George Gilbert Scott Explained

Sir George Gilbert Scott
Birth Date:1811 7, df=yes
Birth Place:Parsonage, Gawcott, Buckinghamshire, England
Death Place:39 Courtfield Gardens, South Kensington, London, England
Awards:Royal Gold Medal (1859)

Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), largely known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started his career as a leading designer of workhouses. Over 800 buildings were designed or altered by him.[1]

Scott was the architect of many notable buildings, including the Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras Station, the Albert Memorial, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, all in London, St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow, the main building of the University of Glasgow, St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh and King's College Chapel, London.

Life and career

Born in Gawcott, Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, Scott was the son of the Reverend Thomas Scott (1780–1835) and grandson of the biblical commentator Thomas Scott. He studied architecture as a pupil of James Edmeston and, from 1832 to 1834, worked as an assistant to Henry Roberts. He also worked as an assistant for his friend, Sampson Kempthorne, who specialised in the design of workhouses,[2] a field in which Scott was to begin his independent career.[3]

Early work

Scott's first work was built in 1833; it was a vicarage for his father in the village of Wappenham, Northamptonshire. It replaced the previous vicarage occupied by other relatives of Scott. Scott went on to design several other buildings in the village.[4]

In about 1835, Scott took on William Bonython Moffatt as his assistant and later (1838–1845) as his partner. Over ten years or so, Scott and Moffatt designed more than forty workhouses in the wake of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834.[5] Their first churches were St Mary Magdalene at Flaunden, Bucks (1838, for Samuel King, Scott's uncle);[6] St Nicholas, Newport, Lincoln (1839);[7] St John, Wall, Staffordshire (1839); and the Neo-Norman church of St Peter at Norbiton, Surrey (1841). They built Reading Gaol (1841–42) in a picturesque, castellated style.[8]

Gothic Revival

Meanwhile, he was inspired by Augustus Pugin to participate in the Gothic Revival.[3] While still in partnership with Moffat.[9] he designed the Martyrs' Memorial on St Giles', Oxford (1841),[10] and St Giles' Church, Camberwell (1844), both of which helped establish his reputation within the movement.

Commemorating three Protestants burnt during the reign of Queen Mary, the Martyrs' Memorial was intended as a rebuke to those very high church tendencies which had been instrumental in promoting the new authentic approach to Gothic architecture.[11] St Giles' was in plan, with its long chancel, of the type advocated by the Ecclesiological Society: Charles Locke Eastlake said that "in the neighbourhood of London no church of its time was considered in purer style or more orthodox in its arrangement".[12] It did, however, like many churches of the time, incorporate wooden galleries, not used in medieval churches[13] and highly disapproved of by the high church ecclesiological movement.

In 1844 he received the commission to rebuild the Nikolaikirche in Hamburg (completed 1863), following an international competition.[14] Scott's design had originally been placed third in the competition, the winner being one in a Florentine inspired style by Gottfried Semper, but the decision was overturned by a faction who favoured a Gothic design.[15] Scott's entry had been the only design in the Gothic style.[3]

In 1854 he remodelled the Camden Chapel in Camberwell, a project in which the critic John Ruskin took a close interest and made many suggestions. He added an apse, in a Byzantine style, integrating it to the existing plain structure by substituting a waggon roof for the existing flat ceiling.[16]

Scott was appointed architect to Westminster Abbey in 1849, and in 1853 he built a Gothic terraced block adjoining the abbey in Broad Sanctuary. In 1858 he designed ChristChurch Cathedral, Christchurch, New Zealand which now lies partly ruined following the earthquake in 2011 and subsequent attempts by the Anglican Church authorities to demolish it. Demolition was blocked after appeals by the people of Christchurch, and in September 2017 the Christchurch Diocesan Synod announced that the cathedral would be reinstated.[17]

The choir stalls at Lancing College in Sussex, which Scott designed with Walter Tower, were among many examples of his work that incorporated green men.[18]

Later, Scott went beyond copying mediaeval English gothic for his Victorian Gothic or Gothic Revival buildings, and began to introduce features from other styles and European countries as evidenced in his Midland red-brick construction, the Midland Grand Hotel at London's St Pancras Station, from which approach Scott believed a new style might emerge.

