Edwin Seward (1853–1924) 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 ...

based in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Biography

Born in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, Seward came to Cardiff aged 16 and studied at the School of Art. He began work as an assistant to architect G. E. Robinson. Seward was one of the individuals at the centre of Cardiff's young art scene. He was the 21st President of the Cardiff Naturalists' Society (founded 1867) which was a hub of intellectual discussion. He tried unsuccessfully to establish a national institution in Cardiff for Welsh art (the Cambrian Academy of Art eventually set up in

Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy on ...

) and was a founding member of the South Wales Art Society in 1888. By 1875 Seward was a member of the architecture firm James, Seward and Thomas and went on to build some of Cardiff's most notable buildings in the late 19th century. Whilst in Cardiff, Seward lived in Lisvane house, a property which he remodeled himself and is now Grade II listed. He later retired to Weymouth, Dorset, where he lived until his death.

Works in Cardiff include

* Cardiff Free Library in

The Hayes The Hayes ( cy, Yr Ais) is a commercial area in the southern city centre of the Welsh capital, Cardiff. Centred on the road of that name leading south towards the east end of the city centre, the area is mostly pedestrianised and is the location ...

(1880–82) * St David's Hospital (1881) *

Cardiff Royal Infirmary Cardiff Royal Infirmary ( cy, Ysbyty Brenhinol Caerdydd) (also known as the CRI or YBC) is a hospital in central Cardiff, Wales. It is managed by the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. History The hospital has its origins in the Cardiff ...

(1883) *

Coal Exchange The Coal Exchange (also known as the Exchange Building) is an historic building in Cardiff, Wales. It is designed in Renaissance Revival style. Built in 1888 as the Coal and Shipping Exchange to be used as a market floor and office building for ...

(1884–88) in

Mount Stuart Square Mount Stuart Square is a residential and commercial square in Cardiff, Wales. It is located in the Butetown area of the city. Originally developed in the late 1800s as a residential location for nearby dock workers, it quickly became a centre f ...

* David Morgan department stores building **two arcades in the city centre * Llanishen Methodist Church *New Trinity Church United Reformed Church (demolished in 1998) at junction of Cowbridge Road East and Theobald Rd. Canton Uniting Church rebuilt on same site.

Works elsewhere

Seward designed the

Turner House Gallery Turner House Gallery is an art gallery in Penarth, near Cardiff, Wales. Details The gallery was built in 1887/8, designed by architect Edwin Seward in a Queen Anne style for the rich local flour merchant, James Pyke Thompson. Pyke Thompson used ...

(1887/8) in Penarth for businessman James Pyke Thompson. He was the winning architect for the Swansea Harbour Trust Building in Swansea and he worked on the widening of the Wye Bridge in Monmouth.Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust, Historic Landscape Characterisation, Wyesham
Accessed 4 January 2012

Notes

External links

Cardiff conservation area appraisalBorders Opens New Superstore In Cardiff 28 SeptemberBBC South West Wales: From Harbour to Hotel
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Seward, Edwin 1853 births 1924 deaths Architecture of Wales Architects from Cardiff 20th-century Welsh architects 19th-century Welsh architects People educated at Yeovil School