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Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 25
Gothic Revival in Canadian Architecture
by Mathilde Brosseau
High Victorian Gothic
The completion of the Ottawa Parliament Buildings in 1867 was of
prime importance both politically and architecturally. In political
terms, the complex quickly became a tangible symbol of the emergence of
a Canadian nation. Its architectural significance may be appreciated in
terms of the hitherto unequalled magnitude of the project and by
analyzing its intrinsic qualities that create an impression unknown in
contemporary Canadian Gothic Revival an impression full of
vigour, colour and character. The site facing a wide avenue on an
old barracks hill along the high banks of the Ottawa River gave
the architects a unique opportunity to heighten the effect of these
important public buildings. Set well back from the avenue in a horseshoe
arrangement at the crest of the hill, the three buildings are worked
harmoniously into the surrounding topography. Although the complex was
designed by two different firms Fuller and Jones for the
Legislature and Stent and Layer for the Ministry buildings, it has a
remarkably cohesive style, which also harmonizes with the character of
the site1 (Fig. 6971).
Moreover, the complex is a milestone in terms of the striking
originality of its composition; it is apparent that the architects were
not concerned about imitating a specific medieval monument or even a
particular period in the evolution of the Gothic style. In this respect,
the architects made the following comment: "The designers have
endeavoured not slavishly to copy the Gothic of any particular period or
country but the noble civic buildings of the Low Countries and Italy
have afforded them suggestions."2 The guiding principle of
the composition can be seen more as a desire to obtain a maximum effect
from the visual potential of picturesqueness. This is evidenced by the
variety of elevation, plan, texture and colour governing the
composition. Thus the large surfaces of the local grey sandstone called
"Nepean Stone" are highlighted by details in red stone imported from
Potsdam, New York and other motifs in Ohio ochre. These colour
arrangements, which we will return to, became one of the major elements
of this new interpretation of Gothic Revival.
A second innovation may also be seen in a very liberal attitude
toward models of inspiration. Thus the Fuller and Jones design for the
Legislature combines towers of Germanic inspiration with French mansard
roofs (followed through in the Ministry buildings), another tower drawn
from the elevation of the clothiers corporation building in Ypres and a
library based on the prototype of the chapter house of the English
Middle Ages.3 The same tendency toward eclecticism appears in
the general plan of the two administrative buildings; the quadrangle
plan peculiar to the Neo-Gothic style is replaced by an open rectangle
arrangement drawn from Baroque sources. The handling of proportions and
details is also characterized by this freedom of expression. The immense
wall surfaces of the central building could have been monotonous, but
the architects overcame this difficulty by presenting the observer with
a composition that is both solemn and vigorous. The elevations facing
the street are thus regularized by the presence of mansard-roofed
pavilions at regular intervals, but on the river side the composition
responds to the picturesque setting with a series of irregular
projections terminating with the rustic silhouette of the library. Other
pleasant surprises are found in the handling of details. The
fenestration of the main building, for example, shows the definite
influence of a Gothic style drawn from Venetian palaces, while other
motifs are completely unorthodox in their whimsical, sometimes even
humorous character.
A brief glance at this gigantic Parliament project and one is aware
of the new characteristics that will contribute to the renewed prestige
of Gothic Revival during its High Victorian Gothic phase. These can be
summarized as follows: emphasis on picturesque effects including the
introduction of mural polychromy and a permissive approach to
eclecticism.
What then is the explanation for this transfiguration of the Gothic
Revival shown in the style of the Ottawa Parliament complex? The answer
lies in the architectural climate of the 1850s in England. The field was
still occupied by the all-powerful Cambridge Camden Society. However,
this group had considerably relaxed its architectural theories, to the
point that its model church, All Saints Church, built from 1849 to 1853
on Margaret Street by the famous architect William Butterfield, was in
brick (formerly reviled by the Society). Butterfield built this church
in collaboration with the president of the Society, A.J. Beresford Hope,
an enthusiastic patron of architecture. Butterfield had won the esteem
of the Society because he had drawn his earlier inspiration from 14th
century Gothic. The church was built on a cramped space that required an
intense articulation resulting in lengthened proportions and
interpenetrating shapes; the flat wall surfaces had few interrupting
buttresses and were striped with contrasting courses of
brick4 (Fig. 72).
