Joseph Bromfield (1744–1824) was a notable English
plasterer
A plasterer is a tradesman who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering, has been used in buildin ...
and architect working in the
West Midlands and in Central and Northern Wales in the late Georgian period. He was
Mayor of Shrewsbury
This is a list of notable Mayors of Shrewsbury, the county town of the county of Shropshire, England, since the first recorded mayoralty in 1638. Prior to 1638 the leading citizens of the borough were the two Bailiffs. From 1974 to 2009 the posit ...
in 1809.
Early career
He was born, probably in
Whitchurch, Shropshire
Whitchurch is a market town in the north of Shropshire, England. It lies east of the Wales, Welsh border, 2 miles south of the Cheshire border, north of the county town of Shrewsbury, south of Chester, and east of Wrexham. At the 2021 Unit ...
, in 1744. His father, Robert Bromfield, was a builder. By 1752 the family had moved to
Old Swinford
Oldswinford or Old Swinford is an area south of the centre of Stourbridge, in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, Dudley district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England.
History
Originally, Oldswinford was an exten ...
in Worcestershire, where his father had become the clerk to the works at
Hagley Hall
Hagley Hall is a Listed building#Categories of listed building, Grade I listed 18th-century house in Hagley, Worcestershire, the home of the Lyttelton family. It was the creation of George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton, George, 1st Lord Lytte ...
. Joseph Bromfield was one of four brothers – the other three were also involved in the building trades, the youngest being Benjamin Bromfield, who became a sculptor, designer and manufacturer of marble fireplaces which he supplied to stately homes including
Chirk Castle
Chirk Castle () is a Grade I listed castle located in Chirk, Wrexham County Borough, Wales, from Chirk railway station, now owned and run by the National Trust.
History
The castle was built in 1295 by Roger Mortimer de Chirk, uncle of Roge ...
in Denbighshire. The father, Robert Bromfield, appears to have been associated with the Shrewsbury architect
Thomas Farnolls Pritchard
Thomas Farnolls Pritchard (also known as Farnolls Pritchard; baptised 11 May 1723 – 23 December 1777) was an English architect and interior decorator who is best remembered for his design of the first cast-iron bridge in the world.
Biography ...
whose most important work was the designs for the Iron Bridge at
Ironbridge
Ironbridge is a riverside village in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. Located on the bank of the River Severn, at the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge, it lies in the civil parish of The Gorge. Ironbridge developed beside, ...
. Through this connection his son Joseph started to undertake plasterwork commissions for Farnolls Pritchard.
Architect
In 1777 when Farnolls Pritchard died, Bromfield, a talented draughtsman, appears to have decided to work as an architect and to take over Farnolls Pritchard's architectural practice. Initially he worked in Shropshire, but his architectural practice gradually spread to cover most of North and Central Wales. He owned a property, Brannas Lodge on the
river Dee, near
Bala
Bala may refer to:
Films
* ''Bala'' (1976 film), an English-language dance documentary
* ''Bala'' (2002 film), a Tamil-language action film
* ''Bala'' (2019 film), a Hindi-language black comedy
Life forms
*Bala shark (''Balantiocheilos melano ...
in Merionethshire, from where he seems to have practised.
[Moore N Llandyssil Rectory: its architecture and building history. Montgomeryshire Collections 90(2002) 99–108.] He now undertook some commissions for fairly major country houses, such as
Rhug
Rhug (normally Y Rug in Welsh; sometimes given the antiquarian spelling Rûg) is a township in the parish of Corwen, Denbighshire, Wales, formerly in the old cantref of Edernion, Edeirnion and later a part of Merionethshire, two miles from CorwenR ...
,
Caerynwch and
Nanhoron; rectories, including
Newtown and
Llandyssil
Llandyssil () is a village in the community of Abermule with Llandyssil, in Powys, Wales, in the traditional county of Montgomeryshire. It is about two miles from the town of Montgomery, Powys, Montgomery.
In 2001 there were 420 inhabitants i ...
in Montgomeryshire, and the workhouses at
Morda
Morda is a village on the outskirts of the town of Oswestry, Shropshire, located near the border of England with Wales.
The village is named after the River Morda, a tributary of the River Vyrnwy.
History
The Morda Valley
Prior to 1792, M ...
outside
Oswestry
Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the England–Wales border, Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5, A483 road, A483 and A495 road, A495 ro ...
and
Forden
Forden () is a village near Welshpool in Powys, Wales, formerly in the historic county of Montgomeryshire. It forms part of the community (and community council) of Forden with Leighton and Trelystan with the neighbouring settlements of Trelyst ...
near
Montgomery. His work is typified by the use of large bay windows and the use of “wrap-round” or half “wrap-round” verandas. He was influenced by the villa designs in
Italianate style
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Ita ...
that was developed by
John Nash, who had designed
Cronkhill
Cronkhill, Atcham, Shropshire, designed by John Nash, is "the earliest Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style co ...
close to
Attingham Park
Attingham Park is an English country house and estate in Shropshire. Located near the village of Atcham, on the B4380 Shrewsbury to Wellington road. It is owned by the National Trust and is a Grade I listed building.
