Alexander Joseph Cory Scoles (30 November 1844 – 29 December 1920) was an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

.
Directory of British Architects, 1834–1914: Vol. 2 (L-Z)
' ed. Brodie, Antonia (London, 2001), p. 552 He designed many lancet style

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

churches in the south of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and was the son of

Joseph John Scoles Joseph John Scoles (1798–1863) was an English Gothic Revival architect, who designed many Roman Catholic churches. Early life and education Scoles was born in London on 27 June 1798, the son of Roman Catholic parents Matthew Scoles, a joiner, ...

and brother of

Ignatius Scoles Ignatius Scoles SJ (1 December 1834 – 15 July 1896) was a Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, architect and writer. He designed churches and civic buildings and was the son of Joseph John Scoles.Guyana Times International' accessed 26 March 2013 Earl ...

.Slevin, Malachy ''St Francis Church Handsworth'' (Birmingham, 1994) pp.1–17

Life

Alexander Scoles, like his brother

, was born in

Hammersmith, London Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

. He was the third son of the architect

, whose works included the Roman Catholic churches of the Immaculate Conception in Farm Street,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Saint Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and St Ignatius in

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...

. His eldest brother, Ignatius, became a Catholic, joining the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

on 9 October 1860. Alexander Scoles followed him in becoming a priest, but not a Jesuit, instead he joined the

Diocese of Clifton The Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton is a Roman Catholic diocese centred at the Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Clifton, England. The diocese covers the City and County of Bristol and the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire, ...

, later becoming a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

. He studied as an architect under the direction of his father, until the latter's death in 1863. After that Scoles became a pupil of Samuel Joseph Nicholl (1826–1903). His early professional work was done in partnership with his cousin John Myrie Cory (1846–1893). Initially he was parish priest in Bridgwater and on 26 September 1891, he became parish priest of the Church of the Holy Ghost in

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somerset's southern border with ...

.The Church
from Roman Catholic Church Yeovil, retrieved 17 April 2013 He moved from Yeovil and the Diocese of Clifton in 1901 and became a parish priest in

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

. He died in the

Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth The Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth in St John's Wood, London, England, is a Catholic charitable general hospital in north London. History and operations The hospital was founded in 1856 with a Roman Catholic affiliation and is a register ...

on 29 December 1920 in London and is buried in the grounds of Holy Ghost Church in Basingstoke.

Works

His works include: * St Joseph's on the Quay, Bridgwater (1882) * Immaculate Conception Church, Clevedon (1887) * St Monica's Priory, Spetisbury (1891) * Holy Ghost Church,

(1891) * St Joseph's Church, Weston-super-Mare (1893) extended. * Our Lady Star of the Sea Church,

Ilfracombe Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs. The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and along t ...

(1893) * St Francis of Assisi Church, Handsworth (1894) * Sacred Heart and St Aldhelm Church,

Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. ...

Report
from

Diocese of Plymouth The Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth is a Latin Church Roman Catholic diocese in England. The episcopal see is in the city of Plymouth, Devon, where the bishop's seat ( cathedra) is located at the Cathedral Church of St Mary and St Boniface. ...

retrieved 17 April 2013 * St Peter-in-Chains Church, Stroud Green (1894) * St Peter's Church,

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

(1895) * St Thomas of Canterbury Church, Woodford Green (1895) * St Francis Church,

Ascot, Berkshire Ascot () is a town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is south of Windsor, east of Bracknell and west of London. It is most notable as the location of Ascot Racecourse, home of the Royal Ascot meeting, ...

(1900) *

Holy Ghost Church, Basingstoke Holy Ghost Church is a Roman Catholic church in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. It was built from 1902 to 1903 by the priest and architect Alexander Scoles in the Gothic Revival style. It was named after the old ruined medieval Chapel of the ...

(1901)Holy Ghost Church
from St Bede's Basingstoke, retrieved 17 April 2013 * Holy Redeemer Church, Keyham, Devon *

Our Lady Help of Christians and St Helen's Church, Westcliff-on-Sea Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulat ...

(1903) * Holy Trinity Church,

Newquay Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...

(1903) * Holy Ghost and St Stephen Church, Shepherd's Bush, London (1903–4) * Holy Spirit and St Edward Church,

Swanage Swanage () is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately south of Poole and east of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the civil ...

(1904) *

Cathedral of St John the Evangelist, Portsmouth The Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist (also known as St John's Cathedral) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic cathedral in Portsmouth, England. It is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth, Portsmouth diocese and ...

(1906)Pomeroy, Stephen,
History of the Archdiocese of Southwark
'' retrieved 17 April 2013 *

St Joseph's Church, Brighton St Joseph's Church is a Roman Catholic church in the Elm Grove area of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is one of eleven Roman Catholic churches in the city. The church was built in several stages, and outstanding debt ...

(1906) * Our Lady of Loreto and St Winefride's Church, Kew (1906) * Our Lady and St Michael Church, Dorchester, Dorset (1906–7) * Holy Cross Church,

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

(1907) * St Agatha Church, Dawlish (1907–9) * Sacred Heart and St Ia Church, St Ives, Cornwall (1908) * Our Lady of Lourdes with St Swithun Church,

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 ...

(1908) * St Edward the Confessor Church,

(1910) * Church of the Immaculate Conception,

Liphook Liphook is a large village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 4.1 miles (6.6 km) west of Haslemere, bypassed by the A3 road, and lies on the Hampshire/West Sussex/Surrey borders. It is in the civil parish of Bramsh ...

(1911) * St James the Less and St Helen Church, Colchester, church hall (1911) * Holy Ghost Church,

Exmouth Exmouth is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the 5th most populous settlement in Devon. Histo ...

(1915) * St Joseph Church,

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the So ...

(1915)

Gallery

File:Church of the Holy Ghost , Yeovil - geograph.org.uk - 1556567.jpg, Church of the Holy Ghost, Yeovil File:North side of St Francis Church, Handsworth.JPG, St Francis Church, Handsworth File:Franciscan Friary in Clevedon - geograph.org.uk - 1760260.jpg, Immaculate Conception Church, Clevedon File:Stroud Green St Peter-in-Chains.JPG, St Peter in Chains Church, Stroud Green File:Church hall, Priory Street, Colchester - geograph.org.uk - 189283.jpg, St James the Less and St Helen Church hall, Colchester File:St.Agatha's Catholic Church, Dawlish - geograph.org.uk - 1078260.jpg, St Agatha Church, Dawlish File:Church of the Holy Ghost, Exmouth - geograph.org.uk - 930433.jpg, Holy Ghost Church, Exmouth File:St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Newton Abbot - geograph.org.uk - 1076659.jpg, St Joseph Church, Newton Abbot File:St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church - geograph.org.uk - 131361.jpg, St Francis Church, Ascot File:Basingstoke - Holy Ghost Church - geograph.org.uk - 1856023.jpg,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scoles, Alexander Joseph English ecclesiastical architects Gothic Revival architects 1844 births 1920 deaths Architects from London

Life

Works

Gallery

See also

References