English Baroque
The Baroque movement in England during the mid-seventeenth to early-eighteenth centuries. In England the Baroque developed later than and quite differently to how it had done in continental Europe. Protestant England was resistant to the extravagances of the continental Baroque associated with Roman Catholicism, and well into the seventeenth century classical architecture itself was still viewed with some suspicion. (Hopkins, 2014)
Defining characteristics include: plainness, animated skyline, medieval influence, exaggerated keystones, eclecticism, domes. (Hopkins, 2014)
Leading Examples
- Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, 1705-24
- Thomas Archer, St. John, Smith Square, London, 1713-28
- Sir John Vanbrugh, Vanbrugh Castle, Greenwich, London, finished 1719
- William Talman, south front, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, completed 1696
- Nicholas Hawksmoor, St. Mary Woolnoth, London, 1718-24
- Sir Christopher Wren, St. Stephen Walbrook, London, 1672-9 (steeple 1713-17)