Introduction

In the last quarter of the 19th century the round-arched, Romanesque, Early Christian, or Byzantine styles (collectively known by the German name Rundbogenstil) were exploited as the range of historical precedents available to designers widened once more. The ‘moral’ arguments in favour of Gothic were starting to wear thin, and, in any case, the Gothic Revival had been the style of the High Church, Anglo-Catholic, Tractarian traditions in the Anglican Church (although there were signs of deviations, as the impact of masterpieces such as Westminster Cathedral started to be felt), so it was natural that Nonconformists, Evangelicals, and Roman Catholics would endeavour to cast their stylistic nets over wider seas than mere Gothic ponds. Nevertheless, it is surprising how many groups (even Nonconformists) sought to ape the Anglicans, probably because Pugin had done his work well, and partly because of the social position enjoyed by the Established Church.

Architectural style seems to have associations with caste and class: Gothic, from around 1840 until the end of the century, was certainly respectable, and in any case, Ruskin had successfully identified the Renaissance and Baroque styles with ‘popery’, while setting up a highly selective palette of Gothic as suited to his notions of romantic democracy and dissociated from Ritualistic and papistical practices. As has been indicated above, Ruskin effectively removed prejudices against the Gothic styles among Evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists by connecting them with the good and moral life, and by arguing that as Gothic had been abandoned by ‘glittering’, ‘perfumed’, idolatrous Romanists, it was free from taint: his limited range of approved Gothic could safely be embraced by non-‘papists’ who were unlikely to catch the Roman contagion.