Gothick. C18 style only vaguely based on archaeologically correct Gothic, and more connected with a taste for the exotic, so really a branch of Rococo frivolity. It was largely associated with Sanderson Miller's work, with Horace Walpole's Strawberry Hill (1750–70), and especially with Batty Langley's pattern books, Ancient Architecture Restored … (1741–2) and Gothic Architecture… (1747). Gothick, sometimes curiously intermingled with Chinoiserie motifs, was an aspect of Georgian eclecticism, and was often treated with great delicacy, so it was pretty, ideal for interiors, fabriques in gardens, and built ruins. It was a significant part of the Picturesque. Although originating in England, Gothick influenced architecture in Germany (the Gothic House at Wörlitz (c.1773) ), Poland (the fabrique at Arkadia (1797) ), and in other European countries.

Bibliography

J. Curl (2002a);
K. Clark (1974);
Cruickshank (ed.) (1985);
T. Davis (1974);
Eastlake (1970);
Garden History, xxiii/1 (Summer 1995), 91–112;
B. Langley (1747);
Macaulay (1975);
M. McCarthy (1987)

Gothick a pseudo-archaic spelling of Gothic in the sense belonging to or redolent of the Dark Ages; portentously gloomy or horrifying.