Frederick Thomas Pilkington (1832-1898), pupil of his father, was a "Rogue" British

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 ...

, practising in the Victorian

High Gothic High Gothic is a particularly refined and imposing style of Gothic architecture that appeared in northern France from about 1195 until 1250. Notable examples include Chartres Cathedral, Reims Cathedral, Amiens Cathedral, Beauvais Cathedral, and ...

revival style. He designed mostly churches and institutional buildings in Scotland. Typical of his work is the Barclay Church in Edinburgh, a polychrome stone structure with early French Gothic details.

Life

Pilkington was one of several children to Thomas Pilkington, architect, and Jane Butterworth of

Stamford, England Stamford is a town and civil parish in the South Kesteven District of Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 19,701 and estimated at 20,645 in 2019. The town has 17th- and 18th-century stone buildings, older timber-framed ...

. The family moved to Edinburgh in 1854. In 1855 T. Pilkington & Son, architects and surveyors, were living and working at 10 Dundas Street in Edinburgh's Second New Town. Pilkington studied mathematics under Professor

Philip Kelland Philip Kelland PRSE FRS (17 October 1808 – 8 May 1879) was an English mathematician. He was known mainly for his great influence on the development of education in Scotland. Life Kelland was born in 1808 the son of Philip Kelland (d.1847), ...

at the University of Edinburgh, passed his exams in 1858 and was Hamilton prizewinner in Logic, but did not bother to graduate. He signed the University Matriculation Register 1856/7 as of Stamford. Pilkington married in 1858 and lived at Mary Cottage in the suburb of Trinity in the north of Edinburgh. His wife died in childbirth in March 1861 and Pilkington remarried to Elizabeth Cropley from

Ely, Cambridgeshire Ely ( ) is a cathedral city in the East Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, about north-northeast of Cambridge and from London. Ely is built on a Kimmeridge Clay island which, at , is the highest land in the Fens. It was d ...

in August 1861 with whom he raised a family of five children, living successively in Cumin Place, Eton Terrace, Egremont House in Dick Place which he built for himself. His family comprised Ernest born 1864, architect, died during the First World War, Maud Elizabeth, a

miniaturist A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century eli ...

; Ethel Mary; Mabel Jane; and Frederick Percy, born 1874. In later life Pilkington lived in 17

Carlton Terrace Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyteri ...

Calton Hill Calton Hill () is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the cit ...

. This is a Georgian townhouse by the architect William Henry Playfair rather than a building of his own design. After an illustrious but troubled professional life Pilkington returned to London, England in 1883 and died in

Pinner Pinner is a London suburb in the London borough of Harrow, Greater London, England, northwest of Charing Cross, close to the border with Hillingdon, historically in the county of Middlesex. The population was 31,130 in 2011. Originally a med ...

on 18 September 1898, leaving £6,609 (Probate November 1899).

Architect

Pilkington adhered closely to Ruskin's principles, and in the High Victorian tradition which they promoted he evolved a highly personal style by mixing northern medieval elements with those from the Gothic architecture of Northern Italy as published by

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and poli ...

and

George Edmund Street George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccle ...

. His work featured polychrome stone, chunky rustication and lavish external carving of Venetian medieval buildings combined with French rose windows, decorated tracery, high-pitched roofs and deep, rain-conscious porches. In 1854 Pilkington's practice exhibited designs for a church and workers' housing at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. After attending the University of Edinburgh in 1858 he designed and built Inchglass, a large Gothic Revival villa at Crieff, Tayside. By 1860 Pilkington had secured the patronage of the papermakers John and Charles Cowan in

Penicuik Penicuik ( ; sco, Penicuik; gd, Peighinn na Cuthaig) is a town and former burgh in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River North Esk. It lies on the A701 midway between Edinburgh and Peebles, east of the Pentland Hills. N ...

and in 1861 secured their commission for the Scottish National Institution for the Education of Imbecile Children at

Larbert Larbert ( gd, Lèirbert/Leth-pheairt, sco, Lairbert) is a small town in the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town lies in the Forth Valley above the River Carron which flows from the west. Larbert is from the shoreline of the Firth of F ...

, Falkirk. Approximately five years later he also obtained the patronage of Henry Ballantyne (1802-1865) to build villas for the Ballantyne family in

Walkerburn Walkerburn ( gd, Allt an Fhùcadair) is a small village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, on the A72 road, A72 about from Peebles and from Galashiels. It was founded in 1854 to house the workers for the tweed mills owned by the Ballant ...

, and to design and build a new village with houses for the Ballantyne mill workers. Two of the villas,

The Kirna The Kirna, known locally as Kirna House (previously also as Grangehill), is a Category A listed villa in Walkerburn, Peeblesshire, Scotland. It is one of four villas in Walkerburn designed by Frederick Thomas Pilkington between 1867 and 1869 ...

