefi, tS /'''' T '' of the chancel
Holbam chapel. It is divided from the s™thV™L f^^' '^^ " known as the
into two by a single shafTof suV4inThe Ih?S,d^' P'"°"'<1 "'''i, divided
jnartrefoil above the point of unbS^uLsollvnn^ elegance, and a pierced
three lights, surmounted by three quartrefdl,flpfL"v°"' T *^'^ '^"^^ w^*" of
t%vo pointed arches, richly carved on the moulding In " ffi.^"** ""^ '''''''"eel are
similar shafts. These arches are fiUed in wUh rf^linl '°f' '' ^"PPO^ed by two
ornamented by Skidmore, of Covent^ to wbn,^ Ji^ of wrought iron, richly
was entrustel The roof of this S^'ap"] also of tbp^ ' - '''^P''^''"en^
boarded with a flat roof tl.o =™„!;.i. ''""J'^'j also ol the corresponding soaee !«
^ith the bold roof of the' na™ and c''hS"'l^7ht':';'^'' ^-^^^i^ "^ *£« Sa
Sir .lohn Hotham, Baronet who died ?nlfiSQ ^"'fP-^' i' " ''"e monument to
and carefully removed from the old chirch' ""'"'' '" ^'^'^ ^'""" ""'t <l«'e,
or^^We^U'edn'pl'tlo'n'^o'f^iM^^ «- the
solid stone wall, richly carved from the or?»„ p. "^ ^'''^^^^ ^'"^ "J'^ided by a
cei iug, above which L l^aitvZ wfnSow fSintvf^f ^ ^' ^'''' " *="
wall, disposed round a quatrefoil as centre iT^UiW« f tretods in the east
Sw ;fn"ir. '-- "'' ^"•''-' ^^ "^ ^"^iiir i;^^^^^^^^^ Z'el
sc Jb:dTTw^°"^[i:*tcti"-'i. JCtrrth?" '^-^ ^r"- r "-« =^-^^y ^e.
barmonious beauty of th? decoration 'TTerooru''f°" */ '"r'^^ ^"^'«'" «ie
archesofwood, withdescendincrwn l„i„. 1 . " formed of three princinal
of two arches. ' AllZTd?hrc\rnlPrjhreeTron'^^^ "^'^'"1' '' '^ "^
below the wall plate: the lowes a m.nrtJlf '^ S- '"^°^i' '""'"es of carving, just
nave has two simUar cour esT?f a SoSe eh«^^^^^^^ ""1^''°'" " f™!' The
each side a window of two ligli s, surmoTuted hv » f ' f "e'nary has on
lancets with double windows in stone?carved on^L f ^^''°' , '"''2''^° '^o *«"
of reredos, there is an arcade of eWhtPnllJ.? ■ ^'^'"^ ^^ soffite. By way
pojecting' nearly a foot from U e ^dls eacTi '^I'th' ^''h ^^''^'deof the sanct^uM^^
« a broad band of flowers and ieaver\ime "' fn^ "^ turnover; above them
the square abacus arrests the attention. ^ '* conventional ; and here
The great eastern window is of five lio-lits ^;fi. „ i
T^ie tracery of this is worthy of parUculnr ndnnW °''^''"•ge circular heading,
pass by Mess,^. Clayton a^d fiSf Z "erv Sh "e'ontJl '^ tilled with etaine^d
the chance eflect. "The snhieet ,•» l^,\. ■ ^ i eontribut&s to the warmth of
^/oundatBurfordJn'aSdl ;.'''^irrS^^^^^
ot Judgment, and i« =(,.i„n., ,„.;„...__, L ..P"^ents tne 'Doms-daeg," or Bay
In the upper part of
I't, is the re-
of"scai"e7 "i-r"'..'"'" ^".'- "'■'•'"'el the
best Memelpta'e" ?iey^atera W 1 h and th rTT' "'"P'^r" ,'" "ie roof is th
At each gabfe end is a crMs and everv an^Ip ^nlf °"S il''"'''"™*''^ "^^'"'S-
is between every window. Above the 4,tefn w^^,?/"™'l'!""™P' »"'' "-e life
posed of a cluster of trefoils' Mow rhifJL.""^ '! ''5'?"'^°'^'''ig''t. com-
and on either side an arcade of surf.l I" *^^^
ontside, just below the waCla e runs a S "" "7"'' '■'"= '"■«"" eburch
^=dt-ti-^aSfH^
vent-holes, which appear in thTwalls of the ch„™l ' "^ '^ """"'" o'' "ocular
