The Victorian era
The world’s first industrial nation built stations, factories and exhibition halls of iron and glass – and parliaments, churches and hotels in the Gothic style.
After the fire of 1834 Charles Barry and A.W.N. Pugin built a new parliament in the Gothic style. Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition of 1851 was assembled from standardised parts of iron and glass. St Pancras in London combines a huge train shed with George Gilbert Scott’s Gothic hotel.
William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement turned against factory goods. Philip Webb’s Red House for Morris, from 1859, became the model for a simpler, hand-crafted home.