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W Wailes Wailes and Strang
William Wailes (1808-81) was born in Northumberland and in 1838 established a firm in Newcastle-upon-Tyne which developed to a considerable size and supplied glass, by various designers, to churches all over England; for a few years from 1841 he was A W Pugin’s preferred maker. Wailes, by origin a grocer and also a landscape painter, was interested mainly in the business side and his new approach, which involved making glass on a scale previously unheard of, helped to ensure his success, for it meant he could undercut his rivals yet prosper. In the 1850s the expanding business supplied architects like W Butterfield, J L Pearson and H Woodyer (see below). Its designs continued to be firmly gothic after Wailes in 1861 went into partnership with his son-in-law Thomas Rankine Strang (1835-99). Strang was also primarily a businessman, who took over the firm after Wailes died and was in turn followed by his son William (b1867) until it closed in 1914. For much of this later period the main designer is thought to have been Margaret Janet Strang (1835/36-1901), the daughter of Wailes who married T R Strang.
Glass: Arundel (attr); Brighton and Hove, - St Andrew, Church Road, Hove; Chichester, - St Peter the Great; Ditchling (replaced); Hartfield; Horsham, - St Mary; Iford; Lewes, - St Thomas; Lindfield; Litlington; Lower Beeding; Netherfield; Nuthurst; Piddinghoe; Rodmell; Seaford; Tangmere; Telscombe (attr)
Wainwright and Waring
This company can be traced at several addresses in West and South London between 1908 and 1965, when they were at 14 Mortlake High Street. Their main business was metal windows, but they also made stained glass. Among the designers was A Acket (AA).
Glass: Haywards Heath, - St Wilfrid (AA)
A S Walker
Arthur S Walker (1891-1966) trained in glassmaking with Burlison and Grylls and became chief designer for G Maile and Son. In 1934 he lived in Harrow on the Hill, but died in Canada shortly after marrying a Canadian wife.
Glass: Crawley, - St Peter; Crawley Down
K Walker
Katie Walker (b1969) studied furniture and related design at Ravensbourne College of Design and the Royal College of Art. She established her own studio in 1994 at Warnham, where she designs and makes furniture.
Fittings: Arundel, altar and other fittings
L Walker
Leonard Walker (1877-1964) was born in Ealing and had studios in Hampstead and the King’s Road, though most of his glass was made by J Powell and Sons. He was also an accomplished water-colourist. His later work used slab glass, thick and uneven, much of it specially made for him, and his heavy leading and restricted painted detail reveal Expressionist influence. He taught and eventually became principal at St John’s Wood School of Art, near where he lived, and belonged to the Art Workers Guild, of which he was master in 1950.
Lit: NAL Information file
Glass: Burpham
J B Wall
Joseph Barker Daniel Wall (1849-1923) was a pupil and later assistant of John Whichcord, before practising in New Cross, London; later he was in Walbrook in the City and applied from there to become FRIBA. He worked in Devon in his youth, but from 1887 lived in Bexhill, where he worked as architect and surveyor on the development of the town, which contains many houses by him.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Designed: Bexhill, - St Andrew (1900)
A G Wallace
Arthur Gregory Wallace (1872-1917) was the son of the vicar of the Ascension, Lavender Hill, a church by J Brooks that was completed by Somers Clarke junior and J T Micklethwaite. Possibly because of this contact, Wallace became their pupil and worked on the completion of the church himself. Afterwards he worked in Micklethwaite's office. In 1901 he was still living in Battersea, in the same locality, as a lodger in the home of another architect, Thomas Reeve Greig (1865-1921) and in 1911, stiil single, he had moved only as far as Upper Tooting. After Micklethwaite's death, Wallace continued at least some of his work and was using the name of Micklethwaite in his practice as late as 1911, when he completed work on Winchelsea church.
(My thanks to Nicholas Antram for putting me on the track of Wallace).
Restored: Winchelsea (mentioned in 1911)
McL Wallace
McLeod Wallace is on record as an architect in Chichester in 1956 at 65 The Pallant and he worked at West Itchenor church in both 1950 and 1959. There is no other reference to him in the records, although he was an ARIBA.
Altered: West Itchenor (1950 and 1959)
S Wallis
Sue Wallis lives currently in Worthing, where she is involved in educational projects and teaches stained glass making.
Glass: Old Shoreham
J Walsh
John Walsh was a statuary at various addresses in the West End of London, where he can be traced from 1757 to 1777. In addition to church monuments, he was regarded as an accomplished architectural carver. One of his monuments is that in Westminster Abbey to Sir T Robinson, the probable designer of Glynde church.
Coat of Arms: Glynde
A L Ward
Arthur Lucien Ward (1867-1944) was born in South Stoneham, Hampshire, and by the time he was 4 was living with his grandparents there. His grandfather described himself as an artist, though nothing is known about the training or subsequent career of A L Ward until in 1891 he appears as a painter in glass, living in lodgings at Newington. Thereafter, he acquired premises for his own business at 117 Ladbroke Grove, London, where he was still working in 1942. By 1918 he was designing glass for A R Mowbray and continued to do so until the mid-1930s.
Glass: Herstmonceux; Slinfold; Worthing, - St Symphorian, Durrington
E Ward
Edward Matthew Ward (1815-79) was born in London to a family of artists, though his father was a banker. He studied privately and at the RA Schools, where he was a protégé of Sir F Chantrey and Sir David Wilkie. He spent nearly four years in Rome and returned via Munich, where his interest in wall paintings was aroused – he painted several in the new Palace of Westminster. He was quickly successful as a history painter in the conventional idiom of the time with a weakness for subjects taken from the C17, and was elected an Associate of the RA and subsequently an RA. He committed suicide at his house in Windsor.
Lit: J Dafforne: The Life and Works of Edward Matthew Ward, 1879; DNB
Restored: Battle, wall paintings
H Ward H Ward and Son
Henry Ward (1854-1927) was a Londoner who studied in Paris. For the sake of his health, he moved to Hastings, where he designed the Town Hall in 1880 and was by 1881 Borough Surveyor (BN 41 p343). In private practice, he worked with W L Vernon on mainly public and commercial buildings there and in Bexhill and his work was also to be found in Eastbourne. The firm still existed as Henry Ward, Son and Ray in 1938 (KD) and as Henry Ward and Son in 1950.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Designed: Bexhill, - St Stephen (1898-1900)
Restored/altered: Hastings, - Christ Church, Ore (1950 as - HW and Son); - Holy Trinity (1906)
Ward and Hughes Curtis, Ward and Hughes Ward and Nixon T Ward
Thomas Ward (1808-70) (TW) was a Yorkshireman who in c1836 became a partner of John Henry Nixon (1802-57); they did work for A W Pugin, though their 'soft' style of drawing could not have met with his approval. By 1843 their address was 67 Frith Street, where the firm remained for many years under various guises (KD/L). Nixon was initially an artist - in the Guildhall Art Gallery, London is a painting by him of Queen Victoria's first visit to the City after her accession in 1837, by which time he was already in partnership with Ward. This combination of painting and glass was already established, for Nixon had previously been a partner in the little known glassmaking enterprise of Hancock, Nixon and Hunt. Despite his relatively young age, Nixon appears to have retired about 1850. Ward employed H Hughes (HH) soon afterwards, but his first appearance in the records was in KD/L, which shows both at 67 Frith Street in 1857, when he became Ward's partner. Hughes, like Nixon before him, also worked for himself and the partnership with Ward may have been interrupted, for Ward disappears from KD between 1858 and 1860, before the firm became Ward and Hughes the following year (KD/L). In 1868, shortly before Ward's death, the firm was at Green Street, Grosvenor Square and when Hughes died in 1883, T F Curtis, a relation, took it over, calling it Curtis, Ward and Hughes. The most prolific of the designers he employed was G Parlby (GP). The firm did not end with the death of Curtis in 1924, but lasted a little longer under Ethel Kibblewhite. Much of the earlier work of the company, though well received at the time, has been replaced.
