In England, the epicentre of this revival, it was intertwined with deeply philosophical movements associated with a re-awakening of ‘High Church’ or Anglo-Catholic self-belief (and by the Catholic convert Augustus Welby Pugin) concerned by the growth of religious nonconformism – until the style became widespread for its intrinsic appeal in the third quarter of the nineteenth century.

In parallel to the ascendancy of neo-Gothic styles in nineteenth century England, interest spread rapidly to the continent of Europe, in Australia and the Americas; indeed perhaps the number of Gothic Revival and Carpenter Gothic structures built in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries exceeds the number of authentic Gothic structures that had been built previously.

The Gothic Revival was paralleled and supported by medievalism, which had its roots in antiquarian concerns with survivals and curiosities. It also took on political connotations, as well; with the "rational" and "radical" Neoclassical style being seen as associated with republicanism and liberalism (as evidenced by its use in the United States), the more "spiritual" and "traditional" Gothic Revival became associated with monarchism and conservatism, and this was reflected by the choice of styles for the rebuilt Palace of Westminster in London and Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

In English literature, the architectural Gothic Revival and classical Romanticism gave rise to the Gothic novel genre, beginning with Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford, and inspired a 19th century genre of medieval poetry which stems from the pseudo-bardic poetry of "Ossian." Poems like "Idylls of the King" by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson recast specifically modern themes in medieval settings of Arthurian romance. In German literature, the Gothic Revival also had a grounding in literary fashions.

The Gothic style dictated the use of structural members in compression, leading to tall, buttressed buildings with interior columns of load-bearing masonry and tall, narrow windows. But by the turn of the 20th century, technological developments such as the steel frame, the incandescent light bulb and the elevator led many to see this style of architecture as obsolete.

Links

• Victoria and Albert Museum Style Guide
• John Vaughan, "Thomas Rickman’s essay on Gothic architecture" from Paradigm, No 7 (December, 1991)
• Basilique Sainte-Clotilde, Paris
• Canada by Design: Parliament Hill, Ottawa at Library and Archives Canada
• Books, Research and Information
• Gothic Revival in Hamilton, Ontario Canada
• Proyecto Documenta’s entries for neogothic elements at the Valparaiso’s churches
• Toronto’s Sanctuaries: Church Designs by Henry Langley

Originating in 12th-century France and lasting into the 16th century, Gothic architecture was known during the period as "the French Style" (Opus Francigenum), with the term Gothic first appearing during the latter part of the Renaissance as a stylistic insult. Its characteristic features include the pointed arch, the ribbed vault and the flying buttress.

Gothic architecture is most familiar as the architecture of many of the great cathedrals, abbeys and parish churches of Europe. It is also the architecture of many castles, palaces, town halls, guild halls, universities, and to a less prominent extent, private dwellings.

It is in the great churches and cathedrals and in a number of civic buildings that the Gothic style was expressed most powerfully, its characteristics lending themselves to appeal to the emotions. A great number of ecclesiastical buildings remain from this period, of which even the smallest are often structures of architectural distinction while many of the larger churches are considered priceless works of art and are listed with UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. For this reason a study of Gothic architecture is largely a study of cathedrals and churches.

A series of Gothic revivals began in mid-18th century England, spread through 19th-century Europe and continued, largely for ecclesiastical and university structures, into the 20th century.

The term "Gothic", when applied to architecture, has nothing to do with the historical Goths. It was a pejorative term that came to be used as early as the 1530s by Giorgio Vasari to describe culture that was considered rude and barbaric. At the time in which Vasari was writing, Italy had experienced a century of building in the Classical architectural vocabulary revived in the Renaissance and seen as the finite evidence of a new Golden Age of learning and refinement.

In Gothic architecture, a unique combination of existing technologies established the emergence of a new building style. Those technologies were the ogival or pointed arch, the ribbed vault, and the flying buttress.

The Gothic style, when applied to an ecclesiastical building, emphasizes verticality and light. This appearance was achieved by the development of certain architectural features, which together provided an engineering solution. The structural parts of the building ceased to be its solid walls, and became a stone skeleton comprising clustered columns, pointed ribbed vaults and flying buttresses.

A Gothic cathedral or abbey was, prior to the 20th century, generally the landmark building in its town, rising high above all the domestic structures and often surmounted by one or more towers and pinnacles and perhaps tall spires.