chJiiL^ctrof '^e'crr ';s;-;isiraroun ? •'i'"- '"^ ^!''''*' -^ «- •«"<j
but rises sheer to its fu I heT- with . con=?H >•, i\" "*' .''.'"'^ed into stages,
pares it for the recention rf th^ «"tp .^^^^^^
fights, with quatrefo sin Sie h ads^XhTiave'dooT! °P™ '""'''•y ^'"^'e o/tEree
inside. Below them is a plain p.Wdbaiconv Th.l' "'""'''"'f' "'!'' 'ransomes
at each angle is a lofty pinnacle ffrmlnniw/' • "" *"■" "" battlements, but
They are ca"'ved with a nrofusfon n^n?„ ^.'"P^-V^^ ''' " considerable height,
of t4 lights each in thrrin"ng chamber "th ™"'' "' l^"'' '■°''" ^'""i«^'
.rfS'^-d^ r^^-S^^--"^^^.-- was
dence'of the architect Hard v a,,v7 t^ifn '" '^""''■'"' ,"'!,'*'='• "'« ^uperinten -
estimate. The total expejs ei renute Mo ,7'"^/''''' '^'"''5'^ '" the original
style of the masonry the Xronpr,^?tl.«^ ■''' """''J' ,""'''"" £^».O0O. The
hi ably carriedout tL desi n,'^f tL 111 ■?''7''!='/'i? *'"^ """•' "f tiie whole.
own early
himself.
window is a rich cobalt. ^ '''^ t^^Pets. The ground of the whole
^n r^mrS.,^ the.brazen serpent ;
compartments below are filled u/^it^fctitit'^oTt^m ^"^
T\fRllOwiimr^F".om'^^'^^K"^'^™«>ND OTHER FLUIDS
n/i a. nuvvHKiUGE commenced by lamenting the deficiencv of hi, ^
m education, and the consequent difficulty^he felt n afldre« L
&pf i'%r'^'T°f''P=P'='-' *° ""'^ "^f'e^ foreman. TSeS'L'haTt,;
firat-reatZnl^h!T„i;/"'y-'''''^'y'"|P™™"ents have been made! The
fi^iFt? ? T Jir^ '^^°''' direction was taken by Mr. Glynn, then manairer of
w„r?;l^^^ Iron Works by the introduction of steam-power 'for t".epZose of
working scoop wheels. These last had undergone many modiflcations i"7hZ^
he!, Mr HoT^, '^^\ ?7 f "> °<" accom^plish all ^that nfight be desirU rf
tnera. Mr. Howbridge stated that during the years 1848-49-50 he wasverTsT
and lTll"fh-'^''' 'T^"'S ^^OP "■'"-■'-''^ '■''■• draining the fens o7cambr dIeTwre
nSon h?m n '"''' "P'^ 'il."' a consideration of the sulject was, as it were, forced
fe^s hP h,H?f 'k'"! :^'"'f ?'•" ^^''^'^ *" "'= """J """y P™<'"cal and grav4 de-
taken un and .pt^'i'''" ''"'""^ ''Tf''''"T '"'"'"•• After many planslmd b4
taken up and set down, many models made and abandoned, he had come to the
conclusion that the kind of wheel he should that night endeavoSr to de^iS*
was among the best that could be used tor the purpose of lilting water Thii
conviction had cost him some thought and labor to aJ-rive at, and he put it f^th
wth a certain degree of confidence. If he was wrong, probably some Vfl^
fellow members would put him right. ' ^ "' ""
The objects to be attained in the construction of steam-driven wheels for liftinB-
water, were undoubtedly the raising of the greatest quantity of Cer to th^
greatest height with the least expenditure of motive power, and tl eTeiLt amonnf
of waste. These desiderata ,,.ere to be combined witt a wheel of smardamete?
which would work against a "lead" of water at the disclmrge ?nd lift m"t
when the flood was highest Above all, their simplicity of cons ruction w^s^n
indispensable requirement, for there must be little liabilitv to deran'emenT from
dirty water or such dehrui as was frequently to be met wi'th in tlie cSurees of X
fen Sistricts.