Glass: Angmering (Ward and Nixon); Billingshurst; Brighton and Hove, - St Barnabas, Hove; - Good Shepherd; - St John the Baptist, Palmeira Square, Hove; - St John, Preston; - Holy Trinity, Blatchington Road, Hove; - St Philip; Burwash (TW only); Coolhurst (altered later); Crawley, - St Margaret, Ifield, - St Peter; Cuckfield; Duncton; East Lavant; Etchingham; Fairlight (TW only); Forest Row (Ward and Nixon); Funtington (HH only); Hartfield; Hastings, - All Saints (HH only); - St Mary Magdalene (HH only); Hellingly; Iping; Lancing, - St James; Littlehampton, - St Mary (formerly?); Midhurst (TW only - formerly); Portslade, - St Andrew; Rotherfield (GP – attr); Rudgwick (HH only); Rustington; Slinfold (HH only); Sompting (HH only and Ward and Hughes); Streat; Wadhurst (TW only); Wisborough Green (HH only); Worthing, - Christ Church
Warham Guild
The Warham Guild, named after the last pre-Reformation Archbishop of Canterbury, was established in 1912 by Percy Dearmer (1867-1936), an Anglican clergyman whose chief interests were liturgy and in particular the design and production of vestments. After a period as vicar in Primrose Hill, London, during which he was active both as a Christian Socialist and a writer on liturgical questions, he devoted himself increasingly to the latter and to collecting and editing hymns and carols. He became finally a Canon of Westminster. The Guild itself became a major influence on Anglo-Catholic liturgy; though its vestments were particularly prized and were at the centre of its activities, it also designed fittings such as altars, using designers such as F E Howard. It also appears to have used outside designers such as L Ginnett (LG) for its modest production of stained glass. In addition W Wheeler (see this section below) produced at least one design for a statue for the Guild, probably in the period after 1945 when he was a member of the Council for the Care of Churches.
My thanks to Fr Stephen Keeble for the above information about Wheeler
Source: DNB [on Dearmer]
Glass: Steyning (LG)
E P Warren
Edward Prioleau Warren (1856-1937) was born in Bristol, where he went to school at Clifton College before becoming a pupil of Bodley and Garner. He started his practice in 1885 and wrote a memoir of Bodley after he died. He was competent in the classical and gothic styles and designed houses, as well as working extensively at Oxford, where his brother was president of Magdalen College, and Cambridge. He was Consulting Architect to the ICBS and Master of the Art Workers Guild.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Designed: Brighton and Hove, - Good Shepherd (1921-22 and 1927)
Restored: West Grinstead (1890)
J C T Warren
John Cecil Turnbull Warren became a member of the RIBA in 1959 and in 1964 was a founder-member of Architectural and Planning Partnership of London, Horsham and Brighton, and remained a partner until he moved to Yorkshire in about 1990. The two restorations below may have involved others in the partnership. He has a long-standing interest in conservation both at home and abroad, about which he has written. For 20 years he was architect to the Weald and Downland Museum at Singleton and the museum at Amberley.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Designed: Horsham, - St Mark (new) (1988-90)
Restored: Compton (1975); Up Marden (1975-77)
W Warrington Warrington and Co
William Warrington (1796-1869) was born in New Romney, Kent and it is possible that his father was a glazier. He became a pupil of T Willement (see below) and worked for A W Pugin in the late 1830s, though they subsequently quarrelled. His early glass was pictorial, but from the 1840s he used the Italian and gothic styles, though his gothic glass was criticised for the drawing, garish colours and failure to follow mediaeval examples. In 1848 his History of Stained Glass aroused the enduring wrath of The Ecclesiologist. His style developed little and the company suffered under the weight of hostile criticism, but it lasted until at least 1894 under his son, James Perry Warrington (b1832). A window at Brede dated 1895 and signed with an address of 70 Albion Street, Leeds, suggests the firm lasted at least a little longer and at a location that is otherwise not recorded.
Lit: A List of some of the Principal Works, nd [1860s?] (NAL Special Collections 86.BB.27); DNB
Glass: Bishopstone; Brede; Brighton and Hove, - St Andrew, Church Road, Hove; Linchmere; Lindfield; Peasmarsh (formerly and attr); Salehurst; Tortington (attr); Westbourne
D Wasley
David Wasley (b1949), who is also a painter, trained at the Royal College of Art and then worked for P Reyntiens as a glassmaker before staring his own studio in 1984. While with Reyntiens, he also made some windows to the design of J Piper (JP). He now lives and works in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, where he belongs to a group designing and restoring stained glass, known as 3rd Millenium Artists.
Glass: Climping; West Firle (JP)
W Watson
White Watson (1760-1835) belonged to a family of masons working in Derbyshire, where he spent most of his life in Bakewell. In addition to memorial tablets, mostly in Derbyshire, he was interested in minerals and fossils and supplied them to many of the nobility of the county. The reason for his single memorial in Sussex, so far from home, is unclear.
Memorial: Worthing, - St Mary, Broadwater
J K Wearing
For John K Wearing, see under J L Denman.
Sir A Webb
Sir Aston Webb (1849-1930) was a pupil of R R Banks and C Barry junior until he went into independent practice in 1873. He was rapidly successful, particularly in competitions for large public projects. In a prolific career, these included the replanning of The Mall and Buckingham Palace and also the Victoria and Albert Museum. He rose to be President of both the RA and RIBA and was particularly admired for the planning of his buildings, for the elevations were sometimes criticised for their ponderousness. In the words of his obituary in The Times, he was ‘almost too successful’, with a large and necessarily rather anonymous office. In Sussex he and his first partner Ingress Bell (1837-1914) were responsible for the new Christ’s Hospital outside Horsham. His relatively few churches are in the simplified gothic of his era and, unexpectedly in the light of Webb’s other work, show the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement. In his final years he went into partnership with his son Maurice, but withdrew from public life after a road accident.
Lit: BAL Biog file; Obits: The Times 22 Aug 1930; RIBAJ 37 pp710-11; DNB
Restored/extended: Easebourne (1912); Turners Hill (1923); Westfield (1889)
Fitting: Hastings, - St Matthew, Silverhill, reredos (1900)
C Webb
Christopher Rahere Webb (1886-1966) and his brother G Webb (see below) were nephews of Sir A Webb (see immediately above). After training at the Slade School he decided to become a glass painter and turned to Sir J N Comper, with whom he worked betwen 1909 and 1914. His first studio was at Guildford with W H R Blacking, also a Comper pupil, with whom he collaborated closely. In 1920 he opened a studio at 11 New Court, Carey Street, London (KD/L), but was no longer there two years later. Webb lived in East Grinstead and later in St Albans, where he was joined in the early 1950s by his son, Martin. Like Comper and Blacking, he was influenced by classical and Renaissance examples, especially in the fittings he made.