All Saints Church was immediately a brilliant success because it
embodied in architectural form a new sensibility expressed theoretically
by the writings of the great aesthete John Ruskin, who had introduced
innovations in both tone and substance. His most important works on the
development of Gothic Revival, such as Stones of Venice (1850-53)
and The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849) are filled with poetry
in their intense, fervent treatment of aesthetic perception.5
Ruskin quickly rose to fame in both North America and Europe, and the
impact of these qualities cannot be underestimated.
In many ways, Ruskin's architectural vision broadened the horizons of
the Gothic Revival. First of all, he made English Gothic Revivalists
look to the continent by pointing out the visual potential of the
Italian Gothic style. Thus, as early as the 1850s, there appeared a
definite taste for mural polychromy (in terms of coloured materials
inserted In the wall surface). There is also an occasional return to the
more horizontal lines and flat wall surfaces derived from the Venetian
palaces of the Middle Ages. As a matter of fact, this is how Gothic
Revival architecture was able to adapt to the continuous street façade
required in urban development. By thus encouraging a widened range of
sources of inspiration, Ruskin opened the way for the eclecticism that
is so evident in the Ottawa Parliament Buildings. Moreover, his
enthusiasm for applying the Neo-Gothic style to all types of buildings
had a tempering effect on the prestige of religious architecture in the
development of the style. As a result, this attitude was instrumental in
introducing Gothic Revival into a wide variety of architectural sectors.
In general terms, Ruskin's influence can thus be summarized as a breath
of freedom in the evolution of the Gothic Revival: freedom in choosing
the type of building that could be given a Neo-Gothic treatment, freedom
in terms of models of inspiration and freedom in the handling of
proportions and the choice of decorative motifs.
In Canada, the Parliament Buildings show that this new perception was
quickly assimilated by local architects, or at least those, like Fuller,
Jones, Stent and Layer, who maintained close contacts with England
because of their ethnic origins. However, as one might expect in a
country of such great geographical and cultural diversity,
identification with this new aspect of the style varied to a great
extent across Canada. There is no series of shining examples equalling
the Parliament Buildings in the freedom of expression that is
characteristic of this stage of Gothic Revival. Most of the buildings
reflecting a similar trend are anchored in a tradition that resisted
overly ostentatious effects. In addition, budget restrictions often
curtailed the aspirations of architects. However, to a lesser degree,
these buildings do reflect the same eclecticism and pronounced taste for
picturesque effects the two guiding principles of the High
Victorian Gothic.
Institutional Architecture
Let us begin by examining the school and institution segment, which
becomes more and more important in Ontario and Quebec from the 1850s
onward. In this sector the most striking example of innovation is the
project for University College in Toronto (1856-59) (Fig. 73).
University College is the starting point in the history of the
University of Toronto. Indeed, the University of Toronto in its
present-day proportions grew out of this first building originally
devoted to training teachers. It was created by provincial legislation
proclaiming the establishment of a secular university in Toronto on May
30, 1849. In ideological terms, the construction of the building was a
great victory for the advocates of secular education. Nothing was spared
to give this building the splendour that would symbolize this victory to
all beholders. A prestigious site was chosen and then the commission for
the project was granted to one of the most reputable architectural firms
in Canada. The architect to whom this commission was given, Frederick
Cumberland first made a special trip to England to familiarize himself
with the new developments in contemporary architecture. As indicated by
the articulation of the south façade of University College, its
composition is inspired by the famous Oxford Museum, apparently the only
building on which Ruskin actually collaborated directly to put his
architectural principles into practice (Fig. 74). However, the prototype
was ornamented with Gothic details and University College was arranged
with mansard roofs characteristic of the Second Empire style and
elements of Romanesque origin. Cumberland arrived at this compromise
after his patron, Sir Edmund Head, required that the building be
inspired by the municipal hall of Sienna.6 Despite, and
perhaps even because of the obstacles set up by the taste of his client,
Cumberland succeeded in producing one of the first great High Victorian
Gothic buildings in Canada.
