are you ready to get your Goth on ?

Gothic Revival: Design in a Nutshell (1/6)

In medieval times great buildings were created to impress the Almighty. By the eighteen hundreds the industrial revolution was steaming full speed ahead but not everybody appreciated what was happening. Admirers of the older traditional gothic-style sought to revive it. They believed society needed more meaningful buildings.

The Church of England was growing and the nation needed more churches. Sir George Gilbert Scott built so many Gothic Revival churches he lost track of the ones who were his. Gothic revivalists championned high-pitched roofs,tall spirals,pinnacles and pointed arches. They adored cluster columns and quatrefoils, repeating patterns and holy Crosses. They even appreciated the old dead-animal. The wealthy bought into gothic in a big way.

William Beckford, an exentric millionaire, built Fonthill House. This grandiose country mansion had a tower as high as a cathedral which... Bedford used as a dining room !

Gothic Revival grew in popularity eventually influencing every level of society from what people wore, to the newspapers they read and the garden benches they sat on.

Without Gothic Revival, Lewis Carroll might never have taken us down the rabbit hole ; the British government would be homeless and some teenagers would probably never have learnt the carnal pleasures of applying too much eyeliner...

Are you ready to get your goth on ?