Lost Victorian Britain: How the Twentieth Century Destroyed the Nineteenth Century's Architectural Masterpieces

by Gavin Stamp

These days it seems obvious that stupendous constructions like St Pancras Station should be preserved and restored. But as recently as the 1970s Glasgow’s superb St Enoch’s Hotel made way for a shopping centre, and in the 1960s St Pancras itself was also earmarked for demolition. “Victorian” was a term of abuse. Add in wartime bombing by the Luftwaffe, and town planners eager for ring roads and multi-storeys, and the destruction is shocking. This poignant, angry book, full of stunning images, chronicles the catastrophic swathe cut through Britain’s architectural heritage by the twentieth century’s sustained antipathy to the nineteenth, entirely through buildings that have disappeared. Of the 200 notable examples of Victorian architecture illustrated in this book, from the magnificent Imperial Institute in Kensington to the vast country house of Eaton Hall, not one still exists. A photograph is all we have left. As well as architectural causes célèbres like the Euston Arch and London’s Coal Exchange, Gavin Stamp turns up many lesser-known Victorian buildings, like the extraordinary Gothic battlements of Columbia Market in East London, or Chatsworth’s soaring glasshouse streamlined like a spaceship. Surprising, chastening, but also uplifting, Lost Victorian Britain is a memorable journey back into a world that should never have been lost.

Genres: History, Architecture, Victorian, Reference, Nonfiction, London

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 21, 2010

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent account of how the UK lost some of its best Victorian buildings. This was largely down to prejudice from the great and the good who thought they had a monopoly on what constituted good taste, and in a particularly destructive period after the second world war set about to rob ordinary people of a large chunk of their cultural heritage. The Luftwaffe’s role is secondary.

The vast majority of the buildings, that replaced the Victorian structures documented here, were of little architectural merit and were themselves often demolished after a few decades thus making the original loss even more pointless. The book is organised around different types of building and superbly illustrated. Stamp writes extremely well and gives the villains in this (d**k waving architects, greedy developers, local government, central government, British Rail, the Church of England) an eloquent thrashing.

[Helen Birkbeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sad account of the casual and often pointless destruction of so many interesting and characterful buildings, though the author's bias does get a little wearing and the book has quite a few editorial errors. Why list things if you're still able to knock them down? It's understandable but a pity that the photos are in black and white, as they don't show the true glory of the buildings.

[Gareth Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

This could have been so very dull, but it really wasn't. It rattled a long at a good pace. Well designed, the text and the pictures always on the same page made for comfortable and speedy reading. Of course, Stamp probably overdoes the it's a great shame that such and such a building was demolished, just as all advocates for particular architectural styles and ages do. However, it has certainly given me a better appreciation of Victorian architecture in general and made me view the isolated churches and other buildings on the Manchester skyline in a different light. Overall, a fast, interesting and charming read.