Austin S. Winkley (born 1934) is a British architect who specialises in church architecture and is a member of the

Liturgical Movement The Liturgical Movement was a 19th-century and 20th-century movement of scholarship for the reform of worship. It began in the Catholic Church and spread to many other Christian churches including the Anglican Communion, Lutheran and some other Pro ...

of UK ecclesiastical architects.

Early life and education

Winkley was born in 1934 to a family of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

cotton workers. He attended a Salesian school and with their help secured a grant to study at the

Architectural Association The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest private school of architecture in the UK. The AA hosts exhibitions, lectures, symposia and publications. History The Architectura ...

in London.

Career

Winkley studied at the

in London under Robert Maguire and became a member of the New Churches Research Group, a group of Catholic and Anglican church architects and craftspeople who promoted liturgical reform of churches though publications such as ''

The Tablet ''The Tablet'' is a Catholic Church, Catholic international weekly review published in London. Brendan Walsh, previously literary editor and then acting editor, was appointed editor in July 2017. History ''The Tablet'' was launched in 1840 by ...

'' and ''

Architects' Journal ''Architects' Journal'' is a professional architecture magazine, published monthly in London by Metropolis International. Each issue includes in-depth features on relevant current affairs, alongside profiles of recently completed buildings. Ten t ...

''. The group included architects Peter Gilbey, Robert Maguire, Keith Murray (an ecclesiastical designer), John Newton (Burles, Newton & Partners), Patrick Nuttgens,

George Pace George Gaze Pace, (31 December 1915 – 23 August 1975) was an English architect who specialised in ecclesiastical works. He was trained in London, and served in the army, before being appointed as surveyor to a number of cathedrals. Mo ...

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(stained glass artist), Lance Wright, as well as co-founder and Anglican priest Peter Hammond and Catholic priest and theologian Charles Davis. During the holidays Winkley worked for the

Salesians The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

alongside school architect Jeffrey Williams. In 1959, after qualifying, he worked for the London County Council school department. In 1960 he went to the US, where he worked for two architectural practices, joining a firm of Christian architects and working on a library and Catholic Club at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, U.S.A. In 1962, he volunteered to help build a clinic, housing and church in an area of

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that had been devastated by an earthquake. In 1963, he set up, Williams & Winkley in the UK. In 1978, he gained a Post Graduate Diploma in Building Conservation from the Architectural Association. In 1987, he founded Austin Winkley & Associates. He began by designing homes for the Catholic Housing Aid Society (CHAS). Having studied under the church designers Maguire & Murray, Winkley became a member of the UK architectural liturgical movement. His buildings include: * Church of St Margaret of Scotland, Twickenham (1969) Grade II listed. Winkley's first church and according to its listing "an early and particularly well-made and well-detailed example of post-Vatican II planning". * St Elphege in Wallington (1971) * Sacred Heart Church in Coventry (1979) * St Theodore's in Hampton upon Thames (1987). He was also behind the reordering of a number of churches, such as: * Holy Family Church, Halton was reordered into a liturgical arrangement * St John Vianney, Ilford (1983) - reordering a Catholic church by Donald Plaskett Marshall

Family

Austin Winkley met his future wife, Elizabeth (née Bussy), a drama teacher, at a national Catholic Youth Association Conference. They married in 1967 and have two daughters, Emma, a sculptor and change agent, and Antonia who is a florist.

Works

File:St Elphege, Stafford Road, South Beddington - geograph.org.uk - 2426311.jpg, St Elphege's Church, South Beddington File:St Theodore's Roman Catholic Church, Hampton - geograph.org.uk - 53869.jpg, St Theodore's Church, Hampton upon Thames

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winkley, Austin 1934 births 20th-century English architects English ecclesiastical architects English Roman Catholics Modernist architecture Architects of the Liturgical Movement Living people