Links

• Holbeche Bloxam, Matthew (1841). Gothic Ecclesiastical Architecture, Elucidated by Question and Answer. [1], from Project Gutenberg
• GothicMed. A virtual museum of Mediterranean Gothic architecture
• Photographs of 500 gothic and romanesque churches
• Photographs of Gothic Cathedrals
• Articles about Gothic Architecture (russian)

The earliest large-scale applications of Gothic architecture in England are at Canterbury Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. Many features of Gothic architecture had evolved naturally from Romanesque architecture (often known in England as Norman architecture). This evolution can be seen most particularly at the Norman Durham Cathedral which has the earliest pointed ribbed high vault known.

Gothic architecture was to develop along lines that are sometimes in parallel with and sometimes diverse from those of continental Europe. Historians traditionally divide English Gothic into a number of different periods, which may be further subdivided to accurately define different styles. Gothic architecture continued to flourish in England for a hundred years after the precepts of Renaissance architecture were formalized in Florence in the early 15th century. The Gothic style gave way to the Renaissance in the latter 16th and 17th centuries, but was revived in the late 18th century as an academic style and had great popularity as Gothic Revival architecture throughout the 19th century.

Many of the largest and finest works of English architecture, notably the medieval cathedrals of England are largely built in the Gothic style. So also are castles, palaces, great houses, universities, and many smaller unpretentious secular buildings, including almshouses and trade halls. Another important group of Gothic buildings in England are the parish churches, which, like the medieval cathedrals, are often of earlier, Norman foundation.

The Designation of styles in English Gothic architecture follow conventional labels given them by the antiquary Thomas Rickman, who coined the terms in his Attempt to Discriminate the Style of Architecture in England (1812−1815). Historians sometimes refer to the styles as "periods", eg "Perpendicular period" in much the same way as an historical era may be referred to as the "Tudor period". The various styles are seen at their most fully developed in the cathedrals, abbey churches and collegiate buildings. It is, however, a distinctive characteristic of the cathedrals of England that all but one of them, Salisbury Cathedral, show great stylistic diversity and have building dates that typically range over 400 years.

• Early English (c. 1180−1275)
• Decorated (c. 1275−1380)
• Perpendicular (c. 1380−1520)

Notable examples

The earliest examples of the Perpendicular Period, dating from 1360, are found at Gloucester Cathedral, where the masons of the cathedral would seem to have been far in advance of those in other towns; the fan-vaulting in the is cloisters particularly fine.

Among other buildings of note are:

• the Quire and tower of York Minster (1389–1407);
• the nave and western transepts of Canterbury Cathedral (1378–1411),
• the tower, towards the end of the 15th century; New College, Oxford (1380–1386);
• the Beauchamp Chapel, Warwick (1381–1391);
• the remodelling of the nave and aisles of Winchester Cathedral (1399–1419);
• the transept and tower of Merton College, Oxford (1424–1450);
• Manchester Cathedral (1422);
• the central tower of Gloucester Cathedral (1454–1457),
• the central tower of Magdalen College, Oxford (1475–1480).

Links

• Pevsner Architectural Guides’ Looking at Buildings website: Gothic Windows and Tracery
• Photographs of English Gothic Cathedrals
• Website with well-illustrated description of Exeter Cathedral
• BTinternet architectural timeline

Carpenter Gothic improvises upon features that were carved in stone in authentic Gothic architecture, whether original or in more scholarly revival styles; however, in the absence of the restraining influence of genuine Gothic structures, the style was freed to improvise and emphasize charm and quaintness rather than fidelity to received models. The genre received its impetus from the publication by Alexander Jackson Davis, Rural Residences and from detailed plans and elevations in publications by Andrew Jackson Downing.

History

Carpenter Gothic houses and small churches became common in North America in the late nineteenth century. These structures adapted Gothic elements such as pointed arches, steep gables, and towers to traditional American light-frame construction. The invention of the scroll saw and mass-produced wood moldings allowed a few of these structures to mimic the florid fenestration of the High Gothic. But in most cases, Carpenter Gothic buildings were relatively unadorned, retaining only the basic elements of pointed-arch windows and steep gables. Probably the best known example of Carpenter Gothic is the house in Eldon, Iowa, that Grant Wood used for the background of his famous painting American Gothic.

Characteristics

Carpenter Gothic is largely confined to small domestic buildings and outbuildings and small churches. It is characterized by its profusion of jig-sawn details, whose craftsmen-designers were freed to experiment with elaborate forms by the invention of the steam-powered scroll saw. A common but not necessary feature is board and batten siding. A less common feature is buttressing, especially on churches and larger houses.

