About Gothic Revival Architecture

Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in England in the 1740s. Also commonly referred to as Victorian Gothic or Neo-Gothic, this architectural style drew its inspiration from medieval architecture and competed with the neoclassical revivals found in the United States and Great Britain.

As industrialization progressed in England and Europe, so did the anti-industrial feelings against machine production and factories, as these caused village shops to close, and people lost livelihood and land. Thomas Carlyle and Augustus Pugin held a highly critical view of industrialize society, portraying pre-industrial medieval society as a "golden age.”

Pugin felt that Gothic architecture embodied and exemplified Christian values, which he felt were being destroyed by industrialization. Gothic Revival harkened to another time, and another mindset, which many people longed for as society and the world around them changed through industrialization.

• As Gothic styles surged in nineteenth-century England, this caused rapid widespread interest in America, Europe, Australia and South Africa.


• Gothic Revival developed political connotations, with the "rational" and "radical" Neoclassical style being associated with republicanism and liberalism. This can be seen in its use in the United States and somewhat in Republican France.


• Gothic Revival also held "spiritual" and "traditional" connotations for some people, and was associated with monarchism and conservatism. This is reflected by the choice of architectural styles used for the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster in London and Ottawa’s Parliament Hill.


• In many of the early Gothic Revival buildings, the Gothic style was used for its picturesque and romantic qualities, holding no regard for structural possibilities or original function.


• In the 1880s, Cologne Cathedral, which was the world's tallest building at the time, was seen as the pinnacle of Gothic architecture.


• Other major examples of Gothic cathedrals were Regensburger Dom (possessing twin spires, 1869–1872), Ulm Münster (possessing 161 meter tower, 1890) and St. Vitus Cathedral (1844–1929).

Strawberry Hill, the home of the English writer Horace Walpole, is the earliest documented example of the revived use of Gothic architectural elements.