Each department of science is provided with ample accommodations,
specially adapted to its peculiar needs. The building, as it stands at
present, is in its largest dimensions about 330 by 170 feet. Its
erection has formed an epoch not only in the history of Oxford, but
also in that of Gothic Art in England.
It is the first considerable building which has for centuries been
erected in England according to the true principles of Gothic Art. It
is a revival of the spirit and freedom of Gothic architecture. It is no
copy, but an original creation of thought, fancy, and imagination. It
has combined beauty with use, elegance with convenience, and ornament
with instruction. It has proved the perfect pliancy of Gothic
architecture to modern needs, and shown its power of entire adaptation
to the requirements of new conditions. In its details no less than in
its general scope it exhibits the recognition by its builders of the
essential characteristics of the best Gothic Art, and shows in the
harmonized variety of its parts the inventive thought and the
independent execution of many minds and hands presided over by a single
will.
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