From Owen Jones   'Grammar of Ornament'                                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                            
                                          Colourful artistic impression of ancient Thebes 
                                                                               
                                                                        
                          Egypt, Columns     Pyramid,Stirling,Scotland     Egypt, Columns   

                                             
                                 EGYPTIAN INFLUENCE ON BRITISH ARCHITECTURE  
                                                          by Anne Midgley                        
                                   
               In the 18th century it was from Italy that our interest in Egyptian design came when an English Gentleman visited Rome as part of 'The Grand Tour' and obelisks, sphinxes and other Egyptian style items became fashionable.The first free-standing obelisk  which remains today is at Ripon and was erected in 1702. Many of these early obelisks were set on pedestals, reminiscent of a Roman influence. Obelisks were popular throughout the 1700s as landscape ornaments. Castle Howard in Yorkshire has many Egyptian style buildings erected in the 1700s - obelisk, two pyramids and two gateways with pryamid features.
            In the 19th century Napoleon's Egyptian campaign of 1798 and Champollion's decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs helped to fuel our interest. Cemeteries had many Egyptian features on their tombs, obelisks and pyramid forms being common and many mausoleums were built in the Egyptian style. One at Thurnham near Lancaster built for the Gillow family is a fine example. Highgate cemetery in London included columns and obelisks  as part of the entrance. Thomas Hope opened his house in London to the public in 1804 and one room was devoted to Egyptian decoration, furnishings and antiquities and these designs appeared in his book   'Household furniture and interior decoration' published in 1807.
           The style was not popular with all, apparently and the architect, C.A. Busby, comments in 1808 :  ' Of all the vanities which a sickly fashion has produced, the Egyptian style in modern architecture appears the most absurd : a style which, for domestic buildings, borders on the monstrous. Its massy members and barbarous ornaments are a reproach to the taste of its admirers; and the travels of Denon have produced more evil than the elegance of the engravings and splendour of his publication can be allowed to have compensated ' (Vivant Denon's account of the Napoleonic campaign was published in English in 1803).

                                                                  
                      Hope bust, 1810              Egyptian Hall, 1811            Hope bust, 1810
                
           The Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly was built in 1811 and was the first complete building in Egyptian style. The Hall was used in 1821 by Giovanni Belzoni to house his display of Egyptian antiquities and the interior was restyled to include a liberal amount of Egyptian ornamentation including Hathor-headed columns. Unfortunately this hall was demolished in 1904. Thankfully two other buildings of similar design remain today - an Egyptian style library built in 1823 at Devonport, Plymouth and now a social club and the Egyptian House in Penzance of 1835 now owned by the Landmark Trust and rented out as holiday flats with a shop below. Again there is criticism of this style and Leigh Hunt comments that : ' Egyptian architecture will do nowhere but in Egypt. There, its cold and gloomy ponderosity ('weight' is too pretty a word') defits the hot, burning atmosphere and shifting sands. But in such a climate as this, it is worth nothing but an uncouth assembly. The absurdity, however, renders it a good advertisement. There is no missing its great lumpish face as you go along. It gives a blow to the mind, like a heavy practical joke.'      
    
                                                                           
                    Gillow Mausoleum                  Egyptian House                 Egyptian Hall
                     Thurnham 1800                    Penzance 1835                 Devonport 1823                                                                                                                   
             As well as buildings, bridges such as the Brighton chain pier of 1823, the Clifton suspension bridge of 1836 and the Britannia tubular bridge over the Menai Straits of 1850 have Egyptian details. A very impressive building which is still standing is the flax mill in Leeds of 1842. Built to look like an Egyptian temple, the features continued inside with columns with palm and papyrus capitals, some machinery and the office furniture in the Egyptian style. Freemasons' buildings have many Egyptian features. One is the Hall in Boston, Lincolnshire, built in 1860-1863 and is in the form of a pylon with palm-capped columns and the cornice decorated with winged solar orb supported by cobras. The hieroglyphs on the lintel read, ' In the 23rd year of the reign of Her Majesty  the Royal Daughter Victoria, Lady Most Gracious, this building was erected' The interior, which no longer survives, was decorated with lotuses, scarabs, serpents and the winged globe with cobras. In the late 1800s the architect Alexander Thomson designed many buildings in the Glasgow area using Egyptian detailing even  his own home had lotus capped chimney-pots and the entrance was flanked with lotus style columns.

                                                   
                         Temple Mill                   Delaney Building         Sainsburys Homebase
                         Leeds 1842                      Built 1970's                  Kensington 1988 

                Egyptian influence has continued throughout the 20th century, stimulated by the opening of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922 and the exhibition in London of his treasures in the 1970's. The Freemasons' Royal Arch Halls in Edinburgh of 1901 were a splendid example of Egyptian design which extended to the carpet and furniture. Sadly it was demolished in 1981 to make way for a carpark!

                                                         

(This piece  of architectural plaster sculpture which was recently  added to my collection was  recovered from the Freemasons Arch Halls in Edinburgh before demolition in 1981. The Sphinx  is on the roof of the Royal Scottish Academy Princes Street Edinburgh - Gavin)

              A new style, Art Deco, influenced by elements of Egyptian designs came into vogue around 1925 and many buildings of this style had Egyptian detailing. One such building was the Firestone factory, London of 1929  which was demolished in 1980.Another was the Hoover factory  of 1932 with Egyptian centrepiece which is still standing. Quite a few Art Deco Egyptianised cinemas were erected at this time including the 'Luxor' in Twickenham. One of the latest buildings in Egyptian style is Sainbury's Homebase in Kensington, built in 1988. The walls outside are decorated with Egyptian gods, there are cobra downspouts and lotus capitals to the Egyptian columns at the entrance.      
                I think, done tastefully, buildings of Egyptian design or those with Egyptian features are to be admired. It is a design which does stand out and is not easily missed and adds an element of surprise and interest to our streets. It is a shame we have lost some splendid examples this century so I hope our interest will continue into the 21st century and more buidings inspired by the designs of the Ancient Egyptians will appear.
  Anne Midgley, July 1998.

Below is an example of American Egyptian architectural design influence in the form of Reebie's Moving and Storage building in Chigaco  Illinois (collage scan courtesy of Lydia  from Texas a fellow American Egyptomaniac)
  
                      
                                Hope you enjoyed the tour  -  please come back, Gavin.

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