1845.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL 



107 



Still, unpromising i\s Ibis state of matters is, it must not be hastily 

 concluded tliat lliere is a decided and very obvious falling olT in tlie 

 ;trcbilectural department of tlie Exiiibition, tbis season. On tbe con- 

 trary if not gr.iced with tbe most eminent names in tlie profession, ibe 

 walls displiv full tbe average degree andqnanlnni of talent and several 

 drawings of singular beauty. Tlioogb nut a few are absent wllom we 

 expected and sbuuld bav'e been plad to meet witli bere, tbere are 

 otbers wlioiri we can cordially welcome, and among tbein two wlu), 

 altbougb not exactly strangers, greatly surpass wb.it we could bare 

 looked for from tbein, judging from wbat tbey bave before sbown us. 

 Tbere is a great deal of wbal is little better tban mere filling-up stuff, 

 —but wbeu was it over otberwise ? We could spare tbose Jhadimte 

 designs, and lironic exercises in arcbiteeture wbich treat us witb pro- 

 digies of pomposity devoid of a single fresb idea ; or else witb sucb 

 trulv extravagant 'ideas as tliat put fortb in No. IIGS, for a Noble- 

 man's Mansion witli a prospect tower WO feet bigb, "tbe ascent being 

 effected by tbe aid of macbinery." Were tbe extravagance of sucb 

 a project redeemed in that instance by beauty of design and sublimity 

 of ertect, we migbt have been gratified by contemplating upon paper 

 wbat would be "too daring and gigantic to realise in execution ; but 

 tbe deMt;n is no more than an absurd monstrosity. Without reference 

 to that instance inparticu'ar.notbingis more common, we may observe, 

 tban dwarfisbness of imagination gifting upon tbe stilts of common- 

 place in heroics— like General Tom Thumb throwing himself into ibe 

 altitude of Ajax. Wliile we are satiated with bombastic grandeurs 

 of that feeble and insipid stamp, we get very few drawings indeed of 

 a class of subjects which unless so shown, the public generally can 

 never know anv thing at all of except the existence,— we mean In- 

 teriors, of which' there are many highly worth seeing, but it is impossi- 

 ble to obtain access to them except by litlier special favour or rare 

 accident. Such is tbe case with tbe apartments in tbe Royal Ex- 

 change, belonging to wbat is called Lloyd's, and consisting of several 

 rooms two or three of which are striking, not only for their unusual 

 dimensions, but their unusual architectural character also :— a couple 

 of drawings from them would have been an acquisition to the Exhi- 

 bition. But be tbe cause what it may, architects are apt to be ex- 

 ceedingly jealous of exposing subjects of the kind to the gaze of ex- 

 hibition-visitors, choosing rather tban to incur such contamination for 

 them, to bide their light under a bushel, and forego tbe applause that 

 the taste so displayed migbt obtain for them. Some views of the in- 

 terior of the Conservative Clubhouse would bave been very gratifying 

 to many others besides ourselves, — even more so as far as their mere 

 curiosity would bave been interested: however as tbere is nothing 

 of the kind bere, people must form their ideas of tbe embellishment 

 and effect of the hall and other parts of that building from tbe truthful 

 representations of them in the Illustrated News. 



In proportion as we are sparingly favoured with drawings of that 

 class, do we feel grateful for them when they occur, and we accord- 

 ingly thank Mr. S. Smirke for permitting us to bi-bold Sir Robert 

 Feel's new Portrait Gallery at Drayton Manor (No. 1222). The Pre- 

 mier's name being connected wiih it, has no doubt attracted to tbis 

 drawing a great many from whom its intrinsic interest would hardly 

 have secured for it a passing glance, even charming as it is as a draw- 

 ing, and it is one wbich completely refutes the absurd notion — now we 

 hope wearing away — that the view of a mere room can never form a 

 picture without tbe aid of striking accessories in furniture and figures, 

 or other " accidents." As an architectural subject, the chief feature in 

 its design is tbe part over-bead, or ceiling, which consists of a deep 

 cove — of Oak or some other dark wood, — and a transparent plafond of 

 plates of ground glass, which is divided into compartments by orna- 

 mental transverse beams, terminating against asortol caryated figures 

 in tbe cove on each side. The ceiling perhaps predominates too 

 much in tbe design; for the style, which is that of our English Re- 

 naissance, is hardly kept up at all except iu the screen of columns — 

 corresponding to which there is, we suppose, another at the opjiosite 

 and nearer end of tbe room, not shown in the drawing. The walls are 

 merely hung with green figured eilk ; yet although that may be suit- 

 able enough for a picture gallery under ordinary circumstances, it by 

 no means accords either witb ibe character of the style adopted or tbe 

 design of tbe cove and ceiling, both wbich rcquireil some sort of 

 panelling or compartments on the walls; so far from being attended 

 with any inconvenience, such decoration of tbe walls would bave been 

 highly appropriate for a gallery built expressly, it apjiears, to contain 

 a uniform series of full length portraits, in a single row of them, and 

 so arranged as to correspond with the divisions of the cove ; conse- 

 quently there was nothing to binder the painiings from being framed 

 into similar compartments on tbe walls. At any rate tbe pedestals 

 of tbe columns ought to bave been coutiimed as a d.idu round Ibe 

 room ; for even that would have produced a tolerable degree of cor- 

 respondence between tbe upper and lower part of the walls. Instead 



of which — whether it be owing to an oversight on tbe part of the 

 draftsman or not — the pictures conn- down lower than the bases of tbe 

 columns, the pedestals of which in consequence look disagreeably 

 high, more especially as ibi'y are insulated instead of being continued 

 up to the corresponding pilasters against the wall. 



