Page 39 - History 2020

EPISODE 4: THE GOTHIC CONSTITUTION - WE SHAPE OUR HOUSES

Architects Charles Barry (Palace of Westminster), George Gilbert Scott (Foreign
Office); writer Walter Bagehot (the Constitution)

The quote is attributed to Churchill: “first we shape our houses, then they shape us.”
This obviously refers to architecture. The aversion of many historians to the Industrial
Revolution gave us the Gothic Revival and a lot of Gothic architecture in our
industrial townscapes, all part of the cult of “Merrie England”. Then, after the Great
Fire of 1834, the Houses of Parliament were rebuilt in Gothic style. Merrie England

captured the heart of government. What was the significance of this?

Palace of Westminster
Everyone expected it to be rebuilt in the classical style. The monarchy was (and is) in
the classical Buckingham Palace. Originally built as Buckingham House by the then
Duke of Wellington in 1703 as his town house, it was acquired by George III in 1761
as a private residence for his wife, Queen Charlotte; it was known as “the Queen’s

House” the King remaining at St James’s Palace. But in 1826 George IV decided to
convert it into Buckingham Palace and hired classical architect John Nash. He added
the distinctive new classical façade. The monarchy moved in on the accession Queen
Victoria in 1837; she and Albert had the famous balcony added in 1847.

But there was an intense public battle over Parliament. Modern, progressive opinion
favoured the classical style. It was the style of the ancient Greeks, who had
bequeathed us modern science. The radical Utilitarians argued that parliament

should be conceived as a machine, manufacturing new laws, as efficiently and
rationally as possible. The reform-minded Whig Lord Brougham did not go this far,
but agreed that classical represented science, technology, industry and modern,
forward-looking thinking. Enlightened government must be like scientists, weighing
the evidence to reach rational decisions. Gothic meant medieval superstition. It was
gloomy and monastic. It was inappropriate to the railway age. One critic feared it

would end in hymns and organ music accompanying debates.

But not all Whigs shared this outlook. The Whig government in 1834 was nervous.
They had just passed the 1832 Great Reform Act, nearly doubling the number of
voters (though the numbers remained low: from around 400,000 to 650,000 adult
males, roughly one in five, excluding most working men). It had only been passed
after violent demonstrations and there were fears of revolution. Lord John Russell,
the Whig who had introduced the reform into Parliament, was nicknamed “Finality
Jack” because he kept saying no further reform was ever likely to be needed.