High Victorian Gothic

The mid Victorian period saw the culmination of the Gothic Revival which had been progressing in a rather sporadic fashion since the 1750s. In the 18th century, interest in a Gothic was  the dilettante hobby of aristocrats and the rich.Under the influence of romantic novels by writers like Hugh Walpole, who owned an early Gothic Revival home, and Sir Walter Scott, men like William Beckford and Sir Roger Newdigate planned homes in the Gothic style. for these patrons, this style was a picturesque diversion rather than an exercise in historical veracity. Like Scott's Waverley novels, these buildings were to their owners places where they could escape the realities of business and politics and dream of chivalrous time of medieval knights and paeants.

At Goodrich House in Herefordshire, Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick employed Edward Blore to create his "Hastilude Chamber" in which to house his famous collection of armour.