ST. JOHN’S HOSPITAL AND CHAPEL COUET HOUSE (HOEACE WALPOLE’S HOUSE), BATH.
study it, of course, in Bath, and at the present moment better in Bath than in most other parts of Britain.
The Coming op the Steeet.
In celebrating the work which John Wood and his son executed in Bath, it is important to recognise that the buildings designed by them and the harmonious urban development to which their activities contributed were not in themselves unique. In the 18th century similar achievements might be recorded in many parts of England, but what makes Bath so precious to-us at the present time is the happy circumstance that so much of it has been preserved, while thousands of lovely streets in other towns, in the design of which an equal genius found expression, have been ruthlessly, and in many cases unnecessarily, destroyed.
The architectural qualities of Bath need to be intellectually apprehended in order that it may be possible to a certain extent to imbue our modern buildings with them, for otherwise the present celebrations will end in a few speeches and dinners, and architecture will not be the gainer thereby. It may help us to estimate the real effect of the 18th-century development of Bath if we contrast its present state with the old town which existed at the end of the 17th century. An illustration of this appears in Mr. Mowbray Green’s delightful volume on Bath, and it shows a church and a large number of gabled buildings scattered about. Many of these were detached, while others, although aligned upon a common thoroughfare, displayed very little aesthetic consciousness of this fact. The 18th century was the great period of street development, and John Wood, a true child of this age, looked at Bath, and seeing no streets, had the ambition to build some at the earliest opportunity. Mr. Mowbray Green tells us that Wood was said to be the first architect
who conceived and carried out the idea of uniting several distinct dwelling-houses in one grand architectural design, as on the north side of Queen’s Square, of which the first stone was laid in 1729. If it be true that Wood deserves credit for this particular invention, he is indeed a personage of very great importance in the history of architecture. Now, in continuous building there are two main factors to be considered. In the first place, we have the mere fact of continuity. The formal identity of a street is established if only the buildings on either side of it take account of a single pavement line and are contiguous to one another. A considerable advance in civic architecture has been achieved when even this amount of cohesion is present in street buildings. Very charming effects can be obtained where houses of approximately equal size are yet dissimilar in the individual patterns of their fenestration, provided that they share a common frontage and have certain other points of aesthetic accord.
The Laege Formation.
This primary and informal development of the street formation had, of course, taken place on the Continent as early as the 17th century, in Italy and parts of France, but it certainly is true to say that the combination of a number of separate houses into a single unit of domestic architecture was a specially English invention. And even to this day in foreign countries there are comparatively few examples of pronounced groupings of houses into terraces which have themselves some of the qualities of a long-fronted palace. It must be admitted that the practice is easily capable of abuse. The difficulty here is that the building is apt to express a unity which does not exist among its inmates. In spite of the multiplicity of its entrances, it may give the impression that it is
study it, of course, in Bath, and at the present moment better in Bath than in most other parts of Britain.
The Coming op the Steeet.
In celebrating the work which John Wood and his son executed in Bath, it is important to recognise that the buildings designed by them and the harmonious urban development to which their activities contributed were not in themselves unique. In the 18th century similar achievements might be recorded in many parts of England, but what makes Bath so precious to-us at the present time is the happy circumstance that so much of it has been preserved, while thousands of lovely streets in other towns, in the design of which an equal genius found expression, have been ruthlessly, and in many cases unnecessarily, destroyed.
The architectural qualities of Bath need to be intellectually apprehended in order that it may be possible to a certain extent to imbue our modern buildings with them, for otherwise the present celebrations will end in a few speeches and dinners, and architecture will not be the gainer thereby. It may help us to estimate the real effect of the 18th-century development of Bath if we contrast its present state with the old town which existed at the end of the 17th century. An illustration of this appears in Mr. Mowbray Green’s delightful volume on Bath, and it shows a church and a large number of gabled buildings scattered about. Many of these were detached, while others, although aligned upon a common thoroughfare, displayed very little aesthetic consciousness of this fact. The 18th century was the great period of street development, and John Wood, a true child of this age, looked at Bath, and seeing no streets, had the ambition to build some at the earliest opportunity. Mr. Mowbray Green tells us that Wood was said to be the first architect
who conceived and carried out the idea of uniting several distinct dwelling-houses in one grand architectural design, as on the north side of Queen’s Square, of which the first stone was laid in 1729. If it be true that Wood deserves credit for this particular invention, he is indeed a personage of very great importance in the history of architecture. Now, in continuous building there are two main factors to be considered. In the first place, we have the mere fact of continuity. The formal identity of a street is established if only the buildings on either side of it take account of a single pavement line and are contiguous to one another. A considerable advance in civic architecture has been achieved when even this amount of cohesion is present in street buildings. Very charming effects can be obtained where houses of approximately equal size are yet dissimilar in the individual patterns of their fenestration, provided that they share a common frontage and have certain other points of aesthetic accord.
The Laege Formation.
This primary and informal development of the street formation had, of course, taken place on the Continent as early as the 17th century, in Italy and parts of France, but it certainly is true to say that the combination of a number of separate houses into a single unit of domestic architecture was a specially English invention. And even to this day in foreign countries there are comparatively few examples of pronounced groupings of houses into terraces which have themselves some of the qualities of a long-fronted palace. It must be admitted that the practice is easily capable of abuse. The difficulty here is that the building is apt to express a unity which does not exist among its inmates. In spite of the multiplicity of its entrances, it may give the impression that it is