John Prichard (6 May 1817 – 13 October 1886) was a Welsh

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 ...

in the

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style. As

diocesan In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

architect of

Llandaff Llandaff (; cy, Llandaf ; from 'church' and ''River Taff, Taf'') is a district, Community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of ...

, he was involved in the building or restoration of many churches in south Wales.

Personal history

John Prichard was born in

Llangan Llangan ( cy, Llanganna) is a small village and community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. It is located approximately outside the market town of Cowbridge. As a community it contains the settlements of St Mary Hill, Treoes and Llangan itself. I ...

, near

Cowbridge Cowbridge ( cy, Y Bont-faen) is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately west of the centre of Cardiff. The Cowbridge with Llanblethian community and civil parish elect a town council. A Cowbridge electoral ward exists for ...

, Wales on 6 May 1817, the twelfth son of the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

Richard Prichard, who served as vicar-choral of Llandaff for 35 years. He was descended from the Prichard family of Collenna. John Prichard trained as an architect under

Thomas Larkins Walker Thomas Larkins Walker (c.1811–1860) was a Scottish architect. Life Baptised on 20 May 1811 in Dysart, Fifeshire, the son of Adam Walker, he was a pupil of Augustus Charles Pugin, and an executor of his will. In practice initially with Benjam ...

, and as a result was deeply influenced by the ideas of

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

; much of his work was in a neo-Gothic style. He established a practice in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, becoming 'Resident Diocesan Architect' in December 1844. Between 1852 and 1863 he was in partnership with

John Pollard Seddon John Pollard Seddon FRIBA (19 September 1827 – 1 February 1906) was a British architect, working largely on churches. His father was a cabinetmaker, and his brother Thomas Seddon (1821–1856) a landscape painter. Born in London, he was educa ...

. Many of his major commissions were restoration works, most famously for

Llandaff Cathedral Llandaff Cathedral ( cy, Eglwys Gadeiriol Llandaf) is an Anglican cathedral and parish church in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales. It is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, head of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. It is dedicated to Saint Pet ...

(1843–69); Prichard and Seddon worked on the cathedral from the 1840s until 1869, when the south-western tower was completed (to Prichard's own design). Much of their work was destroyed by enemy bombing during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Prichard died, unmarried and childless, at the age of 69, and is buried on the south side of the cathedral. On Prichard's death, Seddon succeeded him as diocesan architect.

Notable projects

The Prichard Bridge, named after the architect, was built in about 1880 to allow carriages to cross the feeder channel between the

River Taff The River Taff ( cy, Afon Taf) is a river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons; the Taf Fechan (''little Taff'') and the Taf Fawr (''great Taff'') before becoming one just north of Merthyr Tydfil. Its confluence with th ...

and the Llandaff

corn mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separate ...

. It is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

. The mill was demolished in about 1932 and the stream no longer exists; the lower part of the bridge is buried and no longer visible. One of the few secular buildings on which Prichard & Seddon worked was Ettington Park, where Prichard's brother Richard was vicar. Prichard also designed Nazareth House, Cardiff, a Catholic almshouse built on land donated by John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute. The chapel of the latter was not Prichard's work; it was added later.

Buildings

St David's Church, Llanddewi Rhydderch architectural plan

(1843–1869) restoration. * Church of St Swithin, Ganarew (1850) *St Michael's Church,

Cwmafan Cwmafan ( cy, Cwmafan; ), sometimes known as Cwmavon in English, is a large village and community in the Afan valley in Wales, lying within Neath Port Talbot County Borough. It had a population of 5,603 in 2001, increasing slightly to 5,615 at ...

(1851). *

Church of the Holy Cross, Cowbridge The Church of the Holy Cross is a medieval church in Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. Initially a chapel of ease to Church of St John the Baptist, Llanblethian of Cowbridge as a medieval market town. Believed to have been built ...

(1850–1852) restoration. *The Church of St Julius and Aaron, Llanharan (1856–1859) restoration. * St Mary's Church, Aberavon rebuilding * Ettington Park, near Stratford upon Avon (1858–1862) restoration. * Church of St John, Llandenny (1860-5) with

* Church of St David, Llanddewi Rhydderch, Monmouthshire (1862–1863) restoration *St Mary's on Chapel Hill,

Tintern Tintern ( cy, Tyndyrn) is a village in the community of Wye Valley, on the west bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, Wales, close to the border with England, about north of Chepstow. It is popular with tourists, in particular for the scenery ...

, Monmouthshire (1863–1868) restoration * St Margaret's Church, Roath (1870) commissioned by the Marquess of Bute *St Crallo, Coychurch (1871) restoration *Church of SS. Illtyd, Gwynno & Tyfodwg, Llantrisant (1874) restoration *Nazareth House,

(1875) * St Catharine's Church, Baglan (1875–1882) restoration * Church of St Thomas a Becket, Monmouth (1876) *

St Cadfan's Church, Tywyn St Cadfan's Church ( cy, Eglwys Cadfan) is situated in Tywyn in the county of Gwynedd, formerly Merionethshire, Wales. The church is noted for its Romanesque architecture and for housing the Cadfan Stone, a stone cross dating from ninth centur ...

(1877) restoration. * Racquets and Fives Club (now Jackson Hall),

(1878) * Prichard Bridge,

(c.1880) * St Mary's Church, Whitchurch, Cardiff (1884) *St Mary's Nolton,

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...

(completed 1877) build''The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales'' p.83 * Elerch Vicarage

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prichard, John 1817 births 1886 deaths 19th-century Welsh architects Welsh ecclesiastical architects Gothic Revival architects People from Cowbridge