Sir Aston Webb, (22 May 1849 – 21 August 1930) was a British

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 ...

who designed the principal facade of

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

and the main building of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, among other major works around England, many of them in partnership with Ingress Bell. He was president of the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

from 1919 to 1924. He was also the founding chairman of the London Society.

Life

The son of a watercolourist (and former pupil of the landscape artist David Cox), Edward Webb, Aston Webb was born in

Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...

, South London, on 22 May 1849 and received his initial architectural training articled in the firm of Banks and Barry from 1866 to 1871, after which he spent a year travelling in Europe and Asia. He returned to London in 1874 to set up his own practice. From the early 1880s, he joined 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 ...

(1883) and began working in partnership with Ingress Bell (1836–1914). Their first major commission was a winning design for the Victoria Law Courts in Birmingham (1886), the first of numerous public building schemes the pair designed over the next 23 years. Towards the end of his career, Webb was assisted by his sons, Maurice and

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

. Ralph Knott, who designed London's County Hall, began his work as an apprentice to Webb executing the drawings for his competition entries. He died, aged 81, in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, London, on 21 August 1930.

Honours and awards

He served as RIBA president (1902–1904) and, having been elected as a full member of the Royal Academy in 1903, served as acting president from 1919 to 1924. He received the

Royal Gold Medal The Royal Gold Medal for architecture is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of the British monarch, in recognition of an individual's or group's substantial contribution to international architecture. It is gi ...

for Architecture in 1905 and was the first recipient of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in 1907. He was the first chairman of the London Society in 1912. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1904, appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

in 1909; and appointed to the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

as Commander in 1911, promoted to Knight Commander in 1914 and Knight Grand Cross in 1925. In 2011, after being selected by local residents, a new traffic relief boulevard constructed in proximity to the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

was named after Webb.

Works

One of his earliest works was built for the Six Masters of the Royal Grammar School Worcester in 1877. These

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...

s are in the

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

style, different from his later work. In 1881 he designed North Breache Manor in Surrey. A small country house in the Tudor Gothic manner, but with Arts and Crafts detailing, it was one of the largest and most extravagant of his private contracts from this earlier period. Webb's first major work was the restoration of the medieval

St Bartholomew-the-Great The Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great, sometimes abbreviated to St-Barts-the-Great, is a medieval church in the Church of England's Diocese of London located in Smithfield, London, Smithfield within the City of London. The building was ...

in Smithfield, London. His brother Edward Alfred Webb was the churchwarden at the time, and his association with the church probably helped the young architect get the job. In London, Webb's best-known works include the Queen Victoria Memorial and The Mall approach to, and the principal façade of,

, which he re-designed in 1913. Webb also designed the

's main building (designed 1891, opened 1909), the

Royal United Services Institute The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi) is a defence and security think tank with its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1831 by the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley ...

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

(1893–95), and – as part of The Mall scheme –

Admiralty Arch The Admiralty Arch is a historic landmark building in London, providing road and pedestrian access between The Mall, London, The Mall, which extends to the southwest, and Trafalgar Square to the northeast. Commissioned by King Edward VII in mem ...

(1908–09). He also designed the

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth, also known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

, Devon, where Royal Naval officers are still trained. He enlarged and sympathetically restored the perpendicular Church of St John Baptist, Claines, Worcester, finishing in 1886. Nearby he was also responsible for the new church of St. George, consecrated in 1895, which replaced an earlier smaller building in St. George's Square, Barbourne, Worcester. With his partner Ingress Bell, he extended St Andrew's Church, in Fulham Fields, London, remodelled the chancel, built the Lady Chapel, and designed the rood screen. He also designed the Holy Trinity Cathedral in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

, Ghana. Other educational commissions included the new buildings of

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

, Sussex (1893–1902), the Royal College of Science,

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

(1900–06),

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

(1908), the

Royal School of Mines The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...

, South Kensington (1909–13), Royal Russell School,

Coombe, Croydon Coombe is a place in the London Borough of Croydon, situated south-east of central Croydon, between Addiscombe, Selsdon and Upper Shirley, Croydon, Upper Shirley. Formerly a hamlet, since the growth of suburban development the area has become swa ...

, Surrey, and the Royal College of Science for Ireland which now houses the Irish

Government Buildings Government Buildings () is a large Edwardian building enclosing a quadrangle on Merrion Street in Dublin, Ireland, in which several key offices of the Government of Ireland are located. Among the offices of State located in the building are: ...

