Arthur Edward Cogswell (1858,

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

– 1934,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

) was an English architect, particularly active in the

area. He was an architect who, although not well known nationally, left a strong mark on the appearance of Portsmouth lasting until this day.

Career

Cogswell, the

-born son of a wood carver, arrived in Portsmouth in the early 1870s and served an apprenticeship with a prominent local architect, George Rake (1829–1885), with whom he worked on the new

gaol A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correct ...

in Kingston (the former

HM Prison Kingston HM Prison Kingston is a former Category B/C men's prison, located in the Kingston area of Portsmouth, in Hampshire, England. Prior to closure, the prison was operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service. In 2020, work began to convert the site to r ...

) and Milton Lunatic Asylum (now St James' Hospital). After serving his apprenticeship, Cogswell later became a partner in Rake's business, becoming known as ''Rake and Cogswell''. George Rake died in November 1885, and Cogswell continued the business. In 1888, Cogswell registered as a Member of the

Society of Architects The Society of Architects was formed in 1834 and continued until 1925. At that time Fellows and Associates comprised two distinct classes of membership of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). They were respectively entitled to use th ...

and received his first public commission at Portsmouth's Kingston Cemetery, where Cogswell designed ''"a new Caretaker's Lodge, Entrance Gate and railings"'' at the cemetery's northern entrance at New Road, which was opened in 1891. Arthur Cogswell built a reputation of his own and was a friend of John Brickwood, a fellow

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

who commissioned him to design many of the Brickwood's public houses in the Portsmouth area. He was also responsible for local shops, banks, churches, schools, cinemas, theatres and, in the early 1900s, the Carnegie Library in Fratton Road to which he gave his services for free. His style is very recognisable throughout the city. Cogswell designed two cinemas in Portsmouth, the New Classic Cinema and the Palace Cinema, and the Gaiety Cinema in

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...

, all of which have since closed. He designed over twenty pubs in Portsmouth, including The Talbot at 207 Goldsmith Avenue,

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

built in 1896 for Brickwood's brewery in

Brewer's Tudor Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

style, and the Grade II listed The Tangier, 61/63 Tangier Road,

Baffins Baffins is an administrative district of Portsmouth, England, located on the eastern side of Portsea Island. The district is mainly composed of 1930s housing. The population of the Baffins ward at the 2011 Census was 15,121. Before the area beca ...

built in 1912 for Portsmouth United Breweries. Cogswell is also credited for designing the early

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England, which is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park remains as the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history. The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect A ...

stadium buildings for Portsmouth F.C. During his career, Cogswell also served with various volunteer regiments of the British Army Reserve. He was a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the 2nd Hampshire Royal Garrison Artillery Volunteers, and later served with the

Artists Rifles The 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve), historically known as The Artists Rifles is a regiment of the Army Reserve. Its name is abbreviated to 21 SAS(R). Raised in London in 1859 as a volunteer light infantry unit, the regimen ...

during World War I. Arthur Edward Cogswell died at the age of 76 in early October 1934, receiving only a 75-word obituary notice in the ''Portsmouth Evening News'', which named him as a ''"Doyen of City architects"'' and a ''"Great Sportsman"'', but yet received no such recognition from national architectural or trade publications – despite his membership of the Society of Architects. Cogswell's two sons, Victor Cogswell and Douglas Cogswell, carried on the family business, ''AE Cogswell & Sons'', which rebuilt

Clarence Pier Clarence Pier is an amusement pier in Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered b ...

, Southsea in 1961.

Portsmouth football connections

Arthur E. Cogswell was an enthusiast of

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and founded Portsmouth Association Football Club, an amateur football team which had

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

creator,

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

as their goalkeeper, who played under the pseudonym ''A.C. Smith''. Portsmouth AFC were disbanded in 1896. Although only speculation, it may be theorised that Arthur Edward Cogswell, a football enthusiast and acquaintance of Brickwood Brewery owner John Brickwood (through his career as a pub architect), may have influenced John Brickwood to form a new football club. John Brickwood became the chairman of the syndicate which formed

Portsmouth Football Club Portsmouth Football Club is a professional football club based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, which compete in . They are also known as ''Pompey'', a local nickname used by both HMNB Portsmouth and the city of Portsmouth; the ''Pompey'' nick ...

on 5 April 1898. In 1899, Cogswell designed

's first South Stand, called The Grand Stand, which measured "''100 feet long with seven rows of seats on the south side''" and was built on the southern side of the pitch. In 1900, Cogswell built a Brickwoods Brewery public house named "''The Pompey''" next to

at 44 Frogmore Road. The owner of the Brickwoods Brewery was John Brickwood, the first chairman of Portsmouth F.C. In 1905, Cogswell built a mock Tudor club pavilion in the south west corner of Fratton Park which served as the Portsmouth F.C. club offices and players dressing rooms. The pavilion originally featured a tall clock tower spire and a spectator gallery. Sadly, in 1925 the original Grand Stand and part of the club pavilion (including its clock tower) were cleared to allow space for a new, larger South Stand built by

Archibald Leitch Archibald Keir Leitch (27 April 1865 – 25 April 1939) was a Scottish architect, most famous for his work designing football stadiums throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Early work Born in Glasgow, Leitch's early work was on designing tea ...

, but the distinctive mock Tudor entrance façade of the pavilion still exists in Frogmore Road today.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cogswell, A E 1858 births 1934 deaths Architects from Cambridgeshire People from Peterborough Architects from Portsmouth Artists' Rifles soldiers Public house architects