Page 40 - History 2020

The new batch of MPs seemed talkative and less controllable The Whig government

was keen to reign parliament in. They opposed building a bigger chamber to
accommodate the additional MPs created in 1832 because it might allow in too many
spectators who might sway the debates (as allegedly happened in the French
Revolution). It was time to reassert order. This inclined many to shy away from
radical thinking and pushed many to back a Gothic-style rebuilding of Parliament.

Many Tories also backed the Gothic. They were horrified by talk of parliament as a
machine manufacturing rational, utilitarian decisions. It was supposed to be a wise,

deliberative assembly. They had gone off classical architecture; it had become
associated with republicanism (ancient Greek, Roman and now American) and
Revolutionary France. Gothic would emphasise tradition and stability by rooting
Parliament in the Middle Ages and aligning it with Westminster Abbey and
Westminster Hall. It was time for order and tradition, not science and revolution.
Many saw the fire of 1834 as God’s retribution for the “sacrilege” of tampering with
the established Parliamentary order in 1832.

The Gothics began to swing the argument their way. Classical buildings didn’t suit the
northern European weather; they needed Mediterranean sunshine. They also didn’t
weather as well or last as long (a curious argument given the Parthenon and the
Colosseum!) More convincing was their argument that Gothic architecture required
just as much scientific and engineering skill as classical. What mattered was the
quality of construction, including good ventilation, acoustics and lighting; these
weren’t a matter of style was irrelevant. Also, surely the ancient Greeks weren’t that

scientifically advanced to which their defenders replied that they hadn’t needed to
be; the Mediterranean gave them all they needed, so didn’t need to develop things
like modern navigation, telescopes or fast sailing ships. Gothics was also claimed to
be authentically British (dubious when you tour German and French cities). And it
was Christian, not pagan.

John Nash wasn’t much help; his classical makeover of Buckingham Palace went
scandalously over-budget and was he was sacked, The upshot was a competition, but
entries limited to Gothic or Elizabethan designs. Out of 97 entries, Sir Charles Barry’s
Gothic was declared the obvious winner. Ironically, it wasn’t that Gothic: quite
symmetrical, for example. It was his assistant, Auguste Pugin, the fanatic behind the
Gothic Revival, who gave it its High Gothic finish (including an extravagant Gothic
gold throne, modelled on the St Edward Coronation Throne in the Abbey, and a
bishop‘s throne, which looms exuberantly over the House of Lords chamber).