William Wigginton Explained

William Wigginton (1826–1890) was an English architect. Born in Eton, Berkshire, he worked in Derby and Dudley before moving to London in 1860. He published proposals for working-class housing, and designed several Gothic Revival churches in London, often featuring polychrome brickwork.

Life

Wigginton was born at Eton on 22 August 1826, the son of W.L. Wigginton.^[1] He worked an architect in Derby^[2] and Dudley^[3] before moving to London in 1860,^[4] where he ran his practice from in Cornhill in the City. He was the Derby agent of the British Fire and Life Assurance Company.^[5] He became an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1854 and a Fellow in 1857.^[6]

He was the author of Sanitary Reform: Model Town Dwellings for the Industrious Classes (1850)^[7] and a 36-page pamphlet entitled The Late Archidiaconal Visitation of Bromsgrove and the Injustice and Illegality of Visitation Fees.^[8] A two volume work called England's Operative Homes was announced in 1851.^[9] His plans for working class housing, as exhibited at a bookseller's in Derby in 1850, envisaged a block built around three sides of a quadrangle, with three storeys, each accommodating fifteen families. The dwellings were designed to be entirely fireproof, and ventilated by a system of Wigginton's own invention. Access to the upper floors was to be via two stone staircases, leading to open balconies which were carried around the quadrangle at each level.^[10]

He was one of six candidates shortlisted for the post of architect and surveyor to the London School Board in 1871. The post went to E.R. Robson.^[11]

Wigginton was a freemason, and a member of the Volunteer Corps,^[1] receiving a commission as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 1st Tower Hamlets Artillery, which he resigned on 29 October 1873.^[12] He died at his home, Buckhurst, Forest Hill, on 8 January 1890 and was buried in the family vault at Dudley.^[1]

Works

• Chapels at Smethwick Cemetery (1857).^[13]
• New Model Dwellings, Block Lane, Dudley (1854).^[14]
• Rose Hill Schools, Dudley, for the New Connection Methodist Church (1859).^[15]
• Drinking fountain, Oswestry (1862).^{[16] [17]}
• Design for the Wedgwood Institute, Burslem (unbuilt), shown at the International Exhibition in South Kensington, 1862.^[18]
• St. Paul, Virginia Row, Bethnal Green (1863–64). Stock brick building, with bands of red and black, seating 900. Chancel, aisled nave, north-east tower. Damaged by bombing during the Second World War and demolished in 1951.
• St James' Church, Hampton Hill (1863–64). Yellow stock brick Gothic Revival building with red brick and stone dressing. Enlarged by Wigginton himself in 1878–9.^[19] The tower was added by Romaine Walker and Tanner in 1888.
• All Saints, Leyton Consecrated January 1865. A cruciform brick building in the Decorated Gothic style with a long narrow chancel, low walls and steeply pitched roofs.^{[20] [21]}
• Plans for a church school at Cressing, Essex (1865).^[22]
• St. Paul, Old Charlton (1865–67))^[19] Damaged during the Second World War and later demolished.^[23]
• St Barnabas, Grove Road, Bow (1865). Built as a Baptist chapel but consecrated for the Church of England in 1870. Gothic, built in yellow brick, banded with red and black. Damaged during the Second World War; the steeple was later removed and the church rebuilt, retaining the tower and north and south walls.^[24]
• St Mary's National Schools, Walthamstow (1866).^[25]
• Dutch Church Almshouses, Charlton (1868).^[26]
• St. John the Baptist, Cleveland Road and Downham Road, Islington (1871–72). A brick and stone church, in an early Decorated Gothic style. Aisled nave and chancel, with a semi-octagonal apse; designed to accommodate more than 700.^[27] Damaged during the Second World War, declared redundant in 1971 and demolished by 1981.^[28]
• Christ Church, Rendlesham Road, Clapton (1871). A brick building with stone dressings in the Decorated Gothic style, seating around 700; chancel, north and south chapels, aisled nave with clerestories, bellcote; interior of variegated brickwork. Demolished following bomb damage during the Second World War. Wigginton won the commission following a limited competition.^[29]
• Christ Church, Gore Road, South Hackney (1871). A brick building with stone dressings in the Decorated Gothic style, seating 850; apsidal chancel, aisled nave with clerestories. Demolished following bomb damage during the Second World War.^[30]
• Warehouse for Cohen, Jacobs & Co, Ely Place, Holborn, London (1872)^[31]
• St. Mary's vicarage, Hinckley, Leicestershire (1872–73).^[32]
• Holy Trinity, Hatford, Berkshire (1873–74).^[33] Now a private house.^[34]

