Giles Worsley (1961–2006)

This is truly a beautiful book. My heart breaks to think of all this history and beauty now gone forever. The wonderful photography left me wanting more, and shaking my head in disbelief, that anyone could make the decision to demolish these gentle giants. The text was well written, concise and interesting. I agree totally with the author when he says, 'I think one of the vanished houses that made the biggest impression on me was Dawpool in Cheshire. Built for Thomas Ismay, owner of the White Star Line'. This magnificent country house was put together with brass screws--not a single nail! Thanks to people like the author, Giles Worsley, we at least get to see what the world has lost, and I for one thank him .… (mais)

First Line: On 19 December 1904, Uffington House, a fine Restoration house in Lincolnshire, the seat of the Earl of Lindsey, was ravaged by fire.

Anyone who's had a look at my book catalog on Library Thing can see that books on historical architecture take up a chunk of space on my shelves. I've always been interested in architecture: houses and the way people lived in them--especially the houses that no longer exist. I think of the stories that died with the houses, I suppose. Country houses were an integral part of life in England, so this book was a natural for me. In 1897 when the magazine Country Life started featuring a British country house in each issue, the way of life such houses represented was at its height. In the following decades as social change convulsed the country, more than a thousand stately homes were destroyed, and these photographs are in some cases the only pictorial record. Worsley's account avoids sentimentality as it details both the various economic factors that caused the decline and the often surprisingly pragmatic attitudes of aristocratic owners. Yet the pictures leave a forlorn impression. The magazine's custom of photographing houses empty of people makes them seem like ghosts already-a kaleidoscope of opulent drawing rooms, abandoned terraces, and silent staircases. I think one of the vanished houses that made the biggest impression on me was Dawpool in Cheshire. Built for Thomas Ismay, owner of the White Star Line, Dawpool was put together with brass screws--not a single nail in the entire structure. When it was torn down, they had to use quite a bit of dynamite. If Ismay had put the same thought into the building of the Titanic as he did Dawpool....

This was an interesting book to read. Country houses in England are protected now, and instead of their disappearance what seems to be vanishing now are substantial London private houses and the middle-class suburban villas set in their own grounds. As the country becomes more crowded, smaller homes have to be packed into smaller and smaller plots of land, and the country homes now remain for people to visit as some sort of time warp,
allowing glimpses into the lives people used to live.… (mais)