The use of Romanesque-inspired motifs combined with a composition of
the High Victorian Gothic type does not appear to have been perpetuated
in this sector of Ontario architecture. In the middle of the 19th
century, a taste for the Romanesque had net yet been fully accepted in
North American architectural circles. On the other hand, the rapid rise
of Second Empire in the 1860s had a greater effect on Gothic Revival
works, particularly schools and institutions, in 1865, the architect
Edward Staveley included a mansard roof in his Gothic Revival design for
a Quebec high school7 (Fig. 75). A comparison of this school
with the National School built in 1822 in Quebec City (Fig. 27) shows
the evolution of Gothic Revival in the Quebec institutional sector. The
National School shows the Gothic Revival influence in the form of
details added to a structure which was not really different from that of
the urban houses of the time. Like Staveley, many other architects
discovered the advantages of replacing the gable typical of Gothic
Revival with a roof profile permitting maximum use of attic space. In
addition to the mansard roof, various Gothic Revival institutional
buildings sometimes bore the characteristic arrangement of masses of the
Second Empire style. As a result, buildings as diverse as the Brantford
Institute for the Blind, Knox College in Toronto or the lavish St.
John's College project in Winnipeg, share a similar arrangement of forms
symmetrically placed on either side of a central tower with a mansard
roof (Figs. 76-78). Others, like the YMCA that once stood on the corner
of Victoria Square in Montreal, reproduced the superposed orders that
denote Second Empire public buildings (Fig. 79). Also, there are still
buildings, such as the Presbyterian Theological College in Montreal,
built during the successive stages of eclectic development with a
combination of mansard roofs and towers in the Castle style; but the
picturesque articulation of masses is nevertheless more true to the
spirit of Gothic Revival (Fig. 80).
While eclecticism appears primarily in a form of Second Empire
characteristics, picturesque effects (doubtless considered unsuitable
for this type of building) are usually limited to textural contrasts.
Multi-coloured effects are ignored. In Montreal, where stone buildings
were still predominant at this time, there was a distinct preference for
contrast between the spilt stone walls and decorative motifs of dressed
stone.
Outside Ontario and Quebec, the Canadian inventory of Historic Building
catalogued few schools or institutions that could be considered faithful
examples of High Victorian Gothic. In the Atlantic provinces, wooden
architecture predominates even late in the 19th century and leaves
little latitude for the spirit of this phase of Gothic Revival, which
lent itself more to brick or stone buildings. Nevertheless, masonry
schools of the High Victorian Gothic type have something in common with
those of Ontario and Quebec: their masses are clearly influenced by
other competing styles. The Fredericton Normal School, which has now
disappeared, had a massiveness that was typical of many buildings of
this period. Decorative sandstone motifs on its red brick walls appear
to be something of a concession to the polychrome fashion (Fig.
81).
Similarly, the Prairies are even farther removed from the true spirit of
High Victorian Gothic. Apart from exceptions like St. John's College in
Winnipeg, the few large Gothic Revival schools and institutions appear
much later than elsewhere during the construction boom that followed the
turn of the century, at a time when High Victorian Gothic had become
considerably less popular.
Domestic Architecture
The High Victorian Gothic fashion also affected domestic architecture
by first modifying the treatment of the different types of houses in the
early 19th century tradition. Thus, in the Atlantic provinces, the
centre-gabled Gothic Revival house began to be treated with more
picturesque effects. This tendency was expressed in a variety of ways: a
slow trend from the horizontal to the vertical in handling of
proportions, a tendency to break up the rectangular box plan with more
and more pronounced projections and also by particular attention to a
more dynamic roofline, with more gables and added finials (Figs. 82,
83). In bolder designs, High Victorian Gothic led to new arrangements of
masses and slightly unbalanced effects (Fig. 84).
The Ontario brick houses, drawn from the same tradition introduced a
further element of the picturesque: polychrome effects. These appeared
in the 1860s and multiplied in the 1870s in the form of a strip of
motifs under the eaves, window arches that often included drip
mouldings, as well as decorative corner piers, always taking the form of
yellow brick worked into the red brick of the walls (Figs. 85, 86). A
few rare examples show polychrome patterns worked into the entire
façade (Fig. 87).
