You could be forgiven for thinking that this has become the Scottish Buildings blog. But now and then a bit of Scottish-baronial-influenced architecture rears its turrets and pointed roofs south of the border. And the associations are immediate – even if you miss the Scottishness of a place like this, how can it fail to remind you of castles and fortresses? How can it not make you think of medieval banquets and chaps tearing around in iron suits? Even though, of course, no real medieval castle ever had windows the size of this one.
Quite why Alexander Anderson, the architect of this 1919 Memorial Hall in a back street in Northampton chose this style, I don’t know. Round turrets, stepped gables, conical roofs, and rock-faced masonry certainly make their mark here. Anderson was a locally based architect and must have been well aware of the pressures of working in a town with its fair share of striking buildings – including several interesting churches and a Town Hall covered with outstanding relief carvings. In such eminent company, this one definitely and defiantly stands out.
Looking at the top picture, I wonder if the architect realised what a monster face he'd made of the features? Here it looks as if it's relishing the idea of swallowing the BSM car whole.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny you should say that. I didn't realise until I'd written the post, and had a look to see if it had been uploaded properly, and then it struck me.'It's a face,' I thought. 'I expect Mr Ashley will notice.'
ReplyDeleteThe Scottish style is probably because Alexander Anderson was a Glaswegian who moved to Northampton. He was the person that introduced Basset Lowke to Mackintosh.
ReplyDeleteAnon: Thanks. That's really interesting. Still intrigues why he kept to the baronial style – I must search out other buildings by him to see what else he did.
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