Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. He gained a reputation as an expert on

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations. He restored castles and country houses, and built a number of new houses and churches.

Early life and training

He was born in

Sunderland Bridge, County Durham Sunderland Bridge is a bridge just outside the village also called Sunderland Bridge in County Durham, England. It lies close to the confluence of the River Wear and River Browney. Sunderland Bridge originally carried the Great North Road ( ...

, as the only child of General Anthony Salvin, a soldier, and his second wife Elizabeth (Eliza) Mills. He was educated at Durham School and in 1820 became a pupil of John Paterson of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

while he was working on the restoration of

Brancepeth Castle Brancepeth Castle is a castle in the village of Brancepeth in County Durham, England, some 5 miles south-west of the city of Durham (). It is a Grade I listed building. History A succession of buildings has been on the site. The first was a No ...

in County Durham. In 1821 Salvin moved to

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. Finchley is on high ground, north of Charing Cross. Nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, Mill Hill a ...

in north

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He had an introduction to Sir John Soane but did not enter his office. According to his nephew he entered the office of John Nash. In 1824 he was elected as a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Soon after this he went on a sketching tour of Great Britain. On 26 July 1826 he married his cousin, Anne Andrews Nesfield. With her he had six children, two of whom died in infancy.

Early career

Salvin's first major commission was

Mamhead House Mamhead House, Mamhead, Devon, is a country house dating from 1827. Its origins are older but the present building was constructed for Robert William Newman, an Exeter merchant, in 1827–1833 by Anthony Salvin. The house is Grade I listed as D ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

for Robert William Newman. This was designed in the Tudor style to a symmetrical plan. It was adapted from a plan by

Charles Fowler Charles Fowler (17 May 1792 – 26 September 1867) was an English architect, born and baptised at Cullompton, Devon. He is especially noted for his design of market buildings, including Covent Garden Market in London. Life Education and earl ...

and this placed restrictions on his design. His next design was for

Moreby Hall Moreby Hall is a Grade II*-listed early 19th-century manor house and estate in Stillingfleet, North Yorkshire, England, on the River Ouse. The manor was designed by architect Anthony Salvin for Henry Preston, the Sheriff of Yorkshire, in 1828. ...

in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire t ...

for Henry Preston where he was free to develop a complete design in the Tudor style, again on a symmetrical plan. At Scotney Castle in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

he designed for Edward Hussey an asymmetrical design in the Tudor style. In 1831 Salvin embarked on what is considered to be his most important early domestic work at

Harlaxton Manor Harlaxton is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the edge of the Vale of Belvoir and just off the A607, south-west from Grantham and north-east from Melton Mowbray. History A ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

for Gregory Gregory. Salvin's design combined elements from

Montacute House Montacute House is a late Elizabethan era, Elizabethan mansion with a garden in Montacute, South Somerset. An example of English architecture during a period that was moving from the medieval Gothic to the Renaissance Classical, and one of fe ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

and Hengrave Hall in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

. However, before the building was complete, Salvin was replaced as architect by William Burn. In 1835 Salvin spent five weeks in Germany. In 1836 Salvin entered a design in Tudor style in the competition for the new

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north b ...

which had possibly been inspired by his visit to Germany. However this was unsuccessful, as was his entry for the competition to design the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University o ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He won the competition for the design of the

Carlton Club The Carlton Club is a private members' club in St James's, London. It was the original home of the Conservative Party before the creation of Conservative Central Office. Membership of the club is by nomination and election only. History T ...

Pall Mall, London Pall Mall is a street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster, Central London. It connects St James's Street to Trafalgar Square and is a section of the regional A4 road. The street's name is derived from pall-mall, ...

, but the club decided not to proceed with his plan. After losing a further competition, this time to design the Army and Navy Club, Salvin did not enter any more competitions.

Mature career

Church of St Stephen and St Thomas, Shepherd's Bush

Most of Salvin's designs for major houses continued to be in the Tudor style. These include Keele Hall in Staffordshire for Ralph Sneyd, and Thoresby Hall in Nottinghamshire for

Sydney Pierrepont, 3rd Earl Manvers Sydney William Herbert Pierrepont, 3rd Earl Manvers (12 March 1826 – 16 January 1900) was a British nobleman and politician. Born at Holme Pierrepont, he was the second surviving son of Charles Pierrepont, 2nd Earl Manvers. Educated at Eton ...

. There were exceptions, including

Penoyre House Penoyre House, Battle, Powys, Wales is a nineteenth century country house. Designed by Anthony Salvin for Colonel John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins, it was built between 1846-8. In an Italianate style, it is described by Mark Girouard as "Salvin's mo ...

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the c ...