Lit: E Roberts: Christopher Webb and Orchard House Studio, JSG 25 (2001) pp79-94
Fittings: Littlehampton, - St Mary; Worthing, St John
Glass: Aldingbourne; Brighton and Hove, - St Andrew, Waterloo Street; - St Matthias; Coolhurst (altered existing glass); Eastbourne, - St Mary, Willingdon; - St Saviour; Felpham; Fishbourne; Forest Row; Framfield; Icklesham; Isfield; Jarvis Brook; Mayfield; Midhurst; Pevensey; Rye; Selsey, - St Wilfrid; West Itchenor; Worthing, - St John, West Worthing
G Webb
Geoffrey Fuller Webb (1879-1954) was the older brother of C Webb (see immediately above). He trained first at the Westminster School of Art and then under C E Kempe and Sir J N Comper. He was briefly a partner of H Bryans and settled at East Grinstead in 1914, where he spent the rest of his life. Though his brother later lived in East Grinstead for a while as well, they always worked separately. Geoffrey, as well as designing new windows, restored old glass and much of his work is heraldic.
Glass: Cowfold; East Grinstead, - St Mary; Henfield; Lindfield; Scaynes Hill
Statue: Mayfield
P Webb
Philip Speakman Webb (1831-1915) trained as an architect under J Billing and then worked for G E Street, whose chief assistant he became before starting his own practice in 1856. He met W Morris (for whom he designed the Red House) in Oxford in Street’s office and was involved in Morris and Co from its foundation in 1861. He designed glass and other artefacts for the company, but is today best remembered for his houses in the Arts and Crafts idiom, in which he sought to use local building traditions. One of the finest of these is Standen, on the edge of East Grinstead. With Morris he was also a founder-member of the SPAB.
Glass: Brighton and Hove, - St Michael
J Webber G Taylor
James Webber (1803/08-after 1841) and George Taylor (1808/13- after 1841) were described as architects when working at Warnham, but were in fact carpenters, first in Carfax, Horsham (Pigot's Directory, 1832) and later in East Street (ibid, 1840). Both are listed in 1841, but not in 1851, though a James Webber died in Horsham in 1856. In 1851 there is only Harriet Taylor, described as a widow on parish relief, and a daughter.
Renovated: Warnham (1828-32)
H Weekes
Henry Weekes (1807-77) was appprenticed to W Behnes and joined the RA Schools. After completing his studies he was for 14 years assistant to Sir F Chantrey and completed his work after his death. He himself was best known as a portrait sculptor, becoming an RA and for many years professor of sculpture. Among the public commissions with which he was associated was the carving on the Albert Memorial.
Memorial: Eastbourne, - St Mary, Willingdon
J Wells-Thorpe Wells-Thorpe and Partners
John Arthur Wells-Thorpe (b1928) was born in Brighton, trained as an architect at Brighton Polytechnic and has spent his professional life there. He has designed a number of churches in Sussex, as well as a new civic centre in Hove. In more recent years he has been primarily involved in the design of hospitals and their running, though he designed a hall for a Roman Catholic church in Horsham as recently as 1994. His practice was renamed in about 1972, having previously been Gotch and Partners, and by 1985 was known as Wells-Thorpe and Suppel. The firm has worked in Asia and Africa and Wells-Thorpe became President of the Commonwealth Association of Architects.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Designed: Brighton and Hove, - Ascension, Westdean (1958); - Holy Cross, Woodingdean (1968); Resurrection, Woodingdean, (1958-59 as Gotch and Partners (now St Patrick RC church)); Chichester, - St Wilfrid, Parklands (1973)
Repaired: Pyecombe (1970-72 - initially as Gotch and Partners)
C E Welstead Ltd
This glass-maker of Croydon, who appears in directories between 1922 and 1973 was a general supplier of glass including windows. For stained glass the company appear to have used outside designers, notably A Acket.
Glass: Bognor, - St Wilfrid
W West
William West is described as an architect of Haslemere, Surrey in the sole reference to him, as restorer of Lurgashall in 1870. However, no one of this name and occupation is listed in contemporary editions of Kelly’s Directories for Surrey and despite the lack of records, it is more likely that his role was that of contractor, probably for W White, who has been suggested as the architect of that restoration.
Restored: Lurgashall (1866-70 - doubtful)
N Westlake
Nathaniel John Hubert Westlake (1833-1921) was born at Romsey. He started in publishing, but his study of mediaeval art led to commissions from W Burges and others as a decorative painter. Though he continued to work on his own, he joined Lavers and Barraud as chief designer in 1858 and eventually acquired and renamed the company. He wrote a four-volume History of Design in Painted Glass.
See under Lavers and Barraud for the works carried under their auspices.
Painting: Brighton, - St Peter, Preston (attr)
Advised: Westbourne (assisted the Rev J H Sperling)
H Westmacott
Henry Westmacott (1784-1861) was the younger brother of Sir R Westmacott (see below) and the father of J S Westmacott (see immediately below). Like his brother, Henry was probably trained by their father, whose business he was to continue. In addition to memorials, mostly in neo-classical style, this produced numerous fireplaces and other architectural carving and Westmacott also undertook quite large scale commissions as a mason. After 1828 he moved to Scotland, where the elaboration of his sculpture increased.
Memorials: Chichester, - St Olave (formerly St Martin); Crowhurst; Lewes, - St John Baptist, Southover
J S Westmacott
James Sherwood Westmacott (1823-1900) was the son of Henry Westmacott (see immediately above) and the nephew of another sculptor, Sir R Westmacott (see immediately below). James studied in Edinburgh and Dresden, Germany and exhibited for 40 years at the RA, showing mainly busts and other statues. Amongst the work he produced were two figures for the new House of Lords. He lived and worked at various addresses in and around London, but by 1881 he was living in Clapham, where he died.
Memorials: Eastbourne, - St Mary; Fairlight
Sir R Westmacott
Sir Richard Westmacott (1775-1856) studied under his father and then in Rome, where he met Canova, a major influence though recent research suggests he was not a pupil. He travelled widely in Italy and on return in 1797 his mainly neoclassical training was widely regarded with suspicion, but he was successful and prolific and became an RA in 1811. His work was of uneven standard; particularly his smaller monuments would have been largely by assistants, though he was more closely involved with his public memorials in Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s to political, military and naval leaders for which he was known. He also worked on Buckingham Palace and the British Museum and his best known work is the colossal Achilles in Hyde Park. The monuments that he designed often introduced a new element of sentimentality. His rate of production declined from the mid-1830s but he remained a valued source of advice on public bodies. After his death his reputation declined, especially by comparison with his most eminent contemporaries, Sir F Chantrey and J Flaxman.
Lit: M Busco: Sir Richard Westmacott, Sculptor, Cambridge, 1994
Memorials: Brighton and Hove, - St Nicholas; Buxted; Cuckfield; Framfield; Horsham, - St Mary; Pett (attr); Petworth; Ringmer (attr); Slindon; Storrington
R Westmacott junior
Richard Westmacott junior (1799-1872) was the eldest son of Sir Richard Westmacott (see immediately above), under whom he trained. He also attended the RA Schools before going to Italy, where he travelled widely. After his return he worked for a while with his father, but by 1830 had his own practice in Wilton Place. This was similar to his father's, combining public work and private commissions including portrait busts and monuments. Like his father also he became an RA and despite inheriting a considerable sum from him and marrying an heiress, he continued to work, though after becoming professor of sculpture at the RA, he produced a decreasing amount of work of his own.
Memorials: Brighton and Hove, - St Nicholas; Harting; Storrington
Westminster Marble Company
Despite the grandiose title, references to this company are few. It supplied three other monuments beteen 1848 and 1852, but no address is known.