(1867) and Stoneyhill (1868) were characterized by richly sculptured Venetian Romanesque designs, with Moorish influences. These designs were also found in his own house Egremont (1865), 38 Dick Place, Edinburgh and Craigmount Park (1869). Between 1861 and 1866 Pilkington secured commissions for Trinity Church (1861-3), Irvine, Strathclyde, The Moray Free Church (1862), Edinburgh, South Church (1862-3), Penicuik, Lothian, and St John's (1862-6), Edenside, Kelso, Borders. The most dramatic was the Barclay-Bruntsfield Church (1862-4), Edinburgh, with its landmark spire, unprecedented conical cluster of prismatic sections crowning the apses of the heart-shaped plan. All follow the same basic concept of a large galleried auditorium, transformed to a Greek cross at the upper level. All his churches of this period include rich naturalistic carving, including some of his smaller designs at Auchengray (c. 1865), Strathclyde, and Innerleithen (c. 1865), Borders. By the mid-1860's his earlier use of polychrome masonry was replaced by more conventional plans last at Windsor Place Church (1866), Cardiff, Glamorgan. In 1867 he went into partnership with John Murray Bell (1839-1877) to form Pilkington & Bell, Bell providing the structural know-how, Pilkington providing the design flair. At the Eastern Club (1868), Dundee, Pilkington combines Romanesque and Renaissance motifs. By 1874 at Dean Park House, Edinburgh, he turned to a giant-scales contemporary French style. In 1883, Pilkington moved to London after he was commissioned to work the Army and Navy Hotel (1180-2), Victoria Street. His move to London did not lead to any other major commissions. His practice transitioned to designing residential flats for both the

Artisans, Labourers & General Dwellings Company The Artizans, Labourers & General Dwellings Company (Artizans Company) was a nineteenth-century philanthropic model dwellings company, which later became a multinational property developer before being absorbed into Sun Life. Origins The Artizans ...

and for the middle-classes. This second category of flats include Campden Hill Court, Kensington and

York Mansions York Mansions is one of the seven Victorian blocks of flats on Prince of Wales Drive, London, between Albert Bridge Road and Queenstown Road, in Battersea, in the London borough of Wandsworth. The four-storey building is portered. History Yor ...

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batte ...

. Pilkington did not see the completion of York Mansions, his last commission, as he died before its completion in 1901.

Notable buildings

Buildings in Edinburgh

* Barclay Church 1862-4 *38 Dick Place (Pilkington's own house which he called Egremont, built within the Grange Park House estate), 1865–1870 *48–50 Dick Place, 1864 *158–164 Grove Street, 1864 *Craigend Park (Kingston Clinic), 1867–69 *1–7 Coltbridge Terrace, 1869 *129–131 Grange Loan, 1872 *Daniel Stewart's Boarding House (formerly Dean Park House), 1874 *3 Queensferry Terrace, Dean Park House Stable Block, 1874 *8 Spylaw Road, mid-1870s *39–51 Deanhaugh Street, 1880–81 *Moray Free Church, South Back of the Canongate, 1862 *New Free Church, Viewforth (then Viewforth St. Oswald's),1871

Elsewhere in Scotland

Auchengray Auchengray is a small village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Overview It has a small church whose architect was Frederick Thomas Pilkington (1832–98), the ground given by George Robertson Chaplin (proprietor) of Colliston House, Arbroath, ...

Church, by Carnwath, South Lanarkshire, 1864-5 *Trinity Church, Irvine,

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of R ...

, 1861–63, currently on the Buildings at Risk register for Scotland. *Free Church, Innerleithen, Scottish Borders, (1864–67), still in use. *St. John's Edenside, Kelso, Roxburghshire, 1863-6 *

(1867) *Penicuik Old South Church (1862) *Park End in

(1862) *Sunnybrae Lodge and Stables,

, 1868 * Spier's school,

Beith Beith is a small town in the Garnock Valley, North Ayrshire, Scotland approximately south-west of Glasgow. The town is situated on the crest of a hill and was known originally as the "''Hill o' Beith''" (hill of the birches) after its ''Court ...

. Memorial shrine to John Spier. *Marine Hotel in North Berwick *St Aidan's Church (United Presbyterian Church) in Morebattle, Scottish Borders, 1864/5. *McCheyne Memorial Church, Perth Road, Dundee (1868–71) *St. Mark's, Greenfield, Dundee, Angus, 1868 *Simson Memorial West Kilbride Cemetery, a memorial dedicated to Dr. Robert Simson, a mathematician born in the town *New Parish Church, Lamlash, Arran, 1871 * United Presbyterian Church, Dudhope Crescent, Dundee, 1877 * Inchglas, Broich Terrace, Crieff, 1856

Outside Scotland

* City United Reformed Church (The New Presbyterian Church), Cardiff, Wales, 1867

Gallery

File:Pilkington tenement, Fountainbridge Edinburgh.JPG, Tenement on the corner of Grove Street, Edinburgh File:Pilkington tenement frontage, Fountainbridge Edinburgh.JPG, The Fountainbridge frontage of the Grove Street tenement File:Viewforth Church, Edinburgh.JPG, St. Oswald's Parish Church (with reduced tower), Viewforth File:Auchengray church.jpg, Auchengray Church File:John Speir's memorial 1.JPG, The John Spier memorial, designed by F T Pilkington, now at

Auld Kirk. File:Park End, Penicuik.JPG, Park End,

File:The Kirna, Walkerburn.png,

File:Trinity Church, Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland.jpg, Trinity Church, Irvine File:City United Reformed Church, Cardiff 01.JPG, City United Reformed Church, Cardiff File:Entrance lodges for Stonyhill, Walkerburn (geograph 4348828).jpg, Entrance lodges for Stoneyhill, Walkerburn (geograph 4348828)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilkington, Frederick Thomas Gothic Revival architects Scottish ecclesiastical architects 1832 births 1898 deaths 19th-century Scottish architects