C. J. Phipps
C. J. Phipps FSA | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 25 May 1897 London, England | (aged 62)
Occupation | Architect |
Known for | Savoy Theatre, Gaiety Theatre |
Spouse |
Honor Hicks (m. 1860) |
Charles John Phipps
Biography
Born in Bath, Phipps married Honnor Hicks on 10 April 1860. The couple had two sons and three daughters.[1]
Phipps's first major work was the rebuilding of Theatre Royal, Bath in 1862/3, after the old theatre had been destroyed by fire. Moving to London, he quickly established himself as the leading theatrical architect, building, in rapid succession, the Queen's Theatre (1867), the Gaiety Theatre (1868), the Olympic Theatre (1870) and the Vaudeville Theatre (1871).[2] His early work, especially the Gaiety, inspired a young Frank Matcham, who was impressed at Phipps's ability to build a normal-sized theatre on a small, awkward plot.[3]
Phipps designed the
In addition to Phipps's London theatres, he was responsible for over forty theatres in the provinces. He also designed
Phipps died on 25 May 1897, aged 62, and is buried in a family grave on the east side of Highgate Cemetery.
Blame for deaths at Exeter fire
Phipps designed the Theatre Royal, Exeter, which opened in 1886.[5][6] In 1887, during a performance, a gauze curtain caught fire from a gas lamp lighting the stage. The resulting fire claimed the lives of 186 visitors and remains the worst theatre-related disaster, and third most deadly fire in UK history.[7] There were two inquiries into the disaster, both of which placed significant blame on Phipps:
A coroner's inquest was opened on 21 September 1887 before a coroner's jury. The magistrates who issued the premises licence had noted only a single exit from the gallery (where the majority of the deaths occurred) where there should have been two, but Phipps persuaded them that people climbing the railing at the front of the balcony and dropping to the Upper Circle below was a suitable and effective second exit. The verdict was of accidental death, but the coroner's jury found that the magistrates had been misled by Phipps and suggested that a licence should never have been issued.[7] The coroner's jury noted that a safety curtain and fire hydrant were specified in the theatre's plans, but had not yet been installed in the building. They also criticised the lack of ceiling height above the gallery, which gave people less time to escape before being overcome by smoke.[7]
A separate
Theatres
Among the theatres Phipps designed, or co-designed, are:
- Theatre Royal, Bath (1862/3)
- Theatre Royal, Nottingham (1865)
- Theatre Royal, Brighton (1866)
- Queen's Theatre, Long Acre (1867)
- Prince's Theatre, Bristol (1867)
- Gaiety Theatre, London (1868)
- Olympic Theatre (1870)
- Varieties Music Hall, Hoxton (1870), demolished c. 1980
- Vaudeville Theatre, London (1871)
- Gaiety Theatre, Dublin (1871)
- Tivoli Theatre, Aberdeen (1872)
- Sadler's Wells Theatre, London (1879, completely rebuilt in 1931)
- Theatre Royal, Glasgow (1880 and 1895), the largest surviving example of his work
- Theatre Royal, Belfast (1881), demolished 1961
- Savoy Theatre, London (1881),[9] rebuilt 1929
- Royal Strand Theatre (1882) demolished 1905[10]
- Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh (1883)
- Royal Hippodrome Theatre (originally Theatre Royal and Opera House), Eastbourne (1883)
- Prince's Theatre, London (1884) also known as the Prince of Wales Theatre; demolished 1934[11]
- Royal Theatre, Northampton (1884)
- Theatre Royal, Portsmouth(1884)
- Theatre Royal, Exeter (1886)
- Lyric Theatre, London (1888)
- Original Shaftesbury Theatre(1888)
- Garrick Theatre, London, with Walter Emden (1889)
- Tivoli Theatre of Varieties, London (1890), demolished 1957
- Queen's Hall (1893), preliminary designs only, bombed in 1941
- Daly's Theatre (1893), demolished
- Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton(1894)
- Toole's Theatre (1895), never built
- Her Majesty's Theatre, London (1897)
Gallery of architectural work
-
Her Majesty's Theatre, London (1897)
-
Royal Theatre, Northampton
References
- ^ a b Waterhouse 1901.
- ^ a b Burgess, Michael. "Richard D'Oyly Carte", The Savoyard, January 1975, pp. 7–11
- ^ Garlick, Gorel. "Growing Up On The English Riviera"; Wilmore, p. 42
- ^ Kerins, Des (2009), The Gaiety Theatre, South King Street, Dublin, www.arthurlloyd.co.uk, retrieved 27 July 2020
- ^ Theatre Notebook. Society for Theatre Research. 1971. p. 153.
- ^ "Opening of the New Theatre Royal, Exeter". The Stage. 15 October 1886.
- ^ a b c Gillan, Don (2010). "The Fire at the Theatre Royal, Exeter". Stage Beauty.
- ^ "Exeter Theatre Fire". BBC News. 9 June 2003.
- ^ "C.J. Phipps, architect of the theatre". The Savoyard. 20 (2): 7. September 1981.
- ^ Earl and Sell (2000) pp. 250
- ^ Earl and Sell (2000) pp. 133
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Waterhouse, Paul (1901). "Phipps, Charles John". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Sources
- Guide to British Theatres 1750–1950, John Earl and Michael Sell pp. 279–82 (Theatres Trust, 2000) ISBN 0-7136-5688-3
- Wilmore, David (2008). Frank Matcham & Co. South Yorkshire: Theatreshire Books. ISBN 978-0-95341-271-6.