Architecture of England
The architecture of the United Kingdom has a long and diverse history from beyond Stonehenge to the designs of Norman Foster and the present day. Below are listed some architects and examples of their work typical of the era in which they were created. The evolution of British architecture can be traced through these buildings.
Pre-Roman architecture
The earliest known examples of architecture in the United Kingdom are the many neolithic monuments such as those at Stonehenge and Avebury.
Roman architecture
The earliest domestic architecture is that bequeathed to the country by the Romans, who occupied Britain from 43 until 406. The Romans built the first cities and towns, which included Chester, St. Albans, London and Bath. Many fine examples of Roman architecture remain: of special note are the ruins of the spa in Bath. Following the Roman's departure architecture seems to have regressed and little remains of the period immediately after the Roman withdrawal.
Anglo-Saxon architecture
Following the battle of Mons Badonicus in 500, and the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon period a few isolated examples of architecture begin to appear; most notably some saxon churches such as those at Stewkley and Wing both in Buckinghamshire.
Medieval architecture
Defensive architecture
After the Norman invasion of 1066, more consistent forms of design began to regularly appear. William I and his law lords built numerous castles and garrisons to uphold their authority. Often these were built initially of wood, speed of erection being of greater concern than design or appearance; the best-known of these is the Tower of London. However during the following two centuries of the Norman period further and even larger castles such as Caernarfon Castle in Wales and Carrickfergus Castle in Ireland were built to suppress the natives.
Many castles remain from these medieval times and in most towns and villages the parish church is an indication of the age of the settlement, built as they were from stone rather than the traditional wattle and daub.
Religious architecture
The Gothic
Whilst the Crown busied itself with the construction of defensive structures, the clergy, and indeed most of society, was dedicated to the glorification of god through the erection of Gothic cathedrals.
Tudor architecture
Large houses continued to be fortified until the Tudor period, when the first of the large gracious unfortified mansions such as the Elizabethan Montacute House and Hatfield House were built.
Stuart architecture
- Main article: English Baroque
The Civil War 1642—49 proved to be the last time in British history that houses had to survive a siege. Corfe Castle was destroyed following an attack by Oliver Cromwell's army, but Compton Wynyates survived a similar event. After this date houses were built purely for living, and design and appearance were for ever more important than defense.
Just prior to the Civil War, Inigo Jones, who is regarded as the first significant British architect, came to prominence. He was responsible for importing the Palladian manner of architecture to Britain from Italy; the Queen's House at Greenwich is perhaps his best surviving work.
Following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the Great Fire of London in 1666 an opportunity was missed in London to create a new metropolitan city, featuring modern architectural styles. Although one of the best known British architects, Sir Christopher Wren, was employed to design and rebuild many of the ruined ancient churches of London, his master plan for rebuilding London as a whole was rejected. It was in this period that he designed the building that he is perhaps best known for, St Paul's Cathedral.
In the early 18th century baroque architecture, a style exemplified by heavy embellishment and mass, popular in Europe, was introduced, the first baroque house in England was Chatsworth House by William Talman in the 1690. However, it is Sir John Vanbrugh who is remembered as the English master of baroque, his design for Castle Howard of 1699 is that of the first truly baroque house in England, dominated by it cylindrical domed drum tower it would not be in out of place in Dresden or Würzburg. Vanbrugh then evolved the style to suit the more solid English taste this he perfected at Blenheim Palace and later Seaton Delaval Hall.
Georgian architecture
In spite of Vanbrugh's efforts and those of his colleague and contemporary Nicholas Hawksmoor baroque was never truly to the English taste, and well before the time of Vanbrugh's death in 1724 baroque was being replaced by a return of the Palladian form. The Georgian architecture of the 18th century was an evolved form of Palladianism. Many existing buildings such as Woburn Abbey and Kedleston Hall are in this style. It was during this period that comfort and style became truly popular, and many of England's old fortified houses were rebuilt or remodelled, this is why today it is not uncommon to see country houses with facades in different styles, often the front of a castellated castle would be rebuilt in the palladian style complete with portico, while at one end of the same facade a medieval tower would remain untouched Brympton D'Evercy in Somerset is typical of a house partly modernised at this time. Among the many architects practising in this era were Robert Adam, Sir William Chambers, and James Wyatt.
