Walter Brierley Explained

Walter Henry Brierley
Birth Date:1862
Death Date:[1]
Nationality:English
Practice:Atkinson Brierley[2]
Demaine and Brierley
Brierley & Rutherford
Brierley Groom

Walter Henry Brierley (1862–1926) was a York architect whopractised in the city for 40 years. He is known as "the Yorkshire Lutyens"[3] or the "Lutyens of the North".[1] He is also credited with being a leading exponent of the "Wrenaissance" style - incorporating elements of Christopher Wren.[4]

Brierley's works include civic buildings, churches, schools and private houses (including his own home, Bishopsbarns) and are located mainly in York, North Yorkshire and the north of England. He was responsible for over 300 buildings between 1885 and the time of his death in 1926.[5] He was the architect for the York Diocese.

The Borthwick Institute in York holds an archive of the Atkinson Brierley architectural practice,[2] a practice that lives on as Brierley Groom, the oldest architectural firm in the UK having continuously practised since 1750.[6] In 2013 Pocklington School unveiled a clock based on plans drawn up by Brierley 116 years earlier and found at the Borthwick in 2006.[7]

A celebration of Brierley's life and architecture in 2007 unearthed the fact that he had designed and built many of the houses and other buildings (such as the Church of St Mary) in Goathland. Simon Groom, current co-owner of architects Brierley Groom, noted that the opening credits of the popular ITV programme Heartbeat displayed large amounts of Brierley's work on screen.[8]

Brierley buildings

BuildingLocationDate BuiltList EntryNotes
St Philip's Church, Buckingham Palace RoadLondon 1887-1890 By Demaine and Brierley. Demolished 1956.
Welburn Hall (remodelling) 1890–93 the Jacobean west wing was demolished and replaced by a much bigger wing in the gothic style. Brierley's work was extensively damaged in the fire of 1931.
The Mallan Hotel[9] 1892 By Demaine and Brierley, part demolished, rebuilt and extended c.1935
Church of St. Mary Goathland 1894–96
Rufforth 1894 - 1895 By Demaine and Brierley
Park Grove School York 1895
Fishergate School York 1895
Nesfield and Mulgrave Cottage Goathland 1896
York 1896 Generally regarded as his masterpiece
The Jubilee, Balfour Street[10] [11] York 1897 Public house: closed 2016
1899
King's Manor

Headmaster's House

York 1899 Built as the house of the Headmaster of the Yorkshire School for the Blind
Bereton Lodge Goathland 1902
1902 North aisle built and original north wall replaced with columns.[12]
Thorpe Underwood Hall Thorpe Underwood, North Yorkshire 1902–03
Haxby Road School York 1903–04
Poppleton Road School York 1903–04 Bomb damaged and restored 1942
Dringhouses Primary School[13] Dringhouses, York 1904
Brackencliffe 1905
Burrough Court[14] 1906 In the 1940s the main historic house was destroyed by a fire[15]
York 1906 Home of Walter Brierley
1908
1908–09 Originally known as Hollins Hill
1904–14
Malton Grammar School buildings[16] 1911
1911 Major restorations by Brierley following a fire (original building c.1751).[17]
1912 Alterations by Brierley (original building c.1680). Restaurant is named 'The Brierley'.[18]
Sion Hill Hall
and Lodge
1913
A private residence. Some similarities with Malton School are evident - the high pitch roof and tall chimneys, for example. The drainpipe is almost identical to the one in Malton School quad. (The white one is on Sion Hill Hall, the black is Malton School.)[19]
Water Tower 1915 Commissioned by Middlesbrough ironmaster Hugh Bell. "Sir Hugh Bell built this tower as part of a water supply to Arncliffe and Rounton, AD 1915." is inscribed on the lintel.[20]
1919 - 1921 Remodelling and extensions
Dringhouses War Memorial[21] York 1922 Located outside Church of St Edward the Confessor
York 1925–26
Goddards House and Garden
and Carriage Entrance
York 1926–27
Built for Noel Terry of the Terry's chocolate manufacturing family. It was Brierley's last building.[22]

The "List Entry" number is a unique number assigned to each listed building and scheduled monument by Historic England (This is left blank if the building is not listed)

See also

Notes and References

  1. One Vision. The Garden. 121. 1996. 328–331. Royal Horticultural Society. 25 September 2018.
  2. Web site: Borthwick Institute: what we hold. www.york.ac.uk. 25 June 2016.
  3. Book: Paul Chrystal . York in the 1960s: Ten Years that Changed a City . 5 . Amberley Publishing Limited . 9781445640969 . 2015 . 11 July 2016.
  4. Book: James Stevens Curl . Susan Wilson . The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture . OUP . 116 . 9780199674985 . 2015 . 11 July 2016.
  5. Web site: Borthwick spotlight for Brierley's architectural gems . www.york.ac.uk . 31 January 2007. 25 June 2016.
  6. Web site: Walter H. Brierley (1862-1926). two.archiseek.com. 23 June 2016.
  7. Web site: 116 year wait over as the cogs turn on school's new clock. Pocklington Post. 22 October 2013 . 29 July 2016.
  8. News: Stirling . Tom . Celebration of architect . 16 August 2018 . York Press . 1 February 2007.
  9. Web site: Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Plan: Goathland (November 2017). North York Moors National Park. 42. 24 April 2019.
  10. Web site: York pub to be turned into flats after 119 years . . 17 May 2016 . 16 September 2016 .
  11. Web site: New hope for York pub campaigners as famous designer is revealed . York Press . Alex Ross . 9 August 2016 . 16 September 2016.
  12. Web site: How St Oswald's grew from a chapel to a church - and how it grew lop-sided. St Oswald's Church, Sowerby. 24 November 2016.
  13. Web site: Character area 75: Dringhouses and Tadcaster Road . City of York Council . 2 . MacRae . Claire . 2013 . 18 September 2016.
  14. Web site: 1906 – Burrough Court, Leicester, Leicestershire . archiseek.com . 29 June 2009 . 11 July 2016.
  15. Web site: History of Burrough Court . www.burroughcourt.com . 23 June 2016.
  16. Web site: Malton Grammar School 1911-1937 . www.maltonschool.org . 4 . 11 July 2016.
  17. Web site: Sledmere House: Rising from the Ashes . Borthwick Institute Blog . 5 June 2015. 31 July 2016.
  18. Web site: Acklam Hall in Middlesbrough reopens following renovation . . 18 February 2016 . 29 July 2016.
  19. Web site: Walter Henry Brierley . Malton School . 10 April 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110726132349/http://malton.n-yorks.sch.uk/MaltonianWeb/Building/Brierley.htm . 26 July 2011.
  20. News: Surprises in store as tower reveals secrets . Chris Lloyd . 15 June 2015 . Darlington & Stockton Times. 29 July 2016.
  21. Web site: The Terry Trail . dlhg.weebly.com. 3 July 2016.
  22. Web site: The Art of Design . www.nationaltrust.org.uk. 23 June 2016.