--.. „„„.,. o. i.c ..u,icu iiiai. uii liiese points nad been proper v taken into ac-
count in the wheels which, by the aid oj- diagrams and explanations, he slioSld
Aug^«'?,''l'S^f,'"""**''^^'""'"A«odation of Foreman Bngineors, by Mr. Howbridge,
680
THE BUILDING NEWS.
August 16, 1861.
now try to describe. The rrailer here exhibited » sectional elevation of the wheel
he had devised, but which lack of space prevents our transferring to our columns.
It may, however, be explained to our renders that it represented a huclset wheel,
with hollow arms, made of sheet iron. Tlirouch these arms, which are in fact
pipes, the water raised by the curved buckets during t'>e revolutions of the wheel
would be discharged into' the hollow shaft or a.\is upon which the wheel turned.
Each arm was fitted with a self-acting gravitating valve, which would open and
admit the water raised to the hollow shaft or axis, and close against its egress
throuzh the arras on the opposite side of the wheel. The arrangement of these
Talves appeared to be simple and yet ingenious in the highest degree. They
would inevitably, as it seemed to us, receive the water as rapidly as it came to
than, and pcrtinaceously refuse to part with it except through the central axis,
iriMDOe it might be di\erted to any channel. Jlr. Howbridge remarked that the
seoop wheel could not be made to "throw water more than one-third its diameter,
whilst the wheel he recommended would easily do so to the extent of one-half,
thus demonstrating the feet that a smaller wheel would do the same amount of
duty.
From calculations carefully made, he had satisfied himself that a twenty-foot
wheel, on his plan, with eighteen buckets, each two feet wide and two feet deep,
and making eight and a hSf revolutions per minute, would lift twenty-six tons
of water or other fluid per minute. This would require sixteen-horse power, or,
adding one-fourth to that for overcoming the inertia of the wheel, say twenty-
horse power. The reader of the paper went further into detail, with a view to
proving the superiority of the hoUow-armed wheel over all others yet known,
and urged that it was well adapted for drainage, irrigation, and sewage purposes.
On concluding he was much applauded, and, after a discussion maintained with
spirit by Messrs. Buckle, Miller, Jones, the Chairman, and others^ but in which
no serious objections were raised to Mr. Howbridge's plans, a vote of thanks was
unanimously awarded to that gentleman for the care and skill with which he had
brought the important subject in question before the meeting. The proceedings
of the evening then came to an ending.
BRITISH ARCH^OLOGIC.iL ASSOCIATION.
THE eighteenth annual meeting of the British Archueological Association will
be held at Exeter, August 19th, and following week. The first day will be
devoted to the antiquities of the city. Within the precincts of Rougemont
Castle a useless modem building has recently been removed, a militia store-room,
disclosing a noble Norman archway, of old, the entrance to the stronghold.
This archway is as new to the citizens (who, many of them, have been led to
believe in a sham portcullis and modem gateway) as it can be to the Association,
and reminding them of King Richard the Third's remark when the Mayor in
courtesy showed him the castle and called it Rougemont, and that his mind
poneased with the idea of Richmond, started at a similar name ; of Richmond, or
nther Henry VII., there is a pleasing memorial of the city's loyalty on the front
of a house adjoining east gate, removed in 1784. Under the statue of Henry are
the Royal ahns of France and England, with the greyhound and red dragon as
supporters.
On the second day there will be an examination of the Cathedral, one of the
noblest and most consistent Early Decorated churches that can be met with, not
to name iu curious Romanesque towers. The description will be by Mr. Davis.
"The Association will then be received at Pynes, the seat of Sir Stafford North-
cote, the President of the Society. It is then intended to visit Copplestone, a
carious granite pillar panelled with Celtic frets, and to view the church at Credi-
ton, a cathedral-like structure of late Perpendicular, having clerestories to nave
and choir and singular Norman piers. Supporting the central tower Crediton
claims to antiquity are thus laid down : —
" When Kirton was a market town,
Kxet«r was a fuzzy down."