Memorial: West Hoathly
H Weston
Hugh J Weston (b1870) described himself as a decorative artist in 1901. He was the son of James Weston (born at Southborough, Kent in 1840/41), who was a carpenter and decorator at 1 Priory Street, Hastings and is in KD/S from 1889 to 1915. Although Hugh Weston was only 18 when he worked with H Tickner in 1888 on the decoration of St Mary in the Castle, he can be accepted as co-author of the work. This is because in 1901, when he was married and had his own household, Tickner was a boarder there, thereby demonstrating that their association was an enduring one.
Decorated: Hastings, - St Mary in the Castle, altar space decorations
C Whall
Christopher Whitworth Whall (1849-1924) was the son of a Northamptonshire rector and trained at the RA Schools as a painter. He travelled in Italy, where Botticelli’s paintings were a major influence. He became a Catholic and back in London took up stained glass, though little survives from this early period. He produced designs for other manufacturers and in 1885 settled for ten years in a Surrey cottage outside Dorking, where, increasingly under the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement, he interested himself in the manufacture as well as the design of stained glass, though he produced a design for J Powell and Sons as late as 1894. He was the most influential stained glass artist of his time, although his use of colour and detail, including skilful leading, is sometimes superior to his overall designs. A circle of pupils and followers formed round him, especially after his return to London in 1895, when he taught at the Royal College of Art and made his glass at Lowndes and Drury. He opened his own workshop in 1907 in partnership with his daughter Veronica (see immediately below) in a studio adapted for him by his friend C S Spooner. He also helped to found a department in Dublin for teaching the making of stained glass.
Lit: William Morris Gallery (P Cormack): Christopher Whall, 1849-1924, Enfield, 1999; P Cormack: The Stained Glass of Christopher Whall, Boston, Mass, 1999
Glass: Lindfield; Milland; Racton; Shipley (attr - probably erroneous); Steyning; Ticehurst (for J Powell and Sons)
V Whall
Veronica Whall (1887-1967) was the daughter of Christopher Whall (see immediately above) and was born while he was living near Dorking. After returning to London, she worked with him and the studio-manager, E Woore and became thoroughly competent in all areas of glass design and manufacture. She and her father were directors of Whall and Whall Ltd, which was founded under this name in 1922, and after his death, helped by her brother, also Christopher, she kept the business going until her retirement in 1953. Curiously it does not appear in KD/L until 1934, when the address was 1 Ravenscourt Park. She wrote and illustrated at least one children’s book.
Glass: Amberley; Compton; Eastbourne, - Christ Church; - St Michael, Willingdon Road; Westfield
F Wheeler
Frederick Wheeler (1853-1931) was a pupil of C H Driver and practised in London from 1876. In 1895 his address there was 22 Chancery Lane, London but he was also in practice in Horsham by 1891 at the latest. Most of his work is in London, including the remarkable St Paul’s Studios in West Kensington. In 1899 (KD) his partner was Percy Dean Lodge (who may have worked at Horsham only). From 1903, when this partnership was dissolved, until 1907 he was alone and then from 1907 to 1921 C R B Godman joined him, as did his son, C W F Wheeler. Father and son remained partners after 1921 in London only.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Designed: Littlehampton, - St James (1908-10 - with Godman)
Altered/extended: Southwater (1909-10 - with Godman)
G Wheeler
Gervase Wheeler (1824/25-89) was born in St Pancras, London, the son of a manufacturing goldsmith and jeweller, whose forebears are said to have been from Margate. He was a pupil of R C Carpenter, before working with A W Pugin and the Cambridge Camden Society. By 1847 at the latest Wheeler had moved to New York, though he kept in touch with developments in architecture in Britain, and practised widely in New England. His personal characteristics caused him problems during this period, notably a casual attitude to financial matters and a tendency to drop names and exaggerate his own importance. Wheeler's entry in the Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects suggests he returned to England in 1865, but the last confirmed reference to him in the USA is 1860 and he is to be found in 1861 in Devon with his American wife, calling himself a fundholder and landed proprietor. Such abrupt changes seem characteristic and the pattern continues. By 1866 he was practising again as an architect in London and Margate, where in that year (KD/Kent) he was at 16 Hawley Street. His identified work was mundane, e g additions to a school in Margate in 1866 (B 224 p674) and he lived mainly in Kilburn until at least 1872 (Proc RIBA). Initially, he had some success and he became FRIBA in 1867. His main field of interest was housing – he wrote a book in the USA and another in 1872, The Choice of a Dwelling. He was asked to return for a fuller discussion of a paper on American domestic architecture he read at a meeting of the RIBA (Proc RIBA), but soon afterwards he was rebuked for allowing his name to be advertised and his membership lapsed in 1872, ostensibly because of his failure to pay his membership dues. The entry on him in the Macmillan Encyclopedia assumes he died shortly afterwards, but in fact he moved with his large family to Hove. In 1874 and 1878 he had an office at 1 Church Road there (KD/S). Thereafter, it is likely that he retired, maintaining a modest practice for a while – in 1883 he gave his home address only in a list of architects that otherwise gave professional addresses (BA 19 2 February 1883 p I). He moved several times within Brighton and Hove before his death and the addresses in various editions of KD/S suggest that his fortunes fluctuated.
Lit: BAL Biog file; R E Tribert: Gervase Wheeler: Mid-Nineteenth Century British Architect in America, unpublished thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 1988
Wrote report: Brighton and Hove, - St John, Carlton Hill (1875-78)
R Wheeler
Robert Wheeler (1827/28-after 1891) was born in Worcester, but the circumstances of his training are not known. By 1851 he was married and living in Graham Street, London and subsequently he moved to Kent, where he became known as ‘Wheeler of Brenchley’. He was recorded as living there in 1861 and the practice of Hooker and Wheeler is also to be found there in that year – this was presumably Wheeler's practice and Hooker is almost certainly J M Hooker, who was born and later lived in the village. Wheeler was living in Tunbridge Wells and a widower in 1871, but was back in Brenchley in 1876 (KD/Kent) and may always have kept a presence there. In 1881 he was lodging in Tonbridge, but had moved to Bloomsbury in 1891; after that date he disappears, though in 1901 a man of the name who was born at Worcester but was three years too young, was living off his own means as a lodger in Camberwell. An architect of the name at Bedford Chambers, 29 Southampton Street in 1856-60 is presumably the same before he first moved to Brenchley and there is another of the name at 13A Great George Street in 1865-66 (KD/L), when Wheeler's whereabouts are otherwise uncertain. This may well be the same man, for Hooker is known to have been living in London then, though apparently at a different address. Despite his peripatitic existence, Wheeler had an extensive practice, designing and restoring churches as well as public buildings.
Restored: Ashington (1871-72); Ewhurst Green (1869); Kingston by Lewes (1874)
W Wheeler
William Wheeler (1895-1984) was a woodcarver who studied at the South Kensington School of Art Wood-Carving and after service in World War I at the Royal College of Art. He taught at St George's School in Harpenden from 1927 and by 1929 was linked with Faith Craft, whose workshops were then in St Albans nearby. He became art director in 1932, as well as continuing to teach in the town, until he left for war service in 1939. After World War II he became a Ministry of Labour inspector and assumed responsibility for the training of ex-servicemen as craftsmen to make good extensive war damage. He continued as a carver, being responsible for presentation caskets and other items, notably for the Worshipful Company of Carpenters in the City and it was probably at this time that he produced at least one design for the Warham Guild (see this section above). He also served on the Council for the Care of Churches. His final position, which he held at least informally for the rest of his life, was as instructor in carving at the City and Guilds of London Art School in Kennington.