Ornamental use

Carpenter Gothic ornamentation is not limited to use on wooden structures but has been used successfully on other structures especially Gothic Revival brick houses such as the Warren House in an Historic District of Newbugh, New York, Historic District, which is said to epitomize the work of Andrew Jackson Downing, but was actually done by his one-time partner, Calvert Vaux.

Geographic extent

Carpenter Gothic structures are typically found in most states of the United States, except the desert states of Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. Carpenter Gothic places of worship are found in all provinces and the Northwest Territories of Canada, while Carpenter Gothic houses seem to be limited to Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces in Canada.

Endangered Carpenter Gothic buildings

Many American Carpenter Gothic structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which may help to ensure their preservation. Many, though, are not listed and those in urban areas are endangered by the increased value of the land they occupy. A current example of this is St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church, Maspeth, New York, built in 1847 by Richard Upjohn. Its rectory has already been demolished and a deal with the city of New York to preserve the church in exchange for higher density on the remaining vacant land has fallen through and the parcel is now on the market for $10 million.

Relocation

Some Carpenter Gothic buildings have been relocated for reasons ranging from historic preservation to aesthetics. Some such as All Saints, Jensen Beach, Florida have been moved only a few hundred feet on the same property to in order to get a better view and to allow for expansion, while others such as Holy Apostles, Satellite Beach, Florida have been barged many miles in order to be preserved. Others such as All Saints, DeQuicy, Louisiana have been dismantled, transported long distances and then reassembled in order to be preserved and reused. Some structures have been moved many times.

Outside North America

The designation "Carpenter’s Gothic" might equally be applied to nineteenth-century timber Gothic Revival structures in Victoria and New South Wales, Australia and Old St. Paul’s, Wellington in New Zealand.

Frederick Thatcher in New Zealand designed wooden churches in the Gothic Revival style, eg Old St. Paul’s, Wellington, although the term "Carpenter Gothic" is not applied to them. Benjamin Mountfort in Canterbury, New Zealand designed Gothic Revival churches in both wood and stone.

Current use

Some Carpenter Gothic structures such as St. Stephen’s in Ridgeway, South Carolina, have had their exteriors altered by stuccoing, brick veneering, etc., so that their original style is no longer apparent. Carpenter Gothic structures are still being built today. St. Luke’s Church in Blue Ridge, Georgia was built in 1995, while Carpenter Gothic house plans are available.

Steamboat Gothic

Steamboat Gothic architecture, a term popularized by Frances Parkinson Keyes novel of that name, is sometimes confused with Carpenter Gothic architecture, but Steamboat Gothic usually refers to large houses in the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys that were designed to resemble the steamboats on those rivers.

Links

• The Carpenter Gothic, 1840-1870 on The Old House Web
• Gothic Revival (including Carpenter Gothic (1840-1880)) with Churches through 1940s
• Carpenter Gothic houses
• Bargeboards or vergeboards
• Gothic Revival and Carpenter Gothic in Buffalo
• The serious side of Carpenter Gothic: Richard Upjohn and St. Saviour’s Church, Maspeth, Queens, New York
• Website of the C.G. House used by Grant Wood
• Village of Round Lake, New York

The use of baked red brick in Northern Europe began during the 12th century, so the oldest such buildings belong to the Brick Romanesque. In the 16th century, Brick Gothic was superseded by Brick Renaissance architecture.

Brick Gothic is characterized on the one hand by the lack of figural architectural sculpture, widespread in other styles of Gothic architecture, but impossible to achieve on the basis of brick, and on the other by its creative subdivision and structuring of walls, using built ornaments and the color contrast between red bricks, glazed bricks and white lime plaster.

Many of the old town centers dominated by Brick Gothic, as well as some individual structures, have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Romanesque brick architecture remained closely connected with contemporary stone architecture and simply translated the latter’s style and repretoire into the new material. In contrast, Brick Gothic developed its own typical style, characterised by the reduction in available materials: the buildings were often bulky and of monumental size, but rather simple as regards their external appearance, lacking the delicacy of areas further south. Nonetheless, they are strongly influenced by the Cathedrals of France and by the gothique tournaisien or Schelde Gothic of the County of Flanders.

Later, techniques that led to a more elaborate structuring of the churches became prevalent: recessed wall areas were often painted with lime plaster, creating a marked contrast to the darker brick-built areas. Furthermore, special shaped bricks were produced to facilitate the imitation of architectural sculpture.

Links

• European Brick Gothic Route.
• Exhibition Wege zur Backsteingotik 2002–2005
• Permanent exhibition Wege zur Backsteingotik, Wismar