348 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND AKCHITf:crs JOURNAL. 

 GERMAN A K C H I T E C T U R E. 



[November, 



TiiK capital, fig. 1, belongs to a column supporting the roof of the Great Hall, called Land Grafenhaus, Wartburg, Germany. 

 It is of the 17th century, and should be deemed perfect in originality of design; without being much undercut, it is deeply 

 wrought. ^Ve trust this beautiful specimen may in some way prove suggestive. 



The capital, fig. 2, is from tlie remains of the choir in the Cliurch of St. Peter and Marcelliu, Seeligenstadt, Germany, and may 

 be considered reniarkal>le for its elegant and beautiful proporti<uis in any age .but the more so when we are told it dates as far 

 back as the 13th century. 



CHARLES THE SECOND'S BATH, BATH STREET, 



NEWGATE STREET. 



Sir Christopuek Wkkn, Architect. 



( in III Engravings.) 



To be whirled along the surface and through the bowels of the 

 eartli, with fearful velocity, by the strengtli of a creature of men's 

 formation, docile as a horse, feeding on flames and boiling water, 

 is not tlie only novel feature of society at the i)res<>nt day; the 

 ? desire on the part of the masses to move fast and indulge a com- 

 mercial spirit on a gigantic scale, is accompanied liy "a love of 

 cleanliness and a disposition to extend the means of relaxation and 

 healthy enjoyment : thus. Baths, vvitli those useful concomitants 

 M''ash-house.s, -are fast springing \ip fur tlie use and wholesome 

 recreati<in of tlie hard-worked million. The term novel, can indeed, 

 be rijjorously applied only to one of the above-named features. 

 since the erection of Baths on so large a scale as to warrant the 

 appellation of "national," is nothing more than the revival of a 

 very ancient custom. That the "rail" is in its infancy is a true 

 and trite remark; what may be its true character wlien it has 

 reached maturity, none can' predict; time alone can unfold the 

 mystery: but with respect to "Baths," we know what has been 

 done by the ancients. On tlie score both of utility and splendour, 

 the liaths of tlie Rinnans left nothing to be desired; it were in vain 

 to hope to eclijise them. "In those buildings. Architecture deve- 

 loped all her resources, and rolied iierself in a profuse display of 

 the most costly materials; therein it distributed in an ord'erlv 

 manner, the clioicost productiims of art, and bv the application of 

 columns, and otlier architectural details, all ingenimisly ccmtrasted, 

 it produced in mie immense design the most striking and varied 

 ellects. It ort'cred, in the interior especially, decoration of the 

 most fascinating as well as of the most imposing character, whilst 

 it displayed externally all the sumptuosity of amphitheatres, vast 

 tenraces, porticoes, ami delightful gardens'." 



We see, then, that with respect to such buildings, we are yet 

 some way behind; but we also see plainly what we have to achieve; 

 aiiil, with the energies of Eiiglismen is it too much to imagine, 

 that He may ere long rival Rome in our Baths.' 



It has become the fashion to anticipate time: 1850 seems fairly 

 to be forgotten in the vehement desire which all are seized with to 

 behold the giant offspring of 1851. In obedience then to the fashion 

 of the times, let us contrast the National Baths of ISJO with what 

 similar establishments may possibly be in 1860. Piercing then 

 through the veil of time, %ve see the Bath having become the popu- 

 lar feature of the day: Baths — not merely troughs in which to 

 wash the body, but establishments in which the intellectual as well 

 as the physical wants of man are ministered to. Complicated 

 buildings, wisely planned, covering immense areas, in which are 

 united all things necessary to the complete unbending of the body 

 and mind; in which, moreover, the fullest scope is given to the dis- 

 play of the arts — of the leading arts of painting and sculpture 

 especially; structures in which much is cimibined for the mental 

 training as well as for the bodily recreation of masses of beings 

 deprived of otlier means of acipiiring p(dite instruction, through 

 the necessity imposed upon them of daily toil. This too faint a 

 glimpse at the development of so important a feature as that of 

 the Bath, supposes the exercise of much taste and judgment, if 

 not of genius, in the supervision of such a scheme. If it be true 

 that many circumstances combine to render it not improbable that 

 the construction of Baths will become a favourite subject with the 

 English, then is it well that we should familiarise ourselves by 

 times with good models on which to shape our future plans; and 

 it is gi'atifying to know, that however advisable it is to consult 

 foreign examples for such a purpose, we have matter of the kind 

 at our own doors win thy of the greatest attention. 



To no greater teacher of architecture can we go than to Sir 

 Christopher Wren; and to a Bath designed by that great architect 

 is the attention of the reader now solicited. The Bath in ipiestion 

 was erected for the use of King Charles the Second, and stands at 

 the end of IJath-street, Newgate-street, in the neighbourhood of 

 St. .Martin's-le-Grand. 



The biuniilnry walls of the bath form a square : the dressing 

 closets ami the seats are made to jiroject on the right ami on the 

 left into the chamber, and are surmnunted by a balustrade, which 

 is carried round the whnle of the interior. .Vt tlie back of the 

 seats is a passage coiiimuriiciting with private baths; the dressing 

 closets abut against the boundary wall. Above the balustrade the 



