266 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL. 



[Sept. 



Let u« consider for a moment what are the imitations most generally prac- 

 tised. By far the most common of them is the expedient of smearing over 

 the honest hricks actually employed in the construction of a house with a 

 coating of plaster, on which vertical and horizontal lines art drawn with the 

 point of the trowel. It may be fairly assumed that at least half of the newer 

 houses in London are ornamented in this way. Occasionally the lines, espe- 

 cially inside churches, are drawn in black lead ! What miserable expedients 

 are these ? Can any one for a moment be induced to suppose that a few 

 thin black lines represent the joints of real masonry? They show all the 

 intention of deceiving, but are too clumsy to effect the deception. Another 

 favourite expedient is to paint the stucco of a uniform colour, and then. ?pa<<fr 

 it over with spots of dark paint, by means of which it is supposed to assume 

 the appearance of granite. 



It may be assumed that no one sincerely desirous of maintaining the dig- 

 nity of architecture as a noble art will defend these wretched juggles. But 

 the condemnation rests not merely on their unsuccessfulness,for then a thief 

 by parity of reasoning ought not to be punished unless taken in the fact The 

 true ground of condemnation of all architectural deceptions, whether successful 

 or unsuccessful is that they " partake more of mere manipulation than of art." 

 They tend to substitute the workman for the artist, the builder for the archi- 

 tect. Unless, as has been well observed by the Builder, the skilful band be 

 apparent, the result is disappointment rather than delight. It is to this con- 

 sideration we must refer for the cause of the failure of all the save-trouble 

 expedients which have so long exercised their pernicious and debasing in- 

 fluence upon architecture and the other fine arts. 



But there are many other arguments against that class of save-trouble ex- 

 pedients which we are more particularly considering. Imitative ornaments 

 are necessarily inconstructive. A pillar or pilaster of stucco must be stuck 

 on for show — the material has not sufficient cohesion to be useful in resisting 

 either vertical or lateral pressures. Again, there is a practical tendency to 

 evil in the system of imitative decoration, which if it be not an actual part 

 of it, results certainly form it — namely, the introduction of redundant and 

 inappropriate ornaments. The facility of being showy is certain to be abused : 

 the temptation is too strong to be resisted by those who make the common 

 mistake of confounding architectural beauty and elaborate enrichment. Ac- 

 cordingly we find plaster-architects bedizening their work with a crowd of 

 ornaments as ridiculous for their number as their inapplicability. A building 

 with showy bits of plaster thus stuck over it reminds one involuntarily of a 

 village landlady tricked out in her myriad of Sunday ribbons. 



They who defend deceptions in building should remember that for the 

 sake of consistency they should be prepared to vindicate all such deceptions 

 if well executed. If an architect wish to introduce more windows into an 

 external elevation than is convenient for the internal arrangement of the 

 building, why may he not /)ain< resemblances of those windows on the ex- 

 ternal walls ? The deception might he managed so well that it would scarcely 

 ever be found out. The ornament would be only skin-deep to be sure ; but 

 what of that ? Why should not the great doors of a cathedral be of deal 

 grained and varnished to look like oak. Why should not the timbers of the 

 roof of Westminster Hall be painted so as to appear elaborately carved ? or 

 why should not the parapet of the external roof be painted to look as if 

 panelled or perforated .' The triglyphs of a Doric order might be drawn in 

 their proper places instead of being sculptured there, and the more inacessi- 

 ble columns might have the flutings painted upon them. This seems the 

 legitimate development of the the theory of architectural deceptions. 



It is gratifying to those who are anxious for the advancement of architec- 

 ture to find that the importance of faithfulness in architecture is being 

 every day more distinctly recognized. The rapid growth of this doctrine 

 even the last year or two is a most favourable indication that art is not to 

 remain for ever in its present degraded condition. Every periodical which 

 treats on subjects of art now recognizes this principle of criticism, and con- 

 tains correspondence which proves that the detestation of plaster Gothic and 

 plaster Grecian is becoming pretty generally diffused. Of course those who 

 have long practised or defended these kinds of architecture are very angry 

 at having their favourite tenets cut up by the roots : but they will generally 

 acquiesce when they find the tide of opinion too strong for them and silently 

 adopt the principles which they find it in vain to oppose. Those few who 

 have too little wisdom or too much obstinacy to yield to the dictates of 

 improved public taste will be left behind to enjoy their own opinions in un- 

 dittuibed solitude. 



