David Evelyn Nye MBE was a British architect, born in 1906, who practised in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was best known as a cinema architect, having designed many picture houses in the 1930s for the Shipman and King cinema circuit. He was a committed

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

abstainer Abstentionism is the political practice of standing for election to a deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an election boycott in that abst ...

and

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

Architectural work

In 1930 he was awarded the first scholarship by 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 ...

, through which he learned about the restoration of ancient buildings. Nye set up his own practice in 1931, initially working as honorary architect to the

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

Rural Community Council The rural community councils (RCCs) were established in rural England during the twentieth century to promote rural community life. Each shire county now has one, although some are relative newcomers. The RCCs also form a national coalition call ...

Maldon, Essex Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced i ...

. He was responsible for the 1932 restoration work on Thomas Plume's Library. It was in Maldon that he secured his first cinema project, designing the Embassy Cinema for the Shipman & King cinema circuit, which was erected on Maldon High Street in 1936. The Embassy was demolished in 1987 to make way for a

sheltered housing Sheltered housing or sheltered accommodation are terms covering a wide range of rented housing for older and/or disabled or other vulnerable people. In the United Kingdom most commonly it refers to grouped housing such as a block or "scheme" ...

complex, Embassy Court. Nye continued his association with Shipman & King for another 9 years, designing over 40 cinemas. His most renowned cinema design was possibly

the Rex, Berkhamsted The Rex is a movie theatre, cinema in the town of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. Designed in the art deco style by David Evelyn Nye in 1936, the cinema opened to the public in 1938. After 50 years of service, the cinema closed in 1988 and ...

, an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

picture house designed in 1937 with a nautical theme, featuring decorations of waves, shells and portholes. The Rex was eventually turned into a bingo hall and then closed in 1988, but the building was listed Grade II by English Heritage, preserving it from demolition by property developers. A local campaign to restore the Rex succeeded and in 2004 it was re-opened as an independent cinema. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Nye served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. After the war, he began his work as an architect again, specialising in church building and restoration. He designed the church of St Faith's Church, Dulwich in the mid-1950s. He was appointed Architect to the

Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark ( ) is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient ...

and Architect and Surveyor to

Guildford Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford, commonly known as Guildford Cathedral, is the Anglican cathedral in Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow, Earl Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral ...

. His practice also carried out restoration work for 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 was responsible for the reconstruction of All Hallows, London Wall after wartime bombing and the new Pewterers' Hall in Oat Lane in the City in 1960. Another restoration was of the Dartmouth Butterwalk which had been severely damaged during German air raids in 1943. Nye was chairman of SPAB’s Technical panel for several years. The Architects' Practice of Nye, Saunders and Partners, based in

Godalming Godalming ( ) is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settl ...

, was formed in 1971 following the merger of David Evelyn Nye & Partners with A.E.F. Saunders and Associates, and today the Nye Saunders practice continues to specialise in church and historic building conservation.

Buildings

File:St. Peters Church Maldon.jpg, Thomas Plume's Library, Maldon File:Christ The King, Salfords - geograph.org.uk - 66796.jpg, Christ the King, Salfords File:Bromley, St Mark's Church - geograph.org.uk - 240687.jpg, St Mark's Bromley File:Berkhamsted Rex auditorium1.jpg, The interior of Nye's Rex Cinema, Berkhamsted * The Rex Cinema,

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the River Bulbourne, Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

(1937) * St Faith's Church, Dulwich, London *

St Mark's Church, Bromley St Mark's Church, Bromley is a Church of England parish church in Bromley. It is located on Westmoreland Road, to the south of the town centre. History Beginnings In the 1880s there was already a worshipping congregation in the Bromley South a ...

, London (restoration, 1953–54) * St Swithin’s Church, Purley, London (1954–55) * Church of Christ the King,

Salfords Salfords ) is a village in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It lies approximately south of Redhill on the A23 London to Brighton road. The village is within the civil parish of Salfords and Sidlow which covers a popu ...

, Surrey (1958–67) * Embassy Theatre, Peterborough (1937)

Cinemas

Everyman Esher in Esher, United Kingdom (4 screens) Maxime Cinema in Blackwood, United Kingdom (5 screens) Rex Cinema in Berkhamsted, United Kingdom (1 screen)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nye, David Evelyn Architects from Surrey Art Deco architects 1906 births 1986 deaths 20th-century English architects British film people Members of the Order of the British Empire