Architectural fashion vs common sense - call for contributions for one-day symposium

ExhibitionsEvents
Written By Lynne Dickens

Organised by the Petit Society, a one-day symposium is taking place at the Rutland County Museum in Oakham on 27 September 2025.

Image courtesy the Petit Society

The artist and architectural writer, Rev. John Louis Petit, was the leading critic of the gothic revival in the 19th century. One of the foremost writers and speakers on Church Architecture in the mid-19th century, Petit was one of very few standing against the re-introduction of 14th Century Gothic for new building or restoration, as prescribed by his opponents. He stood for originality in new work, and preservation of the old, believing there was great beauty in all previous styles. He devoted his art and speaking to identifying the forms and proportions of beauty in ecclesiastical architecture. He was both a modernist, in an historical age, for new buildings, and at the same time the pioneer of preservation of the old.

Around half of his paintings illustrated the architectural impact of ecclesiastical buildings in Britain, Europe and the Middle East, and were used primarily as illustrations for his architectural lectures. A selection of his East Midlands paintings will be on display in the museum from 22 August to 27 September and the symposium will coincide with this. Its full title is Architectural Fashion vs Common Sense - the 19th Century Battle of Styles and its Legacy for Today, which will draw on Petit's work in the region. It will consist of three keynote lectures and submitted contributions from both academic historians and local historians in the region.

Call for contributions

Contributions are sought for short (15 to 20 minute) presentations either on general aspects of the Gothic controversy, ideally with an East Midlands flavour, or on specific restorations and reconstructions of secular buildings and churches in the area during the 19th century. Please send a proposed title and a short (250 word) description to Professor Chris Baker (Emeritus Professor of Environmental Fluid Mechanics at the University of Birmingham) by emailing bakercj54@gmail.com in the first instance.

Lynne Dickens

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