The Rogue Goths – R.L. Roumieu, Joseph Peacock and Bassett Keeling
By Edmund Harris
Publication date: 28th November 2024
Author Edmund Harris’s book is the latest in the Victorian Society’s monograph series on Victorian and Edwardian architects. This is the first study devoted to a much-discussed yet poorly-covered chapter in British architectural history which produced some of Victorian England’s most striking and dramatic Gothic buildings. The title is published in partnership with Liverpool University Press and Historic England.
The Rogue Goths includes an introduction to this generation of flamboyant and eccentric architects that began to make its mark in the 1860s. There are studies of three architects. including the first-ever published study of the life and work of Robert Lewis Roumieu, architect of 33-35 Eastcheap in the City of London (‘the scream you wake on at the end of a nightmare’, Ian Nairn, Nairn’s London) and Milner Square in Islington (‘It is possible to visit… many times and still not be absolutely certain that you have seen it anywhere but in an unhappy dream’, John Summerson, Georgian London); and a similarly pioneering study of the life and work of Joseph Peacock, architect of St Simon Zelotes, Chelsea, one of Sir John Betjeman’s favourite Victorian churches.
The volume is densely illustrated with excellent new photography by Robin Forster, alongside sketches and drawings. Robin’s photography was highly praised when it recently featured in the Society’s 2023 monograph on Edwin Rickards. The featured drawings include works from the RIBA Collection, and include not only working drawings but also very high quality presentation drawings, a number of which are positively identified for the first time. There are also images from Historic England’s collection, as well as views from contemporary architectural journals.
Edmund Harris is an architectural historian and independent scholar. He writes a blog on Less Eminent Victorians dedicated to fascinating but less heralded Victorian architects www.lesseminentvictorians.com
The book is available from the Victorian Society online shop.
Cover of The Rogue Goths showing 33-35 Eastcheap, City of London by R.L. Roumieu, 1868. Photo on cover by Robin Forster.
