The Eighteenth Century was a period of great confidence in Dublin. During this time many of the great civic buildings like the Custom House, the Four Courts and the graceful Georgian Squares and Streets of the city were constructed. Influential in this was the Wide Streets Commissioners, a body which received a grant for civic improvements from the Irish Parliament. They also laid down guidelines for property speculators regarding facade treatment and architectural elements. After the Act of Union of 1801 which led to the Dissolution of Grattan's Parliament as it was known, the Wide Streets Commissioners began to lose their influence. There were little enthusiasm for financing civic improvements in Dublin at the Parliament in London, especially as many of the buildings and streets were already finer in Dublin.