Attingham Park was buil ...
in 1805. Bromfield was also responsible for Berrington Rectory (later Berrington Hall) in the next parish to Cronkhill, as well as working at Attingham. Many Bromfield houses have typical low sloping Regency roofs with wide eaves. Bromfield was a pioneer of the early use of cast ironwork in domestic buildings, probably sourced from
William Hazeldine's foundries in
Coleham, Shrewsbury and Plas Kynaston near the
Pontcysyllte aqueduct
The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (; ) is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee in the Vale of Llangollen in northeast Wales.
The 18-arched stone and cast iron structure is for use by narrowboats and was complet ...
at
Chirk
Chirk () is a town and Community (Wales), community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, south of Wrexham, between it and Oswestry. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 4,468. Historically in the historic counties of Wales, traditional coun ...
. Examples of this ironwork can be seen at
Plas Bodegroes on the Llyn Peninsula where the cast iron downspouts and hopper heads are dated 1779, and the Rectory at Llandyssil which has similar downspouts but also cast iron stanchions used to support the veranda, which are similar to those used in early factory construction.

The most interesting house by Bromfield is Glansevern Hall, between
Welshpool
Welshpool ( ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales, historically in the Historic counties of Wales, county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn. The c ...
and
Newtown, which was completed for Sir Arthur Davies Owen in 1807. This house in the
Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...
style and the stone from which it was built came from the Cefn quarries in
Minera
Minera (; ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It adjoins the village of Coedpoeth.
The community, which in addition to Minera village includes a number of smaller hamlets such as Gwynfryn and New Brighton and large ...
near Wrexham. The use of the Greek Revival style is comparatively rare and Pevsner and Lang point out that the earliest example of it is
James "Athenian" Stuart
James "Athenian" Stuart (1713 – 2 February 1788) was a Scottish archaeologist, architect and artist, best known for his central role in pioneering Neoclassicism#In architecture and in the decorative and visual arts, Neoclassicism.
Life
Ea ...
's Doric temple at
Hagley Park. As Joseph Bromfield's father was the clerk of the works at Hagley, he may have got the idea from this, or alternatively he may have been aware of the work of
Thomas Harrison of Chester, who was a major exponent of this style. For the lodge at Brannas Bromfield used 'Gothic' rounded arch windows, apparently copying Farnolls Pritchard, who was very fond of using Gothic and
Chinoiserie
(, ; loanword from French '' chinoiserie'', from '' chinois'', "Chinese"; ) is the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese and other Sinosphere artistic traditions, especially in the decorative arts, garden design, architecture, lite ...
styles in his architecture. The alterations to
Brynkinallt
Brynkinalt Hall (; or simply Brynkinalt ()) is a Grade-II* listed private property, built in 1612, near Chirk, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The hall is surrounded by an estate including of agricultural land and of woodland. Part of the est ...
, Denbighshire in 1806 show that Bromfield could also work in the castellated Gothic style.
Until recently Joseph Bromfield was largely unrecognised as an architect.
Howard Colvin
Sir Howard Montagu Colvin (15 October 1919 – 27 December 2007) was a British architectural historian who produced two of the most outstanding works of scholarship in his field: ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–18 ...
's first edition of the "Bibliographical Dictionary of British Architects" failed to make any mention of his work, while the third edition published in 1995 observes that Bromfield "As an architect he appears to have been competent but unremarkable". Noticeably the 4th edition (2008), which lists more examples of his work, omits this remark.
Works
This is a list of work by Joseph Bromfield
Plasterwork
*
Hartlebury Castle
Hartlebury Castle, a Grade I listed building, near Hartlebury in Worcestershire, central England, was built in the mid-13th century as a fortified manor house, on manorial land earlier given to the Bishop of Worcester by King Burgred of Mercia, ...
Plasterwork in Bishop Hurd's Library.
*
Ruabon
Ruabon (; ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough
Wrexham County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough, with city status in the United Kingdom, city status, in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. I ...
Church. Plasterwork in 1770-1
["Moore", 105]
*
Wynnstay
Wynnstay is a country house within an important landscaped park 1.3 km (0.75 miles) south-east of Ruabon, near Wrexham, Wales. Wynnstay, previously Watstay, is a famous estate and the family seat of the Williams-Wynn baronets. The house wa ...
. Plasterwork in 1770-1
*
Powis Castle
Powis Castle () is a medieval castle, fortress and grand country house near Welshpool, in Powys, Wales. The seat of the Herbert family, Herbert family, earls of Powis, the castle is known for its formal gardens and for its interiors, the former ...
Plasterwork in the Ballroom 1774-7
["Moore", 105]
*St Alkmund, Shrewsbury
["Colvin" 164]
*
St Chad, Shrewsbury
*Oakley Park
4 Quarry Place Shrewsbury.
Architecture
*
Nanhoron, Llyn Peninsula. Designed for Col Richard Edwards 1797.