Wednesday i« to be devoted to an excursion to Ford Abbey, a mansion replete
withi antique features and curiosities, then a visit to Ottery St. Mary
~ " ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ' ' ' '^ :eter
iitan
aisles being
fan-traceried
nortl'i aisle to nave representing the third Pointed style most favorably.
It will be remembered that witliin the last ten or twelve years £10,000 nearly
has been expended on the restoration of Ottery church, ancf this without destroy-
ing its grey venerable character of antiquity. The Grandison monuments, the
ten windows of the choir, by Ilardnian, exhibiting our Ixird's Humiliation and
Exaltation ; the lady chapel with its curious stone gallery across the entrance
and rich in painted windows, are objects well deserving of consideration.
Cadbav House, one mile from Ottery, is a picturesque Tudor mansion, having
heraldic liip knobs on the gables, and an enclosed square courtyard having ou
each elevation a small statue. The four are Henry VlII., Edward VI., Mary
and Elizabeth.
Tlie next day an excursion into South Devon will take the party to Haccorabe,
the seat of Sir Walter Carcw, where there is a singular liarly English chapel,
rather disguised indeed by nineteenth century additions, but rich in memorials of
the Carews and Ijircedcknes, and the remains of a quatrefoil of horses'-shoes on the
portal keep in remembrance the fortitude of a noble horse of one of the
Ctrews, who swam a long distance into the sea and won a manor of land by the
exploit. Compton Castle, a fortified mansion partly occupied as a farm-house, is
next to be visited— a threatening gallery, a machicoulis, impends over the front
door, and the colisses of a sliding gate are visible.
Not more than two miles from Compton Castle is the mansion of Tor Abbey on
the shore of Tor Bay, in modem times the scat of the Carys. This place was a
religious house of the Prcmonstratensian order, founded by Lord William
Briwerein HOC. Some portion of the old buildings remains, a large grange
battreaed round and having a curved braced roof; close to the mansion a
massive battlemented gateway wiih rude ribs and bosses in the vaulting, exhibiting
the arms of the aWx;y gnles a chevron between three croziers, also the cogni-
xances of Mohun, Hpeke, and Briwerc. In the secluded gardens are the remains
of a Norman doorway, believed from its position to have been the entrance to the
cliapter house of tlic monastic cliurch, and some remains of walls indicate the
choir and central tower of the edifice. In want of further evidence we peruse
the poeti7 on a atone tablet : —
Church, the model almost it may be styled in form and arrangements of Exeter
Cathedral, being in genenil dimensions nearly half the size oi^ the metropolitan
church, but earlier in style, the transept, towers, nave and choir aislf" '' '
Early English. The choir and lady chaf>el u little later, and a noble fan-t
■' Tliough hallowed mitres glitter here no more,
The friendly abbey still adorns the shore.
Here meek reli^ous ancient temple rose,
How great how fall'n the mournful ruin shows ;
Of sacrilege, behold what heaps appear.
Nor blush to drop the tributary tear, &c."
There is not much within the mansion — spacious vaults with low segmental
groinings some springing from short shafts, the domestic chapel of old, the refec-
tory, with a cradle roof, the lavatory near the entrance, and a few small
Decorated windows.
Not far from the abbey, crowning an eminence of limestone, is a small chapel
29 feet by 14 feet, ruinous, but of very solid construction. It has been named
St. Michael's chapel, perhaps because the Archangel was believed to appear to
mortals in vertice month. At Ilsamfarm, in the neighljourhood of Torquay,
there is a picturesque little tower chapel which belonged to Tor Abbey.
Friday : a short journey on the Bristol and Exeter lands, the
party "at Tiverton named from the two fords (the Exe and
Lowman) between which it is situated. The old church, St. Peters,
gathers dignity from a tall Tudor monumental chapel to John and
Joan Greenway erected about 1517, and covered with sculpture, heraldry,
illustrations of holy writ, together with woolpacks, ships, anchors, and other
memoranda of J. G.'s mercantile prosperity. Close by the church are the
ruins of the castle once the residence of the Earls of Devon, and standing on a
small precipice overhanging the Exe.
