by Robert Adam, 1771 The development of the Norman revival style in the British Isles took place over a near two century period, starting with
Inigo Jones's refenestration of the White Tower of the
Tower of London in 1637–38 and work at Windsor Castle by
Hugh May for King
Charles II, but this was little more than restoration work. In the 18th century, the use of round arched windows was thought of as being
Saxon rather than Norman, and examples of buildings with round arched windows include
Shirburn Castle in Oxfordshire, Wentworth in Yorkshire, and
Enmore Castle in Somerset. In Scotland the style started to emerge with the Duke of Argyl's castle at
Inverary, started in 1744, and castles by
Robert Adam at
Culzean (1771), Oxenfoord (1780–82), Dalquharran, (1782–85) and
Seton Palace, 1792. In England
James Wyatt used round arched windows at
Sandleford Priory, Berkshire, in 1780–89 and the Duke of Norfolk started to rebuild
Arundel Castle, while
Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire was built by
Robert Smirke between 1812 and 1820. At this point, the Norman Revival became a recognisable architectural style. In 1817,
Thomas Rickman published his
An Attempt to Discriminate the Styles of English Architecture from the Conquest To the Reformation. It was now realised that 'round-arch architecture' was largely Romanesque in the British Isles and came to be described as Norman rather than Saxon. The start of an "archaeologically correct" Norman Revival can be recognised in the architecture of
Thomas Hopper. His first attempt at this style began at
Gosford Castle in Armagh in Ireland in 1819, but far more successful was his
Penrhyn Castle near Bangor in North Wales built for the Pennant family between 1820 and 1837. The style did not catch on for domestic buildings, though many country houses and mock castles were built in the Castle Gothic or Castellated style during the
Victorian period, which was a mixed Gothic style. However, the Norman Revival did catch on for church architecture.
Thomas Penson, a Welsh architect, would have been familiar with Hopper's work at Penrhyn, who developed Romanesque Revival church architecture. Penson was influenced by French and Belgian Romanesque Revival architecture, and particularly the earlier Romanesque phase of German
Brick Gothic. At St David's Newtown, 1843–47, and St Agatha's Llanymynech, 1845, he copied the tower of
St. Salvator's Cathedral, Bruges. Other examples of Romanesque revival by Penson are
Christ Church, Welshpool, 1839–1844, and the porch to Langedwyn Church. He was an innovator in his use of
terracotta to produce decorative Romanesque mouldings, saving on the expense of stonework. Penson's last church in the Romanesque Revival style was
Rhosllannerchrugog, Wrexham, 1852. The Romanesque adopted by Penson contrasts with the Italianate Romanesque of other architects such as
Thomas Henry Wyatt, who designed
Saint Mary and Saint Nicholas Church, in this style at
Wilton, which was built between 1841 and 1844 for the Dowager Countess of Pembroke and her son, Lord Herbert of Lea. During the 19th century, the architecture selected for Anglican churches depended on the churchmanship of particular congregations. Whereas high churches and
Anglo-Catholic, which were influenced by the
Oxford Movement, were built in
Gothic Revival architecture, low churches and broad churches of the period were often built in the Romanesque Revival style. Some of the later examples of this Romanesque Revival architecture is seen in Non-conformist or
Dissenting churches and chapels. A good example of this is by the Lincoln architects
Drury and Mortimer, who designed the Mint Lane Baptist Chapel in Lincoln in a debased Italianate Romanesque revival style in 1870. This style of Church architecture in Britain disappeared after about 1870, but was succeeded by
Byzantine Revival architecture in the early 20th century. A notable exception to this decline was
Our Lady of Grace Church, Charlton (1905–1906), built by French architect Eugène-Jacques Gervais for the exiled
Sisters of the Assumption. The church represents a rare example of authentic Continental Neo-Romanesque tradition transplanted to Britain during the French religious exile of 1901–1914, when approximately 30,000 French religious were forced into exile by anti-clerical legislation. Built of stock brick with stone dressings, the church features a five-bay nave with barrel vault and Corinthian columns with
scagliola shafts, demonstrating how diaspora communities preserved their architectural heritage while adapting to British contexts. File:Our Lady of Grace Charlton (London).jpg|
Our Lady of Grace Church, Charlton, by Eugène-Jacques Gervais, 1905–1906 File:GosfordCastle.jpg|
Gosford Castle, Armagh by Thomas Hopper File:Penrhyn Castle - geograph.org.uk - 206536.jpg|
Penrhyn Castle, by Thomas Hopper, 1820–1837 File:Church of St Agatha, Llanymynech 02.jpg|Church of St Agatha, Llanymynech, Romanesque Tower by Thomas Penson File:Baptist Church, Lincoln.jpg|Mint Street Baptist Church, Lincoln, 1870 File:WiltonChurch.jpg|
St Mary and St Nicholas Church, Wilton, Wiltshire File:Russian Patriarchal Orthodox cathedral Kensington London.jpg|Russian Patriarchal Orthodox cathedral Kensington London 1848–49 and 1891–92 ==Canada==