In Ontario and Atlantic provinces domestic architecture, the High
Victorian Gothic period is characterized by the construction of a type
of house with an asymmetrical plan more in keeping with the picturesque
requirements. This is an L-shaped building favouring an interior
arrangement with two communicating sitting rooms in the wing of the
house. In addition, the flexibility of this plan allows a one-and-a-half
storey arrangement for the same number of rooms as were normally found
on two storeys and thus save on taxes, since taxation was at that time
based both on the number of storeys and the number of fireplaces, in
addition to the wall materials.8 The first issue of Canada
Farmer, published in 1864 gave its readers an illustration of an
L-shaped house composition with several Gothic Revival characteristics:
gables with varied slopes edged with fretwork fascia boards, windows
with drip mouldings and sometimes bay windows.9 This basic
configuration was very much in vogue in Ontario both in cities and in
the country. It included some quite sophisticated versions, such as
Earnscliffe, that were usually brick-faced, sometimes in stone or wood
(Figs. 88, 89). Around 1870-80, this type of house also began to be
decorated with polychrome touches (Fig. 90).
Although domestic High Victorian Gothic leans more toward picturesque
features than eclecticism, the latter trait does appear in a variety of
ways. The house at 76 Main Street East in Ridgetown, Ontario,
illustrates the most common type of eclecticism in this kind of
building; the L-shaped plan so popular at the time is recognized
immediately, as is the Gothic Revival fenestration. At the intersection
of the two wings there is a tower with the mansard roof associated, as
we have seen, with the Second Empire style (Fig. 91). In the Atlantic
provinces, there is a similar tendency to introduce Gothic Revival
features to a Second Empire composition (Fig. 92).
The L-shaped plan also shows up in the Atlantic provinces, where the
wooden version (often board-and-batten siding) predominates. Even
though this plan was less popular in these regions than the rectangular
Gothic Revival house, its arrangement and details were executed with all
the inventive fervour of the Carpenter's Gothic tradition, and the
result is one of the most picturesque illustrations of the style (Fig.
93).
Religious Architecture
This new architectural taste was quickly assimilated by religious
architecture. Unlike the school sector, it was expressed not so much in
terms of eclecticism as through a propensity for exploring new
combinations of volume and experimenting with the textures and colours
of materials in order to obtain a maximum of picturesque effect.
This stylistic change of direction is strikingly expressed in the
churches of Ontario, where it started in the late 1850s, accelerated
through the 1860s and coasted on for another twenty years thereafter.
Toronto played a predominant role in the development of this new aspect
of the Gothic Revival and its dissemination through the province. In
1857, the architect Frederick Cumberland produced one of the first
versions of High Victorian Gothic in Canadian religious architecture by
building the chapel of St. James-the-Less for the cemetery of the same
name in Toronto.10 Creative energy abounds in the design of
this building, in which each element of the plan meets a ritualistic
need as well as a desire to take full advantage of the contrasting
shapes and scales provided by the plan: the enveloping, compact form of
the nave, sharply jutting porches, diagonal buttresses and the
dramatic sweep of the spire, that asserts its independence by surging
upward from the overall mass with a sort of aggressiveness (Fig.
94).
St. James-the-Less is one of the first examples of High Victorian
Gothic in Ontario. But its highly refined character also sets it apart
from the fashion. Other architects were to spread this new visage of
Gothic Revival throughout the province by adapting it to the tastes
(perhaps more conservative) of the client. Among these architects,
special mention should be made of Henry Langley, who was trained by
William Hay, an assistant to George Gilbert Scott on the Christ Church
Cathedral project in Newfoundland. In many ways, Langley's talent is
comparable to that of George Gilbert Scott. He had a similar innate gift
for socializing that attracted a very large clientele, and he also had
the same talent for keeping in step with contemporary tastes and
adapting them to the client's needs; like Scott, he had a long active
life that allowed him to extend his works to numerous towns and regions
of Ontario and even Quebec.
In 1865, Langley applied this new spirit of the art to a church design
with a basic arrangement still inspired by the small English churches
of the 13th century (Fig. 95). Then, in the same year, he tempered the
individualistic aspect of the style in applying it to a neighbourhood
church in Whitby. This church retains the typical Cambridge Camden
Society combination of form and, in accordance with one of the three,
practically standard plans Langley was to use from then on. It has an
asymmetrical west façade characterized by the breadth of the triangular
volume of the nave and the vertiginous height of its flanking tower. The
details are elegant without demonstrating the same order of originality
as Cumberland's compositions. Also, the taste for polychromy is adapted
to the restrictions of a small budget by inserting yellow brick details
in the red brick walls (Fig. 96).
