Talk:Fonthill Abbey

Article could use some editing

I've just been reading the article for the first time, knowing nothing about the subject. It's a good article but one thing which really struck me in the third paragraph is:

He hired James Wyatt as the leading architect, who can possibly be blamed for the building's failure due to his supposed lack of knowledge about vaulting and Gothic architecture in general.

That the building failed came as quite a surprise to me, a reader who isn't familiar with the building in question, since this seems like something which should be mentioned in the introduction. As it is, the reader must get all the way to the third paragraph to find out. Could some kind soul please fix this tiny niggle? I'd do it myself but I'm unfamiliar with the building in question so perhaps wouldn't do it justice. Thanks!--80.193.22.182 19:16, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

I second the comment above. Please can some architect wikipedia fan come and mend this article. the collapse should be mentioned in the intor as that is what Fonthill is MOST famous for Yyem 09:32, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

The link to John Farquhar at the end of the article needs to be changed - the link is to someone with the same name, but no connection to Fonthill of William Beckford.teneriff 02:13, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

I agree with the part placing blame on Wyatt's supposed lack of knowledge of vaulting and whatever alse somebody wrote, it is not accurate. I have been conducting some research into this building and the sources I have document a much more complicated historical situation. I can edit this bit piece and quote some sources.JLBurke 21 Feb 2011. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jlburke (talk • contribs) 02:02, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

Location?

Where exactly was this building located? Anyone know? It would be good to add the coordinates to the article. --208.65.188.23 (talk) 04:32, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

See entry for Fonthill Gifford 95.146.138.54 (talk) 15:04, 27 December 2009 (UTC)

Image:FonthillGallery.jpg

Image:FonthillGallery.jpg, a colour lithograph of c. 1800, is about to be deleted. Anyone interested in preserving it for the encyclopedia? I'm not, though I uploaded it, in a moment of optimism.--Wetman (talk) 13:26, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Done. (But it's not a colour lithograph). Moonraker2 (talk) 02:29, 15 October 2010 (UTC)

Non-encyclopedic content

Article is loaded with editorial commentary and factual claims lacking any citation, both suggestive of personal essay/original research. Jtcarpet (talk) 00:49, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

Sale price

There appear to be 2 different prices for the sale. The last but one paragraph states £330,000 and the last paragraph states £275,000. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lkingscott (talk • contribs) 21:26, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. There is obvious duplication there. The statement is needed only once. But without the source (J. Wilton Ely, "The genesis and evolution of Fonthill Abbey", Architectural History, 23 (1980:40–51)) it's not possible to say which of the two figures is correct. Perhaps someone who has access to that paper could check. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:40, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

I've now tried to remove the duplication, at least. The result is not very elegant. But the source will need to be checked, or a new source found, before the sale price can be resolved. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:54, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

I see that the John Farquhar article links to this source, which gives £330,000. So I thunk it's safe to go with that figure. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:59, 26 May 2015 (UTC)