England Architectural Styles

England boasts layers of architectural style that simultaneously revel in the unique, insular artistic traditions and various historical periods. Of England's earliest permanent architecture, little remains. Today, the handful of privately held homes that pre-date the reign of the Tudor dynasty reflect either a Norman or Gothic sensibility, though it must be stressed that a significant share of such archaic structures are in public hands and, in terms of accessible property, little remains of these older styles among privately sold estates. There are, on occasion, the ruins of a medieval chapel or parts of an old Norman tower up for sale, however.

The era of that most charming and colorful, even turbulent, of English royal families, the Tudors, has bequeathed the island a far more extant architectural tradition. Examples of the broadly defined 'Tudor' style, which arguably encompass late Gothic, Perpendicular, early Elizabethan elements may be considered to be a part of the same architectural spectrum in the long run, routinely make their way into real estate listings, both luxurious and middle class. It is, perhaps, a testament to the association that this style has with English history and character that, well into the 19th Century, newer buildings were being crafted along its lines, which, broadly speaking, includes four-centered arches, steep roofs, oriel windows, organic mouldings, and multiple chimneys. It was also common for owners of the original Tudor period to incorporate hidden symbols and riddles into the external décor of their homes.

As the Elizabethan period passed into history, many of England's traditional styles, like the Perpendicular and Tudor, fell from favor as Italy's Palladian and other baroque forms began to influence architecture under the various Stuart rulers. Though commonly associated with public buildings like cathedrals, these classically-indebted styles, which often relied on domes, collonades, pediments, and pilasters to affect a timeless sensibility, were often the architecture of choice for nobility and other gentlemen who imagined themselves as contemporary successors to the enlightened and stoic senators of Imperial Rome's bygone eras. As such, a number of royal residencies and courtly estates were designed along these and other neo-classical philosophies. Today, their emphasis on balance and airy forms continues to enamor a number of admirers.

Though classicism continued as the dominant artistic and architectural school of thought into the 18th Century, it began to take on the more reserved and austere sensibility of the early Greeks or, at least, what scholars at the time assumed was the rational mentality of those ancient and noted people. As such, buildings from what is now referred to as the 'Georgian' period retain the mathematical and visual balance of the various baroque forms, yet are noticeably devoid of many of the elaborate decorations and detailed accents that marked their predecessors. Considered a 'purer' form of classicism, these buildings, the construction of which parallel the time frame of the so-called 'Enlightenment', are somewhat more common than older structures do to the fact that the British Isles were largely free of internal conflict from the early 1700s onward.

This quest for finding the most rational and emotionally detached designs possible, began to lose adherents after Romanticism and allied artistic and intellectual movements began to dominate thinking after 1800. While searching for forms that evoked passion, sentimentality, and whimsy, many builders turned to history to craft homes and public structures. Because of this, modified versions of styles that had faded away centuries before suddenly became popular among both the upper and lower classes and, after a few years of experimentation, the neo-Gothic, neo-Tudor, and other 'historicist' styles like the Italianate were born. Today, these and other architectural schools are often lumped together under the 'Victorian' label, however the wide variations seen in their designs are actually indicative of often divergent movements. At any rate, many of the more popular styles from the Victorian era, like the 'Queen Anne' found themselves employed in the construction of many 19th and early 20th Century estates and, in many ways, the 'Edwardian' period merely carried on with their tendencies.

Since World War Two, of course, English architecture has largely reflected a 'Modernist' sensibility, however it should be noted that most larger private buildings that have been inspired by this movement, no matter its particular branch, have been constructed in London and some of Britain's other large cities due to the fact that bombardment during the war opened up many urban areas for contemporary development. Still, there are, on occasion, large Minimalist, Futurist, and Post-Modern country estates on the market.