In 1863, after restoration of the chapel at Sudeley Castle, the remains of Queen Catherine Parr were placed in a new neo-Gothic canopied tomb designed by Gilbert Scott[19] and created by sculptor John Birnie Philip.[20] [21]

Between 1864 and 1876, the Albert Memorial, designed by Scott, was constructed in Hyde Park. It was a commission on behalf of Queen Victoria in memory of her husband, Prince Albert.

Scott advocated the use of Gothic architecture for secular buildings, rejecting what he called "the absurd supposition that Gothic architecture is exclusively and intrinsically ecclesiastical."[13] He was the winner of a competition to design new buildings in Whitehall to house the Foreign Office and War Office. Before work began, however, the administration which had approved his plans went out of office. Palmerston, the new Prime Minister, objected to Scott's use of the Gothic, and the architect – after some resistance – drew up new plans in a more acceptable style.[22]

Scott designed the memorial to Thomas Clarkson in Wisbech, where his brother Rev John Scott was vicar. The Clarkson Memorial was completed after his death under the direction of his son John in 1881.[23]

Honours

Scott was awarded the RIBA's Royal Gold Medal in 1859. He was appointed an Honorary Liveryman of the Turners' Company; and on 9 August 1872 he was knighted, choosing the style Sir Gilbert Scott.[24] He died in 1878 and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

A London County Council "blue plaque" (in fact brown) was placed in 1910 to mark Scott's residence at the Admiral's House on Admiral's Walk in Hampstead.[25] [26]

Family

Scott married Caroline Oldrid of Boston in 1838. Two of his sons George Gilbert Scott, Jr. (founder of Watts & Company in 1874) and John Oldrid Scott, and his grandson Giles Gilbert Scott, were also prominent architects.[27] His third son, photographer, Albert Henry Scott (1844–65) died at the age of twenty-one; George Gilbert designed his funerary monument in St Peter's Church, Petersham, whilst he was living at The Manor House at Ham in Richmond. His fifth and youngest son was the botanist Dukinfield Henry Scott.[28] He was also great-uncle of the architect Elisabeth Scott.[29]

Pupils

Scott's success attracted a large number of pupils and many would go on to have successful careers of their own, not always as architects. Some notable pupils are as follows, their time in Scott's office shown after their name: Hubert Austin (1868), Joseph Maltby Bignell (1859–78), George Frederick Bodley (1845–56), Charles Buckeridge (1856–57), Somers Clarke (1865), William Henry Crossland (dates uncertain), C. Hodgson Fowler (1856–60), Thomas Garner (1856–61), Thomas Graham Jackson (1858–61), John T. Micklethwaite (1862–69), Benjamin Mountfort (1841–46), John Norton (1870–78), George Gilbert Scott, Jr. (1856–63), John Oldrid Scott (1858–78), J. J. Stevenson (1858–60), George Edmund Street (1844–49), and William White (1845–47).

Books

Additionally he wrote over forty pamphlets and reports. As well as publishing articles, letters, lectures and reports in The Builder, The Ecclesiologist, The Building News, The British Architect, The Civil Engineer's and Architect's Journal, The Illustrated London News, The Times and Transactions of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Architectural work

His projects include:

Public buildings

Domestic buildings

Church buildings

restoration including rebuilding of chancel (1865–67) (now an arts centre)

Restorations

Churches

Scott was involved in major restorations of medieval church architecture, all across England.

Cathedrals

Additionally, Scott designed the Mason and Dixon monument in York Minster (1860), prepared plans for the restoration of Bristol Cathedral in 1859 and Norwich Cathedral in 1860 neither of which resulted in a commission, and designed a pulpit for Lincoln Cathedral in 1863.

Abbeys, priories and collegiate churches

Other restoration work

Scott restored the Inner Gateway (also known as the Abbey Gateway) of Reading Abbey in 1860–61 after its partial collapse.[69] St Mary's of Charity in Faversham, which was restored (and transformed, with an unusual spire and unexpected interior) by Scott in 1874, and Dundee Parish Church, and designed the chapels of Exeter College, Oxford, St John's College, Cambridge and King's College, London. He also designed St Paul's Cathedral, Dundee.

Lichfield Cathedral's ornate West Front was extensively renovated by Scott from 1855 to 1878. He restored the cathedral to the form he believed it took in the Middle Ages, working with original materials where possible and creating imitations when the originals were not available. It is recognised as some of his finest work.