My thanks to Fr Stephen Keeble of St George's, Headstone, on whose researches the above account is based
Designed and carved: East Preston (pulpit)
G L Whelpton
Gertrude Lowe Whelpton (1867-1963) was the daughter of the first vicar of St Saviour, Eastbourne, Henry Robert Whelpton. His father, George, a self-made man from the north of England, paid for much of the church. The daughter was a talented artist who trained professionally in London (in 1891 she was an art student living with her aunt in Cavendish Square) and exhibited her work in public, but in accordance with the social norms of the day she did not seek to earn her living in this way. She died at Uckfield.
Glass: Eastbourne, - St Saviour
(My thanks to Philip Cox for providing most of the above information).
S Whistler
Simon Whistler (1940-2005) was the son of Laurence Whistler, who was mainly responsible for reviving the art of glass engraving in England. The son learned the art from his father and pursued it during a successful career as a professional viola player. In his later years he took up engraving full time and amongst other things produced quite a few church windows.
Obit: The Times 26 April 2005
Glass: Funtington; Slindon
E E White
Eley Emlyn White (1853/54-1900) became the partner of J T Christopher in Bloomsbury Square, London, after being a pupil of his father, James Charles Christopher. He worked briefly in W Burges’s office, but little is known of him as an independent architect beyond one church in Watford. His private life was turbulent. He separated from his wife and shot himself in Kensington after shooting a young actress.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Repaired: Treyford (1888 - dem)
William White
William White is recorded as a sculptor and maker of monuments in c1631.
Memorial: Isfield (attr)
W White
William Henry White (1825-1900) was the son of a Northamptonshire curate related to Gilbert White of Selborne. He was articled to a firm of architects in Leamington before joining the office of Sir George G Scott, a family friend. He may have been a pupil here for a short time, but within two years had started a practice in Truro, Cornwall, where much of his early work is to be found. He moved to London in 1852 and shared an address with G F Bodley for a while. He was soon working all over Southern England, in South Africa, where his brother was a missionary but which he never visited, and even Madagascar. In addition to the design or restoration of churches, he also designed schools and many parsonages, as well as writing extensively. Like W Butterfield and G E Street (he had also trained with the latter) many of his churches use polychromy and he was a regular contributor to The Ecclesiologist, which admired his work. Many of his buildings, both secular and ecclesiastical, display then novel features, including double-glazing and concrete as a structural material. He was a member of the Professional Committee of the ICBS and is not to be confused with a namesake who was for many years secretary of the RIBA.
Lit: G Hunter: William White, Pioneer Victorian Architect, 2010; BAL Biog file; DNB
Designed: Brighton and Hove, - St Luke, Queen’s Park (1875 – dem and replaced); Littlehampton, - St John (1876-80 - dem)
Restored: Beddingham (1884); Boxgrove (nd - doubtful); Littlehampton, - St Mary (1888-89 – dem); Lurgashall (1866-70 - attr); Patcham (1897-98); West Wittering (1875); Worthing, - St Andrew, West Tarring (1853-54 - doubtful)
J Whitehead
The company of John Whitehead, later sculptors and masons, appears to have been established at an address in Rochester Row, Westminster shortly before its first appearance in KD/L in 1887. Early references show that at that time they were primarily stone merchants and they also had a branch at Aberdeen, possibly because of the popularity of granite from there for tombs. Directories show they moved to the grandly entitled Imperial Works at Oval, Kennington around 1903, though the continued presence of John Whitehead senior at Rochester Row for the next two years suggests that the firm had divided. The main part at Kennington was clearly more involved in the sculptural and monumental side and was last recorded in 1974. In their later years they specialised in marble.
Fitting: Brighton and Hove, - St John, Preston, font
R O Whitfield J A Thomas
Richard Osborne Whitfield (1843/44-1900) and John Alick Thomas (1853/54-after 1915) were partners. Thomas was a pupil of W Slater and R H Carpenter and later B Ingelow’s assistant. From 1878 to 1899 he and Whitfield were at 20 Cockspur Street, an address favoured by architects – George Somers Clarke, uncle of the better known Somers Clarke junior, was there in 1875 and also in 1880 F E Jones and W S Weatherley, who had been pupils and later assistants of Sir George G Scott. Nothing suggests they practised jointly, though Weatherley signed Thomas’s FRIBA nomination in 1907. In 1900 Thomas moved to 60 Haymarket after Whitfield died. Whitfield was born in Southwark and lived and died in Hampstead, where there is a memorial window to him, donated by Thomas, in the church of Emmanuel, West Hampstead which Thomas had designed (Church website). For the most part, the practice did domestic work and Thomas, the junior partner, probably took the lead in building churches, designing several in the Surrey suburbs where he lived.
Designed: Crowborough, - All Saints (1881-83 - altered and extended)
J Whiting
John Whiting (1782-1854), to whom the monument at St Mary, Eastbourne signed by 'Whiting' of Northampton can with confidence be attributed, belonged to a family of statuaries that had been established in that town since at least the mid-C18. With this one exception all his known works are to be found in the Northampton area.
Memorial: Eastbourne, - St Mary
A Whitty
Anthony Whitty belonged to the practice of Ford, Newman and Whitty of Eastbourne, which first appears in directories in 1969 and of which he was a member in 1984 when he worked at Ovingdean. This practice has since merged with J D Clarke and Son, also of Eastbourne. An architect of the same name, who had at an earlier date belonged to the practice of Anthony Whitty and Wilson of (then) Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia and designed a Methodist church there in 1953, may be the same.
Extended: Ovingdean (1984)
F Wigg
Francis Wigg (1789/90-1868) was the son of a London surveyor and was a builder, surveyor and architect, as well as a magistrate. His address was in Bedford Row and he died wealthy. His partners included G Pownall, who also signed the plans of St Clement, Halton, Hastings as architect, though T Catley was also involved.
Designed: Hastings, - St Clement, Halton (1839 – dem)
A Wilds
Amon Wilds (c1762-1833), who trained originally as a carpenter, was active as a builder and surveyor in Lewes from about 1790 until he moved to Brighton in 1817, though he continued to hold property in Lewes until c1826 and thus still had a franchise there (see LBPB 1818). Sue Berry has not identified any buildings in Brighton for which Amon alone was responsible, though in at least eight cases he was associated with his son Amon Henry (see immediately below) and possibly also with the latter's partner C A Busby, though the partnership between father and son ended in 1825. Before that both were active as builders and were involved in the speculative building of housing, notably Hanover Crescent. Subsequently the father gave up building and became Surveyor to the Town Commissioners and then a Commissioner himself. He is buried in St Nicholas churchyard in Brighton with a fine tomb topped by large volutes, which Sue Berry plausibly suggests was designed by Amon Henry.
