After a while of enjoying the solidity and predictability of the Old Colonial Regency and Old Colonial Grecian Architecture, builders and designers were becoming bored. And in literature and art, there was a romanticism and awe regarding the Middle Ages. The Abbeys, the cathedrals, the castles and the battlements – all contrived to add a sense of drama, intrigue and testament to victory and honour.

The architects of the time took the stark and harsh designs of the Middle Ages, threw in some Rococo flair in the finer details of the new style and developed what is now known as the Old Colonial Gothic Picturesque style of architecture.

It was a time of reminiscent folly for some wealthy aristocrats who commissioned this type of work to add drama to the landscapes of their estates, and much ‘fun’ was had by architects and builders in providing these landed gentry with the castles and turrets they desired.

In essence this was a time of romantic indulgence and whim and one of the main protagonists for its existence and continuation was John Nash. Because Francis Greenway had worked for some small while with Nash, it was easy to see where Greenway’s influence derived. Much of this romanticism was fuelled right across the world because of the novels of Sir Walter Scott, with stories set in the 12th Century. Titles such as Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, The Lady of the Lake and others, which are still studied today, flamed the Gothic Picturesque style. And more than anything, it should be remembered that this style was born and developed primarily as a tribute to romanticism, flights of fancy and tales of days gone by. It was not intended to be a serious architectural style in its own right and many critics attacked its lack of consistency in design and building integrity.

In Australia it’s not surprising to learn that Elizabeth Macquarie (wife of the then Governor ) was a great fan of the novels of Scott and was a keen supporter of Old Colonial Gothic Picturesque architecture.

The most outstanding features of this style were high pitched roofs, towers, pinnacles, turrets, spires, buttresses and parapets. In short, anything that gave the impression or ‘feel’ of a castle or Cathedral from the Middle Ages.

However, like many flights of fancy, reality soon pressed upon the consciousness of the designers and recipients alike and stricter, more reserved styles of architecture began to emerge with the dawning of the Victorian period.