Preserv'd.

Whatever is goode in its kinde ought to be preserv'd in respect for antiquity, as well as our present advantage, for destruction can be profitable to none but such as live by it.

Nicholas Hawksmoor

Study.

"It is one of the greatest Curses visited upon Mankind," he told me, "that they shall fear where no Fear is: this astrological and superstitious Humour disarms men's Hearts, it breaks their Courage, it makes them help to bring such Calamities on themselves." Then he stopped short and looked at me, but my Measure was not yet fill'd up so I begg' d him to go on, go on. And he continued: "First, they fancy that such ill Accidents must come to pass, and so they render themselves fit Subjects to be wrought upon; it is a Disgrace to the Reason and Honour of Mankind that every fantasticall Humourist can presume to interpret the Skies (here he grew Hot and put down his Dish) and to expound the Time and Seasons and Fates of Empires, assigning the Causes of Plagues and Fires to the Sins of Men or the Judgements of God. This weakens the Constancy of Humane Actions, and affects Men with Fears, Doubts, Irresolutions and Terrours."

    "I was afraid of your Moving Picture," I said without thought, and that was why I left.

    "It was only Clock-work, Nick."

    "But what of the vast Machine of the World, in which Men move by Rote but in which nothing is free from Danger?"

    "Nature yields to the Forward and the Bold."

    "It does not yield, it devours: You cannot master or manage Nature."

    "But, Nick, our Age can at least take up the Rubbidge and lay the Foundacions: that is why we must study the principles of Nature, for they are our best Draught."

    "No, sir, you must study the Humours and Natures of Men: they are corrupt, and therefore your best Guides to understand Corrupcion."

    "The things of the Earth must be understood by the sentient Faculties, not by the Understanding."

    There was a Silence between us now until Sir Chris. says, "Is your Boy in the Kitchin? I am mighty Hungry.”

Peter Ackroyd, from Hawksmoor

Dazzle.

I have liv'd long enough for others, like the Dog in the Wheel, and it is now the Season to begin for myself: I cannot change that Thing call'd Time, but I can alter its Posture and, as Boys do turn a looking-glass against the Sunne, so I will dazzle you all.

Peter Ackroyd, from Hawksmoor

Imagination.

Vanbrugh, Temple of the Four Winds, Castle Howard, North Yorkshire, 1724

How did the untrained Vanbrugh become the most prominent architect of his time? His charm, intellect and connections of course helped. But this inspired amateur was also gifted with extraordinary powers of the imagination and an ability to visualize in three dimensions. His earlier work as a playwright and producer of plays must certainly have honed his eye for the theatrical. In his first two major projects – Castle Howard and Blenheim Palace – he was lucky to be assisted by the highly experienced architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, who had learnt his trade in the office of Sir Christopher Wren. While Vanbrugh was free to let his imagination run riot, Hawksmoor was the firm hand whose attention to detail was the perfect complement to Vanbrugh’s flamboyant creativity.

CONNECT

Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawlsmoor ...

Howard.

Hawksmoor, Castle Howard, n/d

Preserv'd.

Henry Whitfield House, Guilford, Connecticut, 1639

Whatever is goode in its kinde ought to be preserv'd in respect for antiquity, as well as our present advantage, for destruction can be profitable to none but such as live by it.

Nicholas Hawksmoor

Tell.

Hawksmoor, Composite Section, Plan, and Elevation of 16-bay Dome, St. Paul's, 1693

If these stones could tell the story

of our joys and tears

they would sing ‘To God be glory!’

till the Lord appears:

walls and pillars, bell and tower,

tell your power through the years.

Reverend Christopher Idle

Visionary.

Professor Pierre du Prey's talk, Nicholas Hawksmoor's Visionary Architectural Designs for Ockham Park, given at the Society of Antiquaries ...

Inspiration.

Philip Pullman on the inspiration of Oxford, hidden alleyways, and Nicholas Hawksmoor, the Architect of the Imagination ...

Germinated.

Hawksmoor, Pathway to Black Manor's Woodland Garden, Castle Howard, Yorkshire, England, 1701

But now a spiritual life germinated in this cultural soil grown old, scholars and artists, painters and poets were born into the dying city. The descendants of those who had once built the first houses on this new ground spent their days smilingly amid a quiet late flowering of the arts. They painted the melancholy splendor of old moss-covered gardens with their weather-beaten statues and green ponds, or wrote sensitive verses about the remote tumult of the old heroic age or the silent dreams of tired men in old palaces.

Herman Hesse