Sir_Arthur_Blomfield

Arthur Blomfield

Arthur Blomfield

English architect (1829–1899)


Sir Arthur William Blomfield ARA FRIBA (6 March 1829  30 October 1899) was an English architect. He became president of the Architectural Association in 1861; a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1867 and vice-president of the RIBA in 1886. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied Architecture.

Quick Facts Sir Arthur Blomfield, Born ...

Background

He was the ninth son of Charles James Blomfield, Anglican Bishop of London, who began a programme of new church construction in the capital. Born in Fulham Palace, Arthur Blomfield was educated at Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge.[1] He was then articled as an architect to Philip Charles Hardwick, and subsequently obtained a large practice on his own account.[2]

The young Thomas Hardy joined Blomfield's practice as assistant architect in April 1862, and the writer remained friends with Blomfield. He became president of the Architectural Association in 1861; a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1867 (proposed by George Gilbert Scott, H. Brandon and J. P. Seddon); and vice-president of the RIBA in 1886.[2] In 1889, he was knighted. He was awarded the Royal Gold Medal in 1891.

He was twice married. His first wife was Caroline Harriet Smith (1840–1882) and his second wife, Lady Blomfield, was an author and humanitarian.[3] Two of his daughters, Mary Esther and Ellinor Blomfield, were supporters of the suffragette movement and famously made a representation to the King. Two of his sons, Charles James and Arthur Conran Blomfield, were brought up to his own profession, and of which they became distinguished representatives.[2] His nephew, Sir Reginald Blomfield, apprenticed under him, went on to design numerous buildings, public works, and sculpture, including the Cross of Sacrifice or War Cross, for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. These are in Commonwealth cemeteries in many countries.

He died at the Royal Society in London on 30 October 1899 aged 70 and was buried on 3 November in Broadway, Worcestershire, where he lived at Springfield House.

Major works

St Peter in Eastgate, Lincoln

Blomfield designed St Peter's in Eastgate in 1870 as a replacement for a medieval church. The church as it now stands is the combined work of three eminent architects: nave and chancel by Blomfield, south aisle by Temple Moore (1914) and the chancel decoration by George Frederick Bodley (1884).

The Royal College of Music in London

In 1882 Blomfield designed the Royal College of Music in London. In 1887 he became architect to the Bank of England and, in association with Arthur Edmund Street, designed the Law Courts branch of the Bank of England in Fleet Street.[1] A. E. Street was the son of the architect G. E. Street.[4]

In 1890–7 he rebuilt the nave of St Saviour's parish church, Southwark (now Southwark Cathedral), replacing an earlier reconstruction of 1839–40.[5] It is a notable example of his use of a Gothic Revival style. He was highly regarded as a restorer;[2] a spokesman for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings said of his 1898 restoration of Salisbury Cathedral spire "conducted in the most conservative way possible ... I am confident that anyone who had been privileged to see the work that is being done ... would not withhold his subscriptions even though he was as ardent an anti-restorer as your obedient servant."[6]

In 1899 he completed St George's Anglican Cathedral in Georgetown, Guyana, which was the tallest wooden church in the world until 2003 when the Peri Monastery near Săpânţa in northern Romania was completed.

Other works (in chronological order)

Denton Hall, 1879–1883
University Library building on Palace Green, Durham
Selwyn College, Cambridge

As Sir A.W. Blomfield and Sons


References

  1. "Blomfield, Arthur William (BLMT847AW)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Blomfield, Sir Arthur William". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 76.
  3. Memorial to a shining star London, United Kingdom, 10 August 2003 (BWNS)
  4. Hill, Robert G. "Street, Arthur Edmund". dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org. Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada: 1800-1950. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  5. Worley, George (1905). Southwark Cathedral. Bell's Cathedrals. London: George Bell & Sons. p. 48. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  6. A P Baggs, Diane K Bolton, M A Hicks and R B Pugh, 'Hornsey, including Highgate: Churches', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6, Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey With Highgate, ed. T F T Baker and C R Elrington (London, 1980), pp. 172–182. British History Online, accessed 8 January 2017.
  7. Kent Archaeological Society, Holy Trinity Church, Dartford: Canterbury Diocese - Historical and Archaeological Survey, Tim Tatton-Brown, 1995. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  8. Pevsner, 1958, page 158
  9. Pevsner, 1966, page 299
  10. Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 305
  11. Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 436
  12. Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 419
  13. Pevsner, 1966, page 87
  14. Pevsner, Nikolaus (1979). Buckinghamshire. London: Penguin Books. p. 225.
  15. Pevsner, 1960, page 132
  16. Homan 1984, page 105
  17. Jackson's Oxford Journal, 17 October 1868
  18. Pevsner, 1966, page 136
  19. Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 290
  20. Homan 1984, page 97
  21. "History of St John's". United Benefice of Bathwick. 2 September 2018. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  22. Pevsner, Nikolaus; Radcliffe, Enid (1965). The Buildings of England: Essex. London: Penguin Books. p. 134. ISBN 0140710116.
  23. Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 734
  24. "Church of St. Mary and St. Ethelbert, Luckington". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  25. Pevsner, 1966, page 124
  26. Historic England. "Christ Church, Non Civil Parish (1286965)". National Heritage List for England.
  27. "Re-opening of Netherseal Church". Leicester Journal. Leicester. 8 May 1874. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  28. Pevsner, 1960, page 172
  29. Pevsner, 1967, page 471
  30. Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 856
  31. Historic England. "Church of St Paul, non Civil Parish (1121980)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  32. Denny, Barbara (1997). Fulham Past. London: Historical Publications. pp. 35–39. ISBN 0-948667-43-5.
  33. Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 646
  34. Historic England. "Church of St John the Evangelist, Upper Maze Hill, St Leonard's, Hastings, East Sussex (1043400)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  35. Historic England (18 May 1967). "SELWYN COLLEGE ENTRANCE BLOCK (Grade II) (1332182)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 March 2023. See also other nearby listings
  36. Pevsner & Hubbard, 1971, pages 135+, 265, 324
  37. London 4 : North. Cherry, Bridget., Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1902-1983. New Haven: Yale University Press. 2002. p. 534. ISBN 0-300-09653-4. OCLC 719418475.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  38. "Buildingphotography.co.uk". Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  39. Pevsner, 1966, page 262
  40. Historic England. "Church of St Andrew (1391544)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  41. Historic England. "CHURCH OF ST JAMES, Non Civil Parish (1378657)". National Heritage List for England.
  42. Historic England. "Church of St Mark (1329909)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  43. Pevsner, 1960, page 131
  44. Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 304
  45. Cracknell, 2005, countyasylums.com
  46. Historic England. "Epsom College Chapel (1044738)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  47. Philip Smith (writer), An Introduction to the Architectural Heritage of County Wicklow (Dublin: Wordwell Press / Government of Ireland, Department of the Environment, Heritage, and Local Government, National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, 2004). pp. 2–3, 70–71.
  48. Historic England, "Glenesk Mausoleum (1064757)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 5 February 2016
  49. "Raynes Park: St Saviour". The Diocese of Southwark. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  50. Historic England. "Church of St Mellitus (1088072)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 May 2023.

Sources


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