(No. 112.">) Interior of Farringdoii Hall, Finden and Lewis, shows us 

 another apartment, in which tin- ciiling constitutes the principal part 

 (if the design, and is after the fashion of a timber queen-post roof, 

 Iruecated above by a horizontal plane of the same breadth as the 

 slo|niig sides, and containing a series of octagon skylight panels. 

 There certainly is some novelty iu tbe design, and taking tlie ceiling 

 by itself, it is s.itisfactory enough, but bere again, the style expressed 

 bv that feature is nut at all kept up in any otiier part ; except, indeed, 

 as to colour, in which respect tbe wiiole is singularly of a pieci — more 

 so than is altogether to be recomineiided, the walls and ceiling b»'ing 

 precisely alike both as to colour (light green) and panelling. On the 

 other band, the beams, which are either of dark timber or painted in 

 imitation of it, catch the eye too forcibly, tbere being nothing else of 

 similar hue in tbe room, and, moreover, cause the room, which is of 

 rather low proportions in ilsi-lf, to appe.ir lower tban it otherwise 

 would. Wliat is tbe particular destination of tbis apartment it is 

 diflicult to guess, there being nothing to express its purpos ■, nor does 

 tbe catalogue give it any name. It is not furnished, nor seems in- 

 tended to be so, for the floor is carpelted, but for which circumstance 

 it might be supposed to be meant for a sort of entranci' hall. Tbere 

 is no indicaliou of its being a saloon, drawing-room, dining-room, 

 library, or sitting or reception-room of any other kind, and yet there 

 are two cbimiiey-pieces on one side of it, and those rather strangely 

 close to each other, tbere being between them only two of tbe six 

 compartments into which the side walls are divided ; which circum- 

 stance, and that of tbe walls themselves being panelled with mould- 

 ings and borders, forbids our supposing that tlie room is intended to 

 serve as a picture gallery, although no pictures are shown in ibe 

 drawing. The subject of (No. ll!54,) View of Messrs. Williams and 

 Sowerby's New Show-room, D. Mocatta, is already known to our 

 readers: as a drawing it is by no means satisfactory, and is besides 

 bung too low, so that the perspective looks distorted, which is also 

 the case with the preceding subject. We would therefore suggest, 

 that if there be really no help for drawings being bung so low — some 

 even still lower — tbe inconvenience might be in some degree obviated 

 by their being inclined u[iwards, the frames being fixed against a plane 

 sloping in that direction for about three feet from tlii- floor, by wbich 

 means tbe drawings so placed could be seen by looking upon them, 

 without stooping. We migbt then be able to see sucb small drawings 

 bung next to tbe floor as (No. 1107), The Gallery at Uplands, Hants, 

 by E. Fudge, a new name to us, if it be not an awkward misprint in 

 the catalogue. However, there is something in the sobject, and we 

 wish tbere was more of tbe kind in the Exhibition. At any rate, 

 what subjects of tbe kind tbere are ought to be pliced where tbey 

 can be well seen, tbere being so exceedingly few of them. This sea- 

 son the above-mentioned four constitute all, for interiors of churches, 

 or sucb as are not original designs but merely views, and those from 

 buildings which are open to inspection, and wiiich have, perhaps, been 

 besides" frequently represented before, hardly belong to the saiue class. 

 Well could we have spared such a very stale subject as (No. U92), 

 " Interior of St. Stephen's, Wallbrook;" to say the truth tbe day for 

 admiring it seems to be gone by, tbe style itself being now altogediet 

 repudiated for church arcbiteciure, all ihe new designs lor churches 

 wbich we here find— and bave found for soine seasons past— being Go- 

 thic, and of many of them the chief recommendation must be that they 

 come under that denomination— consequenlly are protected from the 

 reproach of Pjganism, be it either Greek or Italian. When good in 

 design, tbe merit of sncb productions is generally of a somewhat ne- 

 gative kind, inasmuch as they consist of little more than compilation 

 —according to the present improved recipe for concocting tbein, care 

 being taken to avoid aught approaching to originality ot conceptiou 

 or freshness of character. Now onder then that in spite of mechani- 

 cal correctness in regard to their individual features, a certain feeble- 

 ness and listlessness stamp so many highly nspcctuble tilings of the 

 sort. We meet with an exception in No. 1291, "Interior of au 

 Anglican Church now in course of Erection," J. M. Derrick, 

 which though so vaguely and cautiously hinted at, we presume to 

 be that of the Holy Cross at Leeds, and it so, that place will 

 possess a very rich and highly enriched specimen of Gothic, not 

 only of the Decorated class, but'p™fuscly adorned, if not throughout, 

 at 'least iu the portion here .-bown, with polychromic painting - 

 applied even to the arches and the shafts ol tbe pillars. These last 

 very much resemble those of the corresponding porliou of Patringtoii 

 Church, Yorkshire,— viz., the entrance to the cbancd or Qivision ot 

 the plan beneath the tower,— being though exceedingly massive iii 



22* 



