Movement to refurbish and rebuild Church of England churches and cathedrals
St Albans Cathedral before and after restoration in 1880. The amateur architect Lord Grimthorpe's rebuilding of the west front removed the cathedral's Perpendicular architectural features, replacing them with his own designs. These are considered unsympathetic to the fabric of the building, and were criticised by commentators even at the time.[1]
The Victorian restoration was the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria. It was not the same process as is understood today by the term building restoration.
Against a background of poorly maintained church buildings, a reaction against the Puritan ethic manifested in the Gothic Revival, and a shortage of churches where they were needed in cities, the Cambridge Camden Society and the Oxford Movement advocated a return to a more medieval attitude to churchgoing. The change was embraced by the Church of England which saw it as a means of reversing the decline in church attendance.
The principle was to "restore" a church to how it might have looked during the "Decorated" style of architecture which existed between 1260 and 1360, and many famous architects such as George Gilbert Scott and Ewan Christian enthusiastically accepted commissions for restorations. It is estimated that around 80% of all Church of England churches were affected in some way by the movement, varying from minor changes to complete demolition and rebuilding.
Influential people like John Ruskin and William Morris were opposed to such large-scale restoration, and their activities eventually led to the formation of societies dedicated to building preservation, such as the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. In retrospect the period of Victorian restoration has been viewed in a generally unfavourable light, though it did result in the rediscovery of some long-lost features and some churches that would otherwise have fallen into disrepair were saved.
^Perkins, Rev. Thomas (1903). The Cathedral Church of St Albans. London: George Bell & Sons.
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The Victorianrestoration was the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in...
Architecture portal United Kingdom portal Victorian decorative arts Victorian house Victorianrestoration Folk Victorian Albert Levy (photographer) Georgian...
the cathedral. The ornate west front was extensively renovated in the Victorian era by George Gilbert Scott. It includes a remarkable number of ornate...
there during the Victorianrestoration. The earliest wall memorial is dedicated to Jone Wood, 1585. Reconstruction work by the Victorians in the 19th century...
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many of the black-and-white buildings within the city centre are Victorianrestorations, originating from the Black-and-white Revival movement. Apart from...
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second...
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Monasteries, and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In the process of this Victorian "restoration", much of the original Gothic architecture of the Middle Ages was...
fan vault (1512–1515) Bath Abbey, Somerset, nave and chancel (1860s restoration; originally by William Vertue) Brasenose College, Oxford, Chapel ceiling...
other small retail outlets and professional offices. This replaced the Victorian enlarged edition of the church. The crumbling structure was purchased...
widespread destruction and remodelling of their form in the course of Victorianrestoration. Important medieval church interiors survive at Chaldon, Lingfield...
encouraged the restoration of Anglican churches back to their supposed Gothic splendour and it was at the centre of the wave of Victorianrestoration that spread...
"Restoration comedy" is English comedy written and performed in the Restoration period of 1660–1710. Comedy of manners is used as a synonym for this. After...
11th century and has been revised and restored since, including a Victorianrestoration in the 1890s. It contains a font from the 13th century and 17th...
than they are now after the Victorianrestoration. Most of the merlons spaced along the walls were added by the Victorians. However, some pre-date this...
of extensive Victorianrestoration work (Frederick S. Waller and George Gilbert Scott, architects). 1953 Major appeal for the restoration of the cathedral;...
church, built mainly in the late 11th century and (despite partial Victorianrestoration) listed in the highest category of listed building, Grade I. The...
The church underwent a Victorianrestoration in 1841 by Smirke and Burton, who decorated the walls and ceiling in high Victorian Gothic style in an attempt...
east end from the nave, and in 1858 he restored the cloisters. The Victorianrestoration of the cathedral's tower in 1859–60 was by the architect George...
sailors. Victorianrestoration work of the chapel found signs that a beacon may have adorned the roof. The present cross on the roof is Victorian. The town...
the 19th century was the French architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. Victorianrestoration of medieval churches was widespread in England and elsewhere, with...
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