English Homes (article)
English Homes is an article published in the Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle on 18 february 1888.
Report of a lecture of the Portsmouth Literary and Scientific Society about English Homes by J. Henry Ball, held at the Portsmouth Guildhall on 14 february 1888.
English Homes
The sixth meeting of the current session of the Portsmouth Literary and Scientific Society was held on Tuesday evening at the Guildhall, High-street, Portsmouth. The chair was occupied by the President (Mr. J. Hay), and the company included the following gentlemen:— The Right Rev. Dr. Virtue (Bishop of Portsmouth), Gen. J. W. Cox, C.B., F.R.G.S., Gen. A. W. Drayson, F.R.A.S., Dr. R. Lydden, Dr. C. C. Claremont, Capt. R. M. Jones, Rev. Dr. W. Stern, Messrs. George Long, J.P. (hon. treasurer), W. Weston, J. H. Ball, A. W. Jerrard, S. Pittis, G. M. Bowen, H. Moncreaff, A. Howell, A. G. German, A. Fisher, C. Foran, J. W. Walmisley, W. Inglis, R.N., J. R. Constanstine, J. M. Ollis, R.N., A. W. Ward, J. S. Robinson, R.N., W. T. Pover, R.N., G. Whillier, R.N., W. Read, A. T. Mayne, R. West Taylor, A. C. Kindersley, G. Wood, R. A. Conran, E. F. Burton, G. Stanford, C. Burbidge, A. H. Garland, W. Bridges, C. W. Ball, W. J. Evans, A. P. McAllister, J. E. Eyres, R. Wood, J. Everett, R. East, A. G. Mason, and G. F. Bell, and Drs. A. Conan Doyle and J. Ward Cousins (hon. secretaries). Mr. A. Fisher was elected a member of the society.
Mr. J. HENRY BALL, Assoc. R.I.B.A., read an interesting paper on "English Homes: Their History and Development." He said he proposed to follow up the two lines of our national development, and of the growth and improvement of our houses, which had moved hand in hand in the history of all nations. Under the sway of the Romans, England, in common with the rest of the Roman empire, was scattered with houses showing the greatest refinement and luxury. But the very conditions of the Roman school prevented the effect of their work from being permanent. They crushed local independence, and with it local vigour, so that when the conquerors withdrew from the country it was over-run with semi-barbarous invaders, who totally neglected the beautiful specimens of architecture which they had left behind. These buildings were succeeded centuries later by the castles of the feudal nobles, which were built for defence first, and adapted to domestic needs as a secondary consideration. It was an iron age in which these castles were erected; beauty and symmetry might be left to the Church; but for the laity the finest place was that which best answered the description of a fortress. Its the time of Henry III. building activity increased, and numerous licenses were issued for the fortification of manor houses. These fortified houses continued the standard of the English gentleman's residence down to the time of the Tudors, the gradual developments being marked by an increase in the number of private apartments, the provision of a better means of communication between the several apartments, and this communication being effected first by going from each room into the open air, and then by some arrangement of corridors. The progress of the fourteenth century was marked chiefly by the hall of the manor house attaining its greatest perfection and magnificence. In the fifteenth century the hall, from being a general living room, became a state apartment, its size diminishing as the various parts of the household were allotted separate accommodation. All the requirements of modern dwelling-houses were necessary parts of a good house in the sixteenth century. Bricks were used largely in the latter part of the century, and many of the best of our old timber-built houses were erected at the same time. With James I. came the dawn of a new architecture. In every branch of physical science Englishmen had taken the lead, while Germany had taken up philosophy and France literature. The fine arts and music found their home in sunny Italy, and classic Italian villas were plumped down in England when the architectural fashion was introduced to this country by Inigo Jones and his contemporary architects. In 1666 the disinfecting of London by the great fire made room for the exercise of the gigantic talents of Christopher Wren, and it was shown how the style could be treated properly in this country. The study of Gothic architecture might be attributed in part to the influence on the popular mind of the writings of Wordsworth and Sir Walter Scott, and the architects of the time evolved a common-sense Gothic. The combination of Gothic treatment with classic detail, which we called the Queen Anne style, was the outcome. National style of architecture we had none, but individuality in many styles much. The duty of the public in the present day would seem to be to demand honest work, and the duty of the architect to satisfy the claims of the public. By these means good work had been done in the past, and by these means alone could we hope to evolve a national style designed in beauty and built in truth. The essay, which was illustrated by diagrams and brightened by anecdotes, local references, and touches of humour, evoked general appreciation.
The PRESIDENT proposed a vote of thanks to the lecturer, and complimented him on having made a technical subject popular and intelligible. He would like to have heard a little more detail about the homes of the humble people, but it was only in recent times that we had come to care much about them. If he had to generalise with regard to the mansions and halls of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, he would say that the causes which determined their form and character might be found in the universality of law and the increase of wealth, with the necessary concomitant of it demand for increase of comfort. — Dr. CONAN DOYLE seconded the motion, and spoke of the existing round towers of Ireland, which came out of the mists of history, nobody knowing who built them or why they were built. The Romans, with all their advancement, strangely enough never evolved the idea of a chimney. — Mr. A. HOWELL continued the discussion, and Dr. COUSINS said it was interesting to see how slowly the comforts of our present homes had advanced with time centuries. There was a history belonging to each detail of our dwelling houses. — General DRAYSON thought our modern houses required great improvement. They should be adapted to all sorts of climates. The object of architects seemed to have been to construct chimnies so that the draughts came down and sewers so that the gases came up. (Laughter.) — The motion was carried unanimously, and Mr. BALL, in reply, said he believed the theory in regard to the round towers of Ireland which would prove to be correct was that they were built by the Normans or subsequently; and the fact that they had staircases inside them would lead to that inference.
