Industrial Britain: An Architectural History

by Hubert Pragnell

A fascinating history of Britain's industrial past as evidenced by its buildings, richly illustrated with line drawings. Industrial Architecture in Britain takes a catholic view of its subject, going back far beyond the mills and machine houses of the Industrial Revolution to cover the water mills and oast houses of agricultural production, and including too the often glorious buildings and engineering projects associated with the distribution of manufactured goods - docks, canals, railways and warehouses. This architecture is only recently receiving recognition and protection, and this book eloquently makes the case for treating mills and breweries with the same concern for heritage that is applied to churches, great houses, or castles. Dividing its huge subject by purpose, Industrial Architecture in Britain tells a story of industrial development and ultimate decline, as manufacturing has been increasingly supplanted by service industries, and new uses have to be found for at least some of Britain's great industrial buildings - not least as containers for art. An invaluable and handy reference guide; illustrated with 250 b/w line drawings throughout.

352 pages, Hardcover

First published November 29, 2000

About the author

Hubert Pragnell is a historian and artist who has a deep love of British architecture. He grew up within walking distance of Blackheath and Greenwich and so absorbed the buildings of Wren, Hawksmoor and Vanbrugh from earliest childhood. He studied history at the University of Kent as well as fine art at the Ruskin School of Drawing, Oxford. He was Head of Art History at the King's School, Canterbury and taught there for nearly thirty years. For the past seven years he has been a part-time tutor for the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education at Rewley House. He has written a number of book and articles on architectural topics. Most recently Architectural Britain, published by the National Trust, and a study of Industrial architecture called Industrial Britain. He has lectured extensively to local history groups and is a National Trust lecturer. Besides architecture he has a keen interest in railways and travel.

Reviews

[Sula · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content of the book is decent and the sketches are nice, but I'm knocking off a star for the awful format. It is a bizarrely shaped 11cmx11cm hardback that is 3cm thick with tiny print, which is awkward to read (and store nicely on a shelf). With the pages enlarged, along with the text size and images, this could have made a normal-sized book that is easier to read and isn't so chunky and strangely dimensioned.

[Chris Tyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good introduction to the industrial, commercial, and transport architecture of Britain. It’s very wide-ranging in its examples, and I was pleased to see some not very well known examples given. It doesn’t focus solely on London and the South. The writing is accompanied by artful and helpful drawings. If you are curious, have a passing interest or simply want a good introduction, I’m sure this is the book for you.