Tiverton has also amongst its architectural curiosities Blnndell's School,
founded 1004, an Elizabethan edifice, its roof said to be fashioned out of the
wreck of the Spanish Armada. Waldron's Greenway's and Slee's Almshouses,
fronting the main streets should not be passed unnoticed.
The Third Pointed church at Cullompton, about six miles from Tiverton, has a
very richly carved and gilt barrel roof and rood screen. Lanes aisle with fan
tracery vaulting, a tower the last dying speech of Medieval art, dating about
1545. There are two old houses in the main street, worthy of notice.
Dartmouth is to be visited on Saturday. The inhabitants of this ancient little
seaport, despite the disadvantages of narrow streets, delighted of old to deck their
houses with plaster imagery and carved wainscotings. Numerous were once the
representations of the Descent of the Cloven Tongues, the Judgment of Solomon,
the Ascension of Elijah, the Book of Ruth ; whilst externally the projecting stories
and oriel windows bracketed beneath with busts of griffins and other imaginary
beings, gave an air of great picturesqueness to the street. Some of these fronts
remain, and the town church, St Saviour's, has a rich screen and pulpit, and a
curious brass to John Hawley and his two wives in the floor.
Totnes church, however, 10 miles up the river Dart, much as it has suffered
from tasteless innovations, has by far the most curious screen, of stone, painted
and gilt, 13 feet high. Near the church are an old school and townhall.
Dartington hall, the residence of A. Champemowne, Esq., is about 2| miles
from Totnes. There are remains of an old hall here, but roofless, a substantial
porch tower, and the church groups with the old buildings with good effect. This
edifice is believed to have been erected by Holland, Duke of Exeter, half brother
to Richard II. This excursion closes the week. Probably some of the members
may, during the following week, seek the wilds of Dartmoor, and find out the
stone circles on Gidleigh Common, the " grey wethers " and avenues, Grimspound
and the triple circle near Castor rock. Here we fear they may be disappointed,
as the small size of the stones in several of these monuments renders them any-
thing but sublime.
1
THE LAMBETH BRIDGE COMPANY.
THE following is the report of the directors to be submitted to the shareholders
at the first general meeting, to be held at the M'estminst^r Palace Hotel, on
Wednesday, the 21st instant : —
The directors havethc satisfaction to report that the working plans for the bridge have
been approved by the Admiralty and the Conservators of the Kiver Thames, and that mo
deposit required by the Company's Act to be made with the Conservators, to insure the
completion of the work, has been paid. .^ « »u __'i j
The directors, after having obtained subscriptions for the greater part of the capita,
prof^eeded to treat with contractors for the execution of the works ; and they have the
pleasure to announce that contracts with Messrs. N. S. Newall and Co. as to the cables, aud
with Messrs. J. H. Porter and Co. as to the residue of the works have been duly signed, at
prices which will complete the works for less than £28,000- the contractors taking pay-
ment of £12,000 of this amount in paid-up shares. ,,,,,.».,
The directors have entered into arrangements for the purchase of nearly the whole of tne
land required. They arc enabled, therefore, to state that the capital of i,40 000 will be
more than sufficient to meet every contingency. They trust the bridge will be opened
BufflcienUy early in 18C2 to benefit by the traffic of the International Exhibition.
The directors offer themselves to the shareholders for re-election. It will be necessary to
appoint auditors. The report of the engineer is annexed. .
'^'^ TORRraoTON, Chairman.
21, Great George-street, Westminster, August 10, 1861.
ENGINEER'S REPORT.
To the Directors of the Lambeth Bridge Company.
MT LORD AND GENTLEMEN,— I have the honor to report that the contractors have
completed thdr arrangements for commencing the pile driving, and that the first castmgs
for the cylinder foundations will be delivered in a month. , .. ,
In compliance with your instructions, I herewith add, for the information of the share-
holders, a general description of the work contracted for.
The bridge will have three equal spans of wire cables made with charcoal iron, each JSO
feet wide, supporting a wrought-iron platform, with rigid lattice side.-.-, similar to a
girder; and thus differs from suspension-bridges hitherto constructed, which support a
wooden platform, by small round vertical rods, without any other moans of msunng
rigidity and preventing oscillation. , , .. r . • ,■ ^ i-j...,«
The river piers will consist each of two cast-iron cylinders, 12 feet in diameter driven
V, feet into the bed of the river, and filled with concrete and brickwork in the same
manner as those now in coarse of erection for the new Hungerford railway bndge.
