Architecture of The United Kingdom - Background

Background

Within the United Kingdom are the ruins of prehistoric structures and ancient neolithic settlements. The architecture of ancient Rome penetrated Roman Britain with "elegant villas, carefully planned towns and engineering marvels like Hadrian's Wall". After the Roman departure from Britain in around the year 400, Romano-British culture flourished but left few architectural remnants, partly because many buildings were made of wood, and partly because the society had passed into the Dark Ages. Similarly, Anglo-Saxons brought a "sophisticated building style of their own" to Britain, but little physical evidence survives because the principal building material was wood.

The Norman conquest of England, which began in 1066, marked the introduction of large-scale stone-block building techniques to Britain. Norman architecture was built on a vast scale from the 11th century onwards in England, Wales and Ireland in the form of castles, such as the White Tower at the heart of the Tower of London, and Carrickfergus Castle in County Antrim, as well as Gothic churches and cathedrals, to help impose Norman authority upon their dominions. The Norman penetration of the Scottish nobility resulted in Scoto-Norman and Romanesque architecture too, examples being Dunfermline Abbey, St. Margaret's Chapel and St. Magnus Cathedral.

Throughout Britain and Ireland, simplicity and functionality prevailed in building styles. Castles, such as Alnwick Castle, Caernarfon Castle and Stirling Castle served military purpose and their battlements and turrets were practical solutions to medieval warfare. Under the feudal system that dominated Britain, fitness for purpose characterised domestic structures, particularly for the lower classes. For many, houses were "dark, primitive structures of one or two rooms, usually with crude timber frames, low walls and thatched roofs. They weren't built to last. And they didn't". Although primarily homes, manor houses of the Late Middle Ages, were designed with achieving respect and maintaining status through their hospitality and lordship rather than the grandeur of their buildings. In the Kingdom of England, Perpendicular style gained preference for civic and church structures throughout much of the Middle Ages. King's College Chapel in Cambridge, which started in 1446 and was completed in 1515, marks the period of transition between Perpendicular and Tudor style architecture.

Between 1500 and 1660 Britain experienced a social, cultural and political change owing to the Union of the Crowns (the accession of James VI, King of Scots, to the throne of England) and the Protestant Reformation. Although Britain became more unified and stable, it became more isolated from continental Europe. Catholic monasteries were closed, and their lands were redistributed, creating new "rich and ambitious" landowners. The architecture of Britain this period reflects these changes; church building declined dramatically, supplanted by the construction of mansions and manor houses. Clergyman William Harrison noted in his Description of England (1577):

Each one desireth to set his house aloft on the hill, to be seen afar off, and cast forth his beams of stately and curious workmanship into every quarter of the country.

A greater sense of security led to "more outward-looking buildings", as opposed to the Medieval, inward facing buildings constructed for defence. However, owing to troublesome relations with Catholic Europe, the free exchange of ideas was difficult meaning new Renaissance architecture was generally slow to arrive in Britain. Increasingly isolated from the continent, landowners relied on new architectural books to draw influence from, as well as surveyors to interpret designs. This allowed for much more in the way of the ornamental facades of Italianate architecture to penetrate the architecture of Great Britain; room sizes were increased (as an expensive commodity), and there was also a general move towards balanced and symmetrical exteriors with central entrances, all used as statements of wealth. Medieval Gothic architectural forms were gradually dropped, and mansions and other large domestic buildings became "varied and playful". Ultimately drawing upon ancient Hellenistic art, Inigo Jones is credited as Britain’s first classically-inspired architect, providing designs as "sophisticated as anything being built in Italy", such as Queen's House and Banqueting House, both in London. For the majority of the people of Great Britain however, domestic buildings were of poor design and materials, meaning few examples from the early modern period have survived. Most buildings remained tied to the locality, and local materials shaped buildings. Furthermore, the buildings of the 16th century were also governed by fitness for purpose. However, more stable and sophisticated houses for those lower down the social scale gradually appeared, replacing timber with stone and, later, brick. The arrival of Flemish people in the 16th and 17th centuries introduced Protestant craftsmen and pattern-books from the Low Countries that also prompted the multiplication of weavers' cottages.

The 18th century has been described as "a great period in British Architecture". The Acts of Union 1707 put into effect the terms agreed in the Treaty of Union the previous year, resulting in a political union between the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. This union meant that Scottish politicians tended to spend most of their time in London to attend the Parliament of the United Kingdom; the tendency was that these individuals became very wealthy. For example, Sir William Dundas, a Member of Parliament from the Highlands and Islands who served as one of Britain's Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, was involved in the financial and political structure of the Kingdom of Great Britain; his increased wealth allowed him to build his own mansion in Scotland. Under the newly formed Kingdom of Great Britain, output from the Royal Society and other English initiatives combined with the Scottish Enlightenment to create innovations in the arts, sciences and engineering. This paved the way for the establishment of the British Empire, which became the largest in history. Domestically it drove the Industrial Revolution, a period of profound change in the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of Britain.

Georgian architecture in Britain was the term used for all styles of architecture created during its reign by the House of Hanover. These included Palladian, neo-Gothic and Chinoiserie. Initially, Georgian architecture was a modifications of the Renaissance architecture of continental Europe. It was a variation on the Palladian style, which was known for balanced façades, muted ornament, and minimal detailing. Simplicity, symmetry, and solidity were the elements strived for in British Georgian architecture. The Palace of Westminster, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, houses the Parliament of the United Kingdom. A collaboration in the Perpendicular Gothic style between Augustus Welby Pugin and Sir Charles Barry, it is described by Linda Colley as "the building that most enshrines Britain's national and imperial pre-tensions".