Everything about Basil Champneys totally explained
Basil Champneys (
September 17,
1842–
April 5,
1935) was an architect and author whose more notable buildings include
Newnham College, Cambridge,
Manchester's
John Rylands Library,
Mansfield College, Oxford and
Oriel College, Oxford's Rhodes Building.
Life
Champneys was born in
Whitechapel, London, on September 17, 1842 into a family with a modest income, his father, William Weldon Champneys, was an Evangelical Vicar of St Mary's Church,
Whitechapel, with the problems of
London’s poor to worry about. One of eight children, he attended
Charterhouse School, showing a talent for
mathematics and lacking in
drawing skills. In
1861, he studied
classics at
Trinity College, Cambridge, where
Henry Sidgwick was a
fellow. In
1864, he failed to get the 'first class' degree he'd hoped for, achieving a second class in the
classical tripos, and he took articles to study as an architect with
John Prichard, the Surveyor of
Llandaff Cathedral. Champneys set up his practice as an
architect in
1867 in Queen’s Square, London, close to the office of
William Morris & Co.
In 1876 he married May Theresa Ella, a daughter of Maurice Drummond, descendant of
William Drummond, 4th Viscount Strathallan, they'd two sons and two daughters. Champneys was a member of the Century Guild, the
Athenaeum Club and the Saville Club, making acquaintances with
Walter Pater,
Robert Louis Stevenson,
Sidney Colvin, and
Coventry Patmore. In 1912 the
Royal Institute of British Architects awarded Champneys its
royal gold medal for architecture. Champneys died at his home, 42 Frognall Lane, Hampstead, on April 5, 1935.
Writings
His writings include an introduction to
Henry Merritt: Art Criticism and Romance, published in 1879 and
Churches about Queen Victoria Street, a portfolio published in 1871,
Victorian art and originality for the
British Architect published in 1887, and
The architecture of Queen Victoria's reign for the
Art Journal, published in 1887.
A Quiet Corner of England was published in 1875 after being circulated as a portfolio and a work regarding his mother-in-law, Adelaide Drummond,
A Retrospect and Memoir, was published in 1915. Champneys' correspondence has been preserved in the General Collection of the
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Architecture
Believing that architecture was 'an art not a science' he joined the
Art Workers Guild instead of the
Royal Institute of British Architects. Although Champneys was able to work in the
Gothic style that John Prichard preferred and taught, he later became one of the pioneers of the
Queen Anne style, working on at least 100 buildings throughout England.
John Rylands' widow,
Enriqueta Rylands, had admired the library Champneys had designed for
Mansfield College, Oxford and hired him to develop the design on a more lavish scale — The John Rylands Memorial Library in Deansgate, Manchester took nine years to build before opening on
January 1,
1900, it's one of Champneys' finest designs.
Champneys' Oxford buildings include the
Indian Institute (1883-1896),
Mansfield College (1887-1890), the Robinson Tower at
New College (1896), The Rhodes Building in
Oriel College (1908-1911),
Merton College (1904-1910), the library of
Somerville College (1903) and the church of St Peter-le-Bailey (1872-1874), which serves as the chapel for
St Peter's College.
His Cambridge works include the Archaeological Museum (1883), now
Peterhouse Theatre, the Divinity and Literary School and
Newnham College (between 1875 and 1910), for which he's credited for bringing a 'touch of lightness' to the college and is acknowledged for his attention to both construction details, and to cost.
Champneys' buildings elsewhere include the chapel of
Mill Hill School, London (1898), buildings for
Bedford College in
Regent's Park (1910), King's Lynn Grammar School, Norfolk (1910-1913), the Butler Museum at
Harrow School (1886), the museum at
Winchester College (1898), and
Bedford High School (1878-1892).
Churches by Champneys include his father's parish church, St Luke's,
Kentish Town (1867-1870), the sailors' church of St Mary Star of the Sea,
Hastings (1878), and St Chad, Slindon,
Staffordshire (1894). In 1898 he added a porch to St Mary, Manchester, where he was surveyor, and between 1902 and 1903, a south annexe. His home, Hall Oak, in
Frognall, Hampstead was also one of his works.
Further Information
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