Notes and References

1. 1890. The Freemason and Masonic Illustrated. W. Wigginton . 58.
2. He was at Osmaston Street, Derby in 1849: see News: . Derby, England. 5 September 1849. 7012. Classified Advertisements. ; in an advertisement of 1851 he announced his move to 57, St Peter's Street in 1851:News: . Derby, England. 30 April 1851. 7098. Classified Advertisements.
3. Book: List of the Members; The Report of the Council. 1857. Royal Institute of British Architects. London. 14. https://books.google.com/books?id=spZZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA14. List of Members.
4. Dudley Complimentary Farewell Dinner for Mr Wigginton. The Building News and Engineering Journal. 6 January 1860. 7. 10.
5. News: Derby Mercury. 17 December 1851. 7130. Agents Wanted.
6. Web site: RIBA. Dutch Church Almshouses, Charlton. British Architectural Library.
7. Web site: COPAC. Search results 1–10 of 10 for Author: WIGGINTON, W.
8. Advertisements for New Books. The Publishers' Circular. 22. 1859. 457.
9. News: Classified Advertisements. . Derby, England. 20 August 1851. 7114.
10. News: Model Cottages for the Industrious Classes. Derby Mercury. Derby, England. 27 March 1850. 7041.
11. News: London School Board. Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper . London . 9 July 1871. 1494.
12. The London Gazette . 28 October 1873. p.4738 Tower: Hamlets Artillery Volunteer Corps (right column). War Office, 28th October 1873 – VOLUNTEERS – Tower: Hamlets Artillery Volunteer Corps – Issue 24029, 28 October 1873 | London Gazette | The Gazette . 24029 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140421052437/https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/24029/page/4738 . 21 April 2014 . live.
13. Book: Smethwick: Public services. Victoria County History. A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 17: Offlow hundred (part). 1976. 120–3. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36179. 31 December 2013.
14. Book: Clark. C.F.G.. The Curiosities of Dudley and the Black Country, From 1800 to 1860. 1881.
15. Web site: The Builder Index., referencing articles in The Builder for 26 March 1859 (p. 227) and 4 June 1859 (pp. 374–5).
16. Building News and Architectural Review. 9. Drinking Fountains. 1862. 147.
17. Web site: Display Fountain, The Cross, Oswestry, Shropshire, England, UK. Waymarking.com .
18. International Exhibition. English Architectural Designs. Building News and Architectural Review. 9. 1872. Mr. Wigginton's Design for the Wedgwood Memorial, Burslem (1605), with a lofty tower, surmounted by an octagon lantern, and a gallery of bold character, at a great height, is good, if not wholly admirable, and well massed. 52. Article reprinted from the Athenaeum.
19. Web site: WIGGINTON, William: fl. 1855–68 of London. Church Plans Online. 4 January 2014.
20. Book: Thorne . James . Handbook to the Environs of London: Alphabetically Arranged, Containing an Account of Every Town and Village, and of All Places of Interest, Within a Circle of Twenty Miles Round London . 1876. 419 . J. Murray . en.
21. Book: Kennedy, John. A History of the Parish of Leyton, Essex. 1894. Phelp Brothers. Leyton. 67.
22. Web site: Catalogue: D/P 58/28/1 Plans and specifications for church school, drawn by Mr Wigginton, architect of Country Chambers. Seax – Essex Archives Online. 30 December 2013 .
23. Web site: CHARLTON, ST PAUL. Diocese of Southwark. 3 January 2014.
24. Book: Bethnal Green: List of Churches. A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11: Stepney, Bethnal Green . 1998. 217–26. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22762.
25. Book: Cherry, Bridget . O'Brien, Charles and Nikolaus,Pevsner . London 5: East. 2005. Yale University Press. New Haven, [Conn.]. 9780300107012. 756. Reprinted with corr..
26. Web site: Dutch Church Almshouses, Charlton. British Architectural Library Catalogue. RIBA.
27. The British Almanac of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Architecture and Public Improvements. 1873. 167.
28. Book: Islington: Churches. A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes . 1985. 88–99. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=2310 . 30 December 2013.
29. Competitions . The Builder . 4 December 1869 . 972 . 21 November 2023 . en.
30. Web site: Hackney: List of Churches . T.F.T. Baker . Institute of Historical Research . 1995 . A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 10: Hackney . 19 May 2013.
31. The Architect. Warehouse in Ely Place, Holborn. 6 July 1872. 16.
32. Web site: Architects.
33. Book: Pevsner, Nikolaus. Berkshire. 2002. Penguin. London. 9780300095821. 154.
34. Web site: Oxfordshire Churches & Chapels - Hatford, Holy Trinity . www.oxfordshirechurches.info.