Arthur Albert John Marshman

FRIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

(19 February 1929 – 15 July 1997) was an English

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 ...

. He was a Fellow of both the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

and the Royal Society of Arts. Marshman was born in Northampton, the only son of Arthur (a sub-postmaster) and Evelyn Marshman (née Smith), both of Northampton. He was educated at

Northampton Grammar School Northampton School for Boys (NSB) is a secondary school in Northampton, England. It was founded as Northampton Town and County Grammar School in 1541 by Thomas Chipsey, Mayor of Northampton. Years 7 to 11 are boys-only, while Sixth Form classes ...

. He married twice and had four children. Marshman was founder of Marshman Warren Taylor architects. He died in Northampton. Before beginning his professional life he completed his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

Practice

According to English Heritage: Marshman also designed the sympathetic and award-winning

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

extension to the Church at

Weston Favell Weston Favell is an area near the eastern end of Northampton, and is part of Park ward of the Borough of Northampton. Location Since the Industrial Revolution and the 20th century, the town of Northampton has grown closer and closer to the villa ...

, Northampton, which was described by

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

as "Excellent".Pevsner ''Northamptonshire'' (1961; 1973) (rev. Bridget Cherry)

Horton Rounds: the house on a circle

He is probably best known for the design of

Horton Rounds Horton Rounds is a modernist house in the village of Horton, Northamptonshire. The house was built in 1966 by A. A. J. Marshman, a senior partner in Marshman, Warren and Taylor, a regional architectural practice. In September 2012 the house wa ...

, an unusual curved house on stilts incorporating the shapes of a comma and a full stop in the village of Horton,

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. The house was built as a family home, and the family lived there until 1982. The house has an unusual

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...

ed balcony and cedar roof shingles. After being sold by the family, the house was for some years under the ownership of

Roy Clarke Royston Clarke OBE (born 28 January 1930), usually known as Roy Clarke, is an English comedy writer best known for creating the sitcoms ''Last of the Summer Wine'', ''Keeping Up Appearances'', ''Open All Hours'' and its sequel series, ''Stil ...

the writer of ''

Last of the Summer Wine ''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of '' Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes f ...

''. Of the house, Pevsner says:

"A striking house. The dominant features are the broad curving eaves of the shingled roofs and the taller circular service cores and chimney of local yellow stone. In plan the house is a comma, with a full stop linked by a bridge. The tail of the comma, open on the ground floor with bedrooms above, shelters a paved garden. The broad end has service rooms and entrances below and a circular living area above which has views in all directions".

In August 2012

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

designated the house as Grade II listed. In the designation it was stated that "Along with Peter Lambert Gibbs's own house of 1965, Fernhill in Ashdown Forest, and Robert Harvey's houses in Warwickshire, Horton Rounds is one of the best in the country of a small group of post-war houses clearly influenced by the work of

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

."English Heritage designation # 1407987

Examples of Marshman's work

Image:CheeseHouse.JPG, "Cheese house", Horton, Northamptonshire Image:WFCVestry.JPG, St Peter's vestry –

The Marshman family

The Marshman family originated in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

and moved to

in the 18th century. Other members of the Marshman family include: *

Hannah Marshman Hannah Marshman (13 May 1767 – 5 March 1847) was an English missionary who founded a school at Serampore, India. She was the daughter of John Shepherd, a farmer, and his wife Rachel, and the granddaughter of John Clark, pastor of the Baptist ...

John Clark Marshman John Clark Marshman (18 August 1794 – 8 July 1877) was an English journalist and historian. He was editor and publisher of the Calcutta-based ''Friend of India'', and was involved with several other Indian publications. Early life Marshman wa ...

Joshua Marshman Joshua Marshman (20 April 1768 – 6 December 1837) was a British Christian missionary in Bengal, India. His mission involved social reforms and intellectual debates with educated Hindus such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Origins Joshua Marshman was b ...

External sources

English Heritage Listing

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshman, Arthur AJ 1929 births 1997 deaths 20th-century English architects People from Northampton Architects from Northamptonshire Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects Deaths from cancer in England 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel People educated at Northampton School for Boys