Eric Carwardine Francis (30 August 1887 – 26 January 1976) was a British architect and painter who designed a number of notable buildings, particularly in
Monmouthshire,
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
and
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lor ...
, in the early and mid-twentieth century, many in the
Arts and Crafts
A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...
style.
Life and career
He was the son of George Carwardine Francis, a solicitor of
Chepstow
Chepstow ( cy, Cas-gwent) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the wester ...
. He was articled in 1909 as an architect under
Sir Guy Dawber
Sir Edward Guy Dawber, RA (King's Lynn, 3 August 1861 – London, 24 April 1938) was an English architect working in the late Arts and Crafts style, whose work is particularly associated with the Cotswolds.
Biography
Edward Guy Dawber ...
, before becoming an assistant to another leading member of the profession,
Detmar Blow
Detmar Jellings Blow (24 November 1867 – 7 February 1939) was a British architect of the early 20th century, who designed principally in the Arts and Crafts movement, arts and crafts style. His clients belonged chiefly to the British aristocra ...
.
He then began working with the writer and architectural historian
Henry Avray Tipping
Henry Avray Tipping (22 August 1855 – 16 November 1933) was a French-born British writer on country houses and gardens, a garden designer, and Architectural Editor of '' Country Life'' magazine for 17 years.
Early life
Tipping was born in th ...
. Inheriting a family fortune in 1911, Tippin