Influences – Watson Fothergill Walk

You won’t be surprised to learn that I enjoy watching programmes about architecture on television. A great series that presents an accessible introduction to the history of architecture is currently running on Yesterday – Architecture The Railways Built, with the wonderfully enthusiastic Tim Dunn.

Tim Dunn at St Pancras Station, Photo: BrownBob Productions

This week’s episode looks at St Pancras Station, one of my favourite London buildings. The station was built by the Midland Railway and the adjoining hotel’s architect was Sir George Gilbert Scott.

St Pancras Station, 2019. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

As the programme discussed, the station was built using materials brought to London from the Midlands – Butterley Iron from Derbyshire, Mansfield red sandstone, Minton tiles from Stoke on Trent and Nottingham bricks.

These bricks share their distinctive orange colour with many of Watson Fothergill’s Nottingham buildings, and G G Scott is one of the architects celebrated by Fothergill on the facade of his George Street Office.

Detail from the front of the George Street Watson Fothergill Office. Photo: K.F. Onion

Watson Fothergill’s Office, George Street, Nottingham. April 2020. Photo: Dan Simpkin

Looking at the details of the hotel at St Pancras, which was completed in the 1870s, it seems very probable that it was an influence on Fothergill, who would likely have travelled through it on his regular trips to London (to visit art galleries and to see cricket matches at Lords).

St Pancras Booking Office, now a bar. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

I took some photos last time I was in London. I also went for a drink in the hotel and got to explore the interior, which is fantastic. I think there it’s very likely that Fothergill would have admired the materials used and also the quality of the work, the flamboyant details and the overall beauty of the building. The carved stones, red bricks, sculpture and gothic flare are all recognisable features that Fothergill uses in his Nottingham buildings.

Half way up the cantilevered staircase of the Renaissance St Pancras Hotel. 2019. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

Architecture The Railways Built continues on Tuesdays and Saturdays on the Yesterday channel, or on demand on UKTV player. Other episodes look at Kings Cross Station, the “Derby Gothic” style of the Midland Railway on the Settle to Carlisle line and much more.

For more on the building of St Pancras, I’d recommend architectural historian Simon Bradley’s short but thorough book, St Pancras Station.

The Watson Fothergill Walk is currently on hiatus due to Covid-19 restrictions, but you can purchase gift vouchers to redeem against bookings for future walks.

I recently visited Cardiff Castle to see William Burges’ Clock Tower and the fantastical interiors he designed for the Marquess of Bute.

Exterior of the Clock Tower at Cardiff Castle. (Photo: Lucy Brouwer).

William Burges (1827-1881) was one of Watson Fothergill’s great influences, his name and dates being one of those carved onto the front of Fothergill’s office in George Street.

Detail_of_the_Watson_Fothergill_offices — Watson Fothergill’s architectural heroes appear on the front of his office on George Street, Nottingham. The busts depict Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and George Edmund Street. To the right: the names and dates of George Gilbert Scott, William Burges and Richard Norman Shaw. Fothergill himself is perhaps the inspiration for the medieval architect on the left. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Andrewrabbott).

William Burges was perhaps the greatest of the Victorian “art-architects” who sort to re-establish the architectural and social values of a utopian Medieval England. His work stands as the apex of the Gothic Revival, along with the work of the Pre-Raphaelites and it heralds the Arts and Crafts movement.

In Burges’ short but illustrious career, some of his most spectacular work was done for the “richest man in Victoria’s Empire”, the 3rd Marquess of Bute. In particular his Clock Tower at Cardiff Castle, and the lavish interiors that he produced in the tower and in the main building.

Burges Portrait — William Burges, photo portrait to be seen in the Winter Smoking Room of the Clock Tower, Cardiff Castle. “Ugly Burgess who makes beautiful things… isn’t he a duck,” wrote Gwendoline, Marchioness of Bute.

Burges was an eccentric genius, with a wild imagination fueled by smoking opium. He produced architecture, furniture, jewellery and objects which Bute’s wealth was able to indulge on the highest level.

The Clock Tower contains two smoking rooms, for winter and summer, all sumptuously decorated in rich colours.

Figures of the Four Winds, Summer Smoking Room

East winds — Figures of the Four Winds, Summer Smoking Room.

Mouse detail summer sr — Every inch is covered in details, Summer Smoking Room.

Lamps to light the Summer Smoking Room. (Photos Lucy Brouwer.)

See more of Burges’ work for Bute in this documentary on BBCiPlayer.

Bute: The Scot Who Spent A Welsh Fortune

Burges’ influence on Fothergill can be seen in the animals and mythic creatures he attaches to his buildings, as well as the Gothic Revival flourishes that became part of his architectural style.

thurland bank s richards — Thurland Street Bank, by Fothergill Watson. Photo © Stephen Richards (cc-by-sa/2.0)

Learn more about Fothergill and the Gothic Revival on The Watson Fothergill Walk. Now booking on Eventbrite.

Tag: Influences

Architecture The Railways Built: St Pancras

William Burges & The Gothic Revival