The structure will exceed in stabUity any similar structure yet erected.
The bridge wiU have a double carriage-way and two footways the total width being 32
feet, and could, without inconvenience, accommodate a traffic doable that of Waterloo-
bridge, which takes tolls amounting to £20,000 per annum.
As, however, it is evident that this bridge, from its situation, will become the main
lino of communication from the Pimlico and Chelsea districts to the east end o£ the
metropolis, from the great saving of distance and avoidance of the crowded! streets, 1 haje,
in compliance with your instructions, so designed the bridge as that an additional widUl
for two lines of carriages may be added without interfering with the trafBc.
I have the honor to bo, my Lord and Gentlemen, your obedient, humble Servant,
26, Great Qeorge^treet, Angufit, 1861 .
August 16, 1861.
THE BUILDING NEWS
681
" RECOLLECTIONS OF A. "W. N. PUGIN."
SIR,— In one only of tlie many desultory remarks so profusely scattered
by Mr. T. Bury, through the columns of the Building News, am I
disposed to coincide. I am afraid it is true, as he asserts, " that many
men exhibit a great difference of character on different occasions and under
a v.iried influence." Under ordinary circumstances, I can well conceive
tliat Mr. Bury would be good-humored and liberal, if not very profound in
his judgment on the literary merits of his professional rivals. But under
.-in adverse •' influence," it is possible, as his recent letter on "Recollec-
tions of A. W. N. Pugin" have too painfully shown, for the writer to
indulge in petty and captious criticisms which are inoffensive only because
they are feeble. As far as I am concerned, I make him welcome to the
hunilred and odd pages of the Appendi.K, and to the " mystery" (whatever
tliat may mean) "of Pugin's writings," which, I can readily believe, were
quite beyond his comprehension. No one h.ns a right to require Mr. Bury
to be eitlier original or independent in his judgment; he is, therefore, wel-
come to borrow, second-hand, his opinion as to style, from the "ingenious
Tractarian writer" commented on in page 364 of the "Appendix," and
who, in the Saturclai/ Review of August 3rd, returns again to his original
but unproved insinuation concerning Pugin'.i moderation in matters of faith.
IJuring the preparation of the "Recollections," Mr. Bury had ample
opportunity to show his zeal on his " old friend's" behalf— a zeal not then
out of place nor wanting in modesty — for the author of that work
had too rial a regard for, and took too deep an interest in, the subject
of his memoir not to have most readily accepted assistance and
counsel in his most arduous undertaking. If Mr. Bury be, indeed,
inclined to do a real service to the memory of his "old friend" let him
leave to others more candid and dispassionate than himself, the ungracious
task of picking small holes in a performance which, whatever its defects
may be, has, at least, the honest aim of putting Pugin'.< life and character
in a true light before the public. But since Mr. Bury has rather osten-,
tiitiously announced his intention of continuing his comments, which
seemed, last week, to have come to an end more for lack of matter than
of will, and since, moreover, he prides himself on the statement of accurate
fact?, I will also give a few facts, for the accuracy of which I can vouch,
and which may, perhaps, go fnr in accounting for Mr. Bury's paltry
remarks on the writer of " Recollections."
It is a fict, then, that Mr. Bury was ambitious of becoming the bio-
grapher of Pugin, but his dilatory efforts met with no encouragement.
Again, it is a fact that not only did Mr. Bury refuse all assistance which
his business connexion with Pugin might, perhaps, have enabled him to
afford, but he actually had the effrontery to beg that all the family docu-
ments and letters should be withheld from Mr. Perrey. What will the
lovers of fair-play — and they abound even in the literary and artistic
world— say to this ? To what depths does not wounded vanity drag
its disconsolate victim I But I have not yet done with my string
of facts. Before a single line of " Recollections," good, bad, or indif-
ferent, was printed, Mr. Bury declared that he would attack its author
whenever and wherever he could, and do his utmost to damage the
biography of the man whom he is so fond of calling his old friend.