Source: S Berry: The Georgian Provincial Builder-Architect and Architect - Amon and Amon Henry Wilds of Lewes and Brighton, c1790-1850, SAC 150 (2012) pp163-83
Designed: Brighton and Hove, - Holy Trinity, Ship Street (1817 with his son); Lewes, - All Saints (1805)
A H Wilds
Amon Henry Wilds (1789/90-1857) was the son of A Wilds (see immediately above) with whom he worked in Lewes and moved with him to Brighton. On occasion he referred to himself as Henry Wilds to avoid confusion with his father. C A Busby was his partner from 1823 to 1825 and probably took the lead in their joint work, which was mostly domestic. They produced a few buildings outside Sussex, notably a church in Maidenhead, Berkshire (later altered and rebuilt in 1962). After they parted and after an unedifying lawsuit that involved them both, Wilds was more prominent and worked on several substantial housing and landscaping schemes in the town and in Worthing. In 1831 he exhibited at the RA and continued to practise during the 1830s on a reduced scale because of the economic situation. He was also involved in work on the sea defences and served intermittently as a Town Commissioner. In 1837 (PB 1837) and 1851 he was living at 8 Western Terrace, Brighton and by 1855 he was in Shoreham (KD), with his name spelled ‘Wylds’ – his death there is recorded in the more familiar version and he was buried in Old Shoreham churchyard.
Source: S Berry: The Georgian Provincial Builder-Architect and Architect - Amon and Amon Henry Wilds of Lewes and Brighton, c1790-1850, SAC 150 (2012) pp163-83
Designed: Brighton and Hove, - St George (1824-25); - Holy Trinity, Ship Street (1817 with his father; he possibly altered it in c1826-27); - St Margaret (1824 - dem); - St Mary (1827 – dem)
Memorial: Brighton and Hove, - St Nicholas (attr)
A L Wilkinson
Alfred Lashbrook Wilkinson (1899-1983) was the son of H Wilkinson (see immediately below) and like him also designed stained glass. After studying at St Martin’s School of Art, by 1920 he was working with his father at 101 Gower Street (KD/L), which they shared with the business that bore the name of the deceased A J Dix. However, only in 1941 (KD/L) was the son listed by name along with his father. After his father's retirement he had a studio in North London and finally in Brightlingsea, Essex. He remained an independent designer, working among others for Burlison and Grylls, Clayton and Bell and George King and Son of Norwich.
Glass: Forest Row; Washington; Wivelsfield
H Wilkinson
Horace Wilkinson (1866-1957) studied at Brighton School of Art and later also at the School in South Kensington. Initially he had a studio in Great Russell Street, London and was closely associated with a considerable number of glass designers and makers of the day, including A J Dix, E R Frampton (it is unclear whether this was the father or son), Burlison and Grylls and F Drake of Exeter. After 1901 he became independent and by 1920 (KD/L), together with his son, A L Wilkinson (see immediately above), he was at the studio at 101 Gower Street where Dix had worked before his death. He ceased work around 1945.
Glass: Bexhill, - St Mark, Little Common
T Willement
Thomas Willement (1786-1871) was the son of a painter of coaches and heraldry, in whose business he probably started. This early interest in heraldry led by 1812 to his involvement in stained glass – even after the revival of interest in glass of a religious nature, a high proportion of his work was heraldic, though by 1829 he had designed several church windows in what passed for a mediaeval style. Jim Cheshire (p37) calls him 'the key link figure between Regency and Victorian stained glass' and he reached his peak of activity in the 1840s. His work did not please A W Pugin or the Ecclesiologists, though he made glass for the former during this period, until they quarrelled over Willement's high prices and lack of the necessary skills. He sought to adapt his style to the new idiom, but artistic success was limited, though he pioneered the placing of panels of biblical scenes against a decorative background and his fortunes prospered in these later years. He continued to produce glass until he retired in 1865, though his ledger in his last years shows that many of the churches he supplied were those with which he already had connections, rather than new ones. Much of his glass has been replaced. His business at 25 Green Street, Mayfair (where his father had also been before him) extended beyond glass, for he did decorative schemes and fitted out houses. In Pigot’s Directory for 1839 he is also listed as a plumber, showing he could make the leadwork for his windows and he produced zinc boards bearing the Ten Commandments etc for reredoses, of which few survive.
Lit: Ledger 1841-65 (National Art Library Special Collections 86.ZZ.169); DNB
Fittings: Bodiam, pulpit; Northiam, heraldic painting
Glass: Balcombe; Bodiam; East Lavington; Fairlight (formerly); Forest Row; Hurstpierpoint; New Shoreham; Northiam; Peasmarsh (formerly); Tortington (attr); Withyham, - St Michael; Worth; Worthing, - St Andrew, West Tarring; - St Mary, Broadwater
---- Williams
Nothing more than a bare surname is known of the Brighton statuary who signed several tablets in the Mid-Sussex area during a period of almost 30 years in the earlier C19, though other work must exist.
Memorials: Albourne; Brighton and Hove, - St Nicholas (old); Chailey; Denton; Henfield; Patcham
M M Williams
Morris Meredith Williams (1881-1973) was Welsh by birth and studied at the Slade School and in France and Italy. He became art master at Fettes College, Edinburgh in 1905 and retained links with Scotland at least until he moved to Devon in 1929, including work on the Scottish National War Memorial. As well as being a painter and book illustrator, he designed stained glass. His later glass was produced for Lowndes and Drury. His wife from 1906, Gertrude, was also a stained glass artist and they collaborated until her death in 1934.
See under Lowndes and Drury for his work for them
---- Williamson
There is only a single reference in 1863 to this glassmaker or, more likely, seller in Chichester. Directories of the period do not contain anyone likely.
Glass: Fairlight
T Willsher
Thomas Willsher (1840-after 1901) was a builder of 18 St John’s Street, Chichester, who was born at Oving, the son of an agricultural labourer. In 1871 he contracted for a new west window at Yapton, which he may have designed. By 1901 he had moved to East Ham, where he worked as a joiner. A man of the same name and age died at Ticehurst in 1906.
Restored: Yapton (1871)
D W Willson
Daniel William Willson is found between 1824 and 1834 at an address off the New Road, London. Judging by his identified works, he specialised in tablets with sorrowing females and urns.
Memorial: East Grinstead, St Swithun
T Wilmshurst
Thomas Wilmshurst (1806/07-1880) was born in Clerkenwell and owned a glassworks off the Hampstead Road in 1839 (PD), moving around 1843 to 13 Foley Place (KD/L). In 1851 he described himself as an artist in stained glass. Curiously, he does not appear in the other censuses undertaken during his lifetime, though he was an established glass designer. He worked in several contrasting idioms; one was pictorial and much at odds with the mediaeval style favoured by artists such as A W N Pugin. A window of 1856 from Ely cathedral, now in the stained glass museum there, shows the influence of Overbeck, one of the German Nazarene painters. An earlier instance of foreign influence was in 1844, when he worked with de la Roche of Paris. This may have been the source of the lurid colouring of the Ely window, especially since his known work from the mid-1840s, e g at Feering, Essex is rather similar. Wilmshurst also used a most unusual monochrome technique which appealed in particular to evangelical clients who might still be suspicious of religious imagery. In this context he worked closely with S S Teulon and the glass of 1856 at Netherfield is a good example. An example of a third technique, dating from around 1857 has recently come to light at the Scots Church in Hobart, Tasmania, having previously been assumed to be lost. This has an overall design in quarries of coloured and patterned glass into which decorative panels depicting the Burning Bush have been set. Taken together, these three techniques, which Wilmshurst was using almost simultaneously, point to an inquiring mind. Too little is known about his business to know how far others contributed to his thinking. Probably between 1852 and 1855 he was in partnership with Francis Oliphant (1818-59), who had been employed by J Hardman and Co whilst Pugin was associated with them and wrote about stained glass, though the partnership is only documented in 1854 (KD/L). By 1857, when he produced the Hobart glass he was alone at an address in Gower Street, confirmed in KD/L for 1858 as no 58. However, around 1861 he closed the business and died in Horsham - the name is a common one in Sussex but it is not known if he had had previous links with the county as he was born in London.
