Architects of England

About the film

From Stonehenge to the reinforced concrete constructions of the 20th Century, Architects of England takes us on a tour of Britains architecture throughout the ages.

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Details

• Release year - 1941
• Director - John Eldridge
• Production company - Strand Film Company
• Producer - Donald Taylor
• Screenplay - Reg Groves
• Cinematographer - Martin Curtis
• Composer - William Alwyn
• Narration - Alvar Lidell
• Sound recording - Al Rhind
• Musical director - Muir Mathieson
• Running time (minutes) - 12 mins 43 secs

Original description

The past and present of England's architecture

'To-day, Britain's architects are using steel, concrete and glass in new and interesting methods of building. Hundreds of years ago Saxon and Norman church builders used stone. As English masons grew more skilled in its use, they grew more venturesome in building, eventually creating the peerless 'Early-English' style. Builders of Tudor and Elizabethan houses made extensive use of brick. Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren employed foreign styles of building with English materials, such as Portland stone, red bricks, and slate. In the eighteenth century plaster was widely used. Modern architects have a far wider choice of materials and use them with skill and ingenuity.'

(Films of Britain - British Council Film Department Catalogue - 1941)

Did you know?

Locations shown in this title include (in order of appearance):

• Stonehenge
• All Saint’s Church, Earls Barton, Northamptonshire
• Durham Cathedral; Wells Cathedral, Somerset
• [Unknown abbey ruin]
• York Minster
• Lincoln Cathedral
• Salisbury Cathedral
• [Unknown half-timbered Tudor houses]
• [Unknown House (pictured above)]
• Hengrave Hall, Suffolk
• [Unknown House]
• Wren Library, Cambridge
• Royal Hospital Chelsea
• [Unknown House]
• Holkham Hall, Norfolk
• Edgcote House, Northamptonshire
• [Unknown House - demolished?]
• Royal Crescent, Bath
• [Unknown Regency terrace]
• [Regent’s Park area?]
• [Unknown railway viaduct over a city]
• Menai Suspension Bridge
• Clifton Suspension Bridge
• [Unknown glass-domed building]
• The Houses of Parliament, Westminster
• [Unknown hall]
• Albert Memorial, Kensington, London
• (Old) Euston Station
• Nottingham Council House
• Shell Max House and Cleopatra’s Needle, London
• Senate House, London
• Broadcasting House, London
• Peter Jones Department Store, London
• [Unknown 1930s buildings]
• Wells Cathedral
• [York city walls?]
• Battersea Power Station, London
• Durham Cathedral
• Salisbury Cathedral
• St Paul’s Cathedral, London.

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