Wellingborough Church of England mortuary chapel

Edmund Francis Law, usually referred to as 'E. F. Law', (26 April 1810 – 14 April 1882, in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

)

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 ...

was an English architect during the 19th century, notable for a large number of projects, particularly restorations, in the counties of

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 ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

and

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

Career

His practice was based in

from 1837 operating from Priory Cottage in the town. He became a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1862, proposed by

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

and others. He was also Northamptonshire County and Northampton Town Surveyor and served as Mayor of Northampton Borough in 1859. He went into partnership with

Robert Clarke Robert Irby Clarke (June 1, 1920 – June 11, 2005) was an American actor best known for his cult classic science fiction films of the 1950s. Early life Clarke was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He decided at an early age that h ...

in 1848. This partnership was short-lived, and dissolved on 31 July 1849. He had a son, Edmund Law (1840 – 14 April 1904) who was articled to his father from 1855 and continued as his assistant at that time based at 29 Abington Street, Northampton. From 1863 he became a partner with his father and also an assistant with his father as Northamptonshire County and Northampton Town Surveyor. His son also became a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1881.

Notable works

RIBA does not have a full list of his works but has a full list of his son's works. The following list is partial in chronological order: *

, Church of St Andrew, St Andrews Street (since demolished) 1841–42 * Northampton,

National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

in The Drapery, 1841.

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

says: it is ''"a remarkable building, restrained, grand, and pure. In the

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

style with giant columns and a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

"''. The exterior is currently (2014) obscured by a bus stop. Formerly part of the Northamptonshire Union Bank, acquired by

National Provincial Bank National Provincial Bank was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1833 until 1970 when it was merged into the National Westminster Bank. It continued to exist as a dormant non-trading company until 2016 when it was vo ...

, 1920, and NatWest c. 1970. * National School building (former – now cottages),

Bugbrooke Bugbrooke is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England, on a ridge overlooking the valley of the River Nene. Location Bugbrooke is situated about south west of Northampton and 5 miles (8 km) north of Towcester. The M1, one o ...

, Northamptonshire, 1844 * Northampton, Lloyd Armshouses, south of Abington Avenue, 1846 in the Tudor style *

Chelveston Chelveston is a small village in North Northamptonshire. It is about east of Higham Ferrers and east of Wellingborough on the B645 (former A45 road) from Higham Ferrers to St Neots. To the south is the hamlet of Caldecott and the settlement o ...

, Northamptonshire St John Baptist Church: north

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

1849–50 * Northampton, The Royal Insurance Company building on the Market Square, demolished c. 1961 together with the Emporium Arcade and replaced with mediocre buildings according to Pevsner: "Law's building was only three bays wide but monumental in the Italian Cinquecento style..." *

Sibbertoft Sibbertoft is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire in England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population (including Sulby) was 343 people, increasing to 462 at the 2011 Census. The village's name means 'curtilage o ...

, Northamptonshire, The school next to the church, 1846, *

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...

, Northamptonshore, Corn Exchange and Town Hall 1853 * Winwick, Church of St Michael – chancel replaced by Victorian one, 1853 * Rushton, Northamptonshire, All Saints' Church, restorations 1853 and 1869 *

Culworth Culworth is a village and civil parish about north of Brackley in West Northamptonshire, England. Culworth is also about northeast of the north Oxfordshire town of Banbury. The village stands on the brow of a hill about above sea level. The ...

, Northamptonshire Rectory alterations 1854 * Church of St John the Baptist, Blisworth, Northamptonshire, restoration 1856 * Church of St Mary, Little Addington, Northamptonshire, restoration 1857 *

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

Church of England mortuary chapel c. 1857–58, London Road cemetery. Listed Grade: II * Moreton Pinkney Manor – entrance arch 1859 * Naseby Manor – alterations 1859 * Tiffield, Northamptonshire St John the Baptist Church, renewal, 1859 * Church of St Peter, Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire,

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

, rebuilt 1863 *

Finedon Hall Finedon Hall is a Victorian country house in Finedon, Northamptonshire. It is a Grade II listed building. History The core of the house is 17th or 18th century, and was extensively remodelled by William Harcourt Isham Mackworth Dolben (1806 ...

neo-Elizabethan extension of c. 1850 believed to be the work of E. F. Law * Church of St Giles, Northampton, Grade I listed Work based on 1840 report of

, including pulpit, Jacobean, 1863 *

Horton, Northamptonshire Horton is a village in Northamptonshire, England. The village manor, Horton Hall, now demolished, was home to the first governor of the Bank of England and William Parr, 1st Baron Parr of Horton. An outline of its former nucleus can be seen in ...

