Genre:

Essay, Travelogue

Subjects:

Railways, Aesthetics, Architecture

    Avers that 'If you want a picturesque illustration of the influence of æstheticism in these practical days, go by the under-ground railway to Harrow. The few silly demonstrations of Bunthornism in Patience are only what may be called bubbles on the modern stream of art progress. The advantages of school-of-art culture and the revival of taste are seen not only in the latest forms of domestic decoration, but in many recent efforts in the way of architecture as applied to the commonest purposes. Every railway station or depot at which the train stops by under-ground to Harrow is a red brick picture, a modest adaptation of "Old Kensington" to the most practical purposes. Platforms, waiting-rooms, ticket offices, the buildings generally, are constructed with an eye to beauty as well as usefulness' (231).