IS-iO. 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



67 



It may appear perhaps that we are prolix and annecessarily minute on 

 a point of comparatively little importance. This however is not the case. 

 The parliculur kind of deception which we now nolice seems growing into 

 fashion, and believing, as we do, that a great— if not the icnj grcatesl— 

 barrier to the improvement of modern architecture, is the tendency which 

 has unhappily crept in of using all kinds of tricks and artilices and make- 

 beliefs, we do not think that we can be mispending the time of our rea<ler 

 by endeavouring to set forth clear and explicit notions on the subject. 15y 

 accurately explaining the nature of one architectural deception, we, by 

 implication, determine the nature of all ; and it may be added that it is the 

 want of clear notions on this subject, and not the subject itself, which has 

 occasioned tlinse exaggerated inferences by which attempts have been made 

 to throw riiiicule on the important rule of architectural criticism now 

 under consideration. 



It is not very easy to see from what cause have arisen the loud remon- 

 strances which have been urged against us in justification of architectural 

 deceptions. Were our condemnation of them an altogether new and un- 

 heard-of rule, it might be anticipated that objections would be raised 

 against the doctrine, not on account of any inherent defects in it, but sim- 

 ply for its novelty. But we do not claim the merit of novelty. The doc- 

 trine asserted by us has been assented to by almost every thinking writer 

 on architectural subjects; it was rigidly observed by all the ancient archi- 

 tects, both Classic and Christian ; and we may observe that in works pub- 

 lished at the present day, which comain architectural criticisms, the same 

 principle is universally recognized. We quoted not long ago some re- 

 marks from the pages of The Builder, respecting the church built of terra- 

 cotta, near Manchester, the tendency of the extract being to show that such 

 'a buildiug ought to be condemned, not because of accidental failures in the 

 workmanship, but pfr se as an aitempt of the worst kind at architectural 

 deception. To this testimony we might add that of the Athenaum, and it 

 would be impossible to read a single number, scarcely a single page of the 

 Ecclesiologist, without meeting with numerous censures of the employment 

 of imitative materials. 



We repeat boldly that there is scarcely a more fatal obstacle to the ad- 

 Tanceraent of architecture than the system now too prevalent of building 

 showily, instead of well. There is no doubt that those builders who have 

 been trained in the " Cheap Ciothic" school will feel much olTended to find 

 their mouldings and mullions of patent cement, their walls of stucco pa- 

 nelled to resemble masonry, and their showy-looking ceilings of stained 

 deal condemned for ostentatious vulgarity, but their disappointment does 

 not awaken our pity. From the days of Esop, the jackdaw has been con- 

 demned for excessively bad taste in arraying himself in the plumage of the 

 peacock. 



It is far better taste to use homely materials honestly and without con- 

 cealment, than to trick them out with a vulgar unreal magnificence. There 

 is an honest and substantial appearance in good dark brickwork, which is 

 far preferable to the splendour of the best mock-masonry ever constructed. 

 Of the former material some of the noblest and most stately edifices have 

 been built— fine old mansions, ancient gateways, halls and towers ; the 

 latter is the type of suburban cockney architecture, it gladdens the eyes of 

 retired tradesmen, and assorts well with those notions of the beautiful which 

 are learned at the counter or iu the counting-house. It is perfectly con- 

 genial to the taste of the ruralising stock-broker, who prefers that his 

 rus in urbe with its patch of garden and smart summer-house should look 

 spruce and frim, jusi like the new proprietary chapel-of-ease over the way ; 

 who sees no beauty in the old village church with its great sullen tower 

 and dingy frowning buttresses, and pronounces the neighbouring baronial 

 hall (which is coeval) a dull, dark, solemn place, which he would not live 

 in for the world, for fear of growing melancholy and — romantic. 



Now though we have no expectation or desire of converting such a 

 critic, the readers to whom we now address ourselves claim that respect 

 by education and profession, that it cannot be a matter of intiilference 

 whether the\ consent to, or dissent from, the views here laid down. AVe 

 can have no fear that men, who are necessardy compelled to examine for 

 themselves the principles of pure taste, will condemn the honest real archi- 

 tecture of the Grecian temples, and our own glorious cathedrals; the only 

 ground of apprehension is that our rules may not be expressed with suffi- 

 cient clearness to prevent exaggerated and inccmsistent inferences. The 

 true criterion a? to the deceptive use of materials is — not that the natural 

 appearance of the materials is improved — but that an attempt is made to 

 cheat the eye, to impose the belief that what is in reality homely and c< m- 

 mon is some well known substance of a more costly description. The 

 criterion is altogether independent of the particular method by which i.'ie 



deception is produced, and it is also irrespective of the degree of success- 

 fulness of the deceptioa. It is no palliation, but rather an aggravation of 

 the evil, when the imitaiion is close and minute, because in this case tlie 

 amount of deception is ouly increased. If a nobleman were to appear at 

 a great public solemnity with false jewels in his insignia, he would cer- 

 tainly be making a display in the worst possible tasle, and the vulgarity of 

 his ostentation would not be diminished, if his paste diamonds were so well 

 made that they passed for real. 



