Alfred Hoare Powell (1865–1960) was an English

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

architect, and designer and painter of

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

Early life, education, and career

Alfred Powell was born in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, on 14 April 1865, the son of Thomas Edward Powell and Emma Corrie. Powell was the architectural pupil of John Dando Sedding, working in the "crafted Gothic" tradition inspired by the art critic and philosopher

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

. He was briefly engaged to diarist Olive Garnett in 1897. Powell married Ada Louise Powell, ''née'' Lessore (1882–1956);British listed buildings: Studio Cottage, Rodmarton
Retrieved 1 November 2012. the daughter of an artist, she had studied

embroidery Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

and illuminating. Alfred and Louise Powell became celebrated as pottery designers for

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English China (material), fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons L ...

. They hand-painted many thousands of pieces and trained "paintresses" for Wedgwood. They collaborated on the revitalisation of the arts and crafts, rejecting industrialisation and designing furniture decoration, embroidery and ceramics, and encouraging a communitarian spirit in the South

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

. Powell, with the younger architect Norman Jewson, was the most significant associate of Ernest Gimson and the brothers Ernest and Sidney Barnsley at Sapperton, in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, in the Cotswold Arts and Crafts revival. He settled nearby at Gurners Farm, Oakridge Lynch in 1902, but sold the house in 1916, and moved to The Thatched House, Tunley near Oakridge, in the 1920s, and later lived at Tarlton near Rodmarton. He worked with Detmar Blow and F.W. Troup for both the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

and 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 Victorian restoration, destructive 'restoration' of ancient bu ...

Architectural works

Powell's architectural works include a number of works for Hugh Fairfax-Cholmeley, Squire of Brandsby,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. He designed extensive modifications and extensions for Hugh's house at Mill Hill (original architect, Detmar Blow), changing it from a simple house designed for community living, to the desirable residence it remains to today. He designed the gardens, both flower and kitchen gardens, the gates and all external features. He designed Dale End House, Brandsby, which was built for the artist Joseph Crawhall and his mother. Powell contributed elements to the design of Hugh Fairfax-Cholmeley's worker cottage design, to ensure that these were not just functional, but of good design. He also designed and built an ornamental fireplace at Swathgill in the 1920s, for the Fairfax-Cholmeleys, this included painted panels and tiles. Unfortunately, a later occupant of Swathgill dismantled the decorative elements of this fireplace, but the tiles survive, should a future occupant choose to reinstate them, though the painted panels have disappeared. Powell also designed fireplace tiles for Tom Jones's house in St Nicholas-at-Wade: the tiles include the initials of Sidney Kyffin Greenslade (the architect who designed the house), and Molly Bernhard-Smith (the art dealer who introduced Jones to the village). He did repairs at Barrington Court,

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, and

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

; and projects with other members of the Gimson school at Pinbury Park and Rodmarton Manor, near Sapperton, and

Bedales School Bedales School is a coeducational boarding and day public school, in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by Amy Garrett Badley and John Haden Badley in reaction to the li ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. Long Copse (1897), at

Ewhurst, Surrey Ewhurst is a rural village and civil parish in the borough of Waverley in Surrey, England. It is located south-east of Guildford, east of Cranleigh, and south of Shere. The parish includes the smaller hamlets of Ellen's Green and Cox Green ...

, was much praised by contemporaries; it was described by the painter G. F. Watts as the most beautiful house in Surrey. Powell's architectural work is described in Michael Drury's book, ''Wandering Architects: In Pursuit of an Arts and Crafts Ideal''. He built a summer home and pottery studio in Tarlton (). Now called Studio Cottage, it is a Grade II listed (2010) timber-framed house, with large grounds and a semi-circular

ha-ha A ha-ha ( or ), also known as a sunk fence, blind fence, ditch and fence, deer wall, or foss, is a recessed landscape design element that creates a vertical barrier (particularly on one side) while preserving an uninterrupted view of the lan ...

separating it from the surrounding land of the Rodmarton estate. It is in a poor state of repair. It has many

features and original fittings, including some Gimson works. The pottery studio is a long thatched-roofed building used by the Powells in their pottery design business, and to train local workers for Wedgwood. Powell edited the memorial volume to his friend Ernest Gimson, ''Ernest Gimson: His Life and Work'' (1924), with contributions by William Richard Lethaby and F. L. Griggs.

Literature and sources

* ''Good Workmanship with Happy Thought: The Work of Alfred and Louise Powell'', Exhibition Catalogue, 1992 * * Sarsby, Jacqueline (1997). "Alfred Powell: Idealism and Realism in the Cotswolds". '' Journal of Design History'', vol. 10, No. 4. ''Craft, Culture and Identity'', pp. 375–397.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Alfred Hoare Date of death missing Place of death missing 1865 births 1960 deaths 19th-century ceramists 19th-century English architects 19th-century English male artists 20th-century British ceramists 20th-century English architects 20th-century English male artists Arts and Crafts architects Arts and Crafts movement artists Architects from Berkshire Architects from Gloucestershire Artists from Reading, Berkshire English potters Guild of St George National Trust people People from Cotswold District People from Stroud District Wedgwood pottery