Robert Lawson (architect) - Works in The Gothic Style

Works in The Gothic Style

The British Protestant religions were at this period still heavily influenced by the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement, which had decreed Gothic as the only architectural style suited for Christian worship; Greek, Roman, and Italian renaissance architecture was viewed as "pagan" and inappropriate in the design of churches. Thus Lawson was never given opportunities such as Francis Petre enjoyed when the latter recreated great Italianate renaissance basilicas such as the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Christchurch. Dunedin had in fact been founded, only thirteen years before Lawson's arrival, by the Free Church of Scotland, a denomination not known for its love of ornament and decoration, and certainly not the architecture of the more Catholic countries.

Lawson's work in Gothic design, like that of most other architects of this period, was clearly influenced by the style and philosophy of Augustus Pugin. However, he adapted the style for the form of congregational worship employed by the Presbyterian denomination. The lack of ritual and religious processions rendered unnecessary a large chancel; hence in Lawson's version of the Gothic, the chancel and transepts (the areas which traditionally in Roman and Anglo-Catholic churches contained the Lady Chapel and other minor chapels) are merely hinted at in the design. Thus at First Church the tower is above the entrance to the building rather than in its traditional place in the centre of the church at the axis of nave, chancel and transepts. In all, Lawson designed over forty churches in the Gothic style. Like Benjamin Mountfort's, some were constructed entirely of wood; however, the majority were in stone.