Chapter VI: The New Palace at Westminster

Plan of the Chapter. Section I. HISTORY OF THE COMPETITION--Burning
of the old Houses of Parliament--Opening of the Competition for the
New Building--Award of the Commissioners--Approved by the Select
Committee of the Houses--Protest of the advocates of Classical
Architecture--Critical controversy--Personal attacks on Mr.
Barry--Meeting of unsuccessful Competitors--Presentation of
Petition by Mr. Hume--Opposition quashed by Sir Robert
Peel--Protest against it by Professor Donaldson and others. Section
II. PROGRESS OF THE BUILDING--Difficulties as to the
Foundation--Commission of Inquiry as to the Stone to be used--First
Stone laid--Unavoidable delays--Committee of the Peers--Generous
support of Earl of Lincoln--Committee of the Commons--Appointment
of New Palace Commissioners--Appointment of Dr. Reid--Difficulties
arising therefrom, and arbitration of Mr. Gwilt--The Great
Clock--Competition and success of Mr. Dent--Professor Airy and Mr.
E. B. Denison referees--Mr. Denison the chief Director--His tone
and method of controversy--The Great Bell and its disasters--The
Fine Arts Commission--The Architect’s exclusion from it--His scheme
for the Decoration of the Building--The Scheme of the
Commissioners--Its ideal excellence and practical
drawbacks--Connection with Mr. Pugin--Real nature of the aid given
by him--Mr. Thomas and the Stone Carving--Mr. Meeson and the
practical Engineering--Other assistants in the work--Opening of the
House of Peers--Opening and Alteration of the House of Commons--The
Architect knighted in 1852--The Great Tower hardly completed at his
death. Section III. THE REMUNERATION QUESTION--Its points of public
interest--General question of Architectural percentage--Its bearing
on the particular work--Original attempt at a bargain by Lord
Bessborough--Accepted under protest--Re-opening of the
question--First Minute of the Treasury, and reply--Mr. White acts
for Sir C. Barry--Second Minute of the Treasury--Counter
statement--Third Minute of the Treasury--Submitted to by Sir C.
Barry--Protest of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and
reply--Practice of the Government after Sir C. Barry’s
death--General reference to the question of Expenditure--Summing up
of the chief points of the controversy.

The description of the greatest work of Sir C. Barry must necessarily occupy a considerable place in the narrative of his life. Independently of its intrinsic importance, both in a historical and architectural point of view, it was undoubtedly that, to which the best twenty years of his life were devoted, which gradually absorbed his attention, almost to the exclusion of other work, and which, not so much by its labour as by the anxieties, disputes, and disappointments arising during its execution, at last exhausted the health and strength of his iron constitution.

It would be needless to give a detailed description of a building, which tells its own story to the eyes of the public; it would be entirely out of place to attempt a general criticism on its merits. But the points, to which it seems needful to direct attention, are partly historical, and partly descriptive or critical. In the historical part of the notice, contained in the present chapter, it will be necessary to give some particulars with regard to--

I. The history of the competition, of Mr. Barry’s success, and of
the opposition with which that success was greeted.

II. The order and dates of the erection of the various parts of the
building; the alterations made during the progress of design, and
the notice taken of them by Parliament; the new elements introduced
into the work by the appointment of Dr. Reid to superintend the
warming and ventilation of the building, of the Fine Art Commission
to direct its embellishment, and of Mr. Denison and Mr. Dent to
construct the great clock; and the assistance received during the
progress of the work from other artists.

III. The controversy carried on with Her Majesty’s Government on
the subject of the professional remuneration of the architect.

The next chapter is reserved for a descriptive and critical notice, and must refer to--

I. The growth of the design, and the reasons which dictated its
general scheme and details.

II. The general description of the plan and design, so far as such
description is needed, as a key to the observation of the building
itself.