Victorian architecture
In the early 19th century the romantic medieval gothic style appeared as a backlash to the symmetry of Palladianism, and such buildings as Fonthill Abbey were built. By the middle of the 19th century, as a result of new technology, construction was able to develop incorporating steel as a building component; one of the greatest exponents of this was Joseph Paxton, architect of the Crystal Palace. Paxton also continued to build such houses as Mentmore Towers, in the still popular retrospective Renaissance styles. In this era of prosperity and development English architecture embraced many new methods of construction, but ironically in style, such architects as August Pugin ensured it remained firmly in the past.
In Scotland, Alexander Thomson was a pioneer in the use of cast iron and steel for commercial buildings, blending neo-classical conventionality with Egyptian and oriental themes to produce many truly original structures.
In the 18th century a few British architects had emigrated to the colonies, but as the British Empire became firmly established in the 19th century many architects at the start of their careers made the decision to emigrate, several chose the USA but most went to Canada, Australia or New Zealand, as opportunities arose to meet the growing demand for buildings in these countries. Normally the style of architecture they adopted was those which were fasionable when they left Britain, though by the latter half of the century improving transport and communications meant that even quite remote parts of the Empire had access to the many publications such as The Builder magazine that enabled colonial architects to stay abreast of current fashion. Thus the influence of British architecture spread across the world. Several prominent 19th century architects produced designs that were executed by architects in the various colonies. For example Sir George Gilbert Scott designed Bombay University (University of Mumbai) & William Butterfield designed St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide.
Twentieth century architecture
At the beginning of the 20th century a new form of design arts and crafts became popular, the architectural form of this style, which had evolved from the 19th century designs of such architects as Charles Rennie Mackintosh and George Devey, was championed by Edwin Lutyens. Arts and crafts in architecture is symbolized by an informal, non symmetrical form, often with mullioned or lattice windows, multiple gables and tall chimneys. This style continued to evolve until World War II.
Following the Second World War reconstruction went through a variety of phases, but was heavily influenced by the late work of Le Corbusier, especially from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. Significant movements in this era included the British 'New Brutalist' style such as the Economist Building by Alison and Peter Smithson, the Hayward Gallery, the Barbican and Denys Lasdun's National Film Theatre . Many Modernist-inspired town centres considered unappealing by some, are today in the process of being redeveloped, Bracknell town centre being a case in point.
However, it should not be forgotten that in the immediate post-War years many thousands (perhaps hundreds of thousands) of council houses in mock-vernacular style were built, giving working class people their first experience of private gardens and indoor sanitation.
Postmodern architecture that started in the 1970s was especially fasionable in the 1980s when many shopping malls and office complexes for example Broadgate used this style, notable practioners were James Stirling and Terry Farrell (architect), although Farrell has returned modernism in the 1990s.
Modernism remains a significant force in British architecture, although its influence is felt predominantly in non-domestic buildings. The two most prominent proponents are Lord Rogers of Riverside and Lord Foster of Thames Bank. Rogers' iconic London buildings are probably Lloyd's Building and the Millennium Dome, while Foster created the Swiss Re Buildings (nicknamed The Gherkin) and the Greater London Authority H.Q.
