THE CONSEQUENCES of some buildings being considered “ugly” and the social impact of such aesthetic judgement over three centuries in Britain are explored in this engaging study by Timothy Hyde.

En route, Hyde considers architectural controversies in London surrounding the gothic revival Houses of Parliament, the brutalist concrete of the South Bank and the historicist novelty of No 1 Poultry.

They became embroiled in art, science, religion, political economy and government, with architects as diverse as Christopher Wren, John Soane, James Stirling and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe summoned by would-be august tribunals of aesthetic judgement in Parliament, the courts and public inquiries.

There were momentous consequences following the chance visit of Queen Anne to Bath in 1702 for a dip in the Roman thermal spa. It led to the city’s transformation in the intervening centuries from a somewhat unappealing architectural dump to the celebrated Unesco world heritage site it is today.

Two Georgians refashioned Bath in the 18th century, Richard “Beau” Nash and ambitious provincial architect John Wood the Elder. As with all large-scale enterprises, the devil is in the detail and water closets were a constant engineering as well as olfactory inconvenience for Woods. They contradicted the curative aura of the place and antagonised the perfectionists.

 “There's no accounting for taste,” the founders of Bath might have advised — a homily that certainly springs to mind when considering the retrograde opinions of Prince Charles.

Harmless when aired in private, they proved the opposite when given political carte blanche in public  — as happened with his embarrassing meddling in the “classic” row over the redevelopment of Chelsea Barracks designed by modernist architect Richard Rogers.

Another, partly surreal, debate evolved around a Mies van der Rohe building planned for the Mansion House Square in the City of London. With Mies dead, his contribution to the design and, consequently, legitimacy of any value-added “heritage” became highly contested.

The project’s DNA came under the microscope as architectural forensics were applied by an official inquiry. In an ultimate irony, James Stirling — who spoke in favour of Mies at the inquiry — was asked to design what became 1 Poultry at the same location.

Hyde is nothing if not meticulous, but he’s also an engaging raconteur of fascinating narratives and countless revelations — many light-hearted — which make his book a compelling read.

His point that ugliness is a “manifestation of uncertainty that reveals the possibilities and impossibilities of a given historical moment” is telling. It’s been most tragically illustrated by the Grenfell Tower disaster, which, as he says, has exposed “the fecklessness of public oversight of public housing.”

Ugliness and Judgement is published by Princeton University Press, £20.40.