(My thanks to Ray Brown for the information about the glass in Hobart. See http://stainedglassaustralia.wordpress.com/category/thomas-wilmshurst/
)
Glass: Netherfield
G C Wilson
Geoffrey Cecil Wilson (1887-1958) was a pupil of Guy Dawber and was S J Tatchell’s partner in London from c1923; the third in the partnership was E H Bourchier. Most of the shops and commercial buildings he designed are in Eastbourne, where he did much work at the College, where he had himself been a pupil.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Designed (consultant): Eastbourne, - St Elisabeth (1935-38 – with Tatchell)
H Wilson
Henry Wilson (1864-1934) worked for J D Sedding after training as an architect with J O Scott and John Belcher. He took over Sedding's practice after the latter's sudden death, completing the projects in hand. The two men shared a belief in the supremacy of the architect in uniting the talents of all the artists and craftsmen involved in its construction. From 1896 to 1901 he was editor of the Architectural Review and wrote about architecture more widely. He lacked confidence over the practical side of architecture and in consequence moved towards church fittings, particularly metalwork and sculpture, which was reflected in his membership of the Art Workers Guild, of which he becme master in 1917. He was also celebrated for his exotic jewellery designs. He spent his final years in France and his obituary in The Times criticised the fussiness of his larger scale work without mentioning his architectural background.
Lit: BAL Biog file; Obit: The Times 9 March 1934; DNB
Altered: Brighton and Hove, - St Bartholomew (1895-1898 - not carried out)
Fittings: Brighton and Hove, - St Bartholomew, fittings
H W Wilson
Harry Warren Wilson can be found between 1924 and 1967; according to Barrie and Wendy Armstrong he may have been a pupil of R Anning Bell around 1920. The 1924 reference is the first occasion on which he exhibited at the RA, which he continued to do until 1952. His glass was made at the Glass House. This was in Fulham, where he lived until he moved to Kingston, Surrey. He also painted murals and produced mosaics, of which there is one of 1951 at the London School of Economics.
Glass: Fittleworth
Winter and Co
A Hastings company that produced memorials, though only two both dated 1823 are known for certain. There are several persons of the name at slightly later dates in the town. George Winter of Isabella Cottage, stonemason, appears only in PD 1839 and in the 1832 edition of PD there are two possibles, both called James. One, the more probable, is a stonemason with two addresses in Priory Street and Courthouse Street and the other is a bricklayer in Bourne Street. It is likely that the two stonemasons at least are connected with the maker of memorials, if not the same.
Memorials: Hastings, - All Saints (2)
J Wippell and Co
The firm emerged in its present form by 1851 from a long established Exeter supplier of cloth and clothing. As well as being funeral directors, they became ecclesiastical purveyors with a shop in London from 1897, now in Westminster. Their earliest glass dates from 1896 and G B Cooper-Abbs was later chief designer; other designers included F W Cole and R Coomber. Most of their fittings in the first half of the C20 remained gothic, though W H R Blacking was a designer for them. In the 1970s Wippell’s acquired the church fittings business of A R Mowbray and the joint stained glass workshop became known as the Wippell, Mowbray Studios. They are particularly well known today for vestments.
Fittings: Coates, reredos; Worthing, - St John, West Worthing, unspecified
Glass: Coleman’s Hatch; Horsted Keynes
R S Witting
Robert Stanley Witting (1920-92) was an architect with an office at 5, The Hornet, Chichester. No other example of his work has come to light.
Extended: Shoreham Beach (1971)
W Wonham
William Kimber Wonham (1797-1877) was a builder of High Street, Bognor in 1839 (PD), 1845 (KD) and 1851, who was born in South Bersted and died at Ross on Wye, whence his wife came. He was active in the early development of Bognor as a resort. His father was called Daniel and William is likely in turn to be related to, if not the father of, a further Daniel Wonham (1839/40-92), land valuer and estate agent, also born at Bersted, who was visiting Ross in 1881 and died there.
Designed: Bognor Regis, - St John the Baptist, Steyne (1821 and c1834 – dem)
F D Wood
Francis Derwent Wood (1871-1926) was born in Keswick, the son of the manager of a pencil making works, and after schooling on the continent studied at the National Art Training School in London from 1887. He then assisted Alphonse Legros at the Slade School, before becoming assistant to Sir Thomas Brock, whose best known work is the Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace, on which Wood worked. As his reputation grew, he was much sought after as a sculptor of public works and a designer of architectural carving. From 1918 he was professor of sculpture at the Royal College of Art, as well as being elected as an RA. He designed many war memorials, notably that to the Machine Gun Corps at Hyde Park Corner, and carved the wreaths on the Cenotaph. He is buried at Amberley.
Lit: DNB
Memorial: Amberley
R D Wood
For Ralph Denison Wood, see under Lefevre, Wood and Royle.
F A Woodhouse
Francis Arthur Woodhouse was a glass maker whose bare existence is known only from a single reference in 1868. No one of the name is listed in any London Directory.
Glass: Bury
J Woodman
James Woodman (1822/23-97) was a Gloucestershire man, who became an architect and surveyor with an address in Cliftonville, Hove and later what was probably a professional one at 17 Prince Albert Street, Brighton. He must be the ‘Mr Woodman’ who restored Preston and he is known to have worked as far afield as Sandown, Isle of Wight (B 19 p828).
Designed: Brighton and Hove, - Holy Trinity, Blatchington Road, (1863-68)
Restored: Brighton and Hove, - St Peter, Preston (1874)
J F Woodward
For details of relevant work by John Francis Woodward of Hastings, see Stevens Partnership.
W Woodward
William Woodward (1846-1927) was a London architect, who was a pupil of Arthur Cates and then in his office until 1891. He worked for the Crown Estates, designing commercial and public buildings, including at least one block in the newly rebuilt Regent Street. He was Mayor of Hampstead in 1910-11 and was interested in ancient monuments.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Restored: Seaford (1895)
H Woodyer
Henry Woodyer (1816-96) was the son of a prosperous Guildford apothecary, who could afford to have his son educated at Eton. He was an associate and possibly pupil of W Butterfield and practised in Guildford before moving to a rural retreat at Grafham, Surrey. His practice covered the South and the Midlands and he was active in Sussex, close by. His restorations could be heavy-handed, but he had a compensating gift for the picturesque. His own churches reveal an eye for detail and great care over fittings.
Lit: J Elliott and J Pritchard: Henry Woodyer, Gentleman Architect, 2002; A Quiney: A Brief Account of the Life and Work of Henry Woodyer, 1995
Designed: Chichester, - All Saints, Portfield (1869-71)
Restored/extended: Berwick (1855-56); Bexhill, - St Mark, Little Common (1857 and 1885); Bignor (1870s, plans); Bolney (1853-54); Catsfield (1847-49); Coldwaltham (1870-71); Crawley, - St John (1879-80); Eartham (1869); Fernhurst (1859 - attributed erroneously); Fittleworth (1871); Hardham (1866); Kirdford (1877-78); Linchmere (1856); Mid Lavant (1871-72); Patching (1888-89); Patcham (1887-88 - error for Patching); Rusper (1854-55); Slaugham (1854 – unexecuted); Sutton (1863-64 and 1877-79); Westbourne (c1861/2); Woodmancote (1868-73)
H E Wooldridge
Harry Ellis Wooldridge (1845-1917) was born in Winchester and studied painting at the RA Schools. There he met Sir E Burne-Jones, who greatly influenced his style, and then became assistant to H Holiday. His work in this capacity included helping Holiday with designs for glass whilst he was chief designer for J Powell and Sons. Even after Wooldridge's success as a painter allowed him to be independent, he continued to make designs that Powell's produced. He also designed furniture. He was an expert in the then obscure field of early music and in architecture was associated with Somers Clarke junior. In later life he was also Professor of Art at Oxford University.