See also
The full story of the United Kingdom's architecture can best be traced through the following architects and buildings:-
Pre-Historic buildings
Roman buildings
Anglo-Saxon architecture
- Earls Barton church
- All Saints' Church, Brixworth
- St Laurence's Church Bradford-Upon-Avon
- Greensted Church
- Stow, Lincolnshire
- St Mary de Castro, Dover
Norman architecture
- Carlisle Castle
- Tower of London
- Colchester Castle
- Norwich Castle
- Chepstow Castle
- Pembroke Castle
- Carrickfergus Castle
- Dover Castle
- Richmond Castle
- Durham Cathedral
- St David's Cathedral
- Norwich Cathedral
- Tewkesbury Abbey
- Ely Cathedral
- Peterborough Cathedral
Early Gothic & Contemporary Castles
- Gothic architecture
- Canterbury Cathedral the chancel
- Salisbury Cathedral
- Wells Cathedral
- Lincoln Cathedral
- Glasgow Cathedral
- Caernarfon Castle
- Caerphilly Castle
- Conwy Castle
- Beaumaris Castle
- Harlech Castle
- Kidwelly Castle
- Alnwick Castle
Decorated and perpendicular Gothic
- York Minster
- Exeter Cathedral
- Gloucester Cathedral
- Salisbury Cathedral
- Ely Cathedral
- St. Giles' Cathedral
- Llandaff Cathedral
- Beverley Minster
- King's College Chapel
- Henry VII Lady Chapel
- Bath Abbey
- Haddon Hall
- Penshurst Place
- Tattershall Castle (Lincolnshire)
- Raglan Castle
- Magdalen College, Oxford
- Eton College
- Henry Yevele: Canterbury Cathedral nave, Westminster Abbey nave & Westminster Hall
- William Wynford: Winchester Cathedral nave, New College, Oxford, Winchester College
Renaissance, Tudor and Jacobean architecture
- Hampton Court Palace
- Falkland Palace
- Barrington Court
- Cotehele
- Compton Wynyates
- Layer Marney Towers
- Sutton Place, Surrey
- Hengrave Hall
- Burghley House
- Audley End House
- Bramshill House
- Bolsover Castle
- Middle Temple
- Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
- William Arnold (architect), Wadham College, Oxford, Montacute House, Dunster Castle
- Robert Lyminge: Hatfield House, Blickling Hall
- Robert Smythson: Hardwick Hall, Wollaton Hall, also worked on Longleat House
- John Thorpe: Kirby Hall
Palladianism
- Inigo Jones: The Queen's House Greenwich; Wilton House
- Hugh May: Windsor Castle (only part of his work survives)
- Sir Roger Pratt: Kingston Lacy
- John Webb: King Charles block Greenwich, Wilbury House
- William Winde: Belton House
Baroque
- William Adam: Duff House, Hopetoun House
- Thomas Archer: St Paul's Deptford, Chatsworth House north front
- Sir William Bruce (architect): Hopetoun House, Holyrood Palace, Thirlestane Castle
- James Gibbs: Radcliffe Camera, St Martin-in-the-fields
- Nicholas Hawksmoor: Easton Neston, Clarendon Building, The Queen's College, Oxford, Christchurch Spitalfields
- James Smith (architect): Drumlanrig Castle, Hamilton Palace
- William Talman (architect): Chatsworth House south front
- Sir John Vanbrugh: Castle Howard, Blenheim Palace, Seaton Delaval Hall, Grimsthorpe Castle
- Sir Christopher Wren: St Paul's Cathedral, Greenwich Hospital (London), Hampton Court Palace, Wren Library, Cambridge
Classical revival & Early Gothic Revival
- Robert Adam: Harewood House, Syon House, Kedleston Hall, Old College, University of Edinburgh, Culzean Castle, Stowe House
- Decimus Burton: Palm House Kew
- Colen Campbell: Mereworth Castle, Houghton Hall
- John Carr: Harewood House, Tabley House, Buxton Crescent
- Sir William Chambers: Somerset House
- George Dance the Younger: Guildhall, London
- Henry Flitcroft: Woburn Abbey, Wentworth Woodhouse
- James Gandon: The Custom House, Irish Houses of Parliament, Four Courts, King's Inns, Emo Court
- Thomas Harrison (architect): Lancaster Castle, Chester Castle
- Henry Holland (architect): Carlton House
- William Kent: Holkham Hall, Horse Guards (building)
- Giacomo Leoni: Lyme Park; Clandon Park
- Robert Mylne: Addington Palace
- John Nash (architect): Buckingham Palace, Brighton Pavilion, Regent's Park
- James Paine: Kedleston Hall, Wardour Castle
- Sir John Soane: Bank of England, Dulwich Picture Gallery
- Sir Robert Smirke (architect): British Museum, Lowther Castle
- Sir Robert Taylor (architect): Bank of England, Heveningham Hall
- William Wilkins: National Gallery, London, University College, London
