British Architecture

Apart from some ancient churches, the oldest buildings you will see in Britain are castles. They are dotted all over the country, with many beautiful examples in Scotland and Wales. They were first built by the Normans after their invasion of England in 1066. The Tower of London dates from about 1078. Because of the Normans’ desire to control the population, they started to build castles everywhere, but especially in the more restless regions. For example, King Edward I built a series of massive castles in Wales at the end of the 13^th century; his aim was to keep Welsh under English rule.

As the dominance of the English crown was established, the need for castles diminished. So by the 15^th century the castle-building was over. Many Scottish castles are from a later period, but these are not military buildings; they are aristocratic family houses that imitated older styles.

Since the Middle Ages, architecture in Britain (as in most of Europe) has been based on three major styles: Gothic, classical, and modern. The great early cathedrals and churches are in Gothic style – tall, with pointed arches and highly decorated; they are covered in sculptures of people, animals and plants. The buildings are fantastic engineering achievements, constructed with very little machinery and designed by architects whose names have been forgotten. The tallest spire in Britain, at Salisbury Cathedral, is 123 metres high and was built in the 1330s. It is incredible that such size and perfection were achieved without a single crane or computer!

After the Gothic period, architectural fashion looked back to the classical age of Greece and Rome for its inspiration. So we see columns and triangular pediments as on Greek temples; round arches, domes and perfect Latin lettering as on Roman public buildings. Many of the finest London churches are in this style; St Paul’s Cathedral (built by Sir Christopher Wren between 1675 and 1710) is the biggest and most celebrated, but there are many more all over the city.

Not only churches were in the classical style. Rich aristocrats built huge and impressive houses surrounded by parkland; they are not such a grand scale that it is difficult to imagine that they were once private homes, but of course they had dozens and sometimes hundreds of servants.

Many of the most beautiful parts of British cities consist of houses in this style. The period of kings George I to George IV is known as Georgian period, and cities such as London, Edinburgh, Bristol and Bath still today have large numbers of elegant Georgian houses, which give the streets a striking sense of unity and design.

In the 19^th century, during the Victorian age (taking its name from Queen Victoria), architects went back to medieval Gothic ideas for their inspiration. At first sight it is sometimes difficult to tell whether a Victorian church is 100 or 500 years old! At the same time, classical styles did not disappear altogether. In fact, there was a “Battle of the Styles” between classical and Gothic. The British Museum (1823) was a victory for classical, and the House of Parliament (1836) for the Gothic. There was also debate about the use of iron and steel: should these new materials be visible, as in the new bridges and railway stations, or hidden, as in the Natural History Museum, London, where the metal frame is covered by coloured brick and stonework?

From the 1920s on, new ideas were transforming art and music, and architecture, too, was caught up in the modernizing culture. People wanted buildings which were not just copies of the past. Having abandoned both classical and Gothic styles, the challenge was to create – to invent – something really new. Luckily, this change in attitude came at the same time as exciting new engineering materials were becoming available. With concrete and steel together, and new types of glass, it was possible to escape from the traditional forms. For the first time in history, architects were free to make almost any shape they liked.

What makes the look of British towns and cities distinctive? The most striking feature is lack of blocks of flats. People prefer to live in individual houses – units with their own front doors and sometimes gardens. Perhaps this says something about the national character; a love of privacy and a lack of interest in the wider community. There is a proverb: “An Englishman’s home is his castle.” Whatever the deeper reasons for it, the result is that British towns and cities are full of two or three-storey houses. Only in the1950s and 60s did councils start building tall blocks of flats in the American style; but these have been very unpopular, and the cheaper ones are now being demolished.

Another distinctive feature of British buildings is the use of brick. Some of the oldest monuments, like Hampton Court Palace or Queens’ College, Cambridge, are made of brick. It remains the favourite material for new houses today. While the rest of the world prefers concrete, for some reason the British taste is for brick, at least in smaller buildings.

Ответьте на вопросы по тексту:

1. What are the oldest buildings in Britain?

2. What major styles is British architecture based on?

3. What are the main features of Gothic style?

4. What are the main features of classical style?

5. What are distinctive features of British town and cities?

6. Why do British people prefer to live in individual houses?

7. What is Hampton Court Palace made of?