In 1854 Gilbert Scott began a restoration of Sudeley Castle "working on the western side of the inner court in the style of the existing Medieval and Elizabethan buildings" and subsequently began the restoration of St Mary's chapel, with the assistance of John Drayton Wyatt.[70]

See also

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Cole, 1980, p. 1.
  2. Web site: George Gilbert Scott (1811–1878) and William Bonython Moffatt (−1887) . 23 April 2007 . The Workhouse . 29 April 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071008053005/http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?buildings%2FScott.shtml . 8 October 2007 .
  3. Bayley 1983, p. 43
  4. Web site: England: Northamptonshire . GilbertScott.org . 20 January 2019 . 1 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210701073757/http://www.gilbertscott.org.uk/Page3/Page3Content/England/Northamptonshire.cshtml#388 . dead .
  5. Book: The Workhouse Encyclopedia . 2014 . History P . Stroud, Glos . 9780752477190 . 20 January 2019.
  6. Web site: 9 August 2018. St Mary Magdalene, Flaunden. 2021-01-23. gilbertscott.org. en-GB.
  7. Web site: 8 August 2018. St Nicholas's, Newport, Lincoln. 2021-01-23. gilbertscott.org. en-GB.
  8. Hitchcock 1977, p. 146
  9. Hitchcock 1977, p. 152
  10. Eastlake 1872, p. 219
  11. Book: Whiting, R. C.. Oxford Studies in the History of a University Town Since 1800. 56. Manchester University Press. 1993. 9780719030574. The terms of the commission had stipulated that it should be based on the Eleanor Cross at Waltham
  12. Eastlake 1872, p. 220
  13. Eastlake 1872, p. 221
  14. Hitchcock 1977, p. 153
  15. Book: Mallgrave, Harry Francis. Modern Architectural Theory: A Historical Survey, 1673–1968. Cambridge University Press. 2005. 9780521793063.
  16. Book: Blanch, William Harnett. Y parish of Camberwell. A brief account of the parish of Camberwell, its history and antiquities. G.W. Allen. 1875.
  17. Web site: Media Releases. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200615222540/http://cathedralconversations.co.nz/media-releases/. 15 June 2020. Cathedral Conversations. Anglican Diocese of Christchurch.
  18. Hayman . Richard . April 2010 . Ballad of the Green Man . . 60 . 4 .
  19. Book: Tomaini, Thea . 2017 . The Corpse as Text: Disinterment and Antiquarian Enquiry, 1700-1900 . Gloucestershire . Boydell & Brewer . 152 . 9781782049517 .
  20. Book: Murray, John . 1872 . A Handbook for Travellers in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, and Herefordshire . Gloucestershire . 163 .
  21. Web site: The English queen buried amidst a castle garden . 15 January 2021 . Royal Centre . 7 March 2021 . a new tomb, carved by John Birnie Philip, and featuring a full-length tomb effigy of her. Her crest along with those of her four husbands are on the tomb while on the wall next to it is a plaque commemorating the words found on her coffin..
  22. Eastlake 1872, pp. 311– 2
  23. News: Wisbech and the Slave Emancipator. Thetford & Watton Times and People's Weekly Journal . 12 November 1881. 6.
  24. Book: Scott, George Gilbert . Personal and Professional Recollections . London . Sampson Low . 1879 . 328 .
  25. Web site: Blue Plaques: Scott, Sir George Gilbert (1811–1878) . English Heritage . 8 March 2022.
  26. Web site: Sir George Gilbert Scott. Flickr. 20 May 2010.
  27. Book: Allinson, Kenneth . [{{Google books |a0AX0-yvYVMC|page=164&|plainurl=true}} Architects and Architecture of London ]. 164 . 24 September 2008. Routledge. 9781136429644.
  28. Agnes . Arber . Agnes Arber . Alexander . Goldbloom . 35984. Scott, Dukinfield Henry.
  29. Stamp . Gavin . Gavin Stamp. 2004 . 24869 . Scott, Elisabeth Whitworth (1898–1972), architect.
  30. Web site: A view of Amersham Infirmary (Formerly the workhouse), Whielden Street, Amersham, Buckinghamshire. Designed by George Gilbert Scott and William Bonython Moffatt, erected 1838. - YOONIQ Images - Stock photos, Illustrations & Video footage . 13 December 2015 . 22 December 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151222133424/https://yooniqimages.com/images/detail/102163474/Creative/a-view-of-amersham-infirmary-formerly-the-workhouse-whielden-street-amersham-buckinghamshire-designed-by-george-gilbert-scott-and-william-bonython-moffatt-erected-1838 . dead .
