11. Indeed we may say that, as the century went on, houses did not become more beautiful. As the population increased in the town, streets of houses sprang up, some large, some small, built in rows and crescents and terraces, in which all the houses were alike; and very dull and drab and mean-looking many of them have become. When they were built they were made to look neat, or even smart, in front, but little care was taken about the appearance and convenience of their backs. They were not arranged in such a way that each might have a proper amount of light, and that a free current of air could pass through them and around them.
12. In some respects we have improved our houses, but we have much to learn yet. We have, for instance, yet to see that all houses, however small, shall have a proper number of bedrooms, large, light, and airy—for we spend one-third of our lives in them. We have also to see that both beauty and fitness shall be properly considered in building a house. Too often no care is taken to provide proper places where food and clothing can be kept, and where that very necessary but unpleasant process of washing and drying of clothes can be carried on without spoiling the comfort and health of the household. Every house needs a bath-room as much as a grate, for where dirt is there is disease, suffering, and death.
Summary.—Stone was used for facing large brick houses in the time of Sir Christopher Wren and at the beginning of the next century (Queen Anne's reign). Wren introduced rubbed brick, laid with close joints, and the specimens of that period are very good. As the eighteenth century went on, beauty declined. The hall became a mere passage, and the windows were oblong holes in the brick walls. The doorways were often handsome, with porticoes and canopies, some of stone, some of wood. Many of these remain in old town and village streets. The iron-work of that date is often very good indeed. The doors themselves were usually plain, but well made and solid. The windows over the doors, usually called fan-lights from their original shape, give many varieties of shape.
Stucco came into use about the middle of the eighteenth century, and became very fashionable, carving being imitated in plaster, and often covering very poor work. Gothic began to revive, but plaster, not stone, was used, and it was a very poor imitation. The fashion for building whole streets, rows, and terraces of houses in the same style came into use.
[CHAPTER XLIV]
BUILDING AFTER THE RESTORATION: CHURCHES
1. After the Reformation the churches, as we have said, were much neglected for a long time. They were used in a different way from what they had been in the Middle Ages—a great deal more was thought of preaching and hearing sermons. People grew to be very particular as to where they sat in church, and to have a seat in accordance with their dignity and importance. Pews became very important things. Churches were not heated in those days, though the services were very long, for sermons often lasted for an hour or two. No doubt one reason for making pews so high was to keep off draughts. The great people of the parish seemed to try to outdo each other in the height of their pews. Some of the grand pews had canopies to them, like old-fashioned four-post bedsteads, and they were hung round with curtains. In later times they even had fireplaces, with poker, tongs, and shovel all complete.
2. Gradually the whole floor-space got filled up with pews, some square, some oblong, all shut in with doors, and with seats like shelves running round them. The fashion of having pews shut in with doors lasted for several centuries; indeed you may see them still in some churches, though they are not nearly as high as they once were.
3. The churches needed repairs from time to time in the seventeenth century, and a few, a very few, new ones were built. But money was not spent upon them as it had been in the Middle Ages. They were patched up and mended for the most part as cheaply as possible. In very few cases was any attempt made to make them as beautiful as the houses which were being built at the time.
4. After the Restoration there arose a great interest in bells and bell-ringing. At the end of the seventeenth century a great many rings of bells were hung in the old steeples and belfries, which had to be altered to receive them.