- John Wood, the Elder: The Circus (Bath), Queens Square, Bath
- John Wood, the Younger: Royal Crescent, Bath Assembly Rooms
- James Wyatt: Fonthill Abbey, Ashridge House
- Sir Jeffry Wyattville: Windsor Castle
Victorian architecture
- Sir Charles Barry: Houses of Parliament
- John Francis Bentley: Westminster Cathedral
- Edward Blore: Lambeth Palace
- George Frederick Bodley: St. Augustine's Church, Pendlebury
- Cuthbert Brodrick: Leeds Town Hall
- William Burges: Cardiff Castle
- William Butterfield: Rugby School
- Charles Robert Cockerell: Ashmolean Museum
- Sir Thomas Newenham Deane & Benjamin Woodward: Trinity College, Dublin, Oxford University Museum of Natural History
- George Devey: Ascott House
- John Dobson (architect): Newcastle Central Station
- John Douglas (architect): St Deiniol's Library
- Harvey Lonsdale Elmes: St. George's Hall, Liverpool
- Edward William Godwin: Northampton Guildhall
- Thomas Hopper: Penrhyn Castle
- Charles Rennie Mackintosh: Glasgow School of Art, Hill House
- Frank Matcham: Coliseum Theatre, Hackney Empire, London Palladium
- Sir Joseph Paxton: The Crystal Palace, Mentmore Towers
- John Loughborough Pearson: Truro Cathedral
- Sir James Pennethorne: 6 Burlington Gardens (former senate building of the University of London)
- Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin: Houses of Parliament, Scarisbrick Hall
- Anthony Salvin: Harlaxton Manor, Peckforton Castle
- Sir George Gilbert Scott: Albert Memorial, St Pancras railway station, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, University of Glasgow, St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh (Episcopal)
- Richard Norman Shaw: (old) Scotland Yard
- George Edmund Street: Royal Courts of Justice
- Alexander Thomson: St Vincent Street Free Church
- Sir William Tite: Royal Exchange (London)
- Alfred Waterhouse: Natural History Museum, Manchester Town Hall, Eaton Hall (Cheshire)
- Philip Webb: Standen
British Architects who Emigrated
- Herbert Baker (South Africa though he returned to England in 1913)
- James Barnet (Australia)
- Edmund Blacket (Australia)
- Frederick William Cumberland (Canada}
- Francis Greenway (Australia)
- William Critchlow Harris (Canada)
- Peter Harrison (USA)
- Benjamin Latrobe (USA)
- William Mason (mayor) (New Zealand)
- Benjamin Mountfort (New Zealand)
- John Notman (USA)
- John Ostell (Canada)
- Francis Rattenbury (Canada)
- George Temple-Poole (Australia)
- William Thomas (architect) (Canada)
- George Troup (architect) (New Zealand)
- Richard Upjohn (USA)
- Calvert Vaux (USA)
- John Verge (Australia)
- John Cliffe Watts (Australia)
20th century architecture
- Sir Herbert Baker: Bank of England, South Africa House
- John Belcher (architect): Ashton Memorial
- Sir Reginald Blomfield: Regent Street
- Sir Terry Farrell (architect): Charing Cross railway station, MI6 Headquarters
- Lord Norman Foster: British Museum (Great Court), Wembley Stadium
- Sir Frederick Gibberd: Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, London Central Mosque
- Ernő Goldfinger: Trellick Tower
- Sir Nicholas Grimshaw: Eden Project, Waterloo station
- Charles Holden: Rhodesia House, London Underground Stations, 55 Broadway
- Sir Michael Hopkins: Lord's Cricket Ground, (Mound Stand), Portcullis House
- Lanchester, Stewart and Rickards: City Hall, Cardiff
- Sir Denys Lasdun: Royal National Theatre, Royal College of Physicians
- Sir Robert Lorimer: Scottish National War Memorial
- Berthold Lubetkin: London Zoo, the gorilla house and a penguin pool
- Sir Edwin Lutyens: Cenotaph; Castle Drogo
- Sir Robert Matthew: Royal Festival Hall
- Sir Leslie Martin: Royal Festival Hall, Brunswick Centre
- Lord Richard Rogers: Lloyd's Building, Millennium Dome, Channel 4 Headquarters
- Sir Giles Gilbert Scott: Liverpool Cathedral
- Alison and Peter Smithson: Smithdon High School Hunstanton
- Sir Basil Spence: Coventry Cathedral
- Sir James Stirling (architect): Tate Britain the Clore Gallery
- Sir Aston Webb: Victoria and Albert Museum, University of Birmingham, Britannia Royal Naval College
- Arnold Thornley: Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland)
- Michael Wilford: The Lowry
- Sir Owen Williams: the original Wembley Stadium
- Sir Colin St John Wilson: British Library