Master builder: George Gilbert Scott

In his article “Master builder: George Gilbert Scott,” written for The Telegraph, Giles Worsley spotlights the life of George Gilbert Scott Jr. with a focus on his style and how his buildings revived the Queen Anne style.

A talent tainted by tragedy

Giles opens with a few paragraphs about the life of Scott Jr, noting that he “lived in the shadow of his famous father,” which is true. Giles is seemingly sympathetic of Scott, who turned to drink later in life and lived in obscurity.

A profound contribution to architecture

Despite his personal troubles, George Gilbert Scott Jr. carved an architectural niche of his own with his work with the Queen Anne revival style.

He designed several famous buildings. These include St John Baptist Church. His finest works, on the churches of All Hallows, and St Agnes, were destroyed by bombing in the Second World War. Scott Jr. rejected the opinion of his father that 13th-century Gothic was best for modern buildings. "Queen Anne" was his preference.

As Giles notes in his article, "Queen Anne" was a promiscuous style that ranged widely in its borrowings. The first country house Scott Jr. designed, for example, was Jacobean. It was only in time that Scott Jr. simplified his building designs, moving towards those popular in the 17th and even early 18th centuries.

You can find out more about the life of George Gilbert Scott Jr. on The Telegraph.