Through forty-four years of practice, Langley was to apply the mark of
High Victorian Gothic to Gothic Revival religious architecture in
Ontario. Indeed, his work for the Anglican, Methodist, Baptist and
Catholic denominations was to contribute to the popularity of the style
throughout the religious sector.11 In little towns like
Brockville, for example, it is not unusual to come across churches of
different religious denominations such as the First Presbyterian and
First Baptist churches built almost simultaneously in 1878, each
illustrating, through contrasting shapes and sizes and interpenetrating
masses, the vertical thrust and coloured accents peculiar to this Golden
Age of Gothic Revival (Figs. 97, 98).
In a more subdued fashion, the new style of Gothic Revival also
marked Ontario country churches which, while adhering to more
traditional schemes, made a variety of concessions to the new stylistic
pace. The United Church in Crown Hill illustrates the very simple
formula of the rectangle and gable roof with the west façade in one of
the narrow walls. In this case, the building design demonstrates the
evolution of the style in two ways: by raising the basement to give the
building more of a vertical thrust and by using contrasting brick
colours to accentuate the bay details (Fig. 99).
Either by historical coincidence or through common tastes, High
Victorian Gothic thus affected almost all types of churches in Ontario.
Such a resounding success could not be expected in Quebec. We have seen
that Gothic Revival had filtered into Quebec at a time when the native
tradition was running out of breath. Except for a few well-known
examples, the influence of the Cambridge Camden Society remained minor
and, during the last decade of the 19th century, the influence of High
Victorian Gothic was to be checked in the Montreal area by the battle
waged by Bishop Bourget to reinforce the Catholic faith by encouraging
construction of Neo-Baroque churches.
In Quebec, most Catholic churches that took on Gothic Revival form in
the last decades of the 19th century adhered to either the dual tower
formula resulting from the success of the church of Notre-Dame in
Montreal or the traditional scheme of the single, central tower on the
west façade (Fig. 100). The new aesthetic taste was to affect only the
handling of proportions and, at times, superficial details. The
proportions gained increasingly in height, thus creating the impression
of a narrower façade; sometimes, the decorative details tended to
multiply and obscure the lines of the building. In large cities like
Quebec and Montreal, churches differed from those of Ontario in the
widespread use of stone instead of brick, and stone lends itself more to
textural contrasts than colour contrasts. As a result, details were
often executed in cut stone that stood out against the split stone
walls.
On the other hand, the Protestant denominations gave their churches
forms that adhered more closely to this phase of the Gothic Revival. Let
us consider St. Martin's Anglican Church built in 1874 on St. Urbain
Street in Montreal12 (Fig. 101). The treatment of shape is
quite close to that of the churches influenced by Langley and other
Ontario architects specializing in High Victorian Gothic: the same
asymmetrical arrangement of the west façade characterized by the
powerful thrust of a highly ornate bell tower and the same impression of
organic unity in its interpenetrating forms. However, like most churches
in Quebec, it has a more conservative aspect in the handling of surface
effects and it replaces polychromy with textural effects.
In the Atlantic provinces, religious architecture accepted High
Victorian Gothic with less hesitation than in Quebec, but less
enthusiasm than in Ontario. The longevity of the Carpenter's Gothic
tradition may be a partial explanation for this fact. However, where
this new treatment of form appears in wooden churches, its handling of
volumes is slightly more aggressive and the asymmetrical tower is more
widespread. An emphasis on the vertical is seen in the walls of the
nave, which are much higher than in the middle of the 19th century, and
the sharp angle of the gable roof. There are nevertheless many churches
of this type that remain faithful to the local tradition in the use of
clapboard rather than vertical board-and-batten siding and the
arrangement of the main entrance at the centre of the west façade rather
than the asymmetrical tower (Fig. 102).
