Charles Henry Howell

FRIBA 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 ...

(c.1824 – 1905) was the principal

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 ...

lunatic asylum The lunatic asylum (or insane asylum) was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. The fall of the lunatic asylum and its eventual replacement by modern psychiatric hospitals explains the rise of organized, institutional psychiatry ...

s in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

during much of the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edward ...

. Based in Lancaster Place,

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 was a partner in the architects' firm Howell & Brooks. Howell designed asylums at

Broadgate Broadgate is a large, office and retail estate in the Bishopsgate Without area of the City of London. It is owned by British Land and GIC and managed by Savills. The estate is in part of the eastern City fringe, outside the line of the ...

, near

Beverley Beverley is a market and minster town and a civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre and north-west of City of Hull. The town is known for ...

(1868–1871),

Moulsford Moulsford is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire. Before 1974 it was in the county of Berkshire, in Wallingford Rural District, but following the Berkshire boundary changes of that year it became a part of Oxfordshire. Moulsford is ...

, near Wallingford (1868–1870 and 1877), Brookwood, near

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

(1862–1867),

Cane Hill Cane Hill Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in Coulsdon in the London Borough of Croydon. The site is owned by GLA Land and Property. History The hospital has its origins as the third Surrey County Pauper Lunatic Asylum, designed by Cha ...

near

Coulsdon Coulsdon (, traditionally pronounced ) is a town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, in the ceremonial county of Greater London since 1965. Prior to this it was part of the historic county of Surrey. History The l ...

(1883) and

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

(1893–1898). He was Consultant Architect to the

Lunacy Commission The Commissioners in Lunacy or Lunacy Commission were a public body established by the Lunacy Act 1845 to oversee asylums and the welfare of mentally ill people in England and Wales. It succeeded the Metropolitan Commissioners in Lunacy. Previo ...

and was Surveyor of Public Buildings for the

County of Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. W ...

from 1860–1893. Between 1886 and 1897, Howell was the assessor for seven large asylum design competitions, when professional concern was expressed "...

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mech ...

Giles, Gough & Trollope or G T Hine always seemed to receive the first two premiums - with the result that any new ideas on asylum design were being stultified". Other buildings designed by Howell include Christ Church at

Shamley Green Wonersh is a village and civil parish in the Waverley district of Surrey, England and Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Wonersh contains three Conservation Areas and spans an area three to six miles SSE of Guildford. In the ...

, Surrey (1864), St Lawrence's Church at

Seal Chart Seal Chart is a village east of Sevenoaks in Kent, England. It is within the Sevenoaks local government district. It is in the civil parish of Seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquat ...

, Kent (1867–68), St Leonard's Hill, Windsor, (1875), Ribsden, near

Bagshot, Surrey Bagshot is a town in the Surrey Heath borough of Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. In the past, Bagshot served as an important staging post between London, Southampton and the West Country, evidenced by the original ...

(1876) and

Surrey County Hall County Hall is a former municipal building in Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, England. The building, which was the headquarters of Surrey County Council from 1893 to 2020, is a landmark in Kingston and is a Grade II listed building. History ...

. He was a Fellow 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 ...

. Howell died on 22 June 1905 at Lynwood,

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Lea ...

, in Surrey.Library of the Royal Institute of British Architects

References

External links

Cane Hill Hospital
1824 births 1905 deaths 19th-century English architects People involved with mental health Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects {{UK-architect-stub