T. Lawrence Dale
Thomas Lawrence Dale | |
---|---|
Born | [1] London, England | 4 March 1884
Died | 29 March 1959[1] Oxford, England | (aged 75)
Occupation | Architect |
Practice | Dale and Son |
Buildings | Horn Park, Beaminster, Dorset St. Swithun's parish church, Kennington, Oxfordshire |
Thomas Lawrence Dale,
Training and career
Dale was born in London,[2] where he was educated at University College School in Hampstead.[2][3] He began his architectural training at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in 1900,[2] was articled to Charles Ponting in Marlborough, Wiltshire[2] 1901–04, and served as assistant to the architect Edmund Buckle 1904–06.[3] Dale passed his architect's qualifying examination in 1906 and was admitted as an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1907.[3]
Before the First World War, Dale lived in
After the war, Dale moved to Banbury where he designed a housing estate for Banbury Rural District Council.[2] In the 1920s Dale spent "a delightful year" working on "an exceedingly complicated planning problem" as a competitor in a worldwide architectural competition to design the new Freemasons' Grand Temple in Great Queen Street in London.[2] Dale came second, for which he won "a large prize".[2]
Some time thereafter he moved to
estate.Dale served as Oxford Diocesan Surveyor for 23 years.[2] He designed at least four parish churches that were built in or near Oxford. He also designed restoration work or new furnishings for a number of parish churches; most of them in Oxfordshire, plus one in Warwickshire.
Family
Dale's wife predeceased him.[5] They left two sons and two daughters.[5] By the time of Dale's death, both sons had married and one of the daughters was a Sister in a religious order.[5]
Dale's death in 1959 was reported in The Times.[6] Harry Carpenter, Bishop of Oxford, assisted at his funeral.[5] Lawrence Dale is buried in Wolvercote Cemetery near his home in Oxford.[1]
Dale's elder son
Secular buildings
Two of Dale's earlier works are
Lawrence and Simon Dale together designed
Parish churches
Like Charles Ponting (1850–1932)
Dale designed at least four parish churches for the
Dale's churches built after the
Most of Dale's churches share common features: a
Watercolours
Dale was a
"Christ Church Mall"
Central Oxford had become acutely congested with motor traffic in the 1920s and 1930s. When Dale first moved from Banbury to Oxford he practised from an office in Carfax "but the traffic there was shocking" so he gave up his office and practised from home.[2]
In September 1941 Dale published a six-page pamphlet called Christ Church Mall: a Diversion in which he proposed a relief road skirting the south side of Christ Church Meadow along the bank of the River Thames to link Abingdon Road and Iffley Road to bypass High Street.[19]
In 1944 Dale expanded on his proposals into a 60-page book, Towards a Plan for Oxford City, illustrated with some of his own watercolours.
In 1946 the
Mr. Dale has presented his case very attractively and wittily, and has done the city a considerable service in braving the controversy which was bound to result from any attempt to touch even the hem of the sacred Christ Church Meadow.[20]
However, Sharp also thought that Dale's "Christ Church Mall" would be too indirect, particularly for traffic from Headington Hill and Marston Road.[21] Sharp instead proposed a road across the northern side of Christ Church Meadow, which he called "Merton Mall" as it would have passed very close to Merton College.[22]
The Times also commended Dale for "presenting his case with architectural vision, wit and eloquence" in Towards a Plan for Oxford City, and quoted Dale's vision that "a finely designed parkway" would be "A beautiful road between the Towers and the Thames severally dreaming and streaming".[6]
In 1956 the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation held an enquiry at which Dale continued to make his case. Dale told the enquiry:
nobody more than he admired the beauty of Christ Church Meadow, and anyone who wanted a road through it was a vandal. But, he said, there was a vast difference in having a road round the Meadow, as he was suggesting. The road could be so landscaped that it could not be seen from the river or from the north side of the meadow. The real beauty of the meadow was Merton Fields and the Broad Walk, and that would be destroyed by Dr. Sharp's plan.[23]
Dale cited in his support Professor Sir
Sharp's proposal was the subject of more than 20 years of political and public debate and protest. Neither Sharp's nor Dale's proposed road was ever built.
List of works
Buildings
- Bedford Park, London: studio house for an artist, 1908
- 40 Hampstead Way, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, 1909[24]
- Horn Park, Beaminster, Dorset, 1911[10]
- Gates House, Wyldes Close, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, 1915[9]
- St Francis of Assisi, Cowley, Oxfordshire, 1930–31[12]
- St Alban the Martyr parish church, Charles Street, Oxford, 1933[12][17]
- Itchen Abbas, Hampshire: house, 1935[25]
- Hook Manor, Semley, Wiltshire: remodelled 17th century Jacobean manor house, 1935[26]
- Blessed Virgin Mary parish church, Thame, Oxfordshire: repairs to stonework, 1937–38[27]
- Village Hall, Ickford, Buckinghamshire, 1946 (with Simon Dale)[8]
- St Etheldreda's parish church, rood loft, 1947–50[28]
- St Michael and All Angels parish church, New Marston, Oxford, 1954–56[12][13]
- St Swithun's parish church, Kennington, Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire), (with Rev. Stuart S. Davies) 1956–58[15]
- Deddington Primary School, Oxfordshire: modernisation, new classroom etc., 1958[29]
- 358 Woodstock Road, Oxford: house for Dale and his family[4]
- Goddard's Green, Berkshire: restoration of a house
- St Mary Magdalene parish church, Lillington, Warwickshire: pulpit[30]
- SS. Mary and Edburga's parish church, Stratton Audley, Oxfordshire: tower screen[31]
Writings
- Dale, T. Lawrence (1933). Report on Oxford Architectural Society.
