What I did in lockdown

One pre-COVID day in 2019 I was leafing through a magazine, when I came across a small advert from the University of Buckingham. The University, one of the first independent universities in the UK, was established in 1974 modelled on the ‘Ivy League’ institutions in the USA, funded by private foundations. It runs a series of Masters degree courses under the banner of their ‘London Programme’ in which ten lectures are given on a fortnightly basis, during the Spring term, by esteemed academics on a specialised topic in the relevant field (mine was the History of the English Country House, but there are several other disciplines). After each lecture, a Q&A session is held over dinner at The Reform Club in Pall Mall. Students can then opt to submit a dissertation on a subject of their choice over the rest of the year, and it is examined in the usual way.

The full title of my dissertation was: ‘Forcefulness and Charm: The Country Houses of the Architect Leonard Stokes (1858-1925), with particular reference to Coombe Hill House, Buckinghamshire’. 

During my research I reviewed the history of the Arts and Crafts Movement, focussing on the leading architects of the period in late Victorian England when there was a significant shift from Gothic and Classical styles to the new movement. The Arts and Crafts period emphasised the role of craftsmanship, the use of good quality local, natural materials (such as stone, brick and oak) and simplicity and beauty in the features of houses, echoing traditional forms of rural English buildings from medieval times. Leading Arts and Crafts architects such as Philip Webb, Richard Norman Shaw, Charles Voysey and Sir Edwin Lutyens are virtually household names nowadays, but the work of Leonard Stokes has not been remembered as well as these, so my goal was to review his contribution to the architecture of the time, analysing several of his country houses including our own (Coombe Hill House).

The experience of venturing into a completely different field of study from medicine was somewhat daunting but ultimately very rewarding. I now look at buildings, not only in the countryside but also in London, with a new appreciation of the elements of design and construction that has gone into making them as they are - in other words walking through the streets of Marylebone I am now looking up as much as around - I would suggest others try it too! As individuals, I feel that we can sometimes get a bit complacent in the ‘comfort zones’ of our usual work and leisure pursuits, so having the courage to step into new realms of activity is definitely to be recommended, as it can change your whole outlook. Nonetheless I will be sticking with the day job!

Andrew Wallace,
Consultant Shoulder Surgeon