Themes
How To: Interpret Historic Buildings
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Is there any evidence for the date of the building?
There are a number of ways to date a building. Is a date or year written on the building in the brickwork, guttering or on a plaque? If the date is written on a plaque or gutter it may not be the most reliable indication of the date. This is because plaques and guttering can be newer than the original building.
As well as written dates, there is another method for dating buildings. This is to look at the architectural features of a building and see if they can give us more information. Parts of Portsmouth Dockyard are Georgian because they were built between 1714 and 1830. Georgian architecture is very distinctive so it is easy to identify.
Georgian buildings have sash-windows, made of panes of glass divided by thin wooden bars. A common feature of Georgian buildings is the repeated usage of arches. The style of the archway below is characteristic because of the plain fanlight style.
At the top of this building you can see a pediment, this is also a common feature of Georgian buildings.
Contemporary architecture is characterised by its use of materials such as glass and steel to create open plan light interiors. The visitors' centre in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is a good example of this.
