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Article GENERAL ARCHITECTURAL CONGRESS IN OXFORD... ← Page 3 of 5 →
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General Architectural Congress In Oxford...
good until they had pulled down the old church and built a new one . If a capital was in danger , another was put in its place , and it was a great advantage to think that one was nothing like the other ( laughter ); but if they went on in this way no genuine specimens of the middle ages would be left . He had no objection to people building new churches and new musenms if they thought proper to do so , and as beautiful and ornamental as they could make them , but all he hoped was that they would
leave the old buildings alone if they were ever so rugged . Sir H . Dryden expressed his gratification at hearing the sentiments of the tw o previous speakers on the so-called system of " restoration / ' Some years ago he endeavoured to put the drag on , when people were being goaded to make those restorations , pulling down windows and removing doorways , and few persons would deny that more damage had been done to ecclesiastical architecture during the last twenty years than in the whole of the 17 th century . It had not been the want of money that had
done the harm ; indeed , he thought where the greatest amount of money had been spent the most harm had been done . After expressing his opinion that architects were not so conservative as they ought to be , he warned the meeting against the use of green elm , citing the case of a church in the neighbourhood of Oxford , built under the superintendence of the diocesan architect , where green elm had been used for the internal fittings , so that no man could go in or out without everybody in the church knowing it in consequence of the creaking of the wood . ( Laughter *) At
Carlisle Cathedral the east window had been pulled down in consequence of its dilapidated state , and another had been put up , made of stone which in the course of a few years would be as much crumbled as the old one . TheHev . G . A . Poole next spoke , and alluded to the interest he took in the formation of two societies in Northamptonshire and Yorkshire , about ten years after the commencement of the Oxford Architectural Society . N . H . Bloxam , Esq ., of Rugby , said he was called upon three years ago to make a report upon the condition of Kirkstall Abbey , near Leeds ,
at which time some persons had offered to take a lease of the fine old rum for the purpose of forming a tea-garden and dancing-room near the site . He was happy to say that he was enabled to make a report not for its restoration , but for its maintenance in its present position , and that the proposed scheme was defeated . It was now maintained in a condition which would prevent it going to ruin , and was accessible to strangers on the payment of a small sum . He also referred to the neat and orderly manner in which burial-grounds were now kept up , as compared with the slovenly appearance which they presented some years ago . ( Cheers . ) Shortly before four o ' clock the preliminary meeting was brought to a
close , and the company proceeded to visit the new museum in the park . On their way thither they paid a visit to Waclham College , and inspected the large and beautiful Hall , erected in the time of James I ., which was briefly described by Mr . J . H . Parker . The party , having reached the museum , were at once conducted through the broad and commodious corridor to the lecture-room , where Professor Acland delivered an interesting lecture on the architectural design and arrangements of the building . He explained
at some length the objects which the university had in view ^ in erecting the museum , and its adaptation to various purposes in connection with the study of the natural sciences . The artistic features of the building were also referred to and defended , particularly the grand central area , with its iron pillars , ornamented with foliage , flowers , & c , illustrative of different peculiarities of natural history . It was proposed to erect thirty statues of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
General Architectural Congress In Oxford...
good until they had pulled down the old church and built a new one . If a capital was in danger , another was put in its place , and it was a great advantage to think that one was nothing like the other ( laughter ); but if they went on in this way no genuine specimens of the middle ages would be left . He had no objection to people building new churches and new musenms if they thought proper to do so , and as beautiful and ornamental as they could make them , but all he hoped was that they would
leave the old buildings alone if they were ever so rugged . Sir H . Dryden expressed his gratification at hearing the sentiments of the tw o previous speakers on the so-called system of " restoration / ' Some years ago he endeavoured to put the drag on , when people were being goaded to make those restorations , pulling down windows and removing doorways , and few persons would deny that more damage had been done to ecclesiastical architecture during the last twenty years than in the whole of the 17 th century . It had not been the want of money that had
done the harm ; indeed , he thought where the greatest amount of money had been spent the most harm had been done . After expressing his opinion that architects were not so conservative as they ought to be , he warned the meeting against the use of green elm , citing the case of a church in the neighbourhood of Oxford , built under the superintendence of the diocesan architect , where green elm had been used for the internal fittings , so that no man could go in or out without everybody in the church knowing it in consequence of the creaking of the wood . ( Laughter *) At
Carlisle Cathedral the east window had been pulled down in consequence of its dilapidated state , and another had been put up , made of stone which in the course of a few years would be as much crumbled as the old one . TheHev . G . A . Poole next spoke , and alluded to the interest he took in the formation of two societies in Northamptonshire and Yorkshire , about ten years after the commencement of the Oxford Architectural Society . N . H . Bloxam , Esq ., of Rugby , said he was called upon three years ago to make a report upon the condition of Kirkstall Abbey , near Leeds ,
at which time some persons had offered to take a lease of the fine old rum for the purpose of forming a tea-garden and dancing-room near the site . He was happy to say that he was enabled to make a report not for its restoration , but for its maintenance in its present position , and that the proposed scheme was defeated . It was now maintained in a condition which would prevent it going to ruin , and was accessible to strangers on the payment of a small sum . He also referred to the neat and orderly manner in which burial-grounds were now kept up , as compared with the slovenly appearance which they presented some years ago . ( Cheers . ) Shortly before four o ' clock the preliminary meeting was brought to a
close , and the company proceeded to visit the new museum in the park . On their way thither they paid a visit to Waclham College , and inspected the large and beautiful Hall , erected in the time of James I ., which was briefly described by Mr . J . H . Parker . The party , having reached the museum , were at once conducted through the broad and commodious corridor to the lecture-room , where Professor Acland delivered an interesting lecture on the architectural design and arrangements of the building . He explained
at some length the objects which the university had in view ^ in erecting the museum , and its adaptation to various purposes in connection with the study of the natural sciences . The artistic features of the building were also referred to and defended , particularly the grand central area , with its iron pillars , ornamented with foliage , flowers , & c , illustrative of different peculiarities of natural history . It was proposed to erect thirty statues of