Harold Falkner

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people named Falkner, see Falkner.

Harold Falkner
FRIBA
Born28 November 1875
Farnham
, Surrey, England
Died30 November 1963(1963-11-30) (aged 88)
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
OccupationArchitect
Practice24 West Street, Farnham

Harold Falkner

West Surrey
.

Personal life

24 West Street, Farnham, where Falkner lived almost all his life and ran his practice from.
Falkner's notoriously shabby hat that he wore in his later years.

Falkner was born on 28 November 1875 at White House, Bramley, Surrey, England.[1] Falkner was born into a wealthy land-owning family, just five months after his father's death. The family settled at 24 West Street, Farnham in 1883 and it was in this house that the young boy remained, running his architectural practice there until his death at the age of 88 on 30 November 1963.

Falkner was educated at

neo-Georgian style.[1]

Faulner died from pneumonia on 30 November 1963, aged 88, at 44 Hale Road, Farnham, Surrey. He was never married and had no surviving children. His estate, £114,030, passed to his sister's family.[1]

Career

Early career

Falkner attended Farnham Grammar School and was articled first with the influential architect Sir Reginald Blomfield and then with the Farnham practice of Niven & Wigglesworth who he joined in partnership in 1900 under the name of Niven, Wigglesworth & Falkner. This partnership was dissolved by 1909 and he worked mostly on his own for the remainder of his career, apart from three years in partnership with a younger Farnham-bred architect, Guy Maxwell Aylwin.

Later career

Based out of the modest market-town of

Modern Movement and his rather obstinate character. His obituary in the Architectural Review was written by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner
.

His houses include Stranger's Corner (the former home of W. H. Allen), the Farnham Town Hall buildings and Bailiff's Hall (both Grade II listed), the Tudor-style "Spinning Wheel" building in the Borough. The (former) Jolly Farmer, Runfold is a fine brick and stone building and the cottages next to Manor Farm in Seale are a good essay in the sort of workers' cottages being built all over the Surrey countryside in this period. Delarden in Moor Park is a very interesting rendered country house. Although less successful is his scheme for the Sampsons Almshouses (1933–34) on West Street, Farnham, which is not nearly as good as the Macdonalds Almshouses (1908) next door. These Almshouses were designed by Farnham's other prominent architect of the day, Arthur Stedman, who was probably his most significant rival.

Dippenhall

The Falkners had a large land ownership in thr

West Surrey
.

Dippenhall Houses:

  • Dippenhall Grange
  • Overdeans Court
  • Halfway House (Dora's Green).
  • Deans Knowe
  • The Barn
  • Meads
  • Burles
  • Burles Lodge
  • Grovers Farm
  • The Old Barn

Farnham and Charles Borelli

Falkner is reputed to have been a key contributor to the preservation of

Nicholas Pevsner[4] disagreed with the derivation of the town as a Georgian gem and considered the town to be a reproduction of what the Victorians thought a Georgian town should look like. Nonetheless, with the local politician, Charles Borelli, his lifelong friend and collaborator, Falkner was responsible for several important works intended to preserve and enhance the town centre of Farnham at a time when few architects respected the need to maintain this cultural heritage. Farnham
remains the town it is today, as a large part the result of their joint advocacy. Such buildings as 40, 41 and 42 The Borough, The Town Hall Buildings, 10 Castle Street, the Bush Hotel and the Bailiffs Hall exemplify his approach of careful addition, renewal and recycling.

Partnership with Guy Maxwell Aylwin

He also did much work in collaboration with the prominent Farnham architect,

Arts & Crafts
architects who contributed most to the area's cultural heritage in this period.

Roderick Gradidge and Michael Blower

A number of his projects have been altered, restored and extended by the twin and eminent skills of architects, Michael Blower of Farnham and Roderick Gradidge of Chiswick, such as Overdeans Court, The Priory, Merlewood and Tancreds Ford (for the author Ken Follett). The latter was the subject of two fine articles in Country Life by Clive Aslet.[5]

Legacy

Part of his archive and some of his architectural drawings survive and are housed in the Farnham Museum. Some of his archive can also be found in Stedman Blower Architects archive, in the hands of the Blower Foundation. The houses of Dippenhall remain his most lasting legacy and within a few hectares stand a dozen or so buildings designed, built and altered by him throughout his career. Fortunately most are Grade 2

Listed Buildings and will remain along with his significant contribution to the town centre of Farnham
, and the restoration and sensitive infill projects that he designed.

Gallery

  • Deans Knowe, Dippenhall, Surrey
    Deans Knowe, Dippenhall, Surrey
  • Ash War Memorial, Surrey
    Ash War Memorial, Surrey
  • Drawing by Jill Maxwell Aylwin of he father Guy's restoration of the Bailiffs Hall undertaken with Harold Falkner in the mid-1930s
    Drawing by Jill Maxwell Aylwin of he father Guy's restoration of the Bailiffs Hall undertaken with Harold Falkner in the mid-1930s
  • The McConnell House, Farnham, Surrey by Falkner & Aylwin, 1928
    The McConnell House, Farnham, Surrey by Falkner & Aylwin, 1928
  • One of Falkner's designs – Stranger's Corner, Farnham
    One of Falkner's designs – Stranger's Corner, Farnham
  • The Red Lion Pub, Sunningdale, Berkshire by Falkner & Aylwin for Courage Brewery (1931)
    The Red Lion Pub, Sunningdale, Berkshire by Falkner & Aylwin for Courage Brewery (1931)
  • Former Alliance Pub, 12 Downing Street, Farnham by Falkner & Aylwin (1929)
    Former Alliance Pub, 12 Downing Street, Farnham by Falkner & Aylwin (1929)

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63133. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  2. ^ Harold Falkner – More than an Arts & Crafts Architect by Sam Osmond (Phillimore, 2003)
  3. ^ as ref 1
  4. Nickolaus Pevsner
    (Penguin, 1971)
  5. ^ Country Life 17 & 24 November 1983

Bibliography

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harold_Falkner&oldid=1223763611"