. Residential commissions included Nos 2 (''The Gables'') and 4 (''Windermere'') Blackheath Park, in Blackheath, south-east London. He also designed (1895–96) a library wing, including the Cedar Library, at The Hendre, a large Victorian mansion in Monmouthshire, for

John Rolls, 1st Baron Llangattock John Allan Rolls, 1st Baron Llangattock, (19 February 1837 – 24 September 1912) was a British landowner, Conservative Party politician, socialite, local benefactor and agriculturalist. He lived at The Hendre, a Victorian country house ...

. In March 1889 the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

of the French Protestant Church of London commissioned Webb to design a new church. It was erected in 1891–93 at 8–9 Soho Square in London. The church is one of Webb's Gothic school works. At Mumford's Mill in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

, southeast London, with Ingress Bell, Webb designed a grain silo built in 1897 on the eastern side of Deptford Creek. In 1901 Webb designed the headquarters for a brewery at 115 Tooley Street, London, recently converted into 14 apartments as " Aston Webb House". This was done as part of the development of More London. Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray, commissioned Webb to undertake major extensions to his property, Dunecht House, Aberdeenshire, which were carried out 1913–20. At the

(1900–1912), the whole of the original scheme, in the Byzantine style, was the product of the Webb-Bell partnership. This consisted of a curved building with five radial blocks. The central building of Chancellor's Court containing the Great Hall is named after Aston Webb. The main feature is a large dome that sits atop the entrance

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior Long gallery, gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only parti ...

. The two radial blocks to each side were to be teaching blocks for various engineering disciplines; but the easternmost was not built until the Bramall Music Building was added roughly a century later. The scheme also included the straight run of buildings to the north completing the 'D' shape. Originally these were the physics and chemistry departments, and the Harding Memorial Library. The scheme was set off by the free standing clock tower (" Old Joe") over 100 metres high and the tallest structure in Birmingham until 1966. Sir Aston Webb also designed the chapels of Worksop College, Nottinghamshire (1911) and Ellesmere College, Shropshire (1926), both of which are Woodard Schools.

Gallery of architectural work

File:Admiralty Arch - 01.jpg,

, The Mall, London File:Birmingham - Lawcourt 2.JPG, Victoria Law Courts, Birmingham File:Irishgovbuildings.JPG, Government Buildings, Dublin, Ireland File:BRNC-Dartmouth.jpg,

, Dartmouth, Devon File:Entrance Victoria and Albert Museum 2011.jpg, Main entrance,

, South Kensington, London File:London Troops memorial, Royal Exchange.jpg, The London Troops war memorial, Royal Exchange, sculpture by Alfred Drury File:BirminghamUniversityChancellorsCourt.jpg, Aston Webb building,

File:Quad DH.jpg, Quad,

in Horsham, West Sussex File:The Hendre 1.JPG, The Hendre, Monmouthshire, Wales File:French Protestant Church, Soho Square.JPG, French Protestant Church, Soho Square File:Dunecht House - geograph.org.uk - 1448192.jpg, Dunecht House, Aberdeenshire File:045SFEC LONDON-20070917.JPG, The Victoria Memorial, The Mall, London File:Buckingham Palace from gardens, London, UK - Diliff.jpg, Buckingham Palace East Front, as redesigned in 1913 by Webb. File:Royal School of Mines entrance.jpg,

, Imperial College, London File:ImperialCollegeLondon.jpg, Detail of main entrance of the Royal School of Mines File:Hong Kong Legislative Council Building.jpg,

Court of Final Appeal Building The Court of Final Appeal Building, also known as the Old Supreme Court Building, is the home of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. It housed the former Supreme Court (Hong Kong), Supreme Court from 1912 to 1983 and the Legislative Counc ...

, Hong Kong File:St George's church Barbourne Worcester.jpg, St George's church, Barbourne, Worcester File:St Andrew, St Andrews Road, West Kensington W14 - Chancel - geograph.org.uk - 1898758.jpg, St Andrew's Church, Fulham, London. This is the

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

, designed by Sir Aston Webb.

Notes

External links

Webb's biography
with emphasis on his work at St. Bartholomew's; includes numerous references
Claines Church
one of Webb's restorations from 1886
St. George's Church, Barbourne, Worcester
by Aston Webb, 1895.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Aston 1849 births 1930 deaths Architects from London Artists' Rifles soldiers Companions of the Order of the Bath Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects Knights Bachelor Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order People associated with Imperial College London People associated with the University of Birmingham Presidents of the Royal Institute of British Architects Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal Royal Academicians