Fortunately, Mr. Bury is no literary gorilla, he may, perhaps, have
the unpleasant snarl, hut he sadly lacks the strength of that far-
famed lion of the day. He is to be pitied, if he fancies that he pos-
sesses the biographical powers of a Boswell, and has been baulked in
his desire of making Pugin's memory a pedestal to his own fame. Had
he remained silent under his disappointment he might have had the
sympathy, had he assisted in the work he certainly would have earned
the gratitude, of Pugin's friends ; as it is he has been at some trouble to
obtain a very unpleasant position. Mr. Bury boasts that he sails under
no false colors; I am afraid it is but too transparent that the flag under
which he h.is embarked in his present unhappy course is the yellow flag
of jealousy and disappointed authorship. I trust that on reflection he
will strike his flag and return to his old good-humoured craft, and crack
for the future, in private only, his harmless jokes at the expense of the
successful author of "Recollections of A. W. N. Pugin."
Edmund Shekidan Pcrcell.
SiK, — It is not my intention to enter into any controversy with Mr. T. Bury
as to the statements in my " Recollections of Welby Pugin." When he has the
effrontery to say that I did not see Pugin for twenty years he is deserving
of no credit. I nave reliable aathority for everything I liave mentioned which
did not come within ray own personal knowledge. It is not to be supposed that
any biography was ever written in which some of the incidents recorded might
not be open to a different version ; but I could not have believed that any man
would be so wanting in gentlemanly feeling as to put forward a number of con-
tradictory assertions without any proof- merely, if possibly, to damage the
character of a once fellow-pupil. If I were to engage in controversy with Mr.
Bury, I could state some facts which might disturb his merry mood. While
writing these lines I have received a communication from Mr. Neale, in which
In; entirely confirms one of my anecdotes, as follows : — " Tlie late Mr. Welhy
Pugin's plates of the Apology were engraved by him while at sea, while in
partnership in a small vts.sel with another. So he told me when he brought the
plates into my liouse on his return, dressed in his sailor-partner's clothes."
Oiuy for all, I again repeat that there is no statement in my book for which"
there is not the best obtainable authority. I sliall, therefore, treat with contempt
any furllier observations in wliich Mr. Bury tidnks it becoming to indulge. Tlie
arrogant marnier in which he claims all knowleilge of the late Mr. Welliy Pugin
it- not to be toltrated. I have not attacked Mr. Bury in any way, hut he has
made the most unwarrantable assertions, as devoid of truth as tliey are of good
taste.
I am content to let the merits or demerits of the " Recollections of Pugin " be
judged by the notices in the Builder, Saturday Review, Examiner, Observer,
Literary Gazette, Atheneetim, Manchester Guardian, Sec, ani do not quail
under Mr. Bury's puny lash. I am, &c.,
Benjn. Feekey.
ST. PAUL'S NEW DISTRICT SCHOOLS, CLERKENWELL.
THERE is an old saying that " if a man escapes a bad nurse he may «til
be undone by evil bringing up." There are living witnesses to its
truth " as thick as motes in the sunny beam " in every part of London,
but for unglossed testimony wc must go to the densely crowded districts,
and there read it in the countenances, hear it in the voices, and see it in
the actions of half the people we meet. Poverty does not necessarily
make a man bad, anymore than education renders him good, but they pre-
dispose him to infection. Misery weakens his uprightness, whilst culture
strengthens his understanding. If the child be the father of the man and
the tree grows as the twig is inclined, schools are as essential, if not more
so, than churches. The force which can bend the bough is powerless with
tlie deformed trunk. Wherever, then, the philanthropist pauses to benefit
a district he does well to make the school the highway to the church. The
work of the clergyman is lessened by the labors of the master, and the
latter finds the best acknowledgment of his exertions in the congregation
of the church. The erection of a school as an adjunct to a church is a
sure guarantee that the founders have listened to the cry of the poor. The
large parish of St. James, Clerkenwell, has remained for a long while un-
aided. Twenty-eight thousand inhabitants, mostly of the humbler class,
with little abihty to help themselves, have but one church to go to— that
founded 750 years ago by the Black Nun". Such a state of things ought
not to exist in wealthy London, and we are glad to know that it will soon
be partially remedied. A new