The Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or Neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England. Its popularity grew rapidly in the early nineteenth century, when increasingly serious and learned admirers of neo-Gothic styles sought to revive medieval forms, in contrast to the neoclassical styles prevalent at the time. In parallel to the ascendancy of neo-Gothic styles in nineteenth-century England, interest spread rapidly to the continent of Europe, in Australia, South Africa and to the Americas.