Although the number of wooden churches remain dominant in Atlantic
religious architecture until the end of the 19th century, there is a
significant increase in the number of masonry churches (primarily stone,
sometimes brick). Local sandstone was increasingly used on Prince Edward
Island during the last decades of the century.13 These large
blocks with rough-hewn surfaces give these churches a monumental effect
that is reminiscent of the Neo-Romanesque style of the famous American
architect Henry Hobson Richardson. Apart from a larger scale and the use
of a material that increases their monumental appearance, such churches
are not really very different from the wooden version of High Victorian
Gothic (Fig. 103). Catholic cathedrals are consistent in their clear
preference for the two symmetrical towers on the west façade. This type
of church has an abundance of surface details and their proliferation
recalls the flamboyant Gothic era in France (Fig. 104).
In the East, the influence of High Victorian Gothic begins to fade
toward the 1890s, but it is exactly at this time that it reaches the
Prairies. The effect is seen in the new towns that were rapidly built
and populated following the completion of the first transcontinental
railway. However, the late arrival of the style in this part of Canada
seems to have deprived it of some of its finery. The vitality of form
that animated the best examples of the style is rarely seen on the
Prairies, where there are only a few, almost standardized compositions.
The best works of this type (which are often the oldest as well), such
as St. Paul's Cathedral in Regina (1895), show a survival of
individualistic, exploratory treatment of form (Fig. 105).
The first decades of the 20th century are accompanied by the
appearance of a more ambitious type of Gothic Revival church with a
heavy, massive effect that is out of keeping with the vitality of form
characteristic of this style. Interaction of volumes is often confused
by the awkward envelopment of the church in a rectangular block that
sometimes houses several storeys. Most of these churches retain the
asymmetrical articulation of the west façade with a very broad nave
flanked by a tower that is often cut short in its vertical thrust by a
fiat roof. Some also have an L-shaped plan with a tower at the
intersection; this plan is often seen on street corners (Fig. 106).
Apart from the dissemination of a similar type on a smaller scale, High
Victorian Gothic had little influence on the construction of wooden
churches in small localities and rural areas of the Prairies.
On the West Coast, Gothic Revival religious architecture offers more
variety than in prairie cities. There are several faithful examples of
the new taste, such as the church of St. John the Divine in Victoria,
which was built as late as 1912 and has high-reaching proportions, forms
integrated in an organic whole and a flair in the treatment of wall
surfaces that were still in keeping with the style (Fig. 107). As in the
Atlantic provinces, there is a preference here for the double tower west
façade on Catholic cathedrals, as the public tends to associate this
articulation with the era of the great medieval cathedrals of Europe
(Fig. 108).
Through this brief overview of religious architecture it can be seen
that High Victorian Gothic had a general influence embodied in a more
picturesque treatment of forms with an emphasis on variants in the
silhouette of the building. However, apart from the sporadic apparition
of polychrome effects, there is little direct visible influence from the
writings of Ruskin, who was in favour of drawing inspiration from
Italian Gothic.
Strange as it may seem, the Gothic style, influenced by the Venetian
palaces of the Middle Ages, was to be more visible in commercial
architecture. Its effects can be seen on the flat or mansard-roofed
buildings that make up a continuous street front. On these buildings,
the only Gothic effect is often a window design that takes the form of a
Gothic arcade (Figs. 109, 110). However, in some cosmopolitan cities like
Toronto, several commercial buildings give bolder illustrations of
Ruskin's principles (Fig. 111). These examples actually only constituted
a tiny portion of the commercial buildings of the period. This
phenomenon can be explained partially by functional and psychological
considerations. One of the imperative requirements of commercial
architecture at that time was to allow a maximum of daylight
to reach the largest possible interior area, and pointed bays obviously
gave less daylight than rectangular or shallow-arched bays of the same
size. Moreover, the public had easily accepted the idea of using the
Gothic Revival style for religious or institutional buildings, but this
may not have been the case for ordinary buildings devoted to the concept
of profit.
The period of High Victorian Gothic allowed the Gothic Revival to free
itself from the strict archaeological models propounded by the Cambridge
Camden Society in the 1840s to give reign to the growing taste for
varied forms and eclecticism that developed in architectural circles
through the latter part of the 19th century. At the turn of the century,
North American architecture took on a new direction that was to toll the
passing of the taste for the forms associated with the High Victorian
Gothic style, while perpetuating for a limited time the formal
repertoire of the Gothic Revival.
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