Lit: DNB
Fitting: Brighton - St Martin, reredos
E A Woore
Edward A Woore (1880-1960), who was universally known as 'Davie', was a pupil and later assistant of C Whall (see this section above) and remained close to him. He later managed his studio for a short time before Whall's death and also collaborated with Whall’s daughter Veronica (see also above). Previously, around 1918, he had had his own studio in Hammersmith and from 1924 to 1941 did so again in Putney, where he lived at 66 Deodar Road, the same road as so many of Whall's followers. During World War II he made designs for J Bell and Co of Bristol, whose then owner, A W Robinson, was a friend and fellow-pupil of Whall. Thereafter, he returned to Putney before finally retiring to Wales in 1958.
Obit: BSMGPJ 13/2 (1961) p444
Glass: Brighton and Hove, - St Peter, West Blatchington; Eastbourne, - Christ Church, - St Philip
G G Wornum
George Grey Wornum (1888-1957) was articled to his uncle, Ralph Selden Wornum, before setting up in practice in 1910, though he was initially also active as a draughtsman for books. He was severely wounded in World War I, losing an eye, and his practice in the 1920s, often in conjunction with Louis de Soissons, was largely concerned with housing. On his own in the 1930s, his best known work was the RIBA building in Portland Place (he was president in 1930-31), which he won in a competition that attracted 270 entries. This led to work on the interior of the liner Queen Elizabeth. After World War II, he laid out Parliament Square and his last work is at Bosham, where the churchyard gates are a memorial to his daughter. His wife was American and a writer on architecture. He spent his last years in the USA, mainly for the sake of his health.
Lit: DNB; Obit: The Times 14 June 1957
Altered: Bosham (c1954)
W Worrall Worral and Co
William Worrall (1831-1911) appears as an artist in stained glass at 6 Laxton Place, Regents Park in 1870 (KD/L) and was also assistant to W G Saunders, taking over his firm in 1880, after which it was known as Worrall and Co. Until W Burges died shortly afterwards, he continued Saunders’s association with him. Like Saunders, little is known of his life, though he was living in 1881 in St Pancras. At this address were also living Harry (b1854) and Frank (b1862) Worrall, his sons, who also described themselves as Art Glass Painters. The firm lasted until c1902, but ceased to do work for churches.
Glass: Brighton and Hove, - St Michael
A Wright
Alan Wright was raised in Hastings, where he attended school from about 1970. After studying Fine Arts in Bristol and architectural stained glass at Swansea he returned there and opened a studio. He has also taught locally. His work covers both designs for stained glass in churchs and private and public buildings and he has also restored glass.
Source: Artist's website
Glass: Hastings, - St Helen, Ore (new); - St Nicholas (Fisherman's Church); Salehurst; Sedlescombe; Westfield
J Wyatt
James Wyatt (1746-1813) was the son of a Staffordshire builder and is the most celebrated, if not always the finest, of the later C18 and C19 family of architects. He rose to become Surveyor-General, the leading position in the government’s Office of Public Works. After travel and study in Italy, he became famous at an early age and thereafter had a large practice until his death in a coach accident. He designed many country houses and was proficient in classical and gothic, though as he grew older he showed a preference for the gothic for both houses and churches. His carelessness over the structural and financial sides of his practice, both official and private, was remarkable. It was probably the result of overwork and personal indiscipline and was offset only partly by his immense personal charm. In Sussex, Sheffield Park and West Dean Park are examples of his gothic houses (the latter altered) and Goodwood is one of his stranger classical designs. His easy facility was criticised both by contemporaries and later writers, though in fact his knowledge of gothic was advanced for his time and in the classical style his rejection of the baroque was in the van of taste. He was also the first systematic restorer of the great cathedrals and his often cavalier treatment of earlier features he disliked, such as the destruction of the separate bell-tower at Salisbury, earned him the contempt of many contemporaries and of the Victorians (‘Wyatt the Destroyer’).
Lit: J M Robinson: The Wyatts – an Architectural Dynasty, Oxford 1979 (pp 56-89); DNB
Designed: East Grinstead, - St Swithun (1789-93)
J D Wylson
John Duncan Wylson (1908-62) was of Scottish ancestry and his grandfather and father (Oswald) were architects. The last was best known for designing theatres and cinemas, notably the London Pavilion at Piccadilly Circus; he was probably a member of the practice of Wylson and Long, found in King William Street, Strand by 1914 (KD/L) and still in the same area at Henrietta Street in 1924. J D Wylson studied at the Architectural Association and started his practice in 1932 in Jermyn Street. After World War II he moved to Bayswater and taught at several colleges. In 1950 he moved again to Rye, though he kept his London office and R C Cox (RCC) became his partner in 1961. He is said to have restored many churches in Kent and Sussex, so those listed below are unlikely to be a complete list of his work there.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Designed: Winchelsea Beach (1961-62)
Altered/extended: Bexhill, - St Mark, Little Common (1962); Brighton and Hove, - St Philip (1958)
Repaired: Ashburnham (1961); Northiam (1966 - posthumous, i e RCC); Peasmarsh (1962-63 with RCC); Rye Harbour (1958-61); Winchelsea (1960)
Fitting: Wadhurst, tower screen
E A Wyon
Edward Alexander Wyon (1842-72) was a London architect, the son of Edward William Wyon (1811-85), a successful sculptor, who belonged to the family of medallists and engravers of this name. The son was born in Bloomsbury and in 1871 lived with his mother at 70 Mornington Road whilst, in what sounds rather an unconventional arrangement, his father resided next door. His office was in Duke Street, Adelphi (KD/L), but he died at Hastings. He was presumably the author of A Memorial Volume of Poems by the late Edward Alexander Wyon, which appeared in 1874 and was reprinted as recently as 2008.
Lit (on the Wyon family): L Forrer: The Wyons, 1917
Designed: Hastings, - St John Hollington (1865-68)
York Glaziers Trust
This was founded in 1967 with the initial task of preserving and conserving the mediaeval glass of York, extending from the Minster to the other old churches in the city. More recently, it has extended its activities to cover later glass, some of it beyond the city, though the Trust is still most active in the north.
Glass: Kingston by Lewes
A Young
Arthur Young (1853-after 1918?) was a pupil of Philip Lockwood, Brighton Borough Surveyor and studied in Switzerland. He was in the offices of B Ferrey, Somers Clarke junior and J T Micklethwaite, but started his own practice in 1877 - he was in London on his own in 1884 (B 46 p169) and by 1914 his office was in South Square, Gray's Inn (KD/L); two years later he had moved to Verulam Buildings in the same place and disappears after 1918. Most of the churches he designed were Roman Catholic, including one at Bexhill. He later went into partnership with the considerably younger A D Reid, but they may no longer have been together by the time the church at Lancing was built. It is likely that Reid was responsible for this.
Designed: South Lancing (1924)
A Younger
Alan Christopher Wyrill Younger (1933-2004) studied at the Central School, London and then until 1960 assisted C Edwards. Subsequently he spent six years in the studio of L Lee and then opened his own studio in London. His glass is to be found in Westminster Abbey and several other cathedrals.
Glass: Fletching
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