George Frederick Bodley

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George Frederick Bodley
RA
Bodley, c. 1900
Born(1827-03-14)14 March 1827
Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died21 October 1907(1907-10-21) (aged 80)
Water Eaton, Oxfordshire, England
OccupationArchitect
AwardsRoyal Gold Medal for Architecture (1899)
PracticeBodley and Garner
BuildingsWashington National Cathedral
St David's Cathedral, Hobart

George Frederick Bodley

Gothic Revival architect. He was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott, and worked in partnership with Thomas Garner for much of his career. He was one of the founders of Watts & Co.

Personal life

Bodley was the youngest son of William Hulme Bodley, M.D., of Edinburgh, physician at

St Mary's College, New Oscott
, Birmingham.

He married Minna F.H. Reavely, daughter of Thomas George Wood Reavely, at Kinnersley Castle in 1872. They had a son, George H. Bodley, born in 1874.

Career

Blue plaque on Harley Street, London

Bodley was articled to the architect Sir

Gothic revival, and he became known as the chief exponent of 14th-century English Gothic, and the leading ecclesiastical architect in England.[1] He is regarded as the leader of the resurgence of interest in English and Northern European late-medieval design. Noted for his pioneering design work in the Queen Anne revival,[2]

Bodley became acquainted with

St John the Baptist, Tuebrook in Liverpool; Queens' College Chapel, Cambridge; All Saints, Danehill, East Sussex and the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire.[2] His alterations to St Stephen's Church, Gloucester Road, London, the architect and president of RIBA, Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel said tamed the work of its founding 'rogue' Victorian architect, Joseph Peacock.[3]

Partnership with Thomas Garner

From 1869 he worked in a twenty-eight-year partnership with Thomas Garner, designing collegiate buildings in Oxford and Cambridge, country houses and churches throughout the British Isles. One cathedral was completed to his design: St David's Cathedral, Hobart in Tasmania, Australia (first design, 1865; revised 1891; building completed 1936). In 1906 Bodley designed with his pupil Henry Vaughan the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. He also designed Grace Cathedral, San Francisco in 1862, and again for its post-1906 earthquake replacement but it was adapted by his partner after his death.

As well as Vaughan, Bodley and Garner's pupils included the garden designer Inigo Thomas who specialised in formal gardens with geometrical plans in 17th- and 18th-century styles, which suited the houses that Bodley and Garner renovated for wealthy clients.

In 1874 Bodley founded Watts & Co. with Garner and George Gilbert Scott Jr. Bodley, Garner, and Scott all lived on Church Row in Hampstead in the 1860s and 70s.[4][2]

His secular work included the London School Board offices, and in collaboration with Garner, the new buildings at Magdalen College, Oxford, and Hewell Grange, Worcestershire (for Lord Windsor).

Liverpool Cathedral competition

In 1902 Bodley was an assessor for the competition to design Liverpool Cathedral which selected a design by the young Giles Gilbert Scott. When construction of the cathedral began in 1904, Bodley was appointed to oversee Gilbert Scott's work, but had no direct part in its design.

Late works

One of Bodley's final architectural works was the chapel at

Lord St John of Bletso. Building took a year, the chapel was consecrated in July 1908, but by which time Bodley had died. The other was the St Chad's parish church, Burton upon Trent
. Work started in 1905 and the church was consecrated in 1910. After Bodley's death his partner Cecil Greenwood Hare took over the project; his contribution was the design of an octagonal choir vestry.

Royal Academy

Bodley exhibited at the

Royal Academy
from 1854. He was elected an associate of the academy in 1881 and a full academician in 1902.

Other activities

As well as being an architect, he was a

Pre-Raphaelites, and he did a great deal to improve public taste in domestic decoration and furniture.[1]

Death

Bodley died on 21 October 1907 at Water Eaton, Oxfordshire and is buried in the churchyard of the Church of St James, Kinnersley, Herefordshire.

Gallery

Works

New churches

Church repairs, alterations and furnishings

Secular buildings

References

  1. ^ a b c  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bodley, George Frederick". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 110.
  2. ^
    The Churches Conservation Trust. 1 July 2007. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 10 November 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
  3. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1293603)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  4. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31944. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  5. ^ Homan 1984, p. 57.
  6. ^ Homan 1984, p. 106.
  7. ^ Historic England. ": Church of St Michael, Kirk Langley (Grade I) (1109095)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  8. ^ "Wimborne St. Giles," in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 5, East, (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1975), 92-104. British History Online, accessed May 18, 2022
  9. ^ Homan 1984, p. 75.
  10. ^ Newman & Pevsner 1972, p. 334.
  11. ^ "St Barnabas Church - Guide".
  12. ^ Williamson et al. 2019, p. 425.

Sources

External links

  • Profile –
    Royal Academy of Arts Collections
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