, an

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

villa-style house for Colonel

John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins (1802 – 28 September 1865) was a Welsh Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons in three periods between 1832 and 1865. Watkins was the son of Rev. Thomas Watkins and his wife Susanna Vaughan. His father ...

and

Oxon Hoath Oxon Hoath is a Grade II* listed Châteauesque-style former manor house with 73 acres (29½ hectares) of grounds at West Peckham, Kent. The spellings Oxenhoath, Oxen Hoath and Oxonhoath are common alternatives. The spelling Oxenholt was also u ...

West Peckham West Peckham is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. The River Bourne flows through the extreme west of the parish, and formerly powered a paper mill ( Hamptons Mill) and corn mill ( Oxenhoath Mill) ...

, Kent in the French

Châteauesque Châteauesque (or Francis I style,Whiffen, Marcus, ''American Architecture Since 1780: A guide to the styles'', The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1969, p. 142. or in Canada, the Château Style) is a Revivalist architectural style based on the ...

style for Sir William Geary. A major part of Salvin's work was to restore, refit and create castles. In 1835 he refaced

Norwich Castle Norwich Castle is a medieval royal fortification in the city of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk. William the Conqueror (1066–1087) ordered its construction in the aftermath of the Norman conquest of England. The castle was used as a ...

, in 1844 he repaired the ruins of Newark Castle and in 1845 he repaired the ruins of

Carisbrooke Castle Carisbrooke Castle is a historic motte-and-bailey castle located in the village of Carisbrooke (near Newport), Isle of Wight, England. Charles I was imprisoned at the castle in the months prior to his trial. Early history The site of Carisb ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

. In the early 1840s the Queen's Gate of

Caernarvon Castle Caernarfon Castle ( cy, Castell Caernarfon ) – often anglicised as Carnarvon Castle or Caernarvon Castle – is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environ ...

collapsed, and in 1844 Salvin repaired it and rebuilt some of the other masonry of the castle. He also restored Naworth Castle in Cumbria after it was damaged by a fire on 18May 1844. In 1851 he surveyed the Beauchamp Tower of the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

and subsequently restored the

Salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

, Wakefield and White Towers and the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula. Following this he was instructed by Prince Albert to carry out work on

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

. This included replacing

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

s with lancets and

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

ed windows and rebuilding the Clewer Tower. Salvin designed Peckforton Castle in Cheshire for

John Tollemache, 1st Baron Tollemache John Jervis Tollemache, 1st Baron Tollemache (; 5 December 1805 – 9 December 1890) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament, as well as a major landowner and estate manager in Cheshire. He was raised to the peerage in 1876 as Baron ...

as a recreation of a castle of the time of

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vas ...

. In 1852 he started work on the restoration of

Alnwick Castle Alnwick Castle () is a castle and country house in Alnwick in the English county of Northumberland. It is the seat of the 12th Duke of Northumberland, built following the Norman conquest and renovated and remodelled a number of times. It is a G ...

in Northumberland. This included replacing one of the towers with a larger tower, the Prudhoe Tower, creating a

porte-cochère A porte-cochère (; , late 17th century, literally 'coach gateway'; plural: porte-cochères, portes-cochères) is a doorway to a building or courtyard, "often very grand," through which vehicles can enter from the street or a covered porch-like ...

, replacing windows and replanning the interior. Salvin also restored and repaired 20 old churches and three cathedrals, and built 34 new churches. In the early 1840s he had worked on

The Holy Sepulchre, Cambridge The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, generally known as The Round Church, is an Anglican church in the city of Cambridge, England. It is located on the corner of Round Church Street and Bridge Street. Since 1950 the church has been designated a Gr ...

, employing

James Rattee James Rattee (1820–29 March 1855) was an English woodcarver and mason, especially noted for his skill in church ornamentation and restoration, for which his services were sought worldwide. Life Rattee was born at Fundenhall, Norfolk, in ...

, and following this he was made an honorary member of the Cambridge Camden Society. He arranged for the removal of buildings around the south transept of Norwich Cathedral and reordered its choir. He also made alterations to

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

and

Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a ...

s. In all he designed at least 34 new churches. Salvin's restorations were not to the liking of the

Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) (also known as Anti-Scrape) is an amenity society founded by William Morris, Philip Webb, and others in 1877 to oppose the destructive 'restoration' of ancient buildings occurring in ...

, particularly his removal of "unwanted fabric" from churches. Other work carried out by Salvin included rebuilding the keep of

Durham Castle Durham Castle is a Norman castle in the city of Durham, England, which has been occupied since 1837 by University College, Durham after its previous role as the residence of the Bishops of Durham. Designated since 1986 as a cultural World Heri ...

for student accommodation, and work on restoring

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

Later life

In 1857, while working on Warwick Castle, Salvin suffered a stroke but recovered from it. In 1860, his wife died and he designed a new house for himself, Hawksfold at Fernhurst, Sussex. In 1863 he was awarded the royal gold medal of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

and in 1879 he retired from formal practice. He died at Hawksfold in 1881 and was buried at Fernhurst. His estate was valued at over £78,000.

References

External links