Pugin A. W. Contrasts, or a parallel between the noble edifices of the XIVth and XVth centuries, and similar buildings of the present day. — London, 1836

  

 

 

 

 

 

In presenting this Volume to the Public, I trust that the feelings which have induced me to undertake its publication will be duly understood; and that it will not be imagined I have acted from any private feelings towards those modern Professors of Architecture, whose Works I have placed in comparison with similar Edifices of a more ancient period.

 

I hope it will be acknowledged that I have conducted the comparison with the greatest candour; and, in selecting the Works of the leading men of the day, I have placed the architectural productions of the Nineteenth Century in fair contrast with those of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth. That the former Edifices appear to great disadvantage, when thus tried by the scale of real excellence, will be readily admitted by all who are competent to think on the subject: and I hope this Work will prove how little title this Age has to one of improvement on the score of architectural excellence, when, in truth, that science is at a very low ebb: in which state, I fear, it will remain, unless the same feelings which influenced the old designers in the composition of their Works, can be restored:—a result which, though I most fervently wish, I dare not at present hope for. But I feel thoroughly convinced, that it is only by similar glorious feelings that similar glorious results can be obtained.

 

I am well aware that the sentiments I have expressed in this Work are but little suited to the taste and opinions of the Age in which we live: by a vast number they will be received with ridicule, and, by some, considered as the result of a heated imagination. To these I answer, they are not the result of a sudden and momentary impression, but have been produced by continued study and deep reflection on the noble Works of the Middle Ages. And those, who will accompany me through the following pages, may, perhaps, be convinced that there is more truth in the position I have taken, than they were, at first, willing to allow me.

 

St. Marie’s Grange, near Salisbury,

May, 1836.

 

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PREFACE.. III

CHAPTER I. ON THE FEELINGS WHICH PRODUCED THE GREAT EDIFICES OF THE MIDDLE AGES.. 1

CHAPTER II. ON THE STATE OF ARCHITECTURE IN ENGLAND IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE CHANGE OF RELIGION.. 4

CHAPTER III. OF THE PILLAGE AND DESTRUCTION OF THE CHURCHES UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH.. 6

CHAPTER IV. ON THE RAVAGES AND DESTRUCTION THE CHURCHES SUFFERED UNDER EDWARD VI, AND AFTER THE FINAL ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NEW RELIGION.. 11

CHAPTER V. ON THE PRESENT DEGRADED STATE OF ECCLESIASTICAL BUILDINGS.. 17

CONCLUSION. ON THE WRETCHED STATE OF ARCHITECTURE AT THE PRESENT DAY.. 30

APPENDIX.. 37

[CONTRASTS DRAWN & ETCHED BY A. W. PUGIN]

 

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