Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

Arnold Thornely (7 October 1870 – 1 October 1953) was an English architect who practised in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Although most of his designs were for buildings in Liverpool and the northwest of England, he is best known for the Parliament Buildings in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Northern Ireland (commonly known as Stormont). Thornely was knighted in 1932, and in the following year received the Bronze 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 suppl ...

for Ulster.

Biography

Arnold Thornely was the son of a cotton mill manager, born in 1870 in Godley, which was at that time in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. He was educated at a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

in Derbyshire, and then at the Liverpool School of Art. After being articled to Francis Usher Holmes and George Holme, he became an assistant in the Liverpool firm of Willinck and Thicknesse. In 1898 he established his own practice in Liverpool. He married Caroline Thornely in 1902 in St Paul's Church, Helsby, and with her had two children. In 1906 Thornely joined in partnership with Frank Gatley Briggs and Henry Vernon Wolstenholme, and was later joined by F. B. Hobbs. Latterly he worked with his brother Herbert Lionel Thornely, and they had an office in the

Royal Liver Building The Royal Liver Building is a Grade I listed building in Liverpool, England. It is located at the Pier Head and along with the neighbouring Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building is one of Liverpool's '' Three Graces'', which line th ...

in Liverpool. He was elected a Fellow of the

in 1907, and was President of the Liverpool Architectural Society in 1910–11. In 1932 Thornley was knighted, and in the following year was awarded the Bronze Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects for Ulster. In his later years he lived in

Cobham, Surrey Cobham () is a large village in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, centred south-west of London and northeast of Guildford on the River Mole, Surrey, River Mole. It has a commercial/services High Street, a significant number of pr ...

, where he died in 1953. His estate amounted to over £89,000 (equivalent to £ as of ). ()

Works

Although most of his designs were for buildings in and around Liverpool, Thornely is best known for his design of the Parliament Buildings in Belfast, Northern Ireland (commonly known as Stormont), which were built between 1928 and 1932. With Hobbs he designed the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board Building (1903–07), and with Briggs and Wolstenholme a building for the Bank of British West Africa (completed in 1920). In 1923, with Herbert J. Rowse, he won a competition for the design of India Buildings in Liverpool. With Briggs and Wolstenholme, he also designed laboratories for the Geology Department of the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

(1927–29), and an extension to the

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History The Walker Art Gallery's collection dates from 1819 ...

(1931–33). Away from the centre of Liverpool, Thornely designed new premises for

Liverpool Blue Coat School The Liverpool Blue Coat School is a grammar school in Liverpool, England. It was founded in 1708 by Bryan Blundell and the Reverend Robert Styth as the Liverpool Blue Coat Hospital and was for many years a boarding school, boys' boarding school ...

(1906), King Edward VII School, Lytham St Annes (1908), and town halls at

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county bou ...

(1914–19), Preston, and

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornely, Arnold 1870 births 1953 deaths 20th-century English architects Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects Architects from Cheshire Architects from Liverpool