- Dale, T. Lawrence (1935). "Architectural notes (Faringdon, Great Coxwell Barn, Coleshill House, Kelmscott House, Langford Church)". Oxfordshire Archaeological Society Report. Oxfordshire Archaeological Society: 59ff.
- Dale, T. Lawrence (1937). "Architectural notes on 1937 excursion (Stone Church; Court House, Long Crendon; Hartwell House; Long Crendon Manor; Aylesbury; Thame Church)". Oxfordshire Archaeological Society Report. Oxfordshire Archaeological Society: 3ff.
- Dale, T. Lawrence (1941). Christ Church Mall: A Diversion.
- Dale, T. Lawrence (1944). Towards a Plan for Oxford City. London: Faber and Faber.
References
- ^ a b c Dale's gravestone in Wolvercote Cemetery
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Peters, David (10 December 1954). "With Camera and Pen, Impressions by David Peters". The Oxford Times.
- ^ a b c d e Brodie, 2001, page 492
- ^ a b Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 334
- ^ a b c d e "Lawrence Dale Dies in Oxford, Prominent City and County Architect". The Oxford Times. 3 April 1959.
- ^ a b c "Mr. Lawrence Dale, Plans for Oxford Roads". The Times. 31 March 1959.
- ^ a b c Kirby, Terry (4 August 2007). "The strange case of Baroness de Stempel: How the death of an eccentric architect revealed a web of murder, fraud and intrigue". The Independent. The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
- ^ a b c d Garrett, Ivy (2008). "Village Hall". Ickford Parish Council. Ickford Parish Council. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
- ^ a b "Wyldes Farm". Welcome to Hampstead Garden Suburb. Hampstead Garden Suburb Residents' Association. 1998. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
- ^ a b c Newman & Pevsner, 1972, page 88
- ^ a b Nicholson, Tony (March 2009). "Charles Edwin Ponting FSA, 1849–1932". The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin Gillingham Dorset. Archived from the original on 5 September 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Crossley & Elrington, 1979, pages 369–412
- ^ a b Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, pages 336–337
- ^ Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 337
- ^ a b Pevsner, 1966, page 159
- ^ "Fact Sheet 8: Church of St Alban the Martyr". Ss Mary & John Churchyard. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
- ^ a b Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 339
- ^ "Exhibition of Water Colours". The Oxford Times. 20 July 1956.
- ^ Dale, 1944, pages 9–10
- ^ Sharp, 1948, page 113
- ^ Sharp, 1948, pages 113–114
- ^ Sharp, 1948, pages 114–119
- ^ a b "Mr Dale Renews Case for Christ Church Mall". Oxford Mail. 14 February 1956.
- ^ "Hill Close". Welcome to Hampstead Garden Suburb. Hampstead Garden Suburb Residents' Association. 1998. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
- ^ "Winchester Rural District Council". Access to Archives. The National Archives. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
- ^ "Hook Manor". Ancestral Links. English Heritage. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
- ^ Lobel, 1962, pages 119–219
- ^ Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 653
- ^ "Transformation of School at Deddington". Oxford Mail. 9 April 1958.
- ^ Salzman, 1951, pages 161–164
- ^ Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, pages 794, 795
Sources
- Brodie, Antonia; Felstead, Alison; Franklin, Jonathan; Pinfield, Leslie; Oldfield, Jane, eds. (2001). Directory of British Architects 1834–1914, A–K. London & New York: ISBN 0-8264-5513-1.
- Crossley, Alan; Elrington, C.R. (eds.); Chance, Eleanor; Colvin, Christina; Cooper, Janet; Day, C.J.; Hassall, T.G.; Selwyn, Nesta (1979). A History of the County of Oxford. Victoria County History. Vol. 4: The City of Oxford. pp. 369–412.
{{cite book}}
:|first2=
has generic name (help) - Lobel, Mary D, ed. (1962). A History of the County of Oxford. Victoria County History. Vol. 7: Thame and Dorchester Hundreds. London: Oxford University Press for the Institute of Historical Research. pp. 199–219.
- Newman, John; ISBN 0-14-071044-2.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 159.
- Salzman, L.F, ed. (1951). A History of the County of Warwick. Victoria County History. Vol. 6: Knightlow hundred. London: Oxford University Press for the Institute of Historical Research. pp. 161–164.
- Sharp, Thomas(1948). Oxford Replanned. London: The Architectural Press. pp. 113, 114.
- Sherwood, Jennifer; ISBN 0-14-071045-0.