William Robert 'Bertie' Crewe (1860 – 10 January 1937) was one of the leading English theatre architects in the boom of 1885 to 1915.
Biography
Born in Essex and partly trained by
Frank Matcham
Francis Matcham (22 November 1854 – 17 May 1920)Mackintosh, Iain"Matcham, Frank" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 7 July 2019 was an English architect who specialised in the design of theatres and ...
, Crewe and his contemporaries
W.G.R. Sprague
William George Robert Sprague (1865 – 4 December 1933) was a theatre architect.
Biography
He was born in Australia in 1865, the son of actress Dolores Drummond, who returned with acclaim to London in 1874.
Sprague was an articled cle ...
and
Thomas Verity, were together responsible for the majority – certainly more than 200 – of the theatres and variety palaces of the great building boom which took place in Britain between 1885 and 1915, peaking at the turn of the century. Crewe became known as one of the most dynamic architects of the 1890s-1900s, specialising entirely in theatres and later cinemas. He also designed the
Paris Alhambra for
Thomas Barrasford
Thomas Barrasford (1859–1910) was a 19th-century British entrepreneur and entertainment impresario, who operated and built a number of theatres across Britain, mainly under the Barrasford Halls brand.
Early career
Born in South Shields, Coun ...
, which opened in 1904.
Crewe trained in Paris and London, where, as a young man, he was a frequent visitor to Frank Matcham's home. Up to the mid-1890s, Crewe collaborated with Sprague, producing the Lincoln Theatre Royal as well as a number of theatres around London. It was after he branched out on his own that he developed what was to become his characteristic Baroque-influenced style. His work around the turn of the century was marked by horizontal balconies tied to ranges of stage boxes and elaborate ornamental features.
Cecil Masey trained in Crewe's office, working on large theatres and music halls that Crewe designed before the First World War. Masey's designs include the theatre at
Stanford Hall, Nottinghamshire. In the early 1930s Masey worked for
Sidney Bernstein on the creation of the Granada cinema circuit, including the Tooting Granada.
Crewe's last project, jointly with Henry G. Kay was the Regal, Kennington Road (opened 17 November 1937) by the Arthur O'Connor circuit. Designed as split theatre-cinema, the Edwardian Kennington Empire would have been in decline by the time of building.
After death
After World War II, many theatres that were not destroyed by bombing were in the way of redevelopment. The building boom of 1885 to 1915 was matched between 1950 and 1975 by theatre demolition. In that 25-year period, 35 theatres were demolished in
Greater London
Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...
alone.
Crewe's reputation has been re-established over the last 20 years. In 2004, the
Palace Theatre, Redditch, (built 1913) completed a £3.7 million facelift. A now rare example of Edwardian theatre, it was successful in bidding for a Heritage Lottery Fund grant. Experts believe the Grade II-listed theatre is one of only six examples that can be fully attributed to Bertie Crewe.
Theatres
References
Notes
*
External links
Corporation of London page on Bertie CreweLondon Theatreland HistoryCrewe's last project
Bertie Crewe, architect: architectural drawings of theatresare held by the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
Theatre and Performance Department.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crewe, Bertie
Architects from Essex
English theatre architects
1937 deaths
Place of birth missing
1860 births