John Alfred Gotch (28 September 1852,

Kettering Kettering is a market town, market and industrial town, industrial town in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, west of Cambridge, England, Cambridge, southwest of Peterborough, southeast of Leicester and north- ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

– 17 January 1942, Kettering, Northamptonshire) was a noted English

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 ...

and

architectural historian An architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it. Professional requirements As many architectural historians are employed at universities and other facilities ...

. His brother was the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, ...

painter and illustrator

Thomas Cooper Gotch Thomas Cooper Gotch or T. C. Gotch (1854–1931) was an English painter and book illustrator loosely associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement; he was the brother of John Alfred Gotch, the architect. Gotch studied art in London and Antwe ...

, who painted his portrait. Married to Annie Gotch, one of their sons, Roby Myddleton Gotch was killed in action during the First World War aged 26. John Gotch attended Kettering Grammar School and later studied at the

University of Zürich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

and at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. In 1879 Gotch set up a private architectural practice in

which developed into Gotch & Saunders by entering into partnership with Charles Saunders in 1887. They were later joined by Henry Ralph Surridge and they jointly retired in 1938. The practice still exists as Gotch, Saunders & Surridge LLP, o
GSSArchitecture
In Kettering, Gotch was responsible for the design and construction of shoe factories, warehouses, houses, shops, offices, banks, hospitals, schools, public houses, sports venues, entertainment venues and a temperance hall. The Practice was also responsible for the design of several First World War memorials, and the alteration and expansion of numerous historic country houses, for example, Madingley Hall, now the

Institute of Continuing Education The University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) is a department of University of Cambridge, the University of Cambridge that provides continuing education programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, ranging from unde ...

, part of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. Following the end of the War, Gotch's practice designed and built over 140 branches of

Midland Bank Midland Bank plc was one of the Big Four (banks)#United Kingdom, Big Four banking groups in the United Kingdom for most of the 20th century. It is now part of HSBC. The bank was founded as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birming ...

and, in association with

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

, Gotch designed the interior of the Bank's former headquarters in

Poultry, London Poultry (formerly also Poultrey) is a short street in the City of London, which is the historic nucleus and modern financial centre of London. It is an eastern continuation of Cheapside, between Old Jewry and Mansion House Street, towards Bank ...

which is considered 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 ...

icon. The building is now owned by

Soho House Soho House is a museum run by Birmingham Museums Trust, celebrating Matthew Boulton's life, his partnership with James Watt, his membership of the Lunar Society of Birmingham and his contribution to the Midlands Enlightenment and the Indust ...

and was opened as The Ned in 2017. As well as designing many buildings Gotch had an interest in

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

and

Jacobean architecture The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James VI and I, with whose reign (1603–1625 in England) it is associated. At the start of James's reign, the ...

. He was the author of nine books in this field (two of which were reissued), as well as editor of a book on the history 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 ...

(RIBA). In her dissertation for the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for ...

in the 1930s the art historian

Margaret Whinney Margaret Dickens Whinney (4 February 1897 – 1975) was a British art historian who taught at the Courtauld Institute of Art. Her published works included books on British sculpture and architecture. Life Whinney was the daughter of Thomas Bos ...

questioned an earlier assertion made by Gotch in 1912 regarding the reassignment of drawings from

Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was an English architect who was the first significant Architecture of England, architect in England in the early modern era and the first to employ Vitruvius, Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmet ...

, who Gotch wrote on extensively, to John Webb. ’While Whinney agreed that the drawing was not Jones', she proved, using new evidence, that the Webb sketches had come from original designs by Jones’. Apart from his renown as an architectural historian, he also achieved eminence as a public figure and representative of the architectural profession. He was president of the

Architectural Association The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest private school of architecture in the UK. The AA hosts exhibitions, lectures, symposia and publications. History The Architectura ...

in 1886-1887, vice-president of the

(RIBA) in 1914-1919, and president of RIBA in 1923-1925: the first provincial architect to be appointed president since the formation of the institute in 1834. In addition, he was vice-president of the Society of Antiquaries, a founder member of the

Royal Fine Art Commission The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) was an executive non-departmental public body of the UK government, established in 1999. It was funded by both the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for ...

, a Trustee of the

Soane Museum Sir John Soane's Museum is a house museum, located next to Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn, London, which was formerly the home of neo-classical architect John Soane. It holds many drawings and architectural models of Soane's projects and a ...

, and president of the Northamptonshire Association of Architects in 1911-1922. In 1924 he received an honorary M.A. degree from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. John Alfred Gotch was appointed the first Charter Mayor of Kettering in 1938. In 2018 a blue plaque in honour of the architect, often cited as 'the man who built Kettering', was unveiled on the former Midland Bank building that he designed in Kettering High Street. RIBA has an archive of Gotch’s sketchbooks, topographical drawings and manuscripts whilst further correspondence is held by

Northamptonshire Record Office The Northamptonshire Record Office is the county record office for Northamptonshire. The archives are held at Wootton Hall Park, Wootton, Northampton, and run by Northamptonshire County Council. The site also houses the Northamptonshire Record S ...

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

hold a series of negatives taken by Gotch and photographs, donated by him, are also held in the

Conway Library The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for ...

whose archive of architectural images is in the process of being digitised as part of the wider Courtauld Connects project.

Notable works

* Alfred East Art Gallery, Kettering, 1913 * Bryn Hafod house in Kettering. built in 1896 for

Charles Wicksteed Charles Wicksteed (1810–1885) was a Unitarian minister, part of the tradition of English Dissenters. Early life and education Charles Wicksteed was born in Shrewsbury; his father was a manufacturer and his mother was descended from the great d ...

. Moulded plaster ceilings were designed by

Leonard Shuffrey Leonard Shuffrey (31 March 1852 – 27 December 1926) was a British architect and architectural designer of the late Victorian and Edwardian period. He was a leading figure of the aesthetic movement that had a significant impact on the develo ...

. *

Kettering Municipal Offices The Municipal Offices is a municipal building in Bowling Green Road in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England. The building is used as an area office for North Northamptonshire Council. History Following significant population growth, largely ass ...

(originally the home of Kettering Grammar School), 1913 *

Rothwell Market House The Market House is a historic building on Market Hill in Rothwell, a town in Northamptonshire, England. The building, which is the meeting place of Rothwell Town Council, is a Grade I listed building. It is managed by the Rothwell Preservation ...

– Commissioned by Sir Thomas Tresham. Work started in 1577 but remained unfinished for nearly 300 years until completed by Gotch.

Selected publications

* ''The Old Halls & Manor-Houses of Northamptonshire. An Illustrated Review'' ith plates London: B. T. Batsford, 1936 * ''The Growth and Work of the Royal Institute of British Architects, 1834-1934'', editor & contributor, London: Royal Institute of British Architects, 1934 * ''Inigo Jones'', London: Methuen, 1928 * ''The Growth of the English House : A Short History of its Architectural Development from 1100 to 1800'' llustrated Second edition, London: B. T. Batsford, 1928 * ''Old English Houses'', London: Methuen, 1925 (second edition, 1926) * ''Early Renaissance Architecture in England'', Second edition, London: B. T. Batsford, 1914 * ''The Original Drawings for the Palace at Whitehall attributed to Inigo Jones'', ith illustrations London: B. T. Batsford, 1912

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotch, John Alfred 1852 births 1942 deaths Alumni of King's College London Architects from Northamptonshire 20th-century English historians People from Kettering Presidents of the Royal Institute of British Architects