  31. Web site: The Workhouse in Williton, Somerset. Peter. Higginbotham. www.workhouses.org.uk. 3 February 2018.
  32. Book: Sutton . James C . Alsager the Place and its People . 1999 . Alsager History Research Group . Alsager . 0-9536363-0-5 . not cited.
  33. John Parsons Earwaker, "The History of the Ancient Parish of Sandbach", 1890, (p. 86)
  34. Web site: Gate House to Cemetery About 50 Metres South of Cemetery Chapel, with Side Walls, Ramsgate . www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk . 21 February 2014 .
  35. Web site: Geograph:: Former almshouses, Ridge, Hertfordshire © Jim Osley cc-by-sa/2.0 . 2023-07-16 . www.geograph.org.uk.
  36. Book: Bradley . Simon . Pevsner . Nikolaus . The Buildings of England: Cambridgeshire . 2014 . 296 . Yale University Press . 978-0-300-20596-1.
  37. "Sandbach Almshouses Foundation Plaque", Wikipedia Commons
  38. Web site: Vicarage, Jarrom Street. Flickr. 10 October 2005.
  39. Book: Reynolds . Susan . . A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington . 1962 . 230–33 . 21 July 2007.
  40. Book: Bridges, Tim. Churches of Worcestershire. Logaston Press. 2nd. 2005. 157. 1-904396-39-9.
  41. Pevsner, 1963, pp. 122–123
  42. Web site: Sherbourne Park -. sherbournepark.com.
  43. Pevsner, 1968, p. 113
  44. Pevsner, 1963, p. 299
  45. Book: Weinreb, Ben . . . reprint . 1992 . . 610.
  46. Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, p. 682
  47. Pevsner, 1963, p. 126
  48. John Parsons Earwaker, "The History of the Ancient Parish of Sandbach", 1890, (p. 87)
  49. Web site: Leicester St Andrew - Learn - FamilySearch.org. familysearch.org.
  50. Web site: Error. leicester.gov.uk.
  51. Web site: A Church on Jarrom Street: St Andrew's, Leicester. www.kairos-press.co.uk. 3 February 2018.
  52. Book: Willats, Eric A.. Streets with a story : the book of Islington. 1987. [Islington Local History Education Trust]. 0-9511871-0-4. [London]. 18221322.
  53. News: . St Andrew's Church, London Road, Litchurch . Derby Mercury . England . 30 March 1864 . 4 June 2017 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  54. Web site: Lewisham, St Stephen with St Mark – East Lewisham Deanery – The Diocese of Southwark. anglican.org. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140513011910/http://www.southwark.anglican.org/parishes/154bp. 13 May 2014. dmy-all.
  55. Pevsner, 1963, p. 106
  56. A short history of our church building by Ian Thomas (Parish Magazine September 2010)
  57. Pevsner, 1963, p. 226
  58. Web site: St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral Glasgow. Glasgow Architecture. 22 October 2010. 31 August 2012.
  59. Pevsner, N et al.: The Buildings of England: Yorkshire: The West Riding, rev.ed. 1967, p.226
  60. Pevsner, 1968, p. 271
  61. Book: Clarke, John . The Book of Buckingham . 1984 . Barracuda Books . Buckingham . 0-86023-072-4 . 145.
  62. Pevsner, 1963, p. 304
  63. Earwaker, J. P. (1890). "The History of the Ancient Parish of Sandbach". https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00earw#page/28/mode/2up/search/Gilbert+Scott p. 28.
  64. News: . The Restoration of St Cuthbert's Church, Darlington . Newcastle Journal . England . 15 December 1865 . 30 December 2019 . British Newspaper Archive .
  65. Kerwin, M. S. and Griffin, G. Parish Church of St John the Baptist, Danbury. pp.33-4.
  66. Pevsner, 1963, p. 63
  67. Pevsner, 1963, p. 327
  68. Pevsner, 1968, p. 109
  69. Book: Tyack, Bradley and Pevsner, Geoffrey, Simon and Nikolaus. The Buildings of England: Berkshire. 2010. Yale University Press. New Haven and London. 978-0-300-12662-4. 443.
  70. Web site: Sudeley Castle and St Mary's Chapel, Sudeley . 20 March 2018 . Gilbert Scott . 7 March 2021 . Directory of British Architects 1834-1914, 2 volumes (Continium, London, 2001), vol. II, p. 1075..

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