The life and works of Sir Charles Barry

by Alfred Barry

Externally, the Italian garden was to be extended so as to encircle the house, and a range of conservatories added on the eastern side. For architectural effect, Sir Charles relied greatly on the central dome or cupola, and the new west front.

The plan was grand in scale and conception, and would have made Clumber one of the finest of noblemen’s seats in England. But it was so arranged that it could be executed in detail, and without interfering with the occupation of the house.

The only part of it as yet carried out is the erection of the new church by the present Duke, in the position indicated by Sir Charles, but from the designs of Mr. Thomas C. Hine, of Nottingham. Whether any other portion will be attempted is as yet uncertain. But the plan exists as a guide for all future work, to be modified, of course, as circumstances shall dictate. For the want of such plans, both in public and private buildings, it is lamentable to see how much labour and money are actually wasted.[108] In this point of view, as well as for its own grandeur of scheme, the plan for the new house at Clumber may have some interest to all.

But the great majority of these designs had reference to public buildings, and to some of these it will be well to refer.

Law Courts.—The first design was intended to meet a public need, which has been long increasing in urgency, and now, after twenty-five years of discussion, is to be supplied on a scale of unparalleled magnificence.

In 1840 the need of additional accommodation for the Law Courts attracted the attention of the Government. It was always felt that they could not remain as they are, insufficient in accommodation, and a mere excrescence upon Westminster Hall and the New Palace. To enlarge them was impossible without a serious and unwarrantable encroachment on New Palace Yard. Therefore, it was concluded that the old associations of Westminster Hall must be set aside, and the Courts must be removed, and on the removal Sir C. Barry was consulted. Two sites appeared to him eligible: one in the centre of Lincoln’s Inn Fields; the other, fronting the Strand near St. Clement Danes Church, between Lincoln’s Inn and the Temple. Of these sites the former was clear, and would involve no expense in the purchase of existing buildings. He believed that the area occupied would be so small in comparison to the whole, that no serious injury to one of the “lungs of London” need be apprehended; and, though he yielded to the outcry, which arose against the scheme, he did not recognise its justice.

The choice of the other site, instead of interfering with the free space so highly valuable in London, had undoubtedly the advantage of clearing away one of the worst of neighbourhoods.[109] To it accordingly his attention was afterwards directed.

In his first design he returned once more to the Greek style, which he had so long discarded. He considered that, for convenience sake, the principal floor ought not to be raised much above the street, and that, for acoustic reasons, the Courts themselves ought not to be high. This would make the whole design low, in comparison with the large extent of ground which it would necessarily cover; and to screen it by lofty piles of offices or residences would interfere with light and air. Under these circumstances, especially as he at first intended the building to be in an open space, visible on all sides, he determined to surround it with a classic peristyle, and seek massiveness and simplicity rather than height or grandeur. In Lincoln’s Inn Fields, grouped with, and screened by, masses of trees, so as not to be first visible at a great distance, he conceived that the old classic style might appear at advantage. But the scheme was afterwards abandoned, and the only Greek design of his later days fell with it.

In 1845 he was again examined before a Committee of the House of Commons, and submitted two designs; one occupying the second of the two sites above noticed, a space of about seven and three-quarter acres, which he proposed to clear for the purpose; the other involving the enclosure of New Palace Yard, and the extension of the New Palace itself.

But once more the scheme was deferred, to be now executed on the Strand site, but on a far different scale and by other hands.[110] In any case, it is a comfort to hope that the present unsightly “Law Courts” will no longer disgrace the magnificence which surrounds them.