Joseph Butler (1804–84), born in Parndon,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, was an architect, surveyor and builder. His specialist area was that of church buildings. He worked widely in Sussex,

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 ...

Career

Joseph Butler worked as surveyor in

Chichester cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of th ...

, where he supervised R C Carpenter's restoration from 1846. Butler was responsible for the opening up of the sub-deanery in the cathedral and for its eventual removal to a new church Saint Peter the Great,

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

. In 1849 Butler designed the Bishop Otter Memorial College, a college to train school teachers,

Nairn Nairn (; gd, Inbhir Narann) is a town and royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nairn enters the Moray Firth. It is the t ...

and Pevesner described the riginalbuildings as being of a 'sober neo-Tudor style' and were 'typically honest and unselfconscious'. When Chichester Cathedral Spire fell down after a storm in 1861, it was rebuilt by Sir Gilbert Scott. Before the disaster, Joseph Butler had carried out a survey of the cathedral. It was with the aid of his detailed drawings that a replica of the original spire was constructed. During 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 ...

there was a Gothic revival in the design and restoration of churches. Nairn and Pevesner were scathing in their criticism of many church architects of that era describing them as 'meddlers', however they credit Butler, who built in the Gothic style, as saving many dozens of village churches.

Selection of work

''Source: Sussex Parishes. Lambeth Palace Library.''

Churches designed

*Chichester, - St. Paul (1836); *Chichester, - St Peter the Great (1848-52 - worked as surveyor for R C Carpenter); *Plaistow (1853–54); * Stanmer (1838 – attributed) *Stedham (1850)

Churches restored or extended

*Appledram (1845); *Bosham (1845); *Brighton and Hove, -

St Andrew's Church, Church Road, Hove St Andrew's Church is an Anglican church in Church Road, Hove, in the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is usually referred to as St Andrew (Old Church) to distinguish it from another St Andrew's Church in Waterloo Street, elsewhere in Ho ...

(1833-35 - contractor) *Compton (1849–51); *Fishbourne (1847); *Forest Row (1850); *Lower Beeding (1852 – unexecuted); *Mid Lavant (1844); *Pagham (1838); * Pyecombe (1842 – examined); * Sidlesham (1840 – unexecuted); * Southwick (1835 – extent of involvement uncertain); *Stoughton (1844); *Upper Beeding (1852)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Joseph Architects from Essex 1884 deaths 1804 births Gothic Revival architects English ecclesiastical architects 19th-century English architects