The Story of Britain's Best BuildingsBritain is covered with an extraordinary array of fantastic and brilliant buildings. There are more historic buildings of more styles in Britain than even in Italy. And, our favourites occupy a similar place in the national psyche as Robin Hood and Nell Gwynne. Britain's Best Buildings celebrates the bricks-and-mortar icons of our history that are well known and loved beyond all the others: Dan Cruickshank re-visits the stuff of legend but also reveals the stories behind the buildings. Like the life of any human being, there are highs and lows to the story of every building and as even the best-known celebrity has dark corners and secret closets to explore, so do Britain's best-loved buildings. To know a great building is to make it more our own - to know it even more will make us feel we have a stake in its past, present, and future. Each of the buildings is outstanding architecturally, yet each has strong personal stories behind their construction and as a whole they offer a journey through the nation's architecture and psyche from the 12th century to the present day. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 65
Page 81
... created partly by Wyatville , but mostly by firms of decorators and furniture - makers , notably Morel and Seddon , working very closely with the prince and his advisers . The main state apartments , including the Waterloo Chamber , the ...
... created partly by Wyatville , but mostly by firms of decorators and furniture - makers , notably Morel and Seddon , working very closely with the prince and his advisers . The main state apartments , including the Waterloo Chamber , the ...
Page 151
... created gradually by forces , such as erosion , earthquakes and volcanoes , that are still at work . This challenged ... creation . Lyell's convincing argument for the great antiquity of the Earth and for gradual change provided a firm ...
... created gradually by forces , such as erosion , earthquakes and volcanoes , that are still at work . This challenged ... creation . Lyell's convincing argument for the great antiquity of the Earth and for gradual change provided a firm ...
Page 155
... creation but a mere chemical ' automation ' ( reaction ) created by a random process of natural selection settled like a dark cloud upon mid- Victorian Britain . Even Huxley , the champion of scientific agnosticism , acknowledged that ...
... creation but a mere chemical ' automation ' ( reaction ) created by a random process of natural selection settled like a dark cloud upon mid- Victorian Britain . Even Huxley , the champion of scientific agnosticism , acknowledged that ...
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abbey aisles apartments arches architect architecture bascules bedrooms Benedictine Blenheim Blenheim Palace Book of Revelation BRITAIN'S building built Burges Bute Cardiff Castle centre century Charles choir Christian church columns completed construction corridor court created crossing decoration duchess duke Durham Cathedral early east Edward engineering England English floor Garter geometry George Gothic groin vault Henry Highpoint Holyrood Holyroodhouse interior iron James John king knights Le Corbusier London Lubetkin Marlborough Mary masons massive medieval metres Midland Grand Hotel modern monarch monks monument natural nave original palace perhaps piers Queen revealed ribs roof royal sacred sacred geometry Sarah Scotland Scott semicircular shrine south transept square St Calais St Cuthbert St George's Chapel St Pancras staircase started stone structure survives symbol Thames Tower Bridge transept Upper Ward Vanbrugh vault vesica piscis Victoria Virgin wall William Windsor Castle Woodstock