It is well worthy of remark that the art of imitation has always been 

 most successfully practised in countries and at epochs distinguished by 

 the debasement of the fine ails. A painter who could paint a joiut of meat, 

 or a knife with all the minuteness of reality, might certainly claim the 

 credit of being a good nieihanical imitator, but could scarcely lake his 

 rank among the disciples of -'high art." Imitation is the faculty of the 

 Apo, and is most ob>ervable among nations least elevated by moral and 

 intellectaal energy. Wonderful stories are told of the miuuteness with 

 which the Chinese and Japanese imiiate natural objects, but none of the 

 lofty beauty of their sculpture, paiuting, and architecture. The mimetic 

 faculty is seldom predominant in men of original genius, and is never dis- 

 played in their greatest works; the subsUiutiuu of the fictitious for the 

 real, the minute for the beautiful, has uniformly been found to presat,e the 

 neglect and speedy degrada;ion of the fine Arts. 



.ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, PIMLICO. 



Notwithstanding the rapid advancement of church architecture during 

 the last few years, it must be confessed to be siill in a state of transition 

 from the barbarism of the last age, and to have as yet but imperfectly regained 

 its original purity. A characteristic defect of modern Pointed architecture 

 appears to us to be the want of that boldness and niassiveness which dis- 

 tinguished the architecture of the fourteenth century. There is in modern art 

 a general tendency to what may be called, for the want of a better term, 

 prettyism. This afl'ectation of smoothness and delicate ornament is espe- 

 cially observable in sculpture and architecture, and iu neither of those arts 

 have we the energy and boldness of the old artists. We seem altogether 

 afraid of exercising that kind of courage which produced the strong simple 

 lines, the bold salient angles, the sudden alternations of lights and shadows 

 which distinguish Westminster Abbey or King's College Chapel. And it is 

 the more to be regretted that these simple means of rendering architecture 

 effective should be altogether missed in modern buildings, because they 

 seem to be the very means which should be most valuable at a time when 

 architects are constantly complaining of the parsimony by which their 

 elforts are restricted. Speaking economically, it must be clear that bold 

 simple ornaments must be cheaper than those of more delicate workman- 

 ship, and the architect can complain of no one but himself if fur want of 

 the former his works appear ineli'ective. 



The new church of St. Michael's, Chester Square, built from the designs 

 of Mr. Cundy, possesses in a great measure that necessary play of light and 

 shadow without which the first and distant view of a church can never be 

 satisfactory. The plan of the building is cruciform, there is a bold tower 

 surmounted by a lofty spire, the roofs are of high pitch, and the combina- 

 tion of the various parts produces a very picturesque specimen of the style 

 adopted— the Decorated. The entrance is not at the west, but beneath 

 the tower which stands on the north side near the north west angle, and is 

 strengthened by buttresses divided into three stages, and panelled. The 

 buttresses are surmounted by pinnacles with crockets and tiuials ; between 

 these rises the spire which is surmounted by a vane at the height of ItiO 

 feet from the ground. The roofs of the church are slated and ha>e floriated 

 crosses at the gables. The whole of the exierior is faced with Kentish 

 ragstone, with Bath-stone dressings oiled to resist the ellecl of moisture. 



The entrance to the church is beneath the tower, of which the lower part 

 is entirely open, and forms an arched portico. Similar examples exist at 

 West Walton, Norfolk ; at Dedham, Essex, and in one ot the churches at 

 Cambridge. Within the church there is accom.i odation lor 1200 persons, 

 7.i0 in pews and 450 in free seats. The roof is of open wood-work, and is 

 supported by piers between the nave and aisles. The font which is at the west 

 end, has a cover of carved wood, and the pulpit and reading desk are 

 low, and stand on either side of the "communion recess," which is paved 

 with encaustic tiles. The comm.indments are written in panels beneath 

 rich canopies, and on the south side are sedilia. If these are to be used 

 there can be no objection to them in an architectural point of view, if how 



