Richard Hey Sharp (2 June 1793 – 25 February 1853) was an English architect based in
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...
and responsible for the design, repair and construction of a number of iconic Yorkshire buildings.
Early life
Richard Hey Sharp was born on 2 June 1793 to Richard Sharp and Mary (née Turton) and baptised in
Batley
Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of t ...
two days later. Richard was the eldest of five children including the surgeon and promoter of museums
William Sharp and Samuel Sharp who followed his brother into a career in architecture. Initially living in
Gildersome
Gildersome is a village and civil parish in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough 5 miles (7 km) south-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire, England. Glidersome forms part of the Heavy Woollen District.
Location
Historic ...
, the family had moved to
Armley
Armley is a district in the west of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It starts less than from Leeds city centre. Like much of Leeds, Armley grew in the Industrial Revolution and had several mills, one of which houses now the Leeds Indust ...
by the end of the 18th century where his father was a
drysalter
Drysalters were dealers in a range of chemical products, including glue, varnish, dye and colourings. They might supply salt or chemicals for preserving food and sometimes also sold pickles, dried meat or related items. The name ''drysalter'' or '' ...
. The Sharps were from an ancient Yorkshire family which included the mathematician
Abraham Sharp
Abraham Sharp (1653 – 18 July 1742) was an English mathematician and astronomer.
Life
Sharp was born in Horton Hall in Little Horton, Bradford, the son of well-to-do merchant John Sharp and Mary (née Clarkson) Sharp and was educated at Br ...
, the Archbishop of York
John Sharp, Archdeacon of Northumbria
Thomas Sharp, the surgeon
William Sharp and the abolitionist
Granville Sharp
Granville Sharp (10 November 1735 – 6 July 1813) was one of the first Kingdom of Great Britain, British campaigners for the Abolitionism in the United Kingdom, abolition of the slave trade. He also involved himself in trying to correct other ...
. Richard's paternal grandmother, Sarah Hey, was the sister of the surgeon and twice mayor of Leeds
William Hey, theologian
John Hey and academic and essayist
Richard Hey.
Career
He travelled on the Continent between 1816 and 1819 and was a pupil of the York architect
Peter Atkinson with whom he went into partnership on his return. Atkinson and Sharp had an office in Fetter Lane, York until the partnership was dissolved in 1826 after which he set up on his own, before going into business with his younger brother Samuel in the early 1830s, until that partnership was dissolved in 1845. Following that, he worked with
Thomas Spence Hardy, who returned to Lincoln, after Sharp's death.
Works
The following is a list of some of Sharp's works:
* 1821: Gothic canopy over the font in the Parish Church Wakefield (
Wakefield Cathedral
Wakefield Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of All Saints in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, is a co-equal Anglican cathedral with Bradford and Ripon Cathedrals, in the Diocese of Leeds and a seat of the Bishop of Leeds. Originally the ...
)
* 1823-26: Church of St. Mark, Leeds (with
Peter Atkinson)
* 1824-25: Purey Cust Chambers, York
* 1829:
Rotunda Museum
The Rotunda Museum is one of the oldest purpose-built museums still in use in the United Kingdom. The curved grade II* listed building was constructed in 1829 as one of the country's first purpose-built museums. Situated in the English coasta ...
, Scarborough
* 1827-30:
Yorkshire Museum
The Yorkshire Museum is a museum in York, England. It was opened in 1830, and has five permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology, numismatics and astronomy.
History
The museum was founded by the Yorkshire Philosophical Soci ...
, York (interior details)
* 1830: Plans for the Crescent, Scarborough
* 1832: Trinity House, Scarborough
* 1834: Hull Assembly Rooms (now the
Hull New Theatre)
* 1837: Swimming Baths,
Museum Gardens, York.
* 1843:
St Mary's Church, Roecliffe
* 1844-45: Rebuild of the north and south aisles of
St Saviour's Church, York
Death
Richard Hey Sharp died at his home at Heworth Moor, York, on 25 February 1853, aged 60.
Deaths.
''Yorkshire Gazette'' - Saturday 26 February 1853. Retrieved 8 February 2017
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Richard Hey
1793 births
1853 deaths
19th-century English architects
Architects from Yorkshire