Church of St Mary Magdalene, rebuilt 1863–1864 *

Clipston, Northamptonshire Clipston is a village and civil parish that is administered as part of West Northamptonshire in England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 643. The town of Market Harborough is much nearer, about north-east and so the v ...

Baptist Chapel front 1864 *

Cosgrove, Northamptonshire Cosgrove is a village in Northamptonshire, England about north of Stony Stratford, north of central Milton Keynes and south of Northampton along the A508 road and south-east of Towcester along the A5 road (Great Britain), A5 road (the Roman ...

Church of St Peter and St Paul, restoration 1864 (Described by Pevsner as: ''badly over-restored...the result of Law trying to re-gothicize what had been made plain Georgian in 1770-4.'') *

Yardley Gobion Yardley Gobion ( ) is a village in the south of the English county of Northamptonshire off a by-pass of the A508 Northampton to Milton Keynes road. The village's name means 'rod wood/clearing', where they were made or acquired. Henry Gubyun h ...

Church of St Leonard, nave and chancel, bellcote at the east end of the nave, 1864 * Manor House, Rectory and semi-detached houses, Ashley, Northamptonshire 1865 * Collingtree Grange, Northamptonshire 1865, demolished 1960s; lodges and entrance on the

A45 road A45 or A-45 may refer to: * A45 Infantry Support Tank, the chassis of which was developed into the Conqueror tank * A45 Records, a German record label notably producing the band Real McCoy * Article 45 Concern Group, a political party in Hong Kong * ...

remain; the park now a golf course and up-market housing estate. * East Carlton Almshouses, Northamptonshire rebuilt 1866Pevsner, Northants p. 197 * Clay Coton, Northamptonshire St Andrew's Church restoration 1866 * Northampton, northernmost house in Cheyne Walk,

High Victorian Gothic High Victorian Gothic was an eclectic architectural style and movement during the mid-late 19th century. It is seen by architectural historians as either a sub-style of the broader Gothic Revival style, or a separate style in its own right. Prom ...

, 1868 * East Carlton Hall, Northamptonshire 1870 * Adstone Rectory, Northamptonshire 1870 *

Thornby, Northamptonshire Thornby is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire in England. It has a Manor house. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 162 people, increasing to 189 at the 2011 Census. The village is bisected by the A51 ...

, Church of St Helen, rebuilding and additions *

Welford, Northamptonshire Welford is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in England, on the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon border between Northamptonshire and Leicestershire. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, the population was 1,04 ...

, Church of St Mary, 1872, north aisle and arcade * Northampton 9 Guildhall Road, 1872–73, in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style in red brick, once used as an hotel * East Carlton Rectory, Northamptonshire 1873 * Brockhall, Northamptonshire – St Peter and St Paul church – re-building 1874 *

, Northamptonshire Parish Church alterations 1880 * St Mary's Church, Badby, Northamptonshire – restoration 1880–81 *

Manor House A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

restoration in the Tudor style,

, Northamptonshire 1881 *

All Saints' Church, Northampton All Saints' Church, Northampton is a Church of England parish church in the centre of Northampton. The current church was largely built after a fire and was consecrated in 1680. It is a Grade I listed building. History Simon of St Liz, 1st Earl ...

redecoration on the

, 1888Pevsner, Northants p. 318 * Guilsborough Grammar School, Northamptonshire; Major restoration in 1858–1859 working with builders Cosford at a cost of about £1641. (Source Guilsborough Historical Society).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Law, Edmund Francis 1810 births 1882 deaths People from Northampton 19th-century English architects English ecclesiastical architects Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects Architects from Northamptonshire