Gothick staircase hall, Croft Castle

By country house standards the staircase hall at Croft Castle, Herefordshire, is modest in scale. However, size isn't everything as the architect and interior decorator responsible for the work, Thomas Farnolls Pritchard (1723-1777), knew. The Gothick plasterwork in the form of ceiling rose, waterleaf cornice, wall arches, shell recess and quatrefoil dado rail is masterly and gives lightness and delicacy to the space. The slender balusters and clustered newels of the stairs perfectly complement the walls and ceiling.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Great Malvern "Gothick"

"Gothick" with the added "k" signifies the Georgian or early Victorian application of medieval Gothic styling to a building. It isn't an attempt to convince the onlooker that the eighteenth or nineteenth century building is genuine Gothic so much as a celebration or revival of the decorative motifs of the earlier period. In England the 1749 house called "Strawberry Hill" by Horace Walpole is widely regarded as the building that sparked the later "Gothic Revival". The building above, "Oriel House" on Worcester Road, Great Malvern, dates from around 1830 and exemplifies the self-conscious application of ogee doorway, trefoiled pilasters, crocketed pinnacles, battlements and square drip moulds. The oriel window that gives the house its name must be at the back to take advantage of the view across the Severn Valley and the distant Cotswolds.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300