*Broomhall, Llyn Peninsula
*
Plas Bodegroes, Llyn Peninsula 1789
*Caerynwch, Brithdir, Merioneth. For Sir Richard Richards
*Brannas Lodge, Llandrillo (attributed)
*
Nannau,
Llanfachreth
Llanfachreth is a village approximately three miles north-east of Dolgellau, Gwynedd, in the Community (Wales), community of Brithdir and Llanfachreth within the historic boundaries of Merionethshire (), Wales.
History
Llanfachreth is a small ...
(the demolished wing was certainly his work (1806), while the house is attributed)
*Glanllyn, Llyn Peninsula (attrib).
["Moore", 103, note 13.]
*
Rhug
Rhug (normally Y Rug in Welsh; sometimes given the antiquarian spelling Rûg) is a township in the parish of Corwen, Denbighshire, Wales, formerly in the old cantref of Edernion, Edeirnion and later a part of Merionethshire, two miles from CorwenR ...
. For Col Edward Vaughan Salisbury (1802–05)
*
Rhagatt (attributed).
Montgomeryshire
*Newtown Rectory 1812.
*Llandyssil Rectory for the Rev Devereux Mytton 1812–1814.
*
Glansevern,
Berriew
Berriew () is a village and Community (Wales), community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. It is on the Montgomeryshire Canal and the Afon Rhiw, near the confluence (Welsh: ''aber'') with the River Severn (Welsh language, Welsh: Hafren, Afon Hafr ...
. Grecian revival style house and gatelodge for Sir Arthur Davies Owen (1803–07)
*Rhiwport, Berriew (attributed-typical veranda)
*St Nicholas,
Churchstoke
Churchstoke (; also spelled as Church Stoke) is a village, community and electoral ward in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. Located in the southeast of the Vale of Montgomery, it is overlooked by Todleth Hill, Roundton Hill and Corndon Hill. Th ...
, alterations to Church tower 1814–15
*
Forden
Forden () is a village near Welshpool in Powys, Wales, formerly in the historic county of Montgomeryshire. It forms part of the community (and community council) of Forden with Leighton and Trelystan with the neighbouring settlements of Trelyst ...
Workhouse (1794–95)
Denbighshire
*
Brynkinallt
Brynkinalt Hall (; or simply Brynkinalt ()) is a Grade-II* listed private property, built in 1612, near Chirk, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The hall is surrounded by an estate including of agricultural land and of woodland. Part of the est ...
, Chirk, near Ruabon. Re-designed the exterior of the house for
2nd Viscount Dungannon, with gothic castellated turrets in 1806, which have now been removed. The gothic castellated park gateway may also be ascribed to him.
Shropshire
*Morda Workhouse, Oswestry.
*Styche Hall (1796–98). Alterations.
*
Apley Castle
Apley Castle was a medieval fortified manor in the village of Hadley, Shropshire, England.
History
Apley Castle was a moated, fortified manor house in Hadley near Wellington. By the early 14th century the manor was owned by the Charlton family ...
for St John Charlton. (1791–94). Demolished 1955.
*
Attingham Park
Attingham Park is an English country house and estate in Shropshire. Located near the village of Atcham, on the B4380 Shrewsbury to Wellington road. It is owned by the National Trust and is a Grade I listed building.
Attingham Park was buil ...
Lodges (1796–99)
*
Church Aston
Church Aston is a village and parish in Shropshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,354.
It is to the south of Newport, though has become merged with the town in recent years due to suburban growth.
Als ...
Church c. 1800
*Berrington Rectory (later Berrington Hall) (1805)
*
Acton Scott
Acton Scott is a village and parish near Church Stretton in Shropshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 104. It lies in the Shropshire Hills area of outstanding natural beauty. The settlement was recorded as '' ...
Hall. Remodelled for Thomas Stackhouse Acton (c. 1810-20).
*Walcot Hall-Redesign of facade and portico 1784–90 for
2nd Lord Clive.
*Sham Castle (attributed)
*The Crescent, Shrewsbury. 1793
*37 St Julians Friars, Shrewsbury. Bromfield's Shrewsbury townhouse with fine plasterwork. Now the Sandford House Hotel
[Newman “Buildings of Shropshire”]
References
*
*
*
*
Literature
*Colvin H. (2008) ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600–1840.'' Yale University Press, 4th edition London, 163–164.
*Ionides J. (1999) ''Thomas Farnolls Pritchard of Shrewsbury, Architect and ‘Inventor of Cast Iron Bridges''. The Dog Rose Press, Ludlow.
*Moore N. (2002) ''Llandyssil Rectory: its architecture and building history''. Montgomeryshire Collections 90, 99–108
*R Scourfield and R Haslam (2013) ''The Buildings of Wales: Powys; Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire'' Yale University Press .
External links
for information on Bodegroes, which is now a hotel.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bromfield Joseph
1744 births
1824 deaths
Mayors of places in Shropshire
18th-century English architects
19th-century English people
People from Whitchurch, Shropshire
Architects from Shropshire