Appraisal
Leadbetter's work has been both praised and slightly damned by critics. Giles Worsley, who has written several articles about Leadbetter, stated
He was an innovative and possibly influential planner at a time when the design of the British country house was undergoing rapid change. His country houses, though plain in their interior and external detail, are imaginative, varied, and above all practical in their planning. Although he was not a leader in stylistic development, Elvills, Surrey (1758–63), was the first completely new house of the Georgian Gothic revival.
Langley Park, Nuneham House and Newton Park have been singled out as his best houses, with Newton Park described by Nikolaus Pevsner as "one of the finest country mansions of the 18th century in Somerset".
Less generous praise comes from other quarters, sometimes emphasising his earlier trade as a carpenter and ignoring his work as an architect: "a minor provincial carpenter and builder", "a second generation Palladian whose works lacked flair", a "competent but dull architect" and "a thorough but uninspired architect".
Leadbetter does not warrant an individual entry in Colvin's dictionary of British architects, but is described in another architect's entry as "the master carpenter employed to carry out Robert Adam's designs" (at Syon House, 1763-5).
Read more about this topic: Stiff Leadbetter
Famous quotes containing the word appraisal:
“Do your children view themselves as successes or failures? Are they being encouraged to be inquisitive or passive? Are they afraid to challenge authority and to question assumptions? Do they feel comfortable adapting to change? Are they easily discouraged if they cannot arrive at a solution to a problem? The answers to those questions will give you a better appraisal of their education than any list of courses, grades, or test scores.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)
“When one cannot appraise out of one’s own experience, the temptation to blunder is minimized, but even when one can, appraisal seems chiefly useful as appraisal of the appraiser.”
—Marianne Moore (1887–1972)