NEW METROPOLITAN CHURCHES. 

 All Saints, St.Jahn'a Wood. — The new church which has been recently 

 erected in the Fiucbley Road, St. John's Wood, from the designs of Mr. 

 T. Little, is, as regards the exterior architecture a great improvement upon 

 the churches built in and about London ten years ago. The general cha- 

 racter of Mr. Little's design is an unpretending simplicity, which if it do 

 give opportunity for the di.sptay of much original genius, at least preclades 

 the occurrence of gross defects. 



The plan of the church is nearly a parallelogram — a nave and two aisles , 

 with lean-to roofs, a tower at the north west angle, and at the east end a 

 prolongation of the nave which, though too shallow to be called a chancel, 

 serves the purpose of a sacrarium. The style is Perpendicular, The fol- 

 lowing are the girincipal dimensions. 



Extreme length . . . .98 feet. 



Width of nave . . . . JO „ 



Ditto including aisles . . . 61 „ 



Depth of sacrarium . . . . 20 „ 



Rise of nave-roof . . . . 19 „ 



Heieht of apex of ditto from the ground . 55 „ 



Height of nave-arches . . . . 28 „ 



Span of ditto . . . . 20 „ 



The tower is designed to consist of three stories surmounted by a spire, 

 but at present the first story only is finished. In the west gable is a four- 

 light window, beneath which is a small door (with very poor mouldings) 

 for the use of the soldiers of the neighbouring barracks. The north and 

 south windows are the least praishworthy features of the external architec- 

 ture. The window at the east end is of five lights divided by a transom. 



One of the principal reasons of the satisfactory appearance of the church 

 is the judicious manner in which the architect has used his building mate- 

 rials, — Kentish rag with Bath stone dressings. The ragstone instead of 

 being squared and laid in regular courses (a most expensive and ineffective 

 method) is built in what is technically termed " Random-coursed work." 

 It is a matter of great regret that in many modern churches the ragstones 

 are hewn and laid with the same precision as softer kinds of stone, and 

 that the joints of mortar are moulded so as to give the appearance of pro- 

 jected fillets, in which, as has been observed, the individual stoues appear 

 set as in frames. This method is very faulty ; it arises from the almost 

 universal ambition of modern architects to make their materials look better 

 than they really are, instead of applying them honestly to the purposes for 

 which they are naturally adapted. The very fact that this coursed rag- 

 stone masonry presents the appearance of rustic work is quite suflicient 

 condemnation of it. The practice not only adds to the expense on account 

 of the hardness of the material, but detracts greatly from effect of the ma- 

 sonry. Our old country churches are proofs not only of the beauty of the 

 irregular ragstone masonry, but also of its durability : for a familiar exam- 

 ple near London, we may refer to the tower of Lambeth church. Alas, 

 when will modern architects build with the boldness and picturesque sim- 

 plicity exhibited in that structure? 



The interior of the new church, at St. John's Wood is by no means so 

 praiseworthy as the exterior. The internal architecture is in fact as bad 

 as it well could be. The span of the nave arches and the width of the 

 nave are disproportionately great. The north and south windows are 

 treated as mere holes cut in the walls, without any dressings or mouldings 

 to connect them decoratively with the rest of the building. The difference 

 between the forms of the inner vault of the windows and the exterior win- 

 dow opening, which in ancient Perpendicular architecture is a principal 

 source of beauty, is here entirely disregarded. The piers and windows are 

 intersected by galleries supported on paltry cast iron columns. The 

 mouldings throughout are very poor and shallow. 



The walls are coated with some kind of plaster on which are drawn 

 black lines to mimic the courses of real masonry: over the heads of the 

 windows and doors these lines converge and suggest imaginary arch-vous- 

 soirs. Can any artifice more paltry and palpable be imagined ? Were it not 

 so common it would be absolutely laughable. The trick is as shallow and 

 obvious as that of the ostrich which is said to hide its head to escape pur- 

 suit. Even if we allowed (which we do not) that deceptions and imita- 

 tions were at all permissible in building sacred edifices, surely they should 

 be better managed than this is. It is merely a child's make-belief — no one 

 can be deluded for a moment into the idea that a few indentations and 

 black streaks are are the joints of real masonry. The artifice should be 

 reserved exclusively for gin-palaces and the lath and plaster edifices digni- 

 fied by the appellation of suburban villas. 



