In the late 18th and early 19th centuries AD, people began to look at the landscape and monuments of Britain in a new light. Inspired by the fashion for ‘Gothick’ novels, like Mrs Radcliff’s Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), and medieval architecture, they sought out picturesque ruins and romantic landscapes. The novels of Sir Walter Scott and his own quasi-medieval house, Abbotsford, built in 1812, were both examples of and encouragements to the cult of medievalism.

In the 1820s, after Britain had defeated France in the Napoleonic wars, there was a new pride in rediscovering the nation’s past. Archaeology did not develop until later in the 19th century, and popular ideas often reflected those of 18th-century antiquarians like William Stukely who, in 1740, described Stonehenge as a Druid monument. Stonehenge and the numerous ruined abbeys visited by tourists may have symbolised a proud past, but this did not stop visitors chipping bits off for souvenirs.

The interest in medieval architecture led to the Gothic Revival of the 1830s and 1840s, which was linked with a movement favouring greater ceremony and ritual in the Church. The first Victorian public building in the Gothic style was Charles Barry’s new Houses of Parliament of 1836.